“Why would she do that?” He said quietly to himself. “Falling in love is forbidden, right? Is she in love with me? I can’t believe that I don’t feel the same way. Maybe it’s something that will develop? I’ve never really thought about her in that way before.” His mind was moving faster than he could speak. “She ran away. After kissing me. What was she talking about?” He could finally see the cabins coming into view. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and to remind himself what he was currently doing. “Camp.” He said to himself. A smile broke across his face. He landed by the stables and slid off. “Ahh…It’s good to be home.” He said as he took a deep breath. “Forest and fresh rain.” He said with a smile. He led Ulysses inside the stables. Walking back out, he heard giggles coming from a few yards away. He left the stables and looked for the source of the noise. That’s when he saw Alex, Phoebe Smith, and Addie Osborne huddled together and giggling. He smiled at the sight of his friends. “Good afternoon, ladies.” He said with a grin as he entered the circle. Phoebe and Addie ran up and hugged him around the neck.
“Hunter! How are you?!” Phoebe asked. Phoebe was the daughter of Ares. She had been at Camp Half-Blood almost as long as Hunter had. “How was Olympus? Tell us! Tell us!” She said eagerly.
“What did you bring me?” Addie asked with a grin. Addie was the daughter of Athena and co-counselor with Alex. Hunter laughed at them.
“I’m good. Olympus was great. Unless you want a harpy talon or a shirt with my blood on it, I didn’t bring you anything.” He said with a smile. “How much did you beat me by, Alex?” He asked.
“Like 30 minutes. I’m a little surprised. How did the hunt with Artemis go?” She asked with a friendly smile. Immediately, Hunter’s mind flashed to his interaction with Philippa only an hour earlier.
“Uhh…It was good. Saw Mt. Rushmore. Killed a big pig. Got a tusk.” He said, forcing a smile. ‘Had my first kiss. Questioned my way of life.’ He finished in his head. “All around pretty stellar.” He said before swallowing down his unspoken thoughts. Alex’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do I feel like you’re leaving something gigantic out of that story?” She said eyeing him carefully. Hunter cleared his throat and shrugged trying to not let anything on.
“You’re right. Artemis got the tusk. I didn’t.” Hunter said with a nod. “I’m sorry, I lied to you.” He said with a sigh before walking past them. “I’m going to go ponder this in my cabin. If you’ll excuse me.” He said with a nod to each of them before slipping by. He hurried a little, making sure that they could question him any further. He walked into Artemis cabin and dropped his stuff next to his bed before flopping down onto his bed with a sigh of relief. His body seemed to settle into the mattress and it felt amazing. Hunter was about asleep when there was a knock on the door. “What?!” He groaned into his pillow. He got up and shuffled over to the door and opened it. He looked out to see Will Monterey standing in front of him.
“They were right!” He said as he folded his trident back up and placed it on his belt buckle. He barged into the cabin and hugged Hunter. Hunter stood there for a second before hugging him back.
“Hello, Will. I’m just fine. How are you? I’m glad to hear that. No, please come in.” Hunter said with a chuckle. Will finally broke the hug and took a few steps back.
“Hunter. It’s good to see you, man. How was Olympus?” He asked. Will had changed since Hunter had last seen him. He had let his hair grow out a little bit and had a pretty decent sun tan going. The image of his father, Poseidon.
“It was good, man. Really good.” He said with a smile. “How has camp been? I see it’s still standing so you must be doing something right.” Hunter said with a smile. “Oh. How have uh…Wilderness classes been going?” He asked. Hunter had taught wilderness basics and survival classes when he was at camp. Will took over for him when he left.
“Pretty good. I’m starting to understand why you hate falling out of trees.” Will said, rubbing his arm. “How did you know I took over for you?” Will asked. He hadn’t seen Hunter since he left.
“Marina and Kyle told me. They’ve been keeping me more or less updated on the status of camp.” Hunter said with a nod. He had received almost daily calls from the inseparable Kylerina. “Speaking of those two lovebirds, do you know where they are? I haven’t seen them, yet.” Will looked at Hunter and shrugged.
“I think they went to Marina’s house or something. Don’t ask me, man. I hear everything about Kylerina, secondhand now.” Will said calmly. Hunter sighed.
“Hmm...” Hunter said before stretching his arms up. “I wonder what they’re up to. I hope they come by soon. I only have this week. Maybe shorter.” He said with a yawn.
“Bah! I was hoping you’d be back for good. I hate climbing trees.” Will said with a smile. “Hey, let’s go to the arena. I want to see if you’ve gotten rusty with that knife of yours.” He said as he left the cabin and took off toward the arena. Hunter sighed and followed him out of the cabin, making sure he had his watch and his pendant.