Maggie woke up gasping from the dream. She knew one thing, she needed to help that kid. With surprising speed, she leaped out of bed and bolted out the door, still in her pajamas, she raced for the big house. The sun had barely risen and the grass still sparkled with dewdrops. Early bird kids were up practicing or talking to their friends. They all looked Maggie's direction as she ran by and she was absolutely terrified. Before she could hide she thought about the boy that she promised to help.
She got to the big house, a large blue building with greek columns. She was panting and sweaty as she reached where Chiron and Dionysus were playing pinochle. She ran up to them and talked so fast she couldn't understand her own words. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down Maddie. I can barely understand you", said Dionysus lazily. "What's wrong Maggie", asked Chiron, looking quite concerned, maybe the fact that she was talking so much. She never usually talked to anyone, especially the centaur.
She took a few deep breaths and tried to ignore her shyness. "There is this boy in the woods somewhere and he needs my help. I need a quest so I can help him. Please, please, please". Chiron looked amazed, he knew that this was important if Maggie was actually talking and looking him in the eyes at the same time. Dionysus yawned and placed another card on the table, "Let the sytrs handle it. That is what they were hired for". How could this god be so dumb. "No they would be shot or swallowed by 'Jet'. Chiron please". The activities director thought the situation over. "Alright, but take two others with you". "I can't do that sir, I can tell this demigod will not trust anyone, but me. I need to go alone". It sounded so much like the prophecy from last night it almost sucked the bravery out of her.
"Dionysus, could I speak with you for a second", asked Chiron. The god shrugged and got up out of his chair and they both entered the big house.
Maggie stood there for a little while, her shyness finally kicking in. She felt the curious eyes of other demigods and heard whispers from some nearby. Maggie's instincts were screaming at her to run and hide, but she stood her ground.
Finally the two came out. Chiron sighed, "You are allowed to go, just be very careful". If she wasn't so shy, Maggie would have run up and hugged the centaur. "Thank you", she said with her last bit of bravery from the night before.
After a very quiet breakfast, she left without another word. She decided to go deep within the woods so she wouldn't be caught by Mary Anne or someone else. When she thought she was far enough, she found a dark area not touched by the sun. Maggie learned this trick when she was trying to get away from her step brothers. Absolutely no one knew about her ability and she liked it that way.
"Maggie", a voice called from nearby. She knew that voice, dang it, it was Mary Anne. "Maggie dear. I am coming with you", she heard the other demigod tromping over fallen twigs and leaves. Taking in all of her focus, Maggie walked into the shadows and was engulfed by darkness.
Maggie finally emerged from the darkness and was immediately struck by cold air. Looking around, she spotted the highway from her dream. Now in full sunlight, she could see small patches of snow and pine trees that lay randomly along the flat land. Beyond that were the white and blue mountains covered with snow and ice. The sun was in the center of the sky causing the snow to sparkle.
Looking at the highway, Maggie spotted signs of a struggle. There were skid marks, bullet proof glass shards littered everywhere along with shards of metal and solar panel shards. Then she spotted just what she needed, a giant paw print leading into the woods. She followed the direction it was pointing and she could almost see the sparkle of the lake in the distance.
Maggie walked to the lake and looked around, no sign of a kid or a giant wolf, at least she thought. In the mud she found footprints of a wolf leading off to a big pile of rocks. Following the trail, she spotted a giant black shape curled up between the rocks. Suddenly the wolf's head rose up large ears pricked forward. It jumped up on all fours and snarled at Maggie, teeth barred and radioactive green eyes piercing her very soul. "Its ok. I am a friend. I will not hurt you or your friend. Ok"? The wolf didn't move or back down, but his growl grew to more of a very loud purr. He turned his head toward another black lump of fur. The lump looked up revealing a red mask and deer skin clothes underneath the covering of black fur. On near the head stood two large black spikes that made him look like he had wolf ears. Some of the pants were burnt off on the boys leg and it looked scorched. The boy looked about Maggie's age, twelve. The wolf and the boy stared at each other for a minute and the wolf backed away, leaving a clear path to the injured figure.
"Um hello. My name is Maggie and I am a demigod, just like you". She had no idea where her shyness went, but she liked being able to talk to the kid. "Anyway, I wish to help you", Maggie said and came a little closer to him. When she was a few feet the kid flinched and moved away. "No, no, no, its ok, I won't hurt you. Here, eat this. You will feel better" and Maggie handed him an ambrosia square. The boy sniffed it a little, testing it for poison maybe, then he took a bite. Maggie giggled as Wolf Boy made a surprised face and dropped the square. "Don't worry, it is supposed to taste like a comfort food. It will also heal you so you better eat up".
Maggie watched as he gingerly picked up the square and nipped at it again. This time he didn't drop it, he actually stuffed the entire square in his mouth. He didn't take off his mask while doing so it looked a little funny, but Maggie didn't laugh.
When he finally swallowed the entire square, he leaned back and relaxed on a mossy rock behind him. With slow, cautious movements, Maggie made her way toward the injured leg. Wolf boy finally noticed what she was doing and pulled out a white knife, blade at her throat. "It's ok, I am going to bandage your leg so it won't hurt as much. Can I"?
Through the mask, Maggie could feel Wolf Boy's icy glare, but he leaned back and put his leg out. It was swollen and black from burns that were already starting to heal. She pulled out some cream and bandages from her pack and she began to put some of the cream on Wolf Boy's leg. As Maggie applied it, he winced a little, but did not attack her.
Carefully, she wrapped his leg with a layer of bandages, then placed a board on the leg for a makeshift splint, then the last layer. "See, that wasn't so bad. So could you tell me your name". Wolf Boy froze, eyes narrowed as if studying her past, finally he sighed and finally spoke. "My name is Kateo", he said, taking off his mask.
The mask pulled back like a hood revealing a boy that looked a lot like Percy Jackson. He had the same green eyes and black hair, but the styles were different. Kateo's hair was buzzcut at the sides so the there was only hair at the top of his head. The dark hair was a little long so it fell forward toward the direction of his face. His skin was tan with long red triangles painted down his cheeks and nose. Wrapped around of his head was a leather band with a polished obsidian piece that sat in the middle of his forehead. At first Maggie just stared in awe at his handsome face. "Um… So…" She had no idea what to say, then the wolf walked up and sat down near his friend. Maggie finally noticed that the wolf no longer limped, he walked fine. "Wasn't he injured last night"? The boy didn't answer. "Um… Do you know if you are Roman or Greek"? Asked Maggie. Kateo looked at her as if she was crazy. "What"? He asked cocking his head to the side. "You are a demigod, you survived the ambrosia…" "Wait, That thing I just ate was POISONED". Maggie looked at him in disbelief. "No, ambrosia is food of the gods, but it is dangerous to mortals and I know you are not mortal".
Kateo considered this, "Ok, what it supposed to do"? He asked. "It is supposed to heal any wound in a shorter amount of time then with regular medicine. For example, broken legs usually take a day to heal. The longest it has taken a leg to heal is a month, that happened to a friend of mine named Jean. He decided that it would be funny if he put a mustache on a cyclopes. Turns out cyclopes don't like having a mustache drawn on them". To her surprise, Kateo laughed. "Once, Clive drew something on a boar's butt when it got lost in town. It kind of looked like a guy with the boar's tail as his nose". Maggie imagined a face drawn on a boar's butt and she laughed along with Kateo. The wolf seemed to be laughing also, his tail was wagging and he was making snorting noises with his black nose.
The rest of the afternoon went well. Kateo and Maggie both swapped stories about their past that did not seem funny at the time they happened, but were funny now. Jet ran off and caught them a small wild pig for dinner. Kateo had skinned it and took the boar's legs for him and Maggie. He said Jet liked his meat skinned because he was picky about his meals. He only ate deer or squirrel, but he did eat smoked hog on occasions.
When the sun went down, Kateo put out the fire they used to cook the meat and fell asleep on Jet. Maggie thought that she could stay there forever, no one to bother her, just eating boar and talking to Kateo forever, but then there would be the monsters. Knowing from experience, monsters could smell her from miles away and they always seemed happy to cook her on a barbecue with an apple in her mouth. Plus if Kateo was related to Percy Jackson, monsters would come from far and wide to get some of some wolf boy legs after a Maggie appetizer.
"Listen, Kateo. We can't stay out here. It is too dangerous". Kateo gave her a curious look, "Why? I don't think any animals would bother us. I heard the beasts here are smaller than from where I come from. I mean come on. I haven't seen a boar so small ever since the beginning of piglet season. Especially the last one. Hey Jet, remember those really small litter". The large black wolf looked up. "Aw yes, those were easy to catch. The mother didn't even try to chase us off", Jet said in their minds and licked his lips at the memory. "How many of the piglets do you guys kill"? Maggie asked. She had a sinking feeling that Kateo was not as nice as he seemed. "Only the weak ones Okkoto can't stand. The boars are like warriors, strong, ruthless, and bloodthirsty. They can't allow weak piglets or too many piglets or they all go down. The mothers almost always disagree with that rule, but we don't want the boars to run out of food and go beyond their valley". "What do you do with the extra food". "We give it to the humans in the village. Most of them don't eat it, but Clive does. Anyway, I am tired", and with that Kateo leaned back and went to sleep on Jet's fur. Maggie didn't take long for Maggie to follow his lead and go to sleep.
Congratulations, you have gotten farther than most people at the time (confetti cannons blast sparkly paper strings everywhere). I really hope you are enjoying it so far and I wish you a wonderful day (or night)(I personally don't care what time it is). Anyway, keep dreaming my friends. :)