(i'll think of something really witty later)

Hayden had just gotten back to camp a few days ago. He spent the past three days in the infirmary because he had been shot with two arrows, and accidently shot with air? He really didn't understand how Liam's powers worked, but it had hurt, a lot. Now he was completely healed other than a few scars, but those would heal sooner or later. Right now he was wearing tan shorts and a blue t-shirt, that he had gotten during another trip out of camp that had also, almost ended badly. He had his feet in the water, and that was probably as far in as he would ever go, cause he didn't actually know how to swim.

Nathen was walking to the Lake thinking that maybe it would help to talk if he was having fun because that's when he would the most relaxed, he guessed. Alysra rode along on his shoulders, watching the lake in front of them, intently. Alysra saw the boy across the lake from them before Nathen did. Hey, look there's a kid over there. Alysra sent to his mind. He looked over to where the guy was and felt a stab of fear when he took in his tan shorts and blue shirt. Nathen himself was wearing a bright red shirt, it contrasted greatly against Alysra's green scales and his blue shorts.
Nathen only learned how to swim recently, as per some of the campers felt bad for him, you know being born and being stuck in Tartarus for about 13 years could not have been fun.
Go talk to him. Alysra urged. He took a deep breath and started to make his way around the lake, towards the camper.

Even though it was hot out, the water was still kind of cold so after a few more minutes he decided that it wasn't bearable and more and quickly walked backwards out of water. Because he hadn't turned around yet, Hayden still hadn't noticed that he wasn't alone anymore. He sat down on the ground, so he could wait for his feet to dry before he pulled his socks and shoes back on.

Once Nathen was behind the camper, he raised up his and was going to say something, only nothing was said, he tried again a few times, but he couldn't bring himself even to say hi. He felt weak, well more scared than weak. Umm, Alysra, could you- Nathen's thoughts were cut off by Alysra's Sure.
"Hello," Alysra said from Nathen's shoulder. She sounded much more feminine and human than what most would expect when just meeting her. Her voice was light and fluttery, she sounded as if she was more elven than human, that's probably because she isn't.
Nathen shuffled his feet a bit. Thank you, he thought, his friend responded with a nod.

Whoever had walked up behind Hayden had done so quiet enough that he hadn't noticed anything new to his surroundings until he heard a feminine voice from behind him. He stood up, and tried to turn around at the same time, making himself look stupid and clumsy. "Hi!" He said, awkwardly as he tried not to act like he hadn't been startled out of his thoughts. He found that it wasn't a girl behind him, but a boy with a dragon sitting on his shoulder.

"We're sorry if we startled you, but my friend here is relatively new here and would like to make a friend. I'm Alysra and this is Nathen." Alysra said like she has had many hours of practice at saying those few words. Nathen gave a little unsure wave when Alysra said his name. "What were you doing?" Nathen said quietly, then stared down at his feet, unsure if this was exactly was the right way to go about doing this.

"Uhh... not startled at all. I'm Hayden, kind of new too, but not really. Nice to meet you." Hayden says awkwardly, and kind of glad this kid was new and that the rumors hadn't reached him yet. He smiled, "I wasn't really doing anything, just staring at the water in boredom. What brought ya to the lake this fine afternoon?" He asked. Hayden gathered that the kid was shy, which was probably why his dragon friend/pet was talking for him.

Alysra nudged him in the back of the head with her tail, careful not to spear him with the stinger. Nathen scratched where the she-dragon nudged him. "Well, I came for a swim, maybe try and a friend or two... though I don't need to go swimming or anything." He added the last sentence like an afterthought, and he said it rather rushed as well. He wondered what made him think that this was a good idea then again, it was Alysra's, he does go along with what most people say. That was probably why. Alysra rolled her eyes a little, she wished that Nathen would be a bit more open to people. Then again, he had never talked to another person for the past 13 years of his life, so this was expected.

"Sounds like fun." Hayden said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he tried to think of something else to say. "Well you can go ahead and swim if ya want. I never learned so..." He finally said, awkwardly he hated to admit that he couldn't swim. He'd probably been at camp the longest out of most people here, and had still never bothered to learn.