The Christmas Sprites
August 14, 2006 10:22 PM
Ready, aim, FIRE!! by The Christmas Sprites
The snow was something that was expected, considering the covering of the rest of the school, but upon entering the Quidditch Pitch it became quickly clear that there were some other new things here to be seen. In each of the four cardinal directions sturdy forts made of snow had been errected. A blue flag flew over northern fort, proclaiming it to be the Aladren base. The southern fort had a yellow flag flying over it, making it the base for Teppenpaw. Over the eastern fort the brown Pecari flag fluttered in the breeze, and in the west the red of Crotalus claimed the final fort.Behind each fort's walls was a battery of snowballs and in the area between charmed snowmen were scattered about, automatically throwing snowmen at anyone who got to close to their positions.
Subthreads: Thought I'd miss this? No sir! by Stephen Baxter with Caedence Redoak
How cool! by Grail Markner with Nikki Ramirez, Declan Chatterjee, Gray, Professor Deck, Caedence
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The Christmas Sprites
Ready, aim, FIRE!!
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The Christmas Sprites
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Grail Markner
August 17, 2006 12:31 PM
How cool! by Grail Markner
Grail hugged the woolen gray sweater close to her. He legs were freezing thanks to the below-the-knee skirt she'd chosen to wear. She felt thankful she picked out her Ugg boots to wear instead of sandels and had a warm white scarf around her neck. This was crazy! Snow in the desert? It had to be some sort of magic. Right?"So stupid, didn't you see the snow?" sighed her sister, Alice. She had recently found herself thinking what they would say in situations, and soon enough they became like little people in her head. It was becoming annoying and she couldn't shut them up.
"Maybe she'll catch her death and we won't see her again," joked Chali. She mentally told herself to stuff it.
Shivering she pulled the ponytail out of her dirty blonde hair, hoping for some warmth to come from the thickness of it. No such luck.
Grail had come out here because she tried out for the Quidditch team and wanted to practice. She'd have a better chance to get picked if she was better. She'd read enough on Quidditch, but that wasn't enough. She need experience. But that was completely blown by the coldness of outside, and her without a jacket.
"You always sucked at sports anyway," Chali started again. "It doesn't matter, you're a nerd. Nerds arn't good at sports." Why did she have to remember them? Why? Couldn't they leave her alone. How happy they'd be if they knew they were giving Grail misery even while she was away.
Thanks to her head she took a few seconds to actually notice the Quidditch Pitch. She realized, on seeing the Quidditch Pitch, that she wouldn't be able to. For mounds of snow were piled up around the Pitch with the house names on them. She knew she'd fall a few times, and would probably wreck them. And whoever had done them up seemed to have taken a long time. They were well-done snow forts, and not even she and Arther could have done that.
She grinned childishly and ran over to the Aladren fort. Behind it was another surprise. Snowballs! She giggled.
"You're so childish," sighed Libby.
Now this was pretty cool, despite what Libby would think. She wished she had someone with her to have the fight with. Still smiling she backed out, she was going to go back to Aladren to see if any of them wanted to come. But when she turned around, she was surprised again by a snowball to the face, and the laughter of the sisters in her head ringing away.
"Hey!" she smiled, looking around for the culprit. But no one was there. She shivered again, from the cold on her face and twisted around. Whoever it was had to be behind one of the forts, right? She grinned again, picked up a snowball and looked around.
"Hello?" she said in a sing-song voice, and twisted around to a noise behind one of the forts.\n\n
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Grail Markner
How cool!
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Grail Markner
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Nikki Ramirez
August 19, 2006 6:07 PM
Trackers by Nikki Ramirez
Nikki had woken up sulking that morning. She had to spend her holiday in a foriegn country. Great, just great. Her brother got to come home from Youmens, but not Nikki. Not with the Muggle transportation and all the confusion. She suspected that if she could stay at school over the summer, her parents would make her.After breakfast Nikki decided to go for a walk around the grounds. When she came to the Quidditch pitch, there was snow all over the ground and forts had been built for a snowball fight. This was cool. She didn't expect them to perform a charm like this for amusement here. Abuelo did this kind of thing on the ranch, and the whole family would have a huge snowball fight. Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they had a snowball fight.
Nikki ran over to the Aladren fort as fast as she could and ducked behind the wall of snow as she caught her breath. Then she noticed Gray.
"Hey!" she greeted as a snowball shot past her ear.
Nikki picked up a snowball and muttered a charm over it. Then she threw the snowball toward someone behind the fort across from her. She heard a thud as the snowball made contact. She smiled.
"Tracking charm," she told Gray "they always hit the target, even if it moves. My brother taught me how." \n\n
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Nikki Ramirez
Trackers
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Nikki Ramirez
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Declan Chatterjee
August 22, 2006 4:59 PM
Morning stroll... gone horribly, horribly wrong. by Declan Chatterjee
Declan was glad he'd come to Sonora over the midterm. Most of the students were away, the aura of the school was very relaxed, and he had plenty of time to set up his new classroom and get his lesson plans finished up. And, of course, it left plenty of time to explore.That was just what he was doing one morning not long after the start of break, wandering around the grounds. He'd made a circuit of the gardens and greenhouses, and childish laughter and voices had brought him curiously peering around what appeared to have once been a Quidditch pitch - and was now an arena for epic snowball fights.
He passed behind a fort with a brown flag flying up above - Pecari? - and grinned at the students huddled within. One was an older boy, busily stocking up on snowballs, and the other a younger girl with a long braid, who had just shoved a snowball in the boy's face. Declan winced a little and chuckled.
He was just moving past the Pecari fort when, out of nowhere, a snowball slammed into the side of his head. He stopped, shocked, and whirled around to face the direction the snowball had come from. A blue flag... that would be Aladren, wouldn't it?
He smirked; irony of ironies, he'd been attacked by the Sonora equivalent of his old house, Ravenclaw. He stooped low as he made his way to the fort, scooping up a few handfuls of snow. The cold stung his hands in a refreshing way as he packed it into a relatively loose ball, and then -
With a roar that should sufficiently frighten any students behind the fort, he jumped out and threw the snowball at the nearest. "Aargh!" \n\n
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Declan Chatterjee
Morning stroll... gone horribly, horribly wrong.
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Declan Chatterjee
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Gray
August 22, 2006 9:13 PM
Ha... seems so by Gray
Grail laughed when Nikki made it in, while being hit. She was wearing the cloak the other Pecari girl had let her borrow, and she thanked above for it. She nodded to Nikki when she talked about a tracker, going for those behind the brown flag. Did she like Nikki? After Care of Magical Creatures, Gray didn't know, but she'd still give the girl another chance. That's what a good person would do... right?"Yeah, and you're such an amazing person Grail, Alice was scoffing.
Nervously she smoothed her dirty blonde hair down, about to ask how Nikki did it, mainly to tune out her sisters, when in came another yelling boy (making her jump), throwing a snowball, which hit her. Cluelessly, Grail looked at him, wiping the snowball off. Was he in their house? She hadn't seen him around the common rooms.
"Hey!" she smiled, laughing. It took her a second to react. Shivering from the cold, she looked over at Nikki, then to the other snowballs. She picked two up and chucked them both at his head. She smiled.
"With us or against us?" she asked sweetly. Basically asking if he was in Aladren or not. She grabbed another snowball, waiting for his answer.\n\n
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Gray
Ha... seems so
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Gray
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Declan Chatterjee
August 22, 2006 9:26 PM
*grins* by Declan Chatterjee
OOC: hmm... I thought I'd mentioned this, but I guess I hadn't. I'm the new Astronomy professor. *winks* But thanks! Saying I look young enough to be in your house gives that teensy-weensy bit of my ego a good boost.BIC:
Declan threw himself down into the snow to avoid being hit in the head by the girl's quick throws - and even then, he failed. Still chuckling, he picked himself up and wiped the snow out of his long dark hair.
"With us or against us?" she asked, her innocent tone belied by the fact that she was currently reaching for yet another snowball. He held up his hands in what could be either a gesture of innocence or an attempt to protect his much maligned head.
"Former Ravenclaw at your service, young madam," he said, thickening his British accent consciously as he made a low, foppish bow - and suffered a snowball in the back from an enchanted snowman. He whirled to glare briefly at the thing before taking shelter in the fort with the girl and her companion, who seemed to have a very good tracking charm going. "Professor Chatterjee - or just Professor Deck, if you prefer. Comrades in arms, and all that," he said, giving her a childish grin and a conspiratorial wink. "What's our status, generals?" he asked then, looking between the two girls, who couldn't have been much older than twelve at most.\n\n
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Declan Chatterjee
*grins*
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Declan Chatterjee
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Nikki
August 23, 2006 1:58 PM
Poste Conhumus by Nikki
Nikki had a habit of looking at whoever was speaking. Even if they weren't speaking to her. And even if they were attempting to hit her in the head with a snowball. When she looked up she saw...a teacher?! Nikki put her hands over her mouth; Gray must not have noticed, or thought Nikki was just warming her hands.'Oh crap' Nikki thought, as Gray reached for more snowballs to pummel the man with if he answered her friend/foe question unfavorably. Nikki was about to explain that this man was a teacher, but he beat her to it, introducing himself as the astronomy professor. Nikki wondered why they hadn't had his class before midterm.
Professor Deck, as he had called himself, seamed like a really cool teacher (pun not intended). When he asked how they were doing Nikki answered "Well we got you didn't we?" She smiled sweetly.
"You probably already know, but I'm Nikki, and this is Gray. I was just telling her about our secret weapon. You see, my brother is a sixth year at Youmens, the wizarding school in Mexico. His Care of Magical Creatures professor taught him how to track animals, but it works on humans too. He taught me how." she picked up a snowball and held her wand over it. She flicked her wrist, tapping the snowball as she brought the wand down, and said "Poste Conhumus," pronouncing it 'paw-stay cone-oo-mus.'Then she threw the snowball in the direction of the Pecari fort and heard a satisfing thunk. \n\n
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Nikki
Poste Conhumus
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Nikki
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Professor Deck
August 24, 2006 9:48 AM
Re: Poste Conhumus by Professor Deck
Declan had to laugh at the ever-so-slightly snarky attitude the two girls had, though he hoped it didn't carry over too much in the classroom; he liked them, but he was a teacher first and foremost - at heart, he always had been - and it was a teacher's duty to keep order in the classroom. Still, it reminded him of happier days, back when he was still a student himself."Yes, yes you did," he agreed amiably. The accented blond introduced herself and her friend as Nikki and Gray, and Declan consulted his mental attendance list. Nikki Ramirez - yes, she was the girl from Mexico. That would explain the accent. And Gray... that name he didn't remember from the Aladren list, though he supposed it could be shorthand for some particularly unpleasant name. Wait - wasn't there a Grail? Perhaps this was her.
"That's a clever brother you've got there, General Ramirez. Keep it up - show those Pecari there's more to us Aladren-slash-Ravenclaws than a literary bent. But it looks like there's a bit of a break in the fire - I'd better run for it now. Best of British luck to you both, generals - and see you in Astronomy!" he said with a jaunty salute and another of his trademark grins.
So saying, he picked himself up and brushed the snow off his knees before making a run for it, followed by a hail of snowballs from the enchanted snowmen. Really - I expected teaching to be an adventure, but this was not what I'd had in mind, he thought as he sprinted out of their range, laughing breathlessly.\n\n
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Professor Deck
Re: Poste Conhumus
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Professor Deck
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Caedence
August 28, 2006 2:31 PM
And now for a few tricks of my own! by Caedence
Caedence was just hit twice by hurling snowballs. One from teh arleden fort, and another from a snowman. When she opened her mout to let out a challenge call, it was filled with a second arleden snowball."YOu've got me, now i'll get you!" She yelled. Seeing the pile of snow she scanned her spells. 'Stupefy, expelliamus, crucio...keep that in mind for a few weeks from now...locomotor...that's it!' she thought. Taking out ther wand, she muttered "locomotor snowballs."
The pile of snowballs, well a good chunk of it that is, lifted into the air. She levetated it as high as she could, then sent it hovering over teh heads of its victim. When in position, she let the spell go. THe balls fell with a 'fwumf' sound, though CAedence didn't know wether or not it hit its mark. Checking the chunk that was just levitated out of the pile, she was saddened to see only 10 snowballs were gone. SHe turned to the girls on the other side, selected two balls, and hurled them forward for good measure.\n\n
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Caedence
And now for a few tricks of my own!
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Caedence
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Gray
August 28, 2006 5:22 PM
You. Are. Dead. by Gray
Grail blushed darkly when the boy turned out to be a man. A teacher to be fairly exact. So, that was why Nikki was motioning to her before she chucked the snowball at him. Oops... Thankfully he didn't take it so bad. That was good, it meant to her that he'd be a good teacher. So she put the mistakening teacher thing behind her, and just grinned and nodded when Nikki introduced them and showed the teacher her trick."Idiot, couldn't you tell he was a teacher?" laughed Libby. Grail tried to ignore her head, but it seemed they came worse when she was embarrassed or ashamed. Greaaat.
She heard the girl that had given her the jacket shout something. Oo... sounded vengful. Stupidly, Grail stuck her head out from the fort to hear her better. But it was sort of good, because when the snowbals came down on them, they only hit a part of her legs. She squealed and moved back out in the open. Thankfully, tyhe girl hadn't seemed to levitate as many snowballs as she thought she could, keeping Grail's skirt slightly drier than it would have been.
Of course, her sisters cracked up in her head. She muttered bitterly to herself, telling them to shut up.
"And now she's talking to herself!" Alice laughed, only making Gray angrier at her head. SHe felt something whizz past her and turned. Two more snowballs just barely missed her. She had some luck.
Fleeing back into the shelter she sat back. "Nikki?" she said, grinning. "What was that spell your brother taught you again?"
Snowball fights were war. At least from where she came from.\n\n
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Gray
You. Are. Dead.
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Gray
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Nikki
September 02, 2006 1:20 PM
Why didn't we think of that?! by Nikki
As Professor Deck left, Nikki heard a cry from the Pecari fort. She looked up and Gray stood to hear the girl's voice better. A hoard of snowballs flew at them from the direction of the Pecari fort and hit Gray's skirt. Nikki wasn't quite sure, but she would have guessed there had been about a dozen of the little frozen balls. Then, seconds later, two more balls came at them, flying between her head and Gray's.Nikki hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, why hadn't she thought of using that spell, much more damage, but then she thought, she didn't know if she could put a tracker on all of them.
Gray ducked back into the fort and asked Nikki about the tracking spell. Nikki smiled at the other girl and picked up a snowball. "Poste Conhumus" she said and threw it at the Pecaris.
"I've got an idea," Nikki informed Gray and started rolling a snowball the size of the snowmen's heads. When she was done, she placed the tracker charem on the giant snowball and called Gray over. "Come help me with this." Nikki said, smiling at her roommate and, she hoped, friend. "There's no way we can let those Pecari's think they've outsmarted us." \n\n
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Nikki
Why didn't we think of that?!
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Nikki
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Caedence
September 02, 2006 6:55 PM
*sticks out tounge* cause im special! by Caedence
Another one of those cursed tracking snowballs. Well, Caedence could cure that right quick. "Lacarnem Inflamare!" she said and a tounge of flame appeared on her wand tip. The snowball, as it approached drenched her with water. Oh well, so long as it wasnt an embarrasing snowball!"Now is that any way to treat someone who gave you a nice warm cape?" caedence called jokingly. All this fun was going to her head. It was making her nice. Think of them as the enemy! Yes, that is it! The enemy. And as such they deserve to leave this field looking like the snowmen surrounding it.
"locomotor snowballs!" she said levetating another batch of about a dozen towards the both of them. Then, as the balls were about to fall, she yelled "STUPEFY!" and a jet of pinkish red light irrupted from her wand. Oh, well, not as strong as she'd hoped. The good thing was it melted the snowballs, partially. They were sort of a slushy consitancy, not wet enough to do much harm, but not solid anymore either.
She smirked to herself, pleased of the sloppy noise the pile made before hitting the earth. "How'd ya like that? Pretty impressive eh Arledens?" called Caedence. She began to laugh like a maniac and the effect it had on her face was frigtening. The hunered look in her eyes that she got once angered was there, but it was melded with...could that be joy? And was that her wolfish smile, or a grin of pure delight? Could it be, by any chance, that the girl was showing signs of having fun? HEr fits of laughter was cut short by a snowball in her mouth. She couldn't tell if it came from the Arledens, or the snowmen. All she knew was that it tasted like there was mud in it. As if someone had selected a bit of dirty snow. She growled and muttered "protego!" a shimmery substance formed in front of her. She allowed a snowman to hit her, and the snow went right through it. "Pro-taaaay-go" she re-itterated stretching out the word 'tay'. This time the ball bounced off the semi-invisible shield. With a grin, she turned on the other two calling, "TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT! I'M PREPARED!!!" \n\n
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Caedence
*sticks out tounge* cause im special!
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Caedence
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