Amy Fox
August 27, 2008 1:07 AM
Quidditch Match: Crotalus v. Pecari by Amy Fox
It was hard to believe that four and a half years had already passed and that she was still at Sonora biding her time. At first, she had assumed that her banishment would be a short one. She would receive a small slap on the wrist, be banned for the rest of the season, but then start again the following year. Of course, it had become apparent to her some time during her first or second year at Sonora that her stay at the school might be an extended one- and oh, she had dreaded it and hoped otherwise. She wasn't made out for teaching. She didn't have the temperament.But time had passed and it was yet again time for another Quidditch match. It was hard to believe that this would be one of the last matches for most of the captains, Anne being the only exemption.
For once, she had made her way out to the pitch early, wanting some time alone to herself. It was a cool morning, only in the mid-50s but the temperature would definitely increase as the day progressed. The weather forecast, Amy had noted, had stated that the day would most likely be warm for February, being in the mid-to-upper 60s with only a slight breeze.
Taking a seat on the field, Amy removed the rumpled piece of parchment from her pocket, unfolding it so she could read over the missive yet another time. Her eyes scanned over the words, still hardly believing the content. Shaking her head, she refolded the parchment and stuffed it in her pocket. The decision would have to wait until later.
Dear Miss Fox, the letter read,
I am writing to inform you that after careful consideration of this committee, it has been decided that you may once again play Professional Quidditch. Please understand that you will be placed under a trial period, during which you will be held under the close scrutiny of this committee. Should you act in any way that is discordant with the rules and regulations set by this committee, then your banishment will be considered permanent.
Although the last few lines were difficult to read, it was clear that a dedline was mentioned and the letter ended with a valediction and signature.
Pushing herself to her feet, she looked over to make sure that the equipment was ready for play. The balls were situated on the field beside her bag and broom. She would have just enough time to unlock the supply closet before the teams and spectators arrived. Turning on her heel, she started down the pitch. Reaching the shed, she made her way around to the supply closet, unlocking it with a quick flick of the wrist. She had checked the brooms the night before and all were in excellent condition for the days match. Finished, she slowly began to return to her place in the middle of the pitch just as the stands were beginning to fill.
Time passed quickly and soon the teams were making their way out to the center of the field. The ritual was quite simple and all of the captains should have been fairly familiar with it. When the teams were within hearing, Amy called the captains over, instructing them to shake hands. She then went over the obligatory rules, making sure that everyone understood that it was entirely unacceptable to cheat. "Am I understood?" she ended.
Moving over the giant chest of balls, Amy grabbed her broom and opened the balls, letting the Snitch and Bludgers loose before taking hold of the Quaffle. Turning back to the teams, she straddled her broom and pushed off the ground. "Alright," she said, "on the count of three: one, two, three!" At three, the Quaffle was released from her fingers, being lobbed into the air. As the teams rose into the air, Amy flew to the sidelines, watching as the game began.
OOC: Alright, have fun and being creative. I expect lengthy posts of excellent quality. Make this game interesting!
Subthreads: Here it goes by Josh Warren, Crotalus Beater with Irene Liddowe, Pecari Chaser, Saul Pierce, Pecari Chaser
ROCKING THIS JOINT by Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker with Irene Liddowe and Josh Warren
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Amy Fox
Quidditch Match: Crotalus v. Pecari
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Amy Fox
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
August 30, 2008 2:37 PM
Just paving the way toward our epic win. by Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
Helena felt relaxed as she joined the rest of the Quidditch team. She had gotten up early to run through her pre-major-event relaxation exercises before breakfast, the components of which she had picked carefully so that she was full, but not too full. She had also avoided Anne, whose near-constant anxiety did not mix well with her beloved coffees. She did not need her friend's nerves to set hers off again, because if they did, it might mean a regression to the days of having to eat breakfast twice before a game or exam, and those days had not been fun.Pecari was a formidable opponent, but not invincible. They had proved that when they lost first to her House and then to Aladren - the two teams that, at least since she'd been at Sonora, were most frequently discounted in the race for the Quidditch Cup. Helena tightened and relaxed muscles in her shoulders and legs before they went out, then listened carefully to Coach Fox's speech. She had almost learned it by heart now, but focusing on that allowed her to miss any face-making or intimidation attempts by the Pecaris. Those were not helpful, even if she was right in thinking they'd lost the power to really affect her.
Chasing when the other team had the Quaffle required being able to divide one's attention between the ball, the other opposing players, one's teammates, and the Bludgers, so it was almost as much a matter of mental ability as it was of physical. Since Bludgers made noise and the Quaffle wasn't moving, she kept her eyes mostly trained on it, both hands on her broom handle in case a Pecari decided to play dirty and try to knock her off her broom. She grinned when Earl, in what had to be either genius or a total accident, saved the goal with the tail of his broom, but didn't waste time celebrating as the Quaffle reentered play.
There was an advantage to Crotalus when Caedence Redoak had the Quaffle, and that was her habit of being taken out by a convenient Bludger. It might have been for that reason that Caedence passed it off to a younger girl - Ida? Irina? - in short order, but that, too, wound up helping Helena's team, because when the brown-haired girl tried to pass it, Oliver swept in and took it. She moved to cover him as he went up, came back down, and passed it to her.
Her mind, as it had a way of doing, went blank for a split second when she first caught the ball two-handed, but they had trained to the point where protecting the Quaffle with one arm while putting the other hand back to her broom was reflexive. Seeing a flash of brown, she went up to miss it and, finding another set of red robes, angled her broom to minimize the chances of a Pecari slipping in the middle as she made the pass.
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
Just paving the way toward our epic win.
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
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Irene, Pecari Chaser
August 30, 2008 3:45 PM
Don't know about that... by Irene, Pecari Chaser
OOC: Confusion... Editing...BIC:
Irene let out a groan as she watched the Quaffle fall into Crotalus posession due to her incompleted pass. As she pulled her broom around, heading in the direction that Oliver had turned, she took a second to beat the mistake into her brain. Check. around. you. On the plus side, Elly had escaped Lily's wrath and was on her way around the pitch. Thank God, Pecari couldn't afford to loose their Seeker. Not to mention the fact that Irene wasn't so willing to let her friend fall victim to a bludger. She didn't have time to check for Saul and instead pushed her broom to go faster. Her brown poinytail flew behind her as she sped up to Oliver, hoping she had the time to recapture the Quaffle.
Irene lined herself up behind Oliver, knowing he wouldn't be able to see her there. If he was going to pass, she was going to be right there on the other side. Her eyes widened for a moment as she watched his arms take the Quaffle to his chest. She ducked out from Oliver's shadow and watched the Quaffle fall into another girl's possession. This girl, when making her pass, made it decently difficult to slip between the other chaser. Irene angled herself just behind the girl, but enough to the Crotalus's side to where she could try to get a hand on the Quaffle. She held out a hand to intercept the airborne Quaffle, but a moving object caught her eye and Irene looked around to see a speeding bludger a matter of feet away. A wave of fear, surprise, and panic rushed through her as she let all control of her broom go, hoping to drop out of the way of the metal death-trap's path. The racing bludger, however, was too fast for her decent to get her out of the way. The metal ball skinned the top of her left shoulder, whooshing past her ear. In quick succession with this action, Irene's right hand, so previously intent on catching the Quaffle, felt the thump of the Quaffle, tipping it out of it's direction. Her hand jumped to clutch her shoulder as she let out a quick gasp of pain. The air rushing past her reminded her that she was still falling and, with an amount of sense returning to her, she clenched her broom with her left hand, ceasing the free-fall.
The shock of the bludger was wearing away, forced out by the stinging pain in her shoulder and a frustrated anger taking the place of shock. She was so close to getting the Quaffle back, but the Pecari bludger curse happened to fall upon her at that time. Letting out a small growl of determination, Irene pulled her broom around and swooped after the falling Quaffle, her Seeking tryouts kicking in as she controlled the dive. She was soon upon the Quaffle and reached out to seize it. Flying was much more difficult with the limited movement of her shoulder. The tender skin twinged at movement, making reactions a little slower. After a bobbled recovery of the Quaffle, Irene shakily leveled her broom, almost dropping the Quaffle once more. Pulling her broom to playing height, Irene looked around for teammates as well as opponents. Spotting a Pecari Chaser, she called out, "Heads up!" and passed the ball.
Irene's right hand returned to her shoulder, giving it a quick rub before returning her full focus to the game, her competitive nature bubbling up inside her. Enough of this. Pecari was going to win. They had to.
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Irene, Pecari Chaser
Don't know about that...
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Irene, Pecari Chaser
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Ash and Sorrel Craven, Pecari Beaters
September 01, 2008 7:40 PM
We'll dig it up as fast as you can lay it. by Ash and Sorrel Craven, Pecari Beaters
This was it. Their final season as captains. The twins did not get nervous before Quidditch; they got determined. The weight of this match hung on them, clear in their set jaws and the fact that they seemed to be attempting to wither people's internal organs with the power of their stares far more than usual. In their pre-game speech they were, as ever, people of few words, but their tone carried the clout for them; it dared the team to see what would happen if they didn't give it their all, and then the rest.Kicking off on the whistle, they were aggravated to watch the Crotalus Beaters reach the Bludgers first. The short lived balm to this was watching their Chasers take possession, only to have their attempt on goal blocked by mere fluke.
"Why don't you take an early shower and just leave your broom to man the goal?" Ash hollered as he looped past Earl, "Looks like it does better without you on it!" He didn't want the kid, a nervous and inept Keeper at the best of times, suddenly getting a surge of confidence from this accident. He wanted to be sure the boy kept up with his track record of nervous fumbling.
He carried on up, flying above the game, as Sorrel headed for the other end of the pitch (Stephen's end... Had she done that on purpose? Not that he thought she would get distracted or stop giving her proper attention to the game, but had she split for Stephen's end deliberately, because it was Stephen's and she was being nauseatingly close and cutesy?). Brushing the things he didn't want to think about his sister doing to one side, Ash scouted around for the Bludgers. Elly had just successfully ducked one from Little Miss Mental, and now... Now the kid was going for both? He had a nerve! Of course, this meant it was entirely possible that Lily was just as likely to murder him as one of the twins, for stealing her prey and her chances to do damage. He could hope. Seeing one Crotalus Beater bludgeoning the other to death and then getting sent off for violent conduct would be a beautiful sight. He swerved after the Bludger that looked like it had the most pace on it and was thus the biggest threat. Catching up to it, he leant forward, his bat stretching out in front of it, swinging back in the direction opposite to that in which the Bludger was travelling. It wasn't the most powerful way to hit it, the awkward angle, weaker swing and opposing force combining against it being a truly mighty smash, but that was why Ash had chosen that shot. Although he gained the most satisfaction from hitting with his considerable might and watching the havoc that ensued, it would have been misplaced here. The Chasers all being clustered together quite far below him, along with the Bludgers' propensity for randomly changing its mind meant that egging it on towards the heat of the action was as likely to get one of his own team hit as a Crotalus player. His backwards shot drove the ball away from the group of Chasers, as well as slowing it down and thus keeping it near enough him that he was able to swing a quick 180, aided by the momentum from the hit, and catch up to the ball before it strayed out of his territory and into someone else's. He glanced around to check what progress Sorrel had made with the other Bludger. The action having been closer to the end from which he'd looped up, she'd had a sprint to catch it. One beyond the speed of her broom, it seemed. He winced as the ball grazed Irene's shoulder, although the impact didn't look too devastating, particularly as she still had the Quaffle in her grasp.
Sorrel plunged into the fray, scowling heartily at the Bludger that had hit Irene on her watch. She had thrown herself flat out after the thing, but she had never been one to be comforted by the thought that she had done all she could when that hadn't been enough. Being closer to the group than Ash, it was easier for her to pick a target with reasonable assurance she could hit it before the Bludger changed its mind; each individual Chaser was larger to her, it was not as if she was just aiming at the group in general, and there would also be less time for the contrary iron ball to choose its own path. Aiming for the closest red blur, she swung decisively, cracking the Bludger at full force towards the opposing Chaser, keeping pace alongside the ball in case it decided to change its mind.
Above the game, Ash returned his attention to his own Bludger with a slight feeling of disappointment. It seemed a waste of his excellent shot, the one that had kept the ball in his possession, that he and Sorrel were now not going to be able to do anything particularly interesting. Winding his arm back to its full swing, he smashed the ball forcefully towards the Crotalus Seeker (rule one was rule one for a reason), hoping Sorrel and the other Bludger would make their way into his section of sky before he lost control. In an attempt to minimise the likelihood of this, he leant into his broom, tailing his shot across the pitch.
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Ash and Sorrel Craven, Pecari Beaters
We'll dig it up as fast as you can lay it.
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Ash and Sorrel Craven, Pecari Beaters
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