The Secret Brook

Zack came to the secret brook, watching the water flow. The trees, the rocks, the brook, it was all calming to Zack. He went up to the brook, cupped his hands, placed it in, and then brought it up to his face to wash it. The water was very cool and refreshing to him. He then stuck his whole head in the water. He wasn't frightened of this water because he could see the bottom. He brought it back up.

"Whew. Alright. I'm awake." He said, flinging his hair back. He went up to a rock, which was flat and long. He lied on it, his face looking up at the trees.

"You know, Zack, you have a lot of potential."

"You mean you're finally agreeing with all of those teachers and my mom told me?"

"Well, I mean look at it. You're a smart man, you're probably the only one in this camp that philosophizes, you're one of the best swordsmen around here, and you're probably one of the nicest people here, too."

"I'm not nice to myself."

"That's a different story. What I'm trying to say is, don't let the small things in life bring you down. Don't let the big ones do it either."

"You know I have clinical depression..."

"That doesn't mean you can't realize that you're made for something big."

"I guess your right."

"And you'll even be able to meet Zeus, your dad, this year! The summer solstice isn't that far away."

"But dad won't have time for me."

"Don't say that. Maybe he won't be able to, but at the least you'll be able to see him."

"Yeah. That does sound good. Don't let anything bring me down, I'm meeting my dad... all will be well soon enough." He smiled and let out a breath.

"Do you always talk to yourself like that?" A voice said. It was a deep voice he heard before.

"Hammer!" Zack said, sitting up now. "What are you doing here?"

"Training. Like always."

"Then why this brook?"

"Heard your voice." He said, now walking up to Zack and sitting next to him.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you're not doing all that well. Is it Morgan?" He asked. Zack looked at him and nodded his head. "I met her again today. I went to apologize for stopping the fight."

"What happened?"

"There was another boy...and he brought her to the beach." Zack frowned. "She didn't even look at me when she left."

"Tell me, Zack, do you love her?"

"Yeah. Found out when I was talking to her today. I didn't say it, of course. It would have made me look stupid to say it. Have you ever loved someone, Hammer?"

"No. All I do is fight."

"Do you ever get tired of fighting? Well, mentally."

"Sometimes."

"What do you do when that happens?"

"Fight some more." Hammer smiled. Zack chuckled.

"Do you have any advice to say?" Zack asked Hammer.

"Zack, I don't know a lot about love, or woman. But there is a quote I heard at the orphanage once. 'If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, they're yours to keep.'"

"Do you believe it?"

"No. I think love is one of the stupidest emotions. From what I've seen, it makes fools out of people. Makes them too emotional, something that isn't very good on the battlefield."

"Everyone has emotions, Hammer."

"Thaddeus."

"What?"

"My name is Thaddeus."

"Oh."

"And I guess your right. Everyone has emotions. But you can shut them up, you know. I haven't felt an emotion for a long as I can remember. I viewed emotions as weak, so I just ignored them."

"You mean to say that ignoring them long enough makes you just ignore them as an instinct."

"Yeah." Hammer nodded his head. Zack looked at Hammer.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Slicing your back open. Stopping your fight. I didn't want her to die."

"I understand. Don't worry about it. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

"Would you have killed her?" Zack looked into Hammer's red eyes. Hammer looked away.

"I don't give up in I fight. I fight until the other person surrenders or until their dead."

"So you would have."

"I wouldn't have outright murdered her. I would have tried to knock her unconscious."

"Why would you fight for that long? Why would you fight until the other person is dead?"

"I've seen a lot of things. I've fought for all my life. Life, as the saying goes, is a b*tch. I've seen people do some pretty spectacular things. I've seen people do very idiotic things. I fight for that long and would kill a man because I want to become stronger."

"That's your only reason for doing the things you do? To become stronger? Why?"

"Because I want to be strong enough to better my obstacles." Zack looked at him then looked up in thought.

"You know, many people would consider you a psychopath for that." Zack said.

"And you think I care?"

"No. In fact, I can understand your mindset very well. You want to be the best. And the only way you feel do that is to become stronger." Zack, looking at Hammer. Hammer turned his head at Zack, his head cocked to it's side a bit. He then slowly nodded.

"Yeah. I guess your right. You're the first person I have ever met to understand." Hammer said to him, looking rather weirdly. Zack smiled.

"What?"

"I feel something...like...I feel like I'm...accepted."

"And what are you going to do with that emotion?"

"Destroy it. Only the elite stand alone." Hammer said, looking the other way. Zack laughed.

"Don't worry." Zack said, patting Thaddeus on his back. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the arena now. I have to beat this feeling out." Hammer said, getting up from the rock and heading off to the direction of the arena.

"Just don't kill anyone!" Zack smile and waved. Hammer raised a hand back at him and disappeared into the forest. Zack lied back down on the rock.

"Interesting fellow." He nodded. He then fell asleep on the rock, feeling perfectly comfortable.

The ground was made of a pattern of grass and earth. My military shoes hit it as silently as possible as I sneaked around the trees, trying to find some monster.
I had been training for two weeks now at Camp, and I wanted to try my combat in real.
But the only monster I had seen was a lizard that shot off as soon it saw me.
Since I didn't abandon and I had to find something I could actually kill and send off to Tartarus, I continued my silent walk between the trees.
That was when I reached a calm brook that glittered in the dim sunlight that passed between the trees' leaves. I came to a halt and dug my spear's bottom in the ground. This was such a nice little place I was sure monsters came here pretty often.
I decided to wait here, somewhere, for something to show up. For one time, I wasn't the hunted but the hunter.
And in this precise moment, I saw Zachary, lying on a long flat rock, eyes closed. He was asleep.
Silently, I walked over to him and wondered if I should wake him up or not. Finally, I just decided to sit somewhere on a random rock and wait for him to wake up.
So I did and sat cross legged behind a large rock, my back to it and my spear on my legs, all senses acute.

"Just because a man is lying down, doesn't mean they're asleep." Zack said to Morgan. He had been sleeping, but that was around fifteen minutes ago. Now he was just trying to think of what was the next thing to do with himself. Zack sat up on his rock and ran his fingers through his still somewhat wet hair.

"What brings you here? I thought you were with the other boy." He said, looking at her. He didn't know really what to think now; whether to be mad at her or not. So Zack just waited calmly until something was brought up.

I stayed silent for some seconds, looking at the water. The splashing was like music to me, refreshing, cool music. Listening to it made me think of the Alps, because I used to go trekking with my family in the Alps. We owned a little house in a small village, at the bottom of the mountains, and we usually went hiking for the whole day. We used to refresh ourselves at little brooks like this one, and my brother enjoyed putting stones in it to form a tiny dam.
I batted my eyelashes to come back to reality.

- I could have killed you easily, I said after a while, stroking my spear's edge like I were actually planning on doing so. And what I'm doing here? Searching for some monsters. I need to kill something - or someone, I added, smirking nastily at Zack.

"Yeah. You could have killed me easily." He nodded, his voice calm and clear. "But I know you wouldn't. You would have wanted a fight, not a quick kill. I hear monsters are more in the northern woods. You could go there if you wish." Zack suggested to her. He then lied back down, relaxing, on the smooth rock he was on.

"Or perhaps you can kill me if you want to." (it's not like you killed me already) Zack sighed and his eyes fell to the brook.

"I don't remember you being this violent. Is something wrong?" He asked her, in a voice that cared. He would probably get back an evil remark, but that was something he would hardly care about.

- Everything's fine, I assured him, my gaze lost in the vivid water of the brook.

It made me think of a music I used to play on the piano, Swiftwater, by Scott Davis.

OOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-auZaPGvpY

BIC: It had the particularity of soothing me - I felt like I could coil up like a little cat and sleep, in security. My heartbeat rose and I felt blissful. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the rock, my face turned up to the sky, listening to the music that was flowing through my thoughts.
When it was over, I opened my eyes again.

- And thanks for the advice. I might go there, but not now.

I stood up and smirked, putting a foot on the rock I had been leaning against.

- Not now you gave me the permission to kill you. I mean, I would've done it either way, I added with a mischievous smile.

"And why not now?" Zack asked. It's not like he wanted Morgan to leave - well, he did, a little. He didn't want to be made depressed again, especially after just getting out of his depression. He breathed deeply, allowing himself to be as relaxed as he could be, his breathing rate that of a person asleep. He didn't know what else to talk about, other than the prom that was coming up soon, but was that right to bring up at this time? What of his love for Morgan?

"You caused me a lot of pain, that day you left me." He just said, still as calmly as ever.

I looked at my spear. Thinking those two weeks back made me a bit angry again.

- And me? Do you think I was happy, that day, son of Zeus? Do you think I enjoyed it? I added, quoting Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas.

Stabbing my spear in the ground, I looked away.
Why did he have to bring up that conversation? The precise one I didn't want to talk about.
Angry, I kicked a stone into the brook.

"I don't think you enjoyed it, no." Zack spoke. "I only told you what happened." Zack sighed and clenched his teeth. He knew where he wanted to go with this, but he didn't find it right.

"I never told you, but in Australia, when I was with you, I had this...euphoric feeling in my chest. When you broke it off, I was extremely pained. And today, I had a strong feeling of jealousy when you walked off with that other boy." He said, and now he closed his eyes.

"Morgan, when I widened by eyes back at the arena, I figured something out. It's...well, it's really stupid to be honest, but I...I love you." He told her. He opened his eyes after he said it, not knowing the consequences of what he just spoke, although it did feel good to let it out.

Each one of his words pained me, because I was thinking of that time where we were going out together. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, hoping it would be soon over, but then ....
He told me he loved me.
Like that.

It was like an electroshock and I kicked another stone into the brook.

- How can you? I asked him, my voice rising. We've known each other only since two weeks!

I grabbed another stone and threw it with all my might in the water.

"Although I consider myself somewhat of a philosopher, I cannot answer that question." He frowned. "Perhaps it was because you accepted me for who I am and I can be myself around you. Perhaps it was that you were just you." He shrugged. He sat up now, looking at her. "I don't know. But I do know that I love you." He summed up.

I closed my eyes; my hands were shaking.
Passing my tongue on my lips, I turned to Zachary. I didn't know what he read in my eyes, be it pain or surprise or whatsoever.... I didn't care.
I just walked up to him and gazed down at his face. Extending a hand, I stroked the bottom of his long hair with shaking fingers. It was soft.
My brown eyes met his blue ones and I closed mine.
This should end now.
Putting a firm hand on his shoulder, I bent down to kiss his cheek, but then I moved my face to the right and kissed his mouth, his face in both my hands.

Zack was expecting to get slapped again - certainly not a kiss. He was taken off guard; stunned for a second, but what seemed hours. Once he came back to his senses, he kissed back. There was a loud voice in his head yelling to do it passionately which was louder than his more contained voice, so he returned the kiss passionately.

Zack's heart was beating much harder now, he could feel the vibrations in his chest and the adrenaline traveling throughout his body. More importantly, that euphoric feeling in his chest had risen, but now it was exponentially greater than what it was in Australia. Much greater. Once the kiss was over, he ran his hand through his hair.

"Perhaps that's why I love you," He chuckled. He allowed his heart to slow down by controlling his breathing.

"So...do you want to go to the dance with me?" He asked her.

Letting go of his face, I straightened my back and sat down next to him.

- That prom dance, you mean? Tomorrow?

I stretched once and laid my spear against my shoulder. I hadn't really thought about that dance, even though I would like to go there. It wasn't like I was excellent at dancing. I shook my hair with my hand and smiled.

- Sure, I said. Thanks for inviting me, I added, smiling larger.

"Anything for you, dearest." Zack smiled back, feeling a lot more relieved at the moment. He had conquered that which he feared, hell, he knocked it so hard in the face that no one would ever recognize it anymore.

"I don't even care that I don't know how to dance." He said smugly. He took a breath and basked in the moment, feeling better than what he had been in weeks. "I assume we're back together, then?" He asked.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. Was this guy joking? I had kissed him, hell! It wasn't out of friendship.
But since I didn't feel like saying that, I simply chuckled.

- Of course we are! I said, messing his hair up. Grand idiot!

The sun was down now, and the stars were starting to appear. Worried, I stood up and slid my spear onto my shoulder.

- We'd better go, I said, before the harpies find us.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow." He smiled and got up from the rock he was sitting on. Walking off, he gave her a wave.

"I love you," He said, walking off into the night, the twigs and dead leaves making loud cracking noises.

Waving quietly back, I stepped between the trees and started jogging silently between the trees back to the cabins.
The moon was full up now, and I ducked to dodge the low branches that were hanging across my way. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I didn't find any monster.
As I got back into the cabin's courtyard, I saw the harpies and run off as quickly as I could to the Hecate cabin, which was directly next to the Dionysus cabin.

He nodded as he sat down by the edge and. Set his books down. "Yeah, it's really nice here, like you" he smiled

Jackson smiled "cold? Your pretty hot to me" he smiled as he opened one of the Donald books.

Jackson put his hads up "I'm so sorry your magesty, I couldn't help myself" he smiled, trying to reduce the tension while flirting and getting to know her "where you from?"