The Highs and the Lows pv DWS Trials Finished

Dale snuck out more than he would like to admit, he loves reading books in the moonlight or even just sitting out there to see the reflection of the moon on the clear lake. He had never been caught though, he considered it to be a stroke of luck that he wasn't, but he wasn't scared to be caught either, he had told his mother that he would sneak out to see the lake at night or the stars, and she encouraged to behavior "A bit of trouble making builds character." She had said whilst ruffling his hair. She had told stories to Dale about how she herself would sneak out to steal books from the family library because her parents would not let her in there because they considered reading to be "unladylike".

Dale was dressed in black jeans and a simple black polo, the same clothes he always wore when sneaking out. The reason he was out here on this particular night was not to see the lake or stars but to help out a friend. Santario had quickly become Dales closest friend, and to help that along she was also in the same club as him. She was joining the inner circle of Dark Witch Society, to do this she had been given a list of items she needed to collect to join. Dale himself could not join the inner circle, he was not female, he had no problem with this, he was only there to learn not to practice.

As he successfully avoided anyone patrolling the castle and saw the person he was looking for. "Hey, sorry if I kept you waiting for too long." He said with a smile. So, whats our plan?

She had been watching the direction she knew he would have had to come from waiting albeit slightly impatiently she wouldn’t let him know that. Seeing his taller figure exit the castle and make his way towards her she would adjust her satchel carefully and after he asked her about her plan, she would start walking towards their intended destination not mentioning how long she waited. “We should definitely go after the fox bedding first. I went to the library yesterday and found what I could on foxes while it was not as much as I wanted it was enough.” Realistically she was just trying to keep them out of going into the forest because if they didn’t find a fox den by the hill they would have to. Not that she didn’t want to someday go into the forest she just wanted to be far better equipped for it than she is now.

She continued, “From what I can gather is that the best chance to find a den would be to go into the forest however since foxes also prefer to be close to water sources and a bit elevated from them as well. So if you remember when we first met, I told you I wanted a quiet place to study away from people and you told me about the hill by the lake. I think we might be able to find a den on the other side of the hill than where we sit. There are some bushes down there, it’s very close by and elevated from the water seems perfect.” She revealed in an undertone as they made their way.

“Once we find the den, I am going to have you distract the fox with a peace offering while I grab some bedding. I will only grab as much as I need, and I will not disturb any of her kits if she has any in there. I hope she will accept my offering and understand I mean her no ill will.” Could one out sly a fox? She thought she was just the person to find out. 

As Dale arrived at the place where Santario was, she carefully readjusted her satchel and started off walking to, what he assumed to be, the direction of what there destination. He followed along next to her, keeping a comfortable distance, but being just close enough to hear her, but not too close that it would be weird.

As they walked Santario laid out there plan, she seemed to have the entire thing planned out. Dale himself did very little research, he thought it wouldn't be fair if he helped out too much, after all this was her trial, not his, he was merely there to provide another pair of hands and a very long pair of legs.

Dale listened intently as she told him her plan. She said that there should be a fox den on the other side of the hill by the lake. Dale frequented the hill, but never saw a fox there, but he didn't duat Santario. She told Dale that he would have to distract the Fox, he knew he would have to, but he was happy he didn't have to hurt or scare the fox, he would simply have to distract it with a peace offering long enough for Santario to garb some nesting. "Alright, that seems like a very good plan. So what exactly is this peace offering?"

As they continued to approach the hill San would start to slow down a little bit. When he asked her what kind of peace offering, she knew in particular Dale would probably not enjoy the next bit. “Well simply put a Rabbit one you are going to entice the fox with while I reach into her den and grab a small amount of the bedding. Don’t worry the rabbit isn’t alive anymore.” She would not go into detail about how the rabbit was not alive anymore as she just had a feeling, he did not want to know though he would probably figure it out when he looked at it. “Or if you would prefer, I can hold the rabbit and you can climb into its hole.”

She was almost certain he wouldn’t want to do that either because there was a small chance the fox would go for him the moment, he got his arm in there. After all this was Santario’s trials and not Dale’s so it made more sense for her to be in the hole. “Keep in mind though if you hold the rabbit it is your job to keep the fox’s mind off me. You’re basically going to have to tease it like you would a dog with their treats or cats with their toys. You would start by getting close to the den and then slowly move away from the den and me to get the fox to follow you.” That would probably be the most unpleasant part for her friend, but he offered to help her with these first two trials, and this was going to be far more pleasant than the last one she would have to do. “Do you think you are up for it?” She asked right before stopping dead in her tracks and covering her nose.

A scent of ammonia filled the air as they rounded near the bushes. “Oh it’s here alright and good thing too. I did not want to go into the forest.” She pointed to the bushes not to far away from them. “My best guess would be that it is right between those two bushes there.” With a disgusted grimace she removed the hand from her face and went gently into her satchel pulling out the wooden box setting it down gently at her feet. If Dale said he would hold the rabbit she would gently remove its body, there was no blood but its head lolled sickly in a direction it would not have ever done if it had still been alive.   

Dale looked at Santario with a worried expression, she had presented Dale with a dead rabbit and had told him to use to entice the fox long enough for her to get into the fox’s den and still some nesting. She had also offered to reverse the roles, Dale go and get the nesting and she distracts the fox. He doubted he could fit in the den. ”I-I'll do it, I'll distract the fox.” Dale said with a little hesitation, he didn’t want to know how Santario acquired a dead rabbit, but it seemed to be another reason not to ever get on the girl’s bad side.

Santario explained how he would have to “tease the fox” Dale understood how to do that, he had handled dogs in the past when his mother would take him to animal shelters to help take care of lost and abandoned dogs. ”Got it, I’ll keep the fox distracted. But uhh, would you happen to have a pair of gloves?” He said to Santario, he didn’t want to handle a dead animal with his own bare hands, the thought disgusted Dale. If she didn’t Dale would simply just grab a few pages out of a notebook from his bag and use that to protect his hands.

Santario noted her friend’s hesitation, “You don’t have to do it. I am not going to make you. I can manage on my own if this is too unpleasant.” She knew her friend was softer than she was it was in his nature to be. Santario, however, had a do what needed to get done attitude if it was a means to an end it hardly gave her pause. She liked to think that somewhere she would draw a line if someone she cared about would get hurt in the process, but truth be told she had never been put in that situation so she did not really know how she would react to something like that. She was not heartless in fact there were certain things and people in life she cared deeply about, but what if…

The request for gloves brought her out of her thoughts. “Oh, yes, of course, I have some. I meant to present those first. I got a little too wrapped up in the task at hand” With her free hand she would withdraw the only pair of gloves she had it was her protective gloves that she wore during the classes that required them. “Here you go” She stated as she handed them over to Dale. She would wait for him to properly put them on before offering him the rabbit. It was probably for the best that he wore gloves because then he wouldn’t be able to feel the fact that it was still warm. It was best to keep the fox interested and a cold rabbit just wouldn’t do. “Ready whenever you are.” She would have to wait until the fox was sufficiently distracted before she could make her move. 

Dale took the gloves and put them over his hands, they fit snugly. He looked up at Santario with a nervous expression, "A-Alright, j-just try to be quick" Dale said a bit nervously. Foxes were known for being quite dangerous, there bite alone could send Dale to the medical wind for weeks. He really could not mess this up.

He carefully picked up the rabbit with his gloved hands and realized that corpse of the rabbit was quite light, he expected it to be much heavier. "Good luck." He told Santario as he walked up to where the fox den was located. He arrived at what he assumed was the den entrance. He held out the rabbit and made clicking noises with his tongue. He didn't know much about foxes, but he knew they were related to dogs, and dogs had a very good sense of smell and have great hearing. He kept doing this for a minute, nothing came out of the den, maybe the fox wasn't at the den, just as he was about to turn around and notify Santario, an orange and white fox lumbered out of the den, eyeing up the rabbit in his hands. His heart froze for a second, the fox looked like it was ready to kill Dale, but he pulled his wits together and continued to make the clicking noises and move backward, the fox followed. He kept this up until he was a good distance away from the den. This should be far enough away fro Santario. Dale thought to himself.

She gave him a nod noting his stutter and knew very well how uncomfortable she was making him, but she held no regret over this. She gave him many of opportunity not to do this before this night and during, yet he still persisted to help in this manner. Maybe he was a real friend? If he still wanted to be her friend after this, but this was her life. She would do anything to succeed if she felt it was in her best interest and it may occasionally place her in questionable situations. She would do what it took no matter what the cost as long as the gain was ultimately that much better. She had weighed the danger of the fox and although Dale was in minor danger, the fox would want the rabbit more than to hurt him, she was in far more danger. If that mother fox realized, she was in her den Santario would no doubt be attacked immediately the rabbit be damned.

Clicking noises pulled her out of the thoughts of the fox splattering bright red over her porcelain fine skin. Her sharp sapphire eyes focused on the red that nosed its way out of the den. ‘That’s right it’s a beautiful rabbit would feed you and your kits quite well. What is some of your nest for a great couple of meals.’ Mentally bargaining with the fox focusing on the distance and starting to slowly creep forward one agonizing step at a time while Dale backed up. She equally watched them and her own footsteps refusing to allow a careless step to snap an errant twig or kick a pebble, and even though she did not realize it she was holding her breath. Adrenaline coursed through her veins like a caffeine rush making her shake all over and her heart beat furiously in her chest. ‘Slow and steady you can do this.’ She bit her bottom lip as she approached the entrance of the den. Dale had stopped moving they were quite far enough away that even if the fox lunged for her, she might still get away ok… Maybe.

She lowered herself to the ground and what was realistically only seconds felt like an eternity as she kept her eyes glued on the fox and Dale. Her fingers found the soft blades of grass and the course dirt dug out to create the hole. Taking her eyes off of Dale she reached into the den having to partially climb in getting covered in dirt reaching, stretching fingertips grazing the bedding. She willed herself to stretch harder without having to climb in more her shoulder burned with the effort of trying to reach longer than her arm was meant to. Eventually, she was able to grab a small handful of the bedding but in the process, she touched a kit. San froze solid like she was turned into a statue… Silence.

Slowly letting out the breath that had been held fast in her chest she started pulling out of the fox den. As soon as her head was free a kit cried out. Those normally sharp sapphires widened in unadulterated fear as her head snapped to look at the fox who now did not care about the existence of the rabbit at all. She rounded on San growling as viciously as a mama fox could and lunged for her. “THROW IT AT IT!” She yelled at Dale as she scrambled away from the den as fast as she could digging the nails of her free hand into the ground to help her gain some traction as she refused to release the bedding in the other. She hoped that her being away from the den and the distraction of the rabbit being thrown at it would be enough to give the fox pause and for her to getaway. If Dale hesitated even for a second San would lose some blood tonight.

Dale saw Santario reach the fox's den, he continued to tease the fox with the dead rabbit, it still made Dale feel uncomfortable, but he was getting a bit used to it, less disturbed by it. The fox was being oddly compliant, it followed Dale for a good amount of time and a good distance. This first task would be over very soon, and would much easier than he expected it to. As Santario reached inside of the den and reemerged with a handfull of nesting, Dale breathed a sigh of relief, but the sigh was taken too quickly, as a slight crying noise could be heard coming from the den.

Instantly, the fox turned around and bolted to attack the person that had touched one of her kits. Santario bolted away from the den and yelled at Dale to throw the rabbit at the furious fox, Dale didn't do this, instead, he took a second to think about the scenario, the fox at this point, was too far to be hit by the rabbit, and no way did he have the strength to throw the corpse of the rabbit far. Instead, he quickly drew his wand, that was hanging a little bit out of his back, and squarely pointed it at the fox, he did the proper motions and semi yelled the words " Flipendo" a blue spark emerged from the tip of his wand a squarely hit the fox in its side, the impact shouldn't have killed the fox, but it sent its body flying. As soon as the body landed Dale ran to where it had landed and checked if it was breathing. Dale could feel its respiratory system working, he breathed a sigh of relief and said "I think I'm getting better at charms!" with a lighthearted chuckle.