We had twenty minutes until everyone had to meet on the field for capture the flag. Twenty minutes, and I was still asleep. I woke up to people cheering and running out of the cabin. Luke must have just given one of his pep talks to the cabin and now most of the cabin were sure that their team was going to win. Groaning because the noise woke me up, I sat up on the bed and pulled my bag out from underneath the bed.
Once I was sure that the cabin was empty, I pulled out a Camp Half Blood t-shirt and a pair of leggings so that I wouldn't get too hot whilst running around. Some armor had been left at the end of the bed for me. Well, I assumed it was for me, there was no one else here so who else could it have been for?
I pulled on the chest piece - which was actually quite light compared to how heavy I thought it would be - and walked out of the cabin. I actually had an idea of where to go today. I wasn't planning on getting lost again. However, that would give me a good excuse to get out of playing Capture the Flag. The orange t-shirt wasn't exactly what I would have chosen to wear but it was pretty clear that I didn't have a choice unless I wanted to be the only person walking around camp that wasn't wearing a CHB t-shirt.
Yes, I was finding it easier to find my way around camp, but if it weren't for the noise of the demigods at the field were making. Aware that everyone had probably already been at the field for a good ten minutes already, I jogged over to the field. Hopefully I hadn't missed much. "There you are! Where have you been?" Maddie asked. She didn't give me time to answer before she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the centre of the crowd.
The new guy was there too. Percy, I think. I had no clue what was going on to be honest. I was guessing that Percy didn't have a clue what was going on either. Everyone around us was shouting, cheering, and just having general conversations; that was expected.
"Alright, alright, quiet down." A voice boomed, causing everyone to immediately go silent. I looked up and smiled when I saw Chiron. I recognised him from my Greek Mythology class, and it made me happier to see yet another familiar face. "I'm sure that everyone here knows the rules. However, for those who don't, I shall explain them now." Everyone simultaneously groaned. Hearing someone say something for at least the hundredth time tends to cause someone to have that reaction.
"Every camper who isn't injured, has to play." I guess that's my idea of getting out of playing is out of the picture. I probably couldn't pretend to be injured either considering the fact that half of the camp probably saw me jog over to the field just five minutes ago.
"As many campers may not know - considering how many campers passed that boundary last month when we played this game - the creek is the boundary line." Knowing me I would probably end up running past the creek accidentally. That, or I would get nowhere near the creek and everything would be okay.
"The entire forest is considered fair game." Chiron continued to list off the rules, and I continued to look around at he campers that could either be my teammates, or my opponents.
"All magical items are allowed." I had no clue how to use my sword never mind how to use a magical item that I don't even own yet.
"The flags must be prominently displayed an can have no more than two guards." I was secretly hoping that I was one of those guards. That way I would be able to get away form the main part of the game. Plus, you never know, I could be paired with someone that I already know.
"Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged." He continued. Again, another reason that I want to be put with a guard where the flag is.
"Killing or maiming is NOT allowed. If you break this rule, you will not have dessert for a week." I didn't think that loss of dessert for a week was sufficient punishment for this rule. But that might just be me.
"And finally, guards can't stand more than 10 feet away from the flag." Chiron finished listing all of the rules and turned to Percy and I. "As you can see, we have two new campers. Taylor King and Percy Jackson. Before we start our game, Taylor and Percy must be put onto separate teams. Anyone - from both teams - that has a spare helmet, please hold it up." The campers looked around at each other and a few mumbles could be heard. My guess was that they were deciding who they would prefer to have on their teams.
"We'll take Percy." Luke said after a few minutes. Someone from the blue team passed their helmet up and handed it to Luke. Luke gave the helmet to Percy. "Welcome to the Blue team." He replied, sporting his signature smirk as he did so.
"We'll take Taylor." Someone from the red team said from the other side of me. The same thing happened except for the fact that Percy and I had different coloured plumes on top of the helmets; Percy's helmet had a blue plume and my hat had a red plume. Apart from the plumes on top of the hats, there was nothing that could be used to identify which team anyone was on. By this point, two people from each team had already gone to hide the flags.
"You may begin." Chiron's voice boomed. Lucky for me, the Stoll brothers were on the red team too. It seemed pretty fair to be honest. Both teams looked like they had equal players. Immediately, everyone began running towards where they thought the flags would be, eventually splitting into groups of three or four.
Before I could even decide on which way I thought that I should have gone, I was pulled into a completely different direction. "We know where they keep the flag." Connor and Travis said at the same time. They were running so fast that I could barely keep up with them. A lot of different groups had ran the same way; as expected, those groups were from both the red and the blue team.
Not minutes into the game and Connor, Travis and I were already in the middle of the fight. The only thing that I actually knew how to do was to defend myself, which obviously would come in handy with a game like this. But you know what else would have come in handy? Actually knowing how to fight. A camper game towards me with their sword and my immediate reaction was to block them so that they wouldn't end up hitting me. He swung at me again. I blocked him again. It reminded me of when Luke and I were training. Mainly because - for me - there was no offense involved.
Once I noticed that my opponent began to get tired, I decided that I would just continue with what I was doing. My plan would have worked. Would have. If it wasn't for the fact that more and more people from the blue team kept on showing up and no one from the red team could be found. 'Great' I thought to myself. I tried make a run for it but someone from the blue team grabbed me and dragged me off to what I was guessing was the makeshift prison.
That person was Luke.
Luke tried to disarm me before he put me in the makeshift cage. But, to his disappointment, I wasn't going to give up that easily. I twas basically a repeat of what happened when he was teaching me how to defend myself, however, he was actually trying to disarm me this time. I wasn't planning on letting him disarm me, I actually tried to disarm him at some point. Emphasis on the word tried. Since I'm not the most athletic person in the world, I began to get tired after a while. Luke knocked my sword right out of my hand.
I quickly reached down to pick up the sword but Luke kicked it so that it was behind him. It was kind of expected that this was going to happen, I just thought that I would last a bit longer than what I did. I got locked in a makeshift 'jail cell'.
Before I could even turn to say anything to Luke, he was gone. "Looks like we're not the only ones they ended up capturing." Connor's voice said from beside me. I smiled, it probably wouldn't be hard to find a way out of here before the end of the game now.
