A/N: See if you can spot an underlying story here….enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or anything else from it; I only have the OCs.
Today will be no different from any other, Thalia thought. Being lieutenant of Artemis, lady of the moon and the hunt, had it's advantages: the strength and speed, the wolves, plus the fact as second in command Thalia could sense were here comrades were positioned.
The ground was slippery underfoot as she glided carefully forward, Phoebe - her sister-in-arms - and Kaya - her wolf - at her heels. It had been snowing all day; now it was about six inches deep and covering everything, perfect for the Hunt and their silver gear. Looking to her left, Thalia could see Kaya's silver pelt was almost perfectly camouflaged into the frozen forest in which the were currently hunting.
Hunting unwary demigods.
Although a good number in the hunt were themselves half-bloods loyalty to their mistress persevered and beside that, they found a given chance to brawl with their half-siblings irresistible - it was Capture the Flag.
Silent as a stalking lion, Thalia gently slipped round the cluster of trees the trio were sheltering behind. Directly ahead stood a pair of Aphrodite campers; the lieutenant didn't know their names, but she was willing to take them out. A single glace at Thalia's face told Phoebe all she needed. The pair raised matching bows and drew a sedative arrow each - no need to waste the good stuff on these two. They fired simultaneously, both darts finding the mark with the ease of long practise. As they fell without a whisper, Kaya bounded out for a quick sniff but there were no more foes in this place; Annabeth would have sent them to a more practical area.
Leaving the fallen prisoners, the hunters re-grouped and moved on. For about twenty minuets they loped steadily forward, always heading towards the enchanted flag.
Suddenly, Kaya skidded to a halt, a snarl escaping out of her bared teeth. Thalia leaped for cover, but before she could reach it a shining arrow embedded itself in her left shoulder. The daughter of Zeus could hear muffled laughter as she tumbled head-over-heels in the cold snow, manoeuvring herself so she could lie behind a low bush for temporary cover. Looking up, she could spot several Apollo campers crouched in the upper canopy; it must have been them.
Thalia reached back slowly - so not to give away her position - and tapped her wrist, causing Aegis to instantly appear. Holding the shield above her head, she darted across the danger area to where she could sense Phoebe and Kaya were inconspicuously concealed.
"You're hurt!" Phoebe exclaimed as Thalia approached them. The campers had now opened fire in their general direction, but none had yet ventured down from the safety of the leafless trees.
"Yeah, I know….it doesn't really hurt much though." Thalia answered truthfully, for the arrow had driven deep into her silver coat yet had fallen to the ground after only placing the smallest scratch on her skin.
"What do we do now then? None of the others are close but we can't let them past; it's a free path to out flag!" Phoebe looked over the small wound as she spoke. Without replying, Thalia looked up at the cocky campers. The three were hopelessly outgunned: they would be shot to pieces before they took ten strides.
Run, Thalia? Kaya spoke to her telepathically, voicing her own opinion. Taking a deep breath, Thalia came to a decision.
"Sorry Phoebe, I don't think we can do this; we need to get out of here. Kaya, you sprint across and distract them. Phoebe, fire from behind that big pine then run. I'll meet you by the stream." The friends nodded their heads and moved into position.
As soon as she was told, Kaya burst out the bushes, twisting, snapping punctured by occasion twelve foot leap into the air, all at time barking like a wild beast. The demigods recovered almost instantly from their surprise and began pouring arrows down from their perches; luckily for them none struck the silver wolf. Thalia let a couple of her own arrows fly; rubber-tipped ones designed to push the enemies down, not mortally wound.
A few more arrows, bolts of lightning and barks later, they were clear and unhurt, barring Thalia's scratch and a larger gash where a boy had shot Kaya - and received a bolt of electricity in return. Thalia was rather disgruntled now; she didn't like to lose, especially since as they ran the campers jeers had been ringing in their ears until they were no longer within arrow-range.
"Doesn't matter, we're still going to win…" Phoebe comforted her from the rocks they were sitting on by the slim creak. They'd seen the other hunters head across the border, attributing to the sounds of battle ringing all around them.
All of a sudden, many footfalls became audible, coming from both sides of the creek.
Both teams had a flag.
Both teams were closing fast.
Which team would get there?
Springing into action, Thalia leaped to her feet and swept the scene with her sky-blue gaze. On the right-hand side, Lucie, a swift young hunter, was charging toward the edge clutching the camp's flag tight to her chest. Directly opposite them was none other than Percy Jackson, legendary son of Poseidon, carrying the Hunter's flag whilst being rapidly pursued by several silver-clad girls. Thalia hurled her spear at Percy's figure, using her superior reflexes to draw and throw in less than a second. It missed, but Kaya had made a stupendous leap and smacked him down onto his back; letting the flag fly about seven metres to the left.
Thalia didn't move from here current spot - she had no need too. Percy was down beneath Kaya and surrounded by the Hunters, one of whom had re-captured the flag. Lucie was crossing the water now accompanied by a huge cheer, she was well liked, Thalia noticed, a good attribute. A full-fledged grin spreading across her face, Thalia now moves to congratulate her team-mates and be very modest with the losing team…..sort-of.
Two hours later everybody not in the infirmary was back in good spirits, high enough to gather round the roaring campfire and talk at least. Thalia was seated comfortably between Annabeth and Lucie, Kaya snuggled up in he lap. We won, Kaya murmured sleepily, I got him.
"Yes, you did, didn't you? That's my girl." Thalia replied softly, stroking her smoke-soft ears.
"If you're talking about that wolf, she pushed me into the mud; not my armour's all dirty!" a third voice complained, plonking itself down heavily on Annabeth's other side.
"Hey, you were going to win…" Thalia gave him a merciless smile, "We couldn't have that now could we?"
Annabeth narrowed her eyes in mock hatred, poking Thalia's belly with one hand. "One more second was all we needed."
"But you still weren't quick enough." Lucie interrupted smartly. Luckily, she hadn't been in the hunt for long, so she was not yet allergic to boys. Unfortunately for her this meant she had been stuck with Apollo the whole time he drove them here…that had annoyed Thalia for some reason.
Shaking her head violently to clear her thoughts, Thalia picked up a handful of snow and tossed it aimlessly in Percy and Annabeth's general direction. It landed slightly to the left of Annabeth, who raised a sole eyebrow.
"Okay… so that wasn't a great shot." Thalia smiled ruefully.
"Anyway…j'ai une faim de loup." as he spoke Percy produced a large plate of scones and began munching on one.
"YOU speak French? Annabeth's mouth dropped open at the mere mention of such a possibility.
"Yeah, I'm fluent; been studying for about six years." the others' eyes were huge, "Kidding." he added.
"I knew it…"Annabeth muttered.
"Sure you did." Percy winked at her good-naturedly, picking up a second scone before turning to Thalia and Lucie,
"Can you translate it then?"
Lucie smirked and then said: "I'm as hungry as a wolf; it's a French idiom."
Percy started sharply, then regained himself and praised her, "Yes, that's it. I got it off a couple of those Aphrodite kids earlier. Thought it would be appropriate considering out furry friend here." he ruffled Kaya's ears.
Kaya looked at him.
Fast as thought, Percy retracted his fingers and stowed them behind his back; he did want to keep them.
"Scone?" he used the other hand to hold the plate out. Like a lightning bolt, Kaya was out of Thalia's arms and right into Percy's. Leaping straight for the plate, she hit him quite hard, knocking his hand and snaffling the scones in a flash. She then proceeded to sit on top of him and lick his face in gratitude.
A started "Errrrrr…." was all Percy could manage as the other erupted into laughter at the sight of the boy being sat on by a large wolf with crumbs all around its mouth.
"That wolf's hungry all right…" Annabeth giggled, trying not to slip down on one side from laughing.
Thalia now stood and tapped Lucie on the shoulder then whistled to Kaya, signalling that they should leave.
"We'd love to stay, but we just have to celebrate out 67th victory….see ya later." Thalia grinned over her shoulder.
The three Hunters trotted quickly from the camp fire area and onto the open field behind the Olympians' cabins.
"Well that was quite fun; not like we were going to lose or anything." Thalia remarked, although she knew the campers could be a formidable force and not to underestimate them.
"Defiantly impossible." Lucie replied, she said something else to but Thalia didn't catch it; she was staring over at the cabins, at one in particular…
Smack.
Thalia whipped round indignantly, wiping the snow off her head whilst bending down to make her own snowball. Looking at her friends, then out she called, "Who's there?" To her everlasting amazement, about twenty meters away the snow began to form itself into a crude ball which then proceeded to hurl itself into her face; she was so startled she didn't even move a muscle.
"Wha…" Lucie started, before getting it herself with a snowball; this time for a pool of shadow that could have easily concealed a waiting person.
Smack, smack, smack!
As more snow flew it became apparent to Thalia it was Percy manipulating the water that was causing the snow to move on its own. He had revealed himself now, along with Annabeth and many other campers now heartily hurling snow - and joking insults - in their direction.
Crash! A ball struck Thalia directly on the ear.
Slam! The next one caught Kaya on the broadside.
Bam! Thalia received another at her back.
Whack! Lucie took a fourth to her neck.
Try as they might, firing back would be impossible, Thalia realised, the oncoming barrage was just too heavy. She smacked a nearby tree, attempting to turn on her heels whilst knocking down some opposition.
The snow did fall, just not where Thalia had intended, as it fell on her companions who were sprinting behind her; all of them heading for the Artemis cabin.
Thalia could see almost the entire camp was now lobbing snow at the retreating backs of the opposition. As she reach the door a wave of snow hit the group, soaking the once and for all.
Lucie slammed the door after them, snow still slamming against the other side, and turned to the astonished faces of the remainder of the Hunters.
"What?" she gasped, sides heaving.
Phoebe raised her eyebrows, "You look like just lost a wresting match in the Alps."
Thalia was about to reply, but a voice sailed in through an open window; "Victory to camp!"
The entire Hunt then proceeded to direct a baleful glare at Lucie and Kaya, who were dripping on the floor. They would have directed it at Thalia too, had she not been halfway out the window.
"What on earth are you doing?" Phoebe breathed.
"This." Tensing the muscles in her forearms, Thalia released a massive bolt of lightning directly at the snowy ground. Prior to this, she had noticed a layer of fast-freezing water on top of the snow; there due to the stuff that had been thrown at them earlier. If she deposited a current into this, it would hit anyone standing in the snow.
Thalia chucked to herself as she shut the window: the noise the bolt had resulted in was something halfway between a laugh, a howl and a scream of pain. Percy couldn't be the only one with useful powers, she thought.
What did you think? CC and general reviews are appreciated.
I know that a layer of water along the top of the snow is extremely unlikely, but I'm utilising my poetic licence at this point.
Thanks for reading!