Nov. 31

Dear diary,

I was woken up today at the crack of dawn. I donned my new outfit as a Hunter of Artemis-white shirt, blue jeans and black combat boots. There was a silver ski jacket, but I decided to put it in my pack, seeing that it was like, 65 degrees, and sunny. Anyways, we were told to split up in search of the fox, since it's tracks had disappeared last night. Julianna tossed me a small, white thing that resembled an earpod, except without the part coming out of it.

"Communication device," she said. "We all have one."

"I thought demigod communication was down," I said, wondering what else Artemis had hidden from the rest of the world. Nuclear weapons? Whole countries?

Julianna smirked. "You'd be surprised. We have many things that no one else knows, especially survival gear. I've been a Hunter for over three hundred years, and Lady Artemis still has things I do not know of."

"Hey, are you going to talk all day, or are we setting out?" Rachel said.

"Coming, mother!" I called, jokingly.

Rachel grinned. "So, why don't we go that way?" she pointed to the east.

"Is there a reason, or is this like, a gut instinct?" I asked.

"Wait, let me guess, gut instinct." Julianna mumbled.

"That is correct!" Rachel turned and sprinted off the east. Julianna shrugged and we ran after her. Three hours later, Rachel showed no sign of slowing down. Even with enhanced endurance, I was starting to tire, and from the looks of it, so was Julianna.

"How?" I panted, gesturing at Rachel, who was forging ahead.

"Rach was on a running team. Five minutes for a mile." I didn't bother answering, I was using enough energy trying to keep up with Rachel.

All of a sudden, Rachel stopped, Julianna and I nearly crashing into her.

"Shh. there's something in those bushes." We each pulled out our bows and nocked and arrow, standing back to back in a circle. A clump of bushes on my right rustled, and a black shadow leapt at us. I drew my bow and fired; the hellhound melted into a puddle of shadow. I started forward to retrieve my arrow, but Julianna stopped me.

"Wait," she hissed. "Sometimes…" as if on cue, a pack of hellhounds emerged from the shadows, at least eight of them, forming a circle around the three of us. Dropping my bow, I drew my knives, bringing them down on the nearest hellhound, which promptly disintegrated. I heard a shrill whistle, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a falcon emerge from the clouds, dive bombing the monsters. Spinning around, I jabbed at a hellhound that was about to pounce on Rachel from behind.

"Thanks," Rachel said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Julianna brought her knife down on the last hellhound's snout and it melted into shadow.

"I have a question," I asked. "Where did the falcon come from?"

Rachel grinned. "She's mine. Meet Swift." she whistled, and the falcon landed on her shoulder and looked at me. I swear I could understand it's thoughts. It was thinking, who's this newbie? "Hi Swift. I'm Abby." She ruffled her feathers and looked satisfied.

Just then, I heard a voice over my communication device. This is Sidney. We have spotted the Tessumian Fox at 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W.

Julianna held her finger to her device. "This is Julianna. Tessumian Fox at 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W." Rachel took out a map of the US. It had a hologram of a bow and arrow floating above the Austin area, around Fort Hood.

"This is where we are," Rachel pointed to the hologram. "We need to get to 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W." the map shimmered, the icon of a target appearing.

Julianna scowled. "That is around ten miles away. We won't be able to get there before sunset if we walk. And I don't like being left out of things."

I grinned. Finally, I could start pulling my own weight. "Leave it to me." I closed my eyes and concentrated on sending my message to my pegasus. Soon, three shapes emerged from the clouds, heading towards us.

Milky Way, or Milky for short, is a cream colored pegasus, with gold, brown, and light purple spots, as if someone splattered point on a canvas. Her eyes are a dark amber. She whinnied. 'Sup, Boss? This is Blackjack, and this is Misty.

I turned to my companions. "Rachel, Julianna, meet, Milky Way, Milky for short, Blackjack, and Misty."

Rachel touched Misty's nose. "She's beautiful." Misty neighed. Well, duh!

I mounted Milky. Julianna and Rachel hopped on Blackjack and Misty, respectively, and we were off, soaring over the treetops. Where to? Milky said. "Where to?" I yelled over my shoulder. "NORTH-EAST!" Rachel hollered back. "You heard her," I muttered, as the three pegasi changed direction.

After a while, I got bored, thanks to ADHD. I guess being a hunter doesn't take away Dyslexia or ADHD, though I only had the latter. "So, what do y'all think about boys?" I asked, falling back so I was in between Blackjack and Misty, and their respective riders.

"Boys in general are jerks who treat females as property." Julianna stated. I guess being born in the 1700s gives you that mindset.

"Boys are like a lesser sub-species of human. They are clueless, and rather dense, but are tolerable," Rachel said. "How about you, Abby?" I pursed my lips, remembering all those times I'd heard the phrase 'you're just a girl' or 'this is for boys only'.

Even at Camp Half-Blood, Percy always had the spotlight. The 'savior of Olympus', 'Child of the Prophecy', 'one of the Seven', 'survivor of Tartarus'. He had so many titles under his belt. Percy didn't know it, but I was constantly being compared to him. I didn't even get a first impression. It was always "Oh! So you're Percy Jackson's little sister!"

"Abby!" a voice jolted me out of my memories. "Earth to Abby!" Rachel yelled at me. "Wassup? You still didn't tell me what you think about boys!"

I shook my head. "Oh, uh, just took a walk down memory lane. Um…" my voice trailed off, pondering those memories. "Boys, boys are obnoxious jerks, (understatement)." then I remembered Percy, my dad -Poseidon, Frank, Jason, all the boys that were nice and respected women. "Well, some boys are okay, like Percy. But, you know, you got to prove that they can't mess with you." I grinned, thinking of all those times I'd used blue cookies as leverage against Percy, -I'd gotten the recipe from Sally.

"We're here!" Julianna pointed to a clearing. I unslung my bow, and urged Milky Way into a landing. She landed lightly, her wings extended. I slipped off, and thanked the three pegasi. Blackjack whinnied. Miss, can we get some donuts? I sighed. Percy had told me all about this. "I don't have any donuts. But I do have sugar cubes." I held out a handful. Blackjack ate them, snorting with pleasure. "Do you two want any?" Misty and Milky Way declined.

"Donuts?" Julianna asked.

"Yeah. Blackjack always wants donuts." I grinned

Rachel sighed. "I found a note, if anyone's interested." she reached into the hollow of a tree and took out a small silvery sheet of paper and unfolded it.

The fox went North. Keep in touch. Good hunting!

- Sidney, Thalia, Skye

Rachel scowled. "Sidney always gets there before me."

Julianna rolled her eyes. "Rachel's been trying to get 'best tracker' since…" her voice trailed off.

"Since when?" I asked.

A shadow of pain crossed Julianna's face. When she answered, her voice was barely a louder than a whisper. "Since Phoebe passed. May her soul rest in Elysium."

Rachel chewed on her lip uncomfortably. "We lost so many against Orion. That's why our numbers our so small." she made the ancient sign for warding off evil.

I started fidgeting with the silver bracelet I had gotten from my mom, a nervous habit. Finally, Rachel spoke, her voice hoarse. "Let's go. We have a fox to catch." Julianna nodded, and I felt guilty for bringing up the topic. We headed north in silence, each in her own thoughts.

As for me, my thoughts turned toward Camp Half-Blood, and how I was going to explain my choice to Percy, Annabeth, and my other friends. Finally, as the sun dyed the western sky red, we set up camp, ate a quick dinner of chicken, and I burrowed into my sleeping bag, I fell into a deep sleep, though, for demigods, sleep does not always mean rest.

There's the chappie! Good hunting!

-HunterofArtemis01