A/N: Why do people not like this? This is so sad! It's awesome to write this. If you have a suggestion to make this appear more interesting for people browsing the stories, please tell me! And this is a really cool chapter, so I hope you enjoy! And since I got no objections, the character's are coming back in the end.
Percy: Wild Girl
As soon as I had read the Greek message on the bookshelf, I knew we were in for a wagon-load of trouble. This girl had known who she was, that she was a half-blood. For whatever reason, she had disappeared and left us with barely a single clue. Just a message that said we were too late. I wasn't sure whether to start cursing or run outside and start looking everywhere.
As soon as we found the writing, we knew it was hopeless to keep searching the house. Following Grover's nose we wound our way out of the house and into the overrun yard. Hours had passed; the sun had gotten much lower than from when we had gone in. After an extremely quick discussion, we agreed to go with Grover's idea, which is follow his nose through the woods that apparently had the demigod's scent rolling off it.
We started out for the woods, and as we did, something flew over head. Annabeth said it was an owl, but I couldn't tell. I didn't even know how she could tell. Once we got to the edge of the woods Grover stopped and began to sniff deeply. He started insisting that he smelt the half-blood in a tree. But he also said the entire woods smelt of it, so we ignored him. Besides, we didn't really want to try climbing the tree he was pointing too.
So we all headed in to the woods. Grover led us in a twisting path. After a while he stopped in a tiny clearing and sniffed hard, looking disturbed. I frowned and glanced nervously around, his expression made me uneasy.
"I swear I smell something following us!" Grover exclaimed. Annabeth raised her eyebrows and did a quick sweep of the surrounding trees. Finding nothing she turned back to us.
"There's nothing, I repeat, nothing. Stop imagining things," Annabeth informed us. I shrugged, and Grover glanced fearfully at the trees behind us. A moment later, a bird swooped closely over head. I instinctively ducked, the straightened up and stared after the bird in confusion. Barely a second passed and Grover let out a yelped, an arrow suddenly was embedded in the ground beside my foot. I whirled around, but saw nothing.
The trees began to rustle, but I figured it was just a gust of wind. I followed it with my eyes. It stopped when it was in front of us. Suddenly, a low hiss sounded, vibrating through the air. Next thing I knew, a young girl dropped to the ground in front of us. A wooden bow in her hands, arrow knocked on string, quiver on back.
I looked at her up and down, trying to take in what I saw. For a second I thought she was Artemis, but quickly dismissed that idea. She was about the age of twelve, maybe a little younger. Her features were still forming, so I couldn't tell. Her hair was extremely long; it fell down to her knees. It was a deep auburn colour with a streak of warm brown the left side of her face (left when you faced her) and a honey blond streak down the other side; so they framed her face. Her hair started out straight, the gradually grew wavy, then turned into princess curls. Each different style was a third of her hair. But what was most startling was her eyes. The eye on the left (when you were facing her) was a cold silver, like Artemis's, but it seemed to shift, and for a second it was cold silver then it was stormy grey. The other was burning yellow, much like Hestia's only not actual flame. Then there were her clothes.
Her clothes were tattered, like she had grown through them. If they had been whole, it would have been brown capri's and a black T-shirt. Instead, they were all patched with various animal furs, as well as something that looked like canvas. She had a pair of worn running shoes on. Everything about her – hair, clothes, face – was covered and streaked with dirt, leaves and sweat. Her skin was slightly sunburnt and muscles were faintly visible on her arms and legs.
I took this all in, in a second. Before I could say anything she hissed, "What are you doing here?" her voice would have sounded like bells, but the harsh tone ruined it. For a second I gaped at her, from her appearance I wouldn't like her to have such a nice voice. But I quickly covered my wits.
"We're, oh, you know, just out here, enjoying nature," I told her as cheerfully as I could. She slowly began to glare at me, and her look is as bad as Athena's.
"Don't lie," She said in an even but harsh tone. "You went into the house. Why? Tell me, why are you here? If you're here as a search party, leave. If you're here as developer, leave. Get out." I swallowed nervously and took a small step back. Her eyes grew a slightly amused look, but I could have imagined it.
"We're not here to develop anything, and we're not a search party," Annabeth said as calmly as she could manage. The girl gave a heartless laugh, one that chilled my bones.
"Really?" she said, voice crawling like a snake. "Then why did you go into the house? Why are you in this forest? This is dangerous land; you should leave while you can." Suddenly Grover gave sound half way between a gasp and a choke.
"It's her," he managed. "She's who we're looking for." I gulped and glanced back at Grover.
"You sure?" I asked, hating how much my voice was shaking. He gave a nervous nod and skidded back on his feet, err, hooves.
"It's her," he repeated. I looked back to the girl, her eyes had grown crueler and she bared her teeth, hissing at us. This girl is one hundred percent crazy.
"Why are you looking for me?" she said quietly. "What do you want with me? I'm not going anywhere." She looked almost scared; the ADHD part of me wondered how long she'd been out here and why. Annabeth's calm measured voice broke me out of my thoughts.
"Please, don't get so worked up. We're here to take you somewhere safe. Just come with us, it'll be okay," Annabeth said reassuringly. "Please just trust us." The girl began to growl.
"I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere," she said in a scary voice. Before we had time to react, she lifted her bow and drew back with ease. In a second she had taken aim at Annabeth and she released. It whizzed through the air, and the next thing I did was so impulsive and stupid it probably screwed up the whole mission.
The second she released I jumped in front of Annabeth, blocking her from the arrow's path. The arrow flew fast and hit my chest, instead of shattering; it just bounced off my invincible chest and fell to the ground. The tip glinted strangely in the grass and dirt. Annabeth's hand gripped my shoulder and I could just imagine her face. Probably something that said I-cannot-believe-this-is-happening. I looked at the girl and her jaw was dropped in shock. Slowly she lowered her arm, her eyes wide and disbelieving.
Unfortunately her shock only lasted for a second. Her eyes returned to that hard cold look, and she swept them over me analyzing everything. She saw something and her eyes narrowed. Darting forward like quicksilver, she ran at me. She was a lot shorter than me, so suddenly she jumped and made a grab for the top of my head; hair whiplashing me in the face. It happened so fast I couldn't even react. Next thing I knew, she was behind us on the other side of the clearing, my wig in her hand. She looked at it for a second then looked up at me scowling. My black hair fell back into place, partly covering my eyes; yeah this was going to end badly.
"It can't be," I heard her murmur. Even though her mouth didn't appear to move and her expression stayed the same. But I knew she spoke because of the bell-like sound. I looked at Annabeth and Grover, they were thinking the same thing as me: This just blew up.
I sighed and rubbed my head (wearing a wig for hours is very itchy and uncomfortable). Taking a deep breath I said, "Well, looks like the jig is up guys. Time to take them off." The girl looked at us strangely as we went about the business of taking off the wigs and contacts. Within a couple minutes we were back to our usual selves. Grover's horn poked slightly over his curly hair the he had intentionally pulled up – so the girl wouldn't get even more freaked out.
"Okay, we can explain this," Annabeth started; but the girl cut her off by taking another arrow from her quiver and knocking it.
"I don't care," she said fiercely. "I don't care if you're supposed to be great heroes, you shouldn't be here. I've been doing fine on my own, just leave. I don't want your help." Now I was certain, this girl had once lived in the mansion. She recognized who we were, which would make sense if she had done all the drawings.
"Look," Grover said, with all the power he could muster. He still wasn't the best at acting as an authority figure. "We get seeing us is a little shocking, but you're a demigod. You need to come with us to camp. You'll be safe there and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Any other half-bloods who've heard of it love it." The girl lifted her bow and began to draw back before we could get any further.
"I'm not like other people," she growled. "Leave me alone and get out of here!" She was about to release, and I was prepared to jump in front of the arrow again, when there was a loud screech. It broke through the air, piercing through my head making it pound. As soon as it ended, thunder rumbled in the distance. The girl blinked and regarded us coldly. Reluctantly she took the arrow off her bow string and placed it back in her quiver with a flourish.
"Um, what just happened?" I asked confused. The girl muttered something I couldn't make out while giving me the evil eye.
"Follow me," she instructed then began to walk through the clearing to the other side. She slung her bow over her shoulder, surprisingly not getting her already matted hair twisted up in it. Folding her arms she paused on the other side and turned to look back at us. "Well? Are you coming or not?" I blinked in surprise and gave a small shrug. If this girl was going to be somewhat nice instead of trying to kill us; I wasn't about to argue.
"We might as well," Annabeth reasoned. With a quick nod the girl turned away and began to walk. She wove in and out the trees with ease, half the time she wasn't even in view. It was thanks to Grover we managed to actually follow her.
Eventually, after about ten minutes we were close enough so that she was in sight. She paused and let out a shrill whistle. "Aria!" she called. For the first time, her voice sounded genuinely happy. A second later a young barn owl swooped in and alighted on her shoulder. She resumed walking, scratching the owl's head.
A minute later the thick trees cleared, and my jaw dropped at the sight before me. It was the largest tree I had ever seen; even the trees at camp couldn't compare. It was taller than the three-story Big House at camp, and was as wide as an average room (dimension wise). The branches spanned so far, I couldn't even see where they ended. Some of the lower branches looked like they might be wide like sidewalks.
A long rope was hanging from one of the low branches. It looked worn and dingy, with knots in it every couple feet. The girl didn't say anything to us. She cooed softly to the owl and it spiraled up into flight. The girl walked over to the rope and began to pull herself up. She was fast, her hands going over top of each other so fast it was almost a blur. I can defiantly see why she had so much muscle.
We had to follow up the best we could. Pausing often to help Grover scramble up, since he doesn't have feet to use. Glancing up, I saw the girl looked down on us annoyed, like she couldn't believe we were so slow. Pulling ourselves to the top, I looked around in awe. But my thoughts and amazement was interrupted soon.
"So, why are we here and what's your name?" Annabeth asked the girl. I looked over and saw she was extremely uncomfortable. When she noticed me looking, she glared hard at me with her two-coloured eyes. I looked away quickly, they were extremely unsettling. Maybe one was fake . . . unlikely.
"My name is Arthemia," she told us quietly in a cold tone. "And this tree has been my home for the past two years." I looked around in surprise. This? She lived her for two years? That takes guts and brain, and a strange nature. From what I've seen, this is defiantly a wild girl.
A/N: Okay, so, once again, we have people here . . .
Percy: Yes, you're amazing storyteller has returned.
Me: You're not that good.
Percy: I've done books haven't I?
Me: Annabeth and Chiron did the work; you just told them the story.
Arthemia: *snorts* Of course, you get all the glory for no work. I still think I should have shot you.
Percy: I'm invincible. And I did do work! I put my neck in danger a lot!
Arthemia: *rolls eyes* Arrogant much.
Me: Artie! Stop it! Please, can't you act nice for this at least?
Arthemia: No. And do not call me Artie!
Me: You know what? We are done here, you're both being a jerk right now. Bu-bye my awesome readers. Please review if you think it would help. Or just to let me know you're enjoying this. Bye!
