collision → atla, reader insert

chapter nineteen

        She's brought back into the present day when Aang brought back a man dressed in loose clothing suitable for the desert. A professor from a university in Ba Sing Se with a thirst for knowledge—he seemed to be. 

        "So Professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy. Do you have a more current map?" Sokka asked "Ours seems to be a little dated."

        Professor Zei, as he told them, rolled a map onto the table and was greeted with both astonishment and disappointment. Katara, amazed by all the places the professor had travelled, and Sokka, disappointed that the map didn't hold any key details of the Fire Nation. 

        Surprisingly, the map was kind of similar to the one [Y/N] had (which they'd also deemed useless). Though she'd gotten it from the Fire Nation, there was no solid illustration of the nation. Even to the people on the outskirts, they withheld information.

        "You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asked the professor. 

        "This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge," Zei explained. "And knowledge is priceless."

        Toph hummed sarcastically, "Sounds like good times."

        And those "good times" turned into a search for the infamous Wan Shi Tong library with Sokka confident that there would be a map of the Fire Nation within all the unlimited knowledge stored there. With Professor Zei scribbling away in his notebook, [Y/N] took the back of Appa's saddle as they scourged the desert for what felt like hours looking for this damned library. 

        Hope is restored when Appa landed next to a tower in which an animal with a scroll in its mouth disappeared through the window. 

        "I think that was one of the Knowledge Seekers." Zei said excitedly. "Oh, we must be close to the library!"

        "No, this is the library—look!" Sokka gestures to the illustration of the library. "It's completely buried."

        "The library is buried?!" said Zei. "My life's ambition is now full of sand. Wel,, time to start excavating." He pulled out a small shovel and began to try and unearth the library. 

        Toph places her palm on the spire. "Actually that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact." She said, "And it's huge."

        "That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look." Sokka suggested. 

        "I say you guys go ahead without me." Toph said. 

        "You got something against libraries?" Katara asked. 

        "I've held books before. And I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me."

        [Y/N] also proposed to stay outside and, unsurprisingly, there was no protesting. The cause of that was not something she wanted to think too much about nor did she care enough to wonder. Though her reasoning, if they were to ask, is that she had no rhyme or reason to be down there. It's been a long day already and, admittedly, she didn't want to spend the rest of it reading scrolls. 

        Sokka, Katara, and Zei began scaling the tower as Aang approached Appa. "Don't worry, buddy. I'm not making you go underground ever again." He said. "You can stay out here with Toph and [Y/N]."

        Appa nudged his nose into [Y/N]'s side affectionately which almost knocked her over. She'd watched Aang be the last person to disappear through the window before her, Toph, and Appa were left alone. 

        Moments passed of [Y/N] drawing meaningless figures and shapes in the sand out of pure boredom. She swore she could hear Toph having a full conversation with Appa at one point—Appa's a very attentive listener. 

        She acquired her bow and just began shooting arrows into the sand to see which one would stick purely for her own entertainment. 

        "What are you doing?" Toph asked. 

        [Y/N] lets go off the string and another arrow flies into the sand. "Practicing."

        She heard Toph snort but that was the end of their little exchange. Once she'd completely given up on making time pass faster, she sat bored on Appa's saddle. She hadn't even noticed she'd dozed off when her hand she'd been using to prop her head slipped from under. All the drowsiness immediately disappeared when she finally noticed the ground shaking. 

        Hurriedly, she climbed off Appa with the sand breaking her fall. "What's happening?"

        Toph, with her hands on the spire but struggling to get a grip on the sand, cried. "I don't know! The library is sinking!"

        She watched the spire in horror, realizing she couldn't do anything to help. Though she hadn't much time to even try and think of an alternate plan when Appa grunted from behind them.

        "What is it now?" Toph asked, exasperated. 

        [Y/N] turned to see a blast of sand Appa. The perpetrators are dressed in the same attire she'd seen those strange people wearing outside the bar. Instinctively, she'd grabbed her bow and a few strangled arrows that fell off the bison and did what she could. 

        "Hey!" She shouted at the people surrounding Appa. Immediately a gust of sand flew toward her that she dodged. "What the hell?!"

        She shot two blind arrows, one of which earned a shout of pain. 

        "Don't make me put this down!" Toph shouted. 

        "Don't put that down!" [Y/N] shouts back, launching another arrow. A large blast of sand flew toward her, knocking her clean off her feet. Her bow slips from her fingers as she landed on the ground. 

        Muffled voices tried to reach her as she dug some sand out of her ears. Getting to her feet, she picked her bow off the ground and looked back out into the empty desert.