The Huntresses Pt. 3

Backup Plan had a strong comeback, I think, but I said that I would finish the Huntress Arc, and therefore I shall. To summarize the content and purpose of this arc for those confused and/or lost on what to expect, I shall relieve you of your burden.

The Huntress Arc is the tool that I am using to introduce my list of mostly-OC Hunters, giving them personality, backstory, and development, while also building Asteria's relationship with each one to establish a family-like setting. The arc will end with the beginning of the Sea of Monsters, and the content is, like I've said before, a series of one-shots.

One-shots can be thousands of words long, right?

So far, Zoё and Thalia's backstories have been covered in canon, while Bertha and Sarah's backstories were covered last chapter. Remember, Bertha is the daughter of Athena born in 1297 and challenged the era's view on what a girl can and cannot do, and ended up killing her father and a lot of other people, and Sarah Dukes is the pink-haired, girly-girl daughter of Ares who was born in 1890 to a rich mother, then went mysteriously bankrupt, worked in a clothing factory for a time, and then joined the Hunters at twelve-years-old after her mother was killed by robbers.

Feel free to go re-read previous chapters for details.

Oh, and we hit 400 reviews! Thanks, everyone for all your support over the months!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AVP…but I do own my OC's

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

September 1, 2006

Bird Hunting with Jess

Asteria cocked a brow at what she was seeing. "You people actually use guns?"

"Yep," Cathy said, pumping her shotgun. "Not like we couldn't use our bows to shoot the little buggers down, but…it's a pain digging the arrows out of a yay-big corpse."

Right now, it was five in the morning. A fire burned brightly, giving the Hunt plenty of light as they geared up for the day's activities. Right now, every girl was decked out in ankle-support work boots, and pants and shirts colored tan, brown, and golden, with splashes of extra color, and camouflage prints designed to match a field of Texas dirt and brush. A variety of shotguns were laid out on the logs, butts in the dirt, barrels angled for the fire.

There were Remingtons, Winchesters, Brownings, Benellis, and Berettas. There were pump-action and semi-auto, there side-by-side barrel and over-under barrel. There were camo-printed, solid black, and those with wooden stocks and fore-stocks. In all honesty, it was a liberal's nightmare.

On top of camo-print clothing, each girl also had their own belt. Clip-on buckle in the front, sturdy material made the belt itself, and attached to each belt were three pouches, one big one in the back, and two slightly smaller ones on the side, each one colored camo…shocking. The back pouch served as the place in which the downed birds would be stored until the hunt was over, while the two side pockets were used for storing as many shells as possible.

Asteria wasn't wearing any clothes, as per usual, but she had donned one of the belts, loaded herself down with shells, and had a shotgun propped on her shoulder. Pure black, Benelli Cordoba, 12 Gauge, semi-auto, and a magazine capable of holding four shells. Every girl looked similar, and ready for war. Even Lucy and Victoria, the ancient daughter of Hecate and the otaku, were dressed for bird-killing.

Well, Asteria kept saying every girl. Amelia didn't have a shotgun, because she would not be actively shooting. She had the mentality of a five-year-old for gods' sake, and did not need to be holding a lethal firearm. Instead, the toddler would be helping Roberta by retrieving birds. The girl did have a belt on though, so she could have her own set of dove for the hunt.

"Girls," Artemis said. All actions ceased as the immortal teens and pre-teens gave their undivided attention to their Lady. "Today is the opening day of Dove Season. It is a practice we have engaged in since its founding, and it is a practice we will continue to take part in until the end of time or we all die."

There were a few chuckles.

Due to the light of the fire, Artemis' eyes glowed brightly, and they shined with true mirth and excitement. "Now, the same rules and warnings apply just as they did years ago. Always have the safety on when not using your gun. Always have the barrel pointed up and away from other people when not using your gun. Never point your gun at another person, be they man or woman."

Artemis leveled a steely gaze at the more anti-male members of the Hunt. Cathy just snickered behind her hand. Joanna whacked her upside the head.

"We do not own the land," the Moon Goddess continued, "and it would be against my domain to restrict hunting to just us, so be prepared to share the fields with other hunters. We've all been here before, so we know what to expect. Rednecks, fathers with their sons or their daughters, brothers, sisters, families and friends. Regardless, of sex, I expect all of you treat your fellow huntsmen and women with respect…until someone get dumb. Then you may defend yourself accordingly. However, do not go out of your way to start something, because I will be the one to finish it. Am I clear, girls?"

Even those that despised males responded loud and clear.

Artemis smiled. "Good. Now, you've all chosen your partners for today's hunt, and you've all chosen what field you wish to occupy. The sun rises shortly, and if there's enough light to see, there's enough light to shoot. Good luck, ladies."

With that, the Hunters gathered bags of decoys and shell boxes, met up with their partners, and made their way for which field they wanted to hunt in.

Artemis, Zoё, and Thalia joined each other. Bethany and Amber, the first couple Asteria met, predictably went off together, as did the other lesbians, Atalanta and Esther, daughters of Demeter and Apollo, respectively. Bertha and Sarah strode off, the pinkette on the daughter of Athena's shoulders, holding both girls' weapons on her own shoulders. Cathy and Joanna, the sisters, went off together, and Phoebe, Naomi, Celyn, and Lucy all joined up. Victoria went off with Octavia and Katie, while Roberta disappeared with Amelia on her hip. It was clear that those two had a strong mother-daughter/sibling relationship. As usual, the tot was sucking her thumb and holding her ever-present teddy bear.

That left Jess and Asteria to bond together over a little avian homicide.

The Southern girl calmly poured a bucket of water over the fire, and it went out with a hiss and a bellow of smoke that quickly dispersed. Jess grinned brightly at Asteria. "Ready to go?"

The daughter of Poseidon just hefted her shotgun, a smile of her own plastered genuinely across her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Does it feel like being at home?" Asteria asked her hunting partner.

Jess shrugged. "A little bit, but anywhere here is better than the damn North."

Asteria couldn't help the chuckle that came out. When she had her laugh, she asked, "What can I expect from our 'hunting fellows'?"

"Coarse language, yelling, wisecracks, middle fingers, and affectionate displays of a father's love for his son and/or daughter. For us specifically...well, considering we both look like a couple of thirteen-year-olds...maybe a few concerned gentlemen, some surprised teenagers, a really nervous preteen asking for our numbers, a cute kid or two telling us we're pretty, uh, someone might tell us we have nice butts, uh...oh! There's definitely going to be some boys calling us 'baby,' and a bunch of compliments on our shooting skills."

Asteria nodded, easily accepting the possible events of the day. "I've dealt with worse."

"I bet," Jess laughed. "That School place sounds like Hell."

"Oh, you have no idea," Asteria said with a gleam in her eye.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the sea princess and her hunting partner approached the field within which they planned to hunt, they made contact with other people. The forest they exited was next to a gravel road, and on the other side of the road was the hunting field. In between the road and the field was a ditch, along with powerlines. Lining the ditch were several trucks, all belonging to hunters that planned to hunt here today.

The sun was almost beginning its climb, with the eastern horizon beginning to change color from inky black to cobalt blue. As the girls walked across the road, and passed between the trucks, someone spoke to them, "Hey, are you girls by yourselves?"

The one who spoke was a man in his late forties, about six feet tall, a bit big around the middle, dressed in camo, obviously, and had two boys with him, the youngest about sixteen, and the other about eighteen. All three looked remarkably similar, but Asteria knew them to be father, son, and nephew.

Jess smiled, "Yes sir, we are. Our mom's in the field just over there, and our big sisters are down that way. Don't worry sir, we've done this before."

The man looked at them for a bit, his son and nephew chatting quietly about how the latter didn't bring the right eye contacts. The man nodded. "Alright then. Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to come get one of us."

Jess smiled even wider. "No problem, sir."

The girls continued on, the ground becoming uneven and awkward beneath them.

"He was nice," Aster observed.

Jess shrugged. "Most people down here are. Small town, in the country, everyone knows their neighbors; church is a big thing here, just about everyone reads the Bible, and family is the most prized possession. Contrary to popular belief, the South is not solely occupied by racists, misogynists, and inbreeds."

Asteria looked at Jess, who had a peaceful, wistful smile on her face. The girl was definitely born here. "So...our mom and our big sisters?"

"Well, it's technically not a lie. Artemis is kinda like our mom, and everyone that looks older than us is kinda like our big sisters. Hey, you okay?" Jess asked, seeing the...different look on Asteria's face.

"Yeah…" she said distractedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get to have much of a childhood, and I was under the impression that I was grown in test tube for most of my life. I still haven't...gotten used...to the whole...family thing...yet."

Jess just smiled softly, and pecked the younger girl on the cheek. "Don't worry, little sister. I'll help you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Asteria and Jess set up shop about 300 feet from the road. The daughter of Poseidon set their bag down, pulled out the Mojo doves, set those up about twenty feet away from them, while Jess got out the 'chairs.' In this case, chairs meant these little tripods with a triangular pad of material to sit on. The chairs were only about a foot-and-a-half high, but they were perfect for a couple of your average 'preteens.'

The sun was higher now, almost high enough to illuminate the land, but not quite yet. Although, the low light meant nothing to the enhanced eyes of a Huntress and a genetically perfect creature. About a hundred feet to their left were the men from earlier.

"So, you excited?" Jess whispered, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb those within the vicinity. In the silent still of the early morning, sound carried more than what one would expect.

Asteria shrugged. "Mixed feelings, really. I mean, this is a first for me, so I'm eager to give it a try, but at the same time it's like: 'I've been to Antarctica, fought a god, went to the Underworld, and can fly, what's shooting down birds?'"

Jess nodded. "I get it. You want to try out this new thing, but said thing seems bland and dull compared to what you've done in the past."

Asteria smiled in a pained way, hoping that she wasn't putting her new friend out.

"I understand. I've done some big stuff, too. You'll enjoy this, trust me. Give it a few shots, but make sure you've got the safety off; there's nothing worse than the feeling you get when you go to shoot a bird only to for the trigger to tink in place because you didn't press the button. So, click the safety off, heft your gun onto your shoulder, like this," Jess propped her gun up, "line up that metal ball with the site at the muzzle, lead the bird, and fire when you feel ready, but don't be too lazy, or he'll get too far off."

Asteria just nodded, knowing all of this already. It wasn't like she had spent months nailing monsters in the eyeballs using a nickel-plated Desert Eagle or anything. History might've said that children of Poseidon have a terrible amount of accuracy, but Asteria did not fit that bill. Her eyes were too good, her reflexes too sharp, and her cognitive processing too fast. Hitting moving targets, no matter how small, was easy.

The girls fell into a comfortable silence. The sun was high enough now to where those with adjusted eyes could see well enough across the field, which meant that it was now legal hunting time, which meant that every one of the 500+ men, women, boys, and girls that occupied the vast expanse of the Royse City hunting area were on red alert for anything that had two wings and moved.

Hundreds of eyes roamed across hundreds of acres of land. Hundreds of ears listened carefully for any hint of whistling. The Hunters were all infinitely more attuned with their senses than any mortal, but even they were on close lookout. For Artemis and Asteria though, it wasn't fair.

As the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis could sense the location of every game animal on the entirety of the continental United States at any and every time, so right now, she was aware of every dove, all of their sizes, their age, their diet, and every location of the birds. She was aware of their of their movements, how fast they were flying, the wind speed and direction, and how many birds were in each flock. Likewise, Asteria's sense of smell allowed her to detect the several hundred dove within a 500-meter radius, as did her electro-sensing. Also, quickly shifting the structure of her eyes to infrared, the hybrid saw the bright signatures of a moderately large flock of birds already inbound.

"Boys, be still," Asteria heard the father say. "Out in front. A whole flock of 'em."

"Yes, sir," replied the son.

"Uh, where?" the cousin asked. Not having his contacts was really bad for him.

"Right out in front, genius."

"Uhh…oh! Now I see 'em."

"'Bout time. Get ready."

Asteria and Jess shared a look, before clicking off their safeties in tandem.

The flock was upon the group of hunters seconds later, and they all bolted to their feet like trained professionals, guns cocked and safeties off. The air was filled with gun fire as five weapons went off multiple times. Several dove flopped lifelessly to the ground, while the rest broke off and veered in all kinds of directions…right into the lines of sight of other hunters.

More gun fire broke the silence.

Asteria had a giddy grin on her face as she registered that her empty magazine had an equal number of kills on the ground. Now, due to the color of the dirt and the color of the dove's plumage, one would be hard-pressed to find their kill unless they kept a trained eye on the drop spot at all times. Asteria didn't have that problem.

She could smell the scent, see the bird, and she felt where her kills had impacted the ground due to the seismic vibrations, as well as all the other birds that had been shot.

With a chorus of celebratory 'heeeeeys' and 'aaaaaaays,' the five hunters broke their camps to retrieve their earnings. Asteria watched Jess as she plucked up one of her birds, and twisted the head clean off in a spurt of blood, before dropping the little avian down into her pouch. The Southerner shrugged. "Making sure it's dead."

Asteria just nodded, found her first two birds, tore their heads off with laughable ease, before coming across the third. Now, things got emotional…slightly. This third bird looked to be perfectly fine, sitting comfortably, big eyes wide and curious, but there was a spot of blood on its side from where a few pellets had made contact. Asteria reached down and brought the dove up, examining it.

It cooed at her curiously, tilting its little head to the side to better view the hybrid. Its black eye stared at her with unfathomable interest. It was a big bird, big enough to eat and not feel cheated, anyway, so it ate well. This creature seemed so innocent to Asteria, so undeserving of being killed, plucked, eaten, and then shat out.

The sea princess calmly reached up and plucked the bird's head off, then dropped the corpse into her pouch.

That thing was going to taste really good later on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the hunt continued much the same, with Jess and Aster nailing birds left and right with single shots. In less than thirty minutes, both had accumulated their limit of fifteen dove, with neither wasting a shot. Fifteen shells, fifteen birds.

Simple as that.

However, instead of immediately returning to their campsite, the girls had opted to stay in the field, if only to observe the admittedly humorous interactions between the two cousins.

"Gah! I can't freakin' see 'em, dammit!"

"Well maybe if you had brought your damn eyes, you wouldn't be having this problem, now would you?"

"Fuck you, dude."

"Nah, that's gay.

Later

A lone bird had come flying by, and the son let his half-blind cousin take a shot. Missed…missed…missed.

"Dude. You suck balls." The son promptly hefted his gun, and the dove went limp upon the muzzle flash.

The cousin's eye twitched.

"Oh, you can go get it, I mean…you shot first."

The cousin looked at the son, before walking off to retrieve the dove.

"You know. You might be a terrible shot, but you are an excellent bird-bitch."

The cousin threw his middle finger over his shoulder.

Later

The sun was bright and shiny at this point, the entire field illuminated.

The cousins were standing a ways apart, before the younger tensed. "Axle, be still."

The older cousin, apparently named 'Axle,' froze in place. Asteria and Jess also stopped moving, so as not to interrupt the boy's shot. It was the respectful thing to do.

The lone bird came loafing across the field, low to the ground. Perhaps the avian had some intelligence, because it chose to lazily flap its way between Axle and the girls, which would've ruined the boy's shot, or potentially get someone killed if he opened fire. Instead, the boy was seriously confident in his skills.

"Down!"

Axle hit the dirt, Jess paled, Asteria got ready to move, and the boy shouldered his gun. Even from a distance, the hybrid saw his hazel eyes widen upon seeing her and Jess, and he was quick to snap his barrel up…then he snapped it back down when the lazy dove cleared the girls.

PRACK

The bird plummeted.

Jess shared a look with Asteria. "If it was anyone besides me and a select few others, that boy would no longer be breathing right now."

Asteria snorted.

Later

Two birds were flying high.

The son opened fire on them. One shot…went down…second shot…missed…third shot…got 'em!

The two doves landed right next to Axle.

"Keep 'em! Lord knows your blind ass needs 'em!" the son called.

Axle threw up his middle finger, but a large grin was on his face as he pocketed the dove after tearing their heads off.

Later

It was late in the hunt now, and the surviving dove of the morning's brutal onslaught (seriously, the amount of gunfire made the field seem like a war zone) were all flying high and heading for roosting areas. The son had reached his daily limit, while having also shot down enough dove for his half-blind cousin, except that he was just one bird short of making an even thirty. The father had left for the truck some time ago, having already acquired his limit.

"Come on, man. Just one more bird-one more freakin' bird," the cousin complained.

The son remained silent, just scanning the horizons, periodically checking behind him for any secret stragglers. Asteria had to grin. Having all these extra-sensory abilities really took the suspense out of things. She could sense an incoming dove, flying high, very high, almost too high to shoot, but she gave the son a little mental nudge anyway.

The sixteen-year-old glanced up on a whim, and exploded into action, shouldering his gun, clicking off the safety, and began firing. Each shot was visibly behind the high-flying bird, with the wads flying up just a scant few inches behind the avian. The damn thing was just too high. Eventually, the gun began clicking.

"Dammit! Need to reload!"

BAM

The boys both whipped around to see smoke curling out of Asteria's muzzle. The bird flopped to the ground.

"Did you just hit that bird?" the son asked, amazed.

"Yep," Aster chirped.

"Goddamn, girl! Gimme some for that!"

The son trodden over, holding out his enclosed fist. Asteria grinned, eagerly bumping fists with the boy. Despite being about four years older than her, he was only about four inches taller, putting him on the short side for a growing young man. Beyond that, Aster didn't care.

Wasn't like this guy was of any significance to her life.

"Did you shoot that down for yourself, or what?"

"Nope it was for you-or your cousin. Whomever needed it."

"Damn, thanks!" the son turned back to his cousin. "Yo! She said we could keep it!"

"Alright!"

The eighteen-year-old began to scour the field for the downed bird.

"So, what's y'all's names?"

"I'm Asteria, and this is my big sister, Jess."

The boy held his hand out, offering a shake to the much older girl. Jess gladly took it.

"Damn, that's a good grip."

"Thanks," Jess smiled. Asteria knew she could've easily broken his hand. "So, what's your name?"

"_"

Jess and Asteria blinked. They saw him open his mouth, saw his lips move, but they couldn't hear what he said. Hell, they could read lips but for the life of them, they couldn't make out what he said. The boy continued grinning at them, but whether it was a grin of friendship or a grin of mischievousness was anyone's guess. Asteria tried peering into his mind, but found herself…blocked.

"Hey, I can't find it!"

The call of the cousin broke the girls out of their stunned silence, and Asteria and Jess immediately zeroed in on where he was vs where the dove had landed. "He's over there!" the both said, pointing.

The cousin followed their fingers— "Ah!" —and made a beeline straight for he saw the little bugger. He propped his gun on his shoulder, picked up the dove, cleanly ripped off its head in a spurt of blood, and pocketed the dove. "Alright, that's fifteen!"

"Hell yeah!" The son looked back at the girls. "Uh, thanks for the assist, Asteria, and great shooting, both of you. Hey, you need help counting your birds?"

"No."

"We got it. We're both at fifteen."

"Oh, wow. Well, in that case, I hope both of have a wonderful day." The boy did a little bow, a teasing grin on his face. He stood back up, and he and his cousin gathered their things, and made their way back for their truck.

"Could you read his mind?"

"No. It was blocked."

"Huh. Think he was a god?"

"Jess. You've met gods."

"Fair point."

"Wait-how did you know I could read minds?"

"Lucy told us the first night that she could you feel you probing our heads. Girl made a spell that blocked you out."

Asteria's cheeks turned a bit green in embarrassment at being caught. "S-Sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem. You didn't notice, but there was only some things you got to see, because we limited you on what you could access in our heads."

Asteria raised a brow.

"We're decades old, little sister, and we live with a goddess in a world of magic, gods, and monsters. You didn't think we could combat something invading our minds, did you?"

"Sorry if I made any of you feel threatened," Aster said genuinely sorry.

"Like I said, no problem. It was actually a nice change of pace, getting to use our mental shields again. Anyway, let's get back to camp."

The two girls quickly loaded up their Mojo doves, their chairs, their ammo crates—which were wholly unneeded in the end—and themselves, then they headed for the dirt road. A few stragglers flew above them, but neither child cared in the slightest. Nor did they care about the few scattered cracks of gunfire. They were both winding down form their hunt, and Asteria could say with complete honesty that she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

They reached the dirt road, and a truck came rumbling by. A strange silver Ford with a license plate that read 'HNTRSS.' Aster and Jess both grinned like children on sugar rushes. The truck stopped in front of them, and the shotgun seat's window rolled down, revealing the smiling face of one Zoё Nightshade.

"Well? Get in, little sisters."

The rear door was opened, revealing the wickedly smirking Thalia sliding to the far side. Jess was the first to climb, followed by Aster after she threw her bag into the bed of the truck. The hybrid shut the door, and the Ford rumbled off with an adult Artemis at the wheel.

"Have fun, girls?"

"Yes, M'lady."

"Yep!"

The Moon Goddess beamed. "Good. I'm glad you both enjoyed yourselves."

"We all got limits," Thalia said. "How 'bout you two?"

"Limits, duh," Jess snarked.

While Jess and Thalia began bickering about who the better shooter was, Asteria was talking with Zoё mind-to-mind.

'You said…you said 'little sisters.' Plural.'

'Indeed. Did I make thee uncomfortable? I'm sorry if I did-'

'No, no…it's just…I…never had anyone call me little sister before, besides Jess.'

'Do you want me to not call you that anymore?'

'No, I…I kinda like it.' Even in her thoughts, Asteria sounded embarrassed at revealing a new guilty pleasure. 'Does that mean I can…are you okay with me calling you…can I call you my big sister?'

Zoё smiled warmly, and the hybrid could feel that warmth through her mental bond with the demi-Titan.

'Of course you can call me your big sister.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alright, this was originally going to be longer and with more content than just Aster and Jess, but I got carried away with the Dove Hunting scene. The whole sequence was Inspired by my own hunt back in September, and it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one I was in the story. I was seriously giddy writing about my own experience like that.

So, to recap the entire arc so far: Asteria is interning with the Huntresses. They all have a variety of backgrounds, each one with a varying level of trauma. This arc explores those stories, while also building Asteria's relationship with each one. Currently, Aster knows Thalia, Bertha, Sarah, Zoё, Artemis, and now Jess, all on a personal level. More characters will be introduced in later chapters, but for now:

Fav, Follow, and Review please!