The Avatar's Guardian: The Lost Story (Avatar the Last Airbender fanfic)

Chapter Twenty- Four

Satomi's P.O.V.
I look at the tower incredulously. This is not the library. It can't be. We investigate the tower for a while before Zei pulls out an illustration of the library. My nose curls up at the sight of it not out of disgust but confirmation that this tower is not the library.

"It's way too small to be the library," I supply as Zei look over the illustration with Sokka at his side. Zei nods in agreement.

"Yeah, this isn't it," he huffs disappointed. Just as we are about to leave, however, a fox carrying a scroll delicately in its maw scurries up the side of the tower and jumps inside it through a window high off the ground. I blink once perplexed. What just happened? Fox carrying scroll to tower. Tower? Not building. I glance back at the illustration of the library. Light bulb.

"This is library," I correct. "We can only see one of its spires," I explain planting my finger on one of the library's spires on the illustration.

"The rest of it must be buried underneath the sand," Sokka concludes. I nod in agreement. Zei immediately begins to try and dig it up. I blink once slowly. Does he not know how big it is? Toph trots over and brushes her hand against the tower.

"It's still intact underneath the sand," she assures Zei who bursts back to life with renewed energy. We all round the tower to find the window which Appa clearly is not going to fit through. Aang deflates slightly at the revelation.

"Don't worry. I'll stay out here with him," Toph supplies. "I can't read, so it would be a boring trip for me anyways," she adds before Aang can interrupt. Aang nods smiling.

"Thanks." I jump up on to Appa and grab my pack I stored food in and stuff all the water in it, rearranging scrolls to keep from squishing the fragile paper, except a bottle for Toph. 

"What are you doing?" Aang asks as I transfer all the scrolls I got from the air bending temple in it as well. I also strap Kyoshi's weapons on to my torso under my cloak.

"No offense to Toph, but I can't have any of this to be stolen. The water is for us. We're in the desert and it's too hot for any of us to go anywhere without extra water," I explain.

"None taken," Toph replies with a grin.

"We're in the middle of the desert Satomi," he chuckles. I shrug my shoulders.

"Desert bandits are notorious," I reply. "I had to chase a group down when I was learning earthbending because they had stolen all of my scrolls and my glider," I explain.

"Alright," he replies as he strides over to me. Zei pulls out a rope which Aang and I secure in the window so the others can climb up into the window.

"I hope you don't mind, but there's some research of my own I'd like to conduct," I express to Aang.

"Oh, sure," he smiles before turning back to assist Katara through the window. He's even more distant now with his focus on her. Good. She hasn't been that close to me since the incident with Jet even though we are on good terms now. Sokka and Toph are still a little too close for comfort, but they don't know my tells. So it's not as dangerous for them to be closer to me than Aang and Katara. Toph is more sensitive to her surroundings though. I'll just have to be careful around her. It feels like I'm treading on glass every corner I turn.

Without another glance at Aang, I leap down from the window and land gracefully on the floor. Sand litters the tiles and seems to have been blown into the library a ways due to the open window and the fox. What was the fox anyways? Some kind of messenger? It doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with the information I seek. Once everyone is no the ground, I take the rear of the party as we trek forward in to the unknown bowls of the library. Not long after we begin, we hear someone approaching.