Chapter 5

Shoshone National Forest, September 12th

Percy's POV (3rd)

Percy has finally made it, Shoshone National Forest, it's where he decided he would stay for a while. Camp was not an option. No matter how well he hid it, or how much he would deny it, Percy was near tears at seeing Annabeth with another man. He wouldn't - no - couldn't stay at camp anymore. There are too many memories of them together. Once those same memories were something nobody could take away from him, not even the queen of the gods. Now, he prayed for them to go away.

Percy focused on the task at hand: survival. Which, admittedly, would be a lot easier now with Artemis' blessing. Perseus had no idea why Artemis gave him her blessing, she could've stripped the blessing down to just the partial immortality, but she decided to give him everything, with the exception of archery. Not that it'd make a difference, it would help him shoot in the right direction, but other than that his archery was so horrid that Apollo thought he was cursed. Nonetheless, he was eternally grateful for it.

Perseus sighed, he can't be wasting time thinking about the past, there's work to be done.

…

October 7th (1st POV)

Over the past month I had gotten myself into a pretty good routine. I start my day by waking up at sunrise, and hunting for my breakfast; usually it's elk or hare. Bison could be a good source of food but I don't think I could manage to kill one without alerting the rest of the herd; while I do have the knowledge to do so, I definitely don't have the experience, I'm from Manhattan for Zeus' sake.

I've noticed that something is cleaning up the animals I kill, eating any meat that I don't take. My suspicion is wolves, or more specifically a lone wolf, a big lone wolf.

During my time here my spear, Time's March, has been essential to my survival. Without it I wouldn't have a weapon to hunt for food with. I usually shrink it down to about five feet in length - about the length of a pila - for hunting. The smaller size and lighter weight allows for me to throw it farther, faster and more accurately.

After I hunt I'll spend the next hour cooking, using branches and sticks that I've willed all the water out of as firewood. If I chopped down a tree, the mortals would notice me and that's a problem must couldn't solve. When I actually cook the food I would use some wild spices, herbs, or vegetables that I could find. It usually doesn't taste too bad, thankfully I've always been a decent cook. Any leftover food is usually sacrificed to Artemis, as thanks for a successful hunt and in thanks for the blessing.

After breakfast I start my training regime which consistist of nonstop sprints and down the hills until midday. At first I had to take multiple stops every so often to catch my breath. Since then my endurance has increased exponentially, only needing to stop once or twice throughout the day. Not bad for a month's work. After my jog I eat lunch, which is basically the same routine as breakfast: hunt, cook, sacrifice.

Afterwards I practice using my weapons. First I start off with my newest weapon: Time's March. Using a marker I would carve in trees to gauge my accuracy, I launch my spear hundreds of times a day, practicing until my arm hurts; with each throw I'm becoming more and more accurate. I can usually hit a near bulls-eye from fifty feet, it's good, but not good enough, I refuse to be satisfied until it's perfect consistently. I continue to train with Riptide and Time's March until around sunset, again using the trees as targets, practicing swings, stabs, slashes, and just about anything I could think of. Soon enough, these forests should filled with monsters attracted to my demigod scent, allowing me to have some much better targets than just trees.

To end my training, I jog to the Yellowstone Caldera and practice my powers as a son of the earthshaker. No it's not going to erupt because of this, it's not even an active volcano. My father just likes to scare mortals when he's bored. With my earthshaker powers getting better, less mortals are coming to Yellowstone, fearing an eruption that will never happen. All the better for me.

Afterwards I would occasionally go to the Lamar river and clean my clothes using my powers over water. My current attire is green camouflage hunting clothes and black military boots that I stole from some mortal hunting store on my way here. I usually don't wear my Nemean Lion pelt, keeping it in a backpack I found along with any cooking utensils I have, a canteen of water and any other supplies I could need.

Practicing with my power over water can be a bit extreme sometimes. For instance the time I accidentally made Old Faithful erupt, that caused some stir within the mortals; they wouldn't leave for a week. After that incident, I started to resort to using either the Yellowstone Lake or Gardner river. When I'm at the lake I would try to lift as much water as I could for as long as I could, usually being able to hold about half the lake above my head for a minute. It definitely seems impressive, but I know I could do much better; for a demigod, there are no limit to our powers, only barriers that we have to break down.

While at the Gardner river, I try a different approach. The water from the hot springs empty into the river, making it boiling hot at some points - hence the name: hot springs. I use this to my advantage, practicing my control over my powers by cooling it down to freezing temperatures while not turning it into ice.

Currently it's around 10:00 PM, this is usually around the time I start to head home, hunting whatever I could for dinner. It's a long way back so I usually am able to find something, but there has been some nights I go to bed hungry. As I walked back towards the Shoshone National Forest, I started thinking about my training and how I could improve my technique. I realized that all of my training currently is physical, and while that's good, I need to be mentally prepared for the days to come. Winter is over the horizon. While I know by then I'll be physically ready to take it on, I need to be mentally prepared as well to take on hungry days and sleepless nights that are bound to come.

I was broken out of my musings when my stomach growled at me, as if it was telling me to hurry up and find food. I gladly obliged. I started looking for anything that could lead me to some prey. It wasn't until after some time that I was able to find some tracks. Elk tracks to be specific, and they looked fresh. I crouched down immediately, pulling Time's March off my back, trying to make as little sound as humanly possible.

I started off in the direction of the tracks, looking for any indication that the elk had changed directions; It hadn't yet. I walked into a clearing with a small pond where I saw what will hopefully be my dinner. Still conscious of the noise I was making, I got into my stance, and with one quick step, I launched my spear at speeds that will make Olympic javelin throwers jealous. The elk heard the spear flying through the air and tried to bolt, but it was too late. My spear struck true, hitting the elk in the heart, killing it instantly. Wary of any wolves attracted to the smell of meat, I immediately got to work, pulling my hunting knife out of my bag. I'm still working on trying to get a holster for it, I probably will head to the Yellowstone General store one day and steal one, most likely needing to use the mist to manipulate whatever mortal catches me and wiping their memory.

I was nearly done skinning the elk when I heard a low growl. I turned around to find what probably was the most beautiful and terrifying sight I've ever seen. Behind me was a single wolf with what looked like the softest black fur I've ever seen and onyx colored eyes. It seemed young, maybe a year or two old, but it was big for it's age, standing at nearly around three and a half feet on all fours. I quickly realized that this must be what has been cleaning up my hunts. It didn't seem hostile, but it looked hungry, which was what scared me the most. When hungry, animals make rash desiscions, lashing out at the sight of food.

Slowly I took one of the chunks of meat and tossed it to the wolf. The wolf, which I determined was a female, sniffed the meat and took a bite. Finding that it tasted fine, she inhaled the rest of it.

I decided to take a gamble, which could turn out well or could end with me losing a hand. I took another piece of meat and held it in my palm, outstreatched towards the female wolf. The wolf, which I have yet to name, came forward slowly, sniffing my palm, and hesitantly licking the food off my hand. When she finished eating, I scratched her behind the ears, she seemed to enjoy the gesture and leaned into my hand.

Taking another look at my new friend, I looked into the wolf's eyes, which were a deep onyx that I've only seen on one other person before. "Zoë," at the name, the wolf wagged its tail and panted happily, apparently liking the name and I think it fits well. Fierce. Deadly. And will rip your throat out. But there's also a soft side to her.

The rest of the night was a blur, after my new companion had decided to stay with me, I cooked my own food, occasionally throwing a small slice of the meat to her. After I finished eating, Zoë and I walked back towards the Shoshone National Forest, where I promptly collapsed against the trunk of a tree, not having the energy to climb up, and Zoë soon followed.