A faint buzzing sounded in her ears as Samaya came to, her head pounding as if she had a very bad migraine and hadn't taken her pills. No, it was worse than that. Which she had never thought was even possible.

“Ugh!” She groaned as she sat up, clutching her head tightly as the pounding intensified. She shook her head and immediately had to clench her teeth against the onslaught of intensified pain. Bending a knee, she rested her head against it, letting herself adjust for a moment.

Usually, she would never be so careless. But her entire body felt like lead. Sluggish and unable to move an inch. She could not even feel her legs. She closed her eyes and instinctively pressed a few points at the base of her head before massaging her forehead. Letting out a shaky breath as the headache started to reduce, she slumped, relaxing ever so slightly.

"Whatchwe 'ave 'ere?" A sleazy voice grated against her ears. She groaned. Of course. Of fucking course she would not have a moment of peace.

“Oi! … ya .… deaf?” Those were the only fragments of words she could understand. It was some bastardized version of the Mandarin dialect. She didn't understand the whole sentence. But the tone of it was clear that it did not bode well.

For them, that is.

She instinctively grabbed the hand that was reaching for her. It was clear they intended to grab her and pick her up. Maybe rape her or sell her somewhere. Pigs like these were abundant in the world.

She finally looked up, her hazel eyes dilated so much that they almost looked black. She must have had quite a murderous expression on her face, because they seemed quite startled. That startled expression soon twisted into one of condescending anger.

“Who... ya …. think… ya …. Bitch!” Huh. It seemed some curse words were universal.

She watched indifferently as the man raised his hand to slap her. The hand moved so, so very slowly. It seemed to take an eternity to reach her.

So annoying.

Almost leisurely, she raised her hand to grab the man’s wrist and then twisted it, breaking it with a resounding crack. A moment later the man’s scream echoed in the alley. She flinched and gritted her teeth as his scream felt like it slammed directly into her skull.

She grabbed his mouth to muffle his scream and slammed him against the wall. It was quite a strange sight. A petite girl was thrashing around a man thrice her size. But her small figure belied a huge amount of strength gained by physical and biological conditioning. Even in her weakened state, these street thugs were no match for her.

“Bitch!” She rolled her eyes. Seriously, did they not know any other cuss word?

She easily dodged the fist that was coming from behind her. She grabbed the following arm and used its momentum to flip him over onto the ground hard enough to knock his breath out. Usually, she would not be this rough with civilians - even if they were thugs - but now was not a moment where she could show restraint.

She looked back. Two down, two to go.

Two kicks, one punch, and two heads banged together…. And then she had four unconscious bodies beneath her. Well, three unconscious and one pretending to be. She shrugged before sighing and making her way out of the alleyway, before looking around to figure out where she was.

………..

………… what?

What the fuck was this? Some kind of themed street fair?

It was as if she had stepped into a twilight zone. Ignoring the fact that the people going about the street wore clothes that seemed straight out of a historical East Asian drama, there was not a single familiar thing in sight.

The houses were made of mud, bamboo, rough stone, or wood. People spoke and hollered in that same bastardized version of Mandarin. There was not a single electric pole or wire, which was practically impossible in this day and age.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She quickly reached into a pouch attached to her hip and brought out a rectangular communicator the size of her palm. The comms in her ear were not working so she had to use something more advanced. She pressed a few buttons on the side of the communicator and waited a moment.

No signal.

She repeated the process a few more times only to get the same result. A low growl sounded in the back of her throat before she threw the communicator back into her pouch. She then heard the sound of low whispers around her. She lifted her head and looked around, only to find a small crowd gathering around her, pointing and whispering, clearly perturbed by her strange appearance.

She looked down at herself. Her skin-tight bodysuit, torn in places, and her haggard appearance would make a strange sight even in her own hometown, let alone in this strange place. She looked up again, only to find more and more cautious gazes, some disdainful and some leery,

Great. She felt her headache intensifying. Fuck!

She did the only thing she could think of.

She turned tail and ran.

----------------------------------------

About a quarter of a day later, she came to a few - quite horrible - conclusions based on her observations.

One. Whatever that black hole was, it took her into a completely different dimension.

Two. This dimension… or at least the part she landed in resembled Ancient China.

Three. Though it did resemble Ancient China, it actually wasn't. How could she tell? Well, the street where two burly men were fighting hard enough to put dents into the street and punch each other through solid walls was quite telling.

Four. She was terribly, terribly, underdressed for this place.

Five. She had to find a way to get back. ASAP.

If she were a normal person, she would have broken down at least once by now. But she wasn’t. Even before she joined the Agency, she had high adaptability. And thank god for that. She did not think she would have been able to survive more than the first hour without that particular skill.

But first things first. Clothes. She didn't have any. So she did the next best thing…. She stole some. Thank god for the ancient era when people hung their clothes outside to dry.

She sighed as she adjusted the clothes she now wore over her bodysuit. They were slightly coarse yet had the forced softness that came with being washed countless times. Shabby and had slight stains here and there but clean overall. More than enough.

She sighed and then leaned against the wall in a fairly secluded part of the town. Now, for getting back… she had no idea what to do. There wasn’t any protocol for this kind of situation. What to do when you get yeeted into another dimension with nothing but the clothes on your back and your meager equipment attached to you?

Nothing. Nothing in all the manuals she had read. Nothing in all her training, little tips and tricks her mentor taught her. Nothing in her own experiences and memories. Nothing at all.

So the best thing she could do was …. Start from square one.

Absently biting down on the apple she stole from a street vendor, she started to make her way to the place she first landed on. But then she paused when a sound reached her ear. Something ahead of her. Some thumping and shuffling.

She could ignore it. She should. She had no business getting involved in some local brawl.

She was about to turn away when she heard a soft, pitiful whimper. She gritted her teeth before turning around.

Curse her soft heart!

She made her way toward the source of the sound and found herself taking a left turn toward another alley. What she saw made her sniff disdainfully. A few boys - children around 5 or 6 years old - were pushing, shoving, and kicking at a boy curled up on the ground. Bullies. God, she hated bullies.

“Oy!” Her voice was not particularly loud, but it was sharp and echoed almost hauntingly in the small alleyway. The kids were startled and looked back toward her, making her narrow her eyes as she spoke one word.

“Scram!”

She did not know whether the boys understood her modern Chinese but they seemed to get the gist, as they all turned tail and ran the other way.

Samaya sighed and made her way toward the trembling boy that was now shrunk against the wall. She knelt in front of the child and her eyes softened before she spoke softly in a soothing voice.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly, but the child only shrunk back. She sighed and slowly reached forward to put a hand on his head. “It’s alright. I will not hurt you.”

She kept that same soothing tone, murmuring assurances, regardless of whether the child understood. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the boy lifted his head.

And Samaya faced the most breathtaking golden eyes she had ever seen in her life.