Written for Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures: Write about a group of people hunting/searching for hidden treasure, (object) sparkling diamonds.
Word count: 1455
into the woods
Lorcan spun on his feet, eyes moving back and forth from the crude map in his hands to their surroundings and his brother, who was looking more and more unimpressed by the minute. He turned the map over in his hands, biting his lips, and, injecting more confidence in his voice than he truly felt, said, "This way!"
"Are you sure?" Lysander, his twin, replied. He sounded about as exhausted as Lorcan himself felt. "Because I'm pretty sure that's what you said ten minutes ago, and half an hour ago, oh, and two hours ago too, and guess what? We still haven't reached your supposed treasure yet!"
Lorcan puffed up in outrage. How dare Lysander doubt him? "It's not a supposed treasure," he retorted, stomping his foot. "They're diamonds. Sparkling diamonds," he added, because that made all the difference. "We said we were getting them for Mum's birthday."
Lysander huffed out a sigh. "They better be worth it."
"They will be," Lorcan replied petulantly, picking up the pace. "Besides, you know Mum and Dad aren't expecting us back for like, at least another couple of hours. That's plenty of time."
Batting away at a tree branch that had been about to hit him in the face, Lysander scoffed. "Only if we don't get lost."
Lorcan rolled his eyes. "Why would we get lost? I have a map, remember?" he said, shaking said map in front of his twin's face. "Anyway, this is supposed to be fun. An adventure, like the ones Mum and Dad go on all the time! Come on, Lysander, live a little!"
As they walked, the trees thinned progressively until they finally reached some kind of clearing. They were deep into the forest, and Lorcan was honestly rather sure they were the only human souls there since all they could hear were the soft rustling noises of wind high up in the trees and the sudden scuttling sounds of animals fleeing from their path. Sometimes, a bird's song echoed through the silence too, the sound achingly clear and bright.
The clearing was beautiful, though it was clear that nature ruled there-or perhaps that was why Lorcan loved it so much. Even Lysander, he could tell, felt at peace there.
It was hard not to, raised by who they had been.
"Is this it?" Lysander asked, voice oddly quiet.
Lorcan took the time to consult his map, but he didn't really have to. He could feel that this place was different. It resonated with something deep in his bones, and if there was any place someone would or could have chosen to hide a treasure in this entire forest, Lorcan would best it would be right there.
"I think so, yeah," he replied, taking in the sights more carefully now.
There was a trick, their mother had taught them, to seeing what the world was trying to hide from you.
Look for what almost fits, their father had added, sharing a fond smile with his wife. Look for the little details that look like they belong at first glance, but that still stand out.
Lorcan shared a knowing look with his twin, folding his map in four and tucking it back into his pocket. Really, this was almost too easy.
Beside him, Lysander sighed. "I still don't get why the pirates couldn't just have buried this on a beach somewhere, like all pirates do, instead of coming to the middle of this forest."
Lorcan shrugged. "Well, maybe they thought everyone would go looking through the beaches first and they figured the forest was safer."
Lysander hummed in thought before shrugging. "I guess that makes sense, yeah." He bumped his shoulder against Lorcan's, smiling. "So, what do you say we check out those stones things in the middle of the clearing? I'd say they're looking mighty suspicious."
Lorcan smiled, amusement and excitation bubbling in his chest. "I dare say they do, yes," he replied, almost skipping rather than walking as they got closer.
"Think there'll be any traps?" Lysander whispered. "Like in the movies?"
Lorcan rolled his eyes. "Life's not a movie," he said. "And maybe? But like, this should really just be buried around here somewhere, no traps necessary. Plus, it's been here for a long time, so maybe the traps wouldn't even work anymore."
Lysander looked at him dubiously, but kept moving forward anyway, wading through the tall grass.
It was lucky the clearing wasn't big, because the blade of grass were so sharp they kept nicking at Lorcan's exposed arms. Lysander, lucky him, didn't have that problem, as he wore long sleeves.
"Well, looks like there's no need for actual traps," Lysander joked when Lorcan cursed for the fifth time, a new cut already visible on his arm. They weren't anything deep or dangerous, thankfully, but they stung like hell and were twice as annoying.
"Yeah," Lorcan replied sulkily.
"Looks like the nature's doing the job for them," Lysander laughed, elbowing his twin.
Lorcan glared. "You know what? Just for that, I think you should be the one to do the digging. On your own. While I watch and laugh as you trip over your feet and fall into the hole you've just dug up."
Lysander flushed violently. "That was one time!" he protested. "I was six! It's been ten years, will you let it go already?"
"Never," Lorcan smirked. "But I guess it would go faster if you didn't have to do this alone."
Lysander rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by his brother's teasing. "Considering this was your idea in the first place, you'd better help out with the digging."
Lorcan just hummed in reply.
Finally, they reached the stone structure. It appeared entirely random at first, though Lorcan had no idea how rocks of such a size had ended up there, but upon closer inspection it became clear that the structure wasn't really random. Instead, it looked as though there were three half-broken circles interlocked.
From there, it wasn't hard to figure out where to dig.
"There!" both he and Lysander shouted at the same time.
"I'll get the -" Lysander started.
"Yeah, I'll look around a little first while you set up," Lorcan replied, already handing out his bag so Lysander could fish out the shovels they had brought.
In the end, everything was over almost embarrassingly quickly. They shoveled out dry earth for maybe ten minutes before their shovels hit something solid-an old wooden box.
Lorcan and Lysander shared excited smiles as they lifted it out, uncaring as to how much dirt they were spreading on their clothes and skin.
They stared at it for a long time. "You should open it," Lysander remarked.
"No, you should do it," Lorcan replied almost immediately.
"Are you kidding me? This was your idea-this is your thing, Lorcan. Go on, open it, you know you want to."
"You were the one who followed me all the way out here though," Lorcan retorted. "And I know you didn't particularly enjoy it."
"Come on, you're my brother, I wasn't going to let do this alone," Lysander scoffed. "Now go on, open it so we can go back home."
"I- Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lysander replied pointedly. "Come on, stop it with the suspense already."
Lorcan huffed out a laugh. "Alright, alright. I'm opening it."
The wood felt so cold under his fingers it was almost slimy. It took him some time to find the latch-so much so, in fact, that for a few moments he thought the box might not have one, or that it had been broken somehow, either by age or on purpose.
It unlocked surprisingly easily once he had found the mechanism though, the barely audible click somehow deafening in the otherwise silent clearing.
The diamond necklace glittered in the sunlight.
"Well I'll be damned," Lysander breathed out, fingers twitching toward the treasure. "They really do sparkle."
Lorcan whistled, heart thumping in his chest, very much echoing the sentiment.
"Think Mum'll like it?" he asked, half-joking.
Lysander nodded mutely. "I think she'll appreciate the story that goes with it more, though," he added.
Lorcan laughed. "She would too. Maybe we should add a few more dangerous traps when we tell the story? You know, to make it more interesting?"
"You mean the grass wasn't dangerous enough for you?" Lysander teased.
"Oh screw you!"
"Come on, let's head back," Lysander laughed. "I'll protect you from the mean grass if you brainstorm on what to tell our mother."
Lorcan humphed, but shrugged. "Alright. I guess we should leave now that we have what we came for."
They packed up quickly, the necklace carefully wrapped in newspaper Lysander had brought for this occasion, and left.