Sidelining it. [Not Participating] on Labyrinth Gardens

Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly

October 02, 2009 5:03 PM

Bonfire activity: Obstacle Course! by Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly

There were times during the months leading up to the bonfire when the planning had been very hard. Not for the event itself, because organizing an obstacle course was easy and fun, but the cheer had occasionally been forced. Or so it seemed. Elly had felt the tension, working with Saul, Briony and Pepper altogether. She didn’t know Pepper very well, but she and Briony were friends, and Saul was practically her best friend. Elly hadn’t asked what was going on between them– she hadn’t needed to for two reasons. The first was that she was a human being and could read social situations as well as the next person. The second was that Saul was – well, Saul, and had talked about everything a lot, anyway.

Saul and Briony's break-up had occurred pretty early in the planning stages. It had been mutually agreed upon based upon differing life goals and impending graduation, but it still left them a bit awkward around each other. And then since he wasn't dating Briony anymore, Saul was considering maybe asking Pepper, but thought that might be disrespectful to both of them, not to mention unfair since that almost certainly wouldn't last beyond graduation either. So he'd kept that thought between himself and Elly. He'd also confided to her that he'd almost asked to switch groups with Irene because he was pretty sure most of the tension in their bonfire committee was his fault. But he'd stuck it out and here they were.

When Saul had asked her if they were still friends, Briony had replied with a 'Yeah, sure, we are.' Though, it was an empty saying. Even if they managed to retain some semblance of awkward friendship, it wouldn't last beyond graduation. As he had pointed out, they would be in two different worlds, and as everyone knew, two different worlds just didn't stay in touch.

Unfortunately, this wasn't quite as well known for the activity assignments. At the time, she had thought about asking to be in Geoff's group and now, she wished that she had. The group situation was utter torture with having to work with her ex who she still didn't doubt had liked her roommate, her roommate that she knew for certain liked her ex, and the best friend of the ex. There really was no place for her, which had caused her normally quiet self to be even more quiet, only contributing when necessary.

Pepper couldn't help feeling that having to manage an obstacle course was somehow fitting. Between dodging the topic of Briony and Saul's break-up, tiptoeing around her own feelings for him and leaving poor Elly trying to avoid getting tangled up in the matter, they had plenty of experience between them. The situation would have been enough of a struggle anyway, even if she hadn't felt like she was responsible for Briony and Saul breaking up. She hadn't dared broach the topic with Briony herself, although she'd awkwardly expressed some sympathy at the news, but the word in the corridor was that they'd broken up because things weren't going to hold together after graduation. However, she knew that Briony knew how she felt, and had been encouraged by the other girl to act on it. She never would of course, and even though she'd firmly assured Briony of that, she had a sneaking suspicion that her roommate hadn't let go of the idea that stepping aside was the right thing to do, and that this had factored in to the break-up. There was also a certain first year contributing to the mess, or a certain pair of them, seeing as she seemed constantly tête-a-tête with someone's inconveniently present cousin... Connie wouldn't tell her what she'd told anyone, she'd just imply that someone now knew something and then giggle and run away. Perhaps the whole thing was a wind-up but Pepper had the sneaking suspicion that Saul now knew how she felt, as keeping her mouth shut and being subtle were not amongst her littlest sister's natural assets. However, she didn't know that he knew for sure, and she certainly wasn't going to inadvertently let the cat out of the bag by trying to find out. Saul might be able to guess, but he certainly wouldn't know whether she knew that he knew that she had feelings for him (if he did know), so until he debagged the cat, she was going to keep up the pretence of its being safely stowed away. Or, better still, of there being no cat, it certainly not being contained in any kind of tote, and thus the matter of its release quite simply being an impossibility, and just carry on with working as one happy, issue-free team.

Finally, the day came when all the planning was done, and they were all set for the obstacle course. It had to be done in teams of three, and involved the team transporting a bucket full of stones from one end of the course to the other, by any means they chose. The aim was to finish the course with as many stones still left in the bucket as possible, as quickly as possible: there was even a prize for the winners.

It started in front of a wall about ten feet tall. There were rock climbing handholds up one half of it and a rope hanging down on the other half, so people had two obvious physical options for getting over it if they wanted to forgo using their magic and do the whole course the Muggle way. Wands opened up countless additional options, ranging from outright levitation to simply moving and/or enlarging the handholds into easier to grab positions or sizes.

On the wall's other side was a ditch that went out about fifteen feet and was nearly as deep as the wall was tall. It was filled with water. For people unafraid of getting wet, the fastest way down from the top of the wall was to just jump in and swim their way out, though that would, of course, risk losing stones from the team's bucket. For those that considered the water another obstacle to get around, there was a rubber raft floating about three feet out from the wall that could hold all three teammates and their bucket of rocks. Three oars were also provided.

Saul had shamelessly used his familial relationship with the Simon Tellerman, Sonora's groundskeeper, to help get the water-filled ditch constructed. Actually, Simon had helped them with most of the course's obstacles to one degree or another, if only by getting them the materials they'd need to build it. But the ditch had been the biggest and hardest of them to get finished in time for the bonfire. There was no way Saul and the three red-haired girls could have gotten it dug out all by themselves without the assistance of Simon and the prairie elves. That one had looked a lot easier on paper than in practice.

Following the mighty river, there came a far simpler staple of the obstacle-course, the scramble net. Teams had to wriggle their way underneath without becoming entrapped and tangled in its tentacle-like grip. In fact, the 'tentacle-like grip' was more evident in this net than in most, as it had been Transfigured to mirror the behaviour of Devil's Snare. The net had weaker characteristics than the plant as, after some discussion, the committee had ruled that an obstacle with the objective of choking entrants to death was probably a bad idea. However, amongst the shared traits with its botanical cousin were the facts that the harder one struggled the closer it squeezed and that a short, sharp burst of fire would send it on its way.

By this point, the contestants were probably tired from all the physical exertion that had been placed on them and Briony's contribution probably looked easy peasy by comparison. All the team had to do was get down on all fours and manage to crawl through a tunnel with their bucket. Simple as that except it really wasn't so simple. The rubber tunnel had been charmed so that as soon as a person entered the tunnel, it gave the perception of being upside down causing the natural need to try and right one's self. Probably the easiest way to deal with the mind trick was to close one's eyes, but then that left the minor problem of grappling in the dark with the bucket. Yes, simple yet tricky.

Finally, Elly’s contribution entailed some disgusting-looking green slime (which was only a clever repelling charm, and not slime at all) with several raised platforms. The teams would have to find a way to get from one platform to the next, then to the next, and so on, until they reached the end of the course. They were provided with just one wooden plank for assistance in getting across the raised platforms.

It was a fun course, and students from both schools could take part in competing teams or work together. Being one of the louder two members of their committee, Elly became the self-appointed front-man. “Obstacle course! Form a group of three and have a go – sign up here. Hi, there!”

Subthreads:

Ooooh! Oooh! Obstacle Course! Need two partners! by Jose Hernandez with Andrew Duell, Jose H, Megan Macrae

Needed: two more people by Oliver Abbott with Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year], Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year), Oliver (Sonora 5th year)

Available for Coercing by Daniel Nash II with Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian), Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

Searchin' fer two mateys! by Scott Kendrick with Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

Sidelining it. [Not Participating] by Robert Jacobs III with Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year, Rob, Lita, Celia Hier (RMI firstie)

I don't like competition. by Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year) with Jaeven Dimitri

1 Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly Bonfire activity: Obstacle Course! 82 Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly 1 5

Jose Hernandez

October 03, 2009 12:01 PM

Ooooh! Oooh! Obstacle Course! Need two partners! by Jose Hernandez

The bonfire was awesome! As a first year, this was technically Jose's first experience at a Sonora midsummer activity, at least as a student, though he'd been part of the entertainment two years ago at the fair. This was much better, and not just because he wasn't working.

This time, after all, had an obstacle course. His cousin was one of prefects running it, so he had a little inside knowledge of what was beyond the wall, but to see it first hand, he was going to need two partners.

He was not particular about who these partners were and started approaching people at random, unconcerned about grade level or the color of the uniform robe. He was not in the least bit shy and strangers were as welcome in his group as long time friends. "Hey! Wanna do the obstacle course with me?"

1 Jose Hernandez Ooooh! Oooh! Obstacle Course! Need two partners! 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Andrew Duell

October 03, 2009 12:17 PM

Cool! I'm in! by Andrew Duell

Andrew wasn't entirely sure what to make of all the excitement around the bonfire, but he was having a good time. He saw Jose wandering around, asking about an obstacle course.

"Obstacle course? Sounds like fun." He paused just a moment, "What is it exactly? Where do we sign up?" The thought of signing up for something he didn't really know that much about didn't seem to bother him. He'd have to assume that this was another way for the teachers to see what the students have learned. It sounded a lot more fun than sitting around in the class room taking tests, he approved. This would be a good way of practically applying what they had been learning after all.

"Are the teachers running the course?" He asked a little absent-minded as he was already trying to remember all the different things he'd learned so far, and how they might be applied to an obstacle course. Granted that would depend on the obstacles.

2 Andrew Duell Cool! I'm in! 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Jose H

October 03, 2009 3:20 PM

Most excellent, then we need only one more by Jose H

"Hey, Andrew!" Jose greeted his yearmate from Teppenpaw cheerfully. It was a good day and he'd had a lot of sugar with his cereal that morning. As the other first year bombarded him with questions about the event, Jose bounced on his feet, politely but restlessly waiting for the slew of questions to slow before answering.

"It's not the professors," he corrected the last question first. "It's the prefects. This one's run by Saul, his ex-girlfriend, the girl who likes him, and his best friend." As Saul's cousin, it was Jose's job to know these things nearly as much as it was Connie's (she was Pepper's little sister). They'd been trying to get Saul and Pepper together all year, but so far no dice.

"We sign up with Elly over there," he pointed at the red-haired girl distinguishable from the other two red haired girls running the booth by the Pecari badge on her robes. "And it's like any obstacle course. You gotta get from one end to the other. It's a contest, too. Saul said there's a prize for the winning team. But we need three people, so we gotta find one more."

"Hey!" he called out, as another kid passed by the pair of them, "You wanna do the obstacle course with us?"

0 Jose H Most excellent, then we need only one more 0 Jose H 0 5

Oliver Abbott

October 04, 2009 9:27 AM

Needed: two more people by Oliver Abbott

With CATs just around the corner, the bonfire was basically a last chance for the fifth years to have a little fun. It seemed to Oliver like he'd been doing nothing but revision since midterm. Time to kick back and have some pre-bonfire fun, potentially with the visiting foreigners. Or Rocky Mountain students, as they'd probably prefer to be known.

The blond would probably have a look at the broom racing event at some point; being on the Quidditch team for the past three years meant that Oliver could probably give other competitors a run for their money, even though he was just about done with flying for this year. Oliver loved potions, but he wasn't sure he needed to take part in some academic competition for it; good grades were enough for him - he could enjoy those in private. Taking part in a competition based around a school subject could ruin his reputation forever... if he ever managed to build one, that is.

The final event, the obstacle course, had been organised by a couple of Pecaris - namely Saul and Elly - and a couple of Teppenpaws, which mean it was bound to be fun, and perhaps a bit ludicrous. Heading to the part of the gardens where the course had been set up, Oliver discarded his uniform robe at the base of a hedge - it would just get in the way, and his jeans and Chicago Chimeras shirt would be much more suitable for the occasion. Avoiding the first years, Oliver was looking for a team with a little more experience in magic, and perhaps a bit of a height advantage. "Hey," he said to the nearest person who looked older than first year, pushing his sunglasses up his nose in a nervous gesture. "You got a team for the obstacle course yet?"

0 Oliver Abbott Needed: two more people 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Daniel Nash II

October 06, 2009 11:11 AM

Available for Coercing by Daniel Nash II

Daniel Nash stood near the obstacle course without approaching it or actively seeking partners. The thirteen year old had no illusions that a second year Aladren was really the prime candidate for a team member. He was physically fit and magically skilled for his age but he'd done little in the last two years to indicate to anyone that running an obstacle course was within his skill set. In fact, just the wall facing the main path was intimidating and, short of using magic, Daniel doubted he'd be able to get over it.

But the course drew him and he wanted to try it, if only to see if he could finish it. It was a challenge, and Daniel didn't turn down a challenge without compelling reason. So he hovered near the entrance, avoiding the pair of first years who'd probably take him as their third, but Daniel was just snobby enough to not want to join a group that was even less experienced than he was. Plus, one of them was a Pecari. He tried not be House discriminatory, but he really preferred the company of less excitable sorts.

Besides which, they might not want him anyway. His immaculate robes, his manicured fingernails (he wasn't effeminate, it was just that uneven and dirty nails bothered him), and his proper posture hardly suggested he was a scrambling-over-walls kind of person. He'd probably slow down the pair of enthusiastic first years. He was far more of a slow, steady, and methodical problem solver than an enthusiastic adventurer out to conquer the course for fun and glory.

On the other hand, he was on Aladren's Quidditch team, so it wasn't like he completely abhorred physical exertion. On the third hand, Aladren's Quidditch team was more like a bunch of geeks who got tricked or pressured onto a broom than a real sports team, so that wasn't saying a lot. Though, to be fair, they had miraculously won their most recent game.

All in all, it was really better if he waited and came across other people who didn't look like they were sure this was their sort of thing. He didn't want to be the only one sitting on the top of the wall trying to screw up his courage to go down the other side. So he avoided the group seekers who looked like they wanted to tear through the course and claim the prize, and turned his sights instead on those that looked like they might need a little persuasion to even approach the wall.

1 Daniel Nash II Available for Coercing 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)

October 06, 2009 10:43 PM

In slight need of coercing... by Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)

Kaiser turned the ring on his left hand over a few times before he stepped into the main area of the Labyrinth Gardens. Sonora was a beautiful place, and Kaiser had to admit that he was kind of excited to be here. His Lyra prefect badge hung off his robes and he felt his wand rattling around in his pocket. But overall, Sonora felt absolutely nothing like RMI. RMI was far more close knit and a little more conservative, only in a slight way. Sonora was a little wider, a little smoother, a little cooler. But Kaiser knew that this wasn't really his home. The labyrinth obstacle course had sounded interesting and so, he had ventured over to give it a chance. He noticed that there wasn't anyone from RMI there yet. Just people he didn't recognize, people of Sonora.

Kaiser had to take a deep breath before he started examining the groups in the area. There were two first-years who were eagerly asking people if they wanted to team up with them and Kaiser decided to avoid joining up with them. Not because they were first years, but because their voices were irritating him to the umpteenth degree. There was another boy who looked rather, pensive? Or was he examining people? Kaiser couldn't tell from the stance he had taken. There was another boy and Kaiser wondered if he should team up with him, but he decided to go for the younger, pensive looking boy.

Kaiser looked down and saw that his pants were covered in black and gray hairs, he groaned and murmured a Cleansing Charm to remove the large amount of hair that had been cleaning to his black jeans. His jacket was relatively clean and the t-shirt beneath it was spotless. His cat must have been sitting on his pants when he wasn't paying attention. His hair was tied back in a ponytail and he stopped by the shorter boy.

"So, I'm from RMI and I'm kind of nervous about going in there by myself." Kaiser chuckled nervously. "My name's Kaiser by the way, Kaiser Martix."

0 Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian) In slight need of coercing... 0 Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian) 0 5

Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)

October 07, 2009 3:22 PM

So we just need one more coercable person by Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)

When Daniel spotted the approaching student, the first thing he noted was the prefect badge. He himself had aspirations toward that honor, though the possibility was still two years and a summer away. The badge's house designation meant little to him, as the only magic school he was familiar with was Sonora.

He nodded in greeting as the other student came within conversational distance, and he did not allow his relief to show when he was neither directly asked to join a group nor identified by name. Either Kaiser Martix of RMI did not watch cable detective shows or he hadn't recognized Daniel yet.

"Daniel," Daniel returned the introduction, then hesitated a moment before giving his surname. There'd been no recognition yet so it was probably safe, though there was always the danger that people would recognize his father's name even if they hadn't seen Daniel himself on television, but it was only polite to return in kind since he'd been given a last name.

"Nash," he finished, without offering the numeral that should follow. There was no way saying 'the Second' could possibly sound anything other than pretentious, and the less said about Dan Nash the elder the better. Not that Daniel wasn't normally proud of his Dad's success as an actor, but these were not the circles in which he liked to advertise it. Being muggleborn was one thing. Being famous in another world was quite another. That was best kept in the other world. Here, he was something he had once thought he could never hope to achieve: normal, average, unremarkable. Well, as much as any Aladren could aspire to be, with the line between genius and insanity being what it was.

He nodded toward the course, hoping to take attention away from his name as quickly as possible. "I think I'd like to give it a go," he stated, not letting himself sound too interested, or he'd be as bad as the pair of first years. "Just to see if I can, you know?" He wiped the palms of his hands against his robes, as if he were as nervous as Kaiser had claimed to be, though they weren't actually sweaty or otherwise in need of the service.

"But I'm a little worried that if I do get to the top of that wall, I'll get stuck up there like some idiot cat that climbed a tree and couldn't get down again." He laughed and shook his head, perfectly well aware of the absurdity of the notion. "I'm not even afraid of heights. I mean, I'm on the Quidditch team; even practices have to be more hazardous than this." Neither of which facts lessened his concern in the least. It wasn't the height or risk of injury that bothered him. It was the possibility of not being able to complete the course and looking foolish.

He was far too conscious of how he presented himself to the world to ever take threats to his image lightly.

1 Daniel Nash II (Sonoran) So we just need one more coercable person 130 Daniel Nash II (Sonoran) 0 5

Megan Macrae

October 11, 2009 8:33 PM

Two's company, three's a team! by Megan Macrae

Megan Macrae’s white-blonde hair was tied back in two neat braids she had done herself that very morning, and she wore her best-looking pair of grey uniform robes. She wasn’t sure how she felt about wearing grey robes—grey was one of the Aquila House Colours after all, and Megan was a Draco. But regardless, the girl was very excited about coming to Sonora and even more excited to actually meet other wizarding kids. The only other magical person she really actually knew was her brother, and Hank had been acting really weirdly in the past year. Megan pulled a face as she thought about that, but quickly re-focused on what was going on. Blue eyes sharply observing everything that went on, Megan had been somewhat distracted from actually hearing what was going on around her. Mostly, the diminutive first year was worried about getting lost (she had followed what a strange upperclassman had pointed out as the way to the Labyrinth Gardens, after all) and not worried about finding an activity to partake in.

Now that she thought of it, Megan decided, blinking at the older girl who was yelling something about an obstacle course just in front of her, that may have been one of the reasons she didn’t have many friends in her year. Sure, she had acquaintances and such, but no real, close friends. But had she ever? Annoyed with herself, Megan shook her head and turned around, walking away to find someone she knew. Although she was hesitant to admit it, the first year Draco was actually fairly shy.

She stuck to the walking-away plan until she heard somebody on her left call out. Megan turned, to see a pair of boys she didn’t know. Teams of three, the younger Macrae realised with a start as the rest of her brain processed the invitation to join a team of three. It would be fun to do an obstacle course, and if the two boys wanted to be on a team with Megan, well, that was fine with her!

“Sure,” she said with a grin, walking over to the boys. “I’m Megan, and I go to RMI,” she added, then laughed. “Although I guess you kind of figured that out. We sign up with that girl, right?” Megan finished, pointing at the girl who had been yelling earlier. “Or I guess I shouldn’t be telling you guys what to do. This IS your school.” Another laugh and a shrug as Megan prevented herself from tugging anxiously at one of her braids. She usually wasn’t this nervous meeting people...maybe it was just the novelty of the whole event that was putting her nerves a little on edge.

0 Megan Macrae Two's company, three's a team! 0 Megan Macrae 0 5

Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

October 12, 2009 7:39 PM

Willing to take the plunge by Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

The thing that Alissa missed most at RMI was the air. Just regular, fresh, normal air, and the knowledge that she wasn’t underground all the time. The first she’d heard of an obstacle course, the redhead had broken into a wide, enthusiastic grin and bounded off with an energy that had been somewhat uncharacteristic of her in the past two years to find the Labyrinth Gardens. It took awhile and several conversations with unknown students her age (one of whom had, embarrassingly enough, been an RMI seventh year she’d never seen before), but finally, the fourteen-year-old had found the Gardens. Now all she had to do, per the directions being shouted by a fellow redhead, was find two other people to make a proper team of three.

Well, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Although generally a bit reserved, Alissa wasn’t precisely shy—she was just sick of having to constantly deal with her older brother’s reputation. At a school like Sonora, that wouldn’t be a problem because nobody at Sonora had met her brother, and if they had they probably hadn’t heard about his reputation (actually, if they’d had the misfortune to speak with Scott Kendrick they may have actually heard about the reputation. It was one of those things that tended to pop up in ‘conversations’ with him). Anyway, the Lyra was excited for a whole new chance with a new slate with new people. Maybe she would make some friends!

However, the finding-a-group thing proved to be harder than anticipated. Most of the groups seemed to be already formed (had it taken Alissa longer than she’d anticipated to actually find the Gardens?), and the groups that hadn’t involved RMI people she wanted to avoid. About to give up and find something else to do, Alissa heard Kaiser Martix’s voice off to her right, and she headed towards that. She liked Kaiser. He was a little weird, but that could be excused given the den of drama that was the Lyra sixth-year-boys dorm. He was also working with a boy that looked nice and kind of cute, unlike most of the guys in her general age-range at RMI.

What the heck. It could be a fun team, right?

“Hey Kaiser,” the slight redhead said as she walked up to the pair. A Seeker on the Lyra team and a gymnast and dancer otherwise, Alissa’s body type was certainly that stereotypical of her position on the team—slim and small. It made her feel self-conscious, particularly now that other girls were starting to look...well, more like girls while Alissa’s body refused to grow and refused to develop in any attempt to make her look less like a fiery-topped stick. “Hey, I’m Alissa,” she introduced herself to the other boy. “Do you guys mind if I join up? I can’t find another team and I don’t,” the Lyra pulled a face. “want to be on Scott’s.” Surely Kaiser would understand that motivation, at least.

0 Alissa Kendrick (RMI) Willing to take the plunge 0 Alissa Kendrick (RMI) 0 5

Scott Kendrick

October 12, 2009 7:55 PM

Searchin' fer two mateys! by Scott Kendrick

Scott Kendrick had spent too much time in boring places like the library and not enough time at fun places like the Quidditch Pitch since sometime in mid-February, and it had really taken a toll on him. He had become stodgy, boring, limiting his romantic interests to only one girl and his dramatic (and other) interests had faltered as well. The redhead, now standing at 5’9” and still growing, couldn’t stand the thought of himself as some sort of...academic. The word was almost a cussword to him. And in the interest of postponing that horrible, dreadful, disgusting feat, Scott had made his way as quickly as possible to the non-Academic competitions at the Sonora event.

Obstacle course! It sounded marvelous. It sounded spiffy, amazing, wonderful, outstanding, ENTHUSING! Scott wasn’t even entirely sure ‘enthusing’ was a word, or applicable to his situation, but he was in such a good mood that he decided to use it anyway. Dull grey robes aside, the sixth year felt more himself than he had in ages, and he was determined to celebrate that with a good old fashioned obstacle course. It, of course, helped that he was very much in shape. The Lyra had been Quidditch captain of the House team since his third year, and even though they had mysteriously lost to Aquila this year, he had still kept them in excellent shape.

There was one Lyra who was up for anything that was thrown at him, and that was Scott Jonas Kendrick.

“Ahoy there!” he greeted the first person he saw when he reached the Labyrinth Gardens, halting them with one dramatic gesture. “I be needin’ a first matey. Do ye be man enough to be taken’ the challenge?” After all, a proper Pirate Captain had to have a crew! And if a crew of three was what this obstacle course needed, then by goodness, Scott would have one!

0 Scott Kendrick Searchin' fer two mateys! 0 Scott Kendrick 0 5

Robert Jacobs III

October 12, 2009 8:14 PM

Sidelining it. [Not Participating] by Robert Jacobs III

Rob liked RMI, because he had friends there. More appropriately, he had made friends with the other token cripple, and together they had figured out the spells needed to paint the wheels on his wheelchair with flames. Beautiful streaking, gold-red-purple flames. And they were epic, and beautiful, and by God Robert Jacobs III knew his father was going to kill him for it when he got home for the summer. But for now, Rob was just having fun with the novelty of a new school. And it was a novelty! There were loads of people Rob didn’t know, which was excellent, but also meant that they would probably be unused to him being perfectly willing to take part in everything he could feasibly take part in.

What the students and staff at RMI had accustomed themselves to was that Rob was, by and large, a normal kid. He used the spells on his magical wheelchair to fling Dungbombs across the Charms classroom, snickered with his friends when they pranked other students, and routinely tried to dodge homework assignments. The Aquila was also the Seeker for his House team, and had roundly beaten Lyra when the two Houses had faced off in the Inter-House Quidditch Tournament this year. It just so happened that Rob’s legs were paralysed. No biggie. Just a little thing.

Maybe he’d gotten too used to RMI, Rob realised as he wheeled his way into the Labyrinth Gardens, absolutely interested in taking part in the Obstacle Course, only to find himself on the receiving end of more than a few odd looks. The brown-haired, brown-eyed Iowan frowned as his heart sank with the realisation that he would not, indeed, be taking part in this particular activity. More the pity, he hadn’t thought they would be playing Quidditch at the other school, so he had left his broom, specially charmed to allow him to use it, at RMI. And he refused to participate in the Academic Competition because everybody was going to expect the crippled kid to participate in the Academic Comptition.

And that was why there was one twelve-year-old boy in a flame-decorated wheelchair sitting off to the side as everybody else was gathering up teams for the Obstacle Course, knowing that even if someone did want him on their team, he probably wouldn’t be able to participate. Life sucked sometimes, but Rob had known that before know. He’d get over it, he supposed.

“Huh?” he responded, refocusing his brown eyes as he looked up at the person addressing him. “What, are you not gonna do it either? Want to be my bench-buddy?” the first year added with a touch of his usual good humour. Sitting out wouldn’t be quite so bad if he had someone to sit out with.

0 Robert Jacobs III Sidelining it. [Not Participating] 0 Robert Jacobs III 0 5

Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year

October 12, 2009 11:02 PM

This is usually where I can be found. by Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year

Adelita was really excited about the idea of a new school being intermixed with Sonora for the Midsummer Festival. She was still sort of new at Sonora and knew that she would be overwhelmed, but it was all for fun and she wanted to make a wide range of friends for life outside of Sonora. As a second year, Lita knew she didn’t have much to offer any of the other students in regards to year status, but she could at least help them out on some level or just have fun all around.

She still wasn’t quite sure about the camping outside. She had never done that before and her mom would probably freak if she knew that she had, but it was also a bit of an adventure to be able to say that she had camped outside with strangers and her closest friends. Lita was a girly girl by all definitions. She liked to be clean and neat. She liked wearing skirts and dresses. She liked to have her hair done nicely. Of course, how she took care of herself on the outside transferred to how she danced on the stage. She was graceful and elegant with just enough fragility. The only thing she really lacked was more confidence. But, considering she was twelve, she still had plenty of time to grow in that department.

Walking through the crowd that surrounding the Obstacle Course, Lita spotted something that she had never seen before. A boy sat in a wheelchair. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. What caught her attention were the flames that were decorating the chair in which he sat. She didn’t know a person could do that or that they would want to. But, Lita, was drawn to the flames and, therefore, to the boy who sat in it.

“I really love your flames.” Lita commented as she walked around the wheels to get a good look at the whole affect. But, apparently her comment when unheard. “Oh, I haven’t really given it much thought.” Lita said as she watched the groups begin to form. She didn’t see many people she knew other than Daniel and he was already in a group. She turned back to the boy in the chair, her dark hair swaying slightly as she moved. “Did you not want to go? It could be rather fun.” She replied before adding, “I’m Lita, by the way, second year at Sonora. You’re from the other school, right?” Lita asked. He didn’t look familiar, but that really didn’t mean much to Lita as she didn’t know many of the students at Sonora.

0 Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year This is usually where I can be found. 0 Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year 0 5

Rob

October 13, 2009 8:30 AM

Shaking things up couldn't hurt...right? by Rob

The girl who had started talking to Rob looked to be more-or less his age, and his assumption was verified as she introduced herself as Lita, a second year at Sonora. Of course, she brought up a decent question. Did he want to go? Of course he did! But even though his wheelchair was magical, with a tendency to float up and down stairs and propel rocks and things away from the wheels, Rob wasn’t entirely sure he could actually participate in an obstacle course. But then again, his wheelchair could be looked at as just another obstacle, right?

“I’m Rob, yeah I’m at RMI,” the Aquila responded with a grin. “I’d like to go, but I mean...I can’t even pop wheelies on this thing,” after his father had found out that Rob could, he had promptly hired someone to spell the chair so as to prevent that, “so I’m not sure how I’m going to wrangle an obstacle course. But if you don’t think they’ll mind, we could try!” Rob’s face lit up again at the possibility. He really liked Quidditch, and in general tended to enjoy physical activity. Most of all, he was excited that for the first time ever, his parents hadn’t been able to say a single thing about him not being able to do things for an entire year and this might be his last grasp of sanity before summer began, and he would really like to take advantage of that.

Of course, then he looked at the wall in front of them and kind of pulled a face. The twelve year old had tried the rock wall at RMI once, but had barely made it halfway before having to drop down, and this was the same concept here. Plus, once he’d gotten down, what would they do with his chair? Rob frowned, puzzling his way through this. Then he stopped for a second. This was a magical obstacle course, right? As in, they could use magic...right?

“Hey Lita, are we allowed to use magic here?” he asked with a slow grin. “Cos if we can, I think that we could make one excellent team....”

0 Rob Shaking things up couldn't hurt...right? 0 Rob 0 5

Jose H

October 13, 2009 9:41 AM

Then we're ready to start! by Jose H

"Excellent!" Jose enthused with a small bounce and a big grin when the girl he'd cornered agreed to join them. "Yeah, Elly," he confirmed in answer to her question about signing in with the red-haired Pecari prefect. "This is going to be great," he told both Andrew and the RMI girl, Megan, as he started to lead them over to his Housemate.

Then he realized introductions were still in order, since even if he knew her name now, she didn't know theirs. "I'm Jose, and this is Andrew," he told Megan. "First Year Sonorans."

It wasn't a long walk, so by the time he finished saying that, they were already at the starting table. "Hey, Elly!" he greeted cheerfully, turning his attention from the first year girl to the sixth year one, with barely a breath in between. "We're ready to start. Jose, Megan, and Andrew, representing Pecari and Teppenpaw for Sonora and RMI's, um," he looked to Megan to supply her House.

Catching sight of his cousin, he became momentarily distracted and waved over at the only non red-haired female running the booth. "Hey, Saul!" Under ordinary circumstances, Jose didn't like to advertise too loudly that they were related, not wanting to get overshadowed by his popular and very well known older cousin, but today was different. Today was about fellowship and friendly cooperation.

"Hey, Hose," Saul returned, and Jose was in far too good a mood to be put out by the nickname. Then, in a rare and almost apocalyptic turn of events, Saul Pierce made a circular 'turn-around' gesture and admonished somebody else to pay attention to the rules Elly was trying to go through.

Jose turned back and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm listening now."

0 Jose H Then we're ready to start! 0 Jose H 0 5

Daniel Nash

October 13, 2009 5:35 PM

Plunging in then. by Daniel Nash

Daniel smiled politely as another RMI student joined them. He felt a little outnumbered being both younger than the other two and from a different school. They seemed to know each other well enough for the one to seek the other out, too. Still, he wanted to do the course, and with the two (presumably) more experienced older students in his group, he stood a much smaller chance of getting stuck somewhere along the course and finding his group unable to move on and complete the entire thing.

"I'm Daniel," he told the girl, relieved that she hadn't added her last name, so he didn't have to either. "It's all right with me if you join us," he added, looking to the prefect to make sure it was all right with him, too - Kaiser knew better than he did how good of a teammate the girl would make. She seemed nice enough and her House badge was the same as Kaiser's, if Daniel was one to House stereotype.

"I guess we go sign up over there, then?" He pointed over toward Elly Erikkson and the other prefects running the booth. He'd never had occasion before to interact with any of them, but it concerned him a little that the group contained no Aladrens or Crotali. At least it had two Teppenpaws to temper the two Pecaris. There was a chance the course wouldn't prove impossible to people unwilling to leap off tall buildings and expect to survive intact.

Just the same, he took off his school robes to improve his range of motion and provide less opportunity for giant crabs or something to snag hold of him by loose folds of clothing. This left him in a pair of gray slacks with an understated darker gray belt, a white button down shirt (he'd opted against a tie since it was a Saturday), and formal black shoes. He debated taking the shoes off as well, but that would leave him either barefoot or in thin white socks that would not survive walking across the path to the prefect's table, never mind a whole obstacle course.

In hindsight, he probably should have bowed to practicality over an appearance that would not invoke thoughts of Nate Bealer to those familiar with his TV show. He'd dealt with people recognizing him before. He could have sucked it up and worn jeans and sneakers. These shoes were going to have no traction at all on a climbing wall. "I don't suppose either of you have a spell for transfiguring shoes into rubber soled sneakers?"

1 Daniel Nash Plunging in then. 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Lita

October 13, 2009 11:36 PM

In order to shake them up, we need a third person. by Lita

Adelita looked down at Rob’s chair when he mentioned that he couldn’t pop a wheelie on it. Whatever that meant. She had an idea, but she wasn’t going to ask. The last thing she needed to do was sound dense around an entire school of strangers. She already felt a little stupid whenever she was around certain classmates because their views on life were completely opposite to her own. Growing up in very different worlds would do that to people.

Tilting her head in thought at his question, Lita looked at the first obstacle in front of them. A rock wall. Glancing at Rob, a hint of a frown formed at the corners of her mouth. There were many magical people who were in wheelchairs, or had other disabilities, and could do far more physical things than she could ever imagine. Lita didn’t see why Rob couldn’t either. They would just have to be smarter about it all.

Lita looked up at the top of the wall, making her long dark hair fall over her shoulders and hang lightly around her torso. After a moment, she commented, “I don’t see why they would mind if you tried to course. The paths in the gardens are rather wide, so you wouldn’t have any trouble in those, we’d just have to figure a way around the obstacles. But, that is the whole point, right?”

Looking at her own feet, she wasn’t so sure if her sandals were the best shoe to wear, but she definitely didn’t have enough transfiguration skills to even attempt to change them into something more suitable, so this would have to make do. Her shorts and t-shirt worked just fine, but she discarded her school robes and set them next to a bench to grab later when she was done. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Adelita focused back on Rob when he asked her another question. “They didn’t say we couldn’t.” She stated. “So, if we use magic, that’ll give us a whole lot of options when it comes to these obstacles.

“Like, for this first one, we could levitate you up and then shrink your chair and I can put it in my pocket and carry it up with me. Or shrink it and let you have it while you levitate.” Lita suggested. “Oh, I should probably tell you that I’m not really all that outside active.” Lita wasn’t afraid of sweating or getting hurt. She was used to being covered in sweat, in pain, with her feet bleeding because blisters burst in her dance slippers. She was a lot tougher than her 4’6 petite frame gave her credit for, but she wasn’t an outdoorsy person. She didn’t climb trees. She didn’t roll around in dirt. She didn’t fly on a broom. She danced. That’s what she did.

“But, as long as I don’t have to brew a potion or figure out why Trolls attacked a group of Wizards back in 1659, we should be okay.” Lita joked. Charms, she was good at. Transfiguration, she was decent at. Even DADA was manageable. But those classes without a wand… forget it. “I guess, all we need is a third person, right?”

0 Lita In order to shake them up, we need a third person. 0 Lita 0 5

Andrew

October 14, 2009 9:09 PM

Let's roll! by Andrew

Andrew smiled at this brave girl who wanted to team up with Jose and him. He even did a small bow when Jose introduced him. They were a team now, this course was going to be toast, he could feel it now. Plans were already forming in his mind for possible challenges they'd face.

Once they got over to Elly and Jose got her attention, Jose seemed distracted rather quickly by his cousin. Knowing the boy, this didn't actually surprise Andrew much. Andrew took the opportunity to ask Megan a quick question he had. He turned to the girl, "Where is RMI?" He caught sight of Saul gesturing to Jose out of the corner of his eye, and decided maybe he'd better pay attention as well. Best to know what they were up against.

2 Andrew Let's roll! 145 Andrew 0 5

Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

October 15, 2009 10:52 PM

Bible Dude be here, Cap'n -- we need one more, then! by Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

Simon was really enjoying this Sonora event. It was really fun getting to know people who had the same magical abilities that he did yet went to a completely different school; it was also a big relief because it made the Lyra feel a lot less weird. Not that he cared what people thought of him in general, but it was only natural to feel slightly alienated when one could cast spells on people, right?

Although he was a pretty dedicated student, Simon decided that the academic activity simply wasn't for him. Besides, potions class wasn't at the top of his list, anyway -- he was more of a Herbology fan. Taking care of plants and animals was his forte, so he'd probably find himself signing up for RMI's Care of Magical Creatures class at the earliest opportunity. He had a golden retriever named Tornado and a munchkin cat called Tina back home, and he loved them to death, so that definitely had something to do with his newfound favorite magical subjects.

He planned on going to the broom relay race later, but for now, he was doing this cool-looking obstacle course thing. He wondered how intense Sonora was about these kinds of things; RMI's scavenger hunts were pretty challenging sometimes, but there wasn't really anything dangerous that they ever had to do. Of course, there were still a few challenges left in the RMI competition, so who knew what Headmaster Guido had up his sleeves for the future!

An anxious Simon turned to the source of a pirate-esque voice to find housemate Scott Kendrick standing next to him. He laughed at the older boy, amused by Scott's overly-dramatic ways (though they were oh-so-typical for him). "Aye-aye, Cap'n!" Simon replied enthusiastically, going along with the seafaring theme.

"Anyone else be desirin' to join this here crew?" he shouted to the students around him. "A landlubber from the fabled Sonora Cove, perhaps??" He smirked around at the possible candidates as he persisted with his crusty accent, drawing on what Director Tennant had taught him to do his best acting job.

It was a lot of fun to just be downright goofy sometimes and not care what people thought about him for it. Life was too short to be self-conscious. That was what the whole fiasco with his ~~girl friend~~ girl-space-friend Chris Phippen had taught him; since she didn't like him back, it was no use continuing to pine for her.

Life was all about looking forward. He needed to remember that!

0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] Bible Dude be here, Cap'n -- we need one more, then! 0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] 0 5

Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

October 16, 2009 10:36 AM

I may be an underclassman, but I'm still awesome (and tall)! by Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

Kenny was liking this Sonora stuff. Having more people around him meant that there were more hot girls to imrpess, more dorky kids to make fun of, and...well, more potential genuine friends.

As immensely cool as Kenny was, he wasn't exactly popular at RMI. He didn't understand it -- he had a friggin' orange faux hawk, he was smooth with the ladies, and he was pretty darn handsome if he did say so himself, yet the students at his school just didn't appreciate him for it. Holly Grieves was his only true friend, really, and everyone else either hated him or was just plain annoying and Kenny didn't want to be around them anyway.

But now that he was at Sonora, he had a more positive attitude about his social life. Maybe the kids here weren't snobby goody-two-shoes like everyone at RMI. Maybe they were actually cool. And maybe Kenny would be able to make some actual friends here. Yeah.

He made his way to the obstacle course, arriving a little later than everybody else because he just couldn't bear to be on time to things -- that would look so nerdy!

"Hey, you got a team for the obstacle course yet?"

"Nope," the very tall first-year replied, deciding that it was perfectly okay to associate with this kid because he looked pretty cool (it was something about the sunglasses). "Let's team up...I'm Kenny Watts, by the way. The faux hawk's insane, right?" He wore his signature Smug Smirk as he reached up and adjusted his fiery hairstyle so that it looked perfect. "You know it is!"

"Oh," he said suddenly, realizing that he should probably be polite or something and ask this dude his name. "What's your name? Don't worry if it's not as awesome as mine -- I'll understand." His Smirk persisted.

"Anyone else wanna join our Ridiculously Awesome Group?" he asked the other students in the Gardens. "We're lookin' for one more dude."

0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] I may be an underclassman, but I'm still awesome (and tall)! 0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] 0 5

Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year)

October 16, 2009 4:09 PM

Depends on your definition of "awesome" by Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year)

It was hard to fit in dance practice when there was no Theatre. Christabel Phippen sighed. After searching for a place to practice later on in the day (she had been really good at sticking to her practice schedule all year), she had given up and decided to participate in one of the activities. The brunette had decided to skip out on the Potions competition. She wasn’t very good with Potions in the first place. Besides, if Keith was going to compete, he probably would win.

The broom competition sounded fun enough, except for the fact that brooms didn’t like her. Maybe it was because she was muggleborn that she had problem with the brooms. Whatever it was, Chris didn’t mind. She liked her feet to stay firmly on the ground. And then the tomboy found her perfect activity. There was an obstacle course in the Garden area. After getting directions from a rather snotty red head girl, Chris located the Gardens with a grin.

Her brown eyes scanned the crowd, trying to find a free group. They had to have three people, right? It was too bad her older brothers couldn’t be here. Lance and Max would totally do this with her. Jimmy? He’d time them, at the very least. She spotted Simon and almost walked over to him, but decided against it. He was working with Scott, anyway. She was here to get to know other students from Sonora. That was the goal of this! She quickly found someone else from her school, the kid with the annoying hair, and some older student that Chris was positive didn’t go to RMI.

They seemed to be looking for another group member, too. The kid with the annoying hair was looking for another dude. The second year shrugged and made her way to the group. She wasn’t a ‘dude’, but whatever. “Will I do?” she asked with a grin. “I’m Chris, second year from Rocky Mountain.” She directed the introduction to the older boy; she had been in a few classes with the kid with annoying hair, so he probably knew she went to his school.

0 Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year) Depends on your definition of "awesome" 0 Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year) 0 5

Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year)

October 16, 2009 9:29 PM

I don't like competition. by Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year)

If there was one thing Cindra realized she missed during the school year, it was the fresh air. RMI, after all, was an underground school. Their Pitch only seemed like it was outside! Cindra had quickly inquired where the best outdoor area was, planning on worry about the tenting situation later. After being told where the Gardens were, the blonde quickly ran in the indicated direction.

Cindra’s mouth formed an ‘o’ at the sight of Sonora’s Labyrinth Gardens. This couldn’t be real! She felt like having a Sound of Music moment and just spinning around in an open space. She followed some other students who seemed to be going somewhere. There were more students, some that she recognized. She wasn’t too sure what was going on, but Cindra did notice something totally bubbly.

Flowers!

Smoothing out her sunshine yellow skirt, Cindra kicked off her flip flops, sat down and picked some daisies. And what was this? The girl’s big blue eyes grew wide as she picked white hydrangeas. Cindra had weaved the daisies into a little headband and was working on a hydrangea necklace when someone said something to her. Cindra looked up, bright smile on her face.

“Hello!” she greeted her visitor. “These Gardens are totally bubbly.”

0 Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year) I don't like competition. 0 Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year) 0 5

Oliver (Sonora 5th year)

October 17, 2009 6:23 AM

You'll do by Oliver (Sonora 5th year)

It was only seconds after approaching the stranger that Oliver began to regret not selecting his team more carefully. True, Kenny Watts did have the height advantage Oliver was looking for, but he was also obviously nuts. "Orange?" Oliver replied to the faux hawk comment, torn between disdain that a guy could be so obsessed with his hair that it was the first thing mentioned in conversation, and amusement at the pure energy he exuded. "Not really my color."

"What's your name?" Kenny asked. "Don't worry if it's not as awesome as mine -- I'll understand."

"Oliver," the word was accompanied by a frown. He decided his surname was unnecessary in this situation. Perhaps a more appropriate addidtion would be, "I'm in fifth year." Kenny couldn't possibly be any older than third year; Oliver had no qualms in working with him just because of that - it just meant he could pull rank, and that was not a bad thing.

Moments later and Kenny's invitation had encouraged another student - another Rocky Mountainer, a girl who was neither tall nor in the upper years - to join their group. "I'm Oliver," the fifth year Sonoran repeated his introduction for her benefit. "Guess we've got our team sorted, then." He didn't sound especially enthusiastic (why would he: their team was hardly magnificent) but it was all a bit of fun, so Oliver could hardly be bothered by such trivial things as who was part of his team. So he signed them all up with Elly Eriksson, and they were ready to start the obstacle course.

"We start here," he said to his teammates, perhaps unnecessarily as the start of the course was fairly obvious. Oliver looked up at the wall - he thought he could climb it, maybe Kenny, too, but he doubted little Chris had the upper body strength required. She looked about the same age and build as his sister Charlie, and Oliver couldn't imagine her successfully scaling the wall. "Any ideas?" he asked Kenny and Chris.

0 Oliver (Sonora 5th year) You'll do 0 Oliver (Sonora 5th year) 0 5

Megan

October 17, 2009 2:23 PM

Climbing may yield better results by Megan

As soon as one of the guys named the red-haired girl yelling about the obstacle course, Megan forgot the name. There was so much going on that she was running out of room to store things! But when the same boy introduced himself and the other boy as Jose and Andrew, respectively, she made sure to remember their names. It would be really embarrassing to forget the names of her teammates! Not to mention very rude. She was hoping to make some new friends today, and she probably wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who forgot her name, so it only made sense that she should remember the two boys’ names.

By this time, Jose had led the trio over to the girl in charge and was introducing them to her, probably so she could mark down what team they were on. Briefly, the first year wondered if they would be receiving House Points for participation, like they had for the competition Headmaster Guido had set up this year. Megan liked that competition. There were all sorts of riddles, but they were creative and the challenges were fun.

“Oh, uhm, Draco,” she quickly added to the end of Jose’s introduction, interrupting her own thoughts as she grinned at the redhead who was noting this down before she got distracted by Jose waving to a boy who seemed to be helping out with the whole obstacle course thing. The older boy responded in a familiar way, and Megan began wondering if Jose was the boy’s younger brother. She wished she could wave to Hank like that, but she honestly hadn’t really seen her older brother in weeks. Although the white-blonde girl wasn’t likely to come out and say it, she really missed the days when her older brother would bring friends home for breaks and they would let her play with them.

She was thinking about asking Jose about the other boy when Andrew, who hadn’t said much until now, asked her a question about RMI. “We’re in Boulder, Colorado,” Megan said. “It’s only a few hours from where I actually live, so it’s kind of convenient,” she added, thinking about her home state with a little bit of homesickness. It had been a long second half of the school year, and she was looking forward to getting back home and riding her horse. Of course, then she was going to have to admit to her family that she’d kidnapped their last barn cat, Celia, to take to school. Whoops.

Of course, then the older boy motioned at Jose to pay attention and Andrew and Megan followed suit. Once the redheaded girl had finished explaining things to them, she grinned at the two boys. “Okay, so who wants to start?” The

0 Megan Climbing may yield better results 0 Megan 0 5

Celia Hier (RMI firstie)

October 17, 2009 9:10 PM

Third person? I volunteer by Celia Hier (RMI firstie)

Celia took her time wandering to the Obstacle Course. Of course, the other people heading toward it too meant that she couldn't walk at her normal, almost-but-not-quite-a-run pace, but she decided that it wasn't a problem.

The dark-haired first year was in a good mood. She was outside for the first time in months. Celia hadn't realized how chafing she found being underground until she wasn't. Now, she found herself humming as she approached the gardens. Adding to her good mood was some still-remaining birthday euphoria from March; she was taller (again), and she felt pretty today. Her pale blue shirt, a birthday present, matched her eyes exactly, and her gray capris somehow just went with her outfit perfectly. She was, of course, wearing sneakers.

Most people had already gone into the course, but there were still a few hanging around the entrance, waiting for a third person to form a full team. Celia recognized one in particular: a brown haired boy in a wheelchair. A wheelchair that was now totally decked out. Celia changed course to her friend Rob, who was talking to a girl that she didn't know.

"Hey, Rob!" she exclaimed; she somehow hadn't seen him since Herbology at the beginning of the year. "I love the flames-they're totally you." Celia turned to the other girl and instantly felt tall and gangly; she was at least seven inches taller. "I'm Celia. And you? Are you guys doing the obstacle course?"

0 Celia Hier (RMI firstie) Third person? I volunteer 0 Celia Hier (RMI firstie) 0 5

Jaeven Dimitri

October 18, 2009 1:07 PM

And neither do I! by Jaeven Dimitri

There were all sorts of people all around, and Jae was having a fantastic time. He’s met a few of the RMI kids when the Heads had introduced the two schools, but now that they had been directed towards the activities prepared by the Prefects, Jae was willing to move on and run into more people. The Pecari didn’t like competition because it was counterproductive to all sorts of developmental things, and self-esteem, and all that sort of thing. Collaborative learning and general collaboration was way better than all this competition stuff, so he wasn’t planning on participating in any of the competitions, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t do things like hang out and meet people.

The first place Jae headed was the Labyrinth Gardens. It was the best place ever, in his personal opinion. It was all maze-y, with loads of places to get lost and find gnomes and climb statues to get candy, and all sorts of fun things. There was a swing, even, and all sorts of interesting plants. Jae had been at Sonora for five years now, and he hadn’t run out of places to explore in the Gardens. It was fantastic.

And first thing when he popped into the Labyrinth Gardens, he saw a girl! Not only that, but the girl was wearing a shiny bright skirt and weaving flowers into a chains! Jae’s green eyes lit up as he scrambled to sit next to her on the ground without squashing anything. The chains were madcool, and when the girl started talking, Jae started grinning even more than he had been.

“Definitely madcool,” Jae responded, nodding his head as his blonde dreadlocks bounced along. “Are you an RMI-er? Cause I’m a fifth year at Sonora and I’ve never seen you here before. There are statues around too, and sometimes they have candy, and if you’re real quiet sometimes you can find gnomes!”

0 Jaeven Dimitri And neither do I! 104 Jaeven Dimitri 0 5

Kaiser Martix

October 18, 2009 5:45 PM

Ah, the plunge, what a metaphor. by Kaiser Martix

OOC: Sorry for the delayed reply. *delivers cyber cookies*

BIC:

Kaiser smiled at Daniel as he agreed to be in a group with him. Finally, some inter-school relationships, he noticed that more RMI-ians slowly entering into the grove, and he glared at Scott as he saw him enter. If that manipulative, irritating, drama queen dared walk over to where he was, Kaiser was afraid that he would be removed from the festivities, because of the unfortunate accident that would happen to Scott soon after he started speaking. Kaiser was pondering something that involved him growing tentacles, or maybe turning his nose into a garden hose. That sounded rather entertaining.

Kaiser did smile when Alissa came over and joined him and the Sonoran that he was teaming up with. He liked Alissa, and she was probably one of the most down to earth and sane Lyrans there was. "Of course, we wouldn't want there to be any unfortunate accidents during the game, now would we?" He chuckled and winked at the younger Lyran.

Daniel brought up that his shoes were definitely not for this kind of activity and Kaiser immediately noticed that his own shoes were far too dressy for this occasion. Kaiser swore in a low voice and leaned down to transfigure his own shoes. "Soleus Transfigus." Kaiser hoped that was the right spell, mostly because he hadn't really studied his transfiguration stuff lately, so his shoes would either become rubber-soled sneakers or they would become some time of garden snake. Kaiser heaved a sigh of relief as his shoes became a pair of rather shiny tennis-shoes.

Kaiser leaned over and muttered the same spell and watched as Daniels dressy shoes (which Kaiser was positive about the fact that they were designer, most likely Gucci) turned into a pair of smooth black sneakers. He winked at the Sonoran and walked up to the prefect table so the trio could sign up. "Let's hope this goes well." He murmured as they stared at the line ahead of them.

0 Kaiser Martix Ah, the plunge, what a metaphor. 0 Kaiser Martix 0 5

Rob

October 19, 2009 6:32 AM

Volunteers are better than conscriptions by Rob

Grinning with renewed excitement, Rob nodded enthusiastically as Lita spoke. Finding ways around obstacles was the goal of the game. If they had to play it a little bit differently than everyone else, that was perfectly fine with him. There were also no stated rules against using magic. The first year grinned wider. Magical obstacle course he could do. After all, he’d grown up in a magical household and, over the years, people had to do an awful lot to move him around. Side-Along Apparition was probably out, since neither student was old enough to have an Apparition license, but that didn’t even come close to excluding all the possibilities.

“Even better,” Rob said as Lita suggested levitation. “My chair can levitate itself, among other things. That’s usually the most useful though. “And don’t worry, I’m not either,” he added when his partner mentioned that she wasn’t very outdoorsy. That was sort of a lie—Rob had become more of the outdoorsy type while living at RMI, but there was only so much outdoors stuff you could do at a school that was basically indoors. But it was the first time he was allowed to spend as much time outdoors (or ‘outdoors’) as he desired, and Rob had absolutely taken advantage of the lack of hovering parents to do as much as he could.

“Well, if we need Potions, I’ve got us covered,” the dark-haired boy responded. “Couldn’t help with the Trolls though. We don’t take History until our third year.” Rob started looking around for a third person. Surely not everybody in his year at RMI had already gone through? Or Lita’s? He would suggest finding an upperclassman, except that the upperclassmen he knew had the tendency to hex first years over helping them. There was Cosette (gulp), Mia (had a reputation for tormenting ~~younger~~ all students), Mónica (was a beater for a reason)...yeah, that wouldn’t be a very good plan. Rob was hoping to make friends with Lita, not kill her or scare her off.

For that reason, the boy was thrilled to see Celia, his very first RMI friend, appear at the entrance to the obstacle course and make a beeline for them. “Hey!” Rob called, in response to Celia’s greeting, brown eyes lighting up. He really liked Celia. “Thanks!” he responded to the compliment, wheeling forward a bit to give his friend a sideways hug. “This is Lita, we’re trying to put together a team, yeah. Want to join? We were looking for a third person.” Then Rob stopped a moment, looking at Lita. “I mean, unless you mind...?” maybe the other student would be uncomfortable working with two RMI underclassmen and wanted to find one of her own friends instead.

0 Rob Volunteers are better than conscriptions 0 Rob 0 5

Jose

October 19, 2009 9:38 AM

Then let's get on that. by Jose

After Elly finished going over what they were supposed to do, and had given them a basket full of rocks, Jose turned with the others toward the front of the first obstacle. A giant wall, easily twice the height of the first year Pecari and then some. It didn't daunt him in the least.

"I'll go first!" he volunteered excitedly, handed off the rocks to one of his teammates, and bee-lined directly toward the rope end of the wall. The climbing hand holds looked fun, but he'd been great at the rope climbs in his previous school's gym class. This wall was way lower than the ceiling of the school's gymnasium, and he had a wall to brace himself against.

When his own feet were about the height his head normally stood at, an idea struck him and he twisted around to look down on his teammate, "Hey, when I get up there, we can use this rope to hoist the basket up next. Like, tie it around the handle, you know? And then I'll pull up real slow-like so it doesn't spill."

With that idea shared, Jose turned back to his climbing before his arms got tired, and shimmied up the rest of the way. He really missed gym class from his muggle school. Flying lessons were fun and all, but rope climbing and dodgeball and stuff were awesome. And had a lot more variety.

At the top, he scrambled and pulled himself onto the wall. That was the hardest part, because the rope was attached there and he couldn't use that to hoist himself up any higher. He nearly overbalanced and went over the other side into the water, but he managed to catch himself in time and steady out. Carefully turning around on his knees so he faced back toward his teammates, he looked down and called, "Okay, I'm up. One of you can tie the basket and we can get that up here next. If the other wants to, you can probably start climbing up the hand holds over on that side and save us some time. It's kinda narrow up here, though, so be a little careful once you're up top."

0 Jose Then let's get on that. 0 Jose 0 5

Daniel Nash

October 19, 2009 2:39 PM

Technically, we need climb the wall, then we can plunge. by Daniel Nash

Daniel gave a crooked smile of almost rueful thanks to Kaiser as his fine shoes turned into a pair of sneakers. On some level, it seemed something of a sacrilege, but he had thrown out an equally expensive pair when an unfortunate splatter of a half-done cheering potion had bleached a spot on one of them. With as many outdoorsy things going on today, these shoes were already fairly well doomed. One more indignity before their final demise was hardly worth mentioning.

He bounced momentarily on the balls of his feet, to test the new form's fit, and nodded when they passed muster. "Thanks, that'll work."

Moving to join his teammates in line, he forced himself not to fidget. First of all, it would make him look young, nervous, and/or excitable, none of which were adjectives he wanted his new teammates to associate with him. Secondly, impatience showed a lack of regard for those ahead of him and those running the activity, and he had nothing against any of them. It was just proving a little difficult because he hated waiting in line, especially when it gave him too much time to think about what he was about to get himself into.

Soon enough, though, they moved to the front, got themselves signed in, and received their basket of rocks. Daniel moved in front of the wall with the other two and while they waited for Saul to tell them the course was clear and they could begin, Daniel looked up at the height of the wall and wondered what in the world he'd been thinking by signing up to do this.

"So what's the plan for getting over that?" he asked the older two RMI students. "There's no way I'm getting up there without help." He was a healthy twelve year and in reasonably good shape, but rock or rope climbing was not something he'd ever tried before and he doubted it was one of those things he could pick up without some kind of prior practice.

1 Daniel Nash Technically, we need climb the wall, *then* we can plunge. 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Andrew

October 19, 2009 7:17 PM

Right behind you by Andrew

Andrew scrambled with the bucket as Jose thrust it into his hands. He only nearly spilled it twice before getting a firm hold and setting it safely on the ground. They were going to have to do something about that, not spilling those rocks was going to be the biggest challenge of the course. He considered the problem for a moment, the easiest solution that he came up with was simple. Transfigure the bucket into a sphere, leaving the handle and securely holding the rocks inside with no risk of spilling them.

The only problem with that, was that it was to easy. Any first year could pull that off and would pretty much eliminate the bucket as a challenge. It would just be a weight to lug along then. Maybe if...

Jose called down from the wall about pulling the bucket up after him. "Alright, just let me try something here quick. Hopefully it'll make things easier." Andrew looked around at the ground and spotted a rock laying on the ground that would suit his purposes. He pulled out his wand and reshaped the rock into a mostly tight lid for the bucket. It was a little heavier, and wouldn't save them from completely upending the bucket, but it should prevent accidental spills. Hopefully.

Andrew turned to Meagan as Jose reached the top. "Think this'll help? You can start climbing, I'll tie this off."

2 Andrew Right behind you 145 Andrew 0 5

Lita

October 19, 2009 9:59 PM

Volunteering is good for the soul too. by Lita

Adelita was in discussions with Rob trying to figure out the best way up the rock wall, when another girl joined their group. Clearly, Rob and her had been friends by the way they greeted each other and Lita could only assume that Rob had only recently decorated his wheelchair based on the other girl’s reaction to it. The height of the girl didn’t faze Lita. She was used to people being taller than her. By now, most people her age were over 5 feet in height, but the women in Lita’s life were all short, so she expected she would remain a shorter height than most people.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Lita exclaimed when Rob introduced them. “No, I don’t mind. I doubt any of my friends will mind if I ventured off without them.” Lita commented lightly with a grin. Turning to Celia, Lita explained where they were currently at. “We were just discussing some ideas about climbing over the wall. Since his chair levitates, that’ll make things much easier. My great grand papa and mama’s estate is located in a valley around the mountain and hills in Spain and we do a lot of hiking, so I think I could handle the climb, but I’ll be slow about it.” Granted, the hiking trails they took were well worn and Lita was better prepared for those and this, but that was beside the point. She wanted to look at least a little bit experienced in front of the RMI students.

She thought quickly in her mind to figure if she had any other experience. But, nothing immediately came to mind. Playing on the beach wouldn’t help anything. Knowing how to tumble or do flips or even a split didn’t help. “Hm…would an enlargement charm work?” Lita questioned under her breath while she thought.

Lita had turned her attention to the wall as she spoke, sizing the wall up. She was stronger than she looked but a vertical climb straight up would be very difficult for her to do. Especially since she didn’t have any experience. “What about you, Cecia, do you have any ideas?” She was really excited just to start to find out what other obstacles were in their way.

0 Lita Volunteering is good for the soul too. 0 Lita 0 5

Kenny

October 22, 2009 9:54 PM

Oh, yes...<i>Definitely</i>. by Kenny

“Orange? Not really my color.”

Kenny’s jaw dropped at this. “What are you on!?” Wait a second, he told himself. That’s not the way to talk to someone you just met. You have to be cool to him. You have to treat him well, even if he just said the stupidest thing ever.

Okay, okay – the Aquila would play nice…

“Awesome!” he exclaimed when the other boy introduced himself as Oliver. It was a nerdy-sounding name, but he wasn’t going to say so. Actually, he didn’t have time to say so because someone had walked up to them and started talking right after he’d complimented Oliver.

“Will I do?”

Kenny turned to see Chris, that hot second-year chick from RMI. Well, wasn’t this a nice surprise! He hadn’t had the chance to have a decent conversation with the girl before (with flirting and all), so this would be the perfect opportunity to strike gold.

“You’ll certainly do!” he replied suavely to Chris’ query and the accompanying grin, which was really cute…no, hot, he might add. “My name’s Kenny,” he added. He then fixed his hair to make sure that it looked as attractive as possible like he always did when approached by a female. “I think you’ll appreciate the orange more than my new color-deficient friend here?” He raised and lowered his eyebrows at her a few times as he pointed at the faux hawk.

Kenny walked over to the start of the course and looked at the rock wall that had been set up for them. “Oh, piece of cake!” he said, not the least bit intimidated by it. He decided to start without his fellow teammates, jumping at the opportunity to prove his amazing upper-body strength to Chris by scaling the wall like the champion he was. He ran to the half of the wall with the rope and grabbed onto it, then began to hoist himself upward. He was doing it, he was awesome, he was going to look friggin' awesome in front of all the RMI and Sonora people, in front of Chris, in front of all the girls. He was King of the World—

“Ahhh!”

Crap. He’d gotten too carried away and ended up losing his grip; having no control over the rope and therefore no control over his body, he fell to the ground. It wasn’t a big fall – probably just six or seven feet – but he fell flat on his butt, and it frickin’ hurt!

However, since he was the coolest dude on earth, there was no way that he was going to remain on the ground for more than a second. He stood up right away, wincing a lot as he did so; it took some effort not to grab his butt in pain.

“Let’s do the other side, instead,” he decided, still wincing as he spoke. “I, er…I was just too much for that rope to handle, I guess.” He smirked despite the embarrassing situation, hoping that no one other than his partners had noticed the butt-on collision.

0 Kenny Oh, yes...<i>Definitely</i>. 0 Kenny 0 5

Celia

October 24, 2009 9:23 PM

So's chicken soup by Celia

Celia awkwardly returned Rob's hug; it was sideways and around her waist, which meant that she had to be careful or end up giving him a headlock. She was a bit surprised that Rob would give her a hug. She hadn't had a very close friend in years.

She was glad that Lita didn't mind her joining in their team. Celia knew that she would have felt uncomfortable if Lita hadn't welcomed her into the group, even though they had just met. And, helping to dispel the first-year's discomfort, Lita didn't seem fazed at all by Celia's height. Celia relaxed.

"Uh...the wall, hmm..." Celia began thinking aloud about Lita's question. "Well, I've done some mountain climbing, but not without safety equipment. I live right outside a national park," she elaborated for Lita's benefit. "I guess if we can make the handholds bigger somehow, you and I can go up together and meet Rob at the top. Being slow is fine; I'm not sure what sort of shape I'm in for climbing anyway. I think that the handholds will be easier than the ropes-they won't move." Also, Celia disliked climbing ropes; they had been her one Bad Experience in Muggle elementary school gym class.

"I have to admit that I'm hopeless at Charms-I can do three reliably. And Accio is probably the only one that'll be useful on this course. So...does that plan sound good-Lita and I will climb up and meet Rob at the top? Is there some way to make the handholds bigger?"

0 Celia So's chicken soup 0 Celia 0 5

Chris

October 26, 2009 8:44 AM

Gotta get the bucket o' rocks over the wall by Chris

This was why Chris had never worked with Kenny before. It was the whole flirting thing the first year seemed to enjoy. Obviously he was delusional, because Chris didn’t think she was anyone worth flirting with. She resisted the urge to laugh at Kenny. What are you, a peacock? “I guess orange is okay.” The brunette said instead. There was no reason to upset someone who was going to be a teammate for the activity.

She went with Oliver to the team sign ups and grabbed their bucket o’ rocks. The goal was to keep as many rocks in the bucket as they possibly could while making it through the course. Easier said than done. Chris examined the first obstacle. They had said that magic had been allowed, right? She really liked to do things the muggle way, but there wasn’t a real muggle way to try and make sure the rocks didn’t fall out of the bucket.

Kenny seemed to have an idea. Chris watched him scale the wall with a raised eyebrow. If he could get up there, maybe they could—

Never mind.

Chris chuckled at Kenny’s mishap and turned to Oliver instead. “I think I have an idea.” She said. “I can get to the top; I climb these things with my brothers all of the time. Then the bucket can be levitated up. That’s allowed, right?” Chris would offer to do the levitation, but she had no idea what would happen whenever she used her wand. Magic didn’t seem to agree with her most of the time. “You could levitate it. I dunno if Kenny knows the spell well enough to do that; he’s a first year.” She looked over at Kenny with a shrug. “You up to climbing again? I can take the side with the rope if you still think you’re too much for it to handle.”

0 Chris Gotta get the bucket o' rocks over the wall 0 Chris 0 5

Kaiser Martix

October 27, 2009 9:04 PM

Well, how about I make sure we don't need to plunge. by Kaiser Martix

The trio stood in line patiently until it finally receded enough for the three of them to make it up there. He put on a charming smile as he spoke their names for the list of teams and finished signing up.

Kaiser was holding the bucket of stones carefully as he examined the wall with Daniel and Alissa. The most obvious thing he could do was levitate them both up to the top and then climb up the rock wall, but he doubted that they would feel very good about him climbing up.

One of the male Sonoran prefects indicated that the course was ready and Kaiser glanced at his two teammates.

He indicated Alissa first and handed her the bucket of stones. "Here, take these and make sure none of them fall out." He said as he waved his wand at her. She slowly rose into the air and Kaiser carefully set her down on top of the wall. "Sorry for the short notice!" He shouted up to Alissa.

He turned to Daniel and indicated the top of the wall. "Is it okay if I levitate you up there and then figure out some way to get up? I think I can use a spell to stick to the wall and walk up, but I'm still not sure yet."

0 Kaiser Martix Well, how about I make sure we don't need to plunge. 0 Kaiser Martix 0 5

Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly

Bonfire activity: Obstacle Course! by Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly

Jose Hernandez

Ooooh! Oooh! Obstacle Course! Need two partners! by Jose Hernandez

Andrew Duell

Cool! I'm in! by Andrew Duell

Jose H

Most excellent, then we need only one more by Jose H

Oliver Abbott

Needed: two more people by Oliver Abbott

Daniel Nash II

Available for Coercing by Daniel Nash II

Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)

In slight need of coercing... by Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)

Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)

So we just need one more coercable person by Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)

Megan Macrae

Two's company, three's a team! by Megan Macrae

Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

Willing to take the plunge by Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

Scott Kendrick

Searchin' fer two mateys! by Scott Kendrick

Robert Jacobs III

Sidelining it. [Not Participating] by Robert Jacobs III

Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year

This is usually where I can be found. by Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year

Rob

Shaking things up couldn't hurt...right? by Rob

Jose H

Then we're ready to start! by Jose H

Daniel Nash

Plunging in then. by Daniel Nash

Lita

In order to shake them up, we need a third person. by Lita

Andrew

Let's roll! by Andrew

Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

Bible Dude be here, Cap'n -- we need one more, then! by Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

I may be an underclassman, but I'm still awesome (and tall)! by Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year)

Depends on your definition of "awesome" by Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year)

Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year)

I don't like competition. by Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year)

Oliver (Sonora 5th year)

You'll do by Oliver (Sonora 5th year)

Megan

Climbing may yield better results by Megan

Celia Hier (RMI firstie)

Third person? I volunteer by Celia Hier (RMI firstie)

Jaeven Dimitri

And neither do I! by Jaeven Dimitri

Kaiser Martix

Ah, the plunge, what a metaphor. by Kaiser Martix

Rob

Volunteers are better than conscriptions by Rob

Jose

Then let's get on that. by Jose

Daniel Nash

Technically, we need climb the wall, *then* we can plunge. by Daniel Nash

Andrew

Right behind you by Andrew

Lita

Volunteering is good for the soul too. by Lita

Kenny

Oh, yes...<i>Definitely</i>. by Kenny

Celia

So's chicken soup by Celia

Chris

Gotta get the bucket o' rocks over the wall by Chris

Kaiser Martix

Well, how about I make sure we don't need to plunge. by Kaiser Martix

Technically, we need climb the wall, then we can plunge. by Daniel Nash