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 Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:56 pm
   Both her day and week had been long, but unknown to her, Bailey's night would be much, much longer. She had finally received the owl she had been expecting, well no... She had received an unexpected hawk this morning actually, but the letter that had came with it was just what she had been waiting for: another chance. Ever since Bailey had begun her journey down the road of becoming an animagus, she had ran into nothing but fallen trees and broken bridges, cutting her off from a full transformation. Braylon claimed it was her lack of focus, but nevertheless, tonight she would prove that this was not a mistake, that she could, and would, become an animagus.
As she trekked deeper into the frigid forest, she wrapped her cloak tighter around her shaking body. The cold was not getting to her, it was the excitement rather. Her feet carried her quickly to her destination, burning with impatience, but her dark brown eyes still swept behind her in two minute intervals, both out of habit and the common feeling of being followed. The trip seemed a shorter one than usual, but as she entered the open clearing a frown quickly masked her face. She had been waiting all day for this moment...Where is he? It wasn't unusual that she arrived before her uncle, just a disappointment that she had to put up with the nagging impatience even longer. During their last meeting, Braylon had kept her from practicing, and made her study the book he had given her instead. That was exactly why Bailey had left the heavy compilation of papers in her dorm this time, to ensure there would be no disruptions. She was becoming an animagus tonight, it was more of a fact, than a decision.
As Bailey collapsed lazily onto the flat-headed rock that she usually inhabited during this laborious waiting period, a sharp rustle came from the brush directly in front of her. Her keen eyes dug as deep as they could into the darkness, but found nothing but a thick layer of shrubbery. "Braylon?" She called with a twitch of nerves in her throat. Who else would it be? She tried to convince herself, waiting a few long seconds for her uncle to reveal himself. When the picture didn't play out as planned, Bailey stood up and took a few steps towards the edge of the clearing, but what walked through the edge of brush and looked into her eyes was not her uncle.
Stumbling over her own feet, Bailey hit the ground hard in reaction to the confrontation, but pulled herself up quickly and backed in the opposite direction, her eyes never leaving those of the giant, sneering creture that stood in her midst. A long, unusual silence encroached the forest, and Bailey's hand automatically searched her robe pockets for her wand. As her trembling fingers tightened around the thick holly wood, she muttered "Lumos!" in a dry, parched voice, sending glowing rays of light in every direction.
The enormous lion that accompanied her tonight was an interesting site at that, and if she had not been trapped in a small clearing in the center of a dark, deserted forest with it, Bailey would likely be having the best moment of her life, being an avid animal lover. This was a much different situation however, and her heart hammered against her rib cage as she waited for the beast to make a move. Finally, as a low, purring noise rolled from its throat, it began to circle her, its massive paws against the ground going surprisingly unheard. At the same time that a thick, almost unrealistic smile spread across the lion's face, Bailey realized that the Forbidden Forest was no place for a lion. As a thousand thoughts rolled in and out of her head, her mind seemed to hook onto one, almost making her dizzy with confusion. A look of astonishment took over her trembling features as she jumped to a conclusion. "Bra- Braylon..?"
Her words were clearly a question, but an instantaneous answer from the lion came in the form of a deep, grunting sound, followed by something that frightened Bailey much more than the lion's appearance, knocking her to the ground once more as if she had been stunned in a duel. A tattered old man with long, curly silver hair was now propped on all fours, the lion had melted into this new image much too fast for her to understand what happened. After jumping back to her feet again and looking closer, Bailey came to the rapid realization that this man was an animagus, but more importantly, a stranger. "Wh- Wha- Wh- Ho- Eh...." Bailey stuttered over several questions until she realized that she didn't know what to ask. Did this man meet her here intentionally? Where was her uncle? How did this guy know she would be here? Or did he? Did he hurt Braylon? Was this her uncle's way of teaching her to become an animagus? Taking a jittery breath, Bailey finally settled on the most important question. "Who are you?" 
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:56 pm
 ♦ ♦ ♦ ＴＨＥ ＢＬＯＯＤ ＴＡＳＴＥＳ ＢＩＴＴＥＲ... ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ＢＵＴ ＴＨＥ ＲＥＶＥＮＧＥ ＩＳ ＳＯ ＳＷＥＥＴ. ♦ ♦ ♦ 
Kiernan soaked up the fear that radiated from Bailey, a sneer smearing across his devilish face. He enjoyed seeing her panic, so he paced around the clearing for a minute or two, drawing out her reaction as long as possible. Finally, he knew he had to proceed with his plan, and he transfigured back into his human form, leaving him on all fours in his dark charcoal robes. Bailey's new reaction pleased him even more than the last, and he threw his aging head back in a stretch of dark laughter, raising his tattered body to a standing position. The smile on his face was intimidating as he listened to her stammer over pointless questions, absorbing every ounce of doubt that she was emitting. If she only knew why he was really here, she wouldn't be standing in this clearing any longer.
Eventually, Bailey asked the right question, and Kiernan took a very slow, weary step towards the girl and her dirty, mixed blood. "Alas...Yeh've stumbled across a question that I can answer." He spoke in a low, crispy voice soaked in his deep Irish roots that made his true age much more evident. "Kienan Deverell. Pleasure t'er m-..." The old man stopped himself short, and his lips peeled back into that same evil grin as he realized how much of a lie he almost just told. Taking a step back, Kiernan carefully continued. "I've waited thirteen years t'er meet y'eh, Bailey. Thirteen years t'er- Ah, pardon m'eh manners." He stopped himself again as he saw the girl was not comprehending his words. Of course she wouldn't know him by his real name. Lyra, nor Braylon for that matter, likely never even mentioned his existence.
Kiernan turned away from the mud-blood for a second, and he pulled out his long, almost antique wand. After several moments of silence, he turned back towards his granddaughter with a twisted smile developing over the plains of his weathered face. "Blackthorn and leprechaun hair...a common combination o' wand wood and core, only among those of thick Irish decent and true power, though. I wasn't th'a least bit surprised when Lyra couldn't get the damned thing to work f'er her, and when she brought home a flimsy wand o' cherry wood and raven feather, I simply laughed it off. She was always weak, and unappreciative of her background, and her destiny, f'er that matter...but Braylon...Braylon showed strength, he embraced the power I gave him, and was a true wizard before he even knew why... I insisted that Ollivander hand him the blackthorn first, but he gave him a choice of another, as well. Braylon claimed that it was too strong, that the Alder was a better fit, more comfortable, he said... Such a disappointment my children turned out t'er be. So unworthy of the opportunities I handed them, that they turned away. I only wanted the best f'er 'em, but no one, not even y'er grandmother appreciated that." Kiernan took a deep breath and closed his wrinkled eyes.
After a minute, his eyelids flittered open, and he began to circle Bailey again as he continued to speak. "T'er this day, people run in fear at th'a thought o' dark magic, and the sound o' the dark lord's name...if they only knew the power... Ah, but they don't, and neither did y'er grandmum. She tried t'er stop m'eh, y'eh know? Tried t'er tell me I was 'unmoral', she said..." Another long pause separated Kiernan from what he was trying to say. He stopped pacing and turned towards Bailey with an odd look in his dark brown eyes. "They turned on m'eh. All o' 'em. Lyra first, but I expected that. Then Braylon, him and his older sister were like twins, could never have one without th'a other, or the opposite in my case... But Maggie...my love...I had thought she would follow me anywhere. How wrong I was... Killed her the same day she turned on m'eh, a painless death, of course, but I knew she would only hold me back. Those little brats would have still had a chance to follow the path I had laid out for them, if it had not been f'er that muggle scum Lyra fell for. She let him take her purity, her future...and in return, she got...you." Kiernan eyes dug into Bailey's, searching for something, something that he quickly found.
Introducing himself as her grandfather would have no doubt gone better than this. It would not have Bailey shaking in a fiery anger, wanting his head on a stick. However, was that not his goal? How could he use her to his advantage, have her fight alongside him if she were not able to use her power to its fullest. If she was going to be of any worth, she would have to be able to make her animagus transformation effortlessly, and what better way to do that then with anger?
Kiernan embraced a taunting smile as he stepped back further, giving her room should she decide she was ready. "You. A weak...disappointment. Y'eh dirtied the Deverell name. Not that it mattered much, y'er mother and uncle carried their mother's maiden name anyway, a way of distancing themselves from me. Oliver." He spat with disgust, furrowing his brows as if he could taste the name on his tongue. "What a blow...not as painful as you were, though. Look at you. How worthless, how powerless. Y'er own uncle knows that y'eh don't have the strength t'er become an animagus. Y'er not a true witch, just a girl who thinks she can wave a wand around and call herself one. What a mistake y'eh were, I doubt Lyra even wanted you, but after her loving fiance left her, what else did she have? Admit it, Bailey. Yeh're just...scum, like yah'r father. Nothing but a magicless soul with an expensive stick." Kiernan crossed his hands in front of him, wand and all, as he contemplated his next sentence. She was clearly on edge, but it seemed she would need a little push. "Maybe I should kill y'er precious mummy and Braylon, first. That way y'eh can watch. Yeh'd like that, wouldn't y'eh, darling?" The fire was clearly ablaze. All Kiernan had left was to wait, and hope phase one of his plan would play out as he hoped. And hopefully, just maybe, her animagus form wouldn't disappoint, and her ability to fight in it would be efficient enough to come to his aid.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:13 pm
Both of Bailey's hands were gripped tightly around the handle of her wand, and as she shook and trembled, the light from the tip of it made the shadows dance across the stranger's face. When the man finally introduced himself, it did her no good. Kiernan Deverell... She ran the name through her mind numerous times, knowing it felt familiar on her tongue, but not recognizing where she had heard it. The thick Irish accent that was smothered upon each of the man's words made it difficult for Bailey to understand them, but she listened carefully, making sure to keep the greatest possible distance from him at all times.
Confusion washed over her as Kiernan began to ramble on about wands. Of all things, wands were not what she was expecting, and it was a rather abrubt subject change in her eyes. Nevertheless, she gripped onto every word, doing her best to decipher their meaning to figure out who this man was, and why she was standing across from him. She didn't have to listen long before her mother's name came up, but that only thickened her lack of understanding. However, after hearing Kiernan describe his disappointment in Braylon, she had a feeling this man wasn't a stranger after all.
Right when she had thought her question was going to be answered, the man made another giant leap in the conversion, one she didn't exactly appreciate. Her fear and uncertainty of this main being trained in the dark arts quickly turned to rage, however, once she pieced together the fact that this man killed her grandmother. Bailey knew little about her grandmum, only that she died before Bailey had even been born. Regardless, her insides were now boiling, and she couldn't believe a word Kiernan was saying about loving her grandmother, not if he was her murderer. Before she could put the last puzzle piece in place, he began to speak of her mum and Braylon again, finally settling on the topic of her. The heartless way he spoke of her family only added more fuel to her fire, and the wand in her hand was now shaking violently.
Bailey couldn't help but continue to listen to Kiernan rant on about her lack of power and incapability of mastering her magic, and when she finally realized that this pitiful man that stood before her was her grandfather, her hatred only grew. Nobody in her family ever spoke of him, and now she knew why. She had little time to dwell on that thought however, because his last words stung her deep. This man was here to hurt her, and not just her, her family, too.
Bailey took a step forward this time, her fear completely replaced by anger and hatred now. She closed her eyes for a mere second. She knew what she had to do. This man was obviously a skilled wizard, and despite all of the books on dark magic that she had taken from Braylon's collection, she had never dreamed of casting such pain-inflicting curses for any reason. She was undoubtedly at the lower end of the totem pole in this situation, but though she was inexperienced with controlling her animagus form, she knew she could now make the transformation. She only hoped that the animal inside her would stand a chance versus a full grown lion, as opposed to facing Kiernan in a face-to-face duel. She took two deep breaths and scowled at the murderous man that stood smirking at her from just a few feet away before diving into the animagus charm and tensing her body for the transformation.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:52 pm
 - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - Seek strength, but do not avoid the struggle - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - When Bailey had gotten out of her ordinary four poster bed this morning, and slipped on her plain black sneakers, before making her way up to the great hall for breakfast to sit in the same seat, at the same table, with the same group of students as she had every other day, she had not expected anything out of her normal routine. Of all things, she did not expect that she would be seeing the world out of a different set of eyes. The eyes may not have been the difference per say, but the view could not be compared to anything she had ever experienced.
Bailey easily sensed the muscle she had gained, as well. Her body felt reasonably heavier, it was almost a task to keep her head up, and the weight of her tail drug behind her like an iron shackle as she took her first step as a clouded leopard. Despite how unusual and heavy everything was, it was considerably easier and weightless at the same time. Movement was almost effortless, and so quick, she need only think where she wished to go, and her body obeyed. Her vision was so crisp as she bounded upwards, landing gracefully on the lowest limb of a thick alder tree bordering the clearing. Her eyes seemed to catch every sign of movement, every single detail, from the leaves that fell from above and the silhouette of a crow as it crossed in front of the moon's path, to Kiernan's eyes that followed her and his cracked lips curling into a devilish sneer.
So much seemed to happen during each second that passed, with each heavy breath she breathed, it seemed inconceivable that she had never known such brilliance. Perhaps the biggest difference Bailey noticed was the enhancement of her hearing. Her heartbeat was clearly audible, as was Kiernan's, and same with a few dozen animals that she could sense were within a distant radius. A set of heavy paws padding across the forest floor about 75 feet away sounded like the knocking on a door, and though she could have told you exactly where they were and which direction they were heading, it was rather odd not knowing who they belonged to.
Her eyes, ears, and body now served as tools, and she was in possession of both a brain and feet that ran faster than bullets, but she was still Bailey Oliver, and more importantly, she was in the company of man who planned to kill her. Leaving no room for error and no time for mistakes, she kept a solid eye on Kiernan as she took only seconds to get used to her new body. She pounced from limb to limb, and tree to tree, circling the old man with a look in her eye that resembled determination. She was fully aware of the sharp, lengthy nails that were curled at the end of each toe as they dug into the bark, as well as the long, sharp teeth that were hidden behind her furry lips. She might be only a girl, but she now had deadly weapons of her own, and if Kiernan had not thought her a true witch earlier, he was sure to believe in her potential now.
With a single leap, Bailey dove over a dozen feet, landing within steps from Kiernan's face without so much as the crunch of a leaf beneath her four heavy paws. She stood across from her grandfather, a mere stranger in her eyes, and put on a brave facade that almost fooled herself. Underneath the exotic show she was putting on, fear continued to trickle through her pulsing veins. She feared for her lack of knowledge at this game that Kiernan seemed so skilled at, but more than anything, she feared for both her life, and that of her family. She didn't know how the night would play out, but faking it was the best game plan in her arsenal at the moment. She forced herself to focus on the barrel of anger that remained burning inside her as an attempt to harvest her energy and produce any sort of advantage over the now towering, but tattered old man. - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - Where there is no struggle, there is no strength - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ - ┇ -
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:30 pm
♦ ♦ ♦ ＴＨＥ ＢＬＯＯＤ ＴＡＳＴＥＳ ＢＩＴＴＥＲ... ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ＢＵＴ ＴＨＥ ＲＥＶＥＮＧＥ ＩＳ ＳＯ ＳＷＥＥＴ. ♦ ♦ ♦ Kiernan watched patiently as Bailey's temper fell off the edge. His heartbeat was nearly audible as it pounded against his chest. His plan was playing out step by step, exactly how he had imagined it. He could see that his final words had touched home as the girl's fist clenched tight, her jaw pulsing with anger. All he could do was wait, and hope that this half-blood could pull off magic that few wizards even attempted. The harsh scowl that Bailey gave him was the signal he had been watching for, and he took a quick step back as she transformed almost instantly into a...cat?
Kiernan could deny his blood relation to this girl in every way but one. He knew that one's personality decided on their animagus form, and the fact that his granddaughter was close enough to be a wild cat as well almost made him proud for a mere second. Taking a deep breath, the old man shook off the dreaded thought and payed closer attention to Bailey's every move. He also couldn't deny that she took to the animal very well, maneuvering as if this was her millionth time. A gruesome smile spread slowly over his tattered face as his eyes followed the medium-sized cat jumping gracefully from tree to tree, finally making a soft landing right at his feet.
Twisting his head to the side and dropping his eyes to meet hers, Kiernan whispered, "Yeh've only passed half the test, sweetheart." Bending over into a feline-like crouch, the man lunged at Bailey, his body twitching before being overcome with a thicker than leather skin and a long mane of silver hair that reflected his human form. The girl may have transformed into an animagus, but she would be of no use if she could not fight in it.
Kiernan's enormous paws, yielding large, pointy claws, were aimed straight for Bailey's chest. He wanted to test her, not kill her...not yet, anyway. Seconds before making contact, the clouded leopard dove to her right and somersaulted out of his path. The odd, but sufficient move surprised the man. He had meant to show Bailey exactly how strong she would need to be, but his point hadn't seemed to get across, yet. Landing on all fours, he turned viciously to his stranger of a granddaughter and bared his giant, yellow teeth. The roar that escaped his lion-like throat was sure to scare the girl as he saw it, but would it scare a leopard? There was only one way to tell, and whether she was intimidated or not, he needed to show her how superior he was to her, and he wouldn't stand to be shown up by a mere fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Pouncing to the left, Kiernan saw that she had fell for his movement, and he switched directions suddenly. This time, his deadly nails made contact with the cat's side, knocking her to the ground with a heavy thud. Putting a paw to her throat, Kiernan pulled his cat-like lips into a wide, teasing smile, but was quickly interrupted. Bailey rolled to her side, and instead of running like he would have predicted, she pawed him across the face before diving into his chest and pushing the giant lion onto his back. Kiernan hid his embarrassment by kicking her off with his hind legs and letting out a deep growl. He dove for her neck again, this time leading with his fine-crafted teeth. As his bite connected with her neck, the tiny cat squealed as if she had been ran over by a car. Kiernan held on tight until he tasted her warm blood on his tongue, just long enough to make his point...though his plan would be much simpler if he just finished her now.
As he released the thick fur from his teeth, the cat ran a few feet before cowering against the shrubbery at the clearing's edge. Assuming she had given up, Kiernan sighed mentally and turned away from her to make the quick transformation back into the aging old man. Pulling out his wand, he spun it in his fingers, feeling as if he was standing on top of the world. Before he could turn back to face the wounded animal, he heard a girl's voice yell from behind her. The unexpected words were not what lit his insides on fire, but the fact that his wand had flown into the herbaceous wall that blocked them from the rest of the forest tore at his every being. Twisting his neck around, he could see that Bailey had not given up after all, and despite the blood running down her tanned neck, she stood, full-figured, wand aimed directly at him. Kiernan opened his mouth, pretending to speak, but made another sudden change in direction, diving into the nearby pushes, praying to every god that his fingers would happen to come across the one stick that was of any importance to him.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:24 pm
[[ Sorry, this is technically for last year. I'm trying to hurry! stressed ]] Bailey suffered tremendous pain during their scuffle, but she was quite surprised at how able she was to keep up with the experienced beast. After he finally let go of her neck, she dove to the edge of the forest and buried herself in positive thoughts. She knew she wasn't going to be able to keep up for much longer, and quickly turned back to her human form as soon as Kiernan turned his back. Ignoring the blood running down her neck, Bailey reached for her wand as fast as possible, throwing it in the man's direction with a sturdy, "Expelliarmus!" And allowed a small smile when she saw his wand fly into the bordering bushes. She flinched as he pretended to turn towards her, and didn't expect to see him dive into the thick wall of shrubs.
Taking a step forward, she cast her wand like a fishing pole and shouted, "Carpe Retractum!" A thick orange rope escaped from the tip and wound itself around Kiernan's waist. Tugging as hard as she could, the man slid helplessly to her side. Releasing her hold, she fled quickly towards where his wand had landed, but felt Kiernan's hand wrap tightly around her ankle. The ground seemed to be coming towards her as she fell, and her hands couldn't brace quickly enough to save her chin from knocking roughly against the cold grass. Kiernan muttered something to himself and threw himself into the bushes as Bailey pushed herself up to her feet again, her head now spinning from both the collision and the loss of blood.
As her eyes came back into focus, she saw the man raising his wand in her direction and dove back down to the ground. The spell had missed her body, but not her hair. Over half of it was now on the ground next to her, and more curly brown locks were falling around her. Cursing under her breath, she struggled to regain herself. Before she could make it back to her feet, Kiernan shot another curse at her, and this one hit her square in the stomach, knocking her backwards several feet, her head coming in contact with the ground once more.
Instead of bothering to get up again, she tightened her grip on her wand and jabbed toward Kiernan, but her dizziness caused her to miss, knocking down a full grown tree instead. Another curse came flying towards her, but she rolled onto her stomach and flicked her wand once more. Kiernan was hit straight in the eyes, but only causing one of them to swell shut. This was the result of never casting dark magic, so Bailey didn't beat herself up about her inaccuracy. The miscast curse bought her time to get to her feet again, but another spell came flying at her unexpectedly. Her body was raised several feet into the air, where he took the time to smirk at her before throwing her against a nearby tree.
Bailey slid down the trunk and landed hard against the ground. She was so out of it that it took her until her next spell did not work for her to notice that her wand was no longer in her possession. Looking towards Kiernan, she saw that he was twirling it in his left hand, smiling as he approached her. Two more spells and she was not only bound from head to toe, but floating slowly towards him. She shut her eyes tight as she stopped in midair, her face just inches from his. She knew that his initial plan had been to kill her in front of her mum, but she had a feeling he was ready to get it over with. Despite being completely aware of her inability to move, she twisted and writhed beneath the binds, wishing more than anything she could escape.
That very thought was perhaps her saving grace. With everything she had, Bailey forced her body to transform back into her animagus form, and the rope that bound her burst into pieces. No long having the will to fight, she sprinted for the open forest, but didn't even make it to the edge of the clearing when she was hit right in the back with a curse she had never before heard, leaving her sprawled out on the ground helplessly. As the blackness tried to encompass her every thought, Bailey knew it was over, so she melted back into her human body and just let it take her.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:21 pm
Kiernan let out a long string of devilish laughter. He had to admit that this girl had potential, potential that he could use in phase three of his plan. None of that would matter though if he couldn't get through the second phase: getting Bailey on his side. He tread towards her with a smile, her bleeding body sprawled out on the ground near the edge of the small clearing. He had meant to hurt her, but couldn't deny that he may have gotten a bit carried away.
Kneeling down next to her, he carefully cast a vague memory charm to let her forget everything up until the past two weeks. That two weeks of memory he falsified with his own, fake memories of them working together into the forest, him teaching her how to fight, and plotting a detailed plan to kill her mum and uncle. He made extra care to ensure that her memories would give her the idea that the two victims were actually the bad ones, putting extra emphasis on her hatred towards them. If this worked correctly, Bailey would have no choice but to serve by his side, aiding in the death of her family before he killed her, too.
After the damage had been done, Kiernan assessed her injuries, but before he could tend to them, Bailey's eyes fluttered, revealing a blank, confused stare. She sat up suddenly, her hand moving quickly to her neck, shocked to find it covered in blood, blood that complimented the unbearable pain she was feeling. She had no idea where she was as her eyes swept her surroundings, and before she could ask, Kiernan was laying her back to the ground. "Lay down now, dear. I'll try to work on some o' these wounds. You just rest." The man held back a cunning smile as Bailey's mind fluttered through several questions, finally asking one aloud. "Who are you? Where...where am I?" Kiernan only gave her an eye roll and muttered, "Same place we've been all weak, Bails."
A smile curled across the old man's face, and Bailey rolled to her side, fighting against Kiernan's grip as he tried to mend her wounds. "Quit fighting me. Yeh're lucky yeh're alive right now. That werewolf had a pretty good grip on yah're neck. Y'eh bonked yah're head against that tree over there, too. Surprised y'eh remember who y'eh are- Hold still and I'll see if I can't clean y'eh up a bit!" The man move his wand over the girl's neck, closing the wound to stop the bleeding, but not bothering to actually heal it. Bailey seemed to come across some understanding and pushed herself up to her elbows. "Gr...Grandpa? Whe...we're in the...forest? I- What- A werewolf? Really?" Kiernan only smiled again as he pushed her to the ground again. "Yes, dear. Now tell me, what else hurts?" He scanned the girl's body, finding many scratches and cuts, but he only cared for any serious injuries that would impair her fighting ability.
Bailey considered the question...everything hurt. She put a hand to her head and found more blood running down the side, then realizing that her wrist was in a magnificent amount of pain, to the point where she could hardly move it. Glancing to the lower half of her body, she tried to move her legs, but found that one of them had a deep cut, and the other wouldn't even respond to her commands, despite not seeing any visible damage. "My...my wrist, and...and my right leg. And the cuts, they're everywhere." She mumbled, noticing the thick claw marks up and down her body that told her it must have been a werewolf as her granddad told her. "Don't worry 'bout the cuts, those will heal quickly. We are quite rushed for time, y'eh now, business to take care of today. Give m'eh yah're wrist." He spat after mending her broken leg. The truth was that he could care less about her injuries, he just needed her to be able to fight for a few minutes, long enough to finish out his plan.
Bailey winced as she felt her bones popping back into place, but her head was somewhere else. She was trying hard to put the pieces together, finally snapping into reality - or what she thought was reality. Ah, yes, the plan. She had been working for weeks towards eradicating her dreaded mother and Uncle Braylon, and was surprised she could forget such a thing. After being "healed", she still felt loads of pain from head to toe, but trusted that her grandfather knew what he was talking about. After all, he had been caring for her for as long as she could remember...
Kiernan grabbed Bailey by the wrist he had just put back together, pulling her roughly to a standing position. "Come. We must hurry. You need more practice, y'eh should o' been able to take that werewolf down easily. Why don't y'eh stay here and work on y'ar footwork in your animagus form. I'll go find Traveller and send him off with a letter to yeh're mum. I'll pretend t'ah be one o' her coworkers in trouble like we discussed, that way she'll come quickly. I'll be back in a moment. Go on, get to work." It took Bailey a long moment to comprehend everything her granddad had said, but she finally pieced it together. She melted into the clouded leopard very easily, after all, she thought she had been doing so for years. She began practicing diving, running, and climbing up and down the trees, not thinking anything of the letter Kiernan was going to write. How else would they get her mum and uncle to meet them?
Kiernan slunk out of the clearing and several feet away before pulling out the self-inking quill and another piece of the parchment that he had purchased yesterday morning at Wiseacre's. He quickly scribbled out a short letter, then dabbed a bit of his blood from a small cut on his arm onto the edges of the paper. Despite what he told Bailey, he was actually pretending it was from her. She might not know it, but his kids would be in the forest to save her faster than they had time to prepare. Little did they know, all they would find is a young girl with a vengeance against them. His plan was playing out perfectly. One more move and he would be able to finish what he had started, cleansing his bloodline of all the filth and scum that never should of been there.
Kiernan let out a sharp whistle, and moments later his trusty hawk swept down from the forest's canopy, landing uniformly on his shoulder, holding out his ankle to have a letter attached - the only thing Kiernan ever used him for. The tattered man rolled up the parchment and tied it to the animal with a short piece of leather, sending Traveller off to Hogsmeade to deliver the message to his putrid son and daughter.
The parchment read: Mum, Bray,
HELP! I'm in the forest at the spot.
A man, named...Kiernan, I believe...
he's beat me bloody and left me
here to die. Please come quickly.
Bails
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:15 pm
   The two siblings entered the forest near Hogsmeade, hoods covering their heads as they whipped through the trees on Bailey's broom. Braylon cared less about who saw them and which creatures were offended by their presence - he zipped beneath branches and over felled alders, taking the straightest route to the clearing where he had been teaching Bailey how to accomplish her animagus goal. As they approached, he slowed the Firebolt, coming to a halt nearly fifteen feet away. He turned to his sister and put a single finger in front of his lips, telling her to be silent. After she nodded, he brought the broom to the ground and they softly slipped off of it. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his wand, gesturing for his sister to follow suit. With the broom in his left and wand in his right, they crept towards a wall of shrubs that was impossible to see past.
Listening closely, they could clearly hear the voice of an old man - it sounded as if he was giving instruction. Braylon held up five fingers, then let one drop, counting down the seconds until they would penetrate the clearing. When all of his fingers were down, and his hand was clenched in a fist, they both dove through the barrier, confused when they came out on the other side. Bailey was nowhere to be seen. Just an old, withered man with long silver hair, and...a small leopard? Braylon knew instantly that that was his niece. She had spoke of a clouded leopard in her dreams, and the thick, spotted tail she had managed to acquire during one of their practices was identical to the one she had now, only now it was just as long as her animal-like body, waving back and forth in a snake-like motion.
Lyra had no notion that her daughter had been working towards becoming an animagus, and figured the creature was just one of her father's which he likely kept as a pet, or a guard dog. They held their wands up, Braylon's pointing at Kiernan, and Lyra's at the cat. Braylon looked skeptically at his sister, then carefully moved her hand so that her wand was now aimed at their father, as well. Lyra was confused, she didn't understand why he would want to protect the beast. Not until moments later anyway, when Bailey burst into her human form, taking one solid step towards her mum and uncle. "Hello, Mummy. Come to die?" She spoke in a taunting, sarcastic voice, a cunning smile directed first at Lyra, then Braylon. Both of their eyes widened, utterly confused at the girl's words. Lyra could only look at Braylon, her knees shaking, wand trembling in her hand, and tears rolling down the soft features of her face.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:52 pm
Bailey couldn't understand why her mum and uncle looked so shocked. Of course they had been expecting a friend of Lyra's to be lying in the clearing in pain (or so Bailey was told), so she expected a bit of shock, but not the confusion. Shrugging it off, she stepped closer to Kiernan, and he put an arm around her shoulder. "What's the matter kiddos? Surprised t'er see us here?" Keirnan taunted, running a piece of Bailey's now chin-length hair through his fingers, almost as if she were his pet. As he expected, he earned an even more skeptical look from both Lyra and Braylon. "What are you doing, Bails? You- you don't even know him! Do you know what that man has done! That's you're grandfather, Bailey...he killed our mom...your grandma. What...I don't understand. Braylon was practically begging for an answer. Was she ill? Had Kiernan told her some far fetched lie to get her to like him. What was this all about?
Kiernan simply laughed in response to his muddled son, and Bailey rolled her eyes. "Grandpa told me you guys would try to pull something like this...but lying about Grandma's death? What, do you think I would just forget after all these years of hating you that you murdered her in cold blood?" Lyra and Braylon were nearly over the edge now, and completely confused. "Sweetie...what are you talking about? You've never met this man in your life. He's spent nearly fifteen years in Azkaban! Hell, I had thought he was still there until a few minutes ago! We didn't kill her, honey, he did! Please, Bailey, come here." Lyra pleaded with her daughter. She wasn't sure how Bailey had been convinced of such a conspiracy, but it was breaking her heart to be spoken to like that.
Bailey chuckled a bit, shifting her weight onto the leg that Kiernan had mended earlier. "Yes, he did spend a few years in Azkaban, but that's because you two framed him. You turned him into the Ministry without a second thought or a single regret. How could you turn on your family like that? You two disgust me." Braylon scoffed, a look of amazement covering his face. "Bails, what in the bloody hell are you talking about? You know we love you, and you know we aren't murderers. Can't you see what he's doing to you? He's trying to brainwash you, love. Don't let him get in your head, you're better than that!" Bailey sighed and shook her head. "If you two blokes really cared about me, it would have been you who raised me for the past 5 years of my life. But you didn't, so you must not... You're despicable." Braylon's face grew extremely grave, and he edged closer to his sister before whispering, "Memory charm. Bloody b*****d."
Lyra didn't understand any of the words being spoken, not until Braylon simplified the situation for him. A memory charm. Of course, why hadn't she thought of that. The only question now was why? What did their father want with Bailey? After all, Bailey's mixed blood was the whole reason Kiernan had abandoned their family. What would he want with her now? Braylon couldn't even think of a theory, and before he could speak any further, the broomstick in his hand began to shake. Glancing down, he realized it was trying to reach its master, pulling hard to get free from his grip and fly into Bailey's. For the first time, Bailey's eyes fell upon the Firebolt that Braylon held in his hand. "Where did you get that!" Kiernan's heart jumped. After the memory charm, how could she remember a bloody broomstick? She must have had it longer than two years.
Braylon looked down at the broom, then back at Bailey. "I got it out of your room, Bails. You left it there over the summer, remember? Of course not, because this man has tampered with you memory! Where do you think I got it from? You think you've been living in the forest all your life, or what? Maybe Azkaban? Come on Bailey, think straight. You're our family. You belong to us, not Kiernan Deverell, worshiper of the Dark Arts and follower of the Dark Lord. How could you let yourself be so weak?" It tore Braylon up inside to talk to his niece so harshly, but she had to snap out of it somehow.
"I am not weak!" Bailey screamed, scaring birds from above and causing a few stray leaves to fall. As she thought about what they said, she looked up at her grandfather, realizing that she really couldn't even think where she had been sleeping every night, no doubt a terrible flaw in Kiernan's memory charm. Kiernan stoked a strand of hair out of her face, than whispered in her ear very quietly. "Stay strong, sweetheart. Don't let their games fool you. Their magic is strong, but don't drop your defenses. We must do this, now." Kiernan was right, if he wanted any chance in having Bailey at his side, he knew that they must get the show on the road before she allowed the wall that was blocking her old memories to fall. Bailey thought about what he said, then snapped her head towards her mum, then Braylon. "Reducto!" She shouted clearly, and the strength of the Reductor Curse hit her Firebolt, blasting into a pile of ash that fell to the forest floor.
A twisted smile spread over her bloody face. "I will not fall for your childish tricks. You are two evil, horrible people, and you - deserve - to die." She said in a teasing tone, step by step, working her way towards them, wand raised towards her own mum. Lyra backed away. If this was going to end bloody, she would have no part in it. She couldn't fight her own daughter, she didn't have the heart. Braylon grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her close. "Distract Deverell. I'll work on getting Bailey her memory back." He whispered in her ear, moving to Lyra's other side so that he was between her and Bailey. Lyra took a step forward, her wand pointed directly between Kiernan's eyes. She didn't feel strong enough to use dark magic, let alone against her own father - evil or not. This was not going any direction she would have liked, but didn't see it going anywhere different. She shut her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath to prepare for the destruction that was sure to come.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:55 pm
[[Whew. Guild's longest post. sweatdrop ]]
Pulling out his wand again, he sent the wild cat flying off his chest in the opposite direction, then shuffled to his feet quickly. By the time he was standing again, Bailey was already back in her human form, wand aimed directly at him. "Bails, come on, just listen to me for a min-" Braylon's pleading was rudely interrupted by a weak tongue-tying curse. He had felt the full effects of well-cast dark magic, and he was very glad to know that she wasn't capable of it. Reversing the curse, he began to speak again, but this time he interrupted himself by diving to the ground, narrowly missing another Reductor Curse. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, gripping his wand tightly. Bailey's wand was thrown into the air and she herself was knocked against a tree at the edge of the clearing.
Braylon moved slowly, closing in on her. "Bailey, listen! He's not your family, and he never has been! He's just wants your help to kill us! He was never a father, just a lover of the dark arts who got his feelings hurt when we wouldn't support his cause. He even fought alongside the deatheaters in the Battle of Hogwarts, Bailey! That's where he was caught, and that's why he was sent to Azkaban! You have to believe us!" Braylon could tell that Bailey was listening, but that she had a very strong wall up, attempting to avoid his every word. Not bothering to respond, Bailey snatched up her wand and sent a Leg-Locker Curse at her uncle, knocking him to the ground again.
Meanwhile, Lyra and her father were circling each other, wands nearly touching as they stared into one another's eyes. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Still love m'eh?" Kiernan's Irish accent only made it harder for Lyra to fight him, but she decided to break the ice by throwing a Blasting Curse towards his legs. Unfortunately, he countered with a strong, "Protego!" Which repelled her spell and sent it bouncing into the forest, taking trees down without effort. Immediately afterwards, he slashed his wand across her body, cutting a shallow wound into her stomach. When her hand dropped to her mid-section, Kiernan stabbed his wand forward, sending her tumbling backwards, head over feet, finally coming to a stop against the trunk of a tree. Lyra winced as her head made contact with the tree, but she fumbled for her wand anyway. Eyes closed, she sent a Body-Bind curse at Kiernan, not surprised when he dodge it once again. Replying with the same spell, Lyra was now bound in place, unable to get back on her feet. Kiernan trekked slowly towards her, kneeling when he reached her side. "Don't worry, dear. I don't plan on killing y'er precious li'l daughter until after you and Braylon are dead." Sneering at his own kin, the weathered old man rose back to his full height, turning now towards Bailey and Braylon. Lyra writhed in place, tears now falling like torrential rains, makeup running down her once beautiful face. "Braylon, look out!" Her brother had managed to undo the Leg-Locker Curse and had Bailey pinned beneath his foot on the ground. At Lyra's warning, he turned to his left, sending an instant disarming spell at his dad, then reversing Lyra's Body-Bind. Before he could remove and more damage, Bailey cast a strong spell from the ground, sending him whirling into the nearby bushes. As Kiernan stumbled to his feet, searching the ground for his wand, Lyra yelled, "Confundo!", causing her dad to get a bit dizzy and take a moment to remember what he had been looking for. While he was down, Lyra turned her attention to her daughter, who was now standing over Braylon with a wand in his face. After sending a disarming spell of her own, Lyra was knocked viciously to the ground with a set of enormous paws. When her eyes finally opened, she was face to face with a full-grown lion, certainly not what she was expecting. Kiernan smirked as he raised his giant paw, bringing it down hard where Lyra's head had been. She had managed to avoid his claws, rolling out from beneath his hold and climbing to her feet. She had never fought an animal with a wand, but she felt much more comfortable than hurting her father's tattered body. "Alarte Ascendare!" Lyra shouted, tossing the lion high into the cool night air, falling back to the uneven ground with force that could be felt by the other three. As he shuffled to get to his feet, she moved to her right, yelling "Bombarda!" Kiernan's long tail was now separated from his body, blood was running down his back side, and he was viewing the world from upside down, roaring loudly in pain. To their left, Braylon had managed to bind Bailey to a tree, where she was spitting a disturbing string of curse words in his face. "Bailey, you don't understand, he's going to kill you when he's done with us! Please!" For the first time during Braylon's pleads, he had managed to shut Bailey's mouth, and a look of confusion flashed across her face for a short second. Her eyes looked over at her Grandpa, now dueling vigorously with her mum. Paying closer attention, he noticed that Kiernan's spells were not only darker, but much more harmful than those that Lyra was casting, causing her to raise an eyebrow. Trying to keep strong, she shook her head, feeling her vision to blur because of the blood-loss from the injuries she had obtained, both new and old. Braylon was done playing games. Whatever filthy thoughts and memories his father had shoved into Bailey's head, it was clear that he needed to get them out. With his wand to her temple, he began to mumble a long incantation over and over again, attempting to undo the damage that Kiernan had reaped on their family. "You can't undo something that was never done, Braylon." Bailey said with a sneer, not completely convinced that what she was saying was true. As she opened her mouth to tease him, she was interrupted with a flush of fog. It was as if she went blind: her vision, along with every other sense was no longer working. Only her feeling remained, allowing the pain of every injury she had got in the last ten hours to have the whole of her attention. She could focus on nothing but it, not until the battle scene slowly began to come back into view. Braylon was still standing in front of her, but she noticed an obvious difference: she felt no hatred towards him. However, she felt no love, either. Confusion swept over her stronger than any feeling of pain or anger. She was at a complete loss, searching for anything within her reach. "Bailey..? Is, is that you, Bails?" Braylon asked, or more appropriately: pleaded. Bailey looked down at her binds, then up at her uncle, a single tear sliding down her cheek. Braylon understood, and he slashed the rope around her with his wand, letting her drop to the ground. Her ankles buckled beneath her, she had little strength left now that reality was taking over. She couldn't recall every detail of the last day, but looking to the other side of the clearing, only one thing was important right now. She watched as her mother was sent flying several feet, hitting an invisible wall that Kiernan summoned with his wand, and sliding to the grass with a numb look on her face and blood covering her body. Bailey fumbled for her wand, finding it in the bushes behind her. Braylon seemed stunned, but he leapt towards the one-ended duel to save his sister. Before he had even taken two steps, however, Bailey managed to get to her feet, placing a hand on her uncle's shoulder. The deep, meaningful look they shared was enough for him to understand. Kiernan, still in his animagus form, was now travelling full speed towards Lyra, clearly ready to finish her off. As he leapt nearly seven feet in the air, Bailey met him in the middle, diving into a beast of her own. The two cat's collided, but Kiernan had over a hundred pounds on her, which resulted in him coming down hard on top of her spotted body. With all her strength, Bailey somersaulted out from beneath her grandfather, getting him in the face with her thick tail on the way out, then returning, claws out, to paw him in the face. Kiernan was enraged now. His plan had turned on him, and the weight of the danger he was in was almost too much to carry. He crumbled under the force of Bailey's hit, his silver mane hiding his bloody face. With the longest teeth in the living feline family, Bailey made contact with his wrinkled throat. He couldn't hold up his defenses anymore, and as she hoped, he returned abruptly to his broken human form. The battered and beaten man had a large cat attached to his neck, but he didn't hesitate to feel around him for his wand. When his fingers touched the warm wood, he looked Bailey in the eyes with a weary smile. "Crucio!" Bailey tumbled backwards, her body human once again before she even hit the ground. The young girl shook and trembled under the weight of the unforgivable curse, and tears streamed steadily down her face as her body felt as if it was engulfed in flames. Lyra watched in horror, her own body too weak to do anything, and her wand nowhere in sight if she could. Braylon hadn't wanted it to end like this, but was there ever any choice? Stepping forward and bracing himself for an image he would remember for the rest of his life, he let his wand take control. Thrusting forward, bright green light leapt steadily from the tip of his wand, coinciding with the two worst words that a wizard could possibly utter. The killing curse tore into Kiernan's back, already gashed and covered in blood from losing his tail. The light swallowed his body and lit up the entire clearing as Kiernan's piercing cry echoed off each and every tree that surrounded them. His dark brown eyes, which were identical to those of all three of the others', slowly lost their color, then rolled to the back of his head. His body dropped to his knees, then fell forward face-first, landing with a thump against the cold, hard ground. Lyra didn't linger on the scene, the only thing of importance to her right now was her daughter, who was now lying unconscious in an awkward position, just feet from her dead grandfather. Pulling Bailey's head onto her lap, Lyra began to shed tears, brushing her daughter's hair and kissing her forehead. Braylon wasn't able to move for several minutes, his insides numb and his outsides not knowing what to do. Finally understanding the full force of what had just happened, and taking the blame for the entire ordeal, his eyes began to well up with tears of his own. He moved slowly to his family, kneeling next to them and waving his wand over his niece. Bailey gasped and her eyes snapped open, only to reveal an overwhelming look of pain, that couldn't nearly explain how much she was hurting. She had accommodated so many wounds during the day, that she couldn't even pin point what hurt the most, or what even hurt at all. Her head rolled to the side, her eyes falling upon the dead, beaten man. She had made it out alive. She hadn't expected nearly as much, and would have been satisfied just to know that her mum and uncle were safe - and they were. She tried to pull herself into a sitting position, but a deep wound across her side screamed in retaliation. Dropping back down, she reached her arms around Lyra and Braylon, who's arms were already wrapped around her. No words were said, even as Braylon carried Bailey out of the clearing in his arms, Lyra clinging to his neck for support. St. Mungo's was undoubtedly their destination, but nobody had to say so, nor did they care. Today had been long enough, and they were all ready and willing for it to end. Their family was whole once again, a tiny hole in it perhaps, but not one that couldn't be mended.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:23 am
Rylee galloped through the forest, the wind whistling through her hair. Eventually she slowed to a walk and sighed. I wonder if I can find someone to talk to.
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 3:56 am
 The last enemy that shall be destroyed...
Rose glided smoothly and quietly to the edge of the Forest. She could hear people somewhere along the way: she would not go there. Lately, she's been experiencing one of her mood swings, and right now, she doesn't want to be with anyone, dead or alive.
The sun shone brightly, and she knew that people could hardly see her out here.
How peaceful, she thought. She looked up at the castle and saw the students inside their classrooms. If only that werewolf didn't come, she would have been inside teaching.
As she stared into space, she distinctly heard the sound of horse's hooves. As it drew nearer, she saw a brown one coming her way. A horse at Hogwarts? It's definitely not a centaur... Yes, a horse.
A student... she thought. Can she see me as a horse?
She drifted slowly to the shade of the tree and just try to blend in. However, the horse slowed down. It saw her.
No use hiding now.
... is Death.
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:08 pm
Jungo sat on his bottom looking for rocks, he did this everyday to satisfy his need to smash something. He very rarely went a day without smashing one. The big troll found a fairly moderate sized rock sitting next to a tree; the rock, which still lay idly on the ground was an odd color to him. This puzzled him for he never saw anything like it. All he knew was he wanted to smash it. He stood up to find his hammer, which had seemed to slip his mind while he searched for the elusive rock. He found his hammer behind a big tree. Upon finding his lost hammer, Jungo had the sudden feeling that he was surrounded by trees. He did not realize however, that he was in a forest which means it's all trees.
"Jungo thinks there to much trees," he shouted. Once he said this he unexpectedly started attacking a tree. He continuously shouted, "Jungo no like tree." He would not finish yelling until he successfully knocked the tree down.
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:23 pm
Jungo successfully knocked the tree over with ease. He was quite pleased with himself which could be told by the faint smirk on his misshapen face. He looked at his newly 'decorated' environment and loved it.
"Jungo redecorate good!" he said as he raised his hammer upward. He jumped around in happiness causing a little tremor in the ground, but Jungo didn't worry about it at all because he was having much fun.
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:24 pm
Jungo had started to walk around aimlessly. He decided he would look for something to play with. He always had his toys to play with at his home. His home is not really the same thing the little people have.
"Jungo have no walls. He just have rock bed," he said to himself. "Maybe Jungo make rock stew for dinner." So off he went in direction of his house, which was east but Jungo just calls it 'this way' and points in the wrong direction. Jungo laughed at himself hysterically for no apparent reason. He thought of something that had seemed funny to him. He traveled eastward with a very fast pace and an extremely long stride since he is eleven and a half foot tall.
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