Quidditch Stands || Secret Blossom Ball Event

@Xailah Alptraum, @Breana Oliveire

Reflex was a funny sort of thing. On an average day, Pericles' reflexes helped him with the simpler sort of tasks, such as snagging a tipping inkwell before it spilled, or catching an envelope at breakfast when the owls delivered mail. Tonight, reflex sent him darting over the edge of the stadium stands to catch a falling girl. He had not stopped to consider how he would manage it, nor how unideal he may be for the task. It was as simple as: she fell, he followed. Pericles was better known for his proficiency with paperwork. He was as studious as Ravenclaws came, eager to soak up information, happy to share obscure factoids. They few who were in on his less-than-Prefect activities may know his secret love of dueling, in any capacity. He was an amateur adventurer, a budding investigator, all wrapped in the image of a nonthreatening bookworm. He was many things, except for an outstanding flyer. Dreams of flight were the dreams he cherished most, yet whenever Pericles was actually in the sky, he felt as though he was wrestling with a nightmare. An attempt at using his broom to bat the bug away from Xailah saw him swerving down over the railing, giving chase instead. The moment he was headed for the ground, that inky chasm of open nothingness beneath him, churning cogs of wit and tactics came grinding to a halt. Instinct overcame functionality. There was only the will to catch Xailah, the rush of air blotting out all sound, and the bite of cold wind nettling his freckled features. Perhaps somewhere in the mix, there was a tiny voice howling with deeply subdued panic.

Clutching the broom with a white-knuckled grip, Pericles' body instinctively clung as close to the rickety ride as possible. His posturing was too tense, flight a perfect downward drop, though he still willed the broom faster than gravity could carry him. He had to, if he was to prevent the mouthy metamorph from meeting the cruel clutch of fate. Irked as he may have been moments ago, the very thought of not catching her filled his head with a whiteout of terror, eyes wide and fixed upon her falling form just up ahead. One hand clutched his wand against the broomshaft. The other shakily outstretched, then snapped in again, an attempt at grabbing abandoned for a more certain maneuver. He had just lowered to her level before- without a word- jerking the broom over and up to sweep from below in a gut-wrenching upwards arch. It was not a moment too soon: as he veered, it occurred to Pericles just how close they had come to the earth itself. Oh, but he felt the weight of her on the broom behind him. He reached back, and there grabbed a fistful of ribbon on her spine, realizing she was well and truly on the broom. He had done it. The mental static of life-or-death anxiety erupted with a bloom of elation. The boy blurted breathlessly, "I've caught you!" It sounded less like a reassurance, more as though he was thrilled and shocked in equal measure.

It was quite the stunt, although Xailah hadn't said so in a complimentary manner. Pericles' heart was still pounding, albeit bursting with relief, and he couldn't bring himself to summon a stern tone as he babbled back, "You can't call me mad after trying to wrestle a mosp." All thoughts of keeping his Lumos alive was drowned out in the amalgamation of elation and adrenaline, focus shifted entirely between keeping them in the air and on the move. Witticisms failed him as that buzzing came all too close. He leaned with Xailah, releasing her once he was certain she was steady on board, resuming a death grip on their unreliable ride. It was a close call, and that thing wasn't done with them yet. The attempt to drive up and on back to their party ended when he saw the outline of the mosp plunging down from straight ahead. That sad school broom stalled, then stopped altogether, and for a moment they began to drift downwards, backwards. The thought of plummeting when they had come so far made his stomach lurch uneasily. "Hold tightly, Xailah!" It seemed she was doing so, albeit less for her benefit and more for his own. Unwilling to try and cast while flying, Pericles decided to evade the mosp entirely. The front of the broom turned about. They were nosediving again, then with a hard wrench, they swerved upwards with a second stomach-dropping arch. It was a graceless flight, jerking and darting one way then the next, not quite unlike the darting trajectory of the mosps themselves. But they were airborne. They were soaring.

In that particular moment, chronic collywobbles aside, Pericles felt as though he could accomplish anything. He hadn't made that mad maneuver for nothing. Swerving in a C-shaped flight, taking them out from under the mosp and back towards the stands, he was fully convinced they could outrace their tormentor. He didn't dare cast, all of his concentration needed to keep them upright and onwards. Yet he was sure they would soon rejoin those whom had been selfless enough to make a stand in the stands. It was to his dismay that he saw Breana making a particularly selfless, if especially dire move: flying for the mosp, illuminated by the light of her own Lumos. It did not appear as though she intended to cast at it whatsoever. Her name was cried out on a note of alarm, trying to dissuade her with tone alone.

Action: Trying to dodge the mosp on broom, flying back towards the top of stands.

Aida smiled with a tearful glance at Alexander. He had helped her, and Mosp #4 was now successfully extinguished and bound with rope and her coat. It layed pitifully on the stands, currently immobilized. Alexander was right of course: the mosp would try to stab just about anything if it were to become mobile again. Who wouldn’t in the state it was in?

Aida’s first instinct was to take Mosp #4 to Professor Griffith for help and damn the consequences, but she could hear the blasts of combat all around. Explosive firelight flashed in patches further down the stands, and as the young white witch felt the rumbling of this new battlefield she felt the horror of the situation. Many lives were in danger now, both mosp and child, but too much was out of Aida's reach. She was such a meager child with her tiny fruit knife and no magical powers, no matter how grand her aspirations and stories. Yet, an odd pleasure crept through the shadows of her mind. This was the kind of place where she could make a difference, if only she were stronger. If only she were wiser. Should she leave Mosp #4 and try to save other mosps and people, or would Mosp #4 bleed out if left here? It would surely die, she concluded based on the victim's oozing wounds. How could she save the maximum number of lives in this situation? Aida could see no good answer. With her tiny hands, the best she could hope to do within reason was painfully small: try to save this one little mosp. For the mosp, at least that would be saving its entire world. Aida shook her head and swore that she would get stronger, so strong that she could save everyone at times like these. Somehow. She knew it was childish, but she didn't care. If she were powerful enough she could try to save everyone. With a hiss of disgust, Aida turned back to the matter at hand.

“Thank you, Alexander,” said Aida with deep gratitude as distant firelight glinted in her eyes. "I'm sorry about your boutonniere." The girl understood that he had reacted out of a natural defensive instinct, so she could not simply fault him with the mosp’s agony and near-death plight. After all, he had rapidly turned things around and helped it – a rare and heroic stroke of character that might just be the answer to world peace – if only it were so easy for everyone to do the same. How many creatures had lashed out at Aida during her life, only to become friends later? Indeed, Aida’s life had been full of mercurial moments of life-threatening hostility from beasts and people both. Certainly there were some humans, one in particular, that she felt had no redeeming qualities, but that was a world apart from Alexander now. “I think the professors might arrive soon with all this commotion. If you don’t want to get caught, maybe you should escape before they arrive?” she wondered, eyes squinting with thought. Yet, Aida did not want to leave when so many lives were in danger. Regardless of the risk of punishment she would focus on the task at hand: it was her nature. However, to her great shame her powerlessness meant that she would have to abandon all others who were now in danger. I can’t let greed lead to complete failure. This is all I can manage... for now.

“I’m going to try to take this one to Griffith. Please, please stay safe.” It hurt that such a beautiful evening with her friend was turning into a massacre. Aida feared that Alexander would get caught or hurt if she did not stay by his side to help him, but she was more confident now that he had some strength… certainly a lot more than the immobilized creature on the verge of death. Yet, despite the gloom, Aida could not help feeling that the scene was beautiful. She imagined the scene as an oil painting with her and Alexander as warrior strategists on a battlefield.

With that, Aida cut and tore away her thick riding sleeves at her shoulders using her little knife in order to bind them as cushions around the stingers of Mosp #4. Various scars became visible on her pale arms. “I’m sorry,” whispered Aida to the mosp as she wound up the cloth. “We were just like you. We just wanted blossoms. Now look what have we done.” The white-haired girl whispered as soothingly as she could, even if it would mean nothing to the tortured insect. “I will try to help you… Please just hold on.”

Mentions: @Alexander Varellion
Action: Attempting to tie ripped-off sleeves around Mosp #4’s stingers to create a protective barrier should the mosp become mobile again.
Color code: #351C75
The clothing mentioned:

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The knife mentioned:

Reducio

Interacting with @Cecily Quinn @Celynne Gray

The sensations--the sights, the sounds, the feelings--that Dmitri experienced during his literal mind-meld with two giant, feathered creatures were overwhelming, to say the least.

It was trippy.

Feeling yourself fly through the air, the wind whipping through your feathers, though you know for a fact you can feel the floor beneath your vulnerable sitting form and that you had no feathers for gods' sakes, was nothing if not conflicting. There was a humming wildness that was barely restrained clamoring inside the owls' minds, and it was a feeling the boy would never forget from that night on. It was pure, chaotic, natural energy--of potential and power only limited by how fast and how long you can fly through the cold night air. Of a wild strength and awareness that was shocking for a human to experience after a lifetime of being taught other living creatures were inferior. Of being taught birdbrain was an insult for a lack of intellect. It changed the way he saw other creatures--it awakened a respect and a reverence inside him that would most definitely make an impact for the years to come.

It was in this state of semi-consciousness that Dmitri took on an attack from their insect quarry.

The two giant birds pursued the Mosp for a direct hit, Screeeeeeelena going in to take a huge chunk off the bug, and Reeeeeeeah, though injured, going against his instincts to rip and tear at it with his sharp, gleaming talons. Maybe it was this uncoordinated double-attack or the ravenous hunger that was clawing upon the two birds, but both attacks failed to land on their target. A loud, reverberating screech of rage can be heard throughout the stands when both birds simply collided with empty air. This exposed Dmitri, a sitting-duck within his trance, to the mosp without his two giant, feathered fortresses taking the hits for him.

And the insect did indeed charge.

There was an intense mix of excruciating pain and the warm, fuzzy press of pleasure when the Mosp's stinger scraped the side of the boy's arms, tearing a small hole on his sleeve and drawing blood. Dmitri Jones gasped loudly, blank eyes wide open and unseeing as the overwhelming sensations zapped through his human brain.

It was Celynne's healing and the attack running the same course at the same time through three different, yet connected consciousnesses. It disoriented both owls and Dmitri severely enough that it sent them into a jumbled mess of stimuli and responses.

The two birds, stunned yet still running by the command of Attack, went for the nearest target instead of their previous one (Mosp #20)

With twin dissonant calls, the owls dove in midair.

STATS AND ABILITIES

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DMITRI'S ACTIONS (can't act when owls act during the round)
Stunned. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed on the Stands' wooden floor in response to his pain.

OWLS' ACTIONS
Screeeeeeelena: Diving towards the nearest Mosp and attempt to tear through it with its beak.
Reeeeeeeah (injured): Healed to full health, attempting to intercept the Most from a different angle and rip through it quite with the same intent as Scree.
Target: MOSP #20

Moderation Announcement --- Professors
Starting today, Professors may now enter the Blossom Ball through any of the three threads of your choice. Same rules apply as students - you can only be in one location at a time. You can enter the event through any.

However, please note that those entering this round can only be looking around, observing the chaos, and I guess freaking out. Talking is a free action, of course, so scream your soul out if you wish to. You cannot make any actions this round other than to observe.

Any professors entering starting next round or after, you will be able to take your actions as normal. It is only this round that is limited to looking around.

To Everyone Else: As warned, professors will now be able to enter. This may or may not affect your IC decisions.

The one consequence she didn't think through was the situation in which @Xailah Alptraum could be basically holding the beast with her claws and then the spell would send the beast away. Unfortunately, it was that same variant that happened in the end.

The next consequence she didn't think through was the lack of light. Though @Pericles Dralt's Lumos was enough to locate them, she couldn't have noticed the area and its size. Xailah was sent away to the edge and basically thrown from the stands. Meenauh's blood got frozen and she was paralysed in a second as she lost the sight of her friend. Probably she lost her friend. The paralysis came instantly with an uneasy feeling in the stomach and head cold-burning. Time flew slow.

What wasn't flying slowly at that moment was the broom which Pericles was mounting. Thank Merlin. Or the World. She thanked basically everything she could think of — nothing would be enough to thank for the chance for her friend to saved from Meenauh's own lack of think-through. The situation was uncommon — the fate was saving her from all the horrors the school has hosted recently. This time it was her own choice to... participate.

As Peri disappeared from the sight along with his Lumos, the stands were drowned in darkness. It wasn't quiet there, but for Meenauh it was dead silent and dead dark. Her senses were temporarily set off. She was staring into the darkness, not daring to blink, not daring to move. Until finally a barely visible black figure raised in the air. It couldn't be recognised easily because everything was black in the darkness anyway. She had to start enabling her senses — the sounds started to flow in as she let herself blink and freed herself from the paralysis. The figure didn't buzz — it must have been them. Peri and Xailah. She had no proof, she could only guess, but it was good enough.



Breathing was good and she enabled it as well as she dropped to the ground in a cold shock. They must have been safe. She couldn't have been late. As she stood on her knees and her palm, she heard more voices, some familiar and some not. As she was trying to stand up to light her wand up, she heard the non-familiar voice casting the spell that provided light — dark to light, someone had to save the children. Has anyone made it to the castle to call professors? If she'd be able to see the mosp, she'd go for it. She'd cut it with a strong Diffindo right to the heart. If only she could see it. It was dangerous to cast in the darkness, very dangerous because of the possible friendly fire. Maybe trying to illuminate the area first would be a better idea. And with the hope and intention of the new light to illuminate the surroundings, she opened her mind palace and prepared to grasp as much information about the battlefield as it was possible. Information is key.
[quote]Action:
If Breana's Lumos would light up the area — try casting Diffindo in the face of the incoming mosp.
If our group would be still kept in darkness — try casting Lumos and collect as much vital information for survival as possible.

Loud noises, screams, smoke...freaking chaos...surrounded Raine and Arc as she grabbed the broom in her hand. She turned to see if Arc would reach for the one that she held out to him, but he seemed to be stuck in time; almost as if he were a mannequin doll. The only active part of her friend was the lit wand in his hand. Turning with her own broom, she tapped him. "Arc? Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Anyone home in there?" No response came from her friend and she sighed. She wondered and worried about what could be wrong with the boy. Maybe it was fear that froze him up. Either way, Raine had a decision to make.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I'll send help to you if I see a teacher, though I doubt any of them will come by since we all should have been in bed anyway."Raine sighed. Moving away from her friend reluctantly, Raine mounted the broom. It had been a long time since she had taken flight on a broom. The last time was when she played Quidditch briefly last year for the team. She only played for one game before quitting, but that, along with her flying lessons, were enough to teach her the basics. Whatever it was that everyone else was fighting, Raine wanted no parts of it. She was already conflicted about leaving Arc where he was at in case those creatures decided to attack him, but it didn't seem as if they were attracted to the light.

But then Raine remembered the incident from last year with the half-giants. They never did find out where that girl was taken but both she and Arc had made their way to a house in the forest; a house that didn't seem as if it truly belonged there. There were whispers about some strange creatures wandering the grounds that the teachers had yet to take care of and now Raine looked back at her friend with serious concern.

What if whatever is wandering around the school actually makes use of this darkness and grabs her friend? What if Arc gets hurt all because she flew off to find help or flew off to the main pitch without him?

No. She wouldn't leave him behind. Moving off of the broom, Raine would maneuver the handle under her friend's legs and pray that she didn't hit his sensitive stuff. She didn't want to cause him any pain. She got up on the back of the broom and held the handle in front of Arc tightly, moving his body so that he was leaned up against her.

It was a good thing that she was stronger than he was. But even strength wouldn't be enough if she couldn't even push up off the ground with Arc on the broom with her. She just hoped that her plan would work.

Action: Moving Arc onto the broom and kicking off into the air

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interacting | @Dmitri Jones, @Cecily Quinn

mentioning | N/A

Owls didn't always have good luck, she supposed, but at least her aim had been good enough to hit the injured one—the wound sealed itself back up with a rather mind-boggling snick, as the blood flew back into the laceration and the feathers reattached themselves, like watching a very short clip backwards. Unfortunately, neither of them hit the mark after they dove for the Mosp, and the insect darted straight for the owls' master. Before she could move to defend him, glassy-eyed and entranced, the Mosp struck its mark, stingers scratching him just before Cecily's spell hit it right in the center of its body, and it fell out of the sky.

She moved quickly. While the spell ensured that the Mosp was essentially defenseless now, she didn't know how long it would last—Cecily wasn't a particularly powerful spellcaster, she knew, but she never missed. That was all right, but Cel had to do something before the insect was up and buzzing again. Should she attack it? Send it vaulting over the side of the Stands to go annoy someone else? Did she know anything lethal enough to kill or disable it forever, and did she really want to hinge on the possibility that it wouldn't come flying back up for revenge? Part of her didn't want to see the animal sliced open or set on fire—it wasn't a particularly pleasant sight—but another idea reached her.

It was an animal, right? The spell she had in mind worked on all animals, or so it was supposed to. And a cup couldn't really do much for revenge. She'd learned that spell a very long time ago, back when Professor Yornikovych was still teaching, but she had used it a couple of times since he'd left. It had been one of the harder spells for a first year, but it had been two years since then, and she had much better control of her magic than she did back then, when she accidentally transfigured a poor bird halfway through a goblet. Glass was what she was most familiar with imagining, so a glass would do for this one too—the shiny keratin morphing into thin glass of the same color. What was more, glass was easily breakable, and she knew Cecily would know what to do.

"Vera Verto," Cel muttered, eyes fixed upon the still insect, wand moving precisely—she had less reason to rush now, and infinitely more to be careful. But as soon as she finished the spell, casting a cursory glance at Cecily to ensure she'd seen, Cel turned her attention to the wounded Slytherin still sitting on the stands and the two owls above their heads.

He'd gasped. She'd heard him behind her. The wound wasn't as bad as the one that the owl had gotten, but it was still there—she'd heal it in a bit, but the owls had darted off to a new target, distracting her momentarily. The Mosp in question had zeroed in on a girl who apparently had tried to cast the Severing Charm, judging from the incantation she heard, and the owls were hot on its trail, angry and apparently hungry. It wasn't far, but she followed, tugging on Dmitri's sleeve in an attempt to get him to move, though she didn't fool herself to actually have the strength to move him herself. She could leave that to Cecily later.

STAMINA 5
EVASION 8
STRENGTH 2
WISDOM 11
ARCPOWER 10

ACCURACY 9
ABILITIES Prodigial DADA and Perfectionist I

ACTION attempt to cast the Animal to Goblet on Mosp 3.

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Interacting with: @Nico Shymane, @Quinn Healy, @Saskia Nicholson & @Elspeth Gollens

No one was doing anything. Mosps were everywhere and no one was doing anything. Well that was not true. Lots of people were doing something but unfortunately, the mosps were still attacking and the professors were not arriving. The panic was clear on her face as she clutched her wand. That was when someone arrived. A voice in the dark, it approached the light, claiming to have three broomsticks. They could do this, "Me!" She called out as she reached out for the brooms, "Know how to fly?" She asked trying to take two of the brooms and leaving her with one, in case she knew how to fly. If she said she did not, Serena could carry her on her own broom, "Quinn, grab one!" She tried to get the second broom to him, knowing full well that he could easily grab any straggler, hoist them onto his broom and fly off.

"We need to get out of here. NOW." She screamed at the group as her eyes searched the skies. Saskia... had a mosp after her. Serena clutched the broom that the small girl near her had given her, taking it without hesitation, "SASKIA! WATCH OUT!" She called, before looking at the group, "She might need help. I'm going with her. You guys stick together, get out of here if you can. Grab someone else, two to a broom if you can. Get everyone out of here!" Serena sprouted out instructions. A year and a half had passed since she gave up the Head Girl badge but she had learned a very important lesson this month: sometimes, you just had to tell people what to do.

Her screaming instructions till her throat was raw in the dungeons a few weeks ago somehow helped a little. It did not save everyone but it helped. Serena quickly mounted up, kicking off the ground. She wasted no time in trying to make her way over to Saskia.

The creature had not attacked but it was following her. Serena did not like this. If she could, at the very least, tear it away from Saskia then that might be the best option. Her friend was in trouble, she could not let her go alone. Nico, Marissa and the new girl had Quinn next to them. With the big friendly giant on their side, Serena left them to his protection.

Serena might not be strong. She might not be the smartest or the bravest. But she was a Quidditch Player. And she was a damn good one. She could fly. She had that, at the very least. A whole year of being on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team gave her one thing: the confidence to fly. She might not be able to outrun the mosp, she might not be able to alley oop Saskia out of here but she would do her very best. She had to. Flying was her strength. It would be her saving grace today, it had to be.

"Let's get the hell out of here, Sas!" She called out, trying to get to her.

ACTION: Maintain Lumos, mounting broom and trying to fly over to Saskia
[Permission given to Elspeth Gollens if she wishes to mount the broom with Serena]

dress: Reducio

shoes: Reducio none

| sta: 6 | eva: 7 | str: 6 | wis: 8 | arcp: 4 | acc: 10 |
race: metamorphmagus iiii abilities: sixth sense

mentions: N/A | interacting with: @Celynne Gray @Dmitri Jones

And here it was-- the downfall of their brilliant plan. The owls weren't foolproof, she knew, and their flaws were coming to light. Mainly, of course, the fact that they apparently couldn't hit a two-foot-long moth-looking bee from point blank. One wouldn't think that mosps would be quite so good at evading things. Most birds didn't grow to be as large as the trio's engordio'd owls, meaning that the wasps of unusual size were likely acquainted to being the hunters, not the hunted. Evolutionarily, that would mean that they would have had no need to develop dodging skills. And yet, here it was, dodging two larger-than-normal owls with relative ease.

So easily, in fact, that it had plenty of time to dodge the owls and attempt a retaliatory strike before Cecily's spell even managed to land. And although Cecily was reasonably concerned with the injury the boy had just sustained, it appeared to be only a flesh wound. Sure, there was definitely some sort of venom in it, and it probably hurt like hell, but it could at least wait until the two Ravenclaws had sorted this out. And sort it out they did, as the infuriating buzzing fell silent while the bug fell out of the air. The two owls, however, neglected to finish the job, instead pursuing a different quarry away from their master. Cecily couldn't tell if Dmitri was even controlling the birds at this point, or if they were just acting out of pure instinct.

So, apparently, Cecily and Celynne would once again have to do everything by themselves. (She couldn't actually think of another situation where the two of them had to do everything by themselves, but she was sure it had probably happened before.) The blonde inwardly rolled her eyes as Celynne appeared to come to the same conclusion. Knowing her, they were both tired and done with the convoluted plans, just wanting to brute force their way out of the problem. Well, frankly, Celynne probably had something tactful and thought-out in mind, but Cecily at least was leaning towards just punching the damn face in its maddening, spiteful face.

Fortunately, though, they both got their way. Celynne raised her wand, taking her time and purposefully casting a spell on the immobile creature. Cecily recognised the incantation for a transfiguration, one specifically working on animals. Smart, she realised, as Celynne finished the spell. If she succeeded, the mosp would turn into a goblet, and if the other Ravenclaw was anywhere near on the same wavelength as Cecily, it would be a glass one. From there, Cecily could easily snatch up the goblet and smash it aggressively on the concrete floor of the stands. Smashing things may have been, in Cecily's opinion, one of the best ways to get out anger.

And damn, if she didn't have a lot of anger at that freaking mosp.

For a moment, she considered leaving it to Dmitri, as he likely was just as angry-- angrier, probably-- at the stupid thing, due to its attacks on him and his owls. But, in a stunning display of characteristic selfishness, Cecily would take a step over to the shining goblet sitting on the floor, raise it high over her head, and bring it down with all of her strength, letting it fly towards an impact with the cold, hard, concrete ground. She would, after releasing, turn away and shield her face, particularly not willing tonight of all nights to be stuck full of glass shards like a porcupine-- not that she was any sort of willing any other night. She just would rather not be incapacitated when her life was already at stake.

action: smashing mosp #3 (in goblet form) on the ground.

Everything continued to feel like it was happening in this warped sense of time, moving in fits and starts. She didn't know how she got up to the stands. A moment before she'd been reading some books and now she was up here in the stands. There had been screaming, she'd run to help. Everything came rushing back. Booms. Where was the person who needed brooms?

Her eyes darted back and forth around the seats. There were too many people and too many giant bugs moving around to get a clear sense of the whole space at once. One Ravenclaw student Elspeth recognized as a third year (@Celynne Gray) was casting spells at some owls over a - was that student seriously hurt? She couldn't tell from where she was and everyone kept move so she lost sight of them as some kids kicked off on their brooms (@Raine Sage). A student (@Arc Perscivious) a few rows away from her appeared to be frozen, possibly (probably?) by magic. How would that have happened? Were students using spells against each other? There was so much magic flying around it was hard to tell if it was all in service to the same goal or if all this madness had broken out over a fight.

Before she could figure that out, there was a scream from down on the pitch. A high, shrieking scream that curdled and tore at something deep inside of Elpseth. She'd never heard someone scream like that before. Not even animals. Her eyes followed the sound, as much as she desperately didn't want to know what was happening, down to the pitch where she could see from above the chaos that had been building for what had to have been some time by that point. There was fire and more giant bugs. A girl (@Willow Anderson), possibly no older than Elspeth, screamed as one of them dove at her from on high, hitting her right in the leg with its stingers. Some of the students appeared to be attacking each other amidst all of the chaos, kicking and punching while glasses and buckets were being thrown about. It was uncontrolled madness.

Another person... Elspeth's eyes opened in abject terror. There was no way to tell anything about the person. They were on fire (@Anastasia Beckett) and they were the one letting loose that horrible scream. Smoke was lifting off of the body as it wriggled around on the ground, failing to put the flames out. Elspeth could hear the crackling of.... her gut violently lurched in her, and she held back some vomit. A few students worked to extinguish it but failed as the flames kept reappearing.

It was all too much, it was too much to take in. She had made a mistake coming up here. Her blanket was still back on the hill outside the pitch. The view of the stars coming through as the sun went down was still there. Perhaps, if she had stayed, she may have gotten tired and gone back in without knowing anything had gone wrong with the Ball. There was a high pitched squealing in her ear - a long high tone that was blocking out any sound. It was overwhelming, like her head was about to burst from the pressure. She felt herself leaning in toward the view, like she was falling down into the pitch, like there was a hole ripped in the fabric of reality and everything was falling in on itself. How did she get here? Why had she come....

"Know how to fly?"

Elspeth blinked a couple of times, her hearing slowly coming back. She'd completely blanked out for a moment. Who was this? It was... it was the student, that voice (@Serena Towers). It was the voice asking for brooms. Elspeth moved to hand her the brooms but they weren't in her hands anymore. How much time had passed? There was the scream. The scream was still happening. A long loud tone ringing out through the night.

"We need to get out of here. NOW."

The voice cut through again. Elspeth blinked her eyes. She kept falling out, like a light being switched off and on rapidly. Her body was weak, knees knocking and knobbly. Skin cold and clammy. Get out of here. The only thought that rang loud and clear through her mind. Like a whisper from her thoughtful mind down to her lizard brain, a small electric charge that woke her up. It was loud again, everyone was beginning to fly away on the brooms she had brought. It was hard to remember anything that was said to her, she knew that the taller Hufflepuff had asked her a question. Everyone's getting on brooms. She looked down at the extra broom, still left behind.

"No, I. I can't fly." She shook her head, about to cry. Did that mean she was going to be left here? While all of the other students flew away? Because she couldn't remember how to fly her broom? It had never been her strongest subject and now, she was going to die. And annoy this student who was trying to be helpful, this student was going to resent Elspeth so much for being so dumb. Her last experience with another student was going to be her aggravating this person who wanted to save her because she was absolutely useless. This was her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault..........

The Hufflepuff has to go. She's mounting on the broom. She's going to leave you behind. GET OUT OF HERE ELSPETH. Elspeth felt her body run forward, clumsily, toward the girl and the broom. She slid on behind her and wrapped her tiny arms around the girl's waist. They'd never met before, but Elspeth recognized her as the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. This girl had performed some amazing feats up in the air over the last year. Normally, jumping on a broom with a perfect stranger wasn't up her alley but given the situation, she was going to make an exception.

Interacting with Serena Towers.
Action: Hops on back of Serena's broom as they go after Saskia.