(Forest) Meeting the others...

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis paced impatiently back and forth in front of the ancient oak in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. She had joined the Rogue Wizards and had sent a request for all Rogue Wizards to meet her here at this exact spot, she wanted to meet them and get to know them. Plus, she had something she wanted to say to all of them. The wind whistled eerily through the trees of the ancient forest, a chill made her shiver, and wrap her warm cloak around her tighter. She looked up at the sky, or at least what she could see of it. It was a cold clear night, the stars shining brighty, and the moon providing patches of milky white light. They should be here soon she thought to herself, suddenly, she heard footsteps, she raised her wand, instantly alert. "Who is it?" she called warily.

[Simon Ellison]

Simon has been sent by Gobien to go first, his mentor was currently busy and he was not going to drop everything at once. So it was his idea to end the young guy along, get him to check out what it was all about first. So turning up the collar on his favourite winter coat Simon continued to walk on through the forest with the sharp wind blew in his face causing his hair to dance around behind him. Stuffing his hands into his pocket, clasping his hand around his wand he let the braches of the trees brush against him as they seemed to be getting thicker. This just lead him to believe that he was actually heading off in the wrong direction, but almost as soon as they grew thick he reached a clearing where the large oak stood, and underneath it was a single figure.

It was a rather tall person, but seemed to be relatively thin and he guessed harmless. But as he moved closer he saw that she had her wand drawn and was alerted to his presence. Keeping his eyes fixed upon her Simon slowly pulled his wand out of his pocket, letting his hand loosely hang by his side.

“Are you Artemis?”

His voice, although calm and demanding did hold a small hint of surprise. Simon was expecting to see a man standing under the tree not a woman, and a rather fair looking one at that. She clearly had not been living in the wild for that long.

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis eyed the man warily, she nodded. "I am." she replied, she eyed him scrutinizingly, "And you are...?"

[Simon Ellison]

It was a rather short and blunt answer, and she seemed eager to question him almost before his echo had died down in the dark forest around them. But the main thing was this was the right witch and unless this was a clever ploy there seemed to be no danger in using his real name. However the one thing that did make him feel on edge was her gaze, it seemed to be studying every movement he made, and every syllable he said seemed to be swarming around in side her head as she double check his worthiness.

“I am Simon Ellison. I believe you called to see the Rouge Wizards, I was sent ahead just so you know we were not ignoring you.”

He gave Artemis a small toothy grin, although he quickly reacted this as the cold night wind blew once again causing his sensitive teeth to tingle. It was defiantly an annoying place to met, it was cold, dark and out of the way. Simon would have much preferred it to be in the pub, he could have a drink and feel warm. But then is this witch had anything good to say then they could not risk it being overheard by unfriendly ears. He would have even gone to the extend of lighting a fire in the forest to stay warm by but then Gobien would not have liked that, giving away their position so easily. It is better to have a bit of frost bite then be at the end of an unforgivable curse.

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis slowly pocketed her wand. "I did request to see you." she admitted, she looked around, shifting impatiently. "Where are the others?" she asked, smirking slightly, her brown curls were being blown around by the wind, and she huffed in annoyance as she swept them impatiently back from her face.

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

Stepping into view, Leigh looked at the girl who could only be the one who called the Rogues. He washed his eyes over her then with a bemused smile, approached her, wand drawn in case of emergency. He stopped and looked at the other rogue, a man who he knew little of though he vaguely resembled someone he knew, maybe he had taught him one year.

However, tonight was finding out who this girl was, Artemis was her name and what she wanted they had to find out. Gobien had wanted him to come down as well, though why he didn't know, his abilities were far better used collecting information on possible Ministry plans.

He now frowned and stared coldly at the girl, lucky for him he wore his own face for this particular evening.

'Welcome to the Forbidden Forest, you contacted me in the attempts to find us rogue wizards. I passed the information onto our leader, who is obviously busy if he sent someone else, that doesn't really surprise me anyway.' Leigh said, rather harshly. 'I am Addis.'

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis nodded at the man. "Addis." she repiled cooly, her eyes narrowed He wants to be that way, fine. Two can play this game she said to herself, to Addis she said, "I may be young, but I am not a child, and I am certainly no fool. I know where I am, you needn't spell it out for me." Artemis gave him a small yet powerful glare, "And I certainly don't need you telling me that I contacted you, since obviously I was the one who did the contacting."

[Gabriella De Conti]

"Touchy are we," said Gabriella walking up behind the young witch; her wand raised. She didn't trust the meeting spot or the person who had called her but so far it didn't seem to be a ministry ambush.

Gabriella glanced towards Simon, "Gobien becoming too self-important to answer the call of a fellow Rogue personally?" she said smirking slightly. "Tsk tsk tsk; I must admit I am slightly disapointed." she said laughing slightly. She was joking and she would doubtless tease her colleague about it later but she was curious as to what the new rogue would make of it.

"By the way, if you think sending a message out to all Rogues to come and meet you in the middle of a forest is a good idea; you're gravely mistaken. I only showed up because of boredom," she said quietly; her hand still grasping her wand fiercely but was know at her side. "I expected a couple ministry or Rose's to ambush as soon as I arrived; then again I am rather untrusting and paranoid.

"So tell me, why should I trust you?"

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis turned and nodded to the woman, she shrugged, "I wasn't expecting everyone to come." She eyed the woman warily, "Why should you trust me? Well, why should I trust you? I'll tell you why you should trust me, I'm a trustworthy person. Simple as that. I don't lie, except when I need to, and I'm fairly loyal. Now, why should I trust you?"

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

'You should trust her because she is the one who hasn't killed you yet.' Addis said with a bemused smile. 'Those qualities can be said, but what about being followed? Just because you say you're trustworthy doesn't mean that you are.'

Leigh crossed his arms and thought for a moment. There had to be more of a reason for the girl to be wanting to join the Rogue Wizards, maybe he would have to dig some information up on her. He looked at her and hid a smile.

'You have a mouth and wit to match, though your inexperience in the forest can be proven in the spot you chose for this meeting.' Leigh said, looking up and around and seeing several points where Ministry officials could be hiding. He gripped his wand a little tighter. 'Seclusion and secrecy is the key, now why must we truly trust you and allow you into our glorious ranks?'

[Gabriella De Conti]

"And believe me, it took large sums of self constraint to not attack you," she said smirking slightly. She was glad Addis was here; they would have fun tormenting the poor girl. "I am in agreeance with Addis here. We can't trust a single thing you say until you prove it and that my dear will take a while. You'll find we're a difficult bunch to get along with."

"Not to mention," she said building off of what Leigh was saying. "Your manner of contacting us; I don't like it," she said raising her eyebrow. "We Rogues thrive on our ability to keep not only our own secrets but whatever secrets we dig up on each other. And if you're looking for self-righteous group we're definitely not it; go find the Red Roses if you wish to speak of trust. As a rogue; that could get you killed." She said winking at the girl.

She didn't know what to think of the young witch as of right now. She seemed confident which was always key; she would certainly last longer that way. "So why choose the Rogues?" she enquired; she was quite curious. Rarely did people contact them in such a manner and through her off balance. She glanced about the forest and her her surroundings and gripped her wand tighter.

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis had had it! With a growl of rage she whipped out her wand, and sprang forward, "I know that I have to prove to you that you can trust me, I am not a child. And if you would stop treating me like one, then maybe I would be more willing to answer you!" she hissed angrily through clenched teeth. "And just because I made a mistake and chose a bad meeting place, that does not mean that I am an ignorant, foolish child. I am a grown woman, and capable of taking care of myself! I don't need to be coddled, and told what my mistakes are! If I make a mistake, I want to figure it out for myself!"

She paused, she was breathing heavily, and her cheeks were flushed, her amber eyes burned with an unseen fire, her hand was gripping her wand so tightly that her knuckles were white. "I may be 'the new girl' but I refuse to be treated as such! My belief is that in order to gain respect, you must first show respect. So unless you respect me, then why should I respect you? And furthermore, I don't need the Rogues to help me with my mission! Besides, don't you all pride yourselves on independence, and the fact that you trust no one?"

Her face softened, "Or maybe, everyone you once trusted, turned their backs on you. I know how that feels, but I'm not going to let it get to me. I refuse to let an incident of the past, turn me into a cold, unfeeling monster. I just have one last thing to say to all of you, we all share a common goal, take down the Minstry. It may be for personal reaons, it may be for political. Either way, all of us hate the ministry. But, if we're going to have any hope of defeating them anytime soon, then now is the time for us to band together as one. A team of Rogues, is much stronger than each individual Rogue on their own, and each individual Rogue can bring their own strenghts into the group, that way we will become stronger and stronger." Artemis crossed her arms, and looked around at the group, staring each of them directly in the eyes. "Remember, united we stand. Divided we fall."

[Gabriella De Conti]

Gabriella's wand was up as quick as lightning. "If you don't remove your wand from my face I will hurt you in more ways then you can even imagine. I highly doubt the likes of you can contend against me," she said quietly. She was being arrogant and foolish and she knew it but she had never let anyone frighten her before and this girl was no exception.

"We have been running for our lives and for our freedom and beliefs for years so if you think we're going to trust you and not attack your values, belief systems, and question why you wish to join our group then you are a fool. You are the new girl and you will be treated as such until we believe you're not going to run to the ministry or the Red Rose League. Learn to deal with it intelligently; anger will get you nowhere." She said lowering her wand. "If you believe others have not suffered the same fate then you are wrong." She said

Gabriella laughed lightly. "Please, don't chastise me. I am in this war for political reasons-not personal. I don't trust people because I have no idea who may turn around and attack me while my back is turned. My paranoia has kept me alive. My paranoia allowed me to see what the ministry was years ago and my paranoia will hopefully get me through this war alive.

"How terribly sentimental of you." She said smirking. She really was beginning to dislike this girl. "If that's all you came to say I must admit I am terribly disappointed. The Rogues are more united then you know."

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

Addis had whipped his wand out and had channelled a spell forward to it's tip, just ceasing its release as he aimed it at the girls face, noticing that Gabriella had done the same. He smiled.

He agreed with what Gabriella had said, though he had to add some on to it. 'Some of us have died for our beliefs, for standing up to the Ministry.' Addis said, his eyes now showing a deepening emotional well as he remembered what it was like to die. 'Some of us don't come back, I was fortunate!'

He pulled his wand away, yet kept it trained on the girl as he walked around her, hearing what Gabriella said. He never let his eyes move from the girl, frowning as he stopped and paused for a moment.

'If you want in on the Rogues, then come with us. I know of a small, yet well equipped patrol of Ministry officials that are meant to pass through this spot in the next half hour. If you want to join us, rookie, then you'll have to earn your spot. Killing one of them should be adequate enough.' Addis said, looking at Gabriella and giving her an encouraging wink, though he kept it hidden from the girl. If the girl was going to be a rogue, she would have to learn also to be a killer.

[artemisrhayne]

Artemis nodded her consent, eyes empty, void of any emotion, save hatred. "If killing a ministry official is what I have to do to prove myself, then lead the way." She said to Addis. She looked each of them in the eyes, her gaze intense, cold, piercing. "I will prove myself." she vowed.