On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter LXXV

The impact made most of Luna's air leave her lungs and water flood her mouth even as she felt a current spin her around as it sucked her down into the water's deep dark depths. Swallowing her whole.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. God no.

It was the first time she'd been underwater since remembering the time she'd drowned, and Luna suddenly found that she didn't seem to remember how to swim thanks to the shock of the cold water and how distant some memories were.

Keep calm. Keep calm. Find your rebreather, the girl tried to tell herself, trying to spit the water back out, blindly feeling her belt for the device, only to find she didn't have it with her. Okay, okay. Stay calm. Get to the surface.

Which way is up?

How the hell should I know?

....I'm going to die here.

No. No, you are going to fight. You have to fight. We aren't drowning again. We agreed this isn't how we'll die. Suffocation and drowning are a no. Start swimming. Or kicking. Something!

Air. Need air.

Panicking makes you lose energy faster.

Should we fight the current in the first place?

It's taking us deeper. We can't hold our breath long enough to get out of it and then come back up.

Air.

Which way is up?

Come on, Luna. Don't panic. Panicking will kill you. Now think! There's a way out of this, you just need to keep your head and use that fear for something useful like strength!

Bubbles! Vader said that if you get turned about underwater, bubbles will help reorient you because air always goes up.

The girl struggled to fight against the current and stabilize herself in some position that didn't involve spinning before letting out a small stream of the precious commodity, holding out her hands to feel for the direction the bubbles traveled in the pitch black. Up turned out to be a strange 175° degrees from her current positioning. Knowing better than to waste time, Luna immediately headed in that direction, lungs burning even as she pulled on the Force to help propel her through the water and against the current. Her arms and legs began burning with lactic acid as she struggled against the current, desperate to get to the surface before she ran out of oxygen.

Come on. Keep going! You have to keep going! Luna thought to herself, trying to encourage herself to continue upwards despite the exhaustion of her limbs and the state of her oxygen deprived lungs. The current kept tearing at her, trying to suck her back down into the depths and it was all she could do to have the Force support her strokes and kicks enough to fight it and move upwards a handful of centimeters.

And then, after an enturnity, she felt her hand come in contact with air. With one last kick half powered by the Force, Luna's head was above the surface as she gasped for air, struggling to stay out of the undertow with her lead-like limbs.

Great. Now land.

Where is land?

....Oh come on! I can't tread water forever! Not with this current!

Uh.... Clone Wars! Season 4, episode 3! Luna remembered, just as her leg decided that now was the time to cramp. The girl screamed in pain a moment before she was sucked under once more. She forced her leg straight despite the water around her causing instinct to want the opposite before focusing as she used the Force to create a pocket of air around her head, frowning at how difficult it was though grateful for the air as she gasped for the precious resource.