The Forgotten Daughter

The Rogue

Aliana wove her thick black hair into a long French braid down the back of her head and tied it off at her mid-chest. Getting up from her seat on a rock she strolled towards the main camp. It was almost time for breakfast.

The morning breeze tousled the stray strand of hair that hung over her left temple.

She took a deep breath. She loved taking walks in the morning. It helped put her in a good mood for the day.

When she reached the mess tent, everyone else was already there, waiting for her. Great. She thought, as everyone watched her walk to her seat. So much for a good start to the day.

As the campers made their sacrifices, She moved forward, dumped all of her food into the fire without so much as a thought, and walked out to the strawberry fields. She needed to eat breakfast. She could already tell that it would be a long day.
* * *
Aliana noticed Percy staring at her all through his swordplay lesson with Luke. What was wrong with that kid? Why was he so set on talking to her? She knew that she should be glad someone actually wanted to hang out with her, but she had a feeling it was about more than personal interest and she wouldn't give the other campers a chance to humiliate her, not again.

She did her best to ignore him, but sometimes it was difficult. Like when he started walking towards her. He seemed unphased when she shot him a death glare and wouldn't stop until Luke called him back over.

Yep, there was something seriously wrong with that kid.

She watched him return to his cabin mates. What did he want? What could he possibly hope to gain by tormenting her? She quickly looked away as he turned to watch her again. This was ridiculous. She couldn't wait for capture the flag. Then she could show him exactly who he was dealing with.
* * *
She almost groaned as the Ares cabin strutted into the arena. What would they have planned for her this time?

Clarrise was laughing loudly at one of her own jokes, but stopped when Aliana caught her eye.

Everyone fell silent, anticipating her next move.

"I thought I told you that the arena is our turf." Clarrise shouted across the field. "While we're in it, no one else should be. If they are," She brandished her obviously blunt sword. "they're fair game."

Aliana scoffed. "The way I remember it is you on the ground, begging for mercy."

The other Cabin 5 kids couldn't help but snicker.

Clarrise growled.

Aliana smirked. "If you want MY turf, you'll have to come and take it."

Clarrise growled again and her cabin mates moved into position behind her. They all held a variety of weapons, some more deadly than others. They charged forward.

Aliana twirled her swords nonchalantly in her hands and widened her stance. She cut through the Ares kids like a wave split against a rock.

They all stumbled back in surprise. Some had even fallen to the ground.

Clarrise was the only one to hold her ground and even she was faltering against Aliana's strength.

Aliana threw the daughter of Ares backwards into one of the other cabin 5 kids and they both toppled over. She scanned the rest of the Ares cabin. None of them looked very excited to take her on.

Clarrise got up and lunged at Aliana again, who quickly parried the attack and slashed Clarrise across her forearm. The girl made a squeaking sound as she suppressed a scream and backed up a few steps. Blood seeped between her fingers as she pressed on her wound.

Aliana watched the blood drip down Clarrise's arm. "Now," She turned to the other Ares kids. "Unless you want to end up like a human pin cushion, I suggest you stay on your half of the arena." When they hesitated, she raised her swords and flinched as if she were about to attack one of the kids.

They all jumped and darted back to the other side of the arena.

Clarrise glared venomously at her as she walked towards the Big House.

Aliana sighed. That was one less person she could hurt in capture the flag. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to injure anyone. She sheathed her swords and walked towards the exit. She needed to go for a walk.
                                  *   *   *
Aliana sat with the rest of the campers at supper.

When everyone had finished, Chiron stood to address the whole room. "Tonight is capture the flag."

Some of the campers cheered.

"You know your teams. Athena and Ares." As he spoke the names, Annabeth Chase and the rest of Cabin 6 approached from one side and Clarrise led Cabin 5 in through the other side.

"As always," Chiron continued. "The border is the creek. No maiming." He seemed to focus on the Ares kids a second or two longer than the other campers. "And finally," he added, "to make tonight's game a bit more interesting, the rogue."

The entire camp collectively groaned as Aliana stood and strode to the center of the room. She had a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, a bow clutched in her left hand, her swords sheathed at her sides, a knife in each of her black, leather, knee-high boots, and a larger knife strapped to her thigh. Its blade was laced with Chimera venom - a gift from her mother. It was the only sign that the goddess even cared that she existed. She was surprised that Chiron even let her use it, but they had worked out an arrangement. She could only use it once, which was fine by her, she rarely even considered the weapon.

The other campers glared at her as if she were their enemy. She kind of was. Everyone hated the rogue. It was a role the Aliana and Chiron had come up with. No one wanted to make an alliance with her, so... now she was the rogue. The rogue didn't have a team; they didn't go after the flags; their only job was to take out the teams.

Her gaze settled on Percy, who was gawking at her like she was a lion at the zoo.

She smirked at him confidently.

Chiron raised his arms to get everyone's attention. "Let the game begin."