Here's the next chapter, I'm really enjoying writing this story. It's fun to sort of carry on the Avatar story. Hope you guys are having as much fun reading it as I am writing it!

; )

Chapter 2

The next day was Sunday, the day when Kouyo didn't have any bending lessons and Kaiya didn't have any healing lessons or chores. Ma always let them run wild that day. They usually spent it with a group of other children from their neighbourhood. Kaiya got up really early and put her clothes on; Sundays only came once every 7 days so she had to make the most of it while it was here.

She padded down to the kitchen to see where Kouyo was, he was not in the jumble of messy sheets he called a bed so Kaiya assumed that her was already awake. She peered round the corner and into the kitchen. Kouyo and Ma were sitting around the dining room table, bowls of porridge in front of them both. Kouyo was obviously not hungry. He just stirred the lumpy grey matter around and around with his spoon, never raising it to his lips.

"Good Morning" Kaiya said brightly

Kouyo grunted, he was not really a morning person.

Ma indicated for her to sit with them, she got another bowl out and spooned some of the concoction in. Then she placed the entire thing in front of her daughter.

"Eat" Ma demanded

Kaiya obliged hesitantly, Ma was a dangerous cook, Mostly Kaiya's older sister Greta did the cooking. She tasted the first particle on the end of her spoon frowning. It tasted glue like, but edible, it could have used a little sweetener. She sighed and began to eat, it wasn't that bad when she didn't concentrate on what she was actually eating.

"I can't come today" Kouyo said suddenly "I have to go to an extra bending practice" he sounded sulky, like he had been cheated out of a bag of sweets.

"Why?" Kaiya asked, gulping a mouthful of porridge.

"Because he wants to be a great Water bender" Ma said forcefully "If he wants to become a great master he has to spend all of his time getting there, no one can do it without training everyday and spending 10 years or so learning. If he wants to get there soon he has to practice!" Ma stood and yanked the porridge bowl off the table; she turned around and walked over to the cooking fire. She put the pot back on to keep the porridge heated for when her other children come out for breakfast. She slowly stirred absentmindedly.

"You did it!" Kouyo whispered urgently as he leaned across the table "You have to help me! What did you do to become a master so fast?"

"I told you last night!" she hissed back across the table "I don't know!"

"Hmph" Kouyo sat back in his chair grumpily, he turned his head away. Kaiya took this as a 'I don't believe you and I'm ignoring you now.' She stood.

"Bye" she called to Ma and Kouyo as she sped out the door.

She gulped fresh air as she ran down the street. It had been stuffy in the kitchen. She ran through the city, dodging the early rising city folk as they went about their business. She kept running until she came to the town square. She took a seat on the high ice wall that was outside Water master Wong's house. This was their meeting place. Master Wong never minded, he was one of the friendlier masters. Kaiya perched herself up on the wall and waited. She watched all the shop keepers in the square setting up their carts and shops. She watched a mother chase her toddler across the square, shrieking at him to stop. She watched and waited.

The first person to appear was Rengy, she ginned at Kaiya as she heaved herself up onto the wall to wait with her. Next came Gengae, a plump boy who always seemed to worry about something. Then it was Dana and her little brother, Yaji. They were always bickering. After those two there was a flood of children arriving until there were 12 of them all lined up waiting on the wall. They all chattered and waited. Kaiya felt kind of lonely without Kouyo. They always came together or not at all. It wasn't only Kaiya that noticed Kouyo's absence either.

"Where's your brother?" Dana asked, concerned

"Couldn't come" Kaiya explained "he had extra water bending practice."

Dana nodded "It's so unfair that the boys are the only ones that can train." She said glumly. Like Kaiya, she was a Healer in training. It wasn't the most exciting water bending in the world.

"Tell me about it" Kaiya agreed "Other nations let girls fight, why not us?"

Both girls sighed in longing.

"Well? Are we going or not?" there was a sudden shout. Kaiya looked to see that it was Gengae. He was looking impatient.

"I think everyone's here." Said another kid "Let's go!"

The group surged forward and they were off. Kaiya walked beside Dana. The group walked to the edge of the city and crawled through a small hole in the city wall. They all ended up outside the city in the icy tundra. Slowly the children made their way over the ice against the howling wind and round into their Hang out.

It was another of the icy caverns. It was sheltered from the wind and could be easily seen from the city. The ocean was nearby and they could watch all the fishing boats as they sailed past doing their work. There were a dozen places to hide, little dark niches and huge rocks. Perfect for games of hide and seek. There was also a vast piece of flat terrain where it was common for a game of tag to break out randomly. It was the coolest kids hide out at the North Pole.

Today was no different from any other Sunday. Kaiya joined in with the other children, playing games of Tag, hide and seek. There were even a few snow fights. The longest was the boys vs. girls game. The water benders in each team were the best fighters. They made the snowballs make themselves from the snow on the ground and had uncanny aim. Kaiya was really good at this, she and Kouyo were the best benders in the group and because he wasn't there the girls won.

It was a pretty good day. They were lazing around just deciding to leave when they realized that all the fishing boats that normally swarmed around the cove were gone. It was really odd, the boats didn't go back to the city until sun set, which was still 2 or so hours away. Kaiya felt the hairs on her neck stand up on end. She shivered and stood up.

"I think we should go now guys." She suggested

There was a rumble of murmured agreement throughout the group. They all headed back up to the tundra on the higher ground above the cavern. Kaiya was last up the hill, helping the smaller children. Suddenly she heard the booming of drums in the distance. She watched the mist over the water. She watched, frozen, as a huge ship emerged. It had blood red sails and looked sinister. There were bits sticking out the side that Kaiya recognised as cannons. There was a mass of burly looking men standing on its dirty deck. They were all heavily armed and ruthless.

"Pirates!" she heard someone behind her scream. There was a mad panic as all her friends scrambled up the slippery slope. Kaiya couldn't move. She shook her head.

"Snap out of it Kaiya!" Dana shook Kaiya hard, Kaiya looked at her friend and saw that her eyes were wide and frightened. "We have to get out of here before..."

There was the sound of a cannon firing and the slope exploded in front of them. The Kids were cut off. The only way left was back down into the cavern where the pirates would surely catch them. Another Cannon ball exploded on the slope and the other kids decided that being caught was preferable to being blown to pieces. There was a mad rush down the hill. Dana tugged Kaiya along with her. They tore down the slope and into the cavern. They all huddled into the corner, they were trapped and they all knew it.

Thirty seconds later and a boat of pirates came chugging into sight. They sped up to the shore and stood in front of the children, leering horribly. One pirate stepped forward. He looked important; he was wearing slightly nicer clothes than the rest of them.

He cleared his throat noisily "Children, you can come quietly with us and nobody gets hurt or we can kill you. Does that sound like a bargain?"

"Slavers." Kaiya heard the whisper going round. They were right, it looked like these pirates were looking for fresh children to sell on the slave market. She shut her eyes, this was not happening.

"What if we say no?" shouted one of the louder boys from the back.

"Then we kill you all." The slave-dealer raised an eyebrow "You cannot hope to fight us."

"Well," Dana stood up; shoulders back "Some of us are water benders." She assumed a bending stance and twirled her hand crudely. She tried to send a wave of water to knock the slave-dealers off their feet. The puddle of water in front of her quivered, rose into the air a couple of inches and then flopped to the ground again. Dana looked in despair at the water. She hadn't had any training in Bending, she just couldn't do it. The dealers smirked and stepped closer, greed shining in their eyes.

The closest pirate made a grab for Rangy, standing on the edge of their huddle. She screamed and all hell broke loose. Kids ran for it in all directions. It was everybody for themselves. Another pirate grabbed Dana, while another grabbed Gengae. Kaiya felt someone grab at her arm and she reacted instinctively. She forgot all about the fact that she had to keep her ability to water bend a secret and lashed out at the person behind her. She raised the water below him and froze him solid in an ice chunk. Another one made a grab for her and she used the ice on the walls to create a wave that washed him out to sea. All the kids had stopped struggling against the Slave-dealers and were watching her, open mouthed. The only people they had seen doing this kind of advanced bending were the masters. One by one the pirates tried to capture her, she ducked out of their way and water bended them into ice sculptors each time. After she had taken down 5 at once, the remaining ditched the children they were holding on to and charged for her, swords, daggers and other weapons out.

Kaiya called the water from the ocean and invited it to swirl around her. She turned on the spot and made the water raise her into the air. She bought tendrils up from the sides of her water spout and used them to lash out at the pirates.

They didn't stand a chance; they were all frozen in seconds.

Kaiya lowered herself to the ground slowly. She returned the water to the ocean and dusted off her jacket. She turned around into the eyes of 11 astonished children.

"Umm..." she said "I can explain?"

"You..." Dana cried "You're a water bender."

"Girls aren't allowed to be water benders" an accusing voice shot out from the group.

"I know…" Kaiya sat down hard on the ground. She rested her head in her hands. What had she done?

There was an awkward silence throughout the cavern. They all sat there shivering, saying nothing.

"HEY!" There was a yell from outside the Cavern. "HEY!"

"We're down here!" screamed one of the girls. "HELP!"

There was another yell from up above on the tundra and after a few moments a group of the city soldiers came in. They started as they saw the Slave-dealers, all still stuck in ice.

"What happened here?" the question came from the water bender at the front, obviously leading the group. He leaned closer to the children examined all of them, one by one. His eyes lingered on Kaiya, sitting at the opposite side of the cave because none of the others would go near her.

None of the children spoke.

"We saw the water bending from the town." The bender said "There's no denying it, that was the work of a master, or a very good apprentice. You kids must have seen the person that did it." He looked around each of the kids, frowning.

One of the little kids at the front burst into tears, the pressure had gotten to him. "It was her" he pointed to the other side of the cave, straight at Kaiya. "Kaiya did it!"

Everyone turned to Kaiya. She closed her eyes and cursed her stupidity. She felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Now she was going to be in so much trouble. More than anything she wished that she could melt into the wall and simply vanish.

"YOU?" The water bender snorted "a GIRL? A 10 YEAR OLD girl too. Like I'm going to believe that a 10 year old girl did this. We're going back to the masters. This is out of my hands." He turned to the men behind him "We'll take them up to the city; the masters will get the truth of what happened out of them."

The men started forward and helped the children to their feet. They then began to help the shell shocked and trembling children back up the destroyed slope. One of the braver men came over to Kaiya. She could tell that the men were afraid that she really was a master. It unnerved them.

It was a slow march back to the city. As they got closer and closer to the city Kaiya felt her stomach sink. What was going to happen now? If the Masters discovered that she was a proper water bender rather than a healer they would be furious. She just had to hold firm and not do any water bending, whatever happened. There was only the word of the other kids to prove that she was a bender. She just hoped that none of the masters actually believed them.

She carried on reassuring herself all the way to the city. Only once she passed through the gates and felt the stone sink further in her stomach did she realize that it wasn't working. She suppressed tears of fright and kept walking.

They kept marching until they reached the town square. It seemed that most of the city was there watching as the group of children came in. Kaiya could see her mother standing in the crowd with some of her siblings. At the front of the town square were the gates to the water bending academy. Outside the gates stood all of the water benders that had been in the academy when the news of the attack came. At the very back Kaiya could see Kouyo. From his pale face she gathered that with the news of a mysterious master fighting the Pirates off he had guessed immediately what had happened.

At the very front of the water benders stood the great master, Perrou. There were lines all down his face and his mouth was pinched together in a straight line. He had his arms folded in front of him and he looked down his nose as he surveyed the group. The men all fell away from the children and melted into the crowd. The water bender strode up to the front and gave his report to Master Perrou. The lines on Perrou's face got deeper and deeper as the report went on. The water bender had just told him that one of the children had said something about who had done the bending when he broke off.

"Well?" Perrou scowled at the bender "Who?" he sounded irritated and cross.

"Uhh…" The water bender obviously felt uncomfortable telling this part of the report. "umm…"

"Spit it out man!" Perrou roared

"They said… they said it was the girl," the water bender flushed

"What girl?!" Master Perrou said dangerously

"The one named Kaiya" The water bender clarified

"Impossible." Master Perrou said firmly. He peered down at Kaiya. "A 10 year old? What we all saw was the work of a master. And that's stupid, she's a girl, where would she have learnt to fight?"

The water bender cringed in embarrassment.

"Come!" Perrou said in a very commanding voice as he beckoned to Kaiya. "If you are a bender we will find out" he turned and started back up the steps to the academy. Two of the water benders from his crowd came and stood next to Kaiya. They began to lead her up the steps, following Master Perrou.

"I can walk!" she told them angrily and pulled her arm away from one of their grips. She kept ahead of them, steadily climbing up the steps. She caught sight of Kouyo again; he was walking beside his teacher, not daring to turn around and look at his sister.

When they reached the top Kaiya was lead away into the building, to a huge practice room. There was an abundance of ice and water alike. There was a small lake in the centre of the room. It was to the edge of this lake she was taken.

The two benders left her and departed, working their way back into the crowd of water benders. Master Perrou stepped forward until he was standing opposite her.

"Well?" he snapped "Are you a 'master' water bender girl?"

Kaiya shook her head, saying nothing. She had decided that silence was best in the long run. That way nothing she said could be used against her.

Perrou raised an eyebrow. He flexed his hands and raised the water in the lake, calling it to him. He circled it around himself.

"So you can't water bend…" he contemplated

"Well…" Kaiya said "I can heal"

"Healer, so you could water bend… if you wanted to" Perrou clarified

Kaiya nodded again.

Master Perrou grinned and flung his hands up into the air. He bought them forward and sent a massive wave flying towards Kaiya. She crouched down into a ball and water bended the water over her head, leaving her dry.

"Ha! The Little girl has a few tricks!" Perrou sounded triumphant

"That's all she can do!" a desperate voice called out from the crowd

Everyone turned to look at the source. Kouyo turned bright red but carried on.

"She can only heal and do a few small things with water, that's it!"

"And you know this how, Boy?" Perrou inquired

"She's my twin" Kouyo explained "She can't keep anything from me"

Perrou sighed. He waved his hand at Kouyo, who walked back into the crowd.

"Very well" he said "She can go"

Kaiya couldn't believe her luck, they were letting her go? Just like that? She turned her back and started towards the exit. She wanted to go home.

The floor vibrated. For a second she sensed what was going on behind her back. She turned as fast a lightning and spread her palms up in front of her. Bringing them together and yanking them up she called to the water on the floor. It jumped up and neatly sliced the shard of ice that had been racing towards her in two. The water and the two pieces of ice fell to the ground with a clatter that was deafening in the silent hall.

Kaiya raised her hands and spread her feet into the water bending stance, ready for any other attacks that came her way.

Perrou was staring at her, his eyes bugging out in fury.

"LIAR!" he called

"Only a Master could have reacted that fast" someone murmured in the crowd

"LIAR! YOU ARE A BENDER!" Perrou screamed "YOU! A GIRL!" he emphasised all the syllables in his rage. "YOU DARE!"

Kaiya panicked. She had acted on reflex. She trembled at the rage of the elderly man.

"BENDER! YOU!" he carried on and on. Kaiya flinched with each word, as if they were needles being inserted into her skin.

"I…I'm..." Kaiya began

"ENOUGH! YOU ARE A DISGRACE!" Perrou interrupted her "YOU ARE BANISHED FROM THIS CITY! GO!"

"Master Perrou, you do not have the power to banish someone from here without a majority vote" a man from the edge of the group said. He was wearing the traditional clothes of someone from the water temples. Kaiya looked at the bottom of his robes. There was a white strip bordering the edge. This meant he was a high priest.

"ALL IN FAVOUR OF BANISHING KAIYA RUGGASSON!" Roared Perrou

Most of the hands went up, only a few stayed down, most of which were the hands of the water benders who had no say in things anyway. The High priest was one of those who did not raise his hand.

"KAIYA RUGGASSON IS BANISHED FROM THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE CAPITAL AS A OFFICIAL MOTION FROM THE WATERBENDING COUNCIL" Perrou yelled "NOW GO AND-"

"Master Perrou this is not a fair sentence to place on a 10 year old" The high priest insisted "If we must banish her I suggest a sentence of 3, 4 years." He looked around the hall for support, a lot of water benders were nodding their heads.

"Very well" Perrou thundered "but she is banished for a total of 4 years, on her 14th birthday she may return and live among us again if she so wishes, but she will never be allowed to water bend in the city limits." he paused to glare at the high priest "she has to leave today, now, as soon as she packs, this is my final word on the subject." He spat on the ground in front of Kaiya and swept out of the hall. One by one all the water benders followed him. All except the High priest and Kouyo; who lingered with a look of pale shock on his face.

Kaiya fell to her knees in shock. How could this be happening to her? She shivered as the water on the ground seeped into her clothing. What was she going to do for 4 years? Sit outside the city limits twiddling her thumbs? She slipped further into shock; darkness crept in to her vision. She began to sob, tears streaming down her cheeks and mixing with the water on the floor. She gulped and shuddered. She felt furious. How could they do that to her? The ground rolled and shook, a miniature earthquake. Every candle in the room went out suddenly. She went blind and a roaring filled her ears. She blacked out.