Training With The Golden Girl

When I woke up I realized how long I'd been out, two days had passed since I'd fought the monster. Clarrise had few injuries except for a scar on her arm from where the monster had hit her. The Demigod we had helped had turned out to be Alex, this monster was clearly not the only one he'd run into. Alex had a new scar across his cheek, his left eye was bruised and he had a few scratches on his arms and legs.

I wasn't too good myself, the monster had left my back and sword arm scarred. Gods, what if someone saw at school if I ever did return to school. My previous injury on my ankle was now just a faint scar.

"Thank the gods you woke up," Juniper handed me some water.

"I think my dad was just watching over me," I responded.

"He probably didn't want to be annoyed for all of eternity." Juniper sat down and checked my scars.

I was still wearing the same thing I had worn the night of the attack, my sweater now had cuts in it. I didn't mind, it would remind me of my first run-in with a monster. But it did need to be washed, dried blood trickled down my back and right sleeve.

"You're probably right." I smiled.

"You should train some more, more like we should both train a lot more. I have more experience with healing than fighting."

"We can train together." I blurted.

"That'd be great." Juniper smiled.

I looked away blushing. "Yeah, it'll be great."

"You're back and arm are going to be scarred for a long time that's for sure. But your ankles' scar will probably fade in a few months."

"That's good to hear."

I hopped off the bed and stood up stretching. Juniper stood up, her eyes were a little red and the bags under her eyes were darker. I frowned and faced her, she was a few inches taller than I was so I looked up at her.

"Didn't get much sleep?" I asked.

"I've been getting enough sleep, I'm fine," Juniper said.

"You sure?"

"Yep, let's go train for a bit."

Before I said anything Juniper took my hand and pulled me out of the infirmary. It was darker than normal, I looked up at the sky and saw clouds, lots of clouds. The camp was covered in a fresh load of snow at least four inches of snow I guessed. I smiled and walked beside Juniper.

Juniper wore a pair of black jeans and a yellow sweater that was covered in white daisies, it seemed appropriate for a child of Apollo. Her hair was tied back by a yellow and black ribbon. Her beautiful yellow eyes sparkled with excitement. She wore a necklace that had a yellow and black heart on it.

For some reason, I felt like she had worn that necklace for a reason. I shrugged it off and took her hand in mine. Juniper blushed and tried to hide it but failed.

"You're better at using a knife right?" I asked looking ahead.

"Yes, swords were always too complicated, besides a knife has many resources," Juniper responded.

"That's good, I'm better with a sword than a knife but I'd like to learn more. It might come in handy one day." I said thinking about my dream.

"I could teach you some stuff," Juniper said.

"That'd be great." I smiled.

***

Once we reached the training arena we saw Clarrise training by herself. I walked down to her.

"Hey, Clarrise." I smiled.

"You're really not dead, eh?" Clarrise looked over her shoulder.

"I can survive much worse than that." I turned back to Juniper.

I got into a fighting stance and unsheathed my dagger, the celestial bronze reflected my face. My coal-black eyes shimmered with determination, I no longer felt insecure about my pale skin. My black hair fell over my shoulders and used my free hand to put it behind me. I looked up at Juniper to see if I was in the right stance.

Juniper walked over to me and moved me to the right stance. She stepped back to examine me to see if I was in the right stance and nodded. She unsheathed her own dagger and got into a different stance.

"You're going to block while I attack, ok?" Juniper asked.

"Got it, but how do I-"

"Your ADHD should help with that, it's your fighting instinct that keeps you alive when faced with monsters." Juniper cut me off.

"I don't know how to us-"

I stopped talking as Juniper slashed with the blunt side of her knife. I blocked with my dagger, I had no idea what I was doing.

"That's it! Now keep blocking." Juniper grinned and jumped back, she struck again and I blocked.

This time I grabbed her wrist and pushed her back. Juniper grunted with surprise as I shoved her to the ground. I placed one knee on her free hand while I held the other hand down with my free hand. I held my dagger at her throat and Juniper smiled.

"Clearly you've won this match," Juniper said dropping her knife.

I sheathed my dagger and climbed off her, Juniper sat up.

"Was this really your first time using a knife?" She asked me.

"Not exactly, when I was young I would play with sticks pretending they were swords or knives. I once tackled my uncle and held this dagger at his throat thinking he was a monster though." I said.

"For such a small Demigod you match lots of others speed and strength." Clarrise walked over.

"Surprising to hear a compliment from you," I quickly added, "not that there's anything wrong with that!" When Clarrise narrowed her eyes at me.

"Gotta compliment someone from time to time or you don't make friends, just enemies." Clarrise sat down and set her spear, Maimer, on the ground beside her.

"You're saying we're friends or somethin'?" I asked teasingly.

"I- no! That's not what I'm saying, I'm just being nice!" Clarrise exclaimed flustered.

"I'm only teasing," I chuckled.

Juniper and I laughed for a few moments while Clarrise just frowned grumpily.

"Just keep up the good work, dead girl." Clarrise stood up and walked away to the cabins.

"She's so gonna kill you at capture the flag," Juniper said.

"She can try," I responded laying on my back.