To 8Ball3- He is an actual god, and I was expecting someone to mention God of War. I like to be educational

To An-Unnamed-Goose- 1) BECAUSE I'M HORRIBLE, THAT'S WHY, MWHAHAHAHA! 2) And (hopefully) more entertainment means more reviews! ^_^


Louisa had to make some changes to their group immediately. They had no shelter for the night, no proper fire going. They had half a bottle of water between them and no first aid supplies at all. When she exasperated at their having survived this long, Raijin popped up beside her, fluttering his eyelashes, hands tucked under his chin.

"We're too pretty! The monsters won't kill us!"

"Mmph." Huxley scoffed. "They do try though."

"What kind of monsters?" Louisa asked. Don't be Cyclopes, don't be Cyclopes…

"Some snake people. Ruby had to fight a chicken."

"You had to fight that lady with the weird legs!"

"She had one robot leg and one furry leg!" Raijin marvelled, sticking his legs out in turn and pointing at them for each description. "Other than that, she was really pretty."

"She was." Huxley agreed.

"No," Ruby stressed, "that was magic. You two fell for it, like the boys you are."

"Ooh, Miss Looks-Are-Everything over here. You were just jealous!"

"Was not! Whoa, how did you do that?" Louisa looked up. She had built up a proper fire, like she had been shown, building up a pile of dry leaves around the base for kindling. Flames roared to life from a single matchstick, catching on quickly. She showed Ruby the matchbox. "Oh." She said. "Those would actually be super helpful."

"Told you." Huxley muttered.

"You did not!"

"Do you always argue?" Louisa puzzled, feeling a headache coming on already.

"No." They denied.

"Yes." Raijin nodded. "Can I have a match?"

"No." Louisa moved away to tuck the box back into her backpack. Storm was looking after it for her, lying down at the edge of their campsite and rifling for apples. "Get your nose outta there." Louisa sighed, wrestling the bag from her again. "You eat too many apples, ya gonna get sick!"

Worth it!

"I ain't lookin' after you."

You have to.

"Says who?"

Says my master.

"Who?"

Pegasus! The Pegasus! My mother told me about him. He's the forefather of all pegasi. Her eyes gleamed with mischief. He's also your brother.

"Say what?"

Yep! He's a son of Neptune! Or Poseidon, whatever. Same difference.

Are you sure? Louisa fumed quietly. How am I related to a horse?

Pegasus!

Yeah, yeah, pegasus. But how?

I don't know. I can't remember.

That doesn't help.

No. No, it doesn't. Give me apples.

No!

Give me apples or give me death! Storm whinnied and lunged for the backpack. Louisa fell back, the foal landing on top of her, biting at the strap again.

"Fight, fight, fight!" Raijin egged.

"Stop it." Ruby swatted his arm.

"It's my bag!"

They're my apples!

"Let go!"

Gimme!

Louisa managed to wriggle and lock her legs around Storm's neck, rolling them over and pinning the foal. "I'm bigger than you." She reminded her, puffing hair from her eyes. "You want apples, you do as I say."

Blackmail!

"Yeah, pretty much. Now, stay." She messed the filly's mane and rose.

"You OK?" Ruby laughed uncertainly.

"Yes." Louisa dusted herself down. "I'm gonna get ya'll some water. Wait here. Do that again and I'll drown you." Storm, having been trying to chomp on Louisa's sleeve, gave her the most angelic look on an equine face ever. Louisa sighed. "Keep an eye on them for me." She waved at the group. Storm snorted confirmation and proceeded to stare at Raijin with an intensity that made him freeze mid-dance.

"I'm scared to move." Louisa heard him whisper as she headed out.

"Good." Huxley replied.


There was a river, about a twenty minute walk from them. Filling their combined collection of water bottles was a piece of cake. Making it drinkable took only a little help from the resident naiad.

"You know Neptune, right?"

"Not in person, but yes."

"How's my brother Pegasus?"

"Oh. Um… how old are you?"

"Seven. Why?"

"Mmm, long story short, your father had a… an encounter of sorts and… the, um, the woman, uh…" The naiad winced, tapping a finger on her chin. "Well, yeah, stuff happened and, uh… she had kids. Kind of. Someone chopped her head off and the kids kind of… sprang out of her severed neck?" She grimaced. Louisa stared at her, wide-eyed. "Honey, the gods are a mess and their history is even worse. One of those kids was Pegasus. He went on to sire the entire race of pegasi."

"Who's the other kid?"

"Um… I… I can't remember. Huh. Never really thought about it before."

"Do they, you know, do they have their heads?"

"Yes, they have their heads."

"But their mom don't?"

"Well… she got better. Because of what happened with Poseidon, she was… well, some see it as a curse, some see it as a gift- Athena did something to her. Turned her hair to snakes. Anyone that looked her in the eye turned to stone. She can regenerate, like monsters. Killed, but not dead." The naiad studied her face, almost apologetically. "I… would avoid her, if I were you. She does not take kindly to your father."

"Snake hair?" Louisa repeated, queasy. "Yeah. I'll stay away."


"Where have you been?" Raijin wheezed. "I need to move!"

"Move then?" Louisa puzzled.

"No! Storm's scary."

"Storm, leave him alone."

You told me to keep an eye on them. As soon as Storm turned her glare on Louisa, Raijin was off like a shot, bolting into the woods as quickly as one could with a full bladder. Louisa sighed.

"Yeah, not scare the kid. He's bustin' for a wee, Storm, you meanie."

Just following orders. Storm bobbed her head self-righteously. Did you bring me apples?

"You ain't gonna let that go, are you?"

Never. Storm seemed to smirk at her, if that was possible for a pegasus. Louisa scratched her behind the ears as she passed, returning the water bottles.

"Is this safe?" Ruby asked, holding the bottle at arm's length.

"You worry too much." Louisa told her, setting Huxley's bottle beside him. "What's that you got?"

"Map." She leaned to the right. He had laid the map out across his knees, studying it intently. "I can't figure out where we are." He admitted, glancing briefly in Louisa's direction. "We need to get here," he pointed to a red dot, just under the title of Long Island. "But I don't know how."

"Find a road tomorrow." Louisa suggested. "Find a sign, see what's what."

"Yeah? Yeah, I suppose…" He caught a yawn in his elbow, surfacing bleary-eyed. "I'm gonna crash." He said, folding the map back up. He used his rucksack for a pillow and lay down. Within seconds, he was snoring.

"Unfair, right?" Ruby shook her head. "Takes me forever to go to sleep."

"I'm baaaack!" Raijin sang, jumping through the bushes and spreading his arms. "Who missed me?" They all stared at him. His grin did not falter, clapping twice. "Can I draw on his face yet?"

"No."

"Oh, poo." He pouted. Ruby stared him down. He huffed, wrinkling his nose. "Fine." He dragged his feet back to his space by the fire, warming his hands on the flames. "I'm bored." He announced.

"Go to sleep."

"I'm not that bored. Can I play with your sword yet?"

"No."

"Poo." He whined, tipping his head defeatedly. "You lot are just no fun."

I'm fun.

"Storm says she's fun."

"Storm scares me."

Good.

"Good."


Sorry for the late in the day update, got distracted doing other stuff! :P