Normally, I was all for a competitive game such as capture the flag, especially one of this magnitude.
But I have to be honest with myself.
I really doubt I was prepared for what happened towards the end.
Still, hellhounds would be an interesting addition to the challenge.
Chapter Nine
That night after dinner, there certainly was an almost tangible excitement in the air. Riker knew why that was, of course, but he still had to scoff at it, just a little, if only to himself. It was just a game of Capture the Flag. Epic, he'd heard, but most of these campers had played hundreds of times before. It was every Friday, after all.
Clarisse nudged him from where she was sitting to his right, even as she stuffed a leg of chicken into her mouth. He raised an eyebrow and she swallowed the bite before giving him a look. "Don't be like that, yeah? Capture the Flag nights is really the only time we're allowed to just let loose and be ourselves aside from the arena classes. For Ares Cabin, at least."
Jesse, who sat at his left, looked over mid-sip from his glass of root beer. He gulped it down, thumped the cup next to his plate and dragged his sleeve across his upper lip before nodding.
"Capture the Flag at the Camp is so much more than those lame gym games they have in the mortal world." He added. "I mean, you don't get to use sword and attempt to maim the other team back in school."
"We might not be Athena cabin," Matt piped up from a few seats down, "but it's a fun thing to do, setting up traps for the other team to fall into, strategically."
"So speaketh Ares Cabin's resident nerd," Clarisse joked, and a few of the other campers who'd been absentmindedly listening in as thy ate laughed.
Riker glanced around just in time to catch a few looks aimed at Ares table from the other campers. He even thought he saw Chiron peek over in bemusement from time to time. What was their problem?
He shook his head an turned to Clarisse with a smirk. "And winning has some sick prizes, I've heard. Cold showers aren't so bad, in my opinion," he ignored the mock gasps of horror from a few of his new friends. "But every now and then a hot shower has to hit the spot, am I right?"
Jesse raised a fist and Riker snickered, bumping it with his own.
There was a loud tinkering sound from the head table, and the mess hall quieted down as everyone turned their attention to Chiron, who stood in all his horse-ass glory, tall and proud and tapping his glass with a spoon.
When he saw that everyone's eyes were to the front, he set the utensil and cup down on the table and cleared his throat. "Good evening, campers. Once again it's that time of week. You're favorite day, I know. Friday has come, finally, and I'm sure you're all very eager to get the game running—" He raised his voice as the teens and children seated around the tables began roaring in approval. "—Bit first, allow me to introduce this weeks teams!"
The campers screamed and cheered as two teens came running into the pavilion bearing a silk banner with the coloring and sacred animal of the Athena cabin. Riker squinted enough to see that Annabeth was one of them, along with what looked like the Apollo Cabin leader, a guy named Jordan. Riker didn't mind Jordan. Jordan was cool.
And from the opposite end of the pavilion the Ares Cabin second-in-command, Orion—he was a rather tall guy, age fifteen, with messy black hair, pale skin and green eyes— and the Hephaestus cabin leader, Charles Beckendorf, ran in with a blood red banner of identical size bearing the head of a boar, and Ares table plus Riker decided to show everyone up. They stood and roared, screaming in support and excitement. Riker high-fived Jesse with a whoop. Clarisse grinned and grabbed her sister Michaela in a head lock. Riker had asked why she wasn't running the flag in, being the Cabin leader, but she said she and Orion took turns and she'd ran it in last time Ares cabin lead a team.
Jesse leaned over and grabbed his head, shaking it roughly from side to side with a grin as Riker whacked him back in the gut, before talking in his ear. "Cabins Athena and Ares don't always lead the teams, but we usually do. We're the best at 'war,' after all."
"And the flags, when another team does win?" Riker yelled back over the noise of the crowd. "I assume some magic happens and they change color and design in honor of the winners, yeah?"
"Right in one!"
"Who's all on our side?" He asked.
Jesse grinned, almost evilly. "Ares Cabin has allied itself with Cabins Dionysus, Hephaestus, Demeter and Aphrodite, though the beauty queens are practically useless." He sighed, morose."
"They sit on the side and look at their reflections?" Riker asked, sympathetically.
"They say the helmets will give them helmet-hair and that the armor is like a sweat-house." The redhead groaned.
Riker shrugged and looked back at the bouncing Athena campers. "So they've got Cabins Hermes and Apollo?"
Clarisse plopped back down next to him as Chiron began to call for quiet and nodded. "Yeah. Apparently privileges like shower times and best slots for activities were traded in order for the nerds to gain support." She snickered. "They had to bribe them! Funny, huh? Anyway, Hermes and Apollo are two of the biggest Cabins, so that means the teams are pretty even in numbers this time. And Hermes Cabin is full of thieves and tricksters, so watch out for that. Athena Cabin's smart, and Apollo Cabin's got good long-ranged fighters."
"But we're Ares Cabin," Jesse added in with a grin. "We're all about fighting to win. And paired with Hephaestus Cabin—they're awesome at improvising in quick situations ad they've got all the best weapons—and Demeter..." he paused.
Clarisse took back the soapbox. "Demeter Cabin's mainly here for the extra man-power. Foot soldiers, really. But they're good with chemicals, surprisingly. They've got a greenhouse of special plants reserved for the Flag Games, but no one really knows about that," she winked and the two boys laughed. "They're not allowed to use any of the harmful poisons on fellow campers or any of the Camp residents, but they are permitted use of the paralytic-tipped arrows they make in their spare time."
Jesse and Riker shared an awes look. "Hidden vipers," Jesse smirked. "Never knew the garden club had it in them!"
"So Team Athena out numbers us at least three to two, but we've got better arsenal and Ares Cabin isn't too shabby with strategy either. I'd say we're pretty evenly matched." Riker summed up, then he grinned. "Plus, you've got me!"
Clarisse socked him in the shoulder. "You, who's supposed to be with Hermes Cabin, which is technically your own." She wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of her eyes. "Look at you, turnign traitor just for us. I'm touched!"
Riker caught her in a headlock of his own and sent his knuckles into her skull. She squirmed in his hold and yelped. Jesse leaned back against the table.
"I still can't believe you convinced Mr. D to let you be on our team. The satyrs are right, you're his favorite, aren't you?" the redhead inquired.
"Nah," Riker released Clarisse and fell down on the bench next to him. "The twins are his favorite, without a doubt. They're his kids, after all. He gets this softie look on his face whenever he deals with them." At their incredulous faces, he laughed. "He thinks he's good at hiding it, but I still see. No matter." he tapped his temple with a raised eyebrow.
Finally, Chiron got tired of meaninglessly banging his spoon against his glass—his fingers were twitching and the glass looked as if it might shatter any second now—so he stomped his hooves on the deck that held the head table separate from the campers. The screaming conversations that filled the pavilion hushed to a lower volume, but the murmuring was still there.
"You know the rules, everyone," He announced. The creek is the boundary line, which means the entire forest is fair game. All magical items are allowed—" Clarisse jabbed Riker in the side. "That means you can use Riptide!" She hissed. "—and both banners must be prominently displayed and guarded by only two guards each." Which got Riker thinking... "Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged—" The was a story there, he just knew it— "No killing or maiming is allowed. I will stand as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his arms out, and Riker nearly had a seizer out of pure joy when, suddenly, the tables were filled to the brim with weapons and armor before his very eyes.
"I'll like to live here, I think" he announced, and Clarisse and Jesse snickered. "Think I can be one of the year-rounders?"
He very distinctly told his mind to stray away from the reason why he really didn't have anywhere else to go.
As Riker fitted himself with a set of armor, Orion headed over and held a planning session with Clarisse. He and Jesse leaned over to listen in.
"—and we've got a few of the Demeter campers paired up with two of the Hephaestus campers on border patrol," Orion was saying. "I'm pretty sure I've got the guarding of the flag covered—Beckendorf said he'd partner up with me, so that's the two guards we're allowed."
Clarisse nodded. "Wish we were allowed more guards. Even three guards are better, but four would be perfect. "She grunted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Alright, you and Beckendorf take guard. I've got three teams of four headed out to scout around and see if they can't take some prisoners—mixed campers, two of each cabin, unless I added in a Hephaestus camper. Then there'd be one from each, but two from Demeter since they have the most members. But that still leaves us with six left over since Demeter Cabin has an odd number of campers."
orion looked over at her. "You still taking point?"
Jesse slung an arm over Clarisse's shoulder and grinned. "Hades yeah. She's got me, Matt, and Rike with her."
Riker heard his name and stepped in closer as he tested the weight of a shield on his left forearm. "What are we doing?"
"We're going in to find and retrieve Team Nerd's banner." Matt explained from where he was standing next to Orion. "When the conch horn sounds to start the game, we'll be going straight in and snatch it from right out under their guards' noses!"
"Except with, you know, an actual plan of strategy." Clarisse butted in. "Ambush style." She leaned over and mock-whispered. "That's Matt for ya. Not too strategic, him."
"Hey!" The brunette hollered, but the others were too busy laughing.
Soon enough, though, Riker calmed ad then pinned Orion with a look. "Anyway, I was thinking, and I think I may have come up with a loophole around the whole two-guards-only" rule with the flag."
The other grew interested, and, after glancing around, leaning in closer to hear what he had to say.
"Two guards only for the flag, but I'm thinking we can put on at least two team of three to guard said guards. It'll give us a way to use the left over six, and also have the flag more protected. Just set the teams up at a few checkpoints close to the flag and have them circle around it."
Orion grabbed Riker and brought him into a noogie. He shouted and struggled out of the hold but Jesse just grabbed him in a bear hug and messed his hair up again. Clarisse was grinning as she high fives Matt. "Look at us and our genius, here. We'll take this game by storm!"
Ω Δ Σ
As soon as the conch horn blew, signaling the start of the game, Riker and his squad raced into the woods like a small herd of deer and disappeared into enemy territory. And Riker, really, had to be honest. This rush was more thrilling than he'd thought it would be.
They sneaked past a couple of the other teams scouting teams, which wasn't too hard. The Stolls from Cabin Eleven were together—which idiot thought that would be a good idea?—and the other members of the scouting team were so distracted by their antics that he and his friends just walked right past them.
Once, as they doubled back over the creek to avoid running into a guard party, he thought he'd heard a low growling sound, and a dark shape flit past his peripheral vision, but the presence left a second later. He pushed the thought of something following him to the back of his mind but made sure to keep an eye out. Maybe the other team had a pet.
Then, just as they were coming off a familiar path that Riker recognized from earlier that day—he shared a small, fond smile with Clarisse but they both wiped the looks off their faces an instant later—another, entirely different shape caught his eye, and he froze.
"Guys!" He tried getting the others attention.
"Riker, wha—" Jesse started to ask, but Riker cut him off with a hiss.
"Shh! Look," he raised a hand and pointed at the clearing to their left, also familiar from that afternoon. The others leaned in to follow his finger, then stilled. Then, grins were exchanged, and they sneaked into the shadows that the rock-pile known as Zeus' Fist was casting.
And sidled up right around to the opposite side, where Team Athena's banner was flying.
Riker peeked around and saw one of the guards a few meters to their left. He glanced over to their right and saw the other one stringing a bow. A discarded broken string lay at his feet. An Apollo camper, then.
He narrowed his eyes at the Hermes camper who was leaning against a tree, eyes focused on something to the north.
He grinned. Perfect. Their territory was to the south.
"Kay," he motioned for the others to huddle close, then spoke up again in a hushed breath. "I've got a plan. That okay with Miss Commander?"
Clarisse blinked, lifted her head to look when they heard the Apollo camper curse—apparently he was having trouble with his bow—and nodded.
Riker nodded back. "Okay. So Matt, you're the fastest of us, but Jesse's quieter. Jesse, I want you to sneak over and grab the banner—make absolutely no noise—and then, sneak over to the tree line, where the rest of us will be waiting. Once we get about three meters out, hand the banner off to Matt." Jesse nodded.
Riker turned to the brunette. "Matt, when Jesse gives you the banner, I want you to run as fast as you can to our side, don't even look back, just don't get caught, okay? Me and the others will be right behind you and fend of any attacks that come to the best of our abilities." Matt's facer grew determined. He was the youngest of the group and Riker knew he sometimes felt useless. The boy nodded.
Riker held out a fist to Clarisse, who bumped it with her own.
"'Reese, you and I are on guard duty." He winked, then glanced over at the guards. The Apollo camper was cursing up a storm and the Hermes camper had wandered over to see what was wrong, and was in the middle of a pretty impressive, yet sassy, eye-roll. Seemed like only girls could pull that look off.
He nodded at Jesse and motioned for his two friends to follow him toward the tree line to hide in the underbrush while his remaining team member stealthily shimmied his way over to the flag. Riker prayed that the two guard remained distracted, though he couldn't understand how a tiny little bowstring could cause so much frustration.
They didn't have to wait very long. Riker glanced up from where he was crouching behind a bush next to Matt, when a hand touched his shoulder. Jesse stood there with the flag bundled tightly in his arms. He motioned for Matt and Clarisse to stand, and th group silently made their way further into the trees. As they were nearing three meters away, Jesse un-waded the banner and folder it three times, just enough so the rules wouldn't be broken, yet the other team would have a difficult time seeing which of them held it.
Then, Riker gently pushed Matt on the back, and the brunette took off like a shot. The Jackson spared one last look toward the guards, who were just sorting out whatever problem the bow had, and then raced after his friends, close on Matt's heels.
He was a bit surprised. They'd made it to at least halfway back to their side and to victory when they ran into the first sign of an attack. A group of seven campers, from each cabin that was allied with Team Athena, shouted out and began to give chase when they realized that the silvery thing in Matt's skinny arms was indeed their banner. A few arrows whizzed by their helmeted heads, but Riker clicked Riptide into existence and raised it to deflect most of them. One did get through and snagged in his chain mail, but it was more of an annoyance. Might cause a bruise on his collarbone later on, though. He'd dealt with worse, like broken bones.
He kept his attention on the area around Matt, making sure he didn't accidental run right into one of the Hermes Cabin famous traps, the eleven-year-old was pretty good at avoiding them. It was funny, however, when the team of campers chasing them fell into one they'd just cleared. Especially since they were being lead by a Hermes camper. Riker saved his laughter for once the game was over, because that was totally worth glancing behind to see.
As they kicked their way across the stream to victory, the enemy right on their heels like rabid dogs, the slight sting that the arrow had caused him suddenly vanished. It was as if the arrow had never hit him. He frowned. That wasn't a good sign, not if it was what he thought it was.
But he didn't stay on that line of thought, because—behold, the conch horn blew three times, signaling the end of the game, and victory.
They'd won.
Matt tossed the shimmering banner over the whooping Jesse's head as it slowly but surely turned from the shiny silver it was to a blood red. Clarisse pumped her fist into the air and screamed, and Orion came dashing out of the forest just in time to bowl his sister over in a enthusiastic bear hug. Matt came hopping over and high-fives Riker before pulling him into a man-hug. But Riker felt good. Matt had won the game. Matt must be really happy. Riker had watched Matt since he'd became friends with the energetic younger boy, and he knew Matt had needed something like this. His ego was next to nothing but vapors.
And that just wouldn't do for a child of Ares.
The entire side of Team Ares had exploded into cheers and Jesse with parading the banner around with Orion holding the other end. Riker shared a grin with Clarisse, before they simultaneous swooped over and hauled a surprised Matt onto their shoulders, shouting, "Champion Matt! He's our winner!"
A few others joined them in an effort to keep an ecstatic Matt up in the air, picking up the cheer. Charles Beckendorf came over with a knowing smile and grabbed him, raising him even higher. Every cheered, screaming, laughing.
Riker glanced over and saw Annabeth grouped together with the downtrodden members of her team, looking down, morose even. Luke stood off the the side, an awkward expression on his face and glancing everywhere but her or Riker, like he didn't know what to say. The blond was probably disappointed they hadn't fallen for her trick with the border guards she's stationed. It had been an ingenious plan, really, but Riker had encountered such a move back when his gym friends had gone through a phase of strategy games, and he's vowed to never fall for it again.
Jeez, that had been embarrassing.
"hey!" Clarisse called, and he watched as she edged her way through the mingling and joyous camper to his side. "You okay? I saw that arrow his—you're gonna have a nasty bruise tomorrow morning."
"Actually," Riker bit his lip. He hadn't wanted to think a out that. "No, it doesn't hurt. It's not even numb or anything, and I checked. Look—" He pulled down the collar of his chain mail and the shirt underneath. "There isn't even a mark."
The blond girl stared, frowning. "Weird," Clarisse mumbled, narrowing her eyes. "That's... I don't know. Maybe..." She looked up and shared a look with him. "You should ask Chiron. Maybe he'll know. Cuz there ain't any way that arrow couldn't have left a mark."
he nodded in agreement. "I was going to , actually. It kinda makes sense, but I don't want it to." She cast him a confused look, but he just waved it away. "C'mon. Let's go see Chiron."
The centaur had galloped his way top the clearing and was speaking with Orion and Annabeth, the two team leaders—or Co-leader, in Orion's case. Clarisse followed slowly after Riker, who made his way over and thumped Chiron's flank with a loosely held fist. The centaur looked down at him. "Do you need something, Mr. Jackson?"
Riker opened his mouth, but Clarisse had finally gotten close enough to speak without yelling and beat him to the point. "Chiron! Riker got hit with an arrow, but the wound disappeared!"
Now he had Chiron's attention, and Orion and Annabeth. The daughter of Athena looked extremely, almost painfully, curious. "What's this?" The horse-man asked. "Riker?"
He shrugged. "It just vanished. We were running through the creek to get to our side, Matt had the banner and we were following him, he's the fastest. But then it was gone by the time we got to our side. Like..." He trailed off, but Orion's eyes widened.
"Like the creek just... washed it away." The teen breathed, and Riker shrugged helplessly. He'd actually been hoping they wouldn't make the connection like he had. Water like this, mainly oceans but lakes and rivers and creeks would work too—were in league with his least favorite god besides Zeus.
"This is... most disconcerting." Chiron mumbled under his breath, before looking up and locking gaze with a nervous Riker. "Mr. Jackson, has this happened before?"
Four pairs of eyes penetrated into him .and Riker shifted on his feet, looking down at the ground."
That memory hadn't been a good one.
After all, it had been the very last night Riker had ever left himself unguarded around Gabe, the fucker.
His mind sifted back through memories that had been collected years ago. Of a late night in detention at school, of coming back the the apartment altogether exhausted and ready to just go to bed and never weak up. The realization his mother was working the night shift that night and he's be stuck dealing with that slime. Of the only time Gabe ever overpowered him with is all-fat-very-little-muscle arms. Of a filthy, sweaty fist crashing into his temple. The coolness of the water and how it ran over his skin as he washed the cut in his face. Thinking hard on how he'd hide this from his mom; he didn't want to worry her more than she already was with work, but she was observant.
The water, how it slithered up his cheeks and gathered around the cut.
The memory of no cut for his mother to see the next morning.
"Riker?" Chiron touched his shoulder, and the raven-haired teen shook his head, shaking the recollection away. "Ah, yeah." He shrugged. "Once or twice..."
They stared at him for a moment, but everyones attention was stolen that moment when a loud, ear-splitting howl echoed through the forest and any and all noise and cheering died instantly.
Riker would have almost been relieved, if it hadn't been for what came next. All of what came next.
Chiron let out a shout in Ancient Greek, and Riker had only half a mind to instantly translate it. "My bow! Ready yourselves!"
Clarisse pulled her spear from off her back—Riker hadn't seen her use it, yet—and Orion tapped his armband, which grew into a square shield.
Riker looked up to the ledge directly across the creek from them, and saw what all the fuss was about.
There, on the ledge, was a hound with fur black as the darkest night, sitting on it's hunches, red eye glittering like daggers and—
Staring directly at Riker.
"Riker, move!" A few voices, at least five, chimes in together. Everyone else was frozen.
The hound pounced, but Riker waited. It was kinda like with the Minotaur, he thought, as the over-sized dog sailed toward him. He pivoted to the side and clicked Riptide into view again, leaning back toward the side and the hound continued in it's path.
It was airborne. Nothing to push off of. No force to cancel it's own out.
Therefore, like the Minotaur, it wouldn't be able to stop.
Everyone stood still, as Riptide slide neatly into the chest cavity of the hellhound, between two of it's left ribs. It fell to the ground with a sickening thump, and Riker had to jump back so it didn't and on his toes.
No one made a sound, until Chiron chose to trot over to him, face grim.
"Th-that was a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment." Annabeth spluttered once she regained her senses. "It's not, it wasn't supposed to..."
"Someone inside the camp would have to summon something like that for it to get through the wards," Orion muttered lowly, almost a growl, but in the silence everyone heard him.
They all watched as the hellhound dispersed into shadows and sunk into the ground—going back to where it came form, Riker guessed. He stayed still for a moment longer, then turned to Chiron and opened his mouth.
But the face of the centaur stopped him from saying anything. Wide eyes with tight lips. He glanced around and suddenly realized everyone was staring at him, and that the entire clearing was reflecting the light of a flickering campfire—even though there were no flames around.
Even Clarisse, Jesse and the other Ares campers were staring. They too looked shocked, but Riker saw some of their faces held something akin to disappointment.
"Looks like your not our brother after all," Clarisse sighed. She kicked a rock over with her toe. "That sucks."
Riker blinked, then slowly lifted his head to look above him.
And there, already fading, was the hologram of a pitchfork.
No. Something even worse.
A trident.
Riker groaned as Chiron began to introduce him as So of the Sea God, and all the campers began to kneel in order to 'hail' him.
"Dammit!"
Ω Δ Σ
YES! I finally finished it!
Sorry for such a long wait, my lovelies. I'd resolved to wait until summer to write again, since school's stressful. And I'm going to college next year, despite being a sophomore in high school.
Yay. Can't wait.
To die.
Anyway, once school finally let out, my family immediately went out for a week-long vacation and I couldn't very well pack my desktop to bring with me.
I hope this chapter will do for now. I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm far too lazy to correct them.
Please review and tell me what you think! Make sure to make it extra long! And please don't just ask me to update. That is irritating beyond measure. I work for hours until I have this chapter to upload, and the first thing you guys do is immediately demand me to upload another one! Gimme some downtime!
At least say how you thought the chapter was!
Gosh, you're so rude... X3
Anyway, love you all~
~Skye