Blowing off some steam... (PRIVATE: Anime)

((It's fine! Feel better.))

Riley stumbled off the ride after Salone, pushing open the doors to face the sunset. His head spun a bit, but not in a bad way. The ride had disoriented him a bit, but it felt great. He grabbed Salone's hand when she stopped to watch the sunset, resting his forehead on the top of hers and closing his eyes as his world became more stable. He looked out at the sunset, the sun peaking the top of Cinderella's castle. How did he even get here? This was crazy.

"It is beautiful," he replied. "What you said back there, to that little girl... it was so nice. Honestly, I think kids are more logical than most adults," he murmured, captivated by the sunset. He wasn't really one to become immersed in such things, but right now it tied everything together.

Salone laughed softly at the dizzy Riley. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused.
"I'm right here silly," She said taking his hand. "You don't do speeds, twists, or turns very well."

"It is beautiful," he replied. "What you said back there, to that little girl... it was so nice. Honestly, I think kids are more logical than most adults," he murmured, captivated by the sunset. He wasn't really one to become immersed in such things, but right now it tied everything together.

She pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw, then rested her head against his' chest. "I like kids... understanding creatures they are."
She wrapped her arms around him, content to just stand there.

"You should see me after a looping coaster," he murmured, regaining his full balance. "It's not a pretty sight." Riley chuckled, wrapping an arm around Salone.

"So, gorgeous, where else did you want to go? We have all the time in the world," he stated, grinning at his own use of the term of endearment. He meant it. She'd either be flattered or offended. Maybe both. Probably both. His smile widened and he disentangled himself from her arms, keeping hold of her hand and beginning to walk down the pathway away from the ride. For a few seconds he walked with her before a blood-curdling scream pierced the air, a loud bang resounding through the park.

It only took Riley two seconds to make the obvious connection. Some sort of monster had found its way into Disneyworld. "Vlacas," he murmured emphatically under his breath. Of course a monster would find them, when he didn't have his sword. He looked to Salone, almost a hundred perfect sure that she'd already realized what this meant as well.

((You have any monster ideas? Can be Greek or Egyptian, it doesn't matter. I'm usually crap at coming up with them LOL))

Salone whipped around her eyes dilating. It felt like someone was spiking electricity through her tattoo. Salone growled twisting her head around, eyes turning amber. An answering unearthly shriek answered the inhuman scream.
Salone swore in Egyptian.
"Of everything it had to be cats," she dragged Riley towards the noise. Hound was grappling with a massive Serpopard. It looked like a long necked lioness, but it had a serpentine quality. Another one circled the battle a look of glee across it's catlike face. "Anubis help us."

Salone backed up slowly, she looked weaponless. But she wasn't. She stretched her hand out and her fingers closed on a sword hilt. What seemed out of nothing she pulled out a sword. The Iron was black and the pommel of the sword held an emerald jackle head.
"Here," She handed it to Riley. "And don't you ever call me gorgeous again."
She did the same with a shield, "Don't dent that its not mine."
Then she pulled out her Sickle and Chain as well as a dagger. "You can store many things in the Du'at if you have proper training."
With that she launched herself at the closest Serpopard.

(Let's skip the battle sequence shall we? I also have a bomb I have planted for a bit more drama... )
Salone ran to Hound, "Help Riley."
The Serpopard hissed baring bloody fangs. "Here, kitty, kitty.... meooowww!"
An angry snarl escaped the creature. Salone hated cats, the battle showed her ferocity. Within five minutes she had sliced open one of it's four legs, stomach, then the head. Covered from head to toe in sand. She turned to Riley and hound and ran to help them.

((bombing... how dramatic. LOL))

Having disoriented the serpopard, Riley successfully sliced off its head. It disintegrated into sand atop him and he shuddered, hopping out of the pile and setting to work on the next one. This one proved to be more difficult than the other, and though he tried his hardest Riley was pushed to the ground by the creature. He stumbled back to his feet, wrist throbbing, but managed to slash off its front legs and its head in order to finish it off. It seemed all of the creatures were gone, but he had no idea.

"Salone?" he turned, looking for her. The air was heavy with sand and he waved his fingers in front of his face to try and clear it.

Salone slowed down as she saw Riley and the adrenalin faded.
"I'm here, I'm- ah! WATCH OUT!"
She dove at Riley, knocking him to the ground just as a massive, black talon paw came swinging into view. Instead of hitting Riley across the lower chest, it sliced open Salone's lower back. She didn't scream, she didn't cry out. She locked eyes with Riley. They were clouded with pain.
The hidden serpopard was massive, it dwarfed the other two in comparison. Blood dripped down Salone's back. Hound had engaged the creature, there was a snarrling and snapping of jaws filled Salone's mind.

Hound was panting her jaws slick with blueish reddish blood. Her own.
"Riley," Salone gasped trying to haul herself towards him. The pain lanced through her back.
"hold on miss, hold on I've called an ambulance." A male voice said. Had to be a Mortal or Hero, otherwise hound wouldn't have let him close. Another person went to investigate Riley.
"He's alive," A woman called. With a pang in her gut Salone recognized Susie's mother's voice.
Salone blinked and there were colored lights. Blinked again, paramedics. Blinked again, nothing but darkness and pain.
**********
Beep... beep... beep...
"How long has she been out?"
"A day and a half."
"What about the boy?"
"He's awake. He keeps pestering me about her."
"Salone is a special one that's for sure. He can come visit her if she wants."
"I shall let him know, " The doctor left the room, leaving Jance to his thoughts. They were a tumble of thoughts really. His green eyes intense on Salone. She looked awful, her long blonde hair had been braided by a nurse, she had tubes in her nose, an I.V drip line, blood bag, and a shallow cut on her forehead with gauze taped over it. She had to have fifty stitches to close up the claw cuts on her back. Her brow was wrinkled as if in pain, Jance knew that wasn't the case how ever. She could hear the dead, all of them who had died in the building. Pulling his reading glasses out of his pocket, he place them on his nose. He opened the news paper to the second or third page and began to read. Despite his mild case of dyslexia Jance loved reading almost as much as he loved to eat. The front of the paper read, "Mountain Lion Attack at Disney Land." It went on to describe the attack as the mortals had seen it. Two female lions and a male lion came down to Disney Land in search of fresh prey. Needless to say the mortals had no idea how they got in or how they vanished. Jance frowned at the paper. Was it hippopotamus or hypodermis? Jance decided upon hippopotamus. How on earth could a zoo get a new hypodermis? Honestly.

((Hey! Got a bunch of friends coming over tonight so I don't think I'll get to rp much, sorry! I'll try to get on later though.))

Riley was sick and tired of this stupidity. He'd woken up only an hour after arriving at this weird hospital, and all he wanted to do was see Salone. Granted, he felt like crap: his head killed, he was so exhausted even after sleeping, and he'd puked... more than once. Apparently that was just a side effect of his concussion, but it really kind of sucked. He'd asked to see her over and over, for any kind of information about her, but it was "confidential."

"She's my girlfriend," he'd tried to explain to them. "She doesn't have anyone else. Her parents are practically nonexistent. I need to know what happened to her," he'd argued, but it was no use. All he knew was that she was alive.

Finally, after much persistence on Riley's part, they'd at least given him privacy and allowed him to shower and change. He still felt like crap, and he just laid impatiently in his bed, unable to do anything but wait. He couldn't even read a book or watch tv, because his concussion would only be aggravated further. He groaned in dismay, drifting in and out of sleep and hopelessly trying to avoid eating anything the nurses shoved in his face because he knew he'd only get sick again.

After what seemed like an eternity but was really only about a day and a half, a doctor entered the room and gave Riley permission to visit Salone. He barely took the time to brush his teeth- which proved difficult with his sprained wrist- before following closely behind the guy and muttering something about it taking long enough.

He walked into the room, his heart wrenching as he saw Salone hooked up to all the machines. This was his fault. He took a weak step forward, still feeling foggy due to his concussion, but stopped abruptly when he noticed that there was another kid in the room. "Hi...?" he asked, looking at the kid questioningly. Riley decided that he was probably a demigod. Why was he allowed to visit Salone, and he wasn't? Frustration welled up inside him. How did he know her? If this was that Fabian kid...

((omg jance is here magically in florida))

((He has a purpose. I love Jance's form of dyslexia. ))

Jance squinted at the paper again, something to do with an armed Baboon? No, Bar man. Then he heard the door creak open. Looking up from his newspaper he saw Riley enter the room.
"Hi?"
"Sit down, you look terrible." Jance closed the paper. "Riley, isn't it? I'm Jance Wolfe, son of Aphrodite. Salone's cousin, I am listed as her emergency contact."
While he was saying this he fished in his pocket and pulled out what looked like a candy bar wrapped in gold foil. Ambrosia. He handed it to Riley, unsure if he'd want it now or later. If Riley took the time to study Jance's face there were similarities between him and Salone. The shape of the cheekbones for example. Then, that infuriating expression of mild amusement. That look was worn often on Salone's face. It was now worn by Jance as he took in Riley's Winnie the pooh hospital pajamas.
"I am guessing you let the nurse picked those out," He mused. "Well at least they are Tigger and Piglet, my personal favorites really."

((xD Okay! Just a note, and I love you and I don't want to sound obnoxious or anything but you're powerplaying a wee bit. For example, saying Riley woke up or was wearing Winnie the Pooh hospital clothes LOL. It's nothing major, so I'm not that bothered, but could you please try not to do that from now on? So sorry! but the pajamas thing was funny.))

Riley hesitated before moving to sit down in the chair next to the guy. He seemed kind of righteous, like Riley should have known who he was. Sure, he and Salone were cousins, but they didn't look that much alike. He wouldn't have noticed the small similarities, because being concussed as he was his head began to spin whenever his eyes landed on something for more than fifteen seconds or so.

Why was he here, again? He was Salone's "emergency contact." Shit. That meant that Riley's mom would probably be heading down her, worried sick. It wasn't like he didn't want to see her, but the last thing she needed to see was him hanging out in a hospital bed after being thrown into a wall by a monster. She had little to no control over his actions, but he knew she would become more concerned about his ability to handle himself. He sighed, looking to Jance.

"Thanks," he murmured, forcing a small smile before talking the bar of ambrosia and turning it over in his hands. He longed to eat it, but if he did it'd probably just come back up with his empty stomach due to the concussion. Shoving it in his pocket, he got up to move next to Salone. She looked so helpless, body covered in bandages and living off of machinery. Riley gripped the bed's railing, trying to suppress the guilt building up in his chest.

Jance spoke, mocking his hospital garb, but Riley didn't care. Somehow, the sarcastic qualities that Salone manifested constantly were not quite so endearing in Jance. He didn't dislike the guy, but he didn't really have warm feelings toward him either.

Riley shrugged. "They're washing my clothes, and I'm sure I'll be able to get some after that. I wasn't going to go and walk around in one of those backless robes. I have some semblance of pride." He smirked slightly, looking back at Jance for just a second before settling his attention on Salone.

((riley and jance are totally going to clash xD))

((Oh crap sauce. Sorry... I had been writing earlier.... Dang it... Yes major clashing... that's what I was aiming for. ))

Jance couldn't help but snort at the image that popped into his mind... an image he didn't necessarily need. Some how he imagined Salone wouldn't complain about it.
As if sensing their thoughts, Salone's eyes fluttered open. Blazing amber for a millisecond before turning their regular dark brown. She bolted upright, her heart thudding a million miles and hour. She opened her mouth to scream then she caught sight of Riley.
"Riley?" she asked hoarsely. Then she got a good look at him, "Number one, you look awful. Number two, what the Hades are you wearing? Number three, Ouch!" Her hand flew to her back, face screwed up in pain.
Jace stood and crossed quickly to the bedside.
"Slowly, slowly," He said, placing a hand on her shoulder for support. "Should I call a nurse?"
Salone shook her head, "I've dealt with worse... still hurts like the dickens though."

((It's fine! Sometimes I'm tempted to do it as well, especially after writing.))

Riley's heart nearly stopped as Salone's heart meter sped up abruptly and she bolted awake. Each beep assaulted his ears, his head aching even more than before. Quickly Riley reached out and placed his hand on Salone's shoulder, trying to coax her back down onto the mattress.

"I'm here," he murmured as she noticed him. "You're connected to machines, Salone. You need to lie down," he spoke softly, an inkling of guilt passing through the filter of his tone. He gave her a small smile, and it was genuine. He was glad she was awake, because she'd looked so much weaker before when she was asleep.

"So the fact that I look awful and I'm wearing ridiculous Winnie the Pooh hospital garb surpasses the fact that you're in pain in importance?" he asked, chuckling lightly. He glanced up as Jance spoke, noticing that his hand was on her shoulder as well. Riley's face fell slightly. It was stupid. He shouldn't have been jealous of Salone's cousin. But everything about him just screamed pretentious and, even though Riley would never admit it and it was awfully selfish, he felt truly important for the first time in his life, like someone needed him. He shouldn't be so judgmental. He scolded himself mentally. But not that much. Riley still didn't like the guy. His hand moved from Salone's shoulder to her hand, mindful of the IV in her wrist. He entwined his fingers with hers gently.

A nurse entered the room, obviously alerted somehow by the heart rate system. "Is everything alright?" she asked, as if sensing the tension in the room. She glanced at Salone. "Sweetie, you need to lie down," she said reproachfully, though she smiled at her anyway.

Nurses must have to smile a lot, thought Riley. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to look into the eyes of a dying child or a shooting victim and smile. He couldn't imagine how Salone was dealing with the hospital right now, with all of the newly dead and dying. His hand squeezed hers gently, and he was relieved to have some tangible part of her to hold onto. She could have died because of him. She was probably close to it. The hospital room started spinning slowly again, and he closed his eyes for a brief second. Damn serpopard.

Salone shot the nurse a dazzling smile, "Thanks for your concern Miss."
She played the perfect obedient little wounded person, until the nurse left. Sitting up again, slowly, Salone poked Riley in the chest.
"Pull up a chair silly, you look like your about to pass out." She examined the I.V. with mild interest, touched the tube in her nose, then felt her back again. "I'm glad I was unconscious when they put that sucker in... I hate needles and cats... Set too now that I think about it."
Then, all at once, she closed her eyes again, sighing deeply she muttered, "Too much noise, puts my balance of kilter. I can't listen to them all of once. How...how many stitches do I have?"
"Around fifty, give or take a few." Jance answered, sinking into the hospital chair across the room. "The fact the creature didn't break your spine is a amazing. They want you to be in a wheel chair for the next few weeks though-"
"Not very likely, I won't run around running over people toes for the next few weeks."
"I told them they could try. But my cousin is a bit too pigheaded for that."
"Jace!" Salone growled at him, "If anyone is pigheaded it's you. Running around with wolves and such. Better make that a wild pig."

The nurse left and Riley obediently pulled up a chair, sitting down beside Salone's bed. He listened vaguely to Salone and Jance's conversation, too out of it to focus in on their words. His concussion had begun to affect him again, and his consciousness was fading rapidly. Without ceremony he pillowed his head on his arm against the side of the mattress, somehow making sure to avoid all of the wires, and fell asleep mumbling something incoherent.

As the demigods resided in comfort at the hospital, Sophie Peterson, Riley's mother, was freaking out. She'd flown down to the Florida hospital from North Carolina as soon as possible after getting the phone call that her son had been injured. What was he even doing in Florida? She'd finally arrived at the hospital it had taken ages to get information about her son. Finally she'd been led to his hospital room, only to find that it had been vacated. It took her at least an hour to get in touch with a nurse who knew where he was, and she led him to a room in the critical care ward of the hospital. Sophie's stomach twisted. What the hell had happened to him? The nurse pulled back the curtain to the room and there he was. Asleep, in Winnie the Pooh hospital scrubs, holding the hand of an injured girl that she didn't recognize. Probably someone from camp. Another boy sat across the room, and he looked similar to the girl. Maybe they were siblings?

"Hi," she spoke, taking a step into the room. "I'm Sophie Peterson, Riley's mother," she introduced herself. Getting a closer look at her son, he looked awful, with a raised bump on the back of his skull and dark circles under his eyes, as well as a heavily bandaged wrist. "I was called and told that there was an incident. What happened?" she asked simply. She didn't know what to think of the whole situation. She was just glad her son was alive.

Salone looked at Riley slightly concerned.
"I don't think your supposed to sleep with a concussion," Salone said.
"I think they are okay if it's been twenty four hours," Jance said taking off his glasses. "As long as he's not puking."
At that point Riley's mother walked in. Well this an interesting way to meet you boyfriend's parent.... in the hospital...
"I'm Salone, this is my cousin Jance."
Jance nodded from the corner, in his chair.
"Riley and I were at Disney, we were attacked by serpopards, Egyptian monsters. We killed two but one escaped our attention. It caught us off guard," Salone began slowly. She told the story and at the end pointed to the news paper. "The officials say it was mountain lions."

((After reading this and growing curious, I read on the internet that the whole not sleeping thing is just a myth! Apparently sleep is important for someone who has had a concussion. So odd.))

Riley continued to sleep...

Riley's mother moved into the room, pulling over a chair next to her son. Gently she pushed a wisp of his hair away from his face, and as a result he turned and buried his head into the crook of his elbow, his hand loosening in Salone's. Mrs. Peterson laughed, looking up at the other two demigods. "How did you to get to Disneyworld, anyway?" she asked the girl, who'd obviously been injured. "Are you all friends? I don't get to meet a lot of Riley's camp friends, for obvious reasons." She picked up the newspaper, shaking her head at the destruction done to the park. "Monsters can't ever leave you all alone, can they?" she murmured in disgust.

((for real? thats odd.))

"We got to Disney on my animal companion, Hound. She's..." Salone halted in her description, due to a loss of words. She never had to describe Hound to a mortal before. "She's what people call the Hound of Anubis. She's not well represented in hieroglyphs and such but she's there." She listened to Mrs. Peterson's next question.
"Riley and Jace just met here. Jace is my emergency contact, as he is the only living relative I have left. "
She shook her head sadly, "No, I'm afraid not. Serpopards are creatures of Set. They are utter chaos throwing of Maat as often as possible. They aren't one specific species they are a combination of leopard, lion, and lizard. My Grandfather likes to make my life as awful as possible I'm afraid. He doesn't like me much, I honestly have no clue why."
The scarred girl looked at Mrs. Peterson with her amber brown eyes.

((Apparently it was just some medical rumor, because people used to mistake concussed people for drunks or something... I'm not sure. xDD But that's what I read!))

Mrs. Peterson watched the girl carefully. She was pretty, though the scars across her face that gave her a rougher, more tortured sort of beauty. She seemed nice enough, and smart. Sophie raised an eyebrow as the girl described Riley's relationship with Jance but not of that with herself. She spoke to her as if they had already met. Mrs. Peterson's brow creased slightly as she listened to her tell her story. The fact that she had no living relatives left struck her. She knew that a lot of demigods had it rough- hell, she'd experienced it with her own son- but this girl seemed to have been through more than most.

"I'm sorry," she spoke softly, meeting Salone's eyes to show that she understood, to a certain degree. "You and my son...?" she asked tentatively, her eyes moving to their intertwined fingers.

"I wish I could get to talk to him more, but you know how it is with camp, running around all of the time." An inkling of hurt leaked through her expression as she ran her fingers gently against Riley's slackened cheek.

"I'm sorry," she spoke softly, meeting Salone's eyes to show that she understood, to a certain degree. "You and my son...?" she asked tentatively, her eyes moving to their intertwined fingers.

"There is no need to be sorry. Fate just doesn't like me that much." She listened to the trailed off question. "Yes." she answered simply.

"I wish I could get to talk to him more, but you know how it is with camp, running around all of the time." An inkling of hurt leaked through her expression as she ran her fingers gently against Riley's slackened cheek.

"It is crazy yes, but there is so much good in it. I gives people like me a chance to live again."

Mrs. Peterson nodded, letting what she'd told her sink in. She smiled gently at the girl. "I'm glad it's helped you. Riley..." She sighed. "He's not always that happy with his heritage. But he's learned to live with it." She paused, withdrawing her hand from her son's face. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go look for a proper set of clothes. Knowing my son, he's probably having nightmares about wearing a set of Winnie the Pooh pajamas." She shot the two demigods a smile before getting up and walking out of the hospital room.

Just a few seconds after his mother's departure, Riley began to tremble slightly, turning his head in his sleep. He mouthed something silently, yelling without noise, and his trembling steadily increased. His hand tightened around Salone's and he cried out softly, sounding pitiful as he tried to bury his head deeper into the crook of his arm. Pain lanced up his arm from his sprained wrist, but this didn't jolt him out of sleep. He only whimpered quietly, his unconscious mind trying to suppress whatever emotion was trying to manifest itself in his body.

He was dreaming. The serpopard came after him again, but Salone pushed him away. He was paralyzed. He couldn't move. It tore away at her. She wasn't able to fight it. He couldn't help her. He couldn't move. One moved towards him. He couldn't move. He tried to scream. No sound came out. Salone stared at him with those pained amber eyes of hers. He couldn't move. She was dead. Because of him. He could still feel her. He couldn't move.

Salone watched Mrs. Peterson leave. Then Riley began to tremble, violently. The whimpering tore at Salone's heart. Jance at some point during the conversation had stepped out of the room.
Being mindful of the cords Salone stroked his face.
"Riley, I'm here... Shh... come one... wake up...'' She said softly, pulling him into a hug. Watching the cords. "A pair of Winnie the Pooh pj's can't be that scary."