Avatar: The Last Dragon Prince

Chapter Twelve: Win Some, Lose Some

In all their daring adventures, nothing could faze the dragon crew. A giant talking owl was decidedly not one of those things.

The owl in question introduced himself as Wan Shi Tong, the knowledge spirit. Everyone could understand him. So they explicitly understood that he did not want them gallivanting around his library, especially not for information they would abuse to defeat other humans.

Rayla had to stop herself from laughing at that. Even back home, that was what she knew humans to be like. And ironically enough, that was exactly what they were here to do.

His permission, however, was amenable for the price of knowledge. From Aang's crew, he accepted a first edition book, a waterbending scroll, a poster and a knot (he was unimpressed by the knot) all the while, the dragon crew racked their brains for what they could offer a knowledge spirit. They already had so little.

Ezran was now really glad Zym wasn't here.

Callum offered his annotated drawing of the Moon Nexus, Rayla – her scroll detailing Lujanne's illusion spells (though she doubted that would ever be of any use to this owl), and Ezran – a jelly tart recipe he'd forgotten he stashed away. Satisfied with his offerings, Wan Shi Tong left them to their own devices and disappeared down into the library.

Now that he was gone, they could properly take in the grandeur of this library. If Callum's interpretation of the library drawing was correct, they stood in the central atrium of the building. An impressively gigantic glass dome covered in stand curved above them and what seemed like floors and floors of knowledge proudly stood beneath them. And immediately around them were several ornate archways leading to several corridors minimally illuminated by sconces, lined with countless collections of literature.

Callum had been worried that the information he wanted wouldn't be here. Now he was doubly worried that if it was here, they wouldn't find it.

"This library is huge so we need to narrow down our search," Sokka told the group. "Let's all first look for information we can... use against the Fire Nation." He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper for that bit, in case Wan Shi Tong was lurking around. "While we do that, you guys can look for anything to do with Xadia or primal magic or whatever you need."

"This library is huge," Rayla concurred. "Let's stick together for now. We might find something helpful to us while we're helping you."

The plan was set in motion.

With Bait as the much needed extra lighting, they started in the section marked for History. For a long while, the group found interesting but ultimately useless information – like the avatar being left-handed in a past life and a brief history of an 'Avatar Wan and Raava' (Rayla wasn't sure if she said it correctly).

Before she got any further, Sokka asserted that that wasn't important information and sarcastically asked them if they were researching on the Fire Nation or the avatar.

Oh well. Maybe it'll be important to the avatar in the future, she thought with a shrug.

Eventually, Sokka found a dusty parchment with the words 'the darkest day in Fire Nation history' marked with a date – a sinister indication that the Fire Nation was, in fact, not untouchable.

Together, they sought a wing of the library dedicated to Fire Nation history, sure to find more information about this date. Except when they did find it, there was no information to be gained – unless they suddenly had the power to turn ashes and burned debris back into paper.

"I thought we'd finally get ahead of the Fire Nation," Sokka sighed, "but they got here first."

"I can't believe they would burn their whole history in the most impressive knowledge archives in the world just to keep it from the other nations because of the war they started," Rayla mused, running her fingers over the soot. "Is there a limit to human selfishness?"