Silver Moon (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter One

Three Years Later

It was August twenty-first, and after a quick trip to the inside world, I was back in Higlacia forest. It was warm and sunny out, so I decided to go fishing on the river. Every summer, I went on a three month long camping trip, with nothing but two outfits, a tent, and a knife. I loved making tools and catching animals much more than finding abandoned buildings to sleep in. Anyway, as I walked along the river, I heard a commotion from the other side. It seemed to be a camp group.One hundred or so kids, ranging in ages from thirteen to eighteen, all wearing orange T-shirts and jeans. A man in a wheelchair rolled around, clearly trying to calm them down. Another more grumpy looking man stared boredly at a deck of cards. The kids laughed and chatted. I sighed, wishing I could have friends like that. A boy, about twenty-seven, jumped in the water as I watched, while others, wearing-was that armor?-stood at attention. A girl with blonde hair shouted at the boy, who reluctantly got out of the water. I watched them struggle to put up tents, laughing. I was just giggling over how they couldn't make a fire when I spotted something in the sky. A distant glint of metal, the shape of a bird... my eyes widened with fear as I realized it was the bird that had taken my dad. "Look out!" I screamed across the river, but no one heard me. I jumped in the water, wading to them. About half-way across I tried again. This time, everyone heard. The whole camp glared at me annoyed. I pointed up. The blonde from before looked up and gasped. "A Stymphalian bird," she muttered, though at the time I hadn't heard it. She picked up two rocks and clapped them together. I grabbed my bow, which was slung across my shoulder and began shooting arrows at the bird. All that did was get their attention. The metallic feathers were suddenly arrows, shooting at me from the air. Meanwhile, the campers drew swords (what was that about?) and clapped rocks. The bird let out a long caw as I shot it. My arrow glided through the air, piercing it's tongue. The bird disappeared into a cloud of yellow dust. Slowly, the campers turned to look at me. "What was that," I demanded. No one answered. Finally, a beautiful Native American girl replied. "A hawk," she said. Her voice was filled with something that made me almost want to believe her. "Yeah, because hawks shoot feathers, which happen to be impossible to break through, and go poof in clouds of dust," I raise an eyebrow skeptically. "Now please tell me what they are" I pause for a moment "and you are". I wade a cross to shore. Some campers whisper things like "see through the mist" and "demigod" while others just gape at me. What was that about?  Finally, the boy from the lake speaks up. "We can bring her to camp and if, you know she gets in..." he looks at the others expectantly. "Ok", "Why not" and "sure" ripple through the crowd. My firs reaction was to run. "If I could get in" didn't sound very pleasant. Then I considered how happy they had all been. They didn't seem like the type to harm somebody, but appearances could be deceiving... "alright," I give in at last. Everyone cheers and begins packing up. "Wait! You just got here!" I exclaim. "After the birds? Not a chance," said a pretty girl who I later learned was Naiomi Wilson. Everyone continued packing. I sadly grabbed my stuff.  Two boys call me over. "Is that all you have?" They ask suspicious. "Yes," I say sharply. "Sorry! We're Dave and Tyler," says one of the boys. "I mean, I'm Dave, he's Tyler!" he quickly corrects himself. "We're twins," says Tyler. "I noticed," I reply. The boys were both tall lanky, with crooked smile, big brown eyes, dark skin and slightly lighter hair. I liked them already. "You wouldn't tell me where we're going, would you?" I ask hopefully. The boys frown. "We would but..." starts Dave. "But we could be putting the whole world at risk" Tyler finishes dryly. I nod, and get into the bus like everyone else.