Slytherin Practice - Round Two

[Hikalyn Sarello]

After the fiasco of the last Quidditch game, during which only two of the team members had shown up, the Quidditch team had been practically disbanded in order to hold another set of tryouts, this time opting for players who would actually show up to the practices, never mind the games. But with the recent and inexplicable disappearance of Artemis, the team's captain, nothing more than that single afternoon of tryouts had been done as far as getting the team moving again.

Enough was enough, however. Hikalyn couldn't help but be worried about her friend, but she had no way to know where Artemis might have gone and no way to contact her, and meanwhile the season was marching inexorably onwards. The next game wouldn't wait on Artemis or anyone else, and after their first stinging loss to Hufflepuff--for second year in a row, no less--she was doubly determined to win their next two matches.

So it was that early that morning found her heading across the Quidditch pitch, dressed in the simple black robes that she usually wore for practice, with her Firebolt slung easily across one shoulder. Her other hand held her wand, which was directing a heavy crate, surfaced in dark leather, that floated a few feet off the ground.

Finally arriving at her destination, Kalyn flicked her wand, allowing the crate which held the Quaffle, the Bludgers and the Snitch to drop unceremoniously to the springy ground. Tucking the tool back in a pocket, Kalyn slid her broom off her shoulder and released it. The Firebolt hovered obediently in the air before her, quivering slightly as if impatient to be mounted again. Although Hikalyn shared the sentiment, there wasn't much point in doing much until the rest of the team arrived. Smiling faintly, she turned her gaze upwards, watching the gold streaks of sunlight spill out over the azure sky, and waited.

[Shade S. Moonlight]

Shade emerged from the doors with her own Firebolt under her arm.

When she saw Kalyn, she smiled. She had seen a notice on the Common Room Notice Board saying that there was tryouts for the team.

She skipped out to the Head Girl.

"Heys, I do believe this is tryouts for the Slytherin Quiditch Team, right?" Shade smiled.

She pushed her purple strands of hair behind her ears and out her eyes, revealing lime green eyes.

[Kate Wellsley]

Kate ran out onto the pitch with her Nimbus 2001 trailing behind her. "Am i too late?!? Have i missed the tryouts?!?!" Kate was really hoping that she could be on the team. She got on her broom and flew up to Hikalyn. "Are tryouts still open?" she asked her with a worried face.

[Squee]

Squee walked calmly down to the pitch, dressed in a tight silver tee-shirt, and tight emereald green corduroy pants. Her long brown hair was tied up, and her large brown eyes shone with determination. Her firebolt was slung over her shoulder, the one she bought with that nice Gryffindors money.

She stolled down to Hikalyn and smiled "Hey there, am I late?" Her tone was friendly, and her smile was genuine. she let herfirebolt join Kalyns hovering over the ground and looked to the girl who had asked if it was too late to tryout "Um, I'm sorry, but tryouts were a few weeks ago this is practice." She looked to Kalyn, wondering if she was wrong, and Kate could stay or not.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

"No, not late," Hikalyn assured Squee, sending a smile the Chaser's way. Running a hand through her hair and pulling a few errant onyx locks out of her eyes, she turned to the two other two girls. She recognized one of them from the most recent set of tryouts, but she didn't know either by name.

"Squee's right, actually," she told the two girls. "We held the last tryouts just a few weeks ago, this is a practice..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as she surveyed the Quidditch pitch "...but as you can see, we still have a few holes in the team." They were still waiting for a couple of people to show up, but even with those extra bodies, they didn't have the full seven players that were really needed for a Quidditch game.

"So I'll tell you what," Hikalyn continued, resuming the thought as if she'd never paused, "I'll just wait for the others to get here and get started, and then I'll let you guys have a go at it, to see how you play and fit in with everyone else." That being said, she returned to scanning the vast field of the pitch, and more to the point, the pathway leading up to it from the school. She hoped that the others would show up soon; she was going to have to get the practice started, one way or another.

[Artemis]

Artemis ran full speed out of the castle, her hair a complete mess. As soon as she was out on the grounds, the captain mounted her broom and shot up into the air. It felt good to be up in the sky again. The girl, now sixteen, sped toward the pitch with ease.

She arrived only moments later, stopping her broom so abruptly she would've fallen off if she hadn't been holding on. "Sorry I've been gone for so long," she apologized, mostly to Hikalyn. Artemis slowly sank to the ground and dismounted. She had already seen the sheet with the new team on it. She saw several people on that list, mostly unfarmiliar to her, standing around the pitch. "I hope I didn't miss much," she said, re-doing her hair and pulling the tangle into a tight braid.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

They had been waiting only a few scant moments before Hikalyn spotted the broom that was streaking towards them, at first only visible as a coloured blur against the azure backdrop of the sky. The rider directed the broom down at a steep decline, coming to a halt so suddenly that she nearly fell off, and finally recognizing the figure, Kalyn blinked her astonishment. Then her expression melted as she gave her friend a warm smile.

"Not really, actually," she assured the other girl with a slight shrug. "We were just getting started, this morning. I was hoping that we'd have a couple others on the team show up, though that doesn't seem too likely. And as for the season..." her voice trailed off for a moment, and she shook her head as if to clear it before returning her attention to Artemis. "To be honest, you haven't really missed much there, either. I was waiting on you for a while, but with the game coming so close, I figured that wasn't such a great idea."

[Artemis]

"I'm actually glad you started without me." Artemis straightened her green and silver Quidditch robes and looked around again.

There were five people there already, including herself. They could work with that. She turned to Kalyn again, shielding her eyes against the bright sun. "D'you want to get started? We could probably start practice with five." They couldn't wait for others to come, and she doubted many more would. The game was in only a week, and the other team was probably more organized than theirs was.

The girl restlessly glanced over her shoulder at the castle. She didn't see any other figures coming to the pitch. Artemis stared at the emerald green field, as if willing more players to spring out of it.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

Hikalyn released a slight sigh as she glanced around the Pitch and the others milling around that didn't quite make a full team. She wasn't quite sure what it was that made it so hard to get a full--and after the disaster of the last game, a reliable--Quidditch team together, but it was definitely more than a little frustrating.

She shrugged her shoulders and firmed her resolve, turning to Artemis with a nod. "Yeah, we might as well get going. Hopefully the other couple of players will show up as later on," she added, though she really wasn't holding out hope on that one. She had hoped that Marina would be here, at least, but she hadn't seen the brown-haired Prefect in what felt like quite a long time.

[protege]

Protege came running out to the field, stretching himself to go as fast as possible down to the Quidditch Pitch. He knew practice was today, but he had been unable to clear up his schedule enough to get there earlier. Finally arriving at the pitch, he stood there, holding his broom in his right hand.

Raising his head, he looked at all the people who were there. Seeing some already flying around, he stood up and said, "Sorry I'm late. However, at least I'm here. Could have been worse, and I might not have shown up at all. No practice before a match would be very bad."

[Hikalyn Sarello]

"It would be," Kalyn agreed with mock severity, but she took any possible sting out of the words with a smile of gratification. She was glad to see that people were indeed showing up for the practice--already, that was an improvement over the interest they'd had before the last game. Maybe they'd even have a team for the upcoming match on Saturday.

"Good timing, anyway," she told him, "we're only just getting started. Oh," she added off-handedly, with a light grin, "and we have our captain back. Unslinging her broom from her shoulder at last, she let the Firebolt drop from her hand, and it caught itself in mid-descent, hovering obediently before her, a few feet off the ground.

The Head Girl turned her gaze expectantly to Artemis. "Well, shall we?"

OOC: Haha, Prot, more George Strait. *points to sig* XD

[Artemis]

ooc: Okay everyone, the game's tommorow. I'd really appreciate it if you could be there, and please PM Kalyn or I if you can't. Go Slyth!