J
Jessie Targaryen
Guest
Original poster
►Camp Half-Blood◄
►Location: Long Island, New York It was the early morning of June 1st, also known as the first day of Summer Session for Camp Half-Blood. Campers had just moved into their cabins the day before, and despite the fact that most of the camp was sleeping just a bit longer into the morning energy could be felt coursing through the air. For most, camp was a happy place to be. Somewhere safe for people like them, Demigods, to train and spend their summers. Of course, there was more to the life here than just training. Already the Satyrs were setting up the volleyball net in the sand-pit, and some nymphs from the forest were playing a rather impressive game of basketball. Lava tumbled through the already warm and humid air of summer, making its way down the ever so infamous climbing wall of the camp. The air itself seemed alive with the noise of various animals, and growls from monsters hidden deep within the forest located in the camp’s borders. All the energy, excitement, and anticipation seemed ready to break at any moment as the campers would be starting to wake for their first day of the summer camp. Some no doubt anticipating a big adventure while others were simply looking to reconnect with their friends. Alas, there was also a heavy sense of tension hanging over the camp of young demigods. As those who had just arrived had already heard from the year-rounders about the news from a couple days past. A new great prophecy had been issued, and as per usual with such things it did not sound like a pleasant experience for anybody involved.
The Serpent’s breath to poison the land, Olympus to meet a swift end, Foes to become friends, And demigods shall write their own fate.
►Ryland Astrapi◄
►Location: Camp Half-Blood || Zeus Cabin ►Interactions: None It was a familiar enough scene, thick trees towered on all sides of a small clearing and cast long shadows across the ground that seemed to stretch on for miles. The soft cacophony of birds, monsters, and rustling leaves in the trees creating a dull roar over the otherwise peaceful forest. Before him wooden fence that seemed as if it could ward off even the master bolt stood and inside towered yet even healthier and thicker trees. What would have been a beautiful scene ruined by hideous scorch marks across the ground and wood. Beings which he could not place, giants to be certain, but ones wreathed in mighty flames with glowing orange eyes like stories of demons of old lay waste to the fence before him. He knew this scene all too well, and the events that followed. It had been seared into his memory and something he saw every night. He knew the horror he was about to witness, yet at the same time, it never stopped the blow from delivering. No matter how many times he willed himself to turn away, to run forward, scream, do anything. He couldn't move. He was simply a spectator to a horrific act. Yet something was different today, as the massive fire-giants seemed to freeze in the middle of the assault. For that matter, the whole forest became still. Shadows stopped creeping across the ground as their casters froze as if somebody captured the moment in time. To his right, the Daughter of Poseidon stood frozen in the middle of some vague attack. Before him, another girl with brilliant blonde locks raised her shield to defend from a might sword coming down from a giant before it. Everything was frozen perfectly at this moment before the disaster. A calm before the storm that would haunt the boy for the next two years. Yet he did not approach the scene, despite Ryland shouting and willing himself to surge forward and destroy that giant himself. No, instead the boy slowly turned around in this infinite, frozen waste of a forest. Sounds ripped through the calmness that had taken, eerie sounds of creatures fighting. Yet he couldn't quite place what the creatures were. Then they suddenly came into view as one soared through the air before slamming into the ground before him with a mighty thud. A mighty eagle, laying too still. A distant look in its eye, staring forever at something that seemingly wasn't there. Looking up, he could hear the sounds of labored breathing and saw many other animals before him. Some creatures he didn't even recognize. A horse with a sea green mane stood out, accompanied by a deer silver as the moon itself, a cow that seemed to glow with grace, a large and blood red boar, and a dove. All larger than they should be, and seemed as if they had been through vicious fights respectively. Each bore grave injuries, and sat in some ensemble on their knees or splayed across the ground. Yet there was no sign of what had done this to them. His eyes widened in terror at the violent scene, trying to comprehend the meaning behind it all. Then the sounds of battle started behind him once more. Whirling around as if called by some puppeteer, Ryland dashed towards the giant attacking the girl with the blonde hair. He knew what came next, he couldn't allow it. The scene he left behind forgotten as his desperate dash overtook the boy's panicked mind. He would save her, this time things would be different. They had to be. As the distance closed between them, Ryland reached for his shield to throw and distract the giant. Yet a sudden burst of pressure slammed into his chest and he was off his feet. The impact enough that he didn't even remember his time in the air, simply slamming into the ground with enough force to ram the air from his lungs. Gasping desperately, he tried to force himself to his feet but only to be slammed once more to the ground. Coughing up blood and looking down at a searing pain in his abdomen, Ryland's eyes went wide to see a jagged tooth sticking out of his skin. His attention then turned forwards as he heard heavy, wet slithering through the grass before him. Shock coursed through his veins as he couldn't move, frozen in the spot as surely as if Medusa had glared him down. Yet the being before him... was not Medusa. A massive serpent of deep green color, eyes that pierced his very soul glaring him down. With an open maw that could easily swallow him whole, and rows of hideous, jagged teeth that matched the one buried in his side. Behind the creature, he could see a massive pillar of flame shooting upwards, accompanied by those hideous screams of pain that haunted his dreams to this day. The screams of a girl burning as punishment for her foolishness in fighting such a powerful creature. Then the serpent lunged, and Ryland could only begin to scream as its maw surged closer and his vision went black. The scream finished with a loud echo and the creaking complaint of a steel-framed bed. Covered in sweat and with a wild look in his eyes, Ryland tore his shirt upwards to look where his hideous wound had been. Yet there was simply smooth skin there, not even the sign of an old wound healed. Touching his abdomen, he could feel exactly where the tooth had broken out of his skin. Yet it simply... didn't exist. The hammering of his heart finally began to slow as Ryland turned his attention upwards, finally hearing the soft thundering that was always rumbling through his cabin. With a look that went a thousand yards, the boy looked up towards the statue of his father that sat in the far corner of the room. Staring ahead with its emotionless expression, as if uncaring of the obvious experience Ryland had just experienced. He couldn't help but feel more alone than he did at that very moment. It was a firm reminder that he was supposed to be the strong one at camp. So, with the dying screams of his friends still roaring in his ears Ryland rose and went about a quick morning routine. Dressing and such, Ryland tried to make himself look as composed as ever. Whatever he had just dreamed... he needed to think it through. Stepping out his cabin into the orange-colored landscape of a camp at sunrise, Ryland let out a long sigh. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep up this confident facade anymore. Forcing those thoughts from his mind, he summoned the winds to lift him high into the sky as if he were a superhero from the comics he used to read. Summoning the winds once more, Ryland made an easy path through the sky until he eventually landed at the arena. He was going to train with Haydn later that morning, so the boy felt that the arena was the perfect place to work through his inner turmoil. Already knowing he was going to be working up quite a sweat, and that others wouldn’t be coming by for some time, Ryland lazily tossed the tank-top to the side and got to work unleashing his inner turmoil upon the poor dummy before him in the hopes of regaining his composure before Haydn arrived.
►Unknown◄
►Location: The Sanctuary ►Interactions: None Amid a long stretch of mountains, everything in nature seemed to stand eerily still. As if everything in the world was holding its breath in anticipation of what may come in the next few moments. Snow-capped mountains that each had a sea of green at their base from the massive forests that surrounding these beautiful mountains. Coupled with the lovely blues of crystal-clear waters that flowed down from the melting snows into a large lake in the valley below. Truly, something out of an artist's painting or a photograph one might see on a postcard advertising nature tours or the like. A landscape captured perfectly at a moment in time and seemed perfectly content to hold onto this moment for as long as it could. Of course, none of this actually mattered to the hungry eagle soaring gently on the winds overhead in its desperate search for food. Movement far below, imperceptible to any eye except for that of the mighty eagle. Taking it as a bid for a tasty rat, the bird tucked its wings and ripped through the air at breakneck speeds. Plummeting like a rock to find that tasty little morsel of prey that would feed it for the day as it flew on to find a new home. Yet the bird suddenly stopped its fall and came to land on a branch in the forest. Its head curiously tilted around as its nose was filled with the tantalizing scent of meat. Although these scents seemed to smell sour judging by the bird's unwillingness to move from its perch and instead look around the area. The movement it had seen? A half-eaten corpse of a rabbit rolling down the gentle incline. Now that it was sitting on this branch, the bird of prey was bombarded by the scent of rotting meat floating in the air. It squaked harshly at the scent and took off to find food elsewhere, yet never even made it off its perch. A slab of wood flattened the creature against the tree that paid host to it. The large wooden club belonging to a bumbling creature that looked like a man except much, much larger. With rotting, yellowed teeth and a single eye in the middle of his forehead, it was clear this creature did not belong to the mortal world. With a deep, booming laugh that crossed the mountains, the Cyclops held up the corpse of the bird. "We'se gots a good snack for mama!" It called out to the other walking alongside it with another bellowing laugh. Together the two turned to cross the forest floor ridden with corpses of various animals, and even signs of humans in some places. The grass stained red in some areas, which others bore signs of a struggle. Crossing this land they joined up with one of the two distinct convoys of creatures on the move. Broken shields and sword lay impaled in trees and the ground, a testament that a struggle had occurred here not too far in the past. The column that the two Cyclops joined left this forest and turned south, clearly with an intended target in that direction while the other turned northward. Both columns of horrific creatures that would drive a mere mortal insane led up the mountains to a single opening large enough to fit a warship. From here they left, and within even more of the horrors milled around. An array of slithering, hissing, and other monstrous noises made it a dull roar inside this cave. Yet the middle edge of the cliff, overlooking the entire mountain range was left completely alone. As if the beasts knew better than to stray towards it. From the back of the cave, an eerie green light accompanied by the pained, weak wails of a dying man was barely recognizable. Yet up front in the empty area, two figures stood in front of a stone throne sitting on a carpeted and otherwise well-furnished square. One barely recognizable thanks to the shadows hiding most of their figure. The other, a woman wearing a full body covering with the headpiece occasionally shifting as a rather... scaly head poked out from under. She also wore sunglasses, as if nothing of her body was permitted in the open. "Preparationssss are complete." The covered one hissed as she tucked a scaly body back under the cloth. "We will be lying in wait." She finished before bowing her head and taking a step back. The shadow covered figure leaned forward slightly, making only her deep green lips visible in the light as they twisted into a smile. Then those lips moved to speak in a voice laden with honey and venom, elegance and power.
"So our little game begins."