Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Percy Jackson series.
Annabeth sat down on a stump. The cold snow blew around and around and melted when they hit her warm face. She wasn't cold though, just feeling a bit pensive. She fingered her bow in silent admiration, and felt…stronger. Inside her mind, she knew she was now independent, protected, unbreakable, and surrounded by girls just like her that she could trust with her life.
Well, maybe not exactly like her. They ran together roaming the earth, hunting bears and watching stars in the sky, climbing trees, making clothes, stoking campfires. Right now, she could see a brown bear fur from their last hunt draped over her shoulders out of the corner of her eye. It felt unrealistically soft against her skin; such was one of the benefits of traveling with the goddess Artemis.
"It was probably hard for all the other girls…well…not Thalia. I know she doesn't have any regrets. She was stuck in a tree for years. She only has Luke to miss…not that she'd want to. I miss him, but he's gone. For good." Annabeth wondered. She sighed.
"Heyyyyyyy Annabeth! Annie! I bet you can't make a better snow angel than this! Gods, it's perfect! It's dress is all triangular and stuff. Just lie down in the snow and…come on, you know this." Thalia stood up, crusty snow flaking off her jacket and face. The excited tone faded from her voice. "What's wrong? If this is about missing your friends, you've been with us for a month. I would have thought that you would be used to roaming with us. And, you don't have to stay at Camp Half-Blood feeling trapped."
"Um, yeah. I-you're right. About the camp part. I like being free after so much betrayal. But-I had Perc-uh, Rachel," Annabeth admitted, staring at the stump. The wind still rustled the trees, and all the other girls were talking and laughing. Thalia found a spot on the ground next to the stump and sat down.
"You'll see them again, don't worry. And if Percy is the one you're primarily worried about, he's got the Gods on his side. Even Athena. Even if she doesn't want you to be with him. There must be a reason for that, you know. I'm sure you make her proud."
Three wolves padded into the clearing to an area a good distance away from the Hunters, and threw their heads back. Their howling filled the night air, and it was a beautiful sound. Though tonight, it just filled Annabeth with loneliness. Both she and Thalia were silent, just listening to the wolves.
"I'm going to go back in the igloo now. Artemis is talking about some prank she wants to play on Apollo. And-" Thalia stood up and yawned. "We've all had a really tiring day." She turned to go, then looked back and said, "Really. You'll eventually stop missing them so much. If you really can't stand it, feel free to come talk to me." She then disappeared into the igloo.
In her frustration and confusion Annabeth notched an arrow and shot it at a tree. She didn't even notice the sound it made when it buried itself in the bark. She rested her chin in her hands and idly scratched the snow with her bare foot. "There's no backing out now. Never. Artemis will kill me-literally! Though, she wouldn't have picked me if they knew I'd back out. I should just forget about Percy, and Luke, and Grover." Her thoughts flashed back to their times at camp: capture the flag, dangerous monsters, and quests. "Percy hadn't even kissed me! He traveled miles just to save me, and held up the sky for me. And I left him!" Her eyes watered, but her tears froze almost instantly in the snow. She couldn't feel the chill, but the outside world was still affected.