[mountains] smoke and ash | ilya

december 2003

Weekend camping trips were pretty much John Henry Bird the Seventh's bread and butter. He grew up in the camping shop his parents owned in Shackamaxon; his family was full of hikers and naturalists, so it was no surprise he felt most at home in the backwoods of Mount Greylock. John Henry was a little different from his campfire loving parents, though; he didn't just like to be in nature; he was on the hunt. The budding Cryptozoologist had packed everything one might need to track down the infamous Wendigo (his lucky baseball cap, a bedroll, beef jerky, and other assorted snacks courtesy of Mary Lou's trail mix recipe). And he'd even found a friend willing to spend the night out in the woods with him.

"Whatcha' think about here, this a good place to set up camp?" John Henry asked, doubling over to take a deep breath of the chilly December air, his cheeks pink from the trek up the mountain. It was cold, but their magical gear would keep them warm, and everyone knew Christmas Time was the best time to search for the Wendigo. Legend said they were highly festive creatures. "Can do a campfire here, set up a perimeter around there, and some tents?" Jack had also brought some old soup cans on a string for the perimeter; one could never be too careful out in the woods. The last thing he needed was for the hunters to become the hunted.

@Ilya Denisov

Camping did not make it to the first podium of the three best things Ilya could imagine, but it was a close runner up - at least when it was not solely camping for the sake of it. With his younger housemate and friend John Henry it was bound to be an adventure. Ilya clearly hoped that he’d have stories of their adventure to share when he saw his family and friends over the holidays.

He had packed his rucksack with everything that he deemed necessary and had only reluctantly left his brooms behind (he had two - one for quodpot and one for artistic flying). The boy liked physical exertion but he’d much rather fly than walk anyway. However, that was not the plan now and he accepted that.

The chilly weather made Ilya’s cheeks turn slightly pink, but he knew lower temperatures than those at Ilvermorny and didn’t mind it at all. The only thing that Ilya did not like about winter was the darkness. The coldness he could easily bear with.

“Yeah,” Ilya nodded as they reached a place that John Henry considered good enough to set up their camp. “Sounds like a good idea,” he added. “What’s your plan with the Wendigo anyway?” Ilya was all for adventures, but he surely hoped that John Henry had a plan of some sort.

"Plan?" Jack bought time by repeating his friend as he pulled the baseball cap from his head and scratched his neck with the brim. "Well..." He was stalling because what he had dreamed up wasn't exactly a plan, more like a few bullet points and a lot of hope, but it was too late to turn back now. At least, he hoped Ilya would agree. "I'm thinking we bait it, I've heard it likes beef jerky, and I'm all stocked up," The teenage wizard produced a ridiculously large bag of jerky snacks from his duffle and held it up triumphantly toward the other boy. "And then after that, we need to get some proof to bring back,"

Jack set down the jerky, his bag, and took a seat on a stump that was the perfect size before looking back to Ilya. "Now look, I'm not trying to hurt the wendigo; I don't even wanna capture it for good." Jack wanted proof, but he had always been taught to respect the beasts of the wild. He could interact, but he wouldn't disturb, not really. Or well, he hoped.

"I brought a magical camera so we can take some pictures, and some of that goop we made in class last week, figured we could use it to get a cast of its footprint." Jack nodded sharply; the non-plan-plan was coming together even quicker as he started spouting out information. "Everyone will just have to believe us then, right?"

Jack’s reaction made clear that he had no plan and Ilya grinned. “Alright,” he said although he felt a little uncertain. Going out exploring and hoping to run into a dangerous creature without a plan did not sound too smart. Ilya didn’t want his life to end yet. He still had many things he wanted to do, play quodpot, make the national team in artistic flying… there were many things. Getting killed by a wendigo now wasn’t an option.

“You want to bait a wendigo,” Ilya repeated incredulously. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised. If he had seriously thought about it all, he could have guessed that Jack was going to come up with something like this and he realised that he had agreed to join him because, honestly, he was eager for an adventure - as long as they’d survive it.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding now. “Sounds good, I guess…” He frowned and then burst into laughter as Jack said he was not trying to hurt the wendigo.

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t worry about the wendigo as much as about us,” Ilya looked at his friend, wondering if he wasn’t afraid of the creature at all. It wasn’t like Ilya was going to wet himself of fear now either, but at least he saw the possibility that something could go wrong.

At least Jack seemed well prepared when it came to proving their adventure - should they actually get to see the creature, that is. “Yeah, absolutely,” the Thunderbird said, nodding. “Great thinking. If we see a wendigo we definitely need proof of it.” He paused briefly. “We should set up some protective enchantments, just in case.”

“You want to bait a wendigo,” From the tone of Ilya's voice, most wizards probably would have taken the hint to see how crazy the idea sounded, but John Henry wasn't like most wizards. Instead, the enthusiastic and sometimes entirely clueless teenager nodded brilliantly. A surge of pride running through him caused his chest to puff up a little, "Preeeeettyyy much," Jack drew the words out before laughing loudly. They were going to bait it, get evidence, and be the kings of Ilvermorny before the weekend was over. He was just sure of it.

"That," Jack began with a sharp point at his friend, "Is a good point." It was the two of them they should worry about, the Wendigo could probably take them both out without working up a sweat, but Jack had some ideas about that too. Tapping his index finger to his temple, signaling his expedition partner's thoughtfulness, John Henry pulled another few things from his duffle. "Borried these from the shop in Shackamaxon," Pulling out two magically camouflaged ponchos, Jack tossed one to Ilya before draping his own over him.

Borrowed was a strong word; Jack hadn't paid for them, and he planned to return them, but things never worked out quite the way the wizard designed. "They are the newest in camouflage hunting gear, good for staying hidden and warm." Jack fluffed the fabric around him as the magic started to work; soon, the pattern printed began to change until it more closely resembled the types of trees and brush around them.

"What sort of charms do you have in mind?"

Ilya raised his eyebrows as Jack confirmed that he indeed wanted to bait the wendigo. “That’s…” he shook his head. Honestly, he wanted to survive this adventure. Wasn’t Jack aware how dangerous the creature he was trying to attract was?

At least his friend seemed to understand that they should be concerned that the wendigo might attack them and he had at least thought of bringing camouflage ponchos. Ilya nodded approvingly. They wouldn’t protect them from being eaten or anything but maybe they worked well enough that the creature wouldn’t see them… Then again, maybe it would still smell them? Ilya tried not to think of it as he took the poncho and draped it over himself. It worked nicely, almost like an invisibility cloak.

“Those are really great!” Ilya said, unable to hide that he was impressed by the hunting gear.

As Jack asked which charms he had in mind, Ilya shrugged. He wasn’t exactly an expert on protective enchantments. Truth be told, he had only read about them at some point and had never tried any. “I think there’s protego totalum that shields an area. I am not sure, though, if it helps against creatures or only against spells…” He paused and gave another shrug, “I guess it’s worth a try anyway.”

"Oh yeah, I think I know that one... well, at least, I think I do... if it's anything like the anti-boy charm, my mother put on my sister's clubhouse, anyway." John Henry beamed with unearned confidence—the only kind he knew—and continued. "I think the wand movement is like an X, like your saying stay out," A surprising amount of magic had more to do with the intent behind it than the actual incantation, but Jack wasn't great at those sorts of spells either. He had many good intentions; he just flipped between them so quickly that he lost focus. "So we will ward the campsite, set up some cameras, and then wait." It sounded like a perfect night to the teenager. He loved camping, especially when there was the opportunity for ghost stories around a campfire.

The two set to work getting their campsite in order, and with a little bit of luck, the protection spells might even hold through the night. Jack made sure their tents wouldn't blow away if it stormed and that the raccoons couldn't get into the snacks and put on another hooded sweater as the sunset. "Do you know the fire spell? Could you?" He asked, pointing at the rocks and wood he had arranged to make a campfire. "Last time I tried, I set my jeans on fire." Smiling sheepishly, the wizard started digging for s'more's materials. If they were going to wait for their bait to work, they might as well do it on a full stomach, and s'mores covered all the food groups... right?

“Anti-boy charm?” Ilya asked, an amused expression spreading across his face. He wasn’t quite sure if he really wanted to know more. However, it did sound like Jack had a story to tell there. He nodded as Jack described the wand movement and then summarised how they should set everything up.

As Jack asked him to make a fire, Ilya nodded again. He could do that. Clearly Jack was the expert camper out of the two of them but he could be useful, too. He made the fire and threw some more dried pieces of wood into it as it ignited.

“I wonder if we get to see anything interesting,” Ilya said as he watched Jack. “We could bet on whether or not we’ll see a wendigo and what else shows up tonight.” It was not that he had any idea what they’d encounter but it seemed like a fun thing to make it some sort of a little competition.