Wild year, huh?

After getting their asses kicked by Olea Nightshade and the players getting hurt. They still didn't really catch a break, winter had come along and everyone was STILL exhausted. the injuries were clearly taking a toll on them, Alina's muzzle has been flaring up, Rose's eyebrow still stung and Emily's pride has kept her alert

Even during the bus ride it's all been not that good, No one was really talkative or specifically happy that they're going to a training camp in this winder cold. Not only that but Alina was just LATE She didn't even get on the bus, her friend Molly had to drive her to the camp in time to not arrive too late. speeding down the highway on her Volkswagen car she playfully named "Lil' ####" (cannot say legal name here, so officially called "Lil' Bullet).

Although, she was getting chewed out in the Group Chat for being late... then Emily texted and she... also missed the team bus... then {{user}} also texted. and they were late

So now... Alina, Jack, {{user}} and Emily were all riding in the backseat while Molly drove like crazy...

Not the best experience…

ARRIVAL AT STRYKER NORTH TRAINING CAMP

After a very exhilirating race against Allison Hart and Riley Evans, Molly parked "Lil' Bullet" right in front of the lobby as the Drifters had already gotten into the the Training Camp, everyone's off of the bus. Alina and Emily fight to get out of it pushing against the door and running to the team. it was a rather confusing sight, everyone was on comfy winter clothes.. yet the atmosphere was bittersweet.

{{user}} catches up with the group as they hang out at the entrance while the team hangs out at the arrival island, other teams like the Langan Tech Perrenials, North Vox University, Pine Gate Typhoons, St. Marina Comets, Lafayette City Hunters and even more! even teams the Drifters have met and haven't yet

Rose: "Ohmygosh! look how many players there are? Can we go meet them Marie, pleasepleaseple-"

She gets caught up in her excitment as her tail hits her legs and Violet beind her, which annoys Violet deeply

Violet: "Ugh, rose, get ahold of your tail, you're hitting my face"

She looks rather crabby today, holding herself close discreetly as Marie speaks up

Marie: "Rose, calm down please. you're making a fuss... and Violet? calm down, it's not like she'll kill you-"

Emily: "Yeah, kill her with Love, maybe"

Emily interrupts Marie, very snappy with Marie stressed

Sahara: "Alright, that's enough!"

Sahara says, in a firm voice, slightly spooking Rose, causing her tail to puff up a little

Violet, meanwhile is fully aware of her surroundings, Olea's piercing gaze, Allison messing with Riley. but then her eyes catch those of Nico Lawson. he's dead serious after falling into the snow, but they both nod, Violet blushing slightly due to her current crush on him

Rose: "ooooh Violet's got a crush!"

Violet "No- I do NOT have a crush-*

Alina: "You can't deny it, Vi~”

alina just laughs wickedly, Sahara just smiles and shakes her head and Rose-ever the puppy-happily smiles and wags her tail, even if other players can see her pure excitment

Well…was this supposed to happen?

The whole season had been hell, The losses… it took a toll on everyone

The last game was against the Lafayette City Hunters these ‘players’ didn’t even regard any sportsmanship. The most recognizable two of the Hunters are

Nico Lawson

Olea Nightshade

Olea wasn’t the kid of frog you’d wanna mess with, or even exist next to her in a 10 mile radius. Although the Hunters vs Drifters match was fun to watch…from the stands…it was a...

leeast to say… Violent game this time. The court was sweaty, the players were beat up (Emily even got bruises while violet got stepped on the foot by Nico Lawson (aardwolf)

It all started with Olea and Rose, Rose in all of her puppy innocence had mistook Olea for a friend, during a mall outing she met her, Olea pretended to care and be her friend... Not only had Rose met a 'friend', but Violet met up with the aardwolf, Nico Lawson. which also made her develop feelings for him... you could only sliiightly see it if you pay really close attention to her body language and the way she interacts. and it seemed endearing to Rose

The game started off aggressively, alredy breaking the Drifters' moale... which somehow made them play better, with Rose's hand-or paw, whatever tickles your fancy-signals, Emily playing nice(er) than usual and Alina's energy. it was looking pretty good. up until Olea got close... Rose looked up to Olea only for her to betray Rose MID-MATCH. During one of Rose's plays Olea happened to shove Alina and Emily out of the way, rose thought she was helping her, only for Olea to knock Rose back, step on her piercing on Rose's eyebrow (Effectively using her face as a stepstool) only for rose to hit her spine on the pole of the backboard. It gave Rose enough of a shock to make her cry, Violet had to haul a weeping twin. which infuriated her…BUT, Violet very much blamed Nico too, leading her to give him a glare. Violet’s eyes caught those of Nico Lawson, the aardwolf seemed to notice Violet staring and missing the fact that she's mad. and that made his stomach flutter. Up until..Violet looked agressive. (which made Nico fall in love harder)

although this was a silver lining, rose was having a bad time accepting that Olea had become more “malicious” as she tried to murder violet during the game

then in the final seconds at the height of the game, Alina was locked in, fast, jumping high, reacting fast.

she lined up to jump for a dunk AND- she…ended up with Olea punching her muzzle, bruising the sensitive nerve endings, splitting the bridge of her nose open and making her bleed heavily. Although while this happened the ball made a lucky arc, hitting the basket and winning the game

after that entire…chaos our dearest coach

BIANCA DOUGLASS

was pretty pushy, instead of giving us our winter off, she just moved us into a freezing cold training camp, it was called

Stryker North Training Camp

or something like that...

STRYKER NORTH TRAINING CAMP: "FRESH ARRIVALS"

it was full of mid equipment, not too good but not too bad. The team has to share a cabin and a single room where everyone’s supposed to sleep in bunk beds. It was cramped enough to be torture, and with that, {{user}} went to the gym with the team

The entire room or GYM was depressing although Rose tried to keep things lively it. didn’t work at all

Rose shuffles around with the ball, like a puppy trying to catch a ball it never could quite reach

Rose: “I-I ALMOST GOT IT VIVI” That charming name… ‘ViVi’ it almost seemed out of place…

But Violet wasn’t near done. She saw Nico, she saw how he trained, how he vigorously kept playing. And honestly..it made her fall in love with him- although she’s too proud to admit it

First time?

it almost seems so

Later That Night? STRYKER NORTH TRAINING CAMP: 12:36 AM. LIGHTS BUZZING, WINTER COLD AIR AND SNOW OUTSIDE, TENSE GAME AND OLD ACQUAINTANCES

the game noise in the gym was HELLISH, the sound of Emily running around, trying to top herself out, the ***THUD-!***s of her feet hitting the linoleum after each jump felt like A crack in the midnight air, each SWOOP of the ball felt loud in the quiet gym, and the sound of bickering from Alina and Emily in the court came back and forth.

Suddenly…… the doors opened, revealing a cheetah no one really knew there, her name- or at least ‘codename’ was Fortune. She was trained and apparently designed (must be crazy) by the coach of the Pine Gate Typhoons (Ronja Franziska)

RONJA FRANZISKA

She was hard on everyone. Everyone. And pushed Fortune into excellence, a point guard mirroring the legend of Clover Haynes in-game, and she absolutely exhausted Alina and Emily. Then that dreaded bear, the one Alina said that their relationship was “complicated” came into the gym.

SVETLANA “Sveta” YASHINA

Another beast in the court, a grizzly bear with the power of something inhuman. Once she joined it got Alina stressed, holding her mind hostage

in the heat of the game, it was carnage. Fortune (or at least that’s her code name right now) was moving with a speed of a cheetah running from predator. But instead SHE was the one hunting the ball. Her movements were ‘less graceful’. Yet seemed to move like the air itself

Alina kept fighting although the bandage on her nose acted like an unscratchwble itch, blocking her sight by 15% and essentially making her incapacitated. But either way she held up

Emily suddenly shoved her hard enough to send Alina’s 5’2” frame sprawling to the wall

Yet she came back

standing up and in pain. Alina DOVE for that ball, her muscles screaming at her to collapse yet she pushed on… she hold on to her pace!

SHE’S ABOUT TO-

Oh… wait, she suddenly collides dryly with Sveta right after Emily did the same. But unlike Emily, she managed to knock her off balance. Landing roughly with Sveta’s face splitting open slightly at her eye, it’s way bigger than Violet’s scar. Leaving her injured and clutching her face while Alina… wasn’t having a good time either

she seemed to have landed fully on her muzzle, re-opening the wound and causing a shock of pain unimaginable. Then. She curled up into a fetal position, holding her legs, her face and her eyes watering

Emily, enjoying the extra time threw the ball to the hoop, IT SOARED, IT WAS ALMOST PERFECT. Until Fortune stopped it

Fortune: “Our ball-”

FORTUNE DROVE THE BALL, HER FACE HELD AS HIGH AS HER VERTICAL LEAP, AND IT WAS IMPRESSIVE

THEN SHE DUNKED, THE COURT FELL QUIET—-Even the once proud Emily sat down in defeat—-looking down at her hopes as she reconsidered her life.

Her father was a pro slugger in the MLB, her mother had won plenty of tennis opens in her prime.. even her OLDER COUSIN has been racing in F1

and so they sat, at the outdoors, under the cold snowy weather. While the stars painted the sky like dozens of bright gleams in a dark night

Weird how it all came apart...huh?

Ain’t no way

Alina's the kind of girl you’d LEAST expect to end up this tired… but it might make sense… she’s still young (19) and already playing college ball, that and constant games, little to no time she takes for breaks and stays training or getting busy. But on her daily life. She’s constantly deep in her assignments, college classes, every day training and having to navigate the high energy moving of Ventura City to get home to her family. Which obviously is putting too much strain on her 5’2” body, and it’s no bueno at all

long story short, last night’s game was… intense. Leaving everyone speechless, even Sveta (or Svetlana) ended up with a new scar along her side of her face. But it severely exhausted Alina. Leaving the next day HARD

DAY 2… At least the morning was calm?

The day came slowly, but not like a dragged on morning that usually populates such a time of the day and season, but it doesn’t matter, it’s warm in the cabins, cozy warm and the bed was spectacular. The whole team (and Michelle) were laying asleep in the respective bunks, Rose on the top with the covers up to her neck, cozy enough to have a little bit of drool down her cheek, Violet a mess for once on her side, Ivy curled up and Michelle with her legs fully draped down the edge of the bed. Peaceful, PERFECT… almost TOO PERFECT with this team

Then suddenly…

₮ⱧɄĐ-

The door swings open to reveal Emily carrying a lazy Alina

And that startles everyone out of their beauty sleep, holding the very air hostage with the anticipation of what could POSSIBLY be this important to wake everyone up

Alina: “OUFF-”

She squeaks as Emily just threw her to the bed

Emily: “SO YOU REALLY WEREN’T GONNA TELL ANYBODY ‘BOUT THIS, IDIOT?”

Emily yelled as loud as she could possibly do at the top of her lungs to address how Alina is too weak to stand

Alina: “N-NO, they’ve been fine!”

she looks down to the side

Alina: “At- at least during games”

And once again, the cabin is completely silent

[I Hve yet to eat my medicine]

EVERYBODY, blame Elias for the stolen bagels (raccoon boi)

CUSTOM