Chapter 3: Fire Chick
The Chicken-Horse belched fire straight at Jake with a bellowing "BUKKAW!" of hot flames from inside its beak. He barely escaped with his clothes as he rolled left, his body taking control of his movements before he could even think. He backed away from the terrifying poultry as it stopped its flamethrower attack and its chicken head twitched to face him again. Another loud "BUKAW!" and more blazes rushed towards him again. He had enough sense in his mind to run as fast as he could away from the flames and luckily avoided it with just a scorched rear.
JJ ran for the house, the impossible Fire-breathing Capon behind him pursued him with heavy hooves and clumsy clawed back-feet. It didn't seem like it was well adapted to chasing its prey but it seemed too dumb to think of doing anything else. JJ didn't look back, he just ran. He found the running easy, so much easier than he expected running from a demented Chicken-horse, Horse-Chicken? He didn't care much for what it was, he just want. He was hardly out of breath, but his heart was pumping adrenaline round his body like mad.
He felt a strong gust of wind caught him from behind, and soon a stream of fire dropped from above, cutting off his path to the house. He stopped himself running, the heat singeing his face as his gaze moved up to follow the flames to the monster that hung in the air. It stopped its stream and it dived at him, its rooster head looking both bewildered and angry at the same time.
Again instinct made JJ sprint left, and somehow a leg kicked the beast away from him as it attempted to peck at his knees when it got low. He felt a half-smile cross his lips from how impressed he was with himself, but it soon left his face as the creature turned back to face him with less bewilderment and a whole lot more angry. He got back up and thought about running again but a part of him made him stay strong in the line of fire… perhaps to literally.
He felt tired of running. He looked around at the burning barn, the sheep fleeing out of gaps the blaze had made. Anger mixed with fear to create a mixture of emotions JJ didn't like. He wanted so badly to run but a strong urge made him stand his ground and fight. And he never fought, maybe that was why. All those times he walked away from conflict even though it made him fuming, all that built up to this. Him fighting one-on-one against a Killer Rooster-Stallion.
"Fine." He said, turning his eyes to the hoovering monster. "You want at me?"
The monster landed on the ground and shuffled awkwardly towards him, clucking as it did. It felt almost mocking, the way it walked towards him. This creature was mocking him. He glared at the creature. It wasn't like the hens on the farm, he liked those hens, but he hated this one. He was glaring at a chicken, and he didn't know why but he wanted nothing more than to punch it in its stupid beak.
So he did.
Before he even knew what he did the Chickorse stumbled back in surprise and confusion. JJ's fist had connected with its beak, right between its eyes. It cried out in a pathetic shriek of pain and flattened its head to the ground, stomping its back legs. The pained scream almost made JJ faulter, feel sorry for what he had just done.
Then as the Chickorse opened its bill to breathe another stream of flames right as he let his guard down a shot fired from JJ's side. A bullet punctured its body and what looked like sand burst out. The monster roared in rage and looked towards the sound.
Henry stood with an old fashioned shotgun, double-barrelled and smoking. He kept his gaze on the giant strange thing that clucked angrily. 'Can you cluck with anger?'
Henry didn't even look at JJ as he spoke. "Red I would get out of here if I were you." This was a tone Jake had never heard before. Serious. "I only have so many Celestial Bronze slugs for Cluckers over here." Just as he finished he fired the second slug, the Chickorse finally seeing some sense and using its large wings to beat the air and propel itself away from the line of fire, keeping giving itself some distance, but it would only be a matter of time before it attacked.
"Under the front porch, a bag." Henry explained as he cracked open the barrels and pulled two bronze coloured bullets from a pouch. "Grab it and take a train to New York. Someone will find you and guide you where you need to go." He reloaded the gun, cracking it shut and still not wavering his gaze from the creature, who did the same, squawking intently.
JJ stood stunned. Henry had never been so serious, ever. He looked like he did in the picture of him in his military uniform. Hardened, fearless. Different. JJ hesitated and tried to protest but before he could Henry held up his hand the way he would if he wasn't going to hear any argument against. JJ knew he wouldn't hear any of it, it was useless to try to argue right now as they were in a situation he would ever dream of, but Henry was taking charge, being the father to him. He knew he was right, it just pained him to run again.
He ran to the terrace, his feet jumping the small step and reaching for the wooden planks that were nailed together, finding a loose one to the side. He pried it free and found the bag. He picked it up without checking its contents and began to run back when he saw that the Chickorse had lost interest in their staring contest with Henry and launched more flames. Henry dodged with surprising speed for someone his age, and retaliate with slugs that burst through feathers.
"Run!" He called back. Jake watched him fight, the burning grass around the two as they fought tooth and nail, or more accurately beak and shotgun. He ran forward to try and help but Henry glanced back with a face that didn't want to be disobeyed.
JJ sprinted down the path, tears falling down his face. He ran, like always. He ran instead of fighting. Now he left his father, the person who took him from the orphanage and raised him by himself, he left him to fight a fire breathing Horster. He just ran away without as much as a thought.
Jake hated himself.
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A rough bump shock JJ out of his slumber. The windows looked out on the moonlight fields as small houses whizzed by the speeding train. He couldn't remember most of the details of how he got on the train, or anything after running out of the homestead. He remembered getting on the train finding a ticket that was in a side pocket of the rucksack.
He pulled out the bag from under his seat, remembering not having even checking the contents since he picked it up. He unzipped it. Inside were spare clean clothes, even new boots, which he pulled out to swap for his worn and slightly charred old ones. There was a wallet; inside of which was more money than JJ had ever seen in his life, along with golden coins he had never seen before. Then at the bottom were some personal possessions of his, an iPod, which he never went without, his penknife and something he hadn't seen in years.
It was something he remembered the orphanage said he had with him when he was left at their doorstep 16 years ago. It was a ring that went around two fingers, his middle and ring fingers. It was silver and had antlers like a deer's as a charm. The antlers had finely cut vines and leaves climbing up them. He remembered asking Henry about where it came from and he had said he had asked jewellers but they said it was unique. He had put it in a draw for safety years ago, and now it was back. He put it on, mesmerized by the way the moonlight shone of the horns with a mystical glow.
He zipped the bag back up and looked asked a neighbouring passenger how far from New York they were. They said about 5 hours. He shrugged and rested his head on the window, gazing at the blurring shapes that soon turned black in dreamless sleep.
He was awoken by a conductor telling him they had arrived in Brooklyn. The station was busy as it was rush hour. Jake had never been to a city so big, so thriving. He never thought he'd like the city but the tall buildings and the bright light amazed him. He walked down a street he recognised not by name but from movies he watched on Fridays with Henry.
He stopped for a second as he remembered leaving his father behind him to fight the monster that attacked. It all seemed too real to pass off as a dream but it couldn't have been real. Strange stuff happened to him but a flying Chicken-Horse hybrid that could breathe fire? Impossible to science. He was knocked from his gaze by passing pedestrians, probably too busy to care about a young boy standing in the middle of the pathway.
He didn't notice at first but a hand grabbed him from behind. He turned in a panic, half expecting the chicken again, but he turned to see a girl a little younger then him with blond hair and stormy eyes. She stood in a manner similar to that of an old military buddy of Henry's, a bite edgy and seemed to be as if they felt they were being watched. Next to her stood another boy with dark skin and matted hair and goatee, which looked odd for someone his age being as if the same as the girl. He stood a little taller though, almost JJ's height, and his legs seem to look slightly off to him.
"Come with me." She told him, she had a sweet voice but a stern one, like she was used to giving orders. JJ hesitated. He didn't know this girl and for all he knew she could have tail feathers and more fire in her breathe.
"I'm pretty sure the first thing I learnt about the big city was never to trust strangers." He said, shaking her hand off but standing his ground, much to the annoyance of other pedestrians.
"We are here to help you." She looked up at him, and JJ felt an almost usual sense of calm from her eyes. She was young but had a kind of familiar to him. However, he didn't let his guard down just yet. "You're like us, being chased by monsters aren't you?" He looked at her in bafflement. How did she know? Was she the one Henry said would guide him? And the way the said "monsters". He didn't even think about the possibility of more monsters that were after him.
"How… How do I know I can trust you?" He asked her.
"We will take you somewhere safe." Said the boy. As JJ looked at him his image flickered like a fog was clearing around him. He saw long furry legs like that of a goat, and small horns sprouting from his head. "I'm Grover, I'm a Satyr. This is Annabeth, she's like you."
Satyr. He recognised that name all too well. Henry had told him myths from Greece about half-goat people. But myths were myths, stories told to make the imagination wonder. And this girl, Annabeth, she was like him in what way? They seemed almost opposite.
"Like me?" he muttered under his breath. She looked at him with intense eyes, and he nodded finally. He didn't fully trust them but if they were monsters, wouldn't they attack him by now? If at least they were waiting, he had time to prepare. "Okay." They looked at each other before she pulled him by the arm northwards, with the goat-boy Grover following behind.
They lead him into a taxi with a boy that was even younger than them in the driver's seat. JJ barely had enough time to ask questions before he was shoved into the back with his guides. Annabeth leant into the front and spoke to the young boy who smiled with contained excitement. "Tommy drive us to the camp." 'Camp?' Jake thought.
Instantly the boy pressed his foot down on the gas and the cab shot forward at ridicules speed. JJ was pressed against the backseat, as he wasn't even given the warning to use a seatbelt. He finally managed to get it on and he turned to face his guides who stared at him intently. "What?" he asked.
"How much do you know?" Annabeth asked.
"Know about what exactly?"
"Have you ever heard Greek myths?" said Grover as they speed around the corner finally out of the main city and down a quiet suburb.
"Yeah my Pa would tell me stories when I was little but they are stories, right? Unless you're telling me your goat-legs aren't just city fashion?"
"No they are pretty much real, just like the myths and the Gods and the rest of it." As the hyper cab driver steered towards Long island as Jake remembered, they explained to him everything. How the gods moved to America and their kids who they had with mortals (Because apparently they can't keep it in their pants for too long) were half-god half-humans and went to a place they could be safe called Camp Half-Blood, where they were heading, because monsters would hunt them down.
"I am daughter of Athena." Annabeth explained. JJ remembered something about Athena swearing never to have kids but he guessed there was some explanation, they seemed to have one for everything JJ had experienced. All the weird things that happened to him happened to other people. He sat back in the cab, trying to process what was just explained to him.
"So, who's my God-parent? Am I Athena to, is that why you came to find me?"
Annabeth thought for a moment and looked at him like she was taking a test. "No, I don't think so. You don't have the right features or trates. Auburn hair and your eyes, I'm not quite sure but when we get to camp sometime in the future you might get claimed, but it doesn't happened a lot." JJ sat back disappointed a bit.
"Were almost there!" they heard a screech from the front as they approached a hill with a tree standing alone at the top, a Golden Jacket shining from a branch. JJ looked at it stunned.
"Is that, the Golden Fleece. Like, Jason and the Argonauts Golden Fleece."
"Yep. We had to get that a year and a half ago. The tree at the top of the hill that protects our camp was poisoned. It healed it." She trailed off and JJ decided he'd find out sooner or later, he had enough information to process. "Almost a little too much."
The cab stopped with a loud cough. Their wired chauffeur got out and ran up the hill without so much as a hello to JJ. They got out of the cab and he followed the two up the hill. At the top he looked out over the most amazing, and most homely place Jake had ever seen.
Camp Half-Blood.
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They walked toward the Big House they called it, and by the look of it they weren't kidding. It was a big house. They walked around the edge of it towards the beachfront. They walked onto a gazebo were a middle-aged man sat in a wheelchair. "Chiron, Grover's hunch was right, we have found a new camper." She beckoned JJ forward.
The man,Chiron, turned to face him. He appeared to be middle aged, a thick beard unable to hide a warm smile as he reached his hand forward for JJ to take. "Hello there. It seemed although you have already been introduced into this scary new world Annabeth forgot to even ask your name first." Annabeth face went red from embarrassment and JJ just laughed lightly.
"I'm Jake Mobley, Or JJ for short." He shook Chiron's hand. As he did Chiron's legs seemed to magically heal and he stood up, but then he grew more legs until he towered over JJ, his torso still human but his lower body was that of a horse. A Centaur, JJ recognised one of his favourite Greek creatures. He smiled in surprise, "It's not so scary, seems I lived through it most of my life."
Chiron smiled back "So you have. Annabeth tell the other campers of our new arrival, Grover thank you." the two smiled one last time at JJ then headed toward the cabins and the fields. "JJ, let me show you around."
The tour wasn't like the ones JJ had taken when he went to a museum at school. To be fair the museum didn't have an archery range with real arrows, a sword-fighting field, cabins dedicated to the 12 Olympians which JJ probably should try and remember the names of this time least he be struck down, and a eating hall with a giant fire in the middle, which was used to dedicate some of your meal to the god of your choice. Chiron was a good teacher. He did train most of the mythical heroes after all.
"So, what do you think of it all?" Chiron finally asked as they finished their tour outside by the campfire. JJ had had a smile on his face since the archery range.
"It's-it's awesome." JJ beamed. "It's like a movie or a book, but I'm in it."
"We get that a lot." Chiron chuckled. "You'll be in the Hermes cabin for now until you're claimed. It's always a bit cramped but they will make you feel comfortable. But I've heard they had been waiting to try a new prank on the next new arrival, sleep with one eye open." He said with a wink.
"I have a question if that's okay?" Chiron raised an eyebrow but nodded. JJ clutched his rumbling stomach "When's lunch?"
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JJ sat at the Hermes table and was pretty much the centre of attention for the day. People would constantly swap with others to sit next to him as each one asked the same questions and he answered that same way. "I grew up in North Dakota on a farm." "I lived with my Pa until we were attacked by a monster." "No, as I told you before, I don't know who my God-parent is." "Yes I'm single, and yes I do know Aphrodite is the goddess of love but I'm okay thanks."
Everyone seemed nice enough, especially the Hermes kids but he thought that would change during the night, right now they were luring him into false-security. The table next to them, the Ares cabin he learned, glared at him with hungry eyes but he learnt that was normal for new campers.
What he found most interesting was this fella "Percy." Apparently he was a camper who usually only came during summer but was some kind of modern day hero. They told him all of his adventures since he arrived almost 3 years ago. The thief that stole Zeus' lightning, turned out it was a Hermes kid with a grudge. The Golden Fleece, which he had to go into the Bermuda Triangle to get, that turned the tree back into a girl which was a whole other story. And most recent stopping a Titan joining a growing army that threatened the world.
That last part made JJ feel a little queasy as he ate his lasagne.
He watched as the rest of the campers go to the fire and throw their food into the flames, whispering some names Jake vaguely remembered as they did. He was the last on to approach the fire. He paused thinking of who to sacrifice to, and finally he scrapped his leftovers and whispered "To Hermes I guess. Thanks for the room." The fires burned a little brighter in response to which he took as a divine "You're welcome."
He then wondered around outside. Some kids from his cabin called to him asking to come with them to swap the foundation makeup in the Aphrodite cabin into chili powder but he declined with a laugh. He decided he if he was at a training camp for heroes, why not start training? Plus he needed to take his mind off Henry, who had surfaced from the back of his mind as he had eaten dinner.
He walked to the sparing-pitch and found Annabeth there. She was fighting a dummy with a knife, slicing and stabbing the corn-man with excellent agility. She stopped as she saw him approach and wave, walking over to join him. "JJ, hey! How's the campers treating you?" she asked with a sweet smile.
"Great, but I think the Ares cabin would rather rip my head off before they say hello." She laughed and led him to an assortment of weapons. Swords, spears, shields, typical Greek weapons from the urns and pots he had seen photos of. He noticed in her hair was a thin streak of withered looking white hair. He didn't want to be rude and ask about it.
"Ever used a sword on the farm?" He shook his head and she gasped with sarcastic surprise. "Better to start learning now, monsters are abundant since Kronos started getting more support." She started passing him swords, which he weighed for balance until he found one he liked. They then stood on the pitch facing a dummy.
"Swords are easy to use but hard to master, at least Percy says that," JJ raised an eyebrow, there is his name again. "But our minds are hardwired for fighting. It's in our blood, so give it a few swings." He did so. He found it surprisingly easy to swoop and swipe at the lifeless target. He could feel his blood rushing a little with each swing of the bronze blade. He finished his display without even thinking about how long he had been at it. He lowered his stance and looked at Annabeth, her mouth open slightly in surprise. He shrugged and as he did the dummy fell apart into a heap of straw limbs.
"That was… Sure you didn't have swords on the farm? You're a natural." She laughed in surprise "You could almost be as good as Percy first was."
"Percy. He seems quite famous in your camp." He asked. He wasn't jealous of how popular Percy Jackson was but something inside of him seemed to twitch when people talked about him.
"He's done a lot for us, he's… Well anyway." He saw her blush slightly. "So, sword practice is not needed, what about archery?" They took a short stroll towards the archery range, it was getting darker as the sun started to dip below the trees of the forest, the days not getting much longer yet in spring. When they got there it was almost empty bare a few Apollo campers. She handed him a wooden bow and a few bronze arrows. He felt the balance of the bow. He could feel his hand steady on the wood, his fingers hooked around the string gently feeling almost, natural. Inside he felt giddy for some reason. He felt like he could shoot straight, perfect every time.
He pulled an arrow onto the string, drew back the light string and fired, all with incredible speed. The arrow should have been inaccurate since he didn't even aim properly, or at last seemed to have not spent any time in doing so but he infect knew he had aimed somehow without needing time. But to his, and everyone else who was on the range surprise, the arrow hit straight into the red center, not exactly the middle but close.
He lowered the bow, his eyes wide in confusion. Without even looking at the shocked faces behind him he pulled another arrow, this time when he pulled back he stopped to aim for a second. He felt a primal instinct inside him. His breath slowed, his left eye closed to aim level at the red has he held the bow in his right hand. As he let the string go he breathed out slowly and he watch the arrow go in almost slow motion as the point struck the middle of the target.
He hung there with the bow still raised, surprise now forcing a broad smile spread across his face. He turned to see that the archery range a little more popular than before. What looked like a majority of the camp had gathered behind him without him even noticing, or looking from a distance at the commotion, all of them wore gob smacked expressions. Some of the Apollo kids, who he had heard were the best at archery, glared at him along with the Ares children, who seemed to place him on a list of personal life-long enemies. The Aphrodite girls seemed to be giving him flirting eyes even more, obviously now just impressed with his bow-skills. His fellow Hermes occupants smirked at a few of the other people who were practicing, who looked a little taken aback by the newbie showing them up on his first attempt. Annabeth approached him. "That. Was. Awesome." When she finished the audience erupted in cheers and whoops. JJ couldn't help but smile even more.
He was going to love living here.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone