Dangerous trip

Valkyrie walked through the Blackened Forest. She easily understood why it had been called that, it was pitch black. She couldn't see more than five feet in front of her. And she loved it. The snow crunched under her shoes and she listened to the sounds of animals in the woods. She was pretty good at keeping herself safe, and she always stopped before the road ended. She had continued on before, but only during daytime. It was late now.

She looked around herself and heard something that wasn't an animal. The sound of crunching snow was just like her own, and a female's as well, or a kid. She stopped and turned around, and saw a girl she knew walking the same way she was.

Fuck you, Kaitlen Gem. Fuck you.

Those were the thoughts Lena had entered her old, beloved, forest with. Such unholy, unruly thoughts. It was a crime she even thought of that encounter when she entered, because the whole point of this damned sanctuary was to relax and give in to the tranquility.

But guess not.

The Uchitel walked without stopping, her eyes focused on the snow below her. Funny. Snow in August. Only one place came to mind with that quality...

"Rovaniemi," she muttered, and she chuckled. Those were good times, good times.

The girl seemed to not have noticed Valkyrie yet, so she cleared her throat. "Hello there," she said lowly, not in a normal, cheery voice most people had. Then again, Val wasn't most people. "You're in my school, aren't you?" she added, looking curiously at the girl.

Lena flinched once she heard a voice. Voices in the forest. The sound of that voice brought the Uchitel's heart to a complete halt. It wasn't Enya; the voice was too youthful to be her. And a tad too angry, too.

Turning around, she saw a girl, and pressing her lips, the Finnish teenager shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose so, if your school is Durmstrang," she replied, her voice a dim monotone.

She wasn't directly unfriendly, whoever it was, but it was clear to Valkyrie that she hadn't expected to meet anyone out here. Not that Val could blame her for that. This wasn't the friendliest forest in the country, and when you're out on a nightly stroll, you don't really expect, or even want to find anyone.

"I'm in Durmstrang, yes," she said, adding a lighter tone in her voice, not wishing to make the girl wary or anything. She gave a half-hearted smile. "I'm Valkyrie," she said softly.

"Valkyrie?" Lena echoed. The name had somehow seemed familiar to her, somehow. Perhaps it was one of Haze's friends or something. Whatever. No time to worry about that now, for it was too trivial.

"What house are you in again?" she asked, before formally introducing herself, "I'm Lena Vorstenbach, of the House of Uchitel. I like to call myself the Queen of Uchitel but what's the point of that?"