Man, I'm already bad at updating this story...


Chapter 4


"You!" Annabeth shrieked, trying to scramble away but was wrapped tightly in a blue sleeping bag situated on a pile of dry leaves. She ended up looking like a panicking inchworm and only accomplished spreading the brown crumbling leaves away in a fan with her unsubtle thrashing about.

The guy looked at her with wide green eyes. Rising to his feet in alarm, his massive wings spreading to steady himself and creating a subtle current of air. The warm orange glow of the flame fluttering against his figure and casting ominous shadows.

Heavily, her heartbeat shivered and bounced against her chest. Wings trembling like a flickering candle. Her head ached horrendously. Burning with every blink, feeling like her brain had been microwaved then stewed.

For a moment, only the tinny sound of drizzle against the patchwork roof, and the hearty crackling of the stone ringed fire dared to meet their ears as they stared bewildered at each other. Blooming claps of thunder rumbled grumpily in the distance, echoing like a mellow voice.

"You." Annabeth stated dumbfoundedly again. Palms scraping against the rough bumpy floor. Head spinning. Eyes solely on the one person in her presence.

"Me." he replied. Raising an eyebrow in what seem to be curious skepticism

"You."

Cautiously, Annabeth pushed the fabric off her legs and wiggled free. Standing slowly as her eyes remained locked with the stranger. Wincing slightly at the throb in her delicate wings and back.

He looked like a normal teen. Roughly her age perhaps. Thick black locks that looked expertly tousled, a muscular build, and piercing sea green eyes that shot out from under his dark serious brows. A simple worn black tee and pair of jeans were on him in a perfect fit.

"...Your wings…." Annabeth managed to get out in a croak.

The guy ruffled them consciously, tipping his head back as if he had been challenged. "What about them?" he cocked an eyebrow at her, his tone soft and a tad mocking if anything. A little lick of mischievousness dancing in his pupils.

Shifting warily, Annabeth decided on one thing.

She didn't like him.

He looked at her with too much boldness. Too much confidence. It made her feel like she could be victimized here. Somewhere she didn't even know.

Wait…. Where am I?

Finally, Annabeth's eyes broke away to quickly scrutinize where the heck she was. Perhaps even to locate an escape if needed be. But it was so strange. Everything was made of wood. Raw wood at that. The bark still clinging onto the logs, sometimes drearily peeling off like scaly grey dead skin. Making up the windowless walls in uneven, crooked rows. Dry wispy grass jammed into the crannies and sticking out like sofa stuffing, occasionally waving with a whistle of soft wind. A green listless camper cooker was cold in the corner, along with a small pile of assorted wrappers and a shiny pot hanging on a nub of wood. Crumpled clothes piled heavily with a obvious wafting stench drowned out by the wood smoke smell.

The roof seemed watertight enough. Only a few drops betraying the work of the plastic trash bags and wooden beams. Dripping to the hazardous floor and slipping into the crevices.

Everything was bathed in that warm orange light emitting from the fighting fire. Wavering with each shiver of the flame.

Big wings dude didn't say anything. He just watched her. Strangely enchanted with something about her. The firelight flickering against the chiseled rim of his jaw and collarbone. Shining in his locked eyes.

Annabeth felt her wings flutter in nervousness. Fidgeting behind her back like a secret trying to break loose.

How in the blazing do I get out of here?

Suddenly something emerged from the darkness.

Waddling like a little pig, it seemed to grow out of a shadow and perch himself at the boy's foot.

A small, slightly fat coon. Chittering and grumbling while it eyed Annabeth tauntingly. Turning and clasping that golden circlet in his paws.

"That's mine!" Annabeth exclaimed raggedly as her vision tunneled onto the compass. The rage in her chest rising to her eyes again.

Confused the guy looked to where she was glaring heatedly before his face softened.

"Bandit." he muttered with faint smirk. "Give me that."

Bandit hissed when the guy took the compass back. Looking as if the guy had just stolen his first born son.

"Here." the guy muttered. Tossing it back to Annabeth with a gentle throw.

Annabeth caught it suspiciously. Her eyes narrowing dangerously while she bit the corner of her lip in deduction.

"Is he yours?" she raised an eyebrow with an icy tone in her voice. Still careful but now more pissed than ever. Boiling while turning the smooth palm sized compass over in her hand and frowning deeply at a new diagonal scratch nicking the back.

Wing Dude shrugged. "Bandit? No." he spoke so quietly. As if he were certain that if he raised his voice she would flee like a panicked doe.

"Bandit suites him." Annabeth muttered sourly. Scowling at the raccoon with a pang of hatred.

"Her." the guy muttered offhandedly. "It's a girl coon."

Warily, Annabeth tucked her white wings behind her back. Trying to sum up this stranger before her. Trying to detect if there was a reason to fear him. Or fight him. Carefully, she slipped the compass into her jean pocket.

"Who are you?" Annabeth's stormy grey eyes narrowed at him. A feeling of being cornered entering her gut. "And where am I?"

Restlessly she scanned the shack again, searching for a way out. A way to escape.

The guy sat himself down on the fat log beside the fire. His wings rustling quietly as he folded them as tightly as he could. Staring at her as if she might disappear at any second while remaining eerily silent. Too silent.

A drafty breeze whistled in through the uninsulated walls. Casting a slight shiver that waved down Annabeth's spine.

The guy shifted his eyes and stared at the fire in an uncomfortable silence. Flames reflecting off his eyes and guarding his emotions.

"That belongs to me too!" Annabeth hissed as she spotted her carving knife hanging from the wall by its belt strap. Annoyed, she plucked it off the nub turned it over in her fingers. Caressing the familiar leather that sheathed it. Hooking her fingers through the worn belt strap.

"I need that." the guy suddenly growled. His dark eyebrows furrowing. Eyes flashing defensively.

"You stole it!" Annabeth bit back, finally spotting a flap over a space in the wall. Finally seeing a way out.

Black wing guy stood up suddenly, frightening Bandit back into her corner. "I need that. It's not exactly a walk in the park out here."

"Well it's a bloody shame you stole it now isn't it?" Annabeth spat sassily. Clutching her knife to her chest as if she were holding onto her life.

Before he could make a move towards her belonging. Before he could steal it back, Annabeth made a dash for the quivering flap of a tacked down garbage bag. Carelessly she flung herself out of the rain protected shack and into the forest.

But her mistake was noted too late.

She was already freefalling from the highest limb on the highest oak in the green strip. Careening once more through the air like a flailing chick from its nest. Crashing into branches and screaming at the top of her lungs. The fought for carving knife flying from her fingertips and twirling to the forest floor at the same rate she was. Droplets of water falling alongside her as if they were only fellow skydivers.

With a jerk she was caught. Grasped by her arms and stopped in her terrifying flight to death. The rain finally sinking into her clothes and hair. Dripping down her face as she looked up to the stranger. His massive wings spread as he balanced on a thick branch, straining to pull her up. Face pinched in effort. Wings hesitantly beating the air.

Scrambling, she managed to get onto the limb of the tree. Gasping and whimpering as her heart banged heavily in her chest. Tendrils of adrenaline fed warmth that left a burning sensation in her cheeks and fingertips.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?!" the guy hissed in a scorned voice as she latched onto the branch desperately.

Choking back a sob as she looked down in the dizzying drop left below. Feeling so insignificant and out of place to the height of it all. Like a little bug balancing on a thread.

To say she lost all nerve she had was an understatement.

After a scare like that she understood how cats got stuck in trees. What fear they must feel whenever they teeter on the edge of falling. How paralyzed they felt.

"Hello? Are you alright?"

Annabeth's eyes snapped up to his green ones again. Desperation ringing hollowly in her eyes. Calm and steady were his eyes as he stared back at her. Calm, steady, and encouraging.

"Here." he offered as he extended a hand out in her direction.

In a solid and quick swipe she grabbed it. Hoping that she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life. Hoping that he didn't push her off and watch coolly as she careened to the forest floor.

Instead, the guy picked her up bridal style in a single sweep.

Holding her to his sturdy chest like a newly found treasure. Seriously he gazed at her. Rain spiking his hair and soaking into his shirt. Rippling off his feathers.

"Hold on." he instructed in a last minute breath.

Suddenly they were plummeting. Diving through the branches. Whistling passed leaves while Annabeth clutched his neck in rigid fear. Unable to shriek with her heart beating wildly in her throat.

As the drenched forest floor neared and Annabeth prepared for the absolute worst, he let them loose. He let his wings unfurl. Catching the air and directing their fall into a curve. Weaving through the trunks of trees at ear popping speed then tilting to the sky.

And suddenly they were free. Free of the prison bar trunks. Free of the ground and of the leaves. Free and in the open air. Soaring upwards as the rain descended heavily.

Annabeth forgot to breathe. For that moment she even forgot what it was like for her heart to beat. Forgot what it felt like to be warm.

But she could see.

Oh how far she could see.

She could see the miles of forests with trees stabbing at the sky. She could see the peaked roofs of houses with glowing warm windows. She could see the dark ominous blanket of clouds rolling about over head. She could see the bright white flicker of lightning playing in the billows in flashes of brilliancy seeming to crack in slow mo. Occasionally striking down to earth in a cold rage for an instant. She could see the droplets of rain sparkle with every bit of undetained light flying through the sky. She could see the silhouette of mountains in the distance.

She could see the little shack she had been in. The shack they were nearing again. Perched high in a massive tree. Secured with ropes and vines and little edges of torn away metal. Little filaments of firelight still visible in this darkness. This layering darkness that took her breath away at the beauty of the light.

With a great groan the stranger dove back into the shack and they tumbled painfully across the uneven floor. Annabeth's moment of absolute awe severed off to become one of her dearly possessed memories.

Startled and scraped, she scrambled to her feet again. Only now noticing how her curls were plastered coldly to her neck and back in wet. How her shirt was ten times heavier and how her legs shivered. The nipping cold air seeming to burrow into her skin.

She was soaked to the bone and hadn't even the notion to feel it.

Presently, her attention was diverted with an explosion of rasping coughs.

The stranger/big wings dude/the person Annabeth didn't particularly like was heaving next to her. Wings trembling as they drooped against the floor, soggy and limp. His body lurching with every breath as he stayed double over, his hands against the ground.

In short, he looked like he had just ran a marathon through the ocean. Shirt, and hair equally drenched and hugging his body.

With a final gasp of air he shot her a withering look. "Don't stare." he sniffed curtly. "It's hard to fly with wet wings, let alone carrying another person. At least I was able to hold on to you."

Annabeth gripped her shoulders as a shiver chased down her spine. "It's a miracle you can fly at all." she pointed out. Somewhat still in shock over the entire experience.

The guy didn't say anything. Instead he dragged himself over to the fire, semi-circling his wings around it in an obvious effort for warmth.

Bluntly, Annabeth took the other side of the fire. Putting her palms out to accept the heat into her numbed limbs. Pleasantly enjoying the warmth dully radiating off the crackling, writhing flame.

"Why did you jump out of here?" the guy suddenly asked. A thoughtful look growing on his face as his curiosity was revealed.

"I assumed there'd be solid ground." she mumbled. Watching the flames lick at the air in puffs. "I wasn't expecting to be forty feet in the air."

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly. A look of intrigued thought on his features.

For a fraction of a second she considered lying. Giving him a name that he wouldn't be able to trace. But that thought evaporated when she realized that he had just blatantly saved her life without hesitation.

"Annabeth." She muttered. A stinging obviousness on lack of last name.

The guy grunted, his eyes flicking down to the fire again as he wrung his shirt out. "Pretty name." he muttered. A sort of blush surfacing on his cheeks.

"What's your name?" Annabeth dared to ask. Trying to evaporate the stingy awkwardness that seemed to be lingering between them.

"Percy." it came out as a hoarse breath. As if he couldn't stand the syllables and flow of his own name.

"Perseus." Annabeth mumbled absentmindedly to herself. Remembering fondly of the greek stories surrounding the one hero who didn't perish in some dramatic and tragic way. "You're namesake is after Perseus? Greek Mythology?"

Percy nodded slowly, almost tentatively. His eyes raking over her form in a scrutinizing way. Questions bouncing around his eyes as he watched her.

"Can I ask you a question, Percy?" Annabeth tried to ignore his piercing green eyes by fiddling with her hands. Looking into her lap instead of meeting his eyes.

"Er… sure…"

"Why can you fly? It's supposed to be impossible."

"Who tells you it's impossible?" He challenged. Cocking his eyebrow in the question.

"Everyone knows it is… it's just a common fact." she shrugged. Feeling her own wings twitch in a slight nervousness.

"Didn't I just prove that wrong?" Percy smirked. A wild sort of mischievous smirk that made his eyes sparkle in the firelight. Sending a prickling sensation down Annabeth's spine.

"I uh… I suppose." she reasoned. Looking up to the rudimentary ceiling thoughtfully. Rain still prominently heard splattering against it in a rage. "But then how can you fly? Were you just born with wings like that? And why in the devil are you living out here?"

Percy gnawed on the corner of his lip as he slowly retracted his drying wings. Annabeth watching in still a little awe as they slid away from the sides of the fire and folded behind his back. Ruffling slightly as he stared at her under dark eyebrows.

"I wasn't born with them." he revealed quietly. "In fact, my wings were the same size as yours just last year."

Annabeth blanked. Her mind in a sluggy form of confusion as she gazed expressionless back at Percy.

"As big as… mine?!" she finally stuttered out. Completely unable to wrap her head around the idea.

In comparison, she unfolded her wings. Absolutely sure that they extended no farther than a foot from her shoulder. Her aligned snowy white feathers shivered slightly when she brought her left wing close to her side to delicately run her fingers over the soft feathers.

"That's not possible." Annabeth decided. Turning back to Percy with a unbelieving scowl.

Percy shrugged. "It's true." he said plainly, acting as if that were the answer to the universe.

"But how? Did they just start growing again?"

"No. It was something more… controlled. Not just a random misfire in nature."

"What in the blazes are you talking about? If nature didn't do that to you than what in carnation did?!" Annabeth crossed her arms snugly. Glowering at Percy while trying to uncover if he was just fooling with her.

"I can't tell what caused it." Percy shrugged. An infuriating smirk creeping back onto his face at her discontent and confusion. "You'd never believe me."

"Oh come now." she chastised while leaning back on her haunches. Pursing her lips up at him from across the flame. "If it's a reasonable explanation then of course I'd believe. As long as you don't try and feed me Balderdash."

Percy snorted in a very ungentleman like manner. "Than you wouldn't even believe one tootin word that did come from my lips. You'd think it to be Balderdash."

"So that's it than." Annabeth huffed. Drawing herself up to her full height miffed. "You're just not going to tell me at all?"

"Well, truthfully yes. But in reality I'm quite confident you could figure it out on your own." he sat back on his log. That seemingly impertinent look of confidence and that relaxed in control pose was driving Annabeth crazy.

How he was so cool about not revealing anything that the conversation was leading up to.

REALLY, this fellow was not in her good books,

"If that's how it is." she sniffed in irritation. "Than I'll just go home."

She took only a few paces towards the door before Percy let out a rolling chuckle that seemed to resonate off the walls.

"It's cute how you think you can leave." he chuckled. Eyes cold as she wheeled around at him. Her blood running icy in her veins.

"What on bloody earth do you mean." Annabeth scoffed in scared repulsion. "Of course I'm going home. I-"

"I'm hiding out here for a reason." he crossed his arms. "I can't have a blabber mouth jumping back into town and telling everyone I exist."

"But what am I supposed to do here? Live in a corner until I die?" Annabeth faced him down. Her logical mind bringing up the errors he failed to see. "And when I don't return home my mother will only alert the police and have them scour this entire forest. She's very persistent you know."

Percy grumbled and stared into the fire again. An expressive sigh falling from his mouth.

"Well what else can I do with you? I don't think I can trust you, but what other choice do I have?" he crossed his arms softly with a pondering look on his face.

"I already tried telling someone you existed." Annabeth revealed in a sour tone.

"You what?!" Percy asked alarm. Springing to his feet.

"Only my best friend, don't worry. She thought I was making the whole thing up." her words seemed to sooth his troubles enough for him to let his shoulders droop.

"Alright." he finally spoke after a pause. Seriousness echoing in his voice sternly. "I'll let you go. But just know that if you breath one word to anyone about me, then you've just might've been the one to have me killed."

"Uh.. okay.." was all Annabeth could manage to say in a small voice.