Camping in the forest, what could go wrong?

While Noel held no issue with eccentricities, there had to be a point in time where one would say 'enough is enough'. This was mostly how he felt about these encouraged excursions. The idea itself was ludicrous, and whatever the reasoning was behind the logic of their unusual Headmaster's reasoning for them was lost to Noel. While he enjoyed camping as much as the next whitebread English suburbanite, he couldn't say the same for his tent mates. Besides, wizards didn't particularly do camping right. Truth be told, there was very little of the romanticized notion of getting back to nature, especially with their magic tents and amenities. They were hardly roughing it with a built in shower, toilet, oven, and several cushy hammocks that felt akin to floating on air. Noel had opted to bring Walden with him for the sake of irony but at this point it was just becoming egregious. 

The gentle sway of the hammock had almost been enough to lull the lion into a deep listless slumber, book collapsed and held to his breast, legs crossed and shoes still on within his cot. That is, at least, until he heard the muttered voice of a girl far too neurotic to be left to her own thoughts. z-zombies......

"Inferi are just puppets to a far greater threat Batty," he sighed, dark eyes blinking open. He snapped his book close and swung a leg out from his hammock. "Somehow I doubt a Dark Wizard would be spending their time terrorizing a bunch of students." He paused, looking at the Hufflepuff. Batty was a strange girl but he had come to call her a friend, or something close to being a friend. It was then that he heard the referenced scratching and rolled his eyes. "Look, I need a smoke before bed anyway so I'll go scare away the big bad wolf. Also, if you don't stop chewing your hair you'll start throwing up hairballs just like-..." Suddenly, the sound seemed all too familiar. "Oh christ you're fuckin' kidding me," he said suddenly, making his way across the tent and suddenly unzipping it to reveal a familiar massive black maine coon. He scooped the beast up unto his arms and spun around to face Batty. "Here's your zombie. His name is Rene and he'll eat anything and hates sleeping alone. He might even sit on your face in your sleep and suffocate you. Take him. I'll be back," he said and shoved the cat into Batty's arms before heading out of the tent. 

Would they???

Batty exchanged a worrisome look with Noel, there were in fact instances of Dark Wizards 'terrorizing' students. The battle at Hogwarts for starters. Was it really so implausible that they might be out there? Waiting.. preying for their next victim??? THATS WHAT THEY DID, DIDN'T THEY??? They collected the youthful young witches and wizards and sacrificed them to the gods of shabalabamba so that their magic might be restored.

At least... that was what she had been told by perhaps not the most credible person around. Still.. It made as much sense to her as breathing.

Don't go---- she wanted to utter but was too transfixed with chewing her hair until the ends no longer stuck out to really do anything except widen her eyes in terror as her near and dear friend decided to commit suicide by unzipping the tent. She strained over Judge's head to see what he was seeing, and grateful that Judge was closest to the entry point, in that way he'd be the second to go while she found a way to escape.

When Noel dropped a fluffy ball in her lap she smiled foolishly for a moment then felt her nerves return "Oh Noel... don't go out there!" she shouted in a hushed whisper "The werewolves will be on our trail now that RENE's here." and with that she caught the cats glare and smiled sheepishly "sorry... but we both know werewolves love chasing cats" and with that she stroked the lovely feline and wondered how much time they all had left.

"You know what I think werewolves love chasing, about a million times more than cats?" Noel spoke standing in the entryway to their tent, one arm outstretched and a leg already on its way out the tent's seam. "Scared little girls. They smell the fear on you and hunt you down I heard. Don't know if it's true. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," he shrugged casually, making a clearly deliberate effort to really inflame Batty's usual neurosis. "Goodbye forever Batty, may we speak again in another life..." he continued dramatically, his voice deep and cinematic as he backed his way out of the tent and into the blackness of the woods. 

But he liked it. The creep factor, the quiet, the absolute nothingness that spanned on infinitely. Most importantly, he liked the enigma of it all. It reminded him of being a child laying awake in bed, plagued with what he would later learn was insomnia, left alone to his racing thoughts and a mind that never seemed to be pacified. Time where he felt small, insignificant, like he could slip away unnoticed right through the fabric of time. When he was young those same thoughts drove him mad but now they brought a certain comfort to the young man. It was truly bizarre how much one could change. 

As his eyes adjusted he dare not step forward, far too concerned with tripping over a root and smashing his face in. Instead, he produced a tin cigarette case and removed a finely coiled roll of tobacco. For a moment a single flame revealed his tired solemn features, a glowing apricot that danced along the bridge of his nose and cupids bow, before it also subsided leaving nothing but the glowing ember of his cigarette that throbbed with each slow drag. 

Eventually, his eyes adjusted to the bleakness of the wood and he began moving, combat boots sinking deeply into the damp forest floor. He wouldn't wander far but made it a point to scope out the area, peeking around the trunks of trees and verifying the absence of any threats for the trembling Hufflepuff girl despite his teasing remarks. 

Scared little girls..... like me? she wondered fearfully, and hugged Rene close to her chest. And they smelled fear too. And she was always in fear.. so what Noel really meant was that werewolves were hunting her. She was doomed. DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED.

"wait...... don't......... leave me" she added rather weakly, but it was too late, Noel was gone and it was just her and judge and the cat. In a tent. She looked around to realign herself with her settings, it was so comfy.. so safe. Could anything really... well... It was a confined space. Right. Only one entrance, she noted to herself, not noticing any other way out except where Noel had left from. Confined space + one entrance = sudden death. Not good.. not good.

"I'm.. a.. I think Noels calling me" she said to Judge lying through her teeth and scurried outside clutching Rene to her chest. No, he was not calling, but if the werewolf was going to follow her fearful little girl smells it was bound to enter the tent where she'd been emitting fearful pheromones all night long. Granted Judge would be sacrificed, but one had to sacrifice for the greater good.

But once she left the tent she could feel what a mistake it'd been. It was so dark out she could barely see, she took short hurried steps, her fluffy moccasins left gentle prints against the snow, not that anyone could notice, it was that dark. She didn't feel comfortable being out, but she also didn't feel comfortable being in there... in that tent like a sitting duck. Why couldn't they just go back to the dorm. Why DID they have to do the whole 'camping' thing? She wondered to herself as she walked farther and farther away, she almost hadn't noticed how far she got until she heard virtually nothing.

Absolute silence.

"noel..." she called out worriedly. Batty you're just imagining things.. nothings wrong. Nothings out here, that's what everyone says. Nothing wrong. nothing--- CRACK Somewhere not too far she heard some twigs snap. "who am I kidding? EVERYTHING'S WRONG... EVERYTHING...noel... noel" her voice cracked as her eyes met a pair of menacing yellow eyes. And they all called her crazy...

He was searching because somewhere deep inside his seemingly cold nihilist heart Noel really did care about Batty's comfort, and he certainly appreciated her company. It hadn't been until his previous year did he really begin to reform this notion of what friendships actually were. Previously, "friends" had simply been a thing to exploit. He used them to boost his ego and social standing, much like how he'd seen his Father treat his own companions in pureblood society. Erstwhile it had been the socionormative behavior of his culture. His parents had used their friends, family, and had even gone as far as to use children as their means of income. It had never occurred to Noel before then that there was something... significantly wrong with that. Or, perhaps it had, but because of his upbringing he had rejected the notion of morality because it didn't quite fit into his lifestyle. Noel had spent a considerable amount of time during his childhood thinking that those feelings of virtue had been not only wrong but a weakness. Even now, he struggled to face them.

Mildly he kicked at the roots of a tree. He had wandered a fair distance. Far enough that the glow of the tent had been lost to the lateral shadows that devoured all. Fortunately, however, Noel's heart was not one that easily succumbed to fear, not out of arrogance but out of his own blue heaven. Noel had spent some time staring into the abyss, and it wasn't so bad. 

It was then that he heard his name and his head perked up from the ground. It was Batty's, panicked, but that was not out of the ordinary. Was she outside? Why had she gone outside? Letting out a small groan he reached for his wand. 

"Lumos," he then whispered softly, opting to not scream into the blackness in full panic mode like his companion. If there was something out there, it was sure as hell after her now. Holding his wand over head he waved its glowing end, following the echoes of her voice. Eventually, the husky rasp of one pissed off feline met his ears. If Rene died tonight because of Batty he would have her goddamn head. His pace quickened, extinguishing the wand as her voice grew nearer. 

Well, she was correct in her sentiment that there was something there, but had she not been making such a racket it probably would have left them be. There was a good chance whatever it was at least had the capability to maim if not kill them. This was the forbidden forest after all. 

Now directly behind Batty he made it a point to move quickly, an arm wrapping around her slender frame and pulling her backwards, his wand arm raised above his head. 

"Protego," he commanded, taking little time to find out if his shield had been effective. Rather, he firmly grabbed Batty by the wrist and broke out into a sprint in the opposite direction of... whatever it was. 

Batty had little time to process it all, the last thing she saw was a flash of light and then the feeling of being swept away by a majestic spirit, so quick, so nimble, and sounded so very much like Noel. It was a serene feeling that for once had her feeling that she was safe, a rare commodity in her fear filled life.

Had Noel been god all along??? she wondered to herself as he brisked her a long, she was still blinded by the flash of the spell that she could only process what was going on through pure imagination. Had she always had him by her side, preying on the day she would pass in order to make the passage quick and painless. A merciful god.. noel my maker... she felt tears well in her eyes. But something struck her as funny. 'cuz see.. Noel had been a bully, a burden in her life for more than a couple years. What could have been the meaning of those years? Was it a test??? HAD IT ALL BEEN A TEST??

And then... she saw the light.

"I believe..." she whispered hoarsely. The blinding she was currently experiencing, only now began began to fade to darkness, it grew dimmer and dimmer until she could see through enough to take note that they were in the woods... no.. no... not just any woods. But the.. the...

The Forbidden Forest.

And as that sudden panicked thought occurred, realization sunk in. But worse, the fear returned, almost amplified. The creature, whatever it was that had been stopped in it's tracks, let out a loud and vicious sound. The kind of sound an animal makes when it's been stopped in it's hunt and vengeance so vicious.. so menacing, she found herself shaking. It was stopped for now but how long really? How long before he came charging up and gobbling them up for supper. No,.. now that simple. That thing was PISSED. Pissed creatures didn't just KILL their meals, they terrorized, tortured, and ate them piece by piece, saving every last bit until there was nothing more than bones.

Their bones.

"Noel.. p-p-lease... stop" she pleaded, no longer able to take it. Noel had dragged her only far enough before she felt any signs of hope fade. He was no god, this wasn't heaven. And they were, in fact, going to die, a slow and painful death.  Batty made a weak attempt to pry herself from his tight grasp around her sore wrist but it was to no avail, she had no energy left. "we're going to die... we.... are going to die" she repeated crazily, tears spilled from her watery eyes. Batty grabbed a branch to keep herself from being pulled along, determined to die here at this spot "my organs.. your flesh.. and blood. oh all the blood. Just leave me. save yourself"  she repeated dramatically.

These people were fools, honestly afraid of their shadows! This experience was a once in a lifetime thing (well with the new headmaster it'd probably be a regular thing) and so far their paranoia was ruining it all.

Batty followed Noel out of the tent into the woods, what she was doing here was question never to solved, but he was glad and it left more room for him to stretch out. Time ticked by and he heard nothing so with a grunt of agitation he got to his feet and stepped out into the cool air.

With his wand he called forth firewood that stacked neatly in front of him and with a flick of the wrist fire lept from the tip setting the stack a blaze. "Alright you twits if ya lost sight of camp here be a beacon to find yer way back!" Judge shouted.

Noel could here the creature - whatever it was - several steps behind him as he sprinted, ducked, and dodged between the dense tree cover of the forest. He moved quickly and decisively for a human in the face of fear, a throw back to his youth spent climbing trees and racing (and winning) against the kids in his neighborhood. He'd been much of the stereotypical bully as a young child: Faster, ruthless, and stronger. King of the playground and later of the castle. Now he was a pale shadow of his sophomoric self, but muscle memory accounted for physical proficiencies that he had not utilized for years. His shoulder screamed in pain to let the stupid lagging girl go. He heard an ugly sob behind him and blubbering pleas. 

This was his punishment. A cruel joke played on him by the universe. He would die, and it would be next to Batty of all people. That's what he got for being the good guy. 

He came to a lurching halt and spun around, his arm extended and his brow furrowed deeply. "Expulso!" A burst of blue light exploded from the tip of his wand and flew just millimeters past Batty's head. The spell missed the distant ominous target and instead ricocheted off of a tree that cracked loudly and fractured, causing the tree to groan and stagger slowly, picking up momentum as it fell. Noel swore breathlessly, lifting his right (nonwand) hand and shoving Batty to the ground, both out of harms way as well as out of his goddamn line of sight. His left hand drew back again and he heard a vicious yowl, followed by Judge's distant jeers. 

"Confringo!" he brandished his wand propulsively, a rush of heat and a violent blast ruptured the air, several trees becoming scorched and catching fire. "GO," Noel hollered at the badger on the floor, absolutely livid, and rightfully so. 

Batty fell to the ground off to the side as Noel brushed her off, he really was a Gryffindor.. so brave, so noble, and didn't seem to accept the idea of giving up as she had. Her eyes watered slightly in admiration her friend so brave, so willing to die. She sniffed, unable to do little more than sit there and watch. Everything around her seemed to slow, the sounds dulled, Batty looked around, the only thing that seemed to move as if in real time and she suddenly became aware of her surroundings, she could see spot the light from afar and it felt like Judge was just a short distance away.

A voice she'd spent years actively avoiding and hiding from, she could pinpoint his exact distance so clearly that the feeling of being so close invigorated her, and seemed to bring an unknown amount of energy to her.

Batty scrambled to her feet and began to run in that direction but something struck her, kept her grounded. Running into Judges arms as a savior??? I think I'm gonna be sick... Against her better judgement, she doubled back and grabbed Noels arm tugging him to get him moving "No" she asserted without a single stutter to indicate hesitancy, she was sure about this decision even if it might mean her death "not without you..." Batty cast her eyes down, it felt funny to say, like those cheesy rom-coms she loved so dearly and added, " y-y-you cant possibly think I'd be safer back there with Judge"

And with that said she pulled him along, not caring if death was near, or that they might be leading the thing right back to the tent, at least the three of them might have a better chance at stopping it.. She could almost see the tent now Batty waved an arm frantically to get Judge's attention, she felt safe free... until she heard a rustle "w-w-WAND" she shouted instead of actually reaching for her wand, her brain could do nothing but race about where the rustle was coming from... it felt like everything was rustling and they were doom DOOOMED.

"doomed" she repeated and felt herself fall forward, knocked out cold from a mixture of exhaustion and fright. But mostly fright...

A profoundly deep guttural growl sounded from behind them. Batty lost it, and soon she was on the forest floor... Again... being useless.... again. Was Noel surprised? Not at all. Whatever moment of bravery Batty had, it was gone. He felt his arm being dragged down with her, and when she shouted wand he instinctively readied his, still drawn from the spells formerly fired. 

But he was caught off guard by her fall, and as he recovered and looked up he froze with horror. 

Noel was brave, but even the bravest men stiffened in the face of their own mortality. Prior to this moment the adrenaline and indignation towards Batty had acted as a buffer to his own transience. Now nothing but a few inches of thin air stood between himself and certain demise. It was the fragrance that reached him first. Earth- no, mud, and musky wet fur. Pungent dank breath. A large glob of saliva that dripped from the beasts jaws. Taut tendons that trembled with resolve. Behind the Lycan he could see the embers rising up. The fire he created had spread amongst the compact trees, and the path of destruction that had led monster to his doorstep. 

Noel hung in this moment for several seconds, his eyes fixed on the unmistakably humanlike yellow orbs. 

And then, with a rush of violent rampage, he was on his back in the cold damp earth. His head smacked the trunk of a tree on impact, rendering him disoriented. Unfortunately, however, he remained conscious as he endured the agony of his flesh ripping from his chest as gnarled claws pinned him in place. It was during this time he thought about his death, every muscle in his body screaming to fight back, to move forward, but no matter how his limbs urged for freedom, he was immobilized. Dizzied with both pain and shock, he blacked out for seconds. When he came to again the creature had leaned back on its haunches and let out a triumphant yowl, blood painting its jowls. His blood. Then, in response to the howl came a distant response. The Lupine's ears perked at the sound and moved off Noel, scampering off into the woods to seek out its kin. 

Noel laid there covered in sweat and blood for several seconds, staring up at the starless night sky. Finally he shifted, sitting up slighty, his eyes shut tightly as a sharp twinge radiated hotly from his chest. 

What Judge saw had been nothing he'd ever seen, a lycanthorp of massive proportions scurrying off back into the woods. Noel sitting up after a attack like thatwas something to admire, "Jaysus lad, Noel are ye'okay?"

Judge stalked carefully to Noel, "You been clawed! Jaysus I've never seen nothing like it, we got tah get you help like now. Where is. Batty?"

The moment she had hit the ground she'd been out like a light, nothing but a black some what swirly mess in her mind of nothingness. where am I she wondered vaguely. Her eyes were clamped shut, body nearly restless against the cold dark floor. She could neither see nor hear anything. Not the flesh ripping from Noels chest, not the terrifying howl the beast made, not even Judge's shouts for her (and good riddance too, because Judge scared her regardless). This wasn't her first time fainting, and most certainly wasn't her last. But fainting had its perks, in doing so she could escape the problems of the moment. A place to say fuck it all, and drift into.. nothingness.

And that's where Batty was. Drifting into nothingness as her brain coped with the trauma it just induced, and prepared for the horrifying reality that came next.

Jaysus Batty yeh gotta wake she heard almost indistinctly and strangely enough sounded so much like like...

Judge???!! she gaped

ding ding ding. Now get tha fuk up afore I beat yer bloody brainless head senseless he replied sharply.

No.... nothingness was her happiness place. Why was judge here.. he couldn't be.. he couldnt! Batty squirmed slightly, as if it could get Judge out of her head, but he was there and now she saw him, his deep toothed grin looking positively menacing. He couldn't be here.. he couldn't, not when this was not reality.. unless it was...

Arright, so yeh want me eh? I always knew yeh did

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Batty shot up awake.. or was she.. was she? She scanned the area, her heart pounding wildly half expecting at any moment to have Judge just pummel her. What she saw was perhaps worse.. so much worse. There sitting not a foot from Judge was Noel absolutely bloody, pooling and seeping into a mess that she could barely discern, not that she wanted to. It was blood. Oh god it was blood. Batty pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face in them. Safe place.. safe place... she sat there uselessly, unable to do anything more than shake her head, a floppy mess of red hair shaking side to side denying the very responsibility of helping a friend out.

"I cant.. I cant" she repeated. "Judge you gotta.. I just.. no.." she uttered, eyes welling up. Not entirely sure what happened, if it was judge who caused it to happen would he be so merciful to patch up somebody he just beat the living bajeebus out of? thats ridiculous. There was too much blood. And noel... was he even alive? Was he dead? They still had to dispose of the body, again, another task for judge. If hes dead if, she couldn't.

Judge & Noel Beckett

A werewolf howl was a unmistakable howl, it was animal and it was human at the same time, deep from the gut, and it had been at least six summer's since Ozzy had heard a howl so close to the castle. The big man pushed himself up from bed and gathered his coat, a pair of boots, his wand, and finally a crossbow with silver tipped arrows (he'd never kill a werewolf but if it came down to human life he'd maim it at least.)

Oz checked on his son, Toby, who was sound asleep and he bolted out the door of the caretaker hut. Scanning the tops of the tree line his eyes quickly fell upon smoke from about two to three miles into the Forbidden forest, a wet nose hit the palm of his hand which startled the wizard!

"Dammit Sham, if I'd have my wand I would have blasted you to bits love," Oz laughed patting the black labs head, "You coming? I got a feeling something is going down in those woods."

Sham wimmpered and took a step back, "Sham come on," Oz pleaded, "Don't make me go a lone. If I die who will feed you?"

At this the dogs ears perked up and she put her nose to the ground taking off through the wall of trees. Ozzy adjusted the crossbow and arrows on his back and took out his wand before he began to follow his dog.