Hey guys, sorry this took so long. I'm just going to skip all the long excuses and get to the point :P
Snowbird5000: Thanks for your encouragement, I decided that I would continue it It'll be fun.
Percyjacksonismym8: YAY for no flames :D
Gabbles64: Aw, thanks :3 I do like being original
March Winters: Well, I don't know about the best, but… ;) Thanks for the flattery anyway :D
Guest: :3 Thaaaanks. I'm trying to keep it up, I promise. I just am very slow and I have a lot of other stuff to do but… no excuses, right? ;) I hope you enjoy!
Bob: I hope I can see the same potential you do : ) Have you read one of my other stories? I have noticed a plethora of Bobs who review but I don't know if it's just a common Guest name or what XP Anyway, thanks for the review :D
Larry gd: I do too… I hope I can write them as fast as you want them, but judging on the lateness of this review, then I doubt it. :P Sorry again.
I: I'm glad that you like it! :D
TO THE STORY, AWAAAAY….
"How are you? Have you met a girl yet?" she ruffles my hair before letting me go. I nearly fall backwards, too busy trying to get oxygen into my lungs to worry about things like balance.
She asks me the same question every time I see her. "No, I haven't," I say. She should be used to this response.
"How can a guy with your looks not have a…."
She was interrupted by my mom. "Thalia, can you go, er, check on Percy? I need to have a talk with my son."
The woman walked away, giving me a wink as she left. And then she was gone. I turned to Mom, giving her a curious look.
"What do you mean, check on Dad?"
"Well, the defenses at Camp Half-Blood haven't been the best lately. Rachel gave us a prophesy… anyway, you don't need to know about that. It's being handled. Your father is patrolling right now."
"Why are the defenses down?"
She looked troubled. Her gray eyes flicked around, never meeting my gaze—not unlike Chiron, who had cantered off when Thalia and I were talking. He looked worried, too.
"We're not sure," Mom finally answered shortly. I could tell that made her mad: not knowing things almost always did. "Look, Luke, just… sit tight, okay? Don't go looking for your dad or anything stupid. You're not qualified."
"That's okay, Mom. Whatever. I know I'm not qualified, I'm never qualified for anything. Not even for being your son."
With that, I stormed away. If she wasn't going to tell me where Dad was, I was going to find him. Talking to him almost always made me forget that they had sent me away. He always made me feel like I was wanted. He was probably in the woods or something.
"Luke!" Vaz caught up to me. "Where are you going?"
I had no idea where she came from, but it didn't matter. "I'm going to find my dad."
"Percy? But… you can't… you'll get hurt!" she looked amazed at my daring. "Either you're really brave or really stupid, because there's no way that you can survive in those woods. There are monsters in there, Luke. Big monsters. I think it would be best if you just wait for him to come back."
By this time, I was fuming. "Why does everyone assume that I'm completely helpless?"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pocketknife. Dad gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday.
"A mortal blade?" Vaz said skeptically. "That's not going to do anything."
I pressed a button on the side, and the knife shifted, turning into a different kind of metal that glinted in the sunlight. "I know what I'm doing."
She still didn't seem convinced. "You have no training. You're going to get yourself killed. What kind of birthday present would that be to Jade?"
"At least then I will have gotten her something," I mumbled.
Vaz didn't seem to have anything to say to that. I thought she was going to turn around and walk away, but she did the opposite. She picked up the pace and pulled out her sword, a beautiful two edged blade that was a little longer then my arm and made my knife look like a toothpick.
"If you're going in, then it's my duty to keep you safe," she said.
I didn't understand why she was suddenly acting so nice to me; Vaz had always made it her personal responsibility to make me feel uncomfortable and out of place, especially when I was with her and Jade. Now, though, she was acting almost like we were friends. After that whole charming incident, we were far from it.
"Whatever," I shrugged, knowing I couldn't stop her. What was I going to do to change her mind? She was wielding a sword and had a crazy look in her eyes. It's never a good idea to mess with a determined demi god.
"Why are you so desperate to find him anyway?" Vaz asked, dropping her voice to a whisper as we entered the woods. She stepped on a twig and cursed silently when the sound seemed to echo back at us.
"I just want to see him," I snap. "Is that illegal? He's still my dad, isn't he?"
She raised her hands in surrender, momentarily pointing her sword at the sky. "Woah, calm down. I just asked a question… trying to pass the time here…"
"I appreciate the gesture," I replied slowly, "but maybe I just want to be left alone."
Thankfully, she quieted down after that. I wondered what Matthew was up to, and what color Dawn would be dyeing her hair tonight. I thought about how angry my swimming instructor probably would be at me next week, seeing as I was basically ditching him at this point. Not like I wanted to, I would rather be half-drowning like I do every Wednesday than be here, at perfect little Jade's birthday party.
"Sh," Vaz said abruptly, snapping me out of my thoughts and automatically putting me on the alert. I glanced around, but from what I could see everything was fine.
"You're crazy," I exclaimed loudly. "There's nothing going…"
"Move!" she screamed suddenly, pushing me.
An arrow flew past where my head had once been. I instinctively fell flat, pulling Vaz down with me. She was pointing her sword in all directions, obviously looking for the archer who had shot at me. Another couple of arrows whizzed past above our heads, and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as if the action would protect me.
"Crawl, you idiot," the charming girl beside me hissed. "We're being targeted."
No duh, I wanted to say, but I did was I was told and started to move army-style, getting dirt and grime all over my t-shirt. That was okay; keeping my clothes clean was not exactly the main priority when someone was trying to kill us.
"What kind of monster knows how to shoot a bow and arrow?" I whispered as we moved. "I thought they were all supposed to be 'roar, I'm going to attack you' and then it makes it easy to just slice 'em and dice 'em."
"Do you ever listen to yourself when you talk? Seriously, what kind of person says that kind of thing while they're being shot at?"
"The kind of person who is very offended by the lack of tradition our attacker is showing. The monster attacks head on stupidly. We kill it. It's the demi-god/monster relationship I feel I deserve as a rookie."
"Well I'm sorry that we got a hard monster. Suck it up and keep crawling."
"I am!"
The next few minutes were spent going back and forth and trying to stay alive. Strangely enough, I felt exhilarated. So this is what it would be like to be a real demi-god: being attacked, fighting for your life… It was like a really cool sci-fi action movie. Until…
"Uhhhh!" Vaz groaned from beside me, her eyes suddenly going strangely wide. I glanced to my left and almost passed out. An arrow was lodged deep in the back of her shoulder blade, sticking straight up like a sick candle on my stupid sister's cake. Why am I thinking about this right now?
"Are you okay?" I asked automatically. Okay, now that was a stupid question.
"I'm fine," Jade's friend grunted, coming to a stop. "Just peachy. Help me pull this thing out!"
She reached her hand backwards as if she could reach it, but I knew she couldn't. A small patch of blood was starting to stain through her white blouse.
"I don't think you're supposed to pull it out like that," I said, trying not to throw up at the sight of the injury. "We should get you to a doctor."
"You're right. We should get to a doctor. Now where in the name of Hades do you think we are going to find a hospital in the middle of the freaking forest?" she snapped at me.
"Your sarcasm is refreshing," I muttered.
"But your stupidity isn't."
Our argument was cut short when another arrow seemed to spring from the ground right next to Vaz's leg. We needed to move. The problem was, I didn't know how we were supposed to get her moving without hurting her. Whoever was attacking us was closing in, and I couldn't afford to let Vaz get any more hurt than she already was. From what I could tell, the arrow hadn't gone anywhere near her heart luckily, but she was still in danger of a lot of other stuff that could prove fatal.
"Luke?" I could hear Chiron calling from somewhere to my right. Thank the gods.
"We're over here!" I yelled, rolling as I did so. Four arrows hit the dirt where I had been only seconds ago. At least I had good instincts.
"Hey stupid, it's kind of painful when you get shot with an arrow. I think I'm passing out," Vaz's eyes were fluttering shut even as she said it. "Don't let me die, please and thank you."
"Luke!" there was Chiron again. I felt pulled in different directions. I could yell again, but it seemed like too much of a risk. Then again, if he didn't find us soon, we were definitely doomed.
Vaz's eyes closed. I looked around frantically for something to use… anything that might be helpful. There was a couple of twigs to my left, but they weren't going to be of any use. I saw Vaz's sword sticking awkwardly out of its sheath. Making a quick decision, I grabbed it and stood, swaying to and fro in an attempt to prove a harder target.
"Leave us alone!" I shouted, raising my arm so the sunlight glinted off the blade. From there everything happened in slow motion.
I saw Chiron galloping into the scene, waving his arm and yelling at me to get down. I felt a sudden biting pain in my arm, and when I looked up, I saw three different arrows all sticking out of the flesh right below my elbow, and I realized I was about to black out just seconds before it happened.
Isn't he an idiot? ;) I promise to get another update up faster than I did last time, but for now let me know if you liked the chapter. THANKS GUYS! :D
