Happy Birthday [OPEN to anyone]

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

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[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

Belaya looked worriedly at her professor then gave him Glamoura's leash. Glamoura, understanding his owner's request, snuggled closer to the professor so he could keep him warm with his thick pelt.

"Just wait here for a bit, okay?" she said, briskly walking to the stables.

It took her awhile but she returned with riding gear and some blankets. She then ran over to the field with 2 bridles and lead a pure black horse and a chestnut to the fallen tree. Once there she quickly handed the reigns to Brent and quickly saddled them up.

"Meet our temporary transportation professor!" she exclaimed with a large grin. She loved horses and was overjoyed to be able to ride them again. "The chestnut will be yours for now. He's about 16.5 hands tall and has a very sweet temper. I'll be using the black horse. She's about 15 hands tall and has a bit more spirit. Probably since she's only about 5 years old. Yours is probably 6 and a half."

After explaining a bit about the horses Belaya expertly swung herself onto her mare's back but quickly hopped back down realizing that Professor McKinney probably needed help.

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/i]
He brushed aside all of his anxiety and jumped upwards so he was now on top of the horse. Sideways. The saddle was painfully digging into his stomach and his legs were wildly dancing in the air. Eventually, he managed to shift his body so that he was now sat properly on the horse. Now, that was not a pleasant experience...

Brent couldn't see much, his long fringe was now hanging right over his eyes, blocking the vast majority of his vision. Annoyed that his hair had fallen out of place, Brent used his hands to put it back in place. "Stupid horse."
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(OOC: ..Oh, Brent..)

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

Belaya laughed as she watched Brent scramble upon the handsome chestnut. She was amazed that the horse didn't move during the whole ordeal.

"So I do believe this means you've never ridden a horse before, huh?" she said amusedly while easily swinging herself onto her horse's back with no difficulty at all "Good thing I got the leading reigns..."

Belaya maneuvered her horse next to Brent's and quickly changed the reigns so Professor McKinney wouldn't control the stallion. Meanwhile, Glamoura moved towards Belaya so she could remove his collar so he could run free behind the horses.

"Okay. I'll take off the leash. Just make sure you stay close and within my range of vision." she said sternly to her pet while taking off the leash and putting it back into her bag.

Belaya then gently squeezed her horse's side and gave a gentle -click click- and started walking Southeast of the stables, Brent and his horse following behind them.

"Well I guess I owe you an explanation now, huh?" she said slowly and shifting in her saddle to be more comfy "Well I basically came here to find out what happened to my parents. It's as plain and simple as that."

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/i] was the one who had messed up his hair. He sighed in relief as Belaya changed the reigns, he would probably end up dead or at least seriously injured if he was in control.

"Your parents live here? ..I never knew that." Brent muttered, tilting his head to the side quizzically. "I'll be sure to tell them how much trouble you've gotten yourself if and when we see them." he joked light-heartedly, almost falling off his horse as he lost most of his concentration. Brent knew absolutely nothing of Mr and Mrs Drocellmeyer and was interested to see what they would be like. He rarely met his students' families but liked to make a good impressions whenever he actually did.

"Hang on.. Then you come from Russia, right?" he asked, "Interesting. As you can tell from my accent, I was born in America, Nevada. I moved to England when I was eight, luckily I never picked up the accent there."
Brent thought back to the days of his childhood, days that were partly forgotten. He remembered some parts of his life in Nevada, like school. He had many friends there and was constantly getting into trouble. That didn't really change when he came to Hogwarts... and messed it all up... Brent's mood suddenly turned sour, thinking of his past brought back unpleasant memories that he'd rather forget. "Sometimes I think my life would've been a lot easier if I'd stayed in Nevada." Brent snarled bitterly.[/color][/font][/ul]

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

"You should at least be happy that you have a good, sweet tempered horse." she replied with a chuckle.
"You should also be happy that you're not using my horse." she added, petting the black mare's neck. The mare was challenging to control and was slightly shy but Belaya managed. After all, who wouldn't want this beautiful, spirited horse?

"Yeah. Last I heard they were still living here." she replied, slightly stiff.
She couldn't help but cringe as he made the joke but ignored it and rode on in silence.

"No I don't come from Russia. I come America. Virginia to be exact." she said coldly. She knew she now had to talk about her history and that's a thing that she hated doing.
"I came Russia when I was 3 or 4 years ago due to my... father's work." she said even more coldly and stiffer than before "I then went to England when I was about 9 and I haven't really returned her since. And before you ask, my father was an ambassador for America. Hogwarts really helped save my life and so I'm rely grateful for being able to stay there..."

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/i]"
Brent knew he was being bitter but the memories were flooding his mind, bringing back strong feelings of hatred, embarrassment and regret.

Unsurprisingly, it was the bad memories that he was thinking of right now and not the good ones. That's probably because there's more of them...
Brent was getting even more annoyed now; annoyed that he was allowing himself to delve so deeply into things that have long since passed and should be forgotten. The teenage Brent and the adult Brent were two different people who had made many different decisions in life. Whenever Brent looked back on himself, he always felt the shame inside of him. He brought his thoughts back to the present. "So, how long will it take us to get to your parents?"[/color][/font][/ul]

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

Belaya just rode on in silence, ignoring Brent's words. If she let him get to her, her other side would get stronger and that would be very bad. For him and for her.

"Well, I honestly don't know. But I do believe there's someone who can tell us." her voice cracked slightly as she remembered that someone "He retired somewhere here and he should be just a few hours away."

The man had been the caretaker of her parents' home and Belaya couldn't help but hate this man as well. His name was Max, a Russian- American who was good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Drocellmeyer.

Suddenly Glamoura gave a quiet warning growl. He smelt other humans and they were probably going to be ambushed. Belaya nodded, understanding the wolfdog's message, and urged the horses to go at a gallop.

Glamoura let out a loud bark, telling that the ambushers were attacking. Belaya deducted that they had horses as well, judging by the loudness of Glamoura's warning. She sharply turned the horses to flee but her effort was in vain as they were surrounded by Russian thieves on horseback.

"Oh great. This can't be good." she growled angrily to herself while getting out her dagger.

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/i] he asked himself.

"Holy shit!" he shouted, seeing the thieves that surrounded himself, Belaya, Glamoura and their horses. He didn't care if he was in the presence of a student, it wasn't his fault that he'd let his language slip in such a terrifying situation. Then he remembered what Belaya had told him about Russians and kept quiet. Brent sat up straight on his horse and held his head high, making sure to look down on the Muggles with a stern expression that showed them all just how 'powerful' he was. Brent was tempted to pull out his wand and curse most of them, he knew he would be able to but it was too big a risk. If he didn't get all of them and one or two ran off, the secrets of the Wizarding World would surely be revealed. That was if people believed them though. Swiftly, he took out his knife, doing his best to keep calm and in control.[/color][/font][/ul]

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

The two sides stared at each other, deciding who was to attack first. Belaya mentally nodded to herself as Brent pulled out his knife and put on a powerful look, she just hoped that they wouldn't be humiliated too.

Belaya looked extremely dangerous and barely anyone in Hogwarts would recognize her, the way she looked right now. Her dark blue eyes were as cold and calculating as the winter around them and the way she held her dagger showed that she knew how to use it and wasn't afraid to.

She observed the thieves for a minute before laughing maniacally and stopped to speak. "It looks like I won't have to speak Russian. Other things are arising from the past as it seems. Huh. Looks like we don't have to go any further than this Professor. Long time, no see old friend!" she stared at the hooded figure who seemed to be the leader with a crazy, sarcastic grin.

"Indeed." the figure responded, taking off the hood and revealing his face.

The leader was a teenager, probably just a bit older than Belaya. He also had a kind, gentle face with only traces of a beard showing. His eyes were a home-y emerald green as he smiled at Belaya.

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/i] "We don't?" he asked, putting back his knife with a relieved sigh as Belaya greeted one of the thieves. Brent decided that the man there didn't look like too much of a threat but kept his guard up just in case.

Right now, he was starting to feel a little homesick. He wanted to see Maryn and Ribbity II and maybe he'd rather see some work that needed marking than this seemingly endless snow-covered landscape. He wished that his patronus hadn't been intercepted. He wished he hadn't come to Russia in the first place. He could be tucked up in his office right now with his guitar, Charlie, strumming a tune and singing along; safe, warm and content. But no. Brent was in Russia and had no idea whatsoever what was going on. All he had was this feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong in the near future.

"Hang on a second, Belaya," he said quietly, trying his best to keep calm though his voice was wavering dangerously, "who is that? And what the hell is going on now?"[/color][/font][/ul]

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

Belaya ignored her professor though she stroked her mare's neck nervously as she heard it.

"Lewis Redpaw..." Belaya growled at the boy with dirty blond hair "I thought never to come near me again, though I'm partly glad I found you."

"Don't be so harsh Belley! It wasn't my fault I let him die." Lewis replied with a smile that made Belaya glare at him "Now, why don't we make camp. I'm sure your friend here is cold and tired."

Lewis promptly snapped his fingers and a few of his men rushed to help Belaya down and others rushed to get supplies and start fires.

Belaya growled as they offered their hands to get her down and galloped towards a small clearing, surrounded by trees and a few boulders. Glamoura and Brent followed behind.

"Come professor, we can talk here without being disturbed by him, hopefully." she said, sliding off of her horse and quickly grabbed some of the wood Lewis's men gave her and brought out a lighter from her coat and made a fire "That man is Lewis Redpaw. He was an old friend until a little incident a few years ago..."

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

[/u]. "Camp? What, here?" Brent repeated, unbelieving. "Oh God, things just keep getting better and better don't they?" he muttered to himself in a low voice.

He was a little annoyed that Belaya had been offered a hand down and he hadn't. Then he remembered that 1) he was an adult and 2) he'd never seen any of these people before in his whole life. Brent's train of thought came to an end as his horse started to move again.

Man, I hate these things!

Clumsily, he got down from his horse and glared at it as he walked away from it. Did it... did it just glare back at me? Brent shook his head, he was sure that he was beginning to lose his mind. He stood by the fire, admiring it's warmth. "What incident?" he asked as soon as Belaya had finished. Usually, he would've been a little more polite but he'd had enough of Russia already and his patience was wearing thin.[/color][/font][/ul]

[Belaya Drocellmeyer]

Belaya nervously fidgeted with Glamoura's fur when Brent asked her about the 'incident'. She was still extremely uncomfortable about the topic but she started opening her mouth to speak. But no words came out. She waited a few moments before trying again.

"Well... There's a bit more than one incident. So it's incidents." Belaya replied, voice quivering "He... Well..."

She then lay down on the snow next to Glamoura and closed her eyes. It took most of her willpower to stop herself from crying and killing Lewis Redpaw right then and there.

"Lewis Redpaw and I met when I was about 6. At that time I was having... problems with family and when me and my brother turned to Lewis for help the little prick didn't help us. He didn't help us escape nor did he help Jay!" Belaya growled, turning away from Brent and focusing on Glamoura's black ears "By then I was deeply doubting his true friendship but the worst was when I was about 9... I was in England at the time and Jay got sick. I had to take care of Jay. And you know what Lewis did? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. When I was done with my brother he asked me to join him. Then he openly admitted that he had been watching us the whole time and now he comes out and tells us? He could've helped! No. He could've helped us escape. He didn't. I don't trust him and never will, he hurt my family too much already."

Belaya's story was in jumbles but she didn't care. She got the story out and that's what her professor wanted, even if it was jumbled up.

[Brent McKinney-Jackson]

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