warrior ( RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE. )

iv. TWIN TIME

WARRIOR!
( chapter four )

A FEW DAYS later, after the events of the campfire, Ingrid's thoughts were overflowing. Piper, Jason, and Leo had set off on their quest the day after, and still weren't back yet. While Ingrid barely knew them, she worried for every camper that went on a quest.

On the other hand, her incredibly awkward encounters with Rachel had engraved themselves into her brain. No matter how hard she tried, she could never clean the slate.

   Now, overthinking was a regular occurrence for Ingrid. Luckily, most people could never tell that it was happening. Unfortunately, Casey could.

The two were practicing their archery, something that Casey excelled at, yet Ingrid despised. She didn't have anything against it, for she admired the strength it took to successfully shoot an arrow, it was just she was utterly terrible at it.

   "Shoot on three, okay? One, two, three!" Casey said, and the twins shot their arrows. Casey hit a bullseye, just as he had everytime, while Ingrid missed the target completely. The girl sighed, setting her bow down gently.

   "Okay, what the hell. You suck more than normal today. I mean, that was your tenth miss!" Casey said, and Ingrid rolled her eyes.

   "Gee, thanks Case," She said, sitting down on a bench nearby. "I just have a lot on my mind today. Not really in the archery mood I guess."

At that, Casey's face faltered. He quickly set his bow down and went to sit next to his sister, giving her a look filled with concern. "Okay, twin time. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Ingrid smiled, shaking her head. "I hate that you still say twin time. It annoys me so much."

Casey grinned. "I know. But for real, what's bothering you?"

Ingrid sighed. "A few things. One being the new quest. It's already bad enough when experienced campers go on one, but three brand new campers? My anxiety is off the charts."

Casey nodded. "Yeah, I get that. It is a little nerve-racking seeing them go on such a big quest."

"Exactly. Like I get it's their fate or whatever, but they seriously couldn't have chosen anyone else? Maybe you so that I wouldn't have to hear 'twin time' the next few days." Ingrid said.

"Ha! You can't get rid of me or 'twin time' that easily and you know it." He said.

Ingrid snapped her fingers. "Well, at least I tried."

"Anyways, what else is bothering you?" Casey asked, returning to his concerned demeanor.

"Well... it's actually about a girl." At that, Casey gasped, holding his hands to his mouth. He moved them away, only to show off his huge smile as he bounced in his seat. Ingrid rolled her eyes, her cheeks only blushing slightly.

"What are you waiting for? Tell me who it is! Wait, let me guess. Drew? No, you hate her. Lou Ellen? No, she's totally not your type. Wait! Is it Piper? You were totally checking her out yesterday, don't even try denying it." Casey said. Ingrid scoffed, looking away, but that didn't hide her rosy cheeks.

Ingrid had two choices. She could tell Casey the truth, and admit that she's secretly crushing on Rachel, aka the camp "freak" that Casey is lowkey afraid of. Or, she could lie and go along with liking Piper as Casey predicted. Of course, Ingrid went with the most reasonable choice.

"Um, yeah, it's Piper. But like, I don't want to get my hopes up or anything." Ingrid said, biting back her guilt.

"Psh, so what if she's on a super deathly quest right now! She's a total badass and I have no doubt in my mind that she won't come back alive." Casey said.

"Ok, I guess you have a point. But we literally had one conversation, so don't get your hopes or anything. I barely know her!" Ingrid protested.

"Lucky for you, I have a simple solution. When she comes back, you talk to her! Soon enough you'll be dating, and I can stop hanging out with you because you'll be with Piper." Casey said.

Ingrid brought her hand to her mouth, pretending to be overly offended. "How dare you! I thought you loved hanging out with me!"

"No offense, but you're my twin. We've gotta have some boundaries." Casey said, shrugging his shoulders unapologetically.

"I know, I'm just joking. But for real, talking to girls isn't the easiest thing for me, and you know it." Ingrid said, wringing her hands together.

Casey softened, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Sure, you get a little flustered, but everyone does. Besides, you have the 'Ares kids have no emotions' excuse anyways, so it's totally fine. Plus, if someone can't understand that you're just complete shit at flirting, then they can't understand you at all."

   Ingrid smiled. "I guess you're right, despite sneaking in so many insults. But still, I don't even know if Piper was into me."

   Casey laugher, almost doubling over. "Oh sweetie, she was into you. My bi-dar was off the charts."

   Ingrid paused, thinking this over. Casey might be right. Her head is telling her that she should give Piper a shot, for Casey. But her heart says to go with Rachel. Ingrid was overthinking, and there was nothing that could solve it this time.

   "Okay, whatever. I'm pulling the Ares kid stereotype card now because I'm kinda over talking about this. But thank you, Case. You always know what to say." She said, standing from the bench.

   "You know I'm always down for twin time. Now, can you actually try at archery? Because watching you miss ten times in a row hurts." Casey said, earning a punch in the arm from Ingrid. "Kidding! Jeez, why do you always feel the need to punch me?"

   LATER THAT NIGHT at dinner, the pavilion was buzzing with chatter per usual. But this time, it was more about the quest.

"Today's the 21st, right? Aren't they supposed to be back today?" Sherman said, despite his mouth full of food.

"Dude, you're right. I wonder if they survived or not. The quest seemed pretty serious." Ellis said.

   "I'm sure they're fine. They'll be back soon, right Ingrid?" Casey said.

   Ingrid nodded, not even looking up from her plate. She was beyond worried about the quest. Was three days enough for them to do everything entailed? Would they survive? She had no idea.

   "I wouldn't worry too much. They'll be back before we know it." She said.

   And just like that, they were true to Ingrid's words. Jason, Piper and Leo all appeared practically out of thin air atop the Aphrodite cabin's table. Everyone stared in shock as Piper gave a small wave.

   "Hi. We're back."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
this is such a short chapter
i'm sorry :/ it's also unedited
but y'all are used to that by now
anyways we love ingrid being
a hot mess and casey being
a comedy icon