Days Past~ Chapter 26

Instructions

(“Lunar. Watch me closely, to restring a bow properly, you have to move fluidly. Your limbs must not move like boards.” “I know, Papa! Look!”) ~~~ Lunar and Kai strung bows for about an hour, Lunar doing most of the work with her quick restringing. Kai stopped for a moment to watch her swift,small hands wrap and pull the string in ways that looked neater than he could ever move. After they finished, Kai ran off to take a nap, claiming he was tired from all the restringing. Lunar laughed and walked in the direction of her own cabin, before getting stopped by the female Winters twin. “Lunar!” Lily called her name, running from the direction Kai had just gone in. “Oh! Hi, Lily!” The two girls smiled at each other, and Lily fell into step beside Lunar. “So, what have you been up to?” Lily asked, grinning deviously. “Not much. Your brother helped me with my chore this afternoon, and I was about to head back to my cabin.” Lunar said, looking confused at her friend’s grin. “Well, want to hang out instead?” Lily asked. “Sure. What do you want to do?” Lunar replied, more confused at Lily’s eagerness. “I don’t know. Just walk around and talk?” Lily replied, shrugging. Lunar nodded her agreement, and the girls started walking around camp. They walked past the cabins, the stables, wherever they felt like going. As they walked, they talked about what had happened the past few days. For some reason, Lily kept bringing up Kai. Lunar tried not to blush every time she brought him up, when Lily finally asked her straight, “Do you have a crush on my brother?” Lunar started, as this was a question she did not want to answer. The Hunters had been embarrassing enough about her crush on Kai, but his own sister? *This isn’t going to end well.* Lunar thought, before taking a deep breath and resolving to tell Lily the truth. “Yes?” She answered sheepishly. “Oh my gosh! I knew it!” Lily screamed, drawing attention from some campers nearby. “Keep your voice down! You can’t let him know, Lily!” Lunar exclaimed, terrified that she would say something to Kai. “I won’t, I won’t. But I will make fun of you for it. And I thought we were friends!” Lily replied, laughing. “Why couldn’t we be friends?” Lunar asked, perplexed. Lily started laughing harder, doubling over and bracing her hands on her knees. Lunar just stood there, extremely puzzled. “Lunar, it was a joke! It’s hard to explain!” Lily replied after what felt like ages, pulling herself together. Lunar was still puzzled, but just chuckled and started off towards her cabin. “Hey, where are you going!” Lily called after her. “I need a nap!” Lunar called back over her shoulder. When she reached her cabin, she saw a package on her bed, multiple packages actually. There were three of them, each with a different name on them. One said ‘From Thalia”, another ‘From Reyna’, and the last one said ‘From Mother’. Lunar smiled. She picked up the package from Thalia first, opening it to find a black and silver leather jacket, a black choker necklace, and a silver ball-cap. There was also a note, “Lunar, thought these things would be nice for you to have. Well, the jacket and the hat at least. The choker was an extra thing. Love, Thalia” Lunar smiled and pulled the necklace over her head. She picked up the one from Reyna next, inside was a note, and a purple dress. The note read, “Dear Lunar,I’ve had this dress for quite a while, though it no longer fits. I thought it would fit you, and you can use it to impress Kai at one point. I’m sure you’ll look stunning, Reyna.” Lunar blushed upon reading the note and giggled. Then there was one. She opened the package from her mother, and inside was a gray t-shirt, with the words “Hunters of Artemis” and a note. “Darling, I figured you would need some more clothes. I hope you like this t-shirt, though it might be a bit large. I’ve also included a bag of drachmas, in case you need to call someone. All my love,Mother.” And sure enough, a bag of golden drachmas were underneath the t-shirt. Lunar felt a tear slip down her cheek at the thoughtfulness of them. Lunar smiled as more tears rolled down her cheeks, then put her new things away neatly, and laid down on her bed. She drifted off to sleep after a while.