"We'll rest here for the night." Thalia said decisively, dropping her shield to the ground and pulling a silver cloth from her backpack. "Cleo, you and Portia tie him up over there." She nodded to a spot several meters away from where she was standing.
They had covered Ryker's hands with silver gloves and had bound him with some sort of extremely tough thread. They had captured him with surprising ease which annoyed him to no end. The girl who held his tether jerked him along and his scowl deepened. They had forced him to run along with him which was no big deal in of itself, but every time he had slowed they had prodded him along with their arrows or swords. Eventually he had grown tired of the constant prodding and had quietly kept up with them. The girl had begun to tie him to a tree when Thalia looked over and her voice cracked out, "Don't tie him there!" She said hotly. "You saw what he can do when he can touch a tree!"
Ryker cursed silently though his face remained neutral. Escaping with his hands covered would be very difficult. He glanced up at the sky and smiled when he spied the hawk circling above their camp. He was moved away from the tree and tied down to the ground via several white cables that the girl pulled out of her backpack. Once she was certain that he could go nowhere she returned to the other huntresses to assist in setting up their camp. Ryker watched with mild interest as their silver cloths somehow transformed into grand tents. Their entire setup took less than fifteen minutes and when they were finished the girls began to relax. Some went into their tents and disappeared, presumably to sleep. Others began to play with the wolves or tend to their various weapons.
"Comfortable?" Thalia asked interestedly, striding over to Ryker and taking a seat on the ground beside him. "Sorry for the bindings, but I get the feeling that you are the sort to try and escape."
He had to smile at that. "Oh, I will escape." He said confidently. He gazed down at his gloved hands before looking back to her. "I'm guessing that you are Artemis's Lieutenant?"
"Yes." She nodded. "So do you have any ideas why the gods want you to be taken to camp Half-Blood."
"Not a clue." Ryker shrugged. "I don't even know what Camp Half-Blood is."
"The summer camp for demigods?" Thalia offered. "Like you and me?" Ryker looked at her blankly and he saw a question flash across Thalia's face. "You do know that you are a demigod, right?"
"I figured it was something like that." Ryker shrugged again. "I once spoke with a cloud nymph who told me that I was. I guess I never really gave it much thought."
"Speaking of that, how long have you been living in the forest?" Thalia seemed intrigued by him for some reason. "I mean, your clothes look like you made them yourself except for your jeans."
"Deer hide." Ryker said, patting his jerkin fondly. "Yeah, I made it myself. I… borrowed the jeans. As for how long I've been on my own… About twelve years now."
"How old are you?" She inquired.
Ryker thought for a moment about how wise it was giving them so much information, but he figured that since he was planning on escaping that it would not truly matter. "Sixteen." He said finally.
"You've survived on your own for twelve years?" Her astonishment could not have been plainer. "How did you manage that? Didn't monsters come for you?"
Ryker reached for his neck and was stopped short by the bindings. He vented a frustrated sigh and gestured for Thalia to move closer. "At my neck there is a necklace. Pull it out for me."
Thalia very hesitantly moved forward and searched for a moment before she found the specified item. She gave it a gentle tug and pulled it over Ryker's head. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she saw the items hanging on the necklace. "Is this…?" She held a fang between her fingers.
"Hydra's tooth." Ryker nodded. "Came after me just last year. Actually, a lot of creatures like that one have been active lately. They've stopped recently, but for a while there it was hard to get a moment's breath. They kept saying something about how the Earth Mother was awaking."
"Yes, that was… a trial." Thalia winced. "But that's been taken care of. Anyways, I don't suppose you know who your divine parent is?"
"Not a clue."
"You must be the son of one of the nature goddesses…." Thalia's voice trailed off and she studied him closely. "But I know children of all of them. You don't have any of their distinguishing features or their characteristics."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"It's fine." Thalia said vaguely. "When we get to Camp Half-Blood we will talk to Chiron and Mr. D and see what they think. Your parent should claim you after you've been there for a little while, especially if Zeus is the one who asked for you in the first place."
"You seem very confident that you are going to get me there." Ryker observed. "But I still have zero intention of going with you. I don't do well with other people, trust me. The forest is my home."
"Why don't you want to go to camp?" Thalia seemed mystified. "It's safe there and fun besides. Demigods can actually be themselves there."
"I can be myself in the forest." Ryker reminded her. "And I have been doing very well for myself. At least, until you lot came along."
"I don't get how we didn't discover you sooner." Thalia mused. "Or at least one of the satyrs."
"Probably because I didn't want to be found." Ryker said, "I've felt your group run through my woods before but you weren't looking for me. It was easy enough to conceal myself from people who aren't aware I'm there."
"Fair enough." Thalia said, rising to her feet. She looked over to the girls and waved one over. "We're going to post watches on him. One hour increments. Pick someone as your relief when the hour is up. If he causes trouble come wake me up."
"Can do." The girl drew out her bow and walked several feet away from Ryker. She drew back the string and leveled the arrow at his throat. He smiled at her and she glared at him. "Don't try anything funny."
"No promises." He chuckled. He reached up to scratch his chin and it occurred to him that Thalia still had his necklace. I'll need to get that back before I get out of here.
He sat quietly in front of his guard, gazing up at the sky as the moon rose. To her credit, she never wavered for a minute as she continued to have her bow trained on him. Ryker began to whistle quietly, towards the end of her watch. When there was less than five minutes remaining he finally saw her relax a fraction of an inch. His whistling picked up in volume and when he finished his tune he let loose a burst of three ascending notes. A hawk screamed above them and Ryker smiled at his guard once more. "Sorry about this." He told her sincerely.
"Sorry about wha- Aaaah!" She suddenly screamed when a hawk dive bombed her. The arrow that she had nocked shot from the bow, narrowly missing Ryker. The hawk's talons dug bloody furrows in her face and neck and she dropped her bow to push off the bird. The hawk gave a cry of rage and flapped away minus several feathers. "You!"
She only then realized that Ryker was no longer bound. He had removed his gloves and was now holding her bow in his right hand. He hefted the weapon experimentally and nodded appreciatively. "Good weapon." He offered before darting forward and cracking her on the head.
Her scream had not gone unnoticed by the others and Ryker turned to see huntresses spilling out of their tents with weapons drawn. Thalia was among them, though she looked anything but surprised. Her shield was on her arm, but Ryker had learned better than to look at it. The image it depicted forced him to look away, which was death on the battlefield. "I don't suppose you would surrender, would you?"
"No." Ryker said regretfully. "Not at all."
"You know how this went last time." Thalia warned him. "We won't go easy on you this time."
"Funny… I was going to say the same thing." Ryker grinned but then he sighed. "Sorry, as much as I would love to play with you again I really should be going."
"You can't get away from us." Thalia warned him. "The Blessing of Artemis has been bestowed upon us. Our prey can never escape."
"Maybe your other prey." Ryker said fairly. For every step they advanced he took a step back. He let this song and dance continue until he was right beside a tree. He thought it was a maple, but he couldn't be certain. "But in the forest… I'm the hunter."
Without another word he quite literally stepped into the tree. He wished he could have seen the shock on their faces as he disappeared, but he didn't. He felt himself traveling through the invisible network that connected all trees and when he thought that he was far enough away he stepped out of the tree.
"Nice of you to join us." Thalia said smugly, her shield still raised.
Ryker's mouth popped open and he stared at them with open mouthed amazement. He shouldn't have been anywhere near them, he shouldn't have been within several hundred miles of them. He glanced at the tree behind him and frowned. Did you betray me Old One? He wondered.
"I bet you thought that you were slick." Thalia laughed. "Sorry, but I win that round. I spent years as a tree and my father is Zeus. That tree you just stepped into was an oak. His sacred tree."
Ryker tried to hide his amazement, but was only partially successful. He had used the trees as a means of travel for years, ever since he had learned that it was possible. To have his escape route abruptly cut off was nothing short of devastating to him. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to escape them through any other means either.
"You have two options." Thalia told him. "You can try to run, but we will catch you. Alternatively, you can come along with us willingly and we won't have to keep you bound."
"Thalia!" Selecia said hotly. "He's a boy!"
"So is my brother." Thalia shrugged. "If he doesn't cause us trouble he shouldn't have to be bound like a prisoner."
"But he is our prisoner!" Selecia reminded her.
Ryker was very sorely tempted to shoot her and hang the consequences. But he decided against that course as he was not certain that the trees that surrounded them would be willing to help him. "Fine." He said at last. "I'll go with you… for now. But I'm not promising that I will stay at this Camp Half-Blood."
"That's not for you or me to decide." Thalia told him simply. "But that's fair enough. Come on, I'll get you your own tent."
"I'll stay out here if you don't mind." Ryker said. He gazed at the arrows that were still directed at him and scowled. "I don't trust you that much."
"Don't try to run off." Thalia warned him. "We leave an hour before first light. I want to get to Camp before noon."
