#dreamcatcherwrites

Mansk wasn't entirely sure how this happened, sure he was there the entire time, but it still made no sense.

Mansk watched as the strange na'vi woman seemed to be engaged in a tense looking discussion with the squad's leader, Quaritch.

Oare seemed completely unbothered, as she has been since she arrived. Quaritch however, had that distinct expression he got when he was given orders.

Before Mansk could try and decipher what was being said, Quaritch turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, listen up! Our new friend here is gonna teach us to ride like the enemy." Quaritch said, gesturing for her to continue.

"We will be going to the Ikran Rookery and Eywa willing, you all will be bonding with Ikrans today. I will teach you everything you will need to know, starting with getting to the Rookery." Oare said, pointing up to the massive cluster of floating mountains above them.

Mansk tried his best to not think about how screwed he'd be if he lost his footing. Him and the rest of the recoms were ridiculous high up, scaling the floating mountains and vines that lead up to the Rookery.

-

-

The group had stopped for a brief break on a spacious ledge, giving them a beautiful view of the sprawling forest below them.

"So, what are you gonna name your ban-ikran?" Z-Dog asked as she climbed up next to Mansk. Oare had insisted that if they are to understand their enemy, they needed to understand the language.

"Tomahawk." Mansk answered, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Like the steak cut?"

"Yeah and apparently it's a type of weapon too, like a hand axe. What are you going to name yours?"

"Ink, our colors will match." Z-Dog says, gesturing to her many tattoos.

“You sound so sure.”

“Call it a gut feeling.”

Eventually it was time to keep moving. Mansk continued to try his best to not look down as he and the others continued their climb.

-

-

Finally they reached the Rookery. Ikran were everywhere, basking on ledges, interacting, flying around, and hanging onto cliff sides. The recoms followed the na’vi woman, she led them to a cave next to the main area of the Rookery. It was connected to the main area by a thin ledge behind a waterfall.

“Who wishes to go first?” Oare asks.

“I’ll do it.” Quaritch says. Oare hands the lasso like tool she had made earlier, to him.

For a brief moment, Quaritch looked a little nervous, but the look was quickly replaced by a focused determination. He entered the main area of the Rookery, catching the attention of several ikran. Many flew off as Quaritch got close, but one whipped around and snapped at him. The beast was beautiful, as all ikran were. It was blue and gold, with splashes of faded red.

Mansk watched in awe as Quaritch dodged around the ikran’s jaws and wings, before seamlessly lassoing the creature’s jaws shut. He lunged, managing to wrestle with the ikran and getting on its back. He grabbed the kuru and was about to connect to it, but the ikran bucked, throwing itself off the ledge.

Behind Mansk, Lyle jumped up but was stopped by Oare. After a few tense moments that felt like hours, a loud shriek echoed through the air and the ikran suddenly appeared, Quaritch on its back with a massive grin on his face. Mansk and the other recoms cheered and whooped.

“What’s their name?!” Z-Dog called out.

“Her name’s Cupcake.” Quaritch called back, petting the ikran’s neck.

Lyle went up next. The ikran that chose him was a beautiful mix of blue and green with patches of yellow and crackles of black across its wings and body. The ikran lunged, trying to sink its teeth into Lyle. He dodged, though only narrowly missing the sharp teeth. Following both Oare’s instructions and Quaritch’s example, Lyle lassoed the ikran’s jaws shut and managed to clamber onto its back. He managed to make the connection much faster and much easier than Quaritch. Lyle was beaming, proudly naming him Eagle.

Z-Dog went next, her ikran was a wondrous splash of color. The ikran’s scales were shifting shades of blue, green, red, and swirls of yellow. Z-Dog named him Ink.

Then Mansk stepped up. His palms were sweaty, his stomach twisted itself in knots. It sounds easy on paper, but the actual act of getting an ikran was incredibly nerve wracking, despite how easy the others made it look. Mansk began to move through the Rookery, seemingly every ikran was disinterested in him. Out of nowhere, an ikran slammed down in front of him. It was stunning, colors making it look like a giant peacock. It shrieked, reared and flapped its large wings at him. Mansk’s eyes met the eyes of the ikran and his nervousness washed away, his heart steadied, and his breath evened. In a fluid motion, he lassoed the ikran’s mouth shut. It swung its head, narrowly missing hitting Mansk square in his face. Mansk dodged to the side, all but throwing himself onto its back. The ikran bucked and flailed, trying its best to throw him from its back. It somehow, in the confusion managed to pull the yìmkxa from its mouth. Its head swung to the side, sinking its teeth into Mansk’s shoulder and yanking him from its back. Mansk could hear the other recoms’ surprise and worry but he paid them no mind, currently focusing on not being torn apart. Mansk hissed, both in challenge and in pain. He lunged once more, managing to grab onto the kuru of the creature. He yanked his braid, managing to connect to the ikran’s kuru after a bit of struggle.

“Easy, boy.” Mansk said, brushing his hand along the ikran’s neck. “Easy Tomahawk.”

Mansk and his ikran settled near the others, giving the remaining recoms room. Oare and Ja appeared at Mansk’s side, carrying a few medical supplies. The two of them tended to the bite wound, Oare even slathered a pale paste on the wound as she said it would naturally speed up the healing process.

The other recoms, one by one, bonded with an ikran. Prager’s ikran was a subtle green mottled with darker green, black, and gold. He named him Malachite. Lopez’s ikran was a soft pastel yellow and purple, he named her Dahlia. Ja was next, his ikran was shades of green and marked with pink and soft purple, he named him Asclepius. Zhang’s ikran was a gleaming gold, striped by dark purple and vibrant blue. Zhang named her Ming. Brown’s was a beautiful mix of purples and pinks, speckled by white, he named him Lollipop. Walker’s was soft browns, highlighted by brilliant golden, her face and chest was pale, almost white. Walker named her Athena. Fike’s was soft yellow, striped by black and bright orange, with cyan wing tips. Fike named him Goldrush. Finally, Warren went. His Ikran was a vibrant red with swirls of teal. He named her Rose.

“Now, the final act to seal the bond. Fly.” Oare said, falling backwards off the ledge, only to suddenly reappear on the back of a ikran, a night ikran.

Without hesitation the recoms took off, following Oare’s lead.

Annabeth woke to the sound of a sizzling pan and laughter. She smiled as she snuggled closer into her blanket, savoring the sounds that floated into their bedroom. She heard something crash to the floor and a small voice groan, “dad!”.  Chuckling, she sat up from the bed, deciding it would probably be best to go check on things before those two made a bigger mess.

She followed the smell of food to the kitchen and leaned against the doorway, watching them.

This. She would do anything to protect this. To protect them.

She was sitting on their kitchen table, swinging her legs as she ate, all the while talking continuously to Percy. A lively chatter that spread through the air brightening up their tiny, yellow tiled kitchen. A blonde bundle of joy with green eyes like her dad. Percy, with an apron that said ‘Kiss the Cook’ stood in front of the stove, his dark hair impossibly dusted with specks of flour, expertly flipping a pancake while their daughter cheered for him.

Pancake.

Percy was making pancakes. And they were....they were blue.

Her smile slipped off her face just as Percy noticed her. “Good morning Wise Girl. Sit down and I’ll get you some coffee”, he grinned.

She looked up at him, puzzled. He smiled at her and said softly so only she could hear. “She asked, Annabeth. She somehow...she somehow wanted blue pancakes for breakfast”, his voice breaking with those words.

Seven years. It had been seven, long, dark years since blue food. Percy couldn’t handle the sight of it after what had happened. And frankly, neither could Annabeth. Blue food and in particular blue pancakes brought back too many memories. Memories of a kind smile and warm brown eyes, of a face crinkled in laugh lines, of a pair of worn out oven mitts stained blue with years of baking for her son, of Sally Jackson and the home that she was for them.

They were wonderful and happy memories but they hurt too much, because they could never, ever make ones like them ever again.

But maybe, today could be the start of something new.

She kissed him on the cheek and sat on the table next to her daughter, smiling at Percy as he slid a blue pancake onto a plate and bent down on one knee in front of the table. He looked up into the green eyes that mirrored his own and said seriously, “on this day, you, Miss Jackson will experience her first taste of the mighty Blue Pancake. You must remember and treasure this moment forever”.

As she nodded to him, equally serious, his mind flashed back to the first time his mom had made blue pancakes for him. It had been a day when Smelly Gabe and his friends had been in a particularly spectacular mood. They had been taunting Percy and when Sally had asked him what he wanted for breakfast, he had said the first thing his six year old mind could think of. “Blue pancakes”, he had asked and his mom had smiled. Gabe had snorted loudly at that. “Blue pancakes? Have you finally lost your head kid?”, the words and the guffaws that followed it threatening to strike him down again. 

But his mom, without sparing a single glance at Gabe had said to Percy in a voice of razor steel, that they were going shopping. When they came back, Gabe watched his mom and Percy out of the corner of his eye. And when Percy came to the table  with a plate of the most bluest panacakes in the world, his jaw had tightened. But he did not dare say a single word. ‘Mom = 1, Smelly Gabe = 0′, he had thought happily as he dug into his food.

Blinking the memory away, Percy and Annabeth watched their little girl cautiously take a bite of the pancake, chew slowly and then watched as her eyes opened wide. She grinned at Percy and Annabeth looked at him to see his heart melting at the sight of blue-tinged teeth.

Annabeth chuckled and turned to Percy. “So, where are my pancakes then?”. “Coming right up!”, he said, his voice casual and steady. But after so many years, Annabeth knew when her best friend was close to tears. He went back to the stove, wiping a hand over his eyes, blindly reaching for a pan and.....knocked over the bowl of liquid food colouring. 

They watched it crash to the floor as if it was falling in slow motion. 

It landed everywhere. On the yellow tiles, on the windows, the roof, on Annabeth’s white shirt, everything. Everything was blue. They looked at each other for a moment and burst out laughing together. 

“You know Annabeth, you still look good with blue on your face”, Percy said as he scooped up his giggling daughter before she stepped on any broken glass. Annabeth elbowed him, remembering the time Percy had dropped a can of blue paint when they were painting his room. The blue had, like today managed to splatter everywhere. Annabeth could have sworn she found a blue patch behind her ear a week later, 

Just imagine: 

One day when the three were lazing around in Jason's cabin, Piper suddenly said, “you know Jason I still cannot believe you actually ran around NAKED, screaming that cows were the best animals in the world...”

Jason froze. “I did what??”

Leo nodded, “hmm yes..even I wouldn't do that. And why cows man?”

Jason sighed. “Sorry to disappoint you...but I think it's another one of Hera’s memories”

Piper frowned, “gods Fake Jason looked so convincing when he told us this. He told us that that was why he got kicked out of his old school”

“Oh....well at least I can tell people that I know the guy who walked around in a dinosaur suit all day....”, Leo muttered from the bed. 

“"Leo...”, Jason shook his head. Leo just looked plain defeated. “That too? Oh man. Next you’re going to tell me that you don't really like eating chocolate with garlic” 

Piper kicked Leo slightly with her foot and tells him that in fact that was also one of Hera’s ideas. She patted Jason's arm, “I'm glad that's fake though. That could be a deal breaker right there”, she said, pretending to shudder. He smiled up at her. 

“I wonder what else Fake Jason told us that we still remember now”, Leo wondered aloud. “I'm guessing the time you dressed up as a mermaid to pretend to flirt with someone was also a fake memory?”

Jason winced while Piper looked appalled, amused and very very curious all at once. Jason looked down, his ears going red, “"Percy talking me into it!! He said he needed me to distract this minor water demon while he stole something from it....”

“Oh, good it’s you boss! I suppose the blonde girl won’t be hanging around here anymore, now that you’re here”, Blackjack whinnied. Percy didn’t know how a horse could convey a tone of disappointment through a neigh, but Blackjack somehow managed to.

“Blonde? You mean Annabeth?”, he asked. “Yup, that’s the one. It’s a shame too, she always brought me something”, the pegasus answered. Now there was definitely a reproachful note to his voice as he looked pointedly at Percy’s empty hands. 

“Wait...why was Annabeth here?”, he wondered aloud. “She spent a lot of time here Boss....a lot of crying too..uhh..that felt awkward. I could carry a dozen people at once but a crying girl? I did not know how to handle one. It was especially hard because she didn’t understand what I was saying at all-”.

“Annabeth was crying??? crying here??”, Percy burst out. His brain had stopped working the moment he had heard the word, ‘crying’. “When??”, he demanded. Blackjack took a step back. “Some time back Boss! I think it was around the time when you went missing. She came around here a lot then..”, he said, more somber than Percy had ever heard him..

“She was worried about you. I think that was why. It was either that or she didn’t like the sugar cubes she had for breakfast. My buddy here? That’s what he usually cries for. And I just say to him, ‘how can you not like sugar cubes Johnny? They are the most-”, Blackjack trailed off as he saw Percy leaning heavily against the stable doors. 

Percy’s head was buzzing. Annabeth had been crying. Annabeth had been crying for him, for so many days. The stable. He knew why she had come here. The place reminded him of them too. Of course she would come here. Of course this would be the one place she would break down in. 

He had heard the talk of how brave and strong and stubborn and focused she had been when he was missing. He knew she had worried over him, knew she had feared that she might lose one more person she loved. 

But the thought of his girlfriend stumbling into the stable at night with her jaw clenched shut to stop the tears falling where people would see, almost drove him to his knees. He tried to silence the images forming from the words the other pegasi were saying. Annabeth with her fingers curved into fists, curled up on the hay in one corner of the stable, crying into her sweater to muffle the sounds. Annabeth with raw eyes and pale cheeks standing up shakily when she heard someone approaching. Annabeth putting on a cold, calm facade, making all the signs of sadness disappear in a second to reply to the ten year old camper who had come to groom her pegasus. Annabeth coming here to this very place, every single day, every single time she heard someone say that Percy wasn’t coming back, every single time she remembered burning a shroud for him all those years ago when he had first gone missing. 

She had never said anything about this to him. He hadn’t realized just how much she had gone through. His heart ached and he mentally cursed Hera.

“Where are you going Boss?”, Blackjack neighed louder as he ran out of the stable. “To Annabeth!”, he yelled over his shoulder. He had to find her. He didn’t know what he wanted to say to her. He just knew he wanted to see her, needed to reassure her that he was here, needed to reassure himself that he was here, that they were together. 

“Percy! Watch where you’re going”, she said, steadying him as he almost ran into her . She smirked at him, “where’s the fire, water boy?”. “Annabeth”, he breathed and crushed her with a hug. She started, surprised but hugged him back, smiling into his shoulder. 

Wolf and Thorne: *thinks about all the different shockingly mean people they have met on Earth*

Thorne: *whispers to Wolf* Yup, I'm going to tell her.

Nico: Sick bay? Ugh again? Why do they always need you there?

Will: Because they are sick? Because I'm a doctor?

Nico: UGH why do people have to get sick?

Will: Um Nico....they are people. People tend to get sick.

Nico: Ugh, they do so with annoying regularity.

Will: