Hey guys! How's it going? I'm so behind... I can already see you guys reaching for swords and daggers. I start class in two weeks! O.O Who knew managing two stories at the same time would be so hard? LOL! I'm cranking though. I finally got over my writer's block with Chapter 10 so I'll get my buffer back soon enough.
redconverse23 (Guest): Sorry about that. I didn't hate it, it's just not something that I'm really into. And, I don't take giving criticism lightly. If you ask for constructive criticism, that's what I'll give you. That also works vice versa. If I ask someone for their criticism, then I fully expect them to tear it down piece by piece and tell me what to fix. I like the idea. I'll hang on to it. And in Chuck, I don't really have a favorite character. They all have something to love about them.
PerseusTheSlayer: HAHA! I loved reading your review. It's very much how I would imagine myself ranting to someone! LOL! Anyways, I can't tell you much because I don't want to ruin it! I'm gonna take a page from Uncle Rick's book and leave you hanging over a pit with anxiety. ;)
A Faulty Spell Casting Demigod: The whole idea is that they warm up to each other. ;)
cokeerr: No island in mind. Just pure imagination. :)
Arbiter Prime: It probably does but I have the plot all planned out where there are definitely some complications, I just haven't gotten to writing the chapters out. So bear with me for a while longer. :)
TyberAurora: I totally see where you're coming from. I didn't really notice it until you pointed it out. I think it's because they're not in a battle situation and if you remember, in the series, whenever they were camping out, Annabeth had more control so... That's kind of what I was playing at. But he has his moments. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Percy Jackson and the Olympians... Obviously since I am in no way, shape, or form Rick Riordan.
Annabeth wanted off of the island as soon as possible. She was going crazy. First she invites Percy to sleep with her in that insanely tiny bed and then forgets about it the next morning.
Although, waking up with Percy pressed against her felt good. It was different from waking up alone like she had her whole life. Despite their situation, she felt safe, comfortable. It was a feeling that she wanted to feel for the rest of her life.
Sitting at the edge of the plane, looking out into the forest, deep in thought, Annabeth didn't hear Percy step out from behind the curtain, but she did feel him sit next to her. "Penny for your thoughts," he said.
"You can keep your penny. I'm not really thinking of anything specific."
"Well, I owe you breakfast so I'm gonna go check the beach and then maybe try to catch some fish," Percy said. He stood from his seat and began moving toward their rope.
"What? Are you crazy?" Annabeth stood up as well and placed a hand around Percy's wrist. "Your hand is still injured. You can't go fishing."
"Annabeth," Percy said, turning to face her. "It doesn't even hurt anymore. I can do this."
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely! All you have to do is stay here and relax." The blonde heiress bit her lip in thought.
"Maybe I should come with you just to make sure you don't hurt yourself or… attract sharks."
"Oh, har, har. I see how it is," Percy laughed sarcastically. "It was one time."
"That seems to be your excuse for everything Seaweed Brain."
"You've got to be kidding me." The two survivors laughed. Once they calmed down, Percy looked down at his feet then back up at her. "Um, Wise Girl?" he said, looking up into her grey eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Your hand." Annabeth furrowed her brow in confusion and he flickered his gaze down to their joined hands and when she followed him, she felt her face warm and she was pretty sure that it had turned a rosy shade of pink. She immediately let go, taking a step back, clearing her own throat as well.
Two awkward moments in one morning, she thought to himself. Great.
"Well, we should get going," Percy said moving toward the ladder again.
"Right," Annabeth agreed. Together, they both descended the ladder and made the walk down to the beach where they checked on the support for the S.O.S. and changed the bonfire wood.
When Percy took up the spear and ordered Annabeth to just relax in the sand, she offered to catch the fish so he wouldn't hurt himself but he insisted that it was time that he start being more useful and helpful and that he could do a simple task like this. So there Annabeth was, sitting on the sand watching as Percy struggled and grappled with the large stick that they called a spear. He seemed to be having some trouble walking through the waves and finding fish. The sight was enjoyable to watch. Then, Percy stabbed the spear into the water and when he retracted it, a fish was impaled dead center. Annabeth sat up straighter in shock. Percy, excited at his catch, ran toward the shore and Annabeth stood and ran toward him. Tossing the spear and fish a safe distance into the dry sand, Percy opened his arms and Annabeth jumped into them.
They spun and laughed. "You did it, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughed. "I'm so proud of you."
"And you doubted me," Percy said, smiling back. They stood together, still holding each other's arms. Annabeth stared into Percy's swirling green eyes that matched the color of the sea behind him. The blonde heiress found herself entranced by the way that his eyes seemed to move in a way that reminded her of a whirlpool. She felt as though she never wanted to tear her gaze from his. In fact, she knew she never wanted to tear her gaze from him, especially when he was looking into her eyes with sincere curiosity and wonder as though he wanted to know everything about her. Her secrets, her past. And while that normally would have put her walls up, he made her want to tear them down, let him in. It was refreshing. Scary, but refreshing.
Percy's breath hit her lips and invaded her senses. The shiver that ran down her spine heightened all of her senses and she realized just how close she was to the black-haired marine biologist. Clearing her throat, Annabeth reluctantly pulled her arms back and took a step back. The awkward moment that seemed to follow was just another one to be added to the list for that day. "Um," she dragged, rocking on her heels. "I'm gonna get a fire started so we can eat that fish."
Percy's hand flew up to the back of his neck. "Uh, sure. Okay, yeah," he agreed. They stood awkwardly, again, Annabeth digging a hole into the ground with the toes of her shoes and Percy rubbing his neck, looking at anything but her.
"I'm gonna…"
"Yeah, I'll go…" he dragged, pointing behind him at the water, signaling that he was going to go back into the water and try to catch another fish.
The two of them broke off and moved to their respective areas in order to do their tasks. By the time Annabeth got a fire going and had skewered a fish through a stick to roast it rotisserie style, Percy managed to catch a second fish, much to both of their surprise. They ate breakfast in an awkward silence, neither of them wanting to bring up their almost kiss and the moments after that.
When they were finished, they put out the fire and left the bones in the pit. "So," Percy said, breaking the silence and the rhythm of their work. "I was thinking…"
"What?"
"What if we made a raft?"
"What?" Annabeth asked again, this time more disbelievingly at his suggestion.
"A raft," he repeated.
"I heard you the first time."
"I mean think about it. It's been, what, five, six days we've been stuck on this island? How much longer until that rescue team we've been banking on gets here? Think about it Annabeth, we either need to start making plans to be here permanently or we need to find our own way off of this island." Annabeth could see the reason in Percy's argument. It would be in their best interest to stop thinking that someone was going to come and save them. It's been nearly a week. At this point, the media might consider them a lost cause and the search parties will have given up.
But then again, they had no idea where they were. They could be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It would take them forever to try and find civilization. They wouldn't survive on a wooden raft. She'd read Life of Pi and had seen the movie. Pi Patel barely made it out alive and he had a life raft with plenty of rations. All she and Percy had were sticks, water bottles, and, well, more sticks. "I know it's been a long time, Percy. But the fact is, we could be on that raft for months. We could die in a storm or something. Who's to say that the search teams aren't close by? We don't know anything so we can't assume anything. We just need to be positive and optimistic. So, don't start designing the S.S. Dingy just yet."
"But we still need to start getting things planned in case we're here for a long time." Looking around the horizon, Annabeth sighed. There was still no sign of a rescue helicopter or plane or anything out in the distance.
"Fine," she acquiesced. "I'll compromise. We can build a small shelter here on the beach not too far off from the S.O.S. that way if we need to stay down here to keep an eye out, we can."
"Really?" Percy asked, his eyes shining like a child on Christmas morning.
"Yes."
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
Percy couldn't believe that Annabeth had agreed to start making plans for a long term, maybe permanent, stay on the island. He was no doubt still hoping that the rescue team was coming and that they were closing in on them but just to be sure, they needed to be prepared. The marine biologist remembered watching a lot of survival shows on the Discovery channel. It's not usually his first choice for a channel but Man vs. Wild is a pretty great show. Sure it's no How to Survive on an Island but it helped in some aspects.
The moment he was sure she was on board with the plan, he broke off into a near sprint toward the tree line to gather up sticks, vines, and large leaves. Their shelter needed to be ready to stand up to any kind of weather. He also thought of the possibility of making leaf cots the way he'd seen on TV. And sure, maybe he was aiming pretty high, but if they were going to be stuck on an island for the rest of their lives, then he'd have all the time in the world to design and build their shelter.
Filling his arms with as many materials as he could, Percy made his way back to the beach to see Annabeth sitting on the sand. He dropped everything in his arms and made his way over to her. "Hey," he greeted, squatting down next to her.
"Be careful!" Percy looked down at what her arms moved to shield.
"What is that?" he asked, curiosity taking over. He watched her reaction carefully, taking note of how her cheeks turned rosy.
"They're sort of like blue prints," she said, obviously embarrassed. "You ran off so fast and I didn't really know what to do so I just started drawing in the sand and poof, a floor plan was born." Percy looked over the sand sketch and saw that he really liked it.
"It looks like there are two bedrooms?" he said pointing out two of the boxes she'd drawn out. "A little ambitious are we? You think we can actually get past building a main room?" The two of them laughed. Once Percy sobered up, he continued much more seriously. "This is really good, Annabeth. Seriously. Like, I knew your mom designed some pretty cool buildings but, wow, once you take over, I'm sure you'll start a whole new movement in building designs."
Annabeth looked up at him with a calculating gaze in her eyes. "You can tell all of that from a crude stick drawing in the sand?" she asked doubtfully.
"Annabeth," he assured. "Look. You drew a floor plan for a shelter that has two bedrooms, a living room, and, what are those, closets? In the sand!" He chuckled. "I can only imagine what you could come up with using proper materials like paper and pencils. "Now, come on," he said, standing up, holding a hand out for the blonde heiress to take. When she took it and stood up next to him, he continued. "Let's try and bring this baby to life."
Percy insisted that his hand was perfectly fine and that Annabeth should just tell him what to do but upon seeing the glare she had been giving him, he took a step back and let her do some of the heavy lifting as well. By dark, the two of them had laid down a firm foundation in the sand, large enough to fit Annabeth's floor plan, as well as built two cots. As they built, the two of them continued to talk about anything and everything that came to their minds.
The two survivors sat together on the base of their shelter, each holding a rotisserie fish as well as water bottles. A little ways down, the large signal bon fire burned brightly next to their large S.O.S. "So, tomorrow, we're obviously going to try and build the walls, but what do we think about couches? Or like, a banana leaf fan? 'Cause it's really hot and I'm really missing air conditioning," Percy said as he took a bite of his dinner. Annabeth shot him an amused look.
"Who's the stuck up heiress here?" Annabeth shot back with a smile. "Me? Or you?"
"I'm just saying. A little AC could do us some good."
"Now, I never disagreed with you. I could go for a spa day." Annabeth seemed noticed the smirk that her black haired companion was giving her. "Shut up," she simply said. They both burst into laughter.
"How long do you think it will take for us to finish this shelter?" Percy asked.
"I have no clue," was the blonde's answer. "But, if we're going to continue at this pace, I give it a couple of days."
"How sucky would it be to finish this shelter and then get rescued the next day?" Percy laughed.
"Really sucky," Annabeth said. "But then again, I could always just have my parents buy this island and we could always come back and visit."
"Is that so?" the marine biologist inquired.
"Yeah. The thing's probably uncharted, which is why no one has bothered to check here, so, since we 'discovered' it, I could easily buy it without any issues."
"Would I be able to co-own it? Since, you know, I also discovered it." Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Sure," she said, taking a bite of her fish. "I'll give you a square mile or two." Percy narrowed his eyes at the playful jab and continued to eat his food.
Percy was really beginning to enjoy time with Annabeth more and more. And it wasn't just because she was drop dead gorgeous, but she was smart, witty, and playful, and just, overall fun to be around. He was comfortable around her and while he should have felt pressured to be on her level of knowledge and intellect in order to have a good conversation, he felt at ease. Annabeth made it so easy to talk about nothing and about everything. It was refreshing to talk to a girl without her hitting on him or continuously going on and on about the latest Pretty Little Liars episode, the hottest boy band, or make up and fashion. Aside from architecture, Percy found out that Annabeth was a fencer and a volleyball player in college. It made sense, since she looked so at ease with a weapon in her hand and was so toned and fit. When they had first met, Percy couldn't believe that he was stuck on an island with what seemed to be a pretentious, selfish rich girl, but now, after getting to know her, he couldn't believe his luck in getting a true survivor to be stuck on this island with him.
By the time they had finished their meals, they both got into their respective cots and pulled the blankets over their bodies and drifted off to sleep.
And there's that. We're almost to the halfway point!
Tell me what you think!
Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and Follow!
Remember,
Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!