Hunting: Forbidden Forest

Brian looked at Damon. "After you," he motioned to Damon. He lit his wand and adjusted the pack on his shoulder. He wasn't opposed to Jess taking the lead. That was fine. He preferred the rear position this time, actually. He'd learned years ago that sometimes the greater danger wasn't what was in front of a person. Rather, sometimes the greater danger was not realizing what was behind them.

Brian hadn't spent much time in these woods since he was a student here years ago. It was hard to say what time had done to this place and its inhabitants. He walked slowly towards the path in the woods to allow Damon to catch up to follow Annabelle.

And so it was that they set off into the forest in a tight little unit, venturing as far in as they could. As far as Jess knew, the only information they were really going off was that it was in the centre of the forest, and that they would know it when they saw it. "Brian," he called back, noting that the man was covering the rear of their party - good - "You weren't there last night, did Robert fill you in on the..." he said, pausing mid stride and sentence and peering through the dark forest, sweeping his beam of light around and frowning, he could've sworn he heard a noise... almost like laughing.

"Did Robert fill you in on what we're doing?" he finished, now probably too distracted to hear the answer

Damon went in behind Annabella his wand lit and his pack sitting on his back snugly. He listened to everything in the forest even when Jess was talking. He knew that Jess was not much for someone looking after him but Damon knew that he would have to keep a close eye on him to be sure. He didn't know Brian that well and was hoping that if things got bad that he would be able to help significantly when it came time to bail. Damon wanted to make sure that he kept everything as an option just in case things got sticky in the forest.

"Are you kidding?" Brian laughed. "His curiosity is killing him. You know what he's like." Brian had been given more than enough gear to handle their objective--and then some. Brian figured it was for Robert's own research later.

He saw Jess perk up in the same instant Brian also heard a noise. He looked around, just checking, but so far, he didn't see much of anything in the deep darkness. Even in the daylight, the Forbidden Forest was just plain dark. Brian wasn't willing to chuck it off, but he took it, for now, as just a warning to stay alert.

Annabella treaded lightly behind Jess as he talked to Brian. She noticed he paused and listened closer. A faint laughing was heard far off in the distance it seemed to her. She wondered if that was why Jess paused in the middle of his sentence. Since she was concentrating more on listening then where her feet was going; her foot got stuck in a hole, having her fall backwards into Damon.

Damon caught Annabella around the waist and quickly lifted her out of the hole so she wouldn't fall again. "Gotcha Anna careful now, you'll sprain your ankle in holes like those." He said winking at her playfully. "Let's make sure you don't end up with one leg you can't use." He let her go but kept his arms out so that she could steady herself once more.

Annabella blushed brightly and silently thanked the gods that it was dark outside. "Thank you Damon." She said giving his hand a quick squeeze as she steadied herself. She smiled as she continued to walk behind Jess making sure not to step into another hole. Though secretly wishing Damon wouldn't feel so far away to her. She tried to put the feeling aside as she concentrated on their mission.

"Watch it," Jess muttered, glancing behind him to make sure that Anna was fine before continuing on down the path.

He definitely did not like the feel of this. During his time at Hogwarts he had spent plenty of time in the forest, heck, he had even taken Mari on a date in here once (good times) however it had never felt like this. The darkness was not only more sudden than usual, it was also, thicker, more pressing... definitely infinitely more spooky.

"Keep together everyone, I don't want us getting split up," he instructed, pausing to allow the others to catch up a little more... he was all too aware that he was at the front, and thus had no clue whether they were with him or not, as he was facing forward, not back

As Brian walked, he started to believe his mind was playing tricks on him. Sounds seemed amplified. Shadows seemed to deepen and move. He felt himself momentarily pausing periodically in order to just check around them, especially behind them. He was looking behind them when he heard someone stumble. He turned around and saw it was Annabelle, and Damon had caught her quickly. He was glad that Damon had kept her from harm.

This was not going to easy, but when had Robert ever sent anyone on an errand that was simple. How the heck were they supposed to find this thing in a place so large and so dark? He had visuals of himself growing old and grey and still hunting. He sighed and kept moving.

"Don't worry Jess we will be able to keep up with you, but i would be wary i keep hearing something moving around." Damon said as they kept walking, he kept his eyes searching around them. 'I hope we find those beetles soon, the thought of being watch doesn't sit well with me.' He thought to himself as he looked back to make sure that Brian was still behind him. Damon knew that Brian was hearing the same things that he was hearing but it made it that much more difficult for them in here.