we were born for this [private]

Robin was not new to the concept of climbing. Tree-climbing, for instance, was an integral part of her childhood. She knew where to place her hands and feet, she knew how to hoist herself up the trunk. She had even scaled fences before. Actually, Robin would say that she was a pretty good climber. She was Robin Hayes! She could climb anything! Until she got to Camp Half Blood's climbing wall, where lava poured from the top and boulders just came crashing towards you. Yay... not.

Robin's forehead was damp with sweat, strands of red hair sticking to it like glue, and she winced as she saw someone to her right barely dodge the lava. A hissing sound filled the air and smoke unfurled from his partly burnt sleeve - both making her want to gag and call it quits. It was too late though. She was already a little over halfway up, and to be honest the prospect of coming down seemed a tad scarier than going up. Keeping this in mind, Robin pushed herself higher, her hands jumping from one handhold to another, her feet scrambling to follow. What's with this camp anyway? she thought bitterly. It's either we get killed by monsters or get killed training to fight said monsters. Don't we get a choice that could keep us alive?

A dark shadow was cast upon her and her head snapped up, only to see a huge boulder rolling down like an over-sized bowling ball.

Keeping her right hand on the ledge, Robin put all her strength on swinging to the right. She closed her eyes the same moment the boulder ploughed down. Narrow miss. She could practically feel the wind rushing past her face. But before she could let out a sigh of relief, dread washed over Robin at a sudden realization. She couldn't hold on any longer. Then her grip went slack.

She only had a few moments' notice before she came sliding down the wall, a hoarse scream ripping her throat, and her hands desperately groped for something to prevent her fall. Luckily enough, she snagged what felt like someone's shirt.

Now let's just hope that whoever owned that shirt was strong enough to hold on to the wall despite the fact that a redheaded girl was now clinging to him for dear life.

For a moment, Robin really thought she was going to die. That her luck would run out and she'd spiral down to her death, and worse still that she'd possibly be bringing another person down with her. But then, her luck hadn't run out, not yet, when the person she clung to was strong enough to stay on track. Holding on to the fabric of his shirt, Robin's eyes widened. Should be at least a fifty-foot fall. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but to be honest things like measurements didn't matter to her from this point on. The only thing she was sure of was that it would have been a really really long drop.

"Oh my gods, oh my gods..." Robin found herself gasping out. She didn't want to die! She didn't want to fall to her death like this, and she most certainly didn't want to be the cause of someone else's death! But then a familiar voice called her name and the white-faced girl forced her gaze up, her eyes widening and a relieved grin spreading across her face like wildfire. "Eli!"

She met the boy a couple of days ago, assaulting him with pillows. Right now, she had never been happier to see someone familiar. Of course, the relief quickly faded when she realized that she could end up being the cause of a friend's death.

Robin didn't think twice when he reached down, because it hadn't looked to her that he could hold on any longer. She clasped his hand with her free one, her grip slippery, and with a mighty swing she managed to get closer to the wall. Luckily, her feet both found ledges to stand on. She had let go of his hand - well it was more like her hand slipped from his due to how sweaty it was.

She pressed her body to the wall, not caring if it was hot from lava or what. When she spoke, her voice was muffled by how she had leaned her forehead against it, her face most likely shielded from view. "I-I'm so sorry, there was a boulder and it came crashing down and I slipped and - and..." Finally she took a huge breath, drinking in the fact that she was still living and breathing and not a demigod splat on the ground. "Eli... thank you."

She didn't realize that she was still holding on to his shirt, her knuckles already white.

A good day? Other than the fact that her shirt was singed in places and she had almost fallen to her death, well, Robin couldn't see any reason why this day wouldn't be as good as any other. She laughed at Eli's somewhat forced attempt to lighten the atmosphere. What's to be sad about? She was still alive and breathing, with both feet on ledges and both hands on - oh wait, she was still clinging to Eli's shirt. How rude.

"Sor - never mind," Robin mumbled, remembering what he had just said. She groped for the nearest handhold - anything that wasn't Eli. The danger hadn't passed. It was still a pretty long drop, and any wrong move could end up with her being a demigod splat on the ground below - along with Eli, if they were that unfortunate. But Robin had no trouble believing that they were unlucky, so no problems there. "Yeah, maybe that's it. Hey, Mom! If you're listening, thank you for not letting me die!"

Her gratitude was genuine. Even if she had never really known her mom until recently, Robin liked to believe that she was out there watching over her. That even if she couldn't see her, Tyche was there to guide her daughter to the right path. It was the one thing Robin had a lot of: faith. Her faith in people never ran out, and it probably never will. She was so quick to trust, so eager to come to anyone's aid because she had faith in them. Now, she liked to think that Tyche had a hand in preventing her death, and her lips curled into a smile at the thought.

But of course, she couldn't rely on her mother alone. Robin was still her own person. And it was this thought that pushed her back up, her emerald eyes burning with determination, her hand and feet working in unison that in a few seconds, she was already level with Elijah. She even threw a glance at him, her lips stretching into a grin much like his.

"Well I haven't really discovered my cool demigod power yet so who's to say that I can't fly?"

With another laugh, Robin hoisted herself up again, overtaking him. Maybe it was because of her light and small frame that she moved fast. Sucking in a quick puff of air with each foot she scaled, Robin kept her eyes on the prize. She could see the top now. It was only a few more feet away. If her luck held for a couple more minutes, she'd finally get back on even ground relatively unscathed (even if her clothes were slightly smoking).

But being so close to the top had its disadvantages. Such as when another one of those annoying boulders came out, you had less time to prepare. Less time to realize what to do, and hardly enough seconds to dodge. And this was something Robin realized too late.

The crash overhead sent a wave of anxiety over the overconfident Robin and for a split-second, she forgot what to do. It was the split-second that defined the boundary between safety and a world of hurt. When the shadow came Robin was too slow, and when the rock came down a moment after she felt the rough surface of it graze and roll on her left arm. She might as well be hit by a speeding car. Robin cried out the loudest sound she had ever made in her entire life.

It hurt. So. Damn. Much.

And when she thought things couldn't possibly get worse, her other limbs gave up and she slid down the climbing wall.