Closed Daring Duo

[Van Voclain]

If the forbidden forest were truly dangerous, Van reasoned, it wouldn't have been left up to a single warning good faith to keep the children out of it. There would have been magical barriers, a strategically placed tombstone etched with the name of a former pupil - that sort of thing. Van had come to the edge of the forest once or twice just to see if there was anything to dissuade her from entering, but besides an eerie mist that seemed to reach out from between the trees with silvery hands and point back in the direction she'd come, there was nothing. And that was just her imagination.

It was six o'clock. While most of the children - and, with any luck, professors - were flowing into the great hall for dinner, Van was standing at the tree line, hugging her stomach to keep three cheese rolls from falling out of her shirt. If she and Eugene were skipping dinner to explore the forest, they'd need some sort of sustenance, after all. There had been four rolls, but she had lost one half way across the lawn and hadn't dared turn back to grab it lest she drew attention to herself.

He would be here any moment - if he hadn't chickened out, of course. Van didn't really think Eugene would let her down, but standing in the half-light with mist coiling around her ankles, she felt terribly alone.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene wasn’t always necessarily the sort of person who broke the rules. He didn’t think it a good idea, but he had to admit he was curious about the forest. There were places that he’d been forbidden to go before but none seemed as harmless as the forest in the school. So when Van had wanted to hang out, he thought this would be a good opportunity to be able to go to the forest with someone else. Eugene was running a little bit late, but he had good reason. He'd swung by the kitchens for some sandwiches for them to eat. Once he had them in his bag he headed out, running a little to be able to get there. He spotted Van at the tree line and made a beeline for her. He stopped out of breath in front of her, "Sorry sorry! I swung by the kitchens and got us sandwiches!" he told herout of breath and motioning to his rucksack. ​

 

[Riley King]

Every now and then, Riley felt like pushing herself out of her comfort zone. It wasn't an adventure she did often; sometimes it was just going for a swim in the lake, or climbing to the top of the castle, but the forest always seemed to beckon her back. Everytime she went, she tried to go a bit further before she chickened out. There wasn't a lot of spells she could use to protect herself if she were to run into trouble, all she could really hope for was to come across a speaking being that remembered and loved her mom. It was a big hope, she didn't really think that she would come across many speaking creatures; but that was part of the excitement. Riley hoped to meet a unicorn soon.
The Gryffindor girl had gone a fair bit further than she had last time, and was making her way out when she heard someone shouting about sandwiches. Unsure why, Riley quickly hid herself behind a tree, wondering who it was that had come.

 

[Van Voclain]

There he was. Van tried to look bored and impatient as Eugene hurried toward her, instead of nervous and sweaty. His apology placated her for all but a second before he told her he'd been to the kitchens to pick up some sandwiches. "You what?" Van said, and pulling her shirt forward she let the remaining three cheese rolls drop out. "This was a waste of time, then." Privately she was rather glad Eugene had brought food; even Van didn't fancy those rolls after they'd been shoved up her shirt for twenty minutes. The cheesy topping had started to melt. "I thought you weren't coming. No-one saw you, did they? You were careful?"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little chuckle as three cheese rolls dropped out of her shirt. He nodded, ”thought it would be good to snack, and you had the same idea,” he told her with a little grin. He frowned when she said she’d thought he wasn’t coming and gave an apologetic smile. ”Nah cuz, just a bit slow, and no one saw me, I’m sure, they’re all super distracted by dinner, and really we can go outside that’s not like abnormal,” he told her, assuring her with a little grin that made it seem like he was certain that he had not been seen. ”Shall we?” he asked, now a little excited about the forest and their adventure.​

 

[Riley King]

Riley listened to the two as they spoke, feeling hungry at the mention of food. She hadn't had dinner yet, she was planning on heading to the Great Hall now. Bringing snacks was a good idea - what if she got lost? Riley shook the idea from her mind, she wouldn't get lost! Riley panicked slightly when she heard that they were going to approach, thinking quickly about what to do. Hearing them get closer, Riley jumped out from behind the tree, shouting "Boo!"

 

[Van Voclain]

SORRY DIDNT REALISE IT WAS ME

Eugene was right. Van was being paranoid. And paranoid was not a cool look. She folded her arms and shrugged nonchalantly, as if they were preparing for a peaceful stroll through the park. "Yeah, I was born ready for this, me. Try not to lag behind - I'm not coming back for you if you get your head mauled off by a werewolf." There probably weren't really werewolves in the forest. Of course there weren't! What a ridiculous idea. It was just a bit of fun to try and scare each other, that was all.

They set off into the trees, Van making a point to try to stay at least one step ahead of Eugene at all times. This might have given off an aura of confidence, had it not been for the high pitched shriek that shot out of her as she almost collided with Riley King jumping out from behind a tree. "Oh my God, what? What are you doing?" Van fumed. "Were you standing there the whole time, just waiting to jump out at us? I could hit you, you little *****! Come on!"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene grinned at her with an excited expression, he knew breaking the rules was bad, but how terrible or scary or dangerous could a forest be. "Do you really think there's a werewolf in there?" he asked with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. But he just walked to with her, though Van always seemed to be a step ahead which really he didn't mind. He didn't mind lagging behind a bit, his gaze preoccupied by the massive trees, things he hadn't ever seen. They seemed alive like the ones from that old OLD book. He had been about to ask Van if she'd seen trees like these ones when someone jumped out at them. Eugene screamed almost as loud as Van and was already beginning to move away when his gaze settled on what had caused it. A girl. Their age and seemingly was someone Van knew. Eugene was too preoccupied trying to both get his heart to go back to not panicking. ​

 

[Riley King]

Riley nearly lost it when the other two screamed. She didn't realize she would have scared them so badly, she thought maybe a jump or a gasp but not the high pitched squeals. She tried to keep a straight face as Van went off at her, though slightly taken aback when she swore. "Geez!" She laughed. "No, I was walking back and heard you guys. You're very loud, anything could hear you coming from miles away. You'd be very easy to kill." Riley teased, folding her arms across her chest.