A/N: So, here's the second chapter of Moonstone and Starlight. I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters are not owned by their respective owners. I do, however, own any and all original characters and plots.
I woke with a start; someone in the camp had sounded a horn to wake us up. I had slept in the same clothes as I always had for the past few nights.
"Morning," Laila said. She was a morning person? I hoped not, but when I glanced over at her, the frown on her face and the red in her eyes was sure sign that the assumption I had just made was completely wrong.
"Good morning. Are you ready to get to our destination?" I asked, folding up my sleeping bag. She mirrored my actions as she answered my question.
"Yes, ready to meet everyone at Camp Half-Blood. Thalia says there are really nice people there... As long as you avoid the Ares Cabin, that is." I had known enough about Greek mythology to laugh at that statement. Ares was the god of war, and I was kind of apprehensive about meeting his kids.
"Of course, and Hades kids I would bet," I laughed quietly. I thought I smelled food somewhere in the camp and went to investigate when suddenly the entrance to our tent whipped open. We both recoiled from the light, bumping into each other and laughing as we did.
"Don't hurt each other!" the voice of Thalia said as she walked into our tent.
"No promises," I laughed. Laila looked at Thalia like she wanted to chop her into tiny pieces and feed her to the wolf for opening the tent flap and letting the light in.
"So, what's the plan?" I twirled my azurite ring around my finger, and looked to Thalia, who was still dressed like it was Halloween.
"Well, the girls have already packed almost everything up, we'll just eat and then head out, I hope neither of you have an aversion to heights." She paused for a second, took a deep breath and continued her next sentence in that one breath. "We'll take our chariot and drive exactly south-southeast of here at 174.2 miles per hour and, taking into the account the speed and direction of the wind, the jet streams, and our lunch break, we'll get to Camp Half Blood at exactly 9:23 pm." She took in our stunned faces. "What? I am a daughter of Zeus."
"And we leave in how long?"
"In about half an hour, so hurry up and make sure you've gotten everything you need," she replied.
"Okay, we'll be along in a sec." When she left I turned to Laila. "Well, I think I have everything, you?"
"Absolutely positive, let's go." And we walked out into the sunlight. A whole bunch of girls were getting things ready; a lot of them were putting things into a whole bunch of chariots, and a few were eating granola bars and fooling around. One of them tossed each of us a Nature Valley bar, smiling.
"You guys must be the ones we're taking to Camp. I'm Aria, Daughter of Apollo, nice to meet you." The girl had amber colored hair and brown eyes.
"Nice to meet you too! Daughter of Apollo; that must mean you're good at archery, right?" Laila said as I took a bite of the bar. "I've always wanted to try!"
"It's pretty hard to get the hang of it. It took me a while to get good at it, and I'm a daughter of Apollo!"
"But, I can try, right?" Laila pouted.
"Sure, go ahead." Aria motioned towards the set of quills, the bow, and the target that had been set up for the others to practice on.
Laila walked towards the practice area, and confidently picked up the bow and an arrow. She brought them up, and then paused. "Can we have a contest?" she exclaimed. "I love contests!" Aria chuckled, but agreed. A huge smile lit up Laila's face-not one of those fake smiles, but a real, huge smile that looked too big for her face. Laila lifted her bow again, but hesitated. "You go first Aria. I'm kinda nervous."
"Sure, sure. Watch the master at work." Aria lifted her bow and set the arrow as Laila muttered something under her breath. After a moment of gauging the wind and the distance to the target, Aria shot the arrow. I was amazed, and a smirk appeared on Aria's face. The arrow was on the very edge of the innermost circle. "Your turn, Laila."
"Thank you," Laila said politely, and tuned to set the arrow herself. After a moment, the arrow shot out and hit the target dead center. A smile spread on Laila's face, one bigger than her last smile, if that was possible. Then, she did something none of us were expecting. She started dancing around like a maniac and singing, "Koi hero yahaan, koi zero yahaan, koi star hai, koi bekaar hai. Main kaun hoon? Tumse main kya kahoon? Hai such to ye doston, I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best! Oh, I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best!" Aria, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to murder someone.
"Cheater!" she yelled.
"Hey, don't call me a cheater!"
"That's what you are. Cheater, cheater, cheater!"
"Aria, don't call me a cheater."
"Laila is a cheater, she is a cheater, she is a cheater," Aria sang.
"I am not a cheater!"
"Cheater!"
Suddenly, Laila began to laugh like a maniac. Aria and I looked at her like she belonged in an institution with straitjackets and padded walls. I honestly hoped that something hadn't snapped inside her head to make her do this.
"Oh my god, this is just like that scene in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai where Rahul pushes Anjali when they're playing basketball, and then Anjali's like, 'Agar khelna nahi aata to cheating to mat karo!' Oh, that's one of my favorite movies!" she exclaimed while jumping up and down excitedly.
I shook my head in amusement as I listened to her talk about this movie that apparently was about two friends who fell in love, but the guy ended up with this girl that he thought he loved, but realized that he didn't when the aforementioned best friend was leaving to let them be together. It was overall a kind of confusing movie, but sounded interesting.
"Okay guys, it's time to go!" Thalia yelled. Aria sent one last glare towards Laila and stomped off in the opposite direction. We both strolled over to Thalia. "You'll be flying with me, so get in." We got into the chariot, and when she flicked the reins the horses took off.
Now call me crazy, but I didn't really want to fall out the back end of the chariot, so I stayed up front, holding onto the front of the chariot for most of the first hour, then Thalia turned to me saying, "You know you can't fall out, right?" She walked over to the back of the chariot and kicked her foot out; it bounced right back in and created a shock wave because of sort of magic force field.
"I totally knew that, I was just testing you! To see if you were really there for me. Um... yeah, that's what I was doing." And then I sat next to Laila, who was going on and on about some Bollywood movie and a couple "extremely hot actors" for the rest of the ride.
A/N: So, I hope that fulfilled your expectations! And thank you to the one person who reviewed the last chapter. You have no idea how excited that made me and my friend. So, if you like it, please review, and if you don't please review and tell us what we should try to fix.
P.S. My friend and I have created a page on Facebook that kind of tells you about our progress in writing. If you want to join, it's called Percy Jackson's Girls.
P.P.S. If you want to hear the song that Laila was singing when she won, look up 'I Am the Best Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' on YouTube.