Hey guys! Guys...? *Crickets chirp* Come on! You can't even be bothered to throw a tomato at me?

Well to all the angry crickets out there... Please forgive me. I could give you a lot of terrible excuses, but what really happened was I got lazy. The bad news is, in the next few weeks I go away to where comptuers are forbidden, internet is non-existent, and your bathroom is a little hole dug behind some bushes. BUT there are a few weeks til I go, and afterwards, it's SUMMER HOLIDAYS! Which means... MORE UPDATES!

This is kind of just a move the story along bit, but next chapter should be more interesting and action packed!

QUESTION: What do you think Artemis would do if she found out Paul imprinted on Thalia?

Answers to reviews at bottom!

Chapter Seven: Repetition Gets You Everywhere.

Thalia's POV

I'm embarrassed to say, I really had no idea what to do or say now those monsters were gone. Neither, I'm utterly delighted, did the wolves. I never realised, but their large mouths were perfect for catching flies.

Thankfully, Nixie was blessed with the inability to shut up, so she got down to business straight away.

"What the heck were those things?" She glared at the wolves.

The russet one growled back, snapping at her in a way that said, 'get lost.'

The silver one was checking me over from a distance, examining me as if making sure I wasn't hurt. While Nixie kept on demanding an answer, the silver wolf ignored her, and slowly crept up towards me, almost as if he, (because something had made me come to the conclusion he was a guy) was afraid of scaring me.

Soon he was standing straight in front of me, looking me right in the eye, with a look that I couldn't place. For some reason, I remembered how Percy sometimes looked at Annabeth, like he would hold up the sky for her... again.

The silver wolf gently lower his great head, still looking into my eyes, and touched our noses together. At the point of contact, my skin tingled warm, like a ray of sun had broken through the clouds and hit me just on the nose. The feeling spread down and out, and soon I could feel that my whole face was hot, red, on fire.

I didn't care. The wolf's handsome brown eyes made me gaze in wonder, and I realised that this was one intelligent wolf. And he was beautiful. His eyes were so compassionate, full of worry and feeling, all directed at me.

Then a wave of pain hit me as I realised how ridiculous I was being. These wolves could be dangerous, and when faced with one, all I could think was that he had beautiful eyes? Oh gross, I was turning into an Aphrodite girl!

I dragged my eyes away from his, and marched around him to stand between Nixie and Lucy, who was frowning at me, and raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, 'What was that?'. I could only shrug in response.

I turned to face the two wolves. "Two things. First, to quote Nixie, what the heck were those things? And second, we know you know were Phoebe is, so don't even try to deny it."

All I got in response was a blink. Then the russet wolf turned to the silver one, as if conversing inside their heads. The silver wolf growled, as if in response to something the other had said. The russet wolf snarled back, and they started stalking closer to each other.

"Alright you two, break it up!" Nixie demanded.

The wolves looked at each other again. In synchronization, they turned tail and disappeared into the trees.

"As much as I hate to admit it, that nymph might have been right. They really won't help our cause if they don't tell us anything." Nixie grumbled.

"They are wolves." Lucy pointed out quietly, still recovering from shock.

"It's not like they can actually talk." She pointed out.

"Trust me, Lucy. If they wanted to talk, they would have told us, somehow." Nixie scowled into the trees, probably coming up with some kind of painful torture for the wolves. Maybe trying to chase their own tail? I always thought that would be painful. I mean, once they actually got their tail, what if they bit down too hard? That could get messy.

"What next, then?" Lucy asked.

And we were once again stuck with the same dilemma.

We decided that we now had to find the boys who had done their best to terrorize us. To find them, we needed Spirit. We were all terribly ashamed to have forgotten about her. She was probably wandering around camp, wondering where everyone had got to. If Phoebe ever found out we forgot about her precious dog, there would be Hades to pay.

Unfortunately, our modes of transportation were rather limited, though I am proud to say I did not barf once. Neither did I open my eyes.

When we got to camp, Spirit was sleeping on the ice cold ground, and dawn was just breaking. We shook her awake, and I thought for a moment.

"Just how exactly are we going to do this? We don't have anything with those guys scent on it." I pointed out.

"Actually, we do." Lucy grinned, and raced into her tent. She brought out the long sleeved top she had been wearing the day before. Had we really only been here three days?

"Remember when that boy who nearly ran over us grabbed my arm?" Lucy said as she held one of the sleeves up to Spirit's nose.

Spirit was off, following a trail throughout the forest that seemed to double back on itself, then snake between the trees often. Five minuets after following her, we found ourselves circling camp, before she darted away again. Why would this boy be hanging around our camp? How could we not have spotted him?

There was a famous story about Artemis and peeping Toms. Actaecon was turned into an antelope for peeking when Artemis and her Hunters were bathing in the river. Then the story goes that his hunting dogs turned on him, hunting him down and, well, I'm sure it wasn't terribly pleasant for Actaecon.

Once I found this boy who had been snooping around, I would ask Artemis to turn him into an antelope, then train the new Hunters in our ways by setting the wolves on him, and chase him mercilessly through the forests of Forks. Though he might be too disgusting for our wolves to eat, so we'd give his remains to the local wolf pack.

Then Spirit lurched away, and we were running through parts of the dense forrest we had never seen before. The trees then gave way to a backyard. The backyard of a house. A rather small house, with a back porch and lots of flowerless plants. I guess in this kind of weather, you don't see a lot of blossoms, but most seemed to be herbs and such anyway.

Spirit started to run up to the house but I hissed at her to stop. Right now, it was better to stay hidden.

I heard voices inside, shouting, and I grabbed Spirit and tugged her further into the shadows as Lucy and Nixie crept back. Two tall, shirtless boys, and a similar looking girl (who was wearing a dress) walked out of the backdoor and down towards us.

"Why did Sam put us on guard duty? What did we do to piss him off? I'm telling you, that girl is nasty, I'm still hurting from when she kicked me in the stomach." One of the boys grumbled. He was immediately whacked upside the head by the girl.

They had kidnapped her! He just admitted to it! Maybe the nymph had been right about these people helping.

"Ow, Leah, what was that for?" The boy wailed, rubbing the back of his head, as the other boy, who I recognised as Muscles, dragged his feet behind them, the life, energy and anger that had powered him before having mysteriously deserted him, leaving him lifeless. My heart lurched as I saw his tired, bloodshot eyes, and slumped posture.

"I like her. She has the right attitude." Leah said, frowning down at Moany. I knew a brother sister pair when I saw it. "And we kind of did kidnap her. Wouldn't you be angry if you were kidnapped? And for no reason? It's not like we've been trying to get information from her. She just sits there, a pack of wolves nipping at her feet"

What was that about wolves? Maybe these people did know them, and were working in collaboration?

"Wow, Leah, I think that's the longest you've ever talked nicely about someone you've never met." Moany smirked.

"Seth, just because you think I'm an evil older sister, it doesn't mean I have to hate everyone." Leah icily informed her brother.

"Just the majority of the population." Seth grumbled back, ducking his sister's swing.

By now the group had just reached the edge of the forrest, and we were all holding our breath, as still as statues. The wind rustled through the leaves, blowing toward us, making our little group downwind of the three people who had just admitted to, thrown it out there for the world to hear, kidnapping Phoebe.

Somewhere, with some sense born from my years as a hunter, I recognised that being down wind was good. It meant they couldn't smell us. I shook my head slightly, getting that ridiculous idea out of my head. As if they could smell us anyway. Jeez, Thalia, you are going crazy and you're paranoid. The perfect combination.

Paul, Leah, and the other boy soon passed our hiding spot, and melted away into the dark shadows, until all we could here were the sniggers and grumbles from the group.

"What are we waiting for?" Nixie hissed. "They admitted to kidnapping Phoebe, so lets storm the house and kill anything in our way!" She roared.

"No." I said.

Lucy and Nixie stared.

"If their not trying to find out about us, then why did they kidnap her? It's not like they're asking for ransom." I reasoned.

They glanced at each other, and shrugged helplessly. No matter how much they didn't want to admit it, they had no idea what was going on. It was easier to take orders then argue about something they had no idea how to fix.

"I want you two to go back to camp and wait." I told them. It took a second for Nixie to absorb what I had said.

"What? Why? Thalia, we can't do anything there!" Nixie wailed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Wouldn't it be better if we all stayed together to find Phoebe?" Lucy asked, worried.

"I'm sorry, Nixie, but I can't trust you not to lose your temper, and go after those people." I was honestly a bit annoyed at Nixie. If she could just control her temper, I'd let her go, and we could find out just what the heck was going on here. But I couldn't trust her.

"Thalia, just give me a chance. Please? I know my temper isn't that great, but I promise not to go after them. Phoebe is my friend too." She pleaded. Her friend? I never would have guessed.

"I'll give you one chance, Nixie, just one. If you disobey me and lose your temper, I will send you straight back to camp, and ask Percy to test out just how powerful he is compared to a centuries old firebird." It was an empty threat, even if she didn't know. Percy was way too scared of Artemis to offend one of her Hunters, even if he'd never admit it. He respected her, because she could see reason, and knew that there were exceptions to every case, unlike most of the gods, who refused to change their opinions.

Even though Percy would not dump her in the lake, or wet her to the core, Nixie paled. She hated getting wet, with a passion. She faltered slightly, and I knew that she was really trying to figure out if it was worth it or not.

"Okay." She finally said. "I won't let you down, Thalia." She said, taking in a deep breath, and standing as tall as her bird like frame would allow.

"Lucy, Nixie, follow those three as best you can. Meet back at camp by midday, and make sure you aren't seen. If you see Phoebe, only rescue if it's an emergency. I have a feeling that those wolves are slightly more dangerous than we think." I finally relented.

"Don't make me regret this." I warned. Thanking me, they chased after the three natives, sliding into the shadows, sound fading into the soft rustling of leaves.

I looked down at Spirit, who cocked her head, sad black eyes a brilliant contrast with her frosty white fur.

"Come on, Spirit. We're going to find out exactly what is going on."


N: I Love them too! Well, except for Laurence... And there was the update!

Guest1: Dreaded school. I know exactly what you mean! I'm glad you like it, and thanks for reviewing.

Ike: Thanks for reviewing!

Jackie: Will you forgive again? And I'm so happy you like it!

Bowties are Cool: I strongly agree with previous statement! And I hope your nose is okay...And yep, Thalia is one tough cookie!

trivia101: Thanks! it's great to hear what I'm actually good at, not just a all round statement!

Guest2: And your review made mine!

favfan: Thanks! And sorry for the late update...

Guest3: No promises, but I'm hoping to do Paul's POV within the next 2-3 chapters.

Sara: Thanks!

lololololololol: I'm hoping to do his POV in the next few chapters. I'll try, but if it doesn't wotk, I' just stick to Thalia's.

Fallen Maiar: I'm glad you like my OCs and how I write my characters! Yeah, I don't really like Twilight either, but some imprint stories I love! (But don't tell anyone. My friends are so ashamed of me)

So to all who are new, please review. Taking a second out of your day makes mine! To old hands, Don't stop! You know the drill... POP!