Durmstrang Champion Task 2

[Moko Craven]

Morrigan had waited her turn and now with her wand held tight she walked to the entrance of the cave. Her stomach heaved making her feel as if she wanted to throw up but it was just nerves, anxiety for the task ahead. She knew full well that it was not going to be a simple matter of in one side of the cave and out the other, oh no. There was undoubtably dangerous obstacles to barr her way, she didn't even want to contemplate just what type of obstacles as she entered the mouth of the cave.
"Lumos" she called raising her wand ahead of her so that she could see where she was going. Her foot caught on a rock, she stumbled slightly and standing up straight again was immediately exasperated with herself. She forced herself to calm down before she began to continue onwards. Soon her feet were propelling her a little faster...

 

[The Cavern]

The young witch's spell did little for her eyesight as she entered the cave. This was no ordinary ice cavern, this had certainly been enchanted to act, and react, to situations. The darkness it held seemed to have a life of its own as well, as darkness enveloped the witch and the light from her want fought meekly to escape its tip.
The cavern seemed to watch as the witch wandered in and stumbled. It had no reason to do anything but watch... yet.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

Moko shook her wand hoping it would brighten a bit more but it seemed as if it was either broken or whatever magic abounded in this cave was far greater than her mere wand. She looked at it in exasperation.
"If our wands weren't going to work effectively why did they make us bring them at all?" she muttered aloud to herself as she moved along a bit more. Her feet slid on the frozen ground and her left hand reached out to touch the wall for support. As fast as she thought her feet were going on this ice caverned floor each movement seemed dulled somehow. Looking through the bare light her wand created she removed the spell and taking a deep breath began to make her way slowly in the dark. She wasn't a great lover of the dark at all and now her movements became much slower. Keeping her free hand against the wall, it was not long before she began to make slow progress.

 

[The Cavern]

The cave allowed the girl to make slow progress. Very slow. After several minutes she came to a point where the wall that her left hand had followed seemed to end off. She could have followed it around the corner, but that would be too easy. She needed to know that she now had choices in path. The cavern, at this, released a small amount of magic which it had absorbed from her prior spell to show her the paths before her, ever so quickly. This was going to be an interesting day, seeing how this witch made her way through the cave, what magic she might use to try to do so, and better still, how the cave itself would make her journey more than difficult.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

Morrigan felt as if the dark around her was living and breathing, as if something waited for her in it. She could feel fear and apprehension built slowly within her but knew she had to quash it, control it or she would lose everything. Her hand trailed along the rough cold ridges of the caverns walls, her hand caught once or twice, grazing the skin slightly but she had felt worse and carried on regardless. The dark was beginning to creep her out again so she re-lit her wand. It wasn't very effective but it stopped the cold hand of fear from freaking her out too much. The small light her wand cast barely showed her in front of her nose so it was not surprising when her hand brushed right from the wall to thin air. The loss of contact was so immediate that she toppled forward but quickly regained her balance.

There was a turning then and she was about to move along it when for a brief moment the way of another path was also lit up. It had barely been visible for a fraction of time but she knew that there was a path directly in front of her and another to her left. She didn't know which one to take so placed her wand on the palm of her hand and said 'point me'. The wand began to spin about until it stopped directing her to her left. Gripping her wand tightly once more she continued on moving just as slowly as before.

 

[The Cavern]

As Moko selected her next route based on what her wand determined to be north (whether or not it was north, neither Moko nor anybody else would ever know) the cavern decided to begin having a little fun with her. As she rounded the corner, a man of ice wielding a blade freed himself from one of the cavern walls and began marching toward Moko, his sword ready for the attack.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

(Note: I am not positive this is the route she took according to your roleplay, it is the best I could figure, however. Please correct me if I am wrong. )

 

[Moko Craven]

Slowly she moved forward some more turning slightly as she rounded a bend a large cracking and crushing noise could be heard. She froze on the spot because the sound came from directly before her. Through the darkness she could make out a large figure and lifting her wand up just a tad higher to see if she could make out just exactly what it was, Moko froze. The light from her wand was pathetic at best but just inches from her she was convinced before casting 'nox' on her wand that she had seen the figure of some kind of ice monster with a sword. Hoping that the darkness would deter him as much as it had her, she began retreating. Her free hand searched about for the wall to guide her and this time when she came to the gap she took it, pausing only to blast the reducto curse at the thing.

 

[The Cavern]

The soldier from the cavern raised its sword and, with haste, attempted to slaughter the brat that had ruined its frozen sleep. Before he was able to swing the frozen blade down, however, the cavern's charm allowed her curse to be used - destroying the ice soldier where it stood. It had not been the intention to kill the girl so soon, after all, simply to scare her and let her know what was in store for her. All went dark in the cavern for a moment, then another bright flash of light after a small rumbling could be heard. The walls of the maze had changed. Some paths had hidden themselves, others had opened. The girl got one quick glimpse of her new location before everything was black as night once more.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

Not expecting her spell to actually work she was flung back a small bit from the blast of exploding ice man, a tiny shard of ice grazed her cheek and wiping her hand there knew she had felt a little blood. No matter at least the 'thing' whatever it was had actually been destroyed but Morrigan had very little time to consider this small victory as for the briefest of moments she was able to see about her. The positions shifted, she could see one wall close off and another open. Startled she frowned racing as fast as she could to where she had been convinced the direction of the exit would have been. Slamming her fists against the wall she gave an exasperated groan before glancing about her through the darkness once more. She seriously hated the dark now, it had never been a comforting thing for her anyhow but now it was deadly and dangerous. Feeling along the wall once more she moved in the direction that the new path had formed. Taking more care this time and listening closely for the slightest sound, Moko could feel the fear creep up through her. If they were willing to let loose a sword wielding ice man on the champions then what else were they capable of unleashing. At least she knew for now that curses seemed effective here.

 

[Moko Craven]

Moko's progress was slow and though no more ice men jumped out at her, she expected one at any moment. Plumes of her breath were slightly visible, an ice cavern was not warm and she mused that they should have at least have had the decency to warn them to wrap up. She had of course worn warmer clothes than she would normally have, expecting another outdoors pursuit and knowing how cold the past few days had been had worn her hat and gloves as a result. Yet these warm necessities didn't seem to be keeping out the cold very much.

On and on she walked, it seemed like forever when it was barely minutes that were passing. The darkness seemed to have swallowed everything and she sighed rubbing her head wearily. She went to place her hand once more on the wall only to find herself tumbling forward once more. Another passage way. She reached out blindly to find a wall with both hands and was amazed to find that she could touch either wall easily here. Pausing for a moment she wondered what to do. She had not come up against a brick wall before she had turned herself this way, so there was obviously still a path leading away from this but at least with this one she got to guide herself along using the two walls. She had no use of her wand anyhow for now, so pocketing it carefully she carefully placed her hands on either side of the narrow passageway and began to move on again.

---

Moko thought her hands would freeze from touching the walls and was glad of the fabric of her gloves for once. For now all seemed quiet, too quiet in her mind and she wondered if the cavern was doing nothing more than lulling her into a false sense of security. Wishing for more light of course was futile but she could not stop the foreboding knot that tightened at her stomach as she made slow progress forward. She wondered how long she had actually been in side now and if her time was any different to Aubrey's. This goaded her on a little more until her hands could no longer reach walls on either die of her. Exasperated and just a bit frazzled and even apprehensive, she reached out with her right hand until she felt the wall again and then moved cautiously to her left to check how far away from her the wall was there too.

It seemed she had two choices again, she could either go to her right or to her left. Not knowing what possessed her choice she moved slowly once more hailing left as she had before. It seemed to be the direction that was making more progress and for now she would take it.

 

[The Cavern]

The cavern had allowed Moko to wander about free of worry for a little too long. She was growing closer to the exit with every move, it seemed, and it was time to cause her some difficulty. The sound of another ice soldier breaking out from a cavern wall echoed through the corridor. The cavern took this sound as cover and an opportunity to vibrate severley, breaking a hole in the floor of one of the paths Moko could take later on. She would either have to face the ice soldier and walk to a dead end, or take the right path, fleeing the soldier, and fall in the hole to an unknown new locale.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

(Again, I am not positive of this)

 

[Moko Craven]

Morrigan continued to move slowly musing to herself that if she went any slower she would come to a complete stop. With each footstep she took she rolled her eyes as it sounded in a muffled echo about her. This place sure was creepy. Again her hand hit against a protruding clump of rock hard ice and she swore mildly holding it up to her mouth to suckle on the graze. Her progress though slow gave her no indication at all as to just where exactly she was going and she rattled her head to think of an effective spell that might work. As she pondered on this a disturbing noise made her stop dead in her tracks. She had heard the sister of that noise not too long ago and knew exactly what it entailed.

In the same moment as hearing the noise distinctly coming from ahead of her, her left hand slipped from the wall to reveal an empty space. She padded this emptiness as she slowly moved forward but the noise grew only louder from that straight on. Knowing full well that one of those ice beasts was somewhere ahead of her again, she took out her wand and shot off another reducto curse before hastily moving around to her left. She took one step ... and the floor seemed to consume her, open up and swallow her whole. There was nothing for Morrigan to do but scream as she fell downwards like Alice through the rabbit hole.

 

[The Cavern]

The hole which Moko fell in to was much like a downward tunnel, causing her to slide on the ice slide that had formed down to another level of the cavern, with a whole new set of walls, twists, and turns to be explored.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

As soon as she began spiralling downwards she knew she should have been worried but the sensation of sliding along on some vast sheet of ice made her adrenaline peek. She kept herself lying downwards with her hands firmly at her sides until without any warning the journey ended and she was flung to the ground. Bumping harshly on the cavern floor she groaned, rubbing her head as she stood up to discover that where ever it was she had fallen to was just as dark as before. With a hand out before her there seemed to be a wall and space, taking a tentative step forward she kept her hands moving about at her sides and before her but there didn't seem to be any more wall to touch. Puzzled by this she moved forward some more, this cavern seemed so much wider or vast than the previous one. Continuing to move forward she knew she had to eventually touch something, a cavern had to have walls after all.

 

[The Cavern]

The cavern allowed the girl to progress unhindered until she reached what was the final chamber before her exit, and her final challenge before being able to leave the cavern. Two walls slammed shut around her as she entered the final room, and fire erupted on the cavern floor before her, lighting the area but causing significant potential for harm. How the girl was to pass the fire would surely be an interesting feat to watch.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

She felt as if she were going around in circles, it all seemed hopeless and stupid at this point. Moko had not come to any edges or anything but had definitely felt curvatures in the wall she had been touching. She fumed inwardly, what if she was literally walking around and around like a fool and everyone was having a great laugh at her expense. She continued onwards in the only way she felt she could go until suddenly there was another noise. So unlike the one that signalled the progress of an ice man, as she turned around she banged her head on a wall and instantly knew her way back had been blocked. Reaching her hands out it was to touch more wall and then to her horror there was fire and lots of it barring her way. It was the only way left to her by the looks of it but she was frozen, unable to move. Her parents had been killed in a muggle car crash but it was the flames as the car exploded that had made them unrecognizable. She had often in her nightmares visualized their last moments of absolute agony and now she herself was standing before a wall of fire.

Well she wasn't hopeless, she wasn't trapped in a stupid muggle device. Removing her wand she cast the flame freezing charm on the flames and anxiously waited to see how effective it would be.

 

[The Cavern]

Moko's spell had the exact opposite effect as intended. The flames grew, larger and hotter, explosions of fire echoed through the chamber. Then, as the heat of the fire continued to grew and draw nearer to Moko, the sound of ice cracking could be heard. The centre of the room had collapsed in on itself, in part, and caused a new cove to form. Moko's way remained blocked by fire. It would take bigger thoughts than a flaming freezing charm to escape.

Spoiler: Moko's Position in the Cavern

 

[Moko Craven]

She could not help but scream as the flames seemed to intensify from the spell she had cast upon them. Feeling the heat on her face made her take an involuntary step backwards but her way was still blocked on all sides. Hearing a noise but not seeing what the loud ruckus was from she feared the presence of another ice man at this point. Ice... she thought as hard as she could. The cavern was made of ice, melted ice would surely douse the flames but waiting for the ice to melt might take some time. She had considered using 'aquamanti' before but thought it too simple. Now she used it in the hopes of quenching the flames before they got any closer to her.

She aimed her wand at the red and orange scorching flames that seared the path in front of her and cast the incantation hoping that this was going to work, if not her only other option was going to be to blast her way out through the walls.

 

[Moko Craven]

Moko kept her wand trained on the flames at first it did not seem as if it would work at all but slowly she could feel the heat wane and the flames move back. Deciding to follow the course of the dying flames continually putting them out as she did so, Moko felt as if she were once again going around and around in circles. As the last of the flames died out she continued walking in the only direction that seemed to be available to her and then she saw it. Standing for a moment she almost cried when she spotted light ahead. It was certainly not an illusion and it certainly wasn't any trick of the cavern, at least she hoped it wasn't. Moving cautiously in case the cavern decided to throw something else at her, Moko winced realizing then just how close the flames had come to her as a small burn ached on her hand. Onwards she continued still ever so cautious and as the light got brighter she quickened her pace, stepping out side at last into fresh air and the roars of the crowd.

Moko wanted nothing more than to simply sit down or lie down from the experience she had just been through but knew she would first have to make her way to the judges before the Hogwarts Champion could have his turn inside.

[Cavern granted leaving permission]