Because Evan was "kidnapped" according to Chiron, Chiron insisted that we train heavily and harsh until the war. He also sent out a rescue team of about 10 people to find him. Not many people volunteered to go. Everybody was working harder than ever and the camp was at its busiest, with only 2 months until the war.
"These are the best sword fighters in camp?" I muttered to Alpha. Chiron had given us around 30 campers that he said were the best sword fighters. I scanned down the line taking a look at all of them. The last one in line was so small, she could have passed for an 8 year old. I sighed. Training these guys was going to be long and painful.
All of the other campers were working on other skills.
How to control your powers, with Jason. Leo had wanted to do it but Jason really thought Leo should take a break. Plus everyone knew that Leo wasn't the best at controlling his fire. Jason's pants caught on fire "by accident" after that. War tactics were with Annabeth. Other useful things were taught by other campers. Even Connor and Travis had their own class, teaching how to sneak around and steal things or pick locks. Chiron's idea was to stick with what you were good at, so the best sword fighters worked on sword fighting, most Athena kids were good at plans and war tactics so that's what they practiced, and so on.
I however, completely disagreed with that. If one of these skills was not an option to you, you were going to have to know how to do something else. Especially if you're in a life threatening situation, which is probably most likely to happen in our case. So my plan was to focus on sword fighting with these guys, but teach some hand to hand combat and power control for those who had them. Maybe I'd throw in a little war tactics here and there. I probably shouldn't teach that on my own though... most of my plans are crazy-I'm-probably-gonna-die plans.
I went down the line asking everybody how old they were and who their godly parent was. A good number of them were Ares kids, but some of them were Apollo, some were Hephaestus, and a couple were Athena and Hermes kids. The small girl at the end wasn't claimed yet, she was only 11. Most of the people there were 13 to 15. I don't know how the small girl even got here. How was she one of the best sword fighters in camp? Well I've learned not to underestimate people.
We did some exercises to warm up, and the small girl was actually really good. I asked her what her name was, and she said it was "Sammy. Well Samantha, but I think Sammy sounds better." By studying her, I could tell that she could easily beat most of the people in the group, but I couldn't tell who her godly parent was. I wondered if one of the big three broke the oath, but I didn't think that she was a child of Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon.
She was fast and stealthy, very quick. I analyzed a lot of the people while we did exercise after exercise. By the time lunch break came along, my mind was spinning, thinking of all the errors I noticed in their fighting, different drills to use, who to pair up with who, and how to train these campers the best that I could. I figured out that I really liked this teaching thing, and maybe I could teach classes like this back on Chaos' planet, when all of this was over.
After a couple of minutes sitting there relaxing, eating, and talking normally to Alpha, my mind slowed down a little bit. But it didn't last long, because soon lunch break was over and I put all my plans to action. All the campers in my group were training hard, and making great progress, and only on the first day. At one point, Chiron came over and checked in on how we were doing. I had had an idea forming in my mind, and wanted to try it out, so I asked for Chiron's permission, and it was granted. He even said that if it was successful, he would tell the other groups to try it too.
"Okay everyone," I yelled. Everybody stopped their drills and looked up. "Listen up. Tonight we're going to camp out in the forest. Alpha and I will teach you survival skills like how to get food, and how to make weapons from nature, or anything surrounding you. We'll make fires, bring tents, but I'll also show you how to make a shelter with the materials you have," I stopped talking and surprisingly no one was groaning in annoyance. They looked like they wanted to do it, it was something new that they probably haven't done before. I decided to add one more thing to the experience, "And if you want to bring s'more materials, knock yourself out."
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Annabeth had asked to come on our little camping trip with us, said it was something creative and new that she would probably enjoy. She also said that she might have some lessons about survival to teach that were important too. I knew how good Annabeth would be good at teaching this, but I didn't want her to ruin the streak of good feelings I've been having. So, I politely (maybe, maybe not) declined, and told her that if it went well, she would get to bring her group out there herself. She had looked disappointed when she left, and I kind of felt bad. But why should I? After what she did to me? My brain was seriously confused.
I asked Leo to come with us and, because he "wasn't allowed to do anything cool the past week", he eagerly joined. I also decided to bring Dusk (Zoe) since she used to be a Hunter and traveled with Artemis. We could definitely use her tips.
We set out into the forest an hour later, after we packed what we needed into a backpack. I was walking in the front with Dusk, with Alpha and Leo bringing up the back. Everybody was talking, low murmurs broke the silence of the serene area. Twigs snapped and leaves crunched underneath our feet as we went deeper into the forest. Dusk was yelling out pointers to everyone how to find an area to set up camp like she used to do with the Hunters. After about 15 minutes of walking, we decided to set up in an average sized clearing.
I walked around helping everyone set up tents. We had two people sleeping in each tent to save space. We had also set up an area in the middle of everything for a fire with some logs around it for seats. It was a pretty big area because there was around 30 campers plus Alpha, Leo, Dusk, and me. We also set up a small area around 50 feet away from the camp, for a bathroom.
All night I taught basic survival skills. The first thing we did after setting up camp, was how to make weapons. All day we had been learning different ways to use weapons, and now we were learning how to construct them. First I taught them how to make knives out of stone or bone. Everybody made their own knives and did some basic fighting drills with them. Then, we made spears out of large, strong sticks laying on the ground with the knives that had been built previously. Next I showed everyone how to make an axe, but only I made one, not everybody (look at the attached picture). The process of making one was complicated, but the whole group understood eventually.
After making this axe, I showed them how to cut wood and make a temporary shelter out of it. Of course I used old dead wood so I wouldn't anger the wood nymphs. Alpha helped me demonstrate how to use a tree or boulder as support for the make shift shelter. I carefully and quickly formed a small place to stay, out of logs, twigs, and leaves. It wasn't my best work, but it would have to do for now to teach these campers how to survive in the wild.
After all the noise we were making from constructing weapons and a shelter, a couple of dryads came out to see what was going on. I noticed them starting to come out one by one quietly in the back of the area we were working in. They watching intently, with wide eyes, never saying a word. Eventually I brought everyone's attention to them, and they started teaching us some of their own ideas. I sat amused on the log, watching everyone learn something different from our unexpected visitors.
Leo was leaning against a tree while talking to a dryad, probably flirting. Sammy was sitting cross legged on the ground next to another dryad, taking colors from the Earth and using them to paint pictures on a rock. (I kind of imagine this like Peeta in the Hunger Games learning how to camouflage with paint and nature). Another kid, a child of Ares, was being chased by an angry dryad because he had tried to pee on her tree. This made me laugh out loud. Alpha stayed by me and Dusk was talking to a dryad that looked familiar. I looked closer and realized that it was Juniper, Grover's girlfriend.
Thinking about Grover brought back painful memories of the times we used to have, him, Annabeth, and I. I pushed those memories to the back of my head and soon the desire to know what Grover was up to these days was overwhelming. But because I couldn't ask Juniper without rising suspicion, I decided to wait for another time to ask.
The dryads left after a little while, and Alpha asked me what we were doing next. I had planned an early morning hike just around the woods, so we couldn't stay up too late. It was around 8:45 so I said that we could make s'mores now. Everyone cheered and we crowded on the log benches. We definitely made too many, and they were small pieces of log, so about three people could fit on one bench, but there would be some left over.
I got situated with Alpha on my right and Dusk on my left. I had a few s'mores, but Alpha didn't want any. Dusk didn't really know what they were, so I taught her how to make them, and she ate a couple too. I saw everyone sitting with their friend groups, and wondered where Sammy was. Ever since I saw how good she was at sword fighting, I've been keeping an eye on her. I smiled when I saw her a few benches over, talking to Leo.
Everything was going great until I sensed something. I sat up and quietly listened, hushing everybody. Only the small crackle of the fire could be heard until a loud snarl vibrated throughout the trees. Everyone had wide cautious eyes, scanning their surroundings. A huge creature jumped through the trees, landing right on Dusk.
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That's the 9th chapter for you! It's super long so I hope you enjoyed it. It was kind of a filler chapter, but not really. Remember to comment to tell me suggestions, questions, or comments. And don't forget to vote if you liked it!
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