Chilaxing is a Fun Pastime

I walked back from the arena, sweaty and dirty from my close combat training. I felt frustrated, seeing as I had been doing these activities for two years now, and I was still the worst one in the class. I clutched my violin strap for comfort, knowing that archery could never let me down. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going. A voice in my head told me to go shower, but I wasn't in the mood. The sun beat down on the camp that day, everyone was sweaty, what good would a shower do? Another voice told me to go vent my frustrations at the archery range. It wasn't a bad idea, I could lift my spirits and remind myself that I wasn't actually crap at everything I did. I stopped walking for a while, still out of breath from the beat down I had just taken as an example by Gary, the Ares kid who had been leading my cabin's training that day. I hated it when he was my close combat teacher. He always screamed at us for being worthless in battle, for being lazy because all we did was stand and pull back a string. I'd like to see that bone-head get a bulls-eye on his first try like we could. I'd like to see him get an arrow straight through the eyes of a moving target like a Minotaur, or something even greater in size maybe. I let out a tired groan as I stood in the sun, which normally didn't bother me much. What my body really needed, I realized, was to sit down. I considered sitting down right there, and just lying on the ground, staring at the fluffy clouds make shapes in the sky. But I didn't want to cause an uproar in camp because an innocent passerby thought I had bit the dust. It also wasn't very fun looking at clouds alone. Maybe that's what I needed. Some company.

I looked around, the Strawberry fields catching my eyes. Usually, they would be full of life, with campers and satyrs dancing around, playing reed pipes and having a good time. Nowadays, they were sort of a lonely place. Empty, without many people but Casper and the Demeter children to tend to them while the other Nymphs and Satyrs were out of commission. Something, or, someone stuck out in the light of the nice day. It was a girl, sitting alone among the plump red fruits that hung from their green bushes. I didn't recognize her, so I decided to get a closer look. I walked towards the Strawberry Fields at a pace that was half a jog and half a walk, which probably made me look like a maniac. The closer I got, the more I didn't recognize her. I thought I had seen her around camp, but I didn't personally know her, which, in my eyes, needed to change. She sat with her chin resting on her knees, looking troubled and deep in thought. Hey, something we had in common already, we were both having issues. I walked closer, so close, that if she hadn't been lost in her thoughts, she probably would have realized I was there. I wondered how to introduce myself. I considered throwing a strawberry at her before I realized that it would probably be considered rude to anyone who wasn't an Apollo sibling... Hell, I am an Apollo kid and I would have considered it rude coming from a stranger. Instead, I decided to clear my throat awkwardly.
"Hi," I said, with a cheery smile on my face, hoping maybe I could help her with her troubles. "What are you doing here all alone?"

I took a moment to try and fit a name to the face I was looking at. She had long wavy blonde hair that framed her face nicely. Her blue eyes, although intimidating by some sort of natural nature, seemed to reflect a different light. Was that worry or fear? Both? I couldn't tell. I could tell something was wrong, though I couldn't tell who this girl was.
I resurfaced from my thoughts as she asked me a question. Her voice definitely carried a defensive tone. A tone that reminded me of someone I knew. It didn't take me long to match the sharp sound of her words to another girl that looked to be about this ones age, but probably older. Adella, a hunter of Artemis that had shared her stories with me.
I shrugged casually as I answered her question. "You seemed lonely," I said. "I figured I'd say hi... Besides, most of my friends are finishing up their daily activities." It had seemed like a good idea to give the girl company at the time, before I had made the connection that she was a hunter of Artemis. Knowing Adella, I knew they were independent and didn't need anyone to keep them company, especially a dude, it seemed. Instead of standing there awkwardly, I decided I'd introduce myself.
"Seeing as I'm here now..." I said, holding my arms out at my sides. "I'm Fletch." I didn't hold a hand out to shake, hoping she wouldn't find it rude, something told me she wouldn't appreciate it much. "What's your name?"
I shuffled my dirty timberland boots in the dirt, creating a familiar cloud of dust to rise and fall, curling around my already dirty jeans as I waited for an answer.
For a moment I started to wonder why she was avoiding her sister. Was she avoiding Adella? I wondered what had gone on. People describing the hunters of Artemis to me had always said they were like a close nit family, closer than any family anyone had every witnessed, in fact, not that we had had many experiences with close nit families, most of us, if not all having been from a broken one. I cleared my head, catching myself trail off into my thoughts before she spoke so that I wouldn't miss what she said.