Zompania Draft - Draftees only, days 1-3.5

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: This is your death. Followed by your time-traveling life and desperate bomb hunting.
When: From May 22 to May 20 to early May 23 (days 1-4)
Where: Zompania
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post is for the draftee-only portion of the Zompania draft--the day 3 death, time travel to day 1, and then the events until the arrival of the reinforcements. Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

Please note that there is a specific top-level comment thread for:

• The day 3 arrival of the draftees and the 6 hours that follow until the bomb is dropped
  
• Death--This thread can be treated as REFERENCE ONLY. Responding to it isn't necessary.
  
• Threads prior to departing for Zompania--post resurrection freak outs, arguments over how to proceed, etc.

All other threading, from day 1 until the reinforcements arrive, should be conducted as normal.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[wise_maiden]

[ Available, at any point during those first few hours:

There's not much time given for organization when they're first sent out there. As it is, Raine will do her best to be available where she's needed, supporting with her magic, though mostly remaining aware enough to throw refreshing spells over everyone in the vicinity, with the occasional boost to defense and strength capabilities.

During this she'll have to find some chance to have a small snack just to make sure her own energy reserves don't run too low. Though the state of the city almost makes it too nauseating to make the attempt. That's an action that she'd need someone to watch her back for.

It's dark, and the scene is grim before them, but she's calm and collected under pressure. On occasion cultists may get too close to the lines, or shifters may dampen her abilities, but hectic times are expected, and hopefully someone is nearby to make sure their designated healer can keep providing her assistance.

Even then she is vigilant, up and during that last hour, those last minutes, while the dread builds. They're losing, and badly, and the tide about to turn is nothing that any spell can hold back, nothing that any last recovery spell in vain is going to do for them to withstand it all. ]

[wipesfaith]

[He had made the mistake of holding back. The blades he wields were designed to slice through inhumanly thick flesh, and the enemies pressing down on them are more human than he had wanted to believe. He should have known that the extent to which training against simulations could prepare him for battle would fall short when thrown against reality. He had mastered not hesitating to slice through the wings - instant kill, sure victory - but here, when he was presented with an opening to deal some real damage...he balked. Was he really prepared to take a life? The width of that thought was enough to give the cultist time to turn around and thrust his blade deep into his left shoulder.

Now the searing pain is the only thought filling his mind as he sinks to the ground, dropping his blade into the soup of mud and gore to clutch at his shoulder, which is soaked with his own blood. Someone else must have swooped in to finish off the cultist for him, because he isn't dead yet. But how long until another one comes for him? Half a minute? Five seconds? He struggles to his feet, recovering his dropped blade and gripping both in the hand of his injured arm - fuck, it hurts - as he staggers away from the fighting.

No way he's biting it in this shithole.]

H-Hey...! Medical assistance? [His words, like his breath, are labored as his eyes scour the periodically interrupted darkness. Please, someone be nearby, someone who can help him.] Dammit...

[wise_maiden]

[ Working in this darkness is really the worst of it. There's only so far that flashlights and lanterns could project, and that needed to be limited to prevent drawing attention to those working for the benefit of the others.

Assistance comes, though it takes a few minutes, in the confusion and the darkness, for word to be passed that one of their group had gone down during the cultist wave. But now there was time to go back, go through and find them --

There. An injured young man, staggering. Raine calls to him, briefly illuminated in the side alley before she lets the light go out.]

Are you hurt? Come over here!

[wipesfaith]

[He catches a glimpse of her before the darkness erases everything again, and he follows blindly.]

Professor? I was-- [sucking in a pained breath through his clenched teeth] It's my shoulder...!

[When he closes the distance between them, he jabs his blades into the mud to use them as a sort of crutch as he lowers himself to sit on the ground; then he pulls the triggers to release the blades from their hilts, letting the operating grips fall to the ground beside him. He doesn't really give a shit right now. Dizziness is starting to set in from the blood that's still seeping out of the wound, god, make it stop...]

[wise_maiden]

Hang on... [ Open wounds were always the more problematic ones. It took longer to seal with magic, and in this place, protecting against infection ... she just hated using the filial abilities with the possibilities of drawing those other monsters close. But she might not have a choice, if the wound was difficult to seal.

She has to use a little light again, at least to check the wound and how deep it was, before beginning her first wave of magic. ] First aid.

[ That would at least help him feel a little more relaxed, and would let her see how much more she needed to do... ]

[wipesfaith]

[He'll stop cradling the wound so she can take a look at it - although with his jacket, harness, and shirt still in the way, it might be tricky to gauge - before she sets to work. His face is pulled in a permanent wince. His breath still falls heavily, but he forces it into a rhythm now - deep, calming breaths.

Her first spell takes the edge off the pain, at least. He watches the soft glow with a conflicting mixture of relief and apprehension.]

I'll be okay, right?

[wise_maiden]

Yes, just hang on. Your... gear is making it a little difficult for me to tell how much you're wounded. Is it safe to remove it?

[wipesfaith]

[He won't waste effort on words. He shifts to carefully tug off his jacket, grunting sharply as he jars his injured shoulder - for safety reasons, he had tucked his wings under it, so at least removing it isn't as tedious as it could be. Then he'll hastily undo the upper portion of the harness, tossing the loosened straps over his shoulder so they're out of the way.]

[wise_maiden]

Better. [ She waits until the harness is removed before moving to push aside the rest of his shirt material, checking to see just how deep the wound is before working on using magic to seal it. She'll have to remain quiet while she concentrates, though he'll start to feel the effects of recovery on his skin and torn flesh. ]

[wipesfaith]

[He keeps his eyes on the dimness ahead, focusing on the soothing sensation of the magic as it repairs his shoulder. He tries not to think about where he might have ended up with a wound like this if he were fighting back home, where magic only exists in storybooks. He'll be fine...]

[wise_maiden]

[She exhales slowly when the first wave of sealing the wound is finished. A nice alternative to using stitches. ]

I can't do anything about the blood loss, so you're going to have to eat something, and try to stay out of dodge if you can. At least long enough to let this work.

[wipesfaith]

Yes, ma'am. [His breath has evened out, but he feels the lingering dizziness that comes with blood loss, which is why he doesn't attempt to stand just yet.]

You have any food? [Something he had neglected in the rush to get ready.]

[wise_maiden]

I do.

[ The rations she had packed for herself, and the extra she had managed to grab from the grocery thanks to the extra time afforded by being airlifted to the plaza via giant owl... she rummages through her pack, pulling out a two small bags of dried fruit, nuts and jerky. Not quite a real meal, but food that could be taken on the go without risk of spoiling. ] Here, try this for now. There's more, if you need it.

[ That said, she goes back to checking his arm over to check the mending progress. ]

[wipesfaith]

Thanks. This should be enough.

[He accepts the offered bags, trying to avoid smearing blood everywhere as he pokes open the first and, tilting his head back, empties half its contents into his mouth. The combination of flavors is a little weird all at once (probably because he wasn't supposed to eat it all at once) but he ain't too picky. As she checks, he chews and watches.]

[wise_maiden]

[ She lowers her hand again, before starting to wrap the area for added protection while the process works. ] Does it feel sensitive?

[wipesfaith]

[He rolls his shoulder forward and backward, drawing a mild wince.] Yeah, just a little...

[Not wanting to be deadweight for long, he'll focus on building his strength back up - down goes the other half of the baggy's contents.]

[wise_maiden]

That should fade soon, but try not to jostle it around too much.

[wipesfaith]

[He nods weakly, resting his elbows on his knees as he works open the second bag.]

This has gotta be some kind of record for screwing up the fastest.

[wise_maiden]

Now you're being hard on yourself. This battle isn't exactly well organized, and this is your first time up against them, isn't it?

[wipesfaith]

[He's silent a bit too long for him, with the bag open and ready to be devoured but he doesn't move to eat more.]

...They don't look all that different from us.

[wise_maiden]

Were you expecting something else? [ She takes out one of the canteens. ] The war is less about looks and more focused on ideology. ... Although there is a lot of contempt about the wings, either way.

[wipesfaith]

I know, I know... Who the hell would try to kill someone just for how they look? I just mean...they're human too.

[He can't be the only one bothered by this, right?]

[wise_maiden]

You'd be surprised by what wars are started over. Many wars only involve humans. Many wars involve humans and other races. Countries fight over property. This situation ... it's not far from any of that. Polarizing ideals, with extremists on both sides. And we're caught in the middle, against our will.

[wipesfaith]

I get it, but... [It's still a foreign concept to him.] It still seems like a waste to me.

[He starts on the second baggy of food she'd given him.]

[wise_maiden]

Is it something you've never experienced? [ She doesn't disagree; but there's something naive about his reasoning. ]