Chapter 9: Know Your Enemy
Hanjo was helping them navigate the tangled forest that surrounded Tong's library. His ability to cross great distances instantly was indispensable for navigating the complex reaches of the Spirit World, and for avoiding the hidden dangers. Though Korra had undertaken a long campaign to clear the Spirit World of dangers, there were still things lurking in the shadows. Hanjo's scouting kept them clear of many dangers.
Suda's zipline launchers were equally useful for traversing the forests. In his bandit days he'd had a lot of practice using the metal lines to traverse the trees. It was fairly easy for them to travel through the forest canopy and avoid the shadowed places amidst the roots of the trees. Sen looked down and could see a long, blood-red thing crawling below them. Sen vowed not to look down again. He did not like being up this high. It wasn't quite as bad as flying, but it was still not enjoyable.
Hanjo re-materialized from one of his scouting sessions. There was a very long branch up ahead, sturdy enough to support their weight. That would carry them some distance without having to use Suda's ziplines. After that, it wouldn't be too far before they reached the library.
Now that they could walk in peace, Sen stepped side by side with Hanjo. Hanjo found it difficult to meditate into the Spirit World, which meant his appearances were infrequent. Sen and Hanjo made sure to make the most of their brief time together.
"Do you think I made the wrong choice, bringing Whistler along?"
Choosing Whistler over Sang Lug had seemed like the right choice at the time, but after all this time, Sen was beginning to reconsider. Whistler was rude and generally unhelpful. She seemed committed to seeing Sen beat Sarin, but that didn't excuse her personality flaws.
"I do," Hanjo said. "Airbending was never going to be easy for you, Sen. It makes sense your teacher would challenge you just as much."
"Yeah, that makes sense, but is there such a thing as too much? I mean, if not for Sarin, I'd probably be fighting someone like Whistler. It doesn't even feel like we're on the same side."
"Because you're not," Hanjo observed. "You're all caught up in your arguments and differences. You've got to let go of those things, Sen."
"How can I do that, though? I mean, how do I look at her, think 'she's evil' and just be okay with that? I'm supposed to fight evil, aren't I?"
Hanjo shook his head.
"I can't say. It was never a problem for me. I mean, I started out as a thief. It's harder for me to judge people."
Sen remembered. If Hanjo hadn't tried to steal food from his fellow orphans, none of this would have ever happened. That simple act of theft had set off a massive chain of events. Now they were in the Spirit World. It was funny how things escalated.
"Yeah, but you changed. So did Suda. Neither of you are bad people any more. Whistler still is."
"Like I said, Sen, I don't know what to tell you. I'm not all-knowing."
"Maybe Tong will have something for me," Sen sighed.
"I don't think Wan Shi Tong has a self-help section."
"What would you know? You're not all-knowing."
"Don't even start that with me, Sen."
"Oh, so you can't take it as well as you can give it," Sen said smugly.
Hanjo briefly vanished in protest, but he quickly reappeared and continued conversation with Sen. Sen walked side by side with his oldest friend along the rough bark of the massive trees. Sen looked over at Hanjo now and then, and after a few such glances, he noticed something.
"Hey, hold still," Sen said suddenly. Hanjo came to a sudden halt. Sen tried to look Hanjo in the eyes, and found that he had to tilt his head slightly downward.
"I'm taller than you," Sen boasted, before moving forward again. Sen's ragged facial hair wasn't the only thing that was growing. He and Hanjo had been nearly identical once, but now they were growing apart, in a completely literal sense.
"You stopped just for that?"
"Yes," Sen said. "Being taller than people is a very nice feeling."
"Welcome to my world," Suda shouted over his shoulder. Whistler glanced at Ada and chuckled to herself. No more was said of the issue of height, as the group rounded a corner in the forest canopy and found themselves facing the Great Library.
It was a spectacular thing to behold. Massive white stone pillars and domed ceilings suspended from the canopy by vines swaying slightly in the breeze. The polished stone façade glittered like a jewel in the few sunrays that pierced the forest ceiling. Thousands of years weathering extreme conditions had done little to diminish the glory of Wan Shi Tong's library.
Suda stretched a zipline between the tree branch and a window into the library, and they hastily crossed the expanse. Though the library's exterior was inverted, the interior was still oriented towards the ground, so they could all stand upright. Sen took the lead as they ascended the inverted tower towards the main library. Even here there were scattered tomes of unknown contents, in the process of being catalogued by the Knowledge Keepers. The Fox-spirits paid little mind to the uninvited guests.
Sen had not even seen pictures of this place, but a force in the back of his head guided him towards certain doors and hallways. Eventually he found himself dead center in the middle of the library, standing in the middle of a giant cross-shaped walkway.
On cue, the great owl himself descended from unseen shadows amidst the bookshelves. Nothing he had heard of Wan Shi Tong quite prepared Sen to come face to face with the knowledge spirit. He was even larger than Gun, and though he wore an owls form, there were subtle shifts in his body betraying the fact that he was far more than a simple owl.
"And you'd be the Avatar, I presume. I've been expecting you."
Tong folded his wings by his side. He didn't seem threatening, at least not actively. His size and presence were naturally intimidating, but he didn't seem to bear Sen any ill will.
"With good intentions, I hope," Sen said. The Avatar and Wan Shi Tong had shaky history. He did not fully trust Tong, no matter what deal Korra had made.
"Oh, I will admit, when I first heard of Sarin's plans, I did contemplate siding with him," Tong admitted. He began to strut across the walkways on birdlike legs. He casually examined Sen's travelling companions as he walked.
"I do so hate the way humans are always fighting one another," Tong continued. "Putting an end to it permanently is a tempting offer for anyone, surely you agree?"
He seemed to linger on Ada as he spoke about conflict. Ada faltered under the piercing gaze of the owl's eyes.
"But you decided not to," Sen said.
"Yes, I did," Wan Shi Tong replied. "Despite the potential benefits, killing Raava is not an option. It does not do to tamper with fundamental spirits of the universe. That said, Avatar, our deal stands."
Tong took a step back to address the entire group at once.
"As your predecessor Korra laid out, there are three rules. The first rule, as always, is that you have to give before you can take. The second, my private collection is off limits to any but the Avatar and my invited guests. The third is my favorite."
Though Wan Shi Tong had a beak rather than a human mouth, he still found a way to smile sadistically.
"One of the terms of my deal with Korra was that she would retrieve for me a significant population of Giant Piranha-Leeches from the Death-Swamp of Infinite Despair."
Suda had never heard a string of words that he liked less.
"Now, you there, Suda," Wan Shi Tong said, beckoning with one of his wings.
Suda took a reluctant step forward.
"You're six-foot-six, you weigh two-hundred sixty pounds. How long do you think it would take for the Piranha-Leeches to strip you to the bone?"
"Uhh," Suda said hesitantly. "…fifteen seconds?"
"Oh, very close," Tong said. He leaned in close to look Suda in the eyes. "Most people vastly overestimate. Thirteen seconds. Only seven for your little friend over there, five foot two at one-hundred seventy pounds."
Ada looked at her feet. The fact that Tong knew her exact measurements was as unsettling as the thought of being eaten by Giant Piranha-Leeches. Tong stood up straight.
"I say this because the third rule is the leeches. You damage anything irreplaceable, and you get the leeches. You try to steal anything, and you get the leeches. You try to make copies without my permission-"
"And we get the leeches," Hanjo finished.
"See, you're learning something already. Isn't the library wonderful," Tong said with no small sense of sadism.
"Now, since I'm sure we all understand the rules, it's time for you to present your gifts."
"Uhh, one second, Master Tong. We should discuss this first."
"I understand. What to keep, what to give away. I'll go prepare the documents on Energybending while you're at it."
Tong vanished into the depths of the library, and the Avatar convened with his allies.
"Ada, I think I'd like you to come along, at the very least."
Any amount of information would be useful, but when it came to using that knowledge, Sen trusted Ada the most. She was the only one of them who had ever expected to be in this situation; she would know what to look for and how to use it, probably much better than Sen himself.
"I was planning on it anyway," Ada said. "There's probably a few documents on swordplay I'd like to take a look at, while we're here."
"You have something to offer?"
"Maybe," Ada said. The only information she had to offer was a bit risky. Hopefully Tong could keep it in his private collection. Sen had his own ideas on what to offer.
"I'm going to take a look too," Whistler added. Sen was surprised to hear that. "Figure I can find some airbending material. Give me and Sen something to work with."
Whistler's plan was to offer up her staff design. It was a custom build, after all. It was lighter and took up less space than the standard airbender glider. Wasn't quite as good at hitting things, but it did its job. Hopefully Tong would accept it.
"Hanjo, you got anything you want to find?"
"Well, I can't take anything off the shelves," Hanjo said. He waved his hands through the railing to remind everyone he was essentially a ghost. "So I think I'll sit this one out."
"Suda?"
"Eh, if I can think of something to give away," Suda said. "I'm not exactly a learned individual."
"You could always tell Tong how that Bolin mover ended. You know, the secret one."
Tong chose that moment to reappear. He waited patiently while the group concluded their discussion. Whistler was the first to present her offering, holding up her staff. She had built it herself, using a few unique tricks. Wan Shi Tong waved his great wing over the staff, and it briefly vanished. It soon reappeared, alongside a scroll detailing it's inner mechanisms. Whistler retrieved her staff and used the glider to proceed into the depths of the library, seeking out lost knowledge on airbending. Ada went up next.
"This is a bit, well, touchy," Ada said hesitantly. "Could you put this in your private collection?"
Wan Shi Tong's right to a private collection was one of the terms of his deal with Korra. While most of the knowledge in the library was meant to be open to whoever had knowledge to offer, Tong could keep information he deemed dangerous in a private collection. It was how he prevented warmongers like Admiral Zhao from finding critical information on their enemies.
"That depends on the subject," Tong said. "Present what you have."
Ada removed the object in question from her pouch. Sen and Hanjo recognized it immediately. It was the package that she'd been keeping secret since she'd joined them in Zaofu. Sen locked his eyes on it as she removed a small metal sphere and a scrap of aged paper. Tong took hold of the metal sphere and the scrap of paper.
"This has Varrick's signature," Tong observed. He had been under the impression he'd collected all of Varrick's various sketches and designs.
Ada nodded. It was authentic, to the best of Ada's knowledge. It had been kept very well-guarded for obvious reasons.
"It also says 'Very Dangerous, Do Not Build'."
Tong glared down at Ada.
"So you built it."
"I didn't build it, personally," Ada said defensively. "I'm just, you know, carrying it. For responsible reasons."
"I'm sure," Tong said. He swept his wings, and the scrap of paper disappeared entirely. Ada was left holding the metal ball.
"My assistants will deliver a copy of the instructions to you when you leave. I will be keeping the original. Enjoy the library. My section on swordplay is located in the east wing."
Ada nodded and proceeded into the library. Sen was up next. He had a few options to offer. He hoped he wouldn't have to resort to giving away anything important.
"In your case, Avatar, I will be waiving the usual entry fee," Wan Shi Tong said, surprising Sen quite a bit. "I once swore to Korra that I would never aid or abet the enemies of the Avatar, but I cannot help but believe that the knowledge in my library may have unintentionally aided the ancestors of Sarin in their studies of Energybending. As a show of good faith, the library is yours to browse."
Tong swept a massive wing towards the tome-filled depths of his library. He had made an enemy of the Avatar one too many times. He would not be making the same mistake again. He would be doing his best to stay on the right side of history this time.
"Call for me if you'd like to see the private collection," Tong advised. "I believe I have some documents that would interest you."
Sen asked where he could find information on Energybending, and was on his way, leaving Tong alone with Suda and Hanjo. Tong slowly turned his gaze on Sen's earthbending master.
"So, I overheard some talk of the unreleased mover…"
"Oh no," Suda said. "Bolin trusted me with that. You're getting nothing out of me."
"I could offer you the sum total of all knowledge, human and spirit," Tong said. "Is that not worth a single mover ending?"
Tong had little personal interest in any movers, but the fact that information existed which he did not possess ruffled his feathers. Rebirth of the Phoenix King represented a significant hole in the chronology of the Bolin movers. Wan Shi Tong did not appreciate having gaps in his knowledge.
"No," Suda said.
"Fine," Tong said. He folded his wings and sat stoically for a moment. Suda watched him. After a moment of tense silence, Tong's feathers ruffled visibly.
"What if I…guessed?"
"Oh, you'd never guess," Suda boasted. "Complete twist, no one would have seen it coming."
That certainly didn't stop Wan Shi Tong from trying.
Whistler ceased gliding in front of a large section of the library marked with the symbol of the airbenders, three spirals of wind all circling towards each other. There were scrolls here that predated even the airbender genocide. Whistler had little personal interest in the old airbender teachings. She was looking for something a little more current.
The shelves were arranged in alphabetical order. There were an astounding number at the very beginning dealing with Aang. As she proceeded deeper in, Whistler found scrolls on Monk Gyatso, Guru Laghima, and Tenzin. She only found what she was looking for at the very last letter of the alphabet.
Zaheer.
Whistler looked from side to side before she took the few scrolls off of the shelves. Sen would never speak to her again if he saw her reading these. She had no interest in Zaheer's extremist ideology, but Sen wouldn't understand that.
Whistler unrolled the first scroll and examined it. It had been authored by Tenzin, along with several individuals who had battled Zaheer. It illustrated and analyzed the way the rogue airbender fought; how he moved, how he defended, how he retaliated. It had been meant so that others could prepare themselves to fight a potential rogue airbender. Whistler intended to learn from it. Whistler studied the movements carefully.
In nearly eighty years, only Whistler and Zaheer had ever rejected the Air Nation's philosophies. Sarin was supposedly an airbender as well, but Whistler had her suspicions that he was an artificially created bender, just like some of his minions. She wasn't concerned with him anyway. She was here to learn about Zaheer.
The late leader of the Red Lotus fought aggressively, spurning the reactive actions of a typical airbender. Whistler liked to do the same. She took care to memorize the stances and movements described in the scrolls. She had only ever had her airbending training from Master Jung, and the techniques she'd developed on her own. Being able to learn from something else would do well to expand her skillset. There was one technique in particular that she had a great interest in, but there were few witnesses to that trick, and the scroll said almost nothing about it.
Slightly disappointed, Whistler carefully replaced the scrolls and turned her attention to more mundane writings. Hopefully in the accounts of Tenzin or Monk Gyatso, Whistler could find something to help her teach Sen.
Ada had likewise looked to some disturbing sources in her search for personal improvement. She had already seen almost everything there was to see of Piandao or Sokka's swordsmanship. She had decided to study the works of a more contemporary swordsman: General Rahm. What she found was disturbing.
There was a photograph placed in a glass case, demonstrating the General in action. His head was turned away from the camera, obscuring his face, but there was much more to be seen in the picture than just Rahm's face. The photo had somehow been taken in the middle of a battle. Numerous enemy soldiers laid motionless by Rahm's feet, some of them clearly cut down by Rahm's sword. The way Rahm held his sword, and the way he stood, indicated that he was about to strike again. His stance was interesting, and perhaps a little familiar.
Ada located another scroll, which promised a more detailed analysis of Rahm's fighting. Ada pulled it open and was immediately overcome by an odd stench. She unrolled the scroll further, and saw it was stained red in broad splashes and scattered droplets. Ada replaced the scroll and moved over to a different archive. An interview with General Rahm during the height of his military career had been archived.
The interview began with a drab account of how little Rahm cared for interviews, stating he'd rather be in the fight than talking about it. He spoke very little about swordplay, as the interview's central purpose seemed to be about metalbending. The final question on the interview was addressing rumors that Rahm had been seen bending platinum and aluminum, typically thought to be unbendable.
"There are no unbendable metals," Rahm had answered. "Only weak benders."
The interview's transcript came to an abrupt halt at that point, and Ada replaced the document.
"Is everything to your liking," Tong said suddenly. He had lost interest in Suda's guessing game and decided to check on his guests. He'd snuck up behind Ada just to scare her. He liked to watch the mortals flinch.
"Uh, yes, everything is alright," Ada said. She pointed to the scroll she had seen earlier. "That scroll is-"
"It's covered in blood," Wan Shi Tong said flatly. "Regrettable, but Rahm and blood went together hand in hand."
Ada suddenly felt rather uncomfortable. Tong enjoyed that.
"Here. This may interest you."
Tong extended his wing like an inviting hand. A small leather-bound journal sat on the tip of his wings. Ada took it. Some cursory details were written on the front.
General Rahm had apparently kept a personal account of his military career. It was hardly a journal in the traditional sense. There were lists of numbers, sometimes in the single-digits but other times in the hundreds, occasionally with a name. Each entry was marked with a date and location. Ada didn't quite understand what the various numbers meant.
Ada reached the last entry. The date was close to the end of the Seventh Kingdom war. The number read one-hundred seventy six. The name written beneath was Gohrman.
Ada's blood turned cold. She flipped back to the beginning. The first date was not long after the date Rahm had been recruited into the military. The number was eight. Ada looked through the rest of the pages, scanning the numbers. Eighty two. Thirty five. Sixty seven. One-hundred and seventeen. Ninety seven. Two hundred and seventy eight, underlined, emphasizing a personal record.
It was a kill count.
Ada slammed the journal closed and gave it back to Wan Shi Tong. She was no longer interested in learning about Rahm. Part of her finally understood why Sorikami was so afraid of the General.
"Interesting fact about the good General. Speaking on a plainly numerical level, he's the deadliest human being in history. I counted."
Tong hated the conflicts that humanity was constantly engaging in. He would not miss an opportunity to rub their nose in it a bit.
"Oh sure, the warlords, like Sozin or Chin the Conqueror, they caused plenty of destruction indirectly, but they rarely got into the field and did it with their own two hands. Rahm's just exceptional that way, isn't he?"
Ada shook her head and excused herself. Tong nodded to himself, quite satisfied. He quietly strutted away from the shelves to seek out the new Avatar.
Wan Shi Tong first looked in the section on Energybending, and found it empty. Some of the scrolls had been displaced, but the Avatar was not here. Tong next went to the section on earthbending and firebending, and found nothing. He then looked to his extensive section on the past Avatars, and yet he still found nothing. The Avatar seemed to have vanished.
After a long and careful examination of all the places an Avatar might have gone, Wan Shi Tong finally found Sen in the last section of the library he would have expected; the Mathematics wing. Sen was sitting on the floor, examining a book on algebra with a look of intense frustration on his face. A few books on various other topics were sitting in a pile by his side.
"What are you doing?"
Sen looked up from his book. He had not noticed Tong's approach.
"Well, I went to the Energybending, and it, well, turned out I already knew it all."
The information that Ta Jide Shui had given him seemed to be reliable. Wan Shi Tong had very few documents on Energybending to begin with, so there had been almost no new information for Sen.
"Yes, but what are you doing here," Tong asked. These math books had not been moved in decades, sometimes centuries. Sen's hands were caked in dust he had displaced just removing them from the shelves.
"Reading," Sen said hesitantly. "A while ago my friend mentioned something about exponents, and I wanted to know more."
He held up one of the books in the pile in demonstration. Tong tilted his head.
"And then I saw some of these other things I didn't know about," He elaborated. "So I started to read them to. I don't get it at all, though. Why are there letters in these equations? I thought math was about numbers."
Sen held out the page he was looking at. A few simple algebra equations were written out as examples.
"It's not really letters," Wan Shi Tong explained. "They're just stand-ins for unknown numbers. Think of them as an empty space that you have to fill in."
The Avatar turned his attention back to the page for a moment. Gradually, the look of frustration faded from his face, replaced by the sudden bliss of comprehension.
"Oh, I get it now!"
Suddenly comprehending the nature of algebra, Sen began to flip through the pages of the book with surprising speed. He stopped to work out a few problems on each page, occasionally pausing when one caused him difficulty, but always moving forward to another idea, another new mathematical concept. Wan Shi Tong was, despite his better judgment, impressed.
"An Avatar who actually wants to learn something," He said, surprised that such a thing existed. "Usually you're just looking for a way to win a fight. I'll have to remember this day."
The words seemed to shake something in Sen. The Avatar's eyes drifted from the math book and took on a somewhat frightened look.
"I hate to disappoint you, Master Tong, but there is something I need to know," Sen said sadly. Tong shook his head. He couldn't say this was unexpected.
"Have you ever heard of a spirit called Hssk?"
"Hssk, mm," Tong said. "I've never heard the name before."
That was greatly concerning to him. The great owl had spent thousands of years exploring and cataloguing every possible facet of existence. The fact that something had slipped past him was inexcusable.
"Um, I guess, maybe that's not really its name. It's just a sequence of letters I heard in my head…When I said them out loud, it scared the spirit off."
Tong's eyes narrowed, and his feathers stood on end.
"The spirit affected your mind?"
"Yes, and all of my friends too, but it's different for them. They can't remember it at all, it's like it eats their thoughts. I think it's been doing the same all over the world."
Wan Shi Tong's form shifted briefly, as the feathery body of the owl struggled to contain a sudden transformation in energy. The great owl seemed deeply disturbed.
"Follow me."
Wan Shi Tong wasted no time turning around and storming down the halls of the Library. Sen struggled to keep up the pace as Tong charged through the bookshelves. Eventually Tong's hectic pace led them to a massive iron door, broken into three segments. At a wave of Tong's mighty wings, the iron doors parted, unlocking an intricate mechanism and separating the three iron slabs. Once inside, Tong quickly shut the doors behind them.
"Now, where did I keep it?"
Tong bid Sen to stand still while he searched. The great owl lunged through the shelves of his private collection, casting aside less-important scrolls and gently displacing the rare ones as he searched for his target. He let out a triumphant hoot as he located a painting locked in an ancient frame. He brought the painting to Sen.
The image on the canvas was painted with ancient, crude techniques, and was weathered and faded by age, but the image was still very clear. It was a crawling shadow, with deep black scales, a long, narrow tail, and a mouth that opened four ways. It was Hssk.
"That's it," Sen declared.
Wan Shi Tong's feathers stood on end as he swept his mighty wings. All across the library, Knowledge Keepers began to scramble to various stations, taking care to lock down everything possible. Ada and Whistler were forcibly guided towards the libraries exit, rather confused.
"You should have mentioned this first," Tong chastised.
"I had no idea what it was," Sen argued. "I still don't! What is it?"
"It's something you're going to kill."
Wan Shi Tong replaced the ancient painting and retrieved an equally ancient scroll from a shelf. He placed the ancient text in front of Sen.
"This scroll contains all the information you need. I must see to the security of my library. This Hssk beast would like nothing more than to see this entire place destroyed."
Tong spread his wings and soared away, leaving Sen with the scroll. Sen sat down at a nearby table and examined the contents.
"Mind-Eater: A dark spirit of unknown name and origin. Presumed to be the Spirit of Ignorance. Possesses the ability to extract memories and ideas from the minds of its victims, even at a great distance. Roughly two-thousand years after the emergence of the Avatar, Wan Shi Tong battled this spirit alongside Avatar Sanshi, and it was dispersed."
Sen was glad to hear that it could at least be killed. He continued reading.
"It is said that there are no truly evil spirits, but the Mind-Eater was by all appearances an exception to this rule. Perhaps it is not actively malicious, and is only following some mysterious purpose, but that purpose seems to be actively detrimental to humans and spirits alike. If left unchecked, the Hssk would have locked the world in a state of permanent ignorance, never advancing, never learning. The world is better for its removal."
That seemed to be the end of the scroll's formal portion. Tong seemed to have made several more personal notes in the margins of the document.
"Not dead, only dispersed," The first read. That much was obvious. According to Ta Jide Shui, only Energybending could permanently destroy a spirit. Hssk had returned during Harmonic Convergence, as all spirits would. Sen shifted his attention to the next note.
"Sanshi needed my assistance to remember the creature. Historically noteworthy?"
Apparently Wan Shi Tong had been debating with himself what facts to include in the historical narrative. Sen was slightly disturbed. He had briefly been confident due to Sanshi's victory, but if he'd needed spiritual assistance, it was a bit different. Then again, Sen could seem to remember Hssk without any kind of help. He wondered why that was.
There were a few other notes, mostly speculative, containing no real information. Tong was mostly concerned with the creatures name, apparently. All spirits had names, and they were apparently of great value to spirits. Those notes were all irrelevant now, though, because Sen had already deduced the Mind-Eater's name.
Sen replaced the scroll and returned to the main library. His allies had all been shepherded into the central walkway of the library, looking rather confused. Wan Shi Tong quickly arrived to explain the situation.
"The Avatar has revealed a personal threat to my library," Tong elaborated. "For the safety of myself and my library, I must declare a complete lockdown. I ask that you leave as quickly as possible."
The others asked for an explanation, but Wan Shi Tong did not waste the time. Any information he gave them about Hssk would be forgotten immediately anyway. He talked with Sen exclusively.
"I hope the scroll was informative?"
"Not hardly," Sen grunted.
"Unfortunately, it is all I have to offer," Tong apologized. "From here, it is up to you. You possess an insight into the beast that even I cannot match."
"But why? How? Why can I remember it but my friends can't, even Korra can't?"
"Might be because you wear glasses. Maybe you're just smarter than Korra was. It doesn't matter," Tong declared. "How you can see is irrelevant, only that you can see matters. This is part of your destiny, Avatar. You must put an end to this age of ignorance. You must destroy the Hssk forever."
Tong was speaking out of a very personal hatred here, but it was no less true. For the good of man and spirit alike, the Hssk had to be removed –permanently, this time.
"But I don't know how," Sen protested. "I can barely even airbend, how am I supposed to fight it if it attacks now? What do I do?"
"You ask a lot of questions," Tong said. "In other circumstances, I would respect that. But this is not a case where anyone else can give you the answers. You must create the answers yourself."
Sen took a deep breath. He'd panicked for a moment, but he knew what Tong was saying was true. He didn't know how it would be done, but he knew it could be done. He would have to face the Hssk, and he would have to win. There was no way around it.
"Travelling that direction will take you back to the road north," Tong advised, gesturing with his wing to indicate the direction. "There will be a canyon in your way. Cross it or walk around, that is your choice. Good luck."
Wan Shi Tong vanished amidst his shelves, continuing his lockdown of the library. Sen and his allies left, and the library was sealed behind them.