Starting Strong on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Amelia Pierce

July 31, 2011 1:36 PM

Game One: Aladren vs. Pecari by Coach Amelia Pierce

Normally, the first Quidditch Game of the season would have already happened, but little Benjamin was still new to the family and Gabby and Derry were just starting to ease back into their normal work schedules, so she'd been running back to Boston on the weekends to babysit and help out with the things Derry and Gabby just didn't have time to do anymore. That's what grammas did, even if Amelia was being very insistent that nobody EVER called her that. Benny would be calling her Aunt Amelia, just like Bel was Aunt Bel, and if that wasn't technically accurate, Amelia did not care.

But she'd put off the game as long as she reasonably could, long enough that the second game of the season wouldn't happen until after midterm, and it was already starting to get chilly out even when the sun was shining. So she'd told Derry (her son, Derry, Ben's dad, not the Derry living over in Teppenpaw) that she just couldn't make it out this weekend, but she'd definitely be back next weekend.

Derry had sounded frazzled, and Benny had been crying in the background, but he seemed to understand.

So here she was, and so were the teams for Pecari and Aladren. She was wearing one of her heavier robes (red and silver, the colors of Crotalus since they weren't playing today), and a winter hat, though she wasn't yet breaking out her scarf or gloves. It wasn't cold enough to worry about frostbite yet, and she'd rather have cold fingers and full dexterity than warm fingers and a risk of dropping her wand. Aladren was playing today, after all.

She let the two captains take their time with their pre-game speeches, then called them over once both seemed to be done. "Welcome, everyone, to the first game of the year," she announced, with the assistance of a Sonorus charm. "Today, we have Pecari, led by Captain Jose Hernandez, up against Aladren, led by Captain Daniel Nash. Captains, please shake hands."

The two boys did so, then returned to their teams, while she released the bludgers and the Snitch. Lifting up the Quaffle in one hand and making sure she had her whistle around her neck with the other, she continued, "Game starts on my whistle, and ends when one of the Seekers catches the Snitch. Players, ready. Three. Two. One." She blew the whistle and threw the Quaffle up toward the clear blue sky.

Subthreads:

Starting Strong by Cap'n Jose, Chaser with Captain Nash, Chaser, Jhonice Trevear, Chaser, Arthur Carey, Chaser, Edmond Carey, Beater, Kitty McLevy – Keeper, Russell Layne, Chaser, Sophie J. Keeper, Mellie Goodwin, Chaser, Demelza, Beater

Seeking Something Shiny by Arnold Carey, Seeker with Demelza Eagle, Beater, Edmond Carey, Beater

Seeking to succeed! by Amira Thornton with Arnold Carey, Seeker, Amira Thornton, Amira Thornton, Seeker

Recentering and Recap by Coach Amelia Pierce with Mellie Goodwin, Chaser, Arnold Carey, Seeker

1 Coach Amelia Pierce Game One: Aladren vs. Pecari 20 Coach Amelia Pierce 1 5

Cap'n Jose, Chaser

July 31, 2011 2:20 PM

Starting Strong by Cap'n Jose, Chaser

The announcement for the first game of the year had taken longer to appear than normal, but Jose figured that was just because of the Jousting thing. When the first game was declared for the weekend following that, Jose figured he must have been right. He certainly hadn't minded the extra time to work with his team. He had three first string first years, after all. Every hour the game had been delayed only helped Pecari.

He wasn't too worried about Aladren. Sure, they'd won the Cup last year while Pecari had come in last, but Aladren had done it with half a team of first years, and now Pecari had a similar line up - all first and second years except one large Beater and one large Chaser. Plus, Pecari was fielding a more experienced Keeper and Edmond Carey was actually going to have competition close to his own size this time around.

And if Jhonice couldn't really fly in a straight line very well yet, Pecari would deal with that. At least she'd be unpredictable.

"Okay, guys." He realized his mistake as he looked around the rest of the huddle. Right. He didn't even have Neal anymore. "Er, girls. Don't be afraid of what you've heard about Aladren Quidditch. They've really only got two older kids. Mel, you're our secret weapon. None of the teams Aladren played last year had a good beater, but we do. You're on Edmond. I'll cover Daniel." True, that put both of them against a person with a year on them, but one year hardly made a difference. Edmond hadn't even started as a Beater.

"Everyone else is up against first and second years, so you're all on even footing. Aladren was undefeated last year, but they didn't face us. We are going to end that streak. Sophie, you're the way better Keeper, and Demetra can totally take on Preston. Amira, you're up against Arnold Carey, but he's only got one year on you. You can do this; he was the underdog last year, and he won both times he played. You can do the same thing. Mel and Dem, I have every confidence in Amira, but if you see an opening to take out Arnold, go for it. Let's do our best out here today, and we can win. Go Pecari!"

Once the cheer ended, Coach Pierce called him over and Jose shook Daniel's hand with a grin, and cheery "good luck!" Then he returned to his team, mounted his broom, and was totally ready for it when the whistle blew. Maybe he was faster off the mark, or he was standing a little bit closer to the Coach, but the Quaffle fell into his hands as he took to the sky.

Directing his broom over toward the Aladren goals, Jose picked up speed and altitude, and made a pass to one of his first year Chasers as he started to level out.

0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser Starting Strong 0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

July 31, 2011 2:57 PM

So you'll go downhill from here by Captain Nash, Chaser

Daniel had been anxious about this game for weeks. Not because he thought Pecari had a chance (the only thing they really had going for them was a beater as tall as Edmond - from the intelligence he'd been able to gather about their practices, at least one of their Chasers barely knew how to fly, they were fielding an untested Seeker, and their best Keeper had left the school this year ... and that wasn't illegal spying unless he got caught, which he hadn't). Plus a fair number of them, including their captain, were still using old school brooms. So he was confident that Aladren would win easily.

The reason he was nervous was that Aladren now sort of had a reputation to maintain. Despite being the nerd house and being filled with first years, they had dominated the Quidditch field last year. Now they had to prove it wasn't a fluke and they really were that good.

The only change to their roster was the loss of Samantha as Keeper, so if they didn't do as good, they didn't really have any solid reason for it, so last year would be seen as a fluke. They didn't just have to win this game against Pecari, they had to crush Pecari.

He was pretty sure they could do that, but it still left him nervous.

He didn't show that at all, however, as he stood under blue skies on the pitch just before the game, facing his team who all had outstanding brooms and great practices behind them. "There is no question here that we will win," he stated, fully confident of that. "But don't underestimate Pecari. They're unpredictable and they don't scare easily. They'll put up a fight. Edmond, you're up against a beater your own size for once, so keep an eye on her. Otherwise, Beaters, go for the Seeker, the Captain, and the Keeper. They have a seventh-year reserve, so injury not full removal, especially for the Seeker who's new. Chasers, keep the Quaffle away from Jose as much as you can, he's the only one with real experience on their chasing team. Arnold, you've beaten much better Seekers than this one, but don't get overconfident. Kitty, just keep your eye on the Quaffle and you'll do great. We've got this one in the bag, guys. Let's do this."

He shook Jose's hand when told to do so, and shook his head at the offer of luck, "You need it more than we do," he returned, and headed back to his team. He mounted his own top of the line broom that he'd spent most of yesterday cleaning and restoring to mint condition.

Somehow, though, when the whistle blew, Jose got the Quaffle first. Daniel hung back in his blind spot while the Pecari Captain climbed up to normal playing height, then he shot forward as the sixth year made a pass. Daniel was snatched the red ball out of the air, made a tight u-turn and headed back the other way, toward the Pecari goals.

He made it about halfway across their territory before an opening to pass to one of his teammates presented itself, and he threw the Quaffle to the second year.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser So you'll go downhill from here 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Jhonice Trevear, Chaser

July 31, 2011 3:51 PM

Going up! by Jhonice Trevear, Chaser

Jhonice was excited and nervous, it was time for her first Quidditch game! This was her chance to get in good with everybody, she just had to be amazing. No problem. She had been training with the team as much as she could and now it was time to shine! Her biggest accomplishment had just occurred at their last training session, she had found one of the school brooms that didn't hate her. She wasn't entirely sure it liked her, but at least it hadn't tried to throw her off midair. She just had to make sure that she managed to get that broom, she had tied a small piece of ribbon around it after the session so she could find it again amid the rest of the school brooms. To that end, she arrived on the pitch early.

She wanted to take some notes before the game got started, who got their first, how the reacted and such. But first, she had a broom to claim. Sorting through the school's brooms she found her piece of ribbon, laying on the ground. A chill shot through down her spine. Without the right broom she was going to let down Captain Jose! Maybe she could recognize it anyway... rummaging around she began to panic and she heard Captain Jose start calling the team together. She grabbed a broom and prayed it was the right one as she dashed out to join the team.

Captain Jose's speech was wonderful, she was ready to bring down these Aladrens. He hadn't given her any specific instructions, but that was okay, she knew what to do. She was supposed to get the Quaffle ball through the goals. Specifically the ones guarded by the Aladren keeper, not the ones that Sophie was guarding like they did during practice. That was very important, Captain Jose had explained it all to her very well. She was ready, hopefully her broom cooperated.

As Captain Jose went to meet with their opponent's captain, she mounted her broom and got ready for the game to begin. Mat... Coach Pierce looked downright regal as she officiated the beginning of the game. Her red and silver robes swaying in the chilly breeze, she didn't even seem to notice the cold. She was amazing. With majestic throw, the Quaffle ball was in the air and soaring gracefully, her whistle chimed out a beautiful note and Captain Jose took to the air. He caught the ball and raced for the opposing goal. The game had started.

The game had started! Right! She kicked off the ground and whispered another quick prayer that the broom wouldn't hate her. So far so good... now to edge forward a bit and catch up to Captain Jose. She had learned that a chaser shouldn't hold onto the ball to long. It would go badly for them, so he would need to pass it, she would be there for him! Her broom had other ideas.

It went forward, fast, but arced back towards their goal. She struggled a moment and was able to steer it back to something resembling the right direction. It hadn't slowed down at all though, that was the next thing to reign in. She knew how to do it, she just had to... and that's when she was hit by a ball. It stunned her for a moment, it hadn't felt like those awful Bludger balls. She'd had quite enough of those during practice. She spotted it a moment later, it had been the Quaffle ball! Had Captain tried to pass it to her?! She hadn't been ready! She watched as it fell and someone else caught it and flew off. She had to stay with it, so she began pursuit.

2 Jhonice Trevear, Chaser Going up! 209 Jhonice Trevear, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

July 31, 2011 4:04 PM

Seeking Something Shiny by Arnold Carey, Seeker

As more and more time passed without a Quidditch game, Arnold had begun to feel more and more restless, even checking the notice boards with greater regularity, to Arthur’s amazement, than his twin in the week or so directly before the announcement finally came. Since it had, he had been almost as excited about that as Kitty was about…everything, and impatient, too. He wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn he had really started to annoy his roommates over the past week.

Now, though, the day was here, and he was almost bouncing on his toes as the team convened for Captain Nash’s speech. Only a series of etiquette tutors which had begun when he was not quite four years old kept him from it. Finally, he was going to get to really do something again, even if it only was against….

He flushed slightly when Daniel specifically mentioned not letting overconfidence get the better of him, but nodded and smiled in what he hoped was a properly confident way that showed his willingness to take the captain’s advice to heart. It was good advice, after all. The Pecari Seeker was a first year, but he had been a first year last year, and if he hadn’t been a little too sure of Aladren’s total superiority last year, he might not have taken two Bludgers in very quick succession from Topher Calhoun in the final minutes of the final game. So he would try not to be too confident.

As the coach gave her opening remarks, though, he found himself smiling at the opposing Seeker, a girl he vaguely thought had relatives, but who he couldn’t really place and was sure he had never spoken to. It wasn’t a very friendly smile. His goal – which his brother had gone to the trouble to actually calculate the statistical improbability of, or at least come up with a number he could pass off to Arnold as the correct one – was to never lose a game at school, which meant she had to do so, preferably in as dramatic a way as possible.

He had gotten better at ignoring the Quaffle over the past year, so once the whistle blew, he was in the air, flying fast, the cold air stinging his face, in the hopes of shaking the chill quickly or at least getting used enough to it that he could ignore it. He kept the other Seeker at least a bit in his peripheral vision so he could react if she began to make a move, but wasn’t looking too hard for the Snitch yet. Against Marissa Stephenson, he would have been looking as hard as possible and never mind what the audience or the other players thought, but this one would have to scare him before he moved from ending the game to keeping it from being played at all. Besides, the Snitch was nowhere in sight, anyway, and the more points the Chasers could accumulate before it was finished up, the better it really was for all of them.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Seeking Something Shiny 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

July 31, 2011 5:36 PM

Yes, you did make that necessary for me to do by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Arthur could appreciate the aesthetics of winter, but his time at Sonora, and even more his brief trip to Connecticut last year, had only added to the sense of unending mild inconvenience which had made him never be really fond of it. Places that were not South Carolina and either were or were charmed to reflect climates where snow happened were cold, a kind of cold he had not fully imagined before last year.

Given the choice, he would have spent today sitting in front of a fire, possibly still with a heavier set of robes than usual, but it was the first Quidditch game of the year, which meant he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Seeing the Coach’s hat made him sigh slightly – she was from Boston by way of New Hampshire, so if she thought it was cold, it was, in fact, cold – but he supposed exertion would warm him up in a little while. His main worry was that wind chill, combined with vigorous use, would make his hands and knees hurt before it had a chance the way regular chill occasionally had in the very last bit before midterm last year. To prevent this, he had decided not to wait until it was already happening to do something about it, but to take a mild pain potion thirty-five minutes ago and hope it could stop pain from happening as well as just stopping it. As far as master plans went, he didn’t think it was his best, but it was better than nothing. He could, as he’d established last year, get by when things were bothering him, but it was definitely better not to.

He listened politely to Captain Nash’s speech, hearing nothing that he didn’t expect. He wasn’t sure if Preston and Edmond had enough…self control to refrain from flattening anything that came into eyeshot, of aiming to injure instead of remove, but that was their concern, not his. He just had to keep the Quaffle away from Jose Hernandez.

He failed at that, but thought he was about to redeem himself by successfully holding up his end of a pass when – out of nowhere – one of the two first year girls sort of appeared from nowhere, not so much intercepting the pass as colliding with it by what looked like complete accident, especially when the Quaffle bounced harmlessly off her chest and fell. Making an irritated sound in the back of his throat, Arthur went down after it and caught it before any of the Pecaris could and continued its movement toward the Aladren goals a respectable bit further before checking for opponents, feinting slightly – Jose Hernandez wouldn’t fall for it, but he was willing to guess the girl he had run into, at least, would – before passing to another Aladren Chaser.

Really, he didn’t understand why Arnold was so excited about this. It seemed to be business as usual to him. Was he misreading a situation again? He hoped not.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser Yes, you did make that necessary for me to do 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

July 31, 2011 11:28 PM

Back and saner than...last time, anyway by Edmond Carey, Beater

Edmond had been afraid to come back to Beating after last year. Well, to be strictly accurate, just after the Quidditch final. His memories of that afternoon weren’t as clear as they might have been, a fractured series of impressions and images and a pervading sense of being terrified and self-loathing throughout, but it seemed to have involved him going on a rampage during which he tried to do the maximum amount of damage to everyone wearing the wrong color robe, or possibly just everyone anywhere near him and it had just been luck that he hadn’t hit other Aladrens. The thing he was completely sure of was never wanting anything like that to happen to him again.

Because of that, he had rather wanted to switch back to Chaser, but the team needed him as a Beater. He was good at it, and that was part of why they won. Even Daniel’s speech pointed that out, bringing up how their usual total advantage in that area was slightly reduced by Demelza Eagle’s presence on the Pitch. Arthur could Beat well enough at the Reunion, where hitting your opponent’s head instead of a Bludger was a perfectly legal move, but he did better here as a Chaser. He had to think about the best interests of the team and work toward that, and not let fears get the better of him anyway.

He wasn’t afraid of Pecari, which was at least a start, despite Demelza. She was tall, yes, but he would still wager on his arm against hers. The rest of the team didn’t trouble him as much as she did. He, too, had heard that they were having problems with their first years, and they had not been a fantastic team even before they lost their Chasers and Keeper from last year in favor of new ones. The trick was going to be how to hit to just irritate rather than remove from the game. He honestly didn’t think he’d meant to nearly kill Nic Sawyer last year, after all. Bludgers were…unpredictable. They would go more or less in the direction he hit them, but they would veer off at the mere hint of a warm body nearby, and might get pushed off course somehow else en route to his intended targets even if they didn’t.

From his position, he could see some kind of exchange take place between Jose and Daniel and wondered what it was, but was soon distracted by the rise of all the players into the air. He flew out as Pecari took the Quaffle, absently enjoying the rush of the air against his face now if it did bother his sinuses now, then wheeled around when Aladren took it away from Jose. There was a brief moment of confusing over what was going on when one of the new Chasers – Miss Trevear, he thought, but wasn’t completely sure at this distance – ran into the Quaffle and the action dropped lower for a moment as Arthur retrieved it, but then things began to move along again.

The Pecaris were not, as Daniel had said, going to just give up, though. Hearing the whine of a Bludger coming his way, he aimed more or less for Jose, heeding the Captain instruction, but thought he would be just as satisfied with just driving the Pecari Chasers a little further away from the Aladren Chasers and the Quaffle, especially since it seemed Arthur was going to pass. An interception that close to the goals would be a bit of a morale blow, and they’d rather avoid that.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Back and saner than...last time, anyway 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Kitty McLevy – Keeper

August 01, 2011 12:39 AM

Keeping it real by Kitty McLevy – Keeper

OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!!!! It was really happening, after a seemingly endless string of practices (not that Kitty minded those, as they were the most exiting practices she’d ever experienced before) they were finally FINALLY going to have a game. As the year went on Kitty had begun to think a game never happening. But now it was time, now she would prove to everyone that she was going to be the best Keeper ever.

Pulling a bright blue turtleneck sweater on Kitty couldn’t stop moving, bouncing, pacing and generally making an extreme nuisance of herself to anyone within a fifteen foot radius of the tiny girl. For such a small thing she seemed to fill up an extraordinary amount of space with her energy. Many people who came across Kitty when she slept, or was reading suddenly realized how very small she was. When she was up and about, moving, talking, and just radiating life she seemed a lot larger than she was. It was easy to forget that she was short, and slight when she flung herself without care at the world. The saying dynamite comes in small packages was perhaps created with Kitty in mind.

Kitty didn’t even bother with breakfast, eating simply wasn’t an option at this point as excitement crashed with nervousness. Ever sense making the team Kitty had boasted about it to everyone who stood still long enough to listen. Now….now she would have to live up to those boasts. She would never admit it to anyone, but Kitty was feeling just a tiny bit nervous about playing. After all, she was tiny, and a girl, and a first year. Being Keeper was a pretty important position, and Kitty was determined to make her team proud. Proving that she was the right choice for the position made Kitty feel almost sick as she made her way down to the Pitch.

It’ll be fine…everything will go smashingly and the crowd will cheer and Aladren will still be the very best! Kitty told herself firmly, and believed it wholly. There simply wasn’t any way they could lose. Not with all the Carey’s anyway. During practices she’d seen how good her team worked together and felt pride in all of them swell in her chest as she stepped out onto the Pitch.

Nervousness was washed away on a wave of excitement at the sight of the crowd filling the bleachers. This was what Kitty had been missing. Practice was great fun, but it didn’t have this. The crowd that would cheer them on to victory. She was so caught up in the sight that she almost crashed right into Edmond’s back when the team came to a halt. “Sorry!” Kitty whispered as she bounced lightly on her feet. Icy wind whipped around them, but it barely even touched Kitty, she was so wrapped up in the moment that there could be a blizzard and the young girl probably wouldn’t notice.

An exited sound of agreement was pulled from Kitty when Daniel told her to keep her eye on the Quaffle. She was so excited that the ability to form coherent words had momentarily been lost. Suddenly it was time and they all took to the air. Wind howled around her as Kitty speed towards her goals. Not a single Quaffle shall pass! Kitty thought with a wild laugh, bright blue eyes glued to the Quaffle as it came into play.

It looked like the other team started with the ball. She frowned, blue eyes narrowing slightly as the captain of the other team grabbed the ball. The excitement built as he flew in her direction, but an attempted pass ended in the ball being taken by Daniel. Kitty gave a cheer that turned into a full blown laugh when one of the first years from the other team got in the way of Daniel’s pass without catching it. The ball fell, before being snatched up by Arthur. While the game was exiting, Kitty almost hoped the other team would get the ball so she could show off her skills. “Go team GO!” She cheered, needing to ease her excitement somehow.

0 Kitty McLevy – Keeper Keeping it real 0 Kitty McLevy – Keeper 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

August 01, 2011 3:40 PM

Taking a shot. by Russell Layne, Chaser

When he’d joined the Aladren Quidditch team, Russell hadn’t really entertained any dreams of glory. A single glance at the dorm room he’d found himself in was enough to establish that Aladren had variety, but Arnold was the closest, when Preston wasn’t in one of his crazy moods, to fitting the athletic type, and he still wasn’t a perfect match for it. Plus, as another look at that dorm would have ascertained, they had all been first years last year, which meant the majority of the team had been in Beginner lessons and actually still was. He’d expected a few good stands, but no outstanding successes last year.

He’d…been wrong to expect that.

Aladren had won twice, after completely grinding its competition into the dust both times, once in a storm, once against a team as violently determined to win as theirs when the stakes were high. It hadn’t been easy, but they had done it, first with Teppenpaw, then with Crotalus. He was still a little surprised when he realized he’d been part of it, really, especially when he remembered how savage the games had been – enough that they still came up in conversation, and one person shy of a full team had ended up in the medic’s tent in the first game. It didn’t seem quite real to him, even now, as they were preparing to do it all again.

They hadn’t faced Pecari last year, but Russell thought it was logical not to think that was something to worry about, considering how thoroughly Crotalus had humiliated Pecari when they played. Practically, he was still a little on edge, but that was because he was always nervous when he was about to do something in public that was at least partially dependent on chance. Yes, they had better brooms, and he doubted even Pecari could turn out someone was nuts about a Snitch as Arnold, but if Amira Thornton was in just the right place at just the right time….

The Seekers would have to settle that, though. He just had to keep the Quaffle away from the Pecari Chasers, and get it past the Pecari Keeper. That was his job, that was what he did. It wasn’t an ill omen, after last year, to feel at least modestly confident in his ability to do it, either.

So when, after some hiccups involving two of the Pecari Chasers, the Quaffle came from Arthur to him, Russell refused to concentrate on being nervous, instead locking his eyes onto the goal just ahead of him. Picking up speed on the top-of-the-line broom Daniel had provided, he moved as though he were going to go for the center, then sent it toward the left instead, crossing his fingers as he turned that he would score the first goal of the game instead of just being the first person to reach the goals in the game. He wanted this to get off to a good start for them and just keep going.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser Taking a shot. 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Cap'n Jose, Chaser

August 01, 2011 7:28 PM

Roll over minutes by Cap'n Jose, Chaser

Daniel came out of nowhere. One second Jose had a clear field and was passing to Mellie, and the next, bam! Aladren Captain has the ball and is running back the other way with it. Jose cursed quietly (anyone who overheard might have been confused because he'd called Daniel a Brazen-faced Drigger, but there was little chance of that) and forced his broom around. He didn't have Daniel's speed and even though he tried to keep up, he found himself falling further behind.

Jhonice gave him a chance to catch up though, and he cheered the interception as though it had been on purpose (though he had serious doubts on that score). He didn't really have time to get to the Quaffle himself before Arthur did, but he was able to put himself into a position to stop the next pass.

Unfortunately, as Arthur threw to Russell, Edmond hit a bludger at Jose and he was given the option of taking a serious hit or getting out of the way. This early in the game, the Pecari captain opted for the latter. He rolled and the bludger followed, but a few sharp maneuvers later he'd managed to shake it. By then, though, it was too late.

Russell had made an attempt at the goal and Jose was much too far away to do anything but yell Sophie's name in encouragement. He could shift forward a few yards to open himself up for a pass once she made the save, though, so that's what he did.

0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser Roll over minutes 0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser 0 5

Demelza Eagle, Beater

August 01, 2011 10:12 PM

I hope you like the taste of dirt. by Demelza Eagle, Beater

Demelza was a mathematician!

Okay, well, not really, but for this game she was. The correct math had to be done for every play. Pecari had to win. They had to prove to the school that they weren't a last place team--that they had practiced harder than anyone else, were the most dedicated, and the greatest team in the history of Sonora Quidditch. Mel was extremely determined to come out victorious, and she would do all that she could within her power to ensure Pecari victory.

So back to Mel's math skills. She was horrible at the subject in Muggle school, but this math was easier and made more sense because it applied to Quidditch. Basically, she found a whole new way of beating that would blow everyone's minds. Generally, beating was a straight-forward thing--there weren't a whole lot of cool tricks and stuff a beater could do. But Mel, being the creative left-handed and left-minded player she was, had come up with a trick to improve accuracy and blow everyone's minds at the same time, making it more likely for her to hit her target. Thanks to her ultra-strength she was always working on improving, she didn't have to worry too much about there being a slow speed and not enough strength behind her hits. Mel never had that worry.

Since she hadn't tried out her new beating move in a real game yet, she hadn't taught it to ~~her beating minion~~ Demetra. This was going to be special, and she couldn't wait to try it out. If all work out as well as it had when she practiced it by herself, then this would be absolutely epic.

Waking up earlier than usual the morning of the game, Mel withdrew her beater's bat from her pillow. She always slept with a bat under her pillow, just in case an intruder came in her dorm and she would have to protect her, Nina, and Delilah. She couldn't help her paranoia; a few years ago her cousin was attacked by a psycho man and suffered from a broken jaw! Although Mel didn't remember this well because she suffered from her amnesia the next year, she heard stories of it still.

Carrying her bat with her all the way to breakfast (it was her good luck charm), she ate a monstrous breakfast full of lots of protein and then went to her dorm to change into her robes. After that she grabbed her robe and made her way to the pitch. Butterflies in her stomach, she listened to Jose's speech, nodding seriously when he advised her to take Arnold out. Mel had always wanted to take a seeker out. And now, with her new accuracy strategy, it was totally possible.

Bouncing from foot to foot the moments before the whistle was blown, Mel shot in the air when everyone else did. she cheered as Jose got the quaffle, but was disappointed when it was intercepted. Then Johnice, who wasn't the best player but tried hard, kinda intercepted it again. But Mel needed to focus on her goal. She zoomed around the pitch and flinched when she heard the crack of a bat against a bludger. Thankfully Jose dodged the bludger, but Mel needed to be more alert. The bludger zoomed off towards Mel, and she knew she had to take advantage of it, mainly because it was coming at her and she was staring right at Aladren's seeker.

She repositioned her hold on the back, her right hand on the handle and her left hand higher up towards the center of the bat, like she was bunting in that Muggle sport they called baseball. She kept her arms strong and firm as the bludger collided with the bat, only moving forward a few feet. Taking advantage of it's momentarily slow movement, Mel swung her back back, giving her time to seriously aim, and hit the momentarily motionless bludger towards Aladren's seeker. Using as much force as she could muster, her muscular, very unfeminine arms swung forward and rocketed the bludger. She grinned at her new, more accurate aim, hoping that everyone in the crowd who had just seen that had a blown mind now.

0 Demelza Eagle, Beater I hope you like the taste of dirt. 0 Demelza Eagle, Beater 0 5

Sophie J. Keeper

August 02, 2011 12:15 AM

Don't give up, team! by Sophie J. Keeper

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, beating on her ear drums as if it would make music. Her breath felt strained, and she hadn’t even done anything yet. Her fingers twisted in her blonde ponytail, and she bit her lower lip as she hovered in front of the goals. Sophie was nervous, and it was… not normal.

She had never been nervous before. Quidditch was a sport, which meant above all else it was about having fun, which she always did. Practically just touching a broom resulted in the feeling of stress and trouble being expelled through her fingertips. Thus far, her team had not won, but she still had fun. Winning was great and even more fun, but just playing was astounding.

So why was she nervous? This year she even got to play the position she wanted! That had to be it. Maybe her nerves were because if she didn’t do well, she was afraid Jose would put her back as Chaser. Sophie’s passion was Keeping, so she had to do this right. She’d had the practice. Now it was time to shine.

An initial “Whoop!” had escaped her as Jose snatched up the Quaffle after its toss. She pouted when after that things started to go sour. Now here she was, Jose’s voicing shouting her name, nervous as she anticipated where the ball would go when this charging Aladren shot it. He seemed to be coming up the middle, but that was too simple. There was no way a complex smarty like Aladren House’s members would go that route.

Untangling her fingers from her hair and pulling her glove up her wrist a little higher, she prepared. Left or right. Those were the options. She chose left, which was probably luck. In any case, the fourteen year old felt her fingers wrap around the ball and squeeze. After straightening her broom and herself up, Sophie snapped it back to one of her team’s Chasers.

12 Sophie J. Keeper Don't give up, team! 34 Sophie J. Keeper 0 5

Amira Thornton

August 02, 2011 1:34 AM

Seeking to succeed! by Amira Thornton

Amira glanced at her watch once more. "Four AM..." she said quietly so as not to wake her roommates. The eleven year old had been staring at her clock every few minutes for the last six hours, trying her hardest to sleep, but no luck ensued. Shaking her head and sighing, the Pecari got up out of her bed and pulled out a book from the drawer near her bed. It was one of her favorites, The Outsiders. She just felt so bad for Ponyboy and wished that she was there for him like Johnnycake was! Every time she'd read it, she cried at all the same points, and she knew that where she'd left off the last time was at the start of one of those parts. I'm so not reading this in here... she thought as she got up and padded out of the room in her socks to curl up in a chair in the Common Room to read.

She read until she heard stirring in the rooms above her. Then, and only then, did the redheaded first year get up from her position and went upstairs to get her Quidditch Gear. Her birthday had just passed, and her sister's had went in together and bought her a broom to Seek with. It had a sleek black handle and twigs on the end that shimmered in the sunlit day. Arista and Addi had happily handed it to her (it had apparently been sent to them by their mother) to give to their little sister on that day (the day before). And her older sister's were prouder than ever to give it to her. Amira had found out that Arista had written to their mother secretly to tell her that the third Thornton Sibling had gotten a first string position in her first year and such an important one yet, that she'd asked (on behalf of all her siblings) that a broom be Amira's Birthday present this year from them and her mother abliged accordingly.

Amira was speechless as she looked at the handle of the beautiful broom the day before, "Firefly" it said in glittering golden letters. This was going to be Pecari's secret weapon against Aladren, and it was then that she knew it!

She had been so excited about it, that she'd even forgotten to tell her Captain about her present! The newest broom would even be a surprise to her team! Picking it up, she wrapped it back in the paper it had come in, and put on the rest of her gear before she walked down to the Pitch. The first year didn't want spies to see her broom any earlier than they had to, and that was for sure!

Having gotten there really early, choosing to skip breakfast, she sat down in the grass, and looked up at the sky, Firefly next to her. People started walking onto the Pitch and into the stands and Jose called them into their huddle. Standing up, carefully picking up her Birthday Present, she walked it over to the rest of the team and held it in her hands, unsure if anyone noticed it or not. Whether they had or not was unimportant at this juncture anyway, so she listened to her Captain talk about the fact that they shouldn’t be afraid of Aladren and that Mel was the secret weapon, though she knew that he hadn’t seen the newest broom wrapped up in his new seeker’s hand either!

Jose went on about Aladren’s status of undefeated and she sparkled both on the inside and out with the secret held in her hand. The Captain talked to them separately, to show his faith in them, she was sure. For this, she was thrilled. There was something to the eleven year old of the older boy thinking (and saying it aloud) that he knew that she could do it! “He’s going to be the underdog again Jose, I can promise you that!” she said, holding up her broom and unwrapping it as he went on, mentioning herself once more as she unwrapped the dark, shiny handle from the paper. The golden lettering sparkled in the sunlight and the flecks came alive in her eyes as he finished, cheering Pecari. “GO PECARI!” Amira shouted as she tossed the brown paper on the ground next to her, exposing her new Firefly for all to see.

Coach Pierce called the Captains over to her and they shook hands. Jose came back to the Pecari Team, mounted his broom and the whistle blew. Jose was fast off the mark and ended up with the Quaffle off the bat! “GO PECARI!” Amira shouted as she flew like the wind through the air to hover above the rest of the game to catch sight of the golden glint of light that would beam off of the small, yet quick Golden Snitch that would end the game.

The first year hadn’t been told to hover, but she figured at least at the start of the game, she needed to see what was going to happen from high above it! Watching the game, she saw the botched pass, the Quaffle being passed from side to side, and more before she spotted something gold! It was glittering nearby the left side Goal Hoop on the Pecari side!

Keeping it in her sight, she flew fast in a downward dive, dodging other players and the other balls in the game without losing sight of her Golden Prize. She’d have got it too, if it hadn’t been for a whooshing sound behind her. Turning to see what it was, she only ducked just in time to get out of the way of the ugly black bludger!

After having dodged it, she looked back to where the fluttering Snitch had been, but now it was gone! “NO!” she shouted, smacking herself in the cheek as she pulled upward once more to hover around the game to try to spot the glittering golden and winged ball!

After more gameplay, and more of her keeping her eyes out and sharp for the little winged ball, she spotted it once more!

“Now it’s on!” she called to it as she sped up faster and faster and reached out to get it, bound and determined to catch the silly winged ball.

0 Amira Thornton Seeking to succeed! 0 Amira Thornton 0 5

Jhonice, Chaser

August 02, 2011 6:53 AM

We can do it! by Jhonice, Chaser

Jhonice raced along behind Arthur Carey after he recovered the Quaffle ball. He was very good at this, she would have to make a note. He suddenly moved to pass, she had to change direction... her broom didn't change. She spun around and watched as he passed the ball to Russell. No! She had to get that back, but Russell was gone. His broom was really fast, hers was not so much.

She gasped as Captain Jose heroically tried to move to intercept, but had to gracefully dodge out of the way to avoid the bludger ball. She really had to find a broom that liked her if she was going to help more during these games. Russell took a shot at the goal and she held her breath, but Sophie stopped it easily. "Yeah!!" She cheered. Then she saw the Quaffle ball coming her way. She caught it and looked around her. Nobody was near, cool. Now, to head back the other direction. Come on, stupid broom! The Aladrens were closing in fast! She finally convinced her broom to move turn around and started moving, slowly. Crap!! No choice, she threw the ball to the closest Pecari and hoped they'd have better luck.

2 Jhonice, Chaser We can do it! 209 Jhonice, Chaser 0 5

Mellie Goodwin, Chaser

August 02, 2011 11:47 AM

Go, team, go! by Mellie Goodwin, Chaser

The game had been going on for less than five minutes, and already, Mellie had the vague, not-quite-panicky feeling that she had no idea what was going on.

A few things were obvious, though, and she tried to concentrate on that to deal with the surprisingly overwhelming feeling of the combination of so many people moving really fast and the crowd being really big and this really not being the park. For instance, Aladren had handled them like drugged kittens in a sack so far, and that was why Russell was taking a shot against Sophie. She also caught on that Sophie had saved, and clapped her hands in relief, though that vanished when she realized another thing: that the Quaffle was heading back toward Jhonice.

Mellie liked her roommate. She had some quirks, but they hadn’t clashed so far about sharing living space, which was really good. But while she wasn’t very good at this, Jhon was…worse. Much worse. Bad enough to make Mellie look half good at it, sometimes. Like right now, when her broom wouldn’t turn. Mellie was half-surprised one of the Aladrens hadn’t just come up and taken it out of her hands. Maybe they thought it was a trap.

But she managed to pass, and Mellie, to her amazement, caught it. For a second, she, too, froze, then started flying really fast, faster than she really felt safe going, in the hopes of leaving maybe at least one of the Aladrens behind and avoiding any Bludgers they might be aiming at her head even right that very second. She’d been having interesting dreams about Bludgers recently.

Suddenly, she saw one of them zoom past and did the only thing that made sense: she looked around frantically, found another brown robe, and tried to pass to it. She had gone further than she had thought, further than was advisable. It seemed Pecari was having some luck today, that neither she nor Jhonice had gotten their heads bashed in yet. Maybe they could even win after all!

16 Mellie Goodwin, Chaser Go, team, go! 206 Mellie Goodwin, Chaser 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

August 02, 2011 4:26 PM

Going the other way by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Arthur’s mother had a theory that the way you looked at a situation influenced how it turned out. If you believed things were going to go well, then they would, but if you looked at the full situation and admitted the possibility of failure, unforeseen contingencies, or anything like that, then it would all go wrong, and that was what you got for not being a perpetual blind-idiot optimist.

Arthur felt this theory reflected the intelligence of an especially dim four year old, and had, for his sanity’s sake, forced himself to believe that his mother was merely dumbing down some more complicated system of thought to a level she thought was appropriate for a twelve-year-old. His mother was an intelligent, educated woman, and he honestly didn’t believe anyone could be so stupid as to believe that walking into a situation confident that things would go well without making contingency plans for as many outcomes as they could come up with was a good idea. If there were such people alive....

He, though, was smart. He looked at all the angles and tried to plan for them. But today, hopefully just this once, he had fallen into the trap of being sure about something, and look what it had gotten him. He could have had the Quaffle away from one of the first year girls while she was trying to figure out how to turn her broom, but because he’d been too confident in Aladren, of how this Keeper who’d just saved against Russell would be defeated in a much shorter time than Kirstenna Melcher had been, it had gotten away, and the other one had taken it a good way away from the Pecari goals.

He followed closely, and when she started to pass, he swept between her and the other Pecari Chaser and kept going once he felt the Quaffle in his hands, picking up speed and moving ahead of the Pecaris before making a wide turn to head back toward their goals so he didn’t get tangled up in the other players. Finding his fellow Aladren Chasers, he positioned himself between them to set up for a pass a little further down. He just registered his brother and the girl shooting overhead very close together, so it might not matter, but Seekers got into chases and feints all the time without the Snitch being caught, so it might matter very much.

Halfway back down the part of the Pitch the Pecaris had covered, he lifted the Quaffle to his chest with both hands, turning slightly one way as though to pass before actually going the other, hoping to foil Mr. Hernandez if he was in the area again and Edmond or Preston was not. His elbow turned in a way that wasn’t exactly comfortable as he did, but he shook the arm and ignored it. He had to keep up with the Quaffle. That was all he really had time to pay attention to right now. Everything else was, until it stopped him from doing that, irrelevant.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser Going the other way 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

August 02, 2011 4:32 PM

I doubt he does by Edmond Carey, Beater

He had missed Jose, but Edmond didn’t mind that, since his primary goal, keeping Pecari away from the Quaffle, had been achieved. Since Russell had it in hand and he wasn’t in a position to take a shot against the Pecari Keeper, he wished Preston well with the Bludger he’d hit that way and looked around for the other – that was the way, make a hit, find a Bludger, make another hit, keep moving always – only to experience a slight shock at seeing Demelza Eagle in closer proximity to Arnold than to her own Seeker.

He began to fly at once, thinking harsh things toward himself as he did for being off guard for a moment, but saw what she was doing as he did. Then, though he didn’t slow down, he frowned in confusion and muttered to himself, “What on Earth?”

Profanity, after all, was an awkward, embarrassing tool that only the terminally inarticulate would use to get their points across. Julia had alwasy held that this was so, and while he had been outside long enough to not be as bothered by other people using it, Edmond didn’t feel right even thinking such language after growing up with Julia. Feeling awkward would have diverted some of his attention when all of it needed to be on how the moment that she took to aim gave him a moment longer to get in the middle of her and Arnold.

It was curious, in a way, the reversal of their positions. In the outside world, even with the low opinion the other branches had of Edmond’s, it would have been Arnold who was expected to, if the situation called for it, get between him and any danger. Hierarchy was important to most of the family, enough that Edmond, raised away from it, thought it was bizarre. Christina’s tight bun of hair had been as gray the day Edmond was born as it was now, but she stood and curtsied when he or Morgaine came into a room, and didn’t sit down again unless given permission. Permission!

He preferred it this way. Given the choice, he would have had Robert and Julia formally adopt him years ago and have lived out his life as a scholar no one thought much about, or even, fifty year from now, remembered had ever been anything else, but since he didn’t have that option, he would take being able to act as though it were true when he could.

He caught up to the Bludger and smacked it away, both from Arnold and from the Pecari Beater’s last position that he’d observed, then followed it and hit it toward the diving Pecari Seeker. Preston had better have the other one covered, he thought grimly as he flew, looking already for where to make the next move.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater I doubt he does 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 02, 2011 4:46 PM

Denying you success by Arnold Carey, Seeker

OOC: Attempting to meld the Seeker sub-threads to keep things from getting too messy. BIC:

In the previous year, Arnold had gotten hit by Bludgers. Repeatedly.

It had never stopped him from winning, but after passing out the second he caught the Snitch in the final, he had thought it might do him good to get better at avoiding Bludgers over the summer. So he had. In addition to playing the two family games, he’d had his cousins and brother hit Bludgers at him any time they could get away from their mothers. Arthur was the biggest, of course, but Jay had surprisingly good aim when he kept a cool head, and he and Henry were both capable of becoming wild men when the mood took them. He’d spent the first month very uncomfortable, since Mother, disgusted, would heal the things that would render him unable to walk, but had taken to leaving him some of the bruises as a warning against being an idiot.

He hadn’t heeded her warning, though, and in the second, he had gotten smarter, and coming back to school hadn’t hurt anything. There were team practices, which helped, and times when he’d get at least Arthur, if he couldn’t bug Preston into it as well, to come resume their style of practice from the summer, which helped even more. His brother winced when he did it – a very sharp departure from the way he’d gleefully assaulted opposing players with his bat as often and with greater ferocity than he did the Bludgers at the Reunion – but he didn’t hold back, and the crack of reinforced wood against Bludgers was one Arnold had become very aware of when it happened, along with the whine of metal speeding through air toward him.

Those were his cues to be somewhere else, and behind him, a small battle was going on as Demelza tried her new technique and Edmond hurried to save him, but he didn’t notice because Amira Thornton had just officially scared him. With a strangled yell, he pushed his broom as hard as he could toward what he’d noticed in his peripheral vision. If he didn’t catch her….

A Bludger threw her off course, and he breathed a sigh of relief before beginning to scan for the Snitch again himself. Not spotting it immediately, he was considering toying with her a little to pay her back for that, hopefully a sub-game that would end with him sending her face-first into the dirt so she had to play out the rest of the game in a daze and lost horribly instead of just losing, when she took off again, this time straight out, so he doubted she was trying to feint him somehow. Besides, he could see a shiny thing in front of her, and he was pretty sure incorporating false Snitches as part of a ruse was against the rules.

He caught up with her. The best thing was for one of the Beaters to show up, but in the meantime, he flew fast, preparing to go faster if he needed to and trying to think up some insults to distract her with if it turned out she had a good enough broom to keep pace. He definitely needed to find out more about the other Seekers for moments like this.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Denying you success 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Amira Thornton

August 02, 2011 10:25 PM

Denying the Deny! by Amira Thornton

Amira saw a shadow flying behind her, but didn't lose sight of the snitch. She knew a player was tailing her, but she didn't want to care who it was. The Strawberry blonde had one goal in mind, and nobody would stop her from that goal!

She'd always been pretty goal oriented, maybe not as much as her younger sister Andri, but for sure more than Addison! The first year wasn't going to let her team down, besides, she knew that at least Arista was in the stands watching and cheering her on! The Pecari wasn't too sure that Addison would have come to watch, fearing for the health of her younger sister, but if in fact she did come, Amira wanted to show both of her older sisters that she could fend for herself!

"I see you behind me, and I don't care that you're there! I'm going to reach the snitch first!" she shouted into the air ahead of her, not caring if the wind was headed in the right direction for the person behind her so they could hear it or not. What the young Thornton girl did know, however, was that she was NOT going to lose sight of the Golden Snitch!

Only a foot away, she reached out for it, and a bludger (that she didn't see) came pelting at her arm, hitting it right out of the way of grabbing the snitch! Cursing inwardly with the pain in her arm and of the loss of the golden ball, she flew upward again, only one arm holding the sleek black handle of her Firefly. Her injured arm, already bruising, she was sure, was clutched to her chest as she flew up, up, up into the air to watch once more for the Snitch, holding in her tears thanks to her fierce desire to win regardless of the circumstances!

I'm NOT going to cry... I'm not going to go running for help from the medic... I'm going to catch that snitch if it kills me! she thought to herself as she watched for the glint of the golden sphere once more, scanning the whole Pitch till she saw it again, this time hovering by the Aladren Goal Posts! Leaning into her broomstick for support, the first year made her run for it, her strawberry blonde hair in its ponytail flying behind her. Seconds later, holding on for dear life using only her legs, the Pecari reached her good arm out to try to get the snitch!

0 Amira Thornton Denying the Deny! 0 Amira Thornton 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

August 02, 2011 11:32 PM

Going the rest of that way. by Russell Layne, Chaser

Russell came as close to swearing as he ever did when the Pecari Keeper saved his shot, making an inarticulate sound of frustration while scowling fiercely, but there wasn’t much time for that as the ball passed back into Pecari possession and somehow stayed there despite Mellie’s roommate Jhonice not quite mastering the whole ‘turning’ and ‘going’ concepts. What kind of training did Jose Hernandez run, anyway?

As he, along with the other Aladrens, followed Mellie’s longer than expected run with the Quaffle, he considered that thought and glumly concluded that he was going Quidditch-crazy again. He didn’t think like that. This game was not in his best interests, not at all. What if one time, he didn’t come out of it when the game ended, and was just stuck spending the rest of his life acting like…like…he started to think of Arnold, but even Arnold was usually agreeable enough off the Pitch, just a little high-strung, so he amended it. Like some person who had no life outside this game and was totally obsessed with it and ended up sitting in a blue-and-black room like ten years from now still regaling his thoroughly bored younger cousins and friends and random strangers with tales of his glory days as an Aladren Chaser.

That, he thought, was a horrible thought. A truly horrible, horrifying thought. He liked being a reasonable human being with varied interests and an ability to kind of, he thought, keep things in proportion.

Right now, though, it didn’t matter, because Arthur had the Quaffle back, and Russell was covering him, and that was all there was to it, really. He was on the chase.

The pass, to his surprise, came to him, and he nearly fumbled before getting a grip back and flying on, covering the remainder of the territory they’d lost to Pecari and flying into the scoring area and aiming for the left again. He was hoping that she would assume he wouldn’t be so dumb as to repeatedly go for the same hoop, but already planning, if she didn’t, to go right next time, once she thought she had a pattern down for him. At least it would sound a little better if he could twist failure into a strategy for winning a few minutes further down the line. At least, he thought it might, though it did occur to him that it would make it sound like he was throwing away this shot, which might get him killed. Anyway, he hoped it didn’t come to that at all and he just scored right now and two minutes ago was totally forgotten and it was all good and Arnold would catch the Snitch and they could go home with Russell not failing to score again. He had his fingers and his toes crossed as the ball soared away from him in an arc that could end any way, possibly even ones he hadn’t thought of yet, but was fully meant for the left hoop.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser Going the rest of that way. 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 03, 2011 12:03 AM

Denying your denial by Arnold Carey, Seeker

Arnold blinked for one second, a bit confused by her saying he was behind her when they were level and wondering if that was an attempt at trash talk, before he focused on the part that was important and hit buttons which took away a lot of his reservations about playing against and potentially injuring girls. She had started it, so he could now do whatever he wanted without any worries about the propriety of his actions. Only legality mattered, and only that if he thought he might get caught doing something illegal.

“In your dreams, loser,” he shouted back, making a mental note to gloat a little more than was seemly once he had the Snitch.

Her arm went out, and he was preparing to wrench it out of the way and never mind the penalty even if Kitty couldn’t save it, but he heard the whine of a Bludger and threw himself out of the way with great speed right about the time it slammed into her extended arm. “Ha,” he said, grimly pleased. That would slow her down some.

Not enough, though. Before long, she was diving again. Now, though, he was more confident of his abilities and didn’t panic about whether or not he would catch her. He knew he would, and he did.

“Hey, moron,” he yelled to distract her. “Bet that hurts almost as much as losing. Didn’t you ever hear you’re supposed to avoid the Bludgers?” On some level, he felt bad, but this was Quidditch, and she had, as far as he knew, willingly chosen to play. That meant she had signed on for whatever was thrown at her, from Bludgers to having him insult everything from her intelligence to her standards of personal hygiene to anything else he could think of, except maybe her mother. There had to be a line somewhere, and that was understood to be one of the things that was not insulted lightly.

On some level, he also felt respect. He had taken hits to the arm, and they hurt like heck. Taking one to an extended arm like that most likely, from his sketchy knowledge of anatomy and physics based on personal experience, meant something was broken, or at least cracked painfully. Bone didn’t seem to be protruding, so Edmond most likely hadn’t hit it or she wouldn’t have an arm, but even a loose one or one from one of the smaller Beaters would be extremely painful, and she was still on her broom.

Respect or no respect, though, he was going to gloat when he won. She’d care the next time she saw him here, assuming she didn’t quit after this game. He would have, if he’d embarrassed himself that way in his first match.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Denying your denial 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Amira Thornton

August 03, 2011 12:55 AM

That's what you think! by Amira Thornton

Without losing sight of the golden ball, she heard a boy shout back, “In your dreams, loser,”

"That's what YOU THINK!" she called back, cursing inside her head, but determined not to go down to his level of poking fun. She was not going to sink down like the Titanic had. Amira was a winner, and she knew it! A hit on her arm by the mean black ball wasn't going to slow her down. It will NOT stop me! she said to herself as she flew back up, having lost sight of the golden sphere. She heard the boy's voice once more.

“Hey, moron,” he yelled, Bet that hurts almost as much as losing. Didn’t you ever hear you’re supposed to avoid the Bludgers?

"Nobody calls me a moron you JERK!" she called back, getting angrier than she'd been in a long time! There was no cursing at her house, and those types of words were not prominent in her vocabulary, but she did know a few. Jerk was one of them, and even thought it was not a terrible curse, to her parents, it was pretty bad! "And you will have to tell ME what it feels like to lose!" she added, ignoring the last part of his little rant on her. Her eyes were where they should have been, watching the little golden winged ball. This was her job, and she was going to do it, and do it well, regardless if her arm was hanging off her body or not! She felt something moving around in her injured arm, but did nothing about it. I will deal with it AFTER the game. the first year said to herself as she held on for dear life on her broom with her legs and only one arm.

Some people in the world are quitters, this she knew. The Pecari also knew that she was NOT one of those such people! Spotting the snitch once more, she pelted forward towards it, eyes firmly on the prize. “I will NOT miss this snitch!” she said to herself in a sort of mumble as she flew so fast through the air on her new broom that she left him in the dust, not caring if he’d followed her or not.

0 Amira Thornton That's what you think! 0 Amira Thornton 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

August 03, 2011 12:31 PM

Feinting by Captain Nash, Chaser

Daniel had sort of stalled for a moment when his first pass of the game was not so much intercepted out of nowhere as . . . collided into out of nowhere. Fortunately, Arthur recovered faster than he did and reclaimed the falling Quaffle for Aladren, passed to Russell, and Russell made the game's first attempt to score.

Unfortunately, the Pecari Keeper did seem to know what she was doing - unlike the girl she passed it to. Daniel lost a few more seconds he could have been using to advance Aladren's control of the Quaffle trying to figure out whether or not she was trying to trick them or if she really was that bad - and eventually concluded that he didn't know since the strategy (if it was a strategy) apparently worked and she'd successfully passed it to the other first year Pecari Chaser.

Daniel and the other two had followed after her, Daniel keeping an eye on Jose as much as the ball now, since he was the most likely candidate for a pass given the trouble the other one was having making her broom move. He kept pace with the eldest Pecari, flying about ten feet above the other Captain, ready to make a diving intercept, but Arthur got there first, intercepting on Mellie's end rather than Jose's, so Daniel just turned and made a shallow dive back to the Pecari Goals, letting gravity lend extra speed to his already fast broom.

Arthur passed to him - no, Daniel realized a moment later when no red ball fell into his hands - Arthur passed to Russell, but if Daniel had been tricked by the feint, others might have as well. He hugged an imaginary Quaffle close to his chest and headed for the right goal with all the determination in his face and stance as if he really had the ball and was going to attempt a goal.

Around the same time Russell threw the real Quaffle at the left hoop, Daniel threw his imaginary one at the right hoop.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser Feinting 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Sophie, Keeper

August 03, 2011 2:47 PM

Not falling for it... that much. by Sophie, Keeper

Yay for Chasers! Sophie was so glad when Jhonice managed to catch the Quaffle, and she was equally glad that Mellie caught it. But when Mellie passed it… someone else caught it. Boo that Chasers were first years and not that experienced yet.

Then--Crap!--the Quaffle was headed her way. The boy who shot before was coming at her, but then….so was their captain? He seemed to have a Quaffle too. How did that work? One of them was faking, and she knew it. She didn’t have too much time to think, but she could see the true red color against Russell’s blue robes and not Daniel’s, so her blue eyes stuck on the younger Chaser.

Left or right? She currently floated in the middle as time seemed to go in slow-motion. He’d shot left last time, so shouldn’t she assume right? Or what if that was his plan? Was he going for the same hoop because he assumed she would go to the other? Her head hurt from thinking so hard about it.

The blonde started to go right, but she saw he was indeed going left and zoomed over as fast as possible. She got there just in time to knock the ball down with her fingertips, jamming her fingers, but couldn’t catch it, which meant unless a Pecari Chaser got to it before the surrounding Aladrens, she would be in trouble again really fast. "Take it the other way!" she shouted to her team's players.

12 Sophie, Keeper Not falling for it... that much. 34 Sophie, Keeper 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

August 03, 2011 3:17 PM

Falling...don't people do a lot of that these days? by Edmond Carey, Beater

So far, Edmond had prevented two moves that would have hurt his team, but hadn’t injured anyone. He was okay with that. More than okay, really. If they could get through this game without anyone needing to spend more than a few minutes with the medic, that would be great.

Aladren, he noticed as he looked for another opportunity to move against someone and help Aladren out, had the Quaffle again and was approaching the goals, Arthur passing off to Russell. Interesting, since he’d taken the last shot and missed, but it had been a good feint, and Daniel was moving as though he did have the Quaffle, so maybe that would work out well for them, if the Pecari Keeper was confused or overwhelmed or intimidated by the fearsome reputation Aladren had somehow picked up without him really noticing….

Or not. It seemed the only House where they could count on the Keeper being a weak player who the team’s primary strategy was to protect was Crotalus after all. It had been worth a hope, he supposed, that the loss of Miss Gregory would weaken Pecari in the same way, but there was no time for that now, and there was perhaps an opening for them here, since she hadn’t succeeded in catching the Quaffle and seemed to be shouting at her teammates. That didn’t generally happen when things were going according to plan.

He swept down on a Bludger, raising his bat before it could turn on him and hitting it toward the Pecari goals. It wasn’t as hard as he could have, since Daniel had asked him to hold back and a good number of Aladrens were in that general vicinity as well when he wasn’t completely confident of the wisdom of a play, but it would hurt if it hit. If Pecari didn’t recover the Quaffle, then it could remove her just long enough for Aladren to take advantage and score while she was falling or running. If it didn’t, then he’d aim for Jose again.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Falling...don't people do a lot of that these days? 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 03, 2011 3:21 PM

I think pain's making you delude yourself by Arnold Carey, Seeker

“They do if you act like one!” Arnold replied when she was taken off balance by being called a moron. Who knew, if she attacked him, she might leave the game somehow – possibly because the coach might not like it, though that wasn’t strictly within the rules, possibly because he thought he could bring himself to hit back in Quidditch and wasn’t already impeded by a bad arm – and since the Beaters would break every breakable thing Dana Smythe had within a matter of seconds, Pecari would then have to play without a Seeker. Though that would be a little boring for him. Maybe they could leave Miss Smythe alone; Marissa Stephenson had been easier to beat than Kate Bauer, and Miss Stephenson was a permanent Seeker, so he was beginning to think age might not be a good thing when it came to Seeking.

He ruthlessly put aside the tiny bit of consciousness that was aware he was being a jerk. He’d never played even casual games that lacked full teams with his first cousins that didn’t involve at least some level of name-calling and well-timed distractions. Things that would get someone cursed in the real world were just part of the game, and she had chosen to play.

One thing he noticed about her, though: she was a Snitch magnet. She seemed to see the Snitch way more often than was natural. He remembered long stretches of last year’s games being spent fending off the opposing Seeker, watching for Bludgers, occasionally watching what was going on in the rest of the game, all without seeing the gold ball before it would suddenly materialize and spark a rush before vanishing again, not to be seen for minutes. Maybe if he stuck to her, he could both avoid getting a Bludger himself and then just speed up and get the Snitch once it appeared, shouting again to distract her being an option he’d consider.

For now, though, he was going to catch up with her, just as the Snitch flicked to one side and was lost in the mass of the players. “You gotta wake up earlier,” Arnold commented to his adversary with a smile, content to have caught her again for now. He could have insulted her directly again since it broke her focus so very well, but the only thing he could think of right now was a disparaging comment about brooms, and that skirted dangerously close to talking about money, which was one of the greatest rudenesses. You either had it or you didn’t, and there was a way to be tasteful or revolting about having it, but in either case, you didn’t talk about it. Ever. He had even seen Mother, who wasn’t like the rest of them, cringe along with Grandmother and Great-Grandmother while Great-Great-Grandmother smiled neutrally when Aunt Gigi brought it up. Arnold had known for as long as he could remember that it wasn’t proper to ever tell anyone everything he’d gotten for Christmas, though he still wasn’t as bad as Arthur, who he seriously thought hid things even from him and Anthony, not because he got more but because he just didn’t want anyone to know exactly what he did and did not own.

He saw a flash of light in the stands on the other side of the Pitch, and knew it wasn’t the Snitch, but decided to see if he could lure her over there anyway. With an inarticulate yell, he started flying that way, glancing over his shoulder to see if she was following. If she wasn’t, he’d loop back around and no harm done; if she was, he’d see how long he could string it out before he left her fuming in the wrong section of the Pitch.

Sometimes, he thought Arthur might be right about always having two plans. It could make things interesting, anyway.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker I think pain's making you delude yourself 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Jhonice, Chaser

August 03, 2011 7:33 PM

I've tried it... it's not as fun as some make it out to be by Jhonice, Chaser

Jhonice cheered at Mellie as she flew away with the Quaffle ball, she was awesome at this game! Nothing compared to Captain Jose, but awesome nonetheless. Then Arthur stole the ball away from her and started bringing it back towards them! That wasn't fair, it was just over in this area! She watched as Arthur passed it to their captain. Both him and their other chaser made a run for Sophie at the goals. What were they doing? Were they going to attack her? Was that allowed? She was fairly certain that Captain Jose would have mentioned something about it if it was. She had to help! Good thing her broom was already pointing the right direction.

She kicked it forward, and for some reason, it started losing altitude as it moved. Sophie was the other direction! Up! Stupid broom! She watched as the other chaser threw the ball towards the goals, their captain must have passed it at some point, and cheered again as Sophie stopped it a second time! The ball was falling, she had to catch it. She never would have been able to if she had been at her previous altitude, but down near the ground, she snatched it lightly from the air. "Woo-hoo!!" She shouted aloud. She had the Quaffle ball again!

That was the point at which she noticed not only all the other players, but also another ball hurtling though the air towards her. Bludger Ball! Crap, she had the Quaffle ball now! Without thinking, she spurred her broom into action and careened across the field just off the ground, unintentionally swerving side to side and she fought the broom for control. Luckily this seemed to make it difficult for the pursuing bludger to catch up to her, but it got closer every moment.

She looked up and saw one of her chasers above her, and she tossed the ball with all her might. A moment later the bludger struck her in the back and sent her and the broom tumbling across the ground. She laid on her back where she landed for just a moment, "Ow." The she sat up, collected herself and looked around for that stupid broom. Spotting it, she grabbed it, hopped on and headed back into the game. There was no way she was going to let Captain Jose or Coach Pierce down!

2 Jhonice, Chaser I've tried it... it's not as fun as some make it out to be 209 Jhonice, Chaser 0 5

Demelza, Beater

August 03, 2011 10:53 PM

Saving the day! (a bit late) by Demelza, Beater

Demelza's amazing hit didn't even get the chance to reach Aladren's seeker because Edmund (grawr) hit her bludger in the other direction. She cursed under her breath, but then pursued onward. The game continued, and Mel took advantage of more bludgers coming her way. Her new technique had definitely worked, which was a positive, so she would try it out again.

Zooming around the pitch in search of dangerous bludgers, she jumped when Edmund shot another one towards Sophie and several other chasers. Following everything that was going on with the chasers, she immediately threw herself into the play as the bludger tried to knock out some Pecari brains. Not on my watch!

She was extremely confused, however, when a bludger hit Johnice. She hadn't seen one sent as low down as she was. She cursed herself, but decided that she needed to send the bludger Edmund sent back at his own team since Johnice was able to get right back up. More than a little worried for Johnice and the rest of the team, Mel wasn't able to bunt the bludger before hitting it this time because too many people were around, so she just swung her bat back and redirected the bludger towards an Aladren chaser. Since she was closer to the huddle of chasers around Pecari's hoops, she was able to get a good angle and good aim on the ball, her usual strength behind each hit.

Mel let out a sigh of relief, but she wouldn't let her guard down. How could she let one of her players get hit? After all extra practices, the Quidditch camp, the perfecting she put into each hit--and yet, she failed. Her green eyes narrowed and glared at every Aladren player, wishing they would all crumble with each bludger she sent their way. Especially Edmund. She didn't have anything against him personally, but when it came to Quidditch, everything was personal.

0 Demelza, Beater Saving the day! (a bit late) 0 Demelza, Beater 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

August 04, 2011 11:25 AM

If you're late, it's not really saving the day, is it? by Edmond Carey, Beater

The possibility that the Pecari Beaters would object to him blithely taking out their players was, of course, one Edmond had considered. Beater was odd in that it was both an offensive and defensive position, since just as much of the job was protecting your players as it was attacking the other team’s.

Some, he knew, didn’t quite see it that way. Some Beaters were in it for the violence. He considered such people mental cases who ought to be closely watched and possibly medicated against turning Dark, but he didn’t think Sonora had too much of a problem in that regard. Sometimes he worried about Preston, and last year had worried about himself, but overall it wasn’t a problem. Most of them protected as well as offended.

He tended to lump Demelza Eagle in with the group that might someday be a reason for concern, but he wasn’t familiar enough with her or her style of play to be sure of anything but the fact that she alone of the school’s other Beaters came close to him in size. Therefore, he kept an eye on her position and moves, as Daniel had suggested in his speech. After Miss Trevear was knocked off her broom, somehow so close to the ground she didn’t even really seem to hurt herself – Preston’s work, perhaps? Certainly the Bludger hadn’t hit very hard – he watched the other Beater until she redirected a Bludger toward an Aladren, and then redirected it toward a Pecari again.

Luck, he supposed, that the Seekers had gotten too tangled up with each other to be worth the risk of attacking right now and were far from the rest of the game at this exact moment anyway, which was why he was here to see that and handle it. He watched for attempts at further Pecari interceptions, though, and for whatever was going on with the other Bludger, since everyone was so thrown together at the moment that it was entirely possible Miss Mason could enter into things at any time, or that Miss Eagle could get in the way again. It was still early in the game; if Arnold and Miss Thornton didn’t stop doing…whatever they were doing over there, likely annoying each other more than really Seeking, then anything might still and, if the patterns of last year continued on into this one, most likely would happen.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater If you're late, it's not really saving the day, is it? 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

August 04, 2011 11:29 AM

Lying in wait by Arthur Carey, Chaser

When Miss Jamison only barely saved, Arthur exhaled a little sharply, a sound of mild irritation, but that was all the display he allowed himself. He was determined to keep his emotions in check this year, not to get carried away the way he had during the final last year. If Mother had ever gotten any hint of how the two days after that game had gone, she would never have let him anywhere near a broom again, and he doubted he could keep it up again. He preferred not to even think of those two days, or of how his classes had gone during the Monday. It was a small mercy – maybe a small miracle – that he hadn’t had an exam that day.

The stranger of the two first years got the Quaffle again, and did a little better at getting out of the area this time, perhaps because of the Bludger tailing her with particular focus – though that could have been because no one else was going to throw himself in the way, which left her still as the closest target. She was also losing altitude fast.

That caused Arthur to grimace again in frustration. It might be possible, he supposed, to swoop in there, but he was no Seeker, used to diving down, pulling out of it so his toes skimmed the grass, and then speeding off back into the air, and he wasn’t sure how he’d fare if he tried to intercept her upward pass from so close to the ground. He doubted she’d even really bruised herself too much in her fall at that range, but he didn’t want to find out by testing a similar fall on his own break-and-bruisable bits. With Edmond and the very large Pecari Beater floating about in the same vicinity, he thought he was likely enough to do that without taking any unnecessary risks.

Instead, then, he set himself up for an interception if one of her teammates decided he or she was more agile than Arthur or a pass if one of his teammates decided the same thing. He could be the support on this one, he thought, without any real loss of face. Someone had to assume that role, so it might as well be him at this particular moment as it might be anyone else. He still had five and a half more years, not to mention the rest of this game and the final this year, to make all the main moves he cared to when he was in better positions to make them than he was right now. The key was to not get emotional, not to take things personally, and think. That, all his tutors and readings had assured him for years and years, was what rational people who ultimately did well and achieved their objectives did when they were confronted with a situation, and he had no reason to disbelieve it. Sometimes risks paid off, but even then, thinking first was best.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser Lying in wait 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Coach Amelia Pierce

August 04, 2011 1:45 PM

Recentering and Recap by Coach Amelia Pierce

-Game starts on a sunny but chilly day
-Captains shake and Daniel does a minor bit of trash-talk.
-Jose gets the Quaffle for Pecari right off, gets up to normal altitude, and passes
-Daniel intercepts, brings the Quaffle into Pecari territory, and passes
-Jhonice runs into the Quaffle and it falls
-Arthur recovers Quaffle for Aladren and runs it further into Pecari territory, passes to Russell
-Edmond hits Bludger at Jose
-Jose evades but is prevented from stopping Russell
-Russell attempts to score, but Sophie saves
-Sophie passes caught Quaffle to Jhonice
-Jhonice has trouble moving broom and passes to Mellie
-Mellie gets some distance from her team's hoops, but her pass to Jose is thwarted
-Arthur intercepts pass, brings it back, feints a pass at Daniel but makes a pass to Russell
-Daniel pretends to have quaffle and makes run at right goal
-Russell does have the quaffle and makes run at left goal
-Sophie figures out who really has it and barely makes save
-Quaffle falls
-Edmond attempts a cautions hit against Sophie to clear the goals in case an Aladren gets the ball
-Jhonice gets falling Quaffle for Pecari, but she ends up near the ground with a bludger on her tail
-She makes an upward pass shortly before the bludger sends her tumbling off her broom from only a very short distance above the ground, but she's back in the air almost immediately probably bruised but otherwise unharmed
-Coach appears unconcerned and did not stop the game
-Mel redirects that bludger toward an Aladren
-Edmond redirects it toward a Pecari
-Arthur stands ready to intercept or catch a pass from whoever gets the Quaffle

Meanwhile, the seekers are having an exciting game, too:
-Arnold started leisurely enough
-Mel hit a bludger at him
-Edmond redirected at Amira
-Amira caught sight of the snitch early, but momentarily lost it when she evaded Edmond's bludger
-She caught sight of it again and went for it, Arnold on her tail
-She tried to reach for it but a rogue bludger caught her on the outstretched arm and now that hurts a lot
-Arnold and Amira chased another sighting and trash-talked each other
-They lost it in the Chaser crowd, and Arnold made a feint toward a shiny in the audience stands

1 Coach Amelia Pierce Recentering and Recap 20 Coach Amelia Pierce 0 5

Amira Thornton, Seeker

August 04, 2011 11:44 PM

Delusion is in the mind of the beholder! by Amira Thornton, Seeker

Amira ignored the boy's response back to hers. Her attention was placed on one thing and one thing alone. The shimmery golden snitch. Still sprinting on her newest model broom towards the golden ball, a mass of players flew between her and the sphere and she lost eye contact with it! "Dang it!" she mumbled to herself as he commented that she had to wake up earlier. "You should talk!" she retorted as she flew high up to watch once more for the winged ball. He wouldn't bother her, not anymore, she wouldn't let even his words break her concentration.

The opposing teams Seeker flew fast towards the other end of the pitch and she shook her head. "I would have to wake up earlier to fall for that!" She called down to him as she squinted in the opposite direction than what he was looking when out of the corner of her eyes she saw something shimmer by the ground of the Pitch. Because of the feint he'd pulled, she was now closer to the Snitch than him, but she didn't want to allow him to see it!

Keeping it in her line of vision, she flew around the Pitch, pretending she was looking for it, as she flew just a little bit closer each second to it. The first year didn't want to fly fast towards it as she hadn't wanted him to catch up to it, or her!

0 Amira Thornton, Seeker Delusion is in the mind of the beholder! 0 Amira Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Mellie Goodwin, Chaser

August 05, 2011 1:01 PM

Here we go again. by Mellie Goodwin, Chaser

Again, Mellie was feeling overwhelmed by the all the motion and craziness. She had a feeling that was a feeling she was going to get really used to before this game was over. It wasn’t as bad now as it had been before, though.

Her pass had been intercepted, which could only have been done by one Aladren Chaser, and he’d passed, but now both the Aladren captain and Russell were moving as though they had Quaffles, even shooting, though it became apparent to her then that the bigger one did not have a real Quaffle. She was on his side, though, not Russell’s, so even if she’d wanted to try to intercept it in case Sophie had fallen for the ruse, she probably couldn’t have made it in there in time. So it was all on Sophie to keep Pecari from being really embarrassed here.

Luckily, Soph was up for the task, but then the Bludgers went wild, or were sent wild by the Beaters. Without much thought for dignity, Mellie went away from them, and Jhon ended up with the Quaffle, heading down very low with it. Mellie could only guess she was trying to lose the Bludger tailing her that way, but if so, it wasn’t working. They went for the nearest target, and she was the only target down that low.

And she had the Quaffle. Mellie was already wincing as she flew lower, too, so maybe it wouldn’t go on the ground and then it would turn out there was some obscure rule about how that meant automatically surrendering it to the other team, but thinking she was just going to get hit by a Bludger. She was almost surprised when Jhonice, a moment before falling, threw the Quaffle up, and was nearly flat-out amazed when she realized she was moving forward quickly to catch it and going up and on toward the Aladren goals.

She hoped Jhonice was all right, but found herself thinking mostly about how far she had to carry the Quaffle before she could pass it without looking pathetic. Or just getting intercepted as soon as she blinked. There was a lot o blue in the air, dark blue, nothing like the color of the sky. When she thought she saw a decent opening, though, she turned slightly and threw the Quaffle with both hands toward the other Pecari Chaser, hoping.

16 Mellie Goodwin, Chaser Here we go again. 206 Mellie Goodwin, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 05, 2011 7:00 PM

Actually, delusions are all in the head of the deluded by Arnold Carey, Seeker

Arnold had been watching to see if she took the bait, but this turned out to be unnecessary when she called out to him. He was already turning around to head back in her direction before she quite finished the sentence. “Being sleepy does make it harder,” he called back agreeably. One of the downsides of being excited about a game was the trouble it caused with sleeping the night before, which was why he suspected Arthur, who’d been keeping sleeping potions hidden in his trunk ever since he’d become satisfied that he’d taught himself to make them last year, had somehow managed to slip him something last night. How else could he have fallen asleep earlier than usual?

That his gambit had been declined was a little disappointing, but Arnold shrugged it off. He was still having fun, not getting really frustrated, though he would like to spot the real Snitch before her once at least. Practically speaking, it didn’t matter, and he could use her abilities to help himself and Aladren would come out with as much of a win as it would if she were off running at candy wrappers on the other end while the Snitch was appearing right in front of his nose, but it felt less honest, somehow. He thought he’d put an elbow to her broken arm to put her off her broom without much hesitation if it really came down to a race and there was the slightest chance she could outrun him, because the game wasn’t just between them and Arthur would kill him for letting something like being a little sentimental get in the way of victory even if the rest of Aladren didn’t, but he’d rather not have it come to that at all.

It hadn’t come to that yet, so he just watched her movements closely, keeping close enough physically to dart in and race her if he needed to without being so close to each other they were as likely as not to get tangled up if they did try to make a move, the way it had been before.

Suddenly, he saw an abrupt glint of gold – the Snitch! – and exclaimed to himself as it darted off and vanished again into the vast length and height of the Pitch. He went off in the direction he had seen it move, but it was luring somewhere again, always on the move, avoiding him, wheeling around like the bird trapped in a bubble it was modeled after….

He flew high, circling, looking for it again. He was going to win. There was no doubt about that. He could not permit himself, his captain’s warnings about confidence aside, to feel any doubt. She had established her presence enough for him to go straight for it the moment he saw it, without any thoughts about whether the rest of the game had been satisfying enough for the viewers, but she would not actually beat him. Besides, the game had gone on long enough to make a good show anyway. No one in the audience was going to want to sit out in the chill too much longer.

But before he could deliver them all from the weather and the suspense, he had to find the Snitch. He kept an eye on his competition in case she started to run for it again, but she wasn’t, so he assumed her luck was no better than his at the moment. He found himself hoping he might even managed to get in on his own, without having to trail after her and then just exploit Aladren broom superiority….

Flash of gold. He blinked, startled. There it was again, further to the left, but there.

He had the Snitch in sight. It was right over there. He had a clear line on it. Without a second thought, he began to make his run for it, his pulse accelerating in a way that felt almost as dramatic as the way his broom did while he struggled, in spite of the air rushing by his head, not to blink in case it made a move while his eyes were closed. He couldn’t lose it now, again.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Actually, delusions are all in the head of the deluded 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Arnold

August 05, 2011 7:02 PM

OOC: Continued above, under the recentering post (nm) by Arnold

0 Arnold OOC: Continued above, under the recentering post (nm) 181 Arnold 0 5

Preston S., Beater

August 05, 2011 9:53 PM

Yes, Indeed! Maim! Maim! by Preston S., Beater

Preston Stratford had been practicing endlessly on his Beating skills, because he was not going to let Captain Nash down. After all, it was his last year at Sonora, and Preston didn’t want to be seen as a failure by the person that had taught him so much. Plus, he had a great beating partner. Edmond Carey was a great role model. He was an excellent Beater, a Pureblood, and just plain scary. The redhead would never ever get on his bad side, the damage could be fatal, or something. Apart from his grueling Quidditch practices with the team, he went to the Sport Room to do it alone. He had been spending so much time practicing that he had forwent other responsibilities, like socializing and even his studies. He wasn’t very proud of that, but he needed to catch up with the rest of his team. He didn’t think his grades had suffered that much, he hoped. Otherwise, it would be horrible for the second-year.

Another thing that he had sent to the back of his mind was Miss Raines. At the end of the last term, they had made plans to see each other and talk about their respective summers. Preston had been somewhat afraid of doing it. He hadn’t come across any books that told him how to act around girls, this was the first time the Library had let him down. He didn’t really know how to feel about that, it was just so weird. He even played with the idea of asking Miss Diaz, but the older witch was very odd, and Preston didn’t really trust her judgment. One just couldn’t trust someone that looked like that, no offence intended. The only thing that had come to mind was to ask Victor, but he was somewhat ashamed of owling his older brother and ask him about a possible date with an older girl. The redhead had to catch up with her.

Anyways, it was Quidditch time. He would worry about Miss Raines later on. Today, he needed to focus on the task ahead. Cream Pecari. It wasn’t going to be a rather difficult task to achieve. The second-year got on his broom and enjoyed the feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins. He smiled, one of his rare ones. Preston hardly ever smiled, he needed a very important reason to do, and Quidditch was one.

He followed the game as best as he could, but like always, it was going super fast. The redheaded Aladren finally saw his opportunity to act; a Pecari Chaser had the Quaffle. He grinned at the fact that a bludger had just passed him, and he followed it before moving his bat to cause a collision between wood and whatever material a bludger was made with. The whack was loud, he realized that being stealthier with the beating would make it even better, but it couldn’t be done. No matter how beating would never be like a susurrus. A bludger could come like a surprise to the victim, but it wasn’t quiet.

0 Preston S., Beater Yes, Indeed! Maim! Maim! 0 Preston S., Beater 0 5

Cap'n Jose, Chaser

August 05, 2011 10:38 PM

Maiming is mean by Cap'n Jose, Chaser

Sophie saved. Jose cheered that loud enough to make his throat sore, and though he dove for the falling ball, he wasn't anywhere near the right vicinity to catch it. Jhonice . . . apparently was. He wasn't entirely sure why she kept flying down but there was a bludger on her tail so either she thought gravity might help her outrun it, or . . . or she was having trouble with her broom again.

She did have the wherewithall to pass up to Mellie before the bludger did catch up, and Jose watched with some concern as Jhon tumbled. He looked to the Coach to see if she'd call a stop but she didn't. Jhonice was back in the air on her own already and that apparently meant the game went on.

He sort of thought that was unfair to Pecari since they were effectively down a Chaser while Jhonice recovered and regained altitude, but another bludger hit at him from Edmond made him forget about arguing the lack of a call.

He had no sooner outrun that one, and set himself up for a pass from Mellie when he heard another crack of wood on metal. The Quaffle was already in the air though, so he flew at it, snatched it from its flight path early, and started flying like Death itself was after him. He wasn't entirely sure that the released bludger was after him, but he'd already noticed the Aladrens' apparent strategy was to take him out of the Chaser game.

Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. On one hand, it was kind of flattering. Plus, it meant Edmond and Preston weren't intentionally going after his smaller and less experienced teammates, and sending them into even greater chaos than they were already in.

On the other, it was kind of absolutely terrifying.

Not daring to hold onto the ball for long when he was a target even without it, Jose watched for an opportunity to toss it back to one of the girls and took the first one that presented itself.

Only then did he slow down enough to check behind him, making sure the bludger wasn't still back there, but either it had never been after him in the first place, he'd outdistanced it with the help of surging adrenaline, or one of his beaters had relieved him of his tail while he was focused ahead.

And that was when the bludger caught the tail of his broom and proved none of those had happened at all and he apparently had a blind spot as well.

Jose fought to keep control of his broom and managed to keep it from spiraling out only by using every ounce of strength and experience he had. He flew upwards, getting out of the field of play where he could hopefully check out the damage to his broom and perform quick and dirty repairs without drawing additional bludgers.

At least no one on his team was sent to medic yet. That was good, right?

0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser Maiming is mean 0 Cap'n Jose, Chaser 0 5

Amira Thornton, Seeker

August 07, 2011 1:24 AM

You're deluded! by Amira Thornton, Seeker

Amira didn't care what this boy was saying or doing, she was determined to show the Pecari Team, not to mention her sisters, that she was growing up and that she could do it! There would be no baiting this eleven year old, and it was then that she knew it. The redhead only wondered how much longer it would take the other seeker for him to realize that as well!

“Being sleepy does make it harder,” he called back to her, and she laughed maniacally.

"That's where you're mistaken!" she called back, laughing before going on once more. "I'm NOT sleepy!" she said as she flew fast and hard towards the other end of the Pitch. The first year didn't want him around as a distraction, and she wanted to get away to be sure that in her own mind he didn't have to be!

The Pecari was being watched, this she knew. Let him! He’s only marking me cause he can’t find the Snitch himself! she thought as she held her head high through the pain in her arm, eyes, eagle-like, watching for the golden glow of the small winged ball. The sooner I catch the Snitch, the sooner I can get my arm fixed… she thought as a glint of gold showed itself to her nearby where she was! Excitement climbing inside of the girl, she watched as she saw the other Seeker dart after it too! “Oh no you don’t!” she said softly as she leaned into her broom. Flying fast to cut him off, she watched as the small ball vanished again just as fast as it had come out of hiding. “HA!” she said, maniacally. He wheeled around and flew high and Amira followed suit. He wanted to mark her? Let him try! She was going to mark HIM unless she spotted the Snitch!

Soon there was another flash of gold in the air around them. It was to the left of them, and he made a run for it. Her newest model Firefly, pushed faster and faster towards her goal, the little golden ball. Flying fast past him, eyes continuing to keep on the winged ball, she reached out her hand for it, and with a little swipe of her only working hand, missed the ball, and it once again disappeared!

DARN IT! she thought to herself as she groaned inwardly. The pain in her arm was increasing, and it felt like there were pins and needles all over the rest of her body. I’ve GOT to get this Snitch! she thought, eyes darting around the pitch for the golden hue.

0 Amira Thornton, Seeker You're deluded! 0 Amira Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Jhonice, Chaser

August 07, 2011 12:08 PM

Ready, Aim...... by Jhonice, Chaser

She was doing good, she was going up. Up was good, up was where all the other players and the balls and the goals were. Up was where she needed to be. Surprisingly, up was where her broom was taking her. Now, she just had to figure out where the Quaffle ball was and she'd be doing really good. She had passed it to Mellie just before that stupid bludger ball caught up to her and she was still a little disoriented from the tumble she had taken. Taking stock of the field, it looked like most everyone was headed towards the Aladren goal side of the field, at least she was pretty sure it was the Aladren side. She hoped it was anyway, but she was already moving towards the group regardless.

Jhonice was determined, after that fall she was going to have to do something amazing to impress Captain Jose, Coach Pierce and even the Careys on the field. She was going to make a goal. Yes. The Quaffle ball was heading in the right direction, Captain Jose had it, she could see that now. She was still lower than most everybody else, which hopefully meant no one would be looking for her. Without having to worry about other people, or bludgers she raced forward as fast as her broom could take her. It only spun her upside down twice as she traversed the distance.

As she got closer she saw a bludger chasing Captian Jose, she was about to yell out to him about it, but he threw the Quaffle ball at her instead. She caught the ball, then it slipped. No! In a desperate grab she reached out and caught the ball again, but unbalanced herself on her broom. She swung around and clinging desperately to the underside of her broom, she urged it on forwards towards the goal. She was on to how this broom worked now. It was sneaky, but she could outsmart it. As it raced forwards it spun her around as it had earlier and she was once again on top. Ha! Take that stupid broom!

She was in range now, she hoped anyway. The Aladren goals loomed before her, she threw the ball as hard as she could in the general vicinity of the goals, and closed her eyes as it left her hand. "Please... please..." she whispered before cracking her eyelids open again to see what had happened.

2 Jhonice, Chaser Ready, Aim...... 209 Jhonice, Chaser 0 5

Kitty McLevy – Keeper

August 07, 2011 1:27 PM

What exactly where you aiming at? by Kitty McLevy – Keeper

Her hands were getting cold, and Kitty rubbed them together breathing on them as she watched the game, which was still way down at the other end of the field. Our team is awesome! But…I’m never going to get to play! Kitty thought with despair. It seemed like every time the other team had the ball her super fantastic teammates got it back in the blink of an eye. It probably didn’t help the other team that they only had one effective chaser. The two first year girls seemed rather unskilled at controlling their brooms. Each girl had managed to get a hold of the Quaffle, which still surprised Kitty considering how good her chasers were.

Twice the Quaffle flew at the other teams goals, and twice it was deflected. “AWWW Come on GUYS!” Kitty yelled, waving her arms wildly when the second goal failed. She was so into her commentary that for a moment Kitty forgot she was sitting on a broom and almost toppled off. A bright blush filled her wind stung cheeks as she regained her balance. That would have been horribly embarrassing. No one was even near her, taken out of the game not by a bludger but by her own excitability.

The Quaffle was falling before being caught by the girl who really couldn’t fly well. Why is she going down? Kitty wondered as she watched her fellow first year rapidly losing altitude. It almost looked like she was just going to crash into the ground and Kitty pondered whether or not that would be penalty in their favor. Nothing in the books she’d read about Quidditch in the weeks leading up to her first game said anything about what happened if the players touched the ground. Then a bludger appeared seemingly out of nowhere and began tailing the girl. Just before it struck her off her broom she threw the Quaffle up high into the air. The girl appeared to be alright as she climbed back onto her broom and Kitty gave a little sigh of relief. She didn’t like to see people get hurt, even if they were on the other team.

The other first year chaser of Pecari somehow managed to catch the Quaffle before it began falling towards the ground again and was able to get her broom to zoom forward towards Kitty’s goals. Oh my gosh! They might actually make it all the way down here Kitty thought with a wild whoop as she began looping around her goals to get her blood flowing again. The wind stung her exposed cheeks but Kitty couldn’t stop smiling, finally it was her turn to shine! Her excitement was only slightly marred by nerves. The Pecari Keeper had already managed to stop two attempts. What if Kitty failed? What if Daniel decided that she wasn’t good after all and that she shouldn’t be allowed to play again?

The worry increased when the little first year passed the Quaffle off to their Captain. Defending against such an experienced player would be a lot harder than defending against one of the other first years. I can do it, I can do IT! Kitty chanted silently as he got closer and closer.

Suddenly the loud Crack of a bat on bludger sounded and Kitty saw one of the ominous black balls flying towards the Pecari Captain. Before the ball caught up to the older boy, he threw the Quaffle to the girl who’d gotten smacked earlier by the bludger. Just after the Quaffle was passed the bludger almost managed to knock the Captain from his broom. He managed to keep from falling, but the hit took him out of the running at least for a few minutes as he climbed in altitude.

Now it was just Kitty and the other first year girl. A wide grin pulled at her lips when she saw the Pecari chaser’s broom almost flip her off, this wouldn’t be much of a challenge. The girl managed to keep a hold of the Quaffle and was now once again upright on her broom and headed in Kitty’s direction.

Her grin turned into a bit of a pout when the girl threw the ball hard…and it flew in an arch towards the space between the right and center goals. She knows it needs to go though the hoops right? Kitty wondered as she darted forward with fox like grace and plucked the ball out of the air. As she looked around for one of her team mates Kitty saw that the other girl had her eyes closed. That’s not a very good way to shoot a goal Kitty thought with a grin.

A light playful laugh bubbled on her lips as sky blue eyes tossed the ball hard towards one of her fellow players.

0 Kitty McLevy – Keeper What exactly where you aiming at? 0 Kitty McLevy – Keeper 0 5

Demetra Mason, Beater

August 07, 2011 4:04 PM

I don't know about her, but I'm aiming for an Aladren by Demetra Mason, Beater

Demetra had been ready for this game for weeks. Mel had been training her like a mad woman, so she felt more than prepared for the game. However, it seemed like Dem was sort of out of it the earliest part of the game. She had almost forgotten how fast everything happened, and had missed a couple chances at a Bludger. She tried to keep up with the game, but it took her a while to get back in to the groove of things. Jose had said that she could easily take the little Aladren beater, Preston, but she wasn't acting like it.

She finally woke up to the game around her when Jose took a hit to the back of his broom. Though it was too late to save her captain, she moved toward the Bludger. The thing about being a beater was that you had to constantly control the broom with one hand, due to the fact that instead of occasionally reaching for the Snitch or having the Quaffle, you were always gripping a bat. It seemed like a disadvantage, but if you were going to fly with one hand, you had to be good at it. Depending on the skills that she had developed in practices, she moved to get on the right side of the bludger.

"Sorry, Captain!" she hollered, as picked out the Aladren chaser that the Quaffle was headed to. She swung with all her might, sending the Bludger that way. "Please, please, take him out," she muttered quietly. She wanted to win this year, against Aladren, and against whoever made it to the Finals, Teppenpaw or Crotalus. She wanted it, not only for just herself, but for her entire team, and her entire house.

0 Demetra Mason, Beater I don't know about her, but I'm aiming for an Aladren 0 Demetra Mason, Beater 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

August 07, 2011 5:03 PM

And I for a Pecari by Edmond Carey, Beater

There was, Edmond thought, something bizarre against this game. The intensity of the Aladren team was in sharp contrast to the slightly comic bumbling of the little Pecari Chasers, and the way the Seekers kept swooping around overhead, continually ending up side by side as though they were walking together in a garden, just as a very high pace, just added to the unreality of it all.

Still, he preferred that to last year’s games. Both, even the first, where he’d been in his right mind, had been grim, drawn-out, difficult affairs, both teams fighting tooth and nail for the slightest scrap of advantage, with the wins coming at the price of many injuries, both to the other guys and to them. He didn’t doubt that Pecari wanted to win just as much as Teppenpaw or Crotalus had, but at least there wasn’t such an air of everyone being ready to start playing dirty in a “pulling knives on each other in mid-game” sort of way this time.

Maybe that was why the Chasers had somehow let their Pecari counterparts gain so much ground, to the point of making a shot. That, and possibly underestimating them a little to begin with, especially once poor Miss Trevear had displayed that the rumors about her not being able to control her broom were true. Now that Jose’s broom was damaged, they really were in trouble, but that, as Daniel had warned them, did not seem to have made them want to stop fighting; he thought the other sixth year even seemed to be trying to fix that damage in midair to get on with it.

Determination was admirable, and he had never enjoyed, as some writers indicated he should, beating an enemy he admired. Or, for that matter, even one he didn’t admire too much. He preferred victory to loss, but didn't particularly enjoy seeing someone else defeated, just the sense of his own and his team's accomplishment. He didn’t let that get in the way of his play being directed toward physically crushing the other team, though. Especially not this year. Daniel was smaller than him, but might still do him harm, with a wand or otherwise, if they lost their edge and it was clearly his fault for hesitating.

Getting the ball away from one set of goals was always the trickiest part of the game for a Beater, because everyone was very close together, and the other team’s Beaters were going to do everything in their power to keep your team’s Beaters from getting back toward their own goals. Better for Demelza and Miss Mason if the Aladrens immediately lost the Quaffle again, giving them a second chance at shooting against Miss McLevy. So he had to be on his guard, as Miss Mason proved almost immediately.

He intercepted the Bludger, hitting it away from the blue-robed Chaser – he did not even look to see which one it was – and back toward a brown robe, hoping his team took advantage of the breather and hurried out of the way before she or Demelza could get in there and send it back to an Aladren, or it just went off course and went for one anyway. That was why he hated the goals so since he’d stopped being a Chaser himself. It created a tangle of players where almost anything could happen.

As long as it was the Pecari goals which next had the problem. Until he started to get really tired, he could protect everything but all Aladren’s hoops, so he’d rather move back to Pecari’s.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater And I for a Pecari 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

August 07, 2011 5:33 PM

And I for the other end of the pitch by Captain Nash, Chaser

Daniel honestly wasn't quite sure what just happened. They'd made the two-prong attack at Sophie, which had almost but not quite worked, and somehow the little girl who couldn't fly ended up with the loose Quaffle. But that wasn't the bad part. Sometimes that was just how things went. What wasn't acceptable was that she'd passed it to the other first year who had passed it to Jose who had passed it back to the first one and she made it all the way over to Kitty. And not one Aladren Chaser had been able to get to the ball in that time.

Given how sad the Pecari chasing team was this year, that was downright embarrassing. At least Kitty had gotten the Quaffle. He couldn't even rightly call it a save, but she'd at least grabbed possession for Aladren which was more than he and Arthur and Russell had done recently. She passed it to him, and he turned on his broom and headed back for Pecari's end.

There was a crack of bat on bludger before he'd gone more than a few feet, and a glance back showed it was coming at him. Fortunately Edmond was right there and redirected long before it could do him any harm. So Daniel ran with the Quaffle. Edmond was covering him. Jose was out for the time being with a broom problem, and he didn't have much fear that either of the first year girls would try to wrestle the ball out of his arms. After all, he might not be as large as Edmond, but he was seventeen years old and significantly bigger than any other Chaser playing today, including Jose.

Still, he was starting to feel a bit like a large target had been drawn on him as he approached the center of the field and didn't dare push much farther than that on his own. He spotted an open teammate and passed the Quaffle to him.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser And I for the other end of the pitch 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

August 07, 2011 7:09 PM

And I'm covering you by Edmond Carey, Beater

Though he had been sure when he made it that his tactic would succeed – Edmond almost had to make himself sure in the moment of connection between his bat and the Bludgers, or else he began to lose his nerve, and that was a bad thing to do when he had already purposefully made himself the target nearest the Bludger, and he did not like to hit it just so it would hit someone who was not him, but rather because he believed he would accomplish some goal by risking injury to someone – Edmond felt his breath catch slightly in relief when Daniel did catch the Quaffle and head back down the Pitch with it, unharmed. At the goals, there was always a chance….

…But then, there was always a chance, and no qualifiers were needed. The Pecari girls weren’t going to give up because Daniel got too far away for their Chasers to shoot immediately if they regained the Quaffle. He continued to cover the Chasers as they pulled away – as much as the technically legal way they had gotten them felt a little dishonest to him, Edmond couldn’t help but be grateful that his whole team had superior brooms – watching for any threat to them.

It was, after all, only a matter of time, especially since Bludgers could outpace those who hit them and maybe, if it were Demelza, even catch up to the captain, who was holding on to the Quaffle for a long time, no doubt in fear that some strange trick of fate would make it fall into Pecari hands again if it had a chance. Arnold had perhaps the biggest target of the day on his back since he had won twice as a first year and Pecari’s Seeker was untried, but those two were sticking too close together for either to be meddled with without endangering the other for the moment, which made Daniel the one Demelza and Demetra would want. It was Edmond’s job to make sure they could not have him, his and Preston’s, and Edmond did not like allowing someone else to handle things very much. There were only a handful of people in the world he trusted that much, and he didn’t like to put a burden on them.

So he flew behind the Chasers, looking for any attempts by Pecari to interfere with them, prepared to hit a Bludger if he could or just swoop at them to disorient and scatter them if he couldn’t. When one Bludger came by him, whistling darkly through the air in search of someone to maim, he thwacked it back toward the Pecari Chasers, not minding which of them caught it or was driven off the trail by it or any other favorable outcome. The two little girls had played major roles just now, one even shooting, so it wasn’t going to work to assume that because Jose’s broom was damaged that Pecari was finished. They’d lose if they thought that way.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater And I'm covering you 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

August 07, 2011 7:13 PM

And I'm taking it even further down the Pitch by Arthur Carey, Chaser

The other girl got the Quaffle – strange, he noticed; Aladren’s team had only one girl, and Pecari’s only one boy; if they had brought in their alternates instead of those two members of their first string, then it would have been a direct battle of the sexes – and he only just missed making the interception between her and Jose Hernandez. He grimaced, but pointedly didn’t take it to heart. No one could get it right every time.

For the pass between Mr. Hernandez and the girl he had thought had been hit by a Bludger, though, there was no excuse. He had just been sloppy, not paying close enough attention as he thought Hernandez was going to run further, and Pecari had taken advantage of that to keep the Quaffle and run it right up to the goals. If the captains, as seemed possible despite how hard it was to imagine Edmond raising his voice, chose to yell at him about it later, he would do his best not to show emotion, to meet the dressings-down with a lack of facial expressions of any kind, but he wouldn’t plot to get back at them afterward. He’d about deserve it, for that.

There was a brief moment, chaos and confusion, where the girl was falling off her broom and only just holding onto it with her legs where he thought he might manage to save, but she somehow held onto the Quaffle and righted herself, and then it was too late. Only the ineptness of her throw, he suspected, saved Aladren from the hysterical laughter of the crowds watching the game.

But the throw was inept, and Captain Nash and Edmond between them managed to see to it that the Quaffle was secure once more, and the game began to move back down the Pitch. Far down the Pitch, practically to the center line – the hated center line they had gone over so many times in the Crotalus game, the line he had, for a time, had unpleasant dreams about after the Crotalus game. He felt embarrassment again, a sickly feeling. Clearly, the captain didn’t trust his Chasers right now. He ignored the feeling, or tried to, because emotions would make things go wrong, but it didn’t work completely, and he found himself taking the Quaffle from the air with more energy than was necessary, leaning out a little to get it faster even though, at a speed meant for leaving behind the more poorly equipped Pecaris, that meant risking falling.

To his relief, though, he did not fall, and did get the Quaffle. He sped on, leaving the line behind and feeling more comfortable as the grass far, far beneath him became indisputably Pecari grass, the kind his team was supposed to be over as the assaulted the goals. In case of Bludgers, though, he passed about halfway back to the Pecari goals, taking care to make the pass as close as possible and to watch out for threats first.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser And I'm taking it even further down the Pitch 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 07, 2011 8:52 PM

Nope, you are by Arnold Carey, Seeker

The other Seeker’s laughter had taken on an edge which did not bode well for her sanity. Deep down, Arnold felt a little concerned for her. The game was important, the game was worth taking some pretty nasty injuries over, but it wasn’t something to actually go cackling insane over. Her inability to realize what a fairly simple contribution to a fairly simple conversation meant just because they’d both used a figure of speech with slightly different implications a little earlier didn’t bode well in his mind, either.

Most of him, however, was focused on how it didn’t matter what was going on with her so long as she could still compete, and she could, so he had to out-compete her. It was as simple and energizing as anything in the world, that knowledge. It all came down to the chase. There wasn’t anything else in this place, on this day. Just the chase, and then the victory.

He’d always competed, as far as he could remember. Competed in lessons even though he knew, with Arthur and Anthony for brothers, that he could only seldom win, competed with Jay about who’d take the craziest risks, competed with everyone, cousins and brothers alike, for favor from those above them. That was natural; they had all been taught almost since birth by more traditional members of the family than his parents to battle the others of their generation, and eventually just everyone, for favor with Great-Great-Grandfather. His patronage meant safety, which everyone wanted to some degree against the really bad, shadowy things that no one ever directly talked about, and power, which some of them were interested in now and they were assured they would all be someday, while his displeasure meant a lack of those things. Those competitions, though, seemed different. Certainly his minor victories in them had never produced the…bliss, he supposed, though that felt like a strong word, that winning here, hearing cheering crowds, being the center of everyone’s approval in a way he’d never seen anyone be at home, inspired in him.

It was a little unsettling to him, when he thought about it, to realize how much he wanted that, but being unsettled took second place to wanting to win. Nothing could prevent that. Nothing at all.

…Except maybe her, if she went just past him as he ran the Snitch. Cursing, he pushed harder, caught up with her, and…

The Snitch vanished again!

It couldn’t have gone far. His mind was racing, but a steadier bit in the center knew that. It could only move so fast, and only in so many directions.

He was tempted to say something else to her, see if he could confuse her more, but didn’t. He had to find the Snitch, and he didn’t have the attention to spare now. Plus, they were still close together, but not moving as much, which increased their chances of being Bludgered. Good if it was her, maybe, but not if it was him.

Far down below, he saw it. It would be gone long before they got there, but maybe he could deal with her being addled – maybe, it occurred to him, the pain was doing it to her – and make it work for him. He dove straight down, hoping to pull her into a somewhat unconventional Wronski Feint. If the Snitch could just not quite vanish or go too far up until she was moving at speed, he had more control because he had both arms and…more of his wits, anyway, then she could crash while he pulled away and caught it.

For now, though, he outpaced her a little, going faster so she was behind, though it meant sparing his ears to listening for Bludgers. Maybe Preston could take advantage of the space to injure her again.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Nope, you are 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

August 08, 2011 12:44 PM

And I'm trying to be sneaky. by Russell Layne, Chaser

Russell was aware it could possibly get him executed on the spot for sympathizing with the enemy if anyone ever found out about it, but he was a little pleased for Mellie when she managed to pull Pecari’s bacon off the fire after her teammate went down and then passed to her captain without being intercepted. He would have rather Aladren had intercepted at any point in that, but they went back, and he wasn’t yet Quidditch-crazy enough to be absolutely singleminded about it, unable to be, if not as pleased as he would have been for a teammate, at least a little pleased for an old friend even while being a little disappointed that Aladren had just kind of been embarrassed.

It was one reason why, to his regret, he doubted he’d ever make captain. He had better sense than to say certain things anywhere near where certain people, including at least two of his roommates, but he was fairly certain they had noticed over time that he wasn’t as rabid about the game as some were. It was a little disappointing, since he had a name to live up to, but he still thought he was in the running for Prefect and Head Boy at least partially because he wasn’t as eccentric as the other three Aladren second years. Two out of three wouldn’t be bad. He’d take all three if he could get them, but two out of three wouldn’t be bad. It was as many as anyone he was related to had held for a while.

Kitty saved – “Good job!” he called encouragingly to the Keeper, though he didn’t know if she heard – and the ball came back to Aladren. First to Daniel for kind of a long time, then back to Arthur, then…back to Russell, halfway back across the Pecari half, apparently with the idea he should make the shot, again. He had to wonder if his roommate knew who he’d passed to at the moment, considering how his last two assaults on the goals had gone.

He covered more ground, then decided he wasn’t going for it a third time. Not yet. Close enough in that he hoped Sophie would mistake him for the assaulting Chaser, he passed quickly, hoping she’d keep watching him and his apparent plan to go left again and one of the others, maybe with Beater backup, could score finally.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser And I'm trying to be sneaky. 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

August 08, 2011 7:41 PM

And I'm finishing the manuever by Captain Nash, Chaser

Arthur caught the pass and flew it into Pecari territory. He passed to Russell and Russell flew it in to the goals. No interceptions from Pecari. That almost made up for Pecari's long run. A goal would really help erase all of the embarrassment though.

Russell seemed to be of the same opinion because he made as if he were going to take another shot, but then passed to Daniel. Already being in a good position to take a shot, Daniel caught it and then threw it again immediately, not giving Sophie any time to process and try to correct for the new direction of assault, aiming for the right hoop.

Daniel held his breath and hoped the third time was the charm.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser And I'm finishing the manuever 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Sophie, Keeper

August 08, 2011 9:42 PM

...Touché by Sophie, Keeper

That same Chaser that had shot twice was coming at her again. It looked like he was going left again. Really? What was he up to? Sophie didn’t know. She was getting confused as the game went on because everything was either really complicated down there or getting messed up. It was much harder to follow game play when she was just floating by the rings Keeping as opposed to Chasing.

Of course, she loved Keeping, much more than she liked Chasing. It was fun, but Keeping…Something about it was just perfect for her. The blonde knew it was going to be her passion the moment she tried it playing with her cousins. However, now was not the time for those thoughts.

Now was the time to pay attention. The Chaser, going left. She swerved that way to get near that hoop, but then… the Aladren captain had the Quaffle. He was really far, on the right side. Sophie swore under her breath as she tried to get over there.

It was too late. The third year wasn’t even near when the Quaffle went right through the hoop, so instead of focusing on it, she dove down to follow it. After a few yards of straight drop, she grabbed the orb and shot back up. She glanced around for one of her team’s Chasers and, seeing one, passed. “It’s okay guys!” she shouted enthusiastically. “Go get that one back!” Pecari was still going to win it.

12 Sophie, Keeper ...Touché 34 Sophie, Keeper 0 5

Coach Pierce

August 09, 2011 12:37 PM

Aladren Scores! 10-0 (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Aladren Scores! 10-0 (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Preston S., Beater

August 11, 2011 8:19 PM

Trying to maim... by Preston S., Beater

Preston had to admit he was a bit distracted during this particular game. He didn’t know what was causing it, but he needed to figure it out and work through it as soon as possible. Thinking and playing didn’t go hand in hand. Quidditch was more of a gut feeling sport, do what you feel it is best. Pondering over what was causing his lack of focus would be detrimental. He pushed his thought to the back of his mind and tried to act on instinct. He didn’t even know what his fellow Beater was doing or attempting to do. Not the best tactic if he wanted to win this game. He shook his head in another attempt to focus on the game, it seemed to be working.

The redhead then flew around trying to figure out what was happening. It seemed that Aladren was in possession of the Quaffle. Excellent! Then, Captain Nash scored, successfully taking them to the lead in the game. However, nothing was set in stone until the Snitch was caught. Preston cheered in his own little air area before zooming towards a Bludger that had passed him a few seconds before. He smiled and went after it. He swung his bat and it collided with the ball, sending it towards the closest Pecari player. They were going to win this game, they had to, he needed to demonstrate how good he was getting at this.

0 Preston S., Beater Trying to maim... 0 Preston S., Beater 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

August 12, 2011 1:26 AM

Trying to score again by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Everything happened so fast at the goal that, for a moment, Arthur didn’t quite follow it, but he caught on quickly enough and smiled to himself. Sooner or later, every Keeper missed.

Of course, so did every Seeker, and every Chaser, and every Beater. He didn’t remotely share his brother’s hope that they could somehow get through seven years without ever losing a game, or even one of them or the other being taken out of a game for one reason or another. That kind of thing just did not happen. But right now, the fact that no one was always at their very best was working in favor of Aladren, so he was going to be happy with it while he could and try not to do anything stupid when he someday couldn’t. He forced himself to think about the future because he’d heard so many adults say that people his age couldn’t, but it did seem like a vague thing, usually.

Right now was stronger, more immediate, and usually seemed to have enough problems to go on with. Or opportunities. When the Quaffle sailed back into the air, he gave into a whim and intercepted it, sending it back toward the Pecari center hoop as quickly as he could, in the hopes of catching the Pecari Keeper off guard once again while she was still off to the side she’d saved from. Twenty-zero would be a good score. He wouldn’t want to hang around the goals, giving a convenient target for the Pecari Beaters, long enough to try for another score after that, but twice in a row like this would be nice.

He didn’t know what it would do to the other team, though. Shame had spurred Aladren into performing better than they had all game. It might do the same to Pecari. That would be…less fortunate. Kitty wasn’t bad at what she did, but she was only a first year, and Mr. Hernandez wouldn’t be as easy to save a shot from as her fellow first years would be. And they might even surprise everyone. Arthur knew oil and water sometimes mixed better than his brother and logic did, but he had been, though he had for once thought not to say it and possibly hurt Arnold’s feelings, been astonished when Arnold beat Marissa Stephenson last year in the finals. He thought everyone had been, honestly.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser Trying to score again 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Amira Thornton, Seeker

August 13, 2011 2:48 PM

Pineapple! by Amira Thornton, Seeker

Amira's anger was starting to show in her ridiculous laughter. She didn't care what this boy was, or rather who he thought he was. He had NO right whatsoever doing and saying what he was doing and saying, and the Pecari had now had enough. This competition was the most important thing to her right then. She didn't care if her arm was injured, all she cared about was the win!

She knew that Arista and Addison were probably watching, and she was guaranteed at the thought when she heard her slightly older sister's tears as she flew high above the game once more in search of the golden sphere. Eyes still glued around the Pitch for the golden light, she called aloud, "I'm okay Addi! Relax!" into the breeze, hoping that her sister heard her words. "I'm going to win this game, you'll see!" she called to both her Teppenpaw sisters. Pulling her look of determination back onto her face through the pain she felt in her arm, she hunted for the glimmer of gold.

Spotting it again, she ran for it, going fast on her Firefly. She loved her new model broom, and she wouldn't let anything like this boy stop her! The redhead was ahead of him, and just as suddenly as she'd sped out in front, he caught up to her.

The Snitch vanished again!

"GAH!" She called angrily. She didn't want much, as the third child of 12, she didn't care too much about monetary things. The Pecari first year, however, wanted nothing more right then but to win this game for Pecari! Even if that meant that she would have to play her oldest sister, she wanted to win!

She spotted the golden glint once more, but it seemed like Arnold had seen it too! He dove down, but she knew what he was doing. He was trying to addle her, and she wouldn’t let it happen. He was trying to pull her into a Wronski Feint, and she wouldn’t do that. That would only harm her, and her chances of winning the game for Pecari to boot!

The first year knew that he had more control due to having the full use of both his arms, but she was not going down to someone who was trying his hardest to outpace her. Amira heard another bludger behind her, and she sped off course and in her speeding, her eyes spotted the golden glimmer of the Snitch right beside her! Holding onto her broom with only her legs once more, she held out her good arm to reach for the snitch…

0 Amira Thornton, Seeker Pineapple! 0 Amira Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Mellie Goodwin, Pecari

August 14, 2011 6:25 PM

Wishing unkind things on Preston. by Mellie Goodwin, Pecari

Pecari had gained some ground, but that didn’t seem to bother Aladren, unless it was in that way where someone went over-the-top to prove themselves.

Normally, Mellie would have been at least a little sympathetic to that line of thought, since the best way for anyone to get her to do anything was to suggest that she might not be able to do it, but since it had been abundantly clear to everyone from before they even came out that Aladren was a tough team, she felt at least a little frustrated. Would it have killed the blue-clad players to give them the tiniest of breaks? Just for a minute or two? Once they took off on their fancy expensive fast brooms, the Pecari Chasers didn’t have much of a chance of catching up and reclaiming the Quaffle, and wouldn’t have even if Jose’s broom hadn’t been damaged.

When one of the Aladren Chasers – the larger of the two second years, one of the Careys; Arthur, she thought he was called – caught the Quaffle again after Sophie retrieved it from the successful goal the captain had made, Mellie had a momentary fantasy about taking one of the Beater bats and hitting him over the head with it. That just felt like he was just taunting the –

Crack!

The sound caught up with her ears a second too late, and all thoughts of the other players vanished in pain as the Bludger slammed into her right arm, nearly taking her off the broom as it changed angles after its contact with her and began rocketing toward another nearby player. A fierce corner of her mind hoped it got one of the Aladrens, since they were all right here, too, but most of her was occupied with trying to stay on her broom, trying not to cry. That last, though, quickly proved to be a losing game; biting her lip just made it worse, and though she just saved herself from falling, by the time she was hunched over it with her other hand gripping her shoulder protectively, tears were running down her face.

Around the red roaring in her head, she tried to look for the red Quaffle somewhere on the Pitch. For whatever good it would do. She was hurt, she was hurt, but looking for the Quaffle was what she was supposed to do. She had to try, anyway, try to find it and…do something, thinking wasn’t coming back just yet.

16 Mellie Goodwin, Pecari Wishing unkind things on Preston. 206 Mellie Goodwin, Pecari 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

August 15, 2011 9:23 PM

...Um, what? by Arnold Carey, Seeker

…As Arnold, seeing this, put just a bit more speed behind his broom, lunged forward without the slightest bit of concern for falling since his tumbles of the previous year had inspired in him the confidence that Coach Pierce would always catch him, and snatched the golden ball out of the air. It was over so quickly he almost didn’t realize his hand had moved.

He pulled out of the dive, his heart racing as the conscious parts of his brain tried to catch up to what some other portion of it had arranged to make him do. The seeing that she wasn’t falling for it. The Snitch, changing direction so it was more her way. Him, turning more sharply than he ever had in his life and banging knees with her, so his, he noticed dimly, was just starting to hurt. By the feeling of his shoulder, he’d used that to push her away from the Snitch, too, though he wouldn’t swear his memory of doing so was reliable.

Then he got to the part where whatever he had done in those critical few seconds had worked. To the part where he was now holding the Golden Snitch, so tightly the wings almost felt like they had an edge against his palm, and she was not. To the part where Aladren had just won.

With that thought, his expression of concentration and mild shock morphed into a grin, and he raised the ball high in the air, only just suppressing the desire to start shouting, even bouncing in his seat. The only time he could get away with that kind of blind happiness was after the Final, and maybe not even then now that he’d already done it once. He wasn’t sure if that one counted, since he hadn’t been able to enjoy it right away for falling.

Either way, though, he was still pleased. Ecstatic, even. This was one of the best moments of his life, and if the smile he still couldn’t get off his face wasn’t strictly proper, then right this second, he couldn’t remotely bring himself to care, and doubted he’d feel too guilty later.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker ...Um, what? 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Coach Pierce

August 16, 2011 12:18 PM

Aladren Wins! 160-0 (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Aladren Wins! 160-0 (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>

Game One: Aladren vs. Pecari by <font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>

<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

Starting Strong by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

So you'll go downhill from here by <font color=blue>Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

<font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>

Going up! by <font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Seeking Something Shiny by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

Yes, you did make that necessary for me to do by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

Back and saner than...last time, anyway by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color=”blue”>Kitty McLevy – Keeper</font>

Keeping it real by <font color=”blue”>Kitty McLevy – Keeper</font>

<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

Taking a shot. by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

Roll over minutes by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>

I hope you like the taste of dirt. by <font color="brown">Demelza Eagle, Beater</font>

<font color="brown">Sophie J. Keeper</font>

</font>Don't give up, team! by <font color="brown">Sophie J. Keeper</font>

<font color="brown">Amira Thornton</font>

Seeking to succeed! by <font color="brown">Amira Thornton</font>

<Font Color="brown">Jhonice, Chaser</font>

We can do it! by <Font Color="brown">Jhonice, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>

Go, team, go! by <font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

Going the other way by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

I doubt he does by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Denying you success by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=brown>Amira Thornton</font>

Denying the Deny! by <font color=brown>Amira Thornton</font>

<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

Going the rest of that way. by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Denying your denial by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=brown>Amira Thornton</font>

That's what you think! by <font color=brown>Amira Thornton</font>

<font color=blue>Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

Feinting by <font color=blue>Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

<font color=brown>Sophie, Keeper</font>

Not falling for it... that much. by <font color=brown>Sophie, Keeper</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

Falling...don't people do a lot of that these days? by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

I think pain's making you delude yourself by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<Font Color="brown">Jhonice, Chaser</font>

I've tried it... it's not as fun as some make it out to be by <Font Color="brown">Jhonice, Chaser</font>

<font color="brown">Demelza, Beater</font>

Saving the day! (a bit late) by <font color="brown">Demelza, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

If you're late, it's not really saving the day, is it? by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

Lying in wait by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>

Recentering and Recap by <font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>

<font color=brown>Amira Thornton, Seeker</font>

Delusion is in the mind of the beholder! by <font color=brown>Amira Thornton, Seeker</font>

<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>

Here we go again. by <font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Actually, delusions are all in the head of the deluded by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Arnold

OOC: Continued above, under the recentering post (nm) by Arnold

<font color="blue">Preston S., Beater</font>

Yes, Indeed! Maim! Maim! by <font color="blue">Preston S., Beater</font>

<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

Maiming is mean by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>

<font color=brown>Amira Thornton, Seeker</font>

You're deluded! by <font color=brown>Amira Thornton, Seeker</font>

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

Ready, Aim...... by <font color ="brown">Jhonice, Chaser</font>

<font color=”blue”>Kitty McLevy – Keeper</font>

What exactly where you aiming at? by <font color=”blue”>Kitty McLevy – Keeper</font>