The Hunter Of Artemis And The Lightning Thief

II I Become A Hunter

I don't own the Percy Jackson characters. I don't own the books either. Rick Riordan does.

I walked out of my tent and sat at the fire.

I waited for the huntresses. Artemis was already there.

When the girls came out, Artemis told them my story over breakfast. I just ate silently.

After breakfast, Artemis said, "Percy, I want you to become a hunter."

I thought about it.

"I've never tried archery or anything," I said.

"That's okay," Artemis told me. "You can try now. Come on."

I followed her.

The huntresses followed to watch.

We reached an empty area of the clearing. Well, not exactly empty, because it had targets and a weapon rack, but it was a wide open space.

Artemis gave me a bow and a quiver of arrows.

She walked me through how to do it. When I released the arrow, it flew towards the target. I got a bullseye.

Well, kind of.

I was aiming for the target on the side. I hit the target on the opposite side of the clearing.

Whoops.

"How did thou even manage that?" The girl with the circulate, Zoë asked.

"I have no idea," I replied.

"Well this will take some time," Artemis admitted. "But when you become a hunter, you automatically get a little bit better."

"Okay," I murmured.

"Its okay," Artemis said. "Lets try hunting knives."

"Milady," Zoë said, "is the boy a demigod?"

"I think so," Artemis replied. "He has a strong aura, the aura of a demigod with a powerful parent."

Zoë nodded.

Artemis handed me to identical knives. They felt kind of heavy, unbalanced.

"Do they feel balanced?" Artemis asked.

"They feel kind of heavy," I admitted.

She gave me a different pair.

"They still feel kind of heavy," I said.

The next pair, too heavy.

The next pair, still too heavy.

None of them seemed to be correctly balanced.

She gave me the last pair, and they finally felt balanced.

I smiled.

It felt like they were made for me.

Artemis taught me how to use them. I was pretty good, I guess. I would still need a lot of practice, but I was way better with knives than with bows and arrows.

Then she was going to teach me how to use a sword.

Usually the hunters just use bows and knives, but they should know how to use a sword anyway.

None of the swords balanced. I just had to use the closest one to being balanced.

I wasn't very good.

Like, I was better at it than archery, but I think that I would've been better with a balanced sword.

At lunch, Artemis said that I would become a hunter after lunch. I nodded.

I finished my food, then Artemis led us back to the training part of the clearing.

"So this is how it will work," Artemis said. "My huntresses usually stay the same age for all of eternity, but that won't work for you. You are only five. You will keep aging as normal until you turn twelve. You will not age after that. Do you agree to these terms?"

"One question," I said. "Will I still celebrate my birthdays?"

"Until you turn twelve, yes," Artemis replied.

"Then I agree," I said.

"So basically, you can only think of my hunters as friends or sisters if they allow, but nothing more. Do you agree?"

I nodded and said firmly "Yes, milady."

I was surrounded in a silvery glow.

"Now let's go retry your archery."

I walked off after her.

I was slightly better at archery now. At least I hit the target. Most of the time.

This is still going to take a lot of practicing," Artemis groaned. "Good thing we have around seven years."

I nodded.

"So, Percy," Artemis said. "I think that you're a demigod. I need to try to find out your godly parent. I'm guessing that your dad would be you godly parent?"

"Yes," I said. "My mom said that he was lost at sea. Isn't Poseidon the god of the sea?"

"Yes," Artemis said. "He is."

"Do you think he's my dad?" I asked.

"You know," Artemis said, "you're smarter than you look."

"Does that me I look dumb?" I asked.

"You know, that's not what I was actually thinking, but I guess it's true," Artemis said.

I nodded.

She looked at me curiously.

I guess I am kind of weird.

Most people would protest or something, but whatever.

Plus, I'm five! Of course I look dumb.

Of course, not every five year old looks dumb, but whatever.

"Can we go practice my archery now?" I asked.

"Most people would want to avoid what they're bad at," Artemis pointed out.

"I still wonder why they would do that," I said. "If I don't practice my archery, I will never get better. I might even get worse."

"True," Artemis admitted.

"Okay, then," I said. I walked over and grabbed a bow. "Lets do this."