A day at the stables

Jane "Little" Laatikainen stroked the mane on a horse gently, the horse snorted moving back slightly in the stable so that she stroked the side of it's cheek instead. Despite now being six foot four, her nickname of Little still stuck to her like super glue sticks fingers together. Maybe it had become an ironic nickname due to her having grown so much. Now Jane happened to be taller than most of the campers, except probably the sons of Ares who... Jane sometimes got on with quite well.

The stables where surprisingly quiet this time, apart from the sounds of the horses and the different Pegasus. Jane never rode on them mind, horses she was fine with... Flying however, no, not any more. Her preferred way to travel if she possessed the choice would always be to go by sea, or any method of travel that involved water.
She continued to stroke the horse, the black and white animal seemed to be enjoying it judging by the fact that it seemed unwilling to move away from her.

Jane wore a faded red t-shirt with dark blue jeans that had a dull leather belt and black boots. Her axe was propped up against the stable door, Jane rarely left her weapon behind. Her purple hair moved softly around her shoulders, stirred by a gently breeze. Perhaps she would go and see the Ares cabin later, Jane quite enjoyed their company, like her they where rather violent in personality and quick to resort to fighting. Rather like she was, but unlike them Jane wasn't a child of the God of War, so when rather than if she got into a fight with them they generally won the majority of engagements.
But they did not always win every fight.

Chiara, a Daughter of Ares and one of the Ares' kids who had beaten her in a fight. Jane liked Chiara mostly because she rarely called her Little except when the pair fought each other, or when they where on the same team coming up with a plan.
Today it wasn't Hey Little but just sup, which suited Jane fine, she hated her nickname which was probably why it stuck.

"Not much you?" She inquired glancing at Chiara, it seemed that she was probably going to patrol the border either that or she was planning on fighting someone, hopefully not Jane. Their friendship was more an uneasy alliance where they fought each other almost as much as they fought other Demigods and monsters. Chiara always looked so wicked, particularly when she wore armour, which she tended to wear a lot more of than Jane who in comparison wore little or no armour, preferring speed over protection.

Recently the pair however hadn't fallen into yet another fight, there where far too many monsters and Demigod upstarts that Jane often found herself fighting with Chiara than against her. Jane had a habit of picking many fights with the other Demigods most of which she generally won, unless she picked a fight with an Ares kid or an Ares kid named Chiara then she usually lost.
Hey, in her defence they where the Children of the Greek God of War, they wouldn't be very good at war if she beat them more often than not.

"I see well I am sorry to hear that she cannot come I am certain she will be able to next time." Jane replied hopefully. Chiara was much smaller than Jane but then again it would be a difficult task to find someone who wasn't shorter than she was. She towered over most of the boys and well... It was difficult to find a boyfriend who was taller than you where if you happened to be an impressive six foot four. Still, Jane was happy not to be called by her nickname, she sadly could not erase the nickname no matter how much she tried to. The irony of her height and her nickname had never been lost on Jane, it was like Robin Hood with Little John in a way.

"I am here to stroke ponies because... Why not?" She continued to stroke the horse who every now and then let out a snort as if he was not amused about being shut inside the stable. Jane however had never been the world's greatest rider, she could ride or so she said she could. But few people had actually said they had seen her ride a horse.
Seeing Chiara without the company of Namir felt strange to Jane, it almost seemed impossible to separate the pair however clearly that was no longer the case.

Jane liked the Ares children, they where generally brutally honest, sure they where quick to resort to violence, draw a sword or hit you with a spear yet Jane enjoyed their company all the same. When Jane first arrived because of her quick temper, a few Demigods believed that she may be another Daughter of Ares, clearly it wasn't the case now. She would usually stand with the Ares' children when it came to the various games that happened in the Camp. Either she was picked by them or the teams divided up so she ended up on their team regardless.

Jane grinned at the smaller Ares' daughter, not noticing that her previous comment had been meant as a jibe to her. "So... Is it just going to be you on your patrol then?" She inquired declining to point out the fact that Chiara's phone was ringing, she would clearly know that it was. Jane happened to hate pointing out the obvious or when someone pointed out the obvious to her, it failed to make someone feel smart and it certainly failed to make someone feel clever.
She wondered when, if she would be given a chance to fight alongside the Ares children again. They where always enjoyable especially when it came to celebrating their victories. Jane however, loved fighting on the lakes, leaping from boat to boat, engaging her foes in brutal close quarter combat.

"Yep!" Chiara replied over the sound of her phone. She had finished cleaning all of the Apaloosa's hooves, so she brought the grooming box back to the shelf and passed her two arms under the horse's saddle to carry it over to his stable. Each horse and pegasus had an assigned, specially-made saddle with their names on it, so it was easier for whomever riding them. Doing some dance moves on Bangarang, Chiara reached her horse, entered the stable and stood on tip toes to put the saddle on his back. She went to see it was good on both sides before girthing it under his stomach, right behind his front legs. The horse had laid his ears flat, obviously not liking the music, but Chiara didn't care as she came back out to get the rest of his saddlery.

"Well have fun and silly question but I guess you don't want to talk to whoever is ringing you?" Jane inquired taking a good guess that the answer was either none of her business or yes indeed it was someone Chiara had no intention of talking to. She could sympathise with the horse not liking the music, Jane didn't either but it wasn't something worth complaining about. Jane possessed no desire to pick a fight with Chiara over some awful music.
Besides when she and Chiara did clash, Chiara had an unhealthy habit of winning those fights. The habit, Jane put down to the fact that she was related to the God of War.

"Clever clever that." Jane said agreeing with Chiara for once. It made perfect sense, best way to ignore a person and it saved having to block them. Though personally Jane preferred to knock out the people who where irritating her but sometimes that simply wasn't realistic, since Jane could be in a bad mood with everyone for no real reason other than she was.
She disliked the camp, it was too safe, Jane wasn't used to being safe or being away from danger, it drew her like a moth to a bonfire.

Jane stroked the horse for a few seconds before realising that Chiara had actually thanked her, well... That was a surprise getting thanks from a Daughter of Ares. Honestly she believed that their dictionaries lacked it. "Your welcome." Jane replied stroking the horse some more before Chiara offered if she would like to come with her.
Why not? It wasn't like Jane had much planned for today really.
"Yeah that is fine with me do you want me to get my own horse or ride your's?" Jane really hoped that she wouldn't say that she was riding her own horse. Jane in her opinion was an awful rider, she preferred being on a boat to a horse. Now if they where patrolling the lake on the other hand there might be some interesting sites to see, but no just a border patrol round the camp, complete with the possible threat of a monster or two.

The border patrol had the adrenaline thrill that Jane desired, there happened to be danger, there could be a chance either of them or both of them could die. There may be monsters behind every tree, in every bush, waiting, lying in ambush... Jane felt almost giddy with excitement, she loved it.

Jane smiled, grabbing her own axe before rather ungracefully mounting the horse so that she was behind Chiara. "Well... I'm up." She muttered uncertainly. The only method of travel Jane hated more than riding on a horse was flying, she hated flying, anyone would struggle to get her onto an aircraft.

Jane was fine on the horse until Chiara instructed the horse to break into a trot, then she wanted to get off the horse. She resisted the desire to grab onto Chiara, who probably would mock her for holding onto her while they rode the horse and would never let her forget it.
She struggled to keep her balance on the horse and kept a tight grip on her axe. Jane happened to be delighted when the horse came to a halt. She agreed with Chiara on there being a lack of Roman bodies. "Yeah though I am sure soon we can collect ourselves an impressive amount of helmets." Jane imagined introducing herself and her axe into the Romans. "Yes nice view but dead Romans will improve it."

"Part of me wants them to be here as soon as possible however... Many of the Campers aren't ready for all out war yet so soon then." Jane answered, she didn't know about the secret quest though Jane would want to jump on it if she was offered the chance to.
In her opinion where it came to using boats and combat on of them there could be no one better than herself. Jane hoped that she would fight the Romans on the water, kicking one of them fully armoured into the lake should be a delight to watch.
"Too many of us aren't ready for a fight." She admitted quietly. "But the camp has you and the rest of the Ares cabin to make up for the shortfall of actual warriors."

"I remember and I was in that battle personally I could not have stayed away unless you and your fellow Ares cabin members tied me to a bunk." Jane was drawn to battle, the danger it brought filled her with adrenaline. Jane had yet to pick a side in the War Hawks or the Doves, she knew there would be a war coming, it was obvious especially if you happened to have a strong sense of paranoid caution. Of course her paranoid sense was profoundly contradicted by Jane's willingness to engage in battle.
"We need to be united if we are to fight, if we don't attack they will and our home is not the most defensible place in existence."

"That is where I must disagree with you there if we crush them then we will have lost half of our strength in which to fight off the Romans." Jane chose her words carefully, the last thing she wanted to do was clash with Chiara whilst she had armour, weapons plus a horse, whilst Jane on the other hand possessed only her trusty axe.
"Convince them with words first the threat is real so sooner or later they will come around and see that the peace cannot last." Jane kept a rather tenuous hold on her neutrality, she sided more with the War Hawks because they appealed more to her personality than the Doves.
The latter in her opinion also had the worst name for a faction ever.

"I am just saying it is better for them to join the cause willingly rather than by any other means." Jane argued, of course she would fight if it ever came to it. Keeping Jane away from a fight was nigh impossible.
"I am not part of either but I think the War Hawks have the best idea."