After Toph had his presence the Spartan had felt a small group of eyes looking at him. The Spartan gave the blind girl a critical look for a long after hearing her call him 'Tin Man'. Cortana on the other hand found it amusing. Her voice came out through the helmet speakers.
"That's the most fitting moniker I've heard for you Chief."
"I'm not looking for trouble." the Master Chief placated. "However if this library is what you say it is, then perhaps I could join you on this expedition."
However the group in front of him was more interested in what Cortana had said then listening to him. This was made evident by a stupid question.
"Are you possessed?"
John glared at the ceiling. Considering how backwards this planet was it would have been better if Cortana had remained quiet simply because the concept of an A.I. seemed to be beyond the comprehension of these people.
"Cortana is an Artificial Intelligence."
"What's that?" Toph asked.
The noncom felt tempted to slap his forehead. The best explanation he could come up with was that of a machine that could think for itself. But of course that led to the conclusion that his armor was possessed. He hated this planet dearly. In the end John decided to skip past this subject. The inhabitants seemed to be drowned in mysticism rather than science and logic. Then again John came from a world where science and technology were prevalent. It was all an awkward moment to be sure. At this time John felt it would be prudent to skip forward and find out whether or not he would be able to go with this merry band or not.
"Why are you so interested?" Sokka asked suspiciously.
"I have my own reasons." The Spartan answered vaguely.
"Well then if everything is set lets go." Zei spoke.
The Spartan along with the collective adolescents stared at him wondering whether or not this man was in his right mind. The Spartan found the professor of anthropology's enthusiasm to be a little disconcerting. John also got the feeling that the air bender had the same problem. Put simply the bald kid struck John as an airhead. John's train of thought was interrupted when he saw the anthropologist hover over him.
"If I may ask, what part of the Fire Nation are you from?"
"I'm not from the Fire Nation." The Master Chief stated plainly.
"Well thought because of that cloak you were wearing that you might be Fire Nation. Never mind, are you from Earth Kingdom perhaps?"
"No."
"What about the water tribe?"
The Spartan took a sincere effort to keep his temper in check.
"No, I am not of the Water Tribe. Nor am I an air nomad. I would appreciate it if you stop asking me these incessant questions."
"Oh, I'm sorry." The professor apologized sheepishly.
"We didn't get your name." Katara spoke.
"You can address by my rank of Master Chief Petty Officer."
"Okay." Sokka drawled "Lets just call you chief."
"That is acceptable." The Spartan answered.
There was an awkward silence until the water bender decided to introduce her friends. The one with a ponytail was her brother named Sokka. The bare footed blind girl was named Toph. And he lastly he came to find out that the avatar's name was Aang. When she had finished naming off her friends Katara then introduced herself to him. Once the introductions were finished, decided to patiently while the group continued to converse. The Spartan tilted his head curiously when he heard Sokka speak.
"Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation," Sokka paused dramatically. "At the library!"
"Uh, hey what about me?" Toph protested. "When do I get to pick?"
"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time." The water tribesman said inconsiderately.
Toph huffed irritably but said nothing else. And despite Sokka's eagerness, Dr Zei mentioned ant important obstacle in the way of his current goal.
"Of course, there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross."
"Professor, would you like to see our Sky bison?" Sokka said helpfully.
"A sky bison?" The Professor exclaimed. "You actually have one?"
Upon exiting the bar behind him, John noticed a group of the same folks he had been wary of as when entered the Misty Palms Oasis. From what he could observe the group of suspicious men was crowding near the sky bison. The creature's growl made it evident that they were getting a little closer then it would like. Immediately Zei ran towards the group harassing the sky bison.
"Sand benders, shoo, away from the bison!"
The desert dwellers backed of and retreated to their sand sailers. They drove their vehicles across the sand by creating sand tornados to drive it forward. Shortly afterward the Spartan, the professor and the avatar along with his compatriots boarded the sky bison. John waited patiently for the other to board the the sky bison's saddle before doing so on his own accord. Eventually he heard the Air bender say something that he was skeptical of.
"Wow, shouldn't be too hard to a place like this out here."
The Spartan shook his head in his experience it was never that easy.
while the rest of the group was busy looking for a giant library in the middle of the desert John took the time to observer them. Dr. Zei wasn't all that hard to figure out. He struck the Master Chief as a man who by evidence of his enthusiasm and curiosity, enjoyed his work. The blind girl Toph seemed to fit the expression of 'What you see is what you get'. To be honest directness was always something that the Spartan had found to be refreshing. He often disliked how some people would tend to dance around the subject at hand. In John's honest opinion if had something to say then you should just say it. People always seemed to waste time with irrelevant details. Sokka seemed to be a little 'off' in the Spartan's opinion. He couldn't place it exactly but something about that kid was just odd. Katara seemed to be bit more mature then her brother, John also got the vibe that the girl often took a lot of responsibility upon her self. hopefully the girl didn't burn herself out. Aang John was not sure what to make of that kid. In some cases his enthusiasm could be commendable, however it seemed that the Kid might also have a case of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder.). In essence it seemed that Aang was sometimes trying to avoid the situation at hand. And in John's opinion that was dangerous. John looked around the horizon scanning for the structure he had seen depicted in the professors drawing.
John altered his attention to the blind girl when she spoke her frustration aloud.
"Does this place even exist?"
"Some say that it doesn't." Zei replied.
Toph's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before narrowing.
"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before."
The group had been riding the sky bison for a while now and there was still no sign of this library. Sometimes a myth was simply just a myth. The silence was broken when everyone overheard the voice of Toph perk up as she pointed over the side of Appa's saddle.
"There it is!"
This of course caught everyone's attention as they forgot that Toph was blind. When everyone looked to where the blind girl was pointing all they were empty sand dunes. The earth bender's actions then prompted a collection of annoyed glares that she was completely oblivious and apathetic towards as she continued speak.
"That's what it will sound like when one you spots it." Toph emphasized this statement by waving a hand in front her face.
John could tell by Katara's statement that she was getting flustered.
"It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant ornate building from the air."
"You'd be surprised." The Spartan added.
It was at that time that Sokka noticed something through his telescope.
"Down there, whats that?"
John detached the scope from his battle rifle and glanced to where the tribesman was pointing. He saw what looked to an ornate minorette standing alone in the sand. it seemed logical that the library may have become buried under the sand over the course of many years. This reasoning convinced the soldier was inclined to agree that this structure might be worth investigating. If anything the library would eliminate this option from his list of possibilities. As they landed Katara made a despondent statement while holding the illustration of the building in front of her.
"Forget it. It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous."
"You sure about that." John asked.
What do you mean? All I see is this tower."
"You're jumping to conclusions Katara. If my impression from what the good doctor said is correct then this building must hundreds of years old. And a lot happen over that period of time. It's likely that the building we're looking for has been buried under the sands."
John took a moment to look over the tower and make rough mental calculations as to how long it would take to excavate the structure. He took a look at the drawing of Wan Shi Tong's Library, and then returned his attention to the tower the more he studied the tower the he was convinced that they were standing right on top of the building that they were looking for. From what John was overhearing, Sokka's conversation with Zei confirmed this.
"What kind of animal is that?"
The spartan adjusted his attention to see what looked to be a fox a holding a scroll in its mouth.
"I think it might be domesticated." Cortana said aloud.
Strangely enough John saw the the animal run straight up the tower and in through a window. John tilted his head to his side, this was certainly new; the time last he checked animals of the canine variety were not able to climb at all, let alone walk on walls. Zei's excited voice seemed to start bring confirmation to the soldiers suspicions.
"I think that was one of the knowledge seekers. Oh we must be close to the library!"
Sokka took a moment to look at the drawing more closely and came to the same conclusion John did.
"No this is the library-look! It's completely buried."
John had a look of confusion about Zei when he saw the anthropologist collapse to his knees. The man was certainly a bit eccentric.
"The library is buried?" Zei exclaimed "My life's ambition is now full of sand. Well time to start digging."
John shook his head he knew that a garden spade just wouldn't cut it. They would need bigger tools and a lot more manpower to excavate the building. Thankfully Toph had said something that provided a much simpler solution to the problem of entering the ruin.
"Actually that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact. And its huge."
"How would you know?" John asked."
Toph tapped her hand on the tower wall while she leaned against the building.
"I can see through Earth Bending."
"Really?" John asked dryly.
"you're not really convinced are you?"
"I'm undecided."
John looked at Sokka as he came up with a way to enter the library.
"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look."
"I say you guys go ahead without me." Toph announced
"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked
"I've held books before. And I gotta tell you,they don't exactly do it for me."
"Oh, right sorry." Katara said sheepishly.
"let me know if they have something you can listen to."
John was quite certain that at some level Cortanna was laughing at the Irony of Toph's statement.
(* * * * * * *)
Entering the building was not as difficult as it seemed it would be. Thanks to Sokka's ingenuity he was able to fashion a grappling hook by tying his boomerang to a rope. John was the last on the climb up due the weight of his power armor and equipment. John looked down through the window as he overheard another excited statement from Zei.
"Oh it's breathtaking! The spirit spared no expense in designing this place. Look at those beautiful buttresses!"
John overhear the sound of childish laughter soon afterward.
"What's funny." The anthropologist asked.
"Nothing," Aang answered "We just like architecture."
"As do I" Zei answered.
After the group of children and the professor had slid down from the rope, John decided that it was finally his turn. John loosened his grip every so often to slide downward during the course of his decent. When The spartan came within at least ten feet of the floor John let go of the rope and made a loud 'clack' as he landed in a squat position with his left hand forward and his battle rifle at his side. The noncom looked up to see that everyone that he had traveled with was staring at him. The black Fire Nation cloak he was wearing had billowed outward to the side and revealed the Power Armour he was hiding beneath it. After a long moment of silence Aang was the first to make commentary.
"That's quite an entrance."
"I aim to please." The spartan said simply.
As for Professor Zei, he was quickly distracted by a mosaic pattern.
"My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile rendered avian symbol..." Zei paused after seeing a collection of quizzical look's from the assorted company. "Eh,nice owl."
A series of rustling noises prevented any further discourse as every one in the group intent on exploring the library scurried to hide behind a pillar. A Giant owl walked over and looked to examine the rope that was hanging from the ceiling. The spartan shook his head as Aang craned his neck around the pillar. The kid was an idiot, his curiosity had over ridden common sense. when trying to hide, It was rarely all that wise to poke your head out. In his experience it gave snipers the perfect target. The Owl's voice made it obvious that he seen to avatar peeking.
"I know you're back there."
Aang gasped and tried hiding again in the vain hope that the Bird had not noticed him. Of course what Zei did was even more idiotic in John's opinion. The idiot actually walked out into the open and up to the owl to introduce himself.
"Hello, I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university."
"You should leave the way you came." The owl answered "Unless you want to a stuffed head of anthropology."
John walked from the pillar had been hiding behind and and detached the battle rifle from his back and held it at the ready. For some reason he had a bad feeling about this situation. John eased his stance slightly but remained cautious. He wasn't about to allow himself to put his guard down in the presence of a stranger.
"Are you the spirit who this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked.
"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, 'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things'. And you are obviously humans, which,by the way are no longer permitted in my study."
"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked.
"Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get an edge on other humans." Wan Shi Tong answered "Like that fire bender who came to this place a few years ago,looking to destroy his enemy." The owl glowered over a sweating Sokka. "So...who are you trying to destroy."
Sokka made a panicked response.
"What? No-no-no-no destroying. Were not into that."
"Then why have you come here?" The owl spirit asked suspiciously.
"Um...knowledge for knowledge's sake."
"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort in to it."
John tilted his head to the side as the verbal exchange continued there was no way, that Sokka was going to convince Wan Shi Tong into allowing them use of his library. The tribesman was trying to bullshit his way through the situation and John was fairly certain that the giant bird could smell it from a mile away. So it was understandable that John was slightly surprised when Sokka actually managed to convince Wan Shi Tong against otherwise kicking them out.
" Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
While the others were making donations of there own, John opened up his rucksack and grabbed an empty shell casing; everything else was too valuable to part with. John looked to his right to see that Sokka had quickly tied an unusual knot. In response the knowledge spirit stared stared at Sokka as if to question the tribesman's intelligence or lack thereof.
"Its a special knot! That counts as knowledge." Sokka spoke.
However, Wan Shi Tong did not seem impressed with Sokka's inventiveness.
"You're not very bright are you?"
John could hear Sokka mutter contemptuous words beneath his breath after the owl had taken his donation and turned it's back to him. When Wan Shi Tong came up to John the Owl Took a moment to stair at him.
"Hmm." The bird hummed quizzically. "There is more to you than meet the eye."
For his part John looked back at the knowledge spirit without moving.
"I am not from around here." John said succinctly.
"Indeed, most human's don't put so much effort to hid themselves."
John held the brass bottle necked cylinder in the palm of his hand.
"And what might that be?" The giant Owl asked.
"A spent round of ammunition." John answered laconically
"For what?"
"A fire arm."
"And that would be?" the bird inquired.
"A weapon."
Wan Shi Tong looked at the Spartan for a moment Before grabbing the spent shell casing. As this happened The Spartan could see that Wan Shi Tong had given him a look of suspicion. Before finally walking off.
"Enjoy the library."
"That was friendly." Cortana said sarcastically within John's helmet.
While the others were all over the place John was slightly confused. To be honest he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be looking for in this place. John looked down to his left to see one the fox servants that attended this library, looking at him expectantly.
"I think it want's to help us." The A.I. spoke.
"This was your Idea." John riposted bluntly.
"Your bedside manner never ceases to surprise me, Master Chief."
John grunted but said nothing afterward, leaving Cortana to speak with the fox who had been patiently waiting on them.
"Excuse me, do you have a star chart we can look at?" The artificial intelligence asked.
On cue the Fox barked and moved down towards a room down the end of an open hallway. The room he was led was what looked to be a planetarium. Upon John's entrance Cortana beamed with satisfaction.
"This exactly what we need. Thank you, you've been a great help."
The fox barked in acknowledgment to this comment and wandered of elsewhere.
"How does this help us?" The spartan asked.
"This room is a map the of our current location. Or to be more precise the star system that we are currently stranded in."
"Couldn't you have done this earlier?" John asked in a slightly accusing manner.
"I was busy helping you get us out of the 'Forward Unto Dawn', as it decided to crash on this planet." The AI replied in annoyance.
"How long will this take?"
"What you see, I see." Cortana answered. "Just looked around the model and I'll see what I can do from there."
As John looked about the planetarium Cortana started to take in the information and analyze it at a thousand calculations per second. They were obviously in a star system that had not been mapped in any UNSC data banks. In short they were lost in what could be figuratively labeled as the middle of nowhere.
"So..." The Spartan asked where are we?"
"We are in an unknown star system." Cortana asnwered.
"We've already established that."
"You're not helping."
The private conversation was interupted by sound Zei voice. John and Cortana began to suspect that the good professor had way too much free time on his hands by the indication of what he said.
"This room is a true a marvel. A mechnical wonder! Its a planetarium that shows the heavens moving."
"Uh, this is beautifull, but how is it helpfull?" Sokka asked.
Katara pointed at the series of dials situated at the base of the machinerry.
"Maybe these dials repsresent dates and times. Sokka, try entering that date from the parchment you took."
Sokka Imediatly placed his hand over his sister's mouth.
"Shh...Katara! Not infront of the fox, he's with the owl."
The Spartan folded his arms and tilted his head in curiousity while the fox folded its ears back and whined in dejection. The Spartan continued his observation as Sokka took the scrap of burnt parchment from his bag and examined it before adjusting the dials. He then pushed the lever forward. Soon afterward The device went to motion and the room darkened.
"Hey wait. What happened to the sun?" Katara asked.
"Great, you must have broken it." Aang accussed.
It was at that time John's feminine AI companion, Cortana spoke with the demeanor of a condecinding school teacher.
"Actually you're wrong." Cortana corrected "What you're seeing is the effects of a solar eclipse. If you looked more closely you would note that the moon is in front of the sun, blocking it out. This event is something that doesn't happen very often."
The Spartan sighed under his breath. Cortanna Always had a tendancy to be a little condecending. Sokka however seemed to ignore this because he was more absorbed into his
own latter Sokka spoke out in a tangent of orratory
"The sun is behind the moon, it's a solar eclipse! It's litterally the darkest day in Fire Nation awefull happened that day, I don't know what but I do know why."
As Sokka continued speaking it became apparent that he was excited about this discovery. He had come to the conclusion that fire bending became ineffective durring the period of a solar eclipse. John was little skeptical of Sokka's reasoning for two reasons. The first and simpliest was that he never put much stock into mysticism. The reason revolved around the fact that he couldn't help but detect a hint of despairation behind this plan. The celistial event of a solar eclipse was not only rare but also only happened for a short period of time.
So even if they could get everthing together for this attack they be on a constant race against the clock that would leave no room for mistakes.
"You're taking a big gamble with all this." John pointed out. "This plan is centered around a solar eclipse. Even if fire bending isn't active during that eclipse. We don't know when the next eclipse will happen. Second I doubt the four of you would be able to take the entire military strength of The Fire Nation, head on."
"Which why we'll take this information to Ba Sing Se." Sokka explained "Besides we have the avatar with us, they have to listen."
"And if the government of Ba Sing Se does't feel inclined to agree?" The spartan spoke. " It takes more than words and a title to win a war."
The conversation would have contenued had it been for Wan Shi Tong's entrance.
"Mortals are so predictable and such terrible liars. You betrayed my trust. From the begining,you intended to use this knowledge for evil purposes."
Sokka replied by trying use logic of his own, which as one could plainly see, Wan Shi Tong did not find convincing.
"You don't understand. If anyone's evil its the Fire saw what they did to your library. they're destructive and dangerous. We need this information."
"You think you're the first person to believe thier was jusitified? Countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weakness or battle stratagies."
"We had no choice." Aang begged "Please, we're just despairate to protect the people we love."
The owl spirit was unmoved by the avatar's sincerity.
"And I'm going to prtect what I love."
With a singular statement and a flap of his wings Wang Shi Tong decided that he would put and to this.
"Does he remind you of someone else we've met on Halo, Chief?" Cortana asked
"This is not going to end well." John answered.
"What are you doing?" Aang asked.
The owl spirit's answer was somthing that John did not find surprising.
"I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again."
The spartan looked up and saw sand pouring in from the ceiling. He was correct the sitiuation had just turned bad.
"He's sinking the building we've gotta get out of here." Katara said in alarm.
The spartan snorted as he overheard the water bender state the obvious.
No Shit!
"I'm afraid I cant allow that." Wan Shi Tong answered, "You already know too much."
(* * * * * * *)
It was all insane really; John had started to conclude that trouble followed the avatar and his friends where ever they went. It was something that they seemed to in common. Dr. Halsey had once commented that he was lucky. His luck seemed to work both ways. John saw that Zei was begging Wan Shi Tong to reconsider his actions. thankfully Aang had been considerate enough to save the man from his own stupidity. First the avatar used air suction to move the professor out of the way. Then air bender whip his staff around and send the knowledge spirit over the railing. The Spartan looked up he saw more sand seep down from the ceiling. He looked down and shook his head. It was quite obvious that the situation had gone drastically out of hand. John looked to see that Aang and Sokka were rushing back to the planetarium.
"What are they doing?" The Spartan asked Katara.
The water bender stated the obvious.
"They went back to the planetarium."
"Is the date of an eclipse really worth all this?" John thought aloud.
"It just keeps getting interesting doesn't it?" Cortana quipped.
John saw that Wan Shi Tong Had started to chase Katara and Zei through the library. When the owl spirit had chased Katara to rope that she had decended from her had adressed in a condesending statment.
"Your water bending won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern water style, Southern water style, even Foggy Swamp style."
The situation was as plain as day Katara was in trouble. The Spartan rushed foreword to assist the water bender in her plight, John fired a three round burst from his battle rife. The weapon's 9.5-millimeter rounds had a substantial punch. And while the weapon didn't kill the bird, the screech of outrage definitely told the Spartan that it most certainly hurt. And as John had intended Wong Shi Tong diverted his attention to the direction of the gunshot. The Spartan fired at the knowledge spirit again to make sure that he its undivided attention. Second shot had obviously angered the giant bird because now he was using parkour to move his way fallen bookshelves. John kept firing at the knowledge spirit every so often to maintain its attention towards him.
"You might be familiar with water bending but I doubt you understand asymmetrical warfare."
"War." The owl accused. "All you humans ever aspire to is war."
The Spartan was actively wondering how he had gotten caught into the middle this crazy situation. All the sudden this giant talking owl that had been dubbed Wan Shi Tong had decided to throw a fit about how Humanity only used knowledge for evil ends. The Spartan snorted Wong Shi Tong may know ten thousand things but to be brutally honest the giant bird seemed to be in his opinion ignorant of two things the first was Human Nature. Humanity was a mixed bag; the so-called 'Knowledge Spirit' had based his judgment on the actions of one man. Secondly In defense of the people John was traveling with they were trying to find a way to put an end to a one hundred year war. The second thing John felt Wong Shi Tong was ignorant about war. He knew nothing of the human condition. Second the giant owl spent his existence cloistering himself within this giant library; it seemed in the master chief's humble opinion that the giant killer bird did not have much experience with the outside world. Right now at this moment John was playing a game of 'cat and mouse' within a labyrinth of books. At this moment the famed library was a mess, the situation was a mess; and to think that Cortana in her vast amount of intellect had suggested they come here. The Spartan crept along overturned bookshelves until he was directly behind the giant talking owl. Tradition may hold owls as symbols of wisdom but in reality they were not that smart. John shouldered the battle rifle and fired another triple burst. Wan Shi Tong screeched in pain and looked behind him with what the chief surmised as a livid expression.
The Spartan stood on top of a bookshelf; looked at the owl and shot him again. He never did have an appreciation for sanctimony. John jumped down as the collection of bookshelves feel to ground in a domino effect. The giant owl tried to peck at him as he landed however John was quick to roll away to the right and shoulder his rifle and bring out the machete sheathed at his lower back in a smooth motion from his kneeling position. The soldier was then quick to his feet and weaving in and out of bookshelves in a dangerous game of hide and seek with Wan Shi Tong. He led the Owl on a wild goose chase around the now wrecked library. At one point John circled a column behind the knowledge spirit jumped on the giant bird's back by grabbing hold of a tuft of Wan Shi Tong's feathers and pulled himself up on the bird's back. John then started to viciously stab at Wong Shi Tong's back with the machete he had recently unsheathed. John was quick to jump off when the knowledge spirit writhed from the obvious pain of being stabbed numerous times in the back. The giant owl turned around and glared at the Spartan with obvious contempt.
"You have vexed me for the last time."
What Wong Shi Tong didn't notice was that Sokka was sailing through the air behind him with a thick book in hand. As a result The Knowledge Spirit Bonked on the head.
"That's called Sokka style learn it!"
"Let's move! we need to get out of here!" The spartan urged.
John stood at the bottom and stood guard over the exit while the children made thier way out. Looked to see Sokka trying to convince Zei to move but the professor mind was maid up he was staying.
"Im not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I could spend eternity here."
John nodded in aknowledgement of the professor's statement if anything, he could respect the man's dedication.
"Just go!" Katara urged.
John waited for the kids to climb the rope when it was his turn, The master cheif felt the cloak he was wearing catch on something. John looked behind to see that the giant bird was tugging at him with it's beak. The solider responed by udoing the clasp that held the cape on his shoulders. then he moved in at full speed and bull rushed his atacker at full speed. the impact sent Wan Shi Tong of his feet. The knowledge spirit's senses just in time to notice that John had thrown two hand grenades at him for good measure.
(* * * * * * *)
"Come on Tin man." Toph complained "I can't hold this up forever."
Thankfully John was already on his way out. The armored gaint landed onto the desert sands and his back, letting out a grunt with the impact. The soildier rolled into a kneeling position and got up to his feet. John could see Sokka hugging his sister in celebration at his accomplishment.
"We got 's a solar ecilpse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"
The spartan felt suspicion crawl into the back of his head and into his councious thought's something was amiss. John then noticed that the sky bison was nowhere to be seen. Aang question made the fact more apparent.
"Where's Appa?"
Toph sadly shook her head. when toph explained about the sandbender's ambush. Aaang exploded into a bad mood and started making accusations.
"How could you let them take Aapa?! Why didn't you stop them?!"
Toph made a brave effort explain the cirmcumstances.
"I couldn't! The Library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-"
The Avatar interupted Toph as he walked towards her.
"You could've come to get us.I Could've saved him!"
"I can hardly feel vibrations out sand benders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for-"
Aang seemed reluctant to see reason and John moved forward to end this conversation. Right now Aang was being selfish and imature. There was only so much Toph could've done in that situation. Apparently the Avatar was not willing to see the big picture, Becasue he snapped at her and conteniued ranting.
"You just didn't care! You never liked Aapa! You wanted him gone!"
Before any one else could speak, John caught everyone's attention with a voice of pure authority.
"That's enough! Right now finding Appa is a secondary objective. Our primary concern is is get out of this desert alive."
John had turned around to open his rucksack. The spartan looked up as he heard Aang speak.
"I'm going after Aapa!"
Then he saw Aang unfurl his staff into a glider and fly off into the distance. The Spartan shook his head in disgust and said a single word that surmised the level of his disappointment.
"Pathetic."
(* * * * * * *)
Author's notes: As you can see there will likely be some future arguements Between John and Aang. Right now the driving behind these verbal conflicts will be that john is more concered with the suvival of the group rather wasting time looking for Aapa. John isn't being insensitive it's just that he understands that Aang's obsession with finding the sky bison is not productive at this time.
Asymetrical warfare: It's a terminology used to descirbe combat situations in where the opossing forces are drastaclly disimiliar. The variables could technology, manpower, displine and training. As such it sometimes requires one to adjust their tactics to the new situation.
