Adventure must start with running away from home

Katie and Steadfast were walking leisurely through the long grass beside the asphalt road heading to the familiar forest ahead of them. They were just coming back from their daily rides. Steadfast, being a horse enjoyed them greatly. He gave a content whine when Katie scratched him behind his ear. She giggled at that. Although the girl was only eight years old she was already allowed to have her own horse. Her dad owned a farm with horse stables and she loved assisting him in taking care of all the stallions and mares.

The gentle breeze was refreshing under the scorching sun. Summers in Texas were exceptionally hot. Katie stretched her back and arms up and laid on the back of her skewbald horse. She tilted her cowboy hat to shield her eyes from the sunshine. She laid there for a while listening to the hooves stepping on grass trusting Steadfast that he knows the way.

Her moment of bliss was interrupted by a distant wail of sirens. After some time when the wailing increased she also heard little wheels rolling toward her. Katie got up, adjusted her hat and turned around on to see what was all the commotion about. Steadfast stopped walking when his owner gently tugged the bridle. She spotted a boy on a skateboard chased by three cars with blue and red flashing lights on the roofs.

That was an unusual sight. He couldn't be older than 10 years old. From where Katie was sitting she saw that he was pretty thin, had black hair and was wearing a blue hoodie tied around his waist that was flowing behind him. She thought that the boy didn't have a chance of escaping the police cars skating. Guess he thought of that too because when he reached them he got off of his skateboard, grabbed it and hopped on the startled stallion all in one second.

"GO!"

Katie jumped at that. On impulse, she kicked her heels into the sides of her horse. It all happened way too fast for her to register. They galloped into the forest. Katie turned left, deeper into the woods. That way they won't be able to drive after them. She felt the other boy's skinny arms holding on to her waist. Branches and leafs were scratching all three of them as they run blindly through the forest. The police officers were yelling out to them to stop but Katie didn't listen. Excuse her for not wanting to bring home the cops and explain to her dad as to why exactly she was running away from them with a stranger sitting behind her on her horse. The police officers got out of the vehicles and started running after them. Katie was tempted to look behind and see just how many of them there is. But she didn't want risk running into a tree.

Now that the initial shock has passed she concentrated on the ride. The girl recognized these part of the woods and if she was right there should be a gorge right... there! A few meters away there was a crack in the ground and Katie prepared her horse to jump. Right, when they were in the air she felt the boy press his face against her back and tighten his hold on her. Steadfast landed gracefully and immediately started galloping again. This should at least discourage the cops from continuing the chase.

Katie looked back and saw the figures in dark blue uniforms stop at the gorge. She made a little triumphant cheer in her head. Then she changed directions and lead them to her home. But when they were out of the forest the police officers were already waiting for them. They must have got back to their cars and drove the rest of their way out. They ordered for them to halt. The skewbald horse and his passengers only sped up and passed the officers ignoring their demands.

Now there was only meadows and open space between them. Her dad's farm was nearby but she didn't want to lead the police force to her home. But then again where else should they go. For now, she decided on galloping ahead. The sound of moving cars could be heard behind them and Steadfast couldn't gallop whole day. The situation was getting hopeless.

"There!" Katie was startled by the boy's voice. She almost forgot he was sitting behind her. He pointed to a herd of horses. Katie's dad's horses!

They turned in that direction. They could use the other horses to blend in with them. It would at least make it harder to spot them. Soon enough she noticed her house not too far away. The girl made Steadfast run faster just for this short distance. He pushed his way through the crowd of horses. Katie spotted a familiar willow tree. An idea sparked in her head. She thanked whatever deity was out there that she didn't bother with putting on a saddle. That would look suspicious.

"We gotta jump!" Katie tried to outshout the sound of countless hooves. Easier said than done. Neither of them has ever tried to hop off a horse's back while he was moving surrounded by other galloping horses. They would be trampled to death. But well there was no choice.

The boy waited for a moment until there was a small opening in between the powerful creatures, he slid one leg off of the horse's back and jumped. He rolled on the ground and got up as quickly as he could. Katie followed his motions leaving Steadfast to run along. She grabbed his hand and ran towards the willow carefully, not to be noticed by the cops.

As they stepped inside the curtain of the whip-like branches Katie signaled to climb the ladder that was nailed to the tree. It leads to a treehouse completely covered by the tree branches.

~xXx~

They collapsed on the wooden floor panting heavily. The sound of the police sirens was fading away.

Now that they were safe Katie took a better look at the stranger sitting in front of her. He was probably her age surprisingly. His jet black hair was messy and unkempt. Lots of tiny cuts marred his face and arms and a few wounds that would need a band-aid. The clothes that were hanging on his thin frame were dirty and tattered. He was wearing a black worn out band shirt, a dark blue hoodie with a zipper tied around his waist, faded jeans with a nasty hole on his scraped knee and dirty trainers. His backpack wasn't in a better state. There was his skateboard sticking out of it. But the thing that stood out the most were definitely his eyes. They were green but somehow reminded Katie of the sea. Wasn't the sea supposed to be blue, she wondered.

She shook herself out of her musing and send the boy a ridiculed stare. "Well?!"

He stopped rubbing his arm on which he fell when they were jumping off of the horse. Those deep green eyes looked up at her confused.

"Any explanations?!" She elaborated. "Who are you? Why were you running away from the cops? Look, if I'm in trouble because of you, you are so dead!"

"Um, well my name is Percy Jackson and I'm pretty sure you're not in trouble." You could definitely hear he wasn't from Texas. The boy that called himself Percy sounded completely different than the people from San Antonio. He lacked the signature southern accent.

Katie calmed down a bit. "You didn't answer my second question.

"And I am still talking to a stranger," He countered. "I'm not just gonna tell all my secrets to some random girl. Didn't your parents taught you about the sacred rule stranger danger?"

At that historical moment when Katie saw that smirk on that irritatingly smug face, she knew they would not going to get along.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm Katie Penelope Gardner."

Percy made a motion as if he was tilting his invisible hat in greetings. She huffed at that. But that also made her realize that she lost her own hat somewhere when they were running away. Great.

"So, uh, nice place you got there," Percy said looking around the treehouse. He tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, thanks." She didn't let him. "So, why is the police after you?"

He sighed as he scrapped dried bits of blood of his knee. He wore thoughtful look but then as if he was giving in he said: "I ran away from home."

Katie's expression shifted from harsh to a more sympathetic and curious one. She guessed he wouldn't like to talk about it. She let it go. For now.

"Well, what are you doing in Texas?" When he gave her a questioning look she said: "You don't look like you're from here."

"What? Never seen a homeless eight-year-old in Texas?" Katie gave him a look. "Yeah, I know. Stupid question."

"Wait," She said. "Homeless?"

He paused as if he just registered what he just blurted out. He nodded reluctantly.

"You can stay with me! Not here of course. I live in that house nearby. You could stay for a bit."

"Only if there will be blue food."

Katie blinked at him. After a while of silence, she deadpanned "I'm keeping you."

She smiled when he gave her a ridiculed look.

"What." Somehow Percy made it sound more like a statement than a question. That only made her smile more.

"Something tells me that we are going to have a lot of fun in the future."

Percy smiled amused and raised an eyebrow. Though he couldn't help but warn her. "I'll destroy your world."

And he did. But he gave her a new life in return. Full of trouble and adventure.

Not gonna lie. This story was inspired by a fanfic 'The Unknown Friendship' By the amazing Unexplainable Contradiction.

She wrote a similar story about Katie and Percy but unfortunately, it isn't complete and I assume abandoned. Nonetheless, I recommend it to you because it is just that awesome! (You can read it as a series of oneshots)

Anyway, THIS IS NOT A SLASH. KATIE AND PERCY AREN'T GOING TO BE A COUPLE. There is just going to be a pure beautiful sibling-like relationship between them. Also, this is my way of punching the 'boy and a girl can't be friends, they will in love with each other eventually' stereotype right in the face. :)

Besides I always wanted to write a story about Katie. She lives in San Antonio because Rick Riordan was born there. Of course, you can expect the Stoll Brothers to make an appearance. Yes, Katie and Travis are going to be together. Naturally, Percabeth is going o happen. Percabeth is LIFE. And this story is probably going to have 20-30 chapters. There is also going to be a quote at the beginning of every chapter.

Until my return.

Goodbye, fellow demigods.