The soft singing of birds is the first thing you noticed as you came to. Mind spinning in an inky blackness, you felt as if every inch of your body was weighed down, keeping you stuck down to the warm stones beneath you. To feel warmth was something odd to you, as you could have sworn it was chilly and pouring down rain just a moment ago. Had you really been out that long, that the rain had stopped and the sun had begun to shine down upon you?

How was that possible? You knew that your friends should have found you by know, laying on the ground and probably bleeding from the head. You had hit your head, right? That's what had happened. Perhaps you hadn't seen a piece of the shrine hanging down and you ran right into it, which wasn't exactly odd in any way, as you had a tendency to accidentally hurt yourself.

All of this would of made sense if not for the silence. You could distinctly remember the roaring of the cars from the highway near by, but now, the only thing you could hear were the sounds of nature. Birds and cicadas, chirping and digging into your mind like a million tiny needles. The fear was beginning to clear your head and lessen the weights on your limbs, so when you found the strength to open your eyes, there was an immediate rush of confusion.

Not a single cloud was in the sky, allowing the heat of the sun to truly beat down on you. It felt nice, as your clothing was cold and wet, sticking uncomfortably to your skin. Curious, you ran your hand across the stones beneath you, finding that they were dry as a bone. How can I be soaked, but the ground be perfectly dry…? What in the hell happened to me?

Bringing a hand up to your still spinning head, you slowly sat up, trying to take in your surroundings. Everything seemed… cleaner. Nicer, as if the shrine was completely brand new. M-Maybe the rainy day make it seem worse than it really was. Yeah, this isn't so bad.

Stomach spinning with nausea, you slowly brought yourself up to your feet, trying to get your bearings. Nothing was familiar, all the landmarks you thought you had remembered were now either gone or… changed. Even the small altar that had been set up for the elderly man had gone. As the panic within you grew, all you could think of was to find your friends. You had to find your friends.

"Mirio? Nejire?!" Hands clutching your stomach as you felt like you would puke at any moment, you stumbled around to the front of the shrine. There was no response to your call, not even the animals changing their songs. You couldn't even bother to focus on the front of the shrine for more than a second, gaze locked on the stone stairs that led down the hill.

"Nejire!?" You called louder, your voice cracking in your panic. Finding that the stairs were in near perfect condition, you began your descent, no longer needing to watch where you stepped as you glanced this way and that into the woods. "Guys, it's not very funny to leave me up there! What if I vanished, huh?!" You began to feel tears welling up in your eyes, burning through your senses even as you tried to hold them back.

"Guys please, this isn't funny!" Taking a moment to stop, you pulled your phone out of your pocket, entire body trembling. "N-no signal? How do I have no signal, I'm right next to a highway!" Clutching your phone tightly to your chest, you looked around frantically, peering into the woods for any sign for civilization.

"Mirio! Please, someone answer me-"

Suddenly, a movement in the woods caught your eye, making you pause. You found it difficult to focus on whatever had made the movement behind your blurry vision, heavy breathing and trembling body, but you didn't have to look for long. Whatever it was moved again, displacing the branches around it in a very subtle, slow movement. At first, you thought that perhaps it was just a bird, until you could feel it. That tingle at the back of your neck that told you that something wasn't right. There was something… watching you from within those trees. A person or an animal, you didn't really care. All you wanted was to get to the car.

Even though your legs felt like they weighed a ton, you forced yourself down the stairs, now focused on your feet completely with every step you took. By the time you reached the base of the steps, you didn't even have time to register that the car was gone before you were suddenly tackled to the ground. You felt your phone fly out of your hand with the force, and before you knew it, you were on your back again. This time, however, your body was being held down by a physical force.

A person. You were staring at a woman, whose face was mostly covered, except for her eyes. Dark green hair cascaded down around her face, and for a moment, you couldn't quite help but to admire her hair style, as the majority of it was pulled up into a bow like shape. It was odd, you thought, for a woman of stealth to be so fashionable, especially when she held a knife to your throat. The metal was cold against your skin, and as you swallowed hard, you could feel it dig into you.

"P-please," You began, the hot tears escaping your eyes. "Please, I'm just lost, I don't want any trouble…"

The woman observed you closely with pitch black iris', not giving an inch. Though, she did release her grip on your left wrist to reach up and pull down her mask. "Lost? You've been yelling and screaming so loud someone could hear you for miles. What are you doing out here?" She spoke in a rough whisper, the scratchy tone of her voice not quite matching her features. Still, it was obvious she was trying to be silent.

"I was just trying to… to find my friends. T-their car was here-"

"Car?" A puzzled look followed the woman's interruption of your explanation. "What are you talking about?"

Your own confusion setting in, you gave a small shake of your head, stammering as you tried to come up with an explanation. H-how could she not know what a car is? Everyone knows what a car is! "A-a car. It drives, takes you places, it-"

"Enough, your voice is getting loud." The woman snapped at you, pressing the blade tighter against your throat and forcing a squeak of fear from your lips. "Where are you from?"

"K-Kyoto, I go to University there."

"University?" Again, another puzzled look crossed her face before she turned her head, looking back up the stairs towards the shrine. Looking back down at you with a stern expression, she pointed up in the same direction. "Were you praying up there?"

"N-No, I was there with my friends, and I-I fell down, and then all the sudden there was this… This fox. And it talked to me." You couldn't believe the words that were coming out of your own mouth, and you could see on her face that didn't believe it, either. Still, in your panic, you continued your rambling. "I-It told me that my soul didn't… didn't belong there? And then I just… passed out and it- god, the damn thing had human teeth!"

"I said be quiet!" The woman hushed you again, this time placing a petite hand over your mouth. "If you don't want to end up dead, you keep all of that to yourself! Even if it is a lie to distract me from what you truly are, you spy."

"S-spy?" You spoke behind her hand. "N-no, I'm telling you the truth, o-ow!" Within seconds, you were rolled over onto your stomach, arms pulled back roughly behind your back. Bent at the elbow, your forearms were pressed together and bound tightly with expert care, making it impossible for you to move your arms without feeling like they would pop right out of socket. It was painful, especially as you were grabbed by the upper arm and yanked up to your knees.

You couldn't protest as a cloth was wrapped around your eyes, leaving you blinded and vulnerable. Still, you couldn't contain your sobs, hiccuping as you were pulled up to your feet. "A-are you kidnapping me?"

"I'm taking you to my General." The sound of bare feet on stone reached your ears, along with the soft scraping of plastic as your phone was picked up from the ground. "He will know if you are some type of spy and what this… black weapon is."

"I-it's not a weapon, it's a… phone."

"Phone? Peculiar… Come." You were led forward, a hand gripping firmly onto your arm. "I have a knife at your ribs. If you even dare to try and run, I will kill you."

You could feel the sharp point against your body, though all you could really do was nod. What the hell is going on? She doesn't know what any of these things are, and she's holding me captive with a knife!

The two of you walked on in silence for quite a while, and if not for the grip on your arm, you would have thought you were alone. The woman was absolutely silent, not a single breath or footsteps reaching your ears. In contrast, you thought you sounded like an elephant, stomping through the brush on uneasy legs. You weren't sure how long you walked for, but by the time you came to a stop, you felt absolutely exhausted. Feet aching, you could feel blisters beginning to form between your toes where the strap sat, as well as against your heels. Never before had you wanted to take a bath so bad… but you had a feeling such a thing wasn't going to happen for quite a while.

Suddenly, a series of whistles came from beside you, nearly perfectly imitating a bird of some kind. You knew it had come from the woman, and just as soon as she finished, there was a response in a different melody.

"Do not speak unless you are spoken to." The woman hissed at you, and you could hear the sheathing of her weapon. "And do not make any sudden movements. The General is not particularly patient or trusting."

After you gave a nervous nod, you were led forward and out of the thick brush, the feeling of soft grass under your feet comforting. There was also a particular smell, of sweaty men and horses. It wasn't necessarily revolting, but it did make you nearly want to hold your breath. Does no one around here shower? What are they, creepy forest dwellers?

"Looks like Tsu found a little friend." A pleasant male voice spoke from your left. "In… odd rags."

"Where did you find that creature, Tsuyu?" A deep, gruff voice was next to snap, a lot closer than you expected. You wanted to reach out and slap the man that called you such a thing, but you held your tongue as you had been instructed.

"She was running down the shrine steps, screaming and making a huge fuss." The woman beside you answered, so now at least you knew how she was addressed.

"Over what?"

"She said she was looking for her friends and… a car. Have you heard of such a thing?"

"Car? No… But it could be some type of word used between her and her 'friends'. What did she have on her?"

"Just this… thing."

There was a moment of shuffling before a scoff left the man that had to be standing no more than a couple of feet from you. "The hell? What the devil is this thing?"

"She said it was called a… phone? I've never seen anything like it, I can't even tell what material it is made from."

Suddenly, your blindfold was ripped roughly from your face and you were met with the crimson glare of a tall blonde man, who was holding your phone. For a moment, you couldn't help but to glance around, your gaze meeting with multiple sets of onlookers. They were all dressed in what you could only describe as ancient warrior or samurai garb, all the way back to what you assumed to be the 1500s according to the style. You had just recently studied all of this for a class, so it was fresh in your memory, but that didn't help to calm your anxiety about the situation.

"Demon."

Your attention was pulled back to the man before you, who had one hand on the hilt of his sword while the other held up your phone. He had quite the bewildered glare on his otherwise handsome face, gaze flashing back and forth between you and the electronic device. "W-what? I'm not a demon-"

"That's not what I asked you, creature. What the hell is this?"

Being called such a degrading thing brought a new wave of tears to your eyes, though you did your best to swallow your emotion. From what you could tell, this man wouldn't be swayed by tears of any kind. "I told you already, it's a phone. I-it's a thing you use to call people-" Without warning, your phone began to buzz and ring loudly with your medication alarm, startling everyone within the immediate vicinity. Those that sat were on their feet with weapons ready and the blonde before you slammed your phone down on the ground.

"W-wait, don't break it-!" Your cries were ignored as the hilt of a sword was brought down onto the phone, instantly cracking the screen and bending the phone inward, perfectly replicating the twisting of your innards. It was then that any restraint due to Tsuyu's words was broken, snapping at the man as you took a step forward. "Are you goddamn idiot?! That's my phone, it has my entire life on it-" Silenced by the tip of the sword suddenly pointed at your face, you squeaked in shock and stumbled backwards, tripping over your feet and landing onto your backside.

The sword followed you, as did the piercing glare of the man that wielded it. "Shut up, demon! It is obviously a cursed item, you witch!"

"I-I am not a witch!"

"What are you, then?!"

"I-I'm just me! I'm not anything!" Feeling overwhelmed from the accusations, you struggled to breathe as you began to sob, pushing yourself back until you were pressed up against a tree. Silence came from those around you, with glances shared and weapons relaxed. Tsuyu was the first to speak, taking a few steps towards the blonde.

"General Bakugou, I do not think she is a spy, but some of the things she has said have been peculiar. I request permission to take her back up to the shrine… So that we can avoid being cursed or bewitched ourselves." The petite woman addressed him so firmly that you thought he might just threaten her as well, but instead he only gave a shake of his head, never removing his weapon from your direction.

"No," Bakugou began, eyeing you with suspicion. "She knows where we are now, we can't set her free. If her 'friends' truly are out there, then they would have heard that noise. Pack up, we're leaving and we're taking the creature with us."

Sniffling, you glared up at him, wishing that you could find the courage to smack the weapon away from you. Such a thing was stupid, however, and you knew that. If you wanted to survive, then you needed to find a way to cooperate with these… heathens. Some looked at you with pity while others glared at you with distrust. No matter who these people were, be it reenactors or actual people from the past, you knew you had to keep your wits about you.

Whatever wits you had left, at least.