Two daggers

I huff in, noting the time. 10:50. Would anyone be here? I was below average on my fighting skills, and wanted to improve. I was hoping to practice with someone real, but I got distracted writing, and the time slipped away. So I guess a dummy will do. I awkwardly hold my dagger in my hand. I'm not even gonna try with the other one.

I set a dummy up. I think about the articles I had read on swordsmanship. Daggerminship? Anyway, I discover reading and doing are two very different things. I hack away at the poor dummy trying to aim at critical spots. Somehow I miss. I miss the non moving dummy. I jab at the neck, hit only air. Aim for the torso scrape his side. I need help.

With a pretty loud cry, Zane swings his Black blade in a downward arc, creating a large gash across the front of the training dummy's torso, then twists his body around as he drops down to one knee, slicing at the post holding the dummy up, all in one smooth. As he stands up, he feels a tug in his stomach when he begins to form a dark shadow underneath him, sucking him up like he was standing on water, before almost immediately spitting him back out, except in a different black shadow directly behind the dummy. As He flies out of the shadow with the momentum he had falling in, he twirls his sword around in his hand and uses both hands to push the entire Stygian Iron blade deep into the dummy's back, towards the ground directly behind the training dummy's neck. With a large, almost winded breath, he yanks his sword out of the dummy and begins knocking off the stray pieces of straw that clung to it.

I stand a tad bit shocked, this dark haired boy destroyed that dummy. I stare at his Stygian Iron blade, then at him. Did he shadow travel? He seems unfased, a little tired, but who wouldn't be. I can't decide if I should say hello or run. Running seems like a very good option, yet I find my feet slowing moving towards the darker side of the arena. I try to calm down. He's just like any other camper. Son of Hades? No, but the shadow traveling. I find myself a few feet away. He still doesn't respond. I could still leave. I notice the glint off my dagger and put it down, as I was holding it like I was about to whack him. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad idea. I let the air rush through my lungs.

"Hel..lo." My voice cracks. " My name is Serena, um I'm a daughter of calliope."

Zane jumped so hard that his sword dropped out of his hand as he fell backwards onto his butt. "W-what?" He asks out in a surprised voice, looking up to see who had startled him so much. His eyes widened a bit as he saw a young girl with brown hair looking at him. "U-uh.. Hey. I'm Zane. Um.. Son of Thanatos." He finally replies as he pushes himself up off the ground, brushing the dust and dirt off of his hands and pants.

I put my hand up to cover my smile. For someone who just shadow traveled, he seems skittish. Thanatos. Not my usual cup of tea, but I'm willing to try anything. The silence is getting awkward.

"So, um what are you doing? Well I mean you're practicing your swordsmanship," I snap my fingers, a nervous habit I thought I had  dropped. "but I don't think you need it."

Why was I so nervous, he's just a camper. I look down at the decimated dummy, and try not to think about him in a real fight. I remove my eyes from the horrible mess on the floor, and back to him. Why hadn't I ran?

Zane bent down to pick up his sword as Serena had spoke, carefully brushing off some dirt from the blade before sheathing it on his back. He felt his cheeks blush slightly from her comment about his swordsmanship as he replied, "Well.. If I don't practice, I'll get worse. And us being Demigods, i-it's a good a skill to have.."
Before she had a chance to reply, Zane started collecting the random pieces of straw that had come from his training dummy, thinking the other campers wouldn't appreciate the mess.

I bend down to help him pick up the straw. Maybe I had been to quick to judge. He doesn't seem threatening, just a little creepy. I was the one who chose to speak to him. I feel my dagger jab into my thigh. I should be practicing

"So, how long have you been at camp?"

Zane felt thankful for her help to pick up the straw, but was too shy to actually say it, so he stayed quiet as they worked. "Um.." He starts to say, quickly counting up how much time he's actually been here. "I think, like... a year. A year and half, something like that.. What about you?"

He seems nice, quiet. Like what I assume a son of Thanatos. "I've been here a few days, well I knew about it for a while, but. yeah." I trail off. It had gotten chilly, I push down my sleeves "I suppose it's complicated, not just knowing my mom is a goddess, but all of this greek mythology being real. I'm trying to comprehend." It was weird talking about this. Everyone seemed so accepting here.

Zane simply nodded his head a bit as he bent down to gather up a few more pieces of straw. He definitely knew what she was talking about. He knew for a very long time that he was different, what with the dead voices constantly whispering in his ear, but it took him a very long time to accept that he was a God's son. It was just too unbelievable at the time. But now, it seemed completely normal. "Yea.. I've been there." He replied as he tossed the straw into a nearby trash bin before shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets, looking over at the Rock climbing wall, but not really focusing on it. "It was even harder for me.. Not many people tend to accept children of the Underworld.. Especially a child of Death himself.."

I look guiltily down at the straw in my hands rubbing them in between my fingers. I had been quick to judge. "Fitting in is hard but having death as your father must make it pretty difficult." I feel blood rush to my cheeks. Why had I said that. "Um sorry that was..." My heart is pounding. That was a stupid move. Way to go Serena nice try at making friends.

"Yea... It does." Zane replies softly as he continues to stare off into the distance. People used to never accept children of Hades, but children of Thanatos is even worse. Hades is just the ruler, but Thanatos is Death himself. Why would anyone accept him when him and his father are view as nothing but evil? Wanting to change the subject, Zane looked back over at Serena and said, "What about you? What's having.. um, who was it again? Calliope? What's it like being a child of her?"

I throw away the pieces of straw. "Not all that different, from before. I wouldn't have known I was a demigod if it hadn't been for a monster attack." I flash back to the attack, grateful for the satyr that helped. "There were never any signs before that. The only thing that was impressive about me was my crazy good poetry skills, and my ability to memorize and recall poetry really fast." I pull on a string at the hem of my shirt. It felt wrong to be here. So many demigods had it worse than me.

"There's nothing wrong with being good at poetry. I think it's a good skill." Zane replied as he looked down at the ground, idly kicking a rock over, trying his best not to look her in the eye and get embarrassed. "The only thing I got from my father was the ability to kill things.. And this stupid, constant whispering in my ear." He adds as he slips a hand out of his pocket to rub one of his ears a bit before putting it back in.

I let my eyes wander behind him. Here I was complaining, yet look at him. I feel a urge to recite, and before I can stop myself it escapes my lips. "Yet it is in death that we are free, for we cannot fly when we are chained. Chained by these mortal coils, to walk the earth. So I thank the one that has freed me, that has laid me to sleep. Killing without cause is a sin, but if we are all chained does that not give cause to killing? "   I close my eyes, shaking my head. I run my hand through my hair pulling it out of my face. "Sorry, I don't know weather that was my mom or drama club." I feel the swell of embarrassment. Why that poem? I probably wasn't helping him feel any better.

Zane lifted his gaze up to look at Serena as she quoted what sounded like a poem. He wasn't much of a poetic person, but yet he enjoyed the one she had quoted. "Maybe both?" He replied shortly after Serena had finished talking, giving her a small smile before idly cracking his knuckles, something he did more often than he wished.

I walked into the arena, looking around. Hey, there's some other kids here, maybe I can talk to them. I shook my head a bit, No, they look like they're having a private conversation. I had learned the hard way that if you butt into a conversation, people will just get mad. Unless you bring brownies. Brownies fix everything! I didn't actually have brownies, so instead I walked to dummy and slashed at it, leaving a cut across its chest. The Greek blade still felt a little odd in my hands. I was used to the foam swords the SCA used, with neon tape marking were a cutting edge would be on the real thing. My new sword was smaller, but heavier and a bit smaller. All the more reason to practice.