Raptors Take Flight

[Aridan]

(Raptors means bird of prey.. just thought it would sound cool...-is a dork-)
(Please read the rules to the game before posting)

Aridan stood in the quiddtich pitch. He had left a message on the board in the CR to come here if they needed to practice. He had some match experience so he could help some of the members who didn't have much.

He was a chaser normally, played a seeker once before that but didn't like it. He loved the feel of the quaffle in his hand and the feeling of shooting it threw the hoops of the opposing team. It was one of the joys and perks of the status of chaser.

He stood in the middle of the pitch and waited to see if any other Ravenclaws would make a appearance. He had a nimbus 2001, not as fast as a firebolt but still a very nice broom and quite fast. He knew some other students had firebolts and that would be trouble if they were facing a team of firebolts. But of course speed meant little if you didn't have the skills to back it up.

OOC: pardon this horrid post.. my muse is on strike

[~Persephone~]

Persephone made her way down to the Quidditch pitch. It would be her first time as seeker in a match and she was nervous. She kept playing with her long hair, which she had pulled back into a ponytail.
In her righthand she held a firebolt and she hoped that her broom wouldn't fail her. She was good though, and she kept reminding herself that she could do this as she walked towards practice.
She smiled as she saw Aridan, and waved at him.

[Teagan]

As soon as Teagan read the message on the Notice Board, she immediately darted upstairs to her dorm room. The weather was most likely hot, and she wanted to have a good practice. She had recently joined the Ravenclaw quidditch team as a beater because she was asked to by more than one person, and they had need to quickly assemble a team in time for their next match. It was a hasty choice, but Teagan could fly pretty well. At her old school, they would practice often, and Teagan often enjoyed feeling air rush past her face, through her hair, around her clothes, along with the sheer feeling of flight; her sister hadn't really cared about it, but she had still flown often, anyway.

She quickly brushed out her flame red hair, and pulled it back into a long pony-tail. Delicate strands of her hair swished around, and tried to curl around her fingers in the process. Her bangs easily fell free, but otherwise her hair was very neat and held back. The bangs she couldn't bother worrying about. After all, they weren't long enough to be pulled into her more extensive locks.

Teagan pondered for a moment, but then chose to wear the same clothes she currently was. She didn't know how the weather would be in the space the game was to be held on the weekend, so she thought she'd just go and find out. It's alright if she would need to make a few adjustments for their game, but now she'd just try it out. Teagan was wearing comfortable black shorts, and a long-sleeved green shirt along with a few other clothes. During the match, she knew, they would be wearing their team's robes, but she thought her current outfit would do for now.

She swiftly dropped to her knees by her neatly made bed, and extended her arm under it until her soft fingers finally caressed the side of a large box. She quickly pulled part of it out, and opened the nearest end. Teagan once again extended her arm, but she now gripped around her broom's handle, and quietly pulled the entire thing out by her side. She laid it down, and shoved the empty box back under her bed.

Now, Teagan's red eyes moved over to exam the broom she had taken out of its cover. Her parents had bought it when she started flying, but it had become rather unused for a while. Deciding not to wait any longer, she entangled her slender figures around wooden stick. Then, she stood up with the broom, and made her way downstairs and to the outside.

Sunlight brightly bustled into her eyes, and she partially closed her eyelids, but continued to quietly walk. Soon her eyes adapted, and she found herself at her destination: the Quidditch Pitch. Teagan continued to walk over to the boy that had written the note. On the board, it had said his name was Aridan Triton. She calmly walked over to him, and stopped about a yard away. Teagan also saw Sephe, their seaker, not too far away.

"Practice?" came her soft voice. It held and inquiry of question, but she hoped that he was ready to start their training. She wasn't too enthusiastic about being first in the air. Also, she needed the bat to practice with, though she intended to fly for a few minutes first in order to warm up. Her broom was a Nimbus 2001, but it worked very well, if she remembered correctly. Teagan gently tilted her head and her hair gracefully flowed with the motion, but at least it would be out of the way.

[Aridan]

Aridan smiled as a girl came into the pitch. She seemed to be nervous to a degree but also willing to do it. She carried a Firebolt which made Aridan smile brightly, she had to be the seeker, they needed someone who could dart around as fast as the snitch and a firebolt would certainly do that. As the girl got closer she started to wave at him, he smiled and returned the gesture. "Hello." he said in a slightly excited voice.

As the next girl entered the pitch the mood changed some. She had the sense that she could do this and would. Aridan smiled at her as she stopped. It was good to have a team that believed in themselves. Her broom was the same as his which was still good it was one of the top two models of broom out only out done by the firebolt.

He nodded to her at her question of practice. "Yeah i thought it would be good if we managed to form some sort of idea of what to expect from our fellow team members. He looked at the seeker then back to Teagan. "I am Aridan as you might have guess, i have some quidditch experience so that helps, anyone with some knowledge of the game will be helpful." he said filling slightly silly for it. "I am not the caption but for the sake of this practice i guess i could take charge of it sense i arranged it." he said with a smile.

He let his broom lay to his right on the ground. "Now warm ups are a good thing to do before a practice right, so i was thinking maybe 20 times around the pitch, then we will bring out the balls and bats." he said politely giving them both a look that said 'is that alright with you?'.

OOC: as i said before Muse is on strike so please pardon the horrid post

[Lynette Pearlcombe]

((You're modest, Aridan. You're posts are great.))

Lynette clambered across the field, Cleansweep Seven in one hand. Her stride was rather awkward; she had been brilliant enough to strap on her leather shin guards and elbow gear before reaching the field and was having a bit of trouble coming across it.

She paused to snap her red hair back in a ponytail with an elastic before trotting up to Aridan and the girls.

"This is was an excellent idea, Aridan." She smiled enthusiastically. "Those Slytherins won't know what hit them on Saturday." She twirled her broomstick around her wrist, looking pumped up and ready to go. "We doing warm-ups?"

She mounted her broom and kicked off, hovering with precision a few feet off the ground and floating back down so her heels just grazed the grass before shooting up another several feet. She grinned, liking the way her stomach jumped with every acceleration. She drifted back down and hopped off, tucking the broom under her wrist.

"Let's get started!" She said with a grin.

[~Persephone~]

Persephone smiled as she saw Teagan and Lynette. They had both been nice to her and she was glad to have them on the team.
She shrugged at warm ups, and smiled and kicked off. She waited for Teagan and Lynette to start their warmups.

[Aridan]

OOC: -blushes- err thanks, yours is wonderful

Aridan smiled at the girl who now stood near him, after playing with her broom. He smiled slightly at her little show, she clearly enjoyed flying which was a good thing in general. He looked at the others "Ok does anyone got any idea were the other chasers and the beaters are?" his words were in a tone that was both firm and commanding but also gently enough not to sound bossy.

Aridan had never been caption before, and for a good reason he had a slight problem with others, he expected the best and got a little angry when he didn't get it. He looked at Lyn and smiled a bit "Yes I was just mentioning warm ups."

He his cue and stepped closer to his broom "Up." he said calmly as the broom shot up to his waiting palm. As the broom touched his hand his fingers wrapped firmly and comfortably around the handle. He toke a single step forward and whipped his leg over the broom handle. In a moment he was off the ground and hovering 12 feet off the ground.

As he hovered he began to make small circles as he wanted to stay near the others. "After the laps I was thinking Seeker and Chasers should do drills, and the keeper could charm or whatever the bludgers toward the beaters for practice then we could all drill the keeper, since that job is the most important next to the seeker of course." he said with a short glance as Persephone. "What do you all say?"

[Lynette Pearlcombe]

((-snicker- Go ahead and blush all you like. Doesn't change the facts .))

"Perfect." Lynette nodded firmly."And don't worry about the rest of the team. They probably just haven't read the bulletin board yet."

She twirled her broom around her wrist one more time before mounting and kicking off high into the air. Her broomstick was by no means the best broomstick - not even close! But she had gotten it after her cousin, the only other Quidditch player in the Pearlcombe family tree in a century. Most of the Pearlcombe's were cooped up studying in their dormitories while in school. Lynette did study, and often, but she couldn't deny the buzz she got when flying.

She hovered just above the other players heads for a moment, then grinned and shot upward to complete the task at hand. She zipped down one end of the field, hugging the goal posts as she turned.

[Carmella]

Carmy knew she was cutting it really close, she'd likely be several minutes late to the scheduled practice. But she had to get the spell done, it wouldn't due to attempt quidditch in her small form. After the first few failed attempts, she finally got the wording to the spell right. Concentrating as a ball of light swept over her form, she kept her eyes closed as she grew several feet. Not remarkably tall, only 5'1, but that would be tall enough to sit a broom.

Whistling swiftly she lifted into the air, glad to see her Firebolt chasing after her. The broom had cost a fortune, but she had money to spare, and she needed the best of the best. She wanted to have all the necessary tools to win the match. Speeding out of the Realm and towards the quidditch pitch, she grimaced as she realised practice had already begun. Mounting her broom, her wings folded neatly behind her shoulder blades then vanished from sight.

"Sorry I'm late" she called out, taking in what the others were doing.

Currently Lynette was speeding around the goal posts, obviously doing laps. Most quidditch practices she'd seen started this way. Steering her broom easily she sped after Lynette, smiling as the wind whipped at her hair. Dipping her broom low she fell a few feet, so she was now flying below the girl. She preferred her wings to this anyday, but flying on a broom wasn't as bad as she'd thought the first few times she'd found herself on one.


ooc: Gone for a few days of shopping and you guys are already starting to practice.... ><

[Aridan]

Aridan was slightly surprised to see another girl come racing out into the pitch. She seemed to be ready for practice but didn't know practice had started. He was never one for embarrassing someone so he thought better not to mention it to her. She was a chaser that was for sure, she had a Firebolt which was by far the best broom around at the time.

He folded up close to his nimbus 2001 and shot off towards them. His broom was fast but hers was faster by far. But he had learned faster was not always better, in seeker position she would have been great but if she could not slow enough to grab the ball and shot she would be no help. As he neared her tail he smiled, he had completed one lap just trying to catch the girls.

He rose another five feet so that he was right level with the girl. He spun to his left on the broom and managed to use the draft off Carmy to get a extra burst of speed which propelled him next to her. "Hey." he said loudly as they raced around the pitch, nice to see another chaser." he said with a slight smile

[Teagan]

As the group began to set off to start laps, Teagan quickly followed. She quickly bustled into the air, and began to make chase to the other members of the team. She had a suggestion that everyone had left before she could state.

Adrenaline started pumping into her blood as she left the ground. The boost was always fun to have. The hormone raced through her vessels, and her slender fingers gripped the wood much tighter as she sped up her speed. Fiery red bangs flew away from her face, and the long threads in her pony tail wildly lashed out and whipped unorganizedly through the air behind her. Teagan's sleeves draped around her arms, and she lowered her body to the broom to create less resistance. Her body narrowed, her legs stretched out to the vehicle's sides, and she became like strange large arrow. The purpose of this position change was to help shoot through the air, along with to retain better control during flight.

After a long few minutes, Teagan had completed a portion of the twenty laps and had nearly caught up with Aridan. The three students had already cut through the air, so speed was immensely gained. Teagan went beside the girl with pink hair, and tried to maintain the pace of the group she was now with.

"Hey!" she called upward. "Shouldn't everyone introduce themselves?! This team won't be very grand if we don't even know each other's names!" Because of the partial vacuum, her voice was louder than the wind they were heading through, though it echoed slightly. Out of the students there, she had only known a small amount of them.

Teagan had actually forgotten how much fun flight really was. All of the adrenaline and excitement was pleasurable, and you could help but to enjoy it. Her eyes were squinted, though enough to see clearly well. They came to another turn, and she edged her broom's tip around so the ride was very smooth. Fun; that was the word for it. She was having fun. The fresh air entered her lungs, and oxygen was quickly passed around. It was invigorating. For the fact that she was normally calm, her expression showed that she was happy; flying usually made people's expression change because of the pressure coming at them. Her team would probably be unable to see her face clearly because of they were also speeding along.

[Aridan]

Aridan was flying pretty fast, aiming to get the warm up laps done quickly so that the real practice should begin. He was aware that a few more people where flying now and a bit back. He knew with the draft from the leaders and if they used it right they could sling shot up to where they all were, or atleast close.

He was not disappointed as one of the team managed to use the boost in speed to catch up with them. He had being only paying half attention to the track as he was trying to keep track of the rest of the team. He was also thinking about what else would be good for the team to do a few days before the match began.

’Hey!’ came a voice from just under him, or so it sounded. He was a little thrown off so moved only a few inches to the side so he could try to see the person. ’ Shouldn't everyone introduce themselves?! This team won't be very grand if we don't even know each other's names’ He smiled because she had a good point.

He fell back losing speed on purpose as he dropped down to her level. “Your right!” he said with a smirk. “We should introduce ourselves once we land!” he said to her looking if she approved of the idea. He always kept in mind that he was not captain, merely captain of this practice

[~Persephone~]

Persephone smiled as she caught up with and passed the others on their laps. She was fast, and her small body and broom made it quite clear that she was a good seeker. Her small body and frame was very aero dynamic and her broom had the speed to help her.
She heard Teagan say that they should introduce themselves and she thought that would be a good idea. She didn't know most of the people on the team well, and she didn't know some of the people heres names.
She finished her laps quickly and landed waiting for the others to come to a close with their laps. Her long ponytail streamed down her back in a silvery waterfally and Persephone brushed some stray hair out of her green eyes.

[Teagan]

A few seconds ticked by, and Aridan flew closer to Teagan in order to make his reply heard. "You're right!" he answered with a smirk. "We should introduce ourselves once we land!" He looked over to her awaiting for her reply. Aridan's glossy white hair appeared to be a white flame by its movements. It was just the right length to look that way.

Teagan carefully nodded at the boy, the only boy on their team she had seen so far. The wind whipped her ear, sending a stinging sensations through parts of it. Her red bangs quickly flew to the side of her head that wasn't going against the air. Getting tired of the nuisance, she carefully turned her head forward; it seemed the wind really didn't like you wobbling your head in too many directions, and flying and not facing the direction you're going isn't very comfortable. Wasting no time, the bangs once again flew back and upward, and the wind rippled past her ears.

The girl's scarlet eyes darted forward, she lowered her body to the broom, and moved her palms farther up on the handle of her Nimbus 2001. Teagan went faster, and soon found herself a few feet in front of the group. Now, there was no one's current to carry herself on, so wind viciously ripped at her arms, face, and legs. Being in front didn't make the ride any easier. She accelerated as much as she could, but her speed didn't increase by as much as it had when she followed others' trails.

Teagan remained ahead of the group for a few minutes more. She smoothly turned on a curve, and was able to glimpse back. A girl Teagan was barely able to recognize as Sephe was catching up to them on a firebolt. Her hair was a signifying blonde streak.

Soon Teagan had made it past the curve on her one of her last laps, and lost sight of them; she had been going all out for the warm-ups. It wasn't her job to keep looking back at them, so she only intended to try on the curves where it would be easier, though she didn't have to wait that long.

Sephe bound past her, and lapped her. Teagan quickly fell into Sephe's trail of flight, and her speed was instantly hastened. When following the other student, she was only marginally slower. Teagan's friend soon finished, and Teagan had only half a lap to go. By now, their distance was too far apart to gain any acceleration, though she finished less than half of a lab behind Sephe. She was sure the difference would have been much greater, except for the fact that the older and smaller student had started a few minutes after them.

Teagan curved her broom into a loop around the other girl as she finished, and quietly stopped to her left. "Think you're fast enough?" calmly asked the red-haired girl. Her hair had had an absolute frenzy during the journey, and was in quite a mess, just like the rest of their team's. She silkily brusher her soft fingers through her wild bangs, straightening and smoothing them out. Threads of hair from her pony-tail had also cloaked a good portion of her right shoulder from when she had finished. Teagan unhesitatingly pulled it back behind her.

[~Persephone~]

Sephe smiled and laughed. "I hope so!" She took her ponytail down and put her hair back up again. Rarely did her hair tangle and she was glad to find she didn't have thousands of nots in her long hair. She looked around again. "You know, I think we'll do fine in the match."