Pff, I'm Not Sleeping -PrIvAtE-

At this time of the year, campers could tell who Taylor's godly parent was by looking at her outfit. She only wore her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, a pair of shorts that reached barely past her knees and a pair of black boots. Taylor had no use for a jacket since she was immune to the cold. Her auburn hair was tied up in a high ponytail and she carried a pair of ice skates on her back. When Taylor approached the lake, she saw a few campers having fun--making snowmen, throwing snowballs and skating, just to name a few. A smile lit up her features at the sight. Eventually she spotted a familiar boy leaning against a leafless tree. He had a book in his hands but he didn't seem to be paying attention to it. In fact, he was sleeping. Taylor smirked.

Quietly, Taylor walked up to Zach. He looked very peaceful in his sleep. Too bad she was going to ruin it for him. Taylor leaned over him, her face only a few inches away from his. "Yo, Zach!" Taylor said a little too loudly while slightly shaking Zach's shoulder. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Tay? Taylor raised her eyebrows, before pulling back and laughing. It just sounded silly to her, but she liked it, for some weird reason. "That's new. I haven't been called that before," she said. She paused for a moment, holding a hand under her chin like she was thinking. Then she closed her eyes while placing a hand on Zach's head. "I, Tay, will now christen you with your new name: Z."

Taylor opened her eyes. "Sorry, dude, I couldn't really think of anything else," she chuckled. Then as quick as a flash, Taylor grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at Zach's face.

Taylor instinctively closed her eyes as she saw the snowball flying towards her. It hit her full on the face. She laughed while using her sleeve to wipe her face. Was Zach serious? Did he even remember that he was with a Khione kid? Well, Taylor assumed that he knew what he was doing. She watched him glide across the ice, playfully taunting her.

"Ha! The Tay of awesomeness is out to get ya!" Taylor called after him while she strapped her skates on. She would be definitely faster than Zach with her skates. Before chasing Zach, Taylor scooped up another snowball. With a wide grin on her face, she slid across the ice, and when she was close enough, threw another snowball at Zach's face.

It all went too fast. One moment Zach was cramming snow into her face--which Taylor did not like--then the next second she felt herself being shoved to the side. After wiping her eyes and getting the snow off her face, Taylor saw the cracks and the huge gaping hole where she had been three seconds ago. She looked around--Zach was out of sight. Reality dawned on her as she put two and two together, and without hesitation, Taylor plunged in the lake.

Submerged in the water--which wasn't really as cold as she expected--, Taylor knew that she only had less than a minute to save Zach before both of them run out of oxygen. If she failed...well, she'd rather not think about it at the moment. She quickly spotted Zach a few meters away. She swam across the water as fast as she could and grabbed the back of his sweatshirt. Taylor tried to pull him back to where the hole was, but he was too heavy for her. Plus, she was starting to get dizzy, which wasn't a good sign.

Taylor started to choke. She didn't have much time and energy left. In a last ditch effort, Taylor concentrated her energy into controlling the ice above them. She felt a huge tug in her gut and the ice above them broke away. Taylor then concentrated on the broken pieces of ice, making sure that Zach didn't get hit by any of themt. Taylor reached her arm out of the water and felt hands pulling her and Zach to safety. It seemed that some of the older campers had started helping. Taylor was forever thankful for that.

Taylor took a huge breath once she was out of the water--it felt like the breath of life. She found herself lying face-down on the snow while she coughed out whatever water that got in her system. Taylor mentally cursed in Greek. Zach better be alive after this. Then she would be able to strangle him to death for saving her in the first place. She opened her eyes and saw that the other campers were attending to him. She mustered her remaining energy left to crawl towards Zach and the others. "Zach, can you hear me? Wake up! WAKE UP DAMMIT!" she yelled as much as her hoarse voice could handle.

Taylor felt Zach's arms around her. He felt cold, due to the fact that he was still soaking wet, like her. Her brow twitched in annoyance, but it wasn't because of the hug. "You idiot," she muttered under her breath while her eyes were closed. "You shouldn't... shouldn't have saved me in the first place."

It annoyed her a little, since she knew that being a Khione kid, she could have just willed the ice to get her back above the water. Taylor would have continued to scold Zach, but she could feel her consciousness slipping. She had used too much energy; she could tell from the numbing sensation in almost every part of her body. Taylor could hear other voices, something about ambrosia and nectar, but she couldn't make them out quite well. The last thing she heard was Zach's breathing before she passed out.

As soon as the ambrosia got in her system, Taylor felt quite as good as new. She still felt a little bit weak though, but at least she was conscious. Her eyes opened slightly, only to see the blurry faces of Zach and the other campers. Taylor tried to push herself up with one hand clutching her head. Her head was still pounding but not as bad as before. An Apollo camper hesitantly approached her with more nectar, but she declined the offer. "I'm good," Taylor managed weakly, smiling at the camper. "Thanks for the help, everyone."

"Well at least you're alive," Taylor told Zach, glaring at him. He was still soaked to the bone, like her. She frowned. She didn't have any problem with the cold though, unlike Zach. "Aren't you feeling cold?" she asked, her tone a little anxious. She pressed a hand on his forehead. Yep, he was freezing alright, what with the winter air and the water. "You're the one who needs nectar," she said, managing a light chuckle.

Taylor rolled her eyes. Didn't Zach know that she used her energy in both breaking some ice and dragging him to safety? He wasn't exactly doing anything but floating while she did all the work. She also didn't believe that he wasn't cold. Who was Zach kidding with that? He was drenched with ice cold water in the middle of a snow-filled place. He must be more than cold.

Taylor was about to retort when Zach pulled his shirt off, giving her a clear view of the tattoo she had seen from a while back. She stared at it, intrigued, and remembered that she hadn't found out much about it before. She even momentarily forgot about Zach's current condition.

"So, what's with the tattoo?" Taylor asked casually, trying to not sound as excited and curious as she actually was.

Taylor fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "Are you trying to get me to go away after I just saved your skin?" she mocked, biting back a laugh. She didn't really care that much about the gang thing. Zach was pretty nice when they first met, and after he protectively fought the Ares kids and pushing her to safety before the ice broke, Taylor wasn't in any way going to leave him. Zach had proven to her that he was a friend who was worth it. So what if he was part of a gang in the past? Taylor almost killed her classmates before, so she wasn't your typical good girl anyway. Turning away from Zach now would just make her somewhat hypocritical.

Taylor noticed that Zach was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Gods, she forgot that he was freezing! He could possibly get hypothermia too. She needed to get him some nectar quickly. "Hey? Hey!" she waved at the Apollo camper who had offered her nectar earlier. "Some nectar please?"

The Apollo camper was looking at Zach's tattoo with a scared look on his face. Actually, almost everyone was. Taylor was beginning to lose her cool. Her eyebrow twitched. "Nectar, anyone?" Taylor said, trying to keep her voice stable.

"Why should we help?" someone challenged, and the others began to murmur agreement.

Without hesitation, Taylor turned to the boy and punched him right on the face. He staggered back from the force of the blow. Taylor grabbed the front of the boy's shirt. "Say that again, and I'll freeze you from the inside out," she seethed. She let go of the boy as the other campers watched in astonishment. "Anyone else who has a problem with him?" Taylor yelled angrily, glancing around to see the kids shaking their heads and stepping back. The Apollo camper from earlier dropped the rest of the nectar on her hands before scampering away. "Thank you."

Walking back to Zach as if nothing major happened, Taylor poured the nectar down his throat. "C'mon, c'mon," Taylor muttered as she watched for any sign of improvement.

Taylor smirked and put the remaining nectar away. "Thanks, Z," Taylor said, patting his head. She looked around, and the crowd began dissipating at the weight of her stare. She couldn't even find the boy she punched earlier. Taylor wondered if he was going to get revenge by getting some backup.

"Get up," Taylor urged Zach, clapping him on the shoulder. "It's not a good idea for you to be lying on the snow."

Taylor vaguely wondered if Zach was serious about the killing thing. She was very intrigued by the thought.

"I guess falling into the ice-cold water really puts off the mood," Taylor remarked, chuckling. "Nothing better than a sudden swim in winter, right?"

Taylor ran a hand through her hair only to notice that it was still soaked. In fact, she could feel some ice crystals forming in it. Her abnormal temperature as a Khione kid must have been the reason for that. She frowned. She remembered that it was cold, and how Zach was still kinda drenched from the events earlier. He might have been healed by the nectar, but walking around in the snow dripping wet wasn't exactly a good idea for someone who wasn't one of Taylor's siblings.

"You, Zach, need to stand in front of a heater for a few hours at least," Taylor blurted out, smirking.

"Suuuuure you do," Taylor said, unconvinced. Zach looked like he was freezing his butt off. Taylor decided to play along for his sake. Obviously he was trying to protect his manliness or something, at least that was what Taylor thought.

"Aww, what happened to 'Tay'?" she said, but she honestly liked Snowy better. It sounded like an ice cream store, and she loved ice cream. Taylor tucked her hair behind her ear and dusted off her body, where some ice crystals were still starting to form. Ah, the drawback of being a Khione kid. Give it a few more minutes and Taylor was certain that she was going to start sparkling with her shimmering ice crystals. "Hm... I dunno. Whatever you wanna do." Taylor said, still slightly preoccupied with the thought of ridding her body of the ice.

Taylor clapped a hand over her mouth. "By the gods, I am turning into a sparkling vampire!" she said in a shrill un-Taylor-like voice. She snickered. "Kidding. Just a wet Khione kid in the middle of snow. The water droplets are freezing like crazy."

Taylor smiled, staring back into Zach's green/blue eyes. She liked how they seemed to sparkle in the light, even if their colors still drove her crazy until now. Zach actually looked kinda cute that way. Still smiling, Taylor held his gaze for a few moments, then she reached up and squeezed Zach's nose. "Come on, Seed Boy, let's see if we can climb this tree you speak of," she said, laughing it off, and she turned away before Zach could see the slightest trace of pink on her cheeks.

Taylor stood facing the thick tree with her arms crossed over her chest. It looked strong, but she wasn't sure if it could hold both of their weights. "You have the most random ideas ever," Taylor said as she turned to Zach. After all, who suggests climbing a tree during winter?