Gryphons.
They circled around the demigods, cawing as they attempted to swoop down and attack. It was all Jason could do to fend them off.
Next to him, Piper was jabbing Zethes's blade into bird after bird, disintegrating some into dust, wounding some. Jason couldn't help admire what all the sword practices these days had done to her: her skin was more tanned, her body tauter, her strikes more powerful. She had become quite the warrior indeed.
Jason noticed one particular gryphon. The ugly bird larger than its fellow companions was swooping around, eyeing Piper's shiny dagger by her side. It had tried many times to try and attack, but fortunately, either Piper or Jason would anticipate the move in time.
A loud CAW sounded from behind Jason, and he swung his sword frantically, slicing into the gryphon a moment before it plunged into him. He was exhaling slightly from his small victory, panting as he took a few steps to steady himself, when an unmistakable scream that belonged to Piper sounded behind him: "JASON!"
Jason whirled around, but Piper wasn't there. Instead, she was flailing in the air a few feet above him, flying higher rapidly as she was suspended midair by only her dagger.
Jason cursed. The gryphon who had been eyeing Piper's dagger had seen his chance, and took it. It had gotten a hold on Piper's dagger sheath and had one claw on it. The other was gripped firmly on Katoptris's handle. Piper was struggling to get a hold on the bird's scaly feet, and finally succeeded on grabbing its leg, hanging on desperately. "Jason!" She yelled again, her voice barely audible through the swift wind. Jason kicked off the ground and willed the air to build pressure. "I'm coming for you, Pipes." He muttered under his breath.
He had flown a good three stories high when something took him in surprise. A gryphon, not believing its luck, grabbed the demigod's left arm in midair and tugged him upward, heading the opposite direction Piper was. He struggled and strained, trying to get free, but the gryphon had an iron grip. His claws dug into Jason's skin, piercing the muscles, drawing specks of blood.
RIP. Through the blowing currents of wind, Jason could still hear the rip, and he didn't need to see it to know where it came from. He shot a quick look in Piper's direction, and knew that his guess was right.
Half a mile or so away, Piper flailed desperately, the awkward hold between Piper and her dagger broken. Her gryphon, now gleefully clutching Katoptris in one claw, was trying its best to shake Piper off the other. Piper had wrapped both arms around the scaly foot, fighting to stay aloft as she tried to meet Jason's gaze. "Jason!" Piper screamed, her voice raw.
Jason felt tears of pain come to his eyes. Not only the pain from being clutched by a gryphon's grip of iron, but also the pain of knowing that he was too far away to help. He needed to help Piper.
"Let go of me!" Jason shouted aloud, thrashing against the gryphon's claws. He hacked with his sword in a desperate attempt, and to his satisfaction, the gryphon let out a squawk of pain and loosened its firm hold. Another struggle and another stab, and Jason was free.
Jason felt a small surge of triumph as he ordered the winds to jet him towards Piper. When the wind only obliged weakly did he realize how taxed out he was. His left arm was almost purple from the gryphon's grasp, and every muscle in his body felt stretched to the limit. He struggled to keep flying, slowly but surely making his way toward Piper.
His forehead was beaded with sweat. He could see the distance between him and Piper getting shorter and shorter. Five hundred meters… four hundred…
"Hang on, Pipes!" He managed to croak out. "I'm coming!" Three hundred meters… two hundred… one hundred…
"Jason!" Piper screamed. Tears were flowing out from her kaleidoscope eyes, and her choppy little braids were flapping limply behind her. "Jason, hurry!"
Jason reached out his hand, too breathless to talk. Piper unclenched a hand, her arm trembling at she reached out to Jason.
"Pipes, I'm here—"
Piper's other hand gave in. Jason could feel their fingers brush as she flew past him, her raw voice screaming out "JASON!" as she slowly gained velocity. He wasted no time in plunging after her, diving down headfirst, trying to match her speed, but the few seconds had made a difference. All he could do was reach out a hand to her, a few meters below, and scream her name again and again.
He tried to control the winds. If he could fly, he could lift Piper up, right? No such luck. He was too weak to even control his own free fall, nonetheless Piper's. He struggled to keep his eyes open from the wind blasting in his face, and met Piper's gaze. Through tears, Jason could see what message her pink lips were mouthing. He nodded, his eyes clouding. He wanted to reply, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. He watched, stretching his hand out helplessly as Piper finally landed in Gaea's embrace.
Jason summoned the last burst of wind, almost blacking out at the effort. He stumbled, staggering over to the ground where Piper's small figure lay. Her eyes were closed, eyelashes spread over her tear-stained cheeks. Blood was seeping all over her orange shirt, staining it crimson. He collapsed next to her, grasped Piper's wrist to feel her rapidly fading pulse, and leaned down to gather her body into his arms. He choked back a sob as he buried his face into her still sweet-smelling chocolate colored hair, and rasped out next to her ear: "I love you too, Pipes. I'm sorry."
It must have been his imagination, but Jason thought he saw her smile.
Didn't quite expect me to update today, didja? Well neither did I!
Finals are next week but I decided I could only look over history in peace with this written out, and once I did, I thought, so why not publish it? So I did :D
This chapter was prompted by Deleaf in which Piper falls but Jason is too slow to catch her :-( Awesome idea, I must say!
Thanks for waiting everyone! I admire your patience! And please, read and review? And prompt! Please?
-Ctenophore.D