Saturday Night's Alright (OPEN)

[val]

Battle. War. The heat of the fight. There was nothing that could quite get the blood flowing the same. This was pure, carefully controlled and calculated, Roman adrenaline. This was life at its rawest.

Valerie stepped back and sized up her opponent. Slight form, but that shouldn’t be taken to mean much here. This was Camp Jupiter. There was no such thing as a push-over. Her feet weren’t very far apart, poor spacing. And her knees seemed locked or darn close to. Unbalanced. Not planted very well at all. With the right maneuvering, she would be easy to put on the ground. Her hands were held up in what she guessed was supposed to be a defensive position. Pitiful. Either the other girl lacked confidence or ability. Or quite possibly both. And her expression helped that image. She wasn’t ready or possibly even able, but it was clear she was going to try her best. Good. Hate it to be too quick a win. And you didn’t learn anything if you didn’t even try.

Well, may as well get this going. You didn’t learn anything standing there and staring down your opponent either. So she launched herself at the girl, immediately aiming to smack her to the ground. It wasn’t hard. The girl was backing up and only just managing to block each hit. For now. For a good five minutes it went on. It didn’t help that this was their fourth round like this. Didn’t help the other girl at least. Valerie was getting tired, of course, but she kept pushing, and there was the handy fact that after three rounds, she could pretty well judge what the other girl was going to do. Finally, there was an opening. In one swift kick, the girl hit the ground like it had come up and yanked her down. Valerie took a step back and caught her breath. Enough of this though. It was time for something a little different.

After helping the other girl up, she set off for the obstacle course. There weren’t too many people here, and as she was still working on the whole part about getting her heart rate back down to something more normal before taking up still more exercising, she stood by the sidelines and watches the younger kids on the simpler course. They were good, no doubt. Then again, they were Romans. They wouldn’t have gotten past Lupa’s stiff judgment and gotten here at all if they didn’t show promise and couldn’t hold their own. And given what they would be facing in the next handful of years of training and battles, they could only get better.

WORD COUNT: 444
TAG: -open-
SONG: "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by Elton John

[annaleigh]

Things had been so boring lately. Nothing especially exciting to talk about, no one making a complete fool of themselves so that she could let everyone else know about it. Anna was bored. She hated being bored. And that meant some intense hunting into whatever leads she could find or resorting to just making something up off the top of her head and seeing how far she could go with it. The latter tended to end with someone calling her bluff, but it was still fun. Nevertheless, Anna decided to stick with the former and go looking for something to talk about. Maybe something would present itself while she was out training.

But what to do today? She ruled out combat training quickly; if she were to get distracted by something that would make a good rumor there could be some dangerous consequences. Where else would there be enough people that were easy enough to observe… The obstacle course would be perfect for that; she would just have to be careful with carrying her journal across. Not that the journal was necessary, Julia’s memory was good enough that it held everything that was written in the journal. Still, she’d rather it not get ruined by falling in the water or getting hit by flaming arrows.

Anna tucked the little book into the back pockets of her jeans with a sigh before looking out at one of the more difficult courses. She had run it time and time again, agility had helped her out there, and she knew exactly where she wanted to go to look out on everyone else running the various courses. People were doing fairly well, but Anna knew it was just a matter of time before someone did something worth talking about. The young woman took off running, dodging this and that and leaping over various obstacles. After just a few minutes she was at the obstacle she wanted. She launched herself towards the net and began to climb as soon as her hands closed around it. Her shoes and pant legs were soaked with muddy water, but she forced herself to haul her body to the top of the net before swinging one leg over to straddle the pole it was attached to.

A perfect view. She could watch people struggle; see who was willing to help who and who wanted everyone else to fall short. Every so often Anna reached down to offer a hand to a struggling peer and haul them up, but her main focus was on the people below. And it seemed that she wasn’t the only one watching.

Valerie Smyth. 18 year old daughter of Bellona. Wicked temper. Proceed with caution.

She didn’t have to check her book for that. Just a few moments ago Anna had watched Valerie drop her sparring partner. She had learned who to worry about when spreading rumors, and a daughter of the war goddess didn’t seem like the best subject… But if she got something really good who knows? Or maybe she could play things up and get on Valerie’s good side. After pulling the journal from her pocket, Anna swung both legs up and crossed them over each other, relaxing on top of the pole while she wrote.

[val]

The day was going well enough. Wasn’t too hot, or too cold, and it was actually rather relaxing watching people train. Not to mention, it was a good idea to do so every now and again. Watching others instead of training yourself, you got to learn their styles and habits without having to dirty your own hands. And that was something Valerie was very much in favor of. After all, better to know your opponent before getting to the battlefield. Or peer, she probably should say. Since they were all Romans here. Eh, whichever.

And her peers were looking pretty well off. Sure, there was the occasional slip-up: a fall here, a burn there. But that was normal. No one was perfect, though most here strived for it. And it showed. Even among the younger ones, mistakes were respectively low. Even if their course was easier. And here and there she noticed people helping on another out. While it was meant to exercise one’s own strengths and weaknesses and general agility, it was a good thing to see. Camp Jupiter was nothing without it’s community. The Roman army was based on group fighting. Purely individual work was for Graeci.

But there was one particular Legionnaire whom she noticed who was possibly one of the most dangerous here. Annaleigh Jordana, daughter of Fama, and capable of ruining or glorifying anyone with the flick of a pen and whispered comment. And gee, guess what she was up to? Notes. Valerie was perfectly sure she knew what that meant. The single book in the camp that she would love to destroy in any and every way known to man. It wasn’t that she feared Annaleigh. It was more of a healthy respect. Which was probably true for all in the camp and New Rome as well. Someone with that much influence demanded respect. There was an odd bit about Annaleigh Jordana though. As much as she spread word about other people with such ease, she couldn’t say she knew all that much about the ‘rumor mill’ herself. Nor did she know anyone who really did.

But that didn’t mean that Valerie was one not to take action. So she walked over to the side support poles of the net tower. Annaleigh was a good fifteen feet up, perched on the top and writing away like it was only the most natural thing in the world. For her, it probably was. “So what’s going to be the headline of the day?” she called up to the other girl. Her tone wasn’t mocking or spiteful or anything, just a simple question. After all, why start a conversation where you likely had to watch you ever word on a bad note? And the fact that, as of yet, she really had no reason to be all that bitter to the daughter of Fama.

WORD COUNT: 477
TAG: Annaleigh “Dear Gods Run For It” Jordana

[annaleigh]

As always, it was almost as amusing to watch people’s reactions to her presence as it was to actually look for something interesting to talk up or laugh about. While most people at Camp Jupiter had managed to avoid her more malicious side, some of them had been talked up by her after a victory. And even if they hadn’t directly been effected by her words, chances were that they had heard of her in some capacity; whether they had continued the chain of passing around one of her rumors or if they had just been warned about the children of Fama. To watch behavior change when she came around was funny; the fact that people thought they could hide something almost cute. If she wanted to know about something she found the truth; and if she couldn’t find the truth she would spin a rumor that would make everyone else question what you said. She noticed a couple of Legionnaires beginning to shy away from the net tower, most likely believing she wouldn’t be able to catch on to what was being said or done. Please. Her mother had lived in a house of glass so she could see and hear everything all over the world. A couple of extra feet wasn’t going to stop Annaleigh.

And it wasn’t like she was here to specifically pick out something bad! Being malicious was fun and all, but she could just as easily build up someone’s reputation and gain them some of the much-coveted respect from other Legionnaires for behaving in a way that would better Camp Jupiter. As long as you deserved it and didn’t try to exploit her abilities, as some people had who had learned the consequences, Anna was more than willing to help you on your way to the top. To be honest she didn’t even spread every bad thing she heard about, often times she managed to stop bad rumors before they started, but people didn’t really tend to focus on that. Instead they just assumed she wanted to tear everyone down, which was far from the truth. She’d even had a few instances of people trying to destroy her book. Really, they were just so ignorant. The book held notes and ideas, yes, but barely more than Anna held in her own mind. Why would she trust such valuable information to something that could be so easily damaged? The book just allowed her to focus on other things while she observed, but the words were committed to memory soon after.

Nothing of particular importance had caught her eye; just the occasional impressive move or embarrassing fall. That was until someone decided to start a conversation with her. Most people avoided chatting her up during an observation session, so either this person was confident in their ability to stay on her good side, confident in their ability to persuade her to not discuss anything, or just didn’t care what she said about them. As soon as the voice registered Anna smirked; it appeared the daughter of Bellona was interested in what she had to say. Voice recognition had always been a talent of hers, quite useful when eavesdropping. Anna looked down from her perch on the support pole, closing her journal and slipping the pen back into her pocket. There was no need for Valerie to think Anna would use anything that came out of this, though Annaleigh was already mentally recording everything that went on.

”I’m not too sure yet. There are a few people down there who made the rather unwise decision to make a few comments when they thought I couldn’t hear them, but I haven’t decided whether or not that’s worth my time. Why? Anything interesting? I saw you take down that other girl. I guess I could always talk about that.” Would Valerie take the bait? A part of Anna wished she would; those who’s godly parents were involved in battle were usually the ones who wanted their victories boasted about… But part of her also knew that spreading malicious rumors about them could be quite dangerous.

[val]

There were very few people Valerie watched herself all that much around. She wasn’t really one for sugar-coating much or being all happy-happy just to get on someone’s good side. Okay, so she never did that part. At all, ever. She was who she was and if people didn’t like it, tough. After all, she wasn’t here to make all the friends she possibly could. But there was one girl to be wary of, and that was the one that she was walking right up to. Dumb idea? Maybe. But, well, Val was looking for a change of pace and directly going out of her way to have a conversation with Annaleigh was certainly a change.

Well, the journal went away right off the bat. That was encouraging. Not that she didn’t believe Annaleigh had an issue remembering anything of great import. Then there was that smirk. And to think people wondered why she could seem dangerous. The answer was right there. That little half-smile that hinted she was up to something. And the daughter of Fama defined being up to something on a level no one else around here could quite achieve no matter how hard they tried.

Val nodded slightly as though this were a perfectly normal conversation about the latest news from New Rome or what her take on the prospect of the competitors in the upcoming Coliseum games was. She had to smile at her comment though. “They must be new here, then. Or, like you said, rather unwise.” After all, she was fairly convinced that Annaleigh had the ears of a hawk. She’s sort of assumed everyone else was aware of that as well, but apparently not. Either that or they were foolishly asking for trouble.

She shrugged when Annaleigh asked if she had anything. Really, she wasn’t sure why she’d come over here, but she knew for fact that it wasn’t to share any coveted information. Mostly based on the fact that she just didn’t have any. Val wasn’t really the type to listen to gossip and most of the time she wasn’t good at picking up on things that would make good gossip either. So the fact that Annaleigh was asking was a little unusual. “Not really. Anything I know is likely old news for you anyhow.” Well, there might be a couple things, but she wasn’t sure she felt like sitting down and chatting with Anna about stuff like that. After all, she still had to figure out a few things herself before she was cool with ignoring what everyone else was saying, so preferably it would be good that no one talked until said time.

When Annaleigh mentioned her recent small victory on the battlefield, she glanced back at the practice area where she’d been and pondered it. On the one hand, she was the daughter of a war goddess and a centurion to boot, so any boost looked good not only on her, but on her mom and her only, what, three-day-old leadership position since the last guy had retired. So that was a definite plus. But at the same time, her pride stepped in and was very adamant about the fact that the best way to get a good reputation was to earn it herself rather than rely on fickle luck and fame. And that had just been a standard fight she’d managed to win, nothing grand and spectacular. After what was probably a much longer pause than she’d intended to take, she looked back to Annaleigh and tried to act as nonchalant as she could. “If you like. Though it was just regular practice.” She held back the urge to point out that she was confident she could do much better than that anyway. The pride issue was getting a little annoying.

WORD COUNT: 634
TAG: Annaleigh

[annaleigh]

Annaleigh had gotten very good at gauging people’s feelings over the years; who was putting up a front because they knew she was trying to get something out of them and who made the decision to just be honest with her and hope for the best. And to tell the truth she really wasn’t sure which type she preferred. Both could be fun, both offered interesting choices when it came time to throw a wrench into the status quo. She often found that the ones who decided to be honest either flat-out didn’t care about their reputation anymore or were the brute force type who thought they would be able to intimidate her into staying quite. And those were probably the best. Children of Rome, and even more so for children of war deities, were just so confident that they could become the best just by flexing their muscles. A military mind was useful at Camp Jupiter, but she had found that the right words could do just as much damage as a sword when wielded by someone who knew what they were doing.

And so it was as she sized up the demigod on the ground below her. Which type would Val turn out to be if Anna decided to spin some news about her? Anna followed with her own smile, letting her eyes drift over to where the others were before she returned focus to Valerie. ”They’ll learn soon enough.” And if not then they would surely provide her with amusing fodder for whatever gossip she was interested in. Let them keep thinking she couldn’t hear them, that they were safe around corners. It was all the better for her.

”Well news has to start somewhere.” She didn’t always make things up, just quite often and when things were slow and boring. If there was a major victory or a major failure then, granted, Anna was the one to make sure everyone possible heard about it but she wasn’t always the first to know things. She could only be in so many places at once, as much as it frustrated her, and sometimes things were missed. ”I’m sure I’ll find something.”

Anna caught the other girl’s gaze drifting back to the practice area and smirked slightly. Everyone wanted recognition for what they did, right? Surely the daughter of Bellona was no different… What varied was whether people voiced their desires and actively sought out recognition or whether they let the glory come on its own time. She had found that, more often than not, those who went hunting for it rarely found it. Or they found their fame, but not in the way they wanted. More than once Anna had helped divert the path of attention-seekers when she felt they didn’t deserve it. In those cases where unworthy people continued their hunt for fame, Anna was happy to oblige with notoriety rather than true fame. So which path would Valerie choose? ”Just doing what any good Centurion would do, right? I’m sure we’ll see some impressive things on the Field of Mars, won’t we?” Anna was goading her on, trying to draw out what she knew had to be hidden under that nonchalant demeanor.

[val]

This was certainly one of the most unexpected conversations Valerie had ever taken part in. Mostly because she had been here eight years and never even considered trying to talk with Annaleigh Jordana. And, well, Annaleigh had a way of making the conversation seem like walking on eggshells. At least for those smart enough to know that any word or motion could make or break you. So no pressure. She looked around at the other legionnaires practicing and dodging various obstacles around the courses; also just in time to see one kid fail to do so and land face first on the ground it what definitely could not have been a soft landing. Happened to the best of them though. She couldn’t truthfully say she hadn’t had any spills of her own. Around here, there wasn’t a lot of room for band aids and tears though, not even for the younger ones. Not that it was unheard of, it just wasn’t considered very Roman. And around here, keeping up a strong image was exceedingly important. Which brought her back to the conversation at hand.

She looked back to find that Annaleigh was already watching her. It was a little eerie actually, the way she seemed able to see right through you to what you were made of. “Yeah, that’s one lesson not to take lightly.” People who didn’t know it, usually learned it fast. And often the hard way, either directly or indirectly. Unless the legionnaires in question were just of the incredibly air-headed variety that really didn’t care what others thought. Admitted, Valerie usually didn’t pay much attention to other people’s opinion of her, but it undeniably had power. Take for instance people like Maddison Petroski. Her reputation here was so horrible it was a wonder anyone talked to her at all. Then again, that was also because she more or less hated the entire camp.

“Naturally,” Val said offhand when Anna mentioned news having to start somewhere. A lot of rumors had their grounds in solid facts. Not all, but a lot. Which was only fair, really, so as to keep those undeserving of recognition out of the winner’s circle. She paused when she noticed her own pride nipping at the edges of her thoughts. It was really something how much more a pain it was to deal with around Annaleigh. Then again, she had the skill of knowing just how to pick out people’s buttons and what strings to pull.

And there it was again. A word placed here, a subtle hint in tone, an odd mix of compliment and trap question. All designed carefully in a way to pull her in. And as much as she hated to say, it was working. First of all, though she had her uncertain moments, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t proud of being elected centurion. As a daughter of the goddess of war – and in her opinion, the shear pride of being Roman along with that – she couldn’t help but be extremely pleased with making it to an esteemed leadership position. And the idea that she had proven herself on the battlefield enough to merit having ‘impressive’ things expected of her. She certainly liked the sound of that one as well.

Right, but pride could be a bad thing, even in a Roman camp. Look at Julius Caesar. His pride got him stabbed by his best friend. “I like to think so, but I haven’t had to do anything yet, so we’ll see how it goes.” More humble than she was feeling, but not bad, not bad. “As for battle, have I failed you yet?” Hmm, that one might not have been so smart.

WORD COUNT: 615
NOTE: I hope that wasn’t utterly terrible because I admit I just sort of let the muse take over and typed whatever came to mind.

[annaleigh]

Anna had to admit she was surprised that this conversation was even happening. In all of her time at the camp, she hadn’t really interacted with Valerie more than just the occasional hello or whatever had to be said during combat training and war games on the Field of Mars. Not that that meant Annaleigh didn’t have a mental file running on the daughter of Bellona. Quite the opposite, actually. Just as soon as Anna had started actually developing her abilities and manipulating reputations she had filed away every detail she learned about other people. Valerie had caught her attention early, as had most others who ended up as centurions in the time she had been at Camp Jupiter, her fiery attitude making her a blip on the radar fairly early on. The daughter of a war goddess was intimidating to anyone even if they were Roman and Anna had been quite happy with the fact she didn’t actually need to talk to Valerie to get information about her. Information was always best from the original source, however, so Anna couldn’t say she was upset that the other demigod had decided to strike up a conversation.

”And yet you’d be surprised by the amount of people who don’t learn anything from it. Usually those demigods who think they can intimidate their way to the top and just fight whoever gets in their way without needing any help from people around them.” She smiled slightly, the subtle nod to the more combat-based gods wasn’t likely to go unnoticed but she had yet to see if Valerie was one of those types. ”I guess if you don’t acknowledge the power of something to help you you’re unlikely to grasp what it can do to hurt you.”

She could almost see the gears turning in Valerie’s mind, trying to analyze what she was saying and figure out what was meant as an attempt to pull out bits of information or to push the centurion towards admitting something she would rather not. Anyone would be pleased with being elected centurion. Such a leadership position was something to be expected, especially when the candidate deserved it as Anna believed Valerie did. It was the ones who didn’t deserve the respect and authority that bothered her, and those tended to be the ones who wound up with nasty rumors being spread; with the skeletons in their closets slowly but surely making their way into the light. As far as Annaleigh was concerned Valerie didn’t need to worry about that, but who knew where the conversation would go?

Valerie was being smart about her choice of words, but everyone slipped up sometimes. And there it was, though Anna wouldn’t exactly call it much of a mistake. Valerie had a right to be a bit less humble than many of the people around them. ”Indeed you haven’t.” Her tone implied that she was focused on the ‘yet’ of Valerie’s question. The other demigod seemed quite sure of herself, but there was that choice of words… Perhaps she had a little doubt. ”Anything you’re worried about? It’s only been three days, right? And something had to have pushed your predecessor to resign.”

[val]

When Valerie woke up this morning, certainly the last thing on her mind was ‘hey, I think I’ll have a nice chat with Annaleigh Jordana today.’ She was usually one to take on any sort of challenge, but some were just common sense to avoid. While a lot of the to-be-avoided people around here were more along the lines of threatening your life and well-being, there were a few that had a very different sort of danger about them. And Annaleigh was one of them. Not that she doubted the other girl’s fighting abilities. She was Roman, after all. There virtually was no such thing as a wimpy Roman. It was more her natural knack for wielding words with more skill and finesse than most people here could handle a weapon, which in several cases was saying something alright. All that meant was to use caution though. Which Valerie was perfectly willing and, hopefully, capable of doing.

It was an interesting conversation to say the least. It was apparent right from the off that Annaleigh had a view on this place that not many others could see, Val included. It was by far the most she’d had to ponder things in a conversation for a very long time. “A lot of people around here seem to take that view, unfortunately. With Rome’s emphasis on working as a cohesive unit, you’d think we’d be better suited to working together in all aspects. Then again, Rome is also the source of such as Julius Caesar and Nero, no to speak ill of our heritage.” She hated admitting that anything about their Roman heritage was anything short of glorious, but the history books told a slightly different story. “But I’m sure if anyone knows of the eventual fate of people like that, it’s probably you.” After all, it was all in reputation that these solo forces rose and fell.

Still, the implication regarding gods like, well, her mother, wasn’t that well hidden. She straightened slightly. “Though, of course, that doesn’t mean that earning respect and position is necessarily a bad thing. Just within reason.” Though when Annaleigh went on, even Valerie couldn’t argue her point from any angle. She paused for a moment, trying to decipher if it was a carefully worded trap, or just an observation. After a moment, she just nodded. “That’s definitely true.” She wasn’t sure if she should take that as meaning it would be wise to seek the help of the camp’s rumor queen. Certainly it wouldn’t hurt to be on Annaleigh’s good side, but was that really how Valerie wanted to gain her reputation? By rumors and word of mouth? Her pride was torn between wanting to be better known for her achievements, and wanting to be known because she worked at it and got to it herself. It was making this whole conversation quite challenging.

She narrowed her eyes, if only for a second, when she caught the gist of Annaleigh’s almost-challenge. At least in her eyes it was a challenge. “I have no plans of letting anyone down in leadership or on the battlefield for as long as I have the strength to hold a weapon,” she said, perhaps a little too confidently. But for a moment, she hardly noticed. Was there anything she was worried about? Well, yes, but was it anything Annaleigh needed to know about? Not really. “Zidane has been helping a great deal with getting used to the expectations of the role. I’m sure everything will go smoothly.” Albeit she hadn’t been to a Senate meeting yet, which was a little daunting, but Zidane had assured her they weren’t as bad as they sounded. Though when Annaleigh mentioned the centurion who had stepped down before her, she took a deep breath so as not to jump in with undue frustration. “I had no influence in that, if that’s what you’re suggesting. His ten years were up, simple as that. He stepped down, went off to New Rome, and I was elected into the position. We all move on sooner or later.”

WORD COUNT: 683
TAG: Annaleigh