Celestial Sniper of the Hunt (open)

Chapter - 20 | Time To Go

[Hey Lads and Lasses! Almost done with exams so chapters should come more regularly soon.]

[- Pringles out!]

"Oi, Guardian! Wake up!" Demanded a familiar voice.

"Hestia's fire poker! Thalia, I told you to stop zapping me!" I complained.

"She would not need to if you were not hiding from us."

I turned to see Helen standing behind me, and boy did she look pissed. I hastily got out of the chair and stood up.

"I'm sorry. I was asked to remain here as security." I announced.

Helen raised and eyebrow. "Asked by whom?"

"Well... her." I said, pointing towards Janina.

She looked towards the surprisingly still sleeping girl on the bed.

"So this is the young lady that you rescued after your confrontation with Perseus? Is she recovering well?"

I nodded. "Yes, she had only received minor injuries which have healed."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "And what did you do last night?"

"Gods, does she really have so little trust in me?" I thought. "I only gave her the demigod talk and answered some questions. She then told me a little about herself before going to sleep."

She seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Very well. Care to give me a profile on her?" Helen asked (demanded).

"Isn't this something I should be discussing with Thalia?" I asked.

"Nah." Replied Thalia. "Helen is the one who handles this kind of stuff. Besides, she has way more experience."

This got me curious.

"If I may ask, how much experience?"

"I don't know. About three-thousand years?" Said Thalia.

"Actually it's closer to three-thousand five-hundred." Jumped in Helen. "But we're getting sidetracked. So, are you going to fill me in?"

I took a moment to recover from that but of information. "Uh... yeah, yes, of course. Her name is Janina. She is 17, a daughter of Hermes, and is from Ayr in Scotland. She was raised by nuns and is a Christian. She... is also mute."

The two hunters were surprised by this. Then Helen frowned.

"If she is unable to talk, then how did she communicate with you?" She asked.

"She uses sign language, more specifically british sign language, and I happen to be the only one here that somewhat understands it." I replied.

Thalia asked a question this time.

"Since when did you know sign language?"

I turned to her. She couldn't see it, but I was giving her a blank face.

"You guys know I had a life before I met you all, right?" I asked rhetorically.

She just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

We were disturbed by a whistle from behind us. We turned to see Janina wide awake, sat up on the bed. Apparently we had woken her up.

*Good morning.* She signed.

"Good morning to you too. I have some... friends here that would like to talk to you."

Friends was strangely difficult to say. Sure, Thalia was alright, but I'm still not fond of Helen.

"Greetings, I am Helen, one of the hunters of Artemis. And this is Thalia, Artemis's second-in-command. We were hoping to have a talk with you." She turned her head towards me. "You may leave now. We're moving out soon, so say your goodbyes."

"Um, did you forget that I'm the only one here that can understand her, right?" I asked.

"We have pen and paper. Now go!" Helen demanded.

"Your not the boss of me." I thought while turning and walking away. I was not going to say that to her face (what? I did not want to be hit by another arrow). I gave a quick a quick sign goodbye to Janina before stepping out into the midday sun.

Looking around, I spotted a cluster of hunters gathering outside the big house that I saw when I first arrived. Amongst them were a few campers that they were talking with ( /weren't trying to kill) , one of which was Sage.

"Hey Sage."

"Hey Geordie, finally awake?" She replied.

"Oh ha-ha." I said sarcastically. "Yeah, apparently we're leaving soon."

"Um... Geordie, I want to tell you something." Sage said nervously.

"Yeah, go right ahead."

"Iwannastayhereatcamp!" She blurted out.

"...huh?" Was my response.

Sage took a deep breath before answering.

"I want to stay here at camp. I enjoyed the week I spent with you and the hunt, but I want to learn magic with my siblings." She quickly went back to her childish self. "Apparently, if I try hard enough, I can become invisible!"

I laughed at her change in mood.

"That's fine, it'll be fun to have a friend at camp to chat with." I replied.

"Aw. What am I then?" Said a voice.

I turned to see Percy with a girl next to him. She had tanned skin and long honey-blond curled hair. She looked like a cliché California girl, except for her stormy grey eyes. I could instantly tell that she was Percy's girlfriend, kinda obvious to be honest.

"Competition, mate. I'm gonna have to ask for some swordsman lessons next time I visit. See you around."

"See ya, man." He said, wandering off with his girlfriend. I heard a very faint "who was that?", followed by a sudden "WHAT?!". I was going to receive a lot of questions when I come back. Me and Sage both laughed at this.

"Oh! By the way..." she pulled out my ghilli-suit. "I wanted to return this."

I crouched down so we were face-to-face.

"Keep it, it's a gift. At least until you get a hang of that invisibility thing."

I suddenly found myself embraced in a tight hug. I hugged back, receiving a few warning glares from nearby hunters.

"Thank you, Will." Sage whispered.

"Alright ladies, let's move out! Lady Artemis will be joining us en route!" Announced the voice of Thalia.

"Well, got to go. Stay safe. If you need me, ask Percy to send a text and I'll pop 'round." I said.

"Okay. Goodbye flame-brain."

I smiled. "Bye."

And with that, I joined the others. I quickly spotted Janina at the edge of the group and walked up to her. Her aura seemed different.

"Hey. You tagging along?" I asked.

She nodded. Looks like the hunt just got another member.

"Sweet. How did they get around the... communication problem?"

*Apparently the hunters use hand signal when hunting.*

"Really? Didn't know that. I'm gonna have to ask someone about it."

And with that the hunters horn blared across Long Island Sound, and the journey began.

[Hey Lads and Lasses! Hope you've enjoyed. Feel free to vote and comment. 'Till next time.]

[- Pringles out!]