<font color=white>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
March 11, 2011 9:40 AM
Quidditch Game II: Crotalus vs. Pecari by <font color=white>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
The weather was much nicer for the second Quidditch game of the year than it had been for the first. The only clouds in the blue sky were big, white, and fluffy. It was also unseasonably warm for November, and Amelia was comfortable in just her normal flying robes. As Crotalus and Pecari were playing this game, she'd been careful not to choose anything with either of their colors on it, and so she was wearing mostly purple today.She used her wand to levitate the box of Quidditch balls out to the center of the Pitch, and then waited while the two captains organized their teams give their speeches. With no approaching storm, she let the finish at their own pace, and only called them over when both seemed to be finished.
"Welcome to another Quidditch Game at Sonora Academy," she said after casting the sonorus charm so all the spectators could hear. "Today, Crotalus will be playing Pecari. So, Captain Charlie Abbott of Crotalus, would you shake the hand of Captain Jose Hernandez of Pecari now." They did so, and she sent them back to stand with their teams.
"You all know the rules," she said but gave the overview anyway, "10 points for a goal, 150 for catching the snitch and the game ends when the seeker catches it. We've got a great day, so let's play some Quidditch." She released the snitch and the bludgers, and picked up the quaffle. "Game begins on my whistle. One. Two. Three." She threw the Quaffle into the air and blew on her whistle at the same time.
The second Quidditch game of the year had begun. She just hoped there were fewer falls and injuries this time.
Subthreads: Starting out right by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font> with <font color=brown>Sophie Jamison [Chaser]</font>, <font color=red>Renée Errant {Chaser}</font>
Long Thread Continues Here by <font color=white>Coach Amelia Pierce</font> with <font color="red">Charlie Abbott, Chaser</font>, <font color=red>Marissa Stephenson, Seeker</font>
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<font color=white>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
Quidditch Game II: Crotalus vs. Pecari
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<font color=white>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
March 13, 2011 5:49 PM
There's always a few. by <font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
Sam was usually nervous before Quidditch games, and so wasn’t surprised to be again, but he thought it might be worse today than it usually was. Usually, he wasn’t playing in the successor to the match of the century.Quidditch was about a lot of things to a lot of people. Belonging to a team. Channeling excess aggression in a socially appropriate way. Getting House points. Setting up for a career. He’d even heard there were some people who just did it to have fun. For the audience, though, it was usually about two things: House pride and entertainment. There was always an unsatisfied feeling in the House for a while when they lost, or when a game wasn’t sufficiently entertaining, and Sam figured he was going to end up being aware of it for a while after this one. Crotalus and Pecari were the traditionally aggressive, dramatic teams, but after Aladren and Teppenpaw had turned it into less of a game than a battle in the rain….Yeah, he had a feeling they were going to fall short. They had Demelza Eagle, who was older than all the other Beaters but also, from what Sam had seen, a little on the scatterbrained side where the other game had Edmond Carey, and he really didn’t see Marissa and Neal putting on a broom-dueling show like Arnold and Kate had.
He didn’t even bother thinking about the Pecari Chasers too much. They were gonna end up failing at life, at least compared to his team. Chasers were what Crotalus did well, and Sam thought that the set he was with was a good one. Charlie was one of the most experienced players in the school, Renee was a crazy chick, and he was…well, he was at least as good as the best Pecari could put out there, anyway.
Pecari taking the Quaffle first didn’t, therefore, faze him too much. It always changed hands a few times, and the first go – the one where only half the Pitch had to be covered – wasn’t really indicative of how the game would go. He wasn’t happy by any means when it became clear that Jamison was going to try to shoot, but that only lasted a second before Renee demonstrated why he thought of her as crazy but in a useful way.
He didn’t think quite as much of her trying to do a Brishen and take the Quaffle all the way down the Pitch when he and Charlie were both perfectly intact and able to take it off her hands, and considered it proof that the new Beaters were better at their craft than he’d expected that she didn’t end up in the medic’s tent with five or six broken bones after doing that with no rain to cover her, but had to admit it was nice and sneaky to change which player was assaulting the goals at the last second. Might have worked better if she hadn’t done it in such a way that he had to come up to do that, giving the Keeper a precious second to realize what had happened and accommodate for it, but hey, whatever. Once the Quaffle was in his hands, Sam moved as fast as possible to the side, toward the center hoop, and shot, hoping the Keeper would have been busy diving for the left and not been able to get to the middle as fast as he had.
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
There's always a few.
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
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<font color=brown>Starbuck Gregory, Keeper</font>
March 13, 2011 10:19 PM
It seems we have a few more then you do. by <font color=brown>Starbuck Gregory, Keeper</font>
If there was one thing in the magical world that Starbuck Gregory loved above all else it had to be Quidditch. The short red-haired girl had spent more of her time on the Quidditch Pitch then in classes the last four years. She had been on the team since her first year and she loved playing Keeper, it was like being a soccer goalie in the air. She hoped to one day play professionally, it wasn’t the best career choice but her passion was and would probably always be Quidditch.So the morning of the Crotalus vs. Pecari game Starbuck was up early. She had made sure her broom and robes were in tip-top shape before going to bed the night before. She knew that no matter what she did on game days she would be up early. So she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and threw her robes on before heading down to breakfast with her broom in hand. She was all smiles, she loved her team, and she knew they could win today! She sat down at the Pecari table and munched on some toast and scrambled eggs, she washed it all down with a glass of orange juice.
Once she was finished she went down to the pitch and joined her team. She smiled when Jose said she was a better Keeper then Crotalus’ but her eyes never really left the Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle. She had once called Mel her enemy but not the fourteen year old knew better she was jealous. Not jealous that Mel had been named Assistant Captain but jealous that she wasn’t close to her. Starbuck had a crush on Mel and had one since their first year probably. Of course Starbuck had dated a Muggle girl named Farrah for two years before finally ending it last summer.
Starbuck finally tore her eyes away from Mel and got her head in the game as she mounted the broom. She flew up to the goals ready to defend them to the death! She smiled glad to see Captain Jose got the Quaffle first and soon enough the game had started! She watched as the Quaffle was taken from Pecari possession and into Crotalus’.
She watched as the girl raced towards her and raised her hand to shoot but Starbuck saw her drop it. She wanted to laugh but knew another Chaser would probably be around and she wasn’t wrong. She smiled as the boy threw the Quaffle to the middle hoop and Starbuck easily caught it. Just as quickly as it had come to her she threw the ball to the closest Pecari Chaser, glad that she had been able to save it. It really showed that she deserved this position and helped her towards her goals of becoming a professional player.
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<font color=brown>Starbuck Gregory, Keeper</font>
It seems we have a few more then you do.
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<font color=brown>Starbuck Gregory, Keeper</font>
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
March 14, 2011 10:38 AM
It's Quality that matters, not Quantity by <font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
Game day had finally arrived and Charlie did her utmost not to think of anything else. It was hard, she was so easily distracted, but no, today was about Quidditch and Quidditch only. She had to be a hundred percent in this game, and lead her team to victory. Just because losing to Pecari was so... lousy, really. Charlotte had no intention at all of letting that happen. Positive thinking: they could win this game and by Merlin thay would win it. The thought alone put a smile on Charlie's face as she finished tying her dark hair into a tight braid, and, as it was getting long again, she pinned the braid up for good measure. there was no point at all in positive thinking if she couldn't see on the pitch because she hadn't sufficiently secured her hair. As she'd already reminded herself once that morning: today wasn't about looking good, it was about Quidditch. This was also the reason she'd let her diet slip - a very rare occurence while she was at school. She's strted with nuts and seeds with yoghurt, but then the toast had smelled so good, so she'd had one slice of granary bread with the teeniest scraping of butter. It had been delicious, and no doubt the carbohydrates would give her an extra burst of energy on the pitch, should she require it.After breakfast, Charlie headed out to the pitch to meet her team. It was a beautiful, sunny day, great for relaxing, and - no, she sternly reminded herself, it was great for Quidditch. That's all. Getting that red leather ball through the opposition's hoops, and knowing that her team were well trained, and that Pecari wouldn't know what had hit them. "Okay, you lot, gather round," she called her team together, and decided they looked the part in their matching robes, and a split-second after that she reminded herself that looking the part wasn't what was important. "We have got this," she told her teamates confidently. She looked over at where the brown-clad players were gathering, and she was still convinced they could win this.
"Beaters," she looked at Topher and Phoenix. "They are going to under-estimate you," she predicted the opposition's behaviour. "I know it's your first game, but you guys have been working really hard, and I know you've got this in you." They didn't necessarily have the power of older, more built-up Beaters, but these kids could aim, and that's what would have to be more important today. "You'll have to defend Marissa - they'll see her as our best bet at winning. They're right," she added as an after-thought, "so we have to keep her in the game." Phoenix had been trained as Seeker, too, but Marissa was by far the strongest player, and could easily out-fly Pecari's newbie Seeker. "Pecari have a reserve, so if you take anyone out they'll still have a full team" - which was their best advantage so far as Charlie could tell - "so only go for their Seeker or Keeper. We'll handle the Chasers." Here she moved to consult Sam and Renée. "Guys, we are awesome," she couldn't help a smile as she said this statement of fact. Crotalus had always had a strong Chaser team, and this year was no exception - Renée was practically fearless, Sam was intuitive, and Charlie had more experience than anyone else on the filed today. Beyond that, they worked well together, had practised hard, and there was no way that Pecari's Chasers were a match for them. "Just keep doing what we always do and there won't be a problem."
Marissa obviously knew what she was doing. She was veteran Seeker by now, not to mention Assistant Captain, so charlie didn't say anything to her past, "Catch the Snitch, all will be fine," before she appraised Nic. It was a blessing in disguise that her last Keeper had been sick one day and Charlie'd happened to pull Nic in to save the day. He'd signed up again this year, so this wasn't his first game, and now he had a term of practise to boost his skills. Plus he had unusually extended reach with his lanky limbs. "Nic, the Pecari chasers are crazy," she said without any indication that this was a matter of personal opinion, because everyone would surely agree, "so watch out for stuff you just wouldn't think a normal person would try." At least Tepps and Aladrens were fairly predictable in their play (though admittedly the last game had been surprisingly violent); Pecaris were only predictable in their unpredictability. "Just stop the ball going through the hoops, you'll be fine." Now everyone had been dealt with, Charlie looked up once again to see how the Pecaris were looking, and Coach Pierce called her over to shake hands with Jose. She returned the opposiing Captain's smile even as her inner monologue reminded her to focus on Quidditch, and merely laughed at his offer of luck. She liked Jose, but this was as close as Sonora came to war: Pecari were the enemy. They needed to be crushed.
Returning to her team, Charlie uttered one last encouraging, "We can do it!" before mounting her broom and kicking off on the whistle. She bounced off the balls of her feet, giving a final push from her toes that launched her into the air, a light autumn breeze chilling her cheeks and ears as she gained altitude, but the sun warmed her back and shoulders. It was a beautiful day, and only the game starting was capable of truly drawing Charlie's attention to Quidditch and holding it there - she wasn't supposed to be thinking of anything else today. This was the game, this was where her thoughts needed to be.
Pecari got the Quaffle first, but that wasn't a big deal. In fact, Charlie sort of preferred it that way, because it meant all the Chasers went speeding off the the hoops at one end of the pitch, while she hung back and waited for Sam and Renée to bring the Quaffle back to her. Then they just took it down to the other goals and scored without hassle. That was generally the plan, and often it worked, but today, for some reason, the Pecari Keeper wasn't playing along. Starbuck had played the position for a good while now, Charlie supposed - maybe she was actually getting good, which didn't sound like it would be good news for her team. On the other hand, If Crotalus was known for anything, it was surely that its players (and non-Quidditch-playing members, for that matter) always had a trick up their sleeve. As such, when Starbuck threw the Quaffle back out into play, Charlie swept in, intercepted the ball mid-flight. Quick as a flash, she flung it back in the direction it had come, though this time to the nearest hoop, which was on Charlie's right - the Keeper's left. The throw was short and so easy to aim, and in her six years of playing Chaser Charlie had worked up some strength in her short-distance passes. The throw was quick and on target, and had taken very little effort indeed, which was always a bonus. They could keep doing this for a while, if necessary. She and Sam were both right at the hoops, Renée only a little further back, and the Pecari Chasers were probably still trying to make it down the pitch from their unsuccessful goal attempt at the very start of the game. Intercepting was easy from where they were, and the Keeper could only catch so many.
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
It's Quality that matters, not Quantity
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
March 14, 2011 11:19 AM
We've got that, too. by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
Sophie caught his pass and made it the rest of the way down the field to take a shot at Nic. Jose hung back some, ready to intercept any Crotali who tried to bring the Quaffle back to the Pecari side after the goal - but Renee stopped both the goal and somehow managed to get past Jose despite the Pecari Captain placing himself directly in her way. He blamed the school broom and decided that maybe it was time for the California Pierces to own one decent Quidditch broom between them. Surely Maria would agree to that more readily than Regina had when Saul asked.Still the broom got him back to the other side of the pitch, not so quickly that he could intercept the drop pass, but soon enough to cheer Starbuck's catch. He flew upwards, hovering above the main field of play in case anybody on Crotalus tried what Russell had done at the end of the last Aladren game. Not many people had seen it, since it was overshadowed by the Snitch getting caught seconds before, but that last shot had made it in past Kirstenna and he didn't want the same thing to happen to Starbuck when it counted.
Sure enough, Charlie tried it. Jose dropped down out of the sky in his best dive that he'd been working on with Neal and Dana, and intercepted the second shot at the goal before Starbuck had to kill herself getting over to the left hoop on almost no notice.
Hugging the red leather ball to his chest, he leveled out and swung back toward the Crotalus side, gaining altitude again as he'd lost quite a bit during his interception maneuver. With a broom that had already proven inferior once, he didn't want to hold onto the ball for too long a run, so he watched for a good opening to one of his chasers, and passed at the first opportunity.
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
We've got that, too.
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
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<font color="red">Renée</font>
March 14, 2011 1:34 PM
Taking a shot... going in... going in... going...? by <font color="red">Renée</font>
Being a chaser was the only indication that the potion hadn’t been faulty when it made Renée a Crotalus instead of a Pecari. She just honestly couldn’t imagine working with any other chasers; Sam always seemed to know what the other two were thinking and was so easily adaptable to the various situations. And Charlie was someone Renée admired immensely. She was the most experienced player, and it showed in every play that she executed. Then there was the rest of the team that Renée had to admit she liked better than last year’s lineup. She had started off as a first year chaser last year and so didn’t have a prejudice against Topher and Phoenix. And she wasn’t proven wrong after Topher hit the bludger away from Sam, just appearing out of nowhere to save the day. She grinned at him while he shot off to hit bludgers at more Pecaris. Then waited in those few seconds for Sam to make the shot.‘Going in… going in… going – ugh!’
She pouted as the Pecari Keeper made the save, grinned as Charlie made the interception, and then let loose a low growl when she saw Jose swoop down from above. Her widened dark brown eyes swept the pitch for the nearest Pecari chaser and she hadn’t even noticed she was speeding for Jose until she was. She rose up further into the air, one hand raised in a fist that she used to bump the Quaffle out of its trajectory. There was a light slap of leather on her knuckles and then it was rolling off. Renée twisted her hand around and grabbed the ball before it fell much further, and swooped around another player, dodged a bludger, intending to make another pass to either Sam or Charlie.
It took her three seconds before she was back in range, and she had already happily noted that she, Charlie and Sam were keeping the pressure on the Pecari goals instead of the other way around. Of course it had been disappointing that the Keeper had managed to make the save, but then Jose had had to step in so perhaps that meant that she didn’t have as much faith from her team, particularly the captain (Renée had already forgotten making the save in place of Nic).
She caught sight of Sam and raised her arm, flying from above him, intending to pass, but then she grinned when she saw Charlie, made a convincing feint towards her at the right goal hoops, and then quickly twisted on her Febre to make her own shot at the center. She bit her lip in surprise, her hand accidentally giving a spin on the ball, and watched as it made its way to the center goal hoops, before it made a sharp spin towards the left.
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<font color="red">Renée</font>
Taking a shot... going in... going in... going...?
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<font color="red">Renée</font>
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<font color="brown"> Starbuck, Keeper </font>
March 15, 2011 12:47 PM
Gone! by <font color="brown"> Starbuck, Keeper </font>
Starbuck did a quick loop around the hoops to recover from the shot taken at her expecting one of the Pecari chasers to get the Quaffle. Yet she was wrong, Charlie got the damn Quaffle and flung it back towards the hoop, a save Starbuck wouldn’t be able to save. “Damn.” She muttered as she tried to get it but smiled when she saw Jose grabbed it and took it down the pitch. Thank Merlin for the Captain!She watched closely as Jose passed off to another Chaser and saw Renee grab it and took it back towards her. Where was the rest of their team? The pressure was all on her! She sighed as the girl made a third shot at the goals. There was bit of a spin on the ball so Starbuck watched it closely. It seemed to be making its way right to her arms but it turned left. She smiled and dived for it grabbing it once again. “Pecari let’s go!” She screamed as she threw out the Quaffle as hard as possible.
The other chasers better get on it and put some pressure on the Crotalus she couldn’t keep being everywhere at once! She growled swearing to hex the next person who took a chance at her goals.
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<font color="brown"> Starbuck, Keeper </font>
Gone!
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<font color="brown"> Starbuck, Keeper </font>
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<font color=brown>Demetra Mason, Beater</font>
March 15, 2011 4:19 PM
Ready. Aim. Fire. by <font color=brown>Demetra Mason, Beater</font>
Demetra was increasingly nervous as she began her morning. She had woken up earlier than usual, before breakfast even started. She prolonged her usual morning shower by a good ten minutes, and even wrote a short letter to Jacob before heading down to eat. She picked at her food, eating an orange and nibbling at a slice of toast.She was the only first year on her team, but the opposing team had two first year Beaters. She didn't know how she felt about her skills anymore, but she was confident Demelza Eagle could outdo the others on the pitch. She told herself this was she tugged her curls into a perfect French braid back in her dorm. Father hadn't been happy about her making the Quidditch team, but her mother had convinced him to allow her to stay on. She knew that she owed it to her mother to win this game.
She grabbed her Lightening Streak 380, her gloves, and her Beater bat and sprinted down to the Pitch. Once there, she listened to Jose's short Captain speech, accepted Demelza's two thumbs up with a nod, and took to the air.
The game moved quickly, like every other game in the sport, but it was much easier to keep up with than the Aladran versus Teppenpaw match. Her eyes followed her team's chasers, and looked out for any bludgers. Just as Starbuck made a save, Dem caught site of a bludger. It wasn't too far away, so she swooped down a couple feet. Swinging her bat, she aimed toward the first figure clad in red, which happened to be a Chaser. She grinned at the loud, "CRACK!" coming from her swing. Hopefully it'd be enough to keep them off of her team's Chasers.
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<font color=brown>Demetra Mason, Beater</font>
Ready. Aim. Fire.
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<font color=brown>Demetra Mason, Beater</font>
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<font color="red">Charlie Abbott, Chaser</font>
March 16, 2011 6:34 AM
This is getting repetetive by <font color="red">Charlie Abbott, Chaser</font>
Charlie cursed aloud when Jose appeared out of nowhere to block her shot - she swore a great deal more on the Quidditch pitch than anywhere else, and would have felt bad for using such language in front of younger students (when as Head Girl and Quidditch Captain she was deifnitely supposed ot be setting a good example) if she hadn't been distracted by the game - as she was positive Starbuck never would have caught it if it hadn't been for Jose. She hadn't even seen him. Charlie didn't want to give the Pecari team more credit that they deserved but right now it looked like they maybe deserved a little credit. But just a little, because even as Jose took off with the Quaffle, Renée was right on his heels, and she brought the ball back again within moments. She was a genius on a broom - give it a couple more years of practise and let age and maturity do their work and this kid was going to be unstoppable. Charlie knew that after she graduated the year after this one, she would leave the team in Marissa's capable hands. She also knew she'd be leaving some extraordinary Chasers who would uphold the Crotalus legacy of having the best Chasing team. The Captain couldn't be more proud of her team as Renée took another shot at the goals.What, another save? This Keeper was too good - with any luck Topher and Phoenix would notice and send their efforts this way. Although a reserve was waiting to take over if necessary, Charlotte doubted that Dana had Starbuck's skills; she didn't know her fellow sixth year very well, but knew Smythes well enough to know that their girls didn't play Quidditch. She had respect for Dana for even signing up, but there was no chance she was actually going to be any good. Not like Starbuck, who saved their third goal attempt, and then - yes! She made exactly the same mistake as last time. Charlie reach up and intercepted the ball once again, and threw it back as fast as she could into the hoop furthest from the Keeper. She knew that this move had been used in games before, which was probably why Jose had been anticipating it, but she didn't think it had been used twice in such quick succession, at least not in memorable history at Sonora. If the Keeper was good, the only way they were going to get past her would be to confuse her, and this method not only did that, but it kept Crotalus Chasers near their own goals. Their defense stratergy was a strong offense, and here it seemed to be working. They were going to keep the heat on Starbuck, no matter what. Eventually she would tire, or maybe one of the Crotalus Beaters would send over a well-aimed Bludger - Charlie had every faith in their aim.
On the topic of Bludgers, no sooner had Charlie let the Quaffle go, hopefully sending it to victory through one of those hoops, she saw one of those evil metal balls out the corner of her eye and hastily retreated back from the goals and out of its way. Who'd hit that there? Were they mad? Admittedly, there was quite a huddle of Crotalus Chasers just in that part of the picth, but that Bludger, if it saw fit, could just as easily take out the team's own Keeper. That would be fantastic! Not that Charlie had anything personal against anyone on Pecari's team, of course - in Quidditch nothing was personal, it was just game play. So as she tried to send telepathic messages to her Beaters to take hold of the Bludger that had just gone by and use it to take Starbuck out of the game, she wished the Keeper no personal injury as she turned back to the goals to see whether her shot had made it through this time.
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<font color="red">Charlie Abbott, Chaser</font>
This is getting repetetive
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<font color="red">Charlie Abbott, Chaser</font>
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
March 16, 2011 2:41 PM
But never boring. by <font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
Though not too surprised by it, Sam swore under his breath when his goal didn’t make it – regular exposure to Charlie had made him much more comfortable with that kind of language, though good old Crotalus caution had thus far kept him self-aware enough to not demonstrate this in class or, Merlin forbid if mercy existed, around his mother – but couldn’t even manage that when two more attempts were also failures. What was this chick, a Keeper-bot? They’d tied up the real Starbuck Gregory somewhere and replaced her with a Polyjuiced-up strong Seer who could see the future as it happened and be right where the ball was all the time.And people thought Crotalus was the dark wizard House just because it had a few purebloods and a few catty girls and a few people with the ability to plan their way out of a paper bag in it. Stupid people.
Still, though, the ball hadn’t gone anywhere near the Crotalus end since the first minute of the game, and unless she was a robot when Muggles couldn’t make good AI yet as far as he knew and wizards would short out the electrical wiring needed for it if they tried, she had to be getting tired. Her yelling at her own Chasers confirmed this in his mind. So if they could just keep this up….
Charlie seemed to share his thoughts on this, and readied himself to block any Pecaris who tried to pull another Jose from pulling another Jose. The firstie Aladrens had gotten pretty banged up, but had still played well, and he reckoned being a third year Crotalus meant having a lot more endurance than the average firstie Aladren if the Pecaris wouldn’t stop when it became clear he was in their way.
And ready to try a fourth close-to-goal interception, if it came to that. Hopefully, that Bludger from the Pecaris would just knock their super-Keeper down and both let Charlie’s goal work and him score another before the whistle blew.
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
But never boring.
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<font color=red>Sam Bauer, Chaser</font>
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
March 17, 2011 12:24 AM
Being all strategic and stuff, kinda by <font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
One Bludger now clear of Marissa, Topher flew back toward the bizarre back and forth going on between the Pecari Keeper and the Crotalus Chasers, hoping to find some way to help his team's cause.He saw that Other Pecari Beater - he had seen her in class before, Moore or Morgan or something like that was her last name - was going to make a shot, and grimaced, realizing he couldn't get there in time to stop it. Stupid slow-ish broom, and stupid self, getting tired swooping around all over the Pitch after the Bludgers, hitting them, beating - ha, that was a good pun - the Pecari girls there, figuring out where everyone was and what they were doing and how he should deal with that.
To be a position traditionally associated with dumb muscle, Beater could actually require some skills.
He saw that no one had gotten hurt by Other Pecari Beater Girl, which was a relief, and that the Bludger was loose and Charlie was trying to score. It seemed pretty straightforward to him, now, how he could help the team. Mustering his strength, he swung at the Bludger, sending it straight for Pecari Keeper Girl so she would either be hit (and so unable to save) or have to run from the Bludger (and so be unable to save) if all went well.
He felt proud of himself for that, but less once he thought about it and realized he hadn't actually checked to see that Pheonix was looking after Marissa before running off to the next thing. That had always been what got him into trouble at home: thinking of two good ideas, both of which would have worked like a dream on their own, but which he put into close time blocks and didn't link together very well. He needed to work on that.
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
Being all strategic and stuff, kinda
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
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<font color="brown"> Demetra Mason, Beater </font>
March 17, 2011 1:12 AM
Stopping your plans in their tracks. by <font color="brown"> Demetra Mason, Beater </font>
Demetra was determined not to let her team down. She owed it to Jeb and Mother to win this game. She owed it to Pecari, to Demelza. She had been training hard, and she would not go finish this game halfheartedly. Her first bludger of the game had not damaged any one, and that infuriated her. Now, she was angry, and ready to beat some one off their broom. Preferably their Seeker, or a Chaser. Ah ha! she thought, welcoming a new idea.Even better than taking out their Captain would be almost as damaging as their Seeker. She looked around for one of the bludgers, only to see it headed toward her own Keeper. Now was the time to prove herself. Leaning forward to speed up her Lightning Streak 380, she flew straight toward it. She was in a position where if she pulled left a little, she could get around in front of it.
Building up all her strength, she hit it with all her might toward the Chaser she knew to be their captain. As soon as she'd sent it away, she felt the pain in her shoulder. Maybe she had hit it a bit too hard. Rolling it in both directions, she thought about it. It didn't hurt enough for her to have pulled anything, but it was still sore. She would have to keep playing though. It would feel better in a moment, she was sure. She laughed when she saw that she had sent a rather well aimed Bludger as well as put the strength behind it. She turned around, winked at the Crotalus beater who had sent it to Starbuck, and silently prayed that her hit went where she wanted in to.
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<font color="brown"> Demetra Mason, Beater </font>
Stopping your plans in their tracks.
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<font color="brown"> Demetra Mason, Beater </font>
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<font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>
March 19, 2011 9:13 AM
Doubling the imensity of our plans by <font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>
Demelza was proud of Demetra so far in the game. If Pecari's chasers couldn't pull their act together (which, had happened before in previous games), then the older beater supposed that her and Demetra would have to try and knock down every Crotalus player one-by-one, all by themselves. It could be a new school record or something!Demelza was also proud of Starbuck, her roommate. She was rocking out there! For some reason, Pecari's chasers just could not get possession of the ball, and Crotalus had taken many shots on goal, many of which Starbuck had been about to save. "C'mon, defense, guys!" Mel shouted out to her teammates, hoping they knew what she meant. "Get the ball back in our hands, come on!" This was quite frustrating; their chasers were good. Why couldn't they beat Crotalus? Deciding that she needn't worry about them, she instead chose to go bludger-hunting and kick some Crotali butt.
Once again, doing as Jose suggested, she planned to aim another bludger at Marissa. Her first one Marissa was barely able to dodge, dammit, but that was okay. Demelza could keep shooting at her all day. However, her stomach did a flip when she looked over at the Pecari goals after hearing a crack from that direction. The bludger was heading towards Star! And Mel wasn't there to stop it!
Thank God for Demetra. She would make it big someday, Mel just knew it! However, she barely had time to take a breath from relief--Demetra had aimed the ball at the Captain Chasers. Hmm. Good plan, my minion. Two seconds later Mel double-teamed with Dem and aimed a bludger at Captain Crotalus, and much harder hit one because she had more strength, but she was a bit further away, so they would probably reach her at the same time, as long as Demetra was just as on target as Mel was confident she was. She pulled back her long, muscular arm, and brought back her professionally-made bat that her favorite professional Quidditch player, her very own brother, had gotten for her, and made direct contact with the bludger, making it shoot off in Cap’n C’s direction. If they both hit her, that could do some real damage. Demelza's was coming from one direction and Demetra's was coming from the complete opposite direction. Boo-yah! That was what Mel called teamwork!
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<font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>
Doubling the imensity of our plans
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<font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>
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<font color = red>Renée {Chaser}</font>
March 19, 2011 1:29 PM
Taking one for the team: Why I hate being a team player. by <font color = red>Renée {Chaser}</font>
And once again the Pecari Keeper had made the save. This was getting very nearly frustrating. As good as they were, Renée didn't doubt that at some point the Pecari chasers would get it together and at least make it halfway towards Nic. But she also knew that the Pecari keeper couldn't keep up the saves forever... could she? Renée watched Charlie take another shot, Sam getting ready for another interception, and Renée decided to lower herself to go on the other side of Charlie, so that they all would more and less block the pass back Starbuck would again try to make towards one of the Pecari Chasers.Her neck stiffened on instinct as she heard a faint whistling through the air. Turning her head to the side, she immediately yelled out a warning to her captain. "Charlie - your le - ungh!"
Something hard rammed into the back of Renée's head as a second bludger caught her in her descent parallel to Charlie's level. She slackened on her broom, seeing stars, and began to spiral down, wind rushing up to greet her. By the miracle of Merlin she managed to grip the wood tightly between her legs and thighs, straining her body so she fell slower, far below the action above her in the sky. Tears sprang to her eyes, more out of shock than in pain. But then the pain hit and more tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Ow!" 'Ow!' "Ow!" 'Ow!' "Ow!" 'Ow!' She cried and she thought at the same time.
But the pain didn't last too long, a sweeping feeling that washed over her and left with a throbbing pain in the back of her head to be remembered by. She managed to pause in the air, arms lifted hesitatntly to the back of her head, fingers raking through the thick curls just above the back of her neck where she felt a bump and something warm and stiky. She breathed deeply, looking around for Coach Pierce and raised her thumb in the air just in case she had thought there was a need to blow the whistle. 'No need.' Renée thought. 'I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine.' And angry. And she wanted to score.
Shaking it off, she leaned forward to grip her broom in her hands and rose again in the air, slower paced than she had been going down, and blinked away the oddly colored spots and stars she saw in the sky. She squinted above, trying to see where the action was now taking place, and impatiently brushed away the tears, ready to get back into play.
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<font color = red>Renée {Chaser}</font>
Taking one for the team: Why I hate being a team player.
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<font color = red>Renée {Chaser}</font>
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
March 20, 2011 1:35 AM
Busy, busy, busy (and WoTW) by <font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
If Topher had seen Demetra wink at him, his reaction would have very likely worsened Crotalus' position, but he was too busy realizing the Bludger was no longer targeting the Pecari Keeper and rushing to hit it, not bothering to aim because he didn't have time, away from his captain to notice the other first year. He hoped he'd avoid damaging another Crotalus, but really, the most important thing after keeping Seeker-Assistant Captain Stephenson in the air was keeping Captain. Abbott in the air. Anyone going out of the game when they were the only team without a reserve would be demoralizing, but it being Charlie would be super-demoralizing. It would also be strategically disastrous, since she was their best Chaser.He'd only just saved their second-biggest asset, though, when maybe the third, Crazy Renee, suddenly cried out and started heading down. Topher forced himself to quell a wave of panic. He had been at the Aladren-Teppenpaw match right along with everyone else, and had seen that the coach and medic were more than able to handle this sort of thing.
He wasn't as successful at quelling a moment of despair, though, and went after another Bludger so it could help him work through his feelings. Renee was nuts, and had this weird vibe Topher didn't really know if he liked, but she was a good Chaser, and now she was concussed. There was a good chance Pierce was going to pull her out, and even if she didn't, people were not durable enough to play their best when they had just taken some high-speed iron with a little more aggression than could be accounted for by its velocity to the head. Maybe a part giant could, but Renee was too short for that, so he was going to assume she'd been impaired.
And oh, yes. Something was still going on with the Quaffle....
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
Busy, busy, busy (and WoTW)
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<font color=red>Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
March 20, 2011 5:24 PM
No more Bludgers, please by <font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
(OOC: As per the note on the OOC board I'm writing as if Starbuck missed the Quaffle))The sound of cheers from the Crotalus supporters told Charlie that her goal had been successful - finally - and she turned back to face the goals in time to see a Bludger heading straight towards her. She heard Renée call out, but it was okay - the firstie Beater on the other team had hit the Bludger right where Charlie was looking. The sixth year ducked out of its way and combined her evasie moanouever with a dive to catch the Quaffle. She was on top form this game, and her angle and greater mass than the Keeper (though in usual circumstances Charlie wasn't sure she'd brag about her weight being greater than a fourth year's, despite her obvious height advantage) enabled Charlie to grab the Quaffle first, scooping it up as she turned back into play.
With one arm holding the Quaffle into her side, Charlie flew back to the game, keeping her eyes open for Bludgers, Beaters, and Pecari Chasers, and she noticed that Renée had lost height, too. Plus she didn't look sturdy - ah, and there was the tell-tale Bludger. Charlie grimaced; having a Chaser taken out of the game definitely wouldn't be good, but playing with one of them damaged wasn't ideal, either. Wondering whether Renée needed a time-out, and whether one would be permitted on these grounds, Charlie decided the situation at the Pecari goals was too perilous to try making another goal attempt just now - there were still two Bludgers in the vicinity, and it wasn't worth getting all her Chasers concussed for a quick goal.
Making a quick decision, Charlie looked to see who was more likely to cathc the ball out of Sam and Renée, and she flew closer before making a quick pass. She flew out a little herself, hpoing to draw the Bludgers away from the goals so maybe she could fly back to the posts once she regained possession of the Quaffle, and would have a clear run for another goal attempt. Merlin knew they needed all the attempts they could get with Starbuck's current track record. The girl was like a machine. Until then, Charlie kept half an eye on Renée in case her crazy Chaser took a turn for the worst. The Crotalus captain would really rather this game didn't turn into a massacre reminiscient of the Aladren-Teppenpaw game earlier in the year. Unless, of course, the damage was all to Pecari's players.
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
No more Bludgers, please
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<font color="red">Cap'n Charlie, Chaser</font>
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