The sky was a deep, deep blue and puffy with white clouds floated in the sky like cotton candy. Birds chirped happily in the trees. Otherwise not a sound was to be heard. The mid-autumn sun beat down heavily on a peculiar sight: A huge crowd of demigods were gathered in the arena, about a hundred and fifty in all. Their gazes lingered on each other, heavy with suspicion and hostility, some more than the others.
Camp Half Blood was a place to be judged. You might be judged on the godly parent. You might be judged by your skills. You might be judged by your behavior. This particular crowd had gathered here today to be judged as well.
The unusually tense silence was broken by Clarisse's loud, commanding voice. "We'll start pairing you up now. You are to go against each other with swords only." Here Clarisse sent a dirty look to some of the more⦠creative campers. "No complaining, no switching. You are matched this way to have a challenge with somebody."
Clarisse looked everyone over, her serious eyes scanning over the crowd of campers inside the arena. She caught the eye of Katie, the head of the Demeter cabin. She gave her a stern look to stop flirting with Travis. Katie blushed slightly and Clarisse rolled her eyes. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she ploughed on. "Everyone will start on my mark and once each fighting pair has a winner, we will move on to the next challenge. Clear?"
"Crystal," Travis muttered, he and Katie still busy exchanging shy glances.
The other campers didn't bother with a verbal response. It was too hot for that. There were nods of heads and murmurs of yeah. The campers kept studious poker faces and at the same time glanced around, wondering who they will get paired with. A swift autumn breeze came in through the treetops and surprised some of them, something only the year rounders' got to experience at camp since everyone else was gone for the school year. Some campers had muscled tensed with excitement; some had trembling hands, their nerves getting the better of them. The sudden burst of chilliness from the wind was hardly helping.
Clarisse's somber eyes drank it all in. It was the same thing all the time. She sighed and went on with the list. "Katie Gardner and Travis Stoll."
A few kids scoffed, rolling their eyes. Of course Katie would get paired with Travis. They were both horrible at sword play; their match would be over within a few seconds. Connor snickered as his brother strode past him his head held high. A fight nearly broke out there and then but Clarisse forged ahead.
"Vanessa Bass and Will Solace."
A smooth, loping stride. Flashing blue eyes. Waist length brown hair. Everybody watched as, Vanessa, beautiful Vanessa, strolled up to Clarisse to take her sword from the stack right next to her. She avoided Clarisse's intense gaze but grinned from beneath her hair. Before attending Camp Vanessa had taken fencing lessons and become a champion in her league; fighting with real swords hopefully wasn't too different. She may not look like it but Vanessa wasn't just all looks and no guts.
"Kayla Lances and Connor Stoll. Malcolm Spades and Alice Tanner. Nico di Angelo and Josh Kane." The pairs grabbed their swords and guided each other to a spot in the arena where they would fight. All of them had a silent fear in their eyes; none of them was going to reveal it dead on though. Connor had on a grin that almost seemed maniacal, his mischievous eyes flashing a bright blue. Malcolm's intense eyes never left his opponent's as he analyzed his every move, striving to understand his opponent. Understanding is the key to success after all. Nico Di Angelo looked calm. His brooding demeanor unsettled Kane and his hands shook slightly. Nobody liked going against the son of Hades.
"Forest Lyf and Jake Mason." Laughter erupted, followed by jeers directed to a slight girl with ebony hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her eyes were blank and unseeing. Forest seemed unperturbed by the campers' behavior. Clarisse was of her proud of her for that.
"A person that easy? C'mon, Clarisse! You can't be serious. Pair me up with some one better." Jake spoke up in front of everyone, his cocky attitude threating causing trouble. "Forest is blind if you haven't noticed. She shouldn't even be in this competition." Forest turned a deaf ear to the mockery. She could beat most of the kids here and she knew it all too well. Now it was just a matter of proving that little fact to them. Her lips twitched slightly. Jake was in for a surprise.
Clarisse looked up from her list, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You should easily win the match then," she snapped. She turned back to the list while Forest absently grabbed her sword and followed Jake's footsteps, an emotionless mask on her face while she thought over her fighting strategy, fine tuning several points.
Clarisse read off the rest of the names, people snickering and making witty remarks when a couple people were mentioned:
Alva Bluefyre ("the witch's come to town, better watch out..."),
Gilbert Gemma ("Another son of Hades? Give me a break. We have our share of creepy dudes already!"),
And Aurelia Huntingdon ("An Apollo girl versus a son of Ares? Where's the excitement in all these matches?")
These campers had their own reactions to the teasing. Alva Bluefyre's eyes flashed dangerously but she had a lethal smile on her lips. Gilbert Gemma gripped his sword tightly and sent a dark look to anyone close to him. Aurelia Huntingdon held her head high, determined not be show weakness.
Clarisse pocketed the list and looked over everyone in the arena again, they all seemed to be in a fighting stance and ready to strike. She held up a whistle in the air and shouted out for attention. "On your mark. Get ready. Get set-" she blew the whistle and it released an ear shattering shriek. "-GO!"
There was a roar of noise as the year round campers started their one on one battles, some people immediately going down within the first few seconds. Wave after wave of pure noise crashed into the campers' ears, sights of watching demigods fall to the gravel and look up to find a sword pointed at their necks'. One could easily hear the yelps of surprise as campers got counter blocked, or the whoops of guys as they cheered on their friends who were still battling. Such a view was much better than one would see on the screen of a tv.
Once the last pair went down after a few minutes, Clarisse called time and people looked around at who was still standing. With Katie vs. Travis, it was shockingly Travis who was still standing with his sword in the air getting cheers. Nobody dared to say a word about Katie losing. It wasn't like they were surprised either way. But baiting Katie was dangerous and no one wanted to end up with crazy vines growing in their cabins, or beds for that matter.
"Winners!" Clarisse shouted above the noise. "Go off to the far side of the arena!" She turned the people who were sitting on the ground, the losers. They were suffering the sting of defeat. Campers mocked them. They had been judged and they had not made the cut. Such was the way of Camp. "Everyone else, go sit in the stands. Move, now!" she waved them in the indicated direction and scanned the fifty or so people who had won. She tried to hide her surprise when she realized that Forest Lyf was among those fifty campers. From the corner of eye she spotted Jake Mason mumbling curses as he rubbed his sore arms and bruised shins.
The winners stared back at Clarisse. Aurelia Huntingdon waited with bated breath for her next challenge. Nico Di Angelo leaned on his dark sword casually. His brother, Gilbert Gemma, stood next to him, his shoulders tense. Alva Bluefyre's smile never left her lips throughout the battle and she placed her hands of her hips, ready for battle. Vanessa stood next to her, trying to ignore her various cuts and bruises, pleased that she had won. Malcolm's gaze flitted to each of the campers, weighing his chances with any one of them. He was in for a surprise however.
"This match is now just free for all." Clarisse ignored the looks of surprise she received. In a real war no one was going to wait for you to finish with your opponent. These kids should learn that. "You fight for only yourself, everyone against everyone else. Fight with honor and pride. No maiming, no cheating. If you lose or get over taken, you run as fast as you can to the stands for safety. Anybody caught cheating will be sentenced to extra chores for a month and cleaning with the harpies. Do I make myself clear?" Clarisse met people's eyes, daring them to say something. Nobody did so she blew her whistle loud and clear into the air, the shrill sound reminding her of a fake battle cry.
Everything rolled together into a blur of bronze swords and orange t-shirts. Malcolm single handedly fought off two Ares campers on his own and knocked a Hermes kid out of the game while at it. He could feel the adrenaline and energy pulsing into his veins. A wild smile tugged at his lips, oh how he loved that sense of a rush while he fought!
"C'mon Snake Eyes... not scared of us are you?" About six or so campers circled in on Aurelia Huntingdon, their swords ready to attack. She betrayed no emotion. Her face was cold and her eyes calculating. If there was anything she hated more than bullies, it was being weak. She refused to show weakness to these demigods.
"Come at us Sneaky Snake... Take a strike. We'll let you even have the first shot." A boy about Malcolm's age nudged closer to Aurelia. He had a hungry look in his eyes that haunted her. She itched to have her sword's blade against his neck.
"Pick on someone your own size coward." Malcolm came up from behind the boy and hit him in the chest with the hilt of his sword, automatically taking him out of the game and masking his face with shame.
In anger of such a surprised attack, the rest of the campers fled full on toward Malcolm. Aurelia steadily picking them off one by one while they were still distracted. Together, unconsciously working as a team, Aurelia and Malcolm managed to take five more campers out of the game. Only about fifteen campers in all remained inside the arena now.
"How'd you learn all of that?" Malcolm asked Aurelia once they were facing each other. "Who taught you? Most kids like you don't have that sort of talent or battle strategy. Especially not Apollo kids."
She got a wild look in her eyes then, being able to see who her savior really was. Those gray eyes... blond hair... he looks just like Calvin. She felt her muscles tighten and teeth clench, she thought that she had already killed Calvin during the Battle of Manhattan. How could he still be alive?
This competition just became a little more intense...
()~()~()~()~()~()~()~()
Alva Bluefyre locked eyes with her opponent; they both had matching minds that told themselves that they were going to win. Only with the hidden tricks up her sleeves, Alva easily won the match and moved on to the next contestant without a moment of hesitation.
"What is it with you?" Her defeated opponent yelled at her. "You're such a freak!"
Alva grinned; she didn't try to hide it. "Well you know what they say: Live freaky, die freaky." The wild girl disappeared into the mass of fighting before the person could respond.
Finding her best friend within the crowd of chaos, Alva was so surprised that Vanessa was still in the battle. She seemed to be only using defense moves, not striking at anybody. Just waiting it all out until the other's get tired and moved on. Though usually that moving on involves getting taken out by another camper in the game.
"Still alive there?" Alva laughed pressed her back against Vanessa's, they both held their swords up and recognizing the other by the sound of their voices. It was like they had become one when they touched.
"I'm living alright." Vanessa said, she sounded out of breath. "Just don't feel alive."
"Don't worry then." Alva stepped up and took out another camper with just a few swift moves. She quickly slumped back to her friend's side without missing a blink. "You'll get used to it."
Vanessa shrugged. "Eventually, maybe." She took a few steps and with the butt of her sword, took out another camper.
"Eventually" maybe my ass." Alva fought off a camper who went for Vanessa, she grinned when they got called out after trying to cheat. "At Camp Half Blood... you ether learn to adapt, or you die. I chose to adapt."
"And if I chose to die?" Vanessa said blankly.
Alva bit her lip. "Then I'll be the one at your funeral who throws myself on your casket and screams "WHY!" in front of everyone. Agreed?" Her words were teasing but her eyes were sad as she looked at her best friend.
"Agreed." Vanessa smiled back at Alva.
They fought on in the game, side by side, each other's heart on each other's heart. Nothing could separate them.
()~()~()~()~()~()~()~()
Forest Lyf stroked and blocked against the other campers, her black hair coming loose and coming in front of her face. Though she didn't let that stop her. She was blind after all; she didn't need to worry about her eyes. All she needed to do was listen and focus.
"Look at Forest..." Clarisse was still up in the stands, monitoring the game as the remaining ten battled ferociously. She wasn't that surprised by how skilled the blind girl was. As a Daughter of Ares, Clarisse automatically could tell how good or bad a person was when it came to combat. She didn't dare mention that though to the others who went up against Forest. She wanted to let them learn for themselves how you should never underestimate your opponent. "She singlehandedly fought against two Athenian kids and still won... That girl must have talent or a really good instructor."
Next to her, with arms crossed and face scrunched up, Katie Gardner nodded. She wasn't too happy about Forest getting involved in intense sword play. In her mind Forest was too vulnerable and delicate; no daughter of Demeter should even have made it this far in the game. It was just too dangerous for them. Tending to plants and farming was better off for children like them.
"How much longer do you think she'll last?" Katie asked, her face twisting in anger.
Clarisse shook her head; she had a proud smile on her face. "As far as I know, Forest might as well be the champion."
Katie stomped her foot in frustration and turned away; she was mad at Forest for taking the spotlight. She wasn't supposed to have the spotlight. The spotlight belonged to a Son of Ares or Daughter of Athena instead, not a blind Demeter girl. Forest Lyf needed to learn her place within the camp and this place as a fighter wasn't an option.
"Drama queen." Clarisse muttered. She didn't care if Katie heard her, that girl needed to calm down. Forest had potential; as her cabin counselor Katie needed to accept that.
Bringing her sunglasses down to her face and hiding her eyes, Clarisse proceeded to watch the game with growing interest. Things were really becoming... thrilling.
On the ground, Vanessa and Alva were working as a team against Gilbert Gemma and Nico di Angelo, neither person showing signs of giving up. Up farther north of the place, Forest was working hard against Connor. They both knew each other's strategy and secret moves; it was a suspense filled fight to watch as each demigod pushed harder and harder. But the real fight was near the east stands where Aurelia and Malcolm were going at it strong.
He was fighting to get her back pinned against a wall, his flashy moves blinding her for a millisecond before she blocked all of his tries. Each demigod had beads of sweat running down their foreheads; Aurelia fighting like this was more than just a game. She was battling as though she were trying to kill him.
With each counter block and strike, more and more people turned to stare at the match of will against determination. Unlike the others Malcolm and Aurelia both seemed to be getting tired, strength had long drained away but still they persevered. What was it with them on winning? Why didn't one just forfeit?
"TIME!" Clarisse yelled across the arena.
Connor and Forest immediately dropped their weapons, they shook hands in amends. "Nice fight." she said to him.
"You always bring up a good challenge." He said before pulling away. He shot a gloating look to his brother who had lost early in the second round.
Nearby, both Nico and Gilbert stepped back in unison before Vanessa and Alva dropped their weapons too. They gave silent nods to the boys, congratulating them on lasting this long.
Nico wiped the sweat off his brow; he glanced from pretty Vanessa to tall and scary Alva. "How could these girls be friends"? He thought. Beside him his half-brother Gilbert was breathing heavily. That had been the wildest sword fight he had been in; he hoped that most matches at Camp weren't all like this. But then again, who was that girl over there fighting against Connor? She seemed able to put up a good fight, he wished that he could see her moves up close and clear. And maybe even get the chance to fight her sometime...
"I said TIME!" Clarisse screamed again. Everyone looked up at her, and then followed her gaze to the east side of the arena.
Two half-bloods, one brunette, the other blond, were still fighting strong. Neither of them seemed to give up, it's like they didn't want to admit defeat. Gilbert tried to wrack his brain for who the kids were.
The brunette girl of course seemed to be Aurelia, the Apollo girl with the snake green eyes. And maybe the blond dude was Malcolm then, only he would be able to make such swift and strong moves that skillfully. So now that he knew who they were, why were they still fighting?
Not wanting to get in the way, everyone moved aside when Clarisse stepped down from the stands and marched toward the fighting pair.
"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" She shouted them. With her big strong hands Clarisse pulled Malcolm back from Aurelia and ripped their swords away from each other, sending the bronze metal skidding across the ground's gravel. Arms crossed and fists clenched, she gave them extra chores for a week for not listening when she gave orders. "Rule number one of sword fighting." she carefully eyed them both. "Never let your opponent distract you from what's going on outside the fight."
And marched off with declaring that everyone else return to their normal activities.
The judgment for the over, everything calmed down. At least for now. There was calamity lurking on the horizon. Alva Bluefyre's eyes met Vanessa's uneasily. She sensed danger and it sent shivers running down her back. Nico watched Vanessa from afar trying to puzzle out a few secrets. Vanessa shifted uneasily, fully aware of his dark gaze on her. Gilbert eyed the black haired Forest, wondering if it was wise to challenge her. Aurelia stood of in a corner, Calvin's face and Malcolm's overlapping in her mind. Malcolm watched her carefully, his heart and mind engaged in a fierce battle. Connor laughed as he greeted his brother on the stands, his mind free of all worries.
Yes, things had calmed down for now. But battle was eminent in the future. And this was a fight no one was going to forget.
REVIEW! please... XD
