The Legend and the Steal
DISCLAIMER: PJO and HOO ARE NOT MINE AND EVERTHING BELONGS TO RICK RIORDAN.
A/N: This is sort of an underdog tale of hockey between the characters of PJO and HOO. Depending on the feedback I have received, will determine if it's worth continuing the story.
Chapter 3
The moment Percy was awaiting for had finally arrived. Training Camp was starting and he got the chance to see his new team play. He wasn't going to lie to you and say that he wasn't at least a little bit nervous. But he wasn't sweating over showing his skills against his teammates. All this time while waiting for camp to begin, he had been rooming in his apartment doing nothing but thinking about his mother for the whole week.
Over that time span Percy didn't get to know his teammates. He only knew Nico Di Angelo who was drafted number three overall and the captain of the team who was Beckendorf. After those two it was blank. Each of his teammates gave him their contact information in case he had a question about the team or if he was violating any team rules while being out and about.
Talking about his contract, so far the team hadn't reached out to him about it. But not having a contract wasn't going to impede him from practicing and getting better. Percy had a lot to prove and he wasn't worthy of the contract yet.
Coach Brunner gave Percy a list of potential agents he wanted to hire so the process could go smoothly. In the end he ended up choosing Grover Underwood a recent graduate, who recently got his degree in sports management. Brunner had warned Percy that he wasn't sharp with numbers or details, that he should've chosen someone else with more experience. But Percy felt drawn to Grover, he felt that Grover like himself was an underdog.
All this was coursing through his mind as he sat in the locker room with his teammates changing into his gear. He was putting on his pads over his tight shirt. He was struggling with his pads and he was feeling extremely embarrassed. Was it the nerves?
"Come on kid I'll help you out." The guy that came out to help him, he immediately recognized. The only player other than Nico that he remembered and it was only because he was the captain.
The captain quickly helped him put on his practice jersey over his head and pads. He even helped Percy with his fight strap. The captain had a deep voice which commanded the locker room.
"Alright fellas for those of you who are new, I'm the captain of this team. If you aren't blind, you can obviously see the captain's patch on my jersey. Young fellas and young draftees my name is Charles Beckendorf. I've been a part of the Valiant organization since I was drafted at the young age of eighteen. I'm twenty two now, so it's been about four years." I looked around the locker room and realized that it was full of people my age. Sprinkled in were your occasional veterans, who had been part of the team for years.
The New York Valiant had started a youth movement. They opted for younger players rather than older ones. After so many failed experimentations of signing older players and them not producing, they learned that it would be better to sign cheap young potential stars. Now it didn't come without its frustrations, over ninety percent of their young players never turned out to be good. They named the New York Valiant team, a place where all young talent goes to die.
"We'll be going easy for today's practices. We'll work on our puck control, puck movement, and getting back into skating." Beckendorf was a huge guy. He was African American. He towered over everyone. He was well built, making the young players look scrawny. On his face you would usually see a scowl, some even said he had no emotions at all. Apparently he's the most feared hockey player on the ice. He stands up for his team mates. Especially, when some dirty hockey player begins taking cheap shots.
Then the coach walked in. Immediately everyone turned around to look at him. Coach Brunner was once a hockey player as well. He was one of the most intelligent hockey players of his era. But a career ending injury which cost him the use of his legs signaled the tail end of his career. Now he sits in a wheelchair, but even then he's well respected. He accepted pity from no one. If he were to stand up, I would say he could've been taller than Beckendorf. His hair was thinning no doubt from the constant stress of coaching a continuously underachieving hockey team. His eyes had bags, which signified he didn't get much sleep. His eyes sometimes had a faraway look, as if he was thinking of a time long ago.
"So this is how it's going to work. Veterans will be practicing with veterans. Rookies with rookies. If I see promise in a rookie that continuously beats his partner, I will move him to train with the veterans." Everyone nodded. For some reason, even though Brunner was no taller than any of us (currently) he spread fear into us. After all, our fates were in his hands.
The whole walk through the hallways leading up to the ice, all you heard was silence. There was no chatter or any noise, except of the players walking to the rink and their hockey sticks.
Everyone made their way on the ice. Everyone began taking laps around the rink to warm up and make sure they were used to being on the ice again. Percy was fast and agile. He was at the front of the line for laps and was faster than all the players when skating.
Coach Brunner rolled his wheelchair on the ice and projected his voice. "Alright that's enough warming up. First we will be doing puck control. Each player will skate the puck up the rink and shoot the puck into the goal. We expect none of you to lose control of the puck and of course make the goal." Everyone began getting in line. Percy heard some of his fellow rookies were whispering about how easy this was going to be.
Beckendorf went first. For someone that big, Beckendorf moved like a ballerina. He was agile and quick. He effortlessly went up the rink and quickly shot the puck into the goal with precision. After Beckendorf it was a wash. Veterans were at the beginning of the line and most, if not all them did the drill with ease.
Next up were the rookies. Percy was the first one up in line. Percy always was the first one try something new, even in high school. Percy got his stick ready on the ice. He heard the whistle and he quickly moved the puck with skill and efficiency. He went up the rink quickly and shot the puck with sniping ability right into the top corner. Percy didn't know it then, but most of the veteran players, rookies, and Coach Brunner were in state of shock. Could he be the biggest steal in history?
As was expected, only a few rookies did it correctly. Nico, Percy, and Travis were the only rookies who showed promise and grit out of the group. They did it correctly and in standard time. The other rookies were a little miffed and angry at themselves that they couldn't finish the drill.
Nico and Travis were moved with the veterans because Coach Brunner believed they were ready for the heavier workload the veterans had to endure. Percy was kept with rookies. Coach Brunner thought that it would be best, to slowly move him into a heavier workload. He had heard of Percy's tragic story. Chiron Brunner was blessed to play with Percy's father on the same team for a year. He always felt that Poseidon was a calm yet influential person in the locker room. A total character, he was saddened at the news that his former team mate had been murdered. But the best thing to do is move on. But the way Percy played exactly mirrored his father's.
The next drill was performed. Travis and Nico were with the veterans and performed the drill with mixed results. The drill they were performing was precision passing. The veterans of course made precise and touch passes to their teammates. Travis overshot his pass which ended hitting the boards. Nico's pass was a little short, but was definitely on target. They then had to switch, Travis and Nico had to learn to control a pass and move it up the ice. Nico controlled the puck that was passed to him and so did Travis.
After the veterans finished, they eyed Percy and the rookie group intently. Percy like the last drill was at the front of the line. He decided that he was going to pass first. His partner was skating fast and Percy delivered the puck straight to his stick in stride. The veterans and the coach had to feign that they weren't enthusiastic of his talent. Now it was his turn to switch and be on the receiving end of the pass. His partner however, wasn't very good at passing. He overshot Percy about a foot in front of him. But Percy sped up and controlled the pass and quickly passed it back to the line.
The rest of the practice went on and it was finally the final drill before practice was over. It was the most awaited drill. Everyone including the rookies were waiting to go against each other.
"Alright. We have come to the last drill. Everyone has been waiting for this drill. Everyone is anxious to show what they got. The last drill is called the one on one. There's our young goaltender Connor Stoll protecting the goal this time. He will have one defenseman to stop the forward that is coming to score the goal. If the forward gets his shot off and the goaltender has to save it, the defenseman loses the match. If the defenseman steals the puck or doesn't let the puck anywhere near the goaltender then the defenseman gets the point. Of course if the forward makes a goal and or gets his shot off on the goaltender, he gets the point. The sooner we line up the more time you have for more rest." This was it. The moment of truth. Brunner looked directly at Percy.
Everyone scrambled into a line. There were more forwards then there were defenseman. So that meant some defenseman had to go more than two times.
Nico went first. He went against a rookie defenseman, someone who wasn't going to make the team anyway. Nico quickly lost him with his puck control and shot his shot. But the goaltender made a miracle save. At the last second, the goaltender stuck his glove out and caught the puck.
Travis Stoll was bodied and hit to the ground by Beckendorf. He was manhandled, he couldn't even get his shot off. More rookies went and met the same fate. They were either hit off the puck or the defenseman stole the puck.
Percy Jackson for the first time at practice was at the back of the line. He was going up against one of the better rookie defenseman. His name was Chris Rodriguez. He was almost as big and buff as Beckendorf. He quickly got into his position while Percy did the same. Nobody so far was able to beat Chris on this drill. Percy got the signal to go and he took off. He controlled the puck and maneuvered in out of his stick. Percy gave a head fake and everyone bought it. Everyone expected for him to go on the outside and try outskate the defenseman. But he didn't. Chris bought on his fake and quickly skated to the outside, while Percy continued on the inside. The young defenseman was trying to get back on defense so quickly, his skates got tangled and he fell hard. Percy was one on one with the goal tender. He once again pretended to go on the outside and the goal tender bought it, he hit the puck between the goaltenders pads and scored the goal. He was the only forward to score the goal out of everyone. For a second everyone was quiet. Still it was silent, until the goaltender skated towards Percy. They pumped gloves in mutual respect for each other.
"Nice one man. You're the only guy to get it into the back of the net." Connor said as he was smiling to Percy. Connor for a second, thought he was going to get away with a shutout. Percy didn't let it come true.
"Yeah man. We win some and we lose some." Percy thought that he did okay. He thought he was a little shaky with his puck control. He felt that if he didn't control the puck amazingly that Connor would make the save. Connor was an amazing goaltender and Percy knew that. Overall Percy thought it wasn't his best day. But everyone else believed otherwise. The peace of course didn't last long. The ego of some players tend to blind sportsmanship.
That was exactly the case with Chris who was on his rear. He was watching the exchange between Percy and Connor and was enraged someone who was barely drafted, beat him. He quickly got up and skated up to Percy and shoved him. The other players started to skate towards them and in a hurry hoping to deescalate the exchange.
"Hey man what's your issue?" Percy said as he eyed Chris who was taller than him. Percy knew that this guy had a good three inches on him. Height really didn't matter since he was kind of tall himself. But Chris had longer arms than he did, which gave him the advantage.
"My problem is you. How could a nobody like you beat me?" Percy was feeling his anger grow. He was telling himself to remain calm, that fighting wasn't the right thing to do.
"Come on man I was lucky. You'll probably get me next time." Chris however, was blinded by his rage and didn't even register Percy's response.
He quickly dropped his gloves and swung his fist at Percy's face. Percy wasn't expecting to get hit and the punch connected on his cheek. However, Percy didn't feel it. His anger grew to its maximum and he begun swinging at Chris in return. He got some good ones in before the rest of the team was able break it up.
"ENOUGH!" Coach Brunner was watching the whole exchange. He eyed both Percy and Chris with fury.
"You guys will be doing extra laps around the ice after practice. You will not play in the first preseason game. Both of you. Now get out of my sight!" I was extremely pissed off. Everything was going alright until this bozo decided to take it personal when he scored on him.
While everyone else was skating back to the locker rooms, Chris and I remained on the ice. Instead of confronting him and causing another fight, I decided to get started on my laps around the rink. Coach Brunner said he wanted ten extra laps at full speed and that's was exactly what I did. Chris did the same but he got tired on the last lap.
Since I finished before he did, I quickly got into the locker room to change into my street clothes. I took of my practice shirt, my helmet, and my pads. I quickly changed into my clothes and was about to head into the locker room until I ran into Chris.
Chris looked a little nervous, different from his angry outburst from earlier on. "Look man. I'm sorry for all the things I said to you. I was just a little angry that you beat me. I shouldn't have said that you were a nobody, because in reality you are somebody. You're a great hockey player. I hope we can put this behind us." Chris nervously extended his arm out to Percy.
Percy's face was in a frown. Was he going to try to make amends or hold a grudge? He decided that it wasn't worth all the trouble to be mad at Chris. So he extended his arm and shook it. "Fine everything is forgiven. I also apologize for fighting back. But still I'm hungry right now, which means dinner is on you." Percy awaited for Chris's response.
"You got yourself a deal. Just let me get changed." Percy nodded and waited outside the locker room for Chris to change and buy him dinner.
HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY
Annabeth was lugging big boxes of items into her dorm room. She was finally moving into her dorm on the NYU campus. She had emailed her roommate Silena that she was going to move in on this specific day on this specific hour. However, Silena replied that she wasn't going to be present during the time Annabeth had listed. Which meant she had to move everything in by herself. Which wasn't a problem because Annabeth liked to do things alone anyways.
But lugging heavy boxes up and down the stairs was getting her extremely tired. When she had gotten the email that her roommate had been picked, Annabeth didn't know how to feel. She would rather be in a single dorm. So she didn't have to deal with other people's habits. But from the current condition of Silena's side of the dorm, she could tell that she was definitely a neat freak. So they should be able to get along.
The reason her dorm mate wasn't able to be in the dorm or to help Annabeth, was because she was apparently going on a date with her boyfriend. Silena was twenty years old and in her third year at NYU. Annabeth sent a rather convincing appeal to the dorm administration of rooming with an upperclassmen. She believed that people her age were rather immature, examples Thalia and Jason. She loved them, but she didn't know how to react to other people's habits and immaturity. So she appealed to be placed with an upperclassmen. It was approved and now here she was, rooming with Silena.
Two guys saw Annabeth struggle with the heavy boxes and quickly jumped in to help her. They weren't that strong, but having numbers surely did help her move in quicker. Of course, both guys left their phone numbers and asked Annabeth if she wanted go to dinner with either of them, to just call. Annabeth being the great person she is got the slips of papers with the numbers and threw them into her small trash bin.
Moving into her dorm had taken a few hours, considering she had to most of work by herself. She quickly organized her things on her desk and her clothes into the small wardrobe the school provided. By the time she was done fixing everything up, her roommate Silena walked in rather happy.
Annabeth quickly got up to greet her. First rule of getting along with each other. Greet them nicely. "Hi Silena, I'm Annabeth Chase your roommate."
Silena put down her purse and looked at Annabeth, analyzing every detail about her. "Hi Annabeth. Sorry I couldn't help you move in. But I had a date with my boyfriend Charlie like I told you. It was amazing. He was very happy today, he said they might have found best the player in a decade. So from what I'm gathering the New York Valiant might have a good team this year." Silena was an avid Valiant's fan. Not only because of her boyfriend Charlie, but because the New York Valiant was the team she watched growing up since the age of ten.
"Yuck, you like the New York Valiant? They are a terrible team. The San Francisco Bolts is my favorite team and they are actually good. Plus they selected the best player in a decade, which is Jason Grace." Silena made a fake gagging face when Annabeth said she liked the San Francisco Bolts.
"That's disgusting Annabeth. The Bolts are the Valiant's bitterest rival. Anyways, look what Charlie got me." Silena began taking something out of her bag. As she unfolded the piece of clothing, Annabeth noticed it was a Valiant jersey. The name stitched on the back was Beckendorf, which Annabeth deduced was Charlie's last name. Annabeth had to admit that the colorway of the jersey was appealing. The majority of the jersey was yellow while the secondary color was navy blue. The "V" for Valiant was also navy blue.
"Anyways, the Valiant have apparently found the next greatest legend. You'll see. The world will see." Silena quietly hung her hockey jersey on a hanger and stuffed into her already full wardrobe.
They talked about their lives before college and slowly but surely both of them got tired. Then the lights turned off. They went to sleep….
A/N So this is the third chapter. I'm sorry it's kind of boring but I had to introduce some characters. Hey at least it's a longer chapter. But either way I still have to introduce more characters. Next chapter should be kind of the same but I'll try to involve more action I guess. Review!
