Open The Search For The Yorishiro (Oldest Tree)

Felicita was beginning to doubt the intricacy of this whole thing. Or well, the lack thereof. There were too many people. They were definitely bound to get caught either by professors, or would be a large enough bait for creatures in the forest. She definitely wanted to go further into the forest though and that was just about what the crying girl was indicating. Before she could think too much on it though, Chia was already leading her to the forest and then suddenly Corey was holding on to her other hand while he held on to the crying girl as well. There was also one who had begun to speak rather loudly - not a very smart move at all. Perhaps a small group of four to look for an old tree would be best indeed. "We should stay quiet," she reminded her twin before looking around the forest whilst her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness around them. "Keep an eye out. Once we go further in, we should have our wands out just in case," she reminded, not that they knew much spells but hopefully they could count on some accidental magic if they really needed, and a wand could be pretty helpful. Or not. Either way, it should have some use.
 
"Shh!" Pippa giggled at her roommate. A surprising amount of Puff's had snuck out thus far that night, and Pippa could not help herself but see where they were going. Being as sneaky as she could, holding the hand of her best friend @Maggie Ryan Rosendale, they made their way down to the forbidden forest. It was strange to see so many people, a few lit up wands. The older girl sauntered in and let go of Maggie's hand. "And what do we have here? I should turn you all into the prefects, but I wont as long as we can join." She added laughing, forgetting that her dramatic makeover had changed her to a meaner looking appearance, though her smile betrayed her.
 
While Artemisa was sure that the forest was dangerous, it was also kind of exciting to be out and about especially since they would be looking for an old tree. So that would lead them further in, which was both scary and exciting at the same time. The Gryffindor snorted though at her twin's instructions on keeping their wands. It would have been a lot more useful for sure if they knew spells, but then again, they could get creative, Misa just wished she had the forethought to actually bring some prank items. Those could have been useful distractions. "Not that it isn't a smart idea Coco, but really, we can't do much with them. Should we go en garde foul beast or should we go look look a stick, fetch!" the Gryffindor teased to ease her own nervousness as they walked. "Besides, how do we know when we've found the oldest tree? It could be miles," she asked the Hufflepuff girl that Corey had started to drag with them.
 
There were so many people. They really had missed out on an invitation but according to one Gryffindor boy (Caspian) they weren’t the only ones. As the young Hufflepuff picked herself up and dusted herself off, she proceeded to announce her plan to go even further into the forest. “Do you want to go?” She asked @Elsie Baros , not sure whether it was a good or bad thing that they were in a big group of people. At least if something dangerous did try and attacked them, they’d win just in pure numbers. “It could be fun,” besides, they were already out here so why not just make the most of it?
 
Maggie hadn’t actually wanted to go into the forest, but given that it was the first time she’d actually seen Pippa look legitimately cheerful in a few weeks she’d decided to tag along with her friend. She followed Pippa outside, and it wasn’t long before they joined what seemed to be a entire class of students already there. She could have sworn some of her lessons actually did have less people in it. “Did you know these people would be here?” She asked her friend curiously. If it was some sort of prank she hoped her best friend would have at least told her. Someone was talking about a tree, by there were so many students talking over one another it was hard for the Korean to keep up.

@Pippa Majors
 
As even more people joined, Ilija couldn’t help himself. If he did nothing and other got hurt because he didn’t get a professor, he was going to feel so guiltily. It wasn’t like they were students his age either, some looked tiny! The fourth year back to back out, hoping no one would notice if he slowly began to creep backwards the way he came. One of the benefits of him being so shy was always that he could get past more or less unnoticed, and when @Lysander Summers called out he took the opportunity to take a few more steps back through the leaves, trying to head back to the castle and find an adult who could stop all this. It was just a tree!
 
“Oh of course,” Elio replied to @Rowan Baros , glad that she’d taken that route and not the one that would involve the fourth year being treated like a supper. He nodded, glancing around as more students joined the crew, and shuffling a little closer to his friend, before taking her hand, “Come on, leave these guys to it, I bet we can find this tree before that Hufflepuff does,” he grinned, pulling her along with him as he began to step forward in the direction the first year had gone. If they got to the old tree first, they could be up it before anyone else even got there.
 
Pippa looked at Maggie adn shook her head. "No, but at least we aren't going to get in trouble alone." She said. "Hey!" She spoke to a boy who seemed to be leaving. "Is the party over?" She asked the familiar hufflepuff. She hoped they hadn't missed all the fun. After all, they'd only just arrived and to see what was happening in the woods that night would be quite a beautiful sight!

(@Ilija Olaf )
 
Saori smiled at the three that had joined her on her hunt. She listened as one girl spoke and made a face. "I know some charms that Professor Kain has taught me. But other than that, maybe fetch is our best option." She adjusted the heavy rope once more on her shoulder and walked slowly, looking at the trees that grew in size the deeper they got. "Legend suggests it would be in a sort of grove. So close to the middle." She spoke, looking out for anything that might go bump in the night.

@Corey Edogawa and the ravens
 
This was crazy. Zennon looked around and was honestly surprised that even more people seemed to be trickling down from the school. Had there been some announcement he wasn't aware of? He thought about what his head of house was going to say if they got caught, but he didn't want his sisters to get caught and now that he was actually down here, sneaking back up was not going to be easy. He looked over at a couple of other fifth years who'd arrived, one of them sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure why. "Hey, you girls want to help me get these guys back up to safety?"

@Maggie Ryan Rosendale @Pippa Majors
 
Pippa looked at the boy who had not introduced himself. She knew that voice and she stood fully facing him, at first giving him a strange look. He'd been the one to bump her in CoMC - but that wasn't all she knew. "Lavatory?" She asked, hoping it was him and she didn't look like a nut job who just called someone a bathroom. She looked at @Maggie Ryan Rosendale, who knew all about the guy she'd made friends with without knowing his face.

@Zennon Baros
 
Elsie grinned and nodded at @Agnieszka Norgaard because finding an old tree could be fun and at least between the two of them, they might know enough spells to help the little first years if they got into any trouble. "Yeah, let's go!" She said, grabbing Agnes' hand and leading the way to the group before they got too far away. "You guys might be safer with us, so we're gonna tag along, right Agnes?" She asked, smiling at the small group who all seemed nervous despite appearances. She looked over at the Gryffindor @Lysander Summers "Are you coming too?"
 
Rowan blushed profusely as Elio grabbed her hand and she turned to yell out at the group as they walked away. "Someone yell out if you see a Professor! You might not make it but give the rest of us a chance with your noble sacrifice!" She called, turning back to Elio. "So if we find this tree first, do you think there's a prize involved?" She was curious what Zennon was doing, but was more concerned with Elio, since she liked him.
 
Maggie watched as her friend approached one of the other boys who seemed to be backing away, letting her take the lead. That’s was until another Slytherin joined them too. “Why are you calling him a lavatory?” She asked @Pippa Majors confused. That was a rude thing wasn’t it? She looked back at the boy too, although he looked as though he just wanted to leave. “We can try and stop them but what are we stopping them from?” Was she just completely missing something here?

@Zennon Baros
 
Saori grinned when an older student (@Elsie Baros) offered to join in the hunt. Unaware that there was competition from the other students going their separate way. "You are right, you guys would make this much safer. This tree we are looking for is called a Yorishiro. It is like a sacred tree. Old objects can attract spirits that can give good fortune and blessings." She said, explaining the reason she was in the woods in the first place. "I tried to ask about it to the Herbology teacher but I have no received answers really."

@Agnieszka Norgaard
 
Lysander lowered his sword with a frown. People were dispersing, but the majority weren't heading away from the forest like he'd hoped. It seemed like he was just going to have to put up with it and come back another night when all of the nocturnal wildlife weren't going to be scared off by a hoard of students. There was talk about finding some sort of tree, which in itself sounded like an adventure of its own. The only important tree Lysander knew of was his aunts Whomping Willow, but he was sure there wasn't anything like that here. "Huh?" The boy blurted out when one of the older students invited him along with one of the groups. "Um, sure! I can help to protect from anything dangerous!" He said fiercely. He jumped down from his vantage point on the fallen log and tagged along with the tree-hunters. He was curious to know what this tree would look like, and whether or not it would have bowtruckles. If Emmett could tame one, maybe he could befriend one of his own too! "What kind of spirits? Like Vex, but good instead of bad?" The boy asked one of the girls he recognised from classes, all the while curiously eying up the random rope.

pretend I can remember the admin approval for this whomping willow reference
 
Zennon frowned at the girl as she spoke @Pippa Majors At first he hadn't realised what she was asking, before it finally clicked and he grinned. "Oh Merlin! You're her!" He exclaimed, feeling equal parts overjoyed and also incredibly nervous. They'd been talking though the bathroom stall for nearly two months now, it seemed weird to be out in the open together. "Wow, this is so weird, right? Like I never actually thought about seeing you in person, for real!" He looked at the Hufflepuff with stall girl and shrugged. "I have no idea, but this can't be good, right?"
 
Just when he thought he could turn and run, one of the girls @Pippa Majors had spotted him, and he blushed in the darkness as he realised he’d been caught out. To make matters worse, two more students were hanging around too, although at least @Zennon Baros had the right idea by suggesting they get rounded up. “I can help,” for the first time, Ilija thought that between them they might actually stand a chance. Not understand the reference about a toilet, Ilija waited patiently for the conversation to turn back at the situation at hand. “It’s a first year leading them in. I saw her come out of the common room,” maybe if they could convince her to turn around the others would follow too.
 
“OR A PREFECT!” He threw over his shoulder before rushing ahead with @Rowan Baros . She was cool and like him, didn’t seem to mind the possibly consequences of having fun. “You mean, in addition to bragging rights?” He teased, grinning at her. “So what are your climbing skills like?” With any luck they’d reach the tree but she would get stuck half way up and then he’d beat her to the top. She was never going to leave it down in class. The first year was only a little way ahead at this point, and he scouted the area as he tried to figure out which tree was gonna be that special one.
 
Saori smiled and nodded at the group of people as questions were asked. She recognized the boy (@Lysander Summers) from classes, and the other three that were not older, However Saori was not exactly great with names. "Sort of." She spoke up. "They are like holy powers. Uhm, deities in Shinto. This rope has Gohei on it, and this will go tied around the tree. It can be used for ceremonies or shrines. You can ask for blessings from them. But we cannot see them. Only feel them." She spoke, happy to inform what she knew. "So if you help and would like to pray for blessings I would not mind showing you how. Japan has all sorts of legends and common knowledge surrounding the spirit realm. It really is interesting if you like it. My grandmother told them to me while I was growing up before she passed away. She told me the good stories, and the bad." She said, glancing over her shoulder as they walked deeper in.

@Corey Edogawa and the Ravens (sounds like a cool band)
 
Pippa was happy to put a face to a voice, though it felt strange. She honestly preferred the anonymity they had to this - and most likely would want to go back to the way it was before, through a door. She looked to Maggie to see if she was up for a little round up though, maybe it would earn them some points. "I've got a better idea. We go back to the dorms, someone, not me, tells a professor, and we don't get in any trouble." She laughed. "But really those kids are getting kind of far out, maybe we should go grab them. How do we convince her?"

@Ilija Olaf @Zennon Baros
 
Zennon shrugged. "My sister and her friend went with them, I don't like the thought of that." He said, shaking his head. He looked over at another Gryffindor @Caspian Lavish "Bro, come over here and help us figure out how to convince that Hufflepuff to stop what she's doing." He hoped that enough of them being on the same page would move this along a little. "We can't just leave them though, I mean, apart from the fact that its my sisters..." He'd noticed and heard Rowan and her little boyfriend walking off too, this was all just getting worse and worse.​
 
Elsie smiled at the tiny band of adventurers. "This all sounds very exciting, but are you sure you know where you're going?" She asked @Saori Aikawa after all, this could have been anywhere. It was just a tree, it couldn't be that easy to find she would think, there were thousands of trees here. "Maybe you're sword can help?" She asked @Lysander Summers humouring the group. She wasn't sure she actually believed any of this nonsense, but still, she could humour them.
 
Corey could only grin when two older students had joined them on their venture. He already knew the legends that the Hufflepuff was talking about, had read and heard about them in Tokyo. Especially since their house had a rather large library that had lots of books. He might not enjoy studying but he didn't really consider reading about tales, myths and legends as a form of study. "Well, that would be much deeper in the forest don't you think?" he asked his fellow housemate. "And thanks for coming along with us senpais," he told the older girls with a grin. They'd probably be a lot safer with students who actually knew more spells than they did after all.
 
While the Hufflepuff girl spoke, Lysander stared at her blankly in response, trying to comprehend the random words she had thrown his way. He could process the general gist of it, but he had a hard time thinking about spirits that could do anything beyond wreak havoc or turn flames blue. "Oh okay, cool." He said, nodding his affirmation to let her know he was listening, even though he didn't fully understand. "So like, why aren't you at Mahoot...Mahooto...you know, the Japanese school? Or have you already been? I heard they get to start early." He inquired. Since she knew so much about Japan and looked, well, Japanese, he wondered why she wasn't attending their school instead. It was close by, and he himself had wanted to be able to attend when he was younger, if only to fly on their giant birds to school every day, but he didn't know the first thing about the language to even begin to have a chance. When the older girl spoke, Lysander looked up at her with a broad grin. "Yeah! It can. It's the sword of Godric Gryffindor and it can defeat any evil monsters!" He told her, waving his plastic sword around to emphasise the point. Pretending it was a legendary artefact was one of his favourite pastimes, and it was more fun than only sing a wand all the time.
 

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