OKAY HI AGAIN... I GUESS, LOL UM SO THIS IS MY SECOND STORY AND YES IT WILL HAVE ROMANCE, BUT I WANT IT TO HAVE A BIT MORE OF AN ACTUAL PLOT THIS TIME... ALSO FORGIVE MY AWFUL FIGHT SCENES, I SUCK AT THOSE! SORRY SORRY SORRY, A THOUSAND APOLOGIES! ANYWAYS, HOPEFULLY YOU'LL AT LEAST ENJOY IT A LITTLE TEENY-TINY BIT!

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1 / the beginning

I didn't ask for any of this. Losing my closest friends? Watching my home be destroyed? Being shunned by the guy I love? Yeah. It kinda sucks. But I'm getting ahead of myself– let me start from the beginning.

My name is Raven White. I'm seventeen years old. Until a few months ago, I was just your average teenager. Well, if you call living on the streets and running for your life normal. Trust me, after a few attacks, you learn to survive. You can either run, or die. Unless you get cornered, then you have to fight.

That's where my story begins.

It all started at midnight on my seventeenth birthday. I was curled up in an alley under a ratty old blanket when I heard a faint hissing sound, almost like running water. At first, I dismissed it and closed my eyes. But then it started getting louder, more reptilian sounding. I sat bolt upright, my fingers instantly wrapping around the dagger I slept with.

Just for once, I'd like to get a good night's sleep. I thought irritably as I got to my feet.

"Where isss ssshe?!" A woman's voice hissed from around the corner, "You can't hide!"

Damn… I thought, realizing I was at a dead end. Whatever was after me, I'd have to fight it.

"Wait! I sssmell her… Over there!" Hissed another cold voice.

"Let'sss get her!" Said a third.

Great. There were three of them. My grip tightened around my knife as I stepped back, desperately thinking of a plan. No matter how many times I'd fought monsters, I'd never faced three at once.

And then I saw them– three snake-women, about six feet tall, each carrying a long, double-edged axe. Abso-freaking-lutely wonderful.

The first took one look at me before lunging towards me and swinging her axe straight down towards my head. Cursing, I ducked out of the way just in time. I made a run past them, but the second slashed horizontally in an attempt to cut me right in half and I leapt back. At this point I was surrounded by the three lizard-women… snake-women… Whatever.

"Time to die, child of Hell!" The one behind me hissed before slicing down at me again. In a desperate attempt, I whipped towards her and flung my dagger straight into her heart. She let out a shriek, backing away and clutching her chest while breathing heavily as she doubled over.

"Nooo!" The two others yelled in unison and lunged towards me faster than I could react. As I turned around, I knew it was over; I was weaponless, cornered… I was going to die.

But death never came.

Suddenly, I heard a sharp whizzing sound, followed by a strangled cry as an arrow embedded itself in one of the snake-women's neck. She reeled back, grabbing her neck and ran into the other woman, knocking her backwards. Before either of them could recover, another arrow flew into the other snake-woman's head. Two or three more arrows found their mark before the monsters finally crumpled to the ground, letting out a few more ragged breaths before finally dying.

And I, of course, stood there with my mouth agape.

Three cloaked figures jumped down from the tops of the low buildings, surrounding me. Each of them held a silver bow in hand, aimed at me. My heart sank as I realized there was no way out of this.

"You there." Said one of them, "What's your name?"

"R-Raven…" I muttered aghast, "Um…"

"Quiet." The person pulled down her hood to reveal her identity. She was pale-skinned (although not nearly as light as myself), tall and lean, with short, messy black hair streaked with electric blue highlights. Her eyes were an intense, stormy blue shade that seemed to look straight through me. She looked about 15, but I couldn't tell; her intense expression and demeanor made her look much older. "Look, you don't need to be afraid– we're here to protect you. My name is Thalia."

I let out a small sigh of relief at that and nodded quickly. "I…" Suddenly, I started to feel weak and leaned against the wall of the alley, breathing heavily.

"Catch her." She said evenly as one of the other figures ran forward to grab me. And just in time, too, because at that very second I crumpled into the stranger's arms and blacked out.

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SO YEAH, THAT WAS IT! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING IT AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED WRITING IT! LET ME KNOW IF YOU THINK I PORTRAYED THALIA RIGHT SO FAR...ISH... ANYWAYS YEAH PLEASE REVIEW!

AND WOULD YOU LIKE THE WHOLE THING TO BE FROM RAVEN'S POV JUST LIKE PJ? ALSO, DO YOU WANT ME TO DO AN EXTRA CHAPTER WITH HER BACKSTORY? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN YOUR REVIEWS, THANKS!