,, place among the stars {open

[Harper Marowski]

It had been a beautiful day - there was no other way to describe it. The summer heat had been bearable, and everyone had enjoyed the day in one way or the other. There had been a nice, cool breeze blowing through camp that kept everyone cooled even during the afternoon hours. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner had been excellently prepared meals, and there had also been a small archery contest that just about everyone had participated in or watched. All in all, on top of being a beautiful summer day, it had been a nice and satisfying one as well. At least, it had been for Harper.

Now, after dinner and as the sun was beginning to go down, Harper was wandering around Fireworks Beach on the edge of camp. She had left her sandals at a rock nearby, and was treading the rocky sand on bare feet. Whether it just had a nice feeling to it or not, Harper didn't reall matter. She simply liked being closer to nature - it had always been a part of her personality. Around the other girls and boys at camp, she was someone different. A perky, happy-go-lucky, bubbly demi-god who kept up the chatter and was often made to feel important. Out here, well... she was different. Harper felt more herself out here, a place where she could be what and who she wanted to be - not what everyone expected. All because she was daughter of the sun god didn't mean she was bright and sunny all the time.

But Harper didn't want to fail anyone. She didn't really want to fail her father, even if she wasn't exactly very happy with him or what he had done over the years. She just... felt like she needed to have a parent that wasn't working all the time. Or a constant group of friends. But with all the drama going around camp and the newer campers and all the aftermath of the battle with Kronos... it was hard for Harper. She enjoyed peace and harmony, and yet for some reason that was so hard to find.

She glanced up as the sun began disappearing below the horizon. For the first time in a long time, Harper smiled at the sun - or, to her, in essence, her father. She never really felt as if she could be happy around him, but right now she couldn't help but feel grateful. She was sure he was responsible for the peaceful, nature-oriented moment she was having. "Thank you, Da," she murmured before she looked down at the sandy gravel beneath her toes and continued walking. She would earn her place amongst the stars.

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor had just finished eating his dinner, it was amazingly delicious almost like his moms cooking. He had been at camp for close to a week now and had been claimed my his godly parent Hephestus. The whole your half god had come as quite a shock to Connor, he still had trouble beleiving it. He supposed that he now understood why is dad had not lived with them, although he still thought that the god of the forges could have stopped by every once and awhile to come say hi and check up on his son. Connor shrugged his shoulders, oh well he had done just fine on his own before Hephestus had claimed him he would do just fine now that he knew what he was. He walked along the beach the light wind tosseling his hair as he hummed lightly to himself.

A couple of Pegesi flew across the lake which helped add to the peacefullness of the day. He had partaken in his first Archery contest and had actually done pretty well despite the fact that he wasn't a son of Apollo. Then afterwords he had worked in the forges of his cabin with his half brothers (which untill a couple of days ago he didnt know he had.) and had made his very first finished celestial bronze sword. It was perfectly balanced for him and he had dubbed it SharkTooth for its serrated edge. "If those hellhounds thought i did damage with a metal pipe I cant wait till they see me with this." he said to himself. He continued walking until he noticted another camper standing on the beach by herself. Well Annabeth did say to make friends he though so he walked over towards the girl and Smiled "Apollo looks like he had a good day today, no clouds to mess up his trip." Connor said trying to make small talk. Normally he didnt really have trouble talking to girls...But what did you say to a girl who's mom or dad was a god?

[Harper Marowski]

Harper hadn't really been expecting company, which was probably why she jumped when she heard a new voice behind her. It wasn't that she hated meeting new people, or that she didn't enjoy seeing other folks, but this one had surprised her. And it was just that Harper didn't like surprises. So when she spun around to face the person that had spoken to her, she didn't exactly look too happy. But as she was not the sort of person to get angry for no particular reason, she looked quite civil. Just... more so than usual.

She eyed the newcomer with a mixture of disdain and curiosity. Harper had never seen this one around camp before - perhaps he was a newcomer? There were plenty of them around these days with all of the minor gods and goddesses' children coming to Camp Half-Blood. So she wasn't too surprised by the new face, just the fact that he had approached her. He seemed a little awkward, standing there, as if he didn't know what to say. Perhaps he was a little shy, like Harper had been on her first few days here a few years ago. But she knew a couple of days, weeks even, around camp would open up him. Unless, of course, he wasn't the opening sort like she was. She would just have to try and see.

"Yeah," she responded to his comment about Apollo. Harper smiled in an attempt to make him feel a little more comfortable. "My dad is really good when it comes to that sort of stuff. But I guess it's good that his job was easier today." Harper still wasn't exactly sure how she felt about her father; she didn't know if she was still angry with him for ignoring her all these years or if she was fairly proud that her father just happened to be the god of the sun and everything else she held dear. She looked the boy up and down for a fleeting moment. "What's your name? I haven't seen you around before. Please tell me I'm not just that oblivious." Harper tried looking apologetic, but she wasn't sure just how believable it was.

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor smiled slightly as she jumped at his voice, that is untill she turned around. Oh uh maybe i picked the wrong person to randomly start up a conversation with. Connor didnt wanna get on anyones bad side right when he got here so he instantly stopped grinning and hastilly appoligized "Oh sorry i didnt mean to startle you i assumed i would be the only one at the beach now that all the excitment died down." he said explaining why he was here. " Im still trying to adjust to everything so i figured i'd just come here and try and take a breather from everything you know?" he smiled politly at her but was kinda startled when she said that Apollo was her father.

Woah, it probably would be a bad idea to piss off the daughter of the son god so he turned around about to head the other direction when she asked him a question. He turned back so he was facing her and gave a little smile "It's Connor Windkeeper im one of Hephestus's kids and ya like I said im new around here so you probably wouldn't have seen me around." his smile widden a bit "I didnt even know any of this exsisted untill me and Annabeth kicked some hellhound butt in Manhattan." he said with a laugh. He lifted his hand to brush some hair out of his face and Sharktooth which he had styled as a ring for when it wasn't into blade form caught a sun ray and sparkled playfully. "Your dads Apollo huh? I bet thats really cool, has he visited you much lately?" he asked

[Harper Marowski]

Harper blinked at the boy. He seemed so polite, so friendly. But perhaps that was only because he was new, and he didn't know the ropes of camp just yet. Maybe he didn't know about the cliques that stuck so closely together, or that they expected more out of the major gods and goddesses' children because now they were practically seen as the elite - the kids who had been here the longest because of their parentage. And, as many teens would, Harper had cracked under that huge weight of pressure, becoming someone that she had never really wanted to be in all the years traveling with her mother. A fake, a socialite. Someone who... hid her true talents because of what others might think.

She looked at the boy again, tensing a bit when he asked if Apollo visited her often. As anyone who was close to Harper knew, the subject was a little sore in her book. She hadn't seen her father in a few weeks, not since the first dream she'd had of him. Yet she had walked out on it, and he hadn't made an effort to contact her since. It was a miscommunication, true, but if he was such a god then he would know what she was thinking. He would know just how hurt she felt at having been abandoned for so long, and he would know that she secretly wished that he would come back to prove to her that she was special and more precious to him than the rest.

But he hadn't done so yet, and it hurt. Harper banished the thoughts from her head, and instead focused on answering the boy's question. She snorted. "Nah, why should he? I'm no more important to him than the average mortal, I suppose. I've only seen him once, in a dream. I don't think it's going to happen again," Harper replied, not even bothering to lie. She was so sick and tired of it lately. She attempted a smile, but it only came out as a grimace. "I don't mean to be all doom and gloom, though. I'm Harper. And I'm glad you're new. Not recognizing a face would give me a bad image." She winked. There it was again, the front Harper always found herself putting on around people.

[connorwindkeeper]

He saw his mood suddenly changed when he asked about Apollo, she didnt seem to pleased with her dad. Maybe Hephestus wasn't the only one being a bad dad as of late. he thought as he risked coming nearer to her, nothing to close that might freak her out or anything but just enough to kinda close the gap between them. "Hey dont feel to bad atleast he's come to talk to you once if I didnt see him claim me with my own eyes I would say the Hephestus didnt even know I exsist." he rolled there eyes slightly annoyed know that he thought about it "Not a hey whats up or a sorry I left you and your mother alone, nothing." he shrugged his shoulders "What can you expect there gods, were all like a dime a dozen to them." he said picking up a rock and making it skip across the lake.

He smiled when she introduced herself It's no big deal Harper, sorry I brought it up I wasn't thinking." he said with a smile He chuckled at her comment. "Ha why's that? Are you like the camp greeter or somthing because if you are then im not sure your doing such a great job." he teased slightly. The Wind ruffled his hair lightly and a small smile played across his face "So Harper have you been here long?" He asked politely, he still kinda felt like an outsider himself not having been here all that long, he still just wasn't use to all these new things I mean one of there Camp directors was a Centaur for heavens sake. Annabeth and his brothers had assured him however that all of this was soon become a normal part of life for him. Although the one thing he was excited for was getting a quest, he enjoyed sword fighting so much it was a wonder that he wasn't a son of Ares. "I still am trying to rap my brain around all of this stuff its crazy to think that all of this stuff exsists in the world, that its all not just a bunch of old stories that the greeks use to explain why tornado's happened or why crops grew." He said.

[Harper Marowski]

As much as the Connor boy was trying to comfort her and make her feel better, well... the things he was saying were only making her feel even worse. "We're all like a dime a dozen to them." It made Harper want to wince, considering what her father had said to her, above all. He'd told her that he has truly loved her mother - she wasn't just some conquest like so many other mortals were. He was... truly happy that they'd had a child together. He was glad she existed, and she was like... his favorite. At least, that was what Apollo had implied when she'd last spoken with him. He valued her above the rest, and yet, her hadn't come to visit her in a few weeks to apologize or even say anything to her...

Harper really needed to stop thinking about him. After all, she'd been at Camp Half-Blood for how long, exactly? She'd lived this long without worrying about her father, why start now? She tried smiling at Connor again, but it failed when he asked her about being the camp greeter. "Just forget I said anything," she said, trying to fake a laugh. If he didn't know just how involved she'd become with camp politics, he didn't need to know now. "It's nothing, really." At least, she tried to make it sound that way.

Connor asked if she had been at camp for a long time, and Harper just shrugged. No use lying to him, she supposed. "Three years running, more or less," she replied with a nonchalant shrug. Being here for so long wasn't something to brag about, especially with so many new kids coming in. A lot of them took offense when they found out someone had been there longer than they had, though for some it wasn't qutie that hard to beat their record. And when he said that he was still getting used to everything, Harper just smiled. "Yeah, it does take a while to get used to. I ran into a troll my first year here. It wasn't pretty." She made a face. "Have you run into any more mythological monsters while you've been here?" She smiled at him, this time it was a real one.

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor noticted that what he was saying didnt seem to really be having the effect he had hopped. Instead of cheering her up he seemed to make her more upset with him talking down about her dad and the gods in general. "Sorry I didnt mean to make you any more upset, I grew up without Hephestus being there and i guess it kinda made me harden up." he smiled a little "you wouldnt beleive the hard time I gave my step dad when he first got married to my mom." he laughed a little thinking about the memories he had shared with his family. He missed them like crazy and wished he knew where they were or atleast if they were safe.

He frowned at her as she did a pretty bad attempt at faking a cheerfull mood. That was one thing that obviously didnt change weither or not you were demi-god or your average run of the mill teenage girl.....they were horrible liars. Connor had always known when a girl was upset, it was kinda like an instinct of his and he always did his best to try and cheer them up. "Come on now Harper your going to have to do better then a half hearted laugh to fool me." he said smiling at her. "Come on im not going to bite you, if theres somthing on your mind you can tell me.

His eyes widdened when she said she had been here three years, three years of fighting monsters and going on quests was unfathomable to Connor. He never had asked Annabeth how long she had been at camp although he assumed that it was probably around the same as Harper which pretty much blew his mind. "Three years, thats crazy you must have done a bunch of cool stuff since." Now that he had come to think about it he probably would have come around the same time as she did if he hadn't been stuck in the Lotus. He laughed as she mentioned the troll. "Ya I can imagine that not being the greatest of experiances, but other then those hell hounds i haven't really fought any other monsters."

[Harper Marowski]

Harper began to see that this boy was really trying his best to maintain a good conversation, and was being really sweet about her being all doom and gloom. She knew that wasn't who she really was. She knew that, even around social crowds, she at least showed that true side of her personality. Typically, Harper was bright and cheerful around the other campers, esepcially the newbies since they didn't know as much as she did and they probably needed guidance. But lately, with all of the social pressure building up and her situation with her father, Harper just wasn't really feeling herself. But standing here away from everything, talking to someone new whom she'd never spoken to before... things were coming back.

The gleam in her eyes that came naturally whenever around folks began to show up in her expression, and the smile went from fake to genuine. It was a gradual process of course, listening to the boy Connor talk, and Harper slowly began showing signs of liveliness again. There was a little more pride in her stance, a little more 'pep to her step', as it were. Her told her that if there was anything on her mind, she could tell him, and Harper just shook her head. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything like that, but I don't like spilling all my thoughts to the first person I meet, you know? I'm just dealing with some stuff from my dad at the moment. No real biggie, I guess," she answered with a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing. She needed to get over it - everything Connor was saying was actually beginning to make her feel better... a little.

Harper laughed though, when Connor said that it was crazy she'd been living at camp for three years. "Trust me, it hasn't been easy. Monsters everywhere trying to get at us... not fun," she said with a genuine grin. Her eyebrows raised when Connor mentioned hellhounds - she'd heard of the monster beasts from the Fields of Punishment, and the only time she'd ever seen one was during a game of Capture the Flag a few years back. "Hellhounds, huh? Were they after you? Spill the story, I like hearing them." It was the truth - Harper had loved stories - she'd loved them since she was a kid. Loving to write, of course, stories that other people told her helped her with her own creativity. And that was something she couldn't replace.

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor gave a sheepish smile when she said she didnt really like telling her whole life history to some random stranger. He was adjusting to this life fairly quickly and had forgotten that he had literally just met Harper. "Right, of course, sorry i didnt mean to like pry into your private life or anything." he said a little akwardly. He smiled when she talked about how it hadn't all been fun and games with the monsters, "Ha ya i can imagine being chased by Minatours and Dracinea and all the other monsters out there couldnt exactly be the funnest thing in the world but, I Mean atleast you got to be at camp for all the fun stuff." he said with a shrug.

He chuckled when she told him to spill the beans about Annabeth's and his encounter with the hell hounds. "There isn't much to tell really. I was driving my motorcycle around Manhatten looking for the Empire State building, I drove past a building and saw Annabeth staring at it so I decided to stop and ask for directions, as she was telling me how to get there four hellhounds sprung out of the shadows and attacked us, Annabeth used her knife to kill two and i beat the other two with a metal pipe. One racked my chest up pretty bad so Annabeth risked giving me some Ambrosia to fix me up. Luckily it worked so she took me to one of her little hiding places and explained everything to me." he shrugged again "I have to say I was pretty skeptical at first but I gave in eventually." He decided not to tell her about Why he was looking for the Empire State Building or how he'd been trapped in the Lotus for close to three years. Those were is own little secrets.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper loved stories, and it was no secret around camp that she did. She loved using her imagination, considering as she was the daughter of Apollo and loved writing. Writing her stories was something that made Harper exactly who she was, and her imagination and creatvity were something that just added to the mix. And with other peoples' stories to fascinate and inspire her? Harper the poet and author was unstoppable. She laughed, though, at the end of Connor's story, because she realized something. She said, "I have to admit, my story about finding out about everything was definitely not as dramatic as that. And I know you probably don't think about it this way, but that actually sounds really cool. Beating hellhounds with a metal pipe. Sounds like fun, if you're an Ares kid."

Harper turned and spotted a boulder nearby. She clambered on top of it and sat down, patting the space next to her for Connor to sit down. She didn't really want to go back to the cabins yet, even though the sun had gone down and counselors were probably going to start making their rounds soon. "And about the prying thing, it's alright. I can tell you're not the naturally nosy sort. So why don't we share some stories ourselves? Unless you want to head back to the cabins, which I'm not really in the mood of doing so yet. What do you think?" She tilted her head at him, smiling one of the most sincere smiles she had smiled all day.

{OOC: Pathetically short, but I had already warned you of that...}

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor smiled at her, it was good to know that she was impressed with his little get together with the hell hounds. He never had really thought to much about it, "It's not that big of a deal, I wasn't exactly trying to be tough or anything I honestly thought they were just really big mutant dogs." he said laughing, He wasn't trying sound tough or macho about the experience. To be honest he had been terrified throughout the whole ordeal, he just never was really good at showing fright. He could have been so scared he was about to wet his pants but he always kept his composure calm and fearless. "I'm sure your story about finding all this stuff out is alot more exciting then smacking a hell hound with a piece of plumbing." he said his award winning grin showing.

He walked over to the rock climbed up and plopped down next to Harper, looking out at the lake watching the moons reflection. It was all very peaceful and in a way kinda romantic. For a second he felt kinda embarrassed sitting on a moonlight beach with a girl he had just met. That feeling soon passed, There was nothing wrong with a boy and a girl spending time together on a beach and it wasn't like they were doing anything, just talking. "Na I was never the one to go to bed early, not to mention my bros are probably still hammering away in the the forge in our cabin anyway. Not exactly the ideal sleeping condition." he chuckled a little, "You sure you wanna trade deep dark secrets." he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper smiled at him as he made an attempt at being modest. Even though it came out sounding like he was trying to sound like a tough guy, Harper simply laughed along with him, as she could tell that wasn't the way he really acted. He really was just trying to be modest, and she liked that. She only wished that some other people around camp took after his example. She even chuckled at the bit where he said that he was sure her story was more exciting than his. Harper just shook her head in reply. "No, I think hellhounds definitely beats my version," she amended.

When Connor sat next to her, and the moonlight shone down on on the water, a little red rushed to Harper's face too. Of course, she was completely comfortable around guys - she dealt with them every day around camp, so of course it didn't take long for her to get used to it. The feeling of slight apprehension at being alone at night with a boy lasted only about ten to twenty seconds. She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the night-time sky, the energy that filled her during the day slowly beginning to fade.

"I don't really have any deep and dark secrets to share, so maybe this conversation might not last that long. Just stories." Harper grinned over at Connor, and winked. Her bubbly, bright nature was now back in full force. "Unless you've got some of your own you'd like to share. I wouldn't mind." She laughed and looked back at the water, trying to decide what to say next. Of course, it came to her without even a second's pause. She just had a natural talkative nature about her and could keep a conversation going for hours. "Have any more amazing stories like the hellhounds? Or was your life just as boring as mine before you came here?"

[connorwindkeeper]

Connor smiled at her a nudged playfully at her, "Come on its gotta be. Hellhounds are bor-ing!! Im sure your encounter was more exciting then my lame story." he said smiling at her, he was enjoying himself alot more now that the girl had lightened up a little. He would have liked to think that he was the cause of this sudden change in her mood, but hey maybe she was just having a bad day and needed someone to talk to. He looked over to her and noticted she was slightly red, he looked away hoping that she didn't catch him staring. He kinda felt better knowing that she felt a little awkward (even if it was in a good way) about being out on a moonlight rendezvous on the beach.

Connor looked out onto the moonlight water a little smile played out on his face. "Nothing to dramatic, I was born and raised in San Diego. Just lived with my mom for most of my life, although I'm sure you could guessed that. I was a big sports jock i guess, played football I wrestled some, played lacrosse, basketball, and i dabbled in Wake boarding. Mom got remarried to a pretty decent guy who got me into motorcycles. Pretty boring life until i wound up on the streets of new York fighting my way through hell hounds." he said with his pearly whites showing. "Whats your story?" he asked.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper just listened to Connor's story. Most of the girls around camp knew her to be a good listener, even though sometimes she could be almost as terrible a gossip as the Aphrodite girls. But she promised herself that she wouldn't spill Connor's story - that was for him to tell and for him to tell only. The thing that separated Harper from most gossips was her ability to keep quiet about certain things. She only blabbed about the stuff that was inconsquential, not somebody's secret life story that they didn't tell just anybody. Harper looked out over the lake as he asked about her story. She smiled to herself as her 'story', as it were, made her think of her mother.

"Well, I came to Camp Half-blood three years ago. Being a kid of Apollo, and there are so many of us, monsters don't come after us that often." Harper shrugged, unoffended by the truth of her words. "So there aren't any hellhounds or minotaurs or cyclopes in my story, honestly. One day, I found my mom packing my stuff in the hotel we were staying at and she told me that she was taking me somewhere I could be with other kids like me." She looked down at the sand beneath the boulder and let out a sigh. She could remember how betrayed she had felt, mainly because she hadn't understood why her mom wanted her to go away. "I think we were in California at the time. LA, I think. That was probably why she wanted me here, we were too close to the Underworld and maybe my dad sent her a signal or something. I don't know - I've never asked her."

She looked back up, this time towards the ocean and the gleaming light was back in her chocolate eyes were back. Harper smiled up at Connor and gave him a little shrug. "See? Pretty boring. I guess the only thing exciting about me and my past are the places I've seen. My mom travels, she's a musician that can sing and play saxophone. We've gone everywhere together. I've even been to Italy, if you can believe that. But now that I'm at camp, I only get to see her during the Christmas season. The rest of the year, I'm here training and having fun with kids like you." She winked at her newfound friend playfully.