Oh my goodness, I didn't realise this story was so interesting. Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favourites!
D.D: Thanks! It get a little scary (I guess?) below but we'll all be on track again soon!
.2016: Updated! c:
Addicted2memories: Sorry this too so long! My semester started recently but I think that might actually be a thing. Good idea!
szynka2496: I'm glad you love their interactions!
"Mr Scamander...I-I don't quite see them. I think we ought to go back." I shivered, trying to conjure up some kind of clothes warming charm with whispering things like calorem amet or fevore. I'd need to work on this when we got back to a less harsh...environment. If you can even call this that. We were past the greener areas of the Alps, the nicer places that were only a wee bit chilly. Not snowed in like this hell hole.
"Quite right. Probably down farther to the green areas." Mr Scamander called back through the snow. It was probably only raining a little below us but at this ridiculous altitude, it was a bloody blizzard. I'd found that a headache had settled in rather early this morning but the lightheadedness had truly only begun when we got to the heavily snowed in area here. Possibly an altitude issue.
"Can we go there then?" I cupped my hands around my mouth as I tried to keep up with the fair man. His paleness was reflecting back at in just how hard it was to see what was his face and what was the snow.
"We are!" He yelled back, closer sounding than I'd originally thought him to be.
"Mr Scamander?" I tried to peer through the snow to see where he I shuffled forwards, somehow I found myself knocking into what seemed to be a squirming white blanket that booped my nose. Hands wrapped themselves around my fleece covered biceps to steady their owner while I righted myself a little as well. I locked eyes quickly with him and watched as his quickly darted away, nodding to me.
"Right. Off we pop." He nodded, clearing his throat rather loudly. I could hear him over the wind howling which was a touch hard to do at this point.
He started down the mountain as I followed hesitantly, I was just trying to keep his little brown case in my line of sight. It was difficult to do anything else right now. It took us maybe a total of an hour to get off the mountain. I could only tell because by the time we got to the green, the sun was setting as it had been in a slow progression towards the horizon. I wanted to reach out and to grab a bit of his sleeve but felt it would be too forwards.
It didn't end badly, however. Instead I simply stumbled over unseen stones and the usual decaying mountain debris. At least I didn't concuss myself, right? I mean my toes may be split at this point but I was lucid. Lucid enough to know I was quite tired. I blinked and found myself walking into the soggy fabric back of my companion.
"Mr Scamander?" I questioned the man warily as I took a step back only to see him crouch down with his hands spread out in almost a bird-like fashion, with each finger a claw. It looked almost protective but a second glance told me he was merely trying to not startle the Graphorn that stood proudly in front of us.
It looked to be male gauging by the elongated horns atop its head. I had always figured that was due to his duty of protecting whatever young he may have. The animal kingdom usually did as such, no one was ever truly left defenseless unless it was the doing of wizarding-kind and humans.
"Now, I'm going to reach out to it. I want you to stay here, Miss Maximae." Scamander warned, as he shuffled quietly towards the beast. Taking a step then letting it appraise him before he took another. I watched with fascination as he took a short step then gauged the situation all over again. He had a notebook in his hands, carefully cradled to his side as he stalked slowly towards the creature.
In an odd sense of morbid fascination, I watched him sit down ever so slowly in front of the curious Graphorn as I pulled the hood off my head. I slowly sat down as well, trying to move as slowly as I could in order to not some how end up killing Mr Scamander by startling the great male. I focused on the grass strands in front of me, pulling at them while I thought on this.
Being the cause of his injuries might put a bit of a damper on this whole student teacher relationship thing. Of course I could possibly get him healed enough to go to a real medical professional if something did happen. I've always had a penchant for the healing spells, having done a bit of an internship in St Mungos in London. Of course that was thanks to my parents working in such a place as healer-
I froze as I felt moist warm breath push itself down my wispy blonde hair and into my scalp. This was probably not good. I blinked, thinking of turning slightly to take a look at whatever had decided to investigate my hair. I felt gentle tendrils slide their way into slips of my hair and tried my best not to either yank my head away or to shiver. By the look of slight panic on Scamander's face, I had to assume that it was the Graphorn who found my hair so absolutely fascinating.
"Um." I mumbled to myself as the thin tentacles streamed from my hair around to my face. Okay, now this is just uncomfortable. Scamander seemed to have gotten over his bit of panic and had begun running his little pencil over his sketch book's pages. At least they weren't wet? The texture reminded me slightly of a dog's nose if it were dry...if a dog could possibly just trample me to death. I could see Scamander's mouth move but heard nothing as I furrowed my brows.
"Just hold there for a moment longer." Scamander whispers finally made their way into my ears as I pursed my lips, simply hoping to not have this creature get too curious about that.
I slowly raised a hand from my lap, I was starting to feel a touch like a particularly slow snail. The Graphorn didn't seem to strike me where I sat as I moved to pull a purplish tendril away from my eyes with the touch of a mother trying to hold her newborn for the first time. If this creature hadn't trampled me by now, I was starting to wonder if maybe it wouldn't at all.
I thought to actually face it until I heard some sort of yelling in the distance. I tried to look with just moving my eyes but they were set behind the Graphorn and I. Mr Scamander could probably see them though. I watched the young man's expression turn panicked looking with a choking feeling of anxiety cropping up in my stomach. Was it a muggle?
"There he is!" A male voice yelled across the quiet dark the three of us had been situated in up till this point. My mind immediately jumped to figure out this accent, it wasn't English and it wasn't Swiss...so where was it from? I've heard it once before. Possibly. I stood slowly, trying to not panic the Graphorn into thinking I was the aggressor here.
"Incarcerous." My ears heard the spell as it was uttered before I actually got all my gerbils moving in one direction to gracefully jump out of the firing range of the Wizard or the creature.
Instead of this graceful jump that was planned...I just sort of catapulted myself away enough to only smack into the ground rather hard. I felt my breath knocked out of my capacities as I watched magic ropes wrap themselves around the Graphorn and the ground to keep it in place. The Graphorn bucked, howling angrily now as it tried to cut through the ropes just as easily as they reformed themselves around his figure.
I raised my wand, trying to think of spells to eliminate such a magical item. Each strand had to be completely destroyed at one time, if not they simply continued to regrow. Confrigo? No. Too explosive, might hurt the Graphorn. Bombarda. No, too destructive again, Ara. Why could I only think of the explosive spells? Scamander fired off a single spell at them, they merely whipped it away with the spell visually bouncing off of them.
"Flipendo!" I fired the first sort of defensive thing I could think of to stop what seemed to be the leader of a 3 manned group, carrying weapons and netting. The jinx hit the first two men with some great force, knocking them back with a great bit of strength, but it'd missed the third. Perfect. Now he's mad as well. I spared a glance towards the beast and found with mild relief Scamander had already begun trying to get
"Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled back at me, moving his wand sharply as he moved out of the way of my knocking-back jinx.
I waved my wand as quickly as I could, trying to deflect it. I stumbled, attempting to stand up fully, when he fired another at me, this time with no words. I tried to wave my wand again, trying to not flick the spell off in Scamander or the Creature's direction. I was touch too slow and felt the cutting sensation of an angry spell bite deeply into my sider, shoulder, and neck.
"IMMOBULUS!" I practically screamed the spell at 3rd man still standing as my wand moved to outline two mountain peaks. His body froze quickly with his face still in the motions of contorting into an odd mix of anger and surprise.
"Miss Maximae?" Scamander's voice sounded rather far away from me as I spun in his direction, my wand at the ready for any sort of threats.
"You've got to just call me, Ara." I retorted breathlessly, holding a hand up to stop his probable disagreement before it began. I felt the ground quake slightly, and looked over my bloody shoulder to see the Graphorn gaining speed as he ran.
"...Okay?" I spun my head back as a hand lightly gripped my forearm and felt the world tumble around me in a daze.
"What was that?" I whispered, trying to recall if I'd heard what he just asked me. I watched his mouth open with muted curiousity, waiting until I could actually hear him with shaky legs. The thought struck me that, I couldn't hear my own breathing. Am I dead? My legs fell slack first leading all the way up until the world blackened around me.