Chapter 14: …What?
Cascade Mountain Range… One click west of the Hunters of Artemis Camp…
Percy narrowed his eyes as he scanned the underbrush from a tall tree near the foliage where he had first spotted the movement. Over the two years he had trained with Leman, he had grown adept at noticing the small things in a situation or while on watch. He wasn't as accomplished at the art of observation as Leman was, but he was proficient. Percy had almost missed the movement in the underbrush. It was only because of the countless hours spent training that Percy had even noticed the shivering foliage through his binoculars.
The branch on which Percy crouched shook as more weight was added to it. The son of Poseidon glanced aside and smiled behind his mask at Leman.
"See anything yet?" the son of Hephaestus asked. "Any idea what this new monster is?"
"Not a clue," the dark-haired youth replied. "It must be at home in the forest. It knows how to hide."
"Obviously a predator," Leman muttered, peering down from the branch. "No herbivore would send other animals scrambling in fear."
"It could have a specific scent that set them off," Percy offered, shrugging. Leman mimicked the gesture.
"Regardless," he said, "we need to catch this thing as quickly as possible." The son of Hephaestus could veritably sense the frown on his comrade's face as Percy turned his head to scrutinize Leman. Emerald eyes flashed behind the mask.
"Why?" the son of Poseidon growled. Leman winced at his friend's tone.
"I kinda sorta might've told the girls that if they caught whatever it is first," Leman began weakly. "I'd let them ask me three questions." Percy cocked his head.
"What's so bad about that?" he queried. Leman rubbed the back of his neck and inched away, knowing full well that Percy would lash out at his answer.
"Weeeeell," he elongated the vowel. "I kinda sorta might've told them I'd have to answer them. Regardless of content." As soon as he finished explaining himself, Leman darted from the tree, intent on saving himself from Percy's wrath. He wasn't disappointed.
"YOU," the young man roared, "IDIOT!" Leman couldn't help but smile as he leapt from tree to tree, avoiding the things Percy was hurling at his head. Sticks, stones, dirt, and an unhappy squirrel whizzed by Leman as he fled. The missiles subsided for a brief moment while Percy shouted after him.
"You do realize you're helping them," the son of Poseidon pointed out. Leman blinked in surprise and turned around. Sitting in a tree about fifty meters away was Percy, a tree branch held back near his ear, his arm poised to hurl it at his compatriot.
"Carp," Leman cursed, realizing that what Percy said was right. Not only that, but he had lost sight of the creature they were pursuing. The wind whistled as the branch rocketed towards him. With nary a glance, the son of Hephaestus ducked, avoiding the wooden projectile. He put two fingers to his lips and gave a piercing whistle that sent the needles in the trees shivering.
"If we're gonna beat them," Leman explained, "we're gonna need Huginn and Muninn." Percy leapt over to the branch Leman sat on.
"Why did you even make that suggestion in the first place?" the son of Poseidon inquired. Leman didn't respond for several seconds, contemplating the question. Eventually, he shrugged and dropped to the ground, making a small depression in the soft grass below.
"Every time they ask a question," Leman mused, "we either avoid it or give a vague answer. While I don't want to satisfy their need to know every little detail about us, I also want to make them stop. If that means answering some questions so that they can just shut up and think about them, I'll happily give a straight answer." Percy considered the explanation and sighed.
"You do realize that if they ask who Oran really is, I'm screwed," he pointed out. Leman nodded in understanding.
"I'll make sure they don't ask anything about you," the son of Hephaestus promised. Percy arched an eyebrow at his friend curiously.
"And how do you intend to make certain of that?" he asked slowly. Leman sat for a moment in silence. The foliage of the underbrush shivered as something whizzed through them. To the later chagrin of both men, they didn't react or take action. It was almost certainly the new creature that Percy had spotted earlier as there weren't any other animals in the stand of trees because of it.
Eventually, Leman spoke.
"I honestly have no idea," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'll think of something." Percy narrowed his eyes at the son of Hephaestus but nodded all the same.
"Now, could we catch that thing first please?" Percy asked. Leman chuckled and nodded.
"Sure," he replied. "I think it went tha-" Before he could finish speaking, a dark brown blur with ridiculously long ears whizzed through the bushes, heading east. The two demigods blinked in surprise and looked at each other.
"It's small," Percy stated.
"It's fast," Leman replied. Simultaneously, they looked in the direction the blur had gone. Leaves and foliage shivered in the creature's wake. Minarets of dust twisted upwards, agitated by the blur's passing.
"Was that," Percy allowed, "a rabbit?" A smile quirked Leman's lips as he turned once more to Percy.
"Shh," he whispered, placing a finger to his lips. "Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're hunting wabbits."
PUNCH!
"Ouch!"
"Shaddup."
Cascade Mountain Range… Roughly one click west of the Hunters of Artemis Camp…
"Well o' fearless leader," Thalia prompted, "how are we gonna catch whatever that thing was before they do?" Annabeth and Thalia sat uncomfortably in a bush near the base of a tree. The daughter of Athena didn't answer her friend as they sat there. She knew that Leman and Oran had the upper hand in many fields, including tracking and combat. How were two demigods, regardless of power and skill, be able to compete in a friendly competition against two heavily blessed men?
"Honestly," Annabeth replied, "I don't know. Oran and Leman weren't specific about what kind of monster it was or what it looked like." Thalia groaned in annoyance and sat back against the tree, her black hair peeping out through the bush's leaves.
"You don't think Leman might be keeping us in the dark on purpose," she wondered aloud. "He might not want to answer any questions after all." Annabeth shook her head.
"I don't think he'd do that to us," she replied. "He seemed sincere." Thalia scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"That's what you said about Casey when you first met him," the young woman pointed out. "Look what came of that." Rolling her eyes, Annabeth looked over her shoulder at her friend.
"I don't think Leman wants to come on to me though," she countered. "He isn't driven by his base desires like Casey is." Thalia laughed.
"True that," she snickered. "Leman is certainly a proper gentleman." With a shrug of her shoulders, Annabeth looked away from the daughter of Zeus and peered through the foliage of the bush.
"Oh, I wouldn't say he's a gentleman," Annabeth countered. "He didn't handicap Oran and himself for this competition. I'm not sure you can even call it that. They're stronger than us and I'm pretty sure that Leman is smarter than he lets on."
Thalia nodded. "It does seem a little one-sided now that I think about it." Annabeth snorted indelicately.
"It was one-sided from the start," she retorted. "The only way we'll catch this thing is if it runs right up to us." Thalia laughed.
"What are the odds of that?" she chortled. "Impossible, right?" Annabeth nodded, smiling as she turned back to the daughter of Zeus.
"Just about," Annabeth replied. "Just imp-" The daughter of Athena never got to finish her sentence. There was a sudden squeak of surprise as a brown blur rocketed into Thalia's stomach followed by a whump as the air was purged from her lungs. Annabeth blinked in surprise at the blur as it continued to scrabble against Thalia's armor. Thalia herself stared down at the bundle of fur for several seconds when it finally settled on her lap, its tiny chest swelling and shrinking rapidly. The creature was curious in appearance, exotic at the very least.
Its fur was ruffled and on end, a sign that it was either on edge or very pissed off. At first glance, one would say it looked a lot like a rabbit. It had long floppy ears and a small fluffy tail that shivered every few seconds. Bright onyx eyes blinked inquisitively up at the daughter of Zeus. A hard protective shell covered its back, neck, and hindquarters but left just enough room around its legs to leave freedom of movement. Other than that, it just looked like a very startled, very panicked rabbit.
A frown broke across Thalia's face as she looked into the small creature's upturned gaze.
"What are you lookin' at?" she snapped. The creature didn't respond. Instead, it cocked its head to one side, as if in confusion. Annabeth slid over to sit next to Thalia and looked at the little animal curiously.
"Do you think it's the monster Oran spotted?" she mused. Thalia didn't answer. She was too focused on the exotic creature nuzzling up beneath the breastplate of her armor.
"I dunno," she muttered finally entranced by the bright eyes. A sudden dull crack echoed through the forest. The rabbit-turtle squeaked and darted behind Thalia, hiding it from whatever had caused the sound. Thalia stiffened but made no move to extricate the animal out from behind her. Annabeth locked eyes with her friend and held a finger to her lips. Thalia nodded mutely and pulled her mace can from a pocket and readied herself. With short steady breaths, Annabeth turned, activated her weapons and leapt from the bush.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leman cried, holding his empty hands up in defense. "It's just us! Calm down!" Annabeth balked when she recognized the two other demigods. A frown creased her brow as she considered the men before her.
"What're you doing here?" she asked.
"Looking for the monster," Oran chimed. "Have you seen it?" Thalia cocked her head to one side.
"What does it look like?" she asked curiously. Oran shrugged and folded his arms over his chest.
"Ask Leman," he grunted. "He has better eyes than I do." Annabeth and Thalia made confused faces that changed to blank disbelief when Leman began sniffing at the air. Several minutes of silence passed as the two young woman stared at Leman sniffed around the nearby trees and bushes. Only after Leman had moved several feet away did Annabeth tap Oran on the shoulder.
"He sniffs?" she whispered. Oran nodded.
"He's paired with a forest mountain ourea," he explained. "All ourea have a physical animal form that their host can morph into to gain their abilities." Annabeth 'huhed' in interest and looked to Leman. Thalia shifted her shoulders as the rabbit-thing crawled from behind her onto her lap.
"So," Thalia mused softly, "his ourea has some kind of dog form?" Oran nodded silently, his eyes fixed on his partner.
"Yeah," he stated. Thalia chewed her lip as she mulled over another question.
"His form wouldn't happen to be a wolf, would it?" she asked carefully. The young man stiffened visibly and paused for a few seconds before answering.
"It is," he replied flatly. Annabeth shot the daughter of Zeus a glare as if to say, 'what are you doing?' The dark-haired woman waved her friend away and continued with another question.
"This wolf wouldn't happen to be the size of a jeep?" Thalia queried. Oran turned to her, his green eyes flashing with emotion. The young woman was reasonably certain that the enigmatic demigod was frowning under his mask.
"Of course not," Oran snorted. "Wolves don't grow to the size of jeeps. Unless they're in Jotunheim." Annabeth wrinkled her nose.
"What's with all this Norse mythology? Is Leman a history nut or something?" she inquired cautiously, hoping that the man didn't blow his top. To her and Thalia's surprise, Oran laughed. A memory niggled at the back of Annabeth's mind as she listened to the demigod shiver and shake with amusement. She could've swore that she knew that laugh…
Oran lifted his mask just a bit and wiped his eyes before replacing it. The motion occurred so fast that the two women couldn't get a glimpse of what was hidden under the mask. Still chuckling, Oran turned to Annabeth.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Leman is a bit of a history nut. Ancient history is his primary hobby when he isn't eating, sleeping, fighting, or tinkering." He let out another chuckle but stopped instantly when he noticed the creature sitting comfortably in Thalia's lap, its bright eyes locked curiously on the blue swirls and runes of Oran's mask. A beat of silence passed. Then two.
"Hey… Uh… Leman," Oran called, his eyes still fixed on the shelled bundle of fur curled on Thalia's lap.
"Hold it," Leman hissed. "I can smell it. It's close." Oran rolled his eyes and looked at his comrade.
"Hey, dumpkoff!" he snapped. "Look." He pointed at the creature. Leman turned from the bush his head had been shoved in and looked. His eyes swelled in surprise and he rolled to his feet, keeping his gaze locked on the strange animal.
"Whadacarp?" he grunted, taking several paces towards Thalia. "You caught it?" The daughter of Zeus shrugged, smiling.
"Maybe it likes me," she chortled happily. "It must not like you two. I mean, it came from the direction you came from. You must've scared it." Leman snickered.
"I think it's Oran's fault," he jibed. "He wasn't too happy about my making this a competition." Oran walked over to the other man and punched him in the shoulder.
"Well done, dumpkoff," he growled. "We lost because we ran it right at them. Perfect." He tossed his hands in annoyance and huffed before moving away to punch a tree. The two women stared in surprise at the demigod as he wailed away on the tree, venting his apparent frustration.
"Don't mind him," Leman sighed, walking forward to crouch before Thalia. "He's just a little pissed off." Annabeth blinked.
"A little?" she echoed. "Looks like he can take on a legion of monsters in that state." Leman raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"Maybe," he allowed. "He is driven at times. Now, why don't you let me take that little bundle of joy to our headquarters?" He held a hand out to Thalia for the little rabbit-thing. Thalia opened her mouth to counter but never got the chance. The little creature hopped out of her lap and moved slowly over to Leman. It sniffed at his hand curiously, as if it knew nothing of the possible danger it was in. Several more sniffs later, it wrinkled its little nose and turned its head to Thalia. It was a stretch, but the three demigods could've sworn there was a disdainful expression on the little creature's face as it spoke.
"Seriously?" it asked in a heavy Brooklyn accent. "You're actually gonna let this big mutt take little old me away?" The sound of heavy thuds against the tree ceased abruptly. Expressions of disbelief were mirrored on the faces of the four demigods. Leman stared down at the little animal and fell back onto his backside, eliciting a small 'oomph' as he landed.
"…What?"