Hi, guys. My name is Mia Cortez (not really, but you know, never wanna use your real name on the internet), author of this little story. This idea came up just today when I was reading a story about Annabeth trying to find Percy. Really too much of those for my taste, but you know. Just surfing FF. Anyway, I actually did a face-palm because I couldn't believe I didn't think of this earlier.

So, read this, tell me what you think, and let me know if you want more. Thanks!

1/Crossing Paths

She normally wouldn't care about this.

The fog, creeping through the trees, the cold, seeping into her clothes, the eerie silence, settling over the Muir Woods Forest, San Francisco, California.

Normally, she wouldn't be here. She knew it was dangerous. Too dangerous. The others tried to stop her. They didn't want to tread into enemy territory.

Normally, she would've listened. But, as she tightened her grip on her bow, she knew she had to be here. A direct, hushed, order she couldn't—wouldn't—deny.

And, normally, as she'd known for years, nothing about Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, was normal.

"Thalia."

A frown rippled across her face at the hushed whisper; hunting was a task without conversation. She jumped from the tree silently, reaching out with one hand to grab a branch and swing onto another swiftly, landing soundlessly next to the younger girl. "What?" Her voice was barely above a murmur.

The girl, Bethany, bit her lip worriedly. "Have you seen Carmen?"

That thought simply floated around in Thalia's mind for a second before registering. "Carmen?" Yes, where was Carmen? "I thought she was with Alexa."

Bethany shook her head. "Alexa left her with Callie."

"Where's Callie now?" The familiar sense of urgency and authority settled in Thalia's chest as she spoke. She was responsible for each and every girl in her command. None were much older than her; Carmen, the missing girl, was only a month or two younger than Thalia.

"Here," Callie's voice murmured from a tree to their left. The girl looked troubled. "Thalia, I'm sorry. Carmen, she was right behind me. I don't know—" She cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath as Thalia's hand came up.

Thalia's electric blue eyes darted from left to right warily. She held a finger to her lips momentarily, then dropped into the foggy darkness. The air whooshed past her for a short few seconds, and her feet made a soft thudding noise as she hit the ground. She grimaced. She hated heights.

The others took her actions to mean: Be quiet. Be careful. Someone's here. She didn't know how right she was.

She wasn't as smart as the witty Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, but she wasn't as dumb as the brave Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, either. Everything was adding up in her mind at lightning speeds.

The unusual state of environment, Carmen's disappearance, their location, she started to realize what was going on. A leaf crunched. The sound was barely a flutter, lasted only a second, a fatal mistake on the part of the unknown other party, but Thalia heard it.

She froze mid-step, then quickly pressed her back to a tree, pulling a long silver arrow from the quiver at her back and silently notching it with the silky bowstring in her hands.

A whisper of shadows flashed by her left, but she knew they were her own. She folded her hands over her mouth and blew. The expert noise was the perfect pitch of a bird, sending a quick message as discreetly as possible: Quiet. Danger. Keep your positions.

She was listening so hard her ears began to hurt. She dared to move, leaning forward just an inch.

The whistling sound alerted her just before the fatal wound would have; her hand flashed up and caught the offending arrow with the reflexes of a snake. Fast as her father's lightning, she sent one back, then quickly shifted her position.

She realized she was still holding the arrow in her hand. She lifted it to her eyes, studying it with sudden curiosity. The arrow was silver in color, just like her own, but less elegant, crudely shaped, as if carved with careless hands. It was obvious the arrow was made for skill, rather than looks.

She held it tightly, a look of shock leaping to her face as she finally understood.

She jumped into the open—a stupid move, really, as most of the flying arrows went to her immediately, but more cut them off before they could touch her.

"STOP!" she yelled in Greek. Lightning flashed menacingly. Her voice rang with the proper authority of Zeus's daughter and Artemis's lieutenant. So much, the arrows ceased to fly, and her Hunters stepped cautiously into her line of sight.

Thalia's eyes searched the dark for the enemy she knew was there. She could tell they were puzzled—shocked, even, at her outburst. They were trying to decide their next move. Lucky for her, their move was one of curious truce, rather than shoot-now-ask-questions-later.

A figure moved in the fog, silently walking into the clearing. It was a girl Thalia's age, clutching an odd silver bow, her dark eyes flitting warily from Hunter to Hunter, finally settling on Thalia.

"Tu peccatum. Quis es ausus invadere?" The words were alien to Thalia's ears, the voice uttering them cold and unfriendly.*

She had to struggle to recall old lessons of the dead language. "Friends," she offered. "We do not wish to fight."

Whispers went up among the Hunters at Thalia's words. They didn't know she could speak it. They didn't know Chiron had taught her. Only now did Thalia know why he did.

The girl obviously disagreed with Thalia's offering. She tried for English instead. "You will leave now. We do not take kindly to invaders."

"We're not trying to invade," Thalia said calmly. She shouldered her bow. "My name is Thalia. Who are you?"

The girl eyed Thalia's bow, but she unarmed herself as well, reluctantly waving forward her companions. Girls no older than her, dressed in thick furs and carrying silver bows. Their eyes, trained and careful, probed the darkness for potential weaknesses.

The girl's hand clenched.

"I am Rowena," she announced. "Daughter of Jupiter. Praetor to Diana, goddess of the Hunt."

* Tu peccatum. Quis es ausus invadere? - You trespass. Who are you, to dare to invade us?

Well then. I hope you liked that. It was definitely fun to write :) Anyhow, just review to say what you think, whether it be flames (which personally I consider constructive criticism) or compliments. This is only a taste of what's coming. My usual chapters are soooo much longer than this. Thank you for reading!

~Mia~