New arrivals get a grand tour! [Private to SpySkater]

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

Julie led the way up the hill, deliberately moving slowly. She wanted to delay the surprise of revealing the Camp to the twins to build as much anticipation as possible. It would be no fun if they found out quickly. The nymph was excited to be out in the sun, feeling the grass on her feet. Several times she deliberately tumbled to the ground just for the fun of it. She wanted to ask Ariadne to join her in that activity, but figured the human would be tired. Oh well, she could have fun eveb without someone to play around with her.

Ariadne laughed whenever Julie tumbled in the grass. She found it amusing. It wasn't often people were willing to do that. Then again, she was already dirty. No worries. Lysander even cracked a smile. Her insanity to him was utterly amusing and laughable at times. He was also glad to see his sister happy. Ariadne had been quite upset since she'd taken that arrow to the shoulder. Their mother dropping them off only made it worse. She needed to smile.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

Julie was glad to see Ariadne laugh. The girl looked like she hadn't laughed a lot recently. It was surprising that she could make Lysander smile. She would have been willing to bet that that would never happen--at least, not around her. The nymph was enjoying herself. It had been a long since she'd last had some fun with humans. Not many of them frequented the forest, and even fewer liked to hang around dryads.

Lysander adjusted the bags on his shoulders. When he lifted the straps, he could feel the soreness of his body. He clenched his teeth, preventing himself from groaning. He'd be happy to get these things off of his shoulders. They were weighing him down and slowed his pace. He tried on focusing on the destination in order to ignore the pain. It was a method he'd used since he was a child.

Ariadne glanced at him, noting his struggle. As tough as he tried to appear, Ariadne could read him like a book... well, if she didn't have dyslexia. She was his twin sister after all and they'd grown up together. He hadn't change much in the last three years either which was a good thing for her.

"I can take my bag, Lysander," she said, concern coating her voice. Lysander glanced at her and shook his head. He didn't want to speak, afraid the pain he actually felt would show through.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

Julie stopped her attack on the grass long enough to notice that Lysander was struggling with the bags. "You okay?" she asked, though there wasn't much concern in her voice. The human was acting tough and (in Julie's opinion) being stupid. He should just let Ariadne carry her own bag. The nymph shook her head. "Boys."

Deciding to let Lysander in silence, since that seemed to be what he wanted, the dryad moved over to Ariadne, smiling to the girl. "So tell me, what do you like to do? Like, hobbies and such?" She was determined to find out who the twins' god parent was before they did, and this was one way to do it.

"Um, well," Ariadne began, the worry for her brother still in her voice. "I like to sing. And I write and I love to play softball and do photography." Those were her general interests at least. They were the things she spent most of her time doing, photography less so than the rest. "I like to draw, too, but Lysander is much better at it than I am. He's amazing. I think he gets it from our mom."

Lysander smiled at the compliment. He always appreciated getting a compliment from his sister. Those never seemed to be about his ego. The made him genuinely happy and took great pride. His sister meant the world to him.

"You're a better singer," he said.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

Julie was having difficulty placing the twins as the children of a specific god. At the moment, it was sounding like they were children of Apollo--him being the god of creativity--but she couldn't be too sure. There were other creative gods out there. Still, even if she didn't know whose kids they were, trying to figure it out was fun for her. It was like a guessing game, only without a prize if she got the answer right. The twins got the prize in this case. Oh well, the nymph didn't need prizes anyway. She was happy as she was.

The dryad turned to Lysander. "You draw? What do you draw? Do you draw trees? If you don't, you should. Trees are awesome."

"I draw mainly Greek myths," Lysander answered. "Won a lot of prizes and medals for my works. Greek mythology is one of my favorite things." Lysander had been interested in mythology since he was in third grade. It had been because of the Disney animated movie Hercules, but his first accurate Greek myth had been the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops. Polyphemus was his first drawing.

"He's amazingly good. He passed stick figures when we were three," Ariadne bragged for him. She was probably exaggerating. At least, that's what Lysander figured. He usually exaggerated about his talents, but never art. Art was his true passion in life and he never needed to exaggerate. His work did it for him.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

Julie smiled at Lysander's answer. She was beginning to like him more. It made perfect sense that the boy would like Greek myths, considering his parentage (though he still didn't know who his dad was). When Ariadne bragged about her brother's skills, Julie's smile grew. "You should draw something for me!" she said. "My tree is a bit dull right now. Micah could use some pretty artwork to make him...or her look more exciting."

Lysander chuckled and nodded. He enjoyed drawing for others. It usually resulted in them praising him, his talent, or the work of art. He was more like his father than he knew. Of course a god would love to be praised and that showed in Lysander.

"If you would like. What should I draw?" he asked. He then remembered he hadn't packed his own bag. He hoped his mom had packed his drawing tools. He usually didn't go anywhere without them. They were his favorite possessions. He didn't even know who'd given him the expansive set of colored pencils and, for that reason, he treasured them most of all.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

When Lysander nodded, Julie smiled and clapped her hands in excitement. "Yay! Thank you!" Then Lysander asked a really difficult question. Julie went silent. What did she want him to draw for her? A tree? No, a drawing of a tree in a tree was too boring. Plus, what if Micah got jealous of the drawing? She couldn't do that to the tree that had sheltered her and taken care of her for all her life. Maybe something meaningful...

"Oh!" the nymph exclaimed as an idea came to her. "Draw yourself and Ariadne! That way, even when yo're busy in Camp and can't come visit me I'll be able to look at a picture of my new friends."

Ariadne smiled brightly. She looked at her brother. Lysander could tell she was honored by Julie's request. Ariadne wasn't as egotistical as her brother, but she certainly was prideful enough. Recently, that pride had been taking a fatal blow. This seemed to build it up again after months of slow collapse.

"That's a great idea," Ariadne said. "You can do that, right, Lysander?" Lysander smiled softly, seeing his sister's smile. He nodded.

"Yes. It may take a while to draw me, but I can do it," he replied.

Posts : 250 Join date : 2011-01-15 Age : 31

"Yay! Thank you! I know it'll be amazing! Oh, and don't worry if it takes a a while to draw. When you finish it you can just come to my tree and give it to me."

They were about to reach the top of the hill, from which the twins would be able to see Camp Half Blood below. The dryad slowed her pace as they reached the top, then stopped right at the highest point of the hill, right by Thalia's Pine. She smiled at the twins. "Welcome to Camp," she said, moving aside to allow them to see for themselves.

Lysander thought about going back to her tree. He honestly couldn't say he remembered how to get there. All the trees looked the same to him. He just knew that her tree was not in the shallow part of the forest. It was deeper in. How would he ever find it again? Were there directions he could follow? Well, that just sounded idiotic. How would he follow them? Ah, well, no use in not asking.

"How would I find your tree again?" Lysander wondered, looking at Julie curiously. Ariadne nodded in agreement. She'd apparently been thinking the same thing.

When they reached the top of the hill, Lysander and Ariadne looked down. Their eyes widened at the sight. So many buildings. So many kids their age. They all seemed to be running around with swords and axes and bows and arrows which seemed weird, but the Sparrow twins could get used to it. Ariadne smiled while her brother's mouth remained open in shock.

"Wow," the girl said simply, completely in awe at the sight before her.

» Le Grand Tour
» Giving myself a tour... Oh, come on! I'm pretty sure someone can give me a tour around here! (private to Callie)
» Tour Around Camp (Private to Boo)
» A Tour around the Camp (Private for purewhite!Raven)
» Taking a Tour (Private to Artemismoon and Alex the Yellow)