"It shouldn't be this hard to find a giant ornate library from the air. Maybe it doesn't exist?" Katara grimaced, peering out at the seemingly endless desert.
"Look, I just don't get why you care so much about some maps," Toph said, lounging lazily upon Appa. "If you wanted to know more about the Fire Nation, why didn't you just ask the crazy ponytail guy and Iroh?"
"Because they can't be trusted!" Sokka yelled, upset by Toph calling the enemy by name.
"Ehh... they weren't bad. Sure, Prince Pouty was a bit annoying, but his uncle made great tea," Toph replied, unfazed by Sokka's outburst.
"They weren't bad? They chased us around the world!" Sokka exclaimed, his face turning red.
"Sokka, calm down, we haven't seen them since and we probably won't again. Let's just try to put it behind us, it's okay," Aang said, ever the mediator.
"Hey, you stay out of this. I'm still mad at you for using my club for your earthbending training." Sokka grumbled.
For some time they continued their journey in silence until Sokka finally spied a tower protruding from the desert sands through his spyglass.
"Down there. What's that?" he exclaimed, pointing towards the object.
Aang snapped Appa's reins towards the oasis near the building, telling the bison where to land. The massive beast touched down, creating a small cloud of dust.
"What are sandbenders doing here?" Katara asked warily as she glanced towards the lone sand skimmer and its small crew waiting a few hundred meters away from the spire
"I don't know. They've been known to roam across the dunes, but all the sandbenders I had asked said they knew nothing of any structures in the desert," Professor Zei replied.
"Maybe they found it the same time we did?" Aang questioned uneasily, knowing that there wasn't a chance of that being true. It couldn't have just been a coincidence.
"I'm not sure about that. They're just waiting down there by the water. None of them seem interested in the tower," Sokka said, observing the small group.
"It doesn't matter anyway. It can't be what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous," Katara frowned, holding out the illustration of the library for all to see.
Just as the young waterbender finished speaking, a fox carrying a scroll in its mouth crested the dune next to them. They watched dumbfounded as the small animal ran completely vertical up the building before slipping inside the window.
"What kind of animal was that?" Sokka mused aloud.
"That must be one of the knowledge seekers," The professor said excitedly. "We must be close to the library."
Sokka looked back at the illustration, his eyes widening in realization "No, this is the library." He exclaimed using his finger to match the spire with the tallest part of the library in the illustration. "It's completely buried." He finished dejectedly, the thought of coming so far and finding it only to be buried under tons of sand.
"No, my life's ambition is now full of sand!" Zei wailed, before pulling out a small hand shovel as his demeanor flipped on a dime. "Well, guess it's time to start excavating."
Toph moved forward ignoring the digging professor, placing her hand onto the stone of the tower. She felt the vibrations move through the structure, creating a clear picture in her mind. "Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact, and it's huge." Toph reported to the group.
"That fox-thingy went through a window. I say, we climb up there and give it a look," Sokka proposed.
"I say, you guys go ahead without me," Toph retorted.
