Zhao

The rope was secured. We'd tested its weight, ensured that it would be able to take the 3 of us all at the same time if it came to it, though we had no plans on descending all at the same time.

I'd been the first to descend. This was, after all, my operation. It was only natural it be me who go in first. Harzek followed soon after me, proceeded by Shilo, and lastly Zaik who took up the rear.

Ornate carvings decorated the interior of the tower as we descended, relying on the strength of the rope we had secured to keep us from falling hundreds of feet onto a rocky bridge below.

It was difficult to discern at just what point we had descended below ground, but by the time that the tower's structure had ended, expanding into a far more expansive inner chamber.

This is only the topmost dome. How much more waits below?

We descended below where the spire began, opening into a far larger room, uniquely carved buttresses and imagery on the walls and columns, the most notable of which being a recurring image of an owl's face.

Some sort of pagan deity? I could think of nothing else it could be making an illusion to, save that of some spirit, which, on second thought, was likely the case. The structure is made of earthly materials, however. Sandstone and gold ornamentations lining the wall.

Not much was known of the spirit world, but a good amount was known of our own, and the structure that surrounded us all was most certainly made of materials found in our own plane. Made by man to honor the spirits?

The lower I descended, the less things made sense. Mankind knew little of the spirit realm. Apparently, judging by the vast stores of information around us, far less than the spirits knew of us.

In due time, I reached the bottom of the rope, dropping the last foot onto the stone walkway beneath, my eyes immediately scanning all cardinal directions around me, searching for the nearest possible source of danger.

None appeared.

Shadowed hallways between bookcases were my only surroundings, providing no indication of danger. I approached the rail of the walkway I was stood on, peering down for good measure only to similarly find no similar threat. There was no noise to be heard either, not even the rolling of sand carried by the wind that we'd heard on the desert surface. Only complete and total silence, interrupted a moment afterward by my call of "All clear!"

The rope shifted as the next man followed me down-Harzek, then Shilo, and eventually Zaik who had taken the rear. It seemed the three others were no less enthralled with their surroundings than I had been, everything about the grand feat of architecture surrounding us likely more glamorous than anything we've ever encountered before, matching even the Fire Nation Royal Palace.

"What is this place?" Zaik questioned, agape, eyes somehow even wider than his mouth.

"A spirit library," Shilo spoke. "We thought it only a myth. We never knew it actually existed."

"A spirit library? So how are we here?"

"An insightful question." The voice came from one that was no of our party. In front of me, 3 pairs of eyes turned towards me, then shifted upwards. I looked above me, met only by the arched ceiling, but then around, and saw…it…standing there. White face, black body, piercing eyes boring directly into me-an owl. The same owl whose liking decorated the walls. The hairs on my body stood up as a shiver of realization went up my spine, sending my posture still as I stood before the great beast towering over me at least twofold, staring directly inside of me.

None of us were capable of speaking, our shock triumphing over our shared curiosity, leaving us in a state of silenced shock, one that the owl had no intention of waiting through. "You should leave the way you came. You are all very clearly lost.

I do not know how much time had passed, but eventually, it had been Shilo who spoke first, asking, or rather, struggling to ask, "You. You are Wan Shi Tong, are you not?"

"Indeed. He who knows ten thousand things. And you are obviously human. It has been many years since one of your kind has stepped foot into my library. Now I ask you again. What are you doing in my library?"

It was me who spoke up now, responding to the spirit made manifest in saying, "We followed…a fox. It led us here."

"Hmm, so I see. My knowledge seekers do have a peculiar habit of aiding castaway humans. A remnant of their connection to the physical realm, I suppose.

What is he talking about? I shook the question aside, focusing on more pertinent matters, and asked, "You mentioned somebody has been here before?"

"Indeed," the spirit spoke simply. "3 centuries ago. An infamous nomad and assassin by the name of Lao Ge. He sought to uncover the secrets of immortality, to preserve his own life. A selfish desire. And what of you? Your armor is that of the Fire Nation, locked in war with the Earth Kingdom and its tributaries for the last 96 years."

For a spirit locked underground, he seemed to know a great deal of the affairs of the material realm. "How do you know this?" I asked, the stupidity of my question only hitting me shortly afterwards.

"It is my responsibility to be informed of matters surrounding the material world. And it is the duty of my knowledge seekers to provide this information."

The foxes.

"Now then. You have not yet answered my question. What is it that you seek? Immortality, wealth, power?"

Destruction. Naturally, I would say no such thing, but thanks to the intervention of Shilo, speaking on our behalf, the excuse of "We seek to learn more of the spiritual realm, good spirit."

"For what purpose?"

Shilo moved past me, now even closer to the ghastly owl than I had been. "We simply seek to understand the truths of a world so distant from our own."

Thank you, Shilo. Yet despite this, while he may have been lying for us, something about him seemed to be speaking the truth on his own perhaps. With any luck, he'd end up thanking me for bringing him here after all, despite his earlier protests.

"Hmm. So I see. It is not often that I encounter those as seemingly enthralled with knowledge for knowledge's sake as you, for I sense no deception from you. Then again, my last interaction with one of your kind has been centuries past. Very well. I will allow you to study from my archives, but on a single condition."

There's always a catch.

"And what would that be, great knowledgeable spirit?"

"To prove your worth as scholars, I will ask you contribute some worthwhile knowledge to my collection. I will ask your Fire Nation companions first, as I have more reason to doubt their intentions than with you."

Worthwhile knowledge? I thought of everything I had on me in that moment, scared out of my mind, perusing my mind as to what I had that might qualify as such.

The spirit's eyes were directly on me as I stood humbly in his shadow, suddenly remembering, swinging my bag around to my front, uncovering a firebending scroll. One that had been gifted to me by my former master. And now traitor of the Fire Nation. I'd been meaning to rid myself of it anyway. Perhaps he could serve the Fire Nation one final time.

I held the scroll between my hands, demonstrating them to the owl spirit as he viewed the scroll emotionlessly, not knowing where his eyes were moving to, be it the illustrations, the descriptions, or the note that had been left by Jeong Jeong when he gifted it to me. "The fire is your breath. The fire is your life. But managed improperly, the fire is your death." He had always been afraid of our greatest gift as a people.

"Hmm. Lǐng Lù. The form of "Leading the way." Excellent for balancing the body and adapting to fight with either side. This will do nicely."

In one moment, I held the scroll in my hands. In the next, with a simple and fluid flow of his feathers, it was gone, himself already moving past me to Harzek.

"And what do you have to prove your worth?"

Come on, Harzek. You have to have something. He held his bag in front of him, searching calmly through the contents, as though he knew what he was looking for. Or perhaps simply pretending to do so to buy himself more time. You've got this.

Eventually, he did indeed pull out a sheet of paper. One I recognized. We saw it plastered everywhere in the region we were deployed in.

"Edict 55/62," the spirit read off of the paper. "'The Nip Sea is hereby declared an active warzone. Any vessels caught beyond the Fire Nation blockade as of the date mentioned below will be treated as hostile vessels and will be fired upon, subject to immediate termination.' Very interesting. Staying informed of the world's political atmosphere is a difficult task, even for my knowledge seekers."

He collected Harzek's presented piece in a similar manner as he had done with me, now moving on to Zaik, who sat kneeling on the ground, holding his bag upturned over the walkway, spilling its contents: a thermos, rations, map, bandages, and many other pieces of equipment, and finally, a flimsy folded paper which he eagerly grabbed, rising to his feet, presenting it to the spirit who he stood in the shadow of.

"Letter from my girl back home," he said, a stupid grin on his face as though he were bragging about the fact. Harzek's hand rose to his face as I simply shook my head. For crying out loud, Zaik.

Wan Shi Tong collected the paper, unfolding it as he held it in his feather grip. It was too far away for me to be able to make out the contents, but I looked over notwithstanding.

"Careful," Zaik said. "She can get kinda intense in her writing."

After a few more seconds, the letter disappeared within the spirit's feathered arm. "This will," he began, actually hesitating, "Find its place in a more…niche area of my collection. I suppose this will have to suffice as knowledge."

"Oh believe me," Zaik grinned. "There's plenty in there I doubt you know about."

For fuck's sake, Zaik. Please don't get us all killed.

The spirit made no response, leaving the walkway, seemingly intent on passing by Shilo until the man with a seeming deathwish stood in front of the spirit, presenting him with a piece of knowledge of his own.

"I will not require anything of you. Your words in themselves speak of your sincerity."

"I insist, great spirit," said Shilo, presenting a small, leather-bound journal, no bigger than the palm of his hand. "This is a prayer book of my tribe. A look into our culture and beliefs that I believe will add to your collection."

"That it will," said the near-omniscient spirit, collecting the book. "Your sacrifice to my collection speaks even further of your respect. You are an admirable example of your kind. You and your friends will have free reign of my collections. See to it that my faith in you is not misplaced."

"It isn't. Thank you, great spirit."

And just like that, he was gone, having descending off of the walkway, flying below into the endless inner depths of the library, dozens of stories continuing on below us, the bottom of this building nowhere near in sight.

What the hell just happened?

The eyes on the faces of my companions seemed to be asking the exact same question, all of us left in a state of sheer shock by what had just transpired. All, that is, save for Shilo, who, rather than appearing shocked, seemed to sport a grim expression on his face. That, however, was the least of my concerns, and the others seemed to feel the same.

"What in spirit's name was that?!" Zaik called out. "It was some sort of owl, but not an owl, and it was huge, and-"

"Yes, Zaik, thank you," Harzek interrupted the kid. "We all saw it. You can spare us your…unique description of events."

"So it wasn't just me who saw it?!"

"It's real," I confirmed.

"Wan Shi Tong," Shilo finally said, speaking up. "The spirit's name is Wan Shi Tong, and this is his library. I told you we shouldn't be here."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "He gave us free reign to explore the library. We're set. Just a matter of finding what we're looking for now."

Shilo seemed unconvinced, but that was none of my concern. I turned back to Harzek and Zaik. Only three of us. This wasn't going to be pleasant. We'd be here for a while.

"Fan out. You know what we're looking for. If you find what we're looking for or any leads that may point us in the right direction, blow the whistle we have in our packs and stay still. We'll find you."

"And if we run into any danger?" Zaik asked.

It was a reasonable question. Wan Shi Tong had said that the last human he encountered was one from centuries ago who had sought immortality. I had no reason to believe he would lie to us, but it was better to account for all possibilities than be caught unawares. And besides, he had said that the man sought immortality. Perhaps he found his answer and still waited somewhere in this library's halls.

"Then sound your whistle all the same. Keep a map of where you've gone and where you're going. It's a big building. We don't want to get lost or recheck covered ground. Let's get moving."

And with that, the others set off, Harzek included. He understood. This was no longer his domain. Granted, it was hardly mine, but he knew who covered what bounds as a part of this operation. His domain had been getting us here. Mine, that had been knowing to do once we got…wherever here was.

I turned the opposite direction that they had headed in, figuring it best to cover more ground, met instead with Shilo still standing in the middle of the bridge, looking at nothing and everything at the same time, as though he were in some form of trance.

"Shilo?" I called out, breaking him out of his present state. "What's the matter with you?"

"Hmm? No, nothing. I just-. Legends have always been told of this place, but we never knew it to be real. Others from my tribe had spent generations looking for it. So many lives lost searching for something we, over time, came to believe to be falsehood."

"Well. Now you know their lives weren't wasted. It does exist, and we've found it." I don't know why I was attempting to reassure him. I owed him that much, I supposed, after he'd saved my life and that of my comrades on more than one occasion over the last day. I owed my survival to him. He deserved to know that. "You've found it," I corrected. "We wouldn't have been able to get here without you." He was of a nation that wasn't my own, supposedly an "enemy" as far as the laws of my home were concerned, but he'd proved himself more. He'd proven himself a worthwhile ally and friend. Placing my left hand atop of my right held in a fist, imitating a flame, I bowed forward, thanking him for what he had done to get us here.

He bowed in return with a hand gesture of his own-one I did not recognize but understood enough to be a sign of respect.

"Just do remember," he said. "We are on hollowed ground. The spirit of this library has given you his trust. Don't abuse it."

He had gotten us this far, but the poor man was still a fool.

"I won't," I lied.

He did not question the sincerity of what I said, turning his one way to peruse the contents of this great storehouse of knowledge. He didn't understand. How could he? He lived in a vast desert, secluded from all conflict, warfare, and horrors of reality. I'd seen this war. I'd seen what it was doing to the world, and I saw my own future, my destiny, how it would be me to stop it. I was here for that reason, and I couldn't allow anything to stand in my way. Not him, not Wan Shi Tong, not anything. My nation, my people, they were relying on me, and I wouldn't let them down.

I took my first steps since stepping foot onto the stone of this walkway, towards the first of many wings of this library.

I didn't care how long it took: days, weeks, months, I would find my answers here. I would return to my people with answers on how to finally win this conflict.

And nothing would stand in my way.