Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA or any of it's characters. The only thing I own is my OC.
The Six Rules:
Rule Number One: Alec won't warn the Gaang about things in advance or solve their problems for them, with a few rare exceptions.
Rule Number Two: Only Alec has the right to tell people his true origins, and he will mostly limit this to group members. He will tell new group members his secret as soon as they join the Gaang.
Rule Number Three: There are some changes Alec wants to make, and he will use his knowledge of the future to make those changes.
Rule Number Four: Sometimes, to make a change, Alec will act in a way that doesn't make sense. If that's necessary, he'll tell the Gaang "I need you to absolutely trust me." After he says that, the Gaang has to either do whatever he asks or leave him to do what he needs to do.
Rule Number Five: After a change happens, Alec will tell the Gaang what happened in the original story, in the interest of transparency.
Rule Number Six: If a major change happens that Alec doesn't expect, the Gaang will have a meeting ASAP. In this meeting, Alec will break Rule One and tell them all relevant information that will help them figure out how to respond to the change.
Chapter 26:
The Bargain
Ty Lee POV
We made our way north from the river, riding in the tank. We were all in our cabins. I was trying to sleep, but the conversation I had with Alec was eating me inside. The questions he asked me kept ringing through my head as I stared up at the ceiling.
"Were the places under Fire Nation control that much better off than the places that haven't been conquered?"
"How did people react when they saw Fire Nation flags?"
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a noise from Azula's cabin. "Shut up, Mother!"
I blinked. Why would Azula be yelling at her mother? Fire Lady Ursa disappeared five years ago. "Did you hear that?" Mai whispered to me from her bed.
I nodded, not taking my eyes off the ceiling. "That was weird."
Mai narrowed her eyes. "Maybe the stress is getting to her." She speculated.
I shrugged. "Maybe. I don't think Azula's used to not getting what she wants." The fact that she was yelling at someone who definitely wasn't there was scary.
Mai turned to me. "About those questions Alec asked you, what are the answers?"
I swallowed. "Well, I've been to a lot of places in the Earth Kingdom, including places not controlled by the Fire Nation." I began.
Mai nodded, urging me to continue. "Remember how in school they told us that people in the Earth Kingdom lived in mud huts and got married by hitting a woman with a rock and dragging her into a cave, and other stuff like that?" I asked.
Mai nodded. "I didn't see anything like that." I admitted. "The places I saw were normal villages. The only differences between Fire Nation territory and Earth Kingdom territory was that the Fire Nation territory had a lot more metal, and…" I trailed off.
Mai gave me a look. "And?" She prompted.
I sighed. "And the people in the Fire Nation controlled lands were a lot less happy." I continued. "And when the circus traveled to places the Fire Nation didn't control, a lot of people hid in their homes until they realized we weren't the army." I looked Mai in the eye. "But why would they be scared of the army if the army was bringing peace and progress?"
"Because the army isn't bringing peace." Mai answered plainly, saying what both of us were thinking. She continued. "Are you sure he was telling the truth about Zuko?"
I nodded. "He was." I swallowed. "It's hard to believe that the Fire Lord would do something like that."
Mai shook her head. "It's not that hard." She said grimly.
I looked at her, surprised. "What do you mean?"
She looked at me. "I only saw him a few times, but whenever I saw the Fire Lord look at Zuko, he looked at him like he hated him." She whispered. "Maybe he was looking for an excuse to hurt Zuko."
I thought about it. I only saw the Fire Lord once in the palace, but his aura was a deep red. He had a lot of anger, hatred and ambition. I did my best to avoid his presence. "Maybe." I said. "But what do we do now?"
Mai frowned. "I don't know. We need more information." She muttered. "Jumping sides is a massive risk to us."
"And our families." I added quietly. Even though I left my parents and my sisters so I could be my own person, I didn't want them to get hurt.
Mai shook her head. "Not necessarily." She countered. "If we switch sides after having no contact with our families for weeks, there's nothing that could implicate them as traitors."
I looked at Mai. "If we're considering this, what information do we need?"
"We need to know how strong the Avatar and his friends really are." She replied. "Alec pretty much admitted he wasn't as strong as Azula, even though he got the best of her."
"How do we find that out?" I asked. "We've stopped hunting them, it might be a while before we see them again."
Mai smirked. "Remember that note Azula sent?" I nodded. "I think that information will come to us before too long." She yawned. "Enough talking, I need some sleep."
I nodded and turned over on my side. The questions Alec asked me stopped running through my head, but the other thing he said to me occupied my thoughts.
"I could never hurt you because…I care about you."
Those words. And the way his aura looked when he said them. I knew he meant it. And, judging by the magenta tint of his aura, he meant it in more than a friendly way.
I smiled to myself before I let sleep take me. "I care about you, too."
Alec POV
The day after Zuko and Iroh left, we moved camp. Toph wanted plenty of trees around for her next lessons for Aang. Speaking of lessons, Toph, Katara and I had a custody dispute of sorts. I needed Aang and Katara to help with my firebending. Katara still needed to refine Aang's waterbending, even though he'd almost mastered it. And Toph needed to teach Aang earthbending. The four of us were talking in circles.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay. Let's think about this in terms of priorities." I suggested. "Priority number one is teaching Aang earthbending." I stated. That was the one thing we could all agree on. The other three nodded in agreement.
"So, now we need to decide which needs more work: Aang's waterbending, or my firebending." I said. I turned to Katara. "How much does he have left to learn?"
Katara looked thoughtful. "He knows all the techniques I know, but his refinement could be better." She said putting her hand to her chin. "I suppose he could afford to only practice it every other day. How many firebending techniques do you have left to learn?" She inquired.
"Four." I responded.
A flash of inspiration crossed Aang's features. "So, how about this?" He suggested. "Toph and I can work every morning until the afternoon. After that, we alternate days between me working on waterbending with Katara, and helping Alec with firebending. Does that sound good?"
We all agreed. My progress would probably be slow on the last few techniques, but this was the best way to split our time. Toph spoke up. "Once you're good enough at earthbending, we can just alternate full days between the three of us." She suggested.
I shrugged. "Works for me. Hopefully I'll have all the scrolls down before that happens, then Aang won't have to spend time helping me and can focus on water and earth. I can use the days I'm not working on new stuff to refine my control of the old stuff." I was comfortable enough with my firebending that I didn't need a babysitter when I was practicing things I already knew.
Everyone agreed. We had our schedule. Now we just needed to carry it out.
The following afternoon, it was firebending time. I could finally learn something new. Aang, Katara, and I set up near the river. Interestingly enough, Toph was there, working on her metalbending. She was good enough that she could now bend the entire chain into new objects. Spheres, cubes, coils, you name it. I tilted my head curiously. "I'm surprised you're here, Toph." I stated.
She stopped bending and turned her head towards me. "Before I met you, I'd never felt firebenders fight." She said. "Learning their moves by feeling what you do is half the reason I did so well against Bitch Princess."
"Language." Katara grumbled. Toph ignored her.
"So, you want to be prepared to face firebenders." I supplied. She nodded.
I opened up the scroll box and pulled out the fire missile scroll. I took it over to the others. Aang, Katara and I looked at it. Toph didn't bother, because what was the point? I read the scroll.
"Fire Missile:
A stream of fire that follows targets as they move. The bender can alter the path of the missile by concentrating."
The rest of the scroll was pictures of the poses. I fought back a laugh. The movements for the fire missile was a spin followed by what looked like a Hadouken. The nerd in me was having a field day. "Alright." I said, trying to keep my cool. "I'll get to work."
Learning the poses was pretty easy. I may or may not have done them on the playground when I was a kid (What? I love Street Fighter and Dragon Ball Z. Don't judge me.). Doing the poses without screaming "Hadouken!" or "Kamehameha!" was a bit more challenging. After a few repetitions, Aang nodded. "You ready to try it with fire?"
I nodded. "Katara, could you give me a moving target?"
Katara raised her hands up and made an ice sculpture of a Fire Nation soldier on the water's surface. She moved her hands back and forth, floating the soldier around the river. I focused on the target. I spun around, brought my hands together, and threw them forward. A comet-like blast of fire shot out of my hands. I tried to keep focus on the target, but the missile only curved slightly in the direction of the target, overshooting it completely and plowing into a tree on the other side of the river. Aang quickly put out the tree with a splash of waterbending.
I sighed. Something told me this one would take a while.
One Week and Three Campsites Later
I glared at the ice statue. "It's mocking me." I growled.
Katara rolled her eyes. "You sound like Sokka when he can't catch a fish." She noted, still moving the statue around the surface of the river with her bending.
I turned to her. "Can you blame me? I almost had it that time! I barely missed it!" I exclaimed in frustration. "I would've had it if you hadn't made it change directions in the last second." I pointed out.
Katara raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't the enemy try to dodge a giant fireball headed right for them?"
I sighed. "Point taken." I admitted. I set up one more shot. I focused on the ice statue, filtering out everything else from my senses. I launched the fire missile. It shot towards the target. The target changed directions, but this time, the missile curved and changed course to follow it. It crashed into the target with a bang.
I smiled and sat down in relief. "Finally!" A week worth of practice and a ton of frustration finally paid off! I was gonna sleep well tonight!
I did not sleep well. A loud crash, followed by Momo's shriek, woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up in my sleeping bag with a start and looked around for our attackers.
Toph's earth tent fell apart. "What's going on?!" She shouted.
Sokka and Katara shot up in their sleeping bags at the same time. "I'm up!" Sokka exclaimed.
I looked around the camp. Aang was still asleep, and his leg was sticking up. There was a twenty foot pillar of rock in the middle of camp that hadn't been there before. Was Aang bending in his sleep? A howling wind blew me towards the forest. I grabbed onto a tree branch for dear life. Sokka wrapped his arms around a nearby tree, still being blown back by the sheer force of the wind. Momo clung to his wolf-tail. I saw Katara and Toph run behind Appa, who managed to brace himself against the gale. Aang was at the epicenter of the wind, floating limply a few feet off the ground, still asleep.
"What's Aang doing?!" Toph shouted.
"I don't know, but we have to wake him up!" Katara screamed.
Toph set up a series of walls that we could brace ourselves against. We each readied an attack. Using bending and a boomerang as an alarm clock is a bit drastic, but considering the circumstances it seemed necessary.
"Ready?!" Sokka shouted. We each took a stance. "NOW! Oops."
What happened next could best be described as a Rube Goldberg Machine of bad luck. Sokka threw his boomerang, but the wind blew it back, making it hit Katara. This threw off Katara's water whip, which hit Toph instead of Aang. This threw off Toph's aim with the rock she threw. At the same time, my concentration with my fire missile faltered briefly, and the wind blew it back. Luckily, my missile shot up into the sky and dissipated after a second. Toph's rock, on the other hand, slammed into the peak of a nearby mountain.
Toph paused as she realized something. "Uh oh, not good." We heard the sound of rocks cracking coming from the peak. A landslide. Great. All of us made a break for it, dodging falling rocks. Thankfully, the only thing that hit the sleeping Aang was a small pebble that struck the center of his forehead, waking him up.
"Who, what, huh?" He said groggily. He yawned and sat up, looking at us glaring at him. "Morning, all!" He greeted happily with a smile, oblivious to our frustration. "You won't believe the awesome dream I had!"
"I bet." Toph growled caustically.
"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at our faces with surprise.
I took a deep breath to get over my frustration. It wasn't like Aang did it on purpose. "You were bending in your sleep." I explained evenly. "Look around."
Aang noticed the absolute state our camp was in. "Oh, sorry." He apologized sheepishly. "I dreamed I was in a rodeo, riding a fish-opotamus." He stood up and stretched. "I'll clean up the camp." He offered.
Aang was true to his word. The camp was back to its original state in less than an hour. We didn't bother going back to sleep, because it was already close to dawn. As we ate breakfast, Toph addressed all of us. "I need quiet today, I'll be teaching Aang something." She said. "So you all either need to stay still or stay away from camp."
We all agreed.
Toph sat Aang down, and told him to concentrate. She was trying to teach Aang her seismic sense ability. Katara moved away from camp to do some fishing. I stayed near the campfire, alternating between breathing exercises and reading the three remaining scrolls. Sokka failed to stay still. He ended up chasing Momo around camp, trying to take a huge fruit that the lemur was eating. Even Appa got involved in the chase. I could tell from Toph's body language that she was annoyed. Finally, she snapped and created a thirty-foot pillar under Sokka, stranding him above ground.
"You can shout." She growled. "You can yell. But all that running around is deafening!" She shouted.
She only let Sokka down after dark so he could have dinner. Apparently, the lesson went well for Aang.
The following day, it was time to learn another firebending technique. As usual, we set up by the river. Katara was fishing nearby. Sokka was off hunting after Toph pointed him towards some nearby game. Toph was working on her metalbending. Now, she could shape the chain into a perfect replica of her hand and control it remotely. She'd almost mastered it. Aang and I looked over the scroll for jet propulsion. I read it aloud.
"Jet Propulsion:
Skilled firebenders can conjure large amounts of flame to propel themselves through the air. Slower than a jet-step, but makes sustained levitation possible."
Katara stopped what she was doing and turned to us with a concerned expression. "You mean firebenders can fly?" She asked in a shocked voice.
I shook my right hand in a 'so-so' motion. "Kind of." I answered. "Some of them can, but normally not for long periods of time. It takes a lot of power to keep it going."
"Great," Toph muttered, "How am I supposed to fight something I can't feel?"
"It's not like the fire is silent, maybe you can still hear it." I suggested. I took a few steps away and took a stance on the riverbank. "Alright." I said. "Aang, look alive. you're on standby for fire safety."
"Got it!" Aang replied.
I took a breath. "I'm gonna start off nice and easy." I said. "I'm gonna see if ten percent of my power gets me off the ground."
I braced myself. "And three, two, one…"
SMACK!
Ten percent was way too much. I ended up launching myself up, flipping upside-down, and slamming into a tree, before I fell limply to the ground. To make matters worse, Aang splashed me with water afterwards.
I got up, bruised, wet, and annoyed. I looked around. Katara was running over to check on me. Aang held his hands behind his back, looking sheepish. Toph was rolling on the ground, holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard. I glared at Aang. "Why?" I growled.
"Sorry." He said sheepishly. "I just kinda panicked and reacted fast."
Katara pulled the water out of my clothes and used it to fix my bruises. "Thanks, Katara." I said with a nod. I turned back to Aang. "Just make sure I'm on fire next time."
I knew this was gonna take a while.
Ten Days and Five Campsites Later
I'd hit a wall. I could get off the ground, but I couldn't control where I went afterwards. I kept falling over, or nearly flipping myself over in the process. I sat on the ground, trying to think of how to fix the problem. Aang was trying to console me.
"I can't believe I'm not getting it." I grumbled. "With the other things I've learned, I could at least see some progress. The only progress I've made here is not slamming into trees anymore."
Aang looked thoughtful. "Are you sure that you're doing this the right way?" He questioned.
I nodded. "Yeah, in the original story I saw Jeong Jeong levitate using fire with his feet." I replied.
"Maybe you can think of a different answer." He suggested. "Just because there's one way to do it doesn't mean there's only one way to do it."
"Don't let Toph hear you say that." I replied with a grin. Toph was all about facing a problem head on and powering through it. I looked over at the earthbender. She was ignoring us, working on bending the metal chain into different pieces of armor. She made a full gauntlet, fingers and all. Like some kind of iron…man…
I shot up. "That's it!" I shouted. Aang and Toph turned to face me. "What's it?" Aang asked with a confused look on his face.
I looked over at him and grinned. "I have an idea. I'm ready to try again."
I set up and took a stance on the riverbank. Sokka was off hunting. Katara was fishing. "Day eleven, test thirty-seven, configuration two-point-oh." I said aloud, relishing the fact that I would get to try this.
Aang tilted his head in confusion. "Is this one of those things from your world?" He wondered aloud.
I turned to Aang. "For lack of a better option, Aang is still on fire safety." I continued, ignoring his question. I pointed at him. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm throwing you in a river."
Aang didn't bother to ask, and just got in a waterbending stance.
"All right." I said, putting out my hands, palm facing down. "Nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with one percent thrust capacity." I took a deep breath. Time to see if this would work. "And three, two, one…"
I shot out four small jets of flame, one from each extremity. I lifted a foot or two off the ground and held it. I had to adjust a few times to keep my balance, but I didn't fall over or crash. I let myself down. It worked! Now I wanted to scale it up.
"Okay." I breathed out with relief. I looked at Aang, who was still in a waterbending stance. "Please don't follow me around with that, either, because I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously." I held out a hand in a 'stop' motion. "Just stand down." I said. "If something happens, then come in." Aang got out of his stance and watched me.
I got back in a ready position. "Let's bring it up to two-point-five. Three, two, one…"
I lifted off again, this time with a lot more force. I was about five feet in the air. I tried to find the right position for my hands and feet to keep me stable. I was still levitating, but I accidentally pushed myself back over the river. "Okay, this is where I don't want to be!" I said urgently. I moved my hands in front of me, which stopped my forward momentum. I angled them so I could rotate my body to face the shore. I managed to turn myself around and then pointed my hands behind me to push myself forward. Once I made it to the riverbank, I pointed my hands and feet straight down, stopping my movements and finding equilibrium at last. I stopped firebending and landed on the ground.
I let out a breath. It worked! I turned to Aang and smirked. "Yeah, I can fly."
Best part of being in this world as a firebender: I could fly like Iron Man!
Over the next few days, we adjusted Aang's training schedule. I wanted to get better at flying, so I didn't need Aang's help. I practiced flying every day. Over the next week I got pretty good control over it, and could sustain it for a few minutes. It did leave me winded if I used it for more than ten seconds at a time, though. I also got a lot faster. It wasn't instantaneous like a jet-step, but it was fast enough to keep up with Toph's earth-skating.
Aang was training with Toph and Katara every day. The good news was that Aang gave it his all every day of training. The bad news was he was burning himself out. He was getting plenty of sleep, but working all day, every day was taking its toll. He had dark circles under his eyes. He wasn't complaining, but he wasn't doing well. I knew it had to be bad when Toph said he should take it easy. He waved it off and insisted on training every day. All of us were concerned about him, Katara especially.
When Aang fell asleep during dinner, it was the last straw for Katara. She looked around the campfire at all of us. "He can't keep going like this." She said, fretting over Aang's sleeping form.
Toph nodded. "You're right. He won't learn as well when he's exhausted." She agreed.
"He definitely needs to take a break." I suggested.
Sokka looked at me. "What kind of break?"
I shrugged. "At minimum, I think from now on we should make him take a day off every three or four days so he can rest." I offered.
Suddenly Aang jolted awake. "Huh? What?" He looked confused.
Katara put a hand on his arm gently. "Aang, you fell asleep." She looked him in the eyes. "You've been working too hard. You need to take a break."
Aang shook his head. "I'm fine." He insisted, trying to brush it off.
Katara would not be denied. "Aang." She said firmly. "All of us have been talking. You've made a lot of progress, but you need a break. You're burning yourself out."
Aang looked uncertain. "Are you sure?"
Katara nodded. "Yes." She said. "You need a break." She gave him a small smile. "Healer's orders."
Aang looked down. "Okay." He said.
I spoke up. "It's not like we're asking you to take a month off." I said. "I think you just need a few days, then, when we start back up, if you just take a day off every three or four days, you should be fine."
Katara snapped her fingers and a flash of inspiration crossed her face. "You know what you need?" She said to Aang. "A vacation!"
Aang brightened at that idea. "Yeah, there's a place nearby I want to visit." He smiled at us. "And after I'm done, each one of us can pick a mini-vacation."
The words mini-vacation almost made me stop breathing. So, it was that time, huh? Another major turning point was coming. I needed to be ready. I had a plan. Hopefully, I wouldn't need to fight.
The next morning, we packed up camp and flew northwest. Aang took us down to a prairie with a bunch of holes in the ground. He took out a flute that he'd carved out of a reed and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Sokka looked around. "What's out here?" He asked, clearly unimpressed.
Toph knelt down and put her hand on the ground. "A lot, actually." She reported. "There's hundreds of little…"
Aang turned around and put a finger to his lips. "Shh!" He interrupted. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise." He told her. He turned back around and put the flute to his lips. "Just watch."
He blew a note. A groundhog popped out of one of the holes in the ground and mimicked the note. Aang chuckled. "Yeah!" He blew another note. Another groundhog popped out of a different hole and mimicked that note. "I'm putting an orchestra together!" He said cheerfully, holding his fists up in the air in triumph.
Sokka raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Orchestra, huh? Well, la-di-da." He said dismissively, moving his hands to accentuate his sarcastic notes. Three groundhogs popped out of the ground, singing descending notes, making me laugh. Momo jumped down a hole after one of them, but popped out of another one, looking confused. Aang played a few more notes, and the groundhogs responded to each one. Momo tried to run up to them, but they popped back underground too quickly. Sokka finally had enough and walked over to Aang, plugging his flute with a finger.
"This is great and all," Sokka said, standing up, "But don't we have more important things to worry about?" He asked rhetorically. "We should be making plans."
"We did make plans." Toph replied. "We're all picking mini-vacations."
"There's no time for vacations." Sokka insisted.
Aang looked at him pleadingly. "I'm learning the elements as fast as I can." He argued. "This is just a short break so I can rest."
Katara walked over to Aang. "Yeah, and what's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" She asked.
Sokka crossed his arms across his chest and looked down at Aang. "Even if you do master all the elements, then what?" He asked rhetorically. "It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation." He gestured to his left. "Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" He pantomimed knocking on a door. "Knock knock. Hello? Fire Lord? Anybody home?" He turned around. "I don't think so." He tapped his finger against his palm. "We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war."
Toph raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you just ask Alec?" She asked the obvious question.
Sokka turned to me. "Do you know where it is?"
I figured it wouldn't do us any harm to tell him. "I'll tell you what I know." I said. I sat down and picked up a stick. Everyone gathered around. I carved a crude drawing of a vaguely horseshoe-shaped island into the ground, partly for Toph's benefit. "This is Capital Island, the biggest island in the Fire Nation." I said. I took the stick and put a dot in the deepest part of the island. "The Capital City is here." I continued. "The only way to get there is the harbor, which is heavily defended."
I could see the strategist in Sokka trying to analyze the map. "How heavily defended is it?" He asked.
"First, there's the Great Gates of Azulon." I said. "It's a gate outside the harbor that has nets that can be lifted to block access by sea."
Katara frowned. "Couldn't someone cut through the nets?"
I shook my head. "No, because the nets can be set on fire when deployed." Katara's eyes widened at that. "Beyond the gates, you'd have to fight your way through the Royal Plaza, which has its own defenses. Past that is Harbor City, which is where most of the city's population lives. If you get through all that, you have to climb up the side of a dormant volcano. Inside the crater of said volcano is Royal Caldera City, where the nobles live. Inside the city is the Fire Nation Royal Palace." I looked up at Sokka. "And all that is just the defenses that I know about. There's likely a lot more."
Sokka gave a low whistle. "Man, that'll be a tough nut to crack." He said.
Aang tilted his head questioningly. "Couldn't we just fly?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Not without a diversion of some kind. They have so many guards and defenses, it would make that blockade run we did look like a pleasant flight."
Sokka frowned. "That's good information, but we need more." He insisted. He looked at me gratefully. "Thanks though. I'm glad you know so much."
I smiled. "I wish I knew more." I replied. To be honest, I could have known more. I watched the original series at least five times, and I watched Korra twice. I read the Kyoshi novels, but the comics were where my knowledge was a bit lacking. I only read The Search and Suki, Alone. I hadn't read all the other comics. And, knowing what Lady Ài told me about Ursa, along with my own plans, the only parts of those comics that were useful now were the flashbacks. After we won, I was gonna have a seventy-year gap where I couldn't see things coming.
Aang pulled out his map of the Earth Kingdom. "Alec, do you want to pick next?" He asked.
I shook my head. "I'll go last." I said. I had special plans for my vacation.
Aang shrugged and turned to Katara. "Your turn, Katara." He held up the map. "Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"
Katara leaned forward and examined the map. She pointed at a spot on the edge of the Si Wong Desert. "How about the Misty Palms Oasis?" She suggested. "That sounds refreshing."
"Oh yeah!" Aang agreed excitedly. "I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I don't usually use the word 'pristine'." He smiled. "It's one of nature's wonders."
I barely held down a laugh.
Misty Palms Oasis had seen better days. The ice spring was much smaller than what had been depicted on the map, and a dog was licking it. The small settlement around it was in a state of disrepair. Aang, Katara and Sokka stared at with disappointment. I snorted with laughter.
They turned to me. "You knew?" Katara asked indignantly. "Why didn't you tell us?"
I gave her a shit-eating grin. "Because the looks on your faces are priceless!" I got out between chuckles. Aang hadn't put on his disguise, but I put on mine. Despite the heat, I figured it was safer if I wasn't recognized in the Avatar equivalent of Mos Eisley.
We ended up walking into a bar. Right outside the bar was a sight that made me tighten my fists in anger. Sandbenders. Now, I knew that most of the sandbenders were good people, but a certain group of them took second place on my list of 'most hated characters in the show', just behind Ozai. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. It took a lot of my restraint not to react when one of them spat at Sokka. Katara and I pulled our brother into the bar so he wouldn't make any trouble.
The bar was small, and dimly-lit. A few patrons sat at tables. One man was fast asleep, resting his head on the bar. A man in white robes, carrying a bunch of supplies in his pack was ordering from the bar. The bartender took his order and used two swords to slice a chunk of ice that he used for a glass. With a great deal of skill and flair, he sliced up a bunch of fruit and poured a jug of milk into the glass, still using the swords. He then put a tiny umbrella in the drink, along with a bamboo straw. I had to admit, the bartender had skill.
I wasn't the only one impressed. Sokka licked his lips. "I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." He reasoned, before he ran up to the bar. The man who just ordered accidentally bumped into Aang. He moved to apologize.
"No worries." Aang said breezily. "I clean up easy." He used airbending to dry himself off.
The man gasped and pointed at Aang. "You're a living relic!" He whispered in awe.
Aang shrugged casually. "Thanks, I try." He replied.
The man put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "An Air Nomad, right in front of me." He mused in wonder. He gave a bow, which Aang returned. "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He introduced himself while the rest of us got drinks from the bar. Zei took one of Aang's hands and began to examine him as if he were some rare specimen. Which, to be fair, Aang was. "Tell me, which of the Air Temples do you hail from?" He inquired.
"The Southern Temple." Aang replied politely.
Zei took out a pair of calipers and began examining Aang's head. Just what was he expecting to learn by doing that? "Oh, splendid!" He said excitedly. "Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"
That question seemed to throw off Aang. Then again, the Air Nomads didn't do much in the way of trade or business, so they wouldn't exactly keep a ledger of imports and exports. "Uh," He said with confusion, "Are fruit pies an agricultural product?"
I thought about it for a second. Literally every ingredient of those fruit pies came from agriculture, so maybe they could be considered an agricultural product, after a fashion. Zei seemed to accept that answer. "Fascinating." He said with a smile. "That is one for the journal." He took out his journal and began to write.
"So Professor," Sokka said, looking at the scholar, "You're obviously a well-travelled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated."
Zei stopped writing and gave us a kind smile. "Of course!"
He pulled a rolled-up piece of parchment from his bag. Sokka unraveled it on a nearby table. Toph sat down and put her feet up on a chair, sipping her drink leisurely. The map seemed to be just the Si Wong Desert and a little big of the surrounding area. Sokka leaned over the map for a few seconds. "What, no Fire Nation?" He asked in exasperation and disappointment. "Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?"
Katara took a closer look at the map. The map showed routes traveled into the desert from the Oasis. "You've made a lot of trips into the desert." She observed.
"All in vain, I'm afraid." Zei noted sadly. "I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom." He raised a fist slightly. "But I haven't managed to find the crown jewel: Wan Shi Tong's Library."
Toph raised an eyebrow. "You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" She asked incredulously.
"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady." He replied with a smile. "It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge." He spread his hands to emphasize the vastness. "And knowledge is priceless."
"Hmm, sounds like good times." Toph said sarcastically.
Zei missed the sarcasm. "Oh, it is." He said enthusiastically. "According to legend, it was built by the great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy Knowledge Seekers."
Sokka looked intrigued. "Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?" He asked, a perverted grin on his face.
Katara gave his head a shove to shut him up. "I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka."
"You're both right." Zei answered. "Handsome little creatures." He took out a drawing of an elaborate building with massive domes and spires and placed it on the table. It looked a little bit like the Taj Mahal from my old world. "Wan Shi Tong and his Knowledge Seekers collected books from all over the world," Zei continued, "And put them on display for mankind to read, so that we might better ourselves."
Sokka looked thoughtful. "If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation?" He asked Zei. "A map, maybe?"
"I wouldn't know." The professor replied. "But if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library."
Sokka brightened. "Then it's settled." He put a hand on his chest. "Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!" He exclaimed with a dramatic point of his finger.
Toph waved her hand to gain the others attention. "Uh, hey, what about me?" She said. "When do I get to pick?"
Sokka folded his arms. "You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time." He said smugly. I elbowed him hard for that one, making him groan in pain. That made Toph smirk.
"Of course, there's the matter of finding it." Zei said. "I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert, and almost died each time." He hung his head. "I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross."
Aang and Sokka shared a knowing look. "Professor," Sokka said. "Would you like to see our sky bison?"
Zei's eyes widened. "A sky bison? You actually have one?!"
I smirked under my mask. "I guess that's a yes."
We left the bar and came across a sight that nearly sent me on a rampage. Four sandbenders were approaching Appa, obviously with nefarious intentions. Appa growled at them as he retreated. Before anyone could do anything, I ran over to them as fast as I could without firebending and grabbed one by the wrist. He was completely covered from head to toe, except for his eyes. His eyes widened in surprise.
I glared at him. "Leave our bison alone." I growled. "We're about to leave. Don't try anything if you don't want to get hurt."
The sandbender glared at me, but he backed off, and signaled his comrades to do so as well. They hopped in a sand sailer and bent a small tornado behind the sail, propelling it forwards, sailing off into the desert.
After we were sure they were gone, we all climbed aboard Appa and took off into the sky.
Aang steered. Professor Zei sat on Appa's head with him and Momo. Sokka took his shirt off and tied it around his head like a makeshift head cover, before pulling out his telescope and scanning the desert. Katara leaned over the side of the saddle to get a better view, keeping her eyes peeled for the library. Toph held on to the edge of the saddle. I took off my cloak and scarf, now that we were away from potential bounty hunters. I sat in the back of the saddle, thinking about what the next best move would be. I started writing a note, just in case.
Katara noticed me. "What are you writing?" She asked.
"A note." I replied simply.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're not writing another taunting letter to Azula, are you?"
I chuckled and shook my head. "No, this is for someone else."
She shrugged. "Okay."
About an hour later, Toph was getting tired of flying around in the sun. "Does this place even exist?" She asked with a frustrated groan.
"Some say it doesn't" Zei said, not assuring her at all.
"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" Toph collapsed on her back in frustration.
A few minutes later, Toph suddenly pointed out into the distance. "There it is!" She shouted.
Everyone else fell for it. I didn't move. I just tried to hold in my laughter. Soon, they all realized they had been played, and gave Toph a glare. "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." She waved a hand in front of her face with a blank grin.
I lost it and burst out laughing. "Nice one." I complimented.
She grinned. "Thanks."
A few minutes later, Sokka and Katara tried to keep an eye out for the library. "It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant, ornate building from the air." Katara reasoned.
Suddenly, Sokka pointed at something in the distance. "Down there! What's that?!"
I looked in the direction of his finger. It was a tall spire, buried in the sand. Finally, we were here.
Appa landed next to the tower. After we disembarked, Katara looked at the illustration of the library and sighed in disappointment. "Forget it." She said. "It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous."
We saw a glint on the horizon. It turned out to be a desert fox, holding a scroll in its mouth. It walked over to the tower. Then, somehow, it ran up the side of the tower and disappeared into one of the openings at the top.
Sokka turned to Zei. "What kind of animal was that?" He asked.
"I think that was one of the Knowledge Seekers." Zei said. His face brightened. "Oh! We must be close to the library!"
Sokka took a look at the drawing. "No," He realized. "This is the library! Look!" He pointed at the tower, and back to the drawing. The tower was a perfect match for the spire at the top of the library. "It's completely buried."
Zei didn't like hearing that. "The library is buried?!" He shouted. He fell to his knees dramatically. "My life's ambition is now full of sand!" He hung his head. Then he picked a small shovel out of his pocket. "Well, time to start excavating." He said with a smile. He began shoveling through the sand.
Toph walked over to the library and placed her hand against it. "Actually, that won't be necessary." She declared. "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."
Toph folded her arms. "I say you guys go ahead without me."
Katara put her hands on her hips. "You've got something against libraries?" She asked.
Toph didn't miss a beat. "I've held books before, and, I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me."
Katara looked sheepish. "Oh right. Sorry." She apologized.
"Let me know if they have something you can listen to." Toph said.
"Actually, can I talk to you guys for a second?" I questioned. I looked at the professor. "Could you wait here for a minute?" Zei nodded and started writing in his journal.
I led the rest of the group off to the side. I looked Aang in the eye. "How long could Appa stay in the air with all our stuff, but no riders?" I questioned.
Aang put his hand to his chin. "He got a decent amount of rest over the past few days, and he's only flown about three hours today." He muttered to himself. "He should be able to stay in the air for another two days, if he had to." He tilted his head questioningly. "Why do you ask?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. That would help us. "Good, I don't need this, then." I pulled out the note I had written earlier, and burned it with firebending. Everyone else was looking at me strangely. "All right. I need you to absolutely trust me." I said seriously. "Aang, you need to tell Appa to fly overhead, and not land until you blow the whistle for him to come back."
"Okay, but why?" He asked.
I shook my head. "I'll tell you later. But Appa needs to stay in the air." I turned to Toph. "Toph, I really think you should come with us into the library."
She frowned. "Why?"
"I can explain everything later, but wouldn't it be better than either flying on Appa until we come back, or hanging out in the hot sun all afternoon?" I pointed out.
She huffed. She tended to do that when someone made a point that she knew was right. "Fine, I'll go in."
I nodded at her. "Thanks, Toph." I turned to everyone else. "Once we get inside, let me do the talking."
"What talking?" Sokka asked with a frown. "It's a library."
I gave him a look. "Every library has a librarian." I answered. "Just promise me you'll keep your mouth shut."
"Why me, specifically?" He asked.
I gave him a look. "You know why." The most annoying part about Sokka's lack of tact was that he was aware of it, but didn't do much to fix it.
He threw his arms up. "Fine, but you owe us an explanation later."
I nodded.
As soon as we got back to Professor Zei, Aang gave Appa his instructions and the bison took off. Good. Unless we got stuck in there for days, he would be okay. Sokka tied a rope to his boomerang and used it as a grappling hook. We climbed up the side of the tower. Once inside, we slowly repelled down. The interior of the tower was beautifully decorated with gold inlays. At the bottom of the tower, the library opened up into a massive chamber. There were owl designs everywhere. Fitting, considering the librarian. Green crystals provided light, rather than flames. There were bookshelves as far as the eye could see.
Zei was in awe. "Oh, it's breathtaking!" He said with wonder in his voice, stopping his descent on the rope to take in the sights. "The spirit spared no expense in designing this place." He pointed at the architecture. "Look at those beautiful buttresses!"
Sokka and Aang giggled at the word. Katara, Toph and I didn't say anything. "What's funny?" Zei asked.
"Nothing." Aang lied. "We just like architecture."
"As do I." Zei replied.
We slid off the rope and onto a four-way bridge. Momo flew down and landed on Aang's shoulder. Zei was still geeking out over the architecture. He spotted a mosaic of a giant owl. "My word!" He exclaimed. "The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol…" He stopped when he noticed most of us giving him strange looks. "Eh, nice owl."
We heard a rustling of feathers. I knew what that meant. We ran to one end of the bridge and hid behind pillars. Aang, Zei and I hid behind one pillar. Katara, Sokka and Toph hid behind another. I poked my head out from behind my pillar to see the source of the noise. From another part of the bridge, a massive black owl with a white face strode forth and looked at the rope. It easily dwarfed Appa in size. He looked up, and saw that it was still attached to the exit. He rotated his head around, and had turned it almost a complete one-eighty when he paused, while facing our direction. "I know you're back there." He said. His voice was low and smooth. It also had a creepy, ethereal echo to it, almost as though multiple people were speaking at once.
I heard Aang gasp. Katara, Sokka and even the normally fearless Toph seemed wary. Professor Zei, on the other hand, had more curiosity than self-preservation. He smiled and stepped out from behind the pillar. He ran over to the owl. "Hello!" He greeted brightly, stopping to bow in front of the spirit. "I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."
The spirit wasn't impressed. "You should leave the way you came." He warned. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology." He turned to the right. Zei followed his gaze and spotted multiple stuffed animal heads on a pillar. Zei gulped and clutched his neck in fear.
The rest of us walked out from behind our pillars. Before anyone else could open their mouth, I stepped forward and looked the owl in the eye. I gave a deep bow. "Wan Shi Tong, He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things." I said respectfully. "My name is Alec." I introduced myself.
The owl narrowed his eyes at me. "I am aware of who you are, as well as your origins." He said plainly. Zei gave me a confused look. I ignored the professor. Wan Shi Tong looked at all of us. "Humans are no longer permitted in my study." He said gravely.
"What do you have against humans?" Aang inquired.
"Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans." Wan Shi Tong replied with a hint of anger. "Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So." He leaned over quickly, putting his face uncomfortably close to mine. I could see my own reflection in one of his eyes. "Who are you trying to destroy?"
I swallowed a lump in my throat. This could go very wrong, but I needed to try. "I've come to bargain." I said, trying to keep my voice even.
The eye in front of me widened slightly. "Bargain?" He repeated incredulously.
I nodded. "Yes." I said, putting all my resolve behind my voice. "I've come to bargain. Is there a place where the two of us could speak privately?"
Wan Shi Tong stood at his full height and spoke again. "I suppose what you have to say should be interesting, if nothing else." He mused. He looked at the other members of our group. "Can you guarantee their good behavior?"
I turned around to everyone else. "Look, until I come back, stay here and don't read anything." I said firmly. Katara and Aang nodded. I looked at Toph. "Toph, I'm trusting you to keep them in line. If one of them makes a move towards the bookshelves, lock them down with earthbending."
Toph shrugged. "Sure, whatever."
Sokka looked a little indignant. "Why do you trust her, and not us?" He asked with a frown.
I gave him a deadpan look. "Because I know for a fact that she's the last person here who would want to steal a book."
Sokka's face went from indignant to sheepish in an instant. Seriously, how did he forget that Toph was blind three times in a single day? I turned around and gave Wan Shi Tong a bow. "We accept your conditions, great spirit." I said politely.
Wan Shi Tong turned around and began walking down a hallway. "Very well. Follow me."
I moved quickly to keep pace with a giant owl who probably made pellets bigger than me.
Wan Shi Tong led me through a massive doorway with more owl carvings on it to what looked like a massive office. There was a giant desk in the center. It was much too large for a human, but it was probably meant for the Knowledge Spirit's use. Bookshelves filled with massive scrolls adorned every wall. The owl turned and faced me. "So, a human from another world wishes to bargain with me?" He inquired. "What could you possibly offer that I want?"
I looked up at the librarian. "First, I want to ask you a question." I said evenly. "I am aware that Zhao, the firebender that came here a few years ago, burned all the works you have in the Fire Nation section." I took a breath. "I was wondering, do you have a catalogue of everything you lost?"
The Knowledge Spirit nodded. "Yes, this library lost many things that day." He replied. He produced a small scroll that he held out on a feather. It looked like a child holding up an ant on a single finger. "This was the only scroll I was able to save from that section, along with a few scraps of other things. I do have a catalogue of everything."
I looked at the scroll he held on his feather curiously. "Why did you save that one in particular?"
He looked at the scroll fondly. "For years, my Knowledge Seekers would simply take information from wherever they found it." He replied. He looked me in the eye. "However, after the formation of the four nations, I realized that such a practice was little more than stealing, especially if the thing taken was the only copy." He continued. "So, my Knowledge Seekers now find information, copy it, and bring it to me." He looked down at the scroll again. "This is the only scroll I had from the Fire Nation from before that time. It is too unsafe for my Knowledge Seekers to enter the Fire Nation at this time, so I am not aware if this scroll is the only one of its kind."
I nodded. "I see." Thank the spirits my crazy plan might work. "I have an offer for you." I said. "I will not lie to you, we are after information that will give us a chance to end the war in our favor, and help us defeat Fire Lord Ozai." The spirit narrowed his eyes, but didn't interrupt. "We need a piece of information from this library. In exchange, I offer you a service." I said. "The war will end with Fire Lord Ozai's defeat, not the destruction of the Fire Nation. If you give me a list of the works that Zhao destroyed, I will persuade the new Fire Lord to replace those works."
Wan Shi Tong's eyes widened briefly, but then they narrowed. I think he was tempted, but I couldn't read the body language of an owl that well. "You would ask me explicitly to give you information to help you win a war?" He asked with a hint of anger. "Why should I help you?"
This was the biggest gamble. I hoped I could persuade him. "The Fire Nation has already destroyed one potential source of knowledge during this war." I said evenly. "I'm willing to bet you haven't received any new information about the Air Nomads in a century."
Wan Shi Tong blinked, and he stopped looking angry. He looked…sad. "So much knowledge and potential new knowledge was lost." He said in a mournful tone. I didn't blame him for caring more about the knowledge than the people. Spirits had weird priorities.
I kept going. "If you know my origin, you know that I know certain potential paths for future events." I continued. "It's very likely that the Fire Nation will try to destroy the Earth Kingdom with Sozin's Comet. That's even more knowledge that could be burned to ashes. Ozai needs to be stopped, so that the world can have peace again."
Wan Shi Tong was silent for several moments before he spoke again. "You will honor your end of the bargain?"
I nodded. "I always keep my promises to spirits." I said with conviction.
He nodded. He turned to his left and took a giant scroll from one of his bookshelves. He walked over to his desk, picked up a pen that was about the size of a tree, along with a sheet of parchment big enough to cover Appa, and began writing. He was fast, and his pen was a blur over the giant parchment he was transcribing. When he was finished, he rolled up the parchment in a scroll, and waved his hand over it. Like a magic trick, it shrunk down to normal size. He held it out for me to take. I accepted it. "Thank you very much." I said with a gracious bow. I was curious. "May I see the scroll you saved from Zhao?"
The owl reached out behind him and handed me the scroll. It was quite old, so I held it with care. I read the title aloud. "Rules and Customs of Agni Kai by Fire Lord Yosor". Damn. Fire Lord Yosor was alive around the same time as Avatar Szeto. This scroll had to be over five hundred years old. I opened the scroll and read silently for a minute. I read the last sentence and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. "May I have a copy of this?" I asked the spirit. "It's important."
Wan Shi Tong nodded. He copied this scroll in much the same manner as the other. He handed me the new scroll. The contents were exactly the same. Even the handwriting was an exact match. The only difference was that the copy was on new, more durable parchment. I put both scrolls in my bag.
Wan Shi Tong stood up and moved towards the door. "Come." He instructed. "We mustn't keep your friends waiting."
I followed after the spirit.
We made it back to the others. None of them were trapped in rock, so I guess they behaved themselves. Katara ran up to me when she saw me. "How did it go?" She asked, concerned.
I smiled. "He's agreed to let us browse the library." Sokka cheered and wrapped Aang in a tight hug. He tried to do the same with Toph, but she bent up a pillar in between them, which Sokka slammed into.
"If you wanna hug something, go hug a cactus." She growled. Toph wasn't a very touchy-feely person.
"There is one condition." Wan Shi Tong said, breaking everyone out of their revelry. We all looked at him. "To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
Professor Zei stepped forward and took a beautifully decorated book out of his backpack. He knelt before the owl. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library." He said with respect.
Wan Shi Tong looked at the book. "First edition." He observed. "Very nice." He swiped his left wing over the book, and it disappeared.
Katara stepped forward and took out the waterbending scroll we stole from the pirates. "I have an authentic waterbending scroll." She offered, opening the scroll so Wan Shi Tong could read it.
"Ooh," The Knowledge Spirit replied, clearly impressed. "These illustrations are quite stylish." He took the scroll from Katara.
Aang looked puzzled, then a flash of inspiration crossed his face. "Oh! I know!" He dug something out of his shirt. It was his wanted poster that we found right before we met Jeong Jeong. He held it out to the spirit.
"I suppose that counts." Wan Shi Tong said flatly. He took the poster.
I stepped forward. I held out my original wanted poster that General Fong gave me. Wan Shi Tong gave me a look. "Really?" He deadpanned.
"This poster has since been updated with new charges." I said, trying to sugarcoat this. "Think of it as a first edition."
The spirit sighed, but he took the poster anyway. Sokka stepped forward holding a piece of string. "Oh great spirit, check this out!" He tied the string into a butterfly knot and showed it to the owl. "Ta-da!" Everyone else looked at Sokka in disbelief. Wan Shi Tong stared at my brother in silence. "It's a special knot. That counts as knowledge!" Sokka insisted.
"You're not very bright, are you?" Wan Shi Tong deadpanned, but he took the knot anyway. Sokka grumbled.
Toph stepped forward. She had a nervous look on her face. That was rare for her. "Um, I'm blind, so I really don't have any books with me." She said guiltily.
"No matter," Wan Shi Tong replied. "Knowledge does not have to be in the form of writing. Perhaps there is something you know that I do not?" He wondered.
Toph brightened, and reached into her bag. "Check this out!" She said excitedly. She pulled out her chain and began bending it into a variety of shapes. "I learned how to bend metal using earthbending."
Wan Shi Tong's eyes went almost comically wide. "That's incredible." He whispered, his normal stoicism forgotten. "Please, come with me into my office." He said, nearly giddy with the prospect of new knowledge. "Tell me how this works, and I will record it for all time." He turned to us. "The rest of you, enjoy the library."
And so, the blind, illiterate earthbender's tribute impressed the Knowledge Spirit most of all. Funny how things turn out.
We walked over to a random section of the library and looked for things to read. Aang picked up a book of various illustrations. Sokka kept looking for information on the Fire Nation. Katara perused a book about previous Avatars. We left Professor Zei in another section. One of the Knowledge Seekers hung out with us. Aang suddenly held up his book, open to an illustration. "Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things." He said.
Sokka glanced at the book before turning his attention away. "Eh, I've seen weirder." He said dismissively.
I looked at the drawing. It depicted a man, standing in front of a massive turtle with the head and claws of a lion. "It's not to scale." I said before I could stop myself.
Aang heard me and looked at me with curious eyes. "What do you mean?"
I really needed to be more careful. "The lion turtle in that drawing is too small." I admitted. "It should be bigger, unless it's a baby or something."
Before Aang could ask me any more questions, we heard footsteps approach. We turned and saw Toph coming down the aisle towards us. "Hey guys," She greeted. "Find anything?"
Sokka nodded. "I found a few up-to-date maps, why?"
Toph thumbed over her shoulder. "The owl guy told me that if we want to take something with us, we have to tell one of the foxes so they can make copies of whatever we take." She explained. She turned towards me. "He also said to never ask him to help win a war again."
I nodded. "I don't plan on it." I answered. Sokka took his bag and handed it to the Knowledge Seeker. The fox ran off to make copies of the maps Sokka picked up.
Katara looked up from her book. "That reminds me, what kind of deal did you make with Wan Shi Tong?" She inquired with a curious expression.
The others turned towards me as well. I took a deep breath. "A few years ago, Zhao came here and found information about the Moon and Ocean Spirits." I said evenly. "Zhao also burned most of the Fire Nation section when he left. I offered to replace what Zhao burned after the war. Wan Shi Tong gave me a list of the books and scrolls Zhao burned."
"How will you get the Fire Nation to agree to that?" Aang wondered aloud.
I gave him a smirk. "No spoilers." I teased.
"Wait, did you say most of the Fire Nation section was burned?" Sokka asked. I nodded. "Then what can we find here?" He put his head in his hands in frustration.
The Knowledge Seeker walked up with Sokka's bag and poked Sokka with his nose. Sokka looked down at it. "Thanks." He said glumly, taking the bag. The fox kept looking at him and poked him again with his nose. "Do you want me to follow you?" He asked. The fox bobbed its head up and down. He turned and walked out of the aisle. The rest of us followed.
The fox led us to a podium with a scrap of paper with burnt edges in it. I looked down at it and read it aloud. "The ninth day of the seventh month of the Cultivate Rule Dragon Year was the darkest day in Fire Nation history."
"That sounds interesting, but if the Fire Nation section is destroyed, how can we find out what it means?" Katara asked.
The fox poked Sokka again. I was about two seconds away from naming it Lassie. "I guess I'll follow you again." He said.
The fox led us to a giant, round, golden door that was decorated like the sun. The fox crawled through a small opening to the right of the door. A few seconds later, the door rolled open and we walked inside. The room was a massive dome. It reminded me of the IMAX theaters back on earth. In the center of the room, there was a circular table with a lever next to it. The Knowledge Seeker trotted over and pushed the lever. The domed ceiling rotated and showed the night sky.
"Wow." Toph whispered. "This whole room is one big machine. I can feel all the parts moving."
Katara, Sokka and Aang were looking at the ceiling. It rotated again, showing the daytime sky, but now the room was lit. "What is this place?" Katara wondered.
"It's a special calendar." I said, pointing to the table in the center. With the light, we could now see that the table was actually a dial, with four wheels. One for the day, one for the month, one for the year, and one for the era (I learned after I arrived in this world that a group of twelve years was called an era, and that there were sixteen eras on a repeating cycle.). "You can use it to determine the position of the sun, moon, and stars for any particular day, past or future."
Sokka looked at me. "It's beautiful, but how does it help us?" He asked.
"Why don't we try entering the date from that parchment?" Katara suggested.
I started working the wheels. "Let's see." I started at the center. "Dragon Year." Second wheel. "Ninth day." Third wheel. "Cultivate Rule Era." Fourth Wheel. "Seventh Month." With the date lined up, I pulled the lever.
I heard the gears turning. The room shifted from day to night. Aang looked up at the fake sky, clearly impressed. He turned to my brother. "Wow." He said. "I got to hand it to you, Sokka. You picked the best mini-vacation for sure." Sokka gave an appreciative grin at that.
The room shifted back to day. Something was different, though. The room was dark, with no artificial daylight. We couldn't see the sun.
"Wait. What happened to the sun?" Katara asked.
Aang turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "Did you break it?" He asked.
I shook my head. Sokka walked up and looked at the moon in the fake sky. "It's not broken." He realized. "The sun is behind the moon. It's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history." He frowned. "But how does that help us?"
I realized that he probably didn't see what happened to the waterbenders when Zhao took Tui out of the pond, given that he was with the warriors at the time. "Firebenders lose their firebending during a solar eclipse." I supplied.
Everyone turned to me in shock. "What?" Sokka asked with wide eyes.
Before I could repeat myself, a flash of realization crossed Katara's face. "That makes sense." She said excitedly. "I lost my waterbending during the lunar eclipse at the North Pole. This is huge!"
Aang looked thoughtful. "Is there another eclipse coming before Sozin's Comet?"
I nodded. "Yeah, it's sometime after the summer solstice." I answered. "If I knew the exact date, I would have had us take the Fire Nation maps and leave, but the story didn't say the exact date."
Sokka nodded. "We've gotta get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se." He said firmly. "We'll wait for the next eclipse…"
Toph punched her fist into her palm. "Then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless!" She finished.
Sokka set the dial to the summer solstice, then pulled the lever. The room shifted, then the light came back. "This is gonna take a while." He said.
While Sokka went through the dates in order, Toph started to get bored. She turned to me. "Did this take this long last time?" She asked.
I shook my head. "Longer." I said. "They didn't know it was after the solstice, so I think they went through almost four months of dates before they found it."
Suddenly, the room went dark again. I looked up. We found the day of the eclipse. Finally. I ran over to the dial and pulled out a piece of parchment. "First day of the eighth month of the Superior Military Monkey Year." I said as I wrote down the date.
"We should probably get out of here." Aang suggested.
I nodded. "Yeah, let's find Professor Zei and leave."
"Don't worry about him."
I turned and saw Wan Shi Tong at the doorway. "Professor Zei has decided to remain here for the time being. He will be provided food and water. He offers you his thanks for the transportation." The owl spirit informed us.
I bowed to him. "Thank you for the help, great spirit." I said respectfully.
Wan Shi Tong inclined his head. "Just hold up your end of the deal, mortal." He replied.
We gathered our things and climbed up the rope, leaving Wan Shi Tong's library the way we came.
We made it outside. It was pretty close to sunset. Once we all were on solid ground (well, as solid as sand is, anyway), Aang put his whistle to his lips and blew through it. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay."
I'd never been so happy to hear the groan of a sky bison. Appa landed in front of us, no worse for wear. We climbed aboard and took off. Once we were in the air, Aang turned around and looked at us in the saddle. "So, where to now?" He asked.
"I think we should head straight to Ba Sing Se." Sokka suggested. "We need to warn the Earth King about the eclipse."
"Actually, I believe it's my turn for a mini-vacation." I said.
Katara gave me a look. "Do we really have time, with what we just learned?"
I nodded. "Relax, the place I want to go is between here and Ba Sing Se." I assured them. "And it won't take more than a day or two. Plus, we're ahead of schedule, so we can get out of the desert and give Appa a day or two to recover."
Appa groaned appreciatively at that.
"Let's get out of the desert and make camp for now." Sokka said. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."
I pulled out the scroll I got from Wan Shi Tong. "What's that?" Katara asked.
"It's a copy of the only Fire Nation scroll Wan Shi Tong was able to save from being burned." I replied. I showed her the title.
"What's an Agni Kai?" She inquired with a tilt of her head.
"A firebending duel." I answered. "It's supposed to be a last resort to solve disputes between two parties." I elaborated. "Two firebenders fight, and the first one who gets burned loses."
Katara grimaced. "Sounds nasty."
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "I imagine that scroll is pretty short." He mimicked writing. "Two firebenders must fight one-on-one. The first one to burn loses. The end."
I smirked and shook my head. "Actually, there are quite a few rules here. It's more complicated and ceremonial than an Earth Rumble." I said.
Toph perked up. "Sounds interesting. What exactly does that scroll say?"
"You sure you want me to read it?" I asked.
Toph nodded. Katara shrugged, as did Sokka and Aang. "Might as well." Sokka said. "We've got some time to kill before we get out of the desert, so this could be interesting."
I began reading.
"Given the escalating violence among the noble clans of this great nation, along with their stubborn refusal to resolve disputes with words, I have come up with a system of honor duels to curb the violence, with the help of Avatar Szeto. These duels shall be known as Agni Kai. The rules for the duels are as follows:
-Any person may challenge any other person to an Agni Kai, up to and including the Fire Lord or the Avatar.
-A person is not compelled to accept a challenge to an Agni Kai. The Fire Lord does not have the authority to force anyone to accept a challenge, either.
-Agni Kai are duels between two firebenders. If a dispute exists between two persons, and one or both persons is a nonbender, the nonbenders may appoint champions to fight in their stead. Any penalties incurred by champions will apply to both the champion and the person they represent.
-Agni Kai are meant to be the last resort to a dispute. Any feud that exists between the combatants ends with the duel, and the victor of the duel wins the feud.
-Agni Kai are to be fought at sunset, in an open area with enough space so that witnesses will not be in danger of injury. They may not be fought during national holidays.
-Both participants of an Agni Kai must begin the duel opposite each other with their backs turned. Both participants must rise and face each other, then the duel begins at the sound of a gong.
-Agni Kai may either be fought to the death, or to the first burn. Either participant may surrender at any time by prostrating themselves before their opponent.
-If both combatants are burned at the same time during an Agni Kai that is being fought to the first burn, the duel will continue.
-Agni Kai are fought between the two combatants alone. Non-combatants may not attack combatants, and combatants may not attack non-combatants. This shall be enforced with life imprisonment and permanent loss of honor.
-When an Agni Kai is over, either by defeat or surrender, no more fire may be used. If the loser attempts to burn the victor, they will be imprisoned for life, never to have their honor restored. If the victor attempts to burn the loser, the victory is forfeit, and the victor must surrender all possessions, titles, and honors to the loser as reparations."
I rolled up the scroll when I finished reading. Toph let out a low whistle. "Those guys are obsessed with honor, aren't they?"
I nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
"So, they came up with this to prevent violence?" Katara asked. "I don't get how that helps."
"Most of the disputes at the time were between noble clans who had their own groups of soldiers loyal to them." I explained. "It's better to have two people fight than two armies fight."
"I just wish people could solve their problems by talking." Aang said sadly from Appa's head. "It's kind of hard to believe one of my past lives helped set this up."
"He was trying to make things better." I said gently. "Sometimes, you can't fix everything and you can only try your best."
We spent the rest of the flight in silence. I thought back to what I read aloud. How could this be? Did nobody know the rules in the Fire Nation these days? How did Ozai get away with blatantly breaking the rules? It seemed like with every answer I just got more questions. I needed to talk to Iroh and figure out how this happened, later.
We made it out of the desert after sunset and found a suitable campsite. Not much in the way of plants, but there was a clean river nearby. We set up camp and started preparing dinner. We just ate some dried jerky, while Aang had some dried fruits and nuts. It was pretty late, and nobody felt like hunting or gathering. Appa was already pretty close to sleep. I could tell that his breathing was slow. Aang gave Appa a pat on the snout. "Get some rest, buddy." He said gently. "You've earned it."
Sokka took out his map of the Earth Kingdom. "We can go on your mini-vacation, Alec, but then I think we should move on to Ba Sing Se." He said. "Where is it we're headed?"
I pointed at a spot on the map. "We're headed to Full Moon Bay." I said. "It's a hidden cove where refugees can board a ferry to take them to Ba Sing Se."
Toph raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to go there?" She asked.
I grinned. "There's someone we need to pick up."
AN: I'm sorry this took longer than normal. Work was a lot busier than I thought it would be. I usually try to get these things done in under a week. Hopefully, new chapters will come out quicker.
I will explain the note Alec wrote but burned before he sent it to anyone during the next chapter. How Ozai got away with burning Zuko will be explained a few chapters later. Don't worry, dear readers. Everything happens for a reason.
