"OOF!"

Jongdae was shoved against the wall. He gulped loudly and tried not to make any sudden movements. Joonmyeon began to laugh as he traced the tip of his sword along Jongdae's neck. "Is that all you got, shrimpy?"

All the color drained from Jongdae's face. Is this it? Am I going to die now? How did I even get into this mess?

-3 hours earlier-

Everyone was gathered around in the center of the training field. Chiron was standing at the front with a clipboard in his hands. "Everyone! Today marks the start of your training. I will be pairing you up and you will be given two hours to prepare for your battle. The rules are simple: Defend yourself at all costs. Do everything in your power to stay alive and protect yourself. During those two hours, I expect that you wil be using that time wisely. Once the two hours are up, report back here for your battle. Remember, this is for your own benefit. If you do not show up, then you will not become a better fighter. Also, if you do not show up, there will be a big punishment. So, are you ready to hear the pairings?"

'No. Nope. Not at all' Jongdae thought to himself.

"Alright, the first pairing will be..."

Please don't say my name. Please oh please oh please-

"Kim Jongdae and Kim Joonmyeon!"

The crowd gasped and murmurs were heard all over the place. Jongdae's knees began to shake and he could feel all the color draining out of his face. Joonmyeon looked over at where Jongdae was standing and smirked. He pointed at him and made a cutting gesture across his throat. Seeing Jongdae's reaction, he laughed and walked away with Minseok. Baekhyun saw how nervous Jongdae looked and put an arm on his shoulder. "Hey man, you'll be alright. I'm sure nothing bad will happen."

"Yeah, sure. He's part of the Poseidon cabin. Everyone knows that they're undefeated. Good luck with that," Jongin scoffed. Baekhyun shot him a dirty look before trying to comfort Jongdae again.

"The next pairing is...Oh Luhan and Kim Jongin!"

Luhan and Sehun both gave each other a look before turning their heads towards Jongin's direction. Jongin did not even seem interested in what was going on. He just stood there with a blank face.

"And following that pair is...Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol!"

Chanyeol cracked his knuckles and moved his head from side to side. "I am so ready for this. Been needing to get some stress out anyways." He fixed his gaze on his opponent, who was still busy trying to comfort  the frightened Jongdae. He shook his head. This guy doesn't even care. He's not even scared. He is so going down.

After all the pairings were announced, Jongin, Baekhyun, and Jongdae began to search for Kyungsoo. Since this was their first fight, they needed a little bit of advce. Instead of finding Kyungsoo, they came upon Yixing who was just leaving his cabin. "Oh, hey guys! I heard you three are the first ones to fight today. Nervous?"

"Yeah, a little," Baekhyun chuckled. "We were trying to find Kyungsoo to see if he could give us some pointers."

"Well, I haven't seen the guy all day. He's probably in the workshop making weapons for the battles today. I could walk you guys over there, if you want." The three boys nodded and began to follow Yixing. "So, I heard that you're going against Joonmyeon today," Yixing said to Jongdae. "That's pretty tough. Chiron usually doesn't pair up newbies with Joonmyeon, Minseok, or Chanyeol. They're pretty ruthless fighters, the best of the best. He must see something special in you."

Jongdae nervously laughed. That information about his opponent being ruthless did not comfort him at all. Yixing sensed this from him and continued, "But, you'll be fine. Trust me. It's just training. Plus, Kyungsoo and I will help you guys out. Speaking of Kyungsoo," Yixing paused as they approached the workshop. He opened the door and walked inside. Kyungsoo was standing in front of a large anvil, forging a piece of metal. "Hey Kyung! You got visitors!"

Kyungsoo lifted up his mask and smiled at them. "Hey guys!" He placed his work to the side and took off his mask. He removed his gloves and wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead. "What brings you here?"

"All three of us have a battle today and were wondering if you could help us," Jongin replied. To be honest, he was a little anxious for his fight as well. He didn't know what to expect at all.

Kyungsoo nodded in understandment. "I see. Did you guys already figure out who your opponents were?"

Jongdae spoke up in a shaky voice, "Joonmyeon."

Kyungsoo clicked his tongue. "Ouch. Hmm...let's see. You don't know what your powers are yet, right? And I don't think you're ready to wield a sword yet...And you don't seem like the type to....Oh! I know the perfect thing for you!" He disappeared into the back of the workshop and came out moments later, holding a small dagger-like weapon. "Here ya go, bud. This is your new weapon. Treasure it and use it well."

Jongdae held the small weapon in his hand. "Um, how exactly is this supposed to work?"

Kyungsoo smirked. "Go try it out later. You'll figure it out eventually. There's no fun in it if I just tell you." He turned his attention towards Baekhyun. "Now you. You seem more of a...hunter type to me. I got just the thing." He reached underneath a table and pulled out a bow and a handful of arrows and handed them to Baekhyun. "And lastly," His eyes trailed towards Jongin who was busy studying the workmanship of the sword he was working on earlier. Kyungsoo chuckled, "That sword would be perfect for you. I just finished it, you can take it."

Jongin's eyes widened. "A-are you sure?"

Kyungsoo nodded his head and handed the sword to the wide-eyed boy. "Good luck to the three of you! I wish I could help you guys train a bit before your battle, but I'm kinda busy here at the moment. Let me know how it goes, okay?"

"Alright, see ya Kyung." Yixing saluted as he ushered the three boys out of the workshop. He looked down at his watch and frowned. "Well, that took a little longer than I thought. Jongdae, your battle is gonna start in twenty minutes."

Jongdae stopped in his tracks and began to hyperventilate. He has never fought before. And with his luck, of course he would be paired up with one of the best fighters in the camp. But, look on the bright side, Jongdae. At least you'll get the training you need. Maybe, this is for the best. This guy will push you to do your best. Yeah. That's it.

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't like seeing Jongdae so worked up. He was worried about his own fight too, but his first priority was making sure Jongdae was okay first. "Hey, you alright man?"

Jongdae let out a long shaky breath and looked up at Baekhyun. "Yup, I'm fine now."

Baekhyun seached his eyes for any signs of lying, but didn't sense anything from him. He smiled and said, "Good. Cause, your up man. Good luck." Jongin and Yixing wished him good luck too as Jongdae walked into the arena alone. Joonmyeon was already standing in the center of the field with a confident, smug look on his face.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up. Ready to get your whooped, noob?" He sneered with contempt.

You'll do fine Jongdae. You can do this. What's the worse that could happen?

Chiron looked at both of the boys. "You guys ready?"

Joonmyeon reached for his sword and gripped the handle tighly, ready to attack.

Jongdae reached for his weapon when he suddenly remembered that he didn't know how to use it yet.

"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

~

Come on, Jongdae. Don't just stand there. Do something! Baekhyun thought to himself. Five minutes hadn't even passed yet and Jongdae already looked like he was about to give up.

Joonmyeon had constanly attacked him and Jongdae was still clueless on how his weapon worked. Joonmyeon howled with laughter. "You aren't even a worthy opponent. What a waste of my time. You worthless being."

He wasn't sure what exactly happened, but that seemed to set Jongdae off. His eyes began to turn dark and the air around them suddenly seemed to change. Jongdae kicked Joomyeon in the stomach as hard as he could and swung his fist into the side of his jaw. Joonmyeon's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden change. He shook his head and stood up, gripped the handle of his sword and charged at Jongdae with full force. A small smirk formed on his face before taking the small dagger-like weapon out of his holster. He jumped in the air just as Joonmyeon was about to strike him and flicked his wrist. This caused a small chain to come out of the weapon and hooked around Joonmyeon's foot. He landed on the other side of Joonmyeon and yanked the chain as hard as he could, causing Joonmyeon to be dragged towards Jongdae. He kicked Joonmyeon, making him roll over to face him. Joonmyeon took the opportunity to knock the weapon out of Jongdae's hand and knock him to the floor. A small spark appeared in Jongdae's eyes, and soon Joonmyeon began to scream in pain. He felt a stinging feeling throughout his whole body. He rolled over and grabbed began to writhe in pain.

"D-did you just see that?" Baekhyun asked with wide eyes.

Jongin nodded his head with his mouth open in an 'o' shape.

Chiron, who was standing at the edge of the field, had a knowing smile plastered on his face. It was so obvious to him now who his celestial parent was. But, when he would claim his child...he doesn't know.

It took all of the energy Joonmyeon had left to get up. Jongdae stood at a ready stance, waiting for Joonmyeon's next move. Joonmyeon reached behind his back and pulled out Jongdae's weapon that he managed to take from him earlier in the fight. He flicked his wrist and in a flash, Jongdae was completely bound in chains. Joonmyeon yanked him over to where he was standing and knocked him to the ground. He placed his foot on top of Jongdae's stomach.

Chiron stepped out from his spot at the edge of the field. "And the winner is Kim Joonmyeon of the Poseidon cabin!"

Baekhyun jumped over the gate as soon as the fight was over and ran towards Jongdae, who was still bound in the chains. He released Jongdae from the chains and helped him to his feet. Jongdae walked over to Joonmyeon and stuck out a hand. "Good fight."

Joonmyeon just scoffed, rolled his eyes, and walked off the field leaving Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chiron behind. "Well, that was rude," Baekhyun said aloud.

Jongdae shook his head, "Whatever, it's alright."

Jongin ran over to where the two boys were standing and stared straight into Jongdae's eyes. "Dude, how did you do that?!"

Jongdae looked at him in confusion. "Do what?"

"You mean you don't know?!" Baekhyun exclaimed. Jongdae slowly shook his head.

"Dude, you made lightning come out of the sky," Jongin practically shouted.

"Like, a legit thunderbolt shot out of the sky and hit Joonmyeon. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" screamed Baekhyun.

Jongdae looked at the both of them like they were insane. "What are you guys talking about? I didn't do that."

"Actually yeah, you did. I got it on video," a voice announced from behind them. Yixing was walking towards them holding a video camera in his hands. "I took the liberty of recording your first fight, you know, for memories. And to see what you could work on. I got the whole thing on video, see?" He skipped to the part where the sky began to change color and a lightning bolt fell out of the sky, striking Joonmyeon who began to scream and writhe in pain.

"I-I did that? But...how..." Jongdae stammered.

"HEY JONGIN! YOU READY? YOU'RE UP!" Chiron shouted over at the boys.

He let out a sigh. "See you guys later."

"Good luck!" Baekhyun called out as the boys watched Jongin onto the field. Chanyeol and the rest of the Ares cabin began to fill up the bleachers to watch their newest brother's fight against Oh Luhan, one of the twins from the Aphrodite cabin.

Luhan stood nervously in the center of the field, waiting for his match to begin. He hated to admit this, but he was really scared. That Jongin character looked a little scary. Luhan may seem like a strong person, but without Sehun by his side, he felt like nothing. He felt vulnerable. And that was why he hated these stupid battles. What were they training for anyways? He's been here for four years now and nothing has happened that required them to fight. He scanned over the bleachers, searching for a familiar face. He saw all of the Ares cabin seated on one side of the bleachers. Oh great. All the Ares cabin here to make a mockery of me when I lose. But, he let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Sehun sitting on the other side of the bleachers. A small smile formed on his face and nodded towards his brother, the latter also doing the same in response.

Jongin made his way towards the center of the field where Luhan was standing. "Alright you two, I want a good, clean fight. Ready?" Chiron asked the two of them. Luhan steadied himself, getting low and preparing himself for whatever attack was about to come his way. Jongin just stayed in the same position he was standing in before. "BEGIN!"

Neither of the two made any movements whatsoever. Luhan waited and waited, waiting for Jongin to attack, but the latter made no attempts to move at all. He just stood there with a blank expression on his face. "Aren't you going to attack?" Luhan asked the boy.

Jongin just shook his head and dug his hands in his pockets.

Chanyeol felt his eyebrow twitch in frustration. Just what the hell did this kid think he was doing? He was obviously much stronger than his opponent, so why wasn't he doing anything?

Luhan looked around to see what he should do. Should he attack him? That isn't what he was used to doing at all. Normally, he was the one defending himself against his opponent. He was never the attacker. He looked over at Sehun, his eyes pleading for help. Sehun nodded his head to signal that he should attack and see what happens. So, Luhan took a deep breath and ran towards his opponent. Just as Luhan was about to punch Jongin in the gut, Jongin simply dodged his attack by moving to the side. Missing his target, Luhan fell to the ground. He felt embarassed and didn't want to get up, but he noticed a hand was being held out for him. Luhan looked up at Jongin's outstretched hand and took it, using it as an opportunity to bring him to the ground and sat on top of him. He made no efforts to push Luhan off, though he easily could have done so.

Chiron cleared his throat awkwardly. "And the winner is...Oh Luhan," Chiron announced.

That caused the whole Ares cabin to burst into uproar. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! KIM JONGIN WHAT THE HELL!!"

Luhan got off of Jongin and offered him a hand. Once on his feet, Jongin simply said, "Good job," before walking towards his friend who looked just about as confused as Luhan did.

"Um, Jongin. What the hell was that?" Baekhyun asked as Jongin made his way over to their spot.

He just shrugged and sat down. He was waiting. Any minute now...

"Kim. Jongin," a voice called out from behind him. Chanyeol looked pissed. No, not just pissed. Extremely pissed. Enfuriated. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. "What the was that out there?" He said through clenched teeth.

"That was Oh Luhan winning a battle. Weren't you watching?" Jongin answered.

Chanyeol grabbed Jongin by the collar of his shirt and brought him close to his face. "Yes, I'm aware of that. But, tell me WHY you ing lost to Oh Luhan. No one from the Ares cabin loses. NO ONE. Do you realize what you just did? You ing lost our damn winning streak. We were undefeated until you came along and ruined it." He shoved Jongin to the ground. "You have hell to pay Kim Jongin."

Jongdae and Baekhyun rushed to Jongin's side. "Are you okay?" Jongdae asked.

Jongin got up and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Yeah, I'm fine. But, I probably won't be tomorrow after their done beating the crap outta me tonight," he muttered.

"But seriously, why did you lose that fight on purpose?"

Jongin shook his head. "I saw no reason to fight with Luhan. I don't want to fight anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. I don't care if this is for training, I'd rather train on my own. I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me. I already know what it's like to get beaten for no reason," he said the last part quietly. In the distance, he saw Sehun congratulating his brother with a giant bear hug for his first win. A small smile formed on Jongin's face. "Besides, I think everyone deserves to win at least once."

~

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both stood in the center of the field. Baekhyun was beginning to feel a little bit nervous after seeing the look on Chanyeol's face. It had death written all over it. He was still fuming from Jongin losing the previous battle and needed to take his anger out on something, or someone. Unfortunately, Baekhyun was his victim today.

"Let the battle...BEGIN!"

Chanyeol took no time getting the fight started. He immediately charged after Baekhyun with his sword already drawn from its holster. He took a swing at Baekhyun's head, which he barely missed. Baekhyun ran as fast as he could, drawing an arrow from his back and preparing his bow. When he turned around, he saw Chanyeol charging at him again. Baekhyun dodged all of Chanyeol's attacks, but barely. He was beginning to grow tired and every single arrow that he shot either missed or was deflected by Chanyeol's sword. When Baekhyun reached behind him for another arrow, he realized that he was all out. Dropping everything, all he could do left was run away until Chanyeol would catch him, which is exactly what happened. When Baekhyun finally felt all his energy leave him, Chanyeol took that as an opportunity to attack. He dropped his sword and began to throw punches at Baekhyun's face. Blood was starting to spill on the floor and Chiron had to stop Chanyeol before he actually killed Baekhyun. All Chanyeol could see was red, and he was acting upon his impulses. He was so infuriated by what Jongin had done earlier and he just needed to let out all his anger.

But, seeing the beaten Baekhyun lying on the floor unconscious, Chanyeol couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"And the winner of this battle is Park Chanyeol. Now someone, please get Yixing here ASAP," Chiron ordered. Yixing quickly appeared by his side and started to heal Baekhyun's wounds.

"Do you realize that you could have killed him if Chiron didn't stop you?" a voice said from behind Chanyeol. Jongdae stood behind him with a dark expression on his face. "We're new here. We have no fighting experience whatsoever. I understand that you're angry with Jongin, but that is no reason to beat an innocent person senseless."

"I..." Chanyeol began to say, but no words came out. He couldn't find the words to explaiin what he was feeling. He looked away as Jongdae walked over to Baekhyun's side.

That night as Chanyeol laid in bed, he couldn't sleep at all. His actions earlier today and the image of the unconscious boy on the floor kept him up. He didn't know what this feeling insde of him was, but it didn't make him feel good at all. Normally, he didn't care at all about beating up his opponents. It didn't matter how hurt they would come out of the battle. But, maybe he had taken things too far today. After all, he was a new kid. A scrawny one too. He didn't deserve to be beaten so badly. He couldn't control himself. He was blinded by anger for what Jongin had done. His pride and short temper got the best of him. And that was Chanyeol's weakness. And that made him even more mad.

I'm sorry. Those were the words that Chanyeol was looking for. And that night, Chanyeol made the decision to apologize to the boy first thing in the morning. Something that he had never done before in his life.

Wow, I'm a y writer.

Anyways, I wanted to call to your attention what has happened this past week. First, a friend of mine from high school had passed away a couple days ago. His name was Junior Moniz. We weren't very close friends, but still. He was in a motorcycle accident and lost his life at the scene. It breaks my heart to know that someone that I was acquainted with had passed at such an early age. He just graduated high school two years ago. His family and his girfriend of four years are devastated. So please, keep them in your prayers.

Also, three days ago, Typhoon Haiyan passed through the Philippines, taking with it the lives of many loved ones. Men, women, and children were all lost in that storm. Almost 10,000 people were killed or reported missing. The cities look like ghost towns. All the buildings were washed away. The survivors have had nothing to eat for the past three days. They're suffering through so much over there. So, if you just take the time to keep them in your prayers as well. Or you can google 'Philippine Storm News' and a couple of websites where you can donate money to help these people are up. I already donated some money and I am speaking to my church about getting some canned foods and Bibles for them to send to the Philippines. It hurts me to think about all the families and loved ones that were affected and lost during this time. I have so much family living in the Philippines, but not in the areas that were hit by the storm. But, it made me think about how I would feel if any of my family members were lost in that storm. I would be devastated. Don't take what you have for granted, guys. Tell your family you love them every single day and be thankful for what you have because there are people out there who don't have anything.

Okay, depressing moment over now. Anyways, thanks you guys again so much for subscribing and upvoting and taking the time to read this crappy story. Thank you alot, it means alot to me :)

Alright, it's time for me to go to bed now. Got a biology and psychology test coming up this week, so I might not update for a little while. Ugh, and we just got our internet back today. Bye!