"Parker, time to wake up."
It was Phoebe who had stuck her head through the open door. Parker turned her head to her mother. With a deep sigh she sat herself straight on the bed and threw the covers back. Parker was exited for today but the nervousness prevented her from showing she was.
Today Parker and her family would meet up with Jaya. It was time for Parker to meet the world where her power, that still hadn't shown itself, came from. They would get a grand tour at the school and the city the school was located at. A week ago, when they had first met Jaya and monk Kiyoto, they had agreed to meet up close by the golden gate bridge at 6 am. It would still be dark so it would give them enough cover not to get seen.
Parker dressed herself and walked to the bathroom to brush her hair. Then she put on the kerchief on her head and the gloves on her hands. She'd brush her teeth after breakfast.
At the breakfast table, PJ was already eating her toast with jam. She had begged so hard to come to the bending world too that their parents finally agreed. While Parker took her seat at the table, a pink light filled the room. It was her dad that beamed in.
"Good morning everyone" he said and gave his two girls a kiss on the head and ended with his wife, who he kissed on the lips.
"Where did you come from, dad?" PJ asked curious.
"I had a protégé that needed a little help" Coop answered.
"This early? I hope that I don't need to wake up this early when I start my cupid task" PJ said. Coop had to laugh.
"Luckily you won't have to worry about that for another couple years" Phoebe said with a smirk.
After a 30 minute drive Coop parked the car at an abandoned parking lot. Carefully the family climbed down the rocks and continued their path on the sand. Luckily the water wasn't coming very far on the beach because it was still low tide. Everyone followed the little black kitten with the white spot in its neck. Jaya had said to bring Yin along. He would guide them to the place where a portal would open so they could all enter the bending world.
Yin jumped on a rock and sat down. He looked around and meowed to his friend Parker. Then he looked back to a familiar rock formation. Yin was waiting on the same rock, looking at the same rock formation as a week ago when he had waited for Jaya and monk Kiyoto's arrival.
Just like last time Yin sat there for a while, only this time his new family was waiting with him. It didn't take long before a dime light appeared. Slowly the portal got more clear and a silhouette showed itself in the dime light. It was Jaya.
"Good morning" she greeted the family.
"Hi" PJ said excited.
"It's nice to see you all again" Jaya said and reach out her hand to Phoebe. Phoebe accepted the handshake. Then Jaya reached out her hand to Coop, who did the same as his wife. PJ quickly went standing next to her dad so she could also shake Jaya's hand, which Jaya did with a smile. Finally Jaya went to Parker, who was standing next to Yin. Yin was still sitting on its rock and enjoyed the petting on her head by Parker.
"Good morning to you too my friend" Jaya said to Yin. The kitten meowed in reply.
"Are you ready to meet the bending world?" Jaya now asked while looking at Parker. With still that nervous feeling in her stomach Parker nodded.
"Then I suggest we step into the portal right away. Less chance for anyone to see us" Jaya said. She turned around and walked back to the portal. PJ quickly followed with her dad right behind her. Last, Phoebe walked towards the portal. She noticed that Parker didn't follow her example, so she looked around and reached out her arm to her little girl. Parker laid her hand into her mothers and followed her. Yin also jumped off its rock and walked next to Parker. Together they all stepped into the dime light of the portal.
It was a weird feeling. Parker felt as light as a feather but not like she would start floating. Slowly they took another step forward. And another, and another. The dime light changed into very bright sunlight. Parker had to squint. When her eyes finally adjusted itself to the light she could see they weren't in their world anymore. She was surrounded by small hills filled with grass, flowers and animals. While looking around with big eyes, Parker slowly walked behind her mother, who also couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Parker! Come see!" PJ yelled. She was already further ahead and standing next to a fence. When Parker reached the fence she saw a very strange animal standing behind it. It look like a sheep, but its head wasn't the same as the sheep she knew.
"That's a koala sheep" Jaya said. Now parker saw it. The sheep indeed had a head of a koala. "In the bending world we have a lot of hybrid animals," Jaya explained:
"But we also have animals just like in your world, like dogs and cats. But they can be e different size sometimes, like Yin."
Parker was surprised by what Jaya had just said. Yin was just like the other cats she had seen before. Parker looked around to find Yin. It didn't take long for her to find him and when she did her mouth fell wide open. Behind her wasn't standing a small adolescent kitten. This cat was the size of a panther. Parker felled scared and wanted to take a step back, but then she noticed the white spot in the neck of the black panther. Parker relaxed a bit.
"Yin?" Parker asked unsure. The cat meowed.
"That's just so awesome" PJ said excited.
"Is it really him?" Parker asked Jaya. She nodded in reply. Parker reached out her hand to pet the head of her, now very tall, cat friend.
"Why don't we continue our journey. We have a small walk ahead before we reach the school" Jaya said and she leaded the group along the path. Parker, walking next to Yin and her father, looked behind her for one last time. Now she could clearly see where they had entered the bending world. A couple branches of trees formed an archway. When the dime light slowly disappeared inside the archway, Parker could swear she had seen a small yellow ghostly looking figure. Her thoughts got interrupted by Yin, who meowed at her.
"I'm coming" Parker said to her friend. Together they catched up with Phoebe, Coop, PJ and Jaya.
"Jaya, I thought you said we just had a small walk ahead?" PJ complained.
"This is a small walk" Jaya said in reply.
"Then I don't wanna know what a long walk is by her standards" Coop whispered to Phoebe.
"It's just behind this hill" Jaya said and pointed at the hill lying right in front of them. It was just a straight path to the top. PJ ran fast up the hill and abruptly stopped when she reached the top.
"You gotta see this" PJ said over her shoulder to her family. Coop, Phoebe and Parker all walked a little faster out of curiosity. When they finally reached PJ they had an incredible view of the city and all its surroundings. The city laid in a wide valley that adjacent to two mountains and a bay leading to open sea.
"That's republic city" Jaya said pointing at the city: "It's one of the largest city in the bending world where all kind of benders are united." Jaya walked further down the path that now descended down towards the city in a slalom.
"Are their other cities too?" PJ asked interested.
"Yes, there are" Jaya said: " There is Basing Sé, the earthbending city, which is the biggest city of all. Then you have the Northern water tribe, a city build completely in ice. There is also the Southern water tribe, which is build out of ice too like the Northern tribe but it's a lot smaller. The fire nation is divided into smaller cities all around. And last but not least, there are of course the airtemples in all four cardinal directions."
"Woow, can we see them too?" PJ asked.
"I'm afraid not. The nearest fire nation village is at least two hours travel away from here. Republic city is the central point of our world and all the other cities are surrounding it" Jaya explained: "I think it's best we stay in the city today. That will be enough information to take in for now."
"I think so too" Phoebe agreed.
After another twenty minutes walking they finally reached the edge of the city. They continued their journey on some smaller paths until they reached the main road. Instead of crossing the bridge, which lead to the center of Republic City, the group took a turn left. They walked a bit further next to the water until Jaya stopped them at an open spot at a railing.
"If you look over there," Jaya pointed over the water towards a single lonely island in the middle of the bay: "you can see the most famous island of the spiritbenders. Nobody lives there anymore but a couple dozen people keep the place tidy to try and maintain all its history."
"Is it the only place where spiritbenders lived? It's not a very big island compared to the rest of the city" Coop said. Jaya could hear a hint of concern in his voice.
"True, it's not very big. There never have been many spiritbenders, at least not as many as other kind of benders. But the island wasn't the only place where spiritbenders lived. Some lived among us in the city or made their home at one of the airtemples. There even have been benders who lived in a small fire nation village."
They continued walking next to the water side for a bit. Then Jaya turned into one of the following streets. That's when Parker first noticed they were following the signs leading to the school.
"Mom we're going to the bendingschool" Parker said to her mom and pointed at the sign she had seen. Phoebe was a little startled by her daughter. She was looking around star struck that she almost forgot she wasn't alone. They turned another corner and then walked straight forward to another bridge.0
"That bridge leads to the island that is completely preserved for the school" Jaya said nodding to the bridge right ahead.
"A whole island just for a school?" PJ asked astonished.
"Yeah, they've build four different centers for every element so the students can practice their bending in a safe environment . They are only allowed to bend in the center that is preserved for their element. Outside those centers any bending gets punished by the headmaster. We want to prevent that the students use bending for anything other than what is was meant for" Jaya explained.
"Won't they just start doing it behind the teachers back?" Coop asked.
"We had that same thought so we decided that the students can go to the bending centers whenever they have free time" Jaya answered. Phoebe nodded in approval.
They started crossing the bridge. Only now Parker notice people looking at them and giving them strange looks. She had been to buzzy looking around that she only noticed them now. Parker felt uncomfortable by all the looks.
"Mom," she whispered: "they all keep staring at us." Just like Parker, Phoebe hadn't noticed this fact until her daughter pointed it out.
"There are just a handful of benders who have ever seen people for another world" Jaya said.
"How do they know we're from another world?" Coop asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's the clothes" Jaya answered with a wink. And indeed, their clothes were very different from the ones Jaya wore or all the other people from the bending world.
When they reached the other side of the bridge, the school tour could begin at last. First they went to the central school building where classes take place and the headmaster's office is. Jaya introduced them to the headmaster. He was an old but very kind man, named Iroh. He was a firebender. Headmaster Iroh said that he was very honored that Parker came to visit his school and hoped that she would like it. He wished that he could come and show them around himself but he had a lot to do. He said he was sorry but that they were in good hands with Jaya. Then headmaster Iroh said goodbye and went back to his office.
"Does he know about Parker?" Phoebe asked Jaya.
"Know what?" Jaya replied.
"You know, that's she one of those special benders?"
"Yes he does."
"Does anyone else know?" Coop asked.
"There are exactly four people, accept from you all, that know Parker is a spiritbender. Me, monk Kiyoto, Headmaster Iroh and Katara."
"We've met three of them. Who is the last one, Katara?" Phoebe asked.
"She is one of the wisest woman I know. Just like me she is a waterbender but her skills are more developed than anyone elses. She lives on the school island. Katara use to be a teacher at the waterbending center, now she helps were she can. She's also an incredibly good healer and that comes in handy sometimes" Jaya said.
"What's a healer?" PJ asked.
"A healer is waterbender who can heal wounds, inside and outside, by waterbending" Jaya explained: "In the old days they believed that women who could bend water should all be healer and not learn how to fight like the men. But that changed, luckily. I've never been that good at that healing stuff."
"Are we going to meet her too?" PJ asked excited.
"I was planning to pay her visit and introducing you to her but not until later. First I'll show you the rest of the school. In this building all standard classes take place."
"Standard classes?" Parker asked confused.
"History, math, writing, geography" Jaya explained: "First year has four class groups with approximately twenty students each. You will be in a group with all kind of benders. Only when you have your bending class you will be separated."
They past a group of kids. One of them jumped in front of Jaya.
"Good morning miss Jaya, I've practicing really hard on my double waves. I can almost finish the move" the girl said excited and proud.
"That's very good Pam. Now if you'll excuse me. I'm giving these nice people a tour around the school. I'll see in class tomorrow" Jaya said. Pam waved and quickly reunited with the rest of her group.
"You're a teacher?" Coop asked.
"Yes, I teach waterbending" Jaya answered: "I'm actually head of the waterbending teaching team."
"You have a team?" PJ asked.
"Of course. I can't teach all the waterbenders on my own" Jaya answered. "I think it's better to continue our tour outside the main building because classes are about to start. We could got to the dorms. They will be empty by now."
"Is this like boarding school?" Phoebe asked.
"A lot of student do indeed stay here at school for most of the year, because many of the kids families live in one of the four nations. The kids that live here in Republic City can choose if they live on the school island or not."
Parker got a little scared. If she would go to school here, she would have to live here just like the other kids. The journey would be too long to do every day.
They entered one of the dorm buildings. On the ground floor there was a common room where kids ate together. There were also a couple dozen bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The first and second floor were also filled with bedrooms and an even bigger shared bathroom.
"There are three dorm buildings for girls and three for boys. The seniors have a coed dorm for themselves. This building is for the girls of group seven and eight. The buildings for the other groups are bit larger because they house three groups. Parker, if you would attend our school you would stay in that building over there." Jaya pointed at a tall building left from the one they had just visited. She saw a young girl rushing out of it with a her bag over her shoulder. By looks of it the girl was late for class.
The rest of morning was filled with visits at the school yard, the leisure spaces and of course the bending centers. There were actual classes going on so Parker and her family could see kids in action, learning and practicing their skills.
Although Parker didn't know anything about this world, this school, she did have a feeling like she belonged in the bending world.
"The next thing I'd like you to show is the spiritbender's island. It's not a normal stop for a school tour but in your case I'll make an exception" Jaya said with a smile to Parker.
"Not to be rude, but can you show us something to eat first. I'm starving" Parker said. Everybody had to laugh but by the looks of it she wasn't the only one who was getting hungry.
"That's fine" Jaya replied and treated them all with a yummy bowl of soup with noodles.