Round 6 - Episodes
Episode - AtLA - Book 2. Episode 10 - "The Library"
Prompts -
Easy - bookshelves
Medium - Aang
Hard - Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one simply remembers to turn on the light - Albus Dumbledore, Prisoner of Azkaban, JK-Rowling
POV: Professor Zei
Word Count: 972
"MY WORD!" Exclaimed the Professor, finally setting foot on the ground within. "The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol…"
Everyone in the group gives him a quizzical look and he quickly corrects himself.
"Nice owl."
"I know you're back there." The head of the huge owl that was sitting underneath the ornate tile working the professor had been admiring spins around, startling Aang into the air.
This can't be! The professor thinks to himself, rushing forward to meet the voice.
"Hello, I'm Professor Zei head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."
"You should leave the way you came," The all - knowing spirit's voice boomed in return. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."
Off to the side sit three stuffed heads of humans who once visited the library. The professor grabs his neck in mock pain, wishing not to suffer the same fate.
Coming to this library has been my life's DREAM! He debates with himself. Think of all the knowledge inside of these bookshelves… If I could only spend a few hours here… Maybe if we could talk the spirit into letting us stay…
Sokka steps forward, taking "charge" of the situation as he likes to do, usually only causing more trouble.
"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?"
"Indeed. I am Wan Shi Tong, 'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things.' And you are obviously humans, who by the way, are no longer permitted in my study."
"What do you have against humans?" Aang inquisitively asks the great spirit, finding his voice finally.
"Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So…. Who are you trying to destroy?"
"What?" Sokka rebuttals, eyes becoming comically large. "No-no-no-no destroying. We're not into that."
Wan Shi Tong blinks, obviously not believing in the story Sokka is trying to tell. "Then why have you come here?"
Unsure of what to say, Sokka begins to stutter. "Um… knowledge for knowledge's sake?"
Quickly, the professor leaps forward before Sokka can say anything else. "What he's trying to say, Oh Great Spirit, is that we have come to study your scrolls. I myself have been searching my whole life for a place with knowledge so extensive as your library, and it would be an honor to stay here and read."
Aang, unsure if he should speak up or not, moved up behind the Professor's shoulder. "Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge of your library, good spirit. You have my word." He finishes with a bow.
"Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
The Professor wipes his brow in relief, a good vibes falling over him in waves. He may not know as much as the spirit, but he's study quite a lot in his years. From within his robes he produces a book, walks forward, and kneels in front of the giant owl.
"Please accept this tome as a donation to your library."
"First edition, this will do nicely." The spirit takes the book from the kneeling man with a swipe of his great wing.
Katara, having not said anything since they had first set foot into the vast library speaks up. "I have an authentic waterbending scroll."
"Ooh, these illustrations are quite stylish." The great owl too takes the scroll.
Aang pats himself down, searching for something to offer. "Uh… Oh! I know!" He reaches in his shirt, producing his wanted poster. "Hah!"
"... I suppose that counts…" Wan Shi Tong says, rolling his eyes.
Finally, the owl looks to Sokka for his offering. He produces a string, that he then ties into a butterfly.
"You aren't very bright, are you?" The owl asks, eyeing the string in front of him.
The only reply is Sokka's grunted complaint.
"Enjoy the library."
Wan Shi Tong takes to the air, flying off with his new found treasures to some distant part of the library.
"This is where my journey with you all ends, I'm afraid. I've been afforded a once in a lifetime opportunity! Good luck in your endeavours!"
With that, the professor turns and walks into the depths of the library in search of new literature to cast his eyes upon.
He wanders along, finally settling in on the end of a remote isle of shelves in the Earth Kingdom section of the library. The professor scans through tome after tome searching for nothing in particular, just soaking in as much knowledge as he can, and taking notes of everything in his journal.
I could spend the rest of my life here, just reading…
Hours later, but only feeling like minutes, the Avatar rushes by.
"Professor! Come on, we've gotta get out of here! The library is filling with sand!"
"I'm not ready to go yet!" He exclaims, now surrounded by a growing wall of books all the way around him.
"But if we don't leave now, we'll die!"
"Go on without me, I'll be fine.." His muffled reply comes, his face already back inside the book he was scanning.
The sounds of sand sliding across the tile and brushing against the books slowly begin to fill the air. Eventually it's loud enough to draw his attention upward.
"What the..?" He exclaims, standing up. Realizing his fate, he sits back down to continue reading. The words on the page he had been avidly reading as the sand covered him completely stated: "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one simply remembers to turn on the light…" An ancient proverb, forever buried within the walls of the now sand filled library.