***NEED WORK

It was dark, with barely any light to guide me as I ran through a vague, nameless passage. There was an eerie chill to the atmosphere that hung over my head and clung to my skin, weighing me down with this ominous feel that seemed to foreshadow a very dark dead end. But I still ran, each footfall resonating and bouncing off of the unseen walls. My gasping rang loud in my head and my heart beat rapidly as if shoved adrenaline through my veins.

It was so dark that I couldn’t see a foot in front of me but I knew where I was going.
The sharp echoes of my footsteps came faster still, when new sounds drifted and seeped out from the dark.

“Don’t break its jaws, he says.” Crack. Thud.
My blood seemed to have chilled, stiffening my muscles.
“No…” I murmured, horrified.
“All this trouble for this thing.” Thud. Thud.
“Stop.” I said, my voice louder.
Another sickening crack, a sound that was all too familiar ripped through the dark again. There was yet another dull crack, followed by a sharp gasp and gagging.
“She-conscience!” I yelled.

…Crack.

The ice in my veins suddenly took on a new flare, ripping through my body with fire. Why were they doing this?
“STOP IT YOU’LL KILL HER!” I bellowed.

The dark receded a bit, barely enough to reveal a door just a few steps ahead. My steps didn’t slow a bit as I charged right at it, my arm shooting out and slamming into the flat surface---
The door broke away under my hand easily, opening up to reveal a dark space.
“She-cons---” I started to yell.

But I didn’t get to finish, because the moment I opened my mouth, a bandaged hand shot out from the thick dark space and reached towards me. It happened so fast, but it was as if I was watching this unfold in slow motion. The hand reached forward, its thin fingers stretching eagerly towards me. Instinctively my body started to fall back, leaning away from its grasp.
I felt the hand grab onto my left shoulder in a death grip, shoving me further back. After the hand came the arm, then the shoulders and then the torso…
My eyes widened in shock, my body freezing as I stared at the hooded stranger loomed over me, their body still in the air mid-dive.

The cloaked stranger…

I was being shoved back, the rough and unready crash inevitable. I braced myself, cringing---
My back met something cold, but to my surprise, I felt my body start passing through the not-so-solid surface. Suddenly, my skin was cold, my whole body chilled in an instant. A thick, heavy silence washed over my head and the space surrounding me, almost pressing into my skin in dull pulses that was all too strange. But there was no pain.

Slowly and cautiously, I opened my eyes.

The space before me was still dark, but now there were a few streams of light that pierced and cut through the thick black. They danced and shifted in a manner that can only be seen under one condition. Suddenly the cold, the stillness and the thick silence fell into place.

I’m underwater.

My eyes quickly regained focus, confirming my last thought. But confusion flooded me once more as I found myself breathing with ease.

What the—

Something flickered just up ahead of me, shifting in and out of the swaying streaks of light. I squinted through the dark, prying to see what was stirring in the water with me. I didn’t have to search far to catch sight of the culprit.
My breath caught in my chest as I took in the dark and the ever mysterious cloaked stranger, standing just a few feet before me. He---or she--- was facing me, but their face was obscured by the thick fabric of their hood their cloak provided. The edges of the cloak flowed and swayed, as if to be pushed in the gentle currents of the water.

I didn’t dare speak, but my mind spun with a million thoughts.
Who are you? What are you doing? Where am I?
I swallowed, feeling bewildered.
What do you want with me?
The stranger stood still, giving no indication that they were aware of my presence. But he---or she--- must know; they’re staring right at me…right?
A frown pulled at my lips as I studied the still form of the stranger. Statue-like and distant, the stranger didn’t make a single motion. But something about the posture…it felt contemplative, as if to be brooding over something…
Gathering my nerves, I inhaled and braced myself.
“Is there….is there something you have to tell me?” I asked, my voice low.

At my voice the stranger stirred, lifting their chin up sharply the slightest bit. Though subtle, the sudden movement made me bristle on instinct. My mouth fell open as I tried to speak, but all and any words were lost in my throat. I didn’t even think about blinking. The cloaked stranger shifted in their spot, pushing a heavily bandaged arm out from within the cloak to point towards me.
I pulled back slightly in defense, not knowing what to make of being pointed at so directly. Like I was being accused of something…
The stranger flicked their pointed finger in my direction once more, this motion more casual, maybe almost impatient. I eyed the hand cautiously, trying to figure out what it meant. Following in the pointed direction, I realized the finger was pointing at an angle, towards my right arm.

That’s right; the Branding.

My left hand trailed my right forearm, recalling the sudden burden that weighed over me. Another thought dawned on me then, breaking through the confusion.
The cloaked stranger, the Branding, the water…

“…It was her, wasn’t it? The one that saved you the other day…”
She…

“You…you were the one that saved me that day, on the obstacle course.” I said, not really asking, but stating.
The stranger gave no confirmation or denial to what I was saying; she just lowered her arm back down. I couldn’t tell the actual gender of this stranger, not even from their stance or posture a few feet away; the thick dark cloak hid all that from me.
But to say she…it just seemed right.

“I ---I just wanted to say thanks…I really owe you one.” I said awkwardly. “…uh, but…that’s not what you came to hear.”
She didn’t reply or react. So I went on rambling.
“Actually, I didn’t really expect to cross paths with you like this. I’m actually---”

A thought passed through the surface of my mind, freezing every muscle in my body with ideas of possibilities.
This…this may be it. The answer…the conclusion…
I inhaled through my teeth, my mind racing as I spoke.
“You’re a stranger, and you’ve helped me once. But I need your help again.”
The cloaked stranger didn’t move at first, as if to be studying me and my demeanor. I could literally feel her eyes, taking me in with an even and cal gaze. But then she shifted, squaring her shoulders in a relaxed but prepared stance.
She was not objecting. I continued.
“It doesn’t sound right, I know that. And I hate to admit it, but I’m really stuck.” I added hastily.
I breathed out in a huff, my mind racing.
“Please…help me save my friend. Save she-conscience.”

The stranger raised their chin up the slightest bit, the edge in her stance slacking a bit. It seemed as if I had surprised her with this request. I watched her, silently begging…

The stranger moved, this time taking a step towards me. From her cloak, she pushed her hand out once more and then slowly and gingerly, strethced her bandaged fingers forward---

“I told you I will find her.”

I froze and the stranger whipped around as she stepped aside. Her cloak snapped around from the sudden motion, twisting gracefully in the water.

I didn’t have time to react as Taeri shot forward from the dark, swinging a blade down into the stranger’s heart----