Dirt, Dust, and Aladdin? ((Opennn))

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Seth Lyre

Son of Hermes

This was crazy. Seth knew that. Still, he was all about crazy. Seth rode his horse, Winkol, rather ruggedly. He'd never really received lessons of any sort, and he was only realizing that now. He only knew anything from watching the other demi-gods of Camp Half-Blood ride around on this path. Winkol was speeding up. His trot was turning into a gallop. Now was the time. The brown horse sped up to maybe 50 miles an hour so fast that time itself seemed to be moving faster. "Now or never," Seth decided. His feet left the safety of the stirrups, and in one smooth motion he brought them up on the horse's back. Still holding the reins, Seth slowly began to stand up on the horse, until he was completely up. Winkol whinnied in annoyance as he sped up even more. The cool wind felt fresh and new on Seth's face. For about three seconds. Suddenly, Seth lost control of the horse. Winkol was beginning to become annoyed by Seth's little stunt and was going too fast. Before he knew it, Seth let go of the reins and was plummeting down to the ground, his horse galloping away from him.

Seth hit the ground hard. His back hit the grass with a hard thump while his arms flailed and fell to his sides. The shock surged through his body and he coughed a few times, before sitting up and rubbing his head. "Umm, ow." he said stupidly. He stood up and realized Winkol had run off ahead. He was still on the Horse Path, and he had slowed down, but he was still on the move. The worst part was, Winkol wasn't even Seth's horse. Winkol's owner would kill him if he lost him.

Looking around to see where he was, he realized that further along the Horse Path was a girl and a horse. Perfect! He stretched his back, which groaned and cracked like an old house, then set off running down the path towards the girl. She had already mounted her horse, and was ready to set off along the path. "Wait!" Seth shouted. He ran as fast as he could (which was pretty fast) to get to her before she took off, and stopped beside her horse, panting. The girl on the horse was tall and slender, much like him. She had dark brown hair, and silvery eyes. "I-uh-umm..." he stuttered, still catching his breath. He hadn't really thought about how he would explain his situation to a complete stranger. "Hi, can you give me a ride? Sorry, but I really need to catch that horse." Seth started, pointing to the dark brown horse riding away on its own. "Please? His owner will kill me if I don't bring him back." Seth said hastily. He must have looked like a maniac. His hair was messier than usual from the fall, and he was panting like a dog. He wouldn't be surprised if the girl just called him a freak and rode off into the distance.

Abryl's head snapped up as the sound of galloping feet. Glancing around her, she saw a distant figure standing on top of his horse flying through the ring. What an idiot! She knew it wouldn't be long before the horse grew angry and threw off the rider, and almost as if the creature was reading her mind, he tossed the boy a couple of seconds later. Abryl winced in pain as she heard the boy hit the ground...hard. ”Come on Al, we better go see if he’s okay,” she said, squeezing him into a slow, steady trot. Aladdin’s slow steady, hooves carried them across the ring over to the boy, who was rubbing his head. Abryl knew it must have hurt, but still, no one should ever treat a horse like that. As she drew closer, the boy saw her and staggered over to her. She listened as he spoke about the horse that had cantered off.

He was tall and slight, with horribly messy brown hair. He had dirt all down his back from where he had fallen, but other than that, he seemed unshaken. He had beautiful deep eyes and a crooked grin. Abryl nodded as he spoke about the horse. Glancing down at Aladdin, she saw him snort with impatience. ”That was a damn stupid thing to do you know? You could’ve gotten yourself killed,” she said with a slight smile, ”but you didn’t, so that’s at least one thing to be thankful for. And as for helping you, of course we will. Al and I were heading that way anyways, she said with a wide smile, tucking her hair behind her ear. ”I’m Abryl by the way, and this is Aladdin. You can call me Abs, or anything really. You are?” Abs asked. He didn’t seem too familiar, but Abryl was always meeting someone new, so that didn’t surprise her. Sliding forward in the saddle, she glanced down at him and offered him her hand. ” You’ll have to ride behind me if we want to catch that horse,” she said with another smile. After all, this was a rather odd way to start the day.

Seth Lyre

Son of Hermes

Seth put on a grin at the mention of 'could've gotten yourself killed.' He heard that every day. "Well, danger is my middle name," he mused. He tried to straighten his hair, and shook his pullover to get some of the dirt from the fall off. "Thanks a lot. My name is Seth, son of Hermes." he said somewhat proudly. He must have been coming off as an arrogant idiot right about now, but Abryl still put on a smile. When she offered it, he took her hand and mounted her horse. Aladdin the steed was a dark figure, almost enigmatic. He was slim, but Seth could feel the muscles on the horse just by sitting on his back. He wondered what breed it was, and where he could get one of his own. "Thanks again, Abryl." Seth said. The fact that she was still smiling probably meant she wasn't an Aphrodite girl. Those prissy princesses had always hated Seth. He was surprised that they didn't wear a tutu and a tiara to go with their personalities.

Suddenly, the throbbing in the back of Seth's head came again. "Aw, man..." he moaned, as he began rubbing the back of his head. That hit was pretty hard, and his whole body still felt it. He'd probably have muscle aches for weeks! Luckily, his lower body hadn't suffered too much from the impact, so he still might be able to race. While rubbing his head, he noticed a scrape on his elbow. The scrape was somewhat bloody, though it didn't look deep. Nothing a drop of nectar couldn't fix. He'd have to worry about that later though, since they had to catch that horse. "Um, let's catch that horse! ...I guess."

So he was a son of Hermes? It seemed fitting somehow, maybe the way he carelessly threw himself into bad situations? Or maybe it was the mischevious glint deep in his eyes? But whatever it was, Abs shrugged it off. That wasn't really what she was supposed to be focusing on, was it?"Cool, I'm daughter of Apollo," She said rather simply, tightening her legs around Aladdin and pushing him into a trot. Al snorted, tossing his head in the air but obeyed, pracing forward at a rather bouncy pace. It was uncomfortable not to post, but she would have to sit the trot with Seth sitting behind her. Gripping the reigns, Abryl led Aladdin onto the path, his steady hooves making a good pace. Abryl listened as Seth spoke again. "Don't worry about it, honestly. You would've done the same thing for me I'm sure. What kind of horse was that anyways? Looked like he could've been a quarter horse, but I'm not very good at guessing breeds. Al here is an Arabian, but I think he might have a bit of quarter horse mixed in," Abryl said, glancing down at his thick black mane.

As they rode alone, the silence was broken by a soft moan. Abryl winced, the sounds of Seth's pain filling her ears. She hated other people's pain, and quickly pulled Aladdin back into a halt. Turning behind her, she saw Seth holding his head, a bloody elbow red with pain. "Good lord! Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" She asked, concern filling her eyes. She swung her leg over Al's neck so that she was sitting side saddle and could get a better look as his cut. It wasn't very deep, but Abryl's forehead still knot in confusion. Of the many traits she could have recieved from her father, healing wasn't her best. She more specialized in the singing and archery aspects. "Do you mind if I..." She asked, glancing up into his face before taking his arm in her hands. Taking the edge of her shirt, she dabbed at the blood to keep it from dripping, cleaning the wound and ridding it of dirt and little pebbles. "Sorry if this hurts, scrapes are the worst," she mumbled, taking her hand away and turning back to take the reigns. "I guess your right, we should probably go look for that horse now," she said with a slight smile, turning back to see if he was okay once more, and then pushing Aladdin into a gorward trot again.

Seth Lyre

Seth reflected on that for a minute. He'd heard that Hermes and Apollo started off badly, because Hermes stole some of Apollo's sacred cattle, but then Hermes invented the Lyre for him, (A musical instrument, not like Seth's name) and they became friends. Apparently, it was also Apollo that had gotten Hermes a spot with the Olympians. Since their dads got along well, Seth imagined he'd get along just fine with Abs. Seth was just about finished moaning over his headache when Abs looked back and noticed his cut. Immediately, she began treating the wound for him. "Ow" he complained as she dabbed the blood on the cut with the edge of her shirt. Then, she turned back to the reigns, and pushed her horse, Aladdin, a fitting name for an Arabian horse, to go into a trot.

I looked ahead at the path, and saw Winkol in the distance. The horse had also slowed down to a trot, so he and Aladdin were going at around the same pace. There was not too much need to hurry, Seth guessed. Still, with his ADHD, he couldn't really sit around for long, so he decided to strike up a conversation. "I really like your horse, Aladdin," Seth said. "He's a much better ride than Winkol." It was rather true. Aladdin the Arabian horse was far more fitted to Seth's physique than Winkol, with his large body and rough structure. Surprisingly, Seth had almost no butt pain so far.

Abryl noticed Winkol up ahead around the same time Seth did. The horse was trotting along at a slow and steady pace, which was a good sign that he had calmed down after the original flight. Winkol made no attempt to skid away as they drew a bit closer; another good sign. Abryl felt herself glow with pride as Seth complimented Aladdin. "Thank you so much! I've had him every since he was two and trained him myself. It took forever, but he's really become a master, or, I think so at least," she said a bit shyly, realizing how much she had been bragging. "As for Winkol, I wouldn't say he's a bad horse, you just don't seem like you've had a lot of experience riding," Abryl said lightly, remembering the humorus glint in his eyes and the crazy stunt he had pulled earlier while riding. "Speaking of riding, was that your first time?" she wondered, cocking her head to the side, curious. Generally she was pretty good at telling who had ridden before and who hadn't, but she wasn't quite sure when it came to Seth. As they rode along, slowly approaching Winkol, Abryl realized she knew almost nothing about the boy that was riding behind her.

"So what do you like to do? I mean, do you do any sports? Sing?" Abryl asked, genuinely curious about what Seth had to say. She didn't turn around but she recalled his lean build. Probably not a football player. Maybe he was a swimmer? Could be, but generally that was the sons of Poseiden who were the best swimmers. Thinking on traits of Hermes, she formed an image of him stealing weapons out of the armory with the other Hermes kids. Abryl smirked to herself a bit. That definetly seemed like something Seth would do. As they drew closer to Winkol, Abryl racked her brains, trying to figure out how they were going to do this. "So how exactly do you want me to do this?" Abryl asked, turning to face Seth. "I can ride up beside Winkol and I can grab his reigns while you hop on his back? Got any bright ideas? I've never caught a runaway horse before," she said with a smile and a small laugh.

Seth Lyre

Seth listened as Abs boasted about Aladdin. He couldn't really blame here, I mean, boasting comes naturally when you're proud of something. "Um, I think a couple weeks ago. Winkol's owner, a friend of mine, gave me a lesson and showed me the basics," Seth said. "I'm still new at this," he added. Seth didn't have any generic interest in learning to ride a horse, but he figured that if he learned how to, he could pull off all sorts of crazy stunts and impress his friends. Then, Abryl asked him a few more questions. She actually seemed like she would care about Seth's response to her questions, which came as a surprise to him. Not many people wanted to know about Seth. Most wanted to kill him. "Well, I play a little basketball," Seth said. "I don't really sing, but I whistle in the shower, if that counts," he joked. "Oh yeah, and I like running. Not, like running away, but like racing,"

A few minutes later, they approached Winkol. Now that he could see both horses, Seth saw that Aladdin was far slimmer than the hunk of horse in front of us. Seth listened to Abryl's suggestions. Seth thought about recklessly jumping from Aladdin to Winkol, but then realized he might hurt Aladdin's back if he jumped too hard. He decided to go with Abryl's first suggestion. "Well, your first idea's a good one. I'll grab the reigns, though," Seth said. As the horses trotted side-by-side, Seth reached for Winkol's reigns, able to grab them firmly. Then, he hopped from Aladdin's back to Winkol's. However, the horse turned around and saw Seth on its back. Seth hadn't properly adjusted himself yet, but Winkol burst into a gallop. "WHOA!" Seth tried to stop his horse, but to no avail. His feet slipped, and Seth found himself dangling from the horse's side, hanging on by the reigns, as it sped up. "Oh, cow!" Seth cursed. If he let go, he would be trampled. He tried to get back on Winkol, but the horse was going too fast, and Seth's hands were slowly slipping from the reigns. Then, he had an idea. He curled his legs up, and placed them on the side of the horse, then extended them, preforming a jump. As he did this, he let go of the reigns, and ricocheted off the horse.

Seth landed in the dirt. "Oh my gods..." he muttered, as he lay in the dirt. He was too exhausted to get up, but at least he wasn't trampled. How could this day get any worse?

Abryl listened closely over the clop of Aladdin's hooves as Seth talked about his abilities. She laughed as he made the joke about whistling. "I guess whistling counts. I mean, I can't whistle to save my life," she said with slight smile. She listened to the way his voice lit up as he spoke about running. That must be his passion. Abryl had come to decide that every kid at camp had a passion, whether they had discovered it or not. Some people had several, but everybody had at least one. For Abryl is was singing and horseback riding. "Running's cool. Of course, I'm not very fast, but I bet you are," she said encouragingly while remembering his tall thin frame. He was even built like a runner. How did I not see that before? And to think, she had actually considered Seth being a football player or a swimmer. Not a chance. They rode along in silence for a moment while they approached Winkol. Seth seemed to agree with her idea, so he didn't suggest anything else. Abryl prayed her idea would work. She didn't know Winkol very well, but something told her he wouldn't respond well to having someone jump on his back.

She was right.
The moment Seth landed in Winkol's saddle the horse's eyes grew wide with fear and anger. It took of at a gallop, flying down the trail. Seth held on by the reigns for a moment, pulling down Winkol's head and slowing the horse a bit. Abryl urged Aladdin into a canter, staying just behind the wild horse. Fear flowed within her. What if Winkol ran him over? What if I run him over? The horrible possibilities seemed endless, but Seth seemed to still have his wits about him because he propelled himself off the horse and into the bushes. Abryl swore as Winkol slowed down to a trot and continued on and she pulled Aladdin into a swift halt. Leaping from the saddle she sprinted over to where he lay. Abryl sat down beside him, tucking her hair behind her ear.

The on visible damage was a couple of scrapes, nothing too bad, but Abryl knew worse. Seth was banged up pretty bad; she could tell by the way he lay there without moving. Abryl's face contored with concern as she glanced down at him. What could she do? "Good heavens Seth. Are you okay? What hurts? Is anything broken you think? she asked, concern filling her voice. "Maybe we should just let Winkol return to the barn on his own. I mean, where else would he get those delicious oats all the horses love?" she asked with an extremely weak smile. Abryl desperately tried to hide how scared she felt by staying posotive. What should she do?

Seth Lyre

Seth was hurt, that was for sure. He couldn't feel anything broken, but he had a searing pain in his ankle. With what strength he had left after that fall, he lifted his head to look at his ankle, and his eyes widened. "Aw, man. I think I twisted my ankle. Badly," Seth told Abryl, who seemed full of worry. It was nice to have someone genuinely worry for him. His friends knew better than to do so, because he always managed to get himself out of a situation. Seth put his head back down and sighed. "Poseidon must hate me," he decided. Poseidon was, after all, the creator of horses. He listened to Abryl's suggestion. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe we should go to the infirmary or something," he said. He tried to withhold screaming from the aching in his ankle. The pain seemed to numb all the other scrapes and bruises from the fall. Maybe it was dislocated or something? One wrong move, and it could break.

Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to Seth. What if he wasn't able to run anymore? Running was his favorite thing, the one thing nobody could beat him at. If he couldn't do that anymore, he would go into a state of depression for sure. With a broken or even dislocated ankle, his entire racing career was in danger. The thought sent a deep, cold chill up his spine. "Argh!" he grunted. He tried to move, and managed to stand up. He hopped on one bruised leg over to Aladdin and leaned on the horse, trying to maintain his balance. "Can you help me up? We need to go to the infirmary," he said.

Abryl watched wide eyed as Seth looked down at his ankle. It was already starting to swell. That was a bad sign. Like, a really bad sign. Oh god, why couldn't she be like the other Apollo kids who could heal broken bones with a soft word and a touch of their hand? She hadn't minded before, but of coure, it had never really mattered before now. She nodded her head calmly as he talked about his ankle. "I don't think Poseiden hates you, maybe just horses," she said with a weak grin. Amazed, she watched him stagger to his feet while suggesting they go to the infirmary. Well no duh they should go to the infirmary. She stood beside him, alert in case he should stumble. As he leaned against Al, Abryl saw an intense look of worry cross his face. "Hey, look. I'm sure it will be ok! Nothing the people in the infirmary can't fix," Abryl said hopefully. She came to stand beside him, trying to figure out how to best get Seth onto Aladdin's back without hurting his ankle any more than it already was. Obviously, it was too weak for Aladdin to even walk on it.

"Here, hold the front of the saddle with one hand and the back of the saddle with the other. I'm going to hold your good leg, and when I hit three, you jump. I'll help lift you into the saddle. Ready? One... two... three!" She said, heaving Seth up and into the saddle. She glanced up at his face, trying to decide how badly that had hurt his ankle. Another problem crossed her mind. Since Seth's ankle was hurt, he wouldn't be able to steer or guide Aladdin with his legs, and honestly, she didn't trust him with the reigns either. Should she just lead Aladdin back on foot or should she sit behind him? She sighed, thinking that this day was a bit too much of an adventure for her taste. "How's your ankle feeling?" Abryl asked.

As Abs heaved Seth onto the horse, his only though was Holy pancakes! The thrust made his ankle move slightly downwards, sending a surge of pain through his entire foot. His expression crunched up as he tried to keep in a scream. Instead, it came out as an undignified whimpering noise. At least I'm on the horse, he thought. He looked at Abryl. Her expression told him that she'd probably had enough of this fool nearly killing himself twice. "Uh, terrible," he replied in regards to her question. "I really, really don't want it to break. It could mean the end of my racing career," Seth pointed out. Then, he shuffled over the the back of Aladdin, leaving space for Abryl to mount. "Here. I think it's best that you ride," he offered. Seth looked down at his ankle, hanging at the horse's side. It was swelling up - fast.