Author's Note:
Before I get on with the story, I think that apologies and explanations are in order. First of all, I want to apologize for not being able to update sooner. But with this year is a very important school year.
Seeing that I wasn't able to do as well as I had hoped last year, I need to do better. I not only need to exell academically but physically as well(I'm captain of one of the sports teams in my school). So with ten hours of training a week, and forty hours in school, the only time I have to write is during week ends.
I know it sucks, and if I had my way, I would write nonstop. Unfortunately, I don't, and to me, school is more important. So I'm sorry if I can only update during the weekends.
But to try to make it up to you, I have posted an extra long chapter. A little warning, however, is that it is not the best I've written. I started this quite sometime ago and was only able continue it now. So my writing style has changed.
I tried to fix it the best I can, and this is the outcome. Again I'm sorry for the lateness and the poorness of the quality of the chapter. But bear with me, as it can and definitely will only get better from here.
Reviews are undoubtedly welcomed. And thank you for reading this extremely long author's note. Without further ado, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
~ Halvax
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO in any way, shape or form. All rights are given to the amazing Rick Riordan.
Earth's Champion: Humble Beginnings
Chapter 2: Attending Agoge
Perseus' POV
Two years later...
"Chiron! Chiron!" I called out. It's been two years since I left my mom. Over that time, I have been training for 14 hours a day, sleeping for 8 hours and eating the rest of the time.
Chiron's training put a whole new meaning to torture. But I try my hardest not to complain. If I want to be able to protect myself and the people I care about, I have to train. No matter how torturous.
I have been all over Greece and more. After we left Athens, we went to Thebes, Aegae, Byllis, Arcadia, Ephyra, Ithaca, Delphi, Megara, Corinth and Olympia. Along the way, we train during the day, and stay in small inns or camp out. I was even able to see the Olympic Games, when Chiron gave me a day off training. Right now, we are in the outskirts of Sparta.
I have stayed in forests, mountains, caves and valleys. I have learned how to use all kinds of weapons. But my favourite being a sword. Chiron even said that I am the best swordsman he has ever trained, even better than Heracles. He says that Heracles is more of a hands-on guy. He rarely uses weapons as he had his strength.
Where as I have a smaller build, I am faster and more flexible. For a boy of 8 years old, my prowess in battle is amazing. When we go to towns and cities, Chiron introduces me as his pupil and sends me on quests to prove myself to the people. Chiron says its part of my training.
If you consider killing man eating birds that were sacred to the war god, a training exercise. Due to my size, or my lack of it, I was able to fit into the swamp and use my developing water powers to kill half of the Stymphilian Birds that were terrorising the townspeople. I would have got them all but using my powers exhausts me alot. I thought of using a bow to finish the job, if only I had the accuracy.
My father has been contacting me mentally, to give tips in my water training. My swordmanship is almost flawless, I am an above average spearman and despite my small size, I can give a pretty decent fight when it comes to hand to hand combat. But for the life of me, I cannot handle a bow.
That is mostly what I am working on. If not, my powers over the sea. My name is actually quite well known now. Although I lived in Athens my whole life, I don't have a drop of Athenian blood. So Chiron introduces me as Orion of Crete.
Not even Chiron knows of my true identity. But I have a feeling that he is suspicious of my heritage. I am not the most suitable person to hide a big secret. Whenever I got angry and we were near a body of water, it mirrored my emotions. I have had my fair share of exploding flower vases and water fountains.
I am expecting to complete my training once I turn nine next year. From then on, I will have to survive on my own. Chiron says that it is up to me on how I use that knowledge that he has passed on to me.
"Over here Orion." Chiron says. "We will set up camp for the night and head into Sparta in the morning. By my calculations, we will reach the city by noon. We will have to stay in Sparta for a while as I have some business to attend to. Spartans are known to be great warriors. I expect you to continue your training even in my absence. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." I saluted. I am very excited about going to Sparta. I want to be able to face fierce and battle hardened soldiers to see where I can improve. As long as archery is not concerned, I am all for it.
Once we arrived in Sparta, it is well after noon. Chiron brought me to a house. The roof was made out of clay tiles, and the walls were made out of mud bricks. The floors were made of beaten earth. The windows on the house were small and had wooden shutters. The house was relatively small. It had a living room, kitchen, dining and sitting area and one bed room.
"You will be staying here in the mean time. You will have to get your own food, as I will most likely be too busy to come see you. To start you off, here are 100 drachma. Use it wisely. I will be back in a month at most. As for your training, usually, Spartans are required to start their military training and education at the age of 6. I have made arrangements for you to attend, despite of you being two years late.
I expect your training with me can more than cover this up. Make the most of your time here to learn new things and gain new friends. Spartans find loyalty and teamwork to be very important. Gain their respect and do not cause any unnessecary trouble. Understood?" Chiron asked.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, what are you going to be doing while I stay here?" I curiously asked. "I am meeting my dear friend, Daedalus. He is king Minos' architect and adviser. Which reminds me, Daedalus has a son named Icarus. He asked me if I knew anyone that could help keep an eye on Icarus, so I volunteered you. I want you to look after him as both of you will be attending the agoge. Alright?"
"Yes sir." I responded. Chiron nodded and left after giving me the pouch which contained the drachmas.
The agoge is where Spartans were trained and taught. Here they will undergo strict training so that they can protect their city in the future. Boys start at 6 and continue training until they are 20.
For the rest of the day, I decided that I would explore the city. I went into my room, and put down my stuff. I headed our the door, making sure that I had the pouch of drachma with me. But I only took half of the original amount. I chose a direction and started walking. Sparta was filled with houses that were similar to the one I am staying in except they were bigger. People were walking about, and muscular men were talking loudly to each other. They were sharing their achievements in battle, where to drink later that night or which woman they would take to bed.
I felt my blood boil when I heard that. My mom always told me to treat women with respect and as equals.
Flashback-
"Now Perseus, today we are going to learn all about how to treat women." Sally told her 4 year old son. " Daddy said that woman should throw themselves at men and we should have our way with them. He said that if they don't obey, then we should beat them up. He said that women are slaves to men and should do whatever we command them to do." Percy said, qouting Gabriel's words.
Sally was horrified. "Listen to me Perseus, women are to be treated with respect. They are just as good as men. The problem is that we are not given the privellages that men are given. Women are treated inferior just because they are women. When you grow old Percy, I want you to remember to treat women like men. We are not weak, nor are we inferior. Promise me that you will not do the vile things that most men do to women.
Promise me that you will protect those in need, regardless of their gender. Swear that you will do your best to see the good that people have In their hearts and not judge unjustly." Sally said with seriousness and determination.
Percy was surprised. In all of his short life, Percy had never seen his mother this serious, not even when he purposely broke Smelly Gabe's priceless vase.
He nodded weakly, taking a quick look at his mother's eyes. He regretted it. Her usual hazel eyes that were kind and loving was replaced by eyes that were so dark brown that they were almost black. They showed such disappointment that it brought tears to young Perseus' eyes.
"I am so sorry mom. I didn't mean to think that about women. I thought that Smelly Gabe was telling the truth. I thought that women should be treated like slaves like he said. Please forgive me mom, I really am sorry." He said as tears flowed freely down his cheeks and blurred his vision.
Sally's eyes softed and returned to her hazel eyes that were full of love and compassion. She could never stay angry at her son, no matter what he did. She gave him a smile and said, "Of course I forgive you, Percy. Just remember what I said. Don't treat people unjustly because of their gender.
Everyone is equal. I am also sorry that I snapped at you like that. I keep on forgetting how young you are because you are so mature." She ruffled his hair and gave him a hug.
"I really am sorry. I should have known better than to believe Smelly Gabe." Percy said still ashamed, and wiping his tears.
"It is alright, son. You know, if I had not met your father, I would have joined Lady Artemis' Hunt, and swear off the company of men. I have always admired her as a warrior and leader.
She protected women who could not protect themselves. She is stronger and more skilled than most men. I have always wanted the skills to protect myself. But my father would never allow it. He said that women only exist for the sole purpose of bearing a man's child and tending to a man's needs.
Because of this, I believed that all men are monsters. But when I met your father, he convinced me that not all men are like that. So I didn't join the Hunt. And I am glad that I didn't. Or else, I wouldn't have such a great son." Sally said.
End of Flashback-
I was just about to walk over to the group of men who said that to give them a piece of my mind, when I heard my name being called.
"Orion? Orion? Is there anyone here named Orion?" A voice coming from infront of me said. I walked over to the boy who looked about my age. He had short messy, dark blond locks. He had a scrawny build compared to my slighly muscled body which is the result of three years of gruesome training. He was wearing a white chiton that came to his knees, had a belt around his waist and a pair of sandals.
I tapped him lightly, which caused him to suddenly turn around. Now that I was looking at him face to face, I could see that his face had childish features. His eyes were stormy grey and looked quite intimidating. He glared at me. I just shrugged, I had faced man eating birds for Zeus' sake. A kid my age's glare doesn't really faze me.
I held out my hand and said, "Hey, I heard you were looking for me. My name is Orion." the boy shook it reluctantly, while his eyes darted from my head to my toe as if analysing me every detail. "My name is Icarus, son of Daedalus, of Crete. My father came here to meet up with a friend of his and told me to come see a boy named Orion."
He let go of his hand and stepped back. He looked at me expectantly. "What?" I asked. "Aren't you going to tell me to bow or something?" Icarus asked. I gave him a confused look and said, "Why would I do that? I am not a god. We are practically of the same age. Why would I expect you to bow to me, your equal."
"I guess my father is right. You are different from the others." Icarus answered and started walking towards the arena, while motioning for me to follow.
"What do you mean by different from the others? What others are you talking about?" I asked while following him. Can he never give me a straight forward answer?
"Heroes. You are different from all the other heroes that I have met. They are all arrogant pigs with big egos. They expect people to bow to them and treat them like gods just because of their supposed great feats. The only reason they do those feats is for the fame and money." Icarus said.
"But I am not a hero. I have not done anything heroic." I said. "You are joking right? I have heard of your deeds. I heard of when you got rid of two cyclops who were running amock in Thebes, and didn't accept the reward that the people were willing to pay. Then again in Delphi when you rescued the oracle from bandits." He answered.
"The cyclops in Thebes were annoying me and they were hurting the people, so I vaporised them. And I only found the band of bandits by accident. I was hunting in the woods when I found them. They were talking about a hostage so I freed her, not knowing that she was the oracle.
Thinking back on it now, those deeds were not heroic, they were stupid. The cyclops were huge and could have easily killed me were I not lucky. And the bandits severely out numbered me.
Chiron always told me not to jump into a fight without a plan, especially if I am out numbered. By rescueing the oralce, I disregarded my master's teachings." I said downcast. I have always been feeling guilty about those things.
Flashback-
One day, Perseus was hunting in the forest in search for his lunch. He had set up a few snares awhile ago, but nothing was caught. After a few more minutes of searching, he spotted a young doe who was drinking by the river.
He took his spear, as he knew that he would have no lunch if he used his bow. Just as he was about to release the spear, a scream broke through the peaceful forest. Apon hearing this, the doe bolted out of sight.
Now Orion was getting frustrated. He had been out hunting for nearly two hours now and had nothing to show for it. He stalked over to where he heard the scream, wanting to give the person who cost him his lunch, a piece of his mind.
But when he got there, a horrible sight awaited him. There were five men, surrounding a girl of about thirteen. They had the girl cornered and were eying her with lustful eyes.
The girl had feiry red hair and green eyes. Her eyes held fear and she was trembling. Percy's ealier irritation was now replaced by rage. How dare these men try to touch an innocent girl? He thought.
Without thinking, he drew his sword, raised his spear and charged. He used the staff of his spear to knock the nearest man unconsious. He swept the second man's feet from under him, causing the man to loose his balance. Using this advantage, Percy used the flat of his blade to knock the man out.
The other three who have recovered from their shock by now, met Percy's charge. The first man, drew his sword and exchanged a few blows with Percy. The second man, tried to get under Percy's guard while distracted by the first man. The third, probably the leader of the gang, stood by the girl, making sure she does not try to escape.
The men had a big advantage over Percy as they were taller, had longer reach and stronger. Percy on the other hand, was faster and more flexible. Besides, Chiron was always Percy's sparring partner, who is ten times better that these men.
After a few minutes, Percy finally found an opening in the first man's defence. He feigned a blow to the bandit's head. The bandit, predictably rose his sword to parry the strike. Percy smirked and gave him a deep cut on his right leg.
The man let his sword go and brought his hands down to examine the wound. Big mistake. Percy used the hilt of his sword to knock the man unconsious. Three down, two to go. He now turned to the second man, who was trying to keep a brave face on. He let out an angry cry and he attacked Percy with renewed vigour.
"An enraged opponent is a dead opponent. Anger is a good weapon to have, if you know how to use it. Emotions can be used to feul your attack, as long as you don't let it get the better of you." Chiron once told his young pupil.
"What kind of bandit are you? Can't you even beat a kid like me?" He said tauntingly. "Why you little!" Was all he could say before Percy have him a barrage of slices, jabs, feigns, slashes and strikes. Unfortunately, the bandit was unable to keep up.
With one final blow to the head, the man slumped to the ground. By then, Percy was panting heavily. He looked at the last man with a menacing glare. The man let go of the girl, gave a yelp and ran further into the forest.
Exhausted, Percy collapsed on the ground as well, taking several deep breaths. Although out of energy, he looked at the girl who was now staring back at him. There was an awkward silence that settled.
Percy ran his had through his hair and said, "Um... Hi my name is Orion of Crete. Are you ok?" After a pause, the girl reluctantly answered, "Traumatised, but otherwise alright. I am sorry for the trouble I may have cost you. And I am grateful for your help. My name is Rachel the Oracle of Delphi. I was kidnapped by those bandits a few days ago. And I really must be going."
"No problem. I try to help when I can. And I can escort you back to Delphi if you want." Percy said.
Percy was intrigued by this frizzy haired oracle. He was curious, and wanted to findout what an oracle does. "No, no, I have already caused you too much trouble." Rachel said shaking her head.
"Nah, it's no problem. My mentor and I are heading there anyways. Besides, you will be much safer with us." Percy said. But Rachel was still reluctant. After the experience she had, she did not know who to trust anymore.
"I don't know, if I can trust you..." She started. Percy looked confused at first but said, "Oh, that's right. Sorry. I forgot about the bandits thing. Chiron always said I get ahead of..."
"Chiron? How do you know Chiron?" Rachel said. She had heard about the kind immortal trainer of heroes. If this boy knows Chiron personally, then maybe she could trust him.
"Chiron is my mentor. He is the one waiting for me and will have my head if I don't come back soon. So are you coming or not?" Percy said impatiently.
"I guess it would not hurt to come along. Lead the way Orion." She said.
The two became good friends along the way to Delphi, after some arguing. Rachel shared stories on being an oracle. In turn, Percy taught Rachel basic techniques on the knife for self defense.
Before they went on their seperate ways Rachel stared at Percy in a far away look and said, "We will meet again in the very distant future, and you will end my curse. But until then, remember that revenge is never the solution."
End of Flashback
Icarus shook his head and said, "Orion, you are too modest for your own good. Tell me, why did you do those deeds in the first place, if they betrayed your master's teachings?"
I thought for a moment and slowly answered, "To help them out. My mom always told me that I should help people in need if I can. I did those deeds to protect innocent people from danger, without thinking about the consequences." I said now with more confidence.
He nodded and said, "Spoken like a true hero. A wreckless hero, but a hero none the less." "Thank you Icarus. You sound alot like Chiron." I said with a smile.
"Grandson of Athena, at your service." He said with an exaggerated bow. "Friends?" I held out my hand to him for the second time today. This time, he took it without hesitation. "Friends." He confirmed.
We were now standing infront of the arena. It was simple building but it was made of stone unlike the houses here. In front, a statue of Ares was built holding a spear in one hand and a Spartan shield in the other.
"Come on, I want to see what is inside. I have never been to an arena before." Icarus said. I had no choice but to follow him as he was already running into the building.
In the middle of the arena was circular ring where warriors could fight. There were stands for people to sit in and watch the action. Currently, there were quite a number of people.
I was looking around trying to find my friend. I take my eyes of him for a second and he vanishes. If I don't find him soon, Chiron will have my head. Suddenly I heard a strangled scream somewhere in the middle of the ring. I turned my head to see Icarus slowly back away from a blurry boy who looked about 12.
I started running towards my friend. Considering Icarus' scrawny build, I knew that he had no chance of besting the boy. Just as the boy raised his fist to punch Icarus, I stepped between the two.
"Now, can't we settle this peacefully?" I asked. Chiron always said to try the democratic approach before turning to violence. "No." was the boy's simple answer.
Before he was able to attack I asked, "What did my friend do to you?" "He bumped into me and insulted me infront of my gang. For that, he will pay." He said menecingly.
I stole a glance behind him and saw three boys who had a similar build as his. They were all very muscular and at least a foot taller than me. They each had a sword on their belts and shield strapped on their backs.
If this resulted in a fist fight, I would have very slim chances of winning. They would most probably outclass me interms of strength. But with Icarus here, winning a fist fight would be impossible. For one, I would have to protect both of us. But if it were with weapons, I stood a better chance.
By the looks of the boys, they were more accustomed to hand-to-hand combat. I would have the slight disadvantage. I prefered to use double swords but I can never find a sword that is as balanced as Harpe.
"I am sure that if Icarus would just apologise," I began, and gave Icarus a glare who was cowering behind me. "I will not apologise to that pig. He insulted me by calling me weak and dumb, just becuase I told him I come from Crete. Weak, I can accept, but I am nowhere near dumb. My brain is probably ten times bigger than his, considering he had one." Icarus said.
"That is it. Step aside punk, and let me knock that Cretan down a peg." The boy bellowed in rage. I noticed that everyone was now staring at us with facination and amuzement. I heard some people betting on who would win.
'Lysandor will crush those weaklings', 'Lysandor is a child of Lord Ares, there is no way he would lose to that twig' and 'I don't think even Lord Apollo can heal him after Lysandor is through with those two' were some of the things that people were saying.
I felt a bead of sweat sliding down the side of my head. I wonder just how good this Lysandor guy was. "No. I will not let you hurt my friend. You started it first by insulting him. Granted that he should have just apologised," again I looked pleadingly at Icarus who refused to make eye contact. "But that does not mean that you can just hit him." I said.
Before he could retort, I continued,"Now if you don't mind, could you let us pass." I stated more than questioned. "This guy is hilarious. Do you seriously think that Lysandor will just let you pass, who do you think you are?" a boy from behind Lysandor said smugly.
"Orion." I said.
"Well listen here, Orion, there is no way the boss will just let you pass. He is a son of the mighty Ares. A true Spartan does not back down from a fight." The same boy said.
"Well a smart Spartan, will. Now move aside." I said. Democracy will never work in this situation, but if I can fight them one on one, there is a bigger chance of surviving this.
"Are you questioning my intelligence, punk?" The boy said.
"What if I am?" I countered.
"Let me teach him a lesson, Lysandor. I will make sure that he learns to never underestimate a Spartan." The boy looked at Lysandor, who gave a dismissive wave.
"Icarus, things are only going to go downhill. I need you to do whatever I say. If I say run, you run. Got that?" I turned to Icarus who was looking very pale. He gave a timid nod.
I turned back to my attacker who was slowly advancing towards me. "Icarus, I need you to stay behind me no matter what." I said without removing my attention from Lysandor's lackie.
He suddenly threw a wild punch aimed at my face, which I easily dodged at the last second. From his expression, I could tell that he did not expect that. He gave a jab, which I sidestepped. He tried to sweep my legs from under my feet, I was quicker and jumped up, landing gracefully, with barest trace of a smirk on my face. Because of Chiron's intensive training, I could read him like an open book.
I saw the smallest details, like his legs tensing and the beads of sweat that were on his forehead. He tried several more times to catch me off guard, but to no success. I even gave my own experimental punches to see how fast his reflexes were. They were light and would not cause much damage as I was keeping them to a minimal.
I was not very impressed. Most of my hits connected with their targets, despite the lack of speed or power I was exerting. Our 'fight' if you could even call it that, lasted for afew minutes. Then I noticed that his punches were getting more random and slower. He was finally tiring.
I gave him a barrage of punches that hit his gut and kicked him right on the head. Although I kept my attack at minimum power, he slumped to the ground unconsious. One down three to go.
People were now buzzing. Surprised that I was able to beat him. The boy I fought, was suppose to be one of the best fighters who were his age. I think I may have over estimated these boys. But I can never be too careful, so I made sure to keep my guard up.
Lysandor gave me a murderous glare. "How dare you attack Alex?" he said in rage. "So you're not only blind, but you're brainless too. He obviously attacked me first." I said sarcastically.
"You'll pay for that. Come on boys, let's show this punk how a true Spartan fights." He said with a smug look on his face.
"Does a true Spartan fight an outnumbered opponent?" I asked. Lysandor signalled for his companions to stop, who looked at him questioningly. "You're right. I will fight you myself." He said and drew his sword.
The buzz in the crowd grew louder. More bets were placed and the general thought was, 'this kid must have a death wish, for him to cross a child of Lord Ares.'
I sighed and drew my my sword aswell. The celestial bronze that was mixed with mortal steel blade had grown in the last two years. I am now a master at wielding this sword, thanks to my training. Democracy never was my strongest suit, anyway, I thought. Another thought that crossed my mind was that Chiron will kill me when he finds out.
Lysandor eyed my scythe-like blade warrily then moved into charge. He tried to cut my left arm which I parried. He became more enraged and delivered stronger hits. I had to admit, they were heavy hits. They slammed into my sword like a battering ram. I knew that my arms would feel like jelly after this, but I was more concerned about keeping Icarus and I alive.
He was growing more frustrated with each unsuccessful hit. I moved to attack. Giving him shallow cuts in chinks of his leather armour. Lysandor slowly moving back. I feigned a strike to his left, but instead disarmed him. I put my sword at his throat and said, "Yield?"
But before he could answer, "Orion, help!" Icarus screamed behind me. I turned around to see Icarus being held captive by two very smug looking bullies. One of them had their sword pointed at his throat. "What will you do now, Orion?" They mocked.
"Let him go, you cowards! You're too scared to fight me man to man so you go after my defenseless friend. If that is what it takes to be a true Spartan, then I am glad that I am not one of you." I spat.
The distance between us were only about 10 feet. At full lunge I can easily cover 6 feet. If I push hard enough, I can cover 8 feet. With my sword at 3 feet, I can probably stop any attack he makes. I tensed up my legs preparing to pounce.
But before I could, I was stopped by a man who said, "Alcon, Alector, release the boy. Lysandor, I expected more from a son of Ares. That boy beat you fairly, be a man and accept defeat."his voice was full of authority that it left no room for the an argument from the boys.
The boys' eyes widen as they recognized the voice. But they made no move to obey his order.
"But sir, they insulted us." The guy with the sword whined.
"They had good reason to do so Alcon. If you had been trained as hard as that young man, you could have beat him. You could not even see that he was practically toying with you. From what I have seen, he could have beat you within seconds of the fight. Had his friend not been with him, I doubt he would have held back.
Also, if you paid any attention to his body movements, Alcon, you should have noticed that he was ready to launch himself at you and most probably cut your hand clean off. And right now, I have half a mind to let him. But I doubt your father will not be happy with that. So just let the boy go." He commanded
Alcon grudgingly sheathed his sword and pushed Icarus towards me. I quickly stepped forward to hold him up. I gave Alcon my best death glare, the same one that caused a cyclops to flinch.
The arena was now silent. Nobody dared to make a sound as the man approached us. The man had salt and pepper hair, a trimmed beard and a strong jaw. His obsidian black eyes showed experience and authority. The man was probably in his late 30s. He had a tanned skin and was wearing a chiton and a pair of sandals.
"I am sorry for any trouble these boys may have caused you, young man. By the way what are your names." He asked.
"Sorry sir, but my mom said never to talk to strangers." I said. I knew that I should have just told him, but something about him made me nervous. And when I get nervous, I tend to become sarcastic.
He gave a slight chuckle, "How rude of me, my name is Lagos, I am the chief military trainer."
"I'm Orion. This is my friend Icarus. I am the one who should be sorry. We are foriegners in your city and yet we have caused you trouble."I said sincerly. Chiron is definitely going to kill me when he finds I out.
"You are too modest. Are you perhaps the boy Chiron told me about?" He asked. Before I could reply, Lysandor jumped in saying, "Chiron? How are you related to Chiron? Are you his servant? I am going to be his pupil soon, you know?" He boasted.
"You? Uncle Chiron's pupil? You are joking, right? I doubt Chiron will even spare a glance at you." Icarus said, laughing his head off.
An elbow at his ribs, courtesy of me, stopped his laughter. "Sorry about that. I am sure Icarus did not mean it. But no, I am not Chiron's servant, I am his pupil." I said. Lysandor was really getting on my nerves. If Chiron had not made me promise not to cause trouble, Lysandor would need a permanent residence in the infirmary.
"Pupil? Yeah right. If you really are his pupil, then that horse must not have half a brain. Why would he choose to teach a nobody like you?" He said laughing.
That is when I snapped. He can insult me, but not my mentor. Chiron was a father to me as much as Poseidon. Faster than the eye can see, I drew my blade and put the curved edge agaist his neck.
"Do not insult my teacher. His teaching methods may be unconventional and worst than Tartarus but they are effective. You will never be half the man he is, literally and figuratively.
I don't care if you are the son of Ares, you can be the son of Zeus for all I care. You are nothing but a spoiled brat who thinks he's a big shot just because his father is a god." I said, my tone was deadly calm but full of venom.
I stepped back and turned to the chief trainer. "I am sorry you had to see that but he was getting on my nerves. If I am still welcome, I would be honored to attend your trainings."
"Of course you are welcome. Any pupil of Chiron's is welcome to come train with us." He replied. I nodded at him and pulled Icarus with me back to the house.
Once I closed the door, Icarus immediately started to apologise. By now, I had calmed down, and told him that no apology was needed. I knew that it was the Athena in him that made him so prideful. But he still offered me dinner to compensate, and I accepted, beating up bullies drained my energy.
After eating our fill, we decided to go to sleep. The bed room had four bunk beds in it, so we each picked one and drifted to the realm of Morpheus.
My dream was a really weird one. I saw a river and my mother on top of it, going for a swim. But having a closer look, I saw that she was struggling to get to shore. My mother was blessed by Poseidon. How can she be drowning?
Finally, after a few minutes, a faint blue light surrounded her and she was able to swim back to the shallow parts of the river.
The rest of my sleep was uneventful, and I woke up forgetting about the dream entirely. I was too exicited about going to military training to even care. I got up, got dressed and went to wake up Icarus. I was wearing an exomis, which is just a shorter chiton, fastened of the left shoulder. I usaully wear this when I am training with Chiron.
"Wake up Icarus. We have to get to the arena if we don't want to be late." I said. We learned last night that we our meals would be provided as long as we arrive on time. After about five minutes of unseccessfully trying to get him to get up, I resorted to willing some water to drop on his head.
It irritated him to no end but it did the job. I finally got him to get up, get dressed and we headed for the arena. When we got there, almost everyone was already assembled.
I looked around and saw that the youngest here was only a few years younger than me. The oldest around Lysandor's age. When we entered the arena, all conversation stopped and people started to stare at us. I blushed but continued walking towards one of the stands, trying my best to not draw any attention to myself.
Apparently, beating a son of Ares single handedly, gives you attention. Everyone was busy talking to their friends about the fight yesterday. But they stopped when Lagos walked in. Everyone started running to form ranks according to age. While Icarus and I remained seated.
We went to Lagos when he motioned for us. "Spartans! We have guests who will be staying with us for a month or so. They will be learning and experiencing the same things as you. So I expect you to not give them any special treatment. Understood?" He boomed. The spartans said yes sir in unison. "Would you care to introduce yourselves?" He asked me.
"My name is Orion of Crete, pupil of Chiron. This is my friend Icarus, son of Daedalus." I said with a small smile while facing the Spartans. Their expressions varied from awe to anger.
"For the past couple of months, you have all been given your meals. Am I correct?" Lagos said after he sent us to stand with the rest of the eight year olds. His question was met by a 'Yes sir'.
"Starting today, you will hunt your own food. When you all graduate, you will be sent to fight wars for the city. You will have to stay in foreign lands with a limited food supply. So hunting will be a good skill to have. You will all head out to the woods and hunt for all your meals starting from today. Do I make myself clear?" He said.
One of the nine year olds raised his hand timidly. Lagos motioned for him to continue. "Sir, what if we do not catch anything?" He asked nervously.
"Then you don't eat." was Lagos' blunt response.
"Are you going to teach us how to hunt?" Another asked. "No. You will have to find out for yourself. Spartans don't take the easy way out. You will all split up into pairs and will split you kill between each other.
Now, if there are no more questions, find a partner and head to the woods. Be back in two hours with whatever you got." He said. "An asortment of hunting gear will be provided outside the are arena. Get what you think will be necessary."
I looked at Icarus and knew we were thinking the same thing. Heading outside, we found enough bows for everyone and double the amount of quivers with around thirty arrows inside. There were also spears, swords, knives and rope. Almost everyone were getting swords and spears. A few getting bows and arrows. But no one was touching the rope or the knives.
This led me to believe that no one here has ever went hunting. I would love to see the look on their faces when they realise that swords are not going to do much good when you're hunting.
I grabbed two spears, some rope, a kinfe and a bow and quiver. This would be the best time to practise my archery. Icarus got rope, a knife and a bow and quiver. We started heading towards the forest with smiles plastered on our faces.
"So do you know anything about hunting?" I asked my friend. "I have never gone hunting but I'm a pretty decent shot with the bow. I also know how to make snares and traps. But aside from that I'm clueless." He said.
"Don't worry. Chiron and I have gone hunting countless of times. I can teach you if you want. Just follow my lead and we will have breakfast in no time." I said with a reassuring smile. "You would really teach me?" He said skeptically, trying to detect trickery in my voice. I shrugged and said, "What are friends for?"
When we got into the forest, I lead with Icarus right behind me. I told him to stay as quiet as possible and to step where I stepped. He followed obediently, for about half an hour when his curiousity finally took over him.
"What are we looking for? We've been walking for half an hour now." He whispered. I kept walking for a few more minutes and stopped when I found what we were looking for.
"We were looking for a source of water. Animals need a drink as much as humans do. As long we stay here, animals are bound to come." I said. In truth, I have known that this creek was here for the last fifteen minutes. All I had to do was stretch my senses find where the source of water was. This was one of the things dad taught me.
"What are we going to do now, oh great hunter?" Icarus questioned sarcatically. I rolled my eyes. "Now, we have to put up snares and traps to catch our food. Can you do that?" I answered. "Does Lysandor have an ego the size of Olympus?" He smirked. "Of course I can. I have been studying them for years. But while I do that, what are you gonna do?"
"I am going to scout the area. This creek should be familiar with the animals. But it should also be familiar to monsters. I want make sure that none are near by. Just be careful, don't make any noise and we'll have our breakfast in no time. Once your done placing the traps, find some cover and wait. Once an animal is trapped, use your knife and stab it." I said and took off.
After making sure that we were safe, I went back to the creek. There, I saw Icarus with what looked like a young doe and a grin that threatened to split his face. I had the same expression when I got my first catch.
"You were right Orion. About ten minutes after I finshed setting up the snares, the doe came to drink water and got trapped. I did what you said and stabbed it. But I also found these when I was hiding in the tree waiting." He said and showed me four eggs. "Come on let's head back to the arena while we're early. I am willing to bet that we will be the first there."
"Before we head back, we have to skin the doe and wash its meat. You can keep the hide as a symbol of your first catch, if you want. The inedible parts, we will let it wash down the creek for others to eats." I said, repeating what Chiron told me when we first went hunting
He nodded and asked, "Why do we have to wash it?" "Monsters will be attracted to its smell. Don't worry, I will only take a few minutes, I have done this more times than I can count." I said and started the process of skinning and cleaning our game.
True to my words, I did this expertly and only took ten minutes. If I weren't a male, I would fit right in with the hunters of Artemis, Chiron onced mused.
While I did this, Icarus took down the unsed snares on my instructions. We would be able to reuse them in the future and Chiron always said to only take the right amount and never get too greedy or we will anger the Earth.
We reached Sparta much faster than the way we came, not bothering to stay silent. On the way, Icarus asked, "What will we do if other people find that creek? Then we will have to share our game."
"I highly doubt that anyone will find it. The creek was very deep into the forest. The others probably don't dare venture off that far. But if they do find it, we will have to find another spot or negotiate." I answered, leaving him to wonder what I meant by negotiate.
When we entered the arena, no one was present except for Lagos and about six other men. They all looked about twenty years old, and had muscular builds. "They're probably the other trainers." Icarus whispered beside me.
"Welcome back Trainees. I take it that your hunt was successful?" Lagos asked. We nodded and showed him what we got. His face showed a hint of surprise but was quickly replace with a stoic expression.
"Are we the first ones back?" Icarus asked the obvious question, trying to rub in the fact that outsider were better than Spartans. I smirked inwardly.
"Yes. In fact you are the fastest ever to return from a hunt. You are both somewhat dirty but other wise unscratched. Didn't you encounter any monsters?" One of the other trainers asked.
"Monsters? Nope. We did not see a single monster." I said. "Not even one? How did you manage that? That forest is infested with mosnters." Another trainer asked.
"The edge of the forest is infested with them. That's why we stayed away from there and went deeper into the forest. I knew that they were placed there the moment I saw the tracks.
Although more dangerous, the number of monsters deeper into the forest is fewer. As long as we avoided them, we were relatively safe. If there were no monsters, we would have come back a lot sooner. That's actually what took so long, I had to make sure that we avoided the monsters." I said.
"But how about on your way back. Surely you encountered one, considering you had a dead animal in your company." The same trainer questioned.
"Orion washed and cleaned it before we left. He even made sure that we left no sign of us ever being there." Icarus boasted, and I blushed.
"Amazing. If you don't make a good soldier then you can always be a hunter, Orion." A trainer commented. And I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment of his praise.
"Alright, trainees. Cook your meal, wash up and be back in an hour. Seeing as your back extra early, you will have more time than the others." Lagos said.
We bowed and walked back to the house and Icarus cooked the food, seeing as I have never cooked in my life, whereas he was taught by his father. After the meal, we washed up, kept our hunting gear, which Lagos allowed us to keep, and headed back to the the arena.
When we got there, we were one of the first few to arrive. Apparently, everyone else were still bathing. We were also one of the few who actually ate breakfast. Once everyone was back, Lagos called us to attention.
"Congratulations to everyone who was successful and to everyone who were not, better luck next time." He said.
Author's note:
And this concludes the chapter. Don't worry, there is much more to come. I hope that my writing was not as bad as I thought, though it probably was in this chapter. I promise to do better in the next.