Archery (PLEASE JOIN)

I shoot an arrow aiming for the bullseye and it hits it easily. A soft thunks sounds and the arrow landed. My long red hair waved in the breeze as I got ready to shoot another arrow and get another bullseye. I sit down and sigh bored like crazy. Thoughts: I have no friends, no one to care for me, no hope of ever being happy unless I become a Huntress. End of Thought.

Malcolm walked towards the archery range. The bow he "borrowed" from one of his siblings was swung around his shoulder, and he had a pencil sticking out of his ear. Malcolm looked like he'd just gotten out of bed, as he almost always did. A wad of gum stuck to the back of his pencil got caught in his too long hair. It was bright out, and Malcolm squinted to block the sun from hitting his eyes. There was a girl there, her red hair blowing in the wind as she got a bullseye. Malcolm whistled. His archery skills only extended to pulling the bow back and hoping he didn't hit anyone. Malcolm contintued forward to the shooting line. He swung his bow over his head and pulled the arrow back. Malcolm glanced down to check his arm position, but immediately regretted it. The pale scars running down Malcolm's arms to the tips of his fingers were shimmering in the sunlight, a constant reminder of how he had been so stupid as to think that he could defeat a monster without any training. Malcolm thought of his mother, and how they had met on the last Olympus trip. She had told him that his emotions would allways overtake his reason, that he would let the warefare part of him guide his instincts. Malcolm had been so scared. To think that his mother was dissapointed in him. But she was right. Malcolm could never control his anger. He was a well thought out demigod, but all his reason left him when he was faced with any kind of obsticle. The way his mother had said it.. it had made Malcolm sound like a son of Ares. He would give anything to make her proud. Anything. Malcolm willed himself to believe that as he notched his bow. He pulled back, bringing up all the anger that has surged through him in the last couple of minutes. He let the arrow fly from his bow. Malcolm felt such a power that he had never felt before as he stood with his bow awkwardly in his hands, watching his arrow pierce the target near the bullseye. Malcolm gave a sigh and grinned.

I hear a whistle and turn around swiftly, as I turned I shot another arrow that split the first one. "Hello I'm Lily Rose daughter of Pan what's your name" I said friendly "nice shot!". I walked over and my hair blew behind me. I sling my practice bow over my shoulder and my boredness evaporates.

Malcolm closed his eyes as the girl walked towards him, wishing he were somewhere else. His bean bag in the library maybe. Or his bunk in the Athena cabin. Malcolm could see it in his head very clearly. His white bunk bed, with the top bunk belonging to one of his brothers, the bottom neatly made and, as always, a billion books spread out on top of it, so it was impossible to tell the color of the blanket. Malcolm wished he wsa there, sitting on his books, typing away at some computer program on his macbook pro. He forced himself to turn to the girl, accepting that he couldn't just dissapear and show up somewhere else. Lily, as she introduced herself, seemed content chatting, so Malcolm went along with it. "Malcolm." He said, looking her in the eye for the first time. "Η μητέρα μου είναι η θεά της σοφίας. My mother is the goddess of wisdom." Malcolm translated it for her. Malcolm watched Lily glance at his arrow stuck into the wood of the target. He nodded and closed his eyes very quickly in a brief thank you as Lily complimented his shot. "I normally miss." He said. Malcolm was a good 6 inches taller than the girl, and although she couldn't have been more than thirteen, Malcolm still had trouble looking her in her silver eyes.

I noticed that he couldn't look me in the eye, I rolled my eyes and muttered "boys". "Really?! That was a pretty good shot," I said surprised. I shot another arrow and split the 2 other arrows. "I could help teach you" I suggested.

Malcolm looked down at himself selfconsiously as Lily rolled her eyes. Had he done something wrong? Malcolm made out the muttered word 'boys' like she'd seen everything before. Malcolm was bothered by this, for some reason that he couldn't explain, even afterwards. Malcolm couldn't think of anything good to say, so he kept quiet. She seemed suprised to learn that Malcolm wasn't a good archer. "Yeah. Watch." he said, with an air of annoyance and gloom in his voice. He picked up his bow and an arrow from the ground where he had dropped them and pulled into position. The thin tendon on his arm stuck out from the force he was pulling on. Malcolm looked straight at the target, arrows portruding from it's surface, and shot. Malcolm had missed by quite a margin. THe arrow lay almost three feet from where it had meant to go. "See?" Malcolm asked Lily, with a shrug. When the topic of her teaching him was brought up, Malcolm had to mentally clap his hand over his mouth to keep himself from shouting 'no!' It wouldn't help anyway and Malcolm was too proud to be taught by a girl two years younger than he was. But he swallowed his pride and said, "You can try, but I don't think it would help."

"If you're wondering why I rolled my eyes it was because you wouldn't look me in the eyes. Also I've been here longer than you so I don't see why you should be ashamed. If you don't want me to I won't. The reason why you aren't a good archer is because you aren't focused and you don't believe you can do it," I said as if I read your mind again.

Malcolm nodded when she explained the meaning of her rolling her eyes. He pushed his blonde hair back from his face and watched as tiny particles swirled around Lily's hair, the red streaks flying out in the sunlight. "You've been here longer than I have? I've been here for 6 years. Since I was 8." In fact, Malcolm had almost never left camp since then. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he had nowhere to go. He sighed as Lily pointed out that he didn't believe he could be an archer. "That's partly it. But... But the real reason I'm not a good archer was because, when I was 9, some monster came at me. They were almost human, human enough to carry a bow." Malcolm breathed again. This was the most he had ever told anybody, other than Annabeth and Chiron. "I don't know what they were, but it was an old sea monster. The bow was magic, and no matter how hard I tried to kill it, I could do nothing but dodge it's arrows. I just barely got away." Malcolm felt he had done his best to explain. "Every time I shoot, it's like I'm that monster shooting at some other half blood. That's why I can't shoot."

"I've been here since I was 2 in otherwords 11 years. That is a good reason, but if you get past that you can, but only if you want to," my eyes full of pain I took a breath then said "My mom was killed by Zeus because she knocked down all his artifacts, but she was possessed by Gea to stir up anger between the gods, he took it all out on her and lightning bolts chased her until they finally caught her and I was left alone until a satyr found me and brought me to camp.". My eyes full of pain and sympathy. "I've always wanted to be a Hunter o Artemis so I've practiced being an archer for a long time, but I was a natural and hit the bulls eye on the first try, I imagined Zeus there smirking at me all happy he killed my mother so I got really mad and shot at his skull" I said embarassed.

Malcolm looked down at Lily, into her eyes for the first time. "Sorry. I didn't realize.." He said quickly. "I can't get over that. I've never been any good either. I suppose you could teach me if you'd like." Malcolm said, but his sympathy melted away as she said that every time she shot, she imagined it was Zeus' skull. "The lord of the skies may be decitful, not caring and annoying, but NEVER do that. Do you understand?" Malcolm asked her.

"I only did it once after that I just imagined a monster," I said quickly, "I've truthfully never forgiven him for my mom's death, but I never let them out again.". I looked sadly at the ground and sighed. I shot another arrow and split the other arrows. I sat down and put my head in my hands. Then I got up and started shooting arrow after arrow trying to decide what to do.