Thousand years ago, in the woods

The son of Hades wasn't easily frightened. He had experienced so much pain and horror in his life that he thought nothing could make him feel afraid. At least that was what he thought before a midnight black and barely one feet long creature jumped on his stomach while he was sleeping.

Nico opened his eyes in terror and prepared mentally to leap in battle with the monster. He reached for his Stygian iron sword and waited for the monster to attack. When the so-called monster didn't move, Nico's curiosity grew. The being didn't have an aura of a monster, no, the aura was in fact the most peaceful he had felt in a long time.

He didn't want to admit it, but Nico longed for the camp. He hadn't stayed there too much yet in some strange way, the camp felt like a home. I don't miss the camp, Nico thought a little mad at himself, I just think so because of all the memories. The forest is my home now.  

His thoughts were interrupted by a small whimper. His eyes snapped back to the creature, which looked awfully lot like a puppy, on top of him. Only now the son of Hades realized a bleeding wound on its paw. He cursed loudly. 

Nico lifted the puppy, well he thought it was a puppy, off his stomach. It immediately started whimpering again because of the lost of warmth. 

"Shh, little one. It's going to be okay." Nico said and petted the puppy's head awkwardly. As he started looking for bandages and other first aid supplies the puppy watched all his movements closely. Nico couldn't believe he was going to help this creature that had just simply barged in his tent in the middle of the night. 

He sighed, sat on the bed next to the mysterious black puppy and started tending its wound. After he was done, the apparently female puppy gave him a look, which Nico deeply hoped was a look of gratitude. Deciding the innocent looking and limping puppy wouldn't be any threat to a son of Hades, he lied down next to it as the creature snuggled closer to him.

Despite Nico's futile attempts to fall asleep, the puppy kept staring at him as if it was waiting for him to say something. Dogs aren't smart, it wouldn't understand a word I say which would just make me look like an utter fool, he thought.

As if sensing the demigod's words, the puppy looked Nico with a face that clearly said "try me".  For a moment Nico was shocked until he realized that a puppy who understands speech isn't the first and most certainly not the last weird thing he has faced and what he will face in the future. Nico realized he had nothing to lose.

"So, where do you come from?" he asked the dog nervously. The puppy looked at Nico as if he was a completely maniac and the demigod once again realized his mistake.

"Oh yeah, you can't speak" he muttered aloud awkwardly. He swore he saw the puppy rolling its eyes at his words. 

Nico took a deep breath. "Lets start with something easier then. Do you have a name?" This time the puppy glanced at him approvingly and shook its head. Great, I'm talking with an unfamiliar puppy that just sneaked in my tent in the middle of the night, Nico thought and let out a small laugh.

"I'll just have to give you a name then. Hmm.. lets see. You're black. How about Blackie?" he suggested uncomfortably. If dogs could grimace, this puppy's impression could have been a perfect example of that.  "I think that's a no," Nico said and laughed softly before continuing "What do you think about Skiá? It means shadow in Greek."

The puppy barked happily and licked Nico's nose. Nico was stunned for a while because of the sudden act of attachment. Soon the corners of his mouth turned up into a small but genuine smile and he whispered "I think we're going to get along just fine."

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"There you go girl." Nico said as he dropped couple pieces of raw meat in front of Skiá, who started roasting the food with her fire. Yep, her fire. It turned out two days ago that just as Nico had expected, Skiá wasn't a normal puppy. She was more like a fire breathing puppy. 

Quietly chuckling at the memory of the puppy almost burning his hair, Nico went over to the campfire he set up to sacrifice part of his meal to Hades. For some reason, he didn't sense the familiar smell which usually appears whenever he sacrifices food to his father. 

Hades hadn't even been answering to his prayers lately. After the war, Nico had grown closer to his father than ever before. Nico was even in good terms with Persephone nowadays. He knew he had to visit the Underworld, but he couldn't leave Skiá alone nor he could take the risk of bringing her with him. 

Hades was probably just busy, he is the God of Dead after all, but Nico couldn't shrug off the feeling that something was horribly wrong.