I'll be honest here, I have no idea where this story is going. Any ideas would be helpful.
P.S. do you like my puppy? Isn't he so dam cute??
The Hunt was an impressive sight. Compared to the Hunt, the campers looked like scraggly runaways. The campers wore standard orange T-shirts and jeans. Ariston could see rips and holes in them from where he stood. The words Camp Half-Blood were faded and stains covered the shirts around old wounds and the rips in the shirts. Ariston could see the praetors of Camp Jupiter some where in the crowd, trying to get to the front where Camp Half-Blood's leaders stood, weapons drawn.
Speaking of whom, Annabeth, Leif and Clarisse were standing in front of all the other campers, drakon sword and spear ready. Leif had now weapon out and Ariston wondered what that meant. He probably assumed that with all the armed demigods around him he could happily let the others take care of them selves and not get into the fight. The coward. Nothing much changed about them; Annabeth still wore her hair up in a ponytail and her Yankee's cap attached to her hip. Clarisse still wore that same red bandana and her spear crackled with electricity.
Glancing subtly back at his hunters, Ariston smirked at what he saw. The Hunt was dressed in their armor and hoods up. The gold and cream uniform they all wore outshone even the sun that was shining above them. Shooter and Luminous both had bows slung over their shoulder along with the standard set of hunting knives everyone in the Hunt received. Phoenix and Dove both had swords at their left hips. Shizzle had a large hammer along with his hunting knives hanging at his waist. Shade held a battle axe which startled some campers, especially the Ares kids with his small size. No one had their weapons drawn, unlike the campers on the other side of the hill.
Ariston believed that the state of a warrior's clothes said a lot about what the warrior was like. If his clothes were worn and had holes in it, then either they had gone through a lot or they were not skilled enough to fight with out being hit or both. Ariston thought that the scars told more about a warrior than their clothes. Scars on the face normally meant that said person did not know how to duck. Scars on the back meant torture and scars on the arms and front of the torso meant each had a story of their own. Ariston held more scars than most.
After Ariston had spoken via telepathy, he noticed the shocked and even frightened faces of the campers. Chuckling a little, Ariston turned his head to Phoenix. Care to explain that for me? He inquired slyly. I have already done so today with the Olympians. His words reached everyone around him, not just Phoenix.
Phoenix sighed over dramatically. "Fine," he slumped slightly and stepped forward to speak. "We are a hunt much like Lady Artemis', however, as you can see," he chuckled, "it is a hunt for males only. We swear off girls and we have been around just as long as the Huntresses have. Our hunt chose to take the appearance of disbandment but instead we have been hiding from the presence of anyone but Lord Apollo. He is our patron, not the leader like Lady Artemis is for her hunt. There is a different god of the male hunt. That is Ariston here, he was the voice in your head earlier. It is how he normally communicates with everyone." Phoenix gestured in Ariston's direction. "Do not antagonize him, he has a short temper for most of you because of your traitorous past. Just so you know, he is not restricted by the Ancient Laws, they have been absolved anyway so he does not need an invitation."
When Phoenix spoke of their traitorous pasts, some of the older and immortal campers shifted nervously. It seemed as though he had looked directly at some of them accusingly, as if he knew what they did.
That is enough Phoenix, thank you, Ariston interrupted before he could say more.
"But I wasn't finished," he whined now. "I was on a roll."
Yes, but you are scaring them, he pointed out.
"Good, they should be scared, after all they've done," Phoenix grumbled just loud enough for the campers to hear. "I'd kill them if you had not made me promise not to."
"What have we done that is so traitorous?" Leif demanded with a determined glint in his eye.
This made Ariston growl and crackle with power. What did you do? He repeated with rage tinting his telepathic voice. I am the god of Loyalty and Demigods as well as the Hunt. What does that tell you?
In the corner of his mind, Ariston registered Chiron and the Roman praetors arriving just as the question was asked.
Before anyone had a chance to answer, he answered it for them. I know what you did, he started, still growling. I know what you did to Percy Jackson all those years ago because of my Loyalty domain and because of my Demigod domain, I know who did it. He let that sink in before continuing. He could see Annabeth's, Leif's and Clarisse's countenance pale. He noticed the praetors, who just happened to be Hazel and Frank, pale as well.
Thinking more on it, he realized that Reyna was one of the only demigods, along with Connor and Travis Stoll, to stand by Percy even in death. However she was much more vocal and got killed for it.
Ariston growled again, deeper. I know everything about you, your fears, strengths, weaknesses and your actions, he told them. I should kill you traitorous piles of schist for what you have done.
If possible, those who had paled, did so even further and now even Chiron, Connor and Travis were pale, albeit for entirely different reasons.
Ariston's power rolled off him in waves, golden electricity crackled at his fingertips. Phoenix and the rest of his hunt backed away slowly but calmly. They had seen this before and were used to it.
"Like I said," Phoenix said before anymore damage could be done. Ariston was very close to revealing his true form. "Do not antagonize him."
"Who are you?" Chiron asked, watching warily as Dove and Phoenix did their best to calm their leader down. "I am sorry, but I seemed to have missed the introductions." Chiron was in his centaur form, having been caught unprepared for a supposed attack.
Shizzle stepped forward. "He is Ariston, god of the Hunt, Loyalty and Demigods. We are his elite team on the Hunt and you must be Chiron. It is a pleasure to meet you sir. I am Shizzle, that is Phoenix and Dove. This is Shooter, Shade and Luminous."
"Why are you not yelling at Chiron?" Clarisse shouted.
Now even Shizzle's patience was wearing thin. Ariston saw his fists clench and his jaw do the same. He chuckled lightly before stepping forward for control again, still stiff. Not everyone betrayed Percy Jackson, he commented coldly. Do you nor remember Reyna? She had the wonderful curtesy to be assasinated by one of her friends.
Shade stiffened from where he was standing next to Shizzle who put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
The person who killed her snuck around in the night and in her sleep like a coward, yes, he said, his voice cutting to their centers leaving a trail of ice. I know this too.
The campers shifted nervously. I will have fun training you, Ariston said wickedly.
This, he saw, made Connor and Travis even more nervous. They remember going through one of his training sessions and they were not eager to repeat it.
Now an awkward silence filled the air until Chiron cleared his throat. "Perhaps you can come in?" He suggested.
"No!" Annabeth protested. "How can we trust them?"
You speak to me about trust? Ariston questioned, his anger rising again. He needed to get out of there before he really does lose control. It does not matter if you trust us or not because we are coming into this camp either way. We do not trust you anyways. Ariston's voice was monotoned and cold as he spread his wings and leapt in the air, out of range of their bows. Not that they could have hit him in the first place but he didn't feel like moving so quickly. Eventually, Ariston knew his hunt made it in because he saw the crowd of campers make a path to the inside of the camp. Ariston found the situation comical and chuckled as he landed at the edge of the group of cabins.
Meet me at the cabins, he mentally told his hunt. Looking at the sun, he could tell the campers were having lunch when they came. They were just starting to have lunch when we arrived so we are going to set up camp before we are bombarded with questions and curious faces. We will set up camp a little farther out, by the forest so they do not feel uncomfortable, he told them once they arrived at where he was. You all have your tents? He added just to make sure.
However, before anyone could move, Chiron came galloping into their area. Ariston bowed in greeting and this seemed to make the old teacher unsure what he was doing. Ariston was the god after all, not some immortal that taught heros.
"My lord Ariston," Chiaron said, bowing deeply. "Why would you bow to me? I am merely a teacher."
Ariston smirked. And where would we all be with out teachers? He asked in turn. If not for you, Percy jackson would not have become the hero he was. If not for you, the world would have fallen to Kronos and Gaea.
Chiron smiled kindly and seemed more at ease than before. "I came to inquire as to your sleeping and eating arrangements," he said in explanation as to why he was there.
We just established out sleeping arrangements, Ariston said politely. We will camp in our tents at the edge of the forest and I ask what you suggest on the subject of the eating arrangements.
Wow, Ariston thought to himself. I sound really formal, I wonder where I got that. Apollo is too immature to be formal and the rest of my hunt is no better. Deciding to think on that more later, Ariston pushed the thought to the back of his mind for later.
"I wish to invite you all to eat with us in the dining pavilion," Chiron said, a slight hesitation tinted his voice.
Ariston hesitated. He didn't want to be around the campers who betrayed Percy nad the chances of one of them coming up to him are high. If they were not there, he could see himself being there comfortably. Not only that but there was no table for them at the pavilion. He didn't care how uncomfortable the campers were, he cared more about the members of his hunt than them.
Seeing his hesitation, Chiron spoke up again, "We already have a table for you, Mr. D had one prepared before you came."
Ariston stayed silent for a minute longer, still hesitant about the first and major issue of the older campers made immortal. Finally, Ariston sighed. Very well, we will set up camp and come join you later.
Chiron smiled so brightly, it almost made it worth accepting his invitation just for that. "I will go inform the campers," he said before trotting off.
"Are you sure that is such a good idea, Ariston?" Shooter asked warily, almost expecting him to explode again. And they were making such good progress too, Shooter thought sadly.
Ariston said nothing as he made his way to the edge of the forest and started setting up his tent.
- - - - -
At the dining pavilion, the members of Ariston started to trickle in after they set their tents up and after him. He was the first done and the first to start eating.
As Shizzle got his food, Ariston watched the imp carefully, making sure he was not going to do what he thought he was going to do. He lost sight of him behind a group of campers however, since the table he was at was in the back. Not two seconds after Ariston mourned the fact that he could no longer see him, he smelled burned food. One moment later, he smelled fresh steak.
A growl erupted from the middle of his throat. Shizzle! He shouted telepathically, his words reaching all those in the general area. He started to stand up and make his way to the fire on the other end of the pavilion. How many times do I need to tell you not to sacrifice to me?
Once he reached the fire however, he saw a young girl frozen in her motions of shoving a piece of steak into the fire. Immediately he understood what had happened. Shizzle had convinced the girl to sacrifice food to him in an attempt to annoy him. Unfortunately for him, he succeeded. There were times when Ariston thought that Shizzle had matured. Then something like this happens.
"S-sir?" The girl asked shakily.
It is okay, he quickly reassured her. It is not your fault this imbecile likes to get into trouble. He spoke in a kind tone and even kneeled down to be at he eye level. It was not her fault that he was betrayed either. He remembers every one who ever did it. Those in Apollo's and Hermes' cabin were carefull about staying loyal to him and always told embellished stories about his victories in their cabins at night, much to his dislike. This young girl is a Hermes child, he could tell from the way she looked so much like the Stolls and Luke; she had the same mischievous glint in her eyes, as if she were going to do something troublesome, even when she was afraid of him.
Shizzle, do I need to give you some chores? Ariston asked calmly, knowing that the son of Hephaestus was trying to sneak behind him.
He heard Shizzle gulp in fear and start to run out of the pavilion and to his tent. The last time he assigned Shizzle chores, he could not get the smell of unicorn dung out of his favorite tool belt. Shizzle ended up throwing it away and no one would come with in a ten foot radius of him for years. He still smelled like it if you concentrated.
Ariston unfolded his wings and flew after him, high up in the air.
Shizzle must of heard his wings because he shouted, "No fair! I can't out run your oh-so-powerful chicken wings!"
All Ariston heard was the gasps of the campers as he tackled Shizzle to the ground, careful to keep his hood up.