I stepped forward glaring at Clarisse. Challenging the toughest girl at camp may not have been the best idea, but I wasn't really thinking about it and I may have been just a bit competitive. Just as we were about to start climbing, a blaze of light flashed across the sky, and landed in the lake. I heard a couple of people scream and before I knew what was happening I was running alongside Clarisse towards the lake. As we neared it I saw a large bus that was in the lake and around it was a large circle of scorched earth that had melted away the fresh snow. I watched in amazement as a lot of girls and four guys came piling out. The boy with black hair and sea-green eyes was talking to a boy who looked around ten and a girl who looked around my age. The girl didn't seem happy very here and after a few words motioned to the other girls and they left. The black-haired boy led the younger one-off, and they were closely followed by a black-haired girl with electric blue eyes and a satyr. The other boy who had blonde hair waved goodbye and got into the bus. The bus turned into a red sports car and he sped off into the sky.
"Who was that," I asked?
"That was Apollo, and Percy, Thalia and Grover, were leading a new camper up to Chiron. The other girls are Artemis's hunters," Cole stated.
"Hunters as in like the immortal, monster slaying, hunters from myth," I ask? Cole nodded grimly.
"Hey newbie did you forget already or are you just chicken," Clarisse growls.
"I'm not chicken I thought you were, I mean you ran over her as fast as you could," I sneer.
"Lets settle this now," Clarisse states walking back to the climbing wall. I follow her over there and position myself next to an easy hand hold.
"I don't like this," Cole murmurs.
"Just say go," I growl.
"Fine go," he says. As soon as the words leave his lips I'm leaping for the next handhold. I start climbing, resisting the urge to check where Clarisse is, as it will only slow me down. I force myself to move faster as the wall starts to shake, and suddenly I'm only hanging on with one hand. I hear a couple gasps and spare a look down, a crowd has gathered and within the group are the boy with black hair and the girl that he had been talking to earlier. I growl focusing back on my goal and heaving myself back up. The lava has started to pour down now and I'm constantly dodging it as I move up the wall. I reach up for another handhold just as lava flies off the wall and lands on my shoulder. I grunt as is quickly burns through my shirt, leaving my bare skin exposed. I force myself to keep climbing ignoring the pain in my shoulder and grab on to the top of the wall. I feel strong hands grip my arms and pull me up onto the platform. I look up to see Clarisse grinning down at me.
"I win," she states smirking," but for a newbie you aren't half bad." I smile at her as she smirks.
"Thanks, but I'll win next time," I state half as a joke.
"Sure you will newbie," she grins. We both head towards the stairs that descend to the ground and I follow her down.
"See you around newbie," she says walking off.
"Oh my gosh look at your shoulder," Cole says freaking out.
"Cole it's fine," I say looking at it, but when I see it I feel like I'm going to throw up. My skin that used to be a pretty olive was scorched black and it was starting to ooze blood. I ignored it forcing the bile in my throat back down.
"That was brave maiden," the girl I had seen before states walking over to me.
"Thanks," I mutter not really sure what to make of her. She looked about my age but her eyes looked as if they held the wisdom of many years.
"Zoe Nightshade," she said holding out her hand.
"Naomi McFarlan," I replied taking her hand and shaking it.
"Did you say McFarlan," she asked?
"Yeah why," I ask.
"I well it's just...never mind it doesn't matter," she smiled. She looked as if she was going to say something more but just then the boy she had been talking to before came up to us.
"Hi my name's Percy," he said shoving his way in between us.
"Naomi," I said.
"Cool, are you new here," he asks?
"Yeah first day," I reply giving him a look that said 'wanna make something of it'.
"You challenged Clarisse on your first day," he asked in amazement?
"Yeah I didn't think that through, the lava hurts," I smirk.
"Yeah you should probably get that shoulder looked at," he says grabbing my hand and pulling me away from an angry Zoe. I followed him through the snow up to the big house, I watched his messy black hair as it flopped in his face. He was kinda cute, but I wasn't here to date boys. I followed him up the steps.
"Chiron," he called.
"Yes Percy," the centaur asked?
"Um Naomi got burnt on the climbing wall so I'm gonna patch her up," he says leading me over to the infirmary. He sits me down on a bed and grabs some gauze.
"I can do it myself," I growl. He ignores me rolling up my sleeve and placing the gauze on my shoulder. I grimace as it hits the burnt skin.
"Here eat this it'll help," he hands me a square of something. I put it in my mouth and let the warmth that spreads from it flow all around my body. It tasted like chocolate. He was right it did help, the pain in my shoulder lessened considerably but the pain didn't go away completely.
"There," he said as he tucked the end of the gauze into one of the many folds.
"Have you seen all of camp yet," he asks?
"No I was distracted by Clarisse," I state.
"Come on I'll show you around," he says leading me out the door back into the snow. He shows me all around the camp, including the pegasus stables, the dining hall, and finally the cabins. He showed me which cabin was which including the cabin I would be staying in which was the Hermes cabin and his cabin, the Poseidon cabin, and the cabins that were never occupied such as Hera's and Artemis's cabins. However many of the cabins were empty at this time of year. He said that most of the campers only come in the summer. As he was showing me Artemis's cabin I saw that it was filled with the girls that had come out of the bus. I looked at Percy questionably.
"The hunter's are permitted to use the cabin whenever they need it," he explained. I nodded as he walked me to the Hermes cabin. I pushed the door open stepping inside to find two boys who looked exactly the same.
"Naomi meet Conner and Travis Stoll, they are both sons of Hermes," Percy says.
"Hey nice to meet you Naomi," Conner grins.
"Don't let them fool you, they are the biggest pranksters in camp and won't hesitate to rob you blind," Percy growls.
"Oh Percy that hurts we aren't that bad and we would never steal from such a pretty girl," Travis smirks.
"Give me back my necklace, now," I growl. All three boy look at me in shock.
"Now,' I growl holding out my hand. Conner sighs placing my silver necklace of a deer in my hand.
"How did you..," Travis starts to ask?
"I'm not an idiot," I growl, touch my stuff and you die."
"Jeez you have no sense of humor," Conner grumbles," definitely not a Hermes kid." Percy starts laughing.
"I can see I don't need to worry about you Naomi, also we are playing capture the flag tomorrow night so get ready," he states before saying goodbye and heading to his cabin. As the sun started to set I changed into my pajamas which had appeared next to my bunk along with my other clothes in a duffel bag. I sat on my bed watching as the moon rose high in the sky. The night was the best time, and the moonlight made the snow outside shimmer. I sighed crawling into the sleeping bag the Stoll brothers had given me. I could see the laughter in their eyes as they gave it to me and had switched it with Conner's earlier.
"AHHHHHH," I heard Conner scream from his bunk and I couldn't help but laugh. I turned over watching the moon float in the sky, before drifting off to sleep.