Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Pegasus Rider

            Andrew walked along the grounds with his best friend Alex, son of Apollo. He needed to get away from all the other campers for a little bit: just take a few minutes to breathe without all the expectations weighing on him, without the worries of where his parents were, without a great prophesy to live up to or people depending on him. Just a little time to relax, to walk around the camp with his best friend on an early morning in the summer. He felt like he was on the verge to something huge. He needed to take a step back and just look over it all. Just a little time to sort through his thoughts before the day started. Just a walk around the camp with his best friend to clear his mind, to sort through the many thoughts swarming through his mind. If he just took a step back, he was sure he’d be able to see the bigger picture.

 

            “Can’t wait for capture the flag. We’re gonna cream you guys. We got the Hermes cabin, the Hephaestus kids, Ares…” Alex emphasized this last part and looked with anticipation at Andrew, like he expected his friend to be scared off by this news. When Andrew just nodded his understanding, Alex continued in a much less enthusiastic tone, “and then of course we got Hypnos, Hecate and Nike.” He paused and glanced over at his friend, “okay, not excited about capture the flag,” he noted.

            They strolled along in silence, breathing in the fresh air and relishing in the beautiful summers morning. Golden and white light caught Andrew’s eye like the sunlight had reflected off valuable coins, aiming the resulting beam into his cornea. He looked up to see a pure white Pegasus, which explained the white light. In the direct light, the beautiful Pegasus’s well-groomed coat was the color of fresh snow, sometimes half-blinding campers who looked at it in direct light. The winged horse was moving gracefully through the sky, dipping, weaving, streaking forward and even doing loopy loops.

            Normally, this sort of behavior wasn’t all that abnormal. A Pegasus was a free spirit, and loved to be soaring through the sky at its own liberty.

But what surprised Andrew was that it wasn’t just the Pegasus. Someone was riding it: a girl with long, curly blonde hair. Her face was lit up with joy as she and the Pegasus seemed to soar through the sky with one mind. The resulting wind made her hair seem to ripple like liquid gold behind her, revealing a wide grin and sea green eyes sparkling with delight. When the girl and the Pegasus turned around in another loopy loop, Andrew caught sight of a shoulder brace affixed on her left shoulder.

Andrew realized his jaw was hanging open, and quickly closed it. He composed himself and glanced at Alex, hoping his best friend hadn’t just seen how stupid he must have looked a second ago, but Alex had the same expression of absolute amazement and awe as his gaze followed the girl and her Pegasus. Before long, Alex seemed to realize his best friend had noticed his expression, and quickly masked his astonishment with a mask of polite curiosity, but his face was still a little pink.

The Pegasus took a dangerously steep swoop and sped into the stables in a streak of white, vanishing from the sky in an instant.

Without a word, both boys dashed into the stables. There, looking completely at peace and perfectly healthy was Emily. For the hundredth time it seemed, Andrew was amazed what the food and drink of the gods (and of course some well-deserved rest & water-healing powers) could do. Only yesterday, Emily had only the strength to sit up and talk. She could barely lift her arm up because of the broken clavicle. Now, she was like any normal demigod at Camp Half-Blood: standing, walking, and even riding a Pegasus with no problem. The last part wasn’t exactly normal- not every camper could ride a Pegasus that well, especially on their first day without any guidelines or supervision or instruction.

            “Whoa.”

Emily turned at the sound, spotting the two boys who had just entered the stables, now standing a little dumb-founded, staring at her. She looked a little uncomfortable.

            “E-everything alright with you guys?” she asked. Andrew could hear the nervous tremor in her voice. She was uncomfortable and probably scared that she might have done something wrong. Andrew, for the second time that day, hastily composed his features, feeling rather embarrassed. He glanced over at Alex, whose expression was a mirror image of his own.

            “Everything’s fine,” Andrew answered, trying to keep his tone light and casual, “We were just, um, taking a walk-” Andrew winced, knowing how much the truth sounded like some dumb excuse, and hastily continued, “and we saw you flying with the Pegasus. How did you learn to fly a Pegasus so well?”

            Emily blushed. “I-I don’t really know. Just naturally, I guess” she told the floor, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes. She looked uncomfortable still, but there was something else. Was she holding something back? Why was she so nervous around them? She’d seemed plenty confident talking to them yesterday. What had happened since then?

            Andrew noticed something clutched in the girl’s hands: a journal of some sort. Where had she gotten that? Andrew pushed the thought aside. One thing at a time.

            “Oh. Cool. So, how and why did you get here?” he asked.

“Guys!!” came another voice from the other end of the stables. Lauren stepped inside with a chastising look on her face.

            “Seriously? This girl has been interviewed to death by the two of you. Can’t you just relax for a bit without all your questions?!”

            Andrew seemed to find the floor to be very interesting at that moment, still examining it when he replied,

            “Sorry, um, my bad. But seriously,” he continued, looking up and trying to make the best of the situation,  “you look loads better than you did yesterday.”

            Emily looked up from the floor and smiled.

“Thanks, Andrew. I feel great, thanks to you all of course. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I owe my life to you all, really,”

            Her eyes shone with adoration, passing from one person to the next as she spoke.

            “To answer your question, Andrew, I got here from that blue house where you left me to recover. I came here because I saw the Pegasus flying in the sky and, well, I couldn’t help myself. I love horses, especially flying horses.” She hesitated for a moment, perhaps unsure of whether or not to say more on the subject, then continued, “I joined in on the fun. Actually, I just barely got back on solid ground. So, you guys going to do anything here in particular?”

            Alex shook his head in reply, “nah. Just came to see our new exceptionally talented Pegasus rider. You could give Lauren a run for her money.”

            Lauren laughed, her face pink. “Before we do that, Emily, have you had any breakfast? You slept through dinner last night, and I’m sure you must be famished.”

            Emily shook her head.

“Well then,” Andrew announced, “Let’s go to the mess hall.”

            A whinny came from the Pegasus she had been riding earlier, and Emily turned to face it. Was she blushing? She stroked the Pegasus’s head and murmured something. Andrew remembered the previous day when the water had mended her swollen shoulder, at least mostly, a power his dad had as a son of Poseidon. Now she had shown herself to be a natural at riding a Pegasus and seemed to not only get along with the winged horse, but understand their whinnies. That would explain why her face went pink after the horse whinnied, and possibly why she had hesitated earlier when talking about how she loved horses, especially those that fly.

            “Come on, Emily,” Andrew prompted.

Emily scratched the Pegasus behind the ears, then turned to follow Andrew out of the stables towards the mess hall.

Same as last time: no revision whatsoever and feedback is VERY MUCH appreciated (hint hint...)

Hoped you liked it though, :)