Just hanging out...Literally

Sal walked through the forest with a stealth and ease borne from years of practice. Night was falling so most of the campers were heading toward the camp, Sal only loosened his sword and put on his shield. Sal always put off going back to camp as long as possible. It was better that the town he grew up in, but he still hated it and the people in it. Out in the forest he was at peace, the animals, the plants, and even to his surprise the monsters all held a balance that nothing involving humans could understand. He was incredibly happy when he found out that he was a demigod, it meant that there was something that would separate him from the humans he hated. He noticed a small animal on the ground and knelt to take a look. I was a small white fox, and was clearly hurt. The sense of pain was so strong it almost brought tears to Sal's eyes. He set his shield down and pull some medical things out of a pouch he always kept on him. Soon he had the fox bandaged up and hidden under a thick bush. "Good luck and get better." he said to the fox. The feeling he sensed then was something akin to gratitude, but not quite.

Sal tensed as he heard a sound in the trees, after years in the woods and a few attacks you do not over look any sound. He took the flashlight that was clipped to his belt and turned it on and swept it across the tree branches only stopping as he saw a pair of feet. He raised the to the person's chest and noticed that they were a girl so he moved the light to the tree next to her, the edge of the light catching the left side of her face. "And who might you be?" He asked knowing few stayed out here as darkness fell.

Sal scoffed at the thought of the Ares kids making him do anything. "Sal, undetermined. And I'm out here for my own reasons, those idiots in the Ares cabin could force me out here if they tried." He said turning off the light and letting his eyes start to adjust to the darkness. He had good night vision it just took long for his eye to get there than the children of night or shadow gods.

Sal, looked up. "All nature is beautiful before the virus of mankind begins to act upon it." he said and began walking away as his eyes adjusted. She seemed to be one of the better kids in camp but because of his past he still wont trust her. I took weeks for him to work up the hear to trust Chiron who is the only person in this camp that he will actually listen to.

Sal stopped and sighed. "Show one guy in this whole camp that doesn't count as 'strange'. As for if you've done something, no you haven't. I'm just not a people person." He said as he again looked up, this time at the moon. "I have yet to me a human that is good." He continued, "No human has ever done anything other than hurt me. Not even my parents." He finished and waited for her response.

"I didn't have terrible parents, in fact I didn't have parents at all. At least now I know one of them had a reason." He said thinking back to all the kids in the orphanage that yelled that his parents didn't love him, and he knew it was true. "Trust is not so easily given. However I have never been one to not give people chances." He turned and walked over to her and held his hand out. "For the sake of this planet I pray that you are right."

Sal let his hand fall to his side. "Those that say the are always right scarcely are." He said as he turned and began walking parallel to the edge of the forest. Part of his was scared of get close to anyone, another part craved it. He felt at war with himself. When there is more than one person conflict is assured. He was beginning to think that even if there is only one person then that person will go to war alone against them self.

"Yes." Sal quickly answered to her first question. "Being around anyone isn't 'fun' to me." He said to her next one. He knew he was being curt bordering on rude, but it was to tiring to act nice, and he'd have to do it later anyway. "You shouldn't say that you won't hurt someone unless you know what will hurt them." He said still walking, feeling a bit uncomfortable around another person.

As she yelled at him Sal stopped, stunned slightly. He felt no malice in it. As she spoke again calming down asking the same thing and trying to defend her out burst, he chuckled. "I realize that I can make being a friend to me difficult and for that I apologize, but how does one act toward a friend? I've never had any friends to learn that." He turned around so that his back was face her. " 'What will hurt you?' I have any idea how to list it all. I guess the easiest was is to say, 'Meet my expectation of the human race'."

Sal let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "Very well Kari Mckay. I shall tempt fate again and trust in the human race as a whole." He said turning around and shaking her hand. "As a sign of good faith I shall do that which I have not done in near on two decades, formally introduce myself. I am Saltus Custos, the guardian of the forest. I suspect that I am a child of either Demeter or Pan. Although I can not be sure. Please only refer to me as Sal when others are around." As he introduced himself he did a sweeping bow toward Kari.

Sal blinked as he talked. When she finished he began following her. "Scar? Oh you have a scar to?" He said as he walked a bit faster to see the scar on her cheek. "I didn't notice, I tend to not look at people's faces." He said disregarding the fact now, he'd treat it like his own, pretend it didn't exist. "It's not like I'ma blow up a major city if this fails or anything. I;ll just become a hermit or something that doesn't involve people." He said responding to the comment about all mankind resting on her. The mousy comment threw him of. "What's wrong with being timid? As long as you don't let it rule you it could probably be an endearing quality." He stated matter-of-factly. He put his hands behind his head, one thumb rubbing the indented edge of the scar on the back of his neck, without noticing.

"Then don't let it." Sal said bluntly walking around Kari to sit with his back to a tree. He drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground and set his shield next to it. "I actually like the idea of becoming a Hermit. The Hermit of Half-blood Forest. It has a nice ring to it." Sal said turning his eyes to the canopy above them. He moved his hand to his next, mildly wondering if she really believed him about his scar. She didn't comment, like most of the others did.