Shrike's Bunk

"Not the fastest. There are plenty of our siblings who are just as fast."

"Me..what about me?" Gwen was thrown off guard by this question.

Shrike didn't usually ask about her life, or anything important for that matter.

She was actually pleasantly surprised.

"Well I grew up in a cottage on an island off the coast of Maine. My white hair is natural from pigment discoloration. I have a pet talking owl named Jinx who keeps my mom company. I have a massive sweet tooth, like I should never go into a candy store with money. Ummm.." Gwen thought for a moment about herself and her life.

"I am a ballerina, I kick box, you know I hang glide and do parkour, and I have a license to fly small planes." she couldn't really think of anything else to say. "Is that good?"

Gwen returned his smile, she was really happy Shrike was interested in her life. "No you haven't I'd love to hear about it though."

Shrike snickered and pulled up a chair.

"Take a seat young one, and prepare for the most epic tale of your life!" he chuckled, pretending to withdraw an imaginary pipe.

"I was born a while ago, not entirely sure the exact date or place, but whatever. For my entire early life, I spent the time globetrotting with my mum in our cool little camper van thingy. So after I smashed my way through girls from each country of the known world like the Black Death, I discovered that I started to develop these wind powers of mine at around the same time that my mother gave me the golden ring I always wear." Shrike beckoned to the glowing golden ring on his finger.

"I also found out that I was faster than the average Joe. So I made a little money for mother in small athletics wagers. I actually managed to make a decent amount. After I raced against this particularly tough opponent, and won, that's when I got confirmed by Aeolus. After that point, my abilities increased tenfold, and I could actually use my powers well. It wasnt long before I realised that Aeolus put my power into my ring. So now its basically my lifeline and stuff. Ah well. Anyhoo, after a little more travelling, I got somewhat of a name for myself, and all these crazy damn monsters started coming after me, and so mother decided it would be better for me if I came and stayed at camp for a while. So, here I am!"

"It's not the story of my life but that sounds great. My mom and I traveled all over Europe backpacking and had a blast. Living on the road must have made for a lot of cool times." Gwen smiled at him excited to hear more.

The bit about the girls flew over her head, good thing too since she did not want to hear about it.

"I know what you mean. There is a meadow right next to the cottage where I live and I used to be out there all day. Planting flowers, picking flowers, going for long runs to the beach, hang gliding over the magnetic quarry. Home is my favorite place on earth."

Shrike had an almost sad look on his face "What's wrong Shrike? You look...kinda sad."

"How bout we take a road trip then?" Gwen suggested gleefully.

"If you say so. I tried." Gwen shrugged. She wanted to go out and do something fun with him but what? He's not exactly picky but he is rather hard to please at times. Gwen went into a state of deep thought.

"Well thank you." Gwen gave Shrike a kiss. "Yeah our little family just keeps on growing." she chuckled thinking of how close they all were now.

"Astrid, Olivia, Dorian, and Zane. That's mainly our mission group anyway." Gwen had been at camp a long time and over the years she made a lot of friends.

"Not a huge fan, I don't like her she seems rotten to the core and snooty." Gwen's nose crinkled like the thought of her brought a foul smell on the air.

"I don't consider her part of the group." Gwen didn't want to continue this conversation so she started playing with Shrike's hair.

"I like your hair, it's cool and crazy just like you." she smiled at him. Glad the conversation about whats her face was over.

Hermes landed in the Minor Air Gods cabin. He set down a golden ring on Shrike's bunk and flew out of the cabin.