Don't Judge a Book by It's Content Too Often

"Let's go for a walk…just around the lake, okay?" he was hesitant at first choosing a location, then abruptly chose to go around the lake. "Enjoy the fresh air."

And the both of them began their trekking.

The lake was quite large so they probably had about forty-five minutes of walking, maybe more. Sawyer wondered what happened to give him this sudden need for a hike. Did he want to be alone? If so, he wouldn't have asked her to come along. Maybe he just needed a break from hearing the popular giggling a few meters down.
The daughter of Hephaestus ducked away under a branch, her flip flops squeaking a little as she walked. She had decided to just wait for him to talk -- maybe that was what he needed. Let stuff out.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Aiden abruptly asked as they made their way. He guessed that, with this pace, they will be going in a circle in 45 minutes or more. Perfect timing. They would get back before lunch begins. "The lake. The peacefulness, away from my siblings. And, I thought about what you said about Aphrodite kids. You're right." he shrugged. "Many of them are great. Still, some of them are like Tanaka. Narcissistic, arrogant,..." he started listing a bunch of Drew Tanaka traits.

Manipulative and disloyal, Sawyer finished in her mind. It wasn't like her to talk behind people's backs, but was it really talking behind their back if they already knew what you think of them? In the end she took her bandanna off, shook her hair, and slipped it back on. She had a lot to say about Aphrodite kids but that didn't mean she would sh!tmouth them. She'd rather tell it to their face.

"Dude, that's a lot of rage. Did Tanaka do something to you?"

"No. I hate injustice. I heard the story of Tanaka's tyranny, and some of them are like her." he shrugged, clenched his fists at the mention of Drew Tanaka. Then as he loosen his grip, he continued: "But, I adore many of my siblings." he admitted.

"Do you love your siblings, Sawyer?" Aiden made a question for the daughter of Hephaestus.

Heard stories, huh. She wondered if he had heard the one about her and Greg.

"Of course I do. There are some I don't really hang out with but I get along great with the whole Jordan, Malcolm, Jack, Nyssa crew."

She got along best with Malcolm and Jordan -- however she hadn't seen Jordan in more than a year. She hoped to see him again sometime this summer.

"Why don't you hang out with them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "They did something to you, have they?" he continued.

"Right, tell me a story of yours. And I'll try to find a story of mine to tell you." he began.

Sawyer frowned. "No they didn't? I mean sure we pull some practical jokes on each other every now and then but it's all in good spirit. We're really close-knit, you know, in cabin #9."

"A story?" With a smirk, she passed a hand through her hair. It came back greasy and tainted with motor oil. "Well this one time in 7th grade we were on a school trip and I accidentally caused a lava eruption."

"A volcanic eruption? That's hard to believe, but since this world is the world of the gods and magic, you go on. Although it is arguable how you were able to melt solid rocks to molten lava without the proper reaction temperature." Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, lemme guess: a school trip to an inactive volcano." he guessed, snapping his fingers for more ideas.

"Oh no, no volcano was involved," she said. "It was on Padre Island, I was what, twelve? Thirteen? So we were hanging out on the beach with my class when these three demon chicks turn up and try to kill me. I just panicked. Next thing I knew, lava was coming out of the sand and rolling down the dunes. Area got evacuated of course, I think it's still closed to this day and has some kinda geological hazard warning thing." She chuckled. "It was pretty horrifying."

"You are mistaken!" he pointed his fingers upwards, smirking. "A volcano is involved. The continental plate must have shifted in the ocean by accident, triggering an underground earthquake and pushed the lava up. The demon chicks were probably monsters. Question is, however," he scratched his shaved chin. "was that how such an untimely event happened."

Aiden shrugged, then continued.

"Here's my story. Like promise, it's truthful. It's how I got this scar." Aiden said, putting his fingers oon the scar that occupied half his face. "So, two years ago when I was 17, I was homeless, and I lived by thieving. Funny thing, they thought I was a Hermes kid because of my thieving skills. Back to the story, I attempted to steal a Macbook. Then they caught me and had me arrested. At the station, in the prisoner interrogation room, the guy who was doing the interrogating was a monster. I escaped the room, don't ask how, like I said, they thought I was Hermes. I climbed a five storey building and I tried a leap of faith. Unfortunately the 3 Fates don't support me. I smashed my cheek against the metal railing and then fractured all the bones of my left hand when I landed. I got away afterwards, but was halfway to death." he finished the story. "So you see, that is why my life is tragic."

Sawyer frowned deeper. "What are you talking about? There is no volcano on Padre Island. And deep-focus earthquakes only occur on plate boundaries. …Do you know where Padre Island is?" Hm, maybe Aiden shouldn't study geology after all. She didn't like how he had immediately said she was mistaken, especially on a subject she loved, when he was so blatantly wrong. "And yeah, the demon chicks were probably monsters," she chuckled. "Dracaenae, to be precise."

Her eyes glanced over his scar, which she had noticed before. Oh look, she wasn't the only one with face injury in town. She didn't know if he was serious or not -- for the demigod average, smashing the bones of your hand and getting a scar on the cheek wouldn't be considered tragic. But still, it sounded painful. "Must've hurt," she said. "How did you heal?"

Padre Island? he thought. All islands are supposed to have volcanos?

"No I don't. Never been to Texas..." he smirked stupidly. "Just kiddin', I do know that they mentioned Padre Island in Texas, but I thought it was an island in the middle of a lake or something, although Texas is as dry as the Sahara. Welp, I'm dumb with those stuffs." he shrugged, smirking. "Maybe I should quit both geography and geology."

"The bones healed itself. But the scar, obviously, didn't." he replied. "I went to a hospital and they patched up my arm. I escaped in the middle of the night. But I'm a resourceful guy, I survived." Aiden shrugged. "Four freaking months. I had to steal stuff one-handed. It was difficult, but I survived long enough til' my hand restored to it's former glory."

OOC: Not all islands have volcanoes. The islands you're probably thinking about are hot spot islands, and they don't work with subduction volcanism. Moreover, in a chain of hot spot islands, only one volcano is actually active.

BIC: Escaping to local authorities was quite a feat and Sawyer nodded appreciatively. Broken bones were a trickier business and the fact he managed to survive like that proved he wasn't a softie. Unusual, for a child of Aphrodite. Most of them started crying the moment their nail polish chipped off.

"Nice, nice. When did you make it here?"

OOC: I told you, we have not reached that level of knowledge in grade 8th.

BIC: "Two years ago. A satyr brought me here. Hurts me to think about him. He's dead." he shrugged. "Died rescuing a sister of mine. Four weeks after my arrival."

"Aphrodite kids are sometimes really weak." he commented abruptly. "I was once petty. But I made a faux pas. From then I trained myself to be tough, strong and resourceful."

"To be frank. You guys are often underestimated. Children of Aphrodite are not necessarily weak, even if a lot of you waste your time on outfits and looks. You can be terrifying." She herself had been scared of cabin #10 for a long time, as a kid.

"Some of us are overestimated. But for some of us, yeah, we're underestimate. A guy at the Ares cabin pick a fight with me once, don't ask, best not to mention his name. He taunted, saying that I was weak, being an Aphrodite kid. I bashed him and his two buddies. The leader had the bones of his elbow snapped. It healed after a time. As for the others, I punched them and broke both of their noses. I had some injuries of my own but they weren't as serious as theirs. That is why they say 'don't judge a book by it's cover'." he stopped, thought for a moment before continuing "But sometimes 'don't judge a book by it's content too often'." he made up a quote.

Sawyer frowned, she didn't know that quote. It didn't make sense either. "What does that mean, not judge a book by it's content? How else should you judge it?"

The thing with the Ares kids didn't surprise her. Big and loud, they were all brawn and no brain -- most of them anyway. It was easy to imagine them challenging someone and getting their butt handed to them, though they were indeed great fighters. The best ones at Camp Half-Blood, if you went by cabins -- along with cabin #6 of course. It was hard to best a child of Athena.

They had reached the other side of the lake and Sawyer couldn't help but stop and stare. The water glittered like a sheet of glass, bright blue under the sun. And up there, you could see a few cabins, the Big House, even a bit of Half-Blood Hill. "Pretty view, huh," she said with a smile, looking down at Aiden.

"Oh, that's my quote. I said that once. Fourteen seconds ago," he smirked. "you will understand that one day. One day not far from now."

Aiden and Sawyer finally made it to the other side of the lake, where almost everything were in view. The Big House, a bunch of cabins.

"Pretty, yes. Prettiest, no. Somewhere else is already nominated for that." he replied in approval.

"Oh? And which location might that be?" she asked with a grin.

If she had to choose, she'd definitely say Olympus. Maybe New Rome too, simply because she loved antique architecture.

She sometimes didn't know if Aiden was joking or being pretentious. You'll understand that one day. She didn't like how down-looking he  could be at times, it was a bit bothering. She didn't want to make a contest about who had had most experience in life and demigod stuff, but the way he always bragged or tried to show he was better made him look a bit childish.

"Olympus. The view from up there is simply amazing. You can see almost anything down in New York, and the place itself is nice as well." he admitted, looking up at the sky. Olympus was right above the Empire State building, but at least a thousand meters up, so there was no hope in seeing it from here.

"Which is your favorite?"

"Same, actually," she said. "And New Rome. New Rome is… heaven on earth."

Just thinking about the domes and colonnades and sweet-smelling gardens there made her want to go back. For a hopeless romantic like her, it simply was the place to be.

"Have you ever been there?"

"No. Heard of them prior, but never been there." he shrugged. "But I will, when I start university in New Rome." he grinned a smile. "And by your judgement I am certain that you've been there. They said things were sort of strict, and Romans were tougher. But, I guess I might adapt to it. 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do.'" he quoted.

"Quite so," she agreed. "I haven't been to Camp Jupiter that much, thrice actually, but the city is simply...something else. Wait till you see the Colosseum!"

"I can't wait for it." Aiden shrugged and replied awkwardly. "Maybe I could visit there before I enlist for a semester. Maybe get my girlfriend to accompany me. She's a real charm." he commented.

Aiden's iWatch blinked to life. It read 11:30. Half an hour til' lunch. "Come on, let's get back to mess before lunch." he gestured toward the Mess Hall on the other side of the lake.