dusk flight

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

It was growing late, and briar knew that she really should head back to the common room, do some work and go to bed. however she had too much energy, she had found over the last few months that she had no energy during the week of the full moon (save the night of the full moon it self) however she had extra around the time of the new moon, The prefect didn't have to look at the sky to know what phase the moon was at. she was hight n the air over the quidditch pitch, training had finished an hour ago but she didn't want to go in yet, the cool night air was refreshing on her skin after she had decided that her scratches were healed enough to not need the long sleeved top and long pants so she was back to her normal singlet and shorts. she had a ball in her hand, in daylight it was scarlet, however in the dusk light it was more of a dark maroon colour. high above the ground she practiced dodging imaginary obstacles, and various tricks with no hands on her broom. the broom had gotten so used to her flying technique that she was sure it now followed her thought rather than her commands. She did a loop the loop, and then threw the ball as high as she could, flying away she waited for it to fall before zooming towards it and catching it with both hands just as it had passed her hight, remaining upside down and clinging tight to the broom with her knees she few towards one of the goals and shot. once she saw it sail through the gold ring she righted herself and flew after it. realising how hard she must have thrown it for it to keep going so far.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Icarus was in a great mood. Not only because he had finally some free time to spare on flying but also because he had just made a new friend, something that he really needed for the beggining of his new life. He had also plans for saturday night which meant that he wasn't going to pass that time alone, dying from boredom in his office. The weather was mild, just with a refreshing breezing stroking his face and the sun setting in the horizon. He liked the time of day when the curtain of the twilight was spreading across the scenery, especially when the weather was clear like that day. He decided to fly above the dark, calm waters of the lake while looking down at his blurred reflection. He thrusted the air close to the surface with high speed that the water underneath him churned, leaving behind him a trail of small wave.

As he was starting flying higher, deciding to leave the lake in its serinity, he spotted some movement from the quidditch pitch. It looked like someone was practising but as far he could remember there was no quidditch practice for that late. Curious, he flew to investigate it, hoping that it wasn't a daredevil first year seeking for detention. He used a hufflepuff stand tower as a cover to conceal his position while he was trying to realise who was the energised person. It looked like it was a girl, not really younger than him. Judging from her moves and her carefree style, Icarus guessed that she was a member of the school's teams, maybe even a captain. That wasn't though an excuse for practising that late and the right operation of the quidditch was one of his responsibilities.

Although he wanted to leave behind his hiding place and talk to the girl, he find himself admiring the nerve in the way she was flying and her flawless style. He awakened from his daydream when the girl performed a well-aimed shoot and Icarus launched himself after the quaffle like a lightning. He grabbed and stopped abruptly, hovering, like he had just apparated at the spot. "Don't you think is quite late for practising?" he asked the girl in a taunting way as he was tossing the quaffle up in the air then catching it again.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was a little surprised when she saw someone shoot out from the hufflepuff stands and catch the quaffle, It was growing dark but she could still see him pretty clearly. he was quite tall and looked a little older than her, maybe a new seventh year. when she saw him catch the quaffle she stopped. "good catch. " she called before slowly making her way over to him. it would be good to have someone to practice with, chaser was hard to practice on its own, although admittedly not as hard as keeper. there would be no point practicing guarding the goals when there was no one else on the pitch. "Its not too late yet, I can still see, besides it is too nice out to head in" she said before realising that it was a professor on the other broom. "hang on a second your professor Stratis aren't you. I'm Briar, Briar Rowan" she said realising why he looked familiar, It was Minoas' cousin. she felt a little bad for showing so little respect for the curfew rules. but she had been out later in the evenings before, she wondered if the professor felt the same way about that specific rule as his cousin did, she hoped so.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

He almost lost the quaffle from his hand when the girl said his name and then introduced herself. His grey eyes widened in suspicion and he raised an eyebrow. "How come do you know my name? I guess you are not a first year, neither a professor so...are you stalking me or something?" he asked jokingly, realising that he was getting flirty with the girl. He shook slightly his head and regained a strict expression, like a professor should have in such situations. However, it wasn't a really convincing one and Icarus realised that shortly so he cleared his throat with a cough, providing a deeper voice. "Nice to meet you miss Rowan but do you realise that you should be in the castle by now, whether you are a captain or not." he added the last phrase of his sentence, slowly as he was studying the girl carefully. "What's your house again?" he asked still trying to maintain the formality of a professor. He might sounded like he was asking about her house to deduct house points but he was actually interested to learn more about her. He was feeling quite vulnerable, to the fact that she maybe knew more about him that he knew about her.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled at his comment, she could tell from his tone of voice that he wasnt serious in thinking that about her. "No All o the new professors were introduced at the strt of year feast" she said. it was true but it wasn't the reason she remembered his name. however knowing who his cousin was did seem a little stalkerish. she shook her head when he said she should be in the castle. "I am not a captain, unfortunately, that is Damian, but hopefully i will be next year when he graduates. Its a shame really because captain would be good for applying for a team" she said "I know i should be in the castle, but it is just to cramped and stuffy in there, who wouldn't rather be flying" she said. she knew that she was playing a dangerous game talking to a professor like that but her energy made her reckless, even him turning her into her head of house didn't seem threatening even if it would mean loosing her prefects status. "I'm in gryffindor, a sixth year prefect" she said. hoping that she wouldn't get a lecture on the fact that prefects were meant to be role models and being out after hours was not a good example. she had always gone out, whenever she had wanted to, and she wasn't going to stop just because it was a bad example.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

His features softened from the fake, stern look as the girl had him right there with her statement. He felt quite embarassed while he was working out in his head what she had said which was logical. "Right, I forgot about that. All students looked like they have been locked for days away from food that night, so I wasn't expecting someone who isn't in my class to remember my name." he told her with a chuckle, while he was getting confident about the fact that the girl, in some way, had managed to remember his name. He was going to remember hers for sure.

"Please call me Icarus. I need some break from hearing a bunch of eleven years old calling me professor all the time. I'm not that old anyway." he said as he was moving the quaffle from hand to hand, hovering without holding the broomstick. "Well your head of the house doesn't really know how to choose well, cause I can see leadership in you. Your moves there, were captivating, for me at least that I'm obsessed with the sport." he said this time pretty serious, his grey eyes reflecting honesty and admiration at the same time. If there was any kind of srictness left in him, it vanished in instant when the girl talked about how she was feeling inside the castle.
"Exactly my thoughts." he nodded, surprised that they were sharing the same opinion. "I would prefer my office being located on the towers. It would be easier for my 'little escapes'. Now I can't really fly off my office's windows, I won't give a good example to my students. I reckon that the headmaster won't be delighted to find out that first years are shooting themselves out of the castle windows, holding their brooms." he laughed as he visualised that event.

Icarus was glad that the girl was a prefect so that she had the privelege and the right to stay outside the castle that light. He didn't want to punish her or something and he was glad than now there was completely no reason for that. Still he wanted to make her life a little bit difficult, not because he didn't like her but because he wanted to have a taste of her skills. "I guess professor Kingsley wouldn't be pleased to find out that one of her prefects is roaming outside that late. Perhaps I could overlook that by showing me from what are you made of." he said with a broad smile, tossing at her the quaffle. He had almost four long months to play quidditch with someone else and he had to let that energy inside him to let go. Besides, he liked athletic girls that knew something of quidditch.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled he seemed impressed that she had remember his name from the feast. "yep, the food at the feast is always good, much better than many families cook, it was a welcome change of feed for me thats for sure" she said. it was certainly better than the hospital food she had eaten for two weeks before the feast.
"Icarus it is then. I don't think i would like to be called professor all the time either if i ever came back to tech, but that does not fall in my plans." she said. flying around a little trying to think of a way to get the quaffle back. "thanks, i have been practising a fair bit." she said stopping. He seemed more like a friend than professor. "the north tower is a good place to start but flying office is first floor right, thats not too far from the grounds. Even i didn't jump out of windows as a first year, it was at least second year before i started that" she said, jokingly although what she was saying was the truth. she knew where his office was as she knew the school pretty well from her wanderings as a younger student, and patrols as a prefect.
Briar shook her head, when Icarus said that her head of house wouldn't be happy. "Last year she found me in the forest with a first year. He had had an unfortunate run in with acromantula, but was safe, however Professor Kingsley wasn't happy." she said, wondering how much Minoas had told his cousin. at the mention of a challenge she smiled. "It's on. what position do you play, as you guessed i play chaser myself" she said flying around a little more jaw set and her energy still peaking. she was glad that he wasn't going to turn her in, or make her go up to the castle. she caught the quaffle easily and shot along the pitch full speed wondering if he would be able to catch her, she wasn't sure she had the head start and was probably lighter, but she didn't know anything about him. she threw the ball at the hoops hoping to score. her rush wasn't much of a shop of talent but next time she would try, she had been told many times during training not to shop off, she tried not to when in a team, but one on one was a different matter.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Icarus raised an eyebrow. He knew the girl just for a few moments and he could already say that she wasn't the type of person that would tolerate students. There was something definately wild on her, indicating that she was made for cooler stuff. "Yeah I couldn't believe it either that I was going to be called professor just after my graduation. You see, I was a student as well a few months ago." he revealed, trying to minimise any gap left between himself and her, regarding age and the fact that he was a professor.
"I can say so myself. I used to be my house's team captain and I have an eye for natural talents. You were born for this but....still you need a little bit practice." he added with a smirk. He didn't want to break her wings. Icarus liked praising other people's good effort but he was always leaving a but. There was always room for improvement.

He wasn't really surprised when she told him that she had tried what he was afraid about his first years, when she was at her second year. She looked like the kind of student that would be often in trouble. His suspicion was confirmed by her when she mentioned an incident involving acromantulas. "Poseidon's trident! That would be a really bad experience at least for a first year. I guess he or she was looking for trouble. Did you went for the rescue or you just wanted to challenge yourself against a few large spiders?" he asked as he was trying to understand her limits. "I'm sorry that I won't be as much entertaining as the arachnids but you might find a challenge in scoring now that I'll be guarding the goal-post cause I'm one hell of a keeper." he said and rushed at the hoops just to catch up with the quaffle that she had just tossed. Whichever indication was left in him that he was actually a professor, had just evaporated. Now he was looking like a professional player wannabe, ready to show his talent. The quaffle just landed into his palm and his long fingers just secured it in his grip.
"What was that? Did you just shoot a snitch?" he sarcasted with a smirk and pretended a yawn. He was trying to pull out of her, her best shot. He tossed the red ball, powerfully back to her, to see if she was good at passes.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was glad that she hadn't been too far out when she had thought him as boing a seventh year. only one year different, a rather big difference but one year none the less. it probably want as bigger difference as calling a second year a firstie. "you only finished school last year, which one did you go to?" she asked wondering what other schools there were. "I think i was just born for speed in general, although nothing has quite the same thrill as a good game of quidditch" she said. in fact she could think of one thing almost as thrilling and that was a hunt. but she didn't say that as it would require a lot of explaining.
she realised that Minoas handout told his cousin about their adventure the previous rear, he must have had a reason for it, probably so that he didn't get into trouble, and she decided not to spoil it so she didn't mention his name. " To tell you the truth i think he rather enjoyed it. I went in to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble, and it was a good thing i did too as acromantula don't tend to play nice." she said
"to be honest if there was such a thing as too exiting then acromantula would be it, a few attempts at goal should be great fun, especially against a keeper, throwing at an empty goal sort of looses its appeal after a while" she said glad that he played keeper, a keeper and chaser was a good match for training.
when her shot landed perfectly in his hands she frowned, he was fast, she would give him that, to beat him she would have to use skill and not just brute force. she flew slightly to the left as the ball was thrown back to her. it landed firmly in her arms, "I was just testing you, seeing what you have got" she shouted before taking off like a bullet again. the ball tight in her right hand she flew towards the goals slightly to the left curling like a muggle high jumper would do before a jump. she headed towards the centre goal and she drew the ball to hew right slightly. then she was there she pretended to throw it like a rugby ball however the ball now in her left hand she kept going rolling with the broom once again griped by he knees, she then powerfully almost placed the ball towards the third hoop hoping that she had confused him. it was one of her signature moves. she hoped that it was good enough to get the ball in. "Any better" she called heading back out towards the pitch.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Focused, his eyes were locked on the girl, reading the course of her flying and the potential moves that she was going to use. He smirked as his experience spoiled her well-thought strategy. That could have worked if he hadn't spent, hours with his brother, analysing chasers' strategies. As soon as the quaffle really left her hands, he zoomed towards the third hoop and with a swirl of his broom, he banished the ball with a hit of the broom's bottom. "That's more like it!" he exclaimed, still with his back facing her and the quaffle flying towards her.
He regained his guarding position before speaking again. "Try again and I'll share a secret with you if you manage to earn it." he inveted her for another try. In the meantime, while she was recovering the quaffle he answered her question about the school he used to go.

"You won't know it for sure. I'm not from here anyways. I graduated from the Olympos Establishment of Magia. Quite different school from Hogwarts if you take into account that we had three houses instead of four." he revealed although he had found the similarities and equivalencies himself. As the girl kept telling him the story about the acromantula event, Icarus was forming in his mind subconsciously the image of his little cousin in the position of the first year. He paused for a while as he was deep in thought but in the end he spoke of his concern.
"Say, what was the first year's name?" he asked as he wanted to double-check about Minoas.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was a little disappointed that she didn't get the ball in this time, it was her trademark move, and it didn't get past the keeper. "I still have to try harder" she shouted back, "I wont give up until i get a least one in, no mater how late or dark it gets" she shouted enjoying the challenge. she wondered what the secret was, it wasn't much for her motivation but part of her mind couldn't help but wonder. she managed to regain possession of the quaffle this time her mind was set on the goals. she flew towards the hoops zig zagging from side to side hoping to give no clue as to which ring she was shooting at. when she was approaching a good shooting distance she looked o see where Icarus was, then set her eyes on the ring furthest away from the keeper. she then threw it hard towards on of the goals. hoping that he wouldn't be able to guess which one it was or if she was bluffing, double bluffing, or even triple bluffing which goal she was aiming at until it was too late.
"no i haven't heard of that school before, but it sounds somewhat greek" she said she had heard about greek mythology in a history of magic, and about Olympus, besides she knew the professors younger cousin and she knew he was from Grease, so it wasn't much of a guess.
when Icarus asked who the first year was she wasn't sure if she should tell him or not, she didn't want to lie to him s he was a professor even if he was good ad quidditch and only a couple of years older than her. but then again she didn't want to get her friend into trouble. "actually that would have been your cousin Minoas" she said, hopeing that he wouldn't tell the his family, or get him n any more trouble, although she was sure professor Kingsley would have contacted his family when it had happened, she would probably contacted her family too, but she didn't have any, not many people had known about her adoption at the time, and she had un-adopted herself over the summer anyway.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Out of Character:

Wrong account

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Icarus loved the girl's nerve. She had what it takes for a professional quidditch player. For him the best players were those that had no limits, they were stubborn and a little bit daredevils. "I get it. You don't like me. Or you really like me and you want to keep me here for ever!" he teased her with a wide smirk. His intention was to ignite further her determination but he couldn't hide his desire to flirt with her a little bit. "Yeah it is located there." he said as he flew towards the central ring. He preferred staying somewhere in the middle of the goal posts, not get deceived by the chasers. He could think like a chaser and that was his benefit. "I've already missed school. Camp fires by the lake, exploring the enchanted forest, flying on winged-horses over the sea, participating in the arena's challenges..." he sighed and looked at the navy blue sky above him, a longing smile forming on his features. "Good times!" he added and let another sigh.

He felt like falling from the clouds that he had just climbed with his daydream when the girl revealed that the first year was actually his little cousin. "Dammit, those kids don't give a break to my uncle and Minoas is supposed to be the quietest." he said not completely surprised about Minoas getting into trouble. "Did he managed to fend for himself or you saved his butt?" he asked curious. It was a tradition in his homeland for males to challenge themselves with magical creatures. That was supposed to be the way to become a real man. He was sure that Minoas' father wouldn't be mad, especially if Minoas had managed to knock out a couple of acromantulas. However, Minoas' mother wouldn't have the same opinion.

He prevented his mind from wandering any longer as Briar was approaching again. Icarus smirked. He liked her guts but she was so predictable. All of them were. All of them were heading for the hoop that was the farthest away from the keeper. Knowing that, he hovered slightly towards the left one, leaving the right corner free for her to 'surprise' him. Just a second before shooting the quaffle, Icarus headed like an arrow at the hoop that was left intentionally unguarded, the one that was the farthest away. With a powerful punch, he repelled the quaffle sending it almost at the center of the pitch. "Eventually, you will learn from your mistakes." he said, hoping that she was going to understand which was her mistake.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Out of Character:

Dont worry everyone has done that numerous times, once i even started posting to a RP with the write account but RP'ed it as if from a different account

"I think its more i like a challenge" she said back, when it came to sport she had a one track mind and wouldn't stop until she had completed what she was doing successfully, tonight it was shooting goals. briar wasn't surprised that he had managed to save that goal, she had tried to double bluff him, and it had come off as a boring shot. the next one would be her scoring goal. she caught the ball again. and flew the exact same pattern as last time just way faster, for this to work she needed as much speed as she could so that he wouldn't have time to see what she was doing. once again she looked at Icarus, then at the open ring. with her left hand she started to throw the ball towards the free wing but at the lat possible moment she flicked her wrist around the ball and sent it flying towards the goal that he had been at the previous moment.
not watching to see where it went she turned back to the middle of the pitch "any better" she goaded ready for another shot. "that sounds like an enjoyable place to go to school, fires, forests and flying, plus like i said before challenges are great, especially physical ones, not particularly academic" she said, Briar enjoyed camp fires, and forests were her home. and she always tried to push her body to the limit. "Minoas is actually really cool, but he says hid brothers are chaos" she said, however she was glad tat she wasn't their professor or they would by the sounds of it thy would drive her insane. "he did a good job fighting them off, but as we were outnumbered we had to flee in the end, or we would have been spider food" she said, she had been so grateful that night that she had her broom with her, otherwise there a no doubt in her mind they would have both ended up spider food.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Knowing that the girl was going to change her strategy, he started guarding the three hoops in a dragonfly pattern. He liked that technique as it was a great way to confuse the ambitious chaser. For some reason however, he decided not to torture her anymore. He had recognised that spark in her eyes that he had when he was restlessly training in the storm. He decided to stop and guard the right one hoop as she was looking focused on. Icarus wanted to check out if she had learnt her lesson by now so whatever she was going to do, he was going to follow the same actions as if she was going to score again like previously. When she studied her movements, ready to shoot, he dove at the left ring. He couldn't hide the smile on his face as he saw the quaffle scoring through the goal post he was previously guarding. He dove backwards to catch the quaffle just a few meters from the ground. "Now someone seems that have learnt something after all!" he said with a smirk as he was spinning the quaffle on his index finger. He then pushed it on the air and caught again.

"You just found out that keeping the same technique is not always beneficial. Change your game. Read the keeper as the keeper tries to read you. And the most important. Rely on team work. That's why you are three chasers. Imagine the poor keeper, trying to study three different people when the quaffle quickly changes different hands." he pointed out hoping his advices won't be taken as a boring lecture. He hardly wanted that.
"I'm sure you're going to ace the match if you keep in mind what I mentioned. Though I won't be able to cheer for you. I'm neutral and besides my former house was a mix of hufflepuff and ravenclaw." he said with a smile.
As the conversation continued about his school, his grey eyes submerged into a sea of memories. "Challenge arena was always my favourite. I have a couple of burns on my back and shoulder but adrenaline like, it was awesome. Unfortunately, this school doesn't plan such events. Triwizard tournament looks like it but not completely the same." he added as he realised that maybe because of the lack of triwizard tournament in his school, existed the challenge arena. "I have to say though that Hogwarts gives the best opportunities for quidditch. Realy organised prepared and the pitch is quite professional." he commented as he casted looks around him in the dusk.

"He says so?" he laughed with the comment about his younger, twin cousins. "The truth is that they are quite over-energetic. I'm living with them sometimes during weekends that I leave school. Last time that I returned back home, I found in my room a swamp. I don't really know how they managed to do that but yeah. I hope I won't be still teaching after six years from now. I can imagine myself chasing them all through Hogwarts." he laughed as he visualised the two trouble-makers making his life hard.
"So Mrs Rowan, what's your plans for after school? You are a sixth year right?" he asked her interested.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

((its hard trying to read the keeper before he has posted))
briar could tell that he had let that goal in and she was greatful that she could stop. or at least have a break. "I have learned that after a while you will let me get it in, we will have to have a rematch some time, but maybe in a bit" she said it was getting darker which was great for her as her night vision was very good in fact it had improved drastically over the last few months since her incident. one of the only good things to come out of it.
when he said that teamwork was best she cringed slightly that was her weakness in the sport, she was known in her house team as the ball hog, and after the game last year the rest of the school probably thought the same. she had probably had the ball in her possession for about a third of the game, and seeing as there were six chasers, and tow keepers that was not a very good thing. "has someone mentioned that, that is what everyone keeps telling me, Maybe i will be better if there are some reliable chasers out there, but last year, well year" she said she said, she had started off teasing him, but had ended a little lamely. "I don't know how you would have got the burns, but it sounds like my kind of chalenge" she said a spark forming in her eye when she said that, she wasn't scared of much, and adrenaline was her friend. "well i am glad we are good for one thing, quidditch is one of the things i live for" she said it was the truth, the quid ditch had actually been one of the few things keeping her at the school the previous year. "well, professor Stratis, after school i want to play quidditch professionally, but I sort of also want to work in the ministry of magic, for the department for regulation and control of magical creatures. and yes i am a sixth year" she said. she had only decided on that a little while ago, after her bite as she wanted to help out others who were going through what she had experienced.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Out of Character:

the advice was more of a real life statement

"No no no! I didn't let you score. I just wanted to see if you got what I was trying to show you and you passed with flying colours." he said as she had earned that goal. "You'll have to suffer still a lot on your broom until you'll be ready to match me but I'm sure that that time will come one day." he reassured her. "Besides it's getting too dark to keep on playing, we'll soon have to return back to castle. Well at least you student!" he said not really eager to return back behind the walls. He was feeling like a confined beast in his office.
"You so remind me my reactions when my instructor was advising me the same things few years ago. I know that it's difficult to cooperate with everyone, believe me I had some troule with a beater once, but give it a go." he finally concluded. "Minoas had mentioned to me that he was trained by someone. Is it safe to guess that that someone was you?" he asked although he was pretty sure about the answer. He just wanted to confirm it. "He's body structure right now is ideal for a chaser but I'm afraid he'll get taller and bigger in the future. I used to be like him, I used to be a chaser as well." he revealed to her. The truth was that he was pretty tall and bulky for a chaser but he loved equally the job of the keeper.

Her excitement about the burns made him smile. It was nice bragging about scars or burns afterwards but those challenges weren't piece of cake. "Let's say the one on the back I got it from a dragon and the one on my shoulder by a chimera. Sounds dangerous I know but greek countryside is not really forgiving. We had to learn how to deal with such kind of creatures." he quickly said, wanting to see her reaction, if she was a true daredevil.
Icarus found her ideas pretty promising. A professional quidditch player was his dream, still he wanted to go the long way before fulfilling it. "It seems Rowan we have a common. I came here to become a pro player to be honest. I like teaching but I'm most interested in the background experience before making that huge step." he said and his eyes sparked by desire. "About your second option, I have worked part time with magical creatures. My family consists of breeders, Minoas might had told you about his father as well. People have so little understanding about creatures. It is nice to inform them for sure." he approved her choices. "What's your parent's professions? Maybe they could help you find a job in the ministry." he suggested as he knew that you needed some kind of help to work in the ministry.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

"If you insist" she teased. forgetting that he was a professor not a fellow player. "i think it may be impossible to suffer on a broom, " she said, she loved flying it made her feel free, able to go anywhere she wanted, and do what she wished. "the dark makes it more interesting, and at the moment i can still see fine" she said raising one eyebrow as a sort of challenge. "it seems that everyone learns that some time. Maybe i will too" she said knowing that is the wanted to be successful she would have to. "yes that was me, he is pretty good" she said bowing slightly on her broom. when he mentioned that he used to play chaser. she smiled. "how about we swap, i will try and guard the hoops and you have a go at scoring" she said smiling. she hated playing keeper in games, but for a small amount of time in goals for training was a challenge for her.
the thought of playing again briefly vanished from her mind when he said how he had got the burns. "now that does sound like a real challenge, maybe i should go to Grease some day to try it out" she said her eyes open wide in awe. she wondered what they did with them but she wanted a go not matter what it was.
"apparently it does, that is if you want to play quidditch professionally. I don't think i will bother getting background, strait into the game for me i think, that is if i can get onto a team" she said she was sure someone would pick her even if it wasn't her team of choice. "Minoas had mentioned that before. I want to go more into the being devision though" she said. her main target was often moved between beast and being as they were an unusual thing, but currently they were beings except rogues who were beasts. at the mention of parents she paused for a moment not sure what to say. "I don't know what my parents did, I have been adopted a few times. most recently my step-farther was into magical creatures, he was actually a care of magical creatures professor, and my stepmother was a house wife i think" she said referring to the margeras, she wondered what he would make out of the past tense or even if he would notice it.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

"You can suffer if you are being hit by bludgers all the time. But it is alright. You learn in this way." he said as all those hard moments made him refractory in the end. He decided not to pour more oil on her fire of excitement so he just smiled at her challenge. "Swap huh? Ok, it's about time to dust my flying techniques." he finally accepted her challenge as he couldn't lose the chance of active flying. Just guarding those goal post could be monotonous, especially in a real game that the rival chasers might not be able to score a lot of times.

"You don't have to travel to experience something like that. I'm sure that my uncle would like for Minoas and his siblings to experience that one day. If you stick around, who knows, you might deal with a dragon. It's not a game however, it needs a special training, understanding and devotion." he said as he took her place, wondering if she had what it took for such kind of training. "Being devision? You mean like werewolves? How come?" he asked as he was interested to learn more and more about her. By learning that she was adopted he felt some kind of protection for her. He guessed from her features that she hadn't probably meet them. "Don't know anything about them, do you?" he asked in a serious but epathetic way. He understood that she would probably had a different childhood than him that was surrounded by such a big family. "That's good then. Your step-father can become your corner stone for agreat carrier." he said as he hadn't realised the past tense she had just used.
"Whenever you are ready..." he added, spinning once more the quaffle on his index finger.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar shook her head again. "Call me crazy but i don't actually mind the bluddgers, actually when i am in a bad mood i come down and let as many as i can go and then just fly" she said. it had always worked out for her, the hadn't got much ore than a few bruises from it, except once but that was when she had been distracted and then later the same day a slytherin had hexed a couple of bluddgers to attack her. but that didn't count. "Why not, throw both of us out of where we are used to" she said ready by the goal.
"well maybe i will stick around then, I know it isn't a game, but i have had lots of dealings with creatures" she said. she was a little surprised that he guessed the real creature she wanted to work with right away. she didn't tell him that instead she set her sights on the quaffle ready to save it and said "only in their human form, but also Goblins, vampires, hags, giants, and veela. I don't know why though, i guess its more like helping someone than owning or controlling them".
she could hear the change in his tone of voice once she said she was adopted. she didn't like people feeling sorry for her, she was more than capable of looking after herself, she didn't need a family anyway. "Don't know about who? my birth family? no, but i don't care" she said, she really didn't think about her birth family at all, and she hadn't wondered who they were at all, in her first year she had kept an ear out for information, but she had quickly gotten bored. she hovered by the goals wondering why he wasn't shooting yet, but then again the darker it got the better it was for her. at the mention of Jackson she shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so" she said dismissively, she had been in a good mood, and she was still gull of energy se didn't want to bring it down by talking about things that had occurred last year. "I'm ready when you are" she shouted back her attention now fully on the ball, like the hunter she was, eyeing up its prey.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

"Easy tiger. Bludgers are not things to play around with. I had a shoulder dislocation during a match once." he said and subconsciously placed a hand on the shoulder he had dislocated a couple of years ago. He could see confidence and determination flowing in her which was reminding of him but after his fight with a chimera and the burn on his shoulder, he had a different understanding and point view that had balanced his boiling desire of dangerous things. "Well then, you might be lucky enough to face your first dragon or maybe a manticore as I can see that you are quite hardcore." he said, wondering if she would have second thoughts as soon as he had revealed what she could potentially face.

Icarus liked the fact that beneath the fierce personality that he had just started descovering, she was hiding a delicate spot as she was showing a delicate spot of her concerns and sensitivities. "Actually that is a great idea and a very nice thought of you. I'm sure there are a lot of people needing support as their facing some type of difficulties and discrimination. My best friend is a werewolf and he seemed to handling it good but that's because werewolves are really accepted in my country. I sense some fear here regarding half breeds from the community." he reluctantly said, unsure if he was right. He understood that she didn't really like the fact that he felt empathy for her and tried to make up for it. "I'm not feeling sorry for you if that's what you think of. I'm actually impressed and I've come to realise why you are that strong." he praised her and took a concerned look. He though of the fact that he was taking for granted his own family when other people didn't have any. Perhaps he had to put aside his stubborness and finally talk to them again.

He nodded as the girl was ready. He started flying, slowly at first. Using his arms' strength, he jumped on his broom, landing on the broomstick with his feet still holding the quaffle. He started zig-zagging in the air, while he was stood up like he was riding a surf. His altitude and direction wa changing constantly like he was changing from wave to wave. He liked this kind of flying, it was reminding him his favourite water sport. As soon as he was close enough he jumped off, throwing the quaffle higher. As it was dropping back to him, he punched it hard, sending it to the goal posts. He landed on his feet, on the tip of the handle and sat back down on the broom, waiting for her move.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

"I broke both bones in my shoulder with one last year, but it was a good way to vent, well better than something reckless" she said, she knew people would say that what she had done was reckless, she didn't, and that was what mattered.she too absentmindedly stretched her arm as though checking to see if the shoulder was still working, it was, in fact it didn't feel any different from what it used to. "that sounds like a interesting thing to be put against, both five X rated by the ministry but as are acromentula and with the help of Minoas we managed to face a whole pack of them and live so i think i may do okay", Acromentula wasn't the only XXXXX creature she had faced trying to attack her, however she hadn't come off as well agains the other, although she was still alive, the werewolf attack had been successful so now for one night a month she was a known wizard killing creature. "I am not sure how many werewolves there are around here if any" she said bluffing, she knew two, one being herself, and one behind Dederick, and judging by the state of the cavan there had probably been a few more before her going through the school but she wasn't sue how many. "but my step farther was half giant, as is my stepster and best friend, and there are loads of part veela" she said hoping that she wouldn't deduce her real reason for that branch of the department, or the sub branch werewolf counceling services, which was what she wanted to work in.
She was glad that he didn't feel sorry for her, and that he thought she was strong, "you had to be strong where i come form, if i wasn't i wouldn't be here" she said, if she had been too bigger pull on the heard they would have just left her.
she watched as he flew towards her, she had never seen anyone stand on a broom before, and she knew she would now be spending the next moth practising until she got it, she wasn't sure how useful it would be in a match, as agility would be compromised and with 14 other people flying (including the ref) and bludgers agility was needed. she saw him hit the ball, and flew towards it. it had been an impressive shot but thankfully she had been paying attention. she managed to deflect it from the coal and then catch it a moment later. "that was very impressive, I must say" she said tossing the ball back.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Icarus wasn't really expecting to score. He had to play as a chaser from his fourth year at school at the specific technique demanded a lot of practice to be mastered. "Good blocking!" he praised and grabbed the quaffle once again as the girl passed it to him. "Thank you. It's one of the flying techniques that me and my best friend developed during skipped classes." he admitted with just a little bit blush on his cheeks. "Now don't just start skipping classes to practise. I'll have to deduct house points from you." he joked with a pretended, stern look.
The young professor rolled his eyes and slightly moved his head in disapproval. "How come this isn't reckless? You could have been worse injured." he said half serious, half impressed but tried to hide the last feeling as he didn't want to encourage her to do similar things.

"True but acromantula can be easily handled. It's an insect, fire is the key. Now tell me how you would find the weakness of an enormous, two-headed dragon, armed with hard scales or how you would face a creature with a serpent for a tail, a lion nd a wild goat head, breathing out fire? Now that needs some wits to put on." he asked with a raised eyebrow and smirked as she was probably going to have second thoughts. "Plus you won't have any assistance except from the interruption of some experts in case you want to give up or if your life is getting threatened." he added to make the things far more discouraging. Icarus understood the desire to work with half-breeds as her foster parent was a half-giant. Still he was finding the fact that she wanted to help people, really nice. "I've never actually seen a giant in my life." he said and charged again for another try to score. He was going to use a technique that she wasn't expecting and it was quite random. When he was close enough, calculating the right distance with some self-made points, he tossed the quaffle with both hands, as hard as he could. The quaffle bounced on the soft grass and jumped off in the air again, heading for the right hoop with a sudden hop. This move was quite reminding a basketball triplet with the difference that the quaffle had to cover a bigger distance.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Out of Character:

the hoops are like really high, and i don't know if the ball would bounce in, as even if they are low enough i don't think the ball is designed to bounce.

she smiled at the compliment. "Thanks." she said watching him fly away. "I will certainly be practising it luckily i don't have many classes this semester, so i will try and not skip them, but that may cause me to be out later instead" she said playing with him a bit. when he asked why that wasn't reckless, she thought for a moment, and then once she had a n answer said. "because it is quidditch, and quidditch is normal, where as say jumping off the cliffs, or running deep into the forest is seen as dangerous." she said although she had done both before on multiple occasions. anyway they aren't as good for venting as pushing yourself to the limits on the pitch" she said.
when he asked about the creature she tried to picture it. "well all creatures have a weakness, often the eye, or maybe the roof the the mouth will be a good place to attack" she said realising that he was trying to frighten her. "you know I don't scare easily, I can only remember being absolutely terrified once" she said now no longer seeing him as a professor at all.
she watched him try and shoot again, she was trying to anticipate his moves he was interesting to watch. she really need to come up with some new techniques. she saw him throw the ball at the ground she watched it bounce, it actually bounced better than expected, however it still didn't get as far enough at to get into the ring. she went to retrieve it, and threw it back, "better luck next time" she called, the sun had been fully set and the light was fading fast but she didn't care, she had flown at night many times before.

 

[Icarus Stratis]

Out of Character:

according to quidditch cup game move signatures it can occur. i love briar's signature, especially the text.

He was impressed to see once more the girl saving the quaffle. He was either pretty bad chaser or she was a good keeper after all. "Somebody is good at guarding!" he sang from the distance.
When he spotted the playing mood in the gils voice he left a smirk. "I can't guarantee that I'll be that soft next time I'll catch you out that late." he fueled the Briar's game by joking.
"Okay I see that you embrace really dangerous activities. Don't say that you haven't try out jumping off a cliff or running into the forest. I won't believe you." he rushed to say before she was able to excuse herself.
He liked the fact that she wasn't buying his attempts to scary her and when she revealed that she was only once scared made him gasp with surprise. "You? Terrified? I would really like to know what really made you terrified ." he said curious to learn. Icarus had never felt scared but that day could come any time in the near future. "Ok one more go. Then we stop for today as it gets darker." he said and darted into the chilling wind. This time he flew closer to the goal posts. He was alarmingly approaching closer to the girl. She was looking ready to catch again the quaffle when Icarus gave her a wink and turned his body upside down so that he tried to score at the hoop that she was guarding, by aiming at the small spot underneath her broom, left unguarded. As fast as he had positioned his body underneath his broomstick, hanging only by his locked legs, he retrieved his ordinary position to face the surprised girl.