The Truth Behind The Myths

Picking Fights

Third Person POV

"Keep moving, Cohort!" Dakota bellowed. He and his Cohort were training together, running in tight groups and working on movement and uniformity. He could feel eyes on him and wouldn't have been surprised if he had looked up and seen one of the praetors watching him.

He turned to watch his group's form, calling out various turns and speeds as he went.

The new kid was keeping up well. Jack had been all jokes and smiles during the assessment and while in the barracks, but the set look on his face now told Dakota that he wouldn't shirk when attention and focus were needed.

"Consistunt circa faciem." He barked. The group stopped sharply, then turned on their heels to face left of the direction they had been moving. "Primo versu, scuta. Tela!"

The front row did as they were told, dropping to a knee and bringing their large shields down with them to form a chest height barrier. The row behind them brought their javelins up and pantomimed throwing motions, then dropped down as the shield barrier slid back up to cover them.

Dakota nodded in satisfaction. Usually he would be training with his cohort, but a severely twisted ankle had put him on the sidelines for now.

He flashed a hand signal to Hazel, telling her to take over for him, then stood back and watched.

"They work together well." A voice spoke next to him.

Dakota turned and smiled at the praetor. "Yes, ma'am. They sure do."

Reyna raised an eyebrow at him. "Since when have you called me 'ma'am,' Centurion?"

"Well I have to set a good example for the new kid. Don't want him disrespecting anyone he shouldn't."

Reyna turned her eyes to watch the newest member of the cohort interact with his comrades. They were practicing protocol for injuries on the front line. Jack had been tasked with being the injured one first, this would switch out so that each person could practice how to help those trying to aid them and all the others could understand what they were to do from any position they fought in.

"He doesn't seem to have any problems with respect."

"Well, not out on the field. You should see him in the barracks. Always running that little mouth of his. And he isn't afraid to put his money where his mouth is. Got a wicked left hook."

Reyna arched an eyebrow at him. "And you know this how, Centurion?"

"First night, some of the older boys tried to have a little fun with him, an initiation of sorts. Hazel and I didn't know about it until we were woken up in the middle of the night by the fist fight that started when they woke Jack up and tried to drag him out of the barracks. We pulled them apart and Jack got me on the jaw. Stung like a mother the next day."

Reyna nodded and suddenly they heard shouting coming from the training area.

It was impossible to tell who was fighting, but a quick scan of the kids standing around the outside told Dakota that once again, Jack and Samuel were going at it.

"It's going to take ten of us to pull them apart." He muttered, starting forward.

With confident strides, Reyna marched past him and pushed her way to the center, dragging the two teens apart.

"Don't you talk about my mother like you know her!" Samuel snarled.

"Why, did she kick you out for some other reason? I would have thought the way you spoke about women was enough!" Jack sneered back.

"Enough!" Reyna barked. "What is going on?"

"Brat was asking for it!" Samuel growled.

"All I did was ask him if he talks about his mother the same way he talks about all women, because if so, it's no wonder he's here year round at his age." Jack said, crossing his arms.

"What started this?"

"I confronted him because he was talking about one of the girls in a very inappropriate manner." Jack explained.

"What manner was that?"

"Would you like a direct quotation or a paraphrasing?"

"Direct."

Jack took a deep breath and fired off a sentence that was so full of vulgarity, a few people took a step back from him like he might get smitten by an offended god.

If Reyna was surprised, she didn't show it. "And who was this directed towards?"

"His commanding officer." Jack pointed to Hazel, who raised an eyebrow and scowled.

"Levesque, I trust that you will take care of this." Reyna said. Hazel tipped her chin down in a short nod and the praetor walked off.

"Jack, in the future tell someone instead of starting a fight."

"Yes ma'am."

"And Samuel," Hazel turned to the offending demigod. "We're going to have a talk."

[A/N Angry little Percy's gonna fight all the jerks]