Re: End of the Second Summer [Everyone]

[GeneralArin]

(And it's January, and no one else is posting, so let's just start.)

Chiron, up front, stamped his hoof twice to get people's attention.
"Everyone to your places." He said. "We will begin."

The conversations died down and people settled into place, grouped by their cabins with the cabin leaders up front, ready to do their part.

Once the amphitheater was silent, Chiron began.
"I commend you all for making it through the summer. For some of you, it was another out of many; and for others, the first of many to come." The centaur said, looking over the faces of the gathered demigods. "For all, it will be one to be remembered."
There were some murmurs of agreement.

"Once again, our beloved camp was attacked. You all fought bravely to defend it, and one another. Some paid the ultimate price, and we will never forget that." Chiron dipped his head for a moment, and several campers followed suit. Everyone gave a moment of silence.

"But, we also cannot forget the victories." Chiron said, moving along the speech at an appropriate time. "Not only did we route the enemy here, at our home; but also abroad, recovering the armor of Achilles."

Some of Jake's (invisible) cabinmates said something and gave him a friendly shove. He gave them a good-humored glare and quietly told them to shove off.

"This bead prominently displays the shield of Achilles, and commemorates all the acts of valor we witnesses this summer."

The campers gave a round of applause.

Chiron motioned for the cabin leaders to come and get the beads for their cabins.



Jake walked up onto the stage with the other cabin leaders and picked up the ziplock bag of beads. He rolled a few of them with his thumb, examining the shield on the beads. Instead of the usual layers, the layers of this shield featured different battles and events that happened that summer.
He gave an impressed grunt and walked back to his cabin's section. He handed the beads out, smacking a few more unruly ones in the back of the head.

[Kona]

Leilani walked went up along with the other counselors. feeling rather uncomfortable with so much attention on her, but she put on a brave face. careful not to show just how uncomfortable she was. the Demeter cabin was rather well behaved...especially compared to other cabins, most of Aphrodite cabin (the NPCs anyway) were giggling and gossiping. she usually avoided Aphrodite girls, they usually were either mean and intimidating with their confidence and beauty,(like Daquiri) or they wanted to give her a makeover. Leilani noticed Jake swat a couple of the trouble makers in his cabin on the back of the head. the Hermes cabin seemed to be acting rather suspicious, some with innocent expressions that wouldn't fool a blind man, others were sneaking off and stealing from people. Leilani began handing the beads out to her siblings.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat nodded back to Jake. She raised an eyebrow, noticing that a girl with long blonde hair was also approaching the group, shaking a bottle of soda with impressive speed. Well, that wasn't suspicious. She'd bet all her drachmas (which honestly wasn't much) that the girl was from the Hermes cabin. She hung back a bit, having a pretty good idea of what she was planning.
   Her gaze fell to Daquiri, who had greeted her as well, much to her own surprise. She had inched over slightly, leaving enough room for another person to sit on the bench in an inconspicuous gesture. She glanced at the blonde girl with the soda again, then back at the daughter of Aphrodite. After another moment's hesitation, she maneuvered around another demigod to take a seat beside the red-head, though she kept an eye on the Hermes girl as she did so.

   Before she could actually sit down though, Chiron stomped his hoof for attention to begin the ceremony. She spared Daquiri a somewhat apologetic glance before hurrying off to find her cabinmates.

   Chiron began talking of an attack on the camp earlier on in the summer, which was news to Cat, but she dipped her head along with everyone else in the memory of those who had given their lives.
   The armor of Achilles, now that Cat had a slight awareness of, having heard her cabinmates mention it before. She noticed the Hephaestus cabin getting a bit rowdy, shoving their counselor Jake. So he had taken part in recovering it, she could safely assume.
   The centaur showed off the bead, which Cat couldn't see too clearly from the back of the Apollo group. So many heads... She stood on tiptoe and squinted at the little clay bead Chiron was displaying.
   "This bead prominently displays the shield of Achilles, and commemorates all the acts of valor we witnesses this summer."
   Oh. That's what the clay blob was.
   The cabin leaders went up to collect the beads for their cabins, and Cat tapped her foot impatiently.

[Wes]

Wes was standing by her cabinmates during the speech. She felt the respective looks upon her as Chiron mentioned the quest for the shield. She scowled. For her, the quest want a victory. It was anger at losing her best bow, and hatred towards Anthony Blackwood for breaking it and standing in their way. It was bitterness towards Marcus Rayne for breaking her best friend's heart and resentment over the betrayal. And it was confusion; the quest for the shield had left her as unsure of her path as ever.

She heaved a sigh. She would take these emotions out on the targets in the archery range later. This was a celebration. She put on a smile and went up to get her cabin's bag of beads. She handed them out to each of her siblings - the whole lot of them, as the rock star Apollo seemed to be in to having lots of kids. She congratulated each of them on another year, then held the last bead in her hand, studying its intricate design. It did look cool, and would look great with her other beads. Silently though, she wondered if it would be her last one.

[Cerulaen]

((Question: should I try to wait for Corra because she's the Cabin Leader, or should I just go ahead and act like she passed out the beads?))

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat thanked her cabin counselor, Wes, as she handed her a bead and congratulated her on surviving the year. She studied the little clay object, with its intricate design of a rather impressive-looking shield in her hand. Not too bad, she thought. She'd be proud to wear this, whether or not she had actually been there during the battle or the quest.
   In her peripheral vision she could see Wes do the same, having given out all the other beads.
   Suddenly, she realized she had nothing to put the bead on. Well, that might be a problem, she thought with amusement.
   "Wes?" she asked, turning to face the cabin leader with a good-humored tone in her voice. "Ah, can I get a necklace for the bead?"

[Andrew Andreli]

Andrew sat quietly, watching everyone get their beads. Why wasn't he getting one? Oh, right. You arrived I'm the late summer, at the end. he thought to himself. Now he would soon go of to school for nine months. Great. New York Academy for Young Adults (sixth through twelfth) will be very welcoming to a seventh grader.

(I've been thinking... Boston Institute for Troubled Children H***ions...)

[Justin]

Justin looked back at the other campers. There wasn't any other Zeus kids from what he could see. However, most of the other cabins had plenty of people.
As he listened to Chirons speech, he felt a little lonely. Only person sitting with him was the eagle. But, soon enough there would be another brother or sister, hopefully.
As the cenataur motioned the Cabin Leaders, Justin walked forward to grab his bag. When he reached the table he picked up the Ziploc bag before walking back to his area.
"One bead..."

[Wes]

Wes had been deep in thought while studying the bead when Cat asked her a question, so it took a moment to register in her mind. "Huh? Oh yeah, duh, you kinda need one of those, don't you?" She did a mental facepalm, muttering while she dug into her pocket. She'd been given a few leather chords that morning to hand out before the ceremony, but she forgot about them (as well as which kids needed them.) She pulled them out and handed one to Cat. "Seems like I'm getting too old and forgetful for this job," she said with a joking grin. She quickly scanned the faces of her cabin mates to see if there were any others standing around without a necklace.

[Cerulaen]

((Posting for Estelle.))

Estelle looked at the beads she'd been handed. She started to hand them out to her cabinmates as they rushed around her for a look. "Whoa, whoa," she said, protecting the beads from falling and getting lost. "I don't remember you guys being this interested in beads last year."

[Cerulaen]

When Chiron suddenly made the call for the Ceremony to begin and Cat looked at her apologetically, Daquiri just shrugged and looked away. She supposed that meant she was supposed to go and sit with her... cabin mates. Cue shudder. She wasn't a huge fan of them, to say the least. Sure, they were all attractive in some form or another like her... but the similarities ended there.
 

   With a sigh, she re-sheathed her dagger into her boot and got up to make her way over to where the Aphrodite cabin was gathered. However, she made a point to sit as far away possible from the mass of giggling, gossiping girls and guys, finding a more vacant area where she could watch silently and look bored. She only half-listened while Chiron went on about the past summer events, her face remaining neutral for the majority of it aside from the slightly awkward moment where they had a moment of silence for the lost campers. She felt weird recognizing them when she didn't know them, but at the same time uncomfortable at the thought of blatantly not showing them any form of respect. In consequence, she allowed her chin to dip slightly and she lowered her eyes to the stone floor of the Amphitheatre. She was almost glad when it actually came to passing out the beads.

   Daquiri had seen pretty much all the kids around Camp wearing the clay beads. It had taken her a while to figure out what they were for, since she'd never bothered to ask anyone, but she'd learned eventually that each represented a summer spent at Camp Half-Blood. She'd only been here for the last half of the summer, but apparently that still qualified her for a bead. Needless to say, when Corra, as the Head Councilor, passed Daquiri the small clay bead along with a string of raw hide, all the red-head knew about the picture on it was what Chiron had just briefed in his speech. That, and it was pretty obvious a certain Jake Arin had had something to do with it, if the teasing he was getting from his cabin mates was any indication.

   Looking down at the small bead in her open palm, Daquiri studied it a little closer. There was a shield painted on it--but not just a plain, regular shield. On this one, little sections of the shield had been filled with tiny pictures of different events; the most notable one being that of a battle scene with lots of fire. It was rather amazing how much detail had been crafted onto such a small object. However, it wasn't something she would normally wear around her neck.

   Making a knot at one end of the cord, the red-headed child of Aphrodite strung the lone bead onto it. Then sectioning off a piece of hair behind her ear, she secured the other end of the raw hide around it and let it hang there. She'd probably weave the bead into a permanent braid in her hair later, but for now this worked.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat grinned at her cabin counselor's joke as she gave her a leather cord. "Thanks," she said, though Wes had averted her attention, probably looking for who else she had missed.
   She looked down doubtfully at the cord, then strung the bead on and put it around her neck. She fiddled with the ends for a second to get it into a crude knot, then adjusted it so the knot was resting on the back of her neck and the clay shield of Achilles was displayed comfortably in front. She stared down at it for a second, then shrugged and looked around the amphitheater to observe what else what was going on, hands shoved into her pockets.
   Finding all the chatter a little too loud, she went a few steps up the side of the amphitheater, isolating herself and getting a better view of the commotion below.

[Kristina]

((I really need to stop disappearing.... whoops...))

Hearing Chiron speak of the quest only made Kris depressed. She had returned from that quest a broken soul. Finding out her dead best friend was actually alive was a shock to her. It only made it worse finding out that he was now on the enemy's side. The memory flooded her mind like a bad dream she couldn't shake. It made her want to cry, but she had to strong. Fighters didn't cry, especially one who has been through as much as she has. She had spent the rest of the summer doing underwater training every other day and the days she wasn't in the water she spent alone honing her focus so she would never be as distracted as she was on that quest.

((Writing that made me go back and read the "bad fanfic" of Kris and Mark... Jake we need a couple for the two of them...))

She pushed the memory to the back of her mind like she had done dozens of times before. It was supposed to be a fun night, not one of self-pity and depression. Kris walked over and picked up her cabin's beads. Just two. For so many years it was just one until Lily came along. She loved her sister and would never want her to get hurt. The girl could hold her own though, so Kris smiled as she walked over to her half sister. "We made it another year. I think next year you get to pick up the beads. I am tired of walking up there." She smiled and hugged the younger girl tightly for a few seconds before letting go.

[©razy Dude]

Andrew listened to Chiron's words it struck home for him. When the moment of silence was spread across the Campers he sent a silent prayer to his mother to guide his dead sister in the Underworld. Hopefully she would be able to make it to the Isles of the Blest like she dreamed.

Due to his former Head Counselor's death during the battle he had taken her position as the Head Counselor. There wasn't much dispute when his older brother denied it and the other 2 were first year campers, so he was given the authority. He went to the front of his cabin-mates and grabbed the plastic bag containing the leather cords and beads. He handed out everything to their respected owners and finally ended with one bead in the bag. He took the bead into his hand and studied it, it seemed to be an interesting bead far better then his other 2 that were put on his necklace. He took the necklace off and put the new bead on it. 3 years at Camp a notable feat if he'd gone on any quests or any other things but he wasn't given the chance to just yet.

Andrew sat back down as he thought of what might be held in the future. Hopefully nothing too bad. He put his head up and listened to the murmuring going around the area.

[Guest]

(Hi. So, is it too late to get a bead? Or because I haven't been active, do I just not get one?)

[Versaille]

((Oh. I kind of need to post in here, don't I. Uh... let's pretend Jericho has been here the entire time...))

Jericho had been sitting quietly, as usual, with his group of half-siblings. He'd always kind of wondered why there weren't as many Dionysus kids as there were other Olympian god children like Athena or Apollo. He supposed drunkenness was a lot harder to love than music or intelligence. Which made perfect sense to him--he hated what his father stood for.

Shaking his head, Jericho tried to pay attention to what Chiron was saying. Memories flooded his mind as the centaur spoke of past events and he felt on the verge of tearing up when they had a moment of silence for those that had been lost. Jericho wasn't very social with anyone, but some of those kids had been his friends--and others had been so young. He couldn't help feeling sad when so many kids' lives had been cut short.

After Chiron finished, the black-haired boy watched as his head councilor walked up to the front to retrieve the beads for the Dionysus cabin and he waited patiently as they were passed out. He was the last to be handed a bead. Jericho rolled it around between his thumb and forefinger, admiring the artwork of the shield it showcased. Undoing the knot of his necklace, he strung this new bead onto the cord to sit alongside the three previous ones. With a sigh, he retied it around his neck. Another bead, another summer survived. Time to keep trekking onto the next one.

[GeneralArin]

(You still get one. Just make a quick post like Jericho. Since your character's been here for the summer, we would have assumed that he had gotten one. You should still post.)

[Guest]

Jared put on his necklace with the bead on it. "Thank you," he said to Wes, his cabin leader. He hadn't done much that summer; accidentally shoot a nymph with an arrow, sing to cute girls. Just another average summer. And now that winter was coming, how was he to make fun with that?! This'll be a long year, he thought to himself.

[GeneralArin]

[Well, I'm going to go ahead and cut off the topic here. Everyone got their beads, even if they didn't rp that they did.]

[Everyone will have a week from today to finish up their Summer topics: so on January 15th all Summer topics will be locked, and the school topics and autumn topics will begin. Any unfinished topic is considered dead, and you can safely assume that events unfolded as they should have in the direction the topic was going. So, post away guys, and get ready for a new season.]


[[Topic Closed]]

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