They're What?!

Lord of the Wild

Piper POV

Jason kept Percy in the Great Hall while Thalia and I explained to Grover what had happened.

"Well that explains a lot." Grover rubbed his forehead. "Stupid empathy link."

"Empathy link?" I asked.

"I'll explain some other time. Keep Percy there for a few more minutes, I'm getting a ride over."

"Grover, we're in Great Britain...." Thalia pointed out.

"I'm sure Athena or Poseidon can flash me over." He shrugged. "Just wait for me."

We cut off the Iris Message and went over to the very furious Percy who was arguing loudly with Jason.

"Grover's coming here." Thalia told the two of them.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"How long is it going to take for him to show up?" Percy asked.

"We don't know. He said he was going to get your dad or Annabeth's mom to flash him over." I told him.

Percy scowled and began to pace.

"Hermione, what creatures reside in the Forbidden Forest?" He barked suddenly, like a teacher who had caught a student sleeping.

"Well there's thestrals, hippogriffs, unicorns, centaurs, a giant 3-headed dog, blood-sucking bugbears, bowtruckles, a few blast-ended skrewts, possibly a troll or two. There's also a pack of wolves that aren't quite werewolves but have similar tendencies and an acromantula colony." Hermione rattled off.

"Bowtruckles?" The doors to the Great Hall opened and Grover stepped in. "I can work with bowtruckles."

"Who sent you over?" Percy asked him.

"Your dad." Grover turned back to Hermione. "Do you know how many bowtruckles there are?"

"Hundreds, probably. The forest is quite large. The only problem is how you're going to get them to come to you. You'd need fairy eggs or wood lice."

"I'll be fine." Grover said. "If you'd like to watch, you can."

"Watch you get your eyes clawed out?" Hermione looked horrified. "Look, Grover, I know you're a satyr and everything but I don't think that will help you here."

"I'm more than just a satyr." Grover replied. "Percy, where's a good open place where I can see the forest?"

Percy waved for him to follow and the rest of us did too. There was a cacophony of noise as the students surged to their feet to follow us.

Percy led everyone out to the Entrance Hall and threw the doors open. "How's that?"

Grover nodded and stepped out into the night air. The students pooled around him in a semi-circle.

"Everyone back up a few steps." Grover ordered. We did so and he pulled his reed pipes out from under his shirt.

Soon a haunting melody was soaring through the open sky. The grass around Grover began to grow higher and a few flowers sprang open.

A quiet chattering soon became audible as several small creatures that resembled stick men came flying towards us from the forest. They swirled above Grover's head, dancing along to the song he played.

The satyr abruptly sat on the ground, stopping the music. The bowtruckles floated down and sat in rows in front of him, silent for the first time since they had appeared.

"Percy, do you have something of Annabeth's?" Grover held his hand out.

"It's probably got more of my smell than hers, but here." Percy carefully placed the promise ring he had given Annabeth in Grover's hand. I could almost feel the pain in his eyes as he handed what could very well be the last gift he ever gave his girlfriend over someone else.

Grover held it out to the bowtruckles. "What do you smell?"

The creatures dogpiled his hand, chattering loudly, then began to fly around his head.

"Okay, okay!" He held his hands up. "Settle down. Now one of you tell me what you smell."

"He sounds like a muggle teacher." A girl whispered in the crowd. I suppressed a laugh at the accuracy.

The bowtruckles conferred, then one of them was pushed to the front. It chattered off what sounded like a list and Grover nodded.

"Water smell, crushed tree smell, and feather smell? Ignore the water, search for the other two. If you find a girl with those smells, come right back to me."

The bowtruckles took off in all directions, quickly vanishing into the forest again.

Grover slowly stood and turned to Percy.

"Don't worry Percy, bowtruckles are good trackers." He assured the son of Poseidon.

"I hope so." Percy muttered. He was hugging himself and I could see him shaking slightly.

"Percy, do you need to talk to anyone?" I asked him.

"Nope." He responded tightly, refusing to look at anyone.

I sighed.

Grover grabbed Percy's arm and pulled him off so we couldn't hear them.

They spoke for a minute or so, then Percy shook his head violently and Grover pulled him in and hugged him.

"Alright, everyone inside." I turned to the students. "Now."

It took a little charmspeak and coaxing, but we got all the students to go back inside. I told the headmistress she could send everyone to bed, but to keep Harry somewhere they could quickly get to him.

Grover and Percy sat on the ground on a hill and talked. I kept the others from going over to bug them, assuming they wanted some privacy.

"Here comes one!" Jason shouted.

Percy and Grover were on their feet almost instantly.

"I will find her, Percy." The satyr promised.

[A/N the Lord of the Wild!]