（ an impact, from such an impossible distance, should hurt.
he should be dead.
he is — and he isn't. he exists in some strange twilight between two impossible things, and now he is here. it is one more oddity in an experience rife with them, and he can hear a voice like sasuke's cut across his awareness, a shot across the bow. he knows it is not real, but knowing does not end the ache.
he hefts himself out of the water and stands atop it, the thrum of chakra beneath his feet buoying him up. the water is hot, and steam encircles him like a wreath. the faint illumination above, a halo of light, does little to cut the darkness, and after a moment he summons fire to one hand. it does not banish the darkness, instead distorting it. all he can tell is that the walls are close around him, and faint lines of air bubbles are beginning to rise to the surface of the water, popping when they make contact with the surface.
perhaps the path is clear, or perhaps it isn't.
but itachi pulls a knife and a long spool of wire from one pouch, loops the wire through the kunai's hilt and then after a moment's calculation, flings it upwards — intending to climb once it's anchored sufficiently. ）
no subject
he should be dead.
he is — and he isn't. he exists in some strange twilight between two impossible things, and now he is here. it is one more oddity in an experience rife with them, and he can hear a voice like sasuke's cut across his awareness, a shot across the bow. he knows it is not real, but knowing does not end the ache.
he hefts himself out of the water and stands atop it, the thrum of chakra beneath his feet buoying him up. the water is hot, and steam encircles him like a wreath. the faint illumination above, a halo of light, does little to cut the darkness, and after a moment he summons fire to one hand. it does not banish the darkness, instead distorting it. all he can tell is that the walls are close around him, and faint lines of air bubbles are beginning to rise to the surface of the water, popping when they make contact with the surface.
perhaps the path is clear, or perhaps it isn't.
but itachi pulls a knife and a long spool of wire from one pouch, loops the wire through the kunai's hilt and then after a moment's calculation, flings it upwards — intending to climb once it's anchored sufficiently. ）