<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
July 07, 2012 12:44 AM
Quidditch Final: Aladren vs Crotalus by <font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
Well, Amelia thought as she dragged the trunk of Quidditch balls out to the middle of the pitch for the season's final game, we had one year that wasn't Aladren-Crotalus as the season's finale. She had needed to pit them against each other in the first game of the season to achieve it, but it had shaken things up enough that neither team had won the championship last year.Pecari hadn't made it back to the finals this year, though, which Amelia was honestly a little disappointed by. They had performed surprisingly well last year, and Miss Eagle had been working them very hard in practices. Amelia really hoped it wouldn't negatively impact Demelza's chances of going pro because the Pecari captain really was a very good beater and Sonora Quidditch hadn't boosted anyone into the professional leagues since she started coaching here and she was starting to get concerned about that.
But that was not what was at stake today. Today was Aladren versus Crotalus for the year's Quidditch Cup.
And today was such a beautiful day for it, too. The sun shone, large fluffy white clouds drifted lazily across the sky providing patches of intermittent shade, and a light breeze blew, keeping things cool despite the warming Arizona temperatures. It would probably be unpleasantly warm in the afternoon highs later today, but it was still early enough in the morning that the overnight chill and the breeze kept things comfortable.
"Welcome to Quidditch Finale," she announced when it looked like the two captains were finished giving their speeches. With the weather fine enough that she felt no urgency to start (and therefore end) the game, and a match up that some of the older students might start to find dull soon, she felt inclined to dramatize: "We again have Crotalus in the red robes facing off against Aladren in the blue. Captain Wilkes of Aladren will be trying to return his team back to their winning streak, while Captain Bauer of Crotalus seeks to repeat what Pecari managed last year. The next few hours will determine which team will emerge with Sonora's Quidditch Cup. Captains, please shake hands."
After they had done so, she sent them back to their teams. She flipped open the trunk lid and released the bindings on the bludgers. They soared up into the air, and the snitch soon followed. Finally, she lifted up the Quaffle and raised her whistle near her mouth as she made her final remarks, "As always, game starts on my whistle and ends when a seeker catches the snitch. One. Two. Tweeeeet!" The whistle blew on the final count as she threw the ball into the air.
The final had begun.
Subthreads: Here we go. by <font color="blue">Captain Wilkes, Keeper</font> with <font color="red">Captain Bauer, Chaser</font>, <font color = red>Renée Errant {Chaser}</font>, <font color="blue"> Preston. Beater </font>, <font color="red">Topher Calhoun, Beater</font>, <font color="blue">Kitty McLevy Chaser</font>, <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>, <font color="red">Linus Macaulay, Chaser</font>, <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>
Right, and here we go. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font> with <font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>, <font color=blue>Thaddeus Pierce, Beater</font>, <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>, <font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
Quidditch? Oh yea... by Andrina Thornton, Aladren Reserve with <font color="blue">Jay Carey, Reserve</font>
Making my appearance by <font color="red">Paul Bennett, Reserve</font>
1
<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
Quidditch Final: Aladren vs Crotalus
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<font color=silver>Coach Amelia Pierce</font>
1
5
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
July 09, 2012 5:42 AM
Right, and here we go. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
Cepheus had never been so nervous for anything in his life up until this moment. Even the knowledge of having to face his furious grandfather during the winter holiday hadn’t sent his mind blank and his knees knocking. The thought of being the Seeker in the final match between Aladren and Crotalus, which was legendary at Sonora and usually ended poorly for his house, had put an unbearable burden on his thin shoulders. He had hardly been able to sleep a wink the night before, stressing himself out with thoughts of what to do if the opposing Seeker made a certain move or whether or not he should follow any false dives. His tumultuous head was full of different ways to catch the Snitch complete with his imagination.He only slept around four in the morning out of pure exhaustion. The second year had a difficult time getting up that morning though he tried not to let it show to his room-mates as he dressed in his robes and readied himself for the day, his head swimming and his mouth dry. Father, who had been the Seeker during his time at school, couldn’t have been this nervous on match days, could he?
The walk to the pitch with his broom in hand was torturous. He would begin sweating any moment now even if it was blessedly cool for the time being. His hands were already shaking. The thought of failing so many of his fellow house-mates was devastating and he silently swore to himself that he wouldn’t let that happen. Of course, Cepheus was no Seer and couldn’t exactly swear something to himself one-hundred percent truthfully when he was shaking in his skin. He was not a parsimonious bloke when it came to wishing and praying, though, and he did so fervently as he listened to his athletic boots reverberate against the hard floor.
In due time, he was on the pitch which looked much too sunny and bright for such an important day. The robes felt stiff and suffocating on him and he pulled at the collar, blinking up at the bright sun. He rubbed the back of his blonde hair before smoothing it down again and grit his teeth as if he were stepping into something particularly painful.
He had specifically asked his mates to come and support him this year, ones in particular being Alicia and the two other Crotalus girls in his year, Shiloh and Alexandra. Alicia would most likely come to cheer on her house, but it would still be nice to have at least a few supportive faces in the crowd. Relatively supportive, anyway. He hadn’t exactly told them how nervous he was feeling days before the match, but he had told them to try and be there if possible. He’d even said please. Twice. Merlin, if Father saw how weak he had been this entire week he would be skinned. Metaphorically, of course.
Sam was giving his captain’s speech as he did before every match, but this one was weighted. Cepheus nodded sharply and swallowed. He hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt though he had paled considerably. He was rubbish at not allowing people to get into his head, but keeping his thoughts straight and his mind focused on getting the snitch, he knew he’d have some chance despite his age and lack of experience.
Arnold Carey was a force to be reckoned with on the pitch and Cepheus had the misfortune of being that one to reckon with him. Perhaps he was being a bit too dramatic, but it was warranted. He ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth, praying that his knees wouldn’t begin knocking again. Instead, he put all his energy into focusing on reigning in his emotions and focusing his mind. It very nearly worked until Coach Pierce blew the whistle.
By then he was up in the air already in position, but he still felt his stomach jolt as the final match for the Quidditch Cup began. He began flying around the pitch, having learnt to do nothing more and nothing less on the first round. He circled quietly, keeping his eyes open and focused. He didn’t want to fly around madly as he had the first match. Later on that day it had given him a bit of a headache and he did not want a replay of that. Well, not of the headache. A replay of the snitch-catching bit would be nice.
Swallowing down his nervousness, Cepheus was on circling the pitch for the second time when he managed to finally keep track of his opponent. He hadn’t had the mind to do so at first, but he was glad he was doing so now. Sam’s words of advice rang in his head and he steeled his mind to keep from being penetrated by petty words. Keep yourself focused, Cepheus told himself sharply. He reminded himself of his father and how disappointed Father would be if he came home for the summer with no victory story to tell. Then he regarded that as ridiculous and cleared his mind, blue eyes still peeled for the glint of gold that might reflect off the pieces of sunlight that strewn through the clouds.
0
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
Right, and here we go.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
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5
<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
July 12, 2012 8:42 PM
End it quickly please by <font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
Finals. Merlin, this can’t possibly be good for my health the large 12 year old thought as his stomach twisted in to complex knots. Gareth forced himself to remain still, and not to fidget uncomfortably or flee to the locker room to get sick. Not that there was anything to sick up, but the feeling persisted none the less. Vaguely he noticed that the sky was fairly clear, and it didn’t feel too terribly hot. Good, better than rain. He hated flying in the rain.Gareth’s pale blue eyes took in his teammates, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of kinship with Cepheus, who looked about as nervous as Gareth felt. We can do this, we did it the last game, we will do it now. All we have to do is focus, guard, keep the opposing seeker from catching the snitch he thought, forcing his own nerves to the background of his mind. The Crotalus wasn’t skilled enough in self control to banish them entirely, but the least he could do was not give in to them completely and loose his head. All he had to do was keep things in perspective. He wasn’t facing off against Aladren’s terrifying beater this year, thank Merlin for that. And, last year he’d managed to hit the Seeking Carey even with his massive guard to contend with. I am not terrible at this, I will help our team win and make father proud of me.
Gareth’s wandering attention snapped to Sam’s face when the Captain began speaking and he gave a sharp nod of understanding upon receiving his directions. Keep Cepheus safe, eliminate Arnold and any other Aladren’s that ventured into his sphere of influence. He could do that, he could focus just on that and let Topher handle the Aladren beaters, and not let his nervousness about the importance of this game make him ill.
When the whistle blew, Gareth launched himself off the ground before his instincts could scream at him not to do it. That was a trick he’d taught himself long ago, a quick launch could fool his mind for that crucial moment where the fear nearly overcame his will and froze him on the ground. That could not be permitted to happen, not today, not for the finals, and certainly not in front of the entire school. He would not shame himself by giving in to such weakness.
The wind of his assent was loud in Gareth’s ears, but he ignored the unpleasant sound as his sharp eyes watched Cepheus before turning to his second point of focus. There, he thought he saw the Aladren Seeker, and with swift, deliberate motions, he stalked the enemy as he tracked down a bludger. Topher and the larger of the two Aladren beaters were in a contest over one of the bludgers, but the other trailed high, and Gareth suppressed the soft curse he wanted to give as he forced his broom higher to capture it. Finally he closed with the large iron ball, and with a harsh swing that contained a great deal of nervous energy as well as his natural strength he sent the ball flying towards the blue robed Seeker.
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<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
End it quickly please
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<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
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<font color=blue>Thaddeus Pierce, Beater</font>
July 12, 2012 10:29 PM
I'm sure Arnold will take your wish under consideration by <font color=blue>Thaddeus Pierce, Beater</font>
Thaddeus was oddly not worried about the Final. He thought he should be. It would determine the winner of the Quidditch Cup. He was still expected to fill Edmond's shoes. Crotalus was commonly believed to be a harder team to beat than Pecari. But Crotalus did not have Demelza Eagle on it. The largest beater there was in fourth year, and the one covering the seeker, if the last game was anything to judge by, was Gareth.He was sure Gareth must be a good beater. He had made first string in his first year. But Gareth was a second year like Thad was, and nowhere near as scary as Demelza. If anything, Thad thought the two Crotalus second years had better cause to fear him. He was the guy who jumped off his broom during a casual game of Chasers On Keeper to stop a Quaffle from going through the hoop. At the time, that was all he had intended to do, but if it now made them think he was a little crazy and altogether too gung-ho on a broom, he'd take it.
So he ate breakfast with hardly a flutter in his stomach, then made it out to the Pitch with a comfortable window for warm-ups before David's pre-game speech. He wasn't sure it was the most inspirational of sports speeches, but it achieved the goal of making Thaddeus determined to let Crotalus again be the one to make it to the final and never win.
Soon, the whistle blew and Thad kicked off. Preston headed for the Chasers, so he returned what was clearly becoming his position as Arnold's protector. Unfortunately, Gareth seemed to find the bludger first and Thad had to prove he was at least competent at said position. Moving between his seeker and the incoming iron ball, Thad pulled the same move he had used against Demelza, only with less pain and backward force. The bludger spun aside, most of its momentum lost after its collision with Thad's bat.
Hitting it again, this time to gain control of it, Thad moved to position himself so he had a good line at Cepheus. The third contact between his bat and the bludger resounded with a loud thunk and the bludger screamed off toward the seeker wearing the red this time.
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<font color=blue>Thaddeus Pierce, Beater</font>
I'm sure Arnold will take your wish under consideration
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<font color=blue>Thaddeus Pierce, Beater</font>
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<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
July 12, 2012 10:51 PM
You’ll be disappointed when you loose by <font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
Before his strike could find its mark the new addition to Aladren made himself known by stopping it. Not just stopping it, but then having the gall to send it back towards Cepheus. Gareth’s lips dipped into a scowl as he took his place between danger and his Seeker. He’d heard rumors about Aladren’s new beater, rumors that even before joining the team he’d inherited the inherent insanity that seemed to plague the members draped in blue. He’d seen for himself, back when they’d first started how the mad boy had leapt of his own broom to stop a Quaffle from scoring when they were just playing around.Gareth refused to be put off by sheer madness, but he also didn’t want to go head to head with such psychosis either. That insanity made his opponent impossible to judge. No, it was best to remove the source of conflict now. With a grim smile Gareth brought his bat around and struck it hard, not towards Arnold again, but away from their little tangle back towards the bulk of the game and the chasers. The knot of chasers were to close together for him to target, or even for him to guide the metal ball only towards the offensive blue team. He hoped that if it did go after one of his team mates that they had the good sense to get out of the way.
Turning back towards Thaddeus he gave the boy a mocking salute with his bat before turning to ghost after Cepheus again. He took his guard duty seriously. Should it be required of him he would take a hit meant for his team’s Seeker just as he had in the last game. Not that he thought Thaddeus would be able to put him in the position that Derry maneuvered him into in the last game. But, the madness was still worrisome and it was a factor that had to be kept in mind as the game progressed. We will not lose because I faltered in my duty he thought grimly as he kept a sharp eye out for any retaliation Thaddeus might offer.
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<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
You’ll be disappointed when you loose
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<font color="red">Gareth Whitebriar-Beater </font>
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5
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 13, 2012 6:10 PM
He doesn't have to worry about that by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Last year, Arnold had thought it was Jade’s age which made him feel all wrong about taunting her and trying to get into her head during the game, but this year, it hadn’t bothered him much at all once they actually got into the game. When, then, he found himself feeling strange about the prospect of interacting with the Crotalus Seeker, who was the same age and another guy besides that, he had come to a conclusion about himself. It wasn’t girls, or younger people, or anything like that which he didn’t like playing as much; it was just new people.Now that he knew that, he didn’t know if it was going to make it easier to ignore it, but it did make him feel better about the game in general, relaxed and confident. He joked with his brother and his other roommates as they got ready, cheerfully greeted the rest of the team as they all got together, and even smiled at David’s…he thought those were supposed to be jokes, sometimes it could be hard to tell with other Aladrens. He thought it was, though, supposed to be funny to picture Professor Fawcett weeping over pictures of the House Cup. It did, though, make him just a bit more determined to get the Snitch today, to prove that he wasn’t becoming overconfident and, as the captain had mentioned, get them back into the competition for the House Cup.
He was good at this. He had proven that over and over again. This was the one thing he was really good at, and today, he just had to be good at it again. Against an unfamiliar Seeker, but looking at it logically, like an Aladren, that should mean he had even more of an advantage. Seekers didn’t tend to last very long at the professional level, but he was fifteen now and only at school, surrounded by second year Beaters, so Arnold thought he still had a while before he was too old for it anymore. He had gotten taller over the past two years, but he still was not that tall. Arthur was nearly a head taller than him.
Coach Pierce said a few words – Arnold threw in a wave to the crowd when Aladren’s attempt to reclaim its dominance came up, then offered a much more subdued nod to the Crotali he knew across the way, which was…the Beaters, now, but he didn’t see them trying to stop him during the game as a reason not to be friendly outside of it – and then they kicked off. Arnold went straight up before leveling out sharply and flying around in a smooth loop for a moment, which was both a bit showy and gave him a minute to assess how the game was going. It looked like Crotalus had the Quaffle, so his brother was probably grinding his teeth right now, but other than that, things looked good right now.
Cepheus Princeton looked a little disorganized, so Arnold took advantage of the opportunity to look for the Snitch when he thought he might not have too much interference if he spotted it. Ending the game in the first few minutes, something he had come close to doing against Pecari but had never actually done, would cause a lot of confusion on the Pitch and make a lot of people go back to their Houses feeling they had been short-changed, but if he could spot it, he might just go for it anyway, or at least try to lead Cepheus away from it….
There was a crack of magically reinforced wood on metal, and Arnold turned to find the Bludger and avoid it, but Thad was in the middle even as Arnold did that and the Bludger was just as quickly moving off toward Cepheus. He grinned, approving, not as concerned for Thad’s well-being as he had been in the last game. Gareth Whitebriar was fair, not like a second year against Demelza – it hadn’t bothered him so much when it had been Topher, who was his age, against Edmond, but well, Edmond had been on his side, and Topher had never reminded him a little of Anthony. Those things made a difference.
He frowned slightly when Gareth hit the Bludger back toward the Chasers, not sure what he was doing, but then he shrugged and went back to looking for the Snitch. If there wasn’t a Bludger in the area, that meant he was going to have an easier time for a few minutes. He couldn’t complain too much about that. He didn’t usually mind a hit or two, it was just the game and Bludgers in the area made things more interesting, but the point, after all, was all about just finding the Snitch before Cepheus could.
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
He doesn't have to worry about that
181
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
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5
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
July 18, 2012 3:19 PM
That's good to know. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
The wind was in his hair, the timid sun warming his face, and Cepheus thought briefly of the country. Home. Being in the sky was like being at home; comfortable and isolated. Cepheus enjoyed it as much as he enjoyed looking down at society so far from him. He wanted someone to invent a larger broom someday so they could have picnics and the like in the air. Flying was a little bit of home that Cepheus could take with him anywhere. That was only recreationally, of course.The scene from above was forgotten in competition as he tried to beat the other team in whatever he was doing, whether it be racing or going through obstacle courses. Quidditch was even worse not only because there were more people, but there were bludgers and loads of people watching him. He was getting used to it the longer he was up in the air, but the scenery was secondary to the glint of gold he so longed to hold.
Cepheus only briefly watched as Gareth hit a bludger towards Carey before his eyes searched the skies for the gold. He flew a bit higher, slowly so he wouldn't miss anything, and didn't realise that something had been flying towards him until he heard the crack of a bat much too close. He jumped at the sound and his head whipped towards it, watching as the bludger that he assumed had been heading towards him flew another way. His arms shook as he gripped his broom tighter and flew a little ways away from the opposing Seeker. Cepheus's nervousness had ebbed away for a moment, but it was all back now.
It was difficult not to show a bit of fear when he was in the midst of a match. The Chasers flew like mad down below as Cepheus tried not to get in their way, avoid bludgers like the plague, and find the snitch all in one go. He flew towards the north side of the pitch, eyes still searching. Carey wasn't bothering him yet, but Cepheus didn't allow himself to get too comfortable just yet.
Getting too comfortable didn't seem to be a problem, really. He was getting anxious to see any glint of gold; perhaps too anxious. He wanted to prove himself worthy of competition and worthy of being considered a real opponent. Cepheus had always had a bit of a complex, being shorter than most of his peers and smaller in frame. He looked much younger than he actually was which was both a curse and a blessing. Cepheus swallowed nervously.
He was ready to fly after a sharp glare before he realised that it was only the light reflecting off the centre ring. Curse sunny days. Cepheus took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself and his muddled mind before flying lower. He looked down at the grass, wondering if a Snitch would go down there before snapping his eyes to attention again. 'Really Cepheus,' he thought to himself, 'if you can't pay attention when you're in the match, how do you expect to win and prove yourself a fantastic player?'
'Not by talking to myself,' Cepheus mentally replied, grumbling, and flew a little lower. It was a mistake to do that because he saw a glint of gold too late above him. Just as he rose on his broom, his heart now in his throat, the glint zoomed off to one side and disappeared. His heart was still in his throat and Cepheus cast a glance at Carey, wondering if he was going to follow it or if he had even seen the Snitch, if it had been the Snitch at all. Perhaps following his opponent's lead would be smart since Carey was more experienced and bigger than he. Of course, that usually meant that Cepheus was going to fall behind despite the speed of his broom and he didn't want that at all. No, it would be better to look for it himself.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
That's good to know.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 18, 2012 9:53 PM
Will it comfort you after you lose? by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
As he took another turn and, once more, found that nothing directly relevant to his game was in his way at the moment, Arnold took a moment to assess the other Seeker’s broom and measure it against his own. The answer he came up with was that they were probably close; he had heard that the new Crotalus Seeker was from some well-to-do overseas family, and the well-to-do part, at least, was looking true. In a race, it might be a close thing, especially since Arnold was even surer that he was heavier than Princeton. They were both on the small size for their ages, but Cepheus’ age happened to be two years, maybe something even closer to three if their birthdays fell out in just the wrong way, lower than Arnold’s.Still, though, Arnold knew this Pitch like the back of his hand, and he thought that had to count for something. His brother liked going there, but Arnold didn’t practice in the MARS sports room more than he could help, preferring to do his private practices out here, in the real setting, when he could. He was more comfortable on this Pitch than he was in his dorm room, than he was in half the rooms in his house back in South Carolina; this was where he came when he needed to think, sometimes even to study for his exams. Almost as much time as he could get away with spending on the Pitch, he did, and he had been doing that since his first year. There was no way that Cepheus knew this Pitch, all its quirks and ways the grass grew around the bottoms of the hoops and how the stands played into the Seeker’s view and all that, as well as he did, and in that, there could be a small something that could make the difference.
Either way, he thought it was going to be a close game, which made him happy on some level beyond his conscious control. He knew that he needed to just catch the ball and end it as soon as possible to reestablish Aladren’s dominance after last year’s anomaly, but the competition, the thrill, was what he, personally, was in it for. Something he just got, something he didn’t have to work for, just didn’t seem to him like it was worth as much as something that he won by the breadth of a second. Winning was something special; if it got too easy, he didn’t think it would be anymore, and he didn’t like that idea at all. Winning was what he did.
He caught, as he moved across the Pitch on a diagonal, a glimpse of something that shone in the corner of his eye, but by the time he turned to see what it was, it was gone, and he made a face. It had most likely been the Snitch, and he had missed a chance at it. A quick check, though, showed that his opponent wasn’t charging after it, either, so they were both still in it for now.
Arnold’s line of flight was heading toward Mr. Princeton, so he sped up a little and waved as he flew in front of him. “G’morning,” he threw in, in a way that would have been offhanded on the ground. Being friendly seemed to throw them off more than anything else a lot of the time, and he would be surprised if the poor guy hadn’t heard all kinds of stories about playing against hi. That was not, as far as Arnold was concerned, a bad thing at all; he had earned a certain reputation, and if he could make it work to his advantage, he would. If it were ever not going to work, it would most likely be with this new guy. Cepheus had, after all, known Marissa last year, and she had always seemed the least bothered by him of anyone he’d ever played against.
He wondered absently, as he went from flying in a straight line and moved into a curve, how she was doing, out there in the world; he’d gathered over the years that she was Muggleborn, so he really had no idea how her life after school might be. He hoped it was good, though. She had seemed like good people, and the most exciting matches he had ever played in had been against her.
0
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Will it comfort you after you lose?
181
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
0
5
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
July 20, 2012 2:10 PM
After I lose sight of you in my victory? Yes. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
It wasn't fair to Cepheus that Aladren won the Quidditch Cup so many years. He'd done a bit of research and didn't like that Crotalus always seemed to lose when paired when against this house. Though they had lost to Aladren last year when Cepheus was a reserve, they hadn't won the Cup. Now Crotalus was in the final and Cepheus wanted to change Aladren's luck. They had a strong team in Cepheus's opinion despite his own inexperience. If he continued to tell himself that they could win, he would begin to believe it.The snitch was quite an evasive one. Having never played in a final match before, Cepheus wondered if the snitch decided to not show up until the last minute, perhaps to cause tension. Or he just wasn't looking hard enough. Cepheus wasn't sure how one was supposed to "look harder," but he had to do it somehow.
Cepheus attempted to channel the professional Quidditch players he'd watched before. His father, an avid Quidditch player, had taken him and his brothers to several matches during the World Cup and the British and Irish Quidditch League. Father had pressured him and groomed him to be a great Quidditch player for as long as he could remember. Because Father had been a Seeker and Grandfather had been a Seeker, it was only obvious that Cepheus was going to be one too.
He remembered fighting Rupert for the role once. It was the only time he had seen his mother get visibly upset at Father. She said that he was purposefully making conflict between the children and stirring up future bitterness. Mother was the second child in her family and she hadn't exactly had the best relationship with her older brother. Grandfather didn't have a positive relationship with his older sisters either. Cepheus felt that his brothers weren't as stuck-up as his relatives, and Cepheus certainly wasn't that horrible either. In his own opinion, of course.
It was during times like these that Cepheus wished that he didn't practise in the MARS room so often. He enjoyed the fresh air, but during the colder weeks he had practised in a warmer room, if not unrealistic. Not the kind of place to practise for important matches, Cepheus now knew. He told himself desperately that he would never practise in the MARS room again if he was able to win this match.
Carey was coming over and Cepheus braced himself for an exchange of words. He tried to remember what Sam had said, but Carey passed with a mere, "G'morning," and Cepheus was too flabbergasted to respond back properly. By the time he'd found his tongue, Carey had flown farther away. It was so civil that Cepheus could hardly believe it had happened. Taking it from a different view, Carey could be acting nonchalant just to throw him off even more. Cepheus took a deep breath to clear his head. "Don't think," he grumbled to himself and flew around the pitch the opposite way of his opponent, eyes still peeled for the gold. If Jade Owen had been able to win the Cup for Pecari as a first year, then he could certainly do the same as a second year.
0
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
After I lose sight of you in my victory? Yes.
0
<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
0
5
<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 20, 2012 11:41 PM
Dream on, my young friend, dream on by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Arnold was a little disappointed when he got no response, but he shrugged it off. There was – probably – still plenty of time, and depending on what Cepheus had been expecting, he might have just been very confusing indeed. He couldn’t be sure right now, since stopping to look and try to figure it out was wasting time he might have used to try to find the Snitch, which was really his priority here today. Either way, though, next time he would have to try to be a jerk, because he couldn’t think of a time, off the top of his head, when he had played both roles in one game, so that was sure to throw him off at least a little.At least, if he was like most people. Arnold himself didn’t mind very much if the other Seekers yelled stuff back at him, so it was possible that Cepheus wouldn’t care one way or the other, either, but would recognize it as just a tactic, or maybe something somewhere between a tactic and a gesture of something not completely unlike camaraderie, which was how Arnold thought of it himself. Or maybe he would be the one who lost it completely and jumped off his broom to try to hit Arnold in the face; he had always sort of worried that there would be one of those, someday. Amira Thornton had come close, which he thought could have something to do with why she’d been demoted to Chaser, and Crotali were known to turn out some people who were ultimately proven to be crazy.
Right now, though, getting taken out of the game and trying to take Arnold with him didn’t seem to be what the Crotalus Seeker was planning to do, so Arnold turned his attention right back to the air, looking mostly down but making sure, consciously, that he looked up sometimes, too, because it would be about as bad as anything he could imagine to realize after the fact that the Snitch had been sitting right on top of his head and he had missed it because he had assumed he was flying higher than it would go. As far as he understood them, the charms on the Pitch didn’t work like that. They kept the Snitch from going outside the Pitch, but he didn’t think that they had anything to do with how high it went, at least not until maybe it became ridiculous and the Snitch was so high in the air that humans couldn’t breathe there and it couldn’t be caught at all….
Huh, he thought, momentarily distracted by a fragment of Quidditch lore, dragged out of whatever mental cupboard it had been residing in by that thought. Maybe I figured out how that one game never ended. If the Snitch could go into the stratosphere or something like that, then that could explain how no one had ever caught it; it was charmed to avoid capture as long as it could, so there was nothing to make it come down once it discovered that the players weren’t following it anymore. Eventually, he guessed the magic would wear off and it would fall to the ground, or had already, but by then the game had been called and no one had been looking for it, or it had flown to Denmark or something like that, so….
A red-clad player moved, he didn’t even know which one, and he snapped back to attention. And it won’t matter if they throw me off the team and let Jay do this next year what happens to any Snitches! he reminded himself harshly, then got back to work. He had heard his mother theorize that school Snitches were charmed to appear after so long, so if she was right, the Snitch could be anywhere, and even if she wasn’t…it could still be anywhere. He had to find it, not think about stupid things that had nothing to do with the game and could make him miss something just long enough for Cepheus to sweep in, take the Cup from Aladren for the second year running, and possibly then be the direct cause for Arnold losing his position next year. He was pretty sure that winning, as a concept, meant more to Aladren as a collective than any individual member of the team did. There had to be some reason almost every member of his family who came through Sonora seemed to end up in the same House.
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Dream on, my young friend, dream on
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
July 21, 2012 4:49 PM
Dreams are where reality begins. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
To be quite frank, Cepheus wasn't sure what to expect from the Aladrens. He had never actually played a match against them before. Last year he'd only been an alternate. This year, he was sitting on his broom watching the match pass by as the snitch hid from him and, so it looked, Carey as well. It was comforting that at least Carey couldn't see the snitch either. Cepheus didn't dare compare himself to the older and more experienced Seeker, but he wanted to prove that, despite his age and size, he could be just as capable of winning a match. He needed to prove it to himself and to his team.Tired of waiting around, Cepheus wanted to do something. His nervousness had gone away with the passing time. He had flown around the entire pitch a few times, eyes still blind to any glints of gold. His boredom was peaked and he sat immobile on his broom for a moment, eyeing Carey carefully. He wondered if the Aladren Seeker would fall for a false dive, but he could always try. If he didn't succeed, he'd have a better view of the pitch from below just in case the snitch was down there.
Cepheus glanced over at Gareth, wondering if he should tell his beater his plan. No, it was too risky. Cepheus looked up into the air, the sky reflected in his blue eyes, and he turned on his broom. He made a couple more rounds around the pitch, and then gasped and made an abrupt dive towards the south end of the pitch. He pressed his broom to go as fast as possible towards the grass, the ground coming up fast. His heart was pounding hard, the adrenaline pumping through his veins as the prospect of crashing head-first into the ground came to mind.
Cepheus was not great at diving and pulling up millimetres before he hit the ground, so he pulled up too soon. He lost control of his broom for a second before going higher again. His face was red, his hair windblown, but Cepheus loved the thrill. It was like free-falling off his broom.
The snitch was still nowhere to be seen, so Cepheus turned to look at Carey briefly before zooming off to another area of the pitch. The Chasers didn't seem to be making any goals which meant the responsibility of winning the match fell on his shoulders. Unless Crotalus could magically gain 150 points on their own by goals alone. Cepheus took a deep breath. Quidditch matches were usually faster than this, goal-wise, but it didn't seem to be the case for Sonora. Perhaps it was like that for all schools.
Cepheus took a gulp of air. His throat was parched after the dive. He most likely looked like a young fool to the opposing Seeker, but at this moment he didn't care. He'd do anything to get that snitch. Ceph wished a time-out could be called just so he could get hydrated. He felt slightly light-headed, but he tried to push that away. He wouldn't give his opponent the satisfaction of watching him fall off the broom on his own. No, Cepheus would fight through this. Perhaps he should have finished that cup of water before coming.
It didn't take much to throw Cepheus off his game, but usually he threw himself off his game. If anyone yelled at him, he would get angry himself, but to the extent that he would become unfocused. He'd be more motivated to beat the other to a pulp through Quidditch. He was fiercely competitive naturally, but even more so when he was angry at someone. Cepheus flew, gaining speed and hoping that he wasn't losing Gareth. He slowed a bit, continuing to keep his eyes open for something, anything. Except for the bludgers, but he was quick to keep away from them. If he wasn't quick enough, Gareth was there to save him. Cepheus wondered briefly if his friends had come, but most of his mates were apart of the Quidditch team. Many were also Aladrens. Funny how that turned out. As competitive as he was, it was difficult not to enjoy the friendship of some of the Aladrens he'd met. It was enough, however, to make him go soft on their Quidditch team.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
Dreams are where reality begins.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 21, 2012 8:31 PM
...So, what about the nightmares? by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
The Snitch was somewhere, and it probably was not somewhere it could never be found, but Arnold wasn’t seeing it. That didn’t worry him; nothing dramatic was going on right now, there was no sign that Cepheus knew where it was any more than he did, and so he could be patient, with a little effort. Patience wasn’t one of the things that came naturally to Arnold, he liked for things to happen fast and he could get bored during waits, but if there was ever a time when it was much easier than usual, it was when he was playing Quidditch. He thought it was something to do with not having to sit still.He was not doing exactly that while looking casually – as close to casually as it got during a game, anyway – around the Pitch when a sudden movement from the red spot he remembered was Cepheus drew his attention to it and, as he processed what it was doing, caused his heart to jolt unpleasantly in his chest. That was a dive, and a pretty steep one; either there was a very ambitious attempt at a Wronski Feint going on, or else the new kid on the block had just spotted the Snitch and didn’t care if he did crash very hard immediately after he caught it. Normally, Arnold would have felt safer assuming the first, but until he got to know them, it was safer to assume that a new person might, just might, turn out to be a lot like him.
Besides, if Arthur was right, for the other Seekers, it might not be so much about beating Aladren as about beating him, specifically, and that might make people do things they wouldn’t normally do anyway. If a team was going to think that way, it would be Crotalus. So overall, he thought it was just safest to treat this as an actual threat and fly toward the spot Cepheus was diving for.
Closer to him, though, Arnold looked as hard as he could and saw no glitter of gold, so, with a small pang of anxiety in case he was wrong but the main belief that he was right, he pulled out of his dive and moved away with a sense of some appreciation for Cepheus for trying it and nearly pulling it off. “Nice try!” he called as he passed him this time, the two of them going in different directions.
That, he thought, was a nicely ambiguous statement. He could be making a genuine compliment, or he could be making a sarcastic comment. It was a little less obviously friendly than last time, anyway. Not bad, he thought, not too bad at all. He went on, rising to about the middle level of the air. It had disadvantages, since he had to look both up and down, but then, he had to do that no matter what, and being there was another thing to keep looking in all directions in mind.
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
...So, what about the nightmares?
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
July 22, 2012 3:19 AM
Nightmares are just scare tactics. by <font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
The dive had apparently been quite successful if Carey’s reaction was anything to go by. Though he had pulled up much faster than Cepheus would have liked, he had still followed. His pleasure, however, only lasted a moment before Carey came by with an ambiguous, “Nice try.” The comment rolled around in Cepheus’s brain for a bit. Was Carey trying to patronise him or something of the sort? Or was he being genuine? It took a few minutes before he decided that it wasn’t worth mulling over. Perhaps Carey wasn’t as horrible as the others pegged him to be, though Cepheus still didn’t know the bloke very well. It was always good to be on one’s toes before one fully got to know someone. Father always said that anyone could be a back-stabber if you didn’t watch them carefully enough. It wasn’t exactly something Cepheus had put into practise yet, still being thirteen and inexperienced with real back-stabbing friends, but he took Father’s word for it.It was easy to get bored again sitting up in the air. A few more rounds should do it, but it didn’t do anything except frustrate Cepheus and make him anxious for this match to end. His throat was still parched, his bum getting sore from sitting for so long. Cepheus leant forward and pushed his broom to go faster, his eyes glaring around. The first thing he was going to ask for when this match ended was a glass of water. Merlin. He took another deep breath of air and tried not to imagine his chest cavity caving in, his lungs burning themselves to death and he falling off his broom from dehydration. He was too dramatic for his own good, but he was beginning to believe himself. ‘Pull yourself together,’ he thought fiercely and tried to get his mind off of his parched throat and on the snitch.
Ah, the snitch. Where the was that bloody snitch? Cepheus made a few waves in the air, and his eyes singled on a glint of something. His heart leapt to his throat once again and he took off towards that glint. However, he stopped short when he realised that he had once again jumped the gun. It was just a reflection off of the hoop to the ground. He hated the sun right at this moment, but it wouldn't do to curse nature. Mother had told him that nature had to be respected or it would bite him in the bum someday. He wondered if using natural ingredients for potions would be considered 'respecting nature'.
Cepheus was getting nervous just sitting like he had nothing better to do. He really was looking for the snitch and, by the look Carey had on his face, so was he. Cepheus swallowed. The last thing he wanted was to get upstaged by an older Seeker and fail his team. That, of course, went without saying. Cepheus was in danger of throwing a tantrum or holing himself in his room for days if he didn't succeed, but perhaps not. He was thirteen now; an official adolescent and more irritating in his father's mind. Now that Cepheus was a teenager, that meant he was going to get an arranged marriage. Grandfather had already found several suitable families which Cepheus had already decided he would hate. He didn't have to like his future spouse, did he?
Marriage to Cepheus only meant more time doing "adult things" and having more responsibility and less time to play Quidditch or make havoc around town with his mates. It would be even worse if Grandfather decided that Cepheus was going to live in the States permanently. The thought just made him cringe. He'd heard that most Americans played quadpot and Cepheus would be darned before he ever played such a useless game. He had been overjoyed to discover that Sonora supported Quidditch. It was at least one piece of home that Cepheus was able to bring along with him. Now if this match could end and Cepheus could snatch the snitch, it would be the perfect ending to this stressful day. His eyes searched the entire pitch, waiting, tense and anxious to dive once again, only this time with a real purpose.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
Nightmares are just scare tactics.
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<font color="red">Cepheus Princeton, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 22, 2012 10:36 PM
So wouldn't good dreams just be sugary manipulation? by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Once again, he got no reply, so Arnold thought it wouldn’t be too far out of line to assume that Cepheus had been warned against him. Or at least, he was a quiet player, not someone who was going to get into the drama of the game, but someone who was going to just do the job in front of him – someone, in other words, more like Arthur than Arnold himself. Arnold got things done, the point was to distract his opponent, but he preferred to try to have some fun with it at the same time. For him, it relieved some of the pressure of knowing how much some people felt was riding on the game. Not everyone was the same, that was expected.Still, it did make things less entertaining for him. He could get to the part where he was a jerk more easily if he had something to play off of, too; that wasn’t exactly the part of his role as the Seeker he was the most comfortable in. Sometimes, in his regular life, he said things wrong – that run-in with Fae and Russell at Eliza’s party over midterm, he thought, attested to that fact – but he didn’t go out of his way sometimes to annoy people the way he did in Quidditch sometimes, and the first and second years just looked…small, it felt more like picking on them than it did when they were more all the same size, or when, at home, the other players were his relatives. Jay was a first year, but Arnold didn’t think of him that way, he thought of him as his cousin, and if he had been playing Seeker for Crotalus, he didn’t think he would have felt bad at all.
Jay was on the bench, though, as an Aladren, so he would play the opponent he was given. Maybe it wouldn’t, now that he thought of it, hurt to think of his cousin in the opposition anyway, though. To remind himself that the first and second years were competitors, even if they were smaller. Grandfather would have said something about Careys being different from everyone else, but he had seen enough girls play good Quidditch, and been beaten by a first year girl in a final just to top it off, to think that maybe his grandfather Carey didn’t know about the game and how the rules worked in it. It was different here.
He swept around again, speeding up for a moment just to get the thrill of flight and the feeling of the wind in his hair and then slowing down only a fraction in order to get back to looking for the Snitch. He was surprised he hadn’t seen it yet, even briefly, but not concerned; sometimes, it was just better at being where neither Seeker was than it was on other days. It would show up soon enough even if the professors weren’t charming it to do so.
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
So wouldn't good dreams just be sugary manipulation?
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
July 23, 2012 12:46 AM
...Not that it matters right now by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
Looking over the Pitch, Arnold saw that Russell had the Quaffle – he must have stolen it recently, he thought – and Arthur was right there with it, clearly intending to do anything in his power to ensure that the Crotali did not get the Quaffle back. Arnold hoped the best for him with that but was, personally, glad that it wasn’t his job. He had played the family version of Chaser more often than anything else before school, but after four years of Seeking, he really didn’t remember why. Seeking was what he did; he enjoyed it more than any other on the field.Not that Beater was even an option, really – he could swing a bat, and probably hit the Bludger away from him if he had to, but there was almost always going to be someone available who was just better-suited to it. Arthur, maybe, could pull off Beater, but Arnold just had no interest in it. Beaters made the game fun, but he didn’t think playing the position would be much fun for him, so as long as there was no practical reason for him to do it, he wasn’t going to. The same went for Chaser and Keeper, though he thought he’d take Chaser or Beater over Keeper. Just hanging around half the game sometimes….
Arthur emerged victorious in a pass, obtaining the Quaffle, and Arnold nodded slightly in approval before getting back to the business at hand: finding the Snitch. It had been harder in first year, but he and his brother had learned to largely ignore each other during the games, because he didn’t think either of them would appreciate it if the other messed something up because of what was going on with the other. He knew especially that Arthur would not be amused if he lost the game for them because of concern for Arthur’s well-being, anyway; he didn’t think he would find it all that funny, either, really, when he thought about it. As for the rest of the team, he didn’t think he even needed to poll them –
- Or pay any attention to them at all right now, because there, at last, was a familiar glimmer of gold, beneath and ahead of his position, nice angle for a dive, he wouldn’t even have to worry about his broom much, because it wasn’t going to be steep. If he went now, anyway, before the Snitch decided to go to the other side of the Pitch – now!
He dove, the Snitch headed further away, but he kept his eyes on it, not blinking in case it darted away, and pulled out of the dive, flying forward, as it rose a little in the air, and pulling it from the air was almost casual, as though he were doing it in passing. His hand tightened on it too quickly and too much, though, for that.
First, there was the thrill of catching it, especially in a way he thought might have looked kind of awesome if anyone had been paying attention, which they probably had been in the crowds, which was quickly followed by just a wave of relief. He had it. They had won again, and so no one on his side was going to be unhappy today. That was, he thought, a good cause for relief; he had been pretty sure that he was going to win today, but there was always that 'if.' Always, anyway, except for the rest of this year, and he wasn't even thinking about fifth year until he had to, sometime after its beginning this fall.
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
...Not that it matters right now
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<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>
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<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
July 23, 2012 11:56 AM
Aladren wins! 150 - 0 (nm) by <font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
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<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
Aladren wins! 150 - 0 (nm)
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<font color=silver>Coach Pierce</font>
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