A/N: Hi guys! I hope everyone is well? Sorry this took a bit longer to get out, I was intending to post last weekend, but it was my birthday and I had an assignment to prep for. But I've officially finished first term for the holidays, so hopefully can return to weekly updates, or at least until I run out of back-up chapters and I kinda only have two written chapters left…yeah I know, I need to get a move on before they run out. Anyway, another long chapter, so I hope you like it. It's pretty whacky so hope it's not too out of the realm of weird.
Saturday Afternoon:
Aang's POV:
I drag my feet as I trail slightly behind Zuko while the water tribe siblings and Toph walk behind me. I glance briefly over my shoulder to Katara whose gaze seems fixed on the sandy ground. She must've felt my eyes on her as she flickers her blue orbs up. Her lips part slightly before she jerks her attention away. I release a quiet breath through my nostrils as I return my head forward, but not before I catch the shallow undertone of a loud groan.
"Spirits, not you too." Toph mutters under her breath. I spin round and look at her in confusion.
"Excuse me?" I query, surprised, waiting until I'm in step with the girl.
"Your heart did that little annoying skip that Sokka's does when he's around Yue." The earth bender explains blandly. I stare at her in disbelief as I place a hand to my chest, trying to feel for my own heart-beat.
"How did you-" I start, only to be cut off.
"My bending and other senses makes up for my poor sight. Earthbending helps me see things that other people can't." She explains with a shrug, making my eyes widen in awe.
"That's amazing. If I had to have a teacher, I'd want you to be it." I praise, only catching myself when the black-haired girl quirks an eyebrow at me.
"Doing fancy air tricks is very different from the complexity of earthbending. You're better off finding a teacher that can actually bend the same element as you." Toph snorts. I open my mouth, only to snap it closed a moment later.
"Yeah." I mutter.
A flash of something crosses the earthbender's face as she furrows her eyebrows slightly, but I return my gaze to the floor. Staring at the sand. 'Other than the day that Roku found me, I haven't been able to bend earth since. Water was easy, it just came to me whenever I thought of it. I attempted fire once, but the sight of the flames sent me into a spiral of severe anxiety. Earth is the only element I could never summon no matter how much I tried to concentrate. Not even shake a pebble.'
I nearly snort to myself. 'How ironic. I found out that I'm the avatar because of earthbending and now I can't even use it. Not that it matters. It's not like I'm going to use it. Any of it.'
"So Aang, huh?" Toph starts, drawing my attention back to her. I knit my eyebrows.
"Yes?" I return uneasily. Despite having been introduced to the girl just mere hours ago her rough demeanour has me weary.
"You look more like a Twinkletoes to me." She decides. I stare at her.
"I thought you said you can't see well?" I echo in confusion, earning me a hard punch to the arm, making me yelp.
"See, this is why geniuses aren't fun to be around." The earthbender mutters. My heart drops as I hunch my shoulders.
"Sorry." I mumble.
"Oh jeez, don't you know how to lighten up?" Toph fires back as she pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Sorr-" I'm cut off before I can complete my apology with another rough jab.
"Spirits, stop apologising. I'm joking, ever heard of it?" The earthbender voices blandly. I flicker my eyes behind me to Sokka who seems to have been watching the exchange. He grins at me before shrugging and turning to talk to his sister. I swallow and turn my head back to Toph.
"Yeah, I've heard of it." I reply back with a small smile. Th corner of the girl's lips curve upwards in amusement.
"Was that meant to be a joke?" She asks. I laugh.
"Meant to be." I throw back, earning me an elbow to the ribs. 'Monkey feathers, this girl is strong.'
"You're going to need more practice." She teases, but her face is relaxed as she moves her arm back.
"You're different from the usual type of people I've met." The words drop out of my mouth before I can censor them and I flush in embarrassment.
"How so?" Toph questions with a raised eyebrow. I shrug.
"Most people don't pay me any attention. Or the attention they give is unwanted." I mutter, returning my eyes ahead of me to watch Zuko who seems confident on where he's going.
"You mean they bully you." The girl voices bluntly. I cringe slightly before nodding. "What about Katara?" I almost choke at hearing her name and glance quickly behind me to find said waterbender is locked in a shushed argument with her brother.
"Why are you picking her? She's not the only one I know at uni." I say in a hushed whisper.
"Because she's the one you're closest to." Toph provides simply. I glance behind me again, this time Katara notices and shoots me a small smile. Something tightens in my chest as I quickly duck my head away.
"She's different. She c-cares." I choke back. Toph seems to consider those words for a moment.
"And others don't? What about Snoozles behind us? Or Mr Hot-tempered over there?" I almost snort at the nicknames, but instead I release a bitter laugh.
"I don't think Sokka has really forgiven me for the role I played in his mother's death. And Zuko... he hardly calls me a friend. No. Katara, she..." I trail off for a moment before shaking my head. "I don't know why she bothers. I'm just hurting her." I say so quietly that I'm not sure if the earthbender heard. That is, until she tilts her head slightly.
"Then don't." She says it so simply that I have to close my eyes.
"I can't give her what she wants. That...closeness." I whisper, too afraid the waterbender will overhear. 'It's one thing for her to think it's true, it's another thing for her to know it's true.'
"Why not?" The earthbender asks. I bite the inside of my cheek hard.
"Because it's always taken away." I breathe out thickly, leaving the girl stunned. I pick up my pace until I'm in step with Zuko who's so busy staring at some old map in a leathered covered book.
"I know you told me not to ask, but what exactly are you looking for? And why can't you find it in the campus library? That place is pretty huge." I question, drawing the firebender's attention away from the musty pages in his hands.
"It's not an academic topic so it won't be there. It's research for...some family history thing. It might help sort some of our problems out." Zuko explains vaguely. I frown at him.
"How so?" I ask wearily.
"Is that it?" I blink at hearing Sokka's holler and turn to where he's pointing to. A dusty old building that looks like it's about to collapse on itself.
"Yep." The firebender confirms easily while I continue to stare at it.
"That doesn't look safe. Are you sure that's a library?" I ask unsurely.
"I was thinking the same." Katara adds as she comes to stand next to me, her eyes roaming over the lonely building anxiously.
"It says so on the map. Besides, it's still standing, isn't it?" Zuko points out blandly as he continues trekking ahead towards the crooked front door. The rest of us glance at each other before following the scarred man.
"Great idea, let's go towards the haunted, creepy building." Sokka mutters under his breath, but is silenced by a jab from Toph.
"Stop being a baby." She hisses.
When we've joined Zuko at the front, he stretches his arm towards the door knob and turns it. The door opens with the loudest creak, making me cringe. Either Zuko isn't afraid of things or he's just lost his sense of caution because he just steps right inside. One moment he's right there in front of me, the next he disappears down with a shout.
"Zuko!" I yell, snapping forward to try and grab his hand, but he's gone down the trap door before I can grab him. Arms encircle around my midline pulling me back.
"Be careful! You're going to fall down there too." Katara voices by my ear, as I feel her heart beating fast through the back of my shirt. I swallow and glance down at the dark pit.
"I knew this was a bad idea. What do we do now?" Sokka utters just as Toph drops to one knee, her hand splayed across the ground.
"It's some sort of slide he went down. There's a whole network of stuff down there." The earthbender lists off. I stare at her. 'If I decide to learn earthbending, I'm definitely getting her to be my teacher.' I think in awe before shaking my head and stepping out of Katara's arms.
"We have to go after him." I decide, already lifting a foot forward, before Katara grasps my wrist.
"Wait, we don't know if any of this is safe." She urges, her blue orbs flicker to somewhere behind me. I furrow my eyebrows at her.
"True, but we can't just leave him." I urge, only for Sokka to snort at me.
"Why not? One less hot-tempered guy in the world." The ponytailed man states nonchalantly with crossed arms. I glare at the man while Toph rests a hand on her hip.
"Real mature Snoozles." She mock-praises, eliciting a string of grumbles from the man as he peers over my shoulder into the darkness.
"Fine. How do we get down there?" He grumbles. I glance down again.
"It's a slide, so surely we just slide down?" I suggest and take a step forward, only to be gripped once more by the shoulder. I glance back to find a worried expression on the waterbender's face.
"Be careful." She murmurs. I grin at her.
"Don't worry, I'll shout when I-" I start, only to be cut off by the earthbender.
"As if we're letting you go down there alone." Toph snorts and grabs the front of Sokka's shirt and pulls the two of them down the hole. A high-pitched girly scream can be heard from Sokka for several seconds before fading into silence. I flicker my eyes to Katara.
"You don't have to go. I know this is probably more than what you signed up for." I mumble, but the girl takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze.
"I'm not leaving you. Come on, the worst we'll see is probably a few rats." The waterbender voices with a smile and tugs me forward. The ground disappears from beneath me and suddenly we're whooshing down a creaky slide at ridiculous speeds.
If I wasn't so anxious, I'd actually find this fun. Before I know it though, the end of the slide finishes a metre off the ground and I quickly form an air pillow for Katara and I to land on. I get up and give the girl my hand, pulling her to her feet while my eyes dart for everyone else. I spot Sokka still rubbing his backside with a groan.
"Dang it Toph, could you give me a warning the next time you throw us down an ominous hole."
"I could, but then I wouldn't get to hear your high-pitched girly scream." The earthbender jokes with her hands on her hips, prompting a glower from the ponytailed man. My lips twitch at the display of banter before glancing around for Zuko, spotting him tapping a wall at the far corner.
"What are you doing?" I call out as I make my way to him. The firebender flickers his eyes away from the wall briefly before placing a hand over one part of it.
"This door is pretty unusual." He mutters with a tilted head. I frown and make my way to his side and stare at what I thought was a wall, but instead is a large door. I stare at the 4 notches in surprise and go to graze my hand against them.
"Aang?" Katara probes.
"I recognise this. It was a mechanism to open one of the old doors in the orphanage.
"Mechanism? Shouldn't there just be a door handle?" Sokka questions as he brings his face close to the door to scrutinise it. Amusement contorts my features as I shake my head.
"Not when the door hides something important. Back at the orphanage the room was off limits to kids, so I don't know what it had inside." I explain.
"Well, how do you open it then?" The non-bender queries as he gives the door an experimental push, but it remains sturdy and unmoving. My eyes flicker down to the marking that my hand rests against. The Air Nomad symbol. I glance to my left and spot the symbols of the other nations.
"With bending. I saw Gyatso do it once. You just bend into these small holes and it will open the door." I point with a hand, prompting the ponytailed man to cross his arms.
"Of course you need bending to open a door." He mutters.
"Cheer up Snoozles, you get to watch a master at work." Toph teases with a light elbow to the man's ribs.
"Yeah fun." Sokka grumbles before stepping back to allow the rest of us to line up in front of each notch.
Taking a deep breath, I gather the air from around me and push it through the tube. Zuko and Katara glance at me before copying, bending their own elements through the dark hole. While Toph simply stamps one foot to cause a couple of rocks to fly up through the shoot in boredom. The door creaks open a moment later, but there's only darkness ahead.
"This totally doesn't look scary." Sokka mumbles as Zuko takes a step forward. I shoot Sokka a reassuring smile before following the firebender in. Seconds later the door slams shut behind us, making all four of us jump. "This is definitely ominous." Sokka whispers loudly.
"Sokka, be quiet!" Katara hisses as she glances around us.
"You are trespassing." A sudden booming voice echoes from around us. I narrow my eyes, trying to look for the owner of the voice, but it's too dark to see anything.
"Zuko, can you bend some fire?" I ask lowly. A small ball of fire erupts from his hands a moment later, but there's no sign of the voice.
"I said, you are trespassing." The male repeats.
"We were told there should be a library here." Zuko shouts back.
"You aren't fit to enter my library." Says the mysterious speaker. I furrow my eyebrows at this.
"What makes us not fit?" I call back and suddenly lights on the wall flicker on. A large snake takes a step forward from the shadows. Behind me, I hear a shallow yelp while Katara and Zuko inhale sharply. I blink in surprise.
"Is this your library?" I ask cautiously as the giant snake slithers towards us before towering several feet over me.
"It is. And between you all there are many reasons why aren't fit to enter."
"T-Talking snake!" Sokka stumbles as I feel him grasp my bicep tightly.
"No kidding genius." Toph snorts.
"Could you please clarify?" I insist, before feeling my arm being shaken roughly.
"How are you not freaked out by a giant talking snake right in front of you?!" Sokka exclaims while waving his arm wildly. I glance at Katara to find her own expression filled with shock. I purse my lips and shake my head.
"I-I don't know?" I answer meekly, but before Sokka can reply, the snake snatches him up, dangling him a metre above the ground.
"Sokka!" Katara, Toph and I yell.
"For example, this boy here is a sceptic. Why should a person who doesn't believe in what he hasn't seen be allowed access to my vast collection of knowledge? It will simply be wasted on him and an insult to my sacred library." The snake explains before dropping the non-bender carelessly on the ground.
"Hey, some people are fragile!" The ponytailed man grumbles, before being kicked by Zuko in the calf.
"Try not to anger the giant snake that could swallow you whole." The firebender hisses as the snake moves closer to the pair.
"Zuko, behi-" I start, but the snake has already wrapped his tail around Zuko's leg and pulled him forward.
"And you. Thinking you can come here to win your father's affection when that man has none. All the books in the world won't be enough to teach you that this man will never love you. Try looking at the mirror every once in a while, maybe then you'll understand that a real father would never have burnt his own son." I cringe at the harsh backlash from the creature while a collection of gasps echo throughout the room. 'How does he know that?' I wonder in disbelief.
"Get off of me." The firebender growls with clenched fists.
"As you wish." The snake retracts his tail with an eye roll.
"How do you know all that?" I query curiously, earning the snake's attention as he circles around me. His green slit eyes examining me closely.
"I'm a spirit that chooses to live in this world, but I suppose you should know all about that." My jaw slackens as I stare at the creature, but he continues talking. "Do you really think that helping other people will take away your guilt? I'll tell you simply - it won't. All I need to say is one phrase and I can take you back." The snake murmurs by my ear. I frown at him.
"What phrase?" I ask wearily.
"Do you hear it, the gunshots?" He whispers softly. Instantly, I freeze up. "Do they haunt your every sleeping moment? Do they torment you right now? Can you see the blood? Feel it's stickiness on your clothes?"
I feel my knees shaking as I try to step away from the spirit, as if it could break me out of the memories.
"Or maybe it's the smell of smoke as your home turns to ash? Do you remember the metallic taste when you bite your tongue so hard to stop your screams of grief?" He continues sickly. Without realising, I'm stuffing my hands into my ears, trying to block out his words.
"Aang!" I hear my name being shouted, but I'm too stuck in the past as the memories play out in my mind.
"Do you know what I think is worse? Your constant need to run and hide! How many more lies will you tell everyone? Just imagine how disappointed everyone will be when they know the truth. Why don't you just accept your duty?" The snake hollers over the rushing wind. I blink. 'Wind?'
Instantly, I clench my hands and still the air. I check my hands and head, relieved that they're still covered. Even more relieved that my back is still to everyone. 'They didn't see my eyes. They don't know.' I feel a hand snaking its way around my arm, pulling me to my feet as the creature moves back slightly. I flinch slightly as her hand grazes my most recent self-inflicted torture and pray that the girl didn't notice.
"Hey, are you ok?" Katara whispers in worry. I swallow and nod my head slowly. Once the girl gives me a once-over she glares at the snake. "What was that?! You didn't have to be so cruel!" She rebukes sharply.
"Coming from the girl who wants revenge on the man that killed her mum." The snake hisses. I furrow my eyebrows at this and glance at the waterbender who's eyes skirt away from mine.
"Katara, is that true?" I ask quietly. The girl stares hard at the floor.
"It doesn't matter. We didn't come here to waste our time!" She answers defensively.
"Alright, I guess it's my turn. Tell me oh-wise-all-knowing snake why I'm not fit to enter your library." Toph cuts in with a wave of her hand.
"My name's Wan Shi Tong. And the answer is simple, what does a mostly blind girl do in a library?" The snake answers blandly, eliciting a shrug from the earthbender.
"Fair point." Toph answers smoothly, undeterred by the spirit's bluntness.
"You're not meant to agree with the giant rude snake." Sokka grumbles.
"None of what I've said is untrue." Wan Shi Tong answers patiently.
"Fine, but at least let us prove you're wrong and that we're fit enough!" Sokka demands. The snake cocks its head to one side before nodding.
"That sounds fair. My library wasn't only intended to educate, but to test those who enter. A worthy person knows how to work together after having their deep secrets revealed. Solve the puzzle, get out of the room." The creature explains carelessly as he snaps his tail to pull a lever.
"Wait, what?!" We all echo back as the floor beneath us falls apart. I find myself falling rapidly down another tube until I land heavily on a hard ground. Gritting my teeth, I push myself into all fours as I scan my new environment, only to find Sokka groaning a few paces away from me.
"Sokka!" I yell and skid towards his crumpled form. Dropping to my knees, I give the man a shake who flutters his eyes open a moment later and sits forward with a hand on his head.
"Remind me to keep my big mouth closed in future, alright?" The ponytailed man grumbles. I grin at him.
"Noted." I joke as I help him to his feet.
"What happened to everyone else?" The non-bender asks as his glances around the empty room. I bite my lip and shake my head.
"I have no idea. I think...he split us up for whatever puzzles he has in mind." I guess, making the man curse.
"Great, so my sister is stick with one of two people she can't seem to get along with." Sokka mutters. I purse my lips uneasily at this.
"There's an odd number of us, so she could be by herself?" I point out, only for the man to slap his forehead.
"Or she could be with both of them!" He retorts. My lips part wordlessly as I rub the back of my neck.
"Right, or that." I mumble, making the man roll his eyes as he gives me his back to inspect the tiny stone-walled room.
"What kind of puzzle did he even want us to do? There's nothing here!" Sokka whines as he leans a hand against one of the stone bricks. The moment his palm makes contact, the brick lights up, making the man stagger back in shock. I blink twice and draw closer to the wall, eying the sudden appearance of words written in blue.
"Share the truth not a lie, for the untruth will be your demise."
I stare in disbelief at the words as Sokka leans over my shoulder to get a better look at the passage.
"Great, a dumb riddle. I hate riddles!" The non-bender complains as be pushes back from me. I purse my lips and shake my head.
"I don't think this is really a riddle. We just have to do what it says." Just as those words leave my mouth, the walls on either side starts closing in.
"Well, we now know what the demise part means." Sokka grits out as he runs to one side to try and push the moving wall back. I rush to the other side, even though I know that it won't make a difference. 'Maybe knowing some earthbending would be helpful.' I begrudgingly admit as the wall continues to push against me easily.
"Quick Sokka, say something that's true!" I shout over to the man.
"Err I skipped breakfast? Which I knew was a bad idea." The man complains, but the walls continue moving closer together. I stare at the non-bender.
"I meant something more important!" I grit back as I dig my heels into the ground, but it does nothing to slow its movement.
"Like what?! I'm not someone who keeps a ton of secrets!" Sokka mutters with a pointed look towards me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I fire back as we're forced increasingly closer.
"I'm not deaf Aang! I heard what that snake said to you. About hiding and gunshots and responsibility and spirits knows what else! I don't even know who you are! Every time I think I have you figured out, I realise I'm wrong." The engineering student reveals angrily. My lips move wordlessly as I stare at the man, speechless. "There you go again, staring at me as if I figured out the impossible. Newsflash airbender! You aren't hard to read!" I didn't think it was possible for my eyes to bulge further, but they do.
"W-what?" I stammer out, making the man sigh heavily as our room has become a measly 1-metre box.
"I knew you were hiding things from the day we met. It was in your eyes, the way they danced away when we held eye contact for too long. Or when you fidgeted out of my reach when I tried to sling my arm around your shoulders. It was so darn obvious." Sokka explains as he finally raises his eyes to gaze at me steadily. Something tightens in my chest as I watch the man.
"Then...why? Why befriend me? Why get anywhere near me if all I appeared to you was the mysterious freak genius?" I whisper quietly as the walls start to press against our bodies tightly.
"Because I didn't care. I saw a kid that needed a friend and tried to become that." Sokka utters with a wheeze from his trapped position against the two walls. "But I guess I failed pretty badly at that." He mumbles and suddenly the walls cease their squeezing, before retracting all the way back to their original positions. Sokka and I drop to the ground on our knees to catch our breath. I catch mine first. But I continue staring at the stone tiled ground, my mind racing.
"I'm sorry." I choke out as I swallow thickly. "I couldn't be the friend that you wanted." I exhale tightly as a crouched knee appears in front of me while a hand rests on my shoulder.
"No buddy, I'm sorry. I let all this stuff about my Mum get to my head. I know you've forgiven me, but maybe you shouldn't. A real friend wouldn't have done what I did." The non-bender voices, the self-reproach clear in his tone. I lift up my head to look at him.
"But I was the reason-" I start, only to be cut off by a firm shake from the man.
"But you weren't. Katara's right, don't tell her I said that, but you're a victim as much as we are. Now, come on. If this library is as special as that snake makes it out to be, then maybe there's some information on how to stop a gang, huh?" Sokka says, clapping my bicep before pulling me up to my feet. I give him a wobbly smile.
"That's a good idea." I agree as I glance briefly around the room.
"I know, I'm full of them." The ponytailed man boosts with a wink which widens my smile.
"I guess your truth was good enough to open that door." I point out mildly, making the man blink.
"What door?" He echoes back in confusion as I point to the opening behind him.
"That door." I say as the man spins around in surprise.
"Well call the spirits of the moon, this place really is something out of the ordinary." Sokka breathes out as he walks over to the open door. My eyes flicker briefly up to the frame above the door and I almost gape at the writing I find there. "Hey Aang, what are you staring at?" I'm pulled out of my daze at the question and jerk my head up.
"Have a look for yourself." I express, letting the man read the new passage aloud:
"Turn the sceptic into a believer."
"Ok now that's just creepy. Can we please get out of here and find the others? I'm starting to get the chills." Sokka mutters as his eyes dart around the empty room. I laugh and nod.
"Sounds like a plan." I say with a smile, but just as we reach the exit, I pause.
"Do you think your sister will be ok?" I ask quietly, making the older man blink as he turns to me.
"About?" He prompts with a frown. I bite the inside of my cheek as I stare at the ground.
"What the snake said about her wanting revenge; I don't want her falling down that dark hole." I explain with worry, making the man sigh.
"Have you never wanted revenge for what happened to you?" Sokka asks suddenly. I frown at the question and bite my lip.
"I want justice. Revenge isn't the Air Nomad way, we're pacifists. We don't even eat animals." I say, finally lifting my eyes to meet the man's. The engineering student massages his forehead as he gathers his thoughts.
"Well, not everyone can be an Air Nomad. My sister's hurt. Our mother meant everything to her." The ponytailed man mutters. I purse my lips.
"Do you feel the same then?" I ask quietly. Sokka exhales loudly.
"Honestly I don't know. Maybe I agree with you. Putting the monster behind bars would give us a piece of mind without doing anything drastic. But you know Katara, she always follows her heart, not her brain." Sokka explains with sad eyes. I bite the inside of my cheek and decide that this is probably not the best place to continue this conversation.
"Let's talk about this more when we get out of here." I suggest, earning me a nod from the man.
"Alright." He agrees and together we step into the dark open door.
A/N: Yes, I went with a snake instead of an owl XD I didn't want to just copy the show, so I thought of what other creature I could use that would still fit. And well, a snake is known to be both cunning and devious. In other words, they're knowledgeable like owls, but use more under-handed tactics, which I tried to illustrate here. While the owl only wanted a piece of literature for the gang to enter the library, the snake wanted to expose the gang's darkness and put them through trials. I thought it was a crazy twist, but I hope you liked this take anyway.
I won't go through every trial because quite frankly that will get boring very quickly, so I'll only focus on key ones that will move the plot along, so there will only be two chapters of trials before we get to the library and I hope they'll still be able to provide entertainment without feeling dry. Let me know your thoughts either way though. The next chapter is in Katara's pov and I'm hoping to post again in a week's time. See you all later!
10/12/21