Team Avatar has fallen into a routine. They would stop for a rest and to practise bending or exercise. They would visit towns from time to time to acquire supplies. Viteq had to stock up on parchments and inks a few times while he was writing more and more.

After a while, it was decided that they would take a few mini-vacations in places of interest so as to relax and have some fun. Everyone was happily riding along, although Sokka was a bit of a downer.

They visited a valley that was infested with singing underground critters and Sokka expressed his concern about a lack of any information about the Fire Nation. They had no accurate maps or routes they could travel. Viteq knew his way through some places, but couldn't draw a map, so that was a bust on their part.

When they reached a place called Misty Palms Oasis, they met an archeologist who was looking for a library that was built by the knowledge spirit Wan Shi Tong. Sokka, who was starved to find any enemy intelligence, decided on the spot that he wanted to visit the library as his mini-vacation. So, The group plus a professor of archeology set off together to find a massive repository of knowledge.

They eventually found the library buried under mountains of sand. Toph told the group that it is empty on the inside, so they decided to climb using a rope. Viteq said he will stay behind and join them a little later. He waited until the group left and approached Toph.

"Hey, so I have a crazy idea."

The girl turned to him curious about what he wanted.

"Could you turn the sand around here into solid ground and build some walls?"

She raised her eyebrows at his request.

"Why? There is nothing around here."

The waterbender scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't like the look of those sandbenders near the oasis. They seem like scavengers, I wouldn't put past them to track us and try and steal something. Appa seems like an exotic animal, so they might want to capture him and carry him away."

The earthbender tilted her head.

"So? I can take them, I will bury them if they come."

"Oh, so you can see through the sand just fine? And you have no difficulty bending sand, do you? It's not like you ignored my advice to learn to do it, did you?"

The little earthbender growled at the waterbender angrily.

"Come on Toph, just build the walls to protect yourself and Appa. It's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them."

She stomped and sent a wave of sand at Viteq knocking him off his feet. He just laughed at her reaction.

Toph started to earthbend, creating a large flat space around the tower and under her feet. Once that was done, she raised the sand around the flat area and solidified it into walls. She didn't make a doorway, because if she needed, she could demolish the walls easily.

Viteq got up from the sand and brushed it out of his clothes. He turned to the fierce girl. She was done with building the walls and just looked in his direction with a huff.

"You should come with me. I can read things out loud."

Toph shook her head.

"I don't need you to read for me. Just do what you want to do."

Viteq approached her and tousled her hair. She swatted him away.

"It's not about me wanting to read for you, although that would be a nice way to spend time together." Toph's ears pinked at that. "I just don't want to leave you alone here."

"It's okay. I have Appa to keep me company for now. Just go find your books and don't worry about me."

Viteq laughed at her being tough and unbothered by him going away for a while. He patted her head, dodged her swats, and walked to the saddle to pick up his scrolls and parchments. He had plenty of the filled ones, but also had empty scrolls that could be written on. He filled his backpack with everything he would need.

"Alright. I will try to be back soon, but I might need some time to find and copy everything I need. Take care Toph."

She waved him away and sat on the sand.

The waterbender made water come out of his water harness, making it look like he deflated rapidly. He stepped into the water and forced it to move up the wall while holding his feet. He held onto water with his bending as he traveled up the wall. It was disorienting to move at a right angle to the ground.

He reached the window and bent the water back into the harness, while holding onto the rope that hung there. He left some water on his hands and froze it to form icy gauntlets and then slid down the rope, holding onto it with his icy fingers.

When he reached the floor, he looked around. While he explored his surroundings, he bent the rest of the water back into the harness.

Very quickly he was approached by a tall owl spirit.

"Ah, another one of you humans. Have you come here seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake?"

It was hard to distinguish the inflection in the spirit's voice, but Viteq swore he heard sarcasm.

"While I would love to spend hours and days perusing through your vast library, I come seeking knowledge to improve my bending and become stronger. I also wish to renegotiate your deal with the Avatar."

"Oh. Why would I want to change the deal I have made? It was a simple deal to make, you humans don't abuse my knowledge for war and violence and I don't bury all of you underneath the sands that surround my library."

"But that was an unfair deal. You knew already that my group had impure intentions when looking for knowledge. You are just looking for an excuse to punish them and the rest of humanity for the actions of a single firebender who abused your trust. Said bender is dead, by the hands of yours truly. You are welcome."

The giant owl tilted it's head.

"Curious. You speak the truth. I don't suppose you have any physical proof?"

Viteq sighed.

He reached inside his backpack and brought out a charred skull with something scribbled on the side. He handed it over to the spirit, who extended it's massive wing to the waterbender.

It lifted the offering and read the inscription.

"Muggy wintertime

An old, burnt admiral sunk

betrayed by the ice"

The spirit turned it's head towards the newest guest, puzzled.

"The Haiku is appreciated, but why would you mar this perfect trophy with written words?"

Viteq shrugged.

"I wasn't sure if you'd accept the trophy. It was a bi... hard to dive down to find the remains of the admiral. I wouldn't want you to throw it away if it didn't have anything written on it."

The owl hid the gift within the folds of its wings.

"An acceptable gift. But it won't make me renegotiate our deal."

"Ah, but I think I have a few things to offer that might interest you."

He brought out a few scrolls out of his backpack. He handed the large one over to the spirit, who took it and unfurled it, looking over it.

"I see an unknown language, but this hardly worth me considering your idea without the key to this writing."

"And I have the key. I specifically wrote that down in a language only I know that no human could ever access it without your permission. The information in it is dangerous and could prove disastrous."

"What is so dangerous that I would want to keep it away from others who would wish to seek knowledge?"

"Only the most dangerous and devastating weapons humanity ever devised."

The spirit narrowed its eyes at the smaller waterbender, who didn't back down or show fear.

"I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand thingsā€¦"

"And I am Viteq of the Northern Water Tribe. Nice to meet ya."

"...why would you think there is something so dangerous in this world that I don't know anyhting about?"

"Well, this knowledge is not from this world. I am a person who was reincarnated here, I carry with me otherworldly knowledge. I saw wonders and horrors you could scarcely imagine. And I want to show you the worst things my people have come up with to demonstrate that whatever is happening now, it is just a fraction of the true evil humanity can unleash on the world."

The spirit ruffled its feathers, looking more intimidating.

"And why wouldn't I just kill you now to stop such information from getting out of here?"

"Well, there are other things I know that you might want to learn. Cures that don't exist here for sickness that plague humanity. Art, the idea of which hasn't even been conceived in this world. Sciences that would change how spirits and humans view the physical world. There is so much I know, I would imagine that you wouldn't want to wipe away because I brought a cautionary tale to you."

The owl looked at the scroll it held.

"Why would you think that showing me that humanity has greater capacity for evil would make me want to change my mind and the terms of our deal? Your friends, mere children, they came here hoping to find secrets that could help them bring more violence to those they consider enemies. So young yet so tainted with bloodlust already."

"You can't really blame them, can you? They were born during a war, they were surrounded by it all their lives. They know the loss and the pain the war brings. All they want is for the war to be over, but they can hardly achieve that without fighting. Like begets like, all they know is war, even if they desperately desire peace, they hardly know any way other than war."

The owl twisted it's wing, making the scroll it held vanish. The spirit twisted around and looked at the library in contemplation. It turned towards the intruder.

"What is it you offer and what do you ask for?"

Viteq smiled, he got the spirit's interest, perhaps he can salvage the situation his friends have created.

Wan Shi Tong strolled into the planetarium while Sokka explained his plan to his friends.

"Mortals are so predictable. And such terrible liars."

The young warrior tried defending himself, but the spirit waved him off with his wing, the gust pushing Sokka back.

"You don't have to worry about me punishing you now, I have been convinced to overlook your transgression. Instead of taking your lives to preserve my secrets, you will make a promise to me."

Aang looked at the spirit with suspicion.

"What kind of promise?"

"You are currently on the journey to end the war that ravaged the world. For it's duration you are free to do whatever you wish, but once the war ends, you must come back here and help me build a city around my library."

"A city? Why would you need one?"

"I will open up a university with myself as it's head curator. I will share my knowledge with the world and help educate you humans to be more enlightened. I will need a place for my students and staff to stay. You will also promise protection to the city. You can have the knowledge you need as my contribution to you in the time of war, in return you promise to help me in the time of peace."

Aang's eyes lit up.

"You must have spoken to Viteq. He managed to convince you to change your mind."

"Yes, your friend carries with him wisdom seldom found in humans. He told me that I can hardly expect to avoid the affairs of the humans if I brought my library here, to the human world. As a great knowledge spirit, I have no one but myself to blame for not foreseeing a possibility of you humans going to war and interfering in my affairs."

Aang nodded in understanding.

"So, I as Avatar will have to help you build a city and protect it and its people once the war ends."

"Yes, I wish for it to be the duty of the Avatar, you and your future incarnations to safeguard the peace of my city, so that I can share knowledge and prosperity and teach you short-lived ones how to attain and protect peace in the world. Like begets like, if I have peace and protect it and share it, it will propagate throughout the world. Meanwhile, I can accumulate and multiply more knowledge. Are we in agreement, Avatar?"

Aang didn't have to consider for too long.

"Yes. I will agree to the terms of our new deal. Once the war ends, I will make time and fulfill my end of the deal."

"Then it is settled. Enjoy your stay here."

The spirit abruptly turned and left the planetarium, leaving the group to think about the new circumstances.

Sokka turned to Aang.

"You aren't angry that Viteq just signed you up for a duty you didn't get to weigh in on?"

The airbender shrugged his shoulders.

"It's hardly a burden compared to what I have to do now. Plus, I am already a bridge between the human and spirit world. This will help us in the long run. And it would be a shame to lose this library when it can serve us. This might be the best option we have. It's not like I will be alone to fulfil my end of the deal. I am sure that after the war there will be plenty of people who will help me."

Professor Zei piped up.

"Oh, this is exciting. Your friend is truly a wise person. I am willing to offer any help you will need. I hope I can relocate here and serve as one of the professors of this university that Wan Shi Tong wishes to build. So delightful!"

Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Are you really fine with what Viteq saddled you with?"

Aang covered her hand with his and smiled at her.

"It was either agree to what Viteq managed to negotiate with the spirit, or fight him while he tries to kill us and maybe escape, but lose access to this place."

The waterbender patted his shoulder and left to look for more things to read.

Aang sighed and turned to look for something to read as well. Seeing as they weren't in a hurry, he could afford to spend a little time here.

In the evening, Sokka climbed out of the tower. As he reached the foot of the tower, he noticed that the ground was hard and that there was a wall around them.

"Well, this is new."

He looked around and found a bunch of bruised people scattered around the area and buried in sand. They are struggling to get out, but Toph made sure they were restrained.

"Those are new."

He approached the little earthbender, who had a bloodthirsty grin as she did something below the surface.

"Hey Toph, what happened here, what are you doing?"

She turned to him and changed her expression to a more friendly one.

"These guys ambushed us while I and Appa sat here. They wanted to steal our supplies and capture Appa. I had a different opinion, so we've been trying to come to an agreement for the last few hours."

Sokka looked at the buried people dubiously.

"And how is that going?"

"Oh, at first they were troublesome because they knew how to bend sand better than me. Thankfully I had the walls that stopped them and let me get used to the sand. Afterwards I remembered what Viteq said about quicksand and tried doing that. It took me a few tries, but I managed to make them sink. I've been trying different things with them for a little while now. This is exciting."

Sokka sighed as he watched her enthusiastically play with the sandbenders. He had to wonder, was this considered torture and was Toph commiting a war crime? He shrugged his shoulders. Not his problem.

He packed away the few bits of information that he gathered, none of it being as crucial as the date of the next solar eclipse, but they could be helpful. Once he was done, he turned back to the tower.

"Alright, I guess I am going to have to get the others."

"Yeah, I am getting hungry."

Sokka reached the base of the tower when Toph called out to him again.

"Hey Sokka!"

"What?"

"Please don't tell Viteq that I was experimenting with sand."

He looked at her faux innocent expression and nodded.

"Alright. He deserves some comeuppance. Your secrets are safe with me."

"Thanks. You are one of my favorite people in the group!"

Sokka raised an eyebrow, but didn't get a reaction.

"There are like five of us. Seven if you include Momo and Appa."

"Oh yeah. Well, you are not my least favorite person."

Sokka shook his head. His reply was dripping with sarcasm.

"Good to know. I couldn't live without that little tidbit."

He grabbed the rope and climbed back up for others.