[IC] Song of Heroes - a Percy Jackson RP (Morose & DragonicQueen)

Waking up alone in the musky sea salt cabin always felt dreary, she'd gotten use to it after a year but having the closeness of siblings like all the other cabins wasn't an option. She'd kill to have her siblings here, with her, enjoying the camp activities but this place wasn't for human blooded children. It was a place to keep demigods safe, children of Greek Gods who's other parent was a normal human.

The ginger haired girl yawned quietly as she exited her cabin, slipping on her sandals before heading down to the lake as she wasn't ready to go do any training quiet yet. A few of the other campers were awake just like she was, a handful of Satyrs and Nymphs wandered around the grounds. She waved at those who looked over as she made her way down to the water. Finally diving into the water and swam around before popping out and resting her arms on the small dock. Her eyes became set on a small group of Hermes kids that had come out of their cabin, probably ready to start the day with sword training or one of the many various other activities.

Kitty lifted herself out of the water, perfectly dry as always, then wandered over to the small group. "Morning, Lorna." She hums softly when noticing the girl was among all the others. Lorna had become one of her handful of friends here at camp, they got along rather well and enjoyed each others company a lot whenever they were able to hang out.

[Morose]

By contrast, Lorna didn't wake up to the light filtering in through the cabin windows - instead, she woke up to the sound of some of her siblings or other unclaimed campers doing their best to be quiet as they stomped throughout the cabin, getting ready for the day. Lorna groaned, stretching out. She was lucky enough to be a camper with a bunk in the Hermes cabin - it had been vacated by one of her siblings a year ago when they left for the school room. Lorna, being a year-round camper, had carved her name into the wood and more or less dared someone to try to take the bunk from her.

Lorna was yawning as she changed into a fresh pair of blue jean shorts and a t-shirt, before pulling a grey Camp Half-blood hoodie on and tying her sneakers. She spilled out of the cabin with about six others, still doing some of her morning stretches as she tilted her head from side to side and swung her arms around. "Oh, hey Kitty," Lorna said, before yawning. Her legs were covered in bruises, all in various states of healing. As athletic as Lorna was, she seemed to attract bruises the way the Athena campers attracted spiders. "How'd you sleep?" Lorna asked, jogging on over to her.

Luke emerged from the cabin next and gave the two girls a wave before heading on to the dining pavilion.

[DragonicQueen]

"I slept fine, thanks for asking." The girl hums softly, eyes flickering over to Luke. Waving at him before he left to the pavilion. "Did you get any sleep? I know your cabin can be noisy even after dark." Kitty questions, deciding to also head to the dining pavilion to get breakfast. It wouldn't be smart to not eat before training, she'd done it before and always regreted doing so even if she drank plenty of water to boost her energy.

[Morose]

"Yeah, you get used to it after a while - plus earplugs. Thank the gods for earplugs," Lorna said with a giggle. She had a hard time sleeping when she could hear people snoring, and with how many people were crammed into Cabin 11, snoring was practically guaranteed. The earplugs she had gotten from the camp store must've been magic, and they were proving essential to her good night's sleep.

She assumed that they'd be heading to get breakfast, so Lorna started walking in that direction anyways with her friend. That was one thing that she felt bad about, how Kitty had to sit at the Poseidon table all by herself during meals. The Hermes table might've been overflowing, but at least there was always someone to talk to. "What activities are you scheduled for today, by the way?" Lorna asked, curious if Kitty would end up doing anything with Cabin 11.

[DragonicQueen]

"Thankfully I don't have to worry about snoring or talking.....though would be sort of nice." The girl murmurs and thinks about what she's doing today. "I believe archery, crafts, and some sword training. Nothing much. I wanted a quiet day today, been busy the past week with the chaos happening.... Still can't believe that the lightning bolt got taken."

They enter the pavilion area, other cabins besides Hermes are seated at their own tables. All eating and a few chatting. Kitty sighs softly before walking to her lonely little table. 'I do wish I had a sibling but....that won't happen.' She thinks before grabbing her plate.

[Morose]

Lorna perked up slightly, hearing that Kitty was going to be doing sword training. She knew that her cabin was scheduled to do training today - giving her yet another chance to try to kick Luke's ass. So far, she was 0-308 as far as attempts went, but she wasn't going to back down. "You have to do sword-training with us today - today's my lucky day, I can feel it. I'm going to finally beat Luke. And I'll need my bestie there to do so." She was somehow oblivious to Kitty's crush on Luke. But then again, Lorna was oblivious when it came to pretty much anyone's crushes on anyone.

"I'm surprised it hasn't turned up yet - though I guess maybe it's like art theft, where it's either found quickly or it's gone for generations," Lorna wondered. "I do wonder just how they did it... Like, to steal something like that... Kinda have to respect the hustle at least." She wasn't a kleptomaniac like some of her siblings, but Lorna did have an appreciation for a good heist.

Lorna waved at Kitty, before heading over to the Hermes table and squeezing in at the end - only half of the cabin was there and it was already pretty tight.

[DragonicQueen]

Kitty agreed to join in on the sword training with Lorna's cabin, it'd make it easier to fight against people rather than a handful of straw dummies. It'd surprise the girl if her friend even won, nobody was as good as Luke. Kitty had perhaps only won once and that was because he hadn't expected her to use a completely new move on him that she'd seen in a TV show.

It was also strange, the bolt being gone for so long. Maybe Lorna was right, either it was to be found now or perhaps even centuries later. She shook her head at the thought and ate her breakfast.

The Poseidon girl finished up and went to go do archery since she knew the Hermes cabin would be sword training later in the day. She just hoped it would only be the Apollo kids at the moment, sometimes the Ares kids wouldn't let her do anything at all.

[Morose]

Later that afternoon, the Hermes Cabin had assembled at the arena - well, the Hermes Cabin and Kitty. Luke was one of the best swordsmen that Chiron had seen in years, meaning that he would be running this session. Ordinarily, Luke would have straw dummies out for everyone to practice hacking away at, as he called out different blows and blocks he wanted each sword fighter to perform. Then at the end, he'd let people do some 1v1's. But today, he clearly had something different in mind.

"Holy shit..." Lorna murmured, her eyes going wide with amazement. She didn't know how Luke had pulled it off, but the arena had been transformed into an elaborate obstacle course. There were sections where you would have to hop from stone to stone, to avoid falling into what looked ominously like lava. In other places, straw dummies dangled like punching bags, swaying from side to side. There were balance beams and hurdles and more that Lorna just wasn't able to take in all at once.

"Alright, campers!" Luke shouted, calling over everyone's attention. "Today, you'll be running the obstacle course with your swords in hand. If you drop your sword, you're out. The first four campers to finish the course get one of these," Luke paused, pointing towards four overstuffed bags from the camp store, no doubt filled with candy and other goodies. "Oh, and I'll be coming around and fighting you at varying points," he added, chuckling slightly, "just to make things challenging."

[DragonicQueen]

"Bloody hell." The girl mutters quietly, surprised how well this obstacle course looked, it was like those crazy Survivor games almost, just more dangerous because of having to use swords to fight against whatever came at them.

To win a bag of goodies was just a bonus to them all. Usually it was just practice, obviously Luke wanted them to go all out, not just mess around and do the usual. Which was much more exciting. The only other time they went hog wild was Capture the Flag.

Everyone grabbed a sword, took their place at the start then rushed as soon as Luke said it was fine to go ahead.
Kitty made sure to have a good grip on her sword, not wanting to lose at all. Plus she wasn't the quickest runner, hoping that others would drop their swords and fail so she'd be able to get ahead of the game.

[Morose]

The first obstacle that they had to overcome was rather tame - it was a grid of sorts of tires, requiring people to sort of hop from foot to foot on the interior of the tire. The biggest danger was tripping from not moving your feet correctly, which would likely cause you to drop your sword - or risk impaling yourself or someone near you. After the initial rush, about three campers were out of the running for the prize, having fallen and let go of their sword. Lorna rushed in with the first group, bringing her knees up high as she ran through the tire grid, only to have one of the tripped campers slam into her, knocking Lorna to the ground. Her head hit the rim of one of the tires, but to her credit, she didn't drop her sword.

"You okay, Meyers?" Luke called out.

Lorna gave him a thumbs up, hopping back up to her feet. She'd probably have more than a few bruises from this. "All good, boss man!" she said, before making her way to the second obstacle - a series of hurdles that they had to alternate jumping and climbing over.

"C'mon, Adalhard, let's pick up the pace!" Luke teased, shooting Kitty an award winning smile. He paused for a moment, before extending his sword and pointing it at her. She'd have to spar with him now before moving forward. "Your move, Kitty," he then said, allowing her to have the first blow. "If you think you can hit me, that is."

[DragonicQueen]

"I'm going as fast as I can!" She huffs once she makes it through the tires. Gripping her sword as she stares the older boy down. 'I'm not going to win. He's going to knock me to the ground….. urgh.' The girl wonders how to attack.

Kitty takes a moment before finally going to swing at him. Knowing he'll just block it anyways, he was quick and skilled more than any of the campers here. She might as well just drop her sword and forfeit going for the prize.

[Morose]

Luke did indeed block Kitty's attack - there wasn't anything shameful in the fact that her blow didn't land, hardly anyone had been able to land an attack on Luke in the last few years. There was a reason that Chiron allowed him to more or less take over sword instruction at the Camp - and it wasn't just purely a staffing shortage solution. "You're telegraphing, Adalhard. I know where you're swinging your sword before you've even done it. Now come on, swing at me again," Luke coached - all with a stupidly charming smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Lorna was alternating between hopping over the hurdles and crawling underneath them. Her sword arm was beginning to ache ever so slightly - they had been going pretty hard at training with their other activities earlier that day, and she was beginning to feel the slight pinpricks of exhaustion. But Lorna wasn't about to quit. It wasn't even so much that she wanted to win the prize, she just liked winning in general - and pushing herself harder and harder, finding out the extent of what she could really do. She cleared that portion of the obstacle course, and now found herself face to face with a series of balance beams.

[DragonicQueen]

"Mhn. Wipe that smile off your face." She huffs while attacking him again, much quicker than last and not in the same way as last, hoping to land the blow this time. She had decided to go down more towards his legs, hoping to catch him off guard. She was just hoping to get past him, hoping to get back ahead of the game since the others were farther ahead now. Not too many where behind her.

She just had to focus on fighting against her crush, try not to get distracted by his handsome face. Focus on the prize! Don't focus on how close he is right now. This is normal. This is practice.

Well if she didn't win she hoped that Lorna would win one of the prizes. That girl was more athletic than Kitty by a long shot. Always seeming to enjoy whatever was put in front of her. Never backing down from a fight.

[Morose]

"Why shouldn't I be smiling?" Luke teased. He was being genuinely playful with her, having no idea that she had a crush on him. She did an excellent attack towards his legs, forcing Luke to jump backwards rather than block with his sword. He didn't want to spend all of his time tormenting her though - there were plenty of others who needed to have a little bit of swordplay. "Alright, keep on moving - and stay on your toes," he warned, before turning his back on her and walking towards another camper to spar with.

Luke was about halfway in between the gap that had formed between Kitty and Lorna. Lorna was working on the balance beams, jumping from the end of one beam to the next, gripping onto her sword as if her life depended on it. She paused for a moment, glancing back and gave Kitty a thumbs up. "You can do it, Kitty!" Lorna cheered, doing her best to encourage her friend, before she went back to working on the obstacles.

[DragonicQueen]

She huffed and was glad that he finally decided to let her go forwards. "I'll keep that in mind." Kitty sighed before finally deciding to pick up the pace, trying to balance across the beams and hope that she wouldn't tumble. "I can do this...." She nodded softly at the encouragement.

Yet she slipped about halfway through the course and landed on her side, knocking the wind out of her. Her sword had been let go, tossed off to the side, in order to not fall upon it. That was a major failure. At least she wasn't hurt to badly, just a bit sore now from the fall. The girl took a moment to sit up, trying to regain her breathing.

[Morose]

Luke was on Kitty within a minute or two of her fall - he had been in the middle of sparring one of the kids closer to the end of the obstacle course, but he quickly abandoned that. Truthfully, he had been doing this for any camper he judged to have taken somewhat of a nasty fall. He knew that the course he had designed and the challenge to not drop one's sword was risky and dangerous - something that could easily send someone to the Big House where an Apollo camper or two might have to come assist with healing - but the life of a demigod was dangerous. He wasn't asking them to do anything that the gods wouldn't - and at least he was offering prizes. The gods didn't usually in his experience. "You okay, Kitty?" he asked, using her first name as he offered her a hand to help her get up.

Meanwhile, Lorna had neared the end of the course - she was one of the last five campers, putting her ever so close to winning one of the coveted rewards. She could practically taste victory and she became laser focused, going through the remaining obstacle with her sword in hand - only to not notice as one of her siblings subtly tripped her, sending Lorna flying towards the ground. She wiped out, scrapping up her knees and her wrists, and Lorna had been forced to let go of her sword to keep herself from getting a more serious injury. The other four Hermes Campers crossed the finish line. "Connards," Lorna muttered, a curse word from her native Canada that roughly translated to bastards.

[DragonicQueen]

"I'm alright...." She says softly while getting up with his help. "Just a tumble." She would probably just sit down for a while after that. It never was fun falling, even less so when the wind was knocked out of your lungs. The girl sighed quietly as she had wished she'd gotten through more of the course. But at least she'd gotten pretty far.

"Aw, you were so close Lorna!" She calls out when seeing the girl had tripped. "Maybe we'll win next time."

[Morose]

Lorna picked herself up, rubbing her wrists a bit to relieve some of the pain. It didn't hurt too much - the spots she had scrapped hadn't begun to sting quite yet, but she figured they would soon and she could deal with it. She made her way on over to Kitty and then plopped down on the bench beside her friend. "Definitely next time, I can feel it," Lorna promised. She tended to say this just about every time. Somehow, her optimism was almost eternal. But truthfully, it was just fueled by the genuine fun she had when it came to athletic activities. Case in point, she wasn't nearly as optimistic about her ability to remember all the myths and legends.

"What do you have next, after this?" Lorna asked. "Any free periods?" They did have some free time scheduled throughout the days at camp, allowing people time to catch up with their friends and just cool down after activities. Lorna knew that the Hermes Cabin was scheduled to go to crafts later that day in the session before dinner, but that they had a little time that was unstructured in between swordfighting and that.

[DragonicQueen]

"Oh nothing else. I have free time from now till dinner." She replies while stretching out a bit. Watching the Hermes cabin leave the training area to go do their own things. Of course the familiar voice of another friend caught her attention.

Fable, an Apollo daughter, was nearby. Having paused to chat with the Stoll brothers. She was a tall girl with tan skin, long golden hair, and freckles that covered most of her skin. Basically a walking, talking, ball of sunshine with bright blue eyes that sometimes looked spookily white at certain angles in the light. Fable was a sweet girl but had her moments of enjoying pranks. Usually her victims where those who'd annoyed her that week.

The Apollo girl noticed Kitty and Lorna, waving over at them before she excused herself from the boys. "Jeez, got hurt again Lorna, darlin'?" The girl asked with a soft tone. A lot of kids called her the Southern Belle due to her still keeping her accent from when she lived in Georgia. "I swear, you always got a new bruise or scar any time I see ya."

[Morose]

"Ooo, nice - we have to go to crafts, bet Dad'll be happy to have another load of father's day gifts made in advance," Lorna said with a chuckle. Being one of Hermes' kids, you had to get used to the idea that there was always going to be someone else around vying for Dad's attention. It wasn't like the smaller cabins that only had a few campers - hell, the Hermes Cabin made the other cabins look small. Her father always got loads of offerings at meals, simply because he had the numbers for it.

She glanced on over, seeing the Southern Belle walking on up to them. Lorna immediately felt a bit subconscious, rubbing the back of her neck. She was always fine around boys, but some girls... They just made her thoughts get a bit scrambled. And everything she seemed to do was somehow embarrassing. "Oh, hey Fable!" Lorna said, before immediately feeling like she had been too loud and regretting it. "And y-yeah, guess I did - they're like souvenirs at this point. Battle scars and all," Lorna continued. "And it's how you know I'm not an impostor - if I don't have any bruises, then it isn't really me."

[DragonicQueen]

"Oh right. Hermes seems to get the most gifts and offerings out of all them. I'll probably make something up later.... Usually I never know what's good enough." She mutters. Being the only one in the Poseidon cabin made her always weary. Like she needed to be the best.

"True. Sorta like accent's some people get them totally wrong. Best way to tell an imposter out for me and little miss Kitty over here. She still got a bit of that British accent.... Plus her silly words." The girl laughed softly. She hadn't even noticed how flustered Lorna was, she was use to the girls actions and personality.

"Some things just make more sense. Like biscuits for cookies..."

"Cookies don't look like...... ah never mind. I mean you say pudding for dessert. To vague!" Waves her hand and sighs. "Anyways, I have nothing to do, what about y'all?"