Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own PJ&O.
The girls wearing silver parkas approached us. One of them stepped forward.
"We have been searching for the Teumessian fox for weeks," she said curiously. "How did you find it so quickly?"
"More like it found us," I suggested. "It seemed pretty intent on eating us." All the girl's- or as Cass said, Hunters' glares turned to me. I blinked back. I had no idea why they were all staring at me, and it was freaking me out.
"Stop it," snapped Cass. "She's a Daughter of Nike with wings, not something to goggle at." The Hunters' curious gazes turned sheepish, and one girl stepped up.
She immediately reminded me of Cass, even though they looked completely different. The Hunter had dark spiky hair and intimidating sky-blue eyes. Her confident/terrifying stance matched Cass's.
The Hunter stuck out her hand. "Thalia."
Cass shook it. "Cass."
"I'm Ria," I awkwardly waved my hand. Thalia grinned at the two of us.
"So, Daughter of Nike," she nodded to me, "what about you?" Thalia asked Cass.
"Daughter of Apollo," she shrugged, and all the Hunters rolled their eyes.
"At least she's not a boy," one of them whispered, and I frowned.
"Wait, what's so bad about being a demigod of Apollo?" I asked, confused. They all stared at me as though I was an idiot.
"Apollo and Artemis are rivals, mainly because they're twins and always fight, so their children or followers don't get along so well. It also doesn't help that Apollo's Apollo," Cass mumbled under her breath.
The rest of the Hunters grumbled in agreement, but Thalia raised her hand. "Now girls," she addressed the Hunters, "Just because the gods don't get along, doesn't mean we have to. Two of my best friends are demigods of rival gods, and they're dating."
One of the girls stepped up. She took off her hood, revealing pure white hair. "I'm Lotus Kamaka. But you can just call me Lo. I mean who would want to be named after a flower? Well a lot of people are… but who would want a stupid name that doesn't even sound like a name? You wouldn't even be able to tell if I was a girl or guy by my name. I mean-,"
"That's enough Lo," Thalia interrupted her fellow Hunter, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Daughter of Demeter and Hunter."
Lo rounded on me. "You're Ria right? That was a brilliant idea of using a flashlight. I mean, who would've thought of that? It was also really brave of you to just go with the plan, like what if it didn't work and the fox ate you? You have really pretty wings. How'd you get them? I don't know any children of NIke, but I'm pretty sure they don't have wings. Is it hard flying with wings? Are they really heavy or light? How do you fly?"
"I think my head's going to explode," I muttered, giving Lo a small smile. The other Hunters laughed.
"You two helped us kill the fox. For that we owe you gratitude. Why don't you camp with us for the night?" asked Thalia. "Get some sleep and restore your energy." Now that she mentioned it, I felt like a load of bricks.
"That sounds like paradise," I sighed, ignoring Cass's glare.
"Ria," she hissed into my ear. "Don't you remember? The mission for getting revenge for Mom?"
"We'll just sleep for the night, and then leave for camp by morning," I argued. "Come on Cass, I feel like toppling over."
"Fine," Cass declared finally, and started to set up a tent with some of the other Hunters. "You know, since you guys travel from place to place so much, you should make tents that can easily collapse, and be able to carry in your pocket."
The Hunters and Cass began to chat easily about how they could improve the tents. I inwardly smiled, and turned to Thalia, who seemed to be coaxing a shadow out. A small silver wolf padded out, nuzzling the lead Hunter's hand.
"A wolf," I whispered at its simple beauty. Thalia smiled.
"We have a pack of loyal wolves," she told me, and a bunch of wolves appeared out of nowhere. I beamed as one of them padded over to me and rubbed against my leg.
"The tents' are all set up!" one the Hunters called.
"Sleep tight," Thalia gave a half-hearted grin. "One of the many perks of being a demigod is having to suffer through nightmares."
I grimaced, and quietly slipped into the warm sleeping bag. I immediately crashed, and Hypnos surrounded me.
It was absolutely terrible. In my nightmare, everything was pitch dark and I couldn't see anything. I could literally feel the deadly fate in the air, just like when I was in the infirmary.
I blindly stumbled around, screaming for help. My throat was raw, and I touched it gingerly, trying to calm myself. This is only a nightmare Ria, just wake up. Wake up!
"I WILL FIND YOU!" the chilling scream that had haunted me in my sleep, ever since Chiron got hurt, shivered up my spine, and my eyes flew open.
There I was, sweaty and panting in the comfy sleeping bag. I quickly grabbed the comfort of protection of my spear, and went outside.
I inhaled deeply, my lungs crackling from the crisp wind. Zipping up my hoodie, I walked around our campground, leaning onto a tree.
A couple minutes later, I starting to feel better and was about to go back to sleep, when I heard a soft rustling sound. Frowning, I gripped my spear tightly, and softly treaded over to the noise, making sure I didn't crunch leaves or snap branches.
I saw what was making the sound and immediately and would have puked all over the bushes, if I hadn't eaten anything for dinner.
A wolf head was swinging from the tree. A note was hanging from his mouth. Trembling, I snatched the note. On it, there was scratchy, bold letters saying, "Daughter of Victory, I'm watching you."
Before my mind could register what was happening, I was already shaking Cass awake. "Cass, we're leaving. Now," I hissed.
"What?" she mumbled loudly. I smacked my hand over her mouth.
"Shhh, do you want to the Hunters to hear us?" I stuffed our stuff in the backpack, and dragged Cass outside.
"What is going on Ria?" she whispered.
"This," I showed her the note. "The monster cut off one of the wolves' heads." Cass glared at the note.
"That monster is disgusting," she spat. I silently agreed.
"Let's get out of here." As soon as we took one step, something tugged at our feet pulling us back.
I squirmed and looked down. Vines were growing all over my sneakers, anchoring me to the ground. "What are you guys doing?"
Cass and I turned around to the familiar voice of Lo. "Release us Lo," Cass snapped, reaching for her sword.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you," Lo smiled. "This is the forest. Nature. Plants. This is my domain. I don't think you'll get far, even as determined as the pair of you are."
"Please Lo. We have to go," I pleaded with the Hunter.
"Why?" she asked curiously.
'Why don't you stop sticking your nose in other demigods' personal lives, and just let us go!" yelled Cass, losing her impatience. "Why are even trying to stop us anyways?" Lo paused, fingering her hair.
"I want to make a deal with you."
"A deal," I repeated. "Why would you want to make a deal with us?"
"I'll let you guys go, if," Lo added, her voice dead serious, "you let me come along and protect you Daughter of Victory."
"As if," snorted Cass.
"Why?" I asked, confuzzled.
"I thought we weren't sticking our noses into each other's personal businesses," she stated simply.
"Fair enough," Cass said coldly. I observed Lo carefully. She looked … desperate. Terrifyingly desperate, just like little Ria trying to survive on the streets.
"Deal," I said shortly. "Let's go."
Please review! Thanks! :)
Here is the other chapter. It's a bit longer, and I introduced a new OC, who is going to be very important. I tried to show different sides of Lo. Happy, chatty Lo, and then dead serious Lo. I hope I didn't make her too happy-serious-emotions switching up all over the place. Hope you like it! :) 3
