The fear cuts through her composure like a kunai through flesh. Her body trembles, her muscles tighten, the oxygen sucked from her lungs so rapidly, she forgets how to breathe. Her cries echo fearfully across the empty walls of the inner cave, bouncing off every stone, every skull, every spirit. And her heart beats and beats and beats. The trepidation crawls along her skin and sinks deep into her bones, washing her face in a pale shade of blue as she collapses to the ground in terror.
Rin can no longer comprehend reality, nor is she able to stop the petrification of fear from hacking at her insides and turning her physicality into a walking vessel of horror. Her mouth opens to speak, to say something, to tell her that she is capable of maintaining self-control, but only a low-pitched rasp escapes. And the tears fall, fast, rapid, the perturbation of her entirety latches to every single drop, as if every part of her rationality has metamorphosised into those uncontrollable weeps. When the tears descend, so does her judicious mind.
Then her vision blurs and she desperately wants to go, to put her mind at ease, to seek comfort from the unconscious world. But Tobi does not let her. He takes her hand and grips it tight, shaking her from the apprehension of her fears.
"Please," she begs faintly, "please let me out of here. Can we please leave this cavern?"
Her voice is thick and weak, and her hands are cold and clammy. Then hysteria arises and the imminent sensation of a frenzy outburst rises to the very top of her throat. It spreads through her like infection, choking her in panic and paralysing her in terror as it closes her lungs to oxygen.
Just when she is about to succumb to its ruthless grasp, she suddenly feels an emanating warmth. Tobi has knelt beside her, bringing her forward into a gentle embrace as his hand palliatively strokes the back of her head.
"It's okay, I'm here. I promise we will leave this place, but there is something important I need to do," he whispers soothingly.
Automatically, she clutches onto the front of his cloak, her grip initially tight, but slowly softens with every passing minute. He holds onto her for a long time. The heavy silence stretches on and on until the rapid beats of her heart becomes rhythmically tender and the numbing sensation retreats. Her mind is last to regain its composure. The comforting security of Tobi's proximity has given her the unintended strength to reclaim her equilibrium.
"Rin, I promise you this, they will not hurt you, do you understand me?" He says quietly.
She inhales a shaky breath as her grip on him tightens. But Tobi's promising words have somehow staved off any impending physical feelings of fear. He lets her find her composure in silence before speaking in a barely audible tone.
"You need to face your fears or you'll always be afraid."
But Rin is reluctant and so he lets her collapse heavily against him. Eventually, the soothing strokes of Tobi's touch and the comfort of his closeness regenerates her confidence. Reluctantly she parts her head from him, peering cautiously from the safety of his arms and watching with impending fear as multiple shades of pearly white mist saunter innocuously around them. Her grip on his cloak tightens with every inch they float closer, until she is anxiously peering from behind his arm with the side of her head planted firmly against his chest. Again, Tobi lets her find her comfort, his grip around her still firm and reassuring, an indicator that he will not let go.
Ever so slowly, her head inches away from him, the warmth of his proximity a proven factor to instilling some sort of optimistic strength within her, the reassurance he gives a sudden generator to resilience.
"You're doing well," Tobi says mildly as she winces uncomfortably when a spirit brushes past her.
Her heart, though erratic, is a contradiction to her slow, even breathing. It takes her a long time but she eventually pries from Tobi, gripping his hand as her breath suddenly hitches in apprehension.
Another brush from the spirit and this time, she can feel the dark, melancholy chakra resonating within her, almost like she can sense their agony, the despair, the pain, the innocent victim of a sacrifice.
"I can sense their feelings," she says shakily as Tobi's grip on her remains firm.
"I'm not surprise, considering you're so in sync with your surroundings. Chakra is the only connection between the mortal world and the other world so it is inevitable that you can sense their turmoil," he says softly.
She does not speak. Her heart watches on in silence as it attempts to make sense of such atrocity, no matter how long it has been. To her, the dampening of her fears have somehow transpired into something more powerful. It is that feeling of hopelessness, uselessness of not being able to utilise her healing powers to ease the pain of such dejected souls.
"Take it slowly," Tobi says ruefully as he seemingly senses the anxiety in her grip.
"Yes," she answers feebly, and she inches back into the safety of his arms.
Her fears have not completely vanished.
"Are you ready to go?" Tobi asks.
"Yes, but wasn't there something important you needed to do?"
"I've already done that. Getting you on that first difficult step to relinquish your fears," he replies softly.