A/N: Back with another story.
The dawn greets Apollo with gray skies. He pouts, unhappy to see his favorite part of the day — the beginning where he's supposed to make the world rise and shine — spoiled by lightning strikes coming down and thunder echoing crisply before it gets muffled by rain and puddles.
Despite not being called, Artemis appears beside him, stretching her arms over her head and arching her back.
Artemis doesn't have this problem, being active at night — clouds or no clouds. She doesn't need to shine like he does since she's in her element in the dark. Apollo pouts, overlooking a cliff and braces himself for the first drops of incoming rain.
"Looks like I'll be able to get some sleep today," she says, rolling her neck over her shoulders. It's been busy what with hunting season in full swing and she has yet to shoot a boar.
"Stop rubbing it in, Kurenai," Idate snaps.
"Stop being such a baby," she snaps back. "Geez, it's summer, would it kill you to back off a little? It's so damned hot, Idate."
"You don't hear me complaining in winter!"
"Yes, you do. You spend it crying unless you're chasing some mortal," she yells, spitting the last word out like a curse.
He always gets all silly and soft-headed when the latest pretty face arrives. It's embarrassing for a god. And that includes Zeus, even though won't admit that bit out loud or else be grounded for the next millennia.
"Too bad you're as unfeeling as a rock," he accuses.
It reminds of her the old days when they bickered as children over their mother's attention. Tinged with nostalgia, Kurenai laughs before raising her arms, giving a full body stretch and yawning so wide her jaw nearly unhinges.
"This rain is amazing," she says with a sigh of relief as the storm starts to soak them.
Idate pouts.
The hunting season is in full swing, which means Artemis is counting down the days before she takes down a boar. The days are stretching out to ridiculous lengths to the point where she has to shove Idate to get the hell out of the way and make room for the night. It doesn't give her enough time to track down the beast she wants. In his zeal to shine the days so brightly, he's also drying up her forests with all insufferable heat.
If he keeps it up, she knows he's going to interrupt her upcoming eclipse which would allow her enough time to hunt properly or preserve her forests. Irritated by the time constraints and the mayhem wreaking in her favorite places, Kurenai knows she needs to act fast. Fighting with him directly isn't an option since the equinox is still a ways off and she can't mess with that or the other gods will see it as an excuse for another war or to push them into petty infighting.
Kurenai decides to fight dirty the only way she knows how: by getting someone else to do it for her. She's never gotten the hang of romance or understood its appeal. It's a silly distraction to torture and hurt without actually physically harming a person, which she finds to be a waste of time if it's not done the old fashioned way: arrows piercing flesh and breaking bones. Nothing beats a good stabbing or going straight for the jugular. Everything else is too messy, she thinks as she hoists up her flag, signaling Hermes.
Knowing how much he likes them, she sets out dried meat and candied fruit as snacks, hoping he'll get there faster. As expected, it gets the job done.
Chouji arrives without a sound. It's funny how the messenger of the gods is both fast and round at the same time, but doesn't mention it since the one time Ares did that, Hermes broke a chair over his head.
"You signalled?" Hermes asks, pointing at her flag and looking intently at her offerings. He points at one, unsure if they're just for decorative purposes or actually edible. He accidentally ate potpourri once when Athena summoned him and he hasn't forgotten the gross taste of perfume in his mouth.
"Yes, please have some," she offers cheerily, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice because she's so jittery with anticipation.
"What do ya need?" he asks.
He plucks a piece of jerky, decides it's touch too salty and leaves it alone after politely trying it.
"I need Eros," she informs him. Then, she gives shoots Chouji an angry glare when he looks up at her with a confused frown that contorts so that one eye is mostly open in horror.
"No, not for that," she stresses angrily.
"Oh," he shrugs, his face relaxing. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he's seen. But then, Artemis is attached to her freedom, not that there's anything wrong with that.
She hands him a note instead.
"Know where he's been lately?"
He chews thoughtfully on honeyed orange peel, one eye half-closed in concentration.
"Mmm - last I saw him was in some trading post by the coast," he recalls. "He was drunk and stabbed a few sailors with darts."
"Stabbed? What do you mean stabbed?" she asks, alarmed. "Isn't he supposed to shoot those stupid pansy-ass arrows?"
Chouji only knows part of the story.
"Aim's off," he says. "He's always been a lousy shot, but he's gotten worse. Not sure why. Aphrodite's been on him for screwing up a few assignments. There was even one time where a guy fell for his own reflection."
He snickers. That one was kind of funny now that he thinks about it. What kind of dumbass drowns in shallow water?
Kurenai looks down at her hands. There's a chance it might still work, even if she's not feeling as confident as a minute ago. She smiles a bit and hopes it works out.
Shikamaru lifts his cup, wishing for beer instead of wine. He sips anyway, thankful that at least it isn't that disgusting syrupy stuff Aphrodite likes to drink. He can vaguely taste tree bark or maybe something smoky in it. He tilts the cup around watching the contents slosh around lazily. He yawns, leaning his face on his hand.
There's never a puff of smoke or anything else to let him know when a god has appeared. Mostly, there was a lot of walking involved and spontaneous appearances occurred only in emergencies. Maybe it's from knowing Chouji for so long that he can sense the other messenger's sugar high before he actually sees him.
Chouji makes his way through the pub, dodging a few rowdy drunks who are looking for any excuse to fight.
"Hey, Chouji," he says.
"Are you drunk already?"
For being a god of love, Shikamaru is a strange choice, Chouji thinks. Unlike Aphrodite, who lives and breathes her role as romance and beauty incarnate, he's surly and doesn't give much a shit about the suspense of earning one's affection. He's more like Kurenai that way, who is all about fulfilling goals. Somehow, he drew the short straw by inheriting the family business as Aphrodite's son.
He watches as Eros rakes his fingers through his hair and looks forlornly at his cup. Shikamaru understands enough about wine to know it hasn't been aged enough. Then he concludes he's had way too much of it.
"Yup, drunk," Chouji answers himself.
"Aphrodite want anything else today?" Shikamaru asks in a defeated tone as his shoulders square, anticipating bad news.
All work and no play. Chouji smiles wryly, empathizing with the workload. It's always humans and other gods stirring up trouble and demanding the world of them. Somehow, they're stuck in the middle as messengers and intermediaries who wind up hated by everyone.
"Nah," Chouji assures him.
"Nice," Shikamaru says, shoulders lowering.
When a couple of sailors ram into their backs, shoving their ribs into the counter, Shikamaru's had enough despite being off the clock. He turns around, plucks a dart from a pouch and scratches both before turning around to finish his drink. Chouji makes a face as the two go from trading hits to full-on making out. The suddenness of their attraction alarms him. He wonders if Shikamaru is even aware of the strength of his power.
The remaining bad wine is finished is gulped down so that he doesn't have to taste it anymore. Being drunk is more enjoyable than actually drinking most of this swill.
"But Artemis wants to see you," Chouji informs him.
When Shikamaru nearly chokes, Chouji pats him on the back. For that helpful gesture, Chouji receives a paranoid glare.
"Not for that," Chouji says.
"Would've been weird," Shikamaru's eyes dart suspiciously.
Shikamaru neglects having to mention how he accidentally scratched her with an arrow the last time they were all together at one of those damned banquets. And the next person she happened to look at was Ares when he threw a piece of bread in her hair. Those stupid get-togethers were a bad idea. Since then, he's avoided them as much as possible. In his defense, Aphrodite had sent him on a ton of assignments that day and didn't leave him time to put his gear away.
"That's what I said," Chouji says.
Shikamaru smiles a bit, feeling a bit more relieved.
"Still stabbing people?"
"As you can see," Shikamaru answers distractedly while waving his hand to get the bar keep's attention.
A middle aged man lumbers over, tipping a bottle to the side for a refill of terrible alcohol.
"When did she want to see me?" Shikamaru asks.
"Try her tomorrow around sunset when she's wide awake," Chouji tells him. "Not that she's getting much sleep lately."
Shikamaru nods with a sigh.
Kurenai is in the middle of polishing her knives and mentally replays the route of her prized boar when Shikamaru arrives. He doesn't expect her to smile at him. It's not a warm, friendly gesture. He can't help but flinch.
"Uh, hi," he says.
"Hello," she says, stretching out the word with a touch of unfamiliar friendliness. She kind of hated him the last time they saw each other about a century ago, even when he did try to clarify by shouting at her how it was an accident.
"Hermes said you wanted to see me?" he says, rubbing the back of his neck.
That sharp grin is more of a toothy display plastered on her face. Not that she's ugly or anything, but it makes him jumpy when she displays her hunting instincts so openly. He doesn't have to try too hard to imagine being her newest target practice. Or worse.
He tries to push back the image of his head mounted on a wall.
"Yes."
She puts down the knife and cloth, pushing back the chair and standing up from the table.
"Apollo needs to be interested in someone," she explains.
Surprised by her directness, his eyebrow raises.
"Anyone in particular?"
"Doesn't matter, really," she answers quickly. "I need him distracted, preferably within the next month and I need you to be subtle about it."
Shikamaru absorbs the information, ticking off three of his fingers as she speaks.
"That would be a long range hit," he thinks aloud.
"Uh-huh," she nods.
He narrows her eyes at her, barely avoiding a wince. Lately, he hasn't been exactly on point, performance-wise.
"Why should I?" he asks, squinting at her.
"My brother's lonely," she lies breezily. "He needs romance and all that sappy shit."
She shoots him a look that implies he should know all about it. Suspicious, his eyebrow raises.
"He's been asking for it," she states.
He chuckles uncomfortably at the weird sisterly concern for Apollo's sex life. Maybe it's a twin thing, but it's gross, though he can't voice his disgust out of fear of her being too close to her weapons because he values his limbs.
"What do I get out of it?"
"What do you want?" she shoots back.
His mouth opens before he realizes he has nothing to say. He hesitates because no one's asked him that question in a long time.
"I'll get to back to you on that."
Artemis flashes her teeth again.
A week passes without any results. Except that's not entirely accurate. At least three of Artemis' teenage devotees have developed rampant crushes on each other and a village idiot. Idate still isn't going stupid over anyone. Kurenai isn't happy.
Shikamaru meant to knock out this assignment as fast as possible. Maybe, a few centuries ago, he could've gotten it done right away. But it's not happening as planned.
"What are you doing?" Kurenai doesn't ask the question. She yells it at him, declaratively.
Shikamaru nonchalantly rubs the back of his neck.
"Couldn't get close enough to him," he shrugs.
"Aw, shit," she groans. "Chouji was right. You gotta stab the bastard."
"Scratching usually helps," he adds.
"How are you gonna get it done?" she snaps.
Kurenai pulls on her hair. With the longer days, her boars are wandering out a lot farther for water, outside of the boundaries of her forest. Summer's running out. She needs Apollo out of the way for a good while. She needs him to taper off and soon before the heat bleeds into her seasons.
Dried grass and twigs crunch under Kurenai's boots as she paces in front of him. There's no way she can tell her stupid brother off directly. The last time she did (by pointing out that she was the older sibling), his way of getting back at her was to muscle in during her winter time. Being a sore loser by the intrusion, she also did the same in his summer time, wrestling with their heavenly spheres which is how they wound up with the solstices and the occasional eclipse.
Sadly, her only option is Eros, she thinks as she pulls on her hair.
"Let's try this again," Kurenai growls, gazing sharply at him. She stomps to emphasize her point.
Walking through a temple is a serene experience. After Shikamaru's recent fuck-ups, listening to her followers light up candles to send up their prayers soothes her. Kurenai closes her eyes, listening to the pleas directed at her: strength, courage, better tracking, improved marksmanship — the usual stuff.
She knows each of those voices imploring her for help. Some, she can help in her role as Artemis. She blesses an older pregnant woman with an easy childbirth and a young child with wits. Others can't return back to the hunt, which leads her to find new guardians who can safeguard her forests and take care of her orphaned girls.
Another voice stands out. It's neither loud nor timid. A strong sense of purpose for being so young. Also dislikes the excessive heat.
Kurenai concentrates, listening.
Dark, intelligent eyes. Hair piled in silly buns. Excellent hunter and tracker. Patient. Wise.
Absolutely perfect.
Kurenai exhales calmly.
Tenten shoots up in bed, disoriented by the sudden movement. She pulls up her knee to her chest, giving her a place to rest her forehead.
"Aw, crap."
The sound of birds squawking miserably in the heat dissolves the remnants of a dream. She fans herself with an open hand as the images fade away, then switches to tugging back and forth on the hem of her shirt to get any air circulating. It's been an especially hot summer and she while she doesn't care for the cold, she can't wait for a break in the weather. The rain from a couple of weeks ago was refreshing, although sadly, the effects didn't last long.
Now, it's just hot as balls and she keeps waking up in a sweat. It's like waking up in soup. Tepid, gross sweat soup.
Tenten slicks back the puddle of perspiration on her forehead to her hair before stretching in the only cool time of the day before it feels as hot as an oven. Even the herd of sheep aren't really in the mood to move around all that much.
She pokes Ayame awake.
"Sleepy head," she says, gently patting Ayame's back. "Creek?"
Ayame frowns at the heat, slicking back her own hair.
"Yes."
The creek helps wash away the sweat for at least a little while. Tenten breathes in the morning air, then huffs when she can't feel much of a breeze as she sits atop a mossy boulder. Her dripping hair is the only thing that sort of brings her relief.
"Here," Ayame hands her a tunic, which she reluctantly pulls on.
During breakfast, Tenten overlooks weird, little things like ants marching in a strange formation. It looks like they're saying "teach." Her food requires her attention when she's so hungry. She shrugs, tearing a piece of bread in half and chews.
"Wait a minute," Ayame says.
Tenten wrings out the water from her hair on them and gets up.
Then there are the peaches which fall off a tree rather effortlessly with a randomly passing breeze. Miraculously, they don't bruise of split open. Beside her, Ayame is the one who cocks her head to the side.
"Is it just me or does that say 'aim?'" Ayame asks.
Since knowing each other, Ayame knows Tenten's been blessed with natural talent as a hunter, figuring out weapons and yielding them effectively. Ayame also knows her friend can miss signals, even when they're right in front of her dumb face.
Tenten shrugs and proceeds to pile them up in a basket, taking only one as a snack.
It's the last omen that's the most blatantly obvious to Ayame. There's a triangle cloud with one tip pointing at her the moment she steps outside from Artemis' temple. Tenten wouldn't have noticed if Ayame hadn't said anything.
"What? That? It's nothing," Tenten says when she's told by more than one person that it's pointing at her. "It's just a cloud."
Ayame stops walking, letting her go ahead and seeing the thing hovering above her friend.
"Dummy, stop being so blind, of course it's following you," Ayame says.
"No way," Tenten repeats.
Fed up, Ayame throws down her pile of firewood and sits on the side of a hill.
"Stay put," she orders.
Annoyed, Tenten stops and turns around to face her.
"Seriously?"
Ayame purses her lips.
"Look up," she says.
Tenten rolls her eyes and looks up.
"It's just a cloud."
"On an otherwise clear sky."
Tenten scowls.
"Weirder things have happened," she insists.
"Go that way," Ayame says, stretching her arm out to the right.
"Fine," Tenten sighs.
It follows. Tenten continues to be skeptical.
"Coincidence," Tenten yells.
"Run the other way," Ayame says helpfully.
Despite the late afternoon heat, Tenten is irritated enough into having enough energy to prove her wrong. With her knees rising up quickly, she's momentarily able to provide a breeze for herself as she goes around in a wide loop.
"It's following you!" Ayame informs her.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Look up, silly girl!"
Tenten does. Then she turns direction, going up the hill.
"It's the wind," Tenten says, panting.
"They don't usually go against the wind," Ayame says.
Before Tenten can deny it, she feels a light breeze blowing at her face. Her face contorts into a half-frown, mostly disgusted look before she runs downward, letting the angle move her legs more efficiently and pull her down faster to level ground. She looks up while she runs, feels the dead grass crunching under her feet and scratching at her legs, trying to prove she's not being stalked by a triangle cloud.
"What?" she mutters to herself.
Then her foot catches on an exposed root and she tumbles spectacularly, rolling the rest of the way down the hill. She winds up on her back, staring up at the cloud floating serenely above her.
"Aw, shit," she mutters.
Ayame wonders what it means.
Chouji doesn't seem very impressed with Kurenai's approach.
"Don't you think you're being a bit too subtle?"
Kurenai scrunches up her nose. The way the other gods usually got a mortal's attention wasn't by dropping clues, but usually with kidnappings and brute force. Which is how a lot of people wound up pregnant.
"She's a bright girl," Kurenai informs him, despite her diminishing confidence. "She'll get it."
Tenten is a smart girl, just terrible at subtlety. But Artemis will make sure the little idiot gets the message.
"Pfft," he laughs.
Unlike Shikamaru, Chouji can safely make fun of Kurenai since she needs him to deliver missives all the time. But it strikes him how she's being awfully optimistic about the kid, but wants to know how it's playing out. He stuffs the remaining pieces of paper into his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and taking off.
Kurenai uselessly fans herself and sighs, her eyelids feeling heavy from all the overtime she's suddenly putting in.
Getting Tenten to the see the oracle is not an easy task. Unlike the temple, which is massive and inviting despite being massive, the oracle resides in a huge, forbidding looking structure built right into a cave. All the place needed was lightning and thunder and a sudden storm to pop up out of nowhere, confirming her terrible feeling about the place. Tenten has made a point of not seeking her out for this reason.
Due to the heat, she woke up too early and found her just as alert just as the sun rose. At Ayame's insistence, she half-stomps, half-shuffles as her arms wobble childishly at her sides.
"But I have taaaarget practice," Tenten whines, pulling on her shirt.
There's maybe one thing that'll work.
"Go and I'll make you that bread thing you like," Ayame promises.
Foot paused in midstep, Tenten brightens up.
"Really? You mean it?"
"Only if you go and see her," Ayame snaps, turning her around by the shoulders and placing her foot on her ass, not quite kicking her as much as giving her a much-needed shove.
"Meanie," Tenten grumbles, turning around to stick out her tongue and goes ahead, hesitantly stepping into the darkness anyway.
All that circumstantial nonsense Ayame keeps rambling on sounds like too good to be true. The nearby statues and frescoes lit up by the afternoon sun beg for attention as she stops to admire one of Artemis about to launch an arrow from a bow. As expected, the temple grows darker the further in she walks, surrounded by carved stone intricately stacked up so the roof doesn't collapse.
Tenten's footsteps are slow as her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. She hums an off-key tune to ward off the creepiness rattling her bones. The sound echoing back in her ears is a slight reassurance.
"What brings you here?" a voice asks.
Tenten jumps back a mile, her heart punching hard against her ribs.
"Did I startle you, child?"
The dim light makes it hard to decipher shapes.
"Who are you?" she squints.
A laugh. High-pitched. It hits her ears almost painfully.
"You seek the oracle's residence and ask the oracle who she is?" the voice cackles. "You are a strange one. She may finally be getting a sense of humor. Maybe that's why the goddess favors you."
Tenten mouths Artemis' name with a frown.
"I can see the question on your face."
"Huh?" she asks inarticulately.
The oracle extends her arms, metal bangles tinkling with the movement.
"Come closer, child."
The confused expression is pasted on her face as she gathers the nerve to take that first step and the next.
"Ayame was right," Tenten says, finding a skinny kid with long hair sitting atop a pile of cushions. "You are a kid. But why do you sound like an old fart?"
"Rude," the oracle frowns disapprovingly.
"Sorry," Tenten apologizes quickly, scratching the nape of her neck, her eyes studying the textured surface of the cave.
"Wisdom has no age, child," the kid says.
Tenten's eyes widen for a second. Someone's a little sensitive. But seriously, Tenten is 14 and the little twerp's age is very likely in the single digits.
"Come here," that old voice insists, gesturing her to come closer.
Tenten discreetly rolls her eyes and chokes down a scoff, getting the impression the kid's inhaled too many vapors. Shoulders hunched, she reluctantly steps forward.
"Sit here," the oracle says.
She sits on the floor, legs folded looks at her knees in front of her. The hair on her arms raises at the order, hunter instincts starting to kick in. A deep breath usually helps, but she needs panic to carry her to the nearest escape in the imminent future, mentally readying herself to run for it in the next few moments.
Tenten is wary as the kid picks up something.
"Go on," the oracle says.
"I don't know what —"
"Have you experienced any unusual omens?"
"Uuuuhhh," Tenten can't think of any.
"Anything strange happen?" she rephrases the question.
"Mm, maybe. Ayame said a cloud was following me."
"How did it look?"
"Triangle-ish, I think."
"Anything else?"
"Thought I saw something in a piece of bread," she scratches her scalp. "Maybe some spilled peaches? I'm usually not clumsy. I have really good balance and run like a horse, you know."
The oracle clears her throat.
"Bit of a showoff, no?"
"Not my fault I'm awesome," Tenten counters.
The kid raises an eyebrow, regarding her skeptically.
"Ask your question," she orders.
"Uhh...alright," Tenten says. "This all a coincidence, isn't it? Ayame's full of it, right? Like there's no divine reason behind all this freaky stuff?"
"Those are three questions, but it sounds like one," the oracle says, tossing something into a cup and shaking it between her hands. From the sound of it, Tenten guesses they're pebbles knocking around.
The cup lands upside down before the kid with a crisp smack.
Bored of waiting, Ayame kicks a pebble. The weird cloud dissipated once Tenten stepped into the temple. If it's taking this long, surely it means something.
Outside in the sunshine, the world seems to tilt at a funny angle once Tenten is out. Her footsteps are unsteady and she can't really tell if her outstanding sense of balance will let her down.
"That took longer than expected," is the first thing Ayame says. "How'd it go?"
"I think that little brat huffs too many vapors."
"What?" Ayame needs clarification.
"The oracle is a baby," Tenten says. "But she talks like a granny and calling me a child even though I know she hasn't even gotten her period yet. It's so weird and creepy and I need a bath or a nap or something."
"I meant, what did she say?" she repeats.
"Oh, that," Tenten says, turning to kick a pebble and mumbles a response.
The oracle quadruple checked her fortune by scrambling some runes, throwing some salt on a lit lantern, making her drop a pebble into a basin of water and finally checking the lines of her palm.
"One more time so I can hear it?" Ayame places her hands on her friend's solid shoulders.
"The little weirdo said I'm chosen or something," Tenten replies, rushed.
"I knew it!" Ayame's hand fists as she yanks back her elbow.
She looks at Tenten's back and rushes to catch up. Above them, she finds an blue open sky as the noon sun rises.
"So, what were you chosen for?" Ayame asks.
"Hades if I know," she shrugs, then sticks a hand in her pocket. "The mini freak said I should sleep with flowers and cypress leaves under my pillow."
She pulls out a small pouch. Ayame opens it and peeks inside to find colorful petals.
"What for?"
"Further instructions, I guess," Tenten replies.
"Well, sweet dreams, then."
"But first," Tenten reminds her. "You promised me bread."
Sick of the heat and not looking forward to baking, Ayame grimaces.
Shikamaru looks up from his notebook to observe Apollo observing plants, checking out the details of leaves and petals, probably for medicinal purposes. He's been figuring out Apollo's routine, figuring out how he's filling up these long summer days and making so many others miserable for it.
Mostly, he's studying. A walk in a forest, writing down notes, drawing, some experiments.
It's not the most exciting thing, but Shikamaru is patient. At least Hermes isn't bothering him with more assignments. He takes it to mean Aphrodite is playing with another distraction, which suits him just fine because he's not really into making strangers fall for each other based on her whims.
Kurenai finds him in his usual spot on a hill surrounded by shrubs. She smacks the back of his head as a way of greeting.
"Hey, screw-up," she says, plopping down beside him.
"Hey back, you witch," he deadpans, pointing a flat gaze at her.
He looks down at his notebook, ignoring her instead.
"You need a tutor," she declares.
He doesn't say anything as his eyes drift up to look at her.
"You're getting a tutor," she informs him.
"Don't tell me it's you," he says.
"Nope," she says crisply.
She doesn't teach anyone anything when she can bless a few favored ones with abilities. Somehow, he isn't able to do his job correctly. While Tenten isn't the best with subtle messages, Kurenai has faith in her girl. She'll make sure the kid gets the message.
His lips purse.
"I got my best girl on it," she looks up at the darkening sky.
"When do I meet her?"
"Tomorrow, bright and early."
Tenten rolls her eyes when Ayame reminds her to find cypress leaves and put them under her pillow with the dried flower petals the oracle gave her. While the oracle was pretty exhaustive about looking into her potential future, she still can't bring herself to believe in everything that strange kid told her about being chosen for a task. If she's meant to do something, at the very least, it ought to be useful, which is what she prayed for at the temple.
Strange things happening, consulting a freaky child and sleeping with weird things under her head don't seem like efficient ways for her to figure out what she should be doing.
"Fine," she huffs.
"Maybe you'll dream up a prophecy," Ayame says, her eyes widening. "Maybe you'll slay a monster like the minotaur, a gorgon or a sea serpent. Or-or- you'll travel somewhere and end a war or invent some super awesome fighting technique."
Exhausted from a long day, Tenten yawns.
"You wish," she says as she reclines, ready to knock out.
Ayame smiles, watching Tenten fall asleep right away once her head hits the pillow. She blows out the lone candle and lies down,
Tenten doesn't know why she wakes up right away, fully alert. It feels like she was pulled through her bed and into a meadow, surrounded by trees. It's her target practice field.
"What the —?" Tenten raises herself off the soft grass with an elbow. Around her, cypresses, cedars and a few boulders stand guard passively.
"Good, you got the message," a voice says.
Startled, Tenten turns around. A stunning woman with dark hair emerges from the trees. Tenten doesn't usually notice clothes, but then, she's never seen anyone look so immaculate in the moonlight. Or any light, for that matter.
"Did you summon me?" Tenten asks.
"Yes," Kurenai says. "I've been trying to get you to pay attention for a few days now and it looks like your friend is faster at taking at taking a hint. Very smart, that Ayame."
"My apologizes," Tenten says, looking down with a pout. At least Ayame is being praised.
Kurenai stops in front of her. Tenten stares at the fine leather of her sandals.
"Child, I need you to fulfill an important task."
"I'm not sure what I can do for you," Tenten says, raising her face, but not daring to look at her directly. Still, Tenten can see the bow in one hand and a quiver full of arrows on her shoulder.
"Are you a goddess?" Tenten asks, clearly awed.
"I've heard your prayers, girl," Kurenai says. "Or don't you remember asking me to put your skills to use?"
Tenten bows.
"Artemis! I'm sorry, I never thought you'd speak to me directly. And that oracle is a strange talking baby."
Kurenai laughs.
"Look up," she stoops down, touching Tenten's chin with the back of her hand and gently pushes the girl's face up. "Look around. Remember this place. Come here when you wake up."
With that, Kurenai presses her palm right below Tenten's collarbone and pushes her back.
Tenten turns onto her back and falls out of bed. The sun hasn't even risen as she breathes in, trying to retain the images of what she saw in her dream.
The virgin huntress spoke to her. She touches her chin where Artemis touched her and made her look up. Her eyes close and she sees the meadow again. She pushes herself off the floor, rinses her mouth and splashes water on her face before snatching up her bow and arrow and runs outside.
This early, the breeze is actually cool, even as she races to find out what's awaiting her.
She runs past the creek, her legs splashed with cold water and she makes a mental note to suggest coming out earlier to cool off.
The forest path is easy to navigate as she spots the boulders and cypress trees. Even though the sun isn't out yet, she can see a figure wearing light colors.
"Artemis?" she calls out once she enters the meadow.
"What the —?"
Shikamaru turns, seeing a girl emerge from the trees. Dark hair piled in silly buns.
"You must be Tenten," a voice says.