Junior Lieutenant Zhao

The battlefield had been picked clean. The Hami celebrated their victory over their rivals, the Maojiawa Tribe, seizing a number of their sand-sailers, stripping their bodies clean of whatever possessions they had on them, weapons, armor, and simple supplies alike.

We'd lost 3 men throughout the battle, including the 2 who had fallen before the real fighting had begun, and the one whose face had been horribly mutilated by the sandbender assault. We had many more wounded, their wounds severe, but for the most part, at least with prompt medical attention, survivable wounds. The majority of the merchants had been killed, not having been offered the protection that our armor had given us. Their bodies had been torn to shreds, one even bearing a mangled remain of an arm, having faced the brunt of the sandstorm, nothing save a few loose threads connecting it to its owners shoulder to indicate that it had been an arm in the first place.

The mounts had fared no better, especially the camelephants. The storm had been enough in itself to kill the beetles. The camelephants on the other hand, far less protected, faired far worse. It was a grizzly sight. I wondered if we would be able to salvage any of the meat for eating. The mounts had fallen dead atop our supplies. I wanted to believe that most of our goods had survived, but judging by the damage they seemed to have taken from the sandbender assault as well, it was doubtful that we'd be making out with any more than half of what we'd come in with.

The merchants did not seem particularly enthused with the current deal between us and the Hami, having offered up their surviving goods as payment to escort us across the Si Wong, but in observing their surviving force compared to the combined numbers of ourselves and the Hami, they were wise enough not to offer any form of protest, simply accepting that the situation was no longer theirs to control.

They were forced by the situation to accept their fate, and so they'd join along with us as we mounted the Hami sand-sailers. It only took a minimum of 10 seconds to comprehend the mistake we'd made in not going to them first. We were roaring across the desert, northbound, the wind and sand against our faces as we rode.

The bodies of the dead were being carried along in tow. The sandbenders were smart enough to know that there was money in the business of corpses. Being able to keep track of the fallen in times of war, it was by no means common, and there was money to be gained in returning the bodies of the dead to their respective people. The Fire Nation would pay, and I wanted to imagine that the beetle merchants would pay as well for the recovery of their fallen, though I couldn't be too sure.

It was hard to know we were going save for the knowledge of one single cardinal direction, being North, the setting sun the only tool to guide our way, yet the sandbenders navigating the endless expanse of sand as though they knew it like the back of their hand, and frankly, it seemed more than likely they did, raised on the desert's brutality from birth onward. As a villager may know his surrounding forests, a street urchin his alleyways, the people of the Si Wong, throughout the generations, had laid claim to this expanse of the Earth as their own, and they behaved accordingly, at one with the desert.

Around half of an hour had passed until we began to slow. A quick observation was enough to unveil the village growing on the horizon. It was easy to mistake as simply more hills until we drew closer, realizing the hills bore windows, doorways, canopies, other decorations, human figures moving among them. It was obvious as we approached. I laughed to myself. What had I been expecting? Steel structures rising from the sand? A majestic palace gleaming in the setting sun? Now that I thought about it, that was precisely what I was looking for, reminding me of the matter at hand.

We eventually came to our stop, a mass of people emerging from the structures, gathering from where they had been scattered only moments prior along the empty space between the village hills. I knew that, among there, there at least had to be some degree of hope in finding what I came here in search of. It had been the Hamis in the first place that I had roamed out in the desert in search of, and here I was. Whether things would pan out as intended, that was a separate matter, but matters had been sailing smoothly thus far, in both a literal and metaphorical sense, and thus wanted to believe that matters would continue to do so.

Among those that rushed out to greet us were multiple children, already bearing the standard apparel of the sandbenders, full bodies and heads wrapped in protective cloth to ensure the full weight of the sun did not bear down on them, the only indicators of their youth being their height and excited voices as they rushed out.

It was a hero's welcome in ever sense of the word, the sandbenders practically celebrities for their people. Who could blame them? They came back with food, water, riches from time to time. They were the force that kept the tribes afloat. While domestic duties of ensuring safety, order, and functionality were all of importance, the matters of keeping the people fed, watered, healthy, that all lay on the shoulders of those who roamed out in search of the means to survive. For some, this meant trade, for others, as we saw with Maojiawa tribe, meant reaping and pillaging.

The ecstatic attitude soon spread to benders. While they hadn't exactly been grim in the wake of their victory over the rival tribe, it was easy to see just how much more excited they became to see their wives and children once again, returning home the victorying conquerors, bearing gifts for all those they cared for to enjoy.

Even the chieftain, who had now removed his helm, revealing an older man, or perhaps that was merely the effect of living in such a sunny hellscape, seemed to be reveling in the praise and attention, but his face soon stiffened as he turned towards Harzek and me, our existence as trade partners not nearly extending to friends. "You two, with me. Make sure your men stay in line. Your Nation already has a negative reputation as is."

Harzek nodded, facing towards one of his men who was already disembarking, the infantryman I recognized as Kay'zak, and said, "Sergeant, keep the men in line. Make sure they stay on their best behavior."

"Yes sir."

Good man. Loyal man. The kind that was a credit to the Fire Nation, understanding his duty to both his Nation and his commander, not questioning his orders, simply obedient to the letter. Even I could stand to learn a thing or two from his type.

We followed the chieftain, reaching one such mound that did nothing to stand out from the others, just as simple and shoddily put together, but as we entered, it quickly became possible to see just how they lived the way they did. The interior was sturdy, sound, well-decorated, cozy even. He had led us to his home, no war room, office, anything along those lines. This wasn't a military organization, I had to realize. These were normal people, or at least as normal as sandbenders could be.

"Please, take a seat. Tea?"

I shook my head, but Harzek nodded, thus prompting me to follow suit and also accept a warm beverage, which was promptly prepared, poured, and distributed to us all in silence as he gave us the time needed to ease our minds, or in my case, get all the more tense, wanting to get down to business, knowing that library was out there, just waiting, more than us than I would have liked already having given their lives for this mission, but the mission was more important than any of us. It had to be followed through.

After we had the drinks in our hands, having sipped from them accordingly, he sat across from us at the dining table where we were seated. "I'd introduce you to my wife, but sadly, she has long since passed, and my own children already have wives and children of their own." He adorned a sad smile, the wrinkles on his face not doing nearly as much as his eyes did to paint a clear picture of his age. "You're both young men. You don't understand. Not yet. We are not fighters here. We do what we must to survive, but we are not warriors, not soldiers, simply families trying to survive however possible. We want no part in your war."

"We're not here to drag you into the war," Harzek reassured. Not yet. In all due time, the Fire Nation would reach this desert, all the sooner if the Nip Sea conflict went according to plan. When that time came, the tribes would be given a choice: submit or be conquered. I prayed they chose the former.

"So why is your Nation here then if not to bring war."

This was my cue. "We seek knowledge."

"Knowledge hidden in the desert," he echoed my words from earlier. "I remember. However, this desert is wide and sadly, not much knowledge is contained within it. What you state does little to narrow down on your quarry."

"A library," I added. "One which contains a store of knowledge unlike anything else that exists in this world."

"I have lived in this desert all my life. I do not know of such a thing that exists."

"It's a colossal building," I said, recalling the image from my dreams, the mighty structure standing in all its grandeur. "A massive doorway, multiple domed wings all connected together by a monolith of a superstructure, bigger than anything that which mankind has ever built."

"The largest structure I've ever seen built by mankind was the Misty Palms Oasis," he chuckled. "The ruins, however-"

"The ruins?"

"Yes, but not built by man. By the spirits, however, but these ruins are plentiful and scattered throughout the desert, and none match the colorful description you have provided."

I looked down. I just must have not explained it right. It existed here. It had to. I looked over to Harzek. His frustration was beginning to show, but only for a brief moment. 3 of his men, and 5 in total ever since the swamp, had died for this. It had to be worth something. "We'd like to examine these ruins anyway," he stated. "Perhaps they can say something of what we're after."

"Hmm. If this is what you wish."

"We would also ask for safe passage and guidance to these ruins."

"I have taken you as my guests, and you have helped yourselves to my tea. As your host, it is my duty to help you. You will have my protection and guidance. We will leave tomorrow."

"Not now?" I asked, my anticipation already getting the better of me, a knot of excitement in my stomach to see just what we could find, the blow suffered of hearing he'd never seen such a structure needing to be replaced by something, something more, hopeful. I needed this, and while I had no doubt he saw this, he was unflinching as he said, "To roam the desert in the night, while not nearly as scorching, presents its own dangers. Some of which are best avoided. We will leave on the morrow. I offer my home to you. I will encourage my people to offer up their open beds to your men, as well but if they decline, you will not force them. My people will not be coerced nor bullied. May I have your names. I like to know who it is that I am housing."

"My name is Harzek," Harzek, obviously, spoke first. "Lieutenant of the Fire Nation."

I spoke next, saying, "Zhao, junior lieutenant of the Fire Nation," already feeling the sting and embarrassment of speaking my rank out loud especially following Harzek's own rank. With any luck, this would once again prove to be only a temporary setback until I proved myself a valuable asset to the Fire Nation through this assignment.

"I am Shilo," the Chieftain with a name now said. "I welcome you to my village."