Life at CHB

Chapter 5: Death

Jack's POV (FYI, this is a character that is inrotduced in this chapter.)

I raced through the forest as the rain sliced through the air and down on to me, I occasionally heard the angry roar of a cyclops, which only prompted me to run faster. I heard the clopping sound of my friend, Grant, who is also a satyr, running behind me. Grant was never the fastest, but he made up for that with his insane bulk and height. Grant was easily 6'0 by the time he was in 4th grade. He caught up with me and urged me to stop to rest, after convincing me, he took a sword out of his bag and handed it to me, all he said was "You''ll need protection, this'll help." I studied the sword, the shaft of the sword was made of typical wood, with a standard leather grip. What really got my attention was the sword head itself. It was black with silver wave designs on it, on the edge closest to the blade of the sword, there was a bird engraved into the sword head, with a Greek inscription on it. I have no clue how I did this but I understood the inscription: "Raven" An angry roar rang out from the cyclops was much closer than I wanted, so I grabbed Grant's arm and ran off with him. I glanced behind me and saw a glowing red eye fixed on me. The cyclops was closing in on us. Grant pulled away from me and pushed me forward, he commanded me to run, I tried to protest, but he had already run off to distract the cyclops. I made it my mission to make it to this camp Grant kept telling me about, so I pulled up my hood and my mask that I used in case I needed to hide from the authorities, and I sprinted off into deeper into the forest.

I kept running, the rain had turned into a full on storm, but I didn't mind, the rain kept me calm, helped me focus. I burst out into the open, the warm morning sun shining bright over strawberry fields. I was puzzled for two reasons, number one, it was morning, number two, it wasn't storming. I gripped Raven tightly, it was the last remnant of Grant I had. Grant had been with me through thick and thin. I resented myself for letting him sacrifice his life for me. I shook my head, knowing full well that things like this happened, but I was still tired of losing people I loved, my girlfriend, friends, my sister, pretty much anyone I had a emotional attachment to. I forged ahead, into the strawberry fields, hoping to find the camp. As I got further into the fields, I started hearing the clanging of metal against metal, and cheering from people that I couldn't see. I broke into a sprint, hopeful to find the camp. I was running through some of the strawberry plants, when a boy and a girl, each of them looked like they were 16, appeared if front of me. I crashed into the girl and tumbled to the ground, my sword sliding off next to the boy. I heard a distinctive ka-chink sound, when my vision came into focus, the boy had a sword pointed at my throat. The boy had messy black hair, sea green eyes, and smelled of the sea. The girl got up and scowled at me, she had blonde hair, and stormy grey eyes that made me want to slowly crawl away. The boy regarded me, then asked "Who are you, exactly?" I gulped, I stared at the boy, and then looked at the girl pleadingly. The girl said "Percy, I think that's a demigod." Percy had a momentary look of confusion, but he ultimately put his sword away. I got up and looked at the girl apologetically, "I said I'm friendly." The girl nodded her head and held out her hand, and said "I'm Annabeth, what's your name?" I wondered if I should trust these two, but the girl looked familiar somehow, so I confessed "My name is Jack." Annabeth nodded once again, and relayed the message to Percy. I reached down and grabbed my sword, then continued to communicate with Annabeth "Is this place a camp? My friend..." I paused for a moment, tears welled up in my eyes and I cursed at my self for breaking into tears and falling to my knees. Annabeth knelt down and looked at me, she said "This place is called Camp Half-Blood, but what about your friend?" I slowly said "My friend, Grant, was a satyr. He sacrificed himself to let me escape from a cyclops..." Annabeth nodded sympathetically, like she knew what that was like, then she gave me a overview of the camp and how it works. Annabeth was showing me around camp, and once when Annabeth went to talk with Percy privately, a kid with curly brown hair, a mischievous smile, and a tool belt wrapped around his waist came up to me and asked my name, I answered "My name is Jack Chase." The kid's expression went from mischievous to alarmed. I asked him "What? What's wrong? Is it that my last name is Chase?" Right before I said that last part, Annabeth came back and she gasped in shock when I asked the last sentence to the kid. I then turned to Annabeth and asked her the same thing, she answered saying "My name is Annabeth Chase" My jaw dropped, I was overjoyed, and overwhelmed with excitement. I exclaimed "I thought you were dead! I ran away from home, searching for you! For two years I looked! After awhile I gave up hope... But, here you are!" I wrapped Annabeth in a bear hug with a huge grin on my face. Percy walked over and was surprised to see me hugging Annabeth. Apparently, not many people can just do that. Percy was very confused, so he asked "What's going on?" I answered "Annabeth is my long lost sister!"

After I got settled into the Athena cabin, I went to lunch, and I asked Annabeth some questions the big one was "So, your a daughter of Athena, right?" Annbeth nodded, but I shook my head "That makes no sense whatsoever." Annabeth looked offended so I quickly fixed my error "Oh. no, no! Not like that! It's just that I'm a dolt, every single on of my plans goes horribly horribly wrong. The best thing I can do is charge in with no plan, that's how I work." I looked down nervously, not proud with the mistake I made. After lunch, Annbeth decided to give me some sword play lessons. First, she asked me for my sword, I was reluctant, but I knew I shouldn't have been. At one point when I was dueling Annabeth, a giant hellhound lumbered into the arena. At one point, I got so frustrated at losing against Annabeth, I ignored her instructions and went on a whim. Surprisingly, it worked, Annabeth's bone sword clattered against the ground.

After I was done with sword lessons it was time for a round of CTF. The teams were Zues, Athena, Poseidon, against Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo. Me, a kid named Zach, and his girlfriend Caitlyn, were set on defense. All the new kids were defending, typical. An arrow flew out of the forest and landed right next to my shoulder, and a group of campers burst out into the open. I gripped Raven tighter, and I got ready for battle, when a another arrow as flung out of the forest, and nailed Zach in the shoulder, incapacitating our best defender. I surged forward, with no thoughts in my head. I slammed the flat of my blade on the smallest looking kid in the attacking group, and Caitlyn shot a lightning bolt at another. Over time, more and more attacking campers emerged from the forest. I started getting nervous, and wherever I stepped, the grass died, and I could feel remains beneath me. I yelled out in defiance and thrust my hands forward, causing an eruption of bones to fly out at the attackers. The only thought that went through my mind was Welp, I guess I'm a child of Hades.