Chapter 4 : Capture the Flag

Rorik was wandering around the camp trying to memorize the layout of the activities when suddenly Alejandro jumped on his back and landed on him.

"Alejandro" Rorik said short of breath, "get off me man"

"Up and at em'. We need to get you fitted for armor" Alejandro said

"Why would I need armor ?"

"Capture the Flag. I told you earlier. Not that you would've noticed, you were busy staring at Erin" Rorik's faced turned redder than flames of the Underworld.

"Now, back to the matter at hand . Getting you fitted for armor" Alejandro said clapping then rubbing his hands. They walked over to the armory in silence, Rorik's face still bright red. Before long the duo reached the armory. They walked in and Alejandro got on the Intercom.

" *whistle* Hey ! Sam , you in here ? " Alejandro hollered over the intercom.

" Yeah,I be out in a minute" crackled a voice over the intercom.

" Out from where ? " Rorik asked, looking around. As far as he could see the armory was just a one room building with some weapon racks and armor stands. But then suddenly the floor in the back corner began to rise to reveal a tunnel in which some one who could have been Sam. He was massive even by Rorik's standards. He must have been 6"5 and was ripped. Presumably from the years spent in the forges.

"Ah, Sam there you are" Alejandro said.

"Sup man" Sam said, nodding to Alejandro. "Ah, and you must be Rorik ?

"Yeah, and your Sam I assume ?"

"Yup, Samuel Bedgeings. Head of the Hephaestus cabin. What brings ya' here ?" he asked in a deep voice that resembled hammers on an anvil.

" We need to get Rorik fitted with armor and capture the flag is in 30 minutes." Alejandro interrupted

" Ok let's get started" Sam " So, Rorik you're probably what ? 5"10 ? "

" 5"11 " Rorik corrected

" 5"11 5"11 " Sam muttered , " Ah here we go " he pulled out a bronze chestplate and a bronze helmet with a blue plume.

"Is the plume really necessary ? "

" How else are you gonna tell who to swing at ?" Alejandro asked rhetorically

" Which leads me to your second piece of equipment. Your sword "

" So you're telling me we are going to try to kill each other !? " Rorik said thoroughly alarmed

"No we never mean to kill, just maim or seriously injure " Alejandro as if it were nothing

"Ya' know , the scariest part about that is I'm not surprised "

" So, Rorik, you got any preferences in weapons ?" Sam asked " or any experience with any ?"

"Well, when I was living in the woods made two stone knives, one for each hand"

" Duel swords it is" Sam said

" Alrighty, here you go " as he plopped down a set of bronze swords

" Well it seems like we are all set. Sam, lets go grab our gear and head to the forest" Alejandro cut in, " Rorik you can come to if you want, seeing that you have nothing to do"

"Well I'll finally see the cabins, so I might as well"

Erin POV

20 minutes till CTF

Erin couldn't wait for capture the flag. Combat was one of the only things she excelled in besides archery and music. She sometimes swore she was more cut out for the Ares cabin than Apollo. The teams that night were to be the Apollo, Hermes, Demeter and Hephaestus cabins vs the Athena, Ares, and Dionysus cabins. The Apollo Alliance was to take the side opposite to Zeus's Fist across the creek. While the Athenian Alliance was to take the side with Zeus's Fist.

It was 20 minutes till the game and people were making their way into the forest. Of course Erin was already in the command tent with Sam, Nick, and Olivia. The leaders of the Hephaestus, Demeter and Hermes cabins (AN in that order. Nick leads Demeter and Olivia leads Hermes) Nick and Olivia were brother and sister. Their parents had been the leaders of the Demeter and Hermes cabins, Travis Stoll and Katie Gardner. They had been working on their strategy for an hour and were just about done, all that was left was to assign the teams.

"So its decided, Hephaestus kids will build defenses while the Hermes and Demeter go along the left and center flanks. There will 3 archers with the Hermes cabin and another 3 with the Demeter cabin. The rest will stay back and guard the flag. Then I wi-" Everyone turned their attention to the entrance of the tent as Rorik walked in with a slightly lost look on his face.

"Where exactly am I supposed to go for this ?" Rorik asked to the cabin leaders.

"Just come over here for the time being." Erin said to Rorik, "We might as well brief him now since he's here" now speaking to the rest of the group, smiling a little just because Rorik walked in.

" Oh and Rorik before I forget, this is Olivia and Nick Stoll the leaders of the Hermes and Demeter cabins."

"Nice to meet you two"

"The pleasure is all mine" Nick and Olivia said in unison

"No ! it's mine !" They said to each other in unison each with a slight edge to their voice.

"I'm sorry about them. They fight all the time, you get used to it." Sam added.

" Guys! We still have a battle to plane !" Erin yelled, hushing the siblings, " As I was saying, I will lead a smaller team which will hopefully slip along the right flank and grab the flag. Sound good ?" The rest of the cabin leaders nodded in agreement. "All right, now everyone go gather your cabins and meet at Zeus's Fist in 20 minutes". They all left to assemble their teams.

"Hey I heard you were leading a some form of a strike team i guess you could call it ?" Rorik asked as he walked out with Erin.

"Yeah, why ?"

" Since I am currently residing in the Hermes cabin that means I'm on your side, Soooo .. that means I could join this strike team of yours, right ?"

"Well.. I'll get to see you in combat. The closest thing I've seen so far is you bleeding out up against a pine tree" Erin said, laughing a little to her self. She still remembered in great detail how she found Rorik bleeding out on top of Half-Blood Hill. And how she sat by his bed hoping he wouldn't die. Although she never showed it, she thought Rorik was kinda hot. With his wavy brown hair and muscular arms... UGH ! This is no time to daydream about Rorik, she cursed to herself.

"Ha ha" Rorik said sarcastically, "Remind me to make a joke about when you almost die" . Erin suddenly snapped back into reality at the sound of his voice.

"What ? Oh, yeah. Fine, you can come along." she said

"YES !" Rorik exclaimed.

"Come on might was well meet the others in the group."Erin said. They walked for a good 10 minutes into the forest until they came across a group of two people talking to each other.

"Teru (Ter-oo) , Eli ! listen up ! " Erin commanded, the two snapped to attention "This is Rorik, he's new here as I'm sure you've heard. He'll be commin' along with us during capture the flag"

"Can he fight ?" asked the guy sitting on a rock named Teru who was sharpening his bronze knife with a grindstone. He was asian with clean cut jet black hair the went to just below his ears. And he looked about 17 years old and was about 6ft. Rorik had seen him hanging around with the Apollo cabin so he assumed he was a son of girl on the other hand was short, only about 5'3ft with long, curly, light brown hair and ate lunch with the Demeter cabin so she must have a Demeter child.

"The real question is can he stay alive" cut in the girl who could have only been Eli (L-E) with a tone that suggested he couldn't

" Of course I can stay alive" said Rorik defensively

"Well so far, it doesn't seem like"

"What's that supposed to mean ?" Rorik replied, now standing his full height right in Eli's face. You could see he was on the brink of full out flattening Eli.

"Guys ! " Erin ordered, attempting to silence the two who were now fully arguing."We're all going to have to work together on tonight, so you two better straighten things out or you're BOTH out of the game"

"Erin's right" Teru said in a loud,full and commanding voice, finally speaking up. But the two just kept arguing.

" Erin you take Rorik and see if you can get him to calm down, I'll take Eli " Teru quickly and quietly said to Erin

"Rorik! Come on." Erin commanded, grabbing Rorik's shirt collar and dragging him off Rorik, " I need to show you the rest of the plan and a map of the forest"

"Fine" Rorik humphed defeatedly. The two of them walked back in silence to the command tent until Rorik spoke.

"What is wrong with that girl ?" He asked rhetorically.

" She's never been great. People have tried to shut her up but she keeps talking. What were you guys even arguing about ?" Erin asked.

"She insulted my ability to survive. You have no idea how much shit I had to go through just to get to Nebraska"

"Rorik we've all been through some tough stuff. And what do you mean 'just to get to Nebraska' " Erin asked.

"I guess I forgot to mention that." He said bitterly. "I'm from Northwestern Washington State. Just a little town called Streamsprint. So when the military came searching for demigods I had to run all the way across the country. I couldn't even take a bus because those are guarded by the military. Hell, I haven't been in a real form of a society in over a year" Rorik's voice now softening to almost a whisper.

"Gods Rorik, thats rough, even by demigod standards" Erin said sympathetically." I lost my mom to the military. They came brought their search to where I lived in Dayton. One of my neighbors had seen me us the sun to light a bonfire in the backyard and told them. That night they came. Broke down the door and ran up stairs my mom tried to stall them but they just shot her saying she was guilty of harboring and protecting a illegal demigod. That bought me the time to run. So I ran and ran and ran".

"I'm sorry" Rorik replied solemnly. Their hands brushed and they both started blushing though they didn't notice that the other was blushing. Then their walk resumed its previous silence. Erin was still wrapping her head around that fact that Rorik had to survive for a over year in the wild on his own. She now saw why Rorik had been so defensive when Eli had started running her mouth. Di immortales, he was right. That must have been hard. I mean his neighborhood and town was searched for demigods by the military via lockdown and inspection. Having to escape she thought. Erin could remember running through the woods, bullets whizzing by, spot lights and yelling just behind you. Gods that was rough. Yet he made it and so did she, and she was grateful for that. She finally had a friend who she felt she could understand her. And recently that was what she had wanted, and frankly needed, most.

5 minutes till CTF

The cabins were lined and waiting for orders from the cabin leaders.

"Alright, tonight our plane is simple yet affective." Erin ordered," Sam will stay behind and help the Hephaestus cabin set up some perimeter defenses and traps near the flag and on the banks of the river"

"I will lead a team of 13 people along the left flank and-" Olivia began

"And I will lead another team of 14 people straight down the middle. Me and my sister's job will to be to try to draw the other teams attention away from Erin and her team." Nick cut in

"Thats right, I will be taking a team of 5 people, including me, along the right flank and try to grab their flag without being noticed" Erin said "NOW! LETS! WIN! THIS! GAME!"

Erin was met with an up roaring applause while the team started running to form their groups. Soon the starting horn blew in the distance. They began charging into battle.

Hey guys. I told you I would have it up by Tuesday. Though this is only the first half of Chapter 4. I just didn't have enough time to edit it all. Though, I did post a short new story called Percy Jackson Ships: Epilogues. It's just shorts of how I imagine all my favorite PJO ships ending up. U should check it out. I will have the 2nd part of chapter 4 up by Sunday (June the 8th) cuz my school gets out this Thursday and I'll have plenty of time to edit. Thx guys and read on.