A/N: OHMERGOSH! Thanks for the reviews and feedback! I'm glad you all are liking this :D

So, there will be Peyna action this chapter ( people, not through e-mail). Haha, enjoy this long chappie

xD I'm such a tease in this chapter

Playlist: Wide Awake - Katy Perry

Chapter 6

The Horse Whisperer

The smell of manure, the buzzing of flies, and the cold weather was becoming a bit too much for Reyna. She was a city girl and wasn't used to the big, open, green pastures of Olympus Ranch.

For a community service project and the high school retreat ( well, kinda), Chiron split the student body into three groups. One group would be going to Olympus Ranch where they would be a ranch hand and drive cattle, round horses up, and trim the sheep and do other things. The second group was going to the Humane Society and would help with various animal rescue missions. The third group would pick up trash along the highway and the forests. Once they were done, they would have a nice camp out in the forest.

Reyna was a bit peeved that she couldn't go to the Humane Society to help the sick, abused, and sad animals that were left by their owners to die. But, she got stuck on Olympus Ranch instead. Yes, it was very beautiful and was a change of pace for Reyna, but she would rather help animals that were in need. The horses, cows, chickens, and sheep all appeared perfectly fine to Reyna. Well, it was pointless to brood over it now.

"I hope we have a real high school retreat in the spring. Not this..." Reyna muttered.

She took her phone out of her blue jean jacket's pocket and checked her e-mail. Thank gods that the people who owned Olympus Ranch were nice enough to let them use their WiFi. As usual, a message from Sea Boy was on her e-mail account. She began to type out a reply.

"Ah, Daisy, you are funny." Percy laughed as he brushed the colt's mane. He hoped no one was hearing him talk to a horse. It would get awkward pretty quick. Daisy neighed as Percy continued to brush her hair gently. "I'm glad you think that feels good."

Percy began to hear typing sounds behind the stables. Curious, he told Daisy he'd be back and went to go investigating. He came outside and on the left side a girl was leaning up against the wall for support, she had his back toward him and looked to be on her phone. Percy smirked and said, "Are you texting your boyfriend?"

The girl jumped and whirled around. It was Reyna. She relaxed a little bit when she saw it was Percy. "Oh no. I was just texting my mom, letting her know I was having a good time." Reyna shifted her eyes back to her phone and pushed the send button. A little whoosh sound let her know the message was sent.

Ding!

Percy looked down at his phone and saw he just recieved a message from DL. Reyna and Percy's eyes locked. Percy's sea green eyes held curiosity while Reyna's dark eyes held a challenge. Percy broke the intense gaze and checked his message from DL.

1/9/13 9:58 a.m.

To: seaboy16 hba . edu

From: dogloverCC 175 hba . edu

I'm tired, honestly. I hope we get another high school retreat in the spring, ya know when it's WARM! Right now, I'm at the Humane Society. They have the cutest dogs (hence my name dog lover :P). Plus, a few other students and I got to see how a real animal rescue took place. It's nothing like the tv shows.

Which service project are you in?

:O

Percy put away his phone. He'd have to respond to DL later once Reyna stopped staring at him like he was a threat. For a second there, he was gonna joke that him and Reyna must have been e-mail buddies ( as Percy likes to put it), but even if it was Reyna it would still be awkward. Plus, DL obviously wouldn't want him to figure out her identity.

Oh, what was he thinking!?

DL was at the Humane Society, doing what she loved. Percy was at the ranch talking to horses.

"So, are you trying to hide like I am and not do any work?" Reyna asked casually. Her face was stoic, her eyes were not filled with same fierceness he saw only moments ago.

"No, I'm taking care of the horses. They're one of my favorite animals. That's why I'm glad I'm at the ranch." He explained. "Come on, lemme show you."

Reyna followed Percy into the stables. In one of the stalls, Percy was tending to a brown and white horse. "She's a colt. Her name is Daisy." Percy handed Reyna a brush. She took it and cautiously brushed Daisy's mane. Daisy nudged Reyna with her wet nose and neighed.

"She likes you." Percy commented.

Reyna chuckled and continued brushing Daisy. Percy decided to go to another stall and feed some other horses. Before he could step out of the stall, boots clicked on the hard floor. A man came in and instantly glared at Percy. "Hey, how long have you been in here? Do you know where Blackjack is?"

"Blackjack? Uh, no sir, I just got in here. I've been taking care of Daisy." Percy answered. The man cursed and looked around annoyed.

"Look, Blackjack is just a baby. He wandered off and I can't find him. He's probably off in the woods. Think you can find him?"

Reyna poked her head out of Daisy's stall and said, "Yes sir. We'll find him and have him back by noon."

The man smiled at Reyna. "Thank you, miss. I appreciate it. Blackjack is, well, a black baby horse. If you need to come find me, just ask for Hercules."

Reyna nodded her head. "Come on, Percy. Let's go find, Blackjack."

After bidding Hercules goodbye, Percy and Reyna walked to the edge of the ranch, climbed over the fence, and walked into the woods. The trees were close together and hardly any sun came in, so it made things dark. Rabbits, squirells, and woodpeckers made all types of noises for setting the mood for a nice morning stroll in the woods.

"How big is this forest?" Percy asked as his eyes scanned the thick foliage for Gracie. His phone read that it was almost ten thirty.

"I'm not sure. Plus-" Reyna stopped talking when she heard neighing. Percy jumped to his feet and sprinted to the left. Reyna quickly followed after him. Unfortunately, she lost sight of his orange shirt. "Damn, where did that boy go?"

"Reyna! I found him!" Reyna followed the sound of Percy's voice. She found him in a small clearing near a thorn bush. Laying in the thorn bush, with blood and bruises, was Blackjack. He was a small thing and Reyna figured it was painful for him to be away from his mom.

"Shit, He's all tangled up in these thorns. Come help me out." Percy cautiously unwrapped the thorny vines that held Blackjack. Reyna held Blackjack's head up as Percy took some thorns out of his mane and neck. Blackjack let out a painful moan and his body racked with shudders.

"Sshh," Reyna cooed as her soft hand ran across Blackjack's head and neck. "It's almost over."

At last, Blackjack was free, but he still had a few throns in his side which Reyna got out quickly. Blackjack nudged Percy and he shook his head. "There are no donuts on this ranch."

Wait, what?

"Did you really just speak to that horse?" Reyna asked skeptically.

Percy laughed, "No, Blackjack spoke to me. He wants me to go get him some donuts." Blackjack neighed and nudged Percy again. "He wishes he could fly to get donuts." Percy blushed, realizing how weird he sounded. "Sorry, I know it sounds weird, but I can talk to horses. Ha, you must think I'm some kind of freak now, huh?"

Reyna couldn't help but laugh and push Percy a little. "Percy, you seriously just made my day. Honestly, that's one special talent you got there. Don't be ashamed of it. Use it."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind."

After sharing a few laughs, Percy and Reyna took Blackjack to Olympus Ranch. Even though they did get lost a few times (Reyna and Percy blamed each other for this), it was almost noon when they got back. Percy took Blackjack back to the stables and Reyna went to go find Hercules and tell him they found Blackjack. He was thankful for their help and even gave the two of them five dollars each.

"I know it's not much, but you deserve it." Hercules said. "Now, everyone is at the lunch hall. Later on we're going to play some games and then get back to work."

After lunch, a game of kickball commenced. Of course, Jupiter Academy and Half-Blood Academy were on seperate teams. Reyna was captain of Jupiter's team while Clarisse was the captain of Half-Blood Academy. Unfortunately, the game got a bit to rowdy( Clarisse and Reyna were about to fight over the rules of the game) and they had to stop and get back to work.

Night fell and they all gathered around a campfire and told stories and ate s'mores. Sea Boy had sent her a message and said he was camping out in the forest because he was part of the highway clean up. It made her relax knowing Percy wasn't Sea Boy. She noticed that when she sent her e-mail to Sea Boy, Percy answered his phone. But, Percy wasn't Sea Boy. Even if he was, they promised they wouldn't try to figure out who the other was.

That's why Reyna lied in her message, saying she was at the Humane Society.

Reyna yawned and continued to eat her s'mores. Tomorrow, they would be leaving Olympus Ranch and Reyna would miss it here. The open, free space and the night sky that wasn't filled with light pollution. It was wonderful.

A/N: Ok, this chapter was hard yet kinda funny to write xD So, Reyna was on the ball, but she's not going to believe it's Percy.

Next chapter, I'm going to show more e-mailers because other students are involved in this too, not just Percy and Reyna. I'll show Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Octavian, Grover, and any others I can think of.

Hmm, I have a bit of writer's block. Anyone have some ideas? :D

Updated: 12/29/12