Tikaani's POV:
"What's out here?" Sokka asked, looking around at the seemingly empty plains. Holes littered the ground all around us. I sighed. This was the most boring vacation ever. Of course Aang would pick a spot like this to vacation in.
"A lot, actually." Toph answered as she felt the ground with one of her hands. "There's hundreds of little-"
"Sh!" Aang shushed. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise! Just watch!" Aang held the flute to his mouth and blew. A little strange gopher creature popped its head out of the ground and copied the exact pitch of the note. "Hahaha, yeah!" Aang cheered as if it was the funniest thing in the world. He played another note and another gopher popped out of another hole. He lifted his hands into the air. "I'm putting an orchestra together!"
"Orchestra, huh?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Well la-dee-da." Three more gophers popped out of the ground and mimicked Sokka. Momo leaped into the tunnels to chase after them. Aang continued to play and Momo followed the gophers. It was actually a little bit funny. Katara was laughing harder than she should. Before long, Sokka became extremely annoyed and plugged his finger into Aang's flute. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about?"
"Oh, come on Sokka!" Red whined loudly. "We've been traveling and training for days. I think it's safe to say that all of us deserve a break! These mini vacations are just what the doctor ordered! Toph's meetup with the badger moles was awesome! Tikaani's trip to that strange lake with the dragon fish was... Deadly..."
"I didn't know that there was any such thing as a dragon fish, okay?" Red had been hounding me about it for days. The strange dragon-fish hybrid would have eaten her if Katara and I hadn't stepped in to save her. She should at least be grateful for that!
"We don't have time for vacations!" Sokka protested.
"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph, Katara, and Tikaani. I've been training my arrow off!" Aang argued defiantly. He did seem a bit more tuckered out than usual, which is probably how I'd beaten him in waterbending training the last time we had a session.
"Yeah! What's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara inquired as she stepped forward.
"Even if you do master all the elements, then what?" Sokka completely ignored Katara's question. "It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation! Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord, anybody home?" Sokka did a series of motions as he continued to criticize Aang. "I don't think so! We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war!" Katara giggled a little bit.
"Okay. We'll finish our mini vacation, then we'll look for Sokka's... Intelligence." Katara laughed. The rest of us joined in the laughter.
"Good luck finding that, after it's been missing for sixteen years!" I chuckled.
"What are you talking about, he never had it in the first place!" Red joked. Sokka glared at us.
"Ha, ha, very funny." He growled sarcastically.
"Okay, your turn Katara! Where would you like to go on your mini vacation?" Aang held the map up for her to look at.
"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing!" Katara pointed towards the spot on the map.
"Oh, yeah, I've been there! It's a pristine natural ice spring! And... I usually don't use the word pristine!" He smiled happily at Katara. I gagged a little bit. Thankfully, the only ones who noticed were Red. And Toph. "It's one of nature's wonders!" But when we arrived, the only thing there was a small little chunk of ice in the center of town and some run down buildings. "Must've changed ownership since I was here..." Aang observed awkwardly as he looked around. "Hehe..." As soon as we began walking into the town, the sign hanging out front broke down and shattered.
"Talk about run down..." I muttered half to myself and half to Red. She nodded in agreement as we walked past what was left of the icy spring. We continued on and walked into a stone building that had a bunch of guys dressed as mummies out front. I knew they were sandbenders, but those mummy outfits sure gave me the creeps. One of them spit at Red's feet and we had to drag her into the saloon after us so she wouldn't axe the guy's head off.
"One mango, please." A man asked the bartender. The bartender took out some swords and sliced a bunch of mangos with a few quick motions before handing the man his mangos.
"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." Sokka mused as he stared hungrily at the fruit. He shoved us aside and ran up to the counter. "Excuse me!"
As we made to follow him, Aang accidentally bumped into the man who had just ordered the mango. "No worries!" Aang exclaimed. "I clean up easy!" He airbended all of the liquid mngo out of his clothes.
"You're a living relic!" The man, who was wearing heavy backpacks and a huge sun hat, exclaimed as he examined Aang.
"Thanks. I try." Aang shrugged.
"An air nomad, right in front of me. Professor Zei. Head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He shook Aang's hand before examining the arrows. "Tell me. Which of the air temples do you hail from?"
"The southern temple." Aang replied, looking a bit unsure of himself now. Professor Zei took out a tool to measure the size of Aang's head. He was studying the poor kid as if he were an artifact!
"Oh, splendid! Tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"
"Uh... Are fruit pies an agricultural product?" Aang wondered.
"Oh, truly fascinating! That is one for the journal." Zei concluded. I narrowed my eyes and stomped over before swatting him away from Aang.
"Seriously, you can't just go around studying human beings like they're some sort of artifact that should be put in a museum!" I hissed.
"So sorry!" But he didn't seem sorry at all. Unbelievable!
"You're obviously a well traveled guy." Sokka observed. "Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated."
"Certainly!" Professor Zei replied. He routed through his large backpack until he emerged with a map. Sokka took it and examined it.
"What, no Fire Nation?" Sokka complained. "Doesn't anyone have a good map of that place?"
"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara observed.
"Almost as if you have a reason for going there..." Red narrowed her eyes at him even though she already knew what his reason for going into the desert was.
"Ah, yes! I've been searching for the crown jewel of lost civilizations. Wan Shi Tong's library. "
"You spent years walking through the desert... To find some guy's library?" Toph ridiculed, raising an eyebrow and sniggering at the strange Professor Zei.
"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady." Professor Zei pointed out. He seemed to be entering a dream-like trance just thinking about the library. "It is said to contain a vast array of knowledge. And knowledge," he paused in order to stress his point, "is priceless."
"Mmm... Sounds like good times." Toph mumbled sarcastically.
"Ugh..." Red growled irritably. "We've got better things to do than sit around and talk about some old library!"
"It's too late for that now!" Sokka argued. "Aang, I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!"
"What about me?" Red argued. "When do I get to pick?"
"When we're done at the library." Sokka responded quickly. Red pouted. Her and I both knew that that vacation was never coming.
"Of course there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert, and almost died each time." Professor Zei didn't seem the least bit phased at the fact that he almost died every time he'd gone looking for the library. "I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross..."
"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" Sokka offered, smiling widely.
"A sky bison!" He exclaimed. "You actually have one?" He looked like he was going to start fanboying all over us.
"Yes!" Sokka nodded vigorously. "And if we take Appa into the desert, we'll find the library for sure!"
"There it is!" Toph suddenly shouted, pointing off into the distance. Everyone minus Red and I actually looked. "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." She waved her hand in front of her dull, blind eyes. We flew on for another long while before Sokka spotted something in the distance. We landed and got off of Appa's saddle to examine it.
"Forget it!" Katara said as she looked at the strange tower thing, then back at the map. "It's obviously not what we're looking for. the building in this drawing is enormous."
"Then why is that fox here in the middle of the desert?" Red asked as she pointed towards the peculiar, fox-like creature. It ran straight up the side of the building and through one of the windows.
"Oh, we must be close to the library!" Professor Zei announced gleefully.
"Um... I think that is the library." I pointed out. "Except that it's kind of been completely buried underground."
"The library is buried?" Zei cried in distress. "My life's ambition is covered in sand!" He fell to his knees in the dust. "Well! Time to start excavating!" He took out a tiny shovel and started digging out the sand.
"Actually, that won't be necessary." Toph placed her hand on the wall of the library so she could see the inside. "The inside seems to be completely intact. And it's huge."
"That fox thingy went in through a window." Sokka said. "I say we climb up there and give it a look."
"You guys can go ahead without me." Toph muttered.
"You've got something against libraries?" Katara questioned, placing her hands on her hips dramatically.
"I've held books before, and I've gotta tell ya... They don't exactly do it for me."
"I'm staying out here too." Red announced. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you want to see all the books. It's going to be amazing in there! I've never seen a library so big before!"
"Japanese." Red whispered under her breath to remind me. I was confused at first, then I realized what she was trying to say. "Besides... I am not letting the sandbenders take Walt."
"You coming or not, Tikaani?" I turned to see that the other four had already started climbing the rope.
"Coming!" I looked back at Red. "Good luck." I then climbed after the others, in through the library window. Sure, I wouldn't be able to read the books... Er... Scrolls. But I might find a children's scroll to teach a child how to read! Maybe I'd be able to learn Japanese!
"Oh, it's breathtaking!" Professor Zei gasped as we climbed down into the library. The spirits spared no expense in designing this place! Look at those beautiful buttresses!" Everyone except for professor Zei laughed. He looked up at us, confused. "What's funny?"
"Nothing. We just appreciate architecture." Aang chuckled.
"As do I..." Zei agreed in fascination. We reached the end of the rope and stood on the sturdy stone bridge. "My word!" He proclaimed, racing over to examine a picture of a black barn owl. The professor went off in a ramble of a bunch of scientific jargon that none of us understood. He stopped short, looking awkwardly at our blankly confused expressions. "Uh... Nice owl." He translated.
A sudden swishing noise filled the air. We hid behind some of the buttresses-snigger- and waited. None of us dared to peek as footsteps echoed across the chamber. "I know you're back there." A deep voice announced. We exchanged a nervous glances, but no one stepped out.
"Hello!" Professor Zei greeted joyfully. He was the first to step out. "I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university!" I poked my head out and watched as Zei bowed respectfully to a giant owl spirit.
"You should leave the way you came." The owl hooted angrily. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."
"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked as he too stepped out of hiding. The rest of us followed him.
"Indeed." Wan Shi Tong was very creepy looking. He was completely black, except for his face, which was pure white, like an owl version of Slenderman. But he had eyes and a beak, so I guess he wouldn't really qualify as Slenderowl. He had the creepy part down, though. "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 as he stepped forward a little.
"Hm. Humans only bother learning things to get the advantage on other humans. Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So," Wan Shi Tong lunged forward to stare Sokka straight in the eye, "who are you trying to destroy?"
"What? Oh, no, no, no, no destroying!" Sokka shook his hands frantically back and forth. "Not into that." He finished casually.
"Then why have you come here?" He pressed. He pronounced the h in 'why,' even though it was supposed to be silent.
"Uhm..." Sokk awkwardly looked around. "Knowledge for knowledge's sake?"
"If you're going to lie to an all knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it." Wan Shi Tong hooted in disgust.
"Ooo, ooo, let me give it a try!" I shouted. "We all came here to look at maps of the Fire Nation so that we can end the war that's been going on for a hundred years."
"That lie was quite... Convincing. Almost enough to be true." Wan Shi Tong narrowed his eyes at me.
"What?" I gasped. "That was totally a lie! I'm with the avatar," I grabbed Aang and pulled him over to stand in front of me, "he's the bridge between our worlds, he can tell you what a good liar I am!" I nudged him in the back.
"Um... Yeah, she's... good." Aang looked up at Wan Shi Tong. "We will not abuse your knowledge, good spirit. You have my word."
Wan Shi Tong stood to his full height to examine us. "Hm... Very well. I will let you peruse my vast collection. On one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
Professor Zei was obviously the first to cough up the entry fee. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library." He presented the heavy book on one knee.
"First edition. Very nice." He swept over the book with his wing, thus accepting it.
"I have an authentic waterbending scroll." Katara announced as she held out the map for Wan Shi Tong.
"Ooo... These illustrations are quite stylish." He accepted this gift as well.
While Aang pulled a wanted poster of himself out of his clothes, I searched myself frantically for something, anything.
"I suppose that counts." Wan Shi Tong muttered as he accepted the poster. He turned to Sokka. I continued searching for my worthwhile information, but the only thing I could find was the letter Red left me yesterday. It sparked an idea and I quickly borrowed a pen from Professor Zei and started scribbling.
"Oh, great spirit, check this out!" Sokka cheered as he stepped forward with a strand of quality rope that he had been keeping ever since he saved Aang and I at the North Pole. He tied the rope until it was in the shape of a dragonfly. "Tada!" Wan Shi Tong just stared at him like he was the stupidest person in the world. I finished what I'd been writing and handed the pen back to Professor Zei. "It's a special knot! That counts as knowledge!"
"You're not very bright, are you?" Wan Shi Tong questioned as he narrowed his beady black eyes at Sokka. Sokka groaned, but Wan Shi Tong still accepted the knot before finally looking at me expectantly.
"My friend and I invented our own alphabet." I announced handing him the piece of paper. He swiped his wing across the paper and examined it closely.
"I have never seen such writings before. Enjoy the library." With that, he swept into the air and flew away.
"Did you and Red really write your own alphabet?" Aang asked in shock.
I shrugged. "It's actually more of an unspoken language."
Red's POV:
I chilaxed in the shade of the giant library, leaning against the wall of the tower. Walt was positioned protectively on my lap. Toph was sitting in the sand beside Appa. She looked extremely bored. "You bored?"
"Yeah." She replied in a tough-mannered way. I remembered in the episode how she'd started talking to Appa. There was no way she'd ever do something like that while someone else was around.
"Me too." I looked out across the desert, but there was no trace of the sandbenders.
"Looking for something?" Toph raised an eyebrow.
"You can never be too cautious." I continued scanning the horizon. "I will always remain vigilant."
"We're in the middle of a desert." Toph sniggered. "You're crazy if you think someone's going to attack us out here."
"Anything can happen. And if it does, I'll be ready."
Tikaani's POV:
"Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things!" Aang exclaimed as he showed a picture of one to Katara, Sokka, and I. Sokka was completely disinterested.
"Eh, I've seen weirder." He announced, waving at it with his hand. He walked away.
"Hey, Aang, did you know that in a past life, you were left handed?" Katara mused as she examined one of the scrolls.
"I always knew I was special!" Aang smiled widely. I sighed with boredom.
"I'm probably just going to go check out other parts of the library." I declared, standing to my feet and walking down the row of books and scrolls. "There's something I've got to find before leaving this place."
"Okay, but don't go too far!" Sokka cautioned as he tucked a scroll into his bag. "We don't want anyone to get left behind."
"Alright." I agreed, rolling my eyes. I hoped he knew that I didn't plan on doing that at all. I traveled through the aisles of books, looking for one of the knowledge seekers. Finally, I spotted one of the foxy little critters putting a book away. As soon as he finished, he went back onto all fours and turned to walk away, almost bumping into me in the process. "Sorry!" I apologized for standing in his way. "I was wondering if you could help me find a book or a group of scrolls teaching me how to read..."
The little fox creature immediately hurried off in certain direction. I followed him through rows and columns of scrolls and books until he stopped at one particular shelf and brushed one of the books with his tail. I picked it up and flipped through it, pleased to see that there were pictures to go with the Japanese symbols, so I could learn a lot easier. Maybe I'd also get a little bit of reading help from Katara or Aang. It would just be too weird with Sokka, after what had happened in the Cave of Two Lovers... But Aang and Katara didn't know my secret and I wasn't keen to tell them about my inability to read. I stashed it in my shirt because I'd forgotten to ask Red to borrow her bag.
"Okay... Now I need something to practice on, maybe a child's scroll, or-" I stopped short as a loud rumbling seemed to shake the entire library. Ear-splitting screeches were followed by screaming. "The library's sinking already?" It had been such a short time since we'd come in. I didn't think that Wan Shi Tong had discovered them so quickly. With no time to spare, I grabbed a random scroll off the shelf and hurried off.
Red's POV:
I scanned the heaping mounds of desert dunes for dust clouds in the distance. Walt was now napping on Appa's head. We were in the shade, but in a different position. We had to move every once and a while to stay in the tower's shade. Right now, both Toph and I were leaning against Appa. Suddenly, Appa shifted and let out a huge roar. Walt fell off of his head and shook himself, then howled and barked frantically.
"I already told you, I don't want to-"
"The library's sinking!" I cried as sand and dust rose up all around the library's base.
"Library sinking?" She shifted her feet and turned in the direction of the library. "Library SINKING!" She cried as she ran over and shoved both of her fists into the library's solid rock wall. She groaned with the effort of keeping it up.
"D***, I wish Li were here!" I hissed under my breath as Toph began to sink into the sand. She let go of the library and hardened the ground beneath her into rock, then she reaffirmed her hold on the giant stone building. She groaned painfully with the effort. "Hang-" I was about to tell her to hang in there, but Appa roared in distress before I could. I turned around to see dust clouds on the horizon. "Uh... Toph?"
"What is it now?" She asked in annoyance, turning her head a little bit.
"Sandbenders." I ran over to Walt, who was barking and howling madly. I detached my battle axe from his saddle and took off the thick leather blade coverings. I disconnected them and swung them around as I prepared myself for my first real fight with the new weapons. "I'll take care of them! Focus on the library!" I told her.
The sandbenders swirled their arms around, cloaking Appa in a thick cloud of swirling sand. I ran into the cloud to try to stop them. Sand bit at my skin and stung my eyes, but I ignored the pain. No one was going to take Walt or Appa. Not if I could stop it. Walt beat his wings furiously, but it wasn't enough. With a flick of Appa's tail, however, all of the sand had cleared and I could see clearly. Sandbenders had us completely surrounded. They were swinging ball and chain-like weapons, except with ropes and sandbags. They threw the weapons at Appa, but I easily sliced the ropes in half.
"If you want this beast, you're going to have to get through me!" I snarled. The sandbenders exchanged glances with one another. I couldn't see their eyes through those sand-resistant goggles, or their mouths through the clothes that cloaked their bodies.
"Get her out of the way, then we'll deal with the bison and the wolf bat!" One of the sandbenders croaked. I let out a loud yell of rage and raced forwards, but as I did so, the sand sucked me downwards up to my chest. Slowly, I felt myself going downwards. The sandbenders had trapped me in quicksand!
Walt let out an angry howl of annoyance. "Put a muzzle on him!" One of the sandbenders leaped on his back and clamped his mouth shut. He then tied a cloth around Walt's mouth. I watched as two more sandbenders tied him up while the rest of them wrangled Appa. I didn't move. I knew the quicksand would suck me down faster if I did.
"Toph, do something!" I begged as the sandbenders started hauling them away. She turned around and shot sand in four random directions, but the sandbenders were long gone. The library made frantic progress to sink, so she jabbed her hands back into the library.
"I'm sorry..." Toph whispered under her breath.
Tikaani's POV:
I snatched various scrolls and books from their spots on the shelves as I ran by. By the time I reached the center of the library, where we'd come in, Sokka and Katara were climbing up the rope and Wan Shi Tong was passed out on the library floor. "Go, go, go, go, GO!" I cried, stepping on Wan Shi Tong's head as I made to climb up the rope.
"I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long-"
"OKAY, LET'S LEAVE HIM." I shouted up to Katara and Sokka. "NOW GO!" The two of them began climbing, but not fast enough. Wong Shi Tong grabbed the end of the rope and grappled with it. We shook from side to side, then began to fall. Right when we were headed towards Wan Shi Tong's snapping beak, Aang swooped down on his glider and grabbed us. We flew out the open window and out of Wan Shi Tong's grasp, landing roughly on the sandy ground. Aang, of course, lighted down gently and looked around in confusion. Toph finally let go of the library and it sunk away forever.
"A little help!" Red called. I looked over and gasped in shock to see her neck-deep in quicksand. Toph bended her out halfheartedly before slumping to the ground. Red followed her lead and crouched in the burning sand. I looked around. Neither Appa nor Walt were anywhere to be seen.
"We've got it!" Sokka cried, completely oblivious to what was going on. "There's a solar eclipse coming!" He hugged Katara as hard as he could. "The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"
Aang stood to his feet and looked around. He walked towards Toph and Red. "Where's Appa?"
Toph had her hands clasped around her ears. She shook her head slowly.
"I'm sorry, Aang..." Red's voice cracked and she wiped tears from her eyes as she said it.
Aang's eyes widened as he looked at the two of them. Tears welled up in his eyes and poured down his cheeks. Appa and Walt were gone.