Camp Half-Blood

*Cori/Artemis*

I watched Victorie take down Camilla. I smirked. Once again, Camilla had been beaten.

I saw Victorie walk away. I thought she was really cool. Super quiet, but really cool.

Everyone was heading to the stables. The race would be beginning in about an hour. I stopped at my cabin to put on the traditional garb for a race. I draped a peplos on me and tied it at my waist. I walked out of the cabin and started heading for the track. I saw other kids in the traditional garb as well, all heading the dame way as me.

I heard hooves behind me. I turned to see Chiron. "Hi!" I said with a smile.

"Hello, Artemisia." Chiron replied.

"You always call me that." I said with a laugh.

"Well, it is your name, is it not?"

"Yes, but it's so...formal." I said, making a face. "I'm not really a fan of formal."

"I've something for you, Artemisia." Chiron opened up his bag. "Close your eyes first. And hold out your hands."

I did as he told me, and soon, I felt a heavy, squirming thing in my hands. I opened my eyes to see a puppy! "Chiron..." I said quietly. I held up the dog to my face. It was really friendly.

"A German Shepard." Chiron said with pride. "A great tracker. I thought he might be of use to you."

I had a huge, stupid grin on my face, but I didn't care. "Thank you so much, Chiron!"

"He's still small, but he'll grow. Take care of him, Artemisia."

I watched Chiron walk away, and I looked at my puppy. He was panting with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "I think I'll name you...Ajax." I said with a smile. He barked and I laughed.

Tay, Aeolus



I raised my tar-flinger for another shot, I was determined to get this thing down. Suddenly I heard a bang and the next thing I knew something hit my legs and wrapped around my ankles.

"Hey!" I exclaimed startled. I looked down to see that my feet were tangled in a net. Kevin started laughing behind me.

"Sorry," he called as he started to run over to me. I smiled wickedly and pointed my tar-flinger at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and for a split second he looked worried, and then he saw that I was joking and he playfully raised his hands in surrender. I laughed.

"You have no idea how tempted I am to pull the trigger." I teased him. Finally I lowered the weapon and he jogged over and helped me untangle the net.

"Half Bloods! The chariot race will begin in one hour! Please make any final alterations and line up, in armor, at the track!" Chiron boomed through a conch shell. Immediately, all the campers began a mad scramble to finish everything and line up.

Just so everyone knows, I'm going to be making a DT very soon because I'm starting to think up a quest and I'm going to need to know who wants to go on one.

Gabe (Ares)

One more hour? Perfect. I got Thrax flying and headed back to the stables.

Just about everyone was there making the final preparations. I skipped past the chariot and headed straight to the horses. There were many different kinds of horses, but Ares had the best, by far. Our horses were angry, skeletal warhorses, with a new armor; We've seen a few ground-traps used before, so we made up some specialty horse-boots made of metal resembling stymphalian birds, like Thrax. It'd be strong enough to break through anything that got in its way and walk across anything else.

We had some heavy throwing weapons in the chariot, and I was strong enough to throw them. Also, lucky for me, Thrax was allowed to be used in the race too! Sometimes we had him drop stuff down, or we'd throw him the ropes for the horses and let him drive.

By we, I meant me and Camilla. Except there wasn't any sign of Camilla. I checked around, and couldn't find her anywhere. I think Thrax and I could win it on our own, but an extra pair of hands wasn't bad to have.

I grabbed a whip and woke up the skeletal horses, and checked around the rest of the stables, and did a mini run around a portion of the camp. What the hell was she up to?

45 minutes left. I headed back to into the stables and back to the horses. I looked around, and nobody else seemed to be around. I had one more trick up my sleeve that I wanted to use. I looked around at some of the horses. I looked around at all of them, looking for the most calm ones. The calmest to me appeared to be two clean, white horses. I put my hand on one of the horses' face. If I could use Thrax, a metal, killer bird, I could sure as hell use my enragen ability on a few horses.

I felt the power through me. The horse woke up and became restless. It wouldn't be touched by anyone without getting sidetracked and attacking the toucher. Just an extra little aid to help win this. Something told me these people were out to get me, so I needed to be perfectly ready.

I headed back to the chariot and started fixing some stuff up. Still no sign of Camilla. 45 minutes to get organized and be ready. I turned up the iPod and started on the rest of the work.

(((HOLY CRAP! This thing went *crazy!*)))

Dara, Daughter of Athena

The chariot races were going to start in less than an hour now. I was pumped. Sena, Ama, Merisol, and I are one Kick-ass team, that's for sure.

I stood by our chariot, petting the golden mane of one of our snow-white horses- Lessie.
Sure, they might not be the most fierce looking horses here, but they were pretty dang fast. Their lean muscles were strong without being overpowering, making them graceful. Their size was also perfect for squeezing past the bulkier horses- of the Ares cabin, for instance. The fact that we slimmed down our chariot to match gave us a pretty good advantage over the other team.

She looked angry when I went over, which bothered me. Usually our horses were nice and calm, peaceful creatures. Running my hand over her eyes, I whispered into her ear.

"You're gonna do great, girl. Everything will be just fine." I had a thing with horses. She loosened up immediately. I didn't know what had made her so tense, but at least I caught it.

I wondered idly if one of the Ares kids had used enragen on her. It was possible, given their notoriety for cheating. If they had, though, it couldn't have been long ago. It hadn't taken full effect yet, which was probably why she was so easily calmed.

I went over to our chariot to check the wheels. Sabotage wasn't uncommon at the camp, so I had to make sure everything was in top condition. After a quick once over, the chariot seemed fine. All of our weapons (barely visible to the naked eye) were working properly. This was going to be fantastic.

Ama came over to me. "Everything a-ok?"

"Yup. Lessie seemed a little high strung-probably one of the Ares kids trying to make her unstable. No ones tried to do anything to the chariot. Yet, that is. Now, I'm driving, correct?"

"Yeah. It's probably best. Sena's gonna be staring down the guys' chariots, Marisol's going to blind them, and I'll be working the weaponry and my fire skills. You've got the best hand-eye coordination, anyways."

"Cool. We're stacked. This is going to be fantastic."

"Sure is," said Ama.

I walked over to my cabin, then, to retrieve my armor. Daemys is there- oh fearless cabin leader- grabbing his as well.

"Hey there. Who are you racing with?"

He looks up from his stuff, surprised to find me there. "Er, Victoire and Charlie. Let me guess- Sena, Ama, and Merisol?"

"Yup. The usual," I laugh. I retrieved my armor from the trunk at the foot of my bed, grabbing my sword as well. It was an intricately carved, glowing silver beauty that sheathed into a bracelet. It was nearly impossible to lose during battle- for that to happen, my arm would need to be cut off.

"Well, good luck to you," I said finally, leaving.

"Ditto," Daemys replied as I exited the cabin.

Daemys, s/o Athena,

I watch Dara leave. Hmmm. That team will be hard to beat, but...Well, we'll see. I grab my sword from where I've strapped it, under my bed. It's special, like the weapons of most half-bloods, but as far as I know, this sword is unique. In most appearances, it's a double bladed long-sword, made of celestial bronze. However, it can also split into two different blades, one for each hand. I crafted it with the help of a Hephaestus camper, back when I was twelve. I grin. I strap on my leather armor, and head back to the stables. I locate Victoire and Charlie, and hurry over.

"OK, guys. I've got some last minute things to discuss. First, Sena. No doubt, she's going to use her, ah, feminine charms on any guys racing. That means you and me, Charlie. Victoire, you need to make sure we snap out of it, if that happens. Got it?"

Victoire nods.

"Great. Now, you guys got any other special weapons that we should all know about?"

Victiore, d/o unclaimed

I reach into my pocket and show him a few assorted nuts and bolts.
"What are those fo-- no. You didn't." Charlie said.Deamys looked at me.
"You took those from other people?" I nod. I draw a picture in the dust on the ground: the chariots lined up, then racing, then a few chariots falling apart near the end.
"So they won't know until it's too late." Charlie says."Is that allowed?" He adds.Daemys sighs.
"Only so long as we don't get caught." He wiped the pictures away with one of his feet.

Chiron sounds the horn again. 15 minutes left. I leave to put on my armor.

I will not be here for a while, I am going on vacation. I will be gone for five days.

So, I guess this has been abandoned, eh?

I'm soooooo sad that this story died. It would have been great. We didn't even get to do the chariot races.