RISE || TWILIGHT x PERCY JACKSON

ten | saving grace

Ruth was probably doing the dumbest thing she'd done in a while. She knew better than to go into the woods. She knew better than to venture out into the tree line just beyond the O'Connor property, but she wanted to know if satisfaction really did bring the curious cat back. There was talk of bears being in the Forks area, bears that were huge and stalked the forest but would always be gone right before someone could investigate further. The police were on the look out, telling people to stay out of the woods. But Ruth was young and dumb and, if she got anything from her father, it was her innate ability to do the stupidest things. She knew there was a chance that the bears weren't bears at all, that they were something supernatural, and she was willing to investigate her idea. 

She didn't go into the woods unarmed, though. She wasn't that dumb. A celestial bronze dagger was strapped to her waist, ready to be used in the worst case scenario. Though, she wasn't sure how much damage her dagger could inflict on a bear (should the thing in the woods actually be a bear). After all, celestial bronze couldn't harm mortals, so who knew what it would do to an animal? That's why she had bear spray tucked into her backpack and wore a good pair of running shoes. If you couldn't outfight, you better try to outrun it. 

As Ruth ventured further into the woods, she found a small creek and wandered off the main path. She followed the creek, thinking that she would be able to find the "bears" if she went elsewhere. It might not have been the safest thing in the world to go off the main path, but Ruth had come to learn that the water would always lead her back home if she got lost. She could only hope that the same thing would happen today if things went south.

She didn't really know what she was searching for. She didn't know what she was doing. But she woke up that morning feeling like she needed to investigate the "bear" crisis, and she had learned that it was best for her to follow her instincts. It didn't matter how crazy it seemed to be to a rational person. If there was one thing Ruth could trust, it was her intuition. So, she wandered further and further into the woods, further and further away from the safety of her home. It wasn't until she almost crossed into the Quileute reservation that she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was going to happen, but she'd gone too far to just turn back without getting the answers to the questions everyone was asking. 

Then she heard it. The drawl of a voice, heavily accented, smooth as honey, saying, "Well, well, well, what do I have here?"

Ruth tensed, looking for the source of the voice. Standing close by was a dark-skinned man with ruby-red eyes. His eyes ran down her, and a shiver ran down Ruth's spine. She knew enough about what went down last year with Bella and the Cullens to know that this man, Laurent, was bad news.

"Could it be? The...half-blood that went against all of Olympus, fighting for the end of the world?" He licked his lips. "I never expected you to smell so...appetizing." 

She knew what he was doing, playing his food, playing with her emotions. He wanted a reaction. She wasn't going to give it to him.

"I wonder," he said, moving closer, "are you really as powerful as they say you are? Or is it all just rumors? Gossip that ran wild and got out of hand?"

Silence.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" His lip curled into a smirk. "I have to admit, I prefer when my food is begging for their life, but even I have to enjoy an easy meal."

He was in front of her in an instant. Her hand went to her dagger, pulling it from her waist, and she grit her teeth. 

"I won't go down without a fight." 

"I wouldn't expect any less from a demigod as legendary as you."

"Then you know that you will lose." 

He said nothing, opening his mouth and moved to bite her. She slashed at him with her dagger. He dodged it, moving behind her. She spun, swinging again. They danced around the river, vampire against demigod, fighting to end her life, fighting to save alive. Then, the worst possible thing that could've happened, happened.

Her dagger went flying from her hand. She fell to the ground. He was over her. His teeth sank into her neck. Her scream pierced through the woods. The cat caught the mouse...Or so it thought.

Fighting through the pain, fighting to stay alive, Ruth willed the river to wash Laurent away. The force of the water pulled the vampire off of her, pushed him out of the woods. He didn't come back. His thirst was satisfied, and the damage was done. 

Ruth screamed again, the pain from the venom taking over her body. Her body felt like it was on fire, like no water would ever put it out. Then, as soon as the thought passed through her head, it hit her. She knew that some part of venom was water, and maybe she could will the toxin out of her. 

But it burned. Gods, it burned. She could feel it leaving her body, leaking out of the wound on her neck. She wondered how Bella handled this all those months ago. Her eyes began to flutter shut, the last of the toxins leaving her. But just before she closed her eyes, she saw a large wolf standing over her.

Wolves, she thought. Wolves. Not bears. Werewolves. Not bears. 

Her eyes shut, and a final thought passed through her mind.

Is there anyone that's normal in Forks? 

A/N: Lord forgive me because I suck at fighting scenes, but this scene was necessary for her first official meeting with the wolf pack and with her later meeting the Volturi. The idea kind of was that fighting a vampire is fast-paced and everything happens too quick to process, thus the use of short and choppy sentences. Anyways, sorry if it sucked, but I promise the writing will get better. :)

Buuuut we may or may not be getting an official wolf-pack meeting next chapter ;)))

(Who wants to guess who long it'll take me to update this book again?)