Vesta's Child (Discontinued)

Chapter 6

-PERCY AGE THIRTEEN-

Percy dodged the blade that nearly cut his head off as he launched himself forward. The advancer saw this and ducked the predicted punch only to have her legs swept out from under her. She fell but rolled away as Percy tried to tackle her. She quickly jumped to her feet and slashed Percy's exposed chest and he hissed before giving her a quick jab to her arm making it go numb. He advanced again while throwing clean and powerful punches. She swiftly avoided all of them and he started to get angry. He stopped and took a step back while observing his opponents movements. She was smaller which made her more agile and quick, he would have to think more carefully for she was a formidable foe. He faked a punch at her face and she ducked, predicting this he gave her a sharp upper cut to the jaw that made her head snap upwards. She stumbled backwards and Percy rammed his elbow into her stomach making her fall to the ground. Before he could move she jumped up and quickly kicked him in the stomach. He gasped for breath and she slashed his back with her knives. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the blade as it came down. He wretched it from her grasp and tossed it behind him so she only had one knife. She smirked and slashed at him, he avoided the blade and spun out of her reach. He watched her movements closely and saw her legs tense, he rolled right as she jumped in the air and grabbed her ankles. He hauled her down and she fell to the ground with a thud. He tackled her only to find her knife at his throat,

"Yield?" He debated this for a moment and tried looking for another option besides surrender. He saw her exposed stomach and punched it making her hands immediately grip it in pain, he took the moment to yank the knife from her and toss it away as well. Once she recovered she flipped him so she was on top only for him to do the same thing. They were soon rolling on the ground throwing punches, knees, elbows, and kicks. Their stubbornness made it almost impossible or either of them to submit, Percy's body soon felt like he'd been stampeded by a group of stags...which has happened before. Neither of the opponents could seem to surpass the other as they tried to fight for dominance, he threw a quick punch but she moved her head to the side and he punched the ground instead. His knuckles were bleeding heavily and knew that this would get them no were,

"Draw?" He asked and she nodded. They were both a sweaty mess and felt bruised and awful. Percy winced at the series of pops he heard coming from his back, he stood and helped her up. Her silver eyes were swelling with pride as she smiled widely at him,

"Your getting far better then I could of hoped Percy." He grinned and embraced her,

"Thanks sis, that means a lot coming from a man hating goddess." Artemis chuckled and popped a square of ambrosia in her mouth while Percy sipped on some nectar. His cuts healed instantly along with his bloody knuckles, but it did little to ease the stiffness of his sore muscles. Together they walked back to the camp, they pointed out a few flaws they saw in their fighting practice.

"Percy, I'm extremely impressed that you had unarmed me while you were unarmed yourself." Artemis praised and Percy shook his head modestly,

"Having five years of practice and counting really helps. Not to mention you would of easily defeated me had I not seen your exposed stomach." Part of Percy's training was to fight hand to hand against opponents that had weapons. He had been traveling with the hunt while helping them get new recruits, kill monsters, and kill corrupted men. He had won the entire hunts heart and was extremely close to Zoe and Phoebe. Phoebe was his big sister who he adored. She was the one who had defended him in the beginning and had encouraged hunters to give him a chance, from then on she was always there for him and he couldn't bare the thought of life in the hunt without her. Zoe was his best friend, after she had accepted him they became extremely close to one another. Truth be told his feelings for her grew but he knew it would never happen. Even thought Artemis was his sister he knew she would kill him for even thinking about it. Apollo was the big brother Percy always wanted, he was fun, protective, silly, and nice...well to him at least. Apollo and Percy had formed one of the closest bonds but his bond with Artemis was closer.