In the Dark of the Woods [Shan]

Subject: In the Dark of the Woods [Shan] Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:25 pm

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Slowly, I stalked through the woods. There had been a few hell-hounds, of that I was sure. So I was hunting. Mostly seeing where they were. Sure, I was in the Gatherer Group. But that didn't mean I wasn't skilled with my bow and arrow. It just meant I .... well gathered. The dark seemed to converge, and I felt slightly suffocated. They could be anywhere here. Anywhere. Hell-hounds were fast, agile, strong, and not to mention the fact they could shadow travel at will. And just walking here, in the dark and heavily cloaked woods.
I was somewhere between New York and Camp Half-Blood. The Camp for demi-gods everywhere. I remembered my time there. Feeling so unfulfilled and useless. Then when the Hunters came recruiting, I was made up. Never going to look back. I took my oath, and that was it. A Hunter for my life, and a few others too. Unless I was felled in battle of course.
A sudden rustle to the left made me draw my bow and arrow, concentrating. The hell-hound was dead before he, or she, could even look startled. It exploded into dust around me, and I smiled in grim victory, one down. Just another two to go, if any. They could be well moved on by now. They could be in Iowa. California. Los Angeles, and man there were some strong monsters there. But something, some reason made me keep looking. Slowly, I made my way through the thick underbrush, pushing aside branches and leaves.

Charlie's Wardrobe
http://www.polyvore.com/charlies_wardrobe/set?id=44519698

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Guest

Zelda hummed as she walked through the woods. She was enjoying the darkness, the tranquility, the not being dead. Zelda knew all about dead things. Her father was Thanatos, after all. The girl twirled her hair between her fingers, her free hand on her sword hilt. She was alone and quiet aware that there was indeed monsters in these woods.

Seperated from her adopted family of the circus, she had no back up. She didn't like having no one to have her back. She kept humming, daring mosnters to approach. She'd slice and dice and if she got any new scars. she could use that to scare little kiddies with. She was adamant that she was staying alive. And once Zelda decides something, she does it.

The Circus of Horrors knew about that when she got claimed. At the time she'd been working for the Carnival Bizarre, selling cheap knick-knacks. She decided she'd stay with the circus and it was obvious she meant business. The life of a stubborn daughter of Thanatos was never that simple, though.

Subject: Re: In the Dark of the Woods [Shan] Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:24 am

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Sighing, I kicked at the mossy ground, a few twigs crackling. It was quite boring just waiting.
Pulling the chunk of playdoh from my pocket, I kneaded it and slowly pulled two pieces apart.

A few minutes passed while I let my hands just do what I thought was right, and at the end I was holding a small, sculpted rose, each petal flattened on the palm of my hand before being placed slightly over lapping. I smiled at what I had made, before closing my fist and holding just a chunk of doh again.

That was when the noise went to my left. I turned, slightly startled, wondering what had made the sound. Well I wasn't sticking around too long to find out. Nearly running to the nearest tree, I grabbed the lowest branch and vaulted up onto it. I climbed up about three more branches, crouching against the trunk of the tree....a Walnut if I was thinking straight, and watched towards the spot where I heard the crack. Anything could come out. A hell-hound. A deer. A person.

Even though I was slightly scared of what would come out, I smiled again, and pulled my Bow from my back. Carefully, I also pulled an arrow, and notched it, taking aim. If anything came out that wasn't humanoid in look, well it was gonna have a nasty headache.

Charlie's Wardrobe
http://www.polyvore.com/charlies_wardrobe/set?id=44519698

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Guest

She was humming and walking, making as much noise as she wanted. She came to a stop at a tree and looked up. A small branch was moving like someone or something had moved it recently. She narrowed her eyes. "There's something odd..." said the circus girl.

The high wire act looked around, looking up as well as down, keeping an eye out. Maybe I'll have fun now. I haven't killed anything for a while, she thought.

Subject: Re: In the Dark of the Woods [Shan] Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:19 am

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I lowered my weapon. It was a girl. Or at least she looked like a girl. Really, you've got to admit it could be anything. Some monsters could take the form of people after all.
I shifted my weight, and watched her through a small break in the leaves. She actually did look pretty average. I mean, as average as someone could look at night, and in the woods. I contemplated how I could get out of this predicament.
If she was mortal, then she was in danger anyways. But most likely, the girl would wonder why I had a quiver of arrows and a colorful bow. Oh, and how I had gotten up the tree so fast, and why I went up there anyway.
If she was a monster, then she already knew I was up here from my scent. I didn't get that though. How did demi-gods have a scent? I mean, sure, monsters can sense you, but how do you have a stronger smell the more powerful a demi-god you are? It didn't make sense, and more to the point, it was stupid. Monsters can smell everything. So why were we di- Shush Charlie. We're trying to work out what to do here, not discussing the meaning of the universe. Okay. So if the girl was a monster, then she would change immediately, more or less, and attack me. I may be able to hold her off for a while, but there would be no telling what kind of monster she was.
Then there was the slim possibility that the girl was a demi-god. But thinking that, I didn't think I had ever seen her at Camp on one of my rare visits. So she might not be. Or she could be a new demi-god, not knowing what she was, and not knowing where to go.
To many options. The first one would probably get me arrested. The second, most likely killed. The third, well that one was unpredictable, and slightly scary. I mean, there was no guarantee she was a good demi-god. She could be part of the Army of Kronos.
I slightly moved my left foot, because I felt something crawling over it, and looked down to see a spider. Startled, I slipped backwards, just grabbing onto the branch before I fell completely.
Unfortunately, there was the slight problem that my bow had fallen to the ground below, making some noise going down. Even if it hadn't, she probably would have heard the noise I made. Well Charlie, well done, I thought viciously, looking down at the girl.

Charlie's Wardrobe
http://www.polyvore.com/charlies_wardrobe/set?id=44519698

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Guest

Slowly, Zelda reached and brought out her stygian iron sword. She swallowed and narrowed her eyes. She edged to a near by willow tree and wrapped a hand around the greenery. She put her sword between her teeth and started to climb up expertly.

Why live at a circus if you didn't pick up a few tricks, right? Zelda had a talent for acrobatics when she was there. She hadn't done it for a while. She was just lucky she'd taken hold of enough to hold her up. She used the green to swing to the bark, taking her sword out and stabbing to make sure she had something to hold on to as she climbed onto a more secure part of the tree.

She took a deep breath and said, "Who's out there?"

Subject: Re: In the Dark of the Woods [Shan] Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:38 pm

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Carefully, I stood on the branch, holding onto the thick trunk of the tree. Steadying myself, I cursed myself.
My bow was lying on the moss covered ground, and I was basically stuck up here.
"Who's out there?" the girl said.
How was I supposed to answer that? Hi, I'm Charlie, You? Oh, a Monster? Byyeee? No way. That would probably make me seem like a psycho.
I looked down, intending to see where she was stadning. Oh, and if she had seen me. That was a major factor too.
She wasn't there.
Startled, I looked around, and caught a glimpse of something. She wasn't below me anymore. No. She was at basically the same level as me, on a Willow trees more sturdy branches. I cursed softly, looking down again at my fallen bow. Crap. There was only one other thing for it.
'Em, hi! Charlie here, and em, I just want to ask. Are you like, dangerous, you know, like a mor- murderer or a monster?' I called.
That was a little stupid Charlie, now what is she going to think? Maybe she would take the monster part as like, a mortal monster. Like a person who had done crimes so bad it couldn't be classed as murder. Or she could have noticed the little slip up you had with the word "mortal". Oh yeah, weren't you smart for doing that.
She's probably a very scared young girl. Maybe she was just out for a walk, and maybe she got lost...and then...nothing. A mortal wouldn't have survived too long out here this deep into the forest. There were too many monsters. Too many things that go bump in the night. And most of them, well they liked to eat little girls.
There were hell-hounds, who would basically eat anything. Mostly they ignored mortals, but that wasn't really set in stone. Then there were cyclopes, but they didn't live exactly here as far as I knew. Of course there were more. Manticores. Myermikes. Dracnae. Empousa. But most of them were easy to handle. One good arrow, aimed perfectly, flying into their skull or their heart...but I didn't have my bow. I had a quiver of arrows over my shoulder, each with sharp, pointy ends, but no bow to aim them with. Sure, they could be a good enough weapon on their own with said pointy and sharp ends, but they needed some sort of force behind them. A sort of force that was really only really made with a string snapping, sending the arrow fling through the air.

Charlie's Wardrobe
http://www.polyvore.com/charlies_wardrobe/set?id=44519698

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Guest

'Em, hi! Charlie here, and em, I just want to ask. Are you like, dangerous, you know, like a mor- murderer or a monster?' came the voice of a girl.

The sixteen year old tried to focus on the area the voice came from and finally spotted the other girl. "Oh. There you are. I'm Zelda. I suppose I am dangerous. But I ain't no monster or no murderer. How do you know about monsters then?"

Zelda had been to Camp Half Blood from age eight to eleven before being pulled out. She'd ditched boarding school and now the Irish girl was sitting in a tree, separated from the circus and talking to a girl in a tree. Camp Half Blood had taught her something. Two things if you count the fact that minor demigods or unclaimed usually get overlooked. Zelda had been over looked. Focus... Zelda had learned to be suspicious.

Subject: Re: In the Dark of the Woods [Shan] Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:25 am

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I raised my eyebrow, and looked her over.
'The question would more be, how do you know about monsters? I mean, your the person who just appeared. I was here long before you.'
That sounded whiny Charlie. I mean, who are you to be that mean? Oh, well I suppose you were startled. And your only weapon is lying on the ground about five/six meters away from you. Isn't that great. Weaponless, and stuck in a tree.
I watched her. She looked slightly suspicious, like she was on guard. Who the hell could blame her? I mean, of she was human, then she had just been scared by me...Oh my Gods, she has a sword, I noticed. So that kinda put an end to the whole "She's just a helpless mortal".
'Em, yeah. I'm Charlie Grandge, as I said a few minutes ago, and I'm a Daughter of Iris. Yeah, and em, I'm a Hunter of Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, Wild Beasts, the Moon and Young Maidens. And, I just noticed that you had a weapon, and I didn't, so if this is gonna come down to a fight, I would appreciate if it could be on fair terms, and if you would kindly let me get my bow,' that sounded much to formal, but on these kind've terms, well it probably would be best to be formal then dead.
If the girl was a mortal, even a mortal with an awesome sword collection, it would still be better to have her think I was a professional looney than to think I was like a murderer in the woods.
What of she was a demi-god? Why was she out here, all alone? Or were there more people with her? I mean, there could be as far as I knew. Only one thing for it.
'And, before we get into this. Are there more people around? Like, were you travelling with people? Your friends?' I asked, sighing at the end.
Surely if she had been travveliing with someone, they would be waiting for her somewhere. MAybe they were hoping she would come back, and she hadn't.

Charlie's Wardrobe
http://www.polyvore.com/charlies_wardrobe/set?id=44519698

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