Winterlands Main Story December Winners PV Closed

Interactions: @Katrina Walker @Piérre Marchonné's body
Mentions: @Starlee Kennedy

The members of the mayhem-stricken train car launched into action. Calanthe could hear spells being called out from every direction. She could not tell which ones hit their mark or passed by harmlessly. Not even the Incendio that she was dreading the outcome of. Her own spell flew into the turmoil of the Stetsons, but the young witch could not see where it landed, only that it sailed dangerously close to her peers’ heads. Tip for the future: spells in narrow corridors … bad.

A bright light made its way along the aisle, drawing Calanthe’s eyes towards it. Eyeing the ball of magic felt like she was looking directly into the sun without protection. As the light cleared from her vision, dark spots took its place and the witch could no longer see properly to retry casting a spell. Probably for the better. Before she could retreat to the safety of the compartment, a blast of equal magnitude in heat and noise sounded off behind her. There was no time to react. Without the ability to see what was going on, Calanthe lurched along with the train car as it started tumbling. She winced as the car’s wall met her shoulder with a sickening thump. She flew around unrestrained, and just barely managed to bring her arms up in defense as she crashed face-first into the wall, preventing her head from splitting open as it cracked against the surface.

Luck was on her side for once as flying trunks missed her body by inches. They flopped around the car with such loud thuds and the noise, grouped with the sounds of metal banging and the fire, caused Calanthe to shriek in fear and make herself as small as possible. A feat for the already petite girl. The horror did not stop as the lion cub collided with someone, launching her into another body. Or was it the same person? She felt an excruciating warmth blaze beside her; undoubtedly an inferno. Was that an effect of the Incendio that went past my head? In the midst of the rolling, Calanthe tried to raise her wand with intent to cast Extinguo but the lurch of the train car jolted her around again.

The thrashing felt like it went on for hours before the car skidded to a halt, leaving the girl lying atop the wall of the train, opposite to her compartment. Heaving, Calanthe almost cried out as air refused to enter her lungs. The thing stopping her was a sore throat and she realized she had been screaming since the caboose started rolling. She tried to blink away the spots obscuring her vision but it would be a while before her sight returned. Her eyes felt as if they were on fire, burning from the smoke and the effects of the spell. The witch could not even tell if the inferno was still raging. She could hear a muffled voice in the distance, somewhat familiar and waning fast. Oh gods, am I dying? No, the girl’s voice was just getting farther away.

When her spotty vision finally cleared, she caught sight of Herbology girl groaning next to her, calling out for the owl whose cage sat across from Calanthe just moments earlier, when everything was fine and her worst worries were her lack of friends and empty home life. She always wondered what it would be like to bring a familiar to Hogwarts, but now she was thankful that another innocent animal was not subjected to the terror that they had all just been through. Herbology girl looked determined. The girl yanked open their compartment door and trunks fell out, missing both girls. The Gryffindor could only watch as she used brute force to claw her way into their cabin. From where Calanthe was, it seemed that the girl was reunited with the owls that shared their space, but she was still attempting to pull herself up.

Her head throbbed as she sat up and looked at the others around her. She caught sight of one student and could not tell if he was breathing. Unlike the others near her, this one was not moving. She remembered that her duelling partner was really good with some healing spell … Reparifors or something like that. Katrina… that was her voice earlier, wasn’t it?

“K-kat… Katrina!” she shouted as loud as she could, unsure if the duellist could even hear her hoarse voice. Calanthe was not in terrible shape compared to some of the rest, and after calling out for her partner, she found the strength in her legs to raise into a kneeling position on the wall. Crawling towards the unmoving body with blood and tears trickling down her face, Calanthe yelled Katrina’s name once more. She had nothing in her arsenal to help the boy, so she tried pushing the trunks off him, hoping her strength would not fail her. Whatever the outcome, she would remain crouched near his body and hold his head in place, hoping that someone more skilled would come along to heal him, or at least help her carry him out of the train car.

Action: Pushing the luggage off Pierre.
STA:10 | EVA:5 | STR:2 | WIS:7 | ARC:9 | ACC:9
Statistically Revelant (+2 Stamina) | Prodigal DADA

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Rafael D'Spacito, @Anastasia Beckett, and @Jacob Harman | MENTIONING @Jackson Valentine[/font]

The compartment door was successfully closed, but not before allowing entrance to a rogue boomerang. More preoccupied with the booming battle cries, clamoring echoes of blunt force and the sudden illumination of the hallway on the other side of the door, Evelynn hadn't seen the danger toy enter. Nevertheless, but the impact it made behind her coupled with the general chaos of the train caused her to lose focus for just a second in the midst of attempting to lock the door. But that one second was long enough. The distinct lack of a click would mark the failure of the spell. Not a problem, she could try again. A quick glance over her shoulder was cast to see what had happened, and ensure that the unfortunate victim—Harman, apparently—wasn't in dire straits. With no immediate attention needed, the redhead returned her gaze forward, swallowing down her rising trepidation and attempted again.

"Collopo—" An explosion interrupted any thought she might have of casting unimpeded. Her words caught in her throat, and a second later, the door flew open. It was all she could do just to snap her hands to the frame of the door and the wall to brace herself as the floor shifted and gravity worked its magic. Beckett wasn't so lucky. Evelynn's gaze flew wide as her upperclassman was thrown from the compartment into the hallway. Fingers ripped free from their perch in an attempt to grab for the girl, but grasped naught but air.

Not that she really had much of a chance in the first place. With the train having torn itself free from the tracks and sent into a tumble, the quartet remaining in the compartment became the unlucky participants of a human pingball machine. Adrenaline is an amazing thing, however. Despite her pitiful strength, Evelynn somehow managed to hold on, bracing herself against the wall, her white-knuckle grip refusing to relent. They even managed to avoid any of Valentine's luggage (for he had been the sole occupant of this compartment for the majority of the trip) careening from its place of storage through the turmoil. Perhaps he had taken care to properly secure his belongings for just such an occasion. And as the screeching of owls and howling of cats began, relief flooded through the prefect that her own owl was tucked safely—hopefully, given that they couldn't be certain they were the only ones being upheld—in another car.

At some point, she lost track of what was going on, her mind completely embedded in just trying to hold on. Heart in her throat, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes as the reality of the situation began to set in. Not only had they been accosted by strangers, the train was now on a tumbling path to God knows where. For all she knew, they were going to careen down a hill and over a cliff. There were no seat belts, no air bags, no magical safety features. Was this really how she was going to die? Not at the hands of hags or half-giants or some mad masked man, but in a train crash? It was a cruel fate and one that seemed to be taking its sweet time.

Lord have mercy, lord have mercy, lord have mercy…

Lids clamped shut to stop the spinning as Evelynn turned inwards, reaching for a source of help she infrequently sourced. The string of Lord-have-mercy's came reflexively to her lips, the words uttered quietly under her breath in barely contained panic. Did she really think God could help her? No. But maybe he would make her passing hurt less. If she thought the prayers would somehow help ease her fears, however, she was grossly mistaken. If anything, it only served to heighten them. But just when she was convinced she was never going to see her mother again, it all came to a jarring stop. Thrown from her perch, Evelynn felt a painful impact as she landed against someone (D'Spacito) before succumbing to the train's new orientation.

Falling down, she hit her back hard, all air expelling from her lungs in a gasp. With the sudden impact left her unable to breathe, panic set in all over again, eyes flying wide with the realization. Chest heaved, fingers scratching at the floor—no…the compartment…wall?—on which she was lying. Her gaze fixed itself upwards, trained on the sky showing through the broken glass window. Spots of crimson flecked the jagged edges, but that didn't seem to register with her. She couldn't breathe. That was all that she could think of. She couldn't… She couldn't…

You're just winded… The sound of her mother's voice filtered into her thoughts. You've had the air knocked out of you. Just relax. It'll be okay. Evelynn clamped her eyes shut to try to clear her thoughts and center herself. Now, get up…You can do it. With effort, Evelynn forced herself to roll, hands trembling as she pushed herself to a crouch. This time, her mother wasn't there to help her, but she managed. Somehow. There you go. Now count to ten.. One.. Two.. Three.. As Evelynn forced herself to go through the motions, she relaxed, the panic and fear slowly ebbing until muscles were able to relax and breathing resumed. This, in turn, allowed her awareness to move beyond just herself.

"Is everyone alright?" She asked, shifting her position put her back against the upended bench while she peeled her gaze about the cabin. D'Spacito and Harman were still there, although Harman looked a little worse for wear as though he'd taken a hit to the face. "Where's Valentine?" came the subsequent query, realizing that they were short an additional member. Reflexively, her gaze flickered to the window with its broken glass above them and the evidence of what she could only assume was blood that traced along the shards' edges. "He wasn't…" She muttered, lips parting in growing trepidation as dread washed the colour from her face.

Had he really been thrown from the train? She wanted to look, but wouldn't be able to do so easily. And certainly not without cutting herself on those jagged outcroppings. Grey eyes danced around the interior in search of something that could be used to give them the platform boost they needed to hoist themselves through the window. Her hunt led her to peer down into the hall below them.

"Beckett!" Spying the chaser, Evelynn called just loud enough to be heard. "Can you see what happened? Can we get through down there through either end of the car?"

She was hoping that one end or the other would be free and unobstructed such that they could lower themselves into the hallway to pick their way to an exit rather than trying the dangerous clambour through the broken window. Not entirely hopeful for that, however, the alternative would be finding enough material in the form of clothes or blankets or other similarly padding objects to line the window and make it a bit safer to extract themselves through. Then it could just be a matter of levitating themselves one at a time by their clothes through the window.

[font=century gothic]SUMMARY: Gets winded in the crash, takes a moment to reorient and catch her breath (missed last mod round), notices Valentine missing, sees Ana below them in the hall, trying to find the best way out

Sta 7 | Eva 10 | Str 2 | Wis 10 | Arc 2 | Acc 10
Keen Eye | Fearless

ACTION: Searching for the safest way out: hallway to either end of the train vs. finding items to pad the broken window and help them to climb out of it[/font]

Katrina wasn’t sure if no one heard her or if they chose not to listen, but against her better wishes, nobody came to her call. She hoped at the very least that everyone stayed in pairs. Being isolated in an emergency situation was the worst thing you could do. Katrina looked over the bodies of her peers, able to see them better as her vision cleared. Petal was amongst the few she’d passed. Then she heard a voice, a call for help, just as she slipped through the rear of the caboose.

“I’ll be back!” Katrina pointed and looked at the few she’d passed [@Opeila Winters, @Galton Lansdale, @Cade Darkbound, @Kaito Lancaster] “The exit is right here, I need to go help someone, but come this way to get out!” With one last pleading look, Katrina attempted to find the source of the call for help.

Katrina heard a different call this time, from the same area. It was her dueling partner, Calanthe. Katrina would climb back into the train. “I’m coming!” She sounded hurt, that was for sure, but the other voice, it was silent now. Quiet was bad. “Calanthe, what’s going on?” Katrina hoped Calanthe was close enough to fill her in on what was going on.

Katrina would pass her peer’s broken bodies, trying her hardest to not take it to heart. She had the healing capabilities to help all of them. You’re being selfish not helping them. That’s not being selfish. You could help them with one word and a wave of your stick. I know, I can come back later. But no, you’re leaving them all behind. Wouldn’t you want someone to help you? No I wouldn’t! I’d rather the more hurt people be helped. Katrina warred a battle with her internal voice as she searched for her dueling teammate and the voice from before.

Then Katrina spotted Calanthe. And Piérre’s unconscious body. Katrina’s breath caught in her throat. Calanthe was supporting his head, probably one of the best things at the moment. He, like the rest of them, seemed banged and bruised. Katrina drew her wand out of the sheath in the arm of her robe. She knelt down beside them both. “Piérre if you can hear me, I need you to stay still. It’s going to be okay,” She watched a few of his breaths, making sure he was simply unconscious.

“Calanthe,” Katrina swallowed hard, “There’s not much I can do. I mean, I can try Reparifors, but I don’t know if it will help wake him up or even help since he's no conscious and I don't know completely how it all works,” She took a beat, closing her eyes and stilling her thoughts and beating down her doubts. “We need to get him out of here, along with anyone else who is unconscious. It’ll be easier to help people once we know what’s wrong,” I could really use a bravery charm right now. No, Kat, focus on the hurt people. You’re fine. They aren’t.

Katrina raised her wand, trying to hide the shake in her arm. She started tracing a circle in the air over Piérre’s head. She closed her eyes, imagining seeing the blue light. This was her passion, healing people, helping people. It was one thing she was really good at. She saw the ring slowly descending over his body. Healing his bruises. She could see it in her mind. Forcing the imagery to become reality. “Reparifors!”

TLTR; Katrina urges people to go out the exit she found, meets up with Piérre and Calanthe, attempts to Reparifors Piérre and maybe wake him up?

For Moderation:

Reducio

Action: Meet up with Piérre and Calanthe, push aside her mental breakdown until later, Reparifors Piérre and try to wake him up?

Abilities: Perfectionist [Crit-Fail Zone reduced by 1] | Healing Sage [+25% on all magical healing] | Charmer [-1 acc for all opponents]

Stats: Stamina 9 | Evasion 8 | Strength 3 | Wisdom 11 | Arcane Power 9 | Accuracy 5

Interacting With: @Piérre Marchonné and @Calanthe Choi

Mentioning: Everyone I mentioned earlier and basically everyone else in the thread too.

Kind of Open to Interactions: Feel free to do/say anything to make Kat feel more guilty (call out to her even though she can't help, you know, whatever really) I'm planning an epic breakdown later so anything to add to that is appreciated

"Wow, sight is nice." Was the thought that occupied Galton's mind at this moment. He was looking out into whatever darkness surrounded the train. Then it occurred to him that his mind was lying to him. Maybe he didn't have an annoying haze covering is view, but it was covered in dark. So his sight really could be better. And that thought probably went for all the rest outside (or in the train). If Galton the Glorious was having trouble to see, how his peers must be struggling.

"Lumos" Galton would say as he moved his wand in a loop. "HUGH! Others! Come to the light. This is a good light! Not a death light!" The small boy yelled as he held his wand over his head, trying to get the best umbrella of light he could. Hopefully others would be drawn toward the illuminating safety. Just like moths. Maybe Hogwarts students and moths did have more in common than he first thought. They like light/fire, underwent metamorphoses and wild growth spurts every year, didn't think much about danger; some solid similarities. He was sure there was nothing dangerous about to be revealed to him and his mates. And if there was, Galton could take them... Realistically, he could not, but the small boy believed as much, and why ruin a small boy's ego confidence.

Action: Casting Lumos to see for others to see.

Interacting with Anyone Nearby
Mentioning for Convenience: @Elena Jangleton
I found your owl!

The compartment being above her, Starlee's only choice was to attempt to climb up through the door and hope that her owl would still be alive and safe in there. As she slid open the door to the compartment, a few trunks came crashing down around her, but she managed to nimbly dodge all three. After doing so, she was able to hear the feeble hoots of not one, but two owls that were in the compartment. She looked up, recognizing her owl, and saying "Oh Borvo! Are you okay?" in a soft and comforting manner. She turned to the other bird and said, "Now who are you? Don't worry, I'll get you both out of here." Even after all the chaos that had happened, Starlee was able to smile at the two birds, her animal lover sensibilities shining through. She was going to get in there and she was going to get both owls out safely. Hopefully, they could fly still, it appeared both birds had injuries, but if not, she would carry them both as far as need be.

Her attempt to climb through the door frame into the compartment up above ended in bloodied hands, as broken glass now littered the door frame. "Dammit..." she muttered, watching the blood begin to flow from her hands. She nimbly ripped off a piece of her shirt and tried wrapping up her hands to temporarily stop the bleeding. She then took a look around the train. It appeared a boy had passed out... nothing Starlee could do about it really... She watched as an older student tried to wake him from unconsciousness. Starlee would be there soon if she wasn't careful.

"Is anyone missing an owl?" she called, in the hopes that someone would respond. She waited, contemplating her next actions. "Can someone help me get these owls down from up there? Just a little lift could do... or someone who is actually good at spells..." she mumbled on at the end. She wasn't going to cast Windgardium Leviosa just to have the birds come crashing down upon her.

Action: Ripping off part of her shirt to wrap around her bleeding hands to stop the bleeding.

For Moderation:
Stamina: 4 - Evasion: 5 - Strength: 6 - Wisdom: 8 - Arcane: 6 - Accuracy: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage
Health: 150/400 (Bleeding)

Well, that was a relief at least. Her blood-stained hand poking around in the thick white snow felt something poke her palm which prodcued a minor grunt of pain from her. The texture and roughness of the object however felt familiar and her grip closed around it withdrawing the wand shaking the snow that had collected on it raising it up triumphantly as she eyed it to make sure it was indeed hers. "Yes!" There, now at least they could something even though everything hurt in places she wasn't even sure was possible. Elena spared another glance to the boy who had an entire train come down on him and winced. He needed help, he was the most critical and as for her, a few cuts here and there was nothing she couldn't patch up. A feminine voice broke through her midst of thoughts in the shape of Everly Charlton. Her expression soured at first but was quickly cast to the side.

Now was not the time to hold personal grudges. They had more pressing matters to attend to. "Help." Elena would force out between jolts of pain as she moved thrusting a hand upwards so that the girl if she chose to could help her up. Regardless of whether Everly aided her or not, Elena stumbled to her feet clutching her shoulder with her free hand to stem the flow of blood. Oh, right, she was bleeding. Flutters was probably bleeding more. That tore at her heart, the bird. Where was he? She needed him now more than over to give her solace, to let her know that everything would be alright as the girl painstakingly made her way halfway to Marshal's unconcious form her knees hitting the snowy terrain unable to take another step. "He needs help." The Gryffindor said weakly taking in a shuddering breath. The freezing cold was not doing them any favors and only clothed by some torn robes was not exactly the best shield.

She had to tend to her own injuries. Elena had to take care of herself so that she could be strong and help the others. Be strong for the others, for Flutters. Pointing her wand at one of the gashes on her upper left arm, she would mutter a "Ferula!" hoping to conjure a bandage onto the cut to stem the flow of blood. It was said if you lost more than 40 percent of your blood, you died. Elena wasn't sure how much she had lost but she was not willing to find out. They needed to get out of here, away from the bandits, to the castle. Were any professors coming? Surely, they would have known something was up if the Express had not arrived by now. "W-we need to get help." She would say to Everly her teeth chattering in between.

Meanwhile in the chaos of the train wreck, her little barn owl had indeed been distressed by what was happening. Flutters having seen his owner ejected from a moving train had just like any other protective instinct of any animal had made to fly after her bound only by the constraints of his cage. A cage that had been tossed around and thrust against walls, seats, windows and anything else solid. Somehow, someway, the barn owl found his cage pushed up against another owl's and he hooted a greeting, confused almost as to what on earth was going on. He wanted out of this stupid cage prison and this train and he made sure to convey this message to the curious girl that found them blinking his bold, yellow eyes in response to her inquiry. She seemed nice as he tapped his beak against the cage trying to force it open clearly ruffled at the fact that he had been stuffed in here in the first place.

Action: cast Ferula to stop the bleeding.

@Elena Jangleton @Everly Charlton @Marshal Mozor @Anastasia Beckett @Jackson Valentine
banner by juniper yu

Everything seemed to happen all at once. Scarlett barely had time to register it all - perhaps she wouldn't be such a good Auror then, if all she did was breathlessly watch as chaos descended on her peers, her classmates. Scarlett's boomerang flew, but the cowboy ducked. The murder machine flew into another compartment. Scarlett hoped that the compartment contained a certain Gryffindor third-year. No time to dwell. Scarlett whipped out her wand and was about to cast another offensive spell when the train started to shake. It shook and shook and skidded and mayhem erupted. Luggage fell, people screamed, a huge blinding light flared in her eyes. She lost her sight. Her breathing grew erratic as she stumbled around, unable to see. Scarlett prayed none of the luggage would hit her. And they didn't.

But it was still excruciating to hear everyone's cries, shouts, screams as everything fell.

Scarlett briefly heard the sound of windows smashing and winced. Katrina was shouting something but she didn't register what - her sight hadn't returned and she was too busy stumbling around like an idiot. She heard another stumble, a shout. Anastasia Beckett. Scarlett bit back profanities and settled with a quick, "Well, whilst you were doing whatever bitchy, petty thing you were doing, our car got taken hostage and then all the luggage started to fall." before turning away, not indicating to Anastasia her blind state. That would be way too embarassing.

Eventually, the train skidded to a stop. She saw blurred shapes and colours, gripping a compartment door until her sight returned. Scarlett looked around, but if she had been happy to have her eyesight back, the scene before her certainly wasn't as happy as herself. Windows were smashed. Luggage was everywhere. People were cautiously exiting the train, scouring for pets. Scarlett caught glimpses of injuries outside. She groaned, placing two fingers to her temples. Why - out of all the cars on the train - had their one been attacked? Speaking of attacks, she looked around. The cowboys were no where to be seen.

Scarlett growled. She wanted vengeance, but vengeance apparently had to wait. Ignoring her lost boomerang, Scarlett shoved past Beckett angrily - noticing the stupid blonde hair - stomping outside. Fresh air at last. The outside world always helped her calm down, even if she had just been in a trainwreck. But with trainwrecks come casualties, and there was at least one main casualty in front of her - the boy who had first warned them. Feeling a little embarrassed, Scarlett huffed passed him and turned a corner. He had Opeila. He would be fine.

She bumped into a small congregation of students. Elena, two brunettes she didn't know and Marshal. Oh Merlin - Marshal, whose leg was currently bent at an unnatural angle. Scarlett could barely process it all as she practically flung herself at the group. Elena was bloody. Bruised. The brunette boy. Injured. The brunette girl looked fine, though it didn't stop Scarlett feeling bad for escaping relatively unscathed.

"Ohmygod, Elena, are you alright?" said Scarlett hurriedly, making her way over to the third-year. "Sorry for leaving you, I was curious, and there were these cowboy people but that doesn't matter because what happened to you guys? Marshal looks - well - I-"

She took a deep breath. In and out. Just like Fiona had said. She turned to the brunette boy and girl. "O-okay," said Scarlett, injecting confidence into her tone.

I have nerves of steel.

"Do any of you know any useful spells?"

I am the picture of composure and eloquence.

"We have to contact the teachers somehow."

I am the most fearless person to ever exist.

Scarlett took another breath before levelling her stare at the straggled group.

action freak out, question elena, talk to the others
stats stamina 7 | evasion 6 | accuracy 7 | strength 6 | wisdom 6 | arcane power 9
abilities prodigal charms learner, fearless

────── ☆ ───────

AJ wondered if this is what failure felt like...the pain hadn't set in quite yet but it would come soon. He was dizzy and uncharacteristically warm as blood and adrenaline flowed through him, trying to keep his nervous system from realizing what a colossal moron he was.

He wasn't going to be remembered for this, or if he was, it wouldn't be fondly.

He had just wanted to help, to do something useful for once in his life. To have his peers look upon him and smile and thank him for his participation in their success. For once he wanted to not stand idle as those greater than him earned their rightful place in the memories of others.

A single tear slid down his face and landed in the cold snow beneath him. He wasn't crying from the pain, he was crying from the realization that no matter how much he tried to maintain his chipper and supportive attitude...

…that when it came down to it, he was completely and utterly useless.

He was useless as a Duelist, his team deserved a far more competent Captain. He was useless as a student, no-0ne would ever turn to him for help with their answers, hell, how many could even understand him when he spoke?

He turned his head slightly, trying to ignore the immense pain in his neck as he did so. He saw his wand, elegant and intricate Hornbeam. He was glad that it had flown out of his pocket, it would break his heart to see it broken.

Even though all it did was stand as a painful reminder.

He was bloody well useless as a Wizard.

He didn't deserve that wand, certainly not the Dragon's heartstring that served as its core. No, that core belonged to someone with at least half a braincell and some sense of competency.

It did not belong to Allister-Jameson Constantine MacAllister. A Muggle boy in way over his head.

He had only heard the sound of the train coming off its rails as a muffled cacophony, from deep in his ditch he had no real idea what was happening. He could hear the muted screams and cries of his peers as they tried to figure out their situation and part of him wanted more than anything to stand up, limp his way over and help them.

But he couldn't...

It wasn't that he was physically incapable of moving, it was just that he knew once again he'd be in the way, not of use to anyone.

He was much better here, in this ditch...where he could disappear without anyone worrying.

Another tear rolled down his cheek, but this one was from agony. He gasped and gritted his teeth, trying not to yell in case there were still enemies anywhere, but his pain tolerance was far from godly, and as tears continued to roll down his cheeks he couldn't help but let out a cry of pain, followed by a tirade of sobs. He tried to sit up, but it only made him so dizzy he wanted to throw up. So he elected to remain lying down.