Aladren-and-Lyra (nm) on Quidditch Pitch

Broom Competition Group

October 06, 2009 3:34 PM

Broom Competition by Broom Competition Group

The broom group had, by and large, run itself smoothly. He would have still probably picked different teammates if he had been given the choice, but Geoff Layne was mostly very pleased with how things had worked out. They wouldn't – or so he devoutly hoped - embarrass themselves in front of an outside school.

Because of the nature of their competition, it would all be taking place on the Pitch. This was very convenient, as the Welcoming Ceremony would be held there. Geoff kept checking over the schedule and the supplies until the last moment he had available before, already getting hot in his robes and best clothes, he made his way to the front of the Sonorans.

The introductory ceremonies were, mercifully, kept short, and he was soon able to get back to his station. It was a fairly simple setup (the majority of what they needed had already been available), but he had learned, in a year of managing things, that it was always best to assume that a disaster could happen at any given moment. Since the sign announcing Broom Competition hadn't fallen and he couldn't find anything wrong with the batons, though, his energy finally ended up being channeled into checking the positions of his teammates, doubtless making them want to plot his murder after the third or fourth go-round.

Finally, they had a good-sized group gathered in front of them and it was time to go. "All right," he said, raising his voice for attention. He'd considered the Sonorus, but Helena had vetoed that idea. "Welcome to the Sonora-Rocky Mountain International Broom Competition. If you'll hang on one second..." He flicked his wand to move another set of signs into position. "...You'll see how we want you to sort yourselves out."

Since inter-school cooperation was being stressed, they had figured the easiest way to do this was to pair up Houses. A bit of research had been necessary to more or less match up the groups, but the books he'd read and consults he'd had - evidently, Josiah had connections at the other school – had Geoff convinced they'd done an adequate job. Aladrens were, on his far right, with Lyras. Nearest to them were a mix of Crotali and Dracos. Pecari came next with Aquilla, and then Teppenpaw mixed with Cetus on his far left.

"This is a relay competition," he explained. "Two groups of Houses will compete at a time - first - er - you lot -" he pointed at Aladren and Lyra, really wishing one of them had taken the time to come up with team names - "and them" – a gesture toward Crotalus and Draco - "and then the other two teams. You'll pass the baton one to another until you reach the other end of the Pitch, where you'll loop around one of the outlying goal posts - the middle is neutral – and start passing it back. The two quickest teams will compete in the third round for the prize. Since there’s too many for everyone to go at once, you’ll split up into groups of five inside your teams and we’ll do this a few times over." He thought that covered it. "Is that clear?

"My team and I will be around the parameters to make sure there's no cheating or magic or trys at taking out the other team. Spread yourselves out evenly in the air between this end and the goals, and go on my whistle. Good luck to everyone!" It was an effort not to add, "and allow me to take this opportunity to say 'go Hawks'", but Geoff found it in him to resist the temptation. The Houses were, after all, all represented in his group.

Once everyone seemed set up, he nodded to himself, blew the whistle, and looked up as quickly as possible without doing himself an injury. It had begun.

OOC: So, basically, Aladrens-and-Lyras will compete against Crotali-and-Dracos, handing off a baton from one end of the Pitch to the other, and Pecaris-and-Aquillas will compete against Teppenpaws-and-Ceti in the same manner. The last person will loop around a goal post and then start handing it back. Winners will be judged based on creativity and detail in the posts. Good luck, and have fun!

Subthreads:

Aladren-and-Lyra (nm) by Broom Group with Daniel Nash II, Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year], Jera Valson (Sonora 3rd year), Lia Harper [RMI 4th year]

Crotalus-and-Draco (nm) by Broom Group with Oliver Abbott (Sonora 5th year), Erik Falk (RMI 1st year)

Pecari-and-Aquilla (nm) by Broom Group with Saul Pierce and Jose Hernandez, Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year], Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year and Aquila Captain), Elly Eriksson

Teppenpaw-and-Cetus (nm) by Broom Group with Katrina Embers (RMI Sixth Year)

After the competition (Josiah) by Hyana Kamiya with Josiah Ashwood

16 Broom Competition Group Broom Competition 0 Broom Competition Group 1 5

Broom Group

October 06, 2009 3:36 PM

Aladren-and-Lyra (nm) by Broom Group

16 Broom Group Aladren-and-Lyra (nm) 0 Broom Group 0 5

Broom Group

October 06, 2009 3:37 PM

Crotalus-and-Draco (nm) by Broom Group

16 Broom Group Crotalus-and-Draco (nm) 0 Broom Group 0 5

Broom Group

October 06, 2009 3:39 PM

Pecari-and-Aquilla (nm) by Broom Group

16 Broom Group Pecari-and-Aquilla (nm) 0 Broom Group 0 5

Broom Group

October 06, 2009 3:40 PM

Teppenpaw-and-Cetus (nm) by Broom Group

16 Broom Group Teppenpaw-and-Cetus (nm) 0 Broom Group 0 5

Saul Pierce and Jose Hernandez

October 08, 2009 11:46 AM

Pecari and Aquilla for the win! by Saul Pierce and Jose Hernandez

Neither Saul (despite having been Pecari's Quidditch Captain for two years and the assistant captain for two years before that) nor Jose had their own broom. Fortunately, there seemed to be school brooms available for the broom relay event. They both grabbed one before moving to the area designated for Pecaris and Aquillas. As Geoff explained the rules, Saul grinned down at his young cousin who was still shaking out water from his robes. Though he'd done the obstacle course almost an hour earlier, he still hadn't thought to ask Saul to give him a drying charm.

Of course, to be fair, until they'd headed over here, Saul had been busy running the obstacle course. Now, it was temporarily in the capable hands of Pepper and Briony while Saul and Elly headed over to take part in the broom relay. The two Teppenpaw girls would get a break later, and Saul had already volunteered to run the course during the potions competition, if any of the others wanted to give that a try.

They first watched a team of Aladren/Lyras race against a team of Crotalus/Dracos, which gave the two cousins a better idea of what they were supposed to be doing than Geoff's words had. Neither had the focus to really give the Head Boy their full attention. Saul's lack of concentration was a personality trait; Jose's was an effect of his day's sugar consumption - Saul had seen him go through at least two chocolate frogs, three pixie sticks, a package of Bertie Botts Beans, and two Peeps, and that was just in the last hour.

As the Pecari and Aquilla group gathered up for their turn, Saul took lead (as a Seventh Year Quidditch Captain and Prefect, he figured he was at least as qualified as anybody else short of running up against a Head Boy or Girl and the only one he could see here was running the event) and randomly picked a group of five to run as their first team. "Jose'll go first," he decided, putting a hand on Jose's shoulder so everyone would know who he was talking about.

"Then I'll go after him," Saul figured he had a better chance of predicting where Jose's erratic flying skills would put him for the baton pass than anyone else, "and after me, we'll have you, you, and you go," he instructed, pointing at each of the last three players in turn. "Any questions, complaints or concerns? Good. Jose, get ready." He handed the baton they'd received when the Crotali and Dracos finished to the first year and nodded to the rest to go take their positions further along the pitch.

As they took off, Saul looked at Jose, who was mostly over his fear of heights after a year's worth of practice as Pecari's only alternate Quidditch player, and offered a Captain's advice. "Just fly as fast as you can to me. I'll worry about making sure the pass happens cleanly, okay? Just hold it out like this," he helped Jose change his grip to show him how he wanted it. "You'll do great, Hose."

Jose rolled his eyes at the nickname but his jitters seemed to lessen a little. "Got it, coz."

"Good," Saul nodded and grinned in approval then took off for his own spot further along the relay track. At the starting line, Jose took quick and shallow breaths, pumping himself up again until the whistle blew and he took off, going as fast as the school broom could take him for his older cousin. His hand sweated and he was afraid he'd drop the baton, but got to Saul's position with it still in hand.

Saul flew up beside him and they made the exchange, only ramming into each other a little bit as Jose's broom jerked unexpectedly to the left. Saul, used to flying no handed as he caught, carried, and threw a Quaffle around, took firm hold of the baton and ordered, "Down!"

Jose dropped in altitude abruptly, conditioned to obeying his captain's flying instructions, leaving Saul on his own with the baton. He evened out and looked up to watch Saul continue on, leaning over his broom as he flew as quickly as seven years as a Chaser taught him to go. Jose rose back up to his previous altitude and got ready for his final return back to the finish line.

Saul, meanwhile, flew toward the next person on their relay team, holding out the slightly sweaty baton for the pass. He'd tried to wipe it down as he flew, and he thought he'd gotten the worst of the slipperiness, but he'd been flying at his top speed and still trying to get his broom to cooperate after the collision with Jose's broom.

Still, he thought the pass had gone reasonably well given Jose's relative inexperience, and he hoped this one would go as well. As he approached their third relay leg, Saul held out the baton in front of him, ready to pass it on, and called out, "Start moving! Hold your hand out behind you! There! You got it, go, go, go!" He waited for the fingers to close around the baton before letting go and slowing down his own speed to watch his teammate pull away.

1 Saul Pierce and Jose Hernandez Pecari and Aquilla for the win! 82 Saul Pierce and Jose Hernandez 0 5

Hyana Kamiya

October 09, 2009 3:44 PM

After the competition (Josiah) by Hyana Kamiya

Hyana watched the broom races off to the side with a nervous smile on her face. Even though she was a Quidditch player and enjoyed the games, she wasn’t really into competition. She did Quidditch more because she liked the feeling of being on a team than anything else. She was perfectly happy watching the competition and cheering ~~Rocky Mountain International~~ everyone on.

There was someone at Sonora that Hyana hadn’t seen yet that she really wanted to see. Josiah Ashwood, Teppenpaw Prefect, was helping run the Broom Competition. The raven haired girl, who had gone to Sonora for her first year and a half of her magical education, was kind of nervous. Josiah was a lot of things to her. He was her first and best friend. He had also been her first crush, and her first kiss. There had been some problems, though. His family didn’t like the fact that he was associating with a muggleborn, and she and Josiah had basically been banned from ever seeing each other again.

Yes. Purebloods were that dramatic.

It looked like everyone was done with the broom races now. Hyana stood, smoothing out her black and blue checkered shirt, and walked up behind Josiah and tapped his shoulder with a smile. “I’d like to race the Teppenpaw Prefect?” she requested, giggling. Maybe this was a little crazy and out of character, but Hyana was not going to visit Sonora and avoid Josiah. For once, she didn’t care about what she had been told she could and couldn’t do. Let Alexis Ashwood see them talking; let her tell Josiah’s parents. She was going to hang out with her best friend.

0 Hyana Kamiya After the competition (Josiah) 0 Hyana Kamiya 0 5

Daniel Nash II

October 09, 2009 4:16 PM

Feeling obligated. by Daniel Nash II

After visiting the obstacle course, Daniel had wandered back over the Pitch, with the thought that he'd just watch the broom race. When he got there, though, he discovered they were teaming up by House. Given Aladren's ability to fill a Quidditch roster, and assuming Lyra faced similar difficulties, he sighed and moved to stand where the Aladrens and Lyra were supposed to congregate. Besides, his Quidditch Captain was running the thing. It would be bad form to not be involved.

He wasn't quite sure how he ended up flying at the starting position, holding the baton and waiting for the whistle to send him off on the first leg of the relay, but here he was. Granted, he was a little more athletic than the average Aladren, but surely there must be somebody better than a muggleborn second year to start things off.

Evidently not. The whistle blew and Daniel pushed forward, folding himself down to create the least air resistance and he sped as quickly as his borrowed broom could take him toward the second person on the relay team. He kind of wished he'd thought to bring down his own broom, but he hadn't expected to need it today.

The school one dragged a little to the right and he spent a little extra effort correcting it. His own could go faster, too. Still, he made reasonably good time to his next teammate, keeping about even with the opposing team, and he held out the baton ahead of him for the pass.

1 Daniel Nash II Feeling obligated. 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

October 16, 2009 12:27 PM

Woo!! by Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

Kenny, try as he may have done to arrive promptly to the broom relay race, was a tad late. He was always trying to look as cool as possible, particularly so in this new Sonora environment where new relationship and friendship opportunities abounded, but Quidditch was one of the few things that he actually genuinely cared about in his school life. Therefore, it was hard for him to actually be late for it for the sake of coolness because he really, really didn't want to miss out on any of it. Thankfully, his lateness was relatively inconsequential since he was still able to hear all the important parts of the Dude-in-Charge's speech, anyway.

Seeing the sign marked "Pecari and Aquila," he tried to blend in with that group of students as discreetly as possible as the Main Dude spoke. He recognized some Ceti on his team's rival for the relay, but he had no idea what the name of the Ceti's accompanying Sonora House was; he was much too lazy to bother reading the sign above the opposing team. Besides, who cared what both the Houses' names were? They both stunk, and they were both going down!!

Kenny didn't nod or otherwise confirm his understanding when the Main Dude asked if he was clear with the relay instructions; again, he was just too lazy for such an unnecessary action.

Another older- and authoritative-looking Dude took lead on the Pecari-Aquila team, randomly picking five people to do the first set of relays. Kenny was one of these random picks, and he couldn't help but display his Smug Smirk at the opportunity to go first.

Unlike his approach to that Main Dude who'd laid down the rules for everyone, Kenny found this other Dude to be pretty awesome. The Dude really knew what he was doing, so he was probably a seasoned Quidditch Captain here at Sonora. The first-year gave the leader his full attention, practicing active listening skills that he'd been seriously lacking earlier.

"And after me, we'll have you, you, and you go."

Kenny's Smirk returned because he was honestly ecstatic about this -- an upperclassman guy was actually treating him as a respectable team player, someone with skill. It was nice to have that feeling of worth after being hated by such a large percentage of the RMI student body and not doing incredibly well on the Aquila Quidditch team. He was getting better in the Quidditch department, though, which would surely show in the much improved flying that he'd be showcasing today. Fortunately, he wouldn't have any tricky plays or anything to worry about in this competition -- he just had to fly as fast as he could and pass on the baton. Piece of cake!

He shook his head when the leader Dude asked if anyone had questions. Once the meeting had broken up, Kenny mounted one of Sonora's school brooms and kicked off into the air. He took his place in the third spot along the relay line, then waited for the whistle to blow.

Once it did, he looked on anxiously as the first kid jetted out from the starting line toward the group leader. The two of them were involved in a minor collision, but they recovered and the baton was passed to the leader in no time. The pressure was mounting now -- in just a moment, Kenny would have to prove himself. He'd have to show that he wasn't some uncool poser from RMI, but that he really was cool and was good at flying and was madly skilled at life in general.

When the leader Dude reached him, Kenny obeyed all of his commands and took a firm hold of the baton.

"Go, go, go!"

And off Kenny went, shooting forward as he'd never done before. He was going to beat those stupid Ceti and whatever the heck that other House was if it was the last thing he did. He was going to win this -- his whole team was going to win this!!

"Here!" he shouted upon reaching the next teammate. "Take it!!" His chocolate brown eyes were practically melting from the competitive fire raging inside of him.

0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] Woo!! 0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] 0 5

Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

October 16, 2009 4:52 PM

Volunteering by Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

After the obstacle course, Simon made his way to the Broom Competition. He hadn't done any Quidditch as a first-year, but this year was much different. He'd joined the Lyra Quidditch team; at first it was just to impress Chris, but even when he was still really crushing on her, he really enjoyed the sport for what it was rather than how it portrayed him to the girl he'd been chasing after. And now that he'd decided to completely abandon his lovey-dovey feelings toward Chris, he would be more focused on the game and probably feel a little less pressure to perform as well as possible during Quidditch matches. Of course, he wasn't going to let his game down by any means, but he would really be able to get the most out of the experience.

And this was also the way he felt about games other than Quidditch that involved flying, such as a relay race like today's. So when he arrived at the Pitch and joined the group of students on the Aladren-Lyra team, Simon was more than excited.

"Since there’s too many for everyone to go at once, you’ll split up into groups of five inside your teams and we’ll do this a few times over. Is that clear?"

Simon nodded at this, looking around at his teammates. After they split themselves up, the second-year ended up in the first set of relay contestants. He quickly found one of Sonora's school brooms since he didn't have one of his own, then mounted it and took to the sky. Being a muggleborn, this whole sensation never failed to amaze him -- the fact that he was lucky enough to actually be able to fly was truly a gift. He felt like God was really looking out for him.

Having been designated the second relayer, he flew to and then hovered at the second position on the course. Soon, the whistle blew and his group's starting player was off!

His heart pounded a little quicker than usual as he awaited the baton. Once the Sonoran held the baton to Simon in his outstretched hand, the Lyra grabbed it and sped toward the next player on his team. He loved the feeling of the wind rustling through his hair, that perceived invincibility that accompanied the adrenaline-piumping sensation of actually flying through the air with nothing but a long wooden stick to support you.

It wasn't long until he reached player number three, to whom he held out the baton. "Here!" he said, smiling excitedly. He had faith in his team, and he knew that they would be victorious!

0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] Volunteering 0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] 0 5

Oliver Abbott (Sonora 5th year)

October 17, 2009 6:56 AM

Flying for my House... as usual by Oliver Abbott (Sonora 5th year)

Having made it through the obstacle course relatively unscathed, Oliver came along to the broom racing event. He'd been on the Crotalus House Quidditch team since his second year (reserve in his first year) so it was only natural that he would take part in the broom racing event. It was almost like another Quidditch game - the final chance of the year to prove which team was really the best. Never mind the fact that Rocky Mountain Houses were joining in, too; Oliver was sure they felt the same way about it. Crotalus had a whole lot of House pride, and Oliver was going to do his bit to show that. He only hoped their partner team, Draco, would be up to the challenge.

Though as Oliver listened to the instructions from Geoff Layne, he was pretty confident about the team he was on winning their round, at least. Unless this Lyra team was tuly brillian,t it would be easy - everyone knew Aladren sucked (Oliver had conveniently forgotten the fact that Aladren had won the last game against Crotalus - he couldn't help it Alexis was an awful Seeker. She was a pureblood girl - she should just give it up and hang round with those other creepy pureblood girls in her year and be done with it). The only team worse off that Aladren would be Teppenpaw, because - they should face facts - nobody even wanted to play on that team. If it wasn't about Quidditch, Oliver would feel sorry for Hannah - the Teppenpaw captain and his girlfriend. But it was Quidditch (or in this case a broom race), and they were on competing teams. All sympathy was off.

As they were divided into groups of five, Oliver looked at the others who would be racing with him. "I'm going first," he decided for the group. "You guys pick your positions and let's beat Aladren! And, um, the other one." Unabashed by his ignorance of the other school, Oliver mounted one of Sonora's school brooms (he hadn't brought his own down in the spirit of sportsmanship; it seemed everyone was using the school brooms for the event). He nodded in greeting to Lutece as he flew past her on his way to the start point with the baton in his hand. It was a whole lot easier than Quidditch to just pass one baton to one other person, with no bludgers on without anyone trying to intercept, Oliver thought. It just had to remember not to throw the stick and they'd be fine.

On Layne's whistle, Oliver shot forward, holding both hands on the broom for the time being, though his right hand was mostly full with the bar he had to pass along to the next person. As the loomed closer, Oliver shouted, "Get ready!" to warn of his presence. Then, when a little closer," he outstretched his arm with the baton held out in his fist. Passing it was a little tricky; Oliver held fast until he was completely sure the next player had received the baton. Then, tentatively, he loosened his grip and slowed the pace of his broom, falling back. That was his part over for the time being; short, sweet and pretty damn fast.

0 Oliver Abbott (Sonora 5th year) Flying for my House... as usual 0 Oliver Abbott (Sonora 5th year) 0 5

Katrina Embers (RMI Sixth Year)

October 17, 2009 3:05 PM

A Cetus here, ready for action! by Katrina Embers (RMI Sixth Year)

The Sonora visit had been exactly what Katrina Embers had needed. The sixth year was ready for a break and, lately, RMI hadn’t been the place for that. RMI had always been her home, but every home had its problems. There just seemed to be more this year than there had been before. It wasn’t too late to make it a good year, though!

The first thing the brunette had decided to do was get rid of Scott Kendrick two days before they travelled to Sonora. It wasn’t like they had been dating or anything. She had just been using him to try and make Allegra Ruisi jealous. Kat wasn’t sure if it had worked, but Scott had been very happy to tell her that he and Ally had been hooking up on a regular basis anyway. Coming from Scott, she wasn’t sure how much of it was true. But…Kat really didn’t want to know. It was best to just give up on Allegra, no matter how much she didn’t want to. It’d be better for everyone, right?

Right.

Katrina was going to make this Sonora visit as fun as she possibly could. She had agreed to tent with Ivy, who was probably her only real friend left at RMI. Sure, she had the Cetus Quidditch team, but it wasn’t the same. Besides, having one friend was enough!

There were competitions for the students, and Kat was definitely going to participate in one. She ruled the Potions competition out immediately. She was sure that Sonora liked their Cascade Hall and didn’t want it blown up by a visitor playing with Potions. The Obstacle Course sounded fun enough, but it still wasn’t her thing. The broom races were definitely it.

She pulled at her robes as she listened. It sounded pretty fun. Of course, their group was going against the Aquila group, and Aquila was dangerous! Maybe Cosette wouldn’t appear; Kat was pretty sure her cousin was being forced to tail some other pure kid. It sucked to be Cosette! She came over to her group with a grin.

“I’m Katrina, an RMI sixth year.” She said for the Sonora kids on their team. “I’d like to go first, unless anyone has any problems with that.” She really didn’t care what order everyone went in. Personally, she would’ve been happy to take total control and tell everyone what to do, but this wasn’t her school.

0 Katrina Embers (RMI Sixth Year) A Cetus here, ready for action! 0 Katrina Embers (RMI Sixth Year) 0 5

Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year and Aquila Captain)

October 17, 2009 3:44 PM

Competition? I'm so in. by Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year and Aquila Captain)

Cosette was not having a good time. She had been attached to some pureblood girl, thanks to her grandparents. She would’ve hung out with Hayden, but it looked like he had been assigned a babysitter, too. There was no way she was going to deal with the same thing! Cosette quickly ditched the red head girl. It sucked that it was so easy to escape; she couldn’t use any magic.

Word of the broom races reached her ears. The third year was the Aquila Captain at RMI. There was no way she could skip out on this competition. And she was a competitive kid anyway. The blonde glanced in Hayden’s direction. She’d free him from his babysitter later. Right now, winning this competition was a priority!

One of her’s, Kenny Watts, was there. Good. The rest of her team needed to be there if they knew what was good for them. Cosette opened her mouth, ready to take charge, when someone else began to speak. She was pointed at to go after Kenny. This Sonora guy must’ve been a Captain as well; there was no way he could have the leadership skills he had.

The blonde got to her place and tied her blonde hair into a ponytail. The kid, Jose, flew first and was fast, at the very least. Then the leader guy went next. The way he flew obviously meant he was a seasoned player. He was probably the Pecari captain, then. Nice. Kenny went next, and Cosette smirked. The firstie had definitely gotten better since the beginning of the year. At least he could get off the ground.

She focused her blue green eyes ahead of her and held her hand out. Kenny shouted something when he placed the baton in her hand. She wasn’t too sure what he had said, she had already shot off in the direction of the next flier, but she rolled her eyes. That kid was way too melodramatic sometimes. Cosette pushed the unfamiliar broom as fast as she could get it to go.

When she reached the next person, she didn’t bother to slow down. Cosette smacked the baton in their open hand. Pulling up on her broom, the blonde did a loop de loop, like one of those muggle roller coaster things, and came to a full stop. Blowing some hair that had come out of her ponytail out of her face, she watched the person ahead of her. They better win. She didn’t like to lose.

0 Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year and Aquila Captain) Competition? I'm so in. 0 Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year and Aquila Captain) 0 5

Jera Valson (Sonora 3rd year)

October 18, 2009 10:36 AM

Joining in by Jera Valson (Sonora 3rd year)

All of the activities for the day sounded fun to Jera, but she felt most compelled to join in with the broom racing event. It was a well-known fact at Sonora that Aladren usually had trouble getting a team together. Their Captain couldn't take part because he was running the event, and this assistant captain was running adifferent event, so Jera didn't expect him to take part, either. She didn't know anything about the Lyra House or their Quidditch record, but Jera felt an obligation to help out Aladren with the competition. It turned out the broom race was simply a relay. On some level Jera was relieved; it was easier than she's anticipated. She could fly fast - that was her job, as Seeker for the Aladren team. She wasn't bad at it, either. She had caught the Snitch in the last game (and Jera had been more surprised than anyone else at that turn of events).

When they had to break up into groups of five, Jera stuck near Daniel. She didn't know the younger boy all that well, but they played on the team together, so they had the familiarity gained through regular team practises. Among the other players from Sonora and RMI, Jera found herself being third; in the middle of the chain. Just a bit of fun, she reminded herself. It wasn't like a game, when Jera felt the pressure of her whole House. This was just a little competition, no pressure.

Jera watched Daniel start off, and as he passed the baton to the RMI kid, Jera got ready on her broom - well, it was actually a school broom like everyone else was using, but for now she thought of it as her broom. "Here!" The boy held the stick out for Jera to take. She grasped it, gettting a slow start until he released his end of the baton, the Jera put her mind to getting up as much speed as she could. Her knees clutched the broom tightly, and she leant forward, making herself streamlined with the broom.

As she approached the next player on the team, Jera held out the baton for them to tak. She hoped it wasn't getting too sweaty - it would be so humiliating if one of them dropped it. Jera automatically slowed a little on approach, but she tried to keep a reasonable pace as she held out the baton to the next person.

0 Jera Valson (Sonora 3rd year) Joining in 0 Jera Valson (Sonora 3rd year) 0 5

Lia Harper [RMI 4th year]

October 18, 2009 6:54 PM

My turn! by Lia Harper [RMI 4th year]

Being an exemplary Assistant Quidditch Captain, Lia had brought her broom Oedipus—a name she found ironic, since it was her birth mother who had given Lia the Nimbus 2001—with her to Sonora. She hadn’t known about the broom competition, planning on simply exploring Sonora’s Pitch on Oedipus, but waste not, want not. At least she would be able to compete on her own broomstick; Lia didn’t know about Sonora’s financial situation, but school brooms were almost always very low-quality. Upon surveying the scene at the Pitch, Lia found that she was one of only a few who was not borrowing one from the Arizona school. All the more advantageous for her team.

Team Lyraladren had a decent makeup, though the Sonora students seemed on the non-athletic side. Lyras weren’t muscular as a rule, but she hoped the Aladrens weren’t as wimpy as some of them looked. Lia herself, though slender, had the strong arms typical of her position in Quidditch; Beater’s arms, toned for wielding heavy wooden bats.

Lia was fourth in line, after some Sonorans and Simon. As she watched them each complete their leg of the track, she decided to yell something when she took off; perhaps a patriotic message demonstrating school, team, or House pride. However, when she got the baton, what she ended up yelling was not at all what she had decided upon. It was still a good choice, she felt, because C. S. Lewis had always been her dads’ favorite author, so her battle cry was completely appropriate.

“FOR NARNIA!” she shouted triumphantly as she snatched the baton from the hand of the Sonora kid on her team and shot off to complete the fourth stretch for Lyra and Aladren. Too preoccupied to notice whether the kid she was racing against was from her school or the other, the fourth-year flattened herself against Oedipus for more velocity. The world ceased to exist. The only matter of any importance was that she delivered this baton to her teammate. Her broom was superb, almost definitely better than what the Draco-or-Crotalus-competitor was flying, and she made it to her final team member in what seemed like no time, handing off the baton and hoping that the fifth group member would take their team to the next round.

0 Lia Harper [RMI 4th year] My turn! 0 Lia Harper [RMI 4th year] 0 5

Elly Eriksson

October 22, 2009 3:36 AM

Sounds like fun to me! by Elly Eriksson

Even though they were technically running the obstacle course, Elly and Saul allowed themselves some time off to take part in the broom competition, too; as Capatin and Assistant Captain of the Pecari team, they could hardly not take part. Besides, Irene and Josiah were helping to organise the broom competition, and Elly liked to think of them as her surrogate younger siblings. Plus Geoff Layne seemed to be in charge, and Elly couldn't miss his most recent attempt at world takeover. So as Elly listened to Geoff explaining the rules, she couldn't help grinning. Anyway, she did love to fly.

They were quickly divided up into groups of five, and Saul took charge (as was probably habit by now) designating who was to fly and when. He put Elly last in their line-up, and that's what the redhead would have done herself; she couldn't vouch for the Aquila players (who were no older than third year, she was sure) but Elly was the fastest flier in Pecari. She ought to be, she'd had enough practise. Unfortunately she didn't have her broom down with her. She could have Accio'd it, but that was just show-offy. Almost everyone else seemed to be using the school brooms, anyway. So taking her chances, Elly selected one of the least battered-looking broomsticks and joined her teammates (for the event, anyway) in the air.

The baton worked its way rather rapidly up the pitch. Then a blonde girl from RMI headed closer - Elly could tell the girl wasn't going to slow down. So she braced herself, started moving a little before the other player reached her, then Elly swiped the baton as if she was stealing a Snitch, and put on the biggest burst of speed the school broom could manage - which wasn't anywhere near like the speeds her own broom could reach, but it was pretty fast, nonetheless.

Elly flew flat out, leant into the side as she looped around the nearest goalpost, then she headed back like a cheetah in the sky (and how weird would that be?) with the baton outstretched, passing it back to the blonde Aquila. They were on the home stretch!

0 Elly Eriksson Sounds like fun to me! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Erik Falk (RMI 1st year)

October 22, 2009 5:25 PM

Seems a bit sparse here. by Erik Falk (RMI 1st year)

Erik gazed around at the quidditch pitch. It never got old. The smell of the grass (which looked freshly cut) and the light breeze was wonderful after the heat of the day. Erik smiled as he headed over towards a group of hanger-ons, wondering what they were doing with brooms.

Erik had always loved brooms and flying. He was an ace beater at the orphanage he attended before getting accepted at Rockey Mountain International. The orphanage pushed his skills to the maximum each week as he had to take out somebody to keep playing. The way the games worked were that one kid had to sit out each week because there were too many for the two full teams. Erik was forced to knock somebody off their broom each game to secure a seat in the next game since those who got hurt weren't allowed to play the next time by the overseers. The culmination of all that quidditch practice was that he knew how to handle a broom (and swing a bat) very well.

Erik joined the circle and stood next to a fellow Draco as the person in the middle started explaining. If Erik could have smiled even bigger, he would have. He nodded his understanding as the man finished up and his teammate, from the other school, started talking.

"I'm going first. You guys pick your positions and let's beat Aladren! And, um, the other one."

Erik nodded and grabbed a broom from a pile on the grass. He mounted and talked soothingly to the broom quietly. "I-er, well I-I guess y-you haven't h-had a m-mountaineer on you before. F-fly me well." He shook his head he pushed off and soared up into the sky. How sad is it that I can't even talk to a broom without stuttering? The wind immediately whipped his medium-short black hair around as he pulled up into the second position. He watched as the first people started flying towards him and his opponent and smiled a bit when he saw who his opponent was. It was the boy who threw up in his herbology class after the stink-bomb went off.

Erik snapped his grey eyes back to the incoming missile who was a boy from the other school. Erik slowly accelerated to give himself a running start. The baton met his hand and he faced forward and laid out over the school broom. The broom didn't perform all that well, but it was better than the one he used at RMI. The baton felt right at home in Erik's hand, even if it was lighter than a normal beater's bat. Erik quickly reached the next competitor and stuck out his baton for them to grab, hoping it went cleanly.

0 Erik Falk (RMI 1st year) Seems a bit sparse here. 0 Erik Falk (RMI 1st year) 0 5

Josiah Ashwood

October 28, 2009 12:08 PM

You are so on! by Josiah Ashwood

Josiah had finished with hosting the broom races. Everything went very well and it seemed like things were smooth between schools. Which Josiah liked. Using his power of prefect he made sure to keep his Teppenpaws in line and not acting like Pecaris. He was about to help tear down the relay race when he felt something on his shoulder. Someone was tapping him.

Josiah turned around, barely heard “I’d like” and “race” before he let out a yelp and a scream of “Hyana!” Before he knew what he was doing he threw his arms around her and enveloped her in a huge hug. He let her back out to arms length and surveyed her. While the Teppenpaw boy had grown amazingly in the last few years (he was tall for his age now) it was still so great to see how she had. And my what a young lady she was!

“You’re still short Hyana,” he teased her, “But what a lovely swan you turned out to be my dear!” He added, turning on his charm. Josiah had abandoned his robes during the broom races, but he was sure he’d put them back on once it was time for the bonfire. He wore a simple Kelly green t-shirt and faded jeans. The shirt had his family crest embroidered into the hem of the shirt sleeve, of course. Why would mother let him have anything that didn’t flaunt his status? The shirt looked rather nice on his lean build where he acquired his beater muscles. His hair, still a flyaway tousle of red mess, was blown away from the wind of the other quidditch players and his return flight to the starting line. His green eyes sparkled as he looked at her.

Hyana, he could see her there. But Hyana was different. Well, of course he was too, but Hyana had grown so fast. She looked like a woman now. It was strange, but he felt his heart pick up speed as he looked at Hyana. He had long ago forgotten their crush, after all it was forbidden love and he heard rumors that she had found a boyfriend of her own. Josiah kept himself a bachelor as it was more fun to flirt than to hook up. But looking at her now, he remembered all the fun butterflies that danced somewhere around his middle where he was sure his stomach had been only a few minutes before.

He let go of her shoulders and picked up his broom in one hand. “About that race dear? You do know that I will beat you! I’m on the team! Beater this year, but last year keeper. Can you believe it? Me! In qudditch! Mother was livid when she found out! But I don’t care! Its great! Anyway, Mount up!” He waited till Hyana was on her broom, “On your marks, ready!” Josiah kicked off half a second after shouting “GO!”

0 Josiah Ashwood You are so on! 97 Josiah Ashwood 0 5