Peter's eyes glazed over like donuts as he stared unseeingly at the piece of metal in his hands. Then he tilted his hands and let the bronze knife slide through his fingers like loose raindrops. Not a moment later the knife found its way back into Peter's palms, only for it to fall to the ground once more.

"You know, you don't have to play Capture the Flag if you don't want to." Conner said as he bend down to scoop up the fallen weapon, "you don't have much training anyway, and we wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"No," Peter argued, suddenly snapping out of his misty daze, "I can do it. I want to do this. Besides, it's just a game right?"

"Well, I guess. But it's the kind of game where people can get seriously hurt if they're not careful." Conner replied as he handed the knife over to Peter.

It rolled off into the grass before Peter could even bother grasping it.

Conner gave an annoyed growl and picked the knife up again "Dude, just hold it. Like, with your fingers and stuff." He placed the knife in Peter's hands again, but this time he cupped the backside of the twelve year old's hand and curled Peter's fingers over the hilt of the weapon. "Like this."

Peter blinked, "Awwww, look at that. We're holding hands!" He squealed.

Conner gave the boy a blank look before he doubled over and roared with laughter. A couple of giggles escaped Peter's mouth as he watched the other boy crack up.

"Alright, you got me," Conner said, releasing Peter's hand and throwing his own up in the air like he just didn't care, "You managed to con me into holding your hand, Congratulations here's a plastic pony from McDonalds as your prize." Connor dug into his pocket and pulled out a bright pink horse with unusually buggy green eyes. He tossed it to Peter who caught the toy effortlessly.

"Yes, our love was always meant to be be." Peter stated with a smug smirk, and held the plastic pony high in the air, "And this tiny creature of magic and rainbows will be the symbol of our blossoming bromance."

"Oh Bromeo, wherefore art thou oh Bromeo," Conners eyes began to sparkle as if a spotlight had suddenly shined down on him from the heavens.

"Bro" Peter said, his voice filled with awe.

"Bro" Connor repeated with feeling

"Bro"

"Bro"

"Bro, I think I've been spending too much time with Uncle Alfred," Peter said woefully as he pressed the back of his hand to his forehead like a stereotypical damsel in distress. "I have no idea what's going on." He whispered dramatically, prompting Connor to bark out a laugh.

"Me neither kid," He said through his cackling, "Me neither."

Cue the awkward silence. Crickets would have been chirping in the background to complete the image since it was already getting dark, but the sound of clashing melt and the excited chirps of battle hungry campers drowned them out.

"Oh my gods," Someone whispered so quietly that only Peter's inhuman ears could pick it up, "I ship it."

Peter snapped his head up and searched around with wide deer-in-the-headlights eyes. Over by a grove of oak trees, a blonde Aphrodite camper stood with her sword scraping the earth and her eyes gazing in Peter and Connor's direction with a dreamy look.

The girl noticed Peter staring at her before she quickly straightened up and whipped her head around to make herself seem as if she didn't just proclaim her OTP.

Connor didn't notice a thing. He was too busy trying to hand the knife over to Peter.

Again.

"I don't want a knife." Peter argued, deciding that he would rather not bring the awkward moment between him and the girl to attention.

"Do you want a sword?" Connor asked

"No," Peter tilted his head a little, "I want a hand gun."

Connor grimaced, "Hand gun? You sure about that kid?"

"Yeah. I may not like guns that much, but my mama made sure that I knew how to use one." Peter nodded firmly. "I'd like a gun please."

The older boy stared at Peter before shrugging his shoulders and started walking over to the armory. "Well ok then, a gun it is. Stay here and finish putting the armor on. That one over there is specially designed for kids, so it's like putting on a life vest. You do know how to put on a life vest, right?"

Peter made an affirmative noise. Of course he knew how to put on a life vest. He was an artificially island country after all. He was surrounded by water on all sides.

"Great!" Connor smiled back, "I'll be back! Don't move!"

"Got it!" Peter called out before he busied himself with the finicky armor.

It didn't take too long before before Connor came bounding back with a small bronze gun in his hand. Wordlessly, the teen handed it over to Peter who easily grasped it in his hands before conducting a very thorough investigation of the weapon.

"Good." Peter stated "It's good. So when's the thing going to start?"

Connor seemed to perk up "Capture the flag? In a little bit. You're going to head out with me, ok? We're going to be on boarder control so if anyone wearing red turns up, shoot at their feet. Don't actually shoot to hurt them, or kill them. No killing or maiming is allowed or you're out."

"Yeah kid, don't worry. Stick with us and you'll be find." Travis laughed as he galloped passed the duo, on his way to talk to Katie Gardner before the game began.

Connor grinned, "Come on. Let's get into position, alright?"

"Right!" Peter replied as he tightened his grip on the gun, "This should be fun, huh?" With a deep breath, the twelve year old steeled himself and followed his camp councilor into the looming woods.

He traveled with a group of kids, all wearing blue cloth tied to their own armor, most of whom Peter didn't recognize. He was vaguely aware of being told at some point that they were from the Demeter cabin, but Peter wasn't sure who told him that. There were two other Hermes kids, Travis and Connor, but they were not simple foot soldiers in this upcoming battle. They were leading their comrades to the creek which divided the two sides of the war that was better known as the game of Capture the Flag.

A battle horn sounded in the distance, signaling the start of the games.

Travis waisted no time ordering the group into a battle formation.

"Keep your eyes and ears open guys," Connor said as he scanned the trees, "We're up against the Athena kids and Ares kids."

A few grunts echoed here and there before things fell silent.

No one was paying any attention to Peter. They were all too focused on spotting an enemy from where ever they may appear from.

This was Peter's chance to execute his daring plan. He knew that another opportunity like this where everyone was distracted would most likely not come again. Slowly, Peter let his hand wander into the back pocket of his shorts. He reached in and quietly pulled out a black cylindrical object.

A gun silencer.

With a few cautious looks to his companions he attached it to the barrel of his bright and shiny new hand gun. No one seemed to notice his action. Peter lifted the gun in the air with a shaky hand and pointed it so that it was perpendicular to his body. He breathed in the forestry air, expanding his lungs to the point where they felt like they were going to burst.

That was when Connor turned around.

"Hey Peter, you see-"

"HOLY SHIT!" Peter screamed at the top of his lungs. Subconsciously, Peter could hear his papa scolding him for using such foul language, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The others tensed and raised their weapons up in the most intimidating manner they possibly could. They whirled around in the direction that Peter was pointing his weapon and readied themselves for a violent battle. Whether it was with another demigod, or one of the massive monsters that lurked in the woods.

There was nothing.

Nothing but a bunch of blooming leaves and crusty brown bark. Maybe a squirrel or two bouncing up a tree.

No one relaxed. No one dared to let their guard down, even if it was just a false alarm. But that didn't mean that they wouldn't let their annoyance known.

"Peter," Travis turned around, intending to ask the younger boy why he sounded the alarm pre-maturely, "What gives?"

"Dude, give him a break. It's his first time." Connor jumped to defend Peter, "He won't do it again, right Peter?"

A soft breeze hummed through the air as it caught on the edge of Connor's hair.

Silence enveloped the clearing.

Peter was gone.

"Where the fuck did he go?" A random camper asked.

The only response that that camper received was the sound of high pitched laughter, fading into the distance.

Author's Note:

I AM SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING I'VE HAD LIKE TWO BIG PRESENTATIONS AND FIVE ESSAYS TO BURN THROUGH PLUS IT'S STANDARDIZED TESTING MONTH AND I HATE MAY IT'S THE WORST MONTH EVER

Excuses Excuses, I could probably go on ranting for ages about how much I hate the end of the school year because of all the goddamn tests, but you guys will probably get bored. I am sorry about neglecting this story though, and I still have yet to finish the one-shot for my 100th reviewer -.- I am going to get that done, it's just going to take a little longer than expected.

From now one, I'm going to be focusing more on Peter's little adventures in Camp mainly because I'm kind of out of idea for what could happen on the nation's side of things for the time being because we're in a bit of a transition phase in their story line, and I haven't really planned it out very well. On the other hand I have plenty of ideas with what I want to do with Peter and co XD

Thank you my dearest readers for all of your kind reviews, and follows, and favorites! I love reading them all, (tho I didn't get to replying to all of my new reviews recently, but hopefully that will change) I cherish each review you guys wright and they all make me smile so much.

Side note: CONGRATZ TO UKRAINE FOR WINNING EUROVISION! JAMALA DID FABULOUS! (I also can't get the song 'Love Love Peace Peace' out of my head)

Thanks for stopping by, and reading my story!

Snowy-Maplette