Ranger's Apprentice & Heroes of Olympus Crossover

Chapter 13

Third Person POV

"You guys are mad. Absolutely mad. You're going to get Farmer Groo to give you straw? As if he's going to give it to you. And besides, even if he does, what will you do with all that straw?" Thalia looked at the Rangers and Cassandra warily. She knew they were expert planners, but she wasn't so sure whether they had actually thoroughly thought this through.

Will shook his head. "I'll explain it later. Right now we need to get the straw. See you!" Only Will, Cassandra and Alyss were going. They were using wheelbarrows but it would need three people to take back the amount of straw they needed. Halt and Annabeth had stayed behind to do some more planning.

The trio headed off toward the farm.

---

Gilan crept forward quietly. Even without his ability, he was the best at unseen movement, but with it, he would be unstoppable. The only limit to his power was that it was an independent power that could only help himself. 

Which was perfect for reconnaissance. He snuck down to the monster's lines, quietly viewing the monsters. He made sure to cover himself with shadows but decided not to shadow travel as he didn't want to sidetrack to China again. And besides, he was saving his energy for the unlikely event that he got caught, so that he could just go through the monster, or more importantly, the monster could just go through him.

He neared a dracaena, who was speaking to her friend, when she froze, sniffing. She stared right at Gilan and licked her lips. "I can smell a child of Hades." She couldn't see him, but his smell was so strong (son of the big three) that she could determine exactly where he was. He quickly ran deeper into the monster lines, almost running into the tail of a Chimera, and almost got bashed on the head by a cyclops waving around a club. He made sure to cover himself with shadows, but all the monsters could smell him.

Maybe I'm not suitable for this job. Guess there are some down parts of being a child of Hades. Apart from the fact that he's my dad. He assessed the number of monsters, occasionally taking down a lone monster when no one was looking.

When he was done with the reconnaissance, he ran back to Halt and Annabeth and told them what he saw. "Thousands of monsters. Around five thousand. Every type. There were even Kalkara." He looked at Halt when he said that, a shiver running down his spine. "There was also a giant I think. He was over forty feet tall, and his skin was made of gold-like material." Annabeth gasped.

"Alcyoneus! Percy defeated him before, don't know how he got out of Tartarus. This is a problem." She ran off to find Percy.

Halt grinned grimly at Gilan. "So, Kalkara. We'll need fire, but I think Leo can deal with them easily."

---

"Good morning, farmer Groo. How are you today?" Alyss asked politely. The farmer simply grunted. Alyss continued, maintaining her perfect smile the way only couriers could do. "I would like to borrow some straw if that's okay with you."

Farmer Groo shook his head. "Whaddya want straw for? You teenagers playing with things we need. Now, shoo! Go away. I don't want any visitors." He made a rude face at Alyss, yet she somehow still kept her smile on.

Alyss pleaded. "Please, Farmer Groo. I would really appreciate it. We really need it, for a reason you wouldn't understand. We promise to pay you back for it later." This wasn't true. According to Annabeth and Thalia, Farmer Groo owed them many debts which he refused to pay.

Farmer Groo still shook his head. He disliked all teenagers and children and was unwilling to lend them some straw, no matter how much he could spare. Alyss looked at Will and Cassandra and shrugged. "I tried." Farmer Groo looked at her warily, expecting some sort of trick. He wasn't disappointed, but he wasn't to know that. "Farmer Groo, you will give us all your straw. Thank you so much." She charm spoke to him. He nodded and led them toward the barn. She grinned at Will and began filling the wheelbarrows.

That night, Farmer Groo went to bed very confused.

A/N: I would just like to know what you think of this chapter. It wasn't my best chapter but I had to do it very quickly, and it was quite important. Thank you so much for reading, and I really appreciate it!