Ch 2 Acquiring knowledge
Olivier came across a small farm, and saw an odd looking creature. It was a cross between a horse, and an ostrich. She climbed on, and grabbed the reins.
"Forward!" she shouted, and to creature moved forward.
As she moved across the earth kingdom territory, she saw signs of battles between the fire nation and the earth kingdom. Dead bodies were rotting, and weapons were strewn across the field. She also saw giant slabs of earth, like they were tossed around. Mustang told her that these people didn't have alchemy, or so he said.
Dismounting, she investigated the rocks. She found nothing telling of transmutation, the signs of alchemy. Heading back to her animal, she saw a piece of paper. Pulling it, she saw that it was a good sized map of the area. She scourged the area, and found additional maps. While most of them were about troop movements, they were crucial to telling her where she was.
"Misty palms Oasis." She muttered, seeing a location on one of the maps. Folding them away, she headed towards the Oasis. Once there, she planned to start searching for the Avatar.
2 days later, she arrived at the Oasis. And it wasn't an Oasis at all. All it had was a chunk of ice in the middle, with a bar establishment. And just beyond the little town, was a large desert of sand. Olivier saw a giant bison with a saddle on the top, and it had a giant arrow on the head.
"I've seen crazy shit for the past 2 years, starting with the homunculi. Now this. I need a drink." Olivier muttered.
She entered inside, catching some people's eyes. She headed to the bar, and got a drink. She pulled out the wanted poster, and asked for the avatar.
"I'll show you where he is, if you give me incentive." The bartender said, moving two of his fingers together.
Olivier grabbed the bartender, and slammed his head on the table, breaking his noise. She looked around the room, and quickly saw the avatar. His bald head was a dead giveaway, along with the blue arrow. Next to him were 3 other kids. Kids!
Toph turned around, and 'saw' Olivier, hand on her sword. Eyes pointed at them in dead concentration.
"Guys, I think miss 'ice glare' is listening to us." Toph said.
Ice glare? Well it fits my personality, much like ice queen. Olivier thought.
"I here you're looking for a library." Olivier said.
The group looked at Olivier, not sure what to make of her.
"Why are you interested?" Sokka asked, suspicious.
"Simple. I'm a high ranking officer in the Amestris military, and I've been ordered to protect the Avatar. The bald kid." Olivier said.
"Amestris?" Aang asked.
"Yeah. It's a long story. I'd rather not get into it." She growled.
"If your country is helping us, where can we find your army?" Sokka asked.
"They just sent me." Olivier said.
"What? Just one person?! What can you do to help us?" Sokka asked.
Olivier grabbed Sokka and threw him across the room, into a wall.
She quickly ran over to him and threw him again, at the table his friends were. Olivier grabbed Sokka and lifted him from his neck.
"Need I say more?" Olivier asked.
"Nope. You can come with us." Sokka said.
"We didn't get your name." Katara said.
"Olivier Mira Armstrong." Olivier said.
Katara introduced her friends, and then herself. The one with the ponytail, that she just beat the shit out of, was Sokka. The bald kid was named Aang. The blind girl was named Toph.
"Where is this library?" Olivier ask.
"There is the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the desert, and nearly died every time. I'm afraid it's impossible." Dr. Zei said.
"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" Sokka asked.
"A sky bison?" the professor asked.
Exiting the bar, Olivier noticed several clothed individuals near the bison. Olivier watched the odd band of people. She had a feeling of distrust about them.
"Sand benders, shoo! Away from the bison."
As Olivier climbed on the bison, she heard Aang say something she scoffed at.
"It shouldn't be too hard to find something like this." He said, looking at a picture of a large library.
"It's in the desert, right?" Olivier asked.
"Yeah." Aang said.
"You're not gonna find it. The desert sands always change, especially in an area as big as this one. It's probably buried. Professor, you may have been walking over the building the entire time, and never know about it." Olivier said.
Time went on, and Olivier observed the group. Professor Zei wasn't hard to figure out. He appeared to enjoy his work, and delved into it. Toph had a 'what you see is what you get' look and attitude. Olivier had the same thing, as did the soldiers at Briggs. It was something she enjoyed. Sokka was just plain odd. That was the only legitimate way Olivier could put it. Katara seemed to be more mature, but time would tell. But by looking at her body posture, Olivier could tell that she was under some stress. Aang... the kid was totally naïve, in his own world. He reminded Olivier of the Elric brothers when they first arrived at the Briggs fortress. She wondered if the kid was capable of concentrating on the task on hand. If not, it would be dangerous, if not deadly.
She would have to keep an extra eye on him. And if something went horribly wrong because he failed to pay attention, like she suspected he did, she would give him the full wrath of the ice queen. Many preferred to die, rather than face her wrath.
"There it is!" Toph shouted.
Everyone looked to see what Toph was pointing at, and saw nothing.
"That's what it would sound like if one of you found it." Toph said, than waved a hand in front of her blind eyes.
Sokka than saw something.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the ground.
Olivier saw, and barely made out a tower, sticking out in the desert sand. They landed, and observed the rather tall tower.
"Forget it. It's not what we're looking for." Katara said.
"Let me see." Olivier said, taking the paper. She carefully looked at the tower, and then at the paper.
"What kind of an animal is that?" Sokka asked.
They saw a wolf climb up the wall, and inside the tower.
"That's impossible." Olivier said. No species of the canine was capable of doing so. Even with alchemy, one would be hard pressed to create such an animal.
"A fox. We must be close!" Dr Zei said.
"No, we're at the tower." Olivier said.
"She's right. It's completely buried." Sokka said.
The professor went hysteric.
"It's buried? My whole life's ambition is ruined! Time to start digging." The professor said, pulling out a garden spade.
"That's not gonna cut it. It'll take a lot of everything." Olivier said.
Thankfully, Toph provided a much better solution.
"Actually, you won't need to dig. The inside is intact, and it's huge."
"The fox went inside. I say we go and take a look." Sokka said.
"Go on without me." Toph said.
"Why not?" Katara asked.
"I've held books before, and they don't exactly do it for me." Toph said.
"Oh. Sorry." Katara sheepishly said.
"Let me know if there's something you can listen to in there." Toph said.
The group entered the library, and saw an impressive view.
"Wow. Talk about a view." Olivier said.
As they touched the ground, Dr. Zei was caught up in looking at a mosaic pattern.
"Look at that pattern. The exquisite handiwork of…" Zei quit talking, when he noticed a stuffed head. "Nice owl."
"Hide." Olivier said, hiding behind a pillar.
Everyone hid behind two pillars, and waited as a deep voice was heard.
"I know you're there." The owl said, appearing.
To Olivier's surprise, Aang poked his head out. It was a great target for enemy snipers. Yep, the kid was a moron.
Then Dr. Zei walked out in the middle of the open, appearing to the owl. What an idiot! He'd be lucky if the owl didn't kill him right then and there.
"I'm professor Zei, head of anthropology in Ba sing se."
"I suggest you leave. Humans are not allowed in here. Unless you want be a stuffed head of anthropology." The owl threatened.
Dr. Zei backed away, clutching his neck.
"Are you the spirit who brought this library into the physical world?" Sokka asked.
Jesus Christ, this owl's gonna fucking murder us! Olivier thought.
"I am Wa Shi Tong, the spirit who brought the library into the physical world. And you are humans, who are no longer allowed in here."
"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked.
"Humans only bother learning to gain an edge over other humans. Like that fire-bender who came in here years ago, looking for ways to destroy his enemy. So, who are you trying to destroy?" Wa Shi Tong asked.
"What? We're not here to destroy." Sokka said, trying to bullshit his way past the owl. Even a moron could sense that this plan was going to fail. And Olivier was surprised when Sokka managed to persuade the owl to let them stay.
"To let you in, you need to contribute some worthwhile knowledge." Wa Shi Tong said.
"It's a special knot." Sokka said. Olivier rolled her eyes. How that kid was still alive in the middle of a world war, was beyond her.
The owl moved to Olivier. The two stared each other down.
"You're a strange case." The owl said.
"I'm not from here." Olivier said.
"Indeed. Few humans make effort to hide themselves, and don't study potential enemies with great detail." The owl said.
Olivier pulled out one of her Briggs throwing knives.
"What might that be?" the bird asked.
"Throwing knife, manufactured from Briggs fortress. Doesn't get any better than this." Olivier said.
The owl took the knife, and flew off.
Olivier grabbed books and studied about bending, and the Avatar. While most of the information about the Avatar was incomplete, she was quick to grasp several key points. The benders were rather skilled, and powerful benders. Some of them. Olivier let the information sit in her head. With platoons of water benders at Briggs fortress, the Drakmans would never be able to break thru.
And the Avatar was also something else. A powerful enough avatar, could destroy the world quickly. Olivier spared a glance at Aang. If the kid was a powerful bender, he lacked discipline. And discipline and drive, was more important than power and strength.
One of the foxes came to the group, and they followed it into a large planetarium.
"This room is a marvel! It's a planetarium showing the heavens moving." Dr. Zei said.
"How does this help us?" Sokka asked.
Katara looked over the large dial. She noticed that the markings were dates and times.
"Sokka, put in the date from the parchment you took." Katara said.
After Sokka put in the date, the planetarium moved several key parts, and the ceiling's atmosphere gave the appearance of a solar eclipse.
"Great, you broke it." Aang said.
"No it's not. Look, the sun is behind the moon. It's a solar eclipse. It's literally the darkest day in the fire nation. Fire benders lose their power!" Sokka said.
"And this helps you, how?" Olivier asked.
"We can use this information to launch an attack on the fire nation and end the war." Sokka said.
Olivier rolled her eyes.
"It's gonna fail. You don't know when the next eclipse will happen, eclipses don't last 24 hours, and it's the 4 of you against a superpower." Olivier said.
"We'll take the information to Ba Sing Se. We have the Avatar." Sokka said.
"That's a bullshit plan. It takes more than words and titles to win a war. Have you even considered what to do if the invasion fails?" Olivier asked.
Wa Shi Tong came, and he was pissed.
"Ya'll suck, you know that? From the beginning you intended on using the knowledge for evil purposes." Wa Shi Tong said.
"If anyone's evil, it's the fire nation. Look at what they did to your library." Sokka said.
"You think you're the first person to believe this war is justified? Countless others came in here, seeking weapons, weakness, or battle strategies." The owl said.
"Please, we're just desperate to protect the one's we love!" Aang pleaded.
The owl was unmoved.
"And I'm protecting what I love." The owl said, flapping his wings. The building began to violently shake.
"What are you doing?" Aang asked.
"I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again." Wa Shi Tong said.
"We got to get out of here." Katara said.
No Shit! Olivier thought.
"I can't allow that. You already know too much." Wa Shi Tong said.
Aang knocked the owl away with a blast of air bending. The group ran thru the library, even though it was starting to sink. Olivier saw Aang and Sokka run back towards the planetarium.
"The fuck are they doing?" Olivier asked.
"Trying to figure out the next solar eclipse." Katara said.
"They're either very brave, very stupid, very desperate, or all of the above. Take your pick." Olivier said.
Katara would have laughed, if the situation wasn't so dire. They reached the rope, only for Wa Shi Tong to corner them. Olivier pulled out her sword, then quickly put it away when she saw the owl rear its body to full size.
"Fuck." Olivier muttered.
"Your water bending will do no good here. I know all the forms of bending." Wa Shi Tong said.
A heavy thudding was heard, and the owl fell unconscious.
"That's Sokka style. Learn it." Sokka said.
"Great. Now the hell going!" Olivier said, climbing up the rope.
In a mad hurry, the Gaang escaped the library, just as it sank into the desert said.
"We got a solar eclipse on our hand! The fire nation is in trouble now!" Sokka said, hugging his sister.
But Aang and Olivier noticed something else.
"Where's Appa?" Aang asked.
Toph only shook her head. After she explained the ambush, Aang exploded at her.
"How could you let them take Appa?" he asked.
"The library was sinking! I had to stop it." Toph said.
"You could have come inside to get us. I could have saved him!" Aang shouted.
Toph continued to explain her side, but Aang refused to listen.
"You didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!" Aang shouted.
"That's enough!" Olivier shouted. "We need to move, right now. Getting out of this desert the only thing we can do at the moment!"
"I'm going after Appa." Aang said, and flew in the distance with his glider.
"Avatar, my ass." Olivier growled.