[CHB] IC 1: The New Arrivals

[Beans]

[Stables > Lake]
First Lan has to be anti-fun, then she gets bumped into... bleh. Neiz decides to head down by the lake, since it's nice there---she does have an affinity for water, after all.

[5a Violista]

Camp - Training Area

Oh, no! She was caught!

As soon as Melissa was caught, she immediately feels frustrated, like she wants to just punch a rock or something. Unfortunately, that would hurt, so she just has a cry of frustration instead.

After a deep, calming breath, Melissa says, "Okay. Thanks. Now I know what I need to - "

She cuts off her sentence upon hearing Kanji cracking wood. Are the trees alright? "Do you think we should see if everything's alright?" she asks Fel. Anything to run off and take another breather.


Camp - Near the Lake

"Well, thanks," replies Roxanne to Lan's compliment. "But, seriously, I think you should start up a band and sell CDs all over the place every time you go out on missions to bring people back. You'd be famous! I'll even be your lead guitarist. It would be the perfect cover."

Is she being serious or is she joking? Only she knows for sure. Let's end this scene, though, before some temporal-spacial paradoxes occur where someone runs into two of a certain lovable satyr in the same hour.

[Felandria]

Camp - Training Area

Oh, no! She was caught!

As soon as Melissa was caught, she immediately feels frustrated, like she wants to just punch a rock or something. Unfortunately, that would hurt, so she just has a cry of frustration instead.

After a deep, calming breath, Melissa says, "Okay. Thanks. Now I know what I need to - "

She cuts off her sentence upon hearing Kanji cracking wood. Are the trees alright? "Do you think we should see if everything's alright?" she asks Fel. Anything to run off and take another breather.

Right behind you.

Felandria follows Melissa towards the sound.

[Aric Kale]

So many people at the Training Grounds. It's to be expected, of course, but Colin doesn't exactly know how to react. He settles for awkwardly laughing at Rick's joke, waving to Kanji and grabbing the most spear-like stick.

[Deathkeeper]

Stables

Lan pauses for a moment. I mean geez, flying horses were pretty visible but did everyone stop to say hi?
"I don't know, Yu. An escort of three's a bit much for showing around someone new, but you can come if you want. Just expect to be bored when we have to take some time to report in to the bosses."

[GrandDM]

Stables

"I agree with Lan - three is too many. Also, things didn't exactly go to plan, and the military will be hunting for us. That means I'm going to have a difficult time moving around outside camp, and Mr. D is going to be angry. Someone needs to get to the Big House and explain things as fast as possible, before he finds out for himse-"

"Oh, I already have."

A pudgy man in a leopard-print shirt ambles over. On close inspection, his feet hover about an inch above the ground. He's drinking a Diet Coke.

"So this is the new girl, Anita. Well, I'm sure you'll prove as useful as the rest - a snort attests that he doesn't think that that means much use at all -and as for Hick and Ham, I think a month cleaning toilets should be appropriate punishment."

He smirks, his purple eyes glittering with amusement.

"With respect, sir, it could have gone a lot worse. The draecenae would have attacked no matter what once they knew Anika was being moved, and you'll notice that none of us are hurt, which is more than would have happened if most other retrieval teams had taken this operation."

The man snorts.

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself. Just because I was cursed to oversee this dreadful place by Zeus doesn't mean I have to listen to every whine you have. Any more complaints from you or the satyr, and I'll make it two months. As much as I hate to say it, you're the best fighter we've got, and you need to learn to keep a low profile."

Training Grounds

Rick brings up his two sticks into a guard position, and nods at Colin.

"Let's go."

[Beans]

[Near Lake]
Neiz spies Roxannne and starts to watch the younger girl from a distance, though she does a decent job of making it look like she's eying a few nymphs nearby.

[Haleyintraining]

Stables

Anika knows Mr. D's type; that kind is all too common in the upper echelons of the military, and therefore she's had many years to learn how to exhibit the proper behaviour so as not to incur their wrath. That, of course, means she makes no mention of the fact that her name is really Anika, not Anita, and she stands respectfully until given further instructions.

[Deathkeeper]

"Yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir."
It should be noted that this happens with almost every operation, and almost every time Lan serves less than half because either Chiron points out it was impossible to do better or D just decides he'd rather use him as a servant like he does with all the satyrs. So he's not worried.
"Military shouldn't be a problem, Rick. They've been on manhunts for our kids before, and they'll be looking for their captain first. Officers and all that. And the monsters will probably clear out now, so they'll have to have a whole investigation of how so many troops vanished.
Oh and by the way sir, these guys were way too prepared. There was enough of 'em that there wasn't enough humans around to mask or scents. If anyone else is heading out they should be warned; my little cousins won't stand a chance against that."
He's very careful not to make that argument about himself.

[GrandDM]

((I was planning to have Chiron intervene anyway ))

Dionysus raises an eyebrow.

"Really? How fascinating. I suppose we'll have to increase the guard on missions, then. With any luck, all of you will get yourselves killed and I'll be free."

He shakes his head, and ambles away.

Rick frowns at Lan's words.

"I suppose. My major worry is that they'll blame us for the captain's death after finding the skin, but we did the best we could."

He looks over to Anika.

"Come on, I'll take you down to the Hermes cabin and introduce you to your cabinmates. Lan, you might want to go talk to Chiron and get him to intervene with Mr. D."

[Deathkeeper]

Lan shakes his head.
"I should anyway. We'll need better tactics, and there's few better than him for that. And most of the ones who are better are your parents, who probably have bigger issues."
And he'll go to do that, knocking gently on the big lodge's door if the centaur isn't outside. And checking his usual spots if he's not there.

[GrandDM]

Big House Porch

Chiron opens the door. "Ah, Lan. What can I do for you?"

[Deathkeeper]

Big House

Lan smiles. "Afternoon, sir. Wanted to report in. Job went sideways. Everyone got out, but there were way too many Draekes* to keep quiet. Thought you should know so we can restructure the teams a bit, since I'm quite sure Mr. D won't be giving them much tactical advice. Oh, and I think Rick wanted me to ask about getting us out of latrine duty. Again."
That's the closest he's come to an actual complaint.
*a common slang shortening for Draecenae.

[GrandDM]

Big House Porch

"Again? Mr. D. really does seem to have it in for you, even more so than everyone else. I'll have a word with him. As for the teams, I suggest one satyr with one permanent escort, to be with him at all times, and an additional demigod to provide a scout and possibly backup. Teams should be arranged according to combinations of abilities - Rick, for example, is good in a fight but doesn't have any powers that allow him to escape quickly. Thus, he should be paired with a demigod who perhaps can't fight quite as well, but has more mobility."

[Deathkeeper]

Big House

"Much obliged, sir. I think some situations might call for different ideas, but it's otherwise a good idea. There are times where stealth is still viable, and three people might draw too much attention, which is where some item or two or sending demigods with less powerful and noticable bloodlines might work better. But that's just my two pence, as they say."

[GrandDM]

Big House Porch

"Good point. Anyway, I have work to do, so if you'll excuse me..."

He smiles, backs inside and shuts the door.

[AnimeKid]

Stables

Yu looks on the situation sliently as he conteplates both peoples inputs and remains confused. "Wait, so do I buzz off or help if I want to? I'm getting two different signals here." As Lan heads off in one direction and Anika and Rick head off in another direction. Yu sighs as he heads off to find something to do. Another failed attempt.

Training grounds

Everyone would come across Kanji performing mock CQC against a couple of wooden training dummies. He looks like he just got here, yet the training dummies look like they have already taken a good beating. Getting the feeling that other people have come he takes a look as he says, "Huh? Oh it's you guys. Did ya need somethin'?"

[Haleyintraining]

Stables

Anika has spent the time during the conversation listening, trying to ascertain the situation in which she's found herself and the characters in play. She's glad when Mr. D leaves, but Lan's departure is a bit of a discomfort; he was the one keeping her from feeling lost. Still, she has Rick, and she nods agreeably at his offer to show her to her cabin. Hopefully her cabinmates are a bit less intimidating than most of the characters she's met thus far...

[Aric Kale]

)(I think Colin would pair well with Lan and Rick. Anyways, his character would be most comfortable with them.)(
Training Grounds

Colin slashes the air in front of him in a left to right diagonal slash "\". This should create a windwave which comes flying towards Rick.

[Deathkeeper]

Big House

Lan will go to meet up with Rick and Anika and should arrive within a few posts unless someone interrupts him.

[5a Violista]

Training Grounds

Melissa sighs upon seeing only Kanji and a bunch of beat-up dummies. Trying to save fqce, she says, “Look, it‘s not like I was worried, or anything. It‘s just that I wanted to make sure the practice dummies were still alive. I can see that they are, so I guess that means I can go.“

She turns towards Fel, and thanks her for her help, before walking towards her cabin, the Hermes Cabin.

((Since I‘ll be out of town for the week, please don‘t try to talk to her until Saturday; you‘ll just be stuck until I get back.))
However, when Anika arrives at the cabin, Melissa will give a friendly welcome to her new cabinmate. She finds the military fascinating, so I‘m sure they‘ll have a lot to talk about at night before Lights Out. Melissa is mostly normal and friendly, so that‘s a plus. The only abnormal things about her are that she refuses to talk about her family and deity-parent, and she almost refuses to make eye-contact.


Near the Lake
The lake seems to be Roxanne‘s customary place to play her guitar.
((As with Melissa, please don‘t communicate with Roxanne unless you don‘t mind waitinf ‘til Saturday for a response.))

[Beans]

[Training Grounds]
Neiz heads up to pick a training dummy and work on her shield-and-cestus technique.

[Felandria]

Stables

Yu looks on the situation sliently as he conteplates both peoples inputs and remains confused. "Wait, so do I buzz off or help if I want to? I'm getting two different signals here." As Lan heads off in one direction and Anika and Rick head off in another direction. Yu sighs as he heads off to find something to do. Another failed attempt.

After saying goodbye to Melissa, Fel heads to the stables and runs into Yu.

What's up, Yu?

You OK?

[Beans]

[Training Area]
Ducking and weaving, Neiz circles around the training dummy---shoving with her parallel shield, darting in for a quick punch with her cestus, always dancing back and forth. Anyone watching her can see her style is a mix of evasion and defensive maneuvers.

[GrandDM]

Stables -> Hermes Cabin

Rick leads Anika over to the twelve cabins. They're all very different. Rick nods to the ugliest, badly painted in red with a boar's head over the door and barbed wire around the roof.

"My cabin. Ares. I wish somebody in there had the skill to redecorate it, but there you go. This one here-" he points at the one they're closest to, with a caduceus over the door "-is Hermes, where all the undetermined - that is, all the demigods who haven't been claimed by their parents - as well as the known children of minor gods stay. A word of warning - you don't go into a cabin that isn't yours. If you need me, I'll most likely be in the arena during the day, but if I'm in my cabin, knock on the door and ask. Ignore the mockery. If you want Lan, he'll be wandering around somewhere. Try the lake and edges of the forest, but don't go in - there are all sorts of creatures in there. You're not allowed to enter the forest until you've been trained sufficiently in combat that you can defend yourself."

He knocks on the door. There'll be an answer after your next post (to give you a chance to react to that large block of information, and also because I need to create the Hermes councilor.)

Training Area

As the wind blast shoots at Rick, he drops prone, lying flat to the ground and letting the worst of it sail over him. Immediately after, he springs up and sprints at Colin, launching a flurry of blows from all angles with the sticks - hard enough to leave a bruise, but not any serious damage, and fast enough to be a serious challenge for him, but not impossible.

[Haleyintraining]

Outside Hermes Cabin

Anika is beginning to think that the phrase "safe place" was a bit of hyperbole on the part of her rescuers. Still, she is excited. She never got to go to a sleep-away camp growing up - although she supposed she lived her entire life at a sleep-away camp, in a sense - and this was going to be an adventure, like she'd always dreamt! She tried to push all the less pleasant parts out of her mind and just focus on those positives.

"I could help with that sometime, if you'd like."

Anika was gesturing towards the shoddy paint job that was the Ares cabin.

"I have a fair bit of experience with those kind of things."

Living on the base was pretty much life meets boy scouts - carpentry and mechanics were just two of the things she'd been taught by soldiers there. And painting... she and her father always painted their bleak quarters, creating a home from where there was before bleak propriety.

[Aric Kale]

Training Area

As the wind blast shoots at Rick, he drops prone, lying flat to the ground and letting the worst of it sail over him. Immediately after, he springs up and sprints at Colin, launching a flurry of blows from all angles with the sticks - hard enough to leave a bruise, but not any serious damage, and fast enough to be a serious challenge for him, but not impossible.

Training Area

Colin blocks a good portion of the strikes, but definitely receives some bruises. On the other hand, the son of Boreas isn't making it easy for Rick. With every counterstrike and parry, a gust of wind blasts out from the staff; hard enough to knock an average demigod back.

[GrandDM]

Training Area

Colin blocks a good portion of the strikes, but definitely receives some bruises. On the other hand, the son of Boreas isn't making it easy for Rick. With every counterstrike and parry, a gust of wind blasts out from the staff; hard enough to knock an average demigod back.

Rick grits his teeth and leans into the blasts, several times skidding backwards, and switches tactics, striking from the sides, forcing Colin to parry in directions that he can't blast wind at Rick from.

[Beans]

[Training Area - The Cabins]
After her training, Neiz starts heading back so she can shower and change... and sees Rick and the new cutie again! She hangs back a good distance for now, just watching.

[Aric Kale]

Training Area

Colin growls, attempting to leap above Rick in a motion that would allow him to land a hefty blow on the other's back. His mastery of one particular element should aid him in this endeavor.