BlossomFest Great Maze - Team Towers PV

Serena clenched her teeth, staring at the tall hedges in front of her. She hated this. They hadn't even started properly and she already hated this maze with every fibre of her being. Although she was putting on the bravest face she could, she was terrified. Not long had passed since she had been permitted to leave the hospital following the dark night of the camp out. Whilst she had physically recovered for the most part, she still winced a little and got tired more easily than before. Perhaps it was more psychological than physical damage, however.

The Hufflepuff had agreed to this but she was really regretting doing so. She looked in front of her, her gaze falling onto the three friends that had dragged her here. They walked on ahead, entering into the maze. It would be fun, they said. It would be easy, they claimed. She would enjoy it, they promised. So far, none of these things were happening. Any excuse she had used had failed on them. One of them always had a counter ready for whatever excuse she tried... 

With her, there were two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw. She bite her lip a little. The Gryffindors were brave and courageous. A maze was not going to scare them. Ravenclaws were known for their wisdom and intelligence, they could use their extensive knowledge to beat anything that came their way. But Hufflepuffs weren't known for their bravery or intelligence. They were known for their loyalty. And in this case, Serena's loyalty was to her friends. She had agreed to this for them... Because it would make them happy. Because she knew they doing this out of care and concern for her. And whilst she would never back out of her promise, she was really beginning to wish she had never agreed to it in the first place.

No one understood how she felt right now. Perhaps no one other than the Hufflepuffs who were there with her that night. Only those who had gotten attacked by the shadows would understand the pain and confusion she felt. Serena clutched her fingers tightly into a fist. Reid would understand. This is why he would never have made her come here in the first place. In fact, he was probably avoiding it too! Oh, she should have stuck with him. It was days like this that she wished she wasn't a pureblood that grew up hearing stories of the war. Of that Tri-wizard tournament, where the dark lord was found at the end of the maze... Where one of the Hufflepuffs she admired had died...

Yes, everything she knew about Hogwarts and their mazes was not pleasant. She hated this... But she had no choice. Her friends were already entering. She followed suit behind them, steadying her breathing as best as possible. Her usual smile and happiness seemed to be lost. People had rarely since it since the camp out... Instead, there was a blank expression on her face. One that was currently hiding the fear she felt within.

As she entered, she saw the tall hedges get tower over them. They seemed a lot bigger once they were inside it... There were three paths. East, West and North West. Serena bit her lip as the hedges seemed even taller now. It cast shadows in certain places. The same shadows that she had seen come alive... The same shadows that had suddenly turned to attack her and her friends. Edging closer to the nearest person, Serena put her hand underneath his arm and pulled herself closer to him. She hugged it closely, planting herself next to the taller boy that she knew as Siege. There was no particular reason for picking him. Other than the fact that he was closest to her - and well, because it makes the posts more amusing than her fear. 

Serena didn't say anything. She allowed the other three to talk and lead her into the maze as they pleased. Instead, she just stood there, holding onto Siege's arm as though she was just being a friend. Though, it was secretly because she was terrified and she wanted someone near her. If the shadows came alive, he was probably the best person to be next to, anyway.

ACTION: Follow team in chosen direction.

He was tired. His brain was tired. His erm...Ahem...Legs were tired, from walking and carrying and standing up,just too much of a hassle. He really couldn't think anything about the "Now" he was thinking of the past, where he came from, The city he grew up in, Glasgow. Now he wasn't missing it per say, but he was missing some of his mates...But they were in a different world now as well as he. He wasn't feeling it today, but he knew to feel like that, at least not because of her. He needed to be there for her, he can't be elsewhere in both mind and body.

He knew that she wasn't exactly fine, he wasn't even sure that she's safe enough to walk long distances like this yet. But...It felt weird to...Worrying over someone, it was a breath of relief, a foreign feeling he welcomed all too much. It was a nice change for him, once upon a time not caring for anyone but himself...Now she's given him someone to care for, to feel for...to love for. He slowly lagged behind the others as they sped up ahead in excitement and wonder, while he was still tired. He breathed slowly and lazily, his cold and warm breaths flowing through him with every time his feet would hit the ground as he walked.

He wasn't the only one lagging behind though, he also knew that Serena was falling behind, because of her injuries? He didn't want to spoil her fun, but he couldn't help but think that she was in pain. Should he turn and express worry? Cause he was worried, didn't want to just be a spoiler of what could potentially be harmful to her...Though he was delved into confusion once more...After all, caring wasn't his strong suit.

He would debate once more in his mind should he turn around and offer a piggy back ride or something, although it seemed that he thought too much, as the shy and scared girl behind him would grab his arm, pulling it closer to her, as if hugging it...Ugh, there goes his sanity.

*Should I? I mean, I should turn around and comfort her...She must be in pain, why else would she be lagging?...Huh?...Wha, wha, wha, what...?...Why is she...Holding me like this?*

He wasn't used to this, definitely not. He wasn't used to anyone holding him so softly, especially her...I mean, yes they were friends, but it wasn't helping that he liked her, albeit him not really knowing it himself. His cheeks slowly turned into a light shade of crimson, although he knew that she was feeling pretty damn down or scared to hug his arm like this...The mere warmth of her embrace sent shivers down his spine...Like I said, he wasn't used to any kind of sorts of things like this. He grew up without a family and when Ed took him in, it was the first time he's felt someone even care for what he'll do, or how'll he end up in the world. Now...well it's his turn, to care for his friend, the one who he cares for...The one he treasured.

"Wha?-..." A slight surprised tone came from his lips, although noticing her look he relaxed and smiled like he usually would at her. "Hey, it'll be fine...trust me." Siege would say, his other arm proceeding to give her a small pat on the head, like he gave her back in potions. He hoped his reassuring smile would be enough to get her to calm down and be more comfortable...They went down here for her...If it comes to it, they'll even pull out of this for her.

The two girls up front suddenly came to a stop...It seems time to pick the direction. The two in front seemed to be pretty damn conflicted about where to go. Was it that hard to pick a direction? I mean sure, they wanted to win, but was that really the priority right now? Isn't the reason why they came together was for Serena?...Well Siege and I have to admit...Winning is pretty damn fun. So why not?

"Let's go to the North-west direction." Siege would say after playing a short game of eanie meanie miney moe in his mind. He really didn't really care about winning, or the maze even, he just cared about Serena...He wanted to make her feel happy...Especially for all the things he's done...

Delilah had been as excited about the maze as everything else so far, she was like a puppy, excited about everything. It was surprising she didnt have hay fever already from being outside so much, but so far she was okay. Although if anything was gonna give her hay fever, it would be a hedge maze. As they approached the maze she ran ahead with Reyna, leaving Siege and Serena a little bit behind, she hadn't really spoken to Reyna before but when was Serenas friend so she was bound to be nice.

She was a little uneasy being there with Siege after the whole kiss thing happened, but he didn't seem to be trying anything, plus Serena could stand up for herself if necessary, it went completely wrong when the Ravenclaw tried to help. She stopped at the edge of the maze with the three different directions to go in, west, east and north-west. She thought about it for a moment, turning around to the others, seeing Serena holding onto Siege as he suggested north-west. "You okay Serena?" She asked worriedly, she looked scared, Delilah looked up at Siege with a questioning look.

She nodded at Siege's suggestion to go North-west and looked over at Reyna, "You okay with north-west?" She turned back around to face the maze and looked down the North-west trail, "Aye, let's just go this way then." She said with a small shrug. 

Action: Agree with Siege on going North-west

One step after another, your team is heading northwest in the maze. Taking in the green hedges and breezy wind, the hedges seem to begin to bloom more and more with flowers and buds. The hedges become prettier the further you venture towards the northwest path of the maze. Strange. Perhaps it is the right way to go as increased growth is happening towards the direction. As you walk further and further down the path, you realize that not only are there more flowers, but there are many more bumblebees. Luckily, they were cast not to attack and only be idle among their flowers. You keep going, past the bumblebees and towards what finally seemed like a dead end of the maze. Oh no! Your team turns around and you now walk past the flowers and bumblebees and decide on a new path.

You must choose East or West from the entrance now. Teams cannot split up.

Serena blinked as she felt a hand pat her on her head. Looking up, she noticed the Gryffindor boy looking down at her.  Nodding, she smiled weakly at him, "Ye-yeah, I- I know," She replied, though her voice was not really full of confidence. Serena did trust him. However, she just did not trust herself at this point in time. The Hufflepuff looked away, staring down at the ground. "Yeah, I'm okay," Serena mumbled in response to Delilah. She was... at least for now. This was just a precautionary fear, after all.

They walked North-West. The team walked past more hedges. It was pretty, to be honest. There were hedges that blossomed with more flowers. However, as they continued to walk, her eyes fell onto the bumble bees that hovered around the flowers. For a moment, she hesitated.

Siege would have been able to feel the hesitation in her as she squeezed his arm a little. But it turned out to be fine, as they did not seem interested in attacking them. They were distracted by the beautiful flowers. Smiling softly, Serena continued to follow the group. Unfortunately, they found a dead end. The frown crossed her face. "Guess this wasn't the right way..." She said, pointing out the obvious as she turned around.

They walked back to the beginning again, "We could go East or West this time..." Serena continued once they reached the start again, after passing by the bees once more. Luckily, they still did not attack them. "Shall we go... West?" She randomly asked, deciding that West was close to North-West but slightly different. Perhaps that one would be better, "It's sort of close, right?" She concluded, not really using any sort of logic in this thought in reality. Hey, at least she was attempting to get into this now.

Serena was still holding his arm closely at this point. She followed behind the rest of them, walking slowly around. Her eyes focused on the area around. There was no way she wanted to fall into something by surprise. She just hoped nothing went wrong anymore. Serena really just did not trust herself or her ability to cast magic. Hopefully they would not need it today... This was supposed to be a fun event, right?

ACTION: Pick West

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

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

OOC: Oof, you accidentally put East instead of West but I'm just going to work with it here. Also I'm kind of just making all of the decisions just to see what happens since the rest of the team aren't posting... Godmodding them to assume they are coming with x) because they have to stick together

Serena walked in the random direction that she deemed to be West. It was, in fact, the exact opposite. The Hufflepuff was terrible with directions, that was for sure. Even on a good day, she was bad with directions. Right now, it was not a good day. She really did not want to be here. She wanted to leave - and quickly. But... so far, things actually seemed to be going okay. It was somewhat of a relief that nothing had gone horribly wrong already.

The young girl continued to walk with her team through the maze. The hedges grew taller. She did not realise she was walking in the east direction and none of her team that thought to correct her. So she continued to walk, silently. The more they walked, the taller the hedges got. They started to tower over Team Towers over nothing and the light started to fade. It was at this moment that the grip of her hands got tighter as she held on closer to her friend. The darkness was rising as the light faded away. She could feel her stomach churning at the thought of being trapped in the darkness again. Serena's steps slowed a little, hesitately continuing. She did not want to. But she also did not want to be a burden on others like they were to her. The grass became rough, a little more awkward and uncomfortable to walk through.

A gasp escaped her, as her heartbeat suddenly started beating. From the corner of her eye she saw something move. She had no idea what it was but whatever it was, it scared her. The animal was small but Serena did not get a chance to look at it closer. All she saw was a flash of black and white before it ran off. She clutched the boy's arm, holding him tightly as she almost instinctively moved behind him. He said he'd protect her, right? Well this was her trusting him to do that. Luckily, he did not have to do anything as the animal disappeared without doing any harm to them. Serena sighed a breathe of relief, composing herself.

Deciding to get out of her as quickly as possible, Serena turned to the South and attempted to walk in a direction that looked like a possible exit. Who knew if it was at this point in time?

ACTION: Pick South