*The day that Artemis fell in love.*
"No, thou cannot come with me." Artemis said sternly, looking at all her hunters. "But-" Zoë started, though Artemis held up her hand. "Silence, this is a one person mission, I will leave you in charge Zoë, do not fail me." She said, gazing down at her lieutenant. Zoë nodded. "I will do thee proud." She said, bowing slightly. "Good, I shall be back as soon as possible, stay safe my hunters." All of her hunters nodded and bowed respectively. Artemis then turned and ran off, her bow in hand. She had been sensing a monster around Greece for a while now, a strong one. And she didn't want to loose any of her hunters, so she was going to go alone.
She had stopped running around ten miles away from where she saw her hunters last. She was in a forest a few miles from a city, but she didn't think that there would be anyone around. Besides, she was a goddess, and they worshiped her. The mortals would do whatever she asked them to. She was slowly walking around, her appearance changing slightly to where she looked around seventeen or eighteen, maybe nineteen. Sometimes she accidentally changed her appearance subconsciously. Suddenly she heard a noise and in two seconds she had an arrow notched in her bow, pointing at wherever the noise came from.
"That's fast hand work." The voice belong to a male…. Artemis didn't remove the arrow as the man walked out of the shadows. He had a bow and arrow as well, though his was not notched. His hair was blonde at the tips but brown at the roots, and it gradually turned blonde, his eyes were a piercing green, his skin was tan and he was rather muscular, as though he worked with bricks, though Artemis knew that wasn't the case. Artemis had the arrow aimed at his heart, one slip of the hand and he was dead… The ma-boy seemed to be in his early twenties, twenty actually. "State thy name." Artemis said sternly. She didn't have time for this! "I am Kasotas." He said, bowing with one fist over his heart. "And I know who thou are, Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon!" He said, still bent in half, bowing. "It is more then an honor to be in thy's presence." He said, looking up at her slightly. "Thou may rise." Artemis said, surprising herself slightly. "Thank thee Artemis, if I am not being too bold, would thou like my kill as a sacrifice, for it is thou who hath blessed me with my hunting skills, so thou should be able to take my kill…" He said, looking at her after he stood up straight.
Artemis then lowered her bow, putting her arrow back in her quiver. "Very well, let us see what you have killed." She said, looking at the sack on his back. He bowed once more before removing it and placing it on the ground, opening it for her to see. It was a mighty bear…. And there was only one arrow in it, right where its heart was. "Thou had killed this bear alone?" Artemis asked, surprised, even her hunters would have needed to hit it more then once. "As I said before, it was thee who blessed me with the hunting skills, and I have practiced for all my life." Kasotas said, bowing once more. "I will not take it, take it to feed your family." Artemis said, flicking her hand.
"I have no family, nor a wife, but thank thou for your generosity." He said, bowing. Artemis studied him for a moment, if he was good enough to kill one of the biggest bears she had ever seen walk the earth, then perhaps he could help her hunt down this monster…. No! He was a male, and all males were the same. Though, perhaps… "Kasotas, would thou like to hunt with me?" She asked, looking at him, waiting to see his response.
The man's face lit up and he bowed again. "It has always been my dream to meet thee Artemis, I have never even dreamed that thee would ask me to join thou in a hunt. I cannot say no." He said, bowing once more. "Enough with the bowing," Artemis said, holding her hand up. "I am hunting a beast, a monster that I have sensed around this city. I did not want my hunters to get hurt, so I decided to hunt on my own, though thou has proven thyself worthy." She said, still examining him. He has clearly been blessed by Aphrodite, though Artemis would never admit it…..
"I am ready to lay down my life for thee and the safety of the city." Kasotas said, and Artemis could tell he was completely serious. "Does thou think that I cannot take care of myself?" She accused him, ready to shoot him. He looked alarmed at the accusation. "Of course not! Please, my lady, I do not think that thee cannot take care of thyself, but I just wanted to prove how loyal I am to thou." He said, bowing his head slightly. Artemis thought for a moment. "Very well, return to thy's home and put the bear away, it shall not rot while you hunt with me." She said, waving her hand and placing a blessing on the killed bear. "I thank thee." Kasotas said, bowing once more. "I shall be waiting her for ten minutes, it thou are not back by then, I shall leave." Artemis said, wondering why she was even bothering with this moral man.
"I shall return sooner then that!" He said before turning and running off. As soon as he was out of sight Artemis sat down and began to make more arrows from the stones on the ground and some branches that had fallen on the ground. Suddenly there was a bright light, though Artemis didn't look up. "What brings thy here Aphrodite?" She asked, not looking up from her work. "I have come to gloat." The goddess of love said, and Artemis could tell just by the sound of her voice, that Aphrodite was smirking.
"I see no reason for thee to gloat." Artemis said calmly, continuing on working on the arrows. "Please, thy are falling in love with that mortal." Aphrodite said, finally causing Artemis to look up. She calmly set down the arrow she was working on before standing up. "I am not falling in love, he is simply a hunter." She said, looking into Aphrodite's ever changing eyes. "Ah, but normally thee would have killed any other male, correct?" She said, still gloating. "Thou is wrong, I only kill the males that give me a reason to." Artemis said.
Just then there was a rustle of leaves to the right. "I shall leave thee now, but I leave you with this, everyone must fall in love once." Aphrodite said before disappearing in a shower of simmering light. Kasotas appeared once more, this time with more arrows in his quiver and a flask of water. "I hope I have not kept thou waiting." He said, bowing. Artemis was busy thinking about what Aphrodite said, and she was troubled, was it true? Was she falling in love with this mere mortal man? No, it could not be, simply Aphrodite trying to mess with her head.
"No, thou have not made me wait, but come, we do not want to stand her and let my brother cross the sky." She said before turning, getting an arrow out. "The monster is near, I can sense it." She whispered. "If I may, does thee know what this monster is? Kasotas asked, just as quietly. "I am afraid I do not. Though I do know that it is very powerful." Artemis said, still in a whisper as she quietly walked forward, not making a sound, though she was stepping on crunchy leaves. Kasotas was doing an excellent job at staying quiet as well, which impressed Artemis, only slightly.
*Continued*
As she hunted Artemis got lost in thought, as she often did while she hunted. Since hunting was more then a second nature to her, she didn't have to think about it, so she spent her time thinking. What was she doing?! Hunting with a mortal man! If her hunters saw her… well they would be ashamed of her, she was ashamed of herself. But then again, it wouldn't be a terrible loss if this mortal male died hunting, unlike if one of her hunters died trying to take down this monster… what was wrong with her?! How could she be thinking this way? Every life was valuable, even males…..
"Watch out!" The sudden out burst brought Artemis out of her thoughts. She looked around and saw a hell hound lunging for her, but before she could even get her bow aimed-which was very quickly-there were three arrows in the beast before it exploded in green dust. How could she get so lost in thought that she had to have a male save her?! "I thank thee." She said, but the words sounded bitter coming from her mouth. "I apologize," Kasotas said, bowing. "I did not want it to touch thee, besides, I've never had the chance to kill a hell hound, I saw a chance, so I took it, I meant no disrespect."
Artemis frowned, curious. He was telling the truth, that much she could tell. But what was making her curious was the fact that she wasn't as mad as she could be, and the fact that this man seemed to be a real hunter, he was almost like her hunters…. that's what made her frown, that's what made her curious, "Again, I apologize." He said once more. Artemis shook her head. "No, I should be thanking thou." she said, not realizing the words left her mouth until she heard them in the air.
Was Aphrodite right? Was she really falling in love with this mortal man? It couldn't be true, could it? She was supposed to have sworn off men, she was supposed to be a maiden forever…. How could she be falling in love with this mortal man?! "My lady? Artemis?" Kasotas asked, sounding very much like one of her hunters. "I apologize, I simply got lost in thought, let us continue." She said, walking forward.
What was wrong with her?! Why was she even talking to this mortal? Well, a mortal wasn't bad, many of her hunters used to be mortals, but this was a male! A male mortal! That was bad, if her hunters ever found out… but he was so kind, and very good at hunting, and modest, unlike most males on Earth, yet he doesn't even seem to notice…
Wait! Focus Artemis!
How could she even be thinking these thoughts? It was all Aphrodite's fault, putting those thoughts into her head. Honestly, all that goddess ever thought about were looks and love, nothing important. But, Artemis could not get this stupid mortal man out of her head and she didn't know why. Suddenly she heard something, and fearing that he was going to save her again, she put an arrow in her bow and aimed it as two Cyclopes appeared. She let the arrow fly and it hit one right in the eye, causing it to explode in green dust. Right as she was about to shoot the second one, an arrow appeared in the monsters chest, causing it to explode.
*Continued*
Artemis turned around and looked at Kasotas. "I apologize to thee, it was just instinct." He said, bowing with his hand over his heart. Once again, it reminded Artemis of her hunters. Perhaps Aphrodite was correct, maybe she was falling in love. One time wouldn't be bad would it? Just once, after all, he was a perfect gentleman, he was an amazing hunter…. "My lady, is there something wrong? Thou hath been staring at me…." Those words tore Artemis out of her thoughts. "Nothing is wrong, I have simply gotten lost in mine thoughts, let us keep moving." She said.
Though, this time, she walked so she was next to Kasotas, and he seemed to notice this. Though, he didn't say anything, he just watched her for a while, to which Artemis made sure to ignore it, and not mention it. Besides, she didn't want the monster to know that they were following it.