Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

The girls seemed to have no qualms ganging up on her. 'Defending' them from Marion's violence. Apparently they did not have eyes or they did not care why Marion was was fighting back, she should have just let them walk all over her. She was tired of it. Tired of people just taking. Just doing what they wanted and then blaming her. Blaming someone besides themselves. It was mad. She was tired of people taking what they wanted just because they could. A secret could be hers only if they did not want it. Her, no Victor's belongings theirs to take because why... they were curious? Because it was an expression of power. She hardly knew these people, in fact there were a few of them that she could not even name. They did not care if they hurt someone to get what they wanted. They were nothing, irrelevant. Merely an object to cast aside or break at will.

There were some that seemed to care enough to not let Victor die, but she wondered if it would be enough. If it would be too little too late. She felt angry -- if they did not care about her, why the hell should she care about them. She would see Ruka trying to drag Victor's bag away, not another one of them. The wave seemed absolutely endless. Why bother? Just let them-- Let them what? Kill her. Kill her friends. If Victor doesn't die, he was never going to be the same. He was never going to be right again was he? Let them do that? It was not as if they were expecting any consequences for the bullshit. Yeah, bullshit. It felt weird to think that. Like it was wrong to think the word. But it was true, it was bullshit. They were shit.

Vladimir called out to her, told her to get a Professor. Not to get the bag. She eyed the bag, she eyed Ruka attempting to make off with it. Just let him take it? The hell Vlad! She gave the Ravenclaw an incised look, noticing that Thomas LeStrange was near him. What was that guy's problem! Was he a stalker or something? She did not like the guy. But Vladimir was not the sort of guy you told what to do. He was not the sort of guy that got pushed around. She envied that. If anything she should be worried for Thomas if he tried to pull what he did with her.

Right, Professor. She eyed the bag again. No, bag then Professor, she concluded as she went over to Victor's bag (unless Vlad took that bag). She was not strong enough to lift the bag, she would attempt to drag it. Drag it over to the nearest (different from Vlad) Professor. [Basically the Professor after next, if there is none before the next mod then moderator's choice.]

"This is Vic's," she would snap at Ruka the would-be thief. What else could he be considering the evening she had already suffered. "Just like leave us alone." she would then try to pull the bag with her. If not successful, she would not reach a Professor because she was not going to leave without Victor's bag. Well, whatever was left of it.

If she successfully grabbed the bag from Ruka and successfully dragged it by some miracle, she would approach a Professor. She would be sobbing, covered in bruises, some grass stains on her pink dress. "Ermgawd help," she squeaked between sobs. "Like a bunch of students attacked us and my friend got set on like fire." Deep breath, no cry. "And-and they keep trying to steal our stuff. When I try to fight them off, more of them attack." She let out a rather high-pitched cry and closed her eyes tight. Her mascara was running a bit, the claim that it was water-proof was so a lie. "I just wanna go hooome!"

Actions: Marion attempts to grab Victor's bag, unless already taken by Vlad.
If she has the bag or Vlad does, goes over to a Professor and starts sobbing.

A smirk found its way to the brunette's lips as she noted her friend also raising her wand against the strange third year. Astrea was a skilled witch, and Ana felt confident that between the two of them, they could handle this brutish boy.

Her confidence was utterly misplaced.

Her spell shot from her wand at the same instant that his spell shot from his. The two spells whizzed by one another, and Ana was so focused on trying to watch her own spell hit that she disregarded the curse flying right at her until it was too late. She took the full force of the boy's curse and was flung backwards. Somewhere between when the spell hit her and when she hit the ground, the Gryffindor finally lost consciousness, and as gracefully as could be expected given the circumstances, fell into a heap.

As she slipped away, she felt as though she was underwater. She could see Dale, then Astrea, then Ivy, then Rafa reaching out as though to pull her back, but she was slipping under. Her lungs felt as though they were filling with water and she wanted to scream, but somehow she couldn't. A small part of her fought to reach back to the world, to her friends, but it was useless. An even smaller part of her knew that she was hallucinating, that her lungs weren't full of water, that Dale was still at the table, that Rafa had abandoned her completely and was across the ballroom, that Astrea and Ivy who had fought by her side were still in danger, that none of them were reaching into some imaginary pool in Ana's injured and scared brain. Still, it was somewhat comforting to picture them trying to help her as she descended into darkness. Finally, she slipped into complete unconsciousness and the peace and quiet that came with.

From the outside eye, it would just seem as though the Gryffindor had been knocked out, no sign of the internal confusion and hallucinations. All anyone else would see was the helpless, surprisingly fragile looking form of the fiery Gryffindor.

Character Statistics: Stamina 5| Evasion 9| Strength 5| Wisdom 9| ArcPower 7| Accuracy 5|
Abilities: Lovely Creature, Fearless

Actions: Pass out

Marion's knockback jinx hit Opeila and threw her backwards a few meters. The little girl landed on her back, all air was pressed out of her lungs. When her head hit the floor, a flash of bright white pain exploded in front of her eyes. She gasped, tried to breathe calmly, when she slowly sat up. Opeila had that one comibg and she knew it. She had attacked first.

By now, Opeila was simply terrified. What had happened to this ball? It had started in a mess, but only a mess for her, one she had not wanted anyone else to be part of. Where on earth did the mosps come from?
Now that the teachers were handling it, Opeila was ready to scream. In frustration, anger, fear, guilt, it was all a big pile that merged into panic. The teachers gave all this some sort of safety. No one would die anymore. Except...
She looked at Victor on the floor. Was he dead? Probably. If he was dead... It was her fault. And the other organizers' as well. It was a silly thought. Everyone chose to come for themselves, everyone knew that the ball had been cancelled. She just couldn't think clearly. There had been smoke everywhere, Opeila had breathed in quite a lot of it, and her throat was burning... The whole purpose of this evening had failed. She had failed.

She had hurt Flash. She had kicked him in the face. Not intentionally, but what the heck did it matter? She had attacked Marion. And Vladimir. And... Somehow everything had just gone wrong. Everything.
Opeila looked around, slowly getting dizzy, her head still hurting. How had she not been affected by the smoke, when it had been still there?
Opeila gave up. There was no point in trying to keep an eye on her date anymore, she could barely take care of herself.

When she breathed in, it suddenly felt like her throat closed up. Opeila coughed, tried to breathe and coughed even more. She had to get up, find Willow and Flash and get out of here...

She made it up on her knees when she coughed again, the little body shaking. Her hands were shaking. It was like her body was trying to get rid of the smoke... Opeila couldn't breathe.
The world seemed like it was spinning around her now, she almost didn't realize, when her right side met the floor. When did she fall over again?

There was buzzing around her still, screams, but she couldn't help them... couldn't help anyone. I am sorry...Opeila felt like her fead was filled with fog by now, she couldn't think clearly, everything was spinning. She had to concentrate. But right now she couldn't even tell where right and left were.

Action: Trying to focus.

@Willow Anderson @Flash Holmwood

Wearing:

Reducio

"Jack!"

When Jack heard Ruka call his name, felt the hand squeeze his shoulder, and felt himself be lightly shaken, he snapped out of his trance of staring at the white anaconda to turn to the second year beside him. The Gryffindor had a firm grip on his wrist and was looking at him with a strong expression of concern.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

While glancing around, the older boy let go of the Slytherin's shoulder but kept a hold of his wrist. He took up Jack's bag to swing it over its owner's head so he could carry it, his face set with determination.

"Come on, there's nothing else for you to do here," he urged again. "Leave the rest to the teachers. They're bringing Victor back to the castle now, come on, we can go along."

Oh...right. The teachers. When Jack looked back at the snake, he recalled having seen the thing created from the fire that Professor Lian had transfigured. Long ago, when he'd worried about the peculiarity of giving sentience and life to that which did not have it, the Transfiguration teacher had explained to him that such creatures created from inanimate objects did not have true life, nor sentience, and would eventually return to their original state. Thus, it would have been no use to take the snake back as a pet for Selim. It was originally fire and eventually return to being fire once Professor Lian was finished with it.

Jack heaved a deep sigh. Ruka was right, of course. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted. But...if Ruka was here, who was bringing Victor back to the castle? Glancing back the way he had come, he saw a young lady (Dealla Prince) hurrying after...what...somehow appeared to be Victor walking himself back to the castle. Did that...mean he was okay, then...? Well, at least someone was with him; someone who didn't seem to mean him harm. Jack would make sure to look in on him and his status later. In the meantime, there was still the matter of Victor's bag.

As Ruka tried and failed to lift the heavy bag, Jack's hopes sunk, as he was even weaker than Ruka. There was the possibility that he and Ruka could have tried to lift it together, but even then, he was thinking their chances of success were slim, especially if they meant to carry it out of the pitch. At that moment, Nico came up to them with an offer to help, for which Jack was immensely grateful. Before he could answer her, however, Marion came up to them and began to snap at Ruka.

"This is Vic's," she told the second year sharply in tones that frayed what little remained of Jack's nerves. "Just like leave us alone."

The Slytherin first year's temples began to throb as he grabbed a hold of Vic's bag as well, determined not to let Marion (or Vlad) simply attempt to pull it away.

"We know it's Victor's!" he roared at her with all the frustration and fury that had welled up inside him since the start of the chaos. "We're trying to protect him by protecting it! You're not going to be of much help just crying and screaming for Vlad, so let us take care of this! Shymane is a prefect and she offered to try to carry it on her broom to get it back to Victor faster! Is that not good enough for you?"

His features were pinched in consternation and exasperation. "Worry about yourself, Marion! We're not all your enemies and some of us are just as upset and angry as you are, but the best thing you can do right now is take care of yourself and your own things. We've got Victor and his stuff covered. And...I'm not sure I trust Vlad." His darkened gaze flickered briefly to the Ravenclaw before cutting back to Nico on her Tinderblast broom.

"Thank you, Shymane," he began, meaning every word. "We could definitely use some help, yeah. It's a really heavy bag, though, and something in it might have broken earlier. I'd be grateful if you could try to carry it back on your broom with you, since it seems a bit much for Tân and I. But if you find it's too much for you and your broom as well, maybe it's best to do what Marion had in mind and call a teacher over instead."

Teacher...teacher. Why was something about a teacher still bothering him at the back of his mind?

Oh. Oh no. Flash.

Flash had called out to Professor Lian earlier...but Professor Lian had been busy transfiguring the fire from the Quidditch pitch into the snake to eat the mosps. That meant Flash and the two girls he was guarding with his life - Opeila and Willow - were still likely without aid. When he looked in the direction he had last seen them, a mosp was still attacking; aggressively enough to sting Flash. Maybe a teacher would get to them eventually, but how late was too late?

Making sure the roses and vase were secure in his bag, Jack looked to Ruka, his countenance pained. "Tân," he said swiftly, his heart beating a mile a minute, "I'm not putting myself in danger. I'm just extending what resources and protection I have to...that which I own." He nodded toward Flash. "My property. Thank you so much for helping Victor and I when we needed it. I hope you'll get out of here and keep yourself safe, but I have to make sure your fire is put to good use at least warding away one of these monster bugs."

It was then he turned toward Professor Lian. He wasn't sure if she was finished with what she had meant to do with the snake, but if she was able, he hoped to catch her attention.

"PROFESSOR LIAN!" he yelled. "Flash, Anderson, and Seilun are still under attack by a mosp! Please come quick!"

Then, either doing what he could to break free of Ruka's grip or allowing the older boy to come along, Jack attempted to sprint toward Opeila, Willow, and Flash. If he was lucky, Professor Lian or another adult who could help would follow.

From what he had observed before, the mosps wouldn't or couldn't catch fire themselves, but they seemed sensitive to its smoke and looked like they avoided it to the best of their ability. It was why Jack figured even if spells like the Fire-making Spell, Incendio, could damage them, it wasn't warding them off. For that, Ruka's torches seemed best.

"Get behind me!" he called to the Hufflepuff and his fellow Slytherins, waving his Ruka-given torch at the insect. "They should go away if they're irritated enough by the smoke!"

He had meant what he'd said to Ruka. He was no longer in any danger. However, with people like Willow and Flash stung, not to mention Flash's nose broken by Opeila, there was always the possibility that the brunet Slytherin could have passed out due to blood loss before help could get to him. He would definitely try to over-exert himself if it was to assist others such as the girls.

Jack was not about to let anyone else get more hurt if he could help it. He severely disliked the idea of heroes, but at that moment, that was not what he imagined himself as. All he knew was what he wanted and he was determined to get what he wanted no matter what. It may have been seen as selfless to others, but in Jack's mind, he was being more selfish than ever.

Action:

- Talking to Marion (free action)
- Talking to Nico (free action)
- Talking to Ruka (free action)
- Calling out to a teacher - perhaps Professor Lian? (free action)
- Attempting to ward off Mosp #11 with his torch & torch smoke if it isn't yet dead

Stats: | Sta 5 | Eva 7 | Str 3 | Wis 8 | Arc P 6 | Acc 6 |

Interacting with: @Ruka Tân, @Nico Shymane, @Marion Davenport, @Cypresse Lian, @Ruka Tân, @Willow Anderson, & @Opeila Seilun
Mentioning: @Dealla Prince & @Victor Moore

Interacting with @Vincent d'Arque, @Percival Gray,@Vladimir Athanatos

A sigh of relief came from the professor's mouth as he noticed @Percival Gray's color slightly returning to his face. The boy, speaking in his native tongue, called out softly before looking over at him and thanking him for his help. He heard another voice nearby and he turned to see the boy that he had given the broom to before. If the boy was here, then where was the girl who was seriously injured? Why was he here and not at the castle as he should have been?

When the lad asked if he could be of any help, Artemis had to stop himself from sending a biting reply of 'You shouldn't be here to even ask me if I need help!' But instead, he just sighed. There was no helping these insane kids and if @Vincent d'Arque could successfully help guide Percival off the pitch and back to the castle, that would be wonderful.

"I thought that you would have been back at the castle by now, but since you are here, Mr. d'Arque, why don't you be a crutch for Mr. Gray here and help guide him back and yourself back to the castle where it is safe. We need as many of you off the field as possible in order to take out the mosps and quell whatever other dangers you all managed to create this night." Standing up, Artemis turned to move toward another helpless and weakened student or to ward off another nearby mosp when he was stopped by an approaching student.

He may have had a bag over his shoulder, burned and charred as it was, but he was definitely looking a bit distraught about something. Maybe it had something to do with tonight's nonsense ball? Maybe it had to do with the destruction and near-death sentences these kids were going through right now? Maybe he was a bit empathetic to the plights and wounds that his fellow classmates were suffering with right now. Either way, Artemis tuned in to what the boy was saying and his eyes widened as he heard a few key phrases.

"they attacked me and my friends"

"The fact that we saw anything was supposed to be a secret! They set my friend on fire, beat up my other good friend, robbed us..."

"He tried to help us, but something needs to be done about these sociopaths!"

Artemis wouldn't go so far as to call these kids sociopaths, but what did this child mean by that? Did some of the other students start this fire? And robbing each other?Attacking each other? Setting other kids onfire? What the hell was going on in this school?! It was seeming like a scene from one of his favorite childhood novels "Lord of the Flies"where those boys all pretty much turned on one another and attacked each other for food and other items. Why would the Hogwarts students attack each other in such a hostile fashion? But one other part of the boy's ramblings caught Artemis' ears as he scanned his surroundings for impending danger of flying creatures.

"What do you mean that what you saw was supposed to be a secret? Who are they and why were they beating you and your friends up, damn near killing you, over a secret? What is this secret?" Artemis was suspicious about the secret the boy was talking about but he wasn't 100% sure and needed more clarification. There was no need to jump to assumptions, but if this boy and his friend were in danger from their fellow students, they could possibly be in danger from other people as well.

OOC: I have no idea what Vlad is actually talking about so a small recap of what he saw may have to be given either IC or OOC.

Action: Listening to @Vladimir Athanatos if his action to speak with a professor is good to go.

Interacting with @Jack Burnett @Marion Davenport
Mentioning @Nico Shymane @Flash Holmwood @Willow Anderson @Opeila Seilun

With a sigh of relief, Ruka could see Jack resurfacing, snapped out of whatever trance he had just found himself in. That was something at least, it meant the Gryffindor didn't need to worry that much anymore about his Slytherin counterpart brainlessly throwing himself into a dangerous situation without any possibilities of positive outcomes.

That's what he assumed at least.

With a hand on the heavy bag, Ruka allowed himself to take his eyes off Jack for a moment, focusing all his concentration on lifting it but to no avail. No matter how he pulled and dragged, the thing wouldn't move an inch, far too heavy for his mediocre strength. "Shit," he muttered just as the Slytherin prefect who'd already offered to take Victor back to the castle caught up to them to offer her help with the bag.

That, Ruka could appreciate, and he was going to say as much, but before he could his attention was drawn to the girl who had spilled her drink on Lestrange. Her hand reaching for the bag made Ruka let go of it himself, an almost shocked expression on his face. "I was gonna bring it back to him!" he protested loudly, but before he could continue saying anything more to make her see that he hadn't been trying to steal the bag for his own purposes like so many other people had seemed to do already, Jack had taken over, showing his renewed focus with a well of words that made Ruka's head swim.

Still holding onto the Slytherin's wrist, Ruka simply nodded his agreement, but he didn't try to take the bag again, knowing he probably wasn't able to drag it either way, and hadn't this girl been with Victor anyway? She'd certainly been in useless hysterics over his lifeless body earlier on, so what bad could it do to just leave the bag to her?

Jack's request for Nico's help was only met with another nod of approval from Ruka; It didn't much matter to him anymore at this point whether the bag was kept by the blonde girl who was likely to keep it safe too, or Nico who would hopefully just return it to its owner back at the castle. His only remaining mission was to get himself and Jack out of there and to safety before those overgrown wasps were able to focus their attention on either of them, or any out of control students could possibly - accidentally or not - cast a damaging spell their way.

However, it seemed that his longing for a strategic retreat was not matched by Jack, because the other boy's focus had fallen onto something else. As if only just realising his surroundings, the Slytherin had directed his attention towards the small group consisting of Flash, Willow and Opeila. All of them seemed in a relatively bad state and still under attack by one of those insects, but Ruka couldn't bring up much sympathy. They had all had their chance to leave but had decided to involve themselves in unnecessary drama they surely didn't belong in, so now they simply had to deal with the consequences. Either way, there were plenty of teachers around by now, so eventually they would be saved and taken back to the Infirmary to get fixed up again.

Jack, it seemed, was not under the same impression as he turned to Ruka to let him know that he needed to go back for his property, indicating Flash with a nod that made the Gryffindor's stomach churn painfully. "No," he said pleadingly, eyes wide, expression frantic. No danger, Jack had said but from where Ruka stood he wanted to argue that this massive insect with giant stingers seemed like danger to him, and what exactly was Jack going to do if it would attack him despite the fire? Who was going to be there for him to rely on should he get stung?

"No, Jack, please, come on, let the teachers handle it." But his pleading met deaf ears as Jack already started to move in the direction of the small group he'd indicated before. Not wanting to force Jack to remain next to him, Ruka let go of his wrist, blinking back the sting of tears behind his eyelids. "No," he begged again, but he doubted Jack was still paying him enough attention to hear. "They got themselves into that mess, let them learn their lesson!" he yelled after the Slytherin.

For a second he was tempted to follow, to make sure whatever Jack was doing wouldn't result in any more harm to his person, but something was keeping him rooted to the spot. His efforts weren't enough, no matter what he did, were they? He'd thrown himself into a fight to keep Jack save, had abandoned his own survival instinct to use up his burn healing resources on a boy he didn't even know, had stuck around this god forsaken ball to make sure he could help Jack in any way he possibly could, but it just wasn't enough, was it?

All he'd wanted was to get Jack to safety, to walk him back to the Great Hall to check up on the burnt boy as well as getting Jack himself some medical care, but it didn't really matter what he wanted, did it? It wasn't important, other things deserved more attention, like Flash for example, who had had every opportunity to get himself out of there but had stupidly returned to protect Willow against forces he quite obviously wasn't properly equipped for.

Clearly, Flash's brainless need to be a hero was more important than Ruka's concern for Jack's well being.

Go then, he thought bitterly as he watched Jack throwing himself into that situation, waving the torch he'd gotten from none other than Ruka himself to protect a group of people Ruka had no particular care for. Get your property. Let that beast sting you a million times for it. See if I care.

He could feel the sting of tears returning to his eyes and he lifted his burn healing paste-caked hands to angrily wipe them away, a heavy breath rattling his ribcage.

It took a moment for the feeling to return to his body, but when it did he turned around, away from the scene that made him want to scream and cry and rip his hair from his scalp. As with most social situations, Ruka felt regret flooding his system. Regret for having come here in the first place, regret for having stuck around after things had started going downhill, regret for letting his concern and loyalty overwhelm his instinctive need to survive this much.

There was no logical reason for him to stay anymore. Jack had picked his priority and whatever the result of that was, it wasn't supposed to be Ruka's concern or responsibility. The teachers were going to take care of it, and hopefully stick all the remaining idiots on the pitch in eternal detention.

Ignoring anything else going on around him, Ruka started a quick and angry pace towards the exit of the pitch, hands pressed against his ears as if to make sure he wouldn't get pulled back in by someone calling for him or the sound of a familiar voice in distress.

He'd done more than enough, it was time to leave.

If successful in exiting the pitch without any interruptions, Ruka would finally give in to the angry tears wrecking his body, letting them flood his cheeks as he made his way back to the castle. Disregarding the teacher's request for everyone to go to the Great Hall, Ruka would make his way to the Gryffindor common room instead. He hadn't taken any physical injuries, hadn't bruised much more than his far too sensitive ego, so what was the point in joining everyone else in the Great Hall?

There was nothing and nobody for him to check up on.

Sleep was the only thing he could hear calling for him at this point.

|Action|
Being an oversensitive baby Free Action
Leaving Thread

Reducio

Stats
Stamina: 7 ~ Evasion: 8 ~ Strength: 4 ~ Wisdom: 8 ~ Arcane Power: 6 ~ Accuracy: 7

Abilities
The Muggle Condition
Advanced Casting

Outfit Reference
Top

Reducio

Jeans

Reducio

Shoes

Reducio

»»————————-　♔　————————-««
mentions @Anastasia Beckett, Mosp 16, all
word count 635 | text colour #274E13
abilities terrible presence | status open for help
»»————————-　♔　————————-««

Much to Astrea's eternal despair, the moment that the incantation left her lips, her wand went flying out of her hands and high out of reach from where she lay half-propped up upon the floor. She near snarled in annoyance as her eyes followed the arc of the cherry instrument, flung into the air with an almost graceful sense of motion, only to clatter to a stop upon tablecloth just as harshly as its owner had been only a few seconds before.

Tablecloth. Table. Flowers. An icy wash of dread fell upon Astrea as she took in her predicament for the half-second that it happened, unknowing of the awful fate of her companion that she had been previously attempted to shield- A looming mosp hung itself above the table, it's horribly bulbous body waving its freakishly long proboscis into the floral ornament that decorated the exact table that her wand landed upon, seemingly preoccupied with filling some sort of insectoid instinct that was lost to her. There was no way it was moving. There was no way Astrea was to retrieve her wand without approaching.

God damn it.

Fight or flight. The intelligent decision was to drop everything and flee. The intelligent thing was to wait to retrieve her wand at a better time when she wasn't in harm's direct way. But as intelligent as Astrea was, as much as her brain spat out scenarios like a computer to code, she spent too much time worrying about the future. She would not- could not- part with her wand over a big-brained rakefire of an ambusher. Her jaw ached from the prolonged tension, her entire frame taut with sinking acceptance that clashed with the screaming denial inside of her as she slowly crawled her way up to a crouch. Something must be done.

Grey eyes turned silvery bright with animalistic survival instinct flickered around wildly as she attempted to glean some sort of grasp upon her seemingly hopeless predicament, a single roaming glance telling her wordlessly that she was alone in this. Anastasia was upon the floor, crumpled and unconsious- if she had done something else perhaps it would have not been the case- and chaos reigned supreme. All were distracted, it seemed. She would have to do it alone.

With a withering glare at the back of the distracted mosp, Astrea slowly unsheathed her dagger from where it was strapped upon her through, the hilt of it cold and secure as it exchanged weight from the now empty black holster upon her thigh to her left hand. She had hoped that she wouldn't have had to use the thing- wouldn't even have to reveal it from under her skirts- but it seemed that her bout of careful paranoia had been well-founded. As for her skill- she was weak physically but quick bodied. It was better to approach armed than not so.

Her wand was her only chance.

With all the caution of approaching a dangerous beast- and this was what it was wasn't it? She was marching to guaranteed and imminent death with foolishness that could match a lion's- she crept forward carefully, her pace curving to the side as she tried to stay away from the bug's field of vision as it buzzed falsely placid.

If her sneaking around was successful and the mosp doesn't notice her coming up behind it, she would attempt to snatch her wand back from the table and jump away from the point-blank line of fire.

Regardless of whatever is to happen, it was very effin clear if you stole a glance in her direction that she was in a sticky situation, trying her very best to take back her most precious weapon from where it had deposited itself without getting ambushed at an arm's length distance.

What luck.

Action: Trying to sneak past Mosp #16 to get her wand.
TLDR: Despair is in the air. Astrea's wand gets tossed into the danger zone and she risks it all to retrieve the instrument, unsheathing her thigh dagger and readying for the worst as she creeps forward into Mosp #16's personal space.

Interacting with @Ruka Tân, @Jack Burnett, @Marion Davenport and @Vladimir Athanatos

Ability : Lovely Creature

Stats:
Stamina: 10 | Evasion: 8 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 6 | ArcPower: 2 | Accuracy: 6

To her delight and relief, both Jack and Ruka seemed to not mind at all. A strong sense in her heart felt reassured that they'd like her to help them out carrying the bag. Nico wasn't sure what was in it, but by the way Ruka had tried to drag it with him, it must be important. To him or to someone else. With a warm smile yet worried frown, she'd land on the floor, grabbing hold of the bag.

The prefect had only been paying attention to these few students since she knew them and they were actively struggeling. Nico just wanted them to be safe and rather unharmed before things would escalate even more. She couldn't help all of them, she knew that much. And with the Professors arriving, things would soon settle down. What would come after this? She wasn't sure and didn't worry about that. For now.

If Vladimir attempted to pick up Victors bag:

A vaguely familiar figure walked up to them, grabbing hold of Victors back. Where did she see him again? There was something off about him. Unsetteling. Not right. With the only light coming off from the remaining flames and small lights, the dhampir couldn't completely see who he was. But if he was thinking of walking away with Victors back, he had another thing coming.
'There's no need for you to carry this with you. I'm flying over to the Castle with this bag. It'll be faster and more efficient that way.' She'd glare at him. A faint red dot flickering in her ice blue eyes. Hoping it would leave a certain impression on him, maybe slightly intimidated as she'd (if succesfull) picks up the bag, her arm holding it against her like an infant, resting on the shaft of the broom.

If Marion is the one attempting to pick up Vic's bag:

A blonde girl stormed over to them. She looked awful. Burned, make-up runny. The dhampir watched her with a surprised look. Even this girl seemed familiar to her but all Nico wanted to accomplish right now, was to carry this fricking bag to the Castle. The tone in Marions voice was one Nico didn't like. So this was Victors bag after all. More the reason for the prefect to bring it with her. She was going the same way as him anyway. Before Nico would say anything, Jack was already on the case. Telling Marion to back down and leave it up to the Prefect. A sense of responsibility increased in her, making her straighten her back a little bit more, her chin slightly up as she watched Marion.
She didn't seem in the right state of mind right now. Hysterical. Afraid and overwhelmed. Luckily for Nico, the dhampir hadn't experienced the worst at this ball this time. 'Marion, I'll bring it to Victor. The Professor enchanted him to walk him to the Great Hall. I'm going there aswell. It might take alot longer if you have to carry this all the way back to the Castle. I'll make sure he gets his bag. I assure you that. We all want Victor to be safe. Why else would we go to these lengths to do this, hm?' It reminded her of what a bad shape Victor was in. The burns and his weak, ever so weak breathing. There was still hope, but they'd have to act fast. She'd glare at her. A faint red dot flickering in her ice blue eyes. Hoping it would leave a certain impression on her, maybe slightly intimidated as she'd (if succesfull) picks up the bag, her arm holding it against her like an infant, resting on the shaft of the broom.

For a moment it seemed both Ruka and Jack, were going to straight up leave the Pitch, but Jack thought differently. He wanted to be a hero for a little bit longer. Together with Ruka, she watched him run off. The pleads, the sorrowful pleads of Ruka, didn't reach his ears, or they weren't enough to convince him to stay. The prefect wanted to ask the Gryffindor if he'd join her back to the castle, but she also sensed he probably wanted to be alone for now. It broke her heart. That desperateness in his voice, she recognised it. Ruka stormed off to a different direction, obviously very upset. For a second, she wanted to follow him... but she needed to bring this bag to the castle. To Victor. That was her plan.

Action : Attempts to pick up Vics bag to place it on her broom, holding it against her.

@Jack Burnett, @Flash Holmwood, @Willow Anderson, @Opeila Seilun, @Percival Gray, @Artemis Vernatis

As her serpent's jaws closed around the insect, she felt a white-hot pain through its mouth, and winced a little in empathy, but the mosp was well and truly dead by the time it started making its way down the snake's gullet. She reached out to the snake's pseudo-mind, soothing it from the pain of the wound - they weren't done yet. She'd have to heal her poor weapon if they kept this up, which she could do... unless she could find a second to back her up. Just like the strategy she'd used way back with Ms. KK.

Footsteps tapped against the ground, running past her and toward where the snake's head had risen to swallow its most recent meal, and she rushed behind him - Vernatis, if she identified those shoes correctly. She stopped when he stopped, a little ways behind him as she heard his muttered incantation. "You okay, kid?" Cy asked, not knowing exactly who they were until he muttered a curse, and recognition flickered at the edge of her mind.

She intended to help him up, but before she could, someone else's plea for help made her whip up and dash towards another group in danger, shoes colliding lightly with the charred grass as her snake followed along languidly, scales sliding smoothly against the ground. That was Jack Burnett's voice, but the one in danger wasn't him - it was Flash Holmwood, and the two girls Opeila and Willow, if she was matching first names to last names correctly. Flash was the one she was more familiar with - a very enthusiastic student, and not too irresponsible either, at least around lab safety, however low that bar was compared to her own school days. But no amount of lab safety was going to keep them away from this threat.

The little seed at the edge of her mind twitched, and she turned her attention back towards her snake as its tongue flickered out, tasting the air. And there - she could scent it, the angry mosp buzzing above the group, the metallic tang of an already-inflicted wound on one of the students... that was Flash, wasn't it? She couldn't quite tell, their scents were not enough for that, but it was certainly enough for her to pull at her serpent's attention, one hand up by her side, and set its sights on another target.

The snake reared as she tugged, zoning in on the belligerent insect, and again struck at the new target, jaws open wide. The negligible wound from before wasn't enough to deter it from a second meal, and its slitted eyes flashed with the unmistakable flaring hunger of a creature born from fire. "Go get 'em."

action • make giant snek chomp down mosp #11

stats • 7 stam • 12 eva • 4 str • 20 wis • 13 arc • 14 acc

abilities • perfectionist i • perfectionist ii • spell spread • blindvision • nonverbal magic • wandless magic

Interacting with @Flash Holmwood @Janet Jackson
Mentioning @Opeila Seilun @Jack Burnett

Even though the smoke was gone from the pitch, everything still felt incredibly foggy. Maybe from the blood loss, maybe from the amount of chaos that was clogging up her mind and making it impossible to think. All she knew, is that if they didn't get help soon that they would be goners. Not only was Willow stung, but Flash had joined the club with stings to his wand arm. "Flash, we need to get out of here." It was an obvious statement, one that didn't necessarily need to be said between them. But Willow's mind wasn't doing much filtering at this point, whatever she thought was making its way out of her mouth.

The form of help first came in the form of a girl she remembered from the first half of the year. Janet. She had helped Willow while she screamed into the void of the Great Lake. Doing a full run at this bug to punch it in the face. Just like Flash had tried to tackle it. Why weren't they keeping their distance from the thing? Especially with stingers as large as it had. Once again Willow tried to stand up to stop her, but failed with a scream of her name that was exaggerated by he pain. "Janet no!" Quickly she fell, back letting out a grunt of frustration. "This stupid leg won't let me do anything!"

If Janet Kills the Mosp
Willow would pathetically struggle to get up onto Flash's back to escape. Laying her head on his shoulder if she were to be successful in climbing up. Whispering in a barely audible voice, "I'm so tired Flash..." Her eyes would start to drift closed, unable to stay conscious for much longe.

If Janet Doesn't Kill the Mosp
With Flash's encouragement, Willow raised her wand once more. "Incendio!" Her voice didn't have as much power as it did at the start of all of this. But she was trying he best to concentrate her power to take this stupid bug down.

A second form of help came in Jack, which wasn't something she was expecting. But this guy bought continual surprises. But he was literally throwing himself in front of them to protect against the bug. She couldn't help but let out a snarky remark, again no filter. "Can't move. So I'll gladly stay here." Whether that was from the back of Flash, or still sat on the ground her comment would remain the same.

Action || If mosp #11 isn't dead, cast incendio. If mosp #11 is dead, attempt to climb onto Flash's back
Stats || Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 5 / Strength: 4 / Wisdom: 8 / ArcPower: 6 / Accuracy: 7

Edited to add action and stats.