Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HOO
The Pack was waiting for the hunters to finish fixing their stuffs. They were going to meet by Thalia's Pine tree.
The hunters and Lady Artemis came to view. Once they saw the pack, they scowled. They didn't really like the fact that they tied in the game yesterday, and they most certainly did not like the fact that two of their members were able to swiftly pass the hunters while said hunters were distracted by their decoys.
As they got nearer, all of the Pack bowed. After all, Artemis was still a goddess and must be treated with respect. Artemis just glared at them, and raised her eyebrows for there were only 20 something Pack members present.
"Where are the others, Ace? We will not wait for anyone of you. You follow our pace" Artemis says.
"Of course, we will. We will always try our best not to make any of you wait"—some hunters snort—"But the others are not coming. They have been sent off for missions by Lord Mars and Lady Hestia" Percy informs her. "It's confidential" Percy added in a tone that meant if you want to know, take it to my patrons…not that they'd tell you. But respect was still somehow evident on his tone.
"Fine, but let us get something straight here," Artemis says. Percy raises an eyebrow (not that any non-member of the Pack could see because of the hood). Percy thought they had made a rocky truce that night when he had….slipped and had accidentally let his guard down in her presence.
"You will not interact with the Hunt. You will not flirt with the Hunt. And you will certainly not betray any information about the Hunt to outsiders" Artemis says, venom evident in her voice.
Percy really was confused. He thought they had made that clear already? But he guess, although he was stupid enough to tell her some info on the Pack, his word was nothing but mere words from a boy. He couldn't help but be hurt by that…for a bit. If she knew him as Percy now and not as the Ace, would he treat him with such distrust?
"My Pack shall not interact with the Hunt unless they had contacted us first, or unless it is absolutely necessary. My Pack shall not flirt with your Hunt. If you must know, my Lady, the Pack has made a vow much similar to your Hunters'. And the Pack certainly has no interest on any information that we will witness about your Hunt. All we care is to get this over with, for Zeus to leave us alone, and for us to continue to live in the shadows. Please, don't forget, Lady Artemis. You are not the only one who was forced into this situation" Percy said coolly.
Artemis looked at the Ace sceptically. He had said that with respect in his voice yet again. For all the while, he has not done any fault for Artemis to take as an excuse to turn him into an animal—which Artemis was itching to do. His words made sense and she wanted to trust it—though she did not know why (there was something….familiar about his voice)—but she could not ignore her dream. Who else would be wearing the silver cloak other than the Ace? He must be the boy in the dream
Artemis made her way pass them. Their first joint assignment was to hunt some monsters' dens. Artemis decided to teleport them half-way the trip. When Percy asked where to, the goddess hesitated. She didn't want to tell the boy anything. She wanted them to be in a need-to-know basis. All she wanted him to know was what to kill, and when to make the kill.
Percy was getting a little annoyed by this but he had to remind himself that Artemis hated boys and true, he had earned her respect as 'Percy' but as the Ace, he had to yet again prove himself. This somewhat saddened Percy. He had to hold the sky for her to get her approval, what would he need to do now?
"Lady Artemis, you told us you wanted minimal contact between our two groups. Just tell us the location, and we'll get there as fast as you" Percy said
"How?"
"Lady, you were thinking about giving us info in a need-to-know basis only, and we shall happily oblige. You keep to yourselves, but in all fairness, I think it is only right that you allow us to do the same" Percy said with a steel voice. Artemis was getting a little irritated because she sensed no disrespect from Percy's voice. She was being reasoned with by a boy
"Fine" Artemis says telling him the location and disappeared with a silver light. Percy nodded to his troop and they all disappeared, some via the shadows, some via a column of fire, and Percy used the water to Vaportravel himself. Of course, the Hunt had no idea how they got to the location because Percy made sure they reappeared a distance from where the Hunters did so that they would not see the Pack.
All their secrets must remain a secret as much as possible.
They decided to trudge what seemed like a long expanse of field cover with snow and trees. One by one, wolves (of the Hunters), tigers, and lions (of the Pack) started to join them. It was snowing still. Aku, Pisto, and Nix appeared and Nico and Percy beamed. Thalia just ruffled Nix's head. Nix was the only tiger in the Hunters' part.
"Oh gods, Aku, what took you so long?" Percy asked at the same time Nico says "Finally, Pisto!" and both of them climb at their companions. Nico sat and Percy shamelessly lies down on their pets.
The other Pack members were riding their companions too. Only some remained walking beside their companions.
The Hunters who were beside them, though in a distance, were looking at them like they let their companions carry them? Worthless boys
The Pack could feel their stares and were starting to get annoyed. One Pack member didn't even bother holding in his irritation
"If you must know, it is the duty of our youngest to walk for years before they are allowed to ride their companions. And it is their companion's choice when they are deserving to ride them. None of you knows how hard it was to let our companions finally acknowledge us. So do not judge us!" X had told them again with no disrespect, just mild irritation and a slight warning tone.
"Why you—" Phoebe was about to say and X was probably about to say something insulting when Percy cut in
"Stop it, X. Apologize" Percy said sternly.
"But, Ace—"
"Enough. True enough they were making their very rude opinions about us obvious in their faces, but you did not have to tell them anything. In fact, what gave you the idea revealing to them one of the traditions of our Packs, eh, soldier?" Percy asked. He rarely addressed them as soldier, so this shocked the others.
"Yes, Ace" X amended. "Keep your heads cool, Pack. Don't let their hate get to you. Remember, we are the Pack and we absolutely have no duty to prove ourselves to them, got it?" Nico shot in.
Percy and X apologized to the Hunters. The Hunters did not know how to react: surprise because they apologized, anger or something because of the 'no duty to prove themselves' or all of the above.
The Pack didn't wait for their reaction, though. They continued to trudge.
At some time, they decided to sprint. The Pack followed suit. Around dusk, they decided to set up camp and Hunt for dinner.
They set up camp separately with a considerable distance between. The Pack positioned themselves and knelt as if they were forming the perimeter of an igloo. They pretended that all of them were concentrating but truth was, it was only Percy who made the igloo appeared…but they couldn't have the Hunters noticing Percy's water powers, could they?
The Hunters looked at them sceptically…but hey, they always do that. Percy sent six people to scout their surroundings: three around the Pack's and three around the Hunters'
The Pack were grumbling a lot of things from
"I swear, I'm hating B, L, and the others right now. How come they get solo missions and we're stuck with the man-haters?"
To
"Gods, running with the Hunters is so damn tiring. I think their doing this on purpose"
To
"Yeah, and it doesn't help that we have to wear all this weights on our ankles and wrists!"
To
"You think our companions will chop of the Hunters' heads if they ever hunt for the same prey tonight?"
"Stop chatting and get your butts to work!" Percy said.
Aku, Pisto, and Nix joined the other animals and the Hunters to hunt but the Pack merely conjured up food. Hey, there were some perks to having Vesta as their patron.
The Pack would've offered food but…nah, why should they reveal more info about themselves to them?
Percy was just informed via an arrow with a note almost hitting his head (almost hitting meaning 'it ripped part of his hood and was close to rip his ear'). The note attached said that the hunters were using the nearby river and to stay away.
Percy decided to leave camp first and think for himself. He needed to clear his mind.
List of Problems:
1 He was stuck with a bunch of man haters
2 He had to keep his identity secret
3 He had to keep his secrets a secret
4 He was going to be forced to make Thalia chose one way or another
5 The Pack might lead the Hunters to them
6 He could and everything with one simple perfume-bottle like thing but it was risky
Not to mention the fact that, you could still expand those 6 problems into many more detailed-related problems.
Before Percy noticed, he was already stressing too much and forgot about his….restrictions. Oh gods, this was bad. Pain all over his body started bubbling up, and Percy couldn't control anything. It was like having a mini version of bathing in the Styx again. Oh gods, why did I do it for that unappreciative goddess of the moon anyway, Percy thought though he knew, given the chance to repeat the events, he wouldn't have had it any other way. That was the last thing Percy thought before he sort of blacked out