Nico sneaked through the shadows of the underwood, obstructed by twigs and branches, leaves and roots, trees and ferns, as he stalked his prey. Like a demon, he watched his unknowing victims, crouched like a cat, ready to pounce at any second. A rustle cracked through the clearing as his victims were distracted by his partner. An arrow zipped through the air, narrowly missing him and almost tearing a hole into his right ear as it plocked into the bark of the remains of a laurel. His cue.
After the enemies had left the clearing, he checked the situation once more. Nobody. One deep breath. Two. He rose to his feet and bolted forward, snagging the flag and sprinting towards the river. As silent as he was, he could hear shouts coming from behind him, the rustling of leaves and occasional break of a twig along with cursing as a dryad with a bad day tied the responsible demigod up. No matter. He still had more to run.
A blur whizzed past him - an arrow with a tip of Celestial Bronze and spotted feathers at the end - as he came to a stop. Right in front of him, Will Solace was pointing an arrow directly at his face, his dagger on his hip. "Return the flag, di Angelo," he growled, the scowl going through the entirety of his painted-on face.
Nico raised the flag and spun it, inspecting it as if seeing it for the first time. "Oh, this old rag? I'm sure you don't need it, Solace. I can get you a new one if you want to." With a more savage grin, he returned his look towards the blond. "You know, I could easily shadow-travel-"
"No!" the medic snapped, flinching just a little. This small distraction was all Nico had needed. He jumped to the right and Will let go of his arrow which missed Nico by a rubber duck's broadth. Immediately, he charged towards Will and kicked his feet from under him, yanking the bow from the other's grasp.
"Gotcha," Nico grunted and went back to his sprint, batting other campers' swords away like they were nothing. Needless to say, being one of the technically strongest campers currently at camp certainly had its perks. Or, being respected was. Hardly any difference, the useful effect stayed almost the same.
The grunting from behind him, like a boar, didn't even have him turn around; entertaining Clarisse with a fight would only cost him time. After all, his allies -
Whoosh.
Clarisse let out a stream of colourful curses as she was slowed by a volley of arrows.
Fifty more meters. He almost felt Clarisse's breath on his neck.
Fourty meters. He broke through the border of the thick underbrush, passing the last few trees. Fifteen meters. He was thrown to the ground and threw the flag like a javelin. A team member caught it on the other side of the river.
Nico smirked.
Nico just cleaned his chin off when Will Solace intruded his space. He glanced up a to him to find a neutral face. Too neutral. "Solace."
"'I'll use my shadow-traveling', di Angelo?"
Nico flinched. Luckily, Will wasn't able to shoot arrows with his eyes or Nico would look like a slightly feathered porcupine now. He sighed in defeat. "Another day in the infirmary? It's getting boring."
The scowl scurried over Will's face and was gone so fast for the possibility of only having been an imagination. Suddenly, a smile - no, a smirk - was on his plush lips. "I know something better. It will also help with making you feel more at home - with making the camp feel more like a family."
Nico raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Solace? And whatever might this wondrous solution be?"
Will's smirk grew unnervingly wide. "I've got one word for you: 'Sing-along'!"
Nico's pupils must have been blown wide as he'd ripped his eyes open. He bolted upright with a "Nope!", already on his way out of Cabin 13 when he was grabbed by his wrist.
"I'll help you, I promise. But I think this will help you in more ways… aside from reminding you to not even joke about things as serious as this." He frowned, looking disappointed. "Naturally, I cannot force you, but as your responsible medic, I think this is the currently most sensible path. I can offer you to loosen you up beforehand if you want to if that makes you more comfortable." He crossed his arms. "After all, a patient's will is to be respected." His expression changed to a grin like he'd captured someone in an elaborate trap. "But if there's a Will, there's a way."
Nico swatted him.
"Okay, we can join the campfire immediately or prepare beforehand. There are some exercises you might be interested in trying if you're uncertain about your voice," Will elaborated as they were standing in Cabin 13.
"I think I'll take the preparation."
Will nodded and wiggled his finger for Nico to come closer. "First off, open your mouth a little. About one and a half fingers should suffice. Now, say 'She sells seashells by the seashore'. You should first sound louder, which is important for this experiment."
Nico obeyed, repeating the tongue-twister thrice and another one four times.
"Good, now that we have that…" A couple of exercises later, Nico felt both unsure and more confident. Will's methods were… interesting for certain.
"Very good, Nico," Will praised him. "It's been a while since someone has been both so cooperative and successful at these exercises. Now for the ultimate one. Let's stand."
When they were both back on their feet, Will nodded as he continued. "The way we do the last exercise depends mostly on your trust. One way, which is a little more risky, but less - let's say, intimate, is you crossing your hands and leaning back, entrusting your weight to me. The second one is the other way around and has me grabbing you at your shoulders from behind. Which one shall it be?"
Nico's face heated up. "I'll take your hands on mine, thank you very much."
Will nodded, still in his professional mode. "Very well, then cross your hands over and grab mine and lean back."
Still surprised, Will held the door open for Nico. When they went to the campfire, all eyes fixed on them.
"You're late, you missed about one half hour," Lou Ellen grunted and lightly jabbed at Will.
"We were doing warmups," Nico replied absentmindedly.
"I wonder what kind of warmups you did, doctor," Cecil whispered in Will's ear, whose face lit on fire as he started to glow.
Nico raised an eyebrow. "Voice training, of course. What else?" he asked. He took a deep breath, ignoring the other's reactions. Now or never.
The forest, the lake, the campers, Chiron, even the clouds seemed to still all at once as the sheer power of Nico's usually much more quiet mutter resounded through the camp, challenging the voices of the entire Apollo cabins as he sung a few lines of an Ancient Greek song for the small, eight year-old girl a few spaces away from him. He nodded towards her and while her eyes had widened in surprise at first, her smile grew much more gentle now as she stoked the flames.
The saturation increased as Nico was joined by a second voice. Will. Mere moments later, the Apollo cabin joined, adding a few instruments while keeping Nico as their lead, as the ancient melody, the ancient words danced around the fire and with the fire's golden sparks towards the sky. Memories of the past passed through him, memories of his sisters, of Hazel's warm, radiant face, of hugs that smelled like cinnamon, of kisses to the cheek and ruffled hair. His memories joined the voices and spark in their dance as they went to visit the stars, greeting them and wishing them a good night.