Chapter Title: The Great Stymphalian Bird Turkey Shoot
(A/N: Now you're all probably wondering how in the world a Whitworth wielding demigod is going to fit into this picture. I'll give you a hint.. the birds aren't the only things you'll find in the tree line. Plus, there's a reason Colton's been at Camp Half Blood for three years and hasn't run out of ammo for his main weapon yet.. it's Beckendorf. You'll see why here.)
Three years had taught Clarisse much about Colton since he came to camp. Among the many things about her younger brother she came to know full well was that he wasn't the kind who would do well in a chariot race, neither as driver or fighter. The reason why was simple. In the first case, given that the thirteen year old had never driven anything in his life, she really didn't feel like he was qualified to even drive a golf cart, much less a chariot with horses. In the second case, his style of combat made him ill-suited for the close combat conditions of chariot races.
He only preferred using a sword at all since his sister was teaching him how to use a sword as a backup weapon in case he had to fight in close quarters.
Colton was a bit different from other Ares kids because of this, and she knew it full well. Hence, she had chosen Sherman as her teammate in the chariot races while, with the acceptance of Mr. D, Colton was allowed to remain on duty as the only patroller for the camp boundary, which needless to say, despite being responsible for way more than what one thirteen year old could handle, it was a task that suited him just fine.
He functioned more like one of Artemis' best hunters than as a normal son of Ares, so Clarisse just ran with it.. since for the most part, unless there were too many monsters for him to handle, he could easily pick single monsters or even a duo of them without much difficulty. It was a system that she would see work to the camp's advantage on this particular day.
Tantalus, being the ignorant piece of shit - per Colton's opinion - that he was, was more focused on the chariot races, so he didn't notice at all that Colton wasn't there. To be honest, Clarisse preferred it that way. She had a feeling that things would get rough today when she woke up, so the less questions Tantalus asked about her younger brother's whereabouts the better.
As everyone was getting ready, Colton walked along the crest of Half Blood Hill, past Thalia's sickly tree. Honestly, in his opinion, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Thalia, having heard her story from Luke once. Losing your brother, then having to make the choice of sacrificing yourself for your companions.. no one should have to do that.
He looked up at the sky. Zeus had been the one to turn her into the tree she was right now, but no matter what, what Luke felt about him.. Colton couldn't shake off the fact that he currently felt the same way. Zeus was an ego-driven incompetent leader, and deserved to be replaced.
Casting those thoughts aside, his mind drifted towards.. well, probably the only other person than the Gods, Percy, Tantalus or his own siblings that he had been able to think of.
Kayla.
The daughter of Apollo had shook up his life, to put it bluntly. It hadn't been long before the relationship between him and her to become the talk of the camp, alongside the relationship between Percy and Annabeth. In all fairness, on the issue of the other potential couple, everyone other than these two could see that by now, Annabeth was head over heels for him from a mile away. But on the subject of him and Kayla, as far as he knew, they were fast friends. That was it.
So why did it feel like every time he thought that, he felt like the Goddess Of Love was laughing at him?
With his Whitworth rifle in the shoulder arms position, he did his patrol duties with what could be described as patience and stealth not commonly possessed by a child of Ares.
Everything was normal.
Before he saw a group of those birds.
Stymphalian Birds. He knew these birds well, having bulked up on knowledge after he came to Camp Half Blood. Monstrous man-eating birds that were like pigeons, these birds with sharp, celestial bronze beaks and the ability to shoot feathers like arrows at their prey were known for one thing and one thing only - stripping humans clean to the bone.
Colton's eyes went wide when he saw go past overhead through the barrier and into camp, literally ignoring the lone demigod with a rifle walking below them. Not good.
He picked up his pace, equipment clattering a bit as he went. Surprisingly, the birds continued to ignore him, even as he climbed into one of the trees he used from time to time as a sniper perch. He had a network of pathways connecting his sniper spots up in the trees, courtesy of Beckendorf and the Hephaestus cabin, and which some of the Apollo campers used from time to time. Most of the time though, it was only he who used it. Clarisse didn't really mind it all that much. As much as she was in the cabin who preferred getting up close and personal with their opponents, she always welcomed anything that helped her siblings operate to their fullest potential.
So here it was, that Colton made his along the well constructed pathways up in the trees as he followed the path of the birds, trying to see exactly where they were going.
Please don't be going to where I think you're going, he thought to himself as he followed them from underneath the leaves of the trees, because today was the day of the chariot races, and if the birds were heading to where the races were going on, everyone there - including Kayla - was in danger.
The thought of her made him quicken his pace, the birds somehow still not attacking him despite multiple groups of them passing overhead as he followed the original group.
When he got to where the birds were headed and peered over the edge of the sniper spot located at the Amphitheater, Colton's blood ran colder than the Goddess of Snow herself because for one, the birds had gone exactly where he had feared they were heading to. The Chariot Races.
A look of pure horror painted his face for a few moments, before he shook it off and the horror turned to rage.
"You have to got to be fucking kidding me.." he hissed under his breath, as he took note of the scene. On the one hand, he could clearly see his sister and Sherman in their chariot, with their skeleton horses, below. He could also see the other chariots too, including Percy's chariot which had both him and Tyson on it.
He was not idly watching to see where everyone was though, because on the other hand, he could clearly see swarms of Stymphalian Birds in the branches around the area, though none of the birds had noticed him. He had gone straight into loading, getting down on one knee behind the five foot high reinforced wooden wall at the edge of the circular spot he was in, and moving his right hand quickly to his cartridge box and taking out one of the pink colored rounds.
They were monster cluster clearing rounds, or MCCBs for short, forged personally by Beckendorf. Designed to clear large groups of monsters by acting in the same way that canister shot in a cannon would turn it into a giant shotgun, they had also been designed to do so without harming demigods or other allies of the Olympians. Colton had a quite few of these in his cartridge box, and lucky enough for him, a box compartment in the wall near him in this particular sniper shot contained more.
In a matter of moments, he had bitten off the paper end of the cartridge, dumped the gunpowder down the barrel, and put the bullet in the muzzle before drawing the long rammer.
Down below, he could hear Tantalus applauding slowly before booming, "Right! You all know the rules, a quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot, each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected but try not to kill anybody."
Colton quietly snorted. Still want to kill you though, you stew stirring asshole, he thought to himself as he rammed the round down the barrel and then returned to the rammer to its stow before he primed and cocked the piece so that it was now ready to fire.
He peered over the edge once more. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots" Tantalus said, but Colton wasn't focused on him. He was looking for Kayla.
The chariots were being driven to the mark now, and he already knew that since three of the campers were able to drive to any extent - he knew Beckendorf had a learners permit - this was going to be anything but smooth sailing. The constant screeching coming from the hordes of birds in the branches near him and in the other trees around the other campers below him did not help matters.
He noticed Percy walk over to talk to Annabeth. From his Birds Eye perch, he couldn't hear what they were saying, but it definitely did not look friendly. He didn't care much about it though, as he continued to frantically search for Kayla. He found her sitting next to Michael along with almost the rest of the Apollo cabin on the side of the Amphitheater that he faced to the northeast of his position - since he was in the southwest corner of the clearing it lay in.
As if she had a gut feeling, her eyes drifted upward and met his, and the worried expression on his face as he pointed to the birds on either side of the amphitheater and made out the word "Enemy" with his fingers told her all she needed to know. She and the others were in danger.
He could see the fear manifest itself in her facial expression just as Tantalus barked for the race to begin. The chariots raced out onto and while he couldn't hear what was going on down there, he clearly had a good view of the action.
Too good of a view, he realized as the Hermes chariot immediately swerved into the Apollo one just after the race had started, into the wheel of the Apollo chariot, capsizing it before the horses of that chariot in return caused the Hermes one to capsize. From where he was, he could tell that both teams had suffered injuries, with one of the Apollo charioteers leaning up against their teammate limping and Connor clutching his wrist.
But just as he was about to switch his focus to the other chariots, a fluttering of wings indicated the worst to him. Oh no, they're about to attack, Colton thought as he gripped the Whitworth and slid the barrel over the top of the wall, aiming it squarely at the mass of birds starting to circle around everyone below.
Just as the birds start to dive-bomb, he opens fire.
BLAM!
He doesn't pay attention to how it went, since he's already frantically loading another round, but the shot deals plenty of damage. Dozens of birds are either killed instantly, torn apart, or fall out of the sky due to losing body parts in mere seconds as the round bursts into lots of shrapnel in the middle of the first group of diving birds.
He's loading faster than he ever thought possible and he doesn't know how, and he doesn't care. In only about 14 seconds, he's already loaded another round and without a second thought, he fires again.
This round tears into the birds now pecking at the campers below, killing a large group of them without them ever knowing what hit them.
He can hear the screams of the campers down below, and knows he has to help them, so he's loading and firing like an inhuman savage, loading rounds as fast as 12 seconds, just over half of the normal loading time it takes for one to load and fire three times in a minute. The sounds of his rifle going off vanishes from his mind as all he cares about is her. All he even thinks about as the mayhem unfolds is her.
Kayla.
Until Percy and Annabeth start playing one of Chiron's CDs on the loudest volume possible, it's a fight between him and the birds, one that the birds even though more numerous and despite the fact that some of them are starting to try to chew through the wall between him and them to get at the demigod pouring death from above, are losing.
It's 5 minutes of pure chaos, of a desperate fight between one man and a shit load of monsters. He's not even looking at where he's firing now, just slides the rifle barrel over the edge at a downward angle exposing only just his hands and fires before pulling it back over the wall and loading another round. She's the one thing that's driving the intense bloodlust he feels through it all, as the screams continue - he can hear hers as well - and he keeps firing.
Please be okay. Please be okay, he desperately hopes as the minutes pass and more birds continue to come. By the third minute, he's lost track of how many rounds he's fired off. By the fifth minute, he's not sure how much longer he can keep this up.
The sound of the CD is what alerts him to the fact that the tide has turned. He starts poking his head up and over the edge, and kills still more birds as Annabeth shouts "archers!" and arrows begin to pelt the birds as his shots burst like canister amongst them.
It's three more minutes of firing before the birds finally break off their attack and retreat, and Colton simply collapses, leaning his back up against the wall, sweating like crazy, exhausted, with the rifle leaning up against the wall next to him.
For the span of 8 minutes, he's fought like an absolute madman just to protect her, Clarisse, his siblings, and the others from the Stymphalian Birds. Before he passes out from exhaustion, he thinks of one thing. Clarisse, hope you're happy at your little brother today.
- — - — - — - — -
When he wakes up, he's back in the infirmary, and he blinks. How did he end up back here?
His thinking is soon interrupted by a familiar face. "Twice in two days.. by the gods Colton.. quit passing out.." he hears Lee say, and he turns his head, only for his whole head to turn red as a tomato as he blushes, and for good reason.
Standing next to Lee is Kayla, who has the cutest, adorable look on her face as she looks down at him in that way someone looks at their hero.
"Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Lee asks, only for someone else to answer for Colton.
"Leave him alone, Lee. Even though I won the race, my little brother gave it all to save us.." Clarisse speaks, as she comes into Colton's sight line, and immediately hauls her younger brother out of the bed, and into an emotional hug.
She has tears in her eyes, a rarity for her, but she has a proud smile on her face. "Words cannot express how proud I am of you.." she says, hugging him tightly. "..I knew you'd come through for us."
Colton simply hugs his sister back, a warm smile on his face. "I'd throw myself into Tartarus if I didn't do anything about it, so I did what I was trained to do. Fight.." he says back, and Clarisse can't help but feel so happy for her baby bro.
She pulls away from him and steps back, only for Kayla to surprise both her and Lee by hugging Colton next, looking into his eyes, and saying sweetly, "You're my hero."
The massive blush on Colton's face the second after Kayla says it makes something perfectly clear to the two cabin counselors. For all of his talk of not being like Jackson, Colton was definitely following the Jackson route when it comes to relationships, except he wasn't as dense as Percy.
Even so, even for someone like Clarisse, it was cute to watch.
- — - — - — - — -
In the meantime, it had taken a full night just to get all of the dead birds off of the grounds. Even with some of them being cooked into a feast for Clarisse and Sherman, there were still so many dead or mangled birds around that they cooked a lot of the rest into stew for the campers and the rest were dragged and dumped just past the boundary. Colton's action had caused horrific casualties to the birds. After expending at least somewhere between forty to fifty rounds in the span of 8 minutes, he had killed at least close to six hundred birds and crippled dozens more, earning the action the nickname "The Great Stymphalian Bird Turkey Shoot" from the other campers.