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

Salone's blonde hair spilled over her shoulders and her pulse beat rapidly in her neck... nightmare? Or something different? Her tattoo on her lower left shoulder burned faintly. Her eyes flickered open. She stretched and ran her fingers over her face. Then she smiled at Riley.
"You look better."
She stood slowly and made her way over to her drawers pulling out a pair of running shorts and a short sleeve white t-shirt. Picking up her canteen, hairbrush, and toothbrush she made her way over to the bathroom. In there she began the slow processes of unwinding the bandages. The stitched shut gash on her back looked red and raw. Pulling her hair out of the way she opened the canteen of nectar. Slowly she poured a stream of it down her cut. Upon contact the stitches sizzled before disintegrating and the cut looked several months old. After getting dressed she walked back to the cabin.
"Hungry?"

"No problem," She answered flashing a smile. She held her running shoes in her left hand. After Riley left she pulled on a clean pair of socks and her running shoes. She looked at her watch, 10 minutes... she could run a mile or two in 10 minutes.
So she got started, Salone carved her way towards the edge of camp and started running the perimeter. She was probably about four to five minutes into her run when she came to a stop. All of her nerves were tingling. Was there something dead? No... but it is related.... what is today? She came to the decision it was Tuesday... what was so important about Tuesday?
"Oi! Over here!"
Salone turned just in time to block a punch of a fiery haired girl with unnatural sky colored icy eyes. The girl attacked again with a round house kick. Salone slid out of the way causing her back to twinge.
She returned the attack much more viciously than she intended. The girl struck her hard sending her spinning. Salone regained her balance, turning on her heal only to find a gun pointed at her face.
"Your not supposed to have that on camp grounds!" Salone said breathlessly.
"But we are not," The girl said putting the gun away. "The line is over there." She pointed to the boundary line. That is when Salone saw what the girl was wearing.
"Danni, Why are you wearing my dress? AND my good jacket?" By dress she meant a short blue strapless dress that never comes out of her closet and her leather jacket.
"You weren't needing them this morning," Danni shot back. "To busy cuddling weren't you?"
Salone's cheeks turned pink. Her timer went off, her ten minutes were up.
"Come on," she said turning back towards camp and making her way to the mess. "I'm hungry."
Danni followed her, grinning at her triumph.
With that they entered they went to the mess hall.

Riley ran to his cabin and got some clothes before heading to the showers. After showering, Riley changed into a sweater and a pair of jeans, running a comb and a hairdryer through his hair before heading to the dining pavilion. It seemed Salone hadn't made it there yet, so Riley grabbed a plate and began mentally loading it with what he wanted: a few pancakes topped with maple syrup, a heap of scrambled eggs, and some sausage as well as filling his glass up with chocolate milk. Hey, he was hungry, and he could definitely afford the calories. He ate, making his way into his pancakes before Salone arrived with a girl who looked to be extremely happy for some reason. She was dressed nicely, in a dress and what looked similar to Salone's leather jacket, though Riley ruled that out. He didn't think she'd let this girl touch that.

Salone looked to have gone running, and Riley raised an eyebrow. "You're crazy," Riley spoke, though he was mildly impressed. "Already up and running after all of that?" He asked her, popping a piece of breakfast sausage into his mouth.

((now I want breakfast food. drooling at the thought of pancakes.))

"At least, I don't have a shattered hip bone this time," Salone said sitting next to him, snatching a sausage off his plate. "Much worse, had to hobble around on crutches for several months."
Danni sat down across the table with a plate with a huge slice of German chocolate cake. One of the Aphrodite kids walked by and gawked at her plate. "Funniest thing on the face of the planet," she said, spearing some cake on the end of her fork. "Imagine Salone, bustin' a cuss every time she had to bend over."
At the beginning of her sentence she sounded British then half way through it faced to her regular Italian accent.

"That would be an interesting sight to see," Riley commented in between bites and turning to Salone. "I can't imagine you cooperating with what you were supposed to do."
Salone smiled, "Nope, never in a million years."
Danni mumbled something about, "tougher than Russian boots."
Salone leaned over the table slugged her in the shoulder, "Says the girl who stole my jacket!"
Danni swallowed, crossed her eyes, and stuck out her tongue. Salone rolled her eyes munching on the sausage.
"I'm Danielle or Danni," She answered. "Depending on what the person likes better."

"Danni, it's too much of a mouthful to yell Danielle when some one is waving a gun in your face with an intent to kill you," she took another mouthful of cake. "Or there is a bomb, mortals rather favor those. "
Salone shrugged and got up to go get her food. She returned to find Danni very focused on her massive slice of cake.
"Were is your Fedora?" she finally asked.
"Were is your guitar?" Danni retorted.
Salone glared at the girl and kicked her under the table, which Danni dodged.
"My fedora is in my cabin." She eventually replied.

Danni had one of those strangely familiar faces, with her delicate features and high cheek bones. Her eyes were light and thoughtful and her lips wide and smiling...

"I love how he's not surprised about the fact I get guns waved in my face on a regular basis. I think I might have to keep him," She joked and she swatted away a flying grape chucked at her by Salone. "I'm the Daughter of Persephone."

That is when it hit most people how much Danni looked like her mother in her mortal form. The shape of her features and her smile.

"Hey, we're at a camp for kids who are half-god. You can't be surprised by anything," Riley protested, laughing.

Danni smiled at that, "One can never be too sure."
She looked at a spot past Salone but then returned to her plate. Salone looked at her mildly concerned but didn't way anything of it. Salone mutters under her breath, "Wait till she puts a live bomb in you Easter basket then you'll be surprised. "

Danni clears her throat, "Salone tells me you have some days missing."

Danni looked deadly serious, "Were I come from there are mortals from around the world who have the gift, like Rachel Dare, to see through the mist."
She said this all in a low tone to avoid eaves dropping heroes. Fortunately for them, the noise covered up most of their words. "Most of the time when animals are scared they lash out or they do the human thing. Investigate. " The wrinkles deepened on her forehead and the scar at the corner of her mouth made her frown look slightly lopsided. "So they are either to busy attempting to kill us all or trying to capture us to run tests on us. So yes, If Salone's hunch is right It is very serious."
She pulled her wallet out of her pocket and showed them a very offical Greek looking badge.
"I also can arrest you on the spot if you tell anybody about this. There is a reason why it's not common Demigod knowledge. But I won't because I am in a good mood today."
She put her wallet away. Danni looked at Salone.
Salone turned to Riley, "I've seen what goes on over there. It's not pretty."

Danielle glanced at Salone.
"I can tell by the look on his face already," Danni muttered quietly to Salone. "Listen Riley, we are defense for Heroes. The worst takes place in Italy. It's more than a couple of humans. There are a few Demigods too. You know the kind of people who hate their existence and would like to get revenge on their parent." Danni looked hard at Riley.
Salone remained silent before looking at Riley, "I think you should do that. It would make me feel better..."
In truth she was worried about this whole ordeal. She was attempting to come up with answers.

((Hm. Should Riley's mom tell him that he was in the hospital for a day or two, due to the mist, or a week and prove Danielle right? Also, idea. Since Riley sprained his wrist, it should be bandaged. What if when he unwraps the bandages he finds a ton of needle scars/marks that shouldn't be there? ._. That could be the best way to prove to him that something is up. Or someone could try and grab him or Salone for testing. Maybe Salone, because he'll be freaking out and then he'll have to do with Danni to save her LOL that could be interesting!))

Riley just sighed in frustration as Danielle muttered an obvious comment about him to Salone.

"Why the hell would demigods join with psycho humans to work to kill other demigods for medical reasons? They're no different from us, physically. I'm sorry, but this whole thing just reeks weird..." Riley trailed off, twirling the last few pieces of egg on his plate in his maple syrup, because he wasn't planning on eating them. "I'll call my mom, if it'll make you feel better, but this whole organization thing just doesn't seem right to me. The situation doesn't make much sense, and I'm not sure I believe it. I don't know what you're getting at, really; I don't think anyone would have tried to kill us in the hospital. Anyway, I'll call her now if you're so desperate." Riley looked to Salone, kind of conflicted. It was easy not to trust Danielle, but when Salone was involved things became more complicated. He wanted to trust her, he didn't want to think she was crazy, but this whole situation was just so bizarre. What if she was crazy?

((Oh man. I like the idea of him calling and Salone taking him to visit his mom. Then she gets snatched right out of his mother's front yard. O.o
Now I am going to freak Danni out. ))

Salone looked down at her hands and suddenly had an idea.
"I could take you to see your mom instead, after you eat of course." She looked up at him. He was right, this was a stupid idea. She could at least try to make up for her lucrative ideas and conspiracy theories. Suddenly, she wanted to turn into a ball and vanish.
Danielle's face whitened her knuckles tightening on the bench as a wave of nausea swept over her. Death. It was coming... and coming fast... she looked back up praying nobody had noticed. Lucky for her, Salone's brown eyes were fixed on Riley's face.

"Could you rea-"
Salone shot him an absolutely DUH look.
"You doubt my mode of transportation?" She raised her dark blonde eyebrows.
"Never mind. I'm finished eating, but you would take me? Seriously?"
She stood holding out a hand to pull him up, "Your such a goof. Obviously I have to get out of these running clothes. But that should only take about five minutes. Meet you outside my cabin."
With that she jogged out of Mess. Danni had already vanished looking some what ill.
A few minutes later Salone was leaning against her cabin in boots, jeans, and a dark red shirt. Hound was stretching next to her.
Her leather jacket in her hand. While she was dressing Danni had came in and made her promise she would be absolutely careful.
"Why."
"Because death isn't picky."
Needless to say Danni had left with a grim expression.

A small package shimmered into existence on Riley's bunk, a couple days after Christmas.

Riley just shrugged, letting Salone help him up and giving her a quick "See you" before she left. He realized that Danielle had already gone, so he put his plate in the dirty pile before heading off to his own cabin. He grabbed his North Face before realizing there was something on his bunk that hadn't been there before. It was a small Hermes Express package, and within it was a small square of bronze metal, covered over with a flap of worn leather that was branded with a Greek saying, something along the lines of Age Is Wisdom. Riley frowned, confused, before a letter fell out of the box.

Dear Riley, my only son,
Do not lose this sheath. It will hold your sword, and the inscription will assist you the next time you are struggling with shifting. I understand that being my son may be difficult at times, but I hope to lift a bit of the burden off of your shoulders, even if I cannot lift it completely off. I would like to talk to you in person; maybe sometime soon, but alas, it is difficult. Remember, age is wisdom, even if you see it as a hindrance.
I wish you well in your endeavors,
Geras

Riley just gaped at the letter, dumbfounded not for the first time that day. He grabbed his sword, and upon contact with the metal it began to warp and contract beneath his fingers, sliding into the small square of metal and becoming lighter to carry around. All he need to do was undo the leather strap in order to pull out his sword. Now he wouldn't forget it when he needed it. At least his father could do something right. Riley just didn't understand the inscription. How was it going to help him? It was confusing, and it made him angry. Age couldn't mean wisdom if you weren't even old; and looking at the inscription when he was about to shift probably wouldn't help him at all.

Well, at least now he knew his dad cared a little.

Sighing, Riley pocketed his metal sheath and walked out the cabin to meet Salone. He moved towards the Egyptian cabin and spotted her and Hound. They were pretty conspicuous, difficult to miss.


"Hey, beautiful," Riley greeted her, a small smirk on his face as he remembered her dissatisfaction when he'd called her gorgeous. That term was kind of derogatory and could be considered sexist, though, whereas beautiful was more complimentary, as it could be referring to anyone who was attractive, both personality-wise and physically. Yes, Riley had actually thought this through at one point. Salone would probably still chastise him. He didn't care, as long as she knew he meant what he said and he wasn't mocking her.

He noticed she seemed a little bit troubled, though not much more than she had earlier.

Salone was in her pondering mode of what the freaking Scion could Danni have meant when she saw Riley.
"Hey," She flashed a smile pulling her jacket on over her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss.
"Hey, beautiful."
Right after Riley said those words Salone pressed her fingers to his lips.
"Negitory, now you get no kiss." She said with her I highly disprove of your wordy shenanigans look on her face. She disentangled herself and whistled for Hound to get up before Riley could attempt to kiss her. She bounced onto Hound's back and waited for Riley.
"So were are we going?" She asked in need of an address.

"You heard the man Hound," She said driving her elbow back into Riley's gut. "Onward to North Carolina."
Hound let out a snorting wheeze of a laugh, wiggling her ears. Salone rolled her eyes in response as Hound took a step forward. The smell of camp was rapidly rapidly, smoke, and the clash of sword play. Then it was a blur of color.
Hound stopped outside and Salone slid off Hound as her cell phone started to vibrate.
"Hello?" She answered.
"You have horrid service."
"Thanks Jace," She muttered, looking up at the blue sky. She motioned for Riley to go on. Salone and Jace talked for a few minutes. Jace wanted to borrow Hound in a few days.
"Yeah, you can after I get back."