Signs of a Storm

Chapter Eight

Chapter 8: I Almost Fall To My Death

"Bye, see you soon. If I ever find myself in Florida again." I laughed and waved goodbye to Bailey as her bus came to pick her up. Mrs. Tedd had gone to work, so it was up to me to wait for Percy. I walked back to the house, and just sat on the curb. This was gonna be awhile.

"Why do I smell so bad?" I asked myself. Then I remembered I hadn't taken a shower in like 3 days. That's gross. And thank the gods I wasn't Aphrodite's kid. That'd be awful.

The sun was coming out into the sky, today was going to be a hot day. I shielded my eyes, this was horrible. "Need a lift?" I was surrounded in shade by a giant flying horse.

Percy was smiling on top of it. "This is Blackjack, Blackjack, this is Tara." He introduced me to the horse. I smiled and reached out to pet him. He whinnied happily.

"Hi, did you bring me food?" Another voice asked. I looked up at Percy, giving him a confused look. "Poseidon's kids can also talk to horses." Percy added onto the list of why children of Poseidon are freaken awesome.

"Hey there Blackjack. No I didn't bring you food. And Percy, about how long will it take to get me home?" I asked. He shrugged.

"It didn't take me long, I just played Guess That Monster with Blackjack the whole time." I nodded as he helped me up onto the Pegasus.

"Let's get going and we may make it back by lunch." Blackjack started to take off, and I screamed. "Oh my gods, that was a rush!" I quickly tied my hair back so it didn't slap Percy in the face.

"Oh, and on the way here, we ran into a little bit of trouble, so if you could keep it down, that would be nice." Percy patted my shoulder.

"Ok, got it. I won't scream again." I promised, but that promise was broken when the giant eagles attacked us.

We had been flying for a while when I caught sight of the sea from a bird's eye view.

"It's so pretty." I was in awe. It was perfectly blue, and it even had green steaks in it.

"Yup, I honestly love riding up here, it's so peaceful." No sooner had Percy said that, a giant explosion broke out right next to us.

"Holy Hephaestus! Why are the angry birds back?" Blackjack whinnied unhappily.

"What?!" I turned around to see Percy drawing his sword. "Yeah, they uh... attacked us on the way to Florida." He shrugged. I just clung tightly onto Blackjack, and then maybe I wouldn't fall and die. In the space above me, I heard cawing. They didn't sound pleased. Then I saw the first of them, hurling towards us.

"Watch out!" I screamed at him. Blackjack flew faster, and I lurched backwards. If Percy wasn't there, I'd have been free-fall food for sure. "C'mon Blackjack! Go faster; if they come at us, I'll fight them off." Percy urged Blackjack to go faster. He did, and I was scared out of my mind.

"This isn't fun!" I called out to whomever.

"It's never fun to be attacked by deathly eagles!" Percy called back, obviously worried.

"I can tell!" I yelled as another one flew directly at us. Percy whacked it with his sword, but it retreated before he could fully kill it.

The next one had learned from his buddies, and came at us from the opposite side. It got right up to me and pecked at my leg. I swatted at the stupid bird, making me hold onto Blackjack by only one hand. Percy swung at the bird, and hit it right in the head. When the bird fell back, it dragged me with it. My right hand was held captive by the bird, and my left hand was slowly slipping from Blackjack's mane. "Percy!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The bird disintegrated with a swing of Percy's sword, and the force pulled me completely off of Blackjack. I screamed as I free fell towards the hard earth. My hands were trying to grab onto something that didn't exist. The wind pushed up on me and I felt like I was on a pile of air. "Tara!" Percy yelled and flew Blackjack in my direction. The eagles were hot on his trail. I was falling too fast and Percy wasn't fast enough.

"Almost there." Percy reached out a hand to me and I wasn't sure if he meant that I was close to the ground, or if he almost had me. I used all of my strength to push my hand up. I latched onto Percy's hand and he pulled me up onto Blackjack. Just as we were about to hit the ground, he pulled up and the eagles crashed into the ground. "Smart move", I thought.

"Hopefully that's the last of them, let's just get back to camp." Percy laughed and we rode off, again, to our safe haven.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

"We're here, wake up Sleeping Beauty." Percy shook me awake, how I fell asleep I have no clue.

"Ok, ok, I'm awake, shut up." I looked up and noticed that Annabeth was hugging Percy tightly.

"Aww, that's cute." I mumbled and yawned. Then I was crushed by a certain someone.

"Tara, I'm so happy you're safe." It was Leo, and he wasn't planning on letting me go.

"Okay, I get it." I tried pushing him off, but it didn't work. He put one arm underneath my legs and pulled me off of Blackjack.

"Leo, I'm fine, thanks." I stood up, and my legs felt a bit wobbly. That's what happens after you almost fall to your death.

"Maybe I do need some help. What time is it?" I asked.

"It's 1:30." Said Nico, whom just popped out of nowhere.

"I'm going to go get lunch, I wasn't going to eat until you showed up." Leo gave Nico a glare, but left for food.

"I already ate, but I don't assume you have, right?" Annabeth asked Percy.

He nodded. "Yup, I'm starving." They walked off, leaving just me, Nico and Blackjack. But for some reason Blackjack was saying rude things about Nico, so he left too.

"That was some adventure." I laughed. Nico didn't even smile.

"I guess you can say I'm somewhat sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"It's no problem; I saw some old friends, no hard feelings." I held out my hand for him to shake, expecting he wouldn't. But this time he did. His hands were ice cold, but mine were warm. "No hard feelings." He said and began to walk off.

"One last thing, Tara, you're a pretty cool chick." He smiled and walked off, leaving me to wallow in his words.

I couldn't help but smile all the way back to my cabin. Having a ride on a Pegasus and getting attacked by eagles didn't make me hungry one bit. I was just tired. It was like jet-lag but worse, and it left a nauseous feeling in my stomach. "Ugh, I feel like I'm going to throw up." I whined and collapsed on my bed. I never wanted to get up again.

"Capture the flag is this Friday! Let's start training!" Percy came in and yelled at me about an hour later. I silently cried.

"BUT I'M TIRED" I yelled back. He picked me up anyways and carried me outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked him and opened my eyes, just to see him smirking as he tossed me into the water. "You little-!"

I was cut off by me getting engulfed in the waves. The sea was calm again, and the little fishes just went back to their business. I came back up and splashed Percy. But being a child of Poseidon ruined it so that he didn't even get wet at all.

"Nice try, but it's time to get a move on. Today's Monday and on Friday is your first capture the flag!" He smiled.

I agreed and we began.

A/N: Hello new readers! I am already apologizing for my chapters. I did not, (and I repeat; DID NOT) proof read the last few chapters, so I am sorry for that, once again. P.S also sorry if I've alreay written this message! Thanks anyways, Bela xxx :)