The Craven Twins
February 09, 2007 11:55 AM
Pecari Tryouts and Training by The Craven Twins
The twins headed to the pitch with an item never before seen at one of their training sessions; a clipboard. The sign up sheet was a total mess (Stephen’s ‘helpful’ nicknames and the obscuring smudges over them notwithstanding) and there was going to have to be some good old fashioned hands-upping and skills testing to work out who to put where, especially with the proliferation of Chaser-wannabes and complete lack of Seekers. This suggested a lot of the first years were clueless about the game, given that Seeker was the big glory position.“Ok, listen up,” Ash called, once a sizeable group had gathered on the pitch. “We’ve got a fair few of you-”
“-but a bit of an imbalance in terms of who wants what positions,” continued Sorrel. Those who knew the twins quickly adjusted to the sentence sharing pattern of their speech. Those who knew them well realised it had nothing to do with some freaky twin bond thing, but everything to do with competitiveness.
“So, last year’s team are going to get up and-”
“-warm up. If you just signed up this year-”
“-stay down and have a chat.”
Ash pulled out a Quaffle and threw it to Liz. He tried to grin at her in a friendly friend sort of way (which he’d always been able to do before) but he could tell he just couldn’t pull that off for some stupid reason. Well, the reason being that he thought about her in her underwear (or less) a lot. Perhaps he should get her in a dark corner of the common room and try to find out about it first hand… It was getting beyond the point where he could pretend he didn’t want to, and he couldn’t do with being distracted on the Quidditch Pitch.
“Don’t relax too much, we’ll be sending the Bludgers in once you’ve warmed up a bit,” he warned them all, though he found himself still looking at Liz. Even in baggy Quidditch gear, she was fit. Trying his best to keep his mind on the outside of her clothes, he turned back to the first-timers (not all firsties, technically). Sorrel was already prepping them.
“-going to want to test your skills, obviously,” she was saying.
“-but we’d like to know a bit about what you think of your own abilities,” Ash chimed in, used enough to the pace to pick it up even when his mind had recently been elsewhere.
“So we want from each of you how long you’ve played,”
“And how able you think you are to play each of Chaser-”
“-and Seeker, on a scale of one-”
“-to five, five being the most able,”
“-and one the least.”
“The chances are you’ll be reserves for both anyway.”
“But we need to know who best to sub-on in each case.”
“Don’t try to give us bull to out do other people’s scores.”
“Cos we’re gonna test you anyway.”
“And we don’t want liars or big egos on our team.”
“There’s only just room for Stephen’s as it is.”
Above them, the old team seemed to have settled into their activity, so Ash took a Bludger and his bat, leaving Sorrel to go through the list person by person and get their ratings and experience.
“Ok, guys, I’m letting this loose,” he called up. Flying to join them he warned. “I’m just here to keep you from getting in trouble. I want you to practice your dodging skills, in case me or Sorrel can’t get there in a match.”
OOC - old team, play ball. Newbies, give Sorrel your experience, and ratings, one for each position (Chaser and Seeker), and make your posts juicey, as they will be part of what I use to decide who gets what. It’s quality of writing, not how amazing you claim your character is at playing that decides these things. Sorry this has taken so long, assume it's happening quite near the start of term. Go fuzzy time!\n\n
Subthreads: Oh! Pick me! Pick me! by Elly Eriksson
Woo! *is excited* by Irene Liddowe with Irene
hoping being a bludger magnet don't hurt me by Caedence with Lizzie Lavine, Saul
<i>hey</i>... I'm feeling a little less than appreciated by Stephen Baxter
Bring'em on. by Meredith Lail
Chaser Tryout Exercise (Attn: ALL) by The Twins with Elly, Saul Pierce, Caedence, Irene Liddowe
Part 3: Seeker Test by The Craven Twins with Irene Liddowe, Elly
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The Craven Twins
Pecari Tryouts and Training
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The Craven Twins
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Elly Eriksson
February 09, 2007 1:37 PM
Oh! Pick me! Pick me! by Elly Eriksson
As the time for the Pecari team Quidditch tryouts grew nearer, Elly became even more excited and nervous, therefore correspondingly clumsier, than she usually was. In fact, on the day of the tryouts little else had place in her mind and she’d had to put her trousers on three times that morning before they seemed to be the right way round. She had to shake it off, though, otherwise signing up would be rendered an utter waste of time.Elly jogged down to the broom shed in plenty of time, clothed in her brown joggers and a green t-shirt, and selected one of the newer Cleansweeps she had become familiar with last year. She wasn’t a bad flyer by any means. The lessons with Coach Fox last year had been the first time Elly had ever become acquainted with a broom as a means for transportation, and as such she didn’t have much flying experience. However, she found that flying was one of those things that just came naturally to her, much like climbing trees. She had signed up for extra flying lessons this year to improve her skills, and knew from experience that regular practise in any sport was a great way to improve yourself, so if she did manage to make the team she would only develop her talents faster.
As the team and new hopefuls assembled themselves, Elly had to really focus on not fidgeting, though whether this urge was due more to her delight at being able to try out or her inner pessimist telling her she would make an absolute idiot of herself she couldn’t be sure. Rather than trying to decide, Elly clutched her broom firmly, resisted bouncing on the balls on her feet, and listened as the captains explained the situation.
On the sheet in the commons, Elly had signed herself up to play either Chaser or Keeper, and had come to that decision after a lot of deliberation. Now she had to decide between Chaser and Seeker; she felt utterly unprepared. The main reason Elly hadn’t opted for seeker was that she was tall – taller than all the other teams’ Seekers – and she knew that height was not necessarily advantageous in seeking. She was light, though – she had little on her bones besides skin - and perhaps the extra length on her arms would help to catch the snitch. Elly still wasn’t sure, but suddenly the captains weren’t talking any more, and Sorrel, the girl captain, was looking at Elly expectantly, as if waiting for an answer.
“Okay,” Elly said calmly, strongly resisting her natural instinct to become flustered and started talking complete nonsense. “I’d rate myself four out of five for Chaser, and three for Seeker,” she said clearly. “I’m a good flyer, and I’ve got good aim,” (the netball games over the summer had allowed Elly to realise she was actually damn fine at shooting, though she suspected her height would be more of an advantage in netball than in Quidditch) “but I’ve not had much experience since I only started flying last year. I’ve signed up for flying lessons this year, too. I think I’d be a fair Seeker,” she continued, “but I didn’t put that down because I’m so tall, and seekers tend to be smaller.” She shrugged. “I’d be happy to give it a go, though.”
Once the captain moved on to the next hopeful, Elly’s insides took a short while to return to her. Funnily enough, she hadn’t even noticed them disappear. She suspected it had happened at some point while she was talking, and she had been concentrating so hard on trying to give a good yet honest impression that she had been oblivious as her stomach deserted her. It had returned now, though, and its unexpected reappearance was making her feel a bit queasy. She desperately hoped it would pass soon because she had a suspicion that flying while she felt ill would have a detrimental effect on her performance. Elly took deep breaths and concentrated on listening to what the other Pecari possibles had to say.
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Elly Eriksson
Oh! Pick me! Pick me!
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Elly Eriksson
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Irene Liddowe
February 09, 2007 3:16 PM
Woo! *is excited* by Irene Liddowe
The week leading to the tryouts was full of excitement and nerves at the same time. It was an odd feeling that she couldn't really explain. It was like she was dreading messing up her chances to play for a real team but excited to try nevertheless.As the time of tryouts came upon her, Irene made her way down to the tryouts, broom in hand (just in case). She sat down on the grassy lawn, pulling her shoulder-legnth brown hair into a ponytail at the same time.
Two people, who she had come to know as the Craven Twins, stood in front of the group and instructed the old team to head to the pitch. As she watching them walk away, Irene had a strong urge to jump up and head out with them, but she kept her seat.
The twins talked about how they wanted to test the new-comers abilities and Irene felt her stomach tighten.
“So we want from each of you how long you’ve played,”
“And how able you think you are to play each of Chaser-”
“-and Seeker, on a scale of one-”
“-to five, five being the most able,”
“-and one the least.”
Irene thouht for a moment. She had been playing in the backyard with Uncle Mike since her first week at the cottage. That was...4 years ago.
She had played pretty much every position, considering their lack of people, and she found herself to be better at chaser than others. Keeper wasn't really her thing, at all. Beating ended up in a disaster the first time she had tried it and hadn't been to keen on the position afterward. Being a seeker was bad, she'd have to admit. She was thin which allowed her more speed.
Irene heard her named called and looked up to see Sorrel looking around for the person that matched the name.
"That'd be me!" Irene said raising a hand.
"I've been playing since I moved to Michigan when I was 7. That's 4 years, then. I'd give myself a 4, I guess. Three and a half when someone's ticked me off though," She said with a small smile to let Sorrel know that she was half joking.
"As for seeker," she went on, "I never really got to try it out so I don't know how to rate it. I guess I'll give myself a 3.5. My cousin Josh always took seeker when we played so I don't have much experience. I'm a smaller person, so why not? I've always wanted to try it out. When I signed up I just put which position I thought was my strongest." she finished with a shrug. Going over what she had said Irene gave a small laugh at herself.
She said with a sheepish grin, "I talk a lot when I'm nervous." \n\n
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Irene Liddowe
Woo! *is excited*
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Irene Liddowe
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Irene
February 09, 2007 3:20 PM
OOC: Big typo. by Irene
OOC: I said "Being a seeker was bad, she'd have to admit. She was thin which allowed her more speed."I meant "wasn't bad, she'd have to admit. She was thin which allowed her more speed. Not that she got to play it very much. Josh liked it best."
Just correcting that!
=]\n\n
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Irene
OOC: Big typo.
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Irene
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Caedence
February 09, 2007 5:23 PM
hoping being a bludger magnet don't hurt me by Caedence
Caedence clutched her broom to herself as she walked towards the pits. She had her braid covered in a black ribbon to keep it from loosening. She didn't know why, but she felt a tight braid made her better. In the other games, her braid had become frizzy. She was sure that is why the bludgers hit her. At least, she hoped it wasn't really bad skills at quidditch.She listened carefully as Ash talked. Well, as ash and Sorrel continued to interupt eachother. How typical, sibling rivalry. One-upmanship. Well, at least she didn't have any annoying brothers or sisteres to deal with. Or to protect from neighborhood kids who would want to kill her or him.
She snapped out of her train of thought when she heard teh words 'last years team'. Okay, so they were going to keep the old team? Caedence now found herself rather confused, to tell the truith. She glanced as the quaffle was tossed towards Liz. She rolled her eyes as she watched Ash continue to look at her. She mounted her broom and with a quick, "Good Luck" to the newbies, took off into the air.
"Hey, Lizzy, maybe when he lets out the bludgers I won't get hit this time?" she joked. She stretched her arms all the way out and rotated them. She was a bit rusty and hoped that didn't effect her playing. Cracking her neck, she said, "Let's do this!" \n\n
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Caedence
hoping being a bludger magnet don't hurt me
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Caedence
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Stephen Baxter
February 09, 2007 6:29 PM
<i>hey</i>... I'm feeling a little less than appreciated by Stephen Baxter
Fido was in need of a bit of polish. Clearly, however good the paint-job and polish last year might have been, it was something that required regular maintenance to keep it looking good. Running properly was something Stephen was less worried about as he strolled out onto the pitch and was ordered into the air with the rest of last years team. Rolling his eyes good-naturedly at the twins he was soon doing as told, moving a little towards the nearest hoops, but remaining close enough to be able to keep one ear on the proceedings as he took Fido through some measured sprints."I heard that!" he called down, when the sound of his name caught his attention momentarily. He stuck out his tongue at Sorrel before changing up his sprints to become a little more challenging.
A roll so he was upside down when he finished each one, legs tightly holding the broom and hands free and ready to block. You couldn't do that on a Harley. Roller-coasting back by having Fido move directly up then back level, he moved into position so he could start again. It was just warming up (and, ok, showing off a little) for the moment though, so he didn't bother to mix it up with anything more strenuous or dangerous. Not just yet anyhow.
Once he thought he and Fido were both fairly well warmed up - and the newbies seemed to have finished their chatting with the captains - he came to an easy hover, adjusted his gloves a little so that they fit more comfortably (he thought that they might be getting a little tight... maybe it was time to look into getting a new, bigger pair), and waited to see just what the twins had in mind for the newbie's tryouts.\n\n
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Stephen Baxter
<i>hey</i>... I'm feeling a little less than appreciated
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Stephen Baxter
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Lizzie Lavine
February 09, 2007 8:34 PM
well, considering your track record... by Lizzie Lavine
Lizzie was slightly nervous. When the quidditch sign ups (and the mild insanity that accompanied it) were posted, she'd been excited to start a new season. Afterwards, she started feeling extremely anxious whenever she thought about it. Actually, the main reason she was anxious was because of the conversation with Stephen that had occured. So Ash liked her- so what? Wasn't that what she wanted? A reverse Midas' touch was taking over her social interactions, it seemed, since the enitre issue with Jake and Jen had gone up in smoke. She feared that same reaction occurring if she were to have a relationship with Ash. So, the idea came again- what did she really want? Lizzie wasn't sure.However, being on the pitch that morning, Lizzie was sure of one thing- Stephen wasn't a liar. Ash's eyes were glued to her the entire way through the little beginning speech and afterwards when he tossed her the quaffle. She wanted to grin at him, but she found that she couldn't bring herself to do it. The boy was far too focused on looking at her to warrant that much. Liz met his eyes, sending him a rather stern look of her own before shaking her head and mounting her broom. If she had learned anything from growing up with her brothers and their friends, it was that when boys looked at a girl that way, there was only one thing they could possibly be thinking about. Lizzie was torn between feeling flattered and mildly annoyed that what he was thinking about was how she looked, and nothing else.
"Let's hope not!" She laughed at Caedence's quip as the returning players took to the air, remembering the girl's propensity to be hit by bludgers, "Okay chasers, let's roll!"
She looked about for the last third of the chasing team, but didn't seem to find him. Liz shrugged and figured he had to be around there somewhere. It wasn't like Saul to just not show up to quidditch. Looking to Caedence, Liz started some simple passing drills with her, making a weave so that their pass height and distance would be varied, just for the good practice. It was simple enough, and they'd been running this as a warm up drill for years now, so it shouldn't have been hard to follow.
While working the pattern, Lizzie's mind felt like it was on repeat: What do I want? Do I want Ash? I like Ash, but is that what I want? What do I want?..." The recycled thoughts were almost distracting. Sure, she had liked Ash for a year or so now, and sure, he was exceptionally fine. He was athletic, funny, cute, and most of all, he had seen her at her worst a few years ago and had been encouraging. That had been a really rough patch in her life, and she had been genuinely upset. That was something most people never saw of Lizzie, but Ash had. She thought about it, and when she did, she couldn't help but grin. Of course she liked Ash- what had she been thinking? Did it really matter that he was looking at her? Maybe not. Maybe she liked having the attention.
"Alright Caedence," she finally shouted as she tossed her the quaffle again, unable to stop smiling, "Let's keep warming up. You pick a drill- the bludgers are out, so we came do some dodging, if you want."\n\n
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Lizzie Lavine
well, considering your track record...
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Lizzie Lavine
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Caedence
February 13, 2007 1:35 PM
..isn't good? by Caedence
Caedence's brow was begining to sweat, and she wiped it. This was a little bit of a workout after a summer away from magic. Fighting punks at home was one thing, flying and catching a red ball was something totally different. It began to take it out of a person. She inhaled deeply, reasoning that if she could learn to survive practice, then a game would be no sweat.She looked around, realising that the ball only went between her and Lizzy, realising that was rather odd. At first she thought it was an insult, Lizzy's way of saying she thought Caedence wasn't good and Saul needed no training. Sure, the kid was able to stay in the air, but that wasn't Caedence's fault! She then noticed, the other Chaser was no where to be seen. Where was he? Surely she wasn't slow enough to not notice another student transfered. What was it then? Did the boy forget practice?
Caedence snapped back into reality as she saw a rush of red once more heading at her. She caught it inches from her nose. Man, she needed to get her head...well not out of the clouds since that is about where they were, but at least in the practice at hand. "Alright Caedence, Let's keep warming up. You pick a drill- the bludgers are out, so we came do some dodging, if you want."
She frowned playfully. Was that supposed to be a joke on her 'magnetic personality' that she seemed to have on the field. It broke into her signature wolfish smile as she detected a good chalenge.
"I have an idea," she hollered back, "Why don't we play a game? Try and pass around the bludgers without getting hit? Then we can work on safe passes and dodging. And if Saul gets here, we could maybe try practicing throwing with an opposing person trying to keep us from making the throw." she suggested with a mild shrug, keeping her eyes and ears out for the evil bludgers that Lizzy said were out there. \n\n
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Caedence
..isn't good?
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Caedence
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Saul
February 14, 2007 9:32 PM
I'm here! by Saul
Saul was running late. Everything was going wrong today. First, he'd forgotten to set his alarm, so he didn't wake up until Michael got up for whatever it was that Michael did while normal people had Quidditch practice. Then, Saul hadn't been able to find shoes. While they weren't strictly neccessary for Quidditch, not having them would look weird, weirder than even Saul was comfortable with.Then he tried to find his wand to help him find his shoes, but that was missing, too. Eventually, though, he found them both in the pile of clothes that he'd worn yesterday. By then, he had just enough time to run down to the Cascade Hall and grab something to eat before practice.
That had been a bad idea because in his rush, he left his broom in his room. So then he had to go all the way back out through the gardens, into Pecari Commons, up to his room, get the broom, then run as fast as he could back down the stairs, out of the Commons, and launch up onto his broom and fly back to the Pitch.
By then, the Captains had already started, of course, and Saul spotted Caedence and Lizzy tossing the Quaffle back and forth between them. The folks on the ground with the Captains all seemed to be people who weren't on the team last year and those in the air looked to be returning players, so he headed straight for the other two Chasers.
"Hey, guys!" he called over to them, just before realizing neither was a guy and correcting, "I mean, girls!" He stopped a good passing distance away, and tried to catch his breath from his hurried trip. "What're we doing?"\n\n
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Saul
I'm here!
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Saul
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Meredith Lail
February 26, 2007 7:01 PM
Bring'em on. by Meredith Lail
Meredith couldn’t think of many other times she had been as excited as she was while making her way down to the Pitch for the Quidditch tryouts. She had added a few extra minutes to her regular stretches in the morning, just to sure she’d be ready to perform her best. Her short hair was tied up in a ponytail, as it always was when she played Quidditch or was outside in general, and she was wearing her most comfortable t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Her own broom, a slightly worn older model Nimbus, was resting on her shoulder. She had a good feeling that if she made the team, for real or as a reserve, she’d be getting a new one. Even with her older broom, Mere felt ready for whatever the captains could throw at her.Meredith saw Elly, unsurprisingly, in the group that formed on the pitch and sidled up beside her with an excited grin and planted the end of the broom on the ground. She knew both girls couldn’t wait for that day. Mere rocked back and forth from the heel to the toe of her sneakers waiting for the captains to begin. When Ash started talking, Mere let her attention fall on him, only to have it quickly jump to his sister when she picked up mid-sentence. It might have seemed stranger if she didn’t have twin brothers of her own, though mid sentence switching wasn’t as common for Max and Anthony. Usually either one said a sentence or they both said it simultaneously.
Mere didn’t let the back-and-forth talk distract her. She did become confused when only chaser and seeker were mentioned. The captains didn’t want a reserve beater? Well she didn’t have to agree, but it was their call. Mere didn’t have a problem with chaser. It was seeker that wasn’t her real strong point. She had been working on it a little over the summer out of curiosity, but she hadn't spent a lot of time with it. She could probably keep up with the snitch for a time, assuming she caught sight of it. Her eyes weren’t well trained on searching for the tiny golden sphere. They were better at seeking out the red ones to catch or the larger metal ones to clobber with her bat.
Sorrel started calling the names of those who signed up. Mere smiled and gave a quick ‘good luck’ to Elly as she went to speak with Sorrel. She could feel her heart beating faster while she waited, but her composure was pretty much the same. Her blue eyes drifted up to the practicing team over head and she lightly leaned on her broom while waiting for her name to be called. She remembered her games over the summer and couldn’t wait to be back in the air. She made a note to come back to the Pitch very soon.
Mere’s own name drifted through her ears and she pulled her attention back to Sorrel, moving forward to make herself seen. She felt a twang of nerves, but only because she had never tried out for a team before. She had only ever played with her friends or with people around the city and the Pitch back home was a first come, first serve basis to use. You didn’t need to try out to play on it. But instead of showing her nerves, she kept them down in her stomach and spoke in her normal enthusiastic tone.
“I’ve been playing Quidditch for as long as I can remember.” She started, staying confident in her abilities. “I’ve played for years at the Quidditch Pitch near my house. I’m normally playing beater, but I’m not half bad as a chaser. I’ve got a pretty good arm. Out of five? I’d say a four for chaser. It’s my second position. I won’t lie though, I’m not as good at seeker. I’ve been practicing recently, but I'd say I'm a two or a three.” Well what was the point in lying? If she was going to be tested, Sorrel would see she wasn’t as good at seeker. If only she’d let her get up and play beater. Mere was sure she could impress the captains then.\n\n
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Meredith Lail
Bring'em on.
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Meredith Lail
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The Twins
March 05, 2007 11:51 AM
Chaser Tryout Exercise (Attn: ALL) by The Twins
(OOC - if anyone else show up, you can assume that you were here for the surveying and then joined us in the air, rather than writing as arriving late. For those posting in reply to this, feel free to respond to both stages of the exercise, I included them in the one post to speed things up)IC
Although his primary job was to intervene in case of emergency, the Chasers seemed to be getting on comfortably enough, so Ash began to spice up and encourage one of the Bludger’s involvement in the training exercise. He was considering getting them both very hard on the go when he was joined in the air by his sister, balancing an almost unfeasible number of sports balls, and the newbies. He began to wrestle the Bludgers back down whilst she explained the task at hand.
“Ok, folks,” Sorrel called out, addressing the practising team as well as the try-outees. “You guys are in on this too, some dodging skills won’t do you any harm. Might even do you the world of good,” Although they’d told the old team to get up and practising, they were quite keen to see if any of the newbies abilities to dodge outstripped their existing team’s. A ridiculous number of them had managed to get themselves hit in the last game. “We’ll both be watching all of you, but to get the most shots in against each of you we want two old team members on each team, and the newbies to divide two-one, and you all to line up in front of us” she explained, as Ash rejoined her in the air. She chucked him a basket ball and a volleyball.
“The basketball represents the Quaffle, the volleyball the Bludger. Quaffle,” Ash said, holding up his basketball, “Nearest red, y’know?”
“Bludger,” Sorrel waved the volleyball. “We’re going to throw them to each person in sequence but pick the ball at random. Catch the Quaffle, dodge the Bludger. If you dive for the Bludger, we’ll take mental points of you for being idiots.”
“Ditto dodging the Quaffle.”
With that, the twins began to work down their lines, mixing up the pattern of the balls (the Bludgers being charmed to return to them after hitting a certain height).
“Ok,” Sorrel nodded, once they’d worked down the lines a good few times. “Now get circling around, and see how well you perceive what’s coming at you in a much more game like situation…”
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The Twins
Chaser Tryout Exercise (Attn: ALL)
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The Twins
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Elly
March 06, 2007 10:49 AM
Part 2 by Elly
After Sorrel had heard each of the hopefuls recommend herself, she instructed them to take to the sky. Elly desperately wanted to chat to Meredith, but she thought that would give a bad impression, maybe suggesting she was more concerned about her personal pursuits than the tryouts, so Elly refrained and shot her friend a wide smile instead. When they were a few feet in the air, Sorrel turned back to them with new instructions. Following them, Elly smoothly manoeuvred herself into line alongside the existing team members.The activity was familiar to Elly. At primary school she’d taken part in a lot of sports, and although hockey had been her favourite, she’d played netball and football, too. The exercises before practise had involved similar tasks, such as the one where you had to catch the ball when ‘head’ was shouted, and vice versa. Granted, Elly had never tried catching or dodging balls while flying a broomstick. This was where Mere had the advantage, Elly thought, as she’d been playing Quidditch with her friends for years. Elly didn’t know the other girl, Irene, at all, and she found herself hoping that Irene would prove to be awful. Elly knew that was a terrible thing to hope, and a large part of her felt ashamed for thinking it, but if there were only two vacancies, those of chaser and seeker, Elly would much rather the positions were filled by herself and her best friend, and not by a random first year.
As the captains started going down the lines, Elly cleared her head of thoughts, shameful or otherwise, and concentrated on the task at hand. The first time she caught the stand-in Quaffle, Elly felt herself wobble on her broom. The catch was successful, though, and Elly gripped more firmly with her legs when she threw the ball back, noticing that this helped to keep her broom steady. When the basketball was thrown her direction the next time, Elly remembered the firm hold with her legs, and couldn’t help smiling when she caught it with a barely noticeable quiver. The third time a ball was thrown at her, Elly almost automatically went to catch it. Almost. Luckily, she didn’t have to endure taunts of stupidity, because she realised it was the volleyball coming her way, not the basketball. Just in time, Elly ducked and swerved sharply to the right, successfully avoiding the volleyball. She felt her heart racing as she returned to her place in line, though, as if that had been a real bludger it probably would have been travelling faster and so Elly wouldn’t have had sufficient time to get out of its way. Still, she presumed that in a game situation the distinction between Quaffle and Bludger wasn’t one you’d have to take your time about. Elly made a mental note: If it’s not red, get out of its way.
After a short while, Sorrel said, “Now get circling around, and see how well you perceive what’s coming at you in a much more game like situation.”
Elly devoted just a couple of seconds to enjoying how magnificent it was to be in the air on a sunny, breezy day before she returned her full attention to the tryout session. She found that dodging the bludgers whilst already in motion was a lot easier than when stationary, but catching the Quaffle required a touch more finesse; she only just managed to catch the first ball thrown to her by the very tips of her fingers, and her turn to deliver the ball was most ungraceful. Though again she improved as the session continued, picking up little things here and there that she found useful, mimicking the movements of the more experienced chasers. Elly was eager for the extra flying lessons with Coach Fox to initiate so she could get proper instruction on sharp turns and dives, and the like. She was really starting to enjoy herself out on the pitch, and was absolutely powerless in preventing the huge grin that had settled firmly on her freckled face.
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Elly
Part 2
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Elly
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Saul Pierce
March 06, 2007 4:26 PM
Part 2, too by Saul Pierce
As the new potential teammembers joined Saul, Caedence, and Lizzie, Saul maneuvered around so that he had a spot near Elly. He grinned at her and said, "Hey, EE," before the captains started talking and he had to pay attention or risk getting kicked off the team. The whole point of a try-out, after all, was to build the best possible team and even the Cravens probably wouldn't look too fondly on horsing around.When they were told to break out into teams with two experienced members and two versus one for the new kids, Saul didn't hesitate. "Elly! Meredith! Caedence!" he claimed for his own teammates. It wasn't just that he wanted to play with his friends - okay, it was, but he could argue that he was the second most experienced Chaser on the team, so taking the three second years and leaving the first year to be paired with Lizzie and Stephen, who were two years older than even Saul, was fair.
Meredith was still a little more 'Echo and Elly's friend' than Saul's, but he certainly had more invested in her than the other new potential. Saul felt breifly guilty for not continuing his tours this year as he had last year, but it was a lot harder when he wasn't sharing nearly every class with the new kids. That first day, he'd been late to Muggle Studies because he'd brought a handful of kids to COMC, which led to him not really attempting to repeat the process. All of which meant, he didn't even know this other girl's name.
More upsettingly, it probably meant she didn't know his, which was not a failing that Meredith shared. And as for Caedence, she was one of the second years, which made her automatically one of the people Saul was fond of just for being a part of the year group he had put so much effort into winning over.
When the white volleyball came his way on the first pass, he was distracted by some advice he planned to give Elly later and wasn't remembering until the ball was practically in his hands that 'volleyball' really meant 'bludger'. He threw his hands out to either side and tried to dodge by leaning out of the way, but only managed to get himself hit on the shoulder. Flushing, he winced outwardly and apologized sheepishly to the captains.
The next time around he got the volleyball again (either by chance or because the Captains had clued into the fact that the existing team members were bludger magnets) and he was ready for it this time, even though he was grinning proudly at Elly for doing better on her second attempt. He ducked out of the way and easily avoided the unenchanted white ball.
The third time, he ducked the orange basketball cleanly as well, still snickering that Elly had nearly done the same thing he had on the first go round. Then he remembered that orange was the color he was supposed to be catching today and dove after it, deftly catching it well before it hit the ground but he didn't think that was going to win him any points with the Cravens. Okay, so Quidditch drills were really not his strong point. Actually, paying attention to his own practice instead of Elly and Meredith's was not his strong point.
The fourth time through he completely ignored the other people on his team and saw right away that he was getting the volleyball again and dodged it neatly. He was very proud of himself.
Then they were told to start moving around and that actually did make it easier to pay attention to Elly and Meredith and still do what he was supposed to do himself. He would have problems if orange was less like red, but seeing something vaguely that colour coming at him from the corner of his eye invoked instincts for catching, while spotting a white thing flying at him from weird angles made him think of birds or opposing players so he got out of the way.
He still managed to get one basketball to the side of the head, though, which was not his crowning moment of glory. Basketballs hurt. Not nearly as much as bludgers, and he easily kept his seat, but it took a few seconds to shake the headache.\n\n
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Saul Pierce
Part 2, too
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Caedence
March 06, 2007 8:14 PM
Part 2, three? by Caedence
It was interesting, really, that when Caedence was faced with a big fat metal ball, she was an open red-and-white target. Yet, the volleyballs weren't affected by her 'magnetic' personality at all. She neatly dodged each one that came her way. The closest she ever came to getting hit was when the volleyball hit her braid trailing out behind her. Maybe something happened over the summer to improve her dodging skills?She saw a blur of orange heading her way and she trew her arms around it, instinctively tucking it in as she would a quaffle before tossing it back. Maybe this year they would win the house cup! What she saw of her teammates, and hopeful teammates, she liked. Okay, Saul nearly catching the volleyball and trying to dodge the basket ball wasn't so good, but the others were doing okay so far.
She jerked her hands up and stopped the "quaffle" just as it was about to collide with her nose. Okay, Caede, she coached ehrself, get your head in this stupid game! She tossed it back. White; she dodged. White again, dodge. Orange, caught it barely after flinching, thought it was a "bludger".
It was finally time to make like it was a game. Great! This was what she was good at. She circled a bit below the others, ready to catch the "quaffle" should it fall, while dodging the "bludgers". Once, when she was sure she saw Elly almost drop the quaffle, she rushed forward, only to realise too late that that was a "bludger" and she got conked on the head. Ouch. She rubbed the small bump and caught up with her teammates in time to catch the "quaffle" that had hit Saul in the head.
"Mere! Heads up! Elly, be ready to catch if she misses!" Caedence yelled as she hurled the "quaffle" at her room mate.\n\n
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Part 2, three?
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Irene Liddowe
March 08, 2007 5:11 PM
Part 2, four =] by Irene Liddowe
Irene pushed off the ground and kept an eye on the quaffle at all times the other scanning for 'bludgers'. She didn't to screw up and wreck her chances of playing at the first test.In the summer Uncle Mike would hurl random sports balls at her for practice. He had always wanted her to play Quidditch on the team and Irene felt that that was a dream they shared. She figured, at least he doesn't want me to do ballet...
A volleyball/bludger flew slightly to her left and she swerved to avoid being hit. Another bludger flew her way and Irene had jerk her head to the right to aviod getting hit straight in her face.
The orange 'Quaffle' sped toward her left. Irene threw out a hand and gripped her broom with the other. He figer tips caught the quaffle and she pulled it toward her. She tried not to look too pleased with herself, but she was rather proud of that catch.
Irene made sure to watch the color of the ball carefully. Catching a bludger would definitely make her look fabulous... White, bludger, dodge. Orange-ish, quaffle, catch.
Soon the game mode started and Irene was ready to really play. She kept her eye on the quaffle and made sure she watched every move.
She heard a girl, who she was fairly sure was Caedence, call to another,
"Mere! Heads up! Elly, be ready to catch if she misses!"
Irene flew slightly behind them ready to play. The orange colored ball hurtled past her towards the girl she supposed was Mere. In the process of watching the Quaffle, however, Irene midded the bluder coming from her right. She felt it make contact with her shoulder and bit her lip, feling disappointed in herself.
Its okay.. she told herself. It's just one hit. No big deal, just be more careful...
Irene sped up and came to fly beside and little in ahead of Mere ready to get some action in this game...\n\n
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Irene Liddowe
Part 2, four =]
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The Craven Twins
March 12, 2007 7:16 PM
Part 3: Seeker Test by The Craven Twins
OOC - anyone who wants to may carry on below, just getting this up to get this done.IC
Whistling sharply to regain the attention of their players, the twins addressed the assembled players to explain how the tryouts for Seeker were going to work.
"K, I'm going to stay down here keeping an eye on and Bludgering you the way we've been doing," began Sorrel.
"And I'm gonna take all of you who want to try out for Seeker down the other end of the pitch, one at a time," explained Ash. "It's gonna be the standard kind of golf ball, fetch puppy exercise. I'll do the same set of shots for each of you, but assess who handles them better, rather than sending you all racing each after each other"
"And clashing heads,"
"Knocking each other off your brooms"
"And so on."
"You first," Ash nodded towards the person he was fairly sure matched the name at the top of Sorrel's list. Leading them to the far end of the pitch, away from where the team was practising, he ran through the golf ball drill, starting with easy shots (the kind that were the equivalent of the Snitch jumping down your robes for you) building up to harder shots, eventually giving them a countdown, only after which they were permitted to go screeching after the little ball. Once they missed three in a row, he thanked them and asked them to send the next test subject on over. \n\n
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The Craven Twins
Part 3: Seeker Test
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Irene Liddowe
March 13, 2007 10:18 AM
Re: Part 3: Seeker Test by Irene Liddowe
Irene stood with the others, listening as the twins told them what they would be tested on next. From what she had read, Seekers were usually small and lightweight. Well, she definitely fit that description..."You first," said one of the twins, noddin at her.
Oh boy, first in line! Irene thought sarcastically, but not really meaning it. She didn't mind going first. Going first set the bar and she was sure she could pull it off.
"Okay," she agreed, snatching up her broom. Irene brushed stray strands of her brown hair back towards her ponytail, keeping out of her sea colored eyes. The sun was shining brightly, which would make it difficult to see once she was in the air. Just catch the ball She told herself.
Once at the end of the pitch, Irene kicked off into the air, watching for the first throw.
She saw the first soaring through the air towards her. She felt the small ball in her hands and almost immediatly felt her confidence boost a little.
You can do this. You can do this. Just remember what you did over the summer... Eye on the ball. Irene thought as she stretched out her hand for the second.
Soon the 'snitches' were coming faster and farther away. Irene swooped down about three feet and caught the small ball. The next was heading to her original position and she sped her way back to swipe it out of the air. Irene felt the cool surface of the ball graze her fingers and she closed on it.
The next one was far down and to her right. Irene sped towards it and snatched at it, but only caught air. Irene bit her lip and looked back to watch for the next ball.
Don't beat yourself up! Jeez, Nini, its not the World Cup! Uncle Mike had said. She had bit back her sarcastic remark and instead made sure to score every time after that.
It's okay. It's not the World Cup She coached herself, shooting upwards to catch the next golf ball. Feeling her competitive nature kick in, Irene raced after the next three and caught them.
She raced over the where the next ball was headed. She reached out and felt it against her fingers, but she fumbled and it fell towards the ground.
One more and she was out. Irene quickly caught the next one, and the one the came after that. The small golf ball was proving to be hard to see in the bright sunlight. Irene squinted against the blazing sun and caught the ball that was shooting by her right side.
Irene watched the next golf ball soar towards a spot about five feet above her head. She zoomed upwards and raised a hand to catch it, still trying to sheild her eyes from the sun. But seconds later, she felt the wind rush through her fingers as the snitch passed by.
Irene heard Ash calling her down and she landed beside him. He thanked Irene and asked her to send the next person over.
"You got it!" She said, feeling proud of her try-out. She headed over to the group of Seekers and tapped the next person of the shoulder.
"Hey, you're up," she said with a smile. She sat down on the grass to watch the rest of the try-outs, but, all the same, feeling pretty good about her own...\n\n
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Irene Liddowe
Re: Part 3: Seeker Test
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Elly
March 13, 2007 2:49 PM
Is it too early to be using seeking puns? by Elly
Elly was surprised to find herself disappointed when the captains called a halt to the chaser tryouts. Her stomach’s mysterious disappearance at the start of the session felt like it had happened to someone else, not to the redhead having so much fun practising her skills on the Quidditch pitch. Still, it was only a trial session and it couldn’t last forever. Elly reluctantly returned to the ground and awaited her turn as seeker.Irene wasn’t bad, but then again she said she had been practising for several years. Elly sidled up to Meredith, feeling it was safer to chat now they were on the ground. “Hey, it’s not going bad, huh?” she said, though her eyes were still focussed on the first year. Elly looked up at where the current team were practising their passing and dodging skills. “I’d look good in the Quidditch uniform,” she mused aloud, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile.
Her attention was distracted just then by a tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see the first year, who had obviously finished her seeker trial. “Hey, you’re up,” she said, smiling.
“Great, thanks,” Elly said, smiling back. With one last grin back at Meredith, Elly remounted her broom and headed up to where boy Craven was waiting. She wasn’t feeling as confident about this part as she had been about the chaser bit, but it did help that the other part of the tryout had been first. It meant that Elly had already improved herself, learning to grip more tightly with her legs, and finding out that she got a better turn if she leaned in a little as well as in the direction of the turn. Little things like that, small improvements here and there, were what Elly knew came with practise – hence her mother’s personal favourite ‘practise makes perfect’.
The first few golf balls thrown her way were easy catches, despite Elly’s unfamiliarity with having to catch anything so little. A relatively easy one went straight through her outstretched fingers, though, and Elly had to try hard to let it go and just concentrate on catching the next one. Which she did, though she dipped the front of her broom just a bit too much and slid several inches forward on her broom. She missed the next snitch stand-in while she righted herself on her broom. Luckily, the next few catches were substantially more successful, one in particular being noteworthy: the snitch flew a fair few feet further down the field, too high to catch, and Elly sailed underneath, overtaking it. She turned spectacularly, catching the snitch as it came to meet her.
As determined as Elly was to do well, though, she was notoriously clumsy. As soon as Ash gave countdowns before Elly could chase after the snitch her performance started to drop. More accurately, she started to drop the ball. The thing was just so small, and travelling at higher speeds it just slid through her fingers. She fumbled a couple, managing to catch them by pulling the ball immediately to her chest, but as soon as she messed up three catches in a row it was her turn to retire. She tried not to feel too bad about it. After all, she’d given it a good shot.
“Hey, your go,” Elly she said cheerfully as she approached Meredith. “Good luck!”
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Is it too early to be using seeking puns?
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