Kaleidoscope || t. scamander

Surprising Encounter

Roo's legs pumped with adrenaline as she flew down the street as fast as her body could allow her to. Rounding the street corner and slipping past passerby's who cried out in annoyance, she belted out quick apologies as she continued zigzagging down the cobblestone pavements in hopes that the distractions would be enough for her to slip past their notice.

But the two strangers seemed to know what she had in mind. They kept up a steady pace, always threatening to catch her as Roo forced herself to go faster and faster, ignoring her bated breaths and the pounding of her heart hammering onto her chest, ignoring how her lungs were begging for fresh air.

She quickly stumbled into a small alleyway, finding refuge behind an old grimy dustbin where she ducked and pressed her form against the wall. She forced herself to be calm, to steady her heart. She barely wanted to breath for fear they would hear her, and for a few agonizing seconds of silence, all she could hear was the blood rushing through her veins.

The sound of footsteps approached in the distance. Roo tensed, noting how one of them sounded heavier, more rough while the other was lighter, with a daintier gait. Not that it mattered when they were both set on killing her, probably. She could guess that they had been sent by Grindlewald, and prayed to god that they wouldn't turn down this alleyway.

If they were, she was already dead meat.

But they seemed to continue their journey forward silently, without even a backward glance towards her hiding spot. Roo waited a few more seconds before she finally allowed herself to let out a small sigh of relief. Her legs felt like jelly when she tried to stand up, her hands shaky from the sudden panic. She was confused as to why Grindlewald would be looking to kidnap her out of all people, but as she mulled it over, it would make sense. If he targeted the auror community one by one, the Ministry wouldn't be able to fight without their best fighters. They would be more likely to back down and give him what he wanted.

She needed to find the rest of the group.

Crunch.

Roo whirled around, wand already whipped out before her. There was a figure in the shadows, face masked by the darkness.

Her grip tightened on her only weapon. It's okay, she thought to herself, breathe.

"Who are you?" She murmured lowly, eyes narrowing in a threatening manner, "What do you want?"

The man was silent for a while. Not moving. Not a word left his mouth. He just stood there, dark eyes glinting in the dim light of the street lamps casting shadows over the planes of his face.

Roo's heart quickened. She heard it pounding through her ears. Her body felt tense. Afraid.

He took a step forward, slowly, as if savouring this moment of weakness. Roo kept her ground, bottom lip trembling as he approached her as quiet as a predator.

"Who are you?" She repeated with a hiss.

His eyes were scanning her from head to toe, analyzing her, gauging her weaknesses. She fought hard not to let her hands shake and instead fisted them at her sides, hidden amidst her coat.

He took another step, light falling directly onto his face. She gasped.

It couldn't. It can't be.

"Cr-Credence? You're the kid." Roo's mouth blurted out the words before she could stop them, and she bit down onto her lower lip when she realized that the said man before her could potentially kill her if he wanted, when he wanted.

He started towards her, but she backed away as she felt every muscle in her body tense up as if she'd been stung. Roo shook her head, so many questions swimming around inside her head, so much confusion and built-up frustration knotting up her train of thoughts so that she didn't know what to believe in anymore.