"Ready?" Chiron asked. "GO!"
The Campers flooded into the woods, silver and red banners flying through the wind. Ares, Apollo, Hermes and Athena Cabin- one team, against every other Cabin there was to fight with. Which meant we were against Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus and unfortunately enough- Artemis' Hunters. Fearing a whole Camp defeat, we decided to team up with them to make it a united win/loss.
We were the red banners now. "Frank!" I whispered at the Ares Cabin Counsellor. "Get your mates in position! The Hunters will most likely land on the trees."
"I agree," Frank replied wisely. He put his fingers to his lips and blew a whistle. The Ares and Apollo Cabin Members walked through the mud, all of them black and blending into the environment as easily as a leaf in a forest. They hid behind bushes, leaving the flag in plain sight, waiting to attack with spears and Arrows.
Luke Castellan and I nodded at each other. We and our Cabin Mates stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a great line that extended almost towards the end of the creek border. "Advance!" Luke yelled.
"Pincer Ambush, now!" I yelled.
The group marched across the creek, all with bows and arrows, ready to aim.
"Annabeth would've loved to see this," Luke said.
"Too bad she went against the rules," I said plainly. I was still angry at her for not obeying me. It was for her own good. I gripped the bow tighter. "Let's focus on the game."
"More like 'war'," Luke smirked.
The group marched ahead of us, making a giant U and surrounding the enemy base. Luke and I fell behind, climbing a tree that was unoccupied by Artemis' Hunters.
"If I'm not going wrong," I muttered, "the attack begins in three... two... one."
No wonder, an arrow flew through the trees and grazed against a Hermes kid's hair, almost close to hitting him on the back of his head.
"Good deduction," Luke whispered. "What now?"
"We wait," I smirked.
"What for?" Luke asked.
"Wait...."
The trees began to rustle wildly.
"The Hunters are getting down to attack our Cabin members," Luke realized. "But the two of us.."
The war began. Artemis' Hunters were merciless, but our Cabin members were quick enough to dodge and weave between arrows, sometimes even managing to crack down on them even though it was for a little while.
"Yeah, now go!" I jumped down as the war started to get intense by the minute. Luke followed right behind. We parted ways, nodding at each other, a small sign of hope and luck.
I threw myself into the war zone. Zoe Nightshade had the gall to look at a Hermes girl and say, "We'll spare you if you join."
I frowned in disgust. I reached into my pockets. "NOW!"
A potato hit Zoe Nightshade smack on the head.
She turned to me in absolute silent terror.
I smirked. She wasn't the only one. All of the Red Team had resorted to potatoes for weapons. Each Huntress was looking at a potato warrior in shock.
Zoe raised her bow, "How dare you- OW!"
Another stream of potatoes had been launched at the Hunters, and they continued to stare at us in shock. They were taking too long to recover, and that's exactly what I needed.
"ATTACK!"
Swords were unsheathed at once, and I pounced at the Lieutenant and pinned Zoe Nightshade to the ground, my dagger at her neck. "Don't go about recruiting us and I'll let you go," I growled at her.
Zoe glared at me angrily, and I stared right back at her unforgivingly.
But Zoe was fast enough for a three thousand year old sixteen year old.
She pushed me back and stood back on her legs quite easily. I jumped back upwards, smirking. "A fight?"
Zoe glared daggers at me. I wanted to laugh so badly at that point. I knew I was winning. Her gaze passed beyond me-
AND THEN THE SCREAM SOUNDED.
"THE FLAG IS GONE!" Zoe screamed.
I turned around and faced the place where the blue team's flag had once been. The grin on my face grew even wider.
I pushed Zoe away and onto the ground, jumped over her and led the way-
"RETREAT!" I screamed delightedly.
The other pushed their daggers into the Hunter's shirt collars, pinning them to the ground and ran after me, screaming excitedly.
"How do we know they haven't caught the flag?" Laverna, a Hermes girl asked.
"Empty Fort Strategy," I smiled wide. "Leave the doors open, lead the enemies to think it's a trap, and they'll retreat strategically."
"You're smart as hell, you know that?" Laverna said.
"I know- LUKE!" I screamed, smiling.
Luke stopped running ahead and waited for us, standing just a few feet away from the banks of the river, excited to go across.
"Why didn't you go ahead?" I asked, catching up to him.
"Because it was your plan," Luke replied. He took my hand in his, and pulled me along with him as he ran into the water. "It's going to be our win."
The Hunters weren't far behind. Zoe's arrow brushed past my ear, but I was too busy grinning as Luke and I, hands held firmly, ran across the border, holding a blue flag with the symbol of Artemis.
Cheers echoed across the Dark Forest as we stepped onto the other side. The flag gleamed, turning from blue to a beautiful red, its symbols turning into a caduceus and an owl, slowly followed by a spear and bow.
Chiron was the first to celebrate. He blew into the conch thing he had, signaling the end of the battle. He then proceeded to run into our side and enveloped Luke and I into a hug that I never expected. "Five hundred years of being here and you finally win against the Hunters!" he whispered.
But Chiron was just the beginning. Lee enveloped me into the biggest hug ever, covering me in black mud and kissed my cheek with his filthy lips. "I love you!" he screamed at me over the cheers. "WE WON!"
"I know!" I screamed back, jumping with joy. I didn't care that I was filthy as hell now.
"WE WON!" Frank joined me, "WE FREAKING WON!"
"I know!" I screamed back delightedly. Frank was too excited, however, and so was the rest of the Cabin. Without warning, Frank picked me up and hoisted me on his shoulders. "HAIL ARIANA!" he screamed. The other Cabin Members began to pass me around like I was a doll, and soon enough I was surfing through the crowd, and so were Lee, Frank and Luke.
I fell onto the ground along with Luke as the never ending cheer continued at the Cabin Members continued to cheer along with their best friends.
I laughed, pumping my fists into the air, staring into the sky. "WE WON!"
Luke grinned, standing up. "This is the best night of my life."
And without warning, he picked me up, bridal style. "Seriously," he said, grinning, spinning around, "this is the best night of my life!"
I laughed along with him, my head spinning crazy, and my eyes messing with me as he finally put me down. "You feel dizzy?" I asked.
"Yeah," Luke said, running a hand through his hair and grinning.
"It's because of the fluid in your ears is shaking and the balance-"
"Shut up," Luke grinned even wider. "Let me live in the moment-" And then he pulled me towards him and pressed his lips to mine.
My mind exploded. A thousand colors seemed to rush in my mind at once, butterflies seemed to fly in my stomach, and the colors red, blue and silver flashed in my eyes. He was nice- he smelled like fresh sandalwood, and for some reason, freshly mown grass. His lips were sweet- almost tasted like peppermint and chocolate- and I melted away into it.
I kissed him back.
Hey, what's the worst that could happen? I thought.
How much more wrong could I get?
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