Camp Hermit-Blood: The Titan's Curse

Reyna

"What do we do?" Gem asked.

Reyna drew her sword.

Jason quickly put a hand on her arm. "We can't hurt it," he said. "Otherwise Bacchus would turn us into... I dunno. Dolphins or something."

"I know," Reyna hissed. "But what else am I supposed to do?"

"Be friends with it," Gem suggested.

Jason looked like he was against that idea.

Reyna decided she would rather be friends with a cat than turned into a dolphin. How hard could it be? They had lions back on Circe's island. Sure, they were tame, but they were cats. Even domesticated cats were unhinged sometimes. There couldn't be that much difference, could there?

The leopard lunged.

Reyna changed her mind.

The croud roared, and the leopard answered with a roar of its own, except it wasn't really a roar, more of a strangled rasp. Like a handsaw.

While the leopard was distracted by snarling at the noise, Jason lunged toward it, tackling it.

Reyna never thought she'd see the immaculate Jason Grace wrestle a cat, but here they were.

She decided to join in.

The leopard threw Jason off easily and swiped at him. Jason yelped. Blood spattered into the rough sand beneath them.

Reyna jumped from behind, landing on the leopard's back and wrapping her arms around its neck. For a zoo animal, this thing was muscular. Perks of being immortal, she supposed.

But Reyna was the daughter of Bellona. She would not fall to this.

Gem crouched down and touched the ground. Vines sprouted up and wrapped around the leopard's legs.

Reyna tightened her hold, and finally let herself slip off the beast's back when she realized it could no longer move.

The audience was chanting for death.

Reyna decided to humor them for a moment and held her sword over the leopard.

Then she let it fall into the sand.

Booooooo, the audience screamed.

Reyna sat down a safe distance from the leopard and extended her hand to it to sniff.

Please don't bite my hand off, she thought.

The leopard did not bite her hand off.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Reyna told it. "We're friends of Bacchus."

Gem and Jason approached her. Jason was clutching his abdomen.

The announcer was saying something, telling the crowd to calm down and that there was more coming. Reyna's ears were ringing as she scratched the leopard's chin. It really wasn't that different from the lionesses on Circe's island.

Gem let the vines relax.

The leopard walked towards Reyna and head-butted her in the chest.

"You're just an oversized housecat, aren't you?" Reyna asked, amused, even though she was really more of a dog person.

The leopard sat on her and purred.

"Awwwwww," Gem laughed. "He likes you!"

Reyna was too busy trying not to inhale a lungful of fur to reply.

"What an interesting turn of events," the announcer said, with a hint of desperation in their voice. "They appear to have befriended the leopard! However, if the audience agrees, and if the Imperator approves, why dont we put this newfound companionship to the test?"