Note: Sorry for being so late.
Around 10 am, the guard woke them all up, again. Harry, Ron and Hermione were starting to get used to the life in the Forbidden Forest and it wasn't too bad, other than the spiders, the poisonous plants, the random deadly animals and the poison ivy from hell, of which Ron had run afoul of later that morning. The guard had to call a stop to the trip to tend to Ron.
Thank god for calamine lotion.
After the unexpected stopover, the guard let them all stop near a stream. Once more he told them to find their own food, and this time Hermione taught the boys how to fish with magic. In no time, they had three fat fish in the guard's conjured pot. After the meal, they quickly took up their bags again and continued on.
When they reached a huge clearing dotted with huge trees and wild knotgrass, the guard stopped momentarily, head tilted to stare at something. Ron and Harry bristled, and Harry clutched his borrowed kunai. After the spider attack, the guard let them keep the knives.
The guard grinned behind his mask. This was it. It took him a long time to track this one down. It was elusive, and it was fast…very fast, also very odd indeed. The guard had never thought such a thing had happened before, but now that it had he had no intention of allowing such an unusual and quite probably amusing quarry to escape his team. Still, it was not as fast as a ninja, but for a wizard…well, it was faster he supposed, given their general lack of physical fitness.
Kakashi glanced at the three kids behind him. He pretended to be serious. The three stiffened with fear until Ron peeked around the guard's body and gasped.
"Bloody hell Harry! It's…it's…it's the Ford Anglia!"
Harry blinked in shock, and then he paused as a soft sound came from within the car. The car was still, headlights off. It seemed….harmless.
Kakashi struggled to stop himself from laughing.
"I think I hear a bell."
The musical sound of the bell confirmed that yes; this was true as did the extremely shiny glint of gold within the vehicle as the bell, swinging with the cars movements, hung from rearview mirror.
"Well, I think you have to get it now, before it escapes. It can't possibly be worse than the spiders." Kakashi suggested, hiding an evil grin behind his mask.
The trio immediately dropped their packs and rushed forward. At the same time, the car started its engine and began to rev up, back wheels rolling, but never moving. Harry supposed it was the handbrake it was the handbrake that kept it from moving, or maybe the car was trying to gauge the resolve of its opponents.
What followed was a very awkward car chase.
Ron pounced, or attempted to, but the car suddenly started, back wheels digging into the forest floor, splattering dirt everywhere. Unluckily, Ron was hit by a rather large clump of dirt, and he was knocked back a few paces, ending up coughing up dirt. He screamed at it as soon as his mouth was free of dirt.
"BLOODY HELL YOU GIT! I'M GOING TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND KICK YOUR A-('Ron!' from Hermione)"
Harry backtracked, and urged Ron and Hermione to hurry up. "After it, it's getting away!"
Hermione decided to be smart and aimed her wand at it.
"Impedimenta!"
The car swerved, moving away from them. Harry threw his kunai at the tires, but it missed, landing point first into the hard ground.
Zigzagging, they screamed spells and death threats at it as they chased after its retreating, zigzagging form.
"Stop!" from Hermione.
"'Bloody hell you git! Stand still and let me catch you!" from Ron.
"Slow down a bit! We just want the bell! The bell!" from Harry.
The guard chuckled.
The car paid no attention to their screaming, seemingly agitated as it zoomed away as fast as it could, leaving three coughing kids in a stream of exhaust. Three kids who glared at the car and plotted its demise.
The trio ran after the car, the whole chase looking like three black kittens after a giant mouse. Truly it was similar to a Tom and Jerry cartoon, and Kakashi had his hands full trying to stop from laughing. Often, one of the three tripped over some roots or complains about the thorns they accidentally stepped on. Often, Kakashi had to sigh, appeal to some of their demands and help them out. He didn't even try to catch the car though. As the teacher had said, the guard wouldn't help them, only make sure they lived.
As the sun sank slowly to the mountains they were still trying to catch the car. Kakashi was getting bored. The three were panting, wands aimed weakly at it. The car was still going strong though. Kakashi figured then he could help them out. He threw one shuriken just as Ron yelled out a spell; one of the car's tires blew out. Ron jumped up and danced, figuring he had blown out the tire.
"HAH YOU BLOODY GIT! We finally caught you! Now stand still and take it like a man!" Ron yelled out, prancing towards the car.
"Ron shut up!" She said, annoyed as she tried to climb into the car, having previously unlocked the door of the car.
"Let's get this done." He kept casting the Full-Body Bind to stop the car from escaping as Hermione crawled back out, holding the bell. The three kids backed off the car, closing the door and stepping as far away from it as possible before the spell wore off.
As the spell wore off, the car shivered, looking at them with seemingly wide headlights and zoomed off seemingly terrified out of its automobile mind.
As it was, Kakashi let the mouse brown haired girl have the bell.
--
They camped at the second Crossing Point, this time it was towards what the guard called the Dark Heart. Here, the forest was more than imposing. It reeked of death, and fear. The three students were nervous now, and it was clearly visible in the way they walked, the way they talked and the way they looked at him. More to the point the way they shivered like little scared ducklings.
So cute, Kakashi thought, fighting the urge to ruffle their heads as he smiled. They were hopeful, and innocent, wishing that his protection would keep them away from the shadows flittering in between the forest trees.
The shadows that had been flittering about them mustered around them, closing off their possible exits. And as the three children stared at Kakashi, the shadows leapt up and swallowed them in inky blackness.
Their screams echoed throughout in the quiet clearing. Then there was silence and the previous turbulence of the shadowy darkness dissipated, leaving an eerie silence and empty space where three children and a silver-haired guard had been.