Pertemis A Wolf's Tale

Chapter XX: Tale Of The Moon Beast

N/A dedicated to  volentlake  As I've promised a chapter per week :)

He heard the running torrent of water, he felt his torso wet. Percy slowly opened his eyes, the cold icy water irritated the membrane of his eyes that he found himself laying in the middle of a stream. He slowly raised his body heavily, his bones cracked and his muscled ached. He groaned, holding his head as if the brain had just accumulated back together.

Where the hell am I? he wondered, looking around.

Suddenly, the nightmare came back to him as he looked back at himself. His shirt and pants were gone, only the magical boxer that would reappear every time he turned was still on his body. He brushed his hair, grimacing as the memories flooded back. He could still feel the acidic substance of wolfbane in his system.

He slowly pulled himself to balanced on his legs. His lung still hurt every time he coughed, guess some of the wolfbanes were still in it. He made his way out of the stream and found himself in another forest. Old oak trees cloaked with layers of moss, the green leaves changed the colour of the sky as he walked under their giant branches. The birds sing in a melody of beautiful sound around him that for awhile, he didn't realise that he was lost, but seemly enjoyed his surrounding.

He thought he was still somewhere near the Hunt, but the deeper he walked into the forest, the stranger it appeared to him. There wasn't any grass or flower or that scent of Moonlace that he knew Artemis was close. Around him was a different scent and world and at that moment, he found the feeling of being freed.

A grin planted on his face as he laughed, throwing his arms to the sky, embracing the air and the world free of hunters, of chores, of humiliation and pranks. He found so much alive, his muscles relaxed, his brain felt free as he wandered through the forest taking the new world to him.

He found a cave at a side of the hill. The top was covered with moss, the hollowed cave was hidden by the trees and bushes that he nearly missed it. He cautiously walked in, the wall was still wet and solid rocky ground was at least dried. He explored further in. There were dried leaves, shoving together to make a bed at the end of the cave. It didn't appear to be occupied by human, but instead animal. But nonetheless, it had long been abandoned.

Percy made himself comfortable on the crunching leaves bed, smiling to himself of the future ahead. He thought of going into the human world, exploring more in the wild and eventually back to the island he had lived happily for nearly three thousand years.

Then the thought of Artemis came back to him. A guilty feeling swirled within his chest. Would she be worrying and finding him at the moment? What would she eat when he was not there to cook for her? But he laughed, it was absurd to even think Artemis come looking out for him. She had direct her hunters to prank him day after day, hoping he would go away. Perhaps now she had achieved it.  There was no point to come back. She was his first crush, but wouldn't be the last. Maybe he would find someone else out there better than her, someone who would protect and actually cared for him. Someone who wouldn't treat him like a servant.

He knew staying with Artemis would be safe from the Olympian, but considering her Hunters are all killer, that didn't get any better. If he stayed low profile and careful, then the gods would never find him.