Coach Olivers
January 17, 2014 12:26 PM
Quidditch Game III: Aladren vs Pecari by Coach Olivers
This was the last Quidditch game of the term and Florence was looking forward to seeing who won. She had gotten surprisingly invested in the games and had some idea who the favored team was to win this match given their extensive history of Quidditch Championships at this school, though she didn't want to say anything. The weather was awful today and terrible for a game. It was pouring rain; the rain was coming down so thick you could hardly see someone from a distance. It would be potentially dangerous if students couldn't see bludgers coming at high speeds or each other. But it would definitely make for an interesting final match.Florence had her umbrella with her, but the only part of her it protected was her head which was covered by the scarf she had draped over her short brown hair. She had worn waterproof clothes and prepared for this rain, having looked at the somewhat reliable forecast the night before. It didn’t look as though the rain would stop anytime soon and so she had provided rain goggles for all the players with a charm on them that wouldn’t allow the goggles to fog up and stay clear in the rain. This was, indeed, spring weather, and Florence sighed, wishing for summer.
She had given the goggles to the captains to disperse among their team and hoped the players had been prepared for this kind of weather. Florence waited for a couple minutes, allowing the captains to make their speeches, but cut it shorter than the last. She didn’t want everyone to have to stay waiting in the rain for this game to begin. With her voice amplified, she extended one arm from under her umbrella. “Welcome to the final Quidditch game of the year,” she announced. “And props to you all for coming out here in this weather. Today we have Aladren, led by Thad Pierce, against Pecari, led by Amira Thornton. Captains, please shake hands. The game will begin with my whistle and end with the capture of the Snitch.” Florence released the Snitch and let it disappear into the rain.
She removed the Amplifying Charm and nodded at both of the captains as she had last time. “Let’s have a good, clean game,” she reminded them, “and good luck.” She picked up the quaffle and looked at both teams. “Keepers, to your posts, please. Players, mount your brooms. The game begins in three, two, one—tweet!” She blew hard on her whistle and kicked the quaffle into the air, an impressive feat with an umbrella in one hand and her rain boots on her feet.
The final game had begun.
OOC: Stay real, stay clear, and don’t forget detail! Remember to keep to the rules. And please distinguish your name by team color. Instructions are on the same page as the Quidditch rules. Pecari is tan and Aladren is blue. If you have any questions, refer to the rules or tag me on the OOC board. Happy posting!
Subthreads: Starting off. by <font color=tan>Adam Spencer, Chaser</font> with <font color='blue'>Francesca Wolseithcrafte</font>, <font color="blue">Anthony Carey, Chaser</font>, <font color='tan'>Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font>, Cap. Amira, Pecari, Andri Thornton, Chaser, Aladren
Almost a Final by <font color=blue>Captain Pierce, Seeker</font> with <font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>, <font color="blue">Jay Carey, Beater</font>, <font color=tan>Rupert Princeton, Beater</font>, Coach Olivers
Thoughts of soup by <font color='blue'>Theodore Wolseithcrafte</font> with <font color='tan'>Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font>
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Coach Olivers
Quidditch Game III: Aladren vs Pecari
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Coach Olivers
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<font color=blue>Captain Pierce, Seeker</font>
January 19, 2014 10:22 PM
Almost a Final by <font color=blue>Captain Pierce, Seeker</font>
Though the season ran a little differently this year without Teppenpaw playing, this final game of the year was still going to determine the overall winner as both Aladren and Pecari were going into it with one win under their belts. Honestly, Thad would have preferred for Crotalus to win the year's second match, and not just because Cepheus was a friend of his. Had Jade come into today's match with a loss behind her, the best she could do for her team was tie them up, and that would have given Thad at least a small psychological advantage at least.Unfortunately, that was not the case. Worse, it was raining buckets as well.
Thad hated playing in the rain.
It was spring, so it wasn't freezing, but they would still be flying at high speeds while wet, which would make them chilly. Wet robes were uncomfortable. Wet brooms were harder to hold on to, and therefore harder to maneuver. Visibility was reduced. Thad's dark hair - which had just enough curl that it normally stayed out of his eyes - would lay flat and become annoying. The darker blue of wet Aladren robes would be harder to spot as compared to the dry lighter blue they normally were, which could work in their favor if they were smart about it, but could also work against them. Pecari's brown wouldn't be any easier to see when drenched dark either, which was definitely a negative. Rain was just all around bad news.
There were the charmed goggles that he passed out to his team as they arrived, which would help somewhat, but they weren't going to fix all - or even most - of the problems associated with this dreary weather.
Of course a lengthy vituperation of the ills they would soon be suffering would help nobody, so he kept his pre-game speech short and to the point. "We beat Crotalus, now let's do the same thing to Pecari. And quickly. Today's post-game party will definitely include hot beverages." He left it implied that he had no doubt it would be a victory party. Aladrens were smart, he didn't need to spell it out that defeat parties were rather senseless.
Minutes later, as he shook Amira's hand as instructed - again with no pithy witticism because the ability to come up with those was apparently linked to the creativity gene he didn't have - he just hoped his second real game as a Seeker would prove as successful as his first and he could back up that verbal confidence he'd just offered to his team and not let them - or their expectations of hot beverages - down.
He'd really like a steaming cup of hot cider himself.
There wasn't anything much he could do about it now, though, except set his goggles, ready his broom, and kick off as the whistle sounded. He would admit that the goggles were at least good for keeping his hair out of his eyes anyway, and as he flew upwards, the dark strands stuck to his forehead but didn't impede his vision at all. The sheets of rain did that quite well on their own.
Step one, he decided, would be to find Jade. If he couldn't find a fifth year girl, he was fairly well doomed at finding a tiny snitch, and he may as well admit defeat right away if he failed at that. On the other hand, if he did find her - which was the more likely outcome anyway - he would confirm that the weather didn't make locating anything in it completely impossible, and then he'd be able to watch her to see if she'd spotted anything in the downpour. She had a school broom, so he thought he was at the advantage in chasing down the snitch once it was spotted. That hadn't helped Cepheus though, so he would certainly need to remain vigilant himself. It was always better to be the one who actually spotted the snitch first.
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<font color=blue>Captain Pierce, Seeker</font>
Almost a Final
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<font color=blue>Captain Pierce, Seeker</font>
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
January 24, 2014 3:06 PM
It's Good Enough for Me by <font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
Quidditch was invigorating; it was energising. It could give a feeling of weightlessness, of invincibility, and of triumphant jubilation. It could also be exhausting, unforgiving, and soul-crushingly demoralising, to the point where an endless spiral into a black pit of nothingness might be favourable to the feeling of failure that threaten to overwhelm players of the losing team. That was Jade’s experience of the game, anyway, and a large part of why she loved it; the sixth year relished the dichotomy of victory, never so sweet than by her own hands, and defeat. Naturally, she would take the glory and giddiness of a win over the alternative any day, but she could still appreciate the bitter misery of a loss in its perfect juxtaposition. To hate the game simply because she didn’t win would be a farce; Jade loved Quidditch in all its capricious magnificence.A game day, especially a championship day (which Jade concluded this was, despite the composition of its arrival being somewhat deviated from the norm), was sure to see the Pecari Assistant Captain in a positive mood, although her pre-game mentality might occasionally lead those around her to conclude otherwise. Excitement made Jade yet more unpredictable, more antagonistic and less patient than usual, resulting in an increase in the number of jibes, barbs and insults that left her mouth, although they were often well-meant and not at all intended to cause serious offense, despite how they might have been interpreted by the variety of recipients she targeted. The first year, for example, she told to move out of her way or she would curse his toenails to grow inwards for all eternity should have understood that she was just jesting with him. Similarly, the scowl she expressed when one of her teammates dared to question her beverage choice – yes, she knew not everyone liked black coffee, but that, in all honesty, was part of why Jade drank it – was symbolic of unity and sportsmanship, obviously.
Largely oblivious to how others were to interpret her actions, should they make any attempt to do so in the first place, Jade drank her coffee, and ate with animated gusto a cheese and mushroom omelette, one croissant with blueberry jam, and a small Satsuma. Already adorned in her Quidditch wear, including highly unattractive but usefully thermal undergarments, Jade then made her way out to the pitch, trudging through the falling rain. She realised that it would be inevitable that she would be completely soaked through by the end of the game, so she didn’t see any point in trying to stay dry; her dark hair was already clinging to her cheeks and neck in damp ringlets that had escaped from her ponytail by the time she had located her broomstick from the school’s shed. Her feet, encased in ancient sneakers, were mercifully still dry thanks to the number of charms Jade had applied to them to hold the shoes together, and the extra spells she had added that morning to keep them waterproof, but her hands were damp as she forced them into her battered Seeker’s gloves. As threadbare and slightly too small for her as they were, they were inevitably going to be an advantage over hands with no gloves today, considering the awkward side effect rain had of making everything slippy. It would be immensely frustrating to catch the Snitch but then to lose again due to lack of friction.
Jade wouldn’t have been surprised if nobody at all turned out to watch the game today – she didn’t often enjoy sitting out in the rain for an indeterminate amount of time when she had the option of staying indoors in the dry – but there were some spectators in the stands doing his or her best to keep relatively dry. Jade couldn’t conceal her smile; it was yet another testament to the greatness of this sport that it kept people outdoors in all weathers, when most people were generally otherwise adverse to the less forgiving elements. It was one matter that the players were crazy enough to want to be out in the pouring rain, but quite another that there were people willing to do the same just to watch them. The sixth year felt an unfamiliar rush of admiration for her fellow enthusiasts; she rarely attributed positive qualities to anonymous groups of other people, but that was perhaps simply one more example of the prominence of Quidditch.
Her good mood with-holding even through Amira’s speech (it helped that Jade knew this was the last time she would ever have to listen to one; a joyous and momentous occasion that she relished), Jade took a little time in finding a good spot on the sodden earth from which to kick off. She didn’t want to slip and slide all over the place when she could be rising through the raindrops at the first blow of the whistle. Throwing a lanky leg over the moist broomstick, Jade completed her final few pre-game checks, and was ready when the coach signalled the start of the game. She kicked off well from the ground, and shot upwards, savouring the spattering of cold water onto her face as though it were a refreshing shower rather than a drenching downpour.
While the rain didn’t bother Jade in essence, she couldn’t deny that it was going to make seeing the Snitch more problematic than usual, never mind catching it. She really hoped to win this game, not just because it would win Pecari the championship, and not just because she would finally beat Aladren again, and not just because she liked to win, but also because it had seemed sad and lame when Cepheus had lost to Thaddeus, even though the Aladren Seeker was new to the position. Jade did not especially want to place herself in a similar state of pity, and while she would adamantly defend that she was the better Seeker by far, she could not deny that luck often played a large factor in which team’s Seeker managed to catch the Snitch. Today, that would be more true than usual, as poor visibility rendered incidental proximity to the Snitch absolutely crucial. If it renewed its presence next to Thad, on the other side of the pitch, Jade wouldn’t know anything about it until the game was barely over. She could barely see her opponent in the rain, let alone their target. With this in mind, Jade was reluctant to stray too far from Aladren’s Captain and Seeker. She kept him in her sight as she moved more slowly than usual around the constraints of the pitch, searching desperately through the rain for any hint of a glint of gold.
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
It's Good Enough for Me
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Jay Carey, Beater</font>
January 24, 2014 7:40 PM
Give me that old-time Quidditch game by <font color="blue">Jay Carey, Beater</font>
The rain was already, despite the layer of thick, curly hair which should have been between it and his head, drumming against Jay’s scalp and trying to run into his ears by the time he got to the Quidditch Pitch, but he was in something close to good mood as the team gathered and Thad quickly tried to bolster the team’s fighting spirit with promises of hot drinks afterward if they got to have a victory party. Jay was perfectly willing to work for hot drinks these days – between the pressure of being expected to manage all his siblings, the pressure of knowing his family felt he had failed to do so to an acceptable level, and the pressure, when he could find the time to even think about them, of his impending CATS, he had discovered he no longer really had the ability to function much longer than two hours without a fresh cup of coffee, which was another source of pressure in and of itself, as he’d have to break the habit before the very long exam sessions where he was sure he wouldn’t be allowed to bring a carafe – but that promise wasn’t the reason he was in a good mood now. His thoughts were far more basic. In a few minutes, he would have an opponent again.He had been looking forward to this since about the second day after his return to school, once he’d realized just how badly he missed what had been his main occupation over the whole of midterm. When he’d had free time over the holidays, when he hadn’t been tutoring Henry and Brandon or making explanations to the adults or being dragged to tedious social events or stealing mismatched beads from Diana to make Aria a bracelet, he had spent most of it fencing with Arnold, to the point where Arthur had suggested he and Arnold both needed to go get drunk and seek the company of loose women before one of them, as they were both overly-enthusiastic and out of practice, lost an eye. It had been a good way to vent his many frustrations with life as it was recently and he had missed it ever since he returned to school, where Jay Carey didn’t do that kind of thing and everything else had been getting progressively more stressful. Beating wasn’t as good, too remote, hitting things was more how Henry dealt with his feelings, but for the first time, Jay was really glad about his new position on the team. He had spent as much time as he thought he decently could just hitting Bludgers around, but it wasn’t the same as having an opponent to think against. He wasn’t even so much interested in hitting the Pecari players, though he knew that was the goal, as outwitting and out-hitting the Pecari Beaters.
He was not, though, so eager for a duel that he had stopped thinking about the bigger picture altogether, and he knew it really would have better for everyone if they had drawn a clear day instead of this one. This weather was going to be awful to play in, goggles on or not; the bats and brooms and balls were all going to be slippery, it was going to be hard to get anything done, and he had to admit, Thad’s chances were not as good as they might have been. Jade Owen was good. Arnold had lost to her once, and from what Jay had overheard in a few different conversations, Grandfather’s most un-South Carolina-ish willingness to pay people off to smooth processes out might not have even been necessary to get Arnold into the League as a reserve. She had never beaten him again, but it had happened, and she had beaten Princeton, too (Jay, observing that his sister was upset about her boyfriend being embarrassed twice, had tried not to be too visibly pleased about that). She would pose a real challenge in good light. Jay had decided to be optimistic and say the rain would act as an effective handicap, putting the two on equal footing, but still, this was going to be a tough one.
The Seekers, very sensibly, under those circumstances, gravitated to positions not far from each other, and Jay started looking for an angle from which, if he got a Bludger, he could hit it at Jade without substantial risk to Thad. Or himself, given how the rain was going to mess everything up. He was not sure he’d ever played in this much rain; it was one of the things Aunt Lorraine forbade, on the basis that she had to deal with the results unless they were truly severe, in which case they’d want to deal with Uncle Adam or the Little Empress even less than she wanted them to. He was rapidly, however, grasping that a disadvantage of it beyond even slippery equipment and an invisible Snitch was that the audio cues which would normally suggest a Bludger were going to be, unless they were the 'someone else just hit it' ones, impossible to make out, meaning he had to look as much for his own safety as for his captain's at the moment.
Well, he had wanted a challenge.
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<font color="blue">Jay Carey, Beater</font>
Give me that old-time Quidditch game
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<font color="blue">Jay Carey, Beater</font>
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<font color=tan>Rupert Princeton, Beater</font>
January 25, 2014 12:59 PM
You asked for it. by <font color=tan>Rupert Princeton, Beater</font>
It was pouring outside and Rupert could hardly wait to get out in the rain. Game days always excited him no matter the weather. It wasn’t ideal to play a match in, but Rup had trained in rain and shine, in mud and sand even. His goal was greater than simply winning match after match with Pecari; he wanted to make it to the professional leagues. The wrist he had broken over the winter holiday had healed, though it had taken a bit longer than usual after straining it during the last match against Crotalus. Bludgers were not friendly, but Rup was determined to make every iron ball obey his command, and he had gotten quite good at it too for his age.With his wrist healed, Rup had spent countless hours each day outside of Pecari’s usual team practises hitting bludgers in the MARS room to strengthen his arm to what it once was. He had attempted to train his right arm as well, realising the importance of being able to use both in case his wrist or his left arm was broken again during a match. He didn’t want to be completely useless because of a silly break and he supposed he could deal with the pain once his adrenaline was pumping. It was a long process getting his right arm to match the strength and coordination of his left, and he still had a long way to go by the time the final match came around. He would simply have to be careful to keep his left arm from getting hurt or else he would have to sit out for the entirety of the match and that would not do.
Quidditch was Rupert’s passion and that was it. Even Muggle Studies couldn’t compete in vying for Rup’s full attention. Winning and losing didn’t matter to him and Rupert respected people who thought the same. It was a game; there was a winner and a loser in all sports and everyone was bound to end up as either one or the other. Rupert just trained hard so he wouldn’t let himself or his team down. Losing showed nothing for his skill, though it could vouch for his character depending on his reaction. As a winner, he would not only receive the trophy along with his team-mates, but his growing track record would gain the attention of anyone looking to recruit students into the Leagues. And that was exactly where Rupert wanted to go. It didn’t matter to people like his brother Cepheus who had only looked to win. Cepheus would graduate and have all the money in the world to do whatever he liked so long as he stayed true to the family. Rupert had nothing and no one but himself to watch out for, and maybe Leo, so that’s what he did. He had chosen Quidditch and he was blooming good at it.
At breakfast he sat next to Jade, listening to her insult some first year and smirking behind his toast and jam. He had been on the team with her long enough to know her antics by now, and while he’d rather avoid her pre-game antagonism, he did enjoy listening to her. He respected her for her loyalty to the match, though he did not wholly condone her attitude towards Amira. Their rivalry had simmered down loads, but it was still a position of animosity Rup hoped he would never find himself in. He was so laid-back off the pitch he hardly found himself in conflict with anyone, even his ill-tempered old grandfather. Rupert on the pitch, however, was a completely different story. He hoped one day to be known as the feared Beater of Sonora, the friend of everyone at school, but one not to be taken lightly on the pitch. It was a big dream and Rup was already a fourth year, but he was building his arm muscles and his shoulders were already as broad as they were going to be. He was never going to be as tall as Cepheus, but at least he could have the brawn to go along with his imagined image. But, after all, looks weren’t everything and these matches were the time Rupert could show what he was made of.
The goggles helped slightly; at least he wouldn’t have to worry about constantly swiping his hand across his eyes. He’d made the wise decision to slip on his Beater’s glove before stepping out into the torrent, and the charms he had cast onto it in order to make it waterproof had been sensible. His custom bat Cepheus’s former betrothed had gifted him was in hand as always, though it was getting worn from use. He followed Jade once she rose into the air, keeping his dark eyes open wide for any sign of bludgers. Because of the thick downpour, he would have to be extra sharp in order to protect his Seeker and take opportunities when he could.
Rup straightened up on his broom and slicked back his sodden bright blond hair. He liked to keep it long enough where his fringe bothered his eyelashes, but it wasn’t going to help him in any sort with this weather. If he had to keep swiping it out of sight it would become a distraction and there was no room for distractions in matches like these. As Rup had learnt over the holiday, any sudden moves or an eye off the bludger for one second could be detrimental.
At that moment the sound of approaching iron came and Rupert kept his eyes wide open for any sign of it. It almost took his leg off when he finally saw it, but he dodged it just in time, though it left his heart pounding wildly at the close call. He followed it now that he had sight of it, looking back only once to see if his opponent had taken advantage of his absence. He beat the bludger closer, and with a firm thwack! aimed it right at Thad and hoped the slippery side-effect of the rain wouldn’t divert the iron ball too significantly. There was a time Rup would have attempted to knock out the Beater first, but he had come to realise doing so would only initiate a tennis match or something similar between Beaters and that was unnecessary. Going straight for the prize would be a distraction enough for the opposing Beater.
Rupert hurried back to his post near Jade, keeping close to her but not close enough to distract her. He’d never been very good at lurking in corners invisible and observant, but he was good at beating any danger away.
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<font color=tan>Rupert Princeton, Beater</font>
You asked for it.
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<font color=tan>Rupert Princeton, Beater</font>
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
February 03, 2014 3:57 PM
I never got that pony I asked for. by <font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
Jade had noted before that their practises in the rain didn’t often tend to last as long as the team meetings held in fairer weather. The sixth year had often suspected that this was largely due to most people’s preference to limit their time being drenched by the elements, but the current game conditions led Jade to acknowledge that there might be more to it than that: playing in the rain was harder, and worked both her physical and mental capacities to a greater degree than did more clement weather. Plus it was harder to see one’s team members in the rain, and instruct them, and so forth, due to the reduced visibility.Games, on the other hand, were prone to last longer in the rain, due to a similar set of reasons. The players worked harder, the balls were more difficult to control, your teammates were almost inseparable from your enemies, and Jade could also attest that steering was harder in the rain – on her particular brand of borrowed broomstick, anyway – due to imperfections in balance created by uneven weight distribution as folds of fabric and clumped tail twigs collected rainwater that slid neatly off the polished broom handle. If they could play (and win) successfully in the rain, it was a greater demonstration of the teams’ skills and talents than when compared to anything they could accomplish on a fine day.
Having acknowledged that, Jade tried not to be too disheartened that she didn’t seem to be making a great deal of progress in the game so far. She thought she had seen Rupert duck in and out of her vision, but she hadn’t heard any sound of Bludgers around her (which was disconcerting, to say they least; being able to see the balls was going to be incredibly difficult against the downpour, and Jade had been relying on being able to hear them to help her avoid painful injury. With these two important cues removed, there was simply no telling at which point she might be unceremonious unseated and potentially destroy Pecari’s chances of winning the cup this year). She was also finding it more difficult than she had anticipated to watch Thad whilst keeping her distance, and was torn by the conundrum of whether she should fly closer to him, or continue to hope that she was simply lucky enough to see the Snitch first.
While she tried hard not to let prejudices blind her (if someone else brought their issues to the table then Jade would jump on their bandwagon to cause ridicule and upset, but she never wanted to be the one making any judgments in the initial instance), Jade couldn’t help but feel as though Aladren had – had previously, and still possessed – the advantages of class and cash on its side. Admittedly, the Anns and Rup could hold their own in that field, but Jade somehow didn’t think of them as belonging to the same collection as the likes of Thad and the creepy Wolseithcraftes (with whom Jade, thankfully, was not overtly familiar, thanks to their age group discrepancies). This was possibly because she was simply more familiar with her own teammates, or, equally as likely, the attributes that had landed the whole team in Pecari together were those that Jade favoured over whatever traits she shied away from in Aladrens in general. It made sense, she supposed; she did, after all, get along much better with her sister, Josephine, who had also been in Pecari House, than with her brother, James, an Aladren Alumus. When it came to Quidditch, Jade viewed all the Houses as opponents, naturally, but it was only in her games against Aladren that she got particularly riled, despite attitudes being yet more pompous amongst several of their Crotalus counterparts. She occasionally gave two seconds to wonder why that might be, but, by and large, she genuinely didn’t care.
Her personal issues took a backseat in her mind for a moment as Jade twisted her head sharply to the right, conducting a double-take as she thought she might have seen a glimpse of gold towards the emptier end of the pitch; the Chasers seemed to be congregating towards the other end, hopefully with Pecari’s aristocratic newbie Keeper pulling her weight against the similarly privileged Aladren Chasers. Jade tilted her broom a little, trying to located Thad, look out for Bludgers, and establish whether that gold glint had been anything worthwhile investigating, all without looking suspicious. This, perhaps, was the only feat made simpler under the cover of rain.
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
I never got that pony I asked for.
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
February 05, 2014 4:02 PM
But then this is better. by <font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
Darting under cover of sheets of icy rainwater, Jade made progress towards her destination as quickly as she dared. As she drew closer, she became increasingly sure that the gold glint she had seen was, in fact, her target. Still, it wasn’t all good news; she wasn’t sure exactly where Thad was on the pitch, and she did not want to waste time, nor draw attention to herself, by looking for him. She simply had to continue onwards through the deluge, ignoring her freezing fingertips and the trickle of water making its way down the back of her neck.Yes – that was it! Jade was suddenly sure. She had seen the shimmer again, and its darting movements couple with its position on the pitch sufficiently far from the crowds for it to not be mistaken for anything else shiny (besides, the sun wasn’t even out today, so glints of spectators’ jewelry and other such cumbersome distractions were not very likely). It was no longer the time to play it safe; Jade’s broom would not match up to Thad’s if it came down to a race. She had always known that she would have to outwit or out-manoeuvre him if it came to a showdown, and it seemed she might have to employ her arsenal of skills, after all (then again, the opposing Seeker could be hopelessly at the other end of the pitch for all she knew… he could just as easily be right behind her, gaining on her every second).
Abandoning all pretense and subterfuge, Jade lay flat on her broom for the required burst of speed that brought her right into the enviable vicinity. She tore through the torrent, relishing the sting of raindrops on her face as the wind whipped lashings of water against her. These were the moments she lived for: when it came down to a chase, or a battle, where the victor would be decided in a few short adrenaline-fueled moments. Jade decided that it would be her. No way was she prepared to forgo victory to a first-time Seeker who was only captain of the team by default. Losing was bad enough, but Princeton’s defeat had just been humiliating.
With as much determination as she could muster – which was plenty; Jade didn’t have enthusiasm for deadlines or grades, but for things she actually cared about her drive was insatiable – the sixth year kept her eyes on the prize as she drew ever nearer. She lifted a steady hand from the rain-slickened handle of her broomstick, and swept the tiny golden ball out of the air without a second’s hesitation. She cheered, hollered, and temporarily forgot about the rain as she flew a victory lap, the happiest she had been all year.
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
But then this is better.
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<font color="tan">Jade Owen, Seeker</font>
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Coach Olivers
February 05, 2014 5:10 PM
Pecari wins! 150 - 0 (nm) by Coach Olivers
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Coach Olivers
Pecari wins! 150 - 0 (nm)
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Coach Olivers
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