Camp Hermit-Blood: a Hermitcraft fanfiction

Gem

The Hermits exchanged glances with Grian and immediately knew what he was planning.

Gem did not approve.

Sure, he wanted to go back to Hermitcraft, at least for a while. So did Gem. She missed False and Stress. But that didn't make a good reason to run away, even if it meant a possibility that Scar was alive.

"What if we're caught?" Tango muttered out of the side of his mouth.

"We won't be," Grian whispered back.

"What are you whispering about?" Bdubs stage-whispered loudly.

"Nothing," Grian said.

Thankfully, Chiron had already clopped away with a worried expression.

"It's against the rules," Gem said desperately. "We can't leave until after summer's over."

"Who said anything about rules?" Ren said, grinning.

"Uh, me," Gem said, crossing her arms.

The boys rolled their eyes at each other. Gem stuck her tongue out at them. "Fine. But you deserve it if you get fed to the harpies."

Gem walked away.

Over the next few days, Gem could tell that the boys were planning things without her. Several times, she walked into the Hermes cabin to see Grian and Bdubs hastily stuff papers into duffel bags and under books. She caught Ren sneaking around the forest, looking for monsters to kill quietly. He never killed quietly. And Tango and Zedaph spent lots of time in Arts and Crafts, doing Zeus knows what while at the same time completely shutting Gem out. Probably because they were smart enough to know she would talk sense into them, or possibly just because she was the new Hermit.

Or maybe they thought she had cooties. Those two never grew out of anything.

However, all plans to leave Camp Half-Blood were put aside when the gossip started to spread. Gem first heard about it from Tulip, one of her dryad friends.

"Gem!" Tulip hissed.

Gem turned to see the brunette girl sitting in a bush, glancing nervously at a nearby satyr. But her green eyes sparkled with mischief and excitement.

Gem walked over to her. "Why are you in a bush, Tulip?"

"Shh," Tulip said. "It's a known fact that Conifer has a crush on me. You know how satyr crushes are."

Gem did. They usually involved a lot of the satyr chasing the nymph, and ended with the satyr having a broken nose from running into a tree, being unconscious for an hour from hitting his head on a rock, or being half drowned. Yet they still kept coming.

"But I'm willing to risk him for a minute," Tulip said. "Have you heard the news?"

"What news?"

Tulip grinned. "Well, Grover told Juniper who told Pine who told Hazelnut who told Oakley who told Mangrove, and then Spruce overheard Mangrove telling Lily, and then Spruce told Lilac who told Lupine who who told Dandelion who told me about a quest. Percy Jackson's going on a quest."

Once Gem had processed that, her eyes widened. "What for?"

"Zeus thinks Percy stole his master bolt under Posideon's orders," Tulip said. "So he says that if he doesn't get it back, he declares war on Posideon. And Posideon denies that he stole it and wants an apology. Both of them want it by the summer solstice."

"But that's only a couple weeks away!" Gem gasped.

Tulip nodded gravely. "If two of the Big Three have a war, then it won't end well for the world."