"New beginnings aren't always welcome but they can end up being welcoming"
"Why," Estelle started with much emphasis, "was there that godawful song for fifteen minutes?!"
"It's not too shabby for the orientation right?" Henry stifled a chuckle
"Also, did you guys threaten them at gun point?" She gave a laugh. A loud silence ensued. "Did you?"
"Not exactly. I'm not exactly sure about the specifics but it had something to do with why Mr. D wasn't there near the end and they had to hold up a picture instead"
Estelle looked around cautiously and whispered, "He's like an actual God?"
"Obviously," a voice sounded behind them, "you should know better Eleanor Clark. Specially after I pulled in a little extra to help Harry"
"It's Estelle," she corrected with a frown, "and Henry"
Mr. D scoffed his tone threatening, "Harold, take Eloise to meet Chiron before she ends up playing buddy-buddy with Seymour"
Henry had grabbed Estelle's hand and escaped quickly with a 'thank you' to the god for sparing Estelle at the moment. He had guided her to a large building with a scepter with two snakes entwined around it. Caduceus, her mind supplied. There was a significant amount of noise coming from inside and the door was ajar, giving a peek into the sheer number of sleeping bags scattered across the floor.
"The Hermes Cabin," Henry introduced, "I guess.. you'll be staying here. I would show you around but I feel like getting the tour from a fellow camper would be better," he brightened as a curly haired boy walked out of the cabin, "Connor!"
The brunette perked up and paused near the entrance, his hands filled with a knapsack. "New one?" Connor nodded to Estelle with a less than pleased expression.
"I'm unclaimed," she piped up and Connor gave a sigh
"And in need of a tour," Henry added, somewhat eager to head off.
"Yeah, sure," Connor barely finished before Henry raced off. Connor turned to Estelle with a slightly amused expression, "you mind if we make a few detours?"
"Nope," she grinned excited at the opportunity, "also, where'd Henry disappear off to?"
"He'll probably fill you in on that," Connor responded leading her through the camp, "you can just look around or something."
"What's that for?" she asked as they passed by an ornate area with skeins, easels and different sizes of clay and marble
He cast a dismissive glance as he moved onward, "arts and crafts center. You kinda get bored of it after the first few summers"
"And here?" she asked as they reached an amphitheater
"You'll see tonight," he grinned cheekily as he dropped the knapsack of fire-crackers. He started to hide them one by one near the surrounding of the amphitheater. Estelle dropped down next to him and did the same, giddy with the possibility of something fun happening.
"Are you going to light them one by one?" she asked as they reached the final few
He lifted up a piece of string and demonstratively connected one firecracker to the other with the string.
"Cool"
Unsure of what else to do Estelle leaned against the seats of the amphitheater as Connor ran around the place tying the firecrackers together. Meanwhile she looked at the surrounding of the camp, mainly towards the climbing wall. Even with the sky turning into a darker pink of the afternoon there were still people who were on the wall.
"Okay," Connor picked up the knapsack, "one more detour and... you can go back to the cabin I guess"
She fell into step beside him, "you didn't really show me around"
"Not much to show. There's the sets of cabins, a couple training here and there oh-" he turned to look at Estelle, "how old are you?"
"11," she paused in her gait, "is that bad?"
"Nah. Just a heads-up, You'll probably be learning with Jae. Depends on if you end up being an year rounder though"
Somehow hearing that made her mood dampen. It got her thinking about if and when she'd see the rest of her family.
"Right."
Connor stopped near a grove and knocked on a cedar tree.
"Are you an all rounder?" she asked while he knocked a code onto the bark.
A girl materialized from the tree. Her skin had ridges like textured bark and her skin had a greenish tint to it. Connor dropped a couple of unmarked packets in her hand. She gave a frown before finally whispering something to him. He handed her a lighter and the interaction ended with her materializing back into the tree along with the contents in her hands.
"Yeah an allrounder," he nodded to Estelle as if an absurd interaction didn't take place
Estelle gaped at him for a few seconds before gesturing behind him with a flustered expression on her face. "Who was that and what did you give her?"
"That was a dryad," Connor laughed before plopping an unmarked packet in her hands, "you find out."
With a suspicious expression she opened the packet and dumped the contents into her mouth and spat it out almost immediately. She made a face at him, "coffee ew"
"Instant coffee," he corrected
"Ew," Estelle repeated
He laughed again, "Let's get you to the dining pavilion"
When they got there some were already dining in the pavilion. She sat in the semi-occupied Hermes table as Connor slid into the seat beside her.
"Water," he randomly said and the goblet near him filled with the clear liquid. Estelle gulped the water frowning at the bitter after taste of instant coffee.
"Never do that again," she gasped in-between gulps of water, "please"
"No guarantee," he chuckled as he grabbed a goblet full of some sort of fizzy drink
"Cola," Estelle whispered under her breath experimentally. The remaining water in her goblet turned to a brownish shade and refilled to the top. She took a gulp of the fizzy liquid excitedly almost spitting it out as the back of her throat burned. She glanced as a few more campers joined them. Meanwhile Connor had slipped out of his seat to get food from the buffet of foods. Feeling awkward she stood up as well and grabbed a plate, hurriedly going near him. He was the only person she knew from the camp in terms of the other campers.
She added a few slices of BBQ to her plate as she whispered to Connor, "can you give me a few pointers for who's who?"
"Well," Connor looked around from the corner of his eye, "See that girl with the stringy brown hair? Not that one, taller, with the bandana and the sneer. That's Clarisse, best to avoid if you don't want trouble"
Estelle skimmed the faces of the campers as he continued pointing out, "The blonde dude with the scar is Luke, he's the cabin head. He's at the cabin table talking to Chris"
"Who's Chris?"
"That one," he pointed discreetly to a boy with black hair. "When you think of important people there's also Annabeth but she's off on a quest"
She perked up at the mention of the word quest, "what's that like? A quest"
They'd moved to a line leading to the campfire, "like a mission I guess. I've never been on one but there's a couple people who are itching to go on one. Not me though, more often than not you end up... weird after it"
"Weird like crazy or just... off?"
He lowered his voice as more people joined the line, "off and maybe," his gaze shifted to the Hermes table and didn't say anything.
Estelle waited for a few seconds before she shifted her gaze to the campfire, "so.. what are we standing in line for?"
"Oh right," he snapped back to the conversation, "you just need to burn off some of your food. It's an offering to the god and they like the smell of it or something"
"You just dump it in?"
"You can pray to some god or ask for something I guess?" he added unhelpfully.
Estelle looked up inquiringly at the starry sky above the unsheltered pavilion, "who do you offer to?"
"Hermes," he said and scraped some of his food into the fire. The campfire crackled and some of the food offered by previous campers were in the process of being charred. Following his example Estelle scraped in some of the bread and meat she'd piled onto her plate. Her eyes closed instinctively as she prayed to her dad, whoever he was. She prayed that she'd be able to leave soon, despite the excitement at camp she wasn't sure she wanted to stay here for an year. Or worse, more. When she stepped away Connor had left her yet again to sit next to his twin at the Hermes table. She sat next to him again with nowhere else to go.
"What's the name of your twin?" she asked, hoping she'd sat next to the right twin.
"Twin?" Connor asked loudly drawing the attention of the few others to Estelle. Somehow this felt humiliating as a slow chuckle spread through the table. "He's my brother Travis"
"Don't sweat it," someone said across the table, "you can only tell those two apart by height"
"And voice," another person supplied
Estelle felt slightly comforted by the comments. She smiled, "Thanks, I thought tha-"
A series of explosions rung out suddenly. She dropped the slice of bread she was eating in shock as firecrackers shot into the sky, drawing dazzling patterns as they shined a bit brighter than the stars. The sudden noise had thrown the dining pavilion into a frenzy with some people from the table Clarisse sat at having launched pieces of their food at where they assumed the noise had come from. A plume of smoke was making its way to the sky from the direction of the amphitheater. Estelle grinned as the table gave a loud whoop at the temporary entertainment while some of the other campers cast glares at them.
"What's the occasion?" a handsome boy had walked up to the table with a frown
With a snicker a girl responded, "I dont know Skyler, maybe the summer solstice?". Her comment led to another bout of laughter. It was some inside joke the others knew about.
The boy rolled his eyes and left still complaining about how they'd messed up his hair. Estelle finished her food somewhat blankly, left out but unable to complain as everyone broke off into their own friend group. Connor was talking to his brother and a few others about something and the table had simmered down to the point there were hushed whispers of the quest and the solstice was brought up. Estelle left the table the second she finished eating as she idly walked to the Hermes cabin Henry had first directed her to in the morning. Inside there was another camper setting up her sleeping bag.
"Hi," Estelle greeted her stupidly realizing how embarrassing the interaction would be after she said it.
"Hi," the girl repeated warily
Estelle bounced on her heels awkwardly, "I'm uh, new here"
"OK?"
Her voice quieted down, "where do you normally find the sleeping bags?"
The girl turned to stare at her with a deadpan face. "Did you not get a guide or something?"
"Maybe. Connor was the one showing me around"
"Oh," she made a sound of understanding, "makes sense." She walked over the piles of things haphazardly strewn across the floor before she moved a few things piled against the leg of a bunk bed. She handed the sleeping bag she'd basically treasure hunted to Estelle.
"You're lucky someone got claimed today," the girl said as she started to braid her dark hair.
"Is it fine for me to take their stuff?" Estelle asked even though she was laying the sleeping bag down and was about to get comfortable on it.
"She won't care," the girl made a dismissive hand gesture and leaned down, finished with braiding her hair.
"Thanks," Estelle said a warm feeling blooming in her chest, "I'm Estelle"
"Laxmi," the girl said as another camper walked in, disrupting the atmosphere. He jumped into a bunk bed and pulled the covers over his head as more people filed in. Some were complaining about the next day and others were chattering quietly. Estelle closed her eyes, hugging her carry-on bag she'd packed the night before as she drifted off to sleep.