Hunting: Forbidden Forest

Jess poked and prodded the lump of meat and the onions surrounding it for a few minutes, whistling softly as he did so, until he noticed Brian's new friend. "Why hello there," he said, staring at the little critter for a few seconds before grinning. "You've made a good friend there Brian, maybe it can help us find some nuts for the pie," he laughed as he turned his attention back to the food.

After a few more minutes he pulled out a large baking dish and put the meat inside it, stirring in Brian's vegetables and covering it with his mashed potatos, and a sprinkling of cheese, before putting it in the oven and going back to his companions. "Did you say before that you have a bug collecting kit, Damon?" he asked, realising how little he knew about his colleague. "Hobby of yours, is it?" he asked

"Its a shame Kate's not here," Brian said. "This guy probably knows the leaf litter better than any of us will ever know. I bet he knows where that stupid beetle is, and Kate could get him to tell us. But..since he was eating your tent, I figured I'd give him something better to eat. If he survives the journey, I'll take him home to Abbey."

That was providing that they could convince Archangel and the cats not to eat him. Brian was impressed that Jess had put together a decent shepards pie. Then Jess's words gave Brian an idea.

"I wonder..." he said quietly. He got back into his pack and got out four scones, some dried fruit, some nuts and then opened the medical kit that was towards the bottom of his pack. He'd learned years ago to keep a bottle of honey in there in order to make hot toddies for sniffles and sore throats. He mixed some of the dried fruit and honey and nuts together and opened the scones and stuffed them with the fruit and nuts. Dessert--well, or something that looked like that.

The chipmunk tried to squirm out of his pocket to get to the nuts, so Brian put a handful of nuts in his pocket with the chipmunk to keep him happy.

"No Jess it's not a hobby of mine but it was of my grandfather. He used to collect a variety of bugs and among other things. I moved into my grandparents old house they have long since passed away, the rest of my family thought to sell to the highest bidder until i came and bought it out. My grandfather had nineteen bug collection kits in his den and i took one just in case we needed it today." Damon said looking at Jess smiling. Then the tea pot began whistling and he stood up taking it off the stove. He placed a hot mat on the table along with the tea kettle and four china cups for tea. Then he looked around until he found some sugar and milk to go along with the tea, "There we are in case any one uses milk for their tea." He commented as he placed them on the table.

Brian kept an eye on the time as casual conversation went around them. When he knew the Shepherd's pie was done, he drew it out of the oven and let it cool for just a bit. Then he levitated the casserole to the table and laid a serving spoon out with it.

"I think we're ready to eat," Brian said. "I wasn't sure I was hungry until it started to bake. Now I'm sure I'm hungry. Help yourselves." He took a shrunken container of water from his bag and resized it and poured it into a kettle to heat for doing up the dishes after dinner.

He put the 'dessert scones' on the table with the Shepherd's pie. "I take it all back, Jess. It smells wonderful," he said, taking a seat at the table. He suppressed a yawn. He was smelling comfort food, he was sitting and no longer walking, he was warm from the cool spring night air--and it was all going to make him a bit more relaxed than he wanted to be. He was seriously debating on making a pot of coffee. He wasn't ready to be tired yet.

Jess nodded. "Isn't it interesting - the things that our family did in the past," he commented, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "History in general, it just... fascinates me," he added, turning his attention to the pie which Brian had just pulled out of the oven.

Jess chuckled at his friend's comment, grabbed a handful of knives and forks, and took his own spot at the table. "It does smell quite nice, come on, everyone tuck in," he instructed them, passing out the cutlery and digging in for himself. "Mmm," he groaned, savouring the flavour

Brian helped himself to a portion of the Shepherd's pie and a cup of tea. "Very good," Brian said. "I didn't realize exactly how hungry I was. So, do I put in my order for steak and eggs for breakfast now, Jess?" Actually, Brian was thinking he had more than enough fresh fruit to make fruit salad for breakfast for everyone. That and a bit of coffee would do Brian very well. He had been so traditional and preferred tea for breakfast. And then living with Khaat had changed that for him, probably forever.

"Is it worth our time to send a message to Robert asking him if he can guide us to any more specifics on this bug?" Brian asked. As far as Brian was concerned, their other alternative as to collect a jar full of every weird looking magical bug they could find and hope that one of them was the one Robert wanted.

"And I hate to be a bit of a damper on this, but I do remember Robert going on bug hunts at night. There apparently are a good many nocturnal bugs. Maybe it will prove to be nice and easy and all we have to do is go out and scoop up jars of the millions of glowing hot pink bugs right off the ground," he grinned. He knew things never ever went quite that easily. But it was a nice pipe dream, and a good laugh.

Jess let loose a bark of laughter and shook his head. "Oh very funny," he replied, rolling his eyes at Brian's question. "I'm not your cook man," he told him, the grin still playing on his lips.

He then frowned for a moment and shook his head once more. "No, Robert will not have discovered anything of use in the last few hours, and if he has I know that he would've contacted me by now, without a doubt," he explained, chewing on a mouthful of the pie.

"As for bug catching, I don't want us spending too much time out of the tent tonight, the forest's dangers multiply tenfold when night falls, I have found," he told them, looking at both Anna and Damien this time

A faint buzzing noise grows in volume to a point near pain inducing, before ceasing with a very loud thud outside, followed by a cracking and rustling noise. The side of the tent rocks and one pole holding it up snaps, causing part of the room to sag. Something big is outside.

As Jess raised his fork to his mouth again he paused, the fork hanging halfway between his mouth and the plate. He could hear something outside... almost like a mosquito buzzing around the tent, but louder. The pitch and volume of the buzzing grew, until the point where he was covering his ears.

It all stopped, however, with a shudder and a thud. Without any real warning he felt the tent sag, the cracking sound muffled by the heavy canvas.

Jess stood up, his hand already on his wand as he rushed towards the tent flaps, sticking his head out the flap and quickly pulling it back inside. "You'll recognise it when you see it," he whispered, as he paled. Swallowing his fear he turned to the others. "This is it," he shouted, nodding his head once, before striding out of the tent.

"Lumos," he cast, sending a fireball into the undergrowth, and cursing relentlessly.

((OOC: Jess it's Damon not Damien. LOL))

Damon pulled out his wand following Jess outside, "Lumos, Jess what are you talking about?" He raised his wand and looked around but couldn't see anything of what had made the noise. He backed to where the pole was snapped and looked at it quickly before whispering, "reparo" as it fixed itself quickly. He began looking around once again wondering where the "thing" was, he was hoping that it wouldn't be a troll or worse a giant. He didn't think any of them were prepared enough for any of those at the present time.