This chapter is short, or I should really say "average". I didn't make it too long this time because I was getting distracted, and I wanted to save most of the important things for the next chapter. Anywho, this was beta'd by F1nal Front1er, and I hope you guys read and review! Happy New Year, everyone!
The heavy object that was tied around my ankles hit bottom. It was either my imagination or the pressure, but I was probably at least twenty feet underwater. The water was colder and it numbed my skin, and my body temperature was slowly dropping.
I had the strongest urge to breathe, for I was holding my breath with all my might; I knew better, though. If I was to breathe at this moment, the water would go into my nose, and I would drown a lot quicker. My mind was running quickly, thinking of different ways I could get out of this. Plan "A" would be to try and get my ankles free so I could swim to the surface. Plan "B" would be to try and get my hands free from this mat-like thing that was constricting my arms.
As my air was running short, I made the decision to free my ankles. Focusing, I tried to move my knees to see if the cold water was making my legs numb yet. While I "moved" my legs, I didn't feel anything; they were already becoming numb. I continued to bend my legs as much as it was allowed before wriggling my ankles. My ankles I could feel somewhat better than my legs, and that's all that mattered to me in this moment.
Despite both of them being tied together, I started to rub my ankles into each other, and after rubbing them together a few times, I pulled my legs apart as far as it was allowed. I couldn't see, but I could slightly feel the ropes becoming loose; it was subtle but it was happening. Whoever had tied me had not tied me very well, thankfully. Repeating the steps, the ropes continued to become looser with each attempt, and throughout my struggle I thought of my mother and father, Resie, Tenia, and Hilo. I tried my hardest to hold my breath as long as I could; slowly I could feel my head becoming light from not breathing for so long.
My entire body was numb, but I didn't stop the motion. I continued to rub my ankles together, while my lungs burned at a terrible intensity. Though I couldn't feel it, I tried to continue, and soon I felt my body lifting, almost like I had freed myself. Hope filled my mind as I struggled to move my numb legs to swim to the surface. The water slowly began to get warmer as I swam for my life.
It wasn't long before I broke the surface, and I sputtered and coughed water out of my burning lungs. My hands weren't free yet, and so I struggled to try and keep myself above the water so I wouldn't drown. I blinked the water out of my eyes while shaking my head violently, and then I took a glance around.
The area was rather dark, and the only things I could make out with my blurred vision were the dark violet sky and the setting sun. I was in the middle of a lake, in a forest, in god-knows-where. Without further thought, I started kicking my way to the not-so-nearby shore of the lake; it took quite a bit of effort. By the time I had reached the shore, the violet sky had turned into a dark night-blue and the moon was absent. I laid on the shore of mud and pebbles; I was in the water from the waist down, and I had no more strength to try and inch my way any further. So, exhausted, I stared up at the starry night sky and just thought about everything that I had just experienced: my very-near-death-experience. I stayed like that all night.
It seemed like I had only blinked once before I saw the sun peeking through the trees in the east. The sky was bright orange with a twinge of red surrounding the area where the sun would come up. I turned my head and looked down at the material that was restricting me. It was some type of fabric that was close enough to a rug, and it was tied together with a thick rope – burnable material. It wouldn't be a smart idea to burn the fabric that was practically squeezing my body. To burn the fabric would be to burn my body as well; it was thick fabric anyway, and it would be a while before I would ever be able to burn through it.
I sighed, thinking about this very carefully, for I didn't have much time to spare as it was. I needed to get out of this quickly and find the nearest traveler or town to find out where I was. Inching my way, I managed to get the rest of my restrained body out of the water. I then turned my body so I was parallel with the lake's surface, and I began the long process of escaping my confines.
I forced my palms up, pushing them to the roof of the fabric. My palms started to burn as I slowly began to burn the fabric. It got hot rather quickly, and my nose began to sting from the burning smell of carpet. The smoke also made my eyes water, but I continued nonetheless in my struggle. Soon, the carpet was on fire where my hands were, and I felt intense pain on my arms and other parts of my body that the fire touched. The fire burned my skin, and each time I would roll down into the water to feel its cool embrace. It was a foolish thing to do, but I had no other options nor the time to wait for someone. I couldn't sit up or stand either, so there was no other choice but to do it this way.
The process took a while, and I had done it several dozen times before there was less tension from the fabric. It was well-charred and I was sure my skin was just as charred; it burned and stung, and it hurt to move an inch. However, I pressed on. It was nearly sunset by the time that I was finally able to push through with my burned arms. My fire had finally reached the last layer of the carpet and rope, and I quickly rolled myself into the water. It hissed, and the steam rose above the water as I thrashed around to break free. It snapped.
My lips rose in a faint smile as the casing became undone. It floated off of my body and bobbed lightly on the surface of the water in its charred glory. I slowly made my way onto shore and away from the lake; my legs were wobbly and heavy from the lack of movement in the past twenty-four hours.
Falling into the nearby grass, I used the remaining light from the sunset to examine my arms; they were burned badly, with my palms and wrists also being charred. However, the burns were from my elbows to mid-thigh. Because I repeated the process several times, everywhere was painful and burned with blisters the size of small potatoes. Refusing to touch them, I stood and waded into the lake for the drifting rope and carpet. I carefully gathered the remains into my blistered, burned arms, and then waded back to the shore, throwing them onto the dry grass nearby.
My next task was gathering sticks and such for torches; I would need to travel throughout the night to find someone. The sun slowly faded while I searched the forest floor for the twigs, but I didn't drift too far; I didn't want to get lost and lose more time.
It was about an hour after the sun had gone down that I felt the carpet was dry enough. I gathered the twigs together, and I then ripped off most of the burnt parts of the carpet. The part that was dry and unharmed from my escape was wrapped around the bundle of sticks, and I set it ablaze. I stood and looked up into the dark, starry night sky. The moon stood out and shone brightly down upon the dark forest that surrounded me. By common knowledge, the moon rises in the east, as does the sun, and Ba Sing Se was north on the last map I saw. I smiled slightly and began to head north; 'I'm coming, Zuko.'
