Quidditch Stands || Secret Blossom Ball Event

"Uh..Lamik?" That was the only word that left her lips as the lights flickered and died, the Pitch being plunged into an aura of darkness. She could barely see ten feet in front of her. Feeling around, Elena managed to secure a grasp around her wand sticking out of her heel as her eyes scanned trying to make some sense of whatever was going on. Not again, no, it can't be. It never failed though she wondered what it would be this time. Those lights weren't supplied by power, Hogwarts was a magical school and as such, something had overidden that. Exactly what defeated her. She felt a hand seize her arm and glanced down recgonizing it as Lamik's. It was nice in a sense. "What do you think out's there?"

She said in a whisper not daring to speak any louder. There had been a relative short period of hushed silence that had followed as students tried to grasp what had just occured. A Bluebell Flames fired off by one of the students there helped to illuminate the oncoming threat which was very real. Bugs. Lots of them. Very dangerous bugs. They were wasplike in nature approaching in a horde and swooped down on the crowd seeking to sting and inflict their venom into anyone remotely closely. Elena could have sworn one swooped throug her hair. "We need to take cover." Her voice hardened as she tugged at the boy hoping to pull both of them underneath the bleachers, a place that would be mildly shielded from the horde.

It was a foolish idea to attempt an escape in her opinion. These insects were capable of flight and able to cover large distances, any escape would only put them out in the open for these venomous things. She eyed one of the mosps which happened to be randomly descending towards a few students. No, not again. She would not let again someone get harmed while she stood by and did nothing. It simply would not do.

"Immobulus." The Gryffindor muttered her wand swiveling to point at the fourth mosp." A well placed Freezing Charm could buy them all the time they needed to gain some distance. Only problem was that.. there was only one of her and a whole lot of them.

Action: Casting Immobulus at #4 mosp

Abilities Active: Advanced Casting

-

interacting | @Dmitri Jones, @Cecily Quinn

mentioning | N/A

As Dmitri's jets of flame arced out into the night sky, tiny rosettes of bright blue light licking and clawing at the stars, Cel became just a bit distracted just as her spell took affect—the buzzing shapes making their way towards the ball, streaming out from the Forbidden Forest. Thankfully, her Lumos Maxima succeeded, distraction taken care of by her dutiful subconscious, and the resulting searchlight-level brightness generously illuminated the area of the Stands that the triumvirate stood in, but those were Mosps. What were they doing out of the forest? Attracted by the flowers, perhaps, since this was the Blossomball after all... but then, weren't there plenty of flowers inside of the forest too?

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to ponder the topic. One of them was heading straight for Dmitri—the one that had been closest to one of his jets of fire. Crap... if they weren't angry before, the Bluebell Flames would've seemed like a direct attempt at attacking. Momentarily she froze. Whatever it was she was expecting, whatever it was that she told herself to be prepared for, it certainly wasn't Vampyr Mosps. Should she attack them and risk drawing the attention to herself? They'd be easier to defend against if they had only one target—that question was a strategic move, not a selfish one.

But her new acquaintance thought fast. In the moment her brain short-circuited, he seemed to be onto something—and wow, usually she wouldn't trust someone else's brain so fast, but it was his life in danger after all. Before he even finished asking the question, she'd pried off her armband with such force that the soft wire dented a little and tossed it to him quickly. "Cecily, I know you know engorgio too—do it." She didn't have as much control as Cel did, but they needed all the help they could get.

Cel understood his plan immediately as soon as he began the first bit of his spell. Birds were known for eating insects, wasps and moths included. They only needed a bigger one to hunt for bigger prey. The Avifors Spell could create any species of bird that he wanted, so long as his visualization was precise enough—she hoped he'd chosen a breed that had a diet of both wasps and moths, so that the resulting bird wouldn't retreat because of the mixed species. Birds and other animals transformed from the -fors spells turned back after a few hours, she remembered from Transfiguration class, and had no soul so they seemed quite dull, but the absence of this soul was usually supplemented by a basic interpretation of the caster's will: If Dmitri wanted it them to feast, they would do just that. She could admire somebody who could think of something on such short notice—it was clever, and she had no problem following a plan that was clever.

IF DMITRI'S SPELL WORKS:
"Engorgio," she incanted, swirling her wand in the proper circular wand movement. To create something large enough to devour a Mosp would require quite a bit of power, but she'd seen Professor Blackburn swell his pet tarantula to the size of a spell. She simply needed enough control to ensure that it didn't grow enough to explode. The armband hadn't even hit the ground—she'd thrown it kind of high—before both of them cast the spell. Hopefully he wouldn't miss, and she wouldn't either.

IF DMITRI'S SPELL FAILS:
Unfortunately, sometimes people didn't do great on spells. Whether it was pure idiocy or chance, sometimes things just went wrong. Inwardly she rolled her eyes. Outwardly, she also rolled her eyes, but while raising her wand and fixing her gaze on his textbook. "Avifors," she pronounced clearly—she wasn't one to shout spells, even in a situation like this—and moved the tip of her wand.

STAMINA 5
EVASION 8
STRENGTH 2
WISDOM 11
ARCPOWER 10

ACCURACY 9
ABILITIES Prodigial DADA and Perfectionist I awaiting approval.

ACTION IF DMITRI'S SPELL WORKS: attempt to cast the Engorgement Charm on screech owl.

ACTION IF DMITRI'S SPELL FAILS: attempt to cast Avifors Spell on armband.

-

Young albino Aida was in love with darkness. The safest place she could think to be was in a dark cavern where she could not be seen, largely resulting from many years exploring caves in the backcountry as an emotional coping mechanism. As a result, Aida had become exceptionally acquainted with sensing her environment while in complete darkness. Through her innate Blindvision, Aida envisioned the approaching insect in the low light and through her obsessive devotion to magizoology immediately recognized it as a vampyr mosp. A mosp, which was inherently extremely attracted to flowers – flowers, such those that now coated every available surface at the Blossom Ball. Aida felt a sense of relief briefly until she saw Alexander moving in the dark. Aida’s eyes grew large with horror as Alexander moved as if to cast a destructive spell at the mosp.

“No, Alexander!” she whispered. “It is attracted to the flowers, don’t make it angry. Stay calm.” Aida’s voice was urgent in a reassuring sort of way, laden with confidence and peaceful intent. In one swift movement, Aida attempted to tear off her boutonniere with one hand as well as Alexander’s with the other, trying to hurl them as far away as possible while, incidentally tackling him in the process as to stop him before his spell could be cast. If the spell were to go off anyway, Aida prayed that it would miss the mosp [#4] if it decided to follow the flowers that were now hopefully flying off away from the students. Of course Aida did not want the mosp to be hurt, but it would have been much worse for everyone if Alexander’s spell went off and enraged the insect.

Action: Hurling the boutonnieres as far away as possible while tackling Alexander
Interacting with: @Alexander Varellion
Ability: Blindvision
Character stats:
Stamina✵ 5, Evasion✵ 5, Strength✵ 4, Wisdom✵ 8, Arcane Power✵ 9, Accuracy✵ 4

Interactions: @Serena Towers, @Nico Shymane
Mentions: @Liv Hartley

Health: Full (900/900)
Status: Vision obscured by darkness
Abilities: Fearless

Saskia wouldn't be getting a satisfying answer anytime soon. The redhead girl suggested that it could have been a prank, or a surprise from the Professors. It was possible that could have been a prank. A malicious one at that, considering how the other students were clearly panicking at the idea of a threat invading the ball. But there was also that real possibility that it wasn't a prank. It could have been something more ominous. "Well, if this is a prank, it's very elaborately made. Whoever set it up really took the time and effort to set it up without any of us noticing. And if it's from the professors, then we're even more screwed." She sighed. "If this isn't a prank, then we'll definitely need them to come over here right now."

Saskia wouldn't need any further answers to know what exactly was approaching. The buzzing sounds were coming closer, and so were the figures. It was hard to see in the dark, and with Serena's light radiating around them, she could only see what was around her. But from what she knew already, there was a fair chance these figures were insect-like creatures. They must have separated, now that she could hear buzzing from different places. They haven't made their way towards them so far, but she was sure that they would have come for them sooner or later. How dangerous they were would be something she wouldn't have the answer to, and hopefully she wouldn't have to directly experience it to find out.

She turned her head towards someone that shouted something about setting the creatures on fire. Of course. Fire destroyed things. Fire could have countered whatever these dark figures were. But also, were they insane? It would have been dangerous to set fire on something they could barely see in the dark. What if they aimed the wrong way and set someone else on fire? What if they set the entire stands on fire? Fire was uncontrollable and not something to be easily tamed. She knew that from experience, both from being in previous balls and from the previous fire that transpired in the Hufflepuff common room.

Thankfully, Serena had enough sense to yell out that fire wasn't the solution. Or if it was the solution somehow, then it shouldn't the first thing they should be doing. Instead, it was better to cast Lumos and run. It was a better strategy if they didn't want to get killed first thing, although now she wondered whether or not the light from their wands would have attracted these creatures rather than defeat them. How else would they have been able to defend themselves then?

"I can do that. Just make sure all of you stay safe. We don't know what we're really up against yet. She took the broom from Serena's hand, silently lamenting the fact that hers wasn't with her at the moment. She wasn't sure how she would have been able to get it now with the chaos that was happening, but that was the least of her worries. They had weird creepy insect things to take care of and some professors to alert. Everything else could have waited.

After prepping herself on the broom, Saskia quickly took off. Making sure to keep one hand on her broom, she held out her wand and pointed it towards the night sky. It was times like these that she was grateful the professors had the mind to teach students this spell in case they were in danger. "Periculum!"

Action: Casting the Red Sparks Charm (Periculum) while on Serena's Shooting Star broom

Outfit: Dress | Shoes | Bracelet

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She was still close enough to hear everything that was being said, unless it was in a whisper. All jokes aside? No one was joking. No one was laughing. Xailah whipped around, her yellow stare burning into the ignorant child that spoke. And how dare she suggest the rest of the group split up, as soon as the lioness had her back turned. "The hell is wrong with you? No one is making any jokes. I think you are unaware of the fact that you are endangering all of us with your attire. You're ssslow. You're going to get all of us hurt because we have to wait on you." Her pale lips curled back in a grimace.

"Your suggestion is inconsiderate to our safety. We are not sssplitting up into pairs. There are five of us if you haven't noticed. Four of us wander off, what does the fifth do?" She glared down at the girl. "The last time a group of mine sssplit off into pairs, two people got hurt, and the rest of us got lost." She was referencing her Blossom Ball experience from last year. Illowy, and another child, Isaac Ambrose had split off to follow a light that had gone off in a part of the Forbidden Forest, separate from where the group was at the time. Both children were attacked. But by what? Who knew honestly. The information was never shared by either child, but there were some things that just didn't need to be shared. Sometime you just knew. Their eyes told those who were willing to look, everything.

"Also, you have no idea what a sssitting duck is. She shook her head, shooting the brats suggestion down. Split into pairs. And then do what? Send Margo off on her own? Leave Ruby to fend for herself? Perhaps throw Pericles to the wolves? Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slivers. "Set a room on fire and block someone in. Then we can talk all about sssitting ducks." She spat back, voice quivering. The child knew nothing.

The metamorphs eyes wandered to Ruby, as if looking for backup. The verbal dispute might have been childish, but it was absolutely necessary. She wasn't about to let some kid- let alone some kid she didn't even know, call the shots, and get someone in this group hurt or worse- killed. She bobbed through the air, diving, and the swooping up again, until she was close enough to the odd shapes. Her heart dropped, as did her broom, as she dove to avoid one of the thing. "Oh..." This was not good. "Ruby. Get Margo- or Pericles, grab sssomeone. Anyone." She pleaded quietly, with the snake. There was the chance that she could have gone unheard. "We have a ssswarm of Mosps flying in." She informed, louder this time. The metamorph swallowed hard, as she watched one of the bulbous insects buzz past her, and land on the railing next to Ruby.

That insect was watching the group. The hairs on the back of Xailahs neck, shot up, as she sensed another presence move by. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted another Mosp, not far from her. Only this one was different. It was purple, and seemed to lack an interest in the lioness. If she recalled correctly, she had been taught in Care Of Magical Creatures, that some Mosps weren't as aggressive as others. She was quite surprised she even remembered anything from that class, considering she thought Professor Griffith was a loony. Maybe this was one of the less aggressive ones? Perhaps, but Xailah wasn't taking any chances. She tore the wad of boutonnieres, that she had taken from the Quidditch Pitch, out from under her harness. She would then cast it in the direction of a unfamiliar student, @Lamik Fillestar. Perhaps he could make more use of the bundle of blooms, than she could.

Her position on her broom would change, as she slowly brought her legs up to her chest, where she would take a crouched stance. She was trying to size up the insect, trying to see if it would notice her, or her movements. But it didn't. Not in that moment at least. Its plump, blobular, body remained inside the flowerpot. It was then, Xailah had the weirdest thought. How the hell did these things fly? Their wings were far too small to get their fat little bodies off the ground! Perhaps they were like bees, and didn't care about what humans thought was impossible. Shower thoughts to ponder another time. The Gryffindor would blink, pushing away the intruding mental images of bumblebees desperately trying to fly. Because these were no bumblebees.

But dear god she wished they were. She wished they were fat, and fuzzy, and didn't have foot-long stingers. Her attention would fall back onto the Mosp that was eyeing the herd of students. The one thing the lioness didn't like about bugs, were their eyes. Their iridescent spheres, where expressionless. You couldn't tell what were thinking, or if they were even thinking at all. "Ruby, its watching them." She said in a hushed tone. The Gryffindor would slowly back away from the Mosp that was in her vicinity, and begin to make her way back to Ruby and the group. As she went, the inklings of a plan began to pool together. She would make her way to the railing, and hover above the edge, her golden stare boring into Pericles silver one. "Get on. Or get another broom. But be quick. And get rid of that damn carnation."

This wasn't a offer, or even a question. This was a order. "I have a plan, but we need to get higher up." She informed, gaze shifting to Margo. "It is sssafer there, sssince it is colder. The Mosps are going to ssstay closer to the ground, sssince it is warm there, and they have a source of food. We will have more of an advantage from above." She hurriedly explained, as she tried to convince the stragglers to hop onto a broomstick. "From there, we can sssmoke them out. Which could possibly cause them to sssuffocate, or become disoriented." She had seen her father go down to the catacombs, at home, to smoke out the wasps that had made their nests among the Honeybees and moths. The smoke worked on the average wasp, so why not the wasp-moth hybrids?

"Please I-" She was willing to plead with them if they refused. But then the Railing-Mosp moved. It brought a spindly little leg up to wipe its tiny face. That was all it took. She wasn't taking chances. The Gryffindor had an itchy trigger finger. She was paranoid. There was no room for any rational thought, in that small sliver of a second. Her pupils would force themselves into narrow slits. Her lips curled back, revealing rows of sharp, chattering teeth. Without thinking, she would make the first assault on that particular Mosp. Metal claws and all.

@Xailah Alptraum, @Margo White, @Ruby Cazares, @Breana Oliveire

"Its a goddamn cage. A huge fucking bowl."

Pericles answered Xailah's horror-struck realization with thinned lips and a subtle nod. It was what he had feared: becoming trapped, being surrounded. Brooms in the bleachers were his at providing an escape, precisely why he had led them here. A choice was offered.
“Thanks for the offer, but I'm not leaving.” "No way you're gonna get rid of me that easily, Per. I'm still gonna help you all in any way I can!" "You must take me for a fool Pericles. I told you in that letter that I was not going to leave you with a bunch of hooligans. Let alone leave my new acquaintances with children, that don't even know how to dress themselves properly." Glossing over that last tidbit, as he did most snark, the boy gave a bittersweet smile. Breana's words- and the flex of her arm- made him grin in spite of himself. Ruby's willingness to remain served as relief and empowerment simultaneously. He was terribly glad for the four who had come along, and made a mental note to thank them if they made it out of this alive. "You sssaid I was your friend Pericles. I don't have very many of those, so I'm going to ssstay with the few that I do have. But, I am going to take a broom, and I'm going to go see what making that buzzing sssound." Moved, feeling a stir of sentimentality battle against his anxieties, Pericles offered a brief albeit earnest parting: "You are my friend, and I am yours. Be careful please."

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to fly with all the candles and who knows what else above. We wouldn’t be able to see where we’re going and therefore couldn’t help anyone who fell.”
It was a valid concern, one which saw Pericles nodding his understanding to Margo, though he assured: "If anyone can manage, it's Xailah. She has extraordinary eyesight." "We did talk about strength in numbers, yeah? So maybe we can have a greater chance of covering more ground if we'd split up in pairs.... It might be a risky move, but we'd also be sittin' ducks if we'd all group together when there's something popping up somewhere here."
Their resolve emboldened his own, filling him with hope. Before the boy could comment however, hateful words came trickling from up above like acid rain. There were many things he liked about Xailah. He enjoyed their banter, found kindred comfort in her strangeness, and admired her bold nature. But now, the Gryffindor's moxie was on the rise from bold to blazing, burning out of control, searing the air. Pericles didn't like arguments. He did not care for confrontation, though there was one thing which could spur him against his benevolent bearing: rudeness.

"Xailah!" Down in the pit, he had tried to gently coax her away from insulting others. His tone had been warm even then, a soft tease, as though her pureblood elitism was charming and understood. That warmth was gone. Her name was a shrill twang, the sound an instrument's string makes when it is drawn so tightly it snaps, the bombard of insults pushing his patience to its limits. There were many things Pericles found so discomforting that he elected to ignore them, but how could he stand idly by as one friend tore into another? The light of his Lumos exaggerated his expression, making the furrow of his brow and curve of his lips look like a deep and uncharacteristic grimace. "I am shocked at you. I understand you are afraid, that you've seen how these things play out, but that is hardly an excuse to be so- so incredibly cruel! I asked Breana to stay by me at the Ball. I intend for all of us to stay together, to fight together, as it seems we must. If you cannot stomach that-..." As outraged as the boy may be by Xailah's behavior, he could not possibly bring himself to say she could just leave. He didn't want her to leave, couldn't bear the thought of them splitting apart now, over a grudge he didn't even understand. Did those two know one another at all? It didn't matter in that moment. He had said enough, and that ominous hum was growing ever louder. Pericles instead insisted, bitter remnants of frustration on his tongue, "Please, Xai. Save your ire for what waits in the dark. Breana has not done anything to deserve it."

Ruby's voice had him whipping around. “Something's there,” she had hissed, and he turned towards the witch at the top of the bleachers. "Breana has a point," he stated swiftly, glancing to Margo next. "We stay together, but do so in close pairs, so as to hone our focus. If we must fly, one can steer, the other cast. Keep Xailah between us. Brea: can you mount a broom in your ballgown?"
"Get on. Or get another broom. But be quick. And get rid of that damn carnation."
Pericles continued to frown. The look in his eye implied it practically pained him to hold such an unhappy, unfamiliar expression. Without a word, he used his free hand to quickly cast aside the carnation, then withdrew two steps down. Palm opened over a broom between the bleachers, he barked a decisive "Up!" It was the most commanding tone he had ever mustered where brooms were considered, and the readiness with which it snapped up into his hand was enough to startle away his scowl. "From there, we can sssmoke them out. Which could possibly cause them to sssuffocate, or become disoriented." It would have been an excellent plan, using smoke against mosps, if he was without compassion. "We can't. We would smoke out the students, too." Who knew what harm would befall the ball-goers if they filled the pitch with smoke? Or if the smoke drove the mosps downward to the crowd...?

Pericles was struggling under a sensation which was utterly alien. He was cross with her, something that didn't set well with the typically tranquil lad whatsoever. But irked or no, Xailah was and would remain his friend, so seeing her fly for the mosp rapidly replaced his vexation with dread. The thing had hauled its fat body up from the darkness down below and landed precariously close to Ruby. It's sheer size sent an icy sensation shooting through his veins. "Wait!" was all he would manage before they engaged... for better or worse.

Action: Picking up broom, still sustaining Lumos.

[font="Monotype Corsiva"]Arriving from the Changing Rooms[/font]

[font="Monotype Corsiva"]As Quinn approached the stands he could swear he saw flashed of light and what looked to be spells being flung in the distance. It was hard not to notice considering the all encompassing darkness and what was up with this buzzing sound. It was getting louder as he managed to stumble his way all the way up to the quidditch stands. His massive weight causing the wood beneath him to dangerously creak and possibly splinter in certain spots.

However he surprisingly made it in one piece only to be met by utter chaos. He still couldn't see all too well but he always had a knack for noticing things. He could hear the sounds, and the buzzing making out faint shapes and clearer shapes thanks to some of the spells that were thrown right as he arrived. What the hell was going on now? What was happening and why did it always feel like the forces that be were doing everything they could to prevent the students from having a normal drama free event!

It was frustrating but Quinn just arrived, the towering half giant who even in the darkness would most likely standout being close to 8 feet in height and weighing well over 240 kilos. Nervously Quinn stood there looking around trying to pay attention to every detail all so he could find Nico. He hoped she was up here, he hoped she was staying safe. He hoped despite the chaos everyone was trying to stay safe but especially her.[/font]

Reducio

[font="Monotype Corsiva"]Character Stats:
Stamina: 12 Evasion: 2 Strength: 13 Wisdom: 8 Arcane Power: 2 Accuracy: 5
Ability:
Sixth Sense[/font]

Interacting with: @Raine Sage

"No, I'm just fine. I'm hoping that I didn't squish you though,” said Raine. “You're skin and bones, as usual."

As the girl stood, Arc also propped himself back up, still slightly giggling. “Pssh, I’m alright. Are you sure you don’t need to…”

She suddenly raised her hand and he stopped laughing and talking entirely. "Arc, shh. Listen... Do you hear that?"

She turned around to face the Quidditch Pitch and almost instinctively he looked at whatever it was she was looking. He was not entirely sure that she was serious. There was always this slight chance that she was pranking him. But it would not hurt him to err on the side of caution. He would not go as far to say that the place was cursed. But with its long overreaching history, Hogwarts was probably literally cursed. In fact, Arc was sure he had read a passage that implied that very thing in one of the books he read this past year.

Arc tried to focus, to heighten his senses, to see, listen, and perhaps smell beyond his immediate proximity, but he had to admit that Raine was distracting him somewhat on that front. Ugh. There was some sort of fighting going on, but it was harder and harder for him to see as it got darker and… Wait. What? The light was dying. It would not take long before everything was enveloped in darkness. In it…something was moving? Bobbing and gliding? And what was that sound? It was some kind of buzz, not unlike the sound that the bee made. Or a hummingbird. Yeah. Now that he thought about it, it sounded a lot like quickly beating wings that tried to lift a much bigger body. But this thing…whatever it was, was much bigger than a hummingbird.

"Arc, get up. We may have to start moving soon," said his best friend as she put her bag down and removed her heels, changing it with sock and sneakers from the bag. He was about to offer her his own shoes when she cut her off before, but apparently, she came prepared. Raine quietly said something before she reached the back of her dress and... Oh, shit.

He promptly turned his head. “Ra…raine, what are you doing?” His voice trembled a little. Was she undressing in front of him?! Did she put a set of change clothing in her bag as well? It was dark and they had known each other for a long time, but it was still not proper. One problem, though, his head was now facing the other way of the pitch. And he did not know how quickly those buzzing creatures could reach them. So, they must hurry and he needed to look back... A quick peek showed that, again, he should not have worried. The girl had worn a black, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts underneath her dress and no creatures were heading towards them. Yet.

Fiuh. That was nerve-wracking.

"Arc, I don't know what's going on, but as you can see, we're in complete darkness. There's some shit moving around strangely out in the field and if the rumors around the school about Hags invading Hogwarts is to be believed, then we need to get the hell out of here, now! I doubt two second-year students will be able to fight off a horde of evil children eating wenches."

Raine took out her wand and tried to cast lumos. Unfortunately, whether it was the panic or something else, she was unsuccessful. Only a quickly fading bubble of light was formed. A few other students were casting spells in the stand. One could be heard casting Periculum, while another one made two magnificent bolts of fire. As the encroaching creatures got closer and the students on the stand light up the place somewhat, the ominous shaped could be roughly discerned. Were they…Vampyr Mosp? A few other probabilities came to mind, but Arc was at least sure it was not a hag. Unless, they shapeshifted or something.

“I don’t think it’s a hag,” said the dark-haired boy as he also took out his wand from his pocket. “It’s more like some kind of a magical insect.” A big magical insect. With stingers. He left that unsaid, though. "But still, I completely agree with you. We shouldn't fight them head-on. A powerful back-up is what we need."

The teenager would not say that the teachers in Hogwarts were the most responsible adults. But they were at least full grown witches and wizards. Better them to handle this kind of problem than two students. "I am sure I have seen some school brooms strewn around the stands going up. I could swear one is pretty close to us. Help me find it."

The young Eagle wanted to cast the wand-lighting charm as well, but he was afraid that it would attract one of the mosps. Then again, without enough lighting they might also get ambushed, either by those overgrown bugs, or yanno, something else. Besides, it would certainly help them locate a broom quicker, right?

And between the two of them if light really would attract those magical insectoid. It was better him than her. She was stronger and braver than him, sure, but by the gods, it would hurt him more if she got injured in front of his very eyes. Plus, maybe, just maybe, his weird, scary "presence" would deter those creatures..? He certainly would not count on that, though.

Arc Perscivious readied his wand and made a loop. "Lumos."

Cast Lumos

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares, @Xailah Alptraum, @Pericles Dralt and @Breana Oliveire

”You should go.”

Ruby wanted her to leave? Did she not put faith in Margo’s ability to look after herself? Didn’t she think that her classmate would be able to help in a tricky situation? Margo tried to ignore her rising hurt. Did Ruby really think of her as unworthy? But wait. Was she looking at this wrong? What if Ruby cared if Margo got hurt. What if... Ruby wanted Margo safe more than she valued her own well-being. Why else would she point out their current lack of safety? Margo felt a pang of affection for the girl before shaking her head slightly to clear the emotion from her face. Ruby had to learn that they were in this together. She wouldn’t leave without her friend.

But there were the other students to think of as well. The pitch was a scarily good place to stage an ambush, Margo thought as she stared into the darkness. Limited exits, limited broomsticks. Whilst Xailah had been rather morbid in her proclamation of the situation, she wasn’t wrong. They were sitting ducks, and if something came at them from the sky... Merlin’s hairy beard, what was that? Two roaring tongues of fire devoured the darkness below them, the boy having cast the spell momentarily illuminated. Margo silently cursed him. What if there had been students in the path of his rashly pointed wand? They’d be nothing but charred bones now. However, she had to admit that the boy’s spell had achieved its purpose. It had lit up the darkness. Only, Margo wondered if it would have been better not to see the creatures coming for them.

Each bulbous creature was bigger than all the heads in their group combined. The rotund bodies glinted a mixture of gold and purple in the momentary light. When darkness swept over the students again, Margo let out a haggard sigh and turned to Xailah. But the girl’s gaze was elsewhere. Margo turned, blood roaring in her ears, to meet the unyielding stare of a Vampyr Mosp. In that moment, she didn’t care that the creature’s stinger looked like it could puncture her arm, only that Ruby was in front of her, blocking her. She grabbed the girl’s wrist to try and pull her backwards, not even daring to blink at the beast. When she thought she saw it twitch slightly, she froze, petrified that it would leap for the Slytherin prefect. No she thought. Anyone but her.

Xailah was ordering, no pleading them to get on a broomstick, and Margo felt a sense of dread rising in her chest. ”Smoke them out.” She whispered, testing the theory on her tongue. If she could get Ruby away from the Mosp, then she’d get on a broomstick. She had no choice, she told herself. Xailah’s plan wasn’t necessarily the one they’d follow, but the fastest way back to the castle was through the sky, and if Ruby was going to be stubborn and stay with her, she couldn’t endanger her friend. Margo allowed herself a second to look up at the moon, trying to prepare herself for what was to come.

”Can we share a broom, Ruby?” She muttered, not trusting the tone of her voice. For the first time since she’d met the Slytherin, her words were devoid of sarcasm. Margo tried to smile at Pericles and the girl who she wasn’t yet acquainted with. Unfortunately, the girl in the gown seemed to have provoked Xailah’s hatred, and from what Margo had seen, it was an extremely unpleasant thing to receive. If her fingers weren’t numb in fear, she might have admired the girl for it. As it was, she tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke to them.

”I think smoking them out would work after the pitch is cleared. But we’re going to need a plan until everyone has escaped.” Margo closed her eyes in thought. A plan, they needed a plan. She’d worry about being terrified of flying later. ”Is there any way to mass kill the flowers? Or even just destroy the ones we can see?”

Whilst Margo had understood the urgency in Xailah’s tone, she hadn’t dug into why. Now, as she stared at the girl lunging for the Mosp, she understood. She ran her fingers over the familiar ridges of her wand, and prepared to jump to Xailah’s aid if given the chance. She allowed her gaze to wander to Ruby’s broom. It was just a thin piece of wood, but in Margo it instilled a fear that nothing else could. ”Ruby.” She murmured, her voice no more than whisper on the breeze. It cracked on the familiar syllables of the prefect’s name, and Margo finally let the dam holding back her fear fall. ”I’m scared.”

Action: prepared to help Xailah and/or mount a broom with Ruby

Interacting with @Arc Perscivious

Mentioning @Celynne Gray

"Damn it!" Raine said fiercely as she looked at her wand. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness in front of her, but it was still too dark to make out the other figures in the stands with her. However, even though she couldn't see what was going on around her, she could very well hear the loud buzzing as the creatures she could barely make out in the middle of the pitch came flying into the stands. They whizzed by both her and Arc's heads. They were loud and making those irritating "bzzz bzzz" noises that only fast flying insects could make. 'An irritating insect? But what kind of creature is that large that they could make shadows that large?' Raine thought to herself as she looked in the dark direction that the creature ventured off to. It didn't matter though. She didn't want to stick around and find out what they were.

"It’s more like some kind of a magical insect." Arc had said, almost as if he were reading her thoughts. "But still, I completely agree with you. We shouldn't fight them head-on. A powerful back-up is what we need. I am sure I have seen some school brooms strewn around the stands going up. I could swear one is pretty close to us. Help me find it."

Raine nodded, not that the boy could see it, and started fumbling her way over to the steps of the stands where she would be able to maybe trip over a strewn school broom. The two of them were on their house's the Quidditch teams for a short time in First Year so she was sure that they both were competant enough to fly out of there and back to the school. The only problem was trying to find the blasted brooms in the complete darkness.

"Where's the bloody moon when you need it?" Raine griped as she continued to feel around on the floor for something that resembled a broom. The one night where the moon would be a lovely companion to everyone in the dark, it wasn't there. There were lights shining around but she couldn't rely on them as they were far away from her position and seemed like simple Lumos spells. A really bright one flew close to her head though and it seemed as if the girl who cast it was intentionally helping those students who couldn't see well in the dark or failed supremely at casting a simple charm, like Raine did. Either way, that large Lumos she had cast and tossed away from her helped her see a bit in front of her and, sure enough, a trio of brooms were sat just a ways away from her. A brief smile lit up on her face and she turned to where she remembered Arc being.

"Arc! I found some! Just move a little further ahead! Let's each grab one incase we have to get passengers." she said as she moved forward toward the prone brooms. She would have reached back to grab at his hand, but she also didn't want to waste time searching in the dark for his hand when there was a possiblity of someone else reaching the brooms before her. She wasn't selfish. She would take a passenger with her out of danger, but there was no telling that the other students in the stands would be as considerate.

Action: Moves to the prone brooms and mounts one