Day 3: Ice Hockey
The Games were now in full swing, even as the weather began to grow colder. Athletes focused on their particular Events and Spectators cheered on their favorites while sipping hot cups of cocoa. On a far less official note, an impromptu snowball fight was also in full swing, comprising of a number of young--and not so young--dragons from all over Sorneith. Laughter pierced the chilly air as dragons of all breeds dodged, threw massive amounts of snow, and hid behind hastily erected snow forts. One group in particular seemed to be quite good at holding their own….
Lughnasadh
“Loo”
Center Forward
Mage / Athlete / Gamer
(Arcane Born)
Lughnasadh dove behind a snowbank barely in time to dodge the last well-placed white missile thrown by an extremely energetic Mirror from Plague Flight. The dive was not a retreat, however. Loo kept right on going, tucking her body into a ball and rolling the short distance the wall of snow extended, gathering her ammunition into her paws as she went. As she emerged from the other side of the snowbank, the Guardian dragon launched herself upright and hurled her pawful of snow directly at the surprised Mirror. Chuckling at the look on his face, she turned to the Spiral hunched down a few feet away.
“And that should stop the sneak attacks on our position,” Loo said with satisfaction. “How goes the rest of the fight?”
The Spiral extended his neck to take a quick peek over the snowbank. “Not bad,” he observed thoughtfully, “I think we may just have won this round.”
“Good.” The Clan’s Games Master stretched slowly. “I hate to leave a battle undecided.” She glanced up at the sky, gauging the angle of the sun. “I think it’s time for us to bow out,” she added with a sigh of true regret. “You want to gather the team?”
Her companion nodded. Whipping his body around a full 180 degrees,
Flamecaster shot off towards a small group of dragons several yards away, waving his paw in a specific pattern as he came close. Two Tundras in the group immediately detached themselves from their new friends to head in Lughnasadh’s direction, while Flame continued on to alert a Coatl and a Wildclaw who were backed against a tree fending off several baby Gaolers. The little ones had managed to collect a veritable mound of snowballs, which they were cheerfully using to pelt their beleaguered opponents. Flame watched for a few minutes before he darted forward, skillfully catching one of the balls on his tail and flicking it back at the hatchling who had thrown it.
“Nice one!”
Lapislazuli leaned against the tree’s trunk, panting, watching as the young Gaoler fell over backwards laughing. “Maybe you should be Goalie and not me.” Waving at the hatchlings, she turned and began making her way over to the snowbank where Lughnasadh was now bidding farewell to the Mirror. Her
Wildclaw Clanmate padded beside her, waving her own farewell towards the Gaolers as they left.
Flamecaster snorted. “No thanks,” he answered, flying easily beside the other two. “I much prefer dashing around the ice to being stuck in one position.” He glanced at the Wildclaw in amusement. “Exactly how did that group manage to catch you anyway? I thought you were a famous hockey champion, too fast to be trapped by anyone?”
The Wildclaw gave him a mock glare. “On the ice, where there are established rules, yes.” She shook herself as she walked, shedding snow. “But in an open field, with young ones who constantly change the laws of the game…” Flame’s fellow Forward and past Team Captain of the Elemental Gems
Ice Hockey Team shrugged. “You try to win against such odds.”
“Point taken.” Flame winced slightly, remembering past experiences with the young ones of their own Clan…and even more, remembering the days when he had
been one of those young ones. “Alright. I won’t say anything about how the team’s Goalie and Left Forward were completely outmatched by three hatchlings.”
“No, you won’t,” Lapislazuli observed from the Wildclaw’s other side. “Unless, of course, you wish to rehash our last practice…exactly
where did that puck end up again?” She raised an eyebrow at her teammate.
Flamecaster’s wince was much stronger this time. The puck in question was
still missing. “Right,” he said hastily. “No need to talk about such things. Not when we need to focus on the game.”
Smiling in satisfaction, Lapislazuli turned to greet the rest of the ream as they arrived at the snowbank, effectively ending the short conversation. Loo gave the three a sharp look but didn’t comment. This team was a bit…looser…than ones she had led in the past, and the Game Master had learned quickly to ignore such incongruities as aborted conversations, odd glances, and even magical mishaps. None of that had any impact on how the team played, after all.
Loo nodded to herself and straightened up, shaking off the last of the snow she had gathered in her roll earlier. “Play time’s over, team,” she said. “We need to get over the rink before we’re called.”
Centauri tilted her head, looking confused. “Don’t you mean, ‘play time’s starting,’ Loo?” She asked sweetly. “It’s going to be a bit hard to win the game if we don’t play, after all.” The young Tundra stared at her Captain with big, guileless brown eyes, a completely earnest look on her face.
Not for the first time, Lughnasadh found herself wondering exactly how innocent the youngest member of the team actually was, especially considering her “sisters”…one of whom was currently grinning at Loo from a few feet away. But Centauri and
Corona were still young. They would have to do MUCH better than that if they wanted to trip up their Captain.
“You’re right,” the Guardian said briskly, “how silly of me.” She smiled just as sweetly at the two Tundras. “Play time has started, and I’m counting on you both to do your best. See if you can do as good a job stopping the puck as you did ‘stopping’ those snowballs earlier. We can’t have your record tarnished after all.”
Ignoring the embarrassed look on both snow-covered faces, Loo turned and headed in the direction of the Ice Hockey Rink, knowing that the team would follow.
It took only a few minutes for them to arrive at the ice rink. Lughnasadh watched in satisfaction as the Clan’s newest Ice Hockey Team skated out to their positions, all banter forgotten. As Centauri had said, play time had started…and it was time for this team to shine.
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Flamecaster
“Flame”
(Right Forward)
Mage
(Shadow Flame, Slow Healer, Attacker)
(Shadow Born,
Arcane Adopted)
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(Left Forward)
Fighter / Alchemist
Former Hockey Captain (2016)
(Arcane Born
and Adopted)
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Lapislazuli
“Lapis”
(Goalie)
Focus Stones, General Magic
(Arcane Born
and Adopted)
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Proxima Centauri
(Centauri)
(“Tory”)
Right Defense
Mage
(Conjuration, Projection)
(Earth Born,
Arcane Adopted)
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Corona
“Sola,” “Cor”
Left Defense
Scholar
(Astronomy Researcher
(Arcane Born)
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