A Broken Beast

[Tabby]

Tabby sighed, stretching her spine until it cracked. Some poor beast had started crying out in pain during the night and she had vowed to find it and help it get better, after losing half a night’s sleep to its noisy wailing at least. Now she ventured through the woods, a crossbow in one hand and her illuminating wand in the other. Now that she was in the forest she was worried; silver blood was splashed here and there, the blood of a unicorn.

“Joy, now… what could have attacked a unicorn in these woods?” She knew ever creature in the woods. The rumors of werewolves living here were unfounded, the acromantula numbers had decreased since the war, there were no sphinx, griffins, or manticores living in the woods, hippogriffs didn’t prey on other equines, and nothing else in the area was a threat to the beautiful creatures. She frowned to herself and continued to follow what trail she could find. Dodger, a crup and one of her many pets, wandered nearby, forked tail waving. So far the injured unicorn had stuck to game trails, which made travel easier and safer for Tabby. She spotted the local thestral herd drinking from a nearby stream she could hear. The lead stallion snorted and brayed at her, telling her not to come any closer to his mates.

She paused to study them, none of them had any of the silvery blood on their faces or feet, but one older colt had a smeer of it on his lower side. From the looks of things he’d brushed against a bush that had been wetted by the injured creature. Suddenly, as a one the thestrals threw their heads up and took off at a gallop, in the same instant Dodger started barking. Tabby backed herself to a tree and looked around, what had caused the animals to react in fear? She heard no hoof-beats as she listened to the nearly silent forest. No rattle of branches from something moving, no whisper of the massive hairy legs of an acromantula, nothing; the forest was completely silent. There; to the north, off the trail: a high, whining moan of misery, something thrashed in the loam. She approached slowly, wand and crossbow raised. Dodger followed at her heels, his hackles up.

A unicorn foal, beautifully golden raised his tiny head and moaned again from next to his mother. The mare’s spine was exposed, as if some massive creature had taken a bite straight from her back. She was in her death rows now, blood flowing in spasmodic spurts from her open back. Tabby approached slowly. The foal was so distressed by what was happening to his mother, and probably from following her as she staggered around with her injury that he didn’t notice Tabby until it was too late. She scooped him up easily; he weighed about the same as most of her larger dogs. He bleated and struggled in her arms, but she held on until he calmed as she spoke gently to him. A simple levitation spell lifted his broken mother and Tabby began the long trek out of the woods.

As she neared the entrance she heard movement behind her, when she turned nothing was there. It was rather unsettling to her. She knew nearly everything about the Forbidden Forest, and she certainly wasn’t a stranger to dangerous creatures; what then, had the capacity to so injure a unicorn? She couldn’t fathom it, any more than she could fathom why she felt as if she’d been watched since she’d started out of the woods. Back in the sunlight of the open woods and near the very edge she paused to catch her breath. The foal had fallen asleep in her arms and so she was careful not to disturb him. A hippogriff called from somewhere near the lake, to be answered by the bawl of a thestral. Since the numbers of both beasts had grown in the time since the war there tended to be confrontation and not a month went by where she didn’t have to mend the wing of one or another of the creatures.

Her breath retrieved she stood and levitated the mare once more. The headmistress would decide what would be done with the poor creature’s remains, and the fate of the foal. Tabby continued to lope until she reached the gamekeepers hut, and then she continued on. Padding slowly up to the castle as the sun began to set.


OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 750
Plot: Tabby finds a dead unicorn and it's foal, and brings them back to the castle.
Waiting for: Kali and open
Author Notes: I feel a bit rusty, so forgive any errors or hard-to-follow sections of my post.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana had been looking at the new crop of Mandrake roots and such in the green house when she looked past the opening to see Tabby carrying an odd form in her arms and levitating something bloody toward the gamekeeper's hut, quickly waving off any further comments about how this herb or that one was doing, Lana made her way out of the house and called to Tabby. "Tabby!? Over here!"

Making her way to where the professor was advancing toward her, Lana started to make out the larger shape as a unicorn and was taken aback. There aren't many creatures natural to this area who could take down a full grown uni, especially one with a foal. she thought to herself as a feeling of foreboding crept up her spine.

Meeting Tabby, she waited for an explanation as to the how and why she had come across the larger unicorn that was so rare.

[Tabby]

“Greetings Headmistress Justice. I had an owl take a note to you this morning, saying I was going into the forest after something that had been wounded in the night; you may have gotten it with the morning post. In any matter I went into the woods and found the trail, silver blood and broken branches along several natural game trails. It took until just past noon to follow the trail. Whatever was out there wasn’t bothering the Thestrals or Dodger, I think…” She paused and looked down at the crup, who had sat down, staring at the woods with his hackles up.

“Though they did start when the mare began her death rows, but I waited, and nothing else came along so I’m fairly certain that they were just startled by the noise. I found the mare and her foal; I was able to grab the foal while he was distracted by his mother’s death. I brought them here, couldn’t leave a babe without it’s mother, and I wanted to know if you wanted to use parts from the mare for potions, or perhaps to sell through the ministry, or anything. Whether you do want to use her or not, I’d like to bury as much of her as possible.” Tabby paused and looked at the mare.

“It bothers me though… that something could injure a full grown unicorn at all, let alone a mare with a foal… and it bothers me even more that whatever attacked her simply ripped her back open. If it was a hunter aiming to bring down prey it would have gone for the neck, or the head, perhaps even the belly or hind legs to hobble it. Whatever attacked her was attacking either for fun or to purposely inflict a long death. I’ve worked with many of the most dangerous creatures in the world and I’ve never seen something that does this. Nothing besides a human anyways.” Tabby trailed off a bit, worry clear in her voice. “The nearest I’ve seen is what a sphinx did to me and my spine when it lost its temper while I tried to tame it. Even then, it used claws, not fangs, and you can see fang marks clear as day around the edges of the wound.” She shifted her grip on the foal to point out one such mark.

The foal bleated, confused about why his mother wasn’t trying to save him from the person holding him. Tabby set him down, but kept one hand twisted in the tufty fur that stood up in his baby’s mane. “I’d like your permission to raise the orphaned foal in the castle as well. I think, given his young age, it might even be possible to tame him and use him as a prime example for Care of Magical Creatures. Of course, the school’s yours, so it’s your decision.” Tabby might hate authority, but she wasn’t going to butt heads with Kaliana Justice. She liked to think that the headmistress was her friend more than her superior, after all; they were both part of the ‘new generation’ at Hogwarts.

“Another thing… Usually I see signs of many other creatures than I did this time. I only saw one of the two main thestral herds, I didn’t see any of the hippogriff flocks although I did hear at least one lone hippogriff on my way out, I saw no acromantula signs, a mixed blessing, and I only saw two unicorn tracks beyond the mess the mare and her foal made. Whatever it is that did this… It’s affecting all the animals in the forest. If I were to speak with the merfolk or the centuars I’m sure they would say the same thing.”

OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 624
Plot: Tabby explains the unicorns and edges around her own worries.
Waiting for: Kali and open
Author Notes: Sorry if Tabby rambled, and no; I haven't figured out what attacked the mare either.

[Kaliana Justice]

" Yes professor that is very disconcerting. I too noticed the howls last evening and did indeed get your letter in the post this am. You didn't see any sign of any predators that would have possibly done this?" Lana stood with a grim look as the chill crept higher up her back. Thinking deeply, Lana stood gazing toward the Forest and had the creepiest feeling that she wasn't the only one watching. She turned toward Tabby and asked, " You didn't happen to feel anything unusual while you were looking for the injured animal did you?"

Unable to shake the feeling Lana turned her back to the Forest and looked concerned for the foal. It needed a mother, it looked to be only a few weeks old, if that. And the mutilated unicorn needed to be addressed also, worry clouding her thoughts Lana acknowledged that. "Yes, take any part of the poor animal and make use of it if possible. Then, please, lay the poor thing to rest by the lake. As for the foal, I'll allow you to care for it at least until it is grown enough to fend for itself then it would be the baby's decision if it is willing to stay or wishes to return to the Forest with it's own kind."

Making a mental note to let the gamekeeper know about the unicorns, Lana decided her and a few others within the coming nights were going to explore the Forest and see what they could find. I'll have to see who would be willing to venture into such a place under these circumstances.

Turning her attention to Tabby once more, Lana voices a worry, "I would appreciate it if you would not venture into the forest again without someone else with you for the time being, and all Care of Magical creatures classes should take part on Hogwarts grounds until this is sorted out." Trying to be somewhat reassuring, Lana gave a weary smile, what else was this year going to bring?

With the appearance of Zadiken, mention of the Ministry wishing to become involved in the school again, and now this... Lana thought about holding a professor's meeting and tightening the belts around the school. "Take the foal over to the gamekeeper and introduce them, even though you will be looking after the little one, he should know those who he can trust, then let me know what else you find."

[Tabby]

“The only predators in the woods are the acromantulas… unless you count the centaurs when they hunt once in a while.” She paused, realizing something. “Come to think of it, I didn’t even see signs of the centaurs. I did see tire tracks though, oddly enough. But honestly, since the Cerberus died there aren’t a lot of predators in the woods.” It had been quite a surprise for her to find the massive three headed dog near the edge of the forest. It had been peppered with arrows after what had likely been a violent encounter with the centaur herd.

“As for what I felt… It did feel like I was being watched on the way out, but not on the way in. A bit odd really, it’s usually the other way about. But… now that I think about it… It was like the whole forest was holding its breath, like everything was hiding. Never heard of anything like that outside of muggle fiction books. It just doesn’t happen. Even if there’s a hunter in the area squirrels will still hunt for nuts, birds will flit about… Forests are alive, but it’s almost as if ours is… dying.” The idea of losing the forest did not sit well with Tabby. She had only had the wonderful place for a few years, and dangers non-withstanding she enjoyed the time she spent there.

"I would appreciate it if you would not venture into the forest again without someone else with you for the time being, and all Care of Magical creatures’ classes should take part on Hogwarts grounds until this is sorted out."

“Whaddya think I am? Some sort of daft whore? Only time I take a class in there is to study the centaurs and even then it’s one lesson at the end of five weeks of learning about them through books and chit-chat! I can switch the centaurs and merpeople without a fuss anyways. As for me, I’ve got a wand, a crossbow, and my pets. Not like I’ve got much to fear, or’ve you forgotten that I spent most’v two years studying some of the most dangerous creatures out there?” She scoffed, but gathered up the foal.

“I’ll show ‘im around and take care of his mum after I put him to bed in my quarters. See you after dinner, Ma’am.” The last word was bitterly sarcastic as she loped off. Tabby was not a fan of being told what to do, but since it fell in with her own desires right now she complied. Like hell anybody was keeping her out of the forest though. She went in there to get specimens for classes, to study the nature of the forest, to gather pieces from naturally dead unicorns, to fix up the thestrals and hippogriffs, pretty much if she wasn’t in class she was doing some sort of job in the forest these days.

OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 428
Plot: Tabby snaps at Kali
Waiting for: Kali and open
Author Notes: Yeah, Tabby got grouchy, sorry for her attitude.

[Kaliana Justice]

..Lana met up with Tabby after dinner...

"Tire tracks you say? I believe I heard some sort of vehicle yesterday while I was walking toward the Forest come to think of it.

So someone or something was watching the uni and more than likely enjoying it's pain. That is very disturbing. Tell me, did you see any prints of any sort right around the dying equine?"

Lana thought about the day before and her venture toward the Forest before she had been side tracked. Now that she thought of it, she hadn't heard the normal sounds of the Forest then either. Beginning to get more worry-some by the minute isn't it, she thought to herself.

Lana looked at Tabby with a mirthful smirk and replied, " I was not saying you were incompetent or suggesting anything of the sort, either about your classes or the fact that you have been around and studied very dangerous creatures. I was simply stating a request for the safety of both you and your students. And the fact is, we still do not know what exactly has killed that uni, and it could in fact be some creature you have not came across before or one you have under a dark wizard's spell which would make it more unpredictable."

Lana was not trying to keep Tabby from the Forest, just suggesting that she take another wizard with her for another pair of eyes and ears. She had come to know Tabby well in the time they had spent together and agreed that she was extremely knowledgeable when it came to all types of creatures, but Lana was worried that this wasn't a simple creature like any either of them had encountered before.

[Tabby]

“Yeah, tire tracks. When I first came here Hagrid was still on the job, he said there’d been a car in the woods since 1992. I dunno if whatever was out there was watching the mare or watching me. Usually when you go into a forest you SHOULD feel watched, every squirrel you get near, every bird, all the creatures you don’t see watch you when you’re too close… This time it was different though. It wasn’t so much being watched as… almost being studied. Like a mouse in a maze.” Tabby thought about the scene she’d noticed when she’d found the dying creature.

“There could have been prints and I wouldn’t have seen them. The mare was already into her death rows when I got there and she’d torn the area up with her thrashing. I didn’t see any odd prints on my way in though… Just the usual; talons, hooves, the dive-marks from owls, some snake tracks…” She paused, an alarm bell going off in her brain. “One of those snake tracks was huge. I remember because Dodger had to jump it, wasn’t much more than a long step for me, but still… Not a lot of snakes get that big, and certainly no muggle ones.” Now that was disturbing, could it have been a basilisk that injured the mare? No, the shape of the bite wasn’t right, besides didn’t basilisks kill with their eyes. Although how could they eat stone then? She sighed, it probably wasn’t a basilisk, but it was still something rather large.

“Yeah… I just hope we don’t have to drag the ministry in. If it IS something new I want to study it.” Apparently there was a certain fascination with dangerous creatures required to be a professor of Care of Magical Creatures, if the last two were anything to go by. “And even if it’s not new, the more openings we give the ministry the more they’ll try to control the school. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against the ministry; I had to take all my tests through them since I learned at home. I just don’t think they should be poking their noses into Hogwarts business, never done anybody any good historically.”

“There’s a lot that’s not known about the forest. It’s old though; older than the castle, older than the lake… probably as old as settlement in Scotland. It’s thinner now though… since the war. They took a lot of the wood for rebuilding the quidditch pitch, the wooden beams and foundations, the furniture, the greenhouses, anything wooden really out of that forest. I almost wonder if that didn’t make more problems. More open wood means more area for larger creatures to settle. The acromantulas for one, they aren’t as confined as they once were.” She’d had to kill one near the forest boundary just before the school year.

“The woods are so huge, it wouldn’t be hard for something to sneak in unnoticed and use the cover to come up to the castle. … I’d like to take a search group in to see if we could find anything. I doubt we would though, and more people are just more problem. Someone would be bound to scuff up a mark, or blunder over a sensitive trail and obliterate it. But a few people with wood lore and sense would be okay…” She sighed and reached down, scratching the head of a dog that wandered from her personal quarters into the hall. “I did some looking in the library earlier. The only creatures known to go for the back in an attack are sphinx, but they use their claws… I can confirm that myself. It’s bothersome, not knowing what’s causing trouble in the woods… and students go there all the time, no matter what warnings or restrictions we give. It’s their nature to defy the rules and the forest is a good place to be secretive for them… You’d need a patrol to keep some students out of the place.” She shook her head and sighed.

“So…” Time for a change in subject, “How’re things coming along with professors and fighting off ministry interference?”

OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 695
Plot: Just chatting
Waiting for: Kali and open
Author Notes: I'll be posting an image of the 'creature' causing the issues later today/early tomorrow

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana had been thinking the same thing, about taking a group into the Forest, yet hadn't thought yet how to broach the subject with the head-strong woman across from her. It was a sensitive matter to make Tabby believe she was very concerned with the well being of the creatures within, and if what was threatening them had not been seen before, the safety of those going with them, and yet not have Tabby questioning Lana's faith in her ability as a Magical creatures' caretaker.
" A search team would be a good idea, to see what we could find. Tony, or even Zadiken might be interested since we have yet to determine what could be the problem. We can approach them together, or you can tackle the job of convincing Tony while I handle Zadiken if you'd like. And, as for the patrol, that can be arranged, or even a spell cast to where only those over a certain age could enter, such as they did with the entry of the Tri Wizard Tournament during Dumbledore's reign."

As for the ministry interference, Kaliana had been feeling all the more pressure since both Zadiken and Tony had shown up apparently at the 'appointment' of the Minister himself. Feeling anger growing anew at how the ministry was again trying to take over her school, nay, their school again, she mentioned to Tabby, " We haven't had much luck trying to convince more professors to join our ranks since word has gotten out that there is quite possibly more chambers within the school, though as you know, Tony and Zadiken have recently joined us, and am hoping to talk to them about asking other wizards to come here. Any ideas?"

Lana lets her eyes wonder to the darkening sky, wondering what life would be like if she hadn't taken the chance to come back here, probably less stressful that's for sure.

[Tony Dedrian]

"Talking about me, I see?" A voice echoed, a slightly bitter sound in it. Tony stood, leaning on a tree [since there's no obvious change of scenery, thank you very much] and glared at Tabby and the Headmastermistress. He pushed off of the tree and half limped over to them, hands in pocket. "If you've been wanting to know what was in there, all you had to do was ask what I just saved three unruly students from. Some sort of Chimera, I think." Tony was, needless to say, annoyed. Blood dampened his pants where the Chimera-thing slashed at his leg, so he was in mild pain. He looked up at the Headmastermistress and nodded, mostly out of respect, and then gave Tabby half a glance with a "Hey." He then directed his attention back to Kalaina. "About three Kilometers in, two kilometers to the west. That's where I encountered it and the students, who thankfully were unhurt. They were apparently thinking the goddamned thing was 'friendly', and was approaching it like one would approach some drunk halfling. I mean, what the hell are these students being taught by our Care of Magical Creatures Professor? 'Oh, well now it has claws, let's HUG IT!" he slapped his forehead. "One of the students was all 'It invited us to it!'... just because it's sentient... gah.." Tony was mad. Primarily because of how uneducated the students were on creature lore.

Unknowing that the Care of Magical Creatures professor was right there.

[Tabby]

“… Well hello there Mister Hero. You realize Care of Magical Creatures isn’t a requirement and is only learned by students in their third year or above who chose it, yes? Because anybody who has managed to get through even one of my lessons knows that first and foremost among my rules inside and outside of class is “If it has claws or fangs, and you aren’t with an experienced adult, turn around and walk the other way.” … Name’s Tabby by the way. I’m going to guess by a Chimera you mean a mixed breed, since the ACTUAL chimera and its offspring are incapable of imitating human vocals or sentience. And a mix breed would explain why I haven’t seen anything like what happened to the unicorn mare earlier.” Carthage, the giant black mastiff, had come to sit at her side, glowering at the ‘intruder’ who had insulted his Mama.

“Thanks for saving whatever dunderheads decided to break the rules and go into the forest though. I’ve had my hands full trying to calm down a unicorn colt… Apparently calming draughts only work on humans and lullabies are a good way to have said colt try to ram your stomach out your spine.” Indeed, trying to sing, or play, a lullaby had resulted in three broken picture frames, 2 injured dogs, a broken (and mercifully empty) fish tank, and one very trampled rug, aside from mild bruises on Tabby’s part. The colt had finally gone to sleep when Tabby fed it a bottle of goat’s milk, mixed with butter and a mild sleeping draft. She’d left it up in her room with Jnana, her ‘nanny dog’ who took care of any orphans she happened to dredge up and foster.

“Did you happen to get a good look at it? Like major features it had? Size, gender, colors… anything I could use to fill in puzzle pieces? Right now all I have is that it managed to kill a unicorn mare and orphan her foal, laid the back open right to the bone for a good arm’s width.” Tabby rubbed the back of her shoulder with one hand, feeling the very edges of the still-new scars that covered her back.

OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 370
Plot: Yipyapyap
Waiting for: Kali and Tony
Author Notes: Sorry about not posting, my scanner went AWOL, will try again soon. Also, sorry if it's short, my brain is tired.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana looked at Tony and said, "Yes, actually we were talking about you since you have the post of Gamekeeper, though also we were talking about asking all the other professors to see who would be willing to venture into the Forest with us to at least identify the creature, if not get rid of it entirely since it is endangering the students as well as the school..."

Watching the two bicker back and forth, Lana steps between them and puts her hands up to stop the tirade. Knowing Tabby was very temper-mental about the creatures in the Forest, both ones she had discovered and those still to be found, she looked at Tony and shook her head.. Also, having just met Tony but knowing he was also stubborn she told them both, " Alright you two, we should be working together, not fighting.. And yes, Tony that is one of the first things Tabby teaches students, I have sat in on many of her classes when I have had time. "

Noticing Tabby was in pain, even ever so slightly, she mentioned. " How about you run up to the hospital wing, and grab some pain relieving elixir? And, I'll head over to the library to try to help you find a way to quiet the young colt? Then we should all meet the other professors in the lounge and discuss our ideas.."

[Tony Dedrian]

Tony looked at Lana, then down to his bloodstained pant leg. "Well, if there wasn't already an indication that you didn't like me, apparently, this is one of them." he said miserably. Of course, she probably didn't notice, since the gas was dangerously close to his crotch [you shoulda heard him scream like a girl when he was cut], and he was certain the Headmastermistress didn't have a habit of looking at the crotches of her employees. Of course not.
He plopped down on the grass and took out his wand, deciding to heal himself. He sighed as he did so, letting the ladies talk things over, and then looked up at Tabby. "It was a female, unless male Sphinx have boobs too." he said, pointing this out to her. The students were all boys. For the love of God... "Now I know why those 'dunderheads' decided to try and befriend the big she-beast..." he said to himself, shaking his head.
Sure, he was rather enamored by some good eye candy, but only if they were on humans. One in particular at the moment, which was Shiloh. Just a thought and he would damn near tear up. She was gorgeous. Anyways, out of fantasy land and back to reality...
"Okey. All healed. Now to get Tabby to the Hospital Wing." he said, standing and offering his arm. "Come on. I'll be your escort." he said cheerfully.

A cat had walked up to him a second before, and he suddenly softened, cheered up even as he scratched it behind the ears before he got up.

He looked over at Lana and nodded. "Expect a full report on your desk via owl. Tonight."

[Tabby]

“Nope!” Tabby held both hands up “I’m good. Really. Just old scars causing a twinge. It happens. Healers said they’d do it until they softened a bit. Besides, if I didn’t take anything when I got my back ripped up by that son of a bitch, two-bit scavenger I’d rather not take anything now.” She laughed a little. Even if her back had been on fire she would have avoided taking anything to dull the pain. She knew from watching her sister that their family had an addictive personality. She didn’t want to risk it.

“The boobs explain it though…” She frowned a bit. “Ah well… Boys will be boys… We need to make a mandatory lesson about safety around creatures for all students, and maybe a couple other lessons on basics and important measures.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m heading off to bed. I don’t know about either of you, but I have classes to teach in the morning and I’d rather not bite a student’s head off.” She turned and began to lope in the direction of her room. She was nearly guaranteed to snap at a minimum of three students the next day anyways, but at least if she was well rested she wouldn’t bring them to tears.

OOC///
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 216
Plot: Tabby finishes up.
Waiting for: Kali and Tony
Author Notes: Tabby out

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana watched as Tabby made her way back up to her room, glancing at the sky who was slowly giving birth to the beautiful twinkling stars that had made her come back home after years away. There was no other place in the world it seemed that was so pristine, so seemingly untouched with the muddying ways of muggles. Nodding toward Tony, she acknowledged the late hour, " Tabby is right, we should make to our rooms to rest for the further studies and meetings that are sure to happen between unwitting students and this crossbred mongrel."

She hoped he had taken her advice and taken his leave before she turned around the next corner of the Forest and delved deeper. She wanted to get a better understanding of this thing than word of mouth could offer. After scouting a while with no trace what so ever of many of the animals that were native to the forest, she gave up and made her way back out of the forest and toward the darkened castle. By now most of the students as well as professors had turned in for the night, and she figured she should too, if she was going to keep her wits about her for all the new problems that were arising under her feet.