Son of Love and Fire

Chapter 3

As Percy awoke the next morning the first thing to greet him was the smiling face of his new friend and aunt, Hestia. Remembering what happened yesterday brought a smile to his face, despite her assurances he still had not been sure if she would return but here she is.

"Good morning Perseus" Hestia said with a smile as she saw her nephew waking.

"Hi Aunt Hestia, you came." Percy responded but the latter was more for himself as if he had not yet fully absorbed the fact that she is here.

Hestia simply smiled in response as if she heard his thought although Perseus wasn't sure if she could do that or not. Perseus then realised with a jolt that he had a guest with him and how the animals had told him that when someone has a guest, they should take care of them.

Jumping up quickly and grabbing his hand-crafted bow and quiver of arrows from the tree it was leaning against on the outskirt of the small clearing he was camped in, Perseus turned to Hestia saying, "I'll go get us some breakfast to cook up I'll be back soon" Before awaiting a response Perseus bounded out into the forest with a hunters grace of which Hestia had never seen anyone reach close too.

Despite being impressed by his skills from what she witnessed she was still rather annoyed as she wanted to spend time with him, and she could have just summoned food but not wanting to make him feel bad she decided to just eat what he cooked up and not tell him she could summon food. On this line of thought Hestia became curious as to what and how well her nephew will cook as she loved cooking but had much longer and a much nicer environment to learn how.

As she got lost in her thoughts remembering about the times she was first learning to cook after she had escaped her father's horrid stomach, she was shocked back to reality when Perseus returned into the clearing with two dead rabbits hanging from their tails in his hand as he put his bow and quiver back where he found it before heading towards the fire. Usually she paid far better attention to her surroundings, but she definitely didn't expect him to be able to hunt breakfast in only ten minutes after leaving the clearing.

"That was very fast, how did you manage to find them so fast?"

"Experience Auntie, I have been doing this all my life it is really easy and fun when you get good. Do you want me to teach you?" Perseus asks excitedly with a wide grin on his face.

"Thank you for offering dear but I'm afraid I must decline I try to live a more peaceful life after all that happened with my father" Hestia has a distant look to her face as she explains, when Perseus notices he decides to distract her from her musing and asks if she wants to cook with him.

After Hestia asking what he has to cook with and Perseus showing the bag of dried herbs and spices, and other things to flavour his food the two spend the next hour enjoying each other's company as they cook a meal of the rabbits that could only be described as divine due to the combined cooking skills the two had developed. The experience of cooking with each other brings huge smile to their faces that don't disappear as they continue their work, this is the most fun that both have had for a very long time as they laugh and share light-hearted stories and jokes.

Finally, after over an hour of cooking which should have only taken half of that but was extended by the two's enjoyment and getting side-tracked as they spoke, the food was done. The rabbit was prepared in a hearty stew that burst with flavour and despite the nature of rabbit as a tough meet it was tender as anything you could find and had a strong meat flavour that mixed well with the stew.

The two ate together quietly compared to how they were chatting and laughing together before, enjoying the food to its fullest. "Thanks for keeping me company Auntie" Perseus spoke up as he put aside his drained bowl that he had previously made for himself.