Hunting: Forbidden Forest

Jess chuckled at Brian, shaking his head and pulling out his wand, before pausing to consider what he was saying. "Wont it be difficult for them to read through the water though? I was thinking I'd just send a patronus - it might glow a little more, but at least they'd get the message for certain," he replied, unsure now as to which course of action was the better.

"But yeah, help would be great for the veges," he added, "I kind of don't wanna use magic with knives," he told them, blushing a little but laughing to cover the embarrassment he was feeling - not too bad, but definitely present.

"Well, I presumed they would not be underwater forever, unless whatever charm they used to breathe underwater got them stuck down there as fish or something," Brian said. "If they stay underwater for prolonged periods, it won't be healthy for them. I presumed the bird would wait on a tree branch until they surfaced. You send that patronus if you prefer." He didn't understand how it was okay to send a dazzlingly bright patronus from the heart of the Forbidden Forest, one that would go miles and miles. But it wasn't alright to start a campfire to keep away forest beasties. It didnt' make any common sense to him.

He drew his utility knife off his belt and fired the tip of his wand to sterilize the blade with the heat he'd caused. "With your permission?" He accio'd the vegetables for the Shepherds' Pie and took a newspaper and laid it out on the table. He began to peel the vegetables quickly but efficiently. He figured he'd dice them once he'd peeled them.

(Sorry I haven't posted. I'm just going to post as if Anna had fallen asleep while the boys were talking if you don't care.)

Annabella woke up and looked around forgetting where she was but then quickly regaining her memory. She watched as Jess and Brian fixed Shepard's pie. She sat up straight and looked over to Damon giving him a soft smile. "So how long 'fore dinner boys?" She said looking back towards Jess and Brain pointing her question more to them.

Damon smiled and looked at Jess as well as Brian, then got up going over to the stove and put a pot of hot water on the stove. "I'll make some tea for when we have dinner since there's not much of anything to do since you boys are working on the Shepard's Pie." He then walked back over to the chair he was in and sat down in it hoping he could be more of a help then anything else.

"Certainly, the letter shall suffice, I'm sure," Jess replied, raising his hands in surrender, grinning as he retrieved a quill and pot of ink from his bag, and started to pen a letter, addressing it to Jack - he was sure that if the letter found her, it'd find everyone else along with her.

"Tea would be great thanks Damon," he replied, "and it shouldn't be too long," he added, laughing softly as he noticed that Anna had taken a nap. "Good sleep?" he asked, joining Brian in preparing the pie

Annabella smiled at Damon again. "I would love some tea." She said rubbing her neck as it was hurting slightly from the position she had slept. She took a look around the room as she hadn't paid much attention to it when she first walked in.

"Good sleep?"

Anna looked over at Jess and laughed before she answered him. "I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up." She said grinning. Standing up from her chair, she walked over to Jess and Brian. "So Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered.

"Um...I am presuming that Jess has dishes here for us," Brian said. "Perhaps you might set the table, Annabella? I dont' think this will take very long. Once we get this put together, we'll have a short wait while it heats. That might give us time to wash up a bit. Maybe time to warm up with a bit of that tea Damon is making. I could use a decent cup of tea." Brian finished cleaning the vegetables and cut them into pieces. He found two bowls and put the potatoes in one bowl to create mashed potatoes for the top of the pie and put the onions and carrots in the other. He was hoping that Jess had some meat somewhere in those supplies.

"Yo!" Brian teased Jess. "You've got meat for this shepherd's pie? Or shall we make it with that beef jerky Michael packed for us?" He had a visual in his mind of a rather miserable looking pie made with beef jerky instead of decent meat. "Actually, I was rather hoping to see just what kind of a gourmet chef you are, Jess."

Annabella nodded to Brian and went to grab four plates and four forks to set down at the table. Then went back and grabbed four glasses as well to drink the tea out of. Annabella smiled after she finally finished rearranging the silver ware and plates on the table. She sat down and looked to Brian and Jess to see Brain discussing with Jess about putting beef jerky in the Shepard's pie. She held back a laugh at how funny the image she had received from that.

Jess snorted and shook his head, trust Brian to immediately assume the worst of him. He walked into the tent's kitchen area and lit the stove, before plunging his hand, nay, his arm into his pocket, fishing about for around half a minute before retrieving a slab of wrapped up lamb mince. He waved his wand, cursed silently and pulled a frying pan out from the little cupboard, before oiling it up and whacking the lamb on it, adding some of Brian's chopped onions as he worked.

"I still have a few surprises left in me, Brian," Jess replied, patting his pocket and laughing. It occurred to him then just how ridiculous the scene must have looked from the outside - four adults out in the middle of one of the most uninhabitable places on earth camping out in a tent drinking tea and cooking shepherd's pie... only magical folk could do such a stupid thing.

Still, he was happy... happier than he'd been in quite awhile, in fact, because he was there with his friends, doing things he'd enjoyed as a younger child... or, at least liked the idea of (he'd never really gotten much of a chance to do the whole camping thing)

He was about to challenge Jess to some sort of a challenge just for the pure fun of it when he heard a soft noise in the leaf litter outside the tent. He snatched up his wand and went outside and around the tent, unsure of what he was going to find.

He saw...nothing. He frowned. He could hear the sound but he saw nothing. And then he saw it. A chipmunk. He had chewed a hole in the bottom of Jess's tent and was working hard to get in through the hole but he was stuck with his head in the hole and the rest of him unable to get through the hole.

"You little squirt," he sighed. He went over to the hole and used a teeny tiny calming spell on the chipmunk and pulled it out of the hole. He set it in his hand. He used a quick spell to mend the tent. The chipmunk was now sitting calmly in Brian's hand, bewitched by the calming spell. "I suppose I'm stuck with you now until the spell wears off," Brian said. He tucked the animal into his shirt pocket where it peeked out of the pocket to look around.

Brian went back inside. He picked up an apple out of his bag and cut a slice off it and gave it to the chipmunk. "Is that what you were after?" he asked it.