A thank you is awarded to 3AllTimeLowLover3 for her character Lexi, used in this chapter.
Dawn: Learning The Camp
I woke the next morning before anyone else in the cabin. I don't know how it happened as I was exhausted and my mother and I had slipped in sometime after everyone else was already asleep.
As long as I was awake, I decided to explore a bit. I grabbed some clean clothes and made my way outside. There were only a few other people up. After all, it was still mostly dark out.
"You must be one of the new girls," a girl said approaching me. She had pale skin and black hair, but with colored highlights.
"Um, yeah," I said. "Just looking for the bathrooms..."
"Oh, they're right that way," she said pointing to a building just past some cabins. "I'm Lexi, by the way. Daughter of Nyx." She held out a hand to me.
"Dawn," I said, shifting my hold on my stuff so I could shake her hand. "Daughter of Hermione."
She stared at me for a moment. "Do you mean Hermes?"
"No," I said. "I'm a daughter of a daughter of Hermes. And daughter of some other god as well. I don't know which one."
"Well, you'll find out soon enough," Lexi said. "You look like you're almost thirteen."
I forced a smile. "Well, I'm just going to shower and stuff," I said, slipping away. No need to tell her I had turned thirteen a few months ago.
The camp still seemed dead when I got out of the bathroom half an hour later, though the sun was actually starting to show. As far as I could tell, there were less people awake. I decided to check on Mary-Ann and see how she was doing.
Finding the Dionysus cabin was not difficult. It was the only one with grapevines all over it. I peeked inside a window next to the door, and saw only one occupant. So, I knocked.
Mary-Ann sat up, looking around in confusion for a few moments before she seemed to remember what had happened over the past two days. She then fell backwards and pulled her pillow over her face.
I knocked again.
"Coming," I heard Mary-Ann call out. She opened the door and stared at me in slight anger. I had never seen her this early before. I avoided her apartment while her mother was still home usually, and she wasn't allowed to have sleep-overs... or go to them. Her hair looked a bit more out-of-control than usual and she looked exhausted. She perked up a bit noticing it was me.
"How was yesterday for you?" I asked, inviting myself in.
"Um, long," Mary-Ann said going to her bag. On top sat five folded orange shirts. I wondered where she got them. "Exhausting. I met too many people, and I only remember three names. Clarisse, Mercy, and Ariadne."
"Okay, I'm with you on Clarisse, but the other two..."
"Mercy is a daughter of Hermes," Mary-Ann said. "And Ariadne as in the princess of Crete."
"As in your step-mother?" I asked. Was still a little jealous.
Mary-Ann nodded. She pulled out a demin skirt that was actually a hand-me-down from me, and a pair of black capri leggings. I was unaware that she had packed either. However, once she had the whole outfit on, she looked a lot more like a camper than I did... it was all in the shirt.
She pulled out a hairbrush and began at brushing her hair in the only reflective surface in the room, which happened to be an empty wine bottle.
"What time is it?" Mary-Ann asked.
"Not sure," I said. "Maybe 6:12 or so."
"Seems a bit specific for someone not sure of the time," Mary-Ann pointed out. She was right, though specific guesses were something I had been doing for years.
"And if it's so early, why did you wake me?" Mary-Ann asked, finally giving up on her hair and pulling it into a sloppy pony-tail.
"Because, we have a whole camp to explore," I said. "I don't want to waste a moment. And, I'd like to be able to know what I want to do with my mom, and how to get to the places when she wakes up in about an hour."
"Your mom is still here?" Mary-Ann asked, hesitating a little bit.
"Of course," I said smiling. Seeing as my mother had pretty clearly expressed that she didn't want to be here for more than a few minutes, I did understand her confusion. "But, just for this morning. So, let's hurry."
"But Mercy already showed me most of the camp," Mary-Ann said.
"And you remember it all?" I asked. I knew she wouldn't.
"Um, well..."
"So, let's go," I said and grabbed her hand.
We wandered around for about forty-five minutes. We wandered the edge of the forest, found the forge, the climbing wall, the amphitheater, and most importantly, the arena. Returning to the cabin area, we found that the area was in a frenzy. I wasn't surprised to find that my mother was in the center of it all.
Apparently, the next camper to wake up in Cabin Eleven after me noticed my mother, and didn't recognize her. As my mother was a full grown woman, not a kid, he attacked. Which evidently woke everyone up, and someone yelled that we were under attack, and before anyone knew it, everyone was running out of their cabin, still in pajamas, weapons in hand. It wasn't until two of Hermes's sons that had once met my mother saw who was getting attacked that they managed to stop it, and then introduced her to everyone else. For all the Hermes campers, it was a great honor to be in my mother's presence. For the others, like those that knows she's on the FBIs most wanted list, it was probably a bit intimidating.
"Dawnie," Mom called to me upon spotting Mary-Ann and I approaching. People parted to let her through. "Why are you already up and dressed? Breakfast isn't for another hour."
"Couldn't help it," I said. "I was too excited for us to spend the day together."
Mom smiled at me. "Of course," she said. "What do you want us to do first?"
"I don't know," I said. "What was your favorite thing to do when you were at camp?"
Mom giggled a bit. "How about you show me that you've been keeping up your skills," she said.
"Oh, a showdown!" a tall boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes said.
"It's not a spectator sport, Connor," my mother said. It didn't seem to matter. Within a few minutes, once my mother was dressed and we each grabbed a few weapons, we headed out to the arena. A few kids from Cabin Eleven found us armor, and it seemed that the whole camp was crowding around the walls. I spotted Mary-Ann, looking a bit lost, and next to her was Troy, apparently explaining to her everything she didn't seem to get.
My mother wasn't one for formalities in battle, so she didn't wait for a signal or a handshake before she was coming at me, drawing one of her butterfly swords. I briefly wondered why she only drew one as I grabbed my long bow. I shot an arrow at her, but she literally sliced it in half, before slashing at me. I blocked it with my bow, throwing her armed arm upward. So she attacked with her leg, sending a kick at my side. I went down, but only for a second.
"So you haven't been practicing," she said as I rolled back to my feet.
"No one to practice with, really," I said. "Never met anyone that's at your level." I jumped back as she lunged at me. And then I swung my bow up at her, striking her jaw.
It lasted about fifteen minutes before the clomping of hooves brought attention to Chiron. He didn't say anything, just lifted an eyebrow at the scene of mother and daughter in battle.
"Breakfast is about to be served," he said. "I thought that someone might be hungry.
Boy, was I hungry. I had been up for over two hours, after all. So, my mother and I shed the armor we wore while people filed out of the arena for food.
"Why'd you only use one sword?" I asked.
Mom looked at me, and then smiled. She pulled her other sword out, which was dented and a little twisted. "Not in the best shape," she said. "I've been meaning to get it fixed..."
"Well, this is the perfect time," I said. "Where better to get it fixed than here. And, you could get a child of Hephaestus to do it in minutes." I looked at my mother with pleading eyes. She knew exactly what I was trying to ask.
"Oh, honey, no," she said. "The morning and that's it. We'll climb the wall, jump on to a pegasus, a little archery practice, but you know I can't be confined here. I'm meant to be out in the world."
"No, Mom, you're meant to raise me," I argued. "I'm your daughter. And I love you. Out there... the monsters all come back eventually. You can help train everyone here. They love you already. It could be some stability for you. A vacation from always running from everyone and everything. Running from monsters, running from the police. This is your only sanctuary, and you know it."
She looked at me and shook her head. "It's still no," she said. She kissed my forehead and walked out. By the time I caught up, after wiping my tears off my face, she was in the Dining Pavilion talking to a few burly boys. One of them nodded enthusiastically, so my mother pulled out her two swords and handed them over.
I headed over toward Mary-Ann, who was sitting alone. It seemed odd to me that she would continue the same habits that she had from school, but the annoying blonde girl, Annabeth, intercepted me.
"You can't sit there, Dawn," she said.
"Why not?" I asked, frowning and placing my fists on my hips.
"Because, you have to sit with your siblings," she said. "Or, as I assume you're still unclaimed, with Cabin Eleven. Those are the rules."
"Says who?" I challenged.
"So says Zeus," I heard the voice behind me. I'm not sure how Dionysus got behind me so quietly, but he did. He pointed to the table my mother was now at. "Try not getting my daughter into trouble."
I huffed as silently as I could, knowing that Mr. D had the ability to turn me into a pile of ash if he wished, and made my way to my mother, taking the seat next to her. I looked over to see a beautiful woman sit with Mary-Ann.
"Oh, that's sweet," another girl with blonde hair said. "Ariadne is sitting with Mr. D's daughter."
"So that's Ariadne," I mused. It still seemed weird that Dionysus's wife, former princess of Crete, and not to mention a goddess, would take time to meet and greet Mary-Ann. Nothing against the girl, she is my best friend, but she's only Mary-Ann. There is really nothing spectacular about her... at least not while at Camp Half-Blood. Nothing that really makes her seem divine.
"I wonder what she's doing here," Mom said.
"Visiting Mary-Ann," another camper said. He looked like the guy who had decided that everyone should watch the mother-daughter showdown, but was somehow different.
"What's that, Travis?" my mom asked.
"Ariadne likes to think of Mr. D's kids as her step-children," Travis said.
"Well, they are, right?" I asked.
"But she doesn't want to be the evil step-mother," the other boy said. He really did look a lot like Travis. It was kind of freaky. "She wants them to like her, and for them to think of her as a possible second mother."
"Oh, Mary-Ann would need a real first mother for Ariadne to be the second," I mumbled.
"What's this?" most of the eyes turned to me at the table. I should have not said a thing, especially at a table filled with children of Hermes.
"It's nothing," I said. "And there's nothing you can do to get me to spill." I looked over at Mary-Ann again. She was blushing a bit, but there was actually a smile on her face. "Hey, are we supposed to call Ariadne Mrs. D?" It was mostly to get people onto a new subject and the only thing I could think up on the spot.
"Don't know," Travis said. "We will have to experiment... but not with Mr. D so close."
"I'm sure that there will be opportunity at some point," Connor said. "Mrs. D..." he smiled at it, "seemed much more interested in the camp activities when she came to meet Castor and Pollux than Mr. D ever has been to my knowledge."
After lunch went out, I went with Mary-Ann and a few others to 'Ancient Greek'. I noticed Braxton for the first time that day. However, within a few minutes, it was clear that my mother raising me speaking Ancient Greek for six years meant that I didn't need the class; I really only learned English starting age six, even though I heard it a lot more than Greek. Mary-Ann hadn't seen a Greek letter in her life. I was allowed to go, and found my mother with one of the older children of Hephaestus. They were heading toward the Forge.
"Dawn, this is Jake," Mom said. "Jake, my lovely child. Remember, I am on the FBIs most wanted list."
"Gee, Mom, real way to help me make friends," I said.
"It is helping," Mom said. "Right Jake."
"I'm sure that Dawn and I will be really close, and completely platonic friends," Jake said.
"See," Mom said. "Anyway, Jake's agreed to fix up my swords, like you suggested."
"Shouldn't you be in Ancient Greek Class right now?" Jake asked.
"I speak it," I said. "Raised by a demi-god for ten years."
"Good point," Jake said.
The forge wasn't quite what I expected. I mean, I guess it was a forge, but I expected hot fires and glowing metal everywhere, but definitely not the white columns or the random metal projects on every bench... I really only expected to see swords and work hammers (granted, I did see plenty of both). I had never been in a forge before, so it was a new experience.
"How long will it take you to fix?" Mom asked.
"Well, I'm not sure," he said. "How'd you twist it?"
"Fighting a griffin," Mom said. "It grabbed it in its talon."
"Well, how about I work and meet you at lunch," Jake said. "I'll probably finish it before then, but I think I'd like to add a few improvements to them. And sharpen them. They need it."
"Thanks," Mom said. She smiled at me. "How about you and I go ride some Pegasi."
So, what do you think so far? Favorite characters? Least favorites? Also, you can still submit a character to make a cameo. I do kind of need a mean person who likes to either spread gossip or start rumors.