Into the Rabbit Hole Much? [Gen, or Invite]

Freedom. 'Is it mine, yet? Have I run far enough?'

Fear. 'Will they find me? What will happen to me if they do?'

Determination. 'I won't let them take me back! I won't go back to that hell hole!'

Yearning. 'Where are you brother? Are you still alive?

Exhaustion. 'I can't run anymore, but I still don't feel safe...'

Sui had been running forever, or it sure did seem like it. She had lost track of time; seconds, minutes, hours, days? They meant nothing to her. Nothing did anymore. Nothing except freedom. Freedom and her brother, Gen. She had to find him! He had to still be alive! He had never joined her in that hellish place, she never witnessed the same horrible things happening to him that happened to her! He had to be alive, he just had to! She could still remember all of that time ago how angry her captors were; their friend had been slain and the one who had killed him had not been captured.

'This means he has to be alive, right?'

Sui's heart pounded in her ears, her adrenaline rushing and drowning out all other sounds around her. She had reached the village of Fubukigakure: signs welcoming her as if she were a friend granting her that much information. But, she didn't know the people around her, she didn't know any of them. Her eyes were peeled back wide in fear as she stumbled and ran her way through the market; all the while thinking that her slavers could be right behind her.

As the scent of freshly baked bread reached her senses her stomach let out a roar. 'How long has it been since I last ate?' She couldn't remember. This thought caused her to come up short and almost barrel into a male individual who was in front of her. She jumped back in a skittish fashion, attempting at all costs to keep herself from touching him, or more accurately from him touching her. Perhaps it was her exhaustion and slowed reflexes, or perhaps it was just because she tripped on the back of the cloak she had stolen, but she went toppling backwards and fell onto her butt with a ”Oomph!”, of a sound escaping her, throwing out her hands to save herself only to end up scratching the palms of both of them enough to break the skin.

The man she had been about to barrel into turned upon realizing that she had fell and reached out a hand, obviously in an attempt to help her up: or at least that would have likely been what a normal person would have seen. Sui wasn't normal, she never would be again. Seeing the man reach towards her she let out a blood curdling scream, practically tripping over herself as she attempted to scoot herself backwards and as far away from the man as she could. ”DON'T TOUCH ME!” As she screamed and kept trying to scoot backwards the tugging on her cloak as she went caused the hood to fall back, revealing white hair and rather long white rabbit ears. The man stared at her shocked and startled, but with his hand still sticking out.

Noise... loud noise. Why was there noise? This was wrong noise; it didn't fit the market, it didn't fit the village. At least, it wasn't a sound he was told was normal for the market. He was rarely here. He was rarely allowed out on his own. His knowledge of the village was academic at best. He was only out because he was supposed to be meeting with the ninja that was his 'teacher'. A handler, obvious; no one in charge trusted him, and he didn't much care. He couldn't be bothered to care. He was... lackadaisical at best over the entire thing. There was no reason to care that he was being used. It was better than dying alone in the woods.

"”DON'T TOUCH ME!”"

That... didn't sound good.

For a split moment, his curiosity peaked; so he went to investigate. It wasn't like he was far away, around the corner, really. A few moments of walking and he was there, ducking around a gathering crowd to see what was going on.

Where those...?

No.

No.

No.

NO.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONO.

Suddenly the world was turning red and his chest was heaving like a rabid beast in a rage. The skies above where turning dark almost instantly, the howling wind turning into a gale so cold that it was leaving trails of ice from the corners of roofs and buildings. The wind was so cold and strong that it was defying gravity as it left the ice behind.

Sui.

SUi.

SUI.

NONONONONONONOSUINONONONONOSUINO.

It had to be Sui. It had to be Sui. It had to be Sui.

Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui. Sui.

His breath was like icy mist, his skin turning so pale it blended with the snow around them. His inner power was breaking free, fueled by his insane rage. He always responded this way when something reminded him of Sui. He basically exploded from the crowd and to the fallen girl; all but diving in front of her and hissing like an angry rabbit at the person that was trying to help. In his hand a shard of ice was growing; this was the same thing that had happened the day everything ended. Only, this time he was in control; the training he'd been given saw to that. No amount of psychotic rage could fully cloud his mind anymore, but that didn't mean he was stable.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SUI!"

'Holy fucks what was that moving so fast towards her and where the hell did this sudden storm come from?

It took her not even a full second – less time then it would take to blink an eye – before her attention focused onto Gen and stuck there. Even though his back was to her, even though he was facing the man who she had tripped over herself to avoid, she could tell it was him. The hair, the ears, the scent... this was Gen. This was her Gen.

If she needed anymore conformation then his demand of “GET AWAY FROM MY SUI” certainly did the trick. This was her brother, it had to be! And yet, she couldn't bring herself to believe it fully. She couldn't believe she was this lucky to find him so soon. To find him in one piece. To find him safe. No, this had to be her eyes playing a trick on her, she was sure of it. Sui was afraid to find out, and yet needed to all at the same time.

So, she leaned forward, hesitantly reaching out while she watched Gen begin to form what looked like a weapon made out of ice in his hand. She felt as if she were in a tunnel as she moved, she could focus on nothing else and time itself seemed to move so slowly. She kept reaching out until her hand hit the solid surface of her brother, touching him gently, and yet touching him all the same. It was him. He was here. He was solid and real and not a figment of her imagination, a product of her mind in its attempt to save it from cannibalizing itself.

”GEN! It is you... it's you! It's really you!” Tears began to flow down the female's cheeks like a dam that had finally burst. Her cheeks tinted pink as they often did when she cried, and her nose turned a rose color. She hadn't allowed herself to cry in so long that now she had started she felt like she would never stop. ”Brother!” She reached out with both hands now towards her brother, wanting to hold him, wanting to cling to him and never let go, never risk losing him again.

”GEN! It is you... it's you! It's really you!”

Sui's voice... Sui's voice... It was so real... So very real. It hurt so much to remember her voice like that. His hissing grew louder, weight shifting across his center of gravity to allow for a lunge toward the now terrified adult. He didn't care that the poor guy was just trying to be helpful, he didn't care that he was a civilian and no threat.

Sui.

Sui.

Sui.

Protect Sui.

Save Sui.

Sui.

Sui.

Sui...

The mantra was loud in his mind. So very loud. It pushed him harder, flared his anger more. He had to protect her. He had to protect the memory of her. He had to protect the idea of her. She was all he had left.

And then there was a solid, blazing hot hand touching him. A real, solid, living hand.

"Sui...?" His voice was breaking, the anger and rage and psychosis draining for one solid moment of perfect, crystal clarity. How...? How was she...?

"Sui... you're alive...?"

The blizzard shattered in the moment he was turning toward her again; the ice surrounding his hand melting into nothing. His expression was horrified and terrified and scared and guardedly hopeful.

"Sui... Sui... You're alive...?"

In that moment when he reached for her, wanting to feel her for himself, a masked ANBU appeared behind him. "Down, Rabbit."

A simple phrase, a simple trigger. Hidden by his robes; a seal over his heart; one that shuts his chakra network down and sealed his physical strength to little more than a civilian's. He hit his knees from pure shock; it wasn't painful per say, but triggering the seal used to control him almost always caused some sort of odd reaction. Numbness in his limbs from the sudden loss of chakra, dizziness, etc.

"S-Sui... Sui..."

He was still reaching for her when the ANBU struck him, a flat hand to the side of his neck rendering him unconscious and a crumpled heap on the floor. "Girl. Come with me."

Her brother. He was real. He was solid. He was here. The words kept repeating themselves in her mind over and over again as happiness the likes of which she hadn't felt in over three years sprung up in her and overflowed – something that only furthered the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. A smile threatened to break the surface of her facial features as her brother turned towards her, speaking her name, trying to reach for her.

And then the world shattered around her and everything became crystal clear as her tunnel vision broke. Someone arrived and a simple command that could have been aimed at either of them considering their ears caused her brother to drop instantly to his knees. And yet he still reached for her... until he was struck unconscious by the same individual before the individual told her to come with him.

Happiness instantly turned to anger and the world showed it: her own inner violence stirred up vicious winds; the snow on the ground being picked up by this wind that began to swirl around the area like a tornado. “MY BROTHER! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM! YOU MONSTER! LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!”, Sui screamed at the top of her lungs. She no longer cared about anyone who was around her. She no longer was afraid of being hurt again. No, now all she wanted to do was to protect her brother, to keep them from being separated.

She launched herself at her brother, the cloak all but coming free of her and revealing what had been hidden beneath it's folds: she was dressed poorly, in nothing more than rags, with bruises in the shape of hand prints on her, purple marks around her ankles and wrists, and a collar around her neck, and good lord knew what else the rags actually kept hidden from view.

Unless she was stopped by some means Sui would practically throw herself onto Gen, protectively. “Gen! Nonono! What did he do to you? Wake up, Gen. Nonono. I can't lose you again. I can't. I can't! I CAN'T!” She felt like her grip on reality was slipping away, as if she were losing control of herself once more, and she didn't want to do that: she didn't want to lose her brother. She didn't want to lose her Gen. ”WAKE HIM UP! WAKE UP MY BROTHER! WAKE UP GEN!”, she screamed.

"Peace, child. He is merely unconscious." The ANBU didn't so much as twitch over the threats and demands; he was older and well trained; a small child covered in bruises and dirt was nothing against him. He was one of Gen's normal handlers, so he knew a little bit about the boy. Enough to recognize the name Sui as being the name of Gen's sister; the only person he'd ever spoken about.

Given the state she was in, he deduced that she had escaped from a slaver camp; which would make sense if she really was Gen's sister. It was standing policy to take any escaped slaves straight to quarantine, most of them harbored some sort of illness or parasite that could ravage the city if left unchecked. "Come with me peaceably, or I will be forced to treat you the same as the boy."

Sui stared down at her brother for several moments; he was breathing, he was alive. Apparently the ANBU was telling the truth. Her brother was indeed merely unconscious. When would he wake up though? Would she be able to see him when he did? Would he be allowed to see her? There were too many questions for the girl to fully separate one from another right now. Besides, there was still another matter: once more this ANBU spoke of her coming with him.

Go where though? Go back to where she came from? Go back to that hell? She would rather die then face that. She knew her fate would be so much worse if those slavers ever got their hands on her again. And yet... this ANBU had in one move knocked her brother unconscious, so it wasn't really like she stood a chance. Perhaps it was better for her to just go along and see where the fates would take her. Only the fates knew what would happen to her if she resisted.

So, Sui sniffled once and then twice, and reached up slowly with shaky hands to wipe away at the tears flowing down her cheeks. “O..okay.”, she stuttered out as she stood up, wrapping her arms around herself. ”What about Gen?” So many questions phrased in just one. Would she even get an answer? Her ice blue colored gaze switched from her brother to the ANBU as she waited to see if she would even be answered in the first place.

"You are an escaped slave. You will go to the hospital with the rest of them. We do not return them to the camps. We treat them, and take them home, if possible. Otherwise, we find somewhere for them to be... useful." He picked Gen up by the collar of his shirt and threw him over a shoulder, a classic fireman's hold. Effective for keeping the unconscious boy from being hurt as they traveled. He was going back in his cage; after that display there was no choice in the matter.

"He will be fine. The seal does not hurt him, and he will suffer no ill effects from being unconscious. Now, this is your last chance to come willingly. Will you, or must I force you?"

Sui listened to the ANBU speak, explaining that she was going to be taken to the hospital, that she wouldn't be returned to the camps. She would either be taken back home – which she didn't have anymore – or they would find some place useful for her. Was this why her brother was in the village? To be useful? Would she get to stay here? She didn't dare ask the question out loud, mainly because she was scared of what the answer might be.

She watched the ANBU pick up her brother and then she nodded to his question. “I'll come with you.”, she answered simply. So long as she wasn't going to be returned to the camps she could deal: or so that's what she mentally told herself. She had no intentions of putting up a fight: she knew better then to think she could win.

"Good, good." He simply reached over and touched her arm; and they where gone. In an instant they where in the lobby of the ANBU medical clinic; deep in the heart of the village and even deeper underground. The entire ANBU complex was in a large cave system separate from the rest of the village caves, with only a single access point that only ANBU and high ranking Jounin officials knew about. The medical clinic was as good as, if not better than, the village hospital. It had to be, given the nature of ANBU work they couldn't well go to the main facility.

In seconds they where surrounded by medic ninja and more ANBU guards; two taking Gen from the original while a third, wearing the badge of an ANBU captain, appearing for a quick debrief. "His seal was triggered."

"Incident in the market. Nearly killed a civilian. This girl was the cause. She claims to be his sister."

"That... make no sense."

"Exactly what I thought. She's an escaped slave, so she needs medical treatment. The boy seemed to recognize her, he nearly went insane trying to protect her."

"Wonderful. Treat her, wake him up. I will speak to them both when she's cleared and he's conscious."

It took every ounce of self control that Sui had left in her not to flinch when the ANBU touched her and transported them to... well, where ever it happened to be that they were: Sui was clueless save for the fact that there were more ANBU there. As it was, Sui didn't flinch, but goosebumps covered every inch of exposed skin in reaction to being touched.

However, all of that was out of her mind as she watched several people arrive; two of which took her brother. Her gaze remained glued to her brother as if no one else in the world existed – at least until he was out of sight. That was when her attention changed back to the ANBU who had brought her here; curiosity showed in the way her ears perked up, though fear still showed clearly in her eyes.

Sui didn't argue or resist as she was then led to a medical exam room and told to sit on the cushioned table. She kept silent throughout the entire exam as every inch of her body was looked at; inside and out. She kept as still as she could through the whole thing, but her body trembled in fear regardless. As the exam progressed several things would become clear to the examiner: she had been a victim of sexual assault, she had two broken ribs on her left side, the purple marks along her wrists and ankles were bruises caused by restraints. There were old scars on her back that were obviously whip marks, and various bruises and hand prints along her body. On the top of her head was a slight dent in her skull that had healed: it's shape was slight jagged, as if it were made from a rock or boulder that had smashed her in the head. Outside of the physical marks though she was completely healthy: free of all diseases, though slightly malnourished.

After the physical exam was over Sui was given fresh clothing and a chance to wash up: blue in color, and easily compared to medical scrubs. Sui was left alone long enough to wash and change before she was rejoined to be questioned; though this was obviously to take place in another room as she was led out of the first and into a second – a chair she was to sit in indicated.

Sui sat gingerly; something about being clean and warmly clothed was making her feel lethargic, but she fought it off the best she could. “My brother and I were out of the house when a trader we had seen the year before came by. We... we didn't really think anything of it. Next thing we knew he was there and he was attacking me. He took this large rock and bashed me on the head with it. I don't know what happened after that... I just remember waking up tied down. There was someone standing over me and their hands were glowing.. it was like a greenish white color. I remember it scared me, but there was nothing I could do to stop him. I couldn't even see his face because he wore a mask.”

Sui brought her knees up to her chest at that point, wrapping her arms around them and hugging herself before continuing, ”Whatever he did made my head feel better. They... did things to me after that. They always did.. and then the people who had me sold me to another group. They kept moving so they couldn't be found, they were real paranoid. I kept wishing I wasn't there, and after a while I stopped being there. I mean... my body was there, but it was like I became locked in my own head. I was safe there, I was with Gen in my head. Sometimes I came out of that place, and back into the real world. It was horrible. They kept us clean, they said they didn't want us sick. But, they only fed us enough to keep us alive; or so they claimed. Some of us.. some of us died. They wanted us alive but weak. After a while they stopped keeping me as locked down as the rest; I heard them talking sometimes, they said my mind was broken, that I couldn't even think for myself anymore to escape... Sometimes they were right. But then I exited my mind once more and found my chance... I ran away. I kept running... and then I saw Gen.... I want my brother.”, the last words were spoken on a sob. She was fighting hard not to retreat back into her mind mind, not to become damn near comatose again, but it was hard when her emotions ran high like they were.

Word count: 2,522

The only reason the building wasn't covered in ice and blood was his psychosis. Gen had long ago come to terms with the insanity and broken world he lived in. His own mind was no better; he didn't trust what he saw, what he remembered. That was why he hadn't exploded again. He'd come to in his ' room ', the cage they kept him in for the safety of the village and is people. He'd come too perfectly calm and subdued, enough so that his handlers walked him out and back to the medical clinic. There was little doubt about who the girl was once they where sure her ears where real, and while most saw Gen ad little more than a weapon and tool, a few captains where sympathetic, enough so to let him see her again.

"Inside, boy. Behave, and you'll have 10 minutes to see her. "

"...."

He opened the door and Gen walked passed, blankly staying ahead until he saw Sui there.

Alive.

Real.

The handlers saw her. They responded to her. She was real. His memories weren't wrong.

"Sui...?"

Why... Why was his face wet?

"Sui...!?"

He came alive for the moment; he didn't care if this was some elaborate trick. He'd let himself believe for now, deal with the reality later. Launching across the room, he was all but tackling her and screaming for pure joy.

" Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui!"

Sui's head turned as she heard a door open, ice blue colored eyes searching for one and only one person: Gen. She wanted to launch herself across the room to him, to react the same way he was to her – but she was too weak, too tired. Instead, she simply opened up her arms, a smile slowly spreading across her face as tears began to stream down her cheeks. When he reached her her arms closed around him, hugging him tightly and not caring if he ended up tackling the both of them to the floor. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing except to have her brother back, to know that he was real and not another dream or another case of her brain creating him as a means to protect itself.

She didn't know how long she had her brother for, but she hoped it was forever. She kept hugging him tightly, not wanting to let go, afraid that if she did he would disappear. All of the fear, all of the sadness that she had been feeling was gone from her; pure happiness remained and a calmness spread from the young female like an infectious plague.

As she kept her grip on her brother she looked over his shoulder to a wall that had several posters hanging from it: they were wanted posters, and had on them the more well known criminals who were highly ranked and extremely dangerous – the famous ones. She would have over looked them, glanced at them and otherwise ignored them, but a single face stood out in front of her: it was a face she knew all too well. ”That's... that's the man whose hands were glowing. He's the one who travels around with the people who had me. He wears a mask most of the time, but he took it off when he...”, she paused, glanced towards her brother, and then just kept hugging him. She didn't want her brother to know the horrible things that had happened to her, she didn't want him to react as he had in the market and then end up being taken away. ”... when he hurt me. I know where they are... He keeps the traffickers safe and in exchange they give him things. Normally they kept us away from him, but they thought I was so far gone they didn't care... I watched him while he trained, I learned things that way... he makes wind do terrifying things...”” And then she broke off, staring without blinking at the people while her mind churned over the image. She knew the patterns of the group: they stayed in one place exactly five days. She had run away just two days ago. If they kept to pattern then they would still be there for another three days. She also knew the general direction she had come from: she had gone as straight as possible by using the stars and the position of the sun and moon just as she had been taught as a child. She also could remember landmarks, ones that stood out.

If she told them where this man was and they found him she wondered if she would be rewarded like it said on the poster... she didn't want money, she wanted her brother: even if she had to stay where he stayed.

"So."

"She's weak, broken, but she'll heal; physically anyway. Mentally... they're both wrecks. Given what we know about them both..."

"It's a bloody miracle that they're not vegetables in the psych ward, I know. Can she be useful?"

"She's his twin sister. The chances of her having the same, if not similar powers, is almost a guarantee. Whether or not we can use that power is unknown. If anything... we can use her to keep the boy tame."

"Does she have any information about the slavers?"

"Unknown. We've only just finished the physical exams. No one's gotten that far yet."

"Of course not. I'm going in. Double the guards at the door."

"Yes sir!"

------

Gen was clinging with all his might; and that was saying something given he was rest, fed, and healthy; so much more so than she was. He wasn't even making words anymore; he'd long since torn his vocal chords to shreds crying out her name and sobbing. His mind was locked on repeat, her name over and over and over into infinity. Even once she started speaking, he couldn't focus properly. Just the sound of her voice was enough, more then enough. Her warmth, her voice, she was alive. She was alive.

The pain of knowing he'd left her behind would hit later.

Right now, she was alive and that was all that mattered to him.

He was going to keep it that way.

When the door opened again, he was moving on instinct alone; rolling his weight to put him between her and whomever was entering the room. A rabid hissing left his throat, the last sound he could make; warning and wary and desperate. He wouldn't leave her again. Not again. Never again.

"Peace, boy. I merely wish to talk. I won't take your sister away."

The captain from before. The sympathetic one. He was kind to Gen. He made sure Gen was fed daily, he made sure Gen saw the sun every so often. A good man; dutiful, strict, but fair.

The hissing calmed, and his body language changed. It was no longer rage, merely... primal fear and desire. Fear of losing Sui again. Desire to protect and keep what was his. His only. The only thing that mattered to him was her.

"Child, you are truly this boy's sister.  I must admit to being slightly amazed, from what he told us when he was first found, you shouldn't be alive. From the report our scout made, his story was corroborated. I'd like to hear what of your story you are willing to share. Understand, I am a patient man. I was one of those that worked with your brother when his first arrived, and that took a...  very long time."

By this point, Gen was settling down, moving to sit beside his sister instead of clinging to her. The seal over his heart was still partially active, leaving him easily tired and far weaker than normal; it had a safety measure built in that caused it to slowly unlock, so that his chakra wouldn't flood back all at once and overwhelm his control to the point that he lost it. He tugged on Sui's arm, motioning for her to sit with him; it would be more comfortable than being stuck against a wall, or standing. The floor was cool, but not cold, it was nice really. Once she was settled, he essentially tuned the world out, focusing on her hair and starting to braid it like he used too; humming a little out of tune song he barely remembered, but that he used to make all the time when he was content. Childhood habits, never really lost, buried deep in a fractured mind.

Sui's words had long broken off into babbling when the door was opened; only the shifting of her brother and the hissing noise coming from him causing her to lift her head from her brother's shoulder so she could see what was going on. Someone else had entered the room, and their words seemed to calm Gen into not acting as protective as he had been – did her brother fear losing her as much as she feared losing him? It sure seemed so: he had more strength to show it though, where as she was barely standing at this point.

When her brother released her and sat down, tugging on her arm, she glanced down at him and then sat too. Since her arms were no longer wrapped around her twin they wrapped around herself: it was an instinctive action at best, honed over the years from having to protect herself against the slavers lashing out for sometimes no reason at all: protect the vital organs, bones and muscles would heal but vital organs caused the most pain and the most issue of damaged.

But, she didn't focus on that, and instead focused on the voice of the one who had entered. She thought over her 'story', over what had happened to her, and mentally picked out the pieces she was willing to mention while shoving the darker, seedier ones off into the back of her mind. Slowly she moved her left arm, unwrapping it from herself, and pointed towards the picture on the wall she had spoken of moments before: indicating the missing-nin whose face was on the poster. “That man saved me. He did something.. I can't remember what he called it.. but he healed my head by making his hands glow this strange greenish white color. He travels with the slavers: he keeps them safe and in exchange they give him things.” She paused in speaking, lowered her arm, and wrapped it back around herself protectively. The feel of her brother braiding her hair was comforting: it allowed her to remain calm instead of shaking in fear like she would have been having to tell this story again otherwise. “I heard him talking when I came to, he said that I interested him. He wanted me for his own. The slavers wouldn't allow it, they said I was worth too much money. As soon as I was healthy enough they sold me to another group. Three days later that man on the wall found that group, and began to travel with them. He wore a mask the majority of the time, but he would take it off around me because he thought I was too mentally broken to be of any danger to him: I heard him talk about it, muttering to himself most nights.”

And here Sui chose to choose her words carefully, pausing and thinking them over before continuing – not because she was about to lie, but because from what little she had seen of her brother it had become obvious that he had a bit of a short fuse, and she didn't want him to act the way he had back in the market and get taken away again. “When I wasn't of use to the slavers that man kept me with him. He would often train in front of me without thinking: it was how I picked some of it up. After about six months of being with this new group he began to hurt me: he was trying to bring me out of my own mind. At first he made me see things... horrible things that I couldn't block out, but that no one else seemed to see. It scared me at first, but I soon learned how to block it out: if I went into my mind and shut out the world I could shut out what he was doing to me. When he stopped being able to harm my mind he became even more.. interested... in me. He started to try and teach me things: but I refused to show him I was learning. He would beat me for it. But, I refused to do what he wanted... something deep down told me that if I showed him what I could do just by watching him that he would use it... and he was so evil, I knew deep down that no good use would come out of it.”

“Around the time I was with the group for two years was when they started to be lax with me. I was in my own mind most of the time; using it to block out what was happening around me and being done too me. I didn't try and escape like the others, and I wasn't lucid. I knew what was happening, but I kept safe in my mind and it allowed me never to react. They thought me docile, broken: I heard them say it like that. So while the others were kept blind folded when we traveled, and locked up when not of use, I wasn't. I was often left to travel beside that masked man, at the front of the group. It allowed me to realize the pattern they moved in. Always the same seven places, and always staying in those places for five days – no more and no less – before moving on. Even if one of the slaves escaped they never moved: they thought they were safe. The slavers thought that that masked man could keep them safe even if someone did find them. They fed us only every three days, and gave us just enough water to keep us alive but always thirsty. I suppose it was their way of keeping us to weak to fight back; especially when there were more slaves then them.”

She took a deep breath, on a roll too much to stop, and yet nearing the end of her story all the same. “We moved to a new place the night I escaped. Like I said, I wasn't restrained like the other slaves, I was given freedom because the majority of the time I was so stuck in my own head I couldn't physically do anything. That first night there I snapped out of it though; everyone was asleep, and the masked man who normally watched me was off in the tent with the slaves: I could hear him. I used the distraction to escape. I remembered how when I was little I was always taught to use the sun and the moon to travel; especially to stay on the same path. That's what I did. I ran in as straight of a line as I could. I came across a lake with an iceberg floating it in that was the shape of a woman with a fish tail only about two hours into my escape; that was the only time I had to move in anything but a straight line because I couldn't risk running across it in case I fell in. But, I used a point across the lake as my way point so that I knew when I got there to keep going straight. A day and a half later, and here I am... they'll still be there. They never leave when a slave escapes. They'll be there for another three days...”

She fell silent then, brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and then rested her chin on them: still staring at the man she had just told her story to while in the back of her mind focusing on the fact that her brother was so close: that he was safe, alive, and here. It all had her emotions confused, and running rampant. But, despite all of this she was completely one hundred percent lucid and well aware of who was around her and what they were doing. It was a strange change compared to how she had lived inside of her mind the majority of the past three years. Different, yet nice. ”That masked man is scary... when a slave got too willful he or she was often given to that masked man so that he could... dispose... of them. He would use them as living targets to practice on. I was always there, I had to watch because I knew that if I looked away he would realize I was lucid and then he would focus his attention on me. I didn't want that. So I watched. His favorite way of hurting people was to trap them inside of a bubble of air... but there was no air actually in the bubble. I would watch them suffocate... sometimes he would allow them a bit of air just to take it away again.” She suddenly fell silent, goosebumps rising over her skin. She had reached her comfort point: she couldn't go on with her story anymore, at least not in that moment.