Miles stood in the clearing peering down into the cave in front of him or trying to but his eyes don't seem to be able to penetrate very far past the opening. What he wouldn't give to have night vision at the moment. Upon waking up he jumped up and had gone frantic at not finding his wand anywhere in his dormitory and now his nerves were even more edgy. He knew he hadn't lost it it was taken and know he knew it was somewhere in the cave before him.

His fingers tapped nervously on the hem of his pants as he looked around for anything he could use as a light but it wasn't night time, he knew better. Anything he could possibly use as a light source would be somewhere in that cave...along with things that could possibly eat him. He was a Ravenclaw...he could do this.... Taking a deep breath and holding a smiling image of Fia in his mind he took one step forward and then another allowing his feet to guide him toward the cave as his eyes kept watchful and weary. Least he wasn't going to be racing anyone, that was a plus.

Right before he entered the dark abyss he looked over his shoulder and then sighed. Now or never. Taking another deep breath of fresh air he reached his hand for the edge of the cave wall and starting walking into the unending darkness, keeping his hand touching the wall, his ears alert for things moving other than himself and his eyes open in search of anything that lit up or anything he could use to light something up the old muggle way. Just a bloody good thing I'm not afraid of the dark or anything, he thought to himself as he continued walking

As you enter the cave, the last bit of light from the outside is extinguished as the entry squeezes closed behind you. Without your wand, you're pitched into darkness and no matter how you try to adjust your eyes, it is without use. There are no shapes, no shadows, nothing.

That is, until you notice a faint glow around what seems to be a twist in the cave. As you draw nearer, it illuminates the area around it, but if you look further past, it is again black. Light, and heat, radiate from the now visible bush, indeed, radiate from each seed.

A fireseed bush.

Fletcher felt so naked right now. He stood outside the entrance to the caves and stared into the total darkness, his right hand tingling at the absence of his wand. He was a Hogwarts Champion, representing the best magical school in the world, and he yet he felt that he stood there, at the threshold of something that could totally change his life, completely unarmed and woefully unprepared.

Why had he signed up again? For the honor and glory?

No, not really, even if that was the answer he liked to give out loud. He had signed up because he knew he could do this. He knew he had moral fiber, courage, cleverness and the will to never give up buried somewhere within his lanky frame. He middle name was AWESOME for Merlin's sake! He had people counting on him! Maybe! A few! Surely... at least a couple of Hufflepuffs and like... he had Slytherin girlfriends who were rooting for him! Right?!

With the encouraging thought that at least someone would miss him if he died in this cave, Fletcher squared his shoulders and slowly walked forward into the blackness. He paused once he had entered the darkness and opened and shut his eyes, still holding his hand out like he had an invisible wand there. It was no use though, really. There was no difference between squinting around the caves with his eyes open and just keeping his eyes closed. Hmm. That was certainly one way to level the competition: blind all the competitors.

Fletcher shrugged to himself and continued forward, wondering for how long he would be able to continue this journey upright. Caves were underground, right? Like.... little bunny tunnels? Would he end up crawling in this thing???

Who knew, who knew. He would just have to remain VIGILANT until he found some way to illuminate his pathway....

But he could do this.

As you enter the cave, the last bit of light from the outside is extinguished as the entry squeezes closed behind you. Without your wand, you're pitched into darkness and no matter how you try to adjust your eyes, it is without use. There are no shapes, no shadows, nothing.

That is, until you notice a faint glow around what seems to be a twist in the cave. As you draw nearer, it illuminates the area around it, but if you look further past, it is again black. Light, and heat, radiate from the now visible bush, indeed, radiate from each seed.

A fireseed bush.

Miles froze in his steps as he heard a sound behind him and turned around to see the entrance way closing. Half of him wanted to run toward it and see if he could get out, the other half wanted to keep going for his bloody wand that was stolen from him. Protection of his own equipment won out and with a great effort he turned back toward the darkness before him. It seemed to go on forever. He held out his hand and looked down unable to see it. Well this is going to be fun...not.... Too late to back out now.

Gathering all of his strength and will power he kept his hand on the strong cave wall, the only reminder that he was going forward and not around in circled, and continued walking forward allowing his hand to trail lightly over the wall. As he walked he stared in what he could only imagine was straight ahead hoping the wall didn't turn sharply and his head run right into it. As that thought ran through his mind he brought his other hand up and held it out in front of him just to be sure. Come on genius...as many times as you and Fi explored around the house this was going to be a piece of cake. Stupid voice in the back of his head... he sighed and looked around noticing a slight change in the density of the darkness ahead. Was that...light?

He got excited but had to restrain himself before he do something stupid and get himself hurt. With his hand against the cave wall he followed it along a turn carefully not wanting to think about just what exactly was on the wall and how long he'd have to scrub later. As he came around the twist in the cave he spotted a spiky, red, fiery, and rather hot bush before him and sighed happily as his eyes adjusted though he had to cover them for a moment at the brightness of it. He knew exactly what the bush was and as he looked past it he saw darkness again. It was now or never but how exactly now?

Turning his eyes back to the bush he pursed his lips thoughtfully as he tried to remember what it was about this plant. The seeds.... He could feel just how hot it was though and wasn't about to risk touching it. His eyes flashed brightly as he remembered he needed to cool the seeds or wait for one to get cool enough to touch but...wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the light if it was cooled? But if it could get cool enough to touch yet still glow... He frowned thoughtfully and looked around it seemed to him he had four options, see if there was any cold water around to cool it, wait for them to cool down on their own since he remembered they did, risk 3rd degree burns trying to wrap a seed around a piece of cloth or keep walking. He hadn't heard anything that sounded like water so...he'd wait. He'd probably keep going without it but...who knew what was waiting for him. So he stood patiently eying the seeds carefully for the variation in colour. Good thing this isn't a race....

Deep breath.

Raiden stood at the mouth of the cave, sweatshirt pulled tightly around him. He could feel his empty wand holster, pressed against his right forearm. It would be an understatement to say he felt uncomfortable without his wand. A huge understatement. While he had great reflexes, especially now... it was dark in there, he wouldn't know what was coming, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to defend himself as effectively.

It doesn't matter.

He could do this. He could. Magic wasn't the only thing he relied on. He was capable.

He closed his eyes and stepped into the cave. One foot in front of the other. He would take things as they came.

She was nervous. Her hands were balled at her sides in fists as she stared into the depths of the cave. The darkness seemed never-ending. Dark. She took a deep breath, fidgeting in the dim light cast over by the thick forest. She was in the Forbidden Forest - without a wand. She groaned, the instinct in her to just run was supressed by her willingness to do the task and not just to do it but to try her utmost to get through to the next round. She WOULD try her hardest. She would give it her all.

Her feet seemed to lead her towards the darkness and she entered the mouth of the cave, wearing shorts and a thick jumper despite the biting chill. Her hair, up in a messy ponytail, she looked determined. But was determination enough to overcome whatever was waiting for her in the darkness?

The bush practically pulsed with light, though if one got close enough, the heat wasn't terribly unbearable. The question remained how it would feel against skin, however.

A breeze - a strange, chilling thing in a cave - blew up from down the tunnel, rustling the branches of the bush. On the far-side, away from the Champion, one branch dimmed, slightly, though it still gave off light.

It is impossible to continue without being able to see... but how much and how to take it?


As you enter the cave, the last bit of light from the outside is extinguished as the entry squeezes closed behind you. Without your wand, you're pitched into darkness and no matter how you try to adjust your eyes, it is without use. There are no shapes, no shadows, nothing.

That is, until you notice a faint glow around what seems to be a twist in the cave. As you draw nearer, it illuminates the area around it, but if you look further past, it is again black. Light, and heat, radiate from the now visible bush, indeed, radiate from each seed.

A fireseed bush.

Raiden continued down the path, walking carefully; toes nudged the air, testing to make sure there was nothing to trip over, and steps were tentatively made, in case of pitfalls in the floor of the cave. Knowing that the world around him was so dark that seeing was impossible, the prefect kept his eyes closed. All focus was on his ears, on hearing anything in the cave that might pose him a threat, or possibly help him.

Fingertips brushed the wall in a vague effort to keep himself from getting turned around.

The light from the bush, however, changed the colour of the world beyond his eyelids, and he opened them as he approached it. Fire seeds? Well, these were the Fire Seed Caves, weren't they?

"Hmmm," he murmured to himself, stepping closer to the bush and leaning as close as he dared with the heat coming off of it. With the darkness past it... he wouldn't dare leave such a helpful thing here. But... "How do I..."

Throwing dirt from the floor of the cave on it might put it out completely and leave him in the dark. The seeds would likely burn right through his sleeve if he pulled it up over his hand and attempted to collect one or two. So how...

He blew on the nearest seed, experimentally, as one would blow on tea that was too hot to drink. If nothing else, it was worth a shot.

The affronted seed dimmed briefly as the air passed over it, but when it stopped, the brightened again, though not as much as before. A neighboring seed, which had held on to the bush by a tenuous connection, fell loose from the slight disturbance and hit the cave floor where it dimmed. But the breath of a young man wouldn't be enough to knock free any of the others.

How many more than the fallen one will he take? And how to get them?

...Oh huh. That was... hmmm. Raiden eyed the seed that had fallen to the ground; the light, however, had gone dimmer, which meant that it probably wouldn't last long on its own after removal from the plant.

The prefect leaned closer again, changing his stance so he could try something else. The seeds cooled when you blew on them... so he blew directly towards where the branch connected to the plant, taking a few breaths and expelling them toward that spot. Maybe the branch would cool in the same manner, too? It wouldn't be helpful to have light that didn't show him anything past his fingertips.

The bush was dimming on it's own, at least a bit, but if the Champion looked closely, one would see that the light was almost exclusively from the seeds, though together, they made the whole bush appear a ball of light. It wasn't as easy to tell if the same principle applied to heat, though it very well might. The color of the branch remained unchanged from the breath, though the nearby seeds, once again, dimmed.

With the branch not changing colour, he couldn't really tell for sure if it was safe to touch or not. But surely... surely it would cool down from being blown on, if the seeds too did that.

Maybe.

Unsure, Raiden rolled back on his heels, leaning away from the bush. One hand raised to his ear, but the absence of the stud there left him very little to play with while thinking. His sleeve brushed against his chin, however, and he was hit with an idea.

Slipping the sleeve up over his hand, the young man spit on it. The green cloth darkened from the dampness, and he continued to do so, tongue working in his mouth to force saliva out. By the end of it, his mouth was a bit dry, but the sleeve was damp around the inside of his wrist.

...that wouldn't help for long, however...

Looking down at the floor, he rubbed the wetted sleeve against it, picking up dirt. This was just... disgusting. It was gross. He lifted it to his mouth and spit on it again. It wasn't mud, exactly, but there was a damp, cold mixture of dirt and saliva on his sleeve. Enough to protect him from the heat should it still be present, maybe?

He leaned toward the bush again, releasing breath on the branch just below where the seeds started to grow from it. A dozen lungfuls of air later, he tentatively reached past the seeds, sleeve slipped up over his hand, and touched it.

If he could feel too much heat through the dirty spit mixture between his fingers and the branch, he'd pull away and try something else. If not...

The branch was warm, yes, from being surrounded by burning, pulsing seeds, but not nearly as burning hot, though likely still uncomfortable. The heat radiating from the seeds was the bigger heat source, however, and comparatively, the branch might even feel cool.

But with that dirt-spit mud, burns should be avoidable.

Three... two... one.

...

It wasn't even that hot. Raiden frowned slightly; he might not even have had to muck up his sleeve for this. But... better safe than sorry. Not moving his sleeve from his hand, Raiden pushed down on the branch carefully, then pulled up a little, always taking care to avoid touching the seeds with his arm.

It shouldn't take too much to break, right? He repeated the process, applying a bit more force but taking care to not jostle it too much, should he accidentally dislodge the seeds on it. He needed those.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Narrator

As you enter the cave, the last bit of light from the outside is extinguished as the entry squeezes closed behind you. Without your wand, you're pitched into darkness and no matter how you try to adjust your eyes, it is without use. There are no shapes, no shadows, nothing.

That is, until you notice a faint glow around what seems to be a twist in the cave. As you draw nearer, it illuminates the area around it, but if you look further past, it is again black. Light, and heat, radiate from the now visible bush, indeed, radiate from each seed.

A fireseed bush.

The cave was narrower than Fletcher had expected, and even though the boy was not claustraphobic, he was starting to convince himself that he was. He could feel a small boil of panic roiling within his stomach and swallowed again, trying to push the nerves away so he could focus.

Focus, Fletcher, focus. But on what? What was there to see in this complete and total blackness?

He focused on his own breathing instead of on the lack of sight he had at the moment. In and out, in and out. One foot in front of the other, he continued marching on. Fletcher put his left hand out and groped for the edge of the cave, using the wall as a sort of guide as he kept walking. He felt the cool stone start to curve and he followed it slowly, hoping that against all odds, his wand would be around the bend.

The cave turned and Fletcher stumbled slightly as his eyes picked up on a hazy, reddish light not to far ahead. He opened his eyelids as wide as possible and hurried forward, eager to get a bit of relief from the complete darkness.

Approaching the glow, he stopped abruptly as the source of the light was illuminated before his feet. A... bush? A burning bush? What could this mean?

Fletcher stretched out his left hand again toward the fiery little plant and felt considerable warmth. He crouched down for a closer look and noticed that each seed seemed to be pulsing with an internal light.

Awesome. He glanced back up and around the cave, wondering if perhaps the path forward would be illuminated by more of these bushes, but seeing none, Fletcher realized what he would have to do.

Use the bush as a torch. But how? Could he just... dig it up and carry it forward? He started pawing at the cave floor....

Wiggle. The seeds shook but did not fall as branch was being worked on. The others around it wiggled a bit, threatening to fall on the Champion's arm, but staying secure.

Snap! With the repeat of the process, the branch splintered and suddenly came loose without warning. As it severed from the bush, it cooled and dimmed, but still cast off a great deal of light. How many of the almond sized seeds did you manage to get, Champion?

When you're ready to go, the way before you is lit at least a bit by your fireseeds, and as you walk, you'll see a fork in the cave. To the right, a cacophony of sound echoes off the walls, its source yet unseen. The dischord crescendos and speeds before disappearing from notice. It then begins again. To the left, a partial cave-in and silence. If you linger too near the left, however, a foul smell reaches your nostrils. It is pungent: the kind of smell that sticks in your head.

Choose your way carefully. There is no telling whether you can retrace your steps.

The floor was tightly packed around the bush, and stony, though some dirt came up as the Champion dug. The dirt itself was warm and the roots deep. A branch on the far side, obscured if one were focused on the dirt, dimmed of its own accord, but only slightly.

Just a bit under the surface of the dirt, and still packed tight, a large, flat rock the size of hand became visible, though it's edges were still obscured by packed dirt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Narrator

The floor was tightly packed around the bush, and stony, though some dirt came up as the Champion dug. The dirt itself was warm and the roots deep. A branch on the far side, obscured if one were focused on the dirt, dimmed of its own accord, but only slightly.

Just a bit under the surface of the dirt, and still packed tight, a large, flat rock the size of hand became visible, though it's edges were still obscured by packed dirt.

Fletcher really thought he might be on to something here, with his digging. He could feel dirt getting packed under his fingernails and on his hands and he knees, but he did not care. He had never been one for cleanliness anyway.

The dirt was very rocky and some of the little pebbles and stones he managed to dislodge were sharp. Fletcher continued pushing away the warm dirt, regardless, though the more he dug the more he noticed how deep the firebush's roots seemed to go.

Hmm. He paused for a second and rocked back on his heels, studying the firebush. Was it just him or did one of the branches seem to be flickering and calling to him? "Hey lil fella, wanna give me some light?" he called out to the branch. Talking to plants was a good strategy, he had heard. His mum sang to her petunias in the garden all the time.

Fletcher scooted on his knees around to the side of the bush by the dimming branch. "Don't give up! I haven't given up yet!" He crawled closer and his knee made contact with something hard in the dirt. Fletcher winced and looked down, noticing a flat stone packed into the ground.

He examined it quizzically, then glanced back to the bush and back to the ground, deciding to waste at least a few more moments dislodging the stone. Maybe it was important! "Just a minute," he continued talking to the firebush. "I'mma try something here...."

Ah, ah, ah. Raiden froze immediately, all motion ceasing as the branch came loose. Didn't want to burn himself or drop any of the seeds that were on it, after all. Carefully, oh so carefully, he drew his arm out. There were at least a thirty-five of the seeds clinging to various points of the branch, if not a few more than that - more than enough to help him see better than he'd hoped as he'd come in. Raiden didn't consider the idea of counting them.

"Thanks, bush," he muttered absently to the thing. "Sorry for stealing from you and all that..."

Careful to not pull his sleeve from between his hand and the branch, and more careful still to not jostle it too much for fear of losing the light he'd gained and having to go back and get another branch, Raiden stood and took a step back from what was left of the bush. Curious eyes stared into the darkness past it, and soon his tentative steps resumed. This time, touching the walls wasn't as necessary; still, one hand trailed along the stone as a attentive eyes swept the path before him, looking for anything that seemed out of place or as if it would be useful.

Maybe his wand was hidden behind a rock or something.

Upon reaching the fork, the prefect paused. The loudness of the right was immediately off-putting. Whatever was making such a racket was probably not going to be friendly with him... His senses were still in general overdrive, and he picked up the smell from the left as he took a few steps closer.

"...ew."

The cave-in didn't look terribly friendly either.

He stood between the two paths, eyes straying back and forth. On one hand... the noise on the right could be something dangerous. It could be potentially deadly, especially since he didn't have his wand. But there was also the chance that it was just being generated to trick him into going to the left. The cave-in and smell were just as intimidating as the flood of sound that came and went; running back, and escape, would be hindered by the fact that the cavern wasn't as open on that side. The smell could be from a troll...

He took a step closer to the right. Noisy didn't always mean bad. Terrible smells, however... had a much higher chance of leading to things he didn't want to be near.

His faltering steps led him a bit farther down the right-hand path.

Even the dimming section still gave off significant light, though the seeds gave off much less heat.

The boy's words had no effect on the plant, which continued to cast light and warmth throughout the cave.

As you walk, the source of the sound eventually makes itself apparent. Honking daffodils. Noisy, to be sure, but harmless. Unless, of course, you value your eardrums.

As you proceed through the tunnel, you come across an area that is, for the most part, quite sparse. There are a few patches of grass scattered here and there, but nothing is thickly, grown, or settled. Then suddenly, the surroundings change, and although the area is very dark and it’s difficult to see, a few creepers and tendrils can clearly be seen. As you walk a little closer, you can see that there aren’t just a few creepers and tendrils, but there are many, and all are blocking every single way around the plant that lies before you. There’s no other way out than to figure out what you’ve come across and to find the solution to getting past it.

...well this was confusing.

Raiden followed the path quietly, trying to both focus on the sound and ignore it at the same time. It was... honking? There were precious few things in this world that made noises such as this, and none of them were extremely dangerous, so surely this path was safe, right?

Daffodils. The prefect winced at the loudness of them, but they weren't dangerous from what he knew of them, so they could easily be ignored. He focused himself, focused on listening as he walked, and tried to pick up any sound that wasn't coming from the daffodils.

As he moved on, the prefect bent and picked up a rather sharp rock; absently, almost lazily, he every so often dragged it along the wall to leave a line. He was, after all, going to have to find his way back out, and who knew if he was meant to come back this way. Or if something ahead would force him to follow this way back, to head down another path.

...what was that?

Wary of the tendrils and creepers, he paused, waiting to see if they would move. If they were going to reach out at him. Didn't need to get all tangled up, after all. He held up the fire seed branch a little bit more, trying to make the light spread a little farther so he could look at the plant.

Didn't want to get too close just yet... not until he knew what it was.

Though past the daffodils, the honking still echoed down the tunnel, though muted somewhat. The plant slithered and wriggled, as if inching away from the light that was held aloft. The part that remained in shadow, however, wriggled more, one lone tendril sneaking along the shadow, toward the champion.

Hmmm. Raiden took a step closer to the plant that was blocking his way; his toe nudged a small patch of grass on the floor, and he glanced down at it.

Nudge. Nudge.

Uprooting it with his toe, he kicked the small bit of dirt and grass up into the air, toward the thing in the path. If it was grabby, maybe it would grab at that?

He didn't notice the tendril moving toward him. The echos of the daffodils covered any sound it might have been making, at least to his ears, and his eyes were distracted by watching the one that he needed to get around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Narrator

Even the dimming section still gave off significant light, though the seeds gave off much less heat.

The boy's words had no effect on the plant, which continued to cast light and warmth throughout the cave.

Fletcher continued to dig around the rock in the floor of the cave, his nails tearing slightly at all the scratching. At last, he managed to free a corner of the flat, smooth rock and he tugged it out of its spot, quite proud of his effort.

Now what? Fletcher glanced back at the dimmer branch and then down at the rock in his left hand. He glanced back to the plant and reached his free hand out toward it, stretching out just one finger to touch a tiny section of the branch.

How hot was it?