A disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or anything pertaining to it. I'm surprised I updated on time. I started writing the next day after I got home from school, but I got sidetracked as I'm a very busy person! Expect to see weekly updates. That means seven day delays per chapter! If it's been more than a week since my last update, then by all means, spam the comment section with "please update faster" if not however, then there should be no reason to ask me to update faster when I'm on time. Other than that, thank you all for the positive reviews. I try my hardest whenever I write, so it helps knowing the community appreciates my work. Also, do I need a disclaimer every chapter? PM me an answer if it isn't too much of a hassle. Without further ado… the story.
Gone and Forgotten
Percy silently pushed the leaves out of his face, revealing the majestic 20 point buck. They've been tracking the massive beast for the past week now. Always almost within an accurate bow shot, but at the same time, just out of the bucks natural spidey sensors, also known as instincts. Artemis and Percy both agreed that if they wanted to hunt, it had to be done fair and square. That meant no godly powers. Percy readied his bow, which, unlike Artemis', was nothing special.
The buck seemed oblivious to them as it chowed down on some grass. Percy almost felt bad for the beast. He kept reminding himself that it was Artemis' idea and he got dragged along with her or she would invoke Zeus' wrath upon him. He silently nocked an arrow and drew back, trying to slow his heartbeat as he prepared for the shot. Time seemed to stop as the only thing Percy was focusing on was his target. He released, watching as the arrow soared from his bow and into his target. The buck immediately perked up at the sound of the twang, before it jumped out of sight.
Percy and Artemis sat there for another 30 minutes, waiting to make sure that if he only wounded the buck, it would be dead or very weak by now. Artemis looked at him, her eyes seemed to be saying, Nice shot. Things would have been faster if they could just communicate mentally, but if mortals couldn't, they wouldn't either.
Percy got up first, wincing as his limbs cracked from disuse. "That looked like a pretty good shot to me," he said proudly. A new thought filled his mind as he stared at the spot where the buck was. "What did I do! It may have had a family! And a fawn! They must be starving in their deer house waiting for a father that would never come back again!"
"Oh, stop being such a wimp," Artemis said, exasperated," Besides, it looked a couple feet off to me," she said jokingly. Percy mock glared at her before slinking over to where the buck was when he shot at it, Artemis following close behind. It wasn't hard to find the dead body of the beast, as everywhere it went, it left a trail of trampled grass and blood.
Percy whistled, "It looks better close up!" Grinning, he tried to lift its head by the rack, only to find that the quarter ton beast was more than the average mortal could handle. "Can I use my powers to carry this guy back to camp, or are we still playing by that lame rule?"
Artemis grinned, "You are. I'm not. I'll see you at camp! And no teleporting! That's considered cheating," with that, Artemis flashed out with a cheeky smile on her face.
Percy groaned. "I love her and I hate her," he said mostly to himself but also to the deer. Looking down at the beast, he wondered, How in Hades' name am I supposed to lug this thing back to camp?
Three painful hours later a sweating and exhausted Percy finally arrived at camp with a dead Buck across his back. He was met with the same cheeky smile that he saw before his torment began.
"It took you long enough. Do you know how long it took me to get here? About half a second," Artemis said smugly. Her eyes were shining with humor. Percy- too tired and grumpy to be made fun of- took his waterskin, uncorked it, and threw it at Artemis, effectively soaking her. To say Artemis was surprised was an understatement. No one has ever soaked Artemis and gotten away with it. "Oh, that's it! You're sleeping outside tonight!" She said in a voice that sounded evil to him. Percy watched in horror as his tent shrunk into the size of a small stone. Artemis picked it up and stuffed it into her bag. "How about you use your time outside to think about how you could have handled that situation better," she said, barely containing a smile.
"Think about how you could have handled that situation better," Percy grumbled to himself in a very bad imitation of Artemis' voice. At least you didn't have to lug a 400 pound deer through a forest, Percy thought to himself. He didn't mention it because he didn't want to find out what other horrors Artemis would make him endure for the night. "Make yourself comfortable, Chuck," he said to the deer he befriended and named during his trek. "This is your last night as a whole body before the crazy woman cuts you up and eats you."
Chuck was a good listener for the rest of the evening. He never once interrupted Percy, and he was always paying attention. In fact, one could consider Chuck to be a listener, and not a talker. Percy didn't mind, though. Company was company, no matter how silent it is, and he made sure to tell Chuck about his adventures and his life. It was late when Percy finally ended his conversation, and Chuck still looked as alert as ever.
"Good night, Chuck," Percy said to his friend. Chuck didn't respond.
How was the chapter? Was it worth the wait? If not, tell me why. I want to get better! I wasn't sure if I should add this chapter as it has nothing to do with the plot and is just a filler. I finally decided to add it as the chapter gives the characters more depth to their personalities. I was able to incorporate stuff like humor and a tad bit of romance into the story. The first chapter to me seemed a little glum. I also don't want the second chapter to jump straight into the romance as that seems to be rushing it a little. Their relationship needs a little background. I assure you though that I'm not going to pull a 'this story has eventual Pertemis' on you and never actually incorporate the romance part in it *cough cough Starblade176 cough cough*. Not only that, but filler chapters add some length to my story. These things work wonders. I'll make sure not to overdo them though. Nobody likes a story that only consists of fillers. Also, and I know this may sound a tad bit random, but Artemis isn't a vegetarian! She's a huntress for crying out loud. Unless she just kills for the fun of it, which I don't think she does. P.S. Beta wasn't available to check my work, so there may or may not be mistakes! P.P.S. I know some of you may be wondering why Annabeth is one of the main characters. The usual Pertemis fic bashes her to death. Well, sorry to say but I'm not trying to make another 'usual Pertemis fic'. I have a plan for Annabeth. As such, she will play an essential and main part for the plot. Yes, I know I can just substitute another character easily into her part, but we need something different.
