— FOREST

@(h.) JAEMIN Jeongguk poked his tongue out at Jaemins brief smile, hiding his own smile. He's well aware that he isn't Jaemins cup of tea but at least he puts up with his dumb antics with no complaints, ok no scratch that, with only a little bit of complaining.

He turned away from the tree with a grin, leaning against the trunk casually, keeping an eye out for any sign of feral beasts and snakes in the grass; 'feral beasts' being Cabin 9'ers, they had a horrible habit of showing up outta nowhere despite their inability for stealth. After about 20 minutes of standing around though, Jeongguk was bored outta his mind. Not even a bird made a sound in this part of the forest, it was so quiet even with Jaemins breathing from up in the tree. A rustle caught his attention though, which set off goosebumps, JK didn't even have to think, he already knew what it was and he was clambering up the same tree as Jaemins, taking care not to disturb his sleep. He climbed up to one of the taller forks, immediately spotting the basilisk- no, make that basilisk/s/- slithering on the ground; Jeongguk pulled out his weapon slowly, flipping the thin rod until it shaped itself into his trident. Damn, he wished he had his net with him.

He heard Jaemin come up beside, Jeongguk holding out one finger to be quiet as he waited for the three snakes to move just where he wanted them. He knew there'd most likely be more behind them so taking out these three was a better option to staying quiet. Almost.. His arm tensed before spearing his trident down, one prong going into each of the snakes head, dissolving them into gold dust. "Bet ya wish you had mad skills like that" He whispered with a laugh, snapping his fingers so that his weapon appeared back in his hands, albeit as the small rod it usually looked like. "So.. What do you think about taking out the nest with me?" Jeongguk asked, giving his not-so-cousin-cousin a sly side eye look.

@(p.) JEONGGUK Jaemin yawns and nods, climbing up into the tree, finding a branch sturdy enough to hold him- although he was pretty light so that wouldn't be a problem. "Only if you know how to shut up. And tell me if you don't talk and keep that mouth of yours, we'll be fine.: He smiles at the other before abruptly passing out, face basically glued to the branch in hopes of not falling out. He didn't love his cousin but his cousin was funny, so he couldn't bother telling the other off, he just went to sleep.

He was a light sleeper- years of trying not to sleep finally working on him, yet it didn't help him that much when he heard a slithering noise, sitting up in the branch and giving jeongguk- useless cousin of his, who was nowhere to be seen. Basilisks were disgusting and he was NOT going to fight one, so if only his cousin would turn up. Not bothering to yell his name, Jaemin climbs further up the tree to find his cousin-

@(p.) JEONGGUK "Shut up. This isn't a time for your bad jokes, Jeongguk," Minhyuk huffed, a frown never leaving his lips as he readied his materials to start using, "I would have come to rescue you even if you were halfway across the continent on some quest. Try to keep quiet, this is going to hurt a lot, but I need to remove the sword so when you eat the ambrosia square I have, it heals properly." He continued to explain as he poured a little bit of alcohol against the parts of the wound he could reach. The son of Apollo clicked his tongue again as he listened to Jeongguk explain the situation that got him into this mess. He'd have to talk to Tanner Wilson after they got back to camp.

The brunette had just placed his hand on the hilt of the sword, prepared to pull it out when he was suddenly tugged along with the demigod, a grumble of surprise falling from his lips as he tries to keep his weight off of his injured friend. It wouldn't do either of them any good if the injury got worse and-... He paused his internal worrying as the clicking of the scorpions behind them registered to his trained ears, and he froze, afraid to turn around. He was all too aware of how weaponless he was, and Jeongguk was far too injured to aid in anything of the sort. He couldn't possibly take on two monsters on his own, much less two scorpions.

"Take Amph- Jeongguk! I'm not... My sword skills are amateur at best, anyone at camp knows that." Minhyuk continued to fret while his hands worked on his friend's injury once more. He had to finish the task at hand so he could think through the unavoidable fight he was going to have to go through alone. So gripping the sword's hilt, he pulled it free and immediately set to cleaning and bandaging the open wound. "I can't stitch you up right now. It'll take too much time. Keep pressure on the wound and eat this ambrosia square. I'll buy us enough time for you to get healed enough to at least move." Once the words left his mouth, he removed the tourniquet and handed off his backpack in favor of taking the offered sword.

Mumbling a soft prayer to his father, the tanned male did as he was instructed to activate the sword. The weight of the weapon was unfamiliar in his hand, but it would have to do as Jeongguk had said. First, though, he needed to make sure the monsters stayed focused on him so the son of Poseidon had time to heal. Frowning at the poor lighting of the forest, Minhyuk concentrated on what little light he could call upon, manipulating it enough to sort of screen his friend from the visible eye before he also created a ball of light that he threw in the opposite direction of their space to grab the first scorpion's attention.

"Don't hesitate to let me know when you've healed or I'll haunt you from the Underworld when I die here." He grumbled, making his way toward the light he had just thrown so he'd be ready to protect them both as best he could.

@(ap.) MINHYUK “Eh, I thought I’d take a little break” Jeongguk joked weakly as Minhyuk rushed to kneel beside him. What a good pal, coming out to look for him. “Sounds like ya wouldn’t come get me if you weren’t asked, solid friendship goals right there” Despite his teasing, Jeongguk was grateful that his friend had actually shown up; it was starting to get dark and the forest was dangerous at night. He would’ve been a sitting duck for any old beast to come and take a bite.

He’d been bitten enough. No thank you.

“Do what you gotta do.” Jeongguk kai through gritted teeth when Minhyuk started to handle his leg “Chicks dig the bad boy look” He hissed as Minhyuk tied the string along his leg, everything below the tourniquet going numb from the lack of blood. At least the initial pain was gone.

“Tan-Tanner Wilson, the prick, fought dirty cause I was close to the flag. Ended.. Ended up out here” Jeongguk coughed, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. “He got desperate, took a swing and here we are, me almost losing a leg”

“I..” Jeongguk paused, his head falling to the side as he narrowed his eyes; he couldn’t tell if it was the blood loss or something else but it kinda looked like.. Oh him. He shoulda known this would happen. “! ! Minhyuk!” He scrambled away from his friends hands, grasping at the other guy desperately as he pulled him back with him. The violent movement made his stomach roil from the pain but he was much more focused on the giant Scorpion making it’s way through the trees. Nearby clicking told him that there may have been another not far off. “Of all the ing times!” Jeongguk cursed because damnit, he couldn’t fight on his leg and he definitely hadn’t missed Minhyuk not carrying any weapons. Scorpions were hard enough on their own but if there was two? Yeah, they were dead.

“Dude, dude, I can’t, I can’t do anything, you gotta take Amphóteros,” Jeongguk fumbled through his pockets for a familiar bronze rod, pulling it out and shoving it into Minhyuks hands. , he was so angry that he couldn’t do anything. “Flip it twice to the west, it’ll turn be a sword instead my trident. I don’t have a bow, i’m sorry, you gotta make do with that”

@(h.) JAEMIN Jeongguk blinked as he looked around him, realising that they did indeed travel further into the forest. Probably past the magic borders as well but, like Jaemin had said, it was silent. Wow, he hadn't even realised they'd shadow travelled. He bit his lip looking at his cousins pallid colour, feeling a tiny inkling of guilt at how his previous colour had changed drastically; he had no idea how shadow travelling worked, only that it tired out the user to the point of passing out. Jaemin really pulled out the big guns because of his mess; damn, Jeongguk was proud, he went all out.

"That was quick, cuz, nice thinking except.." He trailed off, scanning the forest line for anything out of the ordinary. He didn't like it here but it wasn't like they could move anywhere. "Perks of being an idiot means I don't have to think about the consequences, I can enjoy the now and you wish, loser, talk to me when you convince the Hadley twins to have a with you; I gotta tell ya, Remi has great hands and Kyle's got a great mouth. Would suggest you try it." Jeongguk said, wiggling his eyebrows with a smug smile at his cousin, pacing a few steps away to check out some recently disturbed leaves. He crouched down when something glinted in the sunlight, picking up the mystery object.

"Sleep sounds like a good idea, you pushed yourself too hard, and as for the monster thing.. I might be able to help you out, I think you mighta taken us near that Basilisks nest Chiron was talking about a few weeks ago. We should be fine if we're quiet though, they have a sense of smell" He came back over to Jaemin, holding up an iridescent spike attached to a familiar green scale. Unlike what Harry Potter liked to tell people, Basilisks weren't giant snakes with fangs the size of a cow; they were small(well, compared to the movie depiction), the size of a standard python but what the media did get right was their paralysing stare. What the medie /didn't/ get right was that fact that their skin, when alive, was poisonous enough to disintegrate celestial bronze. Big. Yikes. "If you can, maybe climb up that tree, I don't want you getting touched because they've slithered through the grass without me knowing. If you can't, I'll use my hands to lift you up"

@(p.) JEONGGUK Minhyuk had been stuck on medic duty for this game of capture the flag, idly waiting on the sidelines ready to dash into the field of game play to treat any immediate injuries. It wasn't the child of Apollo's favorite position within the game as he preferred to have the weight of a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back. He wasn't nearly as good at healing as some of his siblings were, so he thought his skills were being slightly wasted, but as the head of the Apollo cabin always reminded him, all help was necessary during games like this no matter the skill level. He mainly tended to the minor flesh wounds anyway, so he couldn't really complain about his role.

Although, no one left the field unscatched, even medics coming away with scrapes and bruises just by being stuck in the fray of battle. It's why Minhyuk twitched with a hint of pain every time he tried to smile reassuringly at the kids he was patching up or helping off the field. A stray arrow had graced the surface of the male's cheek, leaving a stinging wound that he only had time to rub a cream over to make sure it didn't get infected. He would effectively clean it out later when he had time to stop by the infirmary.

The game was drawing to a close when they started counting up the campers to make sure everyone had returned in hopefully one piece. After a head count was made, the medics and satyrs were sent out to retrieve anyone who possibly hadn't made it back.

"Jeongguk hasn't returned." The familiar name grabbed Minhyuk's attention, and he frowned in response, worry settling into his expression. It was unusual for the son of Poseidon to not be one of the first off the field, so of course the son of Apollo was worried. Well that and Jeongguk was one of Minhyuk's closest friends at camp, so seconds after the announcement, he was raising his hand to go look for the other male.

He was quick to make his way through the forest with a vague idea as to where his friend could be based on the accounts from some Ares kids who had encountered the son of Poseidon during the game of capture the flag. He also understood that his friend was probably severely injured if he hadn't returned. Ares kids, who take the game too serious once again.

Fear was beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach as he frantically passed through the trees, getting closer and closer to camp lines, and he had this gut feeling that the other demigod was beyond those borders. If that was the case, he'd have to act quickly to ensure that they both crossed back into camp safely without the concerns of monsters chasing them down. Minhyuk doubted he was strong enough to completely carry Jeongguk back to camp, so he prayed to the gods that the injuries weren't as bad as he feared. Fallen branches crunched beneath his feet as he continued his trek, nearly tripping over himself as his name was called. A series of emotions flitted through his expression as he laid eyes on the other male, starting with relief before it morphed into heavy concern.

"We did a head count at the end of the game and you weren't there, so I was sent to retrieve you: medic duty and all....gods, what did they do to you?" He rambled for a moment, kneeling down beside the son of Poseidon to begin surveying the wound. He clicked his tongue in disapproval as he tugged off his backpack, rifling through the contents before finding a tourniquet. "I'm going to wrap this above the wound so I can cut off some of the blood flow. That way I can remove this. I can stitch it up here too if you don't mind a messy job before we get back to camp. How the hell did you get outside camp borders, Jeongguk?" As he got to work on mending the wound, he huffed out his complaints and scolds at his friend, trying to keep his own fears at bay as his senses stayed alerted to their surroundings as well.

@(p.) JEONGGUK "That wasn't a warning." Jaemin growled, crossing his arms, leaning on a tree, thankful for the shade the trees provided. His cousin was really dumb, and sometimes- no always- jaemin was tempted to slap him. Like now. The yells weren't far behind them, yet here he was, stopping, taking a breather that they definitely didn't have time for. He rolled his eyes, thankful for being in shape, well- at least compared to the muscle pig that his cousin was.

When the elder placed the shield on his back and called Jaemin's plan for the day boring. The bravery. Jaemin just couldn't believe the other. Reading books was fun, as long as it was an audio book- and provided he didn't get distracted. Grabbing the other by his arm, he shadow-traveled the two of them further into the woods- much darker of a place, as Jeongguk continued to ramble about their plans, not realizing how quiet the place where they were, was.

"Shut up for like, a second please, Jeon? Can't you tell that you can't hear the Ares cabin anymore? You're so dumb, I don't know why I deal with you, sometimes. Now, I'm tired from the shadow-travel so I'ma take a nap, and you're going to wake me up, when you figure something out." He rolled his eyes, "besides, stop trying to impress the Aphrodite campers. I don't even know why you're trying, you're not in their league. You're way below. You see me? I'm perfect." He grinned before he yawned. "If you wanna go to Zeus' Fist give me-" another yawn interrupted the boy, "twenty minutes and a monster to kill-"

@(h.) JAEMIN [] asdfgh big mood

"Did you not hear me shouting your name? That was warning enough?" Jeongguk retorted back to Jaemin, leaping over an upturned tree root as they dashed past the tree-line and deep into the woods. He chose to ignore his cousins grumbles in favour for getting as deep into the woods as possible, only coming to a stop when they were a couple dozen metres in. The angry shouting from the Ares kids didn't sound too far off behind them but when he leaned out from behind a tree, he couldn't see them. But that didn't do anything to slow his rapidly beating heart or calm the literal fear of death that was clawing its way through his body.

Jeongguk turned to look back at Jaemin with a dumb grin, panting slightly from how fast they had been running. He plucked the shield back, sliding his arms into the straps so that it hung like a backpack(hm, shield backpacks, good for storage and protection, maybe there was something there..) "You so don't hate this family." He laughed, bringing in the surly boy for a half hug "Without me, you'd be doing something boring like reading by the beach."

"And it's not my fault for stealing this thing! One of the Satyrs dared me to do and some of the Cabin 10(Aphrodite) guy were watching, I couldn't say no" Jeongguk whined, jutting out his lower lip in an attempt to pout. Never back down from a challenge, he always said, Jeongguk was the furtherest thing from a coward, he had a reputation to maintain for doing dumb on a weekly basis that put either himself or others in danger. That also meant he was literally- at least that's what he told people- was incapable of rejecting a dare. He was a man of his word and right now, that word was keeping this mildly(very) important shield in his possession. "I gotta keep this bad boy on me for the next 24 hours and since they've seen you with me, you're a part of it too now, sorry but totally not sorry" He chortled, pulling out a small rod from his pocket and twirling it in his fingers, the thin metal extending into a sleek Trident. "Think we should head to Zeus' fist? Might be able to hide out in the Labyrinth for like 10 minutes, I think that translates to like a day out here"

@(p.) JEONGGUK (oh look at my character having really good hand-eye coordination, can't relate lmaooo)

Oh, look what a wonderful peaceful day it is, Jaemin strolling past the forest, whistling a tune before he heard screaming and yelling- he was betting it was the Aphrodite cabin, they were probably freaking out about their makeup, but nope, when he squinted to take a look- it was the Ares kids. Of ing course. no wonder the screaming was so ugly, he mused.

Now, his curiousity got the better of him, as he inched closer, only to see his ugly (sorta) cousin's face, wincing. He shoves his hands in his pockets, trying to look as inconspicious as possible, only to hear said ugly cousin to throw something at him. Catching the shield he gave Jeongguk a death glare and a you better explain later, so i can get my dad to tell your dad to beat your - wait what? Jaemin sprinted with Jeongguk into the forest, questioning Jeongguk's judgement- this was why hades is better than poseidon.

He huffs out, "a little warning would've been nice, cousin." using the term cousin to get on Jeongguk's nerves. "Did you steal something from Ares cabin again? You're so dumb." he chides the other.

and then he mumbles under his breath. "I ing hate this family and monsters." before stopping to check if the cabin was following, dagger pulled out.

@(ap.) MINHYUK “You ing dickhead! Come back here!”

Birds flew after Jeongguks angry shrieks after the rapidly disappearing figure of a muscular red teamed(boo) guy ran off into the woods without looking back. Specifically not looking back at a one Jeongguk No-Last-Name that had just been brutally attacked by a stupid Ares kid who decided that hacking at limbs was the best way to end a fight. He was covered in slice marks and bruises, his nose bleeding from a nasty elbow, but the worst was his leg.

“That..does not look good..” Jeongguk breathed, staring down at his left leg that currently had a celestial bronze blade imbedded halfway through muscle and bone. Oh god, he was going to be sick. He leaned as far to the side as he could as he retched up what was supposed to be dinner

He might be a bit of a dumb sometimes(all the time) but even Jeongguk knew that being in the woods at night, by yourself, bleeding out to death, was not the smartest idea in the world but what was he supposed to do right now? He couldn’t move without screaming in pain, he was too dizzy to even focus on his trident, he couldn’t shout out for help in case there were monsters around(call him a coward but those breaking branch noises were doing nothing to calm his nerves). , , , he was going to die wasn’t he? All because ing Tanner from Cabin Five was a little who didn’t know his own strength.

ing Tanner.

Jeongguk didn’t even want to think about touching the sword, he remembered the first rule of first aid was never to pull out the weapon since it was essentially blocking majority of the blood from leaking, but every time his leg twitched, it sliced just a little bit deeper. At this rate, he was going to cut his own leg clean off by accident. He huffed, leaning back against an incredibly uncomfortable tree trunk, grumbling as sticks and rocks dug sharply into his backside. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t move, he didn’t have his phone, there was nothing to do except think his thoughts. “ing Tanner” Jeongguk cursed once again, curling in on himself to fight off some of the cold, staring down at his leg.

…

What did bone and muscle look like?

Stop, stop, , literally what did you just tell yourself about first aid 101? Don’t. Remove. The blockage. He retracted his hand quickly from where it had almost grabbed the swords hilt, shoving it under his legs to prevent any further wanderings.

Movement to his right caught his eye, Jeongguk sitting up straight as he stared hard into the forest. What was that? Was it the thing that was going to come kill him? God please don’t let him die by harpy, please not a harpy, please please please- oh wait, look, it’s Minhyuk. “Dude! Minhyuk! Need a little help over here!” Jeongguk waved his arms to get the son of Apollo’s attention, hissing as the movements caused sharp pain to jolt up his leg. “Why are you, why are you out here?” Oh jeez, he was starting to slur his words. Not a good sign.

@(h.) JAEMIN [] ever so slightly god-modded jaemin just so he would catch the shield, hope you don't mind >.< it's the only time

First rules of fight club, no wait, first rule of /camp half-blood/ is that you don't aggravate the Ares kids. They're mean, not really all that lean, and have the worst tempers outta everybody in the camp. Slighting them resulted in a beating, stealing from them resulted in a fate worse than death. But that was only if you got caught.

Which is exactly why Jeongguk agreed to a dare to steal something from them.

So now he was running for his life across campgrounds, arms wrapped around a giant metal shield and screaming his head off as 3? 4? No, more like 16, Ares kids were chasing after him and spitting out insults that were worthy of even making Typhon cover his ears. "Too slow, losers, you ain't ever gonna catch me!" Wrong thing to say as not even second later as Bolas was thrown at his legs and down Jeongguk went, landing painfully on his face. Yeah, that was gonna bleed. "oh , oh , oh " Jeongguk panicked, looking around desperately for a way to get out of this situation; he couldn't give the shield back, that was a death warrant, but so was getting caught, he had to get rid of it to give him some time... Ah! "Jaemin! Catch!" Jeongguk shrieked, frisbeeing the shield towards the lone figure walking a few metres past him. He worked quickly to untie his feet from the bolas, fingers fumbling as the Ares kids got closer and closer; god they were an ugly bunch. Not soon enough and he was free, scrambling up onto his feet and sprinting towards his (not really) cousin who, thankfully, had caught the shield but was giving him a not so nice glare.

"No time, yell at me later, try not to die now! Gotta find somewhere to hide!" Jeongguk panted as he grabbed Jaemins wrist as he ran past, dragging his poor unsuspecting victim into his dumb as situation.

And straight into the monster-infested forest. Mmm.. Might not have been the best idea.