Red Skies at Morning | Clarisse La Rue x OC | Percy Jackson AU

A Lion, a Goat, and a Snake Walk into a Magical Camp

I raised a brow. "You know what we're gonna do if we go up there, right? I know you're not too much of a fan of heights. You sure you wanna go this early in the morning? " 

"I'll be fine, just-" Clarisse sighed to herself, "are you coming or not?"

Her resignation to her fate convinced me and I only ran back inside for a moment to grab a coat and a pair of gloves before bolting out the door and shouting, "Race you, Classy!" 

Her original proposition of a nice morning walk was dropped as she chased after me, but both of us enjoyed the competition and the adrenaline much more than we would have a boring walk. Unsurprisingly, she beat me by a long shot but we were both panting and laughing as we reached the top of the hill. I wanted to declare another race to the tree tops, seeing as climbing is the only physical activity that I was indisputably better at, but I was still huffing and puffing. Not to mention there was a chance that Clarisse would take it too seriously and end up falling. Ares kids were tough, but a fifty-foot drop would still at least break a bone.

Instead, I started the climb slowly; taking my time so Clarisse would be able to keep up. She wasn't as comfortable with heights as I was and while she'd never admit it, I knew that if we got too high she wouldn't be able to relax. So, to make sure that didn't happen, I'd found a spot at the top of one of the lower trees. It didn't reach as high as I usually liked to sit, but it was worth it for Clarisse to feel comfortable and it still had a view over Camp Half-Blood.

Being up here was one of the few times that it was Clarisse clinging to me instead of the other way around. Not nearly as tightly as she had when we'd first found this spot, but she still hugged my arm and leaned against me for comfort. I actually love when she does it, but she doesn't need to know that.

We sat there, leaning against each other and watching Apollo's chariot slowly raise into the sky, painting the clouds in hues of gold and pink. I breathed in the morning air and released it while snuggling into Clarisse a bit more with a content sigh. I was in my favorite place with my favorite person during a beautiful time of day. This morning couldn't be any more perfect.

After a while of sitting there, the sky had started to change into its daytime azure blue and I began to wake up a bit more, deciding that I was in a chatty mood now.

"What do you wanna do one day, Clarisse," I started abruptly, purposefully being vague.

"What?" Clarisse shifted slightly to look at me.

"Like- if we got older. If we grew up, I guess... Have you thought much about it?" I hoped this question wasn't too heavy. Talking about the future with half-bloods could get depressing fast.

"Not much, you know half-bloods, we don't... we don't really, uh..." It was weird to hear Clarisse of all people struggle to avoid talking about what usually happened to our kin before reaching adulthood.

"Live long enough to worry about it. I know," I finished for her. 

"Yeah," Clarisse was eying my expression. She was definitely thinking this wasn't a good topic for someone who was grieving, even if death wasn't the source of the grief. "I haven't really, but you asked the question, so... I assume you have?"

"Yeah. When I was little I wanted to be a 'bird scientist.' It's called ornithology, but I don't think I would have been able to even pronounce that word when I was little." I laughed, thinking of eight-year-old me and my stutter. "But since coming to camp, I realized I'm more interested in genetics. I mean- no wonder, right? When you hear that half your DNA comes from a god it's not that unreasonable to wonder how that works, eh?"

"Your Canadian is showing," Clarisse teased.

"Hey, shut up! No one actually talked like that where I lived!'" I protested. "That 'eh' was just to signal you were free to give your input!"