Gareth and Burgandy vs Carl and Blue with Marigold on the side
Current Match Score 0-1
Gareth POV chapter.
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As much as Gareth and Burgandy felt like idiots, it wasn't too hard to fix the issue either. A quick conversation determined they'd lower the platform they were on slightly next time it was there serve. For now though, they took up a slightly odd formation. Burgandy sat slightly back from the line and off to the left, while Gareth edged closer to the centre and was right up front.
It allowed them both to cover a good amount of area. Burgandy could run forward if Blue tried to just drop the ball again, and she was also the main coverage for if the ball was sent backwards. If Blue wanted it to go any real distance she'd need to angle it a fair bit to get over the net and high enough to avoid her enemies feet kicking the ball back down. Thyme hadn't made any rules about only using hands after all.
Gareth was right up front. His job was to cover most of the frontline and kick the ball straight back down into the water when he could. It wasn't entirely clear if that would be enough to whirlpool, but damn he was going to try. Blue had good control over the ball when it was in the water, but once it was shot out, there wasn't anything more the mage could do to change the trajectory. It made things simply. At least in theory.
This all happened in just under thirty seconds, as Thyme handed over the ball and Carl got ready to serve. He bashed it through the water and tried to sneak it passed Gareth on the right side, but he was ready for it, smacking the ball back down. Blue took that ball and moved it all the way to the left, but Burgandy was ready, smacking it back down once again.
Blue frowned at the tactic, and backed things up, shooting for the far-right side once Gareth had returned to his resting spot near the middle. It was aimed higher then usual… but Gareth just jumped before he got to the ball, allowing the him to make the kick easily. Blue used that chance to shoot the ball straight back out, angling it towards the centre in hopes that he wouldn't get there in time. He didn't.
But Burgandy did. She was watching and saw the now tell-tale signs of Blue getting ready to launch the ball out. Watching from above it was really easy to see the water shift to allow for it, and it didn't seem all that easy to hide. Neither Burgandy nor Gareth had managed to hit the ball hard enough to break through the water just yet, but that was fine. As Burgandy kicked the ball back down a bit harder then last time, she watched, even as she jogged back to her spot.
The ball, in some ways, looked quite close to breaking free, but in other ways, it wasn't anywhere near enough power. Right now, Burgandy had managed to get it down about two thirds of the way with a decent kick. This would be nice, but she got halfway down with a relatively weak kick. It was clear that either the ball either had extreme buoyancy, or Blue was using a trick to keep the getting through her water and it was more effective the further down she went.
This continued for a while in a bit of a stalemate. Carl was pretty free to do whatever he wanted, but he made the choice to move up closer to the net because it looked like that was where the action would be. Blue moved the water around a bit to cover that issue. If someone tried to aim above it, they'd just be sending it out of bounds, and that was fine with her. She was also getting used to Gareth and Burgandy's returns.
Which weren't getting much stronger. Gareth had tried to use his full strength on a stomp exactly once, and he'd hit the ball at a bit of an odd angle. It didn't get that far through the water and it meant he was nearly out of position for the next shot. Burgandy managed to cover for him, but if Blue had just fired the ball quickly back next to Gareth that might've been the end.
After seeing that, both Gareth and Burgandy were playing it safer. It seemed they'd have exactly one chance to make it through the water, and if they messed it up they wouldn't have enough time to recover and block the return shot. Which was a big risk considering they were already a point down and even their best might not be enough to make it through the wall of water.
Eventually though, it was Burgandy who couldn't take the pressure. The rally was going on too long for her comfort and she was starting to wear down. The ball went to Gareth twice more then it was her turn. As it came up close to her, Burgandy saw that Blue was trying for a higher shot. Burgandy wasn't letting this chance get away. She sprinted up to the edge, and killed her momentum just a touch before the edge, then jumped right as the ball came out of the water.
Burgandy slammed down with her legs as hard as possible, then flipped herself over, letting her hands smash into the stone, her fingers breaking the edge as she stopped her body from hitting the edge. She held her breath, and waited for it. Her prayers were answered over the ringing in her ears. "Point to Burgandy and Gareth, the score is now 1-1" shouted Thyme, a smile on their face.
Burgandy grinned and went to relax, nearly dropping herself onto the net. She instantly tightened the muscles in her arms as she panicked but Gareth moved over and picked her up by the waist. "Good play, risky, but good play," said Gareth.
Burgandy breathed out a long breath she didn't realise she'd been holding as she was placed on the stone. She just dropped once her feet hit the ground, not the adrenaline fading fast, and she just wanted to give her body a bit of a break. The round had been tense. Too tense. Sure loose dirt was getting on her face and clothes, but Burgandy could not care less right now.
"Right well… it was a close thing," said Gareth as he thought back to the moment the ball had burst through the water. Blue hadn't moved as it happened, though her face was a mask of concentration. Carl HAD moved, but he'd failed to take into account how the water changed the refraction of light. He'd lined up what he thought was the perfect shot to hit the ball back after it dropped out… but he was actually a bit off.
In his panic, Carl had corrected her upswing poorly and the ball had slipped off to the side. If that wasn't enough, the side the ball had ended up on was away from Blue, so even if the fae mage had wanted to she wouldn't have been able to catch it in time, not with Carl in the way.
Gareth said as much, as he narrated the moment back to Burgandy. Once it was over, Burgandy groaned as she looked over and saw that during the explanation Gareth had been handed the ball to serve. "I don't know if I can do that again. I shouldn't be out of energy just yet… but god the adrenaline spike was nasty and I'm crashing a bit right now,"
Gareth winced, even as he nodded in understanding. Burgandy had clearly put everything into that attack. It was do or die, and while it'd worked… she clearly wasn't up for play to continue just yet.
*Hopefully her recovering time is reasonable. I don't HAVE to serve, at least not for a bit. Not sure if Thyme will start causing issues because technically there isn't a rule against it. While it might be bad form, it's completely necessary and it's just a bit of waiting for Burgandy to recover. Even if it'll also drain Blue's mana reserves… though that probably won't matter if it's really as easy to hold up as she said.
What worries me is that Carl is going to be really paying attention now. Part of his slip-up was probably due to the fact he didn't think we'd get through the water. We couldn't even when we were trying our best, so the fact that Burgandy and I managed something was probably a surprise to him…
But with that surprise factor out of the window… I'm just not sure we can push it over the line again. Burgandy really want for it to make that shot, and nearly hit the net doing so. I could do the same of course… but if we mess it up, then we'll be the ones that take the point loss. There isn't exactly much we can do about that. Now isn't the time for new plans… stick with what works… I just wish what worked wasn't looking to be quite so difficult.*
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