"Much better!" Ethan shouted with clear delight as he threw his own blade up, catching Lucas' blade near the guard. Instead of taking the hit head on with his own sword, however, he slid the blade of his own along Riptide, leading the strike away from his body and towards the dirt. He stepped sideways quickly as he did this, and once his sword was free of the other celestial bronze blade, he made a quick swipe for Lucas' wrist, aiming to either bruise it, or cause him to let go of the sword.

"I honestly think Ethan is more threatening than the minotaur..." Sage said as he watched the match, growing a bit impatient as he watched Ethan easily deflect Lucas' attack. "The minotaur just blindly raged around, charging whatever it could see. Ethan... He's calmer.. Calculating... He always seems to know just what you're going to do, and just how to take you down. In my opinion, he's more dangerous than any monster I've seen." He went silent then and watched the match intently, tapping the tip of his sword against the side of his boot as he did. He was getting a bit impatient, really. He knew Ethan would thrash everyone up til him, and he was eagerly waiting another chance to fight the son of Hermes.

“Oh shit.. The only two words that came to his mind as the swing neared his wrist, without warning, and completely without a thought behind it he dropped his sword, his wrist moving out of the way as he spun around picking it up with his right and sweeping in the exact same motion, Riptide flying towards Ethan’s Ankles.
Though at the same exact moment a familiar Centuar, none other than Chiron appeared near the front of the arena bow slung over his shoulder, along with his quiver. "Alright Kids it's time for dinner! and then we play the camp favorite!" Most of the kids turned and nodded, and began to march out, Luke himself turned as he heard the voice of his old Latin teacher, riptide stopping just short Of Ethan’s ankles, and with a slight blush he stood up, and began to follow the shuffling kids straight to the pavilion.
The pavilion was amazing, out in the open, and with a single burning Brazier, or something of the sort, curious as to what it was, but he said nothing as he joined the Hermes kids that had sat down, being he hadn’t be claimed yet and didn’t know who his godly father was, he had no other choice but to sit there, or at least that’s what he had gathered. Once everyone had been seated, Chiron; who stood at the center table raised a goblet. “To the gods!” and turned it over pouring it on the ground, as everyone else did the same with their own goblets, so as such Luke did too, After that everyone rose taking their plate of; (Well as it turned out Lucas had noticed everyone’s plate magically had whatever they wanted on it, which he didn’t even wanna ask) towards the Brazier, cutting off the juiciest part of meat, or the freshest of the fruits, whatever was the best, and when it came his turn he did the same, but instead of smelling what had been dumped in, strangely he smelt the sea air. He frowned slightly and returned to the table with his plate poking at what was left, having lost his appetite for now.

Ishmael kept his arms crossed, the time in the Arena much quicker than usual. Then again, a new kid was here who needed to know who to blame for his current lot in life. Lucas was trying, but as he heard Sage barely, Ethan was infinitely more dangerous then a Minotaur for the sole fact he had a brain. That didn't mean much, not really, as the glory hound of a thief's son was all about being the best in a fight alone. But it wasn't none too impressive how Lucas handled himself, regardless, considering how much people had been talking about this new kids slaying of a minotaur. Then again, it was three day recovery period, so that was hardly as impressive when added in there. Of course the centaur teacher Chiron waltzed in and announced the dinner time was upon them. He stalked off in the same direction as the other kids, towards the pavilion where food was being served. Fancy plates had whatever the holder wanted, which for him was a light meal that he honestly never paid close attention to what it was specifically, it was usually a combination of a steak, burger, or chicken with various matching sides. He went through the required motions as Chiron led the way through such things, doing the sacrifice of the best bit of the meal. He only did it due to being required, nothing more and nothing less. He sat down afterwords and started eating, wolfing his meal down fairly quickly. If he could get away with taking meals back to the forge and workshop and resuming his work, he would, but he couldn't, so he dealt as best he could.

Max watched as the pair tussled it out in the arena, her head tilting to the side slightly as she watched Lucas almost drop his sword but then managing to get hold of it again, aiming for another strike before the battle was interrupted. She followed after the other children, sliding her bow back to sit on her shoulder again as she reached the pavilion. She joined everyone in the evening meal's routine before digging into her own plate of food. Max's thoughts were slowly wandering back to where they had left off before the arena, unsure if she wanted to go there again, but she couldn't help it. She had always tried to push the memories to the back of her mind and concentrate on getting strong enough to survive the world alone, but then this new kid comes into the picture talking about his own mother's death and she couldn't push the thoughts away any longer. She was losing her appetite the more she thought about it, her food getting cold as she pushed it around the plate more than actually eating it.

Sage watched Lucas move with an expression full of surprise, though that changed quickly to one of disappointment as Chiron, in almost the same instant, called their games to a close for their dinner rituals. Lucas had stopped his attack before it connected, as did Ethan, who had the flat of his blade inches away from the boy's head. Ethan sighed deeply as the campers left the area, including Lucas, who'd just abandoned the match. “Well, that was anti-climactic.” Ethan said as he slid his sword back into its sheathe at his side. “But, I think we've learned some things...”
“What? That I'll never get my turn?” Sage said with obvious disappointment and a little resentment as he tapped the pommel of his sword against the tip of his finger, transforming the blade back into its ring form, which he then slipped back onto his finger. “Something always gets in the way...” Sage mumbled to himself as he made his way out of the arena, pouting as he went.
“You're on the other team tonight, so you might get your chance!” Ethan called after him, though Sage brushed that thought aside. Off to the dining area he went, leaving Ethan alone in the arena.
When he'd arrived, the offerings had already been done, which was almost pleasing to him. He always tried to avoid the offerings... All of the campers were divided among the tables, each specific to a cabin, none of them able to intermingle as per camp rules. However, Sage didn't have a cabin and could choose to sit at any table he wished, so long as he was welcome. However, he was welcome at only a few.. He tended to unnerve people in his presence. Tonight he sat down next to Ishmael at the Hephaestus table. He willed his plate to be filled with apples, raw bell peppers, and nearly raw steak that bled a little with every poke. His goblet filled with green apple cider that had been spiced heavily. “So, Ish,” Sage started to say as Ethan took his seat at the head of the Hermes table, “What do you think of him?”

Ishmael looked up from his wolfing down of food when Sage sat down and asked him what he thought of the new guy, Lucas. He smirked and downed a healthy amount of his drink before responding, washing down what he had eaten so far. No he didn't question the apparently matching food to what he wanted, and no he didn't question the drink. "My thoughts? Well, first impressions are the talks overblown. He got lucky with the minotaur, couldn't even give Ethan a run for his money. Yes, even though the son of thieves is the best swordsman here, if he was worth the rumors there would be something notable. Can't say anything nice about him as a person either. Your thoughts?" Ishmael resumed eating after his analysis, if you could call the series of insults and thinly veiled ones an analysis. Of course Sage would wander the various tables, its what he did, and sat here tonight. Sage tolerated his generally antagonistic and cynical outlook, or just didn't care, so that made him one of the rare oddities in this damned camp. That alone was worth cutting the guy some slack, but by no means a large amount, it was noticeable if someone looked at his way of treating people generally versus those who could at least make a serious claim at friendship. But those thoughts were rapidly banished as he went about finishing his meal, listening to how Sage responded to his own thoughts on the new kid.

The meal passed by quickly, or at least it felt that way to Lucas, as he ate what was on his plate absent-mindedly, though it wasn’t too long before chiron began to speak. “Alright Campers as you all know, today is capture the flag” A rallying cheer came from several of the tables, which spooked Lucas just a tad, but he just kept quiet, Chiron himself had to stomp one of his hoofs to calm the campers. “Everyone is to assemble in the field to arm themselves and put on armor, remember no maiming if you can help it, I will be serving as Referee, and medic” The centaur said in a calm, but stern voice, and with that the cabins seemed to disperse marching out of the pavilion and towards the field where tables with armor, and weapons were already set up. He followed the Hermes cabin right towards the field, though he stayed back a bit to watch everyone. A Few campers seemed to put on armor, one helping the other strap on the breastplate and such, others gathered up arrows for their quiver, Lucas stood there in awe for a bit, before he walked to the table and picked out some armor for himself.

Once he had been able to strap on the breastplate and some bracers, he felt well ridiculous, the breastplate was much too big for him, and because of that, well he felt like a turtle, but he figured with how Chiron had to mention no maiming he’d be better with it on. He stood there now, that he was finished with his own preparations, he looked around some, hoping to spot a familiar face of such, unlucky as it seemed he just stuck with the Hermes campers, and hoped he’d survive this with no missing limbs. “Nervous?” Asked one of the Hermes campers looking down at Lucas with a slight smirk. “Yeah..a bit” He replied trying to hide it behind a straight face. “Well don’t be, no one usually dies, maiming though happens a lot, I think a Ares’ camper lost a finger last time we played” He said with a laugh elbowing one of his friends who joined in, which only caused a growing warmth in Lucas’ face. “Thanks guys, for the reasurance..” He mumbled under his breath.

Sage scarfed down his food as Ishmael spoke to him, giving him his usual version of an analysis, though it was really just another way to toss various insults at the poor kid. When Ish had stopped talking and gone back to his food, Sage had already finished his and was just starting to drain his goblet of spiced cider. He placed the goblet on his plate upside down and leaned forward against the table, resting his arms on the surface. He stared at Lucas from across the dining area as he played around with the cross ring, that was his sword, and thought for a moment. “I think...” He began as he shifted his gaze from Lucas to Ethan, who sat at the head of the table, speaking rather loudly to the older members of the Hermes cabin, “That he has potential... I don't know where everything's going to go from here, but I can kinda tell he's not a normal demigod.”
Sage's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden announcement of the game for the night: Capture the Flag. Immediately shouts of approval filled the air, most of it coming from the Ares and Hermes cabins, with Ethan's voice leading them. He knew the older boy had plans for this game, but once again Sage was pitted against them. He'd made prior arrangements with the Hephaestus, Ares, and Athena cabins; the current leading champions who were far too unwilling to lose this game.
Sage patted Ishmael on the shoulder as he rose from the table. “Alright, I'll see you on the field, okay? Don't run off without me this time... I've got something I'd like to do this time, and it's going to require Them. Don't bring anything new, kay?” He said to Ish with a small hint of mischief in his voice.

After some minor preparation and a trip to the Big House, Sage arrived on the field just as everyone was arming themselves. He himself had donned his long, white coat and had donned a few smaller pieces of armor on his arms and legs. He had apparently decided to go without any form of chest armor, but he'd change his clothes. He now wore black jeans, black knee high combat boots with metal plating riveted to the leather and a black workout shirt with a silver skull displayed prominently in the middle. He'd added a wide red arm band to his coat to distinguish which team he was on this time around. A mischievous smile had found its home on his face as he watched the other campers ready. He watched Lucas closely as Ethan approached the kid with a helmet in hand.

“Here, kiddo!” Ethan said loudly, and very enthusiastically as he slapped a helmet with a blue horse hair plume on Lucas' head. He hadn't changed into anything new since dinner, though he now wore a bronze breastplate, which seemed a bit out of place with everything else he wore. “You're on my team tonight! We've made an alliance with the Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Dionysis cabins tonight. We're against the Ares, Athena, and Hephaestus cabins tonight. We're playing the offensive this time around, and as usual we have them heavily outnumbered... Though, that has rarely helped us in the past. However, this time we have a new advantage!” He patted the kid on the back with significant force this time, his smile widening. “You! You're going to play border control! Keep the other team from crossing the border at the stream. That's all you have to do.” With that Ethan patted Lucas on the back again and ran off to join the rest of the blue team in the field.

Ishmael made a scoffing noise at Sage's prediction and analysis of the new kid. "Yea? And you sound like someone plucked out your eyes, made you a girl, and stuffed you in some temple to guess about people's futures in unclear ways, talking like that." He utterly dismissed the outlook that he wasn't a normal demigod. He didn't think you could call a demigod normal by any means or circumstances, so that was that. Of course, he grinned madly when Sage told him to bring Them, and laughed despite being told not to bring anything new. Nothing could dampen his spirits when he got to bring his toys out to play, even if the new ones that needed field tested were kept away another day or so. "You got it, dead boy. It's game time." He stood up with the rest, that half mad grin still on his face as he took off at a brisk jog, heading straight for the cabin he resided and worked in. There were a series of somewhat large cubes, that he stuffed into a duffel bag and slung over his shoulder. Gripping his wrench in one hand, supporting the weight of the duffel bag in the other, off he went, grinning all the way. This was a bad habit no one could break him of, finding far too much enjoyment seeing his inventions and creations unleashed on other people, for good or ill.

Arriving at the field itself, Ishmael had not changed a thing about his appearance. No additional armor, no different outfit, just that streak of black, the only thing standing out was the duffel bag. He found Sage and walked over to him, setting the duffel bag between them and smirking. "Sure I can't run off once They are set to go? I think the ol' wrench needs to bushwack some poor sod. And the old centaur can't bitch, I won't maim. Only a minor concussion or three..." As usual, looking for ways to butt heads with everyone he could possibly do so. He got a lot of lee way if he just stayed out of people's way in general, and it worked well for him that way. He generally avoided the Arena whenever able, taking meals in his cabin, generally being anti social in favor of his work. Of course, it spawned things like what was in his duffel bag, so he proved he was actually using his time constructively. Mostly, and the odd backfire was overlooked, he was improving on not causing an explosion from his latest gadget or piece of equipment being made. Mental note there, as he tried to reign in his random train of thought, don't mix metals for Sage's project. That would be bad, sure as sure.

Max couldn't help but smile a little as everyone cheered for another game of violence and bloodshed. Everyone rushed off to get armed and ready for the evening's game, Max following after them. She chose a small breastplate and a bracer for each wrist. She was always a little nervous about these games, as it was common for a demi-god to loose a finger or two at least. She couldn't afford to lose a finger, archery was her strongest focus. For last resort she tucked a small blade in her boot. Max patted herself down, making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed, twisting and stretching to make sure her armour wasn't going to hinder her movement. Then she went skipping off to meet the others that the Apollo cabin had made alliances with previously, picking up a blue band as she met with a couple of the Apollo cabin.

She found Ethan welcoming Lucas to their team and giving him some instructions as to what he needed to do. She made her way over to Lucas as Ethan rushed off to tell others what to do,
"Hey! Looks like we'll be working together then!" She said, realising that they would have a slight disadvantage with a new camper in the team. She wasn't really bothered about the winning or losing, she just tried to shoot down as many people as possible without causing major injury. She couldn't help but giggle a little as she used her bow to play with the plume on Lucas's helmet. Max noticed his nervous expression, her grin shrinking to a reassuring smile. "You'll be ok, you're still standing after facing Ethan, after all. I'll stick close by as well, we're a team, so I'll help watch your back. Once they get close though, it's all down to you." She said as she took the decorated bow from her back.

He was still quite nervous even though Ethan seemed so Enthusiastic about it. The helm on his head now, of course felt heavy and slipped down way too far. He pushed it up a bit as he listened to Ethan and everything he said, and then being told he was the secret weapon and that he was on border patrol, he nearly objected but before he could Ethan was already on his way. He frowned a bit, but his smile returned some as Max came into sight, trying her best to seem reassuring, as well as sounding excited about working together. He tilted his head listening to her and chuckled some. “Yeah..I guess you’re right, and thanks it’ll be nice knowing I’ve got someone close by” He said feeling ever so slightly more relaxed about this, but still quite edgy.
It took him a little bit to find the stream, but once he did; he just kind of found a place to stand and guard the area, he really didn’t know what to think, and considering he was just on border patrol; there wasn’t much for him to do, but once he heard a horn blow, he was sure the games had begun, and regardless if he felt ready or not he’d have to stay here, and thankfully with Max’s help protect this place from the other team. “Dad..whoever you are, it’d be nice to get a sign; or maybe a bit of help here..” He mumbled under his breath. After quite a few hours, or what felt like hours he had decided to sit by the stream, Riptide capped and in his pocket and his dagger sheathed, so far with the amount of swords clanging against each other farther out, he was sure the battle for the flag was getting intense, and, a slight ping of desire to be out there proving himself seem to ring in his heart, but he’d rather not move from here and end up screwing things up, with how Ethan had put it; he’d rather not disappoint one of the only people he knew here.

As soon as the horn blew, Sage dashed into the forest, hopefully with Ishmael close by. Of course, he expected Ethan had already started his usual mad dash for the enemy side, and by the sounds of weapons clashing in the distance, he and his closest buddies in the hermes cabin had reached the Ares campers at the border. Hopefully the Athena campers' strategy and faith in the Ares campers' ability to keep the enemies at bay was well placed... Either way, with the Hephaestus campers and their various machines and traps placed around the flag, it was unlikely that it would be taken in the next hour. Though, it was Ethan leading this particular assault...
Sage shook the thoughts from his head as they reached the border. Knowing Ethan, he'd placed Lucas somewhere around here on border patrol... Most likely to use him as a particularly appetizing bait for the various campers that wanted to test the new guy. They would have fallen for it, he was sure, if Sage hadn't already volunteered himself and Ishmael to clear out the border guards. At least he knew he could restrain himself, and probably Ish, from maiming or murdering the kid. The others would just beat him to a bloody pulp...
“They should be somewhere ar-” He stopped short in his sentence and went completely silent as he stepped onto the top of the hill that overlooked the stream, which marked the end of the border. He dropped low and made the sign for Ishmael to do the same. There Lucas was, with his ridiculous helmet sitting awkwardly on top of his head, sitting on the side of the stream looking rather bored. With him was Max, the girl from the Apollo cabin... She was definitely the larger threat among the two of them. He turned to Ish and spoke in a whisper,
“Alright, here's the plan... I'll go for the archer, and you get the new kid.” He figured that this was probably a good arrangement for Ish. He'd probably enjoy a chance to beat Lucas up. “Just try not to beat him so hard he can't walk anymore... You're carrying him if you do.” Sage finished that sentence off with a smile as he closed his eyes and focused. “Go” As soon as that word left his lips, Sage melted away into the night, disappearing entirely.

Ishmael grinned and ripped open the duffel bag as the horn blared, four heavy duty machines rising up out of their large cubes. Easily six and a half feet tall, two with a long blade and shield hammered into their arms while the other two had even larger shields but utilizing spears instead of actual swords or the like. Their shields were designed to have a spear groove in them that the automatons could set the spear in, and thrust with full force if need be. The two shield bearers, the shields easily as large as they were, relegated to defensive duty nearer the flag while the two sword and shield ones stood on the initial defensive line and would fall back as needed to keep up with the rest of the defenders. Or follow them on a counter assault, if that was decided. He had supplied some of the traps, everything from disorientating strobe tripwire traps to crude net cannons and everything in between. He had been supervised to avoid deliberately injuring traps there, but he didn't really care in that regard. He followed right behind Sage for the moment, Ethan leading the assault on where his gadgets and automatons were operating, and he trusted that they would hold in support of the other cabins on their side.

Sage had volunteered the two of them for clearing out border guards, and Ishmael very well knew why. Sage didn't want to beat Lucas into next week, and the others would do just that. So much potential seen, and all that from the dead boy. He silenced the both of them, and he ducked as well, spotting both Lucas and Max. Well, little miss bow hippie was working with Lucas in this? That was something he could make commentary of later, but for now he would stay focused on the task at hand. He nodded in agreement with Sage's plan, speaking lowly enough to not attract any attention. "Yea, yea, no breaking his legs." When the word to go was given, he didn't just blatantly charge. He skulked around the outskirts of the clearing, getting on the same side as Lucas was on. He readied his wrench and sprinted towards Lucas, wearing that damned goofy helmet, and took a side swing right for the back of the helmeted idiots head. Even if it didn't connect, he could use the momentum to carry himself into a position he could properly fight the kid.

Lucas was quite content just sitting there near the water something peaceful about it, but something caught his attention the sound of shoes hitting the rocks, and the mud, the squelching noise giving away the attack, and then and there once again Lucas’ mind took a back seat to his reflexes as he instinctively laid back flat the helmet rolling off his head, and he took the split second to grab it as he rolled off to the side, climbing to his feet quickly. “We’ve got company Max!” He called out to wherever she decided to station herself. He slipped the helmet back on his head as it slipped over his head falling awkwardly but still allowed him to see, and grabbed the pen uncapping it as it grew into the familiar blade in his left, hand and drew the dagger in his right.

So it was Ish, he figured it had to be, Sage wouldn’t have given himself away like that. “Hey, You know I’m sorta glad it was you, I kinda owe you one for the bet you know” He said with a smile, which seemingly hid the amount of nervousness and fear of this encounter; he was a rookie; and Ish seemed to know how to handle himself, even if with an unorthodox weapon, though he doubted that, the wrench would be something that wouldn’t cause him a huge amount of pain if he did keep the helmet on.

Even though she had said she would help with guarding the border, she did not stick so close to Lucas as to get cornered by the other team. She frowned as she noticed him sit at the edge of the stream. She wanted to tell him to stand up and be on guard, but she didn't think it would be fair of her to boss him about. Max had taken to higher ground, crouched on a lower branch of one of the trees that sat on the slope down to the stream. From here she could see further than what Lucas would be able to, and she wasn't so out in the open. This wasn't the best position to be in, she wasn't as camouflaged as she would've liked to be, but at the same time she had to stay somewhat within Lucas's sight so he wouldn't freak if someone jumped him.

Hearing him shout for her, she rose a little from her crouched position, moving along the branch enough so that she could see Ishmael make his move. She reached behind her, quickly drawing an arrow from her quiver and getting ready to shoot. She couldn't help but grimace as Lucas struggled with his helmet - if he was up against anyone else buy Ishmael, she would've advised that he ditched the helmet altogether. Max took aim, stretching the string of her bow back as she tried to get a clear shot of Ishmael. Fortunately for him, Lucas was in her line of sight. She couldn't predict this kid's movements and if she got it wrong she would end up hitting her teammate rather than the enemy.
"He's too close!" She called to Lucas, letting him know she hadn't completely abandoned him. "He's all yours!" She lowered her bow a little, still prepared to make a quick shot if necessary. She doubted that Ish could've been alone, even if the boy did like to do everything in his own company. Max scanned the woods as best she could from her perch, looking for any signs of Ish's comrades.

Ish smirked and recovered from the swing, wrench held in front of him defensively at the moment. Lucas went on about owing him one for the bet, and he smirked. "Oh, do you now? 5$ and its paid off then." He had a backup plan in case things proved difficult to engage with his wrench, against a sword and dagger. He was deliberately keeping Lucas between himself and Max, because he would rather avoid having an arrow stuck in some part of his body. Wherever Sage was, it would be ever so helpful for him to distract the archer so he could focus solely on wrenching the new blood into next week. Twirling the wrench in his hand, he looked over how Lucas was standing with his weapons. He had reach, but his wrench would cause some rather hefty hurt, even if the helmet might stop some of the damage, it would still be solid. Now, he had to even the playing field, after all, two weapons against one was hardly considered fair.

Stepping in for another attack, he swung for the ribs on the sword side, deliberately trying to bait Lucas into making a thrust with his dagger. If he fell for it, the wrench would be snapped down towards the dagger arm, to try and force him to drop said weapon. Of course, if he let that potential opportunity pass he could just dance back just out of reach of the blades and plot another means of attack. Worse comes to worse, he could just cheat, and he wouldn't have a problem doing it, so he went through with the apparently heavy handed attack towards the sword side, ready to sidestep and bring the wrench right into the dagger arm, if it became an issue. He had to keep an eye out for what miss archer would try and do to help Lucas, if possible, but considering the lack of arrows coming his way, he was keeping too close for her to be comfortable to start firing off arrows.

He frowned slightly hearing that she couldn’t get a clear shot, even more so when she said that Ish was all his, he sighed slightly as he stayed in a defensive-like position watching Ish closely. “heh, no I’m not gonna pay you anything except maybe a few bruises.” He said with false bravado, that wrench was short compared to his sword, with reach in mind Lucas thought this might not be so difficult, but once again he was proven wrong as Ish charged in at him aiming for his ribs on his sword-arm side. His mind working trying to think of a way to counter, but his reflexes took over yet again.
He quickly rose his dagger deflecting the blow and jumping back, he gripped Riptide more forcefully as he moved in for his own strike a downward angle with his sword, with his reflexes in full control, it wasn’t a matter of thinking about his next move, but just making sure that he didn’t leave himself open relying purely on his own battle reflexes with no formal type of training whatsoever. If Ish happened to block the sword strike, he was sure he could counter with a quick thrust of his dagger, though he’d have to be close enough , other than that this move was either going to leave him completely open, or surprise Ish enough to give himself an opening.

Sage reappeared on a thick branch on a large tree that overlooked the stream where Lucas had been sitting so comfortably. There he'd wait until a chance arose to attack Max, the "bow hippie". Naturally, Ish had already gone for Lucas, making the attempt to sneak up behind the kid. Sadly, the mechanic never thought too hard about his surroundings, and the various noises his steps made on the muddy terrain had given Lucas enough warning to dodge the swing to the head. It was too bad that strike hadn't hit and knocked the kid out early... Fights with Ish tended to go horribly wrong if they lasted too long. He never liked to fight fair. If Lucas proved to be any more of a challenge, Ishmael would "cheat" and Lucas would be in for it.

As Lucas dodged and retaliated against Ishmael, Max did exactly what Sage expected her to do. Sage caught sight of her moving across a branch of a tree not too far from him and attempt to set up a shot. Lucky for him, Ishmael had managed to keep Lucas between himself and Max. When she realized this, she did something he did not expect. She yelled. Any doubts Sage had about her position were completely wiped away. Now all he had to do was act.
Sage slipped the ring off his left middle finger, the band of metal shifting into its sword form as it left its home, and held it loosely at his side as he concentrated again. Once again he melted into the darkness, only to reform again in the shadows behind Max. With little to no warning, he swung his sword at her, aiming to hit the arm holding the bow with a strong, horizontal blow with the flat of the blade.

Max wished the boys would stop with their small talk about bets and just get on with their fight. She watched the two, especially Lucas to see how things would pan out with him, also trying to keep tabs on the rest of the boarder for any other attackers that may join Ish. At the last moment, Max heard a rustle of movement as the birds fleed the tree, only then to see the flicker of a dark sword coming for her. She went to move back, out of it's range, but she had started moving too late and the sword hit her arm. She almost dropped the bow from her hand, though she held on to it as tight as she could as she nimbly moved further along the branch out to the thinner ends of the branch where not many would dare to stand. She had lost the arrow, though she didn't remember dropping it when she tried to jump away. She found Sage as her opponent, frowning a little,
"I should've guessed." She stated, reaching behind her for another arrow. It was harder to shoot at such a short range, and she had to be quick. Anything to get the sword of his hand. Max let the arrow fly the short distance, at best aiming for the sword arm to disarm him, drawing another for the next attack.

Ishmael smirked as he parried with the dagger instead, ducking back before moving forward in a downward slash with his sword. Rather than outright block, he decided to sidestep, putting the sword arm between him and the dagger arm and swinging hard towards the extended sword arm. If the sword was indeed knocked out of his hand, he would follow up with a blow towards his helmeted head, aiming to connect and, if nothing else, dent in the helmet and cause discomfort and injury from the blow before dancing back out of reach. If the sword wasn't lost, he would still just move out of reach rather than try and make another assault so quickly while he was still armed. Either way, Ishmael had decided this was taking too long in a normal one on one fight, and he needed to wrap things up. He heard conflict from Max's direction, so it seemed Sage had engaged after all. Good, more focus on the fight at hand then.

Keeping his wrench in hand, he pulled on a black glove before reaching into his pocket and grabbing a pouch full of something Sage would recognize the moment he used it. The project that was requested of him had left a bit of scrap product so far, shavings from the iron used. By accident, he had found a rather unique property that he would abuse here to end this quickly, if everything went as planned. "Not doing bad, new blood. Let's up the ante, shall we?" Ishmael didn't even care if he sounded like a comic book villain or not, he was going to enjoy this. Quickly withdrawing his hand, he threw up a good handful of Stygian iron shavings, not caring whether anyone approved of this trick or not. He averted his gaze from the shavings, as they did what one would expect of a material used in the underworld. It abruptly devoured the moonlight and starlight in the area above Lucas, casting him in utter darkness. It wasn't permanent or long lasting, but it would do as he circled around Lucas until he was behind him and drove the wrench for the back of his helmeted head, and did try and avoid making the same mistake as before in not watching where he stepped.

Sage had figured she'd notice him before the last instant, and while his attack did connect, she had managed to keep hold of her bow. Honestly, he'd been hoping to disarm her and avoid a prolonged battle, but apparently that was not to be. She immediately started her scrambling farther down the branch, finding refuge atop the thinner bits, where Sage's added weight would most likely cause the wood to break. Since he was not overly fond of falling from tall trees, he stayed where he was, analyzing the situation and thinking. Ideas sprung through his head, most helpful, but all fatal.

He had to get her on even ground, where he had an advantage... An idea arose in his mind that immediately brought a mischievous grin to his face. However, he didn't have much time to think on this. She loosed an arrow at close distance, apparently aiming for his sword. In the split second he brought brought the sword down and tilted the blade, pushing away from him as the flat side of the blade caught the arrow's head. Sparks erupted from the stygian steel blade as he deflected the arrow. The sparks brought light to the area for half second before they were seemingly absorbed by the black blade.

“Yeah, you should have. Bye.” Sage said with his wicked grin as he brought his sword up, then suddenly down in a downwards slash. Black flames sprang up along the length of the blade's edge as it was brought down on the branch a few inches in front of him. The sword passed clean through the branch, the fire burning the wood away as the metal went through one way and came out the other, separating the length of branch she was standing on from the tree. As soon as his sword passed through, Sage closed his eyes.

Lucas felt a ping of regret for his attack as he watched Ish sidestep his attack and go in for another disarming attack. “No you won’t catch me that easily!” He called out as he took the blow with a parry from the sword, but that didn’t seem to be the only thing up Ish’s sleeve, not wanting to risk it he took several steps back standing in a defensive position once again. He could hear Max, and someone else in the tree; he wasn’t sure who was with Ish, and he wasn’t going to take his eyes off of his opponent to find out. He watched Ish with curiosity as he pulled on a black glove and dug into his pocket. He listened to the male with a rather curious expression trying his best to read his motives, but it wasn’t long before all went black.

“H-hey!” Lucas called out. “That’s not fair!!” His voice filled with a bit of a pout, as he tried to look around but could see nothing but darkness. “Where ar-“ His sentence was cut off by the sudden ringing of his ears and a throbbing pain in the back of his skull, thankfully it wasn’t enough to knock him out cold, but it was sure enough to send him forward straight into the stream. Once his body hit the water, several realizations began to hit him. One; he felt stronger, and the pain in his head was lessening little by little, until he felt no pain at all, two; he felt more aware of Ish, and the movements of the male, and the surrounding area they were in, and three;His eyes were working once again, the darkness seemingly purged once he had entered the water. He pulled off his slightly dented helmet tossing it on the opposite bank as he smiled. “Was that best you got? because if cheating with that and getting in a cheap shot was it, you’re not gonna win this fight” He raised both his blades again with a renewed confidence.

Max half expected her arrow to be deflected, it was the only real attack she could make while attempting to keep her distance and not do any serious damage. She had never liked the way that sword of his played with light, it unnerved her. She was made more nervous by the wicked grin that suddenly appeared on Sage's face as he brought his blade down onto the branch they were sharing. Her plan of keeping her distance had backfired as he cut through the branch, her perch falling and the girl falling with it. Max did not scream, though her gasp was loud, followed by a yelp as she hit the forest floor. The tree had been on the slope down to the stream, gravity taking it's effect as she tumbled awkwardly down it.

Max stopped with the help of a large tree root, face to the floor as she was held at the base of one of the larger trees near to the flatter area where Ish and Lucas were battling it out. It took a moment for Max to get her bearings, dizzy from the tumble as she tried to pull herself together, though the world would not stop spinning. She brought herself to her knee's, realising her bow was no longer in her hands. She must have lost it in the fall, on realising this she shook off the last of the dizziness and scanned the slope for the streak of silver that was her bow. It was not too far back up the hill, and there was a possibility she could have reached it before Sage could strike again.I can totally make this... she thought as she brought one leg beneath her to get back up, though it seemed the other leg was not going to make things easy. She was halfway to standing when she felt the sharpest pain shooting up her right leg, immediately taking the weight off her foot again as she cried out. She must've twisted her ankle or something when she hit the ground.

"Bastard," She cursed as she dropped back down to all fours, glancing over her shoulder at the battle behind her. Lucas seemed to be holding his own, though it looked like Sage wasn't the only one playing dirty. Speaking of the son of Hades, she turned her attention back to him, looking back up to where they had been, wondering if he'd watched her fall or already moved on to attacking someone else. She glanced at her bow again, calculating how quickly she could reach it without being able to walk properly. The likelihood was that she would not make it before Sage could kick it further away from her, and with that thought she reached for the small dagger she'd tucked into her boot earlier in the day, scooting back into the base of the tree so that she could sit against it and stretch her injured foot out in front of her. She wouldn't be of much help any more, no bow and unable to stand. Hopefully Sage wouldn't bother her if she wasn't going to make another attack. With a heavy sigh she looked over to the battle by the stream again from her seat, wondering how Lucas was holding up. She couldn't help but grin as Lucas recovered from Ish's attack so quickly, almost laughing as he seemed to taunt the other boy.

Ishmael grinned as the blow connected with the back of the blinded Lucas's head, and he went down into the river. That should have shaken him harder than he was acting, even if the helmet had taken some of the brunt. That was odd, even half bloods were shaken by hard hits to the head. Blunt weapons were all but made for dealing with armor, and he should have been staggering or at least shaken by the blow. Instead he was taunting and acting like he hadn't been all but desperately fighting against someone with more training. There was something off about this, and he wouldn't pretend he didn't notice. Increased confidence, any energy he lost fighting seemed to be coming back, and he was acting like the helmet would have taken all of the wrench's blunt force. All this seemed to come together after he landed in the creek, and he stalked back and forth briefly, readying his wrench. He had a theory, but there was only one real way to test a theory like this, and that was in hand to hand combat, even if this would backfire.

"Tadpole, if that was my best I would hang myself in shame. Can't be bothered to do my best in a CTF game." He was telling the truth there, whether it was believed or not. There had never been one situation where he was forced to try and do the absolute best he could do, a combination of spite towards those who were trying to force him to do better, and laziness. The new nickname was linked to his theory, but if it was wrong he could just explain it off as still mocking some new blood in the water. But he didn't just charge in, looking at the new position and situation. Unstable footing, water potentially slowing down movement and such, bad situation for someone who was more orientated towards fire. He didn't ever utilize said inclination, focusing on his craftsmanship, but this was a situation where he was wary of water for good reason. Things were off here, and he couldn't figure what. He entered the creek, still gauging the situation, carrying himself differently then before, more wary and defensive at the moment. But he did engage regardless, making feinting strikes with his wrench to try and figure out what was making the boy so confident.

This feeling, of strength and confidence, he hadn’t really felt it before, it was all so new; and the tugging at his gut, though familiar it still felt stronger, much stronger than ever, and with Ish in the water; he could only feel more, and more confident, and as the tug grew in his gut. He continue to step back deeper into the stream. A Smile grew upon his face as some inert realization hit him. “Well I’m glad it wasn’t your best, cause then this wouldn’t be as funny” He said and all at once concentrating on the tug in his gut, and without warning a wave rose targeting Ish, ready to drench him completely, regardless if he tried to dodge, it was more than obvious he was in Lucas’ turf now

Lucas felt great, and even with an annoying glowing green light that was above him… wait a moment, He looked up to see what the source of the light was, and amazingly enough it was a floating green hued trident; a sign of some sort. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt a connection with it, was this what it meant to be claimed? It wasn’t long before it faded leaving him standing in the stream in awe, in front of a probably quite soaked Ish. “Hey, did you see that?” He asked curious for a moment forgetting that they were on opposite sides of the game. Though it didn’t take him long to return to a stance of defense, even if he did probably just drench the guy, it didn’t mean he couldn’t still fight.