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Hey guys! Okay. This is my first story on here, and I would really appreciate some critical feedback with areas to improve in and parts you liked. And as the typical disclaimer, I do not own Artemis Fowl or any of the characters. I'll try to post the next chapter on here soon. Thanks! :)
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Artemis scrubbed the last of the metal dishes from the day's cooking and set them on the small camp towel to dry. He walked wearily over to his tent to grab his journal and pen out of his bag.

If Butler thinks that this trip will make me into an athletic outdoorsman, he's going to be sorely disappointed, Artemis thought to himself with a grin. He sat down cross legged on a rock, overlooking Seagull Lake. It was only the second day of his two-week trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, and high time that he started recording his thoughts. Artemis, who had not been thrilled when Butler suggested that he take a short break from the busy world, had decided to go along with Butler's suggestion for the sake of the experience. He pulled out his pen and began to write.

I am sitting on a rock, looking out on a lake. This is unlike any place I have ever been. I am utterly alone. I have no way of contacting the outside world, nor do I wish to. Sitting here, I am feeling something that I have rarely felt in my entire life – peaceful.

He stopped his pen for a moment. Artemis glanced back over his shoulder, towards his tent. He saw a flash of leaves brushing against each other as something small scampered away. How wonderful, he mused to himself. I am sitting on a rock in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by woodland animals that are intent on stealing everything I've brought with me. Earlier that day, Artemis had left a bag of crackers sitting on the ground by his cook stove. When he had walked back two minutes later, it was gone. He briefly wondered what he would be missing in the near future, and hoped it wasn't his digital camera. He was determined to fully record and analyze this 'vacation', to review when he returned home.

To sum up these first two days, he continued to write, I would have to quote Lewis Carroll. "Curiouser and curiouser."

The sun was starting to set behind the trees on the far side of the lake, burning up the sky and water in masterful strokes of orange and blue. As he was admiring the beauty of it all, he heard another sound. It was too loud and clumsy to be a small animal, but too brief to be a large mammal loping through the trees. He raised his eyebrows and sat silently, waiting for an explanation of the disturbance. When none came, he collected his thoughts and turned back to his writing.

All of this is new to me. I've been through time; I've seen things that no other human has seen. I've done things no other human has done. I've done things that no human ever should do. I've traveled all over the globe. And yet one sunset is making me realize exactly how much I have yet to do, and how much I never will get to accomplish in this life.

The last rays of purple sun glistened over the water, reflecting off of the slight ripples that were caused as rain drops started to fall. Artemis rolled his eyes at this further interruption. He closed his leather-bound journal and walked towards his tent, hoping to get inside before he was soaked in one of nature's showers.

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Artemis sat up with a start. Rubbing his groggy eyes, he looked around. He'd heard something again. Then it happened once more – the sound of something moving quickly, and then slowing down clumsily. Artemis sat perfectly still, his ice-blue eyes wide with anticipation in the darkness.

A voice came from right outside the tent.

"Artemis? Artemis, are you awake?"

Artemis's first reaction was to look at Butler or Holly – to get some reassurance that he wasn't imagining things. But neither of them was there to help him. He was alone. Artemis sat quietly, waiting to hear something more. The silence was suffocating.

"Who is it?" He asked the darkness.

"Artemis, let me in, please," the voice pleaded.

"Who are you?"

"Arty, who do you think it is?" the tired female voice asked with a slightly sarcastic tone. "Do most people show up with you in the wilderness in the middle of the night?"

Artemis grinned. He could just see Holly sitting outside, soaked, and pointing out that no normal person would appear in his campsite in the middle of an August rain storm. "Come on in, Holly."

The tent zipped open and a small, dark figure slipped in. The tent quickly was zipped shut again.

"Thanks," she muttered. Holly curled up in a ball on the farthest side of the tent and proceeded to try and sleep. Artemis turned on his flashlight and lightly prodded her with his foot.

"Not so fast, Holly. What are you doing here?"

"Butler," mumbled Holly.

But of course, Artemis reasoned. Butler doesn't believe I am truly capable of taking this challenge on. It's only natural he would want me safe and out of harm's way, while letting me feel like I am doing things on my own without any aid, for once. And then, why is Holly letting me know she's here?

"Holly, are you…" but Artemis's question faded as he saw her small frame gently rising and falling with the smooth rhythm of sleeps breathing. He smiled and rolled over in his sleeping bag, saving his curiosities for morning light.