Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

[lucetimods]

Who: Anyone who volunteered
What: A very special mission that will bring you honor. Or maybe just traumatic memories. Whatever.
When: July 20th - July 24th
Where: Zompania, or what's left of it
Summary: Mission detailed here. There are graves to dig and buildings to raze, and plenty more for the volunteers to stay busy with.
Rating: PG-13 for probable mentions of gore and other sad things

Direct further questions here!

Comments

[generalflirt]

That looked like an eagle to me, so I'm ruling out a carrion bird.

[ He could be wrong though, what does he know. He makes to get his own light source ]

[endgames]

I'm pretty sure that was a rabbit it was flying off with, but even eagles take advantage of carrion.

[They haven't walked far enough to find what he's looking for, but this is a good way to help pinpoint what direction he needs to go in.]

[generalflirt]

[ Oh, oh, right. The corpses that had been so unceremoniously eaten in the city. That somehow didn't promptly vanish. He was looking out for other corpses they couldn't have known were there, of course. ]

Well, it went east, and I'm pretty sure it came from there too.

[ Maybe, probably. It's dark. ]

[endgames]

What makes you say that?

[generalflirt]

East is that way, right? [ Points ] And I'm pretty sure it came from that way. I saw a shadow move there.

[endgames]

All right. [He seems pretty opnely trusting of that, as he then turns west.] If you say so.

[AND AGAIN WE GO...]

[generalflirt]

[ ...OH COME ON ] This is the opposite direction!

[ He makes to follow anyway tho ]

[endgames]

Heh. [He can't help but snicker at that.] You said it both came from and went East. That'd imply its made a nest for itself in that direction, wouldn't it?

[generalflirt]

And we're going in the opposite direction...? [ He's not getting it yet ]

[endgames]

There are other predators in this forest. If you suspect a fight for your meal, one you might not win, you'd want to keep a safe distance. Right?

[generalflirt]

Following...?

[endgames]

So you'd go the opposite way. Keep your food close, but not so close you can't beat a fast retreat if you need to.

[generalflirt]

Oh, oh, okay, I get that. [ Nods to himself ]

[endgames]

[VERY GOOD. They will continue on this way then for a(n extended) time.]

It's starting to look familiar.

[Things are lining up with what he remembers of the first day of the fight. The faint smell permeating through their suits would seem to imply they're getting closer too.]

[generalflirt]

Does it? [ He wasn't there at the staging ground. He wasn't there until they were dropped in later. But... ]

[endgames]

Yeah.

[By this point the trees have thinned a little, just enough that if it were day you'd have a clearer view of the sky. Or a firework show at dark. Or a bomb.]

This is where we started out. Davis and his men were also fighting in this area. I remember him being in ear-shot. [He stops; tries to imagine how much ground they could've gained in what time they had.] They likely didn't end up far from here.

[If you haven't guessed why they're out here yet, Masaomi, here is your first clue.]

[generalflirt]

[ Oh... Davis had been killed at the tail end of things. Well, him and his men ( did that include Jewel? that other guy? anyone else he knew? ) and now it's clear what they are here for. In all the other burials, did that means that the MSF collected those soldiers, or have they been left to rot in all the confusion. And even then, what should they make of Davis? Masaomi frowns a bit to himself, but nods ]

Yeah, probably not. A big group like that, serving to hold a distraction line, is not going to want to be off from where they started.

[endgames]

That, and you could say it was a fate of the timeline. This is where they were that day, so it stands to reason this is where they were again, bomb or not.

[Knowing there was no bomb, however, and of their demise, it probably means they lost more ground than they gained. Closer to the city then, and not further from where they are now.]

[generalflirt]

That just makes the demise of Davis-san seem inevitable, when you put it like that. Like it couldn't be helped.

[endgames]

[He doesn't have a yes or no comment to any of that, so he just declines to say anything.]

[generalflirt]

[ That didn't merit a response, anyway, honestly. But... okay, he'll make his way to follow him, glancing around as he does ]

[endgames]

[Telltale signs they've found what they're after become evident pretty quick. Animals who had their way with some of the bodies left a trail - nothing more graphic than bones gnawed cleaned, gleaming white off the flashlight in the dark. Shikamaru chooses to pass them from now, going deeper until they come across more bodies in various states of decomposing. And further still, an altar.]

[generalflirt]

Oh God, no one ever cleaned this up?

[ The little signs of decay were bad enough, but confronted with the rotting corpses - with the altar? It gives him an unsettling feeling he can't quite articulate. A need to say a prayer, even if he's not religious ]

[endgames]

Guess not.

[His tone is flatter than usual - he's tuning Masaomi out, even if he knows he shouldn't be. That's the correct response. His disgust and his anger is how you should react to something like this.

Shikamaru came out here because he thought maybe someone had left behind something useful. A little too late for it, he does feel ashamed of himself.]

You can head back, if you're uncomfortable. [He stops in front of the altar, raising his chin at it.] Even with my scroll, we'll probably need a cart.

[generalflirt]

Don't give me that shit.

[ Masaomi is Shikamaru's most loyal follower - his best friend. He won't forsake Shikamaru if he killed someone, if he buried someone alive, or if he put him to work which would scar his soul. Masaomi's dealt with death before - you would even say that this days, he trades in the stuff. But being put into a position like this... it makes him feel a little sick until he closes his eyes and remembers Vaskoth. Vaskoth was worse.

He can do it. ]