A Cave in the Forest

[The Chronicler]

 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

[RED Team ] RP challenge: (9) Bring sustenance to your teammates.

Azrael took the time to setup a small camp in the mouth of the cave system, aiming to find a fortified position he could setup the kids so they were not in immediate sight and in a defensible location. He had known that the amount of magic and speed the combined forces of Hermes and Hecate needed more than just the luck his mother gave him.

He pulled the youngest of the team together and decided to stick with them over the normal running heroics of the old days. He lead them a distance away from the worst of the activity and set they into a good location and making sure to sort a close watch on it.

He looked around and caught the attention of @ Derrick Raines  and @ Octavia Davis "Lets get somewhere out of the front line" as he pulled a backpack onto his shoulder. 

Azrael made sure there was a soft light hidden within the cave mouth and set out some snacks (chips and a bag full of cookies form the big house) and drinks on a set of rocks, and made sure everyone was okay.. he knew they could only have a certain number of folks guarding the flag itself so keeping them in a safer place with at least one of the older lot seemed a good plan.

"So.. we don't want to get caught up in the worst of the fighting. But from here we can keep an eye out and see if anyone tries to sneak up on us. But for now I can keep watch so we have a chance to settle down with some snacks, just keep your swords nearby.. and watch out for any speedy Hermes types or weird magic going on.."

He looked them over thinking about the way the games often played out.

"And if you want to get into the thick of it, I can keep an eye out for trouble if you want to go after a flag." He knew with all the weapons and chaos he couldn't keep them from all harms but here would at least settle them before any action kicked off.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn

[Octavia Davis Rare]

Octavia had heard about the game that was about to happen. Her older sister had been braiding her hair for the match, since it always in her face. She opted for two brides and smiled when they were in. Lining up like always, they went to the middle of the place and was told what to do. Her little mind was running a mile a minute when she was handed a helmet and a sword. It was just about as big as she was. Her eyes widened when her attention was caught by Mr. Azrael. He was an older camper and she was pretty sure that he was good friends with her big brother James. Then there was the fact that he was Derricks older brother too. She smiled at him as she bounced over to him. "Mr. Azrael..." she started in her tiny voice. "Do you have any special powers that could help us get the flag?" She questioned him as they walked into the cave. 

Her eyes soon landed on the snacks that were being set up and she clapped her hands a little. Liking the idea of being able to eat. She was a little to nervous about the games this morning and she couldn't eat anything. Which was saying a lot. Since the girl loved to eat all the time. She hummed and walked over to get some chips but not before giving Derrick a bright smile as she removed her helmet. She knew that the older camper was just trying to keep them safe from the real game and she understood that. 

"People have magic here?" she blinked over to the older camper and was in awe. She had noticed that some of the other campers had different abilities but she never really sat there and just watched them do things. No, her father had told her better. 

"OH!" she giggled and stood up with a chip in her mouth. "What if we win the game together." She grinned happily thinking about it. She knew that it was a long shot but couldn't help but want to think it could happen. The two youngest kids going to get the flag from the others. It could totally work.  

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael had taken the time to check the cave system for monsters earlier, at least the main tunnels and was pretty sure of the fortified position from threats both inside and out.

He "Nemesis gave me a bit of luck as well as a sense when someone has a grudge, but mostly cabin sixteen just tend to be a bull headed when we set our minds to something. I have been in a good few battles alongside.. Camp Director Raynes.. and things though so I can help from that side." he explained, choosing to skip the thought that they were on opposite sides of the field, not wanting to dwell on that too much. "But this one is going to be a bit longer with more flags so I wanted to make sure you didn't get too dragged into the fray too quickly." He knew everyone would get involved in the game but the first few assaults tended to get the worst of the recklessness out of the way, this way he could at least keep an eye on them and make sure the kids avoided the worst of the battlefield chaos.

Hearing Octavia more comfortable with making a plan he realized just how much the little girls laid back attitude and infectious friendliness reminded him of James. With a smile he continued "There are folks on the other side who can make you see things or not see things as they like, though they tend to do it more at night. I am sure the games will be over by then" he said reassuringly  "But If you want to make a plan I can help distract the other side or stand in the way of trouble. I just know how busy these things get, especially with weapons involved."

He started to pull pastries and cans of soda out from his backpack and found a large flat surface in the rocks.

"So if you want a plan, you have the river" he said making a line of sand across the middle of the makeshift table, then placing down two cans if soda "and then each team has their flag" then pulling out some small cupcakes he placed them around one can, then some wrapped cookies and put them around the other "then each of the flags has their own team to defend and go after the flag." as he pointed from the cookies at one can over to the muffins at the other..

"So if we are team cupcakes, how do we steal the mountain dew flag from team cookie?" he asked the kids with a smile.

[Luca Cassano]

"Cupcakes? You guys brought cupcakes to the game?" The child of Demeter suddenly appeared out of nowhere from the mouth of the cave since he had just teleported nearby to regroup with the other team members. The mention of the confection had clearly distracted him from the battle and it did not help him further with snacks that were laid out on a set of stones nearby. Knowing that Azrael, Octavia, and Derrick are here, he can be reassured that the older Nemesis child had checked out further into the cave and made sure that there aren't any monsters within. After all, they are still here like sitting ducks for now but all he's seeing right now is a man babysitting two kids. Three if you include Luca. He shook his head. "Sorry, I get distracted easily. So you guys are waiting out here. What's the plan?"

"I'm Luca. Demeter's my mom so you could tell if I may appear out of nowhere with plants nearby. I needed to regroup. Hmm... I could keep the enemy at bay by wrapping vines around their legs. It won't do much but I can stall for time while you guys head straight for the flag - I mean for team cookie's flag. Don't let it distract you. They like raisins in their cookies." The boy had assumed not many children like to eat raisin cookies so he had used this to attempt to get the kids to play along. "Azrael. I have someone posted in our flag and a couple others so rest assured we can form a plan without having to worry about our home base. If anything, at least we have to get their flag before they get ours. I can teleport... but who knows if I pop in front of an enemy."

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael looked up at the newcomer with a smile. A chance to help the team if they needed reinforcements but mostly someone else to help the kids come out of their shell, the Demeter kids were always friendly and good with the younger ones. For now though he wanted to make sure the younglings were comfortable and if they were well defended and another body in the area would help with that.

"Cupcakes are the cornerstone of any major battle. A good life lesson" he said smiling, Luca was definitely on board with the planning so 

"We are most definitely still making the plan, and if you want a cupcake you need to grab one from the jail." pointing over to the napsack to one side. "oh and pick a flavor for yourself while you are at it." the looking back to the kids "Looks like you have a teleporting cupcake to add to the plan."

Upon hearing about the cookie choices of the other side he made sure they could know the seriousness of the fight this day. "Raisins.. see the blue cookie team really as the monsters!" He put a hand to his chest "We really need to defeat them and their.." pointing to the can at the other side of the stone surface "Dew-y flag once and for all!"

Edited September 27, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn

[Octavia Davis Rare]

Tavia listened closely to Azrael as he told them that they were blessed with luck as well. "Cool." she glanced at Derrick, who she had become fast friends with and smiled at him. They both had talked about their lucky side a couple times and she couldn't help but wonder what all the cabin had in its powers. He said bull headedness but she honestly didn't have a clue what that was at all. "Otay." The younger girl said with a smile knowing that if he was trying to keep them safe then she would try her best at keeping herself out of trouble. 

Her mouth dropped open a little as he began telling her that there were others on the other side that could make them see things. She didn't want that to happen at all. She blinked and looked over at her younger friend. Did that mean that they could make her see monsters? She shivered a little thinking about it. No, she didn't want that to happen at all. She nodded her head when he said that they would make a plan. She liked a plan. Honestly that would help her out in the long run. She wanted to make sure that if something happened in the cave that it happened with a plan in tacked. She watched as he started to pull out cans and other goodies and sat them out on the flat rock. She walked over to him, dragging her sword with her along the way, he did say keep it close to her. So, she did. 

She watched a little as he made a line in the sand and keep talking. The cans were the flags, okay understood. Each team had one, then he placed down the teams. Cookies and cupcakes. Easy enough to understand at the moment. Then he asked the question about how to steal the soda from team cookie. She looked hard at the board and looked back up him just in time for another person to join them. She went to reach for her sword, forgetting who was all on her team but then she noticed that Azrael hadn't budged from the boy, so maybe he was on their team. 

Octavia looked in awe at the older boy and smiled at him when he said that his mom was Demeter. She had no idea who that was but that was pretty cool. He had a godly mom like they all did. She swayed back and forth for a moment before she looked at Azrael once again. But Luca's words grabbed her attention and she blinked a little. "You can move plants!" She blinked and bounced on her toes as she glanced around to Derrick like they had just won the whole game. That was so cool. Then Azrael added in the teleporting cupcake since she had missed that little sentence being in awe of the boy but she couldn't help but grin. "Well, I have luck that is all." she giggled as she looked at the table once again and made a face when she noticed the raisins ewwy. She glanced up at the two older campers and nodded. "I'm small and can fit into any place." She told them her strength. "I used to hide from my dad all the time. He would have to give up before I came out." she told them as she was pretty proud of that fact that she would give her father heart attacks because he couldn't find her. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Listening to Octavia, Azrael remember a long buried memory when he had gotten dragged state to state by his father and he had gotten fed up of trying and leaving behind the friends he had tried to make.. "That is one heck of a skill to have, when I was younger it was hiding at the bottom of a wardrobe, no one could see me behind all the big coats." he remembered it well, guessing he must have been Octavia's age or even younger "although after a while i wished i had brought a pillow with me."

Azrael looked over the assorted bunch of them and their assorted talents. They could come up with something workable with this set he was sure, but it wasn't his place to make the plan, this was their war game more than his as he looked over the others.

"Well if you want an assessment of skills - I guess I am a lot bigger than you folks so harder to hide" he said with a smile "and I have been fighting big monsters and things for a good few years." he made sure to keep a smile strong, some of those fights had not gone as well as hoped.  "So I work well as a noisy distraction, or a front line fighter." he said grinning or a bodyguard, but in this case that one is a given 

"So Boss and Boss" nodding to Derrick and Octavia and indicating the makeshift battle map "How do you want to do this?"

[Derrick Raines]

Derrick was feeling a bit nervous as this was his first capture the flag. He knew the rules but it did not take away the feeling of nerves that was running through his body. So when Azrael his big brother caught his attention. He quickly came over to him with a nervous look on his face. "Okay" he said nodding happy to have a brother there to give him directions. What if a monster had come at him in the woods. The thought brought a shiver down his spine. His gaze never left his brother as he spoke about them keeping an eye out from the cave. Nodding he was a bit too nervous to go out now but maybe with more time he would. Hearing Octavia ask him a question about his brothers abilities. A smile came on his face. He was happy she was here with him. The two of them had bonded over the summer which was nice. 

The two of them went back and forth with their conversation which he just took a seat and smiled back at Octavia when snacks were talked about. He was happy to have a calm place as the craziness of the game sounded more like a battle he did not want to be involved in....well just yet. But as soon as his brother began to pull things out of the bag. It was like a map to get the flag. "Team Cupcake" Derrick looked at his brother and laughed. "What kind of name is that?" 

Just at that moment Luca appeared out of no where which made him jump. "WOAH where " then the boy answered that he could teleport. Wow those were some cool abilities. If only he could have them! Octavia talked about her luck and then he felt a burst of energy inside of him. "Welllll um I am fast and small and can make some traps.......maybe we can snag the other cookies and then get the dewy flag?" 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael was glad to see that his little brother was getting involved and that the kids were beginning to open up to the plan, he had been worried he had pitched this a little too young but it had amused him and he was old in comparison. He hadn't in truth done a lot with the younger campers before, he was late on to living outside of the Hermes cabin and with all the wars he hadn't  ever ending up in a position to give lessons or anything, but this felt at least fun to him and he hoped it brushed off on the others.

After Luca had made such an entrance he made sure to answer the question "Trust me.. after living through Team Edward and team Jacob, team cupcake ends up sounding pretty good. And you narrowly missed out on team raisin" he said nodding over to Luca. 

Azrael picked up the muffins in turn and set them near the evil cookie side of the map "So you have a luck filled sneaker" taking a white cupcake with sparkles on top and gesturing to Octavia "A fast trapper" gesturing to Derrick with a toffee topped muffin, "A teleporting plant controller" gesturing to Luca with a muffin decorated with green sugar leaves "and a bruiser" picking up a choco chip one and holding it up. There were only a couple of cookies near the enemy can and as he looked down at the field, he put his choco chip down in the front, a definite distraction. "So if I were to run in loudly and say hi, where do we put the others?"

Edited September 28, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn

[Luca Cassano]

Luca certainly helped himself to some of the snacks that were laid out by his teammate. He did not think he was starving until he saw them but perhaps he had been too occupied with the state of the battle. Flags are being taken back and forth it was almost hard to keep track. The boy approached the pile of stones and leaned down to see what looked like baked cupcakes. The smell of frosting tingled his nostrils, each a different color per cupcake while each cupcake seemed to be made with a different batter. Good enough for him - he had always liked a variety. Except raisin cookies. Listening to Octavia talk did nothing but further enriched her sunny disposition which did remind him of his younger self. She seemed to be more relax despite being in this game and it is something he could learn so he could at least function better as a player. "I can move plants, yeah. Hm, sometimes I talk to the trees either. They can tell me what the weather it is like up there." He paused with a grin. "I'm kidding, sorry. I can't do it unless I want to offend the dryads." Listening to her story, he was a bit envious at her luck of her father not finding her. Luca couldn't even sit still so his restlessness is what always got him found in the first place.

It was his first time meeting Derrick and he seemed like a good chap but that was all he could get from his reaction to him teleporting. "I can teleport through plants. I can;'t explain the "science" of it but I know that anywhere there is a plant whether it is grass or weeds, then I can go from point A to point B instantaneously. Consider it a perk of having plant magic." The boy elaborated.

"Ah yeah. Those teams. I'll have you know- Bella should have ended up with Jacob. He's sweet and kind while that other guy is manipulative! What's his name? Edward! I can't believe this." Crossing his arms, he shook his head in disapproval, only to look at the three of them with a gleeful smile. "Right, off topic. I stand with chocolate chip."

"Hmm..." With Azrael being the core distraction, Luca thought he could attempt to keep the enemy at bay so the kids could have a chance at snagging the flag themselves instead of him just teleporting close to it and take it for himself. "How about when you have their attention, I can have my plant friends render them immobile. They won't move for a couple seconds but I can devote my role to stall them so I can have you two get the flag for yourselves. Derrick can help by setting traps nearby so the chase won't start out good because they fell into a hole or something. I can help with trap prep too." 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael took the time to step back and let the child of Demeter talk through his skills and what his role on the battlefield was and enjoyed seeing his enthusiasm, a little scatter shot approach but enough seemed to hit the mark. He took the moment to grab a spare pastry and a bag of candies giving the others a chance to talk through the details. He hadn't seen himself as a part of the camp so much until Lilythe had made him agree to taking part in the games. He honestly still didn't know if there were a skill or talent he could actually bring to teaching these youngsters, they already had more than sufficient cabin leaders for combat with Dustin and Survival and Sneaking with Lilythe, he let out a quiet laugh looking down at the snack table, or trying to outdo cabin Athena at tactics; but he at least felt a connection standing in a dim cave with these young heroes.

Taking the two muffins and placing the central and in front of the cookies he said "So we have front line chocolate chip sorted. I guess its up to you two to work out whats happening to grab that flag." nodding to their respective muffins and the less busy enemy can of soda. He passed the bag of gummy sweets over to Derrick, "your bag of traps, short stuff.. any you don't use you get to eat." 

He wanted to make sure the youngest voices didn't get too drowned out by the older ones here. He had been that quiet, young, unclaimed camper back in the day and it was at that point he could feel how Lilythe had left her mark on the camp, it was a less hostile, less brutal preparation for a demigod future.. a place he hoped he could find a place in, more than just being a bruiser muffin....

Edited September 28, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn
learning to spell enemy right...

[Derrick Raines]

The whole ability thing was so strange to him as he did not understand it all too well just yet. The older Demeter camper tried to explain it but a lot of it went over derrick's head as he was just nine after all. "Ohhhh" he said trying to put it all together. So they could travel from plant to plant......weird. "So like you can travel anywhere or just close by?" he asked wondering if they could go to the other side of the world if they wanted to.

Derrick had no idea what team Jacob or Edward had to do with anything but it seemed that the was about this game. Maybe they were some other campers or idk some inside joke? The other older camper also said something about Jacob and Derrick felt lost again. How was this going to help them get the flag? But soon enough the talk was back on the plans they were laying in front of them. Derrick now how his role of trapper which the Demeter boy was going to help with. "YES" derrick said with excitement to his older brother Azrael. He would set traps and try to get the flag with no one knowing. Taking the bag of gummies from his brother he opened the bag to pull some out on his hand while resting the bag on his lap. 

"Okay soooooo I am thinking" he paused a moment taking a gummy in his hand and laying it close to the flag "To lay snares around the outer edge" he said laying three around the area. "They will have nets to trap their target. buttttttt ummmmmmmm maybe we also do some like the ones that rope around the foot hanging them in the air." He laid the three gummies around the outside of the flag and then got two more for the foot trap he was thinking. Then another idea came to him that he didn't know if it could work "What about a smoke bomb? That could help for someone to sneak in to get the flag." 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael took the time to listen in and through the steps of the plan, little brother was doing well at spreading the traps into solid tactical placements. The only thing he could see that would hold them up was attempting to sneak them into the enemy base... "So once you make them.. if you had some kind of Demeter secret weapon they could.. plant the traps?" it was terrible but he wasn't attempting to keep this too serious and make sure they didn't run into too many troubles if they wanted to do this one.

"So last steps.. " looking over at the two younger campers "You have the big distraction.. the traps down.." nodding to the two muffins near the cookies then the gummies, "How do you two snatch the prize?" He settled back to give them the chance to finish the plan... with a bit of luck these could pull this one off, and with their parentage some luck was just what they tended to inherit.

[Luca Cassano]

After finishing up some snacks, he felt much better than he was ten minutes ago. The boy approached the makeshift table and sat crossed legged near it so he can get a better view of the map where it's indicators are snack food. "I wish I could." He gave Azrael a look of uncertainly. "I could use vines to trip them or wrap their ankles to pull them off the ground. I certainly can't grow specific plants near them because they would arouse suspicion. I heard one of my half-siblings has this ability over earth but that's one you don't come across often. Could be useful to make pitfalls though." He suggested. Even if he wanted to, he was not too confident in putting in energy on an ability he knows he does not have.

"Honestly, I haven't tried it yet but I think the farther I get the more energy it drains out of me. I don't think I can teleport cross country to near some plant that's growing in California." The thought made him chuckle but it would nonetheless be a miraculous feat. "So if you guys want me to teleport... make it count." He nodded, giving them his approval to add teleportation to the plan. 

[Octavia Davis Rare]

Octavia nodded her head as she listened to Mr. Azrael as he began to think back to when he was around her age. Of course she couldn't help but smile at the older man. "So I can do it if you need me to do something there." She told him with a bright smile. She could crawl around people while they were fighting. The only thing that she would have to do is make sure that she doesn't get caught or stepped on. Right? It would totally work. She glanced back to the other older boy and he was telling her that he could move plants and even talk to the trees however, he tells her he was joking unless he wanted to offend the dryads. She blinked at him and tilted her head. "What is a dryad?" She questioned him curiously. 

The younger girl couldn't help but giggled at the fact that Derrick thought the name of the team was funny. She grinned at him and of course she looked back to the older man and giggled more. She didn't care to much about the name of the whole thing. She was eager to help out. That is all that she wanted to do anyways. However, he made the comment about two teams and she couldn't help but tilt her head to the side and glanced over to Derrick before speaking. "What is that?" She questioned him curiously as she was to young to really know what that movie was. 

The rest of the time that they were thinking about what they needed to do but Derrick had gummy bears and her attention was on them in a heart beat. She went over to him and sat down next to the younger boy before grabbing some bears and putting them in her mouth. "yummy!" She giggled and looked at the others that were around. He had said something about the rope on one leg thing and she nodded her head thinking about it more. So they had a couple things going on and now they needed to know how to get the flag. "Oh!" She said as she placed another gummy bear in her mouth. What if we." She said pointing to her and Derrick. "make our way around the trees and sneak it out of there while you all are fighting." She blinked thinking about it. It sounded good. Since the sword was a little heavy for her to carry and she didn't want to get to hurt. 

[Derrick Raines]

Derrick was so into this whole conversation that he was really into the gummy worms he laid down. Laughing when Octavia grabbed some gummies he was smiling at her when he turned back to look at his brother. His question made him thinking a bit more about how the two of them were going to sneak in. "Well then I can just set them up maybe while He" he pointed to Luca "teleports to make them distracted." He looked like he was thinking so hard. To figure this all out in a way that might work. It kind of made him think of the game mouse trap. Which he had played after finding it at a store that sold old things. 

"Once we set them up lure them to the traps and we will catch them. Than I can throw a smoke bomb in by the flag which will give Octavia and I ummmm so time to ummm get the flag, but after that maybe we give it to you to run?" 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael looked over at the two youngest campers on the team, proud of all that they had worked out and beginning to see the frustration beginning to creep in once the plans sounded like they needed sub plans and all the rest. "Sounds like you have found the toughest bit of planning - in the end you can only get so far until you need to improvise."

He pointed to all the pieces on the makeshift map and started to make explosion noises and splaying out his fingers in time with them above it all "At this point all the smoke bombs and the traps go off" pointing to a couple of the gummies with a 'twang' noise  "and whoever gets hold of the flag just needs to escape back to base while everyone else just aims to stop the other side grabbing that person"

He looked over the three campers with obvious enjoyment from having watched them deliberate and plan "But I like your planning - we can do it and the best bit is we all have a good idea of what is meant to happen for it. I think we all deserve a treat after all that"  Azrael said with a smile as he reached for the 'him' cake.

[Luca Cassano]

Luca more than welcomed Octavia's inquiry about dryads. It's not every day people ask him though it is assumed that every camper knows because there is an entire forest within the boundary. Pondering as his fingers fiddled with the snacks inside the snack bag, he began to elaborate. "So a dryad are spirits of the trees you see around camp. Hmm, not every tree has a spirit and they are usually female. They're beautiful and they live as long as their tree does. They are also the ones who provide the camp food." What he spoke may seem like basic camper knowledge but he learned this by speaking with them rather than from another camper. He always had this... affinity for plants and he wanted to extend to trees and that's how he met the wood nymphs.

"I could teleport to lead them to the traps. They won't know what we have in store for them. So once the traps did their magic, that makes the flag easy game. Why don't we have... Octavia run back with the flag? She could use all the luck she needs while the rest of us stall the enemy to keep them from touching her. Azrael and I, we'll hold them off and Derrick will accompany her. With their combined luck, our kids will have our point secured." There was confidence in his tone and Luca felt smart just by putting two and two together. "And yes, we all do. I'll have the dryads make the food extra delicious for us." He could not help but giggle at the thought. 

[Delaney Vance]

Laney couldn't help but run around and look for different places that she needed to be. When she found the cave the looked abandoned she rushed into it. Though once she entered the place she noticed right away that that it wasn't abandoned at all. Matter of fact it had Luca there and the two youngest babies and of course Azrael there. She blinked a little and went to walk in a little more. "Do I hear a plan happening?" She questioned with a small smile as she placed her sword against the cave wall. She turned to Luca and sent him a smile. The last time they were together they were talking about her sibling that passes away. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

((Unless anyone has a hassle I am looking to add some interesting activity once the kids have talked - having the recently disturbed Myrmekes horde coming through the cave - forcing them all to run and get lost in the underground ruins of the camp - an attempt at RPC 7) Get at least 5 people lost with you. I was looking to start here and make a thread in the (under) grounds to RP them working together to find a way out (hopefully emerging at somewhere like Zeus' Fist ) ))

Azrael looked over, cautious with the kids there of the enemy team and being glad that they had managed to have this long without the enemy team invading. He stepped in front of the others, trying to identify who it was. He was thankful that they had been given cloth ties that showed their team but felt a level of frustration that he had to use it to know this new generation of campers.

This one was another older camper, likely had been here for most of his four years absence or longer.  It was good to see that she recognized the planning session, it would mean the kids would see it was a serious one if an older camper could recognize it for what it is. He was about to reply to her when he saw the smile shared between his two capable wards. His response changed as it headed for his lips. "Yup, We will vanquish the cookie army. I am sure Luca can give you the run down on the.." nodding to Octavia and Derrick "..generals' shared plan".

He stepped back, much preferring to see the kids interacting between one another than him to barge his way into their friendships. He took the time to think about which cabin he had seen her in.. the best he could narrow it down was within the new cabins on the Female gods side.. but that area was a little to close to cabin Hecate for him to have spent any more time than necessary.

Azrael moved to the door to keep up a guard, half listening in to the others to make sure he had not landed Luca in anything uncomfortable, though both seemed happy to see one another he though.. The afternoon light was fading and he could hear the buzz and general noise of nature emerging as he watched out from the cave mouth, It was louder than he remembered but he had also spent more years in the solidly built Camp Jupiter, a little nature felt pretty good now.

[Luca Cassano]

Luca could not help but bring about a wide eyed expression and a smile upon Laney's entrance. The last time they were together was not quite a sunshine memory but he was still glad that she is actively participating, considering the circumstances around her sister's passing. Placing the snacks down to the stones, he got up to embrace her in a hug so suddenly. It was firm, nothing too tight or loose - he just wanted to know how much he cared about her as if he had just dismissed what they were talking about. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you alright?" He had a hand softly planted a hand on her cheek before letting it hang on her shoulder, turning his head to Azrael's response. Smiling once more with the reiteration of using confections as strategy terms and suddenly promoting the children to generals.

"So I act as their advisor." He began. Even the notion of that would surprise many. "So we have traps laid out near the flag. We can't make traps around it so it's more convenient to lead them to it. That's where I come it. I use myself as a distraction while Octavia runs for the flag. I have Azrael escort the generals to get the flag back to our base. With the luck of all three of them... we might have a shot in this thing. If you want to help, it'll bring nothing but reassurance to us winning. I'm sure..." He glanced over to the kids and then to the older man who was looking out. "... we need it." He paused. "Thanks for finding us. We need the help we can get to steal that flag. It means a lot to me."

"So what do you think? You in?"

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael was half distracted, facing away from the conversation he smiled. Luca was talking away, he could sense the nerves, the interest and the excitement as he spoke rapidly at the newcomer.

It was only at this time he started to recognize the change in pitch of the sounds of nature, he internally swore as he saw movement in the foliage outside. Something had been disturbed out there and it didn't feel like the enemy team as the chittering began to rise. He caught sight of an antennae and took a guess that these would be the Myrmeke tribe, they were bad news. They were fierce poisonous mobbing creatures, said to have been given a tribal sentience by Zeus himself. He had heard of them kidnapping campers, even Beckendorf in the day, not something he wanted to have the kids come face to face with.

He yelled back into the cave, overrunning any conversation "We have Myrmeke hordes incoming! looks like someone kicked the nest. I think we need to use the tunnels for a fighting retreat." He looked to Luca and Laney "One of you keep the kids together, the other grab your weapon, they are coming this way!"

He had marked out the path to an extent, hopefully coming up by Zeus' fist but this was not the way he had expected to use it.

(once into the caves have prepped a thread over on the grounds to finsh up as we are no longer in kansas the cave mouth http://camphalfbloodrp.com/index.php?/topic/850-a-maze-asunder/)

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn