Temple Talk (Lyn)

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Remus looked up at his father. Well, not his real, live, and very intimidating father. More like a stone, not live, but still pretty intimidating statue of his father standing in a temple for his father. On the altar the last remains of the offering he’d brought smoldered away. Seeing as he’s soundly kicked the butt of a child of Apollo today, he figured it was high time that he give thanks to dear old dad. Well, that and it had been a week and gods usually weren’t that patient, even given the fact that they’d lived so darn long. And besides, last he’d heard, his dad was taking to visiting camp more and more recently, and he wasn’t about to be pegged the bad son. No, he would not allow that. He was a praetor of this fine Roman establishment and had every reason to be proud. Or at least in his mind, he did.

Dusting off his hands on his jeans, he turned and left, confident that his offering had been suitably, well, offered. What to do now, he wasn’t so sure. He could always go back and review reports in the Principia. After Zidane had walked in on him doing just that at four in the morning one night a few days ago, he’d taken to doing that during the day. And he was still stuck way back looking over all the records from 1872, hoping to find anything that could lend itself to maybe a hint of just a smidge of help regarding the camp’s current situation. He had started all the way back to the camp’s founding in 1765, but so far nothing. And he was still a far cry from 2013. But it made him feel like he was doing something to help the camp, and that was enough to drive what Zidane seemed to think was insane behavior.

No, though, he wouldn’t head back quite yet. It was too nice a day really. So he wandered Temple Hill a little, gladius tapping gently against his leg as he walked. The sun was out, there were birds singing somewhere off in the distance, and he could hear the faint sound of a chariot race going on all the way back in New Rome down the hill. Was it pathetic that he was mostly just focusing on the sound of the chariot race? Probably, at least in the minds of most. But he was Remus, and he was a child of the war god, so anyone surprised obviously was missing the link. Speaking of which, there were war games coming up at the end of this week. He smiled faintly. Though, as praetor, he couldn’t participate and instead had to sort of ref the match to make sure no one was maimed too badly, it was still a highlight of his day for sure.

Tag: Lyn!
Word Count: 479
Notes: a little short, but it works!

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Lyndis was supposed to be in classes learning about the gods, and the myths behind them. The main part of that sentence was “supposed to”. Instead of that boring task she had decided to place her offerings to the gods at temple hill. A bag tagged at her back as she made her way happily along the road. Despite his feelings Edmund had agreed to help her make the gifts, and she was fairly proud of them. The book Charlie gave her was very useful in both letting her know what kinds of gifts the gods liked and why. It was an interesting book and Lyndis could not help but read the entire thing, even if it had some rather terrible thing about certain gods. She hoped with all the hard work she put into them, and the input she had coxed out of Ed, they came out with something each god would like. It had been a lot of planning, and a lot of work, but Lyndis made something for every single god.

The bag was a lot heavier than Lyndis had originally thought, and it was pretty heavy to begin with. She got to the bottom of the hill out of breath, but smiling. Her breathing was heavy as she forced herself to climb the hill. Bent forward she propelled her little body forward just as much as she could, climbing to the top before collapsing with a great sigh of joy. Her knee's hit the ground with a thump, and she laughed exclaiming how the journey would all be worth it. Falling forward a bit she put her hands on the ground and let them support her as she caught her breath.

Only a few seconds passed before she got up, ready to make her way to each of the temples. Finally her head was up, and her eyes saw in front of her. A broad smile spread across her face as she saw another person there. She raised her arm to stand up straight and wave but began to fall backward, quickly she leaned forward again but over compensated trowing herself to the ground. She threw her arms down in front of her to protect herself, dirt and rock flew at the sudden impact. Lyndis got up and dusted herself off “I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a klutz.” she said with a brilliant smile. Her hand stung and as she looked down at it she saw a rock imbedded in her skin, pulling it out made her begin to bleed. With her other hand she rummaged around for a small band-aid to put on it.

((OOC: No problem, mine is shorter >.<))

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Remus was more of a man on his own type most of the time. Hence why he didn’t leave his duties often and was about as serious about his job as a fish was about swimming. It was his life. Being alone was just how he was. There were a few exceptions. Felicity, he enjoyed talking to. Zidane wasn’t half bad lately. Charlie-Mack was always a pleasure to spar with. Then there was the other side of the pendulum. People like Maddison and August were fun to harass. Edmund was best left avoided completely. All in all, even asocial Remus could sometimes appreciate the diversity at this place. There were the hard core ones like himself and his siblings, all the way to the softies and the little kids still bright eyed and bushy tailed. Whether that was good or bad, he wasn’t sure. It was Roman.

And from Temple Hill, you could see it all. The temples dotting the hillside with the temple of Jupiter towering over them all, the sprawl of New Rome off in the distance, the glistening serpent of the Little Tiber winding the long way back around to the small military encampment of Camp Jupiter, keeping the civilians of New Rome safe. This was what it was about.

He glanced off to the side when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps he wasn’t as alone as he’d thought. A little ways off still, just coming up the mount, and promptly fell over. If it had been anyone but Remus Stone, they likely would have run to the aide of the younger camper and to make sure that she was alright, but this was Remus. He was one usually to believe that even for younger children here, the only formula to make a tough, real Roman, was through hard work and a touch of blood and sweat. Falling over wasn’t worth anything in his book.

Well, that and the fact that she was smiling. Wait a minute. He stopped short. He knew this kid. Lyndis, if he remembered right. Hadn’t he just met her a day or two or so ago when she ran into some issue with New Rome rules? When she dismissed her fall, he did something very un-Remus and smiled slightly. “Looks like you’re carrying a lot there, so I don’t doubt you’d fall over. Need some help there?” Another rare moment from Remus Stone: offering help. In his defense, she was, what, ten?

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 416
Notes: sorry so short!

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No matter what was happening Lyndis could normally be counted on for a smile. She offered it freely, which was something she had come to realize a lot of people did not do here. She was fine with that, it just meant she had something to bring to the table, even if it was only a smile. Even now, a fresh bandaid on her hand and shirt full of dirt, she smiled. She had fallen more than enough, she had been a klutz all her life and doubted it would ever stop. Something else to add to her quirks list, that she would simple throw out the window since everyone had quirks. The face she saw was one she had recognized, a person in charge. The thing began with a 'p' that was all she could remember. The people here had such odd names for things, centurions she could remember a little because it sounded kind of like sentry. They had sentries back home, people who kept watch. She could remember associating the word to call him with hunters. Though she could not remember why.

“Yep! Lots of stuff! Ed and I made something for all the gods, because there are super lots of them. I can't remember all of them yet though, but I have a list! List of them and the stuff we made for them.she said with a smile, she had been rather proud of getting help from Edmund to make things, anything. The idea that she had gotten him to help make tributes to the gods had not crossed her mind as being anything too surprising. “Thank you for the offer Mr. Remus, but I want to do it myself! It will mean more!she said in her normal excited sometimes loud voice. It was cut down in volume only because she was still a little tired from her walk from the barracks, and up temple hill.

Everything in the bag was hand made by a girl who was not very good in a lot of the crafts she had attempted, but with Edmund's help they were able to overcome both of the ocd they had. Lyndis' was the fact the god had to like it, and it had to have an equal amount if not greater amount of work from Lyn herself. Edmund was a stickler for details, and of course the main set of hands for teaching Lyndis what to do. She had even made a dagger like the ones back home for Mars, then Edmund made it straight, and she made it sharp. Lyndis knew how to sharpen weapons at least.

“What are you doing up here? Did you want to come with me? I don't know where I'm supposed to put peoples stuff. I know the big buildings belong to certain gods, but what about all the others?She asked as she finished making her way to Remus and carefully set her bag down on the ground. Things shifted around, and the clank of metal on metal could be heard from inside.

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Remus had met Lyndis before, and he had to admit that she was one of the few that he wasn’t sure what to make of just yet. She had an unusual background, and was still in the process of adapting to Roman life, which was to be expected for someone her age, so it was hard to tell yet who and what she would become. And there was the odd part about him actually having… dare he call it a soft spot? After all, she was trying her hardest to get on here, and that he could identify with. Hadn’t he been the same once, after all? So he brushed away the unusualness of the fact that Edmund had helped her do something, with a small smile. “That’s okay if you can’t remember them all. There are quite a few. Sometimes some of them slip my mind as well, and I’ve been here since I can remember.”

Mr. Remus. He couldn’t say he’d ever been called that one before. All sorts of other names, both formal and unflattering alike, but never that one. Though he could tell that she meant it as being formal. “Alright then.” He could at least commend her for her dedication and determination if nothing else. She had obviously put a lot of work into this, so it was best to let her go about it her own way. “If there’s anything I can do, though, let me know.”

Ah, directions. Now that was something he could help with. “I was just making a sacrifice to my dad, Mars. That and I like the view from here.” Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure he’d ever asked her own parentage. “And sure, I’ll come along. It can be easy to get turned around up here.” The only reason he could lay any claim to knowing his way around was being here so long. Well, that and he had taken it upon himself to learn every nook and cranny of this place when he’d become a praetor two years ago. “How about we start with Jupiter. He’s one of those gods that can get a bit testy if he doesn’t feel he’s getting top notch treatment, from what I know of him.” Then again, he reminded himself, he was supposed to be letting her go her own way here, not following the mapped out agenda he usually kept when going to Temple Hill. But there was still the fact that he had no desire to see Lyndis as a pile of ashes for insulting the big cheese.

He thought back to the first time he’d met her. She’d been in trouble, but had seemed perfectly fine with taking whatever came with it. Which was saying something as Remus was not known for his mercy. But her attitude had been inspiring if nothing else and honestly it was rather nice to see a fresh face around the place. So he was perfectly fine with striking up a conversation while they walked. “So how have you been, Lyn? Besides hard at work on these offerings?”

He heard the soft rustle of grass in the quiet calm of the hill and turned to find a couple of automaton greyhouds, who’d been roaming while he’d been in the temple, trotting up behind them to keep their usual silent guard, red eyes aglow against the gold and silver metal. “Oh, Lyn, have you met Aurum and Argentum? They sort of serve as the praetorian guard, though they’re perfectly friendly really.” Which may or may not mean a lot to a little kid when Argentum took an interest in what she was carrying. After all, a shiny silver greyhound with glowing eyes could be a little intimidating. Then again, with her background, she was probably used to all sorts of things.

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 639
Notes: hope you don’t mind I brought the dogs in

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It was not that Lyndis had found everyone in the legion to be nice people, there were quite a few that seemed to get really annoyed with her, but she seemed to find some of the nicest people. She included Edmund in the list so it might be a slightly warped list, and Remus had made his way to the list too. She had strange friends, though she herself did not realize this. For Lyndis there was no such thing as a strange friend, or perhaps no such thing as a normal friend. She didn't think about it, only she she liked them and there for they were friends. She liked Prometheus, and he let her hug him so they must be friends. Remus, she had only seen him when she got in trouble, so calling him a friend might be a little soon. However she was ready to quite possibly after this encounter.

Remus was being nice, and it made Lyndis smile widely. He could tell she was trying, at least that's what she was thinking. He even let her know he didn't remember the names, now if only she could remember his position name. He was the main person in charge, and to admit a fault to someone younger felt like quite the accomplishment to her. She wanted to say its was hunter, but hunter did not begin with a 'p', what else could it be? Oh right predator was a hunter and it started with a 'p', but still not right. She felt like she was getting closer. "How long have you been here? Is it normal to not know all their names? Do you know all the campers names? I'm trying to learn everyone’s names, but it's super super hard. Maybe harder than learning all the gods, but the gods names are kinda weird. Maybe they were normal before, but it's kinda hard to pronounce, and some of them have names that sound alike."

Lyndis got a lot more conversation from him than she did from Edmund, but Edmund was just so cool! Remus was cool too, he was Mars' son. That was pretty cool. He was in charge of a whole big legion of people, and was still pretty young. He was going to help her figure how to navigate the temples, and since this was her first time there it would be a very big help. Lyndis wanted to bounce like she normally would when she was this excited, but the heavy bag had made her tired. Yes the hyper active full of energy never ending nonsensical speaking Lyndis was tired. "Yep, we can give Mr. Zeus and Mrs. Hera their stuff first! Good idea since they are the top boss ones." she nodded looking up at him, the shoulder straps of her bag still in her hands.

When Remus started walking she leaned down to the bag, lifting it on to her back before walking with Remus. His long legs took only about half as long to cover the same distance that she did. She took two quick steps for every one that Remus took, and did not mind at all. Perhaps this took a bit more energy, but there was nothing Lyndis could complain about. She much preferred to walk quickly, and people around here did not tend to slow down for her. It was good, Lyndis had a ton of energy anyway. "Mostly working hard on the things, but I have been trying to go to my classes and things, and not get in as much trouble! The fighting here is weird, swords and shields and the line fighting? You need more horses! I like riding horses. But I guess we don't fight lots of people, more like we single out a target and go after it and surround it. So I guess horses might not make as much sense for this place. Okay, I think I get it. It also keep horses from getting hurt yes?"

"Puppies! Awww, what was their names? You name them weird, Goldean and Quick Silver! Yes!" Tessa looked at the dogs curiously as they seemed to eye her bag. "Oh, what about the latin name for gold and silver? That might make sense, do you know what it is Mr. Remus?" Lyndis let them examine her bag as much as they wanted, sure it had weapons and stuff in it but didn't plenty of people have then around there? "So they guard you? But you're...you know. You can protect yourself." Lyndis had her bag open on the ground in case they wanted to look inside her bag. She had only slightly stopped caring about going to give the presents, or offerings to the gods, because she couldn't resist the dogs.

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Remus had to admit that he did rather like Lyn. She had this fun, caring attitude about her that was refreshing and always seemed to lift his mood. That and he had to respect her curiosity and determination. He had a feeling she was going to make a very good legionnaire and one to make the camp proud. So, despite his usually gruff nature, he was perfectly fine with answering her questions. “Nine years. And considering the Romans had over a hundred deities, not including nature spirits and the sort, I’d say it would be nearly impossible to remember them all. At least, I don’t know anyone here who knows every last one. In ancient times, maybe.” He had to pause to ponder the waves of questions. “A decent number of them. Mostly the ones that get in trouble a lot, or the centurions or people like that.” Well, and people like Lyn who really didn’t fit in either category but did have a way of making a strong first impression. He liked to try and know every person’s name, since he considered that an important leadership skill. Then again, with the new kids coming in all the time and just the sheer number in general, that was a bit of a daunting task. He smiled at her ongoing commentary. “Yes, I think ‘super super hard’ is a good description for it. Don’t worry, you have plenty of time to get better at it.”

He nodded as she went on about the gods. “Don’t worry if you can’t get them all. There are some weird ones. Just as long as you know the Olympians and some of the bigger minor gods, you should be fine.” Sadly, he was pretty sure the majority of the minor gods were probably used to not getting a lot of attention anymore. Though when she mentioned Zeus and Hera, he tried not cringe for her sake. He was about as anti-Greek as any Roman, if not more so. In his opinion, the Greeks were a weak, senseless breed that, at least to his knowledge, had died out, and with good reason. The world was done with the plague that was the Greeks. They should have been happy that Rome had stepped in and made their society and their lives so much better. The same went for nearly all the Mediterranean of its day. An age of empires he dreamed he could have seen.

He tried to keep his tone kind enough though. “Here we call them by their Roman names. So that would be Jupiter and Juno. We’re on the better side of the coin thankfully.” A little biased, maybe, but he was extremely proud to be Roman. He fell silent as they started walking and listened to her assessment of the camp so far. It was good to hear how things were going from another perspective sometimes, something he admittedly didn’t do a whole lot. She certainly had a lot of energy. He didn’t bother trying to interject anything as she seemed to be on a roll, but waited until she was done. On that note, how much sugar had she consumed in the last ten minutes? It seemed to be taking effect. Either that or she was just very excitable. Or possibly both. “Yes, we only go with traditional Roman fighting styles really. Not a whole lot of horses, I’m afraid. There are some though. But your right, it’s easier on the horses if we keep them out of the fighting.” So maybe he’d never actually thought of it like that, but if it made her happy, then that was what the answer would be. Wow, Remus Stone just said some odd answer just to make a kid happy. If the rest of the camp knew about this….

He smiled as she seemed to not mind at all the presence of the two dogs. “Well, actually, their names are the Latin words for silver and gold. Whoever made them wasn’t very creative, I guess. So argentum means silver, and aurum means gold.” He nodded at her question and had to smile. “Well yes, you are right. It’s more of a tradition. The dogs were made long before you and I were here, when Camp Jupiter was still young, as a sort of honor guard. Usually one stays with Zidane, but he’s just doing training today from what I could tell, so they both came with me instead.” He smiled as she opened the bag for the dogs to see and within a few seconds, both dogs were curiously sticking their heads inside. “Sorry they can be a bit inquisitive.” After all, they didn’t get out of the Principia so often, so new people and new things tended to get them curious. Which, mind, didn’t take away from the fact that they were both programmed attack dogs, but even the most brutal had a soft side. After all, wasn’t he proving that himself by hanging out with Lyn right now?

Tag: Lyn!
Word Count: 836
Notes:

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Hundreds? Had there really been that many? Lyndis tried to count how many gifts she made, and was pretty sure it didn't get up that high. She didn't make gifts for all of them, mostly avoiding the titans and anyone older than them because of the thing about Jupiter over throwing, and stuff. Lyndis was still learning it all, it was kinda interesting but some how the people who taught class made it not interesting. Lyndis didn't know how they did, but they managed. She wondered if it had to do with being in this place too long, but Mr. Remus had been here for nine years but he didn't seem boring. Looking up at him she guessed he was a little ridged, stiff like a board, but not boring. Remus was cool in her book, just another person who was in charge of discipline and what not. He seemed to do a pretty good job, at least the camp seemed to run pretty smooth for being so big. Even Lyndis could tell that much.

Looking up at him she listened to his criticism of her word use. Weren't they the same person? Zeus and Jupiter, and Hera and Juno? Still Lyndis listened and nodded, she remembered they were a little different, maybe? She should have paid a little more attention in class. Now she was doubting herself and having trouble remembering which ones were called what names. Jupiter just had to have the longer name. Lyndis was glad she didn't write name on any of the actual projects, pulling out her paper she looked it over. On the paper she had Jupiter and Juno, her brain must have just switched something somewhere while speaking. "What's the difference between the Greek ones and the Roman ones?" Lyndis couldn't even remember if her class had gone over that tiny bit of info, possibly just that the Greek ones were weaker and they should go with the Roman ones. It seemed like something that was quickly passed over.

"Argentum and Aurum? Argentum, Aurum, Argentum, Aurum" Lyndis started saying quietly and slowly trying to make sure she was pronouncing it correctly, and that she could actually remember the names. It seemed like a tongue twister. She seemed really focused on trying to remember the names, perhaps one of the few times she actually focused on something was people, and anything with a personality's, name. After a few moments of making sure she remembered their names, she started to unfurl her brow from its concentration and smile at them. They were very cute, and seemed too like sniffing around in her pack like any animal. They didn't take things out to play with though, and she was glad for that. She'd hate for teeth marks to be on something she gave the gods. "Honor guard? Is that just for ceremony and stuff? Do they always follow you around? Shouldn't one be with him even If he is training? Isn't it better just in case he hurts himself training? Have you hurt yourself?" Lyndis was about to ask more question but paused before asking her nest "Do I ask too many questions?"

Lyndis patted the metal dogs on their head as she started closing up her bag. She was sure that Edmund would be able to get to the point where he could make something just like these dogs, maybe better. He had just started making cool little creatures and Mr.Metal was his first ever, what did he call it? Automation? That was probably it, but either way it was his first and is possibly the best thing she had ever seen. These dogs where cool too. "So Mr Jupiter and Mrs. Juno first?" rummaging through her bag Lyndis pulled out the things she had made for the gods, nothing big or fancy, but she made it herself.

OCC: I made a mistake with names? Meh, go with the flow and make it more interesting.

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Remus considered her question. It was part of standard training, learning about the history of the Roman Empire, but he could understand if she hadn’t gotten to that point yet, or if it just didn’t stick. He’d always been fascinated by the Roman Empire himself, so he was just fine with talking about. Especially with Lyn. She was one of those people who was just easy to talk to. Hmm, Remus Stone, a kid person. That was the last thing he ever would have expected from himself. But spending time with Lyn was nice. And hey, if he got to talk about Rome or battle or the gods or something big and important (to him at least) at the same time, that was fine by him. “Well, the Greek ones came first. That’s where the gods started out. Meanwhile Romulus and Remus were starting to make a nation out of a bunch of little tribes that soon became the Roman Empire and took over Greece. When the seat of western power shifted to Rome, the gods moved with it. They became more powerful and more warlike, just the Romans were more powerful and warlike than the Greeks. If that helps answer your question.” So he could have answered it with a lot less words than that, true, but it was more interesting with a little meat to it. At least, in his opinion.

He smiled as she repeated the names over and over. He could still remember the time that he’d struggled with learning Latin. Everyone here went through it at some point, considering Latin was basically a mandatory second language. Thankfully there was the whole brain being preset to learning it. For anyone else trying to learn Latin, he couldn’t imagine not having that little advantage. It was a rather complex language. Lyn still had plenty of time to learn. He was thinking about how to go about answering her questions when come to find he didn’t have to because they just kept coming. He tried to keep up, but admittedly, he wasn’t used to being with someone so curious. He had to smile when she asked if she was asking too many questions. “Nah, there’s no such thing as too many questions. Or a bad question. Anything that helps you to learn more is good.” Which was mostly true. Okay, so there was such thing as a bad question. Like, take for instance, some of the things he and Felicity had been talking about in private lately. Those rose bad questions. Very bad questions. But he decided not to ponder that one right now.

He tapped the side of his leg where normally his sword would hang and thought about her questions. “Well, I think it was the whole violence in the real ancient Rome that started the tradition. At least, among the demigods and legacies. Not that trust isn’t important, but it’s more for show now days. The do follow me around almost everywhere though. Unless I’m training, then they stay with Zidane or stay in the Principia. It’s more of a not wanting them to get in the way thing in that case. That’s why they’re not with Zidane today. If we get hurt in training, we just handle it like anyone else. Go to the infirmary if needed, that sort of thing. There isn’t much that Aurum and Argentum can do for that. But yes, we have gotten hurt in the past. It happens to everyone at some point. Speaking of which, how is camp treating you, Lyn?”

He nodded as they walked on. “Yup, the two bigger temples. Hope your okay with thunder because Jupiter’s place tends to be noisy.” He looked down at the objects in her hands. “So you made all this stuff yourself? Or, you and Ed, I should say. That’s still pretty impressive. I’m sure they’ll love all the thought and care you’ve put into it.”

Tag: Lyn!
Word Count: 656
Notes: hello, wall of red text. sorry about that

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Remus was so nice to answer Lyndis' question with a well thought out and well worded explanation. She knew she should pay attention, especially since she had asked the question, and she tried. For the majority of his answer she was focused, and it was kind of interesting, but soon her eyes caught something moving or shining, she wasn't sure, either way the next thing her knew he was done. She had missed something, she knew she had, and it seemed like it was the most important part, the part that had actually answered her question about the gods. Her head and eye refocused on him again, she had to pay attention this time. Another question to be answered, another of her questions. She was always so curious about things, but some how the answers never seemed as interesting, except when Ed gave them. Quick, to the point, no time for little minds to wander. Her little head nodded as he confirmed she was okay to ask all the questions she wanted. That was good, she wasn't entirely sure what she'd do without them.

Remus tapped his leg, nothing unusual, but the sound caught Lyndis' attention. Possibly for the best, she was now able to get a better look at the building they were going to and it had some interesting architecture. She looked up at Remus as he told her about the little puppy automatons. Had the real Rome been that violent? She tried to remember a little about what she had learned so far, the violence or more aggressive nature of Rome was probably what made the gods different. She vaguely recalled the start of Remus' last answer with Romulus and emus. She mostly only remember because the name was the same as the person next to her. A butterfly flew across their path and Lyndis' eyes immediately followed it. Snapping back to Remus quickly she caught the end of his next sentence. It was good she had at least caught the question, though she really wished she had heard the rest. "Camp is good...." she said hoping he hadn't really noticed the fact her mind completely did not catch anything he said. She was pretty sure the other people could at her age, so it made her feel a bit self conscious about it.

"I've gotten used to the solid trap like buildings, and the unusual food is okay because there are lots of fruit, and training is easy because I grew up training at home, even if it is a lot weirder it has the same basics. I don't know how use to not hunting my food I am. It's weird." she said, still not quite looking Remus in the face. A clap of thunder sounded as the got closer and her head shot up. She was fine with thunderstorms, just not outside in them. "I like rainstorms, and thunder doesn't hurt you but....lightning does...." she couldn't help but go over all the little things her dad told her about thunderstorms to calm her down. Her dad. She missed him and the games and stories they would tell when it was thundering outside. Thinking about it missed him more and more, but she wouldn't say it. Everyone here was going to have to stay for a long time. Lots of people missed people, and they didn't say anything, so neither was Lyndis.

"Ed and I made everything. I'm not as good with crafty things like him, and we made lots of things with metal since we did it in the forge. You think they will like them?" She said looking at the gifts, in her bag the largest was maybe a foot long. Most things fit in her little hands, and that was why she was able to fit them all in one bag. Sure not every single god and goddess was included, but anyone Jupiter and younger was included, and his siblings. It was still a lot, and she couldn't get all the oceanids and things, but she tried to get as many as she could. Mostly if they had a name she tried. She had a good thirty items in that bag, presents for the gods.

OOC: Sorry if anything is weird, I wrote this at 7am, after staying up all night. Muse was there. Used it. <3

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Lyn was having trouble paying attention and he could tell. Not that Remus was going to say anything. It was normal for campers to have ADHD, so paying attention wasn’t always easy, especially, he’d noticed, among the younger campers. It seemed that more training did help some with controlling it, or at least directing it towards the battlefield rather than flailing it about randomly. He remembered back to the time when he’d had the same problem. Though it seemed like it wasn’t as bad for him since it was in his blood to focus on weaponry right off the bat. So for that one he was rather grateful. But all the same, he wasn’t going to call her out. Anyone else, maybe, but not Lyn.

He listened to her recap her experiences so far with more interest than he usually gave people around here for such a non political topic. Odd as it sounded, he really did find himself caring about how Lyn was doing here. Charlie would likely laugh him out of camp if she knew he was willingly spending time with a little kid and talking about whatever her heart desired. But he rather did like Lyn. It was strangely refreshing to talk to someone with such an innocent energy about her. “Yes, I can imagine things are quite a bit different here. We focus more on the military aspect rather than the fight for survival idea. If that makes any sense at all.” He wasn’t sure it came out the way he wanted it too. The point was, Romans liked pomp and circumstance and straight military lines and decorated armor. He had a feeling her tribe didn’t care so much about that.

He noticed her almost start at the thunder. Yeah, that got just about everyone. He was almost certain Jupiter must have made a game out of it or something. See how many demigods and legacies you can make wet themselves as they come to give you tribute. He’d seen it happen before. Not to himself, thankfully. “No, thunder’s fine. And that’s all there is here, so don’t worry too much. Jupiter just likes to make himself known a bit more than the others.” He looked up at the rather intimidating statue of the god. Yeah, making himself known was an understatement. The guy had an ego ten times worse than Remus’, which was saying something. The god needed a serious attitude adjustment, at least from what Remus knew of him.

He looked down at the large bag. “Well, I bet you both did a good job. With your imagination and his metallurgy, then how could you go wrong, right?” He stepped into the open air temple of Jupiter and tried to ignore the rumbling or the giant stone god looking like he was ready to blast Remus and Lyn into piles of ash. How pleasant. He led the way to an altar in front of the statue. “You just leave it here. And give a prayer if you like, but not neceasary.”

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 507
Notes: all good!

[Deleted]

Slightly shorter answers! Yes Lyndis could deal with this, and understand this much. She smiled up at Remus and nodded “Yep I understand. More straight lines and muscle memory than survival instinct. I might not like doing the same stuffs over and over again but I know why we're supposed to. No thinking, just doing right?” It was the same concept as fighting in general, though Lyndis had gotten a few of her sword stances and things from home, they were no where near as crazy about them as it was here. Besides, at home sword fighting could be turned into a dance, they didn't seem to like the idea much here. Sword dances were really cool though, especially when people with longer limbs did it. She couldn't help but look down at her short arms and legs. She was still fairly little, especially when standing next to Remus. She was pretty sure he was over a foot taller than her. Maybe closer to two foot taller, because he was certainly taller than Charlie. They were kind of siblings right? Biologically anyway, since they had the same dad. Lyndis wondered if they were close, because not many blood relatives seemed very close so far.

The statue was certainly intimidating, with the ominous thundering clouds behind it? Not entirely the best first impression, at least Lyndis didn't feel it was. She liked when people made nicer impressions, friendly, even if they were supposed to be in charge. It was never nice to rule with fear. Lyndis wasn't sure, but she was pretty sure that people worked better in nurturing environments, not necessarily soft squishy ones. The type that rewards good work just as much as you punish the bad, and where people can make a mistake or two without too harsh punishment. This place was certainly not bad, maybe a little strict, sometimes violent, and too stationary for Lyndis' tastes, but not bad. She had met plenty of people she liked after all.

She still couldn't help but scoot closer to Remus, not purposefully, but she did. The thunder was still something that normally brought lightning, though she trusted Remus wasn't lying about the lack of electrical impulses. “Metal-earl-gee?” the word felt weird coming off her tongue, looking up at Remus with her normal inquisitive gaze. She supposed it meant metal expertise, or something like that. It was Ed they were talking about after all. At a rather slowed down version of her normal trot, Lyndis made her way over to the alter. It certainly was different, doing something like this. She wasn't sure what her families gods or things were, since they never really did anything special like this. Object already in hand, she placed it gently on the smooth surface before giving a slight bow. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to do, or what was supposed to happen, but it should be nice to get presents right? Everyone likes presents.

OOC Sorry I have no idea what would happen >_> so...artistic freedom?

[Deleted]

Talking to Lyn was surprisingly nice. It made him slow down and think about things more, appreciate things more. It was a nice new perspective. And though he would never admit to it, he sometimes did need that. And she made a good few decent point too. “More or less. But there’s some survival instinct in there too. Like in hand to hand combat. And there’s thought involved. Maybe not as much as you’re used to, but strategy still plays a big part. Both commanding strategy and personal strategy.” Okay, so it was a lot more complex than that, but she was still young. She’d learn in due time. And after all, this was a walk around Temple Hill, helping her distribute her gifts for the gods, not some sort of mix between welcome to camp 101 and roman military strategy class. Not that he minded either of those himself, but now just wasn’t the time.

He didn’t say anything about it when she moved closer to him. After all, it was understandable in her shoes to be a little nervous. Jupiter was not known for his mercy and gentleness and the statue wasn’t helping matters. Or the thunder. This was one of those times that he almost wished the big guy would tone it down a notch, for Lyn’s sake. And the display of unspoken trust was nice too. His own little sister, Charlie, was barely younger than him and could take care of herself hand tied, so he usually didn’t have reason to fall into the big brother role. But with Lyn, he sort of understood why people liked that role. He felt almost responsible for her, more so than the average camper here. So they weren’t related. He was allowed to look after the younger campers, right? Just that he didn’t usually take it so personally as with Lyn.

“Yes, it means the craft of forming metal into, well, anything. Weapons, automatons, jewelry, armor.” He gave her a smile and watched from where he was, wanting to keep a respectful distance, as she went up and placed the offering on the altar. For all the intimidation this temple liked to dish out, she sure had a good head about her shoulders when it came to dealing with the gods. He couldn’t help but wonder if this really was her first time making an offering to the gods. Thunder clapped ahead as she bowed, and he figured that meant Jupiter got the memo. Never easy to tell with gods. “You can just leave it there. He likely won’t show himself or anything, but he’ll get it. I imagine it won’t be there in the morning.” How it all worked, he wasn’t quite sure. But questioning the gods was not something he made a habit of doing. “Now we should probably get to the other big three, Neptune and Pluto, and Juno. I’ll let you pick who comes next. Don’t worry, they shouldn’t smite you for picking someone else over them or anything. After that, order doesn’t matter as much and I’ll leave it up to you.”

Tag: Lyn!
Word Count: 518
Notes:

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Listening to his explanation, her mind wandered only slightly near the end. Wandered to the noise over head, though she tried her best to focus on Remus in an attempt to drown out the thunder. She nodded at she spoke "I didn't mean completely without thinking or anything. I just mean more focused in different stuffs. Do I get to do hand to hand training? What's that? Is it grabbing, or punching or kicking or everything? I never did hand to hand before. We just did bows and curved swords. Short bows at that, not the long ones like here. Mine was even shorter, because I'm still little."

A clap of thunder rung over her head, startling the small ten year old girl that stood in front of the alter. She wanted nothing more than to jump a foot in the air, and run back to Remus, but he told her it was okay. He told her there was no dangerous lightning, so she kept herself together. Only a small spasm of her wanting to jump in the air showed at the sound. Turning back to him as she heard his voice and was more than happy to leave the place she stood. Trotting with new enthusiasm back to Remus, of course glad to be next to the older camper again. Her near white teeth showed in her smile as she looked up to him, her smiles weren't often just little closed lip ones. When she smiled, she certainly looked like she meant it every time. Perhaps that was because she did mean it, normally wearing her heart on her sleeve she smiles widely when happy and her entire demeanor drooped when sad. Not many people saw her sad, but that was because she didn't exactly have things to be sad about.

"Mrs. Juno would be good, I'd like to get the married peoples together. Then maybe Mr. Pluto, and Mrs. Persephone, and Mr. Neptune..." Lyndis had to stop a moment to think. She couldn't remember having heard about Neptune getting married or having a wife. She supposed she could be wrong, she was that a lot. Especially about the gods, and training, and, well, maybe everything. That was probably the closest to the truth, that or she could list the things she was often correct about. That was a fairly short list, though she'd have to count her own assumption on the word metallurgy. Not exactly right, but she was going to put it in her little point column. Count the good things, and let the rest just kind of go away. There was no real use remembering bad things anyway. There were always times that it couldn't be helped, even she had experienced those times once in an incredibly long time, but keeping count of all the good things that happen to you is a better use of brain space. She could count all day the bad things about being here, away from her family, in a world she wasn't used to, but instead she thought about Edmund. One of the best people to ever enter her life, and Charlie was really nice, then Remus was helping her here and now. Good things, good people. She got to try new foods, good or bad. Lots of new ways and flavors for chicken, which was her favorite type of meat. Most of the things she could count were people though. Lots of new interesting people.

[Deleted]

Remus didn’t normally talk to little kids. There was the initial arrival where they usually came to see him but past that, there usually wasn’t much interaction. He tended to be more interested in the older, more experienced campers. But Lyn was an exception. She wasn’t annoying or bothersome as he had once believed all the young ones to be. No, she was young and curious, and he couldn’t fault anyone for being curious. She was trying hard, which was good to see. So naturally, why wouldn’t he be happy to help her out? Though to anyone on the outside, seeing Remus Stone with a young child was probably the oddest thing in the world. They probably understandably expected him to run her into the ground with drills and things like that to make her stronger. Though he had to admit that sometimes it was information that made you stronger. So to some degree, he was helping her grow and become a stronger Legionnaire just by answering her questions. Which sounded like nice even ground explanation to him, so he went with it.

He watched her at the alter. The fact that she showed a sign of her youth in jumping slightly at the sound of thunder made him smile. And not in a smirk kind of way like what was normal for him. And seeing her hurry back to him was - was it odd to say? - kind of sweet. Like he felt like if this little girl looked up to him for protection and help, then he must be an okay guy. And for a minute, all that mattered was that. He smiled at her as she spoke. She wasn't just a good friend - yes, he considered a ten year old a friend - but she had a good head about her shoulders too.

“Okay, that does make more sense then. And yes, you do get to learn hand to hand combat. It’s basically like what you would do if you found yourself in a fight and neither of you had weapons. When you’re older, you’ll learn how to fight weaponless against an armed opponent too. It’s all just training for things that could happen in real life. But yes, a lot of punching and kicking and that sort.” He had to say, her previous life before coming here did sound interesting. To learn so many survival skills before getting to the Wolf House at all was an oddity among the campers, or at least those not raised in New Rome. The outside world, or at least in the States, didn’t really focus much on teaching five year olds how to be in a fight and not get hurt. Sometimes he wondered what he would be like if he were just a regular mortal. But that was usually a short pondering, as his whole life was dedicated to this place and this lifestyle. It just didn’t work any differently.

He nodded as she listed off the order she wanted to go in. Seemed reasonable. So he set off at a pace he figured she could keep up with towards Juno’s temple, which was decorated with peacocks, her symbol. Why Juno liked peacocks, he wasn’t sure. Or cows for that matter. But yet again, it wasn’t his place to question the gods. Just another thing built into his personality, he guessed. “Sounds like a good lineup. Then we can just hit them in proximity order after that if you like, to make it easier. I mean, like the order of which temple is closest,” he added, figuring ‘proximity’ may or may not be in her vocabulary. Best to play it safe. That and after saying it, he wasn’t sure it even made sense to him. But that happened sometimes. He was so used to thinking and talking formally that everything else was what felt different.

Tag: Lyn!
Word Count: some number bigger than 523, because I don't feel like recounting
Notes: woefully short, I’m sorry. Also, feel free to skip whenever you want. Like ‘they went to this temple and done’ sort of thing, lol