Alex's Bunk

Alex entered the cabin they had told him belonged to the air gods, and headed for an empty bunk. The sheets crumpled under the weight of the duffel he had so rapidly packed, and he set to work unloading it into the trunk at the foot of the bed. His bed, he supposed. Just like this was now his home. He liked what he had seen in this first day, with the sword fighting machines running around the arena, and the forge that had nearly melted his eyebrows off. It was nothing like his old house, but he was starting to think it would be all right here. He collapsed onto the bed, having finished unpacking, and closed his eyes.

Jana Kay knocked on the door of the Zephyros cabin. They had had another new arrival at camp, this time a son of the west wind, who was about her age. As per usual, she had baked a cake -- she always baked something for the newcomers. This one was a large blueberry cheesecake with spirals of drizzled chocolate for deco. Hopefully he'd like it.

Alex woke to a knocking on the door, coming from just outside the cabin door. He hopped off the bed and composed himself, wanting to make a good impression on the first of the other campers he would meet. He headed across the room, walking around all the other bunks of the members of the air cabin. His lithe frame let him slip between bunks to get there faster--a useful little tidbit, he thought. As Alex opened the door, the delicious, pure scent of blueberries assaulted his nostrils. Once the door had swung open, he saw a girl of around his age standing in the door, holding a cake! "Hey," he said, looking the girl up and down. "I'm Alex, the new camper. Can I help you?"

"Hi Alex! I'm Jana Kay, from the Demeter cabin. This is for you," she said with a big smile, handing him the cake. There was the word 'Welcome' written on the side with blueberries and icing. She smiled again. "Is your new cabin okay? Do you need anything?"

OOC: She's 14, tall for her age, lanky, and has thin blonde hair down to her hips. She's wearing a Hufflepuff tee, bermuda shorts and mismatched flipflops. There's a braid of violets in her hair.

The girl introduced herself as Jana Kay, a daughter of Demeter. He was a little shocked that anyone had thought enough of his arrival to even take note, but here he was being given a cake! It was exquisitely detailed, with the word Welcome meticulously iced onto the side. The girl herself was a little less meticulous in her appearance, maybe even a lot less meticulous, but something about her carefree manner and appearance made Alex feel comfortable.
"The cabin's great," he replied. Thinking of all the things he had seen on his way through the camp, he realized this might be a good time to find out more about the place. "Actually though, I was wondering if you could help me find my way around. It seems like my cabin mates are all out doing things, so..."

OOC: Alex is tall, wearing a plain blue tee and black shorts with running shoes. He loves anything outdoorsey or athletic-y, too.

Jana Kay straightened up. "Of course!" Lucy was at training and James was running with the nymphs, so since her two best friends were occupied, she had all the time in the world to help out Alex. "It's a huge camp but you learn where is what really easily. So, where are you from?" she asked as they started walking.

"Canada. I actually find it a little warm here," Alex laughed. "I lived in a lot of different places, though, 'cause my mom was an archaeologist. She mostly did aboriginal sites, but she met my dad at a Greek one. So where are you from?"

"An archaeologist? That's so cool! You must've been to a lot of awesome places," she said with wonder. They were walking through the cabin's courtyard but she figured he had seen it already and was leading him over to the arena. "I'm from Scotland," she then answered. He must have guessed it -- her accent was very thick -- but probably wanted to stay polite. "I never really got to travel around like you, my dad's a farmer. But we've been to France and Spain a few times with my cousins! Ever been to Barcelona?"

Alex laughed, thinking of some of the trips he had been on. "We usually stayed in North america, so no. I've been to Italy, Greece and Belgium in Europe, but it's been a long time. It's amazing over there." Trying to keep the conversation going, Alex considered how at home Jana seemed here. " How long has it been since you came to camp?"

"Seven years," she said with a skip in her step. "I know, I was a baby when I first came here. It's a miracle a satyr even found me." She made a bracelet of ivy crawl up her arm softly and continued: "You know, Scotland is full of strange things. Mythological things... Not always Greek ones. But anyway, this is the arena!" Jana Kay spread her arms wide: they had arrived in front of a huge building all stacked up and decorated with statues of war gods and violent deaths. The white marble glowed in the sunlight. It looked a bit like an older, less sophisticated ... Greek-er version of the Colosseum. "Here's where you'll learn lots of cool stuff like sword fighting and spear throwing. You got dummies in there too to train outside of classes. But careful, some of the dummies actually fight back."

Alex wandered up to the steps of the massive, pillared building. Sword fighting? Spear throwing? Those were two things they'd never done in PE, probably because of the small chance of, you know, death. He loved it here! He craned his neck, looking around the arena. There were some targets and straw dummies, with more dangerous looking metal robot-y things whirring in a corner. Those must be the dummies that fought back! This place was so cool!
He turned to Jana, wanting to go in and start practicing right away but also wanting to continue the tour. Then he realized that fighting a bronze robot without a weapon might be slightttly suicidal. Turning back to her, trying to ignore the gory (yet awesome) statue of a goat-man being stabbed in the gut, he said "So where do we get the weapons for this place? I left all my dangerous weapons at home." He flashed a grin to let her know he was joking-he'd never held a weapon in his life.

Jana chuckled, then pointed to the left. "There's an armory full of weapons that the Hephaestus people forge. If you ask them nicely they can also make you a custom one.... but there's a waiting list till like, next century." She grinned and looked at Alex, at his built, wondering if he'd be a fast fighter, a strong fighter, a tactical one... "What kind of weapon do you see yourself with?"

Alex looked down at his hands, thinking. He had a slender build, and was strong, but not that strong. "Nothing blunt or too big. I like speed." he told her. He knew he wouldn't like something big or slow, which took out a shield. A sword would be alright, but he still felt like it would slow him down too much. A knife, though...A knife was quick, concealable, and could be used outside of combat. "I think I want to try out a knife."

Jana Kay nodded. "Knives are good. They're swift and you can use them both for short and long range. I have one myself," she said, lifting the hem of her bermuda shorts to show a concealed highland dirk. "They're pretty effective."

Alex was liking this girl more and more. She had made him a cake AND carried a knife around? That was awesome! As they turned around a statue next to some basketball courts, he looked more closely at the knife. It was a bronze dirk, and certainly looked deadly enough. She held it with a familiarity that told Alex she'd had it for a long time. Most of the kids around the camp seemed to have a weapon on them. He was one of the few that didn't. He was ready to change that ASAP. "Can we visit the armory then!" he asked, unable to contain his enthusiasm.

OOC: should we start a new topic in the armory

OOC: We could, or we could just keep all of it in one topic? That way we don't start a new topic each time they change location. Whichever you prefer.

BIC: Jana Kay let him have a look at the knife and smiled. "I polish it almost every day. It's my little baby. I actually use it more than my sword or my labrys." She sheathed it back on her leg and turned around. "Sure thing, this way! So, would you go rather for a throwing knife, a tactical knife, a dagger...?" she asked, going through the different pros and cons of each type with Alex. She really enjoyed weaponry. She was a sweet and friendly girl, but she was also a demigod with ADHD and seven summers at a deadly training camp had made her quite weapon-savvy.

OOC: lets just stay in this topic then

BIC: Alex looked at Jana blankly as she asked him which sort of knife he would prefer. After the explanations, he had more of an idea of what he wanted, as well as more of an idea of life at the camp. Obviously combat was a huge part of everyone's life here. Why else would a girl who looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly know so much about this?
"A tactical knife or two, I think. Something for all around combat. Maybe a throwing knife? I saw a guy at the arena using some of those." The other boy had been pelting a straw dummy with the small knives, a satisfying sound being made each time the metal and target collided.

"Having two knives is a good thing. Always important to have a back-up," Jana approved. "And throwing knives are super effective, good for all sorts of range once you learn how to throw correctly. I gave it a try, but I wasn't that good sadly," she chuckled.

Alex was itching to grab a weapon, so as they stopped next to the armory, he was quick to open the door and rush in after waiting for Jana to enter. Being excited didn't mean he couldn't be polite, and he didn't want to offend the girl who had made him a cake. The armory was brightly lit, weapon racks around the room running from the floor to the ceiling. Rows of bronze shields of all shapes hung on one wall, and another held blunt hammers. One shelf held a row of holsters and pistols, while the one below it held boxes of bronze rounds, glistening in the light let in by the forgotten door. Their were spears mounted by the dozens, lances and halberds on either side of them. A set of curved swords, almost sickles, hung from the ceiling, while straight bladed ones sat in rows beneath them, making it look like the teeth of some monstrous creature. Various pieces of armor hung on cast-iron mannequins, like some violent store at the mall. Near the back was a five foot section of wall covered from the stone flooring to the ceiling with deadly- looking knives of every possible description. "Where should I start!" He asked, looking back at Jana.

Jana had been examining a row of Greek shields when Alex called her and she hopped over to his side. "Sorry! ADHD. Anyhow, I think you should get a tactical one for starters cause they are always great to have. You can use them for almost anything! Cutting, stabbing, hunting, slicing, sawing." She looked at all the nasty-looking knives, trying to assess which one would fit Alex best. "Oh, and you can choose whether you'd like to double-wield or use your other hand for a shield. Frankly, I'd go for the shield. No knife is going to stop an arrow."

Alex grinned, looking at the rows of knives. He selected a wicked looking one, just under twelve inches long, slim, polished bronze with a black handle and serrated edges near the base of the blade. Feeling the edge of the blade with his finger, he found it was already sharpened, but he grabbed a whetstone from a nearby box and slipped it into his pocket anyways. He considered her comment, and looked over at the row of shields. He wandered over and selected a round buckler around half the size of many of them--it was only about as big as two dinner plates. He agreed with Jana about stopping arrows, and that a shield was the better option, but didn't want to be slowed down by a massive piece of bronze. He wandered back over to the knives and grabbed another one, identical to the first. "I think I'll try dual wielding and with a shield, and see which I like more." He grabbed two sheathes and an old leather belt from behind them, and put it on. Once he had the shield and two knives on him, he turned to Jana. "Where to next?"

"That's a sound plan," she approved. "But if I were you, I'd pick a bigger shield. I know they're super heavy but don't worry about the weight, you'll get used to it. That shield you got there, it's for people who're younger than you are." She toyed with the ivy on her arms, which started growing around her fingers too. "If you're fighting a drakon, a hydra, anything that can spew fire or acid, that shield won't protect most of your body. You need something bigger."

Alex reddened and hung the shield back on the wall, near its larger neighbors. He took down a similar looking one that would cover most of his torso and head, and tried that one on. It was larger, with a few dents and claw marks giving it character without taking away from its integrity. He hefted it, and found it heavy. But if it saved him from a splash of acid, it would be more than worth it. "Do we really fight dragons!" He asked, excited.

When he reddened, she smiled and winked to let him know it was fine. There was no need to be embarrassed -- they had all been there before.

"Hades yes, we do," she grinned. "There are a few in the forest, actually, but we try not to provoke them too much. I remember that one Lydian drakon in Manhattan..." She shivered. "But not all of them are aggressive! Peleus, who guards the Fleece on the hill, is in absolute sweetheart."

Alex looked towards Jana, not sure if she was pulling his leg or not. A sweetheart Dragon? And he thought he would have heard of a drakon rampaging around Manhattan. That was the sort of thing that made the news. "Do we leave camp often? I've never heard of a monster outside of here, but if you've fought drakons in Manhattan..."