"Hurk," managed Sakura.
"Hnn," indicated Sasuke, leaning against a wall and waiting for the whole room-spinning-around sensation to fade.
"This is weird," said Naruto, tapping a section of wall as soon as he could move without staggering.
"Quid est?" asked Sakura. "Ubi? Ubi sumus?"
"Sakura? Is something wrong?" asked Naruto.
"Quid dicis fuit causa cur postularet?" asked Sakura, staring at Naruto.
"Possibly a lingering effect of what we just went through," decided Sasuke. "I'm still tasting dark gray."
"Oh," said Naruto. "That's probably why I keep getting the smell of burnt ginger."
Sasuke sniffed. "I don't smell anything, so probably."
Sakura stared at Sasuke for most of that, then looked back and forth at the two. "Non mauris."
"So," said Naruto, looking around. "Some kinda corridor?"
"Undefined light source, almost like the air itself was lit," said Sasuke. "Archways every so often. Supports? Markers? Which way?"
"Fatum," decided Sakura.
"I saw someone else falling with us," said Naruto. "At least I think I did. It was kind of confusing."
Sasuke made an agreeable noise before replying. "I saw as well. Most likely they were on the edge of the effect and got caught by it."
"Like the desk, those books, the eraser, and - I'm not sure whose clothes those are," stated Naruto, indicating the stuff strewn along the corridor.
"Huh," said Sasuke, checking the desk drawer for anything usable. A moment later he pointed. "Let's go this way."
"Why that way?" asked Naruto.
"Would you prefer this way?" asked Sasuke, pointing the other way.
"Uhm. No. Why are you being so friendly anyway?" asked Naruto.
"We're three, maybe four, people wandering in a strange place," said Sasuke. "You also haven't done anything stupid lately."
"Numquid non vidisti aut moenia?" asked Sakura, who had opened a book, turned it upside down and then sideways, before tossing it on the desk. She tapped a wall. "Hic lapis videtur, sed non est."
"There, there, Sakura-chan, it's all right," said Naruto. "I'm losing that smell."
"I'm not tasting gray anymore," said Sasuke, inspecting the wall that Sakura had tapped. "Huh. Up close this doesn't look like stone."
"Well, let's get going, we're not getting out just standing here," reasoned Naruto. "Shadow clone jutsu!"
"What are you doing?" asked Sasuke.
"Sending shadow clones to run down the corridor in both directions," said Naruto.
"Si tantum possem in te dicere," said Sakura. "How vere habeo de vobis, Sasuke-kun. This mirum effectum going on."
"Huh," said Naruto.
"That I love you so much I spy on you at odd hours, keep a poster of you over my bed," said Sakura. "That I think of you as... why are you looking at me like that?"
"We can understand you now," said Sasuke, sounding fairly irritated.
The three of them stopped when they reached the rift in the wall.
"Someone's following us," said Naruto.
"Our mysterious fourth," said Sasuke.
"Guys," said Sakura, stepping away from the large crack in the wall, "you need to see this for yourselves."
"What are you... ah," said Sasuke as he took the same place. "I see."
Naruto waited until Sasuke had stepped away and then took his own place at the crack to look in. "Stars?"
"And planets, and at least one comet, and clouds of some kind," said Sasuke. "So, this place is Between."
"Between what?" asked Naruto, still looking.
"Between everything," said Sasuke. "A set of worlds like a string of pearls? That shouldn't be possible, much less moving in some complicated orbit."
"Is that singing?" asked Naruto.
"I didn't hear anything," said Sakura, moving closer to listen.
"It - almost -" said Naruto before collapsing.
"Okay, that's not a good sign," said Sasuke. He glanced to the side. "You're not one of Naruto's clones. You can come out from behind that arch."
A shadow moved out, revealing:
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(Posted Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:19)
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