New Camper! Hunters Arrival

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

With heavy breathes Hunter hauled a mostly unconscious Satyr towards a large building. Basher was a lot heavier than he expected and truly the only thing keeping Hunter on his own two feet was adrenaline and anger. Things had been going great back at home, he had an actual speaking role in a play, he was slowly making friends with the rest of the theatre crew, he had a great life with his mom.... so why now? Were the Gods playing a cruel trick on him? Not that he had ever believed they existed until now... well... that's not fully true, but Hunter didn't know what to think anymore. He never thought those prayers to the theatre gods actually went anywhere and now he's finding out they're all true? And real? And that both his mom and best friend had known about them the ENTIRE TIME? He couldn't tell if he was shaking from the frustration or fear as his legs carried him towards what he hoped were buildings. "HELP! Someone! is anyone here! My frie- We're hurt!" Was Basher even really his friend? or was it all a ploy to get him to this stupid place for... what had he called them... Demi-Gods? It all felt too surreal to really be true. He could feel the tears starting to well in his eyes as he kept shouting for someone, anyone, to hopefully find them and save him from this nightmare.

[Dustin Graves Rare]

Dustin was inside the big house enjoying some of the cookies that Lilythe had made the day before. It was his turn in the big house. All of the cabin leaders helped with this part. Giving Lilythe some time to enjoy her time as well. Anyways, he had never been the one to cook anything at all. Because everything he made tasted like crap. Not that anyone said it to his face. Scared to see how he would react to it and all. However, Dustin knew that they talked about it behind his back. It was old news though, and one he didn't really care about. But he was munching on the cookie when he heard someone screaming. He stopped mid bite and placed the cookie down for a second, waiting to hear what he heard once again. Trying to see if it was coming from the front of the house or from back in the camp. Because, let's be honest, there were all kinds of people there getting hurt. Another scream came from someone and this time he knew right away that it was coming from the front of the house. He jumped up off the couch and rushed to the door, as he opened it, he stepped out on the deck and noticed a boy with a satyr coming up the hill. The later was hurt. "Larissa." he yelled into the house for the Apollo healer to hear and ran out to meet the boy and his friend. "Here let me take him from you." he said as he waited for the boy to let him have the satyr. "We got you both." he said as he looked at the boy and then down to the Sytar. Dustin was pretty buff for his age and all the training that he had done so it was pretty easy for him to carry the satyr around. As Dustin turned around, he noticed the dark-haired beauty standing there with what looked like her brother. Ready to help in any kind of way. He turned to the boy and motioned with his head. "Come on, we're going to get him healed, are you hurt?" he questioned curiously to the boy. He was young. Much like the twins were. They just arrived too not that long ago. He smiled at the young boy. This happened a lot, it was like war coming to camp for the first time with most campers. Once Dustin got to the stairs, the older girl and boy took the satyr from Dustin, and he turned to look at the boy. "Come on, lets go get you fixed up too." he said with a small smile on his lips as he made his way to the door holding it open for the boy. "Welcome to camp Half-blood." 

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

Hunter had never been so happy to see another person before in his life. He gladly let the stranger take Basher from his arms. There was only a moment of hesitation when he considered that this could be another monster... that this could be a trick... but it was better to hope for the best in someone than assume the worst. "Th-thank you," Hunter said shakily, taking a moment to blink away the tears. He wasn't a cry baby by any means but part of him didn't want this new person to see him as weak either. Plus he knew he could play it off as an act later if he wanted to. What theatre kid didn't know how to cry on command. "I-I'm not as bad as Basher... he, he took a big hit for me," Hunter stammered out, following the older boy. He crossed his arms against his chest as if to reassure himself that he was fine, that this place was safe... and it did feel that way deep down. "This... this is a camp?" He asked, beginning to regain is composure. His mom had told him to get to some place... but he couldn't remember the name. Was it Camp Half-blood? Though that didn't matter much as he was pretty sure he still had the letter from his mom, the one she told him only to open when he was somewhere safe. "Are... are you a person or a monster?" Hunter's blurted, cheeks turning bright red almost immediately after "So-sorry, it's just sometimes they look like people for a bit..." He shuddered at the memory of an old woman who turned out to be part snake. 

[Dustin Graves Rare]

The young boy thanked him, and he was a little worried that the boy had seen something horrible. He shook his head at the boy, and he sighed some. He hated seeing kids come to camp, but glad to see them coming because it meant that they lived. He wished that sometimes it didn't have to happen that way, but it had to, it was the world that they lived in. "No problem." he said as looked over the boy once more. "Nothing that we can fix here in the house." He said happy to see that. "They are there to protect us." He said glancing back to where Larissa had taken him off. "I'm sure you will see him in no time wondering around." He told the small new camper. He had seen some pretty nasty fights in his life here. The young camper questioned the camp and Dustin couldn't help but chuckle at him. "It is best place for us." He told him a small smile playing on his lips. Dustin however was shocked by the next question the young boy asked him and he couldn't help but laugh. "Well, that would depend on who you asked." he said with a belly laugh. Some of the campers thought he was a monster, but he was just like them. "I'm a person. Cabin leader really." he said holding out his hand to the young boy. "I'm Dustin, son of Ares, who are you?" he asked. See, it took Dustin here years to practice getting the nice thing down. He was pretty sure Lilythe would have killed him if he was aggressive to any of the new campers. "No issues. I understand they can do that." He nodded his head and waved him up the stairs to the door of the big house. "In you go and I can get you some stuff, cookies, drinks, answers for any of the questions that you have." he told him as he waited for the boy to get into the living room. 

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

Hunter exhaled a sigh of relief. He believed the guy in front of him when he said he wasn't a monster, but felt bewildered when he claimed to be a son of Ares. "Like... the Greek God Ares?" He asked. He almost felt like this was again a prank, like he'd been signed up for a TV show but... everything was too real to be that. The monsters, the injuries, the running... if it was a TV show they would probably get sued for negligence. At the mention of cookies though, Hunter lit up and as if on cue his stomach also growled. "Um, food would be nice I-I haven't eaten in..." he tried to remember but maybe it was at the gas station first thing in the morning? after that it had just been running from weird creatures until now. He headed towards what Dustin had called The Big House and he wasn't wrong, it was a massive! Maybe about the size of one of the barns back home. "Whoa..." Hunter exclaimed, already trying to figure out how he could climb up onto the roof... but there was still the nagging part of him that this was all a bit weird. "Um, do you also have juice? Apple, please," he stammered out, remembering his manners at the last second. "I'm Hunter, my moms name is Rose and I don't know who my dad is... um, but depending on the day he's either a massive asshole, or the most wonderful person in existence." Hunter added realizing he hadn't introduced himself. he was still trying to understand, everything felt really strange. Dustin was acting like everything was normal so Hunter felt like he could do the same... he wanted to call his mom, ask if she was okay, and yell at her. He was so upset that she'd kept things from him his whole life... and Basher too! He was supposed to be Hunters friend and he'd kept this massive secret from him! Part of him hoped Basher wouldn't recover and the instantly felt guilty about that. Basher had to recover because then Hunter would give him the talking too of a lifetime. "...you swear it's safe here? On your heart and hope to die?" Hunter asked suddenly, with an intensity to it that didn't seem possible for a twelve year old... but he had to know, and if Dustin swore, then maybe... just maybe he could start to relax. 

[Dustin Graves Rare]

Dustin could see the emotion playing on the boy at the moment and smirked a little. This was all new to him and he knew it but there was only one way to get him into the world and that was to pull him in. He grinned and nodded his head. "The very same." he told the boy. He knew it sounded crazy, but it wasn't in their world. "All of us have a godly parent. You included." He told him as they started moving. "They very much are real, though I've only seen one in my lifetime." Mr. D was something else. He knew that much, the god was..well..there were no words that Dustin could think of at the moment. Dustin smirked when he heard the boy stomach growled and he nodded. "I understand." he said as he kept walking to the house. He turned to look at the boy when he made an exclaim. "Big right." he mused with a chuckle, watching the boys expression a little. He asked about juice and Dustin nodded his head. "Sure," he said making his way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and went to fill it up with the juice that he wanted. He brought it back to the boy and sat it on the living room table. An eyebrow went up when the boy called himself Hunter, and then started talking about his mom and dad. A chuckle came from him. "All of our godly parents are like that." He told Hunter. "We all have a mommy or daddy issue." He told him with a shrug. Dustin had daddy issues. Mainly because of the hell that his mother was put in and where she was now. Dustin didn't much care about his father, but that didn't mean he didn't crave his love, he knew that he wouldn't get it. The boy then asked if this place was safe and asked him to swear and hope to die. Dustin wasn't about that life but he might as well be honest with the boy. "It's the safest place for children like us to be......" he trailed off. "It doesn't mean that it's safe." He told him honestly with a small shrug. "Here we learn how to fight to protect ourselves, we defend this place with our lives all the time." Dustin wasn't lying, he had fought a couple of monsters here and there on these grounds. 

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

Hunter was a bit stunned at the idea that his Dad might actually be a Greek God... but Hunter didn't have a clue which one. He probably should have paid more attention to what he covered in his homeschooling, though he couldn't really recall if his mom had gone over ancient Greek myths or not. "How uh, how do you know who your Godly Parent is?" Hunter asked, brows furrowing a bit. He couldn't imagine a literal god coming down from the heavens, extending a hand and going 'You Are My Son.' Hunter had an overactive imagination but even that seemed ridiculous to him. Hunter nodded at Dustin's statement of the house being big, maybe later he'd ask if there was a way to get on the roof, though Hunter figured he could climb up there no problem. He'd climbed enough trees back home that it wouldn't be a terrible challenge for him. After taking the juice and slowly sipping on it, he finally let himself smile "Have you ever met your dad?" Hunter wasn't sure if that was offensive or not, but the more he learned about this place the easier it would be to get around. He wondered how many people actually stayed at camp... he wasn't used to being around a ton of people except for when he went into town for theatre, and he loved it. he was a little bit excited to make friends, to be around strangers and learn more about Camp Half-Blood. He did frown a bit at Dustin's answer about how safe it was here, but it was better than nothing. He really hoped his mom was okay, maybe Dustin had a phone? "I guess that's better than being in danger all the time..." Hunter missed his mom, he bit back the urge to cry again, thankful for his acting skills to cover up how he was really feeling. "Um, is there a way I can call my mom? I don't know if she's okay, we just ran and... I haven't had the chance to check on her."

[Dustin Graves Rare]

Dustin watched the boy a little more than the questions began to start happening. Which he was glad that they were. Meant that the boy was starting to settle down a little. Well at least that was what he hoped for anyways. Hunter seemed to ask how he knew how they knew how the godly parent was and he smile a little thinking about it. Back when he was claimed, he was so young. "Well, you see." He started. "We have a bonfire, and all the campers go to it to sing and dance around. During that time, if the gods see it fit, they will claim their children. There will be a symbol above their heads that go with what God they belong to. Lilythe will be there to tell you where you belong don't worry about that." he ended that. "Lilythe will be the cabin leader of the cabin that you will go to tonight. She is a daughter of Hermes." He told him with a faint smile. "She will help you out more if you have questions later." He said shaking his head a little allowing his hair to sway a little. The next question that Hunter asked made Dustin stop for a moment. He sighed and shook his head no. "Na, don't think I ever will either." he said with a shrug. "The Gods don't come down and do anything for their children." he said but then again that was okay with Dustin. He didn't think that he wanted to see his father at all. It would probably just cause more issues than none anyways. He shook his head at the thought. The conversation went back to the camp, and he was glad because let's be honest, talking about his dad wasn't something he was ready for. "It is." he told the younger boy as he grabbed a cookie and began to munch on it a little. Dustin tilted his head a little as the young boy asked for a way to call his mom and Dustin had to be the one that told him no. Wonderful. He didn't do well with crying children. That was more of a Lilythe spot. "Umm... no. We don't." he said as softly as he could. "We're not allowed to have phones here." he told him. "But you can use Iris message or write her a letter." He told him. "That is about all we can do here."
 

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

Hunter listened intently. it sounded like how he'd imagined camp to be. he couldn't remember the book or the play he'd read that involved bonfires and dancing, was it Midsummer Nights Dream? It sounded kind of like that... I mean there were Satyrs and who knows maybe it would be sort of like that? He didn't fully get Shakespeare and it was difficult to read, but his mom had gotten him audiobooks and he'd seen the play more times than he could count on one hand. "You mean they don't always claim their kids? That... that's not fair," he said with a frown. If monsters were attacking kids shouldn't their parents help? It's not like it's the kids fault they were born. "mmmm this is a lot, like a lot a lot." He furrowed his brow again, it was information overload and it was starting to give him a headache. Upon hearing he wouldn't be able to call his mom he got a little quiet, it wasn't the news he wanted to hear but writing a letter didn't seem like a bad idea... "what's an Iris message? Or is that something Lilythe will tell me?" he took a moment to sip on his juice again, he was starting to get antsy he hoped his mom was still alive, he couldn't imagine never seeing her again. He prayed to whoever his dad was if he could just... maybe check on her? Even if he didn't tell Hunter, just to make sure his mom was safe? "I trust you, you seem like a good person," Hunter decided trying to give a reassuring smile. "This is my first time at camp..." he said softly "my first time away from my mom actually," he admitted. He wasn't going to cry again, not if he could help it! He was brave, and he was alive, and he needed to get it together so folks didn't call him a cry baby.

[Dustin Graves Rare]

Dustin hated this part of his job. He honestly did. He thought it was horrible, but the kid seemed to be different. Listening more to what he was saying. "Not that they don't claim the kids." he started off. "Sometimes the kids don't make it to the camp." he said with a small frown on his lips. He didn't think he would have to explain farther in what he meant. The boy had just survived an attack himself. He was one of the lucky ones. Hunter seemed to think it was a lot and Dustin had to agree with him. This was a lot. He would learn more as the time went by. "The gods don't come down from their place to here, it's not heard of." He told him, though if they did something horrible must have happened, and it meant war. A war that he would be a part of at the moment. He sighed thinking about it then the kid turned to asked what an Iris message was. He smirked before he began talking. "An Iris message is a sort of video message that is used to communicate with others using a rainbow." he told him, it sounded so silly, but it worked. "Sounds fun right?" he questioned the boy with a chuckle. It sounded unreal, and he was sure that the boy would question it. However, Dustin blinked a couple times when Hunter called him a good person. "Well..." he said flabbergasted at the words. "I guess you can thank Lilythe for that when you see her, because I wasn't always like this." he smirked. "I'm an Ares child. We're assholes. But this is part of my job, and you all are scared enough coming in as it is, so better if I don't scare you even more." he laughed more to himself. Hunter told him that this was the first time at any camp and first time away from his mom. "No worries." He spoke. "You're not alone there." he told him. "Most if not all of us have been driven out of our homes and away from our parents. Though you can still go back and visit. You can stay here during summers only and go home to go to school during the school time." He told him as he munched on the rest of his cookie. 

[Hunter Arion Betelgeuse]

Hunter listened intently to Dustun, the idea that he wouldn't make it to this place was something he'd considered. When he was running with Basher he had no idea that this was where they were headed too... and it was really scary. The idea that there were other kids who never made it here? It made his stomach tie up in knots. Did the godly parents not care about their kids? Why wouldn't they help them? Maybe they weren't allowed or couldn't? He didn't want to think too hard about it otherwise his head would start hurting again. "That's really cool, it's like a Hologram brought to life! Maybe I can call my mom tonight using the Iris thingy." he said, a bright smile knowing his mom could survive anything. If a god had loved her she was probably one of the strongest people on earth. Listening to Dustin talk about Ares again it made Hunter wonder who his dad was... "D'you think my dad might be Ares?" He asked curiously, maybe him and Dustin would be brothers and he thought that would be really cool. Hunter nodded at the idea of going back home, but cheeks turned pink at the mention of school, "I, uh" he stammered, "I've never been to school either.... My mom homeschooled me so I probably don't think I'll need to go back for that." it made sense in a way, that his mom would want to keep him where she knew it was safe. He was really thankful for that, even though it might put him at a disadvantage compared to other kid. "You said I'd be staying in a cabin? are there bunk beds?" he tried not to sound too excited, but he'd dreamed of sharing bunk beds with someone, or having a massive group of friends to hang out with. He looked up at Dustin with light in his eyes

[Dustin Graves Rare]

Dustin shrugged at Hunter when he was talking about using the Iris message to talk to his mom. That would be up to Lilythe honestly. Not that he wouldn't be able to, he just didn't know if he would have the time to do it at the moment. He smiled thinking about it for a little bit. What he wouldn't do to be able to talk to his own mother. But that wasn't what he needed, he didn't need to know where she was at the moment, might still be in the rehab center that she was in when he ran away. Apparently talking about Dustin's father made Hunter a little curious all in all. He even went as far as to ask if Dustin thought that Ares might be his dad. The only thing that Dustin could do was shrug. "Don't know kid." he said with a smirk. Hunter didn't act like his brother and sisters, but then again, he hadn't seen him out in battle either. "If he is, then you will be my brother that's for sure." He grinned happily thinking about it. The Ares cabin were always happy to have more of their siblings to come. Not that it was a shock that his father messed around with any and every one woman he could. He wanted to roll his eyes thinking about it and smiled a little at the boy in front of him. It was then that hunter told him that he had been homeschooled and he blinked a little. "Well, you can always study here." he grinned, most of them normally went out to the school, he knew a couple of them that did. Dustin himself did that. It was easy for him. He was no longer in school at the moment. So, there was that. He took a sip of his drink and then nodded his head at the boy as he was bringing up the cabin that he was going to be staying at. "So, you'll be staying in cabin 11 until you are claimed by your godly parent. It's a bigger cabin than most, but I hate to tell you, it's kind of packed all the time. So, you might have to sleep on the floor." He told him. "Cabin 11 is Hermes cabin. The god of travelers. So, with that, his children live there, along with the children that the gods haven't claimed yet, and then you have the children of the minor gods as well. The children of minor Gods that don't have a cabin of their own. It's a lot. But hopefully you'll only have to stay a night in there max a week." He said sending the boy a wink. Dustin himself only spent a couple nights in the cabin himself before his father claimed him.