My love for you has Stood the test of Time

We Go Sledding with a Boar

Percy POV:

          I've been awake since that dream, it has been about 20 minutes and I could feel the train slowing down. SCREECH The wheels made that loud sound as we came to a decisive stop, waking up the others.

          "What's going on?!" Grover said having been thrown from the backseat. 

          "Oh/ow/what the hell?!" I could hear from above us. 

          "We're here!" I called out the window and up to the others. "This is as far as the train can take us." I picked up the little kitten and stowed her in my hood pulling it over my head to keep her safe. "Come on we have to move!" 

          "Right," I heard Bianca say. 

          "Oh Shut up already!" Thalia said.

          After a short period of everyone gathering there things we were all out side of the train car. "Where are we?" Grover asked me. 

          I knelt down grabbing a handful of dirt bringing it up and smelling it, "We are in the mountains of New Mexico," I declared. "A ski town to be specific, yes Cloudcroft." 

          "How the hell did you get that from dirt." Thalia asked. 

          "Well first off the dirt is cold," I told her. "Second I have traveled mountain territories before and can recognize thinner air. Lastly there is a sign behind all of you welcoming us here." 

          They turned around seeing the train now gone revealing the Sign I had mentioned. "Show off," Thalia whispered.

          "What's our next course?" Bianca asked us all. 

          "We need to go west," I said. "Specifically, San Francisco." 

          "Why there?" She asked. 

          "Yeah it is the most dangerous place for demigods." Thalia said. 

          "That's why we're going there," I said. 

          "The reason it's dangerous is why we must." Zoe agreed with me. 

          We walked to the center of town which allowed us to see pretty much everything. There was a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store. 

          "Great," Thalia scoffed looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rentals. No way out." 

          "There's a coffee shop!" Grover said.

          "Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good." 

          "And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper." 

          Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Night Owl, Bianca and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

          We agreed to meet back in front of the Grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little confused she was allowed to go with us. Inside the store, we learned a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of the town unless you had your own car. 

          "I suppose you could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars." 

          Partially because of my kitten companion and partially cause the clerk looked so lonely, I bought a rubber rat. With all that said and done we headed outside and stood on the porch.