〝 𝑖.
prologue :
. . .
She dreamt of the water. She dreamt of its curling waves and raging storms above where lightning crackled and curled as it once did around the Kolau mountains. Zaia marveled at their majesty when they had passed them on their way to the impenetrable city. She could see them now, on the horizon as she floated in the water, no semblance of a raft or boat, nothing beneath to keep her afloat.
Somehow, with nothing to hold onto, she still hovered above the wide expanse. She did not fear the thunderclaps . . . but when the waves began to move wildly, her tranquility was disturbed. Winds howled and curled around her neck, pushed through her dark locks; it sloshed the water violently, making it lap and grab at her calves. The waves looked like hands, large extremities attempting to reach her, beckoning her downward.
She was losing sight of the mountains; a once clear image now becoming a blur, growing smaller . . . smaller . . . smaller. The harder it became for her to see them, the more she slipped. She was being coaxed into the deep. Her focus was dwindling . . . she was starting to drown.
Zaia began to panic, seeing nothing but the continuous grab of the waves. She knew very little of how to stay afloat, an old wariness of the water clouding her young mind and instilling stubborn fear into her conscious. She had blatantly refused to learn how to swim as a child; she was too scared . . . and now she was going to drown because of it.
She tried to keep her head above, kicking her feet relentlessly beneath the surface, paddling her hands against the current . . . but they were mischievous, these waves. They acted against her, rocking her every which way, splattering her in the face over and over. They left her to gasp and spit, to lose her focus once more.
Zaia had not realized she had stopped kicking and stopped paddling until seawater began to trickle into her mouth. She attempted to cough it up, but every time it left, more was ready to rush back in. The waves beat at her until she had no strength left to keep afloat; she could no longer fight, could no longer feel anything but the pull of the water.
Eventually, she had given up. Her eyes closed . . . She sunk under the expanse. Zaia was not sure when she had, but she was too tired to fight it, to listen to the panic beating within her chest and the screaming in her conscience that told her to move. Swim.
"Zaia!"
A chuckle echoed in her ears, deep and menacing and unnervingly familiar . . . this was how he would kill her: by tossing her into the ocean, choking and flailing and a far cry from any means of survival.
"Zaia!"
Mother? Was her mother calling for her? Was she trying to save her? . . . Maybe she had fallen, maybe they had gotten separated.
She wanted to swim. She wanted to kick and kick and kick; she would until her legs screamed at her if it meant breaking the surface, breathing, being reunited with her mother . . . but she couldn't. She could not move.
Yes, you can.
Another voice rumbled . . . but it had not come from the surface. She heard it as clearly as if someone had whispered directly into her ear.
You do not bow to the waves. You are a child of the moon . . . fight.
. . .
ADMIN NOTE:
hello! firstly, thank you so much for tapping on my story. secondly, i want to state that i do not intend to continue this beyond the three chapters posted. though i adore atla, i do not have the time to create any new content at the moment. if in the future i manage to find time, i might reconsider. but for now i simply wish to share this with you guys. it felt a little selfish of me to keep it in my drafts, so i thought i'd post it for others to read. (':
disclaimer: i own nothing within this story but my own characters. all canon rights go to the wonderful creators of atla! anything outside of canon belongs to me.
happy reading loves! .*̥ॱ