it is not enough to be dumbstruck --- [open]

One of Haven's least favorite days were the ones that involved excessive training in the arena. she didn't mind the sweat, or the ache of holding up a sword for hours on end brought to her arms. She was perfectly okay with every part of training, except for the fact that she was a screw up and fell down and lost a lot of matches. It wasn't necessarily like she was an awful fighter, in fact she was decent, using her mind to anticipate angles and lashes, but training in a group, with loads of people watching you, was a lot different than attacking a monster in the woods.

The children of Hecate were walking around, warming up for their session that, as far as Haven could tell, was scheduled once Hephaestus' ended. she always enjoyed how their powers danced with colors, filled with sparks of energy, but her eyes were especially drawn to the boy off to the side who intently concentrated on the space between the hands he held before himself. She stood by the water hose, wiping her mouth where the water dripped as suddenly there was a spark and a little ball of fiery light spun into existence between his hands. He looked ecstatic even though it looked as if it were only a fifth of what his siblings could create. Haven smiled.

All of a sudden that little ball of light was bouncing all over the arena. people dodged and jumped aside, yelling at one another and demanding who had thrown the energy ball. Haven's smile faded as she grabbed a thick metal breast plate from the ground, watching the ball and it's movements. It hit the wall across from her then suddenly rocketed her way. While she was expecting the direction she didn't calculate the speed. her moves were slower but haven quickly spun, letting the orb hit the wall behind her, but trapping it against the brick of the arena with the breast plate, her arms vibrating from the impact and the bounces the ball made against its confined walls.

the light of energy died out, but not without one last fight. like a tiny explosion, it died between the plate and the wall, sending Haven backwards and leaving a nice black star shape on the wall where it was confined. she was on the ground once again that day, her arms vibrating as if she were still holding the plate against the wall. "Ow."

Haven blinked, and looked at her small hands as they shook on their own, still feeling like jello from the impact. It was a weird feeling, she concluded, but not much different than the one she got after training for hours, which was usual when she left the Arena anyway. she smiled, despite the others, proud of herself in a weird way, thinking that leaving to washup before dinner that night would be much better than any other day.

She was still smiling when she noticed the boy appear next to her. She had to blink once or twice as the sun beat down brightly against her eyes, making her realize she probably was a little worse than jello-fied at this point. Haven realized by the glasses on his face that this was the boy who created the reckless ball in the first place, only this time, his hair was sticking up in a wild position, different than before. She concluded she didn't look much better, though, probably worse than a little stray hairs.

"I'm fine!" she said quickly, and a little loudly, but held a smile just the same. His words came out fast to her and she had to take a second to process them but responded in just as quick a tone as he. "Uhm- Yes, I can see. Uh- five! Haven, Camp Half Blood, I mean, I guess." She paused and breathed a short laugh at his comment, taking a very quick second to calm herself, but returned her look to the boy. "yes I can breathe fine, I think. I mean, it feels like it anyway."

Haven took a few long and deep breaths in and out as she let her eyes wander again to the wall and the breastplate that lay on the ground deformed and dented oddly. Once again she let out a breath of a laugh. She was acting like a spaz and she suddenly became perfectly aware of that. Her face flushed and her head pounded with pain which she chose to ignore.

For a second haven's eyes followed the boy's who now sat besides her all the way to the group of presumably his siblings on the other end of the Arena. The chaos has stopped almost as soon as it started. Haven came to understand that the abnormal was normal in this camp, but she would have suspected a slower get back to work stage. The way the Hecate kids seemed to handle their little balls of light was mastery compared to what the boy, Spencer he introduced himself, could do. And there was a pang of relatability she had with him for that second. She was hardly the forger in her own cabin compared to her siblings. In fact, she told herself she resembled her siblings in virtually no way at all. Haven was wrong, of course, but there was hardly anything changing her mind.

Haven did level herself and calmed herself to slow her heart rate down, though, just enough to attempt to lower her voice and calm her spazzy talk she had come aware of. As her eyes went back to Spencer she clasped her hands tightly, crossing her legs and almost mimicking his new position. She cleared her throat. "Don't worry about your little orb of death," haven began, forcing confidence into her tone, but lowering her volume a little, and spreading her arms wide, "I can handle it. I'm good."

The girl laced her fingers together again and looked down at the gravel flooring. The jello-like numbness in her body was fading, slowly, but mostly was gone by that time. She also tried not to think about what her siblings were thinking at the moment. "Haven!" she said abruptly forgetting to introduce herself and jolting her eyes back to the boy next to her. "I mean, I'm Haven."her laugh came short this time, a breath of embarrassment and internal scolding of herself.