[center][img]https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/yq9c365gew4.jpg[/img][/center][hr][center][color=B300B3][b]#B300B3[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/be8aada3f828.webp][color=9b9b9b][b]training outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [color=9b9b9b][b]Arena[/b][/color][/center][hr]  
[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] 

When it was Sofia’s turn to go, she wished her new friend the best of luck and cheered them on a little, if perhaps quietly at any rate. And when it was their turn to go, Veronica got up and followed Leo down towards the line. 

She tried her best, but she’d quickly fallen behind the others in her group, with Leo shooting off ahead, but her haphazard training over the past few months had definitely helped to the point that while she was at the rear, she was at least finishing the obstacles. Though she stumbled a little through the rubber tyres, mentally berating herself and forcing herself to slow down to maintain her balance. Her height was helpful when it came to the log jumps, though it was a jolt to the system as she landed after them. 

The rope climb, rope net bridge and rope swing weren’t too bad, though she did scrape her hands a little on the climb when she slipped down a rung or two before she re-adjusted her grip and tried again. 

The low crawl gave her slight regrets when it came to her midriff, and she couldn’t help but curse herself after she finished them for not altering her clothing as she’d been so focused on the obstacle. 

As tired as she was getting, the balance beams were actually the part she found easiest, as they took her back to some of the weird stage setups she’d done during a musical in the past, and she couldn’t help but smile as she sailed through with ease. Her happiness did not last long, however, as she approached the next part. 

It was then she reached the pool, where she just looked both ways as if she was about to cross the street and just stepped off into the still water. Where she sank and sank and sank. The water was swirling around her, and she could hear music beginning to filter around her, as various creatures of the sea were slowly filtering into her view. She only began to properly question what was going on when Lochlan swam past, wearing a pair of lobster claws singing [color=8e0047]“It’s better down, where it’s wetter”[/color]. 

She jerked out of her daydream, feeling a spot of pink flush her cheeks as the weird image of Lochlan serenading her at the bottom of the sea faded away. She felt her shoulders slump a little in defeat at the realisation of how big the pool of water was, and as such she broke away from the group just before they started and headed over towards their new leader. 

Having detoured from the others just before they started she walked up to River, cleared her throat and introduced herself [color=B300B3]”Hey River, I’m Veronica.”[/color] She paused for a moment, already feeling a faint blush of embarrassment spreading across her cheeks before she sheepishly continued [color=B300B3]”um, I can’t really swim. I-er- Sorry.”[/color] she mumbled away into silence as she waited for the reprimand that she knew, with almost certainty, was coming. 

River looked up from his notes as a brunette approached him. If his thoughts hadn’t been clouded by training and the occasional lingering memories from the night before, the woman in front of him might have drawn the wind from his lungs. She was stunning in a way that couldn’t be described with words and demanded his undivided attention. It was all he could think about, like a haze fell around him, shutting out the rest of the world. He blinked trying to push away the fog. It felt like he was drugged. Everything was fuzzy and out of focus except her, and his thoughts were smoke he could grasp. Who was she? Would— 

 [i]Clap.[/i] 

He smacked his hands together in his face, the loud noise and the sharp sting that lingered along his palms snapped him out of it. [i]Fucking Aphrodite.[/i] River took a slight step back, avoiding direct eye contact, but a friendly enough smile remained on his face. [color=86a8ad]"Umm… If you saw the girl running alongside the pool, just run suicides like her. 25m, 50m, 75m to the end. And I’ll arrange swimming lessons at some point."[/color] He hated the thought of being in a pool with an Aphrodite kid, but she needed to know how to swim. He just needed to figure out some way to negate their allure, so he doesn’t declare his undying love before the end of the first lesson. 

Veronica had been quite distracted by her own uncertainty of River’s reaction to her admission, so she’d not been paying full attention to the effect her sudden appearance was having on the young man. It wasn’t till he gave his face a sharp slap that she looked up from her feet, their eyes locked for a fraction of a second before he made a conscious effort to avoid looking directly at her. While the idea of “suicides” made her stomach sink, she could at least attempt them if nothing else, and it was far better than her earlier thoughts of drowning. 

She stepped forward, closing the gap between them, feeling a little mischievous as she tilted sideways, so her face was directly in his eyeline. [color=B300B3]”Thank you, I’ll try my best. And then later, we can work on my technique. Wish me luck out there.”[/color] She smiled up at the son of Poseidon, then let her eyes flick down to his chest and back up before giving him a quick, playful wink; that could either be taken as outright flirting or letting him in on a joke. She then turned on her heel to go join the others for their turn on the obstacle course, taking her place alongside Leo. 

Her run through the course went along the same lines as her earlier daydream had gone, except that once she reached the edge of the pool, she let out a long sigh and tried to steel herself against the long run ahead of her. By the time she’d finished her line drills her legs were like lead and she was gasping for breath even as she struggled on. 

The log climb was arduous, her legs struggling to find purchase with every torturous step higher up, while her arms cried out in pain. Her face was bright red with exhaustion, and as much as she hated herself for it, she could taste the salt from the tears that were streaking down her face. Once she’d made it over the top, she had to do everything she could to not just fall straight off the other side, and even so, she was scrabbling to maintain a hold as she descended. 

When it came to the final jump, she tried her best, but her legs were barely responding to her anymore and felt like they were made of Jello as she did what she could; but she failed to clear it and ended up half drenched by the pool. She felt completely defeated and weakened beyond belief by the end of the course, and even as River dried her and others in her group. She simply trudged behind Leo and back over to Sofia, collapsing onto one of the benches. 

[color=B300B3]”Never again.”[/color] She mumbled to Sofia and Leo before she completely zoned out of what was happening around her till Iliana’s voice shook everything back into focus. 

[color=4a766e]"Hi Veronica, are you going to be okay? I've been working on my ointments and I just tried my newest on myself. It works pretty good. It's for source muscles and my arms are jelly right now so they definitely needed it. I still have some to spare if you want to try it. It's made with peppermint.”[/color] 

[color=B300B3]”Thanks, I could do with that. I appreciate it. Hey Heath.”[/color] 

[hr][center][color=808080][b]Interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] Leo, Sofia, River, Iliana and Heath[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]Mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] None [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]Collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] None [/color][/center][hr]
[center][img]https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/yd5cebzjrn4.jpg[/img][/center][hr][center][color=024B30][b]#024B30[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/5c58c220ed3e.jpg][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [color=9b9b9b][b]Arena[/b][/color][/center][hr] 
Fiona gave a half-hearted shrug of acknowledgement to Lochlan as he seemingly greeted both her and Blair with a comment about the night before. However, she did give him an approving nod when he slipped the bottle of water under the other girl's arms, since she’d likely be thankful for it once she returned to the land of the living with the rest of them. As more people filtered into the Arena, she was a little concerned by Duke’s absence, which left her a little uneasy since he was one of the only two friends she had here. She him vanishing was not exactly good news as far as she was concerned. Her gaze was drawn over to Sloane a couple of times as she mused on what could have happened to Duke or where he might be, thinking that she might have some answer. She wondered if maybe she ought to try his cabin after this if he doesn't make an appearance soon. 

[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] Their new leader was clearly trying his best to endear themselves to the rest of camp, though he did waffle on a little as he laboured the reason they were there, both at the Arena and the Camp as a whole. The view did improve a smidge when he removed his shirt to run the course as a demonstration to them all, even if he was a little overtly muscled for her tastes. Though the added layer of exertion certainly made him more appealing, the faint but fleeting intoxicated buzz from her drink was definitely helping her tolerate the whole event. 

She was only half listening as Blair brought up that she was suffering, while her brother seemed to have had little to no ill effects, despite the shots they’d all partaken in the night before, being his idea in the first place; Fiona had to try her best to stifle a laugh, and made a slight snort of laughter instead. She chimed in briefly after her brother’s comment of [color=8e0047]"I can handle my liquor”[/color], with one of her own, [color=024B30]"blame our parentage fer that, we don’t stay drunk long.”[/color] Before letting them return to their conversation. 

[color=c9bef3]"Anissa, this is my brother Lochlan."[/color] Blair nodded towards her brother. [color=c9bef3]"Same dad—mortal—different moms. His is Hera. And then that—"[/color] She then pointed toward where Fiona sat on Anissa’s other side. [color=c9bef3]"Is Fiona, also Lochlan’s sister, but both Hera… It’s all very Once Upon a Time."[/color]

Fiona raised her heavily alcoholic coffee in greeting to Anissa [color=024B30]”Dia duit, pleasure lass.”[/color] giving Blair a pleasant smile at having introduced her to the newcomer, the gesture was appreciated. Though Fiona almost burst into full-blown laughter a moment or two later when the three girls were described as [i]’The Powerpuff Girls’[/i] by her brother, giving him a rather incredulous look and shaking her head in utter bemusement. Though before they could really talk much more, River was starting to call out names for the obstacle course to begin in earnest. 

[color=024B30]"Best of luck to you both”[/color] She said to her brother, and what was probably her sister as well to some degree at this point. Either way, the latter of them likely needed it more than Lochlan did. Once they were finished, it was definitely Blair she felt sorry for, as the girl had collapsed in a heap, though she was glad to see their brother helping her to get clear of the course before the next group started, as the girl looked done in. She  

For the most part, she glanced over the course as each camper ran through, picking out the odd one who seemed to excel here and there, but overall, she’d lost interest in the event after that second group till Nelly’s own attempt and then her own shortly after that. She couldn’t help but cry out in support of her friend when she dropped behind, [color=024B30]"come on, Nell, you got it.”[/color] She was overjoyed when the girl came in first within her group, and had to stand, hollering a “woo” across the arena as she cheered her victory. 

Then came the time for her own run through the course, which she wasn’t entirely thrilled to be doing as she was more of a dexterous person than an endurance one at the best of times. 

The tyres were a little awkward, but she jogged through them quickly enough, staying as fleet-footed as she could before jumping over the hurdles, then lying flat on her belly to crawl through the next part of the course. When she got to the rope climb, she let out a long sigh, fished out her flask and took a long swig of whiskey. After she returned it back to her pocket, she grabbed a handful of dried dirt and sand from the arena floor, rubbed her hands together to keep it dry. Then proceeded to make her ascent. 

The net bridge was probably the easiest part for her, followed quickly by the rope swing, where she just threw herself across to the other side, jumping the last bit and landing a little unsteadily before jogging over to the pool where she grumbled a little before diving into the water and instantly regretting the turtleneck, and she fought it for breath the entire length. 

After swimming the pool, she pulled herself up and out, flopping down on the edge as she tried to catch her breath. Even as she was glad to have made it, the wet clothes were definitely feeling like a burden at that point. She was feeling a little slumped and running out of steam as she approached the penultimate part of the course, fishing out her flask for another pick-me-up to keep her motivated.  

However, she received a far better form of motivation just as she reached it when Nelly’s voice rang through the arena, echoing her own cheers from earlier. [color=f1724b]”You go girl!!”[/color] The support from her friend brought a smile to her lips as she jumped up the log ladder and deftly dropped her way back down. She had a fresh spring in her step and gave Nelly a mock salute before her jump that cleared the pool, though she wobbled a little at the end and just recovered. 

Once she was done, she went and sat on a bench near where Blair and Lochla-+-n had retreated to earlier, though she was in no mood or desire to speak much, as she did her best to catch her breath. 

[hr][center][color=808080][b]Interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] Blair, Lochlan, and Anissa[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]Mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color]Nelly[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]Collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] None [/color][/center][hr]