For the Love of the Game

      A new team meant a new locker room and a new uniform. My uniform consisted of an orange fur toga with black speckles, brown leather pants and no shoes. My shoulder pads were bone spikes and a leather strap secured them in place. My gloves and racket were bone coloured. I was ready to play!

     One of our earliest games that season was against Maraqua. I wasn’t too nervous. I had gotten the hang of the tournament now and for the first time felt comfortable with my team. Maraqua had been a mid-tier team but suddenly risen in the ranks to fifth last year. However, this was a new season.

      It could be anyone’s game.

      The game got off to a rough start with a mutant Yooyu. I reached the Yooyu first but was soon enough met by “The Black Hole” himself. Unlike most teams, Hughlis was the sole forward for Maraqua. I thought that was crazy since it essentially meant that he had the field to himself while the rest of his team handled defence. Of course, I had heard the rumours that his nickname stemmed from his massive ego but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

      Thankfully, I wasn’t alone on the field. I tossed the mutant Yooyu Wila’s way but of course it curved. Loryche was able to intercept though and began to work her way down the field. Wila and I teamed up to keep Hughlis busy. Unfortunately, Loryche was having a hard time working past Maraqua’s defence by herself.

      That’s when I saw a goal power-up. I cast a glance at Wila and she nodded. I snatched up the power-up before making my next move.

      “Loryche, over here!” I waved my arms to get my captain’s attention.

      Loryche shot the Yooyu my way and it curved to bounce off the nearest wall.

      I caught it after that and sent a quick prayer to Fyora. Then I shot the Yooyu towards our opponent’s goal. The broader target made Maraqua’s greater defence useless. I held my breath as I saw the Yooyu make a direct shot into the goal. I scored!

      The first half of the game was brutal with a slew of mutant and Darigan Yooyus. Much as I didn’t care for Hughlis, his ego wasn’t as inflated as I thought. He wasn’t just good, he was great. He was relentless and made goal after goal. Despite myself, I found myself admiring my rival.

      We did our best but it wasn’t enough. Maraqua absolutely mopped the floor with us. I don’t think I’d ever played a harder game. Though, I could rest assured that the Cup wasn’t over yet. We still had plenty of chances to win.

      “Well this should be easy,” Scrap said.

      “Kiko Lake are pretty consistent low-tier but that doesn’t mean let your guard down,” Loryche cautioned. “We need this win so do your best out there!”

      “Yes, Captain!” the rest of the team chorused.

      The game did not start off easy as we all struggled to catch a Darigan Yooyu. It consistently dodged every effort either team made to shoot it. Though, we weren’t willing to relent. It kept us busy for quite a while before it shot into our goal. I sighed and hoped this wasn’t an indicator of how the rest of the game would go.

      We got a bit of a breather with a few relatively easy goals. Then a mutant Yooyu made an appearance. Up to this point, we had been able to keep the Yooyu away from the other side. While two of us kept our rival forwards busy, one of us would work past defence and score. This strategy collapsed with the devious nature of the mutant.

      Unable to predict the direction of the Yooyu, passing proved tricky. It allowed our rivals to steal the Yooyu. Given that we only had one defender, this was a problem. Loryche had fallen back to help Scrap, leaving Wila and I out in the center of the field. Now we just needed the right opening to make a shot.

      That opportunity arose when I intercepted a pass from Kiko Lake’s right forward Kitah. I tried to make a bold shot in order to avoid the defenders but the Yooyu didn’t cooperate. It curved almost directly into the Kiko Lake left defender’s racket. Undeterred, I raced forward.

      “Thanks for passing it to me,” Cellers said with a smirk.

      Before I could even attempt a comeback or make a move to steal, I saw a layer of ice form over Cellers. I whipped my head around to see Wila give me a wink. I turned back to Cellers with a smirk of my own. “No, thank you.” I walked over to the goal, careful not to cross the boundary line. Then, I lightly tossed the Yooyu directly into the net.

      A few more easy goals later, another Darigan Yooyu presented itself on the field. It was easily the least favourite Yooyu in the game. I was almost tempted to let Kiko Lake have it. What was one goal after all? Then I remembered Captain’s words before the game.

      “Does chasing it make it worse or better?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

      Wila shrugged her shoulders, looking as helpless as I felt.

      Together, we joined the fray. With no real direction from anyone, the Yooyu scored a goal for us this time.

      Next up was a clockwork Yooyu.

      “Are we ever gonna catch a break?” Wila groaned.

      “I got this one,” I reassured her.

      Unlike Prytariel, Loryche left it up to her fellow forwards whether we went after clockworks. Sometimes, it was worth the risk. Other times it wasn’t. We had a solid lead against Kiko Lake. I didn’t have to go after this one but figured it was still worth the effort.

      As I had almost the entire game, I reached the Yooyu first. I slipped past Kitah and Pinnock with ease before making my way towards Colb. He was the weaker defender on the team and I had only seconds to work with. Unfortunately, Cellers blocked my shot, shoving in front of Colb. I bristled, not wanting the brown Kiko to get away with that.

      “Don’t trust your teammates much, do ya?” I scoffed.

      “I trust them plenty, Kroe. As team captain, it’s my job to make up for any weaknesses,” Cellers said in his surprisingly deep voice.

      As we talked, the clockwork began to blink a warning.

     Cellers cocked a brow in silent challenge.

     With a scowl I backed off, knowing my opportunity to make a goal with this Yooyu at least was past.

     Cellers threw the Yooyu to explode harmlessly against the nearest wall.

      I got a chance at redemption just a short time later as a second clockwork made it onto the field. With only seconds to work with, there was no way I could involve any of my teammates, though that was the best strategy we could use against the stellar defence of Cellers. Thinking quickly, I decided to rush the much smaller Kiko. The species wasn’t exactly known for its speed and I hoped my greater agility would help me out here. I saw Cellers brace himself for an impact, prepared to stop me.

      I couldn’t help my smirk as I met his hard gaze. Then, at the last possible second, I slipped to the right and made a shot through the gap that Colb left unguarded, letting his captain hold up their defence alone. Their goalkeeper Quinnock lacked any decent speed and I watched with satisfaction as the clockwork slipped right past his outstretched hooves to land safely in the net. I celebrated briefly with a brief fist pump. Score!

      The last minute of the game took a rough turn with a couple of mutant and Darigan Yooyus tossed in. We were able to make successful goals with each of the mutants but once more, the Darigan Yoos made the game far more difficult than it had to be. Kiko Lake actually managed to score with one of them but I redeemed us by scoring with the second. The game finished up with a mutant Yooyu that I managed to score with in the last second.

      Not that we had needed it.

     As Scrap had predicted we got our easy win. It was one we desperately needed but it wasn’t enough. Unfortunately, the rest of our season did not go nearly as well. We slogged through game after game, losing more than we won. We played hard but to no avail.

      We ended the season at tenth place. The team had fallen two whole ranks from the previous season. My heart sank as I realized what this meant. My career was finished. There was no way any other team would have me given my consistently poor performance.

      “I took a risk with you, Elbin,” Loryche admitted with a heavy sigh. “But now…”

      “I know. Thanks for letting me play on your team. I’m sorry it didn’t work out as you hoped,” I said.

      “I’m sorry too, Elbin.”

     To be continued…