The fear cuts through her composure like a kunai through flesh. Her body trembles, her muscles tighten and her lungs cease to breathe.
Her cries echo fearfully across the empty walls of the inner cave. It bounces off every stone, every skull and every spirit.
The trepidation crawls along her skin and sinks deep into her bones. She can no longer comprehend reality, nor the petrification of fear that hacks at her insides and turns her physicality into a walking vessel of horror.
Her mouth opens to speak, to say something, to tell herself 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. When the tears descend, so does her mind.
Then her vision blurs and she desperately wants to go, to put her mind at ease and to seek comfort from the unconscious world.
But Tobi does not let her. He takes her hand and grips it tight.
"Please," she begs, "please let me out of here. Can we please leave?"
Her voice is thick and weak, and her hands are cold and clammy. The hysteria rises and the imminent sensation of fear latches to her throat. It spreads through her like infection and chokes her in paralysing terror.
But an emanating warmth suffuses. Tobi kneels beside her and brings her forward into a gentle embrace.
"It's okay, I'm here. I promise we will leave, but there is something important I need to do," he palliatively strokes the back of her head.
She clutches onto the front of his cloak. Her grip is initially tight, but softens with every passing minute.
The heavy silence stretches on, until the rapid beats of her heart slows and the numbing sensation retreats. Her mind is last to regain its composure. The comforting security of Tobi's proximity gives 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.
Tobi's comment staves off the impending physical feelings of fear. He lets her find her composure before speaking in a barely audible tone.
"You need to face your fears or you'll always be afraid."
Eventually, the soothing strokes of Tobi's touch and the comfort of his closeness regenerates her confidence.
Reluctantly she parts her head from him and peers cautiously from the safety of his arms.
She sees the multiple shades of pearly white mist, and the way they saunter innocuously past her.
"You're doing well," Tobi says mildly.
Her heart, though erratic, is a contradiction to her slow, even breathing. It takes her a long time but she eventually pries from him.
Another brush from the spirit and this time, she feels the dark, melancholy chakra, as if she can sense their agony, the despair, the pain and the innocent victim of a sacrifice.
"I can sense their feelings," she says.
"Chakra is the only connection between the mortal world and the other world so it is inevitable that you can sense their turmoil," he replies softly.
She does not speak. To her, the dampening of her fears transpire into something more powerful. It is that feeling of hopelessness.
"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."