"The quieter you become... The more you can hear..."

-Ram Dass

Reviews:

Exotos135: That is correct good sir! Thank you!

Nightmareking: Glad you enjoyed buddy! Thank you!

Finnjr63: Thanks buddy!

Anonymims: Do not be absurd! You are a wonderful bro and I am extremely joyous to have such lovely people like you and everyone else here. But… Why can't you continue to save your life?

Power Master Story Writer: Thank you! I'm glad I was able to bring back that punch you guys like so much! Sorry about the other chapter, it was a little half-hearted but I promise to do better from now on!

PDavis32: Thanks Bro! Don't worry, there's no cliffhanger in this chapter!

Now, before we begin, I have an announcement at the bottom of the page and I hope you guys don't hate me for it. I also want to say that this chapter is based off the now deleted fic 'Strive' which was written by me and , but he had too many things going on at once so I had to take ownership and now it's going to be an ark for this one-shot series.

Alright, this has dragged out long enough. Let's begin…

Kudos to my beta reader: Altruisticdorito!

My head was pounding and my heart was racing, the only comfort being the soft surface beneath my head, even if it was a little rough. My eyes struggle at first, trying their hardest to pry open but they are practically glued shut. I sit there for a moment trying to recall what had happened the day before, but I could only see blurred images. I just couldn't remember no matter how hard I tried, and trying just makes my headache worse.

My body tensed at the sound of someone stepping against the ground. The steps were light and quick, but they echoed in the room I was in. As the steps grew closer, my eyes finally opened out of fear. Cold sweat began to slide down my forehead and hit the surface below me, which looked like hard stone with sand on top. The stepping stopped.

Sheer silence filled the area, aside from the heavy beating of my heart. I heard the shuffling of some clothing and a light touch against my shoulder. "Psst... Hey, are you alright?" a voice sounded. It was barely a whisper.

I shot up from my lying position on the ground and tried to stand up, only for my feet to roll against some of the sand and make me fall backwards and land on my ass. I look in the direction where I once was and was able to make out a shape in the dim lighting of the room.

"W-who are you?!" I screamed, my voice shaking and frail, like I was breaking on the inside. The silhouette moved. My eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness and I was able to make out a human shape.

The person was crouched on their legs, probably so they could talk to me a little easier. My head began to throb again, and the pain I felt was immense as images flashed before my eyes.

I was sitting on my bed in my room. Star was sitting next to me with a smile on her face, her long blonde hair shining in the artificial light of my room. She was holding her dimensional scissors in her hands and exclaiming something in joy but I couldn't hear any of it.

The vision stopped and I held my hands against my head, the pain slowly numbing. I let out a struggled grunt and look at my surroundings; Stone carved walls surrounded the room, small cracks and chips in the edges allowing small insects to crawl through. A small light flickered over to the left and I twisted my head to get a better view.

There was a girl sitting against the wall, her head hanging and her hands clasped against her legs. She was sitting behind a small fire; its warmth was astounding in the temperatures of the room. I put a hand in front of me so I could try to stand up and that's when I noticed that I wasn't wearing my famous red hoodie. I was only wearing my grey undershirt and black slacks, but the fire was close by so I wasn't very cold.

I slowly push myself up into a standing position, struggling for a moment to keep my balance. I steady myself and look back at the girl. 'She must be asleep...' I thought and then I took a quiet step towards the fire. I sat down in the opposite side of the girl and took a stick from the ground so I could poke at the fire to keep it going. As the flame starts to dim I look around and try to find some more fuel, because the last thing I need is to freeze to death. The girl starts to stir in her sleep and that's when I take notice of the back pack next to her.

'She's bound to have something flammable in there.'

I start to crawl over towards her pack, being sure to not make any kind of sound in case she was a light sleeper. A small stone scuffs against my shoes and rolled along the ground making a small coaching sound. I tense and remain perfectly still watching to see if the girl made any kind of movement, but she remained still. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and continued to slowly make my way towards the pack.

I finally end up next to her and I start to unzip the bag, making sure to be as quiet as possible. The girl starts to stir again and her head raises, her eyes fluttering open slowly. I didn't notice her open her eyes and I was surprised when I was suddenly tackled across the room. We rolled, trying to fight off the other but neither was able to succeed in such for quite a while.

Eventually the girl was sitting on top of me, pinning me by my shoulders. "Hey." She greeted, giving a quick upward nod. I nodded back after a moment, taking a second to get a good look at the girl. She had black hair, tied into a thick pony tail and bright, emerald eyes that glimmered as the fire eventually went out. She wore a bright red t-shirt and had finger less gloves that reached down her arm. The jeans she wore were faded and torn at the knees.

"What's your name?" she asked rather calmly. I blinked once, twice, three times before I replied. "Marco..."

She gave a one-sided smile and stood up, allowing me to get up as well. I sat up using my arms for support. "Who are you?"

She offered her hand and I hesitantly accepted. "My name's Emily, but just call me Em." I stood up and looked her up and down, she seemed trust worthy... And quite pretty, but that didn't matter. What did matter was finding a way out of this place. Wherever it was...

"Uhhhh, do you know where we are Em?"

She walked over to her pack and picked it up, slinging it over her shoulders and scraping the soles of her shoes against the fire, putting out the dying embers. "Not a clue. But I do know that someone put us here for a reason. Otherwise we'd probably both have been eaten alive by the creatures that lurk here."

My heart stopped for a moment, 'Creatures? What kind of creatures?'

Emily started walking towards a doorway over on the left side of the room, walking past me and stopping just in front of the exit. She turned her head and looked back at me, giving a sly smile. "You coming or what? Can't walk around here alone, can I?"

I shook my head sighed, 'I guess this is how I die...' I thought, and walked over to Emily's side. She nodded her head and we began to walk into a long and dim hallway.

There we go. That's the first installment of this ark, if you liked it then make sure to say so in the reviews. Now for that announcement...

Every story I'm writing at the moment is going on Hiatus for a while. Every single one. I've been asked to do a favor for a friend of mine and I'm sure you'd understand why I'd have to put everything on hold. Once I've finished those favors, I'll get back to this and probably bring "One Blade, Three Targets" out of its hiatus. But for now, I've got other things to do. Sorry guys, but I just might surprise you next time I upload...

Till then, stay awesome everyone!