Post by Sunfur on Feb 20, 2011 1:22:24 GMT -5
No matter what the situation was, Ari always enjoyed the sensation of flight. With the wind dancing through her long, straight blonde hair and tickling her senses, it was easy to forget about any stressful situation that one could be under. In this case, what was flowing through Ari's mind wasn't anything regarding the battle she was literally flying towards. No, her mind was only regarding the treetops as she soared over them, the green leaves tickling her grey sweatpants as she barely cleared them. It only took the child of Zeus a few minutes to reach the battleground, but in that time, she had completely cleared her mind, only looking below her once or twice before fixing her gaze on the periwinkle sky once more, thinking of nothing of much importance. Nearing the edge of Camp Half-Blood, she quickly murmured a prayer to Ares, the God of War, and Zeus, her father, in hopes that this battle wouldn't be her last.
Despite the skill she had in wielding her short sword, this would be a battle focusing not on her swordsmanship, but speed and aim. As the enemies happened to be Feather-Shooting Birds, they had no reason to get close to their prey until they were carrying it off into the distance - which was usually when their victims were stuck with more needles than a pincushion made out of a porcupine. But no, this battle would require her command of the winds to aid her in getting close to the birds, and then striking with a well-aimed jab of her sword. Either that, or commanding lightning to bring them down would do the job. Remembering a piece of battle advice she'd been told way back when, (so far back she'd forgotten who actually told her) the piece of wisdom stated that electricity tended to clip the wings of flying-type monsters, but she had to be careful. Conducting lightning took a lot out of her, and with four of these creatures on the attack (according to Evangelos anyways), she'd have to conserve her energy for flying as well as physically battling. While she was a child of the Big Three, and therefore had more strength than the average DemiGod (although that in itself was an oxymoron), she wasn't invincible, and as any good warrior knew, one wrong step in any battle could mean her demise.
While all of these thoughts were just finishing running through her mind, a brown shadow melted beside her in her flight, for the last thirty seconds or so of her fast-paced journey. Smiling to see Evangelos appear at her side once more, she remembered with a vivid flash all of the times that she and her eagle had rushed into battle, side by side. There had to be at least a half-dozen camp invasions, some capture-the-flag games, and some haphazard encounters with beasts in the woods, but all of that was behind them now as the pair wrapped up their flight. "Does Chirion know of our guests?" Ari asked, despite her voice being swallowed up by the wind. "Yes, Duchess - he agreed you were the most prepared to go, given the nature of our intruders and your skill set. But he has some of the Apollo archers at the ready should you need." "Great, thanks buddy. You ready for this?" "As I always am. I wish you had a shield, though - your recklessness for not bringing one is most distressing at times like these." Sticking her tongue out light-heartedly, Ari knew that it was a severe lack of judgement on her part (one that her sisters would never let her hear the end of if they knew), but one that could not be remedied at this point. "Too late now, buddy. I'll just have to be faster than them."
Whatever Evangelos had intended to say in that moment was swallowed up in their descent, as the border to the camp was finally approaching into sight. The pair of them entering a steep dive, they swerved around each other, girl and eagle intertwining their patterns until they peeled out, ten feet from the ground, Ari flipping onto her back to locate the avian terrors. And they weren't too hard to notice; Large black shadows against a relatively vibrant blue sky, Ari saw at least a pair of them wheel towards the head Mess Hall before she righted her path, reversing quickly to head them off. "Where are the other two?!" She called, knowing that wherever her partner in crime was, he'd hear her call. "About half a mile from the camp entrance and approaching quickly, Duchess!" "Can you hold them off until I'm done with these two?"
Unable to wait for an answer, the birds were relatively slower than she was - either that, or she was pushing the limits of her flight speed - but in any case, she was rapidly approaching the pair of them with little to no game plan. Stretching out her hands as she approached silently from the rear, she waited until grabbing onto the bird's talons before halting her flight path once more, strictly keeping herself airborne for the time being. Squawking in distress and fury, the child of Zeus found herself ducking - but still clinging to the talons - as a barrage of feathers aimed towards her, but she was far enough away to avoid them with a quick gymnastic-worthy swing. As the bird flapped panickedly with it's wings, trying to send another wave of razor-sharp feathers her way, the blond girl wasted no time in swinging the bird into the other one, the pair condensing in a puff of ebony feathers as they flapped against each other, trying to disentangle the mess of wings and talons before Ari dove in once more, this time wielding her short sword of celestial bronze, plunging it into the heart of the two birds while she could still take two birds out with one hit. Suddenly covering her in a spray of monster-dust, Ari let out a quick sneeze, rolling her eyes at the irony. I would be allergic to monster dust, wouldn't I?
Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to spend on this new revelation before a panicked squall from Evangelos pierced her ears. "Twenty feet from the border, Duchess!" Gathering wind once more, the girl propelled herself back the way she came, noticing that she wasn't passing the trees as fast as she had been before, already beginning to tire from the aerial dance. All the same, it was a matter of seconds before she met with the second pair of Feather-Shooting Birds, but this time the two were larger - almost as tall as she was - and seemingly smarter than their companions. Wheeling separate ways as Ari approached, the DemiGod made a split second decision to follow the bird on the left, hoping to get close enough to make a quick kill of it. She was closing in on it's tar-hued feathers... just another ten feet... five... two... before a quick blast of pain on her upper right arm sent the girl wheeling off balance, almost into a free fall towards the ground. Clutching her injured arm, the short blade tumbled towards the ground, lost in the grass miles below. Cursing audibly, she looked down to see her fingers covered in blood from where she had held her wound.
Duchess! He's preparing to fire again! Gritting her ivory teeth against the pain that now tore through her arm, Ari was down a weapon, down in energy, but in no mood to mess around in the slightest. Suddenly wheeling upwards, the bird-girl did a backwards flip before righting herself, now confusing the second bird as it pursued her, suddenly setting the two of them on a collision course as fast as they both could fly. Just as the black-feathered monstrosity fired another wave of feathers, Ari dove underneath the bird, readying the electricity in her fingers until she saw a clear shot beneath it's wings - and took it. Wailing in pain as electricity coursed through it's body, a few seconds was all it took for the third bird to - literally - bite the dust, the particles falling from the sky before littering the ground.
Quickly scanning the sky for her last foe, she quickly spotted Evangelos tearing after the much larger bird as it took him on a tour of their border, the eagle speeding up as it made to turn into the camp before wheeling towards it, weaving in and out of the feathers that were loosed from it's body. "Evangelos! Can you get it to fly directly over me!" Sure can - be ready! Diving towards the ground, Ari placed her feet on solid ground, enjoying the feel of the earth once more before turning her silver gaze skyward once more, seeing Evangelos angle towards her, the enemy now in pursuit. Summoning the bolt of electricity once more, she reveled in the prickly feeling it gave her veins as she counted down the seconds to her aim. Three..... two.... one.... And just as the black shadow fell over her, a bolt of lightning shot up, straight from Ari's up-stretched arms, that could be seen seemingly through the entire camp. This time, the bird exploded directly after being pierced by lightning, the blood pounding in Ari's ears signaling the victory that was won.
Wincing, the girl finally took a deep, shuddering breath into her lungs and then released it, anxious for her heart rate to slow down before she trusted her legs again. Cautiously turning her gaze to her upper arm, she shuddered violently as she saw the three deep gouges that had been a result of the feathers, one of which was still stuck in her arm. Biting her lip, she drew it out slowly, ignoring the extra course of pain that resulted from it, and examined the feather in the dying sunlight. Now that it wasn't on birds she was trying to kill, the feather was actually relatively attractive - glossy, sleek in the light, and illuminated with a deep navy colour when the light hit it right. A sudden flutter of wings from behind her caused the girl to whip around, ready to duck from another attack, but her breathing steadied once more once Evangelos revealed himself, in his talons her missing short sword. Well, that's that, I suppose. He quipped, dropping her sword into her outstretched hand. Beaming as she buckled it back into her sheath, she gave his cranium a gentle pet, stroking the feathers down that had lifted up in flight. "You were amazing, as usual." And I wish you had the sense to bring a shield along with you when you had the sense! Glaring at her, but only lightly, he filled his duty as companion, familiar, and resident nag all in one in that instant, returning her stuck-out tongue with her own. Come on then - we'd best get that looked at soon - and maybe we can catch a late dinner if we don't take too long. Ruffling his feathers, Evangelos took off gracefully, wheeling behind her and over her head as she walked towards the main hall, holding her injured arm as she took her pace slowly, carefully, not trusting her tired self to take to the skies once more.
To: (Patching Up I guess) Omens of Adventure
Despite the skill she had in wielding her short sword, this would be a battle focusing not on her swordsmanship, but speed and aim. As the enemies happened to be Feather-Shooting Birds, they had no reason to get close to their prey until they were carrying it off into the distance - which was usually when their victims were stuck with more needles than a pincushion made out of a porcupine. But no, this battle would require her command of the winds to aid her in getting close to the birds, and then striking with a well-aimed jab of her sword. Either that, or commanding lightning to bring them down would do the job. Remembering a piece of battle advice she'd been told way back when, (so far back she'd forgotten who actually told her) the piece of wisdom stated that electricity tended to clip the wings of flying-type monsters, but she had to be careful. Conducting lightning took a lot out of her, and with four of these creatures on the attack (according to Evangelos anyways), she'd have to conserve her energy for flying as well as physically battling. While she was a child of the Big Three, and therefore had more strength than the average DemiGod (although that in itself was an oxymoron), she wasn't invincible, and as any good warrior knew, one wrong step in any battle could mean her demise.
While all of these thoughts were just finishing running through her mind, a brown shadow melted beside her in her flight, for the last thirty seconds or so of her fast-paced journey. Smiling to see Evangelos appear at her side once more, she remembered with a vivid flash all of the times that she and her eagle had rushed into battle, side by side. There had to be at least a half-dozen camp invasions, some capture-the-flag games, and some haphazard encounters with beasts in the woods, but all of that was behind them now as the pair wrapped up their flight. "Does Chirion know of our guests?" Ari asked, despite her voice being swallowed up by the wind. "Yes, Duchess - he agreed you were the most prepared to go, given the nature of our intruders and your skill set. But he has some of the Apollo archers at the ready should you need." "Great, thanks buddy. You ready for this?" "As I always am. I wish you had a shield, though - your recklessness for not bringing one is most distressing at times like these." Sticking her tongue out light-heartedly, Ari knew that it was a severe lack of judgement on her part (one that her sisters would never let her hear the end of if they knew), but one that could not be remedied at this point. "Too late now, buddy. I'll just have to be faster than them."
Whatever Evangelos had intended to say in that moment was swallowed up in their descent, as the border to the camp was finally approaching into sight. The pair of them entering a steep dive, they swerved around each other, girl and eagle intertwining their patterns until they peeled out, ten feet from the ground, Ari flipping onto her back to locate the avian terrors. And they weren't too hard to notice; Large black shadows against a relatively vibrant blue sky, Ari saw at least a pair of them wheel towards the head Mess Hall before she righted her path, reversing quickly to head them off. "Where are the other two?!" She called, knowing that wherever her partner in crime was, he'd hear her call. "About half a mile from the camp entrance and approaching quickly, Duchess!" "Can you hold them off until I'm done with these two?"
Unable to wait for an answer, the birds were relatively slower than she was - either that, or she was pushing the limits of her flight speed - but in any case, she was rapidly approaching the pair of them with little to no game plan. Stretching out her hands as she approached silently from the rear, she waited until grabbing onto the bird's talons before halting her flight path once more, strictly keeping herself airborne for the time being. Squawking in distress and fury, the child of Zeus found herself ducking - but still clinging to the talons - as a barrage of feathers aimed towards her, but she was far enough away to avoid them with a quick gymnastic-worthy swing. As the bird flapped panickedly with it's wings, trying to send another wave of razor-sharp feathers her way, the blond girl wasted no time in swinging the bird into the other one, the pair condensing in a puff of ebony feathers as they flapped against each other, trying to disentangle the mess of wings and talons before Ari dove in once more, this time wielding her short sword of celestial bronze, plunging it into the heart of the two birds while she could still take two birds out with one hit. Suddenly covering her in a spray of monster-dust, Ari let out a quick sneeze, rolling her eyes at the irony. I would be allergic to monster dust, wouldn't I?
Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to spend on this new revelation before a panicked squall from Evangelos pierced her ears. "Twenty feet from the border, Duchess!" Gathering wind once more, the girl propelled herself back the way she came, noticing that she wasn't passing the trees as fast as she had been before, already beginning to tire from the aerial dance. All the same, it was a matter of seconds before she met with the second pair of Feather-Shooting Birds, but this time the two were larger - almost as tall as she was - and seemingly smarter than their companions. Wheeling separate ways as Ari approached, the DemiGod made a split second decision to follow the bird on the left, hoping to get close enough to make a quick kill of it. She was closing in on it's tar-hued feathers... just another ten feet... five... two... before a quick blast of pain on her upper right arm sent the girl wheeling off balance, almost into a free fall towards the ground. Clutching her injured arm, the short blade tumbled towards the ground, lost in the grass miles below. Cursing audibly, she looked down to see her fingers covered in blood from where she had held her wound.
Duchess! He's preparing to fire again! Gritting her ivory teeth against the pain that now tore through her arm, Ari was down a weapon, down in energy, but in no mood to mess around in the slightest. Suddenly wheeling upwards, the bird-girl did a backwards flip before righting herself, now confusing the second bird as it pursued her, suddenly setting the two of them on a collision course as fast as they both could fly. Just as the black-feathered monstrosity fired another wave of feathers, Ari dove underneath the bird, readying the electricity in her fingers until she saw a clear shot beneath it's wings - and took it. Wailing in pain as electricity coursed through it's body, a few seconds was all it took for the third bird to - literally - bite the dust, the particles falling from the sky before littering the ground.
Quickly scanning the sky for her last foe, she quickly spotted Evangelos tearing after the much larger bird as it took him on a tour of their border, the eagle speeding up as it made to turn into the camp before wheeling towards it, weaving in and out of the feathers that were loosed from it's body. "Evangelos! Can you get it to fly directly over me!" Sure can - be ready! Diving towards the ground, Ari placed her feet on solid ground, enjoying the feel of the earth once more before turning her silver gaze skyward once more, seeing Evangelos angle towards her, the enemy now in pursuit. Summoning the bolt of electricity once more, she reveled in the prickly feeling it gave her veins as she counted down the seconds to her aim. Three..... two.... one.... And just as the black shadow fell over her, a bolt of lightning shot up, straight from Ari's up-stretched arms, that could be seen seemingly through the entire camp. This time, the bird exploded directly after being pierced by lightning, the blood pounding in Ari's ears signaling the victory that was won.
Wincing, the girl finally took a deep, shuddering breath into her lungs and then released it, anxious for her heart rate to slow down before she trusted her legs again. Cautiously turning her gaze to her upper arm, she shuddered violently as she saw the three deep gouges that had been a result of the feathers, one of which was still stuck in her arm. Biting her lip, she drew it out slowly, ignoring the extra course of pain that resulted from it, and examined the feather in the dying sunlight. Now that it wasn't on birds she was trying to kill, the feather was actually relatively attractive - glossy, sleek in the light, and illuminated with a deep navy colour when the light hit it right. A sudden flutter of wings from behind her caused the girl to whip around, ready to duck from another attack, but her breathing steadied once more once Evangelos revealed himself, in his talons her missing short sword. Well, that's that, I suppose. He quipped, dropping her sword into her outstretched hand. Beaming as she buckled it back into her sheath, she gave his cranium a gentle pet, stroking the feathers down that had lifted up in flight. "You were amazing, as usual." And I wish you had the sense to bring a shield along with you when you had the sense! Glaring at her, but only lightly, he filled his duty as companion, familiar, and resident nag all in one in that instant, returning her stuck-out tongue with her own. Come on then - we'd best get that looked at soon - and maybe we can catch a late dinner if we don't take too long. Ruffling his feathers, Evangelos took off gracefully, wheeling behind her and over her head as she walked towards the main hall, holding her injured arm as she took her pace slowly, carefully, not trusting her tired self to take to the skies once more.
To: (Patching Up I guess) Omens of Adventure
