Raging Seas [pjo au] || 1

οκτώ

CHAPTER EIGHT
( TRAVELING, SLEEPING,
AND MAYBE SOME BONDING )

A HUNDRED YARDS FROM the main road, they found a marshy clearing to settle down at for the night. It was obvious that some older local kids used the area for parties. The ground was littered with trash – flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers – and there were even a few pieces of plastic floating in the more watery parts of the clearing.

Kali, like the others, stuck to the drier areas closer to the trees. She had no desire to get near the dirty, muddy, trashy and shallow water at the moment. As she sat down by one of trees with two of the blankets they took from Aunty Em's, she longed to be back at camp. To sit in the lake with the naiads, and let Elidy and Thyia finally teach her underwater basket weaving.

As everyone settled down in their self-designated spots, no one made a move to light a fire. None of them wanted anymore unwanted attention – the two previous fights with the Kindly Ones and Medusa were enough – so the four of them sat in the darkness in their still damp clothes.

"We should sleep in shifts," Annabeth told them, and rubbed at one of her eyes. "We don't need to stay unguarded."

Kali involuntarily yawned as she nodded. Exhaustion was catching up to all of them. "That's a good idea."

"I'll take first watch," volunteered Percy, and Kali was only a little surprised that Annabeth didn't argue. She just curled up on her own pile of blankets, and began snoring the second her head hit the ground.

"I'll do the next one," Kali said, laying down as well. She listened to the flutter of Grover's shoes as he moved to sit in one of the trees.

"Alright. Night, Kali," Percy said. The sentiment was echoed by Grover half a second later.

Kali grunted out, "G'night," but had no idea how coherent it was. She gradually and steadily fell asleep to the sounds of Percy and Grover talking about Pan and the pollution.

+++

By the time Grover woke her up for her turn to keep watch, it felt like no time had gone by. Grover told her that it had been a couple or so hours when she asked him, so she did get some sleep. It just felt like she didn't. As he settled down for her shift, she rubbed at her eyes and then snatched a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos from the small pile of snacks they took from Aunty Em's.

Kali didn't know what she was expecting, really. It was nothing exciting, and it would stay that way unless a monster somehow already tracked them down. She didn't mind it, though. The quiet, calm atmosphere of the marsh was refreshing after everything that just happened to them. For a little bit, at least.

Ten minutes in, boredom hit her like a speeding eighteen wheeler. Because Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were asleep, she had no one to talk to. There were no fish in the marshy, shallow water close by, either. Other than the city lights far off in the distance and the few stars that shone in the sky, it was completely dark. Except for periodically eating a chip from the bag, she had nothing to do. It was almost physically painful. The only good things were the noises of random bugs and nocturnal animals. If it stayed completely silent she might have lost her mind within moments.

Puffing out her cheeks and then letting the air out, Kali stood. She paced around their little area as quietly as she could. She kept an eye and ear out for anything unusual, and ate her chips, stuffing the plastic in a pocket once they were gone. At some point, around an hour into her watch, she ended up standing in the water up to her ankles and paced there until she decided to go through the motions of sword practice. The water gave her enough energy to not immediately fall asleep on her feet anytime soon, and with something physical to do she felt more at ease than before.