Le Spring Fling Guard [ o p e n -- anyone who has a character not attending the dance ]

Annoyed that Ray hadn't spoken to her since two days earlier, Cassie marched to the border of the camp. She'd heard about how there was going to be a couple patrols, patrolling the camp that night. She figured that was her main excuse to not go to the dance. She'd say that she got punished by Chiron and that she was stuck on patrol duty.

Cassie had pulled out a long sleeved, olive green shirt and threw it on with a pair of black armor pants. She'd also grabbed a pair of her brother's combat boots. She figured he wouldn't mind. After strapping her weapons belt around her, she then grabbed her bow and quiver full of freshly sharpened arrows. She'd also stuck three knives into her weapons belt. Trudging over to the border, she noticed how eerily quiet the camp was. She could also hear soft, thumping noises coming from the Southern part of camp. She knew it was the dance and she hoped Ray was having a good time.

Cassie was just adjusting her armor when she heard a few sticks snap. She stopped what she was doing immediately and knocked an arrow in her bow. She had the bow up, ready to fire. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" She demanded, in a commanding tone of voice. Her eyes and face were serious. She heard some leaves shuffling and she whirled around, pointing her bow towards the sound. Faintly, the same of smoke reached her nose. Her nostrils flared the tiniest bit and she wondered if this was an attack from a hellhound or something.

Hearing the call for her to show herself, she ignored it. It was exactly what the enemy would want her to do. Cassie moved quickly. She released the arrow into the woods, hopefully directly at the spot where the intruder was. She'd heard the sounds coming from that spot, so she hoped she'd caught the intruder. She pulled out another arrow as she quickly moved through the woods. "I've got you now," she murmured, nocking the arrow and pointing it foward. She burst out of the trees and came face to face with a boy.

She was a little bit afraid of this kid, though she was armed and he wasn't. Or, at least that Cassie could see. Her eyes raked over him. He didn't look like he was armed. Though.. that lighter looked iffy. Cassie didn't put down the box one bit, she only jerked her head a little bit and spoke in a low voice, "Are you a demigod of Camp or do you come from Kronos?" She slowly inched foward, advancing until her arrow was abot twelve inches away from his face. In the distance she could hear her patrol talking and laughing. Those idiots. They'd be attracting attention like flies to sugar.

A bit of sweat trickled down the back of Cassie's neck from her hair. It was rather humid outside for a day in April. Then again, they didn't really have a spring. They had a nine month long summer and a three month long autumn type thing. But never anything like winter. The camp was always warm and summery. It was a summer camp for gods' sake. Why would it be cold? Nevermind the weather, she told herself, her multicolored gaze lingering on the boy's eyes. They were a warm brown. He was handsome. It'd be a shame to have to kill him if he was invader.

Cassie couldn't remember if she'd ever seen him at Camp before. Then again, she spent all of her time in the forge, so...

Cassie lowered her bow with a glare. She reached up to her forehead and wiped sweat off of it. "Well how was I supposed to know that he wasn't a Kronos demigod? So I called out and he never answered. He should've answered," she said looking pointedly at the boy. He looked annoyed, definitely. Not that she cared. The daughter of Hephaestus took the arrow off the bow and stuck it back into her quiver. Though she was kind of glad Hale had come along. She might've actually killed this kid. Then she would've spilled blood for no reason. But she probably wouldn't have. In her defense, the kid should have answered her right away.

She glanced back at the boy's face. It was rather snooty looking, with that sarcastic look in his eyes and that almost smug look on his face. It almost made her want to hit him. She hated the smugness on people's faces. Softly her petite, little ears began to pick up a faint... slithering? Was that slithering? She asked herself too late. She felt something wet and slimy wrap itself around her ankle. A sharp tug and she was being pulled into the bushes. She heard herself cry out for help, but she couldn't reach for her bow before she was dragged away from it. She felt branches scrape at her face and mud get into her eyes and hair. At that point she didn't care.

When the dragging was over with, and the slimy thing was off her ankle, and she was on the ground, Cassie sat up and looked around. She was in a dark part of the Forest. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten here that quickly. Even though the Forest was only a few hundred feet away, she felt like she'd been dragged for miles. Cassie pulled her knees up to her chest and reached into her belt, producing a small automaton. It was a miniature centaur made from copper and bronze. It had its own miniature bow and arrows that were sharp like little needles. She picked it up and whispered, "Find Hale," then set it down. The centaur's eyes blinked red and it turned itself around and galloped away.