Open Just a Peek

[Elizabeth Fletcher]

Elizabeth heard the headmistresses word's very clear. The Forbidden Forest was forbidden. It can't possibly be that dangerous, it's on a school grounds! She had waited until after dinner and made her way closer and closer to the edge of the forest. Just one little look and then I can come back. Elizabeth didn't typically break the rules, but an adventure too tempting was hard to resist. She had to uncover the secrets of the forest and see just how dangerous it actually was. Nervous to break the rules, she hesitated by the edge of the forest.

If she got caught she could get in trouble, but she was new. Her brother would be upset with her if she got caught. Maybe this isn't the best idea after all? A voice behind her caught her attention, she jumped into the forest to hide in some bushes. Pushing aside a bit of the bush, she looked towards the voice she heard. Too late to back out now.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas hadn't been intending to go into the forest. In fact he was rather against the idea, there were all sorts of gross things in there he'd rather not have to deal with. Though, imagining the shades of purple his dad's face might turn when he found out Kas got in trouble on the first week of school would be a fun way to pass detention. But when he spotted Elizabeth creeping her way into the forest, he couldn't resist following her. It'd been fun to watch Elizabeth do questionably sane things last time, and Kas was curious if she'd get eaten by a spider or something. You probably didn't have to do exams if you saw your classmate get eaten by a spider. "This is probably a worse idea than jumping off a playground, you know," Kas said mildly, trying not to feel too smug when he made Elizabeth jump. "What are you even doing out here?" He asked, brushing a branch away from his face quickly, hoping he was imagining what felt like cobwebs on his neck.

 

[Elizabeth Fletcher]

Elizabeth sighed when she saw it was just Kas. "If it's such a bad idea, why are you out here? Didn't get enough of my amazing climbing skills last time?" She said standing up with a smirk, no longer hiding in fear. "I just wanted to take a peek, look around and see if it's really that dangerous. Besides, I am sure there is at least one good tree in here to climb that's tall enough to make it worth it." Elizabeth wasn't too concerned that he would tell on her or he would have to explain why he was out there. She looked around the woods and looked back towards the castle, without a chance to think twice she barged her way through the woods. "Are you coming or are you scared?" Elizabeth hollered back to him.

 

[Abel]

Recently Abel had been bored. Now that the centaur had lots of freedom he still couldn't find much to do with his time. There was no entertainment anymore. Hunting just became something he was used to and something he did everyday. With a sigh, the centaur set off through the forest with his bow and arrow in hand. He still needed to hunt to survive so he wasn't going to give that up. Being a centaur had its responsibilities. As the man made his way more towards the edge of the forest, he stopped in his tracks as he heard the sound of voices. They weren't fellow centaurs. Abel did not know them. He etched closer, trying his best to balance on his four hooves as the ground sloped and he hid behind a large bush. He didn't want them to see or hear him but he could see them through the leaves. They were humans. Abel had many experiences with humans before, but not for a long time. They were always unpredictable and he was never sure what they would do. He carefully raised his bow and arrow to his chest, ready to shoot if need be as he quietly watched their interaction.

 

[Paisley Aberdeen]

Since her summer break was calm and perfect, despite that her adoption process ended with the Maxwell adopting her, Paisley hasn't been happier than before. Her dad didn't want her anymore because of her curse, as he said it, but the Gryffindor still loved him. Her other siblings weren't inform about her situation and once they found out about what happened, they will freak out.

As the fourth year was walking toward the lake for some reading, Paisley noticed a couple of students sneaking into the forest when she passed by. The blonde furrowed her brows in curiosity. It won't hurt if she just stand by the border to call for them but she's been meaning to go inside the dark forest. She didn't want to cause Gryffindor another damage to their house point.

At the edge of the forest, she stood with her wand in one hand and her book in another. Paisley tried calling for the students who she didn't know the names and was just shouting like a crazy girl. Annoyed and yet tempted, the Gryffindor went in. She cast Lumos on her wand and a light emitted on the tip. "Hey, guys. You know this isn't safe." She called out again.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas was glad to see Elizabeth apparently hadn't discovered any sense of self-preservation in the time since he'd first met her. "I'm here to see if you were going to do anything crazy again. Like climb a giant, probably haunted tree or something," He said shuffling closer to Elizabeth. It was dark in here and the ambient noise of the forest was kind of giving him the creeps. "Well did you get your peek? It's a lot of trees and bugs and stuff, great, let's leave," He said unhappily, crossing his arms. He wasn't surprised to hear Elizabeth was mostly here because of her weird daredevil streak. "I'm not scared," Kas scoffed, trying not to groan when Elizabeth crashed through the underbrush and following after her. "I'm just not stupid and don't want to be eaten by anything in my first year. I'd rather save that for like 5th year at least," Kas said, checking over his shoulder. He'd heard complaint about OWLs before, so maybe running into the forest never to be seen again would be more appealing by then.

After shoving possibly the fourth bush out of his way to keep up with Elizabeth, Kas realized he hadn't been imagining the sound of someone calling to them, spotting someone else standing near the forest edge with their wand lit and hollering at them. This time he did groan. If they weren't already likely enough to get caught, whoever was yelling and waving their wand around was definitely not helping. "We should hide or something." He hissed to Elizabeth, nudging her attention to the person approaching them.

 

[Elizabeth Fletcher]

Elizabeth slowed down, the woods suddenly felt a lot more full than they once had. She looked around and ignored Kas's comments. "We aren't going to die, calm down." Her eyes rolled before glancing around the area, a really pretty tree was ahead. Branches twisted all around the tree wrapping it with bushy green leaves. The tree's beauty was interrupted by Kas's hissing. "What?" She said annoyed.

Looking up, Elizabeth noticed the wand of an older student. She grimaced. "Way to go, you attracted a lot of attention." Her plan wasn't to get expelled but that's the direction things were headed. "Come with me," Elizabeth said, not waiting for him to respond. She quickly grabbed the branches of the tree above her head and pulled herself up. Elizabeth grasped the tree tightly and looked down below. There was a decent amount of foliage covering her.

 

[Paisley Aberdeen]

She swears she saw then come inside but she hasn't heard anything. The forest was getting dark, Paisley decided to charm some blue-bell fire on the side of the trail. They can be easily lost inside and she didn't want that to happen. "Guys, I'm not a prefect or anything. I'm just here to remind you that this is dangerous. This is a hunting ground for centaurs." Paisley was not a fan of magical creatures, some of the might be cute and cuddly but some are not. Although, she's into rehabilitating them. Listening, she stopped beside a tree. They were good at hiding but not as good as her looking. "First years really are curious." She thought loudly.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas rolled his eyes back at Elizabeth when she implied he was overreacting when she was the one wandering around in possibly the most hostile place on school grounds, maybe sans Styx's office. "Hey don't blame me," He muttered, glancing over his shoulder only to find Elizabeth had taken off and was scaling a tree, because of course she was. "What if we get stuck up here?" He hissed again, scrambling after her. If his choice was climb the damn tree or stand out in the trail like a sitting duck he didn't really have much choice. He couldn't get as high as Elizabeth, but he managed to at least get his sneakers up above immediate eye range he hoped. Holding his breath, Kas had to resist the urge to giggle at how ridiculous they'd probably look if the student below looked up. He had the terrible hunch she knew they were here and it was only a matter of time before they were busted, but at least Kas couldn't immediately spot a prefect's badge so maybe the older girl was telling the truth and they weren't totally sunk here.

 

[Abel]

As Abel observed the humans he realised they weren't like the other humans that he had met a few years ago. They were not only smaller, but were much more idiotic. How did they think they could get away with hanging out in centaur territory? He watched as they climbed a tree to avoid an older human and he crouched down slightly into the bushes so they wouldn't see him the higher they managed to get. Abel could not harm these small creatures. That would ruin his honour. No, he had to teach them a better lesson to make sure they were never stupid enough to enter his forest again. His bow and arrow still raised, the centaur aimed it a meter away from the boy. He pulled back, releasing the arrow and watching as it flew straight past him. If that wasn't a warning to get them to leave, Abel would not have trouble finding something else.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara wasn't often in the Forest, she could hardly even remember the last time she had been here, but today was different. Today, she had...homework. Yeah, that was exactly what she thought would be a good excuse if a professor caught her. Even though being a Prefect did have its advantages and the girl was aware she probably wouldn't get into as much trouble as other students. And, she was in her final year. So, she also knew how to defend herself. If anything, if she ran into students, like she mostly expected to, especially much younger ones, she could always do her best to protect them from weird things that lived here. Unfortunately for her however, her peaceful walk was short-lived. She didn't necessarily like to bust kids, and tell on them, so when she noticed not just three younger students but also a centaur, Sara approached them. She stopped abruptly when the centaur tried to attack the boy - or at least, that was what it looked like. She hurried over to them, glancing at the centaur. "Are you guys crazy? He could have hit you!" She took out her wand and lit it up, so she could see better. "We should leave," she said firmly. If she had to, she'd take points, but she didn't want to tell them she was a Prefect just yet. If that shot hadn't been a warning from the centaur, she didn't know what was.

 

[Elizabeth Fletcher]

Elizabeth was disappointed in being caught in her hiding spot. She had meant for this journey to be quick, quiet, and on her own. Looking at Kas, she rolled her eyes. "We won't get stuck up here." She looked back down at the older girl. Elizabeth grabbed a branch and dropped herself down. Just as she landed on the ground an arrow whizzed by them. Her eyes lit up in excitement and adrenaline. Another older girl approached them talking about the arrow. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'm done out here anyway." She was angry that she had been caught, but it didn't stop her from planning another trip out. Surely there is some way to communicate with the centaurs?

Reaching into her pocket as she began to walk out of the forest, Elizabeth pulled out her adventure notebook and began to mark down what happened. She did climb a tree which was a bonus, she got shot at by a centaur which is pretty exciting, and the downfall is she got caught. Trying to find more ways to be stealthy was her new plan. Elizabeth wondered if any students had ever been killed in the forest.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas wasn't finding Elizabeth's confidence particularly encouraging, rolling his eyes when she effortlessly dropped from the tree. At least if the girl below was telling the truth about the prefect thing then they wouldn't get into too much trouble. Small victories, he thought bitterly. Kas was about to try and navigate his own way down from the tree after Elizabeth when something flew past, the motion startling him as he flailed, landing in a heap at the base of the tree. "What was that?!" He squawked, sitting up from the leaf litter and brushing his hair from his eyes. Things continued getting worse when another student arrived, Kas wasn't sure how many people could spot them before they were officially expelled or something, but surely they were starting to push the limit. "Who could have-?" Kas scrambled to his feet and glanced around nervously, more aware perhaps that they were in danger than Elizabeth seemed to be. Though she also might have simple not cared. He hadn't spotted anything in the dense woods, but the older student seemed to have seen something, and something had tried to hit them earlier. "You don't need to tell me twice." He said, scuttling closer to the older students and away from where ever the projectile had come from.