I know, this one is very short. It makes me ashamed to write... but the next chapter is the longest so far! So... yes... summary: not the best chapter ever...

:3

Chapter Three

I Pin-Cushion Some Campers

Somehow, that night, I found myself perched up in a great big sycamore, guarding our team's flag. That newbie Austin was with me. Thank the gods he wasn't armed with a bow though. Our cabin had allied with Hephaestus (of course), Hermes, Demeter, and Poseidon. Basically, four cabins. The Poseidon cabin's emptiness was made up for my Hermes, because that cabin was humongous.

I sighed and pulled back my bow experimentally while I heard the sound of steel upon steel in the distance. "How'd I get stuck with this job?" I groaned.

"Because of your new stunning arrows," Austin said simply. He was right. Me and Travis had been working on these arrows that don't really hurt (it feels more like a dart, trust me), but can partly paralyze you. Actually, when we were testing it this morning, my leg was numb for a couple of hours.

"Where are they?" I murmured as I scanned the forest floor. A few leaves from a large shrub floated noiselessly towards the ground. I winked at Austin before drawing back a very skinny arrow. They may be useful, but the wind will easily blow them off course due to their, er, slenderness.

Quickly, I tested to wind, although there wasn't much need because we were in a very dense part of the forest. Letting the arrow fly, I was greeted by a girlish scream, even though most screams usually are girlish anyways...

Lia stumbled out of the bushed followed by her older half-brother and two of the Ares cabin members. "What the heck was that?" she screeched as she attempted to get up from the ground. I could see the arrow got her in the thigh. She probably wouldn't be able to walk straight for awhile.

"Hey guys!" I said, grinning wolfishly as I leaned against the trunk. "Oh, and you're welcome. Besides, I think those mice like our cabin better than your grape-stenched one."

Afterwards, I would be wondering if stenched was a word, but it seemed right to use at the time.

"You are dead, freak!" One of her older brothers snarled.

I've been called a freak multiple times, so, rather than be insulted by it, I find it easier to take it as a compliment. "Hey, thanks bestie," I said before shooting one of the hissing arrows into his left arm.

Soon afterwards, the four waddled away, persuaded by the bunches of stick-like arrows protruding from them so that they looked like paranoid mutant hedgehogs.

"Silly Ares and Dionysus kids," I said happily as I shouldered my bow. "Fighting with a spear or sword all the time, not to mention getting maimed every five minutes. Give me a bow and a quiver of arrows any day."

We kept a sharp eye out for any of our returning campers, although, I did see a small tail disappear under a leaf a few trees away. I just hope it wasn't one of the mice, testing his luck at being an escapee. For a mouse, I guess that's a close as you get to taking a 'joy ride'.

And we already knew that the other team would never be stealing our flag, mostly on the hunch that the Ares cabin wouldn't be the best climbers in the world. I don't know why, but we all just seemed to think that. Of course, they do have the Athena cabin on their side… that's where you need to be worried.

Even with the Athena cabin, I have to admit, I almost fell asleep out of boredom a few times. We caught no sight of the enemy team.

With no warning, a loud caterwaul rose through the tree tops, followed by screams. My face hardened as I shouldered my bow. "Austin, stay here with the flag."

"But-"

"Stay!" I growled before taking off through the treetops. Now, I'm not as good as a squirrel or anything, but I can tell you, I was moving pretty fast through those trees. Grasping one branch, swinging from that one onto another, and then leaping for another. The branches began moving in a blur as I found my natural rhythm.

It didn't take long to reach the source of the noise. And when I saw the reason for the commotion, I nearly fell out of the trees, saving myself by gripping onto a fat hardy branch. Campers, of both teams, were fending off multiple hellhounds, perhaps a half a score in all. (That's fancy talk for ten…never mind.)

Pulling myself onto the branch, I fumbled for a grip on my bow and drew an arrow. I made one small hellhound burst into dust with a well aimed arrow. Four others had disintegrated now as well. I fired off three quick arrows and leapt down from the tree. It turned out, only one of the arrows made its target. Everyone else finished off the rest.

Shaking from surprise, I rushed into the small clearing where they had attacked. My first instinct was to look for Chelsea and my half-siblings. Chelsea and Emmy immediately rushed up towards me.

"See if there are any injured," I told them in a quiet voice. They nodded silently and rushed off. Apollo is the god of medicine as well as many other things.

I happened to look to my left to find Matthew leaning against his blade. My eyes widened in alarm as I hurried over to him. "What happened to you?" I asked.

"It got me from behind, sneaky thing. Though, I gave it what it deserved. But I'm fine." He said weakly, but somehow he managed to smile. For the first time, I saw the long claw slash across his side. He hid it expertly with his arm, so he simply looked winded.

"It'll be best to get you to the creek," I said to myself as I stripped a spiral of cloth from the bottom of my jeans, using one of my arrowheads skillfully, and wrapped it tightly around Matthew's stomach. So much for my new jeans. I beckoned the nearest camper over.

"Trey, get over here." I snapped impatiently. Obviously, my tone was urgent enough that Trey, a son of Hermes, rushed over quickly. "Help me prop Matthew up. We need to get him to the creek over there." I beckoned north with my hand.

We made slow progress, and it seemed hours until we reached the small creek. My shoulders were actually starting to ache.

"Here," I said breathlessly. Both Trey and I waded into the still-cold water. I winced at the cold, and waiting a few seconds before wading back out. Matthew's injuries would be completely healed at the touch of water, him being a son of Poseidon. Huh, so much for us Apollo children's knowledge of 'healing'.

"Let's get back." Trey said through chattering teeth. The water was pretty frigid, even though it was the end of spring. Apparently though, this creek did not know that.

We all nodded and trekked back towards the clearing were the turmoil had taken place.

No one had been seriously hurt, save Matthew, but Matthew wasn't too keen to tell anyone that a hellhound had beaten him up.

Now that all this was over, a sudden wave of exhaustion swept over me. Chiron had called Capture the Flag to a pause, saying we would continue it tomorrow from where we left off.

We hurried back to our cabin, and last thing I remember hearing was a squeaky mouse voice asking, 'Can I have a tomato?'

"No, I don't have any tomatoes…" I mumbled before everything went a peaceful dark, the feeling of sleep.