Trying out! on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Demelza Eagle

April 16, 2012 9:21 PM

Pecari's (badass) Quidditch Try-Outs! (Walk-on Welcome!) by Captain Demelza Eagle

Considering Mel had been preparing to be captain for five years, she was definitely well prepared for try-outs. She spent all summer demising certain drills that she wanted to try out on her team. Also, she found out that better teams in better leagues also did Muggle drills to get them “in-shape”, which basically made you an all-star player. Of course, Mel had to put these tips she picked up while being on the Women’s Regional team this summer in her routine for Pecari’s team. Some of the players may hate how intense she was going to make their training, but it was all in interest of the team, of course.

The new Captain arrived on the pitch about an hour before try-outs were scheduled to take place, at noon. It was a warm and clear day, so Mel had on black shorts and a yellow tank-top, showing one Pecari color. It made her tanned skin look even tanner. Her long, straight chocolate brown hair was pulled back in a high ponytail as usual. This summer she learned from the girls on her team how to braid her hair, so she decided she would do that now for games, seeing as it was the most efficient way to keep the hair out of her eyes.

The reason the seventh year arrived so early to the pitch was that she had a lot to set up. She brought a bucket of softballs from home, a quaffle, and some sort of human dummy device used to train for a Muggle sport called football. Mel just knew that it was great for learning how to collide with people, so she had her dad owl one over to her (which cost a lot of money for postal service, given its size). Another thing she had was a laser pointer, which she charmed so that it would move in all different directions on its own. Today was going to be a fun day for everyone!

After all her stations were set up, Mel just had to wait for her new team to show up. There was even going to be a reserve this year, which was super awesome! Once everyone she was sure was coming arrived, she waved everyone to come over to her. “Hey guys, ready for a sweet year of Quidditch?!” Mel asked with much enthusiasm. “I know I am! If you don’t know me, I’m Demelza—or Mel—Pecari’s Captain. Could everyone please introduce themselves?” She allowed everyone to do so, for the sake of the one first year, and then continued. “Today is going to be one of our easier practices, because it is only a try-outs, so instead of conditioning I’m going to be evaluating everyone’s skill levels. All positions are up for grabs—no one is guaranteed to get the same spot they had last year.” Although, if they were good in a position the previous year, they certainly had a better chance of making the team this year. “So! A few rules. No laziness. No whining. No drama. Lots of fun. Lots of hard work. Got it?” She looked every person in the eyes before continuing on with her speech which she had been preparing for quite a long time. She was so excited this was all finally happening!

“Cool. This year, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we will be conditioning our bodies; building our abs, increasing our strength, and basically just increasing our all around athleticism. These days will be hard on your body, but I have faith that you’ll all be just fine.” She would probably have to allow some of the younger students to do less work than the older students on those days since they definitely had an age difference. “Tuesdays and Thursdays will be skill days, until preseason is over, then mostly every day we will be working on specific Quidditch skills and techniques. Saturdays and Sundays will be free of practice, as long as the week went well,” she added pointedly, letting them know who was in charge.

“Anyway,” she began more cheerfully, clapping her hands together, “Today everyone is going to try out some skill training for every position. First, we’re going over to the Muggle football dummy thing, running at it with full speed, making a clean collision with it, and catching a quaffle that is going to be thrown at you after you make your collision. I’ll be throwing the quaffle. Next, we’re going to take turns hitting softballs that I’ll be throwing at you, aiming for certain spots. Trust me, it’s much easier aiming with a softball than a bludger. I have two bats for us to share. Then, we all get to get on brooms and take turns chasing around a red dot.” That particular drill had the potential of being very funny. “And lastly, we’re all going to block quaffles, but from the ground, making it that much harder. But before we do any of this, everyone mount your brooms, fly around the pitch 4 times, then run around it once. Alright, let’s go!” She finished loudly, hoping everyone was able to keep up with her directions. This was going to be very fun, Mel was sure of that, just a lot of work. But Mel did not tolerate laziness. Her motto for the year was going to be “Do work”. That was very important to the Quidditch-obsessed Pecari.

Mel mounted her broom and then flew into the warm arm, smiling at the wind that flew into her face. If everything went according to her plan, Pecari was totally going to be a super team, and then she would forever be known as the best captain ever.

OOC: Hey Team, sorry for the delay in getting this up, Real Life has been a bit hectic. Nonetheless, here it is. You can write how you character performed at one station, or you can be super cool and describe your character’s performance at all the stations! Remember to write a minimum of 200 words and to be creative and follow the rules and stuff Good luck everyone!

Subthreads:

Trying out! by Jhonice Trevear

Badass trying out by Jade Owen with Amira Thornton, Amira

Trying to try out. by Mellie Goodwin

*has said ass handed to him* by Elijah Errant

0 Captain Demelza Eagle Pecari's (badass) Quidditch Try-Outs! (Walk-on Welcome!) 0 Captain Demelza Eagle 1 5

Jhonice Trevear

April 22, 2012 7:27 PM

Trying out! by Jhonice Trevear

It didn't really hit Jhonice until she walked out on the pitch. It was Quidditch, so naturally she had dressed up as much as was practical for try-outs. Her nearly knee-high boots were polished to a shine, her khaki shorts had a few pockets filled with note-taking equipment, her specially designed t-shirt showed off the house colors and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. All of this was for naught, Captain Jose wasn't here any more. She had known that he wouldn't be here, he graduated last year along with Andrew, but still she had been expecting to see him out of habit. Instead it was now Captain Demelza greeting her.

Jhonice had arrived on the pitch a little early to claim the only uncursed school broom in existence. She had found it last year, and she was determined to claim it every time this year. The equipment strewn about the pitch took her a little off guard, what exactly did their new captain have planned for them? She greeted the others as they arrived and then listened to Mel's speech. It did not do much to ease her unease.

She stood before the dummy thing. This was just a little crazy, she was supposed to run full speed into this thing and then catch a quaffle? Well, she would try it. She would have been excited if this had been Captain Jose's idea, oh well. She dug in her boots and hurled herself towards the dummy. The next thing she knew, she was laying in the grass looking up at the clouds drifting past. She was fine, she was fine, she climbed back to her feet and gave it a second attempt. That time it went much better, she hit the dummy, spun off uncontrolled and landed on her backside a few feet away. Her third attempt was as close to success as she was going to get. It wasn't pretty or graceful, but she caught the quaffle.

He success with the baseball bat was much, much lower. After many, many attempts she managed a glancing hit on one of the balls. Chasing the magical red dot around the pitch proved to be her best station. Her broom skills were improving and she managed to stay on top of it with only a few out of control spasms from her broom. Blocking the balls from hitting the ground did not go particularly well for her either. By the end of the try outs she was covered in dirt and grass stains. It had not been her most pleasant experience.

2 Jhonice Trevear Trying out! 209 Jhonice Trevear 0 5

Jade Owen

April 24, 2012 6:03 AM

Badass trying out by Jade Owen

As relaxed as she had been about the possibility that she might not make the team at last year’s try-outs, Jade was feverishly experiencing quite the opposite emotion about her place on the team this year. Admittedly, she hadn’t even been in the starting line-up last year, yet had managed to play (and, more importantly, to win) both Pecari games of the season, so she was living proof that not being drafted onto the team was not necessarily an indication that you wouldn’t get to play. However, common sense and historical evidence both tended to suggest that the player named as Seeker would be the one who got to participate in the games. Jade had been lucky twice already; she didn’t expect this unusual scenario to continue into her second year. Therefore it was imperative that she be named Seeker.

Of course, it wouldn’t be as easy as all that. Despite having shown decent promise as a Beater last year, Elijah Errant was reluctant to give up his crusade for Jade’s position. In her humble opinion, Elijah wasn’t really Seeker material. He was clumsy and erratic and impetuous – all qualities much better suited to Beating, as their Captain would frequently demonstrate. The pair of them had made a good Beating team, and while Jade didn’t know Demelza intimately, so couldn’t predict her thoughts and actions, she had a hunch that their new Captain had already drafted Elijah in as starting Beater in her head. It’s what Jade would have done in her position.

So with Elijah potentially out of the way as Beater, the list of competitors was shortening, but it was still far too long for Jade’s liking. There was a first year girl with a crazily long name who’d also signed up to be Chaser. Logically, Jhonice and Mellie would need all the help they could get now that Captain Jose wasn’t around to help out the Chasing team, and a first year probably wasn’t anyone’s first choice to replace him, but then nobody else had signed up for that role. The kid was practically guaranteed the spot. Sadly, that still left Jade and Amira in competition for Seeker. Now, while she didn’t really have any personal grievances against her upperclassman, Jade wasn’t keen on letting Amira have another shot. In her opinion, Amira had been made Seeker last year, and she’d blown her opportunity. She’d lied to the captains about being well enough to play, had stupidly fallen off her broom in try-outs (and that could have put more than one person in danger), and then, if stories were to be believed, she’d sulked and mithered all season about not getting to play instead of being happy that her team were managing without their Seeker. All in all in didn’t demonstrate a commitment to the team, or any of the Pecari House qualities like adaptability and good instincts, not to mention she hadn’t actually caught a Snitch yet in her Quidditch career. Jade, on the other hand, worked harder at Quidditch than she’d ever worked at anything in her life, and had caught the Snitch in every game she’d played so far. It was fairly obvious who should get the position, really.

Nevertheless, both girls would still have to try-out with the rest of the team. Jade had consumed a hearty breakfast of waffles with syrup and berries, an apple and a banana, two slices of buttered toast and a soft-boiled egg after dressing in brown t-shirt and leggings, and then she’d headed to the broom shed to select her ‘own’ school broom – the one with her initials carved in the wood near its tail. Mel was already down on the pitch, looking as if she’d been there setting up for a while before Jade arrived, and the rest of the team didn’t take long to join them. As she began to talk, the Captain’s enthusiasm was infectious, and Jade found herself whopping and cheering along at appropriate moments. She didn’t mind the warnings about hard work; in fact she welcomed them. Maybe a bit of hard work would be sufficient to put Amira off the concept of joining the team altogether.

If anyone had doubted Mel’s assurance that practices were going to be tough, the short description of how the try-outs would work would have soon clarified the matter. Jade had never heard of such a thorough try-out, though she saw the logic in being able to assess the various skills of all the players in all fields (Jhon, for example, had never shown much promise as a Chaser in Jade’s opinion… maybe if she’d conducted these exercises earlier on then Captain Jose might have realized that sticking her on a broom wasn’t a good team strategy. Then again, she had been quite adept at distracting players in Teppenpaw and Aladren last year, so maybe she had her uses after all. Jade liked Jhon, she just found it frustrating that while she was battling for a position of the team, Jhon seemed to have ended up there almost by default). As it was, the second year looked forward to the challenges. She liked sports, especially ball games, and she’d play-wrestled with her brother when he’d been young and interesting enough to want to spend time with her, rather than the stuffy snore-fest he’d become in recent years. Even the waiting around to take the trials in turns was okay, because Jade could watch and laugh at the other team hopefuls.

When her turn came up, the second year eyed up the dummy before she even attempted to run at it. It was bigger than her, and looked fairly solid, so when she ran head-on into it, as Mel had instructed, she wasn’t surprised exactly that she bounced quite heftily off-course, but she hadn’t been entirely prepared for the extend of the ricochet. As a consequence she hadn’t quite got her footing right, had touched the Quaffle with her fingertips and then fumbled with it for a second or two before stumbling forward, bringing the red ball into her chest to try and regain some semblance of balance, but ultimately ending up on her knees. Still, she had the ball, and hadn’t dropped it or fallen flat on her backside, so she was counting it as a win.

The second task presented a bit more of a challenge. She had never once wielded a bat while seated on a broomstick, so Jade took a while to adapt to the scenario. Her first few attempts at hitting softballs failed completely – she swung too early, or too late, or just plain missed the ball. She did improve, however, with practise, and while her aim wasn’t spectacular, she did manage a decent force behind her swing. As Mel had already pointed out, Jade could imagine that a Bludger would be a lot harder to hit. It was fun to give the position a try, but all in all Jade didn’t think she’d be suited to Beating (as fun as it would be to have a bona fide excuse to knock other people off their broomsticks).

The third task seemed to be the one most geared towards Seeking skills, and it was correspondingly the task at which Jade most expected to excel. She waited on the ground with her other wannabe teammates for her turn to come, and she was watching the other players to see where their performance could be improved; she hoped to apply this knowledge to develop her own skill set. She shook her head as the current hopeful over-steered a corner, and muttered aloud, “You need to know your broom. Don’t be too heavy-handed, or you’ll be forever correcting your mistakes.” She’d been talking to herself rather than to anyone in particular, but she wouldn’t be dismayed to know that she had been overheard; she hadn’t exactly been keeping her voice down.

0 Jade Owen Badass trying out 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Amira Thornton

April 24, 2012 4:39 PM

Badass got bounced by Amira Thornton

Amira Thornton, third year Pecari Seeker hopeful (once more) had a hard time getting to sleep the night before tryouts. She knew that this would be the be all/end all of her whole year if she didn’t get her spot back. The thing was, she knew that Mel would rather Jade be seeker in her place again just as she’d been last year. Mir was not willing to take no as an answer though, so she’d worked hard both at the camp over the summer and on her own (as well as with her sisters) to practice and get even better than she’d ever been before. Arista had spent hours upon hours (as had Andri and Brielle) throwing golf balls near and far for her to catch like they were the golden snitches. She’d gotten almost all of them and she was proud of herself. The third year knew that when the sisters practiced there were no bludgers to stop her or other seekers to get the snitch first, but she knew those things were just obstacles trying to get in her way of winning. I won’t let them stop me. she yawned as she lay in her dark room trying to fall asleep.

When the red-headed girl finally fell asleep she dreamed of catching snitches and avoiding bludgers to her hearts content. When she woke up, she looked around her to find that she was on the floor caught up in her blankets. It took her a few moments to get herself out of the covers, but when she did she realized that she was almost late for Tryouts!

Throwing on her Quidditch things, not bothering to tidy up her hair or anything, she ran out to the Pitch. She thought she would be the last one there, but she wasn’t. Made it… she thought as she pulled her breaths back together. She looked around her and she was surprised to see that she was all alone there. She looked up and then realized that she was VERY early. She had a few hours yet before tryouts even began! Oh well… she thought as she took to the air on her own to practice flying before the others started to arrive.

A few hours later, Mel came onto the Pitch and Amira slowly descended out of the air so her new Captain wouldn’t see her there already and hid behind some stands at the far end of the Pitch. Mir had seen that Mel was wearing black shorts and a yellow tank top (which had made her feel overdressed), so when she looked down at her own long black pants and soft brown colored top she frowned. Her short, red hair had been pulled up to the best of her ability as she watched Mel set up and she pulled a few bobby pins out of her pocket where she’d stashed it, to keep flyaways in place and put them in her hair as well.

From her hiding spot she saw Mel set out a bucket, a red quaffle and a football dummy. Amira watched with some confusion in her eyes until she realized what Mel was doing. She was setting them up for success in so many ways it was unbelievable! The stations Mel was setting up made Amira think of the types of things that coaches all over the world do and she realized that Pecari had no chance of losing this year. Their team would be the best! GO PECARI! she thought as the others started to arrive. Guess I can come out now…? she added to herself as she came out from behind the stands and walked up to Mel and the few who’d gotten to the Pitch first.

Captain Mel called the group over to her with a wave and asked them if they were ready for a sweet year of Quidditch and she nodded in an emphatic agreement to Captain Eagle as Mel introduced herself to those who didn’t know her and asked them to introduce themselves as well. When Mel was done, she (who had been standing nearest) said, “I’m Amira Thornton, third year.” Turning to the next person, she smiled and nodded to let them know that it was their turn. Once everyone had introduced themselves, Mel went on to explain that their positions were all up for grabs and that there was no guarantee they’d have the spot they had the year before. Amira found a smirk light up her mouth as she turned towards Jade before turning back to Mel as she continued with her rules. “Got it.” Mir said as Mel looked right into her eyes before Cap went on once more.

Mel told them what they’d be doing daily and Amira smiled in agreement. She’d been worried about what would happen when Mel took over captaincy, but it looked like her worries were VERY unwarranted! Mel explained her tryouts to them and Amira smiled. What she thought would happen as she’d watched the seventh year set up was true to form for which she was glad. The only thing that worried the third year was the football dummy. She didn’t want to hit her head and start the whole problem all over again, so she vowed to herself to hit it with her shoulder rather than her head. I will not have Jade take back my spot. I’m going to show Mel what I can do! she thought as Mel told them to mount the brooms and fly around the Pitch four times before running it once. “Right Cap.” she said to her and mounted her broom to fly first before running around it. She did both fly and run (leaving her broom on the ground by the stands while she ran) before she started the segments of the tryout.

Mir fixed the bobby pins in her hair and re-fixed her hair before the others got back to the group and then she stretched from the start so she knew all of her muscles were in good working order. “Ready for the Quaffle throwing Mel?” she asked her captain and once Mel was ready she ran hard and fast at the dummy. The thirteen (almost fourteen) year old collided with it using her shoulder as she said she would and her shoulder smarted a bit, but she was able to ignore it as the quaffle made its way to her. She caught it perfectly and with a smile, tossed it back to Mel as she waited for the others to have their turn with the dummy/quaffle task. Amira watched as Jade took her turn and laughed into her hands when she was bounced off-course. Jade’s fingertips brushed the Quaffle and she fumbled with it until she finally had the ball. ON HER KNEES! HA! She’s ridiculous! She can’t handle that, how can she think she can pull the rest of the tasks??

Amira waited to take her turn on the Beater task till after Jade went, just so that she could watch her and show her up. Jade looked severely uncomfortable and that made Amira smile and laugh again. She missed her first attempts miserably and Mir couldn’t wait to show her up. Jade improved a little bit as she went, but still was awfully suited to Beating! Amira took her turn and mounted the broom with the bat and smacked one softball after another. She only missed one. Beating wasn’t her strong suit, but with all the practice she’d done over the summer she was more experienced and felt better in any position. That didn’t mean that she didn’t still want to be Seeker. Amira Thornton would not take no for an answer in this case. Seeking was her dream, her duty and her life. NOBODY would take that away from her.

The third task was the one Mir was looking forward to the most. Trying to catch the red dots was to be used as a Seeker task. This was one she was determined to get completely correct. Again, she waited for Jade to go first to show her up. Another player over steered a corner and Jade (who was incidentally standing not too far from her) made a comment. “And YOU need to know when to shut up. Not everyone has the talent you think you do. They are doing the best they can, and you have nothing you should be saying about their attempts.”

The hot-headed third year walked away from Jade and blocked her Quaffles to end her tryout on a high note. She looked towards Mel at the end to see if she had any other comments she needed to make to the team hopefuls.

0 Amira Thornton Badass got bounced 208 Amira Thornton 0 5

Jade Owen

April 25, 2012 8:08 AM

Badass with Attitude by Jade Owen

The fact that it was Amira who’d replied didn’t unsettle Jade in the slightest. As her main competitor, Jade had been paying more attention to Amira’s performance than she had to her other teammates, so it wasn’t really a shock that the older girl would likewise be watching Jade. It was what was said, rather than who’d said it, which caused Jade to raise her eyebrows. "And YOU need to know when to shut up." How very rude. It wasn’t as though Jade had been mocking the other player, or even hollering out her observations for anyone else to hear. She’d simply been noting areas for improvement, specifically to apply them to make better her own performance. "Not everyone has the talent you think you do," Amira continued. "They are doing the best they can, and you have nothing you should be saying about their attempts."

Her siblings could have their deliberately uncooperative days, but Amira was really something else. "Well aren’t you a delight this morning," Jade replied with faux cheeriness. Amira was already retreating, however, so the second year called loudly after her, "If you push your bed up against a wall you’ll find it more difficult to get out the wrong side!" She shook her head as Amira flounced off, and then proceeded to forget the older girl existed as it was Jade’s turn to take up the third task. Chasing round after a red dot didn’t sound all that taxing to her, especially after the reality of beating Arnold to the Snitch in the championship game, with Edmond Carey hitting Bludgers at her from her peripheral vision, and the noise from the crowds making it impossible to tell anything else that was occurring. This scenario, where it would be just her, Mel, and a moving light, would be almost insulting easy after that episode.

Swinging her leg over her broom in preparation, Jade was ready when Mel called her over to take her turn. The second year pushed up from the ground, her chestnut pigtails still managing to hold their own against the force of the air as it whipped past her face on her ascent. Once in the air, jade was in the zone, as she liked to think of it. It was like she’d closed the door on regular existence, and was in a new space, one where nobody else could touch her; not even thoughts or memories could penetrate this sacred space, save for those that involved maximising her performance. She dove, she wove, and she stretched and leaned without fear. As awkward and boisterous as she could be on the ground, Jade was graceful and deliberate in the sky. Her familiarity with her broomstick meant that each sharp swerve was precisely calculated, each rise and fall conducted with striking fluidity; a masterful performance overall. She might later admit to herself that she could have moved a bit quicker here, or tucked her knee in further there, but overall she was pleased with her attempt, and tried not to look too smug as she touched ground again to face the final challenge of the day.

Quaffle blocking wasn’t too bad, either, Jade considered. Naturally she assumed Sophie would perform the best, as the Assistant Captain had several years’ Keeping experience, but she also found that lots of the skills of a Seeker were transferable in this task, such as the ability to plan ahead to intercept a moving object, and the need for quick reflexes. She quite enjoyed this last try-out, and found herself laughing by the end of it. No, she hadn’t conducted the performance of her life, perhaps, but she had sufficient energy that she’d been successful in her endeavours.

With all the tasks now complete, Jade gathered round with the rest of her potential teammates, still laughing a little breathlessly from her most recent participation. She saw what she interpreted as the glazed stare of adoration on Amira’s face as she watched Mel, and Jade rolled her eyes. It was a shame there was such a stuck-up member in their midst. Jade got on well with everyone else on the team (admittedly she liked to wind Elijah up whenever the opportunity presented itself, but he gave as good as he got, so it was all fair game) so it was a pity that Amira had to throw a fly in the ointment and be such a sour grape. It just meant Jade was all the more determined to crush her, and more the pity for the Pecari team. Jade had already observed that, once the roster was announced, she was part of a team, same as the rest of them, but before that, she was in competition with the other candidates to secure her position. That’s how it ought to be, really. She was now observing, however, that it might be impossible to ever truly consider Amira a teammate when the other girl took everything so very personally. Quidditch was about winning. If Pecari were winning, Jade would be happy. She doubted Amira could say the same – that girl was selfish. She wanted to be winning, regardless of the rest of the team. As someone who didn’t even consider herself to be a team player most of the time, Jade didn’t miss the irony in her own thoughts.

Anyway, that was quite enough time wasted thinking about Amira. Mel would make a decision either way, and whatever the outcome Jade would be on the pitch every day, working with the rest of them, doing all she could to ensure she played her part in taking their team to victory for the second year running. That Quidditch Cup was theirs, and nobody was going to take it from them!

0 Jade Owen Badass with Attitude 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

April 26, 2012 5:18 PM

Trying to try out. by Mellie Goodwin

Mellie wasn’t sure yet how she felt, or even if she did feel, about having the same name as her team captain, nearly. Melanie was a mile away from Demelza on the scale of first-name strangeness, and she thought Goodwin was about as far from Eagle, but Mel and Mellie, the appellations they were each most frequently known by, were a lot closer to each other. She didn’t think there was the remotest chance that they could be talked about in a way where it would be possible to confuse one of them for the other, but it still felt a little weird to her.

Luckily, however, her opinion was not needed, and Mel was apparently in a fantastic mood today. Mellie always felt a little unsure around the Assista – the Captain, now, because of how she could go from super-intense to super-cheery just like that. Her way of dealing with this was to smile a lot and cheerfully agree with anything Mel said directly to her and otherwise try to stay out of the captain’s way, which seemed to have worked just fine. How it would work this year, though, was still a new question.

By the sounds of it, avoiding notice might get harder. Mellie wondered what the other three captains were going to think about the prospect of Pecari having practices every day; that didn’t leave a lot of time for them, if all of these practices were supposed to be on the Pitch. Still, for now, she just kept smiling. What happened with the other teams would happen, there was nothing she could do to affect it. She just had to try to keep up with her team.

The first obstacle was the football dummy. Mellie though the direction sounded simple enough. She was to run into that thing, then catch a ball that was thrown at her after she made contact with it. Simple. When her turn came, she ran as fast as she could, hit the dummy – and fell flat on her back, the Quaffle soaring over her head as she hit the ground.

Okay, so Thing One had not gone quite the way she meant for it to go. No big deal. There were still plenty of stations left to go….

"Can I try that again?" she asked, pulling herself upright again.

16 Mellie Goodwin Trying to try out. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Amira

April 26, 2012 11:50 PM

You want to see attitude? by Amira

Amira had just about had enough of Jade. The aversion she felt for the newly termed second year was starting to make the hairs on her arms crawl. The look of antipathy she had on her face should have shown that to the younger girl, but Amira wasn’t sure she’d get that. She may not be smart enough to get that point. Mir thought as Jade’s fake cheery comment escaped her mouth. The third year wanted nothing more than to stick her broom handle up the younger girl’s behind, but she knew better. She’d only been trying to show the younger Pecari that not all people were as perfect as the second year seemed to see herself. She knew she wasn’t trying to be rude about it, but now that Jade had replied the way she did it was deemed possible in the older girl’s eyes.

She didn’t want to negate any chances she had of getting her post back, so she walked away from Jade all-the-while she heard what the second year was calling loudly after her. She stopped moving and clenched her jaws shut. She was determined not to say anything that would lose her the chance to get Seeker back. You’ll wish you hadn’t said that… she thought as she watched what happened around her, seething about the comments Jade had said, but trying to coax her brain not to do anything about it.

Yet.

Amira had done all of her tasks and had done them well. Once the rest of the team hopefuls finished theirs, she waited to see if Mel would have anything else to say before they all left.

0 Amira You want to see attitude? 0 Amira 0 5

Elijah Errant

April 28, 2012 3:48 PM

has said ass handed to him by Elijah Errant

He could taste something like salt in the air. As if there was an invisible ocean spray, coating his flushed skin. He breathed in excitement, unable to stand still, shifting from one foot to the other, eager to burst forward and start. “Hola,” He smiled around the gathered group of Pecari, tilting his head up and shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare, smile widening as his dark gaze lingered on Demelza. “I’m Elijah.” His attention wavered back and forth from the captain’s words. He’d always enjoyed the sound of her voice but even she couldn’t compete with the insistent buzzing in his ear, excitement pumping up his blood, impatient to mount his broom and feel the wind and heat clash against the surface of his skin. Finally, she released them, and Elijah swung his legs over his broom, running his hand over the sleek wood, the shine a little dimmed from a summer’s worth of wearing it out, racing against the hippogriffs on his ranch.

‘Watch me! Watch me! Watch me!’ Silently he demanded exclusive attention from Demelza and then kicked off the ground, Icarus jumping high in the air. He leaned forward, his body familiar with the wood, and began his long streak around the pitch, losing focus of where his starting point was, unsure as he curved with the perimeter how many laps he was accomplishing. It didn’t matter, only the sun mattered, blinding his vision, and the warm breeze ruffling his curls, spared from them falling into his eyes by the yellow bandana tied around his forehead. He let out an excited laugh and let Icarus go from his hands’ hold, clinging to it with only his clenched thighs, bending the broom to his will by curving his body, pulling the broom in the desired direction. His arms flew free, waving at soundless invisible cheering crowds.

He landed after an uncertain number of laps around the pitch. Hopping off and letting Icarus lay gently on the ground, separate from the other brooms so people would be reminded of how special it was to him. He lifted his legs and started in a jog and then quickly broke into a fast sprint around the pitch, his heart hammering, fighting for a balance between inhalation and exhalation, sweat coating his upper lip and temple, dripping down his neck, a thin layer coating his chest. The white t-shirt he wore sucked in some of the perspiration, the cloth growing damp. Elijah slowed down his run, back into a jog, slowing even more into an unsteady walk. He grinned through his own heavy breaths, gasps for air. ‘Bring it on! More more more!’

He bent to the ground, one leg extended in front of him, the other stretched back, his head bent, waiting for the cue to run and barrel into the dummy. Each time he thought he knew how cool Demelza was she found a way to supercede his already high expectations. “One...” He murmured to himself. “Two...” His gaze lifted, locking on the dummy, waiting for his assault. “Three - go!” He shot up off the ground, the whole of the world blurred except for the dummy, blank and lifeless but suddenly Elijah envisioned a massive troll roaring and waving around a club. He had to attack it, had to beat it, prove himself the hero. “Grawr!” His knees bent and pushed off the ground, leaping through the air, flying without need of a broom, his arms outstretched, hands curled in imitation of a wild animal’s claws. “Hungh!” He made contact, his body blasted against the dummy, crashing to the ground of the pitch, Elijah triumphant and dazed and on top. “Hahaha - didja see?” He laughed and turned, sun blinding his eyes, seeking the nearest person’s admiration. “Didja - oomph!”

He caught a Quaffle against his face, falling backwards and a heat spreading through his skin, stemming from his jaw, and something like a stinging bruise growing on his right eye. ‘Owwwwwwwww pain!’ He rolled over and brought one fist down hard against the ground, slamming it several times to distract himself from the rush of blood and stinging erupting on his face. His hand grew sore and he stopped, stumbling up, grateful for small mercies, hand successfully distracting him from his face. Tentatively he checked his jaw and nose, but nothing seemed to be damaged. Something dark began to form a pattern around his eye but he paid no notice of it, blinking rapidly, happy to see his eyesight wasn’t impaired beyond a few colorful stars and spots running along his vision.

He turned to see where the next station was but when he suddenly swayed on the ground he decided he’d earned a rest. Promptly he sat, clear from Demelza’s brutal aim, and waited a few minutes watching everybody else try out, happy to stay out of the way.

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