Door 2 - The Wasteland

[Elesariin]

Gwen quickly reloaded and got ready to pop up and shoot again... if there was relatively little gunfire from the enemy. Her arms were starting to ache... How much longer was this going to go on?  

[Just an Innocent Face]

((inventory and automatic addition of any pertinent items fron fallen soldier please, thank you))

Shikyo checked his magazine being mindfull that he would need to reload soon. So many soldiers, so many to kill...he needed to find a way to get to those medics, and soon. Diving to another plot of cover he raised his gun and fired two shots at the nearest enemy soldier. As he ducked back down to avoid any returning fire he began to think over the layout of the area to place himself at the correct position to take out the medic team.  

[NativeForeigner]

Gwen managed to reload properly and rose to fire two shots at the nearest enemy soldier. Her aim was shakey on her first shot, but she managed to kill the critically injured soldier. Her second shot missed and she was forced to take cover as the enemy returned fire.

Smith's men suddenly opened fire upon the remaining two soldiers, simply overwhelming and killing them.

Mark and Cindy turned their aim to the other soldiers to assist.

*

((Unfortunately, the soldier is too far out of your reach. They're across the bridge, you're not. Sorry.))

Shikyo managed to kill yet another scrambling soldier, but it would probably be his last easy kill as the remaining soldiers began to situate themselves once more.

Shikyo found no obvious way of getting into position to take out the Medic from where he was at. He figured that he would need to get much closer.

*

The lights in the holding room where Elian and Lyon were held dimmed for a moment, then flickered, leaving them in total darkness for only a moment.
When the light came back on, the figure of a woman was before them.

"Why 'ello there!" the figure greeted them in a strange, hard-to-place accent.

Shikyo's magazine: 3/12
Orion's magazine: 12/12 (HG)/ 9/12 (rifle) Battery life: 90%
Juliet's magazine: 0/24 (SMG) / 12 (HG)
Alastair's magazine: 17/36 (AR) | 12/12 (HG)
Gwen's magazine: 10/12 (HG)
Smith's Men (1): 5
Smith's Men (2): 7
Enemy soldiers (2): 7, 3 injured [03], 1 medic [02], 1 Wreck (Punctured pipe)  

[Alastriona Estelle]

Elian sat quietly within the room, starting to nod off as the hours passed without answer. Outside, the terrifying sounds continued to echo, at one point, a loud mechanical scream piercing the air around them that made Elian jump from her semi-comfortable state. The sound of gunfire and grenades became like that of a lullaby, her overall exhaustion getting the better of her as she leaned her head on Lyon's shoulder. She had expressed her fear, and admitted to feeling more comfortable the closer he was. It was embarrassing to admit, but she simply couldn't pretend to be brave anymore; her body ached from being tied up, her stomach growled from hunger, and mentally, the fear was eating at her. Only when she could feel Lyon's warmth could she feel safe for the time being.

As the lights dimmed within the room, Elian snapped awake, unsure of what was going on. "Lyon?" she whispered as the lights suddenly blacked out, Elian instinctively huddling closer to him to make sure she wasn't alone. It was pitch dark, nothing could be seen, but as soon as the lights came on, Elian let out a loud yelp in surprise.

A woman, seemingly normal and seemingly out of place appeared before them. Elian didn't hear the door open, nor did she even become conscious of the woman's presence until the lights came on. How did she? What was she?

The woman's cheery demeanor and accent threw Elian off, but it didn't stop her from feeling afraid.

"Who... Who are you?" Was the only question she could think of after having hours of time to formulate theories and ideas on their situation. It was foolish, but, first came the introductions, and next came the question and answer sessions.  

[Elesariin]

Gwen got ready to assist as soon as it was possible to do so without getting shot.  

[NativeForeigner]

The woman that was before the two was rather tall, standing at about six feet, give or take a couple of inches, and her slim yet curvy figure showed clearly. She wore a form-fitting, long-sleeved black waistcoat that opened at her bosom to reveal a white collared shirt and a dark red tie. Her waistcoat was adorned with several miscellaneous fine golden threads and buttons and her tie was held in place with a gold tie clip. The back of her waistcoat extended down towards the back of her legs, clad in tight black slacks, and stopped just above her black ballet flat dress shoes with red ties.
On her hands she wore black fingerless gloves made of silk and upon her fingers were a variety of rings, all extremely ornate. On each of her wrists were several golden bracelets, some dangling freely while others clung tightly to the sleeves of her jacket.
Above her fair and beautiful face she wore a large, black top hat with a dark red band that had a blank card stuck in it along with two large red roses decoratively placed at the base of the card.
The hat covered the top of her reddish brown hair that ran down between her shoulders and cast a shadow over her deep red eyes.

Perfect white teeth showed between her pink lips in a welcoming smile.

"Why, I'm Maria A. Driskoll, that I am!" she announced, grabbing the corners of her waistcoat and offering a small curtsey, "An' who may ewe bay? Not tha' I don' know! Realay Ido, I jus' wanta hear et outta ewe."

Her accent almost didn't suit her appearance.  

[Alastriona Estelle]

Elian could only stare at the strange woman, her entire appearance and behavior completely out of place in the dingy war hole Lyon and Elian found themselves in. Truthfully, the woman was beautiful, much more so than anyone she had ever seen, yet, she seemed so strange, almost frightening how cheerful and out of place this Maria A. Driskoll seemed to be.

"I... I'm Elian... And this is Lyon." She said quietly, hardly daring to move after gathering the strength to speak. Perhaps they would finally get answers, finally be told what their fate was to be. Elian didn't know whether or not to be relieved that someone had finally shown up, or terrified that they might be harboring Elian's and Lyon's death. "P-please, tell us what's going on? Why are we here?!" Elian blurted out after a few moments, a stray lock of hair falling from her messy ponytail as she awaited an answer. Elian didn't know what to expect, but it was time someone told them something.  

[NativeForeigner]

Maria looked at Elian and giggled, a bubbly sound. "Wha's goin' on ewe esk? Don' bee so ner'ous naw, I can'tell ewe wha's goin' on queete ye', ya go'a do som' learnin' ewese'f, the'I can te' ewe. Go'a be awhi'e, et ees. As fo' whey ewe'r her', tha's reel easay, we invi'ed ewe, di'n't we? We need ewe, we do."

She spoke rather quickly, making it hard to decipher her words, especially with her horrid accent.  

[Alastriona Estelle]

Elian recoiled at her giggle, was everything a giant joke to her? Elian could feel that Maria was playing games, teasing them. As she spewed out her line of speech, Elian almost had to lean forward, only catching bits and pieces of what was actually said.

"You... Need us?" She said, verifying the statement and asking a question at the same time. "I... I don't understand... Please, we just want to go home!" Elian pleaded. She hoped to play to this woman's compassion, to get themselves free of this wretched place through the only person that would talk to them so far.  

[NativeForeigner]

Maria pouted her lips and looked at Elian sympathetically. She knelt down beside her and placed a cool hand on Elian's shoulder. "Now, we don' expet ewe to understand jus' ye', may'e no' a' all, bu' please un'ers'and, we rea'ay do need ewe."

She looked at Elian, making eye-contact with wide, pleading eyes, "We kno' ewe wan'a go 'ome, so d'we, bu' we can' and no' ewe can' eader 'til we ge' evert'in' all fix'd u'. We' lov' ta senna 'ome, but ewer stu' 'ere naow aslon' as we'r. Ther's nuttin we can do 'bou et, bu' trus' meh." she took a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.
She softened her tone even more and continued in a hushed and slowed voice.

"Da ve'y mo'ent we can, we's sen'in' ewe reight bac' 'ome, promise." she took a moment to enunciate the final word and looked Elian in the eye, awaiting her response.  

[Alastriona Estelle]

Elian pressed herself back against the wall as the woman moved forward, only to cringe underneath Maria's cold hand. The woman's accent fell thick, making it hard for Elian to grasp most of what she was saying, but eventually, her mind started piecing things together.

"B-but... I don't understand... What do you want from us? Why are we prisoners?!" The sentence brought tears to Elian's eyes. She was truly afraid, and this woman was providing next to nothing as far as answers went. Elian's wide and frightened gaze locked onto the woman's crimson eyes. What was it about her that felt so strange?  

[NativeForeigner]

Maria looked genuinely worried about Elian as she gasped and brought her hands to her mouth at the sight of the tears.

"O! Nonononono, swe'tee! P'ease don' crai!"

Maria motioned to wipe away the tears with the back of her hand, taking a more careful and warm approach.

"I'el all be oka', 'on, I promise. Ewer no' prisonas, we jus' nee' ya help befo' t'ins ge' out'a 'and. We'r figh'in' ta sav' ou'sel's, tha's wha' we'r figh'in' fo', tha's why we nee' ewer 'elp."

She continued to look at Elian, her face and eyes were practically begging as she got down on both knees now.

"Please, don' le' us dai, we nee' ewe. We nee' yo'r 'elp, we nee' yo'r skeels, we nee' yo' to 'elp sav' us an' our peepoll."  

[Alastriona Estelle]

Elian's throat burned as she tried to restrain the tears, the woman's act of compassion coming off as a complete surprise. Now she was truly confused, Elian staring straight back at the woman who seemed to share the same desperation as Lyon and herself held for home. What was happening around here?

"I... I'm sure we'd be glad to help you... But... What are we supposed to do?" she asked quietly, a hint of sorrow and desperation in her voice. Elian just wanted to give this woman what she wanted so her and Lyon could return to their lives. "I'm just a graduated medical student, and Lyon is a musician, how are we supposed to help?! What is happening?! Tell me!" The last part came across with a slight tone of anger, frustration. Elian was tired of jumping around the problem, she wanted to know exactly what she needed to give in order to go home, and Maria was merely dancing around the answer.

"Why is your people in danger? What skills do we have that you so desperately need?!"  

[NativeForeigner]

Maria smiled softly as Elian finally started cooperating. It only faded slightly at her slightly angry outburst.

Maria sighed and stood, "Ewer a docta, enya? We nee' ewer expe't's. Enya fren' can 'elp, we nee' e'reyone we ca' ge'. Is not saf' ta ta'k too much a'ound 'ere, no et ain't. I'll espla'n mo' ef ewell jus' come wit' meh, i's time I getchya outta 'ere en' on ou' way."

Maria held her hands, one for Elian to take and the other for Lyon, if he so chose to do so.

"Plueas', Em beggin' ewe. Ell esplain all Aye can on t'e wa'."  

[Magroodles]

Lyon too, had not been doing so well. Even though he wanted to be a man about the whole situation, it was harder than it seemed. He was still a human, a person, and just a mere musician. He wasn't any brave like a police officer or anything, so all the sounds of war were getting to him. He wasn't comfortable with it, and was in fact, very scared, but he knew that Elian was also uncomfortable with the whole thing. He didn't need to seem like a coward in front of her, no, instead he should try to act brave to at least help her get through it. If both of them were scared it wouldn't turn out well.

Yet, the sounds became more consistent. He was growing more and more use to them, not that he liked it, but in a way he tried to make it seem as if it were natural. Perhaps if was something like a nature CD, just with the sounds of gunfire instead, as if to scare them. Whatever he could think of to calm himself down, he would. And yet, just as Elian had, he too was growing tired and found himself falling off into a light sleep.

The usual light in the room suddenly changed, which made him snap awake with Elian. The two of them seemed to have the same reactions to the whole thing. After all, this was a strange place, and something that was off here could be ill for them. The female's voice rang out to him in the dark and he spoke up quickly to reassure her of his presence. "I'm here," he said in a soft voice as if not to startle her. But he too, was scared for what was going on.

When the lights came back he noticed that they were not alone. A tall female stood in front of them. Seeing her only made Lyon flinch back, scared and curious as of how she got in her. But before he could say anything, Elian had spoken up and taken care of his first question as well.

The lady had an accent that only made Lyon wish she would talk slower so he could comprehend it better. But thankfully, he was able to make out most of what she was saying to him. The name Maria A. Driskoll called out to him, so that's who she was, but that didn't help him in anyway. It just gave him a name to call her by. And before he could process that thick accent Elian once more had spoken up. He was, in a way, thankful for her introducing him. In the mean time he spent more time examining the female that was now in the room with them.

As they spoke Lyon found himself getting more and more frustrated. Maria would tell them things, but not what they were looking for. So she needed their help, she needed them for something, but for what? What were they needed for? And why do these people need so much help that they would invite complete strangers here to help them?

As the questions rolled around in his head, he noticed how Elian was not taking everything that well. He turned to look at her, seeing tears starting to flow to her eyes. With that image he couldn't help but to turn back to Maria with a glare plastered upon his face. He didn't know how to react to the girl and he didn't know what exactly was going on, but he let the females continue with their speech.

Finally they seemed to have come to a conclusion, an agreement, and whatever Elian was willing to agree with, he was willing to go along with. Lyon wasn't one to usually follow along so well, but the girl was the only one that he was willing to be around anymore, and if he were to lose her, well, he would be at quite a loss.

Maria had seemed to have more to say and Lyon was all for listening, after all, this was the furthest that they have gotten so far. He stared at the hand that she had outstretched to the two of them. For a moment he looked at the hand then looked up at the female as if she were stupid.

"I'm all for coming along, really. It's either take our chances with you, or wait along here for who knows how long for another one. So it seems that it would be best for us to go with you. But before we can do anything... can you please untie us?" he said wiggling around a bit to show that both Elian and he had been tied up before moved into this room.

"Also... do you happen to know where our possessions are?" he asked. He was concerned for his violin's safety, and this journal that seemed to be quite important to Elian as well. If there was a chance that they would get them back, then Lyon was all for finding them.