Private Racing Soar Like an Eagle

BANNER TBA... maybe, possibly

An unfinished toast still between her lips, head tilted to the side from how she tugged it whilst finishing her second braid and her broom awkwardly held in the crook of her elbow, Sabrina jogged onto the track under the assumption that she was late. A quick look around showed that not only was she early, but amongst the first students to arrive. Huh, she though – braid finished, toast in hand and broom laid at her feet – that's new. She was of those often arriving in a disheveled state five minutes late, muttering apologies as they blend into the crowd.

Unsure of what to do with the spare time, she ordered her broom to jump up into her waiting palm, hopping onto it sideways, her feet dangling as she finished her to-go breakfast. Quickly growing restless in her stationary state, she lead her broom to hang a bit higher in the air, leaning back until she saw the world upside down. Broom calm and waiting underneath her kneecaps, her limp hands brushing against the low cut grass, Sabrina let her thoughts wonder and eyelids fall shut. She'd remain in that position, a stray hummed melody escaping her lips every now and then, until the game began or someone approached her.

Maisie looked forward to another broom race—even if it was run by Alyss Gilmour. In fact, the Slytherin seemed less odd after the events on the viaduct. They weren't friends or anything, but at least she wasn't being stonewalled by her for no reason. And the offer between them still hung deep in her mind like a cloud over this very race.

Perhaps that was the silver lining these days.

And if it wasn't, having some friends on side was certainly helpful. As she arrived on the scene, Maisie was pleased to find both Cecilia Merrick and Denise Yarbrough on her team. Having played in games with both of them, she knew they worked together well: Cece had a deep determination and Denise had a quick, ready mind. "Cece, Denise, hi!" she would greet them eagerly, "Ready for this one?" The others she didn't know, except that she'd seen them around the common room. But she'd done well (even if not quite to victory) with a team of strangers the last time she'd gone broom racing; they could do it again.

It seemed Alyss had the same question for the group. Funnily enough, she never recalled anyone asking if was 'ready' for a duelling match. The fury of duels just happened. Here, at least they'd have a moment of preparation. The Glaswegian took that opportunity to plait her hair to one side as usual.

Interacting with @Cecilia Merrick & @Denise Yarbrough. Mentioning @Alyss Gilmour. Open to interactions.

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How the fuck did he end up signing up for another unofficial sports event? Mamori genuinely wasn't sure, something about spotting a fire-breathing chicken on the map that the last race hadn't had and possibly compounded by the prefrontal cortex situation that came standard with being a teenager. Between captain duties and training and whatever new task randomly refreshed itself every morning, past-Mamori had looked at all of that and still put his name down. What the hell was wrong with that guy. In any case, he was already registered, and he was a captain — of a different sport, technically, but these things got around in jock circles fast enough that a no-show in unofficial games would reflect badly on him and, by extension, his team. He had no idea when he had accumulated this many obligations. He missed being a person who could simply not turn up to things because two drops of rain had made contact with him. Appearing in his Quidditch uniform with an enormous mug of coffee was the logical end to discovering that the race had fallen directly between his post-training schedule and first period with zero buffer, thus he had no intention of changing twice. He took a sip of the coffee and did a sweep of the assembled field, then registered that he recognized more faces on the opposing side than his own. Not a good sign. Enough unofficial sports to have opinions about it had taught the pink-haired badger to treat teaming up with strangers as functionally identical to pulling from a blind box. You might get a @Verity Engels: first year silver arrow owner aka a trust fund baby, but with the leadership instincts of a fourth year and capable of crossing the finish line first in the middle of genuine chaos — a hidden limited edition most people didn't even know existed. Or you might get someone who took one hit, got knocked off their broom, descended into a private existential crisis on the ground, and dismantled the team's entire action economy by standing very still and contributing nothing for the rest of the game — the ugly common that everyone had two duplicates of and couldn't move on the secondhand market for more than two knuts. Mamori had experienced both ends and had not yet made his peace with drawing the latter. Among his teammates he unfortunately spotted @Tatiana Contraire, whose name and face together rang a negative bell — something about sharing a train compartment in September and leaving midway with the precise reason long since buried somewhere in his hippocampus, though the general conclusion that it had been entirely her fault remained intact. Making a thing of it here would just look petty, so Mamori's strategy for today was to not know her. He then wandered over to where @Veda Lunar was standing — same year and same house, which meant they'd shared enough classes that he didn't have to do the work of figuring out how to begin a conversation — and stopped next to her, propping his broom upright and resting his chin on the top of the handle with one hand holding the enormous coffee mug. "Veda! I'm pretty sure I saw your name on the house broom racing waitlist. Any interest in captaining this one?" This could generously be read as giving her an opportunity, a visible showcase that wouldn't hurt her chances when she tried out for the actual team next year. That was one interpretation. The other was that Mamori did not want to be captain, did not particularly want to advertise that he had more experience than he looked, and a brief survey of the assembled had revealed that everyone else appeared to be younger, less experienced, and not in possession of anything that qualified as a serious broom. So.

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𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 Moontrimmer 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 +3 to Two Stats [EVA & ACC] & 10% Auto-Dodge, Top Speed 5 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑠 sta. 5 | eva. 10 13 | str. 5 | wis. 9 | arc. 3 | acc. 10 13 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 Non-Human Enthusiast | Foulplay 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 As strategized

What the absolute heck was she doing. Veda wasn't one for the unknown. She almost always played by the rules. Which rules? The ones she made for herself. Veda never strayed from her daily schedule. She liked the consistency, the way it always allowed her to predict what is ahead. Veda had, a while back, signed up for the Hufflepuff broom racing team. Mostly due to a mix of pressuring from her mom and the fact that broom racing was the least... dangerous sport. Veda didn't like hurting people, so dueling was out of the question. She also didn't like getting hurt, so quidditch was gone as well. Veda knew it would be a while before she actually got onto the team, so when she saw the poster saying "UNOFFICIAL BROOM RACE! SIGN UPS BELOW" she signed up.

Well, that seems like she made up her mind in the moment, when in fact it took her till sign ups almost got filled. She was worried. What if she wasn't good? What if she didn't know what to do? What if-- the list went on and on. Eventually she realized it would be good to get some experience before her actual race. This was much lower stakes, right? Right??

On the morning the race started, Veda might have woken up a bit early. Only 6am. She quickly got ready, wearing her robe and grabbing the new broom she bought for the race, the comet 180. She made her way over to the racing track, trying not to let her hands shake too much. If anyone from the other team saw her, she might be declared an easy target. Veda really did not want to be the first one knocked off her broom.

Finally arriving, Veda looked around awkwardly. She recognized a few faces, but decided against walking over to them, especially because most were on the other team and she was already stepping outside her comfort zone enough. However, she was soon approached by @Mamori Anezaki, a fellow Hufflepuff and classmate. At his words, Veda froze. " Any interest in captaining this one?" rang in her head over and over like a mantra, repeating at the speed of light. God, what does she say? On one hand, she doesn't want to disappoint Mamori, especially because she barely knows him. On the other, she was scared. She might mess up!

"Uh... Yeah? Sure? she stuttered, eyes wide. She wanted to hit herself after the words came out. "Could you make that MORE awkward? she thought bitterly. However, she surprised herself. She wasn't reprimanding herself for accepting. Actually, she was excited! Maybe this race wouldn't be so bad after all.

Signing up for Quidditch was acceptable, but Broom Racing? Heck, she didn't even know if she'd properly seen one before. She had merely acted on impulse when signing up, driven by her uselessly high ego before even properly trying to register what she'd just walked into. The only thing she knew about the game was that it comprised of brooms, and that seemed to be enough for the eleven-year-old.

She walked onto the tracks, Nimbus 1001 in hand, and was given a colored ribbon by their moderator, Alyssa Gilmour. Then, she started surveying her teammates. These were people she could recognize by face, a few because she'd been in unofficial matches with them, and a few she'd had real conversations with. She then focused her attention on their host. She was not so sure if she had properly met the girl yet, though the name did seem pretty familiar to her. Tatiana watched as Mamori, a boy she'd met on the train, walk up to Veda, whom she was pretty sure was on the broom racing team waitlist the last time she'd seen it. Yet instead of trying to eavesdrop on whatever conversation the two Hufflepuffs were trying to have — which she greatly wanted to, she'd actually developed quite a sharp ear whilst being at Hogwarts — she instead tried to concentrate on the current match happening; for she was not about to prove herself a laughing stock in a sport she was unfamiliar with.

I was finally participating in a broom race. I was on the waitlist for Ravenclaw, I'd run a broom race, I'd watched some, but now, finally, I was going to be participating in one. It was clear, and a bit warm, so I got down as early as I could, thinking I would be there before everyone else. I turned out that I wasn't, but that didn't bother me.
I carried my Nimbus over my shoulder, before, when I got down to the track, mounting it, and flying in a small circle, glad to have a chance to relax before the chaos began. I had my wand tucked securely in my pocket - no-one was taking it on my watch!
I smiled at everyone who was already there, and took a few slices of buttered bread out of my bag, for a quick snack, to keep my energy up.
I listened to the person running the match get our attention, but it was un-necessary - I was already in full race mode, waiting for her to tell us to go.
Finally, it was almost time, so I went up to the start line, and gripped onto my broom.
It was time to fly!

Team:

@Sabrina Lyons

@Cecilia Merrick

@Briar Anderson

@Denise Yarbrough

@Maisie Gemmell

Cecilia was fairly pleased to be participating in another broom race. Although her heart belonged to Quidditch, she had begun developing a soft spot for its sister sport. It was not enough to have her abandon the team, but with the intense training sessions lately, Cecilia decided that she needed the chance of pace. Still, she failed to inform her fellow captain about her engagements for the day and quietly hoped that word would never reach her.

With her rustic broom in hand, Cecilia jogged over to where some members of her team were gathered. To her surprise, the skies were bright and clear. Thank Merlin. For some reason, this sort of weather seemed to be a rare occurrence whenever she had some outdoor activity. After greeting Alyss with a smile and short wave, she turned to some familiar faces.

"Hey, Maisie," she grinned. It was nice to be flying alongside her friend once more. "Of course, let's get that win." Her gaze then drifted to another familiar Ravenclaw. "Oh hey! Looks like we get to work together again," she beamed. After saying hello to the rest of the team and introducing herself, she mounted her broom and readied herself to take flight on Alyss’ mark.

Broom: Comet 180 (+2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 stamina / top speed is 5)
Stats: stamina 5 ; evasion 8 ; strength 4 ; wisdom 6 ; arcane power 6 ; accuracy 6

Word Count Reducio 242

Date Reducio 22/5

Interacting With: Reducio @Tina Carille

OOC note: Reducio 1) While everything written is true for Dido, much is intentionally incorrect (eg: Dido is not in Ravenclaw)

If someone could have the speed and excitement with which Dido had gotten ready that morning, they'd have scarcely been able to accept her apparent continuation of that energy as she stood with her broom, almost bouncing on her feet. It was ludicrous that such exhilaration could be maintained over more than a few hours, and yet the girl was still beaming with complete unforced ease.

This infectious joy at finally getting back into a proper flying game after almost two months was, somehow, increased even further when Dido noticed her best friend. To be fair to Tina herself, she seemed to almost match Dido's enthusiasm; The Ravenclaw greeted Dido cheerfully before handling her broom with more confidence than Dido had expected given her belief in Tina's distaste towards flying. As Dido responded in kind, she couldn't help but feel a surge of protectiveness towards the sweet brunette. She almost felt as if Tina were this perfect portrait: beautifully wonderful but crucial to prevent getting sun-bleached or damaged. After all, this was her best friend. She was perfect.

After receiving her ribbon and brightly grinning at her fellow team-mates, Dido too straddled her broom prepared to fly into the sky. A small grip of fear seized her when she noticed a flash of fire from a little further down the course but, taking a deep breath, Dido managed to throw it off and focus on the task at hand: winning this race.

Broom: Comet 260 (+1 accuracy, top speed is 5, -10% damage from all attacks that successfully hit you)
Stats: Stamina 4 | Evasion 6 | Strength 5 | Wisdom 8 | Arcane Power 5 | Accuracy 7
Action: As strategised