snowfall // percy jackson x OC

chapter 5

"Again" Eira breathes out heavily, wiping a bead of sweat off of her forehead as she steps back from Annabeth's extended arm. She has been practicing defending herself without a weapon for over an hour now, and through the little progress she has made in trying to control her powers she continues to tax herself more with every passing minute.

"Hey, let's take a break. Okay?"

"Not until I get this right." Eira begins to call a harsh breeze to her arms and weaves the cool air in between her fingers, preparing to use it to her defense, soothing over the growing tenderness in her fingertips from extended use of her abilities.

Annabeth isn't amused. The blonde stands in front of her. Her dagger hanging loosely in her left hand as she brings it up to rest on her hip. Her stance reminds Eira of a disappointed babysitter, waiting for a kid to put down a tablet or something. She gives her friend a stern look that tells her everything she needs to know about how she feels about the amount of training Eira has been putting herself through.

"Please, Annabeth?" Came a croaky whine from Eira's voice.

The past few weeks, she's been trying to learn to use and control her powers while fighting. After a violent fight between her and Luke aboard the Princess Andromeda a few months prior, where she was disarmed and beaten to a heap without the comfort of her sword in her hand, she knew she needed to learn to fight without relying on a weapon. She was cornered on his ship, and he had gotten in her head.

How could she fight the person who taught her everything she knew about using a sword? How could she have stood a chance against the one person who can predict every move she tries to make?

Despite the inner war in her mind about the circumstances of the previous fight, it surprises Eira to remember it has been two years since the first sparring lesson with Luke that awoken a manifest of her powers she has never since been able to recall. The freezing of her arm that sent shattered pieces of a bronze sword around her as it were as easy to break as a piece of plastic- that was the one time she was able to catch Luke off guard.

And Eira was determined to make it happen again.

Annabeth sighs and tosses her dagger into her dominant hand, ready to strike at her friend again. The cool December breeze whisps past their ears and blows the open sides of Annabeth's jacket aside with it, the sound matching the ambiance of the rustling leaves and the whistle of the wind in the branches.

As Annabeth winds up to take the offence, Eira uses a quick flick of her hand to send a tendril of wind to set her off balance, but it wasn't strong enough. Annabeth responds by swinging her left leg swiftly in an attempt to clip Eira's back foot, to which she jumps out of the way at the last minute.

Eira uses the help of the wind to conjure up snow, swirling both around her body. With one fluid movement, she pushes her arms out and sends the blast towards Annabeth. She staggers and wipes her eyes, and Eira takes the opportunity to flick the dagger out of her attacking hand with a concentrated gust of a breeze.

"Perfect, now can we go inside? I'm freezing." Annabeth grumbles into her jacket sleeve as she wipes the- now melted- drops of snow off of her rosed cheeks. Eira laughs and grabs her things from the ground, sending Annabeth a sly smile while also silently thanking her for bearing with her obsession over improving her powers. 

The girls had been at Camp Half Blood together for the past 2 weeks. Both of their schools let out earlier than most of the others in the city, so they are some of the first people in the camp to be back for the winter break. Eira has now been at the Camp Half Blood for a total of two summers and three winters, and she adores it just the same as she did the first week she resided there.