Chapter Text
There was a lot to say about Camp Half-Blood. Cathy didn't really like it. Lots of people, always loud - she liked the quiet, and didn't like talking in front of people. But, at the very least, Tesheran was there - the boy was her best friend since… well, hard to remember. Preschool maybe? She’s not sure.
But the point is - it was better with Tesheran there. He was a ray of sunshine, basically. Always had this wide smile on his face, eager to talk with everyone. He was the friendliest kid one would meet.
Catherine, on the other hand? She was shy. Didn’t really speak, sometimes even hid behind Tesheran in bigger groups.
But all in all, camp was better with her friend. Not like she would have hated it if she came here alone - but she wasn’t the biggest enthusiast either.
For the most part, she and Tesheran stayed in the Hermes Cabin - until they would be claimed. They have only been here a day, backpacks still unpacked, because apparently they would be claimed really soon. Tesheran was actually happy about that - he hated unpacking and organising, on the contrary to his friend. Cathy loved that kind of stuff.
The Hermes cabin was a bit cramped - by furniture, not people. It was winter break afterall, and according to the counselor of the cabin - not many campers were there during it. The counselor was a guy named Connor Stolls. Seemed nice, mostly, there was still that prankster streak in him. The real pranksters though were two girls : Julia Feingold and Alice Miyazawa. They pulled pranks a lot, were known for it around camp - but they left them alone for now. But Tesheran did find his sneakers tied to the top bunk bed once….
Anyway - it was arts and crafts today. Cathy and Tesheran were both sitting at one of the tables, sharing the water paints someone gave them.
Cathy tried to draw something like a flower - but the lines were all messy, and she sighed every now and then, as the water spilled or the paints mixed too much. Her blue eyes glanced over to Tesheran, who was busy painting… something that looked like a dinosaur. She tilted her head, leaning in a bit closer to take a look.
“...Is that a dinosaur?” Catherine asked, nudging her friend with her elbow.
Tesheran perked up, smiling at her widely, as he showed off his picture. “Yeah! Or at least… trying to be a dinosaur?” He said, squinting at the picture he was painting - it looked more like a crocodile with back problems so bad his spine was arching up and down.
“It’s not that bad?” Cathy tried, shrugging as she watched her friend. She showed him her picture - a Purple flower that was supposed to be lavender - but looked like a Purple stick with small dots and lines around it. She winced a bit as she took it in fully. “..mine looks worse.”
Tesheran’s dark blue eyes squinted at her drawing, moving his head around as if he wanted to test it from different angles. “Yeah… waterpaints aren’t our thing. Yours looks like it has mental problems.”
Cathy snorted at the unexpected comment, stifling her laughter under her hand. “Well, yours looks like… it has sciolosis, but instead of from one side to the other, it's up and down.”
Tesheran looked at his drawing again - and snorted loudly, drawing the attention of the campers nearby, but the boy didn’t seem to mind. He just laughed, head tilted back, dark curls bouncing up and down. Cathy chuckled quietly under her breath, just happy she made her friend laugh for once - usually it was the other way around.
“Yes! So I can blame my arts skills on his spine problems!” Tesheran exclaimed, a wide smile on his face as he set his picture aside. He looked over at her drawing again, tilting his head. “..you should give that flower therapy."
Cathy stared at her attempt at painting a lavender - and chuckled, because, well, it was bad. But that was fine, as long as they could laugh at it. “I don't think therapy can help it anymore.”
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Arts and Crafts were… Well, it could have been worse. Not that Tesheran minded it all that much. It was fun though. He stuffed his drawing into his backpack once he got back into the Hermes Cabin. And then, someone said something about a campfire.
With marshmallows
And Tesheran is in heaven.
Cathy was just going out of the bathroom, when Tesheran yanked her by the hood of her Purple hoodie.
“Tes- what are you doing?!” She squeaked in surprise as he dragged her out of Cabin 11. But that's a normal reaction for her - She's like a tiny shy cat!
“There’s a campfire!” He exclaimed, looking back at her briefly - only to see her brown hair in her face. He chuckled under her breath, completely oblivious to how ridiculous he must look. “Come on! There's even marshmellows!”
And before Cathy could protest any further, he just dragged her ahead. He could see some campers in the distance, making their way to the campfire. Tesheran ignored the weird looks he got - he never really minded it that much. He was used to being the weird kid - he could be seen talking to seemingly nothing, but well… it was far from the truth.
Ghosts didn’t usually reveal themselves - only a few could see them in their hidden forms. Tesheran was somehow one of them, and managed to befriend a few ghosts - Cathy met some of them, of course. His friends have to meet each other! He tried asking his ghost friends for clues on who his Godly parent is, but they were no help. Oh well.
But back to the present! He and Cathy arrived at the campfire. She tried to smooth out her clothes and somehow tame her wild hair - but to little to no avail. Eh, happens. She did give him a small glare - to which Tesheran smiled brightly.
He greeted the campers already present briefly - and plopped down on one of the logs, tapping the seat next to him so Cathy could sit down right next to him.
“You didn't have to drag me here, you know.” She muttered under her breath, looking over at him with a slightly irritated look. But he could tell she wasn’t really mad.
“Yeah.” Tesheran shrugged, taking the sticks and marshmallows someone already handed him. He gave one set to Cathy, the other he kept for himself. “But I wanted us to get the best spots! Close to the fire and everything!”
Cathy watched him for a moment, then back at the marshmallow in her hands, as if considering something. She nodded once, then stuck it on the top of the stick. “...makes sense.”
“See? Told ya!” Tesheran chirped, as he roasted his marshmallow. He nudged Cathy with his elbow - which she returned, a bit more roughly, a playful expression on her face as she did so. And here they were - back in their small tug of war, playful as ever as they nudged each other back and forth.
‘yeah’ Tesheran thought, mid-dodging Cathy’s elbow that was aimed to his side. ‘camp was going to be great’ because as long as Cathy's here? He has all the friends in the world he needs. They are an inseparable duo, like…Timon and Pumba?
“Hey! Quit fighting you two!” One of the cabin counselors yelled from his position in the circle. Do they look like they're fighting? Because Tesheran doesn’t think so. Eh, whatever, they can suck it.
Tesheran scoffed under his breath, going back to roasting his marshmallow - it was already burnt like coal on one side, the other was still untouched by heat. He doesn't know why, but roasting marshmallows seems like some sort of art he will never get.
But SOMEHOW, Cathy always manages to get her marshmallows all golden and goey. Maybe it’s her Godly parent speaking or something? Well, of course they tried to guess what it might be - but how much can two 10 year olds come up with?
”Hey, Cathy?” Tesheran spoke after a moment, nudging her with his elbow. Cathy raised her head, freckles shimmering in the flames’ light. “Who do you think our Godly parents are?”
Cathy seemed to think about it for a moment, tapping her finger against her knee, staring at the ground with a thoughtful gaze. “I Dunno… Well, something with ghosts for you.”
“Like Hades?” Tesheran tilted his head, considering the idea. It… would make sense, probably.
“Nah.” Cathy shook her head, disagreeing for some reason. “...you're way too cheerful for that. Some… super nice god or something.” She paused, looking at him with a tilted head. “...What about me?”
Tesheran considered the question for a moment, now observing his friend intently. “...Well, some goddess involved with healing. You always have band-aids on you. No idea.”
“I have band-aids on me because they are practical.” She muttered under her breath, which earned her a small scoff from him. “What? You scrape your knees all the time!”
“Well-” Tesheran raised his hand up to argue, to make a point- but closed his mouth once he realized she was right. He sighed under his breath, glancing over at her briefly. “Fine, you're right. But honestly? It’s not like a god will just turn up and boom- you're claimed. But it would be cool…”
And just as he said that, a figure came out of the woods, stumbling and laughing hysterically. On first thought, Tesheran thought that it was some sort of local mad-hatter with no hat or something. Because the person looked like a teen, with acne, brown hair and some Led Zeppelin shirt.
Next to that teen, another person stumbled out. A short girl with short black hair and glasses, dressed like a traffic light. Literally, he’s not kidding. But a nice fit, probably. Even though her fashion sense might be gone-
The teen fixed his eyes at them, as some campers stood up, weapons at the ready. But the weird teen only laughed hysterically again.
“Oh, hi!” He grinned, waving one hand up like he was casually greeting them in the most normal situation ever. “I’m Apollo!”
And then, before they could get any explanation-
The self-named Apollo fainted, spared from crashing on the ground by the girl beside him. The silence that followed was so thick you could cut it with a knife, as everyone just exchanged looks with each other, not knowing how to handle the situation.
Tesheran was just about to lean towards Cathy to say something - when he noticed there was golden light coming from above. He usually would have dismissed it as a light coming from a lamp or something. But the problem was - there were no lamps here.
As he looked around, he noticed that other campers were looking at something above Cathy’s head. His eyebrows knit together in confusion, but he also looked up-
And above Cathy’s head, there it was. A golden hologram of a lyre, emitting light - faint, weak one, as if it didn’t have Enough power to shine brighter. Cathy looked a bit… stunned, like she wasn’t expecting it.
“...I swear I was only joking with that comment earlier.” Tesheran muttered under his breath, shaking his head a bit. Does he just jinx stuff now?
Cathy just gave him a side-way glance, eyes darting between and the sign above her head as it slowly faded. Though they didn't have to wait long - it disappeared soon Enough.
Now, if you asked Tesheran what he thought about what just happened, he would tell you he was happy for his friend. But deep down? He was a bit jealous. He wanted his Godly parent to claim him too. Yet nothing like that happened.
…maybe his Godly parent doesn't want him?