Hey there, hope you like this chapter.

I stood in front of the entire camp. Reyna and Jason, as the solemn praetors, stood with me. I tried to remain in a neutral stance but couldn't help but want to run. When faced with a force so huge, it was my instinct to run away.

Reyna was speaking, asking the legion if they would accept me. Then Jason turned to me and dutifully asked whether I had letters of reference though he already knew the answer.

"Nothing written on paper," I replied dreamily, "all that recommends me is written in the stars." It was silly but I would feel even more foolish had I simply replied negatively.

Some people looked up at that as if they expected to see a sign above them though there wasn't and it was still too early to see the stars anyway anyway. I allowed myself to smile at that.

Reyna glared at me for not answering correctly but continued, "will any legionaires stand for Zoe?"

There was a long pause, and I briefly feared that Gwen would neglect to play her role in this. I'd not misjudged her character, had I? I kept my expression detached though. Whatever happened, I could be sure of my own ability, if nothing else.

As expected, Gwen thankfully stood up. "I will stand for Zoe Nightshade, today she had proven herself a strong fighter and I'm sure she will be an asset to the legion."

"Very well! Zoe you are now on probatio!" Reyna announced grandly. There was some brief applause from the surrounding legion, as was tradition. I walked over to Gwen, and she placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It was a relief to that primal part of my brain which desired to be part of the large group rather than facing it. I had little status right now, but I'd carved at least a small space for myself. Reyna soon finished speaking and Gwen she led me to a table to eat.

To my surprise, Jason joined us at our table until he explained that he wouldn't be sitting with us for very long as it was custom to keeping changing seats. Wherever you were, invisible wind spirits would serve food to you.

"So, Zoe there's lots of rules you'll have to follow and jobs to do as a member of the legion and if you have any questions than you're supposed to come to me. However, remember that the legion protects us too, it's home and I would hate to ever leave," Gwen said, taking her new role as my mentor seriously.

"Yes. The food is nice," I replied, extremely hungry. Lunch had been brief and meagre and it had been a long time since I'd eaten anything before that and it was so good. I had really missed eating and everything else just seemed less important while I ate. I hadn't properly savoured it earlier, with the concerns of a new life weighing on me. Now though, I was officially part of the legion and I found myself relaxing.

"It is, though I'm sure you'll soon get used to it." Gwen replied, beginning her own meal.

There was a lull in the conversation as we each focused on our meal. Tender chicken, flavoured with tomato and a mixture of Mediterranean herbs and spices.

"You fought well today by the way, I don't think I mentioned it earlier," Gwen spoke up, glancing towards me.

"Yeah, it was nice to watch," Jason added.

I carefully swallowed a morsel of succulent chicken. "Thanks."

"I hope that we can have more fights in the future," Gwen said, clearly looking for a less monosyllabic answer.

"You want a rematch?" I asked, entirely neutral to the idea. Sparring was routine to me, and what I really wanted to do involved things I'd never done.

She smiled bitterly. "Something like that."

Gwen still seemed affected by her loss and I could understand why. She was a twenty-year-old centurion while I was the slight new girl. She didn't seem to be holding a grudge fortunately, she had stood for me regardless. I supposed I owed her a favour for that.

Jason laughed, "she caught you off guard Gwen. It's because she's already been trained to fight previously."

Gwen smiled cheerfully (she smiled a great deal). "That's obvious enough," she replied and suddenly she was laughing as well.

I frowned at them, not sure what they might have found so humorous. I had always been too serious to understand though, as I was often told. My humour tended towards being very dry.

Jason soon left the table to sit with his friends, and Gwen spoke lightly with me, telling me about how there were war games every week and how cohorts were organised.

I woke up early the next morning. I met up with Gwen and she taught me a little about what I had to do, her primary message being that there was always work to do. My work consisted of armour inspections and weapons maintenance, something which I excelled in, being more than accomplished at weapon use, maintenance and creation. It was dull work. I soon discovered that the legion of 200 was alarmingly low on imperial gold.

No one would tell me why supplies were so low yet they all seemed to know the reason. It was something they'd rather avoid talking about, evidently. Gwen was working elsewhere so I couldn't question her. It was rather irritating, and I couldn't claim I was suddenly making lots of friends with the other demigods.

I became slightly more aggravated when it was a boy who eventually told me the story, I liked to keep my interaction with boys very low and I'd convinced myself that Richard was only being kind because he was attracted to me. It wasn't something I could rule out anyway.

As a hunter, I hated any affection. I refused to consider any sign of attraction as a compliment. The fact that I was no longer a hunter only confused and irritated me more. That Richard was being perfectly friendly when I was in a less than pleasant mood didn't help.

He worked next to me and explained that thirty years ago, a group had led an expedition to Alaska which had failed and they had lost their Eagle and a great deal of gold. It had been incredibly humiliating for the fifth cohort; the one which I was now a part of. I wondered why they had bothered to bring so much gold in the first place.

In the afternoon when I had finished working, I had a rematch with Gwen and this time she won. She had known what to expect and subsequently used her long spear and superior strength to overwhelm me. Though I thought I could've won had I tried harder.

At Dinner Jason again sat with me until he changed seats. He told me about war games in more detail; they would be held tomorrow night. I soon gathered it was this camp's equivalent to capture the flag though slightly more interesting, with the inclusion of fortresses built in a week.

Once he'd left to sit with his other friends, I focused on eating. Enjoying a meal was normal yet strange to me now, as I just wasn't used to eating yet. The rest of my day had been strange too, talking to boys, working with gold and trying to understand this new world.

Really fighting with Gwen had been the most normal thing today, until I'd lost. I was used to fighting but she fought in a different style than I was used to, leading to my failure to properly anticipate he tactics. Whatever the reason, I was going to have a rematch; maybe these fights would become routine.

After dinner, I decided to try out a Roman bath, which everyone seemed to believe was the height of luxury. Gwen led me there and I made a mental note to learn where everything was, I hated being dependent on anyone else. That was practically my status until I managed some great feat to be considered a full member of the legion.

"Hey tomorrow, would you be willing to have a rematch?" I asked her, on the way there.

She grinned at me. "Another? The same as the last two?"

"If you're willing," I replied, seeing no need for change. I doubted there were many opponents who would offer a better challenge.

Gwen apparently had other ideas. "Well, what if we made it... interesting?" She said slowly, hinting at something.

"What are you suggesting?" I asked.

"A bet."

Ah, right. "Well I don't have anything," I replied. That was sadly the truth, I didn't have so much as a drachma on me. I had to get possessions of my own, as part of the hunt I always had a hundred different tricks on my person.

Gwen knew this already. "That's fine, say if when I win, you have to do some of my work, an hour extra for a week?" She suggested.

"And if I win, you'll have to do some of my jobs? We're betting our work hours?" I clarified, considering the idea.

"That's the idea. Are you interested?" She replied smiling. We were approaching the baths now.

I was not opposed to the idea. "Very well. We'll meet at nine in the same arena then," I agreed.

"See you there then. Have a nice bath, Zoe. Can you find your way back on your own?" Gwen asked, already walking away.

"I believe so," I said, before turning and walking in.

So overall, it's just a series of short scenes but I enjoyed writing Gwen. I'll need to work on pacing a bit, I know.

Some quick notes, it's October currently, a few months since the titan war. Details on the what occurred at Camp Jupiter aren't entirely clear, but I'm assuming it paralleled Camp Half-Blood fairly closely, with massive battles and some deaths.

Reyna will have joined Camp Jupiter a maximum of three years ago, assuming she made her way her promptly there after Sea of Monsters. Not sure how long she has been Praetor, but I'd like to imagine that some former leaders died in some quests.

Anyway, I appreciate your reviews, hoping it wasn't terrible.