[IC] Camp Half Blood: Stolen Symbols

[Beebee2121]

Walker chuckled at Ariel's protest. She never got what he was referencing when he called her "princess". The fact that she took it so literally tickled him a little bit every time, but this time it was short lived. He heard her cut off with a gasp, but before he could look around to see what happened, the tray knocked him square in the back of the head, throwing him off balance and then sprawling face first onto the floor.

His skull throbbed and black spots danced in his vision for a second. Then he saw the tray beside him and put together what happened. He grunted, cursed, and shoved himself to his feet, using the table beside him for leverage. He rubbed the back of his head and noticed that he had his hand on the Aphrodite table. At least one of the girls was an Aphrodite chick, but he couldn't remember the name of the other girl. He took his hand off the table like it burned him. Some people were very territorial about their tables.

"Oh. Hey. Uhm," What did he saw now? "No better way to start the day, right?" He flashed them a sheepish grin and bent down to pick up the tray that knocked him in the head. He looked over to Ariel and saw her trying to appease a child of the god of war and the- missing? - gadget boy. She was wasting her breath on them and he felt half-responsible for inciting the incident. He just want to screw around with the Ares kid, not start a whole thing. He stood beside the Aphrodite table, weighing his options.

[Scarifar]

Press stopped when he was behind the Ares kid, ready to stun. He had heard some of the others telling him that it wasn't necessary to keep up the tension, and he wondered if he should just stop. He considered it for a second, and decided to back off. He walked away, turning off his cloaking sphere and raising his left arm. Immediately Horus took off, landed on Press' arm, and walked up to his shoulder. Lowering his arm back down, he put away his tools in their respective places and moved away, back to the Hephaestus table. His sandwich, still half-eaten, was already cold, and he wondered if he should continue eating it or throw it in the ceremonial fire. In the end, he sighed and left it, walking toward the one who had started the whole charade. "Next time," Press said to Walker while wearing a disapproving look on his face. "Don't antagonize people. Especially if they're a child of Ares." Horus gave off a small screech, as if to agree with Press. He turned to the others at the Aphrodite table, gave them a brief nod, then walked away, heading back to his cabin.

[RainDash]

The only reaction she got from changing her eye color was slight surprise. When it didn't produce the effect she had wanted, Zula changed her eye color back to blue. Zula sighed, and immediately took back her disappointment as the girl said she was pretty. Especially for and Aphrodite girl. Now it was Zula's turn to be embarrassed and flustered. "Oh, uhm, thank you. I can safely say I haven't received that compliment from other girls before." Zula smiled and stared at her empty plate. It took some concentration to not let her hair turn as red as her face. She may have been the daughter of the love goddess, but that didn't mean she was called pretty a lot.

One of the guys who had been fighting earlier stopped by on their table. "Well, typically most people start their days with breakfast, but I suppose fighting in the Ares' group should be expected, not unpredictable. Hopefully the Hephaestus kid won't get himself into trouble." Then the situation was completely diffused as the Hephaestus kid chastised the guy as well. "I suppose he didn't. Besides, if everything works out, Chiron said there might be Capture the Flag later today. Don't wanna jepordize our chances for that, now don't we?"

[SomeoneSomewere]

Ares let out a animalistic growl at the screech from Horus, about to smash it down but it flew away before he did. He was quite satisfied that he won this fight, with Walker having not retaliated. He sat back down at the table, receiving a few punches of kinmanship from his half-brothers, most grinning. He let out a small grin before returning to what was left of his now cold food. He never completely understood why people antagonized him, they should be afraid to do so. It never ended well for others . Of chourse, that did not stop himself from doing that to others, but he knew he could handle himself if any were foolish enough to try to attack him.

[ramblingbard]

Another sigh escaped Ariel, but this time, it wore away the frown that had claimed her face. A tiny smile, barely an upturn of her lips but noticeably sparkling in her eyes, spread in its wake. It was like there was a knot building in her stomach, and it suddenly released; a cool wave spread throughout her body even though she hadn't realized how tense she had been over the evolving situation. Thank you, father, and any of you others that may have been watching us, she thought. She turned slightly, just to check on what might happen with Press walking toward Walker, and was pleased to see it was nothing more than a reprimand. She would probably get to trying to convince him not to pester Adrian in the future, but for now - it looked like everything was relatively calm and cared for.

She turned back and - despite her brother's pleas for her to just sit back down and eat - headed over to the Ares table. Mean or not, he still just broke a tray with his fist. She stopped relatively near him, subconsciously stopping outside of arm's reach. "Pardon me, but may I please see your hand? It should be examined for broken bones and other damage that may prevent use." She offered him a soft smile, and held out her own hand slightly as a physical indication of her request.

[Beebee2121]

Walker scoffed at Press and his little reprimand. "How about next time, you mind your own damn business, huh?" His tone was light and his smile, sharp, but there wasn't anything friendly about it. Sure, if Press hadn't distracted him, Adrian might have pursued him harder, but that was between Walker and Adrian. He didn't know if he was an Ares kid or not, but he respected the unspoken rules of battle as if he were one.

He looked back to the girls and all the animosity melted off of him. The smile became genuine. "Capture the Flag? Sweet." He loved that game. Plus, it gave him a chance to settle the score with that dunderhead. He wasn't about to let that kid go on thinking he won one over him. "Hey, maybe we'll be on the same team. I could use someone to point me in the right direction," He said, chuckled at himself and rubbed the growing bump on the back of his head. The chuckle turned into a wince when he brushed it. "And a little luck wouldn't hurt." He tipped his head slightly to one side. "Do you think you're lucky, Zula?"

He remembered seeing her around the Hermes cabin and erecting shelters around it. And, honestly, who could forget a generous, good-looking daughter of Aphrodite? He certainly wasn't one.

[HellHoundWoof]

Nikolai noticed allot of commotion going on around him, some Americans having what looked like a heated conversation, a metalic screech, something plastic breaking, someone getting knocked flat over towards the exit, some war children laughing and playfully throwing punches, he noticed the pretty girl from earlier had a companion now, he also saw the other kid who'd been knocked down was up and chatting now. Nikolai had already finished his food and grabbed a pancake from a passing nymph to offer to his father, though he figured burning a pillow would be more appropriate, he walked over to the kid from earlier and attempted to speak but stopped for a moment trying to remember his English. He couldn't settle on a greeting, was it proper to say "hello how are you doing?" Or should he give the simple slang version of "sup" he decided to go for the first.

"Heelo," Nikolai sounded out his accent showing, "I am Nikolai Luzckezke, how are your head?"

[Scarifar]

(How are your head? Lol really? I'm sorry, but I just find that hilarious.)

Press sighed. Sometimes people were so difficult to deal with. It was definitely much simpler to deal with machines. Nevertheless, he took note of them, as some might be potential allies and/or enemies in the upcoming capture-the-flag game. Also, it was time he took inventory of his weapons and tools. He would definitely need them if he wanted to win. He went inside the Hephaestus cabin, nodding to his half-siblings, and went to the place where his bed had retracted into the ground. He called out a series of numbers and letters, and his bed came straight back out, just as tidy as when it went in. He opened a drawer and took out his tablet, unfolding it and opening a list of his creation, while closing the bed drawer with his foot.

[SomeoneSomewere]

Adrian sighed at the voice that appeared near him, and was obviously directed towards him. He said, his voice low," no. It's just fine. I don't need your help. I've punched through worse." He didn't even turn his head to look at her, resting his arms on the table. He was never one to really accept help from people, he prefered to handle it himself. Especially when it was related to fighting and any injuries. He would not be weak. He stood up, walking away from the girl and returning to his cabin. He walked inside, grabbing his sword. He wanted to train with it. He attached it onto his belt on his right side, his right hand resting on the pommel.

[ParagonKrogan]

"I can safely say I haven't received that compliment from other girls before."

Addie looked up at the other girl at this comment. So much for shutting up, Addie. Great job. How was she supposed to reply to that? Maybe it would be best if she just didn't reply at all. What if that made it worse? Now they were both blushing, and she had no escape from this situation. She froze for a good thirty seconds, trying to figure out what to say. Was it appropriate to apologize? Or was it weird to apologize for giving someone a compliment? Addie looked back down at her, now empty, tray. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" she cut herself off. That sentence was no doubt going to end with something that would make the other girl feel sorry for her, and there were already far too many Aphrodite kids that felt that way toward her.

Then a guy Addie recognized from the Hermes cabin entered the conversation, effectively alleviating the awkward situation. Silently, she thanked the gods for this interruption and started to fiddle with the string thing on her hoodie, now gladly silently listening in on a conversation she had no intention of joining. Unfortunately, Addie found herself interjecting herself into the conversation nonetheless when the guy asked Zula whether she thought she was lucky.

"Dude. That's creepy as hell," she said before even realizing she had voiced her thoughts. Immediately, she slapped her hands to her mouth and tried to apologize. "Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry."

[RainDash]

Zula quickly realized that she'd embarrassed the girl by her comment. "No it's not that-" she was interrupted by someone asking if she was lucky. The other girl said he was creepy, but Zula straightened up, flicked her hair behind her, and said, "considering that I've been slaying monsters since I was nine, yeah. I'd say I'm lucky. But I've got skills to back it up. What do you got?"

She didn't really know how to reply to all of the attention. She wasn't that popular, was she? Well, she was part of the camp since she was little, so maybe? "So, what was that fight about anyway? You trying to prove yourself to the jerk? It won't work. He's always like that, and he's pretty good. I wish I had half his skill." Zula stood up, "I'm going to grab seconds, be back in a second. Then maybe we'll trade names and I'll try to see if I've met you before."

[Beebee2121]

Walker slid his gaze over to the girl sitting across from Zula and raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't offended by her comment. If anything, he was amused by her childish reaction. Like he had cooties or something. But the longer he looked at her, the more he started to recognize her. She was one of the unclaimed kids in Hermes' shelters. She must have been claimed by Aphrodite, then, if she was sitting with Zula. Weird. He wouldn't have pegged her for that. What was her name?

He almost went to speak on that thought when Zula flicked her hair. He grinned and gave a single-shouldered shrug. "I like to think I have a lot of skill, but not a lot of luck." He may not have been fighting for as long as she has, but he could handle himself as well as anyone in a good battle. "Yeah, I know he's a jerk. That's why I dumped my breakfast on him," He said, "And my name's Walker. You've probably seen me around. I know I've seen you." He flashed her a smile, but then he heard that accented greeting and turned around.

"My head are fine, Nikolai." His accent was kind of funny, but he wasn't making fun of the guy. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for asking, man. You mind if I call you Nick?"

[ramblingbard]

Ariel may not have been happy about his response, but if he wished to ignore medical attention then she wasn't going to pressure him into it. "Well, then have a wonderful day." This was mostly called to his back since Adrian was already walking away. She wasn't about to change her desire to wish him well just because he brushed off her offer to help. A wave and a brighter smile even accompanied the parting statement, which she also turned on the rest of the Ares table before departing. Not all Ares children were mean, and it was just rude to part without some form of farewell.

There was a slight skip to her step as she headed off to check on the other demi-god involved in the scuffle. Walker had been getting to his feet with a tray in hand when she had last seen him. The slight sting from her cheek was gone even if the glaring red mark wasn't, which meant it would probably be only another dozen or so minutes before that too diminished.

Stopping at a respectful distance, though not as mindfully distant as she had with Adrian in keeping her distance from being immediately next to Walker, she smiled at the group gathered. "Good morning, everyone. Pardon my interruption," she said. She turned her gaze onto Walker, gently placing a hand on his arm to help draw his attention. "Walker, did you actually get hit by the tray or did you trip and fall? Either way, would you like me to take a look at you to see if there are any injuries.

[HellHoundWoof]

"Nick is fine," Nikolai said with a smile he liked this kid, he was fairly confident and seemed to be of good humor, "The guy over there, he give you trouble often?"

Before Nikolai heard a response a shorter girl walked up and put her hand on Walkers shoulder. Nikolai looked down at her and noticed she seemed to care for people, he had noticed her tending to the war child earlier as well. He shifted his eyes towards Walker and then back towards the girl, he didn't know how things were done in America but he felt as though mentioning anything between them would be rude. So instead he attempted to answer he question.

"Tray hit him in back of head," he said motioning it with his own hand against the back of his head, "Then he bite ground. It was type of funny."

[Beebee2121]

"That guy? Psh," Walker scoffed, "Ares' kids are nothing but trouble. They all think they're hot sh..." He tapered off when he heard Ariel's voice. By the time she put her hand on his arm, he was turning around to face her. He never quite got used to her "mother hen" meets "candy striper" attitude towards him. And everyone else, basically. Even his own mother didn't dote on him this much. He smiled for her and lightly shrugged her hand off of his arm.

Nick answered before him, but he didn't mind since he got it right. He smirked at the "It was a type of funny." "Yeah, I'm sure it was a lot of fun to watch. Next time, I'll chuck a tray at your head and have a laugh, too. How does that sound?" He joked sarcastically and shoved him lightly on the shoulder. He rolled his eyes and looked back to Ariel. "I'm fine. I just got a bump on the back of my head and..." That was when he noticed the red mark on her face.

"Wait a minute, what that on your face?" He narrowed his eyes on her cheek and leaned closer to see, "Did he get you with that tray, too?"

[ramblingbard]

Ariel let her hand fall away at the first hint of movement to Walker's arm. No need to continue to touch him if he wished to not be touched. She clasped her hands behind her back, with little else to do with them at that very moment. Her gaze shifted to Nikolai when he answered her question for Walker, and the smile was just as genuine when it widened that hair. "Thank you, Nikolai. Though I do not believe injury to have any sort of comic effect," she replied, using a gentle tone rather than a scolding one.

That was saved for Walker, when her attention turned back to him at his retort to Nikolai's statement. "Please, make no threats around me." The tone may have been mildly reprimanding, but she kept her voice gentle anyways with a milder, though not fully disapproving, smile on her face.

The smile completely disappeared with a blink when Walker changed topics mid-sentence and leaned closer to her. She kept as good an eye on his face as she could, which meant leaning back slightly to do so. "My face?" She had forgotten all about the bit of a scrape. It took touching it for the slight sting to return for that instant; she looked down to find a bit of tacky congealed blood on her finger tip. It hadn't seemed like it was that bad from the sting. "Oh, yes, I believe the tray may have scratched me, but it is not Adrian's fault."

She looked back at Walker. "It is nothing, though. It will heal within the hour. What of your bump though? A good fall can do damage regardless of how minor you believe it to be. Would you please allow me to examine it?" She knew she would never get anywhere with Adrain if she tried to pester him into letting her examine his injuries, but sometimes she got lucky with Walker.

[RainDash]

As Zula loaded up her plate full of food again, she heard the bulk of the Aphrodite Cabin start to filter into the pavilion, along with most of the other cabins. Wow, I didn't think we'd been chatting that long... the campers usually didn't lie when they showed up, and often times knew more about schedule than she did. So she hurried back to the table, trying to intervene before her cabinmates forced them from it.

"Okay, I've gotta go do my makeuporsomething, bye!" hopefully, without her, they could diffuse out into the camp and do whatever they wanted to do for the day. While she wasn't mean, and her cabin mates weren't awful, they were still territorial. Zula started to hurry out of the pavilion, but stopped when she saw Chiron. She'd never seen him up and about this early, and never without Mr. D. Something was wrong.

"Campers," he said, after gathering their attention. "I regret to inform you that Capture the Flag has been cancelled, and you will be restricted to your cabins until further notice."

There were cries of dissent amongst the crowd, but Chiron ignored them, instead walking back towards the Big House, his gait slow and tired. Zula was still standing there, mouth open at what she'd seen. She'd never heard of Chiron calling off Capture the Flag, much less confining campers to their cabins like that. What was going on?

[HellHoundWoof]

Nikolai understood what the girl was saying, she was one of those people. He figured she was one of the peace loving tree hugger types he'd heard about. He watched the pretty girl get up and saw the horse man Chiron, he could never get over the anatomical issues for a man such as him. His mind just surfed with possibilities and questions. He crossed his arms and heard the horse man speak. After he had finished a collective sigh rained throughout the mess hall. After that a bunch of murmuring about people being confined to their cabins, he figured this wasn't a good thing. Where he was from this typically meant something big was happening, an inspection, or something very bad had happened or was going to happen. He grimaced and walked back to the Hermes cabin, he noticed one of the younger kids looked nervous. Nikolai stood at the entrance watching his relatives go inside. He didn't like this, he went inside and over to his bunk and reached into his pack, he felt the familiar grip of his axe inside. He clasped his hand around the woven leather handle, the tip of his thumb could feel the cold steel just above the handle. It reassured him, he remembered what Chiron had said when Nikolai had first shown up with his axe fastened to his belt,

"That axe will do you no good," He had said, "Give me four days time and I will fit that axe with what you will need to do any good against the monsters you may encounter."

Within days Chiron had returned his axe and it's blade and back blade glistened in bronze. Nikolai felt stronger when he held it. He snapped back to reality as he heard chatter inside the Hermes Cabin. Kids were saying someone lit the stables on fire, some kids were going on about how there was a nymph or two with a screw loose, one kid even said there was some kind of flying giant in the camp. Nikolai couldn't help but laugh at all these theories, none of these would have matched how serious the horse man was in the mess hall.

[Beebee2121]

Walker sent a perplexed look Ariel's way. He didn't think she knew the difference between a playful jab and an actual threat. Whatever. He doubted anyone could sway her out of her super-pacifist outlook.

A hard sigh pressed out of him and all traces of humor left his expression. He wasn't a fan of collateral damage in his disputes and he liked to think there was a way to contain it, but, of course, someone sometimes ended up like Ariel. A frown pulled at the corners of his lips. Like hell it wasn't Adrian's fault, too.

"Bump's fine," He said more curtly than intended. He let another, calming breath pass out of him before continuing with less aggression. "You can look at it if you really want to, but it's seriously not bad." Then Zula came and went with a hasty goodbye. He watched her go and wondered if it was something that he said. Or bad breath or something.

Chiron's voice caught his attention. He looked to the other three campers with a grin back on his face. "Hey, that must be about Capture the Flag." He knew Ariel probably wouldn't play, but that didn't mean the other two wouldn't. But then his next words put his assumption to a swift death.

"Aw, c'mon!" He groaned along with the others. What was this even about? Capture the Flag was almost never canceled and now he had to sit in that crowded frickin' cabin for the rest of the day? Yeah, right. He'd probably break into one of the Big Three's cabins again. They were almost always empty.

[ramblingbard]

Ariel lost some of her smile, studying Walker's face. She supposed that if he was insistent the bump was fine, then she wouldn't press the matter - especially not when he sounded so upset. She managed to keep a tiny bit of her smile and was glad it was there for when Chiron went to make an announcement. She turned just in time to hear the end of it.

"That is too bad," she said with a soft sigh. Although she may not have played with her siblings, she did participate in assisting the injured. It always helped to have a free set of hands that could immediately tend injuries. Besides, she knew her siblings were looking forward to it from their own sounds of disappointment filling the choir of the rest of the campers. The bigger problem, for her, wasn't canceled capture the flag, but was the restriction to the cabin. On such a beautiful day, it was just horrible to restrict anyone to their cabins, especially with so much energy in the pavilion.

She looked at Walker. "If you swear it is not bad, I will check on the injury later." An offered smile served as her parting farewell. She didn't want to let Chiron get too far ahead even if he did seem worn out. Immediately after sharing that smile, she turned and ran off to catch up with Chiron.

She jogged to a walking gait that matched Chiron once she grew closer. Looking up at him, she started, "Excuse me, Chiron, but is there something wrong? If there was something in which you need assistance, I would be glad to lend aide. However, and I apologize for speaking out of place, restricting us to our cabins seems counter productive for the purpose of the camp."