Eclipse (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Chapter 22: Totality

Sokka walked over and threw his arms up before pointing at Aang, "Woah there, you lost me at Zuko."

Iroh looked down. "I know how you must feel about my nephew." He put his hands on Sokka's shoulders. "But believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him."

Sokka took the man's hands off his shoulders and pushed him away. "Good inside him isn't enough! Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?"

"Look, I know that this is gonna put me at odds with you guys, but both Zuko and General Iroh have treated me well and helped me out during tough times," Miyuki cut in. She folded her arms when she felt all their gazes on her. "It's a little ridiculous to ask for favors only after our second meeting, I know, but if not for Zuko, then for General Iroh and your sister."

"Miyuki's right. Katara's in trouble. All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble," Aang said. "Working together is our best chance."

Sokka sighed and nodded.

Iroh headed towards the door. "I brought someone along who might be able to help us." He slid the door open to reveal the Dai Li agent that Miyuki helped him drag here.

Toph quickly pinned the agent up using her earth bending and the man exclaimed something from under his gag. Honestly, it was probably for the best that Miyuki wasn't left in charge of the information extraction.

"Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth King," the agent said as soon as his gag was pulled down.

Sokka produced a sword and pointed it at the agent. "My sister! Where are they keeping Katara?"

"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se deep beneath the palace," he replied. With that, the five of them took off.

·:*¨༺ ★ ༻¨*:·.

When they reached the palace, Toph confirmed that there was an ancient city down in the catacombs and formed a tunnel.

"We should split up," Sokka began. "Aang, you go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk." He turned to Iroh. "No offense."

Iroh shrugged. "None taken."

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup," Sokka said.

He turned to Miyuki, who said, "Those seem like pretty balanced teams as they are, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna scout ahead and collect some intel. I know someone who works here, so I'll try to sneak in through the servant entrance and see what I can do to slow things down. I'll join General Iroh and Aang in the catacombs in a bit."

"Alright then, sounds like a plan. Let's move out," Sokka said.

Miyuki headed off on her own and slipped through a back entrance to see what was going on. She caught sight of a Dai Li agent from the shadows and before she could be spotted herself, she took him out and borrowed some of his equipment. The metal shackles they carried around looked like they could be useful.

His clothes probably wouldn't be of much use to her since all the agents were men, and this particular man was much taller than she was. She'd have to keep an eye out for a shorter one if she wanted to get her hands on a disguise. She continued down the hall and watched a man, who she assumed was a general or something of that nature, get chained to a grate on the ground by the same sort of shackles that she'd just pilfered.

She watched for a moment and waited. It was hard to tell if the agents were still there holding him down or if they'd attached the shackles to something else to keep them taught. She debated it for a moment and decided that it didn't matter either way. There was a coup going on, and so long as she did her job quickly and didn't step on the grate, she would be fine.