The sound of metal clanging against metal rang over the deck of the ship.
"That all you got? FIGHT HARDER!"
"Easy for you to say, you've not lost all day!"
"THEN TRY HARDER PRETTY BOY!"
Piper and Leo, while scrambling around in the rigging, looked at each other.
"D'ye think she's pushing them too hard?" The curly haired boy asked.
"It's not as bad as the treatment they'd get with Thalia or Nico." The crew members had abandoned the nicknames, showing their contempt for their enemies. The captain, however, they respectfully called Green-Eyes, keeping his identity a secret.
Piper paused to watch Reyna spar Mitchell. Her half-brother seemed anxious to prove himself, he just didn't have the skill to do so. He was a little clumsy and had almost no muscles at all.
"At least we're feeding them and providing them a good place to live and work. Besides," she glanced around to make sure no one could hear them, "Percy won't need them that much. He basically runs the ship on his own."
"Ain't that the truth." Leo grinned, hanging from the rigging above her, using one foot as a sort of kick stand.
"PIPER!" The daughter of Aphrodite looked down.
Reyna was standing over Mitchell with her sword at his throat.
Again.
"What do you need?" She called.
"I want you to work with your brother. I have to train Ethan and Sherman after I make sure Gwen is still getting on well enough."
"Alright, I'm coming down."
Leo handed her a rope. "I made sure it's not attached to anything, don't worry."
Piper looked up and tugged anyway. The rope was tied to a pole above them, but not anything important. It would attach to the sails, if they actually decided to use them.
"Going down!" She jokingly called as she leapt from her perch and slid down the rope.
"Yeah, Pipes!" Leo cheered obnoxiously.
"Shut up, Valdez!" Her bare feet hit the deck and she flicked the rope sideways.
"Ow!" Looking up, her gaze caught on Leo, who was rubbing his face and pouting.
"Nice aim." Reyna commented. "Now please teach Harlow some basic sword techniques at least, I want him slightly competent by the end of sailing season."
Mitchell looked at his feet. He knew he wasn't a fighter.
"You got it." Piper saluted jokingly.
"Good, I'm going to go check on Gwen." The tiny daughter of Iris had caught a cold from getting up early and forming rainbows in the spray that flew from the bow of the ship as it cut through the water. It was obvious that before her life on the ship she had been neglected and starved, and the cold had quickly developed into something worse.
Piper pulled Mitchell over and began to assess his stance.
"You're holding the sword wrong." She muttered. Reyna had probably just pushed a sword on him to try and get him to fight. "Try this." She drew her dagger and handed it to him.
Mitchell's slight frame would work better with a dagger he could wield, not a great honking sword he could barely lift, She mused.
"That's it, slash at me. I promise I'll move in time."
Sure enough, the boy was a lot more in tune with the weapon he held now than the one Reyna had made him use.
"Good, let's tell Green-Eyes that you'll need a dagger. And don't let Reyna press that stupid club on you again, got it?" Piper asked.
Mitchell nodded.
---------------------
Reyna set Ethan and Sherman sword on spear, then marched down towards the infirmary. She and Percy were the only two with extended healing experience, at least, more than the others on the ship, so they took turns checking on Gwen.
She heard hushed voices as she neared the swinging door.
"No, don't move, I'll get it."
It was a man's voice, but not Green-Eyes'.
"The captain and Reyna will get you better."
"You're helping too." Gwen protested feebly.
"I'm not supposed to be here though." The man said quietly.
Reyna drew her sword silently and crept forward, ready to kick open the door and stride in.
"Why not? The captain is not unreasonable. I'm sure he would let you take care of me if you promise you won't do anything."
"No, I betrayed his trust. And that's a really bad thing with the captain. Once you betray his trust, it probably isn't coming back. I deserve to be in a cell, and that's where I'm returning to once I get done with you."
"Zhang, how the Hades are you out of the brig?" Reyna demanded, striding in and pointing her sword at the son of Ares as he froze, holding a glass of water to Gwen's lips.
"I'm just trying to help her."
"You didn't answer my question."
"It's alright, Reyna, I was watching him." Percy stepped out of the shadows. Frank paled.
"You can keep helping her with that." The black haired boy said, not bothering to look at the usually imprisoned teen.
Frank nodded in thanks and turned back to Gwen.
"Captain..." Reyna drew the word out, not quite asking a question.
"He wants to prove himself, let him." Percy responded calmly. "Just stay here and watch him until he's done and take him back to the brig. I'll go observe the trainees."
[A/N HOW DID HE GET OUT?! *shrug* XD you guys already know unless you only watched the movies, in which case, why are you reading this? It's based off the second series of books mostly]