#anyway. clearly still having a blast. falling down the rabbit hole

[litlunacy]

Truly having the Disaster Bisexual Experience™ in HZD, I swear.

Like, got all the super badass confident competent hot women, obviously (Talanah, Petra, VANASHA). And almost every dude is falling over himself about Aloy, and it's hilarious, but most of them don't do it for me personally (Erend I love you but in a giant golden retriever puppy bff way. Avad just makes me sad. Go to therapy my dude pls.) Except for one.

THE FUCKING UNHINGED MURDERHOBO.

My guy. My dude. Why are you like this. I wanna study him under a microscope. Bite and thrash him like a chew toy. Shake him like a snowglobe.

I mean. I can't say I'm surprised this happened. I do have something of a history with freaky overdramatic bloodthirsty nutjobs (see: Astarion, FE Fates Niles [also super poetic about it with that smooth toned low voice], Demon Lord Ghirahim [tbh that cunty bastard was the start of it all. still best Zelda boss ever, absolute legend], and even Zevran counts to a certain extent). Also the silver-grey eyes got me from the drop (there is something so unsettlingly beautiful about silver eyes, I give them to a LOT of my OCs. Especially the freaky ones).

I diligently scoured the outskirts of every single fucking bandit camp just so I didn't miss him (and was very disappointed when he wasn't actually there for some) and giggled like some hysterical banshee at every unhinged overly poetic murderous thing that came out of his mouth (and Aloy's responses, my lord the change from 'totally baffled and concerned and grossed out' to 'resigned fond exasperation').

And then at the end his devastated sad face when I refused to duel him to death?!?! When he said Aloy broke his heart by not killing him??? My god. What the fuck. I'm concerned and intrigued and enamored.

[karma-jinx]

ML Chat Blac BreakDown *Spoilers*

HOLY SHIT!!! That episode was a fucking rollercoaster I swear! I didn’t have a moments rest. I just need to breakdown what I just watched so bare with me. This isn’t gonna be like my usual ML Babbles.

Reminder: I DO NOT KNOW FRENCH! I understood things to the best of my abilities.

OK! First things first! We see Gabe talking to Emilie about how he’ll get the miraculous and what not. After that we have the girls all hanging out with what looks like a friend picnic sorta thing.

Apparently Alix and Rose has some sorta bet on whether or not Marinette was going to give Adrien the gift she made him. Alix said she wouldn’t while Rose said she would.

Alix wins the bet and a stuffed unicorn, which cause Rose to become aggressive. Seemed like she was being aggressively supportive in telling Marinette to try again. Hyping up our girl. Which works and Marinette goes back to his place to try again.

Except she gets turned down at the door. But Marinette is still determined to leave the gift. Tells Tikki she’s gonna go in through the window, which Tikki HEAVILY disagrees with for very good and obvious reasons. But Marinette goes through with it anyways and sneaks into his room.

But does our girl simply leave her gift and go? NOPE! Despite being in his room before she’s still in total awe that it’s his room she’s in. (To be fair this is the first time she’s in his room with out a some sort of akuma involved. Or party since this comes after Party Crasher.)

So she’s gawking and swooning. Smelling his pillow and shiz. (You do you sweetie. I not gonna judge) Finally she snaps too when she hears Adrien come home from his fencing match. (Which seems like he won AND wanted to tell his no good father about it but was told not to disturb him.)

Quickly Marinette leaves the gift and runs off. Only to remember that she forgot to sigh her name and quickly does so. As she leaves through Adrien walks in and sees her. The finds the gift she left that’s signed by Marinette. And FINALLY puts two and two together and figures out Marinette is ladybug. We see flashbacks of when she tells him she’s in love with someone else. That HE’S the someone else. And he couldn’t be happier!!!

Poor Plagg tried to detour his thoughts and say it wasn’t her but failed. So he reminds Adrien that their identities are suppose to be a secret. He isn’t suppose to know. But Adrien is too happy to care. He goes to where the girls are hanging out.

Here we see Marinette talking to them about how she left the gift sorta. Basically a vague excuse of some sort to say she left it but not how she left it. But then suddenly Adrien is there and she’s shoved in his direction. We see him with soft but love struck eyes as he most likely gushes to her. And she assumed it was about the gift. But he says he loves her and leans in for a kiss. And so at long last our dumb kids are happily together!

We see small flash backs of them at school. (Chloe’s jealous af but who cares. Wish I say Lila’s reaction to this but oh well.) A slow dance on what looks like Juleka’s boat. Luka appears in this flash back but he seems unbothered that their together. Kagami doesn’t seem to appear in any of the flashbacks though. In on of the flash backs is Nadia making a public statement of how Adrien is now dating Marinette hooray right?

WRONG!

For you see this is where it gets complicated.

That is all in an Alternate Timeline

Pre-Chat Blanc’s timeline.

Back to when ladybug leaves Adrien’s room. Bunnix comes to get her. Bringing ladybug into the “Rabbit Hole” So to speak. A place in between times. Ladybug can see all sorts of time periods. Which Bunnix covers her eyes with a bowl, since I guess she’s not suppose to see them?

Anyways, Bunnix takes her to Chat Blanc’s timeline. Bunnix doesn’t seem to know how or what happened to cause this reality. Simply telling Ladybug that she’s going to face her toughest akuma yet. Chat Noir (Blanc)

Bunnix goes back into the “Rabbit Hole” where all the other times are. She and her powers are fading. And it’s up to ladybug to save everyone. In Chat Blanc’s timeline we see a destroyed moon as well as Paris. Ladybug is utterly shocked to see the world in such a state. When she’s sees CB he’s sitting alone humming/singing to himself. She calls out to him, happily he turns around to see his lady there. Excitedly he goes over to her, seemingly unthreating, which causes Ladybug to trust him enough to let him get close enough to her to try and snatch her miraculous. But she kicks him back and goes on the defensive. Again he tries something else to get her close. This time being sad, crying even. She falls for the bait and goes up to wipe his tear. Again he tries to take her earrings. And again she knocks him over and runs off the building. Giving way to a chase. CB follows suit and calls Ladybug by her real name. Causing her to fumble her landing. She hastily denies she’s Marinette. But CB knows it’s her. And again a chase ensues.

Then we’re brought back to Bunnix who’s watching this go down. We she her move to another rabbit whole to see how thing became like this. She goes to the day Adrien and Marinette kissed. SOMETHING must have happened from that moment on. So she goes through to see what. This is where the flash backs stated earlier came from. Bunnix goes through the timeline and stops on a day where Marinette is visited by Nathalie, who’s holding and tablet where Gabe is on. Not sure what he says but it’s clearly a threat of some sort. Essentially it’s seems his telling Marinette she can’t be with his son or to break up with Adrien. He’s telling her all this in FRONT OF HER PARENTS! Sabine looks shocked and goes to comfort Marinette. Tom is furious and tells them to leave as he does the same. (Papa wolf mode! How dare they come into his business and break their daughter’s heart!)

Fast forward to Marinette outside Adrien’s house. The gate is open but she doesn’t go through. Instead she talks to Adrien from there. The Gorilla has the front door open but blocks Adrien from going out. Here and exchange of words happen. Then we she a heart broken Marinette running away. As well as a heart broken Adrien wanting to go after her. He begs the Gorilla to let him go, and the gorilla does. This is where we see Adrien running towards Marinette, then spots and akuma going for her. One apparently plotted by hawk moth. Natalie watches from a window to let hawkmoth know that Marinette is ready for the akuma. But Adrien’s seeing the akuma go after her, he didn’t care about transforming out in the open for others to see.

And others did. Marinette, the gorilla, and Natalie saw. Shocked Natalie tells his dad that Adrien is Chat Noir.

Marinette is shocked as well. Apparently Adrien kept it a secret that he knew she was Ladybug. Seeing as how she didn’t know he was CN. He smiles and seems to say something along the lines of, “he could let his lady get akumatized.” Or “he always has his lady’s back.” Either way Marinette crawls in to his lap and is comforted by his hug.

Hawkmoth on the other hand was upset to find out his son was CN. But it was short lived as now he feels that he has half of the miraculous he needs now.

Back to LB and CB fighting. We see ladybug trying to figure out where his akuma is. But it’s hard. His a difficult opponent. But she manages to get his staff but the akuma wasn’t there. Soon she’s cornered again and offers him her earrings. When he approaches though she swiftly maneuvers herself to snatch his tail while avoiding capture. But the akuma wasn’t there. CB threatens her with a blast but she refuses to give up her earrings. So he makes the platform beneath her break. Causing her to fall into the water. Here we see just how much damaged was caused by CB. Citizens are petrified in what looks like stone. Ladybug sees herself and goes to touch it but is disintegrates after being touched.

MEANING CHAT BLAC KILLED LADYBUG

Again we’re brought to Bunnix. We see what happens after Chat Noir’s ID is exposed. He and Ladybug fight Hawkmoth. Sending him crashing to where his Emilie is being kept. HM shows them his reason for the miraculous. And CN/Adrien is 🤯

He has no idea what to think. When he does react he attacks. He’s hurt and rightfully so. He goes to use a cataclysm, one that seems extra powerful due to his emotions, on his dad but stops just before he does. Asking him why.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE ASSHOLE DOES?!

HE KNOCKS HIS ASS ALL THE WAY TO THE EFFIEL TOWER!!! He beats up his SON!!!!

This man just whoops his ass like it’s nothing! NOTHING. He and ladybug go to Chat Noir. But HM arrives first and advances on CN. Who’s scrambling back in FEAR from his DAD. Ladybug arrives, now she and Hawkmoth try to convinces Adrien what the right thing to do is. But he’s torn. Not wanting for a decision to be made HM releases an akuma on his own fucking son! Forcing him to obey. Chat Noir struggles so much to not listen. To not cave in, but he can’t do it. And so he becomes akumatized. His first order is to attack ladybug. Force to give up her miraculous. Chat Blanc points a concentrated form of his cataclysm at her. Looking ever so hurt of what he’s doing. Ladybug tried to talk to him. But again is asshole dad orders him to obey. So Chat Blanc’s goes back and forth with his cataclysm until he can’t take it anymore and aims it upwards. A large beam shoots up and out. Cracking the moon and causing the timeline we saw Bunnix bring past ladybug too.

And here we see Chat Blanc growing tired of this game of chase. He threatens to release a cataclysm so powerful it’ll destroy the motherfucking galaxy! So she gives up. Her lucky charm gave her an eraser but she couldn’t use it. So she goes up to him, telling him that even though he’s like this she still loves him? She leans up to kiss him, but snatches his bell. Finally finding the akuma and getting rid of it.

When he comes too Chat Noir isnot sure what happened. And asks Marinette for context, but she tells him he shouldn’t know who she is. It’s here she realizes how to use her lucky charm.

Which this part is also a bit complicated. But basically she goes back and erases her name from the gift. Undoing the Chat Blanc future. Everything goes back to normal and apparently she doesn’t remember anything about the future or what happened? Bunnix seems to ask to see if she remembers too but Ladybug doesn’t recall. This part was hard for me to understand. It seemed pretty complicated.

Anyways, when Adrien sees Ladybug in his room. She comes up with some sort of excuse as to why she’s leaving a gift before she goes. She goes back to the group and tells them something too. At the end we see Chat Noir watching a sunset as he sings. He’s soon joined by Ladybug who rests her head on his shoulder. The two just enjoy the sunset together.

Sorry this one long. I just really needed to break down what I just watched since it wasn’t in a language I know. Maybe I’ll post one up about my thoughts once the English dub comes out. But who knows. 🤷‍♀️

[juniperwindsong]

Dragonology 101 (5/10)

Summary: 

A shiver runs through Felix that has nothing to do with the cold. Something does not feel right about the way the dragon is staring at them. Its eyes are more menacing, more calculating than he has ever seen before...and he realises all in an instant the very real danger they're in.

November arrives unreasonably cold and gloomy, even for Scotland, and presents a growing problem with Felix and Juniper's dragon. Quite literally. Sparky is now almost 12 feet in length, and is becoming obviously restless with his small enclosure. Felix makes note of the way the dragon paces the edges of the ravine, craning his neck over the top. Occasionally, he makes an attempt to claw at the earthen walls. And although the dirt is always too soft to support the dragon's weight, crumbling away before he can get a foothold, Felix begins to be seriously concerned.

"He needs exercise," Juniper says as they walk back to the castle in the wee hours of the morning. With no sun to provide even an illusion of warmth, the air is frigid and both are huddled deep inside their cloaks.

"He needs more space," argues Felix, trying not to shiver too visibly. "He can't stay there for much longer."

"Well, where would you like to put him, then, the Quidditch pitch?" asks Juniper shortly, though whether it's the temperature or the situation grating at her nerves Felix can't say.

"Of course not," he snaps back, pushing his scarf down past his mouth to speak more freely. "I mean, it's time we think about finding a more permanent home for him. Get him back up to the mountains somehow. We're no closer to fixing his wing than we were two months ago, and he's only going to get bigger. If we wait too long, he'll be climbing out of there on his own and then he's bound to be spotted."

Juniper considers this as they exit the forest. Once they leave the relative protection provided by the trees, however, the two Slytherins are hit by the full force of the bitter wind, and are forced to duck their heads and make a undignified sprint for the castle. Further conversation is impossible until they reach the warmth and safety of their common room.

"You know, we don't know that he can't fly," remarks Juniper as she unwinds her scarf from around her neck and stuffs it into her pocket.

"He wouldn't still be here if he could,” Felix replies, folding his own scarf neatly and draping it over his arm.

"Not necessarily. He doesn't have any real space to manoeuvre in that ditch thing. It could be he just doesn't have enough room to take off,” Juniper pulls out her silver pocket watch to check the time. "Plus, the tree canopy is pretty thick there, there's only a few little gaps. He might not even know he can fly out that way. I never did find out how he got in there."

Felix mulls this over as his eyes sweep automatically across the common room, checking for any evidence of wrongdoing that may have occurred in his absence.

"I suppose that's a possibility," he concedes dubiously. "But how are we going to get him out of there to test him? And where can we take him where he won't be seen?"

"I have an idea about the second one," says Juniper thoughtfully, "But not the first. How do you get a dragon out a ditch?"

-

How do you get a dragon out of a ditch?

It sounds like the set-up to a joke, Felix thinks wryly, but the question consumes him over the next two days.

Levitate it? That's a simple enough spell, and they're both excellent at Charms. There's a good chance the two of them together could lift the dragon out. Although, Felix admits to himself, levitating a heavy object is not the same as levitating a heavy, struggling, magic-resistant dragon. And even if they managed it, he seriously doubts the dragon will appreciate their efforts. Felix supposes they could put it to sleep first, or immobilise it, but those spells are rather more difficult. And if they don't succeed on the first try...

At best, they'll likely lose whatever small trust they've earned with the dragon, and at worst, it could attack. Creatures don't generally take kindly to magic being used on them, and it's not as if the two students can explain what they're trying to do.

Felix wishes he could pick Juniper's brain about the issue. She's been known to have the occasional clever idea. But they rarely have the opportunity to speak to each other outside of their evening excursions. If there is anyone at Hogwarts with less free time than Felix, it's Juniper Windsong. Between her commitments to her burgeoning friend group and the Slytherin Quidditch team, the new cursed vault phenomena that he's sure she's still secretly investigating, and the school work he can only assume she's keeping up with, Juniper has every minute of her day accounted for. The only times he sees her in the common room anymore are occasional evening revision sessions with Rowan, and Felix isn't keen to discuss their illicit trips to the forest in front of anyone else.

It's for this reason that the first time the two of them can really discuss their dragon problem in depth is as they walk toward it together the next evening.

"What about using reducio on him? Shrink him down?" suggests Juniper through her many layers. "Then we can reverse it with engorgio when we're somewhere else."

Their footsteps crunch loudly as they step through the now frost-tinged grass and brambles carpeting the forest floor.

"It's incredibly risky using the shrinking charm on living things, you know that," chides Felix.

"I do know, but I also know it's possible. I've done it on myself loads of times," Juniper boasts.

Felix furrows his brow. "That does not make it any less risky." he counters, disapproval in his voice. "Anyway, you're a good deal smaller and lighter than a dragon. I don't know that we'd be able to pull it off just the two of us.

"And even if we did," he continues, raising his voice over Juniper's fledgling argument, "I don't think he'll appreciate being shrunk and resized. It could provoke him to attack."

"Hmm," Juniper hums, sounding slightly annoyed. She pushes a thin, whipping branch to the side with a little too much force and it snaps. "I suppose you're probably right. What's your better idea, then?"

"I think we'll have more luck using magic on the surrounding terrain than the dragon itself,” predicts Felix sagely.

"What, blast a hole in one of the walls or something?"

Felix smirks, a little smug. Powerful for her age Juniper may be, but her magic is still lacking in finesse. "Or something."

-

While Juniper tosses rabbits up to Sparky as quickly as she can (the dragon eats them in one gulp now and is always impatient for more), Felix walks to the opposite side of the valley and inspects the wall near the small pool of water. Like all the surrounding walls, it's formed of dirt and earth with roots and small stones stuck in at random. But the wall nearest the water has a stickier, clay-like texture that Felix thinks might be better suited to the plan he has in mind. He runs his gloved hand along it, searching for the firmest area.

Felix hears the dragon's heavy footfalls behind him and turns to see Juniper approaching, the sack over her shoulder and the dragon at her heels. He makes eye contact with it, wondering if the burning, inscrutable look in its eyes might be interpreted as curiosity. They're more intelligent than anyone gives them credit for, thinks Felix fondly.

"So," Juniper says, stamping her feet a bit with cold, free hand deep in the pocket of her trousers, "What's the plan?"

Felix turns back to the earth in front of him. "Just watch," he says and pulls out his wand.

"Defodio," Felix pronounces clearly, directing his wand in a horizontal line. A deep gouge appears in the wall, the displaced earth falling to the ground in a small shower. Juniper and the dragon both take a step back. Felix repeats his spell again and again over the course of several minutes, changing the direction of his wand, until finally, solid earth steps about a metre wide form a rough but sizable staircase leading out of the valley.

"And there you are," proclaims Felix, more than a little proud of himself.

"Wow!" Juniper breathes out. She grins broadly at Felix, obviously impressed. "Very cool!"

Juniper moves closer to inspect the staircase while Felix tries hard to arrange his features into a more modest expression. He's unduly pleased with her praise.

"Will they hold Sparky up, do you reckon?" she asks.

"One way to find out," Felix replies, reaching out to take the bag from her shoulder. "You go first, you're the lightest."

Juniper shoots a face at Felix as if this were an offensive statement, although he can't see how, but she makes no comment as she begins to climb carefully. The steps being spaced for a creature with a much longer stride, Juniper is forced to use her hands as well. When she reaches the top, Felix walks forward to examine the steps. There's no visible wear to them, only the light imprint of her shoes.

"They look alright," Felix declares, turning slightly to face the dragon. Sparky's eyes are fixed hungrily on the bag slung carelessly across his shoulder. "I guess the real trick will be getting him to actually climb them."

"Hand up the sack," Juniper calls down. Careful not to turn his back to the dragon, Felix awkwardly slings the bag up toward Juniper's waiting fingers.

"Stand out of his way,” she instructs Felix. He takes a few steps back and to the side so Sparky has a clear view of the stairs and the girl.

"Here, Sparky!"

Juniper throws a rabbit underhand toward where Sparky is standing. The dragon snatches it out of the air, but makes no movement forward. She aims her next throw at the bottom of the stairs, too far for the dragon to catch without moving. Sparky steps forward to pick up the rabbit, and Juniper takes a few steps back from the edge of the ravine.

"Here, boy!" Juniper calls again, this time tossing the rabbit onto the topmost step. Sparky places a foreleg on the bottom of the rough staircase and cranes his neck up to grab the treat.

Felix waits with bated breath, willing the step to hold. It does.

"C'mon, Sparky," encourages Juniper, but the dragon needs no more incentive. Recognizing an escape route, Sparky makes a hasty scramble up the wide steps. His claws leave deep gouges in the earth but it holds, and the dragon reaches the top and thrusts himself over the ledge in a matter of seconds.

"Yes!" Felix exclaims under his breath, flushed with his success.

Sparky lets out an exultant, musical roar like a trumpet's reveille, and Felix realises belatedly that Juniper is now alone facing a dragon with a full range of movement.

"Windsong!" he cries as he rushes toward the steps, taking them as fast as he can.

When Felix reaches the top, however, he finds Juniper is already moving off through the forest, tossing rabbits at a merrily trotting Sparky.

"Follow me! I know a place," she says brightly, as if they were guiding nothing more dangerous than a lost mooncalf.

Shaking his head, Felix brings up the rear of their strange caravan as they make their way through the forest in the opposite direction of the castle. As he walks, Felix notices the trees in this part of the forest seem less densely clumped, and some are bent and broken at strange angles, as though something strong had forced a path through them. He wonders if this is the way the dragon took into the forest in the first place.

-

After a brief walk, the tree line comes to an abrupt end at the top of a small, rolling hill. Their little train stutters to a halt, and Juniper moves aside so Sparky can take in the landscape. As Felix walks around the dragon to stand beside Juniper, he sees what look like sloping plains covered in long grass, waving eerily in the dark.

"We're here!" says Juniper proudly. "These grasslands go on for miles. Sparky will have plenty of space to-"

Juniper breaks off, covering her ears, as the dragon lets out a musical roar of obvious approval right next to her. With no further warning, Sparky breaks into a camper down the hill and across the dark ground, wings outstretched and tail dancing behind him. The force of his movement throws Juniper off balance, and Felix has to put out a hand to steady her elbow so she doesn't fall. She seems not to notice, all her attention on the dragon's diminishing outline.

"Sparky!" Juniper cries, running forward clumsily as the bag bounces on her back.

Felix has no choice but to follow her. Flat-out running is not an action he's much practiced in and he descends the hill with more caution than Juniper. He doesn't catch her up until she stops, a few minutes later, bent over double and breath coming in gasps. Energy, she may have in spades, but the tiny thirteen year old is simply not capable of matching a dragon's speed.

"What do we do?" Juniper asks Felix between gasps. He hears something unfamiliar in her voice and thinks it might be panic.

Felix stares out into the dark, empty plain ahead of them where the figure of the dragon grows rapidly smaller and smaller. There's a lump in his throat as he answers.

"We don't do anything. It's...he's free now. That was the whole point, wasn't it?"

Felix does his best to keep his voice steady and confident, revealing nothing of the sick writhing in his stomach. He has completely failed to consider how it would feel for something that had come to mean so much to him in the last two months to be suddenly gone from his life.

"But we don't know if he can fly yet! He'll never survive if he can't fly." Her voice rising in pitch and volume. "Someone will see him! The ministry will get called in! We can't just let him run away!" Juniper's tone reveals all the brokenness Felix feels but cannot show.

"We can't exactly stop him." Felix wants to comfort her, wants to comfort himself, but he doesn't have the first idea how. "And... we don't know that he can't fly, like you said."

Felix is saved from trying to think up more platitudes by a thunderous noise and the reappearance of the brilliantly green dragon in the distance ahead of them.

Sparky is running flat out, wings spread wide as if poised for flight. Every few steps, the dragon gives a sort of wild hop, throwing himself forward and pulling his legs in, powerful wings beating rhythmically at his sides. But while wind catches underneath the right wing, the left wing falters, the torn wing panels fluttering uselessly. Sparky lands on his face and forelegs, skidding forward with a roar of frustration. Momentum keeps him moving, and he runs forward another few steps before trying the comical manoeuvre again.

Juniper and Felix watch wordlessly for several minutes as the dragon tries desperately to take flight. After one particularly fierce jump, Sparky slams hard into the ground and lets out a screech of pain and frustration like a strangled clarinet.

Juniper puts her hand across her mouth and turns her head away. Felix understands. It's a painful sight, watching such a magnificent creature reduced to this pathetic, undignified scramble. His heart aches as Sparky cries out again, obvious despair in the deep musical roar.

"I guess... that answers that question," Juniper whispers.

They wait there in the cold grass for what feels like hours, unsure of what to do or how to help.

Eventually, Sparky wears himself out. He throws himself to the ground in a heap, releasing one last bellow, like a fiery sob. The dragon rests in the grass a short distance away for several minutes before Juniper finds her feet. She drags the sack up from where she's let it slump to the ground, and begins to walk forward.

"Sparky," calls Juniper softly, reaching into the bag for a rabbit.

The dragon raises its head, his eyes weary, but still alight with that ferocious yellow fire.

"Windsong, wait!" Felix hisses, catching her up and grabbing her arm to stop her getting any closer. "He may not be in the best mood right now."

"Well, we can't just leave him there, we have to get him back," says Juniper, ever pragmatic, and wrenches her arm free. She continues to step forward, perhaps with a shade more caution, keeping her eyes on the panting dragon.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Felix whispers from behind her. He isn't sure why, but the nerves he felt during his first few visits with the dragon have returned, and he feels the need to keep his voice low.

"The same way we got him here," Juniper replies testily. She's close enough to make eye contact with Sparky, and she tosses a rabbit toward him.

The dragon lets the rabbit fall to the ground, his reptilian eyes never leaving Juniper's. For several tense seconds, they stare at each other. Then, with almost sarcastic slowness, Sparky lowers his head to the small corpse and snaps it up, swallowing it whole and maintaining eye contact all the while.

Juniper and Felix stand awkwardly in front of the dragon, unsure how to interpret this little display.

"C'mon, Sparky," Juniper cajoles,"Time to go home." She takes a few steps back and tosses another rabbit about a metre in front of the dragon's face.

Sparky does not move. His eyes, still fixed on Juniper, are venomous and resentful.

"You can do it, Sparky,” she says coaxingly. She walks backward, tossing a third rabbit, and then a fourth, creating a trail for the dragon to follow.

With exaggerated slowness, the dragon clambers to his feet and takes deliberate steps toward Juniper, scooping up the rabbits as he walks.

"See?" Juniper says in relief to Felix, who is keeping pace beside her, "He's just tired."

But a shiver runs through Felix that has nothing to do with the cold. Something does not feel right about the way the dragon is staring at them. Its eyes are more menacing, more calculating than he has ever seen before. He suddenly remembers everything he's ever read about how dragons cannot be domesticated, how they feel no true affection for humans.

They're more intelligent than anyone give them credit for, Felix thinks again, only this time it's with dread. While he had no way to escape or hunt, Sparky had permitted their presence. But now that he's free, Felix knows the dragon regards them as threats. And he realises all in an instant the very real danger they're in.

Felix draws his wand surreptitiously.

"Windsong," he whispers as quietly as he can, but the dragon turns its head a fraction to stare him in the eye. Felix gulps unconsciously. When he continues, he keeps his voice even and low, "I want you to draw your wand, very slowly. No sudden movements."

Juniper glances at him, confused. She does not seem to have picked up at all on the dragon's change of attitude. "Why?" she asks softly.

They're approaching the edge of the forest now. The small hill, the only thing between them and the cover of the trees, is just a few steps behind.

"I don't think he's going to come with us," mutters Felix.

As he speaks, Sparky looks up and notices the looming forest as well. Fast as lightning, the dragon drops his head between his front legs and lets out a ferocious roar that roots them to the spot.

"I think you might be right," Juniper whispers, her voice hoarse.

Felix watches the dragon stamp out a challenge in front of them, trying to think through his fear.

"When I say, we make a run for the trees,” murmurs Felix, keeping his voice as calm as he can. "Make for the denser areas where it can't get through."

"But we have to get him back," Juniper insists, and her doggedness in the face of their mortal danger causes Felix's nerves to snap.

"Windsong!" he barks, taking his eyes from the dragon to glare at her, and Sparky lunges.

There's a bright green blur on the edge of Felix's vision. His body knows what's happening before his brain has time to process. Felix grabs Juniper's arm and yanks her behind him as he runs forward and to the side of the pouncing dragon, skirting it by a hair.

Sparky skids to a halt, trying to change direction quickly, and Felix uses that split second to push Juniper ahead of him up the hill.

"Run!" he commands, glancing behind to determine Sparky's location.

The dragon is already crouched for a second spring, and Felix knows they won't make the top of the hill in time to avoid it. Wand drawn, he aims for the dragon's eyes and yells out the conjunctivitis curse.

Sparky is in the air as the spell hits him square in the face, and his shriek of pain is a cacophony of discordant notes. The dragon falls forward, shy of the two students by a few blades of grass.

Sparky continues to scream, scraping his face across the cold, soft ground in an attempt to relieve the pain in its eyes, but Felix does not stop to watch further. He takes the hill in a few rapid strides and grabs Juniper's arm again as she stands frozen, watching the dragon writhing below. He manages to pull her forward a few steps, almost to the treeline, but Juniper struggles against his grip.

"We- can't- leave- him- here!" She emphasizes each word firmly, her voice loud but surprisingly calm. It infuriates him.

"Windsong!" Felix snarls at her, tightening his grip on her arm until he's sure it's painful. "That creature is not your pet, it's a dragon! It's dangerous and it does not care about you, and it's going to kill us-"

"Exactly!" Juniper interjects, trying desperately to prise his fingers from her. "We can't leave a dangerous, angry dragon loose on school grounds!" She speaks so rapidly he can barely understand her. "Even if by some miracle it doesn't hurt anyone, there's no way it isn't discovered now. And then we're sure to be expelled!"

Below them, they can hear the dragon stamping and roaring, still attempting to clear its vision.

"No one has to know it was us," argues Felix impatiently. "We run back to the castle. We never speak of this again!"

"Felix," Juniper says his name urgently. She ceases her struggling and, instead, reaches out to grab his other hand, squeezing gently, willing him to listen to her.

Felix's whole body stills, and the sounds of the dragon seem strangely faraway.

"We did this! If he hurts someone, Hagrid or Kettleburn or a student, or anyone else who tries to stop him, it'll be our fault. We have to stop him somehow. He's our responsibility!"

Below them, the dragon's screams turn from pain to rage. They can hear its claws scrape the earth of the hill as it attempts to climb blindly toward where they're standing. The renewed sense of danger breaks the spell Juniper's voice has created.

"You're mad,” Felix blurts out. "Completely mad."

He wrenches his hands out of hers.

"You want to stay here and be killed? Be my guest." Felix turns his back firmly on Juniper and the dragon and sprints into the dark trees.

"Felix!" He hears Juniper yell angrily after him, but he ignores her.

-

Felix takes a few steps into the forest, searching for the thickest clump of foliage he can find. He throws himself behind a tangle of willowy trees all intertwined and growing on top of each other, and sinks to the ground. Felix listens hard for the noise of the dragon, or Juniper, behind him, but the beating of his own heart in his ears makes everything around him sound muffled. He takes a deep breath, and then another, waiting for the panic to subside.

She'll come to her senses, he assures himself. She's not that stupid, she knows she can't battle a dragon on her own. Any second she'll come tearing through the trees.

Sparky's roars sound from close by, but not, Felix thinks, in the forest yet. The ground beneath him shakes very slightly with the dragon's furious, lumbering steps.

It can't see her, he tells himself. She'll get away.

But then Felix hears Juniper's voice, yelling "Flipendo!" and he groans aloud. Did she really just try to trip it? he thinks with a cringe.

There's another roar from the dragon and more stomping. Then a loud crack close by, and an ominous creaking. Felix leaps out from his hiding place, wand raised. A tree at the edge of the forest is swaying precariously, the dragon's powerful tail whipping away from it as it stalks back around.

Felix can't see Juniper, but he hears another cry of "Depulso!" and sees the dragon stumble back very slightly, as though pushed by a rough wind. But the spell is not powerful enough to actually blast Sparky off his feet. Instead, the dragon roars with fury and charges in the direction of Juniper's voice.

Felix can't believe what he's about to do. There are voices in his head screaming at him, but he pushes them away and focuses on the task at hand, the way he does best. He picks his spell decisively, and runs forward faster than he knew he could, aiming for the dragon's feet.

"Immobolus!" Felix shouts, putting all the power he can muster behind his jinx, all the force of will he has and some he was previously unaware of.

The dragon's clawed feet freeze up just as it takes a step, causing it to fall spectacularly to the ground and roll heavily down the hill, its tail whipping wildly behind it. The tail connects with something as it thrashes; there's a yelp, and a shadowy silhouette flies through the air much too quickly and hits the ground near the trees.

For one heart-stopping moment, Felix sees only a too-still body and forgets how to think, how to breathe... then he hears her groan. Felix exhales so forcefully he can feel pieces of his hair flutter where they've fallen against his face. He staggers over to Juniper as props herself into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?" Felix asks, his voice raw. He half bends down beside her, awkwardly, unsure how to help.

"Of course," Juniper says with obvious pain, clutching her side as she gets heavily to her feet. She's panting hard, covered in scratches, scrapes, and dirt. But when she turns her face to his, she's beaming. "I knew you wouldn't really leave."

It's a praise, not a taunt, but Felix is too focused to feel proud at the moment.

"We're not done yet. That jinx will wear off in a minute." He peers down the small hill to where the dragon lays winded, tiny notes of angry music erupting from it like someone striking a xylophone. "Or less."

"What can we do?" asks Juniper, reaching down to pick up her wand with a small grunt of effort, other hand still holding her side, "We'll do more damage if we cast together."

"Probably, but you don't know any spells powerful enough to incapacitate a dragon."

As they speak, Sparky starts to clamber to his feet clumsily, the last vestiges of the jinx still tugging at its limbs.

"Then let's try my original plan," Juniper says, her words nearly unintelligible under the dragon's renewed roars of frustration.

"What?" Felix asks, confused.

"Shrink it!"

Sparky shuffles around to face the direction of their voices, bloodshot eyes searching for them blearily.

Felix shakes his head slowly, "That's -"

"You have one second to think of a better idea."

He can't.

The dragon finally focuses on the two students and it shrieks its triumph and fury.

"On three then," Felix says raising his wand.

"On three," agrees Juniper raising her own, her face set grimly.

"One."

They chant together as the dragon takes a stumbling step forward.

"Two."

They take aim at the dragon's center mass.

"Three."

Sparky crouches, ready to spring, as Felix and Juniper cry out as one:

"Reducio!"

-

Chapter 6 | Masterpost