At first, as the open part of the box was turned toward the mandrake, the screams just seemed muffled. Then, as the direction the sound was traveling in changed from one side to the other, a slight cracking noise could be heard. First, it was soft and only broke parts of the barrier away. Then, the cracking noise was a little louder as the barrier began to crumble away, chunk by chunk.

Through the cloth in your ears, you can still hear the mandrake screaming just a bit.

Well, you're still alive and if you've still got fireseed for light, the next turn in the cave should be visible. The passage narrows somewhat, the light bouncing off what look like fairy eggs nestled in the crevices. But as soon as they're noticed, the passage opens into a huge cavern, the light reflecting upward, if not outward. The gentle sounds of water lapping at the shore can be heard, but not yet seen. Along the back wall of the cavern, near where you stand, plant life of all sorts presses up against the stone. Nascent trees crawling with wood lice. Alihotsy plants mingling with angel's trumpet. Slimy bundles of what look like green rat tails nestle against gurdyroots. Deathcaps press up against their muggle counterparts. All ignorable, so long as you aren't anxious for a snack.

When you finally come to the shore, you can see what appears to be a lake - though the far side if obscured from view by the dark. What is apparent, however, is that the other two sides have no shores - just sheer rock faces. There is nowhere to go but across the lake. Giant lilypads float on the surface, some appearing close enough to leap one to the other. Gravity resistant trees hover above the surface, again appearing to, at least at the start, be close enough to travel one to the other. As for the water, it seems calm if one simply wanted to swim. There's no telling what lies beyond the limit of your sight, but you have to start somewhere.

For only a split second, the lilypad seems to be staying afloat. It even moves forwards a half-inch, supporting you all the way.

...but after that split second, the lilypad suddenly begins to give, and it starts sinking little by little. You could fall into water...or, you could make a quick jump back to shore.

Meanwhile, sink...sink...sink. Little by little.

As the sock is wrapped around the bush, an observant person may notice that the heat coming from a few of the nearby seems seems to have died down just a bit more. The light those seeds are giving off, however, is still just as strong.

With the tug of the sock, the branch shakes roughly, then a good many fire seeds fall to the ground. Will you take any for the journey ahead? If so, how many do you pick up?

Although the umbrella flower budged just a bit, it appeared to be strong enough to withstand the tug of the rope. What will you do now? You could trust the umbrella flower after one good tug, or you could try several times and be a little more sure of your surroundings. Meanwhile, the ground below--wherever it may be--still appears very, very dark.

Okay, so the lilypads weren't working. That meant Vlad had to go back. He wasn't going back into the water yet; not if he could help it. At least now his gymnastics and acrobatics as shown at the Durmstrang entrance to Hogwarts would come in handy. Vlad instantly leapt back again and stepped further and further back. If this failed, he'd try swimming, and if he was dragged down, the... what looked to be gillyweed.

Once he'd stepped back, Vlad took a run up and took a perfectly aimed leap and one of the trees ready to grab a trunk if he missed a branch, or at least prepared for delving into the water.

Whatever happened, it was too late to do anything. Seeds were still in his hand and he was flying right at the nearest tree.

She wasn't paying much attention to the mandrake, the eyes were fixed on the barrier...and it seemed to work, the barrier was breaking. And once it was no longer there, she gave the box a little kick and the mandrake was muffled again.

Danika was still feeling a little faint. But she was NOT going to faint. She was on her knees trying to bring her strength back, and, of course, took the hands away from her ears, and the fabric too. She needed to breathe and get out of there immediately. Thankfully, she'd had the idea of saving 4 of those seeds in her pocket.

The glow was nothing like the one from before, but at least she could see the narrow passage, and then the cavern with all the plants...what was the deal with the plants already?! There were too many, and no wand! She paid little attention to those and continued walking until getting to the shore.

Okay. Four choices. That's how she saw it. One, going through the water at the expense of getting drowned by something pulling you down. Great. Two, jumping from lilypad to lilypad until they gave in and she had to face the water. Greater. Three, get on the tree and try to hop from one to the other until you couldn't that and got destined to jump from lilypad to lilypad, and then going through the water. Greatest. Four, all of the above, combined.

No, it wasn't easy, but that's what the Triwizard Tournament was all about, except with wands. Right now all she had were 4 fireseeds that were going straight to her pocket again.

All she knew was that she needed to get out, and away from all the plants, Danika will be spending plenty of time indoors after this.

She settled on the trees. Climbing to the first one and, in the meantime, getting scratched on her arm by one of the branches. Perfect.

Hm. It seemed like it could hold her. She was pretty small stature, but that didn't mean the thing couldn't break after a few more tugs. Maybe if.....she tied it around another umbrella flower, just to be sure. Pulling up a little more of her vine rope, she tied it tight around another flower.

That should do, but juuuust to be sure. It is her life were talking about. She gave it a few more sharp tugs.

That was more like it.

Not only had he managed to knock off a lot of seeds from the first branch, he seemed to cool down a few other branches as well. He knew because his arm was not as hot as it was previously, and lifting his leg, the one with the shoe still on, he gave those few branches a kick. He could use as many as the seeds as possible, for he had no idea what he would run into deeper in the cave.

Unraveling the sock from the branch, he bent down and started to pick up the seeds that did fall. He placed each seed carefully on the sock, making sure to count each one.

Of course, if he kicked a branch off, it would be much easier for him.

The tree swayed dangerously as the Champion made contact, bumping into another tree.

The branches from one to another are close enough to move from tree to tree without too much difficulty, provided that you don't mind scratching yourself on the bark.

If you hop from tree to tree for a while, you may notice a glow in a tree across the water - not in the direction of the far shore, but near one of the sheer rock walls that border the sides of the lake.

The far shore is still out of site, shrouded in darkness.

As you climb into the tree, it begins to float in the air, slowly and barely noticeable at first. You might not see the distance growing between you and the next tree at all, since your source of light is in your pocket.

But the distance is there. In fact, in the time it took you to climb that tree and get scratched, there are no longer any trees within reach to move to. There is, however, a circle of lilypads around you that might make good stepping stones to the next tree.

But only if you can see them, of course.

The umbrella flowers swayed a bit, but did not break free from the cave wall. The vine, too, remained strong.

Is it time to go?

The seeds that have fallen have cooled to the point of being able to carry them with only mild discomfort. How many do you have? Is it enough?

When you decide to move on, the way before you lit at least a bit by your fireseeds, 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.

It still held strong.

Good.

Wrapping the vine around her waist a couple of times, she kept hold of it with one hand while picking up her torch with the other. Standing on the cliff's edge, she peered down into the darkness for a moment before turning to face away from the cliff.

With a small hop she began to make her way down the cliff and into the darkness.

Well, she was now on the tree, except, Danika could see nothing at all. She knew there was water underneath, and she knows there are more trees around but without any source of light...and slightly beginning to freak out about the lack of it...she wouldn't be able to get that far ahead.

That's why she took out the 4 seeds, maybe they'd show what was nearest to where she stood.

Those seeds only emitted the same faint glow they did when she was at shore, hopefully she'd be able to see something else besides the tree she was in.

The vine slid jerkily over the rocks as the Champion made her way down the cliff. The umbrella plants bent under the stress but didn't break.

The climb feels long and is certainly bumpy, but eventually, your light source illuminates the floor, maybe 15 feet below you.

The umbrella flowers bend dangerously, and though one snaps, which jerks your vine considerably, the double-tying has kept you from falling to the ground.

Do you have enough vine to make it the last 15?


With that little light, perhaps you can see some shadows down below, but not the full lilypads. What is apparent, though, is that there is no tree near you except the one you are in.

Yes.

Nikolai had decided he had enough fireseeds. With a handful of exactly fifteen seeds now sitting in his hand instead of the sock, he made his way around the bush, slipping on his shoe as he continued through the cave.

Not so dark and not so cold anymore.

Coming to an abrupt halt, Nik glanced between the two different tunnels, contemplating which one he should take. The right was rather noisy, and taking a few steps towards the left, he was hit with a horrid smell and noticed the cave-in.

Now he didn't know what to do. He could either risk losing his hearing by taking the right tunnel, or risk the partial cave-in to cave in completely and most likely, smell bad by taking the left.

With a deep sigh, he decided which route to take.

To the left, to the left.

Besides, no matter how smelly he got, he'd still be super good looking.

This wasn't of much help, but Danika saw nothing around her, which seemed perfectly odd considering all the trees she'd seen on the shore.

Challenge.

Of course.

She should've chosen the lilypads instead of the trees.

She eyed the 4 fireseeds, truth be told, she didn't want to let any of those go, but there were some shadows down there, and she decided to drop 1 of the 4 fireseeds to the shadowy part, perhaps she at least can measure the distance between the unknown shadows and the tree.

As you walk, the source of the smell sticks to the bottom of your shoe. Rotten vegetation and the unpleasant excretions of the mimbulus mimbletonia: stinksap. Harmless... unless you are of a weak stomach.

As you proceed further through the tunnel, you come upon an area that is thick with massive plants in the shape of an umbrella. Walking around these plants would be fairly easy if it weren’t for the fact that all pathways are currently blocked by plants resembling large, thick, black slugs. The plants’ surfaces are covered with protrusions that are shooting out a thick, yellowish-green pus smelling of gasoline. The streams of pus are constant, shooting across the walkway. Your only option is to go forward, though, which means you’ll need to find a way past the dangerous, pus-spewing plants.

Lucky for you the seed lands on a lilypad, illuminating it just long enough before the water gets to it and it goes out completely.

In that brief bit, you can see that the lilypad is halfway between the tree you are in and the roots of another.

Off in the distance, near what could only be one of the rocky cliffs bordering the lake, something glows. But, it doesn't illuminate the area around it. It provides no light, except for itself.

The far shore is in the other direction and remains shrouded in darkness.

Which way? And how?

It was a good thing that Zitnik had made sure she kept in tip top physical shape. This was not as easy as she was making it look, though she wasn't make it look to easy. More than a few times she had lost her footing and almost burned herself with the torch.

One of the flowers snapping had completely thrown her off balance, causing her body to knock to against the cliff.

Regaining her balance, she glanced down at the last few feet she had to go. Unsure if she had enough vine left, she slowed her speed as she continued down the cliff.

Oh.

She had now only those 3 fireseeds. Danika was totally hating this, and hating all kinds of plants. Just at the moment, she'll go back to like them when she's done. When she leaves the darkness, of course.

The water was evil, because it had gotten the fireseed extinguished in no time. She only caught a glimpse of the only path she could take in order to get to the rocks without swimming. We've already established the water was a no-go.

She wasn't going back. She had to go towards the rocks.

One hand on one branch, and the other one closed holding the 3 fireseeds in her hand, Danika jumped towards the place the fireseed had extinguished. The lilypad, no?

Holding his hand out in front of him, letting the fireseeds light his way, Nikolai made his way through the rotten vegetation and the horrible, yet very familiar scent of mimbulus mimbletonias. He had come in contact with the plant numerous times, and now knowing what the cause of the smell was, it bothered him not.

As he continued through the tunnel, the smell of the stinksap far gone, Nik stopped as he came across a bunch of umbrella plants. They were easy to deal with seeing as they did nothing, and he was just about to easily step around them when he inhaled through his nose. The smell was immediately recognized as bubotubers, and looking down he noticed said plants.

Great.

He could just walk through them, but the pus would cause massive boils on his skin. Yes, he'd be good looking even with boils but he had bubotuber pus on him before and it was not a fun experience. He needed to find a way to dilute the pus so he'd be able to walk through. Water..he needed water.

Grabbing a hold of one of the umbrella plants with his free hand, he gave it a good shake.

Was there water on them?

Out of vine with a foot left to go. That's what you'll discover when you get that far.

That jostle from the snapping flower, though, shook some of your fireseeds loose and down to the ground. How many do you have left? Or will you pick up the quickly dimming loose ones before you continue on?

Well, you're still alive and if you've still got fireseed for light, the next turn in the cave should be visible when you get a chance to look around. The passage narrows somewhat, the light bouncing off what look like fairy eggs nestled in the crevices. But as soon as they're noticed, the passage opens into a huge cavern, the light reflecting upward, if not outward. The gentle sounds of water lapping at the shore can be heard, but not yet seen. Along the back wall of the cavern, near where you stand, plant life of all sorts presses up against the stone. Nascent trees crawling with wood lice. Alihotsy plants mingling with angel's trumpet. Slimy bundles of what look like green rat tails nestle against gurdyroots. Deathcaps press up against their muggle counterparts. All ignorable, so long as you aren't anxious for a snack.

When you finally come to the shore, you can see what appears to be a lake - though the far side if obscured from view by the dark. What is apparent, however, is that the other two sides have no shores - just sheer rock faces. There is nowhere to go but across the lake. Giant lilypads float on the surface, some appearing close enough to leap one to the other. Gravity resistant trees hover above the surface, again appearing to, at least at the start, be close enough to travel one to the other. As for the water, it seems calm if one simply wanted to swim. There's no telling what lies beyond the limit of your sight, but you have to start somewhere.

The lilypad buckled under the force of the champion, beginning to sink and submerging her feet, the waves lapping at the girl's legs. The fireseed illuminated the tree nearby, and, just barely, the roots of the one behind that.

Indeed, unseen for now, there was a clear path of trees and lilypads all the way to the glow.

Seeing them was going to be the trick.

For as damp as the tunnel felt, the umbrella plants were dry. The petals shook, but did not bend or lose their shape, as he shook the plant, the dirt at it's base loosening just a bit.

The bubotuber pus continued in a steady stream, continuing to pool on the ground.

No water on the plants.

Letting go of the umbrella plant, Nikolai glanced at the bubotubers, a frown crossing his face. He knew of nothing else that would dilute the pus, and even if he did, he doubted he'd be able to find it in the cave.

Perhaps he didn't have to dilute the pus?

Turning back to the umbrella plant, he bent down on one knee, and examined the base of the plant. The dirt was loosening up, and with a few tugs, he might be able to pull it out. He could create a bridge of some sort!

Placing his pile of fireseeds on the ground, far away where he wouldn't step on them, but close enough where the light would help him see, Nik grabbed the base of the plant with both hands and pulled.

Danika should've expected that.

The reaction was almost instant, though, as soon as felt the water she knew she had to...get out of it?

It seemed as if it will take forever to get to the rocks, especially if she had to keep jumping up and down all the way. The waves didn't help either and she didn't want to leave this to fate, there had to be another way...another way that didn't involve swimming, though, that would be easiest and simplest choice.

To swim towards the rocks. And how far will she able to get there if she decided to swim? Not to mention that she'd be left with no light at all if she decided to follow the water path.

What if she decided to swim, taking one lilypad along, and so on, and so on...wouldn't there be enough of them to keep her in the surface?

You know what?

Impulses.

It was best to just get them going. She tried her best to get to the other tree, jumping at the base of the lilypad, which was probably in the bottom on the lake with the impulse she took.

Hopefully she'd get to the other tree for now...and if she didn't, well, she'd have to face the waters.

Only a foot left and out of vine. Thankfully that wasn't to far of a jump and the woman pushed off the cliff, releasing the vine as she did and stumbling slightly before catching her footing.

She frowned at the fireseeds that had fallen loose. A lot of them had fallen, leaving her with only four on the torch. She cursed the flower the snapped in Russian, and after a moment decided to leave them on the ground. Not only were they growing dimmer with each passing second, but she had nothing to hold them with. Her hands were not an option. She wasn't gonna risk burning her soft hands.

Pushing a few loose strands of hair out of her face, she held up her torch and began to look around. Slightly winded after the whole cliff charade, she spotted a tunnel and made her way around the turn. The first thing that caught her eyes were the fairy eggs. At least that's what they seemed to be. Noticing that the cave passage opened up to a cavern, she picked up a few of the eggs and placed them in her pocket, heading off to continue deeper into the cave. They might prove useful to her later.

She took a few steps towards to plant life, exploring the cavern before following the sounds of the water.

The woman had no interest in eating. Not when her wand was somewhere in the cave. She needed that wand back now.

After a moment, she finally approached the shore. A lake. And a large one at that. She checked the other sides, and the rest of the cavern. Quickly realizing that the only way she had to go was across the lake. She was tempted to swim across the lake. She was a fair swimmer and it certainly would have released some of the tension that had built up from not having her wand.

It was the unknown that lay beneath the calm waters that stopped her.

Sandra eyed the trees suspiciously. She didn't know what could be living up in the trees either. Not to mention that it seemed like more work to cross by the trees with her torch.

Giant lilypads it was.

Being mindful of the eggs in her pocket and torch in her hand, she began to cross the lake via lilypads.

The umbrella plant came up without much fuss. It was sturdy, both petals and stem, and quite like a muggle umbrella.

Back by the pus, the spurts continued, all coming from the right side and arching across the walkway to the left, like a gate of goo.

The jump to the tree is successful, the lilypad bobbing back to the surface now that the weight was off, and it sways only lightly. The bark is rough, but the tree remains floating in the air.

It is near enough another, and that one near another, and then a lilypad that is difficult to see, and then another tree. It should be easy if you mind your light.

As the lilypads take your weight, they begin to sink, wetting your shoes. If you're moving quickly enough, perhaps you won't sink, but it isn't the easy path it may have seemed.

Out of the corner of your eye, you might notice a glow in a distant tree, near the furthest rock wall that borders the lake. It illuminates nothing around it, but it glows just the same.

It's in a different direction than that far shore, which remains clothed in darkness. What to do?

Just don't stand on a lilypad too long to think, or you'll be all wet.

Errr, well, that was easier than expected.

Stumbling back a bit as the plant came up from the ground, Nikolai caught his balance and looked down at the plant in his hands. Not only was it massive in size, but just by feel he knew it was sturdy. He wouldn't be able to make a bridge like he had previously thought because of the shape, but, spending time in the water gave him a little idea.

Nik just hoped the bubotuber pus wouldn't cause any damage to the plant.

No time to think about that, though. Breaking the stem off the plant, he grabbed his pile of fireseeds and moved to the left side of the pus. Placing the umbrella part of the plant on the goo, he carefully stepped inside it, and used the stem part as an oar.

Row, row, row your..umbrella plant.

Her daily runs around the lake had proven helpful as she swiftly moved across the lilypads. Still, she wasn't as graceful as she was on dry land, and could feel her shoes getting wet. Causing her to increase her speed.

The glow, at first, went unnoticed by the woman who was focused on crossing the lake with dry feet. It wasn't until she realized the glowing wasn't coming from her torch that she slowed, eyes flicking from the shore and the tree.

Hm. Could her wand be in that particular tree. Hmm.

Realizing her feet were getting wet again, she changed directions and headed for the tree.

If it didn't hold her wand, she could always turn back and head towards the shore. Right?

Since the pus on the floor is just leftover from the squirting on the sides of the wall, you don't get very far with your rowing. It isn't deep enough and the umbrella flower hits the floor.

Meanwhile, however, you've come dangerously close to the actual squirts. The jets of pus are the big block to your moving one, as they squirt horizontally across the only way through.

The lilypads sink faster and further as you continue, making it near impossible to continue that way. Even the slightest weight pushes the pad down so that the water comes up to your knees and then higher still.

There are trees all around you, the roots in arms reach even if you're half submerged.

Instantly she was regretting her change in direction. Sandra was soaked up to her knees and the water was still rising with each step.

Unable to continue running, and realizing the her light would go out if she continued on the lilypads, the woman reached out for a tree, pulling herself onto the root.

Soaked. She was soaked from the waist down. Sigh.

Looking at the glowing tree, she attempted to figure the best path to take.

The tree remains a floating safe haven as you pull yourself onto the roots, three or four trees from the glow.

After crossing a significant part of the water, you can see that the faint glow you’ve been seeing this whole time is extremely familiar—it’s your wand! It’s nestled safely in a tree, but don't celebrate yet! A number of sticks seem to be standing guard within the branches of the tree. The sticks are moving around and look like tiny little stick figures with very long fingers…they’re clearly Bowtruckles. It’s very obvious that the only way you’re going to get your wand back is to make it past this little army of tree men…but how?