Ignoring the way his heart began to thump with fear, Jamie walked into the sea with a sense of deliberateness and focus, trying to make the best of a bad situation.
After all, if he couldn’t be earth attuned anymore, then the least he could do was attempt to be a better swimmer.
He’d never been great at it, even back in the world, but Teak had attempted to teach him a bit when he’d first arrived on the island, before they’d realised he simply sank like a stone, and now seemed like as good a time as any to try again, his body finally allowing him some buoyancy.
So he walked out slowly, the water warm and inviting and steadily getting deeper - up nearly to his hips now - and while he could have begun paddling about in the shallows, he still couldn’t bring himself to take the plunge - the fear of drowning was too deeply ingrained - so instead he kept walking, the sand soft on his toes, letting the water rise further.
Over his hips, up to his chest - the only trouble was that he was still petrified and he couldn’t help but wish he’d waited and brought Kettle with him, thinking that a spotter might be a very handy thing to have. But he was committed now he decided, wet up to his shoulders, and when he took one more step and the ground fell away, the drop off sneaking up quickly, Jamie panicked for a moment, his head dipping under the water, before he started to attempt to do what Teak had taught him.
And it worked - for nearly a minute. He was swimming! And then, suddenly, he wasn’t. He was sinking fast. And for the barest fraction of a moment, Jamie’s heart leapt in his chest that his earth attunement wasn’t really gone at all; that some small part of it was stirring; realising just as quickly that it wouldn’t do him any good at all if he sank to the bottom of the ocean before he could manage to do anything with it. He tried to splash back to solid ground, but his panic had only succeeded in getting him turned round, and try as he might, his head breaking the surface every few seconds, there was no doubt that he was in trouble, his attunement outranking even the best of Teak’s instructions.
Between his panic and his natural sinking, Jamie was certain he’d just walked into his own demise; coughing and sputtering and splashing for all he was worth, calling out for help from anyone who might be passing.
After all, he might be about to die, but that didn’t mean he had to go quietly.
