_Tara_
I woke up slowly and groaned as I felt the back of my head aching. I moved a hand to hold the area where it hurt, and I winced at the sudden burst of sharp pain when my hand brushed it. On top of that, I could feel a bump forming. I shifted uncomfortably; I was sitting stiffly in a rigid metal chair. I tried to look at my surroundings, but it was pitch black, and the only thing that was distinguishable was a streak of flickering light that indicated a door that had a fire on the other side.
Even after being asleep, I was still panting, as it was even hotter and stuffier wherever I was. I stood up, trying to walk towards the door, but I swayed and fell, barely getting my hands out beneath me to catch my fall. I cried out in surprise and pulled my hands off of the floor as I felt how hot it was. It hadn't harmed me, but it had been hot to the point where it was extremely uncomfortable.
I pulled myself back to my feet and managed to stay on them as I stumbled to the door. I felt along the door until I found the doorknob and I tried to open it, but it was locked. I fell to my knees, suddenly realizing how exhausted I was and leaned against the door, which was also uncomfortably hot.
"Hello?" I called out, my voice weak, "Is there anyone out there?"
There was no response.
"Can anyone hear me?" I tried again, forcing my voice to sound stronger, "Where am I?"
Again there was no response. I felt even more of my energy drain as I realized how hopeless it was. I weakly placed a hand on the door above the lock and tried to timebend it open, but it was hard to concentrate through the usual headache in my temples and the ache from the wound on the back of my head, so all that I had accomplished was the draining of more of my energy.
"Oh, Anya, what have you gotten us into?" I sighed exhaustedly before getting up to fumble around for the chair. When I finally found it, I sat back down wearily and allowed myself to fall back asleep.
When I awoke again I felt even weaker, and as I tried to stand I once more fell to my hands and knees, only this time I couldn't pull myself back up. I leaned back against the chair and tried to think of a way out of the situation, but my thoughts were sluggish. Suddenly it occurred to me that I could have a concussion.
Worried, I placed my hand on the back of my head, wincing at the pain that followed, and did my best to focus through the haze of my mind. Slowly, I managed to focus enough to heal the wound, but even as I felt the pain go away, my eyelids closed of their own free will and I fell back asleep.
_Anya_
Just as Tara started to voice her opinion about wanting to leave, four firebenders leapt out of the darkness. The first two managed to knock Tara and Sonset out, the third managing to grab onto Katara. The fourth leapt at me, and I extinguished the fire in my palm as I countered. In the absolute darkness, the rebel and I fought hand to hand, the only clues on when to attack and when to dodge being the whistling of the air as the other attacked. Only occasionally did we blast fire at each other, and through the random light I could see out of the corner of my eyes Katara breaking free of her attacker. They fought until the firebender managed to evaporate her water, and then she made a split-second decision to run back towards the entrance to get help. By the time the next flash of fire illuminated the scene, her assailant had caught up to her and was dragging her back by her braid, and, enraged, I turned to help her.
But I had made a dangerous mistake; I'd turned my back on my opponent. He landed a harsh blow on the back of my head and knocked me out.
The next thing I knew I was waking up with a gasp. I was bound in ropes from head to toe, but I knew better than to let that stop me. With a sudden burst of anger, I breathed fire, burning off the ropes closest to my head. I was able to wriggle my way out of the rest of the ropes from there, and I stood up with a devilish grin.
"I'll show them just who they're messing with," I muttered to myself to myself darkly. I blasted a continual stream of fire at the door, watching with delight as it began to turn brighter and brighter shades of orange before it finally began to melt off its hinges. When the door finally fell into a pile of sludge on the ground, a terrified young man who seemed to be the guard ran up to the opening and slipped into a nervous bending stance.
"Don't move or I'll—"
Just as I slid into my bending stance, a square of earth shot up from beneath him and slammed him into the ceiling before quickly retracting. The rebel bender's limp form landed with a thud and I stepped out of my cell. I peered farther down the dimly lit hallway and spotted Toph grinning at the far end.
"Hey, Anya," she called cheerfully, "We should probably get going. From what I can tell, Dai just found Sonset, Aang is almost to Katara, and Zuko's the closest one to finding Tara, so we'd better find the others and tell them that everyone's found. Knowing Sokka, he'll get lost down here if we don't go get him."
"Yeah," I agreed, "That sounds about right for him."
_Tara_
I woke up like that, on the floor, but, while my mind was working faster, I still felt weak. I tried to stand up from my uncomfortable spot on the floor, but, even using the chair behind me, I couldn't stand.
How long have I been down here? I wondered. How long has it been since I've had food or water?
I dragged myself to the door and rested my head against it. My whole body felt shaky and weak.
"Hello?" I called feebly. My eyes felt heavy, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep them open.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
I closed my eyes, starting to give up, when I remembered being slumped against the closet door as a child, having lost nearly all hope and I recognized how similar the situations were. I suddenly resolved not to let myself quit again. I was not going to lose hope; I was not going to give up.
"Hey!" I called in a slightly louder and stronger voice, "Let me out!"
I banged weakly on the door, and then began slamming my fist into it harder. I wasn't going to give up, I wasn't going to give up, I was not going to give up! I repeated the thought silently to myself each time my fist hit the door.
"You have to feed me or something!" I called out belligerently. I had survived for thousands of years since I had been supposed to die and I was not going to let myself die there.
"Let me out!" I managed to scream in rage, my fist slamming into the door so hard it hurt. I felt adrenaline pumping through me and I was getting angrier and angrier by the moment. Suddenly, I perked up as I heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door. I did my best to stand up, and just barely managed to pull myself up before the door flew open. Suddenly there was light from somewhere outside the room that was so unexpected that it blinded me. I shut my eyes and threw my hand in front of my face. Before my eyes became accustomed to the light, I heard a man's voice grumble, "Shut up!"
Suddenly I was roughly shoved back and couldn't catch myself before I landed painfully in the metal chair. I gasped as the headache in my temples flared so excruciatingly that I could barely refrain from passing out. Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder violently just as my eyes finally adjusted.
"How about I teach you some manners?" growled the young firebender rebel who was gripping my shoulder so tightly it hurt. He chuckled darkly as he lit up a fire in his hand.
"I have to warn you," he smiled cruelly, "This is going to hurt."
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