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Post by brinazarski on Feb 20, 2011 23:47:34 GMT -5
It was late- maybe 1 AM or so.
Nonetheless, Saber was FULL of energy, taking on men of straw from all sides. His kunai severed heads in seconds. He was an agile fighter, and a silent one, making sure not to wake the others. The sky was jet-black, with the twinkling stars offering little light. It was dark, yes, but he was aware of his surroundings.
After using the weapon with his hand, he decided to test his aim out of hand. Facing a target, he tossed the kunai with much strength. In a heartbeat, it stabbed through the board- almost at the bullseye, but not quite. Ugh! He thought, dissatisfied with himself. No biggie. I'll get it right! Like a ninja, he raced with silent steps, ripping the kunai from the target. He spun around, glared at a dummy, aiming for it's eye. Again, he threw the ebony object forward with much force. Yes! Not only did he manage to perfectly get the eye from a distance, but he knocked the thing's head off!
Saber smiled proudly, and ran forward. However, he wasn't even a quarter of the way there when he stopped short. Something was wrong.
He wasn't alone.
The boy froze, looking around slowly and anxiously. He had heard something, and could feel he was being watched. Maybe I'm imagining it... He continued to scan the area, but couldn't find anyone. But I'm so sure I heard someone...
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 0:22:37 GMT -5
There were many upsides to being a daughter of Zeus. Once you looked past the fact that Poseidon and Hades were still a little wary of you being a daughter of the Big Three (luckily they didn't hate Ari anymore), the fact that Hera was all too willing to completely rip your guts out at any given time, and that there were HUGE expectations to live up to, life was pretty good. With the flying, natural sword skills, and lightning bolts, there were few things to complain about in Ari's life at Camp Half-Blood.
And one of them was her cabin. Designed almost like a bank, it was grande, white, with tall pillars extending downwards, leading onto the platform that one had to climb stairs to reach. The large, holographic bronze doors shimmered with lightning bolts, and the white marble was everywhere. In the inside, a large statue of Zeus stared down at his daughter, who was too busy glaring up at a constantly overcast sky in annoyance. But it wasn't the sky she was glaring at, in particular. No - it was the constant thunder and lightning that never rested.
The lightning she could deal with.. sorta. By piling pillows from other cabins onto her eyes, she could block out the flashes of light that illuminated the room from end to end, but the thunder was unbearable. She'd tried everything - ear plugs, iPods, nothing blocked out the rumbling that she still hadn't gotten used to after all of this time. Occasionally, if she put on a loud enough song, that could drown it out for the time being, but it still took a lot out of her to have to listen to a constant assault on her ears.
So that was why an exhausted DemiGod finally shoved all of the pillows off of her eyes, and swung her legs gently over her bed to land on the floor like a cat. Stepping out in her bare feet, Artemis' moon greeted her softly, giving her pale frame an even paler silver glow, the girl's long blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight. Softly climbing down from her cabin (the largest and most imposing of them all), the girl strolled out of her cabin, sitting down lightly on the marble porch, looking up towards the stars against a navy blanket.
Heaving out a sigh, she looked rather insignificant against the entire majesty of the DemiGods' cabins, in her white tank top and baby-blue pajama pants, emblazoned with a cheesy lightning bolt pattern. Looking up to where she knew her father resided, in the sky, Ari closed her silvery eyes, before beginning to voice her thoughts. "Uh... hey dad. It's me, Ari. Your most insignificant offspring as of yet. So... I'm going on a Quest tomorrow... I know it's a small one, but I hope you'll appreciate it, and be sorta proud of me, ya know? I'm trying to not let you down... hope it's working..."
Rapidly running out of things to say, Ari opened her eyes to cast her gaze far out over the land of Camp Half-Blood, reassured by the tranquility of the night that was always - well, was supposed to always be there. On this night, however, a shadow was peeling away from one of the cabins to her side... she thought it was the Hermes cabin... and beeline towards the path that led to the training ring. Eyebrows knotting, she looked back up to the night sky for a moment, before saying her last words for the night. "Uh, gotta go dad. Love ya, and hope to see you soon."
Standing up, she too became a lithe shadow against the night, leaping down from her cabin and jogging swiftly in the direction that the figure had ran, following it until she finally lost sight of it, staring at a cross roads to many different appealing destinations. Frowning, Ari was just about to head back when a crunch of straw drew the awareness of her keen ears. Realizing only now she'd forgotten her sword (and had no shield, Riley would've loved to have known), that didn't stop her from closing the distance between her and the training ring, just in time to see an all-too familiar jet-black kunai sever the head of a straw dummy.
And to let her bare foot snap a small twig beneath her. Silver eyes peering from the training ring's entrance, she had to fight to keep her voice low, and quiet, even though she blended into the background. "Well, that's all good and impressive and what not, but you do know we'll be facing enemies that move on our quest, right?" She asked, leaning against the ring with her arms folded. The child of Zeus knew that Saber would recognize her voice at least, and gave a glare to where his head would be, just for good measure.
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 12:23:40 GMT -5
Oh yes, someone was there, alright.
He glared in the direction of the voice. "I KNOW that, Ari," Saber growled, moving towards her. "But these dummies don't exactly move, genius. Unless you want me to train by killing innocent birds- like your little eagle friend, maybe- there's nothing I can do." He'd come face to face with her now- well, not exactly face to face, considering the height difference. Nonetheless, he was there, glaring her down in annoyance. "Why were you even watching me?! Shouldn't you be asleep?!"
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 12:52:09 GMT -5
Raising an eyebrow towards him, a slight smile painted Ari's face in the moonlight, which was arguably the warmest gaze she'd ever given Saber up until this point. She didn't know what it was, but the girl enjoyed poking fun at the new camper to infiltrate their group, and if she was stuck with him on the stupid quest, she might as well get all the humor out of the pain that she could. Seeing him move towards her, she straightened up, arms still folded, fear far from her silvery eyes.
Her hand lay a few inches below the fresh bandage that the nurse had wrapped around it. None of the Apollo cabin members were up at this hour, and she didn't want their help with healing it anyways. Call it Zeus-ian stubbornness, but she'd take her wounds and have them heal on their own. But for now, a few stippled dots of blood were showing through the thick white material, not that Ari cared or noticed, for that matter. But as soon as Evangelos was mentioned, the smirk dropped from her face and the eyebrow came down to meet it's counterpart, turning the amused grin into a glare once more. "Watch yourself. My "little eagle friend" is not a pet I tell to come and go as I please. He has a mind of his own and can kick your sorry butt any day of the week." She growled, eyes narrowing at Saber now that he'd brought her family into the equation. And yes, she counted Evangelos as her family, since he'd been there for her since her arrival at camp and before.
Ari held her own against the towering DemiGod, not feeling threatened in the slightest. She knew that Saber was no threat to her - if he tried to be, he'd find himself electrocuted faster than one could say 'zap'. But, in what he said, was the crux of why Ari found herself glaring to the boy. He was too full of himself, thought too highly, and had an ego the size of Mount Olympus. He wasn't afraid to push peoples' buttons and threaten their friends and family, and that was what drove Ari nuts. He needed to learn respect, but it didn't look like he'd do that any time soon.
Snorting at what he said, Ari let out a short, wistful laugh. "Zeus' cabin has lightning flashes and thunder on full blast 24/7. Some of my half-siblings might have found it comforting in the past, but it's hard to sleep in there with a storm as your bunkmate." Ari could only assume that the other cabins had it easier than she did - well, save for the Ares cabin, perhaps. They did have land mines surrounding their abode, but at least their cabin mates were used to where they were and could avoid them.
Huffing a little, Ari's slender frame broke away from Saber's imposing one, her legs taking her on a tight circle once around the ring. Her arms were still folded against her chest, but her mood looked pensive, as if she were cooking up some plan, without noticing Saber. Once her feet returned her from her starting point, she regarded Saber once again, this time with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Wanna fight?"
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 13:34:55 GMT -5
"Well, you were the one complaining about moving targets, so I'm just proving my point!" He rolled his amber eyes, and faced her again. His eyes started showing a bit of sympathy at the mention she couldn't sleep. "Really? It's always storming?" The boy questioned disbelievingly. "Can't you sleep in another cabin then?" But the sympathy started fading. "It still doesn't explain why you were following me."
Saber watched her as she circled him, rolling his eyes. Ahh! You're circling me! I'm soooooo scared! Then she questioned him, and he smirked. He opened his mouth to reply, when he noticed her bandage, and he stopped, his smirk fading. "Uhm... no. I don't wanna' fight. You're hurt, and you're going to need all your strength for the Quest."
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 14:44:14 GMT -5
"You can always make a better choice of targets." Ari replied, the bitterness only slightly fading out of her voice. Evangelos may only be a bird, but he was one of the largest birds known on earth - the Bald Eagle, with vicious talons and keen eyesight - great speed and deadly accuracy. He didn't appear to be a large threat, but once those talons came out and the beak was shouting a battle cry, one typically decided that they didn't want to be minced meat.
Surprised at the hostility that had swam away from Saber's tone, Ari turned her head to the side, looking at him with a slightly puzzled mask. "Ugh, yeah. Always storming. Thanks, Daddy." There it was - the first joke she'd made with Saber. What was with this friendly business? The DemiGod blamed it on lack of sleep, and - she couldn't lie - was relieved when the suspicion crept back into his tone. "Doesn't explain why you were out either." She replied cooly, the ice out of her tone but the suspicion still there.
Bending her knees slightly, she had already eyed a weapon similar to the one she'd left in her cabin when he returned her smirk, anticipating the clash of warrior with better warrior. Ari, like all DemiGods, were hard-wired for battle - ADHD allowing them to track many enemies at once. And her energy levels were soaring, even at this late time. But his response startled her, and she locked her knees once more, standing up straight and regarding him with a confused gaze.
A sharp remark about how she wasn't hurt, he just didn't want to fight a girl died on her tongue, and she was left speechless for a few moments. What was that she'd just seen? Compassion? Caring, and foresight? Everything she'd known - or thought she knew - about Saber was rapidly dissipating before her silver gaze, and she let out a huff of annoyance, shifting her weight onto her left leg before placing her hands on her hips. "Well, you're full of surprises, aren't you? I wouldn't have taken you as the sort to care about that kind of stuff." Casting her bandage a gaze, she fiddled with the fringes of her bandage, letting out a murmur. "Maybe you're not as bad as I thought."
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 15:05:12 GMT -5
"I'm out here because I'm too excited for tomorrow. I can't sleep. Might as well train!" He twirled his kunai with his finger. Then, he looked at her with a confused expression. "What do you mean?" He overheard her muttering. "Do I really seem that bad to you...?" He was obviously hurt.
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 15:12:55 GMT -5
Shrugging, Ari couldn't disagree with that. "Yeah, I suppose that can't hurt." She said, pursing her lips slightly as she listened to what he said. A sinking feeling started falling in the middle of her chest, before Ari let out a sigh, looking for the nearest place to sit down. Finding a bench not too far from where they were, she crossed the distance with only a slight breeze to help her, the dust rising as she moved and then settled once the wind died down, Ari's expression unreadable for the moment.
"Well..." She began, uncertain of how to proceed. She wasn't excellent at these kinds of intimate occasions, built for action and supporting the action, not comforting, but she still tried her best when it came down to it. "I've met worse DemiGods for sure. Some of the Apollo kids have inherited their father's arrogance, to the point where it's unbearable." Letting a small laugh fall into the space between them, it died softly and then returned the onus onto Ari, the uncertainty obvious in her halting tone.
"You can be a bit annoying, especially when you threaten those close to us. And by us, it's pretty much Mary-Kate, Riley, Evangelos and I. But I'm not sure that you mean to be annoying any more." Finishing her thought, she lay her hands by her thighs, lifting her body off the bench for a moment before lowering herself back down. "And you can be a bit arrogant, too, but I guess every guy has that."
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 16:19:36 GMT -5
"Yeah..." He sighed. "People tell me I'm annoying pretty often. I don't have any friends, but that's okay. I'm good on my own! Heh..." No, he wasn't, but he pretended to be. "I don't even know how I'm annoying. I guess I was just born that way, but it doesn't matter. And I don't mean to be a threat, really... I don't want to hurt anyone. Like I said, I wanna' be a hero! I want to help people, not hurt them! But I guess that's all I do, heheh..." Saber stared down at his feet for a moment, hiding his face, then looked up and smiled.
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 16:29:53 GMT -5
She couldn't entirely help it, and it was against her better judgement, but Ari was starting to feel the pricklings of pity for Saber. The girl herself had friends around camp, mostly just acquaintances for the most part, but she'd made friends with some of Artemis' huntresses (when they were around), and Athena's cabin, obviously, and a couple of the girls from Demeter and Persephone's cabins, but Mary-Kate and Riley were all she really had in the world. If Ari didn't have them, she couldn't imagine how lonely that that would be, all day, every day. Frowning a little, she let him finish, before nodding sagely, listening to what he said.
"I think the main disagreement is that we think you are being threatening, and mean to be. But a little bit of additional gentleness wouldn't hurt... especially with Mary-Kate." Finally, finished her sage-like wisdom for the week (and being a daughter of Zeus, being wise wasn't what she was well-known for, or good at), she extended her left fist in a play punch, landing a soft blow that barely hurt on his arm, before extending it in a gesture of peace, waiting for it to be shaken. "Well, we'll see how much of a hero you can be on our quest. Maybe you'll stop hurting people as much as you think you do."
Blinking her silver gaze up at Saber, her face gently morphed into a friendly one, a smile stretching over the lower half of her face. "Truce? We'll have to take it day by day... but... I think maybe we can be friends."
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 16:53:28 GMT -5
Saber nodded. This Ari girl isn't a total jerk after all... "I'll try to be gentle, though I don't know if I'll be any good at it... and which one is she again?" He blushed with a nervous laugh, since he couldn't tell the twins apart, and he didn't even really remember their names, anyway. "And why her especially?" He was confused as to why he should treat her any different.
"Ow!" He said, smiling at the punch, as it didn't really hurt at all. He nodded, with the hugest grin on his face as she mentioned the probability of friendship. "Truce!" He said, perhaps a little too happily.
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 17:11:43 GMT -5
"Well, all you can do is try. As long as you try and make a difference, then no one can fault you... as much as they would if you didn't, anyways." When she thought about it, it was much like Ari and using her shield. If she had at least brought one with her and tried to use it, no matter what the outcome, her sisters would be less mad than what had happened in reality, where she hadn't tried to bring one at all. "Much like me and my shield woes..." Ari grimaced, thinking back to how much of a tongue lashing she'd gotten.
"Hm?" She'd forgotten that knowing which twin was which was a trait that came with familiarity, and hadn't mixed them up since a long, long time ago. Even in a high-stakes scenario, where it was hard to distinguish people at all, Ari could instantly tell the two apart. "The one you were flirting with this afternoon. She typically stand a little shorter than Ri. And her 'specially since she's more likely to be hurt if you're not. They're both tough, but Riley won't care as much."
In a way, Riley was the tougher of the two twins, but not in the most obvious way. They both reacted and felt as strongly as the other did, but Mary-Kate was a lot more likely to hang onto her hurt feelings, instead of brushing it off like Riley typically did. After all, it was Mary-Kate who'd been more worried than disappointed with the lightning demigod that afternoon, compared to Riley who hadn't shown her worry as much as her anger. She worried for them equally, as much as a mother hen would worry for any of her 'chicks'.
Grinning at her new 'friend', she accepted the handshake with an internal peace, happy that she could reconcile the tension between them. He'd been alone for a while now, and it was beginning to show. Besides - it never hurt to make a new friend, did it? And if they were going on a quest together, it was almost a prerequisite that they trust each other - Ari already trusted Mary-Kate and Riley implicitly, but the trust for Saber would come later. But, at least at this point, it was a few steps closer to happening. "So, friend, how do you think we're going to get all the way to Greece?"
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 17:45:47 GMT -5
"Well, you'll have your shield this time, right? I mean, Chiron said you needed a shield to come, so!" He remembered earlier when the centaur had told him he was going on the Quest, and the happiness bubbled inside him.
"Oh." He thought about it for a moment, remembering the twins. "They look the same height to me. I don't see how you can tell the difference between them, but..." He shrugged, and thought for a moment. "HMM..." He thought with a purposely humorous thinking face. "... AHA! We'll sneak into the part of the plane with the luggage, and we'll fly there!" Saber nodded at his geniusness.
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Post by Sunfur on Feb 21, 2011 18:03:55 GMT -5
Letting out a short laugh, Ari nodded, remembering the condition that Chiron had provided as her ticket on the quest. "I don't actually have a shield of my own, though, which is part of the problem. It also interferes with conducting lightning, so I'd rather not have one. But if it comes down to having a shield and living, or not and dying, I guess I'd be a fool not to take one." Not to mention that the shields were large and cumbersome, and not very aerodynamic. The last time she'd tried flying with a shield, it turned more into a paragliding experience, which ended with her crashing into a tree. That was five years ago, and while she was exponentially better with flying, she still hated flying with one, and hated how it zapped her electricity even more.
"Yeah, they're pretty identical once you first meet them, and it took me a few weeks to tell them apart, but once you find the differences it's fairly easy." Raising an eyebrow at his suggestion, she gave it thought before finally shaking her head. "It'll be cramped in there, and we're at risk for having bags fall on us. And, Gods forbid, if something happens to us in the sky - though it shouldn't since my Dad and I get along - we'll be trapped with no way out. I suppose we can ask Apollo for a ride, or maybe Hermes can help us out..." She mulled over their options with a pensive gaze, before adding, "Or we could actually fly first class. Like normal people."
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Post by brinazarski on Feb 21, 2011 18:41:38 GMT -5
"Well... why don't you find a shield that's good with lightning? There's GOT to be one out there. Ask your dad, maybe he'll give you one!" Saber said, listening to her next words. "I guess..." He had a mental image of the twins in his head, trying to differentiate the two.
...
Nothing.
"It'd be so fun in the though! We could could be dodging luggages, play hide-and-seek, maybe look inside some of those luggages..." He had a mischievous smirk on. "Ya know. In case there's anything "illegal" on the plane. Besides us, of course!" He giggled, and wondered what cool stuff people might bring with them. Aside from clothes. Clothes usually weren't interesting. He then rolled his eyes. "Ari. Are we normal people?!" He exclaimed. "We're demi-gods! We're better than normal people!... so how could we fly first class? I don't have money."
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