❛ Archery Field

@[G] Christien Lovenly Aurora frowned slightly, letting out a puff of breath, masking her words. "I know that. I'm just crazy." But she hoped he hadn't heard. Last thing she needed was that on her back. "Well, let the nymph have her way then," Aurora replied back with a brash huff. "I can be feisty too."

For a moment, she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to sooth the small irrational anger that had formed in her. But as she heard her name spoken, she almost fell out of the tree. Her eyes shot open, focusing back on the boy. "H-how... Did..." she stuttered before huffing, crossing her arms as she slid down from the branch. Her feet landed solidly on the ground as she stood before him.
"What's it to ye how my stay's been? I don' even want to be here." Her tone was a tad sterner than intended, but if she frightened him, he might leave and there was nothing bad about that. "This place is strange. I'm not even sure I really know how I even got here...."

@[R] Aurora Blair A curt snort was Christien's reply. It was amusing how demigod's play off fear as something so useless and weak, storing it away for future reference. "Well, I assure you, this isn't a fairytale. That nymph is pretty much real...and feisty."

Christien crossed his arms, inhaled and finally sighed. He gestured to the archery field and the tree the girl sat on. "So, how's your stay so far--Aurora--was it?" Christiend raised a brow. He vaguely remembered the girl's name during Chiron's introduction and his half-sisters comments about her hair didn't help either.

@[G] Christien Lovenly It took a second for Aurora to realize that she was the one being addressed. Pushing herself a little up, she glanced down from her perched post, catching the eye of a rather handsome man walking towards her. "M-me?" she stuttered, cursing at herself for showing weakness. "Why should I fear these... Nymph?" Aurora had regained a little of her posture now, sitting with her legs spread, hands resting on the branch in between them. "Ye need more than a fairytale creature to scare me, lad," she scoffed, despite somehow fearing what the man had said. She had already experienced strange things in this place. But as it stood, she had mostly chalked it up to be her own tired mind playing tricks on her.

@[R] Aurora Blair Christien found himself some alone time. Finally. It was hard to get some time to himself when he has half-sisters who like to socialize a little too much. Sure, he liked that too but a boy also has his limits. And this boy has talked himself to complete exhaustion. He opened their Cabin door which released a few exhilarated giggles and a few gruff chuckles from his half-siblings. He rolled his eyes while he shook his head in disbelief when not even one of them bothered where he was going. Not that he wanted them to. They've been 'getting to know' each other too well, a little unconcern would be a breath of fresh air.

He stretched when a slight breeze blew and the smell of grass and earth wafted in the air. Christien wasn't fond of nature, but it was still soothing. He crossed the few yards that stretched between the cabins and the archery field. Passing some snarling harpies and frolicking satyrs, Christien saw that they were getting ready for dinner. He glanced at his pocketwatch and confirmed that the sun will set in three hours.

A minute worth of walk later, Christien found himself staring at the Apollo kids packing up their bows and arrows. Christien liked seeing them train. The flurry of consecutive arrows was like watching a meteor shower, except he knew where the arrows would land and it made satisfying /thwack/ sounds. Too bad he missed it.

Somewhere to the north of the field, on a tree fit for looking out for good-looking people, a girl sat. Christien almost snorted when he saw the tree's dryad scowling below her. He sauntered to the girl as he noticed that the dryad was picking up small rocks, possibly for throwing at her. Christien chuckled and spoke as he neared, "You should probably get down from there. Unless you want to be nymph-attacked."

The dryad drop her rocks with a yelp and rematerialized with her tree.

@[G] Christien Lovenly Aurora's legs felt like they were about to give out as she closed in on the Archery Field. This day had been longer than expected, filled with twists and turns she had never foreseen. Of course, it wasn't all bad, but this was practically a rollercoaster-ride without brakes.

The sun had began setting as she finally stumbled her way to the open field. Her eyes scanned over the area, targets dotting the field left and right, some far away, some close. There were even a few targets moving about. She gave a small chuckle, wondering just how archery would ever benefit them.

But the place was peaceful, and that was the one thing Aurora really needed now. She found a small tree, struggling as she swung herself up in the branches. It was embarrassing to use so much time on something that was regularly so menial, but she was too tired to care at the moment.

Settling in against the thick trunk of the tree, Aurora smiled a rare smile, letting the wind ruffle through her short hair. It tickled pleasantly past her neck, lightening her spirit ever so slightly from the harsh day that had passed.

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@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura There's always a first time for everything. And in Summer's case, that was the first time she was taken aback by such a retort. The hate in his tone was evident enough for her to snap out of her trance. Though as much as she tried so hard to hide it, no doubt, it felt as if her pride was stabbed by a celestial bronze dagger--surprising, really. Of all her experiences with minor conflicts and misunderstandings with a few people in the past, Summer really didn't expect to hit below the belt and drag herself in a much more complicated situation like this. Much less than trying to patch up some things with him and actually try to apologize.

Summer fell in deep thought. She had to admit, well, maybe that had gone a little too far. It wasn't his fault being in the fields coincidentally as she were taking her drills, of course. And it also wasn't his fault that the female demigod had a knack of flirting with random guys at such absurd times that could possibly piss off the guy in an instant. And maybe, the fact that her reckless charmspeaking pushed her to her limits might have gave away her every dignity in exchange of a (possible) member of her haters club in camp.

The painful truth, apparently, was that the cause of all those is her. Summer would have shrugged off the thought away and blurted out an apology to the guy when he assumed things in a not-so-good way. And by 'not-so-good', she meant the one night stand non sense he was blabbering about, which unfortunately, enraged her a bit. Yep. A bit.

In the midst of plucking off another wooden arrow from the board, the confident smile on her face eventually wore off. Summer's expression hardened, her grip tightened upon the bunch of arrows on her other hand. "I may be a deceiving sweet talker, or some pretty face you see at the corner like how you overlook me and my siblings--" Her blue eyes bore into his. "--but I am definitely /not/ a _____ so get your facts straight."

@[G] Summer Clarke "You know what I would want? To go home and eat Doritos and never have to deal with people charmspeaking me," Leonidas muttered distastefully. He sauntered to the target board he was working on and began to patch up the hole the Aphrodite girl shot into. He placed the board back into its place before walking up to another. His movements were smooth, like a tense panther that refused to let down its guard. Leonidas asked the gods why he ended up in such a situation. "It's not you. It's the idea of you. Hell, I don't even know your name. From what I know, you're just like every other child of Aphrodite, though."

He began to take out the arrows and patch up the next board, not even daring to look at the young woman. Leonidas was slowly succumbing to her beauty, imagining what it'd be like to touch her soft, smooth skin. But to override such a desire, he instantly thought about how much she mocked and taunted. It was his perfect foil for her. So take that, daughter of Aphrodite. He didn't gloat over the fact that he had a great amount of self-control. What would the point of it, if she could just take it away with a simple "come here"?

With a soft sigh, Leonidas did a small shoulder roll before he finished the patches of the target . He looked towards the Aphrodite girl then raised an eyebrow. "Why me? Out of all the campers to have spend the day with you, and surely there are some better-mannered guys than me, you had to choose the one who doesn't really want anything to do with... well, anything," Leonidas said, his eyes focused back onto the target board. He finished one last patching job before he moved onto the next target board. "What are you hoping will come out of this in the end, huh? We part as unlikely friends? We embrace and proclaim feelings for one another after what seemed to be such impossible circumstances? We end up sleeping with each other and face an awkward morning after? What? Because, honestly, none of those sound appealing to me at this point, especially since you used your charmspeak on me and all."

Yes, Leonidas is a complicated person. Yes, Leonidas is hardly the holder of affections. But, hey, sometimes he's a good person?

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura Her blue eyes sparkled the moment he obliged. As a matter of fact, Summer had decided that she might really have a thing for the guy if he continued being 'complicated', at least, in her opinion. No one could put down a challenge, right? And to think that they were born to face those subtle hindrances instead of living a normal life as a mortal, she supposed catching the hearts of men and taming their complex ways of thinking would be a part of Summer's own set of subtle hindrances. It was daring, after all, romance wouldn't be as enjoying if not for the bumpy roads it entrailed.

"Was that a joke?" Summer laughed briefly, plastering her gaze at him with unmasked interest. Eventually, her little flirting act faded. "Jeez, you. What did the mirror ever do to you?" She rolled her eyes, before snatching almost half a dozen of her arrows from his hand and putting them back in her quiver. "And gods, would you loosen up? Am I that annoying for you to be pissed at?" The redheaded female slung her bow at her back, then dusted off her tee. "I'm just trying to start up a little talk." Summer scrunched up her nose before thoroughly shifting her gaze to him.

"And I'm not dumb. I'll help you." The female said in a duh tone--but it wasn't meant as an offer or her asking permission to help. Summer knew how to act on her own will when she had set her mind into something, it would be quite troublesome for someone to change it otherwise. The guy might have thought of her as a bipolar freak by now, but honestly, judgments had never bothered Summer at all.

By the time he continued blabbering out whatever bad experience he had with causing ruckus and the side effects of his troublemaking and all those, his words fell on deaf ears--Summer had already walked towards the targets and pulled off an arrow from the base. "Shut up, pretty boy and help me finish /your/ job." She called out from her position and emphasized the 'you' part of her dialogue--no charm intended, though--before she flashed a mocking smile.

"Or would you want me to shoot one of my lovely arrows at you again?"

@[G] Summer Clarke Leonidas looked at her blankly unable to say anything on... well, anything. It was pretty easy to tell he was fuming. Aphrodite girls, what else could you expect of them? Everything this pretty little thing said or did only solidified his opinion on the demigoddesses. He had nothing of value when it came to love. He saw no purpose to it - only as a way to get yourself killed. With the way this woman flirted, he simply detested romance.

"I'd be damned if I spent another-" he paused as he tried interrupting the woman, suddenly forgetting what he was about to say. He his lips once, trying to recollect his thoughts. When he finally realized what she had done, he scowled at her but nodded nonetheless. As much as he wanted to not spend his day with her, he had to now. He couldn't help himself, no matter how enticing laying in his cabin and reading the ends of books sounded. Oh, the power he wielded when he found a person to annoy with his knowledge of book endings. Now, he wouldn't be able to add to his memory.

"Kiss me again and I swear, you wouldn't be able to look at a mirror without it breaking on you," he grumbled, referring to his bad luck curse. He had no problem doing such a thing. And since he didn't say he'd curse her, she couldn't tell him that he couldn't. It could be taken to the fact that he'd beat her up so much that she'd be ugly enough to break a mirror (he wouldn't do that unless she managed to seriously piss him off, although that has little to no chances). After all, she didn't know what cabin he was from. And he'd make sure she wouldn't for the rest of the day.

"You do realize though that I got a job to do here? And don't give me any 'it can wait till later' crap because I may like causing trouble but I pay my dues when I get caught. The art of troublemaking is to avoid the authorities, and clearly, I didn't, so am I allowed to at least finish my job here?" Leonidas asked, producing as much sass as a snippy schoolgirl would. He didn't _____ his hip to the side or anything, he simply crossed his arms over his chest. He cocked his head to the side, waiting to hear her answer. If she didn't agree to this, then surely, his magic coin could override charmspeak. Couldn't it? Oh gods, he hoped so.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura Apparently, his enticing actions would have charmed Summer if only that he's not, well, sarcastic. She restrained herself from smiling wider, yet the constant twitching of her lips nearly gave her up from her supposedly 'I can charm you with a snap of my fingers and ruin your life because it's an Aphrodite thing' facade. But the thing was, Summer couldn't seem to control much of her her emotions at the moment because okay--she did not expect that sudden blast of cuteness.

"Oh wow, you're adorable." Summer blurted out. It wasn't sarcastic. It was a subtle yet honest side comment, actually. And to him, adorable might not be the most suitable word that would perfectly describe himself, but to her, it is. She couldn't stop herself from finding his puny little act pleasing and somewhat entertaining, but the way he forcibly winked and blew a kiss towards her when it was obvious that he was trying to cover up that irritated look on his face.. She just lost it.

The red headed demigod bit her bottom lip, suppressing a fit of giggles from escaping her lips. "How priceless." Summer breathed out silently to herself, still having that amused expression painted on her face that her once huge eyes now turned into little crescent moons along with her delighted grin. She placed her right hand upon her hip, shifting her weight to the side as she watched him pulling out half buried arrows from the target board across the distance.

Clearly, the guy was annoyed; Summer could tell despite the distance. His emotions were exposed as if he was an open book--she had read his feelings with ease (based on various experiences with guys, of course). And as of what she had observed moments ago, he definitely despised the way she acted around him. Particularly, the flirting thing.

Oh, how fun!

Then as he came back and reached out to give her the arrows, Summer smiled sweetly. "Thank you, sweetie." She cooed, before leaning in to place a quick (more like teasing) peck on his cheek. Her eyes showed mischief. "You've been a good boy." The female flashed her pearly whites as she again let the power of charm dominate her sweet voice. "Accompany me for the rest of the day?"

@[G] Summer Clarke "Like that's any better, doll. So what were you expecting me to do with that arrow? Look back and what, immediately fall in love with you? Ha, I don't know any greater deception," Leonidas said with a huff. He listened to the rest of her words and honestly, he had his fists clenched to the point that they were white. He would've engaged her in battle, but he wanted to stay true to avoiding Aphrodite children at all costs. The heavens only know what would happen if he were to blacken one of their eyes or anything of the sort.

And since he /was/ on duty, and he was doing this because he was in trouble already, he had to do what she said. He had to pick up the arrows of a member of the very cabin he didn't want to be affiliated with. He got to order him around like a goddamned puppy. He wasn't a puppy, though. With an aggravated sigh, all the tension in his body suddenly let go.

With a charming smirk and a mirrored wink, he crooned, "As you wish, my lady." Despite the words being enticing, they were dripping with a sarcasm that couldn't be misplaced. He then pursed his lips to blow a kiss in her direction, oozing out an unexpected _____ity that was actually quite handsome. If she wants to try and get all up in his face with her charms and whatnot, he can very well do the same. He had his box of charms, again call it luck.

He picked up the arrow he had thrown into the ground, smiling just as icily as she was. Then he stalked back to the other target boards, ripping out the celestial bronze arrows out of them. He didn't care for how much damage he'd do. He's just going to have to patch it up, no big deal. He had already cleaned out most of the other classes' arrows. Most of the ones that were left were wooden, so he knew they weren't hers. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he came back to her, a bundle of arrows in his hand. He bowed flamboyantly, teasing her in a way, before raising his hand to give her the arrows. "Here you are, /my lady/," he said with just as much sarcasm as one could fit into a tone of voice.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura She tried hard not to laugh at his face the moment the arrow zipped past his head, causing him to fume up like a little boy throwing a tantrum. Really, this guy is so appealing in so many ways, Summer bit back her bottom lip to restrain herself from charming him further.

Just as she predicted, the guy then marched his way towards her, and she had to admit, he looked a million times hotter up close--she swore she wanted to drool at the sight of his perfectly carved muscles. But of course, Summer kept it all to herself as a confident smile brightened up her expression. And despite his supposed to be offensive retort, the tall female flashed him a sickly sweet smile in return.

"Oh, no. Those arrows wouldn't hurt you, sweetie." Summer tilted her head slightly to the side, maintaining an innocent look on her face. "It's enchanted, you see. Once the target is shot, he falls in love with the first person he sets his eyes on. But I missed." She shrugged. "Oops?"

Though as the guy started to flood her with sharp words, the red headed female flipped her long wavy hair to the side and stared at him, quirking up an eyebrow--but at some point, Summer was taken aback. "What I have to say about myself? Excuse me.." She smiled coldly, for once. "Don't be such an arrogant , honey. You're cute and all but I just wanted a favor from you." Summer leaned forward, purposely letting their faces a few inches apart and stared directly into his eyes.

"Since you're on duty, do take off my arrows from the target board please." With a wink, she leaned back and waved her hand, ushering him to go.

@[G] Summer Clarke He thought that she would leave him alone. He thought that his rudeness would've warded her off, like all other girls that tried her hand at approaching him in such a way. But it was not as he thought it'd be. Instead, the familiar wind of an arrow brushed past his ear and landed in the spot he was just patched up. His jaw clenched and he stood up angrily, ripping the arrow out of the target board.

Now, whether or not he came because of her charmspeak was never noted, but he stalked towards her, his blue eyes smoldering. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You could very well hurt someone using celestial bronze arrows when you're practicing. Are you crazy?" Leonidas barked as he shook the arrow that was in his hand towards her.

He couldn't help but notice her beauty now that he was closer. He despised her beauty. It made him want to forget that she could've very well killed him just moments before. He almost wanted to smooth talk her, and try to get her to smile. But he wasn't going to. He didn't want to. But he did. Leonidas grit his teeth, hating the effect the children of Aphrodite had on other people. "What do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to apologize or what, you're going to talk out of this and bat your pretty eyelashes like the goddamned doll you are?" he exclaimed, then threw the arrow to the ground, the arrowhead sinking into the soil.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura Her eyebrows comically arose at his unanticipated reply. Clearly, Summer did not expect that. Most of the time--more like, always--guys had never got the guts to decline her at any cost. But this guy here did not even show a sign of succumbing to her will.

Summer couldn't help but to feel something slashing her pride for technically being rejected by some insignificant boy in camp. Oh, no way will that happen again. Children of Aphrodite were never rejected. She'll get him, alright. The corners of curled up into a smirk. Rude, defiant but scorching hot, well that is something that exceeds her standards.

Two can play this game.

Drawing another arrow from her quiver, the female demigod released it towards the target a few inches from his good-looking face. The bronze arrow whizzed past his right ear as it struck the target board with a soft thump. Her smile widened, her blue irises flashing mischief at her triumph.

"I was talking about you, sweetie." Summer called out once more, putting a bit of charm in her voice. "Now stop that modesty of yours and come here, pretty boy."

@[G] Summer Clarke Her voice was sweet, almost like a delicious, rich cheesecake with cherry sauce on top. Leonidas let out a groan underneath his breath. If her voice was enough to make him his lips, thinking about cheesecake, what would he do if he actually approached her? Still, he held his composition as he dug out an arrow in the target that had wedged itself well into the , almost half the shaft lodged into the board.

Then, just to mess with her, he feigned looking around for someone. He turned towards the Aphrodite daughter then grinned charmingly. "You better keep searching, doll, because I don't see a pretty boy around," he said then turned back to his target. He patched up the area he sabotaged because of that one deep arrow, patching it up with the tools he was given.

Pretty boy. Tch. He knew he was handsome, call it a of luck, if you will. He didn't shave that morning and had grown a small, rugged stubble on his jawline and chin. He wore a grey cut-off tank top with his washed-out blue jeans, accenting his muscular arms and toned skin. He looked mature for an 18-year-old but hey, it was never detrimental to his lifestyle. He was rather masculine, he figured, and far from a pretty boy.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura As often as it seemed, Summer had changed her appearances due to the attention she was gaining. Yesterday, she felt all Asian-y and got her black hair tied back into a ponytail and wore a floral printed top and a pair of dark jeans that matched her jet black eyes. It was good enough to catch the eyes of a certain Ares camper she was crushing on for a few days now, and Summer was almost drowned in flattery when people showered her with unending compliments. Today, she let her now red velvet coloured hair down, its long curls cascading her shoulders in a graceful flow. She wore a plain white tee, khaki shorts and a pair of brown boots her sisters gave her as a gift last winter--perfect outfit for drills out in the archery field.

Summer carried douleur with her--her own prized possession--and studied the clearing, making sure Chiron wasn't around to scold her for using her 'magical love arrows' for target practice. She could remember the time Argus was struck by an arrow in the eye (don't ask which one though, it's better not to know), and the next thing she knew, he was making smoochy faces at a certain female camper, non stop. It was a scene too horrible to recall, and Summer still felt the same goosebumps clouding her skin.

On the positive side of things, there weren't much people in the field, therefore giving the female camper enough privacy and space that she needed for her drills. Summer honestly admitted, she wasn't consistent in shooting arrows accurately like how the Apollo kids, or the Hunters of Artemis do it. In fact, her mother didn't even inherit some super cool archery skills to her unlike how she did with Eros (oh yeah, she had an immortal flying diaper baby for a half-brother, believe it or not). Summer learned the hard way; but it was better that she could shoot some arrows than let herself get stabbed in swordfighting class which she had never learned to appreciate at all.

Summer then drew an arrow, her blue eyes sharply darting at the bull's eye as she slightly angled her weapon towards her target. She released it with a silent whoosh, and the arrow struck at the inr circle of the board--not the very center. The female grunted, drawing another arrow when a figure caught her peripheral vision. It was a fellow camper, and it seemed as if he was in duty of clearing the arrows from the target boards. Summer squinted her eyes, then eventually distinguished who the person was.

'Oh, it's /that/ guy.' A glint of amusement clouded her eyes.

She could recall him as the guy who kept his distance from her, a lot of times, actually. And she could've sworn that he briefly looked at her direction and turned his back at the sight of her almost immediately. Rude much, but she couldn't deny it, he's very attractive. Summer smiled knowingly, before drawing and continuously shooting arrows across the target board. Appeased with her almost masterpiece of a plan, the tall female cupped her right hand beside her lips.

"Hey, pretty boy over there!" Summer boldly called out, her smile never leaving her lips.

@[G] Summer Clarke {Closed for Summer.}

So the downside of being as big as a troublemaker as Leonidas is the occasional punishment, when he gets caught. This time he got caught for coaxing a huntress into a competition and using up class time. Yeah, not his smartest idea. Nonetheless, he was assigned the chore of mending the target butts and cleaning up the broken arrows for a week. Just what he needed. All sarcasm intended. He was working at the 90 yard , adjusting it so it was away from the range so he could properly mend it.

As he was working on patching it up and taking out any stuck arrowheads, Leonidas looked up. There weren't any classes this late so it had to be someone trying to practice their archery. He blew a curl of his dirty blonde hair out of his face before analyzing the archer. He blinked and groaned. Oh great, an Aphrodite daughter. Sure, they were sights for sore eyes and Leonidas always fancied kissing one. However, they believed in love, whereas Leonidas was afraid of it so much that he'd probably throw up if he realized he was actually in love. There was no way that was ever compatible for anything, even remote friendships, so Leonidas did his best to stay away.

Quickly, Leonidas bowed his head and turned his back so that the target faced the archer. He sat in front of it, continuing to patch up the target for tomorrow's lessons and practices. He knew this daughter of Aphrodite was able to change her appearance, as he sees her around with different hairstyles and eye colours often, always avoiding her. And anyone else from such a cabin, mind you.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura Claire's fierce look was replaced by a feral grin. Someone like her can take this as a child's play, something that she didn't need much to win. Of course, luck had always been a factor in hunting, but if they played fair then she was absolutely sure of her capabilities.

"Prove it first."

Her huntress fellow, Evelyn, handed her the quiver; she only counted twelve arrows in, no more. But she didn't need more.

"Why not? Let's play."

And with a smirk, she stormed off towards the tree she had sat on earlier; taking her grey jacket and wearing it, she headed to the forest without another look at the male.

This was getting personal, something she'd normally have avoided like a plague. But again, hell be damned, she'd dived into the water anyway. Might as well catch the fish.

@[G] Claire E. Heather The way she was so icy and cruel made his smirk grow into one of amusement. Forget a stone statue, she was more an ice sculpture. That's when it ticked. It made sense. The term of endearment, no matter how mean he meant it to be, set her off in some way shape or form. He decided to use it as a way to piss her off for next time. For now, it's aggression galore.

"Wooden arrows, huh? Sounds great to me, darling, just don't get too mad when the arrow hits your chest," he snorted. "I've hunted caribou more dangerous than you, so it's not like it's going to be a problem."

Leonidas dropped his quiver of arrows and fished through his arrows, dropping bone arrows and celestial bronze arrows. All that was left were the arrows that were initially made out of wood. He gave the handful of arrows and tossed them towards the nearest Apollo kid, winking towards them in his cocky arrogance. He then hoisted his quiver over his shoulder. "Shall we head to the forest grounds then? Make it more of a fun, hunting session?"

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura "Still not having enough, /kid/?"

Oh, she acknowledged his skills alright. It was just that she knew much too well that Leonidas seemed to want to grate on her nerves for some reasons - and it was only fair that she returned it. The next moment, Claire turned to the crowd. "Show is over. We're going to settle this by ourselves. Continue class." They'd taken no more than ten minutes, but if the camp director found out, it wouldn't be good for all of them. Lucky it were the Apollo kids who taught the lessons that day.

Summoning her arrows back, only to have them disappearing the moment they were in her grasp, she walked towards the male with an icy look.

"We, are going to hunt..."

Hell be damned how he used the word 'darling' to her, just like that person from fifty years ago, she thought. Even the waves got bigger at the beach due to her cold anger, but none of them realized.

"...each other."

She was slightly shorter than him, on the more detailed observation. But what struck her hard were his sparkling blue eyes...

Enough, she chided herself. This was no time to get drown in a past you should've forgotten.

"Wooden arrows. The one who got hit fatally first loses. No headshots."

@[G] Claire E. Heather Noticing the other demigods' reactions, Leonidas knew that there were others who thought differently and were now being proven wrong. He felt good about that, knowing he was doing something right. Unfortunately, for him, there was this huge obstacle in the way that made him feel inferior. And it was Claire. Her smirk made him want to pulverize something. Her elegant eyes made him want to dim their shimmer somehow.

"Draw means respect, /Claire/," Leonidas said with a flamboyant bow. "I guess it means both ways, too. So I tip my hat. But, there was another challenge you said, right? Something that'll really prove the hunters in us? What's that?"

The young man's lips pulled into a smirk, his blue eyes sparkling with what was indeed respect. So, now that the competition was over, and he had done what he had set out to do, there was initially no reason to disrespect her. However, that didn't mean he didn't want to make her mad every chance he gets. He can still respect her while doing so. It just meant that he'd and get mad at her and poke her and just do everything in his power to piss her off. He did one more bow, and tipped an imaginary hat.

"So tell me, what am I going to be hunting, darling?" he asked with a taunt in his voice. It ran cold and smoothly, like liquid metal. Because she was a huntress and most likely disliked boys, he gave her a charming wink. Just to see if she'd scowl at him.

[**she only imitated him. Sorry for the typo. xD ]

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura "The field is for everyone to use, not only us who are blessed with the talent. Whatever you may think, we do not make ourselves exclusive." Perhaps, some of those who had bullied Leonidas had already hung their head in shame, but she didn't stop to pay attention. Not every single huntress thinks like her, and she couldn't say for any of the Apollo kids.

The arrow, Claire noted. It was supposedly a timer, during which she'd had to shoot everything before it expired... and her idea came as fast as his last shot hit the bulls' eye.

"You did well," she said. "But don't ever think you cannot be matched."

One arrow to the sky. She had imitated him then, but purposefully made the angle straight so that it would fall back towards her in only a few seconds. A lot thought that she only imitated her for the sake of it, but then - with incredible accuracy and timing - she released three shots in rapid succession. Two arrows divided Leonidas' arrow to two on the sixty and seventy yards target, and she hit dead center on the 90 - only to catch her falling arrow after.

She took no more than three seconds, and she smirked coldly as she turned to him, the arrow she caught still in her grasp.

"Draw."

@[G] Claire E. Heather Leonidas grit his teeth at the sudden display of skill. He didn't want to acknowledge for sake of lowering his own pride, but it was pretty impressive. Instead, he let out a scoff and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, and if I relied on that, I would've already won and you know that," Leonidas snapped towards her muttering, which could be considered praise if he took a moment to think about it. "This is a fair chance for both of us so don't think I'm doing this for the sake of humiliating you and your damned Huntresses and praising my mother. I'm doing this so others like me, kids with talents not from their parents, get their chance."

A deep breath escaped past his lips in an effort to calm himself down. Again, he wanted to note how much he despised her composition. There were so many things that got Leonidas riled up both in a good and a bad way. He poised his arrow then sighed. He ought to show himself off. But what could he do to top her little stunt?

Then, suddenly, he shot the arrow, straight up into the sky, controlling his strength and taking all sorts of factors into consideration. The wind, the clouds, the amount of pressure he used on the twine, even the faintest direction of his bow was considered. Quickly, he shot one arrow. "60 yards." He then took a step over and quickly shot another arrow. "70 yards."

This trick he had developed, shooting an extra arrow into the sky, was used when he was in fast-pace hunting schemes, usually dealing with cougars and foxes. Those animals were tricky so he needed to be trickier. The reason he shot the arrow into the sky was to make the animal believe he was defenseless so that they'd lunge towards him and leave an opening for the heart. Then, if he timed it right (in the early stages of his tricks, he had severe bite wounds and claw marks from bad timing), he could strike the perfect one-shot kill.

"90 yards." This shot sat significantly on the left edge of the bull's eye, thought it'd still be considered a direct hit. The trick was meant for close-range targets, so he still gave himself a pat on the back for even making it as a bull's eye. 90 yards was no easy feat, especially with a falling arrow coming straight towards you from the sky. "C'mon, make it a draw, I dare you. Ha."

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura It was only in her blood. Even before her immortality, being born in England had been the cause of Claire's quiet and calm upbringing. She was no lady, nor was she of any high social status back then, but her mother had taught her to carry herself well - and that she did. Posture, words, manners, everything. And considering that she had stayed by Artemis' side for years, naturally, she embraced the goddess' qualities.

The faint shade of blue in her eyes gleamed dangerously as she glanced at the male; it was just a glance, but that was already talking something when it comes to her. She disliked being questioned, and even more about this decision she'd made one century ago.

"That," she said sharply, "is not your business."

Upon turning to watch the arrow lodging itself onto the target, she inhaled and nocked her arrows onto her silver bow. If he wanted showoff, then she'll play along. After all, she had to defend the huntresses' dignity - and she didn't plan to fail.

"Quite impressive, for someone who hasn't relied on luck yet." She muttered, loud enough for him to hear as she released both of her arrows in succession, spinning just slightly in the process. She'd missed the dead center by millimeters, but still. It was something she'd picked up during the wars; being able to shoot multiple enemies had been the most useful skill to have.

"Fifty and sixty yards, bulls' eye."

Last two.

@[G] Claire E. Heather To be frank, Leonidas hated the way that she seemed so regal and calm, like a stone statue in an art museum. Hated it, hated it. It was so different compared to his chaotic nature, the way he spontaneously moved and reacted to things emotionally. He didn't care for formality and posture because those things aren't needed for a happy lifestyle. At least, in Leonidas' reasoning.

"You know, why did you choose to be a huntress? Was it the immortality? The forever bit? The lack of adult responsibility? It's almost like you're a female version of Peter Pan, huh?" Leonidas chided. He disliked the way she didn't speak to him, even to snap back an answer to his arrogant remarks. A lot of people used to do such a thing and resulted in fun fights and scuffles. Here, people seemed a little more collected and wary, and it took a while for him to truly set a person off.

50 yards. This was still easy peasy, but Leonidas liked giving it all for the sake of proving his worth. He always had to prove himself, to uphold this faint image of Lucky Bonaventura. He slayed Greek monsters before entering the camp and hunted dangerous game for food and sport. He called it faint because no one here knew of such an image just yet. And he was setting out to show everyone else.

"50 yards, bull's eye," Leonidas said as he let go of the twine, the arrow spiraling into the target . Still centered, still to the left. He was getting cocky now, stating the status of the hit before it even made it onto the target. The 60-yard target was also going to be no problem, although he worried idly for the 70 and 90. He was a hunter and a successful hunter didn't have to shoot from so far to kill his prey. Still, he showed nothing to fear and grinned towards Claire, trying to find the best way to piss her off.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura Well, the sooner she got over this, the better.

Claire could hear even the whisperings of the demigods around them, which is more than enough to say that she obviously heard him, but she also didn't reply. It wasn't a real battle; she had no other reason to save her energy, save for the reason that she didn't find it necessary to overexert. Not in archery, at least.

Her eyes didn't fail to notice the fact that Lucky was giving his all in this, even all his strength, but in any case, that was his own judgment to act on.

As quick as he finished his words, she had let her arrow fly once more - this time it went straight to the center.

"Same."

Glancing at the male, she had appeared calm and undisturbed, but seriously... he had just added to the reason why it just made sense to dislike males. Always thinks they are meant to lead, always seeking for appraisal... so typical. To think even Apollo was not that boastful...

And before anything else, the two arrows on the targets had disappeared, only to found themselves in her hand again.

Four more.

@[G] Claire E. Heather "Aren't you? The way you act, the way you speak, I almost got you confused as one, pardon me."

So, Leonidas wasn't making this any easier on himself. But what fun is there in life if things were easy? Besides, he was amused by this Claire and her idea of respect. If he continued to push the limits, how would she react? He noticed how she didn't make a comeback and only muttered a response, speaking as if she was some mindless child. He may seem like it, true, but he was clever beyond that of a child.

Leonidas pulled at his twine, the thwunk resonating from 30 yards away. By observing her, Claire was saving her energy for the long rage shots or for whatever the not-so-standard challenge was she had in mind. Leonidas was one thing and that was in the moment. He didn't save energy, because how are you supposed to expand your energy pool if you don't constantly push it? Sure, it may come out as strain at first glance but he's found that he's exponentially better than a year ago because of exerting all his energy into everything. Chaos, as unpredictable and garbled as it was, was beneficial in some aspects.

"30 years, bull's eye." This was more centered than the 20 yard target, which surprised himself. The arrowhead disappeared into the target , just as it had with the previous target. Leonidas was very aware of the consequences but he couldn't help himself. He had to give it his all, and just hope for luck - which , considering how he didn't want to use his luck. Goddamn, Leonidas, you're in over your head... for the zillionth time.

@[G] Leonidas Bonaventura "Some serious issues you have, boy. I am not even asking to be treated a princess..." Claire muttered, shaking her head, but she made no comeback to it. It's time to prove that skills is actually not everything.

"Very well. If we have a draw, you'll have my respect. But I shall challenge you to another not-so-standard archery competition..."

By using her left hand, she actually had to adjust to a lot of things, but with a hundred years to practice, it wasn't an issue at all. She'd almost sure she'd have a draw - that is, if he was really as good as he claim to be. How many times had she practiced this, after all?

Nodding in satisfaction at the result, she wordlessly pulled the string and released the arrow - with just enough strength for it to lodge itself at the red spot. One thing about her was that she measured the stamina she used to the littlest bit - she knew her own strength, and the key for her to reserving stamina in battle was to measure it. But still, everything was about habits.

Her arrow hit it just slightly to the right, on the contrary.

"Bull's eye."

Oh, this was just the beginning...