Absit Omen RPG

Role-Play Boards => Hogwarts Grounds => Hogwarts => Hogwarts Lake and Environs => Topic started by: Casey O'Doherty on September 21, 2012, 08:44:22 PM

Title: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 21, 2012, 08:44:22 PM
The pre-flight checklist included the usual motion sickness checks, tightening each part of the protective gear, and checking the condition of his broom. Last on the list was weather check. The Sunday brought a wet, dreary, and chilling sky of gravel mixed with cottage cheese.

If you would have told Casey he was stupid to try flying in weather like this, you'd have been met in the mouth with a disagreeable jinx.

He'd been keeping to regular broom practices since being on the quidditch team and Casey O'Doherty bent to no change in the weather. If anything, it was an additional challenge for him to meet. Because, and Casey only subscribed to this opinion as well for the purposes of constructive self criticism, he kind of sucked as a broom flyer.

All that change needed was enough tremendous effort and Casey had plenty lying around, like unbanked galleons at the homestead. He was after all in Slytherin.

Takeoff was only as difficult as slippery ground and bucking headwind allowed. Which is to say when Casey finally reached cursing altitude he believed his lungs were grounded. And although the wind was causing him to drift sideways and downwards he wasn't going to go back to get them.

To start with, banking. He needed to work on his turning and often that required dipping to one side. Bracing against the wind, Casey flew out over the edge of the lake.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 21, 2012, 10:18:57 PM
Ravenclaw's Quidditch team couldn't be too picky about their practice times. It was hard enough coordinating a time when seven or more nerds could gather in one place that didn't interfere with classes, study time, or the various interesting seminars that had taken over weekday afternoon. So even when the concrete sky threatened rain and the wind blew so hard they had trouble staying on their brooms, the team spent their designated practice time on the field.

Having survived another windy early-morning scrimmage, Alvis trudged the long path to the castle alone, bundled in sweaters and layers right down to his socks. Phaeton, his modded broom, hummed in his hand as though content with its daily exercise.

As he rounded the bend near the lake, the clouds parted for a split second, spilling sunlight over the freezing waters. It lasted just long enough to draw Alvis's eye, and his glance lasted just long enough to catch sight of a figure on a broom, flying out over the edge of the lake. Alvis stopped and squinted, adjusting his glasses for a better look as the sunlight slipped away. Was that Casey, up there? In this weather?

No, it couldn't be. Having spent twelve hours in the Slytherin's body, Alvis knew how little endurance it had. He'd gotten winded just climbing a flight of stairs. Casey had more experience dealing with his body's various problems, true, but he had to know that flying in this sort of weather was ridiculous. Didn't he?

Alvis shook himself. Worrying over Casey would been seen as pity, and pity would just get him yelled at again. Still, he'd been thinking about a possible modification to explore on the runic armor designs. Catching Casey for a talk about that when they were both too tired to argue seemed as good a plan as any. Deciding to wait and catch Casey after whatever practice he was doing, Alvis changed course at the fork in the path, heading away from the castle and down to the boathouse, keeping the figure on the broom in good sight.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 21, 2012, 11:14:52 PM
The wind buffeted every square of Casey's surface area, high velocity moisture stinging his face like dozens of mild stunners combining to numb everything that wasn't covered by goggles. That didn't match the slicing wind finding ways to sneak past his clothing and gear. And the last meal he had eaten wanting to revisit, although after five hours it should have completely assimilated to his digestive tract.

In short, reality seemed fit to tell Casey NO on trying to fly today. He continued on.

He couldn't even bank properly, the wind pushed him back every time he bent, at points going backwards. When he turned out of the wind the push of air accelerated his broom too quickly as he fought for control.

Alright, damnit, even if he couldn't practice he was going to attempt a bank at least once. If he could do it in the worst conditions, it would be easier to do later.

Coming along wide over the boat house, Casey set up for another attempt to bank. He pivoted on the broom, went into the roll...

...leaned over too far...
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 22, 2012, 12:01:18 AM
Oh Merlin. Despite repeated attempts to not worry like a mother hen, Alvis's stomach sank, weighed down with anxiety as he watched Casey struggling on his broom. The wind whipped harsh and cold, heavy with lake-spray that seemed to freeze in mid-air. Logically, Alvis knew that wasn't happening, but when a spray struck him in the face like a riding crop logic didn't really play a part.

Tugging his jumper more tightly around him, Alvis first ducked behind the boathouse to avoid a massive gust, then jogged out along the wooden dock. The wind stirred frothy waves into water that should have been still, splashing over the algae-stained wood and smacking the pebble-strewn banks. It was worse than practice. With fog settling in over the opposite shore, it was almost like being out at sea.

Alvis skidded across the dock as a sudden gust tried to blow him into the water. He caught himself on one of the support beams, clutched Phaeton in the crook of one arm, and ducked on instinct as Casey arched overhead. Casey was always small, but he seemed tiny fighting against the wind like this. On a day like today, the lake was not to a place to be flying.

Peering up through his water-stained glass, Alvis took a deep breath to call Casey down. That breath caught, almost choking him.

Casey wasn't flying anymore. He was falling.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 22, 2012, 01:28:48 AM
An exact point when Casey had lost control of the broom could not be determined, he's spent all of this synoptic flight as a battle against fowl weather. But it was when he was plunging mostly downwards although his broom was not pointed that way did Casey realize he was in trouble. The boathouse passed by to an open expanse of churning waves rippled by the wind.

Boy and broom eventually fell apart, Casey's flopping form threatening to land head first until he flipped. The surface of the water was broken but still high with tension. The resistance he met was enough to knock the wind out of him. Enough to slip from consciousness, not that Casey knew how to swim anyways. Even the time he...well half of himself...had been housed in the body of a half mer he couldn't swim, although gills would have been a handy feature in this crash landing.

The impact caused ruptures along the straps on his quidditch gear, dislodging certain elements of clothing. One in particular. If the lack of breath and fall hadn't been enough to subdue Casey, the frigid chill did.

Thrashing would have been a sign of struggle. But Casey was in no position to even move.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 22, 2012, 02:36:19 AM
For a brief, endless moment, Alvis stood frozen at the dock. He wasn’t coming up. Why wasn’t he coming up?

Abandoning the rest of his things, Alvis fumbled Phaeton under him and kicked off. It was a lousy start, slipping on the wet wood. His toes skimmed choppy water as he flew. In seconds, he reached the crash site. Casey’s broom bobbed on the surface, but its owner was nowhere to be seen.

“Casey?” Alvis gasped, pulling up short. Then louder, shouting. “Casey!”

Nothing. Not a sound, not a splash, not a word. Dark water thrashed beneath him, worked into a fury by the wind. And then lower, something bright. Hair. Strawberry blonde. Almost white. Almost gone.

Alvis had time for exactly one thought. He spent it on dragging the glasses off his face and shoving them into his pocket. In the next instant his body moved. Dove.

He was not a strong swimmer. He could swim. He’d been swimming before, but always in public pools on summer days when the air was warm and the water refreshing. Those times were nothing like this. From the instant his body hit the surface it tried to rebel. Joints locked up. Lungs screamed. Cold like a lion bit straight down into his spine.

Still, he swam. He couldn’t stop. Casey was sinking, he’d drown, he’d die.

Beneath the waves, everything went quiet. Hauntingly so, like a shipwreck, full and dead. On a bright day, the sun might have spread into the water, but in the beginnings of a storm darkness swallowed all. Silt stung Alvis’s eyes. He kicked and thrashed but never seemed to move. But he could see Casey, he was there, growing bigger, closer. They fell together through the darkness, Alvis stretching every inch to close the gaps.

His groping hand felt skin. Clammy, cold, but real. Alvis grasped it fiercely, fingers closing around a thin wrist. His lungs burned. Dragging Casey with him, Alvis turned back to the pale light. He swam. Not fast enough. He kicked off his shoes. They vanished into the loch. He hoisted Casey up, hooked an arm around his waist, and pulled him towards the light.

Finally, their heads broke the surface. Alvis swallowed a thankful gulp of air and sank again, a wind-wave washing straight over their heads. Founders, Casey weighed a ton. It was all the clothes, the heavy protective gear soaked through, dragging them both down. Alvis’s frozen finger fumbled with the straps, barely able to feel, let alone see them in the cold. After a fight the gear fell free, joining Alvis’s shoes in the lake bed.

They bobbed up, heads breaking through to air. Alvis gasped a breath that was half oxygen, half water and threatened to sink again. He pushed the Slytherin’s head above-water and shook him. “Casey! Wake ---ugh! You have to --- kick! Grab on! Do...” Do something. Anything, before they both drowned.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 22, 2012, 05:54:45 PM
Casey had once had a nightmare. It wasn't an horrific monster or phantasm, just a simple but unsettling feeling. The dream hadn't even seemed like a dream, it felt as if Casey had woken up in his own bed but injured, with something that must have been blood and a sharp pain of a missing organ. As if gouged away. In that dream Casey had searched along his self until he found...

He was experiencing a similar sensation, a cold that sliced through him as if with invisible swords, like a deadly curse. He wasn't dueling. What had he been doing to cause stinging chill to linger over all of his skin?

“Casey!"

He had been wearing quidditch gear. Where was it? It was gone, the heavy form of the protective padding was no longer taunt on his body.

"Wake ---ugh!"

The pieces floated away, along with something heavier that twinkled off the last ray of light before also sinking. Someone was holding him. Casey normally didn't like to be touched but preservation instinct beat out personal preference as he seized at the arm around him. It was an arm, and not a tentacle from the giant squid?

You have to --- kick! Grab on!

The world was swimming in his vision, distorting his senses, an alienation of not knowing where he was at. No no no! No more of this estranged reality stuff! Casey had to figure out what was going on and do that quickly.

"Do...”

Casey inhaled a great breath. It hurt to do so and water itched down his windpipe. He coughed, coughed so hard is was a surprise his mouth didn't turn inside out. He took stock of what stimuli in the area he could note. Freezing water. The Lake. The dock to the boat house in the distance. Someone was thrashing and holding him. Who? Irrelevant right now, he was looking...underwater?

His flight goggles had stayed in the same position, preventing leaks to collect water at his vision. There wasn't much to see in the lake, except to tell that they were sinking, him and the fellow. The arm that supported him was thin but familiar.

Wand. Where was that stupid replacement wand of his? Did he have it in a holster before the flight, before the crash and everything he now remembered. And from where his new wand floated from the end of a lead at the holster on his wrist, it snapped into his hand as Casey's fingers curled around it into spell casting position.

This was why Casey had developed water emergency drills, especially as he had never properly learned to swim.

The incantation bubbled out of his mouth but the spell would still be successful. His voice was screaming it inside his head too. "Ascendio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLYVuebOK5c)!"
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 22, 2012, 10:47:55 PM
Casey's death-grip on his arm was all that Alvis could feel in any of his limbs now. They were dead weight, their instinctive trashes slowing to a crawl. Up to his nose in lake without his glasses, Alvis didn't know which way to turn. Where was the shore, where was the dock, where was Phaeton?

The last breath he swallowed before going under once more was more water than air. He choked and coughed, his free hand sealing up his mouth and nose in a futile attempt to keep in the air. Cold bit into his throat and lungs. He was vaguely, distantly aware of Casey moving, but not to swim. Was it up to him to keep them afloat. Alvis forced his dead legs to move, reaching for the surface, praying...

Just a little further please please please...

And then they were flying. There was no broom, no warning, only air, howling and cold as Casey's spell shot them out of the water like a cannon. Time slowed. Alvis felt as though he were hanging in the air, turning with the wind, clinging still to Casey's waist as the Slytherin dragged him bodily from the water. They arched towards the dock and Alvis had just enough time to think, 'Not the head again' before they hit it.

Alvis landed on one shoulder, hunched up in an instinctive attempt to protect his head. Hot pain shot through it, like fire compared to the ice of before. The impact's force flung Casey out of his grip, but Alvis caught the back of the other boy's shirt before he could roll off the edge again. For a few moments, Alvis lay on the algae-soaked wood, his shoulder (dislocated?) throbbing and his head spinning circles, unable to breathe.

Then he shuddered, shoved himself up on his good arm, and coughed so loud and hard he was surprised a lung didn't leap out his throat. Water poured from his mouth and nose, spray the already soaked and damaged wood. Rowena and Godric, he was freezing. His vision faded in and out, unable to focus on much of anything. His arm trembled under its own weight and finally collapsed, sending him crashing to the dock.

Wheezing, Alvis rolled over, barely clinging to consciousness. He tried, through the fuzziness of head and poor eyesight,  to focus on the boy beside him. "Cay...Casey? You...okay?"
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 23, 2012, 10:21:17 AM
Casey had thankfully aimed true in the direction of the dock. It saved performing another spell to travel along the surface or to reclaim the broom, where ever it had fallen. They were up, too high up, and the dock did not look inviting at this altitude.

Casey landed in a bone quaking crunch, momentum threatening to pitch him over the other side until his rescurer grabbed his shirt, wet fabric stretching from where it smothered his skin. It was enough to let Casey grab the edge of the dock to brace himself. He saw the lapping water roll nauseatingly below him. Along with his new wand that floated from wave to wave, the lead snapped off his flight holster. He reached down to grab it, wincing at the pain in his arm screaming in protest.

"Cay...Casey? You...okay?"

Casey turned his head. Alvis, looking about as whipped as he felt. The Slytherin could not think as to why Norling was there but he was begrudgingly grateful. As to answer the question Casey didn't know what to start with, lying there stomach down at the edge of the rough water soaked planks of the dock. His arm was smarting over the retrieval of the floating wand. The fatigue from the harsh flight was multiplied by the force of impact and the near drowning. Casey's chest hurt considerably, in particular, like the bruise of a vice grip leaving soreness across the rounded mass.

Rounded?

Casey looked down. Under the lowest layer of clothing, the shirt beneath the quidditch robes flung about his shoulders, the wet shirt covered his skin like a poorly applied sausage casing, taunt but wrinkly. The mounds. The breasts! Casey did not need to fling his hand to his neck to note that something was missing. Metal that should have been frigid cold when wet, chain that sat unnoticed around his neck with the runic jewel near the vincinity of an armpit.

His amulet was gone!
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 23, 2012, 01:14:47 PM
"Are you okay?" Alvis asked again, more urgently when he didn't get an answer. He thought Casey might be moving, but it was hard to tell. His vision seemed worse than ever, unable to focus on anything past the tip of his own nose. Had he hit his head again? Blimey...

"Say something. Please...I can't see..." He tried reaching for pale blob of color that was Casey, but it put too much pressure on his wounded shoulder. His joints felt lead-lined, like he weighed three or four times more than he had upon entering the lake. Another coughing fit struck, rattling him from head to toe. He curled up futilely against the cold and grasped for any thought that would keep him awake.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded, though through his wheezing the words came out more as a sob. "Flying alone in this weather! And over the lake, when you can't swim?!"

From the outside, Alvis looked as bad as he felt. His skin turned clammy and his lips were going blue. He tried rolling onto his back to take the pressure off his shoulder, but that just hurt worse, as though a giant were standing on his chest. He wheezed. There still wasn't enough air. 
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 23, 2012, 08:35:08 PM
"Are you okay?"

Casey pulled his robes together in a frenzy, hands trembling both from the cold and nerve. His wand was clutched by the pinky and ring finger of one hand, parallel to his wrist. Confound it, why had he been stripped of all of the outer protective gear?

"Say something." If Norling doesn't shut up he's going to get / What? / Something that would make him shut up, I can't think like this! Spells like Tongue Tying and Langlock were suggested. "Please...I can't see..."

Casey spun to look, rolling awkwardly to his back then hunching up tight to warm his limbs. And put up a barrier. Alvis wasn't wearing his glasses. Casey remember during the time he had been Alvis that the Ravenclaw's vision was rather out of focus on things at a distance. Could he have possibly, then, not seen? The only way to absolutely make sure is a Memory Charm. / And what to account to for the fact that we're all wet and freezing and missing our brooms, that won't prevent the chill or explain an absent memory! / Get his things, drag his unconscious form to medical and leave a note. / There's no time for any of that.

"What were you thinking?" Alvis continued. "Flying alone in this weather! And over the lake, when you can't swim?!"

Casey clutched himself even tighter. Later he would believe it was for warmth. There were too many thoughts going through his head on what to do in the situation and how to act. A history of worst case scenario thoughts that did not account for half drowning and being practically exposed next to someone also half drowned.

Alvis Norling was not going to tell him what to do! Or think! Him and his unrelentless caring! "I had it covered!" He tried to keep his voice steady. "Nor--Alvis! Listen to me!"

The Ravenclaw was on his back, rattling in breath. Casey crawled closer. "Norling!" He shook him. Alvis was barely breathing. "Damn it, don't tell me you can't handle a splash in a lake! You're...healthier than me and I'm feeling fine!" Utter troll scat, it was only from pumped adrenaline that Casey was still moving. That and familiarity from living in pain. He put his fingers on Norling's neck. Was something stuck in his throat, blocking his air passageway? Lake water?

Quickest way to make someone breathe? "Vomito Adduco!" Was he unconscious? "Rennervate! Stay awake! Damn it!"

What do you need me to admit, that I care for you too?!
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 26, 2012, 02:04:03 AM
How strange. The world seemed to be fading. What little color remained between gray lake and gray sky leaked away as the edges between things went out of focus. Vaguely, Alvis was aware that he was supposed to be doing something -- moving, breathing, shivering -- but it wouldn't come.

"I had it covered!"

Casey's voice broke on the edge of his consciousness, like shattering china. He sounded okay. Maybe weak, maybe scared, but okay. Okay enough to yell at him. So, safe. Good. That meant Alvis could relax.

"Nor--Alvis! Listen to me!"

His first name. That was a nice change.

Black seeped into the world's gray, blotting out Alvis's vision like spilled ink. Cotton crept into his ears. Ice sank into his bones. Against the shadows of his eyelids, he spied a familiar creature. A bird, beautiful and white, perched delicately on a scarred hand...

Magic sparked through his mind, scattering the vision. He opened his eyes and sucked in the first proper breath in what felt like ages. His eyes rolled, catching Casey's gaze. His grasping mind caught a single, fleeting, powerful thought:

What do you need me to admit, that I care for you too?!

Despite the acid taste coating tongue, Alvis almost managed a smile.

Then the other spell kicked in. The sick swelled up before he was ready for it, cutting off his air. Alvis lurched up into a half-seat and pitched to one side, catching himself on the edge of the dock. Up came breakfast, right into the lake. He'd not eaten much before practice so it didn't take to empty his stomach. But the retching continued, cutting off his feeble half-breaths and forcing up a foul yellow sick that burned white-hot all along his throat.

"S-Stop," he managed between spasms, barely able to pull in the air even for that. "Can't -- stop. Make -- it -- stop!"
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 27, 2012, 01:39:33 PM
"Vomito Confuto!"[1] That may have been too much but it got Alvis breathing...after puking into the lake first. Nastiest way to clean out someone's esophagus but it appeared to have worked.

The chill was beginning to seep into the joints of Casey's limbs but that chill failed to freeze like the one mental notice that his mind registered before the spells had taken full effect on Norling. Casey felt himself withdraw, almost seeing the inside of his eye sockets like the edges of a mask...


Salazar's Shiny Pate, not again! Damn Norling and his Legilimency. He's probably lost control of it from the strain, if he's ever had any control at all! / It's too risky to stay here, both of your minds are being compromised by the circumstances, and given the way things are going... / Norling CAN'T find out, physically or mentally. Disappear! / The cloak is in the pouch. / Get out of here, that's the biggest priority. / But still, Alvis just can't be left here. / Memory charm! / Which may not work and it's too complicated to pull off at this level of strained fatigue. / Fine, disappear but send off a message. Let a professor deal with Norling.

How to send the message, though? It needed to be immediate.

That's not going to work. / And why not? / For starter's, what the memory going to be? Life sucks!


But there had been the time he reconnected with his mother.[2]
Was there supposed to be tears? Hearts breaking? Warmth? There was a twinge of heat. But Casey knew this moment was special. This was something to keep protected.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" And a silver animal leaped out of the wand. For even those that had never done well with the spell, the right set of emotional circumstances could bring forth a corporeal form, for the Patronus was not fueled strictly by magic.

A cat?! It's just a cat? Sitting there, paws together and tail erect in a curve like a question mark, was the masked spectral cat with big ears. Looked Siamese. Is this really the time to complain?

"Go tell Professor Storm that Alvis Norling is in critical condition down by the boathouse." The patronus sat there. "Damn it all!" The cat faded on the spot. Apparently the belief that you had the mysteries of the patronus charm all figured out was not enough to fully utilize the spell. Time for simplicity rather than grandiose. Now to disappear.

Casey stood his full (slightly feeble) height, wand erupting a shower of red sparks into the air that popped and split into more sparks like firecrackers, all centered to where the Ravenclaw lay prone. The wand slipped through his fingers though he cat it by the end. Gravity kept pulling on him to make him collapse down next to Alvis. But he couldn't let that happen.

He couldn't let anyone know about his true self.

The use of Occlumency relaxed on his mind, enough to let a single thought be open: Sorry. Casey had just enough magic left for one last spell, a rather simple one. A stunner or jinx would have been too harsh. It was enough to send Alvis to sleep, to loose consciousness for a few minutes.

And once Alvis no longer paid attention, Casey was alone. There was a pouch at his waist, strapped in through the belt. The rubbery grit texture of mokeskin. Although two steps from exhaustion Casey noted that the pouch had worked just as he wanted. The Invisibility Cloak inside was dry.

He put it on. Invisibility didn't bring warmth but it brought some comfort. He could walk away unnoticed.

But after a view steps he paused, then moved to an out of the way spot. He could at least make sure someone found Alvis.
 1. even without the need for lookup, you can guess that it counters
 2. Wondering Child (http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=11474.0) - Oct 3
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Ignan Storm on September 30, 2012, 07:05:56 AM
Bloody ridiculous weather this was, Ignan grumbled to himself. What rain there was ran off his cloak and hat which were charmed with waterproofing spells. He wouldn't have worn the damned hat had he got enough hair to ensure that the waterproofing didn't just turn it into a ridiculous puff. Drawing a cloak hood over his head was a little unbecoming unless female, sinister, or happy to hear the world slightly muted.

His boots trudged through the puddles in the Hogwarts gateway and the gates clanged shut behind him. His hat and its sticking charm slid down his forehead and the brim obscured his gaze a moment, unused to having to wear it. Removing the hat briefly he smoothed his thin grey hair down with a leather gloved hand and rammed it back down on his head with irritation.

Onwards, following the path to the castle, Ignan's boots trod a steady, slightly limping journey, the gales buffeting his cloak from this way and that, what few leaves were still on the ground swirled and dragged across the grounds. He was rather looking forward to being back and dry beside the fire.

A triumphant gust of wind unseated his hat once and for all, and it rocketed through the air and onto the damp grass. Hardly feeling the need to draw his wand he hastily stepped off the path and after it, a gloved hand extending, but the wind tossed it onwards like children, and he sighed, reaching for his wand instead to summon it to his hand. Just as he did, he saw a shower of red sparks from just beside the boat house.

His hat found his hand and his ears listened carefully to the wind, listening for voices and chatter from students, his eyes surveying the grounds for movement and other sparks just in case. Nothing, and those hadn't looked too pathetic or like duelling.

The Deputy Head's legs carried him swiftly over the grass and mud towards the boat house, gaining speed as he saw a figure on the ground as he came over the crest of a brief rise above the house. The top hat landed in a puddle beside the bedraggled form as he quickly checked the situation for danger, for an ambush, but the boy seemed alone, right beside the lake.

"Norling!" The Professor called firmly, eyes taking in the boy's condition. He must have been conscious moments before to cast the red sparks. Alvis did not seem to react and his pallor was pale, and his skin very cold to the touch. He shook the fourth year by the shoulders again, calling his name close to the boy's ear. He could hear the Ravenclaw's breath was shallow, but there.

Clearing his mind a moment, he summoned the augurey patronus from his wand and instructed,
"Tulojow, Alvis Norling is by the boathouse, looks half-drowned. I will bring him as swiftly at I can." The bird inclined its head and raised itself from the ground, sweeping away to the hospital hut through the wind, its ghostly body unaffected by the elements.

"Norling!" He called again, and tilted the boy's head back to try and help his breathing, quickly checking for broken bones or missing limbs. Dropping his cloak from his shoulders he wrapped the boy in it and with a false stumble, managed to pull him into his arms, nearly falling over his hat before managing to summon it, dripping and muddy into the bundle of teenager, cloak and Professor. Unsteadily, he headed for the hospital hut where his patronus had by now conveyed the message.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Alvis Norling on September 30, 2012, 05:01:33 PM
Sorry.

Sorry for what? Alvis stared at a knothole in the dock, his mind grasping at the stray thought as he willed himself to stay conscious. Sorry for flying in this weather, for crashing, drowning, or for the spells? He could still feel the water in his lungs. His breath came in sharp pants. He tried to look up at Casey, but the darkness crept in before he could.

…Shivering, he huddled against the rough bark of an old tree, its twisted roots a nest to hide them. Who would have thought a summer night would be so cold? From the darkness came a tattered coat which wrapped around him from chin to toe. A bird nuzzled his cheek and man whispered soothing words. “One more day, az qus. Just one more day…”

“Norling…Norling!”

The voice broke against the inside of Alvis’s skull like a dropped vase.  His clenched teeth held in a pained groan, which was echoed a moment later when the cloak wrapped around him, bracing his dislocated shoulder. The voice was too deep to be Casey, the hands currently moving him around too broad. A man, then. Grown. From the trees…? No, no, he was on the dock and soaking wet and drowning, not just cold. It must be a teacher.

His eyelids felt like lead weights, but Alvis forced them half-open to get a glimpse of his rescuer. Bleeding hells. Storm. He closed his eyes again, forcing himself to stay calm. This was not class, he wasn’t going to get scolded or hexed for being a coward. The professor was here to help. He was not evil. Oliver was wrong.

With a shudder, Alvis felt his body lifted from the ground. Storm was quite strong for his age, wasn’t he? He’d gathered Alvis in his arms and now they were moving. Alvis felt a bit guilty. He couldn’t move. Aside from the burning in his shoulder, he couldn’t feel his limbs. Still. Making a teacher carry him like some pathetic child…

“’M sorry Professor.” His lips barely moved, the words were hardly voiced. But putting using even that much breath made his aching head spin. Alvis lost his grip on consciousness again, slipping into the realm of poor focus and gray. When the world re-aligned, they were moving, leaving the lake behind and more. There was only the two of them – him and Storm. What about Casey? Where was he? Alvis tried to ask, but the words wouldn’t come. He didn’t have the air.
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Casey O'Doherty on September 30, 2012, 05:45:53 PM
Unseen and under the cloak, Casey was shivering. His hands were across his mouth both for feeble warmth that his haggard breath provided and to deafen the chattering of his teeth, lest it be a tell tale sign. It also stopped his hands from exploring when he already knew how his body would feel different. It would only be a few minutes to get to the castle, to somewhere warm and private. Running through his options he would quickly have Dingy fetch an emergency healing kit, a Pepper-up Potion would warm him up, then task the elf towards a remedy for the missing amulet business. That jointly kept Dingy away from the castle in case anyone tried to interrogate the status of his master out of him.

The numbness in his extremities contributed to the hollow feeling in Casey's bones, as if his current state was unreal. But it was real and the moment Casey took time to rest it would hurt like hell, once the pain receptors in his nerves finally made an alert. There were, luckily, plenty of places to hide unnoticed in the castle and Casey had discovered a few useful for past solitudes.

The question was how long he would have to wait for someone to notice. Would Nadge notice from her hut? Even still, the gimpy legged healer would be slow to hobble in this weather. How many people would look outside the castle at the right moment to notice the red sparks? That brought forth paranoid thoughts, in the slim chances of anyone recognizing two students falling in the lake and then lying on the dock, with one disappearing on the spot...

No one came from the castle but coming from the direction of the path to the gate was Professor Storm. What had he been doing out of the grounds? Deputy headmaster duties, probably. Did you need to know the location of the recipient of a patronus message for it to work? Casey had been imagining Storm to be in his office when he had made his attempt.

Whatever the circumstances this was fortunate. Storm would know exactly what to do in this situation. Which, unfortunately, meant that Casey was really going to half to think up a clever enough cover story for later. The foreboding and guilt made him miss scrutiny of the professor's own successful patronus messenger as the weathered Irish phoenix flew off.

That was Alvis taken care of. Casey had to tend to himself before exposure and exhaustion staged a coup. His hands gripped inside the cloak as he looked down to make sure his feet were still covered, ready to hightail it to the castle. That's when he noticed the red sparks, littering around his feet like still burning embers. Like breadcrumbs.[1] Blazes, the last thing he needed was more uncontrolled magic from his wand, and this his new one and not the original.

Casey managed to stop the flow of lingering sparks from his wand as he made his retreat as quickly as he was able.
 1. Skipping Off Slip-less (http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=11478.0) - Oct 4
Title: Re: [Nov 22] An Unexpected Emergency Wash-Up
Post by: Ignan Storm on October 09, 2012, 12:45:36 PM
The boy came to a moment and mumbled something, but wasn't awake for long and flopped again. With any luck he might not remember these minutes of being manhandled by his Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor - levitation was the alternative, but he remembered how sick that could make one feel. Norling wasn't the heaviest, he was a stringy boy.

As he righted them both he heard a noise behind and could have sworn he saw red sparks dissipating over beside the boathouse. He didn't have long enough to pause and investigate, not wanting to bring back another dead student to that hut in the same year.

"Come along now Norling." He spoke firmly, much to himself than the unconscious student, and strode purposely from the spot, towards the Hospital Hut.

OOC: If you want me to continue to reaching the hut, then let me know - wasn't sure if that's in a different thread?