The first thing she heard was the fizzling of sparks, one of which struck her exposed eyelid and gave her a little sting that jolted her awake.

She immediately raised her hands and grasped the straps holding her in place as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the cramped interior.

Red warning lights flickered above and beside her head, loose wires hung like multicolored spaghetti noodles from several damaged compartments here and there, and thin wisps of smoke drifted through the air, her nostrils inadvertently inhaling once and eliciting a small cough from her lungs.

'Still alive.' She mentally sighed.

Another spark struck her eye and she hissed.

"Okay, I'm up. Geez." She mumbled as she held up her hand to block the offending flares.

Time to get out of here.

With her right hand occupied shielding her face, she had to use her left to yank off the straps fastening her to her seat, starting with her shoulders, then her waist, until they finally gave way and she discarded them.

"Good. They were starting to itch, anyway."

Pushing herself forward, she was forced into a crouching position due to the limited space. Looking at what was in front of her, she ran her fingers across the edges of the door, looking for some sort of release button or switch.

She found it on the right side hidden behind some exposed wires, and so grabbed it and gave it a twist.

THUNK

Aside from the noise, nothing happened.

"So that's how it's gonna be then, huh? Alright."

Bracing herself against the walls, she made an attempt to kick the door open, creating a sizable dent in the metal and dislodging it somewhat, as she could see little beams of sunlight seeping through the edges of the bent metal.

One more kick was all it took and the door flew off its hinges, the sudden intrusion of sunlight causing her to go temporarily blind as she slowly made her way out of the pod.

The soothing sensation of warm sand met her feet as the gentle caress of the sun's rays enveloped her. Squinting her eyes until they adjusted to the light, she beheld the absolutely gorgeous sight of a tropical beach, with steady, sapphire-blue tides to her left, white sand stretching as far as she could see straight ahead of her, and tall palm trees bordering a lush tropical forest to her right.

"Hmm, okay then. This is nice, I guess."

She then reached up and removed her mask, allowing her neck-length blonde hair to cascade down her neck as she took a deep, relaxing breath of the fresh late morning air.

When she opened her eyes, she looked down and rubbed her thumb across the purple web pattern of her white veil, muttering a curse when she saw the broken lense meant to protect her right eye. Recalling how it broke in the first place, she placed two fingers to her head and made contact with the bruised area around her eye socket.

"Ow."

She then performed a quick self-examination, cataloguing her aching joints and the few cuts and other bruises she had here and there, including her swollen knuckles underneath the torn fabric of her gloves.

When her hand passed over the damaged pocket on her hip, she fiddled with the loosened fabric to find that its contents were gone without a trace.

"Must've fallen out. Long gone by now."

Focusing her vision, she spotted what appeared to be the top of a small mountain in the distance. Deciding that it would be the best place to get her bearings, she cast one last look over her shoulder at her point of origin and huffed.

"Well, Gwen, here we go again. Whoopdee-fucking-do."

She then proceeded to slowly walk up the beach, trek passed the palm trees and then disappear into the jungle, the fading splash of the waves and distant chirping of birds offering her a minor distraction from her troubled thoughts as she carried on.

(X)

"There it is!"

"Wait, slow down!"

"You know how she gets."

"Hurry up, you two!"

"Alright, we're here. Goodness."

"What is that?"

"It looks like some type of metal…canister, perhaps?"

"Then why is there a seat inside of it?"

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, and look here."

"…Footprints?"

"Yes…leading away from the container."

"By Hera…could it be?"

"So it would seem."

"Another outsider. It's been decades since the last one."

"There weren't supposed to be anymore after that."

"Regardless, we should inform the Queen at once."

"Not yet; not until we have the outsider in our custody. She hasn't gone far."

"She?"

"I can tell by the shape of the tracks and how far they are spaced apart. The outsider is female, possesses a small stature, and is injured to a degree. It looks like we missed her by almost one half-hour, but her speed is increasing."

"Then we must make haste and catch her before she gets too close to the center of the island, lest history repeat itself."

"And before 'You-know-who' finds out."

"Oh, you jest; she will find out either way, regardless of our efforts."

"Yes. It does seem to be one of her many talents."

"Enough. No more talking, my sisters; the hunt is on!"

"Huzzah!"

"Lead the way, Artemis!"

Author's Note:

I've had this idea swimming in my head for a long while.

I'm not sure how long this will be, but I also plan on expanding the world little by little as the story progresses. I'm such a sucker for romance. I hope I do the characters and their relationship justice.

So how'd I do? Please leave a comment/review. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.