Private Finished Follow the Road that Winds

Elizabeth knew it was she who suggested to look for something else but... she changed her mind the very moment after she said it. Shaking her head she told William, "Not exactly... I still know very little about what even exists around here, so I don't exactly mean to look for anything else, if I don't even know what to look for."

And then she started walking, turning back towards where the flock of sheep ran of to.

"Maybe those fluffy animals went off for something else. What do you think?"

Not even waiting for an answer, Elizabeth began to speed up her walking, into the trees. She understood the animals might not have been happy about her and William's intrusion on them, but she didn't understand that it was in fact dangerous to try again.

Slightly confused, Elizabeth crunched her nose a bit and furrowed her eyebrows. She had a small smile only because William's tone had surprised her and she found it quite amusing, but she was confused nonetheless.

"Okay," she answered. She had no idea why William insisted on such a thing, but she wasn't going to say no to it either. Although, what could be so dangerous about those animals made of cotton?

"Don't stray," she repeated, "I understand. Then..." To keep herself from doing so, Elizabeth grabbed onto William's forearm and began to take him along with her. She was humming for a while until a question struck her mind and she decided to ask, "What do you intend to do, or to look for, after this, William? Surely there must be something."

Elizabeth hummed at William's answer, and continued to walk with him cheerfully as she thought about seeing those sheep again. She would still like to touch them after all, though if William tells her not to, she wouldn't.

"There must be others that aren't exactly... 'normal'," she mused, though she had honestly not yet seen any of that. Back home there were many, but the diversity of creatures there was definitely not as great as that of in this island. "Maybe there aren't any in the campus, but I'd wager there are more kinds in the forest. Maybe I'll visit some other time."

Then, Elizabeth stopped walking after a realization. She looked at William curiously, and just a little bit anxiously. "You've already seen them?" she asked. She was all of a sudden worried that she might have only been acting silly, if it were only she who's felt thrilled to look for the fluffy things all this time. William didn't exactly outwardly express it if he was at all even excited. "I mean, we both just did, technically. But how about before?"

"Oh, then, you'd at least know something about them? I've never seen them before, even in books. There aren't many books about non-magic at home, and I grew up around horses and bears and birds and dogs mostly."

Elizabeth smiled, William's reassurance working its magic. So that was that, and they made their way through the path and followed the trails of prints, of strands of wool, and of bushes that seemed as if a horde of animals had run through them. They were straying farther and farther away from the campus, which, if they didn't turn back, would prove to be dangerous as this part didn't have a physical boundary to keep the academy separated from the woods beyond.

Elizabeth didn't seem to notice. She also probably didn't realize that sheep would probably not head into the areas with thicker trees.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?!"

As if on cue, a loud male broke through the layers of trees and bushes. Elizabeth flinched, and abruptly turned to the source of the voice. There was someone in the distance, a tall man in a sleeveless shirt and a pair of jeans, had long black hair and scary narrow crimson eyes. He was making his way towards them, and the closer he got the clearer Elizabeth saw what expression he had on his face. He wasn't happy.

"You guys do know this isn't the academy anymore, right?" the man asked, to which Elizabeth gingerly nodded. She was half lying. Fully if William hadn't just told her something similar.

"We... were looking for some animals that ran off," she said quietly. She was shrinking and unconsciously hiding behind William. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No need for apologies but you have to turn around. If I see you here again, I'll have to tell someone about it." This time, the man looked at William, "Do you know the way back? Or should I escort you two?" He was an instructor, but of course William and Elizabeth wouldn't know that.