Let's be war buddies...

[initiates]

Date & Time: 18th, beginning at 2100 hours, through to the 20th.
Location: All around Exsilium.
Characters: Everyone!
Summary: The United Earth decides Exsilium had obviously not learned its lesson back in October, and does another round of humble-making bombing for those impertinent exiles. OOC info can be found here.
Warnings: Violence, death, general gloom and doom.

The warning had gone out approximately two hours before the bombing began, broadcast to any available receptor on the island: UE aggressions incoming, bombs expected; please proceed to Catacombs immediately. It repeats over and over, right up until the first bomb, aimed at the Hold itself, silences the signal.

The air is thick with smoke and worse. Every one to two hours another bomb shakes the island. Buildings crumble and shatter, but the focus is on the Hold and the native hospital. Initiative employees, some sick as anyone else, are steadfast in their escorting natives and transports alike into the underground catacombs. For two days the bombs continue ceaselessly, dropped by their cloaked and invisible carriers overhead.

The United Earth is nothing if not thorough.

Comments

d

[taijiya]

One distraction for Collette would come in the evening of the twentieth, in the form of a haggard girl clinging to the side of a lion-sized twin-tailed feline with intimidating red eyes.

The girl was still dressed in a black bodysuit with strategically tied armor pads, the clothing patched and torn in several places, more than a few bruises and cuts visible; she was also breathing in a labored way common to people slowly recovering from the virus. And, as evidenced by the way her gaze could not focus, she was blind--and unaccustomed to it.

The large cat appeared to be leading this girl, who realized that she was being taken towards someone when she was a few feet away from Collette and stopped abruptly. "Hello?"

[whatsupcroc]

Odd sights were becoming harder and harder to come by. This woman and her furry companion counted as different and new, the sheer size of the feline amazing. Collette's gaze lingered on the cat only to absorb new detail, taking note of the girl holding on to her and straightening up where she sat.

The blindings weren't unknown to her anymore, not after running into Oz while a golden retriever, so when the hello came and the way the cat had been leading her sunk in, Collette worked harder to put her warmth and friendliness into her tone of voice.

"Hello!" she said. "My name's Collette. It looks like your friend here's trying to get you around down here. What's your name? Would you like any water?"

Water was one of the things Collette had on hand, along with something akin to a more palatable hard-tack brought around by an Initiative representative. She'd been learning basic first aid with Steph's help, a reactionary necessity after having traveled through United Earth territory, but she wasn't sure if there was much to do for blindness but wait.

Treat the rest, she figured. Do what her mother would have done, on the less complicated sides of thing. "I've got a good sized blanket down here by the wall, if you'd like to sit down and breathe for a while. I'm one of the Transports! I'm guessing you must be, too." She waved to the giant feline, smile on her lips remaining in place. She wanted to ask all sorts of questions, but a budding sense of helpful purpose told her she should wait.

[taijiya]

Sango hesitated a moment. She had gotten better at recognizing Transports herself, and she figured Collette was probably telling the truth. Plus, if Kirara was leading her this way, she couldn't be very dangerous, right?

Thank the gods for Kirara was all Sango could think.

"I'm Sango, this is Kirara. Water... would be great, actually." She nudged Kirara with her knuckles and the two shuffled over and sat down--though Sango's descent was painfully awkward.

She still couldn't quite believe she was blind right now. The only thing keeping her from legitimately panicking was the thought that once all this was over, the Initiative could probably help fix it.

But when will it be over? The problem was, the answer could very well be 'never.'

Sango let out a cough, a leftover symptom that reminded her yet again that she hadn't fully recovered from the virus.

"Thank you, Collette."

[whatsupcroc]

She watched the both of them sit with fascination, feeling a twinge of understanding for the difficulty Sango was facing. It was hard, moving without knowing exactly where your legs were, or where you were in relation to the rest of your body. When struck blind unexpectedly, it had to be as much of a shock as any other life-altering accident.

Around here, she felt it was fixable, and in more than the "permanent reset" sense.

"You're welcome," she said, picking up her water canteen and reaching out gently for Sango's arm. "I'm going to touch your elbow so I can give you the canteen. Kirara's a pretty name. So's Sango! Where are you from, Sango?" Keeping her talking felt like a decent priority. Collette's own voice rasped with the telltale signs of someone with remaining lung congestion. She hoped she wouldn't start up another coughing fit anytime soon, even if they were miles better now than they had been for what felt like ages.

"Does Kirara want water too? I have a bowl we can pour some into."

[taijiya]

"She could probably use it," Sango allowed, taking the canteen when proffered. She was embarrassingly useless right now, of course, but there wasn't much she could do about it and lashing out at someone who was only trying to help would be doubly useless.

"I'm from... Japan, sixteenth century, if you have any idea where that is. If you don't, it's a lot of humans and demons and not even close to the kind of technology there is here. What about you?"

[whatsupcroc]

Demons existed on Sango's world. Collette nodded, realizing belatedly how fruitless a gesture it was. "I know Japan! My friend Yosuke was from there, though he's from the 21st century, so that's hundreds of years later." Reaching for where the bowl was stored, she set things aside methodically to uncover her goal.

"Demons aren't common when I'm from, but I'm from further west. Though I kind of guess that I'm almost closer to the Far East for you? I mean, across the Pacific Ocean, if you call it that. It'd be whatever sea isn't on the side of Japan facing China."

Was China the name of China back then?

"I'll use the other canteen for Kirara." She opened the top, measuring out a half-full bowl, Collette carefully moved it toward Kirara. "May I touch her?" she asked, eyes wide and watching the large animal. She was such an astonishing creature!

With such an interesting friend, too.

[taijiya]

"They're not common in your time in general. I had a friend from your century and she never knew about them until she came back to mine." Pause. "Long story, that one."

She knew enough about the West to get the jist of what Collette was talking about. When she asked about Kirara, Sango shrugged.

But Kirara had seen the bowl of water and, deciding that it would be more satisfying if the bowl was not half the size of her head, chose that exact moment to transform to her smaller size in a burst of (mostly harmless) frame. Feeling the flash of heat, Sango frowned. "Kirara, you could at least give us a warning!"

At which point the now miniature Kirara just mewed and began licking, though she wouldn't be opposed to any attention from Collette.

[whatsupcroc]

"You had time traveling where you're from?" Collette was pleasantly surprised. A few people did have previous experience, but so often it wasn't when they themselves were from the significant past.

More significant than mine, she added to herself.

Kirara's size change produced a startled intake of air, then a great big smile from Collette. She laughed, a light sound, still trying to avoid exacerbating her cough.

"That's amazing!" Her hand felt some of the lingering heat in the flashing moment where Kirara changed size, and then it was gone. "How can she do that?"

She gingerly ran a hand down Kirara's back, awkwardly balanced to do so, but too fascinated to leave off for later. She finds the entirety of the large cat a mystery. It's almost as an afterthought that she realized she was concentrating so fully on Kirara that she'd started to aquire her, the six seconds of zenned out bliss that followed like a meditation for the individual being acquired beginning.

She pulled her hand back, red in the face. She really was still out of it.

"Have you guys eaten? Does Kirara need meat? What else can she do?" The barrage is interrupted by her starting to cough. Collette pulled back, leaning against the wall, and cupped her hands over her mouth.

[taijiya]

"We had a time traveler. But she could only go from one specific time to another, and it wasn't exactly a normal thing."

At Collette's laugh Sango couldn't help a faint smile despite herself, interrupted by a cough. "Well, I mentioned demons. She's one and she has a lot of talents."

Sango waited until Collette had stopped coughing to answer the questions. "We're alright for food, Kirara can fend for herself. She can fly and she's fireproof, as she's just demonstrated. Are you alright, though?"

[whatsupcroc]

Collette laughed, this time not finding herself coughing by the end. "Are you kidding? I'm getting better, and I just got to pet a demon cat. I'm great! I'm more worried about you."

She sounded chipper, though she wasn't expressly lacking in sincerity. "Alphonse has a lot of kittens he's taking care of down the way," she offered, a nonsequitor given for the sake of distraction. "Has anyone looked at your injuries yet? I can call for someone to come over here and make sure what they can address is okay."