After a brand new start (OPEN)

Skyler was tired of running. He had been doing it for so long. Actually, that was quite a lie, he had been doing a lot of hitchhiking as well. Walking 3000 miles from California to New York was not something Skyler wanted to do so he got rides from sketchy looking truckers or snuck onto the backs of buses without a ticket. Skyler wasn't stupid, he knew that they would be looking for him, but he was done with his family trying to pawn him off on the next  person that would take him, and he was going back to camp.

Skyler had gotten as far as Southampton in the passenger seat of a horse trailer with a man that had been friendly enough to try to make conversation, only to find his replies less than a few grunts every once in a while. Yet Southampton still left him a good 15 miles to walk. It took him more than a day, and he had slept at the side of the road, but here he was, finally at camp and Skyler almost collapsed as he walked over the hill. Standing there, leaning on Thalia's tree, Skyler reviewed camp. It looked almost the same, but he looked so different, and pathetically so. He was scraggly, and what once had been muscle had been shaved down to skin and bone by military academy and Skyler's escapade. His hair was shaved to his head and his collarbones protruded out of his thin sweatshirt. Overall, Skyler was the epitome of malady. As he began to sink to the ground, Skyler noticed a shadow coming closer and closer.

Climbing the hill, Cirilla was thinking back to the events that had led to this moment. Mum, Papa. I'll miss you both. The ashen haired girl thought to herself as she walked. Each step brought her closer to that... other world that Papa had always spoke about. The world of Gods and Monsters... wonderful. The girl just hoped that she fit in among the others, seeing as her usual manner of dress made her seem like an out-of-place cosplayer. Well... at least she was comfortable with it, that was all that mattered right? Either way, she'd deal with it like always. Reaching a slender arm up, Cirilla brushed some of the ashen hair from her face. It truly got rather irritating sometimes to have her bangs be this long.

The girl was shaken from her thoughts as her backpack seemed to change its weight, and distribution. Soft sounds could be heard as she came to a sudden stop to inspect the new development on her back. Turning her head, the girl's deep green eyes went wide with surprise as she noticed the  backpack missing. Replaced by the familiar shape  of Swallow, her claymore that Papa had told her was for slaying monsters. "Shit!" The girl exclaimed as she looked around quickly, wanting to ensure that nobody else had seen. Unfortunately, the girl wasn't used to manipulating the mist quite yet. Frantically, her eyes darted around to find some reason for the illusion failing. A frustrated pout grew on her face as she couldn't find anything that caused it... what she did notice was the valley below. Slowly, the pout fell away as the girl became mesmerized by the view. All the cabins, and others moving about... it was truly a site for the girl to behold.



The two sounds accompanied the girl's sudden trip, and collision with the ground in front of her. Looking up, Ciri's eyes found themselves locked with a boy's... somebody she hadn't noticed sitting there before. Immediately the girl's cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she leaped backwards and watched the boy. "H-hi! S-sorry for tripping over you... I'm new." She said softly, the British accent evident in her voice... along with her embarrassment.

Skyler’s head whipped around in surprise as he heard a racket from behind him but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid getting kicked in the head by an impudent girl, one who had just tripped on his body. Standing up and rubbing his head, Skyler grabbed his sword hilt and drew it, almost slicing the girl in the process.  Fortunately for Skyler, whom hadn’t trained in several months, the girl didn’t seem to pose any real threat,and wasn’t even holding her sword. He rolled his eyes, still holding the sword in front of him.

”What’s a ‘tory doing in New York?” He asked, remaining slightly cautious, but annoyance bled through his voice. Skyler had just said the first thing that popped into his head, instead of thinking about it, and he realized after a second that he was supposed to introduce himself first. Ignoring what he knew he was supposed to do, Skyler turned to the girl and stared her down. ”I suppose that means you want me to show you around.” He muttered, putting his sword back into its sheath.

"This 'Tory'," Cirilla began, raising her hands to make air quotes as she used his term for herself. "has a name. Cirilla Riannon, you can call me Ciri." The girl said and briefly wondered if she should get on him about drawing his sword. Deciding that it was likely a valid move given their current world and the situation she had put him in. The boy had likely been surprised by her tripping over over him, almost as much as she had been upon tripping over him. Studying the boy's features, and listening to his annoyed tone Cirilla decided that it might be better to play it nice around this boy.

"I must apologize for tripping over you..." She said, and paused to let the boy fill in his name. After that short pause, the girl continued with what she had been saying beforehand "However, I would much like a tour around the camp, however I do not wish to unnecessarily burden a gentleman such as yourself." Her tone remaining respectful as she spoke. As she said these final words, Cirilla fell silent and studied the boy once more with her deep green eyes. At least he was a bit pleasant on the eyes, so his previous rudeness was something that she felt she could dismiss.

”Well,” Skyler said, smiling slightly. ”This ‘Tory doesn’t care.” He knew he was purposely trying to rile the girl up, and Skyler should have felt bad about it, but he didn’t. Pity. It wasn’t like Skyler was well versed in the niceness aspect of being a camper, or being a human being. He just didn’t get it. Well, a mixture of that and not wanting to get it. No wonder Skyler didn’t have many friends.

As she began to ask for a tour, Skyler could feel his eyes want to shrug back into his head. He had only just freaking gotten here, why was he now expected to perform so many meaningless tasks? She would figure it out after a while, there was no real reason for a tour. Skyler certainly hadn’t had a tour, and he saw no need to give any other newbie one. But, realizing that the girl would probably just go to the Big House, and then he would be assigned the same damn job, Skyler shook his head. ”As you should.” Skyler muttered, instead of saying ‘apology accepted’ or ‘it’s okay’ or whatever Isabelle would tell him to say. He was done listening to her, she wasn’t here now to tell him what to do, so why should he do it? ”Fine I’ll do it, let’s go.” Skyler said, a grimace on his face. Picking up his backpack, he started down the hill, not waiting to see if the girl was following him.

Cirilla Riannon | Camp Half-Blood | The People You Meet

Cirilla suppressed a small giggle that tried to escape her lips. "Oh, and here I thought that 'Tory was incapable of nice things." The girl retorted. She figured this boy would try to rile her up, seemed like his type. Sorry, sweetie, but you're not getting your little fun from me. The girl thought to herself as she set off behind the boy. While he may be ungodly amounts of irritating with that rude attitude, she figured it best to become acquainted with the camp and those in it. Otherwise... well she might end up making more of a fool of herself than she already had. That would have just been plain irritating, and probably would be joy to be people like Mr. 'Tory over there.

The girl wore a pleasant smirk as she followed behind him, enjoying the internal musings that she had about him and what life would be like here at camp. The valley itself was beautiful, and the alluring aroma of food drifted across from the dining pavillion. Oh, how Ciri was beginning to think she might like it here. Hopefully some of the others around here were a tad bit nicer than this one.

Raising an eyebrow as he began to lead the way, Cirilla wondered exactly what he thought could come out of a tour that would benefit him. "Not particularly surprising, but I do wonder exactly what benefits one could derive from giving a tour." She said in response as he silently led the way through camp for a little bit. She had to admit, this boy didn't exactly like the amiable type to her... causing her to wonder why he even bothered to agree. It would have been simple enough to just tell her 'no' and continue on with his day. For whatever reason, Cirilla shrugged and cocked her head to the side as the boy gestured towards something and began to speak. Looks like her tour guide was finally about to begin speaking.

Boy, what a fantastic tour guide he was. Having heard what he said about the strawberry fields, Cirilla rolled her eyes. Of course she could tell they were strawberry fields, that much was rather obvious to the girl. She had hoped instead to hear more about something important in the camp. Not strawberry fields that the boy seemed to have something against. "Oh? I'm sure they serve some purpose. Though I cannot be certain." Cirilla said in a soft tone, figuring it would be better for now to simply play nice and go along with everything. Afterall, he was the one giving her a tour.