chapter 5, 1 Star Chickens

We began to build our Chariots. I was originally going to do it with Travis and Stroll but Tantalus said I couldn't due to the limit of 2 people. 'Dang homeless bum'

But it turns out we can do this with satyrs soooo guess who I am pairing with.

"Well Well Well, if it isn't the Billy goat." I said towards bill while smiling.

"Shut up you old man"

"Old man?" I questioned.

"Yeah cuz of your gray hair."

Daily check in on my looks. I was wearing black pants with the orange camp half blood shirt on. I have white hair, don't know why. And it is not gray, its white. I also have brown-green eyes.

Bill had brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a "I don't eat trash" Racoon T shirt on. He also didn't have pants on, but was covered with fur and what not.

"Wanna pair up for the Chariot?" I asked Bill. Bill took a moment to think, over dramatically. Eyes facing the sky with his hand on his chin while hmmmmmm sound came from his throat.

"What do I get out of it?"

"Grass I found on the side of the road."

"Deal" He put out his and and we shook on it

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It took a while to built our chariot, mainly because we took time to look at the drama. Percy's drama. Was it responsible time management? Probably not, but was it fun? Yes.

I am very much enjoying all this drama. Every time someone mentions Tyson to Percy, he gets all "BuT hE nOt mY bRoThEr" Like he saved your life, is quite nice to talk to. And can eat a stack of 4 pancakes in one bite.

Also me and Bill have been talking and making friends with Tyson. We first started to talk with him while he was walking in the forest. 

We mainly talk about random stuff and help him build stuff. He is a really good blacksmith. Evidence to prove this fact is he made me a sick 3 foot sword. 

We were going to invite Tyson to our crew but after Percy argued with Annabeth about Tyson, they broke things up. So Percy is now working with Tyson. And the reason why Tyson would probably be allowed on our team is because Tantalus didn't think of him as an actually camper.

Since we finish building our chariot, we decided to add some weapons. Some spears to throw, a shield to throw, and rocks to eat and throw. PS, the rocks eating is mainly bill. 

We lazed around after we finished the chariot and watched some DVDs that we stole from the camp store.

I saw that Bill had been more nervous since we arrived at camp. So like a good friend, I decided on asking him about it.

"You good Bill?" Bill looked at me and sighed while he shook his head.

"Nah my cousin Grover hasn't returned yet and I'm getting more nervous. Like what if he got eaten. Gah I really should have talked him out of going to look for Pan." Bill's cousin, Grover, was a searcher which meant he was looking for Pan. It was dangerous and many satyrs didn't return.

"I'm sure he will return." I comforted Bill.

"Yeah I'll do some nature magic to try to see if I can find him."

"Alright."

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The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam.

Hundreds of birds were roosting in the trees — fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metal sound that reminded me of scratching metal.

The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods.

Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes. But the one that I killed was apparently too damaged and they couldn't repair the core on time.

There were rows of stone steps for the spectators — Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock, like the lazy hobo he is.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!" That punishment didn't sound that harsh for taking a life in a race of play chariots.

I turned my head to look at the competition. 

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track and I made sure to watch out for them since they probably had some nasty tricks up their sleeves. 

The Ares chariot was bloodred, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.

Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers. I really hopped that they were going to hold their promise up.

Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.

Oh and the only reason why there was two Hermes cabin is because Bill decided to make a "satyr cabin." So if we won, both the Hermes cabin and the Satyrs wouldn't have to do chores.

Then there was Poseidon cabin which Percy and Tyson rode. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. 

Then at last it was Athena's Cabin which Annabeth and another Athena kid I did not recognize. 

Me and Bill were chatting before the race. Mostly talking about the Tantalus and Chiron, maybe also a few football games too.

The conch horn sounded.

"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"

Me and Bill stood up at our chariot but not before noticing many more pigeons were in the trees now screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle.

"Weird" Bill said while he looked at the fat birds.

"Agreed"

Now, if you've never seen a Greek chariot, it's built for speed, not safety or comfort. It's basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you'll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself. It's an even better rush than headbutting your teacher.

I took the reins as me and Bill shared a look. 'Game time'.

Bill had a spear in head and rocks in his pockets. 

"Don't kill nobody." Bill said

"My driving ain't that bad."

Bill stared at me with a blank face. Then just turned away with a shrug. 

As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"

He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.

Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it. "+1 for Hermes "I told bill. The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust. "-1 for Hermes" We both said with wide eyes while trying not to laugh.

We nearly flipped over so Bill yelled at me "Eyes on the road please!"

Hephaestus chariot was gaining on us as bill threw rocks at them. One of the bigger rocks hit Beckendorf in the skull.

Suddenly Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot.

"Sorry, Atem!" he yelled. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward our wheels....

We flipped completely and were sent flying into the trees.

"Aww man we lost." Bill said with a frown but suddenly turned into a smile. "Free seats though."

We laughed a bit as we watched the game.

That didn't end well as we saw a tornado of birds start to dive bomb the track. 'This got a whole lot more interesting.'

We saw the birds slash and bite the spectators as we watched. "Should we do something?" Bill asked.

"To hell with it." 

We charge towards them while Percy nearly hit me with his chariot. With me narrowly dodging in time.

Taisho Secret

Bill and Atem are so close that it actually formed a semi telepathic link between them. This is actually nearly impossible to do but since they are so close, it formed naturally. This lets Atem and Bill talk to each other while not saying words or "just knowing what they're saying". And this has a massive effect in later chapters :)

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A/N I know this is a short chapter but when I woke up this morning to check my stories I found that Percy Jackson son of the sun was deleted.

I am trying to figure out how it got deleted. Next Friday I'll post 6 chapters, or 5.