orenda [leo valdez]

iv. Leo Tames a Fire-Breathing Dragon

Kira made her way back to the Ares cabin, expecting to be viciously murdered and cut into little chunks by her cabin.

The cabin was hard to miss. It was a bright, angry red that stood out even in the moonlight. There was barbed wires surrounding the roof, and a stuffed boar's head hung over the doorway. She could hear loud rock music from outside the cabin.

When she walked into the cabin, she was greeted with almost everyone's stares. Most wrinkled their nose, or rolled their eyes, but a few kept a straight face. She looked around for a empty bed.

Two boys got up with a groan. She backed up slightly, expecting a fight, but one of them laughed.

"I'm Clarisse, head counselor of the Ares' cabin." She stated flatly. If she didn't know any better, she would consider her someone to avoid. But she did know better, and that she should definitely avoid her. She was buff and tall, and she couldn't help but feel intimidated. 

"Kira Willows," She said sweetly, putting aside her discomfort. She extended a hand, which Clarisse didn't take. Awkwardly, she dropped her arm down and her gaze dropped to the rough wood floors.

"Welcome to the Ares' cabin, Kira Willows," the guy said next to him. "Ellis Wakefield," He introduced. 

She nodded, and at that point most people were uninterested with her. The boys showed her to the back left corner of the cabin, where an empty bed was. There was a trunk at the of the bed, but she had nothing with her. All her belongings were at the school, and all she had was her mothers necklace, a small silver dove attached to a simple chain. No spare clothes, no cheap Christmas presents from Piper and Jason, no homemade gifts from Leo. 

Looking around, the kids had decorated their bunk spaces. Most had posters, some had personal pictures. Kira didn't have anything to put up.

The boys could probably feel the sadness radiated off of her, so they threw her some old clothes and an extra pillow. Clarisse left to arm wrestle with a guy named Mark, so Kira and Ellis were left alone. She sat down on the bed, the days events finally weighing on her and the exhaustion kicked in. 

Ellis handed her a black backpack, and she took it cautiously. 

"There's no bomb in here, right?" She asked softly, only half-joking. Ellis laughed dryly, surprisingly, and shook his head. He motioned for her to open it. 

Inside was a bunch of different stuff. There was a bag of what looked like caramel squares, but Ellis told her they were ambrosia. It supposedly was healing medicine, and warned her to only use it if someone was seriously hurt.

There was a canteen, which Ellis explained was basically the same thing, but in liquid form called nectar. Emergencies only. 

There was golden coins, which were called drachma's. Ellis said that if Kira threw it into a rainbow, and chanted "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering.", that she could send some sort of "Iris Message". 

There was American currency, rations, water, some extra clothes, and an extra weapon, a small knife. Ellis had explained that everyone from the Ares cabin carried one, and that it was almost like a momento. 

After he showed her everything he finally let her go to sleep.

"Be careful out there, Kira. We don't want to lose a sister,"

His words struck deep, a feeling of inclusion and bond settling in her heart. She wasn't expecting for anyone to like her, at all. No one else did other then Ellis, but she would work on that when she got back. She folded the some of the extra clothes and put them into the trunk, and the rest went into her bag. Then she passed out before she could even pull the blanket up, finally giving into the exhaustion.