Content Warnings:
Trauma
Syrens *screeched*!
["Don't look, don't look, don't look," a woman's voice urged her.
She looked down at muddied ground. She was practically an ant. She held onto her hand tightly, her breath frozen in time.
She could hear screaming, burning, cutting. So many sounds behind her.
"We press on, Setsune. I'm sorry,"].
"EVERYONE UP!" Najwa roared, throwing the door open.
Setsune's head snapped up, "They're here aren't they?"
"Not fer ya," Najwa exclaimed.
"No, Moma! Don't go," Dawud cried, grabbing onto her.
"I'll go! I'll go!" Fajr exclaimed, grabbing onto her.
Ismael held onto Setsune. He was shaking. She held him tight.
"Y'all know the rules!" Najwa stated. "Someone has to leave the buildin' 'r they'll storm! Stay here, stay quiet! Understood?"
"Yes Moma,"
"Stay safe," Setsune added.
"Can it," she responded, jumping down the ladder.
Setsune took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "(Don't look don't look don't look don't look),"
She felt more arms. The children huddled around her. She wrapped her arms around them in a big hug.
"We press on, I'm sorry," she told them.
---
Out from each home, at least one person walked. There were around 52 homes. Some of the people who came out were children. Some were the elderly. No matter who, they had to come out.
The gates opened.
Inside walked a handful of Dreschers. They brought crates with them and left them to the side. Behind them was a large manhole without light. It brought a chill to all who looked upon it.
Amongst them was a rather peculiar Drescher. It had little purple spikes on its face and the side of its head, and a thick, dark green trench coat. It wore a military cap with the Drescher Emblem upon it and had a thinner head than most. On its neck was the serial number: F12S505.
"LINE UP!" It screeched, its voice like a fresh ice pick.
The crowd did as it asked. Najwa and the other three leaders lined up in the front.
It approached them. As it did, Atsushi and Najwa flinched, looking down as if a demon were before them. When it came right in front of them, even Afzel could not longer keep his eyes up.
Only Ijeoma maintained eye contact.
"Lord Kriegerin needs more soldiers," it stated, meeting Ijeoma face to face.
"Unberührbare Waffe, you already took from us this month," he addressed, his eyes narrowed.
"That's not the arrangement," it…smiled in spite of its unmoving mouth.
It picked him up, raising him up high so that all could see. It tossed him into the crowd.
"Your lucky we don't make martyrs out of you sludge rats," it mocked.
"The Four…Travellers…will take us away from here!" He argued back, struggling to get up.
"And the Mondgreif would slay them upon arrival!" it argued back, arms spread wide. "TAKE A SQUAD WORTH! 'WAR IS A WILD BEAST AND IT MUST BE FED PROPER'!"
The Drescher pounced like wolves. They grabbed twelve people. Said people screamed and cried and struggled.
But they were too strong. It was mere seconds before they were dragged out, and taken beneath the ground.
And like that. They were gone.
...…
Setsune looked out the window again. And the door opened again. It was Najwa.
"You,"
Setsune blinked in surprise, "Me,"
She was holding a cardboard box, "I don't know what the children see in ya. Yer mask may've fooled 'em, but it ain't foolin' me,"
"But," Setsune added, smiling a little and giving a nod.
She groaned, "Ijeoma and the others agreed that ya best be helpin' out 'round these parts. So yer gonna need to blend in,"
She opened the box. They was a hollow, earshaped piece of metal, a white robe, black hair dye, and some black paint.
"Yer red is too eye catchin'. Yer eyes, skin, an' hair 'r exactly-,"
"-Her type right?"
"That's right. Little secret too, if ya can act sickly, the Dreschers 're more likely to overlook ya. They always take the healthiest of us. Got it,"
"Thank you," she responded, reaching a hand out to shake.
"Nice try," she responded, brushing it off. "I'm busy. Fajr'll help with yer hair,"
...…
Setsune got dressed and ready. She looked just like she had Ismael's dream realm{from the teaser}.
[She remembered getting her Kimono and rope from her Mother. Then getting new ones with Ana and Moma's help].
She sighed.
She took a step outside the house. Everyone stopped to look at her. It was like a wild animal had stepped into their micro city.
Unfazed, she walked over to one of the buildings next door. It bore the symbol of the comet.
Before she knocked, the door opened, "You must be the mysterious visitor," Ijeoma called out.
"Come in, come in, I've been expecting you,"
The inside of his home was much like Najwa, but the floor felt different. She could immediately tell with how the floor creeked and the nudged.
The floor was made up of crates. Ones often opened. Inside of them, she could easily guess, were weapons and other things. His living room had people in blue and yellow cloaks lined up, awaiting her arrival.
[There were once those in rat cloaks. The cloaks were black and purple].
She took a step back.
"Hear us out," Ijeoma urged, reaching for her. "You heard what happened earlier. My people are hurting. Just like yours'. Just like like those of your fellow fool: Sasa Oowaite,"
Setsune's eyes wided. Her breathing began to speed up.
"We want to be like her,"
[A corpse in a burning city].
"Liberate us like the Digasawasdians,"
[Enslaved by Taipan].
"You don't have to fight a war, just help us escape!"
[A mountain of corpses. They won't all be able to escape, and even then. What happens after?]
"Please-," he pleaded.
She grabbed her broach and vanished.
End of Scene II.....