Hey guys!

Sorry it's been so long, I've been at Student Life at Orange Beach, Alabama, and you know what that means? Plenty of inspiration for THIS STORY!
I've thought up some tricks up my sleeve to add additional plot later on, because when I originally wrote this it was gonna be a raw realism survival story (boring...) and now there's an actual reason for stuff to happen! (WOOT!)

I don't want to further take from your time with this story, so without further ado...

(P.S. Thanks for all the suggestions, means a lot to see all these reviews :D)

By the way, I urge you to imagine this as if a movie in your mind, with different camera angles, dramatic music, and landscape shots to go with it. Just a suggestion, but when I read a book and do this, it makes the experience ten times better ;D

Stranded VII

More darkness. The same, bland, darkness.

But something was different...

The same, bland darkness had an abnormal vibe to it, as if the shade of black was a little lighter, or the flame she hid inside of her were flowing with some unknown breeze.

When I entered, I felt strangely calm about the situation of being thrown in with the ravaging dogs and crushing black walls again. I tensed all my muscles in preparation for more pounding, scratching and tearing. But nothing was there. She wasn't there, he thankfully wasn't there, and neither was anyone else.

I looked around and searched through flat, empty darkness. Endless empty darkness, with no way of knowing where I was. Not that it mattered, the way I came in here can't help me.

When I had walked for what felt like hours, something caught my feet. I fell and hit my face against the cold black flooring, but it didn't hurt. This is my mind after all. I looked back at what tripped me and saw a thin stream of light reaching out across the darkness, going as far up as I could see.

I looked back down at it and got on my hands and knees and rubbed around the area it was streaming from, looking for its origin. Bingo, there seemed to be a tiny hole in the floor where the light flooded through. I picked at it with my fingernail and the ground started flaking off, with more and more light coming in from the bigger hole.

I kept at it until I managed to get a large hole, about a yard across. I tried to look down into it, but the light was so bright it blinded me each time. I put my hand through it, trying to search for a flooring or door, something to help me get out of this mess, but there was nothing, just empty space, warm from the pure power of the light.

I looked around more and found a black rock I had missed before, probably the one I had tripped over. But what was it doing here, in all this darkness? I picked it up to test its weight, and it seemed heavy, but not too heavy, perfect for throwing.

I hefted it up, over the hole and let it go. It fell, and fell, and fell while I simply sat by the hole and waited, listening for a clink or a kerploop to signal it had hit the bottom. It didn't seem like it would hit the bottom anytime soon.

I sat down by the hole and sighed, staring at the light, hoping it would do anything, point the way, give a signal, something.

I lay down on the cold ground and closed my eyes, trying to make sense of this madness. Was it her? Someone else, spirits maybe? Whatever it was, at least it gives me something to look at, something different in this barren wasteland.

I looked around once more, taking in the darkness of the landscape and contrasting it to the light. What if it attracts others? What if it's a beacon for some kind of monster? I scanned the area frantically, my eyes darting around my sockets. My mind started to play tricks on me; patches of darkness seemed darker than the rest, eyes popped in and out, monsters snarled from their hidden depths bats flew and clawed at my hair.

Then the dogs came again, clawing and biting every inch of flesh they could. I screamed, and screamed, and screamed, my voice cracking from overuse and my body bleeding from the injuries.

My flame was once again battered, beaten, bruised; wavering and dimming in the harsh winds of my insanity.

My insanity...

My insanity...

My insanity...?

Why am I insane? Why is this happening?

They continued scratching and clawing, barking and biting, but I didn't care any more. I went into my inner-mind, my consciousness, and curled around my flame. My sapphire flame. My sapphire flame. No one else's.

This is my flame, inside of my mind. My solace from the storm, my protection and inner hopes...

My protection and inner hopes, no one else's. This entire land is mine to control, under my command. Wait... if this is true, then why are they here?

I came out of my inner-mind and back to the chaos of the wolves. I tense my body and sent all of my muscles rigid, fighting the pulling and the scratching with all my might. And just when I thought they might take me, I had enough.

Enough! I shouted, but the dogs didn't respond.

No more! I screamed, and yet they didn't acknowledge.

This, must, end.

I stood amongst the demons and hellhounds and rose to my feet, my skin covered in bloody scratches and my hair chaotic in its entanglement. However they still did not cease.

I looked up and saw the light once more, reaching up into the unknown height of my mind, a stoic symbol of change, a resolute representation of hope, and a vision of peace.

My mouth dropped in awe of the realization, if I wanted to stop the demons, why am I not trying? I reached into my flame and pulled it out into my hands, lighting them ablaze in the sapphire flame. I raised my hands to the skies and threw them down, blasting superheated fire in all directions, and burning the wolves to a crisp.

I put the fire back inside of me and looked down at myself. Scratches and dried blood covered my body and my clothes were in tatters. I closed my eyes and imagined having a full set of clothing, and when I opened my eyes, there they were.

I turned my head side to side, searching for any more wolves or monsters of my own creation, but thank the spirits none were there. I looked back up at the towering beam of light, and felt the hope swell within me.

I looked down at the hole and knew what to do.

I walked up to the hole I had clawed, and did not hesitate.

I jumped in.

I

The sky, openly blue and cosmically beautiful stretched out as far as the eyes could see, with colossal white clouds stark in their illusion of solidity. Tiny black dots could be seen against the white of the clouds, more and more of them seemingly multiplying as they steadily grew larger.

As they got closer, short squeaks and wails could be heard occasionally, signalling the approach of something sapient. The sun moved behind a cloud, dimming the light cast on the vast ocean and making the faint black dots disappear.

After a few moments, the light came back, exposing the true form of the previously minuscule creatures. Their wings were adorned with a thick blue stripe, the tips of which were colored a dusty black. Their beaks were a pale orange, with a much fuller shade gracing the point. The eyes were a solid black, seemingly piercing into the heart of any soul who stares them face to face.

The graceful birds sailed through the air towards a large island, their minds awaiting the luscious paradise before them. They landed on the golden sands with a silent thump, grateful for the rest at the end of such a long flight.

One of the flock hobbled a little ways away to a strange sight, two humans, a boy and a girl, were huddled next to each other on a long piece of wood. He cautiously got closer and closer until he was directly beside them. He slowly reached down to the girl and moved in close to her face, trying to determine if he could eat her or not; after all, he had just finished an exceedingly long flight.

He positioned his beak right above the eyes and started to tilt his head back, when suddenly the human's eyes popped open and she breathed in loudly. The seagull flew back to the flock.

Azula began to breath deeply, her mind racing and her eyes rocketing in their sockets. Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I sore? She tried to search her murky mind for some sort of knowledge as to how she got here, but she couldn't come up with anything.

She slowly calmed herself down and tried to go through the basics before getting into more serious facts.

Okay... I'm on sand. I know that much. My arms, legs, and head is sore, and my back is numb from... from... From what?

She turned her head to look down, and saw a large piece of wood on the edge of her vision. She turned her head more to see that it was not only a large piece of wood, but a large piece of wood with someone else on it. She froze in place.

Who is this person? Why is he here? How did we get here?

He rolled onto his back and groaned, giving Azula a perfect view of his bald head. She looked at his forehead and saw an arrow tattoo. Arrow tattoo? What kind of a person-

Her eyes snapped open even wider as the memories flowed through her brain. There was a battle, Katara and Zuko defeated me. I was chained, sent to an Asylum. I was transferred to be brought to a new facility. I was put on a ship, a big ship. The Gudan was it called? We were sailing, about three days into sea, or was it four days... it doesn't matter. We were attacked by... green cloaked men. They were led by... More memories from the past rushed into her brain, making her physically and mentally crinch. Him.

She lay in silence for a while, coming to terms with everything she had learned. She tried to think of how they would get off the island, how to get home. Her stomach growled. And how to find food. She ran through all the different ways she would do so, but realized that all of it hung on one action she had to take.

Time to get up. she thought.

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Hey guys...

Hold on, let me go and see when was the last time I updated this story.

Hm... I guess three weeks isn't that bad. I expected it to be more.

Anydoodle here you go! Part 7! In all it's cliffhanger ending glory!

I'll have another chapter posted soon (soon, as in, sooner than last chapter .)

Alert & fav if you think it's worth it, review whenever possible.

PEACE!