Cometfall. The name given to the day that Sozin's Comet returns, the deadline for the life of a world.
The fall of Ba Sing Se marked the beginning of the end of the Fire Nation War, and while the fate of millions rested in the hands of five children, there were others who had their own parts to play. For right or wrong, for peace or for war, for today or for tomorrow, these are their stories.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Zei, the Scholar
Chapter 2: Suki, the Prisoner
Chapter 3: The Cabbage Merchant, the Cabbage Merchant
Chapter 4: Smellerbee, the Assassin
Chapter 1
Tales of Cometfall: Zei, the Scholar
Seven Weeks Before Cometfall
Professor Zei still could not believe how lucky he was. Sure, he was buried alive, but he was buried alive in the single greatest storehouse of information in two worlds. When Wan Shi Tong decided to sink his library under the sands of the Si Wong Desert, Zei decided to stay inside and he had no regrets.
Sure it was difficult at first, he thought, I had to burn everything I had to give me enough light to read: my blank workbooks, my shirt, my bag, even my shoes, but after a while my eyes adjusted to the light, such as it was. At least I've even gotten used to sitting on the floor, now it feels soft under my bare feet, I'm not even cold.
The professor, after reading his initial selections, wandered the nearly endless halls pulling any scroll or book that caught his eye. He moved from row to row, stack to stack, absorbing information faster then he ever had before. There were no distractions now, no pursuit but that of understanding.
"You've taken the phrase, 'knowledge is its own reward' unusually far for…a human." Wan Shi Tong announced, creeping up on the professor like a shadow, his deep voice ringing thought the cavernous hallways. It was the first time Zei had seen the Owl Spirit since the Avatar's friends abused its trust and were forced to flee.
"Great Spirit, please accept my apologies, I could not abandon this treasure."
"Your dedication to your craft is admirable, and it has left an…impression. Come, I want to show you two things," Wan Shi Tong flapped his wings once, used the lift generated to turn himself around, and began to plod off. Zei pulled his nose out the book he was reading, about some event called The Sundering, and toddled after him.
They walked for what seemed like hours, as if the library had become bigger somehow. Wan Shi Tong stooped to enter a room Zei he hadn't visited yet. It was filled with artifacts: urns, paintings, weapons; items from all four corners of the world. The Spirit of Knowledge stopped between a model of a Fire Nation temple and what looked like the plans for a palace. Wan Shi Tong suddenly bent himself unnaturally and stuck a single talon into a wall. When he pulled it out, the claw was left behind. A replacement folded out of his body instantly.
"You remember this?" He asked, pulling out a twist of rope shaped like a butterdragonfly from the infinite space contained within him.
"Yes, yes. It's Sokka's special knot."
"Correct," the sprit then hung the knot on the wall and stared at it, the black slits that outlined his eyes narrowed, "I am known as The One Who Knows Ten Thousand Things, and yet this simple item is new to me. Can you explain that?"
"I…I" the professor was flustered; is the smartest thing in two worlds asking me a question?
"The reason that I transported my library to…your world is that despite how mundane it appears, it is always advancing, always creating new knowledge and new ideas. While in the world of the spirits any change is both rare and dangerous. So rash decisions require…reconsidering and you are going to help me." With that, the great owl continued down the long artifacts room. Zei followed. "I have decided to change my mind. I am going to return my library to the surface of the mortal world, and continue my work."
Zei felt a twinge of hope in spite of himself. Only in his darkest moments did he regret his decision to stay and be buried alive. Now distracted from the Spirit, Zei could see the outline of a Knowledge Seeker, a creature that resembled a fox, walking towards them.
"And you are going to help me," Wan Shi Tong continued.
"I'd be honored to help in any way I can Great Spirit, just tell me what I can do?" Zei asked, now looking forward to seeing the sun again. The fox drew closer.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but there is no need to hurry. I feel that it would be wise to wait some time first, not too long, just enough time so that this place passes back into legend, let's say…a hundred years."
Zei went cold and stopped dead in his tracks, right in front of the fox, "but great spirit, a hundred years? I'm not going to…you understand that I'm not…"
"You'll be fine, professor," the Master of the Spirit Library again bent himself to stick a talon forward and Zei was stunned to see it stopped by an invisible force.
No, not invisible, glass…no, I see it now, it's a mirror. Zei snapped his head forward. It wasn't just a fox, it was him, "How?" he tried to say, but only the soft barks of a fox came from his elongated mouth.
"Yes, you're going to work out just fine"