Disclaimer: I am not Rick.

Starring Thalia Grace
Guest Stars of Artemis, Goddess of the Night and Winnie

Thalia snuggled against her warm autumn coat, huddled around the fire with all the other Hunters. Artemis was in her eleven-year-old form, silently eating marshmallows out of a bag while her group sang and ate s'mores.

Thalia loved being part of this. Watching all the other girls—nymphs, demigods, legacies, whatever—singing and having fun... it made her feel as if she were home. She roasted another marshmallow and placed it between two graham cookies and a slab of chocolate, biting into the gooey goodness. The warm glow of the campfire cast across her face made her smile, until a particularly large gust of wind came out from nowhere and blew it out, ruining the night.

Thalia sighed, getting to her feet. "I'll go gather some more wood," she told the group, wiping her chocolate-y hands on her jeans. She slid the hood of her jacket over her head and walked off into the forest.

She found a few branches, but most of them were soggy from the previous night's rainfall. Few were actually dry, so she had to wander deeper and deeper into the forest in search of more.

Something snapped behind her, too close to be an ordinary forest animal. Thalia casually lowered all her branches except for one on the forest floor, keeping that one held in her hand. The only sign given that she had heard whoever it was was a slight tensing in her shoulders. Whoever it was didn't know she knew about them, so now the elements of surprise were reversed. Thalia wasn't about to ruin that by pulling out her sword.

She nonchalantly walked backwards in circles slowly so that whoever it was couldn't sneak up on her, darting her eyes left to right.

Then she realized what was up. It was a fox, and it hadn't seen her because of her black autumn coat. (That was why it had dared to venture so close.) It stared at her with glowing pale eyes for a moment before darting back into the wilderness.

Thalia sighed. Being a demigod left you tightly strung. She picked up her logs again and kept searching for more.

No monster is going to attack you, she told herself. Camp's protective one kilometer shield will keep them away, and unless the monster was extremely cocky or ignorant, it wouldn't dare try attacking one of Artemis's Hunters. Not when she was nearby. But, of course, some monsters didn't know or really care, because they loved the meaty taste of demigod flesh so darn much...

Another snap. Thalia dropped the branches and pulled out her sword, instantly preparing herself for combat.

"Dang it," she cursed, stowing it away angrily. "There's nothing there; just quit being paranoid, Thalia!"

It was that blasted war. Both of them—the one against Kronos and the one against Gaea. All the demigods all over the world were freaking out every time they passed something even mildly suspicious. Thalia ran a hand through her spiky black hair and sighed loudly. She hoisted her branches under one arm and walked back to camp, tapping all the trees she walked by with a stick.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Unck.

Thalia frowned.

And the grizzly bear woke up.

"Great," she muttered, dropping the branches for what felt like the millionth time. "Just when I let my guard down."

The bear roared.

-o-O-o-

"Hey, Thalia," greeted one of the Hunters when she returned. "We heard something loud back there. You okay?"

Thalia grinned, placing the logs next to the dead fire. "I made a friend," she told them.

The girls turned to the forest in time to spot a large grizzly bear lumber out on all fours, walking in their direction.

One of the younger Hunters squealed loudly. "Ohmigods he's so cute!" she exclaimed. "Can I name him Winnie as in Winnie the Pooh?"

The girls ran over to check out Thalia's new pet, and she herself went and sat beside Artemis.

"I did what you told me," she told the goddess, watching the Hunters. "Tame nature—not attack it. To be honest, my first impulse was to do the latter, but I remembered your words and realized the bear was just defending himself anyway."

Artemis nodded. "Life truly is wonderful," she decided. But then she turned, frowning. "Defend itself?"

Thalia smiled sheepishly. "Well… I might have provoked him by poking him with a stick."

Artemis thought, staring off into the distance. "Poking a stick at a grizzly bear," she rephrased. "If you were a mortal, you could get killed like that."

Thalia grinned. "But I'm not, am I?" she said. "I'm a demigod—I am and I always will be."

This one was kind of obvious as well. Hopefully the next one will catch you guys by surprise (somewhat).

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