lucetilogs | Zompania Draft - Draftees and Reinforcements, mid-day 4-early 7

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Zompania Draft - Draftees and Reinforcements, mid-day 4-early 7

Who: Draftees and Volunteers
What: The draftees and the reinforcements must hold against the Third Party army until rescue arrives
When: From May 23 through the wee hours of May 26 (days 4-7)
Where: Zompania
Summary: Draftee information and Volunteer information
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post is for the rest of the draft, beginning when the volunteer reinforcements arrive. Look up in the sky--your friends are parajumping in! Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

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

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[Goodness, he really is out of practice! Or he was just never that good to start with. The spirit doesn't have too many memories of Kari seeing him fight to compare to, so for all it knows, he's just always been this way.]

[But he's not dead yet, and that means he can afford to fight a little harder, right? How sturdy was the average human, anyway? Kari could certainly take a beating and go on fighting, but then, she did have her time-delay armor to fall back on...]

[Well! Let's just see how much more he can handle. It fires off another round of star-beams, this time being a little less precise with its aim -- so a few of those beams may just knock away some of the cultists instead ~~b-but it's not like it cares or anything so don't think too much of it~~.]

[He's insane. That's the only explanation he can think of, here. Flat out, one-hundred-percent, certifiably insane.

His forcefield is already faltering and he doesn't have the time to boost it back up now, not with his tongue temporarily all twisted up in the pain of his new injury, so instead he shifts his powers into boosting his movement, his hands acting like miniature propulsion engines that allow him to dodge attacks left and right. Her star beams are admittedly easier to dodge, being so bright and visible in the middle of the dark battlefield; it's the arrows and the cultist attacks that are giving him the real trouble. Childishly (when he has half a second to spare thinking about it) he hopes that grates on her nerves. The fact that she's enjoying this is beyond infuriating.

So much for teamwork. Is he seriously going to get taken out by an ally?]

[Hmmm perhaps its attacks are getting too predictable now? Maybe it should mix things up a bit?]

[It powers up its sword again, but this time there's no array of stars shooting out right away. Instead, the sword starts to glow brighter and brighter, until white-hot flames begin dripping off the blade and fizzling out on the ground.]

[And that's when it decides to fire again, this time the stars coming out one at a time -- but super-heated, and dripping with flames. Although the fire fizzles out as soon as it strikes, it still packs both a punch and a sting -- the first star strikes one of the cultists, burning the feathers right off the edges of one of his wings.]

[Of course, what the stars gain in power, they lack in aim -- so hopefully Billy's prepared for some dodging practice, because if one of those hits, it's going to hurt.]

[The time it takes for Hoshikyo to power up her blade gives Billy enough of a breather to take down a couple of the cultists chasing him and put some distance between her and where he's fighting. Duking it out with two or three cultists in the air is still exhausting and terrifying, but it's a step up from fighting half a dozen and dodging her magic missile things. Honestly, he's amazed he's lasted this long, especially since he can feel the blood trickling steadily down his hip now.

He needs to finish this, and fast.

Distracted by the enemy fire (and maybe inwardly hoping her pause means she's getting attacked or has decided to stop or something, ha, because he's usually that lucky), he doesn't notice the next round of energy blasts coming from her direction until it's almost too late. The first one clips him, and he flips away, dodging a couple more until the last one slams into his back. He can't help screaming this time, burned by the red-hot flames, wings and cape set alight for a moment or two before the fire flickers out. It's still enough to knock him right out of the sky, stunned and in too much pain to think, the blue light of his magic winking out. For a long, terrifying moment he's free-falling, the ground coming up to meet him far, far too fast.

Suddenly a weight slams into him from the side, and he has about three seconds to think that maybe he's been saved. That feeling of tremulous relief only lasts as long as it takes him to look up and meet the cold eyes of a cultist. The huge-winged maniac had grabbed him halfway down, one hand gripping Billy's arm, the other winding around the neck, and is rocketing towards the ground at a terrifying speed.

...Oh. Shit. Instead of saving him, they... were just finishing the job.

He opens his mouth to speak, to try and cast a spell, but the hand on his neck tightens and cuts him off right before he they slam into the surface of the world, and he-

-he inhales with a sharp gasp, because instead of hardness and pain and death all he feels is cold and wet. He regrets it immediately; rather than the ground, he's been slammed into the river, and that first gulp only served to fill his lungs with murky water. He scratches and claws at the cultist's hand, desperate, choking, as he feels his body dragged across the surface of the river. His back scrapes over pebbles, sand, and slimy reeds - the shore? - until they both stop, and he looks up in fear and despair from beneath the surface, nails digging into unyielding gloves.

Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god, he can't breathe, he can't move, he can't cast, he can't do anything-

help me

help me

idon'twanttodie]

[Teddy had taken off flying as soon as the ship opened its doors, searching wherever he could for any sign of Billy. Unfortunately, Zompania is huge, and it took him a bit of time to actually find him, a fact that didn't help his nerves in the slightest. Once he does see him, flashes of blue in the distance with stars being fired at him and cultists after him, he's hit with both relief and dread. He's alive, Billy's held out and is still alive. But he's being attacked at all sides, and -

Was that Hoshikyo firing at him?

Teddy doesn't waste another second - He's flying forward as fast as his Hulkling body will let him. But it's still too slow; he feels his heart stop when Billy's hit by one of the blasts, then he's falling, then -

No, no, no no no-

A cultist is flying towards the ground, no, the river with Billy, and Teddy feels utter panic turn into desperation, shifting to a body that isn't a bulky as Hulkling's or even Teddy's, becoming more streamlined in appearance, and more muscles are added to the wings to push against the wind even harder, even faster. He could easily pass Hoshikyo while clipping her arm, but his sights aren't on her whatsoever. He's focused on Billy being held under the water, and he doesn't even notice when he flies past Hoshikyo at a high speed.

No, no, please no -

[...oh. He fell in the water. Goodness, he's not very good at his magic at all, is he? Once more, the spirit wonders if it made a mistake and misjudged him. Could he really be of any help when it looked like he could use just as much training as Kari? Well, at the very least, he could prove to be a positive influence to her--]

[Those thoughts are cut quickly as soon as Teddy zooms by, clipping its arm and knocking it slightly off balance. Oh, that's good, one of his allies showed up... though they could have done it without nearly running into its vessel's body, gosh!]

[But it looks like Billy lost the game. A shame, and it was just getting interesting!]

[It debates sticking around to see whether he lives or not... most of the cultists seemed to be going after the two of them right now, and none of them looked like they'd be a challenge for the spirit, so what the heck -- it stays and watches.]

[There's darkness tugging at his consciousness, trying to drag him down just as surely as the hand around his neck is holding him under. That first gasp that had flooded his lungs is now preventing him from giving him any extra time to get himself free, and he's already panicking, adrenaline and fear fuelling his struggles despite the obvious futility. His nails dig into the skin of the cultist's arm, but all his efforts are shrugged off and ignored. Instinct pushes him to cough, but he's rewarded only with more water, more of his consciousness slipping away. He tries the mentally force his magic to work, but his thoughts are jumbled from lack of oxygen, and he's running out of time too quickly for him to muster so much as a spark. Without the words on his lips and the sound of them in his ears he's lost, powerless. Doomed.

No, no, no, no, no, I don't... I don't want...

His thoughts do him no good. It feels like an eternity, dying and watching his own death glaring down at him past the water's surface, but all too soon the darkness wins and he's falling, falling, gone.

...Teddy...]

[It's just when Billy's hands stop struggling that Teddy reaches them.

Not that he sees it happen just yet, seeing how he's going so fast that everything's a blur. At the last moment, Teddy shifts again, his mass increasing and bone structure becoming heavier, flesh turning into a rocky substance. Once he hits the cultist square in the back, he knows he won't be forgetting the sound of bones breaking against him, but it ultimately isn't important right now. He doesn't know the fate of the soldier he rammed, and he doesn't care to see.

All matters to him is the man still under water, and Teddy's immediately shifting back into Hulkling and stopping himself by digging his claws into the mud, then flying back to the water.]

Billy!

[As soon as he can, he gets Billy's head above the water. But Billy isn't coughing, isn't flailing, isn't... isn't breathing. And for a second, white hot panic hits him like a shot to the chest; panic, desperation, denial, crushing guilt, utter grief, so terrible that it chokes him, makes him feel like he can't breathe, like his heart's stopped in his chest. He stares for that second, one arm under Billy's shoulders, and he finds his other hand, trembling and shaking, moving to cup his cheek.]

No... No, Billy, please, no...

[No. No. No.

There are cultists around him, and Teddy's half tempted to give up right there. Let them do what they want, let him die, maybe he can find Billy before they're brought back to life again. No matter how agonizing that could be, anything would be better than going a week knowing that he's dead, Teddy failed, and his fiancé is...

Not dead.

Not dead, just not breathing. That's – That's right, not enough time passed, if he can just -

He can fix this.

But not when a cultist could stab him in the back. Holding Billy close to his chest, Teddy looks at the group surrounding him, then chooses the best opening he can find: which happens to be a line of them just waiting to be brought down.

His wings move upward, shift into something much, much larger, then down, shooting the two of them out of the water and straight toward the so-called “opening” in the group. Teddy holds his free fist out to practically bowl the soldiers over, his body shifting to protect Billy in case one of the soldiers manages to attack – and one does, cutting into one of Teddy's large wings and making him bite back a shout of pain, his flight pattern wobbling slightly. But he still moves forward, out of the group surrounding them and towards – anywhere, anywhere they can land without being immediately attacked.

He ends up just choosing the ground where there aren't many soldiers around, knowing that he doesn't have the time to find an actual secure place. Time is of the essence if he wants to save the love of his life. He lands, shifts into human form (because this can't work otherwise, he can't screw this up, this is the one thing that's scared him the most about first aid and he can't screw this up) as he lays Billy on the ground, though he keeps his wings out. He does this to let them grow, expand around the two of them and harden, creating a dome of a shield to protect them while he works. A crack on the top allows the light that he needs, and once that's done...

Tip the head back, lower the chin. Pinch the nose so that the air doesn't escape. Take a breath, seal your lips over their mouth, blow air into it and watch the chest as it rises and falls. Give two breaths. Lean back, place one hand on the center of the chest, put the heel of your other hand on top of the first and interlock your fingers. Avoid the ribs. Press down vertically about 4-5 centimeters, nothing beyond that.]

Come on, come on... breathe, B, breathe... come on, come back...

[It might seem like forever before anything happens, but suddenly one of the chest compressions hits home just enough to tip the scales in favour of life and Billy coughs up a mouthful of water, chest convulsing as he gasps for air and struggles to clear the rest of the water from his lungs. He's still only half-conscious, his eyelids barely flickering, but he's alive again.]

[Oh god - he's alive.

He's alive.

What Teddy wants to do is pull him in close and never let go, never let anything else happen to him. Instead, he turns Billy onto his side to help him cough out the rest of the water, one hand rubbing circles into his shoulder. A hand that's still trembling a little, but he doesn't quite care about hiding that right now.]

Easy, easy... [He's alive, he's not dead, oh thank god...]

[It's a long moment before Teddy gets anything but more coughing out of Billy, and when he does react, it isn't great; still dazed and coming back from that frantic, near-death state, the voice and the gentleness of the hands on him doesn't click immediately as safe or familiar. With a strangled noise he jerks back, weakly resisting the grasp, and half-lifts a clenched fist to punch away the offender, eyes wild. Days of constant fighting, the bloody battlefield, watching people die left and right... none of it's done him any favours, and for a moment it almost seems like he doesn't know Teddy at all. He hardly looks like himself in this state- dirty, unkempt, stained with blood and muddy water, after going so long without fighting a single battle or joining in a spar.

The moment passes quickly, though, and he stares instead, disbelief, fear, and a desperate need flaring to life in his eyes. His voice is barely a whisper when he speaks, hoarse from coughing and being choked only moments ago.]

...T... Teddy? What are you doing here...?

[He doesn't know if he can dare to hope. There's dream shifters all over the place, this could be a trap, there's no way he could be this lucky after everything that's happened...]

[Teddy holds his hands up as Billy reacts, trying to show that he means no harm, surprised by it and yet not at the same time. He'd only been here for a little while and he's already seen horrors; Billy had gone through much worse. And he nearly...

He's alive now, that's what matters.]

Reinforcements. They sent us here to he - nng -!

[Well. Looks like a couple of the cultists figured out that the dome is a protective shield. Just because it's rock hard doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, and Teddy cringes at first, then frowns up at where he felt the strike.]

Hold on. It's about to get bright.

[There are... two of them, if the blows against his shifted wings tell him anything. Quickly, Teddy retracts his wings and shifts into Hulkling at the same time, getting rid of the soldiers by dealing out two well-placed, fast punches (and maybe he let out some of his pent up anger on them; at least he can, against them).

Since they're both sent flying blocks away, Teddy turns to Billy again, kneeling down by him, and he nearly reaches his hands out for him before he pulls them back; he's not sure if Billy's okay with that yet, if he trusts what he's seeing yet...]

I'm not letting you fight this alone, B. I'm here.

Edited 2014-05-30 07:24 (UTC)

[One last pause, one final hesitation, and that's all Billy can handle. Maybe it isn't real, maybe it's just a shifter, maybe he really is dead.

He doesn't care. Teddy's here, Teddy looks and sounds and feels as real as ever, and Billy's never needed him more.

With a strangled cry he lunges at Teddy, burying his face against his fiancé's chest and letting the floodgates open, clenched eyes doing nothing to hold back the tears. All he wants to do is curl up and scream his heart out, but he has just enough sense to know that this isn't the time or the place for it. He can't help how he feels, though. He's done, he's spent. He's at his limit and he can't be strong right now.]

Teddy... Teddy... oh my god, oh my god, I thought... I...

[I thought I was dead, I thought I was dying, I didn't think I'd ever see you again, you're here...]

[Teddy doesn't hesitate; he wraps both arms around Billy, still as Hulkling, and just holds him tight without it being too much so. The rage against others, against who did this to him in the first place, melts into relief, and the calm he'd forced on himself ever since the injured started flooding Luceti breaks a little, making him shed a few tears on Billy's shoulder. There was a different kind of horror back at Luceti - not like this, never like this, but it was still enough to make Teddy push everything aside to work almost automatically. And the unbridled worry and panic over Billy being gone, seeing him get shot down, holding his body in his arms in that instant...]

I know, I know, I - Oh my god, Billy, I thought - I almost...

[I almost lost you.]

I'm here, you've got me now...

[Billy holds him back as best as he can, trembling helplessly in his arms. It's been so long since he'd felt safe, since he'd given himself a moment to relax and really and truly breathe. He can't relax entirely, not here, but even in the middle of a battlefield, he's at least reassured that no one can get to him without going through Teddy. And he wouldn't - couldn't - let that happen, either.

We can do this... we can get out of this, go home together. No more dying... we have to win, now...]

[Teddy holds him for a moment longer, giving them both a bit of time to revel in the utter relief at seeing the other alive, at feeling a little more at ease with the other at their side. But the fact that they're in the middle of a battlefield isn't lost on him, and he loosens his head enough to look at their surroundings, to extend his claws away from Billy's body.]

Okay... we need to find some cover. Save whoever we can. [He looks down at his fiancé as he holds Billy's hand (the left one, the one that would be wearing the ring had they not left it at home where it'd be safe) in his much larger one.] You with me?

[It's hard to pull back, harder still to let go. The only thing keeping him from collapsing from the stress at this point is that Teddy's still holding his hand. He's shaky on his feet, still bleeding and trembling against his will, and the nod he gives Teddy is tentative, but he offers it regardless. It's not like he has a choice at this point- even if he thought for a second that Teddy might leave him, he couldn't bear another separation. Not here.

He doesn't trust his voice right now, so he hopes Teddy gets the message anyway.]

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Zompania Draft - Draftees and Reinforcements, mid-day 4-early 7

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it would help if I tracked the thread eh

yeah probably lol

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