asgardmeridiem | The school, the school, the school is on fire...

Entry tags:

The school, the school, the school is on fire...

Who: Anyone who wants in on it!
What: The school is on fire.
When: Days 420 around sundown and after.
Where: The school in Odin's district.
Rating: We'll see!

The sun is slowly going down and Barty Crouch jr is in Odin's district, as he's been every day for a good while though, since he first realized how easily Will Graham fell into habits. The difference is that today he isn't headed to the cafe they always meet at right away. Instead he stands leaning against a wall, ever now and then glancing at the school and waiting for a sign. He has placed the mirror - a present from Albus Dumbledore himself - in just the right position fixed it to the corner of a building and waited for the sun to hit the reflective surface at the right angle.

Dumbledore had talked of smoke and mirrors and now Barty had found the right tinder. He waits until he can see smoke, faintly but there. It would be another hour, he suspects, maybe even more before the fire spreads far enough to be noticed. But it would burn, of that he had no doubt.

It is starting to get dark when he takes the mirror back, making sure to remain unseen, and he heads down the road to meet Will. He doesn't know if anyone is still in the building he just set on fire, he doesn't much care either way. The flames would rise high and Severus Snape would feel the heat.

[OOC Notes: I purposefully set this up like an event log, so just like for them, feel free to make a header comment detailing what your character is doing at any given time. If you want to do any more last minute plotting, head on over to the plotting post! Also, here is the IC post with some of what led up to this if you want to read up and/or still tag in! I backtag forever. Slowly.

If your character has been near/around/in the school before the fire started and would thus be a suspect and/or suspect other people he or she has seen, you can play that part out here too!

Times: Before the fire, during the fire, right after the fire. ...duh.
Places: The parts of the schools that will be affected are: The library, the auditorium and several classrooms as well as Evy's office.
Obviously you can also have your character be outside the school or in the hallways or any unaffected part if they want to use the chaos to, I don't know, mess up Snape's office a little.

I just ask that no one saw Barty do what he did, so we can have more fun with various suspicions cast about.]

Threaded | Flat

[fire; closed]

By the time she notices the smoke, it's too late.

She stays late that day to mark the work Mr. Booth isn't equipped to take on--Egyptian history and language assignments--and very quickly finds herself lost to it. The thought that something smells burnt is one easily dismissed as yet another issue with the staff lounge's 'microwave'. Any shouts are easily muffled by her closed door, under which tendrils of smoke are curling.

But the scent of smoke doesn't go away, and by the time it's strong enough (and strange enough, almost like melting Bakelite) to concern her, she's beginning to feel queasy. The room is quickly growing hot, and now, now, it's obvious enough that there's a fire in the building. She stands quickly, trying to gather up her students' work with unusually clumsy hands, and stumbles toward the door. On the way, she trips, spilling her armful of papers, and of course she must bring them with her, she must pick them up. Her thoughts grow less steady as the smoke increases, and quickly enough, she's kneeling on the floor, trying desperately to tamp down the dizziness overcoming her.

It's all over in a matter of minutes, with little licks of fire only starting to enter the room as she loses consciousness. They're the last thing she sees as she gasps for a breath that doesn't burn down her throat or taste of ash: slender flames flickering through the thickening smoke, like imps from a fairy story, devouring the wood of her office door.

[after; open]

Evy wakes with bleary eyes in the company of the faceless women, and all her efforts to demand an explanation are for naught. Her voice is a painful, wordless croak. (Is an explanation really necessary, though? She knows what happened. She knows what transpired after she fell unconscious.)

They turn her out quickly enough, and then her only thought is of the school. She couldn't have been the only one inside it--and suppose nobody knows what's going on? Someone must be there, someone must stop the fire. The fact that it's been an hour since she was inside the building doesn't occur to her; all she knows is that she must get back to the school.

Running is too exhausting, so she staggers down the street as quickly as she can manage. It's a sorry sight: a clearly distressed woman with clothing blackened in patches, soot everywhere, and curly hair that's disheveled and singed.

When she reaches the school, she stops short, covering her mouth with her hands at the sight. Seeing it from the outside makes it all the more horrifying, and for a moment, she's frozen in place, all thoughts of doing something about it having fled her mind.

((OOC: Smoke + the fumes burning plastic gives off = delicious and deadly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Brackets and prose are both fine.))

Edited 2014-03-20 15:27 (UTC)

[He's stayed in Baldr district, in Gefion Park, ever since discovering Snape at the Mushroom House. It was a sort of patrol, making sure no one else came to harm the house, but also a simple result of the rage still boiling viciously inside him. He didn't kill Snape, but with so much anger left behind, he's pretty certain he could kill the next person he sees for so much as glancing at him the wrong way. He hasn't felt this unhinged in a long while.

With Odin district right next door, it only takes a little while for him to smell the smoke. After a frantic check of the house, he realizes it's coming from the opposite direction, and follows the smell cautiously; it'd be easier with his heat sense, but after crossing the district border, the illumination of the evening sky is more than enough to point him the right way.

Although he's never been to the school, he's seen it, and he knows who runs it. He's a block or two away when he spies the smouldering mess, and his anger is immediately replaced with smug satisfaction, followed by a cold clamp of dread around his heart as the pieces leading to this event line up in his head.]

Oh fuck. Oh, fuck.

[He starts to back away, and if no one notices him in time, he'll turn to run in the opposite direction. He absolutely cannot be seen here. Of course, anyone just making it to the fire will find running in the opposite direction even more suspicious, won't they?]

Fiona is by the front door when it becomes clear that the school's caught fire. She could easily leave, but like hell that's going to happen. She toes off her shoes-- maybe she should just stop wearing heels to work-- and tries to pin her hair back, close to her head. After getting a bit of cloth out-- it's a dishrag-- to press to her mouth, she walks down the hallway in the direction of yelling and screaming. She's looking for people to drag out.

[ooc If you want your character to be saved, Fiona's up for the task. Alternatively, if you want to be looking too and combine forces, or whatever else you can think of, please be my guest! I'm up for everything short of Fiona's death.]

DURING THE FIRE

[ Hermione is more of an expert on fire than she would like to be, admittedly, so when she feels that familiar prickling at her skin, sees the smoke, the suffocating nature of the smell, her heart races and she rushes outside of her classroom instantly. It's easy to follow the trail of the disaster and she feels a sick, awful feeling inside of her stomach when she realises that it wasn't a trick of her mind - there's a fire in the school and she has no idea who's around or if anyone needs help.

The first place she rushes to is the place most likely to explode into flames; the library. When she steps inside the burning heat almost overwhelms her before she can get her hands up to start trying to control it; her fire power has never felt so important. Twisting the flames, she pushes them into corners to snuff them out, to put them down and do whatever she can to stop the spread outside of the library to the rest of the school. It's easier said than done, however, as the sheer mass of the flames is enough to have Hermione's energy sapped far faster than she'd like.

When the fire has died down a little, as best as she can make it, pushed into a corner and held there with her magic, Hermione runs down the hall to see if she can find any more pockets of flame, eyes wide and heart beating a mile a minute in her chest. It aches, seeing the thing they'd all put so much effort literally fall apart before her eyes but that isn't what's important right now. Right now she has to try and find anyone that might be trapped in the school. ]

Hello? Is anyone out there?

AFTER THE FIRE

[ Once the fire is dealt with, somewhat, Hermione is outside. Her skin is darkened thanks to the smoke and soot and her hands are shaking as she looks back at the building. All that work, all that effort, all falling apart in less than a day. Her shirt is charred and there are a few minor burns up and down her arms - nothing too serious, nothing like the pain she had gone through when the powers had gone haywire.

Still, she looks exhausted, her eyes drooped as she takes long, deep breaths, trying to keep herself calmed. ]

When the fire's out and the crisis is over, Ril's set up and ready for injured with her kit as ready as her hands. She'll take major and minor, it doesn't matter, she's at everyone's disposal. Right now, the how isn't as pressing as getting folks treatment. She'll even wander looking for wounded, stop for a quick word, give out hugs if needed. Whatever she can do, she'll do without question.

At various points, she works with poultices to soothe burns, or dampens bandages or rags.

[Generally, Hawkeye is a coward. Or so he likes to tell people. Sometimes, other people think it on their own. He's certainly not known for running into danger, that's for sure. But it's the school on fire. And schools mean kids. That makes the world of difference.

There's a brief huff of frustration. God damn it, if he had the rope to tie Ril to a pole or something to make her not go with him, he would. She's sick and has no damned business going into a burning building. He doesn't either, but at least his mind and body isn't deteriorating like Ril's. Hawkeye suddenly wants to just forego going in at all, if it will make her stay out, but then...the kids. God damn it. Fine. On her own head be it. He'll just patch her back up again when they're done.

He snatches one of the surgical masks from his bag and ties it on with shaking hands, wondering what the hell he's thinking, then throws the strap of the med kit over his shoulder and dashes in. He can only hope that he finds someone, or that he finds nobody because there's nobody to find. Hawk holds a hand up to grab Ril's arm so she doesn't run into him in the dark, steadying his nerves as best he can before moving on, not noticing the cracking sound in the ceiling.]

[before the fire; closed]
Severus leaves work early.

He's been keeping a very low profile ever since ~~Death Eater wankgate happened~~ Crouch's brazen display of spite that was broadcast across the entire network for all of Asgard to see. Oh, he's still been working diligently in obsessive attempt to keep his mind occupied, but he's been doing so elusively: keeping to his office mainly, only venturing out to attend classes he teaches or to deal with things that necessarily require his presence.

The amount of time he's spending in his office almost eerily mirrors how often he'd shut himself away in Dumbledore's office during the time Severus had taken Dumbledore's place as Headm--

Well. That's one of the many unsettling things Severus has been trying very hard not to think about.

But today, he leaves work early. No reason, other than a need to just get away from everything and everyone. He leaves the school building quietly, mostly unnoticed, his emu trailing along behind him, and heads to his home only a couple of blocks away from the school in Odin district.

[during the fire - option A: open]
It's after sundown, as Severus is making dinner for himself, that he notices the faint smell of smoke. He dismisses it at first as likely being smoke simply coming from a someone's chimney nearby but the smell grows stronger, and when he opens his front door to curiously investigate where on earth it's coming from, he's met with the smell of smoke hanging thick and acrid in the air.

Good heavens, what now? he tiredly thinks. He instructs Steven to stay inside the house, shuts the door after him and heads down the street in search of the source of smoke, and it occurs to him with mild alarm that the smoke is growing stronger the closer he nears the direction of his school. Approaching the end of the street, he sees people running, hears people shouting, hears the faint but ominous crackle and roar of billowing fire. Hears a sudden shattering splinter of a window exploding under the pressure of heat. And it all seems to be coming ominously close from his school.

He breaks out into a run and as he bursts out onto the street his school is on, he comes to a staggering halt and gapes in speechless horror at the sight of angry flames surging out of several classroom windows and pungent charcoal smoke billowing in raging clouds into the evening air.

[during the fire - option B: open]
The pandemonium all around him is what snaps him out of stunned and dread-filled shock: he launches into a hurried run, his eyes wild with panic, and barges his way past people to make a beeline for his school.

All thoughts of coherency and questions of bewilderment at how this fire could have possibly started are blocked out by the sheer frantic thought that he needs to help people get to safety. There are almost always teachers that stay back late at the school, and there are classes and clubs that take place late in the afternoon. Teachers could be trapped inside. Students of his could be trapped inside.

The students. The students are who he's most frantic about.

[Also feel free to set up something after the fire is out, too, if you'd prefer!]

[Here's a man who doesn't give a damn about putting out the fire, and indeed, might not know there's been one. He certainly never showed up to help fight the fire, that wouldn't be him.]

[The day after he can be found either in his room, Hel Welcome House 105, or on his way to and fro checking on the Nightmare he's housed in the stables. He's been on good behavior... for the most part.]

[It almost seems to have paid off. His shadow powers have changed.]

Edited 2014-03-21 02:19 (UTC)

[DURING]

[By the time it starts pouring out of the hallways of the school, it rushes in before Alice can properly gauge a reaction. She's literally paralyzed with fear -- the only thing that would send her into a state of fear. Fire. There's one option here and it's too much of a familiar option.

Leave now and possibly leave others behind, something that Alice had the option before.

She clamors, calling out for others in the hallway to find any other being trapped in the inferno. She can't leave them. It's a horrible way to go. And while Alice sprints down the hallway alerting others to the fire. She runs, possibly spending too much time vested in trying alert others to get out by checking rooms. The fact that she hasn't crossed anyone yet is both reassuring and frightening. But the smoke is becoming too much and Alice has already endured burns. Again.

Her head is starting to spin, becoming far and far more light-headed after losing a sense of direction. She's looking for a window, because she knows from experience the window is the best way out. Fresh air! Alice ends up breaking a window with a blunt object, cutting her hands in the process to climb out. But her mind is struggling to keep conscious.]

[Afterwards]

[Alice has likely fainted from the own experience, yet she somehow comes to from wandering around. Hands cut, a few burns on her arm, and bruises. She's physically fine, but it's another matter entirely when it comes to her emotional state. She starts to wander off from the scene with no particular destination in mind.]

[Cynthia has come sprinting down Odin's district once she caught wind of what happened. Her normal abilities may be stripped, but she still would like to help others escape and tend to wounds. She keeps a level head here, as much as she keeps a level head in battle. As Cynthia skids to a stop, she stops to access the situation before jumping in. Hell, if she has to go in and drag someone out, she will.]

[OOC; If you need help or just wanna plot a rescue effort, here's Cynthia :3c]

[When he arrives at the cafe, Will isn't there yet. He probably won't be long, but Barty already sits down anyway, absently using the bracelet and looking up every now and then to see whether the person walking in at that moment might be Will.

He is calm and it's not just a facade, really. There is a certain rush to it all, but he suspects that won't really set in until after he's seen some results. For now it wouldn't be a problem to focus on Will as if nothing had happened.]

[during the fire]

[By chance, it's for the school that Bucky swings by Odin's district, looking to check out the place where he's soon going to be working at, and probably ask a few more questions as well. He's within a few blocks when a familiar smell reaches him--the smell of smoke, something burning, and he runs till he sees the school, black smoke rising from the smoldering mess, and the only thing that's running through his mind is shit, who's still in there?

He pushes past the forming crowd, pushes his way into the school, his mind running on automatic already, cursing not coming by earlier and memorizing the layout of the school. He claps a hand over his mouth and nose, only occasionally taking it off to shout:]

Hey! Hey, can anyone hear me?

[after the fire]

[Turns out, charging straight into a burning school to drag out anyone else still stuck inside has its consequences. There's soot and some minor burns on his skin, but for the most part he looks fine, if a little angry.

And by "a little" we mean that he's this close to throwing a punch at something to make himself feel better. He's tensed up, his usual friendly manner nowhere to be seen, and very much on edge, and not just because someone's just tried to burn down a school with people inside.]

During:

[Clementine can't help the concern when she hears of the fire, quickly rushing over as fast as she can from the clinic. With healing, she might be able to help. To assist if anyone is trapped and hurt, help them able to move and get out of the inferno. Maybe.

It seems there are some things that haven't changed, at least in this instance her desire to help and keep people safe wins out over her more recent bitterness and jaded outlook. Even if the people that might be in the school would just revive again, it's not something she would wish on anyone. Not if she can help.

So she runs, inside and through the hallways, calling out between coughs from the smoke, ripping the bottom of her shirt to attempt to cover her mouth as she scouts the classrooms.]

Hello?

After:

[She should have really anticipated this outcome. She's covered in soot and dirt from the rubble, coughing from the smoke and desperate for a drink. A chance to clear her lungs. She doesn't care that her clothes are ruined, it's the hat, a little blackened from the soot that upsets her more if anything. But she slumps down outside, exhausted for a break. And then gets back up to tend to any injured outside.

Feel free to tell her off, send her home to bed, have her heal your character.]

[During the fire; closed.]

[Ellie is in the deepest part of the school, one of the underground rooms. Usually, Snape is here with her at this time of the day. She's deeply absorbed in working on one of her potions assignments, trying to get the concoction of the root salve precisely right. It requires some stewing and smells terrible, but it's not an immediate explosion risk, so she's trusted to work on it without help.

As she usually does when she's working alone, Ellie has her music player on.

The earbuds are pushed into her ears, the volume up, blocking out the sounds from the school above. Her sense of smell is compromised by the potion she's working on. As time wears on, however, it's getting warmer and harder to breathe.

It's the taste that eventually trips it. The acrid taste of flames when she swallows the smell, makes her realize there is a faint scent of soot in the air. The world narrows down into a bloom of unease, and she pulls the earbuds out, turning around and heading to the doorway. The heavy wood is warm, and when she opens it up, choking smoke billows into the room.

Ellie slams the door shut, coughing and pulling back from it, hands over her mouth. Her hands are already starting to shake. Retreating slowly, she turns and sprints back to her cauldron, taking it off the heat and scooping up her backpack, pulling it into place.

She can get out, she tells herself, goes to soak her shirt in one of the basins before she pulls it over her face, staying low as she opens up the door. The smoke instantly pours into her eyes, down her throat. The coughing is immediate and painful. She gets into as low of a crouch as she can, finding the steps upwards with her hands. The air is scorching, her eyes streaming no matter how much she wipes them. She already feels dizzy from the smoke.

There's screaming, somewhere far away. Already, her movements are weaker, and her coughing doubles her over until she feels she might be sick. Her hip hits the stairs, and she struggles to keep crawling.

Ten more feet. Then five more. Then she struggles just to move just one more. The world is starting to swim at the edges. She feels her foot slip on the steps, and she slams hard into the stairs, reeling in pain. She can't breathe.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, no.]

[during the fire]

[Elphaba is on her way to the school, in fact, when the smell of acrid smoke fills her nostrils, and her legs break into a run, her mind racing--it's coming from the school's general direction, and at this point in time there must still be some people inside, teachers marking down grades, students taking on night classes. A part of her hopes that she's wrong, that it's further away than she thinks, but the second she sees the school that hope is dashed.

She stands there frozen for a moment, then moves into action, ripping off a small part of her skirt to cover over her mouth as she charges past the crowd forming, past others trying to get in, and into the school, running into one of the hallways. Even here she can feel the heat, hear the screams, and she spares a moment to curse her impulsive decision before she takes off, shouting all the while.]

Can you hear me? If anyone is still there, stay calm, I'm coming to get you--

[after the fire]

[Elphaba makes for quite a sight, normally--green skin, black clothes and a pointed black hat will do that. She makes for an even stranger sight now, covered in black soot, her hair disheveled and slightly singed, and bandages around her hands for some minor burns.

She's gone to the library to salvage what she can from the ruins. As she picks her way through burned pages and furniture and ashes, though, she's beginning to think she's not going to get much out of this.

But damn it, she has to at least try.]

[It's a little late for young ladies to be out and about, especially young ladies with school and jobs - but this is very important for Jane. In working on an assignment she realized that she'd left a book behind at the school's library, without which the assignment is impossible! So she has come to Odin's District. She walks briskly with a scolding expression on her face, but really, she's only scolding herself.]

Can't believe I got distracted...I bet the librarians put it away already...this is-

[But she can't finish her chiding. There's something sharp and heavy in the air and the closer she gets to the school, the stronger it gets. Naturally, Jane does what any young lady in her situation would do - she runs towards it.

Jane stops short as the road opens up to the school, or where part of it once stood. It's all smoldering char and blackened beams, and her hands fly to cover her mouth, her eyes are wide...what had happened? How had it happened? She barely thinks these questions before she darts forward once more, because what occurs to her the strongest is that there may be someone in the wreckage.

It seems as if the assignment is going to have to wait.]

during the fire.

[ she smells it before she sees it.

it's late enough in the day that natasha isn't teaching a class - she's sparring on her own as she considers the next lesson to teach, trying to keep in mind that the children aren't as agile or strong as she is. it's a challenging exercise and one that she quite enjoys (if she's being honest) - but the smokiness of the room and a sudden pop! catches her attention. naturally, she's going to investigate it - and it's not until she reaches the library that she comes across the first actual flames.

it doesn't occur to her to be suspicious - no, her first thought is getting everyone out. this was a school for children, children who would likely be scared in the face of a fire and wouldn't know what to do. the library seemed like a prime place to start, considering she was already there, and she wades into the flames without care for her safety, shouting. ]

Is there anyone here? Hello?!

[ if there is anyone, they better be loud to be heard over the sound of the flames and burning books.

you might run into natasha later, also, running around the still burning parts of the building to help rescue those in tricky places that others may not be able to reach except for by some very tricky acrobatics and agility - both of which she has. ]

after the fire.

[ she's found a place to sit on a nearby stoop, head in her hands, a smear of ash on her cheek. every few moments, natasha coughs and then looks covers her mouth with one hand, lips shaking slightly. if she was being honest, she would probably need to see a healer - but there were others more injured who needed to be seen to first and she'd be damned if she took up their attention immediately.

now that she's rescued all that she can (she's not naive enough to think that everyone got out) her first thought is who?. who would burn down a school for children? who would do something so destructive - if it was on purpose? and why? even for retribution, there were too many innocents in the way. simple assassination would be more sensible, in her opinion.

another weak cough. the smoke had burned her throat, her eyes, and she had a few burns and some nasty looking cuts on her legs from tumbling over and under things to reach people and pull them out. otherwise, she seemed mostly unharmed. and very, very angry. ]

Edited 2014-03-21 20:18 (UTC)

[She once lived in one of the coldest places in Elibe, and the element that defines her and her brother among all dragons and half-dragons is ice. Even with what happened at Alfheim, her resistence to direct fire and heat is not the best, so dashing inside the burning building was out of the question... She would've been be a burden, and that's the last thing she ever wanted.

So Ninian arrives to the "fire scene" carrying her Medic Corps supplies bag, steeling herself for whatever will happen from now on, and getting ready to use either her Asgard-given healing powers or the first-aid skills she learned with Merlin and the others. Whoever needs some patching-up or knows who needs it is free to ask for it; she'll do her best to help.]

[Once the world starts to calm down and the cleanup begins, Ellie lingers by the scene, making sure everyone is okay. Someone's put a blanket around her shoulders and Riley's sure to be nearby, but there are people she needs to see safe with her own eyes before she leaves, even to go home, or seek further medical treatment.

She's alive, but she's a mess, probably in need of further healing.

Ellie starts flagging down people as she sees them, waving them over to ask as many questions as her strained voice and lungs will allow.]

Did you see anything?

During

[ What do you mean the sensible thing to do in a fire is to not jump right into it without the proper equipment? Well, the Doctor's never been known for being sensible. Of course, he has no intention to get knocked out, because people are likely going to need his Healing, so he won't be in there for very long. But he'll be calling things like "is anyone there?" or "hello?" even as he's keeping as low as he can and trying not to breathe too much.

If anyone needs help out, he can provide it.

After coming back out, he'll be looking for people that need healing so he can. Well. Heal them. ]

After

[ Still checking if anyone needs healing, but mostly he's looking to see if everyone's holding up all right. Mentally. If anyone's sitting or standing around looking exhausted or ... anything, he comes over. ]

Are you all right?

Threaded | Flat

no subject

immediately after the fire | outside

during... ish.

no subject

[✙] After [✙]

During - Closed to Ril and Six

no subject