Demigods : Version 3.0 { Closed, Started }

[Pm0n3y]

"Hmph. Taught." Gabe thought with scoff. "Barely been in that camp a day, I haven't been taught a damn thing." It was a thought in reply to what the girl ahead of him (her name was...Liz, apparently, he made a note of that) said. Granted, what he knew of his own abilities were either self taught or egged on by his extended Dryad family (and, as far as he was concerned, he knew quite a bit), but the thought still remained. As far as he knew, they've all been in contact, or at least known of, their divine parents.

All he knew of the Harvest Goddess, was through one half remembered dream, and the stories of worship told by his wood nymph sisters. He was almost certain that the kids in his cabin even knew more than he did (especially Rosa, who just seemed to want him to conform to everything around him, no questions asked) so why did he get the cold shoulder? Why was he neglected?

"Whatever." He managed to shrug the thought away, to avoid losing what little bit of a temper he could control. It wasn't the first time the queries plagued him, and it wouldn't be the last. He turned his neck some to the youngest girl just behind him, mumbling questions to her cat (the cat, in which, seemed to reply back with cat noises) as she took swigs from a large can of a well known energy drink. "What god does she even belong to?" Before he could ask the question aloud, Brandon piped up from the front with his own outlook on the situation.

The Battleborn had a point, for sure, but it only made Gabe wonder if there were any administrative divisions that knew about these things. "You'd think there would be some sort of top-secret government agency of demigods that would deal with these monsters, or something..." The last thing Brandon said made Gabriel smirk though (more of an internal smirk, on the outside it resembled more of a brief lip twitch), as he sort of liked the idea of smashing things up. It was simpler. "Hmp. Smashin' things. I can dig it." He commented shortly, verbally.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Dorofei laughed a big throaty laugh.
"Old trick from weak God," he said. "Two roads, same path. Never plan for right answer."
He slung his ax over his shoulder and walked over to Jia and Freya. As he walked past Janus, he spoke up again.
"We do not fear you. You serve Goddess of Marriage, I bastard. You God of Doors? Impressive." He smirked, and tapped the end of his ax with his frozen gauntlet. "We break many doors."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Oh, you mock me now, but I can still ruin your day. Just wait," Janus's left face retorted, not moving to face the demigods as they moved towards one of the gates. "You'll be faced with tough decisions eventually, and when you do, you won't find me helping out," the right added.

"You might be the God of Decisions, Janus, but we're more than capable without your help," Royce said dryly, following the others to the gate they had chosen. Their logic was sound: without knowing which way to go, if both gates led to the Chimaera there was no point to picking one over the other. If they ended up taking the long way, it was just another obstacle.

"But... but what about the Labyrinth? You'll be lost for sure!" Janus sounded a bit weaker now, like he was fishing for ways to keep the demigods guessing. Royce didn't even dignify the comment with a verbal response, instead pulling Ariadne's thread from its pouch as he stepped through the gate. The thread seemed to be unresponsive in Janus' chamber. But then, it didn't really matter which gate it chose.

"Aw, what? You got the thread?" "Lame. Majorly lame," Janus' faces whined before he vanished in a column of flames shooting up from the lava beneath him. Royce just turned back to the others, amused that he would give up so easily and let them go on their merry way. The gate clanged down behind the demigods after they passed through it, melting into a solid rock wall soon afterwards.

"Well, that was... a mild inconvenience at best," Royce noted. "We should keep moving." The air was colder in this tunnel, slight patches of frost decorating its walls. The maze had taken them into another straight passageway, though there was an incline to the floor and human-sized niches were in the walls at seemingly random intervals. The hell? Looks like something out of an Indiana Jones movie... or a bit of that novel I read a while back. Decent book, kinda lacking in plot. Good character development and action scenes though. Almost like a movie itself.

[hr]

"Times like these, when we come up with plans to sneak into a place from different entrances, I kinda wish that cellphone rule wasn't a thing," Jess noted. "We could totally do that secret agent thing with earpieces and stuff." It was common knowledge to most demigods that the use of cellphones attracted monsters. As a rule, most demigods didn't use them outside of camp. Occasionally they were permitted in case of emergency, but even that was like using a signal flare. Making a call was pretty much inviting every monstrous creature in a large radius to come and rearrange your limbs.

Jess explained as such to Gabe, answering a couple of questions as she did so. By the time the Q&A session was over, the trip was pretty much over and the demigods sat back to enjoy the last quarter of the journey. Sure enough, the warehouse they were looking for was standing alone in the middle of a square. A few crates and such were piled up near the entrance: Jess could see a few humanoid figures on patrol, though at this distance there was no way to tell who - or what - they were.

A couple of cars were parked outside, along with one pulling into the space between them. "Seems we got here just after someone else..." Jess looked to Brandon. "Any thoughts on how we wanna play this out, big guy?"

 

[NeoAC]

As they made their way into Brooklyn proper, Brandon was trying to figure out the best way to use what they had against what they were probably against, and for him most paths led to smashing. Upon arrival outside of the designated warehouse however, something seemed off to how it went in his mind. There was no obvious signs of nefarious deeds. The guys outside could be hired guns or could be dock workers. It was tough to tell what they were dealing with.

"Any thoughts on how we wanna play this out, big guy?"

There weren't many, but Brandon wasn't going to let them know that. "Uhhh, well, ya see it's kinda hard ta tell what exactly they got over there. Could be some druggin' operation, could be that dang chimera, all we know. I'm kinda thinkin' we send someone out there scoutin', just a matter figurin' out who can do 'er the best."

 

[Pm0n3y]

Gabriel seemed to perk up in his seat as the van came to a stop in a fairly dingy location in Brooklyn. Looking out the closest window, he got a pretty good surveying of the area. The warehouse they were staking out was on the water, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground, and a glistening, familiar skyline leading into the background. "Familiar..." As Brandon bullshitted his way through a plan, Gabe conspired a plan of his own. He shifted towards the opposite side of the van, migrated towards the nearest exit, and began making his way out. "Thanks for the ride." He mumbled flatly, the long, heavy door loudly sliding back as he began shuffling out.

Expectantly, those commandeering the mission felt the need to speak up. "Tha hell you think you're goin'?" Brandon spoke up first. "We have a job to do, in case you forgot." Jess followed. Gabriel refused eye contract, his sights more glued to the horizon. "Gonna see some...family. Central Park's not too far off." He slowly stated. "Can it wait until we're done here?" The Lovechild was quick to query, yet Gabriel was quick to retort. "No." He sounded selfish, sure, but he felt an urgency to seek some sort of closure. "Gabe if your fam'ly wants ya, they'll find ya. You try seekin' 'em, they'll dodge ya like a jackrabbit in a open field." The Warchild said. "Not this family..." "Dryads don't linger far from the tree they were born in. I'd rather go to them." Gabe spoke up, slinging his pack onto his back.

"Well, if you're that desperate to go... you do intend to come back, right? Camp Half-Blood is safer than the rest of the world by a long shot." Gabe frowned a bit a that, noticeably troubled by Jess' words. Did he really want to stay there? Go back to that camp, even after the bomb that was dropped on him? Willow used to reassure him, tell him that he'd eventually see his mother again. But after seeing just how many half-brothers and sisters were housed in Cabin 4, the so-called "Demeter" cabin, such a point felt more and more like a fabrication. He didn't answer Jess' question, his eyes began to study his dirty sneakers. A little aggravated by the silence, Brandon spat back. "Look you wanna head out there and make a fool outta yourself, that's fine by me. Go on wit' ya. Just don't fuck up the rest of us, ya hear me?"

Jess backed him up. "Seriously, though, you do need someone watching your back. Travelling alone, even if it's a short distance, is not a good idea for someone like you... inexperienced campers, I mean." She warned. "inexperienced..." Gabe knew (to a point) how his abilities worked, and almost felt insulted by her words...but she served a great point. Going by what happened to him earlier in the day (and further past experiences), ambushes were nothing new to him. "Fine." He poked his head back into the cab, his sights heading towards the very last row in the van. "Sleepy. You're with me." He pointed towards Ambrose.

"...I'll bring her back." He hesitantly added, feeling the need to not be a complete scumbag. "If ya don't, you can be the one takin' the heat an goin' into a coma. I ain't goin' down like no Carl Sandler. Just don't be fuckin' stupid." Brandon also warned. "I'd be dead if I were a dumbass. Don't worry 'bout it." Gabe replied, lamely holding a thumbs-up that contrasted the half frown he was wearing. "The A Train's like, a block from here, and the ride into Manhattan is short. I'll be back soon."

"W-what? Where are we going?" Ambrose piped up lately, still truely unaware of the situation. Gabe looked back into the van. "Central Park. Been there before? Gonna be safer than what's going on here." He tried coaxing her into the situation. "No... but I've read about it. Seen pictures. 843 acres of forest... Why do you want to go there?" Gabe stifled back a sigh. "She must've not been listening..." "I wanna see some people...Wood nymphs. While we're in the city. It won't be long." The Slumberchild seemed excited by that, and began making her way out the van. "Oooh I want to see some wood nymphs..." Ambrose's voice was flat, even though she had a genuine spark of interest. "Come on Lethe. Stay in the bag though. New York is a big place."

Through the transition, Ambrose had her place beside Gabriel. He took a glimpse at her before looking back towards those remaining in the vehicle. "...We'll be back." He reassured the three before departing, crossing the street adjacent to the van. He could see the subway station off in the distance, and told Ambrose to keep close as he began towards it.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"I've seen this movie. Okay, best guess, as soon as we start up this ramp some kind of pressure plate or other trap will activate and something will start falling or shooting down on us. Rocks, darts, Dragon's Teeth, could be any number of things." She rubbed her chin, examining the niches. "Sanctuary...now why would they be labeled in all those languages? It's not much of a trap if they give away the game."
Jia hunkered down, examining the floor for a moment. "Okay, here's the plan. Dorofei, make cover. Ice barrier, wide enough for all of us to take cover and as thick as you can make it. I'll ascend the ramp as soon as you're ready and try to shut down whatever mechanism controls the inevitable traps."

"Royce, I may need your help to find and disarm the traps, it's not really my area of expertise. Freya..." She paused for a moment. "Watch our backs. I don't like this place, someone could come up behind us at any moment, especially if we're distracted by dodging falling rocks."

"Sound good?"

 

[Lefthandofgod]

"Dorofei, make cover. Ice barrier, wide enough for all of us to take cover and as thick as you can make it."

Dorofei took a step forward and ran his hand over the walls of the stone tunnel, slowly sizing them up.

"How's the wall coming, Dorofei?" Jia asked from behind him.

"Stone too smooth," he finally said in a quiet voice. "Ice won't hold."

If Jia was getting frustrated, her voice didn't show it. "Is there anything you can do?"

He chuckled slightly and lifted his ax over his head. "I make ice hold." He slammed his ax into the ground, smashing the stone and leaving his ax stuck in the floor. With a grunt, he pulled the Celestial Bronze shaft out from the center of his weapon, and held it above his head. A new ax formed around the shaft, and again he smashed it into an unbroken section of floor, again and again, until there was a cobweb of axes blocking off the tunnel. Finally, he pressed the celestial bronze shaft against the makeshift wall, and the handles of each ax began to thicken and expand until all the gaps were filled.

When he was finished, the area around them was a great deal colder. The wall was ground in a foot into the surrounding stone, and was even taller than Dorofei.

 

[blaze96]

"I swear Brandon one would think you forget I'm the counselor of Hermes cabin. Stealth is what I tend to be good at. So sneak in, check it out, and come back. See you two in a bit then." Elizabeth said as she climbed out of the truck. She saw a building near by and found the fire escape to quietly climb up. Once on top of the building she looked back to the warehouse, looking to see how many guards might be on premises or on the roof of said warehouse.

'Alright boys, let's see what paths you take.' She thought as she continued to look.

 

[NeoAC]

As Liz exited the van for some reconnaissance, Brandon took the opportunity to put his seat back as far as it could go in the reclining position. Given the state of the van, it wasn't much, but it still made him a bit more comfortable, especially considering there were now only two people in the vehicle.

"So Jess," he said to the other counselor. "Looks like we got ourselves a bitta time ta kill while the others are outta here. Whatta ya think we should do with this down time?"

 

[CounterAttack]

From her vantage point, Elizabeth could see about half of the warehouse's perimeter. Two guards stood outside the main entrance where the cars were parked. One of them clearly possessed the body shape of a centaur, whereas the other was more humanoid. Two more centaur guards were walking back and forth just around the corner from the entrance, each armed with a longbow and quiver. Another humanoid figure was sitting on the roof, having a smoke by the look of it.

A small human figure hurried inside the building, ignoring the guards on duty.

[hr]

The moment she stepped inside the front door, there was a bronze blade at her throat. "Identify yoursssself," another female voice hissed out of the shadows. The girl gave her name. "Were you followed?"

"Do you honestly think I was followed? I always cover my tracks. Now let me in. I have news for Russ," the girl retorted. The other spat on the floor, causing a minor sizzling noise as the venomous saliva ate into the concrete, but withdrew her sword and slithered away. The girl ignored the drakaina - roughly translated as 'dragon woman' - and made her way deeper into the warehouse. She crossed the fairly empty main room to a table where a man dressed in bronze body armour stood with two more of the monstrous snake-woman hybrids, all three poring over a map of NYC.

"Ah, our little sleeper agent has returned," the man chuckled, faint hints of a non-American accent in his voice. "What news from the camp?"

"They're onto us and the Chimaera. We have to move. Now. They're sending a team to check this place. Five of them, including that big Ares brute. I don't know when they'll get here," the girl stated, quickly and concisely delivering her report.

"Psh. Let them try to take this place. Five cannot outmatch more than a dozen. We have the numbers to overwhelm them and superior skill than anything that camp's teachers can produce. Brains will outmatch brawn any day of the week. Besides, I have my orders. We're to wait here until we receive further instruction. You've earned a small respite. Take the rest of the day off."

"Cheers," Carolina answered. The daughter of Aphrodite turned and headed into one of the side rooms, idly turning over a dagger in one hand. She wasn't entirely okay with being a sitting duck like the others, but orders were orders.

[hr]

"Well... the obvious answer might not be suitable," Jess purred, playfully resting a hand on Brandon's leg and leaning over from her seat. "Liz could come back at any moment. We'd barely get started. Maybe later, once we have a bit more privacy. For now, though..." She moved in a bit closer and planted a kiss on Brandon's lips, holding it for a second or so before she withdrew. "A taste of what's to come," she added, a roguish smile on her face.

 

[blaze96]

Elizabeth climbed down from the roof of the building after timing the movements of the guards to her liking. She hoped a fence separating the two properties and snuck up onto the roof using a secured rain gutter as a way up. Once on the roof she crept to a hidden spot near the sleeping guard and stole a dagger from its sheath on his person. She then pulled her arm back and soundly hit him in the head with the blunt end of the weapon, not aiming to kill the man. She didn't know if a guard switch was soon and she didn't want to arouse suspicion with a dead body. He would wake up eventually but it would buy her the time she needed. Knowing there was nobody else on the roof she continued her recon mission.

From there she crept over to one of the ceiling light common to these types of warehouses and quietly opened one up. She peered in and listened as best she could while making sure she would still be out of sight.

'Alright after this I go back and tell the others what I've found.' She thought.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Gabe and Ambrose's journey into the subterranean depths had commensed, with the two descending down a few flights of stairs into the moist, dingy, High St. subway station. It was as crowded as Gabriel anticipated, but there were people around nonetheless. Those that managed to get a good look at the younger girl's very defining features, couldn't seem to take their eyes off of her as they strode past. "Stay close. Keep the cat in the bag." Gabe told her, moving further into the station. There wasn't much to the stop, a vacant booth and broken ATMs to his right, turnstiles and train tracks to his left. He would've scolded himself about not having money to get through the metal swivels, but then again, he never paid to get through one of these things. With nary a second thought, he vaulted over the turnstile before turning to the Hypnos child, still on the other side.

"You can crawl under if you can't jump it." He told her. As she carefully made her way under, a familiar, almost rhythmic sound was coming from the tracks. Ka-dun dundun...Ka-dun dundun. The two were greeted with a blast of stank air as a metal tube blasted into the station. Gabe stepped closer as it began slowing down, and entered when the doors slid open. The train resumed motion shortly, and the two found seats adjacent to one of the windows. "We're going uptown. 72[sup]nd[/sup] St. Don't go to sleep, 'cuz we'll get there soon." He blankly instructed, turning his attention towards the window he sat next to. To be honest, there wasn't much to look at, seeing as they were travelling through a dark tunnel n' all.

 

[Lambi]

The cooling air felt refreshing to Freya. Almost felt like back home in Iceland, even though it wasn't actually all that cold like many people assumed. It was good that they were rid of Janus. Like Royce had said, only a mild inconvenience at best. Who was he to refer to himself as one such as her father?

They came across a weird incline in the following hallway, and Jia started to give them some orders. Which she didn't like. "You're not the boss of me." But she checked behind them to make sure they wouldn't be ambushed. Even though she didn't want to be bossed around by anyone, except maybe Chiron, she still understood the importance of keeping an eye out for ambushes. She'd just preferred it if Jia hadn't started to act like the leader of the group. If anyone should be leader, it should be Freya. But she kept her trap shut about it because getting through the mission was more important than arguing with her fellow teammates.

 

[NeoAC]

Brandon was a bit disappointed that Jess pulled back so quickly, but that second or so was exactly why he was willing to go to her despite the games she liked to play with her position. "All right, guess I can put up with the Baskin-Robbins treatment. That Liz's got some wheels, sure nuff. Still, I don't think this here's gonna amount to a whole lotta anythin'. I could be back trainin' right now, or gettin' other kinds of exercise. Know what I mean, Jess?"

 

[CounterAttack]

Royce raised an eyebrow at Dorofei's slightly brutish, but still clever, tactic. A large wall was all well and good, but it hindered their progress forward. And there was no way backwards, since the gate they had passed through had turned into a solid stone wall. It didn't look like there was another way around. There was not a lot he could think of doing, except to examine the holes cut into the sides of the tunnel. Curiously, above each one was carved some symbols in various languages. The Greek one, he translated to mean 'sanctuary'.

Experimentally, he stepped into a niche and turned around to face the other three. It was surprisingly roomy, despite his size and armour. Had it been built for bigger people than himself? Maybe. Or maybe it was -

CRUNCH.

A scraping noise began further up the tunnel, past the ice wall. Stone on stone. Something was moving. Had Royce set off a trap? No, surely not. If there had been a trap in the 'sanctuary' niche, he would have spotted it. The sounds grew louder... something was coming towards them. Judging by the shape looming in the ice wall, Royce quickly figured it out. He'd seen it before in books and such.

"It's a sliding stone trap! Get to cover in case the rock smashes through!" he yelled to the others above the grinding of stone. He indicated the other niches nearby.

Behind the group of demigods, a square patch of floor crumbled away, revealing nothing but a deep black pit the same width as the tunnel. Presumably for collecting the sliding stone once it had run its downward course.

[hr]

[hr]

Jess gave a short laugh at the mention of 'other kinds of exercise'. "True enough... though if there's an emergency, it makes sense that we should check it out. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it's better than not knowing what it was at all." She kissed Brandon a second time, teasing him a little bit more by touching his lip with her tongue before she pulled away again.

"Tell you what, big guy. When we get back to camp, you and I can have a one-on-one training session tonight," she suggested, undoing a button on her top to clarify her meaning. Of course, Brandon probably knew perfectly well what she meant, as well as why she was holding back right now. There was a time and a place to dance the horizontal tango, and being out on a mission in broad daylight was neither... especially since Jess thought she heard footsteps. Elizabeth was probably on her way back. That or someone was walking past. She'd seen a fair few people walking around as they had pulled up earlier.

[hr]

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Russ and his drakaina assistants continued to talk, unaware of the daughter of Hermes listening in. "How long mussst we wait? You half-godsss and your orderssss," one of them complained. "We mussst feed ssssometime."

"You know the plan. The team at Eolus is making sure the beast is settled back in its old lair. Once it re-acclimatises to the land of the living, it'll be the vanguard in our assault on that blasted camp," the demigod reprimanded. "Patience. You'll have your feast soon enough."

"Thisss... love-child. Can she be trusssted?" the other queried.

"Carolina has been an operative for us for a year now. She knows everyone in that camp, their strengths, their flaws. My plan is perfect. Take out the demigods and their bastard leader, and the pantheon at Olympus will be entirely helpless to resist the coming assault. They may be gods, but they are bound by their laws. We are not."

"And our father?" the first one spoke again.

"We took control of his mountain easily enough. The restoration links will supply him with plenty of power in due course. We just have to wait to watch the tree bear its fruit. Now go. I must attend to some of the finer touches of the plan, thanks to Carolina's recent developments." The drakainas promptly slithered away, out of Elizabeth's sight. Russ pulled out a pen and journal and began to write in it as he too walked away from the table.

 

[blaze96]

Elizabeth's eyes widened at the mention of Carolina's name.

'That is more than enough information for me to go on, thank you Hermes for the skills you grant me. They have come in quite handy for serving you this day.' She thought in ancient Greek before quietly climbing back down and hopping over the fence before getting out of sight of anyone who may have been nearby and going back to the van. She snuck up to the vehicle and picked the lock before throwing open Jess' door since it was closest to the curb opposite the warehouse.

"We're going to need to move quickly, we have a mole. One of your sisters actually Jess, by the name of Carolina. She's in there right now with a guy by the name of Russ and more than a dozen guards. They plan on an assault on the gods after they kill the lot of us. Something about the mountain of the father of the drakaina and having taken it back to supply him with power." She said quietly enough that it would only be the three of them hearing it.

 

[NeoAC]

"Mmmmm, you know I'm always down for some one on one action," Brandon confirmed, still savoring the second serving he got from the Aphrodite counselor. He was still enjoying the opening to the balcony when he heard the noise at the door. Dang the girl moves quick.

As Elizabeth divulged the information, Brandon was getting a bit angry. Not only was there now something that actually had to be dealt with, but a demi-god working for the enemy? That was treason, and there was only one way to deal with treason in Texas. Death. Whether or not Jess would be on board with offing one of her campers would remain to be seen, but Brandon was pretty sure it was the path to take.

"If they wanna try and take us out, then they are more than welcome to try," Brandon said, reaching back for his guns. "I ain't gonna make it easy for 'em, one. 'N two, I say we kill 'em first. That goes for that Carolina Liar too. She weren't even that hot anyway."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Whoa, hold up there. Killing them? That's a bit much," Jess interjected, redoing the button as she turned over to face Elizabeth. "I vote we take prisoners. If they have a plan of some kind, we can probably get them to spill the beans if we subdue them and bring them back to camp." She pulled her knife from her pack and fitted the sheath into its place on her belt, trying to think over what was the best course of action. Elizabeth's mention of a mole distracted her, though.

Carolina... how? How could she turn her back on us? On the gods themselves? The idea was entirely alien to the counselor. Demigods were often the last line of defense against the enemy. They fought not just for the pantheon, but for humanity as a whole. But Jessica set the thoughts aside for the moment. Now was the time to act on what had happened, not to question it.

"If they have more than a dozen people, plus the demigods, we'll need some way to even the odds... Liz, did you see any monsters in there with them? If there are, and we can get the jump on them, we'd cause a bit of a panic," she suggested, climbing out of the van just in case. "Maybe you can pick some of them off from a distance."

 

[Lambi]

"Shit!" Freya said as she saw the giant shape behind the ice wall and heard the scraping noise after Royce called to warn them. "That ice better hold it!" She'd noticed the gap in the floor that had appeared before Royce's warning, and she wasn't about to fall through it. Looking around, she saw the niches in the wall and quickly got into one of them. The ice was penetrated by many nails made of bronze, each sticking about an inch or so out of the wall. Cracks were forming on the ice, showing signs that it may be about to break. "Hold on, damn you!" Freya yelled at the ice, as if it would help.

 

[SkyeNeko]

Ambrose motioned to her bag, and Lethe hopped right in. She had already made it to Brooklyn: everything else that happened at this point was gravy. Yummy, yummy, gravy.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a few thoughts formulated, aggravated by the persistent caffeine in her blood. ... ... ... Heh heh. Keep the cat in the bag. She walked straight into a turnstile with a surprised grunt.
"You can crawl under if you can't jump it."
The plant kid was already on the other side, waiting for her. She could probably jump it.
Nah.
Ambrose slowly got on hands and knees and wiggled under the bars.

There weren't any subways in California. This was Ambrose first time in one. And it was... interesting. She was hesitant to even sit on the benches with her white dress...

The boy was quiet next to her. Lethe had gotten out of the bag and was exploring the sights and sounds and... smells. See this was why Ambrose didn't like being awake. She drummed her fingers on her knees for a few seconds before breaking the silence. "So do you think they'll remember you? The dryads? I mean, they have a really long life. And you didn't really know them for a long time, if you think about it."