Forgotten prophecy

Chapter 33

"So where are we going?" Ryker asked as the Hunters made the last preparations to leave.

Thalia looked up from checking to make sure that her bag was ready and her shield was correctly strapped to it and answered, "We're going to get a demigod who we have just been made aware of. With so many demigods being taken we want to get as many as we possibly can to a place of relative safety."

"Doesn't seem all that safe to me." Ryker observed, leaning against a tree.

"It's better than being out there all alone without anyone at all to look out for you and monsters trying to kill and eat you." Thalia snapped, standing up and swinging her backpack onto her shoulder. "You might think that is better, but no one else does."

"Whatever you say." Ryker said with deliberate calmness.

"And while I am yelling at you, are you going to remain shirtless or did you plan on changing sometime soon?" Thalia demanded.

Ryker glanced down to his bare chest and ripped up cargo pants and shrugged. "I'm fine like this." He said honestly.

"Be that as it may, it might cause some trouble amongst the humans." Thalia sighed. She turned around and called for one of her hunters. "They seem to take it badly whenever a demigod shows up with signs of battle wear and tear on them."

"I'll get something the next time that we pass by a store or something." Ryker told her, completely unconcerned with what humans thought of him. He was considering hunting down a deer to make another deer hide jerkin when something silver hit him on the chest. He grabbed it reflexively and stared down at it uncomprehendingly. It was made out of some odd material and it took him a moment to realize that it was the same material that the other Hunter's shirts were made out of. He glanced over to Thalia with a raised eyebrow and she gestured for him to put it on. He pulled off his bag and pulled on the shirt, shivering at the material's touch. It reminded him of water for some reason, and it was almost as fluid. He stretched this way and that, testing the limits of the shirt's maneuverability. "Not bad." He admitted.

"Starting to look like a Hunter now." Thalia observed. "Now you just need a bow."

"I'm making my own." Ryker answered back dismissively. "None of yours are up to my..." His eyes widened when one of the Hunters appeared with a massive silver longbow and a quiver full of silver arrows.

"You were saying?" Thalia asked as Ryker moved forward to grab the bow, one hand extended.

When he was a few paces away the girl who had brought the weapon dropped both it and the quiver onto the ground and strode away with her chin raised defiantly at Thalia's disapproving scowl. Ryker snatched up the bow and brushed off the dirt, examining the weapon closely. He tested the draw weight with two fingers and nodded approvingly. He pulled on his backpack and then the quiver so that the arrow's fletching was sticking out over his right shoulder. He slung his bow over his left shoulder and smiled happily. He had missed having a bow, more than he had realized. He had always preferred fighting from a distance rather than being right on his prey. "Thank you." Ryker said grudgingly.

"Don't thank me, Lady Artemis was the one who had it made for you." Thalia told him. "Hephaestus makes a lot of our weapons. She asked him last night and he agreed, although he did make sure that she owed him a favor."

"Guess that I owe her one now." Ryker sighed at the thought.

"Guess so." Thalia said, striding to the center of the camp. "Alright! Everyone ready?"

The Hunters shouted their enthusiasm for their departure and Thalia nodded. "Alright! We're going to find a demigod who might be in trouble. Remember, she doesn't know about the gods or anything like that. Once we find her our job is to get her to Camp Half-Blood. Everyone clear?"