Blossom Ball Dancefloor Event Closed

"What the fu-?"

Fire was powerful. It was the only thing that man would never fully have under control, something that could destroy faster than anything else. It was devastatingly beautiful, but because of what happened last year, Ami simply thought it was a monster. A pure monster built of hatred, of disgust, of death. A dangerous inferno that was the primary decor in hell.

She hated fire with every bone in her body.

Ami blinked and her eyes widened as she watched the scene laid out before her unfold. Her mouth set into a hard line as she could almost feel the heat searing her skin, racing across her back as she closed her eyes, remembering the night where she had totally messed up. Of course, Eris was at the center of it all, again. She expected nothing less- as lights would attract moths, fire was an automatic magnet for people like Eris. 

Professor Griffith put an end to her living nightmare, however, and Ami glanced down at her feet, her eyes wide, clearly doing her best not to cry. Why? Why did this have to happen, and today, of all days? Today was supposed to be happy, she was supposed to be enjoying her time with Scott, she was supposed to be dancing... Lifting her head up again, she stared blankly at where the fire had been burning moments before, looking like she was terrified that it was going to burst into flames again. Her skin felt like it was on fire, hot with fear and prickling with tension.

Scott's words, however, pulled her back into the present. Taking a shaky breath, she swallowed nervously, clearing her throat as she glanced back down at her feet. "I..." she said quietly, her voice small. "I don't know," she said honestly, her hands fidgeting anxiously behind her back. "I thought I'd already come to peace with what happened, but I guess not..." Glancing at Scott, her pleading expression backed up her words. "Can we... can we go somewhere else? I don't- I don't really want to be here, anymore...

"Let's go to the lake, Scott."

Interactions: @Scott Alexander.
Mentions: Eris, Griffith.

@Illowy Magnard | @Xailah Alptraum

Isaac started as he realized that there was a figure perched in the tree, yellow feline eyes flashing in the darkness. Taking a step back from the rock, he heard a familiar serpentine voice scraping into his ears, and reached into his pocket, fastening his fingers around his wand. He didn't know a single offensive spell, but she didn't know that.

Midway through speaking, the girl hissed, "Though I am a bit disappointed, conssssidering I wasn't exactly waiting for either of you."

From the wave of the girl's pale hand and her words, at least she wasn't hostile towards them. But something chilled him inside; if she wasn't waiting for any old first-years, then who could she be waiting to ambush? Especially in the forest. That's sinister. he thought warily.

Giving the girl a piercing stare, he asked in a challenging tone of voice, "Why should we help you? You're the one who caused the fire, aren't you? How can we be sure you won't just attack someone again?" He knew that the Gryffindor would likely get angrier; she was already sending a glare towards himself and Illowy. But in his mind, none of that mattered. He wasn't about to go ahead and help someone he couldn't trust, let alone a girl who had cut someone with glass in front of his eyes. Did she even realize how many people had gotten injured after she fled?

He exchanged a glance with Illowy, wondering if the Slytherin would assist her. He doubted it, but still wasn't sure.

"Why should we help you? You're the one who caused the fire, aren't you? How can we be sure you won't just attack someone again?"

"Questions like that are going to get you nowhere." Judging by the boys response, he certainly was not a Ravenclaw. To be fair not all Ravenclaws were brilliant."-desssspite what it may look like, I am not the threat here. I promisssse; there is a method to my madness-" A strange screeching noise startled her, causing her to fall from the trunk of the tree.

She landed on her back; right where she had been aggressively shoved into the table from the party. Curling into a fetal position, she covered her ears. She had heard people scream, and screech before, but the sounds that this screeching girl was making, were horrid. Like nails on a chalkboard. "Sssstop! Are you inssssane?" She pressed her gloved hands harder against the sides of her head, in a poor attempt to drown out the sound. Her ears were very sensitive to high-pitched noises. "One does not ssssimply walk into the forest, and ssstart sssscreaming like a banshee! Sssshouting will get you nowhere, especially if you came here ssseeking answers!" Well, shouting could get them a shallow grave in the forest. Maybe detention if they were lucky.

If the screaming child were to stop, Xailah would get up, and brush herself off. "You do realize that we are not alone, yessss? Did you not see the flare?" If the child did not stop, she would remain on the ground, refusing to answer any questions that the small group may try to ask; being of no use at all.

The otherwise so beautiful night had gotten dark, confused, and loud by now. Admittedly, this year's Blossom Ball hadn't turned out the way either of the two second-years had hoped for or imagined, but for this moment being, Scott couldn't care less about that. Because now, Ami looked as if she'd been struck by lightening. It made him angry (although not with anybody in particular) to see her like so. She was last person who deserved to be scared on a dancefloor.

His friend's voice was low now, hidden and emotional, when she asked if they could leave and go to the lake instead. She even stuttered her way past a few words, which repulsed him.

That's not the way Ami spoke.

Although at the same time, and in a selfish way, Scott was very pleased with her having picked up on his offer, instead of simply wanting to return to the Hufflepuff dorms alone. He knew that that was sometimes what people needed, and he hated it. The fact that she still wanted to be with him was a comfort to Scott, just as he hoped he could be of comfort to her:

"The lake. Yes. Of course we can go to the lake! I like the lake. This place is no fun anymore, anyways... Besides, I bet it's cooler over there. If not then I'll need to remove this thing because it's killing me."

He tugged one last time at his tie, before giving her a forced but somehow still earnest smile. They didn't have to dance, he thought, as he reached out his hand in a heartbeat, the way he'd hesitated to do it before, those eventful minutes ago. He placed it reassuringly around her still shoulder, and began walking with her away from the dancefloor, the crowds, and the lights that had started appearing again.

They were still beautiful, but not as important.

● Scott and Ami both leave the dancefloor ●

Interacting with @Isaac Ambrose, @Xailah Alptraum, and @Dinara Lucey

It nearly startled the girl out of her skin when the older girl spoke up from the trees. Normally, she didn't think of herself as someone who was very easy to scare, but here, knowing the terrible things in the forest and that had happened in the forest, it seemed fair to be a little on edge. All the same, the Slytherin glared up as the other girl tried to climb down, "You got yourself up there, you can get yourself down." she said pointedly, not considering that perhaps this wasn't the witch to get riled up.

Then, a sharp holler nearly gave the girl such a start that she almost fell off the boulder she was seated on, her heart racing a mile a minute as some girl she didn't recognize leaped from the bushes to yell at the cat-eyed girl who promptly fell like a cradle from a peculiarly dark nursery rhyme; not that it bothered Illowy.

The Slytherin shot an icy glare at the girl, "Will you keep your bloody voice down before you get everyone in trouble?" she demanded, trying to keep her voice fairly level. Pale blue eyes darted around the clearing for a moment, as though trying to make sure that the wannabe banshee hadn't attracted anything unsavory that they might need to start hauling some serious butt from.

Erin was nothing but trouble, maybe Elijah just liked trouble. Erin made no attempt to hide it, she was a lot of things, even a liar when it was advantageous enough for her. She donned the labels other people gave her with a hint of pride. Sometimes it took effort to be bad. She relished the enemies she had made, the depths of their ire like a hearth to lay alongside of. There were a few things she cared about in her own, cruel, likely mad way, not that she was the type to make friends she still somehow managed to make one or two. Erin endeavored to hide what she valued like a Spriggan that hid its horde in the depths of the deepest, darkest mine it could find.   

Elijah was an odd one. She tried to dig her claws in but he did not seem to care although he seemed to notice casually. So he was not an idiot at least, those were uninspiring. This is where most make a point of saying that there is nothing in there as if in defiance of what she was, what she wanted. Not that they understood her end game or what she even wanted, they were not even remotely capable of seeing more than what they are told to see anyways. That was the problem with most people, their either saw what they wanted to see or what they were told to see. 

When disaster came, Erin did not flinch but the same could be said of Elijah. The event, like Elijah represented a curiosity. something she would not worsen but she would not try to divine a means to quell either. She was growing suspicious of Elijah, he was too accommodating. For once in the young Slytherin's life that was a 'bad' thing one could suppose. The boy was capable of making friends with everyone, making everyone trust him. It was a skill and Erin was hardly an exception to that. She had no reason to believe that he was trying to manipulate her, rather she simply assumed that he was trying to be agreeable for the purpose of satisfying a curiosity. Perhaps they were similar in nature, but that was not even a consideration that would slip into her head. 

He did not try to play the role of white knight. She expected him to at least make a show of it. To feign sympathies or concern, even abnormal people do that. Even sociopaths still try to fit in, make a show of normalcy, of their charm. "You are quite odd," Erin announced There was a duality to a 白骨精, or a Báigǔjīng (I hope I got it right, been years since I have referenced this) in the Journey to the West: a monster yes, but also modern slang for an educated woman of means and status. It was on the nose. She ate men too, just not their flesh. That was simply... grotesque. No, it was their sentiments, their reactions, that abstract state that was somehow in some way tangible to her. "Erin Ryan, Geoffrey's sister," Geoffrey was likely in Elijah's year and also same house. It was conceivable that they shared a dorm even.

He wanted to change venues. In truth, this adventure was coming to a close. She played no part in it and she was slightly high from the endorphins released by the cascade of emotional and sympathetic reactions among her peers. The fire extinguished, the party dying with the flames less a few strange students among those gathered still that reeked of suspicion and dread. Apparently her dance-partner wanted something to do. That was a dangerous want from a girl that caused more trouble than she found. "There is butterbeer at the lake, pretty sure Alex is picking up a girl or something there. That would be dull," the last thing she wanted to deal with was pre-teen hormones and the manufactured sense of love that came with it. Creepy as heck. 

Her eyes darted in the direction of the woods. That was where she wanted to go but it was as if a universal force was preventing her from venturing in that direction. "You ever see the dungeons in the basement? There is... someone neat down there," she said after a moment of consideration. The dungeons were a network of interconnected passages that snaked beneath the aged Scottish castle. She has spent a great deal of time learning the various routes below. "She is a bit odd, but she helped me find my good time when I first came here," Erin claimed. She took a bit of what appeared to be metal out, something she hid in a seam where others would hide wands she hid this. "Can I bring someone who claims to want to have some fun?" She seemed to whisper that into an object about the size of a coin. 

Perhaps Elijah should not be so charming. So keen to make new friends. To make people trust him. Sometimes the people that take an interest in turn are not friends that they wish to make. 

OC: Since this thread is about to end, would you like to go on a mini adventure? Maybe get killed? Maybe kill someone else (within site rating of course)...

OC: I'd like to know what happened to Rosie but haven't had any response from her in a while. Would be nice to see that kid get his just dues since he's being a creeper.

OC: I have been delayed by staffy things. My apologies as I catch up.

@Hugh Lowe ambled onto the dancefloor, late like a lot of students. He should have had a date, Ana-Banana-Cantina-something. Yet she was nowhere to be found. Hugh was a stand-out among the student’s, standing a head taller than most, including many upperclassmen. The fire nothing more than a recent memory, the scent of smoke still filled the air. The children had stopped scrambling, the Prefect had missed all the excitement. He had arrived just in time to see things conclude.

@Scott Alexander and @Ami Procoppio’s date was ruined. Nam flashbacks for the girl and the semi-clueless boy that figured this out a bit too late but at least had the presence of mind after it all to say that they totally could leave.

The hero in all of this was the only Professor present, @Morftan Griffith, the grumpiest protagonist of all. The Headmaster was still by the castle just vacating the great structure. From his vantage point there was nothing amiss, there was some smoke certainly but from the looks of it nothing more than a bonfire. He moved with some haste of course, he could never trust his students around fire bad things happened when he kids had access to fire. @Dinara Lucey was addressing the valiant Care of Magical Creatures Professor, well criticizing him. According to the pre-teen, the linens should have been fire-proof in hindsight. The was less feasible than she would have liked to have thought, wizards do not have the technology to have fire-resistant (nothing is truly fire-proof) linens, that was more a muggle thing. Certainly, there were spells, resistance to hot and cold, disease, making what was lost found and so on. Spells existed for wizards in abundance but very few items are imbued with enough preventative magic to prevent every eventuality.



@Rosie Turner, our would-be victim was being lured away by a gentle-seeming giant. Let’s get away from this terrible, scary fire. Let’s keep looking for your missing paramour. Let’s get away from here. She acquiesced. A glint in his eye, he could finally get away from this hormone-burdened gathering of adolescents. These wizards made his skin crawl almost as much as they[/u] did. Disbursement in blood and bone.

• The injured to the Hospital Wing, Professor @Morftan Griffith would take them but he wanted to know more about what transpired. Little did he know, these students could have suffered much worse than the ravages of a fire. @Illowy Magnard and @Elizabeth Linscott would take Professor Griffith up on his offer. Elizabeth would collapse inside the COMC’s pocket, assisted by her friend Illowy. The cat-eyed girl was gone, she had taken the opportunity afforded to her by the pandemonium to escape but she would not leave entirely scott-free. @Isaac Ambrose knew where she had gone. He did not give details, none that would make it possible for Morftan to find the girl on his own with a pocket of injured students that is. Isaac was going to follow her.

@Raine Sage knew that something was terribly wrong, more than the fire and the chaos. She had not quite grasped what, not yet. That the punch was not there to weaken the victim or even to force them to divulge their darkest secrets to these ne’er do well. No, the punch was the distraction. What just happened? An altercation between school boys over some pretty girl forced the headmaster to intervene, leaving the already thinly stretched chaperone absent. It led to drama and disarray and it gave them the opportunity to address a loose-lipped student, know if anyone was coming for them. For them to know how alone they truly would be if they were the one that was taken.

It was @Arc Perscivious that noticed one of the many cracks in the giant’s façade. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin was the second man to land on the moon. Very famous, very unique name known among muggles more than wizards. Arc was a clever boy, perhaps too clever. He was certainly left in a terrible dilemma. Would be do something stupid and reckless by following them into the forest or would he do something even worse and let a girl walk off to what could only be presumed to be a terrible and tragic fate? He would share what he knew and what he thought he knew with Raine. The sorting hat chose well when they placed him in Ravenclaw. Of course he was about to make one mistake, little did the pre-teen know.

Did he really think that sharing what he knew with a very likely dangerous individual was a good idea? Or that doing so alone was similarly clever? The party was starting to dismantle, guests were dispersing. Even the Professor was departing with children in tow. Arc was also doing the one thing you never do in a campaign – break up the adventuring group.




The massive ‘student’ shrugged his shoulders. “Calvin,” he answered as if the name had absolutely no relevance. “Calvin… Klein,” he added with a smirk on his face.




“Picking up a date,” he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, things cannot be that simple. It was not as if this was calculated, engineered in any way. No, this was not just some ploy to get some girl alone with some boy. That was easy, a bit of charm, a bit of wit and most girls and perhaps some boys would be putty in their hands. One does not require a fountain of Veritaserum to get a date.

“You’re cramping my style kid,” he grunted as he watched ‘Aldwin’ walk off with Rosie. They would be pleased.

He looked like he too was departing from this party. There were some students, such as @Erin Ryan and @Elijah Huan that were either oblivious to the disaster and the danger all around them or they just did not care. It was a bit of both, but more the later. Like many, in fact most, they were planning on leaving but their story was also far from done. The Giant was not dumb enough as to obviously follow Rosie and Aldwin. He turned his back to them and was going to go in another direction entirely – the school.

Meanwhile, @Raine Sage did a risky move. She fell in front of the giant as he, well they, him and Rosie were departing the fete. The giant would be tripped, but it was like chopping down a tree. A big tree, and the ax was chopping from only once side, making that wedge into that great redwood. The tree would come down upon the lumberjack. The little, unfortunate girl would be temporarily crushed beneath the ‘student’s’ weight. Aldwin would let out a yelp of surprise as he was knocked over, but his landing semi-soft and lumpy.

With a slightly disoriented grunt he would rise to his feet. “Christ,” he muttered as he looked over at Rosie.

@Raine Sage gave @Rosie Turner a quick speech. “I am literally standing with here,” he announced with a lop-sided facial expression that put a physical presence to the phrase you have got to be kidding me. He brushed off the grass and dirt on his knees. ”Tripping me and then demanding that she run off with you… does not seem like a very safe or normal thing to do,” he accused. ”Get behind me, I don’t know what this girl is up to but I doubt it is for anyone’s good,” he warned. 

This is a story, stories have many parts and many settings. Scenes and victories. It appears that Xailah is having a gathering in the woods. Make a topic regarding this and act out your discussions, make your plans. LINK us to your adventures in this thread and link back to this thread. That way a story can be followed by those trying to catch up with what is going on. The injured are making their way to the Hospital Wing thanks to the COMC professor. Same thing. Something very wrong is happening here, it will be your job to figure out what it is and put an end to it!

For the sake of ease, I have done a few things for you.

1.- I made copies of Isaac, Dinara, Illowy and Xailah’s posts so you two can have an RP thread to yourselves. Link
2.- I made a hospital thread for those recovering from their injuries, feel free to post in there recovering, involve more students in this mess if they join you in this adventure, etc. Link
3.- Male Giant (Aldwin/Calvin) #1 is attempting to take Rosie into the woods.
4.- Male Giant #2 is headed towards the school.
5.- Female Giant #1 has presumedly walked off towards the lake.
6.- If Elijah decides to leave topic, Erin will take him somewhere.