Offspring Of Death (open)

I groaned. I couldn't believe I was supposed to walk around the border with the Apollo Cabin Leader. I kicked up some of the dirt on the ground as I walked alongside Fletch Kealoha, the perpetual ball of sunshine at camp. I just got to camp a couple of months ago, but I had been dead set on skipping classes and staying out of everyone's way. I wasn't a camp kind of person. The only person that hasn't set me off was Quintyn, daughter of Athena, and it was only because she could keep up with my insults, even with a good comeback or two. She somehow convinced me to do Border Patrol because "it's not really a camp activity" and "Fletch is a really nice guy, you two would get along and "you really should pull your weight around you lazy piece of-" uh yeah, you get the idea.

I didn't understand how Quintyn and Fletch were friends. This guy was like if you put High School Musical on repeat and the dvd somehow became sentient and Hawaiian.

I began to wonder if it was some cruel joke on Quintyn's part until Fletch's bow shot up at his side. I stumbled back, surprised at the agility of the guy that had just tripped over his own cat on the way here. I looked in his direction and spotted a black raven, circling above. That didn't look good. I looked down and I saw a small kid underneath the raven. Fletch somehow thought it was a good idea to start barreling towards him, and I had no choice but to follow on his heels. As soon as Fletch got near the boy swung around, sword at hand and towards Fletch's throat. I scowled and with one swift movement unsheathed my sword. Fletch lifted his hands up.
I lowered my sword, but kept it tight in my grip. I wasn't going to let my guard down even if Fletch wanted to give out hugs to every creepy kid with a sword pointed at his face.

I allowed myself to exhale the breath bottled up in my chest as Kaiser and the new kid lowered their swords. Part of me would feel better if they'd both sheathed their blades, but I figured as long as they weren't pointed at each other, or at me, it was as good as I could get.
I dropped my hands to my sides, shoving them in the pockets of my jean shorts before I answered his question. I was a little surprised that this young kid knew about demigods. Usually new comers had no idea who they were or what they were doing here. But hey, his knowledge saved me from a lengthy introduction I had been forced to repeat on many occasions.
"Yep! My dad is Apollo." I nearly jumped out of my skin as the Raven shrieked from above. Beside me, Fi$h hissed, his back arched and elongated front teeth bared. His long ginger fur stood on end. I hoped the cat wouldn't do anything stupid, but I'd been greeted too many times by dead forest animals on the porch of the Apollo cabin to trust Fi$h not to attempt something.
The young boy gave a shrill whistle, and before I knew it the Raven came crashing into my head. I jumped back and waved my hands in the air on reflex.
"Kanapapiki!"
When the threat was gone as quickly as it could come, I watched as the bird flew into a tree, keeping it's haunting gaze on me. A chill ran down my spine and I looked away, instead directing my gaze towards my stupid cat, who had gotten into a stalking position. To avoid trouble with the bird, I scooped Fi$h up and let the large feline sit on my shoulder. His tail swayed back and forth, watching the bird with his blue eyes.
Gods, I wished he'd stayed back at the cabin.
The new kid addressed Kaiser, so I drew my attention to the tall punk with the perpetual scowl that stood beside me.

Yin tilt his head, Kaiser? That can not possibly be his real name. Whatever, if he does not want to tell me he does not want to, no need in prying. He looked at Kaiser, it really had to suck not knowing who your godly parent was. It seemed as Yin was one of the lucky ones as he already knew who is godly parent was, he had known for awhile now, a few years to be exact, though he did not the exact number of years.
   "Yin Seishin, homeless" he replied to Kaiser´s question and pointed at Rafa "Rafa, my pet". That was all he would say, for now. He had no desire to reveal too much about himself, besides, Kaiser had not specified what it was he wanted to know and he had answered the questions, albeit vaguely. Yin did not know them well enough to trust them with his story, and he doubted that he ever would. 
  "Your turn" he looked at Fletch and then at Kaiser again. He had told them about himself, now it was their turn to tell him about themselves. I doubt they will say anything, they never do. Why would they? I am a stranger. No one in their right minds would share personal information with someone they just met. And if someone did, they would have to be the biggest idiot on the planet.
    Yin noticed that Kaiser had sheated his sword and he followed suit, sheating his as well. Though he kept his hand close to the hilt so that he would be able to quickly grab it if something were to happen. The little experience he had had taught him not to let your guard down even if it seemed safe. He would hate to get into a fight right now, he was still tired from the shadow traveling and would much rather just lie down, though he could not show how tired he was, that would be seen as a weakness, and weaknesses was  dangerous and a liability. They could exploit his fatigue, and obviously, Yin did not want that.
  Beside him Rafa shrieked at the cat on Fletch´s shoulder and clicked threatening with his beak. Yin cast him a glance and shook his head "He does not like cats". Neither do I, he thought to himself, looking at the cat, barely able to hide his annoyance and distaste. Stupid furball. 
  Yin´s distaste for cats was not unjustified. In his days living in the back alleys of New York he met many a stray cat whom all would try and steal from him the little food that he had. They had made it considerably more difficult to find and actually keep the food, thus making it hard to survive. But Yin had managed it somehow, though he did carry somewhat of a grudge against cat. Especially since they had eaten up the birthday cake he had worked so hard to get for himself.
  Shaking off the rather unpleasent memories, he looked at Fletch and Kaiser, awaiting their replies.

I raised my eyebrows slightly as Yin responded.
This guy likes to talk even less than I do.
'Homeless' carries a heavy weight however, despite it being the only word the boy muttered to us to describe his situation. Unfortunately it was also a problem a lot of us demigods faced, but it definitely wasn't one too common among someone his age, especially alone. It raised a lot of questions, but by the way Yin's been responding to us so far, I doubt he would open up about it easily. Even though I didn't like it, I didn't ask about it.
Our Turn.
The way Yin spoke to us felt like a carefully calculated game of Russian Roulette. Even if he sheathed his sword, it was obvious he did not trust us. I began to wonder what kind of crap someone has to go through to be this careful by his age. How long has he been roaming America like this? There wasn't even a satyr with him. That's what made me the most wary of the boy. Despite his age and situation, there was something there that allowed him to reach this Camp visibly unscathed, and he wasn't telling us what.
That was when the crow and Fletch's dumb cat began spitting and hissing and I groaned, doing my best to give Fletch an annoyed 'tell your cat to shut up or I'll do it myself' look. I didn't have the patience for animal control. Unsurprisingly, Fletch sat down and told his life story. I began to be a little ticked off to play into Yin's game so easily, but it was better him than me. Even, if Yin understands that Fletch is as harmless as a fly and as open as a book, maybe he'll keep his hands off his sword and accept our offer to get to camp. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I didn't like to see someone his age walk around homeless like that. I had to go through homelessness and that was only when I was 17. It wasn't a pleasurable experience then and it certainly wouldn't have been if I was 10 years old.
Fletch did his magic in making the Camp seem like the ideal utopia for an orphaned demigod child, and although I doubted Yin would take the bait that easily, I hoped he might ease up a bit. I assumed he probably wanted something out of me as well, so I kicked up some dirt with my boot before I spoke.
"Same old story. Got driven out of my living situation by a monster and ended up here."
I skipped a couple of parts about me and my twin sister being taken in by Charlie's satyr army- that mentally unstable son of Dionysus who wants to rule the Ancient Greek and Mortal world side by side- and being a henchman of sorts for a while before having a group of demigods on a quest convince my sister (who then in turn forcefully convinced me) to go to Camp Half Blood. I wasn't going to bother with the details.
Maybe I should also do some propaganda on this place as well.
"It's got good food, a roof to sleep under, and is generally safe with this protective barrier over it." I listed out, nowhere near as enthusiastic as Fletch had made it.
"Probably easier than whatever nightmare you're living in, right? We also have the dandy slogan of 'Keeping weird godly children from being pulverized for the most part since like, a billion B.C. or something like that." I did a very excited sweeping motion with my hands so Yin knew that we meant business. Alright, I probably could've been a little less monotone with my marketing but I'm sure Yin got the idea.

Yin listened to Fletch and Kaiser tell their story, and he was not impressed, safe to say. It seemed as if they had had it easy, at least compared to him, especially Fletch. But he really should have known, the man seemed far too happy and cheery , he just had to have had a simple life, not that Yin cared, it was not any of his business, still, it was good to know who he was dealing with. Simply knowing made him feel slightly at ease, less at danger, though he still kept his hand close to the hilt of his sword. He was not quite ready to trust them yet and it would take some time before he would, that was for sure.
     Both of the men gave two very different descriptions of Camp Half-Blood, Fletch´s being enthusiastic, while Kaiser´s was more...pessimistic. Though both descriptions pretty much said the same thing, only in different words, and that was that the camp was a safe place for someone like him, and that was exactly what he needed right now, more or less. Though he was still uncertain if he really wanted this. The only reason he was even here was because of his father. The god had practically ordered him to come here, and really, who was he to disobey? His father was a god and Yin was not stupid enough to argue with him, he would have lost that fight for sure, no matter the circumstances. He knew when there was no point in arguing, especially if the one he faced was a god. Stupid dad! This is ridiculous, I do not even want to be here, I can do just fine on my own!
    Yin straightened himself as Fletch offered him a place in the Hermes cabin, and looked at the both of them, slightly shaking his head. "I already know who my godly parent is. There is no need for me to go to the Hermes cabin" he said matter-of-factly, walking between them and towards the camp, stopping to look over his shoulder. "Rafa" he whistled and stretched out his hand. As he did so, Rafa took flight, glided over to him and landed on his arm, repositioning himself to Yin´s shoulder, his eyes still on the stupid cat.
  "The director..." it was the beginning of a question he would not ask, the two men would understand what he meant, they were not that stupid, he hoped.
    Yin was about to continue walking, but a sudden dizziness stopped him. He wobbled a bit, slightly losing his balance. Damn shadow travel! he cursed to himself. This was normal, at times it would take a few minutes before the effects really started to kick in. I think I might throw up. Guess the distance was too big. He leaned over, trying to regain his balance and not throwing up. He failed.
  Yin threw up the little food he had in his stomach and in a not so graceful move, he fell limpy to the ground and rolled over on his back. Rafa had left his shoulder and was now circling far above them again, shrieking. Yin grunted, annoyed, and tried to sit up, he only got halfway up before he fell down again, moaning. He really hated it when it happened, it was so darn annoying and frustrating. He did not ask Fletch and Kaiser for help, he did not need to, they would help him anyway, at least Fletch would, he seemed like the type. Sighing, he closed his eyes to make the world stop spinning so horribly bad. Great, here is for not showing weakness!

I cast a wary glance at the sky, shivering as the piercing eyes of the jet black bird circling the cloudless open space bore into me with obscene amounts of intimidation. I hoped to all of the Gods the bird wouldn't try anything. I wasn't sure what Kasier wanted me to do if Rafa decided to try plummeting towards his spiky hair. I definitely wasn't going to take an arrow and shoot if from the sky, if that's what he meant. I didn't say anything, though, as much as I wanted to.
Fi$h wriggled from my grip and landed on his paws gracefully. When he made a turn towards Yin's vomit I nudged him with my foot in desperate attempt to get him to leave it alone. With his ears flattened to his fluffy head he did so, and stalked forward ahead of me at a quick pace, following Kaiser and Yin.
Taking one more glance at the sky to make sure Rafa was behaving, I jogged to catch up with Kaiser's long stride.

As I had suspected, Yin didn't look good at all. His face was whiter than paper, radiating a sickly glow. The young boy had already been pale to begin with, but now I was surprised that I couldn't fully see the veins under his skin. His small form seemed to look even more petite in contrast to Kaisers arms.
"I think Roxy is in the infirmary today," I remembered out loud. "She'll be able to give him some Nectar to fix that nausea."
Luckily, the Big House wasn't far from the border. It didn't take us much time before we were standing outside of the giant blue building. I jogged up the steps two at a time to get to the door first, turning the brass knob I swung the door open for Kaiser. In that moment I was glad he was the one carrying Yin out of the two of us. I couldn't help but picture accidentally knocking the poor kids head on the door frame.
I was sure Rafa wouldn't be too happy about not being able to enter the building with Yin, but I even made Fi$h stay outside on the porch, once again nudging him away with my foot and earning me a look of annoyance circulating in his big blue eyes. Animals weren't the most sanitary thing to have around sick people. They definitely weren't the most sanitary thing to have around needles and sharp objects. I just hoped the two wouldn't cause trouble while I wasn't watching them.

I followed Kaiser through the big house making our way into the infirmary, where I found Roxy looking over the camps medicine stalk. She held a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other, her brown eyes focused on the cupboards filled with different kinds of medicine filled in familiar vials.
There weren't many demigods occupying the hospital beds placed around the room today. It was pretty quiet, which was a little bit of a shocker considering between training with real weapons, a rock climbing wall of death and a bunch of other dangerous activities this camp consisted of, it was quite often that you'd encounter a demigod getting hurt.
"Hey Roxy," I greeted with a smile, shaking my half-sister from her concentrated haze.