We gathered at the dining pavilions for dinner on my third day. All the cabins were separated to their tables and we began eating. In front of me was a heaping plate of beans, bread, bowls of soup and some kind of meat. The goblet next to the plate automatically began filling with a Shirley Temple as soon as I sat down. I nibbled at my bread and beans but didn't touch the meat. I didn't feel hungry. It was already my third day, and there hadn't been any sign of my godly parent. I didn't even know if it was my mom or dad!
I saved my meat for the campfire. We all sat down on benches and began singing and scraping our food into the hot flames, which started changing colors.
Suddenly, a dull crimson light filled the clearing. Everyone's eyes turned to look at me. I heard some gasps and... laughs?
I quickly looked around to see if I was either on fire or transformed into some crazy alien. I lifted my eyes above my head and saw a flaming spear washed in blood red light.
"Wha?!...." I gasped.
I heard other people snickering, gasping and I even heard someone whisper "Good luck to the noob."
Chiron knelt down on one hoof. "Hail, Saffron, daughter of Ares."
An awkward silence hung in the chilly air. Then the flaming light faded away and everyone went back to laughing and chatting.
Levine finds me after only about 10 seconds of me just standing there, shocked.
"Oh My Gods!!!" She almost screamed. "You're my sister!!"
"Half-sister." I corrected quietly.
"You know what I mean. Why are you so down?" She asked.
"Ares=Clarisse."
"Oh..."
Chiron clapped his hands and everyone turned to look at him.
"Time for the campers to resort to their cabins for the night."
My stomach churned uneasily. I bet Clarisse really liked me after the incident in the woods.
I saw the group of Ares campers and Levine pulled me to join them.
"You!!" I heard Clarisse snarled angrily.
I spun on my heel to face her. Something about the counselor made me want to punch something. Or someone. I had heard I sometimes had that effect on people. "Ya." I snapped. "I was claimed by Ares. Did you expect me to go to the Aphrodite cabin or something??"
Clarisse scowled and stared me straight in the eye. She had to look down on me, which made me feel small, but I returned the fiery gaze.
Clarisse turned away. "Everybody go back into the cabin. Nothing to see here, just some scrawny 12-year-old."
That pushed it. I gave Clarisse an uppercut to the jaw, adrenaline pounding through my veins.
She snapped her head around to look at me. Her eyes were fueled with hatred. The next thing I knew, there was a searing pain in my jaw and my vision was blurry. I stumbled, almost falling, but Levine caught me and hauled me upright.
My vision cleared and I saw Clarisse smirking and towering above me, waiting for me to take the next move. I stomped down on her foot, hard. She gave out a screech and grasped her foot in pain. Then I nailed her stomach, causing Clarisse to double over in pain. Anger pulsed through me, but before I had the chance to give Clarisse another blow, Levine pulled me back. Only then did I realize that everyone was looking at me. I blushed bright red.
"Calm down!" Levine hissed in my ear. "You're going to get in trouble with Chiron!"
Clarisse straightened herself and glared at me. I met her gaze with burning eyes.
"Everybody. Back. Into. The. Cabin." Clarisse barely had enough self-control to push the words out of her mouth.
Everyone stumbled inside, silent. I suddenly felt exhausted. My adrenaline was done. Inside my soul I could feel a swell of pride, knowing that I practically beat an 18-year-old in a fight. It was exhilarating. Levine walked quietly beside me.
I realized, as I walked into the cabin, that I didn't have a place to sleep. Gods, this wouldn't end well. I expected Clarisse to put me in some scraggly, dirty, moldy bed (even though a lot of the occupied beds were like that).
"Saffron." Clarisse growled through clenched teeth.
I gave her a sarcastically sweet smile. "Yes, counselor?" I trilled.
That only deepened her scowl. "You," she pointed her finger to an old bunk bed in the corner. "Sleep over there."
Levine stifled a gasp. She pulled me to the side and whispered. "Do you know who sleeps--" She pointed to the bunk. "There?"
I gave her a puzzled look. "No.."
Her face widened into a smile. "Only the cutest guy in the Ares cabin!"
I wrinkled my nose. "You have a crush on your half-brother?"
She blushed bright red. "N-no.. I was just-- I don't.. I just think he's cute!" Her voice was loud, and half the cabin gave her glares.
I laughed a bit and walked over to the bed. My bunk was the top one. I laid down on the lumpy mattress and rested my head on the hard, smelly pillow. It wasn't as bad as the orphanage living conditions, fortunately. The rest of the night was quiet, and I fell asleep quickly.
10/4/12
7/31/12
Is This Capture the Flag or Greek Warfare?!
The first thing I remember about my second day was freezing cold water splashing onto my face.
"WELL NOW WE NOW THAT SHE'S NOT A POSEIDON KID!!" I heard a boy's hysteric voice in my ear.
"What are you nincompoops doing?!" I heard Travis's voice and then movement as the boys who dumped water on me scurried back to their beds. I lay there shivering, thinking "What did I do to deserve this?!"
"Hey, Saffron." Travis shook my shoulder. "You okay?" I nodded lightly. "Chiron brought your stuff after you fell asleep last night." He handed me my duffel bag that I used back in New York. "I'll show you to the bathrooms so you can change."
I didn't have any trouble besides the water incident until Capture The Flag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay!" Connor shouted as we walked toward the woods. "You all know the drill for capture the flag!" He started calling off names and people walked over to the blue team and started putting on.... ARMOR?!
When Connor was done, he started to walked over. "You wanna go pick a weapon?"
Awkward pause. "Sure." I replied, not very cheerily. He led me over to a little tool shack. Inside was a countless assortment of weapons. Bows and arrows, knives, daggers, swords, javelins, and every single weapon you could think of.
"Just choose whatever feels--" His palm hit his forehead. "OH! I forgot! Chiron has a special.... Well, just follow me." He started jogging to the Big House. We were there within a couple minutes.
"Chiron!" Connor yelled as he opened the creaky wooden door. "I need Saffron's bow!" So Chiron picked a bow for me? Not surprising, considering the..... you know, the whole Dodds dilemma.
Chiron responded, "It's on the table!"
Connor grabbed a golden bow off of the coffee table near the couch and yelled back to Chiron, "Thanks!"
We left and jogged back to the woods. Almost everyone was in their armor.
"Saffron, you'd better hurry up!" Connor handed me what felt like 50 pounds of armor. I just slapped it on, not even caring whether I got it right. A knot was forming in my stomach.
"Saffron, you're going to the Blue Team." I sighed. Relief washed over me as I looked at who the Blue Team consisted of. I noticed A group of campers huddled together, talking strategy and battle plans. There was also the Red Team. Not nearly as strategic and, well, civilized. They looked savage and battle-hungry. There was one girl, with black hair and evil-looking eyes. In her hand was an electric javelin, which only made the knot in my stomach grow larger and tighter.
"That's Clarisse." I jumped as I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to see a girl about my age with sandy brown hair behind me, giving me a crooked smile. She held out her hand. "I'm Levine. You must be Saffron."
"Nice to meet you Levine." I shook her hand. "How do you know my name?"
"Oh. We don't get many new campers."
"Well. Have you been claimed yet?" I asked. I hadn't seen her in the Hermes cabin. Actually, I didn't really see anyone. It was loud and crowded.
Under the armor,Levine was wearing black skinny jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt (which apparently meant the blue team), and a black vest with a chain necklace. Very much my style.
"Well.... Ares." She said sheepishly. "The god of battle... Clarisse is Ares too. To be honest, it's not easy to share a cabin with a bunch of battle-crazed idiots." She chuckled.
I giggled back. "How did you get on the Blue Team?" I asked.
"Shh!" She hissed. "Nobody needs to know! I think it was just a little error that slipped through."
"BLUE TEAM! GATHER AROUND!" Annabeth's voice rang through the clearing. Clarisse's voice followed, saying the same thing for the red team.
We all huddled into a group.
"Okay, so..." Annabeth listed off orders to each person. Levine was border defense with me and some other campers. My stomach was churning and my knees were shaky as I walked to the border between the red team and blue team. My bow was warm and firm in my hand, just as it had been on that cold day in a New York alley.
A horn interrupted my thoughts. I assumed that meant the game had begun.
Several minutes later, I stopped dead as I realized that I forgot the vital essence of my bow. The arrows.
I tried to calm myself down. Instead of totally running around and screaming like an idiot, I calmed myself and practiced shooting as if I did have an arrow.
"MERRRH!" I gasped as a pure bronze arrow appeared in my fingers. The campers at my sides gave me a "ummm.... weirdo" look. The arrow flew out of my hands and landed thunk in a nearby oak tree.
"Hey! What was that?" I heard a gruff voice through the trees and nearly fainted when I realized that the voice belonged to Clarisse.
I gave Levine a panicked look and she returned it with comforting words.
"It's gonna be okay. Everyone has their weapons ready. She might not even notice us." She whispered in my ear. A feeling of calm washed over me.
I drew my bow and aimed it to where I had heard Clarisse's voice, ready to fire. An arrow appeared again and surprised me, but I didn't loosen my hold.
"What do we have here?" My stomach dropped and the blood ran out of my face, yet anger filled my heart as I spun around to see Clarisse standing several feet away, javelin in hand. Crowded around her were all of the Ares campers. To be honest, they looked like a punk rock band. A very dangerous punk rock band. With very pointy objects.
Clarisse stared me down. I still had my bow ready, and wanted to hit her right in the heart, but I resisted. I was sure that it was against the rules.
"Oh, so it's the noobie? On border defense? Annabeth should be smarter than that!" She snickered evilly to her gang. "I bet she barely knows how to use a knife."
That made my anger bubble over. I aimed and shot Clarisse in the foot. To be honest, it was a nice feeling
"What the- OW!! FREAKING .... DAHHH! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Clarisse started charging at me with her javelin crackling with electricity.
Levine pointed her sword at Clarisse and stepped in front of me.
"You better watch where you're pointing that thing, wimp!" Clarisse snarled. "You don't wanna HURT anybody!" She pushed levine out of the way and continued trudging toward me.
A boy in the Ares gang stepped up. "Clarisse," He said calmly. She turned to look at him. While she was turning, the boy motioned for me to run. Who was this kid and why was he trying to tell me to run?
I obeyed him anyway and ran through the forest, deeper into the blue team territory. As soon as I ran out of breath, I hid in a little bush, shaking. I tried to gather my thoughts. All I could think about was the boy who had distracted Clarisse. He had an odd look in his eyes, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
After several minutes crouching uncomfortably in the bush, I decided that the coast was clear. I stood up, stretching my stiff legs. Taking in my surroundings, I gasped as I realized that the bush I had hidden in was next to the blue team flag.
I told myself not to totally flip out, but I didn't think it worked. I started breathing heavily and pacing back and forth, not really trying to calm down at all.
My instinct told me to stand my ground. A gruff voice (not belonging to me) told me that I've survived alone in New York, so I could handle a bunch of people in armor, right? The voice kinda creeped me out, but at the same time, made random anger boil up inside of me. It reminded me of what I did to people around me. For some reason, I always made people
angry.
A twig cracking interrupted my thoughts. My heart started racing as I turned around to see Annabeth run towards the flag, toting a red flag.
"Move!" She lightly shoved me out of the way, and collapsed behind me, panting. I was shocked to realize that she had the winning token in our hand. A large group of other campers came following her, almost running me over. They were all cheering and laughing, discussing the game's events.
Levine found me and started talking to me, but I ignored her. I had a lot of thoughts on my mind.
"Saffron?" She waved a hand in front of my face and I snapped back to reality.
"Huh...?" I asked.
Levine giggled. "We won."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all settled back into our cabins for the night after my team's victory. Levine was carried off to the Ares' cabin, and I was separated to the Hermes' cabin.
To be honest, I was just glad that the day was over.
"WELL NOW WE NOW THAT SHE'S NOT A POSEIDON KID!!" I heard a boy's hysteric voice in my ear.
"What are you nincompoops doing?!" I heard Travis's voice and then movement as the boys who dumped water on me scurried back to their beds. I lay there shivering, thinking "What did I do to deserve this?!"
"Hey, Saffron." Travis shook my shoulder. "You okay?" I nodded lightly. "Chiron brought your stuff after you fell asleep last night." He handed me my duffel bag that I used back in New York. "I'll show you to the bathrooms so you can change."
I didn't have any trouble besides the water incident until Capture The Flag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay!" Connor shouted as we walked toward the woods. "You all know the drill for capture the flag!" He started calling off names and people walked over to the blue team and started putting on.... ARMOR?!
When Connor was done, he started to walked over. "You wanna go pick a weapon?"
Awkward pause. "Sure." I replied, not very cheerily. He led me over to a little tool shack. Inside was a countless assortment of weapons. Bows and arrows, knives, daggers, swords, javelins, and every single weapon you could think of.
"Just choose whatever feels--" His palm hit his forehead. "OH! I forgot! Chiron has a special.... Well, just follow me." He started jogging to the Big House. We were there within a couple minutes.
"Chiron!" Connor yelled as he opened the creaky wooden door. "I need Saffron's bow!" So Chiron picked a bow for me? Not surprising, considering the..... you know, the whole Dodds dilemma.
Chiron responded, "It's on the table!"
Connor grabbed a golden bow off of the coffee table near the couch and yelled back to Chiron, "Thanks!"
We left and jogged back to the woods. Almost everyone was in their armor.
"Saffron, you'd better hurry up!" Connor handed me what felt like 50 pounds of armor. I just slapped it on, not even caring whether I got it right. A knot was forming in my stomach.
"Saffron, you're going to the Blue Team." I sighed. Relief washed over me as I looked at who the Blue Team consisted of. I noticed A group of campers huddled together, talking strategy and battle plans. There was also the Red Team. Not nearly as strategic and, well, civilized. They looked savage and battle-hungry. There was one girl, with black hair and evil-looking eyes. In her hand was an electric javelin, which only made the knot in my stomach grow larger and tighter.
"That's Clarisse." I jumped as I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to see a girl about my age with sandy brown hair behind me, giving me a crooked smile. She held out her hand. "I'm Levine. You must be Saffron."
"Nice to meet you Levine." I shook her hand. "How do you know my name?"
"Oh. We don't get many new campers."
"Well. Have you been claimed yet?" I asked. I hadn't seen her in the Hermes cabin. Actually, I didn't really see anyone. It was loud and crowded.
Under the armor,Levine was wearing black skinny jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt (which apparently meant the blue team), and a black vest with a chain necklace. Very much my style.
"Well.... Ares." She said sheepishly. "The god of battle... Clarisse is Ares too. To be honest, it's not easy to share a cabin with a bunch of battle-crazed idiots." She chuckled.
I giggled back. "How did you get on the Blue Team?" I asked.
"Shh!" She hissed. "Nobody needs to know! I think it was just a little error that slipped through."
"BLUE TEAM! GATHER AROUND!" Annabeth's voice rang through the clearing. Clarisse's voice followed, saying the same thing for the red team.
We all huddled into a group.
"Okay, so..." Annabeth listed off orders to each person. Levine was border defense with me and some other campers. My stomach was churning and my knees were shaky as I walked to the border between the red team and blue team. My bow was warm and firm in my hand, just as it had been on that cold day in a New York alley.
A horn interrupted my thoughts. I assumed that meant the game had begun.
Several minutes later, I stopped dead as I realized that I forgot the vital essence of my bow. The arrows.
I tried to calm myself down. Instead of totally running around and screaming like an idiot, I calmed myself and practiced shooting as if I did have an arrow.
"MERRRH!" I gasped as a pure bronze arrow appeared in my fingers. The campers at my sides gave me a "ummm.... weirdo" look. The arrow flew out of my hands and landed thunk in a nearby oak tree.
"Hey! What was that?" I heard a gruff voice through the trees and nearly fainted when I realized that the voice belonged to Clarisse.
I gave Levine a panicked look and she returned it with comforting words.
"It's gonna be okay. Everyone has their weapons ready. She might not even notice us." She whispered in my ear. A feeling of calm washed over me.
I drew my bow and aimed it to where I had heard Clarisse's voice, ready to fire. An arrow appeared again and surprised me, but I didn't loosen my hold.
"What do we have here?" My stomach dropped and the blood ran out of my face, yet anger filled my heart as I spun around to see Clarisse standing several feet away, javelin in hand. Crowded around her were all of the Ares campers. To be honest, they looked like a punk rock band. A very dangerous punk rock band. With very pointy objects.
Clarisse stared me down. I still had my bow ready, and wanted to hit her right in the heart, but I resisted. I was sure that it was against the rules.
"Oh, so it's the noobie? On border defense? Annabeth should be smarter than that!" She snickered evilly to her gang. "I bet she barely knows how to use a knife."
That made my anger bubble over. I aimed and shot Clarisse in the foot. To be honest, it was a nice feeling
"What the- OW!! FREAKING .... DAHHH! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Clarisse started charging at me with her javelin crackling with electricity.
Levine pointed her sword at Clarisse and stepped in front of me.
"You better watch where you're pointing that thing, wimp!" Clarisse snarled. "You don't wanna HURT anybody!" She pushed levine out of the way and continued trudging toward me.
A boy in the Ares gang stepped up. "Clarisse," He said calmly. She turned to look at him. While she was turning, the boy motioned for me to run. Who was this kid and why was he trying to tell me to run?
I obeyed him anyway and ran through the forest, deeper into the blue team territory. As soon as I ran out of breath, I hid in a little bush, shaking. I tried to gather my thoughts. All I could think about was the boy who had distracted Clarisse. He had an odd look in his eyes, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
After several minutes crouching uncomfortably in the bush, I decided that the coast was clear. I stood up, stretching my stiff legs. Taking in my surroundings, I gasped as I realized that the bush I had hidden in was next to the blue team flag.
I told myself not to totally flip out, but I didn't think it worked. I started breathing heavily and pacing back and forth, not really trying to calm down at all.
My instinct told me to stand my ground. A gruff voice (not belonging to me) told me that I've survived alone in New York, so I could handle a bunch of people in armor, right? The voice kinda creeped me out, but at the same time, made random anger boil up inside of me. It reminded me of what I did to people around me. For some reason, I always made people
angry.
A twig cracking interrupted my thoughts. My heart started racing as I turned around to see Annabeth run towards the flag, toting a red flag.
"Move!" She lightly shoved me out of the way, and collapsed behind me, panting. I was shocked to realize that she had the winning token in our hand. A large group of other campers came following her, almost running me over. They were all cheering and laughing, discussing the game's events.
Levine found me and started talking to me, but I ignored her. I had a lot of thoughts on my mind.
"Saffron?" She waved a hand in front of my face and I snapped back to reality.
"Huh...?" I asked.
Levine giggled. "We won."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all settled back into our cabins for the night after my team's victory. Levine was carried off to the Ares' cabin, and I was separated to the Hermes' cabin.
To be honest, I was just glad that the day was over.
6/28/12
Indiana suddenly becomes dangerous?!
I'm Zaidia. Do you remember me? Well anyway, I hope you do. It's been like what, EIGHT MONTHS?! Yeah. Well, we all had a good time at camp. I still haven't gone back to camp yet... but, well frankly, after what happened this morning, I'm starting to wonder if I'll EVER go to camp.
I was sitting on the steps of my house. Today... just maybe today I'll be able to go back to camp. See all my friends, swim in the lake... Oh boy I felt like screaming. So darn excited.
"Come on Zaidi, swimming." My mom said from somewhere in the house. The pools had just opened, so there's another reason for me to be excited... hours and hours to spend underwater!
I got up and piled into the car. I had my flippers with me, which is all the I needed to swim now, considering I could breath underwater and open my eyes in the water.
We finally got the pool and I just jumped in.It's an absolutely MASSIVE pool with a deep end that goes to 12ft, a diving board, hot tub, AND a snack bar. I felt at home in the pool more than my actual home or (believe it or not) Camp Half-Blood. I began to swim around in the water, just happy.
Then, the unexpected happened.
When I was in the back corner of the pool, a faint image (kinda like a hologram) was suddenly in my face.
"What the heck?!" I tried to scream. Only bubbles appeared.
"Zaidia Black?" The image said clearly. I suddenly realized the image was Chiron.
"Chiron! How--? Oh well, when am I coming back to camp?" More bubbles.
"What? It's not safe for you to come to camp now. Too many--" His voice died off, along with the image. Then It flickered back.
"--you're being sent to your aunts house, it's to dangerous for you in Indiana. Your aunt has been contacted and will pick you up within an thirty minutes."
I allowed myself to flout to the top of the pool to look around. Everything was normal here, just a few people playing catch in the water, and a few doing laps. Why would Indiana (of all places) be dangerous? I shook my head and sunk back down the bottom of the pool in a pout, remembering the other thing he said. I don't get to go to camp yet.
"This sucks..." I thought. I slowing began to think of other things I could complain an about about, until something long and scaly tickled my leg. I quickly scanned the area. Nothing. I went up to the top of the water, looked around and went back into the water. Something didn't seem right.
I turn around to see three very long, very scary, snake like creatures swimming towards me. Terrifeid, I took of swimming as fast as I could towards the ladder. They were gaining on me. I felt my flippers being eaten away. Chuck by chuck by chuck.
I reached the ladder and climbed out. When I looked back in the pool, I saw there were at least ten of the snake like creatures with short stubby legs and very sharp thorn like things sticking out of there backs. And nobody else in the pool had seemed to notice them.
Monsters. Sea Monsters.
And they were slowly figuring there way out of the pool.
First thought: Oh my gods.
Second thought: HOW THE HECK DID THEY GET IN A POOL IN INDIANA?!
Third thought: I have no sort of weapon, shield, or armor.
Not good.
I took off in a run towards the pool office/changing rooms There had to be some sort of weapon like thing in the office. A letter opener, maybe an axe or something. Where this sudden boost if bravery came from, i do not know. The life guards all around me were blowing there whistles at me, but I kept on running. In the office I didn't see anything. I mean, I dought a thumbtack could kill monster. Well, you never know until you try...
After some more searching, I did find a letter opener. I was never good a close combat, but there's a first for everything, right?
I was about to run out of the office when the window shattered. The sea monsters all at once coming threw the window, hiss wildly.
This is the part of the sort where I freak out.
In some sort of mad rage I jumped forward and stabbed the rearing sea monster. It was gone in a puff of black smoke.
Within thirty seconds, I was covered in sweat, my blood and monster blood. There were no more sea monsters.
shaking, I stepped into the girls changing room and quickly turned the shower nob. The warm water felt good on my shoulders, washing away all the grime. I realized that none of the life guards had even bother to come after me. The mist. Thank gods.
But... Now what?
I turned around to see my Aunt Danisa right behind me.
"Girl, you have some explaining to do," She said tapping her foot in a puddle of blood/water. "Why is there blood everywhere?"
That's what, I guess.
I was sitting on the steps of my house. Today... just maybe today I'll be able to go back to camp. See all my friends, swim in the lake... Oh boy I felt like screaming. So darn excited.
"Come on Zaidi, swimming." My mom said from somewhere in the house. The pools had just opened, so there's another reason for me to be excited... hours and hours to spend underwater!
I got up and piled into the car. I had my flippers with me, which is all the I needed to swim now, considering I could breath underwater and open my eyes in the water.
We finally got the pool and I just jumped in.It's an absolutely MASSIVE pool with a deep end that goes to 12ft, a diving board, hot tub, AND a snack bar. I felt at home in the pool more than my actual home or (believe it or not) Camp Half-Blood. I began to swim around in the water, just happy.
Then, the unexpected happened.
When I was in the back corner of the pool, a faint image (kinda like a hologram) was suddenly in my face.
"What the heck?!" I tried to scream. Only bubbles appeared.
"Zaidia Black?" The image said clearly. I suddenly realized the image was Chiron.
"Chiron! How--? Oh well, when am I coming back to camp?" More bubbles.
"What? It's not safe for you to come to camp now. Too many--" His voice died off, along with the image. Then It flickered back.
"--you're being sent to your aunts house, it's to dangerous for you in Indiana. Your aunt has been contacted and will pick you up within an thirty minutes."
I allowed myself to flout to the top of the pool to look around. Everything was normal here, just a few people playing catch in the water, and a few doing laps. Why would Indiana (of all places) be dangerous? I shook my head and sunk back down the bottom of the pool in a pout, remembering the other thing he said. I don't get to go to camp yet.
"This sucks..." I thought. I slowing began to think of other things I could complain an about about, until something long and scaly tickled my leg. I quickly scanned the area. Nothing. I went up to the top of the water, looked around and went back into the water. Something didn't seem right.
I turn around to see three very long, very scary, snake like creatures swimming towards me. Terrifeid, I took of swimming as fast as I could towards the ladder. They were gaining on me. I felt my flippers being eaten away. Chuck by chuck by chuck.
I reached the ladder and climbed out. When I looked back in the pool, I saw there were at least ten of the snake like creatures with short stubby legs and very sharp thorn like things sticking out of there backs. And nobody else in the pool had seemed to notice them.
Monsters. Sea Monsters.
And they were slowly figuring there way out of the pool.
First thought: Oh my gods.
Second thought: HOW THE HECK DID THEY GET IN A POOL IN INDIANA?!
Third thought: I have no sort of weapon, shield, or armor.
Not good.
I took off in a run towards the pool office/changing rooms There had to be some sort of weapon like thing in the office. A letter opener, maybe an axe or something. Where this sudden boost if bravery came from, i do not know. The life guards all around me were blowing there whistles at me, but I kept on running. In the office I didn't see anything. I mean, I dought a thumbtack could kill monster. Well, you never know until you try...
After some more searching, I did find a letter opener. I was never good a close combat, but there's a first for everything, right?
I was about to run out of the office when the window shattered. The sea monsters all at once coming threw the window, hiss wildly.
This is the part of the sort where I freak out.
In some sort of mad rage I jumped forward and stabbed the rearing sea monster. It was gone in a puff of black smoke.
Within thirty seconds, I was covered in sweat, my blood and monster blood. There were no more sea monsters.
shaking, I stepped into the girls changing room and quickly turned the shower nob. The warm water felt good on my shoulders, washing away all the grime. I realized that none of the life guards had even bother to come after me. The mist. Thank gods.
But... Now what?
I turned around to see my Aunt Danisa right behind me.
"Girl, you have some explaining to do," She said tapping her foot in a puddle of blood/water. "Why is there blood everywhere?"
That's what, I guess.
6/22/12
I appear out of nowhere
Hi there. My name is Maeve. I usually live in upstate New York. Unfortunately that changed when the gorgons came after me. I didn't know what gorgons were until one came right up to my face and its rank breath decided to make me gag. Here's the story...
So it was a normal day at Prime Valley Middle School. I was hanging out with my friend Saige {who, by the way is the only other person on this planet who seems to understand me} under our tree of awesomeness at lunch. All the cool kids {meaning everyone but me and Saige} were in their usual huddles.
Saige and I spoke about Greek mythology and our struggles with ADHD, because they are the two things we have in common. Saige asked me if I'd ever seen a gorgon.
"Um... No? What's a gorgon?" I asked.
"A gorgon is a type of monster thing from Ancient times," she said calmly.
"Well then I obviously have never seen one," I smiled.
"You're about to," she said.
"I don't want to see your stupid myth-" I began, but Saige leapt to her feet and drew a sword from her skirt pocket.
"Whoa, Saige, you know you're NOT meant to bring weapons to school. That's just wrong," I blustered.
Suddenly a snake-haired lady came out from the playing field. She ran up to me faster than I could comprehend and I smelt her stale breath, causing me to gaga ferociously.
"I got her!" Saige screamed, slicing the gorgons head off. The gorgon crumbled to dust before me.
"What just happened?" I coughed. I looked around and noticed that no one had looked to see what was going on. "And why on earth has no one else noticed?"
Saige sighed and said "I'll explain later. We have to get out of here!"
6/8/12
My first day isn't necessarily the best
I woke up wrapped in a simple fleece blanket. I don't remember much of the experience, giving I had only regained most of my consciousness. I was outside, on a porch, with a plate on my lap. On the plate was a single... lemon square?
"I see you're awake." I heard a girl's voice behind me. A girl about 17 appeared next to me. She had blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. "I'm Annabeth." She introduced herself.
I didn't answer. I still felt drowsy. I just simply looked at her.
"Not the talkative type?" She implied.
"Annabeth," said a familiar voice behind me. I realized the voice belonged to the horse guy, who's name I believed was Chiron. That's when the memories came flooding back. The arrows, Dodds' evil mutation. It wasn't very nice. "Just leave Saffron alone."
"Urruugghhmmmmphhh?" I mumbled.
Annabeth sighed, picked up the lemon-square, and put it in my hand.
"Eat it." She commanded. I was expecting it to taste, like, well, a lemon square, but it turned out to taste like blueberry muffins. Annabeth then left.
"Do you feel strong enough to walk?" The horse guy appeared next to me, but in wheelchair form.
I nodded my head weakly, and then shook it. There was no way I was going to walk anytime soon.
"Then you should rest." He suggested gently.
I fell into a heavy sleep several minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Saffron? Saffron? Wake up." I felt hands shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Annabeth's face. Instead of me in a rocking chair, I was in a bed.
"I'm taking you on a tour!" She said happily.
I sat up and looked at her. "Where?" I asked.
"Well, Camp Half-Blood, of course. Come on."
I slowly crawled out of bed and steadied my feet. I followed Annabeth down the stairs to meet Chiron in the living room.
"So I heard you're taking Saffron on a tour?" Chiron asked Annabeth. She nodded. "I think that that's too soon. You've forgotten that she doesn't know yet."
Know what?!
Annabeth blushed and slapped her palm to her forehead. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that."
I felt like a third wheel as I stood there awkwardly next to her.
I felt so confused. I needed some answers.
"Where am I?" I asked simply and patiently. My grogginess had faded away.
"You are at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron answered. So this was how we were going to communicate.
"What was that thing that I killed?"
"A fury. One of Hades' minions." Hades. I had heard that name before. In school, at history class. We were learning about Greek mythology.
"Is this a dream?" I asked.
"No. This is all real, Saffron. Now, here's where you might get confused, or start to think I'm lying. I assure you, I would never lie to you." Chiron said this as if he knew me before the evil demon probation officer incident. "All those things that you've learned about Greek Mythology is all real." He paused, either to let it sink in or just for the dramatic effect. "Here at Camp Half-Blood, you'll train to live on your own. This is a safe refuge for demigods."
"So what's a half-god or demi-blood or whatever and why am I here?" I asked. He wasn't answering directly, which made a knot form in my stomach.
"Well, here's where it gets confusing." Chiron said uneasily. "You're mother or father is a..... Greek God."
Another pause. I couldn't confirm nor deny what Chiron said. I didn't know who my parents were, I lived in an orphanage until they kicked me out when I was only 10. I learned to live on my own and try to survive on the streets of New York. Luckily, I stumbled upon an old friend from the orphanage a year ago, so I at least had a roof over my head. To cut it short, I hadn't had an easy life. I was 12 now and... you know the rest.
"I never knew my parents." I said quietly. "I'm not sure if you're just playing a joke on me, or if I'm just going insane, or just..." I didn't consider the third choice. Were these people telling the truth? Annabeth seemed oretty nice, but what about the horse dude?
"If you need more proof," Chiron said. He sounded almost desperate. "Just say so. Do you need more time to think about it?" He asked. It's a good thing that I catch on easily.
"No. But can you start showing me the strings of the camp?" I asked, taking a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. "I mean, this is going to be, like, my home for the rest of summer break." I had just started the break, only three days in.
Chiron nodded and began to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So this is the Hermes' cabin, where you'll be staying until you're claimed." Annabeth gestured toward a wooden cabin with a caduceus. Chiron already explained the camp terms to me. Iris messages were like Skype video calls, golden drachmas were currency, and if you were claimed, that means your godly parent is, well, claiming you as their own child. "Good luck. You're gonna need it..."
I walked into the building, instantly engulfed into a cabin of torture.
"NO!!!!!!" Someone screamed. "THAT'S MINE!!!!!!!!" And that was only a fraction of the noise.
The noise was deafening, and it was extremely crowded. And I mean, like, worse than the orphanage. It stank like dirty feet and.... hot dogs?
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" I heard a very authoritative voice interrupt the insanity that was the Hermes cabin. "WE HAVE A NEW ADDITION!" There was a long train of groans coming from the campers. I stood there awkwardly as I was shot dirty looks from all around. "BE RESPECTFUL!" The voice belonged to a 17-year-old boy who was stepping out of the crowd. He had dirty blonde hair and a mischievous twinkle in his pale blue eyes. Another boy, looking exactly like him, followed.
He held out his hand. "I'm Travis, the counselor of the Hermes cabin. And you must be Saffron."
"And I'm Connor. "The other boy said. "The.... other counselor."
"Yes. Nice to meet you Travis." I shook his hand. "And Connor." I shook his hand,
"I saved a spot for you." Travis led me over to a bunk bed in the back. "And sto-- bought you some toiletries." He handed me a plastic baggie filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bottle of water. "Chiron should have have your stuff here soon. Just be careful..." He lowered his voice. "Hermes is the god of thieves." He chuckled and started to walk away.
"Hey." I stopped him. "What time is it?"
"2:30 in the afternoon." I climbed up the ladder to my bed and sat down. The screaming had started up long before I was finished talking to Travis. This was going to be a long day.
"Annabeth," said a familiar voice behind me. I realized the voice belonged to the horse guy, who's name I believed was Chiron. That's when the memories came flooding back. The arrows, Dodds' evil mutation. It wasn't very nice. "Just leave Saffron alone."
"Urruugghhmmmmphhh?" I mumbled.
Annabeth sighed, picked up the lemon-square, and put it in my hand.
"Eat it." She commanded. I was expecting it to taste, like, well, a lemon square, but it turned out to taste like blueberry muffins. Annabeth then left.
"Do you feel strong enough to walk?" The horse guy appeared next to me, but in wheelchair form.
I nodded my head weakly, and then shook it. There was no way I was going to walk anytime soon.
"Then you should rest." He suggested gently.
I fell into a heavy sleep several minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Saffron? Saffron? Wake up." I felt hands shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Annabeth's face. Instead of me in a rocking chair, I was in a bed.
"I'm taking you on a tour!" She said happily.
I sat up and looked at her. "Where?" I asked.
"Well, Camp Half-Blood, of course. Come on."
I slowly crawled out of bed and steadied my feet. I followed Annabeth down the stairs to meet Chiron in the living room.
"So I heard you're taking Saffron on a tour?" Chiron asked Annabeth. She nodded. "I think that that's too soon. You've forgotten that she doesn't know yet."
Know what?!
Annabeth blushed and slapped her palm to her forehead. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that."
I felt like a third wheel as I stood there awkwardly next to her.
I felt so confused. I needed some answers.
"Where am I?" I asked simply and patiently. My grogginess had faded away.
"You are at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron answered. So this was how we were going to communicate.
"What was that thing that I killed?"
"A fury. One of Hades' minions." Hades. I had heard that name before. In school, at history class. We were learning about Greek mythology.
"Is this a dream?" I asked.
"No. This is all real, Saffron. Now, here's where you might get confused, or start to think I'm lying. I assure you, I would never lie to you." Chiron said this as if he knew me before the evil demon probation officer incident. "All those things that you've learned about Greek Mythology is all real." He paused, either to let it sink in or just for the dramatic effect. "Here at Camp Half-Blood, you'll train to live on your own. This is a safe refuge for demigods."
"So what's a half-god or demi-blood or whatever and why am I here?" I asked. He wasn't answering directly, which made a knot form in my stomach.
"Well, here's where it gets confusing." Chiron said uneasily. "You're mother or father is a..... Greek God."
Another pause. I couldn't confirm nor deny what Chiron said. I didn't know who my parents were, I lived in an orphanage until they kicked me out when I was only 10. I learned to live on my own and try to survive on the streets of New York. Luckily, I stumbled upon an old friend from the orphanage a year ago, so I at least had a roof over my head. To cut it short, I hadn't had an easy life. I was 12 now and... you know the rest.
"I never knew my parents." I said quietly. "I'm not sure if you're just playing a joke on me, or if I'm just going insane, or just..." I didn't consider the third choice. Were these people telling the truth? Annabeth seemed oretty nice, but what about the horse dude?
"If you need more proof," Chiron said. He sounded almost desperate. "Just say so. Do you need more time to think about it?" He asked. It's a good thing that I catch on easily.
"No. But can you start showing me the strings of the camp?" I asked, taking a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. "I mean, this is going to be, like, my home for the rest of summer break." I had just started the break, only three days in.
Chiron nodded and began to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So this is the Hermes' cabin, where you'll be staying until you're claimed." Annabeth gestured toward a wooden cabin with a caduceus. Chiron already explained the camp terms to me. Iris messages were like Skype video calls, golden drachmas were currency, and if you were claimed, that means your godly parent is, well, claiming you as their own child. "Good luck. You're gonna need it..."
I walked into the building, instantly engulfed into a cabin of torture.
"NO!!!!!!" Someone screamed. "THAT'S MINE!!!!!!!!" And that was only a fraction of the noise.
The noise was deafening, and it was extremely crowded. And I mean, like, worse than the orphanage. It stank like dirty feet and.... hot dogs?
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" I heard a very authoritative voice interrupt the insanity that was the Hermes cabin. "WE HAVE A NEW ADDITION!" There was a long train of groans coming from the campers. I stood there awkwardly as I was shot dirty looks from all around. "BE RESPECTFUL!" The voice belonged to a 17-year-old boy who was stepping out of the crowd. He had dirty blonde hair and a mischievous twinkle in his pale blue eyes. Another boy, looking exactly like him, followed.
He held out his hand. "I'm Travis, the counselor of the Hermes cabin. And you must be Saffron."
"And I'm Connor. "The other boy said. "The.... other counselor."
"Yes. Nice to meet you Travis." I shook his hand. "And Connor." I shook his hand,
"I saved a spot for you." Travis led me over to a bunk bed in the back. "And sto-- bought you some toiletries." He handed me a plastic baggie filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bottle of water. "Chiron should have have your stuff here soon. Just be careful..." He lowered his voice. "Hermes is the god of thieves." He chuckled and started to walk away.
"Hey." I stopped him. "What time is it?"
"2:30 in the afternoon." I climbed up the ladder to my bed and sat down. The screaming had started up long before I was finished talking to Travis. This was going to be a long day.
5/28/12
I go all Katniss on my probation officer
I stomped through the New York Police Station with a pout on my face. Once again, trouble somehow found me and I had to see my probation officer.
As I opened the door, I saw a person that I hadn't seen in years. My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Dodds. Since when had she become a probation officer? I was more than disappointed. We had never (and I mean never) gotten along.She just seemed to hate my guts, no matter what I did. She was evil.
"Oh my!" She screeched. "What do we have here? Is this really Saffron Trune?"
"Hello Mrs. Dodds." I said through clenched teeth.
"Well, well." She sighed, looking through a file. "What did you do this time? Battery? On a full grown man? Saffron, I hadn't expected you to go this far." In my defense, he said my belt looked stupid.
"I really don't give a rat's butt!" I said, but lowered my voice when Dodds shot me a look. "What do you have in for me this time? Community service, I would guess?"
"Actually," the "officer" stood up and started walking toward the door. "I have something else in mind."
I shivered. She really freaked me out.
I followed her through the halls and eventually out the door. We kept walking, and a thought popped in my head. What if I just stopped following? I pushed it out and kept walking.
When she started leading me into what looked like a bad neighborhood, I started freaking out. And then she turned to an alley and walked down it. At the end, she stopped, turned, and looked directly at me, her (black?) eyes staring into mine.
"Saffron." Her voice gave me chills. It sounded slithery, like a snake, but also hypnotic at the same time. Suddenly, she went rigid. Her eyes focused on something behind me. I slowly turned around, half expecting to see a robber or something, half totally freaking out.
I saw something that I wasn't expecting to see. Instead of some evil criminal or something, there was a middle-aged man with a beard in a wheelchair several feet behind me. I noticed something in his hands. A bow and a quill of arrows?
"Chiron." Dodd's voice was saturated with hate. "What brought you here?"
"You know." The man replied. His eyes darted to me, and back to Mrs. Dodds.
"Ummmm...." I said. Awkward. I thought that they might have been ex's or something.
"Saffron." How did this dude know my name? "Take this." He wheeled toward me and held out the bow and quiver. I reached out a shaky hand to accept it. Oddly enough, the bow felt warm and natural in my hand. Only seconds earlier, I thought I had no idea how to use a bow, and now I felt like I was at the top of the world.
Suddenly, I heard a hiss behind me. I spun around like lightning to see Mrs. Dodds morphing into some kind of bat-like creature.
"What the..." My voice trailed off as that thing screeched like heck.
Her eyes were blood-red and glazed with fury. There were wings on her back and sharp, deadly claws instead of fingers. Her skin was like fruit leather, only more of a sickly gray color and a bit more wrinkled.
Instinctively, I drew my bow, arrow ready.
That's when she lunged at me. Instead of standing my ground like some hero, I ran and screamed. In my panic, I realized that the wheelchair wasn't there anymore. Behind me stood a huge horse guy. I stopped and stared, mesmerized. Then I remembered that there was a demon probation officer on my tail. I spun around on my heels and shot the arrow. In some insane way, I hit Dodd's heart. She vaporized into a million little tiny gold particles and blew away.
I turned to the horse guy, but he looked just as in awe as me.
This, apparently, was too much for my brain to handle, and I blacked out.
I shivered. She really freaked me out.
I followed her through the halls and eventually out the door. We kept walking, and a thought popped in my head. What if I just stopped following? I pushed it out and kept walking.
When she started leading me into what looked like a bad neighborhood, I started freaking out. And then she turned to an alley and walked down it. At the end, she stopped, turned, and looked directly at me, her (black?) eyes staring into mine.
"Saffron." Her voice gave me chills. It sounded slithery, like a snake, but also hypnotic at the same time. Suddenly, she went rigid. Her eyes focused on something behind me. I slowly turned around, half expecting to see a robber or something, half totally freaking out.
I saw something that I wasn't expecting to see. Instead of some evil criminal or something, there was a middle-aged man with a beard in a wheelchair several feet behind me. I noticed something in his hands. A bow and a quill of arrows?
"Chiron." Dodd's voice was saturated with hate. "What brought you here?"
"You know." The man replied. His eyes darted to me, and back to Mrs. Dodds.
"Ummmm...." I said. Awkward. I thought that they might have been ex's or something.
"Saffron." How did this dude know my name? "Take this." He wheeled toward me and held out the bow and quiver. I reached out a shaky hand to accept it. Oddly enough, the bow felt warm and natural in my hand. Only seconds earlier, I thought I had no idea how to use a bow, and now I felt like I was at the top of the world.
Suddenly, I heard a hiss behind me. I spun around like lightning to see Mrs. Dodds morphing into some kind of bat-like creature.
"What the..." My voice trailed off as that thing screeched like heck.
Her eyes were blood-red and glazed with fury. There were wings on her back and sharp, deadly claws instead of fingers. Her skin was like fruit leather, only more of a sickly gray color and a bit more wrinkled.
Instinctively, I drew my bow, arrow ready.
That's when she lunged at me. Instead of standing my ground like some hero, I ran and screamed. In my panic, I realized that the wheelchair wasn't there anymore. Behind me stood a huge horse guy. I stopped and stared, mesmerized. Then I remembered that there was a demon probation officer on my tail. I spun around on my heels and shot the arrow. In some insane way, I hit Dodd's heart. She vaporized into a million little tiny gold particles and blew away.
I turned to the horse guy, but he looked just as in awe as me.
This, apparently, was too much for my brain to handle, and I blacked out.
5/27/12
Hey..... I'm Saffron
Hi... How ya doing?
Gods, I'm an idiot!
Oh, sorry, did you hear that?
Well, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Saffron, the new demigod at Camp Half-Blog. Nice to meet you. I'm here at Camp Half-Blood, hanging out with Annabeth. To get things clarified, my dad is Ares but.... We'll get to that later. Okay, you'll be able to read my story later. By the way.... my pen name is Saffron... my real name is Selah, but for this page, I'll be going by the name Saffron, with some exceptions.
Gods, I'm an idiot!
Oh, sorry, did you hear that?
Well, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Saffron, the new demigod at Camp Half-Blog. Nice to meet you. I'm here at Camp Half-Blood, hanging out with Annabeth. To get things clarified, my dad is Ares but.... We'll get to that later. Okay, you'll be able to read my story later. By the way.... my pen name is Saffron... my real name is Selah, but for this page, I'll be going by the name Saffron, with some exceptions.
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