The Tale of Amara

Chapter 18: Captive

This chapter is the first part of the original chapter I was writing. I want to give you all something... I'm trying to nurse my dying betta fish back to health (she's like a cat or dog to me), so I've been a mess... anyway... here's a short chapter just to show you all I'm still working on this.

Chapter 18: Captive

(Amara POV)

Some part of me felt dead. Perhaps, it was because I knew I was a prisoner again to my brother.

Some part of me didn't want to wake up. I was no longer among the safe comfort of Zuko and Iroh.

However, I knew that I couldn't hide from the inevitable forever...

The darkness seemed to last for only a moment. I was not certain how long I really was unconscious after being choked. As my senses came back, I started to note where my body hurt. My throat ached. It felt like Zhao was still strangling me. However, I breathed in and felt the air enter my lungs. Zhao thankfully released me as soon as I fell unconscious, so at least I hadn't been without air for long.

Despite the soreness in my muscles from Zhao's tackle the night before, I was thankful that I was not burned or cut. The lack of damage to my flesh made my situation a little less painful. However, my arms ached because they were restrained behind me by what I could assume were iron cuffs. I knew why I was restrained of course: Zhao did not want to grant me the opportunity to attack him again.

Opening my eyes slowly, I found I was laying on my stomach on a cot in what was a small ship cabin. I could feel from the vibration of the vessel that we were moving. I knew without needing confirmation that we were headed to the North Pole.

I shut my eyes again. Tears burned. The Water Tribe... my mother's people... Aang and my cousins... they were in danger.

Gaining control of my body again, I managed to move enough to get on my knees on the cot. My hair was sticky and stiff from dried seawater. I had been left in my damp red shirt and black pants. Despite being in a room and not a cell, Zhao wanted me to be uncomfortable. This fact did not surprise me. However, I was relieved my mother's necklace was still on me. Zhao hadn't taken it. I guess there was a grain of good floating inside that darkness of his soul.

The cabin I was in was pretty bare. A cot and a small low table against the wall were the only furniture. There was an oil lantern on the table though to grant me light. The emptiness made me miss my room on Iroh's ship. For the first time in my life, I understood what being homesick felt like. My mother must've felt this way daily when she was alive.

As I sat on my knees, my wrists cuffed and the iron digging into my skin, I tried to think about my next move. Just because Zhao didn't kill me didn't mean I was going to sit around and wait for him to do it later. I also knew if he didn't kill me then there was sure to be some torture and pain instead. I was not going to sit by and let that happen again. I had to escape. If I could find a way to the ship's cargo hold, then maybe I could find a back way out. There were usually hatches in the cargo hold one could open to lower dinghies. I had no clue how I would accomplish such a thing with my hands cuffed, but I was willing to try anything.

If there was one thing I knew, it was that I was not going to let Zhao imprison me again. I was not going to let him take away my freedom. I had finally seen the world. I had learned to live, laugh, and love. I was not going to sit still while Zhao took all that away from me.

Escape... I had to escape... get back to Iroh and Zuko at the Earth Kingdom coast... and then, when I was even stronger I would try again... next time I would surely kill Zhao.

I considered trying to melt my cuffs, but I knew if I did that I'd be burning my own flesh. I had tried that method during my days alone in my attic prison with my ankle cuff: It always led to a burn.