Parents Meeting: When Brian Evans went to the track, the last thing he thought he’d be bringing home was a goddess.
As the breeder of several successful racehorses, Brian was expected to be at the track whenever they were to race. His typical job was to check the horse over before they raced, and gave them a once over afterwards. During the races however, he’d sit up in the stands with the rest of the spectators to see who was betting on who. One day, an attractive woman appeared dressed in breeches and a simple white shirt. She was tall, athletic and gave off an aura of competitiveness. Introducing himself, the two began talking horses, and eventually struck up a deal. If his horse won, he could receive an undisclosed prize, but if he lost, he would have to take a forfeit of her choosing. Brian didn’t quite realize who he was betting against, his horse tripped as soon as it exited the gates and her horse won.
Completely stunned at what happened to his horse, he confronted the woman demanding how she knew. She smiled and claimed it was a ‘trade secret’ and reminded him about their bet. Showing that she wasn’t all that cruel, Brian’s ‘forfeit’ was a night’s work in order to take her out. Since she had won fair and square, he agreed.
That night, Brian treated the woman he came to know as Victoria to dinner and drinks, ending it with a nightcap at his ranch. The two of them discussed the competitive nature of not only horse racing, but horse breeding as well. As the clock neared midnight, Brian offered to let Victoria to stay the night. She accepted...and the two of them carried their conversation to his bedroom.
Jacob’s Upbringing: Several months later, Jacob was delivered in a cradle. He wore a crucifix around his neck and a small note was wrapped in his hands. Brian picked up the baby in his hands, tucked the note in his jacket pocket and raised him as his own.
Jacob grew up on the ranch. He learned to ride horses, as naturally as most kids learned to walk. He took right away to life in the Great Outdoors and spent all the time he could with the horses. He was home-schooled but didn’t take an interest in lessons. Brian’s parenting was more relaxed than most. Whenever it got too hot or a job got too messy, he’d usually remove a few articles of clothing before returning to work, and Jacob eventually picked this up as well. In addition, so save some money on the water bill, he’d have Jacob bathe in the nearby creek. Jacob never complained, he liked showing his body off. As he got older, Jacob started to develop more muscles from the physical labor he did helping his father out on the ranch, whether it be lifting hay bales or hauling piles of manure. His life was pretty perfect, until his thirteenth birthday.
Demigod in the Saddle: As Jacob got older, he joined his father when Brian would go to the races. He excelled at making sure the horses were in pristine condition before their races. Most of time, he’d stick around the stable as per his father’s request, but on occasion, he’d venture off to see what else he could find. One day, he heard the cries of horses nearby. He rushed to the scene where he saw a gigantic flaming horse, rearing its’ hooves upwards. Jacob almost got hit, if he hadn’t rolled out of the way at superhuman speed. The horse reared once again, only to be subdued as a short jockey leaped onto the horse. He wrangled with the beast for a while, digging his celestial bronze spurs into the horse until it was brought to heel. The jockey introduced himself as Brandon. He was short and his legs were the same as those of a goat. Brandon attempted to explain to Jacob what he had seen, but when the satyr smelled that he was a demigod, he started to tell him about how the Greek myths were real. As he was explaining, Brian rounded the corner to find his son and Brandon talking. Brian began to lecture his son on not running off, but Jacob cut in, telling his dad about the fire-breathing horse and how Brandon had calmed it down. Brian didn’t seemed phased and let Jacob in on a secret, his mother was a goddess. Brandon pointed out that now Jacob knew, he’d more likely to be attacked by monsters. He offered to take Jacob to a camp in New York, but Brian needed him on the ranch. Compromising, Brandon offered to move to the ranch to keep an eye on Jacob, but the demigod had to learn how to work with other kinds of horses.
Derby Training: Letting Brandon come live at the ranch, Jacob began working with more than just Clydesdale and Shetlands. Brandon’s equines included more fire-breathing horses and Pegasi. In addition to doing his basic chores, Jacob was now also breaking wild horses and training them for purchase. Several times Jacob came close to being trampled or roasted, but luckily Brandon was always keeping an eye on him to make sure he stayed safe.
In addition to working with the mythical horses, Brandon also revealed that the necklace that had been wearing for the last few years was actually a weapon in disguise, a bow and arrow. What more, the bow was able to split into two separate blades for close combat.
Into the Homestretch: As Jacob got older, he started getting more and more cocky in his job trying to work solely with the fire-breathing horses. Brandon noticed this, but was hesitant to say anything. The tipping point came when Jacob was 16, trying to break an extremely wild fire-breathing stallion, causing him to be launched off and received a nice sized burn on his shoulder. Deciding that enough was enough, Brian finally decided to have Brandon take his son to the camp mentioned all those years ago.
Due to the large distance between camp and their ranch, Brian didn’t want to have Brandon take Jacob all the way there and come back. It’d be too long for Brian to handle the ranch on his own. Brandon was then able to come up with a solution. Taking Jacob to the nearest blacktop road, the satyr tossed a golden coin into the pavement and uttered a phrase in a language that Jacob somehow understood. Within seconds, an old fashioned taxi materialized out of nowhere offering a lift. Nudging Jacob in, Brandon told the drivers to take him to Camp Half-Blood before bidding Jacob good luck and shutting the door.
While the trip was rather fast in comparison to what Jacob thought a trip from Oklahoma to New York would take, most of it was a blur, literally. Every time he glanced out the window, everything was moving in a blur past the window. He wasn’t sure how fast they were going, but he was pretty sure that the drivers were breaking the speed limit several times over....
He literally was thrown into camp, kicking and screaming. Jacob shrugged his shoulders and walked into camp, not looking back.