lucetilogs | you're in the jungle, baby / you gonna die

[Draco was very well aware that Weasley's name was on the draft list, but that didn't mean he was going to actively seek the redhead out. Hell, he'd rather die in the jungle than admit to Ron that he was completely magicless and wandering the terrain with nothing but a few Muggle objects.

The problem, he's realized, is that the sun was quickly going down and the area was growing thicker with vines. His arms are covered with scratches and cuts, hair matted to his forehead and most importantly, Hisoka's gun held tightly in his hand. He's managed to hold up rather well, actually, and he's fairly proud of himself. Sure he hasn't attacked more than his has to, but he's taken down a few of the enemies on his own.

Granted, one probably would fare far better in the jungle if one weren't afraid of what was behind him, and also if one weren't exhausted from constantly running. He thought he was safe for now though and was walking calmly. It's only when Draco hears a twig snap behind him that he suddenly turns and fires a bullet, breaking out into a run again. Ron, he may or may not be barreling right toward you.]

[The sound of a gunshot makes Ron wince; noisy things, those Muggle wands, and good for nothing if you don't have proper aim. He'd never even seen one fired until today, and he was thankful that his weapon enabled him to attack and defend. It didn't even look like they could get a proper Shield charm up with one of those things.

At any rate, it makes him edgy, and the sound of loud footsteps racing towards him makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Whirling around, he almost doesn't manage to stop in time keep himself from hexing the hell out of Malfoy, though he sort of wishes he'd shown less restraint.]

Great. What mess are you sending my way now?

[Because clearly, if Malfoy's getting shot at and running like mad, he must be too outnumbered to defend himself properly. Much as he hates the idea of even giving off the appearance of working alongside Malfoy, he looks behind the blond, trying to distinguish the attackers in the darkness.]

How many?

[He comes to a screeching halt upon seeing Weasley there with his wand drawn. RIGHT. Must remain cool, calm, collected...and keep a tighter grip on the gun that he's trying to hide behind his back.]

I'm not sending anything your way. I thought I heard...[But he looks back and, of course, he sees nothing. Jungle-1, Malfoy-0. He looks back at the redhead with a slightly perplexed look on his face.]

None. Lower your wand to me, Weasley. We don't want another incident like the slugs at a time like this, do we?

[What, seriously? Seriously? Malfoy was just running about like a madman because he felt like it?]

You're pathetic. And don't worry about my wand; it's in one piece, so any slugs that get spat up are gonna be done by you, and on purpose, too.

[You can't be that surprised, are you? Still, he snarls a bit. Must. Remain. Calm. Needs. Human. Shield.]

Honestly, Weasley, shouldn't you be focusing this energy on the enemy and not me? After all, technically we are on the same side. As much as it pains me to say so.

How have you been faring against them? [He's curious what he could have accomplished with his own wand.]

[Have a snarl right back, especially as he holds up his free hand, which he'd been using to dab at his bleeding temple.]

I've been doing plenty against the so-called enemy. I'm half-tempted to defect to their side, though, if it means I get an excuse to conveniently dump your body in the jungle.

[With a growl, he focuses on scanning the area, just in case Malfoy hadn't been imagining whatever it was he'd thought was chasing them.] Same as you, I reckon. Stunners can slow a lot of them down, though you've got to get creative most times. Keep watch on what's in the trees, since they don't think you'll see them up there, so you could sometimes get a big enough stone up there to whack them in the back of the head before they even know you noticed them.

And if you did defect to their side, you'd have all of our side coming after you. I'd think hard on that one if it were me.

[He's also going to do another quick sweep with his eyes, though he's not leaving the area anytime soon.] Right...same as me. [Don't mind him sounding a bit resentful.] What about on the ground? Any traps laid in this area you've found at all?

From the looks of things, we're a bit on the losing edge at the moment. That's not exactly motivation to stay on this side, especially since I don't even know what the fuck I'm fighting for.

[He's just giving you a weird look, Malfoy, since this is all stuff you should have been able to figure out on your own.] Nothing that a bit of magic can't get me out of, as it's mostly ropes or hidden pits or some such. Just gotta be fast with the wand.

And you think the rest of us have a clue what we're fighting for? You're mad. Besides, bit early to tell who's winning this one if you ask me. But go on, take off. I'm curious how long you'd last on their side.

[...uh...huh.] Or whatever weapon you have. Not necessarily a wand. So long as you're fast enough. Good point.

Well you're still around, so they can't be as tough as people have been making them out to be. Or have you been hiding in the underbrush all day?

[Weird look, part two.] Since when would you use a weapon other than a wand? You can't even throw a decent punch, never mind some Muggle contraption.

I've been taking care of myself perfectly fine, thank you so much. Hiding's only necessarily for an ambush.

[...well. Oh yeah? Yeah? Let's just disprove that and hold up Hisoka's gun.] You might want to take that back.

Right; nothing better than letting the decent fighters act as a shield while you go cower in the corner and let them get ambushed.

[Give Ron a minute to figure out what that thing even is, since he's never actually seen one up close.] Is that a gun? What in Merlin's name are you doing with a gun?!

[...he's actually silent for a moment because that's basically exactly what his gameplan was. But he quickly turns it into a scoff.] I like to think I can act as a decent fighter, though having a shield helps. So what?

[That's right, Ron. Take a good look. Draco's actually still pretty unsure of it himself, but Hisoka gave him a quick crash course two days before.] I need it to fight, what else? Believe me, if it weren't for extreme circumstances I wouldn't even touch the thing.

Oh, spare me the bollocks, will you?

Extreme circumstances being what, exactly? You got your wand snapped while taking a pratfall off a cliff?

[He just waves a hand to ignore that first part. Fine, sparing just this once then ~~even though he thinks he's totally justified here.~~]

Extreme circumstances being they stripped me of my magic and dropped me off in the village after two weeks. [Ow, ow, ow, his pride. Weasley if you ever use this against us, we will not hesitate to...threaten to shoot you.] It's been days. My wand's practically useless right now. You think I'm going to be out here without some means of a weapon? Absolutely not.

[Ron... needs another moment. Because despite everything, the explosions and ambushes and traps and such, hearing that the proud little pureblood is now reduced to a Muggle manages to get his lips to pull into a smile. If he'd heard this before ending up in this warzone, Ron would be downright giddy.]

Do you even know how to use that thing?

[DAMN IT WEASLEY. Don't think he doesn't see that slight smile. This isn't funny! Except for the part where it's actually kind of hilarious.]

Of course I do! ...for the most part. I had lessons and I know enough to make it work. That should be good enough, right?

[It's the most hilarious thing of this very not-at-all hilarious day.]

Near as I can tell, the good thing about getting one of those things pointed at you is that they can only be used so many times before they need to be... er-... refilled or something. How much of the refills are you carrying?

Reloaded would be the term you're looking for. [He sighs though, rifling through his pocket then.] Enough to last me, I hope. A good number of boxes at least. Does it matter?

[He shrugs.] It's just you're going to want to be careful. If you miss a spell, you can just cast it over and over until it hits its targets. You can't do that with a gun, I don't reckon."

[This isn't concern, mind you. He just doesn't want his best friend yelling at him for letting him get killed.]

Suppose not, but that's where having a dagger and someone else who can use magic come into play. You know, as a failsafe.

[Oh, this is too rich.] And where's your somebody else who can use magic?

Find a river and you'll see his ugly mug. A bit shabby, but not entirely useless just yet.

[He raises his eyebrows.] Which is more than I could say for the bloke waving around a Muggle weapon like he knows what he's doing.

I think you're missing the memo where I actually do know what I'm doing, thanks. [Well. Time to pull out the big guns.]

You think Potter would approve if either of us died out here? I think not.

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