[Lk] Sunbathing!

[Thom Moen]

Thom cast a shield charm over his and Keifer's heads, watching the force field ripple like water as the ice hailed down.

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

"Damn it, Helia. No. Stay HERE. All of you bloody well stay here." He bellows. "If you go out there you'll die. Bring Lisa to me, but all of you stay underneath the damned charm." He turned his head to see Thom and Keifer standing a bit away. "Come here, you two idiots!" He yelled over the crashing. "Your spell won't last long."

[Lisa Lycott]

Lisa laughed slightly, casting her blind eyes ahead of her. "This is so messed up," she said bitterly, looking behind her though not seeing anything. Suddenly hearing Moncrieff, she felt Boggleworth change their course and lead them back to the group. "Wait, what's going on?" His hand was still on her shoulder reassuringly however, so she let him lead her.

[Ethelion Eriksson]

Ethelion returned to wolf form, so he could better dodge the falling ice that idiot Rainer had conjured. It had killed most of the lethifolds, sure, but it was going to bloody well kill them too. He narrowly missed being hit, and went on to tear out the throat of a lethifold. This was such a bad day.

[Thom Moen]

Thom and Keifer gave each other the most disgruntled of looks, then like mopping teenagers they slouched over, suddenly determined to be difficult. They were probably going to get into trouble for all of this anyway. "So what's going to happen now?" asked Thom, looking at all the destruction. The portals in the lake had closed, but now forest material lay floating on the water, calm and natural as if nothing had gone on. Only the simmering remains of lethifold moved.

Thom glanced at one of the bear cubs. "And what about those?" He knew they'd fetch a good price in the Hogs Head.

[Helia Ollivander]

She sat down under the charm, still miffed that there was nothing she coudl do. Just sit here... protected... while her teachers were out there about to die more likely than not... and she could do nothign. She hated feeling useless. She hated sitting and doing nothing. She anted to help somehow... but knew she had to stay here or Moncrieff would find a way to make her.
Bog joined the lot too.

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

Algernon ignored Thom's comment, feeling Lisa near him, and he turned to look at her. Her face looked normal, but the vacent, unfocusing quality of her eyes evident. She could not see.

"Now listen to me, Lisa." He began, voice still shakey. "I've been blind. Ask Helia, she'll tell you. Last big battle we had... a wand exploded in my face. Burnt my eyes out for about a month. My eyesight came back. It was horrible, but I got through it and you can too."

[Helia Ollivander]

She heard her name, and on a normal occassion she would've whipped aorund te hear what was being said about her, but she coudln't. Her eyes were glued to the stage in front of her, the ice falling, the spells going off at the dark liquidy shapes, and the teachers. Her teachers, saving the school while she was being sheltered 'It's not fair! They've taught us well, we should be able to help... but she knew that was wrong. They were young, they were inexperienced, and most of them had used up their magic by now. She continued to sit there, knees pulled up to her chest, eyes on the battle, tears rolling down her cheeks, wishing she could help...

[Lisa Lycott]

Feeling helpless without her sight, Lisa finally let a few tears escape the corner of her eyes. Wiping them away hurriedly, she shook her head, "A month?" She whispered, her voice quiverring. Worrying her bottom lip, she stared in the direction of the professor's voice the warmth in what he said easing her fear just a little. With a defeated sigh, she tried her best to listen to what was going on.

[Thom Moen]

With a jolt Thom realised he'd left his fishtank out in the ice. "Accio fishtank!" he muttered half heartedly. The tank scraped along the ground towards the group, and Thom cursed loudly as it came to an abrupt halt, watering sloshing all over their feet. Cashew and the goldfish bashed against the side of the tank painfully. "Sorry..." he smiled weakly at them.

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

"Well, yes, for me it was a month. For you, who knows? Once we get you back to the castle, the nurse--" He paused. "Wait a minute, what happened to that crazy woman?"

[Thom Moen]

Thom kicked the fish tank. "Meow." he grinned.

[Helia Ollivander]

"Thoms got her," she said to the Professor, not moving her eyes from the battle. If she saw anyway she could help she was going to try... but she could see the teachers were doing well, which frusterated her even more. "He accioed her about two seconds ago..."

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

Algernon looked down at Thom's lap at the fishtank. Usually he would have been surprised, but...

"The catfish or the goldfish?" He asked flatly.

[Prof. Rainer Freundschaft]

You're not fast enough, not by a long shot. You were always better with me than without me. Erich brings himself to stand next to Rainer, speaking in to him because he can, because the walls are gone now. We are better. That's when the ice stops and the flames gutter before dropping in to ash. The remaining lethifolds quit moving, their cambric bodies completely and utterly still. They're flags caught in a photograph of Rainer and Erich standing side by side where anyone could see in that brief instant before he is gone again.

That's when they crumple, compressed like wet tissue in large, strong and unseen hands. The life of them dripping down knuckles, feeding the fist- whatever it is that forces them down and then in to nothing. Rainer understands distantly that he is doing this and is glad. Nothing has felt like home in so long but this.


The stray bicycle's wheel turns in the breeze but nothing else will. "We are the best."