[hr] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZRIi89Y.jpeg[/img][/center] [hr] [indent][indent][color=darkgray] Golden eyes burst forth from their lids, before the sun could do likewise. Steady footsteps to the kitchen, he prepared a protein shake. He gave the bookshelf a cursory glance on the pass. That was all the consideration it would garner for now, however. Now was not the time. It was morning in a new place, and important to establish a routine. He pulled on a pair of green and gold shorts, and a matching athletic singlet. He gulped deep from his shake whilst observing the snow resting on the ground outside, through his large window basking in the warmth of his cabin, before next adorning himself with a matching green and gold tracksuit top and breakaway track pants. He pulled on tube socks and kicks. He imagined there'd be people in various states of passed out to hungover, and smirked slightly at the thought of the opportunity his sobriety would give him to get the lay of the land and a good start to his day, without having to deal with too many people. There was the main arena, but he wasn't certain of standards of use regarding it, whether he could just go to work alone during his own hours or if it required monitoring. But more important still, he wanted to come to terms with the interior of the grounds. There were tracks and paths which interconnected all of the cabins in this place, and whilst he had walked the perimeter from beyond the walls, he still held his curiosities about the layout within the camp itself. A morning run along the paths would accomplish all goals at this stage, and thanks to the party last night the drawback of running into other people had likely been removed. But first... Pallas walked out of his front door, and cut back in behind the cabin into the woods. Tall trees and saplings. Tree trunks of various widths, he walked, eyes wide like an owls until he found an area as he'd hoped. Five lean poplars in close proximity, about a yard and a half apart. Growing in the shelter of the taller timbers. He approached the trees and started to break off the branches, their slender brittle lengths giving way easily. The sun slowly rose behind him. He continued until he was left with only the lean trunks of the five poplars, standing before him in a 3-2 formation. He approached the middle one and slip'n'dipped. Shadowboxing the tree with open palm strikes and a commitment to focus on bob'n'weaves. [i]Precision of movement... Speed... Leverage...[/i] [i]Good balance starts with a solid base... But you still need to be able to move that base...[/i] He finished shadowboxing the tree and took up a three-point stance, just to the left of the same central tree. [i]Never going to be the fastest... Never going to be the strongest... Not here, anyway...[/i] He burst forward explosively, weaved around a poplar, then backpedalled to the left to round another, a rapid strafing slide around the center tree, before weaving around the one on the right and finally exploding forward beyond the last. Completing a weave around all five trees. Not bad... He walked back to his starting point. So you've got to know your spots. Pick your spots, get there quick. Solid strong base. Work angles, use leverage. Another explosive burst, weaving, cutting, sliding, sprinting, strafing... Better. Again. [i]Quickness, not speed... Know where to be, when, and be there...[/i] He shot forward again; torque, burst, angles. Again... Again... He was walking back to his starting position again, when he heard a voice echo around the camp, from speakers unseen. [color=#86a8ad]"Good morning, campers. This is your new leader, River, speaking. It is currently 7:30 a.m. on January 1st. Your first training will begin in 1 hour, at 8:30 a.m., in the arena. Please arrive promptly and dress accordingly."[/color] So there was training. He mentally cancelled his morning's run. People would start to get on the move, and it didn't make sense to exhaust himself with cardio before their first session. But how to fill the hour? He turned and left the five sapling poplars standing steadfast from their own workout. Back to his cabin, he bypassed the bookshelf again, added three eggs to a pot of water and set it to boil on the stove. He moved on from the kitchen to check himself in the bathroom. The quick decision to workout this morning before he felt the other campers would be up, left him sacrificing appearance and first impressions for expediency. He put his hands on either side of the sink and ran the water, looking down and grabbing something from the sink before raising his eyes to the mirror. His brown contact lenses. He smiled. There was no need to hide anymore. Not here. The minor irritation that he'd always felt from wearing them, much like the minor irritation he'd had from actually having to. Here he didn't have to pretend anymore. The initial dishonesty with anyone new he would meet was gone. Or could be. Maybe. His face firmed with resolve. He grunted out a snort. Almost caught slippin'. [color=goldenrod]"Nobody's sucker. Paul Robinson, Pallas Robinson, ain't no difference. Nobody's sucker, either way."[/color] "People will be as good as you let them be."..? His father's words echoed between his ears. Sure... but you give em an inch, they'll take a mile as well. [i]So let them show you who [b]THEY[/b] are first, and then play them on their merits.[/i] Seems prudent. If what 'you know' is true, there's a truly awesome amount of power within these walls. He scooped handfuls of water and splashed his face. He barely spoke to two people the night before. Of dozens. It exhausted his social battery, and left him in this stupid off balance place he was in now, where he thought he could let his guard down with 'like minded folk'. As if the children of gods weren't the most dangerous people he'd met in his entire life. He looked back at the golden-eyed face that watched his every move with an owl's eyes. [i]You look fine.[/i] He told himself. He left the bathroom and scooped the pot off of the stovetop. Pouring out the hot water, and running the tap to fill the pot with cold water in its stead, until the eggs would be merely warm to the touch. Taking them with him, he left his cabin and cut back behind it again, this time taking the shortcut for the arena. He cracked an egg against a tree and started to peel it on the go, dropping shell as he cut through the thin veil of brush and scrub. Arriving through the smaller entrance, he cracked his second egg against the stone on the way in and looked upon who was already present. Just the quiet man from last night. Poseidon's son, whose voice he recognised through the P.A. And a young brunette woman laying on one of the stands, using her coat as a pillow. Already he coud see the arena's sands themselves sporting numerous obstacles and tasks for the upcoming training session. Fitness tests? He presumed this River probably wanted to know what he was working with. Remembering that he wasn't the only new arrival from the day prior. He wondered just how long everyone had been here, and who had the advantage of being here longer and forging existing relationships and connections. He decided to move to one of the less conspicuous stands of the arena, and keep a watchful eye as others came in. A young blonde woman came in and similarly staked out her own place alone in a stand. Pallas immediately identified her as a daughter of Ares. Purely based on appearance and the way she carried herself. The steely focus on the task which was to be at hand, didn't seem to cloud things either. She was the second he'd seen, and he didn't find too much subtlety with them. Which made its own kind of sense. He looked back at the first brunette woman who was attempting to sleep, and tried to put his mind to her legacy and came up blank. Then he noticed a second smaller blonde woman, and immediately wondered how long she'd been here. Waif-like she'd been milling around the entrance looking on. Presumably having been here a while before his notice. Which unsettled him. As surprises sometimes could. Pallas cracked the third egg against the seat next to him and began peeling it. [i]How long had she been there?[/i] Deciding it didn't matter, he struck it from his immediate thoughts. His immediate thoughts from watching her, pegged her as quiet and an introvert. Possibly even nervous. Easy for people like that to slip under the radar, because it was often exactly where they wanted to be - as a defense mechanism. Pallas finished the third egg and quietly snapped off his breakaway sweats, folding them up and placing them on the seat beside him. Before a redhead burst onto the scene waring garishly bright fitnes attire that made sure he wouldn't make the mistake of missing her entrance like he had with the smaller blonde. She made her entrance known and greeted people energetically. A vigorous wave to who he felt quite certain was 'River', bouncing to the smaller blonde woman. They knew each other. He made a mental note. As he'd previously noted, the blonde woman seemed quiet and introverted. Pallas deduced that she would have been considerably more uncomfortable if being greeted by the energetic extrovert quite vigorously if they weren't acquainted. A one armed man approached next, approaching the focused blonde daughter of Ares from behind. [i]He'll be lucky if he doesn't lose the other one...[/i] He thought to himself, before concluding again that this pair also knew each other. As more people began to filter in, and it became clear that whatever was going to happen would be starting soon, Pallas slowly began to walk down from the stand to the arena itself. The more people came, the fewer he could keep track of at once. And with his eyes looking on at everyone... it could very easily come across as 'creepy'. The cost to the first impression were that to happen would probably more harmful than any information he may gain. [/color][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img] [color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] Nil[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] River, Andy, Trinity, Iliana, Wes, Leo [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/sup][/center]