Event | Satellite | Crash Landing

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 21, 2013
Location: In and around the city of Keeliai
Situation: The early morning hour brings unexpected devastation to Keeliai and the outlying areas. Emergency response and damage control follows!
Warnings/Rating: Fires, minor violence; please put CW in your subject lines

Satellite Crash Event

Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres

Questions | Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Outlying Areas

The early morning hours of May 21st are broken by the sound of a low lying explosion and a veritable rain of fiery bits and bobs such as molten hot metal and space debris. Those out and about in the very early morning (three hours before dawn) see a meteoric shape streaking overhead and leaving a debris trail. Those interested in following it may find themselves distracted by the debris raining down across Tu Vishan, starting fires and damaging buildings turtlewide. Tu Vishan certainly is, for the great turtle grinds to a halt amidst all this and a trace of concern for the little ones on his shell can be felt in the minds of many.

Comments

[wintershepherd]

[ Their eyes locked for a moment and Jack gave a single nod; cover me as best you can. There was never a flicker of hesitation before he ducked deeper into the building, one hand following the wall as smoke had begun to fill the interior, raising his other to bring the material of his sweater to his face; he didn't need to breathe, but the air Zatanna was sending down was being rapidly heated and beginning to blow around bits of smoldering debris. ]

Where are you? It's all right, I'll get you out...

[backwordscompatible]

[She swirled down to try and follow after him, frowning all the while. The wind she was throwing was supposed to carry a chill to it...but it was no match for the heat of the fire.]

This isn't going to work.

Jack, come back. I'll go in, and you can cover me.

[Better it be someone with a higher heat tolerance.]

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack calls over his shoulder, his blue hoodie already swallowed up by the smoke. ]

No, stay out there. You can heal burns, I can't.

[ If, gods forbid, the child was burned she would be able to help them. A vague afterthought for himself as well, but mostly the child. ]

[backwordscompatible]

I'm also not in any danger of thawing.

[Which is why she follows after him, less than five feet away. The smoke grows increasingly thick, and her one disadvantage--the need to breath--soon comes into play as she lets out a series of coughs.]

Can you see him or her? I think the voice was coming from just beyond that door?

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack turns, anger fueled by worry set on his face, a foreign expression when it came to their interactions. ]

Go back outside, I'll be fine! I don't want you hurt!

[backwordscompatible]

[It caught her off-guard, not used to seeing such a harsh look directed at her. Not from him. But Zatanna was nothing if not stubborn, and she returned an equally stern gaze, deliberately moving forward.]

Less arguing, more saving.

The sooner we get the kid out of here, the sooner we can get out of here. That work for you?

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack makes a frustrated noise, but he knows that wasting time by arguing with her while they're standing in a burning building will be more dangerous for her than the alternative. But he gives her a look that says this will come up later, grasps her hand in his so they don't get separated, and turns back down the corridor. ]

[backwordscompatible]

[Oh, you can make all the noise and glare as much as you want, Jack; her hand firmly grips his, not even caring about the cold...which, already, was losing its usual sting. The Winter Spirit was starting to warm up, which meant they only had so much time left.]

[Another spell encompassed them in an air bubble that pushed the flames back, but the heat remained. Bearable, but there.]

The cries are getting louder. [Even as she says this, she visibly winces. It was almost impossible not to.] Where are you? We're coming!

[wintershepherd]

[ He nods tersely, the corresponding squeeze of his hand around hers. He uses the end of his staff to knock aside part of a shelf that's fallen from its place on the wall. ]

I'm... I'm in here... [ a cough ] Please help...

In where?

[ Jack is looking around for something like a closet that a child may hide in. ]

[backwordscompatible]

[The structure around them was starting to weak; she could see the pain peeling and a few of the higher support beams being burned through.]

The voice is echoing. Is there an air vent around here, maybe?

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack casts his gaze around, eyes stinging against the continually rising heat in the room. Finally he spots a bit of duct work that seems to go deeper into the wall, set down low enough that a child could have crawled into it. ]

There!

[backwordscompatible]

[She sees it the moment he points out the duct, instinctively letting go of his hand so that she could reach it faster. Her frame was smaller than his--thin as Jack was, he still had her by several inches in height. Without taking into account the dangerous flames flickering at the support beams around them, she quickly dove into a crouched position in front of the opening, tilting her head in to see.]

[Fortunately, at this level, the smoke had risen upward, leaving the air slightly clearer.]

Hello?

[A pair of frighten eyes peered back at her from the darkness]

Help! I'm stuck!

Don't worry. We'll get you out. Try and pull yourself towards me, alright?

[wintershepherd]

[ The child wriggled but seemed not to move more than a few inches. Meanwhile Jack was casting wary glances up at the ceiling. ]

Hurry, this place is in bad shape.

[backwordscompatible]

Working on it!

[She didn't meant to snap, but things were tense. The child was stuck, which meant she'd have to crawl inside to help free him.]

Hold on, I'm coming for you. Reach your hands out to me. We'll pull you out.

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack hardly had a call to rebuke the tone after his own sharp one only a few minutes ago and he rapped his staff against the wall section above them, icing a temporary "awning" to give them a little protection. The summoning was harder than it should have been and he felt his hands slick with meltwater where he gripped the old wood. ]

[backwordscompatible]

[She disappears inside the vent for a solid twenty seconds. When she emerges, her face and collar are covered in a thin layer of soot. She's coughing, and it's difficult for her to move...mainly because of the tiny bundle now clinging to her neck like a lifeline. Which, at that moment, she basically was.]

Got him. Let's move.

wow dw ate the reply to this one on me :|

[wintershepherd]

[ The trek out was going to be far more dangerous than the one inside, that much was certain to anyone. Jack braced a hand on a slowly sagging part of the wall to hold it up and let Zatanna and the child go through first, wincing at the heat emanating against his skin. ]

Watch your head through here...

rude, dw :|

[backwordscompatible]

[She tries to rush through as quickly as possible, knowing that Jack was holding back the wall. But the smoke was getting thicker. Her eyes burned, and breathing was getting more and more difficult. Her coughing got louder.]

[Still, she pushed on, holding as tightly to the small child as she could.]

Where's the exit?

[wintershepherd]

[ He could see no better through the heavy smoke and decided they had no time to stumble around finding the exit. He held out his hand to keep her from advancing, pointed his staff and channeling his power through it, blasting an icy hole through the wall that immediately shored itself up into a tunnel. The wind immediately came whistling down the passage, pushing the smoke and heat out and around them. ]

[backwordscompatible]

[She obeyed the silent command, and a moment later, was rewarded with a blast of fresh air as the heat and smoke was diverted elsewhere. Still lightheaded, but her vision was clear enough that she could see the exit.]

Let's go.

[Her muscles ached, but she pushed through the pain and broke into a moderate dash.]

[wintershepherd]

[ He followed her out, turning just in time to see the ice succomb to the growing heat, the tunnel collapsing in on itself with a hiss of melting ice turning to steam. It had been close and he was still tense, steps lingering a moment until he turned once again towards Zatanna and the child. ]

Are you both all right?

[backwordscompatible]

[Her head was bowed, hair covering her eyes, but she gave a nod.]

[Still...the moment they were at a safe distance, she collapsed to her knees. The child still in her arms, but as bent over as she could be. Her breath game in heavy gasps, like she were struggling for air.]

[She'd breathed in too much smoke.]

[wintershepherd]

[ He held his hands out to take the child, giving him a frantic check to see that he was all right (the boy whimpered a little but nodded, having pressed his nose and mouth into Zatanna's clothing) and settled him onto the grass, turning to Zatanna. His first inclination was to urge her to heal herself but how could she when she was gasping that hard?

This is my fault. I put her in danger. ]

Zatanna...!

[backwordscompatible]

[Don't you dare blame yourself for this.]

I'm...

['okay', she tried to say, but was interrupted by another fit of coughing.]

What...about...the kid...?

[wintershepherd]

I-I'm okay, the fire didn't get me.

[ The child is watching wide-eyed at his rescuers, huddled on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees, but appears to have no injuries. Jack settled his hands on her shoulders, holding her steady. ]

Can you cast a healing spell to help you breathe?