On a side note, probably crank out one more this weekend and then it'll be back to potluck as far as updates go, glad to have made some progress with what time I had at least.
We shall either achieve glorious victory in our first game of Capture the flag or get the shit kicked out of us either way it will be a learning experience.
Another crack of thunder rips through the forest, but this time you also see streaks of lightning flashing over the crescent above. With them, a camper comes flying down the slope, crashing into the ground and rolling near you and Sam. You rush over to him and find that you remember him from before the start of the game. The guy in the tent that you didn't know. He's still breathing, even if his breaths are ragged. As your hands go to shake him you feel a jolt of electricity race up your fingers and you flinch away from the shock, shaking your hand to subdue the pain.
The burning smell hits you even harder than it did before as you crouch next to him. It wasn't a fire or an explosion that was causing it. It was him.
Fried to a crisp by whatever's over that hill, burn marks all over his arms and whatever is over that hill, is now coming for you.
"What do we do?" You ask Sam as you begin to look at the crest with growing dread.
"Buy as much time as we can, then just hope that Amos is taking care of things on his end." Sam says. "A few minutes might be enough."
You wonder why the thought of just beating whoever is over the hill hasn't been brought up yet, and you go to ask but as the words leave your lips it's answered for you by their arrival.
You see their hair before you see them, long blonde hair shooting straight up to the sky. It's not their hair that frightens you though, it's the electricity that crackles around them as they float over the hill.
You know that the Greek gods exist now, but if someone told you she was a Valkyrie, and that the Norse Gods were real you wouldn't question it. A bloodied black eye takes up almost half her face, the eye itself covered completely by swelling while the shimmering blue one that remains undamaged gazes at you both. Her armor and shirt are riddled with slashes, blood trickling down both arms staining the formerly white shirt crimson and yet she seems completely unphased by the punishment she's taken. She lands on the ground a few metres ahead of you. As her feet touch the forest floor her hair stops standing on end and falls down into a static mess of curls, framing her face and hiding her ruined eye.
She looks every inch the warrior you assume this world will make you, except she's there already and you're just getting started.
"Boys." She greets, idly twirling the sword in her hand. "We going to have trouble here?"
Buy Time (No DC) - Roll 94 – Great Success
You shake off the awe, and perhaps the hint of fear which had been crawling up your spine threatening it to bend, and you choose to stand firm. "I mean, you could just give up?" You chance and she looks at you before she lets out a tinkling laugh that sounds like music to your ears.
"Funny, I was just about to say the-" She goes to speak but Sam leaps into action, kicking a mound of dirt and leaves off of the ground with his spear, they fly straight into her face and he leaps forward into action.
He jabs at her with the spear and even though she's been blinded and is busy trying to rub the dirt out of her eyes she's still able to backtrack faster than he can press forward. Her sword flails madly to keep him away, hitting his spear every few attempts while the rest are just carving through the air as menacingly as possible. He watches cautiously trying to move forward, ducking and side-stepping her wild swings as he tries to press the advantage.
A bolt of lightning jerks out of her hand and hits the ground in front of him. If it was a warning, then he isn't listening as keeps moving towards her.
He thrusts at her, twice at her gut and once at her throat and she backs out of the way of the first two before ducking underneath the second, letting out a groan of pain as Sam uses that as an opportunity to bring the rod down on the top of her head. She goes to rush forward out of anger but stops herself at the last second, an inch away from running herself through his spear as he whips it around and angles it at her mid-section once again. Except stopping wasn't just saving herself.
She does the smartest thing you think you've ever seen another person do at this camp and grabs it.
For a fraction of a second Sam tries to tug it back but that fraction where he's standing still is all she needs.
She hits him with a bolt of lightning, and he crumples to one knee. She let's go of the spear as he falls and he manages to drive it into the ground at the last second, hands clutching tight to keep himself from collapsing to the floor.
Whatever show of defiance he's making though she isn't having it. "For the love of Dad Sam, give it up." She says. "You try this shit almost every week."
Sam takes a second to catch his breath. "Not stopping until I win." He tells her and like as though his spirit is renewed, he leaps at her yet again, spear raised.
Only to meet another bolt of lightning head on.
This time he doesn't even register it. An aura of crimson surrounds him as he tanks the blast, he lets out a bellow of anger, sprinting forward as though she's merely tossed a bucket of water at him. So, she does what she's seemingly done all day.
She hits him again.
And again.
At the fifth bolt he slows down, at the sixth he stops and not even his spear is able to keep him upright as he hits the ground face first.
You look at his smoking frame on the ground as she flips some hair out of her face, the bruises now caked in dirt and you notice a leaf now stuck to her cheek that she doesn't bother wiping off.
"Rude son a bitch." She hisses at his still smoking body, giving him a kick in the ribs that makes you wince as you hear the audible sound of bone crunching.
Sam's unconscious body rolls a few feet from the impact, but he stays slumped over.
"Well, I'm about sick of this." She says, wiping her face with her free hand, smearing blood and dirt all over herself as she looks at you. "Want to join the pile or just let me take the fucking flag?"
At the start she'd seem composed, friendly even. And now the second that everything hadn't gone to plan it was like you were looking at a different person.
You glance at Sam again, then at the flag.
You were told to be the last line of defence, and could you really look at Sam, Amos or the others if you just let her walk away with it? Absolutely not.
With a sigh of resignation, you step between her and the flag.
Let her do her worst.
She lets out a scream of anger the second you choose not to back down and rushes you, sword carving through the air quicker than Jade, Kyle or anyone else you've seen with a weapon in their hands since you got to this camp.
But as it carves through the air, it's not quite quick enough.
Trait Unlocked: Not Quite My Tempo – Blessed with Fast Reflexes, Hector is able to see things clearer in battle than others. +5 to Reaction and Combat Rolls – Ineffective vs Hermes Cabin Members and other beings associated with speed.
The sword slows down, almost to a crawl and you bring your blade to meet it, only to feel it almost torn out of your hands the second the two blades clang together. You frown as you again feel your hand struggling to hold onto the blade. You may be able to see it coming, but the fact that you can doesn't tell you how strong she is, until you feel it firsthand. On a level it also hurts you that this girl stands up to your shoulder on a good day, and she can practically cleave you in two. How is she so strong?
She lowers her blade and her head tilts in confusion, a look of uncertainty across her bloodstained features before she keeps attacking.
There's a rhythm to the way she moves. An unspoken song, a beat maybe but it's a rhythm that is a second behind your own but what she loses out on in speed she makes up for in sheer power. All you can do is defend, but even defending is starting to take its toll on you as she hits with the force of a truck. A vicious overhead swing beats your own blade into your shoulder with a thunderous clang, you wince as you move out of the way from underneath it before you dislocate your shoulder or cleave your own arm off. The hit strikes through your bronze armor and you wince as you feel bronze slicing through your skin as you move away from it. Raising a hand to your wound and noticing finding your fingers stained crimson.
Blood drips down your shoulder, carving a path through every crevice of bone and muscle as it begins to seep out of your armor and soak your shirt, the bright blue likely to be ruined by the end of today. She sees you stop to stare at the blood running down your shoulder and a wicked grin mars her features as she continues to press you not giving you an instant to stop. As she moves you see a crackle of electricity race up her arms and when your sword meets her hiss in pain as you feel your arm seize with electricity and you break away as quickly as possible.
Have you ever sat on your leg or shoulder for so long that it goes to sleep? And you try to stand up, walk or lift something and your arm just refuses to obey you? Combine that with agony coursing through your veins and you know what it feels like to be electrocuted. You didn't know you could feel pain and numbness at the same time but as you try to lift your shoulder you can't do it. And in the second you look down at your arm hanging limply by your side she's been charging up another bolt of lightning that she hurls at you with vindictive glee.
You dive to the forest floor as the bolt of lightning passes over you, the smell of burning timber erupts behind you as a tree takes the full brunt of the attack. An enraged Dryad emerges from the trunk with a screech and sprints at her, copping a bolt of lightning herself, and crumpling to the floor, tripping over you as she hits the ground. With a wince you rise off the floor and lift your sword with your left hand. You're already beaten, but if she's getting that flag then she's getting through you not around you.
Except instead of rushing at you she stops and takes a step back. You halt as well and pale as you notice why she's retreating. As much as you've tried to buy time, she's turned you around during the fight and now she's a few steps away from the flag that you now see waving in the wind behind her. With a grin she sheathes her sword and grabs it. "Next time!" She says and she turns around in the direction of the creek and breaks into sprint.
"Shit." You mutter under your breath, ripping your spear off your shoulder and throwing it to the ground, as you start to chase after her.
The forest becomes nearly impossible terrain to move through safely, low hanging branches forcing you duck, dive and sometimes as you go to push yourself under it you feel the branches just snap off the tree and fall to the ground in a display of strength that would baffle you if you didn't have more important things on your mind. She's fast, but as you've proven before you're faster and you begin to catch up to her, the flag coming ever closer and ever closer as you can almost reach out and-
She brings herself to a halt and you crash into her, tackling her to the ground. The Flag is knocked out of her hands and the two of you tumble to the ground, rolling until you find yourself looming over her. Except, she's not bothered at all. Blue eyes crackle with electricity and a winning smirk on her face has you scrambling to get off of her but you're a fraction of a second to late. Volts of electricity start coursing through you, locking your entire body up as you collapse on top of her.
Pain, ruinous, torturous pain travels through you for a moment that could well feel like an eternity as your lips open in a soundless scream. That feeling of numbness which had gone up your arm before now fills every fibre of your being.
She rolls you off of her and you hit the ground with a thud, shoulder digging into the dirt before she sits up. She reaches around for the flag on the ground nearby patting the leaves until she finally connects with it. With a groan she rises to her feet, using the pole as a crutch and begins to walk in the direction of the creek, hoisting the flag over her shoulder.
You need to get up, you need to move but your limbs betray you. You try to lift your arm and feel it lift an inch before it just drops back to the ground. Your legs twitch but they don't move. You're stuck staring at her retreating figure out of the corner of your eye, there's nothing you can do.
Who Wins Capture the Flag this Week?
Team Athena (+10 Numbers -15 Time) 62-5 = 57 vs Team Ares (+10 ???) 49+10 = 59
And then the sound of a horn rips through the Forest.
You watch as she comes to a stop once the horn is heard. She takes the flagpole in her hands and snaps it in half over her knee, throwing the now two objects to the ground as if they've personally offended her.
You take your eyes off her as she stalks further into the forest and you look up at sky.
You've won your first game at Camp Half-Blood.
Relationships Gained!
Amos Hellesly (1)
Kyle Lemson (0)
You've won your first game of Capture the Flag, and now what's left is to celebrate! Who will you talk to during the festivities? (Pick Three)
[] Amos
[] Daphne
[] Kyle
[] Jade
[] Reggie
[] Cash
[] Birch
[] Just Wander Around, See who you run into
[] Write-In
Being honest, was rolling with my beta and when it came up to 93 for buy time it was an actual wtf do I do moment.
She goes to speak but Sam leaps into action, kicking a mound of dirt and leaves off of the ground with his spear, they fly straight into her face and he leaps forward into action.
As she moves you see a crackle of electricity race up her arms and when your sword meets her hiss in pain as you feel your arm seize with electricity and you break away as quickly as possible.
Amos is the leader of Hermes cabin. We see a lot of him, so I'm not so inclined to hang out now. Not a bad option though.
Kyle is the leader of the Ares cabin, and was really worried about losing to Athena cabin since Apollo cabin going their team. Might be cool to talk to him, with how is delaying things seemingly meant getting the win.
Daphne is the girl with all the vials and stuff, who helped fix Hector back up after his fall from the climbing wall. Might be a good idea to get in good with her, maybe she can help Hector recover from his fight. Also apparently children of Hecate do enchanting.
Jade is the girl who got Hector along with Birch. Seems more like the strong silent type, and is mildly mysterious. I would say I'm more interesting in seeing more of her than Amos.
Reggie is an Apollo kid, and he likes stories. Books or poems. He has a a book filled with his own. Seems like a good guy, and it'd be interesting to talk to an Apollo kid after this competition.
Cash, or should I say Tyler, is another Apollo kid. He has an entire deal about wanting to be a country music star. He has a guitar that turns into a bow, that returns the arrows fired after a few seconds. On the whole, I find him more interesting than Reggie. But then again, he seems more prone to going down tangents about his own interests. Which could be what we want, or not.
Then Birch is the Satyr that we've spent time with. He was with Jade when they got Hector, and he and Hector went looking for the Hephaestus machine.
I'm thinking Jade, Daphne, and Kyle. Though it might be a good idea to wander around some and find someone new. Kyle might hook us up with training, but I feel like Sam would be the person to talk to. So we could look for him, or just wander. Honestly, I'd rather wander. Jade is already helping us with training, so I feel like there's less pressure to develop relationships with Ares cabin.
[X] Daphne
[X] Jade
[X] Just Wander Around, See who you run into
Amos is the leader of Hermes cabin. We see a lot of him, so I'm not so inclined to hang out now. Not a bad option though.
Kyle is the leader of the Ares cabin, and was really worried about losing to Athena cabin since Apollo cabin going their team. Might be cool to talk to him, with how is delaying things seemingly meant getting the win.
Daphne is the girl with all the vials and stuff, who helped fix Hector back up after his fall from the climbing wall. Might be a good idea to get in good with her, maybe she can help Hector recover from his fight. Also apparently children of Hecate do enchanting.
Jade is the girl who got Hector along with Birch. Seems more like the strong silent type, and is mildly mysterious. I would say I'm more interesting in seeing more of her than Amos.
Reggie is an Apollo kid, and he likes stories. Books or poems. He has a a book filled with his own. Seems like a good guy, and it'd be interesting to talk to an Apollo kid after this competition.
Cash, or should I say Tyler, is another Apollo kid. He has an entire deal about wanting to be a country music star. He has a guitar that turns into a bow, that returns the arrows fired after a few seconds. On the whole, I find him more interesting than Reggie. But then again, he seems more prone to going down tangents about his own interests. Which could be what we want, or not.
Then Birch is the Satyr that we've spent time with. He was with Jade when they got Hector, and he and Hector went looking for the Hephaestus machine.
I'm thinking Jade, Daphne, and Kyle. Though it might be a good idea to wander around some and find someone new. Kyle might hook us up with training, but I feel like Sam would be the person to talk to. So we could look for him, or just wander. Honestly, I'd rather wander. Jade is already helping us with training, so I feel like there's less pressure to develop relationships with Ares cabin.
[X] Daphne
[X] Jade
[X] Just Wander Around, See who you run into