Rising Sun | Percy Jackson

01. the new camper causes a stir

Sara Wilson loathed her half siblings sometimes, except maybe Will. She was always the last one awake, the last to breakfast, and the last to find a good mood. Somehow, they woke up in radiating positivity and were always ready to take on the day. Maybe she just was not a morning person like the rest of them. A few nights ago, there had been as incident at the border of camp. Grover had been on a long scouting mission for a half-blood which Chiron ended up being involved in as well. Sara hadn't cared enough to investigate what had happened but apparently the Minotaur had attacked Grover and the poor boy.

After breakfast, Lee, the head counselor of the Apollo cabin, had asked her to go to the infirmary to tend to the new camper. She was not excited about that. Walking into the building with a medical bag over her shoulder, Sara immediately knew which room to go to due to the hushed voices coming from it. Inside the room was Annabeth and Chiron, both looking at the bed where a boy no older than Annabeth lay. He had black hair and tan skin which made Sara wonder which god was his parent. Sara smiled at the two of them and Chiron made a motion for her to follow him out of the room, leaving Annabeth with the newbie.

"I don't think your services are needed today." Chiron told her with a small smile on his face. "It seems like Mr. Jackson will be waking up soon."

Sara nodded and strolled back out of the infirmary. She met the gaze of Luke Castellan, the head counselor of the Hermes cabin and her longest friend. She immediately sat her bag down and ran over to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, lifting her off her feet briefly before setting her down on the ground. "You act like you didn't see me at breakfast this morning."

Luke raised his palm to mess with her hair. "So? I didn't get to talk to you." He paused. "You looked to be in one of your notorious morning moods."

Everyone knew that Sara was not a morning person and she had the tendency to walk into the mess hall with a scowl on her face. No one really bothered her at breakfast. She let out a small laugh at his comment and hit him on the arm. "Shut up."

Luke was the closest thing she had to an older brother. Years ago, after Thalia, he had made a promise to her and Annabeth, that they would always be family. The three of them had been through a lot together and that made them very close.

It was nearing ten, archery practice. This was Sara's favorite part of her activities schedule, not to mention her best one. At the end of every summer, the Apollo cabin has an archery competition. Sara had won the last four. Last summer, Apollo had gifted her a golden headpiece that turned into a golden bow with a quiver full of arrows. "A gift for my best archer." He had announced as he placed it on her head and she had worn it every day since. It was easy to accommodate with most hairstyles she liked and added some spice to her usual attire, an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, jean shorts, and her athletic shoes.

Luke smiled at her and turned to walk with her towards the Archery Range. This was going to be a good day, she thought.

—

The day flew by, and Sara found herself walking to the mess hall with Noah. Noah was two years older than her and one of the unclaimed half-bloods that stayed in the Hermes cabin. Aside from Luke and Annabeth, Noah was one of Saras best friends. They were polar opposites, which in theory you wouldn't think would work, but it did. He was a swordsman, her an archer. He was always in a good mood; she was the moodiest girl in camp. It just worked. Noah had told her that after Luke had left her at the archery range, he had been showing their latest camper around. All of the unclaimed half-bloods stayed in the Hermes cabin, so Luke frequently had to find new room for them and show them around. His name was Percy, Noah told her. Noah told her just about everything there was to tell about Percy and sometimes she wondered how he hadn't been claimed by Hermes when Noah finds out everything. He was like the camp gossip. Sara looked at Percy who was talking to Luke outside of the mess hall. She hadn't realized how cute he was when he was knocked out cold this morning. She didn't let that thought linger for long. After the last boy she had had a crush on died on a quest, a blonde and gorgeous boy from the Aphrodite cabin, she decided that she did not want to have to endure the grief of losing someone she actually loved. "Are you excited for capture the flag tomorrow?"