A/N: The PJO and HoO series, and all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan, except for Dawn, Mrs McCarthy, Mrs Perkins, Carrie and Kylie.
And, guys, if you read this, PLEASE take the time to leave a comment, okay?

'Wow.'
That was all she could say when she saw Camp Half-Blood for the first time. They had just landed on Half-Blood Hill, the next evening and Carrie had flown off to the stables. Grover grinned as she gazed out at the valley, the strawberry fields, the Big House, the volleyball pits, the camp store, the amphitheater, the arena, the cabins, the armoury, the creek, the woods, everything.
Once they had stopped screaming, Grover had started telling her about Camp. He told her about the wild games of tag the satyrs and nymphs played, his girlfriend Juniper, the Council of Cloven Elders, his searcher's license, to NEVER EVER litter in the woods or creek or the dryads/naiads would murder you on the spot, the Oracle, Chiron, Mr.D, being claimed by your godly parent, the training the campers received, the songs they sang at the campfire, the Capture the Flag games they played, the pranks the different cabins pulled on each other (obviously the Hermes cabin had the record), how to steer clear of the Ares cabin, summer reports, and, of course, all about the gods and goddesses. Her old life already seemed like a hazy dream. She couldn't wait to start her new life at Camp.
Grover had also told her about the Second Titan War and the Second Giant War. It was all such a long story that he hadn't finished yet but Dawn had got most of it. She couldn't believe how much Percy and Annabeth had gone through. They were a lot tougher than they looked-like ordinary teens.
'Come on, Dawn!'
She realized Grover was already jogging down the hill and sped up to keep up with him. At the bottom,she turned and looked back at the Athena Parthenos and the Golden Fleece glimmering in the sunlight at the top of Half-Blood Hill.
'A new camper?'
She heard a voice and turned around. A man with a kindly smile, curly hair and a trimmed beard stood in front of her. Well, not exactly a man. His bottom half was a horse. Dawn realized that this was Chiron, the centaur and the activities director at the camp whom Grover had told her about. He was standing next to Chiron now, having just finished telling him about Dawn.
'Welcome to Camp,' Chiron smiled down at her.' I am Chiron,the activ-'
'The activities director,' Dawn finished for him.'I'm Dawn McCarthy.'
Chiron raised an eyebrow, looking toward Grover.
'I see you've been well informed of the camp by Grover,' he said. 'That will simplify matters. I presume you don't know who your godly parent is?'
'No,' Dawn said. 'My mom never told me my father was a god. I don't even know if she knew that. She died when I was ten, so I've been living in some orphanages over the past-'
'Chiron! Do stop all that talk and come finish our pinochle game! Really, you take too much interest in these brats. Send her off to the Hermes cabin and get rid of her.'
Dawn looked around. A potbellied man in a loud shirt was sitting in a chair on the porch of the Big House, looking annoyed.
'Mr D.?' She asked.
'Well, of course!' He looked her up and down. 'Dianne McDonald, isn't it?'
'Actually-'
'Well, run along to the Hermes cabin and stop lingering,' he interrupted. 'We've got a game to finish.'
Chiron looked apologetic.
'I'm afraid you'll have to go. Grover, take her, please.'
He cantered back to the porch and she set off with Grover. All the kids in the volleyball pits had stopped their games and were staring at her. She was uncomfortably aware of her old, faded clothes and wished she had another set to change into.
They reached the cabins,all different from each other in almost every aspect. She glanced at the empty Poseidon cabin, the Zeus cabin outside which she could see a blonde boy talking to a pale, dark haired one, the Hades cabin which looked like it was being given the redecoration it was seriously in need of, the Demeter cabin with flowerpots on the windowsills and a grass roof, the Athena cabin with its...
'Here we are,' Grover said, stopping outside an old cabin with peeling paint.'The Hermes cabin.'
He poked his head in through the door.
'New camper!'
Immediately, a swarm of kids rushed outside. They stared at Dawn with interest.
Two boys who seemed to be the leaders came up to her.
'Travis and Connor Stoll,' they said unanimously. 'And you are?'
'Dawn McCarthy,' she told them, sizing up their mischievous expressions and deciding to keep an eye on her pockets.
'Hermes cabin?' Travis sounded so eager she felt sorry for him.
'Undetermined, actually.'
'Oh.' They both looked disappointed but smoothed it over quickly.'Welcome to Cabin Eleven. Come on in!'
Dawn followed them in. The place was so crowded she wondered if she would have to crash on the doorstep.
'You can have that spot,' Travis announced, pointing to a tiny space at the very end.
'Uh...thanks?'
'You should put your stuff there-'
'And get it stolen in a matter of seconds?' She asked.
They both looked impressed.
'Grover's told me practically everything about the camp,' she explained. 'Even if he hadn't, I'm not dumb. Your dad is the god of thieves.'
'Oh, well,' Connor said, resignedly. 'You'd better get a tour of the camp.'
Dawn nodded and went with them. Had she just made two friends? She wasn't sure but she hoped so. She had liked the brothers the moment she saw them, even if she hadn't trusted them.

By the time Dawn arrived at the mess hall for dinner, with the Stoll brothers who had kept her laughing throughout the tour, almost everyone else had arrived. They stared at her as she sat down next to the brothers at the Hermes table. But she didn't mind, now that she had changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.
Chiron introduced her to the campers before dinner. She nervously twirled her dark hair around her finger as she stood up-an old habit of hers. Her mom had always loved her long, luscious curls and her dark eyes, despite the fact that she looked nothing like her.
'Dawn is from Brooklyn. Percy, Annabeth and Grover found her at a mall there,' Chiron told them.
'When will Percy and Annabeth be back?' One of the campers called out.
'As soon as th-'the centaur began, and then stopped short. Everyone gasped. Dawn swiveled around and saw a guy at her table, also undetermined. A glowing red shield with a truly terrifying face attached to it, hovered above him.
'The aegis,' Travis breathed. 'Symbol of Athena.'
As the glow faded, everyone knelt so she did too.
'Hail, Lucas Grant,' Chiron said, gravely. 'Son of Athena, goddess of wisdom, crafts and battle strategies, creator of the loom and the chariot.'
Lucas had turned a dark shade of red, and looked so uncomfortable Dawn wanted to laugh.
When the symbol disappeared , everyone got back up and the Athena cabin started cheering as Lucas made his way to their table.
Mr D. looked up from his wine magazine.'I suppose we can have dinner now?'
'Certainly,' Chiron answered. Immediately the plates filled themselves with grapes, barbecue,bread, cheese and strawberries. It looked so delicious, her mouth began to water. She feverishly started attacking the food. Learning from the Stoll brothers, she told her glass,'Lemonade' and, sure enough, that's what she received.
Between mouthfuls, she talked to Travis and Connor.
'Is the claiming always like that? Glowing red sign, campers kneeling and all?'
Connor grinned. 'Yeah, most of the time. You remember Percy's claiming, Travis?'
'Awesome, man,' Travis said. 'Never seen a son of Poseidon get claimed before that, obviously.It was right after the Capture the Flag game and he totally crushed the Ares cabin after falling in the creek. Then this trident appeared above his head and everyone started kneeling. The poor guy was all like,"My father?" and Chiron said,"Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the sea god." Really awesome.'
'Yeah,' Connor agreed. 'Hermes is the god of so many things, Chiron just trailed off in the middle of our claiming.'
Dawn stabbed a grape with her fork and stared at it.
'I don't know how I'll fit in here,' she said quietly. 'I'll probably flunk most of the things we do. Sword fighting-ha! I can barely hold a pencil straight.'
'Hey,' Travis said. 'We were like that too before coming to Camp. But now we're great. Everyone loves us. How could they not?'
'Except for Nico,' Connor reminded him. 'We painted his cabin pink, remember? Those skeletons chased us half a mile before going back to him.'
Dawn laughed. You couldn't stay gloomy around these two.

'Dawn!! Get up! We're going to be late!'
'MMMMM!' She protested, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. 'Go away. It's only like nine(A/N:I wasn't sure what time the campers got up to have breakfast and start their training, so I just guessed)!'
'Daw-'
'Wait, hold it,' she heard Connor whisper to Travis. He said something else which she couldn't hear.
'Ah,' Travis sounded eager.
She heard whispering and giggling but she put her hands over her ears, trying to burrow deeper down into her sleeping bag, when-SPLASH! A cascade of icy water drenched her, followed by a chorus of laughter from the entire cabin.
'TRAVIS!!!!' She leaped out of the sleeping bag, looking so murderous the guy immediately stopped laughing.
'Um, look, it was just a joke, so-' He took a step back with every word.
'My dear probably-cousin,' Dawn started softly. He visibly relaxed.
'I WILL MAKE YOU SORRY YOU WERE EVER BORN!' She shrieked, grabbing the nearest weapon-a hairbrush-and proceeding to chase him around and around the cabin until he flopped into a corner, defeated.
All in all, it was the best show the Hermes cabin had ever gotten to watch.

Percy and Annabeth appeared at breakfast, looking tired and scruffy.
They both sat down at the Poseidon table-which was against the rules, but Annabeth got away with it. Of course, the campers gave them a great welcome and asked them so many questions the poor demigods were overwhelmed.
Finally, Percy raised a hand.
'Okay, guys! Maybe after breakfast, a shower and a three hour long nap.Right now, we're exhausted.'
The campers sat, disappointed. Dawn looked over at the two, holding hands and digging into breakfast at the same time. Her respect for them had increased incredibly over the past few days, after all she had heard.
Later, just as the cabin went to the arena for practice in sword fighting Annabeth sought her out.
'Hey,' she said. 'How's it going?'
'Okay, I guess,' Dawn replied, looking over at the curious group of Hermes kids.'I'm just really worried I won't be good at any of these things.'
She waved her hand at her timetable.
The daughter of Athena looked at her.
'Listen, Dawn, I know I sound like a teacher giving one of those you-can-do-anything talks, but I mean it when I say that everyone is good at something or other. Maybe your sword fighting skills won't be perfect. But maybe you'll have a great memory for Greek mythology or something. And that comes in useful when you're facing an enemy, believe me.You're a powerful demigod, I can tell. So don't worry.'
Dawn smiled. 'Thanks, Annabeth.'
'Anytime,' her friend gave her a quick hug and then left.
She went back to the campers waiting for her. Annabeth's words had had the effect she had wanted. She was feeling a lot happier.
As it turned out, she needed those words. Because her sword fighting skills stank. She had no idea how to even hold the thing properly. It clunked out of her hand like every ten seconds. The instructor, an Apollo guy called Will Solace, was patient with her but after like half an hour, no improvement whatsoever, three times tripping over her own feet and dropping her sword no less than eighteen times, even he was starting to get irritated.
'Hey, Will,' someone in the audience called out. He and Dawn turned. It was Percy. He had been watching this whole time! Her cheeks grew hot. She dearly wanted to sink through the floor and it must have shown in her face because Percy laughed.
'It's okay, I just thought maybe I could instruct you- for the remaining ten minutes ,' he added.
Without realizing it, she instantly backed away.
'Um-thanks, but can I, you know, not fight with someone who's pulverized about, I don't know, half a billion monsters and Titans?' She blurted out.
'Oh..' Percy said awkwardly.
Her cabin mates were frantically shaking their heads behind the demigod. It was obviously a big deal to be instructed by Percy. But she ignored them. Dawn REALLY didn't want to end up as demigod shish kebab at least for this day.
A girl next to Percy smiled at her. She had chocolate-brown skin and curls and, for some reason, a glittering emerald in one hand.
'I wouldn't want to challenge the guy either, especially if I was new,' she told her, casting a sly sideways glance at the demigod in question who was taking his turn blushing. 'But how would you feel about me?'
Dawn immediately agreed.The girl wasn't nearly as intimidating as Percy.
She slipped the jewel into her pocket, then got into armor.
'I'm Hazel Levesque,' she told Dawn. 'I'm on a visit from Camp Jupiter.'
Grover hadn't told her the story of the Giant War yet but he had mentioned the Roman camp. The two camps corresponded so much it was impossible for them not to have come across it. The armory even stocked Imperial gold blades.
Hazel started instructing her. Surprisingly, she caught on after a while. Not really good, but at least she wasn't dropping her sword so much.
'You're getting better,' Hazel told her at the end. 'I'll be here tomorrow too, so we'll practice then, okay?'
Dawn nodded.
After that, there was javelin throwing practice, which she was better at than she expected and archery. Finally, she had found something to shine in. She got a bullseye every single time and came out feeling a lot better as she basked in her new friends' admiration.
'What can I say? I've always had an eye for archery,' she said.
'Really?!' Connor asked.
'Obviously not,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'My mom wouldn't have let me touch a bow and arrow with a ten-foot long pole. And I didn't need to use one either before I knew I was a demigod.'

That night at the campfire, they were singing a weird (but great) song about how Grandma puts on her armor, and she had only just begun to sing along, when someone sat down beside her.
'Am I late?' The person asked brightly. She had frizzy red hair, freckles and jeans decorated with marker. In other words, she looked very undemigod-like.
'Um...no, not really,' Dawn said.
The redhead looked at her more closely.
'Are you new?'
'Yeah. I just came yesterday,' she told her. 'I'm Dawn McCarthy. Undetermined. And you are-?'
'I'm Rachel Dare,' the girl said. 'The Oracle.'
'Oh! Grover told me about you. But he didn't go into a lot of detail. I thought you'd look more..' She waved her hand, trying to find a word for it.
Rachel grinned. 'I know. People don't believe it at first. Then-as soon as they hear a proph-'
She stopped mid sentence. Her eyes rolled back into her head.
A cry came up from the campers. Two kids hurried forward, grabbed Rachel and set her on a stool nearby.
Green smoke curled from her mouth. Dawn scrambled back and stared, wide-eyed,as Rachel spoke into the hush that had fallen over everyone:
'Sunlight's daughter, shall join the search,
And find the fifth since the curse with the one who conceals,
Destroying a prison guarded by a fearsome foe,
She shall return with the hero sought after since war.'

A/N: Sorry about the prophecy, I couldn't think of anything good so I just wrote what came to mind.