Anyone Here? Closed

Aravis was running a tad bit later than she would have liked. She was almost always early but she had managed to get lost on her way. She ran as quick as possible finding where they were meeting for Gobstones Club. Her father and brothers had all played the game with her when she was younger. Upon actually showing up she looked like a train wreck. Her curly pure black hair was tangled from tripping down the stairs. "Sorry I'm late I-" Aravis stopped speaking as she realized there was only one other person. Thankfully it was a Slytherin. "Where the bloody hell is everyone?" She asked with a rather angry tone. She couldn't be the only other one who had actually shown up. Perhaps the others had gotten lost like she had? Maybe she should have signed up for Wizard Chess instead.

She realized her hair was a mess and quickly took out a pocket mirror and fixed it to be neater than it had been. "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry, I don't normally look like a train wreck, I fell on the way here a few times. I swear I'm not usually this late!" She said in a rather annoyed tone. She was annoyed with herself for being so late and messy.

"Sorry I'm late I-Where the bloody hell is everyone?"

A girl stumbled in, hair in knots. She She asked with a rather forceful angry tone. Mia sighed in relief. Someone else showed up. And a Slytherin too! Though the girl looked like a mess, she was no one who Mia would be ashamed to call her friend. The girl quickly took out a pocket mirror and fixed her hair. It was now nicely arranged, and she looked at Mia.

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry, I don't normally look like a train wreck, I fell on the way here a few times. I swear I'm not usually this late!"

The girl sounded annoyed.

"Don't worry. No one's shown up."

Mia looked at the girl, annoyed.

"Do you have gobstones?"-Mia gestured towards the small pouch in her hand."You need them to play. We could just play now, and wait for the others to show up."

Mia looked up at her. She was taller then her, but who wasn't, and had some expensive-looking jewerly around her neck. Mia was never a fan of wearing necklaces, and thought that they wear itchy. She reached up unconciously and touched her neck.

"And do you know how to play?"

Mia sighed. If the girl didn't know how to play then everything would go downhill.

"Don't worry no one's showed up." Aravis was happy and sad to hear that. Happy that she wasn't the complete last to arrive yet sad that no one else had showed up on time. She was beginning to wonder if she would still wind up being the last to show up.

"Yes I do have some. I have them in my pocket." She said taking a small pouch out. The other Slytherin girl asked if she knew how to play. "Of course I know how to play. I used to play it with my family when I was young. We could play either Classic, Jack Stone or Snake Pit. Take your pick." She said as she opened the small pouch. She pulled out 16 green gobstones. She recounted them to make sure she had the right amount. There were only supposed to be 15. She put the extra one back in the pouch with the others. 

Aravis was glad that she had played the game with her family so often. On the occasion she may forget a few rules but she remembered most of the game. She knew her cousin Axel and his sister Diana had been in Gobstones Club so she figured she would join as well. Maybe the could teach her some tricks over the summer.

"Yes I do have some. I have them in my pocket."-The girl took a small pouch identical to hers out of her pocket-"Of course I know how to play. I used to play it with my family when I was young. We could play either Classic, Jack Stone or Snake Pit. Take your pick."

Mia thought for a second, trying to remember the variations. The "Classic" Game was where you had to knock seven Gobstones out of the circle before your opponent did, and the "Jack Stone" variation was where after four snaps your Gobstone must be the one closest to the Jack Gobstone. The "Snake Pit" Game was similar to "Jack Stone", but instead of a Jack Gobstone there was a hole on the centre of the circle.

"Snake Pit will do fine."-Mia sighed, still annoyed that they were the only ones there-"If it is just us I may as well introduce myself. I'm Mia Alexander. Pure-blood if it matters to you."

Mia tried to sound confidant. She had never played, yes, but knew all the rules, and a couple tricks too. She motioned to the set of small boards on the opposite side of the designated area. They had small holes in the center, and so she knew it was for Jack Stone. She walked over, sat down, and took out her pouch.

"I guess we're the only members."-Mia adjusted her hair clip-"And so, we are the founders. Co-founders. That means that this game is monumental!"

She laughed to show that it was a joke. She placed down the jack gobstone near the center.

"You go first."

The girl introduced herself as Mia Alexander. Like Aravis, she was also a pure blood. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aravis. Aravis Escanora. I'm also a pure-blood." She said with a smile as she sat down. Aravis laughed at the joke finding it rather funny. Aravis watched as the Jack Gobstone was put into place.

Aravis moved a strand of hair out of her face and tossed one of her green Gobstones into the ring of circles. She watched it roll a bit until it stopped around the third ring line. She tossed a second, then a third, and then a fourth. The second landed around the middle of the first and second line while the third landed on the fourth line. However the fourth one wasn't as fond of going in without a bang, quite literally. As the fourth had been rolled, it hit just right before bouncing back up hitting Aravis in the chin, smacking down on the board once more, and then proceeded to bounce over the pit and to the other side landing in between the first and second line.

Aravis rubbed her chin which now had a small gobstone sized red mark. "Bloody bugger." She whispered angrily at the green stone. "I thought this game wasn't supposed to be violent but here I am." She said with a slight laugh. The small red mark stung like no other but Aravis laughed it off.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aravis. Aravis Escanora. I'm also a pure-blood."

The girl smiled and sat down. She laughed and watched Mia put the gobstone in place. She rolled her gobstones 4 times, the last one hitting her in her face.

"Bloody bugger. I thought this game wasn't supposed to be violent but here I am."

The girl-Avaris-said, laughing slightly.

"Good job"

Mia glanced at the girls rolls. They were good. Hard to beat for sure. Mia took 4 colored gobstones out of her pouch and rolled them one by one towards the jack. The first one barely crossed the first line. She needed to roll them harder. She swept her hair back and rolled the second gobstone. It landed closer, on the third line. She needed to get to the fourth line, or past it, to win. If the gobstone fell in the snake pit though, or the hole in the center, then she would be disqualified. She rolled the third gobstone. It crossed the third line, but stopped before it could cross the fourth. She breathed heavily and pulled her hair back again. She plucked the fourth gobstone from her pouch and placed it on the outer rim. She gave it a gentle push. The gobstone rolled and crossed the third line. It then stopped moving, a millimeter away from the other girls. She turned to say congratulations when slime from the gobstones splattered her face, her neck, and her clothing. She was disgusted.

"Ugh. You won."

She shook her hands, trying to get the slime off of it.

"Now I have to wash up."

She smiled and pulled out her wand.

"Scourgify"

The slime-ish material vanished off of her. As an explanation she said,

"My aunt used to use it on my cousin who swore. I picked it up I guess."

Aravis watched each of Mia's rolls. They were pretty good for someone who had never played before. She laughed slightly as the gobstone released it's best known trick. "Well, you did pretty good for a first timer! For a minute I thought you were going to win." Aravis said with a kind smile. "If you want, we could play another round since no one else is here." She said as she tied her hair into what were apparently called space buns. The name always confused her. Why couldn't they just call it double buns? She figured that if they were to play another round there was a 50/50 chance of her losing. 

However she thought of it more as a 50/50 chance to get things stuck in her hair and her expensive jewelry. She didn't need to put her hair up considering she knew a few cleaning charms and spells but she did anyway. In her defense she thought if you were going to lose a round of gobstones you may as well do it in style. Aravis picked her green gobstones off of the board putting them back in the bag she carried, for the time being. The pain in her chin where a gobstone had hit was beginning to stop stinging as much. The pain from it had mostly faded away quickly.  

"Well, you did pretty good for a first timer! For a minute I thought you were going to win. If you want, we could play another round since no one else is here."

The girl smiled and put her hair into space buns. She then put her gobstones back into the velvety pouch that all gobstones came in. Mia packed up her gobstones as well, taking note of their shiny surface. Her gobstones were made out of precious metals, as their name suggested, but looked almost like glass. The putrid liquid that had sprayed her in her face was back in the gobstones, and Mia smiled, delighted.

"Loser picks the style. Snake Pit. Again. I'm going to win this time!"

She laughed and looked at the girl. She took out another 4 gobstones and placed them in the palm of her hand. She then picked up the jack and placed it inside the 4th row.

"It's your turn. Loser picks the style, but the winner gets to go first. Or at least that's how I play."

She had never played before, but that was what she read online. She thought that that sounded right. She hoped it was how the other girl played.

I think that I should win this time, again by very little. Is that a good course of action?

Aravis nodded. "That's a nice way to play the game. Snake pit it is then." She smiled and pulled her gobstones back out. For her first roll it rolled in between the snake pit and the fourth line. Aravis nearly panicked thinking it would go in. Her next roll however did. When she rolled it, the gobstone also knocked the first in. Both fell into the snake pit nearly crushing Aravis's vibe. Her third roll landed on the fourth line. Her last roll landed in between the third and second line. "Bloody hell my rolls were terrible this round." She looked rather disgusted with her luck of rolls. 

"Also do you know what days we meet? I need to jot it down on my calendar." She said calmly. Originally she had marked down the wrong date, and the wrong time. Her mind began to wander, thinking about random things. She wondered if her brothers had played the game since she left. Had Lucien beat Maven? Or maybe Maven finally won at something. She wondered if her Aunt and Uncle ever got near the game after that one time they lost to her maid. She missed her family, well, other than her Aunt Farrah and Uncle Arthur.