[Forest] Strange Adventure

[vampireangel]

Rikki moved swiftly and silently through the ancient trees of the Forbidden Forest, "Come on." she whispered to Richard beckoning with her finger. She stopped, "Something's close." she said, smelling the air, and feeling a presence. She turned back to Richard. "It's just up that way."

[richard]

Rich really could not work out why he agreed to come along. He hated the forest, he hated the trees, he hated the darkness and most of all he hated the creatures that lurked around in it and the problem was that tonight Erika was going to be one of those creatures.

She silently moved in between the trees not even breaking a single twig or rustling a single leaf, this was a different story for Richard. Although he was trying his hardest to be silent it seemed to be failing, his robes kept getting caught on the trees, he would stumble down every hole that was in the forest floor and the objects in his bag would rattle around.

“Rikki…Rikki slow down your doing it again, your going head first into a situation without even thinking about it.”

Slowly Rich caught up with Erika and looked into her eyes trying to get his breath back before glancing in the direction she the presence was. Richard strained his eyes but he could not see, hear or smell anything. But he had to trust Erika after all she had done this plenty of times before.

[vampireangel]

Rikki sighed. "Rich, I'm a vampire. I don't think about hunting. It's an instinct for me."


((sorry, crappy reply i know. tryin to do homework as well))

[richard]

Richard rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips as Erika mentioned about it al being instinct. If he was going to follow his instinct he would be running out of the forest as fast as he could and sitting in front of the fire reading a good book but no he was here. He was trying not to lose his temper but here he was getting wound up and the pure fear mixed in with it all was not a good combination.

“Ok fine you go ahead and be the hunter. I am going to sit here and wait for you to do what ever it is you do.”

Dropping to the forest floor Richard pulled his bag close to him and with a small glance at Erika he looked ahead into the dark forest around him waiting for something to pounce on him and rip him into tiny shreds.

[vampireangel]

Rikki rolled her eyes. Now was that really nessecary? No, it wasn't. "Oh hush!" she snapped, "I didn't make you come with me, it was your choice. If your instinct tells you to go back to the castle, then by all means be my guest. I don't need any protection out here you know." She sighed, "If there's anyone around here who's gonna need any protection it's you." she muttered under her breath. "Now come on. And quit being a wimp!"

[richard]

Richard could not help but frown as Erika told him to be quite and with a glare to match hers he looked up at her from the forest floor and groaned when she whispered to himself. He knew it would be some snide comment but and he had to hold his tongue from stopping himself giving a short remark that she would have to speak up as his hearing was clearly not as good as hers. She then called him a wimp and Rich really could not help but give a sarcastic laugh then.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Groaning a little to loudly Richard pushed himself off the grounds swinging his bag back over his shoulder and he walked to stand next to Erika. He was still not impressed, he was still scared silly but the one thing was that he promised Erika that he would be there to help her, he had sworn that under the stars that night on the Quidditch pitch and he was going to honour that promise.

“Lead the way the Rikki.”

[vampireangel]

Rikki shook her head and laughed quietly, "You are one strange boy." she muttered. Suddenly she stopped, someone was coming. "Someone'e here." Looking around she saw them trying to blend in with the trees, she wasn't sure if it was a student or and adult, either way, it was dinner. She looked back at Richard, "You might want to close your eyes, and cover your ears." she warned, "Unless you want to watch of course." Rikki stepped closer and closer to her prey, every step was smooth and graceful, her eyes blazed, and her gaze was intense. Rikki was no longer a girl, now she was a predator. "Come closer." she whispered to the person, her voice had changed as well, it was softer, yet dangerous. It lulled the person towards her, closer and closer. "Sleep." Rikki whispered, her prey slumped down, Rikki caught it, one hand holding it, the other supporting it's neck. Rikki leaned down and pierced the human's throat with razor-sharp fangs, after a few moments she lifted her head, and licked her lips, removing all traces of blood. She turned to Richard, "Sorry you had to see that." she said quietly, she looked down at the lifeless body. "Let's go."

[richard]

Rich tried to ignore her comment about him and instead of resorting to a childish remark back he bite his tongue and carried to follow Erika, that was until she stopped and mentioned that there was somebody else in the forest. At that one simple remark Richard froze on the spot and suddenly went rather white, she was going to kill someone. No matter how much he told himself that that is really what would happen and that there was no other way around it the mere thought sent a shiver down his spine now that the time had come.

Erika walked off in the other direction mentioning that Richard should close his eyes, but he was not stupid enough to do that in the Forbidden Forest as creatures might attack him…Erika might attack him.
So instead he stood between the trees looking the opposite direction from which his vampire companion had walked off in but as she apologised to him he turned his pale face to face her and in a rather weak voice replied.

“I…I did not see anything…I was looking at this ver…very fetching tree.”

Rich tired to shoot Erika a small smile but it flailed within seconds at the mere sight of her red lips and slight smirk. He held his bag closer to himself and could not help but think about how barbaric the whole procedure was. Why could vampires just eat red meat like everyone else.

[vampireangel]

Rikkie sighed, "You didn't have to come you know." she whispered. She looked at him, "In fact, I would've preffered it, if you'd stayed behind, I was hoping you wouldn't have to see that."

[richard]

Richard was still trying to concentrate on not falling to the ground and fainting, he felt even more venerable then he had done before and yet again he wiggled his scarf further up so it now covered his whole neck. He did not care if it was may and there was still a warmth in the air Rich looked at it in the way he would rather sweat a bit then have his blood drained from his neck.
Richard tried once more to get a smile across his face and this time he managed to break through the barrier of nerves and produce a shy smile. Slowly he walked over to Erika and placed his arm around her shoulder, he could feel his own heart beating in his chest but he was unsure if was fear of his neck being so close to her sharp fangs, or that he actually liked this girl.

“I told you before…I…I wanted to come. I just need to get used to it that is all and I would not be able to do that if I was sitting in the castle.”

Richard was trying to reassure Erika but also himself he had been telling himself these reasons over and over again all day and had to force himself out of the common room to met her. He needed to find a backbone and there seemed no better person in his eyes to finding one with the Erika.

[vampireangel]

Erika stared, Does he honestly think I'm an idiot? she asked herself. "Richard, don't lie to me." she sighed. "We both know that the only reason you came was to get used to being around a bloodsucker. I'm not a fool. And I don't appreciate being talked to like one. I know what your problem is, you're scared. But you don't want to admit it, so you come with me to prove that you're not." She paused, "I wish you would just trust me. Trust me when I say that I won't hurt you. Trust. That's all I ask from you." she said quietly.

[richard]

As he looked at Erika the small smile faded of his face and instead was replaced by a look of anger and disbelief. He removed his arm from around her neck and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and frowned at his shoes. He could not believe that Erika had just said such a thing, she had called him a liar and a coward, the coward part was partly true but he was not a liar. But she was right about him not wanting to admit he was scared of the forest, the creatures in it and Erika however this still did not stop him from picking a fight with her.

“Well if you are scrutinising me let me do it to you cause I think Rikki you are to afraid actually admit that anyone actually cares and wants to spend time with you.” Richard had started pointing with a trembling fingerer as he rage built up. “You know I think you like playing up to the role of the lost soul with no friends…but now I have stepped into the picture it is ruining it all and so to make yourself stand out you need to have superiority over others and…and…”

Richard did not know what else to say, he did not have a leg to stand on his argument was a simple rant about nothing and in reflection he was only doing it to make himself feel better, to make himself believe he was not afraid of her after all Erika was only a student.

[vampireangel]

Erika could not believe what she was hearing. "Oh, is that what you really think of me? Well let me tell you this, you are the first and only person besides my family that I have ever cared about. You know why? Because everytime I get close to someone they end up hurt or dead. Every single time! I don't want that to happen to you, so excuse me if I happen to be a little distant from time to time!" She stopped and stared at him, "Do you even know how hard it is for me? No, you don't. And no, I'm not trying to make you pity me. I hate pity. I'm just telling it like it is."

[richard]

If Rich had bothered to listen to what Erika had originally said then he would have been touched but instead he decided to focus on the negative aspects first about how all the people she cares about ends up dead. A backwards compliment maybe but what all he could do was role his eyes and pull his scarf tighter around his neck while she went on about pity.

“Is that meant to comfort me Rikki! The fact that you care…”

He broke off and looked around nervously almost to make sure there was no one else around to watch his humiliation. The Ravenclaw who was not smart enough to work out he was actually cared for by another person and he was about to shout at her for telling him he was going to die. With a shy smile Richard looked to the ground and kicked something that looked like a stone that was by his foot. He felt like the smallest person on the planet and yet all he could do was mutter in a low voice his version of an apology.

“I am…sorry. I care for you too which is why I…I am here. I want to be able to help, but it seems I am just making things worse.”

[vampireangel]

Erika shook her head and laughed. She stepped towards Richard and wrapped her arms around him. Placing a gentle kiss on his lips, she lay her head on his chest her arms still wrapped around his waist. "You are really something else." she said.