Match #4 Criminal Justice Ruby v Alexx Closed

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Ruby had signed up for the Gobstones Club. Why not? It was a welcome break from the chaos of the school and it was a game that she had played several times with her cousins when she was little. One of her best friends, Ana, had also said that she was signing up and insisted that Ruby would come too. She didn't require much persuasion—she was looking for a break and another distracting, fun thing to fill some of her time with.

She arrived at the game and almost turned around when she saw who was moderating it. Amadea. It was the careless Hufflepuff who had bumped into her in the corridors. They had certainly started off on the wrong foot, but Ruby didn't see why she should bother to put in the effort to remedy that. It was Amadea's mistake. Ruby didn't even care, so long as the match would still be moderated fairly.

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Ruby got ready for the game. She was familiar with the rules and started with a careful throw, trying to size up how strong Alexx was, or at least how well she could make the throw. Ruby herself was aware that she was not the strongest person, so she focused carefully, aiming at one of Alexx's Gobstones.

Opting for The Careful Throw
Accuracy: 7 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 9

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Alexx didn't like most people, and that was a fact. Amadea seemed nice enough, and Alexx didn't mind most people in her own grade, but she was skeptical of Ruby. Ruby had become a prefect right at the end of Alexx's career as one, and perhaps it was jealous, but Alexx was used to being respected. Not that she didn't ever earn her respect out of fear, but now she had to work twice as hard when, typically, a shiny little badge did the job just fine. So while she didn't have a reason at face value to dislike Ruby, there was a feeling in her stomach that didn't sit right.

Usually, Ruby was a teammate. They had been prefects together, were on the Quidditch team together, and Ruby was even on the Headliner with Alexx. Objectively speaking, by now they should have been friends. But Alexx would be the first to admit that she didn't talk to people unless she had to. Additionally, she was also competitive. Alexx wanted to win, and she wanted everyone to know that she was a winner. She would, time after time, take her rightful seat on the throne and peer down at others with nothing but a narcissistic smirk on her face that read "I am better than you, and everyone knows it". There was a rightful aura placed around the young girl that would let others know that she found herself to be superior in more ways than one. It was her own little shell, a barrier of hardness that would let people know that she wasn't going to be easily hurt or torn down.

A game of Gobstones should be no different.

For Alexx, she wanted to test herself. Become better, gain experience. On the Quidditch team, she was very much an enforcer, much less did she play the part of her actual position and score any goals, unlike Ruby. In the heat of the moment, Alexx had been happy for the rookie, making an appearance in the game as the result of a line shift, and then scoring a goal. But there was jealousy within her. Alexx never wanted for anyone to think that she was useless, or less than others. Certainly not the likes of a prefect. Alexx did things that others couldn't, that was true. All of the anger and spite within her built up until she was knocking someone off their broom or at least injuring them to delay the game. What was a point, or 10, anyway, when they had Dan?

But that didn't change the fact that there were clearly skills that Alexx needed to work on. If you take away the violence, who was she, competitively speaking? That's what she had to find out. The biggest thing right now, after Slytherin devastatingly giving up the number one title to a team like Hufflepuff, was making sure that she was as good as she claimed at everything she did. Otherwise, she'd be living in the shadow, in some respect, of people like Ruby forever. Now was her chance to prove that. And Alexx would be damned if she stayed calm and collective.

Attempting The Catapult
9 ACC | 8 STR | 5 WIS

ooc: laughing at the fact that I stole a plant from myself

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𝓐madea fought the urge to glare at Ruby as she began her turn. She tried to remind herself that she was the moderator and had to stay neutral for the entire round. Plus, this wasn't her. She wasn't the type of person that held grudges or disliked people; she always made an effort to try and get to know everyone in a positive way. Maybe it was because deep down, Amadea had a fear of not being accepted or liked by anyone, but all she knew was that this was not who she was.

So, she took a deep breath and tried to look at everything from a neutral perspective. Alexx, on the other side of the table, looked like she was about to demolish someone. If Amadea hadn't seen Alexx a few times at other events, she would have been terrified. It was clear Alexx wanted to win the game. Amadea sat back and watched Ruby attempt her first throw. She carefully tossed one of her gobstones toward Alexx's; however it might have been a little too careful. While her accuracy was spot on, Ruby's strength behind her throw was minuscule. The gobstone rolled and stopped inches before it could even make contact with Alexx's. Usually when people finished their turn, Amadea made a genuine comment to them, something about how they would definitely do better next time. She knew that she should do that but she didn't want to say something and not sound sincere and she wasn't sure if she could sound sincere talking to Ruby. "Better luck next time," Amadea finally mustered up.

She then focused on the other Slytherin, Alexx. She opted for more of a strong throw, lobbing it toward the ring. It seemed like Alexx had the opposite problem of Ruby. While her throw had plenty of strength behind it (probably enough to knock out multiple gobstones from the ring), the gobstone didn't seem to have any particular gobstone it was aimed at and instead, flew threw the air before hitting Ruby on the shoulder. Amadea fought the urge to gape at the situation. "That's okay, only your first try Alexx," Amadea said encouragingly. "You'll get it next time." Then she turned to Ruby. "Are you alright?"

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Player 1: @Ruby Cazares Careful throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 11 roll: 4 + 5 = 9 Wisdom: DC ≥ 13 roll: 6 + 9 = 15 Accuracy: DC ≥ 8 roll: 10 + 7 = 17 Throw failure. Number of Gobstones left: 7

Player 2: @Alexx Séverin Catapult throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 10 roll: 18 + 8 = 26 Wisdom: DC ≥ 15 roll: 19 + 5 = 24 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 1 = crit fail Throw failure. Number of Gobstones left: 7

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ALEXX SÉVERIN TO POST FIRST.

LOL what a savage.
PS - enjoy RPing this I always like to make crazy things happen when someone crit fails.

To say the least, Alexx was annoyed with the outcome. She had done better than Ruby, sure, and that's why she wasn't letting the guard of her ego down, but internally she knew it wasn't good enough. Even her best hand wasn't saving her now. To be fair, she didn't know that would be her best hand, but she had always done better by going stronger. It was usually a safe assumption that the bold move was the best for Alexx. And if she didn't win, there would be no friendly handshake with Ruby, either. She was in it to win it or nothing else. Either Alexx got her way or she was mad.

Biting her cheek, she considered herself. She couldn't do the catapult again, that would be too predictable. And now that she had done it, and done considerably better than Ruby in any case, Ruby was probably contemplating going for a stronger move. It was lose-lose unless luck was on her side, which it usually was, but she wasn't going to jinx it now.

Had Alexx's accuracy been more... Accurate, she wouldn't have had this problem. That was something that she had issues with in Quidditch as well. It appeared that her accuracy was always on point, right up until where it mattered. It was just her luck, honestly. The poor girl had better luck cheating, but she couldn't foul her way out of this one. Not unless she flipped the board over and stormed off, which was tempting, but it definitely wouldn't do any favors to her image. She didn't want people to think that Alexx Séverin was a quitter or that she threw temper tantrums. As much as she wanted to, that wouldn't help her now, and she supposed that Ruby would win by default if she threw in the towel anyway. So she considered her options.

As opposed to Ruby's careful, too careful, throw, Alexx was going for something almost similar, but with a bit more brains in her skull. She was older, wiser, had more experience. Best of all, she knew how to throw people off their game, and she hoped that despite the fact that she and Ruby were teammates, Ruby wouldn't be able to read right through her. If she could, well, Alexx was done for. But it was worth a shot if she was going to go for the illusion that she was unpredictable. Remembering the time when she beat those two kids in a duel, Bridget and Thora, even after being down for most of it, she hoped that a similar outcome would happen here. Although, Alexx didn't want to be losing for most of the game before finally getting her act together.

In the end, Alexx knew what she was going to do. Aiming at Ruby's tombstones, she hoped for the best as she made her move, swearing that if she didn't win she was going to hurt something or someone. She deserved a rightful title of the best at everything she tried.

Attempting the Conscious Throw
9 ACC | 8 STR | 5 WIS

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The first round… had not gone well. Her throw had been almost embarrassingly weak and she fought to keep the scowl off of her face. At least Alexx hadn't succeeded at hitting one of Ruby's gobstones, either, but the older girl's throw had been very powerful. So powerful, in fact, that it hit Ruby's shoulder. She was completely fine to ignore it and pretend that it had never happened, but Amadea had to comment on it, asking if she was alright. Sure, it was polite, but it just irritated Ruby. She sent a brief glare in the Hufflepuff's direction. “Fine,” she said coldly. Amadea was probably enjoying watching Ruby fail, and it made the young Slytherin angry to know that.

She would just channel that into her determination and hopefully her strength. Aiming carefully, she made her next move. She had seen the look in Alexx's eyes and knew that this would not be a match with particularly good sportsmanship. But Ruby respected the older Slytherin regardless. Alexx had been a prefect, was a first string Chaser on the Quidditch team and had been since the beginning of the year, and was Editor-in-chief of the Hogwarts Headliner. She was a winner, with lots of titles and much that she had accomplished. Ruby had achieved things of her own, even scored a goal in her first Quidditch game as a first string player, but none of it was as impressive as what Alexx had done. She was integral to the team, with her blatching almost never failing to hit hard and put Slytherin in a better spot.

Yes, Ruby respected her, and would continue to no matter how the Gobstones match turned out. But she wasn't one to just be beaten into submission, either. She would give it her best shot, because she was the younger one. She was the one who had so much to prove. She didn't want to admit it, but there was a lot she would do just to receive a glimmer of Alexx's approval. Perhaps it was a little pathetic, but she was young and ambitious and secretly wanted validation.

Attempting The Catapult
Accuracy: 7 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 9

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𝓐madea watched as the two girls strategized for their next moves. Neither of them spoke a word as their first throws had been off, so Amadea figured they were trying to pick the best way to succeed during the second round. Amadea tensed a sort of unspoken tension in the air between the two Slytherins, as if they were both trying to prove something if not to the other, to themselves.

Amadea chose to ignore Ruby's cold "Fine" and focus on watching Alexx instead, who was up first for the second round. Whatever had happened during the last round, she certainly made up for with her next throw. She made sure to throw her gobstone quite accurately toward Ruby's and knocking it out of the ring. This left Ruby with six gobstones left in the ring; if the othe Slytherin couldn't tie up the game, Alexx would be in the lead by one.

It was Ruby's turn now. Amadea tried not to glare at the girl as she prepared for the next round. Maybe she should have gotten Cecily to moderate this round; after all, the Ravenclaw was probably less biased than she was, but Amadea would have felt bad asking her to moderate when she had her own Gobstones game to play. No, Amadea would simply have to suck up her feelings and try not to hex the Slytherin int oblivion, like she had done to Amadea in the corridors.

Maybe it was karma, but it seemed like Ruby had overcompensated from the last round. While her first throw had been too weak, this throw was not lacking at all in the strength department but her accuracy was off. It rolled right by Alexx's without making any contact, which left Alexx ahead by one. At this point, Amadea would normally give some encouraging words to Ruby, but she didn't think she could muster up anything that didn't sound too mean, so she opted to just not say anything at all. Plus, Amadea didn't need another "Fine". "Okay, Alexx is ahead by one now," she said. "Ruby you're up first for the third round."

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Player 1: @Alexx Séverin Conscious throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 15 roll: 11 + 8 = 19 Wisdom: DC ≥ 10 roll: 7 + 5 = 12 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 16 + 9 = 25 Throw success Number of Gobstones left: 7

Player 2: @Ruby Cazares Catapult throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 8 roll: 17 + 5 = 22 Wisdom: DC ≥ 11 roll: 19 + 9 = 28 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 2 + 7 = 9 Throw failure. Number of Gobstones left: 6

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RUBY CAZARES TO POST FIRST.

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Ruby had failed. It was still early on in the game, yes, but so far Alexx now had the advantage, had the success, and that didn't put the young prefect in a good position. She was uneasy—Alexx wasn't looking too friendly at the moment and the atmosphere was tense, considering an enemy of hers was moderating the game and Alexx was… well, Alexx. She was great at everything she did. Perhaps Alexx did deserve the win, but Ruby wanted it so badly. She needed it, to prove to herself and others that she wasn't a complete failure, that she could do something right despite being unable to save Nico and her other housemates from the spiders and despite all that her parents said. Even when they didn't say it, she could see it in their eyes, in the way they looked at her and treated her. No, they weren't proud of her, and it seemed they would never be.

Whether she won or lost this match, it wouldn't matter to them, because it was something so small, so insignificant. But it mattered to her. It mattered because it could be a boost of confidence, maybe even something that could soothe her and stop some of the anger that was ever-present inside. Could she do it? A throw that was too careful had been followed by one that had enough strength behind it but missed. Luck was not on her side, it seemed. It's not luck that's not with you. You're not good enough, her doubts mocked her. Her anger moved her to act and she threw the Gobstone, praying that it would work and that she could turn the game around. Surely not all hope was lost.

Attempting The Classic Throw
Accuracy: 7 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 9

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