My bed was extra comfy today. Most days I'm raring to go, but not today. I was done with school and I no longer needed to worry about waking up at 5 in the morning. It was paradise.
Mom and dad tried to convince me to go out on a walk with them today, but I refused. I was much more comfortable curled up under my covers and watching Netflix. My younger brother, Alex, had gone out with them, so I had the house all to myself. On my watch-list today was a TV-show I knew all too well. I have watched it more than 20 times since Netflix released it and I swear, it never gets old. Avatar: The Last Airbender was my favorite show when I was little. Now, I'm 16 years old and I still find it to be one of the best cartoons out there. It's one of the animated shows that makes me want to pursue animation as a career when I finish high school.
It was around 2:30 in the afternoon and my parents still haven't gotten back from their walk, I assumed they'd taken the 30 minutes trek, one of the longer routes around my neighborhood. Much to my dismay, I needed to use the bathroom. Regretfully, I paused my show and pulled myself out from under my blankets. As I was washing my hands, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair fell just below my shoulders and I had dyed it purple a few months ago. My brown roots had grown in and the purple has faded quite a lot, but it still looked really pretty. Though my hair was quite short, it still fell in slight waves. My black glasses framed my grayish-blue eyes. I would almost always wear my glasses and hardly ever my contacts since my glasses could easily hide my dark circles. Contacts could not. My face was heart-shaped with quite a pointy chin and my skin tone was light, but had a slight tan to it. I still had my winter complexion since spring had just started not too long ago.
Pulling my attention away from the mirror, I grabbed some soap and started to wash my hands. The flights flickered, but I just brushed it off. After I finished, I grabbed a nearby towel and dried off. Just before I left the bathroom, the house shook.
"Oh, no."
A sense of dread and concern washed through me. I was scared for my life as I ran down the stairs, all the while the rumbling got worse and worse. All around me the walls started to crack, the glasses left of the dining room table fell off and shattered. I paid no mind to the shards of the broken glass that stung under my bare feet. My mind went to my parents, to my brother. I hoped that they were doing okay. I booked it to the basement door, bobbing and weaving through the falling rubble in the dining room and kitchen. I had just gotten the basement door opened when the ceiling going down the stairs collapsed, blocking my way down into shelter.
"Shit!" To think, just two minutes ago I was living peacefully in my bed. I turned around, frantic to find any kind of shelter. The cabinet next to me fell over and I could hear every plate, mug, and bowl shatter. Those were my parents' favorites, they had gotten them as wedding presents years ago. Brushing my worries aside, panic filled me to the core. The house continued to shake and the lights had gone out, the only form of light that allowed me to see was the natural sunlight streaming through the windows.
Brushing myself off, I hobbled over to the back door, which was right in front of me. The only problem was the door had been glass and it was already broken. Its ragged pieces laid strewn across the hardwood. Throwing on a brave face, I marched over to my closest exit, but I was struck with more bad luck. The ceiling above me collapsed and all I remembered next was darkness.
When I finally came to, I found myself in an unfamiliar room. It took what felt like forever for my eyes to fully open and take in my surroundings. I wasn't in a typical home, I realized. The walls were made of metal and there were large red tapestries with a very familiar black logo stitched in them. Huh, someone must be a fan of Avatar. The room was dimly lit with candles being the only thing that illuminated the space. There were no light bulbs or lamps, which I found strangely odd. Trying to sit up, I found myself strained with a massive amount of pain. Looking down the first thing I realized was that I wasn't wearing a shirt. The second thing I had noticed was that my sports bra I had been wearing was replaced my a thick black fabric that was wrapped around my chest. That's odd.
There was another kind of fabric that wrapped around my mid-section. This one was white and had a small stain of red leaking through on the right side of my abdomen. I quickly realized that the white fabric must have been some kind of gauze and the red stain must've been blood. My blood. What the hell happened to me? Trailing my eyes to my upper body, I found a similar kind of dressing over my left shoulder, my upper right arm, and both my hands. A thin, red blanket was draped over my lower body, curious and afraid of what I'd see underneath, I yanked it off, much to the dismay of my left shoulder. Thankfully, I had a pair of dark red pants on. Though they weren't the typical sweatpants or hospital gowns I'd typically see. These were made of soft fabric, possibly cotton, and were long enough to reach down to my ankles. A thin piece of fabric tied the waistband around my... well, waist, keeping the pants up.
On instinct I reached to my right, grabbing helplessly at the air. For some reason I thought I'd find an end table there. I instinctively pat down the bed, searching for my glasses which I required to see. Then I realized I could see. Instinctively, my hand drifted to my face to find... nothing. I didn't have my glasses on, but I could see. My eyesight was so bad, but for some reason, here I was. Here I was with no glasses, no contacts, and I was able to clearly see my surroundings. What the hell is going on?
Gently rolling up the pant legs, I sighed with relief to find no bandaging except for on my feet. However, my legs were still covered with bruises and small cuts and I assumed the bandaging on my feet were because I had stepped on glass. The sudden realization that I had stepped on broken glass allowed all the memories coming back to me. The earthquake, my house crumbling around me, glass shattering, and then blacking out when the ceiling collapsed. If that had happened and I was this badly injured, why wasn't I in the hospital?
Against my better judgement, I desperately tried to push myself up from the cot. Yes, cot. Not a bed. Where was I? Once I was able to swing my feet gently over the side of the cot, I hung my head, allowing my hair to fall in my face which caused me to jump. I grabbed a yank of my hair and examined it. My hair had someone gone back to my original color. A darker version of dirty blonde. Wait, that can't be right. Even if the purple had washed out, I still had to bleach it before applying the purple on top. My hair would have been blonde, not my natural brown. Stunned, I scanned the room for the possibility of there being a mirror. Thankfully, in the far right corner stood a small basin filled with water and a mirror attached to the wall. Using all the strength I could, I stumbled over to the basin and was surprised to see there were no faucets, this wasn't a sink. Ignoring that, I looked up to examine my reflection. Sure enough, my purple hair was replaced with a medium brown, but that wasn't the thing that caused me to stumble back from the mirror.
Gone were my beautiful grayish-blue eyes that basically everyone in my family had. My blue eyes had been replaced with a completely different color. Hues of yellows and orange and a small tint of red stared back at me through the mirror. The hair... maybe it grew out so much that the purple just vanished. But my eyes? I stared at myself in disbelief. How had my eyes changed color? And so drastically? Tearing my gaze from my reflection, I scanned the room. On the opposite side was a metal door with a large latch. Next to me was a small, circular window. With curiosity, I peered out the small pane of glass only to find myself stumble back once again.
I was no longer in my neighborhood. No longer in my state, by the looks of it. Behind the glass all I could see was blue. Blue water, blue sky, blue glaciers. Glaciers? Where was I? Antarctica? Ignoring the seething pain, I carefully walked over to the large metal door. The wheel that kept it shut was difficult to release, given my current situation that is. Gritting my teeth and ignoring my pain, I managed to get the door open only to find myself in a hallway. Once again, everything was metal. The ship, I assumed I was on a ship given where we were... in the middle of the ocean, lurched and a loud crash bounced off the walls. Falling to my knees, I let out a groan of pain. Everything hurt.
Stumbling through the maze of hallways, corridors, and the occasional stairway, I finally found sunlight. Guessing that the sunlight was most likely my way out, I followed it. As I was climbing the stairs that led to the dock, I stopped in my tracks when I heard an all too familiar voice.
"That kid, uncle, just did this. I won't underestimate him again." No, that couldn't have been right. That... that was impossible. Pulling myself up, I stared at what greeted me on the surface. Six people stood in front of me, three of which seemed to be covered with a thick layer of ice. The other three made my eyes widen. In their hands held a small ball of fire which they used to melt the others encased in ice. Upon hearing me, all three men stopped their melting and turned to look at me. I couldn't see their facial expressions as their faces were covered by a helmet.
"Dig this ship out and follow them!" The voice broke my concentration and my focus traveled to two other men further ahead. No. No, no, no, no, no. I was dreaming. This can't be real. I shook my head, squinting my eyes, willing away whatever dream or hallucination I was having. When I opened my eyes, the whole scene in front of my remained the same, only this time I had the attention of the teen and older man staring at me. I had seen these men before, but it wasn't possible. It's impossible. I... I couldn't be here. The bitter cold of the familiar scenery stung my bare skin. I knew where we were and I was somewhat right from my first guess. I wasn't in Antarctica, I was in the South Pole.
The scarred teen I had come to know and love through my screen, looked at me in mixed emotions. Shock, worry, and confusion transitioned through his features. Next to him, the elder and more plump man shared the same looks. My feet were rooted to the ground as I took in the familiar faces in front of me. I'm sure I looked like I was in shock too. My voice was hoarse, most likely from lack of water as I tried to talk, "What..." The scarred teen, Zuko I remembered, stepped forward with a worried expression. Why was he so worried? Looking down I found the bandaging around my midsection was bleeding more, blood was seeping through the white cloth and dripped down my lower body. "Oh, shit," I murmured. Tearing my gaze from my abdomen, I noticed Zuko, and what I had only assumed was Iroh, was now almost right in front of me. I slowly took one step, but my balance faltered. Iroh shot out and held on to my right side, making sure that he wasn't putting any pressure on any parts of my body that ached with pain.
"Are you alright, dear?" I tried to bring my head up to look at the old man in the eyes, but I found my vision become blurry. My head was splitting and every part of my body felt like it was giving up. Giving in to the pain, I closed my eyes. The last thing I remember were warm arms enveloping me as darkness took me once again.
Yay! It was really fun writing this chapter! I based the house and my main character after my own house and well... me! Yes, the looks I described are based off of my own features because I wanted to put myself in this story. If any of you are interested in this fic and want to read more, let me know and I'll continue writing! Also, I have no idea what to name the OC character! I keep going back and forth and can't seem to find a name I like. If you have an suggestions, please let me know! Hopefully you all will enjoy this fic! Thanks for reading!
-KayBird