Hunting: Loch Ness

Jack was ahead of the pack, twisting as she swam on occassion to ensure that the whole group was still together and no trouble had befallen anyone. She had asked to take charge, that meant that she was responsible for whatever happened. Jack would not have anyone harmed. The eighteen year old woman could not stand to have any more blood on her hands.

Something had changed. What happened to the clear, bright water? What happened to the schools of fish? Nothing moved, and that made it scarier really. Jack was not afraid, of course, she did not have a reason to be. Yet. She heard a clicking and stopped, treading water briefly, ears straining. She turned a complete circle. Nothing. Michael reached her and she jerked her head. They should continue.

Jack saw something shine out of the corner of her eye as she turned her head. She turned and saw Mari had lighted her wand. "No!" Jack said, a bubble pouring out of her mouth. She turned and sped over to the wand, covering the tip with her hands, shaking her head at Mari. Nessie was not the only thing here- the light would tell creatures where they were.

Bad move.
In the short time it took for Jack to swim over to you Mari, a swarm of Grindylows, attracted by the light, has darted in and started to attack your group. Deal with them as you see fit.

It was too late. Jack heard a strange noise and she whipped around, seeing the horned faces of grindylows approaching. Jack suddenly realized how well-equipped she was for this job. She was Head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. Training had entailed escaping a tank of grindylows. She had dealt with a good dozen personally. She had no worries about protecting herself. This was a task she could handle.

She worried about the others.

She propelled forward and pulled her wand, casting a relashio charm silently. A jet of boiling water got a grindylow in the chin. She saw a grindylow going for the others and she grabbed his foot, dragging it backwards, before repeating the spell on his stomach. She could not harm them; she just had to scare them away for now.

Stupid stupid stupid ... Mariana cursed herself in her head. She turned off the light as soon as she caught Jack's hint. What was she thinking, they were not diving for recreation she could and did call for some creatures which she planned not to do. It was lucky that she participated in the triwizzard tournament once and had an uncle who did so too otherwise she wouldn't be able to deal with grindylows.

She pointed her wand at one that was avout to attach to her floating feet. Ray of light, he went back from where he came from. She looked around to see if they were anymore near her and then she swam to Jack this time making sure it was dark. She wanted to ask her if they were good, but only bubbles came out of her mouth so she just floated there waiting for further development.

Angus made a move to try to deliberately place himself between the group and the grindylows. Ugly little carnivorous things that they were. He cast a nonverbal contego to shield them.

He heard Michael cuss as the grindylows moved in. Michael was about the only person Angus knew that could manage to still cuss underwater. Michael would never back down from a fight, though.

He saw Michael gesture towards his companions to break the brittle fingers of the grindylows if they continued to try to snatch and grab them. It made Angus remember his lessons from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Apparently there still were advantages to those who had gone to school with Remus. Either that or it was an advantage to being older. One or the other.

Jack knew that if they did not get the grindylows to retreat, despearate measures would be called for and who knew what that could mean. Jack could not have it get out that she killed animals in their native territory when she intruded upon their home. The group was fighting them off well, but the grindylows persisted. Jack knew, however, how to easily get rid of them. She fumbled with her wand, the underwater pressure slowing her movement. She pointed and said, "LUMOS MAXIMA" though it came out in the form of a bubble and a gloop noise. The light shone brightly, scaring them off, before she quickly stopped it. It should get rid of them, but it meant they had to move. She looked at the others and sped off, using her wand to send jets of water behind her to speed her along faster. Any creatures would go investigate that spot.

The Grindylows flee, frightened by the light, however another noise joins the crackling sound. A sort of low pitched, drawn out moaning.... it's impossible to tell what it is yet, but it might be a good move to leave the immediate area while you can.

Michael motioned to the others. This was no time to lag. As long as there was a space for them to move on, out of whatever territory in the loch that the grindylows wanted, then getting the heck out, seemed like a good plan.

He pushed off to try to stay a bit closer to Jack, already knowing that Angus would remain behind a bit to try to be closer to Mari so that no one was alone. As Michael moved on, he was interrupted by another some. More foreboding. Something seemed to be moaning. Great. Just great. It didn't sound like any sort of natural thing to be in a 'normal' loch, but then, what the heck was normal anyway?

Angus decided to wait behind to keep guard on whatever might be behind them. He motioned Mari to move ahead, before him. He attempted to see if there was anythin more to need to be watchful about but he saw nothing. A rather creepy sort of moaning sound began. Angus had done a great deal of diving back in his parents' home in Tuscany, but he had never heard anything like this. But then again, he didn't generally see much more than just nonmagical sea life when he went diving. He was not unhappy that the grindylows had lived, but this surely wasn't going to be just a quick dip in the loch.

If she could breath, Mariana would stop breathing in order for the monster not to find them. Gryndillows were gone, scared by the light, but something far more dangerous and creepy was now heard in the distance. She swam in front of Angus and looked around wondering how fast could a giant monster swim in these waters. She knew from the very beggining that they needed at least 2,3 days to finish this task, but she was hoping that they would at least find the caves before the end of the day.

She looked at Jack wondering if she had a plan for after the ray of light. It was now that she wished to be able to talk on English, but since it was impossible she just exchanged looks with Michael, Angus and Jack and tried to spot if something approached them from her side at the same time, but no such thing came yet.