Snowfall

Save the Eagles

"Percy!" Percy turned towards the sound of his name to see Thalia running towards him with something clutched in her arms. She skidded to a stop in front of him and thrust whatever she held into his grasp. "Heal him!"

Percy looked down to see himself holding a small white puff that was actually a bird. It had a broken wing with multiple long cuts on its body. He was surprised it wasn't dead yet.

Whatever. He pulled some water over to where they were and wrapped the delicate creature in it. His healing powers washed over it, mending the scratches and ever-so-slowly adjusting the bone back into place. Percy passed it back to Thalia, who cradled the tiny animal close to her chest.

"What is it? Where did you find it?" Percy asked, curious about the fluffball she held.

Thalia kept her eyes on the bird as she responded. "He's an eaglet. I found him on the woodland floor, likely pushed out of its nest or something of that sort. I couldn't just leave him to die."

"I thought you hated eagles," Percy said, remembering when they had visited New Rome and interacted with those eagles.

Thalia laughed. "I do. This is a baby though, I can't just abandon him."

"Alright," Percy said with an unconvinced tone. "Let's see how long you can deal with it."

She proved she could deal with it for a very long time. She took him practically everywhere with her, keeping him well fed and hydrated. He had a spot in the Zeus cabin reserved for him as well. Once he grew strong enough, he would sit on Thalia's shoulder as she went about her day. Percy would often spot him as he dove into the lake to catch himself a meal.

She tried her hardest to get him to like the eagle as well. She named him Irimis, after the goddess of the wild, Artemis. He was a white-tailed eagle, with chocolate brown feathers everywhere except for the elegant white frill on his tail. In truth, he loved the young eagle. Irimis was like a flying dog. He loved bringing Percy sticks to throw and Percy enjoyed directing the eagle towards the archery range and watching him swoop in and snatch an arrow right out of the air, especially when the archer saw this.

When the rest of the seven came back from New Rome, Thalia and Percy had plans. Irimis joined them in planning a prank mission on the returning heroes. After growing up with someone he could speak to, he had a good understanding of the English language and could easily follow along with the conversation.

The eagle got the plan and jumped into the sky, soaring just above the tree line. The two cousins crouched in the bushed, chuckling to themselves. Thalia could sense six powerful presences nearby and held a finger to her lips in a signal to be quiet. Percy nodded.

Just as they rounded the top of the hill, Irimis dove and faked a crash. They all leapt back, not at all expecting an eagle to drop from the sky in front of them. Hazel, being the sweet girl she was, approached Irimis, who was thrashing and screeching and acting in pain. Really, you had to give him credit, he was a wonderful actor.

Hazel crouched in front of Irimis. "Hey," she said kindly, reaching out to stroke his wing. Irimis froze, staring up at Hazel with wide yellow eyes. "Calm down, I've got you." As Hazel leaned down to scoop him up, Irimis used his wing to slap her hands away and shrieked. He then took off into the air, bopped Hazel on the nose with his beak, and spiralled up. All the demigods looked stunned.

Irimis glided back down and sat on Jason's head. He swatted at the eagle, but Irimis just stepped over the swing. He avoided multiple other attempts before leaning over, bopping Jason in the nose, and taking off again.

"An eagle shouldn't know how to do that!" Annabeth protested as she looked in disbelief at the bird. "It should have programmed to either attack or flee, not aggravate in a very human-like way." Irimis seemed to take this as an insult. He swooped down and whacked Annabeth in the head with his wing, making sure to poke her in the nose with his talon as well.

Percy and Thalia burst out laughing, stepping out of the brush. Thalia raised her arm and Irimis settled himself there, looking very proud of himself. The cousins were practically howling at the faces of their friends when Irimis nudged Percy in the shoulder and did his best attempt at a pout.

Percy chuckled and stroked Irimis's head. This little bird was Percy's partner-in-crime and he loved it.