Chapter 4, Training Montage
The Next Day, Hermes Cabin, Camp Half-Blood ~
Percy awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and some random camper falling out of their bed with a heavy thud. As he and the rest of the Hermes Cabin got ready for the day, Percy shot a glance over at Thomas who had a sad yet contemplative look on his face. Still keeping an eye on his friend Percy threw one of the orange Camp shirts on and got in line as the Cabin marched towards breakfast.
However, before he could approach his friend a taller Hermes kid with a scar running down his face threw his arm around Tom and spoke with him in a hushed tone. Percy recognised the tall blonde camper as Luke Castellan who helped Percy and Tom get eased into this new world they found themselves in. After gathering their food and giving food sacrifice to the Gods, of which Percy gave all the Gods both Major and Minor, he watched as Luke and Tom spoke a bit before he reached the table and started conversation with them.
"So, what's our agenda for today Luke?" Percy asked as he seated himself next to Tom. Luke shot him that ever present mischievous smirk every Herme kid seemed to have as he started speaking.
"First up is combat training then we have rock climbing, afterwards is hitting the baths." Luke spoke between mouthfuls of food." You two have weapons yet or do we need to stop at the armory?" Luke finished with a question.
"Yeah, we both have swords." Tom cut off Percy before he could speak, sending the dark haired boy a look that clearly said 'Don't tell him about the spear'. Percy slightly nodded to him as the three Demigods finished eating and cleaned up their spots at the table.
As the Hermes Cabin headed towards the arena Tom poked Percy in the side.
"Thanks for not saying anything about the spear, I was told to keep it a secret until my Godly parent claims me." Tom whispered to Percy who responded with another nod.
"No problem dude, hey if you need to talk about Grandpa Rami let me know. I loved that guy like the uncle I never had." Percy said with pure honesty in his voice. Tom sent him a look of gratitude.
"Thanks Percy, once I'm ready you'll be the first person I talk to. You should know he loved you like a son and thought we would make great brothers." Tom sighed in a dejected tone. Percy patted him on his back as they reached the arena and put some basic leather training armor consisting of a chestplate and vambraces.
"Alright guys, break up into groups of two and start practicing while I help the two new guys out." Luke called out as he tied a sheathed sword to his waist. Percy pulled out his pen as Tom pulled a charm off his bracelet, both hidden weapons reverting to their true forms. Luke watched with an indecipherable look upon his face as the bronze Xiphos and Stygian Iron Shamshir appeared in their respective wielders hands.
"Alright you two, spend some time hacking and slashing at each other as well as blocking. Once I see where you two are at I'll show you some more moves." Luke called out as he paced around Percy and Tom. The two nodded as they got into battle stances, Percy holding his blade, which he now knows as Riptide, with one hand keeping the sword to his side with the blade pointed at a 45 degree angle towards Tom. Keeping his feet shoulder length apart and his right foot behind him, Percy held a dull bronze shield in his other hand that Luke had made him use.
Percy felt that holding a shield and falling into this stance was the most comfortable and natural stance. He kept a close watchful eye on both Tom and the curved point of his sword.
Tom had a different stance than Percy. He kept his right leg behind him on the same footing as Percy but kept his right hand free instead of holding a shield having stated that it felt too clumsy to use. Instead he held the Shamshir in his left hand in front of him keeping it centered with his chest and the glinting blade parallel with his upper body, he then kept his off hand in a fist off to his right, as if primed to throw a punch if needed. Percy recognized this as the same stance he was in when he fought Clarisse.
As Percy's sea green eyes locked with the deep ruby red of Tom, both Demigods pushed off with their back foot and locked blades. A resounding clang rang out in the clearing as the two pushed off of each other and Tom swiped at Riptide's gleaming blade which blocked the swipe and shoved Tom back with his shield then swung his sword up in a vertical strike. Tom stepped to the side and launched a kick at Percy's shield before swinging once more at Riptide.
The two friends continued to go back and forth and neither landed an actual cut on each other. Luke decided to break up the spar after 5 minutes of this back and forth fight.
"Alright, that was more than enough for me. You guys are quite literally naturals, almost more so than Ares kids. In fact Tom you might be one of his kids, you look like you were born for warfare. I have never seen someone move with such effortless efficiency as a newcomer. Your combat instincts are something else." Luke spoke with complete seriousness in his voice. " And Percy, you might literally be a Greek Hoplite reborn. The way you move with a sword and shield is unreal, I think you two will become amazing warriors with enough training."
Both Percy and Tom were absolutely shocked hearing such great praise from someone they just met. They blushed at the praise as they looked at each other, however before either of them could say anything Clarisse walked up.
"Hey Luke, Chiron told me to put Tom on the Ares cabin training schedule. Something about his fighting style." Clarisse said as he locked eyes with Tom. Tom smirked slightly as he walked over to her.
"Miss me already La Rue?" Tom joked as he forced his sword back into its charm form. The daughter of the War God let out a small laugh before scowling and dragging him off by the chestplate. Luke laughed before turning around to look at Percy and announced he would be his partner now.
"Good luck," one of the campers told me."Luke's the best swordsmen in the last three hundred years."
"Maybe he'll go easy on me." Percy said with a laugh. The camper snorted.
Luke showed off thrusts, parries, and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe Percy got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your shield up, Percy" Luke would say, then move faster than Percy was ready for and whap him in the ribs with the flat of his blade.
By the time Luke called a break, Percy was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the water cooler. Luke poured ice water over his head, something Percy copied after taking a long swig. He immediately felt better as strength surged back into his body.
"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
As the rest of the Hermes kids formed a circle Percy drank some more water and felt even less fatigued than before. No one noticed how the water he dumped on himself earlier had dried upon contact. Not even Percy himself.
"Okay, I'm going to show you guys a disarming technique, an incredibly difficult one to pull off. Most swordsmen practice for years to be able to pull it off. So no making fun of PErcy or I'll put you on latrine duty for a week." Luke started, " Now, I'll show it in slow motion then we will go a round until one of us pulls it off, cool?" Percy just nodded.
Luke showed how to pull it off, first he knocked Riptide away from him with a well placed swipe then used the tip of his own blade to launch Riptide out of Percy's hands by slapping the pommel forcing the blade to fall out of his now open hand. Percy picked up his sword then prepared himself for another real bout with Luke.
As Luke came at Percy like a whirlwind of steel, time slowed down for the green eyed Demigod. He moved his shield to block a few strikes before he parried a blow from Luke and perfectly repeated the disarming move Luke just showed him. Luke, and the Hermes Cabin, looked completely aghast.
"Uh, sorry." Percy half apologized and half asked. Luke laughed before speaking.
"Don't apologize, that was amazing!" The son of Hermes exclaimed with glee. "Do that again!"
And so they started another fight, however this time Luke performed the move and Percy looked sheepish. "Beginners luck?" Percy asked, out of breath.
"Maybe." Luke started with a strange look in his eyes, "With more practice you might become as good as me. From here on out I will train you personally." At that comment the whole Cabin froze, Luke had never taken on a pupil before. For the rest of the week Percy was beaten black and blue as Luke trained him relentlessly and while Percy could tell he was improving greatly, he still wished he could go without the bruises.
The Day after the Arrival, Arena, Camp Half-Blood ~
Tom was pretty curious as to why Chiron wanted him to train with Clarisse and her cabin but shrugged it off, mostly because it meant he could learn from Clarisse more. As Clarisse dragged him off he realized they weren't going towards her cabin, but rather away from it and heading towards the woods.
"So, why are we going to the woods Clarisse?" Tom asked as he pulled her hand off his chestplate and walked beside her. She sighed before looking over at him to speak.
"Chiron watched our spar the other day and thinks the only way you will improve and let go of your anger will be learning from someone else who can not only teach you how to fight better but also show you how to control your anger." Clarisse stated in a badly hidden excited tone.
Tom merely raised an eyebrow at her excitement before he was forced to jump back as her spear suddenly appeared stabbed in the ground where he was just standing. He summoned his shamshir with a grin as the two Demigods started fighting with Clarisse occasionally pointing out minor flaws in Tom's movements. For the rest of the week Tom and Clarisse disappeared into the woods to train and always came back bruised and covered in small gashes yet smiling like crazy.
By the time Friday rolled around and everyone was getting ready for capture the flag, Tom and Percy were twice as good at fighting than when they started off. However they were on opposing sides of capture the flag. This pleased Tom as it would mean he had a chance to fight against Percy.
As Tom stood with his team, which consisted of the Ares Cabin, which Tom became a part of, Hephaestus Cabin, Aphrodite Cabin, and Demeter Cabin, Clarisse laid out a plan for them. After laying out an assault plan consisting of the Ares Cabin and the Demeter Cabin while the other Cabins played defense. However, Tom and Clarisse would be a secondary assault team that would go around the outermost boundaries of the play area in order to sneak through the river to snatch the flag.
As the horn blew and the game started, Tom couldn't help but think about how close him and Clarisse had become through their training, now they could read each other's facial expressions and could fight well together without speaking. The two close friends made their way around and into the river as they slowly stalked towards Zeus' Fist where they knew the Athena cabin would place the flag.
Eventually they ran into a Demigod on the other team. And of course it was Percy. Tom grinned.
"Go on without me Clarisse, Percy and I are just gonna have a dance here." Tom laughed as he fell into his battle stance as Percy grinned and fell into his own stance. Clarisse just nodded and ran off.
"I've been looking forward to this Tom!" Percy exclaimed as he lunged towards Tom who parried the overhead strike sent towards him only to get bashed by Percy's shield. As Tom fell backwards he threw out an under swing that pushed Riptide up into the air however before he could follow up with anything Percy caught himself and brought down a heavy overhead strike.
Tom parried this and moved in close, putting his hand on Percy's shield and yanking it to the side as he kneed the green eyed Demigod in the gut, then followed that up by headbutting him. As Percy pulled his shield back in to protect himself, Tom kicked the shield forcing Percy out of the river.
Before Tom could follow Percy out of the knee deep water, they both froze as they heard a loud bloodthirsty howl. Instantly they got back to back and slowly circled around searching for the perceived threat. Both Demigods locked their eyes on a pair of glowing blood red eyes hiding in the shadows, however before they could react the thing jumped at them.
A massive black Rottweiler leaped at them, claws out and foaming at the snarled lips. Percy dropped to his knees in front of Tom as he caught the beast with his shield, unfortunately getting cut with the beast claws upon his leg, then using his shield flipped the massive dog over and slammed it into the ground. Before the dog could move Tom drove his shamshir down into its neck killing the beast and turning it into a familiar golden dust.
Tom spun around and helped Percy to his feet before a golden haired girl appeared out of nowhere holding a baseball cap.
"Put him in the water!" She exclaimed as the rest of Camp Half-Blood swarmed the area, obviously having heard the howl. Tom shot her a look before slowly lowering Percy into the river and watching astonished as the water healed the claw shaped gashes on his thigh.
Before anyone could say anything a bright green glow appeared in the clearing above Percy's head. A glowing green trident was floating above his head. Tom copied everyone else as they kneeled and Chiron spoke up.
"All hail Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, God of the Sea, The Stormbringer, The Earthshaker, and Lord of Horses!" Chiron called out as Percy stood above everyone else with a glowing green trident above his head. As the light died down and Percy sat down in shock, the blonde haired girl started speaking.
"Well now we know why a hellhound was here." She said bluntly. "The Rich One wants him dead." Chiron looked at her with something akin to disappointment in his eyes before turning around to address the gathered Campers.
"Alright Heroes! The red team won this game of capture the flag so let's celebrate!" The old trainer yelled out as everyone cheered and ran towards the Pavilion for food and celebrations. Tom pulled Percy to his feet as the blonde girl walked over, Tom watched as a frustrated frown appeared on his friend's face at the sight of the girl.
"You threw the game Annabeth." Percy accused, and judging by the reaction of Annabeth, Percy was right. "You knew Clarisse would come through but instead of following her you stayed and watched me fight Tom, why did you throw the game?"
"I was hoping to see her knock your lights out, and since she ran by you I was hoping Tom here would." Annabeth scowled. Percy looked at her with frustration in his eyes.
"Why? I have barely even spoken to you." Percy stated as his grip on Riptide tightened.
"Because Luke hasn't been around lately due to you!" She yelled as she turned around and stomped away. Percy, Tom, and Clarisse, who was still there, all started laughing as they realized she was just jealous of how much time Luke spent with Percy.
"She thinks you're taking her crush away, hahahaha." Tom wheezed out as they started laughing even harder. The trio of Demigods then headed towards the raging inferno of a campfire.
The three Demigods met up with Luke and told him about their encounter with Annabeth as they all gathered food and burnt offerings to the Gods around the campfire.
Ye-Olde-Erebus, signing off