Off the starting block on Quidditch Pitch

Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach

June 01, 2007 5:42 PM

Quidditch Championship: Crotalus vs. Pecari by Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach

Like clockwork, it was time for the Quidditch Championship once again. The weather had steadily grown warmer, the hot Arizona summer starting to come into play. Although the end of the school year was more than a month away, students were truly starting to prepare for their final examinations.

Waking up somewhat earlier than usual, Amy had taken extra care to dress in clothes that would provide her with some relief during the day. It had taken her quite some time, but she had started to feel better. The color had returned to her cheeks and she had found that she had an appetite once more. The only bit of annoyance was that she still, at times, because tired easily. Having always been one to pride herself on her health and power, it was completely frustrating to her to realize that she had truly gotten sick for a bit of time.

Donning a pair of robes in a light canary yellow, Amy set to work pulling her hair away from her face. Goggles were placed in her bag and her gloves quickly made it on to her hands, fitting snuggly. Taking one last glance around her room, Amy grabbed her bag and exited.

Walking around the corner, Amy unlocked the storage closet, knowing that more than one student would be in need of a broom. She mentally went through the list of items she needed to remember this time, as she had been so foolishly forgetful the last. The game balls were checked off of her list as she withdrew her wand and magicked them to follow her on her way to the center of the pitch.

The day would be warm, but luckily the charms that regulated the weather would keep it from getting too hot. Hopefully, the players would be able to stay on their brooms for this game. The fact that that blonde from Pecari would be in this game probably meant that that most likely wouldn't happen, the girl seemed to attract Bludgers.

Noting the sun's glare, Amy put on her goggles, the special tint acting like Muggle sunglasses and relieving some of the pain. She used a sunblocking charm to keep herself from getting burned.

Students and professors were already making their way into the stands. The teams would be wrapping things up and soon entering the pitch and the game would begin. Squatting, she removed her legendary broom from its bag and straightened in time to see the teams entering. Waving the players over, she sighed. She vaguely wondered what injuries would happen this year.

When they had all approached, Amy called the captains closer and then turned to address all of the players. "Alright, you know the deal. I know it's hot, but you've got to wear your robes. How about we try and make this one a little bit less dirty than a few of the other games we've had though, eh? Foul shots will still be granted if you do something that I construe as illegal. And you've got to stay within the confines of the pitch. As you know, the game will be played until someone catches the Snitch. So, let's get this game going. Captains shake hands and then return to your places. It's time to release the balls."

Moving over to the chest of balls, Amy squatted once more, releasing the Snitch. She paused momentarily, watching as the small golden orb ascended into the air, paused and then cut a corner and flew off. She turned her attention back to the balls before her and carefully released the Bludgers, easily jumping out of the way as they darted into the air. Handling the Quaffle, she moved back to her feet and faced the students.

"Alright, on three... One. Two. Three!" At three the Quaffle was lobbed into the air as a whistle sounded simultaneously. A grin formed on her face- she had decided that the whistle would make a nice touch- as she straddled her broom and pushed off the ground.

The game had begun.

OOC: Alright you know the gist. Name, team and position in the Author line. The longer the post the better. Enjoy!

Subthreads:

The Proud Pecari Bench by Irene Liddowe, Reserve with Irene, Irene, Benchwarmer

Off the starting block by Saul Pierce, Chaser with Caedence Redoak, Chaser, Lily, Beater, Helena Layne, Chaser, Earl Valentine, Keeper, Lizzie Lavine, Chaser, Irene, Broom-Wrangler, Lizzie, Chaser, Earl, Keeper, Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser, Chrissy Mathers, Chaser, Geoffrey S., Chaser, Chrissy, Chaser, Lizzie, Pecari Chaser, Irene- Reserve/Chaser, Stephen, Pecari Keeper, Irene - Reserve/Chaser, Irene, Pecari Chaser

A bundle of rage. by Lily Collins, Beater

I feel like a forty-niner by Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker with Elly Eriksson, Seeker, <s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s>, Jennifer, seeker, Elly, Seeker, Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker, Elly, Pecari Seeker, Caedence

0 Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Quidditch Championship: Crotalus vs. Pecari 0 Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach 1 5

Irene Liddowe, Reserve

June 01, 2007 6:42 PM

The Proud Pecari Bench by Irene Liddowe, Reserve

Irene looked out the window of her dorm to see the bright sun rising. Normally she never got up so early, but this was a Quidditch day! Not just Quidditch, though. This was the Quiddich Championship! How cool was that? Irene felt the butterflies in her stomach but still had that excited feeling, like an excited nervous.

Irene dressed and headed down to Cascade Hall to eat. She did't eat too much. She wasn't really hungry. She was way too excited.

Irene could just picture Josh's excitement at the thought of a Quidditch Championship. He was usually quiet, but mention, Quidditch... Bam! He won't stop talking! She had never met a bigger fan than Josh!

Irene got to the pitch and changed into her gear. She loved the entire process of a game. Everything. Everything from the practices to heading out with the team. The team did head out to the field, emerging into the bright sun, and Irene took her spot on the bench, cheering with the crowd. It was sweltering hot outside, much thanks to the Arizona sun, and the Quidditch robes weren't helping all that much.

Coach Fox stood in the center as the game approached the toss. There is goes! The toss was up along with the sound of a whistle. Well, that was new!

Now to see who caught the Quaffle...\r\n\r\n

0 Irene Liddowe, Reserve The Proud Pecari Bench 0 Irene Liddowe, Reserve 0 5

Saul Pierce, Chaser

June 02, 2007 10:35 PM

Off the starting block by Saul Pierce, Chaser

Saul was psyched. Any Quidditch game was exciting, but the championship was especially so. He'd slept poorly the night before, waking about once every hour in too-early anticipation of getting up and out to the field. He would probably crash like a drunk-driven car later this afternoon, but as of now, adrenaline was keeping him not just alert but downright hyper. The heaping spoonfuls of sugar he'd added to his cereal that morning helped, too.

He'd talked with Elly and Meredith on the way out, practically bouncing as they walked and even Elly had had a hard time getting a word in edgewise as Saul talked about how great they were all going to do and that Elly was totally going to do a fantastic job with finding the snitch again.

Picking up his school broom had been accomplished without any hassle, but keeping still and quiet for the twins' speech was a bit more difficult. When the whistle finally blew and the quaffle tossed up, Saul was off like a triggered spring-loaded mousetrap, grabbing hold of the red ball as he launched up into the air.

He charged toward the Crotalus goal posts, hoping to get in a quick shot before their Keeper had really gotten settled into position. Besides, with how well Caedence did with the bludgers, it was probably better to get in as many early shots as possible while they still had three Chasers.

Spotting one of his teammates also flying near the goals, he made as if to pass to her, but at the last moment made a shot toward the leftmost hoop instead. An early lead would be a nice advantage.\r\n\r\n

1 Saul Pierce, Chaser Off the starting block 82 Saul Pierce, Chaser 0 5

Lily Collins, Beater

June 03, 2007 4:44 PM

A bundle of rage. by Lily Collins, Beater

Due to the extreme amounts of studying and homework the fifth years had to do, Lily's nerves were completely frayed.This meant she was more short-tempered and vicious than usual. The hot weather did not help to improve her mood either. Fortunately, Lily was not one to get sick in such heat, just volatile. In Quidditch, this was an asset, so long as she did not decide to take out her own teammates and directed her anger solely toward the other team. After all, that was what a Beater did, hit bludgers in order to hinder the other team's ability to score or, hopefully, stay on their brooms at all.

The sun bared down on her, Lily made a face and quickly took out her wand and placed a cooling charm on herself. However, it was only strong enough to keep her from getting overheated and dehydrated. It was not however, strong enough to allow herself to get less irritable. Lily needed to stay angry.

She looked down at her robes, which seemed highly unpractical in this weather. Underneath she had on a red tank top and a pair of cut of jeans and she'd put on what was the magical equivalent of sun-block only it was stronger so she wouldn't get burnt. She'd wear the stupid robes of course, in order not to get her team in trouble but Lily was beginning to feel that it would make much more sense to have seperate warm weather and cool weather uniforms or have the weather charms adjusted to have the pitch always be the perfect temperature for a game so players would not have to contend with poor weather.

As she listened to the Coach's speech, she rolled her eyes. Hypocrite , Lily thought, not for the first time. Coach Fox had always been one to be super violent on the pitch when she'd been playing. That was why she'd been thrown out of the league or something. She had no room whatsoever to talk about games not being dirty and Lily certainly was not about to go easy on the other team. This was the championship and being merciless towards opponents had been a strategy that had worked time and time again. It had worked for Teppenpaw last year and them against Aladren. It would work again. To change strategy at this point would be idiotic.

Lily straddled her broom and took off into the air at the sound of the coach's whistle. The gust of wind made by the motion of her broom going through the air felt good against her face. Before she could even reach the nearest bludger, one of the Pecari Chasers had the Quaffle and had gone for a goal. Anger and annoyance coursed through her veins and with the usual glare at Earl that said, Let it go through and DIE , she sped off and hit the bludger with all her might at the nearest Pecari, hoping to soon see one of her opponents falling off their broom.
\r\n\r\n

11 Lily Collins, Beater A bundle of rage. 45 Lily Collins, Beater 0 5

Caedence Redoak, Chaser

June 03, 2007 6:06 PM

Right behind you by Caedence Redoak, Chaser

Caedence was like a tightly coiled spring right now. It was tough to stay still. This was the championship! If she lost her team this match, it was over. Pecari’s good name would be trashed forever. Even worse was it was against the Crotali, who were beating them in house points, hurting Pecari’s streak. She had to prove to herself and her team that she could do this. That she wasn’t a looser. Her father’s face swam before her eyes constantly in the weeks leading up to the game. She would prove to him that she could do something right, even something magical!

Her hands sweated underneath her beaters gloves. Sure, she wasn’t a beater, but they helped her grip, besides the fact that she hadn’t been wearing them as much as she did last year. She tugged on the bottom of the glove, to get it on more firmly. She nervously smoothed her braid down, wishing it had a ribbon to bind it tighter.

She saw Saul next to her in a talkative streak with Elly and Meredith. Well good for him, to be so happy before a game! Here she was, roasting under her robes despite the pale yellow spaghetti strap shirt and brown shorts. She felt like showing a little ’team spirit’, despite her usual habit of wearing a worn t-shirt and jeans. Her broom was getting old, she noticed, and it had several broken tail-straws. She would have to either get a new one, or get a repair kit. Coach Fox’s words just rolled off her; they were always the same.

She sprang into the air, loving the way the wind whipping in her face cooled her off. She didn’t go after the quaffle as she usually did, knowing she’d probably screw it up again. She stayed close behind Saul in case anything happened. She saw him feint a pass at Lizzie, then shoot at the goals. She almost cheered out loud.

She heard a bludger coming at her, and she dodged to one side. She saw an angry beater with bat in hand. Great, the beater had a temper this game. That was just perfect. \r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Caedence Redoak, Chaser Right behind you 94 Caedence Redoak, Chaser 0 5

Lily, Beater

June 03, 2007 8:18 PM

The rage builds... by Lily, Beater

The fact that the little twit had avoided her bludger just made Lily angrier. Not that she would expect anyone to sit there and let themselves be hit, but it didn't matter. She had the urge to speed over to the Pecari Chaser, take her beater club and knock the younger girl senseless with it. However, Lily was sensible enough to realize that would get a foul and make Pecari get a penalty shot. That was one of the last things she wanted. It wasn't as if she had any confidence in her mortal enemy to block these shots as it was and Lily felt it was for the best to keep the other team away from that end of the pitch, but unfortunately it was too late for that.

It was however, perfectly within the rules of the game to take off after the bludger, and try to take down her opponent again. She could do that without penalty, hopefully.

The bludger had strayed a bit and Lily couldn't see it. This only added fuel to the growing fire inside her. Sweat trickled down her back and the fury built even more. She muttered a few swear words about her robes under her breath.

That's when she spotted the second bludger. A cruel look filled Lily's eyes and nasty smirk found its way to her lips as she sped towards it and whacked it hard at the same Pecari chaser. Take that, you little brat! Lily mentally screamed at her.\r\n\r\n

11 Lily, Beater The rage builds... 45 Lily, Beater 0 5

Helena Layne, Chaser

June 03, 2007 11:15 PM

hides by Helena Layne, Chaser

"Knock 'em dead," Anne ordered, releasing her own hair long enough to tug on Helena's.

"Just don't end up dead," Geoffrey added. "The day you take a Bludger to the head is the day Dad kills me."

"And no worries," Anne continued. "This is gonna be a snap for y'all - you've already beaten the best team Sonora has to offer." Helena laughed weakly, not reminding her friend of Aladren's long losing streak. Anne was joking, now, but even she admitted that she took insults to her team as the lowest sort of personal shots at herself. Helena, for some reason, didn't fancy getting decked before the game.

"G'luck," Geoff said, clapping her on the shoulder. For any other member of her family, that was roughly the equivalent of a full hug; Geoff had gotten antsy about showing much in the way of affection a few years earlier.

Then, just like that, they were gone.

Helena went to join her team, her stomach feeling like some dolt had filled it up with lead. She hadn't gotten sick the way she had before the Aladren game, but she felt almost as nervous. The Cravens, after all, had no reason to leave her head intact, and this was the Championship. This was Anne's life's dream and one of Sonora's bigger stature-type things. She didn't fool herself that anything hung on her - she was a Chaser, and not even an especially good one - but she still wanted to do well for the House. The time leading up to Fox's speech was spent biting her lips.

At least the speech didn't give her much to worry about. It was a given that she was wearing her uniform, even with the weather, and she certainly didn't intend to cheat. Cheating and other forms of rule-breaking were so...cheap. Not quite the word she'd wanted, but it would do. Her nerves steadied up a bit as the captains were instructed to shake hands. It was the game, and while messing up was bad enough, doing so because she was anxious about messing up was even worse.

Saul Pierce was, unfortunately, a little quicker to get the Quaffle than any of the Crotali, though his backup gave her a little hope. Caedence attracted more Bludgers than fourth years in Crotalus did attention; if she stayed close to the Quaffle-bearer, they might both be taken out of the game in quick succession. For the meantime, however, the action was moving towards the Crotalus goals. Keeping one eye open for Bludgers and her teammates, she moved with it.

Unless she had suicidal tendencies so well-concealed that even she didn’t know about them, there was nothing she could do to gain any control over what the Quaffle was doing. Since she was fairly sure she’d know if she had a death wish and Saul was only faking a pass which could have opened up some options, she thought that the best thing to do was to stay open to catching if Earl managed the save. Keeping away from the Bludgers heading for Caedence sounded like a swell idea, too.\r\n\r\n

16 Helena Layne, Chaser *hides* 88 Helena Layne, Chaser 0 5

Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker

June 04, 2007 2:35 PM

I feel like a forty-niner by Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker

Jennifer Zucchero was incredibly grateful toward whoever decided to make the championship game more than a month from the end of the school year, and the resulting CATS. If that had not been the case, then it was certain she (and likely most of the other fifth years on either team) might have gone mad from overwork. Unlike the first game she’d had, she’d never forgotten that this game was coming up- it was, after all, the first time Crotalus had been in the finals since she’d become captain. And she hadn’t let her team forget either. With all the extra practices she’d been calling, it was lucky she hadn’t had a mutiny on her hands, although it probably helped almost everyone seemed to be taking this as seriously as she was.

The day of the match started off well enough. No awful weather problems like rain and mud (it would have been highly unlikely, with the weather charms still working well, and with it nearly being summer, and all, but Jennifer was still counting the good weather as a plus). No obvious illness from any member of her team because of unfortunately-timed breakups (although this was even more unlikely than the first, as she was fairly certain that she was the only one on her team in a relationship but, again, she was looking on the bright side).

Breakfast was uneventful as well. Jennifer had headed down earlier than most, eaten more quickly than usual (helped by the fact that she was too nervous to eat much anyway), and headed out to the pitch. She supposed it would have been better for team morale for them to have all eaten together, but she doubted she’d have been good company. Besides, tension was probably contagious, and she didn’t want everyone else affected. It was bad enough that the captain was.

She wasn’t even sure why she was so worried about the game. Yes, it was the most important match of the year, but it should have been good enough for her that her team had made it this far in the first place. And it was…mostly. She just needed to relax, that was all. Even if they lost, Crotalus had still been in the championship. She wasn’t a complete failure as a captain. That was the important thing.

As the rest of the team arrived, she’d managed for the most part to remind herself of that fact, and the nerves had settled down. By the time everyone was ready, and she’d gathered them all for the standard pre-game pep talk that was necessary for formality’s sake even if in all likelihood nobody listened, she was back to normal.

“Well,” she began cheerfully, more so than she felt, “I really don’t have any great words of wisdom to impart that I haven’t already said a million times already in practice, and if you lot haven’t picked up on them already, then one more reiteration won’t do any good. All of you know what you’re doing, you’re good at your positions, and if everyone goes out there and just does it, then we should do great. Be careful, though. Pecari’s not going to underestimate us as much as Aladren probably did, so we’ve lost that advantage. However, everyone knows how ridiculously arrogant they can get,” she paused to allow anyone who wanted to laugh to do so, even if she’d been half-serious, “so we can use that against them. Good luck.”

As everyone else had headed out to the pitch, though, she grabbed Earl’s arm to hold him back for a second. “I just wanted to remind you that there’s a pretty good chance that the Cravens are going to be out with a vengeance, and to be on the look-out. I mean, you should focus on keeping, of course, but in case anything happens to me,” she shrugged. “Well, you know what to do. You’ve been doing well in practice” (Jennifer had spent a lot of time working with Earl on seeking in practice, just to make sure he hadn’t forgotten how to do it) “So you should be fine.”

With that, Jennifer hurried out to the pitch to join the rest of her team once more. She managed to refrain from rolling her eyes at Fox’s speech, which never seemed to change, and which seemed to be completely obvious (she rally shouldn’t be pointing fingers, of course, as her own probably was exactly the same, but still). The rest of the pre-game ritual was gone through mindlessly, at least on her part. She’d already gotten into the game mindset, where she didn’t focus on anything outside the snitch, so everything else wasn’t important. Then, in a matter of minutes, the whistle had been blown, and the game had started.

She pushed herself into the air almost immediately, trying to figure out where the snitch had gone. She’d managed to keep her eye on it since its release, but it was difficult to simultaneously get off the ground and focus on a fast-moving object at the same time, so she’d lost it. However, it was only a matter of seconds before she spotted it again, heading away from the action at the Crotalus goals toward the Pecari ones. With a glance at the second-year she was directly competing with, Jennifer shot as quickly as possible in that direction. She was not going to let a seeker who had been playing for a much shorter period of time than she had beat her out again. Not if she could help it.
\r\n\r\n

0 Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker I feel like a forty-niner 48 Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker 0 5

Elly Eriksson, Seeker

June 04, 2007 6:44 PM

I feel like a thirteen-year-old. by Elly Eriksson, Seeker

Oh Hell. What in the name of all things good, sane and of this planet had she been thinking? Elly couldn’t help it – she was nail-bitingly nervous: she’d been biting her nails all morning. For some reason, she hadn’t been anywhere near so nervous for her first match. What had changed? Oh yeah, it was the championship, that’s what. The bloody Quidditch Championship! That was a big deal. Okay, so Elly was used to playing sport championships; she had been hockey captain for years before discovering Quidditch. Still, hockey was more of a team game. For Elly, Quidditch meant playing against the other Seeker and dodging the bludgers: it was a very individual game. Of course there was also the tiny detail that more often than not the Seeker was responsible for the outcome of the game. Yup, that’s what had caused the nerves.

And there was more. The Crotalus Seeker was the Captain, and in fifth year! There was absolutely no way that Elly had a chance in Hell of beating her.

Still, Elly had tried out for the position, and accepted it, so she had asked for this, after all. Plus she had put hours and hours into practice, and learned that charm that Paul Tarwater had been using, not to mention she’d spent a rather respectable sum of money on some very nice new Seeker’s gloves. Yes, she had made a conscious effort to be good at Quidditch, and she was determined not to be intimidated by the championship game, even if it was against Crotalus. Elly gulped.

Having forced down some toast for breakfast, Elly felt a lot better about things. Maybe she had just needed the energy boost of breakfast to get rid of those pesky nerves. As she headed down to the pitch with an over-excited Saul, linking arms with Meredith, the nervous feelings almost completely disappeared, replaced by excitement and that vigorous competitive streak of hers. She listened to the Captains’ prep talk with a grin on her face, and kicked off into the air with sheer delight.

Elly adored flying; it offered such a sense of freedom and grace (and on the ground Elly was far from graceful). She was wearing plain black cotton shorts and t-shirt under her Quidditch robes, and the sun warmed her nicely. Then the game started with a whistle, and Elly was sure she actually felt her adrenaline levels increase.

Seeing as this was only her second game (practices not included), Elly didn’t really have a strategy yet. She tended to fly above the game to avoid getting in the way of the chasers, and because bludgers tended to lose their momentum travelling upwards to meet her. So Elly flew up higher, feeling more comfortable on her broom than she had in the last game, and having better grip thanks to her gloves, which fit like… well, gloves. She flicked her eyes around the pitch, hoping to catch an early glimpse of the Snitch. What she saw was the scary Crotalus captain (who probably wasn’t scary to anyone but Elly at this moment) heading at great speed towards the Pecari end of the pitch, where Elly was hovering. Elly’s brain immediately jumped to a hundred different conclusions, but she quickly decided the most likely reason for a Seeker to be flying that fast was that they had found the Snitch. Gripping her broom yet tighter, Elly narrowed her eyes and scanned again. This time she saw it – the tiny golden ball, heading her way. Elly set off towards it. It was heading right to her, but Crotalus’ Seeker wasn’t far behind. It would be a close call to see who got there first. Could the game really be over this quickly? \r\n\r\n

0 Elly Eriksson, Seeker I feel like a thirteen-year-old. 0 Elly Eriksson, Seeker 0 5

Irene

June 05, 2007 3:17 PM

OOC: Am I allowed to post again? To myself? (nm) by Irene

0 Irene OOC: Am I allowed to post again? To myself? (nm) 0 Irene 0 5

<s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s>

June 05, 2007 5:18 PM

<s>I feel non-numerical.</s> by <s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s>

Logic said that the odds were against Crotalus in the game, but Gwen Carey's wasn't a name often associated with logic, at least not with the conventional kind. It was a good day, which meant she was able to focus easily on things, and she was even in a good mood. When the weather and a second-year opposing Seeker were added to the unlikely mix, she felt as secure as anyone could in thinking Crotalus had a nice shot at winning...and they needed to win. If they lost, the Teppenpaws might catch up to them in the House Points competition before the end of the year, which would be unacceptable. It was a pride thing.

Waiting for the game to begin, her mind wandered to her family. There was a chance that her cousins were out there – Anne was, for whatever bizarre reason, rather attached to Little Lena Layne, and Amber tried to be supportive – but she wasn’t quite crazy enough to believe that her sister had shown up. Enough trouble with the family found Morgaine without her looking for any. Besides, Morgaine was rather unsentimental; she didn’t know the first thing about Quidditch, which meant there was no point in going to a game – even a Championship involving her House and her sister. Gwen didn’t like that thought, though, and chalked Mora’s absence up to a conflict of interests.

The beginning of Jennifer’s pep talk pulled her out of her thoughts quickly, her attention switching to what her captain was saying. Oh, yeah, it was a good day. They were going to be just fine. Even if they lost, they’d make a good showing – they wouldn’t have to think that other people were making jokes about them behind their backs, or go onto the Pitch sure they were about to lose every time. This was the start of a new chapter. Fox gave her speech – Gwen couldn’t make up her mind who it was more directed to, the Pecaris or Lily – and then the game was on.

Saul had the Quaffle for Pecari, Helena and Caedence were…around, Lily was apparently in a mood, and the first goal or lack thereof all hung on Earl. If that wasn’t a lovely combo, Gwen didn’t know what was. She had to remind herself that this was a good day. Earl was a decent Keeper, after all, and one goal wouldn’t make much of a difference, anyway. It all hung on Jennifer – one reason Gwen was frankly glad she’d never shown much aptitude for Seeking. She just didn’t think her nerves could take the pressure. Her eyes moved to find the captain, figuring she was pretty much going to be responsible for taking care of Jenny until Lily finished chasing down all the Chasers, and immediately began flying for a Bludger when she saw the position the fifth year was in.\r\n\r\n

0 <s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s> <s>I feel non-numerical.</s> 63 <s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s> 0 5

Gwen, Beater

June 05, 2007 5:24 PM

...and somewhat idiotic. by Gwen, Beater

OOC: *winces* Sorry! Gwen must be rubbing off on me. I composed the post on my word processor and accidentally left off a paragraph when I copied it back. Here's the real deal. BIC:

Logic said that the odds were against Crotalus in the game, but Gwen Carey's wasn't a name often associated with logic, at least not with the conventional kind. It was a good day, which meant she was able to focus easily on things, and she was even in a good mood. When the weather and a second-year opposing Seeker were added to the unlikely mix, she felt as secure as anyone could in thinking Crotalus had a nice shot at winning...and they needed to win. If they lost, the Teppenpaws might catch up to them in the House Points competition before the end of the year, which would be unacceptable. It was a pride thing.

Waiting for the game to begin, her mind wandered to her family. There was a chance that her cousins were out there – Anne was, for whatever bizarre reason, rather attached to Little Lena Layne, and Amber tried to be supportive – but she wasn’t quite crazy enough to believe that her sister had shown up. Enough trouble with the family found Morgaine without her looking for any. Besides, Morgaine was rather unsentimental; she didn’t know the first thing about Quidditch, which meant there was no point in going to a game – even a Championship involving her House and her sister. Gwen didn’t like that thought, though, and chalked Mora’s absence up to a conflict of interests.

The beginning of Jennifer’s pep talk pulled her out of her thoughts quickly, her attention switching to what her captain was saying. Oh, yeah, it was a good day. They were going to be just fine. Even if they lost, they’d make a good showing – they wouldn’t have to think that other people were making jokes about them behind their backs, or go onto the Pitch sure they were about to lose every time. This was the start of a new chapter. Fox gave her speech – Gwen couldn’t make up her mind who it was more directed to, the Pecaris or Lily – and then the game was on.

Saul had the Quaffle for Pecari, Helena and Caedence were…around, Lily was apparently in a mood, and the first goal or lack thereof all hung on Earl. If that wasn’t a lovely combo, Gwen didn’t know what was. She had to remind herself that this was a good day. Earl was a decent Keeper, after all, and one goal wouldn’t make much of a difference, anyway. It all hung on Jennifer – one reason Gwen was frankly glad she’d never shown much aptitude for Seeking. She just didn’t think her nerves could take the pressure. Her eyes moved to find the captain, figuring she was pretty much going to be responsible for taking care of Jenny until Lily finished chasing down all the Chasers, and immediately began flying for a Bludger when she saw the position the fifth year was in.

They needed to win this one, which made taking Elly Eriksson out of the action a major point of strategy. It was especially important when the Pecari girl was closer to the Snitch than the Crotalus one. She didn’t let herself think about the potential danger to Jennifer in trying to take Elly out immediately; the older girl had been, or so she’d put together, playing her position when Gwen had still thought she’d be the queen of Sonora and the next belle of Savannah. Jenny surely knew enough, especially after the way the last match had gone, to keep an eye out for Bludgers. Getting in range of the first Bludger Lily had tried to hit at Caedence, Gwen hit it as hard as she could towards Elly.\r\n\r\n

0 Gwen, Beater ...and somewhat idiotic. 63 Gwen, Beater 0 5

Earl Valentine, Keeper

June 06, 2007 3:09 AM

Keeping an eye on the goals by Earl Valentine, Keeper

Earl made it on to the pitch in record time and pretty much ignored his surroundings. He vaguely remembered Eavan wishing him good luck as he walked over to the field. But that was it. He didn't remember waking up. He didn't remember what he had for breakfast(or if he had breakfast at all) and he didn't remember putting on his Quidditch gear and leaving the school. All that was in his head was Quidditch.

As soon as the quaffle left it's box, Earl never took his eyes off of it. Since coming to this school, he had never known Crotalus to win the Championship. And now they had a chance. When the whistle blew, Earl took a deep breath and launched himself into the air and towards his posts.

To keep himself in the game, he began circling the goals, keeping an eye on the quaffle. That little Pecari chaser had it. Saul, was it? Who cares. Earl eyed him like a hawk. Saul, or whatever his name was, passed it to Lizzie. No wait! He still had it! Earl lunged after the quaffle, banging his shoulder and knee up against the goal. He grabbed it just before the quaffle made it into the hoop.

Earl took a very deep breath and grinned. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his right shoulder and knee, he passed it to the nearest red blur he could find.

And then Earl went back to circling the posts.\r\n\r\n

0 Earl Valentine, Keeper Keeping an eye on the goals 0 Earl Valentine, Keeper 0 5

Fox

June 06, 2007 10:13 AM

OOC by Fox

I don't see why not. Reserve players can't actually count for points unless they are pulled into the game, as I try to keep the number of players even. So have at it and have fun. :)

0 Fox OOC 0 Fox 0 5

Irene, Benchwarmer

June 07, 2007 6:32 AM

...with one person =D by Irene, Benchwarmer

Irene sat on the edge of the bench, watching intently as the game went by... Saul had the Quaffle and passed it-- no, he faked it! Saul was shooting on goal... Darn it! Great save by Crotalus keeper... She hated when that happened. Not really, though. It was fun to watch, but in this situation... It'd be better if saves like that didn't happen for the other team.

Irene looked around to see how many supporters Pecari had drawn in. There was plenty of Pecaris in the stands behind her, even some she reccognized! Brett was standing in the middle of the group of people with Echo. She grinned over at him and gave a wave. before turning to watch Elly.

Elly had seemed so worried about doing well at this game. Irene hoped she had found some confidence in herself, as she really was a good seeker-- and there she goes! Elly was speeding towards the snitch, looking out for the Crotalus seeker. Irene noticed, over to the side, Gwen, Crotalus beater, had slammed a bludger towards Elly. Dodge it, Elly! Dodge it! Irene screamed in her mind. Stressful stuff, Quidditch...\r\n\r\n

0 Irene, Benchwarmer ...with one person =D 269 Irene, Benchwarmer 0 5

Helena Layne, Chaser

June 07, 2007 10:14 PM

Chasing the Quaffle...sort of. by Helena Layne, Chaser

There was something about the moment when the Quaffle began its trip from a Chaser's hand to the goal, or so Helena had always observed. The game stayed almost desperately fast at all times, but to her, that particular moment always seemed to pass in a kind of non-visual slow motion. The wince that appeared as Earl collided with the goalpost mid-save turned into a wide smile when the shot failed. The first few moves of the game would have been better if they had involved the Crotali taking the Quaffle and scoring, but it still wasn't a bad start to things.

"Good one, Earl!" Helena called, tossing her head to remove the end of her ponytail from the top of her spine. The heat wasn't as bad as it sometimes got in the summers back home, but it was slightly uncomfortable, and the way her hair was poking her was irritating. It fell right back into place. A second later, the Quaffle was heading straight for her. She automatically put up her hands to catch it and did so.

She was close to the Crotalus goals and Pecari Chasers. It didn't take an exceptional amount of intelligence to tell, she thought, that moving was a good idea, unless the point was to help the enemy out. Turning and starting to move in the opposite direction, she got the best grip she could on the Quaffle and tried to keep an eye on all directions for steal attempts and pass options.

It didn't take long to see, or at least think she saw, one of the Pecaris trying to close in on her, though it was as difficult as ever to say anything for sure while riding on a fast-moving broomstick. Moving as far to the side as she thought she could without losing her balance, Helena threw the Quaffle to the first red uniform she saw, hoping she'd aimed for another Chaser and that the pass wouldn't end up intercepted by one of the Pecaris.\r\n\r\n

16 Helena Layne, Chaser Chasing the Quaffle...sort of. 88 Helena Layne, Chaser 0 5

Lizzie Lavine, Chaser

June 08, 2007 1:56 AM

Catching the quaffle... for real. by Lizzie Lavine, Chaser

Lizzie knew that this day had been coming for a while now. The Championship match was nothing new to the Pecari Qudditch team, but Liz was unsure how all of it would go over, what with Crotalus and Pecari going head to head. Going up against your best friend's team usually created problems, especially in a sport like quidditch. An argument between friends over the wounding of the other's teammate wasn't a situation Lizzie wanted to be in. She had kept mum on the subject around Jen, and after a quick breakfast that morning, Lizzie found herself in the changing rooms of the pitch, avoiding any chance of talking to the opposing team captain.

Once dressed in her brown and gold robes with her hair pulled back into a tight french braid, Lizzie was ready to begin the match. The usual opening remarks were made by the coach, and there was a hand shake, and then, before she knew it, the whistle was blown, and the quaffle was in the air. Lizzie whooped when Saul got his hands on the leather ball, and keeping a loose mark on one of the far opposing chaser, she watched as he attempted a goal.

Though unsuccessful, the goal attempt turned out to be a positive thing. One of the chasers she'd been marking now had the quaffle, and Lizzie was closing tight in on her. The other chaser leaned over to the side and launched the wuaffle towards another red-clad chaser, but Lizzie was too quick. She immediately abandoned defense, and cut between the two Crotalus chasers, the quaffle settled tightly in one of her arms. Lizzie took a quick check, and 180'd around to head back towards the recently attempted goals. She spotted Saul and Caedence not too far away, and silently called them to follow her. The keeper had been on his toes earlier, but there was always the chance that he could be caught off-guard. \r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie Lavine, Chaser Catching the quaffle... for real. 0 Lizzie Lavine, Chaser 0 5

Saul, Chaser

June 08, 2007 12:56 PM

Follow the leader by Saul, Chaser

For every moment the Quaffle sailed toward the Crotalus goals, Saul's muscles coiled tighter and tighter with increasing anticipation of being able to shout and cheer. Earl was moving to intercept, though, and at the last moment, the Keeper managed to deflect the ball and see to that only part of Earl himself made it through the hoop.

"No!" Saul denied the evidence of his eyes for just a moment, but when the Quaffle got tossed toward one of the opposing Chasers, he was back in the game. He started after the tag team of Helena and Lizzie, but he was just a little too far back to be of any use until Lizzie intercepted an attempted pass and signaled for him and Caedence to follow her.

He made the requisite turn on his broom (he really had to get one of his own soon) and did as instructed. "Right behind you," he called out to her as he fell in line. Assuming his function was to protect her from bludgers and Crotalus Chasers, he kept a peeled eye out for anything or anybody incoming as they made their way back toward Earl and the goals.\r\n\r\n

1 Saul, Chaser Follow the leader 82 Saul, Chaser 0 5

Caedence, Chaser

June 08, 2007 6:13 PM

Whee!!!! by Caedence, Chaser

Caedence wasn't keeping her head in the game. Moments after a bludger assaulted her, another followed hit by an angry Crotalus. Focused on the goal posts as she was, she almost didn't see, or hear, it coming at her. When she did, it was almost too late. She gave her broom a small burst of speed, but the bludger clipped her brush. She was sent spinning, trying as hard as she could to hold on to her broomhandle. She finally stopped spinning, and was fighting the urge to loose her lunch, when she noticed the game was moving without her.

Lizzie had the quaffle (what happened to the goal? Did they score?) and was looking to them with an apparent command to follow in her face. She nodded at Lizzie with fierce determination in her eyes. Next to her Saul hollered. Mentally shaking herself, she was glad her moment of dizziness had passed. She urged her broom forward, noticing in dismay that it lagged, drifting to one side. No! She wasn't going to be useless!

"I'm here if you need me, Lizzie!" She hollered when she caught up a few feet to her right, and down slightly. "I know you can make this one!" She smiled apologetically at Saul. She guessed that they had missed, since none of her team was hooting or hollering. She kept her eyes always roaming, looking for any bludgers (or angry beaters for that matter.) She wasn't going to let her mind wander again. \r\n\r\n

0 Caedence, Chaser Whee!!!! 94 Caedence, Chaser 0 5

Lily, Beater

June 08, 2007 7:15 PM

Eh...more rage... by Lily, Beater

Okay, so the little twerp was still on her broom,even though the bludger had struck it which just served to make Lily more angry. Why won't she fall off? She mentally swore at her opponent and went to retrieve the bludger so she could have another go at it.

At least the moron didn't let it through. Lily didn't know what she would have done if he'd let them score. Well, she could certainly think of a few things, none of them pleasant. Lily was pretty good with curses after all. Right now, however, she'd have rather directed them at the other team. A nice petrifying curse would render them unable to play. Unfortunately, that would be illegal.

It had to be the heat, that had to be why Lily was thinking of these underhanded tactics. She couldn't help it, every little move the other team made was annoying her. She just wanted to knock them off anyway she could.

However, as Lily approached the bludger she'd hit at the Pecari chaser, she saw something that lifted her spirits. Gwen was trying to take out the opposing seeker. She grinned. The younger girl had turned out to be a credit to the team after all. Lily hoped with everything in her that the bludger would hit.

No sooner was she perked up by this then her blood began to boil again. She had been about to hit the bludger at the younger Pecari a third time when Lily noticed that Lizzie had intercepted Helena's pass. She swore again, and knocked the bludger at Lizzie as hard as she could.\r\n\r\n

11 Lily, Beater Eh...more rage... 45 Lily, Beater 0 5

Jennifer, seeker

June 09, 2007 4:00 AM

Well, beaters aren't known for their intelligence... by Jennifer, seeker

Jennifer hadn’t really expected the game to end so quickly. It simply would have been too anti-climactic for such an important game. And while it was in her best interest for the snitch to be caught as quickly as possible, because that limited the amount of time the Cravens had to potentially kill her, the fact remained that if the chase for it had ended now, there was no way she could have won. Elly was closer. That was that. Well, Jennifer supposed she might have been able to speed up enough to get to it first, but then the momentum probably would have caused her to hit the second year, and that would have been bad. Wounding an underclassman, for whatever reason, was more distasteful than losing to one.

If it had just been her on the pitch, she’d probably have conceded defeat at that point. However, she’d forgotten about her beaters. Her wonderful, marvelous beaters. One of whom….appeared to be trying to kill her.

Alright, she was going to give Gwen the benefit of the doubt. She assumed that the fourth year had been aiming for Elly, and the bludger had just gone off course, as they were wont to do. It hadn’t really quite been at her, even, just a little closer to her than she would have liked on its path to the Pecari seeker. Still, even if it didn’t hit Elly, at least part of the goal had been accomplished. The snitch had disappeared.

With a sigh, Jennifer wheeled around, and flew higher up above the game, not glancing back to see if the second year had gotten hit or not. Now that they were not longer directly racing each other for the small silly golden ball, Jennifer couldn’t really care less. Well, she was going to keep an eye on the other girl, just to make sure that she wasn’t caught by surprise, but, for the time being, she was going to search on her own.

\r\n\r\n

0 Jennifer, seeker Well, beaters aren't known for their intelligence... 0 Jennifer, seeker 0 5

Saul, Chaser

June 09, 2007 9:53 AM

Taking one for the team by Saul, Chaser

Saul heard it before he saw it. A Bludger getting whacked with a wooden stick was something all Quidditch players learned to recognize very quickly. A quick look around showed Caedence a little behind and below and Lily The Beater off to the side. A bludger was heading towards Lizzie.

Not good, Saul thought as he sped up to put himself between the bludger and his Quaffle bearing teammate. How to do this without dying or being thrown from his broom . . . Well, Bludgers chased after players that got too close, right? That was the theory.

So Saul got in the way and got too close, then tried to distract it away from Lizzie by angling away from her. Unfortunately, he misjudged the bludger's speed and it rammed into the back of his broom. Saul cried out as the old school broom shuddered and cracked ominously under the force of impact.

Even after he recovered from the initial collision, it was all Saul could do to keep on it. It juked around randomly and seemed unable to hold his weight anymore. He was pretty sure he'd successfully intercepted and diverted the attack on Lizzie, but he was losing altitude fast. Not as fast as gravity - he had a controlled fall going on - but the damage to the broom was far too extensive for him to be able to continue playing on it.

His landing wasn't the best he'd ever had, but he was on his feet with just a little soreness in his ankles from hitting ground with the same force as if he'd jumped off a stage. "New broom!" he called out, running toward the Pecari bench, with his cracked broom in hand. "Mine broke!"\r\n\r\n

1 Saul, Chaser Taking one for the team 82 Saul, Chaser 0 5

Irene, Broom-Wrangler

June 09, 2007 11:24 AM

tosses broom by Irene, Broom-Wrangler

Irene jumped up from the bench as she saw the Crotalus seeker hit a bludger angrily at Lizzie. Irene actually threw her hands over her mouth as Saul swooped in to intercept the bludger. The bludger slammed into the end of his broom causing his to slowly head down to earth. He needs a new broom! Irene thought quickly. She bent down and grabbed a broom from the spot next to her, running towards Saul.

Saul shouted over, "New broom! Mine broke!" Irene tossed him the new broom and took the broken one from his hands.

"Go get 'em!" she called over her shoulder, heading back to the bench. This game was intense, man! She was a little worried about all of the bludgers everywhere. Eve-ry-where! Speaking of bludgers... Irene looked up, searching for Elly. The Crotalus seeker was back to searching and Irene guessed that the bludger had either missed, been dodged, or something other than the above...\r\n\r\n

0 Irene, Broom-Wrangler *tosses broom* 0 Irene, Broom-Wrangler 0 5

Caedence, Chaser

June 09, 2007 1:08 PM

Didn't we learn last game not to chase bludgers? by Caedence, Chaser

Was that beater just out to kill them all? It wasn’t enough just to make two attempts to injure Caedence, but Lily had to go and attack Lizzie! What was wrong with her? Was she in a bad mood? Well whatever mood she was in put Caedence herself in a full out rage. Her eyes met in a challenging glare as she focused on Lizzie.

They widened in shock, however, to see Saul getting in the way of the bludger. “SAUL! STUPID!” She hollered at him. Then he was going down. Was he crazy? Her own broom wasn’t functioning right, drifting as it was, but his just got totaled! Her gaze flicked off of Saul and back to Lizzie. Faintly she heard Irene’s and Saul’s voices below. Good, he wasn’t permanently injured. But he was down on the ground, which didn’t help those in the air.

She sped up as much as her broom would allow her and drew even with Lizzie’s right side. “Careful, I think Lily won’t stop until she kills us.” She said just loud enough to be heard above the rushing wind. Her eyes were fiercely scanning the field, lingering on the goal posts and Lizzie whenever her gaze passed them. Now wasn’t the time to be hit. This wasn’t going to be like last year’s championship, she’d make sure of that. This time, Pecari would win!\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Caedence, Chaser Didn't we learn last game not to chase bludgers? 94 Caedence, Chaser 0 5

Elly, Seeker

June 09, 2007 2:18 PM

Just their violence. by Elly, Seeker

Elly simply couldn’t believe her luck – she was going to get to the Snitch first! It wasn’t even a minute into the game and she was closer than the other Seeker. This had to be some sort of record. The little golden ball was hovering just ahead, almost mockingly. Elly glanced up at the Crotalus Seeker, just for a distance check, and her breath caught in her throat. There was a bludger right there, next to the Seeker, and heading her way. For less than a heartbeat Elly watched the spherical lump of metal to establish its course. At first glance she couldn’t be sure whether it had been aimed by a Craven at Jennifer, or by a Crotalus beater at herself. It very quickly became apparent that the latter was correct, and Elly felt the second rush of adrenaline in as many minutes as she realised that she either stayed on course for the Snitch and got bludgered rather harshly, or avoided injury but potentially lost the game.

Acting as if on instinct to protect her own safety, Elly jerked her broom handle as far and hard to the left as she could muster, dragging herself as far as possible out of the way of the bludger. For a split second she thought it had worked until the telltale thunk of metal, accompanied by a sharp pain, clued her in to the fact that her avoidance tactics hadn’t been entirely successful. Though the ball had only skimmed her shin, travelling at that speed it had hurt! A lot! Still flying left, and a little higher to try and avoid the bludger while she collected herself, Elly experimentally wiggled her toes. Then her leg from her knee. Everything still seemed to be in good working order – luckily, having played hockey for most of her life, Elly was more than usually accustomed to taking a hit to her shins. Still, it was going to leave a bruise like you wouldn’t imagine.

Finally letting out a shaky breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding, Elly turned her attention back to the game. It still seemed to be going on – she noticed Crotalus’ Seeker flying the other side of the pitch in a still-Seeking, rather than victorious, manner. Woohoo! The game was still on. Happy to still be playing, and trying her best to ignore the throbbing pain in her leg, Elly sped up, casting her glance furtively around the pitch, looking desperately for another sign of the Snitch, eager to finish the game as soon as was humanly possible.
\r\n\r\n

0 Elly, Seeker Just their violence. 0 Elly, Seeker 0 5

Lizzie, Chaser

June 09, 2007 5:32 PM

Yes, you did. by Lizzie, Chaser

Focus, Lizzie was repeating over and over again in her head, Focus on the goals, and everything else will come into place. It was while she was still mentally chanting this mantra when a series of events happened so quickly, Lizzie barely had time to react. First, she heard the tell-tale far-off whizzing of a speeding bludger, then the hard thud of metal making contact with wood. Letting only a slight gasp escape, Lizzie watched from the corner of her eye as Saul began to lose altitude. It was so dangerous, what he had done to block a bludger and attempt to pull it from her.

"Yeah, we'll all have to watch it!" she yelled back at Caedence, cursing that stupid Lily for her insatiability towards killing chasers. Looking back around, she saw Saul gently crash-land, thankful that he made it to the ground okay after such a potentially devastating hit. The bench seemed to be quick with a new broom to supply him with, and Lizzie knew that Saul would be back in the air in moments. With that in mind, Lizzie didn't hesitate to focus back on the task at hand.

She took a quick scan of the area, and still flying fast towards the goals, Lizzie got a good look at the layout. She didn't see too many options, but the probability of making a good shot and still getting possession of the quaffle on a rebound looked good. So, giving a nod to Caedence, Lizzie took off towards the left-most goals, getting so close it was almost unthinkable that she would shoot for another goal. But at the last moment, Lizzie jerked right, pushed her broom as fast as it would go, and shot on a fly-by. Her angle was good, her shot fast, and without any keeper intervention, it was good for a goal. \r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie, Chaser Yes, you did. 0 Lizzie, Chaser 0 5

Irene, Crowd-Pleaser

June 10, 2007 9:57 AM

whistles by Irene, Crowd-Pleaser

Irene grinned, holding back her laughter, when Brett waved very enthusiastically back at her. He was funny, even if he wasn't trying to be. But when she looked back to the pitch she saw Elly, swerving sharply away from a bludger. Irene was on her feet again, watching as the bludger hit Elly's leg. Ouch! That would leave a mark... But, hey, it could always be worse!

Irene might as well just remain standing. It was never long before she would just jump up again, cheering for her team or watching something intense. This thouht occured to her as she back down on the bench, turning to see how the chasers were doing. Caedence and Lizzie were at the other end of the pitch, very close to the goal. Irene was back on her feet again, trying not to even blink as Lizzie drew even closer to the hoop.

"Come on, Lizzie!" Irene shouted, knowing that she probably couldn't hear her. She shot the ball towards the hoop, making a great shot. Irene crossed her fingers, hoping this could be the first goal...\r\n\r\n

0 Irene, Crowd-Pleaser *whistles* 0 Irene, Crowd-Pleaser 0 5

Lily, Beater

June 11, 2007 2:15 AM

But not any lessons on not increasing my rage by Lily, Beater

The good news was that Lily's bludger had hit Saul's broom and wrecked it, taking him out to get a new broom, meaning he had to go get another one and was not in the air briefly. However, there was far much more bad news, as Saul would still be returning to the game, she'd missed her target, Lizzie had gone for another goal, and Gwen's bludger had missed the Pecari seeker.

She gritted her teeth and glared angrily at the Pecari Chasers, flying towards the bludger again as the sun bore down on her. All the while she was considering who to send the bludger after. Gwen was taking care of the Seeker and would hopefully keep trying at it. Lily saw no point in going after Stephen unless Crotalus went for a goal. (Besides, she felt a bit more guilty over it now, because of what happened to him. Not that she'd show a bit of mercy if it would help Crotalus score.) As for aiming at the opposing beaters, Lily knew how utterly stupid that was. That was the mistake the Aladren beater had made when he tried to take her out. It was like giving them a gift. That left Chasers, who were currently being very annoying and making her mad. Therefore, they were the ones she was going after.

Besides, Lizzie had just tried to score again. That rather enraged Lily. The whole attitude they had seemed like they were thinking, Who is she to try and take us out ? Like they thought Earl should just let them score. That Jennifer shouldn't try for the snitch. That Crotalus should just lie down and let them win and Lily would have none of it! This was what beaters did and this was what she'd continue to do! Not that she expected them not to try to score, but they certainly shouldn't expect that she wouldn't try to stop them. That little twerpy second year seemed especially smug and bratty.

Lily reached the bludger in one big sweaty mess. Her back was hot, her arms were hot, her neck was hot, her face was hot and every other thing was hot except the look in her eyes, which was pure ice as she glared at Lizzie with the most evil look she'd ever given anyone who wasn't Earl or a maternal relative and hit the bludger towards her fellow fifth year harder than she'd ever hit one before.

\r\n\r\n

11 Lily, Beater But not any lessons on not increasing my rage 45 Lily, Beater 0 5

Irene, Alternate

June 11, 2007 6:29 AM

wanders by Irene, Alternate

Irene kept her eyes glued to the game. Watching Lizzie's shot and trying to dart between Elly and Lizzie. Someone, however, had got into the middle. The Crotalus beater was aiming for the chasers again. Man, she was good at her job... Too good for comfort. The way this was going someone was going to get hurt!

The bludger hurtled its way toward Lizzie. At least she had already thrown the shot... Irene didn't care if Lizzie couldn't hear her. It helped her own nerves...

"Lizzie! There's a bludger!" She shouted, bouncing in place. They could use an early snitch catch, but some goals wouldn't be a bad thing either... If only Lizzie's shot would go through! It was a fantastic shot! There was no reason for it not to, right? But, that bludger...!

Move, Lizzie! Dodge it!\r\n\r\n

0 Irene, Alternate *wanders* 0 Irene, Alternate 0 5

Earl, Keeper

June 12, 2007 1:26 AM

Try some anger management by Earl, Keeper

Earl had not let up his strategy of circling the hoops like a vulture. The entire time he kept his eye on the quaffle. Sadly, his strategy was making him rather dizzy, but he was keeping for Crotalus...the best team ever (in his opinion), so he could deal with a little dizziness.

Suddenly, Lizzie had the quaffle again. She was heading straight toward him. Weren't any of the beaters going to stop her? She was heading for the left goal. Earl tightened his grip and sped towards her, aiming to block her before getting too close. Just as he passed in front of the left hoop, Earl saw the quaffle go to the right...straight into a goal.

Earl groaned audibly and pointed his broom downward. If he sped up enough, he could still beat Lizzie back to the quaffle. A few seconds later, he had the quaffle safely tucked under his arm as he returned to playing height. With anger rushing through him, Earl threw the ball very forcefully to the closest Crotalus chaser. If Jenny didn't catch the snitch...well, he didn't know what would happen, but it would be very brutal and very loud...and maybe throwing a thing or two.\r\n\r\n

0 Earl, Keeper Try some anger management 0 Earl, Keeper 0 5

Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser

June 12, 2007 9:12 PM

A bit of payback by Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser

Geoffrey had walked down the the Pitch that day in good spirits on the whole. A championship game was nothing to scoff about it. He just felt a little bad about it being against his cousin. Stephen still seemed to be having some trouble with the whole thing that had happened over the holidays, and Geoffrey really couldn't blame him. And then there was the situation with his friends and his girlfriend...

But, this wasn't about family or anything like that. This was about doing Jennifer proud and winning another game. And Quidditch.

If only the Pecari Chasers would be a little less the well oiled machine. Were they reading each others minds to pull of the formations they were managing? Two attempts at goal and... they'd got on in. Geoffrey was determined to even the score, and, with a glance up the other end of the pitch, he didn't think it would be too difficult. Stephen was there, but his mind didn't seem quite on the game. Geoffrey would have to make it up to him though, somehow. During summer, when it looked like he'd be heading back to his Aunt's place again.

Having moved close into the goal as Elizabeth went for her second attack run, Geoffrey was closest when it came to Earl passing the Quaffle back into the action. He caught it a little awkwardly as he hadn't expected it to be thrown with quite so much force, but got his grip sorted out and turned back the way he intended to go. Where was, ah. What they needed to do was get this ball moving, and moving fast, while Saul was still getting back into the game, Elizabeth was up this end and Caedence was ... Caedence. Having located another player up ahead, and through an open bit of space, Geoffrey leaned back and hurled the Quaffle forward in a pass.

He didn't bother to wait to see it flying forward or being caught, instead leaning into his broom and speeding forward to help out if it proved necessary.\r\n\r\n

39 Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser A bit of payback 0 Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser 0 5

Chrissy Mathers, Chaser

June 12, 2007 9:19 PM

Always a good time by Chrissy Mathers, Chaser

OOC: Hey guys, just letting you know that the quaffle hogging without leaving us some room for stealing, blocking, or intercepting isn’t all that fair. Unless you want us to go Sue on you, cos I’m sure we can do that. BIC:

Chrissy had no idea how it was that the Crotalus had made it into the Championship with the Pecaris. They had been the team that was in the last place since as long as she could remember and had only won their very first game against the Aladren. How that qualified them to be in the Championship, Chrissy couldn’t be certain (just as she couldn’t be certain as to how she got the Prefect badge), but she wasn’t about to open her mouth and outright ask it either. She knew Jennifer was riding on their last win and this Championship meant the world to her.

It also seemed to mean the world to the Pecaris as well. Their loss last year seemed to make them even more aggressive as ever before. They were conniving and ruthless (despite their house supposedly being fun and full of energy). It was amazing how quickly people could change when it came to the game of Quidditch.

Everything in the air was going by rather quickly. It only seemed like a split second for the Crotalus to have the quaffle when suddenly the Pecaris had it and not once, but twice tried for a goal and got it in on the second time around. Chrissy had to sigh, but not keep herself from getting distracted by everything. Truth was, this was never going to be an easy game.

Chrissy watched as Geoff got the quaffle, happy to see whatever stunts he had pulled over midterm hadn't effected him on the field. She was flying steadily by when she saw him toss it her way. Without hesitation, Chrissy caught the quaffle with ease and took off down the opposite end of the pitch towards Stephen.

She weaved through the players, just bypassing a bludgers and the closer she got to the Pecari goal, Chrissy looked to her left, noticed a red player and threw the quaffle in their direction.\r\n\r\n

0 Chrissy Mathers, Chaser Always a good time 0 Chrissy Mathers, Chaser 0 5

Geoffrey S., Chaser

June 12, 2007 9:45 PM

Of course, naturally by Geoffrey S., Chaser

Geoffrey had caught up with Chrissy and was keeping pace for the time being, pacing her and trying to avoid getting caught up in any trouble with the other players. She'd managed to make it to about halfway down the field, and Geoffrey was starting to feel slightly nervous about the Pecari players. Ash and Sorrel, the Beater Captains had themselves a reputation, although it hadn't been quite so apparent in recent games, and the Chasers, well, they seemed to have a magical gift for showing up right when you didn't want them to. And their stealing was notorious.

So Geoffrey was poised and about as ready as he could be for anything. Well, anything he could think of at the moment. Which turned out just as well, as the Quaffle was sent his way for a second time. Geoffrey caught it, and immediately changed course so he was on a lower path, skimming across the ground for a moment before heading up again, moving further left to minimise the directions he could be attacked from. He had no intention of having that Quaffle taken from him. No intention of letting the Captain down, now that he had his chance.

But by now all three Pecari Chasers were probably back in the air, and the beaters had been quiet for too long. It was making him a bit nervous, so, while upping the speed a bit more - this broom could really move when he wanted it to - he took a look around for other red-clad players and spotting another of the Chasers, set the Quaffle spinning off towards them.

Feeling a little less like there was a giant target on his back, he continued onwards. There was still a chance he would be needed again before the goal was made.\r\n\r\n

39 Geoffrey S., Chaser Of course, naturally 0 Geoffrey S., Chaser 0 5

Chrissy, Chaser

June 12, 2007 9:55 PM

Ho ho ho by Chrissy, Chaser

Chrissy was happy to find that it was Geoff who had grabbed the quaffle and not another Pecari there for the steal. It seemed like they had luck on their side for the moment with all of this. Chrissy was rather delighted that Geoff was taking the lead in this game. It meant that he was really ready for the charge if he needed to take it.

She followed him slightly off to the right of him and a bit above when he went lower. As he raised higher in the air, Chrissy backed off and moved away from him in order to separate them so that they weren't quite so easy as targets for the Pecari Beaters. Chrissy really did not need any broken bones at the moment.

Her hazel eyes stared hard at Geoff, watching his every move as he flew. Occasionally her eyes would move around to locate the beaters, chasers, and bludgers, before they made their way back to Geoff. They were making it ever so closer to the Pecari goals and, much to Chrissy's surprise, Geoff handed the quaffle back to her. Having been slightly off guard with the catch, Chrissy juggled a moment with the quaffle before finally settling it tightly in the nook of her arm and leaned herself lower to her broom.

As she moved closer to the goals, Chrissy noticed a red chaser nearby and, instead of trying for the shot that she knew the Pecaris would be expecting, Chrissy did a fast pass to the red chaser and zoomed right on by the goals. If Stephen or any of the Pecari chasers had been keeping so close an eye on her, it might give the other red chaser the perfect moment to score.\r\n\r\n

0 Chrissy, Chaser Ho ho ho 0 Chrissy, Chaser 0 5

Geoffrey S., Chaser

June 12, 2007 10:14 PM

And here we go by Geoffrey S., Chaser

OOC: for yes, I am a poet. BIC:

And there was the moment. The moment he'd been waiting for. The moment that Geoffrey had been praying for. Or praying not for, depending on who he thought of. For Jennifer, and for Crotalus, he wanted to get this goal. For Stephen, he didn't want to do this. It felt wrong, cruel even. They'd talked after Stephen's last game when he'd mentioned how glad he was that he hadn't had to really do anything. But, this was Quidditch, and there were times when one had to put things like that aside.

Geoffrey, waiting just outside the scoring zone, caught the Quaffle deftly and as soon as Chrissy had passed the goals moved in. He took advantage of her run and any confusion it might have led to, heading for the far goal and sending the Quaffle as hard as he could manage towards it before looking around to see if Jennifer had seen.

Watching the Quaffle wasn't going to make a difference to whether it made it through. Seeing Jennifer's expression was something else entirely.\r\n\r\n

39 Geoffrey S., Chaser And here we go 0 Geoffrey S., Chaser 0 5

Lizzie, Pecari Chaser

June 13, 2007 11:00 AM

Well, that was a lot of red right there... by Lizzie, Pecari Chaser

The near-silent whistle of a quaffle gliding through one of the goals was music to Lizzie's ears. She let out a yell at the goal, and then looked immediately back to the game. Earl had retrieved the ball, and now it was on a path down the field through the hands of two Crotalus Chasers, Chrissy and Geoff. Alright, she said to herself, trying to focus her resolve, Let's go get'em! She hadn't moved so much as a few feet when that all-too treacherous noise reached her ears, and then began to get louder.

Whipping her head around, Lizzie spotted the bludger, coming at her with bat-out-of-hell fury. By that time, the metal ball was already too close and coming to fast for her to do much of anything. As a last-ditch attempt, she barrel-rolled to her right. For a split second, Lizzie thought she had cleared the bludger, but then an odd sensation called her attention to her left hand, which had lost grip of the broom in the process of rolling out of the way. With a sickening crack, the bludger had made contact with her left wrist.

The pain was so sharp and so unexpected that Lizzie let out a high-pitched, agonizing scream. The combined factors of being caught off-guard and the speed at which her hand had flung out created the most intense pain she'd ever experienced. It felt like someone had very violently snapped her wrist in two. Her body instantly jerked the injured hand back inwards, and her right hand held it there. Lizzie's vision became blurry, her eyes clouded with tears from the searing pain. Her mind no longer registered that fact that she was in a game, and everything seemed to stop around her. Even the thought of Chrissy and Geoff tag-teaming to score was eliminated from her mind; all it could deal with was trying to manage the pain.

Somewhere, deep in the still-functioning rational part of her brain, Lizzie acknowledged that she had to get herself out of the sky and on the ground. Without too much effort, Lizzie slowly lost altitude. Get on the ground, the rational voice said, Get out of the way; your team will be fine without you. With that in mind, Lizzie continued downward, breathing heavily and trying not to jolt her left hand.

Nearing the ground, she managed to cry out through sporadic gasps, "Medic!"\r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie, Pecari Chaser Well, that was a lot of red right there... 0 Lizzie, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Saul, Pecari Chaser

June 13, 2007 11:49 AM

I was thinking the same thing by Saul, Pecari Chaser

Saul caught the not-broken broom Irene tossed his way and handed the damaged one over to her. "Thanks!" he exclaimed, too used to shouting over the wind and too pumped up on adrenaline to keep his voice down even though she was right next to him.

Then he was on his broom and climbing back into the air. As he left the ground, he saw Lizzie shot to score, and a few moments later the Pecari supporters in the stands exploded with cheers as the goal went in. Saul screamed in encouragement and victory as well. His sacrifice had won them a goal.

He saw the Quaffle get tossed to Geoff, but he was still far too close to the ground to be able to do anything about it. He flew after them, gaining altitude as he flew toward the Pecari goals. He was breifly distracted by a scream and Saul turned to see Lizzie gripping her wrist and going down just as he was coming up. Down one Chaser. At least they had Irene standing by. Hopefully, he hadn't just taken the only broom they had over by the Pecari bench.

Focusing back on the game now, since that was the only thing he could currently do anything about, he looked for Geoff again since he'd had the Quaffle last Saul had seen. It was in Chrissy's hands now, though, but she was just sending it back Geoff's way. Again, Saul was much too far away to intercept.

Saul sped up anyway as tried to reach them, but by the time he did, they'd exchanged the Quaffle between them twice more and the ball was already flying toward one of the side hoops and there was nothing he could to stop it.

The only thing he could do was make himself available for a pass if and when Stephen caught it.\r\n\r\n

1 Saul, Pecari Chaser I was thinking the same thing 82 Saul, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Caedence

June 13, 2007 1:45 PM

We should add some brown, then by Caedence

What in the world was going on? Caedence could swear one moment she was letting out a triumphant whoop of joy, and the next the ball was at the other end of the pitch. She had let herself be distracted by the bludger smashing into Lizzie’s wrist was probably the problem. She uttered a steady stream of words no twelve year old should know (but her teenaged opponents at home loved to use) as she moved her broom to face the goals.

As she struggled to catch up to Geoffery and Chrissy, her brain was working overdrive. Okay, what did Pecari have right now? A substitute chaser that was no doubt on her way. A bludger-magnet with a halfway broken broom. And Saul. While Saul was an awesome chaser, she knew she couldn’t pick up the slack that Lizzie’s injury left, and Irene wasn’t battle-tried yet, so to speak. So, all in all, if Elly couldn’t catch the snitch, they were completely done for!

She narrowed her eyes as she focused on the chasers getting closer and closer to the Pecari goals. If the quaffle made it down there, there was just no way that Stephen would catch it! Caedence, after rumors and newspapers had finally drawn her attention to the fact, knew that his break was a living hell. She doubted that his head was even in the game right now. She let out one final swear when she saw the red ball fly out towards Stephen.

She rested, hovering, near Saul. “Hey, are you taking the quaffle when Stephen makes his save?” She said, just barely loud enough to be heard. She knew it was going to be a long shot, but she could hope, “Irene should be coming in soon, too,” she grinned with a predatory gleam, “We should show these Crotali that just ’cause we lost last year doesn’t mean we aren’t the best dang team out there!”\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Caedence We should add some brown, then 94 Caedence 0 5

Irene- Reserve/Chaser

June 13, 2007 5:06 PM

Let's. by Irene- Reserve/Chaser

Oh... my... God... Irene thought as she watched the bludger slam into Lizzie's wrist. Irene winced as she watched Lizzie holding her wrist in obvious severe pain. Irene suddenly felt the excited butterflies turn to nervous butterflies. Lizzie was too hurt to go back in... That only meant...

Oh... my... God...

Irene grabbed a broom and raced onto the pitch. Crotalus was heading towards the goal and Pecari only had two people in the air. The nervous feeling in her stomach was slowly turning into determination, slowly. Pecari had to win and just because she was a reserve didn't mean she wasn't going to give it 200%. Irene kicked off as hard as she could and raced into the sky. The team was at the Pecari end of the pitch and the shot was heading towards goal. And the nerves were back...

As nervous as she was, she couldn't help but notice how amazing flying felt in the hot Arizona sun. The wind really helped cool you off after sitting in the sun.

Grab it, Stephen! You can do it! She thought. The wind blew through her brown hair as she came nearer to her teammates.

“Irene should be coming in soon, too,”

"Here!" Irene shouted over to them to let them know she was filling in. She tried to calm herself down with random advice Uncle Mike had given her. Unfortunately, the "It's okay! This isn't the World Cup!" wasn't working to well. This was the Quidditch Championship! Big. Deal. Note the lack of sarcasm. But nerves weren't going to help right now. She needed to focus. Nerves were only a thing she would come to regret later. Nevertheless, an early catch of the snitch would be much appreciated.

“We should show these Crotali that just ’cause we lost last year doesn’t mean we aren’t the best dang team out there!”

There. Motivation to the max. Suddenly the nerves were decreasing and the determination was back. Newly excited at the prospect of playing, actually playing made Irene grin. She let out a whoop of appreciation to Caedence's comment and said,

"Let's go get 'em, then!"\r\n\r\n

0 Irene- Reserve/Chaser Let's. 0 Irene- Reserve/Chaser 0 5

Lily, Crotalus Beater

June 13, 2007 6:07 PM

How about more red? As in your blood. by Lily, Crotalus Beater

Lily scowled deeply as Lizzie scored. She felt the instinctive desire to hex Earl into oblivion, but really there had been no possible way for him to block it. However, she could always hex him later if she felt so inclined, the really deserving target of her rage was Lizzie,not him anyway.

That's why Lily's face lit with bitter triumph as her bludger hit the Pecari Chaser in the wrist. The way things looked, it didn't seem as if Lizzie would be returning either. Unfortunately Pecari had a reserve who'd have to go in now, which totally sucked. Lily was going to have to just try to take her out. The reserve was a firstie and therefore, would not have the experience Lizzie had. That put Crotalus at an advantage as well. Not to mention that Lily was certainly not going show her a bit if mercy. Nobody on the other team deserved a bit of it, except maybe Stephen, and he only was getting it as far as she wasn't going after him unless she needed to. If Crotalus went for a shot, Lily would aim the bludger at him. After all, if Pecari could leave it impossible for Earl to block it, she could do the same to them.

No sooner had it hit, than Lily was after it again. A malicious glint in her eyes, she hurled the bludger at the new girl. There was no better way to greet someone who had just entered the game on the opposing team and had probably not completely yet got their bearing than a nice bludger speeding towards them.\r\n\r\n

11 Lily, Crotalus Beater How about more red? As in your blood. 45 Lily, Crotalus Beater 0 5

Stephen, Pecari Keeper

June 13, 2007 6:34 PM

Sorry to do this this way (ooc) by Stephen, Pecari Keeper

OOC: I had actually written a post, but my computer froze and then restarted before I could save it elsewhere (yeah, yeah, Mia. I know *you're* laughing over my stupidity in writing it in the box here). I haven't got the time to rewrite it right now, but in order to keep the game running I can write the points here for now, and I'll get the post sorted and up here later on today when I do have the time again.

Stephen wasn't paying too much attention to the game, confident in the Chasers.

Noticed the Crotalus charge when they were both about halfway down the pitch.

Picked up on Chrissy's attempt at goal, moving to block it and only realising too late that she was throwing the Quaffle back to Geoff.

Moved to counter, but wasn't fast enough.

Goal went in, Quaffle was retrieved and sent to the nearest Pecari Chaser.\r\n\r\n

39 Stephen, Pecari Keeper Sorry to do this this way (ooc) 0 Stephen, Pecari Keeper 0 5

Irene - Reserve/Chaser

June 14, 2007 6:16 AM

S'okay by Irene - Reserve/Chaser

Irene turned her broom to head towards the middle of the Pecari side. As she turned, Irene spotted the bludger hurling directly towards her. She turned sharply in the direction she was already turning and put on as much speed as she could. The bludger just barely missed the tail-end of her broom.

Irene reminded herself to keep an eye out for Crotalus's very... intense beater. She had already taken out Saul's first broom and broken Lizzie's wrist. Pecari couldn't afford any more bludger related or anything related accidents. Irene knew that Pecari was at a disadvantage. But... perhaps they could use that to their advantage! With the firstie reserve (a.k.a. Irene) in and Caedence with a damaged broom, Crotalus may have let their gaurd down. Irene doubted it, though. This was the Championship. No one was going to be caught off gaurd. But it was worth a try!

Irene let out a groan as the Quaffle went through the hoop. Tie game... It was as tricky shot to block and Irene didn't blame Stephen, but goals or only fun for your own team. \r\n\r\n

0 Irene - Reserve/Chaser S'okay 0 Irene - Reserve/Chaser 0 5

Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker

June 14, 2007 12:27 PM

And bad tempers. by Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker

It had been ages now and Elly hadn’t caught another glimpse of the Snitch. She had been keeping an eye on Jennifer just in case, but the other Seeker didn’t seem to have seen anything worth chasing, either. Elly hated it when that happened; seeing as her job was to catch the Snitch it was rather frustrating when the little blighter didn’t make itself known. On the plus side, though, it had given Elly the opportunity to donate a small amount of her attention to the rest of the game. She wasn’t sure if this was really an advantage to her playing, though. The Crotalus beaters seemed even more determined than usual to take out the opposing team. Caedence’s broom seemed a bit dodgy, Saul’s broom had to be discarded entirely, and Lizzie had just left the game with what Elly guessed was a broken wrist. Luckily for Pecari, Irene had been ready and was now in the air with them. The score was one goal to each team, and seeing as neither Seeker had the Snitch, it was still going fairly well in Elly’s estimate.

However, with Lily (was her name Lily? Elly was almost sure that was right) and Gwen Carey doing their best to remove Pecari players from the game (and, Elly suspected, from existence, if they could manage it), ending the game soon was definitely going to be a bonus. There was also the throbbing pain in her leg, which had subsided now to a manageable amount, but was still there, nonetheless. Yes, catching the Snitch about now would be good. For a fleeting moment Elly considered how it would feel if the Crotalus Seeker got there first. Well, at least it would mean the game was over, but Elly knew she would be disappointed. On the other hand, Jen was a fifth year with a lot of Seeking experience, and so Elly didn’t have especially high hopes of beating her anyway. She would just have to give it her very best shot – nobody could ask any more, after all.

With a new burst of enthusiasm, Elly shot of down the other end of the pitch, towards the goals where Crotalus had scored only a moment ago. The wind cooled her slightly as she flew – her Quidditch robes were starting to stick from the heat of the warm Arizona sun. Then suddenly, Elly saw it: the Snitch, dancing around a few feet below her. Oh, that little wretch certainly had a sense of humour. It was dodging between the other players as they continued with their game. There was no way Elly could get down there without colliding with somebody, not to mention the very real danger of being bludgered to death.

Indecisive for the moment, Elly dared to drop a little lower. The game was now uncomfortably close – if a player flew just a bit higher they may well hit an Elly-shaped distraction where the sky should be. Nervously, Elly kept her eyes on the golden ball, inwardly praying to every known deity that it would have a change of heart of flutter its way right into her grasp. Yeah, fat chance.

0 Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker And bad tempers. 0 Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker 0 5

Helena, Crotalus Chaser

June 14, 2007 1:32 PM

Life happens. by Helena, Crotalus Chaser

She was proving even more useless than she'd expected, but Helena thought the rest of her team was doing brilliantly. Geoff and Chrissy got the Quaffle down to the Pecari goals without an interception - she, like the rest of the Pitch, followed them - and Lily took out Elizabeth, Pecari's most experienced Chaser. A Pecari, presumably an alternate, had gotten the Quaffle out of the shot, but Geoff Spindler had managed to score. As the action picked up again, Lily went on proving her brilliance by trying to remove the new girl from the game right off the bat.

Bludgers were, in a weird way, rather predictable: if they sensed anything alive nearby, they attacked it, and did so with extra ferocity when being forced to move one way by a bat. The new girl - Helena couldn't remember her name, but doubted it really mattered - barely missed Lily's Bludger, a move sure to earn her another one soon. The Bludger kept moving, causing Helena to pull her broom around sharply to avoid it herself. She thought she already played enough of an idiot without being taken out by her own team's Beater.

Merlin, let Gwen get that thing before the Cravens. They hadn't been as...ferocious as usual of late, but Lena still didn't fancy ending up on the wrong end of a Bludger courtesy of either one of them. She fancied Jennifer doing so even less, because if their starting Seeker was removed from the game, the odds of a Crotalus victory would take a quick, drastic nosedive.

Lily and Gwen had to want this win as much as she did, if not more - they'd been with the team longer than she had, and had seen more losing seasons. New Girl, being a first year and an alternate, would probably be a bit shaky, not to mention uneasy, coming in. There was a good chance she would even up easy Bludger fodder. Helena dropped some in the air, so that she was beneath and a little to the side of New Girl. This way, or so she hoped, she would be both less likely to prove collateral damage in the campaign to kill the new girl and be able to catch the Quaffle if New Girl dropped it because of a Bludger or tried to pass it.\r\n\r\n

16 Helena, Crotalus Chaser Life happens. 88 Helena, Crotalus Chaser 0 5

Caedence, Pecari Chaser

June 14, 2007 8:34 PM

Okay.. If no one wants it, I’ll take it by Caedence, Pecari Chaser

OOC: Hey, um correct me if I’m wrong and I’ll immediately write a new post, but neither of you took the quaffle, so….

BIC: Irene was at last back in the game. That was good, maybe if Saul and Irene played as hard as they could, Pecari had a good shot. They had already tried for two goals. Caedence held her breath a moment before she saw the quaffle soar through the hoop. She sighed. It wasn’t like Stephen didn’t try, ‘cause he did. But Caedence could understand him not being 100 percent in the game.

Her gaze flashed to Saul, who didn’t answer her if he wanted the ball, to Irene. She took a deep breath and sped out to meet the quaffle thrown by Stephen. Her arm reached out, her broom miraculously staying on course, and felt the ball land in the cup of her hand. Instinctively, she curled her arm inward and tucked the ball between the crook of her arm and her side. She steered the broom with her knees and her free hand.

“Keep sharp!” she barked at Irene, “Don’t let the bludgers get you!” she looked again at Saul, then back at Irene. Let’s see how this game can pick up! Caedence thought. She jerked her head towards the Crotalis end of the pitch. A song from a Disney movie, Peter Pan, began to play in her head. You’re following the leader, the leader, the leader, following the leader wherever I may go…

When she got about a quarter of the way down the pitch, she looked to her left. She yelped as she saw a red clad player. She veered sharply to the side and almost hit a brown clad player. “Here!” she said passing the ball. She hoped the ball was caught, but she didn’t wait to see by who. She began to rush at the end of the pitch… well rush as fast as possible. She was going to hate asking her dad for a new broom. Her skin went pale at the thought…

Maybe she wouldn’t be able to continue quidditch? What if her father banned her from the one other sport, besides fighting, that she loved? She knew he could, she remembered how angry he was. She shook her head, clearing herself of her father’s angry image. She didn’t need to loose focus. Lily was being particularly violent. She weaved her broom, in case she was actually the target of said beater. She didn’t want to be an easy one. She kept alert for her fellow chasers. This wasn’t the time to loose focus, and she refused to. She needed all her wits in the game. She couldn’t think about her dad. \r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Caedence, Pecari Chaser Okay.. If no one wants it, I’ll take it 94 Caedence, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Irene, Pecari Chaser

June 14, 2007 9:20 PM

And I guess I'll take it now by Irene, Pecari Chaser

OOC: I thought Saul was taking it. *shrug* So, yeah... Here we go!

BIC: Irene reccovered from the sharp turn, whiping her head around for the Quaffle and another bludger. Caedence's words as she flew by pretty summed up Irene's thoughts,

“Don’t let the bludgers get you!”

Well, yeah. Obviously. Irene flew along Caedence's side, heading towards the Crotalus end. If everyone gave their all and stayed focused Pecari definitely had a shot. Speaking of focus... Suddenley Caedence veered towards her and came very close to hitting Irene. As the two player were within a few feet of each other, Caedence passed the ball and Irene sped slightly up to catch it. For a moment the ball hit one hand, causing her to instinctively clutch it with both hands. She clutched the Quaffle and held it close to her, protecting Pecari's possession.

Irene noticed a player to her left (the red uniform was hard to miss). Speeding up as much as she could, Irene shot off toward the Crotalus end of the pitch. Looking around for a brown uniform, Irene spotted one closer to the hoops. She sped up so she was nearer and made it harder to intercept the pass.

"Heads up!" She called and passed the Quaffle to her teammate.

When Lizzie had scored she was close to the hoops and that seemed to work very well. She'd also heard her cousin Josh (a.k.a. Mr. Quidditch himself) talk about this tactic many times before. Taking the hint, Irene flew nearer to the goals, keeping an eye out for the aggressive beaters. Two hundred percent, baby. Two hundred percent. \r\n\r\n

0 Irene, Pecari Chaser And I guess I'll take it now 0 Irene, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Chrissy, Crotalus Chaser

June 14, 2007 10:11 PM

Erm... by Chrissy, Crotalus Chaser

Chrissy went around and away from the hoops after passing the quaffle back to Geoff and was happy to find that their plan to confuse Stephen (yes, she knew what had happened to him and Geoff over the holidays, but no, she didn't feel guilty about using his possible issues against him on the field) with where the quaffle was long enough to let Geoff score actually worked.

Yes it was a basic manuever that even the very beginners of Quidditch could do it, but Chrissy was still satisfied that it had worked. Even if it was a short lived victory.

With Lizzie out of the picture, there was a good chance that Crotalus could pull ahead. With Sam (was it Sam? Eh, what did she care?) using a different broom, the crazy braid girl with a broken broom and the newbie reserve on the field, it should be cake, right? Merlin, if Crotalus lost against them, Chrissy would kill herself. Seriously. This was absolutely ridiculous.

These were the two teams with the biggest egos. Crotalus had big egos because of the names in which they represent (luckily none of those girls were on the team) while the Pecaris had ego simply because they thought they were all that with heads the size of a hot air balloon (and probably filled with hot air to boot).

"Holy crap!" Chrissy exclaimed to herself as a bludger crashed into the end of her broom causing some of the bristles to rip off. Annoying. Stupid bludgers. Ignoring the slight tilt that her broom now had, she sped up following the Pecaris who were now in the possession of the quaffle. She hoped against hope that Lily or Gwen would take out either the crazy braid girl or the Newbie. \r\n\r\n

0 Chrissy, Crotalus Chaser Erm... 0 Chrissy, Crotalus Chaser 0 5

Gwen, Crotalus Beater

June 14, 2007 10:38 PM

...There's a Bludger coming. by Gwen, Crotalus Beater

This game was not going Gwen's way.

So far, she had done nothing but almost hit her own Seeker and scrape the Pecari Seeker's knee. Neither was along the lines of what she'd hoped to accomplish with the move, and now she would have to explain who the target had been to a probably paranoid, not-very-happy Jennifer; the fifth year didn't seem to think she and Lily had any brains or sanity left between the two of them, sometimes, and Gwen actually liked her captain most of the time. Even if something else had been the case, Gwen didn't think of herself as totally psychotic or stupid. She was there to win, and killing off her own teammates wasn't the way to go about it. Letting a match go into a tie was also pretty ineffective, though it was better than a score of 10-0 with Pecari leading.

Lily was having rather more success, from what little Gwen could see; Elizabeth was out, two brooms had been hit, and a first year was playing for them. None of the Crotali had sustained any injuries, though Helena had a near miss with Lily's last Bludger. At least the girl had enough sense to get out of the way, though Gwen knew the bizarre way Lenny reminded her of Cate made her a bit too biased to say that was a surprise. There was something about the kid that had rubbed her the wrong way almost from the get-go.

The Bludger was heading in Gwen's direction. She'd had some issues with the one she'd hit at Elly; though she'd made it head towards a brown uniform again, it had gone a shade off-course and hadn't made contact with anything since that one minor collision with the Pecari's leg. She'd lost it before Lily's attempt to eliminate the alternate, and a new weapon was more than welcome. She had been getting frustrated, and there was no better way to deal with that than hitting iron balls at members of the opposing team.

Bludgers didn't leave Beaters with much time to think, so any strategy she wanted to implement had to be thought of before she took her swing. The charmed-to-kill ball would just as soon break her nose as a Pecari's. Hopefully, she wouldn't hit any of her own people by accident; she had a reputation for insanity as it was, and that wouldn't help it any. Gwen found herself annoyed again when she sort of found her original Bludger - as it collided with the tail of Chrissy's broom. Cravens or chance, she didn't like it at all. Knowing her wrists would hate her for this later, especially if they lost, Gwen slammed her bat into Lily's Bludger as hard as she could, aiming for the brown player with the Quaffle.\r\n\r\n

0 Gwen, Crotalus Beater ...There's a Bludger coming. 63 Gwen, Crotalus Beater 0 5

Lily, Crotalus Beater

June 14, 2007 10:47 PM

Bowling for Chasers...sorta. by Lily, Crotalus Beater

The warm temperature, plus the added heat of her robes was aggravating Lily and she was getting more and more fed up with these show-off Quaffle-hog Pecari Chasers. Granted she'd been hogging one of the bludgers most of the time, letting Gwen have the other, but the Cravens were doing squat to protect their teammates or hurt the Crotali. Besides, Lily's bludger-hogging was for the greater good. Far too long had Pecari been up on top and rubbing everyone else's noses in it. She was pretty sick and tired of their superior attitudes, which she felt were every bit as arrogant and annoying as any fourth year Crotalus. As much as Lily didn't like the Crotali in the year below hers (other than Gwen), she really didn't think it was fair that people hated them while thinking the Pecaris were so cool i>Calm down, it's all right. You injured Lizzie's wrist and took her out of the game. They've lost their most experienced Chaser. Crotalus even scored a goal. Lily told herself swhen most of them were just as bad, only arrogant for different reasons.

her bludger as fast as possible. (As far as Lily was concerned, one bludger belonged to her and the other to Gwen for the duration of the game though if one strayed they could use each other's.)

Surveying the group of brown clad players, a certain muggle sport sprung to mind, the game of bowling. It was the Pecari chasers were pins (or rather, pinheads) The twerp and the new girl seemed fairly close together, and while it wasn't very likely, perhaps she could get them both. Lily whacked the bludger at them, primarily at the new girl, who'd missed her bludger before. However, if it misfired and hit Twerp instead, who was already on a broken broom that was great too. So long as they dropped the Quaffle and it was intercepted by a Crotalus.\r\n\r\n

11 Lily, Crotalus Beater Bowling for Chasers...sorta. 45 Lily, Crotalus Beater 0 5

Lily

June 14, 2007 10:55 PM

OOC by Lily

We posted the same time, both hitting my bludger. We can say I used yours instead if you want.

11 Lily OOC 45 Lily 0 5

Gwen

June 14, 2007 11:07 PM

OOC by Gwen

Hate it when that happens...That works, I guess.

0 Gwen OOC 63 Gwen 0 5

Lily

June 14, 2007 11:12 PM

OOC by Lily

It doesn't matter who hit which bludger, so long as both bludgers are going towards the opposing team. ;)

11 Lily OOC 45 Lily 0 5

Craven Twins, Beaters

June 15, 2007 8:39 AM

And a-going by Craven Twins, Beaters

OOC - hey, sorry if I've screwed up some of the details here. Simultaneous posts will do that to a girl.

IC
The Quidditch trophy belonged to Pecari. That was just a fact. The trouble was, everyone else in the school seemed to be too idiotic to learn it. Their team had taken beatings, (mainly literal, on the receiving end of Bludgers) but they'd come back from them, and the twins were determined that they would not let the magnetic properties of their Chasers lend the opinion they were bad at their positions, nor rob them of the game. They were going to be on every Bludger so hard it would break.

"This is ours," they told their team in the changing room.

"That's not opinion," Sorrel informed them.

"That's not a hope," said Ash. "It's a fact."

"The trophy belongs in Pecari. The only way we're not going to get it is stupid slip ups-"

"-and we don't put idiots back on the team. Be alert to Bludgers," he added, only slightly looking at Caedence.

"We'll be there but we don't want you getting taken out if we get blocked."

"Just go out there and do it, cos you're all bloody good at your positions-"

"-and there shouldn't be any reason for us not winning this."

Then they were out on the pitch. The coach was giving them the usual play nicely piece. They were shaking hands. None of it mattered. They were just formalities that always went the same. The first seconds of the game was were everything changed. Where it was something new that you needed to be on your toes for.

The twins split on the whistle. Ash gave a whoop of support to Saul, who was still in his eye line as he caught the Quaffle, and then both twins were weaving through the game. Sorrel sped after Gwen as she headed for the Seekers (were they feinting or had they seen something? Either seemed unlikely this early). Still, Gwen was closer and would scatter them either way. Sorrel's groan turned to a grin as Gwen came closer to hitting her own Seeker. She wasn't sure whether she'd see, but she gave her a mock salute of thanks. With her on Crotalus's side, the Pecari beaters' job would be easy!

Of course, lower on the pitch, it was a different story. Lily was practically glued to a Bludger, except when it was soaring at one of the Pecari Chasers. Luckily they seemed to have their wits about them, and she was being so overt and predictable that dodging wasn't giving them much trouble. Ash made a couple of attempts to get in, but he couldn't get between the Crotalus Beater and the Bludger without getting in the way of the Quaffle. Whilst it was heading to the enemy goals and whilst the Chasers were doing so well at dodging, he wasn't going to mess that up. Although Lizzie was in there... Then things changed, as Saul did a Caedence and put himself in a Bludger's path. Ash ploughed after it, although Saul'd put himself near enough to it that he wasn't going to be able to catch up. He was sure he would have been able to... Maybe not, but he wanted to think so. He grimmaced at the crack, although it sounded more like wood, diving on instinct as he saw Saul heading for ground, but hanging back once he realised he wasn't going to hit hard enough to hurt himself. He kept half on eye on the Chaser's antics, making sure the coach let him get back into things. As Saul took off again, he turned back to the game. Clearly Saul's being on the ground was a bad luck charm! The Crotali had the Quaffle, and Lily was still thwacking the Bludgers.

"LIZZIE!" Ash hollered, but the wind direction was against him. He pushed his broom forward, even though he knew it was useless. He winced as the Bludger made contact. It only just did, but he knew it was enough to put Lizzie out of the game. That was it. He shot upwards, determined to take advantage of the lapse in intensity that Lily's brief victory might have secured him. He followed the Beater, sticking close, even though the Bludger she'd latched onto seemed to be wandering away. Excellent. He was going to mark Lily, not the Bludger. He was going to stay so close to the girl that she wasn't going to get on another Bludger for the rest of the game. Sure, Sorrel would then have to deal with two, but she could handle it.

Speaking of whom, the female twin had been up in the Seeker zone for most of the game. She'd kept up with the other Bludger, but with Gwen around and the Seekers sticking close to each other, there was a limited amount she could do with it. She couldn't risk hitting it into the main game, as she was so far away she'd be as likely to get one of her own, by the time it got there. And the last thing she needed was to give Lily more fuel. The girl seemed in a fury... But as Gwen drew closer to the game, so did she. She caught sight again of her brother, drawing close enough to Lily to practically grab her. Catching her eye, Ash made a gesture, bringing his right hand over from herself to the space next to Lily, pushing the other hand towards it. Marking. Sorrel nodded. For a moment, she considered it, before pointing at herself with her left and at Ash with her right, then switching which hand was pointing at each of them rapidly a couple of times. Swap. Ash thought for a second, before nodding. If they swapped, he'd be diving across large stretches of the pitch to be on both Bludgers. He could use his weight as advantage, to gain momentum. Marking Lily needed the nippier twin and, although Sorrel was no pixie, she didn't carry quite as much bulk as him.

With this decision, their luck seemed to change. As the twins swooped diagonally (Sorrel downwards, Ash upwards) the other two Beaters hit Bludgers towards their Chasers, roughly the space across which they were flying. The twins altered course slightly, hitting both Bludgers in the direction Ash was headed. He followed them, smacking them towards the two nearest red blurs that weren't Lily. Sorrel assumed her position, so close to the other girl that she was practically leaning on her, every muscle tensed, waiting for Lily to just try moving. The girl wasn't going to get more than five centimetres from her. \r\n\r\n

0 Craven Twins, Beaters And a-going 0 Craven Twins, Beaters 0 5

Caedece, Pecari Chaser

June 15, 2007 3:50 PM

salutes Thanks Capin' by Caedece, Pecari Chaser

Caedence wasn’t one known for caution. Actually, if memory served her correctly, she had went after,/I> a bludger. But she wasn’t an idiot when it came to the metal balls. She was just rather rash.

So, when the quaffle was passed back to her, she knew Lily had it out for her. Well, she just had it out for whoever had the quaffle at the moment. She really didn’t know at all why in the world she wasn’t trying for the seeker. Maybe Gwen had Elly covered. She hoped that nothing serious happens to Elly, but she also didn’t like watching her back so much. By some huge misfortune, her captains were still unable to reach them.

So, when the whistle of a bludger met her ears, she turned around, meaning to dodge. Honestly, the quaffle was in her hands for a moment! She gasped when she saw not one, but both headed the chaser’s way. She let out a small whoop of joy at seeing the Cravens (finally) getting in the way of the metal balls. She turned, seeing a brown robe near her. Good, she didn’t really want to end up dead by way of iron ball. She passed the ball on. Okay, so she didn’t do much by way of getting it up the pitch, and sure it had barely been in her hands for moments, but she didn’t want to be killed! She just hoped the brown-clad player wasn’t intercepted. \n

0 Caedece, Pecari Chaser *salutes* Thanks Capin' 0 Caedece, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Earl, Crotalus Keeper
June 15, 2007 4:53 PM

Earl, Crotalus Keeper
Peripheral
Written by:

Watching from the goals by Earl, Crotalus Keeper
At least he wasn't a total loss. After letting that goal in, he was glad to see that his toss to his chasers had proven very good. He watched Chrissy and Geoff toos the quaffle back and forth like her were watching a mid-air tennis match. The he shoots...and scores! Earl let out a 'whoop!' and proceded to flip through the air a few times before getting back to flying around, protecting the goals.

And luckily the quaffle didn't get very close to him for while after that. But there was enough going on in the game to keep him thoroughly occupied. Lizzie going down with what seemed to be a broken wrist. Lily and Gwen kicking bludger butt. The Craven twins were pegging Lily. It was an amazing game. Too bad Pecari was in possession at the moment.

But right now, Earl had all the faith in the world that the Crotalus chasers would get the quaffle back and that Jenny would capture the snitch.

0 Earl, Crotalus Keeper Watching from the goals 0 Earl, Crotalus Keeper 0 5

Irene, Pecari Chaser
June 15, 2007 6:10 PM

Irene, Pecari Chaser
Peripheral
Written by:

*is a nerd* Crunchatize me! by Irene, Pecari Chaser
Irene let out a sigh of relief as the Cravens saved Caedence from what could have been a very nasty injury. Man, that would have been one painful collision and Irene didn't envy the person on the recieving line. Too many people were coming dangerously close to those ferocious bludgers and it wasn't the Crotalus team. Hopefully Elly could spot the snitch somewhere...

As soon as the Cravens sent to bludgers flying another way, Caedence passed the ball. Irene flew towards it and tucked it in closer to her. She was close to the goals and the game was tied. Irene, feeling that her competetive side kick in and the determination overwhelm her, flew as fast as her broom would carry her small body towards the center hoop and, at the last moment, hurled the Quaffle towards the right hoop, the Keeper's left. The shot had speed and was close to the goal. Irene looked around for bludgers and didn't stay in one spot for long, just in case.

0 Irene, Pecari Chaser *is a nerd* Crunchatize me! 0 Irene, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Jennifer Z, Crotalus Seeker
June 18, 2007 4:52 PM

Jennifer Z, Crotalus Seeker
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: katana

Victory! by Jennifer Z, Crotalus Seeker
OOC: I apologize for any vagueness or ignorance of previous events. This post had to be written before I left for camp, which gave me a week of posting I knew nothing about. BIC:

There were times Jennifer hated her position, hated it with a passion that went beyond anything she felt about anything else. Now, granted,these times were very, very rare, and only happened toward the end of games, but they still occurred. And now was definitely one of them. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been on her broom, and it didn’t really matter. This wasn’t one of the longest matches she’d been in,but it was definitely the tensest.

First and foremost, there was the house honor. Then there was thefact that Pecaris got horrendously arrogant when they won things, and that was something nobody needed. Last, of course, there was the fact that there were two violent twins, just as concerned about winning as she was, out there with bats, and the first rule of beating was ‘takeout the seeker.’ So it was hard to blame her for starting to become slightly frantic.

Still, with any luck, it was all about to come to an end. After much searching, a couple of attempted feints, and countless rolls to avoid being hit by bludgers, Jennifer was fairly certain she’d spotted the snitch again, and, for once, it was in a near-deserted area- right above the ground, just a little ways away from the Crotalus bench. Continuing to ignore everything that was going on around her, she glanced around to check for Elly. Good, good. She didn’t appear to have spotted it. And, even if she had, that still gave Jennifer the head start, since the other seeker hadn’t started moving yet. Excellent.

With a dive whose steepness was probably more for exhilaration than for necessity, Jennifer flew towards the ground. The snitch had continued to flit around, of course, but she had it all but cornered. There really wasn’t that many places it could go without her being able to catch up. So, as a matter of course, she did.

As soon as the snitch hit her palm, Jennifer had risen back up to the level of the rest of the play, holding the ball aloft. Any and all hatred of anything about quidditch faded as Fox signaled for the game to end. They had won. Crotalus had actually won. She wasn’t completely cursed as captain (that feeling hadn’t been quite as strong since the game against Aladren, but it was still there somewhat). Her team had really won!

Of course, she reminded herself as she settled back down on the earth, grinning like an idiot, now that quidditch was over, that meant she had to go back and study for her CATS some more. Well, she amended quickly, she could study after the party. Her team had just won, after all. She was allowed to take a break.

0 Jennifer Z, Crotalus Seeker Victory! 48 Jennifer Z, Crotalus Seeker 0 5

Elly, Pecari Seeker
June 18, 2007 5:20 PM

Elly, Pecari Seeker
Peripheral
Written by:

*hangs head* by Elly, Pecari Seeker
OOC: Not strictly necessary, I know, but the perfectionist in me wanted to make Jen’s post fit better :)

BIC:

Elly kept one eye on the Snitch and one on the game. She was hovering just above the Chasers, could actually feel the rush of air as they streaked along the pitch. She needed to drop lower still, effectively join the rest of the game to get a chance of catching the elusive little ball.

Carefully selecting her moment, Elly dove the couple of feet towards the Snitch. As the ball dodged further away, Elly mentally cursed it to oblivion. With another cursory glance around, she shifted to her right to avoid a Chaser, almost loosing her grip on her broom as she did so – even after several months of practise she still had a tendency to wobble a lot. She sought out the Snitch again, heading back out the other side of the game, towards where Elly had sworn she’d last seen the Crotalus Seeker. Damn it! Elly inched forward, and then stopped suddenly as the telltale whoosh of a bludger was getting louder, and therefore closer. Elly felt her stomach leave her as she dropped rapidly out of its path. Still, rather and absent stomach than a head-to-head with a bludger.

Elly snapped her head up to relocate the Snitch, but the Beaters were flying round each other, blocking her view. Knowing the only way she would be able to see properly was to get back above the game, Elly hauled on her broom handle and shot up, rather faster than she’d anticipated, back above the game. Looking down, she realised the Devil reincarnate had gone again. The streak of red heading towards the ground gave Elly a fair idea of where. If Jen had seen the Snitch all the way over there, there was no way Elly was going to be able to reach it in time. Sure enough, just a second later Crotalus’ Seeker raised her fist in the air in an unmistakable gesture. The game was over, and Crotalus had won.

0 Elly, Pecari Seeker *hangs head* 0 Elly, Pecari Seeker 0 5

Caedence
June 19, 2007 3:18 PM

Caedence
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 12

At the risk of sounding like Lilly- *is angry* by Caedence
Caedence faintly heard the cheers from the Crotalis supporters. She let her gaze fall off the quaffle that was headed towards Earl to see what all the ruckus was about. Her stomach dropped out when she saw the red seeker rising triumphantly clutching the snitch.

No! No! No! she mentally screamed. this just cant be happening! She let herself glide to the ground slowly, her arms shaking in anger on the broom handle. How could this happen? Why did each year they get close enough to taste the championship, just to have it snatched away by the opposing seeker? Why?

She had heard that Pecari had the greatest team a couple years back. Was it the addition of a ’bludger magnet’ that ruined it all for them? Did her stupid moves really cost them that much? She thought of all the things that happened to her since she joined.

She had gotten hit in her back in her first game, winding her and knocking her into her broom handle. Then at the championship that year, she had broken her arm at the elbow and couldn’t come back into the game. This year she was spun around and around on her broom, hit in the stomach, chased after a bludger, and now broken her broom.

In fact, as Caedence though about it, she realized that she was actually causing problems. She didn’t bother to hang around after the game for the Craven’s post-match speech, if there was one. Why did she care? She knew what she had to do. Next year, she wouldn’t play, plain and simple. She doubted her father would even give her a new broom, anyways. But she doubted she could actually do it. How could she give up the first magical thing she ever knew? Her mother had taught her quidditch. Her mother had taught her about the sport, the different positions, the different teams, long before she even knew that Caedence was a witch. Could Caedence let her mom down?
\n

0 Caedence At the risk of sounding like Lilly- *is angry* 94 Caedence 0 5

Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach

Quidditch Championship: Crotalus vs. Pecari by Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach

<font color="brown">Irene Liddowe, Reserve</font>

The Proud Pecari Bench by <font color="brown">Irene Liddowe, Reserve</font>

<font color="brown">Saul Pierce, Chaser</font>

Off the starting block by <font color="brown">Saul Pierce, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Lily Collins, Beater</font>

A bundle of rage. by <font color="red">Lily Collins, Beater</font>

<font color="brown">Caedence Redoak, Chaser</font>

Right behind you by <font color="brown">Caedence Redoak, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

The rage builds... by <font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

<font color="red">Helena Layne, Chaser</font>

*hides* by <font color="red">Helena Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker</font>

I feel like a forty-niner by <font color="red">Jennifer Zucchero, Seeker</font>

<font color="brown">Elly Eriksson, Seeker</font>

I feel like a thirteen-year-old. by <font color="brown">Elly Eriksson, Seeker</font>

Irene

OOC: Am I allowed to post again? To myself? (nm) by Irene

<s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s>

<s>I feel non-numerical.</s> by <s>Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater</s>

<font color="red">Gwen, Beater</font>

...and somewhat idiotic. by <font color="red">Gwen, Beater</font>

<font color="red">Earl Valentine, Keeper</font>

Keeping an eye on the goals by <font color="red">Earl Valentine, Keeper</font>

Fox

OOC by Fox

<font color="brown">Irene, Benchwarmer</font>

...with one person =D by <font color="brown">Irene, Benchwarmer</font>

<font color="red">Helena Layne, Chaser</font>

Chasing the Quaffle...sort of. by <font color="red">Helena Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Lizzie Lavine, Chaser</font>

Catching the quaffle... for real. by <font color="brown">Lizzie Lavine, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Saul, Chaser</font>

Follow the leader by <font color="brown">Saul, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Caedence, Chaser</font>

Whee!!!! by <font color="brown">Caedence, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

Eh...more rage... by <font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

<font color="red">Jennifer, seeker</font>

Well, beaters aren't known for their intelligence... by <font color="red">Jennifer, seeker</font>

<font color="brown">Saul, Chaser</font>

Taking one for the team by <font color="brown">Saul, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Irene, Broom-Wrangler</font>

*tosses broom* by <font color="brown">Irene, Broom-Wrangler</font>

<font color="brown">Caedence, Chaser</font>

Didn't we learn last game not to chase bludgers? by <font color="brown">Caedence, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Elly, Seeker</font>

Just their violence. by <font color="brown">Elly, Seeker</font>

<font color="brown">Lizzie, Chaser</font>

Yes, <i>you</i> did. by <font color="brown">Lizzie, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Irene, Crowd-Pleaser</font>

*whistles* by <font color="brown">Irene, Crowd-Pleaser</font>

<font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

But not any lessons on not increasing my rage by <font color="red">Lily, Beater</font>

<font color="brown">Irene, Alternate</font>

*wanders* by <font color="brown">Irene, Alternate</font>

<font color="red">Earl, Keeper</font>

Try some anger management by <font color="red">Earl, Keeper</font>

<font color="red">Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser</font>

A bit of payback by <font color="red">Geoffrey Spindler, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Chrissy Mathers, Chaser</font>

Always a good time by <font color="red">Chrissy Mathers, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Geoffrey S., Chaser</font>

Of course, naturally by <font color="red">Geoffrey S., Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Chrissy, Chaser</font>

Ho ho ho by <font color="red">Chrissy, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Geoffrey S., Chaser</font>

And here we go by <font color="red">Geoffrey S., Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Lizzie, Pecari Chaser</font>

Well, that was a lot of red right there... by <font color="brown">Lizzie, Pecari Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Saul, Pecari Chaser</font>

I was thinking the same thing by <font color="brown">Saul, Pecari Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Caedence</font>

We should add some brown, then by <font color="brown">Caedence</font>

<font color="brown">Irene- Reserve/Chaser</font>

Let's. by <font color="brown">Irene- Reserve/Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Lily, Crotalus Beater</font>

How about more red? As in your blood. by <font color="red">Lily, Crotalus Beater</font>

hides by <font color="red">Helena Layne, Chaser</font>

tosses broom by <font color="brown">Irene, Broom-Wrangler</font>

whistles by <font color="brown">Irene, Crowd-Pleaser</font>

wanders by <font color="brown">Irene, Alternate</font>