A Very Resourceful Man
The wave smashed against the ship. Iroh was flung into the sea and sunk deep into the water. He was surrounded by cold, wet darkness and his heavy armor pulled him deeper into the abyss. Ignoring their value, he ripped the shinny plates off him and let them sink. He swam wildly to surface, hungry for air.
The world above the waves was just as dark as the abyss below him and even more turbulent. Iroh looked for his ship, but the world was too dark. He tired to breath out flames to signal for help, but with the cold, the wetness and his exhaustion, he could little more than puff out some smoke.
"LU TEN!" Iroh screamed, but was not heard. The waves were very high and Iroh knew that he would drown if he did not act fast. He looked up at the sky, quickly figured out which direction the storm was coming from, and began to swim adjacent to the calm waters and a choppy waters, knowing that going into the storm or away from the shoreline was a bad idea.
After a few minutes of swimming, Iroh bumped into some hard and hallow. He ran his hands around it, not being able to see, and realized that it was one of the life boats that had fallen off the invaders' ship. He climbed inside and, remembering the books he read on sailing, began to head across the edge of the storm.
When he was away from the most dangerous part of the squall, he turned the boat towards the shore and tied down the jib, forcing the ship to go straight so he could get some sleep.
"Thank you Spirits." Iroh thanked his friends in the next world for the good fortune.
BUMP.
Iroh was awoken by the sound of his ship hitting the shore of the Northern Earth Kingdom.
The old man pulled himself onto his feet and stretched. He rubbed his eyes, blinded by the shinning sun, and looked around. He had no idea where he was. Finally being able to see, he looked through the boat, hoping to find something eat, but instead he found a collection of Earth Kingdom clothes. He put them on, knowing that his red silk robes would stand out, and put his Fire Nation clothes into a sack which was also 'borrowed' from the boat. Iroh planned to sell the silk for some food the nearest town.
He looked up at the sun. It was morning, so the sun was in the east. Iroh knew that's where he needed to go, towards the sun…towards Ba Sing Se.
So began to march. He laughed, realizing that that most men would have had a bad day if they were in his shoes. Iroh merely smiled at the road ahead of him.