lucetilogs | Zompania Draft: Coming Home

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Zompania Draft: Coming Home

Who: Anyone drafted to Zompania, or recruited as reinforcements, or left behind in the village. SO. Everybody!
What: The draftees and reinforcements return to the village.
When: May 26, early early in the morning
Where: Back in Luceti
Summary: Most draftees and reinforcements return to Luceti in the very early hours; now, instead of a medevac site for the draft, the village is a welcome (?) refuge from the nightmare of Zompania for its own. There's a high likelihood it still looks a lot like it has in the past few days; those in the fight didn't even get a chance to shower before returning.

(This is the place for all your post-draft trauma and reunions and every other thing. Have fun! And don't forget to entry-tag your character.)

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Yeah. Believe it or not, I've handled worse. It looks bad, but you've helped a lot. I don't want to take up more than I need.

_{[ He shook his head, giving her a tired smile. ]}

I just really want some rest right now, and maybe something to eat. And a shower. Do I smell terrible?

Yeah, you're right.

[It was strange to think that even his father looked tame compared to these cultists.]

Their goal is eradication not to hold ground or expand an empire, at least presently. It seems they are growing in strength, we will have to be vigilant.

But why? You saw how they fight. They don't care if they live or die. What could possibly be worth that?

[Iroh shakes his head]

I am not sure. They must believe that there is something that can be gained by such destruction. Some seek to destroy in order to reset everything. As you know we live in cycles of existence. Perhaps they seek to destroy all, so that it will begin again fresh and pure. It is a mad task.

Rogue couldn't stand the thought of going back to the house she shared with Loki and Thor. She knew she probably needed a week's worth of sleep and some medical treatment, besides, but there were people she needed to talk to first and Jane was one of them. She didn't know the other woman well, having hardly talked to her the first time she was in Luceti and only speaking to her upon her arrival when she came to the Item Shop.

But she knew that Jane loved Thor. And she knew that Jane would probably want to know what had happened to Loki as well. And since Rogue couldn't run away far enough or fast enough, it was better to get things over with.

So she approached Jane, still wearing her torn uniform from the draft. "Jane."

[It gives him a headache just to think about it. So Zuko isn't even going to try to understand. He just sighs and looks up as they arrive at the clothing shop. Good, something else to think about.]

[Sokka asking a deep question? That would almost never happen intentionally. And Sokka almost certainly won't realize how deep the answer is either.]

Awesome. Congratulations, Zuko. [Sokka yawns a bit here as he starts to come closer.] You look like a saber-toothed mouse-lion had its way with you. And... pfew! Is there anything I can do for you before you get some shuteye?

[Yes, he can tell Zuko needs sleep.]

[Iroh pushes the door open tiredly and heads in. Hopefully this would not take too long]

[Zuko almost doesn't care what kind of clothes they are... so long as they're clean and reasonably comfortable. Though most of the stuff looks... very foreign to him. So he just picks out things in colors he likes and whatever. Which ends up something like this.]

No.

[And with that, Zuko just continues on. He really doesn't want to talk about the draft right now. He just wants to get cleaned and get some sleep.]

[Sokka watches Zuko head on upstairs by himself. Sokka's got loads of questions, but he also knows that there are sometimes where you just can't bombard them on someone. And it was stupid early in the morning; for that matter, he wasn't necessarily in the mood for that either.

Sokka lets him go.

But he smiles, content that the Avatar House won't be empty for long… and glad that Zuko made it back alive and well.]

[Nephry has been lending her hands and penchant for organization to the medevac effort; when she hears the draftees are returning, it doesn't even strike her that it's almost too early in the morning to be morning. She runs straight from the battledome to wherever the returners are most likely to congregate - really, she'll go until she sees a crowd - and stop when she sees the shape they're all in.

She's looking for specific faces, those meant to refill a silent empty house. Jade is the first she spots, the back of him, headed north. Headed home without any accompaniment.]

Jade! [It is three in the morning and no time for being proper as she starts running again, a bit slower this time, toward him.]

[Nephry stayed in the village for a while, helping people get to the clinic or to home, if they needed it, and dealing with the shock of what she'll find when she goes home herself. She looked for her other housemates, swallowing down the ache when she thought too hard about it, but missed them all.

By the time she does get back, Ion's been there for a while - she doesn't know, though - and she starts searching the house for everyone but Jade. Starting with the kitchen.]

[Gai isn't far behind her, though he has to lean on the wall of the ship for support while he musters up the energy to step away from it. Even just staying upright is proving to be far more challenging than he'd expected, his legs threatening to buckle beneath him with every step he takes.

Right now he's just praying that he can make it back home before he collapses to avoid a repeat of what happened after the mission. But this is far worse-- he's far more exhausted than he was then, and after a few teetering steps he's starting to realize that he's in trouble.]

[Elizabeth looks back at him, realizing that the rest she let him get clearly wasn't enough. She runs to him before he can collapse completely, and puts her shoulder under his arm and her arms around his waist. But God knows how long she'll be able to hold him up.]

Stay with me, Gai. I'm right here, we're going home.

[And the kitchen is just where she'll find Ion. Having been one of the last ones to return home, the others had already taken up the showers in the house, and he had chosen the one place he could think of where he could wait his turn without getting anything too dirty. Of course, some of them were probably done by now, but he still couldn't find the energy to stand.]

[He still looks much the same as he did when he arrived, having done little more than wipe the blood from his face with a damp cloth. Though physically he didn't seem too injured, his face was ghastly pale. And as of right now, he had his arms wrapped tightly around his chest as he tried -- in vain -- to reassure himself that he was home and he was safe and he didn't need to worry about cultists jumping out from any corner--]

[Clearly it's not working too well. Because when Nephry comes into the kitchen, it startles him so much that he all but leaps up from his chair, knocking it backwards as he stares at her in fright.]

[Even when he sees who it is, it still takes a few moments for him to relax even slightly -- he's so tired, his brain doesn't seem capable of reacting any faster than that.]

...Nephry?

I'm not sure I can make it that far.

[The fact that he's actually admitting to this is a clear sign of just how bad it is-- normally he would do his damnedest to hide how weak he was and try to shrug it off as being no big deal. He's dead tired, everything hurts, and his entire body feels like a leaden weight that's trying to pull him down to the ground.]

You're going to make it there whether you walk there or not. [Elizabeth immediately reaches out to pull something out of a tear to help her-- only to get a very firm push back from the siphon. That was going to take a while to get used to.]

Come on, lean on me, I'll hold you up. [Sure she would. All 175 pounds of dead weight, while she weighed maybe 120 on a good day. But, if anything, she's determined to take care of him.]

No, I don't want to knock you over too.

[Which he can already tell is likely to happen if he keeps leaning on her the way he was for a moment there. She's slender, he's almost all muscle, and she doesn't stand much of a chance at being able to hold that up for long.

So he straightens up, tries to take a few steps on his own. And he manages, sort of, until his legs can't handle it anymore and drop him abruptly to his knees with a snarl of frustration.]

[He should have known she'd find him so quickly. There is a slight, subtle relief to his features as he sees her approach. But he also thinks of the news he has to tell. This won't go well for Nephry at all. He might not be sure how close Nephry and Tear are, but considering how long they've both lived in House 1, he knows that this will likely be a blow.

He accelerates his own stride towards her in order to spare his sister from her awkward run.]

Ah, Nephry. [He says in a conversational tone, as if meeting for tea, quietly adjusting his glasses. He doesn't employ levity this time.] It seems the word of our return travels fast.

[Elizabeth lets Gai walk those few steps on his own, only because she didn't want to discourage him. But the second he starts to fall, Elizabeth runs to him and tries to keep him from falling. Physics isn't in her favor this time, though, and she can't even get herself under him to break his fall.]

I've been knocked over plenty of times this week, what's one more? [Elizabeth slides herself under Gai's chest, directs Gai's arms over her shoulders, and starts to stand up. She can't carry him like this, no, but she can at least get him up.]

Booker! [Elizabeth wills herself not to fall backwards from the weight, and digs in while leaning forward.] Booker, help!

[When Kari first woke up, she didn't know where she was.]

[Everything had been a blur. She was certain she remembered volunteering for the draft. And then they arrived by jumping down using parachutes... right? Did she fight when she landed? How long were they gone? What did she see there? Where did all of these bandages come from?]

[She couldn't remember. And for now, she was too tired to push it. Her whole body was sore, and she was dizzy from whatever painkillers she had been given to manage the pain. She had a broken arm and an almost uncountable number of cuts ranging from small and insignificant to severe and rather painful. And then there was the incessant ache in her chest, where the bulk of the bandages seemed focused on. Really, she was lucky the stab wound had been so close to her pendent -- the same magic keeping the pendent locked to her chest was able to prevent it from from killing her. Though she was certainly cutting it close this time around...]

[But she couldn't remember how it happened. She didn't even remember her magic wearing off... and when did she get to the clinic? She couldn't remember. And even though it seemed like it was better that she didn't... it terrified her. Without even really understanding why, she spends the rest of that morning crying until she finally falls back asleep.]

[[ooc: This can also be a catch-all for the next few days afterwards where she'll still be staying in the clinic!]]

[Souji squeezed Fayt's shoulder, trying to draw his attention.]

There is no otherwise. You won't fail.

[They let Crys have the night to herself, knowing she needed it. They were all exhausted and had been through a lot, her especially. Gold had taken Silver, whose own fatigue had finally caught up with him, home to bed.

But only that one night. The following morning, once both of them are up, they head to the Welcome Center and immediately barge in there.]

Don't tell me you plan on hidin' out here forever.

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Page 5 of 26

Zompania Draft: Coming Home

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Yay, eastern philosophy

probably sometime after Jane finds out about Thor?

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