Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, did anybody else think of The Fiddler on the Roof? No? Just me? Okay. Well anyway, here is another installment! I have been really busy, but not enough for that to be an excuse. So all I can do is apologize and thank you for sticking with me (whether you did so by favoriting, following, reviewing, or even just reading all these).

I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or any of the characters. I do own my original plot and characters.

Trust me when I say I'm really trying to outline this story so it turns out less of a rambling mess or mediocre humor and fluff and more of an actual plot. I know this is a terrible spot to end, but I had something down and couldn't bear to go any longer without posting something.

(By the way, in case you think you're crazy for noticing, I did take out the tiny dialogue at the end. I didn't like it.)

Just a few minutes later I was mounted uneasily on a pale brown pegasus who looked at me like she was barely resisting the urge to throw me off her back. Me? I was barely resisting the urge to back out and let somebody else go.

I'm not afraid of heights at all, somehow. I have plenty of things that creep me out: deep water, sloths, the dark, and spiders (though not as much as my little brother, Silas- he hates the things). I've always been proud of the fact that heights are not on that list, until now. I haven't ridden on a horse since I was four, sitting in front of my grandpa with his hands on the reins. Now I'm not that confident in my equestrian skills to save my life, should this horse decide all of a sudden that she doesn't want me on her back.

Annabeth smiled at me. I liked her. She was cool and collected, and she didn't seem to think she was 'all that' just because she was Percy's girlfriend. "You'll be fine," she reassured me when I frowned to myself. "We're just taking you up over the trees and circling the camp until you get the hang of it. Then you can come back down."

I nodded without a word and she lifted herself onto Blackjack's back. It seems she was the only person other than Percy that the black pegasus would deign to carry.

"Just dig your heels into her sides. She knows what to do," she told me, then Blackjack lifted off the ground with a flap of his huge, feathered wings. I couldn't help uttering a low, 'wow' as Annabeth hovered, a grin on her face, waiting for me to follow.

I gulped and hesitantly gave my mount what I was sure was an inadequate heel-dig. But with a jerk and a wobble that nearly knocked me off, I felt muscles under me tense and I held on tight as she flapped her wings and the ground dropped out from underneath me with sickening speed.

Soon I was at the same level as Annabeth. She grinned expectantly, her blond hair shining in the sun as I surveyed my surroundings. The camp spread out below us, campers like tiny dolls or toy soldiers. Exhilaration rushed through me and I let out a noise that was half-gasp, half-giggle.

Annabeth saw the expression on my face and grinned. "You're flying," she said. I felt my pegasus' rough hair under my fingers, her wings jostling me with every flap, and the wind blowing in my hair. Yet despite all this I had to shake myself to be sure it was all real.

"Just lean in the direction you want to go," Annabeth said, and dug her heels into Blackjack's sides and he dove back to the ground, to get another camper started I guessed.

I bit my lip and leaned toward the water. My pegasus obediently flapped her wings and set off in that direction. Encouraged, I dug my heels into her sides a bit firmer and leaned more to the left, guiding her in a circle.

Soon I was soaring high above the camp, much higher than some of the other campers, and taking in the beautiful view of Long Island Sound. The sun shimmered on the water, almost blinding me when I looked in that direction. I felt like I could have reached out and touched the sun, or like I could fly away into forever.

Then Annabeth called over to me. "Kate, we're going down. It's time for lunch."

"Okay!" I replied, and took one last, long look at the beautiful view before heading back to the ground. I handed my pegasus's reins to Percy with a grin and let myself be caught up in the crowd of kids on their way to the dining pavilion. We all turned a corner and then Nico was beside me. "Hey," he said. "Have fun?"

I grinned at him. "It was amazing! Why didn't you come? It wasn't just Hermes kids there; you could have joined us, I think."

He shrugged. "The pegasi don't really like me," he explained.

"Why not?" Call me pushy, but I didn't see how a horse could be judges of character.

He chuckled mirthlessly. "They say I smell."

Raising one eyebrow, I laughed. "What?"

Nico's smile disappeared, and he looked down, shuffling his feet on our way into the dining pavilion. "They say I smell like death," he muttered.

I opened my mouth to say something. I'm still not sure what it was going to be, but I didn't even get to try. Nico touched my shoulder, said, "I'll talk to you later, okay?" and walked away over to his table. His hands in his pockets and not even looking back.

"Okay," I muttered to nobody, and took my seat at the overflowing Hermes table beside George and some girl whose name I'd probably been told but I didn't remember. Everybody dug into their sloppy joes and I poked at a salad, looking around at everybody chatting and eating and enjoying general chaos. Several newly claimed kids were welcomed to their new tables with friendly gestures and open seats.

Observing everything around me, I thought I noticed more buzz and excitement than usual. I racked my brain for the day of the week. Friday. That rang a bell in the back of my mind, and I frowned, trying to figure out what was happening today. I didn't have to wonder long, before some pre-teen boy shouldered his way into a seat beside me. "George," the boy said, turning to the redhead on his other side, "what team are we on for capture the flag?"

Giving me a smile, George responded, "Joey, right? We're on the blue team this week. You gonna help us win?"

The boy rolled his eyes, picking up his plate. "Duh!" he told us, and moved back to his end of the table.

"So that's what's going on," I observed to George. "I was trying to figure out why all the twelve-year-olds are acting more hyper than usual."

George laughed and took a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah. It's kind of a big thing here. All the rivalries are caused and resolved by capture the flag."

I smiled. "Who's on red team?"

He nodded toward Annabeth's table. "We tend to ally with Athena, and they hate the Ares cabin, so they're on red. I think Hephaestus is teaming up with Ares-" he started counting on his fingers, "-Nemesis, Dionysus, and I feel bad but I always forget about all the minor cabins, so I don't know about them. We're with Poseidon, which is good. Annabeth and Percy combined, plus Tyson, pretty much means victory."

"Who's Tyson?"

George grinned. "Percy's brother. Cyclops. Guy's a beast- literally. I don't know if he's here right now, but if he's not Annabeth and Percy and all of us should be enough to win."

I glanced toward Percy's table, where the son of the sea god sat alone, and tried to make my next question sound casual. "Which side is Hades on?"

"You mean Nico? He's the only one in his cabin," George explained. "Um, I think he's on red. I don't really keep track of him. Got a thing for the guy, huh?"

"Shut up," I groaned. "I was just wondering."

George gave me a look and laughed. "Yeah, sure. Whatever. But yeah, I forgot, Nico sent skeleton mice after the Apollo cabin for pulling some prank the other day. So he's on our team."

I smiled. "Okay."

George rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you totally don't like him."

"I said shut up!" I pleaded, still grinning.

"Okay, fine!" he laughed, holding his hands up in a gesture of self-defense and innocence. "But seriously," he continued in a quiet voice, "think of the children!"

"Oh gods, just quit it!" I exclaimed through a laugh, pushing him toward his girlfriend, who rolled her eyes.

All three of us laughed, and the girl beside me joined us. "Is it very dangerous?" I asked George.

"Of course it is! That's the whole point!" George cried, putting an arm around his girlfriend. I had just realized I had no idea what her name was when she held her hand toward me. "I'm Jamie," she said. "And don't worry, it's not gross with me and George in the same cabin because I'm not claimed yet."

I nodded and shook her hand, pretending to understand and making a note to ask Nico or George about it.

Jamie seemed nice. She had blond hair and almost no body fat, but wasn't quite as shallow as some of the Aphrodite girls I'd met. She and I exchanged sarcastic looks at how excited George was to use his new crossbow and fart arrows, and with their help I started to look forward to capture the flag tonight.

So there it is. Keep in mind please that it isn't edited at all, so I'm sorry the writing isn't like it usually is. Please, please, please (did I say please?) review and tell me anything you like, anything you'd like changed or added. All your suggestions are considered, I promise.

If this installment totally sucked, then I'll take your suggestions and rewrite! But I can't do anything to improve without your feedback, so please do! This is for you, after all.

Thank you so much for everything you guys do!

-natalie.