Debate Speech!

My father told me my writing has been "Like a Baby" so instead of starting with my morning I'm heading straight to the first period of school. Social Studies wasn't like yesterday where my teacher forgot getting the paper. Everyone, who was supposed to go today "Group 1" set up their desks in a way that made it so there were three sides. Then, once that was done the debate started on whether teachers should be armed into the classroom. It was a bit cringy but funny at the same time. Also, just something else that happened. When I walked into the class the desks were in rows. My teacher said he had no problem where we sat as long as he approved of it. A lot of kids sat close to their friends (I was one of those people), thankfully my bus was one of the first to arrive.

Anyway, back to the Social Studies class. I was really hoping that my group would win because then we'd have more points than everyone else. However, compared to group 3 we did really bad. And they only had 3 people, while mine and the other team at 4! The reason I say this is because one of the kids in my group didn't even go up. I guess that was mainly due to her broken leg so she couldn't put on her crutches and talk at the same time (wouldn't be able to read her notes). Another kid in my group called, "Sean" talked so low! Even lower than me! Like, he legit stood there for about 15 seconds not knowing what to say. At that point, Mr. Gilyard (my teacher) told him he could sit down. However, that third group had one kid that really stood up and never seemed to be nervous.

Okay, that's a lie. He did act nervous but never had to recollect his thoughts is what I meant. The man literally said, "What would you think if your sibling was one of the kids who died the Parkland shooting! Huh! It's not fun at all, this is a very serious matter and when I heard about the Parkland Shooting I almost cried wondering the same thing. If my 5-year-old sister was at that school! This is why I think that teachers should be armed!". He said a lot more stuff but I don't want this whole paragraph to just be about him, sorry Ahmad. Once Social Studies was over my class headed over to Gym and I had a lot of fun. We played a game called, "Kangaroos vs Crocodiles". Sure I didn't do the best but it was really fun.

Basically, my teacher separated everyone into partners. The teacher was going down the row and I happened to be talking with my friends at the other side. So when it was time to choose who would go with who I said I was fast. Ms. Anderson (Gym teacher) made me pair up with a friend named, "Noah Page". Now I know you might be thinking, oh Rinchen must be fast because he said so. Well, you know what? You're SO WRONG! I'm fast, but not compared to Noah! He's probably in the top five most athletic people int eh class and I'm probably a 15. We run at close speeds (he's faster) but when it comes to endurance he's got me beat by a mile. The first two times we did it no one tagged the other person. But on the third try, I wasn't paying attention and he just slapped my back (not hard). I got a bit mad at myself but then decided it was just a game.

Google News

Today's story is going to be about Russia and America, and Syria. So apparently there has been some type of chemical disease in Syria and it's killing many people. There was this video that had "graphic content" and showed Russian doctors and nurses trying to help the Syrian children get better. They put some type of weird smoke inside of their mouths which I don't think looks like it's healthy (it probably is but doesn't seem so to me). Anyway, the vidoe said that the United States wants to help the Syrian children but the Russians won't let them. I'm pretty sure it's because they're enemies. So maybe they cna just become friends again? That's probably not going to happen, one U.S official said that "Russia will hold the deaths of many Syrian Children". And I agree completely.

Once I turned off the alarm it was a struggle to not go back to my bed. However, I refused the urge to do so and woke up my sister. I was the first one to go downstairs with my sister following behind. Getting ready wasn't a struggle because I immediately got my school clothes and took a shower. It was about 5 minutes before I turned off the water and dried myself with a towel. After getting dried my mom was telling me to hurry up. I tried brushing my hair and putting my clothes as fast as possible. My mother was saying we didn't have a lot of groceries so she wanted to buy some at the supermarket. While she was making my sister oatmeal I ate "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" because that is obviously the best cereal brand. At 7:10 A.M I felt like doing my mom a favor and dropped my sister at her bus stop.

Before leaving the house I said goodbye to my mother and rushed out the back door. When I got to the bus stop it was about 8:05 A.M and only two adults with their children. The first thing I did was read my book on the bus and basically, stare out the window. I don't really talk to anyone on the bus, just sit there bringing all my thoughts together and making sure not to forget anything. I used to read my school books but already finished "A Long Walk to Water" and "Black Ships Before Troy". Anyway, at school, the breakfast was some "Cheerios" and orange juice. I refused to drink the orange juice but had the "Cheerios" with an extra carton of milk in the crate. It tasted pretty good and gave me a great energy boost for the morning. 

The first period was Social Studies but my teacher didn't bring the debate team list. We were supposed to be doing the second round of the debate for "Whether teachers should be armed in the classroom". Unfortunately, the kids who were supposed to be going forgot who their teammates were and everything went downhill pretty fast. In the end, we started talking about what's happening the present day events as well as stuff in the spring semester. My teacher said something about "Jim Crow Laws" but I didn't really understand. I am fairly sure that he is an actual person but don't know why we are talking about him specifically. Okay, apparently I just made a mistake, back then "Jim Crow" was a character of a funny TV show and I guess that was what they called black people.

During Science, my teacher collected the Spring Break homework (which I did) and then we started talking about the new lesson on "Motion and Physics". I was supposed to copy the vocabulary words on the board but only got through the first lesson (one half). During recess, my friend didn't want me to go to the field with the rest of the kids because he didn't want to be by himself. However, they let us get out lunches before heading out the field so my friend said he would come with. Once there, we first ate food and then played some soccer. It was honestly really fun and I can definitely say my friends would think the same way. That was honestly the best recess I've had in a while.

Google News

We all now that Donald Trump is the worst president in the history of the United States of America, except for my father. He still thinks that "Oh, Donald Trump is the very best!". Anyway,  Donald Trump said that he would hold a "summit" (meeting) with "Kim Jong Un" either somewhere in May or early June. He called it very exciting and critized previous presidents and officials for not doing it sooner. I don't understand what's so "exciting" about metting with the North Korean Leader, but do agree that previous presidents should have talked to them. Now that North Korea has developed a pretty sturdy nuclear missle system it is more risky. When if they talked 20 years ago it would have been less "scary" or tense.

For today's post, I am going to be talking about what I did yesterday. After waking up at around 7:10 A.M I stayed in my bed just stretching my body. Then, I headed towards my dad room and saw my sister and him just playing. Since there wasn't really anything for me to do I gracefully joined them until the three of us were tickling each other to no end. Because I am a teenager now I tried not to laugh but after many desperate attempts, I just couldn't hold myself. Anyway, when my sister asked my dad if we could go outside I was so mad. I mean, it was really windy and it's not like we don't have food in the house. However, before I could stop my dad from answering he said yes and walked downstairs. It was a pretty big bummer because I wanted as much time as possible to finish my essay. 

But for some reason, when we got outside I felt a whole lot better. Then, when my dad recommended we go to the new Mc'Donalds I didn't feel reluctant anymore. It took about 10 minutes before the three of us reached the place but going inside was amazing! For one thing, there were more seats for people to sit down. I pointed this out to my dad as he was taking us to the counter. Soon enough, my sister showed me the new electronic devices on the side of the wall. I've only seen this one other time and it was at another Mc'Donalds near Lincoln Park. I asked my father if we could use it instead of ordering the usual way and he said yes! For me, I immediately got a vanilla milkshake and two burgers with eggs (trying to keep it breakfast).

Once we were all done my dad put his credit card inside the machine and it was processing the order. My sister picked out a spot that used to be our favorite. Although, now it was a bit smaller. Back the seat would go in a half circle and have cushions. Unfortunately, because of the new renovation, it was just two sides and a table in the middle. Thankfully, the cushions were still on the seat, both sides. Eventually, a woman came and gave us the food we ordered. That's right, we didn't have to pick it up! After the first burger, I felt extremely full. But my sister kept on saying I would be wasting the food if I never finished the second one. Since I couldn't let my sibling get the better edge on me I tried eating the "McGriddle". In the end, my dad ate it for me.

About 30 minutes later we went back outside and my dad wanted to to get some fresh air. However, the weather really wasn't treating us with sympathy and wind was blowing at really high speeds. My father said he never knew it was going to be this cold and my sister got mad at him. This is because before we left the house my dad told her not to bring the jacket since he didn't want to carry it. I remember the saying my dad said, the closer and closer he gets home the worse the weather. And honestly, I can't believe I'm saying this but he's right. Every time we go outside with him it's either cold, dark, or windy just like yesterday. Maybe he isn't on good terms with the "weather" god. We got home safely and my sister and I started our homework (essay).

Google News

I just read this post about "Fortnite" (don't hate) and how some people are making a petition against it. So we all know that there are a lot of people that love "Fortnite". But there are also a decent amount of people (mainly females) that hate it. Two people named, "Chloe" and "Jaden" made a petition about banning "Fortnite", they said in an interview that initially it was a joke but a lot of people are taking it seriously. Many girlfriends/ wives/and mothers are unhappy about either losing their significant other due to a game or their child just staying on it too much. As of the time this story was written over 919 people have signed the petition. Of course, that is very small compared to the "Fortnite" player base which is about 50 million but it is still concerning, wonder what the creators are going to do about this. 

Multiple Factors That Helped Salva Survive 

"A Long Walk to Water" was made by the author, "Linda Sue Parker". It talks about the story of a young boy named,"Salva". He is in the middle of a war crisis and is unfortunately separated from his parents. Now it is his job to find them and rejoin with his loved ones. Along the way, he meets groups of people from different tribes and countries that understand what he's going through. In my opinion, the three main factors are "Hope", "Companions", and "Reputation". For this paper, I'm going to touch on these factors that helped Salva survive on his journey and give evidence as to why they are the correct ones.

The first factor that I chose is "Hope", and let me explain why. Throughout Salva's journey, the whole point of it was to find his parents. He hopes or believes that at the end of this adventure he will be able to rejoin them. Besides that, he's always asking himself, "Where is my family? When will I see them again". The kid literally scans his group every day to see if someone from his heritage is there. When Salva found his uncle you know what his first thought was? "He must know where my family is!". However, Uncle Jewiir doesn't know anything of the sort. What I'm trying to say is that Salva doesn't let a day go by without asking himself the same question or "hoping" that his "family" will find him. 

My second factor is "Companions" and this mainly directs towards Marial and "Uncle Jewiir". When Salva first met Marial it was due to stepping on his foot. Thankfully, that didn't stop them from becoming great friends! And just to let you know, "companions" doesn't just mean friends. His uncle too was another companion that supported Salva on the journey. Once Marial was eaten by a lion the other night, Salva knew that he had to get to Ethiopia, for his sake, knowing that Marial would want him to get there safely as well. Without the support of Uncle and Marial Salva would be lonely and have no one to talk to. This would lead to loneliness, depression, and much more. The kid was lucky to have those two with him.

This final factor is his reputation or heritage. Because Salva was Dinka he was allowed to join the group of people passing by the old woman's house. In the text, it says, "The man shrugged. 'He is Dinka', he said and began walking again". If it wasn't for his Dinka heritage Salva probably would be having to walk by himself to the refugee camps. And even worse, he would've never found his uncle or Marial! If that happened Salva would be in a much more dangerous place trying to pass through the desert. 

Now its time for a counterargument. Now some people may say that my factors don't make sense and I can agree with them a little bit. Sure, reputation or heritage doesn't seem to play a big part in the story or companions may seem like hope. But, "reputation" does play a very big part in Salva's journey. If "reputation" is so incorrect than why does the group passing by only let him join due to him being Dinka. And if "Hope" is so similar to "Companions" then explain why the definition of "hope" is "a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen" and "companion" means "a person or animal with whom one spends a lot of time or with whom one travels"?

Overall, it may be said that "Hope", "Companions", and "Reputation" are the three main factors that help Salva survive on his journey to find his parents. "Hope" is a factor that helped Salva survive because without believing he'd find his parents the whole journey wouldn't make sense. "Companions" was another factor because without the company of Uncle or Marial Salva's trip to the Ethiopian refugee camps would be a lot harder. And "Reputation" is important because without the group passing by knowing he was Dinka they'd leave him causing Salva to possibly never find Uncle or Marial in the first place.  These are the factors that I think helped Salva survive. What do you think about these three factors and do you agree?

I'm going to summarize what I've read so far in, "Spirit Animals: Blood Ties". I was planning on doing that yesterday bit felt like I didn't have enough information. Thankfully, that's changed so let me begin! Meilin (one of four green cloaks) is in Zhong with her spirit animal "Jhi". She was trapped in the bamboo maze that led to where her father was. He instructed her when to turn but for some reason, it never led to the exit. At this point, Merlin was getting hungry and left alone (except for her panda). She never thought she'd be staying in the maze for more than an hour at least! But so far it's been over 3 days. Meanwhile, Rollan, Conor, and Abeke were practicing with their spirit animals and wondering why Meilin would leave them. 

Besides that, Rollan is mad at Conor as to why he gave up the talisman of the boar. Conor did it because if he refused to hand over the talisman the conquerer would murder his family. Now Rollan doesn't understand "family" because he was an orphan and had no family to be with. Abeke tries to be nice to Conor and seems to be sympathetic but Conor knows inside she too is a bit furious with him. Tarik (leader of their group of green cloaks) finds out the next location of the talisman. It's a spirit animal called, "Slate Elephant of Dinesh". Tarik himself isn't happy with Meilin going away but promises that she too will return. Until then, they start getting ready into entering Zhong (not knowing they will meet up with Merlin soon enough). 

Back to Meilin, she meets an old woman named, "Zue" who has crossed the great bamboo maze countless times. Apparently, she's entering Zhong to sell some pots and Meilin has very little suspicion of her. The two of them sit down and talk about what Meilin's problem is. Zue says that she must have gone through the wrong entrance. That's when Merlin realized her mistake, her father told her to go through the Eastern section but she started from the South! No wonder she's been confused this whole time. Zue doesn't do any harm to her and they eat some roasted mice found crawling on the floor. Meilin isn't exactly happy about eating mice but knows it's either that or starving to death. The bamboo is clearly only edible for "Jhi" (her spirit animal).

Rollan, Tarik, Abeke, and Conor finally arrive at Zhong and go through many entrances and exits. They evade guards that are most likely hired by the Conquerer and finally enter the jungle. They're they meat a woman named, "Lishay" who has her very own spirit animal. Together they set out to find "Dinesh the Elephant" and hopefully run across "Meilin" (which they do). Meilin finally meets with her father and tells him she left the "Greencloaks" to help him fight against the conquerer. Her father is and isn't happy at the same time. He's happy to see that she's safe and unharmed. But mad that she left the greencloacks whose duty is to defeat the conquerer. And so he shares this with her but Meilin refuses to leave. Then, after a lot of yelling she gives up and says goodbye to her father before heading to the greencloacks.

Google News

That was as far as I could get with four paragraphs so next time i have nothing to do I'll continue (most likely won't). Anyway, I was on Google News and saw a post about America and Russia. Now I'm pretty sure that America and Russia are like the worst of enemies but my dad says they aren't the only ones. China doesn't have good feelings toawrds America, all the Muslim countries apparently hate America. Even, the south American places don't like America because of the immigration laws due to Donald Trump. Anyway, the story that I read said that Facebook was going to add new regulations to ad posting. That way it would be harder for Russia to try and do their thing. You see, during the election Russia was spamming ads about racism, and terrorists. This is what there trying to do to stop it.

For today's post, I've decided to do a compare and contrast of this book called, "Spirit Animals: Blood Ties" and "Five Nights at Freddy's", at the end of every paragraph I'll say which book is better according to that topic. My first topic for which to compare and contrast are the games. For "Five Nights at Freddy's" the game has a series just like the book. However, although Spirit Animals has a series for its book the game has no followup. Now let me just say that the game for Spirit Animals looks like complete trash (in my opinion). For Five Night's at Freddy's their fanbase is about 5xs larger and is still going. And they have no excuse as to why their game is so bad! I mean, the first Five Nights at Freddy's game was made in 2014 while theirs was created in 2015! That is a whole year full of time they could have used to make their game better. 

Now for the plot of the book, in Spirit Animal there is a group called, "Greencloaks" that have a job. They are supposed to defeat the Conquerer who plans on bringing the peace and balance of Erdas to ruins (Erdas is where the story takes place in "Spirit Animals"). Meilin, Rollan, Abeke, and Conor are all teenagers from different sections of Erdas. They were called by the Greencloaks to take part in a nectar ceremony. You see, in the book when a child reaches a certain age they are allowed to drink nectar and hopefully find a spirit animal. However, the four of these children have been very lucky and connect with the "Four Fallen" or "The Great Beasts". They were the spirit animals that helped defeat the "Conquerer" a long time ago. Now that he has come back they stick with their human companions to defeat him once and for all.

I really like this book but wish I had the first book, right now I have the third one. Its a similar situation to when I read "Five Night's at Freddy's". I only had the second one but never got to read the first. In "Five Night's at Freddy's" a group of teenagers (similar to Spirit Animals) are all childhood friends (different from "Spirit Animals"). Then one day they enter a pizzeria where "The Protagonist" (Charlie) finds herself in a problem where her father's death has led her always back to the pizza place that is now partly destroyed. Charlie decides to go to this place one last time with her friends and gets trapped by the animatronics. "Bonnie, Freddy, Chica, and Foxy" are the three robots on stage that supposedly try and kill the kids before they can escape. Honestly, there are way more differences than similarities between these books. 

I mean, "Five Night's at Freddy's" book series was based on a horror game, while "Spirit Animals" has more of an action and adventure type of story. I guess you can say that for the "Gaming" topic "Five Night's at Freddy's" beat "Spirit Animals" by a long shot. However, the story plot for "Spirit Animals" seems to appeal to a bigger audience than "Five Night's at Freddy's". The score is both tied evenly so we can't really say which one is better. To be honest, some people who just say that "Five Night's at Freddy's" is way better but it only has three books (the third one just came out) while "Spirit Animals" has over 10! Now for the remainder of this paragraph, I want this to be directed towards my father, the reason you saw me on the internet "supposedly copying" was because I didn't read the first book. In addition, I haven't even finished the book I have right now. Another reason, why instead of doing a whole summary I wanted to compare and contrast.

Google News

For today's story, it is going to be about raccoons. Now I know this seems to be very weird but let me explain. There are now "Overwatch" and "Fortnite" posts on the news. I don't feel like talking about "Donald Trump" because just the mention of his name makes me gag. And now popular drama out in the world is really making me excited. Now if there's one thing that can top this its animals. Especially when the post is called, "He thought something was wrong with the raccoon, then it stood on its hind legs...". That right there really makes me interested. So apparently, there is this disease called, "Distemper" and it makes an animal (not including humans) go crazy, mainly due to brain damage. When I saw the pictures it really disturbed me. Raccoons who were affected by this would come out in the daytime and just walk on their hind legs. Usually, they come out in the night and never stand. Anyway, that is it for today's post.

Black Ships Before Troy / Summaries

Chapter 1: The Golden Apple

Peleus (King of the Myrmidons) and his girlfriend Thetis (Thetis of the Silver Feet) were going to get married so many gods and mortals were invited to their wedding. However, Eris (goddess of discord) wasn't. This was because wherever she went trouble followed. Unfortunately for Peleus and Thetis, she came into the party and threw an apple at the middle of the table. Quickly after Eris left everyone looked at the side of the apple and found the words, "To the fairest of them all". Immediately, Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena launched into an argument about who would get to keep it. Each one of them came with unreasonable evidence as to why they should have it and the conflict had been long.

Later on, Priam (ruler of Troy at the time) and his wife Hecuba had one last child named, "Paris". There was a great rejoicing over his birth but one of the king's soothsayers (prophecy tellers) told him that Paris would cause Troy to burn down. That was why Priam ordered one of his servants to put Paris into the woods as a child where he would die. Although the servant did what he was told some farmers searching for a missing cow found the boy and raised him as their own. Soon enough, Priam was a fine adult who was the fastest and best at archery. He fell in love with a nature nymph (humanlike creature) named, "Oenone". One day Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera were still arguing about who would get to keep the Golden Apple. They found Paris lying down and knew he nothing about them. So it would be a fair choice. Even though, Hera said she would grant him honor and Athena said she would give him power, Aphrodite's promise of a wife as beautiful as she was too tempting. 

Chapter 2:

You see, there was a rumor going down that the Greeks had a woman named "Helen" who was deemed the prettiest woman in all the world. Many men asked for her hand but eventually, Helen's father chose a male named, " Menelaus". Together they live an okay life, however, when Aphrodite and Paris heard of this he quickly left "Oenone" (sad) and sailed to Greece.  His excuse for coming to Greece was that he wanted to explore more of the world and Menelaus had no problem with him staying for a few nights. Afterward, Paris made an excuse to not go with Menelaus hunting and stayed with Helen. He expressed his love for her and made some reasonable arguments like how Menelaus was way older than her and he was still young. Helen knew it was wrong but got pretty convinced she should leave with him and head to Troy. 

As Aphrodite had said, the two of them got on board Paris's ship and headed back to Troy. Menelaus was furious that his wife had left him and called for the aid of his brother, "Agamemnon" who was conveniently the high king of Greece (ruler over all of the other kings). Agamemnon declared war against Troy and told the other kings to ready their warships. Since Peleus was one of those kings his son "Achilles" would have to play a part in the war. Thetis didn't want that to happen so she asked another king of Greece (Lycomedes) to hide her son "Achilles" as a princess among his own daughters. No one knows how she convinced Achilles to do so but eventually, he was found and made one of Greece's strongest warriors. 

Chapter 3:

The trip on the way to Troy wasn't the most pleasant for the Greek Ships. There were storms and rough rocks that really slowed them down. However, in the end, they reached the coastline and started building huts in order to get a foundation started. Since at the time Troy was still a bit too big they decided to pick on the smaller cities nearby. They raided the cities' loot and took the fairest of their women as slaves. Two of those "slaves" were named, Chryseis" and "Briseis". Because Agamemnon was the high king he got the fairer maiden but Achilles was still content with having Briseis. One day, the father of Chryseis came and begged for her daughter to be given back to a bunch of gold. However, Agamemnon refused and told the old man to leave.

The following days the Greek Camps were hit with disease and it spread everywhere. Agamemnon asked his soothsayer why it was happening and he said it was because Chryseis's father was actually a priest for Apollo and Apollo was shooting his arrows of disease at there area. Unfortunately for Agamemnon, he was forced to give back the maiden but wanted Briseis in his hall at once. Achilles argued and so did the high king. The quarrel went on for days and eventually, Achilles ended the fight. He said he would never fight for the Greeks until his maiden was returned and his honor given back. Agamemnon just brushed it off not thinking Achilles would be that useful anyway.

Chapter 4:

Thetis prayed to Zeus that the Trojan War would end with the Trojans winning. That way Agamemnon would feel regret for tempering Achilles, their best fighter out there. Zeus didn't really want to but did it anyway (probably because he was bored) and cast a dream into Agamemnon's sleep saying that he should attack the following day and win without a loss. However, the high king was the type of person to think one thing and then completely change his mind. This was unfortunate for Zeus and Thetis alike. In the afternoon the two sides went face to face and Paris made a bet. He would do single combat with Menelaus and if he won then he would get to keep Helen. However, if Menelaus won then he would get Helen back and they would leave.

It was an easy way to end the war without losing too many people. Both sides agreed and they fought with an old style competition where the two fighters would throw spears at each other. Paris wasn't ready for this and got scared at first. Thankfully, for him, one of his soldiers somehow encouraged him to stand up and fight. So the coin was tossed and Paris got the first throw. He was a great archer so this shouldn't have been a problem, but Menelaus's armor was too strong for the spear to penetrate. Unlike Menelaus, Paris's armor was just layers of skin it would have been easy for a spear to get threw. Paris was afraid and he turned sideways as the spear was about to go through his chest. The man saved himself and ran back in fear.

Chapter 5:

Athena wanted the fighting to continue or basically just ruin the truce. That's why she made one of the princesses of Troy fire an arrow at Menelaus. He was wounded in the chest but not dead and soon recovered. The fighting started again and whenever someone died his allies would try and recover the body before the enemy did. If the enemy took the body they would strip it of its armor and then leave it without burying the body at all. If your body is not buried or hadn't had a proper ritual your soul or spirit will have to wait outside the gates of Hades until it is done. Otherwise, your spirit will be trapped there was for eternity and you will never go to Heaven.

Hector went into Troy and had to do two things. Say goodbye to his wife for he may die on the battlefield and tell Paris to start fighting. He first went to Paris and saw him playing with his bow and arrow as though they were toys. Hector was angry and told him to stop acting like a child. Paris said he was only sitting down to take a rest before heading into the fight. So Hector told him to put on his armor and start fighting. Then, he went to his wife and child, Hector said he may not be coming back to see them again so this was a farewell. His wife was begging him to not fight but he said he couldn't. Men out there are dying for Troy and it wasn't fair if they died while fighting and he lived but with cowardliness. So he kissed her and his child before going.

Chapter 6:

Paris followed his brother into the open plains where the fighting was taking place and saw that their forces were pushing the Greeks almost to the black ships. Athena saw the gory battlefield and decided the fighting must stop for today (its pretty hypocritical because she wanted the fighting to continue at first). Athena put a thought into Hector's mind that he must fight one of the Greek warriors in a duel against him. Menelaus wanted to fight once more but someone stopped him, it was the high king. Agamemnon heard Hector's calling and decided that Ajax should do it. He was a strong warrior almost as strong as Achilles (except for the fact that Achilles practically can't die). The two of the warriors got ready and then started attacking. It was an amazing fight but there was no winner.

Soon enough, they stopped and said a good job to each other. As a parting gift, each of them handed some type object from what they had on. Ajax gave Hector a broad belt full of purple and Hector handed him a sword with a hilt made of silverwork. Everyone cheered and then went back to their sides. It was a good fight to end the day. The next day the Greeks and Trojans had a truce so that each side could bury the dead of the night before. Once the war began again Zeus summoned a black cloud that shot lighting at the Greeks. They went back to their council and Agamemnon said that they should just go back to Greece. However, Diomedes refused to say that too many men had already died so that they could win. 

Chapter 7:

The council had a plan against the Trojans. They would send one of their men in the night who also didn't feel like sleeping in the Trojan camps and either overhear what their battle plans are and bring back a straggler. Diomedes was on his feet and ready to go but said he needed one more person. So out of all the people would have gone with him he chose, "Odysseus". They headed over to the campfires but then saw one of their men head in their direction. It seemed as though the Trojans coincidently had the same idea as the Greeks. So Diomedes and Odysseus followed the Trojan and then pushed him against the wall. The man's name was, "Dolon" and he said he was offered the two best horses if he did the job.

Diomedes and Odysseus felt no pity but asked what were the plans for the Trojans. Dolon must've really wanted to survive because he said everything detail by detail. Then before killing Dolan, he begged for them to not kill him. Unfortunately for him, Diomedes wasn't in the mood for mercy. Odysseus and Diomedes weren't done and went back to the Trojan camps. They killed one of the allies of Troy swift and silently. In addition, stole the two immortal horses the Trojans had in their storage. After an accomplishing day, the two headed back to the Greek camps and told of what Dolon had said. With one of the allies of Troy dead, their soldiers would surely go home.

Chapter 8:

The next day the Greeks were all cheered up because of Diomedes and Odysseus. Even though Zeus's dark cloud was over them they charged into battle. Agamemnon slew many soldiers, two of which were Hector's brothers. It was a very disturbing sight but the Greeks were doing their best and it paid off. Soon, the Greeks were at Troy's gates and Hector told his forces to reform their lines. They weren't going to win without some organization. Although things seemed to be going really well for the Greeks it suddenly flipped around. Agamemnon took a spear in the chest and had to be taken back. Many of the soldiers surrounded him so that he wouldn't get hit by any archers.

Hector saw this and started telling his troops to push. They were filled with new spirit and advanced further. The next person to go down was Diomedes because Paris shot him in the foot. His soldiers covered him from enemy fire and pushed any Trojans who came too close. Odysseus was the only one left in the fight and needed to take no injuries, otherwise, his troops would have no one to tell them when to rally or group up together. Patroclus had come to the battlefield and helped carry all the war hosts who were injured (Agamemnon and Diomedes). Then one of the soothsayers said to ask Achilles if he was going to come bakc and fight with the Greeks. Otherwise Patroclus should wear his armor and scare of the Trojans.

Chapter 9: 

Meanwhile, Hector was urging the front fighters to cross the Greek ditch with their chariots. Unfortunately, the horses were too afraid to get hit by the spikes. That is why instead of the horses the men walked barefoot through the ditch and onto the Greek Side of the plains. There, Hector harnessed the power of Zeus and threw a boulder 2xs the size of himself onto the wooden doors. Then, once the walls were gone the Trojans infiltrated into the Greek Camps and were moving to the black ships. If those were destroyed then the Greeks wouldn't be able to go back to their home. Thankfully for them, the god Poseidon (Zeus's brother) encouraged the Greeks and gave them his power as well. 

With that, they were able to push back the Trojans from their base. Unfortunately, the fighting was not over because Posiden gave them enough power to get the soldiers near the Trojan wall. Zeus turned into a bird and dropped a red snake as a sign of bad luck but the Greeks didn't care. Then, of course, Zeus gave Hector immense strength and they pushed back to the Greek's base. At this point, the Greek's were about to give up and they should've. Hector was yelling to burn the black ships in which the Greeks had come from and many of them had stood guard among that area. It was at that point where Patroculus had come into the fight as well. 

Chapter 10:

Patroclus entered Achilles's camp and asked whether or not he was going to fight for the Greeks again. However, Achilles said no and asked why Patroclus was crying. Then Patroclus asked if he could borrow Achille's armor and chariot in battle. That way, the Trojans would hopefully think it was him and be afraid. So Achilles said okay and lent both his armor and horses to Patroclus and said goodbye. After he left Achilles made a prayer to Zeus asking for Patroclus to gain divine power and for his sword companions to come with him. Zeus granted only one half of that wish. Side Note: I'm pretty sure he gave Patroclus divine power but made it so he could still die. 

Patroclus charged into battle killing everyone he could find. The man could kill 9 men in one blow due to the divine power and the Trojans were scared. He even murdered Sarpedon (the lord of the Lycians). The Trojans were trying to retrieve the body but the Greeks got it first. However, Zeus knowing that Sarpedon was his mortal son magically made it return to Troy. Patroclus was still slewing the Trojans 9 by 9 and reached their gates by himself. Then, Hector and another warrior stabbed him in the leg and belly. This obviously killed Patroclus and people saw that it wasn't actually Achilles himself. Hector took the armor for himself and have his as an offering to the gods.

Chapter 11:

Achilles heard the news of his dead friend and was filled with rage. He tried killing himself for being so stupid but Nestor's son stopped him. Thetis (Achilles' mother) promised to go to Mt. Olympus and tell Hephaestus to make an armor that no mortal had ever seen before. Achilles did not wait for his mother to come back but yelled at the Trojans for what they had done. They were in fear and retreated back to Troy while Patroclus's body was taken back to the Greek camps. There are all types of people from different ranks mourned for him. From the slaves to the Myrmidons, and Achilles himself. It was a sad day and Troy was scared knowing that Achilles would fight the next day.

His mother came back in the morning and gave the armor to Achilles. It had pictures of war and peace on the chest plate, sword, and shield. Thetis then joined the rest of the kings in their morning breakfast before the fight. However, Achilles rallied his two immortal horses and carried on to battle without them. There Hector was waiting for him and knew that by killed Patroclus he released a demon upon his own men. That "demon" was Achilles, so Hector stood there also knowing that if he could kill Achilles then his men would be safe and Troy would definitely win. Unfortunately, right when he was about 5 feet between Achilles Hector ran away. It didn't matter though because Achilles killed Hector and dishonored him by dragging his body on the ground tied to a chariot.

Chapter 12:

Hector's wife and the princesses watched in horror as his body was being dragged on the ground by Achilles's chariot. It was a horrifying sight and the gods hated it just as much as his wife. Achilles's had a dream about his brother asking why his body hadn't been burned and buried yet for his spirit had been waiting outside the gates of Hades for a few days already. That was why Achille's made it a priority to do so. He sent his men to cut down a tree and make a temple just for Patroclus. It was for honor and Achilles told the people making his grave that he wanted his body to be right next to his sword brother. And for them to have their ashes mixed together into a single cup. The architects did as he asked and there was another casket made just for Achilles.

At that time they would host a "Funeral Games", where people play a series of competitions in honor of the man who died. The first competition was chariot racing and Diomedes won 1st place. He got a fair maiden who could play music and do the arts, as well as a cauldron filled to the brim with gold. Then came Boxing where the winner got a working mule. The next competition was the wrestling. It was Odysseus vs Ajax, the two of them tried their hardest and there was never a clear sign as to who won. That was why Achilles made them share the prize and told them to leave. The final fight for the games was a duel where whoever won got the armor of "Sarpedon". Again, it was a tie and both of them shared the armor.

Chapter 13:


Achilles' mother (Thetis) was called to Mount Olympus by the gods. They said that Achilles was dishonoring Hector too much and should give the body back to Priam (Hector's father). Thetis went back down to the Greek camps and told Achilles what the gods said. Meanwhile, "Iris" the god of rainbows was sent down to Priam and told him that he needs to pay a ransom in order to get his son's body back. So he prepared a wagon filled with three cauldrons of gold, and the finest mantles he could find from his treasury. Then Priam arrived at the Greek Camps invisible while walking so he wouldn't be disturbed.

Once Priam and Achilles went face to face he pleaded for the body of his son. By this time Achilles was already told he had to give it back but wanted a better reason. So Priam said stuff like, what if your grandfather or son died? Would you want their soul to be restless near the gates of Hades? After a while, the two of them had dinner together and were in a  good mood. This doesn't mean that the Trojan war ended but it put them on good terms. Achilles apologized and let Priam put the finest mantle in the wagon on Hector's body. Then off they went back to Troy where Hector's wife and the slaves cried once more.

Chapter 14:

As of now, the fighting had been going on for over ten years. Even Achilles himself has lost his thirst for battle. The Trojans knew they would most likely lose the war in the state they were in so they always kept themselves inside of city walls. Their only chance was to call for more allies, the Amazonian women from the jungle and King Memnon with his men from the south. However, Odysseus had heard of something about Troy. Apparently, there was an object near Athena's statue called, "The Luck of Troy" (or so they call it) and it was shaped like a shield. The object was dropped from Heaven and the Trojans keep it as a good omen. Now if someone so happened to steal this object the Trojans would surely lose help. 

So that was what Odysseus planned on doing. He dressed up as an old man looking for food and entered the Greek camps from the entrance. They tormented him and didn't like him at all. Soon enough, the Greek soldiers kicked him out of the camps and took him to the Trojans (didn't know it was Odysseus). Inside of Troy Odysseus continued to beg and was dressed up as a homeless person. That was when he came in contact with the "Luck of Troy". Odysseus waited until it was night time until stealing it. Then he walked out of Troy and headed back to the camps without his disguise. The soldiers apologized to him and the kings were very proud. They didn't have to go with their original plan that would've taken much longer.

Chapter 15:

Amazonians had finally arrived at Troy from their own country unharmed. They gladly crossed through the towns and many people happily greeted them. Priam the king even made a feast especially for them and everyone was happy. Then the "Queen" of the Amazonians declared that she would be the one to kill "Achilles" and avenge Hector. However, Hector's wife said that if Hector died from Achilles and how would she stand a chance against him. The Queen said nothing to this and slept peacefully before waking up and getting ready for battle. Paris had been the one to guide them through the jungle and into Troy so they were luckily not ambushed by the Greeks.

The next morning the Amazonians were fired up and 11 of the Queen's bodyguards stood beside her. They fought until their very last breath and only 5 of the Queen's bodyguards lived halfway into the battle. Unfortunately for her, Achilles had finally come into the fight and slain the rest of her bodyguards. It was her against Ajax and Achilles, the Queen was in a rage and tried to drive her spear into Achilles's chest. However, his armor withstood the attack and Ajax laughed. He continued to laugh as Achille's drove his spear through the Queen's breast and the fighting was done. Then, before leaving the Amazonian warrior's helmet fell off and they saw just how attractive she really was. Achilles' felt pity and regretted what he did, same for Ajax.

Chapter 16:

King Memnon finally arrived at Troy with his men and said hello as he walked to the council. Unlike the Amazonian Queen, he didn't say that he would kill Achilles for it would be bad to be overconfident. They had another feast in honor of him and then went to sleep. The next day, the fighting started all over again. Memnon was a lot more productive in terms of killing Greek soldiers. Wherever he went there was always someone who died! Nestor's son was killed by Memnon when he jumped on to him. Memnon grabbed his spear and thrust it straight through his son and let Nestor watch his own kid die in front of him. Because Nestor was a soothsayer and not good at fighting he called for "Achilles" and he came rushing towards Memnon. 

The two of them seemed very matched and it was a close call for Achilles, but in the end, Memnon failed his parry and got speared in the chest. Now with Memnon gone the Greeks pushed forward. Achilles was now right under the gates of Troy and was helping to smash it down. However, Paris shot an arrow at Achilles that avoided all the men around him (due to Apollo) and hit him in the foot. Back when Achilles was a child his mother was told that if she dipped him int he river of Hades he wouldn't die. Unfortunately, while she was covering him with the water of Hades her hand covered one of his foot causing him to be vulnerable only in that area. Achilles pulled out the arrow but that was the reason he died, blood came gushing out and Hector's prophecy was true. He died in Paris under the gates.

Chapter 17:

Once the fighting was over for the day the Greeks buried Achilles right next to his brother just like what he asked for. Then they did another funeral games hosted by Agamemnon. They decided to let the Troy captives decide who got the armor of Achilles. The two contenders made a speech about why they should get the armor (Ajax and Odysseus). Ajax made his speech first but was troubled by "Dionysis" (god of wine and ecstasy). He made Ajax's speech sound weird, let's just say so weird that Odysseus won by a landfall. Dionysius continued to make mischief and filled Ajax with rage. He had a hallucination about killing Odysseus but instead killed a group of chickens. It was a disturbing sight when the Greeks found that he killed himself with a sword.

Chapter 18:

Odysseus said that if only he had not won that maybe this couldn't have happened. Everyone in Greek lamented (mourned) over Ajax just as they did with Achilles. They gave him a proper burial so that he too would not have to wait outside Hades gates for all of an eternity. Even though the Greeks had killed everything the Trojans have used against them they too have lost many of their warriors. They are in the same state as they were 10 years ago. The only chance they had left was to call for Philoctetes. He was a very skilled archer but the Greeks had purposely left him back on an island due to his screams of agony. You see, Philoctetes had fought against a poisonous dragon and killed it. However, the dragon bit him once in the leg and it hurt really badly.

So the Greek soldiers reluctantly went back to the island and got Philoctetes. The slaves scared for him by giving him all the medicinal herbs they had. Soon enough, he was better and a great use for the Greeks. On his first day of fighting Philoctetes shot Paris using an arrow, he dipped in poison. This killed Paris and he tried to call for his nature nymph "Oenone". But because she refused to heal him Paris was done for (she didn't get out of her cave). Then after a few minutes of waiting, Oenone went out of her cave and tried calling for Paris. Though he didn't answer. Then he realized, it was because he was dead and ran over to his burial killing herself in the process.

Chapter 19:

Since Paris was dead Helen should have been returned to Menelaus but she wasn't. The Trojans must've thought it would have been dishonorable or worried that she would be immediately killed. One of the soothsayers in the Greek Camp said that they should be smart cunning now that most of their greatest warriors had been defeated. Odysseus devised a plan so sneaky that the kings said yes. They would make a giant wooden horse and all the soldiers would hide inside of it. It would be delivered to the Trojans as a gift (supposedly saying that the Greeks had given up and wanted this to be their gift). Then, once the wooden horse was inside of Troy the soldiers would quietly sneak towards the statue of Athena and hide until one of the other soldiers gives a signal.

The Greeks began building the wooden horse (it was going to be huge) but needed someone who would be willing to pretend as a castaway. Their story would be that the Greeks had all left in their ships without him and he wanted to join the Trojans. The person who volunteered was s spearman named, "Sinon". No one really knew his name because his post was all the way in the back, only in front of the archers. Most of "popular" or "well known" warriors were the front fighters. Finally, all the building was done and the big wooden horse was taken to the gates of Troy. Sinon stood where he was supposed to be (under the horse) and explained his story to Priam (fake story) since Priam was convinced they took the horse down to the statue of Athena.

Chapter 20:

All the Trojans were dancing and rejoicing over the Greeks supposedly leaving. Then once all the sounds were cleared Sinon alerted the warriors inside of the wooden horse to come out. They killed the Trojan guards at the door and opened it so that their fellow Greeks could come in. Then terror came to Troy, the Greeks infiltrated houses and killed everything in sight. Every Trojan was killed except for the maidens. It was a murderous event. Odysseus remembered that Menelaus said he would grant him one wish if his plan worked and it did. So Odysseus rushed over to Helen and tried to hide her. However, Menelaus found out where she was and almost killed her for betraying him. 

Then, Odysseus reminded him of the one wish he would grant and he asked for Menelaus not to kill Helen for his sake. After cursing himself for giving him a wish Menelaus let go of his temper and wouldn't kill Helen. She ran over to him and hugged the king for trying to find her this whole time. The reason Odysseus used that as his wish was that Helen helped him when he was pretending to be a homeless person and get the "Luck of Troy". She never exposed him and always kept the secret. Besides, they were friends way before that anyway. It was a nice sight to see, especially when Troy was still burning down. The Greeks went back to their camps and sailed to Greece, a place they haven't been in for years.