Written Wonderland

((OOC: Right after Raccoon and Evan went through the portal on the Fourth Night.))

"Tell Mizu the headcount and about Raccoon."

Lance nodded to Evan, hoping to convey that he'd received the captain's instruction and would follow it, regardless of how the wild amused grin on his face might look. He didn't think the captain had seen, though, he'd been in such a rush to follow Raccoon into the portal.

Lance stood still for a moment, watching the portal like something might jump out of it--or maybe, just hoping to watch it close or disappear or whatever it was Evan had been so worried it would do without him in it, which it now seemed to be taking its sweet time with. Mostly, though, Lance just needed to take a moment to gaze in awe after Raccoon, floored and impressed and a little bit envious that the soldier had had the gall to rush straight in and risk Evan's wrath--not to mention the goddess'.

He reminded himself that this might mean Raccoon would miss the ceremony, though, unless Evan could bring them back with him in the morning, maybe. Lance wouldn't have wanted to risk the ceremony, not for whatever whim had propelled Raccoon to see the goddess' realm a single day sooner.

"What happened?" One of the other volunteers had poked his head in--a grumpy-looking boy with wavy black hair.

"Raccoon jumped through the portal." Lance announced to him with a stupid grin, his voice full of laughter. He was trying to sober up, honestly, but he simply couldn't. "Rutliff followed him in."

Something about reporting the situation out loud did help Lance get his bearings, though, and he gently pushed past the boy--who cursed under his breath as he shuffled aside.

"Raccoon jumped through the portal, and Rutliff followed him in." Lance repeated a little more soberly, projecting his voice so all the gathered volunteers would hear. "Rutliff said to get the commander a headcount and tell her about Raccoon. Past that, I guess we're on our own now."

Novelty watched the proceedings, from Evan's response about everyone getting to see the portal to Raccoon's disappearance, in a frantic awe. Having stepped back to stand, physically and metaphorically, with Philip, he was in no position to stop the unfolding events or even participate in them. If he had thought that Raccoon was going to run through the portal, it was only a flicker in his subconscious mind, and there wouldn't have been any possible way to act on it fast enough.

The soldier had seen, if only for a split second, the fantastic red of the portal that couldn't have been anything else against the back wall of the captain's tent. It looked magical, and in that moment, Novelty's breath had audibly caught in his throat, surprise at the sudden confirmation of everything Evan had been telling them.

It would be a long night and long next day waiting to go through such an opening himself.

As Lance walked back through the gathered crowd to explain what had happened, Novelty found himself thinking about what to do next. Someone would surely be sent to inform the commander, but Novelty figured it didn't need to be him. In fact, he didn't want it to be him. Lance could sort that much out on his own. He looked perfectly capable despite his shit-eating grin. And, by all accounts, it was absurd and hilarious that such a thing had occurred.

Two desires tore at Novelty: the first being figuring out why in gods' names Philip had come in the first place and the second being establishing some kind of connection preemptively with the rest of the volunteers. Novelty was unsure how successful the latter would be. Already it seemed like some of them were dispersing, content to spend the following night in the same anticipatory state as nights before.

Turning to Philip, Novelty said, "Well, that didn't exactly go as planned," hoping that he might open a window for further discussion--perhaps away from this chaos--with the lieutenant.

--

Ramanujan watched the proceedings after the first set of soldiers entered the tent with horror, shocked and appalled that someone would dare risk both the wrath of the goddess and of the commander. That was certainly not the way to get what Ramanujan wanted out of the situation, but then again, they had clearly all arrived with varying desires and expectations. Perhaps that was, in their own way, what the hasty soldier had to offer the goddess.

He wasn't certain what to do from here, though. Lance seemed to be taking control of the situation to some degree, which Ramanujan didn't have any complaints about. He supposed he could go tell the commander what had occurred, but he wasn't especially keen on being the messenger for what might be considered a catastrophe. He wasn't exactly in a position of status that would protect him, either. No, he could let others manage that unless called upon to serve.

The soldier made to move away from the tent, figuring that it was enough that he would see all these faces the following day.

((OOC: Ramanujan would be very amiable to anyone who wanted to talk to him about what happened to him with the goddess or if Lance wanted to keep them together, he would follow, but by default, he'll probably go off alone.))

--

Trevor had an uneasy sensation in his gut watching the soldier who had been antagonizing Evan walk into the tent. From where Trevor stood, he couldn't see much of anything, but when Lieutenant Holloway came out and announced that both Raccoon and Evan were gone, Trevor found himself unsurprised.

Well, that was frustrating. But now he could start to think about what in the hells he would bring as an offering to the goddess.

((OOC: Trevor will also probably go off on his own. He would stay with a group if Lance decided to form one but would be pretty terse with anyone who tried to ask him questions.))

--

Gavin had been staying at the outskirts of the crowd, but when soldiers went into the tent and the crowd shrank and moved forward, Gavin found himself rushed forward closer to the middle of the goings-on. He gasped when he saw a flash of the enormous red portal within the tent, all the sensations from the shimmer returned, culminating into a solid belief that, yes, the goddess was real, her realm was real, everything Gavin was preparing to do was real.

Excitement bubbled through his breast, and his face flushed, preparing to enter the tent in the next group after the soldiers returned, but instead Gavin heard Evan's expletives and Raccoon's name and guessed what might have happened. Sure enough, Lance came out to offer the bad news. The thought of going to tell the commander what had occurred was horrifying, and Gavin was none too eager to leave the company of the only other people in camp who understood the kind of anticipation he felt in his body.

((OOC: I think Gavin might seek Chloe out if she had interest, but he would be fairly shy about initiating. He's probably subconsciously moving in her direction, though.))

Lance took in the sight of the volunteers before him, weighing how hands-on he should be at this point. No one responded directly to his announcement, and a few folks seemed to slowly have their own ideas of what to do next. If Lance was reading the crowd correctly, there was some frustration and a lot of uncertainty, but no panic or really anything of much urgency, which was good. It seemed like some folks might be leaning towards dispersing, and Lance had a mind to let them, but wanted to get in one practical consideration first.

"We should go around and introduce ourselves," The lieutenant said, his smile calmer now and leaning towards warm, and his voice confident and smooth. "so we can more easily coordinate going forward. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm Lieutenant Lance Holloway, under Captain Nicolaides."

With that he looked expectantly at the softer black-haired soldier who had come with him into the tent. He'd followed Lance out and hovered uncertainly to the side, nearby the grumpier black-haired soldier who had asked what happened. Lance figured, he was bold enough to have come in to see the portal before others, and had been cooperative enough to start leaving when Evan had said to, so he had high hopes that the soldier would follow his lead here.

---

Nick felt floaty and uneasy, sure that yet more tears were only a moment away. He was trying to hold himself together, keenly aware of having so many people around, none of whom seemed to be emotional, at least not in the way that Nick was feeling. Then again, perhaps they were holding it in like he was... hard to say.

He couldn't believe that someone had disobeyed Captain Rutliff and run through the portal. Why had they done that? What did it mean? Did it change anything? Nick's knees felt weak with the fear that between there being too many volunteers and one having already gone to the goddess' realm, maybe he'd have to stay. Maybe he could make peace with it, if he had to, but he desperately hoped not. Still, no one else had budged when Evan had said that martyrs should excuse themselves, so they all wanted to be there. If the commander refused to send more than ten, Nick had no idea what would happen.

Lieutenant Holloway spoke again, and Nick managed to refocus his gaze on him. Then, before he knew what was what, Holloway was looking directly at Nick, sending his stomach into his throat. Thankfully, he was able to answer on instinct, even as he still felt adrift in the miasma of the last few minutes.

"Cadet Nicholas Fable, under Captain Dod. Nick."

---

Chris was fucking pissed. He hated that there were too many volunteers, he hated that he had to come up with an offering, and he hated that someone had already gone and fucked everything up. Maybe not--it was hard to have any fucking idea what it meant that one of the volunteers was already in the goddess' realm against Rutliff's orders, but surely something was fucked.

And then this lieutenant was taking charge, and Chris didn't like it. Did rank even matter, with them considering leaving the army? Chris didn't like the thought of this smug-looking twig acting like he owned them all even after they were on the other side--assuming he even went. Truthfully, right this moment, he wasn't sure that he would. Someone might have to duck out, and between this offering business and Rutliff making sure they all wanted to be there... maybe Chris didn't want to go, at least not badly enough, especially given he wasn't sure he had anything to offer the goddess.

He also hated that Holloway was making them introduce themselves. He guessed it kinda made sense, but his stomach turned over at the prospect. And then Holloway put the soldier next to Chris on the spot, and he glared at the lieutenant, fucking terrified that he'd be next. Sure enough, as soon as the cadet next to Chris answered, Lance turned his smug little smile on Chris.

"No." Chris answered emphatically on impulse, his angry face scrunched and his fists shoved deep in his pockets. He felt several eyes on him, pricking at his ears and his shoulders which tensed even further up. "I don't even know that I'm going." he muttered, and then turned to start stomping away.

Gavin grew increasingly nervous as Lance started asking them to introduce themselves. Was this going to make it more or less awkward when they were all in the goddess' realm together? He didn't know. But he could tell that a soldier near him was upset and grumpy about doing what felt like school introductions, and Gavin sympathized. But, at the same time, the thought of anyone leaving and not coming to the ceremony made Gavin panic.

Hastily, they reached toward the grumpy soldier but stopped just short of touching him. "Wait!" Gavin said with more conviction than he actually felt. "It's possible that Raccoon won't count... Right? Like, they might have broken the rules, so maybe we still need ten." Gavin wasn't totally sure that his logic makes sense, but he hoped that it might be enough to make the soldier reconsider. They needed to give an accurate headcount to the commander one way or another.

Then, realizing he should also introduce himself, he added, "Cadet Gavin Moretti under Captain Rutliff."

Chris bristled when someone called for him to wait. He couldn't help pausing, but he did stop himself from turning around, and was starting to muster the gall to start walking again when the soldier went on to say that maybe Raccoon wouldn't count. So, they might need Chris after all. That gave Chris further pause, and he glared at the ground in front of him, his face red from all the attention he knew he was getting in that moment while he contemplated. Meanwhile, the other soldier introduced himself--one of Rutliff's men.

"Figures," Chris muttered softly, but maybe loud enough for Gavin to hear.

"Fine," he said more loudly as he turned back around, stomping his foot into place and glaring at Lieutenant Holloway.

"Cadet Chris Paddock, Captain Morris."

---

Lance was unfazed by Chris' glare and gave Gavin an approving nod, glad that the soldier had acted. He himself might have been inclined to let Chris leave, but Gavin had made a good point, that perhaps Raccoon wouldn't count as one of the ten in trade for the Shel'ti. Pretty irritating, thinking about it like that, but then again, if they all genuinely wanted to go, maybe Raccoon just forced Mizu's hand to let them. Not that delivering that message would necessarily be fun, but at this point, Lance was making peace with being that messenger, once they wrapped up here.

So, next, he turned his attention to the girl, who had meandered away from Rutliff's tent to be closer to the soldier she'd arrived with, but still was a bit more near the front than the others.

---

Truthfully, Chloe was glad that they were making introductions, and wasn't entirely sure what to make of one of the volunteers being so grumpy about it. They were potentially going to be spending quite a long time together, and doing who-knows-what with or around each other, and besides, Lance was right that it'd be good to know who to look for to coordinate things as they each thought about their offerings and details about the ceremony started getting fleshed out. When it was her turn, she nodded serenely and spoke up smoothly.

"Cadet Chloe Galen, under Captain Bronwen."

---

Nathan went ahead and stepped forward, then, figuring he was probably next and feeling oddly anxious to look less shy than he felt.

"Nath-- um, Cadet Nathan Finch, also Captain Bronwen."

((OOC: Which I think puts Ramanujan next in Lance's gaze-path lol))

Seeing that the order was passing to him, Ramanujan offered his introduction, "Cadet Ramanujan Ansari under Captain Brede."

He looked then toward Novelty, and the soldier piped up quickly, "Cadet Ammon Novotny under Captain Kade, but everyone calls me Novelty." Novelty then looked toward Philip.

Philip knew that Novelty had said something to him, and he even turned his his towards the soldier for a moment, but his gaze was distant, and returned quickly to Evan's tent.

Some part of him had wanted to go into the tent and through the portal, but he hadn't been able to move. He dreaded what lay before him--with more time, he had to talk to his captain, and by the sounds of it, he had to face the entire camp, openly celebrating his return to the goddess. He supposed, that was the ideal way to go, but he didn't know if he could get there. Maybe that meant that he shouldn't, but he couldn't bear it to stay. Not if he had the chance to go, however terrifying.

All at once it dawned on him that there had been talking, but now there was silence, and Philip realized that several eyes were on him.

"Lieutenant... Pemberley," he said slowly, looking to Lance as though for confirmation that he got his own name correct.

---

Lance couldn't help smiling at Philip, though his eyebrows tilted in something akin to worry. Gods, Philip looked out of it. He figured that the man's response had been sufficient for their purposes here, and he nodded to the lieutenant with some compassion before turning his attention to the final volunteer remaining.

Novelty grew even more concerned about Philip after he seemed confused even about his own name, and some part of Novelty wanted to find a way to shelter Philip, maybe take him back to his tent? But Novelty had an equally strong desire to stay involved in the group dynamics and whatever might come of that. Novelty reminded himself that, no matter how he felt about Philip, he didn't owe Philip anything. At the same time, Philip was emotionally injured...

Before Novelty didn't have time to act before one of the soldiers near Philip spoke, "Trevor. Fujiwara's my captain." After a pause, Trevor spoke again, "But I'm not sure any of that will matter after tomorrow."

"Probably not," Lance answered chipperly. "But tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

He surveyed the volunteers before him again, allowing himself some strange pride in the group they'd assembled, even if he had little to do with getting them here. He was glad he'd gotten them all to exchange names, in the very least, and that might be all he could do for them at the moment.

"I'll go give the commander a report. We've all got offerings to ponder on. To whatever extent those who have been with the goddess are willing and able to share advice, it'd likely be helpful, but ultimately, we're all going as volunteers in our own right; all we owe each other is respect of that fact."

Lance felt a little nervous, getting as serious as all that, but he also genuinely hoped that it was helpful. He waited just long enough to see if anyone wanted to ask anything else of him, and if not, he'd leave to go face the commander with the news of the evening.

Trevor nodded at Lance's comment. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

--

Novelty appreciated that Lance was going to go see the commander, but it meant that he wouldn't be there to keep the rest of them together. Without a clear leader, Novelty thought they would disperse quickly. Perhaps it was just as well, though; Philip clearly needed to leave and get his bearings again, and while there were others Novelty would enjoy interacting with, Lance was the highest on that list.

--

Gavin looked at Lance with worry. If Lance was leaving, were they going to all leave each other? Gavin hated the idea of being alone with his thoughts for the rest of the evening. Maybe Chloe and Nathan would take a third. He looked at both of them and waved shyly, hoping that would be enough to catch their attention and inform them that he wasn't ready to stop interacting yet. Plus, if Gavin remembered correctly, Nathan had already visited the goddess and would be good for information.

--

Realizing that group cohesion wasn't going to last much longer, Novelty had one more piece of information to offer the rest of the volunteers, though he blushed to think about sharing it. But, if they were as concerned about the offering as Novelty had been, then he thought they would appreciate it.

"My captain visited one of the remaining priestesses of the goddess in the area, and she told me what my offering should be." Novelty hesitated, the blush on his cheeks growing as he pointedly did not look at Philip. "She wants me to find some vining purple flowers and wrap them around my nude body before I go to her." Novelty resisted the desire to cover his face or leave the group. They should know the types of things the goddess would enjoy. "But the priestess also mentioned that the goddess isn't one for repeats."

Briefly, in an attempt to distract himself from his mounting embarrassment, Novelty thought about if the goddess might be mad that Raccoon went to her without an offering, but then Novelty laughed. Perhaps going early was the offering.

((If there's not any further conversation, Trevor and Ramanujan will go off on their own, and Novelty will try to gently lead Philip back to his tent. I'll set up a new thread for Lance/Mizu.))