A Morning Flight [open]

Kat sat enjoying her breakfast, she had managed to eat one of her two eggs before she was  startled by a voice in front of her.

"Hello there!" 

Yelping in fear, Kat curled into a ball. This was her normal defence strategy, she was small enough that when she curled she could usually fit, into, behind or underneath  anything, thus making it the perfect position to hide in. Kat sat in her ball for a moment before regaining he composure. Peeking up from behind the bench she was now half under Kat examined the girl in front of her. Before long a smile broke onto her face.

"Hello!" She exclaimed, jumping back to her feet, "sorry about that, I'm a little jumpy." She said rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Lovely day for flying!" Kat motioned to her broom. She had the biggest smile she could muster plastered to her face. Her parents always said that the first impression was the most important. She turned her head and examined her  new acquaintance more closely. 'Ravenclaw huh,' she thought to herself, 'There supposed to be smart!'

"The name's Katrina!" She said cheerfully, sticking out her hand over the side of the box. "But most people just call me Kat."

Her parents would say that she was too outgoing, and her brother would say that no one as cheerful as her should get scared so easily, but Katrina would just say that she marched to the beat of a different drummer then most other people. She continued to smile at the girl as she waited for her to respond, "Join me for a rest?" she said, using the hand that wasn't extended to motion to the bench. " I have cookies in my bag!"

Kat smiled as Ezra climbed into the box and laid out her food. She had never eaten tuna in a sandwich before, but, as she always said, there's a first time for everything. " I'll trade you a hard boiled egg for a tuna sandwich." Smiling Katrina  moved the egg closer to Ezra.

'Ezzie huh, I like that' Kat enjoyed calling people by nicknames. Continuing to smile, she reached into her bag and pulled out a container of peanut butter cookies. She opened the lid and laid it beside the rest of the food. Kat really hadn't planned on a full fledged picnic for breakfast but hey, why not!

The sun was just about to breach the top of the trees as the two girls sat in the box. Kat sighed and leaned back to rest her elbows on the bench behind her. There was nothing she liked more than sitting in the sun with peanut butter cookies to eat. Having a new friend to share with was pretty great too. Kat relaxed her face, all the smiling was making her checks hurt. Looking out over the pitch she started to imagine what it would be like to actually play on the team. She had used to dream about being a keeper, but the thought of things flying at her face always made her change her mind. Instead she settles for attending every game and dubbing herself Team Gryffindor's biggest fan.

"You play?" She addressed Ezzie without turning her gaze from the pitch, Kat assumed that anyone out to fly this early was either a quiddich player or absolutely crazy, like herself! Reaching down and grabbing a cookie she chuckled to herself. Kat was always laughing at something, unless of course she was frightened, in that case she was whimpering at something. "My brother tried to teach me to play once, he let me be keeper while he took shots." Kat turned to look at her new friend, "His first shot hit me square in the face and I fell off my broom. Haven't been able to get myself to play since." Kat laughed and tossed a cookie to Ezra, "He made me peanut butter cookies to apologize, and they have been my favourite food ever since."

Kat watched Ezra as she jumped to her feet. the girl seemed really excited about something, Kat thought for a moment, she really didn't see how her falling off a broom could be exciting.

"Well that just won't do! I bet you'd make a great Keeper! If you want, I'm out here almost every morning. Been on the team long enough to help give you some tips for Keeper if ya like? Or any other position really"

She looked at Ezra with a flat expression on her face. "You want to teach me?" Kat was surprised at the Ravenclaw's kindness. Usually people would just laugh at her when she told that story, but Ezzie wanted to help her get over her fear. Kat's eyes lit up. To be honest, the thought of actually trying to play still terrified her, but what kind of Gryffindor lets one little fall prevent them from doing something they love.

Taking deep breath she rose to her feet. "Challenge Accepted!" She announced with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, then her stomach gurgled, "But.... I think I am gonna eat this tuna first" She sat back down and opened the  sandwich that Ezra had given her. "Can't play on an empty stomach right?" Kat smiled.

Finishing the food in record time she stuffed three cookies into her pocket and proceeded to pack up some of her stuff. Once she was satisfied that she hadn't left a hug mess Kat grabbed her broom. "Okay!" She announced looking at Ezra with a grin, "What do you know about being a chaser?" Kat liked the idea of being a Keeper, but having things thrown at her was not something she was ready for just yet. Chaser seemed like a good place to start.

She was glad Ezra had offered to give her some tips, she may not ever get over her fear, but at least she was going to try. She was also fairly sure that Ezra was not going to throw the quaffle as her face, unlike her brother. That really was her biggest fear in all of this, getting hit in the face and falling to her doom. the only thing she was more afraid of when it came to quiddich were the bludgers, but Kat assumed that all the players were afraid of those, aside from the beaters of course.

 

Kat followed Ezra onto the pitch, she was almost as excited as the first time she flew a broom. Stopping beside her new friend she tried her hardest to listen to everything that Ezra was say. Unfortunately, Kat did not have the most attentive listening skills, she heard about the first three words of Ezra's explanation before zoning out and imagining what it would be like to play. Through her musings in her head, she caught bits and pieces of what Ezra was saying something about a spotlight, and then about a small golden thing, she may have said something about getting beat, or was she saying something about the beaters.... Kat shook her head as she came back to reality.

"The three biggest things for a Chaser are speed,agility, and focus. You've got to find a position you're comfortable in, as well as areodynamic. The faster you are the more chances you'll have to score. Now, try this."

Faster? that was something that Kat could do, she loved speed, be it flying or running. Focus on the overhand, that would most likely proved to be Kat's Achilles Heel. Kat was a little.... lets say challenged, in the focus department. She knew how to focus, and she really could if she tried, Kat just rarely attempted the feat. She found that focusing on the same thing for a long period o time was boring, and no one likes boring.

Ezra had reached over and repositioned Kat's hands. She was now in an awkward squatting position with her hands way up high on the broomstick. It wasn't the most comfortable way to fly but if Ezra thought it wold help, then she was willing to give it  a shot.

"Now, your dominant hand should always be the one closer to you than to the tip of the broom. Your non dominant hand is the control hand to make sure you don't fall off and fly straight. Before anything else, take a lap or two and see if that works for you. Don't forget to make like you're catching the ball as well!"

Katrina shot off, trying her best to stay balanced she immediately noticed the difference in speed. Weaving in and out of the spectator boxes she practiced using he right hand to reach out and catch an invisible ball that she imagined was being thrown at her. She was doing a pretty good job of staying balanced and moving fast. She even threw in some of the tricks she had learned from her mother. A back-spin here and a loop-around there. The tricks were more fun with her new found speed.

Coming to a stop beside Ezra Kat was jubilant. "I have never been able to get that much speed before!" She practically yelled to her friend, "That was amazing!" The second sentence came with so much enthusiasm that Kat had to rapidly rebalance herself before she fell. Once seated securely back on her broom, she broke into a fit of giggles.