©Rick Riordan

©Scarlett Dove


River and Alpha: A New Journey

Water moved up from the shores and piled up on top of its self. The form hardened and River became the end product. He looked around the beach he stood on, long white beaches spread for miles and a thick forest behind him.

"It's beautiful." River breathed. Something hard hit his back, River stumbled forwards. A hand went to his back, he could feel sand.

"Wonderful isn't it?" A deep voice called form behind him. River turned around and looked at his friend. "Smell the air, Riv!" Alpha breathed in the salty air.

River smirked. "Well, we aren't here for playing around!" River threw a wad of sand and chucked it at his companion. The sand hit Alpha straight on in the face, going right into his mouth. "Now are we, Alpha?"

Alpha wiped the sand off of his face and spit it out. "If we didn't have something to do… I swear on the mountains of Loua, I'd kill you, River Felton!" He glared at his smirking friend.

"Well, thank the gods that we have somewhere to be then." River remarked.

Alpha growled and they started to walk down the beach. "So where are we going exactly?" River asked.

"Well, first of all, we need to find a place to rest, then, we see what happens from there." Alpha said trudging through the wet sand. River stopped walking. "Hades," Alpha swore turning to look at River. "What is wrong, River?"

River looked utterly shocked. "Let me get this straight," He said slowly. "We're just winging it? No plan at all?" Alpha looked at River like he just told him he was in love with an octopus that liked to be called Princess Poppy-Face.

"Yeah," Alpha said equally as slow. "What did you think was going to happen?" Now it was time for River to look at Alpha in the same way.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe that you knew what you were doing!" River exclaimed, the water beside them stirring.

"I know what we need to do," Alpha said calmly. "Not how, River, it's odd for us to know how we're going to go about stuff. So will you please calm the Hades down?" Alpha glanced at the rising water.

River sighed and the water went back down. "I would just feel better if we had a plan." The man stated. Alpha clapped River on the shoulder.

"Wouldn't we all." Alpha laughed. "Now come on, we need to get in that forest before dark hits us." River looked over at the sun that was already hanging low in the sky.

"Let's get this over and done with." He muttered.

The two ventured into the forest. It was sunset by the time they found a suitable area to have a camp fire. River lied on his back on the hard dirt floor and looked up that the little stars that were beginning to show through the colourful skies.

"You know we did something completely stupid, right?" Alpha asked from where he was tending the fire.

"Ah, nope." River said popping the "p". "What did we do?" River sat up and looked at the fire bender.

"We forgot to pack." Alpha said still looking into the fire. River groaned and placed his hand in his hands.

"That was stupid of us, eh?" Alpha chuckled.

"Can't we just, you know, go back-" River started.

"No," Alpha cut him off. "We'll do it like the old days. We'll hunt. You have your bow right?" Alpha asked. River looked over to his side, his quiver and lot were laying there.

"Yeah, what about your spear?" River looked Alpha over, his spear wasn't with him and he looked tense, River noted.

Alpha shook his head. "Don't got it, but I do have these." Alpha opened his jacket to show daggers lined up on the inside.

"Where in the world did you get those?" River asked astonished. Alpha took one out and fingered it.

"Got them from, Mars." Alpha moved his hand over the red and black splotched blade. "If he's good for anything, he's good for weapons."

"Dude!" River cried. "Do you even know what you got there?" River was practically bouncing up and down.

"A knife?" Alpha laughed, amused by how energetic his friend could be at times.

"It's not just a knife!" River peered at the blade, his fingers ghosting over it. "This is red dragon skin!"

"Dragon skin?" Alpha asked amused. "It's a metal blade, River, not some folklore beast." He snorted at the thought.

River rolled his eyes. "Just because you don't believe they exist, doesn't mean they don't! Red dragon skin, if taken alive and crafted, it'll never dull and it's one of the hardest materials to make into a weapon. Not to mention how rare it is, but for you to have five! Wow." River rambled on.

Alpha swiftly put the knife away. "Well, it was sweet of Mars to give me them then." He grumbled.

River hit Alpha lightly. "At least you get see your dad." River said laying back down with his hands behind his head. "I haven't seen my dad in years." He said quietly. Alpha looked down.

"Look, Riv-" Alpha started.

"Its fine, Alpha." River reassured. "Still getting used to this I guess."

Alpha smiled over at him. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I still remember my first few years."

"First few years?" River repeated. "You've never talked about that before." Alpha shook his head.

"Guess it's because…" Alpha took a deep breath and gave a shaky laugh; his face became stony and cold. Like he was being brought back to an old memory, and from what River saw, not a very nice one.

"Alpha…?" River asked slowly, his eyebrows furrowing. Alpha blinked as if coming out of a trance. He managed a very unconvincing smile.

"C'mon, we have a long day ahead of us." He said. "We need to rest up."

"Yeah," River mumbled confused but suddenly too tired to question it. "Goodnight, Alpha." He said already falling to sleep.

"Goodnight, River." Alpha whispered, looking up at the stars that River were so fond of.

"I've always wondered why people like these so." Alpha whispered to himself. When he got no comment he snickered. Just like a child, Alpha thought.

Alpha looked back up at the stars. There was no moon. Which meant no Man on the Moon to sooth their worries. Alpha sighed and tried to get some sleep.

River woke up to the smell of food. He sat up and saw Alpha eating something, part of it still over the fire. River gawked at it.

"I-is that a monkey?" Alpha looked at it.

"No, a leamer." Alpha said with slight sarcasm.

"A leamer? Aren't those like – endangered or something?" River asked panicked.

Alpha shrugged. "Better them than us." The green eyed boy said.

River glared at Alpha. "So, you don't care that you just killed-" Alpha cut off River's soon-to-be-rant.

"Look, get used to it." Alpha told his blue haired friend. "You have – so far - spent all of your time in North America, where there are wild McDonald's. Out here," Alpha motioned to his surroundings. "This is your McDonald's. You make your food, you hunt your food, you eat the damn food! It's you, or them." Alpha finished with a big bite into the leg he was eating.

"It's inhumane." River protested. Alpha gave him an exasperated look.

"Do you want to die? Here," Alpha threw the other leg at River. "Eat up."

River eyed the leg in disgust. "I'll try not to vomit." He muttered.

"That's the spirit!"

After their gracious feast they made their deeper into the forest. "Do you even know where we are?" River asked heaving in exhaustion.

"Yeah, we're between Port Morant and Port Antonio." Alpha told him easily, cutting his way through the forest.

"And where is our destination, oh great tour guide." River asked sitting down on a rock panting.

"I was thinking Blue Mountains Peak." Alpha replied leaning against a tree. "Now, come on, I was to get there by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" River asked as has he pushed off the rock. He had already shed his sweater and was still sweating his butt off. They were dressed for a cold night in New York, not a hike in the Caribbean. Alpha was still bundled up in a jacket, pants, and boots and hasn't broken a single sweat.

They hiked for the mountain for the rest of the day. Passing colourful trees and flowers along the way that River admired it while he wasn't complaining.

By sun down they were at a nearby river which River collapsed ever so gracefully in when they got there. River moaned as the cold water hit him. "I… don't… wanna… moooove…" He groaned.

"Then you ain't getting any food." Alpha crossed his arm and looked at the childish in the river.

River sat straight up. "Food? What food?" He scampered out of the water falling all over the place.

"We have to hunt first." Alpha told the younger man.

"I don't wanna!" River whined plopping back down on the ground. Alpha grabbed him by the scruff of the collar and yanked him up.

"Too bad." He glared at the pouting man. "You even get the easy job." He pressed a large leather pouch into Rivers hands. "You get to find edible fruit. Have fun, I'll be back." Alpha hit him on the back and walked off into the forest.

River looked down at the pouch then to the retreating figure of Alpha. "Fruit." He repeated.

After scavenging around for a while he found some fruit. It was a little red plump fruit on a hard vine. There were bushels of them all around. River broke the vines off as close to the fruit as he could and put a few in his pouch.

"Pickin' berries, pickin' pickin' berries, o' what a wonderful time pickin' berries!" River sung as he looked around for more fruits.

River scanned his surroundings. There were trees with odd shaped things on them and bunches of plump green things. River set down the leather pouch and took out his bow and an arrow, aiming at the tree. He shot the arrow at the tree and red fruit with crowns fell down from it. River knelt over and picked up one of them. Taking out his knife and he cut in in half, the red juice seeping out of it. He picked up a seed and popped it in his mouth.

"Pomegranate." He grinned. He put another one in his mouth and savoured the bitter taste. River picked up a few and placed them into the bag. River started to walk back to the river when he smelt something sweet.

"Roses?" He mumbled. River turned around and looked for the source of the smell. It couldn't be roses, he has never heard of roses on an island before, especially in Jamaica. Thought, River thought, I'm not the one who knows this type of stuff, that's Terra. River found the source on a shrub. They were shaped like little apples and smelt sweet. He took a few and stuffed them in the bag and made his way back to the stream.

Alpha wasn't back, and he didn't think he would be back for a while. Setting aside the leather pouch River started a fire until Alpha came back to maintain it better.

Alpha came back a few hours later carrying a box of local food.

"Hey! Dip shit! Foods here!" Alpha kicked a stone of River, hitting him in the back of the head.

"Hey!" River exclaimed. "What was-?" The words died on his tongue as he smelt the goods. River ran over too Alpha and took the box from him. "Where did you get theses?" He exclaimed once more.

Alpha chuckled and sat down next to the blue haired boy. "I went into town, walked there for a bit then flashed onto the beach so I wouldn't burn anything." He picked up a sugary pastry and bit into it.

"I thought you were going to bring back another leamer." River snorted.

"Nope," Alpha smirked to himself. "And that wasn't a leamer." River stopped shoving food in his mouth to look at Alpha, who was looking smug.

"What did I eat then?" River asked, letting the food fall out of his mouth.

"Charming," Alpha remarked dryly scrunching up his nose. "But, you were eating a giant rat." River choked on what was left in his mouth.

"Giant rat?" River repeated.

"Yup." Alpha bit into one of the sweet smelling fruits. "Mm, where did you find the Rose Apples?" He asked, biting into it.

"Enough with the fruit!" River smacked the apple out of Alpha's hand. "I ate a rat?" He yelled.

Alpha looked over at the ruined apple. "Yes, I don't even know why you believed me when I said so; they're not even indigenous in Jamaica."

"I ate a rat..." River put his head in his hands.

"Oh stop your whining and eat the damn food." Alpha snapped, throwing another rock at River.


If you're confused to why it picked up like this, it's a sequel, you can check out "Secrets" (the one before this one) in my stories, it'll make everything up to date for you (it is horribly written in the beginning, I haven't bothered looking at it because of that).

I plan on expanding the plot in this story. I have it all mapped out, in Secrets, I... just went with it. And there will be more Nico in this story, as a matter of fact; he's in the next chapter, just to give you a little somethin' some.

I say this is a nice little intro to the story; there are little hints here and there about stuff coming up. ;P

REVIEW!

Bye,

Scar :}