Blood on the Grass Floor (Aurora)

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The day was beautiful. Just perfect, really. 78 degrees, and not a single cloud in the sky. Erin didn't even have to take off his shirt to enjoy the perfect suntanning conditions, but he did so anyways, much to the discomfort of the group he was hiking with. He wore a pair of khaki cargo shorts, a fanny pack full of supplies, in case one of the other hikers got injured, and a backpack, filled with water, ambrosia, weapons, and snacks, all the essential bits for a demigod day trip.  It was a Thursday, and unfortunately for lazy Erin, Thursday meant work day. And no matter how hard he kicked, whined, or slept, it was the hardest of Thursdays, the hardest of work days. It was survey day, which meant he and a group of randomly selected campers had to hike around the perimeter of the Camp, and look over places that the sentry thought to be suspicious. It was boring most of the time Erin participated, and usually only took an hour or so to check out a few bits of land on the ends of the camp's control, then return back to the camp, get some food, and continue on with your day. This day was different, though. On this particular Thursday, Erin got lost.

He really didn't know how it happened. Well, actually, yes, he knew exactly how it happened. He was lagging behind the group the entire day, and when he stopped to get a candy bar out of his bag for an unannounced snack break, they were gone. He tried walking a little faster, and even broke his personal rule of never jogging ever to catch up to them, but they had apparently taken a turn that he didn't see. Fear began to set in, within a few seconds, as he looked around, and realized that he didn't know any of his surroundings. He took a shaky breath, and immediately sat down, reaching into his pack. He brought out his map and compass, and was thankful he paid attention in his orienteering classes. He tried to orient himself, before he realized something else. He wasn't holding a map. He was holding a take-out menu for a local Chinese food place. And, although tasty, China Star really couldn't help him out of this situation. He searched through his backpack, his fanny pack, his pockets. Nothing that could help him. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he stood, and attempted to return back to camp the way he came. Nothing bad could happen if he just retraced his steps, right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong. Within moments, he was swallowed by the forest he could have sworn he was walking away from. Shivers ran down his spine as the tall trees and their thick foliage blocked his access to the sun. He always felt a little lethargic, but now, he felt naked. Cold and alone, with no one coming to save him. And if that wasn't bad, he kept on... Hearing things. Little sounds in the woods, the snaps of twigs popping underfoot, even if he was motionless. He tried to calm himself down, but he could only feel his heart rate beat faster and faster, as his pace picked up. The sounds picked up as well. He knew it could very well be in his head, but within moments, he was in a dead sprint. The movement in the forest next to him, however, was decidedly not a hallucination. Trees shuddered and creaked as massive... Things ran past and through them. Erin emitted squeaks of terror, as he felt them gain ground on him. He kept on pushing his body faster, and faster, harder and harder, farther and farther past his limits. He had to make it through, they couldn't chase him forever, could they?

He didn't know how he fell. He didn't even know if he fell. He was just sprinting, and then, he was on his back. His eyes were tightly closed in brace for the fall, but when he opened them, he wished he hadn't. A massive hellhound loomed over him, eyes small pinpricks of light, muzzle shut and snarling. And that breath - If Erin wasn't about to die, he almost wished he was. He instinctively squirmed for escape, but the beast had it's forelegs pressed on his shoulders. Soon, Erin realized he couldn't move. He looked up to the hellhound's mouth, as it opened, closed his eyes, and tried to meet his fate with composure.

Things got weird after seconds though. Erin's left eye peeked open, wondering why he wasn't bite-sized, just to find the jaw of the hellhound turning to slush, and falling off onto his chest. He yelled, and pushed it off, suddenly realizing he didn't feel the pressure of the hound's paws on his shoulders. He scrambled backwards as the monster crumbled to dust. His eyes slowly raised to see the blonde-haired girl holding a knife, slick with the blood of the monster. His body tensed, as he thought he might be the next target, but his mind noticed something else. She was hurt. She had a few large gashes across her stomach, a welt on the side of her head, and she stood oddly, pushing pressure onto her outside foot. He moved to help her, before remembering where he was. This girl could very well be a Titan, or a Renegade. He raised his hands, slowly, and looked to her eyes. "I-I'm a healer. A son of Apollo. My name is Erin, E-Erin Forrester. Is it alright if I take a look at your injuries?" He treated her the same way he would a wild animal, with insane amounts of caution. And from the look in her eyes, it didn't seem like he was wrong to either.

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learn of the sin that you sought too much. @erin • 1212 • 3longpost5u >.> sorry It was far too hot for Aurora to be remotely content with the environ where she currently was stationed by. The rays of the sun creeped down her back, the sting of her saline sweat burning against her face, perhaps the only relief against the unrelenting brightness and such. It baffled Aurora how the everyone was just /okay/ with living in the heat of the Southern United States. Aurora barely found refuge in her tent either, as it merely insulated the heat radiated from the sun. Aurora missed the years she had spent in Sweden at times like this… Years of ignorance. Her allies sliced down like cornstalks… She said she’d be back for Vince, for Alyssa… She was too late, the demise of Camp was all too clear. Aurora didn’t seek redemption, she was dead in the eyes of many, whether it be for her betrayal or rather her original disappearance. However, now wasn’t quite the time to mope around, she had more important things to do than dwell on her own senile thoughts. They seemed to frequent the platinum-haired girl far more than often these days… Emotions were quite the perplexing concept, and oftentimes their origin was unwanted. The world was easier to face with an attitude of disinterest, a solemn solitude. A piercing gaze that showed off how little the rest of the world appealed in your eyes. The Daughter of Ares was at a park, the nearest mortal one around. She had nothing much better to do, no real people to converse with, not that was much important. Aurora wasn’t the most personable around, and in no way you stretched it could be considered a ‘people person’. Even when she was younger, she was predominately cold and harsh. Grade school crushes knew this all too well. Those who had fooled themselves into thinking that they had the courage to pursue her were in for a quite nasty surprise. Aurora wasn’t particularly cruel, or so she liked to think, though there were others who could testify to otherwise. Aurora tended to think in terms of realism, brutal honesty in its worst. If she expressed an interest in someone, or even just found them to favorable, you’d typically know it. She had a ring in her bag that couldn’t prove otherwise… She had been planning to give it to her boyfriend of many years. She wanted to get married… The war said otherwise. Drumming her fingers on the wooden bench in a fairly rhythmic pattern, Aurora noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something quite large, canine, and definitely out of place for a mere mortal park. That was her signal to leave, in a valiant effort that they hadn’t quite picked up on her scent just yet. She was the daughter of an Olympian god, her scent wasn’t exactly something unnoticeable to monsters. Especially hellhounds on the prowl, and it seemed the grotesque canine had caught hers quite quickly. Picking up her pace, Aurora ran into the thick of the forest, in an attempt to ditch the beast. Years of figure skating helped Aurora stay lean and lithe, and the forest wasn’t anything particularly hard to evade. However, it was only a matter of time until the mammalian monster caught up to her. Aurora unsheathed her dagger, which was styled like a serrated combat knife, forged of celestial bronze like the rest of the Greek weapons. However, the hellhound struck first. It’s first move was to pounce Aurora to the ground, it’s teeth bared and snarling and the swedish girl. Aurora’s head hit hard against the ground, and the Swedish girl winced, though her pain would have likely been greater had she not been numbed slightly by the rush of adrenaline in her veins. The canine’s paw was on Aurora’s stomach. Luckily for her, this one wasn’t too strong, likely a juvenile, otherwise it might have severed her spine and eaten her in that very moment. That wasn’t to say Aurora was left unscathed, she could feel the claws of the hellhound baring into her skin, crimson blood staining her clothing, forced from the wound with pressure. Aurora’s next move was to jab the paw of the beast, and give her time to move away from it, while it writhed in pain. Standing up, Aurora’s ankle was twisted slightly, and applying too much pressure hurt her foot. While she may have left the creature with a cut around his paw, he had stood up, bouncing off somewhere else. How peculiar, it could only mean one of few things. There was another demigod around, one that was weaker, more vulnerable than herself. The Swedish girl exhaled. Part of her wanted to leave, but unless she knew the creature was slain, there was no guarantee it hadn’t picked up on something older than her, then returned on the manhunt for a certain Swede. Picking up the trail wasn’t the hardest thing to follow, as the dog’s prints were those of a size comparable to a bear. Trekking through the forest, Aurora’s suspicions were confirmed. She and her furry friend were not alone in the forest, someone else was around. That someone else proved to be a boy with scruffy brown hair. Or it merely appeared that way, considering he was pinned against the ground by the sheer presence of a hellhound. Aurora took the opportunity to strike. She quickly lunged for the monster, leaping off her well foot, her blade leaned forward and striking right where the jaw and throat intersected. She was a Daughter of Ares, she had an instinct for fighting that pumped through her veins, no matter how suppressed it may have been through years of formalities and trainings. She felt the jaw of the creature go first, as it began to crumble into its stage of demise. The tips of her fingers and dagger were slick with the blood of the creature, which began to vaporize into particles that floated amongst the zephyrs. The Swedish girl sharply exhaled, her stance barely wavering, though the bead of sweat lined against her hairline proved to be otherwise in evidence that she had broken a sweat. Aurora cast a sharp look towards the boy on the ground, her eyebrows raised curiously as he lay tense against the floor. He began to shakily introduce himself, as well as point out her injuries. The Swedish girl nodded, “My name is Aurora Aldenberg. And yes, that would be alright”, Aurora said, casting a quick glance around the area. She made her way towards a large log which was slumped over, likely the remnants of a logging expedition, though she could only make an assumption. Sitting down, Aurora tilted her torso closer to Erin. “I’m fine… I should probably get going now”, Aurora muttered, wiping her knife against the grass. One condition with this ‘healing stuff’, shirt stays on… Aurora wasn’t going to take her shirt off for some scrawny boy in the forest, no matter how good of a healer he was. hachi