AUTHOR'S NOTES—and now, Sokka is formally introduced. However, he and Katara have been separated for over two years at this point, so he is on his own when he appears. Also, similar to Xilingshi, Kyla plays a decent-sized role throughout the series. However, none of the OCs that appear in this story steal any limelight from any major characters, as they are a little older and have motives of their own that just happen to sometimes coincide with the interests of the heroes.

Theoretically, there could be a Sokka-Kyla relationship, since they're only two years apart, but even I see their relationship more as one of friendship than romance, so… no worries. I'll stick to my "no-OC/canon pairings" promise. ^^

(and sorry for the wait)

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 6-2: IMPRISONED, PART 2

Earth Kingdom village near the mining rig; present day

The chaos that had reigned during the time of Katara and Kyla's breakout had subsided recently, but the nearby village was the one that paid for it. Air Warriors kept people from leaving, and bending was prohibited. Inspired by the lack of courage the prisoners had displayed during the collapse of the mining rig, (and perhaps at the influence of a certain Water Tribe woman), a few earthbenders resisted and escaped, though most were killed. The Air Warriors' dominance of the skies continued to play as their advantage over the other nations.

Aang, Toph, and Zuko arrived at this village, mostly just looking for a place to get supplies. By this time there was little evidence of any of the previous mayhem, or Katara's whereabouts. Sokka had been drawn to this village after hearing news about a violent incident involving an exploding rig and a metalbender. His first thoughts were that Katara had been involved, and although he did not know it or have any evidence to prove it, he was actually right.

However, the downside to Sokka's visit to this village was that he was no longer able to follow the leads he had gotten on his sister that had led him here in the first place, and so he was now trapped here. Incidentally, Toph, Aang, and Zuko were at this very same place, and were now under the same circumstances as well.

"We were just passing through," Zuko argued towards one of the Air Warriors, "and maybe stopping to get supplies. We've got money for them too. We have no intention of attacking this establishment or whatever other crazy conspiracy theory you can think of us doing."

The woman he was arguing with kept a straight face.

"Perhaps you were," she frowned, "but your party seems to clearly scream to any passersby that you are against the Air Warriors."

"Really now," Toph raised an eyebrow, "and what evidence is that?"

"This is Zuko of the Northern Water Tribe," the woman replied, "and this boy is an Air Nomad outside of the Northern Air Temple. Unless our security has been breached up there, this can only mean that he is also the Avatar. We know more about your little travelling band than you would first think."

"Perhaps you are overestimating your security," Aang remarked, remaining casual, "While we Air Nomads are peaceful by nature, it's clear that they can go bad and become fighters." Besides, don't real nomads travel around a lot anyways?"

"You present somewhat of a reasonable statement," the woman frowned, "however, we were given orders to not let anyone leave this place."

"So it's a trap then," Toph narrowed her eyes, "preying on travellers now?"

"You spark an interest, child," the Air Warrior commented, looking down at Toph, "What have you heard about Kyoshi Island in recent times?"

"How should I know, and more importantly, why should I tell you?" Toph snapped,

"I should know because you are a Kyoshi Warrior—or a pretender dressed as one, in the which case you will be executed here and now." The airbender replied, "And you should tell me for that same reason."

"I'm almost certain that the three of us could take you down," Toph retorted, and Zuko and Aang stood by her in support. The airbender's response, however, was not what they expected.

"I'm certain you could," she smiled, keeping a similar aura of calmness around her, "but I do not think that you could take on me and them."

She pointed behind her to the trees and various lookout towers, where a few airbenders occupying them used their combustion tactic to demonstrate their power. Even Zuko's left eye popped open a little from the surprise.

"Point taken," Toph said sheepishly, "so what do you want from us?"

"Your cooperation, Kyoshi," the airbender replied, using 'Kyoshi' as a shortened term instead of as a name, "you can remain here, and as long as you do not attack, your lives will be spared."

"We've got more important things to do than simply sit around in a village!" Aang protested,

"And we don't plan on doing that anyways," Toph snapped.

"Then you leave us no choice," the airbender sighed, and seconds later, several airbending rogues appeared out of nowhere and using a series of swift jabs, blocked the chi of Toph and Zuko, finishing their blows with shots to the forehead, knocking them unconscious. They aimed for Aang as well, but his own airbending reflexes kept him safe for a few moments longer. To him they had to give chase, but eventually their numbers gave them enough of an advantage on the Avatar that he too was knocked unconscious.

Same village, a few hours later

The three of them woke up in some run-down housing unit, where they were in the company of an Earth Kingdomer and a Water Tribeswoman. Zuko was the first one to regain awareness.

"Hey, you're awake!" the earthbender exclaimed—or, Zuko thought he was an earthbender anyways, "we've been trying to help you all recover from when you were hit—or rather, Kyla was. I sort of just watched since there wasn't much I could do."

"Who are you?" Zuko asked, somewhat skeptical.

"Name's Sokka," the man replied, "I'm not a bender either, and they still wouldn't let me go! I don't know what these people are up to, but there's far more to this village than meets the eye. There is a small stream of smoke still rising from out over the water. It's too far away for me to see, but if you three had anything to do with it, they'll have your heads."

"What the damn are you talking about?" Zuko massaged his forehead, "and who's Kyla?"

"That would be me," the waterbender replied, "I think your Kyoshi friend here woke up a few minutes ago, but she fell asleep again. You other friend here is alright as well."

"That's good to know," Zuko gave a satisfied smirk as he noticed Aang stirring, "but where are we, and what's going on here?"

"There was a disaster at the rig a few months ago," Kyla explained, "I was there."

"What!" Sokka exclaimed, "You never told me that, Kyla!"

"Well, Sokka, you do tend to be somewhat of a blabbermouth every now and again." Kyla giggled.

"Oh," Sokka rolled his eyes, "so telling it to me by myself is bad, but you can tell it to me when we've got three strangers with us? I guess the stuff you're on is stronger than I thought."

"No, silly," Kyla laughed, "you never asked about it."

Sokka sighed and smacked his forehead, because he knew that Kyla was right.

Aang was awake by this time, and so the four of them exchanged introductions.

"…and the Kyoshi Warrior is Toph," Aang finished.

"So that's the story of the rebellious recruit, then," Kyla raised an eyebrow.

"What's that now?" Zuko and Aang exclaimed, pausing for a moment as Toph muttered a few unintelligible words and rolled over.

"I've overheard a ton of Air Warrior gossip since the blast at the rig," Kyla smirked, "They say my father and several of the leaders of the Northern Water Tribe have some explaining to do."

"They've also been questioning their relationship with Kyoshi Island," Sokka added, "that's one thing I love about Kyla—she and I are great at getting information without getting caught."

"So what is this rig blast, and what exactly happened?" Aang asked.

"Me and this earthbender by the name of Joo Dee were on the rig." Kyla explained, "after she told me was could bend metal, we found our way out by collapsing and demolishing the entire derrick."

"What happened to the other prisoners?" Aang asked,

"There were only two survivors—Kyla said stoically, "Joo Dee and I. She was the one who collapsed the rig, and after we got back to shore, she took off."

"I thought you said she called herself Katara," Sokka argued.

"She said some people call her that," Kyla replied, "but she seemed convinced that that was a nickname. Whatever the case, she's probably been brainwashed."

"Did she mention me at all?"

"Not that I can recall; remember, Sokka, that 'Katara' as a name is not unique, and the Earth Kingdom only has a ton of people."

"Well, whatever the case, if you three are up for an escape plan, then join us and add your skills to ours."

"If you're not a bender," Toph asked, having woken up, "what can you do?"

"See this," Kyla smirked, swiping Sokka's boomerang and holding it up, "he knocks Air Warriors out of the sky with it. He also, like we have said, is good at grabbing information and formulating tactics."

"Aww, you think that highly of me?" Sokka grinned

"Underneath your smart-alecky nature, yes, Sokka; I do."

"So that boomerang always comes back, eh?" Zuko asked,

"Damn straight it does!" Sokka grinned, pumping his fist, and swiping his boomerang back from Kyla's hand, "so are you all in or not?"

"Count us in." Zuko declared, "You've got an airbender, a Kyoshi Warrior, and another waterbender to add to your ranks now."