Open Your Eyes | Book 2

5: Reality

Art: Embrace by Clare Elsaesser

Time didn't exist. My mind told me I had been traveling for days. The weariness which ached my head and stung my eyes said I had gotten very little sleep. I couldn't recall speaking to anyone in ages. I was completely and utterly alone on this barren, dried-up land.

Despite all of this, I couldn't actually recall the time that had passed. I didn't remember sleepless nights or a sore bottom from riding all day. The last solid memory I had was of that village, of bending the blood in that man's body. It was a thought I couldn't help but dwell on.

The feeling of reaching into another person and forcing my will onto them was nothing I'd ever experienced before. It is nearly impossible to put into words. I didn't feel loose, placid water in his body. What I felt was the tightening around his muscles and the straining of his veins as they constricted and forced blood into his pounding heart. He had been terrified. His fight-or-flight instincts were kicking in as adrenaline warmed his body. I could feel that too. It was like a second-hand dose in my own body.

It was difficult and it hurt and I felt just as scared as he did. Then he stopped fighting it. I had replaced his will with mine and a cool feeling spread over my entire body. It was terrifying...and thrilling.

Maybe all of that time really had passed. It seemed completely plausible that I had been too enthralled in those thoughts to notice the sunset and rise. Besides, I had one path set out in front of me, who was I to start questioning it because it was easy?

The flat plains all looked the same to me and I was starting to get weary of all the bare things. There were a couple of trees scattered around but that was it. There was almost no grass and never any water. Not only was I not finding Zuko but it was starting to feel like I would die in this endless, dry place.

That was what I thought until I spotted a certain tree up ahead. It looked the same as all the others I had seen but there was one thing that was different: a person was sitting beneath it.

At first I was unsure. I dismounted cautiously, never taking my eyes off the stranger in case they noticed me before I was ready. They too had an ostrich-horse which was resting beside them in the shade.

Upon further inspection, I saw that it was a boy in Earth Kingdom clothing. Most of his face was covered by a conical hat. Slouched against the tree trunk, his head drooped looking as though he had drifted off to sleep. In the hope that he was in fact asleep, I risked getting closer.

I told myself it couldn't be Zuko. I could see the short hair at the nape of his neck pushing out from the collar of his shirt. However, there was some familiarity to his form and I remembered the vision from the swamp.

I was beginning to get braver. I instinctually kept low to the ground, crouching more and more the closer I got. Just as I had gotten near enough to catch sight of the edge of a scar under his hat, his head snapped up. His hand went to the sheath beside him and, in a flash, there were two dual swords pointed at me.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he roared.

I recognized the voice instantly. That paired with the unique scar which pressed his left eye. I knew who this stranger was. "Zuko?"

The recognition crossed his face just as it crossed mine. His eyes stretched open wide, his mouth falling agape. "K-Kida?" His arms fell to his sides, his fingers going completely limp and dropping the swords.

I let my own body rest for a moment as I took in the fact that I had actually found him. He looked different from the last time I had seen the boy, not just his hair or clothing, he was thinner too. Worry suddenly took over me and I began to hate myself for leaving him.