Sorry it's been so long! I have a lot to do around this time. I love reading so much that I just forget to write! Enjoy!
~Percy~
Percy kept running around trying to get away from an angry Annabeth with a dagger.
"Seaweed Brain! Get back here!"
Percy chuckled and dived for the water. Instead of diving in, he started walking around on the water. When Annabeth attempted to follow, she sank beneath the waves. Knowing that she couldn't possibly catch Percy in his element, she settled for screaming at him from the shore.
"Percy Achilles Jackson! You get yourself over here right now, or I'll… I'll… "
"Brain me to death?" Percy offered.
Annabeth yelled in frustration while Connor Stoll jogged toward them. When he was nearly there, Percy called out to him.
"Hey Connor, where's your brother?" Seeing only one of them at a time worried him. When you saw only one, he would likely be luring the unsuspecting person into a prank.
"Gathering a few others! We're having a game of truth or dare in the forest."
Annabeth stopped trying to reach Percy and waded back to shore. "Why in the forest?" she asked, wringing out her clothes at the same time. Percy followed her to land warily.
Connor grinned wider. "It adds danger. Plus, what if one of us dares the other to kill a monster or something? It's also the best place to hide from Chiron so he doesn't know what we're doing…" he stopped as he saw the look Annabeth was giving him. "Heh heh… I mean, the place where we won't disturb anyone?" he corrected sheepishly.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll be there in a few minutes." She glared at Percy as he gulped.
Connor started edging away. "Right, so… I'll just tell the others that you're coming." He turned quickly and fled.
Annabeth turned back to Percy, hair dripping down her shirt, while her eyes told the tale. She grinned triumphantly, having blocked him from reaching the water.
"Sorry?" he tried. Her glare turned mischievous. His eyes widened. "Please don't kill me?" he begged.
Annabeth took off, chasing him towards the forest while yelling at him. "I will get you Percy!" she called. No matter how fast she went, he was able to keep the distance between them safe.
He yelled over his shoulder. "I just splashed you with some water!" He looked where he was running just in time to avoid crashing into Clarisse. He bounded out of the way and hit a tree before falling to the ground.
"Watch where you're going, prissy!" she shouted to him.
"Yeah, yeah." he muttered as he stood up slowly. When Annabeth reached him she gave him a good smack on the head.
The three walked over to the rest of the group, who were sitting in a small circle. Travis and Connor wore identical smirks that made everyone want to check for their possessions. Clarisse grumbled as she sat next to Nico, who was sitting in the shadow of a short tree.
Percy and Annabeth sat in between Clarisse and Connor. "Who wants to go first?" asked Travis when everyone was settled.
Annabeth volunteered. "Travis, truth or dare?" He thought for a moment while stroking his imaginary beard. "A tough decision, really, but I believe I shall go with dare." Annabeth rolled her eyes, but thought of a good dare.
Annabeth smiled, making Travis wonder if he should've picked truth. "Travis, I dare you to wear a target on your head and have Percy shoot an arrow at you." Travis frowned. "But… what if the arrow goes through the target?" he asked. "It won't get within any worrisome distance of your head," she replied. "Percy is the worst with a bow and arrow that anyone here has ever seen, which says a lot, considering we have Chiron."
Annabeth, Percy and Travis headed to the weapons shed to grab a bow and arrows for Percy, while Travis taped a target to his forehead. They ran back to the forest before anyone saw them.
Annabeth showed Percy how to hold a bow so that he wouldn't drop it. He pulled back on the string with the arrow held badly between two fingers and let it fly. The arrow sailed above Travis' head and disappeared into a group of trees.
Percy dropped the bow. "Oops. I'll try to find it," he said. Annabeth smiled. "Ha, told you he wouldn't get it anywhere near you!" Travis let out a breath of relief. "Yeah, I knew that."
Percy came back without the arrow.
"I couldn't find the arrow. I searched all around, but it's getting too dark to really see anything well."
Annabeth looked up, surprised at the time. "We should probably head back before a harpy eats us." Everyone agreed, and a new time was set up to play the next day, at the same place. Annabeth took the target and the bow back to the shed with Percy.
"We can find the arrow tomorrow when we play again," she said. Percy nodded. "We'll be able to see better, anyway," he agreed.
When they reached the cabins, they each said goodnight to each other before heading off to their respective cabins. They were asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
Meanwhile, the pomegranate tree grew steadily higher. It embraced the darkening sky. The feeling of darkness comforted it, for the darkness is where it belonged. The tree doubled its efforts, the fruits hanging on the branches swelled and grew, waiting to be eaten.
The plant had waited for the dark to come eagerly, focusing all of the energy on the small red fruits. The tree could not think for itself, so it could not wonder what the fruit could do to one who ate it. What would it do if it could comprehend that what it grew on its branches was the near equivalent to sweet poison?
But, in its effort to thrive, the tree would not care for anyone else. Someone who falls grabs the person next to them by instinct after all, even though they know it will bring them down too.