Learning the Hard Way (open)

[Ashley Bates]

Ash shifted uncomfortably on his cot in the infirmary as one of the nurses finished bandaging up his injuries. He hurt all over and imagined that he would probably be bruised black and blue tomorrow but it could have been worse. Granted he couldn't think of a time when his body had hurt this bad but all things considered he thought that he had come out of the fall in pretty good shape. A few bruised ribs weren't so bad and in end he had learned a very important lesson. Riding a horse that could fly was a bit different than riding a horse that couldn't.

He supposed he couldn't be blamed for making that mistake. At first the pegasus he had taken out had behaved exactly like he thought it should. Ash had practically grown up around horses and riding them was second nature so it was easy to get over confident. The problem arose when the pegasus got off the ground. Suddenly all the rules Ash knew had been thrown out the window and he was left to learn the hard way that this would probably take a little getting used to before he mastered riding the flying mounts.

That being said he thought that he had handled the ride pretty well. At least until his pegasus had reared, he had lost his balance and gone tumbling from the saddle. Fortunately a tree had been there to break his fall or things could have been really bad. In any case though he had learned his lesson and he planned to take it to heart because this wouldn't be the last time he would try.

For now though he wouldn't be doing much riding at all. He could have tried using some of his father's music to help the healing process along but considering how much his ribs hurt he probably wouldn't be doing much singing for a while either. Besides, he had never been that good at healing magic anyways.

As it turned out though he really didn't have much time to think about it. As the nurse that had been attending to him left his side there was a bustle of commotion from outside the infirmary and before Ash knew it his recovery room was filled by a group of nurses and volunteers bringing in another injured camper. Apparently this was a popular day for accidents.

[Dakota King]

Dakota swore her shift was lasting longer than what she was scheduled. They were short on Apollo kids, which didn't help that one of them was on a cot at the moment, and it seemed like there was a never-ending supply of injured campers flooding the infirmary. And since Dakota was the only one that specialized in mortal medicine, she was getting pulled everywhere. She barely got the Apollo boy bandaged up before she was pulled away to bring another camper into the infirmary. Fighting practice gone wrong. Fun.

They barely put the camper on one of the cots before Dakota pulled out her kit, numbed the deep gashes, and went to work stitching the camper back together. It took a while, especially since she had to elbow a few Apollo kids who were in her way, but they managed to get the camper patched up. Dakota straightened up and blew her hair that fell into her face before she walked back to the Apollo boy she was attending.

She stood over him and double-checked to make sure his bandages were tight enough. "And you said you got this for falling off a pegasus?" she asked him as she turned to look and raise an eyebrow at him.

[Ashley Bates]

Ash watched the unfolding chaos silently taking in what was going on around him with muted interest. The infirmary was understaffed and incredibly busy that much was fairly obvious. Fortunately they did seem to have a capable nurse running the show. The girl had already patched him up and was working on the new camper that had just been brought in but she was handling the work admirably even if things were pretty hectic. Still, he imagined that anything that he could do at this point would have been an unwelcomed distraction so he remained silent.

He hadn’t expected to have to speak again but after patching up the second injured camper he discovered that his nurse was apparently not done with him as she turned to him asking about his injury. “I’m afraid so.” He said with a frown. There was a dull throbbing in his bones when he spoke but nothing he couldn’t deal with. Fortunately he was a man of few words to begin with. “I got careless and didn’t expect the flying to be that much different than riding horses back home.” He gave a little shrug as if to say that’s how it goes and then continued. “I’ll be alright. You have my thanks for patching me up though.”

[Dakota King]

Dakota chuckled underneath her breath as she tightened up one final bandage on him. "Oh trust me, they are completely different than horses. I used to show horses and compete in horseback riding competitions. Pegasi are a whole different monster." She straightened back up and looked around the infirmary. For once, there was a lull in their hectic day. A chance for Dakota to finally relax.

"And you're welcome. It's no big deal, even if I'm the only one that can do stitches and stuff." She decided to sit down in the chair next to the Apollo boy and she leaned back in it a bit to give her feet a break. She looked over at him and smiled slightly. "So you used to ride horses?" she asked him. "Where did you grow up?"

[Ashley Bates]

"Texas. New Braunfels." He said sounding genuinely interested in their conversation. The girls talk of livestock competitions and riding horses had definitely piqued Ashs interest and while he usually had trouble expressing his emotions at times he couldnt help but let a little excitement creep into his voice at the prospect of being on familiar ground.

"I grew up working on a ranch there." He added. "It sounds like you've had some experience with that as well though." Ash watched the girl curiously. She was obviously worn out from a long day and was being modest about her medical skills. While he could certainly admire not bragging he did think she deserved some credit for what she was doing. "Is the infirmary always this busy? If so you probably don't hear thank you enough."

[Dakota King]

"Texas, huh?" Dakota asked as a slight smile crept onto her lips as she noticed she piqued his interest somewhat. Texas was full of ranches from what she knew, much more common than the ranches that were around her hometown. But it was nice that Dakota found someone with a similar background as hers. Most the people she met grew up in big cities or maybe a farm. Ranchers were a very rare thing to find.

"My family owns a ranch in Declo, Idaho. I doubt you've heard the the place." She chuckled to herself as she shook her head. "But I grew up around horses and my brother and I used to compete in rodeos. I would do the horseback riding while he would be the crazy one to ride the bulls." She chuckled to herself. "We have a few titles in our family that we're quite proud of."

But the boy mentioned the infirmary and Dakota sat up a little straighter to look around the infirmary. Once she decided it was still calm enough without her, she relaxed back into her chair as she looked over at him. "Usually not this busy, but I think today everyone has bad luck or karma or something." She shook her head to his next statement. "Probably not enough, but I don't really keep track. Just knowing I helped people is a good enough thanks for me."

[Ashley Bates]

Ash listened and nodded as she talked about where she was from. He hadn’t heard of the town but considering he had never been to Idaho that wasn’t so surprising. Still, he definitely knew something of horseback riding and rodeos and could appreciate the hard work that it took to win those titles. “Very impressive. No easy feat by any means. Did you ever make it down to Texas?”

The chance that she had ever competed in a rodeo he had been to was minuscule at best. Texas as a big place and rodeos were a dime a dozen back home. Still, she might know a few places he did as well and at least it was something to talk about. Common ground that many people didn’t understand unless they had grown up on a ranch or farm as well.

“Perhaps it’s not always this busy but you do handle it well.” He said after she had finished talking about the infirmary. All was quiet now and he was glad she was getting a break after being so busy. Still, it did leave some questions in his mind. “Are you studying to be a doctor or just filling in here at camp? I’ve had some experience fixing up the animals around the ranch but nothing like this and you had to have picked up your skills from somewhere.”

[Dakota King]

"Thanks," Dakota said as she blushed slightly. Most people didn't get the rodeo titles and the fact that her brother liked to ride bulls. Hades, Dakota thought he was completely insane for riding them, especially with some of the injuries that came from. She tilted her head tot the side as he asked about her making it down to Texas. "Once," she said with a slight smile. "My brother and I made it to Amarillo for a rodeo. I know he has a couple of scars from that one because of the bull they paired him with, but we didn't walk away with the titles."

But the boy asked if she was studying to be a doctor and she had to laugh at that idea as she shook her head. "Nah, I was studying to be a nurse when I discovered this secret life of the demigods." She looked at him and smiled slightly. "I was about a year in when some chicken dragon thing... I think they call it a cockatrice... decided to attack my class. That's when they decided it might be safer for me here."

[Ashley Bates]

Just as he had expected they hadn’t crossed paths before. Still, Ash did know Amarill and he knew it hosted some pretty big rodeos. This girl and her brother had to be a pretty accomplished if they were making it out of their state and down to his. At the very least it showed that they took the competition circuit seriously. “It sounds like you could probably teach me a few things about riding if that’s the case. I’m sure you know some pretty fancy ticks if you’ve been winning titles.”

Ash raised an eyebrow when she talked about discovering her status as a demigod when she was studying to be a nurse. He thought that would have made her claiming very late and that was a bit odd considering how young some of the half-blood kids were around here. His own little brother Lucas was only eight after all and Apollo had already claimed him. Now he had already taken to living in the cabin with his Apollo siblings. Granted there was no hard and fast rule as to when the gods claimed their children but it still made him wonder.

“Cockatrice…those are a nasty bit of business. I’m glad you were able to fight it off. Not many people would be able to do that on their own.” He wasn’t really sure how she had fared in the battle with the monster but she had made it out alive to be here at camp and in the end that was all that mattered. "In any case you're here now and the camp seems to have benefited from your medical knowledge."

[Dakota King]

"Oh, I think I can teach you a few things about riding," Dakota said with a smirk. A thought hit her as she tilted her head to the side as she looked at him. "I have a pegasus here. You're welcome to ride her if you need more practice. Just not now because you're still all bandaged up and stuff." She chuckled to herself as she shook her head. "But her name's Blue Sky. She shouldn't give you any trouble like the other pegasi around camp, but she does like sugar cubes."

She smiled a blushed a bit as she pushed her hair out of her face. "You'd be surprised that nobody from the Apollo cabin knows how to do stitches or any other mortal procedures. It's all ambrosia and nectar for them, but that's not going to heal a deep gash, you know? I heard we have a girl from the Asclepius cabin, but I don't know if her medical knowledge is any better. I know I haven't seen her in the infirmary when I'm here."

[Ashley Bates]

“Blue Sky, a fine name for a pegasus.” Ash said as he considered her proposal. “I might have to take you up on that offer so long as you show me some of your show riding. If that’s not too much for me to ask that is.” He had no problem learning his lessons the hard way but he wasn’t above accepting help if needed. Self-deception was only pride in disguise and that was not something that he wanted to indulge. If she was willing to offer him some lessons then he saw no reason he should have to go through the effort of teaching himself especially when he had the opportunity to learn from such a pretty cowgirl.

“Unfortunately I believe most of my siblings rely on their healing magic too much. I’ve never had much skill in that area myself but I have picked up a few first aid tricks in case of emergencies. I wouldn’t be able to bind a wound like that.” He nodded towards the second camper across the room. “But I know enough so that I wouldn’t be useless in a crisis. It is a shame that you can’t get more help though.”

Suddenly Ash gave her a curious look. He realized that he didn’t even know this girl’s name which was a shame considering that she had patched him up and was offering to let him ride her pegasus. This had to change as he at least needed something to call her. “You’ll have to excuse me for a fool but I just realized I don’t even know your name. Mine's Ash.”

[Dakota King]

Dakota raised here eyebrows at the boy as he asked if she could demonstrate some of her show riding. She gave it a thought. It really had been a while since she did her fancy rodeo stuff. She dropped that to focus on nursing, so it was a few years since she did stuff like barrel racing. She smiled slightly as she nodded her head. "I guess I can show you some of my rodeo-winning riding. Or at least try. I'm not sure how well that will translate to pegasi since they have those wings."

Her smile turned into a bit of a smirk as he talked about his skills. So it seemed like not all Apollo kids weren't talented in the art of healing. She did know one of their younger siblings was very talented in the art of screaming. A fact she only knew because she could hear him screaming from her cabin. That kid had powerful lungs...

She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts when the boy pointed out... Ash was his name... Ash pointed out that they were talking and they hadn't introduced themselves to each other. Dakota blushed as she pushed her hair out of her face with one hand. "You can call me Dakota and you probably already know I'm not Apollo. I'm from Aphrodite."

[Ashley Bates]

So she was an Aphrodite kid. 'Well that definitely explains the pretty part.' He thought and she definitely was that. Typically Ash didn't have many dealings with the kids from the Aphrodite cabin. He was a guy that liked getting his hands dirty who didn't mind spending nights out in the woods or on the open range and so many of the Aphrodite kids weren't about that life. It was good to see Dakota was a little different than that typical pretty girl / boy mold. He liked it.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Dakota and I'm sure some of your riding will transfer over. Who knows, after I get my feet under me with Blue Sky I might even have a few things to show you." An actual smile broke across his face for once in what might have been weeks or even months. It was perhaps made more charming and sincere for the very fact that he didn't use it much. It made him look more like his actual age than the hard, no nonsense character whose serious side could be a little scary in its intensity and it lasted only for a few moments but it had been there nonetheless. "In any case it would be nice to see you again in better circumstances. If that's not too forward of me to say so."

[Dakota King]

Dakota chuckled as she brushed her hair out of her face. "I would like to see what a Texas rancher can show an Idaho rancher," she teased him a bit as she smiled slightly. But when Ash smiled... it was like there was an entire different side of him. Dakota could tell that this boy didn't like to show his emotions or smile a lot. She wondered why briefly, but that was quickly pushed aside when another injured camper was brought to the infirmary. They weren't too injured, so they didn't need Dakota, yet.

"Nah," Dakota said as she shook her head. "Definitely not too forward..." She groaned as she saw one of the other Apollo kids motioned her over. She turned to Ash as she got up onto her feet. "But it was nice meeting you, Ash, and I do hope I see you around, but now I have to run. See ya!" She jogged over to the newest patient in the infirmary to see what needed to be done.