September 20
Hunter took a moment to catch his breath as he spun his sword in his hand, his arms aching slightly from fatigue. He sighed a little as he adjusted the grip on his new shield, tightening the straps a little. Hunter hadn't done much since the beginning of Fall and it didn't look like there was much else that he was going to be doing. With a small breath he bashed his shield into the dummy and followed up with two quick slashes across the belly of the wooden dummy. He jabbed into the shoulder, flicked his wrist which separated the arm, knocking it to the ground, then pulled back smacking the dummy in the neck with the edge of his shield knocking the head off then quickly chopping the other arm off and placing a hard kick against the torso, knocking it back and toppling it to the ground.
"Keep that up and you're going to have to replace that shield again." Hunter turned and saw Marina walk up next to him. She gave him a warm smile then looked down at his sword and his shield. "And your sword." She said with a small gasp as she took it form him.
"What's wrong with it?" He said, giving his shield a quick once-over. It seemed fine and his sword had been working fine so far. "Is it...out of batteries or something?" He said with a deep breath. Marina giggled and handed it back to him.
"No, come here. Look." She lifted the blade up and looked down to the tip. Hunter stood behind her and lowered his head next to hers. He could feel the heat coming off of her cheek when he did that, but he tried to ignore it. They had hung out a little bit over the past month, but he hadn't really had much interest in being anything more but friends with her. He looked down the edge of the blade and finally noticed the chips that had formed. "Just because it's umm..." She turned her head and looked at him a moment before turning back to the blade. "Just because it's magic metal, doesn't mean that it can't break. And with how much you've been using it lately, I'm a little surprised it's lasted this long."
"Okay then, where's an-"
"And there's pitting...shotty workmanship." She said with a sigh "And you've worn the handle down."
"Okay, so where's a new one?" Hunter asked, taking his sword back. Marina laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Think about this. You can't just get a new sword. If you have a dog and it gets sick, you don't just get a new dog. You heal the sick one."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to fix my sword? I have no idea how to smith a-"
"I'll show you. How about that?" She said, biting her lip a little. "It's better to have a weapon that you're familiar with anyway. And how can you get more familiar then by making it yourself?" Hunter sighed a little then finally nodded.
"Yeah. Alright. I've never been a fan of this sword anyway." He said, slipping his shield on his back. Marina smiled and took a deep breath, obviously excited.
"Awesome! I promise, it'll be fun." She stared at him for a moment and Hunter laughed a little. "Okay. Tomorrow. I'll find you and we'll make you a new sword." She bounced on her toes a moment then took a deep breath. Her face straightened out a moment and she shook herself a little.
"Something wrong?" He said, raising his eyebrow.
"Sorry. I just..." She cleared her throat. "I don't usually get all...excited like that. Apologies." Hunter laughed and sheathed his sword..
"No need to apologize. I think it's kind of funny" He laughed and put his hands in his pockets. "Good funny." She laughed quietly then looked up at him.
"Hey, do you want to hang out after dinner?" She asked, twisting her hands together. Hunter blushed a little. As much as he knew that saying yes would be leading her on, there wasn't much else he could do. He says no, she reacts badly. He says sure, maybe he could do something else down the line He hesitated a second and he hated the way that her face fell. "It's okay if you don't-"
"Sure." He said with a nod. "I did promise that we would hang out, didn't I?" She smiled wide again and Hunter couldn't help, but smile back. She had a nice smile. It was warm like a campfire.
"Well, I'll see you after dinner then. Which is in...45 minutes. Oh..." She said, looking a little embarrassed.
"I'll see you then, Ms. Goldman." Hunter said, bowing to her a little. She blushed and grinned at him before a little awkwardly heading out of the arena, looking back at him as she finally exited. Hunter looked back at the dummy a moment before heading out himself. He walked back to the Hermes cabins and set his sword and shield on his bed before stretching a little.
"Mail call! Hermes cabin." Hunter turned to the door and saw his brother dropping off a pile of letters in a box by the door.
"Thanks, Nick." He said, walking to the door. He picked it up then snapped his fingers and the letters buzzed for a moment before zooming off to each individual bed except for two of them. He looked down and saw his name on the front of one. Looking at the return address, he saw that it was from his aunt. He walked over to his bed and set the other letter down before sitting and rubbing his face. He didn't want to read it, but he had to read it or he'd never hear the end of it. He tore off the end and pulled out the letter unfolding it and reading the typed out letters.
"Hunter," he read, loving how formal it was with a roll of his eyes. "As much as I don't need another mouth to feed, Christina thought it might be nice to have you home for Thanksgiving. We'll expect you on the 21st. Eat before you come here because we're not saving you food." His stomach grumbled a little and he quickly read the rest of the letter. "I don't have time to finish this in a real extravagant way, so bye. Love, Aunt Lucy." He folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope before grabbing the other letter. It was in a soft pink envelope which gave him pause, but when he turned it over and saw his name in female handwriting and the return address he felt his heart beat a little bit faster. Arabella had sent him a letter.
"What do you want, Arabella?" He said quietly as he ran his finger along the edge of the letter. Why would she send him a letter? She was with Ethan and he was left here at camp. Why would she take the time to write a letter to him when she could have said all this before she left? Or sent him an Iris Message, so he could at least look her in the eye. He sighed and was so tempted to open it, but why give her the satisfaction? She was probably getting off on making him think about her all year. She's probably expecting him to write her back and then he'll have his hopes up, but find out that she's been with Ethan this whole time.
"Hunter?" Hunter stood and looked up at the door, holding the letter behind his back for some reason. Marina was standing there looking at him curiously. "I thought that maybe we could walk to the mess hall together. I mean, Hermes cabin is on the way to the mess hall from Hephaestus."
"No, it's not." Hunter said with a laugh. "But sure. Let's go in one second." He said. "I just need to...change." she blushed and looked down.
"Oh. Sorry." She said, hiding her face then ducking out. He turned back to the letter and then looked back at the door. Maybe Marina wasn't so bad. That night on the beach had obviously meant nothing to her, so maybe Hunter wouldn't let it mean anything to him. Maybe he would just get over her. He quickly changed his shirt and then walked out, turning toward Marina. "Ready?"
"One second." He said, walking toward the fire in the center of the cabins. He looked down at the letter for a brief moment before tearing it in half and tossing it in, forgetting about the whole thing. He turned back to Marina and smiled. "Alright. Ready. Let's go."