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From her vantage point atop the cabin of Hebe, Rey could just see the top of the hill that the summer campers would come across before too long. It was the first day of the summer camp; a day which she considered as exciting as her birthday. For one, she got to see all of her old friends again, except for the few that, like her, stayed year round. It also signaled the end of school for her and the start of three months of freedom, fun, and adventure.

A sigh ripped itself free from her lips as she waited, peeking at her watch periodically. Patience was clearly not a virtue the tiny girl had in abundance. The one thing she didn't look forward to was the stares and hushed whispers of the new campers as she walked by. She knew that they didn't mean anything by it, but a part of her was still hurt every time she noticed it. They were merely shocked that she was so small, as well as everything else that they learn upon first arriving here.

Stretching her legs and curling her toes as she lay on her stomach atop the marble building, she peered down at her tablet again. The checklist of things that needed doing before the campers arrived in bulk had been reviewed by her several times in the past five minutes alone. Part of her worried that she had forgotten something, not at all unusual with her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition that afflicted all demigods. Everything was still checked off. Confirmation obtained again, she went back to watching the hill.

Several times, she dozed off under the white sheet that was draped over her body to insure that she wouldn't get sunburned while laying there on the roof. The warmth of the day in combination with the lazy breeze and monotony of laying there were a potent sedative to the young girl, though she darted awake after a few minutes each time. Besides Chiron having a fit if he found that she had "borrowed" the ladder to climb up there, she wanted to be the first one to greet the campers as they arrived. The year prior, she had just missed it. Chrion had been there in all his centaur-ness to welcome the returning campers and terrify the new ones.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the first campers began to arrive while she was dozing again. Her amber eyes opened to see a few people mingling around the hill with a larger brown body: Chiron. "Dang it," she whined as she pushed herself up into a sitting position with a stretch. Within a few more seconds, she was on the ground and carrying the retractable ladder away with little effort thanks to the wheels. Of course they had to be removed when someone began to climb it, else they would fall and hurt themselves.

Considering her mission to be successful as she locked the storage shed with "her" key, Rey walked towards the Big House to wait for a few of her friends. In her orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and blue denim shortalls, rather childishly decorated with butterflies and ladybugs, she wouldn't be that hard to miss, even from a distance. Anxiety mounting, she found herself subconsciously sucking on her bottom lip and rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited.

~~~~~

Grumbling about the necessity of her job, Isabelle, more commonly known as Sparks, was inspecting the barracks of the cohorts. Unfortunately, it was her turn to do the tedious task of ensuring no one had slacked during their morning clean-up. The problem was that, for the most part, everyone did what they were supposed to do. Even though that was right, it didn't break the monotony of the task one bit.

Fortunately, however, she only had one more to do before she could go train or something. Considering it was Friday, she wanted to get a bit of practice in before the game of Capture the Flag that night. The winning team would earn some kind of prize, though she, the Senate, and the other Praetor hadn't decided what yet. It was mainly to keep the people active and vigilant in times of peace, as being caught unaware in war was the worst thing that could happen.

Marking down the First Cohort with a perfect score as usual, she made her way back to the Capitol to drop off the clipboard and get changed in her room, connected to the building in the back. She pulled on her purple Camp Jupiter shirt and some shorts before buckling on her sword, picking up her shield, and heading out. Several people saluted as she passed on her way to the training ground, which she replied to with a similar salute, though she never stopped.

Finally, she arrived at the training ground, having been waylaid by several complaining citizens and senators. A smile broke through her annoyance when she saw that the whole arena was empty except for herself. Now she could get some serious training in. Setting her sword down gently, she pulled out a band and tied her hair up before using the console above the stands to set up the dummies.

As she hacked and slashed at the straw dummies, sparks arcing off of her sword every now and then, she thought of the game that was to take place that night. Some of the more artistic campers were already putting the finishing touches on the forts. Excitement built in her spirit as she thought of the chance to test herself against her allies, especially CJ. As a son of Neptune, he was kind of like her default rival, though she suspected that he felt the same way towards her. Regardless, it was going to be a fun night.

Chance grinned from his spot near Chiron as he saw the first load of campers coming over the hill. He'd arrived a day early, wanting to be on hand to greet his old and new cabinmates, since he'd been promoted to counselor for Hermes' cabin. Besides, it was fun to watch the new ones meeting the centaur for the first time. It was odd that Rey wasn't around, though. The little pipsqueak usually tried to be the first person new campers met.

Chance tuned out Chiron's welcome speech-- honestly, it was word for word the one Chance had heard when he first arrived-- and mingled with the campers, paying close attention to the ones that were new. When Chiron introduced him as their new counselor, he grinned and ran a hand through his dreadlocks. "He's gon' be showin' y'all a movie now, an' Ah've seen it sa many times Ah know it by heart. After that Chiron'll wanna give ya a tour, an' Ah'll come by when it's all over an' show ya to yer new cabin-- er at least yer cabin 'til yer parent claims ya."

As the campers were led off, Chance glanced at the sky to gauge the time-- he'd never been able to keep the numbers straight on a watch, but he was expert at telling time by the sky. If he hurried, he had just enough time to clean up the mess he'd left in the cabin this morning before Chiron finished the tour. And then there would be just time to get them settled before Argus arrived with the group he was picking up at the airport. Hopefully there wouldn't be as many new campers this year as there were last year, or the Hermes cabin would be wall-to-wall sleeping bags.

It was the work of moments to assign bunks to the new campers, and he went to work making his bed and generally tidying. He worked fast enough that he even had time to sweep the front porch before running back to the Big House to collect his new charges. They seemed slightly more shellshocked than usual, so he decided to be gentle with them. "Ef ya paid attention to th' movie, ya know Hermes is th' god of hospitality. So you'll all be stayin' with me fer awhile."

Chance walked the new campers toward the cabins, keeping up a friendly banter along the way. Their luggage was already on the porch, thanks to the satyrs who had kept out of sight before to keep from frightening the uninitiated. "An' here we are, home sweet home. Ah've got yer bunks marked already. Didn' know yer names, but Ah figure you'll know which is which. Girls on th' left, guys on th' right."

The campers filed into the cabin, looking around curiously, and each of them saw jewelry or the contents of their pockets-- and in one case a set of socks-- that had vanished during the orientation speech without them noticing. The astonished gasps that filled the air were music to Chance's ears, and he grinned widely. This was going to be a good summer.

Intersate 84. Cat looked sourly at the sign, and then turned to look at the trail stretching out behind her, all the way to Georgia. She wanted to whine, and ask her father if she really had to go... but she knew the answer to that. Even if she had forgotten, the scratch on her cheek and the golden feather braided into her hair would have reminded her of yesterday's encounter with Euryale. She'd been insanely lucky, she knew. Those bronze talons had been about to decapitate her when the bellowing monster had tripped on a root.

Resolutely, Cat turned back to face the interstate instead of the Appalachian Trail. Her father was talking with their ride-- Cat didn't remember her name, but she knew why the woman had been so eager to help out when dad called her this morning. She had the hots for Cat's father. There seemed to be a new one every month... they looked at the handsome, rugged outdoorsman, and decided he was perfect husband material. Within a few weeks this one would realize that Alan Foster wasn't interested in anyone except a woman he hadn't seen in almost 17 years, whose name he had never learned, and who he could never exactly describe.

And she doesn't even care enough about me to claim me. Some mother. Cat sighed and forced a smile for the cheerful redhead in the SUV, hoping it didn't look too fake. "We really appreciate the ride... we thought we'd make it to the end of the trail before I was due at camp, but the weather was against us."

The redhead made some kind of response as Cat and her father climbed into the SUV, but it was obvious she wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. With a shrug, Cat curled up in the back seat for a nap while they drove toward camp.

To Cat's disgust, the redhead decided to start asking questions as they neared the camp, wanting to know how long she'd been going, was she excited, what was her favorite activity there... the usual questions of someone who was trying to make a good impression on a doting father by showing interest in his kid. The unwanted questions kept up while Cat was trying to hug her father and say goodbye.

Finally she trudged up the hill, waving over her shoulder at her father until she stepped across the barrier. She gave Chiron a brief salute, not wanting to interrupt his conversation with Mr. D, and headed on to Hermes' cabin. Her things had been sent on ahead to save weight, and she yanked open the suitcase, pulling out clean clothes and the one thing she'd missed on the trail. Shampoo. With conditioner. She could manage fine with plain soap, but she missed her rosemary-mint scented hair products.

Cat was so intent on getting to the shower that it never occurred to her to wonder why there were a pair of socks tied to a necklace on the unoccupied bunk next to hers.

"Sons of Ares! Drop your bags in the cabin and dress out!" Ty bellowed, impatient to get on to work. He was already in his chiton, breastplate, bracers and greaves and wanted to start their 'tour' of camp immediately. Said tour was, of course, actually just a run around the camp along the typical morning drill route. It would be Ty's second time on the path today, but it was important to get his brothers in the right mind frame as soon as they arrived: that as far as they were concerned, he was in command around here.

Ty was one of the permanent residents of Camp Half-blood and spent increasingly less time out in the 'real world' visiting his mother or just out in town for typical teenage get-aways. Mortal schooling wasn't for him, he figured, and frankly not having a teenager around the house suited his mother just fine. When he did leave the confines of the camp grounds it was usually to draw out some monster. Over the rest of the year when the camp went quiet he kept up his drills, determined to never let another one of his brothers best or match him in military prowess... and to plan on ways of out strategizing the children of Athena in the coming summer. It would take him all year to come up with some plans that would surprise them for the few weeks they seemed to focus on the entire affair, but that would give him something to taunt them with and was therefore completely worth it.

His siblings lined up at the doorway, dressed and ready. Ty gave them a quick inspection and snarled when he saw signs of neglect or something amiss on their military attire. "So you think you can just slack off all year and get here and everything will be fine?! You think we'll just let that slide?! I want forty chin-ups on that bar before you join this run, and you had BETTER catch up with us by the end of it'll be another forty before I figure out how best to discipline you!". The boy saluted him, taking the order and ran off quickly in order to start the chin-ups.

Some of the new campers were getting closer, their timing couldn't be better in Ty's mind. He barked for his siblings to fall in line behind him and charged right between Chance and his tour to the Hermes cabin, cutting them off from their leader for the short while the pack of Ares' kids needed to cross their path. "If you can't handle this run then you sleep in the strawberry field tonight; your blanket will be the rain! If you can't handle this week, you'll sleep next to the latrines and your bed will be the mud! If you can't handle what it takes to be in Ares' cabin, you will not sleep in Ares' cabin! You will not speak to your siblings! You will not know honor or respect! Am I clear?!" Ty smirked to himself as he passed into the trees, pleased to intimidate some of the new campers. Behind him were shouts of "Sir, yes, sir!" and it was music to his ears... It was going to be a good summer.

Finx couldn't believe she was back at camp again she had fought long and hard to not come this year but the priets had basically forced her. With a sigh she got off the bus dressed in her usual priestess outfit and looked around already getting the usual bad feeling from the camp it was going to be a long couple months. She lifted her small bag onto her shoulder, priestess didn't need much of anything, and headed for th ecamp grounds ignore everyone new and old campers alike.

Pathetic. It was the only appropriate word you could use to describe what the whine coming from under the covers sounded like, and it had many unfortunate siblings to keep it company. Slowly Crystal's cocoon was drawn away and the teenager uncovered... "You know why you need to go to camp, and it's never for long... Promise." her father gave a little smile to encourage her "Your bags are already packed, I know you're a little excited to go, Crystal."

She made a face and wrapped her arms around one of her pillows "I'm not excited... I just knew you wouldn't change your mind."

"You were right." He grinned and sat down beside her "It's important."

"I know, it's just... its not fun. No one likes me, no one talks to me and..." she mumbled "it's hot..."

Her father shook his head and pat her on the back "You'll make friends this year and you will have fun. Come on, let's get you to the airport."

. . .

Crystal hardly made a sound on the bus into Camp Half-blood and what she did make was purely a reaction to being stuck next to the window. As always on trips into Camp Half-blood the horrible sun beamed in and warmed her face and the boys and girls around her talked about how they were going to get tans or get buff and be active outdoors... her stomach turned in knots. It sounded like someone had worked all year to come up with the best ways to torture her and then made it a group project. Fun. I'm going to have fun and make friends? I'm going to be bored and be boring to everyone around me. I'll probably spend the entire summer making popsicle for everyone, again.

The bus stopped and the campers quickly started unloading to join their friends who had already arrived. It took her several moments of gathering will power to actually leave her seat. As she left the bus she heard a snicker and a pair of some less tolerable teens were grinning at her "One of these campers is not like the others..." one jeered to the delight of his companion. Crystal grit her teeth and grabbed her bag. Of all the goddesses her mother could be, why Greek? She would have been so much happier in some kind of Nordic-demigod camp. But no, her mother was Greek and all of her punk relatives got to have an olive skin tone while her's was somewhere between alabaster and reflective.

As she walked on she looked up at Chiron and Mr. D, hoping, praying that they would say something about a cabin for Chione. I'd be happy if its just a freezer in the mess hall kitchen, as long as it's got air conditioning...

Angel Valintine

The sun above caught the eye of Angel Valintine as he stood outside the cabin he was supposidly going to be staying in once more. He had already been around to check out a bit of the surrounding area. He had just gotten back from visiting his mother back in Paris. It had been a relief to see that she was doing well and nothing had gone wrong. His mother had tried to hide it, but she missed him and naturally he missed her. He had gotten to see a few of his old friends, and they had asked him what he had been up to. The answer to that was never easy, and he hated lying. Then again, what was he supposed to say, his father was the god of love and he was here to learn to control his abilities and train to protect himself against evil forces who would rather see him and others like him dead, yes, that would be a good way to end up in the mental ward quickly.

He sighed and opened the door, going in to toss his bag on his bed. This was going to be a long summer, especially with many coming back as well. He did not mind people, he was quite the people person to be honest. It was more of how he attracted them that got a little tricky. He shakes his head, turning to the door once more. He thought about going to see who was arriving now, but the thought of being swarmed by people especially a few fan girls was a bit of a turn off. His father was very popular, and in turn that trickled down to him. His looks, his accent, his personality, all of it seemed to magnetically draw people in his direction. Even if he attempted to tell them to get lost or such, girls only blushed and giggled most of the time. Not that he would ever really say something like that. Angel often had to face the fact that he was to nice and forgiving for his own good.

It was another trait custom of his perdicament. He was a son of love, he was not one to be drawn to evil, violance or anger. Many saw this as weak, or only thought he was a face more then anything. He had made plenty of enemies here that way. As they said, all he had to do was smile or look at someone and he got his way. This was not always true, and at times, Angel would have much rather been normal then here. There was not much of a choice to it though, he was here, and his father was his father, and he was who he was. He had to face the fact that things were going to continue this was for probrably the rest of his life. He ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed. Might as well get it over now and let them know he was back then face having to be swarmed at lunch.

He could vision it now, walking in and having the sound of squeels or such echo through the room, only to have a swarm of girls follow him. Many had given him the nicname of cupid, others called him Romeo. He stepped back out into the sun, and closed the door behind him. He herd the voice of Ty loudly over the earth and shook his head, that guy was always so impatient. He headed slightly in that direction, to see him herding a few of the others like cattle. On the list of people he would rather avoid in the arena, he was on it. Angel was fit and worked out, but as mentioned he was not much for violance. He was better at archery then regular combat anyways. His father's blood ran through his veins, and the whole lucky mark thing did as well. He smiled a bit, and ran his fingers over the silver heart that hung around his neck.

It conceiled a special bow and arrow, he was glad to have it around. It was said to be similar to the one his father was familiar with and such, so he took good care of it. He thought of saying hello to the other male, but he was not to sure of the other's take on him, so he continued down the path. It was better not to tempt fate, a lesson most were well to learn here. He wondered how many new faces would be around today, it would be interesting to see how some of the more senior members took to the newer ones. Many were nice and helpful, others were a bit on the harder to get along with side. They were often convinced new recruits didn't belong here and had to earn their place and that could take years depending on who you asked. In some ways, Angel himself was still earning his place, even after four years, and that wasn't even the half of it.



Jessie VanHeart

Jessie watched the people coming in from the shadows of the treeline. His arms crossed against his chest, the only word he could think of to describe this was annoying. New people to think they knew everything and get in the way, and old ones to continue being a pain in his ass. He turned away, he would have rather been out on his own, but that wouldn't go over to well with people. He felt like he was in a prison, trapped here with no way out. It was disgusting to see so many so happy to be here. A lot of them hugging and catching up and going excitedly to their cabins. He thought of causing a little trouble, but that would only end with him in trouble. He sighs, and continued along. He knew most of the people here, excluding the new ones, and as he passed them, their names, parents, specialties and such registered in his mind. He alwas was this way, making sure to know those who were around him, their strengths and especially their weaknesses.

Passing by them, he could see it like a black haze hanging over people. Their fears. He smiles, it was like food and power to him, taking it in and using it only made him stronger. It was so tempting, but he had to resist. He pulled a small black book out of his jacket, and opened it to a song he had been working on, to distract himself. He began to read the lyrics over and over in his head, to clear out the noise and the annoyances. It wasn't like he had any friends to catch up with or talk to. With a father like Phobos, it was hard to keep people around. At the same time, his attitude and the walls he had built up around himself were a bit of repelent to people. He noted a few stares, and people whispering as always. He was like the plague of the camp, stay away from old Jessie, or he might eat your soul. He smiled a bit, the thought was ammusing.

He was the way he was for many reasons, though he would not let anyone in on them, it was none of their buisiness what he felt, and they would only turn it against him. He knew a lot of the time that emotions and letting people in was weakness. All people were doomed to in the end betray, hurt and leave others, especially those closest to them. He would not go through that, not again, not after watching his mother and step father..... He dropped the book in his hands, and realized he was shaking. He kneeled for a moment to retrieve the book, and slipped his hands inside his pockets. No signs of weakness, he could not afford it, not now not ever. His fears would be no one's toy. He walked along passing Angel, glancing in the other male's direction. Now there was one guy who had basically a good life.

He had a good home, friends, good looks, and whatever he could want often times. At the same time, he could tell there was more to it. In the black haze above his head, he could see the fear of loosing everyone he cared about on his mind, it was similar to his own fear. For a moment he thought about reaching out and stopping him, or at least saying hi, but he squashed those feelings immediately. No weakness, no letting people in, he couldn't. He shook his head, gah, being surrounded by people was driving him crazy. He thought about grabbing his guitar and going off to relax, and the more he thought about it, the better it sounded. He was tense, he could feel his muscles tighten a bit, and his arms pull closer to his body as a few people passed. Not that they were even passing close to him, most stayed at least a few feet away, few wanted to touch him at all.

It brought about the idea about the plague thing back into his head. Just because he was the son of the god of phobias and fears, suddenly it was like he was going to rot people's flesh if they touched him, or even looked at him for to long. There were a few other god and goddess children they aoided, more of the bad ones with darker powers or darker reputations. Lucky for Jessie, his father was one of them, and the added bonus of his own history and attitude just added to the fun. Many people thought what happened to his family was his fault, his powers manifesting and at his age of four uncontrollable. It hadn't been him though, that he was dead sure of, and when he got his hands on whoever was responsible, those bastards were going to wish they had never messed with him. A dark look settled in his eyes, and people backed off more. He didn't care at all, he didn't need them before, and he didn't need them now. Good riddence.

Pheobe laughed and looked down at her feet, her socks were the ones that went missing thanks to Chance's little trick. She was happy to be rid of them and planned on keeping them pinned up somewhere instead of on her feet... then again the orientation said they would have to do all of that training... perhaps those particular socks would be the only ones on display.

Her trip to Camp Half-blood was very exciting. It was the first time she flew on a plane, the first time to spend a summer away from her mother, and she was already making friends (or at least talking to a lot of people on the bus). Phoebe even got a few words out of Argus while they were on the bus... they were just "Eyes on the road" but that's something!

Phoebe picked out a lower bunk and immediately tucked a colorful blanket under her bunk-mate's mattress producing a curtain. After the curtain came a few strings of bells and beads, a pillow... No one could argue that she hadn't maximized her packing. Soon her bohemian nest took form in glaring contrast to the rest of the room. Phoebe smiled at her work and climbed inside. "When do we have to be out again? I think I might go check out the beach... they said they have a beach!" She squealed some and poked her head and shoulders out from her eclectic cave. "Do you think we'll have beach parties? Luaus?! This is going to be so much fun!!"

The tall girl exploded from her bed and ripped open her suitcase "What kind of sand do they have, does anyone know? If it's really powdery and pale I could wear this one, but if it's not and kind of orange-y this would be cute--" her thought was interrupted with another. Up bobbed her blonde hair with a dramatic gasp "Do you think they'll have body paint for some of the arts and crafts? I'll go ask!"

In a flash she was gone: outside to find a 'local' to answer any and all of the questions filling her mind. The first person in her bounding path certainly looked like they weren't in much of a hurry. "Hey!" She tapped Jessie's shoulder and beamed "Do you know if they do body painting here, or what kind of sand is on the beach... or where the beach is? They didn't walk us there yet."

CJ looked upon his camp once more, he finally came back from his home and his time at school, the tattoos on his arm, he showed them off proudly though at the moment he wore his school uniform as he walked into the camp, looking around and noticing everything and everyone that was around him. He missed this place, the fact that everything was far more strict and organized then their rival camp was something that he liked.

He chuckled to him self as he pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger, looking around before he went to his cohort, the place that he lived in, he couldn't help but feel depressed that he didn't have any siblings like most of the campers there, though him and Isabelle were in the same boat considering they were cousins and everything just no siblings.

Well he knew there was a chance that he had one over in the Greek camp, and he did want to get to know his sibling, even though they were enemies by nature. He sighed heavily as he rubbed a hand over his face before fixing his very long hair as he weaved through people, not worried about them after all they were being taken care by the Hermes house leader.

Once he was set up in the room once more, his long purple-blueish hair was pulled back with a set of chopsticks in it, that was actually his weapon. He soon quickly changed into his gear, holding onto his shield as he headed towards his training ground, it was just like the regular training ground just off to the side and practically in the water. It was his element and it helped him to train in it and out of it at the same time, he needed to be prepared for all sorts of terrain and conditions.

On his way to his secret training spot, he had to pass by the normal training grounds, seeing Isabelle standing there training. He couldn't help but let a smile grace his face as he pulled a chopstick from his hair, tugging on the string as it turned into his sword, he walked over to her as he watched the sparks fly from her sword before he chuckled, swiping his sword at one of the dummies before she could and laughing at the look on her face. "Did you miss me, Sparks?" he said to her as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The native american peeked through the forests, watching as the new and old camp members filed into the camp, even watched Chance do his thing along with Squirt. It was nothing new to her, to see all these things and even staying hidden was normal for her before she came out of the woods with mist trailing after her.

She knew that some of her fellow campers were going to enjoy this summer far better then she was, Like Chance, she knew he was just going to try and prank her some way. She grounded her teeth as she fingered one of her earrings, glaring as she moved through people, not saying anything as she moved into her cabin, setting her small bag down on the floor before putting her things away.

She then looked around before she frowned even more, something was missing and there was only one person that she knew of that would take something from her. She growl slightly as she slammed her fist down on her bed side table before she stood up from her bed, making sure that it was no where to be found before she headed towards the Hermes cabin.

She was not happy that it was lost, and she knew that anything lost or stolen wounded up in the Hermes cabin, because they either stole it, or found it and thus kept it. She gave Angelo a three fingered wave as she passed him, bumping into Jessie on the way also. "Sorry, Jessie. Talk to you later." she said to him as she apologized, before she moved past him. She knew that the tour was over by now, this caused her to burst into the cabin, ignoring the new kids as she went straight up to Chance. She was clearly not intimidated by his height as she stared him straight in the eyes with her blue ones. She had not even notice the new girl passing her on her way in.

"Okay, Chance. Give it back...right now." she said to him as she narrowed her eyes at him, a slight miss coming off of her as she continued to stare him down, clearly not very happy with him. She could just imagine how the new people thought, seeing her with feathers tied in her hair, her semi-traditional native american clothes on that were slightly revealing, it just showed how proud of her heritage she was. "I am serious, Chance. I want my tomahawk back right now!" she said to him, already in gear to hurt him.

Jessie was more in his mind then paying attention at the moment, so the tapping on his shoulder did admittadly catch him off guard a bit. He looked up to see a girl standing there. Her mouth seemed to be going a mile a minute, question after question, he was tempted to say a few choice words out of habits. On the other hand, she didn't seem to know him or his reputation, so the only obvious connection to that, her question, and the fact that he did not know her, was that she was new. Oh joy, he had officially been selected out of every other frikin person on the trail to be asked like a tour guide. He moved a hand to his temple for a moment and closed his eyes. He mentally counted slightly to calm himself as she finished and then looked back at her once more. Who was this girl, what was she here for. His eyes moved a bit over her head to her haze, looking at a few of her fears and rolled his eyes a bit.

They were like a lot of the others, self concious and such. He figured he might as well hold back his anger and sarcasm for now, no matter how annoying the questions and bubbly fluff was. He took a slight breath and turned to fully face her to speak. "Body painting, not really. Sand is sand so it dosn't matter either way, and it is that way" he says nodding down the hill towards the more rocky area. He then merely turned, figuring that since her questions had been answered, their buisiness was done, and there was no more need for him to have to stay there any longer. It shouldn't be that hard, he had been down to the beach a few times, the water and his guitar a perfect soothing match. Now however more people would be around, so he would most likely avoid it till night. He was used to getting in trouble, so if he got caught or such, he did not really care to be honest. He wondered for a moment what connection the girl had to the gods, and pondered asking. He wondered if the girl was even still there, or if her quick mouth was reflected in the rest of her as well.

"Thank you..." Phoebe said, her tone dramatically different than it had been a moment ago. Everyone else she had talked to so far was on a welcoming committee or new like her but this boy was a real camper and... he didn't seem happy to see or talk to her at all. The 'cloud' of her fears grew over her head, invisible to all others but Phobos' kin. Phoebe knew people didn't always like her, but was this really what the rest of the campers were like? What the Hermes cabin will be filled with when all of the excitement of the new season fades away? She thought about the angry sounding boy who was barking orders at the others dressed like them as they pushed between the tour and Chance. Maybe this wasn't going to be a good summer. Maybe she made a huge mistake begging her mom to let her come here.

Slowly the teen turned around and walked back toward the Hermes cabin and some of the other girls immediately looked up at her, waiting for an answer. She smiled back at them, shaking off the gloom "I got directions to the beach, who wants to go?"

In a matter of minutes the group of girls she had so far talked to were wearing their bathing suits and packing some things to take to the beach with them. Phoebe completely forgot about the trepidation she felt from her interaction with Jessie. Almost as an afterthought she leaned out the doorway and with a faint saccharine-sweet tone beamed "Chance, is it okay if we go to the beach?"

Chance blinked at the angry girl, wondering briefly how her top stayed up. Did she glue it, or use magic? Wouldn't a camp t-shirt be more comfortable and appropriate? He finally registered what she was shouting about, and rolled his eyes. "Sometimes things get lost instead of me stealin' them, Taigi."

Methodically, Chance turned out his pockets, then turned and lifted his mattress. Assorted writing implements and wallets turned up, along with three marbles, a shiny button, and an origami butterfly. Under the bed were larger items; several diaries, a magazine of questionable content, Chiron's record player, still with a Dean Martin LP on it. "See? No axe."

He folded his arms and looked down at her, slightly annoyed. She'd been at camp longer than him, she ought to know by now that he didn't steal things from people who couldn't take a joke. Or people who deserved it, but in that case the theft would be of something much more embarrassing than a throwing axe, and she would have found it before finding him, usually in an interesting location.

Whatever Taigi had been going to say was interrupted by one of the new girls, the cheerful blonde. "Chance, is it okay if we go to the beach?"

"Um, how good are you at swimming?" He caught her infectious smile and returned it. "I'd come be lifeguard, but I have to greet the rest of the new campers..."

"I'm pretty good, I basically grew up on a beach!" she chirped, "I can act as lifeguard if we really n--Ohh!"

Phoebe hurried forward to Taigi and looked her over "Your shirt is awesome! It looks a little chilly, but it's still so cool! I mean I couldn't pull it off, I'm basically flat up top but it'd make a cool wrap or something! Do you clothes swap? I mean I know we just met--" she offered her hand, expecting to receive another one in return "--but I have a few things you can try on first before hand. I just love the natural vibe that gives off."

The teen took a bit of a breath, deciding she needed to slow down a bit and not overwhelm Chance and Taigi. "I mean I live right here right now, so if you have free time or want to take me up on the entire swapping idea just ask for Phoebe!" There was another pause as her bright blue eyes fell upon the yellow and red adorning the raven-haired girl's cheek. Ah-Ha!

"When do we need to be back in by, do you know? I don't want to miss anything!" Phoebe smiled at Chance, giving poor Taigi a moment's reprieve of her energy.

Eventually, a few of Rey's fellow cabin mates can walked by, giving her a friendly wave before heading towards the cabin to unpack and help out any of the new campers if necessary. While she wouldn't have minded helping, Rey wasn't really one people looked to for guidance. In fact, most people simply ignored her when she offered ideas, though she didn't really blame them. After all, it had to be pretty difficult to take a person who looked like a small kindergartener seriously.

Fiddling with the pacifier clipped to her shortalls, she almost didn't notice the girl with the blonde hair in front of her. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there," she laughed, if a bit nervously. She really didn't want the girl to rip off her head or anything. "I'm Aurelie from the Hebe Cabin, though you can call me Rey. Is there anything I can help you with?" Genuine concern could be heard in her voice like most children of Hebe when they were offering help. Their youthful nature didn't really lend them to trickery or deception.

As Rey looked the taller girl over, she couldn't help but chuckle at the similarity of their skin tone. As a pureblooded redhead, her own skin was, what was jokingly referred to as, neon-white. The blonde standing in front of her was of almost the exact same skin tone. "Do you burn as easily as I do?" she asked with a smile while trying to break the tension that she felt from the girl's apparent misery.

"Stay out of the woods, don't swim past the buoys, an' don't do anythin' stupid." Chance grinned, and gestured at the bunk above Pheobe's, that looked as if the duffel bag sitting on it had exploded. "It looks like Cat's here somewhere. I'll send her over to spell you on lifeguard duty if I run into her."

Pheobe seemed to have good sense when she stopped for breath. Chance trusted her not to do anything too dumb, and she seemed to be taking charge of the other new girls. None of his sisters were expected to arrive before late in the afternoon, so he was glad for someone to take over the girls' side of things for now. Cat might, but she was unpredictable sometimes and apt to break rules just to prove she could.

He turned back to the issue at hand. "Satisfied I didn't take it, Taigi, or do I need ta empty my suitcase, too?"

Taigi's eye twitched as she looked at Chance, she placed her hands upon her hips as she continued to glare at him, not caring that he was checking her out, that had been something that she was used to, many people, demi-gods and humans did it often. "I am not stupid, Chance. Everyone know that either a kid from the Hermes cabin stole the item or the missing item winds up here....one way or another." she said to him as she jabbed a finger into his chest as she let him know just what was on her mind.

She watched as he emptied his pockets to reveal what he was hiding, when he begin to search under his mattress for her tomahawk, her nose wrinkling at most of the things that were revealed to her. "First off it is a tomahawk not a-" she had started to say to him before she was cut off by one of the new girls, this caused her to cut her steely gaze towards her as she continued to glare, letting her know that she was interrupting something rather important.

She was not infected by the infectious smile the girl had, she was not even approving of Chance and how he reacted to the female, it just caused her to roll her eyes as she huffed, her breathe coming out in mist form before she turned her attention back to Chance once more to finish the conversation that she was having with him before they were interrupted. "Look I don't care if you stole it or one of your thieving siblings stole it. I want it back...it is a heirloom and if i don't find it. I will make your life a living hell." she said to him as she narrowed her blue eyes at him before the girl had drawn her attention once more.

She blinked at the Phoebe as she came towards her , causing her to instinctively to step back and away from her, her hand clutching at her earring as she was ready to fight if she needed to do so. "Clothes swap?" she said as she raised an eyebrow, not understanding what she was saying to her. She looked down at her hand before wrinkling her nose slightly, moving back a bit more as she looked the female over, she was diffently something else.

"Ah sorry i don't wear other peoples' clothes and there is no way i am giving my clothes to anyone." she said to her as she put a hand on her chest as if that would keep the female from looking at her clothes and stealing them, and when her thoughts went to thieving, well she couldn't help but glare at Chance, sure he was good looking and sexy and she had liked him for a whole three seconds when she had first met him.

She hissed slightly at them before she turned and looked towards Chance once more when he spoke to her again, thinking for a few moments before she nodded her head at his question. "Yes. I want you to search every where for it while i search at the opposite end of camp." she said to him as she glared once more, it was one of the most important things to her and she was not about to let some thief steal one of the most important item from her tribe from her. "Taigi...just call me Tai." she finally said to Phoebe.

Crystal froze up, Oh...she's talking to me... she.. she doesn't sound as young as she looks... her voice does, but her word choice is-I'm over thinking this. Just be normal, Crystal, normal. It was quick, but she just shook her head 'no'. Chione's daughter knew she would be set up in the Hermes cabin once again this year-- Chiron would have stopped me otherwise, right?-- and the camp didn't seem dramatically different from years gone by.

This 'Rey' girl was chatty, though and asked another question. A tiny, timid smile painfully formed on her lips. "Probably worse." Did I assume too much? Is she going to judge me because of that? This is awful, I should have just nodded, people don't judge you when you nod. It wasn't a contest, she was just asking a question. Crystal took a deep breath, gathering herself back together, how could she really be intimated from such a pleasant, little girl? "I'm sorry... it's really hot outside and I feel like I'm going to melt..." she looked fully apologetic, "Can we continue this in the shade or in a cabin?"

---

Phoebe shrunk some under Taigi's narrowed eyes, she was definitely intimidating just in her manner, and she felt for poor Chance who had somehow managed to incur her wrath. As the raven-haired girl was leaving the Hermes cabin Phoebe added "Sorry, um, Tai, I'll see you around?"

She waited a moment or two, letting the air clear a bit from the mist and mood before continuing on, not to Chance: "R-right! I'll keep an eye out for yo--er-- Cat later!" Phoebe waved the girls after her as they marched out of the cabin and outside in the warm and beautiful sunlight. Yes, the summer air was definitely a welcome palate cleanser. The group started talking about what activities they were most excited about, and who their divine parent possibly could be. Honestly Phoebe had pretty much figured her's out, but it didn't need mentioning, especially around some of the girls who honestly didn't have a clue.

The path turned some and more people came into view. "Hey!" Phoebe waved at the two smaller pale girls standing around "You should join us at the beach and work on your summer tans! It'll be fun! We'll see you there!" She was certain they would come, why wouldn't they? Everyone loves the beach.

Crystal's shoulders slumped some once Phoebe turned away.

Onward went the procession of girls off to their first summer get-away. There was only a short diversion when one of two spotted Angel and drifted after him for a short while, but their mission was remembered and shortly the crowd settled in for an impromptu beach party. "Remember your sun-screen, everyone! Don't go past the buoys, don't horse around -too- much and um, don't go running into the woods, apparently those are dangerous."

"I might have time ta help ya look after everybody gets here. Right now I'm due back to show around the next group of campers." Chance pointed at the clock on the wall. "None of my sibs are here yet, unless they're new or snuck in when I wasn't looking. Maybe you should ask Chiron if it's in the Lost and Found."

Personally, he figured Taigi had misplaced the tomahawk. He didn't know why she always assumed he'd taken anything she was missing. She'd only been right about that once, and had made such a scene he was careful to control his sticky fingers around her. "Here's the key to my bag if you still think I stole it. Just don't break anything in it... and don't eat anything."

Chance dropped the key on his bed, then walked out the door. He was stopped immediately by the line of Ares campers still running around the camp. Obviously Ty was worried about them getting soft. He waved and waited patiently as the muscle-bound troop ran past him, then sprinted for the Big House.

The the girl's response, Rey's shoulders slumped a bit as she sighed. Once again, no one wanted her help, though a part of her hoped that it was simply because the other girl was preoccupied with something. Clearly, she was nervous about something. "You don't have to worry about scaring me away," she said, taking a shot in the dark as to what the source of anxiety was. "I like to have friends, no matter who they are."

Her worry over the blonde girl was momentarily diverted by what could only be described as a whirlwind of energy heading towards the beach. The girl at the head of the pack, new if Rey guessed correctly, waved and gave them an invitation, but Rey only waved back. Getting changed and everything would be a bit of a bother at the moment, not to mention the fact that she didn't want to leave the other girl. "Tan? I don't think that's such a good idea for me," she said to the other girl with a laugh.

"That's fine. It is kind of hot out today," Rey responded with a nod. "If you're looking for a cool place, we could head to the Aeolus Cabin. We just finished it last week. Until we get the other cabins up, it will house all of the wind and/or winter gods like Chione, Boreas, and Zephyr. Do you want me to show you?" The air conditioned, white building was just visible from where they were standing outside the Big House, though it wasn't quite so large as the cabins of the Big Three.

"Tch... Miss you? That would imply that I like you," Sparks replied, teasing a bit. "But it's a little depressing. The fact that you thought that I'd miss you means that I'm clearly not doing my job correctly at all." The two of them weren't on bad terms by any means, but competition between them meant that they picked and teased each other as a normal, everyday interaction.

"How's the training going?" she asked, summoning a small rain cloud to cool her down before her next set of drills. Of course, she would have pranked CJ with a shower of his own, but he never got wet unless he wanted to, so it wouldn't have done anything. "I hope you're ready to have your butt kicked by us tonight." The excitement in her voice revealed just how much she was looking forward to the game. And it was going to be huge as it was the start of summer. The first game was always the best after all.

Taigi rolled her eyes at the girl, though it made her slightly happy that she had shrunk under her gaze, chuckling to her self before she waved, watching Phoebe leave the cabin with the rest of the girl, raising an eyebrow at her saying she was going to keep an eye out for her cat or some crazy thing like that, that was before she remembered that Cat was one of the unclaimed so far.

"You are the lost and found!" she said to him angrily before she snatched his key off the bed as she watched him walk away. She quickly bent down and unlocked his bag, making short work of the search before she slammed the bag closed, leaving the key in the look as she stormed off in a flurry, not caring if she had blamed him for something that he did not do or if she blamed his siblings for something they did not do.

It wasn't like she had misplaced it either, she kept everything tidy and organized so that she was able to find her things, she even set up her section of the cabin to be cut off to the rest and a small wall section where the wall was truly suppose to be at was not at, leaving it open, except for a piece of curtain to block it off from everyone else.

She moved to leave only to get stop by the Ares cabin running in front of them, it caused her to have to stand next to Chance, then her eyes landed on Ty, her anger flared once more before she ran after the male. She tackled him to the ground, pinning him there as she straddle him, holding him in place as she glared into his eyes. "You or any of your siblings steal my tomahawk?" she said to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah come on all of rome knows how you feel about me." CJ teased her as he gave her a wink before he laughed at her, tucking the now chopstick form of his sword back into his hair as he looked to the sky. "Hmm you have a job?" he asked her, fringing shock as if it was new information to him. He watched her summon a rain cloud, a smile creeping across his face as he held a hand out, stopping the rain right above her head, watching it become one giant puddle before he let it drop on her, soaking her.

"Well Storm.....I am here year around so i can honestly say that my training is far better then yours." he said to her honestly as he chuckled to himself as he pushed off from the wall, walking over to replace the dummies for her, pushing the old ones into a pile off to the side. "Come on, Sparks. Do you really think your going to win tonight?" he said to her as he raised an eyebrow, he had more time on his hands, so he could practice a lot more then she can.

Cat emerged from the shower, toweling her hair. Towels were nice, too. Big fluffy ones. She'd missed those on the hike, too. She was so distracted by the sensuous feeling of the soft towel that she didn't notice the cabin had been invaded until she almost ran into Taigi. Not wanting to get into an argument while she was already in a bad mood, Cat wisely avoided Hecate's fiery daughter.

Well, there was no sense wasting a warm sunny afternoon inside watching the new campers unpack. It seemed like a good day to go stretch out on the beach, and maybe take a nap. It took no time to change into her suit and toss the now-damp towel around her shoulders before jogging out to the beach, noting new and old faces along the way.

Rey was here again, and-- oh joyous-- the dour Jessie. She wasn't sure if Angel ever left camp... and she knew Ty didn't. Cat paused to watch him lead his siblings around camp. It was obvious some of them were out of condition from the way they were breathing hard and straggling, but in no time her favorite view at camp would be its old beautiful self again as their neglected muscles toned up.

Once the Beefcake Brigade was out of sight, Cat wandered on toward the beach. She was slightly startled at the crowd on the beach, but headed forward to spread her towel in the sand, anyway.


***

Chance saw Cat leave the cabin out of the corner of his eye, and almost detoured to tell her she was expected at the beach. He swerved back when he realized she was already obviously heading that direction, and looked back to the path in front of him just in time to crash into Angel. He bounced off the taller camper and grabbed at his shoulders to catch his balance... and looked up into a pair of hazel eyes only a few inches away. He jumped back like he'd been burned, blushing hotly. "Uhh... Angel. Hey... sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Angel had his eyes on the sky, deep in thought as he walked along. It wasn't until he felt the other bump into him, that he finally looked down once again. He moved to catch the other as he fell a bit, wrapping an arm halfway around him before he jumpped back away from him. Angel blinked for a moment, and wondered if there had been something wrong with him. "It's alright, do not worry about it. Are you alright?" He stepped a bit closer, looking at him a bit to make sure he had not injured himself in any way. He was a bit nervous now himself, and couldn't look him in the eyes. He felt like such an idiot, he should have been watching where he was going, and because he hadn't been, he had ran into the other. He placed a hand on the back of his neck a bit in a nervous habit, if the other was injured he would never forgive himself. He hated hurting people. He took a breath, he could not jump to conclusions, and he didn't want to make the other any more uncomfortable then he probrably already was at the moment, so he remained silent after that, and slowly took a step back once more.

"Ah-I'm fine..." Chance swallowed hard, trying to look cool and collected. If he had to bump into someone like an idiot, why did it have to be the one person who made him go weak at the knees? At least his dark skin tone might keep the blush from showing quite so painfully. And maybe people would assume he was breathing hard from running.

It was a little bit easier when Angel stepped away, and Chance could finally hear himself think above the pounding of his heart. "I just... I've been trying to do too many things at once today, I guess. Been letting it fill up my head when I should be concentrating on where I'm going."

Chance fidgeted, trying to think of a way to keep talking without seeming awkward. "Uh... um... so... are you glad to be back at camp?"