"Alright, alright, everyone settle down." Chiron called. The campers paused in their mealtime festivities and turned to look at Chiron who stood at the front of the room. Ryker stood beside him clothed in a brand new camper's shirt and some borrowed cargo shorts. After he had taken a shower he had discovered that someone had stolen his old clothes and replaced them with the ones he currently wore. "We have a new camper with us today. Would everyone welcome Ryker?"

The meal hall roared in greeting and Ryker winced as the sound assaulted his ears. "Hey, I know you!" Someone called. Ryker scanned the crowd and saw the golden haired boy who had led the assault against the lamia. "You are the one who saved Aiden from the lamia."

"I saw that shot." Another camper shouted. "He's gotta be the son of Apollo with bow skills like that."

"It wasn't that great of a shot." One dark haired girl at the Ares table snorted. "And the lamia wasn't moving."

Ryker frowned and glared at the girl. He opened his mouth to argue but Chiron cleared his throat loudly and all attention was brought back to him. "Yes, well, we can discuss that later. Let us also welcome the Hunters of Artemis once again to our camp."

The camp gave another cheer but Ryker thought that perhaps there was slightly less enthusiasm this time. The hunters waved awkwardly from their table. They were all sat there with the exception of Thalia who had chosen to sit next to her brother. "Good to be here again!" Thalia called.

Maybe for you. Ryker said, noting the scowls of the other hunters. Not for them. There's bad blood there somewhere.

"As per tradition, tonight we will have our game of capture the flag. Campers against the Hunters of Artemis." This time Ryker noted that the cheer was definitely strained. Only a few of the campers seemed to be looking forward to the game. "We will meet on the field as soon as the meal is finished."

Ryker returned quietly to the unclaimed table and blinked in surprise when a large selection of food suddenly appeared before him. He warily picked up what appeared to be his favorite food, rabbit, and took a hesitant bite. After his initial bite he tore into the food with careless abandon. He had not realized how hungry he was nor could he remember the last time he had eaten properly. Ever since the monsters had grown aware of him most of the game had seemingly disappeared. He had eaten what he could and when he could.

"Enjoying your food?" A nervous voice asked. Ryker looked up to see a somewhat familiar young kid staring at him with a somewhat awestruck gaze.

"I was." Ryker said after considering the question. "Until you bothered me."

"I'm sorry, but I wanted to-."

"You're that kid the lamia got ahold of." Ryker suddenly remembered. "How are your injuries?"

"I'm fully healed now." Aiden said, relieved that he had been recognized. "I just wanted to say thanks. Will said that if you hadn't shot the lamia when you did I would have been monster chow."

"No worries." Ryker said dismissively. "Be more careful next time. Lamias might seem slow but they are as fast as vipers. And their venom can dissolve pretty much anything."

"You've fought one before?" Aiden asked, sitting down at the table.

"I've fought three before." Ryker corrected, pulling out his necklace and offering the rawhide to the kid. "Take a look. Those are my little trophies."

"So it's true then!" Aiden said, handing back the necklace after a close examination. "You really were raised in the wild."

"How did you know that?" Ryker asked with mild curiosity.

"Everyone in camp knows!" Aiden gushed eagerly, happy to answer a question. "A boy comes into camp escorted by the hunters of Artemis? That never happens! They would kill a male demigod before helping them usually."

"Yeah, well, Artemis wasn't far from it." Ryker said moodily taking another bite of his rabbit and washing it down with a swig of water. He blinked in surprise and stared interestedly into the depths of his cup. "Hm. This tastes like spring water."

"It probably is." Aiden offered. "The food and drink here takes the form of whatever you really want." He grabbed a goblet and Ryker watched in surprise as it filled with a bubbling brown liquid.

"Handy." He remarked, taking another swig. "So what's with this game Chiron was talking about? Capture the flag?"

"Oh, that." Aiden stared gloomily at the table and sighed. "It's just an excuse for us to get beaten by the Hunters of Artemis. Every time they come to camp we play a game of capture the flag. We never win though, they're too good."

"They aren't that good." Ryker scoffed. "I fought them and gave them a hard time."

"Can I take it that you mean to join in tonight then?" The same girl who had questioned Ryker's archery skills earlier had sauntered over to his table and was now standing over him.

"I might." Ryker answered breezily. "What's it to you?"

"I'm the one in charge of the campers' side." She said with a superior grin. "I don't want anyone who can't fight on my team."

"He can fight." Thalia assured her, striding over to them. Jason followed close on her heels with an amused grin on his face. "For a boy." She added as an afterthought.

"You what?" Ryker demanded, pushing to his feet. "I nearly beat you!"

"We were under orders from Artemis not to hurt you." Thalia reminded him. "We couldn't try all that hard and we still caught you."

Ryker's expression must have been fearsome as Aiden shrank back at the table and quietly moved away. "You just made such a mistake." He promised her. He turned away from the table and strode purposefully out of the meal hall. Jason dogged after him, his eyes alight with the challenge.

"Thalia really knows how to get under people's skin." Jason remarked. "Try not to let it get to you. But I still don't want you taking it easy on her."

"Not in my nature." Ryker told him, striding into the woods. He searched the woods for a suitable candidate and settled for an old maple tree whose trunk was gnarled and twisted.

"What are you-." Jason took a step back and raised an eyebrow. "Whoa."

Ryker had his palms pressed against the tree and they had very slowly begun to sink into the wood. I need a weapon. He informed the tree. A bow. The best you can possibly give me.

The tree acquiesced to his desires and Ryker pulled free a beautiful dark brown bow. He tested the drawstring experimentally and nodded confidently. "Good enough." He told Jason, slinging the weapon over his shoulder.

"I thought that bowstrings were made of flax." Jason said uncertainly as they walked out of the trees.

"They generally are." Ryker nodded. "But the trees have their own ways of making bows. The power of this bow alone is probably stronger than most bows you have in your armory."

"Can I try it?" Jason extended his hand but Ryker shook his hand. "What?"

"I'm the only one who can use bows that I ask from the trees." Ryker explained. "If anyone else were to try it the bow would shatter immediately."

"Really?" Jason was intrigued. "Then it has to be something to do with your godly parent! No one can use my lightning bolts either."

"You have lightning bolts?"

"Son of Jupiter." Jason said as though that made everything obvious. Ryker's blank expression forced him to clarify, "The Roman king of the Gods. Thalia is the daughter of Zeus, the Greek king of the gods."

"Ah." Ryker nodded. "Some of the creatures I came across who were friendly would occasionally say something about them."

A large group of campers had formed by the armory and several burly looking boys and girls ere distributing weapons out to them with grim expressions. Several of the younger campers seemed to be trembling in their armor, their knees wobbling. "Alright, listen up!" Clarisse shouted above the sounds of clanking metal. "We are going to split up into three groups. Two are going up the sides and the third are going to stay behind and guard the flag. Jason, I want you to lead the right side. I'll take the left. Piper! Can you take care of guarding the flag?"

"No problem." A Native American girl said confidently brandishing an odd looking dagger. She looked at Jason and smiled. "Hurry up and get that flag!"

"No problem." He said, repeating her words. "Don't let them get near ours."

"Where do you want me?" Ryker asked casually, leaning on his massive longbow. This one was level with his chin. He had procured several dozen arrows from the armory and they hung in the quiver at his back.

"Wherever." Clarisse said carelessly. "If you are as strong as you think you are, you should figure out something."

"Up the middle it is." Ryker muttered to himself, staring at the field before him. He knelt down and placed a hang against the earth, closing his eyes and listening intently. He searched past the campers that moved around him and looked for the hunters' setup. They were several hundred yards into the forest, their flag heavily guarded.

Ryker opened his eyes and stood up just as a horn sounded. "Let the game begin! Let the best team win!" Chiron called.

The words had no sooner left his lips than a storm of arrows arced up above their heads and began to descend on the campers. Ryker was already moving before the first shaft had struck the earth, streaking for the relative safety of the forest. The other campers were only a beat behind him. The last Ryker saw of Jason was the young man grinning as he led the charge up his side of the field. Once Ryker was within the forest he slowed his pace. He took a deep breath and stepped into the shadow of a tree, hiding his presence. He moved with all the stealth of a master predator stalking its prey, making slow but certain progress on the Hunter's position. Shouts and the sounds of battle erupted on either side of him and Ryker smiled slightly at the inadvertent diversion it called. When he stepped into the clearing where the Hunters had set up their flag he thoroughly startled the guards. One even dropped her weapon in her shock. Once the novelty of Ryker's appearance passed them by they drew back their bows and leveled their arrows at him. "To be honest, I'm not worried about your flag." Ryker admitted, drawing back his own bow. "This is revenge for pulling me from the forest."

The girls snarled and loosed their arrows at him as one. Ryker stepped back into the shadow of the tree and let loose a wild laugh. The arrows sailed harmlessly into the trees, passing by where Ryker had been a moment before.

Ryker flitted around the trees that surrounded the flag, laughing all the while. To the hunters it seemed as though he was everywhere at once. Ryker only paused to fire arrows occasionally, just to further unnerve the hunters. When one of the Hunters gathered her resolve and ran into the forest Ryker appeared behind her, leaping from within a tree. Her scream of terror was abruptly cut off when he chopped her windpipe with flat of his hand and then smashed her in the back of the head with his bow. A sudden shout from where the camper's flag was the only thing that tore Ryker away from his revenge. "They've got our flag!" Piper screamed, her voice carrying over the din of the battlefield. "The middle! They're going up the middle!"

Ryker saw the hunter in question streaking through the forest towards him, the camper's blue flag flapping behind her. He stepped behind a tree and waited until she had come adjacent to him before stepping out and grabbing the flag. She was thrown off balance and fell onto her back, her grip on the flag lost. "My flag." Ryker declared, turning back the way she had come and leaving her to tend to her friend.