The Inspection

[acciomod]

On the whole, the weather had been temperamental lately. One minute, it was absolutely bucketing it down, and the next, it was bright sunshine. The amount of rain had turned the ground into a muddy mess, but at least the tents provided perfectly adequate shelter, and a gazebo had been erected over the community dining table to protect everyone from the elements.

Despite the temperamental weather, however, it had been fairly warm throughout the past two weeks, so the chill in the air during dinner that evening was particularly noticeable, even before the dark, hooded figure by the Ministry's representative's desk had been seen.

Nervously, the Ministry representative approached the table.

"I'm afraid we have a visitor," he said, addressing everyone at the table and hoping that anyone not there could hear him. "This is a Dementor, one of the Guards at Azkaban. It's a high security prison. He's just here to, well, ensure that a certain escaped criminal isn't hiding amongst you.

"I don't expect he'll be here for more than an half an hour, so do try not to worry too much. They can make people rather, well... uncomfortable."

Bowing his head slightly, he left the Outsiders to their meal.

[And so, a Dementor is lurking around the camp, just in case one of the Outsiders is secretly Sirius Black. They're known to sap the happiness out of the environment, and - in cases where there are true horrors in someone's past - cause traumatic memories to resurface.

The chilly, depressed feeling can be lifted by the deliciousness of chocolate, though the Outsiders will need to discover this on their own. Good thing there's dessert.]

Comments

OPEN

[the_opener]

[Before this evening, being here hadn't been so bad. Weird, sure, but Tim had seen weird before. And no one was hunting him or asking him to save them or anything. It was kind of peaceful, really, like a long vacation.]

[And then, suddenly, it wasn't. He shivered, that was the start. Then his eyes went wide and blank. His hands tightened into fists in his lap as he stared at nothing.]

[He wasn't... he couldn't be... this couldn't be real. Not now, not when he'd tried so hard, sacrificed so much.]

[Tim raised his hands - hands that glowed - then forced them back down. That wouldn't help. Instead, he made himself speak - speak, not scream, though the terror rising in him was hard to control and his voice shook.]

Who... someone's doing this to us.

[count_to_peace]

[Were that man's hands glowing? How...

Despite that, that person didn't look all that great. So he goes over and taps him on the shoulder.]

It's the dementors...

[the_opener]

[He jumped when he was touched. When did you get so jumpy, Tim? He can't relax, though, even without an immediate threat. But he at least managed not to do anything else embarrassing.]

Dementors?

[He glances around, shivering. Now that it's said, he vaguely recalls something about them.]

Are you sure they're not demons?

[count_to_peace]

I wouldn't know, really.

[Even the most innocent looking person could have the blackest of souls]

[the_opener]

They feel like demons.

[Or maybe it's just the things they make him remember. It's so hard to tell right now.]

I thought this place would be safe.

[count_to_peace]

While we're here, no place is really safe for us. Not without the right preparation, anyway.

[If they plan to get them schooling, then Zechs plans to arm himself with whatever resources are available.]

[windseye]

It's definitely the dementor, if you're talking about that nasty feeling.

[The thing was creeping Vaati out a whole lot more than he was letting on, but he definitely wasn't going to act otherwise. He was used to forcing down negative emotions anyway, so hiding the awful feeling that was creeping through his mind wouldn't be too hard a task.

So instead, he'd just sat there trying to gauge the reactions of the other Outsiders. Until this guy had decided to speak, that is.]