It was already dark when I left. On no condition was I staying in that place. I admit that they had the right intentions, but I wasn't losing my leg. At the time, it was certain that it would only get worse, but my selfish attitude was the only thing keeping me from staying. I now am glad I decided to leave as I still have both of my feet and am currently in a heated room in a lit room.
I had overhead talk of the men of the village having to leave. Apparently they were going to war. I came to the idea that I could stowaway on the ship. In my life up to that point, I had never attempted to be stealthy to get out of trouble. That number grew heavily after this.
I snuck into the ship around 5 AM on the last night that the men would spend at the village. I located myself behind the food supplies and under a tarp. I didn't risk falling asleep. Only when I was in the clear would I rest. The men boarded the ship early in the morning. It occurred directly after everyone woke up. I was fortunate that I wasn't the first thing to be attended to that morning. From my spot in the ship, I could hear the farewells on the other side of the thin wood hull. A boy begging his father to go with him, "be safe" from wives and mothers, and plain "goodbyes". After the farewells were no longer visible, did I fall asleep.
When I woke up, the ship was already docked. Most likely at a small island south of the Earth Kingdom. I didn't know where, but it was obviously a pit-stop. I slowly moved the tarp over myself and looked outside. Nobody was present. Just my luck. I left the ship and stepped onto port with nobody giving a shit. Now, I was just a random bald kid in water tribe attire. I didn't care. The fact that I could barely walk was my main concern. The numbness in my foot has gone to a point where it seemed detached. I wouldn't have been surprised if it fell off hours ago and I hadn't noticed. That inspired me to check on it every few hours.
I had no plans. I had no sense of what to do. Part of me wanted to go to the air temple to make sure everything was okay, but I feared that the Fire nation would still be based there. My main concern was staying alive. Somehow. I knew that I would feel relief once the ship left. At that point, there would be nothing related to me beyond that point and I would be free to save myself however I could. At that point, the only thing that would save me was a miracle.
For the next few days, nothing changed. I tried finding other doctors, but they all said the same thing. My selfish mind seemed to be the thing that would get me killed. As much as I hated deathly numb and black feet at a risk of falling off, I was glad to at least have the foot. I hoped that the warmth of being away from the pole would help, but it didn't.
I'm going to seem like a giant jackass when this next part comes up so don't get pissed off at me for seeming like an asshole. A few days later, the Fire Nation raided the town. A separated crew was desperate for supplies and even though a few people got burned, luckily for me, so did I. At this point, you're probably thinking "What the fucking hell is wrong with this kid?" Answer is, a lot. Now, you're probably also thinking that I was going to get burned and the frostbite would end. Hell no. That's not how science works. The real answer is that time just went by, I hid, and it went by itself. I didn't even see them get to shore, I was hiding the entire time. The real fucked up part, is that the Fire Nation didn't have enough room on their ship for the rest of supplies, took the town hostage and I was left in the middle of a town with a lovely stash of loot. There's the fucked up part. Also, turns out that the Fire Nation off loaded some of their own supplies to make room for some of the hostages. I was guessing that they were separated from the main Fire Nation fleet and desperately needed hostages for ransoms.
Some of the supplies off-loaded was anti-inflammatory, and precise medical skin removal instruments. I assumed they off-loaded it due to the time being summer. My fever was soon lowered and through a painful endeavor, I managed to remove the infected tissue. There was something oddly satisfying about removing the thick and dark tissue. I was like scraping the black part off of toast. I told you I'm insane. I look back at this and think of how lucky I kept on getting. Now, I must look after myself and keep watching my back, but at that time, luck was my savior. Believe me, I feel bad those taken captive, but the world was with me that day. I hope that those people are alright now, but that day, I knew I was safe.
If I had the experience I have now, I would have gone after them, but I didn't. I didn't know how to perform an emergency surgery on a dying friend, protect myself from others, or even build a fire.
Shit. I have to go now, something's happening. If I'm alive after this, I'll write more, if not, then remember me as a hero and build a statue in my honor. Not of something lame. Of something cool. Like, me on a horse or something. For the record, I'm brown haired, male, and look badass. Make the statue as equally cool as me.