Open The Tallest Trees

[Juno Belgrave]

open after @Jordan Harris

Juno had developed an idea in his brain and it was refusing to leave him alone. It had been distracting him all day, and Juno finally decided that it was time to address this rogue thought and let it run its course. The Forbidden Forest had been tempting him ever since he'd been told not to go in there, and Juno was surprised that he'd had the willpower to withstand it for so long. The forest had trees and while Juno had climbed almost every high surface he could get to across the school grounds, he missed seeking out good climbing trees to haul himself into. Juno thought he might need supplies for his endeavour, but decided that he didn't have the time to compile a list and go hunting for them before dinner time, so he decided to wing it as he ran up to his dorm.

Once Juno got a thought into his head, he was helpless to fight it. He knew that if he let himself think about it and act with common sense, he'd be stuck second-guessing himself and then regret missing out on an adventure. He'd already done enough of that this year and needed to catch up. Everybody already had their groups of friends, and while Juno greatly liked everyone he'd ever met at Hogwarts, he felt as though he hadn't been proactive enough at securing himself a solid gang of fellow adventurers like the ones every good story had.

"Hey, Jordie, I'm going to the forest if you wanna come!" he blurted, swinging into the dorm room just long enough to swipe a pair of binoculars of his bedside table before he was off again. He was too preoccupied on getting to his destination to care if anybody was joining him or not and didn't stop until he reached the outskirts of the forest. Juno was certain that the better climbing trees would be deeper into the forest, and squinted at the treeline in search of a good direction to start with.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie had been having an interesting morning, he'd gone out for a run and met a new friend, and after chatting with her for ages he made his way back to the dorm. He had just showered and changed into some clean clothes. He had begun debating what to do for the rest of the day when Juno stuck his head in the door and was promptly gone again. Jordie blinked. Okay, there was a plan for the day. He grabbed his backpack, glad he still had a bunch of snacks inside, and stopped by the kitchens quickly for a few water bottles before tearing off out of the castle after Juno.

Jordie quickly reached the forest, and luckily it didn't take him too long to find where Juno had run off to. "You know generally it's easier to wait," he teased lightly, shifting his bag on his shoulder. "If I was any later it would have taken forever to find you out here," he laughed, running a hand through his curls. "Where we going?"

 

[Juno Belgrave]

Juno was surprised that Jordie had actually followed him, through there wasn't any solid reason for his friend not to. His lack of preparation for this venture would have made his scout leader cry if he'd been back home, and Juno was pleased that Jordie at least hadn't come completely empty-handed. Utilising his skills as a disreputable youth to loiter outside the forest while he made up his mind about where to start his journey, Juno had been testing the climbability of the nearest trees.

The branch he was currently hanging from tilted dangerously under his weight, but Juno wasn't worried as the bottom of his scuffed sneakers could touch the ground if he pointed his toes. He wasn't going to climb any higher. He needed to find bigger trees for that. "I waited for you here, didn't I?" Juno wiggled his head in an approximation of a shrug, and dropped down from the tree. . "I'unno exactly, but wouldn't it be cool to build a treehouse in the middle of the forest?" he suggested hopefully.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie chuckled, shifting his bag on his shoulder. "That would be pretty cool," he agreed easily. "But would the centaurs be cool with that? I've heard there are a lot of them out here." He replied. He started forward, peeking into the forest and looking around. "If we really want to build a fort or something we should make friends with a centaur! Then they can show us good spots and we'll have a third person in our crew," he laughed, looking back to Juno.

 

[Salem Lee]

Once classes had ended, Salem had drifted out towards the lawn, not keen to spend the rest of the afternoon before dinner cooped up in the castle today. Instead, she'd been picking her way along the edge of the grounds, looking for the best stick she could find. She'd just found an excellent one, not too long, with smooth bark and a little notch near the bottom that would make a perfect sword handle, when she caught sight of Juno and one of the other puff boys heading into the forest. Sword in hand, Salem followed in after them, intrigued.

"I'm pretty sure we're not allowed to be in here," Salem said, poking her way through the underbrush with her stick as she caught up to the boys. "Something might attack you," She added with a smile, miming fending off an invisible opponent with her stick, though she mostly just succeeded in fling mud at a nearby tree.

 

[Juno Belgrave]

Juno hadn't thought about centaurs not wanting them in the forest, and made a noncommittal sound. If they really wanted to keep students out of the forest, the school should have organised to build a big fence nobody could cross. The forest being open to just wander into was like a flashing neon invitation. "Maybe they could teach us secret centaur things," Juno joked. Even though Juno had been the one to start this little outing, he was more than happy to let Jordie take the lead if the other boy wanted to. He grinned when Salem approached and waved at her. "Hi, Human Salem!" he said happily. Salem being there was almost as cool as having a centaur friend, and the big stick the Gryffindor was holding gave her major brownie points. "I guess you'll just have to protect us so we don't die," Juno laughed, and took his first steps into the forest.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie almost laughed at Juno's joke, shaking his head. "That would definitely be interesting," he agreed, trying to see through the trees. He looked up when he heard a new voice, his smile growing impossibly wider. "Salem!" He greeted, waving. "No one is getting past you," he teased, trying to sound serious. "He's right, come with us," he agreed easily with Juno, smiling widely and stepping closer to the girl.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem gave Juno and Jordie a wave hello with her non-stick hand before saluting with the stick when the boys assigned her protection duty. She hadn't been totally certain about going into the forest, since she knew they weren't allowed, but she had been dying for an excuse, the temptation of something new and unexplored too alluring to ignore. And if all it took was two Hufflepuffs who needed an escort, she could deal with that. "I'll fight them off, no problem. Wand or stick," She said, remember her wand in the last second and brandishing that in her other hand. "Are you guys looking for something? Like a quest or something?" Salem asked, even more eager to tag along.

 

[Juno Belgrave]

Juno didn't consider himself a leader in any sense of the word, but he would just have to follow from the front and hope the others were all on the same page about their incredibly ill-advised trip. He highly doubted that any of them knew enough spells to protect themselves from anything dangerous, but he had faith in Salem's stick-wielding abilities and figured he could probably run faster than Jordie if something came to eat them. "We're going on a quest for a quest," Juno said. "If we go far enough, we might find some centaurs, or maybe even a Manticore!" he grinned, waving his arms to illustrate his excitement.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie laughed as he saw their defender. This was turning into a grand adventure already. He shook his head, smiling at Juno's answer. "I hope we don't find a Manticore, we'd be eaten," he laughed, unsure if he would be eaten by a Manticore or not. "I think we're going to find a gorgeous forest and nothing will dare to touch us because we have the amazing Salem here to defend us," he grinned cheekily. He was already having a blast.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem scratched her head at Juno’s explanation. A quest for a quest. Though the mention of centaurs or manitcores was a lot more exciting. “I could probably take on a manticore,” Salem said dubiously, hefting her stick. “Maybe a small manticore. Like a baby?” She offered, picking her way through the underbrush after the boys. “Does this forest really have manticores?” Salem was committed to their little quest thing now, but thinking about it more, she was less sure about agreeing to fight of manticores. Or centaurs for that matter, she heard they weren’t so friendly either.

 

[Juno Belgrave]

"Why would they ban us from here if they didn't have at least a manticore?" Juno shrugged. There had to be at least something in the forest to eat them, otherwise where was the risk? The danger? The mystique? Juno didn't actually want to be eaten, but . He rushed forward every steps to jump up and grab any branches within reach, pulling himself up with his skinny arms and dropping again to keep up with the group. The forest had excellent trees, but there weren't even any fejoas on them to steal while running for your life from an angry farmer, so Juno was having second thoughts about the point of this expedition. He hoped that they'd at least find something exciting enough that the other two would be impressed, but Juno had yet to encounter it.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie laughed, following after the others. "I thought it was just the centaurs," he shrugged, flipping his hair and sauntering a bit as they walked through the trees. "It's really pretty in here, though," he stated, looking around. "I can hear running water nearby, do you guys want to try and find it? Even dangerous beasts need to drink water," he offered to the others.