As Ichigo regains her consciousness once again, she finds herself in a vast hilly field. On her foot are rail tracks that seems to go on way beyond what her eyes could see. She hears a loud whistling from behind, she looks back and she sees Thomas the Tank Engine moving towards her at full speed.
He's coming for her! And he knows it. He'll kill her if she doesn't get out of his way! So, she does exactly what any sane person would do when facing an unstoppable monster with no escape route: she runs.
She runs as fast as she can without falling over. The whistle is growing louder; closer now she can feel its heat. It burns against her skin. She has no choice but to run faster, but her heart won't stop pounding. Her lungs scream, every inch of her body feels like it hurts, her feet ache and her hands shake as they try their best to grasp onto something, anything to hold on to while running away from death. The train draws closer and there is nothing to be done!
She reaches down and pulls up one of the railroad ties with as much strength as she can muster. The moment she grabs hold of it, she turns around and sprints, hoping and praying that maybe, just maybe this will slow Thomas down enough so she can make it out of this hell hole.
The whistle sounds right above her, getting closer and closer until all she can hear are footsteps pounding against the ground behind her. When her ears begin to ring, she looks up and sees the approaching train. Its wheels screech against each other and then it hits her hard.
She tumbles backwards and rolls along the ground for about ten yards or so before finally stopping. She lays there panting, trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of her lungs when she hit the ground. She looks around to try and find her way back home, but everything is covered in a deep black.
She gets up and staggers to the edge of the road where the rails end. Looking down, she can only see darkness. She calls out into the abyss and listens as her voice echoes back.
"Mommy? Daddy?"
After what seemed like eternity, she starts walking along the side of the track. There's no way to know which way is east because the sun never rises high enough and she can barely even see two feet in front of her.
Finally, she makes her way to some sort of light. At first, it looks like the sun has risen and she thinks she'll have no problem making it out if she walks straight ahead. But suddenly, the sky is filled with smoke from somewhere behind her. She whirls around, her heart in her throat. It's too late though, whatever she did was already done. She can only see a flash of a metal arm swinging downwards. Before she knows it, the world goes dark.
When she awakens, it' s still pitch black, her head is throbbing and she can barely open her eyes. Everything is spinning. She tries to sit up, but her legs refuse to cooperate and she falls back onto the ground with a loud thud. Then something soft touches her cheek. Something warm. She slowly opens her eyes and takes in the surroundings; the darkness, the smell of sweat and dirt.
It's still night time, yet someone is here with her. She lifts her head off the cold ground to take another look and sees it's the same blonde girl who fell asleep with her, the one from earlier today. She isn't sure if she should touch her or not. She settles for putting her hand on her shoulder, the girl shifts ever so slightly. As soon as her hand makes contact with her shoulder, she jumps awake.
"Oh my god!" she shrieks in terror, jumping to her feet, almost knocking Ichigo to the floor. "What the heck?! Are you okay?!" she shouts frantically. Ichigo looks at her, confused by her outburst, then she notices how scared she actually looked. She quickly realizes that she hadn't seen her this scared since...she really couldn't remember when.
Before she could respond she heard the sound of thunder, it grew louder as lightning began to strike.
"I'm sorry." the girl says quietly. "You were screaming and you moved and I panicked and—" she rambles on. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I'm so so sorry! I didn't want to scare you and…well I just got excited and I was holding your arm so tight…"
She trails off and her cheeks turn pink. Her gaze is glued to the ground. It looks like she wants to say more but she keeps her mouth shut. Ichigo sits up, she's still shaking.
She doesn't know why she's shaking, except she's not alone anymore, she has someone with her now, someone who cares, someone who doesn't mind touching her. Someone who doesn't hate her. Who just happens to be human. Someone who also has fear in common with her.
She smiles softly.
"It's alright, I forgive you." she assures her gently. "Don't worry, you didn't hurt me. It's fine." she reassures her as well, she puts her hand on hers and gives her a reassuring squeeze. The girl looks up and meets her gaze, and Ichigo can read the sincerity in her eyes; she smiles back. They smile at one another until the blonde girl moves her hand, letting go of hers. Ichigo misses her warmth. She's glad the blonde girl is alright.
And then, a bolt of lighting strikes closeby, illuminating a small patch of the woods that surround them.
They both jump as the wind picks up. "We have to move if we're going to survive this."
Ichigo nods silently, she's not really sure what else to say. The blonde girl moves to stand up, Ichigo follows, standing and dusting herself off.
She stares out into the darkness.
It's very quiet, only a few birds are singing. A breeze moves through the trees but nothing else.
She wonders if anyone else is alive out here. If any survivors are hiding in these woods; if she is the last one who's left. She wonders if she'll ever meet others like her. People like her. Like the people she saw in the future. People like her friends from Earth.
A sudden crash of a tree falling behind her catches her attention. She immediately glances back and sees a giant shadow looming over them. The blonde girl flinches.
"It's not gonna attack us. Just leave, alright?"
The girl nods and scurries away, and Ichigo stands alone. She looks forward, staring into the darkness with determination written across her face. She holds out her hand and calls up flames and lights them. With a determined expression, she walks forward into the unknown.
The next thing she knows, she's waking up.
She gasps and wakes up, sitting upright in bed. Tears gather in her eyes. She can't breathe. All she can hear is the sound of her breath. The sound of her own breathing. The sound of her tears hitting the mattress. She wipes them away hastily. She can't let herself cry. She has to stay strong.
She forces herself to calm down. She reminds herself