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

[ribbonbon]

...That reminds me of something someone told me once.

[It was a conversation she had with someone not too long after she arrived in the enclosure. She wasn't sure if she should take it seriously back then but now that she's come to distrust the Malnosso so much...maybe.]

We were talking and we started wondering...what if they send people who can't fight out because they can't fight? I mean, what if the Malnosso send them to make sure people fight as hard as they can to protect them? The harder everyone fights, the more likely they'll take out the enemy, right?

[The thought is horrifying. She wants to believe it's not true, but...]

[foundafamily]

[Firo stares at her, eyes wide and disbelieving. But the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense.

He stops in his tracks and stomps his foot.]

...Shit. That's--that's sick!

[ribbonbon]

[She jumps a little and lets out a quiet squeak when his foot hits the ground, startled by the sudden noise. When she speaks her voice is shaky.]

Well, it's...it's not like we know for sure that it's true or anything, you know? L-like, maybe the person who said that was like, totally wrong or whatever...!

[She might be trying to convince herself more than him, though. Not even the Malnosso would do something like that...right?]

[foundafamily]

[The startled sound she makes is enough to jolt him out of his anger for a moment.]

Sorry.

[He folds his arms over his chest and starts walking again, though more slowly than before.]

It makes perfect sense, given the kinds a' people they've shown themselves to be so far. People like that, well... I guess they probably would think a' the ones who can't fight as expendable...

[So why not put them to use in that way?]

[ribbonbon]

["Expendable." What an ugly word; it's chilling to think that anyone would apply the term to people. But the more they talk about it, the more the idea really starts to seem believable.]

Not that they would admit it. So we get thrown into a war against people who just want us all dead by people who don't care if we die or not. I mean, I guess people can come back and stuff, but...

[Well, she imagines that dying can't be easy. She trails behind him a little bit. The subject at hand is pretty taxing on her mind, especially on top of everything else.]

[foundafamily]

[He half-smiles.]

...but that doesn't make dyin' any more fun.

[He notices her falling behind and he's not quite sure what to do about it. The past few days have been very rough and this is grim subject matter, so he can't blame her for being affected by it. The question is whether he's going to try and help.

Thanks to certain events back home, he's in a uniquely experienced position when it comes to this stuff. He supposes he has something of an obligation to at least try, even if this isn't a topic he likes.]

Have you died before this?

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette looks up at him. Well, there's a question she never expected to hear. Ever. She shakes her head.]

No. I um...I haven't. I-I guess I'm still trying to like, get my head around it. I never thought dying would be like...like that.

[Like drowning and burning all at once, like being smothered in death, helpless and terrified. She shudders a little just thinking about it, reaching up to gently pull on her hair out of habit. Since he asked her such a question, she wonders...]

What about you? Um, w-was this your first time dying?

[foundafamily]

[He shakes his head when she asks him.]

Not at all. I couldn't give you a number, but it's happened a lot before.

[He hopes he can offer at least one comforting thing. Dying's not pleasant, but he doesn't want this poor girl to think something like that is waiting when she kicks it for good.]

If it makes you feel better, it's never been like what happened back there. That wasn't normal.

[ribbonbon]

That's...good to know, I guess.

[Not that she's terribly eager to experience dying again. Though, she can't help but be a little disconcerted with how casual he seems to be about dying so much.]

But you've like, really died that many times? Like, just how long have you been away from home? Um, i-if it's okay for me to ask.

[After all, to have died so many times he must have been in this world for a long time, right? Or he must get into a lot of trouble.]

[foundafamily]

[He frowns a little; she doesn't sound too reassured. But, then, what did he expect?

Though it's hardly a funny topic, he chuckles at her question.]

Actually, most of it was back home, not here.

[He pauses, running his hand through his hair. This isn't something he's shared with many people here, despite his recent resolution not to hide it on this draft.]

I know it's a little hard to believe. I'd prove it to you, but you're probably sick of seein' blood.

[ribbonbon]

[It's Pilouette's turn to be shocked. Her eyes go wide and she's quiet for a moment. It's not that she doesn't believe him. Having been in Luceti for so long, she's just about willing to believe any weird thing a person tells her.]

You...You died that many times before coming here? [She tenses up the thought of him proving his claims. Tired of seeing blood indeed.] ...Yeah, I don't want you to...to die or whatever just to prove it's possible. But I never thought that people could die more than once anywhere besides here...

[foundafamily]

Well, I wouldn't have to kill myself.

[He just pieces back together no matter what the injury or how fatal. It's pretty cool, in his eyes.

He shrugs.]

Neither did I. It's not normal in my world--I guess you could say I got lucky.

[ribbonbon]

Geez, like, beyond lucky. You probably don't have too much to be scared of, huh...?

[After all, when dying isn't too much of a problem, you can afford to take more risks. Still, she can't imagine it's any more unpleasant.]

D-did, um, did you freak out the first time it happened?

[foundafamily]

Yeah, not much.

[That's a massive lie. His fear of death wasn't too healthily developed before, and with the elxir came a couple new problems. But his pride makes it hard to say otherwise and he imagines feigning fearlessness might help her feel better.]

Didn't have time to freak out--I didn't even see it comin'.

[He frowns, as if remembering some vexing occurrence.]

See, we thought the guy was down for good, but he was immortal too, so he just popped back up and blew us all away.

[ribbonbon]

So, it wasn't normal, but there was another person who...?

[Who could cheat death. She's still kind of trying to wrap her mind around it, but at least it's keeping her from thinking too much about her own death just days earlier or potentially dying again days later.]

But weren't you scared when you came back to life? Did you even know you'd died?

[foundafamily]

A few people.

[More than Firo knows. Thankfully many of them are his friends and family.]

Scared? Why would the comin' back to life scare somebody? I was more relieved. And annoyed.

[He shrugs.]

It was kinda just like blackin' out.... but considerin' he got me with a tommy gun and I came back completely fine, I put two and two together.

[...With some explanation from people who knew what the heck was going on.]

[ribbonbon]

Maybe it's just me, then. If I woke up okay and the last thing I remembered was dying, I'd be pretty freaked out by it, you know? Actually, I'd be freaked out even if I didn't remember dying.

[After all, shortly after waking up in Luceti for the first time she had just assumed she was dead, like a ghost haunting some random forest. She looks forward again and squints.]

Hey...I think I see a little bit of light up ahead...!

[foundafamily]

[She does have a point--maybe he'd feel the same if his first time were different, but he just had so much to do that he didn't even think about how weird it was.

He's considering how to respond when she points out the light.]

Yeah?

[He suddenly realizes he hasn't been paying as much attention to their surroundings as he should have. At least she's on it.]

Hey, you're right!

[Lowering his voice, he glances back at her.]

Think you're ready?

[ribbonbon]

[She doesn't think she's ready. She has no idea what they're coming up against, what could be possibly waiting for them. While part of her believes that whatever happens, they'll get out of it alive, they could also be killed the second they get into the city. She's not ready. She's not ready at all.

Exhaling, she looks at him and nods, grasping her first aid kit and bag tightly.]

Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready.

[foundafamily]

[Good on her for putting on a brave face. He nods back, a little more respect showing in his eyes.]

All right. When--if things go south, try to stay behind me, okay?

[Maybe they'll get out of this okay. But probably not.

Antsy, he speeds up his pace as they approach the exit.]

[ribbonbon]

[She caught that initial "when" and she can't help but cringe just a little bit. So he's expecting things to get pretty ugly up there, too...]

Okay. Um, g-got it.

[She walks a little faster to keep up with Firo's pace, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She begins to cough as they get closer to the exit, an awful smell wafting in from the outside. She can't even imagine what it is.]

Ugh...

[foundafamily]

[Firo's pretty sure he knows at least part of the reason for the stink; corpses and death are smells you don't forget. Between his own life and his memories from Szilard Firo's pretty familiar with them.]

...Ah, shit.

[He grimaces. The stench is really strong--just how bad is it?]

Are you gonna need a moment before we go in..?

[ribbonbon]

[The smell is getting worse and worse. She pulls part of her shirt up over her nose and mouth. It's better but there's no escaping that stench. She shakes her head; she doesn't want to stop when they're this close.]

N-no. Um, I...I'll be fine!

[It's likely obvious that she doesn't quite believe that, but she's trying hard to convince herself.]

[foundafamily]

[Firo nods. He won't argue with her on that.]

...All right.

At least if they're all dead we should be able to get out without bein' ambushed...

[The edge of the tunnel is right in front of them. Firo pauses to listen for any movement, then peeks out to make sure no one's coming. He means for the motion to be quick, but he freezes when he sees just how bad the carnage is.]

Holy... shit.

[ribbonbon]

[That definitely doesn't sound good. She's staying behind him like he asked, but hearing his reaction, she's even more worried than before. He seemed pretty cool-headed so far...what could be bad enough that even he would hesitate? She gets just a little closer to him, her voice coming out as a whisper.]

W-what? What is it?