Pecari Quidditch practice! on Quidditch Pitch

Captain S. Jamison

February 05, 2013 10:49 PM

Pecari Quidditch practice! by Captain S. Jamison

“Consider yourselves on the team.” That was the first thing Sophie said once it reached the official time for practice to start. It was a Sunday afternoon, not too early to be obnoxious but early enough so she would have time to shower and stuff before bed. She expected to be sweaty and gross by the end of practice, just as all of the players should have been; sweat meant they worked their bodies hard, which was the goal. “You can also consider this year to be boot camp.”

The blonde looked over her team, or what existed of it. She had been praying for walk-on players as always, but they were especially necessary this year. Only five people had, the last time she checked, signed up, and that was including her. That was not going to work out at all. Maybe it would suffice for their practices, but what if no more interest spiked for the next year? Obviously that wasn’t going to be Sophie’s personal problem, but she did not want to leave her team on such a note. She could not leave them in shambles.

“Let me work out for you what we’re going to do,” continued the seventeen year old. “We’re running laps around and through ground obstacle courses. We’re flying through aerial mazes. Most importantly, everyone is learning every position.” She glanced momentarily to her red-haired assistant captain. “This way, you could find out if you’re good at something you didn’t expect, and being flexible and adaptable builds better players.”

“Today we’re going to work on basic Chasing, which means passing and nimble flight,” Sophie commented. The team would be in the air, deftly sweeping through the aerial obstacle course she had mentioned earlier while also achieving completed passes. “First, let’s start running! Drop your brooms and let’s go!” A follow me motion of her arm warned them of the instant run, and she was off, leading the path.

Returning Pecari players would have probably expected the rigorous warm ups, as the Captain had learned them from Mel and employed them the year before. New people, if any were there, could learn to deal. She wasn’t sure Amira would keep up quite as strict policies, but she would have been severely disappointed to know the next captain let her players slack off. Her approval, it seemed, was rather important to the younger girl.

After the laps—two, just to be thorough—around the Pitch, Sophie led her troops through a ground obstacle course for agility. Thereafter came pushups, sit-ups, and a couple other exercises. Then they were ready to actually fly. The Quaffle in hand, the small girl entertained the aerial course while attempting to display a sense of team unity, passing the red orb quickly and effectively. If they got good enough, perhaps next practice they could pass blind-folded. Then they could move on to the next position as soon as possible.

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Annie and Anna Nymous

February 08, 2013 3:52 PM

Twins in Disguise by Annie and Anna Nymous

Two children arrived on the Pitch in time for the Pecari practice. They were small in both height and build, obviously first or second years. No name on the sign-up sheet corresponded to either of them, but both carried school brooms. Though neither had any development at all in the chest and both wore simple unisex brown robes, something in the way they walked and held themselves suggested they were female.

The most startling thing about the pair was that they both wore brown ninja-like headpieces that fully covered their hair and most of their faces, leaving only a narrow slot across their eyes.

Neither really honestly thought they were fooling anybody. There was really only one set of twins in the school who had any reason or desire to try to conceal their involvement in Quidditch. But that wasn't really the point of the matter.

The point was that Mother had said she didn't want to hear about anyone seeing them on the pitch or joining the Quidditch team. They had not signed up. Neither of their names had hung beneath the word "Quidditch" in the common room. There were no games, so there would be no public appearances or need to be listed on the roster. Nobody who would report on them would go to practices.

Still, there was the risk of random passers-by who didn't know a Pecari practice was going on and wandered in briefly before Sophie could send them away. And so they had disguised themselves as best they could to avoid that kind of accidental association. Such a person might think them weird or even guess who they were, but they couldn't be sure at that distance. They couldn't say definitively that, yes, Ann Pierce had been flying a broom. They could only say two freakish ninjas had been flying a broom, and they might have been the Anns Pierce. And since they would both be punished anyway if the ruse was discovered, they saw little reason not to have both of them join the practices this year.

"I am Annie Nymous," Annette told Sophie before practice began, to announce her walk-on status. She only stumbled over the pronunciation of the bastardized word a little. Beside her, Annabelle nodded and offered her own introduction, "And I am Anna Nymous." She might have added an extra syllable by mistake, but Anna Nynnamous probably got across the same idea. She had enough trouble saying 'anonymous' even when she wasn't turning it into an Ann pun.

Having been part of the team last year, even splitting their attendence between themselves, neither were surprised by the grueling nature of the practice. However, a summer spent confined to their room had done nothing for their speed or endurance. Both girls huffed and puffed their way through the laps, falling behind their longer legged teammates and occassionally stumbling against each other when staying upright for one more step on their own seemed impossible.

Eventually, the running torture ended and they collapsed against each other, neither able to stand unassisted, but not yet willing to seek the comfort of the green grass in total defeat. Breathing heavily and sweating uncomfortably under their robes and ninja masks, they listened to the next instructions. The twins exchanged looks of dismay as they realized they were going to have to force their exhausted, shaking limbs through an obstacle course.

Somehow, they managed, mostly through sheer refusal to give up. Doubtless, Sophie was impressed by neither their speed nor agility after the run sapped all of their energy, but they had made it past every obstacle. If anything, they were breathing easier coming out of the course than going in.

That recovery was only temporary. By the time they got through the sit-ups, pull-ups, and other exercises, they were both heaving for air again. "Need to start running everyday," Annette gasped, tugging at her headpiece where sweat was making it stick to her skin. "Work up our endurance." Annabelle just nodded agreement wordlessly, unable to speak at all.

Finally, they were allowed into the air, a welcome reprieve to legs that had not yet stopped trembling and arms that were only marginally stonger. Of course, their shaking hands made it difficult to both steer and catch the Quaffle, so it was probably good this was an off year. They were frustrated enough with their own exhaustion that they felt sure they wouldn't have made the team at all if Pecari had been able to field seven players without them.

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