Handicapped Hero on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Jose Hernandez

November 21, 2011 1:06 PM

Pecari Quidditch Try-Outs by Captain Jose Hernandez

The list had sat at six people for a while. Jose had been starting to get nervous. He'd had Mel, Mellie, Sophie and Jhonice returning. Jade and Elijah were new. Demetra and Amira were missing (though Amira had told him verbally she planned to try out, so that had reduced his anxiety about his team's numbers somewhat). Now, on the day of the try-outs, he stood in the center of the pitch, his broom (selected from the school's supply since his family still wasn't pitching in for a personal broom for him - that was the problem with being communists) sitting in the grass beside him.

He held the list in his hand, and he mentally checked people off as they arrived (the first unfamiliar young boy to appear was dubbed Elijah, the first unfamiliar young girl to appear was dubbed Jade). As they arrived, he also had them sign his cast (which confirmed he did indeed have Jade and Elijah). He had thought about getting it removed for the try-outs (his arm was perfectly intact inside it), but that would have made him miss a few names, including those of his newest teammates. Besides, he was guaranteeing himself a spot on the team, so it wasn't like he had to impress anyone.

He was also suprised that he was't the only one on the Pitch who had a cast either. "Have you had the mediwizard look at that?" he asked Elijah. "Magic can usually fix broken bones real easy. Mine's just for show now."

Once he had his full roster, he cleared his throat at waved a casted arm to get everyone's attention. "Hey, everyone, welcome to the Pecari Quidditch Try-Outs. I'm Captain Jose Hernandez." He pronounced the H at the beginning of his surname, proving beyond all doubt that his Mexican genes had done nothing to affect his California American accent.

"For those who don't know, this," he indicated the young woman who had half a foot of height on him, "is our assistant captain and beater, Demelza Eagle. Sophie," he pointed out the blond girl who was running unopposed, "is our Keeper. Mellie -" it had taken him a few seconds to figure out that the Melanie on his list had been her, but he restored her more common name for introductions, "is one of our Chasers."

Then he looked at the remainder, judged them all as not very good beater material, at least compared to a seventh year who'd already played it for one year, and made an executive decision, "I'll be playing Beater with Mel this year, so that leaves two Chaser spots and Seeker open."

Three of them - Amira, Elijah, and Jade - had only indicated an interest in Seeker. He dearly hoped he didn't need to use Jhonice as Chaser again. Which meant he had a real try-out on his hands. "So we'll try-out Seeker first, since that seems to be the most popular one." And, really, it was the most important one as well, his normal Chaser bias notwithstanding.

"Mel, Mellie, and Sophie," he pointed out the three who already had spots again, "will be throwing gold-colored rubber balls around," he pointed at a trio of bags full of them. "Jhon, Elijah, Jade, and Amira, you guys will be wearing pouches," he pointed to four pouches that could be tied around their waists. "Try to collect as many of the rubber balls as you can."

OOC:
Usual school rules apply. You must post to get a spot. Any walk-ons are welcome. Just post, give your name, position preference, and join in the rubber ball hunt.

Subthreads:

Am I messing this up? by Demetra Mason, Beater with Cap'n Jose

Taking Flight! by Jhonice Trevear with Mellie Goodwin

Throwing things: my favorite! by Sophie Jamison with Amira Thornton, Cap'n Jose, Captain Jose

Handicapped Hero by Elijah Errant with Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle, Jade Owen, Elijah

0 Captain Jose Hernandez Pecari Quidditch Try-Outs 0 Captain Jose Hernandez 1 5

Demetra Mason, Beater

November 22, 2011 12:49 AM

Am I messing this up? by Demetra Mason, Beater

Demetra walked past the bulletin board before stopping in her tracks. She'd forgotten to sign up for Quidditch! The third year let slip a quiet swear as she checked the tryout date. One she matched the same in her calendar, she swore again and took off to her dorm. She changed quickly into appropriate tryout wear, and grabbed her broom. She didn't even bother to pull her hair back as she sprinted from the gardens to the pitch.

She arrived just in time to hear Jose announce the positions that were open. Would he be willing to swap things around? She slowed her pace as she stepped on to the pitch. The seeker tryouts had started. How had she forgotten? She had overlooked the announcements ever morning and never remembered to look for the tryouts. She really hoped that Jose would cut her some slack. She would not be able to forgive herself if she had to watch him play alongside Mel every game instead of her.

She walked up to the captain with her hands tucked in to her pockets. Dem bit her lip as she glanced from Jose to Mel. She wanted to play, but this was hurting her pride to admit to a fault and ask for forgiveness. "Jose," she said quietly, exchanging her dignity for puppy dog eyes. "I kind of forgot to sign up for tryouts. I'm sorry."

She continued on, looking up from her feet to Jose's face. "Would it be too much trouble to return to my position? I mean, if it is, I'll just come back next year."

0 Demetra Mason, Beater Am I messing this up? 0 Demetra Mason, Beater 0 5

Cap'n Jose

November 22, 2011 12:52 PM

Not at all by Cap'n Jose

As he finished speaking, Jose folded up his sign-up sheet and slid it into one of his robe pockets. He glanced down at his broom and called an easy, "Up," and caught it in his uncasted hand with the absentminded grace of long-ingrained habit. It was fortunate, really, that he'd fallen on his left wrist over the summer. Being right-handed, it would have been really difficult for him if he'd fallen to the other side instead.

When he looked up again, he was more than a little surprised to find Demetra in front of him. She hadn't been on the list and, unlike Amira, their paths hadn't randomly crossed for him to check that she actually wanted to quit. He'd been left to assume based on her name's absense, and clearly the usual result of assumptions had reared up to bite him.

He smiled reassuringly at her. "Not too much trouble at all." Beater wasn't contested. He'd already determined that none of the other try-out-ees really looked like Beater material. And though Demetra wasn't impressively large like Mel was, she was still a third year to their first and second year ages.

And honestly, he prefered being Chaser to Beater by a fairly large margin.

"Go ahead and join Mellie and the rest in throwing around the rubber balls." Raising his voice, he made the team's final introduction, "This is Demetra, our second beater, who will be returning to us after all, so I'm back in Chaser and we have a Chaser and Seeker position open."

He felt kind of bad for making Amira and Jhonice try out again, since they were returning players and he wasn't doing the same to Demetra and Mellie, but Seeker was the only really contested position, and he had specifically advertised that no position was guaranteed. And he was keeping Jhonice's position (the last Chaser spot) open mostly because she'd given him an excuse to not automatically return it to her by not specifying the position in her sign-up. If she had just written in Chaser, he wasn't sure he could have justified not putting her back in when he'd granted Mellie's Chaser spot back to her.

As Jhonice was the worst Quidditch player Jose had ever seen, he probably would have made Mellie try out again. It was remotely possible that Jhon had improved with practice over the summer, but she was definitely going to have to earn her way back onto the team if he had other options.

0 Cap'n Jose Not at all 0 Cap'n Jose 0 5

Jhonice Trevear

November 22, 2011 10:04 PM

Taking Flight! by Jhonice Trevear

Jhonice was ready for this. She had been training all summer, well most of the summer. Something was going on with her, and she wasn't entirely sure what is was. Last year she joined the team for access to the Quidditch players and Boston Matriarch Amelia Pierce. This year though, those thoughts were definitely there but it wasn't what was driving her to get back on the team. She wasn't exactly sure what was, but she knew she had to get back on again. Failure was not an option. She did have to come to face reality, she had been in a little denial, but she could face it now. Her Quidditch skills could use a little work, she was not the best player on the team. It came as a shock to her as well when came to this realization.

The first thing she had to do was find a broom that would not betray her. She had considered signing up for flying lessons again. It would have been a wonderful excuse to spend some more time with Matriarch Pierce, plus she could test out a few of the brooms and find one that liked her. Unfortunately, she had gotten sidetracked by some new information she had found on Sully... and missed sign-ups. As such, she had to do some 'late night reconnaissance' into the school's broom supply. It had payed off though, she had found one. Last year she had attempted to find and mark such a broom with a ribbon. When the critical moment had come, the ribbon had let her down. Now she had plans for something a little more 'permanent.' Interestingly enough she didn't need to, someone had already marked the broom. The word 'Enterprise' was scratched into the broom, she wasn't sure what that meant, but the mark was all she needed.

She casually strolled onto the field a few moments ahead of schedule, she was ready for this. Captain Jose Hernandez was there already, looking commanding, dramatic and 'in-charge' as he should. He wanted her to sign his cast as well! She scrawled out her name, dotting the 'i' with a smiling heart. She then took her place with the rest of the team. Seeker try-outs? She hadn't really expected to try out for seeker, but she had written down 'Not Keeper' so... she'd try out for Seeker.

It took her only a moment of digging to find the broom marked 'Enterprise' in the school's pile. There was no question about it, she was nervous, there after Demetra showed up, there were only two spots left, and more than two people trying out. She was going to have to put all of her summer training to the test, and take her spot. She tied Jose's pouch around her waist and mounted her broom and took to the air. The broom rose steadily into position, and as the little gold balls started flying around the pitch she whispered, "Okay broom, we can do this... let's go!" With that she kicked the broom into gear and shot off after the pretend snitches.

The balls were relatively easy to spot, catching them however proved to be another issue altogether. She raced for the first one she spotted, the broom followed her directions for the most part. It wavered a bit, but stayed on course. She closed in on her target and grabbed at it, she didn't however close her hand fast enough, and the rubber ball bounced out of her grasp. "Gah!" She spotted another, turned a bit quick and tumbled around her broom as she reoriented and took off again.

2 Jhonice Trevear Taking Flight! 209 Jhonice Trevear 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

November 24, 2011 4:55 PM

Throwing things. by Mellie Goodwin

For a minute, Mellie had just been surprised that she had gotten her spot back without any contest, had even wondered if there was supposed to be a joke in there somewhere. Then, though, things went on, and she had glanced at her roommate in consternation, wondering if Jhonice was going to hate her forever now. They had both been lousy first year Chasers together last year, and while it was true she had pretty much avoided actually falling off her broom, she hadn’t really been that much better than the other girl.

Jhon didn’t look horribly upset about it as they got their assignments for the try-out and everyone started doing what they were told, but Mellie was still biting her bottom lip as she took one of the bags of gold balls to throw. Of course, part of that might have been worrying about how she was going to hold up her part of the game; she was all right with dealing with the Quaffle, but she wasn’t sure how adding in a bag she had to carry around with her was going to work out. It was entirely possible that any chance of rivalry between roommates might be abruptly ended by her being sent to join those chasing little gold balls instead of being one of the people throwing them in a few minutes.

She had thrown two balls, leaning forward to put a little more strength behind her arm, when the game was abruptly stopped to announce that Demetra had come back after all and so only one Chaser spot was open. Mellie smiled in the older girl’s direction, but didn’t know if she saw it, and then the game was back on. She flung another ball straight ahead of her and reached for another, wavering slightly in her seat but not feeling at risk of losing it, the way she sometimes had last year. She’d started to think of it as just one of those normal things, just something she wasn’t confident enough yet in her flying to stop noticing a little.

Once she had the new ball, she threw it, too, off to her left, then flew away to throw the next one, wondering what they would do when everyone ran out of balls to throw. Repeat, she guessed, especially if Jose hadn’t made up his mind about where to put everyone by then.

16 Mellie Goodwin Throwing things. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Sophie Jamison

November 25, 2011 9:19 PM

Throwing things: my favorite! by Sophie Jamison

Anyone who knew Sophie could tell that she loved Quidditch. The sport had meant a lot to her for a long time. It was a stress relief. It was a bonding time for her and her cousins at home, a time to make friends at school. It was a way to show off without looking like a jerk. Most of all, it was a way to just let go and have fun.

It was a lot of things to a lot people. Some of those people were her teammates, for all of whom she held a great deal of respect. Despite the loss last year (and the year before that, and the year before that…), Pecari tried hard. They really did. Her team loved the sport and played it accordingly, just every year the other team was a little better. This year, it wouldn’t be so.

The blonde had full confidence that her team would win this year as she strutted off to tryouts. She would have flown down on her broom, but she didn’t think the professors would like that very much. Anyway, \\she was feeling pretty good as no one else had signed up for Keeper; she’d checked. Plus, she liked to think that even if someone had she would get it because she also liked to think she was pretty good.

A grin fell into her face when Jose said she already had the spot. That was awesome. The way that they were going to test the Seekers sounded fun, and she eagerly grabbed a pouch of gold rubber balls. When all was ready, she shot into the sky and began chucking the little balls all around. It was fun to throw things!

12 Sophie Jamison Throwing things: my favorite! 34 Sophie Jamison 0 5

Elijah Errant

November 29, 2011 9:16 PM

Handicapped Hero by Elijah Errant

Sunlight peeked over the hedges of the labyrinth. Rubbing his eyes and stretching his mouth in a silent yawn, the barest whisper of breath escaping his throat, Elijah weaved blindly through the gardens, seeing the bright morning orange of the sun through his closed lids. For awhile he let muscle memory and instinct lead him out, guided by the growing soft noises of familiar creatures that kept carefully out of sight. The urgent need to get to the pitch before Jade Owen had convinced Elijah that he should stay up all night in order to not risk oversleeping. He wanted to make a good impression on the captain by arriving before everyone else and especially his temporary rival. But the second his head hit that soft pillow, his body easing into the sheets, his pet rat nuzzling his cheek, Elijah was quietly snoring before the lights finally dimmed out. Now he was headed to the pitch as part of a trickling dispersed crowd of Pecari, all arriving around the same time as each other.

By the time his feet were treading the pitch, Elijah had fully woken up, his eyes blinking and registering location and people. All day yesterday his heart had pounded with every glimpse of the tall rings shooting up into the sky, great metal circular fortresses that reminded Elijah of potential honor and disgrace. Today he felt a strange ease overcome him. Maybe because he had rested well, maybe because already Captain Jose Hernandez was the coolest guy he had ever met - ‘Wow! I get to sign his cast!’ - or maybe it was because he had decided to not go through the hassle of bending, twisting, and turning awkwardly to get his arm in and out of clothing and arrived to try-outs clad in his baby blue pajamas. Green sleeping dragons patterned all around his matching pajama shirt and pants snored fire, sometimes stretching, a few changing colors, reverting to green, and changing again. Done signing his name on Jose’s cast (Elijah J. Errantez, a momentary lapse, forgetting that in America all Errantez were registered as Errant, just as in Italy they were registered as Errez in order that distant family could always find one another), Elijah beamed up at the captain, not for the question asked of him but for this moment of extra attention he was getting. ‘Take that, Jade.’

“Ah, it’s okay. I already saw a Healer back home.” Lie! He would never voluntarily go to a Healer. Healers dealt in hospitals which always had a peculiar too-clean smell (bland oatmeal soaked in soap) and were filled with people with twisted, distorted faces, and whose mouths stretched in screams of agony, the sounds echoing down the too-clean, too-white, too-much-of-everything halls. Elijah hadn’t actually ever been in a hospital (both he and Yasma had been borne at home, and neither had suffered any injuries that the Tamers around the ranch hadn’t insisted they could fix) but he’d heard enough stories about the horrors that befell there from his older brother Noah. “She said that it would heal up soon.” The Tamers said that anyway, and they were semi-qualified to make that judgement. “It’s not my bone that’s the main problem, it’s the scars that hurt. I just need a few more days and the pain will go away for the most part. They put on the cast so the bones heal easier and so I won’t move it around so much because everytime it bumps or something it hurts like crazy!”

Special privileged private time with the captain was over, and Elijah fell in line with Jose Hernandez’s other loyal followers. Though none were as reverent, Elijah silently declared, as he was. His dark brown eyes followed the introductions, committing Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle (Jose was the coolest guy ever, Miss Diaz was the most beautiful, but Demelza had to have the most fantastic awesome name in the whole world), Keeper Sophie and Chaser Mellie’s faces and names to memory. Jose explained the instructions, and despite the consistent comfort of the soft pajamas he wore, Elijah couldn’t help the tightening of his chest as he fully realized his competition as three other Seeker hopefuls. Two of which were older than him. All three lacked the misfortune of being handicapped. ‘But if I show that I can do this even with a cast and a sling, and even without my left hand, then maybe the captain will see that he doesn’t have to worry about me ever getting hit with a bludger.’ Elijah held onto this thinking, reaching for a pouch to awkwardly tie around his waist (he turned to someone to ask for some help, fighting down the humiliation threatening to explode as a blush across his face), rejecting the thought that suggested Jose would simply assume Elijah was accident-prone.

“Surgir!” He commanded one of the school brooms, dark caramel skinned hand hovering above the Cleansweep Eleven that twitched once, rolled over at his repeated command, and then jumped into the air as Elijah repeated but in English. “Up!” The wood slapped the palm of his right hand. Elijah mounted, mentally warring with the stupid model that was unused to his Spanish. His own racing broom, Icarus, was a one-of-a-kind model made by his grand-père, who in addition to owning a ranch (filled with thestrals, hippogriffs, winged horses, and even mundane animals like pigs, cows, and fire-crabs) also had worked as a broom-maker’s apprentice when he was a boy, and had retained the knowledge and practice as an adult. Elijah had his broom safe back home in the canyon. His mother had promised that if he made the team she would send it over. Elijah knew Yvonne had done that to discourage him from trying out (he wasn’t supposed to until his arm was fully healed), thinking that without a good broom he wouldn’t make it as a handicapped first year, but that only made his resolve stronger. He missed Icarus.

“Alright, let’s do this thing!” Urging the Cleansweep up into the air, pulling up with his right hand that gripped the wood tightly, his whole body straining up, Elijah immediately scouted around for Demelza Eagle (Greatest. Name. Ever.) whom he knew was supposed to be throwing around some golden rubber balls. The Plan - impress the assistant captain who could then relate to the captain what a great seeker Elijah was. “Oh!” He wasn’t sure who had thrown it, but a golden ball streaked a few meters away from him. Elijah blinked, watching the ball curve in the air, dipping and beginning to fall... falling... falling further... “Oh right!” He dove, propelling his whole body forward, arms cradled against his thundering chest as sudden winds rushed up at him, a little uncomfortable as he slid on the wood, his dark curls brushing his cheek, one thin strand caught on his eyelash. He blinked furiously, batting it away with the lids of his eyes, already caught up to the ball he was diving alongside, noticing it a few half-seconds later. “Yes...” His arm darted out, hand releasing the broom, fingers tightening around the gold rubber, his whole body jerking up, legs and thighs and back all straining to pull up without his hands to aid him. “Yes! YES!” He could do it. Would be able to do it again. He could catch with his right! Fly with no hands at all. “Hahahaha!” Paying no attention to direction, Elijah let the laughter spill out from between his lips, staring with utter delight at the prize his lesser hand had won for him. ‘This is awesome. I am awesome! The whole Pecari team is awesome! I can’t believe I - uh oh.’ Forgetting that the pitch was more than just air and field, Elijah had only a second to cringe before the tip of his broom handle struck one of the metal goalposts.

“Nnngh!” Body flattening against the Cleansweep, Elijah felt the tremors of the collision, his left arm immediately shrieking in pain. ‘Yeah, yeah. Suck it up, lefty.’ His broom flipped over, Elijah hugged the wood as best he could, curving a little more around it. ‘Woah... dizzy!’ It was slightly more shocking but not as painful as flying into a Hippogriff. The broom steadied after a moment, floating through the air, shreds of a wooden raft bobbing in the ocean after a ship wreck. Elijah’s forehead was pressed down, lips puffing out air. ‘That was woah...’ His fingers twitched, twitched again, coming back to life, twitching again... “Hey!” Elijah shot up, a wide grin taking hostage of his face. “I still got it.” Happily flattening his palm, he widened the pouch around his waist and rolled the golden rubber ball he’d managed to hang onto down into it. “One down,” He murmured to himself, still a little disoriented but re-energized. “Everyone else’s to go.” Still favoring Demelza’s balls, he leaned down parallel to his broom and shot off, keeping an eye out for flashes of gold.

0 Elijah Errant Handicapped Hero 0 Elijah Errant 0 5

Amira Thornton

November 30, 2011 12:59 AM

Seeking the thrown (pun intended) by Amira Thornton

Amira woke up the morning of Tryouts with one of the most wicked headaches since her stupid move of the summer. She moaned and rolled over. For the first time ever Amira Riley Thornton wanted nothing to do with Quidditch or even getting up out of the bed. Mir also knew that it was only short-lived and that she'd be mad at herself if she didn't get up and do it. She closed her eyes tightly and rubbed at her temples to try to ease the pain in her head.

Her head hurt so badly that she felt sick to her stomach because of it and she was not happy about this development. Her firey red hair lay on the pillow beside her face and she pushed it out of the way and turned over onto her other side. "Okay... You can do it. Come on Amira, get up, get dressed and get back on the team so that you can go get this head examined." she said to herself in a whispered tone as she let her feet slip off her bed. The red-headed Pecari stood up and swayed. Things moved around the room as she fell backwards once again onto her bed. She sighed and took a few deep breaths, reached for her water cup beside her bed and sipped from it. That helped just a little bit so she stood up slowly and changed into a pair of dark blue sweatpants with a baby blue long sleeve tee-shirt. She tied her multi-colored blue sneaker's shoestrings and walked slowly from the room.

She didn't bother going to Cascade Hall to get food first. Mir was sure that it wouldn't stay in her system if she did anyway. She was also positive that she was going to end up late if she was going to walk as slowly as she had been so she diverted her path from the Hall out to the Pitch. Her steps weren’t exactly straight, matter of fact she was walking in a sort of diagonal path to the others on the Quidditch Pitch. If someone saw her right then she was almost sure they would think that she was drunk.

She thanked everything that her sisters were not in her house, though it couldn’t hurt if they were at the same time. The twelve year old didn’t want them to see her like this, but at the same time they would be the ones to take good care of her and tell her that the headache would be gone soon. She stopped walking, closed her eyes, rubbed her temples again in the hopes that the fresh air and pressure would help her feel better. Opening her eyes she walked, still slowly, towards the others on the other side of the Pitch.

She got there later than the others just as she thought and Jose had just started introducing himself as well as Mel, his assistant Captain. He welcomed them and went through who everyone was. Leave it to fate to have the day that she wakes up with this headache be the day for tryouts. I HATE fate… Amira thought as she took in slow, yet deep breaths, letting them out again even slower. Everyone, it seemed had wanted Seeker this go around and she moaned softly when she heard that.

Oh no… I’ll never get my spot back now! she thought, knowing full well that she was already seeing spots in front of her eyes. “This is bad…” she whispered before she looked around towards Captain Jose. She wondered if she should tell him what had happened over the summer and how she felt. Thoughts rolled around her head like a hamster wheel inside a cage. No. I can’t do that. If I tell him that he won’t let me play. I have to play, I just have to. It’s a part of me. she thought. But if I don’t tell him and something happens then what? she added to her spaghetti plate of thoughts.

She walked towards him to tell him what had happened, but the others flew up into the air and she mounted her broom with her empty pouch on her shoulder. “You can do this.” she said to herself as she closed her eyes once more before flying upwards into the bright sky.

Opening her eyes once more, she battled the spots in front of her eyes to try to spot the flying rubber balls that were meant to be snitches for their use today. Flying through the air made her dizzy at the height she was at, so she lowered herself down just a little bit and spotted a ball. Flying fast for it, she reached out for it and it landed in her hand! She pushed it into the pouch and searched through the dots once more for another rubber ball to catch.

Spotting another one, she reached out and grabbed a hold of it, shoving it with her first in her pouch before she spotted Sophie tossing another one towards her. She smiled towards the other girl and through the spots she caught four more balls, placing them into her pouch before she had another really bad dizzy spell. The color drained from her face and her broom plummeted downwards…

Downwards.

Down.

D…

And then it all went dark.

0 Amira Thornton Seeking the thrown (pun intended) 208 Amira Thornton 0 5

Cap'n Jose

November 30, 2011 8:16 PM

Wake up, your Highness by Cap'n Jose

Jose watched the seekers seek. Amira was doing pretty good. Jhonice . . . had never really been a serious candidate for the most important position on the team, but her ability to fly was rather impressively improved. Maybe she would work as a chaser again after all. None of the others had expressed any interest in the position, either, so probably nobody would be terribly upset if the second year who had been Chaser before got her spot back. He'd just have to make sure she could throw a Quaffle in at least the general vicinity of a hoop instead of solidly between two of them as she had done against Aladren last year.

To be fair though, she was very dedicated to the sport, had come back up after a fall barely even phased, and she had somehow managed to get to the Aladren goals, which was something none of the other Pecari Chasers, including him, had managed during that game.

He had very nearly decided that Jhonice would be returning as Chaser when two things happened almost simultaneously. Elijah ran into a goal post and Amira just . . . fell. The first event - though not a particularly promising start for a potential seeker - did not seem immediately threatening, but Amira . . . Amira needing help right now.

Jose was not a particularly fast draw on his wand. Not like Coach who could seemingly make it appear in her hand without even moving. Jose fought his robes to pull it out in time and his levitation charms were good but not good enough to trust Amira's life to. Maybe if he'd been prepared, maybe if he'd had warning, but he hadn't, so he instead cast something he was sure would work, something that came to him almost instinctively after years of practicing tight-rope routines.

He put a giant air cushion underneath her to soften the fall.

She bounced a few times then settled gently on the grass. Jose landed next to her. She didn't seem conscious, but he shook her lightly to see if he could wake her. "Mira, you okay? Amira?"

0 Cap'n Jose Wake up, your Highness 0 Cap'n Jose 0 5

Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle

November 30, 2011 8:22 PM

What a cutie! by Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle

Quidditch try-outs always put Mel into a good mood. It gave her an excuse to eat a larger breakfast than usual (which rocked because breakfast was her favorite meal of the day) and she got to go back on her broom and hang with her Pecari Quidditch friends. Since she started in her first year, the team had changed so much every year; the only person she had been on the team with for the past five years was Jose, so he being gone next year was going to be depressing and very usual. Mel remembered the line up her first year on the team—that was actually a pretty good team, despite all the first years. Starbuck had been a good keeper, Delilah was a good chaser, and there were two BA seventh years on the team; one of them who was a BA beater, from what Mel remembered and was told after she had her amnesia, had taught Mel quite a lot. And then the seventh years left, and suddenly Jose was captain and she was his Assistant, and they’d both seen so many people come and go since. Times had changed like crazy, but Mel had never stopped trying her hardest every year to finally win that cup.

Sometime after breakfast Mel went to her dorm to change into black workout shorts and a yellow Champion, sleeveless tee-shirt that made her curve-less figure look slightly curvier than it actually was. The seventeen-year-old stood at six feet (finally!) and had long, muscular arms and long, less muscular legs. She had a pretty flat chest and a thin waist with broad shoulders, making her very disproportionate for a girl. Mel didn’t mind her proportions, though; she was never a girly-girl, and appearances didn’t matter all that much to her. Her long, thin, and straight chocolate brown hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and no make-up surrounded her bright green eyes, like many girls her age did.

After changing Mel grabbed her new broom her daddy bought her over the summer and new bat and gloves her brother Jamie got her for her big seventeenth birthday a few weeks ago, and then headed down to the pitch. She was super excited to get to use her new equipment on people, although she figured that she would have to do that after try-outs because that wouldn’t be so fair if the first years had a big sixth year pelting bludgers at them their first day. As she entered the pitch and spotted Jose, she ran up to him and gave him a big bear hug, she was just so excited. She also had to give Jose more hugs this year, because once the year was over she may never see him again! After a friendly hug with the captain she scrutinized the new kids who wanted to be on the team and sized up everyone else. The first years looked like seeker material, but that was just because they were small. Very small. Still, Mel gave them all a friendly smile.

Mel grinned widely as Jose said that he was going to take the position as beater. This was awesome! Jose wasn’t the best beater, but he was reliable and Mel worked well with him. She gave the seeker wanna-bes an intimidating look, just because that was fun, while mounting her broom, but before doing so she spotted Demetra talking to Jose. She would be glad to work with her usual beater, but she had kind of been looking forward to working with Jose. Oh well. At least she could be all upperclassman-ly with Demetra. A bag of rubber balls in one hand, the sixth year mounted her broom and kicked into the air. Once she reached a steady pace she flew on her broom with no hands, a skill she had mastered over the years. The risqué girl often made up risqué Quidditch moves, which she felt would greatly benefit her one day in the future. She looked over all the potential seekers, trying to decide who she would pick on by throwing the balls at them as hard as she could, which was pretty damn hard. She was very skinny around the waist, but close to being overweight because she was so muscular, especially on her arms. Jhonice was ditzy as chaser, and Amira was the seeker last year. However, firsties were always fun to pick on. And a clumsy firstie with a broken arm just sounded like boatloads of fun. Demelza was actually a really nice girl, but she liked to have fun as much as the next guy. Besides, if he did rather well with her shots, that would look good for him. Mel picked up one of the rubber balls from the bag and began throwing them as hard as she could at the group of youngin’s in general, but soon she was aiming specifically at the handicapped boy, Elijah, she thought, hoping that he’d prove himself. If they had a great seeker, then they’d win every game, and finally Pecari would get the cup. It’d been calling their name for a looooong time.

The first ball Mel aimed specifically at Elijah went just where she wanted it to go (years and years of beater practice helped her out with that), and the boy went after it, just as she hoped. She gave out a cheer of delight when she caught the ball, thinking that he’d be promising, when--BAM--…did he really run into a pole?! Mel shook her head, hoping that he’d be okay, which he seemed to be. “Alright there, bud?” She called out, chuckling slightly as he got back up. At least he was determined. She threw another one, even harder, in his direction, hoping that he’d be a bit less clumsy this time.

0 Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle What a cutie! 0 Assistant Captain Demelza Eagle 0 5

Jade Owen

December 01, 2011 1:17 PM

Cute and fuzzy like a kitten by Jade Owen

It could perhaps be argued that even a fierce competitive streak such as that possessed by Jade Owen could be negated by the severity of her laziness. She had, however, managed to roll out of bed and stumble down to the Quidditch pitch in time for try-outs, which she saw as a good omen. Her hair wasn't brushed, but that was about normal for the first year; her loose curls were always haphazard, and she'd at least pushed them out of her face with a gray cotton headband. She hadn't managed breakfast, but then her eating habits had always been random. She ate when she was hungry, not necessarily when society conventions (or school rules) dictated she should. The try-outs probably only last a couple of hours or so, giving her plenty of time to work up an appetite, and so enjoy the meal traditionally consumed second in the day.

The try-out was more or less straight-forward. There were only a small number of positions to fill, and Jade knew from having read the sign-up sheet that she had at least one competitor for the Seeker position. As Captain Jose continued directing them, however, it began to look like she was competing against three other people. That was like a one in four chance of her getting picked, rather than a one in two. The odds were against her, but Jade wasn't phased. She didn't really have the enthusiasm to get possessive over something that had never even belonged to her, so if she didn't get the Seeker spot then she didn't get it, and that would be the end of that. Of course if she did get it then she'd be able to laud it over the other potentials, and that would be magnificent.

As she selected a school broom, Jade considered that it was this apathy for hard work but delight in being victorious that underlined her entire Quidditch-playing ethos: losing to another team wouldn't make her feel all that bad, but the ability to celebrate and hold the win over their heads would be sufficient to drive her to beat the opposition at all costs, without the apparently 'normal' accompaniment of guilty feelings of failure in the alternative outcome. Her draw to the Seeker position in particular had a little to do with this attitude (in that the deciding outcome of the game was often down to the Seekers), but also because she didn't really work well with others. She knew how to share and was a very sociable person, but when it came to having to rely on other people, Jade was infinitely more content on her own. While it was, admittedly, part of the Beaters' job to look out for their Seeker, they had the rest of them team to focus on, too. Jade was comfortable with the notion that she might need to be responsible for avoiding her own Bludgers. She'd been bitten by stray dogs, pecked by chickens and thrown off horses for most of her life, not to mention the excessive rough and tumble play she'd engaged in with James before her brother decided he was above such activities.

Her aim here was simple: catch the little gold rubber balls and somehow get more than the other Seeker hopefuls. Jade eyed up her competition. There was a kid in her year, the one with his arm in a cast - he must be Elijah. Jade couldn't help but feel this was a bad starting point for him, but maybe that would work out well for her. The other girls were older, but once they took to the air, Jade couldn't help but notice they didn't look any more comfortable on a broom than she did herself. Luckily - in this situation, at least - Jade had learned to fly on broomsticks so ancient they really ought to be in a museum. In comparison, the school brooms moved easily for her, and the flying lesson had reminded her how to grip properly with her legs (her horseriding experience had been helpful here, too). As she took off into the air, Jade also realized that it was probably in her favor that she genuinely didn't have any fear of flying, falling off her broom, or being smacked in the head by a Bludger. In her twelve years, she'd fallen off and/or been hit in the head by most things she'd encountered. She'd broken several bones, and the reassuring of the hospital wing with qualified medic nearby was sufficient for her to be perhaps a little more reckless than usual. Coupled with the exuberance of soaring through the air without a professor nearby, all this served to allow the first year to dive and chase those rubber balls in a way that would make her mother gasp. She'd already caught two of the little devils before she saw Elijah fly into the goalposts; she laughed. His cast was now more understandable.

0 Jade Owen Cute and fuzzy like a kitten 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Amira

December 01, 2011 10:16 PM

Sleeping Beauty wakes up by Amira

She couldn't remember much of anything. She didn’t remember falling, being dizzy, nothing. All she knew was that it was really dark in front of her eyes. What’s going on? she thought as she heard something. She wasn’t sure what or who it was.

She didn't know how long it had been since she was flying, that’s all she remembered. The red-head knew that she was in the air, that it was tryouts, but she also knew that she was no longer in the air. She wasn’t floating, but she wasn’t swimming either. It felt like she was in an odd sort of limbo and she didn’t like it one bit. Keeping her eyes shut she heard a voice she thought she knew. It sounded like the Captain of the Pecari team. It was all fuzzy, so she wasn't positive, but she was almost sure that's who it was.

She moved her right pointer finger around on whatever it was she'd landed on. It felt soft and kind of like a plant. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him as he shook her lightly.

"What- What happened?" she asked shakily, trying to get her eyes to focus on him, on anything for that matter.

0 Amira Sleeping Beauty wakes up 0 Amira 0 5

Captain Jose

December 02, 2011 12:44 PM

So who's Prince Charming? (attn: Sophie) by Captain Jose

Amira slowly returned to consciousness, though she looked more than a little out-of-it. Her eyes weren't quite focusing, and she didn't even seem to remember that she fell. Jose decided she would not be returning to her broom today, and she should be escorted up to the hospital wing immediately.

He had try-outs to oversee, and his first thought - to send his usual delegate, Demelza, instead - was overriden by the thought that he needed his assistant to help him decide on the new Seeker. She'd be doing this on her own next year, so she should definitely be part of the decision-making process.

He glanced up to see who his other options were and Sophie stood out the most senior of them - in all truth, he would be very surprised if she didn't get Assistant next year. He felt a little bad calling her down (she seemed to be enjoying the ball tossing rather immensely), but didn't see that he had a lot of other choice.

"Sophie!" he called out, using his diaphram to make it nearly as loud as if he'd used a Sonorus charm. When he saw he had her attention, he gave a sharp downward wave that should have any trouble being interpretted as 'Come here now.'

Turning back to Amira, he explained, "It looked like you fainted and lost hold of your broom. Sophie will be bringing you over to the hospital wing. You're lucky I'm a tight-rope walker or I wouldn't have known how to cushion your fall and you'd be dealing with injuries as well as whatever made you fall in the first place." The words were intended to express his worried concern; he wasn't trying to chastice her. "I don't know why you fainted, though, so I want you to go see the medic so it doesn't happen again."

When Sophie arrived, he explained the situation to her, "Sophie, Amira's not feeling well. Could you help her get to Hospital Wing safely?"

0 Captain Jose So who's Prince Charming? (attn: Sophie) 0 Captain Jose 0 5

Amira

December 04, 2011 1:22 AM

Are you? by Amira

Amira looked up at Jose and frowned as he turned away to call Sophie down. He turned back to her and the red-head knew that was about to happen. He wasn't going to let her back up on the broom. She'd lost her chance to be on the team because of something stupid she'd done over the summer. Some stupid cry for attention had lost her the chance to get her passion. She hated herself now more than ever before.

"It looked like you fainted and lost hold of your broom. Jose started.

This was it. He was basically telling her off and she knew it. "But-" she forced out. "I'm okay, really-" she went on. "Let me fly, let me show you that I can catch more than six balls! Please! Jose, I can do it, really!" Amira said, trying to stand up. The spots in front of her eyes had lessened and she really thought that she'd be okay. But when the Pecari stood up, or rather, started to stand, they came back again in full force. "Whoah-" she said and reached out, grabbing Jose's arm to steady herself.

"Maybe not..." she said as she slipped back down to the ground. The twelve year old put her head in her hands and took in deep breaths, letting them out slowly through her nose. Looking back up at Jose in a more quiet voice than she'd ever used before, she said, "Does this mean I've lost my spot on the team?"

She felt lost, like she was swimming in air. And she felt as if she was slowly drowning in it as Sophie walked up to them. Jose asked Sophie to take her to the Hospital Wing, and Amira knew there was no going around it. She needed to go, but she really didn't want to. She wanted to try again, to fly, to catch more little rubber balls, to catch her dream. With a sad sigh she looked up at Sophie.

All she wanted to do was cry. For the first time in her life she just wanted to cry.

0 Amira Are you? 0 Amira 0 5

Elijah

December 08, 2011 1:34 AM

I am fierce and terrifying like a lion. by Elijah

Immediately delighted that Demelza Eagle was addressing him, Elijah opened his mouth to call back to her but she suddenly threw one of the gold rubber balls in his direction and his attention was pulled, his body and broom quickly following. It’s arched pathway through the air suddenly dropped in height and Elijah slanted forward in another dive, the rush of wind cooling his heated skin, excited to try again to impress the assistant captain. ‘She called me bud. I’m bud!’ Racing gravity, his left arm twitched, ready to reach out for the ball falling right beside him before Elijah remembered why that couldn’t work. In a descending spiral around the snitch-substitute, the ground rushing up to meet him, Elijah lifted his hand from the broom, his arm shaking unsteadily without the support, and grabbed the ball. “YES!” Not eager to have another collision (at least not so soon; sometimes they could be fun) he jerked his legs, back, and neck, thrusting the Cleansweep up towards the heavens where Demelza pelted golden rubbers balls at him.

Circling around Jade who was also seeking gold, Elijah sped toward Demelza, holding up a wide grin and the hard rubber caught in his raised fist. “I’m perfect!” He declared proudly, quickly diving below her to travel beneath and then popped up again on the other side. “How are you?” Opening the pouch, he felt accomplished with his meager gathering of two. A quick glance around at his competition provided no analysis for how he was doing; all he saw were blurred figures in wind and sunshine. When he caught sight of one of the Seeker hopefuls on the ground with the Captain, nervousness weighed down on his chest. ‘Oh. He talks to everybody one on one.' Special feeling sinking, he returned his focus upon Demelza. Her attention was the only edge he could hope for.

Another throw, another glint of gold, and Elijah sped after the ball, one arms stretched out, the broom pressed against his pajama covered chest, his legs squeezing so tightly to the wood, willing himself to become one with it. He resumed blinking away the strands of dark hair brushing across his lashes, ignoring the tightness in his thighs. “Yes... yes... hah!” His fingers closed on another conquest and immediately he raised himself in the air, sensitive to any metallic obstacles nearby. “This is my third!” He called out to Demelza, a proud grin lighting up his face. More shouted words were prepared in the back of his throat but the competition was still raging, golden rubber balls still falling through the air, and he had to catch each and every one of them. Leaning forward, parallel to his broom, wounded arm tucked in, he shot off, glints of gold reflected in his focused dark brown eyes.

0 Elijah I am fierce and terrifying like a lion. 0 Elijah 0 5