The Dancing Squid

Donny was left, his mouth ajar as he closed it back up, the pumpkin pasty he'd pulled out of his own pocket was in his stomach. What a history! Donny thought his was bad, but at least he didn't live on the streets for all his life. He focused on Ruka, the two of them sitting there, almost dumbstruck at each other before Donny finally replied, "I'm really sorry about that Ruka, I didn't quite know!" he said, quickly handing over his affectionate Bon-bon's to Ruka. Donny sighed, looked at the ground and back up again fiddling with his wand. "Well... we might as well get a move right? Adventure can't wait!" he said, throwing a friendly hand on Ruka's shoulder and back on the paddle. "So... where to? West, North, East, backwards, forwards... wherever?" Said Donny, handing over his compass, and the slip of mapped paper from his book to Ruka. 

Donny was thinking about paddling a little quicker this time, when he thought he felt a heavy object brush the side of the boat. He furrowed an eyebrow, looking down over the boat as best he could, as it was getting quite dark. He shook his head and listened in as Ruka spoke, answering his question...  

Ruka almost laughed at the way Donny reacted to his family history, it was a little comical, but also not very funny, so he bit down on an amused smile.
He realised that a lot of people felt bad for him because of the way he had grown up, but having never known anything else, he really didn't have any reason to complain.
"It's alright," he told Donny with a smile, taking one of the Bon-Bons but waiting a moment before popping it in his mouth. "It really isn't that bad. It never gets boring at least." He grinned and popped in the candy, screwing up his eyes in surprise when it started exploding on his tongue.
He opened his mouth slightly to listen to the popping sound until it had slowed down a bit and it was safe for him to keep his lips sealed again.
Wordlessly, not wanting the candy to spring from his tongue, he took the paper and compass, trying to adjust them until they seemed to match up with the direction they were facing.
"West," he said confidently, pointing in the right direction. If there was one thing he was sure to do, it was reading a compass.
He grabbed his paddle, starting to move it at the right speed for them to turn the boat in the right direction when they... paddled over a bump?
They could hear a noise like the bottom of the boat had gone across a rock or something similar, the boat strangely lifting off the water surface for a moment before dropping down again.
"What was that?" he asked, muscles gone tense as he looked over the side of the boat and back at Donny again. "That was... too big to be a Grindylow, right?" He swallowed helplessly, clasping one hand around his wand despite the fact that he didn't really know any spells yet and all he was able to do was make some sparks spring from the tip of it. Sometimes.
"Could it be a Kelpie?"

Donny was all too sure it wasn't a Kelpie or a tiny Grindylow, but he did have a slight idea what might lurk below them. He chose not to tell Ruka what he thought instead saying, "Oh, it's probably a boulder, or a nest of some sorts..." he said, trailing off into his mind, his curled over his wand. "Maybe we should just... chill, it is getting kinda dark..." said Donny, pulling out the enchanted lantern and lighting it with the tip of his fingers. "Here," he said to Ruka, taking grip of his book. 

"I'll ask you some questions, and every time you get one right, you can grab a Bon-bon!" he said, flipping some pages. "But there's a twist!" he said. If you get more than three wrong, you have to jump in the lake for ten seconds. If you get more than three right, I have to jump in!" he said challengingly. "And to make it easier..." he trailed off. "I brought some extra robes." he said, pointing to a sack under his feet that was more commonly thought for the Pumpkin Pasties. He knew Ruka would probably not want to do this, but as a pact of friendship, one had to come out of their shell. Besides, Donny would probably have to jump in too."Now," he said. "If you accept, i'll start with Question one?"    

Ruka took a deep breath, nodding to Donny's words. It was probably nothing, just a boulder, a bit of resistance in the water.
He thought, for a moment, of the tentacles he'd seen sometimes, especially when practicing performances by the lake, but the creature had always seemed gentle enough, and Grindylow usually stayed under water until a victim breached the surface, and kelpies... Well, he just kind of hoped there were no Kelpies in this lake.
He leaned back, relaxing again when Donny suggested they just chill a bit. He was right; it was late, they were in the middle of the lake, they had food and drink and lots to talk about, so why wouldn't they just chill?
Ruka took the last bite of his pumpkin pastry, coughing a bit on it when Donny suggested the Question Challenge. He hadn't really expected it and a part of him really didn't want to risk having to jump into the lake, but he sure wasn't going to back out of it. If he ever doubted the hat's decision to put him in Gryffindor, this reassured him again that it had been the right choice; He did have a knack for being brave about stupid things.
"I'm up for it," he said, nodding, a look of determination on his face. He leaned forward a bit as he waited for his first question, when something heavy hit the boat, causing it to shake dangerously.
Ruka could feel himself sliding a bit further to the edge of the boat due to the impact and he looked at Donny with uncertainty in his eyes. "If it's a Kelpie we're dead," was the first thing he could think of, and it was so ridiculous he almost had to laugh but before he got the chance to do that, something hit the boat again and this time it sent him tumbling over the edge and straight into the water.
It was freezing, colder than he'd imagined, and that was all he could think about as he was pulled under for a moment, unable to breathe or shout for help.
A second later he reached the water surface again, splashing about a bit helplessly as he tried to reach the boat again. "I'm fine," he said, caughing up some water, his eyes burning a bit but he still managed to make out Donny and the boat.
The feeling of safety lasted for exactly ten seconds until something long wrapped around his left foot and, just as he was reaching for the boat, pulled and pulled and pulled, and the next thing he knew was his vision blurring and the oxygen leaving his lungs.

Donny couldn't believe what he was witnessing. "Ruka!" he yelled int to the surface of the water, illuminating it with the lantern his face was pale and scared. He really was worried... his best friend was being pulled under water, and all because of his carelessness and selfless acts of adventure. Donny scrambled, his eyes wild with thoughts of the worsts possible scenarios that could happen. He scraped the surface of the water, his glasses at the end of his nose in attempt to see beneath the black depths of the lake. "Ruka! I'm here!" he said, his voice high with fear. Just then he saw it. A large purplish pink tentacle with suckers and tentacles attached were latched onto Ruka's wand arm, his head bobbing at the surface, gasping for air. He tried to grab for Ruka's hand, but it was no use. He was being tipped over as he reached out, the weight of his body seemingly too much for the large boat.  

"Ruka! Take my hand!" he said as he bobbed up a second time, taking a large gasp of air, and reaching for Donny's wet hands. He was utterly terrified, reaching for his wand and all, his hair frantic in his face. He just hoped Ruka could grab hold... 

    

For a moment Ruka thought that everything was over now; he would just pass out and be eaten by the thing that had grabbed hold of him.
Then, for whatever reason, it let go of his leg, letting his head and left arm breach the surface again.
He could distinctly make out Donny's voice but his vision was blurred and all he really saw was the moon slowly setting in the sky. The water was cold and heavy in his clothes so that even without being pulled down it was hard to stay afloat.
He coughed loudly, struggling when a long tentacle wrapped around his arm and pulled at him again, but before it could drag him down, Ruka managed to grab for something: Donny's hand.
He whimpered in discomfort aa he did his best to keep himself on the surface, the pain of the tentacle across his shoulder shooting through his entire body like all his bones were about to break. "Donny!" he managed to croak out, his fingers barely able to close around his friend's hand with how cold they were, and he felt himself slipping out of the grip.
With whatever was left of his common sense, he grabbed for his wand, cold and wet through, floating right next to him. He didn't know any spells, didnt know what to do, but the tip burst with a few random green and red sparks, distracting the tentacle creature for a second, just enough for him to reattach himself to Donny's arm and throw his wand into the boat so it wouldn't get lost in the water. "Pull!" he shouted croakily. "Pull, pull, pull!"

Donny was determined to save Ruka, but terrified that he'd fail. Donny grabbed Ruka's wand, smartly putting it in his dry bag, and reaching down for Ruka again, his own wand in the other hand. "Ruka! Try to grab hold of the boat!" he said, his glasses now near being lost at the waters surface. Donny mustered up all of his strength, took hold of Ruka's arm, and pulled hard. He whimpered with discomfort and before he knew it he was slapped into the surface of the water, the boat nearly flipping.

Donny could only hear muffles and see bubbles. He was trying hard to see, his glasses had vanished. "Ruka!" he yelled, forgetting he was underwater, and nearly choking on himself. Then, Donny saw it. The huge squid, two times the size of the boat, grabbing on to Ruka's pale body. He could only hope that spell would work. He went to the waters surface. "Hey! You, ugly monster! I'm here!" he said stupidly, waving his wand in attempt to get the attention of the squid. The monster surprisingly floated up, an awful sound emitting from it. Donny had no choice. He saw the two large tentacles, and other small ones which he didn't wish to count- but they were legs. He thought back hard, breathing rapidly, and knocking himself in the face. "Tarantallegra!" he yelled, a swirl emitting from his wand to the legs of the giant squid. The squid stopped almost instantly. It then lost it's grip on the motionless Ruka, who Donny quickly pulled away and up into the boat. It then began to do a dance. It was splashing around, it's legs in the air, squiggling around. Donny had done it! He looked down at Ruka, now realizing that he was struggling for air. He did something that he learned in muggle school once, but he had to do so to save Ruka. He crossed his fingers tightly, pressing them up and down in a repetitive motion. "Oh, Ruka, buddy wake up." he said, fearful for his friends life... 

Ruka didn't think he had ever feared for his life as much as when he was grabbing onto Donny's arm, gasping for air, feet helplessly kicking at the tentacles that were trying to pull him back down again.
"Donny," he spluttered out, water dripping out of his mouth as he tried to talk. A glimmer of hope shone in his eyes as Donny pulled him upward for just a second, before he had to watch his friend topple over the edge of the boat as well, his body hitting the surface and going under.
Ruka wanted to scream for help, arms reaching up for something invisible to hold onto, but the next thing he knew he was under water again, eyes burning and lungs filling with water. He squirmed and struggled, praying to whoever may be listening, that something would stop the massive squid from wanting to pull him further down, until eventually his vision blacked out and he fell into a blissful numbness, all fear drained from his body along with the oxygen.

The next time he opened his eyes, Ruka was in the boat and his lings burned as he coughed up more and more water, breath rattling almost frighteningly.
He could make out Donny above him, hands pressed on his chest, but Ruka needed to turn over as he spat out more and more water. "I changed my mind," he breathed out huskily when he finally regained control of his vocal cords. "I would have rather met a Kelpie." He took a deep breath, longing for all the oxygen he could get, and turned to look at Donny who was soaking wet and looked quite frightened.
One look to the side told Ruka all he needed to know for now; The squid that had shortly before tried to drown him, was now performing an impromptu dance on the water surface, tentacles wildly swinging back and forth. "You put a spell on it!" he pointed out, and he couldn't help but fall forward to hug his friend with as much gratefulness as he could manage. "You saved my life!" He took another deep breath before eagerly grabbing for his paddle, his arms feeling weak as he moved them. "We should get out of here, right? Before it stops dancing and tries killing us again!"

Donny was relieved more than he ever had been in his life. He saved his best friend, and had much adventure along the path. He smiled and laughed, happy that Ruka was okay. He went in for the hug, slapping Ruka wet on the back, and smiling. "I bet the kelpies would have helped us if they could!" he said, laughing and grabbing for the lantern, which was now not magically lit. "Incendio!" he said, pointing his wand inside of the lantern, and lighting it. "And yeah, we should probably get to shore!" he said, taking a paddle and rowing quickly.

They soon made it to shore, gulping down what was left of their pumpkin juice.  "Whew! That was-wow!" Donny said, sitting against the boulder, a small fire lit in front of the two. "Here," he said, motioning for his bag. "This didn't get wet at least." he pulled out the extra robes and throwing them to Ruka. "So! Ever fancy seeing that again?" Donny asked laughing softly. Donny looked out at the lake, now dimly lit beautifully by the moon and the stars. "This is way better than the great hall!" he said dreamily, cocking his head to the side and gazing at the sky, being warmed and dried by the fire...  

Ruka had expected almost losing his life would come with more fear and trauma aftrwards. He had expected to long for his bed, to want to curl up and cry, but as Donny clapped him on the back, laughing with relief, Ruka couldn't help but laugh along with him, a sense of happiness coursing through him like he didn't think he'd ever felt.
As dangerous as it had been, this was an adventure he'd never forget, and it had certainly just strengthened the friendship between him and Donny.

He grinned all the way back to shore despite the fact that he was freezing and his whole body was aching, every breath making his lungs sting uncomfortably. Yet, all of it just made him feel even more alive than ever.
"As crazy as it is," he told Donny as they made themselves some space on a bolder, staying close to a warm small fire. "I'd do this again." He laughed and took off his robe, squeezing out some remnants of water before spreading if over the rock next to him so it could dry by the fire. "From now on I'll always bring some food for the squid along so it doesn't feel like eating me instead." He grinned, kicking his feet up as he rummaged through the dry robes Donny had fortunately brought along.
He smiled as he turned his attention to the night sky as well, nodding solemnly along with his friend's words. "Nothing beats the sky right above you," he agreed as he took off his drenched hoodie and replaced it with one of the shirts in Donny's bag, relishing in the dry warmth. He leaned back a bit, his back resting against hard rock as he stared up at the stars. "Can you believe we just almost drowned, but right here it feels like the safest, most peaceful place in the world!"