Hey, guys, Gwyn here! So…how'd you like the last chapter? Love it? Hate it? Well, here's the next chapter, I'm going to fast forward it to the day before the competition, and it's a big gap, but less work for me, huh? *dodges throwing stars*Right, not really, it's just a bunch of junk that happens during that fast forward. Enjoy!
Shadslayer921: Okay, so not cool to say, dude, person-whatever. First off, please don't call me an idiot; I'm a very intelligent person. Secondly, I take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, not rude stuff like that. And thirdly, I can see you haven't read the SoN yet. Maybe you should've done that first before you called me that.
Kiransomers: Ha,ha I know. It's so fun! ;) And I know the dream was a little freaky, that was my goal for my chapter.
WritingIsMyLife426: Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
itsjustme(): Not a problem at all, I'll find a way. :)
finchelfanforever2015: I'm glad you like it, thanks!
And thanks to anyone who added me or my story to their faves over the last time I updated! I really appreciate it!
Chapter Eleven: I've got a Date with A Monster
This had been Percy's schedule for the past month: eat, sleep, train, and then repeat the next day. Something that was required to ensure that you could take the competition was camping out in the forest. During that little detail at breakfast that day, ten or so younger campers dropped out the second they heard it. Chiron reminded the remaining campers that there was no room for mistakes, "May I remind you, that this isn't for the faint-hearted. This competition will prove who the ultimate warrior is." Chatter filled the pavilion, but Chiron raised his hand to silence the hall, "Any campers who are competing, please stand up now."
A little less than half of the campers stood up, Chiron nodded in approval to the small group, "Good. We will meet at the top of the hill in a half hour. Pack everything you'll need through the night, if you're not there at nine-thirty, you are disqualified, understand?" There was a different change of tone in Chiron's voice, he sounded like he did during the war. The campers standing rushed to their cabins, and when Percy shut his cabin door and shut the curtains, he was ready to pack. He tossed in a few spares changes of clothes, a canteen of nectar, bag of ambrosia, and a wool blanket. He packed them all into his backpack, dropped Riptide into his pocket, and set out towards Half Blood Hill.
Percy could already see that there were people up on the hill. He joined them, and Chiron began to speak, "Well, this is it. I'll see you off, but after that-you're on your own." Everyone nodded in understanding, "Good luck to everyone." They began to trudge towards the woods, and Annabeth ran up next to Percy's side,
"Hey, I couldn't find you."
Percy looked down over to her, "Oh." There was a rare cloud of awkward silence that hung over them. "So, where are you going to set up camp?" Annabeth stopped walking for a few seconds, looked up at the sky, thinking,
"I'm not sure yet, I'm more worried about who's going to be camping with me." She replied. If that wasn't an obvious hint, Percy didn't know what it was.
"Um…maybe you should camp with Clarisse?" Percy offered dumbly. Annabeth rolled her eyes,
"Um…I was thinking I could camp with you?" Annabeth shot back sarcastically.
"Okay, okay. You're more than welcome to!" Percy said raising his eyebrows and shooting his arms up in surrender. They were alone now, and everyone else had split up or wandered off. After they had found a decent camp site, they unloaded the gear off their backs, set up their areas, and gathered firewood for later on. It felt safe to Percy…not. He knew the woods were infested with monsters; hell, there were probably bloodthirsty beasts watching their every move. Just as that little thought slipped through his mind, the crackle of twigs snapped behind him, and he looked over to Annabeth, who was squinting down at the laptop Daedalus had given her a few years back. Something prowled in the shade of the trees, and he could see the outline of wings on the creature's back. It walked on all fours into the light, showing its' mass of ugliness (AN: That's a real word…right? Never mind about that, I'll shut up now). It kind of looked like a brown bear with wings, except instead of a snout it had the orange bill of a duck. It also had razor-sharp teeth, which it bared as it moved in closer and closer towards them.
"Ahem!" Percy hissed. Annabeth slowly looked up from the screen, and her eyes got as big as silver dollars when she saw the monster.
"Oh my gods, that's a-"She thought, but stomped her foot, "A um…let me look!" Percy stomped his foot too, "Annabeth! This thing is ready to eat us alive, and you want to play, Guess that Monster?"
She didn't answer him. Instead, she dug through her pack for something. Percy growled in frustration, "That's it; I'm going for this thing!" She looked up from her rummaging mission,
"Okay, well just-fight it until I find out what it is, and then you can kill it!" She squealed. Percy shrugged and turned on his heels to face the beast,
"What now, bitch?" He teased the monster a little, but Annabeth thought differently.
"What did you say to me, Perseus?" She bellowed.
"Er…nothing! I'm going back to fighting this thing, now." He said quickly.
It had been ten minutes since Percy had begun fighting the monster. So far, no progress, and Annabeth wasn't really much help either. She was still taking her time flipping through the book, looking at every-single-solitary-page.
"Oh, oh I found it! I found it!" She was acting like a little kid, one who just found their hairy old lollipop in the back of their sock drawer, "It's a Feroun Papia!"
Percy really didn't care anymore, "Really? That's great; would you like me to get a sample or two?" He offered sarcastically, but Annabeth waved the joke away. The Feroun-whatever swung its massive paw at Percy's face, but he dodged it just in time; he could still feel the claws of the monster cut through the air. Percy lunged forward, causing Riptide to break the flesh and run completely through. The place the monster had once stood was replaced by a column with golden dust.
Percy clicked his sword back into its pen form, and he stretched while walking back towards the camp. Annabeth had already gone back to her laptop, "Thank you so much for the help, I knew I could count on you!" Percy teased. Annabeth shut the top of the computer.
"Fine, do you want to know why I didn't help you?" She asked, "Because I know that you were quite capable of fighting it, okay?"
Percy felt stupid, of course she would think of a genius excuse to use against him.
Yay! Chapter eleven-check! Well I have an important announcement to make; the next time I will be updating will be the fifteenth of February-my birthday. I'm going to be a teenager, thirteen to be exact. It'll be later that day, though, because my sister has to go to the dentist, and we all might go out to eat.
I really want The Exorcist book for my birthday, but it's doubtful, my dad doesn't want me to watch it because of the language. And I can't figure out what it is, because I know A LOT of swears. My mom doesn't mind though. So if they don't let me watch the movie, they probably won't get the book for me *boo-hoo*.
I wonder if my mom is going to cry like she did on my tenth birthday because I am, "Growing up so fast!" (cry-face).
Bye everyone, I'll see you next Wednesday!
~iGwyn12