stollen things || c. stoll

1.6 ~ Tree Nymphs Can Be Really Stubborn Sometimes

"Stoll, you just left." He shrugged, and walked away for good this time. As soon as I stepped inside the cabin, someone shrieked.

"What? What's wrong?" I panicked, looking around for the source of the yell.

"It's him! Connor!" Katie scrambled off her bed and ran to me, shaking my shoulders.

"What are you talking about, Katie?" I frowned.

"That's where you were last night!"

My jaw dropped. "What?"

She slammed the door and pulled me behind her bed, whispering. Some girls were sitting or napping in the cabin, and she didn't want to announce this to the 13 year olds. "Oh, please! That conversation reeked of tension." She was grinning, then her face dropped. "I have mixed feelings about this. You know about the rivalry, obviously. But if you're happy, so am I."

"Katie! Slow down. There's nothing happening between us." I took her hands and picked them up off my shoulders. "We just keep running into each other. Besides, he's like that with every girl."

She shook her head. "Not with me. Or Clarisse. Or Madge, Bea, or even Silena. Silena!"

I sighed, and changed the subject. "I can't be thinking about this. We have capture tonight, and we're against Hermes. It's dinnertime anyway."

She frowned, but dropped it and let me go. So my cover was blown and I had a lot more to think about.

***

All through dinner, I forced my eyes to keep away from the Hermes table. I paid attention to other conversations at my table, and silently ate my food until the plates were cleared. A conch horn sounded and everyone started to cheer. Both team captains — Annabeth Chase and Clarisse La Rue — quickly ran out to grab the flags, before rushing back in while yelling and cheering. The flags were the same as the previous weeks'. Athena, Apollo, and Hermes: ten feet long, glittering gray, and marked with a barn owl in an olive tree.

My cabinmates booed as the other team ran circles through pavilion. Clarisse and a few others from our team followed: another ten foot long flag, but red and painted with a boar's head. Seeing as I was the most enthusiastic and aggressive Demeter kid, I whooped and cheered louder than my siblings. We ran all across camp to the armory, and I started strapping into my armor. I placed my red plumed helmet over my hair, which was plaited to the top of my head to keep it out of my eyes.

"Need help?" Connor asked, appearing behind me.

"Don't flatter yourself, Stoll." I rolled my eyes. He grabbed my helmet off my head, tossed it in the air, and handed it back.

"There. I've helped." He grinned, before turning around, grabbing his sword, and strolling away.

Head in the game, Maddy. Head in the game. I mentally reprimanded myself.

Finally, we lined up by the woods, waiting for the conch to sound again. When it did, we ran into the woods, screaming, Clarisse finally put me on offense, so I rushed up a tree, jumping from one to the other. I slipped right past the border. The only issue was the Apollo kids and their amazing hearing and aim. All I had to do was keep my bow ready and my eyes open, and I'd find the glowing fabric soon.

I could see some Hermes kids on the ground, oblivious to my presence. I passed them, and climbed even higher until I reached the very top of the tree. I willed the branches to be thicker so that I could stand more securely.

There it was. The silvery flag, strung up in a tree about 100 feet from me. I was so close, but I knew that it was probably flanked with guards both on the ground and in the trees.