Eclipse (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Chapter 3: The Blue Spirit

Miyuki shuffled through her intel as the prince and the captain looked over a map to chart their route. "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm, but if we continue heading northeast-"

She glanced up when her papers were suddenly blocked by a large shadow. It was far too big to be Zuko peering over her shoulder. She turned to look and saw a Fire Nation ship, much larger than their own.

In an instant, Zuko tossed her a black cloak with crimson lining to throw over her clothes. "What do they want?"

Iroh rubbed his hands eagerly from the pai sho table and smiled. "Perhaps a game of pai sho!"

Miyuki had just enough time to wrap the cloak around herself and duck into the shadows by the time the three soldiers from the other ship boarded and entered the cabin. She pressed herself close to the wall and watched as the leader of the trio held out a scroll. "The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

"Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!" Iroh smiled as he moved his piece on the board to victory.

Zuko glared at the ground. Something about Zuko's expression didn't seem very surprised at all that this Zhao person had been promoted, despite it apparently being fresh news. "I've got nothing to report to Admiral Zhao. Now, get off my ship and let us pass."

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area."

The soldier hardly hesitated to speak out against the exiled prince. She supposed that even in the Fire Nation, he held little clout with his current standing. It spoke volumes about how the current Fire Lord was running things, if nothing else.

Zuko swung his arm out and replied irritably, "Off my ship!"

The trio complied and left without comment.

"Excellent! I take the pot!" Iroh, evidently unbothered by the exchange, grinned widely and set himself up for another game. Miyuki considered joining, but given Iroh's presence, there was no way that she would make a profit. "But you're all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again."

Well, whatever. There were other ways to make money. She caught Zuko's gaze, bowed, and slipped outside to see if she received any more intel. She had some inquiries to send out.

·:*¨༺ ★ ༻¨*:·.

Not long after she collected the letters that came in with her messenger hawks, Zuko had started practicing his firebending. She didn't pay it much mind as she made her way back to her quarters to look through them and sort things out before writing new inquiries. But now, the notes were read through and burned, and the new inquiries were sent out. Yet, Zuko was still right where she had last seen him several hours ago.

She was all for practicing bending, but several hours of rage-filled firebending couldn't possibly be good for him physically or otherwise. She went to the deck to see if she could do anything, but when she got there, she found Iroh and Zuko speaking. She was about to leave to give them some privacy when, a moment later, the general turned from his nephew and spotted her.

Iroh walked over and put a hand on Miyuki's shoulder. "It's up to you now. He's pretty down about the news."

'Down' was certainly one way to put it.

Still, she nodded and made her way over to the prince, her mind already searching for the words to give him. Admittedly, Miyuki was no stranger to playing a role to suit the part. She had offered carefully spun words to turn a profit before, and there was no doubt in her mind that she would do it again, but this felt different. This was Zuko, the exiled prince. The perfectly fake words had already put themselves together in her mind by the time she decided against giving him the insincere words he would want to hear.