Here I am, ready and (slightly) confident. on Quidditch Pitch

Amira Thornton

October 25, 2013 6:17 AM

PECARI TRYOUTS! by Amira Thornton

Amira stood on the Pitch setting everything up for her Tryouts and thinking about the past few days. She’d been watching the Signup sheet that she had put up and there were so many conflicts in her mind… Firstly, there weren’t enough Pecari’s on the list to make a full team, never mind one with Alternates. Secondly, Clara had signed up, which, was good for the Team Numbers, but made Amira feel as if Clara had signed up just for the fact that there weren’t enough names on the list… The 7th year Pecari felt absolutely awful about it, she didn’t want Clara to hurt herself again, and sure, she’d not done too badly the year before, well… Until the end, anyway… The screech she’d heard from their end of the Pitch, head swinging quickly to see Clara falling, terror at what everyone would say… How it had been Amira’s fault Clara was on a broom, how her older cousin shouldn’t have let her…

However, Amira quelled the awful thoughts running into her mind and went on setting up the small water table. The way she had her tryouts planned in her head, they were very much like last years, so she wanted to make sure there was water to drink.

Amira was a bit worried that the Ann’s names hadn’t been on the list yet, But that doesn’t mean that they won’t show up at Tryouts… she thought, trying to convince herself that it would all be okay and they would have a full team. Or maybe Waverly will come back? Clara has? she added to herself as she set up the last of the cups at the table before moving over to setting up what she wanted for the Tryouts. She was going to do another Obstacle Course, and they were going to test their skill both on the ground and in the air. Mir had procured a little bit of extra time on the Pitch this year though, just in case there were some first or second years who signed up who didn’t know what the game was all about. Mir always believed in teaching the basics, so that everyone knew as much as they could.

The Captain of Pecari’s Team set up the small obstacle course next and lay out a few school brooms, next to the faux Snitches, fake Bludgers and the borrowed Quaffle and she was ready. This year, she hadn’t asked Jade to come early, instead, she’d sent her a message via owl about repeating the same Team Spirit as the year before and to tell her that their continued tolerance of each other was important. That they may not like each other as people, but that they had the same desires for Pecari as the other, and that was most important to remember. Having finished setting up, Amira sat down on a bench and thought about what was about to happen. This was the start of her last year being Captain and she was bound and determined to make it a win.

The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze blowing across the Pitch, a worry for some, but not for her. Pecari’s Team has played in all weathers, and that was what gave them an upper hand. She would never speak ill of the other teams, not anymore, but she knew that she must make a large spirit for her teammates to keep on after she left. This year, Amira had to pass the torch on to Jade, and she wanted it to be from a win.

She wore her lucky brown and gold sneakers, brown capris and a gold t-shirt, the same as last year. Her red hair was pulled back in a brown pony tail holder with golden colored bobby pins for the stray hairs that happened since she’d gotten her hair trimmed over the summer.

Amira moved to the grass of the Pitch and started to stretch, only looking up when she heard footsteps nearby. “Oh, hey there!” she said to the first housemate who came up to her. The others walked up and joined her, waving to each of them. Mir glanced specifically at Clara, as if to ask her if she was sure she was up to this again, and when it looked like the others were all there, Amira spoke up as she had the year before.

“Okay, have a seat for a moment please.“ When they’d sat, she went on. “Welcome to Pecari Tryouts! I’m glad to see each and every one of you here. First thing’s first, some of you may or may not know the others and some might, but we’re going to sit down and introduce ourselves and tell each other what we’d like to be on the team anyway.” Mir said, smiling at the younger probable first year. “I’ll start. I’m Amira Thornton and as Captain of our team I’m going to wait and see what is needed and fill in the spaces, but I have been Seeker, Chaser and Beater for our house team before.“ she said. “Go ahead, you go on.” she said to whoever it was that was next to her.

When the others had their turns, she spoke again. “Great. Welcome back to those of you who have been here before, and welcome to all the rest of you! Now, those of you who’ve been on the team with Mel or Sophie know how they ran the team. For those of you who don’t know them, be prepared for a long but hopefully rewarding year. I won’t be running it much differently than they did before me, I will not let Pecari turn into some namby pamby team because Sophie and Mel aren’t here anymore. Its as much my team as it still is theirs. And next year will be Jade’s as well…“ Here, Amira paused to take a deep breath before going on again. “Today is tryouts and, like last year, because you’ve been on the team before DOES NOT mean you are set in the same positions. Last year we worked very hard on training everyone in every spot and all spots are up for grabs and nobody is guaranteed the spot they’ve had in years passed. You have to work for your spots today just like you had to when you first tried out.” she paused for what she was sure to be moans and groans from the others. When all was quiet, she went on.

“Those of you that were here last year know this, but, for those who’ve either forgotten or are new to the team or tryouts, some rules.” pausing for dramatic effect, she looked at each of them. “No whining, we’re all doing the same things so I don’t want to hear ‘I can’t’ or anything of the like. No laziness, we can’t win if we’re lazy and I don’t know about you all, but I want Pecari to WIN!” Amira took a second to check reactions before going on again. “With all the hard work we will do, we will also have fun and form not only a team that flows but also a family of people who are here for each other through thick and thin.” she said, smiling at Clara again. This had sort of worked last year and she wanted so badly for it to work again. Especially this year, as it was her last. She wanted to leave the team as a family, a solid group who would work together and be there for each other.

“Today, we become one team with one vision. The win.” she added. “We will meet up for conditioning as we used to with Mel two days a week to start, then before games we will make that three days a week. Two days a week will be for skills on top of that until the season starts, then we will be seeing each other every day at least for a short time in the day for skills and whatnot. Weekends, will depend on how hard we work during the week. Be aware of that.” Amira knew she was being more hardcore than even Mel was, but she knew from experience that in order to win you had to prove yourselves and how could they prove themselves without having passion and team pride?

“Today we are going to start out with each person playing each position so that I can see what you can do and we can be a more well rounded team.” she started. “First, I want you each to start out with running or jogging a lap around the Pitch on foot. Then we will do the same in flight. After that, a short obstacle course.” she said, pointing at the other end of the Pitch with hoola hoops and jumping ropes as well as a small hurdle.” The hurdle was short enough for even the shortest of first years to get over it easily, but Amira was testing their endurance more than anything. “Then we will break for a few minutes to catch our breath and drink some water.” she said, pointing to the water she’d set up. She was hardcore but she wasn’t stupid. “After a few minutes we will go through each position with each one of you. Each will be done first on the ground, then we will move into the air just as with the laps around the Pitch. The first position we will use will be Beater, you will each be using the beater’s bat I have here to hit the soft balls that I will throw for you. After each of you have had your turn there, we will move to Keeping. I will throw the Quaffle and your job will be to catch it, clearly. Next we will swap to Chasing where we will play a small pick up game in the air where we will work against me as your Keeper. When we get to that point I will split you in teams.” she said, pausing there, noting if anyone new had joined them that wasn’t on the list since she started to speak before going on.

“Then, the Seeking.” she said, the prized position in many passed years all to this day. “I will be throwing tennis balls and ping pong balls all around the Pitch from the ground to you all flying above me. When you catch one, throw it back to me so I can throw again. I will be watching and counting, so no faking.”

Amira looked around at them. “I know that’s a lot, but we’re going to do it all in stages. If we all work on every position we are interchangeable and able to beat ANYTHING. Besides, you never know if maybe the one position you’ve always done isn’t your best unless you try, right?” she added, taking this bit from Sophie’s speech the year before. “If we are flexible and adaptable we will build better players and from that, a win of the decade. I’m sure of it.” Sophie and Mel had built her and she would build the others, this she knew. The pair of them, and Jose before them were Captains she had looked up to and had been a source of respect that she’d not really seen anywhere else and she hoped to be the same for the others.

“Okay. Ready to run or jog?” she asked them, standing up herself and wiping off her robes from the grasses of the Pitch. “When you get back, mount your brooms and we’ll meet back here for the rest. Got it?” she asked, waiting for nods or ‘okays’ before she ran off around the Pitch herself, leading the others. She felt exhilarated, happy and ready to win, she just hoped the team was behind her and she hadn’t done Sophie, Mel or Jose wrong.

OOC: Welcome to Pecari tryouts! Walk-ons are definitely welcome and would follow Amira’s directions just as much as those who were able to get to the signups. All usual rules apply and well written, creative posts of at least 200 words will increase your characters chances for the role on the team that they desire. Good Luck to all!

Subthreads:

We're here! Sorry we're late! by The Anns

Nothing better than exercise. And Quidditch. by Rupert Princeton

Running's better than listening by Brandon Carey

Here I am, ready and (slightly) confident. by Liliana Bannister

Yawn, yada yawn. by Jade Owen

Can't stay quiet forever. by Atlas Primred, Pecari

0 Amira Thornton PECARI TRYOUTS! 208 Amira Thornton 1 5

The Anns

October 26, 2013 11:46 PM

We're here! Sorry we're late! by The Anns

That they would rejoin the Quidditch team was never in doubt. They had caused a mini-revolution on their family's mountain by playing this long and now that it was actually allowed and they had even been given decent brooms to play on this year, quitting would be the very last thing they'd do.

Unfortunately, there had been a miscommunication. It didn't happen often, but on very rare occasions, one of them one say something that would be misinterpreted by the other. This time it had been Annabelle who said, "I signed us up this morning," and Annette had understood it to mean that they were signed up for Quidditch when Annabelle had meant she'd signed them up for a concert group. So when somebody else had asked if they were signed up for Quidditch and Annette said "Of course," Annabelle had assumed Annette had signed them up.

Neither had really given the list much more than a cursory glance and so the mistake went unrealized.

When they arrived at the Pitch the morning of the try-outs, both twins thought their names were already on the paper in Amira's hands.

"I am Annabelle Pierce," Annette introduced herself when the introductions came around to her first. It wasn't really an intentional lie. As the oldest, Annabelle was just supposed to introduce herself first. The was the proper way of things. If Annette spoke up first, which she often did because Annabelle wasn't as socially forward, she naturally and habitually used her sister's name. "I'd like to play Chaser."

Also used to using her twin's name, and secure in the knowledge that very few people at Sonora could tell them apart anyway, Annabelle continued the introductions seamlessly, "I'm Annette Pierce, and I would also like to play Chaser." It wasn't until after the introductions moved on to the people on the other side of them that they realized that try-outs were probably not the right place to be borrowing one another's names, just in case one of them got put in a position other than Chaser. Their flying skills were not quite as identical as they were, after all: Annette would push her broom faster, but Annabelle could handle hers through tighter maneuvers.

Well, there wasn't much they could do about it now, short of confessing to the deception, and that wasn't going to happen. If it got out that even they couldn't tell themselves apart . . . well, they weren't sure what would happen but it probably wouldn't be good.

If they got different positions, they'd just figure something out then. It probably wouldn't matter anyway.

Right now, they had to get through another grueling jog. They'd done their best to keep in shape over the summer, but there wasn't a really good place for jogging on their property and it had just been so hot that during most of August they'd convinced themselves that swimming was nearly as good exercise. Of course, it used entirely different muscles and by they end of the first lap they were definitely feeling it. And sweating. And huffing. And puffing. And slowing down.

They collapsed together as soon as they finished their final lap, and only by mutual assistance did they manage to walk themselves over to the water to re-hydrate themselves for the rest of the try-out. They definitely needed to re-institute their morning runs in the gardens to get back into shape.

1 The Anns We're here! Sorry we're late! 246 The Anns 0 5

Rupert Princeton

October 27, 2013 3:47 PM

Nothing better than exercise. And Quidditch. by Rupert Princeton

It wasn’t that Amira was a bad captain; Rupert simply did not agree with her methods. It was well for any players who had no clue what sort of position they wanted to play, but it made Rupert impatient. For as long as he could remember Rupert had trained as a Beater. He had come with his own glove as he had the years before and a custom-made bat, a gift from Megan, which he had used all summer. He had been sad to see Megan go, but he was sure there were better things for her in England that did not include his brother. At least she was free from that gross obligation. It was rare for most anything to get on Rupert’s nerves—he really had the patience of a saint—but when it came to Quidditch he took it seriously. This was a school team, he knew that, but it was important to have good players no matter how much they were lacking.

Rupert was at the pitch for tryouts despite his feelings about how it would be conducted. He wanted to be on the team more than anything; he needed to be on the team, really, to continue his training for the national and international leagues in the future. He smiled at Amira in greeting and greeted his other team-mates as he saw them. He liked Clara off the pitch very much, but on the pitch he had very little patience for her. He sincerely hoped she had improved in her flying. Keeping was really not that strenuous of a job granted that the Quaffle didn’t fly at you every other moment. Rupert just needed to remind himself to be patient with his team-mates. He was working to improve the team as a whole, not to simply improve himself.

When it was his turn to introduce himself, Rupert smiled at everyone. “My name is Rupert Princeton, but you can call me ‘Rup’. I’ve trained as a Beater for as long as I can remember. I’ve been the Beater for Pecari since my first year here.” He was a fourth year now and he was not expecting that position to change. Amira would be completely mental if she decided to make him a Chaser, especially so if she made him a Seeker. He had the build for a Beater, the arm strength and endurance for a Beater; he would muck up any other position and hinder the team rather than assist.

There had been quite a few names on the signup sheet and Rupert had been glad to see it. Pecari was always overflowing with team-mates and he genuinely enjoyed meeting the new people. In the rest of Amira’s speech there were a few mentions that made Rup slightly irritated, such as the declaration that their positions from the year before were not guaranteed. Rupert was talented enough in Beating that he expected the only sane decision was to place him in that position again, but the uncertainty that Amira put into everyone’s head was unsettling and, therefore, irritating. It was slight, however, because of her unbridled desire to see Pecari win and to see the team as a family. She had good intentions, Rupert knew that, and he shared her passion for the sport.

Running was not exactly Rupert’s forte, but he had the endurance to last. And he did. After the final lap, Rupert was panting, but instead of feeling weary he felt rejuvenated, excited to continue. The adrenaline was rushing through him and it would only increase with the laps on the broom. The team this year was going to be brilliant if Rupert could do anything about it. He, the Anns, Jade, Adam and Amira had held the team up quite well for the past few years. The others on the team would continue to be groomed to excellence. Rupert jumped to the next objective with delight, having missed his training for the past week or so back at school.

40 Rupert Princeton Nothing better than exercise. And Quidditch. 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

Brandon Carey

October 30, 2013 7:57 PM

Running's better than listening by Brandon Carey

It took an effort, but Brandon forced himself to pay attention to the other people as they introduced themselves, though he didn’t even try to distinguish between the pair of seemingly, as far as he could tell, identical twins. He’d just call them both Miss Pierce and hope for the best if he had to, and hope they were as distinctive in personality as Arnold and Arthur if they did turn out to want people to remember their individual names.

“I’m Brandon,” he said when the circle came to him. “Carey, of the South Carolina Careys. Um, I’ve played everything, one time or another, at home, but I’m a Beater most often, I guess.”

After introductions, though, he started to lose focus. Long speeches were not his forte, anyway – he had been completely taken aback by the school song in the Welcoming Feast because he had lost interest in what the Headmistress was saying long before she got to the end – and this one was particularly hard for him to wade his way through. There was a lot of talk about Sophie and Mel, who he didn’t know, so talking about their way of managing things meant nothing to him, the rhetoric was abstract and distracted him with lots of irrelevant, overly-literal tangents, there were schedules, which he could never keep track of, he would need to either follow someone else to where he was supposed to be or else get Jay to get hold of the schedule for him and have his siblings all cooperate to steer him to it, and it was just confusing. The ant he was watching wending its way through the pieces of the grass was much easier to follow, though he did stay tuned in enough to notice when Amira suddenly changed directions, even if he didn’t understand the new direction much more than the old one, and to smile brightly when she said something that sounded particularly spirited about winning. Winning was good; winning was the point. You did whatever your part said do to win, that simple. He didn’t know why people had to make it complicated.

The part where she explained how they were all going to play each position was practical enough and based enough in stuff he knew about for him to follow easily, though he didn’t see how they could prove themselves as Keepers if the only had to watch one person. Keeper was hard because there was always the chance of a last-minute pass, and not knowing exactly who had the ball if a Seeker flew by or a Beater showed up at just the wrong moment, and the fact that Beaters were perfectly authorized to attack the Keeper when the Quaffle was in the scoring area….

Brandon looked speculatively at the goals, trying to picture himself in front of them and Amira on a broom further out, shooting at him, but he couldn’t come up with anything other than broom speed which would allow for her getting past him if he only had one thing to concentrate on. As long as he knew exactly what the task was and exactly what it meant watching, he could do it, though he’d rather not do this one. Keeper, like Seeker, was sort of boring except when it was too chaotic, and that wasn’t a good combination for him.

”…run or jog?” came the Never-Ending Voice out of his thoughts, and Brandon only just started running at the same time as the others, though he quickly slowed to a jog. The Pitch was huge; running flat would not work out very well for long. He had to pace himself if he was going to finish.

0 Brandon Carey Running's better than listening 275 Brandon Carey 0 5

Liliana Bannister

November 01, 2013 12:06 AM

Here I am, ready and (slightly) confident. by Liliana Bannister

After signing up for Quidditch, Liliana had been extremely cheery. All her anxiety and hatred for being sent to Sonora rather than Hogwarts like her cousins had faded away and she'd tried hard in all her classes. While she knew she wasn't top in them, she'd certainly been improving and she felt as though the new attitude probably had something to do with that. So, on the morning of try-outs, she bounced out of bed, dressed in that marigold romper and matching hair bow she'd worn her first day of flying lessons and braided her hair before heading down to breakfast to have a hearty meal that would ensure she preformed well.

At the Pitch itself, she took a seat, back straight as the years of ballet training had taught her to do. She'd neer officially played Quidditch but she had played with her cousins in her grandparent's house. She twisted her braid around her finger as they wwent around with introductions. "My name is Liliana Bannister of the London Bannisters." She kind of thought it was stupid that she had to say the last part as now that she was in America, that bit was obvious but she did it anyway as that was how she had been brought up. She wondered if she was supposed to change it to the Connecticut Bannisters now that they'd moved and decided she'd write home about it. Besides, it wouldn't matter anyway, they had only moved a year ago so it wasn't like they had really established themselves that prominently in America yet. "I've never formally played Quidditch," she added briefly wondering if she should have mentioned that but it was too late anyway to take it back. "I played with my cousins who are all older than me and boys so I'm kind of used to playing whatever they tell me to." She gave a smile and was glad when they moved on- she'd botched that up royally!

After the captain, Amira, gave her speech, Liliana was glad to have mentioned playing all parts before as she wouldn't have to pick just one to tryout for rather see which she was best at. She picked herself up with the rest of the group, dusting herself off and began to run around the Pitch. While she didn't particularly like running, her ballet training had allowed for her to expand her cardio endurance and she'd built up a pretty good one for someone who was only eleven years old. She ran on her toes as her cousin, Levi, had taught her to and paced herself so that she'd still have the energy to fly around the Pitch. She was still using one of the school's brooms as she was waiting on her parents to send her hers but that didn't matter- she knew how to fly on different brooms due to her cousins and could adapt to different styles well.

She smiled when she finished her laps and grabbed some water to stay hydrated. She really hoped that she'd make the team, she felt as though she was doing pretty well but she also knew that the majority of the people there were returning players and would most likely get placed before her due to experience. One of the other first years, Brandon Carey, also seemed to know what he was doing and had been more decisive about what he was able to play well so she figured that he'd also have a large amount of experience. He was nice too, she thought to herself, she'd seen how he'd comforted the crying girl on the Pitch during flying lessons that first day. At the time, Liliana hadn't known he was in her house but now that she did she was glad. He seemed nice, the kind of person Levi and her other cousins would approve of. Perhaps if she was good enough to make even Reserve then they'd be able to get to know each other and become friends. She took another drink and shook her head. Now was not the time to think about making friends, she needed to focus and try her best.

OOC: I'm doing NaNoWriMo (along with Ava Fletcher, the notice is on the OOC board), I know that Quidditch is a big commitment but should Liliana make the team I can make myself available to post on games regularly :)

10 Liliana Bannister Here I am, ready and (slightly) confident. 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Jade Owen

November 01, 2013 5:27 PM

Yawn, yada yawn. by Jade Owen

The sigh of relief that had escaped Jade at the sight of both Anns at tryouts had probably been audible. There were some miniature bodies, who were probably the first years who had signed up, plus some returning faces and, of course, Amira. The captain hadn't asked her assistant to join her before tryouts on this occasion (for which Jade was thankful; any time not spent with Amira was time well spent in her books) but the sixth year had arrived early anyway, partly to select her preferred broom from the school's supply, partly to assert her authority, partly to try and prevent Amira from doing anything more than usually stupid, and partly just because she had been ready on time with nothing else to do.

Predictably, annoying, the introductions came first. "I'm jade Owen, Assistant Captain, and I play Seeker," she said shortly, adding no more to it. Whatever Amira might have in mind, Jade wasn't going to give up the position of Seeker without one Hell of a fight. Nor was she going to openly acknowledge that Arnold Carey had kicked her ass in just about every game they had played together since her first year, but as that obstacle had been firmly removed by graduation, she felt the Pecari team could feel a bit more positive about their chances this term.

The other introductions did little to improve her mood, especially with a kid named Carey and a Princess from 'the London Bannisters' in their midst. She would, perhaps, have been in a slightly better mood with the captain, had it not been for the note Amira had sent. Some fluff about Team Spirit and mutual tolerance and yada yada yada. Jade knew she wasn't always easy to get along with, but Amira was impossible to get along with, so she really thought she should have earned extra bonus points for not killing Pecari's Quidditch captain by now. After all, if Amira were dead and gone then Jade would be captain, and there would be no more of this playing all the positions crap. Seriously, what was Amira trying to prove? The team had humoured her last year and allowed themselves to be pushed and shoved into every available position during practices, but it hadn't helped - they hadn't won their first play-off, let alone the championship - so Jade was hoping she'd drop that irritating nonsense this year. Apparently there was no such luck.

Grudgingly, Jade appreciated Amira's speech about not whining, or laziness, and the optimism surrounding a Pecari winning. Sadly, the improvements were short-lived, and soon Amira was on about Mel's routine (didn't she realise that most of the other players here didn't even know who Mel was?) and then she went on to tell them they'd be playing all the positions. Yes, that made sense for the first years (and possibly Clara, as Keeping was obviously not her strong suit), but it was a waste of time for the rest of them. The Anns worked incredibly well together - Jade wasn't ever entirely certain they were in fact just one person duplicated - plus they confused the opposition as Chasers. Rup was the best Beater on the team since Mel herself, and Jade would kick and scream if anyone told her that he'd be in any other position. As for herself, she'd like to see any of these sorry excuses try and play Seeker the way she could. Jade was fast, and entirely fearless - it wasn't a front, she quite literally had no anxiety when she was in the air. She was unpredictable, and incredibly focused on winning. She was a Seeker, and there was nobody better for the job. She just wished Amira would remember these little details instead of letting the power go to her head and running amok with these practices as if they didn't count for anything.

Hopefully the run would help to clear the negativity from her mind so that Jade could focus on watching the other players; she'd need to know their strengths and weaknesses to use them to Pecari's advantage when she was Captain next year. The sixth year set off at a run, her long legs carrying her easily faster than some of the younger participants; even the warm up felt like a competition.

0 Jade Owen Yawn, yada yawn. 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Atlas Primred, Pecari

November 02, 2013 8:17 PM

Can't stay quiet forever. by Atlas Primred, Pecari

Atlas made his way to the field just in time for the speech by the older girl, whom he later found out was the Captain, Amira Thornton. Looking around, Atlas saw the field was already made up in what looked like an obstacle course, although there were a few balls present that Atlas didn’t recognize from any other sport. However what really surprised him was the blue eyed girl with the gray cat he had seen at dinner the first night. “So your name is Jade,” Atlas thought to himself. They had never gotten that far with introductions when they first met, however, out of all the people Atlas met that week he was happy she was on the team. Jade shared his love of cats and wasn’t very chatty, he respected her for that, even more so now that he saw she liked sports.

He also recognized the girl in the orange romper, yet he didn’t recognize the name. Maybe he had seen her somewhere earlier this week? He would have to introduce himself later. “It would be good to finally figure out who she is,” he thought to himself turning his attention back to Amira. When introductions came around Atlas knew he couldn’t give his usual greeting of just his first name followed by his own personal comfortable silence. He wanted to get to know his peers more, and show them that although he was quiet, he could be friendly too.

When it was Atlas’ turn to finally introduce himself he stated, quite bluntly,
“I’m Atlas, I have never played Quidditch and I don’t really know the rules yet. I learn fast, and…” he paused choosing which words would get across his feelings best, “I’m not about to let this team down.”

Although most normal people would be worried about trying out for a sport they had never played, there was no look of defeat or worry on Atlas’ face. His eyes had flames in them, filled with determination. He would do his best for this team, no matter what. Sports had always been the one thing he felt he was good at without having to try hard, however he would give todays try outs his all, after all this team was more interesting than any other sport he had every tried out for. Atlas felt happy that he would be able to try out each position. He was really looking forward to seeing his upperclassmen play, he knew you could learn a lot from watching experienced players. Although Atlas had a lot of confidence in his natural athletic abilities, he knew he wouldn’t be perfect right away. With practice he would be able to sharpen his skills and really be helpful to his teammates, so he was looking forward to the rest of the practice.

When they all where let off to run the first lap, Atlas burst out of his relaxed position with tons of energy, despite his small body he was strong and extremely athletic. All the running on the beach with his friend Steven that summer had served him well to keep in shape, and the hiking they did really kept his endurance in check. Dashing off, he was able to get ahead quite quickly without using too much energy, although Jade was still a little faster due to her longer legs.

After the first lap, Atlas’ got a little water to help keep himself in top shape. He watched as his classmates finished their laps, trying to concentrate and remember each of their names. Atlas knew the importance of being a good team member and that started with remembering everyone’s names.

Brandon had been pretty fast at first but then slowed to a jog, while Rupert although not as fast seemed to have a lot of endurance, and Liliana was pretty good too. Annabelle and Annette, although Atlas couldn’t tell who was who yet, finished without too much problem, although they did seem a little out of breath. Atlas knew that even if he was faster than some of his teammates on land, the real excitement was in the sky, and he was eager to really see his upperclassmen in action.

0 Atlas Primred, Pecari Can't stay quiet forever. 276 Atlas Primred, Pecari 0 5