Reshar Collifay: A Star in the Making - Part Four

The look in the Aisha's eyes scared Reshar. But when the first Yooyu came up, he forgot all about his opponent. A snow Yooyu rose into the middle of the field and Nixx was sprinting to get it. Nixx got there first and ran past the Aisha. Nixx tried to move to the left of the Draik, but the Draik stole it out of his hands and passed to the Aisha. The Aisha ran into Nixx, and then ran past Thilve with ease. The Aisha shot above Reshar’s head and into the goal, and Brightvale scored their first of the match with two minutes left. Reshar shrank down in defeat, but realized the game wasn't even halfway over.

     The referee once again blew his whistle and the next Yooyu to appear was a faerie Yooyu. Nixx ran to it as fast as he could and he gained possession of it again. He ran past the Aisha and ran into the Draik. He faked left and ran right, passing the Draik. He was face to face with the Elephante now. He shot the Yooyu, and it curved right and the Elephante got confused and dived right, but the Yooyu passed him and went into the goal. The crowd went crazy as Nixx scored. The score was now tied up 1-1 with 1:15 left on the game clock. Reshar high fived Nixx and he returned to his position. The referee blew his whistle again and the next Yooyu to appear was a fire Yooyu. Nixx and the Aisha sprinted to get it, and they got it at the same time. They began to fight over it and the referee blew his whistle again. He signaled that the play would be redone.

     Nixx and the Aisha returned to their positions and waited for the referee to blow his whistle again. The high-pitched sound came from the whistle and the fire Yooyu appeared again. Nixx and the Aisha ran to get it again and the Aisha was successful. The Aisha ran down the field and fumbled the Yooyu. Thilve retrieved it and he immediately passed it to Nixx. Nixx ran down the field and ran into the Draik. The Yooyu was fumbled again and the Draik picked it up and passed it to the Aisha. But the Yooyu went straight past the Aisha and landed into Thilve's possession. Thilve ran it downfield past the Aisha and was now in front of the Draik. Nixx was wide open in front of the goal, and Thilve passed it to him. Nixx received the Yooyu with 5 seconds left, shot it left, and scored! The Yooyu went through the Elephante's knees and scored the game-winning goal as time expired!

     The crowd was as loud as Reshar had ever heard. The referee blew his whistle to signal the game was over. Reshar, Thilve and Nixx jumped up and down with joy. Brightvale left the field in disappointment, and Aiden ran onto the field to meet up with the Neopia Central team. A blue Gelert walked on to the middle of the field. "Neopia Central has defeated Brightvale 2-1 to advance to the Quarterfinals of our tournament. There they will play the team from Faerieland, who defeated Krawk Island earlier today 3-1. The game will be played later tonight. Players will need to report at Field 1 an hour before the match starts. We hope to see everyone there tonight!" He exited the field.

     "Well, you three have a reporter from the Neopian Times waiting to interview you just off the field. Go over to him," Aiden said as he pointed to a Blue Lupe with a notepad and pencil. Reshar and his team walked over to where the Lupe was.

     "Hello," the Lupe said. "I'm here to ask you a few questions about your match. First, Nixx, how did you feel when you scored that final goal to win the game?"

     "It was the greatest feeling in the world," Nixx replied. "I thought I wouldn't have scored but the ball went right through his knees and when I saw that I just wanted to cheer as loud as I could."

     "Ok..." the Lupe wrote on his notepad.”Thilve, how did you react when you saw Nixx wide open downfield?"

     "It was a relieving feeling," replied Thilve. "I knew Nixx could score under pressure, and that's one of the biggest goals we've seen from him as long as we've been playing together."

     "Alright... Reshar, how does it feel to be one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the tournament?"

     "I don't really pay attention to that, I just care about what I do on the field. I had some great saves today; hopefully we can progress as a team."

     "Thank you, boys, for contributing," the Lupe said. "This story has a great chance of getting into the Times; look out for it! It will be published next week in the Articles section." The Reporter left the field.

     "Wow, our first interviews!" Nixx said excitedly. "I hope we can expect more of those. Let's go see Shirley at the Smoothie Stand." The kids walked up to where Shirley's Smoothie Stand was and Shirley had a line of three Neopets waiting to be served. "Shirley! We won!" Nixx told her energetically.

     "That's great, kids! Can you come back later? I'm kind of busy right now. That Meridell and Mystery Island game is attracting a lot of customers. I'll see you back at the hotel tonight. See you later!"

     The three of them walked through the Dome until they found the exit. "Our next game is tonight," Thilve said. "How about we go to the hotel and get some rest? I don't think we can practice anywhere in the Dome... there are games going on everywhere."

     "That sounds like a good idea," Reshar said. "Listen, we're one of eight teams left in this competition. If we're eliminated, we're still one of the best teams in the world. There's nothing to be ashamed about at this point of the tournament." The three of them nodded as they arrived at the hotel. They went up to their room. Each of them jumped on their separate beds and fell asleep.

     ***

     They woke up a few hours before their game that was about to start. Nixx yawned and said, "We need to get to the Dome and warm up against Faerieland." They put on their uniforms and started walking down to the field.

     On the way there, they saw many of their fans. They were shouting "Go Northern!" or "Neopia Central for the Championships!” Reshar was chuckling as he walked through the streets. They arrived at the Merry Go Round Dome a few minutes later, and they saw Aiden waiting outside for them again. He looked like he had news to share.

     "Kids! I want to tell you about Faerieland. I met with their manager earlier today and she said that this team was not to be messed around with. The team is an all girl team, with a Kacheek, Uni, and Shoyru. The manager, a Fire Faerie, said they've won all of their games by 2 goals or more, so they will be a challenge. I have faith in you guys. Get on to Field 1 and warm up!"

     The three of them continued on into the Dome and passed Shirley, who was dealing with a lot of customers. They didn't even bother getting her attention and walked on to Field 1. The Faerieland squad was already warming up. Reshar got all of the equipment and his team started warming up. The seats began to fill rapidly, and by the looks of it there were over a thousand fans waiting for the game to begin.

     A referee walked on to the field and blew his whistle. "Both teams report to the middle of the field!" he shouted.

     The teams reported to the middle of the field, awaiting further instructions from the referee. He explained the rules to both of the teams and then signaled them to their positions. The referee went to the side of the field, blew his whistle, and the first Yooyu appeared. A fire Yooyu was first to appear.

     Nixx and the Shoyru forward ran as fast as they could to the middle of the field to gain possession of the Yooyu, and Nixx was successful. He passed the Shoyru with ease and tried to go left of the Kacheek defender, but the Kacheek stole the Yooyu from Nixx and passed it to the Shoyru.

     The Shoyru ran straight into Thilve and dropped the Yooyu. Thilve got up and retrieved the Yooyu before the Shoyru. He ran up the field and passed it to Nixx. From there, he tried to run past the Kacheek again and was successful, and was now in front of the Uni goalie. He shot to the left of the Uni, but the goal was saved. Nixx ran back to his position and the Uni passed it to the Kacheek. The Kacheek ran up field and ran right past Nixx. Passing Thilve, the Kacheek aimed a shot at Reshar.

     As Reshar dived, the Yooyu made a sharp curve and hit Reshar right in the face. The Yooyu bounced right back in front of him, but Reshar was in pain. The referee blew his whistle, and Reshar's teammates ran over to him.

     "Reshar, are you okay...?"

To be continued...