Did they say Forbidden?

[Jarek Speed]

Jarek was enjoying his first term at Hogwarts exploring the castle. However, summer was still in the air which gave him every reason to be outside instead. After his lessons he threw his school bag and robes onto his bed and left the Gryffindor Common Room for the grounds. He enjoyed the time he had to himself in the few minutes it took him to wander down in the direction of what he assumed must be the Forbidden Forest. He assumed it was the Forbidden Forest because the first years had expressly been told to stay away from it, but there was no sign, nor had anyone pointed in this direction and said, “You see that forest there, that is the Forbidden Forest.” For all Jarek knew there could be two Forests and this one could be ‘Allowed’ Forest.

Even Jarek knew deep down that the chances of this Forest not being the Forbidden one were pretty slim, especially as he got closer and noticed how creepy the trees looked down to the sound the leaves made as they swayed in the gentle breeze. He wasn't planning on going into the Forest and remained a good 100 feet from the nearest tree. Instead he tried to see through the trees from a distance, to catch a peek of some creature. He saw nothing as the shrubs gave good coverage, Jarek would most definitely have to venture closer if he wanted to get a better look.

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya had been scoping out every nook and cranny of the castle, finding where students tended to populate and where they didn't, and finding a little bit of inspiration at the same time. She'd settled into her dorm room, ignoring the hello's and inquiries her roommates had, and they quickly learned that she wasn't exactly the talkative type. And now, she was outside, seeing beautiful landscapes and on top of them her imagination built battles and fantasies around them, though many of the fantasies she'd normally imagine at a place like Hogwarts already existed, like the mermaids that resided below the surface of the lake. It was the forest, however, that drew her attention. The Forbidden Forest; just the name made it tempting.

There was quite a bit of distance between where the blonde stood and where the trees began, and her muscles were itching for a run. Aya burst into a sprint, heart racing and a smile appeared on her lips. That is, until she tripped over her own two legs just 50 feet from the edge. "Crap!" she yelled, getting up and dusting herself off and taking a moment to catch her breath. She glanced around to see if anyone had noticed her catastrophic failure and saw one boy standing a few feet away, and felt the color drain from her face. This was more than embarrassing, and she wished she could just sink into the ground.

 

[Jarek Speed]

Jarek had not noticed that someone else was there until he heard someone swear. He spun around to the source of the noise and had expected to see someone straight away, but it took a few seconds before realising that the heap on the ground had been the source, the heap on the ground was a girl. Jarek was slightly confused as to how she had gotten there since he had not heard or seen anyone else until moments ago. He approached her with a slight grin on his face.

"Hello. Where did you come from? Did you fall from heaven?" Don't say it, don't say it... "Because it looks like you fell on your face." Ah he said it. He smiled, "Ah I'm joking, sorry I couldn't resist. Seriously though, where did you come from?" He offered his hand to help her up. "You weren't thinking of going in - in there were you?" He nudged in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya stared up at the boy for a few moments, not fully comprehending what he was saying, until the gears in her brain started to work and she hid the rush of color that went up to her cheeks. She'd most definitely fallen on her face, with dirt smeared on her cheeks and mud clinging to her robes, and she was half-tempted to burst into a run in the opposite direction, or back to her original destination in the forest. Of course, there was always the possibility that he'd just follow her, so maybe some answers would get the boy to go away.

"It's okay, she said quietly, forcing a small smile onto her face. "The castle, not many other places to come from." Aya looked between the boy and the hand he offered before letting out a minute sigh and grabbing it, hauling herself up and getting a better look at her "rescuer". Longer brown hair with blue eyes, and a face she would have written down as a "pretty boy" face, all clad in the robes of her house. Great, a guy in her house had seen her fail to an epic proportion. The blonde turned to look at the forest over her shoulder before nodding. "Yeah. Why not?"

 

[Jarek Speed]

The castle! That would have been Jarek's second guess as to where the girl had come from. "That makes sense, I came from there too!" He clocked that the girl was a Gryffindor by the emblem on her robes and probably a first year like him. He helped her up onto her feet and smiled briefly. "Uh- I'm Jarek" He said, turning the hold handing into a hand shake before quickly letting go and pulling his hand to his side once again.

He turned back to the Forest, "Oh really?" That was brave, not even Jarek had been planning to go in alone. "I was having a little look from a distance - wasn't sure if it was the Forbidden Forest or not" Saying what he had thought moments before their encounter sounded even more ridiculous out loud. This vast entrance to dense forest most definitely was the Forbidden Forest. "I mean, there are supposed to be a lot of creatures in there, apparently a whole herd of Centaures - they are the half horse, half man thingys." Jarek thought he should clarify, after all not everyone may have heard of them.

"Anyway, are - are you still going in?!" Although it hadn't been his intention to go past the shrubs, he couldn't watch a girl wander in all alone. What if she never re-emerged? Jarek would feel personally responsible for the rest of his life!

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya shook his hand just long enough for propriety before letting it go. "I'm Aya," she returned, forcing a smile onto her face in order to simply match him.

At his wondering Aya giggled slightly, bringing her hand up to try and hide it and failing miserably. It was a tiny bit ridiculous, but she supposed there could be multiple forests that could be accessed from Hogwarts, though she hadn't seen them. "Not many other forests," she pointed out gently, a slight smile still on her face. She nodded at his next statement: that was exactly what she wanted to see. "My dad told me about them, and I was interested in getting a peak," she explained.

She had the slight fear of getting caught, but she was confident in her own stealth ability. Though the longer they stood there the likelihood of them being seen was higher and higher. "Yep. Are you gonna come?" Aya didn't think Jarek had originally intended on going into the forest, but it wasn't hard to guess he was one of the responsible types like her. She figured if he came, while he was watching her back she'd be watching his.

 

[Jarek Speed]

Now that Jarek had been asked along, he had to go into the Forest. The newly sorted Gryffindor couldn't turn down an offer like that even if he wanted to! "Yeah I'll come along if you want me to." Said Jarek, stepping forward and walking towards the forest at a leisurely pace. He reached a small opening which looked as if some sort of animal, or possibly another student, had gained entry. Jarek moved the leaves to the side which had been obstructing his view as to get a better look into the Forest. He half expected to see something but he was looking at a series of trees which blocked any further views. He turned his head back to Aya.

"Okay no centaurs as of yet. I guess we'll have to go in further to see them." Jarek stepped into the trees, breaking a twig as he put his weight onto it. And then... he was inside the Forbidden Forest. He checked that Aya had made it though without any difficulties then looked at his surroundings.

"I suppose we should go that way" Jarek pointed to the path, or rather traces where the plants had recently been disturbed and flattened from whatever creature had previously passed through. "What do you think?"

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya hid the tiny sigh that came out and put on a slightly bigger smile, with a bit more of a genuine feel. "Yeah, should never go dangerous places alone." Aya easily kept pace with Jarek, since he wasn't exactly moving quickly. She wondered if he was hiding his fear behind a facade of bravery, but he was a Gryffindor, and bravery was in no short supply in their house. Aya looked around him at the entrance, trying to get a better glance at it, before settling back in her spot behind him and crossing her arms, waiting for him to be done.

"Centaurs would never dare venture this close to the border. Not when there's kids like us," Aya said with a mischievous grin. She was more than excited to see the creatures of the forest, and maybe even record them.

She looked at the pathway and made a face. "That's where teachers are most likely to catch us. And probably where the centaurs don't tread. We should go on the path less traveled on. Always more fun," she explained quickly, turning down the less beaten path.

 

[Jarek Speed]

Jarek stood on tip toes and craned his neck to see if he could get a better insight into the path ahead but it didn't make much difference. As a matter of fact it didn't make any difference whatsoever so he stopped and looked back at Aya. "You want to take a new path?!" He spoke with a tone of surprise but eventually nodded.

"Okay" he agreed, turning his back completely from the path he was planning on taking. He could see her logic, a monster could have made the original trail and lead the two first years right into it's lair by following it. Or otherwise, a teacher! He wasn't quite sure which would be worse.

"Further off the beaten track it is then!" He said, "Which way would you like to go?" There were four possible directions Jarek could see, the first one had been his plan, the second would run along the edge of the forest where they wouldn't see much in the way of a centaur, the third would lead them back onto the school grounds, and the fourth would lead them deeper into the forest. They were clearly going to follow the fourth route.

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya couldn't help but laugh a little bit at his surprise. There wasn't anything particularly amusing about what he said, more of how he said it. "Of course. Why take a path every other student has taken a thousand and one times when there are other places to go and things to see?" She hoped the rhetorical question helped encourage him more as well.

The blonde faced the same way as him, looking at the four paths and started walking deeper into the forest, not even saying her decision. It was pretty obvious, and she walked for about thirty seconds before turning her head back to see if Jarek was following. "Anything particularly exciting back there?" she called, grinning slightly.

Aya hadn't been this excited for a while, and even the presence of a companion only seemed to amplify it. As they plunged further into the foliage her ears attuned to the sounds of the forest, where the bugs buzzed all around, chirps of strange birds could be heard. "Even if we don't see a centaur, this is so cool," she said in wonder, her eyes alight.

 

[Jarek Speed]

Jarek let Aya lead the way, putting his arms out in front of him to stop any branches she moved out of her way from being flung back and hitting him in the face. He had fallen for that one before when bringing up the rear on a bush walk and now automatically protected himself against stray branches. "It's pretty exciting back here too." Jarek replied, smiling back at her.

He felt for his wand which was securely resting in his waistband but it wasn't any help to him. Jarek didn't know any spells yet, his plan was to wave his wand madly in the hope that he made something happen if they got into difficulty.

With each step the forest was becoming rapidly denser and darker. Jarek could no longer make out the path which they had come and was struggling to make out the definition of the trees as less light was making it past the canopy.

"Hold on let's stop for a moment." He told Aya, "There doesn't seem to be any sign of any animals here." He said, almost expecting something to jump out at them "I think we're lost!" He said at last.

 

[Aya Matrim]

Aya laughed, a tiny sound as it was such a rare thing to occur. "I'm glad to hear that," she said back, continuing on. There were tiny nicks all over her arms from the trees and foliage that almost seemed to reach out to her, and at this point she wouldn't be surprised if some of them were doing exactly that. She took out her wand and tried to remember any sort of spell that would help get rid of the extra green, and it eluded her. She sighed and put it away back up her sleeve, in an arm holster her father had given her.

She stopped as he called out, having starting to trip, not able to see where she was going perfectly well anymore. She looked around and noticed the sound of the forest was especially dimmer here, and wondered what could have caused that. Part of Aya was genuinely worried about being stuck in here, but she knew that she wouldn't so easily be lost. "There's no such thing as lost, only detours," she said encouragingly. "But, to make sure we're not running in circles, let me hurry and do this." Aya pulled out her wand and briefly ran through her head the small amount of spells she'd been taught and grabbed the one she needed, mumbling out the words for the marking charm and sending it to the closest tree. A tiny, angular heart split in half down the middle appeared, glowing faintly.

"There, now, do you remember which way we came from?" she asked, having lost her bearings casting the spell. "The mark will only last for a few hours, so we should find another path soon. I'll make a new one every couple of minutes, just to keep track of where we've been. "

 

[Jarek Speed]

OOC: Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, the last week has been hectic! And sorry for my lack of muse!

Jarek was impressed with Aya's magic, he wasn't able to mark a glowing 'x' in bark, as a matter of fact he had never tried. "Cool" He said, "Where did you learn to do that?" He followed further into the forest. Jarek wasn't afraid, he just didn't like not knowing where he was going or what he was doing. He had only intended to look into the trees, not wander this far!

"How are you liking Hogwarts?" Jarek said, making casual conversation to distract himself, "It seems as if we've been sorted into a good house! I like Gryffindor." Gryffindors were brave, which probably had a lot to do with how the two of them got here in the first place.

"We should probably make another marking."