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

[voidseeing]

Don't look.

[The words come out a little harsher than he'd intended, but he can already see her mind starting to drift as she looks at countless things that he isn't able to see. There were advantages to this ability, yes, and just as many disadvantages. She had to be able to control this or it could wind up being dangerous for all of them.]

Don't let yourself get lost in it. Focus on what's here and now.

[tearmeanewone]

But there's so much to see-- not just here. Everywhere. This field holds people I've never seen before. Weapons, and trees, and walls--

[She waves one of her hands as though she were pushing aside a curtain, and a collection of crates and barrels, perfect for cover, appears between them and the fight.] --useful things. And places I've always wanted to go.

[voidseeing]

[Gai turns to see what she's doing, his eyebrows lifting when he sees those crates and barrels appear. Now that is an extremely useful thing to be able to do, yes.]

Right now, our primary objective needs to be this battle. Anything like that you can bring in to help will be needed.

[He hates it, he hates how cold he sounds, but right now he needs to be a soldier and think like one. He can't let himself be distracted and let his leader face slip.]

[tearmeanewone]

Mm... [Elizabeth crouches down, almost as though she didn't hear what Gai said. She's waving the tear with Gai as a child open a little wider, putting a hibiscus in his hand. Gai may be acting cold, but Elizabeth is only half paying attention.]

I'm your girl. [She grins as the child Gai stares at her and the flower perplexedly.]

[voidseeing]

[Gai's train of thought gets suddenly and unexpectedly derailed once he realizes what Elizabeth is doing. That's him she's addressing through that tear there - him when he was much younger, back when he was still 'Triton,' but him nonetheless.

And he remembers what she'd said to him that one day, about wishing she could open a tear back to him when he was a child so that she could tell him everything would be all right. Anything he might've wanted to say to her gets choked off by a very uncharacteristic lump rising in his throat, and all he can do is stand there, silently watching.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Well, she's addressing both of them, she supposes. When Gai doesn't respond Elizabeth looks up, frowning slightly.] Gai? What do you need from me?

[Of course, that's the moment something hits their cover and crate pieces rain down onto her. Elizabeth's little dream ends very abruptly, and all of her tears snap shut.]

[voidseeing]

[Instinct kicks in right away: Gai dives to shield her from the flying debris, eyes darting around for the source of that sudden attack.]

Are you all right?

[Mentally he curses himself for allowing them both to get so caught up with that distraction. This is a battlefield, not a time for having heartfelt conversations, as much as he might wish they had the opportunity.]

[tearmeanewone]

Yes! [Elizabeth blinks around as though she's just realizing where she is again. Right, warzone, they stepped into a warzone.]

Gai, Gai I don't think there's a siphon here at all. I've never seen so many tears, I've never had this many things within my reach. I could get anything for you, anything you need, but I don't know how well I can control it.

[voidseeing]

It won't hurt you to not have the siphon on?

[That's his primary concern. Whether or not she can control it is secondary, as he can get by just fine with only his Void as a weapon. He's used to having a lot less to work with than that.]

[tearmeanewone]

No, no I feel about the same. But I can see more. It's easier to open tears, I don't have to work as hard at it. [She looks at the burning remnants of their cover and waves her hand to close the tear and replace it with a wall of sandbags (complete with barbed wire on top).]

We can't stay here much longer, what are we doing here anyway? Just trying to kill the other side?

[voidseeing]

[Okay, that... was useful as hell. Even just providing cover on a battlefield like this will give them a distinct advantage.

Gai nods, pleased.]

That's usually how these things go. They send us in to wipe out the cultist forces in a particular area and often accomplish something else while we're at it. The only question is what that 'something else' is this time.

[tearmeanewone]

What, give us instructions instead of drag us out of bed at two in the morning? What an idea. [Elizabeth snorts and blows one of her bangs out of her face.] Alright, so we kill some cultists then meet in the middle?

[voidseeing]

We should stick together. The conditions here aren't good for splitting up, and this is unknown territory. It would be dangerous if we got separated.

[He's already scanning the darkness around them, but it's not much use-- all he can really see is flashes from muzzles and spells being cast.]

[tearmeanewone]

It could be dangerous standing next to me. [Elizabeth tries to look where Gai is looking, trying to figure out what he's looking for.] I can bring tornadoes through tears you know.

[voidseeing]

I'd hope you would at least warn me for that first.

[It's an attempt at a joke, though it likely falls rather flat.]

Although a flashlight would be a lot more useful right now.

[tearmeanewone]

Danger: Do Not Approach the Specimen. [Elizabeth answers with her own flat joke, but squints into the darkness searching for a light source. Finally she settles on a bonfire right in the middle of the field.]

How's that?

[voidseeing]

That'll work.

[Then, because he doesn't want her to get the wrong idea from that joke, he moves over to her and leans down to give her a quick kiss.]

Now let's take care of some cultists. Stay close to me, all right?

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth looks surprised for a moment--she'd expected Gai to be all business and nothing but. She's not getting the wrong idea at all, but she's still concerned about Gai being so close to her. Until she's certain she has a firm grip on her powers, she won't be entirely comfortable. Still, she smiles.]

All right.

[voidseeing]

[Gai plans on being all business for the rest of this, so he figured he'd allow his leader face to slip for a brief moment of reassurance before he's back into soldier mode again. He knows she probably won't like what she sees of him on the rest of this draft; might as well give her one thing to hold onto during that time.]

Here goes.

[And, with a silver glow that she'll no doubt be able to recognize right now, he reaches in to extract his Void, wincing as he does so.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth does recognize the glow, and she stands up and draws her little pistol to cover Gai as he gets his void.] Take your time, I've got you.

[voidseeing]

[There's no response from him; he's too focused on extracting the Void to be capable of saying anything to her right now. Fortunately, the process only takes a matter of seconds, so she won't have to cover him for long before the sleek-looking gun is out and in his arms.]

At least I won't need to worry about ammunition for this.

[tearmeanewone]

Well if you decide to switch-- [She twitches the gun upwards to indicate.] I think I can get you more ammo.

[voidseeing]

Good to know.

[He gestures with one arm to the Luger on his hip.]

I brought this just in case.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth peers at the gun and takes in its shape and unique traits. That way, if she sees something, she can pick it up for him.]

Got it-- Should be easy enough, Booker usually carries two guns and they both need ammo. [She gives him a wry smile.] All right, you ready?

[voidseeing]

Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go win this.

[He's not entirely sure what the odds are given the situation they'd just been dropped in, but he's going to give it his best anyway. He has to, for her sake as well as his own. It would be one thing if it were just him out here; Elizabeth's presence makes him even more determined to make sure that no harm comes to either one of them.]