Another Son Of Hermes

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The camp-fire had reached an impressive peak, it was towering way above the crowding demi-gods and the flames were gold and shimmering, reflecting the crowd's cheery mood. Rory yearned to have a place in the crowds. To Rory Camp Half-Blood simply didn't feel right, here people didn't blend in, they stood out, they showed off and never hid their talents. Rory hadn't been expelled from four schools for loud open disruptions. His game was silent chaos, wreaking havoc then sinking into the shadows to admire his work. Getting expelled wasn't intentional, being told to leave the school drew a lot of attention to a person and attention was the one thing Rory hated. Countless times he'd told himself to stop with the pranks but each time he had failed, he suspected this was just his ADHD and now Rory was at camp he realised trouble making was a common theme among half-bloods. Rory observed the fire from a safe distance, not comfortable enough to converse with the other demigods. Although Percy and Annabeth had offered to sit with him it had soon come to Rory's attention that they were far more interested in each other than him so he'd made a discreet exit. As of yet Percy and Annabeth had not noticed his absence. The Apollo cabin members were leading the sing along, with Arabella amongst them. There was no trace of her earlier sadness. She stood in the centre of attention, singing and laughing as if it were the most natural thing on earth which Rory supposed, it was.
He watched her eyes search the perimeter and stepped forward to investigate her line of vision. Arabella frowned and turned to one of her brothers, Will, she spoke to him but from the distance  Rory stood at he couldn't make out her words. He risked another step forward and this time he heard Arabella speak.
“The boy from the stables. Have you seen him?” Will raised his head and since Rory's risky move he was now in Will's immediate vision. Their eyes met. Rory considered running away into the forest but knew it was too late when Will's arm rose to point at him. When Arabella saw where her brother was pointing she waved at him enthusiastically and Rory couldn't help but smile. She ran towards him and in her excitement almost fell after abruptly stopping in front of him. Reflexively, Rory grabbed her hand to steady her. After a moment Rory realised his hand had lingered on hers for longer than was appropriate and he hastily pulled away. Arabella almost fell again.
To avoid further stumbles Arabella sat down and Rory mimicked her action.
“So how's life?” she said, re-tying the laces of her yellow converse. He opened his mouth to reply but was distracted by the crowd's collective gasp as they all turned to stare at him. He grabbed Arabella's arm.
“Oh my gods, why are they all looking at me.” he said, a hint of panic in his voice. Arabella looked up at Rory and her eyes fixed on a point just above his head. She smiled.
“I should have known.”
Rory looked upwards and to his horror found a holographic winged shoe floating above his head.Rory didn't think that horses could bow but somehow Chiron managed it. All around him, demigods got up and also bowed at Rory. Arabella was about to stand up and do the same but Rory took her hand and dragged her back to the floor.
“Don't you dare.” he whispered under his breath. She giggled.

"Oh you're going to love what he says next"
“Hail, Rory De'Ath.” Chiron bellowed to the crowd “Son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, god of thieves.”