Eterna Errante
| AT ILVERMORNY WITH @Stella Drake | SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER, 2025 |
The dorm was quiet when Ilias rattled awake, disturbed by another vivid dream. The boy tossed once, running a palm over his face with a deep sigh. He’d always been a vivid dreamer, though this apocalyptic wasteland had gotten more frequent recently. Perhaps the new environment was stressing him out. Compared to Ilias, his foster-brother seemed to be settling into his new magical lifestyle effortlessly. The school offered a variety of extracurricular activities. Quidditch, duelling, broom racing, to mention a few. When he’d first been introduced to the roster, skepticism had been written all over his face. To a normal person— one who had not grown up around magic—it all sounded alien. Lachlan had signed up for broom racing and somehow managed to convince him to join as well. None of the sports truly intrigued him, but perhaps he had joined to avoid completely falling behind while Lachlan progressed. He wasn’t particularly good at it yet. The first few tries, he’d been face deep in the mud, seething in embarrassment to the laughter of older students. “Jackass,” he’d muttered with his cheeks flaming, then pushed himself back on the broom to continue. Being stuck on a school broom while the well-off students wielded fancier, parent-funded models probably didn’t help his case. Beyond sports, Lachlan already seemed to have made friends. The country boy was not the sharpest tool in the box, but what he lacked in brains he made up in spirit. He was effortlessly likable, back in Montana and here, meanwhile Ilias had never been. Granted, that might be his own fault for deliberately pushing people away. It was one of his traits that he wasn’t particularly keen on changing. Regardless, outside of his accidental family ties, his social circle was nonexistent. Having spent years alienating himself from people by focusing on studying and his hobbies, that was unsurprising. The difference was that Ilias had a goal. His strict work ethic had been fueled by a relentless desire to earn a scholarship in the future to attend medical school. God knew he would not have been able to afford his way otherwise. At Ilvermorny, what was his purpose? The question had begun to fester and rot in his mind, still without answer. If anyone had the answer, he’d love to hear it. For now, he drifted through the first weeks without direction. If not in class, he was sneaking around the grounds, mapping hiding spots and finding quiet corners to spend time alone. On the plus side, the school perched atop a mountain peak, offering plenty of rock climbing opportunities. His only pair of climbing shoes was lying around in his trunk, one of the first things Ilias had packed for the trip. They were a gift from one of his foster homes a few years back, a hand-me-down from one of the older kids who had outgrown them. Threadbare and in dire need of replacement, they still did their job. While the weather still allowed it, Ilias remained awake, earlier than breakfast was served and rummaged through his trunk for the worn-down pair. Shoes in hand, he snuck out of the dorms, hoping to spend the next few hours in peace, only him, the dusk moon and the rocks. Officially, wandering off school grounds was forbidden. Probably. He hadn’t bothered to learn the rules. As long as he stayed careful, who was going to stop him? |
| SEER | INTUITION |
Camille De Varenne | Hogwarts
Eterna Errante
|
spacing for spacing reasons |
Old habits die hard. It was something Lily had said, once. Stella forgot what she had been talking about in the first place, but she did have to agree with that one phrase.
That is to say, despite all the bad things that had happened due to her staying up late and wandering where she shouldn't, Stella still felt the insatiable urge to do so. Back at home, ever since she was nine, Stella had a far harder time sneaking out. Though, she had to admit, that was every fault of her own. But here, at Ilvermorny, it seemed like it might be easier to walk her way out of the Wampus dorms and out into the grounds at large. In the school's defense, it did not have her parents, two older sisters, and a younger brother looking after her.
So out she went. Ilvermorny was a grand castle, and she had to imagine Hogwarts looked much the same. She- probably wasn't going to see it now... Stella scuffed her shoe on the ground.
But that didn't matter! Well- it did, but she wanted to see if she could dragon hunt on school grounds! Probably. Maybe. She hadn't done too much research into American dragons. Western? Yeah, those ones. It didn't matter, she'd want to hunt them down anyway. It would be her first dragon hunt since everything happened! She could probably smell them or something since she was a werewolf. Probably. She didn't really look into how that worked too much. Everyone around her seemed to though... It was kinda annoying.
Spirits properly raised and the negative emotions pushed to the back of her mind where they belonged, Stella walked with a skip in her step, enjoying the crisp night air. She doubted anyone else would be out. Maybe a professor? She hoped not, but she could be stealthy.
It was normal, a nice night. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary. Stella found it odd that she was actually cautious about that sort of thing now, but it made sense, she supposed. She wandered around the school grounds to her heart's content, for once not caring about the time. It could have even been early morning now, she wasn't sure. Tiredness had yet to hit her, probably just from the sheer joy of getting to go out again.
And then she saw someone! They were too small to be a professor, so they must have been a student! Stella scrambled over with excitement. Surely, someone else who was out at this hour had to have a reason! Maybe she was a bit nosy, but she had long since admitted that to herself.
"Hi!" Stella whisper-shouted the moment she thought she was close enough for the other person to hear. She continued to make her way over. "I'm Stella! Why are you out here?" She could have tacked on a couple more questions, but she had to get the important one out of the way first!
Reducio497
Reducio@Ilias Lahlou
ReducioSorry that took so long! A mix of a couple things have made it pretty hard to do too much...
"Too much imagination, not enough dragons"
Eterna Errante
| AT ILVERMORNY WITH @Stella Drake | SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER, 2025 |
Predictably, the grounds were empty when Ilias snuck out from the castle doors. Triumphant about yet another, seemingly successful secret outing, he quickened his stride across the tended patch of grass. His gaze was fixed ahead, towards the crack of rocks where he knew he could slip behind to reach a more secluded, probably prohibited area. Perhaps he was making life much more difficult for himself than needed be, but the risk of sabotaging himself by asking and potentially giving them ideas they hadn’t thought of before was not worth it. Ilias hadn’t noticed someone approaching until they were right behind him, shouting a greeting through an attempted whisper. Ilias practically jumped out of his own skin, almost dropping his climbing shoes that were clutched in his hand, having not expected to encounter anyone at this hour, especially not to be snuck up upon. Normally, he would have seen that coming from a mile away, courtesy of paranoia, probably. Luckily, he’d barely made it half across the grounds. If he was going to get caught at some point, he supposed he would rather get caught on school grounds than at one of his favorite bouldering spots. As long as they did not know where he was sneaking off to, they couldn’t close off the premise. And if it wasn’t closed off, what was going to stop him from returning? He wasn’t given time to consider his options, since he was currently being put on the spot. The boy spun around, eyes wide and staring at the girl who’d walked up to him. It was not a staff member, but another first year, albeit not from his own house. They’d never interacted before, and why that became increasingly more clear just by looking at her. One hand gripping the shoes tighter against his body, he gave her a brief once-over. He’d never gotten along well with the overly cheerful types. It was rather difficult when he was a master at complaining about everyone and everything that was wrong with his life. With his depressing track record, there were plenty of things to mope about. Bursting with excitement, she introduced herself as Stella and wondererd what he was doing out here. Ilias met her enthusiasm by staring at her as if she was crazy. “Can you yell any louder? Someone on the opposite end of school might not have heard,” he muttered back, ironically loud. “I’m just going for a walk,” Ilias added, not seeing why he had to reveal all of his business to a stranger in the first place. “The question is: what are you doing here?” This was the first time he’d encountered a single soul up this early, at least in this part of the castle. Realizing that he frankly did not care about the answer, the boy shook his head and turned back to stalk down the path, now when the main worry about being caught by a faculty member was out of the way. Whether she decided to follow or not, he didn’t care to check, gaze fixed ahead. |
| SEER | INTUITION |
Camille De Varenne | Hogwarts
Eterna Errante
|
spacing for spacing reasons |
The boy jumped at the sound of her voice and Stella grinned. What could she say? She was a very sneaky person when she wanted to be! Which wasn't very often, but very helpful for things like, say- sneaking out of her dorm to wander school grounds?
After being scolded for being loud, Stella bit back a laugh. It was a common enough complaint, and thought usually said more light-heartedly, it was still funny. Especially since the boy wasn't really being quiet himself. She was absolutely not at her loudest, but she could probably still tone it down.
Even though he had asked her a question, the boy had continued on. Stella followed, looking over the path they were walking. Speaking of; just walking sounded a bit bland, but who was she to judge? There was plenty one could do while walking! Like, look for dragons, for example. Or pick flowers, or anything, really. Maybe Stella was a bit weird for thinking just walking was boring. She shrugged to herself and skipped a little to keep up with the boy ahead of her.
"I'm looking for dragons! You ever seen one in person? I haven't." She totally had. That lizard counted, no matter what Hecate said. But maybe it wasn't the best thing to bring up. "Where are we going?" A fair question to ask. Maybe she was the one following a technical stranger at some unknown time on the grounds of a magical school, but he was the one leading her. So questions couldn't hurt. Probably. "Do you have your wand on you?" She did. It made her feel much safer than that nerf gun ever did. She did miss it though.
Oh. Was she asking too many questions? At the very least, she wasn't being as loud. To her ears, anyway. But she could stop for now. Or until they get wherever they're going. Or until they get lost. Stella had to wonder how Ilvermorny's grounds compared to the Forbidden Forest. There were absolutely dragons in there, she knew it. Not that she'd be able to check herself anymore.
Stella shook her head. That didn't matter, she could find some cool Western dragons and brag about it once she did. If Hogwarts had dragons somewhere, surely Ilvermorny did to. There was nowhere they could hide where she couldn't find them. Who knows, maybe wherever they were walking to right now would lead to one. It was an exciting, if incredibly unlikely thought, but Stella humored it anyway.
Reducio419
Reducio@Ilias Lahlou
ReducioN/A
"Too much imagination, not enough dragons"
Eterna Errante
| AT ILVERMORNY WITH @Stella Drake | SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER, 2025 |
To be left alone would have been too good to be true. The bubbly chatter quickly caught up with him, this time about potential dragon sightings. He felt his already thin patience turn into simmering irritation from having to entertain a whimsy conversation with a complete stranger, when all he wished was some peace and quiet. Perhaps there was some magic at play that kept rotting his luck; there were no other explanations why everyone kept pestering him the moment he walked out of the door. “Dragons?” Ilias echoed, throwing a skeptically narrowed eye at the girl. “You mean fantasy dragons, on TV-shows? If so, no, I don’t really watch it.” Few reasons were given for him to believe that dragons as seen in movies and fantasy TV-shows would exist in real life. Granted, neither had he expected wizards and magic to be real, the thought a mere mutter in his own head. With that track record, perhaps there were more absurd things in closer proximity than he’d assumed. Science and history had not proven the existence of either, except those large lizards on the Galapagos that might be the closest to dragons in nature. Though, even those lacked the ability to breathe fire and wings, as far as he knew. “And I’m not telling you where I’m going. Stick around and find out, I guess.” Realizing what he’d just encouraged, Ilias quickly corrected himself. “Actually, don’t. If we get in trouble it’s your fault.” Reaching a stone ruin, the last obstacle standing in between him and, hands down, the best rock climbing wall this mountain had to offer, Ilias tossed his shoes over the edge in a careless arc. It was too high for him to sprint over, and the rocks were unstable in places, requiring him to carefully pick his route before climbing. The evidence of his previous failed attempts still lay scattered around the ground in the form of stray rocks, that neither he nor nature had cared to get rid of yet. This time, after many times before, Ilias knew exactly where to slide in his toes and the best cracks to hook his fingers through for the most stable grip. The weather had been decent, meaning that the surface was dry and provided enough friction without risking slipping off. If his follower decided to commit to stalking him, he thought she’d manage the ascend even without previous climbing experience. It was only three feet or so, not rocket science. Then again, he didn’t really care either way. “See you on the other side,” he said, angling his head up towards the obstacle, brushing his hair back and twisting it into a messy bun without looking back. Once his hair was secure with the elastic he’d tied around his wrist, he then hauled himself up the stone wall. Fifteen seconds and a few crimps later, Ilias swung his leg over the top and carefully dropped off on the other end. Staggering slightly from the rough landing, he clapped dust and gravel from his hands on the side of his pants. Scanning the ground, he picked up his shoes as he found them and threw one last glance at the wall, to see if Stella would keep up. Obviously, he hoped she wouldn’t, but unfathomably, some repressed part of him would be disappointed if she’d already given up. |
| SEER | INTUITION |
Camille De Varenne | Hogwarts
Eterna Errante
|
spacing for spacing reasons |
This boy was a strange one, with talk of "tv shows." It was interesting, Stella thought herself quite schooled, but she couldn't think of what he was talking about in the slightest. What she did know was fantasy. Stella was a great lover of fantasy, of which dragons were not.
"Fantasy? No, not at all! Real dragons! With big wings and fire! Or- I don't think all dragons are like that, but the coolest ones are." Stella continued her pursuit of the boy, though she wasn't quite sure if it was out of curiosity, or for company. It didn't quite matter anyhow. "You'll find I'm quite good at staying out of trouble!" Technically, she was absolutely incredibly at staying out of trouble. She had done all sorts of things and come out the other side unscathed and un-scolded. It just so happened the one time she didn't was the one time where everything went wrong. But that didn't matter because lightning doesn't strike twice, and Stella's already been struck!
And now they were at a wall of crumbling stone! Wherever they were heading, it seemed exciting! She watched the boy throw his shoes over and tie his hair up. Stella watched him climb, noting where good footholds were. Sure, she probably would have tried to climb this regardless of whether or not someone did it first, but it didn't hurt to play it smart once in a while. Once he had made it over the wall, Stella started on her way up! She had actually thought to tie her own hair up! She didn't have a hair tie, but she did have a hoodie! She fiddled with the jacket around her waist for a moment, relieving it of its string and using it to tie her hair into a messy ponytail.
With that, she gave the wall one last assessing look before heading up. She more or less followed the same path as the boy, making adjustment where she had to. And maybe slipping a bit when it couldn't be avoided. The thrill of adrenaline shot through her whenever rocks crumbled underfoot. It was fun! Dangerous, but fun. It was both! Ren and Lily were too far to say anything about danger not being fun! Ha! Stella snickered to herself before pulling herself over the top and falling over to the other side.
Stella stood up quickly, smile wide on her face. "That was fun! You do that often?" She asked the boy. She half hoped that the answer was yes. It was utterly thrilling! Granted, she could probably do that on her own if she wanted. But company made everything better!
Reducio442
Reducio@Ilias Lahlou
ReducioN/A
"Too much imagination, not enough dragons"