Mu first fanfic for Avatar, but I've written others before and have always been especially fond of the show. Hope you enjoy. ^^
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or Wan Shi Tong. He would probably try to kill me if I even tried to say I owned him. Plus, owning people and ancient librarian spirits is wrong.
"You have not left," Wan Shi Tong observed, staring at the peculiar human male clutching one of his beloved scrolls to his chest.
The human had not even attempted to escape the sinking library with the others after their deception was discovered. Rather, he had immersed himself in the vast knowledge of the library, walking from aisle to isle and picking out various scrolls. The one he was currently holding was one that contained various methods of earthbending from ancient times.
"No, great spirit!" He said, falling to his knees. "Finding this place has been my life's focus for years now. I did not wish to leave such a wondrous place after I have finally found it."
Wan Shi Tong tilted his head, his black eyes boring into the human's. This kind of passion for knowledge was unusual for such a simple minded and vengeful species. He had only seen it a few times.
"You seek knowledge for knowledge's sake," he observed. "You have given the rest of your life for it."
The human nodded carefully, looking longingly at his collection.
"I shall let you live," Wan Shi Tong said, one of his foxes coming to sit beside him.
The little creature approached the human and then looked back at Wan Shi Tong, a questioning look in it's eyes.
"Oh thank you!" The human looked joyous, his smile wide across his face. "I am in your debt!"
"But not as you are," The spirit added, raising one of his black feathered wings for emphasis. "Humans are not meant to reside here. You would die a slow death of starvation and dehydration. I am giving you the chance to avoid that, should you choose to except it."
"And if I don't?" The human asked, not out of disrespect but of curiosity.
"I cannot allow you to die a natural death."
A rather cryptic message, but it was clear to Wan Shi Tong that he had caught the meaning.
"I accept," the human said quietly. "What is the process?"
"Kneel before me," he said, and the human obeyed.
His glasses dropped down to the edge of his nose as he lowered his head and peered through them. He had gone silent, and a group of foxes had gathered at the end of the next section of scrolls. It had been a long time since the Liberian had done a thing such as this.
Wan Shi Tong reached a wing gently towards the human and touched his temple. The tip was starting to glow, being covered in an ethereal light. The place where the the wing had touched was alight as well, a pinprick of light with no visible source.
The human gasped but kept still as the light began to travel over his entire body until he was nothing more than a glowing figure of white, his features now a blank slate. The light quickly retreated into a spherical ball and floated close to the ground.
The ball quivered, as if something inside it was looking around frantically. It was a beautiful sight, a single spirit lighting up the darkness of the ancient library, like a star in the blackness of space.
The light was dimming to a pale glow, the guiding light it created retreating to only a few feet. The ball was changing shape, twisting and stretching into the form of something small and almost catlike.
The light gave one last burst of pure white and faded away, leaving the curled up figure of something small and orange in its place.
The newly turned fox scrambled to its feet, lowering itself into a defensive position with wide frightened black eyes. It took in its surrounding and looked questionably up at Wan Shi Tong.
"You have always been a seeker of knowledge," the owl spirit said, the other foxes gathering close around him. "Is this truly such a horrible thing? Now you may travel the world with no restrictions to find it."
The fox tilted its head, considering. Its tail twitched it bowed down on its new set of paws on the stone floor. A silent thank you from one who could no longer speak.
Wan Shi Tong would have smiled then if he could, but opted to bow his head in return.
"You have made the right decision."
And all was right in the sunken library of the desert.