Owl and Snake (EXTREMELY SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter seven

Vi is pretty awesome, apparently. I didn't realize that someone who I had so viciously hated so recently could be so cool. We get along really well, and I think that Connor is kind of jealous that he's not the center of my universe anymore.

Well, okay, that's a lie. He still is the center, but now there are two suns for the rest of my life to spin around. Being without Connor for a time (it felt like forever even though it wasn't actually all that long) made me realize that there are other people. So now he's got a sun... and so do all of the other people in my life who are important. Sorry, Connor, but they need voices. Also, you're kind of hogging me.

Oh, no, do his friends from B.A. (Before Alyssa, not Bad Ass, don't get so excited) think like that about me? Am I hogging Connor?

Wow. That sucks for those other people. He's awesome.

But they have to suck it up because I'm not sharing. I'm not going to let someone else take up his mind when they're gone, and I'm certainly not going to let anyone else hug him, or - gods forbid - hold his hand. He's mine now, and I'm not going to let him go.

Right now, I'm hiding in the trees, preparing to ambush Connor. I might love him, but I'm going to mess with him. I'm not going to pull my punches.

Today's teams are unbalanced. Almost everyone is on Athena's side, but Hermes and Apollo are on the other side, so they almost have numbers. Not quite, though.

To people coming in, it will look like our flag is guarded by two chatting Ares children, but in reality seven of my siblings and I are all circling the base in the trees, prepared to drop down on attackers. I'm sure Connor's on the attack team; he always is. I just have to wait for him to run in so I can drop down and pin him. I smile slightly at the thought. That'll be fun, won't it!

I glance up from the ground to see a flicker of movement in the trees ahead. Are you kidding me? They're coming through the trees? Well, this complicates things.

I lean back into the tree, trying to hide myself. Backup. I glance around; what can I use to call them?

I slip my dagger out of my belt, tilting it to the sun on and off for a while. Morse code. B A C K U P

It's not very long, but I don't have time to say something long, and that'll get the point across. My siblings will figure it out. They're pretty smart.

I go tense as I hear them approaching. This needs to be perfectly timed. Three, two...

One!

I fly out from behind my tree, knocking into my attacker, sending him or her flying to the ground. Whoever it is lands flat on their back. I roll, and then drop on top of their chest, pinning them. The feather is orange, not silver. It's definitely not one of us.

I move to rip off the helmet, which, oddly enough, is like the Terminator's, with eyeholes but no slit, but it's stuck on their head. It's not too small; it just fits perfectly. I huff and ignore their struggles, undoing the clasps on the back.

Finally I can slip it off, and it's a girl. It's... Vi?

"Vi?"

"Alyssa! I'm sorry. I just wanted to play and I had no idea what I was doing and I got separated from Connor and I didn't know where to go so I just went into a tree. You're not mad, are you? And wow, you're strong!"

I laugh. "You did great almost finding our base! Are you hurt? I wouldn't have knocked someone with so little training out of a tree like that."

"I'll have bruises for a long time, but otherwise I'm fine."

I roll my eyes at her, when I'm actually relieved. What would I have done if she had fallen badly because she didn't know to roll? What if I had tried to fight her?

She's in our territory, though. Well, I do have an extra feather.

I pluck a grey feather from my back pocket, the one that I was supposed to give to Bex but that I forgot to (she must have gotten one somehow or else she wouldn't be allowed to play) and remove the orange feather from Vi's helmet, replacing it. "You're on our team now, got it?" I say, still laughing a little in giddy relief, and placing the helmet over her head. She laughs too, the sound echoing tinnily in her helmet.

"I'm going to go kick Connor's butt. Are you coming?"

I shake my head. "I have to guard. You'll do well out there, I'm sure."

"Well, good luck to you, and off I go!" She whistles a little, but slaps her hands to the sides of her helmet after only two notes. "I forgot how horribly sound echoes in here! I'll see you later, Alyssa."

"Good luck!" I call at her retreating back, oddly proud of myself. Well, I did just recruit another player for our team. When Vi gets caught, I'll be in trouble, but that's fine. It won't be as much trouble as Lucas, a Hephaestus camper, got in when he built a flying monster - metal, of course. It plagued us with pure fear for weeks.

I wonder how Connor even got her in here. How could he have? The barrier is very strong, and almost everything is stopped by it now. The dragon couldn't have been easy to get past, either.
Meh I'll ask later. After our victory! Ah, the joy of winning.
Connor's going down.