Open Calculated Risk

[Indira Khatri]

Indi stood at the edge of the forest and crossed her arms over her chest as she weighed the pros and cons of what she was about to do. She had spent the first few weeks at school exploring and looking for any hidden spaces or secret tunnels or whatever she could find with in the castle. Her searching so far hadn't yielded anything that really intrigued her and now the next logical step had lead her to the "forbidden" forest. She had heard enough students talking about it to know it wasn't as forbidden as the name made it sound, but still the dark shadows that lay just beyond the tree line did make her a bit nervous. She didn't consider herself to be very good at outdoor activities so she would be at a disadvantage if she ran into any kind of creature. But she wasn't concerned about professors or prefects. As a first year it would be easy enough to exaggerate and play the part of a clueless new kid and hopefully get away with a warning. She had mostly made up her mind, yet she still felt like her feet were planted firmly and it would take some kind of push to get her to take the first step.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Being told right at the beginning of the year that the forest next to the school was forbidden had obviously made Isaiah curious about it. Why was it forbidden? What secrets did it hold? Was it dangerous? Multiple questions had been racing through his head but there was one thing he had known for sure: it would be quite the adventure. It didn't make sense to him that there was an off-limits place right next to a school filled with kids. How illogical was that? If they didn't want them to enter they should've just build a fence around it or something, put up a spell so they couldn't get past the tree line. All in all, Zay had been dying to get to the forest, see what it was all about, which was exactly where he was heading right now. As he moved closer he noticed another kid right at the edge of the forest. "So maybe you are cool." He grinned as he came to a stop next to her, staring right into the shadow of the forest like she seemed to be doing for a second, before turning his head to the side. "You going in?"

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard another voice. She whipped her head around and scowled when she spotted a somewhat familiar face. “I don’t need you to think I’m cool.” she snapped. “Besides, cool is a subjective concept and overrated anyways.” she said, still tense but she looked away from him and back to the forest. She knew saying stuff like that made her seem like even more of a dork, but she didn't let it bother her. It was true anyways. “I haven’t decided." she said simply and crossed her arms over her chest. "What about you?” she asked. “Be my guest and go in first if you're so eager.” she said with a grin, as she not so silently challenged him to make the first move.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah let out a short laugh at the girl's response, the grin still clearly visible on his face. He'd had a hard time figuring her out before and he felt like that wasn't going to happen right now either. "I never said you do." He shrugged, still looking at her sideways. "Doesn't mean I can't tell you what I think though." So far she didn't seem like someone who cared too much about what others think, or possibly someone who doesn't want to care about that anyways. Personally, he does care, always has. Not because he's in desperate need for validation but mainly because he just likes it when people like him. Zay nodded when she said she wasn't sure whether she was going to go in or not, ready to give a reply when she quickly returned the question to him. He looked into the darkness of the forest for another second when she seemed to be challenging him to go in first. "Fine." He replied with another shrug. If there had been any doubt in his mind about venturing into the forest at all it had vanished the moment he recognized a challenge in her words. Isaiah took a couple of steps forward, stopping right in front of the first line of trees and turning around for a second. "See you on the flip side." He grinned, giving her a two-finger salute before continuing his way into the forest. He took a couple of steps past the first few trees, walking untill he was sure he'd be out of sight for her. Once he thought he was he stopped, looking around for a second. So far nothing seemed to be off with the forest. It was a forest just.. darker. More eerie. Staring right at the spot where he had entered the forest he waited, wondering if Indi would come as well or whether she'd leave him in there on his own.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi watched the other boy look at her with an amused look that she wanted to wipe off his face. “Well I didn’t ask you what you think.” she said shortly. It was pointless to keep this conversation going but she couldn’t seem to let it go. But she was surprised when he answered quickly and casually before taking the last few steps into the forest. She stood there stunned for a moment before coming back to her senses. “Well if we get caught, I’m telling them it was your idea.” she said indignantly as she followed him in. Indi caught up quickly, making sure not to get caught on any of the overgrown roots of the trees surrounding them. She stopped when he did and looked around to check and see if he had maybe spotted something. “Do you see something?” she asked in barely above a whisper. Something about the eerie quiet of the forest made her want to be silent too.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah shrugged again at her remark, slightly wondering why she seemed to be insulted by him calling her cool. Where was the insult in that? He'd be excited to hear someone else thought he was cool. Even if she didn't seem to care about his opinion he still didn't get why she'd be unhappy with it. Zay tried not to smile when she joined him in taking the last couple of steps actually into the forest only a couple of seconds after he had done so, a little relieved she hadn't let him just go in there on his own. Something he totally was not going to mention. "I don't think they'll care about whose idea it was." He laughed softly, trying to maintain his volume as her words made him realize they could get caught. He wasn't planning on it though and he didn't think that if they did get caught anyone would care whose idea it was. They were both inside the forest in the end. "Nah, nothing." Isaiah replied, now whispering just like she was. "How could would it be if we end up seeing like.. a centaur or something?" He asked before turning and initiating quietly walking further into the forest.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi paused when she caught up with Isaiah and picked up a long stick. Partly to poke at things they found and to hit anything that might jump out at them. “Well if they ask I’m saying it was your idea.” she insisted, mostly to herself before forging ahead into the forest. She narrowed her eyes at the other boy when he said he hadn't seen anything. Indi wasn't sure if she believed him but she shrugged it off for now. It was hardly worth her time to think about with the whole forest in front of them. “That would be pretty cool.” she admitted. Indi wasn't sure what her goal was with this excursion. Seeing some kind of creature would definitely be a success but she was also curious to see exactly why the forest was 'forbidden'. “Do you know anything about centaurs?” she asked tentatively but tried to sound disinterest, like she knew everything she needed to know. But she was now regretting not reading up more before coming out here and vowing to do so when she got back to the castle.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah laughed when Indi mentioned she'd still tell anyone who'd find them and would have the power to punish them that going into the forest had been his idea. "I'm fine with that." He responded with a little shrug, although he didn't think she'd mind if he was okay with it or not. He didn't really care anyways. If they didn't want kids going into the forest they shouldn't have emphasized the fact that they were not allowed in there. Anything that wasn't allowed was obviously far more interesting. What was the worst that could happen anyways? Point deductions? Detention? Didn't seem to bad a price for a possible adventure, although he was sure his cousin would kill him if he caused Gryffindor to lose points. Zay nodded when she agreed them seeing a centaur would be pretty cool and by now had made it his mission to find one, see one for real. "Not really." He answered her question, trying to think of anything he might know about them. With his uncle being a magizoologist he felt like he should know something, but aside from the obvious things he figured everyone knew there wasn't really anything. "You?" He returned the question to her, having a feeling she had a lot more knowledge stuck in her head than he had.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi kept up the pace but took extra care to make note of their surroundings so they would be able to find their way back. The only thing worse than being caught out here was being lost out here. She wondered how long it would take for anyone to notice they were gone. She doubted her roommates would say anything. “Good.” she said a little smugly as he agreed to her plan and tried not to get too paranoid about where exactly they were going. Looking down she saw a sturdy looking stick and picked it up. It was about the size of her arm and she carried it with her in case she needed to poke at anything bizarre they came across. Indi was glad when Isaiah said he hadn’t read about them either. At least she could pass off what little information she knew more confidently now that he wasn’t likely to question her. “I’ve read enough.” se said, not wanting to explain herself.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah had to admit he had gotten a little bit nervous as they made their way further into the forest. It was dark, it was quiet and he hadn't spotted much signs of life so far which made him wonder what else was even in the forest. There probably was a reason why it was forbidden. That, however, was also what made it fun, adventurous. Was it nervous or adrenaline? Probably both, but he was still determined to keep going. If they were risking getting caught for sneaking in they had to at least find something that made it all worth it right? "You gonna defend yourself with that if we get attacked?" Zay tried not to laugh as she picked up the stick, still not wanting to make too much noise. It didn't seem too bad of an idea though to have something, even if a stick probably wasn't going to get them far. "Anything on how to find them?" He asked her when she mentioned having read enough, genuinly believing she might have more knowledge on centaurs than he had. A sudden sound startled him though and he quickly stepped back when something fell down right in front of him, just barely avoiding tripping backwards as he stumbled over his own feet. "Heh, just a stick." He whispered sheepishly when he regained his balance. "We should probably just.. keep moving?"

 

[Aspen]

[[i hope you dont mind if i join]]
aspen was wandering through the forest. it was a warm day and she was staying nearer the edge enjoying the cool breeze that was blowing in over the lake. she listened as she heard voices approach her. they would young, hardly more than foals. a boy and a girl if she was right. she chuckled to herself as they were talking about centaurs. it made her think what did they actually teach at the school if students came in so often wanting to find a centaur, wanting to know about them. she listened to their conversation as they drew nearer to her. waiting for the right moment to show herself. "I would love to hear what you know about them" she said. stepping forward as the boy asked how to find them. "If they want to be found they aren't that hard to track down." she said. "I don't think that stick will help much if you get into trouble. but will probably help more than the other sticks your kind are often waving around" she said. a breach wouldn't really help if they got in trouble with anything bigger than a doxy but at least it wasn't as offensive as wands were when wizards used them to claim they were more important than anyone else.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi poked at a lump of moss with her stick, ignoring most of what Isaiah had to say. It seemed to be growing quite impressively one one of the rocks at her feet. She looked up quickly when Isaiah questioned her stick and looked annoyed. “Maybe.” she said defensively. She gasped slightly when she heard a sudden sound and turned only to see Isaiah lose his footing on a stick. “Yeah, and watch where you’re going.” she said, agreeing with him but sounding unamused. She was going to talk about what she had read when she heard a voice come out of nowhere. Indi turned around quickly, expecting a professor or a prefect there to catch them and drag them back to the castle. But her jaw dropped when she saw the centaur. A real actual centaur, standing right in front of her. Indi was rarely speechless but she was currently overwhelmed. “I-i don’t know much.” she stammered. The creature seemed nice enough, but the shock was still too strong for her to find any more words.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah shrugged when Indi told him he needed to watch where he was going. He knew that, he tried. But the forest floor was trickery and he was sure the sound had startled her as well, she just didn't want to admit it. He got the feeling she didn't like him all that much, but he guessed she was stuck with him for now. At least he didn't think she'd leave him to go wandering the forest on her own. Perhaps he could even get her to think he was okay by the end of it. Or not. Who knew. Zay's eyes widened and his jaw dropped the second he heard a different voice, a third voice, and watched a centaur show itself. An actual centaur. They did it. They found one. Or it found them. She? She found them. Either way this was totally cool. "No way!" He whispered under his breath, almost surprised to find himself not loudly exclaiming the words. Then again they were still in the forest and he didn't know what else was in there. Although this centaur lady could probably protect them from anything. He was sure she could. Weren't all centaurs like completely badass warrios? Isaiah looked sideways to Indi when the centaur adressed her, trying to save everything she said into his own brain. "This is so cool. You are so cool." He blurted out eventually, sheepishly grinning at the centaur whilst he hoped she wouldn't find him rude. It would totally be in bad taste to get disliked by a centaur.

 

[Aspen]

aspen liked meeting students. and making new friends. it was always fun watching their actions when they first saw her. some people were shocked. some seemed happy, others relieved and some were just in speechless awe or some combination of the above. either way, it was always priceless. today was no exception. she smiled as the girl twohoof said that she actually didn't know much about centaurs. she sighed slightly. "Hasn't sistermine not taught you anything" she said. what was the point of having a sister at the school if she didn't at least teach about creatures? she knew that she didn't like going into the forest. she tried to keep an eye out for when she took students in to make sure that they didn't get into trouble. but it was a shame that she hardly ever came in just to say hello she could only watch her from a distance with her students and colleagues when she was alone. all the time.
as the boy managed to speak up she chucked "If being half horse is all it takes to be cool then I should be more popular than I am" she joked.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi shot Isaiah an annoyed look at his outburst but when the centaur was disappointed in her answer she couldn’t help but speak up. “We’re first years.” Indi pointed out defensively even though her voice was still wavering due to her nerves and excitement. She knew it was dumb to get annoyed with a real actual centaur but she still didn’t like being talked down to. “W-what’s your name?” she asked. “And who’s your sister?” she added quickly before the centaur could answer. She wanted to ask approximately a million questions but Indi figured that was the fastest way to be annoying so she held her tongue for now.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah's curiousity was instantly piqued when the centaur-lady, centaur female, centauress.. Was there even a word for a female centaur? Or was it just a centaur? Maybe he should write his uncle about it, or maybe Indi would know but by now he started to slightly doubt that she had much more knowledge about them than he had thought at first. Anyways, he was instantly invested when the centaur mentioned something about a sister. Was it a centaur-sister? Or did she mean that one of their teachers was related to her? She did mention something about teaching. Zay kept his mouth shut when Indi asked two of the questions that he was most curious about. Certainly she'd have some sort of super cool centaur-y name which she was about to tell them. "You totally should. It's like wicked cool." He confidently nodded when she mentioned something about popularity. And if she wasn't more popular maybe having this interaction would make him more popular. He was pretty sure going into the forrest and meeting an actual centaur was as cool as it got.

 

[Aspen]

aspen listened as the girl foal defended her ignorance. "ahh you are hardly more than foals. still have so much to learn." she said. momentarily remembering when she had been that young. a centaur who wanted to explore the world. she had done before ending up here. in this small forest where she had been alone for almost twenty years.
When asked her name she lowered her front legs and dowed her head briefly as an almost bow before introducing herself. My name is aspen" she said. "sistermine is Madlyn giantblood" she said she knew giantblood wasn't madlyns actually last name but centaurs, at least in her clan never used last names. or if they did it was more a distinguishing characteristic of the person like twohoof, for humans, giantblood and wolfskin for her sisters. and then there had been a silvertongue she had seen in the forest a few years ago but she was sure he had left the school along with her sisterdaughter as she hadn't seen him fo a while. she chuckled as the boy said she was wicked cool, it wasn't a phrase that she used much herself but she knew what it meant. and felt complemented "What were your names?" she asked. returning the question to them.