[Lake] The Price Of Beauty [OPEN]

[Mina Ping]

As she cascaded through the waters, her dark hair floating lightly behind her she gradually descended into the aqua until she was neck deep. Stretching as she fumbled around her, she searched frantically for the bracelet. The bracelet she had inadvertently thrown off when throwing stones to skim them. It had been a rather aggressive throw that had caused the incident and it departed from her wrist with ease. It was a few more throws later that Mina had realised that the bracelet was not skimming her wrist anymore and after searching the grass, she came to the conclusion that she had thrown her mother’s bracelet into the lake. If she lost that item, her mother would be most displeased and her father would say she had brought dishonour to the family. Just the thought of those words exploding from her father’s mouth caused her to instantly throw herself into the lake after the jewellery.

As she continued to stretch, determined not to get her face wet, she knew she had no other option. She tried summoning it from the grassy bank, but there was no such luck. She wondered if the mermaids had cast spells on it with their tridents to effectively keep all lost belongings that happened to fall into the lake. She wouldn’t put it past them; they tended to dislike being disturbed. Still, the worst she could thing of now was Poseidon himself rising up and slaying her for disturbing his peace. Even in a world of magic she was sure Poseidon would not happen to be up in Scotland at the Hogwarts Lake.
Hearing a small splash behind her, she gasped slightly, barely audible even to herself before she turned around as her clothes sloshed in the water. Looking up at the figure, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she stood neck deep in the lagoon. They stood there a moment in silence before she placed her hands on her hips, no emotion playing on her face.
"Are you just going to stand there?" she asked monotone.

[Mauro Eidel]

At first, Mauro didn't reply. He stood in the water, a distant figure painted against the darkening sky, staring at Mina with a distraught look on his face.

Her monotone voice was an odd contrast to his filmy tone. "Are you looking for this?" Looped around his littlest finger was a glinting jeweled object; a bracelet.

Mauro smiled thinly and moved another step forward. The water riveted around his soaking robes, but he didn't pause to watch as it reached his thighs. "You didn't drop it in the water. I found it on the shore hours ago." The emotions on his face grew dull as he spun the heirloom around his finger, once.

Then, quite suddenly with a wide arc of his arm, he chucked it forward. It was a heady throw, heavy with strength. The item propelled far from the two of them, disappearing into the water between invisible ripples. Mauro's demeanor didn't change. [/size]

[Mina Ping]

A glint from the boys hand caught her eye, and as her sight focused on it, it finally stopped spinning for a moment and she caught sight of her mother's bracelet once more. With her eyebrows raised, she raised her eyebrows as she looked down and trudged through the mud, making sure she pressed down firmly before she fell head first into the water.

Taking a few steps forward, the boy did the same and as she was about to reach out and press her fingers against the cool familiar metal once more, it flung over her head and all she could do was watch it, her attempt at pulling out her wand from her boot to summon it before it hit the water once again failed. Staring at the spot where it landed for a moment, her mouth fell open as if on a latch before she frowned and turned her head back to the infidel.

"What in earth's name was that for? Are you completely nuts?" she said in a high pitched tone, in contrast to her monotone in which she spoke before. Pulling up her skirt so she could walk easier through the mud, her wand was ready in hand still as she gave a huff in annoyance. This guy was obviously playing games with her, but she would bide her time.

[Mauro Eidel]

Mauro's gaze lingered on the stretch of water where waves washed Mina's treasure further away into oblivion. He looked genuinely unimpressed with himself as he lowered his arm, fingertips dragging into the shallow water. "I don't like antiques." He said crisply, casting an imploring gaze on the girl as she collected her skirts.

Drowning his fingers in the lake's surface, Mauro began a deliberately slow walk back to the edge of the lake, where sand met grass. Though he eventually granted Mina an awkward stare, taking in the elaborate simplicity of her outfit. "You should be less careless," his eyes left her to focus on a small cluster of fish gathering at his feet. He kicked at them gently, sending them away in frantic streams.[/size]

[Mina Ping]

This male was arrogant, and showed all the inner workings of a typical male slytherin. As he turned his back away from her and swaggered away slowly, Mina scowled and furrowed her brow at him before looking back and taking a small step nearer towards the bracelet. The problem now was, what should she go after; the bracelet or the slytherin?

The Boy.

Without looking back at the bracelet, she trudged through the slush and through the weeds, not caring to dodge the fish as she hoisted up her long black skirt to be able to move with a little more ease. Soon catching up with him, she stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Go and get it" she demanded, a pout clear upon her lips. Her wand was still hidden beneath the waters ready to use if necessary as she chose to point to the direction of the lake once more as she looked over to it once again. His face didn't seem to care whether she was serious or not.
"I'm serious, go and get it" she repeated.

[Mauro Eidel]

A second went by where Mauro didn't move. Instead, he glared appraisingly at the girl across him, her pale skin exceedingly vibrant when wet. She was defiant; challenging. Her black eyes faded into the darkness of the evening. Mauro breathed in the makings of a sigh.

"It was your mistake letting me find it." His voice was disturbingly loud and he took a step forward, creating wide ripples where they stood. Tilting his head forward, he continued in an inaudible voice - a whisper that contradicted his previous, resonant tone. "You know I could have tossed it before you even realised it was gone. You'd have been searching for hours, Ping."

The harshness of his words felt bizarre even in his throat when compared to the gentleness of his fingertips as they stroked the water. "Now, move." He didn't wait for her to respond. Before he even finished speaking, he'd pushed her firmly into the water, using both hands for leverage against her shoulders.

The sigh finally escaped his mouth in a warm breath as he walked over her carefully.[/size]

[Mina Ping]

Pausing for a moment as he violently pushed her, she stumbled slightly only being kept up by the mud that was beginning to swallow her feet and the pressure of the water. Turning as she watched him begin to leave, she felt the anger build up in her. She was not one to pop easily, preferring to plan out her attacks, and this was going to be no different.

'Watch your back Eidel' she grimaced, her face contorting with malice as she lifted her wand and the squid came up from behind her, tentacles flailing. Swooping over with a slimy limb, it took up Mauro like he was merely a rag doll, wrapping itself around him, it's suckers leaving him no escape. Mina merely laughed at the boy as he was pulled down into the dark depths of the lake never to be seen again. If only she could really summon the squid.

Pulling out her wand, she filled the distance between them with it, poking him lightly in the back yet enough so he could feel it. She could of hexed him there and then, he was unprepared and although it would be considered cowardice to attack from behind, she had no other option avaliable. He didn't deserve fairness.
"Take care of yourself" she said in a slight uplifting tone, although said with sinister venom dripping from the words. Pulling her feet out of the mud with surprising ease, a beam of grey light extended from her wand, the force pushing him over.
Standing next to him, looking down and sideways at his form, she smirked, only one side of her mouth curving upwards.

[Brinley Graves]

Cradling a feather in her palm while staring out across the surface of the lake, her eyes whisked over it thoughtfully, admiring the crystalline surface as nothing but the occasional toss of wind stirred the water from its unblemished tranquility. She had a sketchbook resting on her crossed legs, as she all but perched on the large boulder at the edge of the water as it lapped at the banks. A weathered down sketching quill was wrapped within the fingers of her free hand as she raised the feather to the air, levitating it there before glancing up at it, then back down at the parchment. What she had drawn looked to be the breeze toying with a cluster of feathers. Wasn't her best work, but it was decent enough. (See Here!) Flipping to a new page now, she had started on a drawing of the giant squid against the forest backdrop before her ears heard a very questionable sound: anger. It was unmistakable, following after innocent curiousity.

Brinley stared down at the unfinished piece, doubting that with the broken concentration she could be able to get it finished today. She'd try, though, thats for sure. Eyes following the noise now, she watched as a boy around her age, maybe older, give or take a year, threw something sparkling and golden into the water, much to the distaste of the nearby girl. Judging by their robes they were Slytherins. He didn't even seem phased by her threats and shouting, his face was blank.. This hadn't have concerned her, if she hadn't been unable to read his emotions. It was like she was blinded, she couldn't read anything about him. Body language, voice.. Everything was neutral. Untouchable.

Finding that she had been looking their way for longer than neccessary, Brinley slowly looked away, appearing thoughtful but not interested enough to get involved. She'd rather not get into a fight at the moment, and she didn't even know them anyway. Turning back to her sketch the Ravenclaw stared down at it with an unfathomable look on her face, as she drew the quill in short, brief strokes to shade a few of the tentacles, wondering with mild interest if the earlier look was going to bring them over there to her. "Not right.." Brinley murmured absent-mindedly, erasing the wrong part of the eyes and re-drawing it. She heard a splash, and the sound of footsteps coming closer.. Though one of them could have just been moving a little nearby, unbeknownst to her existence.

Odd, wasn't it, that science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has discovered no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.

[/font]

[Mauro Eidel]

The water fell uneasily around his figure and Mauro managed his first real glare at the girl. Wiping his newly disarrayed hair from his eyes with a now dripping set of fingers, the Slytherin awkwardly stood up from the water, pointedly looking away from Mina.

In doing so, his eyes caught the flickering stare of a nearby girl - unrecognisable purely due to the fact that Mauro never remembered a face. Raising a brow, he finally pried his gaze away to look back at Ping who was exceedingly smug. "If you're going to hex someone from behind, Ping, at least send them to the Infirmary." His lips tilted upwards slightly as he bent forward to untangle seaweed from his ankles. "I can simply dry myself with a flick of my own wand, see?"

Though he suggested it, Mauro didn't bother casting any drying charms. He walked into plain view on the shore, leaving his back to Mina as if challenging her to try a similar stunt once more. His head turned to face the stranger on the rock again, wondering how absorbed in her work she must have been to not hear him approach.

"I can do better," Mauro was blunt. His wet thumb smudged the corner of her page, effectively ruining the ink lines. He tilted his head, simultaneously upset that he ruined her drawing, and perplexed with his exhilaration at being challenged.

[nazgul466]

Faust stood behind a tree. He listened to the conversation, and listened intently. He saw the bracelet fall in. He moved into the view of the 3 people and saw as they turned towards him. Faust pulled his wand from under his cloak.


Faust whispered Flipendo and it fired towards Mina, Hopefully it had hit. He walked very slowly towards them pointing his wand. When he had got a foot to them he smiled. "So what up with the bracelet and the girl holding her wand under the water"

[Brinley Graves]

"I can do better,"

Watching him now, his approach anticipated but not acted upon, she saw a change. A small sliver of something very foreign yet very real strike him that didn't often do so in the past. His apathy.. Could it sustain him forever? Was he that less human to lack the desire to feel? Her green eyes fell to the feather now, smudged and indistinguishable--something that could have been a simple mistake, a wrong flick of the wrist, to be successfully smudged away and forgotten--and a thoughtful look overwhelmed them. Why did I still draw this? Brinley thought, curious with herself. She had known it was going to happen, yet she hadn't moved elsewhere, or protected her art. Then again, it was but a sketch, and nothing more. If it were a painting she had worked months over then she might have said more, but for this little thing the only words that came out of her mouth were, "You can." It was an echo, gentle and clear, but judging by her appearance had he expected someone that lashed out and yelled her face off? No.. He knew his artwork better than she, and it wasn't in her place to challenge him without catching a glimpse of it. If he were that confident in his abilities, then he must be something of a more than exceptional artist. So when he brought the thumb down on her parchment she stood back, waiting, watching as he destroyed something small, but something beautiful, with nothing but a curious idea in mind.

That idea, however, was interrupted by a flash of colours; a blurring of electric, staticky images that rocketed through her head in a jolt of pain, causing her thin, delicate fingers to wrap around her temples as she hunched over and cried out. A face appeared, a squat, blonde boy, wand pointed, falling, water.. Anger. "Ngh." Brinley murmured, squeezing her eyes shut as she slipped her wand out of her pocket. The message was gone as quickly as it came though the headache remained, and her eyes flew open, expressionless save for a hint of dizzy determination. In that moment the nearby Ravenclaw boy--squat, blonde--cast Flipendo, and she shot a deflection spell, intercepting the blast before it hit the Slytherin girl and firing it off into the bushes. Fight averted now Brinley visibly relaxed, fingers on her temples again as she gently closed her eyes, trying to will the pain away.

The casting of this nearby Ravenclaw--whom had it in mind that apparently he was going to hex someone without being provoked in the first place--had it really been neccessary? Whether that was foolish or brave she didn't know, though the latter she severely doubted, and now her head was throbbing. Finally her eyes opened, slowly but surely, and one couldn't tell if it was from curiosity or surprise at what the unknown boy had done. Or even if it was something else. Brinley simply watched, knowing she was either going to get hexed for putting a stopper in his plans, or get stared at by the Slytherin boy beside her.. Though it'd probably be both in the long run.[/font]

[Mauro Eidel]

Mauro's thumb still dented the page when the unknown girl's expression blurred into an opaque colour of pain. He narrowed his eyes slightly, dropping his hand in time to miss the whip of her arm as she shot a spell near the vicinity of Ping.

He watched, curiously raising a brow, as Johann's spell slithered into the thick brush of trees adjacent to the lake. "That," he murmured, stepping onto a rigid spray of rocks next to Brinley's boulder, "Was unexpected." Finding a rock large enough, Mauro sat down and glanced at the Ravenclaw while holding in a breath.

It was let out slowly as his wet fingers ran through his hair, disheveling what was already an irreparable mess. "And I don't know anything about a bracelet," he finally acknowledged, addressing the boy while his gaze remained focus on the girl's drawing.

With a smirk to himself, secretive and delighted, his eyes traveled up until his vision contacted Brinley's dazed look. "I'm more of an egotist than an artist." He explained vaguely.[/size]

[Brinley Graves]

"That.. Was unexpected."

Her face was nothing short of a grin and a grimace, together. Twined like tendrils of water spiralling after tangled fingers; blurred and blotched by greenish blue waves. "I wish." Came her barely audible murmur before her eyes, cleared, met his. Egotist. The word was a screamed echo in Brinley's head, rattling against the inside of her skull as her head lifted a fraction. Her lips parted. "You dont say." The sound of a wry grin was in her voice, and though her face was neutral her eyes hinted at a smile. If they were going to offer up information about themselves, lets try a different route, maube? Perhaps something less obvious. Now if he started talking about feelings, and sparkles. That definitely would have been unexpected; a pleasant surprise, for a girl who didn't often feel shock. A sudden urge prodded at her brain - to sweep up her ruined artwork and crush it in her lithe, nimble fingers - before she swallowed it back down, knowing that life itself didn't contain enough beauty for her to go and ruin something that in truth, to a major in a high institution, actually be considered as a metaphor for life. Brinley herself had no intentions of worming her way deep enough into something so trivial, so small.. To rip something up and analyze it so much was the blackest form of blasphemy. Could something not simply be beautiful?

It would be only moments before spells would fly her way, she was sure of it. A while still, and she wet her lips, surprised boils hadn't erupted from the pores in her pale face. Looking back to the Slytherin now, an eyebrow raised as the longest sentence to strum the soft notes of her voice in a few weeks slipped out. "You've drowned some jewellery, invoked a temper tantrum, drawn a crowd, ruined a sketch.." Brinley held up her fingers, ticking them off as she listed his triumphs for the day. "What more is there for you here?" What more could he destroy? This she spoke with curiosity in her eyes, as the corner of her mouth quirked slightly. Why was he still here, she wondered? To watch them turn their fangs and forked tongues on her now, for watching? Doing nothing? Perhaps she was almost as bad as he was, for not helping. Did that make her evil, too? A small laugh melted in her throat, as the Ravenclaw folded her smudged drawing up, easing it into the pages of her sketchbook and closing it. Her fingers felt the cover of the novel: of the worn, creased leather and the faint patterns of celtic knots, weathered by fingerprints, embedded in the material.

She didn't want him to leave, though, for some reason. Odd, considering the company she had to choose from. A pissed off snake, a foolish fellow Ravenclaw, or an egotistical narcissist of a Slytherin who's presence wasn't all that bad. He wasn't blabbering to her nonstop. In fact, he actually managed to tug an entire sentence out of her, which surprised even Brinley herself.[/font]