'In the Meantime...Something for Fun' Cont..

[Chris]

Peter had decided to go for a walk outside. He knew that he needed to reach the tree deep in the Forest, but was a bit afraid about what could happen if his friends came along. Peter remembered what happened with the wolves the last time he was in the forest, since the most recent time, was actually more distant than make sense. This being true due to Peter visiting the Tree in the 1600's, which while it was fresh on Peter's mind, it was not the last time, in the present time-sense. Anyway...he was walking through the grounds just outside the doors.

"I hope I know what I'm doing," he muttered to himself. Closing his eyes, upon opening them, they were a golden hue.

*****
Alex and Seth headed upstairs to get their quidditch stuff ready. If the plans went to plan, they would be close to missing the start of practice, but being that the choice is to go to practice, or possibly miss practice, and help their friend reach a tree that may help in defeating an evil that this world hasn't known in so so long. The world won't end by their missing one quidditch practice. Also, Will couldn't kick the whole team minus him off the team, and that's how many of the team are going on the adventure into the woods.

Alex sat on the bed, and looked to Seth. "Its about time. Do you think we'll find it?" Seth nodded for the first part, and shrugged for the latter part. "I have faith in our friend. I trust that he knows what he's doing...where he's going." Alex nodded, and said, "best not keep him and the others waiting." They left their quidditch things in the dorm, and they began to head down towards the main door of the Entrance Hall.

[Nicci]

Hearing the door to the dorm room blast open, William woke up from his light doze and tried to sit back up straight against his headboard. He hadn’t been aware that he felt tired but after putting all effort into his ‘equipment plan’, the opportunity to nap must have taken over. Shaking his head slightly, he hadn’t noticed Alex sitting the room and only realised he had been there after hearing Seth’s departing voice instructing them both to leave the room.
As the click of the door resumed into its closed position, Wills knelt forward on his bed and looked across the now empty room. The piles of clothes he had left for his two friends had now vanished and he could only presume that they had taken those with him. Puzzled for a brief moment he contemplated their unusual behaviour but thought no more of it, they would surely thank him later...wouldn’t they?
---------------------------------------------------------

Content with having rested long enough, Kalina sat up on her bed and kicked off her dainty ballerina slippers. Never before had she spent so much time in her dorm room doing anything else but sleeping, but now that things were awkward with the rest of the Gryffindor clique everything there just felt lonely and boring.
Slipping on her shoes she stood momentarily and looked around the room again specifically at the hanging Quidditch cloaks that belonged to Gen and Ylana. Their red and gold design stood out like blinding beacon, reminding her once again about a treasured thing she chose to give up. Determined though to not let it get to her, Kalina spun quickly on her heels and nearly fell over the ethereal shape of a large, bulky cat casually licking its forepaw.
Reassuring herself that this patronus wasn’t an ordinary house cat due to its physique and markings, the ocelot patronus stared back at her with intense glowing eyes before standing and casually walking back though the door the way it had came.
Surprised, Kalina quickly pulled herself together and bolted out of the door, people only sent their patronus when a message was important or needed to be delivered quickly.

[Chris]

So focused on the task at hand, Alex and Seth never noticed William sleeping on his bed. They continued out of the Common-room and down towards the entrance hall. Seth paused when he reached the entrance hall as Alex walked two steps forward. Turning around, Alex asked, "everything alright?" Seth nodded, and said, "I was just thinking." He never said what he thought of, but he continued on with Alex to the door.

*********
Peter sat on the grass, and closed his golden eyes. Taking a breath in, he let it out. This will be one of his more trying times. It fits that he'd want to make sure his mind is as focused as ever.

[Nicci]

Hastily descending the stairs and trying not to fall flat on her face, Kalina darted across the cosy common room and out through the portrait hole following behind the tail of the running ocelot patronus. Gathering that as she hadn’t seen a patronus of that animal belonging to anyone she knew before, the person beckoning for her must be Lia.
Suddenly fearing the worst for her new friend, Kalina froze at the top of the stairwell and stared down over the banister. Thoughts about Professor Garland swam instantly to mind but were suddenly washed away by seeing Alex and Seth walking down the many staircases below.
Momentarily, Kalina felt a heavy feeling in her stomach and her heart suddenly longed to be down there with the boys below. Secretly she still missed Alex, she missed his caring ways and his unique smile but the course of things as they were, their friendship was never going to be the same. Interrupted in mid thought by an angry hiss from the ocelot patronus now standing full height on the rail beside her, Kalina quickly got the message and fled down the first flight of stairs.

(Hmm my posts don't feel the same as they did before...need to find my rambling flow)

[Thomas]

(Wait what day is it? I know it's late mornining/early afternoon..)

[Nicci]

(Wednesday, 2nd week of term about 3-4pm)

[Chris]

Dec 7, 2011 21:22:05 GMT Nicci said:

(Wednesday, 2nd week of term about 3-4pm)

(Whoa! O.O So much has happened and its only the second week of term)

[Nicci]

(Yeah we kinda go a bit slow)

Having left Tristan alone with his thoughts back up in the Ravenclaw Common Room, Serena descended the final short flight of stone stairs before making her way out of the great front door of the castle. Feeling a gentle gust of cool air whip against her face as she confronted the outdoors, the young woman felt refreshed and invigorated, ready to face the task ahead.
Steadily pacing a few steps down the concrete path, she instantly noticed the outline of the back of a familiar male student and proceeded towards him. Unaware of his meditative trance like affect that Peter’s phoenix powers currently had over him, Serena placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and stood behind him.

For a brief moment there was silence as Serena sadly hung her head letting her dark, raven hair fall beside her face.
“I. I’m terribly sorry,” she finally mumbled, finding her voice “My brother has recently become preoccupied and I guessed by your persistence that my sister was the one you really wanted with you here today”.
Sweeping her fallen hair out of her eyes, Serena sighed before finishing her sentence with “So for being left with me, I thought I ought to apologise”.

Things between Serena and the Gryffindor’s hadn’t been easy since their day in Diagon Alley. Peter would often stop in the corridor and ask how she was getting on but Seth always gave her the cold shoulder, who could blame him really after what she apparently ‘accused’ his girlfriend of. Waiting for Peter to answer, Serena softly shook her head defiantly, it wasn’t a lie, it was the truth. A truth she had seen with her own eyes and it was Seth’s own fault if he was too naïve to believe it.

(I hope it's ok, Took my mind off my cold for a bit though)

[Thomas]

Wednesday afternoon was the first time Lyn had managed to get some free time to herself. She lay in the dry grass, enjoying the remnants of the summer weather.

She pulled her satchel to here and pulled out one of her charmed figures, it had been her favourite one, an intricate delicate sprig of heather with tiny amthest flowers encrusted into it. Lyn frowned as she felt it in her hand... Heather had been so good to her, a friend from the start but she was so scared of her, she'd become so possessive and it was all becoming a bit too much.

She remembered how she'd wrenched her hair and unconsciously rifled her hand through her hair feeling her sore scalp. She'd vowed that she'd never do it again, but Lyn didn't know whether to believe her. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't her fault "Heather must have been so lonely, it's not wonder she was upset that I was making new friends without her. I shouldn't have ditched her. It was my fault that she flipped, and she's sorry, she won't do it again"

But Lyn knew she was only giving her excuses, giving her a second chance she didn't deserve. She knew that she needed someone, anyone and Heather just happened to be the one who'd come along. She felt so torn but she'd made her decision, this was all going to stop today.

[Nicci]

Whilst Peter sat motionless on the ground outside the castle, deep within the forest an ancient darkness was already wide-awake and continuing to spread its seeds of despair in the very heart of the Grove of Ancients. (I think I called it that :S)
The once source of pure life, The Great Tree now stood in the very centre of the grove withered and bare. Not a single leaf branched from any twigs nor did any of the once proud roots search the soil for a much-needed quench. The long, deep claw like gashes that ripped through the trunk were the final signs that the life force of the nymph race was now a mere shadow of its former glory. This heinous act was the result of no natural disaster, one individual only caused this deliberate destruction and she would stop at nothing to halt the rebirth of the Phoenix.

From their awakened positions around the Great Tree, Branchwraiths with their sharp, twisted talons and tree like bodies shrieked in torment and pain as they wailed to the last rays of the moving sun in the heavens above. Without the energy from the tree, they too like the last of the nymphs would wither and die.
As many stumbled across the forest floor, flailing their arms like a wailing banshee their souls mourned the feared departure of the Essences of Nature from the world forever.
However, weak and damaged by Dragona’s destruction the Essence of Leuce (The unbound spirit) clung helplessly onto the fragile ethereal life of her twin sister Meliae. At the dawn of the nymph race Meliae had sacrificed her own being to uphold the law of the tree and be the once to see in its growth year after year, whilst Leuce was entrusted as the guardian and sole protector. It had taken all of Leuce’s spiritual strength to reach out to the forest and commune with the Phoenix born, for only they had the power to save what was now lost.

(Leuce was the 'person' who Peter met in the flashback that occurred in the Shrieking Shack and resulted in the fire. When I get back onto my desktop I will link a quote reference back incase people don't remember or wasn't with us in the RP then)

[Thomas]

((I remember ))

[Chris]

(Nice posts, Nicci and Tom! I remember much of the Tree of Life post. )

Letting his breath leave his body, Peter looked up as Serena was behind him, her hand on his shoulder. "Hi Serena." Looking down, Peter spoke, "I asked Callie, but she didn't trust herself to be able to come with us." Turning around, he faced Serena and said, "I know where I must go, and my friends decided to come with me, without any doubt. Where we need to go is deep in the forest. While I don't remember the exact location, I know that its in one of the deepest, and oldest sections." Taking a breath in, he let it out, "I asked Callie as a friend. Even though you and I don't know each other too well, would you be willing to come with? I can handle a lot of what we might face with my abilities, and I'm not doubting the magic that my friends and I could use with our wands, but I just have a fear in my heart that I could be leading our friends to danger. This same fear is what came more when I filled in with Callie what I needed to do."

Peter could go more into depth if she wanted to know, but somehow trying to say the last time he was to this tree was in the 1600's, and that it didn't feel like that long ago, is a bit hard to take.

His invitation to their circle of friends wouldn't be just for this gathering. Hopefully, Serena would be more willing to be apart of the group.

******
Seth and Alex came through the main door, and saw Serena talking to Peter. From the distance, Alex thought it was Callie, but Seth knew it was Serena. Taking a breath in, they headed over. Alex realized he was mistaken, and Seth was tossing in his head if he should say something about Juliet or not. Seth never realized how much he was ignoring Serena after she disclosed the information about Juliet in DA.

[Nicci]

Pausing silently as Peter turned around to face her, Serena found herself staring back at his intense, determined expression. It was very different from the time they were together in Diagon Alley, Peter there was joyful, carefree and now it was like he had spent a lifetime in her own shoes, carrying the heavy burden of a deep, dark secret.

“Well at least she’s thinking sensibly for a change” Serena unexpectedly found herself saying about her sister Callie. Whilst the nature of their relationship hadn’t changed, it wasn’t something necessarily that Peter would have wanted to hear. After Peter’s short description about his mission to the forest, the reasoning why she had been asked to go by her brother was now very clear and almost bordering on uncomfortable.
Slightly annoyed at herself she couldn’t believe Callie was using her and it only confirmed her mixed fears that her sister was not progressing. Trusting oneself was just as hard as finding the heart to trust others, a phrase conned by the facility to try and boost encouragement. But even Tristan knew full well that even if you have those two things nailed down, people don’t always return that trust back.

Returning to the conversation at hand, Serena still found herself intently staring at Peter. Reasoning came to mind as she noticed the gentle breeze capture the ends of his blonde hair and toss it wildly aside, this wasn’t about Callie or a stupid problem that her sister found herself involved in... and Peter had actually asked her a question….
Blinking twice and feeling like her body had just lurched backwards at the realisation of having been staring far too long, Serena had to quickly compose herself. Wasn’t the sudden need to go into the forest a little random? Didn’t the Headmaster say it was out of bounds? What was with “Our Friends”?

‘Our friends’ was an instant term used by Peter that she would have loved to have had the time to analyse in depth but right now Serena needed to give him an answer.
“So, let me get this straight” she began, proving she was listening “You are asking me to accompany you and some others into the Forbidden Forest, ignoring the fact that it’s name could imply that the leafy habitat that is full of many trees is out of bounds? And either you have a ‘thing’ for long walks or clearly are planning to end up in a serious situation that could result in death or worse… Expulsion and I’m just here to fill in because Callie had a moment of self-reflection? Correct?”

Surprised, she watched Peter just smile and nod like the whole idea occurred regularly. Maybe it did occur regularly? Maybe that’s what they did for kicks in the 'Griffin’s Door' house or whatever they called it?
Thankful that she had been assigned to Ravenclaw, Serena weakly smiled back at Peter. “All right…I’ll come along, call me crazy” she beamed with a carefree shrug of her shoulders “But, I’m not doing this because of Callie…I’m doing it because of you”.
Other than her brother Peter was one of the rare few individuals in this new place that had offered her a shred of kindness, now maybe was the time to repay the favour, a time when someone needed her… as friends. About to add to her sentence to try and make it sound less scary and obsessive, Serena chuckled at her bad choice of words before quickly turning at the sound of approaching footsteps. Changing her expression to that of something more serious she prepared herself to deal with the awkward moment that was going to be greeting Alex and Seth.

(That was a good post Chris, really got me thinking about my characters and back into a flow of writing again )

[Chris]

(Nice post, Nicci! )

Peter nodded as she was talking about the plan, and where she agreed to. "I'll level with you that its not just on a whim to go in there. I have to reach the Tree of Life. I was instructed back a few hundred years ago to come to the same spot and release the nymph's spirit. Dragona is going to ravage this world, and I know the time will come for me to confront her." Maybe it sounded ridiculous, but that was the truth. All of it.

"Please don't consider yourself as a last resort, since I asked Callie and Tristan first." At this time, he saw Alex and Seth coming this way. Alex waved as he got close enough, and Peter waved and gave a nod. Peter also gestured them to please hold up for a second. While Seth may not have realized his shunnings of Serena, Peter did.

From where Seth and Alex stopped, Seth finally knew what he needed to say, "I'm sorry if my attitude was harsh, Serena. I realize now that Juliet has secrets...many that I don't know about." Not sure what else to say, Seth dropped his head, and walked off towards the lake. Alex was caught between if he should go see Peter or go towards the lake. Alex gestured 'one-moment' to Peter and rushed off after Seth. Seth had to realize that even though he and Jules were on a break, that doesn't mean the fissure is very wide.

Taking a breath in, Peter let it out, and asked, "do you have any questions? You're bound to have some after what I said earlier." He waved his hand and a fireball appeared in the space near his hand. Its flame worked around the curvature, until Peter closed his hand around it and it vanished.

[Nicci]

Serena raised a curious eyebrow at Peter’s reply, Tree of Life? Dragona?....Few hundred years? If that was the truth then how creative could he be when making something up. Finding herself nodding in acceptance of the ‘crazy’ plan, she paused when he mentioned about Callie and Tristan and glanced down at the floor. It was hard not to feel like the last resort and the way Callie had put things didn’t make it any easier but at the end of the day this wasn’t like the weekend trip to Hogsmede, lives could be at risk and Peter himself was worried about taking other people along.
“I understand” she mumbled, “I’ll try and not get in the way”.

Hearing Seth speak, Serena looked up and watched his lips move with an emotionless expression on her face. She hadn’t expected him to turn and walk away, but now that he had she was left feeling guiltier then she had before his apology.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be here after all” she spoke sadly looking back to Peter “He didn’t need to apologise for his actions, anyone would have done the same in his shoes. I’m the one that should be sorry”. Before she would have had many questions for Peter but now they seemed insignificant.