#21 Danger?

"Its going to be dangerous..." Amelia said, thought it was mostly to remind herself. She pulled out her own wand and check to make sure she had her jars for the spores. She had done her research on where to find them, knew she needed the jars.

She began the walk into the forest, her wand at the ready she looked ahead. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she swallowed. She was probably brave bordering on stupid... but if Snape wanted to hand out these assignments, she was going to do it.

Amelia smiled over at Kassia in her confidence and looked ahead. She kept her eyes open and began the search of the ground. She knew she had to get away from the edge of the forest, so she moved carefully into the forest, searching for the bulbs that would indicate where to dig.

Ugh, she was going to get her hands dirt for Snape. She wrinkled her nose at the idea. Her parents were going to ground her if something out here managed to kill or maim her... But, she needed this dang ingredient.

The darkness and unsettling feeling that came over Amelia sent a true shiver down her spine and she felt her heart quicken even more. Something lurked in the shadows, but when she turned, she never saw anything. It was there, just at the corner of her eye... But, she couldn't quite place it, couldn't quite figure it out.

Then she saw the cluster of bulbs and wrinkled her nose at the oozing, think slime that was there as well. She searched her bag and sighed in relief when she found the gloves she used for herbology. They were buried, but she was glad she hadn't taken them out.

Giving them a quick slap on her leg, she put the gloves one, juggling the wand while she did so. If there was one thing she wasn't going to it, it was let her wand fall from her hand. Looking over at Kassia, she smiled.

"Found them," she said in a hushed tone before she went to work getting out the ingredient in order to put them into the jars. It was nasty work, but she was glad she had the gloves. She still kept an eye out, glancing up while she dug the whole thing out and putting it into the jar. It didn't smell... 

"I just want to get the hell out of here..." She growled to herself and Kassia as she fought to find the spores and get all the stuff out. Her gloves were filthy at this point, but she didn't care. She was going as fast as she could without losing anything. 

Kassia kept guard behind them both, eyes flickering back and forth. No wonder people had cut down forests with such reckless abandon- they were creepy. How could anyone bear to be somewhere where it was impossible to tell if something was about to sneak up? Kassia had half a mind to invent a tree-cutting spell and knock these all down.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Amelia to find the Higgus spores. Kassia watched and waited as she attempted to claim them. Kassia had no interest in the ingredients herself, but would offer assistance to Amelia if she needed it. She was content to keep a watchful eye out.

The spores were trapped within the slime and it took a few attempts for Amelia to fish them free, each one slightly squishy and roughly the size of a golfball.

A few times she would think she had one in her grasp, only to find it would slip through the slime. She would have to pinch each one carefully, a balancing act between hard enough to remove them and gentle enough not to damage them.

Retrieving enough to fill each jar, about a handful for each, certainly took it's toll on Amelia. She would be tired, each spore a battle between herself and the slime which would cause them to slip away more often than not.

A shower and change of outfit was much needed after her task was complete.

But, now it was time for them to leave the forest and it would be a good idea for them to keep a close eye on their surroundings.

Amelia walked with her wand up, retracing the way they had come. She needed to go back to the Savannah and she didn't turn her head when she spoke to Kassia.

"I still need Algae from the Savannah... Once we get out of here, why don't you head back, I'll run there and try and find that." It was all part of her plan. If she could get the Algae, she could get a quick shower and run it down to the Dungeon for Snape.

Everything in the forest was scary as they came. She kept turning her head to shadows, but she felt like they weren't shadows. She looked ahead, hoping to see the light at the end of the tree line.