A/N: I've always found the owl a little creepy, even if I do like his voice in the English version... Needless to say, I couldn't resist writing a drabble about him. Hope you enjoy! :)
~ "Right... Run away, you coward," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. An evil glint was seen in his eyes, as he added, "While you still can." ~
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
To Zhao's utmost surprise, the majestic building that was located in the middle of the desert turned out to be a huge library. Well, this was more than a peculiar location for a library. It was almost as though the building wasn't meant for regular people. The fact that almost the half of it was buried under the sand, only raised his suspicions. In that case, he should definitely investigate this place. Who knows what kind of treasure he may find.
Nevertheless, the building was grand in every way, though it was even more impressive from the inside, what with its enormous maze of aisles, and countless bookshelves that seemed to reach the sky-high roof. Actually, from down here, he couldn't see where the walls ended and the roof started, because a big, gaping black hole was all that greeted him when he looked up.
His footsteps echoed against the far walls, as he crossed the empty space and went to one of the most striking ornaments. It consisted of a few heads of several animals. Every spot on the walls were engraved with owls. Whoever had build this place seemed to have a sick fascination with animals, especially with owls. Perhaps this was some sort of sign? Before he could contemplate this any further, Zhao suddenly spotted some movement from the corner of his eyes. Swiftly, he swiveled around. A fox appeared within his line of vision, but before he could question what it did there, it ran away and disappeared behind a corner.
"Right... Run away, you coward," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. An evil glint was seen in his eyes, as he added, "While you still can."
However, as he could continue with inspecting the huge place (it reminded him of a palace), he heared a strange sound that made him halt once again. Before he knew what hit him, a gigantic black owl with white feathers where his face was supposed to be, seered down from the air out of nowhere and silently landed in front of him. If Zhao didn't feel intimidated before, he sure did now. But he knew to hide it well.
"A new visitor? We don't get them that often anymore," the owl spoke in a deep and solemn voice.
His dark, bead-like eyes seemed to bore right into his soul.
Oh, so the owl could talk now, too?
"Are you the guardian, the spirit who owns this library?" Zhao inquired, trying to keep his voice from quavering.
Because let's face it: a giant owl was one thing, but one that could talk was just plain creepy in so many levels.
"Yes, indeed. I am Wan Shi Tong, He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things. And you are obviously a human. Now tell me, human, why have you come here?"
Zhao halted, as he tried to formulate a neutral answer in his head. Preferably one that kept him alive. Something told him that this creature could sense lies within miles and if he really was an all knowing spirit, then he had to be twice as careful with both his actions and his words. It was a good thing that he had practised enough with that for the past years.
"I have come here for knowledge, so that I can better myself and the world," the man replied, as he tried not to blink, nor look away from the guardian's smoldering gaze.
In more than one way, he added in his head.
The spirit gave him a hard, long stare, before making up his mind on the whole matter. "Hmm... very well. I'll let you browse through my vast collection on one condition. To prove your word, you've got to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
Oh... that was probably going to be a little problematic.
The man took a deep breath and admitted, "But I only have a map, and my notes on different tactics with me. It's my notebook that I always carry with me. I haven't brought any books with me."
Zhao opened his backpack and took the small, black notebook out of it, along with a map, to show it to the spirit.
With his wing, Wan Shi Tong took hold of his notes, ignoring Zhao's map altogether, and started investigating its contents. "Hmm... I suppose this counts. Enjoy the library."
With that, he spread his gargantuan wings and flew away, just as quietly as he had appeared. A gust of warm air waved past him as the spirit took off and he watched it disappear.
Zhao had heard about this library before. However, he'd always thought it was some old legend, so he hadn't paid any attention to it. But if this place really contained all the knowledge in the world... Then he had arrived at the right place, at the right time. Knowledge was just what he needed to crush the other nations and let the Fire Nation prevail. Wan Shi Tong didn't need to know that, of course.
The observing man looked around. "Now... where to start..."
Hours after hours, he sat behind the same wooden desk and on the same uncomfortably hard chair. All he did was look at one book after the other, one scroll after another, until the wee hours of the night. Those hours slowly turned into days, and many candles provided him enough light during this, so he could study new books. All the while, he made notes of everything he deemed important. He didn't sleep much during this time. Then again, he'd never been much of a sleeper. The man would be perfectly fine with three hours of sleep a day.
Strangely enough, the owl made sure that he had enough food, so he wouldn't starve. Where he got all the food from, Zhao wasn't sure, but it was appreciated nonetheless. He mostly stayed in the same section, too, until he found that he'd learned enough.
"The darkest day in Fire Nation history... Not if I can stop it."
It was time to take matters into his own hands. Now that he knew about everything, the past, the present and even the future (and more), he thought it was the best to get rid of all the evidence about the Fire Nation, just in case people would want to use it against them in the future. The creepy owl wasn't going to like this. But that didn't matter. He would kill him, too if he tried to stop him...
His dark eyes reflected the dangerously growing sea of fire around him, as all the books that he'd been reading all this time slowly turned into ash in front of his very eyes. The fire grew larger and larger from that point, until it consumed the whole section. There was something sickeningly satisfying about this sight and the smell that was acompanied with it. It made him feel so powerful, unstoppable. Invincible.
A/N: How did I do this time? Was it awesome sauce, or should I be ashamed of the monster that I created on paper, and never show my face in this fandom again? :)