Interlude
Excerpt from Complete Carriwitchet
NCL Stymphs Take It All!
Herbie Thumeltack, Writer
It’s the comeback that nobody saw coming.
The once-disgraced NCL Stymphs (who after a series of devastating losses wobbled on the brink of dissolution) have climbed their way back to the top of the top, the crème de la crème of carriwitchet.
“It’s been a happy few days for the Stymphs,” says club owner Bill Dodds. “I never had any doubts that this team could do it.”
Following their season of sweeping wins, and their re-entrance into the NCL Major League, the Stymphs—headed by Captain Kion Locke—have done the impossible.
This past Monday, the NCL Stymphs won 3–2 against the top-ranking NCL Wyverns and have taken Rank One—a title that the Stymphs haven’t held since 1967.
When asked where the secret to the team’s redemption lies, Kion Locke gestured to his teammates with raised brows, as if it should be self-explanatory.
“We have a strong foundation. We can take anything thrown our way.”
Indeed. The NCL Stymphs are largely credited with the saving of both the Wingeds and carriwitchet from the Sleeping Death.
Although details of their involvement have yet to be made clear, the CCB confirmed in a written statement that the carriwitchet team is the reason for the resolution of the mysterious illness.
“And,” Locke added, in regard to their recent victories, “we recently signed one of the best players in the sport.”
Locke refers to partner and former Wyverns player Taissa Cho, who’s made headlines this season for both her fantastic performance and, unfortunately, her allegations of abuse against former Wyverns coach Colum Frasier.
Cho was a key asset for the Stymphs during the match against the Wyverns, carrying with her the knowledge of all their old plays, and a ferocity that her former teammate Elise Henricks seemed to take the brunt of.
Henricks left the game with a broken nose, a black eye, a missing tooth, a dagger wound to the side, and a foul temper.
Interestingly enough, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Henricks’s wyvern, named Sansa (Henricks’s original Winged was irreversibly wounded some years ago in a dangerous maneuver that left the wyvern permanently paralyzed), seemed to have been elated to see her first rider, Cho, enter the field.
So elated, in fact, that Sansa left her position multiple times to fly by Cho’s side—and made quick friends with Cronus, Cho’s current Winged.
The new Wyverns coach, Tom Calloway, could be seen screaming at Henricks and Sansa from the sidelines.
For those who have not kept up with the recent controversy surrounding the team’s former coach: Since the allegations against him were made public, Colum Frasier has been fired from his position and replaced by Calloway.
The NCL Board reportedly paid Cho a hearty sum in reparations and the trial has been taken to the UKHC High Court, with Cho to appear as plaintiff.
Fans of both Cho’s former and current teams are set to appear to support the player (an online movement, known as #JusticeforTaissa, has recently gained traction on the social media app Cauldron) and the NCL Stymphs have been vocal in their support of Cho.
With the usage of a Truth glyph, the trial is predicted to end quickly.
In addition to significant financial reparations, Cho is expected to regain custody of Sansa, as the termination of her bond with the wyvern was wrongfully executed.
If all goes as expected, Taissa Cho will be re-bonded to Sansa while keeping her current bond with Cronus—an unprecedented possibility in the UKHC, where carriwitchet players typically possess only one Winged. Cho, it seems, is the exception.
“Taissa deserves so much better than everything that’s happened to her,” says Kion Locke. “She deserves the bloody world.”
When asked what’s next for the Stymphs, Locke almost smiles.
“The World Cup,” he says as his team whoops behind him. “We’re going to win it.”