Who: Kal Sharma, Lex Yaxley, Fraser Macmillan, Mel Yaxley What: 2 on 2 because Kal needs the extra practice When: 3 November 1999, after regular practice Where: Montrose Pitch Warnings: A little language, but otherwise tame enough
Kal rested one hand lightly on her broom, using it for balance as she stretched. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worked quite so hard in practice, and that was saying something. Not that she blamed anyone for putting her through her paces. The match against Portree was looming, and never in a million years did she expect that she’d be playing in that one. She’d been keyed up on a mix of anxiety and excitement ever since George had gone down in the last match.
Muscles somewhat appeased, she picked her bat up from the ground, twirled it once, and set it on her shoulder as she turned to face Lex. Kal had practiced her own game today, in her own style, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been paying attention to how the other Beater moved and her techniques. It was both fascinating and informative—not to mention necessary, at this point. They hadn’t played together outside of practice sessions yet, and being able to work together was going to be essential.
“I’m ready when you are,” she said, offering a bit of a smile. While she had gotten relatively comfortable with the team in general, she still wasn’t used to anything more personal than that. The fact that everyone knew how much was riding on her upcoming performance felt very personal.
Lex grinned. She was pleased with what she'd been seeing from Kal in practice. And having to play solo for two hours against Ballycastle had done wonders for Lex's confidence. She still had it - or at least wasn't totally washed up yet. Merc was a great coach, but they needed to be better than great against Portree. They needed to be seamless. Which is why she'd offered to work with her after practice. And why she'd planned something a little special.
"Good work today, Kal. You were looking good out there."
Lex held her fingers up to her lips and whistled loudly, the sign for Mel & Razor to join them on the pitch. "I've got something a little different for tonight. Even if MacDonald is out, MacFusty is still a threat."
Mel was waiting for Lex's signal and came out from the lockers in leathers and padding, broom thrown jauntily over his shoulder. "Hullo, Lex! And you must be Kal. I hear you're going to be on the pitch for the Classic. You're going to be ready for anything by the time we're done with you."
Coming behind Mel was another chap in beater leathers, this one carrying the bludger-box. He looked enough like Mel to be his brother, if Mel had brothers. “Hi Kal, I’m Fraser. Welcome to the club.”
"And I'm Mel," Mel added, in case Lex hadn't made that clear.
"Thanks," Kal said to Lex, nodding and continuing to smile, though it didn't brighten much at the compliment. She appreciated it, but she'd already mentally noted several places where she should have reacted differently, quicker, or could have implemented a different technique to better result.
She didn't have time to dwell on that too long, though. At the appearance of the two wizards, her eyes widened before she could catch herself. The faces were familiar, in that she'd seen them around but not actually talked to either of them before. "Um, hi, and thanks...I think?" she said with a small chuckle, trying to shake off her surprise. Practice was practice, right? She looked between the three of them and made a gesture to motion around the group, raising one eyebrow slightly. "Siblings? Cousins?" The Quidditch world was full of them, so it probably wasn't an unreasonable assumption even without the resemblance.
"All right, something a little different." Kal pulled her gloves back on, eyeing the Bludger box before glancing at Lex again. "Us against them?" At this question, she couldn't help smiling a little wider. She did enjoy a challenge. Learn by doing. It was practically her motto.
"Mel's my brother. Fraser's my cousin. Mel taught me to play beater," she explained as she grinned at the boys. "I'm the best of the three of us. Obviously." There was a teasing quality to her voice as she pulled on her gloves.
"Yup. Us against them. Bonus points if you knock one of them off a broom." Lex had made sure the cushioning charms were on the pitch in case one of them did fall. She didn't want to face an angry Florrie in the morning.
She went to the bludger box. "Alright, all of you. Up on your brooms." Her hand hovered over the lock of the box, waiting until the other three were in the air before releasing the bludgers.
Mel mounted up and took up, his bat's strap dangling loosely from his wrist for that first moment before he was in the sky. Then he took it up, steering loosely with one hand for the moment, flipping the bat around a couple of times to loosen his wrist once more. His eyes were on Lex and the bludgers she was about to release. Fraser would be where he needed Fraser to be. It wasn't the first time they'd done this.
Fraser, just barely the smaller of the two, took the wingman position beside and behind Mel’s broom, far enough off so that the two of them might touch bats at full extension. He’d been here before. Eyeing the new Montrose beater, he went over what he’d seen during her practice session. It wasn’t fair, because she hadn’t seen him play, but quidditch had never been about being fair. Besides, she’d be facing someone new for Portree most likely anyway. Razor made a few audibles to Mel, situational things, just to make sure his partner was on-game. They were ready.
Kal promptly obeyed the order and swung smoothly up onto her broom, leaning back for one more good stretch as the broom climbed into the air. She watched Mel and Fraser in front of her, taking note of the way they sat their brooms and generally the way they moved. She couldn't get much from those few seconds, but it was more than she'd had before. Once she was high enough, she settled in with her bat held in one hand and balanced against the other, ready to throw her body weight behind it if the Bludgers came out of the box as hard as they often liked to do, and then let the broom absorb it with a roll. And if the Bludgers didn't take that route, she'd be ready to move any direction needed without much effort.
She nodded at Lex to let her know she was ready.
Lex opened the box, letting the bludgers loose and hopping on her broom and shooting off into the air. The bludgers flew up wildly and Lex took an evasive roll to the left before climbing and readjusting her grip on her bat. One of the bludgers whizzed near her head and she sent it towards her brother.
The first thing Mel was did was a move he and Fraser had practised time and time again when they were younger. Even as members of different houses, they'd always worked together, just as he and Lex had, even though Mel and Fraser had always known that their dreams of quidditch stardom were just that. Even so, they'd practised this move just as much as if they'd meant to go pro: Mel hit the bludger, not too hard, to Fraser.
Fraser has started climbing when he saw Lex draw back. When Mel set, he was ready for the spike, and he dove at the bludger. If he brought this down in Lex, it would be a solid or possible dangerous hit, and it looked like that was his intent. Although he expected Lex knew better.
His real intent was to worry Kal with the feint and hit her with a solid spin-bludger. He twisted on his broom and redirected a blistering shot at the newcomer to their games.
Kal knew that Mel and Fraser’s move would have fooled her if she hadn’t already been practising with the pros. As it was, she only barely redirected her body weight on the broom to get her bat in front of her at the right angle to send the shot toward Mel. After the shot, though, she floated neatly into formation next to Lex, as if that was what she had intended all along.
She caught sight of the second Bludger coming at them and called, “Lex!” just loud enough for her teammate to hear before dropping lower to allow Lex to take the shot, and hopefully keeping the boys’ eyes on Kal instead, since she was the one moving.
Well, there was nothing for that but taking the bludger. At least Mel could stand a few of them. He grunted out a curse as the bludger bounced off his midsection. "That's going to bruise," he told Kal. "Good shot!" He was more worried about what Lex was going to do next. He knew her tricks; he'd taught her a lot of them.
Lex gave a nod of thanks to Kal for the warning as she aimed for the bludger. The angle was odd, but she sent it towards Fraser anyways, keeping most of her attention on Kal. Kal had the strength and the skills, but that might not be enough against MacDonald and Lex wasn't about to lose another beater on her watch.
The bludger thudded into Fraser’s side and he rolled a bit with it. “A hit! A palpable hit!” He came up with the bludger and started doing a figure 8 with the his bat, controlling and containing the bludger without touching it with his hands or body. He started to speed up and he was laughing--at the wind in his face, at the shot he was planning, it was hard to tell.
Fraser flew back towards the women, splitting the distance between them, he arched his back and fired a tremendous shot--straight along his path and at neither of them. It looked like a clean miss, until the 2nd bludger came hurtling towards him. The two ten-pound balls hit with a magnificent clang and flew off at high speed, one towards Kal and one towards Lex. Fraser dropped straight down to hopefully dodge a retaliatory shot, but he knew he might take one. “Arithmancy works!,” he shouted, perhaps to no one in particular.
Kal didn't have time to be pleased that both wizards took hits, because she'd only just taken a quick loop to line herself up again when one of the Bludgers got in under her defenses. She grunted a little with the impact, and she wasn't entirely sure how cleanly she connected with it when she rolled to swing her bat up at it and send it back to their opponents.
She allowed herself a quick look toward Lex, trying to make sure they were staying coordinated, despite the constant onslaught.
Mel was ready for this; he'd come in prepared to mock up being Oighrig MacDonald, whose play style he'd watched for years. She took things and hit back, using her powerful size and frame to demolish smaller opponents. Mel didn't really like to hurt people these days, but if Kal wasn't ready for him, she wasn't going to be ready for Oighrig in the Classic. He took the bludger hard on his bat and performed a figure eight, hard, with the bludger on it, before sending it straight at Kal with everything he had.
It was a brilliant move by Fraser, and one Lex didn't do enough because there usually wasn't time to set up a shot like that - especially in the last game when she'd been playing solo. Lex faked left then dove into an inverted dive with seeker like reflexes, evading the bludger as she kept the bat tucked against her. She led the bludger in a downward spiral. Attempting to return fire at Fraser, she couldn't get the angle right but attempted to send it back.
A clean miss past his wide, exposed back meant Fraser had gambled well. He chased down the bludger and gained speed and fired a quick one at Kal, just seconds after Mel’s solid hit. If the unofficial motto of beaters everywhere wasn’t “hit ‘em while they’re reeling”, it should be. And you can’t concentrate on MacDonald and forget about MacFusty. He’s an A-level pro himself. Sending a second one at Kal would mean Lex would have to go chase it down, allowing Mel and Razor to play in tight formation and split their opposition. Frazer wondered if he and Mel were due for some bad luck, but he hoped they let Kal experience at least something close to pro-level attacks.
Kal was still analyzing how she'd let one hit under her defenses when another came her way, hard and fast. There was no time to get her bat up from the angle it was flying, so instead she did her best to twist out of its way. The move was enough to keep her on her broom, but not to keep her from receiving a solid impact on her right side. The breath flew out of her, and it knocked her backwards enough that she had to continue the momentum into a roll to get her upright again.
And there was another Bludger heading straight for her. Refusing to let the pain in her side stop her, this time she got a solid shot on it, sending it back toward their opponents, though without any particular skill. She took several quick, rather ragged gulps of air trying to get her breathing under control again as she checked her position in the air. The first Bludger had knocked her out of formation, and she climbed back to the right spot, gritting her teeth against the way the move felt. She could manage a bit more, but if the pain persisted, she was going to have to call a stop and get to a healer.
Mel was ready for the return shot, too; he'd shifted to a more defensive position because he'd laid himself open getting ready for his strike against Kal. He barely fended off her strike even so; he could feel the blow all the way up his arm and knew he'd still be feeling it in the morning. He dropped back in case Lex was planning to duplicate the moves he and Fraser had been using on Kal. It was always a bad idea to underestimate his little sister.
There was still some concern about how hard he'd hit Kal, but she'd tap out if she needed to. That was part of her job, Mel knew. She had to be able to take a hard hit and judge her own capacity to continue, especially in practice.
Lex could feel the tiredness in her bones as she tried to pull out of the dive. She feinted right, then left, but not fast enough and the bludger caught her square in midsection, causing her to lose her grip. She lost altitude, working to flatten herself against the broom in an effort to stay on. "You need a break or can you hang in there, Kal?" she called, not sure how hard Kal had taken that last bludger. Lex flew a few lazy circles around the pitch, trying to regroup as she looked for an opening. Leading a bludger on a bit of a chase, she gritted her teeth before sending it at Fraser.
Her cousin didn’t want to let her regroup, and part of the goal was to separate her from Kal, so they couldn’t function as a unit. Fraser felt good, and knew they were getting lucky, but luck was a part of the game. There was a place for a couple of old dudes, as long as it happened once a year, involved opponents who’d just finished a full practice, and lasted no more than an hour and half. He took her shot, turning so it jarred his right shoulder, which was, at least, his off-arm. That was going to need some bruise paste. He rolled with it and came up with a perfect shot lined up on Lex. He’d think about seeing the medic later.
Lex's attention was focused on Kal, studying her movements and her response to the whaling she was taking from the boys. The bludger caught her square in the back of the shoulder and she lost her grip on her bat momentarily before catching it again. Letting out a string of curses she sent the bludger back with all the power she could muster before flying up next to Kal. "How you holding up?"
Kal only barely restrained her wince as another Bludger attacked Lex, giving her similar treatment to the one that Kal had suffered. She only hoped her teammate wasn't feeling it like she was. Thankfully, she had caught her breath well enough to answer the other's question. "Holding." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a stray Bludger and jerked her head that direction to indicate where she was headed. "I wouldn't mind getting in at least one good shot before we stop."
She bent close to her broom, ignoring how her side screamed at her, and went after the Bludger. She swung her broom around at the last minute before her bat connected with the ball in a technique meant to both look good for the spectators and to make her target unclear. She sent the Bludger toward Mel with a satisfying amount of power. Not her best, but considering the long day and that last hit, she'd take it.
Mel wasn't fast enough to swat the bludger sent at him away, but the blow wasn't nearly enough to rattle him off his broom. He grunted something that Lex could guess was a curse word as the bludger sailed off into toward the edge of the pitch. It'd be back soon enough for another victim.
"Good shot," he called back to Kal.
Fraser took the hit from Lex on his thigh, safely above the knee and came up with the bludger in a tight pattern. Lex and Kal were flying together, so he could threaten them bot, since the other bludger was out of play for the moment. He flew straight at the girls, gaining speed and laughing. At the last minute he fired it at Kal, with Lex right behind her. He also kept his line going so there wasn’t much room to drop without fouling him. In a real match, someone might overfly them to keep them from rising out of the target zone. His right arm tingled where Lex had hit him, but his grip on the broom with his legs was strong.
Kal didn't immediately realise Fraser's tactic, but she caught on a second before he reached them for the execution. "Incoming!" she said, just in case her attempt to send it back toward him was unsuccessful, then she swung her broom up so that she was facing downward as her bat came down on the Bludger.
The move worked exactly as she'd intended, sending the Bludger at Fraser's back. Unfortunately, her side pulled at the move, and she winced in pain.
The shot hit him in the back, but since he was already dropping, it really didn’t hurt much at all. Fraser took off, straight up and this time on a course to cut in front of Lex and Kal. He fired off the bludger at close range, from below, just before he crossed their path. He peeled off in an upwards spiral, still laughing in the wind.
Lex was ready and edged ahead of Kal, sending the bludger toward the opposite end of the pitch easily before putting a steadying hand on Kal's broom. She'd seen the wince and she whistled loudly. "Let's halt for now!" she called into the air. Kal didn't look too great and Lex wasn't feeling too hot herself. "You two wrangle those bludgers."
"On it," Mel said, and Lex could tell he, too, was feeling the strain of the bludgers that had hit him. He soared up and out after the one he'd knocked away and from there out of earshot.
Despite the pain in her side, Kal felt invigorated. There was nothing better than a tough practice session to show her where she needed to do some work. Later, she'd grumble to herself about the mistakes she'd made, but for now she couldn't help smiling at Lex. "You took the words out of my mouth."
She headed toward the ground, mostly letting gravity and her broom do the work so that it didn't jolt her unnecessarily. Once her feet were on land, she attempted to stretch herself out and only ended up wincing again for her efforts. She was pretty sure she'd fractured a rib or two, though not any worse than she'd experienced before. "A visit to the healer wouldn't be unwarranted," she said, though she was still smiling.
"Followed by a hot tub and drinks," Lex said, a grin on her face as she landed and threw an arm around Kal's shoulder - as gently as her tired, pained body would allow her. "You did fucking amazing out there, Kal. I know the boys gave us a wallop, but they were fresh and that's probably what we'll be facing against Portree. But you kept flying, kept your head up and didn't quit. Well done, kid."
"God, that sounds amazing," Kal said, laughing and putting her arm around Lex's waist in reciprocation. "Thanks. That felt good." She moved a little and her side twinging brought a little groan from her. "Okay, it didn't all feel good, but you know what I mean."
Fraser landed and grabbed the bludger box, ready to put the equipment away. “Well, I think you shared the fun around pretty evenly. Next up, you get to do that in front of thousands of screaming fans.”
Mel wrangled the two bludgers onto his bat--a lot easier when he was the only one in the sky and they had no other targets, plus nobody was batting at them but him--and brought them down carefully a few minutes later. He looked the three of them over for injuries once he'd got the bludgers safely locked away with Fraser's help. Then he turned back to Kal. "Welcome," he told her, "to Montrose."