I watched as Aang played a sweet tune on his flute, and the gopher-looking things popped out of holes in the ground to repeat the sound. We had landed in a relatively barren savana, different to the canyon where we trained the first time. As we stopped, Toph would train Aang and I. The ground was sandy and strange feeling. It was the earth, but it felt soft and malleable. To step on it was to have a shifted sense of vision, unformed and blurry.
"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans," Sokka interrupted our fun to get serious, nothing off-brand for him.
"You and plans," I whined, to which he shot me a scowl.
"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations," Toph corrected Sokka.
"There's no time for vacations," Sokka argued.
Aang stepped in, "I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off!"
"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" Katara supported Aang, and I couldn't help but agree. We were constantly moving and training it was all so tiring.
"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" Sokka imitated a knocking motion, "Knock, knock. Hello, Fire Lord. Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war." Even though I lived in the fire nation, I didn't have a grasp of how to infilitrate it or move through it, I just studied where I lived and how to get from point A to point B.
"All right, we'll finish our vacations", Katara put on a mocking tone "And then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." Aang laughed in response.
Aang opened a map of our surrounding area, and I peered over his shoulder with Katara. "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?" She surveyed the options and landed on a particularly enticing destination.
"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing," Katara pointed to an ice oasis situated on the map. It wasn't getting any cooler in that Sahara, that was for sure. It would be nice to visit a natural wonder.
"Oh, yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring. And I usually don't use the word "pristine". It's one of nature's wonders," Aang sold the cool-sounding Oasis, and we were on board. But when we arrived...not so much.
The 'oasis' was a decrepit pit stop in the middle of the desert; travellers, bandits, and thieves alike would stop there to have a drink or maybe steal something. What was left of the ice was situated in the middle, in a disappointing mound that seemed to be slowly melting over time. A dog licked at it, which made it even more repelling than it already was. Someone failed on the upkeep.
"Very pristine..." I repeated Aang's words in sarcasm.
He grinned sheepishly, "Must've changed ownership since I was here." He laughed nervously at the end of his sentence.
We walked through the 'oasis' to the most popular stop: the bar. It was just as seedy inside as it had looked on the inside. It was full of men in weathered clothes, some appeared to look like sandbenders; an earth sub-culutre I was forced to study in Ba Sing Se. It wasn't very cheery, but the drinks being made up at the bar looked quite appetising. One sandbender spat at Sokka's feet in an attempt to intimidate-I assumed. Katara pulled Sokka away to the bar, and the rest of us followed.
"One mango, please," A man ordered a drink as we arrived at the bar. The bartender used two swords to precisely cut up fruit and ice, extracting both juices to make a refreshing drink. Sokka eyed the mixture as it was served up in a coconut bowl, topped with a mini umbrella.
"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy. Excuse me," Sokka gave into the enticing aspect of vacation, and I went with him to get myself a drink, too.
"One coconut, please," I ordered after Sokka had ordered a mango. The bartender swiftly made both our drinks side by side, serving them up in a flash. I passed over my coins, as did Sokka, and we collected our drinks.
"Cheers," I said, to which Sokka and I clinked our cups together. We turned our attention back to the group, where Aang seemed to have caught the attention of a particular man. He wore what I would think were travelling clothes, expedition-worthy.
"An Air Nomad, right in front of me. Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. Tell me, which of the air temples do you hail from?" Well, he had the right to have an interest in Aang-this would be a huge discovery for him.
"The Southern Temple," Aang answered.
He brought a tool out of his pocket and began to measure different parts of Aang's body. I quirked my brow at his...interesting behaviour. " Oh, splendid! Now tell me- what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" He asked Aang, who seemed to not really know how to answer it.
"Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?" His lack of surety didn't seem to deter the professor.
"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal," Zei began to write in his journal as Sokka entered the conversation.
"So, Professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated," Dated was a perfect description for our map.
"Certainly," Professor Zei happily handed over a map to us, and Sokka rolled it out on the table. Sokka's face turned sour at the sight of no Fire Nation.
"What, no Fire Nation? Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?" Sokka questioned in aggravation.
"We probably burned them all," I commented, which made Sokka slump down. I sipped on my delicious drink.
Katara examined the routes Zei had recorded across the map, "You've made a lot of trips into the desert."
"All in vain, I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel: Wan Shi Tong's Library," Zei replied, the library ringing familiar to me. I think I heard it as a story once, but not as a real tangible thing to find.
"You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asked in disbelief.
"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge is priceless," Zei said to Toph, to which she replied in sarcasm,
"Hmm, sounds like good times."
Zei continued on his explanation, very taken with the idea of the library, "Oh, it is. According to legend, it was built by the great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his "foxy" knowledge seekers."
Sokka perked up, "Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?" I made a grimace at him.
"Gross, Sokka," I groaned.
"I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka," Katara corrected him in shame.
"You're both right. Handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world and put them on display for mankind to read so that we might better ourselves."
"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map, maybe?" Sokka asked the professor, honing in on the opportunity Wan Shi Tong's library held.
"I wouldn't know. But if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library," Zei replied.
"Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation at the library!" I was okay with it, but I don't think I considered it a vacation.
"Uh, hey, what about me? When do I get to pick?" Toph asked the group. Sokka made a face,
"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time." He told Toph, which didn't make her happy.
I jumped in, "How long?"
"Longer than you have been here," He said with a grin.
"Boo!" I shouted out, giving him two thumbs down. He waved me off.
Zei carried on, "Of course, there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross." The professor looked woeful, but Aang's face lit up.
"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" He asked Zei, whose face lit up just as Aangs did.
We made our way to Appa, hopping on as the excited professor practically jumped on. I was never too excited about flying, but then again, I suppose Appa was a living relic. We lifted off at Zei's direction and were heading to what seemed like the centre of the desert. At some point, the surrounding scenery had no breach of the sandy horizon.
"Wow, shouldn't be too hard to find a place like this out here," Aang said in reference to the sketch of the library. It was a fantastical collection of spires, towers, and domes-something so beautifully crafted and innate that it looked like it had been spawned in by the spirit world itself.
Time passed, and Toph became agitated, "Does this place even exist?"
"Some say it doesn't," Zei admitted in a nonchalant manner that set Toph's teeth on edge.
"I always thought it was a myth," I told the group as I rested against the saddle lazily.
"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" Toph addressed both of us, and I shrugged.
It sure was a lot of flying and looking around and hoping this place would just appear. I was getting less and less hopeful as the time passed by. I pinched the rubies on my bracelet, rolling them between my fingers absent-mindedly.
Toph suddenly sprung up and pointed over the side of the saddle, "There it is!" she excitedly exclaimed, enough for us all to spring up as well and look in the direction she was pointing. It was a long stretch of... sand. Of course, she was blind. We glared at her in unison, not impressed with her joke.
"That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it," She said flatly, waving a hand in front of her eyes to remind us of her condition.
"You're evil," I muttered, slumping back into the saddle.
Even more time passed, the concept of this library slowly dissolved into fantasy as the time ticked by. Sokka and Katara searched, but I tried to sleep. "Down there, what's that?" I heard Sokka say, which prompted me to open my eyes and look over the saddle with them. He pointed to what appeared to be a small tower poking out from the sand, unassuming but a small glint from it in the sun made us take a second look.
"Forget it," Katara held up the drawing of Wan Shi Tongs library, "It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous." We trained our eyes on the tower as we passed by when suddenly a small animal, small from where we flew, ran up to the tower.
"What kind of animal is that?" Sokka asked, referring to the foxy-looking thing holding some sort of cylindrical object in its mouth.
"I think that was one of the Knowledge Seekers. Oh, we must be close to the library!" Zei exclaimed as the 'Knowledge Seeker' ran up and into the window in the tower. A look of realisation passed over Sokka's face.
"No, this is the library- look!" He ran his finger from one of the many small towers at the top down to the rest of the building. "It's completely buried."
Aang instantly directed the reins to the tower, and Appa promptly landed on the warm, soft sand in a minute. We got off, assessing how buried this place was, and it was completely. The professor sunk to his knees in obvious, lifely, disappointment. "The library is buried?! My life's ambition is now full of sand...Well, time to start excavating," The quirky professor pulled out a shovel and began to dig as Toph walked over to the tower.
She placed her palm on it, assessing it. "Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact. And it's huge," Toph told us, using that crazy seismic sense of hers.
"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look," Sokka notified us, to which I nodded.
"I say you guys go ahead without me," Toph said. We turned to her.
"You got something against libraries?" Katara said without thinking too hard about what she was saying.
"I've held books before. And I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me," Toph replied, which brought a sheepish look to Katara's face.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
"Let me know if they have something you can listen to," Toph said, waving us off. Sokka tied a rope around his boomerang and threw it up into the window. He pulled on the rope, testing it, and then began to climb. We all followed suit, but man did he make it look easy. Climbing ropes was not something I was very well versed in. It was a sheer drop down from the pillar, so Sokka stood on the ledge and fed the rope down, securing it to an extension of the interior.
We slowly crawled down the rope to reach a bridge across the centre of the expansive building. Sokka dropped down first, making an echo that reverberated through the walls. The interior was as superior as the exterior shown in the drawing. It was made of pure marble, with large open spaces with ornate spiralling designs that licked corners and fed into stairwells that led to large rooms full of knowledge.
I jumped down from the rope, looking around in awe. The craftsmanship of the railings was even something to behold. "My word!" the professor admired an intricate mosaic of an owl, blabbering on about some specific detailing before he fizzled out at the look on our faces. A rustling came from somewhere in the beyond, and the flight in us had us all collectively hide behind the wide, cascading pillars.
I almost swore at the sight of a giant owl emerging from some corner of the library, inspecting the rope as sunlight caught on its inky feathers. It was a spirit! Or something from the spirit world. I vaguely remember researching Wan Shi Tong, but I thought The Owl was some fairytale to ward off kids stealing from the Ba Sing Se library.
The owl's neck craned around at a 180-degree angle to stare at us, almost through the pillar. It set my hair on edge. "I know you're back there," the owl said, its voice cool and calm yet underlyingly menacing.
Zei was the first to jump eagerly from behind the pillar to introduce himself, I wasn't feeling the same way yet. "Hello, I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." We left from the sanctity of the pillar to join the professor.
"You should leave the way you came. Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology," The bird gestured towards three stuffed heads of different animals, which made us all grimace.
"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked.
"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, "He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things." And you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study." I didn't really love to cross spirits, I knew the weight of their words and their promises.
"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked.
"Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy."
"Zhao," I said, knowing instantly. I wasn't aware this was the library he came to, but he made sure to let the fire nation know of his feats and the intel he could gain by the power of manipulation.
"No matter who he was," The spirit turned towards Sokka. "So ... who are you trying to destroy?"
Sokka was sweating buckets, and it was cool in the library. "What? No-no-no-no destroying. We're not into that." Convincing.
"Then why have you come here?" The spirit elongated its vowels to really set in that he wasn't playing games.
"Um ... knowledge for knowledge's sake?" Sokka's voice was breaking.
"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it."
Sokka grabbed Aang and thrust him forward towards the spirit. "I'm not lying. I'm here with the Avatar, and he's the bridge between our worlds. He'll vouch for me," Sokka nudged Aang again, which earned a yelp of pain from Aang and a glare.
"Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word," Sokka and Aang unanimously bowed to the spirit.
Wan Shi Tong didn't have a very expressive face, but I could sense he was just barely convinced. "Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge." What!? I didn't have anything to trade up! Nothing I wanted to anyway! Everyone began to line up, offering up great pieces of knowledge whilst I stood there fumbling around in my pockets for something to give.
I felt the cool satin of a pouch containing a pair of earrings as I fumbled around my coin purse. I couldn't give those, not those. They held too great of memory and of guilt. They reminded me of a time on a ship where I lied and let myself lie, thinking it would all come to a happy end. Next to those earrings, though, was a long, thin piece of silky ribbon with raised, coarser parts of embroidery. The ribbon I would use to seal my letters to the Dai Li.
I ripped it out of the bag and hurriedly ran up, Sokka still fumbling for something to present. I was huffing out of stress as I presented it to the spirit after Aang, who pulled his own wanted poster out of his shirt.
"What is this?" He didn't know what it was!?
I swallowed hard, "A custom ribbon made to seal private letters to the Dai Li."
He paused for a moment before his long wing descended on the ribbon, storing it somewhere in his wing. "This is valuable to the Dai Li collection."
I let out the biggest sigh of relief, convinced I had just scraped by. Sokka presented a butterfly knot, adding extra flourish to his presentation of it to convince the spirit. "It's a special knot. That counts as knowledge!" Said Sokka. Wan Shi Tong took it wearily, "You're not very bright, are you?" Sokka grunted in response. "Enjoy the library."
We made it, I didn't get eternally damned by a knowledgable spirit. The vastness of the library was even understated in the elaborate sketch. Rows and rows of carefully categorised books, each with immense bounds of knowledge hidden beneath their pages. Now that the stress of meeting the spirit had worn off, I was finally in the realisation of how much this was a vacation for me. I always did say I liked reading.
We entered a room that was thinner but long, with a glass mount at the end lit up mysteriously and rows of bookshelves. We perused the shelves, and I instantly looked for books on dual benders to educate myself on something I knew so well physically but knew little history of past dual benders. Apparently, they were spiritual experts, people to consult when the Avatar was concerned with worldly matters. They would be the heads of tribes and clans. Well respected and appropriately feared at the right times, they were a complete fit into society.
Until Chin the Conqueror, thanks, Chin.
"Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things," Aang pointed to an illustration in the book he was reading, which depicted a massive turtle with a lion-like face and an island on its back. It was pretty fantastical.
I lifted my book, "Well, I found out Dual Benders were spiritual leaders when the Avatar dealt with worldly matters."
Aang smiled, "Then I might have to call you Sifu Laina when I'm feeling worldly," Aang gave a dramatic bow, which I returned, laughing.
"Aang, did you know in a past life, you were left-handed?" Katara pointed out as she read it off a book.
"I always knew I was special."
Sokka made his way over to the lit-up display, reading its words out, "'The darkest day in Fire Nation history.' It's got a date at the top, but it doesn't say anything else." I seemed to be the only one to notice and walk over to him, to which I discovered him prying the glass lid open and stuffing the torn-up scroll in his bag.
"Sokka!" I harshly whispered.
"What? It's important information!" He whispered back, even harsher.
I tried to take it back, but he pried my fingers from the clasp of the bag. "Hey! It's your funeral when you anger a great spirit like Wan Shi Tong."
He mimicked me by moving his hand around like it was a talking mouth, "Blah Blah Blah with you're spiritual mumbo jumbo. Laina, we will be fine." I made a humph noise as he ran out to the firenation section of the library. We followed, taken by his sudden movement. But as we descended upon the room, the only thing left was walls and ash.
"Firebenders," Aang said, sounding disappointed.
"I think I can imagine who," I told them as we looked at the thin, powdery piles of what used to be important history-meant for everyone.
"They destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation," Katara said in dismay but not necessarily in shock.
Sokka looked the most defeated, "That's so unfair! Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago. I need to know what happened on the darkest day," Whimpering and the sound of paws on marble came from the doorway. Sokka was alarmed, rather than delighted by the appearance of the knowledge seeker, "Hello, little weird fox guy."
The dog-fox thing used a pointer position to gesture towards a direction beyond the doorway. "Seems it's trying to assist you," Zei suggested, who I had forgotten was alive whilst he was enraptured by the library.
"Um, sure, I guess I'll follow you," He meant we, as we all turned and followed the dog into the most breathtaking room. It was painted like the night sky, and it was lit like it, too: twinkling stars and dark patches of inky mass. The knowledge seeker pushed a lever, which led the roof to slide over to reveal the scene of a clear blue sky, the room flooding with light as it swapped over. What a simulation!
"This room is a true marvel, a mechanical wonder. It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving," The professor explained, voicing my same excitement.
"Uh, this is beautiful, but how is it helpful?" Sokka cut in.
Katara looked lost in thought before she spoke, "Maybe these dials represent dates and times. Sokka, try entering that date from that parchment you took." She pointed towards the dials on the round table, it was like a massive round calendar with interchanging rings of day, month, and year.
"Shh, Katara! Not in front of the fox, he's with the owl," He pointed to the adorable thing, which panted in and appeared oblivious. Sokka turned the rings, entered the date, and then pushed the lever.
Instantly, the ceiling changed over again and agan, our eyes glued to it in wonder. Aang looked up in awe, smiling, "Wow, I got to hand it to you, Sokka. You picked the best mini-vacation for sure." We watched it flick between day and night until it stopped at day, arriving at our chosen date. But day suddenly grew dark, as if it were night-like the sun had disappeared.
"Hey, wait. What happened to the sun?" Katara asked, as confused as the rest of us.
"Great, you must have broken it," Aang drawled out, but Sokka shook his head, eyeing the moon. Upon further inspection, the sun was actually hidden behind the moon, its light obscured from sight.
Sokka announced his discovery, "It's not broken. The sun is behind the moon. It's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Now I get it! Something awful happened on that day-I don't know what, but I do know why. Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!" That was something I had never considered or knew, and it shocked me just as much as the rest.
"That makes sense. I mean, think what the lunar eclipse at the North Pole did to the waterbenders. This is huge," Katara commented.
"I had no idea we lost our bending like that," I admitted.
Sokka quirked his brow, "Shouldn't you know?"
"They weren't exactly handing it out, I mean, look at the Fire Nation room-we don't like to share our weaknesses."
"Whatever, we've gotta get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. We'll wait for the next eclipse, then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless. The Fire Lord is going down!" Sokka exclaimed, a look of excitement on his face-which turned to horror as we all heard that unforgettable voice behind us.
"Mortals are so predictable and such terrible liars. You betrayed my trust. From the beginning, you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes," We turned around to see the spirit, Wan Shi Tong, towering over us in the air of intimidation.
"You don't understand. If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information," Sokka pleaded, but it did not impress the giant owl.
"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified? Countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies," Wan Shi Tong rebutted.
Aang cut in, "We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love."
If eyes as dark and glassy as Wan Shi Tong's could go murderously cold, his eyes just did. "And now I'm going to protect what I love."
The intriguing spirit now turned into a monstrous-looking bird, flapping his wings, the sheer wingspan terrifying. As he flapped, the walls and floors alike began to rumble around us.
"What are you doing?" Aang cried out as the walls began to crack.
"I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again," Wan Shi Tong answered coolly.
I felt a trickle of something fine and grainy pour from the ceiling onto my left shoulder. Unfortunately, it was the worst I was expecting; sand was coming from the ceiling. That damn bird was sinking the place!
"He's sinking the building, we have to go!" I yelled out to the group, who all looked equally as alarmed and worried.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much," Wan Shi Tong lunged forward and pecked at us with its long, sharp beak. We jumped back as it continued to charge forward on its long, spindly talons.
"Now it's our funeral, Sokka!" I screamed out.
We raced out of the library and skidded on the loose sand on the floor, barely regaining my footing before a wing came swooping down on me. In the thick of the moment, I shot a blast of hot fire from my palm to his wing, the spirit lurching back and shrieking in a ghastly, shrill voice. I then bent a pillar in front of me as Wan Shi Tong attempted to end me with his beak.
"A dual bender? I've always wanted one of those for my collection," I could hear his 'normal' voice beneath the bird screeches. I booked it to catch up with the rest of the group, who had hidden behind a bookshelf to talk. I didn't want to become a stuffed head.
As I arrived, I saw Aang and Sokka head in the opposite direction of where our initial entry and hopeful exit were. "What are they doing!?" I yelled out over the loud cracking, rumbling, and, above all-sinking.
"They're going to retrieve a date! To see if another eclipse will come!" She yelled back, attention just then occupied by Wan Shi Tong coming to shred us to bits.
"Stop the library from sinking, I'll hold him off!" Katara ran past the bird, grabbing his attention. I slammed myself against a wall, locking my fists into the cool brick and pushing into it. My feet slipped on the ground as I tried to pull the library up. Keeping a massive building from sinking, I don't think it was sold as easy, but damn, did I feel it. I actually found myself yelling out in exertion.
I tripped on the slippery sand-plus-marble floor combination but got back up again, knowing that when Aang and Sokka returned, I could finally let go. But I couldn't yet. I had to keep pushing. My fists were sinking into the wall, and I was sure I had popped a blood vessel. I resorted to shoving my shoulder against the wall and pushing, but the library just kept pulling.
Suddenly, over all the intense grunting and puffing, I heard my name being called by Aang. Then Sokka yanked me away, and we were running to the rope that signalled our initial entrance. I barely found the strength to climb as Sokka tried to usher the professor to the exit. Walls caved and crumbled, but he stayed with his books.
"Professor, let's go," Sokka yelled out to the professor, but he didn't dare make a move.
Sand piled the shelves around him, actively burying him in his final resting place if he didn't get up. "I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place, there's not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I could spend an eternity in here." He sounded whimsical, and it was fitting-I didn't see much life beyond him reading eternally expansive knowledge. I know I wouldn't, but I wasn't a professor.
I took that as a sign to keep climbing, the lactic acid burning in my thighs and forearms. We shuffled up that rope as fast as we could, a piece of pillar almost clocking me in the head. The sun got brighter and hotter on my scalp, my dark-as-can-be hair absorbing every bit of it. It would be awful to be stuck in the desert without a bison, I wondered how the professor did it.
Finally, I crawled through the window and slid down the sinking tower, using my earthbending to skid down it. Although it wasn't a long drop, the library was going down rapidly. I huffed over the sand, sweaty, tired, and adrenaline-filled. What happened to Wan Shi Tong, I did not know, but he and his library would return to the spirit world-to keep his knowledge hidden from mortals forever.
"We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming." Sokka embraced Katara and me in a bear hug as he excitedly said, "The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"
I smiled as we let go, but I looked up to see Toph standing at the sunken crater of the library, looking distressed-which was uncharacteristic for her. Then I noticed the absence of something I came to rely on, and like, Appa.
"Where's Appa?" Aang asked Toph, his eyes growing more worried by the second. She dropped her head, tears welling in her eyes, and shook it.
My head grew hot in the sun as realisation sank in, as did Aang's anger.