Sunset Claiming (Open to all)

[Catryn Greyling]

The sun was going down in the distance, leaving a kaleidoscopic sky of indigo, auburn and blue-green shades. Cat loved those colors, especially the ice blue-green. She had always loved the outdoors. Who needed human company when she had nature? Okay, that sounded majorly antisocial. Then again, she sort of was. Sort of.
 She approached the Hermes cabin. The deterioration of the cabin was much more apparent up close, but it still didn't lose it's hospitable feel. The door looked like it would fall over at any moment's notice as well, but when she knocked lightly on it, she could feel how sturdy it really was.

[Cerulaen]

((The scene I'm writing as a one-shot for Ri is actually her having a dream here at the Hermes cabin, so I'm just going to post now like it's already happened, and then when I finish the one-shot I'll post it as a sort of bonus feature xD))

  Ever since she was little, Daquiri had been a light sleeper. And the fact that she'd just had an absolutely exhausting day and then only gotten a few hours of sleep--most of which seemed to be spent dreaming--seemed to have no effect on her brain when it was telling her to wake up.
  Daquiri sat up with a start at the sound of a noise, her hand immediately going for her dagger. Spots dotted her eyes as the blood rushed out of her head too fast, and she tried to regain her bearings as quickly as possible.
  She was on a bed.
  In the Hermes cabin.
  Hermes? As in the Greek god of theives and travellers?
  Yeah, that about summed it up.
  So my dream really wasn't me going crazy, she noted. Well, that was just peachy.
  Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Daquiri realized that must have been the noise that had woken her up in the first place and she cursed in French under her breath as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. What should she do? Hide? That seemed utterly ridiculous, considering she wasn't scared of anything.
  Realizing that if whoever it was came in of their own accord they'd probably find it rather strange that she hadn't answered it, she figured she'd better open the stupid thing. If worse came to worst, she could always leave.
  Straightening her shoulders, she lightly finger-combed her hair, adjusted her shirt and then morphed her face into its usual indifferent expression. Before the person could knock again, Daquiri yanked open the wooden door.
  And at that moment, Daquiri realized she still wasn't wearing any shoes.

((Heh, couldn't resist that last line xD Btw, if you want a visual of Daquiri's current look, she's still rocking her geddup from the tour with Syl ))

[Catryn Greyling]

[Cool. I know you like to describe other characters through Ri's eyes sometimes, so here's a descrip of Cat as she is right now: She's wearing a light gray zip-up hoodie (which isn't zipped up), light blue t-shirt, very dark green cargo pants with a few bulging pockets; she's got her bags with her (descrips of those in the inventory thingy on the side under my very interesting profile pic) and her brown hair is half up - as in the hair that usually frames the side of her face is pulled back into a ponytail, while the rest is left down.]

 Cat wasn't sure what she was expecting from the decrepit cabin. Maybe an old hermit? Or no one? The door opened and she instinctively took a step back, ready to size up her new cabinmate.
 Cat was never one to point out whether someone was beautiful, or handsome or average or whatever, but this girl was undeniably pretty. Her t-shirt had been pulled back by a hair tie, and her wavy, reddish-gold hair went down to her exposed midriff. She was barefoot, for some reason (Cat had probably woken her up; she felt a fleeting guilt) and her pale face had an indifferent expression on it. She knew that expression though: she was keeping it purposefully blank. It was quite similar to the one she herself was wearing.
 She regarded the girl for another moment. She seemed a year older than her, about 14 or so. She suddenly realized that she wasn't wearing one of those clay-bead necklaces that Syl, Estelle, Alex and Zach had. Other campers she had seen earlier had them too, although she hadn't consciously noticed at the time. Like herself and Mr. Jared Sunshine-Kid, this girl was relatively new to camp as well.
 She sucked in a deep breath. Yet another meeting, yet another first impression to make. "I don't suppose you're a Hermes kid," she said with a casual indifference to match her expression. Her eyes flickered to meet the girl's, her gaze steady.

[Cerulaen]

((Haha, more like describe every new person she meets...I'm just a heckler for describing characters xD Afterall, every person unconsciously sizes a person up when they first meet them, so it makes sense for characters to do it on first impressions--and, you know, whenever another character happens to be dressed up as a deranged clown, or something.))

  Daquiri had expected another person to be behind the door--although, at a camp with lava-drenched rock climbing walls and girls who spoke owl, she supposed humans weren't the only things that could come knocking on one's door. However, the strawberry blonde hadn't expected to meet anyone who...well, who looked like they were moving in.
  The girl standing in front of her looked well-composed and like she knew what she was doing--hardly an expression most people wore when they were obviously new to a place. In fact, the persona this girl carried was very similar to the one Daquiri herself portrayed whenever she'd gone to a new school. Which had been, to say the least, a lot.
  While the girl's nonchalant expression passed Daquiri's inspection, her wardrobe, on the other hand, did not. She supposed the girl was pretty, with her naturally soft-looking waves and intense green-grey eyes, but her "style" was much too plain and drabbed-down for her taste. Green and grey were both good colors for the brunette, but Daquiri would only wear cargo pants if she was going for an army-chic look, and she wouldn't have been caught dead in a hoodie. All she wore under the hoodie was a plain blue tee--seriously, couldn't it at least have a pattern on it or something?--and her chestnut hair was pulled back in a 'do Daquiri hadn't worn since she was in grade school. The look was completed with a pair of sneakers, but she had to give her points for those since Daquiri's own feet were sans-footwear at the moment.
  If Daquiri had been one to give them, she would've liked to make-over this girl with some clothes and makeup that accented her features more. However, Daquiri wasn't really one of those girls that invited friends over for sleep overs and stayed up half the night talking about boys and doing each others nails. She didn't even make friends. But then, that was beside the point.
  The one thing that kept popping up in her mind was how this girl was carrying traveling bags, the sign that had alerted Daquiri to this girl's being new in the first place. Had the brunette been planning to come here? Was Daquiri the only one who hadn't been informed of her supposed god-heritage and sent to a war-obsessed camp because of it?
  These kids have parents, a voice whispered in her head. Why wouldn't they know if their mom or dad was a god? Daquiri tried to ignore the misgivings, but when the girl in front of her spoke, her eyes flashed with renewed irritation.
  "No," she replied flatly. "My dad's dead."

((Well, that only took me forever and a day to write. And btw, I have nothing against Cat's clothes. *points at Daquiri* Blame her.))

[Guest]

((You guys mind if I join?))

[Catryn Greyling]

[Lawwl. Okay then, I'll blame Daquiri. Bad Daquiri! She's not wrong though, Cat does like to dress pretty casually. Although I did want to put a Puma logo on her shirt, I decided not to 'cause I didn't want to base her style too much on my own. I like hoodies too, so.. Yeah. And the cargo pants... *shrugs* She likes having extra pockets. And go ahead, Jay. Join the awkward moment!]

Oh. Darn. Cat wished she could bite her own tongue off. Or disappear into... somewhere. Wait, what was she saying? Was she really being so gutless? Oh, she had always been this gutless when it came to making a faux pas. Not this time... This wasn't a new school. This was her new home (as sad as it was, to be spending the rest of her life in a Greek-obsessed camp - wait, was she actually supposed to stay here forever?... Oh flipping flypaper).
She quickly got her mind back on track. Darned ADHD.
She kept the steady eye contact with the boldly-dressed girl, thinking quickly on how to proceed. The most important thing was to pretend it hadn't fazed her. She only hoped her expression had held while her mind was flying off in random directions. "I see. Well, I'm Cat, and I'll be staying here, since my mom likes her life better without a little kid around, and we're supposedly related to Greek gods. Forgive me for being skeptical on the last part, but, ah... May I ask your name?" She spoke her words with a polite, calm tone with a hint of casual boredom.

[Guest]

Jay walked out of the Hermes Cabin, feeling good. He'd just traded his extra pillow for one of the Hermes' goods, and had it in his hand right now. A pack of Coke. Dude, you can never get enough caffeine. He saw 2 girls talking to each other, both new, he presumed. 'Hi,' he waved to the people.


((Outfit: Black jeans, a grey T shirt and a matte black jacket. Silver skull ring, one silver earring. Sneakers. You guys really care about these clothes,do you?))

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat allowed her gaze to be diverted to the boy who had joined them. She could only see his face over the girl's shoulder. Dark hair, chocolate brown eyes, a single silver earring. He seemed friendly enough, although something felt... off... about him. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
She nodded once in his direction, keeping her focus on her current conversation. She'd introduce herself properly to him later. Maybe.

[Cerulaen]

((Cat: Pfffft, Daquiri's style is completely based off of mine, lawl...Well, except that I'm a tad more conservative since my mother would never let me out of the house in a belly shirt....I do in fact own a few, though xD And hey, if you still wanna give her a Puma shirt, the label can always be hidden under a hoodie and Ri can maybe appreciate it later
((Jay: Lawl, just watch this become a thing. "Everyone give Ceru your character's wardrobe and she will describe the heck out of it." xD But lawl, remember Daquiri already met Jay! So it's alright if he recognizes her ))

Daquiri watched the girl's reaction carefully. She'd always had a special talent for making people feel uncomfortable around her, and it came in handy when she didn't feel like talking to people. But at the moment...she wasn't really sure what to feel. She could practically see the gears turning in the brunette's head, revealing how carefully she was in choosing her next words. Smart girl, she noted. Even Daquiri herself couldn't always control her own temper. Sometimes it would just...blow up. And most of the time, the copper-head would walk away from the consequences without a second thought.
For a moment, Daquiri thought she saw the girl's grey-ish eyes flash with uncertainty, but it was gone in an instant and Daquiri wasn't sure if she'd seen correctly. From there, the brunette's face morphed back into one of apathetic confidence, and she finally responded.
Cat, is it? she mused. So her name isn't as bland as her wardrobe. Daquiri found Cat's comment about her mother interesting and she decided to store away the information for later rather than address it now. As for the rest of her little speech...Well, Daquiri wasn't entirely sure if Cat's skepticism was genuine or if she was just trying to mosey up to her good side. Daquiri thought it was maybe somewhere in between.
In all honesty, Daquiri found the brunette's display to be a tad impressive. Not very many people--no one she'd recalled meeting, in fact--could reply to her acidic bluntness without getting angry or intimidated. Daquiri suspected Cat might've felt one or the other, but the girl hid her emotions pretty well. Not as well as Daquiri had trained herself into perfecting over the years, perhaps, but effective enough.
So, even though Daquiri was sick and tired of giving out her name to more random strangers, she figured this girl deserved at least a little slack.
"It's Daquiri," she relented, but still maintaining her ice queen persona.

When Cat paused to look over Daquiri's shoulder, the strawberry blonde gave a quick glance behind her. She almost had a heart attack when she saw the kid she'd met earlier, Jay, standing almost directly behind her. She hoped he'd come in through the window just now to pilfer that pack of pack of cokes he was carrying rather than him walking in when she was sleeping.

[Guest]

Jay gave a reassuring smile at the girl who just nodded at him. He was hardly going to bite. He propped up his skateboard and waved. 'Hey. Daquiri, right?' He said to the blonde girl. 'Why don't you just let her come in? It's getting a bit chilly outside.' He smiled in a friendly way. 'Anubis Kyl, son of Hades, at your service,' he introduced himself to the new girl. 'Call me Jay.'

[Catryn Greyling]

[Haha yay! Puma shirts later, then. :PAnd maybe a few from Aeropostale. :3 And a few graphic tees with random cute cartoon animals.]

 The girl seemed reluctant, but she gave Cat her name - Daquiri. Duh-keer-ee. Interesting. Cat took note of how Daquiri kept a cold, regal look on her face as she spoke. Well then.
 Cat really wasn't sure what to make of her. She rarely spoke to people who were so closed off, the kind of person who gave off a 'don't talk to me I don't like you even though I don't really know you' vibe. Actually, that was usually her. She was usually a little more friendly when being talked to, though. Sort of.
 The dark-haired boy threw her a smile, as if to let her know he was an okay dude, then introduced himself.
 Son of Hades... ohhkay then.
 By now, it was pretty clear that this was the norm for half-blood introductory, although... For one thing, it was still way too weird to even consider immortal gods having kids in reality - and Cat being one of those freaky kids? Forget it. Also... it wasn't like their lives were defined by their godly parent. That is, if their parent really was a god. It really didn't get any less creepy every time she thought of that. Regular people didn't feel the need to input their parents' names. Cat felt uncertain - when she learned of her father's 'identity', would she have to start going around telling people she met?
 No, she decided firmly. If people asked, fine. But she wasn't going to inform them unbidden. Not unless her dad started introducing himself as the father of Catryn Greyling. Would her father even show up and see her from time to time? From what she knew of Greek myths, the gods didn't get too involved with their demigod children's affairs. They just sent them off on quests and got them into loads of trouble.
 Besides, he hadn't even claimed her yet. It was doubtful he even knew she existed.
 At that moment, the sun dipped below the horizon completely. And in that moment, a golden hologram appeared over Cat's head - a shining yellow sun with glowing rays, accompanied by a bow and arrow. Her lightly tanned skin seemed to radiate a bit of warm golden light as well.
 Cat stared up in complete shock, barely comprehending. What. In the flipping world. A corner of her mind registered that she had seen that sign already... Seen it pop up above his head... And that meant her father was...

[Edit: Heyyy I just noticed you got your signature, Ceru! ]

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri was about to snap a retort at Jay, but before she could even part her heart-shaped lips, something...strange happened.
  The strawberry blonde had already noted that the sun was setting--it was the beginnings of fall, after all, so it wasn't surprising that it was starting to set a little earlier every night. So the fact that it had gone down wasn't weird; no, the weird part was, the light didn't go out with the sun like it normally did. No, the sun still appeared to be shining down it's warm rays on the three campers. When Daquiri looked up to investigate the strange phenomenon, she was met with her answer.
  What the...? was her immediate reaction. But after a second of shock, she regained her voice.
  "Well, that's a new one," she deadpanned, her voice laced with cynicism. Honestly, she thought a situation like this called for it. After all, she'd never seen glowing symbols floating above a person's head before.

((Caaaaaaat! You should find a portrayer and background for Cat so I can do a siggy for you, too :3))

[But lawl, yes, I did :3 I'm soooo happy with how it turned out. Pretty good for my first whack at Photoshop ;-)]

[Guest]

'Apollo.' Jay shrugged. 'He's cool. Just don't let your dad get on a haiku roll,' He smiled. 'What's your name?' He said with a nervous edge. He wasn't used to girls.. well, except Estelle, of course, but she was a different matter.

[Cerulaen]

"You've gotta be kidding me," Daquiri muttered under her breath. These people were rich. Did they seriously expect her to believe all this garbage? No matter how strange a connection she felt to this place, she couldn't bring herself to give into it. This was all ridiculous. Those glowing symbols could easily be projected onto an invisible substance, and of course everyone was going to remember which symbols went with who.
At least they're accurate, she grumbled in her head before rolling her eyes at the display before her.
"This is whack," she hissed. "I'm outta here." Pushing past Cat, she made her way...somewhere. She just wanted to be alone.

[Catryn Greyling]

Apollo? It was ridiculous and impossible and just plain crazy. She swatted the hologram away - or tried to. It remained for a few more moments before twirling out of existence. Good riddance. She then went over Anubis/Jay's words. "Apollo. He's cool. Just don't let your dad go on a haiku roll." What. In. The. World. Her mind was so numbed by the insanity of it all, she barely noticed the Daquiri girl push past her and storm off.
 Up until now, she hadn't quite registered completely what these people were about. Ooo, we're related to gods and whatnot! So are you! We've got pegasi! It was like, Ohhkay. Cool. You're kinda outta whack. The pegasi, there was living proof. And amazing proof at that. It probably took them so very many generations to get their horses to evolve and grow wings, and Cat couldn't believe how wonderful they were. But... when it really came down to it, the gods portion of their little story was just a little too far-fetched. Immortal, powerful, supernatural gods who had affairs with 'normal people' and produced kids who talked to animals, kids who banded together in this weird belief and started their own Camp o' Greeks. And now they had officially pulled her right into the middle of it all. It defied all logic. And Cat liked logic. She pretty much lost it, right then and there.
 "Why are you speaking like you know him?" she blurted. "And - and he can't be my father! That doesn't even make sense, even less than that dragon-like creature around that lonely pine tree on the hill and those winged horses that you guys have for - I don't know why! What makes you think Greek mythology is real? What makes you think Apollo is actually sitting atop a mountain palace, magicking little sunny holograms into existence? He's not. And neither is Hades, or Athena, or any of them!"
 During her rant, she had taken a few angry steps forward, sort of invading Jay's personal space without meaning to or even realizing it.

 [Weell that took a while to write. :3]

[Guest]

Jay sighed. Did new ones have to be so complicated? 'If you don't think they're real, give me a possible explanation for all of this,' he said, his voice hinting unseen power. 'How can I shadow travel? How come Estelle's such a genius? How does Lily control the water?' He paused. 'She doesn't do it with a remote control, you know.'

It wasn't this hard for him to believe greek gods were real. He had his suspiscions.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat's anger faltered. These powers Jay was talking about... There was no way it could be real. But she could tell in his voice, there was something she couldn't see, something she couldn't even begin to understand. It was like he was telling her, You have no idea what I'm capable of, what we're all capable of... There is nothing false about what we're telling you, and we can - and will - prove it. 
  She took a deep breath, her torrent of explosive emotions draining away completely now. "What's... shadow travel?" she asked cautiously, her eyes flicking upward tentatively to meet Jay's.

[Guest]

'It's traveling through shadows.' Jay said simply. 'As long as there's a shadow there, I can go to the other side of the world right now.'

[Catryn Greyling]

"That's... crazy," she said, letting out a nervous little laugh. "Can you... Have you actually done that before?"

[Estelle]

((Jay's asking me to post for him))


Jay nodded once. 'As an accident, yeah. I never thought I'd get to see my girlfriend's homeland.'

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat raised an eyebrow. "Ookay." The question of who his girlfriend was was pretty much on the tip of her tongue, but she reined it in.
She sighed and leaned on the cabin wall, wondering belatedly if it would hold. It did. "It's just a little much to take in right now. It's like, one day, you know that the Earth revolves around the sun, which is a large star in the middle of the solar system. And the next, I'm being told it's actually my dad." She paused. "How does that even work?"

[Guest]

'I know that feeling. Believe me, my dad is practically working with zombies.' Jay shook his head, his voice more warm. 'It'll pass.'



((Who are you))

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat looked at him, then back at the floor. She let out a loud breath. "So do I have to move into my dad's cabin?" she asked, taking her weight off the Hermes cabin wall.

[He's just trolling the site.]

[Guest]

'We should tell Chiron first,' Jay said after a moment. 'Then I'll help you move your stuff. Maybe you can meet Estelle on our way.'


(Estelle will not be happy.)

[Catryn Greyling]

"Alright. Chiron. Um. Chiron?" she gave him a funny look. "I know there's a Chiron in the old myths, but... uh, who's Chiron here? Does he own this camp or something?" She picked up her bag and grabbed her carry-on. "And don't worry, I've already met Estelle and Acacia. And I can handle my bags on my own." She smiled. "Thanks for offering though."

 [Are we talking about Estelle as in the character or the roleplayer?]

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