Raphael watched Leila's reaction to the petrified tree. He was glad to see that she liked it as much as he did it seemed. "Yeah, it's pretty cool isn't it?" he said and looked at the tree with his pale eyes. "I wonder how it turned this way." Raphael said quietly and smiled up at Leila. He never really tried climbing the tree for fear of damaging it but he figured he could at least climb it once in his life. "Alright." Raphael was grateful for her help as he managed to get up onto the first branch. "You want to try and climb all the way to the top?" he asked her and looked around. He didn't think anyone had followed them. If he was right, everyone was still in their classes so they were most likely alone right now.

Leila sat back for a moment, her hand on the tree, feeling the rough, cool bark. She was as curious as Raphael, how did it get this way? Why? Perhaps Luke would be able to answer those questions, but did she want to reveal this place to him? Perhaps Raphael wouldn't mind...

Frowning, she set that thought aside, she didn't want to anger her new friend, she knew she'd be upset if he wanted to give away the location about her secret places. "All the way to the top. Think you can do it?" Leila was always climbing trees, she could do it easily, but she'd feel bad leaving Raphael behind. Perhaps if they even just went a few branches higher... Standing up on the branch, she reached up and grabbed the next one, using it to pull herself up. Normally she didn't wear a dress, or have an audience while climbing trees, so she struggled a bit more than usual, the dress getting caught up under her knees, and of course the concern about modesty. Well, at least she should be concerned about that, but she always had been a free spirit. Luke would be quite upset if he knew, so perhaps she shouldn't tell him about this adventure.

"Come on, I'll help you." Leila gripped the branch with one hand and reached down with the other, holding it out to him. It might take some time, but like this they could get to the top. Was a tree of stone more sturdy than of wood? She hoped the branches wouldn't crack under them. Neither of them were very heavy, so hopefully it would be alright.

Raphael nodded. "I think I can." he said and turned away as she climbed to the next branch. He could always turn her invisible that way she wouldn't have to worry about being modest. He of coursed wasn't going to look up her dress, he wasn't some sort of perverted creep. He didn't want to make the suggestion though, thinking it would probably seem rude but if he kept quiet then Leila would probably think he was a pervert. "Umm..." Raphael started and glanced up at her, blushing and quickly looking away again. "If you're struggling, maybe I can make you go invisible?" he finally suggested.

"It might be harder to climb the tree though since I can't let go of you or else you'll just be visible again." Raphael explained and took her hand, climbing up to the next branch with her. "What do you think made this tree like this?" he asked. He was interested in hearing what her thoughts were on what could have turned this tree to stone.

Leila looked at him, confused for a moment. Oh, he was blushing! She giggled and shook her head at him. "No need for that. I doubt it is anything you haven't seen before." Long ago Leila had learned to be comfortable with her body, at least a bit, and especially without wearing much in the clothes department, considering that every time she shifted, she'd be naked when she came back to human form. Of course the school didn't appreciate that, not since her first year when she had been caught sneaking through the hall completely naked. It was the girls floor, so she didn't understand why it mattered, but Luke had been quite upset, and she was warned to never do that again.

Thinking about his question, she stood up and grabbed the next branch, pulling herself up. The higher they went, the smaller the branches would be, and she stayed close to the trunk, not wanting to risk the branches breaking further out. "I don't know, Luke would probably know, he has read nearly all the books in the library and knows just about everything..." She mused, hinting at the fact that she could ask Luke, and giving Raphael the chance to turn down the idea if he didn't want anyone else to know. Once more she reached her hand out to help him up if he needed it. They had a long way still to the top, and she was excited to see what the view was like from up there.

Raphael was surprised at what she said. Did that mean she thought he was some kind of pervert? If her brother found about about this Raphael was a dead man he was sure of it. "Well as long as you're comfortable." he said quietly as he climbed up the tree with her. How long would it take them to reach the top? Hopefully getting down wouldn't be much of a problem. Raphael looked up, they still had a long way to go to get to the top and he couldn't wait to see what it was like up there. They would probably be able to see the whole school from up there! Or at least the entire forest that they were currently in.

"Do you think your brother would really know?" Raphael asked and thought about other possibilities. "What if he doesn't know?" he asked. "I suppose it would be better to ask him rather than a teacher. The teacher might just get us into trouble or something." Raphael pointed out. Once again, Raphael took her hand and climbed up onto the next branch with her. "What about your other friend? Do you think she would know?" he asked, referring to Myriam. She seemed to get along with Luke very well which told Raphael that she was probably as book smart as Luke. Maybe she had the answer if he didn't.

Leila shrugged and looked up, judging the best way to get up the tree. It wasn't as easy as with a normal tree, where she could just push and bend branches out of the way. "Luke knows a lot, I'm sure he does. If he doesn't, then he probably will find out for us... he'll take any excuse to read a book." She grinned at that, it was strange how different they were, she struggled to enjoy any sort of book, while he read anything he could get his hands on. She preferred to get her hands dirty and explore, and didn't care much for history or what they taught in school. Why would she need that to travel the world?

Pulling herself up to the next branch, she looked down at him, frowning. "I'll admit I don't know much about Myriam. I just befriended her, and that was a scheme on my part to find Luke a friend..." She could only shrug and pull herself up onto the next branch. Raphael seemed to be handling himself well enough, and she was in a hurry to see the view. "Well, if I'm lucky, Myriam will be more than a friend for Luke." Would Raphael not appreciate her meddling, even if it was her own brother? A lot of people would have told her to leave it be, but she was worried for Luke and what he'd do if she was gone. It didn't take long before she was pulling herself up, the branches getting closer together, making the trip easier in that regard, though her dress kept snagging on the stone branches and she was trying her best to not totally expose herself in front of Raphael.

Raphael laughed softly. It was nice to know that they could probably count on her brother. He wondered what it was like to have a sibling. He didn't think he had any and if he did they were probably dead too. "Well if your brother can help us I will appreciate it. It would be neat to know how this tree got this way." Raphael said honestly. He was looking up at her as she spoke and didn't like to see that frown on her face. "You don't know much about her?" he asked.

Listening to what she said, he was surprised. So she was just using Myriam in a way? That didn't seem like the kind of thing that Leila would do though. Was she being serious? He climbed onto the next branch as he listened to her. "So you only befriended Myriam just so that your brother would have to talk to her AND you want her to be your brother's girlfriend?" he asked and smiled softly. "Wow, well goodluck with that. It's a little mean but I guess it's actually really sweet once you think about it." Raphael started. "I mean, you want him to have a special someone and you're willing to help him find that special someone. That's really nice." he said and kept climbing the tree. "It must be nice having siblings." Raphael said.

"Well, I had hoped to be her friend too, but..." Leila frowned, thinking of when she had shown Myriam her secret place. It didn't seem that she cared for Leila much, and since she was getting along quite nicely with Luke, she wasn't going to bother them with her presence. "She just doesn't seem to overly care for me, I suppose. She's very much like Luke, I think, so I probably bother her as much as I bother him." She could only shrug and continued climbing the tree, not knowing what else to say on the matter. He thought it mean, her scheme to get the two of them together? She hadn't thought of it that way, it wasn't like she was making Myriam stay... Myriam could have never talked to them again if she didn't want to, yet here she was with Luke.

Sighing, she sat on the branch only a bit higher than where she had just been. "After I'm done with this place, I want to travel. Luke wants to be a historian. He will probably go to college, or something, and spend his life sitting in a library reading books. I'm afraid that if I don't find him someone, he will be alone when I'm gone." Normally, Luke was the mature one and she was too busy to be worried about anything, but she had put a lot of thought into this.Hating how somber the conversation turned, she continued to climb back up the tree, distracting herself from her thoughts.

Raphael didn't say anything. He guessed that maybe Leila didn't want to talk about this anymore. "I know you probably don't want to talk about this and I respect that, but I want to say something." Raphael said after a moment of silence. "I think that it's really sweet of you to look out for your brother like that. And even if it doesn't seem like he cares, I'm sure your brother appreciates it." Raphael said. He was being honest. What kind of sibling wouldn't appreciate what Leila was doing? Luke did seem like the super quiet guy and yes Myriam did seem like she got along with him very well but he couldn't believe that she didn't want to get to know Leila.

If Myriam did end up being more than a friend to Luke, Raphael was sure that Luke would want both girls to get along right. So Leila wanted to travel. At least she already had an idea of what she wanted to be in life. He wanted anything with art. A sculptor was his dream job but he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to get to that point in his life.

Leila sighed and sat on the branch a few above Raphael, kicking her feet as she did so. What more was there to say? She didn't like being so personal, so serious. "I think we're about halfway up." She mumbled, looking above her, wondering if they'd make it tot he top without incident. Then there was getting down...

"You doing okay?" She called down to him as she pulled herself up onto another branch. He seemed quite capable so far, so she didn't wait for him, instead going up further, even as the branches grew closer and harder to navigate through. It was rough, the stone leaves and branches not giving like a normal tree would. The fluffy skirts kept getting caught on the branches and she had to take the time to untangle the layers. As she made her way up another branch the sound of fabric tearing made her cringe, "Stupid dress." She muttered, pulling on it to free it, a strip missing along one edge. She giggled about it, she probably looked a mess right now, the braids in her hair were coming loose, the dress ripped and wrinkled, and her face flushed from the effort of climbing the tree.

Okay he wasn't going to talk to her about stuff like that anymore. For all he knew he probably ruined whatever friendship they had. This was why he stayed alone all the time. Raphael continued to climb the tree with ease. One by one he was getting closer and closer to the top. He was sure she was excited to see the top. him, not so much. He was mostly worried about climbing back down.

He didn't like that she had torn her dress but she didn't seem to care, she probably liked it better that way. He looked down at his oversized clothing and forced himself to go invisible because he was more comfortable that way. It was how he was always so of course it was how he felt more comfortable. "Yes I'm fine." he said quietly and reached up for another branch, almost slipping but he quickly grabbed on to the branch and sighed softly. They were almost there although that's what he had thought a while ago. No matter how high they climbed, the top of the tree always seemed far away.

Leila sighed and sat down on a branch, taking a deep breath. "This is harder than I thought it'd be..." She muttered, looking up, seeing they still had a bit to go. It had obviously been too long since she had bothered to climb a tree in human form, because she wasn't in enough shape to not feel affected by it. Looking down, she noticed Raphael was no longer there. She hadn't heard a scream, meaning he likely hadn't fallen, so he must have turned invisible. Why did he always do that? Perhaps he didn't like to be seen...

"Welp, guess we should keep going." She grinned as she stood up, pulling herself up onto another branch. The branches were closer together, it was easier to reach the branches, but her dress was getting caught on some of the stone leaves and branches. Oh well, she could always buy another. Hopefully the same didn't happen to Raphael's clothes, she'd feel bad if it did... Towards the top there were too many leaves to get any higher, not without trying to break them off, which she wasn't sure she wanted to do. From the branch she sat on, she could at least see out , they were taller than some of the trees, so she could see out pretty far. "Come see this." She urged Raphael, holding out her hand to pull him up. They'd have to squeeze together on the branch, but they were both pretty small and light.

Raphael snickered, "Yeah. It's a really tall tree isn't it?" he asked her. There was still a bit of climbing that needed to be done before they reached the top. "We don't really have another choice do we?" Raphael asked teasingly. It was a struggle climbing this tree. Maybe he'd just stick to climbing the smaller trees from now on and maybe he shouldn't have worn such oversized clothing. Talk about being lazy. It was a miracle she was even talking to him when he looked so...filthy? She always looked so princess-like, and he looked so..peasant-like? He wasn't sure that was the word he was looking for but it seemed to be the only one that made sense to him.

Hearing her, Raphael did his bed to climb a little faster. His clothes would get stuck, and tear but he didn't care. Tears just added to his...peasant look. "Almost there." he said and stopped to rub his eyes before turning visible once more and continuing to climb. Maybe next time he'd wear more...fitted clothes to keep them from tearing so easily. "What does it look like?" he asked her as he continued to climb. Taking her hand, he was careful not to lose his balance and sat beside her. He was surprised that they both fit on the branch. A little snug but they fit anyway. Looking out at their surroundings, he smiled. "Wow..." Raphael gasped.

Leila smiled when he climbed up next to her, she hadn't had anyone to climb trees with her before, Luke wouldn't be bothered, and he was tall and awkward anyways, and well... she just didn't have many friends at all, not ones who would do weird stuff with her anyways. Turning towards him, she frowned, noticing how... disheveled he looked. Was she just as bad? She knew her hair was probably a mess, and she had ripped the dress a few times, but she had many dresses, so she didn't care. But did Raphael have extra clothes to have ruined his like this? She would have to see what she could do for him to make up for it.

"It's really pretty up here, huh?" She mumbled, tilting her head to the side and resting it on his shoulder. She felt so peaceful up here, so calm, all she could hear was the breeze in the trees and the birds singing. No chaos, no noise from the school, not teachers complaining about her. In no rush to attempt the climb down, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. "Thank you for doing this with me."

"It is..." Raphael agreed and looked out at the many trees that surrounded them, and at the school. Or what he could see of the school. This was nice, being away from everyone like this. It was what Raphael liked to do almost every day, but he never actually climbed a tree and now he knew why; his clothes would get caught and tear. Well maybe next time he wouldn't wear such baggy clothing that made him look smaller than he was. Raphael took in all the peace and quiet, a real treat from the chaos that was school. Feeling her head rest on his shoulder, Raphael looked at her and smiled. "It was my pleasure." he said to her and looked back out at the beautiful scenery.

Raphael wondered if anyone noticed they were gone. Would her brother start looking for her? Probably not, she told him that he was the kind of person that enjoyed staying cooped up in his room to read. How long did they plan on staying here? Not that he minded, he was enjoying being like this with her even though this wasn't going to be a daily thing. "I'm happy that you enjoyed this." Raphael then said quietly so that he didn't disturb her from her thoughts.

Laila sighed, content, enjoying the breeze, fresh air, and the sounds of the forest around her. She kicked her feet lightly, ignoring the dirt and scuffs on her shoes, knowing that she would have to clean them before Luke saw it, not that it mattered, it had been worth it for the view. It was also rather nice to not be alone... she couldn't remember when she last has so much fun, Luke rarely did this with her, and the last person she tried to have fun with... well, she didn't want to think about it. At least it seemed that her mistake made things better between Luke and Myriam, so her plan worked out well in the end. Now he just needed to keep from messing it up.

"Have you ever been in love?" She wasn't sure why she asked the question, she was curious though. She loved her brother, she thought she had loved that boy, but now she realized she had been mistaken. Could she ever love someone like she loved Luke? Would he still care for her the same if he had someone else in his life? She wasn't sure, but she couldn't risk leaving him alone, even when it meant he wouldn't need her anymore.

Raphael stared out at the beautiful panorama. The slight breeze brought his hair to his face but he would carefully brush it away to the side each time. His pale eyes glued on the scenery. He wondered what was going through Leila's mind at that moment since she was also being very quiet. Which was good, but he hoped she wasn't upset about anything. When he heard her speak up, his pale eyes turned to look at her instead. She was a lovely view to look at as well, but he obviously wasn't going to tell her that. Had he ever been in love? That was an interesting question to be asked. One that Raphael wasn't actually expecting. Not he had to think back, had he ever loved anyone? Well his mother, he loved her very much but he didn't think that's what Leila was talking about when she said love.

"Well that's not a question I was expecting." Raphael started and smiled at her then looked back out at the view. His eyes followed a bird that flew off in the distance. "I loved my mother." he answered. "However I don't think that's what you mean. To answer your question correctly, no I have not. I've had many crushes on people though, but it never became more than just puppy love." Raphael answered truthfully.

Leila wondered what his reaction would be to her strange question, or if he might take it the wrong way. She smiled at his answer and nodded. "Sorry, I was just wondering what it would be like... I love Luke, but he's my brother, and I want him to be happy and fall in love. I wondered if he did, would that mean he'd love me less, and I'd lose him?" She shrugged and turned her face away, not really enjoying how personal the conversation had gotten, even though it was her own fault. Yet she couldn't stop herself, she only thought herself in love and her heart hurt when it all crashed down, how would she feel if the same happened with Luke? He was all she had.

She really wished she had her mother at a time like this, to ask her these sorts of questions and to comfort her. Most people in her family hadn't been too bothered with her and Luke, and she was sent on as soon as she became a bother. It wasn't often she felt down and wished for things to be different, because she knew they never could be, but somehow this place had put her in a mood, or was it the company? She didn't know, but she wasn't sure she liked it. Perhaps it was how quiet the forest was. Almost too quiet? It seemed strange that she couldn't hear all the birds and bugs making their sound. "I think something is wrong." She leaned over, whispered in Raphael's ear, her hand on his shoulder for balance. Did he sense it too?

She could only see a few patches of the ground that was so far below them and she wondered what could possibly be there that would disrupt the forest like that.

"Can I tell you something Leila? Honestly?" Raphael asked. "I'm sorry to get involved and I hope I don't offend you with what I am about to say, but ma-" Raphael went silent when Leila changed the subject and spoke about something being wrong. Was something wrong? He didn't hear anything, and looking around he couldn't see anything either but it felt strangely cold now that he thought about it. "It's a little cold isn't it?" he whispered back to her and gave her a quick confused glance before looking around again.

Nothing seemed to stand out, but sometimes that alone was a little frightening. "Do you think...something's in there?" Raphael whispered to her. Was there something down there? Getting past it would be easy...whatever 'it' was. Or maybe 'it' was actually a 'who'. Either way, the thought was scary but Raphael hoped that nothing was actually in here with them and that they were just imagining things. Besides, this school was very secluded. There was no way something or someone could get in here right?

Leila frowned and tries her best to listen, to figure out what could have caused a change so quickly. Could it be something so simple as a wolf? Did they have wolves in these forests? She hadn't seen one, but she was sure it was possible. Was it cold? She hadn't noticed, but now that he mentioned it she felt it, a chill in the air that hadn't been there before.

She wasn't sure if they should stay hidden or make a run for the school, they didn't want to be trapped out here, especially when it got dark, but did they want to risk running into whatever might be out there? It was so hard to see the ground below, all the stone branches in the way, the light barely filtering to the forest floor. Something could be right below them and she wasn't even sure she'd know it. If that were the case, what would they do? She could fly away, but what about Raphael? Sure he could turn invisible, but if they'd been seen already, it might not be much good.

As she tried to think of a plan, the silence was interrupted by her stomach growling. It seemed so loud considering the lack of noise around them and despite how serious the situation was, she couldn't help but giggle. "It seems I wont be able to hide out up here much longer..." She whispered once she got herself under control. "Should we hurry and get to the school?" Would he be afraid to leave the tree? She wasn't sure if she was or not.

They couldn't sit out here all day, it was dangerous and he didn't want to put Leila in any sort of danger. Leave? Yes it was probably for the best and hopefully nothing was waiting for them at the bottom of the tree. "Right, we should go while there's still sunlight out." Raphael answered quietly, smiling when he heard her stomach. She was obviously hungry, he wasn't, just thirsty. That could wait though. "Alright, let's start heading down then."

Raphael looked down below them, it was a long way down and even though he wanted to jump, he didn't think it was such a good idea. Quietly and carefully he started to climb back down the tree, his clothes still snagging in the branches every now and then. It was fairly annoying, but whatever. It would soon get dark and the woods looked scary at nighttime, that and his eyes weren't that good at night. It was almost like being blind.

He would glance up every now and then to make sure Leila was following him but he made sure not to look up her dress, he didn't want to be that guy. It seemed like forever, but when his foot touched the ground he let out a sigh of relief and quickly looked around. He didn't see anything, but maybe that was because it was quickly getting dark. "Woah...that's weird."

Leila agreed with him, since they both concentrated on their decent, she said nothing. The way down didn't seem to take as long as going up, but she still snagged and caught her dress on the branches. When nearly to the ground she let go of the branch she hung on to and dropped, hitting the ground with a soft thud as she landed on her feet. It was quiet and dark, even though she was sure it couldn't be all that late. "What time do you suppose it is?" She murmured as she scanned the area, glad to not see anything concerning just yet.

They needed to move quickly, something didn't feel right and she wanted to be back at the school. Just as she was about to step away from the tree, she noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye. Three long scratches marred the stone trunk, they were smooth and a bit shallow, but she had not recalled seeing them when they had gotten here. "Did you see these?" Leila asked with a frown, running her fingers along the marks. They almost reminded her of claws, but how could they have made this sort of mark in stone?

Raphael looked at Leila and shrugged. "I'd like to say it's around five or six maybe?" he answered her honestly. It looked as if it were close to eight but it couldn't be that late already. There was no way. He wondered what her brother was doing, was he worried about Leila? Or was he reading some book somewhere instead? Raphael wasn't even tired but he did want to go curl up in his bed and think about all that happened just now.

He looked over at what Leila was looking at and had to get closer just to see. He frowned upon seeing the claw marks. How? "No...they weren't here when we got here. S-so something must have been here and left it's mark...but what?" Raphael didn't know what could be strong enough to scratch stone. Whatever it was, it was probably bigger than them and probably still around. "We need to leave." he said quietly.

Leila had to agree with Raphael on leaving, they needed to get back to the school. Should she tell Luke about what happened? Frowning, she grabbed Raphael's hand and began walking back towards where she was sure the school was. Hopefully they didn't get lost, but it was different in here with it being so dark.

"I'm worried we are going to get lost..." She said as quietly as she could but still able to be heard. Her stomach growled again, loud enough to be heard even over her hurried feet. She would drag Raphael along if she had to, she wasn't leaving him and she wasn't willing to slow her pace. What was this feeling of dread? Never before in her life had she felt so afraid, but this feeling like something was horribly wrong made her struggle to even keep her feet moving.

---

Luke whistled to himself as he made his way to the library, surprised at how excited he was to be meeting up with Myriam there. Sure, he normally enjoyed going to the library, but this was different. He had sat through a rather boring evening meal, Leila hadn't shown but it wasn't all that unusual, especially since she seemed to have found a new friend, who seemed to be as much of a troublemaker as her. At least she wouldn't be dragging him into it all the time now.

He was halfway to his favourite spot when he remembered he was supposed to wait for Myriam. Edna, the librarian, wasn't in right now, which was strange but he didn't think much of it and sat at the desks nearby. He wanted to go get started on the books but he didn't want Myriam to show up and not be able to find him, so instead he tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently and waited for her to arrive.

It had gotten so dark, so dark to the point that Raphael couldn't see anything. Not even his own hand in front of his face. "We...we won't get lost Leila. The school has lights doesn't it?" he asked as he did his best to keep up with her. She was quick, which told him that she was really scared and he could understand because now he was scared as well. He didn't want to tell her that he was pretty much blind right now, especially since she was already scared. "We'll be fine, let's just follow the lights." he said to her and smiled although he was sure she wouldn't even notice it.

Myriam remembered what Luke told her about meeting up at the library. Where was it again? She pouted slightly as she wandered the school grounds in hope of finding the library. Was there a sign? She couldn't remember. All she remembered was something about a desk and a lady named Edna. She noticed people walking out of a building with books in their arms, that had to be the library right?

So she quickly made her way toward the large building and pushed the door only to realize she had to pull it open. Myriam blushed, embarrassed and looked around, hoping no one noticed before pulling the door open and walking inside. Once inside, she noticed the large desk, but no woman was there. Was this not the library? No, it had to be because there were so many books inside. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and she smiled when she spotted Luke at a desk most likely waiting for her. Myriam made her way over to him, "Sorry for keeping you waiting Luke. I was lost." she whispered.