"How?"
Place sat on some stairs as he stared down with his head in his hands.
"Listen, I'm sorry-" Zandre started to apologize.
He was cut off.
"How?" Place asked again.
"I-"
"HOW?" Place lifted his head and shouted.
His face was covered with a sheen of sweat, and his clothes were also wet with it.
Zandre flinched.
"HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO GET US LOST? WE CAN'T EVEN SEE THE ACADEMY FROM HERE!!!"
The stairs he was sitting on led to a small warehouse that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
There were no paths coming or going, and the entire place was surrounded by trees so tall and so thick that they couldn't see anything.
Zandre looked around and his face flushed.
"I don't know, I was following your directions." He said, and Place's anger flared.
"IF YOU HAD BEEN FOLLOWING MY DIRECTIONS, WE WOULDN'T BE HERE!!!"
Zandre rubbed the back of his head.
"Ahaha... I'm sorry."
"MOTHERFUCKER! LOOK AT THE SUN!!! WE'VE BEEN RUNNING FOR AT LEAST THREE HOURS!!!"
The sun was quite high up in the sky, and as Zandre looked at the disheveled and tired figure sitting, guilt crept into his heart.
"God fucking damn it." Place let out a shuddering breath as he stood up.
"I apologize for my outburst." He gave a small bow to Zandre, his anger vented for now. "We have bigger problems right now."
He turned and looked at the warehouse. There was a lock on the door.
"Think you can get me to the roof?" He asked as he looked for any footholds that might help him with that.
"I think I can jump up there-"
"NO!" Place shouted, making Zandre flinch again.
Place shook his head, no way was he letting this absolute waste of brain matter do anything on his own.
"I believe it would be better if I got up there."
"...Ok..." Zandre looked at the warehouse again.
"I think I can throw you up there, but you might get hurt landing."
"That's good enough, come on."
Zandre cupped his hands together and stood with his back to the warehouse as Place prepared to sprint.
"Don't launch me over the building." Place let out a snide remark.
"I will try... NOT TO!" Zandre grunted as he launched Place over his head.
Place landed with a stumble, but thankfully, the roof didn't give way to the sudden impact.
He straightened up, and after a cursory look at the roof, he started to scan the forest around them.
He clicked his tongue in disappointment.
'Nothing in sight.'
"Can you see anything?" Zandre called up.
Place started jumping lightly, trying to get some more height.
"Nothing yeEEEET!!!"
The floor gave way, and he fell in the warehouse.
"PLACE!" He heard Zandre's worried shout as he landed.
He landed on something soft, thankfully.
"Ugh..."
'I'm going to feel that later.'
"Place! Are you alright?" Zandre's worried question echoed a bit in the somewhat empty warehouse.
"I'm fine!" Place called back, a bit afraid of what he would do if he didn't.
'He would definitely break down the door.'
Place stood up and scanned himself for injuries.
"Just a few scratches, that's all." He spoke aloud.
"Should I come in?"
"Don't break down the door." Place frowned at a small gash in his arm. "There's an opening in the roof now, use that."
Place looked around, and a faint unease crept into him.
The only things in the warehouse, except for a few piles of cloth, (which, in itself, was strange) were, a bed, a table with some books and trinkets, a chair, and some pieces of paper with oil splotches on them.
"Food wrappers." He murmured as he examined one of them.
A soft thump sounded. Zandre had arrived.
"This is someone's hideout." He declared, moving towards the table.
"So are we intruding?" Zandre picked up a piece of cloth and looked it over.
"That does not matter at this moment." Place looked over the books on the table. A mix of magic theory, history, and... fairytales. "We need to find the way back to the academy as soon as possible."
Place reached his hand forward to open one of the table's drawers, but stopped.
For a brief moment, the lighting in the room had changed.
He quickly swept his eyes around the space a few times, then stopped at a certain spot.
"Greetings." He said, holding his hands out in the open.
"Place?" Zandre asked, following Place's line of sight but seeing nothing.
"I apologize for intruding, but we really had little choice."
"Place?" Zandre called out again. "Who are you speaking with?"
"If I am correct, the owner of all this." He gestured to the out-of-place furniture and items.
"Are they here?" Zandre looked around. "When did they arrive?"
"A few seconds before I greeted them. Stop moving around."
Place wanted to slap Zandre to attention. Couldn't he see that they were in a bad situation right now?
"Can they help us?"
"I apologize for my companion's idiocy. I hear that he was dropped a few too many times on his head as a child."
A sound emerged, and Place strained to hear it.
'Was that a giggle?' He wondered as Zandre complained.
"This fool here..." He gestured to Zandre, who let out a 'Hey!' in complaint. "Managed to get us completely lost, so if you could help us and point the way to get back to the academy, we would be very grateful."
Another sound.
'Definitely a giggle.' Place's mind went to the books at the table. 'A young girl?'
A few seconds passed in silence as he waited for a response.
"I like you." The camouflaging magic fell away, revealing a girl wearing a red and black uniform and holding a silver wand with black etchings.
"A little girl?" Zandre spoke, and she frowned.
She had long red hair, tied into a braid down her back, and her eyes were red-gold, and were currently staring at Zandre with disapproval.
"An accomplished mage." Place corrected him, taking in the uniform she was wearing. "And our upperclassman."