manticore invasion [open to those who signed up]

THE MANTICORE

The manticore tore another pillar down before it felt a knife embed in his side. Followed by an arrow. And another one. The monster stopped doing what is was and snarled before turning around. He growled and extended his claws reaching for a demigod hoping to either injure him or tear him apart. He bit the demigod hard in the side before dropping him because someone else attacked the manticore. He growled loudly before lashing out with his tail at the small demigods. Look how pathetic there are crying and screaming at each other! He barked a laugh before going after another demigod who had been shooting arrows at him.

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I sighed a quick breath of relief as the manticore charged me instead of the other demigods. I glanced at Niall who seemed to be holding. I hoped. At least I drew attention away. Oh god. A cold shock ran through me like a realization. He was charging me. I looked up as the manticore got closer by the second. I lifted my bow and shot one arrow before screaming and jumping to the side so he would hopefully charge past. This could be it. This could be the end of my life. And it may be for nothing because once I was out of the way he could get at Niall. A tear rolled down my cheek but I didn't feel it as I rolled away to dodge.

Niall sees the manticore charging Kate and bits his lip. His mouth is soon filled with the disgusting taste of blood. He spits the blood out of his mouth. And blinks, he still had no idea what to do. He needed to attack fast the beast was getting very close.

In a split second, he gets an idea. A rather stupidic idea, but still an idea. He jumps in front of Kate, schielding her. He then sticks out his sword, pointing it at the manticore. He waits for it to get closer, and slashes at it.

He had know idea what he was doing. He only knew that he didn't want anyone to get hurt. "Kate, please go. I don't want you to get hurt"he says softly.

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Cookie had one of her celestial bronze throwing knives in her hand, and was watching the battle from up a tree in the Arena. Initially, she was having a doze in the top branches, enjoying the breeze, listening to faint cries of mock-fights from the campers below.

When that thing had to roar and wake her up.

So, after being rudely awakened, and nearly falling off the tree in the process, she assessed the situation from her position. It seemed that there were some Manticores let in by demigods, and they were attacking camp in different areas. She could see a collapsed cabin somewhere, and there was now shouting all around. Back at the Arena, there were already a few demigods helping fend off the Manticore attacking. She decided to keep her throwing knife in case it got lost in the chaos, and instead took out her blowgun and some darts.

She then silently loaded her blowgun and shot a few down to the Manticore, aiming for spots on it's body that were uncovered. Her shots were usually pretty accurate, but this was a fast moving creature, and that factor would have some of her shots off target and hence, ineffective. Some flew dangerously close to the defending demigods. Hopefully none would hit them, Cookie thought, loosing two more.

The darts were dipped into tranquillizers and one of hers, being the daughter of Hypnos, would be potent enough to knock a demigod out for at least an hour. She kept the more powerful ones at hand however, those for monsters and monsters alone. Cookie was very careful with them, for they were filled with water from the Lethe. One drop in someone's bloodstream would be enough to make them forget their own identity.

No need to alert the Manticore that I'm here. She then sat back, hidden behind the branches of the tree, re-loading her blowgun with a dart, for more long-distance shooting.

Caleb threw himself to the side as the manticore lunged at the girl with the bow and arrows. He hit the ground with his right side, shutting his eyes tight as some of the debris dug deep into his skin. It wasn't anything major though, Caleb realized as he struggled to push himself up. Just a few cuts. Won't kill him anyway. He cringed slightly as he caught a glimpse of that demigod the manticore had bitten into. Well at least he wasn't as unlucky as that boy.

Caleb sized up his surroundings. There was a girl with a tourniquet on her bleeding shoulder. Leo trying to look for his friend amidst all the rubble. A blonde boy trying to shield the girl archer from the manticore. The last sight made Caleb a little sick. Not one for lovey-dovey stuff, Caleb was. He looked down on his hand, realizing that he was holding his last throwing knife. He didn't even know if the two knives he used earlier hit the manticore with all the dust flying around. He liked to think that at least one of them did though. He was a superior knife-thrower after all, or so he thought.

Doubling his grip on his last throwing knife, Caleb looked back at the raging monster. Throwing his knife would be a stupid move on his part. It was equal to wasting his limited weapons. Then he'd be left with an electrifying dagger which he couldn't hit the manticore with if he didn't move closer. Caleb swore under his breath, wondering why had he specialized in knives.

Before he could do anything else, he felt something whiz right past his ear, barely touching his hair. Distracted, he looked down to see a dart. Great, now someone was shooting from above. Caleb didn't care if it was a friend or foe, since with all the confusion, the shooter might have shot anyone, ally or not, in the arena. He scowled at the thought, not happy with having another force to contend with.

It would be a miracle if I make it out alive.

Caleb backed away a few steps, narrowly missing a fallen pillar which sent dust clouds everywhere. He knew that attacking now would most likely lead to a failure on his part. Better wait for an opening. That's right, an opening. That is, if he can keep himself alive in the next few moments.

(OOC: Sunny was supposed to be bitten, and I don't think anyone else has bites as injuries, so I'm gonna make her the bitten one. She was getting her dropped weapon by the manticore when it started attacking, so it works.)

Sunny screamed as the Manticore picked her up. She fumbled with her sword, trying to attack it when it bit her, then dropped her. She hit he ground with a thud, and lay there for a few moments. Then she struggled up and managed to make it out of the manticore's way. Falling rubble hit her other arm and she cursed. It didn't look as bad as her other arm wound, thank the Gods. They still hurt like crazy though, and bled.
She scrambled way out of the manticore's range, and propped herself up against a dummy. Her hands were shaking, she noticed. She steeled herself and looked down at her leg. It wasn't bleeding entirely hard, but was that bone she saw? She stretched out her hurt leg, causing it to bleed heavier. She cursed again, and pulled herself up without moving her leg.
She saw that the manticore was attacking some girl with rainbow-y bow and arrows. She couldn't see Leo from this point, but she did see the other guy she'd almost run into picking himself up from the ground.
She decided to try to make it towards him. Two heads were better than one right? She picked her way across the arena, trying to dodge swirling and falling pieces of rubble from the broken pillar. Thank the Gods she hadn't been near the manticore when that'd happened! More pieces of marble cut her arms, and one dug in deep, but eventually she made it to the knife-boy. She hadn't started that far away, but it felt like she'd trekked all the way across the arena.
"Hi." She managed, flinching as she moved her leg again. Well, moving any part of her body hurt right now.
"Need some help?" She asked, fumbling with her bracelet, trying to turn it back into a sword. She got it back to a sword as she put it on, then took it off again.

Leo was surprised when Sunny ran into him. He opened his mouth to say something, but she told him the pillar was about to break and ran off. He ran too, following her.
"There must be a room in here somewhere with medical supplies." He said to the boy he'd met earlier and Sunny, noticing her arm was bleeding more. "We're definitely gonna need it!"
He headed towards one of the many doors in the arena when he felt a huge shudder, then a boom!
he looked behind him and saw one of the pillars that supported the arena falling. Crap.
He rushed in the door and found a bunch of training dummies and mechanical stuff. But peering through the darkness, he saw the distinctive red cross of a med kit. He pushed his way in and grabbed it.
When he finally got out of the cluttered room, he saw that the manticore was on a rampage. He made his way back towards the boy he met earlier, who threw knives. Sunny was there too, apparently in a lot of pain.
"TA-DA!" He showed the med kit. "Here's some band-aids and gauze and antiseptic cleanser, he laid them out on the ground.
"You don't look like you're hurt too bad. If you want anything, band-aids, gauze and the like are here for your use." He told knife-boy. Then he looked at Sunny. "You, however... I turn my back for one second and you come back bleeding!" He teased lightly, wrapping her leg wound very quickly in bandages. He also bandaged the worst of her cuts and scrapes, but they weren't very good, as he was rushing.
"That's all I got." He said, checking over his shoulder to see where the manticore was.

Cookie had re-loaded her weapon and looked back at the attack. This was no use, she thought, seeing the manticore take another swipe at the campers. One of her darts shot past, close to a demigod. She cursed. If she were to knock one of them out accidentally, they'd most probably die. I've gotta get into a closer range, she realised. If the monster noticed her, she'd be defenseless against the deadly spines.

Cookie jammed her blowgun into her pocket and whipped out her Tantō. Then she took a deep breath and jumped from the seven-metre high tree, breaking her fall by turning a last minute somesault and a neat roll. No time to waste. She ran towards the chaos, dodging raining pieces of debris and leaping over felled pillars.

All around her, dust clouds were obscuring her vision, making it hard to decipher the figures of fellow demigods. She saw a boy bandaging up a girl's leg a little farther from the scene. There was also a camper with a bow in her hand, and another guy trying protect her..? This is so confusing. The manticore was dead ahead, and hadn't spotted her yet.

She realised with a sudden jolt that this wasn't what she had planned to do. Cookie was never one for charging an opponent head on. She preferred watching at the sides and planning her attack. She leapt to the side, and out of the manticore's line of view, nearly knocking into a camper who was backing a few steps. Dropping to the ground, she rolled next to a huge chunk of broken debris twice her size to avoid him. "すみません! (Sumimasen)" She called out to him, Japanese accidentally slipping out in the excitement, while trying to locate other demigods through the haze and confusion. Then she recognized him as the boy she had nearly hit with her dart, and who currently seemed trying to decide what to do with his knife. Oh well, I can apologise about that later.

Then it reminded her. My knives. She reached for one of her bronze knives, aimed for the manticore, and threw it spinning at the beast in such a way that it would strike its flank blade first, and be embedded in the flesh. When it came to throwing stuff, Cookie was the expert. She could hit anything that was solid. Including a fast-moving target when riding a wildly bucking horse with a Shuriken.

"Thanks." Sunny smiled at Leo tensly, the pain of her leg causing her to wince every now and then. She watched in amazement as a girl kept down from a height and somersaulted. Wow, Sunny thought in amazement. Then she came over near them. Sunny opened her mouth to speak, but the girl threw a dagger at the manticore. Here she, Sunny, was, getting herself hurt and patched up while this brave girl saved the day.
Trying to feel better about herself, Sunny readied her sword and started heading a little bit towards the manticore in a big curve. Her leg started to throb and she felt it bleeding with every step, but the adrenaline rushing through her veins swept it away. If she got it a lucky stab, then maybe she could make everyone's lives easier. She certainally couldn't kill it, no. She couldn't kill a thing this size when in top condition! She could weaken it however. She didn't get too far however from where she'd started when she saw an opening. She advanced towards the manticore, suddenly her adrenaline slowing and the fear of the moment gripping her.

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June Prenston; 14; Daughter of Ares

As she kept her eyes slammed shut, June listened for the monster. It was obviously ready to attack the Hephaestus boy's girlie friend. The daughter of Ares was inherited several traits from her father, but his love for Aphrodite's work, love and beauty in general, wasn't one of those traits. The friendly blonde was in favor of love though, apparently, as he was so bold in defending the girl.

"She won't last . . ." June whispered, mostly to herself. The demigod almost wanted it to be true. Death meant a little more excitement, and so far, there hadn't been any death. June supposed the death of the manticore would be the best option, but there were close seconds, and maybe it was the general niceness the rainbow girl gave off, but June didn't take very strongly to the chick.

Once the pain lessened in intensity, June opened her eyes and allowed herself to look around. There was the knife boy, again, who reminded June only of herself. He looked somewhat nervous, which was an unusual trait for a person of his type to carry. He was someone June didn't want to die in the attacks. He was a fighter, and it would be a shame for him to fall. There were also others, faces June either hadn't seen before or didn't remember. They were squirming around, mostly just being afraid in general of the manticore and trying to save each other. There were attempts to fight back, but nothing major enough to make the beast feel real pain.

Standing, and doing the exact thing her "protector" had told her not to do, June took several steps towards the knife boy. He seemed like her best bet. "Oi!" June called quietly, walking closer to the guy. He was smart with battle strategy, June had to admit. She only had one of her throwing knives with her, yet she had still flung it towards the monster with no hopes of hitting it. June was a good shot, so luckily making it hadn't been a problem, but she had still been doubtful. "I saw you practicing. And you looked pretty smooth with a knife." June didn't know what else to saw, and her face was growing increasingly red, both from the pain in her shoulder and the embarrassment.

"Listen, I don't really know you, but you're the only other person around here that looks like they can fight, other than Blondie McGee over there, who's a little preoccupied with his girlfriend." June had told her almost friend to go help his girl, but she still felt a little spite should be aimed at him. "I don't want the arena to collapse, and . . . it looks like it's going to if we don't start defending. You're capable, I've seen how you throw." June crossed her arms over her chest, even though it hurt, with her knife hanging loosely from her hand. "I need someone else to try, or we aren't going to get anywhere. I keep my weapons stashed here, so if you need more knives, I do specialize in them." As she talked, June began gesturing with her only weapon on-hand. The infirmary didn't let her keep all of her weapons in the cabin because she was too much of a threat to her siblings' safety with them on her. They stayed nice and safe, behind a trap door, in the arena, June's most visited place at camp. "But I have to do something. I can't sit here and be hurt anymore." June shook her head and gulped, feeling the pressure boil down to her and the boy she was speaking with.

"I'm not comfortable explaining why . . . but you have to understand that I need the arena. And I know you can, and will, fight. You've gotta help me." June wasn't one for begging, but now she felt she needed to. The boy was in danger just standing and hoping he didn't die, and maybe all he needed was someone to watch his back. June was willing to defend someone if she could protect camp. "I've got three other knives and a sword, if you're interested." June began speaking with a sense of urgency, wanting to press an answer from the skilled boy quickly. There wasn't time to think, anymore.

Looking back one more time at Niall, June nodded, sure that if he was doing his part, she had to do hers. There was some connection between the two, June and Niall, June just didn't know what. Friendship? Destiny? Loyalty? The words meant to much to June to simply throw around, but there was something special about her helper, and something special about the knife thrower, that made June sure she could rely on them. Really, what choice did she have?

Everything was happening all too fast. Before he knew it, Caleb found himself being pulled to the side where there was the first-aid kit. And then some Japanese girl almost rolled towards him, before throwing knives at the monster. Caleb doubted if she got a hit and if her knives even penetrated the monster's hide. A sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Now the girl with the tourniquet was talking to him, asking for help. A smirk pulled on Caleb's lips despite the graveness of the situation. Okay, he was flattered by the girl's words, so it was natural for him to feel a little smug. Caleb gave her a once over, noting her condition. Her condition didn't look too good honestly, with that wound of hers.

"Fine," Caleb said coolly, letting his remaining knife twirl around in his hand. "I'm already fighting anyway. Not like it would make much difference." He stole a glance at the manticore. It would probably destroy the arena in mere minutes. Time was too precious to waste now. He turned back to tourniquet girl, sizing her up. He had to admit, he did have a little respect for a fellow knife thrower. But just a little.

"I'll need some of your knives," Caleb told her. A flash of movement caught his eye and he turned, only to see that a girl with a sword was trying to get closer to the manticore. Good luck with that, Caleb thought dryly, fighting the urge to facepalm. With all the debris and dust flying around, she'd be lucky to even get close.

"You better have a plan here. Throwing knives won't work and we'd only be wasting our weapons now if we did just that." It pained him slightly to admit that knives, his weapon of specialty, were at a disadvantage in this situation. Caleb doubted a sword could do any better. "If you don't want the arena to get destroyed, then our best bet's leading that monster away from it. Drag the fight somewhere else. Unless you have a better plan." He gave the girl a calculated look.

Caleb wasn't really one to cooperate, but he had no choice. He had to if he wanted to stay alive. He was lousy at cooperating though, a lot of people can attest to that. Who knows how this will turn out. "Well?"

June Prenston; 14; Daughter of Ares

June breathed a quick huff of relief, glad that someone at least cared enough to willingly devise a plan. Pondering his idea, the daughter of Ares groaned, but couldn't exactly think of anything else. "Thank gods . . . I'm June. Daughter of Ares. I figured I could introduce myself, what with you being cooperative and whatnot." June didn't bother with any formalities, but did nod in approval, before realizing she never told the blond boy her name. There wasn't time for it now. He was still trying to fend off the manticore. Feeling a desire to keep him alive, June shook her head.

"There's no time to think of anything. I'll try to keep everyone here alive . . . You . . . Um . . . Improvise!" June didn't know what else to say. She didn't have a plan. He didn't have a plan. They were stuck. Really June wanted to get closer and possibly attack from above, but she couldn't fly, and while she was agile, she couldn't jump high enough to land on the manticore's back. "The knives are under that latch over there!" June shook her hands in the direction of the arena's wall, which was remaining somewhat stable throughout all of the crashing.

Before giving it a second thought, June rushed to a different side of the wall and hit the latch. The secret door flung open, and the demigod eagerly reached for her sword. Partner, the celestial bronze sword, was still in the shape of a flower, but after one click of a button, the sword grew into it's lethal form. Usually June wasn't filled with such urgency, but now she had a sense of duty. Her calling, fighting, needed to come in handy now, or all of her training would have been for nothing.

With little effort, June reached the blonde and the rainbow girl, forcing a smile onto her face. On the inside, June was horribly nervous. The manticore was close, and she wasn't quite sure what to do. She was supposed to get them away, right? Where was away, exactly? "Hey . . . guys. How's it going over here?" June dropped the smile and her face soon appeared scrunched into a sneer. "Rainbows, please listen to . . . him!" Though June didn't know Niall's name, she still wanted to get her point across. "Either that, or fight, and fight well. There's no time for sissies to fight. The arena's going to fall." June was so serious it was humorous, but no one would dare laugh at her. She'd snap their neck without a second's thought. "And I don't want to come across as rude . . . actually, I don't really care how I come across, but you haven't been making smart decisions today." The daughter of Ares laughed a little to herself, thinking about her shoulder and how it was beginning to throb.

"I also want you to know that I'm glad your man friend . . . boy friend? Hephaestus buddy is here. He saved me from doing something extremely stupid. I'm sorry I didn't stay put, Hepha, but I just can't. I can't let you be the brave one. My dad would kill me if I let his lover's husband's kid beat me in that one." June winked, for the first time since she winked at her mother. It wasn't flirtatious, but menacing, almost as if she was challenging the boy. "So, we have to move. Here's the plan--we get the monster to leave. Fight it's pointless. Defending your girlfriend from it is pointless. Fighting against it after it eats your boyfriend is pointless. The thing's too big. I've never seen one so big, actually." June paused, thinking about the manticore her friend Nico had described to her. He'd fought a manticore. He was just 10 when he'd done it, too. Nico di Angelo was a son of Hades, and one of the few who had been brave enough to visit her during recovery. He taught her a lot about fighting monsters, mostly because he had a lot of experience.

"It actually doesn't seem reasonable how large the monster is. It shouldn't be . . . Altered. Never mind. It's probably just genetically mutated. My point still being, we have to lure it away. See the boy over there? Where I was just standing, do run to him. He might have a plan by now." June took a deep breath, glad that her talking could be done for now. She didn't know anyone else in the arena, and wasn't very comfortable talking to strangers. Maybe Blondie and Rainbow could tell the others, or Knives.

Sunny steeled herself and ran between the manticore's legs. She slashed at one leg, then somersaulted. When she got back up she started to run again, ignoring the pain in her leg.
Gods, She thought, Gods, please get us through this in as few peices as possible!
She turned around to face the manticore, grinning as she realized she was the only one attacking it head on. The thing's skin was so tough that knives and arrows most likely wouldn't do much damage.

I looked up, quiet tears dripping from my eyes. I got up slowly, wincing slightly. The pain hurt but I could feel nothing broken, which was a relief. Still, Niall was in danger and that was a problem I still needed to deal with. He was telling me to go. I shook my head defiantly. I wasn't going to leave. Not now. Not when he could die. "No, you go. We both go. We need to leave," I said, fear filling my body as I looked around at the chaos. I scrambled to the ground to pick up my bow and some fallen arrows. I knew he wouldn't budge so I was at least going to help him. Or die trying.

Niall looks at Kate and rubs the side of his head. He couldn't leave, he couldn't. "Kate, I can't leave I have to help. I'll see you later"he says softly. With that, Niall starts to run, not looking back.

Niall runs over to where June is standing. "What should I do?"he asks her. He wanted to help, but he had no idea what to do. Hee looks at June, before he turns and looks at the monster.

It was bad, very bad. June was right the arena was going to fall. They need to get rid of the monster, and save as many people as possible. He rubs his head, and turns to her. "We need a distraction."he whispers.

June Prenston; 14; Daughter of Ares

June stares blankly at Niall, pretty sure he was offering himself up as a distraction. Even if he wasn't suggesting himself, June was. She wasn't willing to rely on a total stranger to get the monster's attention. Knives would be needed for the actual attacking. Rainbow, or Kate as June overheard, really needed to leave the arena before she got herself killed trying to protect her Blondie. Hepha was the only one left that June decided she could trust. "I know a little about manticores, from my friend Nico. Di Angelo. He's a son of Hades, and somehow he managed to fight one. If you're with me on this one, I tell you what I'd do to distract it." June's face formed a very serious expression, and she looked ready to kill at any moment. It was the old June expression. The nearly psychopathic one. All of the battle-strategy talk had rewired her brain, yet again, to believe that violence could be the answer. If Blondie/Hepha hadn't believed her about being crazy before, he probably did now.

"His discipline, or lack there of I guess, is nearly impossible for him to control. We anger him, he'll forget about all of his strength and he'll just try to kill us. That wouldn't really be our best option. It would make the distractions' death worse." June motioned between her and Hepha. "The got rid of their manticore by throwing him off a cliff, while still attached to this Athena girl. Of course, their manticore was much smaller, but I still think it could work here. We don't have a cliff, but we have a sacrifice." June stood up a little taller in order to look more dignified. "Oh, and if we die while doing this . . . I think we should know each other's names." June cracked a slight smile and appeared far less crazed than she had before, and more kindhearted.

"My name's June Helen Prenston, daughter of Ares. 14 years of age. Some people call me Demon, or Destroyer, but they've never said it to my face. They're smart in not doing so. I used to be worse than I am now, and I only have two friends. Nico and this Apollo kid, I don't know his name. He never told it to me. He's the one who has to watch me. If I do die, please make sure those people know. And I can do the same for you, if you want." June paused, then tapped her chin. "It's not like you're going to die, though. I won't let 'em take you that easily. Dad would be proud of me." June actually smiled, genuinely, and thought about the praise she might receive for dying in battle. If she went, that would be how she wanted to go. And the arena might be able to be saved. "You know, really, neither of us is going to die. It's just a lion, right? A lion, man, scorpion thing? That's not scary. I've . . . seen worse." June really hadn't. 'We're screwed.'

I frowned as he ran from me. I gripped my bow until my knuckles turned white. I was not going to be pushed away that easily. I blinked back tears as I told myself over and over in my head that I was not useless. I quickly darted away from the fight scene, but I wasn't actually leaving. Oh, no. The manticore might believe so as would anyone else. But I was going to find a place to scope. I would strike unseen. I hoped.

OOC: I said I didn't want her to get hurt, but scratch that. I want a gash on her leg that would leave a scar big enough to make her self-conscious.

Last edited by Nightsteed~ on Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:35 am; edited 1 time in total

The manticore was still flailing around. Cookie wasn't sure if the knife had penetrated its hide, but she wasn't all that worried about it either. She was more worried about the debris that she saw around Hera's cabin previously.

I hope nobody has been killed there yet, she thought. Then... and it had definitely better not trash my stuff.

Cookie glanced back at the thing, observing. It's movements seemed to slow, if only a little. Nothing can hold out forever. Of course, demigods can't either, but at least they stood more than a meager chance against the thing. She was sure combined, they could defeat it.

There was a group formed between three other demigods who had previously been fighting in the arena. I wonder what they're up to. Cookie stalked closer, all the time keeping out of the manticore's line of view, behind the chunk of wall. She listened to bits and pieces of their conversation on the way, and then silently rising up near the girl, knowing an Ares camper when she saw one.

"A sacrifice? It isn't necessary for anybody to die, is there." Cookie said matter-of-factly, wincing as she remembered that she was just behind June, who might not have known she was there, and could strike at her by accident if she had surprised her. "Manticores do have weak points. And usually don't attack unless you infuriate them either." She recalled the time where one attacked her in the forest. It was way more dangerous that the one in front of her. "But they do eat humans.. sometimes." She commented randomly.

Improvise? Was that the best thing June could come up with? Caleb couldn't hide the trace of a scowl as she went away to leave him trying to figure out a way to get the manticore away from here. Well, at least she showed him where she kept her knives. He rushed to where the latch was, narrowly avoiding a piece of rubble flying in his direction. He frowned, barely feeling the thing brush against the ends of his hair. Really, if this kept up, he'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Caleb pulled the latch open and his eyes widened at the sight. An assortment of throwing knives, all good for him to use. Just looking at the weapons made Caleb feel strangely confident.

Caleb examined a slightly curvy knife with his fingers. His eyes gleamed. Surely with these kinds of weapons, he won't need any help. They were enough for him to distract the manticore. Heck, maybe he'd even get to kill it. Caleb brightened up at the thought and picked up a belt with a bunch of knives on them, tying the thing around his waist. He kicked the latch close. It was time to get back to the destruction before him. He gripped two knives with hands, both weapons having serrated celestial bronze edges. His head bore one thought.

Screw the others, I'll take this alone.

"Hey, you ugly excuse of a beast!" Caleb yelled at the top of his voice, hoping to catch the manticore's attention. Typical of him to start with an insult. Well, it was probably a good way to distract the monster and catch its attention. Maybe being the son of the god of mockery had its advantages too, Caleb noted with amusement.

"Think you're so smart ripping out a building to shreds? Well let me tell you one thing--what use is it fighting something that cannot fight back?" Caleb continued sneering, readying to throw his knives at a moment's notice. "What are you trying to prove? Honestly, the way you fight already labels you a coward. It's pathetic. Why not fight the ones who will actually strike back?"

Oh gods, what was Caleb saying? Was he even thinking? He was digging his own grave probably. But he didn't care. For some reason, having these weapons seemed to empower him, give him a lot of confidence. Maybe too much confidence. "Well, Ugly? Finally decided on what you're going to do?" And before the manticore could respond to his statements, Caleb used all his strength to hurl one of the blades at the monster, aiming for its eye.

Yup, Caleb was digging his own grave.

Niall stands and listents to June. It was wasting precious time, but for some reason he didn't care. He looks around, and then looks back at June. It looked bad, very bad. "I promise, well that is if I don't die. By the way I'm Niall Malachy Hollahan"he says softly.

He looks at the manticore, and looks back at June. "Look I have no idea what to do, and I don't care what we do. But we need to act fast. Really fast, it's not looking so good."he says to her. Niall was worried, very worried. He didn't want anyone to die, or get hurt.

He looks at June, and blinks. "Any suggestions on what we do?"he asks her. Niall had know idea why, but he decided to trust June, fully. He rubs the side of his head, and starts to tap his foot against the ground. It was a sign that he was getting nervous. Hopefully they would do something soon.

It roared. A loud, thundering roar that could be heard through the campus.

Give it up, half-bloods.

The manticore cackled and swiped it's paw at the nearest camper. Its scorpion tail whipped up with inhuman speed. Half a dozen thorn-like spines shot off at all directions faster than the eye could see, aiming for the mortals.

A sharp pain flared at its hind leg, and immediately it began to feel a little woozy, as if it wanted to curl up and sleep. But it was a humongous creature and the manticore shook off the feeling the best it could and scanned the demigods again.

There was a male one, facing it and yelling insults, then threw a sharp shining object at it. The manticore dodged but the dagger scraped the side of its head, leaving a deep gash, where blood dripped into its eye, causing its vision to be obscured. It growled menacingly, slitted cat-like eyes glaring, and swiped an orange and black striped paw, claws unsheathed and glittering, at the camper, hurling another volley of missiles at his direction for good measure.

Weaklings, the lot of them. They cannot beat me.

Yet the manticore was not as fast as it was before. It knew if there were reinforcements it would have a chance of being defeated. The job has to be done fast.

Caleb smirked as his knife sliced the manticore's head. It wasn't much, but at least it was an improvement. At least he distracted the beast now. The only problem was that he got the monster too angry and gave it enough incentive to kill him. The large paw hit him squarely on the side, almost knocking him out. The force of the blow threw Caleb to the dusty floor under him. For a few moments Caleb couldn't hear anything besides the sound of breaking glass and the wind whipping at his face. He yelled hoarsely, only becoming aware of the blinding pain from his shoulder. He could feel something hot soak his shirt and his arm. Gods, no.

Caleb's vision blurred as he struggled to get back on his feet. One of his hands clutched his left shoulder, trying to control the bleeding. Problem was that the gash was too big, maybe even deeper than he realized, but Caleb didn't have the time to inspect his latest injury. He tried to squint through his glasses but froze in shock instead. His vision was blurry in some spots and he could vaguely make out the vague jagged lines on his glasses. The manticore broke the thing. This effectively rendered Caleb useless now. How exactly can you fight when you can't even see a foot away from your face?

Staggering back with his strength dwindling, Caleb looked back at the manticore. Caleb could barely see the spines making their way towards him as if in a slow motion, but he was too weak and tired to move. He was going to die. He could feel it. He was going to die now. A sense of dread washed over him. He was going to die now and no one would care. What a great timing to wallow in self-pity. Caleb's eyes fluttered close as he waited for the final blow to come.

((June or Sunny, this would be a great time to go save Caleb's sorry butt xD))

June Prenston; 14; Daughter of Ares

June jumped when someone behind her started talking. She didn't fling any weapons, but she did spin around angrily on her heels. Angering an Ares kid? Bad idea. "Listen you, dying isn't a new idea to me. I've expected it for a while, and while it's not a welcoming thought, I will embrace the fact that I might be dead in a matter of minutes." June emphasized dead to make it sound far worse than she really saw it.

Not worried about her sour attitude, June merely shrugged at the girl who seemed to be sugar coating their possible future and faced Blondie. No, she turned and faced Niall. The demigod had to stop giving nicknames to strangers . . . "There isn't much to do but just act. No more waiting. No more thinking. Every strategy we have lately seems to be a worse option than the one before it. Don't worry about staying alive. That's what I'm--" Before June could finish speaking, she whipped her head around to face Knives instead of "Sugar" and Niall.

She had heard him scream. He was obviously hurt, and the shoulder wound looked bad. "Knives!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, real pain seeping her usually emotionless voice. "Please," The Ares demigod could tell hd had given up on fighting through the attack. June's next move would be the most careless thi g she'd ever done, but the manticore looked ready to attack.

With her usual speed and grace, June maneuvered through the arena and flung herself towards Caleb, pushing him out of the way, but not caring to be gentle with his shoulder wound. She hugged the boy tightly, worried it was too late. A manticore spike had struck June's back, but hadn't made it all the way through her armor. Whispering, so as to make sure the other demigods in the arena didn't hear, June began talking to Caleb. "Knives . . . You're a fighter, remember? I've already told you that. Please don't do this helpless, hurt thing to me. I know that act. Knives, you listen to me. You aren't dead. You could have been. Don't go quietly. You might have just died without giving a fight. Don't even kid yourself, because I've seen the kind of damage you can do. I really don't want you to die here, before you can make a difference. The difference you're supposed to make." With that, June let go of Caled and offered him her hand so that he didn't have to use his left shoulder to stand up. A small but meaningful smile actually found June's face.

"When this is all over, I'lll take you to the shoulder doctor." June's own injury still killed her, but she didn't want Knives to see how weak she was acting. His shoulder was was 20x worse. And June wasn't a wuss. Especially not infromt of people who impressed her.

Last edited by Nightsteed~ on Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:22 am; edited 5 times in total

Cookie raised an eyebrow. Temperamental much? But she held a cutting reply back. They were in a battle, there would be time for exchanging childish retorts later. Maybe. But she had to admire the girl's bravery, inherited from her father no doubt.

Then everything happened in a blur. A dozen or more spikes shot her way, or the direction where most campers were grouped. Something slammed into her shoulder, hard and sharp, forcing its way through. The boy that was confronting the manticore was suddenly struck down and June leapt to rescue him, screaming his name... Knives? What an odd name. Then kneeling beside him and comforting him. Was she her girlfriend or something? Dramatic kind, different from other Ares campers, she thought.

Immediately after that thought, or a few seconds after the spike struck in fact, her shoulder burned, going strangely numb. I'm going into shock, she realised, the pain will come soon after. She staggered back, and then for a second, at that angle, she saw an opening in the manticore's defenses as it was distracted by the two other demigods. Perhaps a 'sacrifice' did work, Cookie thought grimly, at least he didn't die or anything.

What else could she do? Cookie took the chance, however slim it may be.

She darted full speed, past the other campers, weaving in and out of the chunks of fallen Arena. The manticore was at a tilted angle, enough distance between the head and the tail, she hoped, for the head not be able to come to the latter's defense before it was too late. When she was running at a close enough range, Cookie whipped out her Tantō, her main weapon, not like the other weaker throwing knives, but a magically enhanced one, and it changed swiftly into a rounded, seven bladed weapon of destruction. I have only one try before it spots me.

Cookie knew that it was nearly impossible to catch a shuriken directly after it had been aimed, without sustaining severe injuries. Only possible to dodge or intercept it with something else. It was after all, equipped with bladed spikes sharper than glass. There was no re-bounce, unless it hit diamond of course, for something with no handle, and spinning like a disc, able to lodge into anything even a fraction softer in material than itself.

She threw it at what she hoped was the right moment, using the main force of her run, and it whizzed off, slicing through the air, glinting in the sunlight, aimed for the whipping, deadly scorpion part of the manticore. The tail. Make it.

There was always a catch. No action came without a price. Cookie had made her move, but she could neither hide or retreat now, she was going at too fast a speed. She had no other choice while sprinting, or she would slam right into the side of the huge beast, which would prove disastrous. Almost as many hours spent practicing her throwing, she rode as well. She forced her legs to move faster, and made an immense leap for the back of the manticore, as she would do to a low-flying pegasus, with a short, desperate silent prayer to the gods.

Caleb expected to die and see heaven--no, he was going straight to hell probably. Then, seemingly coming out of nowhere, someone shoved him out of the way none-too-gently. Oh gods his shoulder. His shoulder. Before he could even process what was happening, he got pulled into a hug. Caleb winced, a swear word forcing its way out of his lips. If the manticore wasn't going to kill him, the pain from his injured shoulder would.

You aren't dead.

Figures, Caleb thought. Well he was still in pain, so of course he wasn't dead. His head started swimming, and he almost hadn't caught the next words.

Don't go quietly. For a moment there, he had been surrendering. What was he, a chicken? He was a half-blood. An excellent knife-throwing half-blood. Why did he just stand there like an idiot and wait for death to come? Caleb used to think of himself as someone better than that. Now he was being a wimp.

...you can make a difference. The difference you're supposed to make.

The difference. The difference. Caleb attempted to right his mind, but June's words were making his head pound even more. And his injury wasn't really helping. Caleb groaned loudly, trying to look at June. It really didn't help that his glasses were broken. His vision was all blurry and he could see three of her. He vaguely made out a hand offered right in front of him, and he grabbed at the air a few times before finally touching it. All sorts of curses streamed out of his lips as he pushed himself up. Gods, his shoulder hurt like hell.

"You mean, if we get out of this alive," Caleb spat out the words through clenched teeth. He tried to focus on June. She had just saved his life. He owed her big. He ought to be a little nicer than that. "Thanks," he said gruffly, not really used to saying the word too much.

Gritting his teeth, Caleb ripped out a strip off the end of his shirt and wrapped it around his shoulder. It wasn't much, but what else was he supposed to do in this situation? Then he took off the glasses off his face and threw them into the rubble. They were useless anyway, and the broken shards of glass might give him a few cuts on the face. Like he needed any more injuries.

"I have zero vision right now. My shoulder's bleeding like crazy." The words seemed to make Caleb realize how close to death he had come, and that he was only saved because a girl he barely knew had cared enough to push him out of the way. What June did... he thought it only happened in the movies. He drew in a deep breath, trying to push all thoughts of pain out of his mind. "I have no idea how I'm going to fight in this mess, but you're right. Dying quietly sounds like a wimpy sort of thing to do."

Caleb tried to smile, but the best thing that he could come up with was a smirk. Figures. "Go, we have a manticore to kill," he said. "And the name's Caleb. Thought I'd let you know before I die," he added in the lightest tone he could muster, but his voice still sounded rough in some edges.

A flash of silver caught his eye and he turned, trying to make out the large moving thing he assumed to be the manticore. And wait a sec... was that a person riding it? Caleb wasn't really sure due to his failing eyesight. "Looks like someone has a death wish," he muttered under his breath.

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