Natara plummeted down the cliff like a stone, pure terror in her heart in the few moments that she fell freely. The water embraced her roughly as she fell through the surface, and she shot to the bottom of the pool like a torpedo. The water was horribly freezing, immediately making her skin burn with cold. She opened her eyes underwater, but couldn't see anything farther that a foot in front of her. The water caused her eyes to burn, and she was forced to shut them again. Blindly, she groped for the cold air that she knew would lie above the surface. She tried so hard to reach up for it, but her foot had become entangled in a vine-like plant at the bottom. She pulled and pulled, but couldn't get free. She reached blindly at her bindings, her fingernails uselessly clawing at the thick plant. Her lungs began to constrict, trying to force her to take a breath. She opened her eyes once again. She couldn't see any light above her, she could barely even tell what was up and what was down. She knew she was about to drown, that she was going to die here. Only few thought ran thoughts were running through her oxygen-starved mind. 'I'm going to die here…'. She forced her eyes to stay open, seeing red was creeping in her vision. Her body was shuttering involuntarily, trying to force her to pull in non-existing air. She allowed her eyes, which were fading to black at this point, to close. 'Maybe dying won't be so bad...Maybe I'll see Shawn again. The old one'. As she thought this, she knew her body was beginning to give up, succumbing to both the extreme cold and the absence of air. She wondered if Mal would ever find her body. 'Mal…' she thought, thinking of her partner. 'I'm never going to see him again…he'll never stop looking for me...'. It was at this thought that she gave one last kick, using all the effort she could muster. Her foot came loose, and she reached desperately for the surface. She pulled herself up, opening her eyes and seeing the water above was slowly lightening. She focused on getting to the top, forcing her eyes to see out of what was becoming a narrow tunnel. Her fingers brushed air, feeling the cold wind that meant life. Her head broke the surface, and she took one large life-giving breath. Her vision began to re-focus, clearing instantly. She gasped for more air, grateful for each breath she took. The wind made her shiver, beating against her wet clothes and skin. She began to paddle to the edge, still gulping air. 'I won't do that to Mal, I won't leave him wondering.' she thought 'I can't let him go through life like that'.
Sorry it's so short.