Chasing the sun

Vaughn left the castle quietly and made sure that he wasn't seen by most of the kids that would torment him. It was early morning where everything was slowly coming awake. He walked to the edge of the forbidden forest in effort to find a thick flat piece of wood. He picked up the random one here and there as he looked but, was having difficulty finding a flat one. He ventured a little more into the forest trying to find a piece but instead he was finding many of the ones he didn't need.

He was just about to give up when he found one it wasn't as large as he wanted but it would do the trick. He grabbed it up and walked back towards the edge of the forest finding a stump to sit on. Sitting in the middle of the stump with his legs crossed laying the piece of wood on his knees. Taking out his carving knife as well as a medium sized paint brush and a piece of sandpaper.

He trimmed along the sides of the wood getting the bit of bark off of it then using the sandpaper to smooth them. After the wood was trimmed and sanded, he began carving into it occasionally looking up at the sky slowly starting to rise more into the sky as the morning wore on. He would take the paint brush every now and then to brush away the excess wood bits from the surface.

The silence was then broken when he heard a twig snap behind him and he stopped working looking behind him. Seeing nothing he shook his head thinking that he was hearing things until he heard another twig snap behind him. He sighed thinking that one of the students found him and were trying to think of ways to spread even more rumors about him.

Apparently she was not the only one who sought silence and peace in this early morning; not even the sun had yet adorned the horizon with its beautiful orange glow when the door behind Ophelia closed itself quietly and a small Ravecnlaw girl made her way towards the school grounds. Only her glasses were visible from under the hood and they were reflecting the pale morninglight from the surface when she turned her head a bit.

She knew it was forbidden to go to the forest which waas why she decided to lurk around a bit and get to know the place more. Ophelia had to work on her bravery and exploring the school grounds, even the most dangerous ones, was a great set of challenges for her, especially when it came to her anxiety.

She spent half an hour walking on a small track in front of the forest, looking inside and trying to see what was so mysterious and hidden behind the trees. Everything seemed so safe and ordinary there, if ordinary was even a right word. Ophelia, out of all people, knew what sort of beings beings lived in the magical world, but what she did not know was how big the forest might be and who exactly resided there.

According to the facts, Acromantulas and the Unicorns and the Centaurs, but the two of them are not so fond of humans, remembered Ophelia from the textbooks she had borrowed from the library. Alright, so going deep alone was out of the question, but soon she was brave enough to push the bushes aside and enter the forest.

Everything was dark there so she took out her wand and summoned a small light on the tip of it and looked around. Oh. Everything looked so ordinary and normal. Way too normal. And far too quiet for a place like that. She couldn't even feel anyone watching her.

Pushing the hood off of her head, Ophelia made her way forward, but decided to stay close enough to the very edge of the forest... should she hear or see anything.

Another half an hour was spent in silence. The twigs snapped quietly beneath her feet even though she tried to remain as quiet as possible, but here, in current situation and in a place where she was a stranger, it was a relatively hard task. Finally she gave up and decided to go back to the safe school grounds.

Twitching at the sound the twigs made when she stepped on them, she finally made her way out but only to find herself surprised; yet another student was there.
Biting her lip, Ophelia looked around, trying to solve the problem now. How to sneak away without being noticed?

Vaughn tried not to laugh when he realized that the person was trying to sneak away without him noticing. He wondered what they would do if he scared them, instead he decided something else entirely.

"I know your back there, you might as well just come out of the trees and come over." He said finishing the last of his carving and brushing the excess wood off. It was a picture of a wolf sitting on a rock howling up at the moon. The rock was surrounded by trees and other wolves that also had their faces upturned in howls.

He set the piece in front of him resting it against the stump he was sitting on. He turned towards the person that was behind him waiting for them to come closer. He didn't know why they were out here so early but sometimes it's more peaceful in the morning. Maybe they just wanted peace and quiet before the grounds were overrun by other students.

Oh no!

So she had been caught. Not literally, but the boy knew she was there and it was already bad enough for her.
Nipping on her lower lip, Ophelia extinguished the light from the tip of her wand and sighed quietly. Well, she might as well leave the hideout now and return to the towers of Ravenclaw in a hurry. He would not tell the teachers she had been wandering in the forest, right?

Sudden fear filled her, but it was contradicted with a logical assumption: he was there, too! So if he was about to tell the professors about her small adventure in the woods, he would be busted too, for he too was close to the forest.

Feeling a bit better at the thought, Ophelia tried to make her seem a bit taller with straightening her shoulders, but could not, and instead she limped closer to the boy. "You caught me," she muttered quietly.

She observed the boy quetly, noticing the knife, carved wood and the sand paper in his hands. Ah, so he was crafting! How interesting! But why did he choose such an early hour for an activity like this? The sun wasn't even out yet so it was relatively dark to concentrate on tiny details. Did he not care for his vision?

Vaughn waited for the person to get closer as he picked up another piece of wood. He looked at it turning it over and over in his hand trying to figure out what to make. Hearing it was a girl he made room on the rather large stump for her to sit down upon it.

"Well you weren't exactly quiet when you were walking. I'm pretty sure that if anyone else was out here they would have heard you as well." He said with a smile as he looked over his shoulder at the girl who limped closer. "Please come sit down," He gestured to the stump that had room enough for five more people.

He put down the bit of wood in his hand and smiled at her warmly. "I'm Vaughn Hunter, may I ask of your name?" He said tilting his head slightly to the side. "I come out here to carve when the grounds are the quietest. It helps me think and allows me to avoid certain people in the castle. My question though is, why are you out here this early?"

Ophelia examined the young man carefully and with caution; he did not seem dangerous anyhow, but she knew better not to trust anyone.
As he picked up a small piece of wood, she tilted her head a bit. Now her eyes betrayed both some sort of curiosity and fear. Would he throw that at her? Or what did he plan on doing with that small thing? Then she looked at his previous work and nodded to herself. He was about to make another creation.

She shrugged her shoulders. Well yes, she was not the sneakiest when it came to surroundings such as this forest, but who could blame her? Broken branches were everywhere and it was pretty dark between the woods as well. Walking quietly and making no sound would have at least acquired her to have furry and very light feet.

She did not object when he invited her to sit down with him, so after a moment or two, the redhead was next to him and tilted her head a bit upwards so that she could see him better. Ophelia's glasses fell heavily on her nose, but she made no attempt on sliding them back on properly.

"I am Ophelia Rosewille." She had nothing against introducing herself to the strangers, but she felt odd doing so. Pouting a bit, she leaned back on the stump. It was so big she could literally just lay down on it!

Upon hearing his explanation, Ophelia looked at Vaughn. She did not ask for his reasons, but it felt nice to know the reasoning behind his coming here so early regardless. "There are plenty of quiet places in the castle though..." she stated her opinion quietly, but shrugged her shoulders then. Everyone had their own choices why and where they would go and she was not the one to judge.

"I wanted to explore." this was a honest answer. Or as close as she could get to honest with this one. Ophelia just wanted to see some new places where she could go and hide when the right time comes. And the Forest was so dark and mysterious! it was only a matter of time when a coward like her would overcome the fear and the warnings and venture here. "And, like you, I too wished to avoid some people during this early hour. Silence and liberty."

Vaughn smiled when she said her name, "Nice to meet you Ophelia. Your name is really unique if you don't mind me saying." He then realized that to his ears that sounded wrong he then quickly corrected himself. "Not that unique is a bad thing so please don't think I meant it as a bad thing. If I had, which I wouldn't, I wouldn't have room to talk seeing as mine is rather odd."

"There may be plenty of places for everyone else but never for me. The gossip hounds are always trying to see what rumors about me they can spread. So I tend to sneak out early and make sure I'm not followed as I come out here. Then I just walk right back into the castle at breakfast like nothing ever happened." He said explaining why it was that he came out here. "Most of them don't get up before the sun and I like watching the sunrise every morning. It's relaxing and beautiful in it's own way just like sunset. I've tried making a carving of both of them but both of those are better to be seen by the eye than in a painting or in my case carving."

"That sounds like fun but don't venture to far into the forest, not everything is as friendly as me. You'll have to find like a walking stick or something that can be used as a bat just in case. You don't wanna end up being a snack to the nasty things that live in there." He said looking towards the forest and then back at his carvings. "That's the one of the things I love about this castle the silence you can find. It's silent in the morning and also just before sunset it's quiet but you'll occasionally hear something in the darkening .

A bright pink hue appeared on her cheeks and Ophelia looked away, fingers running through her red hair. She knew her name was unique, not everyone named their children after the Shakespeare's heroine who commited suicide, but nevertheless, she liked the sound of it too. It wasn't something you'd hear on a daily basis.

Then she looked back at Vaughn and gently shook her head. Yes, his name was unique too, but it was not weird. "You don't need to downgrade yourself like this," she thought, but shrugged then. Why would he care of her opinion anyway?

She made a quiet 'Oh' sound, making it clear that she understood perfectly what he was saying. Yes, gossips were terrible, she agreed with that. And sadly she had a first hand experience with those who spread around false words about her. Right now, though, nothing like that had happened and she was more than delighted with the quiet life she was leading. Honestly she was invisible and people barely noticed a little girl with those big glasses. Only every once in a while did she open her mouth in a class and after that she never said anything. As for the carving, she had many questions considering his interesting hobby, but chose not to ask for she felt as if she was already intruding into his personal space far too much. And as he was sharing some of the thoughts that circled in his head, Ophelia believed it was more than enough already.

At his words she looked back at the forest; it was still as mysterious and quiet as she had left it before and it was still calling her towards it, closer and closer, inch by inch. She had a wand with her at all times so basically she was safe. And, although she did not wish to brag, she knew many spells and tactics with strategy were nothing new to her. And yet she knew that Vaughn was correct. Beasts lived in the forest and if they'd want to, they'd simply tear Ophelia into pieces and that was not the end she wished to have. "I'll keep that in mind," she promised. Alright, the next time she'll venture into the forest, she'll have a bat with her.

"Yes..." she agreed. This castle had so many places which gave some students the liberty to enjoy the silence.

"Why do people spread rumors about you?" she finally asked. Gathering all her strength, she looked at Vaughn.

"Well I honestly think my mom got it from some romance book she read." Vaughn said with a grin. "Yeah I suppose your right though." He nodded as he picked up a piece of wood flipping it over in his hand trying to figure out something. His head wasn't exactly into his work right now which was what made him wonder if he should stop altogether.

"You should it's not very friendly at times, I should know." He said softly remembering the wolf that he went head to head with and lost. "There are some animals that are friendly that are in there but most of them think that your encroaching on their territory. It usually best to just stick to the outskirts of the forest than anything." He said as he put down the piece of wood rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and tried to concentrate. He picked up the piece of wood and began carving. "I remember that Professor Selwyn said that he goes in there everyone once in a while to check on the animals that were in there. I remember the time I went in there and it wasn't pretty, I didn't realize I had gone too far until it was too late. I protected another student from a wolf and ended up getting hurt while trying to keep it away from them." He said remembering the horrible fall he had. He looked down at his carving and saw the wolf that chased him that night. He held up to her to see, "This is the wolf that I tried to not hurt at the same time of protecting someone else."

"They spread rumors about me from a previous relationship I had. I was a Gryffindor and she was a Slytherin. I thought she was different from those in her class but obviously I was wrong. She was the one I was trying to protect in the forest, all she got was a small scratch on her forehead." He said looking back at her then down at the ground. "Sometimes people are exactly what they seem to be and your just the sucker who thought you could change it. Not even a tiger will change it's stripes for anyone, not matter who they are."