To An-Unnamed-Goose- The centaur's their new buddy :P And she still has about 70 bathbombs, I've no idea why she got so many XD

To propheciesandbluecookies- I enjoy killing/mortally wounding people. Fictional people, may I stress, before anyone rings the po-po on me :P I've had quite a few people describe Lou as 'Lou'. I love that, it's like she's a whole concept on her own XD


Louisa sobbed, sliding onto her knees beside her. "It's OK, it's OK." She forced a smile, ignoring the waver in her voice. She slung her backpack off, wrenching it open, finding a water bottle simply by extending her hand. It lurched into her grip, almost leaping from the bag. Her hand shook, battling to get the lid off.

"Oh gods, oh gods." Austin was back, hovering over them, shifting from side to side, tail swishing. Louisa threw the lid aside. Storm wheezed, eyelids fluttering. "The bullet, the bullet! It's still in there!" Austin pointed at the wound, the outcome of that far from helpful and closer to angering her. She may have yelled at him, couldn't really remember. But he was right about the bullet.

She dug her fingers into the wound, apologising to Storm with tears in her eyes. Storm cried out, Austin fell to his knees to hold her still. Louisa grit her teeth, blood spilling over her knuckles. She tried to blot it out, squinting against the uprising of memories she didn't want. The warmth and stickiness of Storm's blood stained her sleeve, seemed to glue itself to her skin. She gagged, clamping her jaw shut as bile rose. Vomit in a gunshot wound didn't seem like the best medical option.

Her fingers brushed something cold, felt metal scrape on her fingernail. She caught it between her first two digits, slowly pulling it out. She looked to Storm's face, seeing her eyes widen, coughing more blood.

The bullet was out. Louisa upturned the water bottle, catching it on her bloodied hand and pressing it to the wound. She glared at it, vision blurring through tears. Green sparks wriggled in the water, vanishing into the injury.

"Heal, heal, heal," she muttered, "heal, please just heal." Storm coughed again. Louisa squeezed her eyes shut, applying more pressure.

Austin took a step back when the girl opened her eyes, now blazing a vibrant green. In all his years, all the demigods he had met… this was new.

He looked down, saw the water glowing too. The wound was closing. The pegasus's breathing was evening out. She stopped coughing up blood, stopped kicking. She blinked, once, twice, turned her head to her rider. Louisa waved her hand, washing the blood from the fur. The glow faded, her shoulders slumped. Her hands caught her, flattening on the dirt path before she pitched forward entirely. "Storm? Storm, you OK?"

I'm OK.

"Oh, thank gods." Louisa tipped sideways, lying on her back beside her pegasus. "Don't do that to me."

I didn't shoot myself, you idiot. Storm snorted, biting at Louisa's hair. Louisa shoved her away, playfully, reaching for that favoured spot behind the ears. Thanks, Lou. She snuffled her human's face appreciatively. Louisa sighed, closing her eyes. She patted Storm's neck.

"I ain't losin' anyone else."

Austin began to laugh. It wasn't a laugh Louisa recognised, it wasn't a happy laugh. She squinted at him, reaching for her watch.

But he wasn't attacking. His laughter wasn't malicious, it was… confused? He was looking at them, laughing, bewildered and mumbling between hysteria in a language she didn't recognise, hiding behind his hands, peeking through his fingers.

"Ya'll so weird." He eventually told them. "Ya'll so weird."

What's his problem?

"I don't know."

Maybe we should have left him on the sign.

"Maybe."

"You do realise I understand ya'll, right?"

"We're talkin' about you, not to you. Shush."

Yeah, shush.


They spent the afternoon walking. Louisa walked alongside Storm, examining Austin's quiver of arrows. She was fascinated with what she called the 'punchy arrows'. She dropped another arrow and it exploded in a wave of pink goop over her shoes.

"Ew." She said. Austin snatched her up, the goop hardening a second later.

"It's a trap, that. Takes eight hours to dissolve, five if it rains."

"Oh." Louisa reconsidered the pink goop, handing the quiver back. "Thanks." He nodded, setting her down. Storm sniffed at the pile, tipping her head.

Smells like strawberries.

"Well, yeah. We ain't animals."

"Um…"

"Say nothin'."

"OK." They began walking again. Austin was aware his two charges were talking to each other without actually speaking, by their gestures and expressions. He left them to it. He had enough to think over as it was, without adding their little jabs at his logic to his plate.

He hadn't met a Big Three kid before. He knew they were weird, knew they were powerful. Knew they were also banned and that their fathers had taken an oath to ensure they were never born again. Everyone knew that. He had never thought he would meet one, never. Now, one walked alongside him, pulling faces at her pegasus, who tried to bite her only to be threatened with no apples.

Somehow Louisa was and was not what he had been expecting.

Not losin' anyone else, she had said. He was no expert on humans, but she was seven? Eight? Most certainly young by human standards and most certainly not the sort of age she should be wandering around witnessing what she had and what she will do. He looked over at her, concern bubbling in his chest.

Then he remembered the glowing green eyes, the concern mixing with apprehension. This child had power. It had just not benefitted her as much as it had deprived her.

There was a shout. Austin turned, saw the demigod draw her sword. Storm even spread her growing wings, ready to fight.

Another shout. Followed by loud cheering and then laughter.

"AUSTIN!"

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU!"

From the trees, his herd burst forth, rushing them, whooping and calling his name. He was swarmed, hit on the back, put in a headlock and noogied, clapped on the shoulder. He saw grinning faces, bright T-shirts, someone splattered head-to-hoof with paintballs.

After a few minutes, things began to calm down. They began to ask him questions, still rather loudly, but no longer shouting.

"Where ya been, man?"

"We missed you!"

"I dared Brian to cut his tail off!"

"It'll grow back!"

"Not for a while!"

"We've been all over Texas lookin' for ya!"

"I wasn't in Texas." Austin said. "I ain't sure where I was, but I found some help. Or help found me." He looked through the mass of centaurs, finding Louisa and Storm standing on the outskirts of the huddle, looking a little worse for wear after escaping a centaur stampede. He pointed to them. "This is Louisa. 'N' that there is Storm."

"Whoa, ain't that, like, Poseidon's kid?"

"Heard about her."

"Dude, you found her?"

"No, they found me."

"Wild."

"I said we'd help her get to San Fran, if she helped me find you lot."

"San Fran? Yeah, we can do that."

"But first!" The one name Brian declared, holding his arms aloft in victory, although Louisa wasn't sure what he had won. "Lunchtime!"

Eating with a herd of centaurs was… interesting. They started a fire and began roasting meat on it, wild boar going by the size of it. Louisa wasn't sure how she felt about horse-men eating pigs, but it smelled really, really good, so she let it slide.

Austin found Storm grain, something she turned her nose up at first, but found was far more filling than apples. She had a bucketful to herself, munching and crunching away beside Louisa without a care in the world, like she hadn't been shot that morning.

Louisa found herself checking for the wound. Found herself looking for anything that she had missed. There wasn't so much as a speck of dried blood in Storm's fur, she ate with all her usual gusto and told Louisa off for staring with a snort, spraying half-chewed grain at her.

"Thanks." Louisa muttered, wiping said grain off her face and flicking it away. Storm's eyes glittered with amusement, diving back into her bucket with a merry swish of her tail.

While the meat cooked, the Party Ponies entertained themselves by shooting the punchy arrows at each other, or firing paintball guns or even charging at each other and crashing their heads together with enough force to make Louisa's own skull hurt in sympathy. "They're insane." She mumbled, watching the most recent colliding pair stagger away with goofy grins. Storm huffed in agreement, searching her now empty bucket for more grain. "You've only had that two minutes." Louisa tutted. Storm kicked the bucket over.

More please!

"You pig."

No, that's a pig, she turned her nose in the direction of the roast, I am a pegasus. And I'm hungry!

"You're always hungry."

FEED ME!

"Alright, alright, I'll go find Austin."

Thank you!

"Still a pig though." Louisa smirked, snatching up the bucket. Storm bit at her sleeve, missing her by a hairsbreadth.

Austin was by the fire. She could see him, stoking the flames and talking to a couple of his buddies. Getting to him, without getting shot by a punchy arrow or a paintball or caught between charging centaurs or under stamping hoofs, was in and of itself a flaming miracle. She considered the mass of Party Ponies between her and Austin, tapping her fingers on the bucket in thought.

Waited for an opening, darted forward. Ducked as hooves kicked over her head. A paintball hit the bucket, quickly followed by a 'sorry!' Scooted forward, leaned back to avoid a tail to the face. Jumped to the left, back one step and then rushed forward about ten, stopped again. It was like playing hopscotch in a minefield, oddly exhilarating. She got through, one final duck and spin under a centaur, holding the bucket above her head like a trophy. Austin was only a few feet away now. Hadn't noticed her. Neither had his friends.

"-do about her?" One of them was asking. Louisa held still, lowering her bucket. "She's not safe to keep around."

"C'mon, man, she's only a kid."

"You've heard the same rumours I have, Austin. I say we wash our hands of her right now."

"But I promised to take her to San Fran."

"Well, that's on you 'n' your soft heart." The other friend sneered. Austin hung his head, stabbing at the flames a little too harshly. "What did you expect?" The friend demanded. "We were all gonna be happy as Larry ta cart the kid around? You know what they say 'bout her."

"She's a good kid 'n' she's been through hell. She's watched four of her friends die. She's a bairn, for cryin' out loud! Ain't no kid should see that." Austin shook his head, throwing down his stick.

"Four dead 'n' she ain't. Bit weird, ain't it?"

"What'd you mean?"

"She walked away alive, di'nt she?"

"She escaped."

"Leavin' her friends for dead."

"Shut up." Louisa said. They startled, turning to her. Austin reached for her.

"Kid, I-"

"Shut up!" She threw the bucket, hot tears flurrying her vision. She heard it crack, heard the grunt of the second friend as it struck his forehead. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Her hands crashed over her ears, applying an unintentional pressure that made it feel like she was trying to squeeze the memories out. Sick burned her throat, she saw Arnie disappear under Ma Gasket's hold, screwed her eyes shut, tears flooding her cheeks, saw the life crushed from Huxley, saw him fall to the floor, already dead. Then Ruby, screaming and flailing as the poison overtook her. Then Raijin, the smallest, the last. His neck snapped, dropped on Huxley, neither aware the other was there.

Someone touched her shoulder, she screamed. Green light flashed beyond her eyelids, panicked yelling filled her ears.

Then she was running. Just running. Feet slamming into the dirt. Chest heaving, arms pumping, tears scalding her skin. A whinny behind her, I'm here, I'm here! Storm cried. Louisa sobbed.


I would like it to be noted that when she throws the bucket, I imagine 'BUCKET' appearing when it hits, like when Miles threw the bagel in Into the Spider-verse ^_^

Also, I forgot to say, but in the last chapter, does anyone recognise where Lou was? I called the chapter 'Poo' for a reason :3