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]

[Ready? Pilouette doesn't think she'll be ready for anything that comes her way after what she's seen in Zompania so far. She gets to her feet and grips her bag and first aid kit a little tighter and nodss.]

Well...I'm as ready as I'm going to get.

[foundafamily]

Good enough.

[He's a bit shaky himself, barely managing to keep his hands steady. The adrenaline that faded during their break is rushing back now.

He moves toward the window. There don't seem to be any soldiers in the immediate vicinity...]

I'll go out first, see what's goin' on.

[If something gets him right away, hopefully that'll give her enough warning to get away while he regenerates.]

[ribbonbon]

O...Okay! Just be careful out there...!

[Even knowing Firo can't die, she still doesn't want him to get hurt. She can't imagine that being able to survive whatever the cultists can dish out makes it any less unpleasant. She takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. She's sure he'll be fine.

After all, Firo seems like a pretty tough guy.]

[foundafamily]

I will, I will.

[Maybe if he pretends to be nonchalant he'll actually be able to relax. So far, it doesn't seem to be working.

He cautiously peeks out of the window, then, after quickly flashing back a reassuring smile, he jumps down. The sounds of fighting are louder now, but not overwhelmingly so. They should at least have some time to move. As softly as he can, he calls up to her.]

You can come down.

[ribbonbon]

[When Firo calls up to her, Pilouette breathes a sigh of relief before climbing out the window, shakily making her way down the stack of boxes, thankful it's still standing. The sounds of combat have her more than a little on edge and she looks about nervously.]

Now to find somewhere else to duck into...

[In the back of her mind, she can't help but think that they can't just go from spot to spot forever. Eventually they'll probably be flushed out of hiding and...well. She's doesn't like thinking about what might happen after that.]

[foundafamily]

[He watches anxiously as she makes her way down, quickly glancing from her to the streets and back.]

Yeah, I guess...

[But where to go? Motioning for her to be quiet, he edges closer to the mouth of the alleyway, where it connects with a larger street. Cautiously, he peeks out...

...And immediately backs into the alley when he spies a cultist just a little ways down the street. The shocked expression on his face probably tells her enough.]

[ribbonbon]

[It tells her more than enough and she's not about to take a risk and look for herself. She clenches her teeth, almost afraid to even breathe too loudly. Nervously, she starts to very lightly jog in place as if that will somehow get her going faster if they need to book it.

She begins glancing at the other end of the alley. They might need to find another option, but far from her to trust herself to figure out what that is. For all she knows, there might be more cultists over on that end. Wide-eyed, she gives Firo a look as if to ask "What do we do?"]

[foundafamily]

[He notices the jogging with a small feeling of reassurance; at least she's not scared stiff. Firo's instincts tend to lead him charging into danger, but he knows people are just as likely to freeze up.

He jerks his head toward the other end of the alley. The unspoken question being "can we get out that way?"

If not, he's not sure what their options are, besides a fight. Or going through the town by rooftops. ]

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette looks to the other end to Firo and back. Unsure of what else to do, she quickly scrambles to the other side of the alley and cautiously peeks around the corner. Unfortunately, when she looks back to Firo, she doesn't have good news. She shakes her head, having seen another cultist approaching the alley from the other direction.

She knew this wouldn't be easy, but to think they'd get into such a tight spot so soon...]

[foundafamily]

[Of course it would happen like this. He almost laughs at how terribly this is all working out.

Perhaps he should consider further, but there's only one thing he knows to do. He moves in closer to her, leaning down so he can speak as softly as possible.]

I'm gonna hafta take one out. Be ready to run as soon as it's down, okay? It might call for help or somethin', so...

[ribbonbon]

[She lets out a shaky breath and nods slowly. At least they have something almost resembling a plan for the moment. The idea of facing a cultist head on, even if Firo is the one actually taking them on, causes Pilouette to grow even more nervous. Still if that's what has to happen...

Pilouette does her best to steady herself, trying to keep her head together enough to get going as the second that Cultist is down.]

[foundafamily]

[He nods back now that she seems to be on board. One shaky intake of breath later, he's heading for the mouth of the alley.

Using the energy Vegeta taught him about as a boost, Firo springs at the cultist from the side. Luckily for him, this one has a sword in hand instead of a spear. A knife still isn't the best weapon against that, but it he acts quickly enough--

There. It's not as clean as he'd like, but he manages to slice the cultist's throat open just as its weapon nicks his shoulder. Clumsily, he falls with the body and scrambles to his feet. The cut on him is already sealing itself up.]

[ribbonbon]

[Time seems to slow down as Pilouette watches Firo ambush the cultist, cutting its throat. As much as she had readied herself to bolt as soon as Firo had taken care of that cultist...she still can't help but be stunned. After all, she just watched Firo kill a guy. Even after the things she's seen in Zompania so far, even knowing that Firo is doing it for a good reason...somehow, it still rattles her.

After a moment, she snaps out of it and dashes toward Firo as he jumps up, eager to get out of the alley.]

[foundafamily]

[While he's not a hardened killer like one of his friends, taking out the Third Party soldiers doesn't really bother Firo. Especially not since what they did to Seto; his only regret in this is that he had to kill it in front of a girl and that he couldn't torture it first. He doesn't realize how very unhappy those feelings would make his friend.

He's quickly wiping the blood off his knife as she runs over. He doesn't seem to notice how freaked out she is.]

Doesn't sound like it coulda' called to any more, but we should probably get goin' right? You think we should risk stayin' on the street or look for another building?

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette is a little startled at how unaffected he sounds right now. Was killing that cultist really so easy for him? She's not sure what else she expected, but still. When she speaks, her voice is unsteady and she's unable to keep herself from continually glancing back to the body on the ground and the blood pooling around it.]

H-huh? Oh, um...maybe we should stick to the street for now, j-just in case we run into someone who needs help or something...

[foundafamily]

Yeah, that sounds good.

[Travelling with a group might be harder, but they can't leave a comrade in trouble. Firo can't think of anyone in Luceti he hates enough for that.

Before he turns to start walking, he notices her staring at the body.]

Are you okay? You're gonna be seein' a lot more a' that, so you should probably get used to it.

[He probably could have made that sound nicer, but he has no idea how. Sometimes he doesn't realize how startling being cold about these things can be to people.]

[ribbonbon]

[It is cold, but...as much as it rattles her, Pilouette knows it's true. They're in a warzone, after all. Of course people are going to kill or be killed all around her. The least she can do is try to deal with it. If she's going to be of any use at all, she can't be freaking out all the time. It still takes her a moment to tear her eyes away from the corpse.]

I-I know. I've just never seen someone die before. It's... [Frightening. Terrifying. Horrible.] ...weird.

[With that, she begins to walk as well, following behind and keeping her eyes down on Firo's heels; even if she's trying to get used to it...she really doesn't want to look at the corpses that are stacked around the city.]

[foundafamily]

Oh.

[Of course she hasn't seen someone die before; sometimes Firo forgets that that's not exactly a common experience. He inclines his head in a slight nod to acknowledge that, yeah, it is a bit weird. To one moment have someone before you full of life and fight and the next moment be limp can't b anything but weird.]

Just think: at least they're not friends a' yours.

[Now he's trying to sound cavalier. Seeing any bodies from kids is going to hurt, much as he'd like to deny it.]

[ribbonbon]

Y-Yeah. That's right.

[But her friends, among other people, could end up joining the dead and that scares her, even if they can be brought back...provided that bomb can be stopped. She takes a breath, inhaling the smell of blood and bodies. It somehow seems even worse than before.]

It doesn't seem like anyone is too close by... [Not out in the open, anyway.] I guess most people are nearer to the center.

[foundafamily]

[He nods, glancing around their surroundings to verify her remark. It's emptier than he would have thought; it's good that they don't have to run too much just yet, but it's a little eerie too.]

Yeah. We musta' lost time when we were hidin' from those jerks.

If people are already that far in, it might be a good thing. We can come up from behind in the fightin' and take some out that way.

[ribbonbon]

Yeah. I guess it's better for us to be sneakier about it than going after them head on. Still, everyone's probably going to like, spread out before too long... [Not that she could tell how long that would take. Really, there's nothing that's for sure here. She finally forces herself to look up. She can't keep her eyes on the ground forever, after all.] S-Since you're in front, I'll try and keep an eye on things back here, just so no one like, takes us by surprise...

[Hopefully, she can keep herself together enough to do it.]

[foundafamily]

[His shoulders slump a little when she points that out.

Yeah, you're probably right about that... But maybe we'll at least find someone.

[He glances over his shoulder at her and smiles.]

Thanks. Just yell if you see anything.

[Probably not the best idea, Firo...]

[ribbonbon]

[She nods to him in response and finds herself glancing over her shoulder as they walk. However, this also means looking at everything else around them. When she speaks her voice comes out as a whisper, as she remembers the invasion in their own enclosure.]

I wonder if this could have been Luceti, too...

[foundafamily]

[He flinches; that's something he never wants to think about. Having to go to war is bad enough; having it come to your door is even worse.]

You think?

...I wonder how long they fought before they wound up like this.

[He waves his arm to gesture to the rubble around them.]

[ribbonbon]

Who knows?

[All she can tell, if the screams the previous night were any indication, is that any battle that could have taken place had already been lost long before they had arrived. The idea that none of them could have likely saved anyone inside the city just makes the entire situation worse.

Pilouette's head suddenly jerks up as she's pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.]

H-Hey, do you hear that?!