The Rock Wall

Adrian shrugged and followed Zen

Fire and stones, heights and campers, all of these things were in the vision of the tall and very muscular boy as he sat back against a tree while trying to keep his head down to avoid the sunlight. Even with his sunglasses on the light still hurt his eyes and gave him a terrible headache like nothing he had ever experienced before even when being knocked out. This would never be a normal life but Brent gritted his teeth and his black braces glinted in the sunlight as he did so. Just then a soft sound reached his ears and the boy looked up to see another camper run up to him out of breath. "Brent, there are...campers coming...to beat you...up." Brent sighed and stood up as he popped his knuckles and then lowered his hands to his two stone headed clubs. If it was a fight they wanted then it was a fight they would get. Brent was just beginning to think that there would be no fight when suddenly three larger campers walked toward him. The son of Ares grinned and pulled the stone clubs from his belt and waited until they were close.

Now boys, do you really think it's fair to fight me three on one when you're all bigger than me? Brent waited for a response but instead of the three answering or backing of they smiled at each other and Brent shrugged with a sigh. Fine, I can deal with it. The clubs flashed and both of them smashed into one of the guys, sending him flying back into the rock wall unconscious. With a spinning movement, Brent took out the second guy and stopped to stare at the third before putting away his clubs. You're going to be fun. He raised his fists and got into a martial arts ready position while grinning at the third boy with an evil glint in his eyes.

       I strode into the rockwall area, making sure to keep my posture perfect; even in a place where lava and dead campers stank up the place, which was still no place for a princess, someone of my authority should at least TRY to be an example of civilized behavior. I only got a quick glance at the rock wall before I recoiled and closed my eyes. I had come here simply because I had not, in all of my time at camp, explored it yet. I had refused to come here, because, well, who WOULD? Well, I do suppose that falling into lava if you failed would be a rather perfect incentive not to fall in the first place.


 As I turned back around to attempt another look at the madness that was this wall of death, I instead saw something much more disturbing: I saw an extremely tall boy who looked like a body builder with a strange weapon in his hands... clubs, maybe? He had knocked out two other campers, despite their impossible size advantage, and as he watched a third camper, who was also bigger, he was in... was that a fighting position? Uh-oh. Things were about to get ugly. What bothered me the most, though, was that evil look he had in his eyes, like he was preparing to do much more than simply defend himself. I patted my dagger in my pocket. I knew what I had to do. As I took it out, I willed it to transform, imagining it was a simple hrowing knife. I immediately felt the change in weight and size, and had already taken aim by the time I was ready to throw. I threw thanasima with all of my might, without the intention to kill, but simply to get the smaller kid's attention. I watched as my faithful old dagger whizzed right past his face.

OOC: sorry posting from my dumb phone right now. I'm supposed to be in bed.

((SALTS I used to do that...anyhow, it's fine.))

As Brent was getting ready to attack again, he felt the air of a knife fly by his face and he glanced over at the knife before he looked toward the person who had thrown it just to see who his next target would be. Yet that initial glance turned into a stunned look which made him drop his hands just in time for a solid punch to connect to his jaw and send him backward. Brent laid there for a few seconds and then stood up with the image of the girl still burned into his memory. His glasses were on the ground and as he went to pick them up the other boy stepped on them creating a crunch that smashed the lenses and busted them in half. Brent looked up and his eyes blazed to anger yet again as he reacted and in three blinding motions he had slammed his fist into the boy's nose, wrapped his arm around his neck and snapped his leg that had stepped on the glasses.

All in all it took about a minute from seeing the girl to having the boy unconscious with a busted nose and leg on the ground. Brent stood up and immediately grimaced as the sunlight hit his eyes causing the headache to intensify. Added to that was the pain in his jaw from the punch and the sore bruises where he hit the ground. Slowly Brent picked up the knife that the girl threw and weighed it experimentally. It was a good knife that if he had been hit by it then it would have cut his body easily. Brent walked over to the girl and flashed a disarming smile, revealing the black braces and dimples in his cheeks. Are you always so aggressive as to attack someone you have not met yet? Let me fix that quickly. I'm Brent Epperson, son of Ares and the one who was attacked not the one who was attacking. Brent smiled again, this time handing the girl her knife at the same time. And what is the name of such a beautiful person as yourself?

Brent sighed and felt his skin stretch as he moved his fingers and actually winced at the pain when he realized that he had a small fracture in his left middle knuckle. With a visible effort he lowered his hand and then gave a weak smile at the girl, Alexa, who had decided to introduce herself after saying that he had broken the boy's leg. And they attacked me three on one while I was sitting here enjoying the day right before he snapped my glasses in half. Those glasses are what keep me from getting a terrible headache in the sunlight so he deserved everything that he got. Are you honestly going to tell me that you would be this harsh towards anyone who was protecting you, princess? Brent had heard of someone walking around who acted like a princess who fit Alexa's description and as he spoke the term princess he realized that venom had started to drip from his tone and contempt was written across his face. Slowly he took a deep breath and then looked at Alexa apologetically for he realized he had been wrong to accuse her of being too harsh to him. If anything he was a hypocrite for even saying anything like that because he had just been as harsh as anyone could ever be to him.

Yes life was strange and people were different in many ways but Brent had been trained in defense and wouldn't use it against anyone, even someone like this princess that had annoyed him so badly just a minute ago. I'm sorry, Alexa, but defense means acting without thinking for if you think then you telegraph everything you plan to do and then your enemy can use it against you. I shouldn't have broke his leg but there are worse injuries I could have given him and if it had not been for you then I would have killed him anyhow after that display of pure hatred from him. Please forgive me for my rash behavior and my cruel words toward you. I should not have been that way toward someone I have just met and that is no way to speak to a lady of high societal status such as yourself. Brent tried to remember all of the ways he could be respectful as he spoke but instead of remembering all he could think was how beautiful she looked and how she was obviously defensive with her hand in her pocket like that.

Oh, Gods of Olympus, I thought. When he first called me princess, the words where full of venom, and I almost turned my back on him right then and there. But he had not been as lucky as me to have been raised the way I had, obviously. So I decided I would hear him out to see if he could change my mind: right now I thought of him as a more aggressive version of Nick, likely; they both acted out of impulse, as far as I knew, except one of them didn't try to break people's legs, who were likely not planning to do the same towards them. I had an entire stockpile of harsh words that I could have retaliated with, but of course, I did not interrupt.

That's when Brent completely changed his tone. Was he... Apologizing? Impossible! was my first thought. He's just trying to make you feel bad! But of course, like always, I disagreed with my gut feeling, and listened. His tone seemed so sincere, I couldn't help but blush and look down. I felt my hand, wrapped instinctively around my knife, loosen its grip as Brent explained what had really happened. And that's when he pulled out the secret card: Reverence towards my status as princess. And this time the words had been drained of their venom, yet they had an even greater impact. I immediately accepted his apology inside, and tried to remember the lessons back from the castle, about not revealing anything about your feelings inside, yet now, of all times, I could not find them.

"I- I- no. I'm sorry." I referenced things he had previously said, yet now, looking back on them, the words did not hurt anymore. "I'm sure you would have somehow come to your senses and stopped attacking that boy." So maybe I was wrong, but when I said it, I was sincere. "And you certainly could've done it without losing your glasses." My hand slipped out of my pocket, and I let all of my guard down. What would happen if a clever monster ever pretended to have reverence for my status? I was no longer a princess, but that made it so much easier to become weak when somebody actually recognized that, and that was what had happened here.


OOC: Man you're a good roleplayer

As he sun blew across the area, the smell of burning moved away from them and it caused Brent's hair to wave in a very beautiful manner. Many people had often stared at Brent and envied him but that had always been something he had ignored because only a daughter of Aphrodite would care about what others thought about them. Now though, Brent looked at Alexa and his face reddened as he thought about all of the times he had been oblivious to girls flirting with him or all of the times he had ignored someone. He didn't care much but now he felt the world under him seem to shift and the light almost bent to focus on the girl in front of him like an angel would be cloaked in heavenly fire. As he stared, Brent knew that he would have to try to woo Alexa or something would break inside of him from disappointment.

So the son of Ares looked away from Alexa for a minute as he tried to let his face cool down but just the memory of her face made him blush yet again in anticipation for what he was about to do. Brent looked up and opened his mouth to speak but closed it again immediately for words failed him and left him looking like a lovestruck fool. Silently he prayed to all of the gods of love and romance to help him in this one endeavor. Brent opened his mouth yet again, this time staring into her eyes instead of at her face. Alexa...I... His nerve failed and Brent stopped speaking but it was like something was urging him on so the son of Ares, tall and strong as he was, leaned in and kissed the princess softly, just a brush of their lips.

OOC: Wut.

As Brent kissed me, I almost fell backwards, stumbling back as I rubbed my lips. Ew. Why ew? Because the voice inside me simply shook its head and said this kid needs to learn how to kiss. And for once, I agreed with it. He may have been older, and certainly much taller, but I walked towards him, a new fire in my eyes. "You certainly need some lessons in kissing," I said, approaching him. "This time, I can be the teacher." Then I put my hands on his shoulders, staring into his eyes. "Ready?"

OOC: Gods of Olympus make it stop XD

Brent looked at Alexa in shock as she backed away and rubbed her lips to get rid of the feeling of him kissing her. Just as his face fell and he was getting ready to leave because he didn't want to get yelled at she walked up to him with a strange look in her eyes. Being taught to kiss by this beautiful girl? It was almost too impossible but Brent felt her hands fall on his shoulders and then he smirked for a split second. His mind went blank and his eyes fell down to meet hers while he went through all of the different possibilities. Most of them were insanely crazy but there were some that were also strangely appealing to him so Brent blushed as he realized what he would do.

Brent moved his hands and wrapped his arms around Alexa's torso, holding her close while he moved her head forward to meet his with one hand. How about I show you how an Ares kid really kisses? With a small growl at the end of his words, Brent leaned the rest of the way forward and kissed Alexa. This kiss wasn't forced but it wasn't soft. It was more than a brush of their lips and yet it was more yielding, as if asking permission to continue the gesture. His fingers wrapped through Alexa's hair while he breathed slowly through his nose and tilted his head just a bit while he closed his eyes, wanting to savor and remember this moment for all of eternity. If this was still unsatisfactory then so be it but Brent didn't want Alexa to think he was completely incompetent when it came to kissing.

OOC: eeeeeewwwwwww

anyways i'll finish the post later. Tell anime to hurry up with that interrupting; this is the perfect moment for that.

OOC: Jazzy=Lifesaver

The moment was perfect. Brent held me like he'd been practicing his whole life, and I tried to embrace him in the same manner. He truly surprised me with his ability to kiss, and the line 'Let me show you how a son of Ares kisses' was permanently stuck in the back of my mind. If they all kissed like this, i'd have to hang around the Ares cabin more.

All of a sudden, I felt something cold touch my face. Then I felt it again. And then again. "Brent..." I giggled, "Stop it..." Then I dared to open my eyes again. I looked up, and for some reason... It was snowing. How was that possible, in such a hot place? I hesitated and tensed up. There must have been something wrong. I tried not to let Brent notice, but I obviously wasn't holding onto him with the same passion anymore...

((Wow jazzy, overdoing it a little don't you think?))

The wind suddenly grew colder and almost a dry feeling at the same time as Brent felt Alexa start to return the kiss but for some reason if seemed strange. Then cold fingers of something hit his face and neck and Alexa giggled at him to stop. As if in a dream he looked at the air around them as he ended the kiss and saw the white flakes falling around them. It was confusing as his mind tried to process everything but it was like a haze had fallen over him until... Out of the corner of his eye he caught another girl laughing and he looked up just in time to see Alexa with a snowflake on her nose. Brent brushed his fingers over her cheek and pulled his jacket off. Slowly he pulled it on over her shoulders and held her close while he kept a close eye on this girl. Hopefully things would calm down and he would be able to figure out what was really going on.

---

As the snow began to fall, a boy walked in with his head down and his mind clouded with worry from what would happen with his family. His hair was reddish-blonde and hanging in his eyes just barely as he looked out across the area at the campers scaling the rock wall and quickly huddled down in his hoodie that he had replaced his leather jacket with. His jeans were dark blue with a little fading and a normal leather belt holding it up. The braces were still there but he didn't have his normal jewelry and instead had a gold simple chain necklace with a cross and a pair of small gold earrings. He had his weapons but they were almost too dark for him as he looked up and his normal appearance had disappeared entirely. The old Kodee Greene had disappeared when he left the house in California to allow Austin and Taylor raise Ally. It had come to a shock to him but when he got to New York he had taken some money and bought new clothes. He'd even gotten his hair cut shorter and allowed himself to look normal. Nearly no one would recognize him now. Kodee looked around and saw Bella at the other end of the area with her smile on her face and his heart fluttered. When he'd left the house in California he had basically ended all contact with Ashley and everyone there. Of course Dallas still called him on occasion and he would hear from Austin every now and then but Ashley was a memory and it hurt. Without thinking, Kodee spoke loudly. BELLA! Instantly he lowered his head and kept his mouth shut, hoping she wouldn't recognize him.

((SALTS it's fine, just thought it was strange that you went so far into that post.))

Kodee swallowed nervously as he felt the snow stop falling and realized that Bella had discovered him or at least suspected it was him. Slowly he looked up briefly and then back down while he battled with himself over what to do. On one hand he wanted to talk to Bella and still thought she was beautiful but on the other hand he didn't want to give up entirely on his old life. It had all started when Kat died, he realized, because that was when he started to change. Little things at first like reverting to his old ways or starting to shy away from people that Kat liked. Then he started to distance himself from everyone and started to even change the way he dressed but it always seemed like he would just go back to the way things had been.

Over time he forgot what it had been like but then Kodee started to forget what it was like to try and enjoy life. He had loved Ashley and Anna but then he started to fall for Bella as well but even now he knew that he couldn't be around Ashley anymore for some reason that he couldn't discover himself. Maybe it was that she was so much like Kat but all Kodee wanted was to go talk to someone who would understand. So he looked up again and stared right at Bella, shoving aside his confusion and nervousness like paper in the wind.

With deliberate steps and very little thinking, Kodee walked toward Bella, his white sneakers making soft sounds as they fell against grass and sand. The son of Thanatos pulled his hoodie closer to him and huddled down in it as he shivered slightly but not from the cold. It was the fear of what would happen when he looked at Bella and tried to speak since almost no one even remembered who he was. Hey Bella...been awhile.

As I felt the snow stop, I heard a girl screaming a name... Cody, it sounded like? Strange. She figured this was the reason far the snow, and looked up to see Brent taking off his jacket. He put it over me as if trying to protect me. Did he know this girl? Was she dangerous? In the silence of the moment, many questions of the same manner ran through my mind. Then I finally gave in to assumption. "Brent," I whispered, leaning in close to rest my head on him. "Do you know her?"

OOC: wow not much to put in my posts anymore XD

Brent looked over at the girl who was screaming a name, Kodee, to see if he knew her from anywhere. As he did he seemed to remember seeing her from the Chione cabin but aside from that he didn't know her from the next camper who would walk by. The boy that was walking up to her he really didn't recognize even from which cabin so he just shook his head slightly. Brent wrapped his arms tighter around Alexa and started speaking slowly. I know that the girl is a daughter of Chione and that she can control snow. I know that the boy is different than he once was because I don't remember ever seeing him before but I know he's not new for he can walk around here without the shock of a new person. Other than that I don't know any more than you do.

---

Kodee smiled sadly at Bella and hugged her close to him, already feeling the pain of remembering his past. It never would go away, he knew, but couldn't the pain at least dull enough for times like this to stop hurting somewhat? Kodee blinked away tears as he looked at the girl that he'd first met right after the fight in France. He stopped thinking, as it hurt every time he tried to rationalize, and brushed his fingers over Bella's face softly. It's great to see you again, Bella. As he finished his sentence he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold back much longer. So without thinking, Kodee pulled Bella closer to him and leaned down toward her. His lips met hers for just a couple seconds before he looked back at her.

Kodee shrugged as he watched Bella's reaction and went to turn away but then remembered what he had done the last time he had seen Bella. Quickly he turned back to Bella and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding the daughter of Chione close to him and breathing in her and all he could bear to remember of his past. It was true that Rebecca was still in contact with Kodee but that was because the son of Thanatos couldn't bear to leave the little girl since she was like his little sister. Slowly Kodee kissed Bella and let himself sink into that simple touch, leaving behind all pain and worry or frustration.

Bella pulled away from him and gave a small smile. She glanced around and took Kodee's hand in hers. "Come on you goofball." She teased and pulled him along .
((the strawberry feilds now?))

((Yeah strawberry fields it is))

Kodee chuckled and held Bella's hand as he walked away from the rock wall no longer caring anymore if he remembered this part of his past. It was strange that he had been so scared to even talk to Bella but now he was glad that he had called out her name because of how she was making him so much happier. They left and silently Kodee wished that he could tell everyone he was sorry for just leaving them behind like he did. He knew that Austin and Taylor were still in California with Ally because CHB was not the place for a newborn baby and Dallas had said he would stay with them to keep them safe. Rebecca, Anna, and Ashley he didn't know about but he assumed that they were all three here because of how very often he talked to Rebecca and Anna wouldn't leave the little girl. Kodee smiled and looked at Bella, quickly brushing her hair aside so he could see her face. Where are we going exactly?

Brent grew bored with watching for danger and when the girl and her friend walked out he smiled at Alexa. "Keep the jacket. I'm going to go train somewhere, it was nice meeting you." With that he walked out and made sure to avoid the three boys who had thought they could take him on.

((I guess I'll start the thread in the strawberry fields))

I FLIPPIN' LEFT.

OOC: I'll probably edit that later XD...