Chapter 4: A New Teacher
*Perseus is now 8 years old*
The clang of metal connecting against each other broke the bliss of a forest. Two boy's, each of eight years of age, were battling each other. One with short blonde hair, the other with long, untamed black hair.
Perseus was sweating profusely, from being at hard work sparring with Jason. It seemed like this was all they did, ever since they got their chosen weapons.
While Perseus had stepped back from their struggle to take a breather, Jason studied his opponent, searching for a weakness. Finally, tired of waiting, he attacked Perseus with renewed vigor, jabbing his spear towards Perseus.
Jumping to the left to avoid the sharp spear, he then stepped forward, extending his sword towards Jason as a counterattack. Jason then swiped his sword down with the shaft of his spear. While his spear was pointed down, Perseus then stepped on the end of his spear, and leveled his sword point to Jason's neck.
"Make that four to zero." Perseus said with a smirk. "Whatever bro, I'll get you next time. You just wait." Jason said with a scowl.
Just as they were about to start up again, they noticed their mentors were about upon them, and they lowered their weapons, waiting for them to reach them.
"How long do you two insist on fighting everyday? It's been four hours, give it a rest. You still have years of training to come." Dakota said as he came trotting into the clearing.
Through the years, Dakota, Aiyana, Jason, and Perseus had become their own family. They were still a part of the pack, but they all shared a closer bond. Dakota and Aiyana being the parents, taught Perseus and Jason many skills they would use throughout their lives.
*Flashback*
Perseus and Jason were sitting around a fire, tossing a ball around. They were brothers all but in blood. Currently each was seven years old, they had only the very basics of fighting down.
Jason had just tossed the ball over the fire to Perseus, when all of the sudden a wolf jumped over the fire and caught the ball in his mouth. Surprised at the sudden visitor, both boys jumped back in alarm.
"Never let your senses down, always be aware of your surroundings. We start survival training now." said Dakota as he morphed into his human form.
He stood a short 5'8". However, he was lean and muscular, and had long black hair, streaked with grey, that fell down to his shoulders, his bangs pushed to the sides. He wore a simple white t-shirt with jeans. His feet were bare however.
Both boys looked upon him with gaping mouths. Never before had they seen any other pack member but Lupa turn into a human.
"What are you to staring at?" Dakota snarled. "We've never seen you turn into a human before." Perseus said as he looked over at Jason, to find the same astonished expression written on his face.
"Yeah well, better get used to it. Aiyana convinced me that it would be easier to teach you in this form." he said with contempt. "Follow me. It's time you learned how to hunt." he said before he broke into a jog to the north, grumbling along the way.
They came to a sight they had only seen once before. A dilapidated shack, that held the only weapons of the pack. Dakota swung the door open as it's rusty hinges screamed in protest.
Both boys winced at the sound. Dakota then reached into the shed and pulled out a large bow and a quiver, containing about 25 razor sharp arrows.
"But Dakota, I didn't know you knew how to use a bow?" said Perseus curiously looking at the bow in his hands.
"One of the few weapons of man that I'm decent with. Sometimes it is required for pack members to be in their human form, and they have to be able to at least use one weapon of choice. My choice was a bow." Dakota explained while understanding dawned on the boys face.
"What was Aiyana's choice?" asked Jason, curious of his own mentor's weapon.
"She will show you soon." came Dakota's mysterious reply.
"Now, before you choose a hunting weapon, you must learn to stalk prey without being found out. This skill will be useful both in hunting and in fighting. Never forget the weight surprise holds in a battle, both of you." Dakota lectured as he was walking to the east, away from the pack.
Dakota stopped dead in his tracks, and looked down to the forest floor. "Lucky for us, it rained last night, which makes it easy to spot fresh tracks in the mud. Look closely," he said pointing down to the damp mud, "it looks like a group of deer passed through here, not more than about six hours ago. We must make haste, but stay silent, watch where you walk, and no talking. Try to glide on your feet, stay low to the ground, and stay in the shadows." with this, he moved swiftly off in the direction of the tracks.
The two young boys followed Dakota's example, and did as he did to the best of their ability. Perseus knew firsthand that Dakota wasn't very relentless when he messed up, so he tried his hardest to hold his tongue, and not to step on any twigs.
The pattern of the boys rushing to keep up with Dakota, stepping on a twig with a 'SNAP' in the process, and Dakota wincing and turning around to glare at the two.
Just as Perseus opened his mouth to complain about how they had been going, roughly four hours, Dakota abruptly stopped, leaving the boys to trip over each other to not bump into him. When they both narily missed him, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning to the two with a raised eyebrow, he whispered, "Look ahead, see the deer?"
Once he saw both boys nod their heads he said in a hushed voice, "Follow by what I do, stay as low to the ground as you can."
Dakota took the bow off that was strung around his shoulder, put it in his right hand, and crouched beneath the top of the three foot tall grass.
Once both boys knees were aching, they came upon a huge tree, with a three and a half foot radius, at the edge of the clearing the deer were grazing in. Dakota slowly stood from his crouch, back pressed to the tree, to conceal himself from the deer. When the boys went to also stand, he motioned for them to stay down, but to watch from the side of the tree he was against.
In a few seconds, the boys were in position to watch silently. Dakota then took an arrow from his quiver, and drew the bow back. The arrow rubbing up against the bow made a slight scratching noise, and the closest deer, a buck with a huge twelve point rack, picked its head up from the grass and looked in Dakota's direction.
Both boys thought he was done for sure, but in the instant it picked its head up, Dakota let the arrow fly. The length of the deer's body was facing him, so it was a relatively easy shot.
With a 'thump' the arrow embedded itself into the deer's heart, an instant kill. By the time the buck dropped to the ground, all the other deer were bolting out of the clearing.
"H-he actually g-got it." stammered an amazed Perseus.
"You seem surprised?" questioned Dakota with a raised eyebrow.
Not waiting for a response, he got out from behind the tree and went to the fallen deer. He then took out a gutting knife and went to work.
Most kids the age of Jason and Perseus would be gagging at the sight of Dakota gutting the deer, but after living with the pack their whole life, they were used to the gore.
Once he was done gutting the deer, he sawed off the the antlers. Closing his eyes, he thanked Lady Diana for a successful hunt and then sacrificed the antlers to her.
Smirking at the boys Dakota said, "It's always nice to be on the good side of the goddess of the hunt. Alright, now we have to take this back to camp. I'll take the front legs of the buck, and you two will each take a back leg."
Five hours later, a grumpy Dakota, and two sweaty boys stumbled into camp. Immediately, the boys dropped the buck off their shoulders, leaving Dakota to hold the weight. Dakota's head snapped back as he glared at the two, but they were already walking over to to start up the fire again.
He just shrugged the deer higher up onto his shoulders, and went in search of Aiyana. He found her practicing with two hunting knives on a few straw dummies she had made for the boys after they had got their weapons.
Even though she had not handled the knives for a couple of years, she was still skillful with them. Darting around the standing straw figures, she was graceful, yet deadly. She had just gotten done slashing one's stomach open, when she threw the one in her right hand into a dummy that was 15 yards away, next to a tree. Then she whipped her head to the side and threw her other knife into a tree that Dakota was leaning on.
"How did the hunt go?" she asked in a monotone voice.
With wide eyes Dakota answered, "It wasn't too bad for their first time, although Perseus did complain a bit. Got a pretty good sized buck. Would you help me out with butchering and smoking it?" Dakota asked hopefully.
She nodded her head and then smirked and said, "He gets the complaining from you, now set that down and I'll get started on the hut for drying it. Go get the boys so I can teach them the process."
With a tired nod, he went to go retrieve the boys. He found them with droopy eyes, tending the now inferno of flames.
"Your job isn't done yet, Aiyana is going to show you how to prepare the meat now. I'll take care of the fire, don't you worry." Dakota announced while smiling.
Both boys rubbed their eyes, grumbling about how it wasn't fair, and got up to go to Aiyana. They met here by a little ways from where the straw dummies they practiced on were. She was sharpening some knives, getting ready to butcher up the meat.
"You must be able to butcher and prepare your meat, after you get it. I will do a third, to demonstrate, then you two will each do a third." she explained as she stopped sharpening the knife, and bent down to the carcass.
About ten minutes later, she had a third of the meat hanging from tree branches, she promptly sat down, and motioned for the to start.
They both had a brief look of disgust, before they got to work. Aiyana got started on the hut, and made glances at the boys every once in while, to ensure they were butchering it correctly.
Soon she had a teepee, and sticks in the middle of it, running horizontal across the inside of the teepee. They were spaced enough apart so that the meat wouldn't fall. There was also a pit dug in the middle of the inside of it, with stones surrounding it, about two feet down, and a three foot diameter. The teepee itself was five feet in diameter, and had a doorway in the front.
Once she was done constructing the teepee, she turned and found that the boys had just finished.
"Go gather firewood, enough to burn all night." Aiyana instructed the boys, as they nodded, well, Perseus yawned in response.
While they were gathering the wood, she put the meat on the poles that ran through the teepee. After she was done with that, the boys had gathered a large pile of wood, which was deposited outside the teepee doorway.
They then all got together, Jason, Perseus, and Aiyana, and starting up a small fire inside of the teepee. Once the fire was going, Aiyana covered the doorway with a couple of large, leafy, branches.
Aiyana told them that they could go to sleep now, they were almost falling over each other they were so tired. They didn't even bother to go back to their fire, they fell asleep on the ground, outside the teepee.
Over the course of the year, they all had their own steady supply of smoked deer jerky. This was just one of the many days of tiring work that they would come to experience. However, this brought them even closer together, making a family in all but blood. Perseus and Jason gained much knowledge and experience from their mentors over the year.
*End of Flashback*
With a smirk Perseus replied, "I'll train until I am good enough to beat you one on one."
"Then you better get back to training, because that'll never happen." replied Dakota. "Sure it won't. You just wait, I'll catch you off guard eventually."
Aiyana just shook her head as she observed the two's playful banter.
"Alright, it's time to train a different set of weapons." Dakota stated, his mood turning a bit more serious. Both boys heads perked up at the mention of weapons. "It is always a good idea to have a backup weapon, and in this case, it will be a weapon of range. Whether that means a bow, throwing knives, etc."
Both boys nodded their heads, then looked and smirked at each other. Instead of toys, like normal kids their age would get as a gift, they got new weapons, or things done to their weapons. Such as, for a gift for Perseus, his sword was able to turn into a pen. Whereas Jason's spear turned into a wrist watch.
"Remember how me and Aiyana left for a few days, two weeks ago?" asked Dakota. Seeing as both boys nodded their heads, he continued. "Well, we were actually going in search of ranged weapons, and we've gathered a couple bows, and quivers of arrows. If a bow doesn't suit you, then we have throwing knives as a backup." Dakota was talking as he walked, the boys crunching on leaves and branches behind.
Leaves of a multitude of color coated the ground. Seeing as it was fall, the trees had started to shed their leaves, in exchange for bare, skinny branches. It was turning to dusk, and the trees casted shadowy hands, grasping for anything within reach.
Dakota stopped at a large maple tree, one that Perseus and Jason would often sleep at, sometimes Dakota and Aiyana would join them.
Dakota pulled out a bundle from underneath the leaves, as Aiyana did the same. Each mentor motioned for their pupil to come closer. Both of them unravelled the packages, revealing boys, and a quiver of arrows each.
"A target has been arranged 30 yards down to the right, one for each of you, your training with the boys starts now. If you practice for a week with no success, then you will have the option of throwing knives. I will be showing you both how to use the bow properly, as I am more experienced with a bow than Aiyana is." Dakota got a glare as he said this. "However, she will be teaching you how to use throwing knives if needed." he said, looking uncomfortable.
With a stiff nod of the head, Aiyana turned and went off to check up on the pack.
Five minutes later, a grumpy Dakota walked back from the firing range, and took a seat on a log. The reason for his unhappiness lied with Perseus. He asked so many questions his head hurt. Firing a bow wasn't that difficult, but he still found room to ask so many questions that Dakota's head hurt.
First up was Jason, as he strung the bow up with an arrow, pulled back, let it rest while he aimed, and then let it fly. The arrow flew through the air swiftly, and then a 'thunk' was heard as the arrow made contact with the target. It had hit the second to last ring, on the bottom right side of the target.
Perseus however, was a completely different story, as he pulled the bowstring back, and let it go, the arrow turned sharply to the right, and shot off at a completely different direction.
Dakota's eyes widened in surprise at how, the better of the two boys with weapons, completely missed the target. However, he decided to sit back, and see how his next few arrows went.
After a few more shots from Perseus, he decided that five arrows lost was enough. Just as he was pulling back his sixth arrow, eyebrows crinkled in concentration, Dakota interrupted him.
"Woah, hold up. I think that six five arrows is enough. You know, those arrows weren't easy to get." Dakota scolded. "It has become evident that you are clearly not a natural with a bow. I think that you'll have to move on to throwing knives a little ahead of schedule." he finished.
With a sigh Perseus said, "You didn't give me enough time to practice, I would've gotten better, come on, give me another try." he whined.
"Hmmmmm, let me think…..no." was the monotone reply that he got. After Dakota had made his answer obvious, he turned on his heel and marched in the direction Aiyana had gone off in briefly before.
Perseus was left running to catch up with Dakota, whom was taking long, fast paced strides. Perseus tripped over a branch, but stopped himself from falling face first into the ground.
Eventually, once he got even with Dakota, he asked, "Where are you going?" gasping for air right after he finished his question.
"To the pack, I'm going to sleep now." he said this as he glanced over at the horizon. A pinkish orange hew lay over the sky, as if painted by the brush of an artist.
Perseus caught himself staring at the beautiful scene before him, but then he went on, wanting to see if Aiyana would show him the throwing knives.
After a few stumbles, some crashes, and falls, Perseus managed to make it to the pack at the same time as Dakota. He stopped and looked around, searching for Aiyana. He was about to ask someone where she was, when someone grabbed, and picked him up from behind.
He tried to break free, but the grasp of the person holding him held firm. Just as he was about to start yelling for help, he landed face first on the ground in a heap.
His head snapped up, alarmed, only to come to see the sight of a snickering Aiyana.
With a groan he whined, "Don't sneak up on me like that, you freaked me out!"
"Don't be a baby." Aiyana said as she turned her back to him, looking out over the forest.
The wolves would set up camp at high ground whenever they stopped, they wanted as many defense advantages as possible. Seeing as they were usually in California, to stay close to New Rome, they usually slept in the mountains. Not only could they see the surrounding area, it also made it hard for any attackers to climb up the mountainside.
She stood overlooking a cliff, watching the sun being pulled down by Apollo. The temperature was starting to drop. Leaves fell from the trees, as a slight breeze blew through the mountain tops.
Perseus broke the blissful silence with a cough, "Ummmm….it turns out that I'm not very good with a bow…...I didn't hit the target once." he stated uncomfortably.
"Well that's not something I can fix. But there is an alternative. Not many use throwing knives, because many look at the disadvantages before the advantages. They certainly cannot have the range of a bow, they cannot be used by legions at a distance, they aren't a weapon used for suppression. However the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Concealment, close to medium quarters combat, they can be used as a melee weapon if you're desperate, the list goes on." she had began her lecture on the usefulness and truth behind the art.
"If you do wish to learn the art, then there is several things you must understand beforehand." she looked pointedly at Perseus, whom vigorously shook his head up and down.
"It requires hours of practice, lots of skill, and most important, patience. Using a sword or bow comes naturally to people, but throwing knives are a backup, and do not come naturally to anyone. This is why it requires more practice. Once you start your training under me, I will not allow you to give up. Do you agree to the terms I've set?" she asked putting her hand out for Perseus to shake.
"I will try my hardest." he stood firm, and shook her hand.
"Training starts at sunrise tomorrow, don't be late, you'll regret, trust me." with that she switched to her wolf form, and ran off into the night.
Perseus hoped to himself that he had made the right choice. He shivered as he just realized that the sun had gone down behind the horizon. A shiver racked his body, as he began his jog back to camp.
A/N: I'm sorry guys, I know I've let you guys down. This is my first story, and I just have had a lot going on, and honestly, I didn't have much motivation. Hopefully you guys think this chapter is decent, it's kind of a filler. For the next chapter, I will try to get it up within one to two weeks, but I will never again leave this story for as long as I did unless I truly do abandon it, and in that case I will tell you guys. Sorry if there are some errors in this chapter, the person who typically proof reads my story didn't do it this chapter. As always, please, please, please, REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW! Help motivate me! Until next time…..
Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series. I make no money from this story.