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

[lucetimods]

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

Comments

[wise_maiden]

Any amount is too much. Especially --

[ But she stops speaking and turns again, a sound catching her attention. ] There -- someone's here. I have to go check.

[corrinesbell]

[Especially?

Then no, nope, absolutely not, Sheena reaches for Raine's arm again before she can get too far.]

Definitely not by yourself. [Something about her seems very off, floaty, and Sheena doesn't like it.] Actually, I don't even think you're going first. Stick behind me. If it's one of us I promise not to hurt them on accident, I'll get out of your way.

[wise_maiden]

[ She starts to tug her arm away in frustration, until she fully takes in what the ninja's offering, and stops.

There's that sound again ...]

... All -- all right. That seems reasonable.

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena nods, stepping in front of Raine and drawing out one of her fighting knives. Her free hand stays extended, a directive to Raine to stay put, because she advances around that corner as silently as she can.

What will she find?]

[wise_maiden]

[ Two third party members near an open window, one standing in the shadows, with light injuries, armed with a bloodied spear and the other heavily injured -- crippled -- positioned with a stockpile of darts. The source of those odd sounds from before. ]

[corrinesbell]

[Oh damn it.

Sheena takes in a lot of information all at once, visually, and she ducks back around the corner with a really strong hope that they didn't see her looking. They probably did, she and Raine probably don't have a whole lot of time to work with. She tries to get Raine's eye contact, mouthing "Get out!" and shaking her head. There's nothing for them here.]

[wise_maiden]

[ A cold dread fills her as Sheena turns around -- apparently the ninja hadn't attacked, but she had plainly seen... something.

Raine starts to move back in the direction of the way they had come in, though she doesn't want Sheena to leave her line of sight either. Not if something potentially was to start following them. ]

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena will shove her if she has to; the Cultists were listening the whole time, and Sheena's words made it plain she intended to have a look around. She thinks she was seen, always has to assume she was even if not; when a dart zips by her ear, it confirms her suspicion in the worst way.]

Keep going and duck behind stuff. [She can't shake the sense that Raine is vulnerable.] At least one is probably gonna chase us.

[wise_maiden]

[ She moves, the dread fueling adrenaline, ducking behind a nearby stained bookcase, the literature within mostly destroyed or removed.]

I'm not leaving you -- how many are there?

[ The latter she asks in as little words as possible, conveying with motions. ]

[corrinesbell]

Two, but the one shooting stuff at us looked pretty bad. I don't think he's running or flying anywhere.

[The room is considerably smaller than the space Sheena can fill with words; the spear-wielding Cultist is already upon them. Sheena raises a seal paper in her free hand and slams it into his chest, knocking him backward with a burst of fire.]

Get going! [She's coming too, but she wants Raine in front.]

[wise_maiden]

[ She starts to move again, as a dart sticks to the bookcase. Moving closer to the stairwell. Can she time a spell from right here? If she could... that would take away from the energy needed to move. No, not here. She forces herself to keep moving, though looks up over her shoulder up the rail -]

Hurry!

[corrinesbell]

[Staying back to line their escape path with explosive seals, Sheena vaults the rail instead of taking the time to run around to the top of the stairs. Bit of a drop, but not her first drop on this adventure, and she catches the banister with one hand upon landing.]

That'll slow them down.

[Sheena, in turn, forces herself to slow down. Raine can't move as quickly (of course not, she's tired along with whatever else is the problem) and she'd be in danger of leaving her behind otherwise.]

[wise_maiden]

[Explosions.

Raine's still moving forward, even as much as she looks back to make sure Sheena's with her, though it all sounds chaotic all at once as she fights the instinct to freeze up then and there.]

Sheena?!

[She feels her vision blurring, but the ninja comes into view. Behind her, and then... ahead? The room down here is vacant, the front door just in sight.]

[corrinesbell]

Come on!

[They're clear of the stairs, so Sheena grabs at Raine's wrist again - if she catches only sleeve, it will still work - and bolts for the front door. The chance that all her little firebursts will damage the building structure is too great, and she really isn't up for another cave-in with Raine.]

[wise_maiden]

[And Raine isn't in any state to put protection over their heads this time. She feels the tug, and she follows, keeping quiet this time. She can't tell what's louder, Sheena's little trap behind them or her heart pounding in her ears. It's a wonder she hasn't lost the staff, though it's starting to feel heavy in her free hand.

Out of the door and onto the street. Keep moving. They had to keep moving. ]

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena knows of a safe-ish building or two (one is already half-down, making it particularly safe, because who looks inside a building they've already routed?) and she tugs Raine in the appropriate direction. Whether she has the staff doesn't matter, whether all the explosions go off doesn't matter. Are there people chasing them with spears? No. That's the big one.]

Tell me if you see anybody coming!

[wise_maiden]

[ The sounds might attract attention. Raine looks back as Sheena pulls them forward. It's still blurry, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around. Sounds of fighting - but not near them, not in their area. ]

Nothing yet.

[corrinesbell]

[No time to look. They're far enough from their initial building now that Sheena feels okay about letting go of Raine; 'follow me' is pretty implicit in what they're doing. Besides, the building she's thinking of is just across one more street.

There are more explosions in the distance, none of them Sheena's. They're too far away to pose any threat to them or their position, though.]

[wise_maiden]

[ Those explosions make it harder to continue, even with the need to hurry still pressing at their backs. She has to put every ounce of herself into following, especially when they're still out in the open. One step, another, but she slows, all but hugging the staff she managed not to drop to her chest.]

Sheena -- [Wait-]

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena turns back around, bringing an abrupt halt to her run. Raine is in the middle of the street hanging onto her staff like it'll stop her from drowning and when Sheena sees the look on her face she thinks that was one hell of a comparison, actually. She knows that look.]

Don't think about it! [She doesn't like to get in Raine's face like this but they can't stay exposed.] We'll worry about it later, just think about something else.

[Meanwhile they'd better start running again; Sheena won't let go of her arm this time.]

[wise_maiden]

[ Something else?

There isn't a something else to focus on. Sheena was here; she could focus on the ninja, follow her steps now that she was anchored back on again. Barely. There was something familiar about it. Trudging through the street and --

don't think about it. It's what she had been doing this entire time, after all. It was easier when there was someone to heal in front of her. Then she would have someone to fully concentrate on, and not get dislodged by all of those sounds. Why she had to keep pushing herself.

They were still running, though she was near out of breath. They were almost there. ]

[corrinesbell]

[Then they are there, into the relative darkness of a half-ruined building's interior. Sheena pulls Raine behind a domino pyramid of shelves and a portion of wall, and makes her sit in the clearest floor area there is. Hanging onto her adrenaline high is going to be tough, here.]

Why did you stop?

[wise_maiden]

[ They've stopped. The building is unfamiliar, but she sits down as directed, still holding on to the weapon. ]

... I lost focus. [ There are other, more automatic answers that she forces herself to reject, shaking her head as she looks at her lap. ] It got loud, back there -- I couldn't think. I'm sorry.

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena crouches in front of her, reaching for the staff to take it away. They're not gonna end up in a fight here, not for a while at least.]

Don't be sorry. I just wanna know what scared you that bad, and if you got hurt.

[wise_maiden]

[ It's a feeble, brief struggle to keep her hold on the weapon, but ultimately Raine doesn't have the strength, and it slips from her fingers, which bunch into the fabric of her robes instead. Was she hurt? Or just... tired. She couldn't be tired, not now. Not when there were still others out there.

She forces herself to find her train of thought again for those still waiting questions. Her throat is dry and it's difficult to talk until she forces a few swallows down. ]

I ... I-I was ... reminded of something that happened. Before you arrived.