christmas spirit [ zan ]

Carrying the saw in his hands, Vinnie caught up with Faye quickly. He'd been a bit anxious about going back out into the mortal world since he hadn't left camp in a while. He was also a bit afraid to drive, too, ever since the accident. So he'd taken a bus, which had taken much longer than he had intended for it to take. Dressed in a leather jacket with a snapback on, Vinnie's ears weren't very warm, but at least he looked cool. Vinnie shoved his right hand into his pocket and touched the drachmas that he kept there. He had no mortal money, but he knew how to handle it. He was a son of Hermes for gods' sake.

Vinnie stepped up behind Faye and tapped her right shoulder only to slink around to her left. "Hey, there," he greeted in his normal low voice. Vinnie glanced at Faye's soft gray eyes and then out to what she was looking out. She seemed to be gazing wistfully at the families that were all picking out their tree. Vinnie had never had this luxury. His mother had always been out drunk somewhere and he'd always spent his Christmas' skating or anything else than being home with his mom.

"Come on, forget about them," Vinnie reached down and took Faye's hand (in a friendly way) and pulled her over to the nearest tree sections. The trees were about seven foot tall each and nice and full. "How about these?" Vin gestured to the trees, still holding Faye's hand.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've never picked out a tree before," Vinnie admitted with a grin. "But, this one looks like it'll fit in your cabin, alright." Vinnie twirled the saw around in his hands (probably not the smartest thing to do) and thought about it for a moment. Yeah, he figured it would definitely fit into Cabin Six. "Let's do it, yeah," Vinnie gave Faye a smile and dropped to his knees. From there he crawled under the branches at the bottom and rolled onto his stomach so he could see what he was doing. He put the tool the trunk and began sawing away. As he sawed, the tree shook and quivered like it was in a storm. Finally, after a few minutes of sawing away, the tree gave way and toppled over. "Watch out," Vinnie called, sliding out of the way just in time before the tree landed on him.

The son of Hermes rolled to his feet and dusted his hands off. "Alright. Now from here, we make a run for it," a devious smile passed over the boy's face. Of course he planned on stealing the tree. He didn't actually have any money and Faye needed to have a little fun. "Since it doesn't appear that anyone will notice, we're just going to make a run for it across the hill," he explained, pulling some rope out of his pocket. He bent down and began tying it around the tree's trunk. Just at that moment, footsteps crunching through the snow were audible behind him. Vinnie turned slowly and stood, facing the work. "Hey, there. Need some help?" The worker wore a smile, but his eyes said otherwise.

"I got it," Vinnie replied crisply. He shot a look at Faye that said, 'Diversion, please.'

Shooting her another sympathetic look, Vinnie slung the rope over his shoulder and sprinted away dragging the tree behind him. Because he was a son of Hermes, he typically knew how to steal things and be stealthy about it, but this was a seven foot tree that he was attempting to steal. It was a big project. The tree was flying along the ground with Vinnie's speed. His Hermes powers were kicking in overdrive as he raced along, pulling the tree up a hill. Vinnie tossed a glance over his shoulder at Faye and the man working, not really giving too much of a care. He was too far gone to be caught.

For a moment, he forgot what he was doing and all he could feel was the wind on his skin and the thrill of stealing. Pure adrenaline was pumping through his veins as his feet pounded against the semi-wet ground. When he reached the top of the hill, the Christmas tree farm was gone. He could only see the valley below him and he slowed down his run to a mere walk. Vinnie turned around to face the valley and he just stopped, standing there. As the adrenaline wore off, Vinnie realized that he could barely breathe. Well, considering he was up high in the atmosphere and he just ran a few miles, he knew that he couldn't breathe for a reason. Vinnie scolded himself for this.

For a few moments, the boy stood there and then he pulled out his iPhone. He ran his thumb over the lock screen, punching in a phone call to Faye. He knew it was an awful idea, but he could protect her and him. Vinnie was slowly becoming cocky again. He really had to be careful what he was doing sometimes. "Hey, Faye, I'm at the top of the hill," his breathing was loud, even over the phone.

ooc;; omfg. /lazy

Distantly, Vinnie could hear a hissing sound and his eyes went wide. "No..." he breathed, his breath coming out in a white puff. Despite having just run a few miles, more of Vinnie's adrenaline kicked in and he sprinted back down the hill, half-sliding on his shoes and half running. He flew across the fields faster than he had run them before. He wasn't going to let the fifteen year old get hurt, but could he get there in time? Vinnie could barely make out Faye and the monster in the distance, but he had the girl on speakerphone and he lifted it up to his mouth and gasped out, "I'm... coming!"

Suddenly, a branch flicked out from the muddy ground and caught Vinnie's foot, sending him flying into the wet ground. The son of Hermes slid on his chest, but rolled over his head and onto his feet rather gracefully. He whipped out his pocketknife and flipped it open, the knife expanding into a full sword. Heart pounding, Vinnie let out an animal-like growl and threw a glance back at Faye. The empousai was in a striking position. He was sure that Faye could handle herself, though he'd been training longer than she. Technically, it wasn't traditional training, but he'd killed before.

Vinnie's brown eyes danced back to the monster in front of him and grinned slightly, feeling the adrenaline dancing through his veins. Vinnie was a true adrenaline junkie. The monster in front of him let out a growl. It appeared to be a killer Christmas tree. Vinnie let out an amused snort and went in for a stab. However, the tree flicked its branch, flinging Vin backwards like a rag doll. Again, the boy rolled to his feet, annoyed.

ooc;; empousai don't have spikes lmao. that's a manticore. we'll just say that we're fighting a manticore.

This time he flung himself into the fight, adrenaline pumping, eyes blinded with red fury. He didn't like losing or getting pushed down... especially in front of pretty girls. Throwing himself in front of Faye, Vinnie felt his knife slide down the manticore's flank and the manticore let out a shriek of rage. The monster turned its ugly eyes away from Faye and Vinnie let out a glad sigh. He'd much rather have the monster facing him than her. The beast let out an evil cackle and shot multiple spikes through the air. As soon as Vin saw that tail lift up, he'd already hit the ground and was scrambling for the monster's underbelly.

The monster saw what the demigod was up to. The Manticore slammed his tail down on the ground, narrowly missing Vinnie as he slithered across the ground. Vinnie's heart was pounding, but the Manticore frantically waved its tail as it lost sight of Vinnie. But, he was already under the beast. Just before he made the killing stab, Vinnie locked eyes with Faye. She looked scared and in pain because it was then that he noticed the spike in her side. His faltering was losing precious time. Vinnie put his feelings aside and brought his knife upwards, driving it into the monster's soft belly.

A scream pierced the air, right down to Vinnie's bones as the monster came tumbling down on top of the demigod. Vinnie let out a shout when the manticore came down on him, but in a few moments he'd knew it be gone. Distintegrate into dust. He kept waiting, too, but a few seconds passed with the creature moving and Vinnie started to struggle under the weight without much air. Frantically, he tried to stab the thing again, but his arm was pinned under the tail. Vinnie started to panic.

Vinnie felt the monster's weight disappear off his back and he took a deep breath of air. Vinnie shot up and sat up straight instantly. His eyes went to Faye and his heart started to pound harder than before when he'd been running. "Faye, I think that question applies more to you than me," he said, his eyebrows creasing together. His gaze went down to Faye's leg where he saw the greenish tint coming her body. "Faye..." he whispered, looking up at her with fearful eyes. Even though he knew the poison was spreading through her body, he was determined to get her home back to camp.

"Come on, we're leaving. I'll get the tree later," He reached for Faye and pulled her into his strong arms. Surprisingly, Faye wasn't all that heavy. Not that he had expected her to be, but with his lack of energy from all that running, he figured she'd be heavier than he would've liked to carry. Becoming increasingly worried with each stride he took to get out of the Christmas tree patch. He kept glancing down at Faye, with worry glittering in his eyes. Gods, if they didn't move soon, she was going to... Vinnie didn't even want to think about that. In a matter of minutes, Vinnie had already passed the tree. Wow.. he was moving faster than he thought he'd go.

"Faye, talk to me, baby, stay conscious," Vinnie's voice was strained in the cold mountain air.

"It's called soap," Vinnie said, gazing down at her with a grin. Alright, he could agree to not call her baby anymore. It was just a general nickname that he used when talking to girls he liked but, apparently not all girls liked it. Most did. In the distance, Vin could see the camp rising over the hills. Despite the burning feeling in his chest, Vin surged forward, ignoring the impending rumbling noise he could hear behind him. Vinnie began to struggle to breathe and that's when he knew an asthma attack was coming. Vinnie heard a screech behind him and he pushed through the pain, rolling Faye over the camp's borders just as he was dragged backwards along the ground. "Go!" He cried, digging his nails into the ground. He was pulled backwards too fast for him to say anything else. Suddenly his vision went dark and he was out.

ooc; so I have a plot. Vinnie disappears and Faye gets all upset but he reappears at the dance. it'll be cute. yes. because they kiss but she's a little mad at him for disappearing and making her all worried omg cuteness scale will explode.

OCC: MMkay. To lazy to reply so we will end this with a cliff hanger muwahahaha