Fire Rains Down (Dusti)

[Deleted]

@dusti

The day had been unpleasant so far. Most April Fools Days were. Some students had been pulling pranks, and she nearly screamed every time one of their fireworks went off, even if it was in a different place in the castle. By the time dinner arrived, Rusti had become completely fed up with everyone around her. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and sing herself to sleep, no more loud noises, no more explosions. Just quiet.

BANG.

She squeaked a little as she jumped in her seat, the food falling off of her fork. That bang was a lot closer than any of the other ones had been today. She glanced at her twin, Dusti who sat next to her. She always felt safer with her sister near, though she wished she could feel safe on her own as well. She mentally chided herself for not being strong enough and then went back to her food. Another bang echoed through the doors of the Great Hall and Rusti's hand went to Dusti's leg in shock.

"That is just those stupid fireworks, right?" she whispered, a worried expression on her face.

[Deleted]

Dusti was very.... protective of her sister. always had been, even when they were toddlers. And so, today especially, Dusti had stayed close to her timid other half. Rosaria, or Rusti as she always went by, was more withdrawn then herself. She was shy, and soft spoken, and easily intimidated. In Dusti's eyes? It made her innocent, and pure. The world hadn't hardened her. Not like Dusti. The girl was withdrawn, but not because she was shy. Her mistrust made her verbally aggressive and angry at the world. But at least it meant she could protect Rusti.

The twins were at dinner, seated next to each other like always, at the end of the Slytherin table for a quick escape when they'd finished. They'd mastered the art of evading others, especially when they were together. Every time a firework went off, Dusti glanced at Rusti. Rusti hated loud noises, hence why she'd stuck close today especially. She wasn't going to let anyone pull a prank on Rusti. There was another firework then, but it sounded... off. Different then the others. Louder. Closer. Dusti's gaze hardened immediately, her own hand dropping to cover Rusti's. She didn't respond immediately, because she didn't know. Dusti looked away from the doors to her twin, spotting the worried look immediately.

It made Dusti force a small, reassuring smile. "Yeah. Just firewo-"

The next 'firework' cut Dusti off, so close and loud that the table shook from the tremors. Dusti's hand immediately took her sisters, holding it tightly. That was not a firework. It was an explosion. "Rusti, we need to go." she softly muttered, an almost numbness in her voice.

This wasn't an April Fools day prank...

@rosaria

[Deleted]

@dusti

Rusti tried to be strong. She took a deep shuddering breath even as another explosion caused her to duck in her seat. She was thankful for Dusti next to her, she knew nothing bad would happen if her sister could help it. But that didn't stop her from beginning to shake.

Standing up, she clung to Dusti's arm, following her closely as they moved away from the table toward the doors. Another explosion made her flinch. She turned her head with her eyes closed tightly, a tear fell down her cheek.

"Don't-- Don't you think we might be safer in here?" she asked in a desperate attempt to sound brave. Unfortunately, the quaver in her voice nullified any effect of gusto she may have had with her pathetic statement. Wanting to make sure her sister was safe, being terrified of whatever was out there, well both of those were convincing enough reasons for her to stay inside the Great Hall, where as of yet, nothing was attacking her.

[Deleted]

Dusti made sure to move a little close to Rusti, protectively. Her gaze had turned hard as she stared at the doors. It was that defiant look her parents used to tell the twins apart when they couldn’t see the scars they’d given Rusti. Something that made Dusti’s blood boil even to this day.

Wand in hand, Dusti offered Rusti a reassuring, and small smile. ”I don’t know what’s going on, Rusti. But we’re not going to stay here and wait and find out.” She switched her hand to her other hand for a moment, to free up her free arm and brushed a stray strand of hair from Rusti’s face. And then she nodded, silently telling her sister it was time to go. Returning the wand to her dominant hand, she opened the door and led Rusti out. It was confusion. Students not knowing what was going on. Dusti Shoved them out of the way, trying to create a path to the stairs that would lead down to the dungeon. That was when she saw the flash of the first spell.

It was the opposite side of the hall, but hard to miss because someone had screamed. Dusti whipped her head around, her eyes narrowed. A second spell and she realized what was going on. The school was under attack. And it was sweeping through the hall, closer to them. Dusti pulled her arm out of sister’s grip, so she could take her hand in her own and pull Rusti ahead of her. ”Dorm room, now.” She said, an almost…. Frantic tone to her voice as she felt her own fear starting to grow.

@rosaria

[Deleted]

@dusti

She could hear the bangs getting closer as they approached the door. Clutching Dusti's arm she made sure to stay behind her sister, but she also got her wand out. True, she was terrified, but she knew a few spells that could help if they got into trouble.

The doors opened and the bright light of spells being shot off nearly blinded Rusti, and the screams that followed nearly deafened her. There was a battle going on. She froze, not realizing when Dusti pulled her arm from her grip and grabbed her hand.

"Dorm--- dorm room." she repeated gazing at the person who was now on the floor, clutching their stomach. She closed her eyes and squeezed Dusti's hand. They had to get away. If they stayed, Dusti would get hurt trying to protect her. Rusti's wand was in her hand, shaking, but Rusti had to do something, even if that was only holding her wand.

[Deleted]

"Rusti. Rosaria, don't look. Okay? Eyes up." Had stopped moving when she felt her sister's hand tremble and knew what was happening. Paralyzing fear. Dusti was used to it, expected the reaction, actually. But that didn't mean she liked it. All she wanted was to keep Rusti safe. So she didn't have to be afraid. Could she do that today? Could she keep Rusti safe..?

In the distance she thought she heard the name of their eldest brother, Raleigh. Of course Raleigh and River were caught in this. Raleigh would find River though. He'd keep the youngest safe. They'd be fine. And she couldn't worry about them right now. Tugging on her sister's hand once more, she pushed through the hoard of students, But stopped immediately and raised her wand. "Flipendo!" Dusti hadn't even hesitated when one of the intruders had come remotely close, the spell hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying into one of his 'buddies'. "Fumos" She added quickly, twisting her wand in the air as the smokescreen spell filled the space immediately around the intruders in a thick smoke and clouding their vision. It would give them at least a small window to escape.

"Keep moving, Rusti." she softly muttered, squeezing her hand a little.

@rosaria
Fumos: smoke screen spell.

[Deleted]

@dusti

Her fear was going to slow them down, and get them both killed. She had to be brave, like Dusti. So she did as Dusti said, keeping her eyes up and he jaw set. True if anyone looked at her face they saw how truly terrified she was, but thanks to Rusti's smoke screen, no one could see her face.

There were so many loud noises, so many voices, all of them dangerous. Who was a friend, who was a foe? Rosaria wasn't sure she wanted to know. But she kept moving. Through the hallways, up the stairs. Her hand didn't leave Dusti's.

When they had left most of the violence behind, Rosaria paused. "Dusti, wait." she said softly, knowing she didn't need to. Her twin would have already slowed down at the tug of her hand. "Why is that even happening? What does it accomplish?" Her brain was working in circles, trying to figure out the cause, the purpose, the motivation for an attack like this. Chaos was normally meant as a distraction for something grander. Or crueler. She had learned that from her parents. Her brain worked through the problem, already planning how she would write about it in her journal that night. Rosaria loved to write, but she didn't let anyone read what she wrote, not even Dusti. She couldn't. It singled her out, made her different than other people. And if she was different, she was noticed. Being noticed got her, and consequently, Dusti into trouble.