And now to get the Quaffle in play! on Quidditch Pitch

Amy Fox

September 21, 2008 1:01 AM

Quidditch Match: Aladren v. Teppenpaw by Amy Fox

It was just another Saturday and time for another Quidditch game- a game in which she would yet again play referee instead of player. She had yet to make her decision about returning to the game, but part of her itched to do so. She was a professional; it was a part of her, part of her blood. Practically every part of her screamed for her to accept the offer, screamed at her for delaying even a moment, but there was still a small part that was uncertain.

It wasn't that she liked Sonora. No, that wasn't it at all. She had just become comfortable and used to her situation. It had been so long that a small part of her wondered if she even still had it in her. What if she accepted the offer and then realized that she wasn't even that good anymore? What if she got there and the fans boycotted? There were so many what if's- which was utterly unlike her. Sonora was destroying her. It was obvious.

Groaning, Amy had forced herself out of bed that morning, having tossed and turned the entire night. Multitudes of scenarios had run through her brain, driving her practically insane.

She had dressed quickly, grabbing her broom and equipment and unlocking the shed on the way to the pitch. She had almost forgotten the chest of Quidditch balls, but had remembered them at the last possible moment and magicked them to float behind her.

She spent little time preparing the pitch before mounting her broom and pushing off into the air. A nice ride would clear her head, the breeze just cool enough to make her eyes water as she soared across the pitch. Time passed quickly but did little to ease her mind and soon the pitch was filling with both the players and spectators. Realizing that she should start the game, she lowered herself to the ground and waited for the teams to surround her, as usual.

Raking a hand through her short, strawberry blonde hair, Amy noted that the weather was once again fairing well for this year's players. The day was only slightly warm for the month, but the breeze was enough to keep the players comfortable.

When the teams had arrived, Amy greeted them quickly. "I expect the teams to play fairly," she continued, "and everyone to follow the proper rules and regulations of the sport." She instructed the captains to shake hands, as was customary, and then moved over to the chest of balls. "As usual, the game will begin once the Quaffle is released from my grip," she informed the players. She let the Bludgers and Snitch loose and then grabbed the ball in question.

"On the count of three," she stated, straddling her broom and then once again pushing off the ground and into the air. "One, two-" She paused momentarily with a slight grin on her face. "-three!" And the game began.

OOC: Alright, as with the other game, I expect detailed and lengthy posts. I also expect these posts to be entertaining and fun. The twists and turns and...mishaps of Harry Potter were always fun during the Quidditch matches. :) Anyways, have fun and happy writing!

Subthreads:

And we have lift-off by Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker with Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Seeker

Ready! ... sort of by Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater

And now to get the Quaffle in play! by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser with Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater, Lucie Dupree, Teppenpaw Chaser, Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser, Geoff Layne, Aladren Keeper, Paul

A finish to be proud of by Zack Dill

0 Amy Fox Quidditch Match: Aladren v. Teppenpaw 0 Amy Fox 1 5

Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker

September 22, 2008 11:19 AM

And we have lift-off by Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker

OOC: I'm assuming Aladren did not play Teppenpaw last year, so this is the first Zack is aware that Kaylie quit the team. Or if they did play each other, he just didn't notice she'd been replaced. Zack can miss things like that if reality doesn't conform to what he expects. BIC:

He'd slept well and ate a balanced breakfast. He paid attention to both Anne's and Coach Fox's pre-game speeches. He straddled good old Enterprise and watched the Snitch seemingly vanish into thin air. But at the count of three, when the Quaffle was tossed up and the game officially began, Zack couldn't have said what he'd eaten, dreamed, or heard even if aliens strapped him to a table and probed his mind.

He launched up into the sky, taking Enterprise up to Warp Seven until he evened out well over the goal rings and spectators. He realized as he looked down over the field of players below him that this could be his last game if Alderaan didn't make the finals. Though he dared not even think it for fear that Anne had access to those aforementioned alien mind probes, Zack wasn't entirely sure that would be a bad thing.

But now was not the time to worry about his RATS.

The Snitches would torment him worse than usual if he didn't give them his full attention during the game. And they did have access to mind probes. At least, they were telepathic anyway, which was close enough.

He glanced over to check on Teppenpaw's Seeker, more as a formality than anything else. It was far too early in the game yet for the Snitch to let itself be seen. It occurred to him that it was possibly Kaylie's last time to play Quidditch, too, and he wondered how hard she intended to fight for the chance to play one more final game. Then he did a double take because that wasn't Kaylie who was playing opposite him. It was a new girl.

"Huh," he said aloud, though too quietly for anyone else to hear given how far everyone was from him. He supposed Kaylie was doing the intelligent thing of studying for her RATS instead of playing Quidditch. Like Zack would have done if only (a) Alderaan had another Seeker, or (b) it wasn't his only opportunity to interact with alien beings (aside from Stephen).

Well, that changed things. Zack couldn't let a little second or third year who'd never played for her House before win.

That would be embarrassing.

He started looking for a shimmer of gold in earnest.

1 Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker And we have lift-off 40 Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker 0 5

Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater

September 22, 2008 8:39 PM

Ready! ... sort of by Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater

About an hour of sleep. That was all Paul had been able to force on himself the night before their first game, against Teppenpaw. Shaking his head, at least thankful for that bit, Paul preceded to the shower. Not that he really felt any use for it, it was just habit for him. His robes for the game, his broom, and his bat were already draped over his bed, having fallen asleep pulling them all together, this wasn’t even an hour ago. Scrubbing his matted head, Paul made sure at least his hair was clean, as he hadn’t washed it in a while. It was still long, and therefore more difficult to manage.

Paul was incredibly disappointed when he looked in the mirror. He hoped since he wasn’t incredibly tired, his body now adapting to the insomnia, that he wouldn’t look like he hadn’t slept in so many days (was it almost a week now? He’d lost track). But no, he looked like he got in a fight with a dragon or something. Paul went back to his bed and tore off a rag of an elderly pair of pants. Using that, Paul pushed his black hair up and out of his face, tying it sloppily but not really caring. He’d be able to see better now. Though, this gave a clearer view of his ashen face and he grimaced.

Paul couldn’t worry about that right now, Quidditch captains always reiterated the benefits of a good meal before playing. And Anne was one that seemed like the type to hassle if she found out he wasn’t up to his full health. Er, well that was hard to conceal, Paul remembered the dark circles staining under his eyes and the pallid look of sickness or near-death. Still, if someone witnessed him eating a well-balanced breakfast, maybe they’d be less concerned about his abilities today. Being a Beater, he did have to be in a good shape as well as alert.

After getting his broom and bat from his room, Paul proceeded to the Pitch outside, taking a spot near the Aladren speech. Having to wait a little longer for both Fox’s and Anne’s speeches, as he propped himself up on his broom. Paul bent his face low, hoping not to be noticed as tired and wishing he’d kept his hair in his face and risked being beheaded by the blunt Bludger. Paul began biting his lip and fidgeting, his eyes searching the stands for… a familiar face? His fingers tried smoothing over the splinters of the wooden bat, and just when one cut into his index finger he had to mount and fly with the discomfort in his leading hand.

Teppenpaw was up as well, and the Bludgers were seemingly aching to be hit. Paul pulled around, far from Zack, ignoring the point of throbbing in the hand holding the bat. If he hit a Bludger now and knocked someone off, then flew up high enough, he might be able to pull the splinter out and dive back in without anyone noticing he’d disappeared. Paul readied himself and began to circle around, looking for a Chaser, or better yet the Seeker (but who was the Seeker now? The girl was gone). Paul then dropped low under one Bludger, and as it started pushing towards him, he slammed it up, around a small grouping of yellow robes.

0 Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater Ready! ... sort of 0 Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater 0 5

Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser

September 22, 2008 10:46 PM

And now to get the Quaffle in play! by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser

Anne's temples were throbbing slightly as she slid the last loop of her ponytail holder over the loose end of her braid to keep it from unraveling. She also felt...jumpy, like she wanted to bounce on the balls of her feet and talk much too fast during her speech. Somehow, these observations did not have the feel of good omens, and she was starting to wonder if Geoff might not have had a point when he'd said making a breakfast out of coffee and assorted chocolate products was a bad idea. Not that she'd ever admit that in front of him, of course.

Taking a deep breath, she forced her feet to remain on the floor and her voice to stay normal. When her hands started to feel as though they were shaking, Anne crossed her arms to hide them. The team didn't need to pick up her caffeine high and read it as the beginnings of a panic attack. That sort of thing was bad for morale. She still thought of Teppenpaw as an easy team, but they had a few good ones on their starting lineup, and it was Santoro's final year. He wouldn't want to lose, especially not to her. Anne felt reasonably sure everyone still thought of her team as a -

Wait. What was she doing, again?

Speech. Giving a speech. Boost morale. Make us win. We have to win. Get it together, Wright. From the corner of her eye, she could tell Geoff was giving her a strange look, but she didn't think she needed to worry about most of the team picking up on anything odd. She and Ben might as well have been married, with all the time they'd spent together, but she didn't think he knew her that well. The sessions had probably involved too many thoughts of Bella for him to bother paying attention to anything she didn't force him to. Pity; he was rather good-looking...

Speech! She found a smile for the team - her team. This could not be the last time they ever played together here, it just couldn - "Well, y'all," she said, refolding her arms nervously and focusing on sounding normal. "Here we are." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"You all know what to do - we've certainly gone over it in practice enough times - " she kept the smile there, so the team would know they could laugh without fear of being hit over the head with something if they were so inclined; she had been particularly demanding in practices since midterm ended - "so just watch the enemy and adapt and we'll be a-okay." She was talking too fast. Time to stop that. "We're going to win this one. Their Seeker's inexperienced, and I think I'm qualified to call all of you awesome players. If they try bothering you, ignore 'em or yell something worse back, whichever makes you happier." She unfolded her arms, brightened her smile. "Let's go."

Her smile deepened as they walked out onto the grass toward Coach Fox. The stands were already full and noisy, just the way they were supposed to be, and Anne felt a great rush of emotion followed by a feeling of floating. She was sure the majority of the spectators had never walked onto a Pitch in this manner, but how they stood to live without ever feeling this was beyond her. The game became everything she could think about once the Quaffle was released, but it was very temporarily intoxicating to think of all those people, all of whom had other things they could and probably should have been doing, looking at her and at the team as a closed unit. Fame and acknowledgment of acceptance all at once - a perfect moment. She tipped her head back and smiled and for a moment felt almost peaceful.

For a moment only. The moments between the triumphant entry of the Hawks and reaching Coach Fox passed in a blur, going too fast. She barely heard a word the ex-League Beater said to them, shaking hands with Santoro automatically as nerves began creeping back in, giving birth to a stomach-clenching sense of dread that made her chest go numb. Neither feeling went well with the faint, irritating caffeine jitters which still made her feel like her blood pressure was less than a second away from sailing through a hole in the ozone layer.

Deep breaths. That was key. She would sink back down to her usual anxiety level in a little while, just like she always did after this kind of thing, and if she let something this stupid mess up her game, she'd get to spend the rest of her life kicking herself over it, which was definitely not what she wanted to do. She wanted this to be a memory she pulled out when she felt sad to make herself feel better, not used to beat herself up with. As the countdown started, Anne was startled to see what looked like a grin on Fox's face - had she ever even smiled at a game before? - but the release of the Quaffle made it irrelevant.

Shooting forward on the broom she'd gotten for her CATS or birthday or whatever it had been for, Anne reached out and felt the Quaffle land in her hands before she realized she had it. Feeling elated in spite of her still-twinging head and jitters, she tucked it securely under her left arm and rose in the air, beating a path for the Teppenpaw goals.

Happy as she was, though, she wasn't sure she could make a goal. Not when her hands felt like they were shaking and a big portion of her head felt off-balance. It would be dumb to even try it. Getting as close to one of her fellow blue uniforms as she dared - collisions being bad - in the hope that the Teppenpaw Chasers wouldn't be able to stick their noses into the mix, she executed one of her least-favorite and therefore most-practiced maneuvers: a pass.

16 Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser And now to get the Quaffle in play! 59 Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser 0 5

Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater

September 23, 2008 10:38 PM

And we get a little action too! by Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater

Jake awoke feeling energized and a bit down-heartened. This would be his last game of the year if they didn't make the Championship. His last game at Sonora Academy. It was a scary thought to have. He had been playing here for the last seven years and next year he would be playing with the Broomfleet. He was happy about his new team, but he knew he was going to miss his old one. He would miss Sonora in general and those he had played against. They challenged him, made him think of better strategies, of better plays. They kept him on his toes while at the same time made him grateful to be on a broom every day. If it weren’t for these rare games, Jake might have lost an interest in Quidditch. And, if that had happened, he wouldn’t be heading off to start his career as a Professional Quidditch player after graduation.

But, most of all, Jake would miss his team. Certainly, he seemed to get new ones as time went on, but the ones he had he appreciated. They were all very loyal to the game and to him. Dalila and Lexi had stuck it out with him right until the very end. He relied on them both for support and was more than pleased by the two of them and their performances. But, he trusted Dalila most of all to keep up with his expectations next year and to have an Assistant Captain who will take them just as far as he was trying to go with them.

After spending all these years as the Captain of the Teppenpaw team, Jake had long since learned to not let his nerves get the better of him. Truth was, he looked at Sonora games as sort of practice runs for the real thing. That didn’t mean that he didn’t go into each game with all of his heart, because he did, but he was also looking passed Sonora at his future and what these games would mean for him in the long run. The more he learned from these games, the better he’ll be when he finally gets to be with his new team. Whether he won or not (of course, winning would always be better), Jake tried not to take it as seriously as some of the others seemed to take it. It wasn't that Jake didn't want the best for his team, because he did, it was just that he didn't think people should take it as though it was life or death. It was a game. And life was too short to stress about such things.

Jake pulled his boots on and slowly laced them up while waiting for the game to begin. He sat in the locker room, getting ready before the game. He always took his time when preparing for a major event such as this. The weather would be warm, but there was a breeze. He kept his gear light to make sure he didn’t over exhaust himself during the game. His boots on and secure, Jake took his time pulling each of his beater gloves on, stretching them to fit his hands perfectly. These were his gloves that he received from Jules after he received notice of being accepted onto the Braga Broomfleet team. It had taken a bit of time to wear them in to the point where Jake felt comfortable in them. They were expensive gloves. The best of the best according to Quidditch magazines. Jules had gone all out.

Picking up the Beater paddle, Jake took a couple of swings. Testing the gloves to the bat and working out the kinks in his muscles. Stretching was always important. With as much moving he did with his arms, Jake had to be sure that he wasn’t going to pull any muscles or tear something important while he was playing in the game. The last thing he needed was to be taken out of the game because he had been too stupid to stretch.

The time came when Jake actually had to leave the locker room and head out to the pitch. Sitting on the bench, Jake watched silently as the crowd began to form. His team sat beside him, either anxious for the game to start, or ready to bolt at the first sign of the coach heading back to the ground to start the game. He gave each of them an encouraging smile to let them know to just breathe. It was only a game. This was not the end of the world. They would put up a fight and remind those other houses that Teppenpaw was not a weak house. They had beaten the best before and they will beat them once again. Maybe not this year, but some day, they will and they will prove to all that they were more than what people gave them credit for. Much more than just the ‘friendly’ house.

Jake sighed. He had to say something to the team. Possibly his very last speech. It’ll be a bittersweet game. Standing, Jake made sure the coach was still flying high as he turned to face his team. “Alright everyone. We’re about to begin.” He informed his young team. Merlin, he hoped the young ones could handle the pressure. “I have faith that all of you will perform at your best. We’re a great team and I had all the fun in the world training with each of you. Just remember that this is only a game. We’re not meant to be perfect. If you make a mistake, take it and move on. The game does not end just because you dropped the quaffle, or let the other team score.” Jake said, looking to each of his team mates to ensure that he was talking to each of them in turn. “We play fair even if they don’t. Remember our routines and remember we work as a team, not as individuals. We play together, we win together.” Finished with his speech, Jake clapped Dalila on the back before returning his eyes to the sky.

He watched the coach circle in the sky and then come down for a land. It was time to begin. Jake listened to the coach, always quick to the point, and managed a grin at Anne (who didn’t seem to acknowledge him much at all) before heading back to his team and preparing for the lift off and the official start of the game. It was now or never. That excitement mixed with anxiety began to pump at the pit of his stomach. Adrenaline rush. His hands tightened around the broom. In the few seconds that it took for the coach to countdown, all noise ceased to enter his ears except for the sound of his breath and the beating of his heart. And then, at three, it rushed back in that one wild pump of adrenaline.

Jake took off after the coach said ‘three’ (rather evilly for holding off that beat and probably messing with his younger years heads quite a bit by doing so) and heading straight for the first bludger he found. By the time he reached it, Anne was already streaking off for his goals. Expertly taking aim, Jake felt the metal meet his bat before he heard the beautiful smacking sound that always accompanied such a force. He took a moment to watch the bludger make its way towards the back of the other team’s Captain. Take out the Captain and the team will lose all sense of itself. A semi-grin formed on his lips as he turned away and flew off to protect one of his teammates from an on-coming attack by the other team, unconcerned as to whether or not his first bludger had hit Anne or not.

After all, it had only just begun.

6 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater And we get a little action too! 42 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater 0 5

Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser

September 27, 2008 6:18 PM

But I liked it when everything was blue. by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser

Anne was getting back her grip on her broom after the pass when she heard it. Cursing silently - it would be a Teppenpaw thing to have their best be Beaters - she pulled her broom off-course to avoid the coming Bludger. Stepping away from the action, even briefly, was infuriating, but a captain had to be a little slower to take -

She lurched forward as the Bludger collided with her left shoulder, and for a moment didn't feel much besides vague surprise. She had thought she was far enough over to stay clear of it. In the next moment, of course, it started to hurt, and hurt badly enough that she wasn't sure just how serious the injury was. It didn't help that her knowledge of human anatomy was sketchy at best; for all she knew, a nasty bruise might make dressing difficult for a few days or a few small bones might be broken.

She had to make a decision now. Leaving the air to find out what was wrong with her and get it fixed was an option, but it was a dangerous one. Wolfe might not let her reenter the game if it was bad, and even a brief absence - even one she took a time-out for - could be demoralizing for the team. A loss here today was not acceptable. A loss today would make her an eternal failure in the eyes of two of the very small number of people who'd been with her - however occasionally reluctantly - from day one.

Anne gritted her teeth, the knuckles of her bad hand going white on her broom handle. She was staying in. If anything had been broken, she was sure it would have hurt more than this, and her team didn't have anyone on the bench to take her place on the field. She might be the most useless girl on the Pitch, but she could at least get in the way of any Teppenpaw who started looking too happy about how life was going.

Merlin, she wanted to bite something!

Shoving down her frustration as best she could and trying not to hunch over too much to accommodate her still-aching shoulder, she began scanning the Pitch to figure out what had happened to the Quaffle.

16 Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser But I liked it when everything was blue. 59 Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser 0 5

Lucie Dupree, Teppenpaw Chaser

September 27, 2008 8:39 PM

I prefer everything to be yellow. by Lucie Dupree, Teppenpaw Chaser

Every Christmas, the internal alarm in Lucie’s body would sound in the early morning hours when the sun was just coming up. It didn’t matter that she would have to wait until much later for the festivities to begin or to be able to open presents. Until that time, Lucie felt like a lightening rod of nerves. Each one danced across her skin sending little shocks of anticipation and excitement. The feeling would continue to build, becoming ever more intense, as though the moment would never come, and she felt like she would burst. Today was exactly like that for today marked Lucie’s first official Quidditch game.

As the time until the game wore on, the feelings of eagerness and exhilaration were joined with feelings of tension and anxiousness. Her stomach felt heavy. Lucie began to regret the egg pancake sandwiches that she had eaten and wished that she had stuck to her mother’s approved diet of fruit. Today was going to either be the beginning of the beginning or the beginning of the ending, depending upon her performance. Sure, she did fine in Quidditch practice, but it wasn’t Quidditch practice. It was the real deal. What if she couldn’t keep up? She was the smallest on the team and a girl. Her parents had pointed out the latter fact when she had brought up trying out and then expressly forbade her from playing.

Of course, where with Devian and Danae, their parents’ word was law, but with Lucie their words went right in one ear and out the other. Though, that was before she had given any serious thought to what she was getting herself into, but then that was usually the way it was with her. She often tended to just dive into whatever suited her interest at the moment. At the beginning of the year, it had been Quidditch and given the physical activity associated with the game had held her interest since it gave her an outlet for all her energy. She adored the long practices and the workouts, but that was the problem, they were just practice. Now, she was going to be facing more experienced players, bigger players, players that wanted her to fail.

These thoughts stayed with her up until the time that the Teppenpaw team was actually on the field. Getting ready for the Quidditch match had been an unusual affair for the normally talkative girl, because it had been done in a series of robotic motions among a cloud of silence. Uniform. Check. Gloves. Check. Boots. Check. Hair. Check. Broom. Check. Lucie was as ready as she could be, as she had followed the other players onto the Quidditch pitch. The first thing that occurred was a speech from their Captain. Lucie tried to force herself to pay attention, but her blue eyes kept straying to look at the other team.

The Aladrens seemed awfully big except for a couple of them, though, compared to her, even they were rather sizeable. Most of them, she could identify a little bit since she had seen them play last year, but it was harder to know for certain exactly who was who when in Quidditch everyone went so fast on the field. Although, two she knew for certain. One was her cousin, Chris, a beater. She bit her lip, wondering if he would take aim at her or not. She really he rather not, but if he didn’t, he would be letting down his team just as she would if she didn’t do her best. The other was Paul Tarwater, mostly known in the rare occurrences when one of her classes joined with an upper year class and because she sometimes saw him with her sister.

A light frown touched her features. Lucie really wished he would stay away from Danae. She worried that Danae would see something more in Paul than friendship. Then, where would that leave her sister? Their parents would never approve of someone like Paul. She knew the family to be pure, but they were poor, and Duprees did not marry poor. It’s why Nicoletta had been cast out. What if something like that happened to Danae? She loved her sister and didn’t want to see that happen. Not to mention, Danae already had a betrothal lined up in nice (and tidy) Emeric.

Concentrate. Concentrate. She shouldn’t be worrying about any members of the other team yet. She had to listen to what Jake had to say. If she didn’t, she might miss something incredibly important, such as initial strategy. No, not strategy, Jake was talking about doing their best and such and how it was only a game. Lucie’s face brightened. He was right. It was only a game, meaning that she could use her imagination to help her. She could picture the Aladren players as something other than the enormous beings they appeared to be.

Looking back over towards the other team, Lucie squinted her eyes as she tried to think of something else they could be, except nothing came to mind. Maybe she should try approaching it from a different angle. Oh, why didn’t she think of this sooner? Yes, yes that would work. It made perfect sense. Well, it made perfect sense to her at least. The Aladrens, house animal was the hawk and the Teppenpaws’ was the prairie dog. She had read that some hawks eat prairie dogs. Perhaps, given those terms, it didn’t sound too good, but it was a complete underdog story. Yes, they were the underdogs. It made sense, given that last year; she had learned that other houses viewed them as such.

Underdog stories always had the classic element that it was the little guy that triumphed, because he had heart and wasn’t that what Jake was essentially talking about? He had faith in them, the Prairie (Under)dogs. Yes, that was exactly how Lucie would take this to be. They were the underdogs and as such, they would play their hearts out. At least, she would. She would do her absolute best. It didn’t matter how scared she was, because real courage wasn’t running from what you were scared of, but facing it head on. She was going to face the Aladrens head on. With that, the coach was down on the field, announcing the start of the game.

A broom mount and a kickoff found Lucie in the air, which washed away all the negative feelings. All that was left behind was her fearlessness and a story yet to be written, but where did it start? An easy enough answer as an Aladren chaser got the Quaffle, which was putting them ahead in a fashion already. It followed perfect for the story being written. The ones deemed stronger had to get it first, but it didn’t mean they had to keep it. Lucie leaned in on her broom to follow after the chaser. The snitch wasn’t her concern. Bludgers weren’t her concern. The only thing that mattered was the quaffle, because for the rest her trust was placed in her team members.

The trust was well placed, because at that moment, a bludger was heading her way and she hadn’t made a break to be close enough to the girl. She heard the distant sound of a smack and she glanced over just in time to see Jake. A quick grin of thanks was given before she made her move. Being small had its positives and negatives. Without Jake, a definite negative would have been presented, as with her size, a hit by a bludger probably would have taken her out of the game. Instead, the positive got to shine through. She was light; it meant the broom could carry her faster than someone heavier. It also meant that even with the yellow robes, she was less noticed. She felt like stealth.

There it was, what she had been waiting for. The quaffle was passed, Lucie pushed up placing herself in its path. It would have been almost a clean catch, but her tiny hand had a hard time gripping the quaffle and she fumbled slightly. The ball dropped a bit and she had to hurry up to readjust her grip. She had the ball. Now, she had to prove what the underdogs could do. Heading back towards the opposite scoring area, she urged her broom to go as fast as possible, but it wasn’t fast enough. She saw another member of her team nearby. She knew their broom to be faster and they were a more experienced thrower. They needed to work together. They were a team. They were one. She threw the quaffle, hoping that it was true and the other chaser would catch it.

0 Lucie Dupree, Teppenpaw Chaser I prefer everything to be yellow. 0 Lucie Dupree, Teppenpaw Chaser 0 5

Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser

September 29, 2008 4:51 PM

It's such a happy color by Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser

Dalila had woken up that morning in high spirits. Game day was always an excellent reason to get up. She dressed quickly and ate a hurried breakfast, eager to get out onto the field. She grabbed her broom from the broom shed, her family having never bought her a broom of her own and followed the other players, standing next to Jake in the huddle.

She was too experienced a player to get those pre-game jitters. Her nervousness was due to Jake's presence. She had never gotten around to telling her captain how she felt and every day she made up some new excuse was a day closer to when Jake would leave for Professional Quidditch and Dalila would go off to college. And she had to tell him. She didn't hear a word of Jake's pep-talk, her mind being rather occupied and only began paying attention to her surroundings when Jake clapped her on the back. An involuntary smile appeared on her lips as they got into position.

Dalila didn't wait to hear 'three'; she was pushing off the ground at two, but no one seemed to notice. Or if they did, they didn't bother to do anything about it. The cool breeze felt good on her face and although she loved being so close to Jake, it was good to get away from him after that close proximity. The last thing she wanted was for other people to realize her feelings and tell Jake. Lexi was one thing, but most other people were another.

Anne had caught the ball early on and while Dalila pondered, several things happened, so by the time she got her head back in the game, somehow the newest member of the Teppenpaw team was in possession of the quaffle. Dalila didn't remember her name, so she just referred to the cute blond girl as 'cute blond girl' in her head. Or 'You' during practice sessions. She really needed to concentrate more if she was going to be a good captain next year.

Cute blond girl managed a decent pass in Dalila's direction and Dalila caught it with ease and began zooming towards the Aladren goals. She weaved in and out of a few players from both teams and had gotten within a few feet of the goals, but at an awful angle. Quick decisions: try and make a goal at the weird angle or pass to someone farther away, but better positioned. No guts, no glory. She tried to angle herself better for a better shot, but was only able to get a little bit more in her view before seeing the Aladren defence approaching her fast. She took the chance and threw the quaffle as hard as she could, hoping to angle it into the hoop. She just hoped the Keeper was distracted by something shiny.

0 Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser It's such a happy color 0 Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser 0 5

Geoff Layne, Aladren Keeper

October 01, 2008 11:02 PM

Eh, I still prefer blue. by Geoff Layne, Aladren Keeper

Between Quidditch practices and CATS preparation and doing his level best to keep Anne from taking her stress out on others at various not-so-convenient times, Geoff had been on the go more or less non-stop since September. Realizing there was a game after he got out of bed had been akin to being hit over the head with a cast-iron pan, and he had almost broken his neck in his hurry to get to breakfast. At breakfast, Anne had been on a coffee-and-doughnut binge, which had meant they had spent the entire meal arguing. Now, only a few minutes before they had to go out, Anne was nervous.

If the day so far was indicative of how the rest of the day was going to go, Geoff was seriously wondering if he should have bothered getting out of bed.

Since he had already done it, though, he reminded himself that he didn't believe in omens and smiled encouragingly at his friend when she glanced his way in mid-speech. He was not an optimist, but it was not completely unreasonable to think Aladren might do well. It would all be about the Seekers in the end, and Zack had much more experience than his opponent.

Experienced players had a higher success rate than newbies most of the time, and Geoff was a believer in statistics. That was why he wanted the game to end before he had a chance to prove them right at the goals, and part of why he'd been so irritable with Anne at breakfast. He'd been working on the position since October, but he still wasn't at his best as Keeper.

Anne ended her speech with less team-bashing than he had expected, and then they were heading for the center of the Pitch. Geoff couldn't help feeling slightly more cheerful. Half the team acting asylum-bound had been a big reason for his fourth-year departure - he had enough of that to deal with when he was at home with his mother and Lavinia - but he had missed this. Unofficially competing for grades with Devian and Morgaine just wasn't the same, even if the latter was nice to look at.

Fox's speech was standard. Anne looked frozen as she shook hands with Jake Santoro, but he supposed most people would read that as her being unfriendly and victory-obsessed and so give him no reason to worry about it. The balls went up into the air, the players followed, and the game began.

To his surprise and delight, Anne took the Quaffle and ran with it. That was good, as she was at her best on a broom and at the best of her best when an aspect of making the team look successful was in her hands and she had the means to work toward that goal. Maybe this day wouldn't be a world-class disaster after all.

No sooner than he thought that, she tried to pass the ball, misjudged a move, and both lost the Quaffle to Teppenpaw and took a Bludger to the shoulder.

Swearing under his breath, he left her to figure out the way to the medical tent for herself and began watching the Quaffle. While it was in Teppenpaw hands, there was a chance he'd have to work with it. His best hope was in Ben or Zoey getting the Quaffle back without getting a penalty for him to try to block, and he wasn't terribly surprised when the tiny Chaser's pass to Bastet was successful.

For a moment, he thought the sixth year might not make the shot, not at that angle with the defence - Anne, for some reason, with it and looking somewhat murderous - closing in fast. Then, of course, they both realized she didn't have much of a choice in the matter and she threw the Quaffle. Somehow - probably because of the lousy angle Dalila had been forced to shoot from - he managed to catch it before it could go in a hoop and promptly came close to dropping it.

Feeling unusually hot behind his ears, Geoff threw the Quaffle back toward a blue uniform after making sure it did not belong to their injured captain. Stubborn idiot. He'd have a word with her after this, win or lose, but for the moment had nothing to do but settle in and wait for the next play.

16 Geoff Layne, Aladren Keeper Eh, I still prefer blue. 72 Geoff Layne, Aladren Keeper 0 5

Paul

October 05, 2008 3:43 PM

Its pretty without being too bright! by Paul

Before they all took off, Paul noticed that the little blonde girl he knew only as Danae's sister (he was still learning the names of the underclassmen) had sent a small frown his way. Whether it was towards him personally, or towards the whole team, Paul didn't really know. He felt paranoid again for thinking that it was just to him, he couldn't keep thinking everyone was out to get him. But ah, it was so hard because he did think that. It wasn't just people who so much as looked at him either, it was everything. And Paul really had to shake himself of that stupid feeling.

He started by shaking his head as he kicked off. The first bludger Paul hit didn't hit anything, something he was disappointed in. It barely came close even, and once again Paul gritted his teeth and went on with the game. Quidditch wasn't something really important in his life, but Paul would like to win something right now. It might make him feel a little better about himself, winning normally gave one a feeling of small satisfaction. Even in something as trivial as sports. Heck, he didn't even have to win, Paul just wanted to hit someone. Hopefully hard enough that they went down and gave Aladren the advantage. Maybe the Seeker, a Chaser would be nice too. Paul surveyed the rest of the game.

The dark haired boy watched through the corners of his eyes while Anne ended up with the Quaffle, and he willed her to the Teppenpaw side to get their first point. This wasn't to be so, unfortunately. Paul swore under his breath at Jake Santoro, when the Teppenpaw leader's bludger caused Anne to drop the Quaffle. Danae's sister caught ahold of it, and then passed the Quaffle on to Delila. Paul picked out one of the closest bludgers and pulled himself upward. He wanted to hit it at Danae's sister at first, but of course the Quaffle was already passed, and Paul had to deal with getting closer to Delila. She was speeding towards Geoff, Paul swung his bat, hitting that closer bludger Delila's way, and Paul was now willing it to hit her before she threw.

Unfortunately, Delila had already thrown the Quaffle by the time Paul had hit the bludger at her. Fortunately, his ex-fellow Beater slash person-he-tried-to-hurt-during-practice caught it and threw it out to one of the other Chasers. Lucky there, but not for long. The Teppenpaw Chasers would be closing in soon, and Paul was going to have to lessen the chanced of that. He checked once more to see if he'd hit his mark with Delila before going off to his next bludger, and the next person he would be targeting. Maybe he should go for the blonde next, though he wasn't exactly sure how Danae would feel about Paul hitting at her cute little sister. He was even less sure about how she would take it if the girl didn't dodge and ended up breaking something.

Paul flew up again looking around and trying to play everything out. He knew where the bludgers were, he knew where his team was, and he knew where the opposing team was. Now, Paul had to play out a strategy.

0 Paul Its pretty without being too bright! 0 Paul 0 5

Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater

October 06, 2008 11:11 PM

Nothing wrong with being showy with color by Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater

There was a reason why a person chose to have a career with a broom, quaffle, bludgers, and a snitch. A reason why they lived with the idea that death from a free fall off a broom, or a hard hit in the head with a bludger could happen. Very few people really understood that reason, and even less ever felt it. Jake was one of those people who had an understanding of that passion that kept those people going.

It was more than a game. And there were no words that could adequately explain why someone would risk their lives, spend their days training, become bloody and bruised for something as simple as Quidditch. It wasn’t for the fame, though there were probably some who decided for those reasons, but then, they didn’t really understand, did they? It wasn’t for the women or men that would ultimately become the fans, but, like the fame, ther e were some who joined for that reason. It wasn’t for the money.

It was just more than that.

As Jake blocked another bludger, he couldn’t help the slight grin from appearing on his face. He loved this game. He loved Quidditch. It was never about winning for him, it was all about playing. It was the sound the bludger made as it connected with his bat. It was the way the wind swirled around him as he flew high through the air. It was the fierce adrenaline that soared through his veins with every noise the crowd made. It was the absolute disappointment that came with every loss and the complete high that followed every win.

Those feelings, reactions, connections, those were what kept Jake on his broom. They were what drove him to try-out for professional league. He hoped that some of his companions could feel what he felt every time he swong his bat. Every time he received an appreciative grin from a teammate or an angry glare from the competition. It was the sort of joy that anyone would want to share but unless someone could truly feel as he did, that joy was rarely ever understood. It was a shame, really. But then, most people had other passions. Jennifer had her sutdies, Dillon had his animals, Bella had her music. Jake had his quidditch.

Although Jake was mainly keeping his focus on the bludgers, he still kept a lookout on his players. As a result, he felt himself cringe a bit as Dalila’s attempt to score failed. Oh well, at least she had the guts to try. That was something he could always give her credit for. Her willingness to try anything, her energy, and her spunk. Those were the things Jake looked forward to when he was around his Assistant Captain. The quaffle was back in play and Jake soared over to another bludger. For some reason the Aladren Beater was waiting for something . If he continued to wait, he’d lose the bludger. They didn’t hang around for very long. After having aimed successfully at the Aladren Captain, Jake went for his next target, the Aladren Seeker.

Zack was the smallest Seventh Year that Jake knew. Jennifer was pretty small, but Jake believed that even she had some height on Zack. Poor guy. What Zack lacked in height he made up for in brains. Zack had to be the most intelligent Seventh Year Jake knew. But that didn’t mean that he would be safe from the bludgers. Taking aim at the Seeker, Jake swung. The bat connected easily, making the sweet cracking sound as it did. Jake took a moment to ensure that the bludger was on target before swooping down to protect one of his teammates from a bludger that was currently making them a target.

6 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater Nothing wrong with being showy with color 42 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater 0 5

Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Seeker

October 24, 2008 12:55 AM

Always a good thing by Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Seeker

Without a shadow of a doubt, Quidditch was the best sport in the world. How could it not be when it seemed to combine the best of muggle sports with all of its wizarding ingenuity? It was almost like soccer in the sky with the passing and scoring, but using hands rather than feet, of course, since they were on brooms, or perhaps, it was more like football minus the touchdowns, and then there was the softball likeness of the beaters hitting the bludgers, which when one came flying at you, added a certain dodge ball factor to the equation.

But then there was the snitch. It was like nothing else. There was no muggle sport that seeking it could be equated to. A small ball of gold with wings that did its best not to be found and even better at trying not to be caught. As the team’s Seeker, it was up to Hannah to be the one to attempt to catch the elusive ball. She had yet to do so, but it really was no surprise given that the other Seekers were more seasoned, such as the one that she would be playing today. Zack Dill, the Aladren team’s Seeker. He had been there Seeker for as long as she had been at the school at least, maybe longer.

So, being a Seventh year, he had at the minimum three, probably a lot more than three, years of having been on the team. Therefore, quite a bit more experience. She could only hope that after a couple years of playing, she now had enough experience under her belt to withstand a real shot at being able to catch the snitch before the other Seeker, especially because if she didn’t, it would mean that this would be their last game for the year and in the case of the Captain, his last game at this school, which would make her feel horrible as it would have been her fault. So much rested on the shoulders of a Seeker.

This was why Hannah had made sure to go to bed early the night before in order to get a good night’s rest. It wouldn’t do any good trying to search for the snitch if she were exhausted and would most likely mean she would just zone out while sitting on her broom. She had also made sure to eat a well-balanced breakfast, both to ensure the avoidance of hunger pains and to give her ample energy. Anything that she could think of to help her, she had done. She had even made sure to put her hair in a French braid, because it would provide less air resistance than if she had left it to hang loose or even in a ponytail. Otherwise, the only real advantage (and it was barely one) was that even though he was small, she was smaller, even Addie was taller than her now, but that was because she took after their mother while her sister took after their father.

After that it was just a matter of getting up into the air. First, there was the Captain’s speech, which was a bit melancholy, even though it wasn’t meant to be, but it was his last game. She wondered how Dalila would do next year leading them. She figured she would do okay since she did fairly well leading the chasers in practices. Then, came Coach Fox’s speech, which was thankfully short. Hannah really didn’t care for overly long speeches. It just served to drag out the anticipation to what was going to happen in the game. Right now was just a time to be able to get up into the air and once she could, she straddled her broom and kicked off the ground to soar above the rest of the players in order to search for the snitch, hopefully before the other seeker.

Up in the air, Hannah scouted around a bit trying to find the golden snitch and attempting to ignore the players below, but not too much as there was always the possibility of a bludger coming towards her. She rather hated that part of the game, when they were coming at her at full speed, but even so, it was well worth playing, especially in finding the snitch, which currently seemed to be doing quite a good job at staying hidden. It was a good fifteen minutes before she spotted even a hint at where it could be and it figured it would be underneath the current players. With a deep breath, she plunged down into the depths of dodging towards the snitch. Now all she had to do was get there before the other Seeker. Of course, it could always fly away before either of them could get there.

0 Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Seeker Always a good thing 0 Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Seeker 0 5

Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker

October 24, 2008 9:52 AM

I can think of a few cases where it's not, but I'm paranoi by Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker

Zack's eyes scanned over the playing field, focusing in and out as he looked first near the ground then closer to the chasers then even higher than them. He flew in a random pattern - when he'd been young and ignorant he'd developed a route that covered the pitch in the most efficient manner possible, but the snitch's tricky nature and high intelligence had proved the method useless - and kept himself as open minded as he was open eyed.

He'd been testing telepathic reception lately, tying it in with some runes and divination theories, to try to help him be aware of a snitch's intentions. He suspected their telepathic abilities could be used against them this way, especially if they started influencing the bludgers. As semi-domesticated beasts from the snitches' home planet, Zack hypothesized that they had to be controlled by telepathic means by the much smaller but much smarter snitches.

He wasn't sure if it was his own telepathic attempts working, or just lucky chance, but he looked toward Hannah just as she spotted something. Six years of honed instinct had him moving toward the golden snitch before he even laid eyes on it. She could be feinting, of course, but it was safer to assume she wasn't until more data was available. He set his direction based on her vector of movement and how far out she seemed to be focusing, and he only had to adjust slightly once he spotted the elusive alien being for himself.

With the snitch in his sights, he leaned down over his broom and brought Enterprise into Warp Ten, the broom's highest speed. He'd only gotten brave enough to use it last year. Of course, it was at least a six year old WarpSpeed, so newer models could go to higher Warp Levels, but Zack knew all of Enterprise's foibles and preferred her to a strange unknown broom that might not respond in the way he was used to. He could even milk Warp Ten And A Half out of her for short bursts, but he usually saved that for neck in neck races to the snitch.

Which it looked like this might turn out to be. He flicked his eyes away from his target for just a second to see where Hannah was at.

He never even noticed the bludger that his dive for the snitch helped him avoid.\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker I can think of a few cases where it's not, but I'm paranoi 40 Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker 0 5

Zack Dill

November 04, 2008 11:31 AM

A finish to be proud of by Zack Dill

The snitch was ahead of them. It flittered about darting in seemingly random patterns, but it wasn't just a golden ball with wings. It was an alien being that Zack had studied for almost seven years. Each jerk and jink was as calculated as the moment it let itself be seen.

Zack leaned forward. Hannah had gotten the jump on him in spotting it, but his position had been very slightly closer. It was going to be close and Zack reached his hand out and urged Enterprise into its maximum speed. The broom shook from the effort of breaking through the air. The speed could only be maintained for a few seconds before Zack started to worry about structural integrity, but a few seconds were all he was going to need.

He pulled a little ahead of Hannah and stretched out his arm and hand as far forward as it could go. The golden alien was right there. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he pushed Enterprise to her very limits, his eyes watered from the wind in his face, and then his reaching fingers closed.

He let out a whoop and pumped his fist, with two fluttering golden wings sticking out either side of it, into the air as he sat up and brought Enterprise back down into safer speeds. "Got it!" he called out in triumph.

If that didn't put them in the finals, it was a perfect way to end his six years on Aladren's Quidditch Team.

1 Zack Dill A finish to be proud of 40 Zack Dill 0 5