Daughter of Hera
A/N: Hee hee! I'm so happy about the cliffy last chapter! Oh what a wonderful day, what can I say? Sorry, I just had a glass of ice tea; sugar always makes me go a bit wrong in the head. So, I decided not to kill poor little Jeff off, it makes things so much more interesting, don't you think? I guess you could say he's my pawn. Anyway, enjoy my little ducklings! Cookies and brownies to all!
Disclaimer: I don't anything but this plot and Jayda and Jeff.
Jayda dove after him, whirling through the skies like a missile on Snowfire's back. Whenever the clouds obscured her vision, she got worried. She knew he hadn't reached the ground yet, she'd have felt it in her bones otherwise. She gave a small sigh of relief when she realized she was very close to him. She reached out a hand and grabbed his shirt, pulling them together. She plopped him behind her and held him fast with one hand and sped towards the ground while Annabeth got Blackjack and Porkpie to follow after them.
She reached the ground and set him down gently. She worriedly noted that his skin was sickly pale and his lips were almost blue. His eyes were fluttering and he kept mumbling her name. Her cheeks flamed red as she realized what that meant. By this time, Annabeth had run up to her. She knelt down beside him and checked his pulse. "It's slow but it's there. I'll give him some ambrosia and nectar but we can't do anything more unless we know how he'll react to that."
Jayda nodded, too overwhelmed with emotion to speak. She knew she'd cry if she tried to say something. She watched numbly as Annabeth opened her bumper pack of ambrosia and a canteen of nectar and forced some down Jeff's throat. Immediately, his breathing eased up and his chest unconstructed though the sickly pallor remained. Jayda felt relieved. She didn't know what she would've done if anything had happened to her best friend.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Annabeth. "We should make camp here. Let's find some trees to give us shelter. It's March anyway, night will come soon and there might be snow soon. Come on." They picked up the bags and carried Jeff over to a clearing Annabeth had spotted with her sharp eyes. It was surrounded by trees on all sides and would help keep out bad weather conditions.
She now noticed how freezing cold it was. The fear and adrenalin had allowed her to be protected against it for a while but it was now wearing off. Annabeth noticed her teeth chattering and said, "We better put up the tents today. How about we put up one, we'll be warmer and I'm sure Leo made these with personal space in mind. They'll be huge. Gather wood for a fire while I set up the tents and make him comfortable inside."
Jayda nodded and set about doing what she'd been told. She even got berries and fruits she knew were edible for the Pegasi, though she knew how much they loved doughnuts. With an armful of wood and food, she stumbled back and saw that Annabeth had already set up the tent, which looked really small, and had made a ring with stones for the fire. She put the food in front of the Pegasi, who were already chewing down on some of the doggy bag food they'd collected earlier.
Hey, boss' girlfriend's friend, thanks for the food. Blackjack whinnied.
Uh, you're welcome?
Blackjack snorted which made her think that he was laughing at her. She huffed playfully and went in to the tent. To say she was shocked was an understatement. It was actually bigger from the inside. It had three bunks, a carpet with cushions and a full bathroom, with a tiny shower, but a shower nonetheless. It had a small cooking area too. Annabeth had pulled down bedding from one bunk and put up blankets around Jeff, who was lying on the comfy mattress and looked slightly better.
She lit the fire and told Annabeth, "I'll take first watch." She grabbed a couple of blankets, a pillow, her activated sword and her necklace. She even brought her iPod, though she doubted she'd be relaxed enough to sit and listen. She plopped down at the entrance to the tent and set herself up. Under the layer of five blankets, she began feeling warm and drowsy. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to sleep a little. Her eyelids closed.
She was surrounded by white. Ice, it was ice, she realized. And she was cold, so cold… "Young hero, this is what awaits you. Give up now and you might be spared."
She spun around to a giant looking at her with amusement. "I am not so lenient with others. But you… you have potential. Join my army now and we can crush the Gods. What have they done for you anyway?"
She froze, both literally and figuratively. "I guess you could say I used to have a… thing for your mother. Be grateful that I shall spare you."
She finally managed to say, "Who are you?"
The giant chuckled in amusement, "I am your worst nightmare."
She woke up shivering and sweating at the same time. Annabeth was shaking her and yelling. "You fell asleep on guard duty! Are you crazy? We could have been killed!"
Jayda did nothing to deny it. She knew what she did was wrong but at the same time understood the importance of the dream. She told Annabeth what had happened, which made her face go from angry to concerned to thoughtful. "This isn't good. I'm sure something's off about this. It just doesn't feel right."
Jayda looked at her as if she was crazy. "Annabeth, we're on a damn quest that could get us killed. Nothing is right about this!" "You know what I mean." "Of course I do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pass up an opportunity to pull your leg." Annabeth rolled her eyes and tugged her up. "We need to get going. As far as I can tell, Jeff's been poisoned but he's well enough to fly again now. We need to pack. You go feed the Pegasi, I'll do the rest. Put out the fire too."
Jayda grunted and moved to get up and collapsed under the cold wave that hit her when she shed the blankets. She groaned and rushed in to put on more protective clothing. A few minutes later, she'd come out again and folded up the blankets. She then proceeded to douse the fire and cover it up. She whistled for the Pegasi and tossed them some apples and bread.
She was distracted by Annabeth coming out with Jeff leaning on her heavily. "Hey," he grinned weakly and was given a smile by her. They quickly minimized the tent and packed. "Time to go."
They hopped onto the Pegasi with Jeff riding on Snowfire with Jayda. They headed off further north to their next stop: Baffin Island.
A/N: About all the places mentioned- I felt that Annabeth would've wanted to categorize the journey as much as possible. Due to the long distance, it'd better that way, no? Anyways, as always, review, review, and review!