A little worn (Open)

The night was  clear, no clouds in sight. The stars twinkled from lightyears away. The small clearing in the trees formed a small circle around a slightly large boulder. The moonlight and starlight combined bathed the boulder in a silver glow, turning the grey color of the rock luminescent. The grass surrounding it was obviously new, the terrain recovering from a very chilly winter. It was a very peaceful scene, very movie-like.

As if the cliche of the visual had to worsen, the picture was interrupted by a cloaked figure. Black-dressed and bustling, the figure drew nearer to the rock, cloak flapping behind it. As it reached the rock it turned slightly to the left, slightly to the right and then deemed that nobody was in the vicinity. Then, it bent over the rock and set down a medium cauldron. It rested upon the rock with a small clang. The figure still did not remove the hood which was drawn up over his head, covering his face in a mask of complete darkness. Suddenly there was a flash of silver light as something reflected the moon into the empty woods. A knife was drawn.

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Toby awoke in a small sweat. He had faint memory of how he ended up where he was, but he found himself on the floor of his cabin. His last memory was of the leaves rustling in a petite breeze. He peeled himself off the floor and stood. He found that his knees were wobbly, feeling very weak. And he had a pounding headache. He closed his eyes and stood there, rubbing his temples for a moment or two. He staggered over to his bedside table and grabbed his wand and tucked it away.

Although the sunlight was killing him, Toby made his way to the mess hall. The chattering voices of the people were like pile drivers in his ears. He searched quickly for some coffee. He felt as hungover as the time that he had had those beers in downtown New York City. Shaking his head, he continued down the lines of tables until he found a small cup. He grabbed it and breathed the word "coffee" into it. Just as his lips released those words, the cup filled almost to the brim with a steaming hot brown liquid, exactly to his preference. Not caring of temperature, he began to gulp it down.

After drinking the beverage and gaining some energy, he stood up. He was no longer weak, but still felt slightly used and worn. Whatever he had done the night before must have taken energy from him. He squinted and began to walk out of the hall, but as he pulled the door open, someone else came barging through it in the opposite direction, and Toby piled into the person like he had run into a wall.

Tobias took quite the tumble after running into the opposing boy. He hadn't expected a collision, so all the force that he had put into moving forward now sent him backward, and he landed smack dab on his touche. He let out a small groan of pain, his tailbone giving an objecting throb. However, he didn't have much time to recover or feel sorry for himself, because the next thing he knew his arm was seized and he was being yanked back to his feet. Again, the tailbone throb.

"S-sorry," he replied, hearing the impatience in the other voice. He obviously hadn't meant to run into him, it's not like he had done it on purpose. Plus, he was groggy. Sure, he could have avoided running into him if he had his wits about him, but the truth was that he lacked awareness, and his reaction time was slowed significantly. He brought a hand to his lower back and rubbed it lightly, still feeling the repercussions of the blunt force that the ground delivered.

Toby winced at the tone and volume that the other boy was using. It was a threatening voice, one filled with negative emotion that had a large effect on Toby's inner confidence, and he suddenly felt like the appropriate response was to run away. It reminded him of the voice of his father after a long night of heavy drinking. Anger, sorrow, slurred words. If Toby's mind were working, a flashback might have hit him. But the synapses were still groggy, and he simply found a bit of fear rather than a familiar terror.

Suddenly, a shift in the boy's demeanor made Toby feel once again unstable. It was as if the anger had fallen off of a shelf and dropped to the floor, leaving an even calmer emotion in its place. It was frightening, these changes in emotions, especially given the other's appearance. Tall, eyes that cut like diamond, and frighteningly white hair. Not to mention the arms that looked like they could snap Toby in half, even though Tobias wasn't exactly skinny. His jaw clenched tightly, reluctant to respond again, in case his words would recieve yet another scolding. Still, all that was asked was his name, so that didn't seem too harmful.

"T-Tobias." He didn't use his full name often, but found it appropriate in this situation. Hearing the familiar friendly nickname 'Toby' from a mouth that scared him so much was unappealing. He didn't really want to follow him, but he'd caught sight of the blood, and if he left him bleeding after something that was largely his fault, his conscience would eat him up. "O-okay," he muttered under his breath, looking around for a napkin as well. He spotted some by the food lines and grabed a couple, shuffling back over to the boy and offering them out.