Fire Nation: Fire Nation Colonies -- Passing Through: Aftermath

Valian fought to open his eyes. The inside of his eyelids were tinged a pale pink, indicating bright sunshine. He smelled antiseptic and plastic materials. The earth seemed far away ... was he in a leveled building? 'Hospital?' he thought. His mind was hazy with confusion. Why ... what was he doing here?

For what it felt like the first time in a million years, Valian finally managed to pry his eyes open. The light hurt at first, but he slowly adjusted and made out the form of a white windowsill above him. He lay on his back. Coconut brown hair pillowed out beneath him. His brown skin tingled with a sensation that combated the intense fatigue he was in. Something was VERY, VERY wrong.

Beyond the whiteness of the walls, there was a whole world out there. He didn't belong here. He was supposed to be somewhere else .. with someone else? Who ... ?

"DIANNE!!!" Valian sat up swiftly. Finally, the memories all came back. The last time he was conscious, Dianne was being kidnapped, and there wasn't a damn thing he could've done about it. Not after that monster had come.

"Shit," he swore. Turning, he punched the wall with all his strength. A decent sized hole developed in the plaster.

"Aye, aye, be careful," a voice interjected. "How the hell is that gonna help you get out of here?"

Aye? That was something Dianne often said. Dianne and ...

"Noriaki?" he asked breathlessly. He stared at the man, his mind not quite registering what was going on. "What are you doing here?"

There was a pause in which a nurse peaked into the room. "Is everything all right in here?" she asked. Noriaki waved her away, then turned back to his nephew.

"You think news of my daughter's kidnapping, my son's disappearance and an attack on my favorite nephew wouldn't be enough to drag me from the capital?" Noriaki inquired, sounding a little offended. Valian searched his voice for any sound of guilt or sadness, but Noriaki was hiding it well.

"Disappearance? Renn's missing?" he said, eyes widening. It would be HELL for Dianne if this was true.

"I'm afraid so .." Shit. Now he sounded tired. He placed his forehead in the palm of his hand. "And when I find the B*stard that did it -- " his hand clenched, " -- he is going to die."

Valian believed him. Being one of the strongest Lightbenders in the Fire Nation and an imperial guard, Noriaki was likely capable of taking on that thing that took Dianne. Noriaki and his father, Sable, usually worked in a pair. And Sable ...

"Where's Sable?" Valian demanded, wondering if the man had even bothered to show up. When he first met his father, Sable's only concern was getting him back to the Elemental Nation. He even called him a 'burden' and suggested he get lost before he got killed.

Valian knew Nori wasn't surprised at the fact he hadn't called Sable 'dad'. "Downstairs. Buying drinks."

"Who else is here?"

"That's it. It's just us. The rest are gonna be in the effort to save Dianne," Noriaki said informally. "We believe the ones that kidnapped her are from Lethal, a dangerous assassin group. Since it's likely she would be killed, practically the whole Imperial Order has been sent out looking for her and that Light Nation prince, Kenji."

"That other boy?" Valian had forgotten about him.

Noriaki nodded. "And we ... we are going to be searching for Renn."