New World

I was six when I met it at first. It was so much bigger than me, and was scaly but smooth and warm, unlike the snakes in Konoha's zoo. It was nice to me, much nicer than any of my family had been. It was my only friend for a long time. But then it was gone. I cried for days, months, but somehow no one noticed. Or maybe they didn't care. So eventually I stopped and decided it wouldn't want me to cry. Because it was still my friend but realized it had something to do and was too busy to tell me. Right? Right.

Ten years passed and I still remembered it as it was before it left; it's kindness that warmed me faster than any fire could. It taught me many things, but they interrupted my ninja training, therefore I was held back significantly with my family's technique. I could have been the best at it, maybe even better than cousin Neji. But because it was my friend and was really excited about teaching me, I neglected the gentle fist, even though I was good at it. Well, good enough anyway.

It taught me languages. All the languages it knew, and there were a lot. Different dialects, it had called them. It never told me what language it was, only describing it as his own and very ancient. I had 'oh'ed and accepted the proposition of learning. After all; he could speak my language, so I wanted to be able to speak with him in his own.

Eventually I somehow managed it, I learned all the dialects by age nine. There were only three, but they were all very, very different, it was like three completely different languages. It was really hard, but the happiness it felt upon hearing me fluently speak to it was worth it. Really, it was.

When it left, I kept studying the languages, making sure not to forget it. That was how I fell asleep most nights. Tonight, however, I had made several errors in the ninja training father had tasked me with. He made me do it several times over during the night before letting me go to bed three hours before the academy started. But I still practiced it's language. I craved it's presence, for it to comfort me like it did before. However, it could not. We were of two separate worlds, as he had told me. I opened my eyes with a frown. It would be nice if...

"Lein aav."

((Worlds unite))

--TIMESKIP--

I woke in a cart. I could tell by the way it bumped over rocks on a trail and the sound of horse hooves and wood squeaking on its nails. My hands were bound behind me and I was wearing my usual ninja gear. My kunai holster and shuriken pouch were gone. I spent a few minutes feigning sleep, listening for anything that could help me understand my surroundings, but there was nothing. Only the sound of birds that I did not recognize and muffled voices, too low spoken and far away to be heard.

Hesitantly, I managed to sit up, bracing myself on the edge of the cart and pushing myself upright with my feet. My eyes were assaulted by the sudden sunlight, and I scrunched my nose at the small headache it gave me.

"Oh, you're awake?" came a rough voice with an accent I hadn't heard before. I looked up to see a man, well built with long blonde hair looking back at me. He was in the same position, hands tied behind him and any weapons nowhere to be seen.

"You were caught trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." he said. I looked to where he gestured to see another man, skinnier, with dark, ratted locks of hair falling into his face before he blew them away.

"Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was fine and lazy." he spat, eyes narrowed in a hateful glare. "If they hadn't been looking for you, I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell." the man then turned to me.

"You there. You and me- we shouldn't be here. It's the Stormcloaks the Empire wants.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." the blonde man from before said. I watched their conversation while keeping an eye on the other blonde next to me. He was eerily quiet.