When he got to the arena he stood near the doorway and watched the sparring match that was going on. Rory and Brian, two Apollo campers, were swordfighting. Hunter knew that Rory always preferred a bow and after that he used a knife. He couldn’t actually recall if he had ever seen him use a sword. He watched as Brian made his attack. Hunter wasn’t sure if Brian even knew what a bow was, let alone if he had ever used one. Oddly enough, the fight was pretty even.
“Go, Brian!” A voice shouted from somewhere off to the side. Hunter angled his neck to see who it was. There stood a beautiful girl with long blond hair tied up into a messy bun. She eagerly watched the fight and cheered for Brian. Hunter knew her as Arabella. She was a daughter of Aphrodite and Brian’s girlfriend. She had taken knife classes with Hunter last summer, but she asked for some one-on-one lessons and Hunter obliged. At first, Arabella had a pretty obvious crush on Hunter, but the relationship seemed to evolve oddly into more of a sibling kind of relationship.
“Go Rory! Kick his butt!” said another voice. This one belonging to Vera, a daughter of Hecate. She had bright shoulder-length red hair and dark eyes surrounded by thick-framed glasses, a smattering of freckles upon her cheeks. Vera and Rory were in Hunter’s wilderness class last summer and had developed obvious feelings for each other. Unfortunately, everyone saw it except for them.
“Is Veory a go, yet?” Hunter asked turning to Will, who rolled his eyes.
“No chance, man. They’re about as emotionally unaware as a blind person.” Will said with a scoff. Hunter chuckled before turning back to the fight. Hunter watched as the fight continued.
“He strikes too heavily.” Hunter said pointing to Brian. “Very heavy-handed.” He said shaking his head. “And Rory is just disappointed he’s not using a bow right now.” He said with a chuckle. Though Hunter had never really been good with a sword he knew the technique like the back of his hand. Hunter watched for a little longer until Rory managed to sweep his legs out from under him. Rory laughed at his brother and threw his sword to the side before helping him up. Hunter finally left his place from the wall and walked over.
“Nice fight, guys. Congrats on the win, Rory.” He said with a smile and a nod.
“HUNTER!” Arabella screamed before running over and hugging him around the neck. “I missed you!” She said. Hunter hugged her back, briefly lifting her off the ground.
“I missed you, too, Arabella. Keeping up with knife classes?” He asked looking her in the eye.
“Of course. No one teaches it like you, though!” She said giving him a grin. Hunter laughed.
“You’re too kind.” He said with a chuckle. “You’re just upset you don’t get to elbow me in the face, anymore.” He said before turning to the other three people. Vera stood next to Rory, who both waved at him. He finally turned to Brian who was brushing off his shorts. “Brian. How’s it going?” Hunter said giving him a small smile. Brian always became jealous when Arabella was around Hunter. He walked up and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“I’m doing okay.” He said plainly. “Welcome back to camp.” He said with a nod.
“Brian. You schnook.” Hunter said patting him on the shoulder. He was happy to see all of them, but he was really glad he saw Arabella. He gave her a smile before turning to Will. “Shall we get to it, then?” He asked before grabbing his pendant and transforming it into a knife. He excused himself from the two couples and walked to an emptier part of the arena. He stood to one side and Will squared off with him and drew his sword. Hunter hadn’t used his knife in a little while. He generally only needed a bow for his hunts and generally only used his bow. He had a bad feeling about this duel.