Omens of Adventure (Chiron, Ari, MK & R)

[Sunfur]

<sup>In the time that it had taken the young DemiGod to cross back into the camp's borders, following the windy, well-worn path to the hub of the activity, the first hints of dawn were already painting the periwinkle sky, the bursts of light from the dying sun wrapping over and around each other. An orange hue cast Ari's blonde hair in a lukewarm glow, even as tangled as it had become in the fight. With only her standard orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt to shield her from the descending cold, the girl started shivering slightly, the ripped right sleeve fluttering in the last breaths of the wind. She barely even needed to look around her, to absorb her surroundings as she walked through the campgrounds she knew so well, her feet taking her where she wanted to go even though she didn't immediately tell them, with the idea unformed in her mind. A disturbance above her drifted down every so often, reassuring Ari that Evangelos was still flying above her, even though she turned her silver orbs up to the eagle, noticing the growing dark even as his wings shaped against the sky. "Evangelos, can you go ahead and tell Chiron we're coming? I don't want to keep him waiting much longer..." Trailing off, although neither party gave voice to the nagging worry, they both knew that if the DemiGod didn't return in a certain time frame, worry would grow through the camp and - Zeus forbid - a search party would end up having to find her in the growing night.

Almost as silent as the nightfall itself, only a ripple of feather reassured Ari that he'd heard her, and he took off in the approaching night, weaving effortlessly through the very same trees that she herself had flown through earlier that same afternoon. Sighing, the girl turned her head to regard the sky once more, the evening star winking at her mischievously before it's companions joined in their dance, blinking eyes against a purplish-pink sky. As she crossed the distance remaining to the Big House, Ari reached back in her mind to her astronomy lessons that Chiron had given her three summers ago, not that she'd been able to pay much attention even then. But maybe, if she squinted, she could see the constellation of Orion there, and with a tilt of the head maybe Hercules appeared... Mulling over the fact that technically, Hercules would be her half-brother, the fact was daunting, even as used to the idea of being Zeus' offspring she was. There was a time, many years ago, before she'd started attending Camp full time, where her mother would read to her the tales of the Greek heroes, recounting all of Hercules' awesome deeds, the vengeance of Hera... And now, here she was. A small, blonde girl with the power of lightning and hormones pulling her left and right. "You couldn't have made it easy for me, couldja." She muttered, narrowing her eyes at Hercules' legacy he left on earth. Being any DemiGod, no matter who you were, was rough. But when you ended up being a daughter of Zeus, and your siblings happened to either be other Gods or championed heroes, the expectations could get to you at times.

Finally, the cabin appeared from behind the trees, a miraculous mirage that meant that her troubling day was over. Stepping gratefully inside the wide door, she let it close behind her with a resounding 'clong', wincing a little as she hoped that it wouldn't travel too far. "Chiron? Are you in here?" Drawing her arm away from the wound she'd had it wrapped over, the fingers on her left hand had been stained crimson from the blood, with the wounds finally beginning to stop their bleeding. The three gashes weren't particularly wide, but long and deep, a result from three of the feathers a bird had launched at her. One of the ebony arrows had survived it's source exploding into dust, and now rested in her sword's scabbath, beside the very same weapon that had resulted in it's death.

When no obvious response made itself known to her, Ari crossed the threshold, trying to avoid tracking mud all over it's floor, to where the sink lay, searching for some paper towels to aid her. When those were found and properly placed, she turned on the faucet with her left hand, wincing as she could feel the cold water trickling through her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she first scrubbed the blood off of her hand, removing the crimson glove that the injury had provided her with. Once her skin had it's usual pale glow once more, she ripped off a single sheet of paper towel, running it under the water briefly before rubbing around the gashes lightly, knowing to clean off the wounds before infection could spread. Despite her opponents being monsters that exploded into dust upon death, they could still have Zeus knows what kinds of infections on their bodies - especially the black feathers. She'd be lucky if her gashes weren't infected, in the end.

"Ari! Good to see you back so soon." A booming voice from behind her caused the girl to start violently, dropping the paper towel she'd been using before recovering her composure. On his shoulder was the very bird himself, Evangelos, looking pleased as punch that he'd been able to bring Chiron to the young DemiGod. "Chiron! Uh, yes. The border's been secured, sir." Picking up the paper towel from the floor, she placed it on the side of the sink before facing the centaur squarely, ready with her report. "Two pairs of Feather-Shooting birds attempted to breach the boundary of camp, Chiron. I haven't known them to be so well organized in the past, however. The first two were scattered, not working as a pair, almost like a diversion, but the second two were intent on something, and used each other as if they were used to the idea of being in pairs. That's what's been troubling me about the entire thing."

Nodding slowly, the ivory equestrian drew one hoof out in front of him, and then back again as he gave this new insight thought. The sudden motion startling him, the eagle took off from his shoulder, landing down on the backs of one of the chairs, facing his Duchess and Chiron with a steady amber gaze. "I'm not sure what to make of that myself. I'll hold council with Dionysus tomorrow to see what he makes of it. In the meantime, you should get those gashes looked at - they look deep." Colour rising to her face, Ari blushed at the recognition of her injury, laughing nervously. "They're not as bad as they look, and-" "That happened to be an order, my dear." It wasn't as if Ari was well-known for obeying orders, and so this precaution was met with a smile on both sides. "And then get some rest - those bolts must have taken something out of you." Smiling in agreement, Ari nodded, taking a new paper towel to replace the one that had fallen on the floor. Some clopping from behind the girl spoke that Chiron was approaching, gently taking her arm in his hand and the wet paper towel in another. "Here - let me help." Bringing the girl gently to one of the seats around the large table, she sat down slowly as the centaur inspected the gashes, slowly bringing the paper towel to wipe the wounds. Wincing as the pain rippled through her arm, she looked away from the blood towards the window, catching the last dying rays of sunlight as she watched two shadows approaching the house.</sup>

[Shyfire]

By the time Mary-Kate approached the Big House, the sun was starting to go down. She spotted Ari and Chiron talking and raced up toward them, blonde hair streaming behind her. As soon as she approached Ari, she could see some kind of wound on her arm. Her gray eyes narrowed and she glared at her sister. "Ari", she said warningly, "What happened?". Her eyes were hardened now and the blonde crossed her arms. "You didn't take a shield did you?". She looked at Chiron and nodded her head in greeting. "Hey Chiron. Thanks for taking care of this one.". She turned her gaze back on the daughter of Zeus before her. "I let you out of my sight for a few minutes and you manage to get yourself hurt!"

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[brinazarski]

Riley followed her sister to the Big House, and her eyes widened as she saw Ari's wounds. "What happened?!" She exclaimed. She then heard Ari's comment, and glared. "You'd better have taken a shield." Her voice was as chilling as ice, though she was going to regret it if Ari had taken a shield. "You should've let us go! We're strong! We could have helped you and THIS," She gestured to the wounds. "Wouldn't have happened!"

"Yeah!" Saber pipped up as he reached them. " I could have showed you guys what a fighter I am, and-" He noticed Chiron, and smiled. "Hey, Chiron. What's up?!"

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[Sunfur]

<sup>Starting violently as the door flung open once more, Ari's silver eyes grew wide with the faintest hint of panic, trying to turn her arms subtly as to escape Mary-Kate's piercing gaze. However, a mischievous Chiron kept her where she was, murmuring softly to her. "Consider this your real punishment for not taking a shield along with you." Mouth opening and closing in indignation, but finally resignation, she turned to meet Mary-Kate's accusing gaze with a rapidly flushing face.

"Nothing happened! I'm fine! It's just a few light scratches!" She protested in vain, knowing that this was only the beginning of the lecture she was about to get. "I didn't have time to take a shield! The bird brains-" An indignant caw from behind caused Ari to sheepishly grin at Evangelos, muttering "I'm just getting into trouble with everyone today, aren't I." before continuing on. "Camp was being invaded! I'm not about to turn tail because I forgot something and risk camp becoming the next nest!"

Just behind Mary-Kate appeared Riley and Saber, suddenly, and Ari shielded her eyes with her free hand and groaned. As if this couldn't get any worse - she'd been injured, and now was about to be called out by her two sisters, with the annoying punk and Chiron as an audience! "Nothing happened, I just didn't take a shield with me! I'm fine! Grinning at Mary-Kate's greeting, Chiron bowed his head slightly as he resumed cleaning Ari's gashes. "She could hold her own a lot better if she just took your advice one in a blue moon." "Chirooon!" Ari protested again, with a flushed face full of embarrassment.

Sighing, the girl let her hand fall off of her eyes before shifting her position, her discomfort in being yelled at obvious. "Like I said, this isn't bad at all! It just looks bad. And this - or something worse - could've happened to you guys, or the rest of camp! And so that is why I did not take a shield with me-OW!!!" Wincing visibly, a stare went straight to her wounds that Chiron had now finished cleaning, and he straightened up with a flourish. "Sorry about that. There was a bit of dirt in deep that I had to remove." Crossing over to the garbage can, the centaur picked up the remaining paper towels and threw them away, before walking back over to the quarreling teens.

"I know, sis, I know! I should've taken a shield but there wasn't time! Don't be mad at me!" Now that the gashes had been cleaned, they looked a bit better, but still hurt like the Underworld. "Would you be less mad if I told you I brought something back from the battle?" Ari asked, blinking up at Mary-Kate from where she sat. "Psh. Saber, you wouldn't have lasted a minute. For starters, how would you reach the birds? They fly. Last I checked, you don't."</sup>

[Shyfire]

Mary-Kate studied her sister with a raised eyebrow. "You brought something back?", she asked, her tone that of an inquensitive 5 year old promised a suprise. She shook her head, attempting to clear her thoughts. "You could've been killed!", she said with a worried tone, "You could've gotten injured a lot worse! Just because you're a daughter of Zeus doesn't mean you're invincible!". Tears had started to form at the corner of her eye, but she wiped them away quickly, hoping no one saw. With a sigh, she hugged Ari. She stood back up and looked at her honorary sister with a desperate look in her eye. "Lean to be careful!", she scolded horsely. She could feel a lump rising in her throat, but she swallowed it and gave a half-hearted grin. "Now about that suprise you brought for me?". The daughter of Athena could never admit it, but even though she was pretty mch the "little sister" among them, she was horribly afraid of loosing another member of her family. First her and Riley's father had requested they not return home. Then Nicole on her quest. Mary-Kate tried not to worry, but she tended to overthink things. Everytime someone in her "family" went out of her sights, or wasn't exactly normal, she assumed the worst.

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[brinazarski]

Riley.

Riley wasn't being sympathetic at all- just giving Ari her eerie death glare that she gave people when they did something stupid. "I've- no, WE'VE told you so many times to bring your shield. So. Many. Times. And you never do. I don't even know why I even bother." Her voice was harsh and unforgiving, despite being a generally forgiving person, she couldn't be nice to someone who did something as foolish as this- and more than once. "And not really, no, but what is it anyway?" Riley didn't really sound enthusiastic or interested. She was tapping her foot irritatedly, looking around for some distraction. Don't explode... She had a feeling she just might.

Saber.

Saber gave her a dirty look. "SHUT UP! I could've taken 'em down with my kunai with no problem!" His eyes looked like amber flames. "You'll see someday, Ari! You'll see!"

Riley.

So you know her name now... Riley noticed he had said Ari's name twice so far. Still, he made no effort to call her or her twin by their actual names. He probably couldn't even tell them apart. She gave an inward smile of satisfaction, though on the outside, she showed no indication of a change of emotion.

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[Sunfur]

<sup>Giving a slight grin to Mary-Kate, Ari nodded, knowing that Mary-Kate would love the item that she brought back. "Yeah, Kate-Kat, I-" Letting out a sigh, the daughter of Zeus let Mary-Kate carry on her scolding, knowing that it was something she needed to get out of her system. Even though she knew what the twins had experienced with Nicole's death, it still didn't stop her from taking the reckless chances that she did - it was in her personality. Ari didn't try to put herself in danger, it just seemed to happen. She never had the intelligence that the Genesis twins did, and so never could factor in the consequences of her decisions as well. She knew that bringing a shield could've helped her, and not taking one was the reason she was injured, but in the end, weighing the choices of doubling back to get her shield and possibly letting the birds into camp, she chose defending her territory and her friends. She always would.

"Hey, hey, Kate-Kat. I know, I'm sorry I didn't take one. But I'm fine, honestly! Don't worry, hun!" Returning the hug, Ari squeezed her sister gently with one arm before letting her pull back, the teen's entire demeanor softening at how Mary-Kate was crumpling. She knew she'd messed up with not taking a shield - that much was obvious, but in the end, it had turned out alright, didn't it? She was fine, mostly, and the only consequence was now she was being yelled at left and right.

Suddenly changing her gaze to a similar figure, but one a lot less sympathetic, Ari let out an equally pathetic sigh, letting the assault on her ears and heart wear on until, finally, the voice changed to Saber's. Glaring up with silver eyes at him, part of her internal voice was thinking "Okay. I get why Mary-Kate and Riley are mad (doesn't mean it doesn't suck), but this punk has absolutely no right to be yelling at me! With clouding eyes, she stared Saber down with a cold, hard stare before replying cooly, "Don't tell me to shut up."

As Chiron watched the four children from the back of the room, Ari slowly got to her feet from where she sat, only slightly wobbly on her legs but giving her friends a look that basically screamed "don't help me". Grimacing as she finally regained her bearings, she stared at all three of them evenly before speaking. "Are you done yelling at me? Making me feel like crud?" There was only a slight hint of desperation in her tone, something that only Mary-Kate and Riley would be able to identify. Letting out a heavy, angry sigh once more, she removed the ink-black feather from her scabbath and laid it on the table beside her. "That's a feather from, you guessed it, a Feather-Shooting Bird. Sharp on the edges, and surprisingly solid."

Clearing his throat from behind the group, the white stallion man stepped forward slowly, ending their squabble more authoritatively than any one of them could. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to ream Ari out some more over her poor life choices, there is a reason why I brought you four here." Handing the wounded girl a white bandage, he muttered to her, "Wrap your injury with that.", before folding his arms again. Taking the bandage, Ari stared at it for a moment before sinking to the chair she'd occupied minutes before, letting the bandage fall into her lap.

Clearing his throat once more, Chiron gave Mary-Kate and Riley a stern look before beginning once more. "Your mother has a favor to ask the pair of you. She needs you to retrieve an item she lost somewhere in Greece. If you ask nicely, Hermes might be able to give you some more details on where exactly it is. Consider this a... quest."</sup>

[Shyfire]

Mary-Kate felt aboslutley horrible for making Ari feel so horrible. It wasn't her fault Nicole and her father had both abandoned the twins. She was about to speak up when Chiron interupted, informing them of their quest. The teenager nodded, suddenly serious. Nothing was on her mind but the Quest. Greece, eh? Because of their mother. Alright. "Hang on,", the blonde spoke up, "Why can't Athena fetch it herself?". Her tone was inquiring, but not disrespectful. She looked up and met Chiron's eyes with her inquensitive serious gray eyes. Mentally, she was running through a checklist in her mind of things that she would have to make sure she and Riley would have to bring.

[brinazarski]

Saber.

Saber returned the glare. "I'll tell you to shut up whenever I want!" He growled defiantly. "You insulted me! I have the right to tell you to shut up!"

Riley.

"Well, you should've EXPECTED all this yelling. THINK, Ari. THINK. You've seen my reactions before, you should know by now I'm not going to be any different, if anything I'm going to be WORSE. So yeah." Riley watched Ari take out the feather, and she pinched herself lightly, preventing herself from showing any positive reaction. Oooo! A feather! SHIIII-NNEEEE~ Yes, she could keep her emotions on the inside. On the outside, however, she gave a disinterested "Nice.", though she kept staring at the object.

But now, she was distracted by the centaur. Riley tried to force back her glare at Chiron, with little success. Stop making me feel bad for putting her down! She needs to learn to be safe! It's for her own good! Geesh! The blonde-haired girl's glare faded quickly, however, at the mention of a Quest. Though she wasn't exactly in the mood, she had a faint smile on her face, side-glancing excitedly at Mary-Kate. Her sister had already asked the question that was on her mind, and she waited for Chiron's answer.

Saber.

"A Quest?!" The boy blurted out excitedly. "I wanna' go! Can I go?! Please?! I won't let you down, I promise!" His eyes were were lit up with cheer, now he had a chance to prove himself. And he WOULD prove himself. He was going on this Quest- and nobody, not Chiron, not Ari, not the gods, not the twins- were going to stop him.

[Sunfur]

<sup>A hideous scowl disfigured Ari's young face with the instant that Saber's words flew from his mouth, but before she could return the disrespect, Chiron's hoof hit the floor with such force that sent the entire structure shaking. "That is quite enough. We make it a point here not to insult other DemiGods, and Ari had a point. She was not insulting you. Mind your manners, every one of you. No one has a right to tell anyone to shut up as long as I am camp director - does everyone understand?" A steady gaze travelled between each DemiGod, first to Mary-Kate, then Riley, to Ari, and then finally focusing on Saber for a long moment, before the centaur carried on.

Meanwhile, Ari's left fist was clenching and unclenching, her veins tensing with the temper she was attempting to release. Raising an eyebrow at Riley's eloquent finish, she bit back a snide remark she would've made, if Chiron wasn't breathing over her shoulder. But the mood instantly changed once the quest was mentioned, and the focus remained on Chiron once more. "Yes, Saber a Quest. One Athena cannot complete on her own since, to begin, she is a Goddess and has better things to do than retrieve her lost belongings. And secondly, she is currently... otherwise occupied."

Intentionally vague about the situation at hand, Ari caught on to what Chiron was doing, attempting to shed their focus on another aspect of the Quest, but had no idea just what Athena could be tied up with. Of course, she was too important to spend her time on mundane tasks, but she sensed there was something more to what Chiron wasn't saying. Letting out a quick cough, Ari turned her silver gaze to Chiron, a slightly worried look taking over. "You're not sending just the two of them to Greece, are you? I mean, of course they can handle themselves-" A quick look to Mary-Kate and Riley verified that she did not mean what she didn't say, but all the way to Greece? On their own?" Although Ari didn't say it, the twins - no matter how much they reamed her out - were everything she had, and she was loathe to let them out of her sight as much as they were her.

Snorting in half amusement, half worry, Chiron opened his maw once more to give painfully slow details of the quest. Giving a side-look to Saber, he raised an eyebrow, murmuring quietly to him. "It seems to me that just seconds ago you were behaving most reprehensibly - "letting me down." Is there any reason why I should believe that you won't in the future?" Of course, the thing about Chiron was that he never posed a question accusingly, just a simple statement of fact, which could make it almost impossible to be mad at him. "Of course, I hear your concern, Ari. So that is why I am sending Saber on the quest with them, to see how he fares in the real world since both Mr. D and I have taken a special interest in him." Casting a look to Saber again, he gave the boy a rare smile, almost one that could be called knowing.

At that moment, all that Ari could focus on was the incredulous realization that she was in very real danger of being replaced... by a punk who was arrogant, self-righteous, and downright insulting. "You're sending him, an unclaimed DemiGod with barely any training other than his sharp tongue, out into the field and leaving ME behind?! The person who's been there for the twins since day one?!" In her outrage, Ari slammed her fist on the table as soon as the word 'one' left her mouth, wincing almost directly after due to the wounds on her arm stretching from the exertion.

"If memory serves, you've just been injured." "Oh come on, Chiron! I'll be fine as long as I wrap this up! You can't leave me behind and send him in my place! He's a punk for Zeus' sake!" Giving a stern glare to the lightning DemiGod, she was chastised slightly for the moment, while waiting for Chiron's ruling to fall. "Watch yourself, Arianna. However, I will let you accompany them - on one condition." Waiting with baited breath for the other shoe to drop, Ari made a pledge to herself in that moment that whatever it was, she'd take it with grace, as long as it meant that she wouldn't be letting her sisters leave with that punk.

"Riley. It is your responsibility to make sure our headstrong DemiGod here is carrying a shield when you leave. Tie it on her - I don't care. So long as it's with her." Mouth gaping and eyes widening in the moment, the girl quickly swallowed her indignation for the upteenth time that night, nodding solemnly at Chiron's request. "Ari, I seem to remember telling you to get that wound patched up. Stop by the nurses' station before returning to your cabin. For the rest of you, pack whatever you require before heading to dinner - you will leave first thing in the morning."</sup>[/b]

Rising slowly at first, Ari nodded, completely calmed down without the influence of Saber, for once. "All right, Chiron. I won't let you down." Grabbing a hold of first her bandage and then the feather she'd left on the table, she presented the latter to Mary-Kate as she passed her sister, giving an apologetic look to the twins, followed with a glare to Saber, before exiting the hall. With a flutter of wings, eager not to be left behind, Evangelos let out a swift caw before following her out the door, letting it close behind her.

To: Idunno, our next thread? XP[/sup]

PS SHY SIS. I GAVE SPOT SIS SUPAH-SPECIAL-SUNNY-SAY-SO TO LEAVE THE THREAD BECAUSE WE HAD AN EPIC ARIxSABER BONDING IDEA SO THEY CAN BE ALL WEIRD AND FRIENDLY-LIKE WHEN THEY LEAVE FOR THE QUEST. KAI? I THINK YOU'LL LIKE IT.

XO SUN SIS WHO ABUSES CAP LOCK.

[Shyfire]

Mary-Kate watched Ari leave, and took the feather in her hand. She frowned down at the feather, sizing it up. She couldn't help but smile, however. That was typical Ari, bringing back souviners. No doubt trying to distract the twins from her wounds. She looked up at Chiron and gave a brisk nod. "First thing in the morning", she said. She turned to Riley and said "We should go pack.". With that, she opened the door to the Big House and stepped outside. The dying light turned her hair almost auburn, and the wind caught her curls making them tumble slightly around her shoulders. She took off for the Athena cabin, turning her back on the Big House.

And she prayed to the gods it wouldn't be the last time she ever saw it again.

To: Another thread..

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[brinazarski]

Saber.

"I'm sorry Chiron... but this time I WON'T let you down! You'll see!" And with that he ran out to prepare for the Quest.

To: Preparing for the Quest

Riley.

Riley had the hugest grin on her face at the idea of Ari have a shield. Ha. Ha. HA! She thought, amused. She turned to Mary-Kate, and nodded, following after her sister. A Quest! A Quest! She thought. I haven't been on a Quest since...! And suddenly, she remembered something she wanted nothing more than to forget. ... since Nicole died...

To: Another thread