princess // percy jackson

i. eleven - clarisse f*cks around and finds out

words : 7140

(bit of a long one again so lock in, kids...)

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her chest rose up and down slowly as she intook a deep and calm breath.

she steadied her composure, pulled her shoulders back ever so slightly, then tilted her chin upwards so she could get a better view of the sacks of flour painted red in the far distance.

alliah jacinto had been at camp half-blood for a little over a week now, and she was now certain she was starting to grow fond of the place.

she had gotten used to the people, the food, the training and just about everything else to do with the camp. she'd finally been given a change of clothes as well and now she owned the same orange tee uniform as the others around her. she'd later found out that the little squiggles she couldn't make out enough to read on her first day, were the words 'camp half-blood', engraved on the front.

not only that but now she'd even gotten used to the smell of feet in the cabin she shared with at least thirty other kids - though she still refused to share a blanket with anybody.

she wasn't planning on droning off to sleep with the slight hint of athlete's foot drifting into her nostrills - she feared it would be worse than chloroform.

speaking of chloroform, alliah had explored practically the camp in its entirety, and she still hadn't seen chiron - brunner - anywhere. annabeth had kept making excuses for him, claiming he was just busy or that she'd just had bad timing and she'd 'just missed him' or something.

but she didn't understand how a horse in charge of some camp could be that busy - and yes, she did not care enough to respect his feelings about being watered down to a horse, until he would decide to show his face to her.

but as of that moment, that wasn't what was on her mind. her mind was more concerned with the arrow held between her fingers and the target in the distance.

one more breath in, and she let the arrow loose.

she watched as the stone-tipped stick flew, cutting through the thick air, whizzing past all the other archers practicing with her. as the arrow went, their eyes caught onto it as well, following it to see if it would hit-

"bullseye!" luke abandoned his post to walk over to alliah, his hand up for a high-five.

alliah smiled and gave him one, jumping up a bit to reach the tall boy's hand - an action luke had observed both she and annabeth did a lot and he found it somewhat endearing.

she stared out at the target and the arrow that had landed in its centre, a grin on her face.

"i think i'm getting better." she said.

luke scoffed. "that's an understatement, jacinto - you've always been amazing but now..."

he sighed, a proud smile on his face.

"you're beginning to rise up to becoming one of camp half-blood's best."

-

alliah twiddled over luke's words as she set her bow down on the table.

hours later, the sun had begun to set and she was the only one still left by the archery field, refusing to halt her practice. once she'd realized she was good at this craft, she decided she would never stop until she was the best - her motivation was something unknown to her friends, who simply shrugged and let her do what she wanted to do.