<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
February 11, 2012 11:40 AM
Quidditch Final: Aladren vs Pecari by <font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
Spring was starting to bloom when the day of the Quidditch final dawned. The grass on the pitch floor was fresh and new - only a week ago it had still been brown and dead - and a few small yellow flowers were starting to pop up here and there, too. The temperature was warm, hitting the high sixties this morning and expected to rise into the mid seventies by the afternoon. The sky was overcast, which would save the seekers some trouble with glinting jewelry in the stands, but there was a fair chance of a light drizzle before the snitch was caught.So far, though, the rain was holding off. With a little luck, it might continue to do so until the game was over.
"Welcome to the Final Quidditch Match of the year," she announced when it looked like the two captains were finished giving their pre-game pep talks. "We'll be watching Aladren play Pecari today, so would Captains Carey and Hernandez please shake hands."
After the two seventh years had done so, she released the snitch, and then the bludgers. "As always, the game begins with my whistle and ends with a seeker catching the snitch." She picked up the Quaffle and announced, "Without further ado, let us begin." She blew into her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air.
She followed them into the air as the Chasers took off, hoping that Pecari would hold up against Aladren well enough to make a good show for the final game of the year.
Subthreads: A good start to a final game by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font> with <font color =brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>, <font color="brown">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
Recentering in the Rain by <font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font> with <font color=brown>Captain Jose</font>, <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>, <font color=brown>Amira Thornton (Seeker)</font>
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<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
Quidditch Final: Aladren vs Pecari
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<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
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<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
February 11, 2012 4:35 PM
Wild Boars Eat Hawks for Breakfast. by <font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
He tried to control the whimper that had been vibrating in the back of his throat since the morning of the final game. He had been content in his pouting, letting the days pass with his dark brown eyes practicing different levels of glowering and glaring whenever Jade Owen came into view. He had been quite comfortable in his blazing sense of betrayal from both the captain and the assistant captain who had refused to use their good sense to cast him as seeker and Pecari hero. On the sidelines, along with an even angrier Amira, Elijah had formed an amicable relationship with bitterness. Bitterness made him strong, made it impossible to fail at anything because nobody allowed him even the chance. Within his vengeful and glorious fantasies (the ones that began with Jade falling off her broom and plunging to a bloody end, or losing control of her broom and ramming into the stadium, or simply randomly combusting in flames) he took to the skies and caught the snitch in his hand each time.Now all that bitter and blissful security in his own superiority had been taken away. Elijah had spent nearly every hour outside of sleeping, eating and classes on the pitch. Sweating and heaving great gasps of air back into his lungs, his arms sore from swinging bats and feeling the hard of slap of Jose's Quaffles against his arms when Elijah was called onto to defend the goals in practice in case Sophie was taken out of commission. He'd been learning each position, feeling the aches and pains of each position, the painful sting of embarrassment every time he missed a pass or the bludger hit him instead of the other way around, or a Quaffle soared into the hoop just inches away from his straining, sweaty, slippery fingers.
He had been very nearly ready to hate Jose Hernandez.
A week before the match however, he had actually managed to block one of Jose’s shots toward the goal. One practice session he’d actually managed to keep all the bludgers away from the players he was told to defend (mostly due to their own maneuvering... but still) and though at night his hand had routinely begun to cramp up, each finger stinging as blood began to flow again, he’d been managing to capture faux snitches quicker and quicker with each passing practice. Slowly he’d eased into the idea of what being a reserve really meant. It was the most important position on the Pecari team because he had to be excellent in everything. He was Pecari’s last noble defense. He was their seeker, their keeper, their most excellent chaser, a reliant beater, he was each position rolled into one. Then Demetra fell ill and the whimpering started.
Dressed in his brown Quidditch robes, gloved hands clutching tightly to the wooden bat that made him feel more like a target than the assassin Pecari needed him to be, Elijah swallowed hard, a small squeak finally emitting from his throat when Jose suddenly addressed him though he quickly coughed to hide it. “Whatever I can,” He repeated. “Right.” He felt a spike of irritation despite his nervousness, mildly insulted that Jose so obviously saw him as unfit for going up against Edmond Carey. ‘I’ve tamed hippogriffs two times as big as he is.’ Elijah’s gaze traveled toward the Aladren end where Edmond Carey was probably giving his team a speech as well. ‘Three times even!’ A bright image, so vivid it seemed like a real premonition, flashed acorss his mind, of his beater’s bat slamming against a bludger and sped directly into Edmond Carey’s chest WHAM and then he too fell amongst the countless hordes of conquered enemies. A small smile eased into the tension lining Elijah’s face, and he managed to gather enough breath to shout, “Go Pecari!” before the whistle was blown and the players rose into the air.
Captain Hernandez, as always, proved his superior skills as a chaser and caught the Quaffle first out of the midst of Aladren chasers. Elijah crouched low on his borrowed Cleansweep 12 and shot after him, the slight breeze that coursed the warm sunlit air attempted to tug down on his dark curls but a brown headband kept them out of his face. He pulled up to fly a little above Jose and Jhonice whom he passed to and who caught it with only a slight fumble that Elijah watched from above. ‘So far so good...’ His heart was beating in his chest. A number of realizations were beginning to pound in his mind. This was his first ever game and it was the championship. He was playing both against and alongside the best beaters in school. He stifled all the other thoughts threatening to waylay him from his mission, focusing on the comforting fact that Demelza was around. And that he had the privilege of flying with her.
Even in his darkest hours of practice, the bludgers whamming into him if he didn’t fly fast enough, his arm aching from hours of swings, some successful, most fruitless, he’d taken some pleasure in at least getting to be around Demelza so much. She was just so cool, so confident about everything, and though Elijah fit naturally on a broom (when he wasn’t being asked to wham flying iron balls in the air or forced to wait with heightened anxiety around three metal goal posts that became his prison cell) the air particles seemed to part and make way for Demelza. Her broom wasn’t a broom at all, it was a ship. And she the absolute master of it. The only way Elijah even got through Beater practices, and the only way he was going to get through the game now was to follow her lead. He tried to remember bits of advice she’d either given him directly or generally to the whole team as an Assistant Captain.
Continuing to follow Jhonice from above, threatening the borders of Aladren territory, Elijah saw the flaps of blue robes and heard the whistle of a bludger as it sped through the air. He looked up and saw the dark brown ball barrell across the blue sky, some grey tinting the edges of space. He took a breath, gripped his broom with one hand, and shot up, flying for a short distance after the bludger, heart continuing to hammer. It felt oddly natural to chase after things that wanted to harm him though part of Elijah’s brain tried to tell him it shouldn’t be. He was still resisting the call of beating, seeking would be his path, he would make it so, but for now he allowed himself to enjoy the exhilaration of chasing the iron weapon.
CRACK
He made the hit, a deep breath and than an exhalation as his bat swung and the bludger shot off on a diagonal plunge toward one of the flapping blue robes that neared Jhonice and her pass. A few tremors rippled Elijah’s arm but the pain wasn’t intense and in fact a wide grin flashed across his face. “Woah...” That felt powerful, that felt good, unlike the sweaty miserable sessions in practice. This was a good sort of sweaty, the kind that beaded his forehead and sloped down his nose, painting the back of his neck but it felt good, it felt very real and the entire pitch came in sharp focus. ‘I wanna hit another one.’ Elijah leaned forward on his broom and shot off again, his dark eyes bright with energy and enthusiasm. Was this what Demelza felt like all the time? Was it the beating that made her so awesome or were only awesome people allowed to beat? He didn’t know, wasn’t sure, but wanted to feel that feeling one more time - no - again and again and again. He continued flying, eager for another bludger.
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<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
Wild Boars Eat Hawks for Breakfast.
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<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
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<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>
February 11, 2012 7:12 PM
I'm afraid I feel obliged to disagree with you all by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>
It was strange, Edmond thought, and a little sad to realize that not only was this the last time he was ever going to play Quidditch, but that they weren’t even doing it against Crotalus. He supposed he must have bought into the strange myth of Aladren versus Crotalus which had been building over the past two years more than he had thought he had.If it helped his team win this one, though, then so be it, and if it hurt them by making them underestimate the opposition, well, he thought it was a bit too late to do anything about it now. He had been drilling them as thoroughly as though it were Crotalus and telling them not to underestimate Pecari for months, and he really did not see what he could do that he had not already done, especially not at this late date. It was the day of the game, the day of the last game, and all they could do was their best.
“All right, everyone,” he said mildly, looking around at them. “I trust you all know what you’re doing as well as you did before Christmas. Just concentrate as much as you would in any game. Pecari is a good team, remember, and while we think they’ll have at least one substitution – “ he glanced slightly at Arthur, remembering the two very odd visits they’d had recently; he was, he supposed, going to have to keep an eye on Arthur, because there was something a little unsettling about a fourteen-year-old seeking out information on enemy forces that way, even if it was for Quidditch – “their alternate Seeker did beat Miss Bauer.”
Arnold, to his surprise nodded, seeming to understand the order to take Miss Owen seriously and take it to heart. Edmond officially gave up on ever quite understanding either of the twins, or at least of trying to predict them.
“I trust that we can win this, but however it ends, gentlemen – Kitty – it’s been a pleasure working with all of you. Everyone try your best. I think Coach Pierce wishes to speak with us now.”
She did, but only briefly; Edmond guessed she, too, wanted this over before the rain came. Arnold could play in the rain, but it was a chancier thing, and none of them would enjoy it anyway. He’d sort of like to enjoy his last game – or at least come closer to enjoying it than he had in years, anyway. He smiled, hoping the expression was not interpreted as threatening, as he and Jose shook hands. “And to you,” he said when he was wished luck.
It seemed his wishes were more effective than Jose’s at first, with Jose first getting the ball and then successfully passing it, but Edmond had been playing this game for the better part of seven years. They had been playing this game for less than five minutes, and even Arnold had never been good enough to catch it in that little time. When the first year substituting for Miss Mason tried to hit a Bludger at one of his players, Edmond went after it and redirected it back toward a Pecari Chaser before glancing around to find the Seekers and make sure Arnold was doing all right. He seemed to be, but he’d better get up there now, to be sure.
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<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>
I'm afraid I feel obliged to disagree with you all
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<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
February 12, 2012 1:04 AM
Because Pecari is going to lose by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Arthur knew it was the sort of nervous gesture he should avoid, since anyone who noticed it would realize he was feeling something strongly, but every time he forced himself to stop rubbing the flat of his right index finger against the flat of his thumb, he would look down and realize he was doing it again. He did not feel anxious, but he suspected that if he might begin if he stopped for too long. For the first time, as far as he could remember, he wanted a Quidditch game to start so he could play the thing, rather than so he could just go ahead and get it over with, though he could only hope that it would prove enough of a distraction to keep him on task and at his best.His anxiety, or whatever it was, did not come from the opposing team. He did not think Pecari was going to be anything like a challenge. Instead, it came from his proximity to their team captain. He was worried he’d overstepped his place. That was ridiculous – it was Quidditch, for Merlin’s sake; at worst, he looked like one of those idiots who thought the game was the be-all and the end-all of life and refused to apply his talents to a more sensibly productive task in life – but….He had to bite down hard on the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing at the ‘gentlemen and Kitty’ moment.
As they lined up to face the Pecaris while the captains shook hands and Miss Pierce made her final remarks, though, Arthur did allow himself to smile slightly. A slight smile, he’d learned from his father and great-great-grandfather, was the single most disturbing expression that the human face could wear at times, and even if this wasn’t one of those, it would certainly get across that he was not worried about the match. If there was one thing he had to name about Quidditch which could always hold his interest, it was the psychological element of it.
Pecari got the ball, then got it again, and Arthur could hear a bat cracking against a Bludger, but he was already heading in to intercept and had little choice for a moment but to just put his trust into his team’s Beaters. He felt a little ripple of relief go through him when his trust was proven well-founded and there was another, louder, crack of bat against Bludger, after which he did not feel a metal ball collide very hard with any portion of his anatomy in the moment that he reached out and pulled the Quaffle from the air and began to turn back toward the Pecari goals.
It was not, he thought, ideal. Pecari had managed to cover ground, adding to the full half a Pitch they would have needed to cover even if they’d gotten the ball first. Ideal wasn’t much fun, though – part of him, the one which was usually in charge, was appalled by the very thought, but another was just reckless enough today to think it – and it was not that much of a problem. He sped up, taking advantage of a good broom, and stayed low to the handle both to decrease resistance and make himself less of a target for Bludgers until he was nearly to the center line again and found an opening to one of his teammates and passed.
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Because Pecari is going to lose
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
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<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
February 13, 2012 6:17 PM
So they are. by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
Russell didn’t think Pecari was going to be a complete pushover – they had to want this bad, and plus, a few of them were kind of certifiably crazy – but he wasn’t feeling intimidated as he waited for the game to begin. He figured they’d have a pretty good time, maybe break a few bones courtesy of the Pecari Assistant Captain, and then come out the winners anyway. And that would be good.Next year…well, next year might be interesting. They’d been on one long winning streak as long as he’d been at this school, but next year, David Wilkes was going to be the captain, and he just wasn’t as intimidating as Daniel Nash and Edmond Carey. Somehow, Russell did not see Arthur and Preston being very impressed by a Muggleborn a year older than them who was occasionally known to ask Russell what the homework was. They might still win – Arnold would still, presumably, be Arnold – but he wasn’t at all sure how coherent things were going to stay. Maybe they would work out just fine; maybe they wouldn’t. He didn’t know. He just knew that at the first sign of trouble, he was going to do the sensible thing, which was stand back and watch the show without getting involved in any way he could help then and that he was going to worry about this one right now.
The Pecari captain, who was one of the big reasons Russell had no trouble with Edmond’s requests for them to take Pecari seriously, got the ball and got it to Mellie’s roommate, but then she started having trouble with her broom or something – her very unpredictability was another very good reason to worry about Pecari a little – and Arthur got the ball back. He nearly got hit by a Bludger, too, but that happened sometimes, and anyway, he didn’t. When Arthur passed after a bit, Russell completed it, then crossed into the territory closer to the Pecari goals than his own and covered about twenty-five, maybe thirty feet before taking another opening to pass, hoping to avoid those Bludgers himself as long as possible.
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<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
So they are.
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<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
February 13, 2012 9:33 PM
I respect that you guys are Aladrens, but you are wrong by <font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
Things went a little sideways after Jhon caught his pass. Initially, that was merely a literal statement as Jhonice brought the ball toward the outside edge of the pitch. He wasn't entirely sure if that was part of her plan or her broom acting up but if it was intentional it didn't seem to be working out for her. Even with Elijah's help trying to divert him, Arthur still got in there for the intercept.Worse, Edmond deflected the hit meant for Arthur and sent it Jose instead. Out-maneuvering that and trying to lead the bludger back into Pecari control cost him the opportunity to intercept Arthur's pass to Russell but he was in place in time for Russell's pass.
Dropping down from above, Jose snatched the ball as it was halfway to its intended target, changed directions and headed back for the center line. He had only just crossed it when he thought an opportunity presented itself for a clear pass. Looking up - it would be embarrassing to be caught on the very same trick he literally just used - he made sure there wasn't Aladren hovering in wait, then took the chance to pass to his Pecari teammate.
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
I respect that you guys are Aladrens, but you are wrong
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<font color=brown>Cap'n Jose, Chaser</font>
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<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
February 14, 2012 6:05 PM
Not only merely wrong, but really most sincerely wrong. by <font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
As she waited for the speeches to begin, Mellie was so excited she was standing on her toes, the overcast sky barely even registering with her as she clasped her hands in front of her to keep from fluttering too much. She could still hardly believe she was about to play in the Quidditch Final!She was not, she suspected, going to be great in the game, but she was sure Pecari was going to be. Maybe it was just because she knew one of them, but she didn’t really find the Aladrens that intimidating. Sure, their Seeker had never lost a game, but neither, as Captain Jose had pointed out, had Jade. Sure, they had a big Beater, but so did Pecari, which also had a Chaser with…four or five years or something more experience than any of theirs, she couldn’t do the math off the top of her head. And since Jhon had been given the task of keeping Arthur Carey busy, that meant that he was probably the craziest there (not a surprise, given that he and Arnold were apparently twins), and if he was kept tangled up….
Still, she was glad it wasn’t her playing Seeker. But then, she was always glad about that, so that was okay, too.
Smiling, she chanted, “Go Pecari!” along with everyone else, and then the game began to rapidly move – and do so back and forth. Jose passed to Jhon, who had some ball trouble and so the ball was intercepted by Arthur, who passed to Russell, who lost the ball to Jose, who –
The ball was in her hands. Mellie’s face, for one second, broke into a smile before the wind got uncomfortable on her teeth as she flew on, very conscious of the weight of the red ball in her arm and the feel of it and just its general presence in her vicinity. She didn’t want to let it go.
She had to, though, or the Aladren Beaters would break her in half sooner or later and probably sooner, and then she wouldn’t be much use to the team or, for that matter, to anyone else. She knew that. So she looked for an opening, found one, and took it, throwing the ball toward one of her teammates with both hands, holding her breath for a second and willing the pass to work instead of proving the most recent in the string of one-pass reversals.
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<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
Not only merely wrong, but really most sincerely wrong.
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<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
February 14, 2012 8:55 PM
I am amused by your optimism by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
His pass to Russell was successful, but just as Arthur reached to get the ball back when Russell passed it again, it suddenly wasn’t there to be gotten anymore. It did not take long for him to put two and two together, look around, and figure out where it had gone. Arthur conceded a hypothetical point to the Pecari captain. That had been nicely done.Nicely done, nicely done indeed. He couldn’t have done it more neatly himself. Now he just needed to prove that he could do it as neatly and get the ball back for the Aladrens.
Mr. Hernandez did very well a second time, too, though, and prevented him from intercepting the pass to Miss Goodwin. She was not as good, though, and he succeeded in intercepting again when she passed. Feeling something very like the kind of satisfaction he did when he had just completed a minor but necessary and somewhat unpleasant bit of homework, he turned quickly and drove back toward Pecari’s side of the Pitch. He still felt no real sense of urgency about this game, the going back and forth was a little amusing, but it was, he felt, just about time for them to make it to a goal for the first time and make the first attempt at – and hopefully have the first success of – scoring.
He was not yet, nor did he expect to become any time soon, irrational enough to attempt to cover all the distance to that goal by himself, though, be it from desperation or a desperate desire for glory or simple insanity induced by too much time moving far too fast. That was too risky; he wouldn’t even consider it a good idea with smaller Beaters than Miss Eagle, and he certainly was not going to try it with her if he could help it, especially since he imagined Edmond had already abandoned him for his twin by now, as was only right and proper. He covered a respectable amount of the Pitch – perhaps a bit further than he thought he had the last time, but not enough to be stupid; he did not like to show off well enough today yet to be stupid about it – and then he checked the air immediately above and below him and, finding it clear, took advantage of a good, fairly close opening to one of the other Aladren Chasers.
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
I am amused by your optimism
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<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
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<font color="brown">Assit.Cap'n Mel, Beater</font>
February 14, 2012 9:38 PM
Dropping by by <font color="brown">Assit.Cap'n Mel, Beater</font>
Everything seemed to be going right for Pecari, Quidditch wise. Most people probably looked at it as bad, but Mel was quite happy with the situation they were in. Jade had proved herself to be quite a good seeker, and Mel finally got her wish that Elijah would get to play beater along side with her. And the good new was, Jose didn't even have to worry about hurting any of the upperclassmen's feelings by relieving them, because they both happened to be sick. And so, Mel got to have Quidditch Minions.The tall seventeen-year-old had no doubt about Jade and Elijah's abilities to do well in the match against Aladren. Elijah seemed keen to listen to everything Mel said, and she couldn't say the same for Demetra. The Assistant Captain was pissed at her for the performance she displayed at the Teppenpaw game. You could mess up, but you at least had to try! It was dumb of her, because now she was on Mel's bad side, and that was not a good thing. Mel kinda had a lot of pull for decisions made with the team, if she did say so herself.
In the locker rooms before the game, Mel immediately approached Elijah after changing, butterflies in her stomach. "Okay, so I know you were like, a third string seeker originally, but don't let that discourage you. You weren't meant to be a seeker. You'd suck at it, just like me. I knew all along you were meant to be a beater. You're a lot like me, you know," she said, giving him a friendly punch in the arm and a smile. "So don't let me down. Just try your best, and actually try and hit the bludger around some, okay? Just not at Pecari players. I'll worry about Edmund," she said, her voice suddenly becoming much more serious. Stupid Edmund. She didn't like people who challenged her skills. She would prove herself better this game. Deciding that she told him all she needed to, she went back to her bench to rock back and forth while clutching her broom for support.
What if this was her last chance to win a finals? What if Pecari didn't get the finals next year? How could she become a professional player if she couldn't even lead her school team to a championship victory? She was just so, so nervous, and for once she actually had a real beater challenging her.
Her green eyes bright with determination, Mel joined in a huddle when Jose called the team together. She took deep breaths, fumbling with her gloves while trying to look confident. This was Jose's last game. She was really quite depressed about that. Mel loved Jose! "Let Mel handle him", he told Elijah, in reference to Edmund. Yeah. She could do that! So what if some people thought he was better....
When it was time to go onto the pitch, she put on the most intimidating face she could make and walked out, her long chocolate brown hair, pulled into a pony tail, swinging behind her. Cracking her knuckles, she glared at a few Aladrens before taking off.
For once, she paid more attention to the general direction of the quaffle before immediately searching for a bludger to shoot. She needed to find the best time to rocket one at an Aladren chaser. It would be smart to try and take out Aladren's seeker, but she wasn't going to get herself involved in the seeker chase until Edmond did. She just didn't want to risk anything, like unnecessarily putting Jade under even greater radar because she was after SeekerCarey. So, she looked with pride as Elijah took a shot at an Aladren Chaser, but Merlin Dammit, Edmond had to stop it. And Merlin Dammit again, there was no way Mel could get to Jose in time! Thank goodness Jose was able to ward off the bludger and keep it off his tail. Mel considered trying to get it for him, but he seemed to be doing well on his own. As that bludger sought another opponent, the other one sought Mel. Feeling like she was now officially part of the game, the larger-than-average sixth year pulled back her left arm, her right hand still on the bat for better support, and took a hard shot at an Aladren Chaser that Arthur Carey passed the quaffle too.
"Bye, bye, chaser," she mumbled until her breath, delighted to find that Edmund seemed to be concentrated on the seekers. Then--shoot. What if he shot at Jade? Mel was supposed to cover him. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot! Feeling a bit scattered brained, Mel turned her head shortly after hearing the CRACK from the bludger making contact with her bat towards Jade, making sure she was a-okay. Then, she looked around for the other bludger, but now she was getting lost. Too much to worry about. She just had to keep her ears open, that was the all. In this case, her ADHD was going to prove to be very useful; every little sharp sound she turned her head to, terrified one of her teammates were being dismantled.
Mel hadn't meant to feel so insecure of her abilities. But, for the first time, the usually cocky beater was feeling a bit unsure of herself. And she really needed to knock it off.
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<font color="brown">Assit.Cap'n Mel, Beater</font>
Dropping by
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<font color="brown">Assit.Cap'n Mel, Beater</font>
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<font color="blue">David Wilkes, Keeper</font>
February 15, 2012 7:25 PM
Hey, me, too! (WotW) by <font color="blue">David Wilkes, Keeper</font>
It wasn’t, all things considered, the best day in the world to play the Quidditch Final. It looked like rain, for one thing, and David was feeling like insanity was contagious and had been passed onto him by his teammates for another after he had briefly debated with himself over breakfast about whether or not he had it in him to Confund Sophie Jamison from behind and then debated with himself for a rather longer time about whether or not he could get away with doing it. Nothing personal, but he’d been in the hyper-competitive atmosphere of Aladren for a long time, the one thing the Wilkes family shared in common with his mother’s family was a certain loss of moral fiber under pressure, and this was the last game before he became the Aladren captain. If he made a Grade-A fool of himself while the other Keeper had a perfect record for the same game, any chance he had of surviving next year would be gone. Of that, he was reasonably sure.In the end, though, he was unsure enough of his teammates to and wary enough of the authorities that he overcame his genetic predisposition toward ruthlessness at the first sign of a tight corner and just hoped for the sky to clear before the game. It did not oblige him, and he spared it a dark look full of hollow promises of retaliation before smiling optimistically through Edmond’s pre-game speech. The issue of whether or not it should change to his wishes had always been a point of contention between him and the weather, and he tended to not get his way. This was not the first time his will to change it had proven less than its will to stay as it was. It was definitely going to rain now, actually, just because he’d bothered to hope it wouldn’t; he just hoped that Arnold caught the Snitch before it did. Unlike the rest of the team, he hadn’t really had the happy experience of playing in the rain, but he was pretty sure that the water everywhere and lack of light and all that did not improve visibility and make it easier to interact with any of the four balls in the ways one wanted to.
He flew up along with everyone else when the whistle blew and, to his consternation, did not find himself pulling away from the rest of the game as he headed for the Aladren goals. Instead, he felt like a cartoon character, speeding up on his fancy broom to lead just ahead of the rest of the pack, desperate to get there before the Chasers landed at the goalposts and started shooting and he wasn’t even there to defend th….
There was a cheer. Something had happened. Reaching the goals, he turned on his broom and found himself watching the action move away. Aladren had recovered the ball. He cheered enthusiastically, clapping his hands.
No sooner than he did that, though, than the Pecaris got the ball back, and so, though he was as happy as anyone had ever thought to be to see Arthur recover the ball for Aladren again, he didn’t make such a production out of being happy about it this time. He liked to think he wasn’t really, deep in his heart of Aladren hearts, that superstitious, but it wasn’t like he really thought it could hurt anything, either, to indulge the odd mood he was in and just be a little bit more careful. After all, a Bludger did seem to be heading one of his teammates' way....
16
<font color="blue">David Wilkes, Keeper</font>
Hey, me, too! (WotW)
169
<font color="blue">David Wilkes, Keeper</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
February 15, 2012 7:54 PM
Wish you'd been the only one, Dave, but we'll still win. by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
Russell vaguely wanted to hit something when he realized that his pass had just been intercepted from above by the Pecari captain, but since that didn’t seem very practical under the circumstances, he decided to just worry about getting the ball back. It was just good that it was Jose who had the ball right now, because he was the one on the Pecari team who was really good; Jhonice Trevear could be downright dangerous, sometimes, but at others she couldn’t fly and this was a day when her broom seemed to be refusing to cooperate with her, and Russell knew Mellie well enough that he wasn’t worried about her as an opponent.Though she was doing pretty well, he granted as she completed Jose’s pass a minute later. A minute after that, though, Arthur intercepted her pass, and the game was moving back their way again. Russell followed along, kind of sorry he hadn’t gotten the glory of being the one to get the ball back but also kind of glad he hadn’t been the one to get it back from Mel. He wasn’t yet Quidditch-crazy enough to completely forget that there was, in fact, life off the Pitch and away from the Aladren team.
He wasn’t bothered by that. The feeling would, he knew, go away soon enough.
When the pass came again, Russell caught it again and kept on along the way to the Pecari goals. Things were back to moving along well; here went hoping that they continued to do so this time. Going back and forth would, he knew from long experience with the Crotali, get pretty dull after a while. He covered more ground, found another opening, checked for Pecaris what he hoped was more thoroughly than he had the last time, and tried once more to pass.
Far too shortly after he did that, as his focus moved out of momentarily being entirely on the ball, he heard the noise of a Bludger. He pulled away, but it still hit him just below the knee, and pretty hard – not as hard as he thought it might have if he hadn’t noticed and tried to evade it, but still, hard enough. The pain was jarring, anyway, and his hands tightened on his broom as he flew out in an arc, half-thinking for a second to try to shake the feeling off before realizing that wasn’t going to work and just heading back for the game. He guessed having one’s own personal Edmond was one benefit of being the Seeker. Though having one’s own personal Demelza was definitely a downside. At least she seemed to be going away now. His leg was far happier than his intellect knew he should be to see her heading away, presumably toward the Seekers.
16
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
Wish you'd been the only one, Dave, but we'll still win.
183
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
February 15, 2012 8:57 PM
Always and Always by <font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
It felt…off. Even though she’d only been playing the game for one year, there was a rightness about Aladren facing off against Crotalus in the finals that facing Pecari just lacked. Pecari and Teppenpaw were warm up teams, games that were played to get back into the swing of things. They weren’t the teams that actually made it to the finals. Well, I guess it just means we get the cup again this year, Kitty thought dismissively as she finished off her waffle heaped high with chopped bananas and apple butter.Her belly full, a warm sweater under her game robes and a newly shined broom, Kitty was ready for the game. She got a bit turned around and ended up going out the wrong door. Darn it! The pitch is on the other side! Flinging herself back though the doors Kitty ran, her tight black braid whipped behind her like an angry serpent as she sped through the halls towards the right door. Finally she made it, thankfully before the game actually started. That would have been too embarrassing for words. Still out of breath from her mad dash Kitty was a bit slow taking off and the Quaffle was handed off in a flurry of passes back and forth between the teams.
Like temperamental dogs fighting over a bit of rope, the Quaffle was pulled between the two sets of goals. First towards the Aladren, then Pecari and back and forth again. Twice Kitty had almost managed to get into position to intercept, but both times her timing had been a little off. Well in the case of Jhonice, the girl had suddenly drifted off course, which left Arthur in a better position to intercept. So she’d backed off, not wanting to get in the way and end up losing the Quaffle to another Pecari chaser.
As she expected him to, Arthur easily got the Quaffle back for Aladren. With a happy “Whoop!” Kitty flew after him. Russell had the same idea and Kitty couldn’t help but grin as they fell into an easy formation. Now as long as the beaters stayed away, hopefully they’d be able to make it all the way to the goals! Arthur passed to Russell and Kitty moved closer, making sure to keep an eye out for rival chasers as the goals loomed ever closer.
The sharp crack of bat on bludger caused Kitty to look around wildly. One of the ominous black balls was headed straight for Russell just as he passed the Quaffle in her direction. Kitty was so distracted by the bludger that the Quaffle nearly slipped out of her grip as cornflower blue eyes tracked the black ball instead of the red one she should have been paying attention too. It was only the feel of leather on her palms that jerked her back to reality just as the bludger struck Russell. Swallowing hard, Kitty gripped the Quaffle tightly as she shot towards the enemy goals and hoped that none of the beaters were targeting her back.
Kitty took a deep breath and sternly told herself to ignore the way the flesh between her shoulder blades crawled, she flew sharp and fast at the center hoop. Closer, closer, she pulled up fast only a few broom lengths away from the goals so hard that she was almost vertical as she threw the Quaffle as hard as she could at the left goal. She hoped that her odd tactic would hide her intended target from the Keeper until it was too late. Continuing the movement, Kitty arched the tip of her broom back fully, looping back on her path and plunging towards the ground for a moment in free fall before she was able to regain control and straighten out again.
0
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
Always and Always
0
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear - Chaser</font>
February 18, 2012 9:10 AM
Dream on Aladren, your reign of terror is at an end! by <font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear - Chaser</font>
Jhonice was upset. Something was wrong with her Enterprise, it wasn't responding to her demands. She struggled to get it facing back toward her quarry. This was Aladren trickery! They knew she was a threat and that she relied on this broom. So they had infiltrated the school broom storage and cursed her broom! She finally got it pointed in the right direction and set off to follow 'Arthur' Carey, but arrived to late to intercept the pass to his teammate. She watched as Kitty got the ball and rushed for the goal.Maybe this was more than just Quiddich, she watched 'Arthur' carefully. Which one of the triplets was this one really? Perhaps they were on to her being on to them... It could be a sneaky Carey plot to remove her from exposing their diabolical schemes to the world. A Quidditch final would be a convenient place and time to silence some opposition. Wouldn't they be surprised, she would not fall so easily! Pecari would triumph! "Go Sophie!" She cheered. She wanted to move into position to catch Sophie's pass once she stopped the ball, but she had to stick with 'Arthur'. He was definitely up to no good.
2
<font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear - Chaser</font>
Dream on Aladren, your reign of terror is at an end!
209
<font color=brown>Jhonice Trevear - Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color=brown>Sophie Jamison [Keeper]</font>
February 19, 2012 10:49 PM
...Maybe not so much. by <font color=brown>Sophie Jamison [Keeper]</font>
Her head was a mess. Sophie was having a fair number of issues, and it seemed like they all wanted to stir in her mind at once. It wasn’t fair, but then again, neither was life. That was obvious. Who had ever alleged that it was? Whoever had was just plain dumb. That, or the person had been lucky that far. Or both.The blonde wasn’t that lucky, and she wasn’t that dumb. She knew how unfair life could be, but that didn’t make it okay. There were a lot of times she lost in life, a lot of times everyone lost. Still, today was not the day for these thoughts.
She tried very hard to think about winning, to pay attention to the Quidditch final and be excited, but she couldn’t. Too much was weighing her down. Flying seemed impossible, but then again, her broom did most of the work. Cheer up, she tried to tell herself, but she was too busy falling down.
The first problem was the fact that her father still wasn’t back. He’d been gone since November, without a trace. The note he left indicated that he was planning on coming back, but when? Sophie was terribly worried about him, but she didn’t want to share those feelings with Ileum or Serapes because they were both worried enough themselves. She didn’t want to confide in Liz either because, while she loved her cousin, she would try to mother her. Her cousins her own age, whom she also loved, would do little more than tell a trusted adult. In good nature, of course, but that wasn’t what she wanted.
That led her to confiding in her best friend, Ryan O’Malley. Problem was, he was another thing on her mind entirely. Ever since she’d spent the holidays at his house… things had been different for her. Sophie and Ryan had been talking, and then the next thing she knew, she was kissing him. She’d just been trying to make him feel better and show him he could get girls to like him, and…. Obviously he did.
She was trying so hard not to fancy him. He was her best friend; she couldn’t think of him that way! Like, there was no way she could ever tell him how she thought she was feeling because it could totally screw up their friendship, and that wasn’t something she was okay with risking.
Shut up, she commanded the thoughts in her head. Now was not the time. She had to protect the rings in the name of Pecari, but it was so hard to plan out and strategize against the opposing Chasers—Aladrens at that!—when she was so distracted. It seemed like the girl was coming at the middle hoop, so before that one Sophie took position. However, it was not the girl’s target; the left ring was.
The Keeper couldn’t make it in time. It slid beside her through the hoop for a goal. She recovered the ball quickly and passed it to the nearest Pecari Chaser, but the damage had been done. Sophie had missed. Aladren was up. Profanity floated from the fifteen-year-old girl’s lips.
12
<font color=brown>Sophie Jamison [Keeper]</font>
...Maybe not so much.
34
<font color=brown>Sophie Jamison [Keeper]</font>
0
5
<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
February 20, 2012 11:58 AM
Aladren Scores! 10-0 (nm) by <font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
0
<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
Aladren Scores! 10-0 (nm)
0
<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
0
5
<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
February 20, 2012 2:18 PM
Let's go, Pecari! by <font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
“Oh, no!” Mellie tried to exclaim in exasperation when Arthur Carey stole the ball from her, but she was a little out of breath and ended up just making a kind of strangled noise instead as she fought to get her broom turned around and moving back toward her own team’s goals, hoping desperately that they would be able to get the Quaffle back before it made it all the way back to Sophie. She was totally, completely sure their Keeper was up to the job of stopping it, of course, but it would just be embarrassing for Aladren to make it there first, when Mellie was sure she would not be the least surprised person here to hear it if it came out that the Aladrens really thought they had this game in the bag before they ever came out onto the Pitch today.The ball moved from Arthur to Russell, and though Mel came in and managed to hit Russell with a Bludger, it didn’t stop the ball from going from Russell to Kitty McLevy and then…oh, dangit…right past Sophie.
At least Jhon had apparently gotten her broom back under control and rejoined them now. That was something. Something good, that was; everything was something, after all. Sophie passed the ball back into the game and Mellie took it and turned again, starting the long run toward the Aladren goals and reminding herself that it was early in the game still, that ten points wouldn’t matter at all if Jade caught the Snitch, and that they had all three Chasers back together on the Pecari side now. She thought this game was totally about to turn around for them.
She hurried down some of the Pitch, nervously looking around for Bludgers, but knew that it wouldn’t be hard for Aladren to take it straight back to Sophie if they intercepted it when she caught the eye of one of her fellow Pecari Chasers and tried to pass again, hoping it would go better for her this time than it had the last time she tried in this game, and that one day she would feel less nervous whenever she touched a Quaffle and tried to do…er…well, if she was going to be perfectly honest, anything with it. It seemed like one of those things that her mom said came with age, which she wished, if that were true, would come quicker.
16
<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
Let's go, Pecari!
206
<font color="brown">Mellie Goodwin, Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
February 20, 2012 5:45 PM
We can do it, Aladren! by <font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
As she finished her little loop de loop Oh please, please, please, let it have been distracting enough! Kitty almost ran straight into the bottom part of the post supporting the center ring and only a sharp swerve to the right kept her from crashing. A breathless little laugh escaped her lips as her cheeks burned with embarrassed adrenalin. She’d been so focused on her stunt that Kitty didn’t know if her shot made it or not. Maybe that was just a smidge over the top? Kitty wondered. Some of the crowed was cheering, but she was still too turned around to figure out which side was making the most happy noises and she couldn’t help but pout a bit.Finally back in full control of herself and the broom, Kitty glanced up just in time to see the Keeper grab the Quaffle and toss it easily to one of the Pecari Chasers. Urging her broom back up to the level of the rest of the players, Kitty kept an eye out for bludgers as she silently cursed her flare for the dramatic. While her stunt may or may not have worked, it nearly got her smeared all over the goal post, and further prevented her from regaining control of the Quaffle to try for a second shot. Still, the game was young, and although her hands ached with want of the brilliant red orb, she knew it would be hers again before too much longer.
The Pecari chaser was flying fast towards Aladren territory. Even though Kitty’s broom was now a year old, it still out classed the school brooms by a fair margin. A wild grin pulled at the young Aladren’s lips and she felt like a hound running fleetly though the forest after a lone fox, the belling of the pack and the horns of the huntsmen seemed to ring in her ears as she closed the distance. Close, and closer still, the red of the Quaffle filled her vision as she raced forward before a flash of red streaked fur-like though the air. Kitty fought for more speed, but the distance hadn’t been closed in time, the fox had found momentary shelter in the arms of another.
0
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
We can do it, Aladren!
0
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color =brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>
February 20, 2012 6:24 PM
No, We can do it Pecari! by <font color =brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>
Jhonice groaned in anguish as the Quaffle sailed right past Sophie and through the goal. She thought their keeper looked a little distracted, she could recognize that look, Andrew was still wearing it after all. The Careys had cursed her broom, did they do something to distract their keeper as well? She glanced over at her quarry, the Careys were known for their plots and intrigue, plus these are Aladrens as well. They were undoubtedly up to something, and Pecari was on the receiving end of it. That would just not do! She would have to do something about it.She cheered as her roommate recovered the ball from Sophie and started racing it back up the pitch. Gambling, she broke away from Arthur and caught Mellie's eye. Knowing that her broom was now cursed, she was able to anticipate it and she felt the ball land safely in her hands. Success! Now she just had to keep the momentum going! The Aladren/Carey plot for Quidditch domination would be foiled! She dived and continued forward into Aladren territory, the forward had been part of her plan, the dive had not.
Fighting with her broom for altitude, she looked frantically for a teammate to pass the ball. Did the Carey curse give them some kind of direct control over her broom? It had behaved when she first got away to catch the ball, but now that they've had a chance to react to her having it, it wasn't following her commands. This wasn't good, maybe she should trade it out for one with a normal curse on it. First though, she had to get the ball to Captain Jose or back to Mellie. Spotting one of them, she tossed the ball and hoped it would make it to them.
2
<font color =brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>
No, We can do it Pecari!
209
<font color =brown>Jhonice Trevear, Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
February 20, 2012 10:44 PM
Aladren shall be victorious. That is all. by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Arthur smiled grimly as Katrina succeeded in scoring. Miss Jamison was a fairly good Keeper, so he considered this a victory for the youngest of the Aladren Chasers as well as for the team as a whole. Undermining the opponent’s morale seemed to him to be one of the most important parts of playing the game, and a goal did that job very well.Another right on the heels of the first would have done as good a job, but Miss Goodwin managed to get the ball. That was all right, since staying in front of the goals for too long gave the Beaters an opportunity, and Mr. Errant in particular might decide to do that, despite the risk to his Chasers. He did not, apparently, strike Theresa as the most stable character in their year, and while her also deciding Miss Alexandra ought to marry him made him take that judgment with perhaps a grain of salt more than he took all of Theresa’s comments under the circumstances, there was the implied relationship to Miss Errant. Any relative of Miss Errant, Arthur was sure, was going to be a bit unstable; he would have thought this was unfair, considering his own family, if he had ever met more than one Carey who’d never, on any occasion, under any circumstances, struck him as even a little bit less than sane. At best, she was a freak of nature, and it was more likely that he simply hadn’t seen her often enough.
So it was all right that Miss Goodwin got the ball. Not so all right, though, was Miss Trevear getting it from her. Her getting the ball at all was all right, but her being able to make a successful pass was nothing more or less than sheer sloppiness on his part and the parts of Katrina and Russell. They would have to rectify that. When Miss Trevear dove, he followed her, then intercepted her attempt at a pass and turned back toward the Pecari goals.
He could, he thought, have covered the distance the two second years had on his own again without too many problems, but he also thought, knowing that his team had a reputation for not being too much saner than Mr. Errant’s Crotalus…whatever she was to him, that it might be expected. So he took the opportunity, soon after getting the Quaffle, to attempt a short pass, hoping for the best but knowing that there was plenty of time even if it didn’t work out. It was still much further to his goals than it was from theirs.
0
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Aladren shall be victorious. That is all.
0
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
February 21, 2012 10:10 AM
My crystal ball says differently. by <font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
The desire to hit bludgers hadn’t subsided, but Elijah grew distracted from above, watching in fascination as the Quaffle passed quickly from chaser to chaser, sometimes clothed in brown, sometimes in blue. Streaks of intermingling color that almost never moved in perfect straight lines. He followed them, providing neither defence nor offence, bat lowered at his side, dark brown eyes struggling to keep up with the pattern of brown, blue and dabs of red. The players seemed to weave in and out of each other in a much more complicated way than he’d seen in practice and that he had seen the first time he’d hit a bludger this game. He wasn’t fully aware of which direction the streaks were headed toward until one of the blue streaks broke from the mass and Elijah realized it was taking a shot at Pecari.‘Right... I should be knocking those streaks down.’ Turning away from Sophie who was sure to make the save, he scanned the field for a bludger to have ready and waiting for Aladren. ‘There!’ He leaned forward on his Cleansweep and went into a quick dive, the crisp air growing briefly colder as the wind blew faster against his skin, the sleeves of his robes pulling back on his arms. The bludger he was chasing sensed his presence and made a sudden about face. A yelp of surprise got caught in Elijah’s throat and he instinctively ducked, the bludger speeding just above his head, grazing his soft curls. Blinking rapidly, Elijah made a sharp tun to again face off with the same bludger now reversing its trajectory to try and hit him again. CRACK. An upperhand smack with his bat and the bludger whistled through the air it rose in.
His blood pumped hard, heart hammering in his chest, a wide smile restored upon his face, loving these strange public continual brushes with death. He leaned back on his broom, right hand gripping the wood, and sped after the bludger, eyes widening at the sudden surge of chasers heading toward him instead of away. The bludger rose just above the space of air Jhonice was about to fly into, Quaffle held in her possession. Elijah swerved out of her way and rose a little higher, letting go of his broom, clutching his bat with two hands, left fist above right, bat raised above his left shoulder, and twisted away from the bludger. A blue streak passed below him, the Quaffle temporarily finding new ownership. Elijah twisted toward the bludger, his clenched fists swinging the bat.
CRACK. A ripple of power through his arms, spreading throughout his body, smile widening on his face, laughter lost in the flapping of robes and wind and beaters’ bats. He watched his bludger speed past the the blue robed chaser who’d stolen the Quaffle from Pecari and toward the blue robed chaser close enough to catch the pass. ‘Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit!’ He silently chanted, torn between keeping his gaze locked on the bludger and the painful need to look around wildly to see if Demelza was watching. He chose her, turning away from either his success or another exhilarating fail, just in time to see her speeding away from where the seekers were. ‘She didn’t see me at all.’ His brow furrowed but he tried not to take it too personally. ‘She’s a professional, she needs to focus on the game... anyway, I’ll make sure she sees me next time.’ He turned back around to see where his bludger had gotten, wondering if any Aladrens had plummeted to their deaths and if there were any Pecaris he should be racing to defend.
0
<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
My crystal ball says differently.
0
<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Aladren</font>
February 21, 2012 5:42 PM
It's broken, then. by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Aladren</font>
And they were up. He hadn’t been the one to make the goal, but Russell still felt something like relief and triumph as the ball sailed on past the Pecari Keeper and into the hoop. Aladren was in the lead.Mellie reclaimed the ball, passed it to her roommate, and Russell considered trying to intercept it at that point, but it looked like Kitty was already going for it. Since she was uninjured, he fell back and decided to let her have that one. His leg was still bothering him, after all, and she was much smaller than he was even when all other factors were left out of consideration, so he thought she might have a better chance than he did at getting it out, anyway.
She didn’t pull off the interception, but Arthur did the next time the ball came into play, and it looked like the game was theirs again. Russell was surprised by how soon his roommate passed after getting the Quaffle back, and fumbled a little with the Quaffle before he got a good grip on it in his surprise, but he accepted the situation readily enough. One reason for this was hearing the crack of a bat on a Bludger somewhere nearby. With the memory of a hit very fresh in his mind, his main goal at that point became getting out of the way real fast, before another injury could take place.
Doing that carried him back to the goals, bringing up the question of what to do now that he was faced with the prospect of scoring twice in five minutes. He was tempted to pass again and then fake a run at the goals, but he wasn’t sure he had time or the skill to pull it off, really, so he moved as though he were going to pass to his left before putting on an extra burst of speed and then throwing the ball toward the right hoop.
16
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Aladren</font>
It's broken, then.
183
<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Aladren</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
February 21, 2012 9:46 PM
Why, so it is by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Concentration, Arthur thought, was a funny thing, and possibly a malevolent one. When he needed to focus on just one thing and exclude everything around him, he seldom could, but when he was playing Quidditch and could actually sometimes use that tendency, he sometimes found his mind completely on one thing, or close enough for it to make no difference. That, too, had its uses, and it wasn’t all the time, but it could still be…inconvenient, though mainly, it was just unsettling.Today, though, it seemed it was going to be more than merely unsettling, slip further toward inconvenient than it usually did. His mind was totally on passing the Quaffle to Russell, and because of that, he didn’t move quite quickly enough to get out of the way of the Bludger Mr. Errant had just hit. And after he had just thought about how he needed to keep an eye on that one, too. He was almost more annoyed with himself than he was wounded by the Bludger to the upper part of his left arm.
Almost. That had been a fairly good, or at least a fairly lucky, hit. He noticed, from the impersonal distance he often viewed painful phenomena from, his jaw clenching and his temples beginning to pound in time with the new pain in his shoulder. That pounding was not yet painful, but he did not think that happy state of affairs would last very long. It usually did not, unless it was at the end of a headache, rather than what felt a bit like the beginnings of one. Well, he didn’t suppose it would really be the Quidditch Final if he wasn’t at least a little sick after it, and at least it had been his left arm, not his right. His left arm wasn’t worth much anyway.
Dragging himself back to the immediate situation, he noticed that Russell appeared to have made it to the end of the Pitch without sustaining further injury – good, very good; better when neither of them had been hurt, but better than some options – and was taking another shot. Very good. Now just to see if it was good enough. All right if it wasn’t; they lost nothing, he guessed, by the attempt.
In the meantime, he looked around for his brother and Edmond, a quick look meant mainly to assure himself that everything was happening there the way it was supposed to. They were all, in a way, all right as long as Arnold was all right. What happened to him, Russell, and Katrina was small potatoes indeed compared to the impact on their game if Miss Eagle’s absence from their immediate surroundings meant she was after his brother and was proving successful in her efforts. Happily, though, that didn’t seem to be the case, so it was back to watching for the Quaffle.
0
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
Why, so it is
0
<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>
0
5
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
February 22, 2012 5:43 PM
Pretty crystal shards by <font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
Things were happening fast now. Kitty caught up with the action and positioned herself for an easy pass now that Arthur had the ball. Russell appeared on Carey’s other side and didn’t look too worse for wear after his tangle with the bludger. It always made Kitty feel a bit uneasy when her fellow chasers were injured. Sure, Aladren could beat Pecari any day of the week, but if too many of their players were taken out before the Snitch was caught… Well, it might make things tricky.No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, Arthur passed the Quaffle to Russell when a bludger came out of the blue and promptly slammed into his arm. Kitty eeeped in surprise at the sneaky attack before she darted off after Russell. It was hard not to look back and make sure Arthur was alright. He’ll be ok, he’s been hit by bludgers before, we just need to focus. We can’t lose! Kitty thought as she bit her lip. Of the three of them, Kitty was now the only one not suffering from a bludger induced injury.
That realization left the young Aladren half terrified and half elated. She felt almost invincible, after all, she was the youngest chaser and the only girl on the team. And yet, she had never been hit by a bludger. It was a heady feeling and Kitty almost forgot the half of her that was anxious at the fact that she was the only uninjured chaser they had left. Then again Russell apparently wasn’t letting any lingering pain keep him down as he took a shot at the goals.
“Wooohooo! Keep up the pressure!” Kitty shouted as she followed. Hopefully the Quaffle would make it, but if it didn’t there was still the hope of snatching it back quickly and making another shot as long as she was close enough. Bright blue eyes scanned the sky above them (remembering where the last bludger had come from) for any threatening beaters as she waited to see which way the Quaffle went.
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<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
Pretty crystal shards
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<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
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5
<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
February 23, 2012 12:39 AM
At the end of the match, you'll know I'm right. by <font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
Elijah didn’t hear the sound of desperate screams filling the air emitting from an Aladren throat, so his mission was still incomplete. The nearest bludger - probably the same one he’d recently hit - was heading toward Pecari goals, a few meters below Sophie. While the Keeper dealt with the Quaffle, Elijah leaned forward on his broom, circling the blue robed chasers and the goal posts, a mixture of hard blowing wind and sounds from the surrounding stadium blasting in his ears, his eyes widened and focused on the bludger he was tracking. Its familiar whistle joined the surge of noise, rising to meet Elijah in his sudden dive between the left and middle goal posts, still far enough away from Sophie.“Nnngh!” He swung, clumsily with one hand, the iron ball pushed with a dull crack toward the awaiting array of Aladren chasers attempting to keep the Quaffle in Pecari territory and continue to apply pressure. ‘We can put pressure on you too.’ It hadn’t been the most powerful hit but the bludger moved quickly enough through the air, albeit in a slight curve in its trajectory. Not the straight direct hits he’d been practicing. He hoped it was enough though to distract them from trying to intercept the Quaffle once released by the Keeper. He glanced up toward her before speeding between the metal goal posts and most of the players on the pitch, everything resuming blurred sound and color. His robes flapped a little harder around him, the wind picking up. He felt something cold on his neck but thought it might just be his imagination. Playing his first game without much of a clue was challenging enough. Playing his first ever game which also happened to be the championship against Sonora’s undefeatable team in however many years without much of a clue while in the vision-blurring shivering-inducing rain would call for some excessive whimpering.
‘Then again,’ He pulled away from most of the other players, chasing the sighting of another bludger, his left arm still throbbing from the last awkward hit, but his heart beating for those cracks and whistles. ‘If I prove myself a great reserve - no, beater - in the rain, then Jose and Demelza will have to know how valuable I can be to them. That I am to them!’ He grinned, flying faster, urging the rain to fall, begging for it. ‘And then I’ll push Jade out of the way, they’ll grant me seeker, and then Pecari will be restored to its glory.’ The bludger switched sudden directions, and Elijah faltered in the air, slowly turning his broom around, and then shot right after it, planning future rapid assaults against the nearest Aladrens (and Jade) within his mind. Obsessions were good, they kept him focused. He had to be a good beater, if he ever hoped to become a great seeker.
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<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
At the end of the match, you'll know I'm right.
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<font color = brown>Elijah Errant {Beater}</font>
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5
<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
February 23, 2012 5:19 PM
You wis---OUCH! by <font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
Excitement bubbled like carbon though her veins as she tracked the streak of red though the air. Even though Kitty hadn’t made the shot, waiting to see if it went in was just as nerve wracking. “Come on, come on, come on…MAKE IT!!!” She shouted as she crowded a little closer to the goals. They’d make this goal, then Kitty would intercept before the Quaffle could be passed off to one of the waiting Pecari Chasers, and then she’d take another shot. It would be absolutely brilliant. They’d be up thirty points to Pecari’s zero which would hopefully get into the heads of the other team.Even with two thirds of our chasing team hurt we’re still the best her thoughts were smug as she waited for things to play out just as she imagined. The sharp crack of a bat on bludger went unnoticed over the sound of her own yelling ringing in her ears.
All thoughts of gloriously making the next assault on the Pecari goals were shattered when the evil ball crashed into her left side with enough force to fling the small girl right off her broom. The world spun with sickening force as Kitty held on to the wildly spinning broom with one hand and the crook of her knee. It felt like she’d been kicked in the ribs by a mean spirited mule and for a moment all Kitty could do was cling to the broom and breath though the startling pain.
This wasn’t the first time she’d ever been hit with a ball playing sports. Soccer balls, base balls, and once, a golf ball had knocked her clean out when she’d run out into the yard at the worst possible moment. Her dad had taken up golf and was epically terrible at it, after knocking Kitty out and having mom threaten to beat him senseless with the clubs he wisely gave up the sport. But, none of those instances came close to the unique force that was a bludger.
Stupid…ouch…evil, mean balls. Kitty grumbled mentally as she managed to drag herself back on to the broom. By the time she’d righted herself, the Quaffle was back into play and the dark scowl she shot at Elijah should have struck him from his broom. With a huff of pained aggravation she poked at the mass of pain that felt like it covered half her ribcage, nothing shifted under her touch so she doubted the bludger hit hard enough to break anything. But, hello kitties did it hurt!
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<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
You wis---OUCH!
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<font color="blue"> Kitty McLevy - Chaser</font>
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5