Author's Note: The alternative title for this chapter is "Empathy for a Coyote"

Day 1

Alexa and Luna landed on Mount Chapman three hours after departing from Camp Half-blood. Ever the city girl, Alexa couldn't help but marvel at the vastness and the oddness of the place she found herself in. The forest at camp was nothing like this; there was no distant lights from the city, no fellow campers talking or laughing nearby, even the air felt different, thick with a smell of wood, sap, mulch, and some mildewy smell.

The moment Luna landed and was freed of her pack, the metal pitbull folded her wings and began familiarizing herself with the spot Alexa had chosen about two thirds of the way up the mountain. Alexa by contrast began working on their shelter. Her work area inside her tool box was the basis for it, but she expanded it with the use of a large tarp one of her siblings had invented and some tentpoles. Stretched out to its maximum extent the camo cloth as he had called it wouldn't be visible to anyone or anything short of an eagle unless they were nearly right on top of it. That should, at least, keep the park rangers off her back if she were to stay out here for an extended period. She unrolled a bit of flooring so that she wouldn't have to sleep directly on the ground and secured it to the tent poles. That quadrupled the floor space. Then, finally, she unrolled her sleeping bag and Luna's sleeping area.

Luna stuck her head into the suped up tent, a large stick clutched in her jaws.

"There, what do you think?" She asked, waving at their sleeping quarters. Luna tilted her head, her glowing eyes shifted rapidly between red and blue like a set of police lights.

"Oh quit your bellyaching! It's not that bad! You don't have to be so dramatic!" Alexa huffed back. Luna plopped her metallic rump on the ground outside the tent, crunching the sticks into kindling that she then proceeded to eat. Luna, thanks to the turbine engine inside her, needed a steady diet of flammables to keep her running smoothly. Liquids or vapors tended to be the best for her, but the teeth and blender further down in her gullet meant that even wood wouldn't be too much of a problem for her. The engine, Alexa had found, was actually a modified version of the one from an experimental Chrysler Turbine Car that hadn't quite gotten off the ground in the 60s. That her father had tinkered with the engine hadn't surprised her in the slightest but she was shocked that he'd given her something so priceless. The car itself was worth millions before her dad got his hands on it!

Sighing, she shook her head, banishing thoughts of the gods for the time being. She needed to find that deer!

Day 46

She caught a glimpse of the Hind! She had seen a few deer and even a couple of bears over the past month, but trying to find one deer in a mountain chain proved to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Still, she had spotted it on the lower part of Shuckstack in a clearing! Her binoculars zoomed in on deer. Its antlers and hooves sparkled gold, while it's body looked like it was dipped in silver. If her size through the binoculars was any indication, she was a rather large deer, her antlers curving into an almost C shape told Alexa that she was a reindeer, not at all what she had expected but she wasn't about to complain.

She took the binoculars away from her eyes and pulled Luna into a glide down towards the clearing. The deer looked up, and after a second of hesitation it bolted off into the woods.

"Damn it!"

Day 53

Persistence hunting, the method of early humans everywhere and Alexa's best hope...proved to be a dud. The Hind could outstrip her and had plenty of time to cool down, eat, and even catch a nap before Alexa's horrible tracking abilities allowed her to pick up her trail again.

Alexa slid into the tent, gave Luna a gentle pat, distracting her from the tree root she was gnawing on, then she crashed into her sleeping bag. Gods she was sore. Stupid mountains, stupid magic deer,… she'd have to think outside the box for this.

Day 62

The Hind's nose wriggled slightly. It smelled the licorice. Alexa watched it move with quiet anticipation, one step, two...closer and closer to the black little bundle of candy. This hunt was well over ten hours old, and Alexa had been sitting here, crouched, for at least three hours, long enough for her legs to start cramping but she didn't move.

Just a bit closer...closer.

The net suddenly shot upwards and Alexa let out a delighted shout. She rushed out of her place of hiding and had just gotten close to what she hoped was her trussed up catch when she noticed the set of legs standing behind the net filled with twigs and leaves.

Alexa craned her neck to find the doe, standing there, utterly uncaught even by the six back up trap nets! She stood there, dumbfounded, watching her prey slowly and, seemingly, smugly ate the black candy sticking out of its mouth. Just as Alexa raised a foot to jump after it, it bounded off into the woods, disappearing from sight.

Alexa groaned, took a step away from the clearing and found herself hoisted into the air by one of her back up traps! Alexa colored the air with a string of profanity.

Day 71

Luna's baying could be heard all throughout the woodlands. Alexa sat in yet another bush, listening to her automaton chasing the super speed deer through the woods. Silently Alexa wished she had thought to make Luna a hunting dog. As it stood she was certainly faster and more mobile than a canine her size should be, able to turn on a dime thanks to her eight smaller wings, but she simply wasn't fast enough to keep up with the Hind for long.

Alexa could hear the bounding steps of the deer drawing closer, the dense placement of the trees here forcing it down a particular trail. Closer...closer….

Alexa leaped out from hiding and managed to wrap her arms around the deer's neck. She dug in her heels and at first she thought she had managed to stop it, but half a second later the hind gave a yank and Alexa found herself dangling off it's neck.

She clung to it for dear life as it raced through the woods. Alexa constricted her grip, trying to squeeze the air from it. She thought she might actually be able to pull it off.

The next thing Alexa remembered was pain in her head, neck, and all through the left side of her body and Luna looking down at her. She groaned and slowly sat up. Blood dripped freely from her nose and a cut on her left temple, her neck felt stiff and sore, her left shoulder had been dislocated and her left arm was covered in fresh scrapes and bruises

Looking around in her dazed state she found the source of her discomfort. A smaller tree stood a few feet away with a suspiciously Alexa sized crater in its bark. Even as she watched the tree let out a groan, swayed once,and then fell, the splintering starting right in the impact zone.

"Well," Alexa said weakly. "At least I can say I knocked down a tree with my face...that's something."

Slowly, wincing all the while, Alexa got to her feet and under Luna's watchful eyes, she stumbled over to another tree, bracing her left shoulder against it. She took a deep breath, tried to loosen herself up, then shoved. With a deceptively quiet crack and a scream the joint slid back into place.

"Okay...okay...back to the drawing board…" Alexa said with a whine. Luna promptly shook her head, her eyes flashing red and blue. Alexa paused for a moment, considering.

"Alright, lunch, then rest, then back to work." She conceded.

Luna seemed satisfied and helped Alexa get back to base camp.

Day 98

Another failure. Three hours digging and another two finding branches and she had nothing to show for it. At least she hadn't managed to hurt herself this time. She just had to spend a minute climbing out of her own pit trap.

She sat at her work table, a blueprint set in front of her held open by her notebook and a book of hunting strategies on two of the corners. She contemplated the sketch before her and had just started to erase a spring when Luna entered their tent holding a stick in her jaws.

Alexa glanced at her before bowing her head and returning to work.

"Awrow…" Luna barked, muffled slightly by the stick.

"Yes Luna, it's a nice stick." Alexa said without looking up. Luna, not to be denied, crossed the short distance between the entrance and Alexa's work table. She sat there staring at Alexa before quietly butting her head against her.

"Luna, I gotta get this done!" Alexa groaned, trying to ignore her metallic puppy. The dog let out a whine that sounded more like the whine of a power drill. She pawed at Alexa, trying to get her hand off the blueprint. After several minutes of this Alexa sighed.

"Maybe you're right. I do need a break. Okay just let me put this up and we'll play." At Alexa's words Luna let out a happy little bark, turned in a circle three times and bounded out of the flap. Alexa chuckled, dusted off her hands, put the blueprint into one of the cubby holes and followed the winged dog outside for a game of fetch.

Day 108

Alexa grinned a triumphant grin as the Hind followed the smell of licorice into the clearing. From her hiding spot she slapped her hand on the button. In unison twelve netguns fired, six at about three feet off the ground and six at about five feet off the ground.

Incredibly the deer dodged at a perfect angle, dipping between two of the nets, into a safe area where the others whizzed past.

Of course, one net slammed into Alexa's middle, wrapped around her hips and legs and pinned her to a tree. The deer looked at her and very slowly began to eat it's licorice prize without breaking eye contact.

"I hate you so much." Alexa growled.

Day 122

Alexa began to wonder where the deer went when it rained.

Day 159

It was starting to get colder. Now, after coming back to their tent, Alexa was becoming more and more thankful for the heat from the forge and from Luna's belly.

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. Somehow Chiron had managed to send her monthly care packages, most likely through Hermes express service, filled with food, supplies, spending money and letters from both Jazz and Melody, and one even from Sonya.

What weighed heavily on her was the most recent of these letters. Jazz and Melody had both asked whether or not Alexa would be coming home for Christmas. She wanted to, good God did she want to. She wanted to eat real food again, she wanted ham and fresh Christmas cookies, she wanted to feel Melody's spine crushing hugs, and Jazz's warmth under that ever present roughness, she even wanted to grill Jazz and Sonya about the mysterious Sean. But in her heart she knew she couldn't. The Ceryneian Hind was here, she knew how to track it only in these mountains. If she left she didn't know if she could find it again. It could just leave while she was gone and then...then where would she be?

She sighed and sat back with her back against Luna's belly, the metal canine looked up once before settling back in. The letters with her refusal and apologies were already gone, swept away in a flutter of wings.

"Bah." Alexa grumbled "Humbug."

Day 173

Alexa cursed like a sailor with a stubbed toe. It had snowed hard last night and the morning had started around three when the roof of their shelter finally gave in, slipping from the poles and dumping about fifty pounds of frozen water on Alexa's head.

Now she and Luna worked furiously to unbury their little home away from home. Luna cleared snow and slush away with her paws, her front wings acting like little scoops, while Alexa worked with a shovel built more for dirt than snow. She might attempt an igloo once she calmed down a bit, after she had thawed.

Just as she thought this a soft crunch from behind her caught her attention. She turned, and found the silver Hind standing not even twenty feet away, watching them work.

She couldn't help it, she stumbled towards it and promptly fell in the knee high snow. The deer stamped one hoof, stuck out it's tongue, and then ran away in a blur of snow.

Day 311

Alexa's opinion on winter had changed almost one hundred and eighty degrees. Before she had like the winter, the frigid air and the snow. Now she loathed it for freezing her blood and making even a trip to relieve herself a teeth rattling experience.

Most of all, she hated what it did to the Hind. Although the deer was fast under normal circumstances it couldn't escape certain parts of it's biology and the simple fact was it wasn't really built for the forest. But once the snow fell Alexa quickly discovered the Hind was far better equipped for the snow. One attempt to hunt it had ended with the silvery doe disappearing in a flash at speeds that a bullet would envy. The girl and dog duo just couldn't keep up. All they could do was track it's movements over the following months.

Now, though, the thaw had come at last and the majority of the snow had begun to melt. It was time to hunt again. What's more, she actually had an advantage over her four legged adversary now that the snow was melting. Where there was melting snow, there'd be slush, and eventually that slush would melt into the dirt. Oh yes...there would be mud.

Day 313

She could clearly see the Hind down below her, grazing in a clearing. She still looked shaggier than she normally did, still wearing her winter coat. Alexa licked her lips and bent down, closer to Luna's ear.

"You remember what to do?" She asked. Luna let out a little snort in response.

"Alright then, let's do this!" She cried. Her winged mount dove and the deer bolted. It hopped easily from snow mound to snow mound, passing between the trees like a spirit. Alexa grimaced, reached out a hand and clenched her fist.

The mud that had been forming around the slushy snowy mound sprang up as if it were a snake the Hind had stepped on. The goop tried to wrap around the deer's haunches but it only managed to snag a single hoof.

Mud, while obviously the most plentiful of things Alexa's power could manipulate, was by far the slowest and the material Alexa had the hardest time working with. Had it been iron or bronze Alexa's frantic movements would've been fast enough.

But it wasn't. Two more thick tendrils of mud reared up and struck, coming down on nothing but the shattered remains of the earthen maniacal Alexa had attempted to make. All the subsequent attempts to snag her prey failed miserably.

Alexa swore.

Day 340

Alexa wandered through town, a backpack slung over her shoulder Luna's new dog whistle stuffed in her pocket. Usually these little forays into the mortal world were all about supplies, tools, or the occasional candy bar. Not today though. Today was about relaxation. There was only so much that she could get out of a game of fetch and Luna had demanded she take a break from hunting.

Today was all about bargain hunting. Apparently the little mountain town she found herself in took spring cleaning very seriously, capping off the yearly event with a swap meet. Alexa moved from table to table, stall to stall, a wad of barely touched mortal cash practically burning a hole in her pocket. Already she had bought a few movies, a few books, and an old typewriter she thought she could salvage some parts from, however now she was looking at a collection of toys and games a kind middle aged lady had set out. She had informed the young girl that her son had recently outgrown most of the trinkets before her, so she was happy to clear it out of his room.

Alexa's eyes fell on the Mythomagic collection, a positively massive box of figurines and their appropriate cards art neatly off to one corner. Immediately her eyes fell on the little figure with a peg leg, and a rotund frame hunched over an anvil. A small smile tugged at her lips, she wondered if her father might like that.

"How much for this?" She asked, picking up the figure.

"A quarter per doll, but if you have ten dollars you can have the whole box." It was a no brainer. Alexa parted with the ten dollars and quickly headed for a quiet area where Luna could pick her up.

Day 372

Had it really been a year? Alexa honestly didn't think so but the calendar said she had passed that milestone last week.

Over a year...and still no closer. Well...maybe today would be the day. She crouched in the tall grass, bow in hand, ready to deliver the latest of her trick arrows. Alexa wasn't the greatest archer. Oh she could hit a stationary target all day, everyday, but actually archery, trying to hit something that moved, was hard for her. She far preferred the accuracy of her sword. Living bodies tended to attract an electrical charge in a way that air just didn't. It made her shots a touch more accurate than an arrow, at least one fired by her. But she couldn't use her sword, a bolt fr it was too imprecise, she could accidentally kill the Hind if she wasn't perfect.

So she waited in the bush. She could hear Luna's baying off in the distance. She should be able to see the deer at any moment. She waited...and waited…and waited.

Suddenly, hot breath tickled the nape of her neck. She turned around, arrow notched, to find the deer standing closer than it ever had! It took a step back, watching her. As Alexa took aim the deer trotted backwards, out of her line of vision. Alexa stepped...on a bundle of sticks that hadn't been there before. She looked down and quickly realized what had happened. Somehow the deer had gotten behind her and emptied her quiver of all her trick arrows. Trick arrows, sensitive to touch, that she had just stepped on.

"Oh…" was all Alexa could say before the wet explosion. She was flung from her feet and stuck by the adhesive to a large tree at an odd angle. The deer looked up at her twisted body, her arm stuck above her head, the other pinned to her chest with the bow and arrow.

"Yeah, yeah... happy anniversary." Alexa huffed.