Author's Note: This story was written several months ago, before my other fanfiction. It is finished, but becasue it requires minor editting, it will be put up over the next few days. It is completely unrelated to the other fanfics. It is much shorter than the other fics, only runnign ten chapters. Depending on how much people like it, I may write a sequal depending on people's response to this story, but know that my primary focus right now is still the Apocalypse series. This is a Neopets fanfic and uses Neopets characetrs which are not my own. Neopets reserves all rights to their characters, and all the other legal mumbo-jumbo. I hope you like the story!
Chapter 1: Little League
"Hey Sal, did you see the Times yesterday?" a small Darigan Pteri asked as she tossed the yooyuball to her teammate.
"What, about Koric?" the blue Zafara replied as she threw the ball back.
"Yeah. Apparently he did finally leave. I think he signed with Krawk Island."
"Does it really matter?" a red Zafara named Ralin asked. "Neither of 'em stands a chance against Meridell this year, so why do we care?"
"We care because that means Mystery Island has to bring in somebody else, and if they pick up somebody good it could be a serious problem for us." Kip, the pteri, explained.
"I still don't see what you're so worried about. We've got one of the fastest offenses in the league, except for Faerieland. But with how awful their defense is, they'll be going nowhere fast again this year." Ralin said.
As soon as he finished the sentence, Coach Chip blew his whistle, calling the team to the bench. Sal Starfrost, Ralin Starfrost, Kip Trine, and Hearnor Der, a blue Hissi, had been playing on the same team in their youth league for almost seven years, and Coach Chip had been their coach for almost that long. He was a red Shoyru, and was once a major prospect for Terror Mountain. But he had been injured, and never was able to return to the game. Now well into his eighties, he was content to coach youngsters in the game he so loved. His team had been together for almost four straight years now. Sal was the oldest, having recently turned sixteen, and was one of the best forwards in their league. Her cousin Ralin was two years younger and played defense behind Sal. Kip, fifteen, was the other forward and Hearnor, also fifteen, played defense with Ralin. Their goaltender, Jess, a blue bori, was new on the team, and was almost always late. She stumbled into the huddle just as their coach was about to start his pep talk.
"Alright, let's keep it simple," Chip began, "Ralin and Hearnor stay tight on Lemon and Lime. Try to keep them away from the ball."
Lemon and Lime Cracker were twin Gelerts, one yellow and one green, and were a dangerous combination of forwards. Lemon was second in their league in goals, behind Sal. Lime was first in assists.
"Also, play conservatively in the offensive zone. Try to get a pass to Sal on the outside so she can step around the defense. Kip, run in front of the net if you see an opening. Here we go. One. Two. Three . . ."
"Team," yelled the five players, and they rushed out onto the field.
The game started as usual, with Sal snatching the yooyu and pulling it back to Ralin. Sal won almost every face-off so Lemon didn't really even try to beat her to the ball. They moved the ball into the offensive zone, passing back and forth between the defenders. But when Ralin tried to force a pass inside to Kip it was picked off by a defender. They all shifted back to the defensive zone. The other team's defense tried to move the ball up to Lemon or Lime but constant pressure from Sal and fairly good coverage by Ralin and Haernor kept the twins from getting any good scoring opportunities. Finally Kip intercepted a pass and rushed back the other way. Sal got behind the much slower defenders and Kip threw a perfect pass to her for a breakaway. Sal juked left and the goaltender dove, leaving the right side of the net wide open. Sal casually tossed the ball in to put her team up one to nothing.
The game's momentum never changed. Despite double coverage, Sal managed another goal in the second period. Ralin came dangerously close to losing the ball near his own net, but recovered in time to toss the ball into a corner and away from Lime. The twins launched a ferocious offensive late in the period but good forechecking by Sal shut down their offense. Early in the third Sal made a great bounce pass to Kip for a third goal. The defense held strong throughout the period until with about five minutes left, Ralin was lazy with a pass and was picked off by Lime, who scored on the resulting breakaway. The twins tried as hard as they could to get another goal as the game clock wound down but solid defense and several key steals by Sal kept the Gelerts away from the net until the end of the game. The final score was three to one.
"Good game Sal," Lemon said as they walked away from the field. "I still don't get it though. How can you do all those jukes and spins and still hang on to the ball?"
"It just takes practice," Sal said with a smile. "Ralin and I practice every day in our yard."
"We do too, but . . . aw, never mind. See you later!" And the yellow Gelert dashed off after his brother.
"So what were you saying about Maital Koric before the game?" Hearnor asked Kip.
"He went to Krawk Island. And that does affect us," She said, turning to Ralin, "because he'll probably replace Nitri Cassale. That means Wizard won't have such an easy time passing around Krawk Island's defense," Kip explained.
"I still say it doesn't matter," Ralin argued. "Neither of them can keep up with Meridell's forwards. Hey, who's that guy talking to coach?" he asked, indicating an old cybunny who was talking alone with their coach back at the field.
"Who cares?" Sal asked. "It's probably some friend of his from when he used to play in the pros."
"Well maybe he's famous," Hearnor said. "Coach surely knew some great players."
"He never actually made it to the pros," Kip said. "He never got past the club teams. It's probably just some new guy in town. Besides, we shouldn't butt in on their conversation. You guys want to go get some lunch in the city?"
"Sure!" Ralin replied quickly.
"Sorry but we can't," Sal said, grabbing Ralin's shoulder. "Someone has a wall to paint," She said, staring icily at Ralin, "and I have to supervise because our owner won't be home for a few hours."
"Come on Sal. I'll get it done as soon as . . ."
"Last time I heard that we got grounded for two weeks. Sorry Kip but we can't. Maybe next week," Sal said as she waved goodbye.
"Alright. See you around!" Kip yelled as they walked off in different directions.
"Bye!" Hearnor called after them.
"Wow, you really are in quite a pickle, Tibbar," Coach Chip said.
"Boy, are we ever," the cybunny replied.
"Losing Koric was bad enough. There are hardly any decent defenders available this year. Not that we could afford any of them. Avaan demanding more money just killed us. We can't even get players from the club teams for as little money as we have left under the salary cap. If our stupid general manager had stopped and looked at the situation, he would have seen that we have a decent backup and that Avaan is unreliable anyways. He just got so upset at the thought of losing another player that he didn't think," Tibbar groaned as he leaned against a tree.
"Not one person from the club teams will take your money?" Chip questioned.
"I'm afraid not. They are all waiting on bigger deals from other teams. They don't want to break into the pros at the league minimum," Tibbar explained.
"Well, of course they don't. It wouldn't make much sense for them to. They all think that they'll get better and that they deserve more money," Chip said.
"I know why they don't," Tibbar snapped at him, "it's just so hard for me now. I'm being run all over the world to find another player. Our backup defenseman retired, so if we can't find someone we won't meet the roster requirements. We won't be allowed to play until we can get a full roster. That's why I came here."
"What exactly are you saying, Tibbar. This is no place for you to look for another player to fill your roster. All the good players around here are going to Meridell," Chip replied.
"A few months ago, you said you had a player who was heavily recruited by club teams but never joined one," Tibbar began.
"Huh? Oh, Sal. She was recruited by a lot of them but she never signed with any of them," Chip said, still slightly confused.
"If the club teams were looking at her she must have some skills, right?" Tibbar asked.
"Oh, of course! I think everybody in this league knows that Sal is the best player in it. She turned down all of the club teams because they wouldn't take her cousin Ralin. She wanted to play with him," Chip explained.
"Do you think she would be that stingy about playing with her cousin if I asked her to play for us? We need someone badly and if she knows the game we can take her," Tibbar said hopefully.
"Well, Tibbar, I understand how desperate you must be to fill your roster up but taking a sixteen year old? There aren't any rules against it but the league might have something to say," Chip said with an uneasy glance to the side.
"If we get her under contract there's nothing the league can say. It's not like she's going to play. I'm not even sure if she will practice with the team. All I care about is that she is on the roster and is on the bench for the games. This is going to be a rough year for us but it will be a whole lot worse if we aren't allowed to play because of our roster," Tibbar told him.
"Alright. If you are confidant that this is what you want to do then I'll get you in touch with her," Chip finally conceded.
"Thank you Chip. You have no idea how helpful you've been," the Cybunny said with a grateful smile.