starshine- luke castellan x oc

peter johnson

I had been at camp for two weeks, by now I had my routine down. I woke up before the sun to practice my own shooting at the range, went back to the cabin to get ready for the day, then head to breakfast with my sisters. From there, I had a long day of lessons ahead of me, dinner and the campfire, and then I went for a walk with Luke before bed. 

I know what you all are thinking, but as a hunter I swore off romantic relationships with men. I never said I couldn't be friends with them. Luke knew that, I knew that, nothing would happen that shouldn't. 

It was late, and the stars were on full display. I liked looking at the stars, they were constant. It was comforting in a life that could be flipped upside down in a second. 

Speaking of.

"Gabby we need you!" A young member, Reese, called to me. 

I grabbed my bow, running to her. 

"What is it?" I tried to calm her down, she hadn't been a member but six months, this was all new to her.

"There's a boy, a half-blood, he's hurt. Right by the barrier, he killed a minotar." She got out between deep breaths. 

I looked back at Luke, confused. Minotars didn't travel this far North, I knew that for a fact. Either Reese was mistaken, or someone had sent the minotar after this boy. 

I made my way to the barrier, trying to calm down the younger girls. Many of them hadn't ever come close to a monster, and I wasn't good at comforting people, emotions made me uneasy. 

"Gabrielle, I trust you know the gravity of the situation at hand." Chiron said to me once the boy, Percy, had been taken to the infirmary. 

"Yes, sir. I will assemble a crew and search a ten mile circle around camp. I'm sure the minotar was alone, but I don't want to take any chances." I answered, earning a nod. 

I took Abby and four others with me to do a search for any more monsters in the area. I pushed my fears of how the minotar got to camp aside, focusing on the search. I led my group out, wanting to cover the woods for a ten mile radius. I hoped to get the search done before the Sun came up. 

"Are you scared?" Abby whispered to me as we closed out the search. 

"I'm worried." I whispered back, "We'll talk later." 

***

I had been given the day off from teaching my classes since I had spent the night in the woods. I wasn't physically tired, I didn't tire like a normal person, but I was mentally tired. 

Percy hadn't woken yet, and I didn't want to bombard him with questions as soon as he woke up. From the whispers I'd picked up on, he'd lost his mom in the fight with the minotar. I knew he'd be hurting and didn't want to make him upset. I knew what it was like to lose a parent. 

"Knock knock." Luke's voice took me from my thoughts. 

"Hey." I sat up in my bed. 

He handed me a plate with eggs and toast, my favorite breakfast foods from camp, "You missed breakfast." 

I took the plate from him and smiled at his thoughtfulness. 

"Did you find anything?" He asked as I ate. 

"I'm not supposed to mention what happens on a hunt to non-members, but no. Which worries me more, if anything." 

"Why does that worry you?" 

I thought about what to say. I didn't know why it would worry me, but in my gut I knew someone sent that minotar after the boy. Why someone would do that, I didn't know; which made me want to keep my worries to myself. 

"I've studied every monster in great detail, minotars don't come this far North. I don't know why he came up here, just to chase down a twelve year old kid and his mom? It doesn't make sense, not unless someone sent it after him." I answered him. 

Luke thought for a second before replying, "Who would send a monster to camp?" 

"I don't know, just forget it. I need to talk to Percy, but I don't want to overwhelm him. This is a lot, even without losing your mom." 

Luke held my hand comfortingly, "You're a good leader, I wanted to tell you that. Last night with the hunters you really seemed like you were in your element. If there was anything behind the minotar, I trust you to find it." 

I smiled, looking down at my feet.  

The butterflies in my stomach went insane at the boy's touch. I wasn't worried, he was my friend. I was allowed to have male friends. Luke would always be just my friend. 

I wonder how many times I had to repeat it to myself to make the butterlfies cool off.