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After hearing the good news, the professor basically skipped out of the oasis to see Appa. When he exited, he glared as he saw the figures standing near Appa. The sand benders were approaching the bison with obviously bad intentions.
Quickly running up, Naruto and Zuko thrust their fist forward, sending a wave of black and orange fire at the sand benders and making them back off. A thin sheet of glass had formed on the sand, to their surprise. Science.
"Sand benders, away from the bison!" Zei shouted out angrily. The sand benders slowly backed up reluctantly before filing onto their sand boat and sailing away with their bending. One of them locked eyes with Naruto, glaring until the last possible second as they disappeared into the desert. Naruto hoped they wouldn't cause them any issues later...
As he walked over to Appa, Zei suddenly appeared right in front of his face giving Naruto a scrutinizing look. Naruto felt as if he were some delicate piece in an art museum.
"A black fire bender, how intriguing. Your complexion isn't that of one who grew up in the fire nation. However, it's darker though it still could be considered fair. Tell me, were you raised elsewhere?" He questioned Naruto, grabbing his hands and examining them closely as if they'd tell him why his fire was black.
"Um...yeah, in Kyoshi island," Naruto replied hesitantly. He was honestly a little creeped out. Noticing his expression, the professor backed up.
"Ah, I apologize. I was a bit overzealous. Black fire bending has never been seen before, after all. At least, not documented." He explained with an apologetic smile.
"Yeah, there's some explanation for that I can give on the ride. But, you seem completely fine with me being a fire bender." Naruto tilted his head in confusion. The professor just shrugged.
"I'm a scientist at heart. Observation is a key factor, and obviously, you bare no ill will. I'm more interested in the color of your fire than the fact that you can use it." Naruto grinned at that, glad he was meeting more people who were okay around him than not. Naruto guessed there were all kinds of people in the world.
"Well, thank you. I should probably explain the fire, I suppose, now. What do you know about the spirits?"
After explaining the whole situation to the professor, he became extremely interested in his story, having never heard of something like this before. After loading up on Appa, he spent most of the ride questioning Naruto and drawing some of his own theories. Naruto honestly couldn't answer all his questions, but he did his best. Annoyance was slowly rising, however, so hopefully, they would find the stupid library soon.
Thank Iroh, who soon started indulging the professor with his own questions. Oddly Zuko seemed way too deep in thought and was as silent as a tombstone.
"Wow, it shouldn't be too hard to find something like this out here," Aang mentioned as he examined the library sketch. Sokka was looking over the desert with a telescope in hand. At some point, he had used his shirt to fashion a sort of covering over his head.
The desert seemed endless underneath them, just waves and waves of shifting sand. The sun overhead, while not bothering Naruto, was definitely getting to the others.
After what felt like forever and after countless rock-paper-scissors games, Toph let out a groan. "Ugh, does this place even exist?!"
"Some say it doesn't," Zei mentioned cheerily. Naruto turned to him with wide eyes.
"Um, that's kind of an important detail." Naruto glared heatedly. If they were out here searching for nothing, he was going to be very upset. That guy better keeps his precious notes close to him unless he wants them burnt to crisps instead.
"You couldn't have mentioned that before we left?" Toph plopped backwards onto the saddle with a huff. She was still holding Naruto's arm since they were flying on Appa. A few more hours passed of silence. Zei was writing his newfound knowledge that Iroh gave him, and the rest sat around dying of heat. Naruto leaned over to take a sip of water from Katara's pouch, his one saving grace.
As he went to set it down, Toph's voice suddenly rang out. "There it is!" She exclaimed. Naruto rolled his eyes and didn't even move from his spot. The rest all immediately turned to where she was pointing with excited expressions, only to see nothing but endless sand. They turned back to her with unimpressed glares as he chuckled in the back.
"That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." She proceeded to wave her hand in front of her face with a mocking grin.
"I can't believe you guys fell for that."
"Shut up, Naruto."
Naruto and Toph laughed together as he high-fived her hand. "Only a week with us, and you're already more fun than Katara," Naruto commented with a wide grin; Katara glared at him while he winced when Toph punched his arm slightly, but he noticed her face was red. He wondered if that was because of the sun.
"It shouldn't be this hard to find a large, ornate building from the sky." Katara sighed out as she stared out into the desert. Naruto turned his head to her from where he was; Toph was leaning against him while holding his arm.
"As I said before, this was obviously hidden on purpose," Naruto mumbled out. No one responded to that as Sokka suddenly pointed down to the right. Naruto felt like he was being ignored.
"Down there! I see something." He announced in excitement. Aang brought Appa down to land next to some stone tower that stuck up out of the sand. It was a tall, white marble structure with absolutely no doorway to speak of near its base.
"This obviously isn't what we're looking for. The library is huge." Katara observed as she held up the sketch next to the tower. Naruto looked at it with narrowed eyes. But, then, what was it? He doubted large stone towers were just a normal occurrence in the desert.
A glint in the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he turned to see what it was. A brown fox stood with a scroll in its mouth, staring at Naruto. They locked eyes, and it almost seemed to bow its head to Naruto before beginning to defy physics and run up the side of the tower and into a window at the top.
"Actually. I think we are in the right place." Iroh commented, looking up at the Tower.
"That must've been one of the knowledge seekers! We must be close to the library." Zei announced gleefully. Naruto shot him a look.
"Really? This is obviously the library. Why else would the little guy run inside instead of somewhere else?" Naruto offered as he waved in the general direction of the magic, and quite adorable, the fox had disappeared in.
"He's right. This is the library. It's completely buried in sand except for this top point." Sokka agreed as he pointed at the said top on the sketch.
"The library is buried?! My life's work is now completely filled with sand!... Well, time to start excavating." Wasting no time, the professor pulled out a tiny hand shovel and began scooping sand away. Naruto shot him a deadpan look. What type of professor was he again?
"Naruto, can't you grow trees and help us inside," Sokka pointed out to the blonde, who gave him a deadpan look.
"This is a desert, Sokka. I need solid ground, not fricking sand." Naruto said with a bored look.
Zuko watched as each scoop he dug was steadily filled by the sand around the holes. Does he not understand the workings of sand?
Toph walked up to the tower and slapped her hand against it. "Actually, I don't think that will be necessary. The inside of the library is completely intact and huge." She explained, pulling her hand away.
"That little fox thing ran in through a window. I say we climb this thing and see what's inside." Sokka insisted, but Toph just glanced away with a bored look.
"I say you guys go ahead without me." She added as she crossed her arms. Naruto nodded in understanding. It wouldn't be the most fun experience for her after all.
"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked with a confused look. Naruto looked around at them in exasperation. Okay, why did everyone keep forgetting Toph was blind? Is it that hard to remember?
"I've held books before, and let me say they don't exactly do it for me," Toph replied bluntly. Katara rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment as she shot the girl a small apology.
"Zuko, you coming?" Iroh asked his nephew as everyone turned to look at the angry ponytail guy who shook his head.
"No. I will stay here. You can go inside, uncle. I know you love learning new knowledge." Zuko said with a little shrug as he sat on the sand, his back against the tower. Iroh looked unsure before he reluctantly nodded.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew Toph couldn't exactly protect herself in a desert. "Appa, if Zuko tries anything against Toph, kick his ass." He told his big furry friend, who nodded.
"What?! I won't hurt her," Zuko yelled out at Naruto, who ignored him. Toph again looked away, but Naruto could tell her face was red for some reason.
Moving on, Sokka tied a long rope to his boomerang before throwing it into the top window and giving it an experimental tug.
Do I trust all our body weights on the rope? Heck no. Am I going to go anyways? Of course.
He began the climb up with the professor closely following. Aang patted Appa's head.
"Don't worry, buddy. I won't make you go underground ever again. You can stay out here with Toph and Zuko." He said with a smile.
"I don't think he would fit through the window anyways," Naruto added with a shrug before they followed the others up and through the window. As they began rappelling down into it, he looked around in awe at the huge place. It was bigger than any mansion he had seen before and had an unearthly glow to it. Seriously how was there so much light in a place completely buried in the sand?
"Oh, it's magnificent! The spirit spent no expense in designing it. Just look at those beautiful buttresses!" He gaped. Sokka and Aang immediately began laughing. Naruto locked eyes with Katara as they both sighed at them. So mature.
Naruto decided just to take the expressway down. Jumping away from the rope, he carefully aimed himself at the passageway beneath and slowed himself with fire just as he neared the floor. Naruto landed gently and waited at the bottom for the rest to join. Aang followed his example and just jumped down as well.
As soon as he touched the ground, Zei began to go off about the 'beauty of the mosaic' designs and all that. Naruto just zoned out as he went on and on about the imagery and 'symbolic genius' of it all. A rustling noise registered behind Naruto, drawing his attention to a moving shadow in the corner.
Quickly Naruto grabbed the professor's arm and dragged him behind a pillar at the other end of the walkway. The others followed and similarly hid behind other pillars. Footsteps slowly approached the area they had been in before slowing to a stop in the middle. Naruto cautioned a glance around the pillar and had to hold back a gasp.
Standing there was a giant owl. What the heck? He looked at the rope they entered on before doing a 360 head turn to examine the room. His head stopped as he faced their direction.
"I know you're back there." His voice rang out, echoing off the library walls. Aang hid further, but Zei held no reservations as he just ran out there and introduced himself.
"Hello, you must be the great spirit, Wan Shi Tong! I am Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Sei University." He grinned widely, showing no fear. The rest of them trickled out from behind the pillars to join.
"You should leave the way you came unless you want to become the stuffed head of anthropology." He gestured to the stuffed animal heads on the wall nearby. The professor rubbed his neck nervously. This owl was seriously messed up. However, he might be getting revenge for all the stuffed owls in the world.
"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka questioned as they stopped in front of the owl. If it was possible, the creature shot them the most unimpressed look ever. It's pretty hard to read the beady black eyes and pointed beak face.
"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, He who knows ten thousand things. You are obviously humans who, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study." He announced with a glare.
"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked meekly from the back. Considering this guy was a wise spirit, Naruto figured he had the right to have a lot against humans. They weren't always the most intelligent beings, that's for sure.
"Hmph, humans only ever use knowledge to gain the edge against other humans. Like that fire nation fellow who came years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So, who have you come here to destroy?" Wan Shi Tong leaned closely into Sokka's face, staring him down.
"Uh, what? No, we're...we're not here to destroy anyone! That's not our thing." Sokka chuckled nervously. Naruto furrowed his brows. Was it really smart to lie to the wisdom spirit?
"Then why are you here?"
"Uh, knowledge for...knowledge's sake?" Sokka shrugged very unconvincingly. Naruto almost groaned and smacked his face.
"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit, you could at least put some effort into it." The owl stared unblinkingly at them.
"What?! No, I'm not lying. I'm here with the Avatar! He'll vouch for me." Sokka proceeded to throw Aang under the bus, pushing him in front of the spirit.
"Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse your knowledge, good spirit." Aang and the others bowed in promise, but Naruto just stood in the back with his arms crossed. It felt wrong to promise something he knew they were going to break. They were planning to abuse his knowledge, after all, to get an edge on the fire nation.
Having spirits in Naruto made it feel even more wrong to lie to one of their own.
"Hm...very well, I will let you peruse my vast collection. On one condition, prove yourself as a scholar. You have to contribute some knowledge." He insisted. Naruto was doubting his 'all-knowingness' if he fell for that measly lie.
Zei approached first with a large book in his hands. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library." He bowed.
"First edition, very nice." The owl actually looked impressed. With a wave of his arm...uh wing, he took the tome as Katara approached.
"I have an authentic water-bending scroll." She displayed it as Naruto glanced over. Was that the one she stole a while back? Does the owl want stolen goods?
"Oh, these illustrations are quite stylish." He accepted with another wave. Aang hesitated for a second before snapping.
"Oo, I know! Ta-da!" He presented the wanted poster of himself proudly. The spirit stared for a second before accepting the parchment.
"I suppose it counts." He said hesitantly. Sokka approached next with...a piece of string?
"Oh, great spirit, check this out!" He then proceeded to tie it into a very loopy knot. They all stared in silence for a second.
"It's a special knot! That counts as knowledge." Sokka insisted proudly. He looked like a child wanting a piece of candy.
"You're not very bright, are you." Wan Shi Tong deadpanned. Oof, get burned by an owl Sokka. Still, the owl took the knot reluctantly.
Iroh approached, holding a small red book. "Knowledge from the fire nation and the dance of Firebending, great spirit," Iroh spoke wisely, bowing his head. The owl actually looked impressed.
"Oh, interesting. An actual smart one. You don't get those that often anymore." The owl accepted his gift. Next, Naruto approached as Iroh moved to the side. The owl glanced down at Naruto as he stood empty-handed.
"Hm...I sense spirits about you, child. A stronger presence than I feel from the Avatar." The owl observed as he looked intrigued. Naruto shrugged.
"I suppose the knowledge I have to offer is a woodbending scroll." At that, the owl's eyes widened slightly.
"Truly? It has been some time since I heard of the woodbenders." Own spoke, taking the scroll.
"You know woodbenders?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.
"Indeed, your great grandfather. Hashirama has always been a friend of mine. You will always be welcome here, child." He nodded his head to Naruto before turning to fly down through the darkness below them.
Soon he returned, and he allowed the others to keep going except Naruto. "I Need to show you something." The owl claimed, stopping Naruto from following his friends.
"What?"
"About your family and the reason you can firebend."