Coach Grase

August 05, 2016 11:15 PM
Juliet was excited.

Like, really excited! Championship games always incited a feeling of EXCITEMENT, even if she wasn’t playing in them. Once a person had been in their own finals, it was way too easy to get second-hand hyped when witnessing someone else’s. Being able to empathize with the blood, sweat, and (sometimes) tears necessary to hone your skills, combined with the total hours put into games and strategy and practices to get to that last game, would always get Juliet’s own adrenaline running just to be there.

The wind on the pitch that afternoon was calm; a gentle breeze that was just enough to lift the tip of Juliet’s ponytail around to the front of her face where it playfully smacked at her cheek. A lovely spring day to say the least, wonderful for any game, but perfect for a championship. The athletes wouldn’t need to deal with any adverse conditions, allowing them to focus their entire being on the game. While she was certainly prepared to give today her full attention as referee, Juliet made a mental note to watch some of the older kids from time to time with the mindset of a scout. If these athletes took today as seriously as she hoped they would, they’d be leaving everything out there in the sky, and it certainly couldn’t hurt to scout out some potential talent in case someone felt the urge to go pro. Juliet still had connections, if not with just her Dragons, but her notoriety was enough to carry a hopeful player to their first try out, at least.

Juliet was happy to see the stands fill with more than the obligatory number of professors, staff, and students. A good crowd, for a beautiful day, for a good game. She cast the sonorus charm on herself and gave her usual cheerful welcome to the crowd, thanking them for attending and whatnot, as the Pecari and Aladren teams made their way from the locker rooms out to the center of the pitch.

“Congrats to all of you for getting here!” Juliet said to the athletes in front of her. “I hope all of you do your absolute best today. Be safe, play fair. Alright, let’s go!” After everyone appeared to be ready to play, Juliet released the bludgers and the snitch, blew her whistle, and tossed the quaffle up into the air. She then took a few steps out from under the mess of blue and brown uniforms before hopping onto her own broom and joining them in the air.
Subthreads:
0 Coach Grase Championship Game! Pecari vs. Aladren 0 Coach Grase 1 5


<font color="tan">Captain Bannister, Keeper</font>

August 06, 2016 9:39 PM
The morning of the first Quidditch match ever, Liliana woke up extra early, excited to support her schoolmates. She didn't really know people in either Crotalus nor Aladren and didn't feel right dressing in either color if she felt numeral. Besides, as a member of the Pecari Quidditch team, Liliana felt as though she ought to be loyal to her house and fellow players so she tied her hair back with a dark green school colored ribbon and wrapped a matching green scarf around her neck before donning a Pecari gold sweater (she hated the brown part of the house colors) heading over to the Pitch. She found a nice place in the stands up close so that she'd be able to check out the competition, and settled in for what was sure to be an exciting match. She had heard that the Aladren team was really good and so she had high expectations.

Things in Liliana’s life were starting to take an upwards turn. Liliana felt a little guilty about being so happy with the way the year had gone because her best girl friend, Joella, had been going through some recent tough times with the family death and having to miss school, but all in all things for Liliana were going swimmingly. No pun intended, she thought rather hastily and hurried up to walk beside her Assistant Captain whose brother-in-law* had drowned in a surfing accident. Liliana linked arms with the younger girl and smiled encouragingly, giving her arm a squeeze. “Ready to kick butt?”

Who was she kidding? Of course Joella was ready. It was Pecari’s time to shine! And she was in such a good mood too! At the beginning of the second half of the year, Atlas had sat her down on the Pecari couch and they had hashed it out. Well, kind of… She had gotten the apology she had been waiting ages for but she still hadn’t disclosed the exact details of her after-hour activities with her fellow prefect. However, it seemed as though she and Atlas would be putting all that aside in favour of going back to being best friends just the way they had been before She had gone and sunk her dirty paws into him. Besides, anyway the situation was looked at it seemed as though everything was moving towards the better. She had pulled up her Transfiguration skills exceedingly far and her team had made it to play against Aladren one last time.

There was only one thing that could make her last year at Sonora even more perfect, and that would be one, final win against the team that rivalled theirs in every way.

When Liliana had found out it had been snowing and there was still snow on the ground she had been delighted. It seemed that her first Quidditch match would be in similar conditions to the weather back home in London (she still didn't quite consider Connecticut home though she had lived there for a year now)… she sat on her bed and clasped her hands together and criss-crossed her legs. "Repeat after me, Liliana," she said to herself, hoping her dormmate was either still asleep or at breakfast. "You will do well in the match today. You will preform well because that is what Bannisters do. Nothing short of perfection is expected of you." She repeated these lines to herself over and over again almost like she was trying to hypnotize herself into doing well.

“Alright, team, gather round!” Liliana said upon arrival at the Pitch. It was the last time she would wear her Pecari brown uniform—a uniform she had detested so when she had first put it on seven years ago, it was the last time she would give a captain’s speech, and it was the last time she would play Quidditch on an official team. She had long ago decided not to go professional with her playing. Though she loved the game, she didn’t care for the spotlight many professional players were put under and she disliked the gossip rags that loved to spread lies about any one of any consequence.

She would spare the long-winded speech that many captains seems to enjoy, she just wanted that last game to be amazing. “We have so far lost every match we’ve gone up against Aladren for,” she began. “But nonetheless I believe we can beat them! Pecari has done it before and we’ll do it again! The Aladren Quidditch dynasty must come to an end! Beaters, I expect you to work together. Keep your eyes on the Chasers and the Seeker, the Aladrens like to mark their Seeker with a Beater—I don’t expect one of you to just hover in the air by Jamie the whole game but please let’s keep him in the air so he can catch the Snitch like he did last match!”

Liliana turned to smile at her Chasers. “And I don’t think I need to tell you twice to keep the Quaffle away from my hoops,” she joked. “I have complete faith in you!” It was true, too. In the past they had only lost a match because Aladren’s Seeker always managed to grasp his fingers around that tiny golden ball as though his blood contained some other worldly element that attracted gold and gold alone. To her reserves, Liliana grinned broadly. “You guys have improved so much over this past year and I’ve complete faith that you’re ready to fill the open positions once Atlas and I graduate! I’m so happy to have spent my last year of Quidditch with all of you,” she said honestly. “Victory party in the Pecari common room when we win.

“Pecari on three. One, two, PECARI!”

When the team broke, she turned to Atlas, her eyes saying what she hadn’t voiced to the team and she knew he understood—if Pecari lost this game, Liliana planned to redirect the festivities to the MARS room so that the team could still celebrate a great year of playing without the prying eye of the public who had just watched a tragic defeat by their bitter rivals. She hated having that small amount of doubt inside her but it still rested there, pressing against her throat and it was all she could do to keep from clawing it out in front of everyone.

Her good luck handshake with Leonidas Bennett felt rather solemn to the seventh year and she squeezed his hand lightly before letting go. “Good luck,” she said softly but sincerely. It wasn’t only her last year either, after all. Aladren also had two graduating seventh years. “You’ve been a pleasure to play against.” Liliana offered a small smile before turning her back and walking towards her hoops. Although she had been tempted to switch positions earlier in her Sonora career, she was quite pleased that she hadn’t.

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.

That same marigold hair ribbon still tied her long, braided hair together for her last match as Keeper, it was worn with age but it was her ribbon and she wouldn’t have played her last match without it. Well, she might have, but she wouldn’t have felt right doing it. Her eyes stung and Liliana cursed her sentimentality as she swung one leg over her broom. There was no place for sentimentality in the world the way Liliana planned to live after Sonora, she had long ago convinced herself of that, and she hated that it was creeping up on her the way that it was. “Merlin, you’ve got issues, Bannister,” she muttered to herself as Coach Grase blew the whistle and Liliana kicked off to guard her hoops.

As it was the last Quidditch match of the year, Liliana was determined to prove herself…While Coach Olivers began the match, Liliana found herself staring at her year-mate and Keeper of the Aladren team. She had heard that Alarden usually won the Quidditch cup and was nervous to see if perhaps Theodore was a better Keeper than herself. She had seen his match against Crotalus and thought him talented. Today though there was an odd look in his eye- Liliana didn't know if he had been spacing out or thinking of ways to cream their team, so she flew into the air quickly to man her post in front of the hoops when Olivers gave the signal. She wasn't about to let Wolseithcrafte beat her to that even if his team did win the match.

OOC: I know Will was Rolene’s fiance, but he was basically Joella’s brother-in-law so for the sake of flow… Smaller bits/italics are snippets from Liliana’s first year of playing Quidditch.
10 <font color="tan">Captain Bannister, Keeper</font> We are the champions, my friends! 0 <font color="tan">Captain Bannister, Keeper</font> 0 5

<font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

August 07, 2016 5:01 AM
Today was the day. Joella could feel it from the moment she woke up and opened the curtains for her first look at the weather. It was game day and she felt confident. Aladren could kiss the Quidditch Cup goodbye; it was Pecari’s time to shine.

Joella took her time to pull on her robes in the morning and then headed down to breakfast with a spring in her step. She hadn’t felt this positive for quite some time and she was going to savour every moment of it. The day that Pecari finally beat Aladren would be a day to remember and Joella wanted to make sure she did just that.

A few weeks had passed since Joella had taken several days out of school and she had managed to get herself back on track, returning to her normal routine. After catching up with all the work she had missed as a result of her absence, the fifth year had permitted herself to focus on preparing for the championship game, spurred on by its closeness. At this moment in time the game was more important than anything, more than her studies and even CATS. Joella had not dismissed the possibility that she might pay for the way she prioritised such things in her life but assured herself that she would throw herself into CATS revision once the most important game of her life so far was over, and she didn’t require any more convincing than that.

When the fifth year first stepped outside that morning, she stood for a brief moment to gauge the weather. A light breeze ruffled her long ponytail, her hair looking decidedly ginger these days. It was perfect and Joella was glad that she wouldn’t have to battle the elements today.

Joella always felt readily determined whenever Pecari were up against their archrivals, sure that the latter would have to lose eventually, but so far that prediction had yet to ring true. Each time that one of her captains’ had been facing their last match at Sonora, whether it had been Rupert or Adam, she had felt all the more certain that they were going to make that victory theirs. Today it was Liliana who was playing her last game. Liliana was a great captain and had showed full dedication to the team. Joella could not have found someone she would rather be Assistant Captain for than one of her best friends. Together Liliana and Atlas were the last players of the team that Joella had first joined all those years ago when she was seldom eleven years old and that made it seem like the end of a chapter. Joella wanted to make sure they went out with style and that the chapter ended with a win.

“I was born ready,” she grinned confidently in response to Liliana’s question as the older girl linked arms with her. It felt rather bittersweet and it was then that it really sunk in - this was the last time, after five wonderful years of playing together, that she would walk down to the pitch with Liliana.

Joella was keen not to let the nostalgic edge of this match cloud her vision or take away her focus. She channelled it all into determination, something she could hardly be accused of lacking when it came to her beloved sport. She wanted to make Liliana proud and she wanted to beat Aladren black and blue (pun intended) and prove her house pride to be well-placed. But at the end of the day Joella played for herself. She did what she loved because she loved it and if she were to continue as far as she dreamed she had to show the world that she had it in her.

The Pecari set straight to warming up with her teammates when she reached the pitch and then Liliana called them all to gather around for her last pep talk. Next year it would be Joella in her shoes and the fifth year knew she had big shoes to fill, yet the prospect of becoming Captain was nonetheless an exciting one. Liliana’s pep talk was appropriately positive and motivating. That was what the team needed. Like her Captain, Joella had faith in the Pecari team - they all knew how to play well, they just needed to make sure they really went for it today.

“PECARI!”

Before she knew it, everyone was getting themselves into position on the ground and the rival captains were shaking hands. Joella readied herself on her broom and only then did she feel the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as she waited for the starting whistle. She was confident that her Chaser trio was stronger than the Aladren one and that she was the strongest of all six of them (she was not cocky but realistic) but that also meant she’d be a popular target for the Beaters.

Coach Grase blew the whistle and the Pecari Chaser instinctively pushed off from the ground and rose into the air, following after the Quaffle. Joella didn’t hang around and flew off from the centre of the pitch, having scooped the Quaffle up smoothly so that it was now tucked under one arm. She had got there first, just as she had done in the Teppenpaw game, but things didn’t stop there and she had to make sure she handled everything well following that. A part of her had considered that she should have let her younger Chasers take that initial small victory, perhaps to boost their self-efficacy for the game to follow, but this match was important. That was not to say she lacked faith in her fellow Chasers by any means but Joella knew she could get the job done and so she did.

Now as far into Aladren territory as she could get, given it was the start of the match and the Beaters would have good control of the bludgers, Joella needed those teammates of hers. She could see one brown-robed player out of the corner of her eye, which saved her from having to glance around in a manner that alerted the opposition that she was looking to pass. She chucked the Quaffle towards her teammate very suddenly, so that the Aladren players might not have yet realised where they needed to be - she could only hope that her teammate was watching her closely enough to see the pass coming before it reached them, rather than being just as surprised by it as the Hawks.
8 <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font> And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end. 295 <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

August 07, 2016 6:15 AM
There were several events that marked the beginning of the end of a Sonora school year. Tests for the upperclassmen was the first and foremost event, along with of course preparation for the big final graduation celebration. However Atlas was one of the lucky students to get the chance to prepare for an additional event- the championship Qudditch game. Gently rising from his bed with a yawn, Atlas rubbed the sleep from his eyes, greeted by the sound of silence. No harsh wind, rain, or storms brewing in the sky today. It was a completely ordinary way to end his last quidditch game. Getting up from bed and stretching, he slowly put on his trusty uniform, taking the time to inspect each piece one last time. No matter what anyone said, this was his moment. He earned the right to feel sentimental.

Like his wardrobe, Atlas took his time eating and arriving to the Pitch. He wanted to remember this, the anticipation of waiting for his final game. He thought about going early to help Liliana prepare, but figured this was her moment to shine brightest as the Pecari Captain. As he neared his team, a smile spread on his face as he joined them to begin warm-ups. He pulled the Beater’s gloves from his pocket and carefully slipped them on, savoring the way they fit perfectly after being broken in over hours of practice. He gripped them tight, feeling the leather stretch around his hands, knowing that they would never feel the same after today.

Stretching was his favorite part of his warm-up since he could look around at the stands and his teammates as they completed their own pregame rituals. However no matter where he moved his eyes, they always seemed to float back to Liliana. Since their conversation in the Pecari Common room earlier that year, he began to notice how much she had really grown up. She really does shine he thought as he watched her pump up the team, particularly Joella. He felt his heart throb as the girls linked arms. Biting his lip, he focused his attention down, hoping to find something interesting to look at on his shoes. What was he coming to when he was feeling uncomfortable with a teammate/captain interaction? He shook his head, scolding himself mentally for feeling so unusually petty.

Liliana gave a great speech and pep talk. Classic her. Although his original goal of the day was to just savor the moment, Liliana’s lingering gaze after the team broke revitalized his competitive spirit. Atlas knew that win or lose, she would smile if thats what was needed of her to keep the team's spirits up. However he wanted to see her smile because she was honestly happy. Celebrating a victory with her, now that would really be a way to end his Sonora Quidditch career.

Merlin, God, Buddha, whoever grants wishes to poor idiots, he thought in reference to both Liliana and himself, please help us to win. He was pretty sure that wasn’t how prayers worked, but it was worth a shot. With the celestial help being worked out between the big three, all Atlas needed to focus on now was his game. He tried to even his breathing as they lined up on the Pitch, hoping to engrain the moment in his mind. With the sound of Coach Grase’s whistle he shot up to start work. Since at this point his body knew what to do on its own, all he needed to think about was the location of the Bludgers.

He listened closely as he flew, all the while keeping an eye on the Chasers. Joella was already in possession of the Quaffle. Merlin she was going to be a great Captain, he thought as he flew close by to give the Chasers some protection since at this point the Bludgers could be anywhere. Thankfully he didn’t have to keep guessing for long as he noticed one flying low on the edge of the Pitch. Flying down to get to it first, he shot it at the Aladren Chaser furthest away from Joella before flying back to play Chaser defense squad.
0 <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font> No matter what Bludgers are ahead. 276 <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font> 0 5

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

August 08, 2016 6:55 AM
As he woke up, Louis felt a thrill of anticipation run through him. Today was the day of the finals, the day they’d been training for all year – or, really, the past two years, seeing as Quidditch matches had been cancelled this year. And more than that, it was also the day of Leonidas and Theodore’s final match at Sonora. Louis wanted to make his captain and teammate proud of their team. He was sure they’d want to leave with a final win and a continuation of the Aladren dominance, and he would be there helping with that every step (or rather pass) of the way. Pecari wouldn’t know what had hit them.

Louis was so excited by the thought of the day’s match that he found himself singing in the bathroom as he got ready for the day, only realising a little too late that his roommate Dustin might not appreciate the latest wizarding hits quite as much as he did. Oops. But, he reasoned, it was the day of the Quidditch final. And that excused everything.

His buoyant mood carried him quickly through breakfast and, before he knew it, he was standing with the rest of the Aladren team by the Quidditch pitch and listening to their captain’s pep talk. Leonidas’s closing remarks reminded him once again that they would be losing two of their players next year, and the thought didn’t only make him feel sad at losing his teammates. How would the Aladren Quidditch team cope, having to replace not just one player (which had seemed touch-and-go for a while at the beginning of this year) but two? Hopefully the new Aladrens would all be superb Quidditch players, but unfortunately that couldn’t be relied upon. Maybe some of the current students could be persuaded to relax their anti-Quidditch playing stances? He knew it would officially be Clark’s problem, as the Aladren captain, but Louis would do all he could to ensure that Aladren were up in the air and winning again next year, even if it meant changing from his familiar chaser position.

And then the Aladren team were on the Quidditch pitch facing off against the Pecari team as the two captains shook hands. Louis sent a wink to Ingrid – he would definitely be following Leonidas’s advice and giving his date a good show, although perhaps not in the way she would like most. However, he was especially determined to beat Pecari after Ingrid’s response to him asking her to accompany him to the ball. He was going to be the one gently teasing her about the fact that Aladren had thrashed Pecari, not the other way round! With a ‘good luck’ to his teammates closest to him he was in the air, and the game had started.

Joella Curtis was quick off the mark getting to the Quaffle – too quick for Louis’s liking. He knew the older girl was probably one of the biggest threats to Aladren dominance, and was hoping to stop her getting her hands on the Quaffle too often. He had faith in Clark’s seeking abilities, but the chasers would have to watch out with Joella on the loose. Still, he, Jack, and Arianna had put in plenty of hours training together, and with John defending them from bludgers he wasn’t scared of any Pecaris. Thoughts of bludgers prompted a quick look round, which was lucky as one of the Pecari beaters seemed to have aimed one right at him. He managed to dodge just in time, not wanting to be taken out of the match at all, let alone this early on.

Focusing back on the chaser action he saw Joella suddenly pass the Quaffle. He knew he had little chance of getting there in time to intercept, but the two other Aladren chasers were closer than he was. Hopefully they had their eyes open and would be able to seize the Quaffle, although the pass was a good one. Flying closer to the action, he positioned himself to be ready to take possession of the Quaffle, whether due to a friendly pass or an interception opportunity. They couldn’t afford to let Pecari get too close to the goal hoops, even with Theodore ready to defend. He’d far rather take the match to Liliana’s end of the pitch. Pecari were going down.
9 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font> No time for you losers, 'cause <i>we</i> are the champions! 314 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font> 0 5

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

August 08, 2016 9:54 PM
On the morning of the Quidditch championship, John woke up, for the first time in a couple of weeks, in a truly good mood. His limbs were as heavy and achy as they were every morning as he dragged himself out of bed and splashed water on his face, he had somehow gotten a bit of something rather sticky in his hair (his guess was he’d been careless with his hands while working with some rosemary cuttings the night before) and only discovered it when his hairbrush, moving quickly and forcefully, hit the spot and nearly snatched the affected hair out by the roots, and he burned his tongue on his first cup of tea, but none of this served to make the good mood go away. When he entered the Cascade Hall, he looked around the room full of people and didn’t feel the slightest temptation to go kick any of them, which was enough to make him wonder if Clark or Joe had somehow tampered with his food or drink. After a moment's thought, he decided it was pretty unlikely, but that it didn’t bother him enough either way to keep him from waving to Joe before going to his own table in search of his friend, some food, and some more tea, not necessarily in that order.

Quidditch Championships, he thought as he found the food and tea together and discovered, to his delight, that today’s tea, though admittedly still smoother and thinner than he would have brewed it, brought to mind only the very slightest possible associations to water. The day of the Quidditch Championship game was just one of those days that nothing could go wrong on. Today, at least, the world was dangerously close to back to the way it had always been before this year, the way John much preferred it. There were good guys and bad guys, he got to take out all his frustrations on the bad guys in order to protect the other good guys, and later, there would be a party, during which he and people he liked would be Very Important People and unable to do wrong and so forth. It was all going to be great. Tomorrow, basically everything would completely and utterly suck again, but today, he was wearing glass slippers and everything was good.

He smiled first at the joke about the weather of the year’s other games and as Leonidas acknowledged his point, describing victory as painting-by-the-numbers. His expression slipped a little, though, at the mention of people making a good show for their dates – dates were a thing of this year, not Good Times, so he really did not like them being mentioned – and frowned slightly, puzzled, when the captain then for some reason added that it had been an honor to play with them. What, was today an exception or somethi….

The thought trailed off as certain disagreeable pieces of data about the current year presented themselves to him. He’d thought of next year as the year he’d have his partner in (not literal, for once) crime back in the classes he took, something which would greatly improve them, but it was also the year when Leonidas and Theodore would be, well, gone. Not the first time they had lost people, of course, but…it had been a bit uncomfortable when Francesca had left, he guessed, she had been around long enough that he had been used to her presence on the team and had found it awkward to find someone else occupying the Francesca-shaped space at practices for the first month or so of that year, but he hadn’t really known her at all personally. This was different, actually rather upsetting – at least to the extent John got upset when he wasn’t so upset that he was shattering teacups and throwing boxes at people’s heads – if he was to be honest….

He tried to put it out of his head. Nothing he could do about it, and anyway, there was still the game. Simple. Straightforward. By the numbers. See, aim, hit, and it landed or it didn’t – none of this messy stuff unless he somehow hit someone in the mouth and teeth and blood went flying, but he didn’t think that was likely. It was all simple.

It was also, apparently, a decent day for Pecaris – it looked like they were everywhere as the game began, Joella getting the Quaffle and Primred a Bludger almost right away. John flew after that Bludger, but Louis dodged it on his own before John got into range; John made a mental note to compliment the younger boy on the good form later, checked to make sure nothing blue was on the same side of Joella that he was, and smacked the Bludger as hard as he could toward some brown robes that he was reasonably sure didn't belong to Primred and really, really hoped belonged to Joella. Ingrid was a good target too, he would be pleased to injure Ingrid or her broom any time, but Joella was the senior Chaser. If he took her down, then even if it was too late to prevent another minute of Pecari possession, he made things much easier for Louis and Jack and Arianna.
16 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> What Louis said. 285 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> 0 5


<font color="blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

August 09, 2016 2:34 AM
In the Aladren dorms, in the first year girls’ dormitory, in the bathroom, was a mist of hairspray. And in the center of the mist was a perfectly weaved french braid ponytail, tied together with a perfectly curled blue ribbon. The haze cleared, and there Arianna Valenti sat, facing the mirror with a closed-mouth smile.

She was ready. This was the persona she had decided to present in front of the entire school today. Of all the students that would be in the air today, she was the least experienced - the first year girl from an unknown family with no magic, who had somehow ended up in the Quidditch finals. Arianna knew she was sure to be a target - she’d go after her, were the roles reversed. She had to have a plan.

Looking fabulous was just the very last phase of her plan for the Quidditch final. It was Arianna’s task to avenge her cousin’s loss, and the two Valentis had been working to prepare for this moment for weeks now. Any regular on the Quidditch Pitch was likely to have seen the two training together, Gabe loudly belting “Eye of the Tiger” while the two ran up and down the stands, Arianna running mostly from sheer embarrassment. All Valentis played a sport, from the nonni to the nipoti, but it was safe to say that Arianna was the least athletic of the family. It was just not something that had ever been important before. She had joined the volleyball team last year only because it was required that she play on a school sport, and that was the one with the cutest outfits. Sure, she had picked up enough techniques not to embarrass herself… but that was pretty much it, really. The Aladren knew she was never going to fly as fast as her cousin, because he was simply crazy. In their flying sessions, it became clear that the younger cousin was going to need to find her own path to success.

A note dropped into her hand as she left the bathroom, she barely saw the barn owl that delivered it fly by. It looked like just a spare piece of notebook paper, slightly crumpled, and written in a terrible mess of a scrawl that was only intelligible because she knew it so well.

”Perfect weather out here today. Have fun!”

She smiled to herself, crumpling the note in a manicured fist as she approached her dresser. The dork had checked out the field conditions for her. And if anyone asked if her goofball cousin had become her closest friend at her weird magical boarding school, she would strongly deny it.

But as she put on her black running leggings, blue t-shirt (house colors were always a must for game days) and sneakers, she could not deny the power of family. Even in the weirdest, most ridiculous situation, family was what sustained her. When her little sister came to Sonora one day, as Arianna was sure Elisa would, she would also be a strong force to guide her. Humble origins or no, the Valenti name would leave its mark on Sonora. And that was why she needed to be absolutely flawless today, her first big chance to leave her mark.

Packing the rest of her Quidditch things in her tote, she did not say a word to her most likely sleeping roommates as she departed. Gabe had offered his broom to her for the match today, but Arianna had declined, opting to pick up one of the school brooms when she got down to the Pitch. Those were the brooms she was used to, she felt less self-assured on her cousin’s ultra fast, ultra sensitive racing broom.

She ate her yogurt and orange juice alone in Cascade Hall today. Her cousin knew that she liked to keep to herself on game days, and dutifully kept his distance. The first year picked up a croissant too, and lamented that it was nowhere near as delicious as the ones in her grandparents’ bakery. Typical, she shouldn’t have even bothered. With an eye roll, she was successfully distracted from any potential game-related anxiety. The pastry crisis at Sonora was the true crisis.

When she arrived at the Pitch, she began to do some of the stretches she and her cousin had practiced for before flying. Ben and the Pecari Chasers were supposed to be some of the toughest in the school, and she needed to be prepared for the long haul. Or Clark could just grab the Snitch right away, and they could go straight to the festivities. After Arianna got her first ever goal in, of course.

She brushed out any wrinkles in her flying robes and adjusted her flying gloves around her wrists as Leonidas gave his traditional pre-game pep talk. She had nearly forgotten it was his and Theodore’s last game. Though she wasn't close with either of them, they had just become constants in her life here at Sonora, part of her routine. Next year they would not be here, most assuredly at some prestigious universities. And Arianna’s small group of people she regularly had pleasant (if only Quidditch-related) conversation would grow smaller. Maybe the new class of first years would have some interesting people in it.

Arianna had no intention of losing, ever, at anything really, and today was no different. She grabbed a broom from the broom closet - she’d gotten better over the year at picking out the best ones - and found a broom she thought would at least keep pace with the rest. The rest was all a blur, the day was beautiful, formalities happened, and soon the whistle blew and it was time to kick off.

Kick off was always the worst part of flying for Arianna. No matter how many times she practiced, she could never get over the irrational fear that the broom wouldn’t stay in the air. With a deep breath, she heaved herself into the sky.

She would not be the fastest, she knew this. And so she did not enter the fray of blue and brown (such an unfortunate color) robes fighting for the Quaffle, instead gaining height and veering slightly to the right. This would give her the best vantage point of who started out with the Quaffle, and potentially a head start in the necessary direction. After watching the battle between Teppenpaw and Pecari, she knew she would need every second she could get. She also hoped it put her in a good position to receive a pass, should Aladren start out with possession.

But it seemed that this was not a scenario she would have to worry about, as the older Chaser girl made off with the red ball. Flying as fast as she dared, but certainly not as fast as some of the others, she trailed behind the experienced chaser, slightly above and potentially in a blind spot.

Narrowing her eyes, she began to chase after the older girl. Somewhere on the Pitch, she heard the crack of a bat hitting a Bludger, but tried to shake it off. If it was a Pecari, they were certain not to hit it too close to Older Chaser Girl - the indiscriminate flying stone was liable to go after the girl in brown robes as soon as it was done with the one in blue. And John, she was certain, would not be stupid enough to send a big iron ball, bewitched to chase players on either side, into what she was sure must still be a relatively densely populated area of the Pitch. Maybe a few minutes after kickoff, people would be a bit more spread out, but not now, she theorized.

It was in the midst of these thoughts that she noticed a flash of red - the Quaffle! - perhaps Older Chaser Girl had not seen her after all! She had not anticipated it, she was not prepared, but this was her shot.

Her brain was racing, she was just too high to swipe the ball from the opposition, and if she kicked it, that would only move it closer to Theodore. Besides, she had never been particularly adept at kicking things, and that would look awkward anyway.

She inhaled deeply, and did the only thing she could think of to do, and dived down. Her stomach felt like it was in her throat - Arianna hated that - and she reached out her right arm, gloved hand cupped. With all her might, her fingertips barely grazed the ball as she slapped at it, maybe slightly behind her, maybe slightly down, she wasn’t entirely sure. Flying forward a few more feet before turning herself around, she knew it wasn’t the most graceful hit. But as she tried to regain her bearings she hoped at the very least she had knocked the ball off course.
0 <font color="blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font> It appears we are in agreement 343 <font color="blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

August 09, 2016 10:37 PM
Ben was glad the weather was nice. Spring was a great time of year for sports, but rain could really put a damper on events and strong winds could foul up the best players. Neither condition was present today. With everybody able to play their very best, today's game would be all about skill and training, and in that respect, he felt Pecari had the edge. Liliana ran a tight ship and the Pecaris clocked in more practice than any other team in the school, as best as he could tell. Even Jamie seemed to be taking it seriously. They were so ready for this. It was Pecari's time to shine again.

More than that, it was just more fun to play in good weather, and Ben was looking forward to getting in the air and playing against the school's undefeated team. He loved a good challenge, and this was shaping up to be the game of his life so far. Quidditch wasn't baseball, but it was the sport he had the best shot at going pro in since the were restrictions on wizards playing muggle sports. Amelia knew the loopholes that let him play at an amateur level, but if he wanted to make a living at it, he'd have to drop out of Sonora before he earned any CATS, swear off magic, break his wand, and otherwise do things he wasn't really ready to do. So Quidditch was currently his best option, and winning his first championship against Aladren would go a long way to making it possible.

Especially with Coach Grase watching. Who knew how long she'd stay on at as the coach at a secondary school, so this might be his last chance to make an impression on her if she went back to competitive playing as soon as her injury was cleared.

He listened to Liliana's speech, laughing when her instructions for his position boiled down to keeping the Quaffle away from her, though the humor faded as she reminded them that it was her and Atlas' final match. Filled with determination to do the seventh years proud, Ben joined into the cheer, and readied himself to take off at the whistle.

Trusting Joella to go for the scrimmage as she had in their game against Teppenpaw, Ben didn't bother fighting for the first touch of the Quaffle, but just set himself up for the first pass. It came soon enough and it looked clean. Ben held out his hands to complete the pass, but then Arianna dropped down from nowhere and brushed her fingers against the red ball, knocking it just enough off course, that Ben had to chase after it instead of just letting it come to him.

Aside from Arianna, whose direction and speed had already prevented her from actually claiming the ball, Ben was the closest Chaser on hand, so he got there first. His own direction and speed were no longer optimal for making a clean run on Theodore, so at this point, he mostly just wanted to get the ball back to someone who could.

He straightened out his flight again, looking for an opening for a clean pass, and threw the ball to his teammate, only seconds after he had recovered it. He hoped that might throw off the Aladrens, who might expect him to try to recover and get into scoring position himself, or at least claim more territory for Pecari, but this was a team sport, and he was too easy a target for bludgers while he fought to get back up to top speed after nearly coming to a stop to be in the right place to grab the off-kilter Quaffle.

The first goal attempt would not be his, but with any luck, the pass he just made would be completed and it would at least belong to his team.
1 <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font> Wait a minute, I disagree! 339 <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

August 11, 2016 1:33 AM
They were doing pretty solid this early into the game, which was more than enough reason for Atlas to be on edge. After 7 years playing for Quidditch for Sonora, Altas knew more than anyone not to doubt the abilities of the Aladren team. Those hawks were the type of players that really picked up their game later in the match, but Atlas wasn’t going to let that discourage him.

As he sped forward to catch up with the Chasers, Atlas focused on the sounds around him. Unfortunately there wasn't any telltale collision thuds nor gasps from the spectators, so the shot either missed or the Aladren dodged. Atlas swore a little under his breath, annoyed the element of surprise would no longer be in his favor. He wanted to look over his shoulder to check out the situation, but catching up to protect the Chasers came first. It wasn't until Atlas heard the crack of metal against a foreign bat that he allowed himself a peak over his shoulder.

John apparently picked up his Bludger, aiming it toward the Pecari chasers. The 7th year felt his stomach drop a little, but didn't let it linger. He couldn’t. Now that he had his work cut out from him. The angle of intersection between himself and the Bludger wasn’t ideal, nor his speed if he wanted to redirect it towards an Aladren. Pulling himself closer to his broom to increase his speed, he pushed himself further and faster. If he weren’t in the middle of a game, the physical and mental pressure would have probably made him vomit. Boy was he going to miss this game.

Atlas was within 5 broomsticks of the Bludger, so now it was time to make the tough choices. From his past experience, he had two viable options of attack. The first would be to redirect the ball towards John or the Aladren Seeker. However, he didn’t think he had enough strength to both counteract John’s hit back towards him and add the power needed to land any real damage. Aiming for Clark was never a bad option, but he didn’t have visibility on him at the moment. Not to mention there was almost always a Beater on him.

Much to Atlas’ dislike, the best choice would just be to hit it away. Not a terrible move considering his angle, but not really a good use of a Bludger either. Still the game was only just beginning, and it wasn’t going to be his only Bludger.

Now only a broom’s length away from the intersection, Atlas’ arm began the rotation to meet the Bludger at the optimum angle. He was less focused on aim, and more focused on putting all his power into the redirection. With a grunt, he smacked the Bludger hard. Sending it off its track. Atlas hated having to do this, but it was better safe than sorry. It was the Chasers job to be focused on scoring; it was his job to protect his friends.


0 <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font> I got your back Ben! 276 <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font> 0 5


<font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

August 11, 2016 12:45 PM
The air seemed to crackle when Jack woke up the day of the final match. He hadn't slept very well last night, and the nightmare he'd had was just beyond his memory. Jack tried to push it away as he dressed, but some thought wouldn't leave him. He was excited to see Aladren in the finals again, but less enthused that they were facing off against Pecari. In past years, Aladren had dominated the pitch with no question, but since Jack had joined, Pecari had done extraordinarily well. It was time to change that bit and reclaim the cup for their house.

It was a pleasant day, though a bit hot for Jack, and he dressed quickly before making his way to eat breakfast with the rest of the team. It was a speedy affair, breakfast, and he joined his other mates on the pitch. The excitement never allowed him to eat much, but forcing down some eggs and toast, he hoped, would suffice. It was Bennett's last match as well, and Jack had liked the older wizard. He would be missed as the team's captain, but Jack tried not to feel sorry about seeing him go. He made an excellent speech -- short and to the point -- and Jack felt confident that they would win this time around. He saluted their captain before Bennett went to shake hands with Bannister, and Jack went to wait for the kickoff.

As he waited, Jack suddenly remembered his dream from the night before. There was a bludger coming right at his face, and he remembered the hard steel against his face before he'd woken up in the middle of the night. Jack broke out in a cold sweat. He could feel his hands shaking and his stomach drop for no apparent reason at all. Jack gripped his broom tightly, and took deep breaths as his heart raced in his chest. 'What's wrong with me?' Jack shivered and tried to shake himself out of it by moving his feet around. This was a match just like any other. What was so different about it now? Jack looked over at his little sister on the bench as a reserve, and in his heart he was very glad she wasn't playing today.

Pecari ended up with the Quaffle first, so Jack followed the ball closely, but not close enough yet to intercept. His team-mates were doing brilliantly so far, and it was a mess of bludgers and bodies. Jack needed to focus, but he was finding it difficult. He had no time to pause and recollect himself, so he smacked the side of his forehead with the edge of his palm. "Get it together, Spencer," he muttered. The adrenaline and excitement of the match took over his body, but his brain was still trying to hold onto the fear that had suddenly struck Jack just a few minutes ago.

"Get it together," he muttered to himself again through grit teeth, and he forced himself forward to intercept Pierce's pass. Jack swooped in and snatched it out of the air. Luckily Primred had hit away the bludger in time for Jack to take the Quaffle without any fear. Jack kept an eye open for an open team-mate. They still had a ways to go before anyone could take a shot, but Jack covered a good bit of distance before making a short pass to an open blue-clad Chaser. He ducked away after making the pass, wanting to avoid any bludgers that might've been hit at him on his way.

Not thinking was the best way to focus, Jack realised, and so he tried to think only of how he felt right at this moment on his broom playing with his team-mates. It didn't matter how he felt, he just needed to help his team win.
40 <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font> Not for long. 299 <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font> 0 5

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

August 11, 2016 2:38 PM
John’s involvement with the Chasers consisted largely of hitting things at them and occasionally offering up an observation about how they’d handled it and how he thought they might do that better next time, but he still permitted himself a grin and a moment of something like pride as Arianna got right in it and tried to knock the ball off-course. He must have done an adequate job of desensitizing her to the dangers of her job, so he was proud of himself and her for that, and the grin was for the resemblance between what she’d done and what his brother had repeatedly done during Teppenpaw’s match against Pecari. He couldn’t be sure, of course, being…well, himself and this being a situation he only rarely found himself in anything even vaguely resembling, but he thought Joe might kind of like Arianna, which meant John could use this probably coincidence as grounds to tease Joe remorselessly the next time his brother’s superior people skills particularly annoyed him….

Unfortunately, Joe hadn’t won Teppenpaw their game and Arianna didn’t return the Quaffle to Aladren possession. The Pierce kid had to work for it, but he got the Quaffle back and kept it moving toward Theodore. Primred also got back into the game; the sound the Bludger made was the sound of a Bludger colliding with a thick piece of wood, not a thin piece of wood or a body. Shrugging, still in a decent mood, John chased off after the errant Bludger.

He beat Primred to it and hit it first away from the other Beater – he had tried the whole don’t-stop-til-you’re-just-about-to-drop routine in MARS before just to build and test his own endurance (and, frankly, because sometimes the noise in his head became such a cacophony that even he couldn’t make sense of or stand it, and the best cure when that happened was to just go hit something over and over and over again, until first it stopped being fun and then it stopped being anything, until he was so close to exhaustion that he was running almost entirely on muscle memory and had no thoughts with words in them anymore), so he knew he could keep this up for quite a while, but since he also knew his accuracy and the force of his hits both degraded significantly long before his hands became too numb to hold the bat or his arms too weak for a swing to prevent the Bludger from proceeding toward his face, he also saw no point in just wasting a shot. He’d probably only just be aching enough for it to be pleasant by the end of the match, but – well, odder things than a match turning into a very complicated don’t-stop-til-you-drop drill happened all the time.

In the meantime, the trick, which required its own, to his way of thinking worse, kind of exertion, was to keep the Bludger under his control while he looked for a good target without letting it hit him. He was pleased beyond words when Jack took advantage of the breathing room Primred had given the Chasers to steal the Quaffle and present him with one. Happily, John hit the Bludger toward one of the brown robes now behind Jack, hoping they’d be so intent on catching up that the Bludger could go unnoticed until it was too late…barring further interference from Pecari Beaters, anyway. He looked for those two, glad too for the excuse to glance up and assure himself that Clark and Leonidas were still doing okay. This was fun, but without those two, it wouldn’t be for long.
16 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> Yes, I'm afraid I must interfere. 285 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> 0 5

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

August 11, 2016 4:31 PM
Louis’s worst fears were being realised, with the Pecari chasers getting closer to the goal hoops. Sure, this was only the beginning of the match, but it was always psychologically easier if one had the upper hand from the very beginning. If Pecari scored so early, it could be a little demoralising, and that wouldn’t give them any advantages, unless they took it as cause to really dig in and show that they were made of better stuff. However, Louis didn’t think the Aladrens were playing badly, despite Pecari having the Quaffle. Arianna had done a great job of getting to Joella’s pass and managing to knock it off course (he made a note to congratulate her later, not wanting to be patronising but she really was playing well), even if Ben had still caught the Quaffle, which was Not Good. Louis was flying in, getting closer to the action but still so annoyingly far away – curse that bludger, and the beater responsible – that he couldn’t intercept Ben’s subsequent pass. Luckily for Louis and the Aladren team, though, Jack was perfectly positioned to swoop in and intercept. Mentally cheering, Louis changed direction and prepared to receive a pass, as he was sure Jack would look to do so – at this stage in the game, with bludgers nearby, he was unlikely to get all the way to the Pecari hoops with the Quaffle.

Louis was finding himself being very competitive this year, more so than he had been in his first year. Whilst naturally competitive in an academic setting, he hadn’t realised until now that he could be so competitive about sport. But then again, in first year he had been new to playing Quidditch with a full team (having only played with a keeper and couple of chasers at most before attending Sonora, and none of them particularly good). Furthermore, the fear of not being able to field a full team – and to be the only team to struggle to do so – that had gripped them all at the beginning of the year had only made him more invested in the outcome of the Aladren Quidditch team’s chance for glory.

Louis was still keeping a weather eye out for bludgers, after the sort-of close shave he’d had earlier, and as he trailed Jack he was relieved to see John thoughtfully sending one towards a Pecari player. He was sure that would be appreciated, he thought with a grin, and was glad that he was on the same team as John. He’d been on the receiving end of his bludgers in practise, and the older boy definitely knew how to hit them!

Jack got a fair way with the Quaffle, making up a lot (if not more) of the distance they’d lost when Joella had initially grabbed the Quaffle, and Louis easily caught the Quaffle that was passed to him. He was fairly close, and all the hours spent practising paid off as everything went smoothly. Louis shot a quick grin at Jack, feeling like they were definitely working well as a team, and continued the journey towards the Pecari hoops and Liliana Bannister with his precious cargo. He wasn’t too far off when he decided it was time to pass, not wanting to give the Pecari beaters too much time to gather their bludgers and ruin his day. He’d been keeping note of where the other two chasers were, not wanting to be caught off guard in the event of a sudden need to abandon plan and ditch the Quaffle early, and so it was a simple task to throw the ball towards the nearest Aladren chaser. Hopefully they would successfully catch it, and Louis felt satisfied as he immediately prepared to support as necessary. A goal was surely within sight!
9 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font> Oh, how <i>sad</i> 314 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color= "blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

August 12, 2016 12:33 AM
Arianna rolled her eyes when she saw that the Quaffle had been recovered by Gabe’s friend. Lame. She had not dived after the ball and battled that awful feeling in her stomach just for Pecari to snatch the ball again. But it appeared that Louis was lagging behind - maybe it was her older friend who had had to deal with that Bludger earlier - and Jack was, well, Jack had just gotten the Quaffle! Excellent. It was very important that they not let the formidable Pecari chasers damage their chances at winning the game. Arianna was no loser - they had not lost the last game, and from the sounds of it, Aladren had not lost a game in years. Losing now would be the ultimate kind of loss. It would be truly embarrassing.

As she flew towards the Quaffle, she did her best to keep pace with the Pecari chasers, trying not to get ahead or fall too far behind. The older Pecari beater had hit the Bludger away from the herd of flyers, and as far as Arianna was concerned, that made things interesting. From what she had witnessed so far in her own game with Crotalus, and Gabe’s game against Pecari, it appeared that avoiding areas of high flyer density was the best way to avoid Bludgers. This strategy made especially perfect sense for someone like her cousin, who (though she would never say it out loud) was much better at flying than her, and far more willing to resort to crazy antics to avoid being hit. But Arianna hated diving, and hated jerking this way and that. Though she wasn’t a high priority target, like say maybe a Seeker or Keeper, she was inexperienced, and likely perceived to be an easy hit. Perhaps, for someone like her, it was best to stay close to the herd. A mixed herd of blue and brown robes, that is, which she was sure a responsible Beater on either side would certainly protect.

But then Louis caught the Quaffle, and the desire to take part in Aladren success began to make her bold. Besides, this was the first time they had been so close to Pecari territory the whole game. Surely all the chasers and beaters-assigned-to-chasers must be coming from the same direction. If there were any unclaimed Bludgers, she assumed that they were coming from the same direction, as well. It bothered her that the Seekers, and more importantly the Beaters that she assumed would accompany them, were unaccounted for. If they were nearby, that could be a potential threat. Hopefully she would place a far second to Clark in terms of target desirability. The first year Aladren of no known magical heritage naturally looked up to someone from a similar background and who was so accomplished and so intelligent as Clark. But her sense of self-preservation was much stronger than any admiration.

Well, if she was going to go for it, she would have to act quickly. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned forward, broke away from the pack she thought she had maintained, and began to accelerate faster than she had for most of the game. Her heart rammed against her chest, as if begging her to slow down. She tried to remind herself that there were probably falling charms on the Pitch. Probably. Regardless, Arianna Valenti was not a chicken. Chickens were ugly birds.

She was just passing by Louis as he made a clean pass her way. The leather ball hit her chest with a soft “thud” before she was able to get an arm around it. The girl continued to zoom forward as her heart froze.

The Quaffle was in her hands. She was pretty sure she was alone, only certain of other Aladrens nearby. She had violated her own rule. She had become a target.

Suddenly, the Quaffle felt fiery hot against her body. It needed to go, and fast. Not bothering to slow down, thighs gripped tight against the broom as she raised the ball over her head and chucked it with all her twelve year-old might straight towards the hoop to which she was closest, the one all the way on the right.

Afraid she might very well run into the hoops, she veered left. Her heart was practically quivering inside her. She hoped beyond hope that nobody else had noticed her minor panic attack. Remembering she was in front of the entire student body, she spread her usual smirk across her face. Yes, everything was going entirely accordingly to plan.
0 <font color= "blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font> I will not throw away my shot 343 <font color= "blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

August 12, 2016 6:18 AM
Oh Merlin. It was here. Ingrid had mostly felt good butterflies before Quidditch matches, with just a touch of the nerves that let you know you were still sane and not arrogant - Quidditch was intense, and it mattered, and it was normal to be a little nervous - but today the mix had definitely switched in favour of nerves. She wanted to give Liliana a win. She had wanted, more than anything, to impress Liliana ever since she’d first met her. She felt like she had, to some extent, done that. She felt that Liliana liked her and was proud of her as a player, though it was hard to measure how much was enough to have achieved her goal. Being part of the team that handed her a win, like a big present all wrapped up with a bow on top, would be a pretty clear sign that she had been good enough, and be a great way to see out her captain. She also had her more personal aim to achieve today, of getting at least one goal past her brother. This was her last shot at that too.

The match day was pretty perfect. The breeze at its current level wouldn’t do much to alter the course of the balls, though if it chose to have occasional gusts that could be a pain. She braided her hair as tightly as she could (though a few strands of it always managed to escape during the action of the match) and dressed in lightweight clothes under her robes. She forced herself to eat breakfast, a little quieter than usual, and regretting her choices of scrambled eggs (which tasted like rubber) and orange juice (which was too sharply acidic) though she wasn’t sure there was anything that would have tasted good today.

As Liliana gave her speech, it all started getting super real. She found herself having to blink away some tears and Liliana thanked them all and talked of her faith in them. It was hard to imagine Quidditch without her, but now wasn’t the time to get drawn into those thoughts. She had to focus. Out on the pitch, she returned Louis’ wink with her best far-too-dignified-for-that nose in the air type look, mentally adding mid-air tackling her date and getting the ball, as well as that smug look, off him, to her to-do list. And then the whistle blew and they were off.

She scrambled for the ball at the start but saw Joella take it. She moved hastily forwards, glad not to be stuck in defence this game. She tried not to be distracted by her own goal, and to do what was best for the team. Whilst Ingrid wasn’t a naturally selfish person, she could get caught up on her own agenda, or her desire to impress or score particular points. Jamie, for all that the Pecari team might have felt he was a bad example in general, had probably been a positive force in curbing some of Ingrid’s more glory-hog tendencies. They were an immaturity, and something she would have grown out of, in all probability, but by very much not wanting to be like Jamie, she hadn’t had to learn the hard way.

Still, as the first play was exchanged, she found herself a little too far forward to be of use… Perhaps she had just misjudged. Perhaps she was making sure they spaced out and formed a decent chain. Or perhaps she had put her own desire to be the one in a goal scoring position, if Pecari made a successful pass, over making sure she was where she needed to be right now… She felt doubt and guilt at her decision seeping in as she saw Arianna dive in and…. miss. Phew. The tight little fingers that had been clutching at her heart relaxed their grip a little, although the Aladren Chaser had done plenty to damage Pecari’s chances of getting the ball. She watched with increasing guilt as Ben was forced to make an awkward manoeuvre to retrieve it, losing his speed and leaving her exactly where, a minute or so ago, she had thought she wanted to be. He had to pass now. And here she was, just in the right place…

The ball sailed through the air and she lunged forward, biting down a scream of frustration as Jack Spencer snatched the ball from her. The fingers were back around her heart. Had her actions cost Pecari their lead? It made sense to space yourselves out, and perhaps no one else would think anything of her being where she had been at that particular moment, but she couldn’t rule out selfishness or her vendetta against Theodore in her own conscience. She tore after the ball, determined to make this right. Determined to be where she was needed, not where she wanted to be. Fully focussed on getting the ball back. Unfortunately, Quidditch was a game with a lot of elements. Being ‘fully focussed’ on any one aspect was rarely a good idea. Ingrid raced down the pitch, concentrating on speed, on distance covered, on the Quaffle. Not on varying her flight pattern. Not on where her own side’s Beaters’ were and what they were doing to protect her. Not on the Bludger, racing towards her.

SMACK.

The first Ingrid knew of it was when she was jolted to attention by the force of something hitting the tail of her broom, sending her spinning. For a brief moment, she lost control, lost track of which way was up, and focussed only on clinging on as her broom spun. She pulled hard, bringing her broom back under control and working out which way she was facing. Merlin, how could she have been so stupid?! She supposed she was lucky not be physically hurt, though she was pretty dizzy and even retched slightly, though she managed to keep her breakfast down. She reclaimed her bearings in time to see Arianna Valenti shooting for goal. No, no, no. How could this be happening? She’d wanted to do her best for Liliana and so far, this had to be her worst match yet!

She started covering ground down the pitch, a lot more carefully this time, finding as she did so that her broom kept pulling left, trying to get herself into a good position - if not to receive the ball, then at least to support her team - and get the hang of her broom’s new quirks, before Liliana threw the Quaffle out. As she did so, she pondered the vindictiveness of the Quidditch Gods. Sure, she maybe hadn't acted with her team's best interests, and she had sorely paid for that - twice, by her counting. But that whole thing about pride coming before a fall, people needing to be taken down a peg or two... Could it be that Aladren weren't the least bit cocky after their constant victories? She couldn't quite believe that. And, even if they were totally pure of heart about the whole thing, surely, if anyone needed smiting with a vengeance today, it wasn't the Pecari players!
13 <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font> Pride comes before a what now? 322 <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color="tan">Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font>

August 16, 2016 3:09 PM
Liliana's fingers were tightly grasping her broom when she saw Wolseithcrafte's older sister racing towards her on her own broom, Quaffle in hand. She couldn't quite see the Anns, they must have been out of her range of vision but she did see Adam Spencer racing right behind Francesca- reaching, reaching, reaching. He caught up with her and Liliana allowed a breath that she didn't know she had been holding to leave her lungs. Adam would save the day, she just knew it!

Not quite so.


Liliana’s heart was in her throat as Pecari started off the game in their best form—and then as the Aladren chasers (predictably) gained ground and turned it around. They were skilled, Liliana did have that to admit. Leonidas was a great captain and he led the team well. But Pecari was an equally great team and it was Liliana’s strong personal belief that the only difference between the two was that Clark Dill was such an amazing Seeker. Jamie Park had talent to be sure, but he was too cocky and sometimes that cockiness landed him—and the team, in hot water. Still, it wasn’t fair to blame Aladren’s winning streak on one Pecari player—aside from her first year, Pecari had been losing to Aladren before Jamie Park joined. And in part, Liliana felt responsible. She hadn’t exactly cultivated the best environment for a strong team.

But things were different now. They had come together and she had happily witnessed team bonding at the victory party after their last match with Teppenpaw. And they wanted a win. She was almost sure they wanted a win more than the Aladren players wanted a win. After all, Aladren had been winning for the past five years of Quidditch, weren’t the tired of it? No, that would be ridiculous—who got tired of winning? Apparently even Aladren was not an exception to that, Liliana noted as the new first year Chaser came barrelling towards her and her precious hoops.

The haste with with the Quaffle was thrown impressed Liliana, Arianna was swift and she was pretty strong, but she wasn’t Natalie Varth who had at least attempted to fake out the seventh year Keeper and so it was pretty clear to Liliana which hoop the Aladren would be aiming for. She looked for the nearest Pecari player, praying her teammates to be miraculous and carry the Quaffle down to Theodore’s end without another interception. Let him jump a bit, she thought as she caught the Quaffle with much more ease than she had blocked her first attempt on the hoops in her Sonora career and chucked it towards the set of brown robes that she had scouted out earlier.

His hand only just missed swiping the Quaffle out of the air and Liliana found herself wishing that it was Levi on that broom as she knew her beloved cousin never would have let her down. No matter, it was time to prove her place on the team. She had done well in practice- thought that was nothing compared to the adrenalin rushes she received while on the field playing other houses. A million and one thoughts were racing through Liliana's head as she prepared herself for the Quaffle. All she had to do was block it. Block it with anything- hand, foot, broom, head even! It didn't matter as long as the Quaffle didn't go through the hoop!

Liliana saw the Quaffle getting closer and closer and soon realized that she was not stationed in front of the right hoop and that If she didn't get moving soon then Aladren would score and Pecari would be down. She set her eyes and crouched down to her broom deciding that the best plan of action would be to fly in front of where the Quaffle was headed and just block it with her body. Once the Quaffle started falling she could fly down to catch it- if able, or Adam could. She hadn't thought that far ahead into the game yet and frankly didn't care. Eyes set on the prize Liliana smiled sadistically at the ball she so badly wanted to destroy and flew off.
10 <font color="tan">Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font> They say a fall so let's hope it applies to Aladrens, too. 274 <font color="tan">Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font> 0 5

<font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

August 16, 2016 5:29 PM
It had taken five years of literal blood, sweat and tears for Joella to reach the position and recognition on the Sonora Quidditch pitch that she now boasted. She had put so much into her Quidditch over the years and as a result she finally felt comfortable in believing that she deserved all the credit given to her for being the senior Chaser on the Pecari team, a title usually synonymous with best.

Joella didn’t feel a need to compare herself to the other players but when she did stop and think about it, it occurred to her that she was not only the best Chaser on her team, but seemingly also in the entire school. Admittedly her ex-boyfriend Alistair might give her a run for her money but she was now pretty confident that she actually had the edge. A few years back and she might not have said so, partially due to ingrained self-doubt and humble modesty (which Alistair, and probably also the obnoxious Aladren players she was now up against, lacked). But now that she was older, she had matured and learnt the difference between confidence and over-confidence. Being promoted to assistant captain had definitely helped with that, providing her with the opportunity to support younger, less-experienced players than herself.

If things were as they looked and Joella really did stand as the best Chaser at Sonora then she knew high expectations would be upon her, and that only fed her determination because she wanted to meet, if not outshine, such expectations. Pecari had to receive some benefits from having the most experienced Chaser on the pitch.

There was a brief moment of horror when Joella glanced around and saw the youngest Aladren Chaser stretching for her pass but it appeared she didn’t get more than a touch of the Quaffle, resulting in it being scooped up by Ben. Her passing had always been a strength of hers, with good accuracy and power, but lately she hadn’t been reaching her targets as flawlessly as she anticipated. Those young Teppenpaw Chasers had be surprisingly successful at intercepting her passes but she couldn’t afford to be put off by it. The mistakes made by the Pecari Chasers in the Teppenpaw match were never ever to be repeated, especially not today. Joella didn’t want to see another Chaser trio even so much as match the scores achieved by her own team, as had been the case in their last game.

All seemed fine, just for a moment, until Jack Spencer came charging in to intercept what could have been a good pass between Joella’s two fellow Pecari Chasers. Everything began to go downhill from there...

Aladren to Aladren the ball went and as tactical as she tried to be, the fifth year couldn’t get in the way quickly enough. It was soon up to Liliana alone to set things straight but Joella was very confident that the seasoned captain would be able to stop a first year’s hasty goal attempt easily enough. In a normal match Liliana was an outstanding Keeper and today being her last would no doubt serve to make her strive that extra bit harder.

Joella caught the Quaffle readily when it came soaring towards her. She’d been fully expecting it after Liliana’s swift save and thus had put herself in an ideal position. With the scarlet ball tucked under one arm, the most natural feeling in the world for her, the Pecari accelerated back in the direction of the Aladren hoops. She kept up the fast pace, keen to eat up as much ground as possible before she found herself under particularly heavy fire.

Pleased with the distance she had covered and finally noticing a well-placed teammate who she imagined were totally ready to receive the Quaffle, the senior Chaser started to think about relinquishing it. She continued her path for a little longer and then threw the Quaffle, hard and direct towards a fellow brown-robed Chaser, hoping above all hopes that another Aladren would not appear out of nowhere and steal it again.

Immediately upon release of the Quaffle, Joella changed her course rather dramatically, in case any bludgers were trying to catch up with her. She did not swerve so much that she’d find herself unable to get ahead of her teammates, however, as she knew she needed to get into good spaces to receive further passes as the Pecaris continued to make their way back down the pitch (and supposedly into Aladren territory).
8 <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font> I'm confident that it does. 295 <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

August 17, 2016 11:01 AM
Ben cursed (well, he said 'blast it! which was as close to cursing as Ben got because he was pretty sure Gramelia would know otherwise and turn him into a toad as punishment) as Jack Spencer swooped in and snagged the Quaffle before it reached Ingrid. From there, Pecari's position just continued to decline to the point where Liliana herself ended up in possession of the ball (but fortunately not to the point where it got past her). The Chasers were not following her pre-game instructions very well.

Then she tossed it out to Joella and Joella tossed it on the Ben and .... oh, it was coming towards him! Ben got his hands up in time for the perfectly aimed pass to fall into them. He grinned back at the senior Chaser, pleased to have finally been part of a clean pass this game. Then the time for self-congratulatory facial exchanges was over and he turned his eyes and focus forward, and he flew on across the center line and into Aladren territory.

He jinked and juked his broom just enough that he wasn't a sitting duck for bludgers, but he was definitely putting his efforts mostly into making speed and gaining distance. Feeling he succeeded sufficiently that Pecari's next play could be for a goal, he found an opportunity to pass to a fellow brown robed chaser and hoped his pass was as spot-on and successful as Joella's had been to him.
1 <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font> Making a pass within scoring range 339 <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font> 0 5


<font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

August 17, 2016 1:03 PM
The Quaffle was passed so quickly at times it was difficult to keep track of it, but years of practise had trained Jack's eyes to at least be sharp enough to recognise who had it in hand. Valenti made a brilliant shot, though simple, but Bannister was the more experienced Keeper. She blocked it easily and Jack watched as it was passed to Curtis, another senior member of their team. If Aladren wasn't careful, Jack believed, Curtis could dominate the pitch with her team-mates.

Jack was still feeling a bit queasy, but he did his best to push his anxiety to the side and throw himself into the match. He didn't have time to feel fear or nausea. He followed Curtis closely, weaving from side to side, watching for any sudden passes.

Before he could make a move, however, she passed it to Pierce who covered much ground towards the Aladren hoops. They were much too close for comfort, and Jack knew he needed to put a stop to it, and soon. Though he wasn't the most experienced Chaser on the team, he certainly believed in himself. He just wished he could feel more confident today, but he didn't know what it was exactly that was stopping him mentally. Was it that blasted dream he'd had last night, or something else?

Pierce flew past the centre and finally made a pass to one of his team-mates. Jack found his opportunity at last. He flew right in and tucked the Quaffle into his chest as he flew past them towards the Aladren hoops. Another successful interception. Jack made a 180-degree turn and flew past the centre again, this time towards the Pecari hoops. He had confidence that Umland would guard him, so Jack flew on trying not to fear a bludger smashing into his broom or worse, his arms or legs. His vision was getting a tad blurry thinking about possible injuries, but Jack pushed on, weaving a bit just in case.

He made eye-contact with one of his team-mates, and hoped it would communicate a move they had practised before. Jack suddenly dropped as if his broom had suddenly lost its flying ability and made a quick pass to an Aladren Chaser. It was supposed to throw off the opposing Chasers who were usually on his tail by this point. After ridding himself of the Quaffle, Jack made his ascent and followed the Quaffle closely once more.
40 <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font> Pardon my reach. 299 <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font> 0 5

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

August 17, 2016 4:06 PM
A hit; a very fine hit. Under other circumstances, Ingrid was a teammate’s sister and someone he wished was in his House (if primarily because of the strength she would have brought to the team), but at the moment, she was a target and he had successfully hit her. Or her broom, anyway, which was nearly as good. The bit of him that existed outside of the moment was glad, actually, that she didn’t seem hurt, as it decreased the slight chance Theodore would be irked with him later and doing it this way had accomplished his aim – getting an Aladren near the goals – just as well as injuring her would have. Indeed, it might have accomplished it better; if she’d been injured, she might have gone and gotten patched up and come back good as new in a matter of seconds, but as it was, she might be less than her best for a while.

Soon enough, though, it was his say something under his breath that his mother would not have liked to hear him say. Bannister saving the shot was something he’d more or less expected, but the Pecaris began covering ground quickly and he didn’t have a Bludger anymore. Joella was a good player; off the Pitch, he respected that about her. On the Pitch, it just annoyed him, particularly when he didn’t have a Bludger to aim at her.

The Pierce kid (was he Ginger’s brothe – no, that was tangential, not relevant to what he was doing) was shaping up well, but he was not yet Joella, or even Ingrid before John had sent her spinning. Jack stole the ball from him a move before Pecari could have probably taken a shot at Theodore and John grinned, pleased that one of his teammates had accomplished a move that had probably greatly impressed and pleased the Aladren supporters in the stands.

John didn’t expect either team to score many goals; the stakes were too high and the relative experience levels of the Keepers and Chasers too unbalanced for that. He trusted Theodore to block anything they threw at him, of course, short of a Bludger – dealing with any Bludgers they threw at Theodore was John’s job. The trick was just to keep the other team from getting as many opportunities. Interesting passes and steals were, he thought, the way for the Chasers to do their bit for that show Leonidas wanted, which almost made their goals and John’s incompatible; he had to try to keep the Pecari Chasers away from them entirely, which did reduce the number of opportunities for drama somewhat. Still, he had his own reputation for villainy to consider, too. A Bludger, his or one that looked just like it, flew toward warm bodies and John was there to intercept it, hitting it away from Jack but lacking the angle to hit it directly for a Pecari without endangering any Aladrens. Keeping his people intact and the pressure on them low might have to comprise the rest of his glory today. Not that he wouldn't keep his eyes open....
16 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> Carry on. 285 <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font> 0 5

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Aladren</font>

August 17, 2016 4:44 PM
Arianna had successfully caught the Quaffle, was right near the goal, then she was shooting and things were looking so good for Aladren, seemingly about to score the first goal of the match, but no it was not to be! Liliana Bannister just had to swoop in on her broom and ruin the fun. Arianna’s attempted goal had looked good, fast and sure, but unfortunately the Pecari keeper had been fast and sure too. He supposed Liliana did have a fair few years of experience – and this would play to Aladren’s advantage next year, when those years of experience meant her time at Sonora was up, and Pecari would have to find a new keeper. Although, unfortunately, Aladren would also be in the same position keeper-wise.

Liliana’s save also meant that that Pecari were back in possession of the Quaffle, which had been passed to none other than Joella Curtis, the Pecari Louis considered to be the main threat to the Aladren chasers. Ben was less experienced than both him and Jack, and whilst Ingrid was normally a good player, her broom seemed to have been slightly damaged by what Louis presumed to have been a bludger collision. He’d been a little concerned to realise that she’d had trouble, but she didn’t appear to have been hurt, which reassured him. He didn’t want his date to be hurt not long before the ball – well, he didn’t actually want her to be hurt at all, but now would be particularly bad timing.

Pushing thoughts of the ball (the dancing kind, not the ball he was hoping would soon find its way back into Aladren possession) out of his head, Louis focussed back on the game. He thought it unlikely that he would manage to get the ball off Joella, annoyingly good as she was, but she was heading towards the other end of the pitch at top speed, and it would be practical to keep up with her if he wanted to get his hands on the ball again. Which he most definitely did – Louis was not giving up just because their first goal attempt had been unsuccessful! No, he was going forwards to glory with the rest of the Aladren team!

Joella passed the Quaffle, which wasn’t good as that was yet another successful Pecari pass and another step closer to the Aladren goal hoops, but it wasn’t entirely bad. Louis wasn’t meaning to be insulting to Ben and his abilities, but the younger chaser just wasn’t as good as Joella Curtis had proven to be. Louis reckoned that he and his fellow chasers had more chance of getting the Quaffle off Ben than off Joella. This theory was supported not long after, as Ben got almost within shooting range but made the fatal mistake of passing the Quaffle with a Quaffle-hungry Aladren chaser in the vicinity. Jack Spencer was there, suddenly, the Quaffle in his position, and soon the ball was back on its way in the right direction, which was of course towards the Pecari hoops with Intent to Shoot.

Louis was close on Jack’s heels as the other chaser flew towards the hoops. Pecari were not going to get the Quaffle again anytime soon if he could help it, and he was going to do all he could to ensure Jack’s pass wasn’t intercepted by those pesky brown-robed players. When Jack made eye-contact with him he was almost 100% certain of what his teammate planned to do, and both instinct and practise paid off when, as Louis had expected, Jack suddenly dropped and Louis was waiting to catch the Quaffle, grinning as it sailed perfectly into his hands.

And then Louis was off, heading towards Liliana Bannister’s end of the pitch. He made sure to twist and weave a little as he flew, sacrificing a little bit of speed for the benefit of being a harder target for the Pecari beaters. He had faith that John would be doing everything he could to defend him, but it was stupid and asking for trouble to make yourself an easy target. The ideal outcome of his flight would be for Louis to take the Quaffle all the way to the hoops, but he suspected that both Joella and Ingrid, if not Ben too, might have been nearby when he received the Quaffle, and he didn’t want to run any risks simply to hog the ball. There was no point hanging onto the Quaffle when his teammates would have more chance of success, and passing sooner would have more chance of success than later. The clearer the skies were for his pass, the better – so long as they weren’t completely clear. Passing to nobody would be more than a little awkward.

Luckily for Louis, there were Aladren chasers in the sky, so passing to nobody could be avoided. With a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly threw the Quaffle towards the nearest Aladren chaser, hoping that the swift move would prove unexpected to any Pecari chasers but not take his teammates by surprise.

9 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Aladren</font> I'll do just that! 314 <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Aladren</font> 0 5

<font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font>

August 18, 2016 4:51 AM
The Chasers caught Sammy’s eye for a couple reasons. Firstly, because Liliana didn’t assign Seeker’s Beater versus Chasers’ Beater, so she was making a conscious effort to keep a lookout on all of their teammates. And second of all, speaking of Liliana, the Aladren Chasers seemed to be crowding up the area in front of her Captain and Keeper’s rings. Blargh.

She glanced once to make sure her Bludger meant for Clark was heading the right way, and then she headed off toward the main action. Sammy had trained her eyes to somewhat ignore the Quaffle at this point since her main focus was to locate and redirect Bludgers, so while a shot was apparently being made, she noticed instead a Bludger heading at Ingrid. But she was too far to stop it and too slow to call out a warning, so all she could do was sort of… sympathy cringe in preparation for impact.

It sent Ingrid spinning, but she didn’t look like she was really hurt--the Bludger had hit the end of her broom and not actually her person--so Sammy did her best to push the instinctive worry from her mind. She had more productive things to do than hover over her housemate.

It swooped back near the main bunch of people, but one of Aladren’s Beaters (Sammy wasn’t about to waste time staring and identifying if it was John or Leonidas) sent it hurdling a different direction. Sammy swooped over to intercept it, and while it approached, she stole a glance to find the Quaffle. It had just left Louis’s hands with another Aladren as its intended target, so the brunette decided to send another surprise to that particular blue-clad Chaser. She swung her bat at just the right time to get the Bludger on track, and with the force she’d just put into it, she was fairly confident it would arrive at the perfect moment: one that would make the Aladren Chaser choose between staying for the Quaffle and risking getting hit, or avoid the Bludger but miss the other ball as well.
12 <font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font> Nah, fam. 310 <font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font> 0 5


<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

August 18, 2016 8:17 AM
Ingrid knew Liliana would save it - of course she would - but that just wasn’t the point. The ball wasn’t even meant to be going near her. Still, as she passed it out, there was a chance to turn things around. Joella caught it neatly, covering good distance, and getting it across to Ben. Things seemed quiet on the Bludger front… Not necessarily a good thing, as she would have rather heard the heavy metal balls making happy thunking-against-Aladrens noises, but at least they weren’t currently threatening her side, or making things difficult.

She followed Ben up the pitch, trying to stay close. Trying hard not to get ahead of herself. This seemed better. It felt better. She was in the right place at the right time by being part of the team, rather than by acting for herself. Sure, her broom kept pulling left but she was already accommodating well enough that she wasn’t drifting off from where she wanted to go too badly.

As Ben looked ready to pass, she let go, ready to catch - an action which caused the drift she’d been managing to manifest itself more apparently. Distracted by putting a hand down to steady her wayward broom, the pass fell to the other side. Cursing, Ingrid took off after the Quaffle, although it had already changed hands before she was really in range. Still, that meant it was with Louis, which would make an interception all the sweeter, if she could pull one off. She heard the crack of a bat, and whipped around, grinning as she saw that Sammy was setting up the perfect joint play. As Louis passed and the iron ball hurtled towards his nearest available team mate, she reached in and snagged the Quaffle.

Turning tail, she zoomed back up the pitch. The Aladren Chasers hadn’t got it so far away, but she knew a run on goal was overly risky and selfish. Mentally wishing her team-mate lots of luck with their shot, should they get the ball, she steadied herself with one hand, making an overarm pass with the other.
13 <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font> Let's put things right 322 <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font> 0 5


Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser

August 18, 2016 5:08 PM
Ben was starting to feel genuinely irritated. This was why he liked beating. Even if you failed in what you were trying to do do -generally knock a person off their broom- you could at least make somebody go out of their way and only if you really messed up did you help the other team. As a chaser though, he'd just made a perfectly acceptable pass to a teammate and it still got plucked out of the air before it reached her, and now the Quaffle was heading back toward Liliana again, and Ben felt like it was kind of his fault because he'd been the Pecari to lose possession of it, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.

Next year, he really wanted Atlas' position.

In the meantime, he was following after Jack again, and then Louis, but neither gave him an interception opportunity, though Sammy certainly helped Ingrid get one. Grinning at this change in fortune (thankfully before they got back to the captain this time around!) he set himself up for the pass and got it. Whoo! Second successful catch of the game! Now if only he could throw a good pass, too, he'd be golden!

Ingrid had gotten them reasonably close, so he flew toward her brother with intent. This was it, this was the glory of a Chaser. Going for the Goal. He had this, he had this, he had this.

He went straight down the middle but eyed up the left most hoop, trying not to turn his head to give away his plan, but at the last second, he changed his mind as doubts crept in. He instead threw to the right, making a final pass to one of the older, experienced chasers on his team, both of which probably had face Seventh Year Theodore Wolseithcrafte before, and therefore had a way better shot at getting a shot past him than a new upstart second year.
1 Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser Yeah, I ... you do that 339 Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser 0 5


Ingrid

August 19, 2016 4:37 AM
 
13 Ingrid - recentering - (nm) 322 Ingrid 0 5