BlossomFest Great Maze - VVG PV

This had been the only event in the entire Blossom Fest that had caught Dorian's attention. It was the one thing he was really looking forward to. He had pretty much dragged Max and Aubren along, but they didn't seem to object to the prospect of getting lost in the maze in search of a goat on the loose. Facing them, he wore the biggest grin ever. "Listen up you two. I nominate myself as the leader of this group. Any objections? No? Good." Theirs was a tightly knit trio with each individual supporting the others in one aspect or another that they were better in. They were brilliant, determined, a little unhinged from time to time and craved adventure. It was the dream team.

Procuring his wand, Dorian turned towards the maze and noted the three paths that lay before them. They were entering in search of a goat, but there was nothing to indicate which of the three directions the goat might have wandered off in. He had a strong feeling about the east path, however, and wasted no time deciding that this path was the one they would take. "Let's go east. I'm pretty much always right about these things." He started walking towards the eastern path, not really giving the others much of a choice. "Wands out. If anyone or anything jumps out, hit them with everything you've got." With him in the lead, something was bound to go horribly wrong.

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Action: Ventures down the eastern path.

Crossing his arms, Max assessed the maze warily. Not that he didn't think this would be fun - you could win prizes and he might split a gut laughing if he saw Dorian wrestle with a goat - but he wasn't entirely sure how safe it was. The professors said it was fine but adults lied every day. You just had to look at the whole Triwizard Tournament thing with Harry Potter to see how inadequate adults could be when it came to safety checks.

His reluctance had nothing to do with the fact that his fair skin had gotten the worst sunburn in history after working on that stupid flower crown, and now he was trying to hide from the stupid burning ball in the sky under sunglasses and a Montrose Magpies ball cap.

"I object based on the grounds that you're pretty much always wrong about everything," Max muttered, then snickered a little because he couldn't keep a straight face after that. Ow. Bad for sunburn. Ow. Nonetheless, he let out a sigh and shrugged at Aubren before deciding to follow Dorian. For now. It really didn't matter which way they went at this point anyways, so he'd save the arguing for decisions that mattered.

Action: Go East

Dorian as the leader? A terrible idea. The possibility of what could go wrong was so endless it made Aubren's head hurt. None the less, she followed the two in the direction Dorian chose, keeping her eyes on nearly every inch of the maze. She hated mazes, the story of the Triwizard Tournament petrified her, and the fact they were in that very maze didn't really help.

"This is ridiculous, why couldn't they just have this activity somewhere else⎯Did that bush just move?!"

Her voice got rather high pitched near the end as she stared off towards a certain section of the green wall, an overreaction on her part, as it was just the wind rustling the leaves in a certain manner.
Once she had realized her mistake, her cheeks went slightly red in embarrassment, already imagining how hard her father would have laughed at that. Aubren let out a long sigh, giving a glare at the spot where the leaves made noise.

"I don't trust anything in those bushes."
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Action : Go East

As your team takes the path to the East, you become more and more engulfed by the maze. The hedges grow taller, taller than you are, and the light seems to fade slightly as the sun passes over top of your heads. The further in you go, the more you wonder when you will be getting out, even though it had only just begun. The ground was beginning to turn from beautifully taken care of grass to rough dirt and stones that scattered randomly across the ground. Not the best to walk on but still tolerable. Halfway to the next fork in the maze, an animal darts out in front of your group from underneath the hedge to your right, causing a slight panic. It was black and white to the eye and about knee-height, but not much else could be told about the appearance, or the type of animal it could have been. Perhaps it was an animal that escaped Professor Lear’s classroom, or maybe it was an animal straying away from the Forbidden Forest, trying to find its way out of the maze itself? You won’t find out. Soon enough, you come to the next turning point, giving you three options to choose from.

Choose between North, South or turning back. Remember that teams can not split up.

Totally disregarding Max's objection and stepping out in front of the others, he ventured down the eastern path with his eyes wide open and his ears cocked for any sounds that seemed unnatural to their surroundings, which in the otherwise quiet maze was anything that wasn't undeniable silence and crunching footsteps. All around them, the maze seemed to come to life and grow taller and more sinister, and the hedge walls made a show as if rejecting the sunlight high above. At Aubren's exclamation, Dorian followed her gaze toward a patch of grass and saw nothing more than a small movement that ended almost as soon as it had begun. He made a move as if to turn and shoot Aubren a mocking look but jumped slightly and tried to cover up the fact when he saw the dark body of some creature he didn't get a proper glimpse at flit from one hedge to the other before their path.

"Bloody...!" He took quick stock of his friends behind him and hazarded a smile and a confidence he did not really feel, noting that somewhere along the way the grass had transitioned to a coarse path below that made him glad he had not decided to forego shoes this day; appreciating the fact that they had to stay on their toes with how quickly that silhouette had happened upon and darted ahead of them and out of sight. Arriving at the next split path he made a quick visual assessment and seeing no real discernible difference with the immediate choices, he went to the south. While they walked he slowed down just enough to keep pace with Max and say "this is what you get for doing that stupid flower crown contest. You should have just done what I did and stayed away, especially considering that the evil teacher oversaw it."

It was obvious of whom he spoke. Inside he was feeling quite sorry for his friend and the sunburn that he was sporting, but on a deeper, more spiteful level he was fighting the hysterics that threatened to burst forth and see him rolling on the floor in laughter. Max's skin was a funny shade of red that looked as if it needed some tender love and care to heal, while Aubren was close by eyeing the bushes warily. Still, to Max in a tone he thought was low enough that Aubren wouldn't hear (although she would because he's loud and stupid), he said "Little Miss Jumpy doesn't look too good there. We should totally make fun of her when this is over." He laughed 'quietly' to himself at that. If one didn't know better, they might start thinking all this random conversation and laughing was an attempt to take his mind off the prospect of what they may find the deeper they went. His heart was fluttering like a dual-wielding drummer beating a rhythm into his instrument.

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Actiom: Head South

It was a little funny, how jumpy Aubren was, and it lightened the mood just a bit. Wariness was never a bad thing, but jumping at shadows in a maze made of them would destroy your nerves. Luckily, Aubren was brave enough that she likely had nerves to spare, so her assessment of things could serve as a benefit. Fear always made your senses more acute.

Speaking of, the further they ventured in, the more wary Max became. It was clear this path hadn't been taken care of, and if that was the case then how exactly had the professors ensured its safety? When an animal darted out in front of them, an odd blur to the eye, his foot paused mid-step and his breathing stopped for a second. It was gone quicker than a blink, but adrenaline had decided to take a swim in his veins for the next couple of minutes. Maybe Dorian being out in front was for the best, though that didn't necessarily make him the leader. He was just the better physical fighter.

Naturally, the exact moment Max thought that was the moment Dorian decided to drop back to talk to him. "If you want a crown, sometimes you have to suffer for it, as every good leader knows," Max answered with a half-smirk because a full one would probably make him cry. Dorian was right and he was most certainly regretting it now, but Satan himself couldn't get him to admit it. He cast a quick glance to Aubren, then back to Dorian, pressing his lips together in an effort not to laugh. "Right." He matched the volume that Aubren could almost certainly hear, nodding slightly. "Sure. We'll make fun of her. If you haven't pissed yourself out of fear by the end of it." With a mischievous wink at Aubren, he ran ahead a bit to see if there was another fork in the path, all the while keeping track of the turns in his head.

Action: Go South

The sounds of students playing on the grounds fade more and more as your team ventures deeper into the maze. It is getting tougher to remember where one has been but somehow you seem to be making progress. You come to another intersection with a few choices in direction. Turn around, go left, or go straight. Suddenly the sound of a goat screaming could be heard. Was that close? It was hard to tell but this was the first sign of a goat in the maze so far. No tracks or signs existed and it would be impossible to judge the direction to go based on the scream. Birds were disturbed by the scream all over the maze so the sound of flapping wings filled the air. The grass was taller here as well which helped hide potential tracks if any even existed. Any brave enough to search would find nothing but false hope in the grass. Though there was nothing dangerous to be found. Nothing yet, that is. Who knows what waits around the next corner? Your team must make a choice.

You must choose West, Southwest, or return to entrance now. Teams cannot split up.

They were making progress. Whether this was a good or a bad thing was still up in the air, but Dorian remained unconcerned for the most part given that the maze had yet to present them with anything that could serve as a hindrance. Dorian was about to agree with Max about teasing Aubren when he heard it. It was the unmistakable bleating of a goat. Dorian's ears perked up as he tried to ascertain location, but the echo was too all-encompassing, and it was such that he had failed to pinpoint a direction from the sound. Something else caught his attention, however, and he was quick to point it out to the others.

"Look!" He pointed towards the sky some ways to the left of the western path. From the scope of his field of vision, this was the first position he had seen the dark silhouettes of the birds that were disturbed by the sound. It would act as a chain reaction in a sense. The first set of birds, most likely the ones closest to the origin of the sound, would fly to safety, and the others would follow suit. Though by the time the others turned to see what he had seen the birds might have long since scattered, Dorian was almost sure he knew what he was doing. "C'mon! We're close. I can feel it." He would take off at a jogging start, keeping up the hastier pace for some time to cover ground faster.

Max Avery wrote:

Aubren Anson wrote:Choose West