Italics text – Japanese

IX - Two words, One name

Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a great store of gold.

- Ecclesiasticus

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I was led down an unmarked path deeper into the forest before we stopped at what could be considered a section that appeared like any other. I never expected to be led to a building where toilets were housed; considering the state of things around here – I expected an outhouse at least. I then knew the pink-haired girl meant I would be doing my necessities out in the open.

"Once you're finished, return to this spot. I'll only be a couple of feet away from you." The strange girl had said before she undid the ropes around my wrist and walking away.

Time no longer had any meaning for me without an actual thing to measure against, but one things for sure – nothing hurried you up more than the thought of something happening to you while in your most vulnerable state. So once I had relieved myself – a most satisfying feeling, I might add – I took a couple of steps opposite from where I came from.

With no sight of the girl or any other human for that matter, I took a couple steps forwards. Nothing but trees, shrubs and the color of green as far as I could see. Looking up through the branches of those trees that towered over me, I could see the dark gray skies. No longer was it raining but the chill was there as I readjusted the oversized cloak I wore; while it had kept the majority of my body warm, it didn't do much for my feet that were exposed to the elements of this earth.

As I was about to take another step forward, I heard a rustling amongst the shrubs that surrounded me. Quickly recalling what happened a couple of hours ago, I took a cautionary step back. "Not this again..." I muttered under my breath as I took another couple of steps back, my senses once more heightening as I kept a firm eye on the shrubs from which I tried to distanced myself from. It was clear to me that I wouldn't be able to move forward without getting through them, which only left me the option of returning from where I had come from. Whether it was rats, badgers or even a snake nest that resided within those brushes, I did not want to know and much less confront. Feeling sure of the distance I had set between myself and it, I quickly turned on my heels and made a dash from where I came from.

It couldn't had been more than three trees that I ran past when the girl stepped behind from the fourth one. Nearly colliding against her, I managed to catch myself in time.

"Interesting to see that it doesn't take much to scare you into running, doesn't it?" The girl said; I was aware that she still held the rope that had bound my wrists in her dark gloved hands. "Most curious indeed to see that you couldn't even protect yourself; granted, those where Sai's triggers in case you were to run off – where you trying to?"

"I...no idea what you're saying," I voiced rather calmly, fully aware there was no use for me to speak as it would had been useless. Even so, that did not stop them from doing so.

I could feel her emerald-colored eyes on me, certain that she was measuring me for some unknown reason. "No idea why you'll continue to speak gibberish, surely you should had at least picked up a couple of words from wherever you came from," with a shrug, she turned around and started walking head, "follow me."

"Might as well be mute," I muttered to myself as I watched the girl walk ahead. There was no need to guess that she wanted me to follow her; with the way the girl walked without bothering to look back gave me the impression that I should follow her.

That or go back to whatever the hell back there was.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

We weren't walking down the path we had previously came from, but continued further deeper into the forest. Granted, I couldn't really tell the direction we were going so it was pretty much a moot point to figure out whether we were getting closer from the campground or farther. While I was content with the fact that my wrists were no longer bound together, I could not help but wonder where we were really going. Sure, I had the option of running off but I had a feeling the girl was not being purposely irresponsible with my supervision – for a lack of a better word. Certainly that explained why the girl knew from which tree to pop out from a whiles back. Most importantly though was this – who were these people?

It couldn't had been more than ten minutes of walking in silence and in a single direction when I noticed a change in the air. While physically seeing nothing, I could hear what could only be described as a sound of running water nearby.

"We'll be reaching a stream where you can wash yourself if you'd like," the girl said.

I'll never understand why these people would insist speaking the way they spoke as if I was able to understand the words that came out of their mouths. Even so – at most, it sounded so similar to an asian language, whether it was Chinese, Korean, Japanese or any of the dozens of languages out there, it didn't help pinpointing it down to the ethnicity it belonged to. There was no use for it, it wouldn't help my cause because I had no knowledge of those languages. I'd be just as clueless.

We were nearing the source of the noise when I said, "if I were to stop talking to you, would you in turn stop communicating as well?"

The girl looked over her shoulders, not bothering to slow down her pace. "You're either dumb and have no knowledge of the common tongue or you're putting up an act of this ignorant girl who has no idea of what she's doing int his world."

I didn't bother to respond back – as I previously noted, there was no use in having a one-sided conversation.

The more we walked, the closer we were near to the source. It wouldn't be for another twelve feet when the source of the noise was proven to belong to none other than a stream. Let me first say that I never seen something quite like it before, well – with my own eyes that is.

As I stood near a low-branched tree, I admired the view from where I stood; it was literally picture perfect like those professional photos seen in the National Geographic magazine. With rocks jutting out from the running water, seeming to appear as stepping stones to cross the expanse of the stream and green foliage surrounding it on both sides, it was as if this part of the world was yet to be touched by human hands. It was quite serene, really.

I then watched as the girl walked towards the stream as she tugged off her black gloves, "you can stop staring and wash yourself, you know." She looked over her shoulders again and with a signal, she indicated I should join her. "Don't just stand there."

Being as it was the only source of water I had seen other than the rain, I knew I had to take advantage of it. Even so, the germaphobic side of me hoped that as clean and clear as the water appeared to be, I hoped it wasn't the same kind I had drank from earlier. Last thing I needed was a bad case of stomach cramps and diarrhea amongst these strangers. So once I acknowledged the girl's attention with a nod of my own, I unzipped the cloak I wore and hanged it on a tree's branch near me.

It had been a while since I last gave a good look at the clothes I wore and while I was not normally a self-conscious person, I could not help but feel that way as I stood there. The white tank I wore was smeared with dried mud as was my black fleece short shorts; I could see that one of my knees was badly scraped and one of my outer thighs was covered with dried speckled blood. Not surprising considering it was the same side where I had the small knife hidden a day or so ago, the very same one that had cut me when I fell hard on the ground. Though the sight of it did not exactly surprised me, I could not help but wonder how I could had forgotten about it. I suppose you could say that having a hectic day can do that to a person. With a slight scoff under my breath, I made my way towards the stream.

I caught the girl glancing at me as I walked up to her side and while I did not particularly found that strange, I ignored her. When I knelt beside her, I could sense her eyes on me. Alrighty then, it was getting a bit weird but again – I ignored her. As I reached down to cup a handful of cool water with my hands, I could still feel her staring. Well, this was getting creepy. To alleviate this weird feeling I was getting from her, I looked up to her but she quickly glanced away.

"Huh, you weren't kidding,"she muttered under her breath.

I splashed the cold water over my face, cupping my hands over my nose and mouth as I took in the feeling of the cool element on my warm skin. There was nothing much to do but ignore whatever it was she was saying but I kept my ears open just in case...

"Would it be too much to ask what your name is?"

I splashed the water over my arms, rubbing them hard to get the grime off of me.

"Idiot."

I looked up, quirked an eyebrow as I saw her with what I could only describe as an expectant look on her face. "Has anyone told you staring is really rude?" I ready myself to wash my other arm when I heard her say the same word. "You're trying to say bucket or something?" I asked bemusedly in response to what she had said.

The girl scoffed light, "you really have no idea what I'm saying then...idiot."

This was becoming a one-sided conversation on her part, why not join in? I pointed to her "Buhh...ket, whatever the hell that means. You're stupid for talking to me as if I knew what you were saying." The girl looked at my finger, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at me.

"Did you just called me an idiot?" At best she looked either flustered or surprised, couldn't tell nor did I care as I returned back to the task of washing my arms.

So for the next couple of minutes – or what I can assume as a couple because there was no way in telling time – I'd concentrated on cleaning myself as much as possible. While I would had preferred to having a nice warm shower and clean clothes, I was pleasantly surprised with what I managed. The girl had long departed my side without another word and last time I looked, she was leaning against one of the many trees as she looked over something in her hands.

It was as I sat there, letting the sun dry my skin that I sensed the girl had walked up to me. I did not bothered to look up to her, so I kept my sight ahead of me. All I wanted to do now was take advantage of the open air around me and the warmth of the sun before I was to be dragged back and locked inside. To my surprise, she sat down beside me.

"Sakura," I heard her say.

I felt her nudge me on my side with her elbow, which I instinctively drew back as I glared at her. It was here when I noticed she pointed at herself with one of her gloved hands.

"Sakura," she said without looking at me.

I blinked at this, more than a little confused at what was happening here. Again, she repeated the movement but this time around she spoke quite slowly as if she were pronouncing each letter. I moved my mouth as I tried out the word within my head. All I got was this – Sakura. The word, whatever it could had possibly meant, sounded familiar to me. Could not quite figure out from where I heard it before but it sounded familiar... and so the girl pointed to herself again.

"Sakura," she looked at me expectantly, her short – and somewhat stylish – hair swayed a little with the breeze that came from behind us. I raised my own hand and pointed at her, "Sakura?" I repeated the word. With an awkward smile, she nodded at my response before she pointed at me. I then pointed at myself as I repeated the word but this only followed with a shake of her head as she saw this.

"Well, I have no idea what you're trying to say other than calling me Sakura – whatever that might mean," I responded.

"Your name, what's your name? My name's Sakura." Again with the pointing.

I looked down at my hands than back up at her. Her demeanor had change, what could had possibly had caused this? I'd even go as far saying she was being friendly? I haven't seen her smile – granted, an awkward one at that – nor laidback as I was now seeing. Apparently, this Sakura word did not mean 'me' as she had re-pointed at herself. Could it possibly be her name?"

Curiously, I look to her before I pointed at myself and voice my name slowly, "Ariadna."

"Arianna. Interesting"

She – or should I say Sakura – would had pronounced my name correctly had she not forgotten the 'd' within it, even so, I nodded with a slight smile. Great, now we knew each other's names.

Now my question was, why the change in attitude?

Note:
New chapter once a week? I'll try but can't promise anything. Next week doesn't look too good due to my work schedule for that week. No worries, I'll try my best to have it out as fast as possible :)

Last but not the least, your reviews are most appreciated!

Now I'll leave you with a Question {In the last couple of chapters, I been posing questions as a way to both get to know the reader and interact with them. Of course it's all voluntarily – you don't need to play if you don't want to.}.

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don't like and like so many things we don't do?