Going on an ~Adventureeee~

Ethan had rushed down the hallways, an old, faded book clutched tightly under his arm. He'd been browsing through a few different novels when he'd slipped one out of the shelf, an wrinkled piece of paper slipped onto the floor. Now perhaps it was nothing at all, but curiosity had quickly gotten the best of him, and with each step he'd taken towards his dorm room, his excitement only grew.

The Winter practically stumbled through the front door. "H-hello?" He called out, having to catch his breath. And fix his glasses. "Is there anyone here?" Please don't let him have been the only one home then.

Evelyn almost leaped out of her skin when the door went flying open. "E-Ethan...?!" she piped, slipping a silver flask back into her uniform blazer as he came blundering through the door. Well, he seemed rather... uh, animated, for once. It was a stark contrast from their quiet and awkward days together before. She stood up from the couch, peeking around at the door where Ethan was standing. "Um, a-are you..." Her tongue was tying itself into knots. "Yeah, uh, I-I-I'm here..."

"Ethan?" Kimply appeared at the door to her room, giving the other two Winters a curious look. She was braiding her hair into pigtails, but seemed to completely forget about the task when she noticed Ethan's excitement. One half was done while the other hung in loose curls. "What's the rush? Couldn't wait to read us bedtime stories?" She teased, noticing the ancient looking book he held to him. Still, curiosity got the best of her as she made her way into the room.

The young man looked visibly relieved to see the two of them answer so quickly, letting the door swing shut quickly behind him and walking forward into the living room, near tripping over his own foot in the process. As he tried to compose him, he found himself staring over towards Kimply, then going on to trip over his own words as well. "No - Not with a book like this, certainly, well -" Her little humor over his excited head, and he waved the two of them over, setting the book on the coffee and holding out the folded piece of paper out. It was brittle and brown with age, faded black etchings and arrows on the inside. "Come and have a look at this."

Eh, bedtime stories? This was all over a book? She blinked, fumbling with her hands, and then cautiously stood to attention. What on earth did he find that he was so excited about? Evelyn padded over and craned her head to look, focusing on the wrinkled little tag of paper spread across the open pages. "Um, wh-what exac—.. e-exactly..." What exactly was it?

Kimply rolled her eyes good naturedly. She had to remind herself to stop making jokes like that around her closest friends, as they were possibly the most literal people she knew. It was a shame, really. She was hilarious.
She made her way over to where Evelyn and Ethan were already huddled and stood beside them to peer at the tattered piece of paper. When she realized what it was, she grew as excited as Ethan. "Did you find this in your old book? What do you think it is?" She questioned, just stopping herself from jumping up and down.

He shot a quick glance at Evelyn, excitedly waving her over again. Quick didn't seem quite quick enough for him. Ethan laid it down across the table for them to clearly see. "Look at the marks. It's harder to tell, but here's the forest edges... The lake... This old building - it must have been main building some time ago." The Winter looked simply brimming. "It's a mad, and it must be decades years old. But see what else..." There were several marks. Xs and Os, and line trails.

Evelyn curled a lock of hair around her finger, drinking in the lines and markings on the paper. A map. Yeah, she'd gotten that much, but that still hadn't answered her question. She looked from Ethan to Kimply and back to Ethan again, wondering if she was just too dumb to grasp the significance. Between the two of them buzzing like they'd made some kind of breakthrough, she felt pressured to try and force the same enthusiasm. A small, wavering smile appeared on her face. Without a key, it could've meant anything from buried treasure to hiking trails to random scribbles from fifteen years ago, but she was starting to see where this was all headed.

Was this Winter curiosity?

She didn't have a good feeling about any of this.

Kimply couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Yes, I know it's a map, Ethan." After all, this was the girl that drew maps for fun. She had a notebook full of random lines and marks that wouldn't make sense to anyone but herself. "But what do you think it leads to?" Usually her power would instantly tell her these things, but for some reason Kimply's mind felt blocked. Which one helped to fuel her curiosity.

Ah, right. Ethan cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses once again. Perhaps he was stating the obvious after all. He was letting his excitement getting ahead of him. Once he felt some-what composed again, the Winter allowed himself a smile, glancing towards the girls again. "Now isn't that mystery the thrill of it?" He mused, crossing his arms. "This map doesn't look like it's seen the light of day in years. Whatever it leads to must have some sort of value to it." He looked over the paper on the table again. "Now, who better than us is there to seek it out?"

There it was. She wanted to say she hadn't expected him to be so adventurous, but she had started to suspect this from the moment he'd spread the map over the pages for them all to look at. Evelyn pressed her fingers together, tilting her head. Wasn't it a fallacy to assume that it meant anything, let alone that it was valuable? Still, she couldn't find it in herself to voice any of her doubts, not when they were both grinning like this. "O-oh... yeaaaahhhhhh..." Her voice trailed off to silence.

Maybe it'd be fun? She'd liked pretending to hunt for treasure when she was little, even when her mother wouldn't let her stray outside the boundaries of their front yard, but that was when she was little.

At the least, it'd be healthier than lounging around inside.

Kimply nodded along to what Ethan was saying. "Or it could lead to absolutely nothing. Or a death trap." After a beat, she flashed a grin. "But of course, the mystery is the fun of it."
She glanced over at each of her fellow Winters, gaze landing on Evelyn. "You're coming, right?" There was a bright, expecting look in her eyes. In all honestly, she was mostly excited about doing this with her friends, not caring so much what was on the other end of that map. She'd gone through enough to deserve something fun, and she knew Evelyn and Ethan had as well. This could be good for them.

For a few moments, Ethan had almost forgotten that the third Winter was standing there, shooting a glance over to Kimply's side. Now wasn't that rude of him, gift or not, he scolded himself. "I'm certain there's no risk of death. And I can't think of a more appropriate way to pass the time now, can you?" His blue eyes found Evelyn again for a time, his gaze expectant. They never talked much, and hadn't since the bear project ended, but they got along well enough and knew they could all enjoy the the company and thrill of the chase together.

Death trap or a waste of time. Those were both reassuring. When they both looked to her, she could feel herself wither under their gazes. Her smile faltered. "Um, um, o-of course...!" Well, it would pass the time, and she'd be with the two of them, so it couldn't be too bad, could it? Evelyn shuffled her feet. "It sounds... f-f-fun." Right.

Kimply shot Evelyn a bright grin. She didn't miss the uncertainty in her voice, but she knew that sometimes with Evelyn, it took a little bit of a push. "It'll be great." She reassured her friend gently. Then she grabbed the map and began studying it. "Besides, you're both in the hands of the best map reader Beata Academy has ever seen. I will be your walking GPS. No chance of getting lost with me as your Moses." She rambled confidently, before looking at Ethan, who was in her eyes, the leader of this operation. "So when do we get going?"