QUIDDITCH MATCH #6: THORNTRAIL vs DEEPLURK

[peckishmods]

THORNTRAIL

vs

DEEPLURK

the game

We're creeping back into quidditch season, folks, and the whole town is here to celebrate. Hot chocolate is the hot commodity at the concession stand today as spectators stock up on everything warm to keep them going through this very chilly game day. The snow falls steady, like powdered sugar through a sifter, and the Deeplurk and Thorntrail cheer squads look a bit like they’re performing in a shaken snowglobe ⁠— not that that detracts from the show.

• 00:00:00 - 00:20:00 : Looks like everyone's rarin' to go after that mid-season break, and brooms are streaking within seconds of first tip off. Vega may nab the quaffle first, but Deeplurk Beater Rainwater already has command of a bludger. This early in play, Vega's caught off guard, clipped in the shoulder by Rainwater’s cannon ball and nearly knocked from her broom. She’s still got all her teeth, at least! Kokinos nabs the fumbled quaffle and rockets it up pitch lightning fast, only to have her deadeye shot blocked by Waxweiler’s outstretched hand. From there, Thorntrail’s Beaters keep Deeplurk’s Chasers scrambled. Unable to keep tight formation, Deeplurk’s Chasers resort to some thrillingly long passes to move the quaffle down pitch. Still, no one can get anything by those Keepers, and Waxweiler, in particular, is fiery today. As the game enters twenty minutes he neatly snatches a shot from Wiggins-Waite aimed at his center goal and tosses the intercepted ball back to Outlaw.



• 00:20:01 - 00:23:30 : Outlaw and Steele juggle the quaffle up the pitch with Vega flying a loose orbit around them keeping other chasers away. Quigley even gets involved, deftly diving between Stoppelbein and his bludger, denying him a chance to disrupt Thorntrail’s flight. Their fine formation carries them to Deeplurk’s goal posts, and though Steele can’t get past Jacobs, Deeplurk’s keeper isn’t ready for Outlaw’s rebound and Thorntrail nets the first point of the game after nearly twenty-five minutes of play!



• 00:23:31 - 00:29:00 : Any celebration is short-lived, though. Stoppelbein and Rainwater quickly get a hold of the bludgers again, scattering Thorntrail’s Chaser team and putting them on the defensive. Back and forth and back and forth, shots from Kokinos and Clutterbuck fail to get by Waxweiler, but Deeplurk is, of course, undaunted. Their Chasers harry an unguarded Vega the moment she catches the quaffle. Wiggins-Waite nicks the ball from Vega’s hands and doesn’t dawdle with it, pitching it through Thorntrail’s far right goalpost and earning Deeplurk its first point.



• 00:29:01 - 00:33:00 : Steele makes quick work of the quaffle the minute it’s back in play, zipping up the field so fast even her own teammates can’t keep up. Within a minute she’s sunk a second point for Thorntrail. Jacobs makes the right choice when he pops the quaffle to Kokinos. The junior Chaser meets fire with fire, blowing past bludgers from Dwyer and Grimsditch both and firing an unstoppable comet right through Thorntrail’s center ring, ensuring that Thorntrail doesn’t stay in the lead for long.



• 00:33:01 - 00:40:00 : The game’s still red hot and everyone’s full of energy. Waxweiler really needs to stop flexing on Deeplurk, blocking Wiggins-Waite at the right hoop and then Clutterbuck’s rebound right after on the far left ⁠— using his outstretched foot. Thorntrail dominance continues with Outlaw and then Vega nabbing points one right after the other bringing the score to 40 - 20 Thorntrail.



• 00:40:01 - 00:42:00 : With a new round started, Jacobs tosses the quaffle to Clutterbuck who makes a long pass to Wiggins-Waite. The fortieth minute of play ticks by to loud cheers from Thorntrail as crack shot Beater Dwyer launches a bludger that sends Chaser Wiggins-Waite spinning. He drops the quaffle and it doesn’t have far to fall before Vega is scooping it up. She backtracks and sinks yet another goal for Thorntrail.



• 00:42:01 - 01:00:00 : Beaters on both sides redouble their efforts to disrupt the Chasers and each other. Those bludgers are zipping all over, catching players on both sides of the pitch, sending the Seekers up higher to avoid being taken out prematurely and denying Chasers shots at both goals. For once someone is even able to catch up with Thorntrail’s living rocket Steele—Rainwater garners gasps from spectators with a bludger so well-aimed it clocks Steele’s into a tailspin that ends with her feet on the ground. Steele kicks back up into the air before Healer Greatheart can pause the game to have a look at her. Though Deeplurk recovers the fumbled ball, Kokinos’s subsequent shot is blocked, and Clutterbuck’s attempt at a layup is denied outright by Grimsditch’s bludger. It’s messy chaos for many minutes, and the violent back and forth doesn’t even break as the game creeps up on an hour of play, though Vega does sneak one more goal by Jacobs.



• 01:00:01 - 01:10:00 : At one hour of play the score stands at 60 - 20, but Thorntrail’s lead serves only makes Deeplurk more aggressive. Captain Stoppelbein’s bludgers launched one after the other cause some much needed confusion for Thorntrail’s Chaser trio, though he didn’t acquire those iron boulders without a bit of a fight. Dwyer gets Stoppelbein’s bat to the elbow when they both go for the same bludger. Try as they might, no one can keep control of the quaffle. Just when Steele seems to have a hold on it, Stoppelbein knicks her with a bludger that gives Kokinos the chance to steal. Then Grimsditch uses that same iron ball to knock Kokinos right off her broom. Wiggins-Waite gives up recovering the quaffle to scoop her up before she hits the ground.



• 01:10:01 - 01:35:00 : Things are looking rough up there, but the two teams flying are just too stubborn to relent. Keepers Waxweiler and Jacobs are kept busy for a while as both sides barrage them with shot attempts. Outlaw grabs a point for Thorntrail in the chaos, but in the very next round Kokinos does the same for Deeplurk. Meanwhile, Beater Dwyer is having a rough time of things. Clipped a second time in all the chaos, she nevertheless persists. While chasing down Wiggins-Waite she’s hit by a bludger from Stoppelbein that sends her tumbling from her broom. Each second that ticks by thereafter is mayhem. Wiggins-Waite scores, then gets a bludger to the back from Grimsditch. He, too, topples from his broom. The wild ball hits Waxweiler in the knee and he loop-de-loops to keep balance. Dwyer and Wiggins-Waite smash into the ground at almost the same time, and Healer Greatheart insistently calls a medical time out.



• 01:35:01 - 01:45:00 : Wiggins-Waite is seeing stars and a Deeplurk Reserve is sent in to replace him. On Thorntrail’s side, Dwyer can still move, but Healer Greatheart keeps her grounded. Reserve Rider is sent in until Dwyer can be patched up. The game starts up again, the score 70 - 40 Thorntrail, and Clutterbuck is right on narrowing that lead. He sends the quaffle through Thorntrail’s left hoop within a minute of being back in the sky. Deeplurk seems revitalized by the pause, and in the next round Rainwater’s interference enables Kokinos to steal the quaffle from Steele. Despite her injuries, Kokinos is unstoppable, and Deeplurk scores again.



• 01:45:01 - 02:10:00 : With scores sitting at 70 - 60, Deeplurk is closing on Thorntrail and both teams despite the long game are flying harder than ever. When Rider misjudges the path of a bludger and hits the ball with his arm instead of the bat (ouch!), Dwyer refuses to stay on the bench. With Greatheart’s okay, Quigley subs Dwyer back in for Rider and the terrible duo of Grimsditch and Dwyer seem primed to dole out the pain again. Their teamwork clears the pitch, nailing first Chaser Clutterbuck and then Beater Rainwater as each tries to deny Vega a point. Vega racks up two goals for Thorntrail in as many minutes, widening Thorntrail’s lead once again.



• 02:10:01 - 02:20:00 : We’re well into two hours of play now and it’s really starting to show. Quigley and Zettler both have been on the hunt for the snitch for what seems like ages, but neither one ever darts or dives. Where is that little golden nugget? Meanwhile, lower in the air, plays are getting sloppy as the cold and snow really starts to get to everyone. Grimsditch gets a surprise bludger to the thigh when she flies in the path of one of her chasers, the iron ball appearing out of the curtains of snow. Kokinos suffers a similar injury not long after while passing to Clutterbuck, who can’t sneak the quaffle past an eagle-eyed Waxweiler, anyway.



• 02:20:01 - 02:27:00 : Creeping closer and closer to the max time a game can run, Zettler flies more urgent and wide circles around the pitch. Jacobs may block Outlaw and Vega, but Steele sneaks one more past him and it’s become clear Deeplurk can’t win this one without the snitch. Waxweiler stops Clutterbuck from scoring again, but he can’t stop Kokinos on the rebound when she fires a shot through the far right hoop. Deeplurk’s Chaser Reserve gets a bit too fancy with their attempt to sneak another goal by Waxweiler and Dwyer’s bludger hits the showboater so hard they’re straight shipwrecked. Deeplurk’s First Reserve is benched and the Second Reserve is sent in, and that pause is when the snitch finally appears…



• 02:27:01 - 02:30:00 : Everyone sees it. That little asshole, fluttering above their heads, a yellow glint in the falling snow. As though it knows what it’s in for, the golden orb darts up as soon as the players kick off their brooms again and everyone gives chase. It’s a mad dash of Beaters fetching bludgers to fire at Zettler and Quigley both, while Chasers on both sides run interference however they can. Rainwater very nearly takes Quigley out completely, but she presses her broom to its limit and skirts getting clipped. Up, up, and up the two Seekers soar, two rockets pressed flat to their brooms, whipped by falling snow, dodging bludgers and swerving past teammates trying to help. Both Quigley and Zettler throw their arms out, reaching as far as they can. To the crowds below they’re just specks in the air, two dots converging into one. They crash. Zettler’s broom goes flying, end over end, sticking so hard in the muddy earth it stands straight up. Up in the air, it’s just Quigley’s broom floating, and Quigley dangling from it by one hand. Zettler hangs just beneath, left wrist caught by Captain Quigley, a look of triumph on his face. In Zettler’s right hand? The snitch.

🎉
🎉
🎉
🎉
🎉
deeplurk wins
100 - 120

reactions & etiquette

Please keep all Quidditch game spoilers under an lj-cut for 24 hours after the game is posted! Whether you're an athlete, a band member, a cheerleader or a fan in the audience, we encourage you to post a reaction or thread below. :)