A/N So this is basically the other half of the previous chapter. I hope you guys enjoy, it's not terribly long but if you combine the word count with the last chapter it's about the same length as all the rest. I know this story's pairing is marked Percy/Artemis but Im thinking about changing it. If you guys have any suggestions, I'm open to ideas but ultimately I'm going to let Percy decide and keep writing what feels natural. Please review and don't hesitate to PM me! Thanks for the support. Much love.

Running With the Hunt

Percy eliminated his presence. A skill that appeared to come naturally to him. One by one, as the wolves around him broke off, he lost track of the members of his hunting party. It had been two weeks since he had woken up alone. They only life Percy had known was the one with the hunt. This was the first time he was leading the hunting party. They had been following the trail of a brown bear for 3 miles now. Their target was lounging around in the sun, in the exact same clearing he had woken up in. The bear was unaware of the human and five wolves slowly closing in around it. Percy briefly let his bloodlust be known and the eyes of his prey snapped open, staring directly at him, but seeing nothing. A few heart beats passed, and the bear started to doubt he noticed anything. Percy let a devilish grin flash across his face. Trusting his pack was in place, he slowly entered the clearing, his bloodlust expertly hidden. Percy couldn't perceive the wolves he knew where with him. Even though they should have been in plain sight, he didn't see the two wolves that attacked the bear until they were already pouncing. It was essential that Percy hid his bloodlust in order to not give away his hunting party. He served as the perfect distraction. Two wolves were already on the bear's back by the time he realized he was under attack. The three remaining wolves had already surrounded the bear by the time Percy joined them, cutting of their prey's escape. Weighed down by the two 300-pound wolves, the bear couldn't dodge the attacks from the three wolves. Percy took his spear, essentially just a sharpened stick, and joined in on whittling down the bears stamina. The bear was able to buck off the two wolves and turned to attack the wolf that had just lunged at him. Instantly recognizing his brethren was in trouble, Percy launched himself at the bears back, dropping his spear. Percy was able to get his arm around the bear's neck in a pseudo-chokehold and forced the massive animal to the ground. Not wasting the opportunity Percy created for them, the wolves abandoned all sense of self-preservation and went after the soft underbelly of the bear. It was bleeding profusely from numerous bites and scratches, the strength leaving the bear by the second. Percy let go of the bear's neck and one of the wolves that had been thrown from the bear immediately clamped its jaws around the creature's neck and violently thrashed back and forth. The bears throat was ripped out and blood poured down its trachea. The bear quickly went limp and its chest stopped rising. Covered in sweat and blood, Percy smiled. This kill will be more than enough to feed the pups and the newly nursing mothers, with plenty left over for the elderly and injured.

X

Lupa greeted the returning hunting party with a series of barks and grunts. It was a struggle dragging the bear all the way back, but they managed to keep it all in one peace.

'Percy, you lead the hunting party, the honor is yours.' Lupa said inside of Percy's mind.

Percy pulled his jagged flint knife from its elk skin sheath and cut into the bear's chest. He reached into the cavity and ripped out the bears heart. He chumped down into the still warm organ saturated with blood and swallowed without hesitation. He then presented the heart to Lupa and she ate the rest of it. Normally, Percy cooked his share of the meat before eating it, but this symbolized him joining the upper echelons of Lupa's pack.

'You have the soul of a true wolf. It is time for you to journey to New Rome. You have earned your place among the pack; you will always find an ally in wolves anywhere. You will make a fine addition to Legion.'

Percy didn't want to leave the pack, they had become his family and despite only being among them for two weeks, it was the only life he had known. It had felt so natural being a part of Lupa's hunt, but he knew he couldn't stay.

"Thank you, Lupa, for taking me in. If the pack is ever in need, I will do everything in my power to help." Percy said.

Lupa strode closer and placed her snout on Percy's forehead. Silver light passed over his body.

'You have earned my blessing, Percy. It marks you as a full fledge member of my pack. The only other humans to have received this blessing were my two sons, Remus and Romulus. Every Roman my pack has looked after will unmistakably recognize you as one of my own. Go forth and bring glory to Roma.'

"You honor me beyond words can express, mother. Thank you for all you have taught me."

'Percy, what is it that you have in your pocket?'

"Oh, this? Its just a pen." Percy replied, pulling out the ballpoint pen.

'Uncap it.' Percy did as he was told, and the pen expanded into a shining bronze, leaf shaped blade. Startled, Percy almost dropped it. The weight felt familiar and the balance was perfect for him. It felt like an extension of his arm. 'That sword is known as riptide. It is a weapon beyond equal. It will be essential to your survival as you travel to New Rome. It is made of celestial bronze, a rare metal that will be able to cause harm to monsters. It is one of the three metals that can hurt godly creatures. More rare than Imperial Gold, but more common the stygian iron. But take care, the romans are a suspicious lot by nature, and that blade will draw unwanted attention.'

"Farewell Lupa, I hope we will meet again soon." Percy said. The entirety of the pack and come over to see Percy off. Despite not being able to speak directly to him like Lupa, they all respected and trusted Percy.

X

Percy was barreling down the interstate cutting through California in the middle of the night. He recently had procured a motorcycle after crashing the truck he had borrowed shortly after leaving the Olympic National Forest into a minitour. As soon as he left the protection of the forest, he was attacked by two of the Gorgon sisters, they oddly wore name tags that said Stheno and Euryale. He made short work of the pair and they dissolved into a golden dust. The minitour, on the other hand, was a lot tougher. He seemed to have a personal grudge against Percy and had been pursuing him relentlessly. Every time he was in the same place for more than a few hours he would catch up. As a result, he had made great time. It had only been a couple of days since he had left the safety of Lupa's hunt, but he could feel in his gut he was close. He was coming up on an overpass, pushing 90 miles per hour, the only illumination coming from the streetlights as he flashed passed them. A figure appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the overpass, it was easily over 8 feet tall and had a single horn, the other was jagged, as if it was snapped off. Attempting to swerve out of the way, Percy sailed over the guard rail, getting launched off his bike. He landed hard and rolled down the hill. The minitour was not far behind him. Percy came to a stop and attempted to stand while pulling out his sword, riptide. But as soon as it was in his hand, the minotaur swung is hammer-like fist sending the sword flying. Percy found out that the sword would appear in pen form in his pocket eventually, but not for some time. A guttural laugh reverberated from the beast's chest. He was taking his time, stoking toward Percy as he backed away. The mass of muscle dropped his head and charged full tilt at Percy. Waiting until the last second, Percy dove to the side. The minotaur slowed itself to a stop and turned to face Percy before charging again. This time, when Percy dodged, he reached out and grabbed the one remaining horn and used the momentum to swing himself onto the beast's back. Gripping the horn with both hands, Percy dropped to the side, torqueing the horn, snapping it off with surprising ease. A newfound rage filled the miniatures eyes. If looks could kill, the minotaur would have given Medusa a run for her money. On the third charge, Percy held his ground and instead of dodging, he thrusted the horn up into the neck of the minotaur. Percy was still hit with the full force of the charge and was sent flying backwards. Percy landed on his back and was sent skidding along the cement. He came to a stop just before a tunnel entrance and the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was two figures standing above him, one with a bow and arrow, the other with a long cavalry sword drawn.

A/N So Percy made it to the gates of New Rome! Sorry if I didn't go into as much detail as you guys would have liked, its been awhile since I read Uncle Rick's masterpieces and I don't really have enough time to read them all again. How do you guys feel about the pacing? Is it too fast, too slow? I'm really looking forward to this next phase of the story and I knida just wanted to get to it ya know? I'm trying to write Percy so he's not OP but I think we all kinda love the baddass moments that come with an OP MC. Let me know!