It is the same flower field she always sees. Quiet, placid and alluringly peaceful.
Perhaps it is the sound of chirping birds, or the silent flutter of colourful butterflies, or simply the rays of golden sunshine, but there is an enigmatic aura that glows and radiates from it.
Atop the flower field sits a giant oddly shaped boulder surrounded by ancient rock formations.
Rin's umpteenth visit to this field is getting clearer. It is now unmarred by odd blurs and other vision impairing obstructers.
Beside her stands two boys her age, one she recognises in all her dreams. His dark hair and trademark goggles are stark against the brightness of their surroundings. He is grinning wide, as if he too is assimilating the beauty of this place.
The other boy, silver-haired, guarded and cynical, is staring ahead with not a trace of readable expression on his face.
She takes their hands and leads them uphill to the giant rock she is always so curious about.
But then comes the distortion and her world spins in a blur of colours.
She is standing in the same dark dungeon. Her right hand is empty of her dark-haired friend.
"Rin. Kakashi. Are you okay?"
The voice is faint, weak and barely audible. But she hears it loud and clear within the depths of her mind.
When she turns toward the source of the sound, the silver-haired boy disappears from her side.
Now it is only her and the dark-haired boy, who is lying feebly on the ground with a million fragments of broken rocks surrounding him.
The sight chills her to the core and mimics the icy beats of her empty heart. For the first time ever, she feels a heavy saturation of loneliness, but it is not resonating within her, rather it is an external emotion she can physically sense from somewhere close.
She approaches her friend and calls his name in the hopes for reassurance. But her voice is muted and she can no longer hear her surroundings.
Her friend is smiling at her, as if he does not comprehend his current state and that he and Rin are on different pages of a book.
"Rin! We must go!"
The sudden sound shakes her. The silver-haired boy materialises.
We can't leave him!
"But-"
"It's okay, Rin. Just go. You need to get out of here alive," the dark-haired boy says.
Before she can reply, she is hoisted out the dungeon by an invisible force.
And the pain starts and it does not stop. It wakes her in a puddle of cold sweat and a frighteningly confusing mindset. Her head spins in a world of bizarre images she cannot comprehend. On and on it goes until it finally stops.
"Kakashi," she whispers.
A flood of blurred vision intrudes. Like a video played on fast forward, the images flash before her eyes, so fast she can barely recognise them. But it eventually slows and she sees an unrecognisable village.
I feel as if I know this but I cannot seem to connect the dots.
She forces her mind to remember the dream.
Kakashi, her teammate, the blonde man, her sensei. But from where? Who is the dark-haired boy?
I can't, this is hurting me.
She is being literal. The more she recalls, the weaker she feels.
The clearer these dreams, the weaker I get. What is going on?
Across her body, the very stark black-grey lines are now visible against the bright illumination of moonlight.
It has darkened considerably, as if etched deeply into her skin and only very slowly receding.
"What is happening to me?"