Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, OR ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH PERCY JACKSON OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
a/n: I didn`t misspell the chapter title. You`ll see in the end ;) enjoy!
#7 – [My Darling], My Deer
xxx
"Okay, so I had this brilliant idea, and I wrote it down and stuff, right? But then I find out that this Athena kid, name's Kyle I think, snuck into our cabin and stole it. Can you believe it? He stole it from me and gave it to Annabeth! And of course if it's with Annabeth it's bound to end up with Chiron," Connor ranted to his brother.
"But because it's me, and I'm awesome, and I won't let just anyone beat me at my game, more so the Hermes kid game, I snuck into Chiron's cabinet and stole it back. But right when I got out and looked at my plan—gods, look at it for yourself," he handed Travis the paper and turned away, as if seeing whatever was written on the piece of paper would burn his eyes.
Travis took the paper suspiciously, straightening out the crumples by flicking his hand, and peered at the paper.
Connor,
Don't think I'm going to let you get away with stealing this back that easily. You're not the only one who knows a bit of Hermes-level tricks. Being alive for more than a few millennia teaches you a few things.
I've arranged for a special kind of security for you boys today, since Tyson is still a bit fretful from that scare you gave him yesterday, and Briares has some business (business which is none of your business) to attend to. Percy just doesn't feel up to it today.
This new arrangement will be temporary, and I have managed to arrange a different kind of security for you boys tomorrow. So, please, in the name of the gods, be good and stay inside, if you know what's good for you!
Sincerely,
Chiron
"You know, sometimes I do wonder how old Chiron really is," Travis rubbed his chin as he handed the paper back to Connor, who took it disgustedly. He quickly flung it away before turning back to Travis.
"You got the whole gist of it, though? Other than the mysterious thing that is Chiron's age," Connor said.
"Yeah, and after that experience with Briares, I'm not really up to escaping today," Travis raised his arms behind his head and leaned back.
"Are you kidding me?" Connor spat.
"No, not really," Travis yawned. "Let's take a nice, long nap. That sounds awesome."
Connor was just about to argue with Travis about his laziness and lack of commitment when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. He lunged towards the window and peered through the window. He saw a group of girls positioning themselves around the cabin. They were holding bows and arrows, and had circlets on their heads, and leading them was a girl with spiky black hair and electrifying blue eyes—
"Hunters!" Connor yelped.
"Mmmmm?" Travis mumbled.
"Styx… Travis, you have to look at this, I think it's our special day's security," Connor nudged Travis and pointed nervously at the window.
Travis groggily got up and trudged to the window. He opened the window and slowly leaned forward. Thalia's gaze shot at his direction and she gave him a wicked grin.
"Holy Ambrosia—" Travis almost jumped out of the window. He retracted his head and slammed the window shut. He looked at Connor, who mouthed ' I told you so' nervously at him.
Travis nearly slipped as he sprinted towards the door. He yanked it open and found him face to face with a burly, brawny hunter, glaring daggers at him.
"Oh well hello there, very nice to see you again," Travis croaked. "Have you done something new to your hair? It looks just great! Fabulous, even!"
She snarled at him and nearly lunged forward when Thalia pushed her way in between them and forced her to back away.
"Calm down Phoebe, this shrimp isn't worth it," Thalia barked.
"Hey, I'm not a shrimp! I'm taller than you!" Travis protested.
"Would you rather I step away and let her pummel you, Count Buckula?" Thalia threatened, cackling evilly.
"So you heard about the squirrel thing, huh?"
"And the dolphin thing, and the most recent turtle sized adventure. Oh, by the way, how were the Pegasi? Happy with the extra weight they had to carry?" Thalia guffawed.
"Ha-ha, very funny, just keep laughing," Travis rolled his eyes.
Thalia stifled her laughter and pushed Travis further into his cabin. "Stay in there and we won't have any problems, capeesh?"
Travis edged the tip of his foot slowly out the door, taunting Thalia, who narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.
He retracted his foot and saluted her. "How did Chiron even get you guys to watch over us? I thought hunters had more 'important' things to attend to, like turning boys into stags or something," he dropped his hand.
Thalia shrugged. "Lady Artemis is out and we were sent her to Camp Half-Blood. So we just decided to go along with it, just for today," she explained. "But tomorrow we'' go on with our 'important business' like beating you campers in 'Capture the Flag'," she grinned.
"We'll just see about that," Travis ruffled his hair and stuck his tongue out. He jumped out of the cabin and waved his hands manically before scampering back into the cabin, just to yank Thalia's chains.
She slammed the door even before he properly got into the house, so it hit his butt and propelled him forward.
He pouted and rubbed his butt. "She's cruel."
He walked over to Connor, who was Indian sitting on top of his bed, glancing from time to time out the window.
"Find a hot hunter or something?" Travis joked as he sat down beside his brother.
"What happened?" Connor turned to him, his eyes lingering a bit longer on the window before finally turning to Travis.
"Just had a run-in with Thalia and that big buff hunter we tricked into wearing that shirt with the Centaur blood—Phillis, was it? I forgot."
"And that lead to you touching yourself, how—"
"I wasn't—you're disgusting," Travis pretended to gag. "Thalia slammed the door on my butt."
"That hurt?" Connor chuckled.
"Well now, if it's funny, let's go and try it to you now, shall we?" Travis snapped.
"Chillax bro, I'm just kidding," Connor held up his hands.
Travis grunted.
"You aren't bothered, are you?" Connor chuckled as he gaped at Travis. "Didn't you just say that today would be our do-nothing-and-just-nap day?"
"Yeah, well, that was before my booty got bruised," Travis scoffed. "Now it just got a whole lot personal."
xxx
Travis, hidden under a heap of blankets, stared through the window using a pair of binoculars. He spotted a random hunter walking in the distance and jumped.
"Target locked," he stated.
"And who's the target this time?" Connor drawled and rolled his eyes.
"She's—oh, dang, I lost her," Travis cussed under his breath.
"What exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Connor spat.
"Getting revenge on those damn hunters," Travis gritted his teeth slightly.
"And building a sad excuse of a fort out of blankets and 'hiding-out' under it is absolutely necessary?" Connor said, holding a blanket higher as to avoid it giving in and dropping on top of them. He adjusted two of the baseball bats they used to hold it up and shook his head.
This is ridiculous, he thought to himself.
"No, this isn't ridiculous—and yes, this is necessary," Travis said, without removing his eyes from his binoculars, or the window, for that matter.
Connor grunted as the all the baseball bats gave and the blankets plopped on top of them. Travis, though, was unaffected, and didn't even stir from his spot.
He lunged forward from the blankets, burying Connor under the blankets even further, as his binocular-vision found him a sight to behold.
Katie Gardner was walking out of the dining pavilion, surrounded with her brothers and sisters. She was laughing.
"Hmm…" Travis hummed to himself as he watched her.
A boy ran out of the dining pavilion, trying to catch up to her, and when he did, he slung his arm across her shoulder.
Travis' grip tightened around his binoculars.
'Said boy' was the generic heartthrob—blond hair, blue eyes, olive tan, athletic looking with pearly white teeth.
"Apollo kid," Travis muttered under his breath.
He scowled as he watched Katie laugh at something 'said boy' said. Oh, how he was dying to beat the living crap out of 'said boy'.
"I bet he's some sexist creep—he's just putting up that chivalrous act to get into Katie's pants, and once he's done with her, he'll just throw her away," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Artemis should really sock it to that creep and stag him up. He totally deserves it, hands down, that bitch."
Connor crawled up from under the blankets. "Who're you talking to—and about, bro?"
"Some creeper hanging around Katie. He's really inhuman. His teeth are too white. It damages eyes. He deserves to be a stag—or maybe something even uglier… like a skunk or a raccoon or something. Yeah, he looks pretty skunky to me," he muttered, not taking his eyes off.
"Dude, if you don't take a break from your binocular stalking you'll have weird marks around your eyes, and then you'll be the raccoon."
Travis shook his head.
Connor yanked the binoculars away from him.
"Hey! Give that back!" Travis shouted.
"See! I was right! You're a raccoon-face," Connor stuck his tongue out.
Travis turned and looked at his own faint reflection on the window. He had big, red circles around his eyes where his binoculars had been pressed against—especially hard when he would stick it close to the window.
"Shut up," Travis sneered and grabbed the binoculars back from Connor. He stood up and headed for the door.
"Dude!" Connor ran up to him. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm flying, Connor, what do you think I'm doing?" Travis said, shaking his head and miming actions.
"You can't go out there. Thalia will murder you."
"Oh, right… I forgot about them," Travis bit his lip.
"Did you forget that we were grounded too and aren't supposed to leave this house?" Connor said matter-of-factly.
"Psh… no!" Travis waved his hand dismissively.
He walked back to his brother, tousling his hair furiously. "I need you to distract them for me."
"Wh-WHAT. Heeeell no," Connor moved his finger in a Z and shook his head.
"Please? They can't do anything serious to you!"
"Yeah, except impale me with their never-missing arrows of doom!" Connor shouted. "What're you planning on doing anyway?"
"I don't know," Travis took a deep breath. "I just know that you need to distract them so I can get to Katie."
"Okay, hypothetically speaking, let's say I do manage to distract them and you get to Katie—what happens then?"
"I already told you—I don't know. I'm winging it, like I always do."
"Yeah, and everything you do always ends well."
"Hey, just look at it this way," Travis slung his arm over Connor's shoulder. "If you distract them enough, you'll be able to run for it, thus, making your great escape," Travis patted Connor in the chest and smirked at him.
Connor's happiness peaked for a moment as he imagined being free after being cooped up for so long. Then he sighed and turned to Travis.
"Fine," he said. "But I'm not coming back for you. You have to find your own way out."
"Deal," Travis chuckled and shook Connor's hand.
"Gods, the things I do for you," Connor shook his head disapprovingly.
"I love you too, Connor."
xxx
Travis was looking out the window with his binoculars again. When a hunter passed by, he retracted and dashed towards Connor, who was whispering to his things, saying that he'd miss them.
"Coast's clear," Travis breathed. "You ready, bro?"
"No," Connor spat. He walked over towards the door, tying Travis' old Leonardo blindfold around his eyes, and ran out the door as fast as he could.
"Maia!" he said as he jumped out of the cabin and shot up to the sky.
"Get him!" Thalia shouted.
Connor reached for his pocket and took out a Yankees cap.
"Thank the gods we were able to trick Annabeth a second time," he whispered. "And thanks the gods she still hasn't noticed."
He put on the cap and flew as fast as he could towards the hunter they spotted a while ago, unbalancing her a bit so she would topple over. When they aimed their arrows for him (or where they suspected he was with great accuracy), he flew as close to the ground as he could and headed towards them. Then he shot back up into the sky, grabbing one of their arrows in the process.
When the rest of them took aim at him, he dashed back into the cabin and dropped the arrow on the floor, then flew out of the window, kicking Travis as he did so.
"Maia!" Travis shouted and followed his brother out of the window, propelling himself off the edge and flying towards Katie and 'said boy', who were sitting and talking on the Demeter cabin porch now.
As he flew out the window, he heard the hunters' footsteps inside the cabin, and Thalia cussing at him. He had to dodge arrows on the way to the cabin, before he plummeted towards the couple, crashing just beyond their feet.
"Travis?" Katie said.
"Katie—don't go out with him—he's—"
"My cousin," Katie giggled. "His mom is my dad's sister."
"Oh, well then," Travis said, standing up and patting his clothes to clean the sand off of it. "I have to find Connor," he smiled at Katie, forced one out as he glanced at 'said cousin'.
Just as he opened his mouth to shout 'Maia' again, he felt a hand cover his mouth and headlock him.
"Mmmmmmrph!" he shouted.
"And don't you dare try licking my hand to get away," Thalia spat.
"Ah wawent tinkung oh it," Travis muffled.
"Holy Atlas holding up the sky!" Connor shouted from a distance.
Travis squirmed and managed to free his mouth. He took a deep breath.
"Connor?"
"Lady Artemis came to pick us up," Thalia smirked. "I think she found him."
Thalia let Travis go, cackling as she did so, and Travis dashed for his cabin.
When he arrived, his jaw dropped.
There, sprawled on top of the stairs, was a stag. It's ears curled up and its antlers were oddly shaped. It had a blue blindfold tied around its eyes, which narrowed into slits as it spotted Travis.
"Good grief," Travis breathed as he walked over to the stag. "Connor, is that you?"
The stag snarled at Travis, baring its teeth, as Travis grew closer.
"Now, now, don't bite me. You love me remember?" Travis raised his hands defensively.
Connor snorted.
He turned to Thalia, who had rejoined the other hunters, and was standing beside a small girl with auburn hair and silvery eyes.
"This isn't permanent… is it?" Travis asked.
Connor winced.
"Not if you pass the test," the girl with auburn hair, Lady Artemis, told him.
"Excuse me, but—WHAT TEST?"
"As you may know, I am the goddess of the hunt."
Travis bit his tongue, stopping himself from coughing up a witty insult.
Artemis ignored his contorted face. "I will turn your brother back if both of you last the whole night before any of us find you."
"Excuse me, but—YOU'RE GOING TO HUNT US?"
"Hypothetically speaking, yes."
"Holy—"
"Watch your words, boy," Artemis snapped.
"Ay caramba!" Travis yelped.
Connor stomped over towards Travis and nudged his shoulder with the prongs of his antlers. Travis gripped onto them nervously.
"We'll give you both a twenty second head start," Thalia smiled.
"Head start? We don't need a—"
"One—"
Travis plopped himself onto Connor's back and slapped his butt, beckoning him to run forward. He did as he was told, though grudgingly.
"Hey, at least you got your great escape right?" Travis told Connor.
Connor snorted and bucked, causing Travis to lose his balance and nearly topple off his back.
"You freaking doe!" Travis spat.
REVIEW!
I will only update when I get more than 7 reviews :) APRIL FOOL`S. Hahahaha! I`m just kidding. I`ll update when I can.
(song/s of the chapter): a medley of Stepehan Barnes songs, since he`s such a cutiepie.
This chapter is dedicated to all the Tratie fans out there, reading this, since this has more Tratie than any of the other chapters… so yeah, I just couldn`t resist.
And I know, I know, I know that I said a few chapters ago that I was tired of turning the Stoll`s into animals… but look at it this way: I said I was tired of turning Connor AND Travis into animals, I didn`t say I wouldn`t turn just one of them… maybe Connor… into an animal… like a stag… right? hehehe.
I hope you liked this chapter by the way! I`m not sure, but I think that I might be or become very busy this week, and the next few weeks too, so I have no idea when I will update next, hopefully soon though :)
I was looking through my S T O L L ideas list and was baffled by how much ideas I realized I used already :O yup, my idea-storage-cabin (a hypothetical cabin, though) is running low on supplies (ideas)! So ideas are more than welcome :] I want this story to last until Travis and Connor are finally done with their grounding, and since I grounded them for a month that means… carry the one… THIRTY OR MORE UNLESS THEY GOT GROUNDED IN A FEBRUARY CHAPTERS! HOMIGAAAAD. So yeah. All the ideas that have been suggested before like getting revenge on Chiron, and perhaps Mr. D, and Travis and Connor getting "burned" have all been listed down to the list that is always open for more ideas! So feel free to say it and don`t be afraid and think, "oh no, this is soo corny!" because half of the ideas I came up with are pretty corny, honestly. Besides, if it is, it`s no problem, they`re still welcome! I`ll just find a way to pizzazz it up and stuff.
ANYWAY! I`m rambling here so I`ll finish up: thank you to everyone who reviewed, it means so much to me, it keeps me writing ;) I won`t mention any names, because I don`t like favoritism and it might be the same concept, but you know who you are, you who reviews every chapter and reads it and you who gives me ideas and you who is just there, being awesome :D you!
Oh and to those who follow my Til' Hell Starts To Freeze story, I might update it sometime this weekend, when I find the time and the internet, since our wi-fi`s down and I`m forced to bear with our friggin old desktop for awful internet… I know, torture.
Corny-ly & Unfortunately Yours – Schöe! (:
ps. REVIEW! and sorry for the freakishly long a/n.
