Three years after the Battle of Manhatten. Sunday, October 1st: Forest Lyf's Point of view

(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)

My world is dark. Figuratively and literally. It has always been like this. Everyday staring into this black abyss, the abyss even growing to stare back at me. I've never known the gift of sight, so I cant relate to not knowing what you have until its gone. But I adapt just fine. At least... until someone steps in my way.

"People are talking about you all over Camp." Katie's words stopped me in my tracks. She spat out each word hatefully like a striking snake, the venom in her voice sending shivers down my spine. I wished I knew what her face looked like. I remember being able to feel it when I was younger and she was much nicer to me, but by now Katie's soft seeming eyes must be blazing with fury. Her hair was in a messy ponytail I knew, it was the trademark of our cabin along with the rough callused hands. The stones on her necklace rattled against each other when she moved in trembled anger. All of that hate and anger directed to me. I suppressed a shudder.

I was picking strawberries in the fields closest to the Big House. It was a favorite past-time of mine. No matter what Katie says, I am a daughter of Demeter after all. Now, my hands tightened on the woven grass basket in my hands. Stay cool, I thought desperately. Keep it light. Keep it simple. No need to give her an invitation to lash out at you.

"Really?" I tried to sound innocent as possible. I wondered if Katie could see how nervous I was. My pulse was racing like a wild horse and I could feel beads of sweat rolling down the back of my neck. The hot rays of the autumn sun weren't helping. I breathed in deeply, trying to calm down. I could sense Katie right behind me. Really, really close to me. I locked my arms and legs, determined not to start fidgeting. "What about me?" Please don't kill me.

Shuffling of feet. The scratch of the hard soil against the soles of her hard gardening boots. Only the best for a child of Demeter. I could almost feel Katie's gaze burning holes in my back. If looks could kill… well then I guess it's a good thing I can't see her.

"They say you were among the top eight in the sword fighting championships yesterday. Is that true?" Damn it. Why did the campers have to gossip? Why? Is it too much to ask them to mind their own jamming blueberry business?

I ran through Katie's words again in my head, trying to come up with a good, non-threatening response. Is that true? Was she serious? I fought against more than the half of the campers here and was still standing in the end. All she could say to me was 'is that true'? Not even a fair congratulations or good job? Really? Finally, I decided to evade the question.

"Why? You didn't stay until the end to watch who won?" Don't answer her questions. Keep her guessing. Give her no reason to start an argument. I clenched and unclenched my hands repeatedly. For the first time, I wondered if there was anyone near. I am a solitary creature most of the time. Being blind can do that to a girl. Especially when you're around people who treat you like a little kid or lost puppy. I didn't sense anyone around earlier. Did Katie bring an escort of Demeter kids along to witness my humiliation? I held my breath and listened.

A giggle. Then another. A murmur of voices, too low for me to understand what they were saying. Guess she did then. I sighed. Why couldn't everyone leave me the hell alone?

"No." Her answer was straight and to the point. So much for evasion. Her voice was harsh and merciless. In my head, I imagined the furious blaze shape in her eyes cooling to hard chips of dried soil. People always did say that Katie had eyes the color of dung. "A Demeter kid shouldn't really bother herself with the business of swordplay. It means nothing to us." I hated the prissiness of her voice.

A Demeter kid shouldn't really bother herself with the business of swordplay. I mocked her in my head, giving Katie a high-pitched annoying voice that she didn't even have.

"Are you going to answer me, Forest?" Crap, she had me there. Time for the biggest lies in Camp history:

"Yeah well I thought I should've stayed. Malcolm would've wanted me too since he always wants someone to be there for him." That wasn't entirely a lie. So far, so good. My hands flew to the straight line of a strawberry bush, trying to cover up the fact that they were shaking. I had to pretend to be busy to give her the hint to leave me alone. Picking fruits was probably the only thing Katie approved of me doing anyway.

"But you won too didn't you?" Gods, I hated that voice. I never hated it as much as I did now. I shrugged dismissively, not even bothering to pretend to look at her as I moved down the row of berries.

"Does it matter?" I spat. "You don't care about what I do outside the fields." Crap what's up with me not being able to keep the venom out of my voice? She's definitely going to start trash talking now. The embers of hate flared angrily in my heart. I steadied my trembling hands to brace myself for Katie's outburst.

"Forest..." Her voice softened. I could hear Katie's feet shuffle on the ground as she moved closer and put a hand on my shoulder. My muscles tensed, still ready for the attack. "Of course I care about what you do outside the strawberry fields..."

I froze in the act of about to pluck a berry. Wait what? Last time I checked Katie only cared about how people judge our cabin; surely she didn't actually care about me and my sword-

"-because what you're doing outside the fields is humiliating our mother's honor!" Her work-toughened hand squeezed my shoulder, hard. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out.

I should have known. I was right. Katie only did care about how people view us as children of Demeter. Never should have doubted it. The hate in my heart grew and spread its wings. My hands still shaking harder now from anger not from fear. Not anymore, I thought.

"Excuse me?" I was sick of agreeing with a heartless bitch like Katie. I had to defend my actions, didn't I? "How is sword fighting humiliating Mom's honor? Last I checked people thought of us as stronger because of me proving that Demeter kids can fight in battle. Now how is that so bad?" I felt angry tears pricking my eyes.

"Because it is!" Katie had now taken her hand off my shoulder and was standing with her hands on her hips. I could tell because those silver charms bracelets she wore on her wrists were clinking against each other. "Demeter is about supplying the food and making a good harvest, being the ones to put a meal on the table. Not ending up destroying it by fighting with swords!"

I gripped the handle of basket of strawberries I was holding so hard I almost broke it. Why didn't she get it? "Okay, first of all, sword fighting is about defending yourself. Not picking fights and battles that end up destroying places! And there's no harm in wanting to be able to survive when you're fighting against a monster is there?"

I swear I heard her growl. She sounded like she used to when Connor and Travis would prank our cabin and leave chocolate Easter bunnies on the roof. In my mind she was just a frizzy-haired volcano ready to blow up.

But when Katie blew up, she was not someone you wanted to be around. I sighed, trying to rein in my anger. "Look, I'm just being me. My father raised me hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Learning self-defense, learning sword fighting, it's… it is my way of preparing okay? And if you can't accept that I'm just being me by following my own ways as a daughter of Demeter, then sorry but that's just your problem. Deal with it Gardner." I turned around on the heel of my sneakers and walked away toward the eastern fields. My head was held high with pride. I couldn't believe I just dissed her like that! I felt a smile tug at the edge of my lips. Finally, finally, I had stood up to her. But it didn't last long. I should have known better. Katie always got the last laugh.

"Fine." Katie yelled at me, her voice hard and mocking. "Fine! I'll solve the problem. You better find a place to sleep tonight because you're not ever being allowed inside the Demeter cabin anymore. You've been disowned, Forest! If you can't follow the way Mother teaches us to be then you might as well not be her daughter anymore. See you around Camp, traitor." She threw the words at me and they landed like white-hot blows. I heard my other siblings laugh; they didn't even try to hide it. I realized that this must have been her plan from the start. I heard her walking away from me. Her hard glare left my back but the anger still lingered. Silence when her breathing wasn't audible anymore. Heavy feeling in chest as I stood defeated and family-less.

Well, shit.

(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)~(Forest)

Skipping dinner wasn't so bad. I figured that if I couldn't spend time with the Demeter cabin anymore then I might as well forget about eating with them. I still had to eat though, but turning into the thick-necked thieves of Hermes wasn't exactly my style. There weren't many things I could turn to when it came to food, but I knew that as a child of the harvest goddess, you could never go hungry long as you had soil, seeds and good old Mother Nature.

The vines of the strawberry bush grew longer as I touched them with my fingers and muttered a prayer to my mom. A sweet, fat, juicy strawberry soon came growing out and landed on the palm of my hand. I gave thanks and plucked it gingerly from its home, bringing it to my mouth to chew on its rich flavor.

The night was cool. The air smelt crispy, like it always does it in autumn. I could hear the wind whispering in the trees and a nightingale sang its sad song from somewhere in the darkness. I sighed.

What would Dad say if he saw me? I thought. Probably congratulate me about my powers and tell me how proud he was, give me an extra helping of meat while he's at it. That was a long time ago, before I had come to Camp. We had lived together in the southern Rocky Mountains for as long as I could remember. Back then, getting to have some extra meat was a big deal, especially during the winter when we would have to scavenge for food in the mountain terrain. I would usually try to grow things on my own with my godly powers, but I was still young back then and didn't have as much energy as I usually do in the spring. It was weird, really, how we had survived together for ten years without contract of the outside world and its technology.

"We don't need what people call television and cars and cell phones." Dad had said to me one night. "All we need is each other and Mother Nature to call upon."

It was winter then. I never liked winter. It was too cold. The ground was too hard. Nothing grew in the winter. Nothing but fear and darkness as the nights grew ever longer and the days ever shorter. We were laying down in a cave, the crackling fire warming me up as I shifted around the deerskin sleeping bag I was cocooned inside. I was eight years old when he told me that.

"Is Mother Nature my mom?" I asked. I was innocent and protected. I never knew war. I never knew pain. I never knew heartbreak.

Dad gave that big bellowing laugh like he always used to. I had almost missed the inside joke in his voice when he said, "Yes, Robin. Mother Nature is your mom."

How I missed those days. I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the treacherous tears that were pricking my eyes. I swallowed, hard. "I miss you, Dad…"

"There's someone out here..." I breathed in slowly, immediately going down in to a crouching position upon hearing voices. An owl hooted in my ear, soft winds blowing east toward my direction. I listened carefully as the breeze carried the strangers' voices towards me.

"Well who is it?" A voice whispered. It was soft and quavered a little at the end, like the stranger was nervous about something.

"I don't know. I can't see them; it's too dark." A harsher, rougher voice replied.

"Should we get closer?"

"No. Let's just stay where we are."

The strangers were both girls, I did not doubt that. If they attacked me, I could take them. I remained in my position, listening hard. Rustling of leaves. Crunching of footsteps. Quiet breathing of demigods. What were they doing here during dinner? Everyone else should be eating at the pavilion...

I was about to call out, "Who's' there?" when a heavy force slammed into my back. I crashed down onto the ground, face first with a body on top of me; the person must've ambushed me from behind! I cursed and struggled violently. My attacker pressed my face against the ground and had ended up knocking the wind out of my lungs. I gasped for air but ended up taking in a mouthful of soil. I groaned. I may be a daughter of Demeter, but I did not, under any circumstances, like eating dirt. I struggled to gain control of myself while my attacker, now captor, attempted to tie my hands behind me back and blindfold me at the same time.

"Alright we got 'em!" My attacker crowed triumphantly. I rolled my eyes. It was a cowardly, sneaky attack. Hardly anything to be proud of. I cursed the eternal darkness that blinded me, wishing I could see my captor. Even if it's just so I can give them a good punch to the face.

"Haha sucker!" I looked up startled. Wait, what? There were two people who ambushed me? I knew that they weren't the same two whom I heard earlier because these two crooks were defiantly male. The deepness of their voices just gave it away easily. So who were they really?

"Tie her feet together, lean her up against the bush." That voice... it sounded familiar...

One of them did as their partner ordered and soon I found myself leaning against a prickly bush with the branches rubbing against my skin. It made me uncomfortable to be totally vulnerable in front of two complete strangers; my body was beginning to tremble in fear of what was going to happen.

There was a loud smacking sound, as though they had high fived each other. It was weird though because even if they weren't walking anywhere, wouldn't I have been able to hear their feet churn on top of the soil? I tried listening harder, but still nothing. These boys must've been experts on sneaking then. That could only mean one thing: Hermes kids.

"αφυπνίσουμε." I whispered under my breath.

At once the strawberry bush behind me grew its vines and branches thicker and longer. I felt my power calling to them, stirring them out of their comatose sleep. The plant lifted its new stronger branches and curled in angrily around the two guys legs. I felt myself growing weaker as my own energy was sucked by the plant. I was definitely going to need dinner after this.

"Gods damn it she's a daughter of Demeter! She's controlling the plants!" One of them shouted. I could hear him struggling with the vines they wrapped themselves around his chest, pulling him up into the air. The other person had drawn out a sword and was trying to cut away at the plants; each limb growing stronger and heavier just as the next one that had been cut off.

"There's too many of them!" He shouted.

Holy crap. I recognized his voice now. It was Travis Stoll, son of Hermes. His partner must've been Connor... How could I have not noticed in the first place? I've known the Stoll brothers since I was ten! Gods, what was wrong with me? Could I actually forget what they sounded like? Stupid winter for making me weak!

The plants consciousness crawled into my chest and I shivered; it was telling me to stop cutting the branches.

"Stop it!" I yelled to Travis. "Stop cutting the plant up! If you don't it'll suffocate Connor if you do!"

A moment of silence. I hear the swishing of a sword stop and point blankly at the ground. "Forest?" Travis gasped. "What the Hades are you doing out here all alone? At dinner time too!"

Nag, nag, nag! I swear sometimes Travis had just as much as an annoying voice as Katie. "I could ask you the same thing Trickster, acting like you're going to kidnap me out of Camp. I could blackmail you two with this you know!" Awkward silence as Travis uncomfortably shifts his weight. Just as I thought. That blubbering idiot! "Now put your sword down before the strawberry bush gets even more aggravated."

There was a soft noise as the son of Hermes dropped his sword into the soil. His hostile gaze stayed on me until I had told the plants let go of his brother. "ελευθέρωση." I muttered regretfully.

The vines slowly untangled themselves from around Connor's body and retreated back deep into the strawberry bush. This plant will never be the same again. I allowed myself a little smile. The next demigod trying to get a strawberry from this bush was going to get a surprise. My bones suddenly felt heavy and tired, I seriously needed a full meal right now to keep my strength up.

"Ouf!" Connor landed on the ground with a painful thud, the plants must've had held him up a foot off the ground. Wow. To control those plants like that? Impressive of me. I couldn't help grinning at myself while Connor muttered away Greek curses.

"What's up with you Forest?" Connor finally managed to get a clean sentence in there. "I thought you were less violent than that!"

I rolled my eyes. "Go to the crows Connor!" I'm serious, that saying is a lot more insulting than it sounds. "If you were me you know you'd do the same thing."

He scoffed; I felt something moving quickly through the air. He was shaking his head at me. I rolled my eyes again, although no one could see it. He's one to talk. There was a sound of moving footsteps as both boys crouched down and started untying my hands and feet.

"Well you could've given us a fair warning that it was you." Connor mumbled.

Did they seriously think that? Damn Hermes boys aren't as smart as they used to be. "Dude. Its night time and I'm alone in the fields. No weapons, no way to call for help other than screaming. I've been jumped from behind and I'm tired. I haven't even had dinner yet. If you two were a pair of Ares kids then I would have been easily jumped. And once they probably did figure out who I was, worse things would happen because everyone thinks that they can take advantage of the blind girl."

"It's too dark though." Connor argued. By now he had gotten my wrists free and I was rubbing them harshly against each other. "I can barely even see in this moonlight. Nobody can recognize you other than by your voice."

"So then you guys just decided to totally tie up a girl who you have no idea what she might have hiding up her sleeves? I thought Hermes kids were smarter when it came to who and how they stole."

"Well... uh..." Connor was stumped.

"Aw c'mon Forest not fair! Even Hermes kids make mistakes at what they're best at." Travis protested but untied my feet entirely then. He stood up briskly and there was a feeling of something being waved in front of my face. I reached into empty air only to find his rough hand stretched out toward me. I gripped it tightly and he helped pull me up on my feet.

"Fine then. Though what're you going to tell Chiron when I leave an anonymous note saying that you two tried to kidnap me during dinner?"

"No, Forest no, please don't tell Chiron." Travis's voice was childish. He sounded higher pitched than his brother. "We're in enough trouble already!"

"Yeah we don't do it again Forest, we promise." Connor put his hands on my arm to show that he was begging. I shrugged him off easily.

"I won't tell on you two if you swear to do a couple things for me." I could literally sense their bodies perking up at an offer.

"What is it?" Travis asked.

"Yeah what is it Forest?" Connor echoed.

I cleared my throat quickly and explained my homeless situation (or cabin less technically), and offered them the deal. "If you two can steal me some cooked meat from the pavilion and snatch all of my stuff from the Demeter cabin, then I won't breathe a word to anyone about what happened tonight."

"Hmm..." Was Travis trying to mock me? Was he really scratching his chin like how people do in books when they're thinking? He doesn't even have any stubble! Let alone an itchy beard.

"So basically just steal you stuff here and there and we're let off the hook?"

I nodded in the direction of where Connor was most likely standing. "And maybe do a couple of pranks on a certain half sister of mine, but that comes later, 'kay?"

A chill crawled down my back when he grinned that maniac smile. I didn't need to see it. I could feel it. I took a subtle step back when he held out his hand to shake the deal. "Fine I'll do it." The younger brother said.

Travis followed his lead, not as enthusiastic though I may add. "Me too. I'm not promising you food every meal though. There as times when even I have to tend to my own business too."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like trying to get Katie to make out with you inside the Pegasus stables?"

"What? No!" His voice grew higher. That happened all the time when the boy got nervous.

I laughed. "Oh well then, I'm sure she'd love to kiss you though." It was hard to hide my gag at the thought.

"Really? Do you know when?"

Laugh number two. I knew I could get Travis to admit to liking my half-sister. Piece of barley cake. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. That information is for later, boys. Right now though I'm starving and if you can't help to realize-" I wrapped my arms around their shoulders "-but you two have an errand to run. Ciao!"

They both scoffed in defeat but ran off to the direction of the pavilion anyway. They had better hurry up or else dinner will be over soon. I hated staying hungry.

The peace and quiet of the strawberry fields returned once more as I walked blindly (literally speaking) in the direction of the Big House. There was only the occasional hoot of an owl to comfort me more until I heard a rustle in the bushes nearby.

"I think they left." It was the first voice I heard. I froze in my tracks.

"Shhh! One of them is still there!" That harsh voice shot back again.

Those voices were from before Travis and Connor had attacked me. I had heard them but totally forgotten about them... How could they have totally been here the entire time? Did they know about the Stolls attacking me too then? Gods if they told Chiron and got the boys in trouble then they'd be expelled from Camp. I couldn't let that happen. Connor and Travis were my friends; I'd hate to lose them if they had to leave.

Meaning that I had to catch these two girls...

Like they were mind readers, the two girls sprinted off through the strawberry fields as though they were sugar rushed dogs. They must've known what was good for them in running off, though I couldn't help but to give in to the chase. They had information that couldn't get out. I was bound to not let that information get out.

Ladies and gentlemen, let the chasing game begin!

Ta DA! :D Good? Bad? Boring? Interesting? Tell me!

Also if you want to read a story full of non-idiotic romance, demigods blowing up rooms, thrilling suspense from a well-known son of Hades, and a grinning maniac who can't help but to always pull pranks on his crush, then read DarkRoguePhantom's story: The Chosen Seven: the Earth's Rage. It's seriously good I promise you and has just the right amount of cliffhangers, suspense, thrill, mystery that any reader would love. Check it out! :)

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