Post by Harper Marowski on Oct 24, 2010 22:22:20 GMT -5
This is what happens when you get a very bored Harp and a lot of Prophecies muse. I just kind of came up with an idea for this and started writing - I hope you guys like it. ^^ I plan on doing more of these, with different characters. You'll see what I mean.
“Very well shot, Gwen. You may be a better archer than your mother yet.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chiron, sir,” said a very small girl with blond hair. She had a bright, bubbly air about her that seemed to outmatch the other children around her in the archery range. There were older teenagers practicing on the other end of the range, while the younger children were being instructed by Chiron.
Chiron looked at all the other youngsters before him with a contemplative smile on his face. “Gwen here has just demonstrated one of the key components to a good archer. She kept her concentration, but when the time came, she trusted herself to know where the arrow needed to go. Perhaps you should all meditate on that before our next session tomorrow afternoon. Dismissed.”
Instantly chatter filled the air as the young children, ages ranging from three to eight, got into groups and began heading towards the exit, from which they’d all go to the cabins where they belonged.
They didn’t know it because of their age, but Camp Half-Blood had changed over the years.
A lot of demi-gods from the old days had either chosen to stay at Camp Half-Blood or had lived long enough to marry and have children. Now, those who had become parents had their own cabins in order to accommodate. When the children were old enough, they were moved to live in the cabin to which they belonged. The god, a parent of one of the children’s parents that wanted that particular child, claimed the children before they reached the age of fourteen.
Young Gwen hadn’t been claimed just yet at the age of four, so therefore she was still living with her parents in a cabin that was on the outskirts of camp.
As she exited the archery range, she grinned when she saw her older brother Everett waiting for her. He was always waiting for her because Gwen’s parents didn’t want her walking all the way back to the cabin by herself, and since Everett’s combat practice ended only ten minutes before hers did, he was given the duty of walking her home.
“How’d practice go today, Gwen?” he asked with that soft, sweet voice he always used with her. He held a hand out for her to take as she got closer.
Gwen bounced along and took his hand with a grin. “Mr. Chiron said that I might be better than Mom someday,” she boasted.
Everett smiled down at his sister and squeezed her hand. “That’s awesome, Gwen,” he told her sincerely. “You should tell Mom and Dad when we get home. They’ll be really proud.”
“Really?”
“I promise.”
Gwen grinned with pride as the pair of them walked the well-worn path back to their cabin near the borders of camp. From what they knew, their father had wanted it built a little ways from the central of camp to avoid unnecessary confrontations with other demi-gods, because as their mother had explained, their father had never had the best social record. And sometimes, because of something he’d done in the past, other demi-gods their parents’ age still gave him dirty looks.
Some of them even gave Everett and Gwen such looks, but never voiced any disdain to the young children. Gwen was blissfully oblivious to the stares they sometimes received, but Everett was not so blind.
The two siblings rounded a corner to enter a smaller meadow, in the middle of which was a little cabin that wasn’t any bigger than the others back in the middle of camp. It was made of some kind of metal that when the sun hit it just right, which was usually at dawn or dusk, it gave off some kind of glow. The inside was a lovely, bright seeming place that made the two happy to come home everyday.
Everett opened the door.
“Mom! Dad! We’re home!”
“Where’s my Gwenny-Bird?” A young man in his late twenties stepped into the doorway that served as an entrance way to the kitchen, his dirty blond hair matching the shade of Gwen’s. There was a small grin on his face as he got onto his knees to embrace his youngest daughter, who threw her arms around his neck.
“Daddy, you’ll never guess what Chiron said to me today,” Gwen chirped, her voice chipper and bright.
Her father gingerly picked her up in his arms as Everett made his way past them into the kitchen where he could get himself a snack. Gwen’s father carefully carried her into what was their ramshackle living room and sat down with her in one of the armchairs.
“I don’t think I can guess, Gwenny-Bird. You’re going to have to tell me,” he said with a smile on his face.
Gwen grinned, showing off her missing front tooth. “Chiron said I might be better than Mommy someday at archery.”
“What? Better than me?” came a soft voice from behind the pair. “Impossible.”
Gwen’s father twisted around, looking extremely worried. “Sunshine Girl,” he said anxiously, “You’re not supposed to be up and walking around right now. You need to rest.”
Gwen had never understood why her father always called her and her brother’s mother ‘Sunshine Girl’, but no matter what, he almost always called her that. But her mother seemed to enjoy it – she always responded to the pet name with either a smile or a giggle.
But this time, her mother frowned slightly. “Gavin, I feel fine. The baby isn’t due for another few weeks. As long as I don’t overexert myself, the healers said I’ll be perfectly fine.”
Gwen’s eyes travelled to her mother’s swollen belly. She grinned in excitement at the idea of a little brother or sister, especially since it would mean that she wasn’t the youngest anymore. She loved being her father’s Gwenny-Bird, of course, but maybe if she wasn’t the youngest maybe that would mean she could walk back to the cabin all by herself.
“Excuse me, Gwenny-Bird.” With that, Gavin plucked his daughter from his lap and stood to go to the woman currently carrying their third child. “Harp, you’ve got to be careful. If you try and move too much, you’ll hurt yourself. I don’t… it’s not great seeing you hurting, Sunshine Girl.” Gwen watched as he gave a feeble smile to her mother.
“You’re sweet when you’re being overprotective.” Her mother’s smile was almost joking, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. She almost fell over in the attempt, but Gavin steadied her, holding her up. They grinned at each other before closing the distance between their lips.
“Blech!” Gwen wrinkled her nose at the blatant display of affection. “That’s gross!”
Her parents broke apart, looking at her in amusement. They glanced at each other, and started laughing. Everett walked into the room with a half-eaten apple in his hand. He surveyed the situation, rolled his eyes, and headed for his bedroom.
They were a family.