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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[No one should have to witness something like this at all, really, though in a way he's glad that Zuko isn't someone who's had to be exposed to it before now. War, and the repercussions of it, has always been what he's tried to help stop. Seeing this here... He lacks any influence he once had, and it tears at him.]

Don't worry if it isn't easy. It shouldn't be.

[While his world had only just gotten out of war, there was never anything quite this bad. At least nothing that he had seen. There were stories of his great grandfather Sozin, and his own father had nearly done the unthinkable... but still.]

You sound like you've seen this before.

[He's caused this before, though on a smaller scale. That doesn't get a mention.]

... When I was four years old. At the end of the third Great Ninja War. [He shouldn't remember it as well as he does, but it shaped his life greatly.] And to lesser degrees since.

It's never any less of a waste.

[Zuko is quiet for a few moments as he digests this.]

My world has seen a lot of war too, but nothing quite like this.

[Nothing that he had witnessed anyway.]

[Itachi tilts his head toward Zuko, wondering if this is really true or if the boy simply hadn't been exposed to any of it until now.]

War is never pleasant in any case.

It's worse still when some of the reasons still elude you.

[Perhaps a bit of both. Although really Zuko couldn't think of anything that could compare to this massive slaughter of innocent people. ... Except what happened to the airbenders. But that was long before he was born.

Zuko nods though, certainly in agreement that war is never pleasant.]

Even if you know the reasons, it still doesn't always make sense.

That's true.

[Small talk isn't Itachi's specialty, but any talk at all will help keep Zuko from focusing on the dead bodies he's helping to move.]

You are a fighter, though. I can tell. [And not by the burn.]

[Well you know what they say, it takes one to know one. And Zuko has a feeling that's the case here.]

I've had to fight most of my life.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[It's a simple statement, full of neither pity nor contempt.]

The same seems to be true for many here, though not all.

[Zuko shakes his head.]

It's made me strong, and it's who I am. I'm sure they same goes for you and everyone else here.

[He has noticed that many people here have had to struggle in their lives. Some more than him. It's certainly been a bit of a humbling experience.]

Do you believe that everyone needs the sort of strength that fighting provides?

[Itachi pauses in his current actions in order to wait on Zuko's answer to this.]

[He thinks about this for a moment.]

No. People shouldn't have to suffer or cause suffering to become stronger.

[But he knows that sometimes its unavoidable.]

What do you fight for, then? Yourself? Others?

[This boy is around Sasuke's age. It's hard not to make comparisons, though he tries to avoid it.]

Would you fight so that others wouldn't have to do the same?

I use to fight for myself, and my father's acceptance.

[Those were some dark days, and he didn't really like to think about them much.]

But now I fight for peace, harmony, and restoring my nation's honor. So... yeah, I guess I would.

[So much of what he'd just said could have been spoken by Sasuke. It's uncanny. But this isn't his brother, and it's not his place to pry into this teen's life too much.]

Peace is always the hardest thing to fight for - since fighting, by its very nature, is the opposite of what you're trying to achieve.

Yeah, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

[Again, its especially hard when its against your own family. No matter how terrible they might be.]

... No. Sometimes you don't.

[Or at least it feels as if you don't. Though it's always there.]

What's your name?

Zuko. You?

[Despite all that crap that this draft has thrown at him, he's at least met some interesting people.]

[Just the first name. Or perhaps the only name. One never knew here.

He offers only his first name back in return, then. No need to make things complicated.]

Itachi.

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

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