Riley held a pen and pad in his hands, while his brow furrowed in deep thought. An unconscious tapping against the wall only added to the look of a guy whose well of thought had just run dry.<em>’Summer’s start gives us pause. Our sight blinded by sun. Light avenges winter’s touch’</em>was written in three lines along the paper. He stared for some time, wondering if this was how he truly felt. That, and who the hell came up with haiku in the first place…was he even doing it right?<br/><br/>His train of thought was broken by a few campers that entered the cabin. They were confident, but under that confidence held a very simple fact. They had no clue what was going on, or what they were supposed to do. He craned his head back to see if the cabin leader had arrived yet. Not seeing any for now, he decided to fill the leadership vacuum until a proper chain of command was presented. “You two...” he pointed at the new campers with his pad “Anything along that wall. You want it, it’s yours. Do not touch this wall…” He pointed the area he was in “Unless otherwise stated by higher. We have some good people out there, and they should be coming back. If they don’t…well…we’ll find out from there”<br/><br/>Riley went back to work looking over the haiku, but could not find anything better to say. With a sigh, he rose out of the bed and walked to Athena’s shrine inside the cabin. It was surrounded by the patches of many service branches in many different countries, not to mention a fair number of medals as well. He ripped the page out of his pad, and placed the haiku over a candle. As the paper caught fire, he prayed to be found worthy of his mother’s guidance in this new summer in camp.<br/><br/>After the haiku was reduced to ash, he walked past the new campers, but stopped as he reached the door.<br/>Turning back, he smiled “Chow is going to be served soon. I would suggest you stow whatever gear you’ve got left, and wash up at the fountain. Before you eat, you will offer your best pieces of food to the fire, in honor of our mother. Mind the Ares kids…they’re good in a fight, but very bad with social graces. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. “ He left before the kids could ask him any questions. The thing with the new ones, even if they are claimed, are the questions they ask. Normally he was game, but he needed a little space right now.<br/><br/>He had just returned, a few days earlier than expected, from staying with his father. He had a desk position at Fort Bragg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg_%28North_Carolina%29), and they had time to talk about his future. His father believed that he should join the Army, because of his natural ability, but something ate at Riley. Would he honor his mother by joining up? Wasn’t she the one who believed in the defense of the home soil? How would she feel about rushing off to parts unknown, to wage war on people who may not endanger his country? He didn’t know, and that was eating him up inside. Hopefully this summer can give him some perspective.<br/>