Red Meadow.

[Shadowknight]

Shaun glanced over as he spotted another kid wearing a jersey walking in, seeing him standing next to the coach of the team, So, guess that must be the captain, big guy. he thought as he looked at him.

**********

"Come on, let's go watch," Katthrine said to her new friend as she walked off towards the gym, finding a seat in the bleachers as she sat down to get a good view of the tryouts, "Oh, there's Mar," She said as she spotted him.

[deathseal1390]

"i wonder how good his is?" he asked watching Mar closely

[Crimson Fox]

As the rest of the existing team joined Mar and coach to observe the new tryouts, Michael took a spot near Mar and greeted the captain. "Heya, Mar. What's up, dude? Anyone looking promising out there?" The sophomore yawned a little, hoping the tryouts wouldn't take too long, wanting to enjoy the early dismissal.

[Maero]

Jewl followed her father instinctively, she wasnt going to let him out of her sight, not now. She sat down next to him, feeling rather uncomfortable around so many people, and looked down at the menu. John had taught her to read and write, but she wasnt too good at it since she almost never had to. She looked at the strange food on the menu, the pictures depicting pizza's of various types, all looking odd and foreign to Jewl. She would close the menu and just sit there, waiting for her long lost foster father to say something, anything that would explain what was going on.

[johalt]

John looked around the restaurant, surveying the many people all talking, laughing, some even eating. Perfect. Nobody'd hear us through this din. A waitress walked up to their table. "Hey, John! How are you today?" noticing Jewl, she added "and who's this pretty young lady?"

John smiled at the waitress. "Hey Rose." He was a regular here, and Rose was one of the few people he could hold much of a conversation with... on a 'normal' day. "I guess I'm doin' ok." John looked over at Jewl. "This is, uh, my niece, Jewl." he replied, hoping Jewl would go along with it.

"Awh, that's sweet. So, the usual then?" she asked, notepad and pencil at the ready.

John looked over at Jewl again. Is she vegetarian? I have no idea what she likes... Better play it safe. "Ah, no, just two small cheese pizzas, Rose, thanks."

Rose looked between the two, then smiled again, taking down their order. "No problem honey. Might be a little while though, I think theres some sorta sports thing goin' on." she said, gesturing to the swarms of customers.

"That's alright, take your time." John replied, watching the waitress leave.

As soon as she was out of earshot, he said to Jewl "So, I guess you'll be wanting an explanation." He sighed, both inwardly and externally. "Where to begin..."

[Maero]

Jewl said nothing throughout the encounter, but almost broke her silence when he called her his niece. She waited though, and after the waitress was gone and John spoke again she blurted out, "Why did you call me niece? Who is she? What is Pizza? Why did that person say you werent human? Where did you go? Why did you leave me alone for all this time?"

[johalt]

John couldn't help but smile. I suppose I did ask.

"Alright, initiating explaination." he said jokingly, then changed to very serious. "That lady is a very good friend of mine; if I had said you were my daughter, it would have made things... Complicated. I dont have time right now for complications." Not to mention the fact that you don't even know who she is. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. No, he knew she wasn't lying: everything she had told him so far, directly or otherwise, had been exactly as she believed it, regardless of how accurate that may or may not be... Anyway, right now it mattered little.

"Pizza is a food very commen in this part of the world, and in my personal opinion is extremely delicious." She didn't know what pizza was? It was getting harder to believe that she was his daughter; how the hell could he have survived without pizza for, what, thirteen years?!

He sighed again. Here it comes... "He said I'm not human because in his opinion I am not, which in many ways is true; I am not entirely human, not by his, most of the rest of the world's, and what I can only assume is your, definition of the term." He paused, the short, blunt answer out of the way. "... There is more to it than that, obviously, but here and now are not a good place and time to fully discuss this, or show you what I mean..." he trailed off, hoping that would be close too sufficient for now.

He shook his head again. "As for where I went or why I didn't cone back, I really don't know. Any answer I would have to that question right now would be purely conjectural." He looked at her, hard this time. "Alright, I've said my piece, now it's time for you to say yours. Maybe if I know a bit more about... What happened... Maybe we can figure out together whats wrong with me." He sincerely meant what he said; she had been completely straight with him (or as straight as she could be), he could do no less for her.

[DragonMasterX]

Mia couldn't at first believe her eyes. It was obscene how much the shirt was being strained. "Wow, I'd no idea you were so... uhm, big," she blushed a bit, but smiled comprehensively. She wasn't flat, but Malon clearly was diminishing her by generous amounts. "If that's the biggest you found... It'll have to do. We should hurry to the gym. Are you ready?" she asked for confirmation.

(Gym)

"Hey, Mike," Mar nodded in greeting. "Not many, but I guess the coach'll do the filtering for us," he folded his arms, scanning at the group of boys, until his blue eyes fell onto Shaun. Weredragons didn't have exceptionally great noses, not like mammals, but with so few people trying out and being lined up it wasn't hard for him to determine who the differential scent belonged to. "That guy's interesting."

"Alright, ladies! Butter up!" the coach finally shouted, "We're not in practice yet, but that doesn't mean you can slack. You!" he pointed at a random young man in a jersey, "Let's see if those sissy-looking hands can help this team!" he yelled. The inconspicuous aspirer stepped forwards and was handed a basketball. He was then ordered to make a shot.

Each student was given three opportunities, and they were measured on the performance of each individual chance. Missing the shots was irrelelvant, the coach was looking for technique and skill. The aspirer briefly looked at Mar, who was seemingly evaluating his work as well. The Captain didn't have any direct or immediate choice in having a student in the team, but he would influence formation and team matchups in this case, that's how it was.

The first student, bent by pressure, missed all three shots. "Go swim!" was what the coach usually said to inepts. The student was quickly dispatched, his pride broken.

Like this, several more tryouts followed. This aptitude test was merely the first step, and failing it completely meant they were better off doing something else, not that the coach had any tact in putting it nicely.

"Go swim!" "Go swim!" "You're in!" "Go swim!" "In!"

Shaun's turn was up. "You," he pointed to the werewolf in disguise, "Get crackin', I haven't got all the afternoon."

[Shadowknight]

"Yes sir," Shaun nodded as he stepped forward, catching the ball that was tossed to him, Alright, better make this look good, but don't wanna show off too much. he smiled a bit to himself as he easily sunk the first basket, catch the ball again as it was tossed back to him, the second shot fell just to the right of the sweet spot, rolling off the rim and actually bouncing back to Shaun. He dribbled a couple more times then looked like he was about to shoot, grinning a bit wider, You know what, screw it, why not show off a bit? he thought as he suddenly ran forward, his were heritage giving him the extra strength needed to leap into the air and dunk the basketball, giving a thumb's up to the coach as he hung from the hoop, "Sorry, couldn't resist a little fun." he said as he dropped down.

"Wow, that was impressive." Katthrine stared in surprise, "He must've jumped twice his body height."

[DrakeZero]

Malon sighed. "Yeah I guess so. Just hope I don't rip this on the field." she blushed as she followed Mia to the side lines. She glanced over noticing the boys trying out. She smiled seeing Shaun dribble the ball then suddenly rush the net and leaping into the air dunking it. Part of her wanted to feel annoyed that used his natural abilities, but then again it was fun to see that along with the shock look on the coaches face.

She turned back noticing the gathering of girls on the side line. Some of them stretching to get ready for practice. "So Mia, which one is the captain of the squad? Or have they picked one yet?" she asked.