Marcus cursed, for what must have been the hundredth time that morning.

"Twelve." Phillip said, slipping around the branch that had just smacked Marcus as easily as getting out of bed. "Who knew you had such a vocabulary?"

Marcus sighed. That dry sense of humor is starting to get just a little grating… But he had to admit, Phil knew what he was doing. As they'd left camp, Chiron had informed them that the scouts had helped him narrow down the area they needed to search. Rather than spend weeks searching the entirety of the Adirondack Range, they'd narrowed it down to one mountain. Mount Marcy.

So the two had set off. They'd traveled in comfortable silence, the Greyhound leaving Camp after a slight delay, though neither of them minded. At least, Marcus didn't think Phillip minded. Phillip's stoic nature made him hard to read, and Marcus was too lost in his thoughts of Maddie, Aphrodite, Chastity, Lyssa and everything else to really put in any real effort. After some hours, they had arrived at their destination, departing the bus and starting their search of the mountain. They'd decided first to spend a day reaching the summit, using it as a lookout point for anything particularly out of the ordinary. At the time, Marcus had thought that sounded reasonable. But now…? I hate hiking.

"Step lighter." Phil said.

"What?" Marcus grumbled.

"You're stepping too heavily. It's disturbing the forest around you." Phil caught up with Marcus and put his hand on his shoulder in what Marcus assumed was supposed to be a calming gesture. "Here, watch me."

Marcus resisted the urge to push Phil's hand off his shoulder. "I know how to walk 'softly'."

Phillip nodded. "Sure. To sneak through familiar terrain or get the drop on most people. Smugglers silent." He gave Marcus a small smile. "But for a scout? I could hear you coming from a mile away. And that's without the swearing." Without another word and seemingly instantly, Phil seemed to glide away from Marcus, moving ever forward without making a sound, never disturbing the forest around him. Marcus's eyes narrowed, but he knew when to accept his faults and learn. So he tried to emulate Phillip's steps, his way of movement as they continued, and though he'd never admit it out loud, he was finding the going a bit easier.

After another hour of travel Marcus was starting to get the hang of moving like Phillip, though he was nowhere near Phil's level. It seemed almost instinctual to Phillip, where to place his feet, how to sway with the wind so he was always covered by the ever shifting shadows of the foliage. While Marcus couldn't hope to match that level of grace, he did do his best to mimic the way Phil moved, the shifting of his weight and posture. Though it seemed as soon as he got the hang of it, they came across a clearing in the forest they'd been hiking through. They had agreed to avoid all the traveled paths in case they came across any mortals or N.O.s, but it seemed that they had accidentally stumbled right into it as off to their right they could see the trail leading up the mountain. At least, they would have seen that, if their attention hadn't been drawn by the sight in front of them. A pool of water set against the side of a sheer rock wall, with a waterfall keeping it full.

Phil casually walked over to the pool and knelt down, testing the water while Marcus stared in surprise. Now that he wasn't so focused on his mimicry exercise, he was shocked he hadn't heard the waterfall till now.

"It's normal." Phil said.

"What?"

"To be distracted." Phil turned to Marcus with a small smile. Is he messing with me…? "Usually I wouldn't be training a rookie in the field but hey, no time like the present to learn. Especially since I get the feeling we'll be dealing with the enemy soon enough."

Marcus bristled at the implication. Rookie?! Who the hell does he think… He took a deep breath. To Phillip, an actual soldier, he was probably a rookie. But there was something else. He got the feeling he was being tested. "Must be embarrassing for you, Phil." Marcus hid a smirk as it was Phillip's turn to look at him, confused. "Well," he continued. "Sneaking may be your forté, but being so far behind in weapon skills? Must be rough. Getting your arrows snatched out of thin air and all that."

Phillip looked at Marcus for a long moment without expression, and Marcus worried he may have misinterpreted the situation before Phil's shoulders shook in what Marcus recognized as a repressed chuckle. "You know, I didn't expect you to pick that up so quickly." Phil responded. "Most people don't match my humor that easily."

"What?" Marcus feigned shock. "You're a shining beacon of mirth!"

Phil raised an eyebrow at him, an expression Marcus was pretty sure Phillip had stolen from him. "Glad you noticed." He replied, entirely straight faced. Standing, Phil looked towards the sky. "We aren't going to make it up to the summit today. We should camp here."

Marcus followed his gaze, shocked to see the sun heading towards the horizon now that they had found a break in the foliage. Five hours on the bus… a few hours hiking… Had he really lost track of the time? He knew he had a lot on his mind, but he'll have to get his head in the fight. Can't lose focus. I won't lose somebody else. Not seeing a better option, Marcus helped Phillip clear a patch of ground in the clearing to set up their sleeping rolls. Marcus assumed it was because of his training, but Phillip set up the campfire and started making some form of stew relatively quickly and efficiently, much faster than Marcus could have. Guess he's more than just a good shot…

They settled beside the fire, where Phillip promptly set about checking his arrows fletching and his bow itself. Marcus watched him for a moment while eating. Curious as he was about the origins of a bow that could hurt monsters, he decided to let it go. He was sure if Phil wanted to tell him, he would. And besides, they all had secrets. A silence fell over them and Marcus spent the rest of his time eating, keeping an eye on the forest around them.

"You don't have to be so on edge." Phillip said without looking up.

"What do you mean?" Marcus replied. Seems I'm always asking 'what' to this guy…

"Listen. What do you hear?" Phillip stood, stringing his bow to test its string.

Marcus just listened for a moment. "I don't get it. Trees? Bugs? An owl maybe? Tell me oh master Dryad." Marcus sighed sarcastically. His patience was already strained by the fact that his group, though he'd never admit to thinking of them like that, was on the outs, the hiking, and everything else. He would've preferred to be here alone. After all, if something went wrong… How would I be able to explain it to Chastity…

But Phillip nodded patiently, sitting back down, satisfied his bowstring was holding up. "Exactly. We camped early enough that the animals around us got used to our presence before nightfall. So as long as we hear them, we know we're alone. Nothing has disturbed them."

Marcus couldn't help but feel impressed. That sort of knowledge would have come in handy up until now. Granted they'd still need a night watch but it would help take some of the edge off the watch shifts…"Good to know." He replied simply. "Glad to see you're still able to hold on to your old knowledge, since you seem to be adapting pretty quickly to the new stuff."

Phillip sighed ruefully. "It's… been a struggle. He admitted. "But Chastity and the rest have been kind enough to try to help me adjust. Though there's still some things….." Phillip shrugged, as if to say I don't get it.

"Such as?" Marcus couldn't quite keep the curiosity from his voice. A soldier from the American Civil War… I wonder what leaps in technology would seem the craziest to him….

"Toilet paper." Phillip replied. Marcus just stared at him for a moment, and Phil looked back, entirely straight faced before saying simply. "The ones we had back in the day were pretty shitty." Phillip let the moment hang in the air, breaking it by casually standing up. "I'll take first watch. You should get some rest."

Marcus watched in confusion as Phillip walked to the outskirts of the camp, settling himself against one of the larger tree trunks that intruded on the little clearing. I can't get a read on that guy… Marcus settled down on his bedroll, about to fall asleep when he called out softly into the dark where he assumed Phil was sitting. "That was a pretty shit joke." He was rewarded with a soft chuckle in response in the darkness.