When an animal wakes up in an unfamiliar place with no memory of how it got there most times the beast will initiate its fight or flight instincts. Ryker was no different. His eyes snapped open and he sucked in a painful rattling breath just as his unfortunate doctor happened to be leaning over him to check his pulse. Ryker's hand shot out and grabbed the man by the throat. Ryker snarled and pushed him to the floor, his other hand on the man's throat. "H-help!" The doctor croaked out as he began to turn purple.
The sound of footsteps alerted Ryker to more people but he was intent on his task. The doctor's eyes began to dim and his pulse weakened beneath Ryker's fingertips. "Ryker!" A familiar voice shouted in surprise. "Let him go! You're killing him!"
Ryker heard the words but in his pain-addled, instinct driven state he shrugged them off as pointless noise. "Stop him!" Another voice roared.
Hands grabbed Ryker from all sides and managed to pull him away from the doctor. Ryker thrashed and struggled but the pain in his chest was nearly incapacitating. As he slowly regained his wits he stopped fighting and went limp in his restrainers' arms. The doctor had been pulled to the opposite side of the room and had a hand on his throat. He was looking at Ryker with wide eyed fear even with Reyna and Jason interposed between them. Ryker looked up and saw Percy and Annabeth holding tight to his arms. "You alright now?" Percy asked warily, not releasing his grip on Ryker's arms.
"Orion." Ryker barked.
The others glanced to one another in confusion and Thalia cleared her throat loudly. "What about Orion?" She asked quietly.
"You asked me to find out who it was that was taking the demigods." Ryker spat. Percy and Annabeth released his arms and he got slowly to his feet, one hand massaging his aching chest. Bandaged wrapped around his torso and he had a feeling that removing them would not be in his best interest. "His name is Orion."
The assembled demigods looked to one another in surprise. "Are you sure?" Reyna asked after a beat.
"Ten feet tall. Strange red eyes. Black bow. Male. Hunter." Ryker listed off the distinctive traits that he had discerned from their brief meeting. "And he told me his name. I don't think he expected me to survive."
"You almost didn't." Nico told him, stepping out from Reyna's shadow. "When I found you, I could feel your death looming above your head. I'm surprised you survived as long as you did with that arrow in your chest. I got you back to camp and Will has been taking care of you ever since." Nico jerked a thumb to the doctor who Ryker had tried to kill.
Ryker recognized the demigod from the Greek camp. He sighed inwardly as he recounted his actions and nodded to Will. "My apologies. I was not myself."
"Oh it's fine." Will managed to say. His throat was already bruising where Ryker's hands had gone. "Not the first time one of my patients tried to kill me."
"Dude that is a really awful thing to say." Jason shook his head. "I would try to avoid that. You might die next time."
"Oh I'm not worried about that." Will said brightly. He grinned at Nico who rolled his eyes. "One of the bright sides about dating a child of Hades is that he can tell when people are about to die. When he says I should worry then I will worry."
"What did Orion say he is doing with the demigods?" Reyna demanded.
"Didn't tell me." Ryker shrugged. "He told me his name. After that I attacked him."
"You attacked a giant? Alone?" Frank asked disbelievingly. "Do you have a death wish? Seriously. I want to know. You seem to always pick a fight with the most dangerous things around."
"He took Silver." Ryker's voice was as cold as ice. "I had to try to get her back. He beat me. Simple as that."
"He took Silver?" Thalia demanded. "Why?"
"I don't know." Ryker shrugged again. "Like I said, we didn't talk too much. He was busy putting an arrow through my chest."
"Well, at least we know what's causing us this trouble." Hazel said optimistically.
The others didn't seem to share her optimism. Frank was still gazing at Ryker with something that bordered on angry disbelief. Percy and Annabeth seemed to be lost in their thoughts as they considered the problem facing them. Jason was quietly conversing with Thalia while Reyna quietly listened to them speak. Will was the only one who seemed to have some purpose. He pointed at the bed and then looked at Ryker. "You. Sit. You still need to rest."
"I'm fine." Ryker said dismissively. The pain in his chest was tremendous but he had felt worse.
"It wasn't a question." Will said in a near growl. "You are my patient. Sit. Down."
Ryker slowly met the golden haired boy's gaze. He treated him with his most malevolent glare which had as much effect on the son of Apollo as his refusal did. "Yes, very scary." Will rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that you can terrify a lot of other people with that look. But not me. Now are you going to sit or do I have to make you?"
"As if you could." Ryker scoffed, stubbornly remaining standing.
Will's eyes glinted and everyone in the tent immediately put their fingers in their ears. "Last chance." He warned, putting two fingers in his mouth and taking in a deep breath.
"I would listen to him." Nico warned, his voice louder than he intended due to his fingers in his ears. "He's a son of Apollo the god of medicine. He can tell everything about a person medically just from touching them. That includes your senses."
Ryker shrugged and looked to Will with defiance ringing in his posture. Will looked to Nico who shrugged helplessly and then back to his stubborn patient. The whistle that Will let loose immediately had Ryker regretting his decision to remain standing. To Ryker, whose senses were heightened due to his parentage and upbringing in the forest, it was as if Will had begun to drill into his skull. His knees began to fold and Will expertly maneuvered him back to the bed he had been resting on just as Ryker's legs gave out. He collapsed onto the stiff mattress and put his head in his hands in an effort to stop the world from spinning.
"He did warn you." Jason said fairly, pulling his fingers out of his ears. The others, seeing that the danger was now gone, copied the action and exchanged knowing grins. "You can't say he didn't."
"What was that?" Ryker moaned through his hands. A faint echo of the whistle continued in his ears and a searing migraine was now throbbing in his head.
"Ultra-sonic whistle." Will said cheerfully as he unwrapped the bandages from around Ryker's chest. "In addition to being the god of medicine Apollo is also the god of music. I can't sing or play any instruments but, well, you saw that I at least got something out of it."
"You know, I think it might be a good idea to take Will along." Piper mused. "If Ryker is as argumentative as you guys say it might be good to have someone who can keep a leash on him so to speak."
"And it would be a nice change to have someone who actually knows how to heal." Annabeth added, immediately pleased by the idea. "We, erm, we have a bad habit of getting hurt."
Will had just finished removing the bandages and was now examining Ryker's back with a slight frown. "Well, it's healing. Now as fast I would have liked, but it's definitely better. A couple more days and you should be completely healed as long as you keep using the nectar." He began to rewrap Ryker with a different set of clean bandages. "Oh, and I haven't been on a quest before. Sounds good to me. When do we leave?"
"As soon as Ryker is ready." Reyna said firmly. "But I am afraid I will have to put a damper on this. As I told you, I can't afford to have Frank leave right now. As Praetors we have duties."
"And I can't go either." Jason said glumly. "I'm in the middle of building those shrines for the other gods. They all want their own trading cards and Orcus is demanding that he get a shrine made completely out of stygian iron."
"Percy and I are still in. Hazel?" Annabeth looked questioningly at her friend.
"Of course I'm going!" She said indignantly. "Who else is going to get you out of trouble if we have to go underground?"
Nico coughed and raised an eyebrow at his sister. "So I suppose I am useless?" He asked, but his tone indicated that he was joking. Hazel opened her mouth to apologize but Nico laughed and waved it off. "I'm in. If Will is going I have to keep an eye on him."
"I'm going too. Charmspeak always comes in handy." Piper chimed in.
"Where are you going now?" Ryker asked, wincing as Will tightened his bandage.
"We are going to get back the Oracle of Delphi's spirit." Percy told him. "We need to know the rest of this prophecy. Once we get it back you should have a better idea of what to do next."
"Oh no." Ryker said immediately. "I was told to figure out who is taking the demigods. My job is over. I'm leaving."
"What about Silver?" Thalia demanded. "Are you just going to leave her?"
Ryker raised an eyebrow coolly. "By your tone I'm guessing you find that upsetting?"
"She's your friend!"
"I never claimed that." Ryker shot back. "I owe her nothing just as she owes me nothing."
"How can you be so cold man?" Jason wondered. "I mean, you two seemed to get along really well. If I was you I would be losing my mind trying to get her back."
"You aren't me," Ryker reminded him. "I don't have any loyalty to you or-."
"But you do owe me." Nico interrupted him. "I saved your life. The code of the wild states that you have to return the favor, right?"
The tent was silent as Ryker examined Nico with a new light. The code of the wild was a very closely guarded secret of the nymphs and dryads of the forest. Ryker had been privy to the code only after saving a water nymph from an empousa. The code of the wild was not an actual vow, but it was just as binding as one. By invoking it, Nico had forced Ryker's hand. He had to assist them. "How do you know about the code?" Ryker asked finally.
"And I didn't save you alone either." Nico continued, ignoring the question. "Everyone here came to help me save you. Monsters were everywhere. I couldn't fend them off by myself and get you back to camp. You owe everyone here your life."
The others were clearly lost as to what Ryker and Nico were discussing, but they wisely chose to say nothing. Ryker fumed in silence for a few minutes as he searched desperately for some manner of loophole, though he knew there was none. The code of the wild was absolute. "Fine." He said through gritted teeth after a long minute. "I'll go with you. At least until I square my debt with all of you. Where are we going?"
Piper's eyes glinted as she smiled mysteriously. "We're going to kill the great serpent that took the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi."
