Seeking a win on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Pierce

July 06, 2013 11:13 AM

Game One: Crotalus vs Teppenpaw by Coach Pierce

Though she had experience a rough start to the new year and needed bed rest for the first two days of classes, Coach Amelia Pierce was now feeling much more herself and looking forward to the first game of the season. The first game of the year often proved to be the most pleasant in terms of weather and today was no exception. The late September air was crisp and fresh, cool enough for the players to remain comfortable even with the games' exertions, but still not so chilly that the spectators found it cold. Scattered puffy white clouds filled the sky, providing alternately bright sunlight and cooler shade as the wind pushed them over the Pitch.

All of the teams this year were fielding untested captains as there had been no games last year and all of the captains from two years ago had now graduated. In fact, many of the teams had changed a fair amount from two years ago, and this year would almost be starting fresh. It would begin with Teppenpaw going up against Crotalus.

She waited for the two teams to assemble, the spectators to find seats, and the captains to finish their pre-game speeches before she drew attention to herself.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first game of the Quidditch Season," Amelia announced with the help of a Sonorus charm so she could be heard by players and spectators alike. "Today, we have Crotalus, lead by Captain Topher Calhoun, playing against Teppenpaw, lead by Captain Derry Pierce." She had briefly considered using full names for both captains, but then decided nobody would know who she was talking about for either of them. "Captains, please approach and shake hands."

Once they had done so and returned to their teams, she released first the snitch and then the bludgers into the field of play. She held up the Quaffle and continued her introduction, "The game begins with my whistle and ends when a Seeker catches the Snitch. Ready, set, tweeeet!" Her whistle blew loudly through the Pitch, and she threw the Quaffle high into the air for the quickest Chaser to claim.

The game had begun.

OOC: Hello and welcome to Quidditch. Please remember to keep your posts clear and detailed and to keep to the rules. If you have any questions, drop me a line on the OOC board. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Terrified or excited...hard to tell which by Dimitri Porter, Keeper with Leo Princeton, Keeper

Up for the Chase by Carter Browning, Chaser with Linus Macaulay, Chaser, Darina Porter, Chaser, Leo Princeton, Keeper, Viktor Volkov, Chaser, Dimitri Porter, Keeper

Seeking a win by Brielle Thornton, Seeker with Cepheus Princeton, Seeker, Captain Calhoun, Beater, Captain Derry, Beater, Brielle Thornton, Seeker, Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Game One: Crotalus vs Teppenpaw 0 Coach Pierce 1 5

Dimitri Porter, Keeper

July 07, 2013 9:03 PM

Terrified or excited...hard to tell which by Dimitri Porter, Keeper

Dimitri woke up on game day a bit groggy. He had been up late the night before working on his homework. He had been trying to get a head start on it before game day and fell asleep with his textbook in his lap. He glanced over the side of his bed and spotted his book on the floor where it fell from the night before. He groaned slightly, reaching down and plucked his book up off of the floor. He put it on the table beside his bed and pushed back the blankets. He scratched his curly black hair that looked like it had currently lost a fight with both a curling iron and a weed whacker. Not even his favorite hair gel could tame this beast he called his hair. He put his bare feet onto the floor and went into the bathroom to shower. Dimitri made sure that he had laid out his Quidditch robes and his clothes before going in to clean up. He wanted to make sure that he was mostly awake for when they began to play. He stepped into the shower and let the hot water wake him up as he scrubbed clean. He turned off the water for the shower and ran the towel over his head before wrapping it around himself. It was kind-of strange being able to take a shower with hearing his twin banging on the door, demanding that he hurry up. He loved his sister dearly, but sometimes she was just a pain. He hated being the one to use the bathroom after her because she took FOREVER. Dimitri shook his head as he dried off and got dressed.

He tied up his tennis shoes and put on his robes for the game. He had decided to dress up in comfortable clothes since he was going to be doing a decent amount of flying. He put on a loose fitting pair of jeans, his favorite band t-shirt and his practice tennis shoes. He fastened up his robes, grabbed his broom and headed out of the dorms. He didn’t bother combing out his hair and doing anything with it because with all the flying he would be doing his hair would be dried in no time. It like having his own high powered blow dryer. He left the dorms and common room heading for Cascade Hall. He wanted to put something in his stomach before the game. He kept his breakfast on the light side. He didn’t want it coming back up to haunt him in the middle of the game. He grabbed some toast, scrambled eggs and an apple. He grabbed some apple juice to go with it and found himself a seat. He picked at his breakfast while he contemplated the idea of his being on the team. He hadn’t really thought about signing up, but he wanted to do something athletic for his first year so signing up for Quidditch made the most sense. He finished his breakfast and with his broom headed out of the hall towards the pitch. He walked out to the pitch and wandered over to where Derry and the others waited. He nudged his sister’s arm with his elbow and fell in line next to her. “Ready to kick some butt sis?” he whispered, leaning in next to her. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about her Chasing for the team and being a target for the other Beaters, but it was her choice and he was hard pressed to change his sister’s mind once she made it.

He was kind-of glad that she had gotten Chaser instead of him. She was faster at flying than he was and he caught things better than she could so really it balanced out if you really thought about it. He paid attention to Derry’s pep talk and geared up to get on his broom. He was still trying to mentally get himself together when Coach Pierce started talking. Dimitri steeled himself for the game and when told to mount up and take their spots, Dimitri mounted his broom and took to the air. He flew over to his spot in front of the Teppenpaw’s goal and waited for the signal that the game had started. He heard the whistle and watched from afar as the quaffle was tossed into the air. He could see Carter and Enion near where the quaffle had been tossed into the air, but couldn’t see Darina. Not at first anyway. He was certain his twin would appear amongst those heading for the quaffle at any moment. He couldn’t tell if the Crotalus team had gotten it or his own, there were too many bodies flying around for him to be sure. He would just have to wait and see if they started flying towards him or away from him.

0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper Terrified or excited...hard to tell which 0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 07, 2013 9:07 PM

Up for the Chase by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter woke up the morning of their first Quidditch match of the year and stretched leisurely. He scratched his head and yawned. He had been looking forward to the first game since the games got cancelled the previous year. He hadn’t been happy about that prospect, but he kind-of understood why the headmistress had cancelled them. With the challenges going on it would have been hard to focus on playing. Carter wiped his hand across his face and took in a deep breath with his nose. He sat up, pushed back his covers, put his feet on the chilly floor and slowly stood up. He scratched his bottom on the way towards the bathroom and shut the door. Once he was done with his shower, he padded barefoot out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was still dripping wet. He located his clothes and after setting them up on his bed he finished drying off. He threw on his clothes and searched around for his Quidditch robes. Once he found them he put those on as well before tying up his shoes and heading out of the dorm room. He was crossing the common room when he remembered that he had left his bed completely in shambles. He shrugged as he headed for the door. He was about to turn the knob when he realized he had left his broom up in his room. Cursing under his breath he turned from the door and headed back up to his room. He found his broom up against the wall next to his dresser and grabbed it. He left the dorm again and this time managed to make it out of the common room. He headed down to Cascade Hall to grab some breakfast before he headed out to the pitch.

He grabbed himself some waffles, bacon, eggs and orange juice. He took his food over to one of the tables and sat down to eat. He wanted to make sure that being hungry was the least of his worries. While he ate he thought about the summer and all the training he did for Quidditch. He worked on all the chaser stuff that Arista had shown him his first year and hoped to improve upon it before the season started again. He finished up his breakfast and after cleaning up his spot he headed out to the pitch. He showed up as everybody was piling into the stadium seats and joined the rest of his team as they gathered on their field for their game against Crotalus. He gathered around Derry with the rest of the team and nodded hello to his other teammates. He listened to Derry give his speech and nodded. This time Tepp would win the Quidditch Cup. He and the rest of his teammates would help Derry win it. Once Coach Pierce began talking he grew quiet beside Derry. Once she called for the teams to line up and take their brooms, Carter nodded towards Derry as he mounted his broom and took to the air. He waited in the air for the others to assemble and for Coach Pierce to blow her whistle. Once she blew it and threw up the quaffle Carter was hoping to either be the first one with it or right beside his fellow teammate who had been faster in acquiring it just so long as Teppenpaw got to it first. Since he and Enion were Chasers again this year, getting the quaffle shouldn’t be a difficult task (in theory anyway). Considering that Crotalus was sporting a new chaser just as they were, they might be evenly matched. He would just have to wait and see.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser Up for the Chase 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Brielle Thornton, Seeker

July 07, 2013 11:38 PM

Seeking a win by Brielle Thornton, Seeker

When Bri found out that she was going to be playing Teppenpaw's Seeker, she couldn't help but write Ris a long letter telling her all about it. Ris had written one back to her that was all about how proud she was of her sister (cousins too, because Bri had also mentioned Mitri and Rina making Tepp as well, not to mention the fact that Clara was now Pecari's Keeper). Bri was beside herself about the games this year to the point where when she found out the first game was to be Teppenpaw versus Crotalus, she was a little bit glad. Firstly, even though her sister Abigail was in Crotalus House, she didn't play Quidditch.

B was glad, for sure, that their first game wasn't against Amira's Pecari Team. That would have been a bit scary, especially for the new Teppenpaw players. Either which way, the fourth year was so excited that she was besides herself and could hardly sleep the night before the game. She spent the better part of a few hours staring at her ceiling before she finally dropped off into a fitful sleep. At some point early in the morning, she was woken up by an awful nightmare that involved the fact that she'd been playing against Arnold Carey and the Aladrens instead of Crotalus and that Arnold had beat her to the Snitch by a small bit of his finger tip...

She woke up crying and sweating.

Pulling herself together as best as she could, Bri stretched her neck out and checked the time. Giving up on sleep at that point, she climbed down off her bed and got her Quidditch things ready. Apparently I'm going to be an early bird today... she thought as she took a shower and got dressed. Gear in hand, Aubrielle walked down to Cascade Hall. She was down there earlier than she'd ever been before, and there weren't many others there at all. Alone time... Right... she thought to herself as she picked up some toast with butter on it, an apple, some orange juice and a bit of scrambled eggs. Not too heavy, but not too light... she thought to herself, as Mira had said over and over again over the summer. "Wow..." she said softly, shaking her head at the fact that she just pulled her sister's comment out of thin air.

She ate her breakfast and got up, walking out to the Pitch earlier than any others that she'd seen from either team. Bri wanted to get some flying time in first, she thought it would be appropriate. She'd need to be warmed up, that was for sure. Quidditch Robes on, she mounted her broom and flew a bunch of crazy laps around the Pitch until the teams started to arrive. The weather was pleasant, crisp and cool, but not chilly. Bri loved this sort of weather.

As the teams started arriving (and Bri heard them from below), she flew down and dismounted her broom. Spectators filled in the stands and Derry gave his speech to them just before Coach Pierce welcomed the school to the first game of the season.

Derry and Topher were called to shake hands and then they returned to their teams. Bri watched Derry for signs or any last minute information she'd need before the game balls were released. The fourth year kept her eyes on the flittering Golden Snitch and Bri flew upwards as the Quaffle did and followed behind the Snitch as fast as possible as it darted around the Pitch, starting out faster than she was.

Bri spoke under her breath, "Come on broom... You can do it..." as she reached out for the Snitch that she was so close to getting, but it moved out of her line of sight and she lost it again.

"NUTS!" she said to herself as she opened her eyes and turned her head all over to try to find the glint of gold. She didn't even know which set of Chasers got the Quaffle after the initial throw, she'd been so occupied!

0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker Seeking a win 0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Linus Macaulay, Chaser

July 08, 2013 4:06 PM

Let the pun wars commence. by Linus Macaulay, Chaser

The sixth year had yet to decide whether being one of the first teams to play was a stroke of luck, or an unfortunate folly. He did, however, believe it would in be their favor to play against Teppenpaw first. Admittedly, all of the teams had altered a great deal since the last championship held two years ago, but the odds in recent years were against Teppenpaw; they were the underdogs. Linus appraised the Crotalus Quidditch team with uncertainty. They had been training hard, as anyone in their House was more or less programmed to do, but there was no telling how they would work together in a real game scenario until that scenario took place. Linus thought the Rattlesnakes' Beaters were their strongest players, but then the same could be said of the Prairie Dogs, so that didn't really count as an advantage. If anything, it suggested that this game was going to be even more dangerous than usual, a concept that didn't grace itself to thought of any great depth. All that any of them could hope for was a good game and the wind on their side. Metaphorically, as well as literally.

Linus himself felt prepared for the game. He was in good physical fitness, and had not shirked his practices last year, especially as he'd still been enjoying the novelty of being elevated to Assistant Captaincy. He had breakfasted on toast for fiber, with egg for protein, and orange juice for vitamin C. He had done some light exercises to limber his muscles, and his attire was all new this year, to facilitate for his growth over the previous two. His blond hair was, as always, perfectly neat, although there was no doubt that this would no longer be the case as soon as the coach had blown her whistle.

Quidditch was, the sixth year mused, always an enjoyable experience - injury and queasiness aside - but Linus found himself particularly looking forward to this season. It was, he knew, nothing to do with the players, or the Cup, or any other aspect one might identify. It was simply that he knew there was at least one person in the stands watching him, and him specifically. Linus didn't know whether Brianna had always watched Quidditch games, but he felt certain that she would be there today, supporting him. It was a pleasant experience. With his younger brother becoming locally famous for his football, the oldest of the Macaulay children didn't resent sampling his own breed of sporting glory. He even had the better deal, really, as he was pretty sure that Brianna would still like him even if Crotalus lost every game they played.

The captains moved forward to shake hands (Linus noted that it would be his turn to do that next year, and that it would be far more glorious off the back of a Crotalus victory), and Linus readied himself on his broom. "Keep focused and give it your all," Linus told his teammates while Christopher was temporarily absent. "We don't want this to be our only game this season." It always mattered to Linus that they beat at least one team, but the longer he played, the more important victory seemed. He supposed his need to win would increase exponentially when the Captain's badge was pinned to his own robe.

Then the whistle sounded, and Linus kicked off hard from the ground. As one of the more senior Chasers on the pitch, it did not surprise him that he was first to lay claim to the Quaffle. He plucked the ball neatly out of the air, retaining it in his fingertips, and then tucking it under his arm as he maneuvered himself in flight. The release of the Quaffle tended to cause a build up of bodies in the middle of the pitch, and so Linus hastened to vacate the area, heading in the general direction of Teppenpaw's Keeper. He didn't hold onto the Quaffle long (although it was perhaps a second or two longer than he would have done if he'd been more familiar with the skills of his fellow Chasers), identifying a space and making a comparatively short pass to one of his red-clad teammates.

0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser Let the pun wars commence. 0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

July 08, 2013 4:26 PM

Don't get your hopes up. by Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

Cepheus Princeton dreamed of being the most popular Quiditch player at Sonora and the most feared Seeker of the school. But with Crotalus's current track record, he had nothing but intensive training and optimism on his side. He did not have much regard for Teppenpaw's Quidditch team, but he tried not to underestimate them too much. Crotalus was notorious for making it to the finals and then losing to Aladren. He hated that losing streak. Being second place was almost as bad as being at the bottom. At least at the bottom one knew there had been no chance. At second place, any move could have changed the match in their favour.

For every match, Cepheus tried to look his best. He got up early, showered and combed his hair, washed his face and brushed his teeth and made certain he looked impeccable. Part of it was for good luck and another was to boost his self-confidence. There was the added hope of impressing a certain witch in the stands this time around and he smiled to himself as he walked to the pitch from the common room.

Once he had dressed in his uniform, he joined his team, pointedly ignoring the crowds in the stands. He needed to stay focused. Cepheus appraised the Teppenpaw Seeker, trying to find any obvious weaknesses or idiosyncrasies that could easily distract her. He smirked a bit coldly at her, trying to intimidate her before they went up into the air. He was tall now and though he was thin and lanky, he had more muscle than fat on him. He took Quidditch training and his diet very seriously. Didn't that sort of dedication deserve some recognition? A trophy, even?

Cepheus listened to Topher's pre-game speech, the familiar feeling of the first match of the year exciting him. He felt pumped up and ready to win. Before Coach Pierce could throw the quaffle up, Cepheus slapped his brother on the back. "Good luck, mate." Hopefully Leo wouldn't reply with the same glare he had been giving all term. Cepheus mounted his broom and rose into the air on Coach Pierce's mark. As soon as the whistle blew, he was off.

He followed the Thornton quite closely, nearly bumping her broom end with his. She seemed to have cheated a bit in Cepheus's point of view by keeping sight of the Snitch after Coach Pierce had released it, but as long as he could get there before her he didn't care. His broom was custom-made to be faster than other brooms. It had been a much beloved Christmas gift for all three boys and made racing around the estate so much more exciting now that they were nearly all on a similar level.

Thornton seemed to have lost it with a loud exclamation and he rolled his eyes at her theatrics, conveniently forgetting his own exclamations after a sore loss. He cast a glance at Gareth before going around the pitch once in his traditional manner to distract Thornton and to look for the Snitch himself. His blue eyes stayed sharp, his body poised for any sudden movement. He made sure to keep one eye on Thornton, and then he dived suddenly. He dove so earnestly that he nearly convinced himself that he had found the Snitch, his arm even stretched out, but just moments before he hit the ground, he pulled up and coasted the ground so close he could feel the blades of grass sweeping his feet.

Cepheus rose, hoping Thornton had fallen for the feint. It was one of his best ones he had ever done and he was quite proud of it. It had taken weeks of practising and his practise had done him well. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins at the close call with the ground and he rode it as he searched once more for the gold, eyes bright. He made another round, and as he flew scattered rays of sunlight came bursting through a cloud and hit the pitch in marvellous ways. It was then that a glint caught Cepheus's eye and he zoomed after it immediately. He had caught up to it so quickly he hadn't lost it and found the Snitch surprisingly closer than he had expected.

Cepheus made his way through the rays, the light reflecting off of his own golden hair, before snatching his hand at...nothing. The Snitch was gone and the light followed soon after. His fist clenched as did his teeth and Cepheus rose up in the air in anguish before speeding back down once more. The next time he rode more fiercely around the pitch, eyes peeled for gold. Cepheus sat in one spot after a moment to catch his breath and regain his composure, but he did not linger long. It would be impractical to be a sitting target for Beaters and get in the way of Chasers.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker Don't get your hopes up. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 08, 2013 4:44 PM

I'm just here for the fame and glory. by Leo Princeton, Keeper

It had been decided. Leo hated, hated, Cepheus Princeton. He did not know why he had been so easily persuaded to join the Quidditch team when he disliked hard work so much and had never played Quidditch himself before. What did it matter that his two older brothers were great players? What did he care that all of the males in his family before him had been on their respective Quidditch teams? And what good was a broom if he was only going to be sitting on it for an entire match? Leo was angry when he woke up and realised it was game day. No; he was beyond furious. And tired from staying up so late the day before. Gobstones was not supposed to be that entertaining.

When he woke, Leo merely brushed a hand through his blond hair and dressed in his Quidditch robes before stomping to the pitch. He had a commitment to keep and he only realised when he saw how massive the pitch was with all the people in the stands how popular one could become as a Quidditch player. He smiled suddenly, looking like a cherub, as his eyes swept over the crowd. If he was good enough and smiled enough, he could easily become a popular Keeper and win the hearts of his fellow classmates. Maybe then he could get others to do his loathsome homework for him and convince fans to do his bidding. That's what all celebrities did, wasn't it? Take advantage of their followers? It was something to keep him motivated.

With this new dream in mind, Leo looked lazily over at their captain. As the two captains shook hands, he tried to tell which was the Teppenpaw Keeper. Keepers usually had a slightly different uniform than the rest, but he didn't know the opposing Keeper's name though he did recognise the wizard's face. It didn't really matter, really. They would be on opposite sides of the pitch anyway.

One of older Crotalus Chasers made a comment to them and Leo nodded, pretending to be engaged. He really didn't care if Crotalus won or lost, but he did not want to be the laughing stock of the school. If he was in it, they had to win or his reputation at this school would begin as the lowest of the low. Then his eldest brother would have hell to pay.

Cepheus slapped his back and Leo rolled his eyes at him. Leo had been glaring at him since he had signed his name away to the devil, but it didn't seem so bad now if fame and glory came at the end. Leo went to the hoops as he had been told to beforehand and sat there to guard them as the match commenced. This was, unmistakeably, the most boring position to play. It was exactly what Leo had wanted.

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper I'm just here for the fame and glory. 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Captain Calhoun, Beater

July 09, 2013 11:16 PM

Seriously. Don't. by Captain Calhoun, Beater

By chance, Topher had already been captain for a year, but he had never played a game in that role before. In the game itself, he didn’t really expect it to affect his performance – taking out the captain was, traditionally, a good way to damage the opposite team’s morale, but this was a difficult move to pull off when the opposite captain was a Beater, rendering the move less well-advised than usual for both teams today – but it did affect how he thought about it. Most of the attention was always on the Seekers, but still, it was his team, not Cepheus’. He always wanted to win, but found that today, he wanted it a little more. It made him marginally more sympathetic to his parents’ interest in his impending RATS, he guessed, this sense of ownership about the team, the idea that its performance would reflect on him.

It was still second to how he wanted to knock Arnold Carey off his broom in front of recruiters, though. Topher didn’t really know much about how people became more than school athletes, but knew that had something to do with it, and assumed there would be at least some interest in the kid who had only ever lost one game even if his rich family didn’t buy some. Therefore, it was reasonable to expect such people to be around Sonora this year, and since the first game this year was against Derry and the Teppenpaws instead of Aladren, the only way to embarrass Arnold in front of them would be to make it to the finals. He didn’t mind that; it sounded more fun that way.

It must, he thought, be a pretty interesting way to live, Arnold’s: on one hand, rich family, fast brooms, pretty girl, but on the other, half the school kind of wanted to kill you. He’d settle for his role any day.

Topher had never been a fan of long, elaborate speeches, so he didn’t make one when the team got together before the game, looking, he thought, nicely intimidating in their darkish-red robes. “Well, here we are,” he said. “You all know your roles. Let’s play hard, wrap this one up pretty fast, and then go party, what do you say?”

He shook hands with Derry amicably enough, having nothing personal against the guy and even respecting him as a Beater, and then the game was afoot. He flew up high, to get a look at how the action was going, and his attention was caught when the Teppenpaw Seeker, new girl, yelled about nuts. He raised an eyebrow, then, when Cepheus dove, caught a Bludger and hit it in her direction anyway. He couldn’t tell if his Seeker was actually, already, about to take his advice very much to heart and end the game now or if it was a feint, that wasn’t his job really, but an injured Teppenpaw Seeker was a good way to move toward the desired end either way. Then, since all the relevant action was now lower, he flew that way, looking for another Bludger to hit.

0 Captain Calhoun, Beater Seriously. Don't. 0 Captain Calhoun, Beater 0 5

Captain Derry, Beater

July 10, 2013 9:04 PM

I think she can hopefully seek all she likes by Captain Derry, Beater

Derry had slept well the night before Teppenpaw's first game. He was calling it their 'first' game not out of rampant optimism but because he really thought this was Teppenpaw's year to shine. Okay, yes, they had a new Seeker, a new Keeper, and a new Chaser, and - aside from himself and Laurie - everyone was fourth year or younger, but Aladren had started their winning streak with a newer and younger team than this. Derry was confident that Teppenpaw could repeat the feat.

Possibly not in its entirety, but at least they could end Teppenpaw's long drought of victory. That would be something, at least. And it was already an auspicious year for Teppenpaw, with them having won both Head Boy and Girl. They could win at least one Quidditch game, too.

They were up against Crotalus for the match, which Derry was kind of glad about, since it was the only House where he didn't have relatives on the opposing team. Plus, well, Crotalus was the other team that hadn't made the final two years ago and their strength, like Teppenpaw's, was in their beaters. They'd be well matched, he thought. Cepheus might have the experience, but Brielle was smaller, which counted for something in Seekers, and she did well in practice.

Leading a challenge team last year, he'd gotten some practice with inspiring pre-event speeches, and it was definitely easier when he knew what they were up against. Crotalus may have new players since they last faced each other, but Quidditch was Quidditch, and there was no uncertainty of what he was prepping his team for today.

"Okay, we've got a good game ahead of us," he told the other Teppenpaw players as they gathered around him. "Crotalus is good, but beatable, and we're going to do that. Laurie, you're on Gareth and I'll take Topher. With us handling the Beaters, the rest of you just need to worry about your own things. Chasers, watch out for Linus, but with Sam and Renee gone, Crotalus lost its powerhouse there. Bri, Cepheus is good, but he got tall, so you may have the advantage in quick maneuvering. Use that, if you can." He wasn't quite sure how she could, as it really depended on the snitch how much it zigged and zagged, but he wasn't a Seeker, and he wasn't as well versed in Seeker strategy as maybe a Captain ought to be. He made a mental note to look it up if they made it to the final.

He shook Topher's hand amicably enough when they they were instructed to do so. He had nothing against his fellow seventh year, and Derry liked to think he was a good sport, both on and off the pitch. Of course, once the whistle blew and the game began, he was a Beater, so 'good sport' was one thing, but 'friendly and nice' was something else if you weren't on his team.

He took to the air once Amelia, er, Coach Pierce gave the signal. His broom was a good one, but a couple years old now. It still worked fine though. He took great care of it, and he was familiar with all of its idiosyncratic quirks. He opted not to go immediately for a bludger, choosing instead to just shadow Topher for the time being. The Crotalus Captain was a good Beater and would doubtless lead him to one shortly anyway.

Sure enough, the red clad seventh year found one and hit it toward Brielle. Derry pushed his broom hard and got between them, bringing his bat up to redirect the dangerous black ball away from its previous target. Wood met metal with a distinctive clash, and the bludger rebounded harmlessly to the left. It was a more a punt than a hit, so it didn’t have much speed, allowing Derry to fly after it while gauging his options for a target of his own.

Cepheus was really the best choice. Topher would probably just try to intercept as Derry had done, but if he could get it past him, Teppenpaw’s greatest advantage would be if Crotalus had an injured Seeker. He did his best to get a good line at him where Topher wouldn’t have an easy time of interfering, swung his bat, and sent the bludger howling toward the tall fifth year.

1 Captain Derry, Beater I think she can hopefully seek all she likes 189 Captain Derry, Beater 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 10, 2013 10:40 PM

I thought they already had by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter sat on his broom waiting anxiously as Coach Pierce set up everything for the game. She released the bludgers and snitch into the air and then picked up the coveted quaffle. He glanced around and was pretty certain that the other chasers were just as anxious as he was for her to toss it up and start the game. He snuck a quick glance towards Enion and Darina before turning back towards the coach. He was praying that once it was airborne one of the three of them were able to grab it first. Coach Pierce blew her whistle to start the game and tossed the quaffle into the air. Carter flew over trying to be the first to get his hands on it, but missed it by mere centimeters as Linus from the Crotalus team grabbed it instead. Carter cursed under his breath as he raced off after the Crotalus. He had to find a way around the others to get a better eye on him and flew up a little higher to get a better look at the action. He had lost sight of Linus briefly after the catch, but managed to catch sight of him again when he went a little higher. He was mentally going over the best way to snatch back the quaffle and put the pressure on them. He cursed to himself when he caught sight of Topher going for one of the bludgers and frowned angrily when Topher whacked it in Brielle’s direction. “Dirty rotten…” Carter grumbled, fumbling for a way to help his teammate despite the fact that he was too far away from her. “Bri…watch out!” he yelled, flying after Linus once he spotted him again. He hoped that she heard him as he raced to catch up with Linus. He risked another quick glance in Brielle’s direction and was relieved to see that Derry had managed to redirect the bludger. Carter smiled to himself as he thought about Derry’s quick speech to them before the game. He was glad that Derry was their captain now. He didn’t know where Derry had sent the bludger, but he hoped that it helped in their favor.

Carter flew around trying to keep an eye out for any of his team that might be nearby that he could pass the quaffle to once he got it from Linus. He heard a faint whizzing sound in the distance and risked a peek in the general direction of the sound. He didn’t see the source of the sound, but he knew it would make an appearance soon. Those little blighters always did. He had a good feeling that any time now Linus may look to pass off the quaffle to one of the other Crotalus chasers and Linus did not disappoint him. He flew as close to the other chaser as he could without drawing too much attention to himself and smiled when he saw Linus gear up to pass the quaffle. Once the quaffle was in the air, Carter raced from his spot to the ball and managed to snatch it before it reached its intended target. He tucked the quaffle snuggly under his arm and raced away from the Crotalus chasers as quickly as his trusty broom would carry him. He heard a faint metal whiz and knew that the mean little demon was out about somewhere. He couldn’t worry about the bludger that may or may not be near him right at that moment. His main focus was putting as much distance between himself and Linus as possible as he raced towards the Crotalus’ end of the pitch. He thought he might have spotted Darina flying around behind him, but he couldn’t be certain. He hoped that she had seen him intercept the quaffle from Linus and was working her way towards him so he could pass it. And if she wasn’t, he hoped Enion was. He didn’t want to give the Crotalus chasers the chance to steal it back if he could help it.

Carter heard another metallic whiz and instinctually ducked low against the broom, still clutching it with one hand while holding onto the quaffle with the other. The little bugger whizzed past his head so quickly he could feel the wind trail it left behind in its wake. Carter’s head popped back up and he glanced behind him to see if he could spot where it went to. He didn’t see where it disappeared to and sighed with momentary relief. For the moment it wasn’t his problem anymore. He glanced around him to see who might be nearby and spotting one of his own chasers nearby he geared up to make the pass. He took one final look around and being fairly certain that the Tepp chaser he saw was Darina, he went ahead and made the pass to her. He silently prayed that she got to it before Linus or any of the other Crotalus chasers.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser I thought they already had 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 11, 2013 2:23 AM

Very Punny... by Darina Porter, Chaser

Darina had been on the fence as much about trying out for Teppenpaw’s Team as she had with Fencing Club, but she’d done it just as she had the other. After all, Bri was on the team, and so was Mitri, though they were Seeker and Keeper, not Chaser like she was. But the other older kids had taken care of the first years so far and she didn’t think they would ditch them at the game either.

Regardless of that, Rina was still really nervous. She could hardly sleep the night before the game. The first year tossed and turned and felt the butterflies fly around inside of her the whole night long. It wasn’t until the sun rose that she finally fell asleep. When she heard the others moving around her, she awoke, eyes fluttering open slowly. The butterflies moved around inside once more, faster and harder than they had the night before. When Darina realized what was about to happen, she rushed into the bathroom, tripping over her blanket as she ran, but thankfully catching herself. She made it just in time to expel everything she’d eaten the night before.

“Eew…” she thought to herself as she took in a few deep breaths. This happened sometimes when she was nervous, but it hadn’t ever been this bad before. Maybe this was a bad idea… Maybe I’m not meant to play on a team in front of other people… she thought. But I have to… I’ve promised the team… she added to herself as she washed her mouth out and her face off to try to calm down.

I can do this… I can do this… she thought as she left the bathroom and got dressed in her Game Gear. Her face was a little pale and clammy still, but she hoped that would go away very quickly as she made it into the air and flew.

She left Teppenpaw Common Room and breathed in the crisp air when she got outside. She looked up at the sky and calmed down a little seeing the white clouds above. Walking up to Derry, Bri, Mitri and the others, Darina calmed down a little more, especially in knowing the fact that her brother was there as well as her older cousin. When Mitri walked towards her and nudged her, asking if she was ready to kick some butt, she looked at him sort of pitifully. Sure, she was the better flyer out of the two of them and he was the better catcher, but Rina hoped that he could tell by the look on her face that she was nervous. “Not really…” was all she said before she hiccupped. A sure sign that she was nervous, at least to anyone who knew her, anyway.

Derry spoke first, to the team, and Rina listened to what their Captain had to say. When he mentioned Bri’s name, Rina looked up at her cousin and hoped her older cousin wasn’t as nervous as she was… After all, if she didn’t get the Snitch they would most likely lose the game. The first year took in some deep breaths, letting them out slowly as Derry went to go shake Topher’s hand. Once the Captains were back by their teams, Coach Pierce gave her signal and both teams mounted their brooms as the balls were released.

Rina watched Carter make the run for the ball, but the oldest Crotalus Chaser beat him to it. The first year made a face and flew on after Carter and Linus. She was almost right behind him when she heard Carter grumble something and called to Bri to watch out. Darina’s gut reaction was to fly far away from this and see what was going on with Bri, but she knew that would be a bad idea. If her cousin was hurt she’d want to help, but she wasn’t the medic and therefore couldn’t do anything for her. If the Bludger was on to her, there still was nothing she could do… Rina glanced where Carter had been looking and saw the Bludger heading towards her cousin and she screeched. “BRI!” when she saw Bri swerve and Derry swat the black ball away from her cousin, she let out all the air she’d been holding inside her mouth and realized that Carter had the Quaffle! Did he intercept it? Or how did he… she thought. What does it matter how he got it, the point is, he got it… And I’m gonna get it from him! she thought as she flew faster and faster back towards where Carter was.

Rina heard a whizzing sound and her eyes grew wide. A Bludger… But where is- she started to think to herself when she saw Carter duck down close to his broom handle. Now it was coming right for her…

She froze a moment, but then realized she needed to move or it would hit her.

Unfortunately, she tried to move too late, and the mean black ball hit her right hand as both her hands held the handle of her own broom. “Oww… oww…” she said, as she kept flying, determination and a new kind of nausea making its way into her body.

Where’d Carter go…? she asked herself as she looked around for him through the tears that threatened to fall. I WILL NOT CRY… she repeated over and over again to herself, even as she spotted Carter and flew fast right for him. Carter made to pass and even with the fact that she may have hurt her hand, she wasn’t going to allow for Teppenpaw to be down a player for something that simple. I’m fine. It’s not broken, it’ll just be bruised. That’s all… she added to her little mantra as she found herself catching the big red ball and pulling it into her chest safely, completing the pass.

I got it… Hey… I really got it… she thought as she flew fast, towards Crotalus’ hoops. Rina hoped that both Enion and Carter were following her, Laurie too. The last thing she wanted was another one of those mean black balls to hit her!

She saw yellow, and knew that if she held onto the ball too long, she’d either get hit or get it stolen, so she made to pass to the yellow clad Chasers, hoping beyond all hope that either Enion or Carter got it from her, especially since she heard that same whizzing sound beside her and she ducked, so she wasn’t sure who had gotten her pass. She just hoped it was one of the Teppenpaws!

OOC: Bri is also my character, so I am not godmodding her.

0 Darina Porter, Chaser Very Punny... 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

July 11, 2013 2:52 PM

While I get the gold. by Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

There was some comfort in seeing Topher trailing him as Cepheus's protector and he trusted the more experienced Beater to take care of him. He didn't worry much about bludgers. He trusted his team-mates. Nevertheless, when he heard a loud crack, he turned his head instantly, trying to see whether he should protect himself or not. However, Topher had sent one flying over to Thornton and Cepheus sighed before distancing himself from Thornton as much as possible. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those.

Cepheus had only been hit by a bludger once when he was playing with his friends and family back home two summers ago. Rupert had shot a bludger at him and Cepheus's trailing Beater then, his best mate, had missed it resulting in a bone-breaking hit. One bad experience with a bludger and broken bone for two hours had left its mark and Cepheus was a little more cautious. However, there was little he wouldn't sacrifice for any competition, the most important one being Quidditch. The one thing he hated more than getting injured was losing.

He looked around the pitch, wishing for another glint of sunlight to direct him to a win. He would not let the Snitch get away again. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus once more. He dove, trying to see if the Snitch was any nearer to the ground. There wasn't much to see down there and Cepheus rose up once more. He went to the skies, then, higher than the others to see if he could see anything from a bird's eye.

However, instead of a Snitch he saw a bludger coming straight for him. Cepheus's reflexes had improved spectacularly over the past few years and his broom had been made to move one step ahead of him in panic. Cepheus, however, was not panicking and so the broom did nothing. He swerved away himself, heart clenched for a moment in frozen suspense and dodged the bludger enough for it to miss his body. For the most part.

A searing pain shot up his arm, but dulled quickly. The bludger had grazed his left arm hard enough to leave a bruise, but not enough to break anything. He sighed, relieved, before making his way down fast enough that the bludger wouldn't follow him. If he was up too high, he was an easy target and he had to remember that. He didn't bother looking for Topher, however. He knew the Beater would watch him. Cepheus needed to look for that Snitch. He sat in one spot once more towards the edge of the pitch, looking for some gold and trying not to allow the sound of bludgers or yellow-clad players to distract him.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker While I get the gold. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker 0 5

Linus Macaulay, Chaser

July 12, 2013 8:57 AM

Pun times ahead. by Linus Macaulay, Chaser

It rapidly became evident that having a cacophony of younger Chasers was going to make for tedious ball play. He had been used to playing with a couple of senior students as Chasing partners, carrying the Quaffle seamlessly across the pitch like a well-oiled machine. In contrast, this game so far had presented unrefined, almost sloppy passes, the success of which couldn't be easily predicted. Still, Linus thought, as he moved in to intercept the second Teppenpaw pass, it might work out in his favor. He plucked the red ball from the air and immediately turned tail, moving back in his original direction.

There was undoubtedly a Bludger in the vicinity, as the Tepp whose pass he'd just stolen - D-something, but he couldn't remember exactly - had, he'd thought, made contact with one just before making her catch. Evidently it had only been a glancing blow, as the girl was still able to handle the Quaffle (albeit with limited competency), but the next target might not be so lucky. Linus merely wished the injury upon his opposition, which, considering the nature of the sport, he didn't feel was particularly malicious. Nevertheless, even with a strong Beating team, Bludger damage was a very real possibility for the rest of the players, and so Linus was loathe to keep his attention from the rest of the game for very long. With fleeting glances to both sides to ensure his projected path was clear, the sixth year made his way back across the center line and then a little further before attempting to initiate a second pass, one which would hopefully have more success than his first.

Identifying a fellow Chaser, Linus took the Quaffle from under his arm, and again passed - though this time with a longer reach and higher arc - to his teammate. He tried not to be too disheartened by the lack of experience of his teammates; he had once been just like that, and had no small number of failed passes on his resume before he'd had time to improve to his current playing standard (and he wasn't so arrogant to think he was one of the better players the school had seen, either; simply that his skills surpassed the younger players currently on the pitch, at least for the time being). Viktor and Percival would similarly improve in time, and while this was comforting in the long run, it didn't provide Linus with much hope for the interim.

0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser Pun times ahead. 0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 12, 2013 12:23 PM

I don't know about you, but I'm having pun by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter had managed to intercept the pass that Linus was trying to make to his teammate and taken off as far away from him as he could get. He knew the Crotalus was probably somewhere close behind him, but tried not to focus on that when he made his first initial pass. He had seen Darina get hit with the bludger he had managed to dodge (just barely) and winced to himself as she cradled her hand while holding onto the quaffle. He was proud of her for toughing it out and managing to catch the quaffle despite her injured hand. He silently prayed that the injury was slight and she would be okay. It wasn’t terrible if they lost a chaser, but it wasn’t something he wanted to think about. He followed as closely to her as he could, maneuvering around as many people as he could without getting hit by another player. He caught up to Darina, but had underestimated just how close behind them Linus had been. Before he could complete the pass between them Linus snatched the quaffle and made a run for the center of the pitch and the Teppenpaw side of the goal. Carter muttered under his breath as he circled around after the older chaser. He heard a metallic whiz somewhere in the vicinity, but couldn’t tell what direction it was coming from. Carter cursed under his breath as he flew trying to catch up to Linus. Carter had been soo focused on his intended target that he almost missed the metallic whiz when the sound appeared again. Carter snapped his head to his left and his eyes grew wide as the angry metal ball approached him.

He flew up a bit trying to avoid it, but wasn’t fast enough to keep from getting clipped by the little bugger. The bludger grazed his thigh as it whizzed past him and a momentary bout of pain radiated through his leg, making it partially numb. He closed his eyes briefly against the pain and then shaking his head he continued on. He arced down towards where he spotted Linus and waited for the tell tale signs that he was getting ready to pass. He had no idea which way Linus would toss it and tried to keep his eyes open as he flew closer. He was almost certain he heard another metallic whiz, but couldn’t be certain if it was close to them or not. Carter just had to hope that it wasn’t. Getting clipped once was bad enough, getting hit again was unacceptable. He saw Linus ready to make the pass and flew upwards slightly to try and intercept the pass. He wasn’t really expecting Linus to arc it so high and raced past him as he let go of the quaffle. Carter sped through the pass area reaching out for the quaffle. He felt the ball brush his fingertips and bounce slightly. He had to fly upwards slightly and reached more firmly finally getting his hand completely around it. Once he was sure it was in his possession, Carter tucked it up under his arm and arced away from the interception site. He circled back towards the center of the pitch and was half-way certain he spotted a couple of people in yellow flying close behind him. He was also pretty sure that Linus was back there somewhere as well. He tried not to think about that part.

Carter maneuvered around hoping to avoid colliding with another player. His thigh still burned a bit from the love tap the last bludger had given him. He chanced a glance around to see where people were at and spotted what may have been Darina or Enion speeding up on his left side. Carter grinned. If he could pass it to one of them maybe they could score a goal for the game. Carter was determined not to disappoint Derry. It was his last year after all. If nothing else Carter could at least help him make it to the finals before he graduated. Carter turned his focus back on his target and continued to maneuver towards Crotalus’ goal. He was half-way sure that his teammates he spotted were coming up fast behind him and he set up what looked like a run for the goal itself. He had no idea whether or not the little stunt he was about to pull would work, but he was willing to give it try anyway. He glanced towards Darina and Enion, whichever side of him they happened to be on and tried giving them a signal. He set up what should look far away as a throw straight towards Leo, but instead tossed it slightly to his side where he was hoping one of them waited to catch it and throw it in for the goal themselves. He kept his fingers crossed as he silently prayed that it worked.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser I don't know about you, but I'm having pun 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 12, 2013 1:27 PM

“Pun”ting for points- Tag LEO by Darina Porter, Chaser

It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt… Darina repeated to herself over and over again as she flew faster and faster towards Carter once she spotted him. It’s not broken, it’s not broken, it’s not broken… She caught Carter’s pass and kept flying, faster and faster towards Crotalus’ hoops and Leo. However, she knew better than to keep hold of the ball for too long and when she spotted Carter and Enion again, she’d passed (albeit a little messier than she’d hoped, but it was what it was) the ball. Carter, it seemed, didn’t go too far from her this time, she wondered if he was just watching out for her? If she remembered, she’d try to ask him later. Hearing another metallic whizzing, she ducked and didn’t see who’d gotten the ball at the end of her pass right away. The first year, however, really hoped that Carter or Enion had gotten it.

When Rina looked back up again Linus was hightailing it towards Mitri and her heart fell. Sure, she’d caught the toss from Carter, but she’d mucked up the toss back to either him or Enion. Her heart fell and her right hand throbbed as she spotted Carter again, chasing after Linus and the determination came back to her automatically. We’ve got this… she thought, through the throbbing of her hand. She heard the sound of the Bludger again and spotted it, going right for Carter. “CART-” was all she managed to get out before it skimmed what looked like his hip or thigh. Her hand throbbed and she knew how he felt when he closed his eyes and shook his head.

Linus made to pass the Quaffle and still Carter went for it, making contact first, knocking it slightly out of the way so that he could grab it back again. “YES!” she cheered for him as she made her way towards him again, swerving around other people. Good thing I can fly… she thought to herself, trying to change her thoughts to the positive ones rather than the negative ones. She hated being negative almost as much as she hated being hurt or sick… We can still win… We can still win…

Carter circled back towards the Crotalus’ goal hoops and Rina followed behind him, swerving around players clad in both red and yellow. Darina was literally right behind him when she saw Carter’s signal. She hoped Enion had seen it too, but she couldn’t be sure. She thought he was right by them somewhere, but the first year wouldn’t hold her breath on it. Rina, unsure if Enion had seen Carter’s signal, made to go to his right side and caught the pass, fleeing the area faster than anyone could say Quidditch. She flew right at the goals and feinted towards the left hoop, then the right and threw the ball hard and fast towards the left hoop, hoping it went in and didn’t get stopped by Leo, Crotalus’ Keeper.

0 Darina Porter, Chaser “Pun”ting for points- Tag LEO 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Brielle Thornton, Seeker

July 12, 2013 2:03 PM

That's what you think! by Brielle Thornton, Seeker

Aubrielle had missed the Snitch, but it was early on in the game and she still had a chance to beat Cepheus Princeton to it. It’s not over till the fat lady sings… Bri thought to herself, determination building behind her eyes. She’d seen the look Cepheus had given her, and lifted her head high. Whatever he thought was his own thoughts, they didn’t have to be hers too. B knew that she was good at Seeking, she’d learned from Mira, that was for sure. She was more of the Seeker build than Cepheus was anyway, and that would be helpful for her. She knew that.

Derry’s speech and her own observation had told her that. “You got it Cap.” she said to him with a big grin on her face. I’m not playing to lose… she thought to herself, steeling herself up for a possible win, a hopeful win and more.

Once the game was started, she flew right after the Snitch and almost got it before it disappeared on her. Cepheus dove down and Bri almost followed, but then changed her mind quickly when she saw something golden, glittering around down closer to the stands on the other side. By the time Bri had gotten there, she’d lost the glint and flew up higher to hunt for it again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something going right for her, and squinted in the sunlight to see that it was a bludger. She moved quickly out of the way, but it could have still hit her had Derry not intercepted the black ball. Brielle sighed, glad she’d been missed by the black ball when she spotted Rina right in the way of it. “RINA!“ she called loudly to the younger girl. Rina didn’t move though and the ending of her shout led to Rina getting a bludger to the hand. Her heart fluttered, and broom automatically went towards her younger cousin, but stopped when she saw Rina keep flying, and holding the Quaffle! “ATTA GIRL RINA!” she called as she thought she saw something glitter off to her right.

Flying fast away from the rest, she went high into the air to try to reach it, arm stretched out, but missing it again. She heard the metallic whizzing sound and searched for it just in time to see it graze Cepheus’ arm. B smiled, knowing that if he was injured it would be easier for her to catch the Snitch over him. She knew now though, that Derry would be watching her, knowing that Topher would be going after her. Bri’s job was to catch the Snitch and she would do just that.

Eyes glanced around to try to catch a glint of the small, golden, winged ball and thought she spotted it. Flying fast towards the glint of gold she went, arm outstretched.

And missed it…

Again…

With a light moan, and a sigh, she flew upward to search for it again from a better point of view.

0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker That's what you think! 0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

July 13, 2013 2:23 PM

It's also what I know. by Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

It was extremely unsettling how distracted Thornton seemed to be during the match. He had gotten hit by a bludger in his own distraction, but it was all in the pursuit of the golden Snitch. He could hear snippets of what Thornton was saying as he passed by her, from calling her other team-mates and being a distraction to others. Was this their tactic? Was this how they expected to win? Cepheus did not trust Thornton's judgment and made up his mind that she was naive. It was clear this was her first time in the Seeker's role.

It was equally disappointing to find that she had not followed his feint. Her reasoning for not following was unknown, but either way he was angry at her. From his spot near the stands, he watched her head towards the Snitch, but as Cepheus made to go after it, she missed it and it disappeared. He snorted and as she flew upwards he followed her. "Find the gold yet?" he asked with a smirk. "I thought I almost saw it in your hand." It wasn't trash talk, exactly, but Cepheus thought, along with distracting her, discouraging her might be a good tactic as well. If he was going to be a great Seeker, he needed to win this and win the Quidditch Cup this year. A Thornton was not going to steal it from him.

Cepheus flew from her and went to the opposite side of the pitch, eyes narrowed to catch any sight of gold to chase after. Though Thornton was smaller than he in height, Cepheus had a fast broom. It was during times like these that he was grateful for his skinnier frame and, for now, he wouldn't trade it for any other. The sky was still looking cloudy and it would not help in shining light for the Snitch to reflect and glint at him. He sat still, looking closely for any sign that would help in his endeavour. If he lost, all his big talk would have gone to waste. The year before had been a much needed break after so many losses in a row, but they needed to start off strong. If they lost to Teppenpaw, they lost for the entire year.

It was always difficult being a part of the first match. Cepheus liked to scope out the other team beforehand and that meant Aladren would get to see Crotalus and Teppenpaw play first and figure out their tactics. It was unfair, but he supposed Coach Pierce couldn't help it. She was only their Head of House, but she still had to be the unbiased Quidditch coach. But honestly...Cepheus shook his head and kept his eyes open for any more signs of gold. He rubbed his sore arm, feeling the tender bruise that was already beginning to form under his sleeve. It would be there for awhile, he was certain.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker It's also what I know. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 13, 2013 2:26 PM

Keep it coming! by Leo Princeton, Keeper

Leo had always liked watching Quidditch matches, but he usually preferred to be on the sidelines. However, he felt somewhat special having a seat right inside the pitch this time though he was supposed to be protecting the hoops. He thought his team’s Chasers were competent enough to keep the quaffle away from him. Otherwise he would be extremely upset at the team and Cepheus for getting him to sign up. The quaffle was being passed quickly and Leo almost lost sight of it once or twice. He looked to see what the Seekers were doing, but they were moving all over the place and he was not interested in moving his eyes so rapidly.

He dreamed instead of what it would be like once Crotalus won. Though Seekers received much of the glory, he imagined himself blocking every pass the Teppenpaws made to the hoop. He would kick one out and then block another with his arm, then do a spinning trick and hit the other with his broom. He would be a renowned Keeper and by his seventh year everyone would want him on a professional team, but he would merely wave them off, sign a few autographs and go on his merry way to doing nothing but relaxing for the rest of his life. It sounded so pleasant Leo almost smiled.

The Teppenpaws were coming uncomfortably close, but Leo did not notice until one of the yellow Chasers was hit by a bludger. His eyes widened when he realised just how close Carter was and when the quaffle was passed to another yellow-clad Chaser, Leo came back to reality. He gripped his broom, feeling his hands sweat and his body grow warm. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. It was a terrible idea to be a Keeper. Why, of all the positions, had he chosen this one? He was going to get hurt. They were going to throw the quaffle right at him. He needed to duck or get away or something. Darina made to throw it to the left hoop and Leo immediately went right. He wanted no contact with that quaffle whatsoever. Practises were one thing, but this was the real deal.

She made to throw it right and Leo went back to the left hoop, but then she threw it to the left hoop again and this time she let go of it and Leo had hardly made it to the left hoop. He had no time to duck or swerve away, the quaffle came so fast, and it hit him right in the shoulder and fell into his arms. The momentum of it made his back hit the metal edge of the hoop, but the quaffle did not go in. Leo groaned, feeling his arm and his back ache, but he was holding the quaffle. “Blasted thing,” he muttered under his breath. The sooner he got rid of it, the sooner he would be able to get back to doing nothing. This was a terrible job.

Leo threw the quaffle to a nearby Crotalus Chaser and went back to sitting. As he replayed his inadvertent save in his head, he realised how his cowardice had actually worked in his favour this time around. A slow smile spread on his face. He actually saved something. Leo suddenly felt extremely confident in his position. The only way he could have saved that goal was because he was a natural Keeper. He settled on his broom, his smirk unsettling. He had blocked the goal and all he had done was run away from the quaffle. On purpose, of course. Of course he had known what Darina was doing the entire time. Leo brushed his uniform sleeve. “Bring it on,” he shouted, feeling confident about the next goal. But if the quaffle never came near him again, he wouldn’t mind that terribly either.

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper Keep it coming! 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 16, 2013 7:32 PM

"Keep"ing it coming by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter managed to make the pass and Darina appeared to be a tad faster than Enion at getting to the quaffle. Whichever one of them had managed to get it was fine with Carter just so long as Tepp had the quaffle. Darina attempted a feign on Leo, trying to make him think that she was throwing it towards the right hoop. It was either dumb luck or weird coincidence that when she threw it towards the left hoop he was on his way there. Carter could not believe his eyes. Did he know she was going to do that and moved there on purpose or was that just a lucky guess? Carter wondered to himself as Leo caught her attempted goal, crashing backwards into the hoop to do it. Carter snapped his fingers together in frustration. That was a good shot…we should have gotten it Carter grumbled mentally to himself as he prepped to get back to playing. He figured Leo would probably throw the ball back into play at any time now and Carter wanted to be ready for when he did. He started to fly away from the goals when he heard a familiar whizzing sound. He glanced around the area, but couldn’t see where the blighter was coming from. He looked to his left and saw a small metal ball whizzing towards him. “Aww…blast it all,” he muttered, barely dodging the menacing little eyesore.

Carter glanced at the bludger as it flew away in search of its next target, breathing a sigh of relief. He glanced back towards Leo and saw Leo tossing the quaffle back into play. He was trying to get it to one of his team members, but Carter was a little quicker than the Crotalus chaser. He intercepted the toss in and flew off around the goal hoops trying to keep it from any of the Crotali chasers who might be nearby. He held it tight against himself as he came out from behind the goal hoops on the right hand side. He contemplated making a run on the right hoop since Leo had been over at the left one when they made their last attempt. He decided that this time he fake to the left, but instead toss it towards one of his own fellow chasers who might be nearby. He just hoped in doing so that the Crotali chasers didn’t intercept his pass off. He flew around to where he was semi-facing the left hoop and raised the quaffle as if to throw it right at Leo (assuming he hadn’t left the left hoop that is). He was just about to throw it when he heard another metallic whizzing sound. He tried to ignore the sound, but found it too close to ignore.

The bludger flew at his throwing arm and Carter tried pulling it in to keep from getting struck. He had managed to pull in his arm and hand and had tried to duck, but wasn’t quite fast enough. The bludger clipped the top of his shoulder as it whizzed past him. Carter saw stars for a brief second as searing pain shot through his shoulder and down his arm. It vibrated to the point where it felt like his arm was electrified and he almost dropped the quaffle. He blinked back the tears of pain that had appeared from the clipping and prepared to pass the quaffle again. He geared up to throw the quaffle, turning his aim at the last minute towards one of his own team members. He made the pass and had to hope that it reached its intended target and that they managed to score a point. He almost physically crossed his fingers as he clutched at his burning shoulder. He shook it out preparing to fly if needed just in case the pass was intercepted.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser "Keep"ing it coming 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Brielle Thornton, Seeker

July 17, 2013 1:26 PM

I don't think so by Brielle Thornton, Seeker

Aubrielle was really hoping to catch the Snitch very soon after she’d seen her cousin get hit by a Bludger. She couldn’t believe that she’d even let her little cousins try out! Her sisters (well and mother and everyone else), would hate her for letting them, if they got hurt. I can’t let this happen again… I can’t… she thought as she hunted for the glint of gold from higher above the game.

Cepheus joined her up there asking if she’d found the gold yet. “If I’d found it, would I still be up here?“ she answered, shortly. She guessed what he was trying to do and she wasn’t going to let him distract her. She had enough distractions within herself, she didn’t need any help from him or anyone else. “And yes, it was almost in my hand, thank you. And it will be again. Soon.” she added, eyes not looking to him, instead they searched the Pitch for the small golden ball.

She still didn’t look at him, but she heard air move and smiled, knowing he’d flown off and left her alone up there to hunt. He hadn’t spotted it, she was sure, at least she hoped she was…

Seeing something golden and glittery not far off, she flew faster and faster on Rista’s old broom and reached out her hand for it. As her hand went out she heard the ugly and mean metallic sound that a Bludger was following her, but she ignored it, not wanting to lose the Snitch again. The taunting would be horrible if she had. If I get hit, I get hit, as long as I get the Snitch! she thought to herself as she determinedly flew, hand out, hoping the get the golden ball in her hand.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted in her right foot and it felt as if someone had either cut it off or it was burning in a firey pit. Her vision clouded and she lost sight of the Snitch. Trying to blink her vision back right and biting her lip, she searched for the golden ball again as her foot burned and hurt so bad she thought she might vomit…

I have to get the Snitch… I have to get the Snitch… she told herself over and over again, wanting to cry and scream and punch something with how bad her foot hurt. She wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was broken in a thousand pieces (though she really hoped it wasn’t!).

0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker I don't think so 0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 17, 2013 1:27 PM

“Chasing” the point, avoiding the Bludger- LEO and Tepp Beat by Darina Porter, Chaser

Darina had feinted from one hoop to the other, and actually threw it back towards the other hoop not having seen that Leo had gone away from the flying Quaffle until afterwards when it played back in her head. Her fast throw (thanks to lots of practice and arm strength) knocked right into what looked like Leo’s shoulder, and apparently seemed to have pushed him into the side of the hoop he happened to be in front of.

Leo threw the Quaffle back out again and Rina tried to catch it from him instead of letting it go to a Crotalus Chaser. She was close enough to hear Leo scream ’bring it on’ and took that as both a threat and a compliment. It was almost clear to her that he hadn’t been expecting what she’d thrown him and she was not against ’bringing it on’ right back at him.

Flying fast again towards where the Quaffle was flying through the air, she tried to catch it, but once again Carter beat her to it. Carter held the red ball close and came out from behind the hoops on the right side. She watched him and tried to get into his head to see what he was thinking. Carter raised the ball and made to throw it right back into the hoop and just as she heard the familiar metallic whizzing sound, he clearly did too. He also seemed to be trying to ignoring it, however, but he ducked at the last second and tried to avoid it. But the Bludger clipped his shoulder and Rina flew forward to firstly, make sure he was okay and to grab the ball from him if she needed to. My hand doesn’t hurt… it doesn’t hurt… I am fine… she thought to herself as she realized what Carter was going to do.

She flew up to his side and caught his pass easily, though it hurt when she caught the ball. Her hand tingled and a weird pain crept up from her fingertips all the way up to her shoulder as she flew, ball in hand, back at Leo. The dark haired first year flew right at him with one thought in mind. He wanted it brought on… Well, here it is! she thought as she made to almost literally bowl him over with herself and the ball. Her thought was if she made herself look like a battering ram he may fly off like he did the last time and the ball could go right into the hoop, if he didn’t move, she’d at the last second fly off to another hoop and put the ball right in, to his own surprise.

However, she’d decided that instead, what she’d do was the whole beginning battering ram thing, but at the last second fly right to another hoop that she hoped he wasn’t at. The Teppenpaw was bound and determined to show that Tepp could indeed win a game, and she would help them do it.

Rina flew faster and faster, hand and arm tingling, right at the hoop Leo was in, but at the last second turned her broom on a dime and flew fast to the one furthest away. She was a good flyer, even Mitri had told her that, and she made use of it that game, for sure. Hoping Leo was behind her, and not nearby, she flew passed the hoop, making a fast ball throw of the Quaffle into the hoop, hoping it went in, but not stopping to watch. A metallic whizzing sound had been following her and she wasn’t interested in it hitting her in the back, or anywhere else for that matter.

She flew around to the back of the hoops, just as Carter had done and the black ball had followed her. She heard the sound and knew that it had her in its clutches. Taking a last ditch decision, she turned on a dime once more and instead of it hitting her back, she moved so that if it had to hit her, it hit her right arm again. If Medic Bailey was going to look at it anyway, it would be better than the possibility of ending up paralyzed if it hit her back! If I have to… she thought as she tried to avoid it altogether. Rina ducked and still she heard it behind her. She flew faster and faster, like an erratic broomstick riding ballerina to try to avoid it and wondered, also hoping that either Derry or Laurie could help her!

0 Darina Porter, Chaser “Chasing” the point, avoiding the Bludger- LEO and Tepp Beat 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Viktor Volkov, Chaser

July 17, 2013 2:14 PM

This is getting old. by Viktor Volkov, Chaser

Viktor prided himself on being good at, well, everything. He was just a natural so making the Crotalus Quidditch team had come as no surprise. Unfortunately, his arrogance seemed to be proving his downfall. That or the Teppenpaw chasers, at least the two, were telepathically linked. The one he recognized from his classes and knew that she was a first year. There was no way a first year, aside from him could possibly be that good at Quidditch. And on top of it, she was a girl! He wiped his mouth in disgust. Girls weren’t even supposed to play Quidditch. He smirked a bit while trying to watch the quaffle in play. No one would ever want to marry her. He almost, almost, felt sorry for her.

But feeling sympathy for her would do the Crotlus no good right now. Feeling sorry for someone was a wasted emotion, as his father would say. People who couldn’t help themselves weren’t worth more than the dirt they rolled around in. They simply served as a distraction to those who fell prey to their weakness. He didn’t have time for that. The only thing that needed to be on his mind was to win, but how to do that? He had been attempting to follow the quaffle since the game had begun, but his eyes were ready to start rolling for how much it had been passed between the two that really seemed to be one. Back and forth it had gone with only minor interceptions from Linus.

Like the quaffle, he had gone back and forth on his broom, trying to follow each one, waiting for an opportunity to grab the ball. The only accomplishment he had managed was that he had a headache from all of Teppenpaw’s unnecessary screaming. It was like they were doing it just to be annoying. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on how to change up what he was doing. He shifted slightly on his broom, urging it to go faster. The quaffle was currently in possession of the girl and he didn’t doubt that she was going to go for it. She was close enough. At this point, it was all up to Leo. He gripped his broom tightly, leaning forward slightly with bated breath, waiting to see what happened.

The quaffle didn’t go in. Leo had been awesome in stopping the ball. Cupping a hand over his mouth so the sound would carry, he shouted, “Go, Leo! Yeah!” He pumped the air with his fist. Maybe that would rile Teppenpaw up a bit, but no such luck as the quaffle was quickly taken control of by telepath number one. The girl was number two. Okay, so following the quaffle hadn’t worked, so he decided to stick by the boy through the rest of the game. At some point, the boy would either pass or be passed to, both giving him opportunity to steal. He made a point of flying a little lower and to the one side, trying to stay out of direct eyesight.

Viktor was waiting for the golden ticket, but it seemed telepath one had other plans. A string of Russian words that would have made his father slap him in the mouth came rushing out. The Teppenpaw was going to try to score immediately! He prayed that something, anything would stop him. It came out of nowhere, but his prayer had been answered in the form of a bludger. Awesome! Viktor wasn’t sure if it hit or not, but whatever had happened, telepath one went for the pass. He had been almost sure that he was going to go for the goal, but he hadn’t. No time to think about it, he urged his broom forward, but…really? There was telepath two. There was no doubt in his mind they were connected. Maybe they shared a brain. He knew he was being mean, but he didn’t care. They were really starting to piss him off. Keeping to his plan, he didn’t follow telepath number two. Instead, he stayed close to number one and waited to see what would happen. He would be ready when the quaffle came back into play.

0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser This is getting old. 0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser 0 5

Linus Macaulay, Chaser

July 18, 2013 4:45 PM

Agreed. by Linus Macaulay, Chaser

This game was ridiculous. Linus began to wish that one of the Seekers would catch the Snitch soon and put the rest of the players out of their misery; he almost didn't care whether it was Cepheus or Aubrielle. After successfully collecting the Quaffle first from the whistle, Crotalus' progress had been scuppered by an interception from one of the young Crotalus Chasers; the same pattern had been repeated almost identically a short while later. Then, somehow, the two tiny Teppenpaws had managed to make it all the way up to the scoring area in just one pass, despite Linus having let go of the Quaffle beyond the central line. Where were their Beaters, anyway? It was no good having a strong Beating team if they allowed inexperienced Chasers the full run of the pitch. Admittedly, the yellow-clad players did actually seem to be having a little trouble with Bludgers, which Linus had to begrudgingly acknowledge, but as both of them were still in play then the damage was obviously not sufficient.

As Linus' frustration with the game increased, his ire at himself did so exponentially; he was supposed to remain level-headed during play, and not let the fact that the Rattlesnakes were apparently being flattened by two miniature Prairie Dogs bother him. Instead, Linus channelled his energy into turning the game back into their favour. He could do little as tiny Tepp made her first attempt at goal, but Leo stepped up to the challenge and saved the goal, with tumultuous applause (Linus was tempted to celebrate himself, but knew that premature jubilation was rarely admirable) from the supporters at the pitch. His passes, however, was not so laudable. Linus couldn't tell whether it was the kid's pass that was the problem, or just that those pesky Tepps were annoying adept at getting to the right place at the most inconvenient time.

The terrible two conspired to make another goal attempt in quick succession, but by this time Linus was close enough not only to surmise their intentions before they were put into play, but also to do something about it. While he didn't doubt Leo's Keeping capabilities - at this stage he was one for one, with a one hundred per cent success rate - Linus merely found himself happily situated to fly right by and steal the Quaffle on its journey to the hoop, almost the instant it left her hands. She had probably been concentrating on the Keeper, as any Chaser should, and simply not noticed the Chaser flying in from the other side. For the first time this game, it seemed, Teppenpaw's determination to win had actually cost them a pass, and worked in Crotalus' favour.

Leaving the pestilent Tepp Chasers the wrong side of the goalpost, Linus speed off down the field with the Quaffle under his arm, hoping to put as much space between himself and Leo (surely that must be short for something? No parent would be cruel enough to name their son Leo) as possible. He was aware that there had been a Bludger near the goals, too, so he kept his head down and hoped that the ball wouldn't be following him, and that the other Bludger was engaged in trying to unseat the Teppenpaw Chaser. So far, nobody had scored, nobody had caught the Snitch, and no players had been taken out of the game. There were no obvious winners at this point. Crotalus could still pull it back.

Having flown as far as he dared, Linus lifted his head to take in his surroundings, including the opposition, as well as his own teammates. He had seen Viktor nearby the Tepp Chasers, but didn't know whether their youngest player had the skills (or broom strength) to make it down the pitch so fast. Identifying a teammate behind him, Linus slowed marginally, and made a neat backwards pass, hoping against hope that it would be his first successful pass of the game. Even worse than Crotalus losing would be him developing a reputation as a bad Chaser just in time for his year as Captain.

0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser Agreed. 0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 18, 2013 8:37 PM

Close call. by Leo Princeton, Keeper

Leo had been confident in his keeping abilities, but the tables turned much too quickly. One of the Teppenpaws, the same one who had gotten hit with a bludger the last time, intercepted his pass before getting hit with a bludger yet again. That was just bad luck, Leo surmised. How could a Chaser get hit with a bludger twice without even trying? Leo didn't know, but he had little time to think about that as the quaffle came much too close once more.

Leo was a fantastic flyer, but he hated anything being thrown at his face. The female Chaser came by with the quaffle again and Leo almost groaned. His skin was tingling, his breath caught in fear of being pummelled by the quaffle. He panicked and veered to the side, but this time it was the opposite side. While he had once been in the centre, he was now around the right hoop and she was on the left. Leo wanted to stay put, but he knew he had some sort of responsibility. Maybe if he faked it...

He made his way half-heartedly to the other side, but, and he thanked Merlin, Linus intercepted the pass and Leo did not have to risk his arms getting ripped off by a speeding quaffle. He took a deep breath, his heart pounding erratically in his chest. That was a close call. Too close, if he was being honest. Leo glared at the Teppenpaw Chaser, hoping she got hit by the bludger that seemed to be conveniently following her. It would be entertaining if not distracting.

It was a bit embarrassing to be caught flying away from the quaffle. He merely blamed it on his bad senses and formed his reasoning in his mind. Cepheus, if he had seen Leo's temporary cowardice, would no doubt question him, but Leo could talk his way out of it. "Come on, Crotalus! Let's end this," he shouted. He didn't care to win as much as he wanted to get off this broom. On any other occasion, he would love flying, but sitting here expected to block any quaffles that came his way...that was a bit too much for anyone to expect of the unusually lazy Princeton.

Leo wondered briefly if the Beaters had simply charmed the bludgers this match. He had never seen bludgers act so erratically, but it was working in their favour. Leo smirked as he made his way back to the centre hoop to sit and watch the match once more. If anyone disturbed him he would not tolerate it. His inherent Keeping skills would come into play, he was sure.

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper Close call. 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 19, 2013 2:12 AM

Not close enough by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter watched from close by as Darina caught his pass and was heading towards the hoops again hoping to score. He was silently praying to himself that the fake-out worked this time and they might actually score some points for the game. He saw Leo moving to do something with it only it was snatched up again by Linus as Darina tried to throw it in. Carter balled up his fist and grumbled to himself as he took off after Linus. He knew that he was probably leaving Darina momentarily behind him, but he hoped her broom was fast enough to catch up. He watched Linus lay close to his broomstick as he tried to keep track of him down the pitch. He wondered briefly what he might be hugging it for, but figured it was either to pick up speed and try to out run them or it was to dodge the bludgers so they didn’t nail him in the head. For as much as it annoyed him that they were managing to keep Tepp from scoring, he wasn’t about to wish any serious harm to them. It might be helpful, if per say, one of them broke their arm due to the little blighters flying around he thought slightly vindictively but I wouldn’t want them to crack their heads open or anything. He might be feeling slightly vindictive, but he wasn’t a complete jerk. Competition usual brought out the jerk in him, especially since last time they had lost their game by only a few measly points.

He pushed his broom as fast as it would go, keeping an ear out for the familiar metallic whiz that announced the bludgers. He caught sight of Linus again and flew closer to the older boy without trying to catch his immediate attention. He tried to stay in Linus’ blind spot and waited for the Crotalus to try and pass it again. He wasn’t sure Linus was going to given the track record they had so far. He stuck as close to him as he dared to and waited. He was pretty sure that Linus might think he had an opening to pass, but he would find Carter hot on his heels. Carter tried keeping an eye out for Viktor during the game, but couldn’t quite get a bead on him since so much was happening at the game at the same time. It felt that way anyway. Carter watched Linus raise up for a pass, tossing the ball slightly behind him. Carter thought he might have spotted Viktor there to receive the pass, but he couldn’t be sure and wasn’t really focused on who was there. All Carter was focused on was trying to intercept the quaffle again and moving it away from Tepp territory. Even if he didn’t manage to score with it, he didn’t care just so long as it was as far from their goal hoops and Dimitri as possible. He’d worry about possibly scoring later.

Carter sped up almost laying flat against the broomstick as he urged his broom to go faster. He almost felt like a rocket shooting across the sky as he hurtled himself towards Linus and the other Crotalus. Carter would have liked to time his move a bit better, but didn’t really have the time to do so, so he just went for it. He saw the quaffle leave Linus’ hands and sail behind him in a backward pass. He flew just as close as he could to the chaser, trying his hardest not to collide with either of them (assuming the other Crotali chaser was indeed there). He reached out his hand and slapped the quaffle out of the would-be recipients path. The quaffle fell to the right side of them and began to fall rapidly. Carter took off after it and barely managed to get his hands around it. He almost released a sigh of relief, but was slightly distracted by the speed with which the ground was coming up to meet him. Carter grabbed his broom with one firm hand and tucked the quaffle up under one arm as he pulled up on the end of the broom handle. The broom straightened out slowly as the ground ceased to barrel itself towards his face.

He flew back upwards away from the ground trying to hold onto his broomstick. He was a little rattled about the ground trying to kiss him like that, but couldn’t let it show. He had a game to win and he wasn’t about to let the Crotalus players see him sweat. He kept flying around the pitch trying to avoid the other players and any other obstacles that might present themselves. He had been so focused on his run with the quaffle that he almost missed the tell-tale metallic whiz as one of the bludgers flew past the front end of his broom. Carter stopped suddenly as the mean little monster missed the front of his broomstick by mere centimeters. Carter had stopped soo suddenly that he lost his grip on the quaffle. He tried to grab it back, but it slipped through his fingers. Carter politely cursed, “Sonofa-boogerlicking monkey bum,” he grumbled aloud as he took off again after the airborne quaffle. He caught a glint of red out of the corner of his eye and was almost certain that he was seeing a Crotalus coming after the freefalling quaffle as well. Carter grit his teeth and dug into the dive. He was not about to let them steal it back if he could help it. He just had to hope that he was faster at getting to the quaffle than his opponent.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser Not close enough 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Dimitri Porter, Keeper

July 19, 2013 2:18 AM

There are worse reasons to be here by Dimitri Porter, Keeper

Dimitri sat on his end of the pitch trying to watch the movements of the quaffle. He lost sight of it a few times, but always managed to find it again. He watched anxiously as the quaffle kept getting passed between Carter and his sister Darina. He wanted to cheer for their efforts, but was afraid it might be a distraction so he kept silent. He cheered internally for them for the time being. He heard the whizzing from the bludgers and tried to keep an eye on them as well. They seemed to have an issue with the Teppenpaw team this time around and prayed they would at least lighten up. He couldn’t wish for them to stop entirely, but he could hope that they would find something more interesting to try and “attack” as it were. As bad as it sounded to think or say aloud, he was kind-of hoping that the next bludger that ripped across the field who entertain itself with Crotalus’ Seeker instead of Tepps. He saw Brielle and Carter both take a whack from the bludgers, but it was the crack that his sister had taken that made him slightly annoyed. “I really wish she had found something safer to do,” he grumbled to himself as he watched helplessly as a bludger his sister’s hand. “It better not be broken,” he continued to grumble. He had to admit though, it took a lot of determination to keep playing with her hand injured (if it really was injured). He was pretty certain if nothing else that it probably stung something fierce.

He had thought that being the Keeper was going to be exceedingly boring, but from the amount of activity that was going on around him, he was anything but bored. He lost track of the quaffle a bit with his sister and Carter passing it back and forth like it was on fire or something. He almost laughed at the image of that in his head, but shook it off trying to stay focused on the game. He took a peek down-field to Crotalus’ goal and spotted Leo moving around in front of their hoops. He couldn’t tell if Leo was trying to move towards the players heading for his side or away from them. He shook his head slightly, wanting to scratch it. He decided it was a better idea to keep both hands on his broom stick for the time being. He caught sight of Carter and Rina going for goal shots and did cheer for them then. “Nice try guys! We’ll get another shot!” He winced visibly when he saw Leo “catch” the quaffle after it ran him backwards into the goal hoop. That had to hurt he thought to himself and wondered if he would have the same problem should they all end up down near his hoops. “Guess I’ll just have to wait and see won’t I?” he said to himself as he kept his eyes on the game.

0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper There are worse reasons to be here 0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

July 19, 2013 6:16 PM

Fortune doesn't seem to be smiling very brightly. by Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

Cepheus raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. Soon? Quite the dreamer, wasn’t she. He flew off to his own spot and waited for a bit before he saw the glint just before Thornton went after it. His broom was faster, he was confident that it was, and he was coming from the opposite end. He leant forward on his broom, eyes narrowed to keep the wind from blinding him. He was nearly vertical on his broom now and was on his way to snatch it from Thornton’s grasp when he saw the bludger on her side. He was by her side when the bludger struck and he blinked. Did she seriously just get smashed by a bludger with no beater to hit it? That was elementary. The bludger, however, did not think it was elementary as it suddenly made its way towards him. He zoomed out of the way, knowing if he was fast enough the bludger would chase after someone else.

The Snitch had been lost again and Cepheus sighed. This was getting irritating. The match needed to end and soon. Cepheus looked over at the first year Chaser, hoping those Chasers were doing their job. Honestly. If Crotalus ended up getting beat by Teppenpaw, he would completely lose it. While Cepheus had the utmost confidence in his team during the matches, he knew that confidence would be lost if they lost to the yellow team. It was bad enough losing to Aladren. To lose to the Teppenpaws and a brand new Seeker at that would be a blow too difficult to heal from for the rest of the year.

The weather was not helping in Cepheus’s search. He had trained hard over the summer in overcast weather and his reflexes had improved, but any glint of sunlight still would have helped tremendously. Cepheus breathed through his nose, trying not to get angry. He lingered here and there over the pitch, one eye on his fellow Seeker and the other on any gold that could catch his eye. His fingers tightened over the broomstick and refused to look over to the Crotalus stands. It would be even more embarrassing if he lost this match in front of a certain person.

Cepheus zoomed around the pitch once more, eye peeled for something, anything. And that anything came and as he made his way around he dived after it. The Snitch was oddly low, but Cepheus wasn’t questioning it. His heart was pounding hard against his ribs. He wanted to win this now. Cepheus did not question the speed his broom was going at, nor did he think twice about breaking any of his bones. If he was going to win, he would need his arms; everything else could be fixed later. There was a serious life-threatening passion that was consuming him and his eyes were bright as his arm stuck out.

Then the Snitch shot up and Cepheus followed it closely, but it was as if Mother Nature herself was against him. A beam of light broke through the clouds, momentarily blinding him and illuminating his face, and he blinked and the Snitch was gone. He let out a curse word, so frustrated with himself and nature, and he zoomed back to where he thought the Snitch might have gone. It was really gone this time and the beam of sunlight now shining through was nothing but irritating. He cursed again, hoping the Snitch would pass through that light and give him something to chase after and catch and end this match.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker Fortune doesn't seem to be smiling very brightly. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 19, 2013 6:40 PM

I'd prefer a sideline view. by Leo Princeton, Keeper

Sitting and watching was quite boring when one wasn't invested in the match. It made one even antsier when one did not want to be up in the air watching the match in the first place, much less guarding the hoops. Leo did not enjoy being a Keeper and that had been decided. He tapped his fingers against his broom, thinking about how close that last quaffle had been. Thanks to Linus he hadn't had to worry about that and Leo felt a bit grateful to his house-mate. There were several reasons why Leo both loved and hated the Chasers. He loved them because they did all the dirty work of Quidditch and they were the most fun to watch. But he hated them, as a Keeper, because they threw quaffles at him and expected the quaffles to make it past.

There was an important reason why Leo had never played any Quidditch matches before. He was a talented flyer when he wasn't being taught how to fly by a tutor, but he hated chasing after quaffles or being followed by bludgers. He did not like putting himself in any sort of danger. In fact, he usually tried to get himself out of it. In this instance, he had foolishly been manipulated into agreeing to this position and there was no way Leo was going to let this go. Next year he was not going to join, that was settled. Even fame and glory and fangirls were not enough to convince him. Being a Quidditch player came with too many opportunities for injury.

Linus took the quaffle far across the pitch and Leo was grateful once more. He felt more relaxed and more confident in his abilities when the quaffle wasn't quite so near. If Linus hadn't saved it that last time he was sure the quaffle would have gone in. Lucky for him it didn't. Leo watched the Teppenpaw Chaser knock the quaffle away anyway and he narrowed his eyes. Leo wondered what happened when the quaffle landed on the ground. It happened so rarely Leo had never seen it himself, but if it was an informal match with new flyers, perhaps it happened often.

The Chaser caught it, however, much to Leo's chagrin, and he watched as he made his way over. One of those erratic bludgers made its way towards their favourite Teppenpaw and Leo almost grinned, hoping to see some injuries. It wasn't that he particularly liked watching people get injured, but he had a strong stomach for such things. He did, however, want that irritating Chaser to get out of the game and what better way than through injury? Then there would be one less threatening Chaser for him to worry about. However, what happened instead was the quaffle slipping out of his grasp and Leo's eyes widened. Did that ever happen? Leo prided himself in being quite the competent Quidditch spectator and he shook his head. His eyes moved to the red-clad Chasers and wondered if they had ever blundered or been followed by such lovely bludgers before.

At least the Crotalus Chasers seemed to be doing well for themselves. They hadn't mucked up yet, though their beaters were curiously absent. It really wasn't as though the beaters were needed, however; the bludgers were doing quite well on their own. He turned his attention back to the falling quaffle, eyes wide with interest, hoping to see a Crotalus player sweep it out of the Teppenpaw's grasp. What he really hoped for, however, was the announcement that Cepheus had caught the Snitch. He wanted to be back in the stands where he felt most comfortable. Where were those Crotalus Chasers anyhow? "Come on Crotalus!" he shouted, feeling at least a little invested in his team. For Merlin's sake if he wasn't invested in his house then he probably wouldn't have allowed himself to be convinced to join the team at all.

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper I'd prefer a sideline view. 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Viktor Volkov, Chaser

July 20, 2013 2:04 PM

We actually have the ball? What? by Viktor Volkov, Chaser

The game was becoming more of a circus than a real match. Unbelievable tricks being done – by an eleven year old girl no less! The same age he was. He would never have thought to do half of the things that they were playing around with. Next, they would be hanging off their brooms and flying backwards. Of course, they would have to be really stupid to do that with bludgers seemingly targeting them. That caused him to smirk a bit. Maybe the bludgers thought they were being ridiculous as well.

When telepath went to take the shot, he thought it was going to go in, but was completely taken off guard by Linus. Awesome! They were back in the game. Seeing Linus and the telepath take off, he urged his broom to following. He thanked Merlin that his father had purchased one of the newer brooms for him. It was decently quick, but the best part was how easily maneuverable it was. Unfortunately, this meant that getting the quaffle had been his failing and not his broom. Of course, he wasn’t about to do this. He would simply blame the telepaths and call them Quidditch mutants.

Sweat had begun to run down his face. He brushed it off with his hand. This game was intense. He was close to Carter when he saw Linus make the pass, but wasn’t close enough to catch it. The Teppenpaw stole the quaffle, sort of. He angled his broom downwards after the quaffle, but pulled up when it became clear the only options were for the telepath to either get the quaffle or hit the ground. He stayed low though, waiting for the other boy to get back upwards. Once he was, Viktor tried to stay on his tail, but he kept flying all over the place.

Seriously? Was he ever going to pass the quaffle? He couldn’t hold onto it forever. Could he? The sound of the bludger nearby was like an answer to his prayers. If he could kiss the metallic ball right now, he would have for it caused Carter to lose his grip on the quaffle. Yes! Viktor took after the free ball. He knew that the Teppenpaw was after it as well, but he had the lead for once. His broom was angled as far downwards as he dared to go. His hand was outstretched, reaching for the quaffle. His fingers touched the red ball first before the rest of his hand enclosed around it. All at once, the quaffle was tucked into his side and he was leaning his full body back to pull his broom up, his teeth slightly grinding in the effort.

There it was. They were back in the game. His confidence was beginning to come back. He had the quaffle. He had it. Not Teppenpaw, but Crotalus. He was going to win this for his team. They had to win. He couldn’t be the weak link. It wasn’t in his nature to be a loser. Plus, how would he ever be able to tell his father that it was because of him that they had lost? He would have been humiliated. All of these thoughts raced in his head just as he went as quickly as he could towards the Teppenpaw goals. But the closer he got, the more his mind went blank with only one thought now in it. Should he take the shot? If he did and made it, he would be a hero. If he did and missed it, he would have let his team down.

No more time to think. Only time to do. Shoot or pass? Pass or shoot? He felt like his mind was going to explode if he didn’t do something with the quaffle soon. He was there. He snarled a little at the Keeper before faking to the right and then to the left, because he thought the Keeper would think he was going to fake, and then took the shot to the right. His eyes were wide. Would it make it in? He held his breath, feeling he wouldn’t be able to do so again until he knew.

0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser We actually have the ball? What? 0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 20, 2013 2:29 PM

Hopefully not for long! by Darina Porter, Chaser

Darina had been flying around erratically only moments before to try to lose the Bludger that had been on her tail. Thankfully she stopped hearing the metallic whizzing sound and had started flying rightly again. Rina spotted the first year Crotalus Chaser, Viktor, nearby her and Carter, but she was (it looked to her anyway), smaller than he was and may have an easier time flying through the game because of it. Her size had been beneficial before, so she didn’t see why it wouldn’t or couldn’t be now.

When she’d gone passed the battering ram towards a hoop, she hadn’t seen right away if it had gone in or not, but seconds later she spotted Linus flying away with it back towards Mitri’s hoops and she flew faster and faster behind him. Sure, Linus was older, a sixth year (she thought?) so he was most likely going to be much faster than she would be, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try, Right? she asked herself, bending into her broom handle, speeding up in the process. The twins’ father had shown them that trick, then both Arista and Amira re-enforced the idea to them both.

On her way flying away from Crotalus’ hoops she heard Leo shouting for Crotalus to end this and without losing her sight of the Quaffle and Linus, she willed Bri to catch the blasted Snitch already in her head. Rina liked playing and felt as if all the practice she’d done was helpful, but she just wanted this game to be over already. She spotted Carter flying ahead of her and behind Linus and flew fast after him. Even if she didn’t make it to Linus before he made it to her brother, that didn’t mean that Carter wouldn’t! The teamwork within practices worked very well and the three Teppenpaw Chasers were prime examples of that. The way they flowed together, the way they had signs for each other that meant something to only them. Many of them they’d come up with together, others were from the team.

Rina saw where Carter was and noticed that he was in the older boy’s blind spot. With a grin, she followed him and flew just a few paces behind (as she had now almost caught up with them) in Linus’ other blind spot. Carter shot forward like a bullet out of a gun and Rina lagged behind her older teammate to catch if needed. Carter slapped the ball and in doing so, knocked it off of where the pass had been heading. The Quaffle started to fall and Carter dove after it, Rina after him. Carter got to it and almost hit the ground in doing so, she watched, eyes wide as he pulled up at the last second and when she breathed, it was a sort of cough/breathe thing. She hadn’t realized that she wasn’t breathing til that point, and it was a little late to do anything about it.

Carter flew back upwards and stopped on a dime thanks to a Bludger. He dropped the Quaffle again and Rina heard a small grumble from him. She dove downwards, knowing that he’d be behind her the whole way if she needed him. But when Viktor beat her to the Quaffle, she pulled back upwards again, silently cursing to herself. Her parents would have been really mad at her if they’d known what she’d been thinking. She was a generally nice girl, and to curse like that was not her personality, however that boy had made her mad. Viktor made his way towards her brother and she followed close behind him. Angry as a bumble bee, she flew faster and faster, not caring right then if her hand hurt or not. What was important was keeping the ball away from Mitri’s side and getting it back into her possession.

She flew faster and faster behind the other first year, veering off every now and again to avoid a ball or another player. Rina thought she saw Enion and Carter nearby too, and that was great. She wasn’t positive, but she hoped their other Chasers were around there somewhere.

I can do this… I can finish this game and we can still try to win… she thought to herself, all-the-while, trying not to cry with how much her hand hurt. Her thumb and the next three fingers were now tingly while the base of her thumb hurt so badly that she could hardly see. Ow… Ow… Ow… she thought, glad that the last bludger hadn’t actually hit her arm like the other one. She was determined to finish this game and hopefully eek in a win for Teppenpaw. Come on Bri… Catch the Snitch… she thought, allowing herself a glance to see if she could find her older cousin. If Bri can catch the Snitch now, it won’t matter if we make a goal or if they do. We’ll still win! She spotted Bri finally and the look on her cousin’s face was that of either extreme pain or determination to win herself. Rina thought it could be a bit of both and wondered what had happened. She thought her cousin’s foot looked funny, but she couldn’t stop to ask her. Bri was off again on the hunt for the Snitch and Rina flew off again so as not to be stationary too long.
She bent down over her broom handle to speed up, right hand close to her heart to try to stop it from moving (at least as much as she could). She spotted the Quaffle and flew towards the red ball, hoping her teammates would follow and they‘d be able to get it away from Crotalus and Bri would catch the Snitch all at once.

Viktor got all the way to Mitri and she saw him fake to the right, then left and when his shot went towards the right hoop Rina lunged for it. She missed it though, because Viktor was slightly ahead of her and she sat there on her broomstick hoping beyond all hopes that all the practice they’d done over the summer and through the first half of the term would have helped Mitri to not let the ball pass through! Come on Mitri! she thought to herself as she watched what happened, eyes wide.

0 Darina Porter, Chaser Hopefully not for long! 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Dimitri Porter, Keeper

July 20, 2013 4:03 PM

Hope is a many splendored thing by Dimitri Porter, Keeper

Dimitri watched with suspenseful eyes as the game seemed to take an odd turn. One minute he thought he saw Linus with the quaffle heading in his direction. He watched him pass it behind him towards what may have been another player in red. He almost jumped off his broom with excitement when he caught sight of Carter smacking the quaffle away from the two Crotali and diving down to get it when it fell. “Come on Carter…Come on Carter,” Dimitri mumbled to himself as he watched his fellow Teppenpaw dive for the quaffle. “Yes!” he yelled excitedly when Carter managed to catch it despite the header he took towards the ground to do it. Now if we could just score once before Brielle catches the snitch he thought to himself as he watched Carter fly off towards the Crotalus’ end of the pitch. “Aww…come on,” he grumbled when he watched Carter drop the quaffle trying to avoid getting hit by another bludger. What is the deal with these bludgers today? he wondered to himself. Did one of the Crotalus guys bewitch it or something? he frowned thinking about it. He didn’t really know if that was even possible, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake and ask. Not now anyway. He watched with bated breath as Carter and one of the Crotali both dove for the falling quaffle. “Come on, Come on,” he urged as he watched Carter and the Crotalus both reach for the quaffle. “Dag nabit!” he grumbled when he saw the Crotalus had beaten Carter to the quaffle. He noticed that his sister had tried for it as well and sighed when they both failed to grab it. She must have figured Carter would get to it before she did he reasoned to himself when he saw her back off of the chase.

Dimitri watched the Crotalus snatch up the coveted ball and swing back in his direction. Up until now he had been dutifully doing his duty keeping an eye on the hoops. He had kind-of hoped that the other team had actually made it his way and had tried to take a shot by now, but with the Teppenpaw chasers doing a good job keep the quaffle away from their side he hadn’t had to worry about it until now. Between the practicing over the summer before school and during school before the first game, Dimitri felt as if he were ready to take on whichever team they started with. Since Crotalus was that team, he would be trying out his practiced skills on them. He watched Viktor closely as he made a run towards Tepps end of the pitch without passing to one of his own players. He’s going to try and score for them he thought to himself, gripping his broom loosely. He didn’t want to hold it too tightly because then he knew he might make a mistake if he jerked his hand prematurely. “Cool as a cucumber,” he coached to himself as he watched Viktor fly towards him. He saw Carter and Rina hot on his tail and figured that Enion probably wasn’t far behind them. “Be the hoops…be the hoops,” he repeated to himself as he watched Viktor’s movements closely. He’s probably going to try and fake me out he told himself, his fingers loosen and then tightening and then loosening again on the broomstick. I can’t let him do that Mitri told himself determinedly. He watched for any kinds of possible false movements.

He hovered from side to side preparing himself to go either way should Viktor try for one of the side hoops. Bring it on he thought to himself as Viktor approached and moved like he was going to go right. Dimitri moved slightly right in front of the center hoop. He saw Viktor turn to head left and almost took off for the left hoop to block when he caught the twitch of Viktor’s broom heading to the right. “I gotcha,” he mumbled to himself as he waited for Viktor to release the quaffle and prove him right. Dimitri sped up to the right side as Viktor made his actual throw to the right hoop. He saw the quaffle heading towards the open hole and grabbed onto it before it went in. The momentum of the catch jerked him towards the hoop where he slammed his shoulder into the side of the metal ring. His vision swam for a moment as he tried to shake off the pain radiating through his left arm. He glanced down at his hands and held up the red ball in front of everyone to show that he had managed to catch it despite ping-ponging slightly off the hoop. He shook out his tingly arm and tested out the movements of his fingers as he wiggled them to make sure he had broken anything. He hadn’t hit the hoop hard enough for that, but it momentarily felt like he might have. He shrugged towards Viktor and shouted, “Sorry dude…better luck next time!”

He took a couple of breaths to steady himself as he looked for one of the Teppenpaw chasers to throw it in to. He was fairly certain he spotted one and gave the quaffle a long toss in their direction, hoping to get it as far away from his goal hoops as possible.

0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper Hope is a many splendored thing 0 Dimitri Porter, Keeper 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 20, 2013 5:03 PM

Keeping out of it. by Leo Princeton, Keeper

Apparently wishes did come true. Viktor swooped in and seemed to pluck the quaffle right out of the air. It looked graceful from the side and Leo cheered without thinking. The farther the Chasers were from his hoops, the more invested he became. Leo watched as well as he could as Viktor made his way to the Teppenpaw hoops. They were far away and Leo could make out the colours best. There was a throw and Leo held his breath in anticipation, but there was no loud announcement of the goal. That meant Viktor had failed.

Leo sighed. Well, that was it, then. Those Crotalus Chasers needed to step it up or Cepheus needed to catch the Snitch. Now. Before any Teppenpaw Chaser could come with half a mind to knock him off his broom. Leo nervously rubbed the shoulder that had been hit by the quaffle before. It seemed to throb now that there was the chance the quaffle could come back aimed straight at him.

One thing Leo had noticed was the number of times false plays had been executed in this match. He assumed Viktor had attempted a feint as well and the other Keeper had seen right through it. It was a bit surprising, really, after Leo had seen how frightening his room-mate could be on the pitch. But feints were easy for Keepers to see through, weren't they? If Leo ever dared to be a Chaser, he would just rush at the Keeper and throw it where he wanted without bothering to feint. He thought it much scarier, honestly, for the Keeper, and he'd think it would be much more rewarding for the Chaser once the goal was made. Leo couldn't remember the last time he had ever seen someone execute that play, but that was besides the point.

The only problem was, of course, Leo's cherub-like face. He was perfectly capable of manipulating adults and getting what he wanted behind the scenes, but he was no good at scaring people with an overbearing personality or by making angry faces. Viktor could do that easily, but Leo didn't envy that skill. It was too much work. Leo would much rather get what he wanted by playing the pure-blood game and charm his way through all situations. That was another reason he had never played Quiditch before. Too much work.

Leo swayed a bit on his broom as he half-heartedly watched the match, hoping for a Crotalus Chaser to scoop up the quaffle and take it back to the Tepp hoops. Didn't the Chasers have some sort of Crotalus secret move or something? He saw the professionals do those sorts of moves all the time. This whole unprofessional Quidditch thing was lost on Leo. Who could stay entertained by such incompetent players? Leo had, of course, conveniently forgotten he had been just as entertained only a few minutes before. The past couple minutes didn't matter to the young Crotalus, however. He only ruminated in his boredom at that precise moment, not thinking of the moment when he saw the yellow-clad Chasers heading straight at him.

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper Keeping out of it. 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 20, 2013 6:12 PM

Chasing after the points by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter watched Dimitri closely hoping silently that the first year was up to the challenge. He appeared to be watching Viktor as Viktor feinted a couple of times before finally firing off his shot at the goal. Carter found himself saying a mantra of his own as he crossed his fingers waiting to see what Dimitri would do. “Come on…come on,” he whispered inaudibly to himself. He waited for the sound of a whistle or something to indicate that the goal had been made. When he heard no such sound Carter opened his eyes he hadn’t remembered closing and laughed surprised. Dimitri had managed to catch the quaffle and stop Viktor from scoring. “Yes!” he yelled, jumping slightly on the broom, his fist pumping into the air. “Way to go Dimitri!” He flew closer so he could be there to grab the quaffle when Dimitri threw it back into play. He saw Dimitri roll his arm slightly before throwing the ball back in and wondered if he had gotten seriously hurt during that catch. “Man I hope not,” he mumbled to himself. It would suck if their Keeper got whacked out of the game. He approached the goal hoops in anticipation of Dimitri’s throw and when he made it, Carter caught it easily. He gave Dimitri a thumbs up sign before turning around and speeding off with the quaffle.

Carter headed off into the direction of the center of the Pitch, the quaffle tucked safely back in the crook of his arm. He had a feeling that Viktor was probably angry about missing the goal and would probably be following him to try and steal it back. Carter grinned to himself. He can try he thought to himself as he zigged and zagged his way down the pitch. Between himself, Darina and Enion, Crotalus might be hard pressed to get their hands on the quaffle long enough to keep possession of it. With Brielle as their Seeker, they had a chance of snatching the snitch before Cepheus could since she was smaller and might be more aerodynamic than he is. Until one of them caught the snitch it didn’t matter who might be faster at this point. All Carter cared about were the end results. As long as the end results were Tepp winning this game, he could care less who might be faster. If Brielle was the one to catch it clearly she was the faster of the two. Either that or she got incredibly lucky. Either way it would work in their favor. He heard a couple of sound that could have been metallic, but they weren’t close enough to see where they were coming from. Carter found himself trying to block out the sound as he continued on towards Crotalus’ end of the field.

I’ve got to be able to pass this soon he thought to himself as he looked for the closest yellow-clad chaser. He was fairly certain he spotted one off to his left side maybe? and attempted to pass it. He gave the ball a high, far arc knowing that whomever caught it would have to stretch a bit for it. He regretted that fact a little bit, but if it worked and the other Tepp chaser caught it, it was worth the effort. He chanced a glance in that direction to see if the quaffle made it to its intended target.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser Chasing after the points 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Viktor Volkov, Chaser

July 21, 2013 1:34 AM

Trying to stop you. by Viktor Volkov, Chaser

Disappointment and anger soared through Viktor. That move almost never failed! And some little nobody had managed to catch it? Ludicrous! That was what this game was. Absolutely ludicrous! And to add insult to injury, the kid had the nerve to say something to him? Him? And why was he calling him dude? He didn’t realize he was riding a surfboard. He thought it was a broom. How stupid, but he supposed that was what came of the lower class. Looking directly at the Keeper, he snarled, looking intimidating for an eleven year old, “You better hope luck stays on your side!”

With that the Crotalus whipped his broom around and headed straight for Carter, wishing right now that he were a beater so that he could take all of his aggression out on Teppenpaw, especially those three. There was something about them that just wasn’t right. He couldn’t put his finger one what though. Maybe they were part of some sort of weird potions experiment. He knew these thoughts were coming from his anger, but right now, he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything other than getting the quaffle and right now, that meant getting to the one telepath. Straightening his body to the point where he was practically laying on the broom, he headed for the Teppenpaw.

Everything around Viktor was a blur. He didn’t see the other players. He didn’t hear the sounds coming from the stands. All he knew was that he was going to get the quaffle, one way or another, from Carter. His determination was so great that he didn’t even notice the blood that was coming from his lower lip. His teeth just continued to use it as a chew toy. He stayed in a straight line, straying only when forced to. He could have followed Carter directly, but if he did, the random movements would have slowed him down. This way they were sure to collide at some point, even if it were closer to the Crotalus goals. In doing so, he knew he would catch up.

Sure enough, it paid off, sooner than he thought it would. The Teppenpaw Chaser was making the pass, which was a good thing, because the other option was going to be to run almost directly into him. No time to think, just do. It was better than he hoped. The pass was a high arc. Had he been thinking when he decided to do that? Viktor guessed not. His broom was already in motion. It took a bit of effort since he had to practically sit up on his broom, but there it was. He had it. Making a face at Carter, he headed in the other direction, almost daring the boy to follow. Actually, he hoped that he would, because if he took the quaffle again, he was going to make sure he was sorry he did.

Viktor picked up the pace, heading towards the Teppenpaw goals once more. He wasn’t going to try for the shot. He decided someone with more experience would be better against the potions experiment. Instead, he figured one of their plays would be better. He signaled to the other chasers what he was about to do and hoped they were on board. Flying a bit higher, he waited until he was sure there was a red chaser below him before letting the quaffle drop. It would be a tight squeeze for any of the Teppenpaw chasers to get in there, but knowing those wannabe professionals, they probably would.

0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser Trying to stop you. 0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 21, 2013 3:54 AM

Fat Chance by Darina Porter, Chaser

Darina had been watching where the Quaffle had been going as it headed closer and closer to the Teppenpaw hoops and her twin brother. She had tried to intercept, but she’d missed. Sorely, she hoped that Mitri would catch the big red ball before it went in through the hoops.

In fact, her brother did catch the ball! “YES!” she shouted as she realized that the momentum of the ball seemed to push him backwards into the hoop itself. From the looks of it, he’d hit his shoulder on the metal ring, but she couldn’t be sure. “MITRI!“ she screeched as she flew faster towards him to be sure he was okay. Her own shoulder felt strange when her twin’s had hit and she wondered if he knew when she’d been hit by the Bludger? I’ll have to try to remember to ask him later… she thought as she tried to get to Mitri. Mitri threw the ball back into play and Rina tried to reach for it, but as she’d been close to him she wasn’t close enough to the ball to catch the rebound.

But Carter caught her brother’s pass and Rina turned away from Mitri, hoping that he was okay. Carter and Enion needed her, so did Teppenpaw as a whole. She was sure that her brother was okay, if he wasn’t she’d know it by now, Wouldn’t’ I? she asked herself, glancing back towards Mitri as she flew off behind Carter, spotting Viktor as well.

You think you’re gonna get this and win, don’t you… she thought, of Viktor. “Fat chance…” she said under her breath as she spotted Carter zigzagging down the Pitch back towards Leo’s hoops and Rina followed him, catching up to him shortly thereafter. When she did catch up, she took notice of his signal and watched for his high arc of the ball. She reached up to grab for it, but realized that her height wasn’t going to be enough on this one, and Viktor reached for it first and grabbed a hold of it. The Crotalus headed back towards Mitri and she saw the boy signal to his fellow Chasers and watched him drop the Quaffle. She didn’t stare too long before leaning into her broom handle and zooming through the red-clad players (at least a few of them). It was a tight squeeze, through the players and everything, but still she came back out of the mix with the red ball safely in her uninjured hand.

I got it! she thought to herself as she flew faster and faster away from them. Merlin, I’m glad I’m smaller than the others… If I was bigger like Derry I’d never have made it! she thought, as she turned on a dime again and went back towards Leo. It wasn’t that she didn’t have faith in her brother, it was more along the lines of the fact that she wanted to win and the more points that were had, the bigger their win was. The least amount of time the Quaffle was on their side, the better it was for the Teppenpaw Team to make the points to win.

The first year hoped that Carter and Enion had seen her fly out of the group of players holding the Quaffle, but she couldn’t be sure. She was almost sure that she’d seen a yellow robe come up beside her, and only then did she get set to pass to him. Rina didn’t care whether it was Carter or Enion she’d seen as long as whichever teammate it was caught her pass and went on against Leo again with Bri finally catching the Snitch. That was the way she wished it, there was no doubt about that!

0 Darina Porter, Chaser Fat Chance 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Carter Browning, Chaser

July 21, 2013 11:19 AM

All I need is that chance by Carter Browning, Chaser

Carter practically growled aloud when he saw Viktor snatch up the ball and take off back towards Tepps end of the pitch. “Crude,” he mumbled under his breath as he took off after the Crotalus. Don’t count on holding onto that for too long Carter thought to himself as he tracked Viktor like a bloodhound after a scent. He lost sight of the younger boy for a second in the sea of red and yellow players flying around, but spotted him again and tried to maneuver himself to a better position to steal the quaffle back if he could. He watched Viktor signal to the other Crotali chasers and Carter watched them curiously. What is he planning? he wondered to himself as he watched them. He saw Viktor get ready to pass the quaffle, but instead of doing a normal pass he tried dropping it to a Crotalus player below him. Carter cursed slightly knowing that he was too big to fit between them without colliding with one of the players. “You sneaky little blighter,” he grumbled to himself when he realized a bit too late what Viktor had in mind. Carter’s eyes widened, however, when he saw Darina swoop in almost out of nowhere and squeeze between the Crotalus players. He couldn’t tell if she had managed to intercept the quaffle as she squeezed through them until after she flew away from where they sat. It was then that he saw the tell-tale tuck of the arm and realized she had actually managed to snatch it from them.

Carter laughed aloud in surprise and almost cheered for her. That girl has guts he thought to himself as he took a quick glance in Enion’s direction and grinned. He took off after her, hoping Enion was doing the same, and followed her back towards Crotalus’ side of the field. Boy was Leo in for a wicked surprise he grinned to himself as he followed close behind Darina. Thank goodness for all the practice they got before the game he thought to himself. It may appear on the outside that the Teppenpaw players were being erratic, but that was part of their strategy for this year. Since playing nice the last couple of years didn’t seem to be working in their favor…EVER…they figured if they appeared to be erratic and crazy it might work better. It seemed to be working because Tepp was dominating the quaffle this time around even if they hadn’t scored any points yet. Carter was confident that despite that slight issue Bri would still get to the snitch before Cepheus and they would win regardless. It would be nice if they had the extra points to use as salt for the wound, but he would settle for them just winning the game itself, extra points or no. Carter could feel the sweat pouring down his face and tried his best to ignore it as he followed Darina. When she got ready to pass the quaffle he wanted to be one of the ones that caught it. Him or Enion of-course.

He saw her glance beside her looking for one of them and when she was pretty sure she had spotted him or Enion beside her (at this point he couldn’t even tell anymore who was where) she passed the ball to one of them. Carter got to it first it seemed and after giving Rina a quick thumbs up, tucked the coveted red ball into the crook of his arm and leaned into his broomstick practically making himself part of the broom itself. He used the move to generate more speed as he flew off from where he caught the pass from Darina and headed straight for Leo (or about as straight as it got on a “field” of flying players). His idea this time wouldn’t be to feint at all. He was just going to run straight for Leo and take the shot. He was hoping the direct approach would worry Leo enough to let his guard down (even for a second) so that the shot went in before Leo could stop it. There was the possibility that instead of freaking out, Leo met him head on, but Carter wasn’t trying to think about that part. He wasn’t trying to think of anything at the moment except making it to the hoops. Once he made it there and made the shot, then he would allow himself think. He tried to tune out every sound around him except one, the whizzing from the bludgers. It wouldn’t be very smart to be trying to score and be hit dead center by one of those things. He heard what might have been their distinctive sound, but he could tell from what direction it was coming from. He ignored it. He leaned tighter into the broom gathering as much speed as he could from the maneuver and darted straight at Leo and the center hoop. He kept his face completely expressionless as he flew towards the Crotalus. He waited until the very last second before bolting upright on the broomstick and throwing the ball as hard as he could towards the center hoop. He pulled up to fly above Leo and the hoop before arcing back around to see if his shot hit pay dirt or not. Come on…go in he silently urged.

0 Carter Browning, Chaser All I need is that chance 0 Carter Browning, Chaser 0 5

Viktor Volkov, Chaser

July 21, 2013 12:08 PM

Waiting for mine. by Viktor Volkov, Chaser

Teppenpaw was definitely making an enemy that they didn’t want to have. He had no doubts now that they were part of some freaky potions experiment. How else could have an eleven year old girl survive a bludger attack when some older students couldn’t? That should have taken her out with such a small frame. Yet, there she was, being annoying enough, to swoop in between him and the other Crotalus chaser and steal the quaffle. This game was out of control! Was the Coach seeing any of this? He wanted to demand a foul or something, illegal potion experiments on the field.

The rage only fueled him more and he began to see red. He was out for blood. Teppenpaw blood. Would they bleed maroon? He smirked at the thought. He sure wanted to find out. Leaning to the right, he turned his broom in the other direction. Darina had the quaffle, but it wasn’t her that he was after. No, Carter was his target. He knew that one of the other Chasers would handle Darina. Besides, when she passed, it was a given that it was going to go to Carter. It had been that way the entire time. Darina and Carter. Carter and Darina. One team, one brain. That’s the only way they could be dominating so much.

“Come on, come on,” he urged the Teppenpaw to pass the red ball. Unfortunately, when she did, the Chasers were too close for him to intercept. He wanted to scream, but settled instead for plotting all the ways he was going to destroy them after the game. Of course, it had to be done in a way so as to never draw attention back to himself. What could he do? What could he do? The myriad of scenarios was amusing to say the least, but he needed one that would actually work. Yes, that could do it.

In the meantime, Viktor slipped behind Carter. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think Carter was going to pass since they were now nearing the Crotalus hoops. He wasn’t too worried though. He had every faith that Leo would stop the quaffle. Once the quaffle left Carter’s hand, Viktor stopped chasing after the other boy. The important thing now was to get the quaffle after Leo stopped it from going in. He pulled up to a stop, waiting to see what happened, waiting to get the quaffle back. His grip tightened around the broom in anticipation. They needed this win. They could not lose to Teppenpaw of all Houses.

0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser Waiting for mine. 0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser 0 5

Captain Derry, Beater

July 21, 2013 2:01 PM

It'll break through the clouds soon by Captain Derry, Beater

Derry cheered in self-congratulation as his bludger winged Cepheus's arm. It wasn't quite the debilitating hit that would have assured Teppenpaw's victory, but it was something. In truth, Derry honestly preferred inflicting that kind of glancing blow rather than dire injury simply because hurting people badly wasn't really something he was capable of getting too pleased about. It was one of the reasons he secretly preferred baseball to Quidditch.

In some of his Quidditch discussions with Three, Derry had gathered that his brother lacked remorse for any of the injuries he had inflicted in his time as a Beater, but Derry Four had never developed that kind of compartmentalization and objectification. Which wasn't to say that he didn't enjoy being a Beater. He loved the sound of metal on wood and the jarring impact that would run down his arm with a good swing. Even more, he liked protecting the people on his team from getting hurt themselves. As such, he had a bit more defensive style of play than most Beaters did.

But part of his job was disabling the other team's ability to win, and as such, Cepheus's arm hit was a victory and cheer-worthy. Derry watched the bludger fly off for a few seconds, just to make sure it wasn't going to loop off and go looking for Brielle. Once he was sure it wasn't, he turned his attention back to alternately watching his seeker and Topher.

When Brielle yelled out Darina's nickname, he turned briefly to see what was going on with the Chasers, but he was too far away to intervene, and that was Laurie's job anyway, so he just trusted his junior Beater to handle it and turned back to his own duty shadowing Topher and protecting Brielle.

By the time he saw the bludger it was already too late. Topher hadn't hit it, so Derry hadn't realized she was threatened until the black sphere was already on top of her. He flew in toward where the pair of Seekers were flying together, but not before the bludger clipped Bri's foot. He hung back for a moment when it looked like it would take a turn at Cepheus, but the Crotalus Seeker flew off with burst of speed, leaving the bludger behind.

Derry got there, and swung his bat, hitting the black ball with a loud crack and giving it a good push of extra force and speed to follow after the red clad player and his speedy broom. Specifically, Derry was hoping to damage the broom rather than the player this time. That would really cripple Crotalus's chances if the Seeker's broom lost its maneuverability.

1 Captain Derry, Beater It'll break through the clouds soon 189 Captain Derry, Beater 0 5

Darina Porter, Chaser

July 21, 2013 3:45 PM

You'll have longer to wait by Darina Porter, Chaser

When Mitri actually managed to get the Quaffle before it landed into the hoops, Rina actually gave a whoop of excitement, until she realized that in doing so, he actually hit his shoulder on the metal ring. Scared that he’d been hurt, she flew closer to him. When she got there she heard Viktor snarl at her brother. Apparently he had been trying to look intimidating to Mitri and Rina almost laughed out loud. One eleven year old isn’t going to be scary to another. Especially not to her or her twin brother. They’d been fencing since they were six and they’d been watching and doing more things like that than she was sure Viktor had ever done. When he said that they better hope that luck stays on their side, Rina grinned. “Don’t worry. It will.” she said under her breath, as she chased after Carter as he flew off with the red ball.

When Viktor had gotten the ball from Carter’s high arc, she scowled and got both more angry and more determined to win than ever. She wasn’t going to let anyone get into her mind negatively. Their negativity was going to turn around in her head into a positive desire to win. Teppenpaw had this in the bag. It was then that she knew it.

Viktor flew fast towards Mitri with the Quaffle and signaled to the other Crotalus Chasers before he dropped the ball. Rina was confused for less than a second and she had decided what she needed to do. She needed to go right down into the mess of players and get that ball. Taking in a deep breath, the eleven year old girl flew into the mass of players and somehow the ball landed right into her hands. She pulled it tightly into her chest with her good hand and held on tightly to the broom handle with her hurt one and flew out of the mass, tucking the ball in as she came out of it.

Darina wasn’t exactly sure how she’d managed to intercept the ball between all those red-clad players. Maybe it was determination, maybe it was stupidity. Either way, she didn’t know. But she had possession of the ball, that she knew. She flew off until she realized that she’d held the ball too long. With a short glance around she saw yellow. Though unsure if the yellow that she’d seen was Carter or Enion, she still knew that she must pass.

It didn’t matter to her which of her teammates got to the ball first, as long as one of them got it…

Carter came out of it with the Quaffle and a thumbs up sign for her. She nodded to him and followed behind him as he flew on, straight to Leo. It wasn’t till Carter was almost to Leo that Darina knew what the older boy was going to do. It made sense, as the first attempt at feinting to the boy turned out not to work. In fact he was too scared it seemed to try to get her first attempt that when she’d first feinted he went to the other side, where she’d actually thrown it in. The second attempt at a goal was also negative, though that was all because of Linus’ interception and nothing on Leo at all. Rina figured that Carter was trying this new move to see what Leo’s scare level was and shrugged it off, following close behind him. She couldn’t wait to see what the outcome of all this would be.

Darina was hoping that the prospect of the older boy coming at him would scare him right out of the hoop so that Carter could playfully put the Quaffle right on in there with no issues. But only time would tell as Carter bolted upright and threw the ball into the center hoop.

Hard.

Rina stopped when it looked as if Viktor did. He was waiting to see what was going to happen and so was she. If Leo caught the ball he’d need to pass it back into play, but if Carter had indeed gotten the Quaffle into the hoop it was then returned to them!

0 Darina Porter, Chaser You'll have longer to wait 0 Darina Porter, Chaser 0 5

Linus Macaulay, Chaser

July 21, 2013 4:05 PM

Participating in the Charade by Linus Macaulay, Chaser

If Teppenpaw were to win this match, Linus would have to consult Coach Pierce and demand the team - especially the two Chasers who were appearing at every angle, miraculously intercepting every pass, and somehow surviving every Bludger hit - were tested for illegal potions use. He was also going to use his powers as Captain next year to boot Percival's useless butt right off the team. At least if they played with one Chaser down to start with they didn't look like they had one completely incapable team member out on the field. Linus couldn't fault Viktor, though, whose first appearance on the Crotalus team was proving a success. Linus had to respect his enthusiasm, even if the competitive spirit seemed a little stronger than was strictly necessary. Leo, likewise, wasn't doing a bad job thus far. He would have yet more chance to prove himself, apparently, as the Quaffle seemed to have made its way back up that end of the pitch again.

Linus drew his broomstick up towards where the action was unfolding, although maintaining a reasonable distance from the other players. This would enable either Leo to pass over the heads of the opposing Chasers for Linus to catch and have a head-start back towards the Teppenpaw Keeper, or for Viktor to catch the Quaffle and pass out to Linus at an appropriate moment. Either way, he wasn't keen to get too close to those two Teppenpaw Chasers (were there really just two of them, or did they have an identical twin scenario occurring in a similar manner to Pecari's team - who had almost certainly placed carbon-copy players in their starting line-up to confuse the opposition?) who were inevitably going to scupper any attempts Crotalus made at executing any sort of game-play whatsoever, if recent history was a reliable guide.

Linus was starting to lose focus. It was partially due to consistent to-ing and fro-ing, with contributions from lack of goal-scoring and successful passes, with a few other minor aggravations mixed in. Again, he was wondering whether it actually mattered if the opposition managed to score a goal, so long as Cepheus was the Seeker to catch the Snitch. He squashed the unbidden voice that dared to suggest it didn't matter if Teppenpaw won, because then at least Crotalus would have the rest of the year to regather its forces and put in some serious practice time. Next year's opening game was not going to be such an embarrassment for the Rattlesnakes if the sixth year had anything to do with it.

For the time being, all any of them could do was wait and see what happened as the Quaffle sailed towards one of the tall hoops. Linus knew that their Keeper had skills, as he'd seen them during team practices, but these two pesky partners in crime seemed to defy all reasonable restrictions held against them, so it was anyone's guess whether they would succeed in their goal attempt or not. Linus held his position (and his breath) as he waited, watching, wishing, and preparing himself for whatever eventuality would unfurl over the next couple of seconds.

0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser Participating in the Charade 0 Linus Macaulay, Chaser 0 5

Brielle Thornton, Seeker

July 21, 2013 5:29 PM

"Breaking" through the clouds, hopefully by Brielle Thornton, Seeker

Aubrielle almost had the Snitch. Almost. It was almost in her hand until the Bludger smacked her right in the foot. First the pain that hit her was so bad that she couldn’t see. Then it was almost like her foot wasn’t even there. She had to glance down at her foot to check and see that it was indeed still attached to her leg. It was there, though it didn’t really look right to her. The only thing she had going for her right then was that she was in the air, not standing on it. She was sure that wouldn’t work. Moments after she didn’t even feel it at all, she felt it. And it wasn’t comfortable.

Not one little bit.

She wanted so badly not to throw up from the hardcore pain, but she wasn’t too sure how well that was going to work. Her eyes were wet, but she held back tears to try to see the golden glint as best as she could. Bri was not going to leave Teppenpaw without their Seeker. Maybe it was stupid on her part, but she wasn’t even going to let what she hoped was a small injury stop her chances of winning. After the game she’d go to Medic Bailey and all would be well. This she knew. Even if she had broken her foot, their Medic could fix it and everything would be fine again. He was a great medic, and she knew that he wouldn’t let her down.

Bri guessed that Derry had been closer to Topher than to her when it had hit, and she wasn’t mad or upset with him, moreso with herself. B knew that she should have moved when she heard it, but she had her eyes on the Snitch and she didn’t want to lose it. If she’d kept eye contact on it she could have still gotten the golden ball, but if she lost eye contact of it she wasn’t going to get the Snitch at that point.

And that was all the fourth year wanted.

Bri had practiced Seeking in all sorts of weather, so the bright sun wasn’t an issue. What was her issue right now was her foot. Then as suddenly as the Bludger had hit her, Derry was there and Cepheus wasn’t. Her captain hit the mean black ball away from her, hopefully right at Cepheus (at least that what she wanted!) and she wanted to shout out a thanks to him, but her vocal chords wouldn’t work anymore. Instead, she moaned quietly at the pain in her foot. Taking in deep breaths through her nose and released the air slowly through her mouth and repeated. In her process of breathing, she spotted a glint of gold and then she saw Cepheus chasing after it.

Oh no he doesn’t… she thought as she, through all the pain she was in, flew faster and faster, thankful that her foot wasn’t on the ground. It did feel awfully funny on top of all the pain. Almost like something was really, really wrong, but it wouldn’t be till she tried to dismount that she would know for sure.

0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker "Breaking" through the clouds, hopefully 0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Leo Princeton, Keeper

July 21, 2013 8:36 PM

This is war! by Leo Princeton, Keeper

This game was not making much sense to Leo, but he thought the two Teppenpaws were acting like two demi-gods. Either that or they were both really talented Quidditch players. If that was the case, they shouldn't be allowed to play these informal matches. It just wasn't fair. Leo saw Carter heading towards him and his fingers tightened around his broom, but Viktor intercepted the pass and he let out a breath. He honestly didn't see how those yellow Teppenpaws weren't afraid of him. His room-mate had a good potential to be scary especially when he was angry and even Leo knew better than to challenge that. Maybe Viktor hadn't unleashed that rage yet and Leo didn't want to be in his room-mate's presence when that happened.

Some people, Leo thought, just had that air about them no matter their age. Leo couldn't scare a fly, but he was conniving and sneaky; traits he preferred more than the headstrong I'll-kill-you-immediately vibe. He was more of the I'll-kill-you-in-your-sleep. Either way, Leo picked up those auras very easily, but perhaps not everyone did. He had meant some really thick people in his life and these Teppenpaws could be immune to auras. Or they were secretly professional Quidditch players and no one knew but them.

Crotalus's hand on the quaffle was very short. Viktor made a tight pass and Leo was sure everyone believed it to be secure. But that yellow devil slipped her way through and Leo's eyebrows rose in surprise. She was tricky and even smaller than he thought. How did a bludger not completely take her out? Leo shook his head. She still had some ways to go down the pitch and Leo had no doubt her pass would be intercepted. Until it wasn't.

She was too close and then that blooming Carter came zooming straight at him so fast that Leo hardly had time to think than react. He was rushing right at him and all thought flew out of Leo's brain. What kind of blubbering, headstrong fool thought rushing at the Keeper was a good idea? It was a stupid idea! It was ridiculous! It was--

Carter finally threw the quaffle much too close to Leo for any reaction. Leo was normally a quick thinker, but he was currently not on his feet and he was not used to physical attacks. He could think of comebacks to other peoples' statements quickly, but his reflexes were slow. Leo had froze up when he saw Carter coming and was about to move when he saw the quaffle leave the wizard's arms. His eyes widened and then squeezed shut just as the quaffle came at him. It was too close of a throw for Leo to move out of the way, but he had enough time to duck. His ducking skills were not on par, however, and the quaffle hit him right in the mouth.

Leo let out a curse word he had heard his older brother use once, feeling the immense pain of his now-cut mouth. The quaffle had been coming really fast and though it was now soaring down to the ground and Leo had blocked it, it was at a great cost. His hand went to his mouth, feeling like all of his teeth had been loosened. There was blood and big tears welled up in his eyes at the throbbing pain. This was not what he had signed up for! Leo was so angry, but he was hurting as well and he wanted to plan Carter's demise immediately. From the looks of his room-mate, they were on the same page. The wounds in his mouth were seriously bleeding and Leo wanted to quit right then. Where in the world was his brother?

He retrieved the quaffle reluctantly, taking his sweet time to pick it up, and then signalled to a Crotalus Chaser. He did not want to take any chances. As the Chaser came around, he pushed it right into his chest and let them have it for awhile. Leo's mouth felt tender and he was afraid of wiggling his teeth in case they dropped out. He couldn't stop the tears and he wiped them away. Cepheus would make fun of him for crying in front of everyone, but Leo didn't even care. It hurt! He should have let the quaffle go through and saved his mouth. Leo didn't even want to touch it, but he spit and saw a splatter of blood leave his mouth and fall down to the grass below. Disgusting. 'Please,' thought Leo as he looked up into the sky, 'kill them.'

0 Leo Princeton, Keeper This is war! 0 Leo Princeton, Keeper 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

July 21, 2013 8:57 PM

That would be the Snitch. by Cepheus Princeton, Seeker

It was nice being rich. Having money meant having the best of everything and Cepheus took it for granted all the time. Money couldn't always buy victory, however, and Cepheus had felt that sharp pain of loss all the time. He felt it now, empty-handed, having seen the Snitch and then having lost it. However, Thornton flew right past him and Cepheus thought she had seen the Snitch as well. He followed her closely, trying to see what she was seeing, but it looked like a dead end and he pulled back. She couldn't be feinting, but then she was simply chasing an apparition. Creepy.

Cepheus was making his way back to a place where he could stay still and watch for the gold, but before he could have his moment of peace a bludger came straight at him faster than the last. He was surprised at its speed, but he remembered the Beaters were still in this match. He flew away from it, but it followed him, so he dropped suddenly and allowed the bludger to fly right past his head. It was so close it ruffled his blonde hair and he flew the opposite way while the bludger was still trying to recover from its momentum. 'Nice try,' he thought with a smug grin.

Missing a bludger and serious injury, however, did not mean he was the winner. Cepheus flew back up to his post where he could see the pitch clearly. He didn't know how some professionals lasted weeks in matches like these. Cepheus could hardly last for a few hours. He watched his opponent carefully, then turned his eyes back to the pitch.

Though Bri was smaller than him, Cepheus had a better broom, so he believed, and more experience on his side. He still had a thin frame and had learnt how to fold himself up to go faster and snatch the Snitch out of the air when he was close enough. He was daring as well and trained hard. Ceph was going to completely forgo the strict diet he put himself on during the season if they lost this match. Well, unless they were going to face Aladren. Though they lost the entire season, one win against Aladren and the destruction of the Carey twins would make up for it all. Cepheus really hoped Theresa wasn't there for that.

The reminder that Theresa could be in the stands was a little nerve-racking, but it motivated Cepheus even more to win. He tried to get his focus back and not focus so much on the bludgers and the noise going on all around him. He tried to bring it back into himself, cancel all noise and practise some of those meditation techniques he had seen his mum do over the summer. Inner peace...was that it? Cepheus saw Thornton out of the corner of his eye and saw how debilitated she was with one foot injured. Injuries were hell to deal with and the pain could be so distracting. Two Teppenpaws were injured so far, if Cepheus counted right, and a third Teppenpaw had been hit. Cepheus was the only Crotalus to be hit so far, but that was because Derry had brilliant aim. He would like the Head Boy more if he wasn't the Beater on the opposing team. No one, however, could beat Cepheus's former admiration for Sam Bauer and Cepheus still had the former Crotalus captain's reputation to strive for. Only this time he would lead his team to victory, win the house cup and have a hot girlfriend. Only then would it be sweet success.

There was some gold lingering at the bottom and Cepheus made an immediate dive for it. He didn't care to think of Thornton chasing after it as well. He only kept in mind two things: his girl and the gold. It was a really good thing Alicia wasn't interested in playing Quidditch and Gareth was on his team. He doubted he would be best mates with either of them if they were all constantly clashing on the pitch. Girl and gold. Fame and glory. The trophy. Cepheus pushed his broom to go faster, his head clear and focused with the amount of adrenaline going through his body. 'I can win this,' he thought. 'I can win this.'

0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker That would be the Snitch. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Seeker 0 5

Viktor Volkov, Chaser

July 21, 2013 11:45 PM

This is anarchy! by Viktor Volkov, Chaser

Anarchy! That’s what this game had become. It was chaos and none of it made any sense. He wished for the life of him that if it wouldn’t get him thrown out of the game, he could take the beater bat and just take them down since clearly the bludgers seemed to be useless. The two Teppenpaws weren’t much, if at all, older than him yet they seemed to be completely indestructible. He knew from martial arts training that no one could survive everything that they had just gone through. How often had he been taken down by just a kick aimed in the right spot? There was no way these two should have been going, but there they were, annoying as ever.

Viktor still couldn’t believe that Carter had decided on charging Leo. Ouch! The ball had made contact with the keeper’s face. He winced in sympathy. There was no way that didn’t hurt. Tugging on his glove, he waited to see what Leo was going to do. He raised an eyebrow slightly in question when he saw Leo signal him, but went along with it. Swooping close, he glanced down at surprise at the quaffle now pressed against his chest. It was theirs. “Thanks,” he said, before taking off. That’s all they needed, possession once more. If they could at least keep the game going, there was more chance their Seeker would find it. He wished that someone would find it and put them all out of their misery.

Clutching the red ball tightly against him, he had to decide what he was going to do. He didn’t have much time to think about it, because either a Teppenpaw Chaser was going to be after him or a bludger was going to take him out, though, they had seemed to favor rather heavily the Teppenpaw team. So, what to do? He signaled to the other Chasers. He wanted this to work. There was nothing to lose and if they managed to get a hold of the quaffle again, he was going to swear that only anarchy reigned in the universe. He flipped his broom around and headed towards his own goals in an attempt to confuse the Teppenpaw Chasers. With a little luck, they were now on his tail and therefore heading in the same direction.

He stayed like this a moment, giving the Crotalus Chasers time to position themselves further ahead closer on the field to the Teppenpaw goals. Swinging back around, he flew straight towards the closest one, with a bit of luck the other was waiting up ahead. It was a relay race of sorts. He looked around, guessing that they were still behind him, before throwing it with all of his strength towards the waiting Chaser. If they caught this, all was lost and whoever won in the next match should just forfeit now, because they weren’t going to win against inhuman, indestructible, relentless Teppenpaw Chasers.

0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser This is anarchy! 0 Viktor Volkov, Chaser 0 5

Laurie, Beater

July 22, 2013 4:21 AM

I agree! Anarchy! by Laurie, Beater

It was that time of year and Lawrence Roman Stratford was as happy as any Quidditch obsessed youth could be. It was time to rumble. It was time to show the whole school who was boss. The Teppenpaw had spent the best part of his summer honing his beating skills as well as his body. The now sixth year was had grown a lot during the summer and his boyish good look had passed to be the reflection of the future man he was going to become in the near future. All in all, the redhead couldn’t complain about life. Since he had been very detached from his roommate and best friend, Michael, his father hadn’t been breathing down his neck over his lack of proper friends. More importantly, his arch nemesis, also known as his older cousin, Preston, was so depressed and centered on his own misery that he had stopped bugging him. So Laurie had started being friendlier to Michael in public without a worry. After all, he couldn’t really care less. His father wasn’t going to disinherit him for this. Laurie had been adamant on being his former care-free self. Preston be damned.

Another thing that made the usually friendly sixth-year quite happy was the fact that Preston hadn’t signed up for Quidditch this year. His cousin was so depressed over being overlooked for Head Boy that he was sure his poor roommates were suffering the consequences of his atrocious humor. He feel sorry for them, really, but he couldn’t really do anything to help them.

Now, what Laurie hadn’t told anyone was that during the summer he had started to develop feelings for Kitty and the fact that they were playing against Crotalus was making him anxious. He didn’t want to let his team down, but also he didn’t want to hurt her with his bludgers or have Derry hurt her. Kitty was a ferocious Quidditch player for someone so small, and Laurie had the urge to protect her. It had been weird to realize that the girl that had become one of his best friends from day one had not become someone he wished he could kiss and just thinking about it made him blush a whole lot, but now it wasn’t the time to think about his lack of love life or the his fear of actually taking the leap into the unknown. He had Quidditch to focus on.

The redhead took a deep breath after Coach Pierce blew the whistle and soared into the air looking to make a good impression in the field. However, what he found was something out of this world. The Teppenpaw was distracted about Kitty getting hurt so he wasn’t doing his job like he should. His mind was working at full time and not concentrating on what he had to do. Laurie flew around the pitch trying to concentrate, but all hell broke loose while he did it. He couldn’t believe what was happening, and he felt guilty about his team mates getting beaten up because he wasn’t doing his job.

With horror marring his face he saw as a bludger hit Carter without a warning and then Darina. Laurie gasped and the guilt ran through his whole body because it was his job to protect them while Derry focused on the Seeker. Laurie wasn’t doing his job and therefore letting his team down. His Camp Coach would be disappointed about his first performance at Sonora Quidditch.

The redhead flew towards the bludger that had caused so much damage to avenge the injuries of his team mates. Things were not going to end up with Teppenpaw losing like this! Not on his watch! Even when it took him a while to react to what was happening. He took a deep breath, got a firmer grip on his bat and swung with all of his might – and that was something serious because Laurie had become buff after so much training - towards the ball of hell. He made a hit and the sound of the bludger flying towards the Crotalus chaser made his lips curl up in a smile. Hopefully it would be a hit and Teppenpaw could get the Quaffle once again.

0 Laurie, Beater I agree! Anarchy! 0 Laurie, Beater 0 5

Laurie

July 22, 2013 4:29 AM

Small OCC by Laurie

I apologize for my small mistake about Kitty being in Crotalus. My brain played tricks with me! But the distraction still stands. Laurie doesn't like Kitty playing Quidditch coz she is small and hot and might get hurt.

Carry on!

0 Laurie Small OCC 0 Laurie 0 5

Brielle Thornton, Seeker

July 23, 2013 10:06 AM

It sure is! I GOT IT! by Brielle Thornton, Seeker

Brielle flew faster and faster towards the golden glint. Not a single part of her wanted Cepheus to get it. This was her turn, Teppenpaw’s win. She knew it.

Her foot was starting to hurt really badly and the only thing that would make it better would be to catch the Snitch and get to Medic Bailey, as soon as possible. Still breathing deeply through her nose and slowly out through her mouth, she flew faster and faster towards Cepheus and the Golden Snitch, leaning into her broom handle to go even faster.

She heard Derry smack the Bludger towards a Crotalus player, she’d hoped it was at Cepheus, but she didn’t see to whom it flew towards. Hearing the metallic whiz, she pulled upwards, eyes still glued onto the golden prize. Diving back down, she somehow ended up in front of Ceph, arms outstretched, tongue sticking out a little bit and seconds later her hand was grasped tightly around the little winged ball.

Breathing deeply, tears falling from her eyes now, she held up the Snitch as she flew downwards towards the ground. “I got it… I got it… I got it…” she repeated over and over again as she flew even closer to the ground. With the adrenaline rush from the game slowly leaving her system, she was forced to acknowledge the pressing issue that had presented itself in the form of excruciating pain in the foot that the Bludger had hit. With the adrenaline in her system while she played she hadn’t realized that she had been in that much pain before this point. She didn’t completely dismount, instead, she hovered just over the ground and looked down at her foot with complete terror in her eyes. It wasn’t even facing the right direction…

“Merlin’s beard…” she said, starting to get really worked up now. She guessed that her teammates were flying down around her by now and only one phrase could be heard by any of them.

“Medic Bailey… Please…” she wasn’t sure who was there, but she thought she’d seen her cousins at the very least before she almost fell off her broom into the blackness.

***

Darina had seen her cousin catch the Snitch and had flown down to congratulate her and ask her if she wouldn’t mind taking her to see the Medic, but when Rina got there she saw that Bri was worse off than either she was or she thought she was. Her cousin uttered three words and Rina practically caught her as she almost slipped right off her broom.

“MEDIC BAILEY!” she called out, “COACH! DERRY!” whoever came to her first, she wasn’t sure, but just then she needed one of them or all to get there before Bri fell altogether.

Rina glanced around, hoping one of them was there and noticed that Bri’s foot was turned in a funny way and her eyes widened further as someone approached. She wasn’t sure who it was, but her hand was the last thing on her mind just then.

Bri had passed out.

OOC: Medic Bailey’s author has been made aware of her injuries and of Rina’s and has already stated as soon as Dylan saw them they were fixed and cured of their injuries using magic.

0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker It sure is! I GOT IT! 0 Brielle Thornton, Seeker 0 5

Coach Pierce

July 23, 2013 4:28 PM

Teppenpaw wins! (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Teppenpaw wins! (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Coach Pierce

Game One: Crotalus vs Teppenpaw by Coach Pierce

<font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

Terrified or excited...hard to tell which by <font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

Up for the Chase by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

Seeking a win by <font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

<font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

Let the pun wars commence. by <font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

Don't get your hopes up. by <font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

<font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

I'm just here for the fame and glory. by <font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

<font color="red">Captain Calhoun, Beater</font>

Seriously. Don't. by <font color="red">Captain Calhoun, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Captain Derry, Beater</font>

I think she can hopefully seek all she likes by <font color=yellow>Captain Derry, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

I thought they already had by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

Very Punny... by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

While I get the gold. by <font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

<font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

Pun times ahead. by <font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

I don't know about you, but I'm having pun by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

“Pun”ting for points- Tag LEO by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

That's what you think! by <font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

<font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

It's also what I know. by <font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

<font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

Keep it coming! by <font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

"Keep"ing it coming by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

I don't think so by <font color=yellow>Brielle Thornton, Seeker</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

“Chasing” the point, avoiding the Bludger- LEO and Tepp Beat by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

This is getting old. by <font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

Agreed. by <font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

Close call. by <font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

Not close enough by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

There are worse reasons to be here by <font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

<font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

Fortune doesn't seem to be smiling very brightly. by <font color=red>Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>

<font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

I'd prefer a sideline view. by <font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

<font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

We actually have the ball? What? by <font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

Hopefully not for long! by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

Hope is a many splendored thing by <font color=yellow>Dimitri Porter, Keeper</font>

<font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

Keeping out of it. by <font color=red>Leo Princeton, Keeper</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

Chasing after the points by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

Trying to stop you. by <font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

Fat Chance by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

All I need is that chance by <font color=yellow>Carter Browning, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

Waiting for mine. by <font color=red>Viktor Volkov, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Captain Derry, Beater</font>

It'll break through the clouds soon by <font color=yellow>Captain Derry, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

You'll have longer to wait by <font color=yellow>Darina Porter, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>

Participating in the Charade by <font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>