[IC] The Magic Apprentice(s) (REBOOT)

[olcharlieboi]

@RomanAria @Eklispe @booksmusicanime @Rex @Ancient Amen

It would be half way through winter. Many people have been focused on finding a way to make a living in this harsh weather, yet there is a group who have decided to take the hardest path. To become a Wizard, A Witch, A Magic User. The name varies but the meaning is the same. The possible apprentices have arrived at a forest blanketed by snow, near sun down. The stories spoke of the castle that existed in these forests, a castle that no one has seen. The same place where a Master lives. One who can train them down their path, they will face great hardship. Will they survive the first test and reach the castle? will they survive this path? All these questions and more shall be answered soon.

[Rex]

Alex breathed into his gloves as the white mist of his breath flew from his mouth. He stopped at the edge of the forest and started checking what he had brought with him, “Alright got my medical kit just in case I need to stich up a wound or help anyone else. That’s if I run into anyone. I got my sports tape, no idea why. I guess it will be good when I make it to my destination. This way I can keep up my MMA training and my IPod. Can’t live without my music, but right now I need to be on my toes. Anything can happen.”

He zipped up his backpack and placed it on his back before he transverse the forest. If this was supposed to be a stealth challenge he would have failed since every step he took, the crunching of the snow echoed through the forest. A cold gust of wind blasted at his face as he held onto his hat, trying to keep it from flying away. His fashion sense was the combination of the old west and steam punk. To be blunt he looked weird, but then again he was out here looking for a castle to learn magic so he really didn’t care.

“Couldn’t give me a map or nothing huh?” Alex asked as he remembered his conversation with his parents and grandfather. We can’t give you anything that might help you get through this so you’ll have to use your own skills to make it to the castle. Alex stopped and sighed, “If I can’t have a map, I’ll make one.” He quickly took his backpack off his and unzipped it. He quickly took out the scapula. His medical kit wasn’t the normal store bought med kit. It was specially made by his father who gave him every medical tool he thought Alex would need. He held the scapula in his hand as he walked over to a tree.

“I’m sorry, but it’s so I don’t get lost,” Alex said to the tree before he made a small X on the bark. He nodded and continued on his way. This should help me if I get lost. Alex thought before he continued his way into the forest.

[Eklispe]

Bristle yawned as he trudged through the crispy snow, the white powder making a delightful crunching noise beneath his shoes as he sunk in. He wished he had thought to bring gloves, now he couldn't even play his lute because of how cold his hands were. Bristle stuck his hands under his armpits attempting to keep them warm as best he could. Maybe he should've planned this a little better, oh well, it couldn't be that bad out here. At worse he died right?

Shrugging nonchalantly he continued wandering through the forest seeking some sort of landmark, road, marker, anything to help give him some sense of direction. He would've thought that a wizard would live somewhere a little more pleasant, though maybe the castle had some sort of super nice heating system, like a hot spring. Bristle grinned just at the thought of lounging around in a hot spring. A clump of snow falling of a tree and landing on the back of his neck quickly brought him back to reality and he picked up his pace a little.

[booksmusicanime]

Mecca let out a sigh as she tugged her jacket sleeves over her bare fingers. "I just had to forget to grab gloves." She mumbled as she made her way into the woods, listening to the crunching of her footsteps. Her guitar case bounced against her back as she stuck her hands under her arms. "And the snow makes to way to wet for me to use my lighter. Just GREAT!" She yelled, stopping just to kick a tree with her boot clad foot.

"This is complete and total bullcrap." She mumbled as she started on walking again. Her long golden hair was down around her face, giving some sort of warmth for her ears since she also negleted to grab a hat when she left home. "My life is just GRAND ISN'T IT?!" She yelled again as she glared at the snowy trees as she kept trudging forward. What ever this challenge was supposed to be about she probably would screw something up. "...At least I have a coat." She grumbled as she kept on moving.

[RomanAria]

Grace stood... somewhere. In the middle of the woods. Bundled up in three jackets, two pairs of gloves, the fluffiest snowboots she could find, and a really soft, thick hat, she was nonetheless still freezing cold. The snow crunching under her feet and drifting down onto her from the trees around her did nothing to make her any warmer.

"I-it just h-had to be w-winter. W-why c-c-couldn't I h-have t-t-tried-d to f-find the W-Wiz-zard in the s-summer..." she mumbled, her teeth chattering. She stumbled over a root that was half-buried in the snow and with a muffled yelp fell face-first into a snowdrift. When she resurfaced she was covered in the white powdery snow, and it was melting and trickling down her neck.

"Ug-gh I'm s-s-so c-cold..." she mumbled. Nearly walking into a tree as she did so; she just wanted to lie down and sleep, and then when she woke up she could be alert. But she knew she had to keep going; for a moment she switched into a run, just to get the blood flowing again. But that took too much effort and she soon slowed to a walk. For all she knew she was just going in circles.

[Eklispe]

Bristle's ears twitched at the sound of yelling. It seemed he wasn't the only one out here. The question was, what were they out here for. He reached the top of a small hill and looked around, and to his surprise he actually saw someone, it seemed they had some sort of case on their back. Stepping forward he raised his hand in a wave and shouted, "Hey-" but his statement was cut off as he slipped and fell forward sliding and rolling on the snow and coming to a stop in front of the pretty looking girl with golden hair. Luckily he had managed to keep his lute safe during the fall. "Why hello there, looking for something?" he asked somewhat breathlessly with a devilish grin that didn't show at all how he had snow in very uncomfortable places. Bristle's hat barely clung to his head and he was covered in snow, overall very dashing.

[WilsonTurner]

Henry was very, very, very busy. Extremely busy. What was he doing?

He was rolling in the snow.

Henry was, more specifically, rolling down a slope for the third time, covering his green sweater in snow, covering his green backpack in snow, because, for once in a good long while, he was enjoying himself. There was no one around, which means that he wasn't likely to make a friend, and start depending on them, and then they'll go ahead and die like everyone else.

So he enjoyed the snow while he could. And when he was finished with his fifth roll-down-the-hill [and inconveniently hitting a tree], he got up and set off on his journey again, which was primarily... to run away.

He walked for maybe an hour before he came across some more tracks, heading in more-or-less the same direction as himself. He would've been alarmed, thinking it be someone coming after him, when he realized that they were smaller than his own. So he followed them, walking happily, energetically, excited at the prospect of snow and someone to talk- nope, he pushed the happiness out of his head. He was curious, but he wouldn't be happy to see anyone.

They die if it were any other way, anyhow.

A half hour later, he came to the top of a hill to see a figure struggling through the snow some ways down. Short, and based on the hair, a girl. So, in order to catch up as fast as possible, he shook off some of the snow that had collected on him, and then rolled down the hill again...

...And barreled right through the girl's legs. He had tried to stop himself, to be fair, but it didn't really work when he suddenly couldn't get a grip. Anyhow, he barreled through her, and then he managed to get himself on his feet again, and rushed the half-dozen feet back to the girl he knocked over, saying, "Sorry! I'm sorry! I just meant to catch up! Didn't mean to! Sorry!"

And then he helped her to her feet.

[Rex]

Alex looked up from carving a small X into a tree. He could hear voices, but the wind was whipping and howling that he couldn’t tell how far or how close they were to him. When he finished cutting the X, he looked behind him. Every other tree he past he carved an X into the bark, but somehow he felt as those this might not help. Then again, he also hopped if there was anyone else in the forest; the X’s would help them get through.

A squirrel jumped from the branch above him, causing the snow to fall right on top of him. Some of it went down the back of his shirt and he screamed, “Cool, that’s cool!” he jumped around trying to get the snow out of his shirt. He stopped and shivered as he felt the cold go down his back. Alex sighed and continued on his way, not wanting to stop. I wonder how long until I make it to the castle? Maybe when I find it I’ll go back and leave some clues for anyone else who’s in the forest. Better to help then let anyone in here freeze to death. Alex thought

[booksmusicanime]

@Eklispe
Mecca looked down at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "A castle. Seen one anywhere?" She asked quiet coldly. "And some gloves. My fingers feel like they're about to fall off." She said shortly afterwards, stretching her fingers out of her coat sleeves. "I left home and forgot everything but my guitar and a lighter and my lighter does crap for warmth." She mumbled, as she proceeded to reach out her hand to help him up.

[RomanAria]

Grace was sleepy. Soooo… sleepy….

She’d half slid down a hill, not having the strength to try to climb down like a civil person. She leaned against a tree for a moment, catching her breath, the clouds of her breath freezing on the collar of her coat. God, she was so cold. She wanted to just lie down. The snow looked warm and comfort—

Snow. She was lying in the snow. And it was cold, not warm and cozy. She was on her back. How odd—she couldn’t seem to get air into her lungs. Then there was a person over her, saying something. A hand reached down to her and she stared at it stupidly for a second before reaching up and allowing the boy to pull her to her feet.

Facing him, she dared a single glance at his face before looking back down to the snow. She blushed slightly, not just from the cold. “H-hi. S-sorry, sorry I was, um, i-in the way. H-how f-foolish of m-me. To stand w-where I shouldn’t h-have. S-sorry, again.” Her teeth were chattering slightly; she certainly wasn’t stuttering from nervousness at talking to another human being.

[WilsonTurner]

He tilted his head to the side; was she apologizing for being in the middle of the forest? And, speaking of which, why was she walking through the middle of the forest? Insensitive he may be to death, he wasn't about to let some girl die of the cold. So he gave her that you-crazy? look people often give to other people who are being crazy, and did the gentlemanly thing to do when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

So he picked her weak, shivering form up, an arm under knees and an arm under her back, and then turned to study their tracks. They were both heading in the same direction- clean snow ahead.

And so he trudged onwards, ignoring the girl, struggling to keep the load, but he was hyper enough from running away to keep the pace up for a good while.

[olcharlieboi]

@WilsonTurner @RomanAria @booksmusicanime @Rex @Eklispe
Thunder would strike in the distance revealing the silhouette of a huge castle.. but as this would happen, Alex would hear a cloud snapping sound.. like sound of something being broken... the sound continues, coming off to his left... if he would to slowly turn, he'd see blood trailing the snow. Leading up a group of creatures, nearly covered in blood, eating... what looks to be a human, a person who failed to survive. one of the creatures would turn noticing Alex and let off a loud screech.. alerting the others to turn towards him



The creatures would be as big as a bear. The blood, flesh and bone sticking out of their mouths as they clamped down showed they preferred meat.. and they just found more. The creatures would Charge at Alex.

Mean While the other groups of apprentices would hear snapping of branches... as more of the same creatures start coming out of the wood works, they have been stalking these apprentices ever sense they entered the forest. Now being showed a weakness the creatures thought it was time to strike, at Bristle and Mecca, one of the creatures would be bigger than the rest, with deep gray stripes on it's body. It would roar... causing all the creatures to charge the apprentices.

[Eklispe]

Bristle turned at the sound of lightning, "Well if you're looking for a castle its right there!" he said cheerily as he accepted the proffered hand and pulled himself up. As soon as he gained his feet he heard snapping branches and saw a monstrous looking beast charging at them. "R-run!" Bristle called out pulling Mecca with him as he started running as fast as he could towards the castle to get away from the monsters. Not even the circus animals they dressed up looked that scary, and they had never looked that real. He didn't know if he could reach that castle before those beasts reached him but he didn't have better ideas.

[RomanAria]

Grace was thoroughly confused by now. The kid hadn't said anything else, just looking at her like she was crazy. Then he'd simply picked her up and resumed walking, not acknowledging her further.

Despite her misgivings she appreciated the warmth of the gesture. Nonetheless, the boy seemed to be getting tired...she didn't want to be a burden. "I c-can walk, r-really I can." she said, squirming until the boy dropped her. She had barely regained her feet when she heard a distant roar--vaguely in the direction of the castle--wait, there was a castle? The castle she'd been looking for!

She stumbled, then started running through the snowdrifts towards the sound, nearly going sprawling many times. "C-come on! If you and I f-found each other, t-there's got to be other p-people out h-here, w-we've got to h-help them!"

[Rex]

Alex sighed in relief when he saw the silhouette of the castle. The sound of crackling thunder caught him off guard. I thought lightning in the snow was just a myth, guess I was wrong. He quickly headed towards the castle, but then stopped as he heard the crunching of what he thought was snow. When he looked to his left to great the new comer his heart nearly skipped a beat. There, eating what looked to be a human were strange creatures, each one covered in blood and consuming the poor soul. Alex tried to sneak towards the castle and away from these devilish creatures but as soon as his foot crunched into the ground, one of them looked up and let out a blood curdling screech.

“I think reasoning with these creatures would get me killed so,” Alex said before he suddenly bolted towards the silhouette of the castle. He carefully thought of a plan as he took out some of his Athletic tape. He made a small cut on the top of his hand. Not too deep, but just enough to let a little bit of blood out. He cut a few strands of tape from the roll, dipped it in blood, crumbled it up, and tossed them every which way he could. Let’s hope these things go for scent rather than sight. He also looked at each tree he passed, looking for a sturdy branch to climb if things got too hairy. he needed a tree that wouldn't fall down if the things wanted to climb it.

[booksmusicanime]

@Eklispe
Mecca ran to keep up with him, cursing her short legs. Her long golden hair was flying out behind her and the coldness that had been coursing through her body was replaced with adrenaline. She struggled to pull her lighter from her pocket as she ran. "If you can while running find a stick and hand it to me. I'm gonna burn these things!" She said to Bristle, trying to keep a steady breathing pattern as she talked.

[Eklispe]

Bristle mentally facepalmed. She wanted him to grab a stick, while running for his life, in the dead of winter, where everything was wet and cold, probably try lighting it with her lighter, and attack those giant freaking monsters with a stick?!?!?! Now that'd be a real magic trick. "No." Bristle said flatly keeping his tone as flat as possible while still sprinting for his bloody life. He could hear the gray monster tearing after them ripping apart the ground and sliding on the snow. He came into view of the castle and bellowed as he came into range, "HEY ANYBODY IN THERE!?" hoping that there was someone in there that could help, like a bunch of armed guards. Cause if there wasn't they would both disappear and no magician in the world could bring them back.

@booksmusicanime

[olcharlieboi]

The castle would be on a cliff side over looking an ocean, the temperature would suddenly change as they neared the castle.. The giant stone gate would be shut with a metal gate covering it, there would be an eriee silence from the castle. but it would seem a well tuned trap, for once you are at the gates there is no where to go.. besides off cliff to their death.

[booksmusicanime]

@Eklispe
"Urgh there went my one plan." Mecca grumbled as she observed the gates as she ran. "And that looks equally unhelpful." She then saw the cliff. "...Maybe....No bad idea to even think of" She mutter to herself, taking a shakiy breath as she continued to run towards the castle.

[Rex]

Alex saw the creatures ignoring the bunched up, bloody tape he had thrown. He grunted as he began to quicken his pace, “Either these things go on movement of they have some type of intelligence. Either way f I don’t shake these creatures I’m going to be dinner.” Alex began to swerve and weave through the trees to see if the creatures would follow. Maybe some will get confused and hit a few of the trees. Alex thought.

It might have been only a few seconds, but to Alex it felt like hours before he reached the castle. To his surprise there were others in the forest and to his horror they too were also being chased by these creatures. He looked up at the castle and the eerie silence coming from it. He took a deep breath and screamed, “Hey! Whoever is in the castle? Could you lend a hand please? Some of us can’t use magic yet! Maybe send down your elemental or something!” he hoped it would work; if not he’d be seeing his grandmother and little brother very soon.