[hr] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZRIi89Y.jpeg[/img][/center] [hr] [indent][indent][color=darkgray] [color=86a8ad]"Good morning everyone. If it wasn't already obvious, I am River, your new leader… And son of Poseidon, if that matters." [/color] [color=86a8ad]"Per my father’s orders I’m here to help get camp back on track. Ajax let camp fall into disarray and my late brother was not around long enough to accomplish much." [/color] [color=86a8ad]"Andy stepped up when no one else did and helped rebuild… Which isn’t a small feat and her efforts shouldn’t be overlooked."[/color] He turned and gave the first woman Pallas had identified earlier. A new name. ‘Andy’, Pallas noted. [color=86a8ad]"Now that everyone has had time to recover from the horrors of Pandora’s Box, my focus is going to be on training, the original purpose for camp… Not parties every night or the Greek tragedy that was the Valis’s chokehold on this place."[/color] River nodded his head, his pacing slowing until turning to face everyone head on. [color=86a8ad]"No one likes training, but it’s important. The world won’t forget you’re demigods just because you ignore it. We can’t stop things from happening, but I can help prepare you all so if the time comes, you can defend yourselves."[/color] [i]‘Valises. Internal unknown politics.’[/i] Pallas noted. ‘The horrors of Pandora’s Box’ another new term noted, but accepted as swiftly as the name ‘Andy’ and with just as little surprise. Merely a new fact brought to his attention to be catalogued. [color=86a8ad]"Alright. Because half of us here are new and I don’t know your capabilities, the first three days of training will be assessments. This will help get a baseline for where everyone stands so I can better tailor the training to you specifically. Today’s test is agility."[/color] [i]‘Three days. Your capabilities. Where everyone stands. Agility.’[/i] Pallas’ mind echoed the important pieces of everything he was hearing. Agility was a strength of his, by his own consideration. Something he’d put years of time and effort in to bring to the fore. He suspected long ago that demi-god or not that he would never be a ‘Hercules’, so best to hone that which would most keep him alive until his mind could calculate a solution. Swift movement in controlled bursts was the kind of thing which could keep him alive in fights out of his weight class, but also had offensive benefit for when he had the initiative. A further stroke of fortune and good sense for his fitness routine prior to the call to come here. "There are ten obstacles, starting with the tires and ending with the long jump." Golden eyes once again scanned the course. "And while I could try to explain each one to you, I feel leading by example might be the best approach." He considered what he saw, and his eyes narrowed. He could have done with more focus on burst-agility for a course designed to identify agility, but there was nothing here beyond him. His arms crossed and a palm came to his chin, as he stroked it considering the example he was about to be presented with. [i]‘Son of Poseidon. Someone who comes from a house which doubtlessly values and holds power paramount.’[/i] Pallas suspected a strength baseline which was beyond his own, and that the water leg of the course would disproportionately be a point of difference between their efforts. As he watched River complete the course, he noted a few places where he could gain seconds on River – the man leant more to strength than technique on the rope climb for one, he suspected he had a better method for the five log hurdles – and places where he’d likely lose seconds, the pool obviously chief among them. [i]‘Control breathing earlier and treat it like some Olympians deal with the short pool races. Dive crisp, stay submerged and kick as long as possible before surfacing.’[/i] Limiting his strokes should get him through the pool stage faster. Although it would give less opportunity to display competency in that one skill, which may be against the spirit of the activity. Something else to consider… [color=bd1664]“Nine minutes and thirty seven seconds.”[/color] His time was announced loudly. More to give the onlookers an opportunity to acknowledge what the benchmark that was just set actually was, in proportion to the course time limit. [color=86a8ad]“You have fifteen minutes to complete the course—“[/color] That time limit now stated aloud, clear for all to hear. [color=86a8ad]“—Because this is an assessment, there will be no skipping obstacles, no cheating, no powers, and no helping each other. Break any of the rules and it is an automatic failure.”[/color] [i]‘More than fine.’[/i] Pallas thought to himself. Even beyond wanting to keep some cards close to his chest, he felt he was looking at a course where his own powers had limited additional value in the first place – remarkable for an agility course. Not to mention he was curious to see how he could compare with this ‘River’ and his recent benchmark unassisted anyway. [i]‘Ten minutes.’[/i] His self-assessment concluded to himself, calculating the loss of seconds to the pool, and considering his own methodology and game plan for tackling the course. [i]‘Maybe Nine fifty-something if I handle the pool particularly well.’[/i] River announced the first group of five, of whom he only recognised Andy by name. Still, he supposed it should provide another baseline for how the average camper would perform. This five had the largest man he’d seen amongst them as well, a dark looking individual who Pallas had thusfar been unable to place. A self assured smirk which briefly flashed through had him wondering if perhaps he was another son of Poseidon, before Pallas quickly dispelled the thought. The surface distances between how he and River carried themselves seemed too stark. Zeus then? For some reason Pallas doubted it, whilst the ‘self-assured’ part sounded right, he couldn’t see one like them trying to hide that confidence. Similarly that decision to stow the look didn’t ring true to those sons of Ares. He decided he’d spent more than enough time trying to crack a puzzle which might reveal itself later anyway, and considered the others. A mousey woman, who seemed to pray for the world to open up and devour her to prevent herself from being seen here. She certainly didn’t seem to have any self-confidence to hide in the first place, on first thoughts. Or maybe all of that self-confidence had been absorbed by the other woman amongst them – by elimination one was ‘Sloane’ and one was ‘Maylisse’ – who seemed beyond just self-assured. The word ‘haughty’ flashed across his mind. This was a woman who certainly knew she was the child of a god, and carried herself in such a way that demanded you acknowledge it. He recognised that kind of hyper-confidence from the schools he had attended. And finally, the other man who looked like he was about to engage in something fun. The sort of quiet confidence of one who didn’t fear any sort of failure in the situation, but was excited for the opportunity. He had exchanged words with ‘Andy’, none of which Pallas had any kind of context for, nor could he hear, and there was little time regardless. Since… Then River started them off – fifteen or so minutes later and ‘Andy’ had ensured the self-assured smirk wouldn’t return to the biggest man again any time soon, and seemed to flash him with the kind of rage which would have had Pallas reconsider Ares as a possibility again, if he hadn’t eliminated the probability. The look of anger flashed away just as fast as the earlier smirk had. He couldn’t place the man. Regardless, he seemed no less impressive than the first impression his size gave off. ‘Haughty’ finished third. And well within herself. Pallas could tell she was capable of much more, but for whatever reason seemed to struggle with either herself or aspects of the course in places. And whatever frustrations she’d had with the course evaporated with the water as she seemed to once again hold her head high with dignity at the completion, regardless of whether she was actually satisfied with her performance. She was a clear daughter of Poseidon – the pool performance convinced him of that – her performance was more attainable than River’s was though, due to those issues. He doubted they’d be repeated if she had another chance at the course though, unless it truly had gotten to her head. The other smaller man seemed to struggle on energetically with enthusiastic vigour which never died, but waned as the course took its toll. More than a few stumbles, including one painful looking one, but his mad-dash scrambling made up for those issues. And finally the mousey woman who clearly brought up the rear, her lack of confidence prior had seemed a true precursor. She looked like she’d been dragged through something backwards. After seeing the first group, it was enough to send Pallas back to the stands. He pulled his shoes and socks off and left them with his breakaway pants. He’d been weighing whether they’d be beneficial since he first saw the pool stage. Having walked across the arena’s divine sands earlier, he decided it was worth it to reduce the drag on the swim and to gain ‘feel’ on the numerous log and rope balance stages. He took the stairs back down again after in time to catch the second group’s attempt. This had a group of four women and one man, he found himself disappointed he’d missed the start because the first four seemed even faster than the first, overall – maybe they’d figured something out from watching the first group and changed tactics. Instead he was left with mostly watching the woman who was bringing up the rear after the other’s completed the course, with a close finish. She was… not doing well. Even by comparison to the mousey woman from the previous run. And she purged her stomach’s contents at the end as evidence… Pallas unzipped his tracksuit jacket, and was about to drape it over her shoulders when another man stepped in and intervened. Pallas hit the skids. Very close to doing something stupid. [i]‘How much of that was your own decision, P?’[/i] Was the first thought which passed through his head. But he felt confident it was his own thought, because as soon as he saw that someone else was tending to her the urge to lend haid himself subsided. He was satisfied that she was being looked after. [i]Allure doesn't work like that does it? If that wasn't my own thought, if I were being controlled, it wouldn't have stopped when I saw she was getting help. I'd still feel something... about needing to help, which is beyond just the help itself. Right?[/i] Then that thought was followed up by another to highlight just how stupid it would have been, its not like he could have done it without anyone knowing who did it. The realisation that he was wearing an all-matching tracksuit, and his own stupidity blared cacophonously through his skull. [i]You didn't do anything. Nobody saw nothing. Blow the scene.’[/i] He didn’t change speed to draw attention to himself. [i]‘Cool breeze.’[/i] He walked on towards the start to watch the next group. But his mind was so busy spiralling he couldn’t really say he watched anything. Nobody approached the course in a noteworthy enough way to yank him from his own train of overthought. Including revisiting one of his main concerns. [i]‘That wasn’t one of Aphrodite’s daughters was it? That wasn’t at the root of your decision there. No. There wasn’t a pull. Was there? No. There was… social gravity. Someone was vomiting in front of you and needed it, so there was… pressure. But it wasn’t a draw. A pull. Not anything weird like… 80-something degree heat with snow falling all around.’[/i] [i]‘That’s not what that pull is like is it? A pressure you feel you can overcome, but really won’t? A pressure you can fight, but don’t want to?’[/i] [i]…[/i] [color=darkgoldenrod]“Shit.”[/color] He muttered to himself. [i]‘She was in the second group too… so she would've had, what? An hour and a half, maybe? To feel better and watch you mill around. In matching athleticwear.’[/i] [i]‘And you don’t know anything about her. Complete wild card.’[/i] And he found himself in the awkward jam of not being able to look back to try and figure out who she might be either. [i]‘More of that same social pressure, or something else.’[/i] Those large golden eyes, boring through her like an owl. While he didn’t know who she was, he couldn’t imagine it would help things if she caught him staring at her after she vomited. [i]‘You are way too smart to be so stupid, P.’[/i] The third group had wrapped up and all he noticed was the bouncy exuberant redhead he’d noticed earlier won her heat over a solidly built guy. One of the girls – a struggling redhead, contrasting the winner – in that group fared no better than the mousey girl in the first group. But he had taken on little more. Pallas hunched and scratched his chin, looking on to the start line for the next group, in part just because he felt he realised he hadn’t moved in a while, and it didn’t seem like he was keeping in-line with that ‘Cool Breeze’ thought he’d had earlier. Nobody else yet had finished in as bad a state as the girl he’d almost given his tracksuit top to, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that the group as a whole was at very disparate levels of ability and training. Leo was in the next group and was getting ready. He seemed a little more focused than the energetic man in the first heat, but mostly, similarly non-plussed. But there was something beneath the surface, just waiting to explode. And explode it did, as his blood raised instantly as they were urged to start. He was in a only a group of four, and it made them much easier to watch. With the gap between him and second place being substantial. And Pallas could easily see that second place as a proxy for himself. A solid, steady performance. But slowed by a connection to another in that same group. A relative, or possibly some other kind of relationship was clearly between them. But his performance lifted markedly once she urged him to run his own race. [i]‘Wise counsel.’[/i] He thought to himself. [i]‘Not only to get him performing better with better focus, but also to avoid instant disqualification for the pair of them from the all too understandable sudden instinct to help, should the situation arise.’[/i] Which he had so freshly been reminded of. If Leo wasn’t the new frontrunner for the camp over River, at the conclusion of his run, then it was certainly close. Could even come down to time operation. The trailing two girls finished about the same level as the mousey woman from the first group, and the struggling redhead from the last. [i]‘Alright… I think I’m getting a sense of the groupings… A strong performer or two, then steady competency, then a straggler. He’s bundled these groups so they’re less likely to get in each other’s way in their runs.’[/i] Pallas could only watch the first few minutes of the next group, before he had to look away. [i]‘Yeah… there’s nothing positive to take away from this…’[/i] Four girls and a one-armed man, and most of the girls seemed more enamoured with looking for style points on dress than any interest in proving competency in the course. Pallas instead took the opportunity to stretch. It had been a while now since he had done his own agility work behind his cabin and he didn’t want to come in cold. Enough could be said about the previous group by stating that the person who completed the course first looked nonetoopleased at what she’d just had to do. And then it mostly got worse from there. With a loud person who seemed to seek to be the center of attention bringing up the rear, who would be the lead candidate for the goddess of disdain and disgust if Olympus were seeking any openings. His name was called in the next group. Not particularly surprisingly. There was less than a dozen left uncalled, so it was probably about 50/50 odds. The names Fiona, Colton, Heath and a semi-familiar Iliana drifted in and out of his mind. His focus elsewhere for now, making final mental preparations, based on what he'd already seen. He dropped his unzipped jacket at the start choosing to run the course in just his matching athletic singlet and shorts; the singlet probably wouldn't provide too much drag in the pool. With his plan well formulated in his mind, he took a brief glimpse at the other four people in his group. A diminutive red-headed girl who's expression suggested she was all too ready for things to kick off - this assessment or anything else. An unfamiliar man who was roughly Pallas' size, but gave off the strong aura of 'country strong'. Another blonde man, perhaps slightly larger than Pallas who's attention seemed to be distracted by the final member of their group. And finally, the small waif-like blonde from earlier who seemed nonetoopleased that the blonde man wouldn't stop fawning over her. [i]Brother-sister dynamic.[/i] Pallas quickly discerned. Not that it was particularly relevant to the here and now, but it would probably be a useful note in understanding the dynamics of this place later. Pallas took up a comfortable stance and awaited for the group to be given the all clear. [i]Ten minutes. Control pace, control breathing. Technique up, strength down. When you hit the pool, stay submerged and kick hard for as long as you can, to limit the time you're leaking on that leg. Ten minutes, P. Ten minutes.[/i] And as River gave the signal to start, he seemed to spring across the top of the sands in a bouncey jog, as the other four burst out of the blocks faster. That gap between himself and the front two halved though after the first obstacle. [i]Precision. Precision.[/i] True to the command, his legs fired in rapid succession like pistons, in precise timed accuracy as he sped up through the obstacle. His pace stalled to return to the bouncey jog immediately afterwards as he moved ahead to the next obstacle, counting off seconds in his own head in lieu of any clock provided for keeping track of their own performance. He hopped the first and bounced over the second. Before putting some effort in to hurdle the third whilst never breaking that bouncey jog pace. He stopped and dropped his hips taking the fourth in a single box jump, stepping down on the other side. Finally he box jumped back to the fourth hurdle, using it to bounce off of it as he cleared the fifth without ever laying a hand on any of the logs, and clearing the second obstacle at a quick enough pace to pass briefly pass the other two campers. Before the bouncey jog saw them pass him by once again. He lost time on the crawl, as he attempted to figure out the best approach for the task. It was not an activity he'd ever performed before, and his solid build didn't help him in the close confines, but about two thirds through he settled on something which seemed most efficient and stuck pushed onwards with only a little frustration. Finally emerging from under the frame neck-and-neck with the larger blonde male. Putting a little more in to trying to come out first. Before the bouncey jog returned and saw him comfortably reach for the rope fourth. But whatver time he'd lost between obstacles he started to swiftly make up with form. His bare feet locked the rope and with smooth arms he began his climb. It wasn't the fastest climb of the day, but his technical proficiency made it clear that he would have been fine if the rope were several times longer than the twenty feet, as the rope below him stayed ramrod straight and motionless throughout his incline. This was contrasted heavily by what happened after the loud slap on the beam at the top, sucking a half-breath, as the rope suddenly burst into spontaneous life with uncontrollable shakes, as he climbed down using pure strength, with hands like vices on the rope and biceps starting to swell from exertion, avoiding rope burn on the decline. [i]Technique up, strength down.[/i] He bounced along to the next obstacle, where precise feet once again saw him make up considerable distance on the front two. He moved with the sway of the system, with accurate feet never missing, and riding the motion of the apparatus. After a minor gasp, he kept counting off the seconds under controlled breath, and felt confident that current trends would likely see him make up more time on the balance beams. By his estimate the frontrunner was a little off pace with River, he'd probably want to pass him by the pool though. It was unlikely that 'Country strong' could hold that desired pace to keep him in the hunt of his ten minute goal if he hadn't passed him by then. The smaller redhead though, he had no idea what to expect. He bounced along after and never broke stride, grabbing the rope swing and hurling himself across the gap, before once again trying to re-find his breath control. He had cleared the water, but his feet squelched in mud at the end. Brow furrowed, he bounced through the sand, hoping to dry it out by the beams, and was mostly successful. He accelerated into the beam, and didn't even raise his arms for balance on the ascent. His choice to run with bare feet paying off, even with the quick flash of fear from the mud only seconds ago. His balance was exquisite, with accurate feet pounding the beam with precision, he passed the red-haired girl, only raising his arms as he began the descent as his breathing hitched slightly. He saw 'Country strong' hit the pool with a big splash and no finesse, and felt suitably buoyed by his chance to pass, and maintain that pace which would have ten minutes remain possible. With a contrasting perfectly textbook dive he counted the seconds and kicked, and kicked. Arms in a perfect torpedo as he looked to extend his submerged portion and minimise the distance for the slower strokes. And then his breath hitched. He burst to the surface, and with no small amount of irritation with himself, began to stretch out full freestyle strokes. Fundementally sound in nature, but clearly slower than his previous efforts as the gap remained. The other man hit the end of the pool first and scrambled out with strength and determination, and little mind for anything else. Pallas hit the end and pulled his form clear. [i]Breathing. Controlled breathing. You were so careful until you weren't.[/i] He bounced along at a slightly accelerated clip watching the gap grow, before throwing himself onto the log ladder without breaking stride. He smiled as he watched the other man ascend. He was large and making good pace, using his strength well. Perhaps 'Country Strong' hadn't lost as much time to the first demonstration by River as he thought. He drove any more consideration from his mind, and focused on his own performance and the count in his head. If there were one obstacle you were given the all clear to use your powers on, this one would have been Pallas' choice. But he continued on working at finding a positive rhythm for his ascent - as his arms and legs worked in unison to haul his form thirty five feet in the air. Turning, he began his descent. He would have to drop from closer to the ground for his decision to not wear shoes, but it still seemed like a sound one, all things considered. His count in his head had him behind pace, but he couldn't be sure he hadn't fast counted a few seconds in the pool earlier. Finally, after interminable seconds he dropped to the ground, and the bouncey jog gave way to a rapid skim across the surface of he sand, as he broke for the final task, the long jump. 'Country Strong' had finished just ahead, but that didn't matter now. He hurled himself across the gap, his knees raising to his chest, before his legs stretched out to receive the ground on the other side. He bounced up to his feet and began to pace. His hands knitted behind his head, and breathing through his core, as the adrenaline coursed through him still. He paced, and turned and paced some more. Irritation palpable, until he'd finally properly caught his breath a few seconds later. He looked back at the pool with a furrowed brow. [i]No... that's not where it was. That's just where it hit you.[/i] He re-traced his run. A hitch on the beam, a gasp on the rope bridge. Sucking in extra on the rope climb... [i]The crawl. It was the crawl. You overpushed at the end because you just had to get out first in front of someone you finished way in front of.[/i] He scowled at his own stupidity and continued to pace. Controlled breathing doing nothing for him now. It was too late to put the air back. [i]Control pace, control breathing. You had a plan until you didn't. Pride is just the kind of stupid thing which will get you killed here. There's worse things than identifying it on an agility run and suitably getting slapped down for it. Still, all the same...[/i] He approached the man with the clipboard and stopwatch, and asked the question he'd been working himself up to. [color=goldenrod]"Don't suppose I finished in under ten--? No? Stupid question..."[/color] He walked away, answering his own question feeling unworthy of an answer to something asked so clearly out of desperation. [/color][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img] [color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] Almost sorta Blair and River[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] An obscenely large number of you [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/sup][/center]