Spluttering to the surface (with great difficulty), I blink rapidly to try to clear my vision of the dark water. Something already seems off... The water has a blackish tint to it. Not wanting to waste any time finding out why I tug on Jack's tattered black coat a bit and begin swimming toward the nearest possible shore I can find. He quickly passes me up, but pauses every so often until I catch up with him.

A deep, shuttering cough racks my lungs the moment I collapse on dry land once more.

"I never realized how incredibly vulnerable mortals are~" he comments absent-mindedly as he merely wrings some water from his coat tails and looks around.

I manage to growl at him in annoyance and fight the urge to flip him off. My body continues to shake uncontrollably and my teeth chatter loudly.

"You there! Swimming is strictly forbidden here!" A deep voice bellows.

Jack swiftly steps in front of me and smiles kindly as a rather gruff, burly man steps out from beneath the cover of the mostly-dead trees that surrounded the lake.

"My deepest apologies sir. This young girl here fell in merely by accident and I just saved her life," Jack lies easily, his voice sounding completely and utterly sincere.

The man looks over the staggeringly tall skeleton and decides not to question him any further. Instead, his eyes focus in on me.

"And what nationality are you miss? I don't believe that hair color is even indigenous to this planet, let alone this dimension. If you're one of those protestors I swear to Talli that your pretty little head won't be attached to your shoulders much longer," the man spits out menacingly, already brandishing an ax.

My voice seems to freeze with my thoughts as I stare up at the man dumbly.

"Answer me girl!" he commands harshly.

Jack suddenly steps forward and puts a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Perhaps she doesn't speak because she can't? There are children born without functional vocal chords you know," he suggests, shaking his head pitifully as he glances at me, throwing me a wink that only I can see.

The man looks slightly taken aback and steps back uncomfortably. His eyes zero in on me. For a moment, it even feels like he's undressing me with his eyes. I shiver violently and look away bashfully.

"Whatever the case may be, you two are still coming with me for questioning," he finally says, looking back up at Jack once he'd successfully "scanned" me.

An incredibly long (and disconcertingly silent) walk ensues. Jack has to insist that he'll carry me, saying that he couldn't possibly let me out of his care until he'd seen that I was healthy, just to avoid making it an even less pleasant experience for me.

'Kyuhyun... I know you don't know me, but I'm coming to save you from whatever horrible tortures the witch is subjecting you too...'