AUTHOR'S NOTES—this episode as a whole touches a lot more on Sokka and Katara, particularly in more recent times. The 'changes' that have happened to them (namely Katara) will be seen at a later time.
This episode also runs a bit differently than the one in the show, but we'll get to that later. Sokka will 'officially' appear in a later part of this episode, as will a 21-year-old OC, a waterbender named Kyla.
Rest assured, if there is any shipping that involves OCs (I do not see any in the near future, however), it will only be with other OCs—so no worries.
As for Haru, he has a role in this saga, but it is not here, so he was not on the rig.
AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER
BOOK 1: WATER
CHAPTER 6-1: IMPRISONED, PART 1
offshore mining rig, a few weeks before current times
Katara wound up escaping the grasp of her captors that had taken her to Ba Sing Se, but she had been permanently changed in more ways than she would mention to anyone. Because of her powerful earthbending skills, people from various parts of the Earth Kingdom recognized the name Katara, but she was still far from being internationally renowned.
She took off far to the south, where she again was misfortunate to wind up in the hands of other captors. These ones recognized her as an earthbender straightaway, and set her in a region where she could do little to get out—a metal mining rig far out in the water. Katara's desire for freedom overpowered her fear of water, but this was soon put to rest after her failed attempt to give this a shot, as well as the beating that followed.
"what the hell was I thinking," Katara wondered to herself, coughing up blood, "I can't swim—but I will not stay here. There has to be some way I can get out of here."
Katara wound up establishing a name for herself a few days (and whippings, beatings, or other forms of torture) later. Those in charge of her were mostly just Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom nonbenders who sided with the Air Warriors either for profit or to avoid getting killed. They of course had Air Warriors overseers, but they mostly just flew around every now and again and observed the conditions from above. This observation was mostly effective, but it did not stop conversation from a brainwashed earthbender and a young adult waterbender—and conversation was difficult to notice from that high.
The two of them met at the rig, but Katara was somewhat skeptical about how and why a waterbender was there.
"They know I'm with the Water Tribes," the girl explained, "but what I want to know is why they've got a Ba Sing Se official here."
"I wish I knew as well," Katara grunted, "the name's Joo Dee, but a few people call me Katara for whatever reason. Anyways, I'll be blunt—I absolutely refuse to be held here for too long, so if you want to stick with me, we might be able to come up with a plan to bust out of here."
"You can call me Kyla," the waterbender replied, "Kyla of the Northern Water Tribe."
"Can you swim?"
"Very well, in fact. Though I would need some sort of backup or diversion big enough to help me get away. Besides, I thought we were in this together."
"We are. I was just wondering how you would be able to help me out of this mess, seeing as I can't swim, and my vision isn't what it used to be."
"You hide it well."
"I try. I have an idea on how to start a diversion though. However, there will be casualties."
"On which side?"
"Both sides—the problem with most of these earthbenders is that they have no will to live or fight. I've tried everything to help get them to join my cause, but to no avail."
"Well, that's sort of their fault now, isn't it?"
"That's the conclusion I came to. So you're not the self-righteous goody-goody type that would give me a lecture of the ages about morality if they got caught in my crossfire?"
"'course not, especially if you know who my family is. Anyways, what's your plan?"
"I can sense the earth around me," Katara explained, "there are fine particles in even the metal. It's just a form of earth that has been purified and refined. In other words, I've bent it before."
Kyla's eyes widened. "When did you bend metal?"
"See that railing over there? Those two rails are bent because of me."
Kyla's doubts were vanquished on the spot. "so what are your plans?"
"I'm going to collapse this whole place," Katara warned, "so I need you to bend the water away from us as we make our way back to shore. Anyone that doesn't fly or bend themselves to freedom will likely be lost here. Are you up for it?"
"The sooner the better." Kyla smirked, "I remember what I was your age—daring tactics like that were one of my favorite things to do. I just wish I knew where to find my two partners-in-crime."
"you can look for them after this if you want—I have other business I need to attend to down south."
"Very well then," Kyla nodded, "when that time that we part comes around, I want you to know that it was nice working with you, as well as meeting you, Joo Dee"
"Thanks," Katara shrugged, "but save that until after we bust out. We need to wait for now—listen for the right time to strike this plan into action."
However, they did not need to wait very long—in fact, it was only a few minutes before guards started pouring in. the others looked confused, and even Kyla did. Katara knew what was happening.
"They know what we're doing. Get ready Kyla!"
Without a second thought, Katara slammed her hands down on the metal plating, and ripples formed in it, carving a line through the center of the platform. Kyla stood close to Katara, and the rumbling from the rig made many people lose their footing. None of the guards were very skilled benders, and so the two prodigies were able to block most of the attacks (mostly Kyla, as there was water for her to bend, but there was little earth for Katara to bend).
The force of Katara's metalbending might was something that no one, friend or foe, has expected. She split the metal at the right place, and the sundering of the metal soon hit the boiler room. Something exploded down there, and this caused the entire derrick to begin collapsing. Kyla grabbed Katara's hand and the two jumped off the falling platform and landed into the water below.
Their hands separated somewhere during the jump, but it only took Kyla a few seconds to find the struggling Katara and pull her down with her. She used bending to drag them both to the bottom of the water, where she kept a large pocket of water for them to breathe and escape.
"crossing a body of water by going under it," Katara mused, chuckling, "I never would have thought of something like this. I gotta hand it to you, Kyla—you do well."
"You're not doing too shabby yourself, Joo Dee," Kyls smirked. The two teamed up, and Katara bent an earthen platform beneath their feet to help them move faster. Kyla bent the water out of their way and kept the two benders in the air pocket so they would not drown. Within a few minutes they were back on the shore, gazing back at the billowing smoke from the wreckage.
"well, here's the interesting part," Kyla raised an eyebrow, "I don't see anyone anywhere near the closest shoreline, so I think it's just you, me, and perhaps those angry airbenders buzzing around overhead trying to figure out what happened."
"Then Joo Dee approves," Katara beamed, pointing her thumb at herself and grinning. "Thank you again, Kyla. I wish you luck in finding your friends again."
"You're welcome, Joo Dee. I wish you luck on your mission as well."
Katara stamped her foot and brought up a large earth wave, which she started riding as she took off in a southward direction. She slowly started sinking into the ground as she left, until she vanished from Kyla's sight—travelling underground meant that one would not be seen by the Air Warriors quite as easily—it also meant getting caught would be a lot harder.
Kyla hid most of her Water Tribe possessions, and donned a sword and a boomerang to make it appear that she was a warrior instead of a bender. The Air Warriors in these parts did not seem to care what nationality a person was—just whether or not they were benders. Despite the Water Tribe being the Air Warriors' largest enemy, the Air Warriors here seemed to have few qualms with those who were not waterbenders. As a result, it was not too difficult for Kyla to lay low, but remain in the village.
Soon, in fact, she would find herself in a fateful encounter anyways.