Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

[lucetimods]

Who: Anyone who volunteered
What: A very special mission that will bring you honor. Or maybe just traumatic memories. Whatever.
When: July 20th - July 24th
Where: Zompania, or what's left of it
Summary: Mission detailed here. There are graves to dig and buildings to raze, and plenty more for the volunteers to stay busy with.
Rating: PG-13 for probable mentions of gore and other sad things

Direct further questions here!

Comments

[wipesfaith]

[Anybody would be reluctant to return to the scene of so much bloodshed. Jean is here because he feels like he has to be, armed with a sense of duty that is forged from the guilt of killing in order to prolong his own survival, and from the loathing for the fear curled inside him.

He spends most of his time digging holes. Six feet deep, packed into an attempt at neat rows. Maybe it would save time to dig a series of mass graves, but all the dead have left is a chance for some dignity. With no one left to remember quite who they were, many of them have already lost their names - he's not going to take that from them too.

When he needs a break, arms and back aching, he'll rotate duties to recover the bodies from the ruins of the city. Even though the issued protective suit seals him from the cloying odor of death, he still thinks he can smell the decayed flesh. There are some things that won't be forgotten.]

[endgames]

[A scroll slung over his back, Shikamaru follows the digging sounds until he finds a body - a living one, at that - to attach them to. Crouching near the hole, he calls down to the digger inside it.]

Almost done with this one?

[wipesfaith]

[As he pauses to glance up at Shikamaru, he shrugs an arm up to wipe the sweat dripping down his temple - before remembering the protective gear that encases his whole body.]

Yeah, it's ready. [He heaves the last shovelful of dirt over his shoulder, then slaps the shovel up onto the earthen rim surrounding the hole and hoists himself out. The hole is about as tall as he is. Just short of the proper length, but the best he can mass produce under time constraints. Hole after hole for body after body.]

[endgames]

[Jean's quick, and pretty strong too. Shikamaru would have offered him a hand up out of it, but oh well. Up topside, he's already taken out the bodies he brought over from his scroll and laid them out neatly for burial. There's about twenty of them (as much as he can fit in one trip), so hopefully that many holes between Jean and the other grave diggers.]

You need a break? I can take over for you for a stretch after we get these guys in the ground.

[wipesfaith]

[Surrounded by ruined buildings and piles of corpses, and the acrid memories they dredge up, he sinks into his own world at times, stolen away inside his own thoughts. It's easy to do, with nothing but the rhythm of digging to occupy him. He becomes less respondent to the people around him, the ones that are still alive.

His eyes pass over the bodies that are laid out before him like a row of numbers. He nods in reply to Shikamaru.]

We can trade. Even with a cart I can't get this many at once, but...

[He can still help. At least there's no risk of finding a familiar face, made almost unfamiliar by the flies and the natural trend of atrophy. At least he won't pass by any familiar places, now stained with blood and innards, when they shouldn't be bracketed within the context of battle at all.]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru makes to lift the first corpse, taking it by the pits or what's left of them.]

If you're gonna do that, go by the camp first. You don't wanna go from this to hauling a cart without some water or rations down first.

[wipesfaith]

Yeah, I'll get some water.

[His stomach, empty of hunger even though he's hardly done more than pick at the available food, pulls into a tight knot at the thought of eating. He squats down to take hold of what he can of the corpse's calves, to help Shikamaru support the dead weight. He doesn't want to look at the sunken, expired flesh, but at the same time, it's hard to look away.]

[endgames]

[There's a count of three, then they lift. Shikamaru wishes they could be more ceremonious than tossing the body in, even if they're careful about it, but what can you do. He supposes it's nice enough they're getting individually-dug holes.

Rather than dwelling too long on that, Shikamaru sticks with observing the living as they go about their work here. In this instance, with no one else around, that means Jean. Thus far the other guy has given him the impression of someone going through the motions. It's not a far cry from what the others are doing, though maybe more successful.]

[wipesfaith]

[He has a job to do, and he won't let his fears, reflected in the dissolved expressions of the dead, distract him from it. It's what he'd had to do during the battle that led to these ruins: just keep propelling himself forward in spite of everything.

It's not until after they've lowered the body, with as much consideration as they're allowed - something his classmates never got - that he notices Shikamaru's discerning eye on him as he straightens up.]

What? [The strain of the task, with long days and restless nights, makes him sparse with his words, and he comes off as more blunt than usual. He reaches for the shovel, debating between filling in the hole himself or handing it off to Shikamaru, since he'd offered to relieve him.]

[endgames]

Nothin'. [He picks some loose remains from off his suit, flicking it to the ground.] Let's alternate filling. You going first, or should I?

[He'll leave the choice up to Jean. Honestly the guy looks like he's been working too long, but far be it for Shikamaru to tell someone what their own limits are. This isn't life or death.]

[wipesfaith]

[After a moment of hesitation, because he doesn't want to seem like he's just slacking off, he holds the shovel out for Shikamaru to take. He's not one to unnecessarily push himself past his limits - all that would do it exhaust him further.]

I'll get the next one.

[endgames]

[Good man. Shikamaru takes it readily, and scoots closer to the edge of the grave to get right to work.] Fair enough.

[wipesfaith]

[He sweeps his eyes across the punctured field around them, looking for a spare shovel. There doesn't appear to be any. More supplies are kept at the base camp, but from here the tents are nothing but little dots in the distance, so he'll settle for a small break.]

Wonder how many days it'll take.

[He squats to give his legs some rest, elbows perched on his knees as he watches the movement of shovel and dirt. He doesn't like the idea of sitting beside so many open graves.]

[pokeboy]

[ By the time that Jean decides to come back to his holes, there's a smaller figure that's decided to start a new one near to the line he was making. Back hunched and in a suit that's too big for him, Red's made some progress on getting off the top layer so far. Just got to keep going.

He's tried to make note of Jean's holes, such as their length and their depth, and, well, while he doubts he can dig that far in and get out without any extra help, he hopes can get something done. A small yellow overgrown mouse looking shape - a pikachu, should Jean know - stands near by his feet, watching the process on the hole, though he shows his face by looking at Jean when he comes near. The smell of the city is strong, and picking out the stench of sweat and human through it is a challenge even for him, but he doesn't need his nose to be aware of approaching people. ]

[wipesfaith]

[When he sees Red hunched over the shovel, he has to wonder what the hell would compel a kid to volunteer for something like this. He glances from the weird rodent back to the kid as he scuffs to a stop in the upturned soil nearby, empty-handed, having just lain a cart's worth of bodies to rest further down the absconding rows, and looking to bury some thoughts in digging more holes.]

Need some help with that? [The question almost sounds severed, uncleanly, from their death-stained surroundings, but it carries the weight of being tired.]

[pokeboy]

[ Red shoves the head of the shovel in and keeps it there when Jean stops near to them, his glance upwards turning to focus onto the man's face when he speaks. The question makes him look back down to the ground, and he shakes his head soon after. ]

No. [ But the sight of the others near to his that catches his view makes Red reconsider that quickly enough. He can't do it all by himself. ] I can't dig as deep as them.

[ As long as he doesn't want to take over all his hole. ]

[wipesfaith]

[He's not that much older than Red, a few years shy of the threshold of adulthood, but he's from a world where most are forced to grow up fast. And he himself was only twelve when he enlisted in the military, but he did so with the selfish ambition to get away from the very real possibility of an early death. That this kid has the guts to throw himself into this wreckage is impressive, sure, but it isn't the right place for him.

His frown doesn't lift. Still...]

We need all the help we can get, and you're doing what you can.

[In other words, it's okay. He finds another shovel nearby, left behind by someone who must have moved on to another task or gone to take a break, and he slices the ground a few paces from Red's shovel, shoving the head down deeper into the earth with his boot.]

[pokeboy]

[ His digging had slowed when there came nothing from the man in that moment, Red curious about what it was that he was thinking, what he might do. What he finally does say, moving thereafter to grab the shovel, clues Red in. He can guess, at least, that he was being judged for his worth. Because of his age.

Lots of people do it. It's nothing new. It's the easiest conclusion to come to, anyway.

When Jean returns and shifts in the shovel head into the dirt, he repositions his own to dig in so not to clash with his. Red's not worked on a single hole with another person, and he doesn't want to knock or have them get in the way of each other.

Maybe turning would be a good idea. Dig from the side. Easier to be mindful there. So Red tries it after a few digs in, scraping at the dirt as he waits to push into the ground with his weight. ]

...Even a kid can have a reason for being here. [ ... ] Even if I can't finish it, it's still a hole started.

[ He pushes down on the blade. ]

[wipesfaith]

[Anything to finish the job faster and lay all the remains to rest beneath the dirt, like the whole thing can be buried and left behind. The kid is already here, and willing to do the work - that's all there is to it. The tired but perseverant rhythm of his shovel continues alongside Red.]

What reason is that?

[Everyone has a reason, even if it's hard to fit it into words. He can't help his idle curiosity, and talking is one of the few distractions they have. Even if it's not much of a distraction, since it's hard to get out from underneath all this heaviness.]

[pokeboy]

[ To ask him to put his reason into words is asking a lot. Natural enough after what was said, and Red does know his own reasons in his heart and in his head, but to be asked them and knowing what word to open his mouth to start the explanation with is more of a work than breathing in the stuffy air provided by the suit.

His own shovelling slows, sitting ready to be pushed in again but not yet given the help to dig in. With those few seconds, Red concludes it doesn't have to be as complicated an answer as it's been running through his head as . ]

I came here before. [ Is that too simple to satisfy the man? But that shouldn't really matter. He pushes down with all of his weight, grunting with it. ] And I want to help.

[ Help bring it down, and put the dead to some kind of rest -- or at least their bodies. ]

[wipesfaith]

Fair enough. [He wasn't looking for a heart-to-heart on the meaning of existence or anything. Just a reason, any reason. He cleaves the ground with the shovel head again, launches the dirt aside.] I'm here because I didn't want to take the easy way out.

[Apprehension had jerked his gut into tight knots, volunteering for the mission and preparing himself - mentally, mostly mentally - to return to the site. The memories were fresh, are still fresh, as if they're still happening. The battle is done. There is nothing to be afraid of.

But he had taken lives, and that's not something he can let himself forget, even if he could.]

really sorry for the late response

[pokeboy]

[ The easy way out? ]

Easy way out for you? Or for everyone?

[ Because he imagines it first to mean the latter when the man says it, and that doesn't sit well in Red though he's never thought about it before. But he'll see what he says. ]

it's all good man

[wipesfaith]

For me. It ain't my business what anyone else chooses to do. You have to make these kinds of decisions on your own.

I mean... [His shovel strikes the earth again, and he pauses for just a second before scooping the dirt out. His eyes stay on his work.] It'd be easy to never come back here. It's not like I was forced into this, this time. But it wouldn't feel right, leaving all this unfinished.

[pokeboy]

[ The answer makes him blink, and to stop for a moment. It's actually an answer he likes, and everything that follows it. Words he could relate to -- in some ways, anyway. ]

...It was horrible out there. [ there, here - the two were so different, though still the same in their own ways ] I didn't wanna come - part of me anyway. But I thought it'd help. [ at least digging in the shovel for longer helps loosen the ground. maybe ] Help when we get sent out again.

[ His shovel rests still in the ground when it could dig in his silence, but there's something else. ]

I want me and my pokémon to be ready.

[ He says that with more voice -- then, finally, he digs in. ]

[wipesfaith]

[He glances up from his shovel.] Oh, you train pokemon? [It's simple acknowledgement rather than a real question.]

I don't know if you can ever really be ready. [All the biggest battles of his life so far, he hasn't been ready for. Either the battle has torn open with him standing on the faultline, or he's been flung into the belly of it, and there's little time to think because he has to live.] All you can do is try to get as close to it as you can.