The pounding of hammers echoing through a musty forge is not generally the type of atmosphere one prefers to wake up to. The Hephaestus cabin in its entirety, as a matter of fact, didn't exactly scream hospitality. The few who called it home, however, probably couldn't do without it.

Needless to say, then, no one was very surprised when they woke to Nathan Holmes, just recently turned fifteen, slumped over on his desk, knife in hand, drool on face, and apparently more content than anyone in his position deserved to be.

"Come on, kiddo, rise and shine. Breakfast is in twenty minutes and I'll be damned as a good big sis if I don't ship your ass to the showers beforehand!" Droned Nyssa as she bumped his chair with her hip. Nate barely got a "'Morni-ooaaaahh!" in before his chair leaned an inch too far, sending his knife, his slobber-covered face, and his dignity sliding ceremoniously across the floor.

With a wince, Nyssa halted her retreat. "Whoops…" she paused. Offering an arm, which Nate took, she helped him up and brushed him down in an ironically motherly sort of way. "That… one's on me, lil' bro, my bad."

Nate managed a tired smirk. "Yeah, okay, sure. Whatever you say Mrs. 'good big sis'," he replied sardonically. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he gathered his composure and mulled himself up with his fallen stool the entire cabin was already awake, either hammering away at forges, tinkering with trinkets, or sketching out their next masterpiece.

After a moment, he pulled out the fruits of his previous night's labors. The wooden hilt's stain blended beautifully with the metallic celestial bronze, and it had a slight curve to it that added more to aesthetic than anything else. Turning to his sister, he asked, "Watcha think of this one? I've been working on the balance, and I managed not to get burned this time."

Nyssa caressed the dull end with her palm and carefully caressed the hilt and metal with her fingers. "It certainly looks pretty," she mused, "but viability in combat is another story. Ya gotta get it to cool as evenly as possible, or else the balance will be off, or the durability could be a worse than it needs to be. As a decoration tho, it's got some top-notch looks." She nimbly twirled it in her fingers, caught it safely by the dull end of the blade, and held the hilt to him.

"Was afraid you'd say that," Nate muttered as he took back his knife, though looking more irked than downtrodden. "I just get so caught up in the metalworking and heat that viability slips my head every time.

His sister sighed, and looked him in the eye. "That's the thing, kiddo, being in this cabin doesn't mean you gotta make weapons all day. He taught man the art of creation. He's a deity of artistic patronage, not some machine that churns out axes." She held the door open for me, as she had been leading me out of the cabin as we walked and talked. "You've got talent, Nate. Take it and go with it."

Having had the last word in their little chat, she added one more. "Now get your ass in the shower before you poison the whole camp!" She shouted with a grin and a knock on the rear end out the door, which shut in his face seconds later.

Questioning the Apollo cabin's diagnosis of his sister as 'not bipolar', Nate rubbed his bottom and trudged to the lake. Showering would do him nothing now, he needed a bath.

As he continued on his trek, he slid the knife back out of his pocket and began to finger it. He gave it an experimental swing.

Well, he thought to himself, honestly not as bad as I thought it would be.

He flipped it in his hand a few times in sync with his step, continuing to get a feel for his newest work. It was well-balanced, he had made sure of that during his forging it. He just couldn't shake the feeling that his swings were losing power to something. It just didn't feel right to be slicing, for whatever reason.

It was then he saw the tree near the lake that he figured out that the center of gravity was almost exactly in the center of the knife, making ideal for throwing. He held it in a poised position, as if he were about to throw it.

Ah, that's better, he told himself with a grin, much better. A throwing knife. Alrighty, tree, let's see what you're made of. Target acquired… and…

Thunk.

"Yeowch!" came a scream from the direction he threw the knife. Nate's head filled with dread, certain he's maimed an innocent camper. Silence, save from a few whimpers, prompted him to open one eye to see who had hit. It was the least he could do, he had been the one who'd thrown it.

To his surprise, the only one there was a young wood nymph, who looked to be about his age, sitting to the side of the tree, knees to chest, caressing her hand with her thumb in her mouth. Eventually, he caught sight of the dryad's eyes, after which she scrambled back behind her tree, giving him one last indignant look.

"Sorry! I'm really sorry, I had no idea anyone lived here," he told her frantically. "I was just trying out my—no, that's no excuse, I shouldn't have done that. Sorry…"

He trailed off as he caught her eyes once more, peering inquisitively from behind the tree. Seeing the look on my face, she visibly relaxed and walked back around the tree, still clutching her hand. "Well, it's fine I guess. But no more throwing things at my house," she replied with a frown.

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't call me ma'am. I'm barely a sprout."

"Really? You look pretty mature to me."

The wood nymph's eyes narrowed. "I just turned sixteen recently," she said, a flash of pride in her eyes. "I'm one of the fastest growing trees around."

Nathan turned from the lake to examine her home. It was a medium-sized maple tree from what he could tell. Then again, he was definitely no child of Demeter. His curiosity got the better of him. "A maple tree, right?" he asked.

The nymph wiped the chlorophyll bleeding from her hand onto her her airy dress, which looked as if it had been made from the leaves themselves. Jumping up, she grabbed a low branch with one hand. The tree's limb seemed to raise her up, as if it were making a conscious effort to lift her up. As she settled herself into a comfortable lounging position, she let her legs down, and they swung back and forth, seemingly in tandem with the flow of the tree from the breeze Regarding him with a much more friendly expression on her face this time, she finally replied.

"Yep! Silver maple, to be more specific. How'd you guess?"

"I see them all over on the edge of the woods, but not usually anywhere else. I'd recognize those leaves anywhere" Nathan paused to ponder something. "How'd one of you get all the way over here by the lake, then?"

Looking up pensively at her tree, she eventually replied, "I dunno." She hesitated for a second longer and eventually continued, "The view's great and all, but sometimes it can get kinda lonely here."

Nate pursed his lips at that. Most demigods knew all too well what it was like to be lonely at one point or another, be it a life on the run, lost parents, or just not being able to fit in. To say he was sympathetic would be an understatement.

With that in mind, he began to walk closer to her tree. "I hope you don't mind if I uh… climb?" he asked hopefully.

In an impressive feat of acrobatics, she stood on the one foot for a moment and fell forward, turning halfway around as she did so. As she went down, she caught the branch with her legs and swung unceremoniously for a few seconds as gravity steadied her, and raised an eyebrow. "You know, most nymphs would gravely punish those who so much as scratch their tree. You're lucky to even be alive right now."

Nathan's face visibly fell at this. "I told you, I'm so sorry about that, had no idea there was anyone living here—"

"But," she interjected, "I don't get much company, so… why not?" She finished, swimming herself back up. She scooted over and cutely patted the space on the branch beside her with a genuine smile.

Nate smiled back.

No more that fifteen seconds later, however, it had morphed into a grimace as he struggled to pull himself onto the lowest branch on the tree. Attempting for a third time to swing his leg up, he missed even more horribly than the others and lost his grip, falling flat on his back.

Trying to suppress her laughter, the nymph commented, "perhaps you should try getting a running start, you'll get more momentum that way."

Nate looked at her questioningly.

"Alright, plan B," she sighed, jumping down. She proceeded to get on one knee and lock her fingers for him to step on. "C'mon, up you go."

He grudgingly obliged, but still felt it necessary to ask as he was doing so. "Hey, I was wondering… why are you being so friendly towards me? Dryads are usually quiet when people are around, and I did just accidentally stab your tree." He gave a grunt as he pulled himself up. "Most nymphs would have stabbed me with my own knife by now."

She had already swung herself onto the branch beside him before he had finished his sentence. Without making eye contact, she said quietly, "Like I said, I don't get many visitors. And, well… you seem pretty genuine to me."

Nathan watched her as she brushed a strand of dark hair behind her pointed ear, and had to make a conscious effort to turn his gaze back to the view.

And what a view it was. The rising sun's rays scattered across the the late, creating glimmering ripples amongst the green and the red of the strawberry fields nearby. Morning dew sparkled across the grass like Christmas lights.

A few minutes passed before he spoke again. "I realized… I don't think I ever got your name," he told the nymph lounging next to him.

Turning towards him, she sat cross-legged with her hands on her lap, somehow still managing to stay balanced on the limb. "Like I said, I'm a silver maple," she said.

"I remember. But what should I call you?" Nate clarified. With a small chuckle, he continued, "I didn't think you'd appreciate it if I kept calling you 'that nymph' or 'nice dryad girl' in my head like I have been this whole time."

She laughed a laugh that made him forget all about the scene he'd declared unforgettable moments before, and said, "You can call me Silver!"

I've always like the concept of nymphs in Greek mythology, so I just thought I'd make one and explore the concept myself. As for the story, lemme know what you guys think. I wrote it as a one shot, but I've got some ideas up my sleeve. Until next time, amigos!