Through The Blaze (ch6)

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This chapter will follow the group of Sucy, Amanda, Hannah, Constanze, Finneran, and Badcock!

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

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													Chapter 6. In The Forest

"Let's move, ladies! Time is of the essence!"

Professor Finenran's voice calls across the courtyard as the group of six convenes with their brooms. Sucy is the most unaffected of the students, more eager to search for certain plants for her own reasons than anything else. Hannah is jittery with nerves about going to the Forest and being apart from her teammates. Amanda is itching to move, and Constanze is a quiet, neutral force beside her. Finneran checks over them all with stern eyes.

"This trip will take hours and it's already well into the afternoon. We must return before nightfall. I trust you're all prepared to journey for such a length of time?"

"Uh-huh."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

"Sure."

"Very good," Finneran grunts. "Then let's not waste another second. Do you have the list?" she asks, turning to Professor Badcock. The other woman pulls out a folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket.

"I've memorized it as well just in case."

"Excellent." Finneran sweeps her gaze over them all. "Let's move!" She mounts her broom and gives the command. "Tia Freyre!"

The others follow suit: "Tia Freyre!"

As soon as they're all airborne, they head straight for the leyline. Finneran leads the procession with Sucy after her, Hannah at the center, Amanda and Constanze, and finally Badcock brings up the rear.

Once the leyline is in sight they enter quickly and maintain a fast speed.

As they wait to be let out at their destination, Badcock reads off the list of ingredients for everyone to hear.

"We're going to need five stalks of colt's foot, no fewer than ten blue juniper berries, a cup of Golden Bee's honey, and-" she makes a face. "The petal from a mandrake's flower."

"A mandrake?" Hannah squeaks. "Those are so dangerous!"

"Not to mention rare as hell," Amanda adds.

"You only think they're rare," Sucy says. "But they're actually pretty common. They just hide themselves well until some idiot goes wandering into their vines. Like Akko."

"Well, Akko ain't here," Amanda reminds her. "So either we find one normally or we gotta use somebody as bait."

"There will be no 'baiting' on my expedition!" Finneran snaps. "We are to gather these ingredients quickly, efficiently, and safely. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, fine..."

"Good then. It's almost time to exit the leyline. With the addition of the last unknown ingredient the research team is studying, is that all we need, Professor Badcock?"

"It would appear so."

"Then it should be doable. We've arrived."

The leyline opens up before them into a bright green forest whose liveliness is already visible even from this distance. Finneran gives one final warning.

"Do not engage with any wildlife or cause trouble. Our mission is to be in and out as quickly as possible. Am I understood?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yes, ma'am!

"Yeeeess."

"Then let's get to it, girls!"

They exit the leyline in order and find themselves in a vast, luscious forest. They've been here in the past for a field trip and flower-gathering assessment.

As the name implies, it is eternally spring here, and the environment matches the description perfectly. Everything is green and shining and in full bloom. The weather alternates only between sun and light rain, but at present it's only the former. Animals are scampering about in abundance, and birds are chanting a perpetual chorus.

As the witches fly through, a few heads turn out of curiosity, but nothing tries to intercept them. They take a brief moment to appreciate the scenery.

"It's so pretty," Hannah murmurs.

"Be that as it may," Finneran says. "We aren't here to sight-see." She reaches into her dress pocket and extracts a tiny jar. With a wave of her wand the jar expands in size. "Our first order of business is that colt's foot. Everything we gather will be put into this jar, which is enchanted and unable to shatter. Once we've gathered everything, Miss O'Neill will fly this back to Luna Nova at top speed."

"I'm hella ready," Amanda declares. "Let's find that stuff!"

"Hold it!" Finneran shouts before Amanda can zoom off on her own. "We are to stick together as a group. There will be no solo searching. The forest is larger than you can imagine, and certain creatures will not concede to intruders, even if they are of magical blood."

"Whaaat?" Amanda groans. "What's the point of staying together if we have this many people? We should split up!"

"She's right!" To everyone's surprise, Hannah actually speaks up on Amanda's behalf. "I-I mean we're against the clock, right? And we have two professors so... can't we at least split into two groups..."

Everyone floats in silence for a moment. The two professors share glance.

"It is a good idea," Badcock agrees.

"But we were given strict orders from the Headmistress not to separate," Finneran concludes. "There are dangers in this forest, after all."

Hannah's shoulder slump a little, but there's still a determination in her eyes.

"Well then... what are we waiting for? Diana needs us!"

"You're absolutely right," Finneran agrees. "Now, as I said, our first order of business will be that colt's foot."

"Easy," Sucy interjects. "Colt's foot grows near water. We just need to find a stream or something."

"I'd say to listen," Badcock says. "But the sounds of the Forest are so lively you can't possibly hear a stream."

"Then let's follow them," Amanda suggests. She points down far below the trees to a family of foxes romping about in the brambles. Three pups who have been playing restlessly are now scampering off together. Amanda shrugs. "They seem thirsty."

With no better ideas to go on, the witches agree.

Amanda leads the way, keeping an eye on the foxes below. It takes them a few minutes, but eventually a stream of clear water is visible down below. Sucy scans the shoreline, assessing the different plants and herbs in her mind until she spots what they need.

"There." She points to a bushel of purplish reeds.

"On it!" Amanda calls. "Five, right?" Before anyone can give her an answer, she's already swooping down below the trees. She startles the foxes playing the the stream as she lands and gives a quick apology. "Sorry, sorry! Don't mind me!" Bending down, she grabs several stalks of the colt's foot and yanks them clean out of the ground. Once she's sure she has at least five, she mounts her broom again and flies back up to her group.

Finneran is waiting with her arms crossed.

"And why would you think it a wise idea to go flying off alone without instruction?"

"What's the problem? It was right there!"

"That is not the point, Miss O'Neill!" With a heavy sigh, she holds out the unbreakable jar. "In any case give them here."

With a grin, Amanda drops the colt's foot into the jar, which magically reseals itself.

"All right! One down, three to go! Or four I guess when they figure out what that other thing is."

"Next," says Badcock. "We need blue juniper berries."

"Juniper grows in lots of sunlight," Sucy mutters. "We need to find a clearing or something."

"We'll ascend and search from on high," Finneran decides.

So the witches fly higher above the trees until the lush canopies no longer obstruct their view so much. Constanze is the one who spots a break in the trees and leads them toward it. Badcock is their designated lookout to watch for anything too unusual.

Finneran descends first toward the clearing down below, and only after she's landed and given the signal do the others follow. Sucy's already searching before the others have even gotten used to solid ground again.

"The bushes are dark," she mutters. "The berries are anything but. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"H-Hey, wait a minute," Hannah says. "Aren't juniper berries-"

"Uh, guys?" Amanda calls out. Everyone turns their attention to her. She's pointing at a large bush with small bright fruits that more or less matches Sucy's description. The only thing is the berries...

"They're blue all right," Amanda announces. "And red. And yellow. And green. And purple..."

Surely enough, the berries of the bush are bright and colorful. Too colorful. Each berry changes color by the second, creating an array of ever-changing rainbows against the dark leaves.

Professor Badcock sighs.

"Yes, if you'll recall. Juniper berries do remain one color most of the year. But in the springtime they change color depending on how much magic is in the air around them. And as you can imagine, in the Eternal Forest-"

"It's always spring and there's a hella lotta magic."

"Precisely, Miss O'Neill."

"S-So then how do we get ten blue ones?" Hannah wails.

"I'll give it a go," Amanda says, stomping up to the bush. "They stop changin' when you pull 'em off, right?' Ya hope for the best!" She selects a berry and tugs it off, only to find it's orange. "Damn."

"Miss O'Neill," Finneran growls. "What is it I told you about running off to do things without instruction?"

"But-"

"If you haven't noticed, this bush does not have many berries left at the moment. We must be careful with our selection. We do not have time to find another bush and try again."

Her words make the group realize there really are only about twenty or so full berries left amongst the leaves due to wildlife nipping at them. Everyone stiffens briefly.

"We've gotta be careful," Hannah murmurs. "If we don't get at least ten, then Diana-"

"I can do it." Everyone is shocked to hear Sucy speak up, especially with such confidence. She shrugs. "I've dealt with Akko for three semesters. I know a thing or two about patience."

She slinks forward toward the bush and reaches for one of the color-changing berries. Everyone huddles behind her to observe. It changes from red to orange to yellow to green and-

"There!" Sucy plucks the berry off its stem right as it turns blue. Sure enough, it holds that color after it's been picked. Amanda slaps Sucy on the back.

"Nice goin'!"

Sucy deposits the berry into Finneran's jar.

"Like I said, anything's easy after dealing with Akko for so long."

There's a unanimous hum of agreement.

So Sucy works her magic, though not quite literally, and plucks off nine more berries when they're perfectly blue. She plucks two extra just for good measure.

When they've finished, the witches straighten up, glad to see Finneran's jar now filling gradually.

"Very good, ladies," Badcock says. "Next we need to be on the lookout for Golden Bees for the honey."

"G-Golden Bees?" Hannah yelps. "Aren't they like... as big as your hand?"

"And they can get aggressive," Sucy offers unhelpfully.

"Eh, who cares?" Amanda snorts. "We can just use magic to contain them or something while we get the goods."

Finneran sighs.

"Do you ever listen in any of your lectures, Miss O'Neill? When has it ever been a wise idea to enter a magic-rich territory and bring unrecognized witches' magic into it unannounced? Using our magic unnecessarily will only draw unwanted attention."

"Either way," Badcock cuts in. "Our first order of business would be to locate a hive."

"I have an idea," Sucy says. "The Golden Bees will typically roost near nectar-rich plants. I'll know where to look."

Finneran nods in approval.

"Well then let's not dilly-dally."

The witches mount their brooms and take off once again into the canopy. Sucy calls out instructions to the others.

"Look for places with a lot of plants and not a lot of wildlife. The animals avoid the Bees as much as possible."

"Right!"

So they fly for a while at a steady pace, scouring their surroundings.

And it's during the flight when they haven't got much to do when the time begins to make itself known. Every minute they're here is a minute Diana is in need of the antidote.

The collective mindset manifests itself as they subconsciously increase their flying speed.

After a while, it's Hannah who eventually speaks up.

"Everyone! C-Could that be...?"

The others all turn to look back to where she's pointing down below. The trees are very still, without much wildlife or birds moving beneath them. Sucy, at the head of the procession, arcs her broom.

"That could be it. Let's go."

She leads them down with the professors flanking either side of the group. They land in a grassy area and immediately make note of an odd buzzing sound.

"Sounds like this is the place," Amanda mutters.

"Indeed," Finneran says.

"Over there." Sucy points her broom toward a thicket that's swaying with movement and seems to be the source of the sound. When they turn to look, a large bee suddenly emerges and takes off. Hannah leaps back, Amanda grimaces.

"Yeesh, those things are huge."

Finneran puts out her arm to keep them all back.

"Precisely why we need to handle this wisely. I can't have anyone getting stung."

"But how are we gonna get near the hive?" Hannah whimpers.

"We could try to distract them!" Amanda offers. "We'd need a decoy-"

"We are not decoying anyone," Finneran snaps.

"And using magic is not a wise option," Badcock reminds them.

As everyone begins to converse and try to figure something out, they barely even notice the quietest member of their group.

Constanze walks over to pluck Finneran's jar right out of her hands. She pulls a device from her sleeve, clicks a switch, and her Stanbot configures itself. She hands it the jar and begins fiddling with her controller.

One by one, the others stop talking to watch her.

The Stanbot waddles its way over to the thicket and then maneuvers its way inside just as another Bee flies out. The witches wait in stunned silence. Not a moment later, Stanbot reappears with the jar halfway filled with honey. It hands the jar back to Constanze, who in turn hands it back over to a stunned Finneran.

There's a beat of silence. Finneran blinks.

"Well I... suppose this will do."

"Hell yeah!" Amanda blurts out. She grabs her teammate and hoists her into a hug. "Way to go, Constanze!"

"Stanbot too," Sucy says, patting the robot's head.

"Well done," Badcock says. "Now we only need that mandrake and whatever the research team discovers."

"The mandrake will be tough," Sucy mumbles. "But we should be able to find one..."

But as she starts to ponder their next plan of action, she notices something move out of the corner of her eye. Evidently Finneran notices too.

"Girls," she snaps. "Get on your brooms. Now."

When they next look up the shadows of the trees all around them have come to life.

Black, misty creatures with no clear shape take form one by one, until there are at least a dozen. The only set characteristic are their eyes that flash from red to green to yellow.

They look like leopards, then bears, then wolves, then something else.

They snarl softly and prowl closer to the witches, circling them. Hannah clings onto Amanda's arm for dear life while Constanze sends out Stanbot to shield them.

"No sudden movements," Finneran utters. "Slowly mount your brooms. We'll take off all at once."

The witches do as they're told, lowering their brooms and getting into position with meticulous slowness. The creatures shift and draw nearer. Sucy reaches for a potion bottle up her sleeve. She checks to ensure everyone is ready to take off, then gives a shout.

"Now!"

In one swift motion she smashes the bottle onto the ground. A swirl of smoke clogs the air, hiding them from view as the unanimous cry of "Tia Freyre!" rings out. The witches take off as the creatures hiss in confusion and vanish into the shadowy mist.

Once they're all safely in the air, Hannah begins to wail.

"W-What the heck were those things, Professor?"

"Spirits," Finneran replies. "Or perhaps guardians would be more accurate. Their purpose is to locate and asses any abnormalities or intruders of the Eternal Forest."

"S-So they're gonna be looking for us now?"

"It's very possible. All the more reason we should be on our way quickly."

"We must find a mandrake," Badcock mutters. "Be on the lookout for a darker area of the forest."

"There was a shady place back by the river," Amanda says.

"Then lead the way, Miss O'Neill."

Amanda takes off at the head of the group, and together they speed back the way they'd come.

Before long, the stream is visible again. Amanda takes them upwind to a section of woods where the leaves grow a little darker and a little more thickly. When Sucy glances down, she can see a lot of brambles and above-ground roots.

"This'd be the spot," she mutters. "Lots of things to trip on once it's after you."

"We need a petal from it, right?" Amanda asks.

"Yes," Badcock replies. "But first we must-"

"Found it."

Everyone looks down to where Sucy is nodding. Far below the canopy, past dark brambles and gnarled thistles and nasty tangles of bushes, sits a large recognizable shape. It's the massive dark bulb of a mandrake, closed at the moment, still and lying in wait for unsuspecting prey.

The witches come to a halt and hover above it. Amanda voices their biggest concern.

"So... how the hell're we gonna get a petal if it's closed?"

The professors share a consternated look. Amanda persists.

"We can't just sit around here and wait for something to wander by so it'll open up. Diana needs this stuff ASAP."

"Of course," Badcock mumbles. "We don't have time to sit and wait. But the only way to get that mandrake to open its petals would be-"

"No!" Finneran snaps. "I've said it countless times now! We are not decoying any member of this party! It is far too dangerous!"

"It won't be that bad!" Amanda argues. "All she'd have to do would be walk in range of it and then run out! Everyone else can be up here on standby and use magic as a last resort if she needs help. It'll work."

"Nonsense. I won't hear it-"

"I'll do it."

Finneran cuts off at the sound of her student's voice. All eyes turn to the girl who had spoken, probably the last one anyone would've expected to volunteer for this.

Hannah sits on her broom with her chest puffed out and her chin high, though everyone can clearly see she's gripping the handle so hard her hands are shaking.

"I'll do it, Professor," she says again. "Up until now, everyone has done their part to gather some ingredient for Diana, but I haven't done anything. If there's one thing I've learned in my time being Diana's teammate, it's how to run away while she handles the problem..." She glances down at the mandrake lying in wait down below. "I'll do it. I'll be the decoy."

No sooner had she finished than Finneran is already barking.

"Absolutely not. I will not-"

"Anne." Professor Badcock stops her colleague softly. Finneran rounds on her.

"Samantha! You cannot possibly think-"

"I think she's a lot faster than either of us old coots would be. And like Miss O'Neill proposed, we can be here with wands drawn to interfere if need be." She glances back down to the forest below and Finneran follows her gaze. "It may be the only way."

Finneran huffs and puffs and grunts to herself, muttering in mild outrage and frustration. The others wait anxiously, but none more so than Hannah. At last, Finneran snaps her head up.

"Listen, all of you! We are to cover Miss England attentively and seriously! Should anything go awry our priority will be to protect her! If we are forced to use our magic it's likely the spirits may come back, and engaging with them will only delay us further. We must do this properly. Am I clear?"

"Yes!"

Finneran lets out a long, heavy sigh, then drifts over to Hannah.

"All you must do is get in range enough to provoke it. As soon as it opens its petals flee as quickly as you can."

Hannah trembles, but her eyes are clear.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Finneran is about to speak again when Amanda flies in and bumps Hannah's broom with hers.

"Don't sweat it! We got'cher back!"

"R-Right!"

Sucy volunteers to be the one to fly in and pluck the petal when the time is right, being she knows the most about the mandrake and how to handle it most efficiently.

Once everything is arranged and decided, they get into position.

The professors, Constanze and Amanda draw their wands and lower themselves a bit. Sucy and Hannah fly lower still before branching apart. Sucy circles quietly behind the mandrake and keeps her distance for now.

Hannah shakily lowers herself to the forest floor and dismounts, clutching her broom with both hands. She glances around the area, but it seems most creatures know this place to be dangerous because there's nothing here.

She looks back to the dark brambles and the curled-up mandrake flower beyond. It's waiting, coiled halfway up a tree, thorny tendrils unmoving and ready to spring to life.

Hannah can feel her heart back-flipping a hundred beats per second. She draws in a deep breath, but it doesn't do her much good. What pushes her to take that first step is remembering.

Diana needs this...

And just like that, at least half of her fear drains away. She checks to where Sucy is hovering up ahead to make sure she's ready, then proceeds.

Hannah treads softly, keeping an eye on the ground as well as the looming mandrake. She bites her lip to prevent herself from making too much noise, less she provoke it too early.

She pauses briefly, but the mandrake doesn't move. She's sure to keep an eye on its tendrils as well, but none of them are trying to creep up on her. She inhales again and keeps going.

She gets closer. And closer.

And even though she knows she has five skilled witches backing her up, and even though she knows the whole point of this is to make the mandrake open its jaws, she still isn't ready for it when it happens.

She can't be five feet away when it suddenly rips its petals open and roars, revealing dripping saliva and sharp teeth. The vines and tendrils shoot forward toward her as the mandrake hisses and attacks.

Hannah shrieks and instinctively throws her broom at the open jaws before turning on her heels and fleeing as quickly as she can. She doesn't look back to see if Sucy's done her part or not. Hannah just runs and runs and runs, feet pounding as hard as her heart as she hears the terrifying sounds screeching behind her.

She runs and runs-

Suddenly there's a sharp pain in her ankle. A tendril grabs her, and she crashes to the ground with numbing impact. She feels it start to drag her back.

"Kyaaaaaa! No no no-!"

The next thing she knows someone's grabbing her hand and pulling her free.

"Come on!" Amanda yells. "Grab on!"

Hannah can barely even open her eyes. She just feels the broom handle between her knees and locks her arms around Amanda as tightly as she can. There's a rush of air, and the sounds of the hissing mandrake fade away down below.

At last Hannah opens her eyes fully to find herself at Amanda's back, safely out of range. The professors look a bit pale, but eventually sigh in relief.

"Goodness..."

Hannah's heart is still pounding, but she manages to straighten up a little bit, peering bashfully up at Amanda.

"You saved me..."

Amanda shrugs.

"Well the whole decoy idea was mine from the start, after all."

Hannah loosens her grip just a little and breathes a sigh of relief.

A few seconds later Sucy joins the rest of them, waving a big purple petal.

"Got it."

"Excellent!" Badcock proclaims. "Good work, ladies."

"I suppose it was." Finneran offers the jar of ingredients to Sucy, who folds up the petal and places it inside. The jar re-seals itself with all of the assigned ingredients securely inside. "Now then, we just need word from the research team about what the final unknown ingredient might be. Hopefully it is something we'll be able to acquire here. Miss O'Neill."

"Yeah?"

Finneran floats toward her and hands her the jar.

"As soon as we have everything we need, I will open the leyline. You're to fly back to Luna Nova as quickly as possible."

"Got it."

Deciding she doesn't want to be on Amanda's broom when that happens, Hannah shakily switches brooms to ride with Professor Finneran. Constanze flies over to Amanda to equip her broom with boosters.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for a call, to know if they need to keep looking for one more thing, and what it could be.

"We could be here a while..." Amanda mutters.

But as if by some miracle, Sucy feels a vibration from her wand. She draws it and opens up her personal messaging system.

"Not for long," she announces. "It's from Lotte. Looks like they figured out the last thing we need."

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A/N: I thought long and hard about what ingredients I could come up with that would allow each of these 4 girls to obtain one each in their own way. I really wanted Hannah to be the one to get the last one, because how often do we ever see Hannah appreciation?

Also there was a bit of canon content about Hannah crushing on Amanda when she wore her suit, not knowing it was her. So I wanted to put in a little scene of them~

Next chapter will focus on the library group!