A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I've read them all, and thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. To people who raised specific points, I have read 'A Shinobi Among Monsters' by euphoric image, I've also read a couple others like 'Dining with Divinity' by SoulReaperCrewe, 'The Carrier of Nine' & 'The Sage of the Wild' by BetaMayhem which is where this idea first started but I will be honest and say my plans for this fic are not like what those have portrayed (at least imo). If anyone has any fics they recommend, feel free to lmk. I know very loosely of Karna, but only from watching Fate Aprocrypha (an anime), sadly Indian mythology isn't something I'm familiar enough to write about so I don't think I'll be able to do it justice or use the whole 'divine armour he was born with as a sign of his divine heritage and while he wore it he was unkillable' angle. Torturing Artemis… wouldn't have thought about it like that but writing for the Hunters is my main goal here. There is not much detail about them in PJO which is both good and bad and as this fic goes on, you'll hopefully see why the Hunters are the best fit (at least as far as I felt). Good cause it leaves a lot of room for original ideas, bad because there's not much hard facts and not everything someone creates will be a good idea (myself included). Hopefully you all enjoy the story as it grows, feel free to dm or review if you've got ideas about the story or direction or just any comments in general. Can't say I'll drop everything to take it on board, but two heads are better than one, and as I've said, I've already got a very long term plan for this fic. Won't be spoiling anything though.
Disclaimer: I don't own the stories of Naruto, Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus their respective authors do.
Chapter 2:
Amazon Rainforest
The sound of water smashing itself against the rocks below filled the otherwise quiet clearing. A jaguar crouched by the water's edge, eyes scanning the surface for any disturbances, ears swivelling back and forth as it stayed alert, unwilling to become something else's dinner. Its midnight black coat, perfect for blending in amongst the dense foliage of the rainforest it called home, shone with the healthy sheen of an animal in it's prime. Unbeknownst to the apex predator, another hunter was watching it. Standing at the crest of the waterfall, the hunter had a perfect view, if they so wished, they could have released an arrow and slay the jaguar with it none the wiser where its death fell from. But they didn't, instead taking in the scene that would've made artists green with envy.
The hunter had another target tonight, and it was a far greater prize than any jaguar or mortal creature could be, though the memories associated with the beast drew a frown across her brow. But that was long ago, now it was just another hunt, and soon another trophy to be displayed alongside an ever-growing collection of wild beasts.
The jaguar perked up suddenly, its instincts flaring as it sensed it was being watched. But when its eyes roamed around looking for the disturbance and found the top of the cliff-face, the absence of any signs of life made it flick its tail in dismissal. Stalking off into the forest, melting into the shadows cast by the full moon.
Meanwhile, with the hunter, she had already moved on. Having found tracks left behind by her quarry she was off once again. Her silver tunic and sandals that would otherwise have been seemingly ill-suited for a hunter to wear out in the wild, were her preferred clothes and seemed to blend into the shadows. Only reappearing in flashes when a stray beam of moonlight fought its way through the trees' cover as she ran. Despite the speed at which she travelled, nary a sound could be heard, twigs and dried leaves which would have given her away were unbroken and no evidence of her passing remained.
As she ran, auburn hair loose and whipping in the air, her sharp eyes scanned the blurring trees as she sped past. Constantly staying on the trail of her prey, the ever so slight indentations indicating it's passing. The shallowness of the tracks left behind belied the creature's true size and weight, barely distinguishable to the untrained eye from the multitude of other tracks that littered the forest floor.
Soon she arrived at an otherwise innocuous looking clearing before the ground started to rise into a mountain, like an ugly claw that broke out of the ground to scar the heavens. She stayed at the treeline, unwilling to expose herself in the open clearing. She climbed up a nearby tree, a Hevea brasiliensis she absentmindedly noted, it's smooth trunk would have otherwise proved a challenge to most but for someone of her calibre and agility, it might as well have been a walk in the park. 'The mortals have taken an interest in this species as of late, maybe I should create more predatorial animals before I leave to discourage their harmful forays. I'm sure Pan would approve.' Sadly, she couldn't do much more than that, it didn't sit well with her or any in her family to outright kill the mortals they ruled over, 'Even if they are asking for it.' she thought. Hating how the humans were destroying the natural wonders to feed their ever-growing lust for more.
Her straying thoughts did little to distract her from the hunt. Now that she was higher up, she scrutinised the sight before her. With her inhumanely acute hearing, she could tell the burrow in the side of the mountain went very deep, extending into a complex cave system. The size of the opening was rather small given what it housed, it's shadowed opening like a gaping maw, consuming those who entered. As she took stock of her equipment, she formulated a plan, the final part of what would be a rewarding hunt for she needed to finish soon. It was about time she had to return to her hunters. With the moon overhead, as if watching like an eternal warden she started. Dropping down to the ground below she landed in a crouch, with her bow drawn and arrow notched she let it loose. A silver streak shot out at breakneck speed before finding its mark, an ear-splitting screech resonated through the cave shattering the silence of the forest, scattering birds into the night and causing animals nearby to flee in terror.
A strange hissing clicking sound gradually got louder before a huge scorpion emerged from the burrow. Its huge head swung back and forth across the treeline, pincers the size of boulders held out and open, just waiting to stab and eviscerate the one who hurt it with bloody vengeance. A silver arrow embedded within one of its black empty eyes, but unlike all other creatures, this one bled golden powder as it leaked from the open wound like a morbid tribute to the value of one's lifeblood. Another arrow soon found itself within a different eye, restricting its field of vision even more, angering it further with the injury. The massive scorpion was smart though, knowledge accrued as ages past and years heaped upon years, existing for more than a millennium as it hunted and killed, hunted and killed. Felling many of those who tried to slay it, to claim the credit for finally killing the great scorpion, the skorpiós that slew the great hunter giant Orion. It raised its pincers, protecting its head as it advanced, all eight legs moving in tandem, blitzing forward from where it deduced the arrow came from far faster than a monster of its size and weight had any right to.
Before it reached its target it suddenly opened its arms, emitting a horrible screeching sound that could paralyse, encircling the one who hurt it as its tail shot forward faster than any human could hope to react. Normally this was where the hunt would end, the hunter would get caught, either on the end of the stinger filled with deadly poison or torn to shreds by the pincers flanking them. But this was no ordinary hunter, just as it looked like the stinger would find its mark, the hunter backflipped out of the way. The stinger, huge and deadly weapon it may be, flexible it was not as its size and weight made it unwieldy, unable to change directions after being propelled forwards at such speeds. Inertia ensured it buried itself into the ground and that's when it happened. The snare she set up after dropping down from the tree sprung, gravity dragging the counterweight to the ground, snaring the deadly appendage in-between the armour plates, it caught and pulled the limb up. The scorpion hissed in confusion, its deadliest weapon now useless, pulled up and with its rear end raised, most of its legs were lifted off the ground, tilting it forward and forcing its head to be pressed against the ground, fangs filled with dirt and arms spread out sideways. The thick protective carapace that normally ensured its protection, worked against it as their inflexibility came into play.
Before it could regain its bearings and fight its way out of the simple trap, the hunter burst forward. Hunting knife reflecting the light of the moon as it arched down. She struck true. The knife sliding through the cracks between the thick carapace like a hot knife through butter, the scorpion gave one last hiss before dissolving into a mound of golden powder, its soul scattered to Tartarus where it would remain until it inevitably coalesced and regenerated.
This happened with all monsters, though the more powerful the monster, the longer it would take to reform. That was why she and her hunters were so busy. As Artemis, goddess of the hunt amongst other things, it fell under her domain to keep monsters such as these from running amuck. She walked forward, amidst the golden powder before retrieving her prize, the pincers of the monster had shrunk, forming what looked like two identical shields with the pincer atop like a frill, their serrated edge gleaming dangerously. Memories flooded her mind as she inspected them, this was the very same creature who killed Orion, it wasn't surprising they held special meaning to her.
She remembered it as clear as the moon and stars were tonight, despite being blinded and having Hephaestus craft him a new set of eyes, he was a great hunter. That was how they met, Artemis was a master of the bow and soon they formed a close friendship, even inviting him to become the first male to join her hunters because of the trust fostered between them. But all was ruined when Orion fell in love and tried to woo her, a clear violation of their vows, and nothing but rejection awaited him. For she was a maiden goddess, sworn to stay a virgin for life. Everything spiralled downward from there, going on longer and more isolated hunts from anyone else and become crueller, slowly killing his prey instead of giving them a quick death. The stench of madness lingered on him, growing thicker as time passed.
One day Artemis decided to follow him, and that is when it happened, he snapped, whether his anger consumed him, or some madness possessed him. He started killing all the animals he could see, small and large, dangerous and harmless. So much so that Gaea herself took notice of the massacre, the primordial goddess of the earth existed in a perpetual state of sleep, too large to ever become fully conscious lest the world end. She sent a creature, the very scorpion Artemis had just slain, to kill Orion, to stop him from massacring her creations. Artemis could have warned him, she saw the scorpion emerging from the ground, could have killed it herself if she fancied but she held her silence and stayed her hands. As Orion lay there dying from the poison the scorpion's lethal stinger injected into his body, he saw her standing in the treeline, even struggling to breath and his organs shutting down one at a time he cursed her name and swore revenge with his final breath. He certainly believed she had sent the scorpion to kill him in spite, as mistaken as he was.
'Such a tragedy the way things turned out.' She thought to herself. One would think Artemis would never get close to any male ever again let alone allowing one to join the hunt. But Artemis was just, she didn't paint all males with as broad a brush as that, for later on she would let another join her hunt. A prince by the name of Hippolytus, who had taken the oath as all hunters had to. For many years' things were perfect, he never strayed, he never tried anything as Orion did, but all good things had to come to an end. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, saw to that. She had a grudge against the Hunters of Artemis for they swore off her primary domain, there wasn't much she could do to Artemis, so she took it out on them as she had done so many times before. Making Hippolytus' stepmother fall in love with him and when he inevitably rejected her, she went to his father to lie about him forcing himself on her. Outraged, his father had him executed. When Artemis learned of this, she was livid. One of the few men who walked the earth who she and her hunters called a friend and one of her hunters dying for such a petty reason wouldn't be allowed to end like this. After getting her brother's son, Asclepius, to bring Hippolytus back to life she erased his memories of the hunt and settled him down in a land far away from Greece and therefore, away from Aphrodite.
She then dragged Aphrodite before her father Zeus, told him the entire story and the many times before of Aphrodite's meddling's with her Hunters. Zeus, always having a bit of a soft spot for his daughters, granted her request and ordered Aphrodite to never interfere with any of the Hunters of Artemis indirectly or directly. Despite matters of love being within her domain and such a decree would normally be seen as an egregious abuse of power, the fact that the Hunters were gifted by Zeus to Artemis over an oath sworn on the River Styx and them being the handmaidens and personal entourage of Artemis and therefor part of her domain, meant Zeus ruled in Artemis' favour.
'Why are so many males so awful, if they were raised and taught proper morals and principles there would be so fewer problems with the world.' For she had seen the ugly side to humanity, all too often worn by the men she encountered on her travels. Her Hunters would save young girls from vile men who treated them badly and abused them, many would even join them or be taken to some other safe place. This led to her Hunters having a decidedly negative opinion of the opposite gender, they weren't outright hostile, but there was a distinctly negative atmosphere and degree of withdrawal and mistrust whenever a male showed up or was in the immediate vicinity. Not like Artemis was any better, she was the reason the northern continent had so many jackalopes running around after all, males were not allowed to witness her hunts. In her defence, it was incredibly entertaining turning awful men into one four-legged creature or another and watching as they ran around in a panic before the threat of a hunt made them flee to never be seen again.
'Raising a child, now that would be interesting.' The idea wasn't as ridiculous as one would think. She was a maiden goddess true, but so was her sister Athena, the goddess of knowledge, who had quite a few children. Odysseus, Euclid, Newton, and most recently William Shakespeare to name a few. Artemis never really paid too much attention to the entire explanation of how it worked when Athena was asked during that summer council, for it had caused quite a stir with her first child. Many had questioned her maidenhood, but one didn't easily win an argument against a goddess whose domain was knowledge itself. Something along the lines of using thoughts and ideas from a mortal man and some other more technical things, she really wasn't listening. Being a young goddess at the time she was more concerned about leaving the throne room to go on her next hunt, chasing the next wild beast that was unlucky enough to have caught her eye.
'I wonder…' She let her mind drift, imagining what a child of her own would look like. 'Would they be a boy or a girl?' After much deliberation she decided on a boy. As tempted by the thought of a daughter as she was and whilst she may not have appreciated the gender itself nor the vast majority of people who were a part of it, she would want her child to be able to stand as an exemplar. A way to show men that their gender didn't justify their vileness but rather it was their choice, and through that realisation, to hopefully inspire change to better themselves in his image. Or maybe it was to rub in that any child she had, boy or girl, would be better in all manners measurable than any of her family's children.
'What would he look like? All of Athena's children share the traits of blonde hair and grey eyes favoured by her. Lord Zeus' children all have blue eyes and Apollo's kids were all blond.' As a goddess she could change her appearances however she fancied at the drop of a hat but her current form was her most frequent colouration, long auburn hair, and pale skin with a healthy glow. The one thing she did keep constant was her eyes, they were a silvery yellow like the moon itself and seemed to shine in the night.
'Does Athena also choose their behaviour traits, preferences and mentality? They all seem to share the heightened intelligence surely inherited from her, but how much is personality influenced by environment and upbringing rather than genetics and lineage if something like intelligence can be imposed? If she's influencing things to do with the mind surely that affects how the child thinks. How can she guarantee one child will be different from another after her tampering despite the inherent randomness that would come form the union of her thoughts with that of the mortal man she chose?' Thoughts on having children of her own came and went every now and then over the centuries, ever since Athena had her first child. This time felt different though, having recently witnessed a truly horrific scene of men taking advantage of the many women out in the cane fields in abundance to the south of the northern continent. It sickened her. The satisfaction in spiriting the women and girls away to the Amazons on their secluded island and accidently leaving the armoury open for the male slaves was immense. The screams that followed were the tunes of sweet retribution to her ears.
Her eyes closed in thought, brow slightly furrowed as she thought long and hard about her theoretical child. For some reason she was investing a lot of in-depth thought into this, much more than usual. Maybe this hunt had brought up a more contemplative mood? So much so, that she could vaguely picture him now in her mind's eyes.
Some said the Fates were all powerful, even the gods couldn't go against them and heeded their words whenever a warning was given, a prophecy spoken, or a death foretold. Zeus, the King of the Gods himself, had feared their warning and took steps to ensure he would never sire a male child with Metis to ensure he wouldn't be supplanted much like this father the Titan King Kronos before him. Maybe it was fated that this would happen, maybe it was dumb luck, it hardly mattered in the end. The results were all the same. With Artemis deep in thought about what a child of her own would be like, what was started dimensions away was coming to its conclusion here.
At her feet, black ink seemed to sprawl out from under her sandals, the chakra that powered the fūinjutsu guided it to take the form it needed, completely invisible to the senses of those unfamiliar with the foreign energy unless one was physically looking at it. Soon a complex diagram resembling a spider's web was drawn out under her, as she unknowingly stood at its centre. She did notice however as she shifted into her true form, a bright light engulfed the clearing like a star itself had spontaneously appeared. Artemis could feel some of her godly power being drawn and start to concentrate itself in front of her.
Artemis was not afraid though, she could feel no other being nearby, godly or mortal, all the animals fleeing after the fight that had ensued. So intently focused on her own fragment before her, containing none of her consciousness which was decidedly strange, she didn't notice the small blue flame that appeared. Unseen by her, shielded as it was by her own light, the blue flame flickered which to life was seemingly incorporated into the isolated portion of her own essence.
She watched with rapt attention as the light seemed to shrink, coalescing itself into a tightly contained sphere before it gently floated towards her. Instinctively she reached out and the glowing sphere cracked open, fading away, to reveal a baby. That is promptly when Artemis' thought processes decided to take a holiday and stop working.
Amazon Rainforest
To say Artemis was in a state of shock would be a slight understatement. She could hardly comprehend what had just happened let alone believe it. 'This can't be happening.' But the sight before her very own eyes, and the weight of the baby in her arms only seemed to emphasis the truth of the situation she found herself in. The final nail in the coffin? She could feel it, every child of a god or goddess, Olympian or minor, even the nature spirits, contained a small fragment, a tiny portion of power, that was the exact same as that of their godly parent. It was what monsters found themselves attracted to; it was what gave their demigod children their godly gifts. It was also the EXACT SAME THING she felt resonating within the small baby she held like glass in her arms, wrapped up in a blanket as he was.
At first, she thought she was under some sort of spell by Hecate, Hecate being one of the old goddesses and magic was an elusive and mystic art, or maybe some elaborate prank by Hermes or Apollo, not like this would be the first time and there were precious few lines they were unwilling to cross. But no. There was no way to perfectly mimic the exact same godly power that she or anyone else had.
She continued to stare at the baby, thoughts running a mile a minute as she tried to wrap her head around what just happened. 'How could this happen? Athena herself said she needed the thoughts of a mortal man to act as an input to create a child. Otherwise it would be her own power creating a living thing containing her own consciousness and that would just be her cloning herself. Separating a fragment of our essence to perform more than one task simultaneously and to be in multiple places at the same time is something we can all do. How could a living being, entirely separate from me, be created from nothing but my own powers? There's no one here…' She looked around, focusing more carefully on her surroundings and indeed finding not a single trace of any mortal or god anywhere near, even the few nymphs and dryads present had retreated into their origins or were asleep, not wanting to get involved in her hunt and subsequent fight against the giant scorpion.
Restless stirring from the small bundle immediately commanded all her focus as she looked down to see if the baby was in any discomfort or pain. The baby wriggled around some more before opening his eyes. She thought she had accepted that she had a child before, but it truly sunk in like a rock sinking until it inevitably reached the bottom. The same silvery yellow eyes, an exact mirror copy of her own stared up at her, the baby she held in her arms was her child. She was holding her son. And suddenly she was terrified. Of her family, of the monsters that roamed the land and of herself.
Her family would be a mixed bag of curious, outraged, uncaring or anything in-between. Maybe some accusations and threats would be thrown about but after some thought, ultimately there was nothing that they could really do against her or her son. Athena was a maiden goddess much like herself and yet, she had children just as regularly as Ares or Aphrodite, human intelligence was advancing at a rapid pace, so it really was to no one's surprise. Some questions might be raised about her having a male child, but she did frequently say proper upbringing could solve many of the world's problems.
Monsters would be all over him. A child of any of the other gods or nature spirits were a common enough event that monsters only got really excited whenever a child of either Zeus, Poseidon or Hades popped up and that was because of the sheer power that their children had. Being a child of the Big Three guaranteed they would attract the deadliest of monsters, but so long as they were trained, they could take on entire packs of monsters and come out victorious. That is, if hubris or some other fatal flaw didn't strike them down. But a child of hers was entirely new, never before in the entire existence of the world had any mortal ever been born of her. Though perhaps the novelty of it would be diminished by the presence of her hunters who all received her blessing. If her son managed to survive long enough to reach his early teenage years and was trained, she was sure he would survive. The only safe place for demigods like him was in Camp Half Blood, run by the centaur Chiron.
Her mouth twisted into a frown at that, the option leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Normally demigod children were raised by their mortal parents until they reached an appropriate age, roughly 10 - 12 although some were later but rarely sooner. Around then, they would inevitably attract the attention of monsters, realise who they were and were taken to Camp Half Blood to be trained on how to take care of themselves and all other things they would need to know about the world they were born to be a part of. Some who didn't were raised in orphanages but they seldom made it to double digits before dying, either running away and getting caught by monsters on the streets or not being picked up by the web of satyrs Camp Half Blood had working for them and dying as they got too old and monsters found them. There were exceptions, but they were few and far between. Obviously, such minimalistic chances of survival did not fill her with confidence in leaving her son in the care of inadequate unseeing mortals.
Directly taking her son to Camp Half Blood, now or ever, didn't appeal to her either. He would grow up in admittedly a safe place surrounded by demigods trained to fight and survive but would also be confined to the same camp, learning nothing of the outside world. Most importantly, would be influenced and taught by male heroes who all had some fatal flaw or another on top of being typical male heroes. Arrogance, greed, lust and multitudes of character flaws followed them like water was wet. She did not want her son to grow up to be like so many men. That would somewhat invalidate her many arguments of proper child rearing if she left her own child's upbringing to others then blamed them for the way her own son turned out.
At the same time, if she tried to take a more active role in his life it could potentially lead to a myriad of unfortunate events that plagued the lives of demigods. The wonderful example her family presented in the sort of tragedies their children went through due to their direct intervention or excessive oversight in their lives made her doubt her own involvement. 'What if by taking an active role I inadvertently make his life more difficult?' Thoughts of the similar vein hung in her mind like a stubborn mist. 'No, I would be nothing like Lord Zeus, he's married to Hera and such any tragedies that follow his children are mostly due to her. Athena's children have incidents with Lord Poseidon's children due to their long rivalry though some have cooperated like they once did to make the chariot. The only god or goddess I have contention with is Aphrodite… considering the sort of tragedies she's orchestrated it would be child's play to make his life miserable…' Aphrodite, despite being a goddess of something as harmless as love and beauty, was truly a force to be reckoned with. Being born when the blood of the primordial god of heavens Ouranos fell into the ocean after he was sliced into thousands of pieces by his son Kronos, creating seafoam. She was technically the oldest Olympian and one of the most powerful ones. The fact that Aphrodite caused the Trojan War because she received the Apple of Discord and thought Paris and Helen looked cute together was not lost to Artemis.
She stood there, holding her son in her arms as she looked at him, lost in thought and he looked at her, completely oblivious and entirely innocent. If any monster or wild beast found him on his own, especially if he was on his own in the forest… 'That's it!' She just remembered this wasn't the first time she had found herself taking care of a new-born babe. 'Atalanta, I can take care of him the same way I did Atalanta. When he's old enough, he'll definitely join the hunt. This is perfect, this way he is protected from Aphrodite and my Hunters can raise him, ensuring he doesn't end up like so many male heroes. I'll never forgive myself if that happened. And Apollo would never ever shut up about it.' She looked up at the night sky, stars glittering in the backdrop as the moon continued its eternal vigil, to check the time. She summoned her moon chariot and within moments, it gracefully dove down from the skies above before settling in front of her perfectly. Pulled by her famed silver-horned golden reindeers, its silver frame shone with a serene light but radiated with power. She climbed aboard, careful to keep a tight hold of her son with one hand while the other held the reins.
A flick of the wrist was all it took and soon she was racing across the night sky, faster than she would normally go, undoubtedly drawing the ire of her uncle, Poseidon, as her chariot's movements had some influence on the way tides and currents flowed in the ocean. She would apologise later. Maybe. Probably not since he destroyed one of her favourite temples during one of his temper tantrums which caused an earthquake in Ephesus. She raced across the skies, tunic and hair fluttering in the air, she looked down to double check that her son was okay when a thought came to her.
'I haven't given you a name yet have I little one. Let's see…' Artemis was rather new at the whole, naming their kid thing as. Shocker. She thought long and hard, there were precious few Greek heroes whose name didn't bring with it some bad memories or have a tragic end. Perseus came to mind, but she didn't like it, she felt it didn't suit her son. She wanted a unique name, 'Narete…' She smiled at the name. 'How do you like the sound of that? You shall be the embodiment of moral virtue for the world to see and you shall excel beyond all.' For the first time that night she smiled, and it seemed Narete was happy too, either at the name or her she couldn't tell, but the wriggling and gurgling told her what words didn't need to.
Utah Lake, 3 Years Later
'I no wanna!' came the cry of a child. Out by the lake there was a cave hidden from prying eyes in a secluded forest unreachable by any who weren't invited. The personal domains of gods and goddess were protected by powerful magic and to intrude upon them would be a great transgression. As such, it proved to be the perfect spot for Narete to be raised by the Ceryneian Hind. With Atalanta, Artemis had sent a mother bear to care for her but with her own child, she decided to err on the side of caution. In the event some monsters were attracted and managed to find Narete then her sacred animal would be able to kill the monster or escape with her son.
A snort was Narete's only response as the great doe was hardly amused with his antics. Narete's strong suite was most definitely not in studying. The book he was meant to be reading, a kid's version of the "Theogony" by Hesiod was rather advanced for his age, but it was the most unifying collection of stories that Narete would need to know. The fact it was in ancient Greek might have made a 3-year-old reading it impossible but being a demigod meant the language was already hard-wired in him.
'You no make me!' Stubbornness seemed to be a core virtue in Narete, whether that would prove to be a boon or a curse was yet to be seen but to the Ceryneian Hind, it was most definitely not a boon, anything but a boon. With that declaration Narete up and ran off. Clearly this wasn't the first time he pulled this stunt as all the great doe did was release a long drawn out breath very similar to that of a sigh before going off to retrieve her wayward ward.
Utah Lake
Narete lay on the grass outside, covered in scratches and dirt, his tunic was sweaty, even a stray twig caught in his hair which he pulled out once he felt like he wasn't going to die. 'You always win.' He pouted, levelling the most non-threatening glare ever to a doe larger than a bull and horns that bristled like a Macedonian phalanx.
The Ceryneian Hind simply flicked her ear and nudged him with her snout, urging him up. It was starting to get dark and during their games of tag she came across the smell of a monster once or twice. They were probably several miles outside Artemis' boundary, but she didn't want to risk Narete being sniffed out by them when they became more active during the night. She once again urged him up and this time he complied, far too tired to try and argue about staying outside. All he wanted was to take a bath in the pool and sleep, so he blearily walked back in the direction of their home.
Utah Lake
Every now and then the Ceryneian Hind would leave the cave at night. Narete was never sure why she left at the late hours, but he never complained, even if he did feel lonely sometimes. It let him do his favourite hobby after all. Once he waited a couple of minutes, until after he stopped hearing the great doe's gentle footfalls, hoof-falls… whatever it was called, he opened his eyes. Looking around, he saw the empty cave, devoid of anyone else. His eyes were automatically drawn to the fire a couple meters away from him, he didn't know how it worked, how it started or what kept it going as the logs never seemed to burn out. But whenever sunset came and it got dark, it would automatically light up and illuminate their home. Moving on, he spied the pool of freshwater at the back as it reflected the light given off from the fire and glowed with a beautiful mix of green and blue onto the ceiling. He knew the light reflected off from the water plants and shiny rocks he saw at the bottom like a little sea with its insulated ecosystem. The underwater lake feeding into the little pool by a fissure in the bedrock.
After his visual inspection he got up from his bed, made of various animal pelts and feathers he rose as silently as he could, making his way out. Past the lichen that hung from the ceiling, hiding the light of the fire and obscuring the inhabitants of the cave from those outside, past the bend he looked around outside at the mouth of the cave to make sure a particular doe wasn't around.
'Nice!' he whispered to himself. If tonight was like any other nights, he would have plenty of time before she came back. Quick as he could, he started climbing up the side of the mountain their cave was in, all that practise from running around playing catch with the doe wasn't all just fun and games. Well, it was for Narete but the Ceryneian Hind was subtly teaching him how to travel without leaving behind too obvious a trail, run somewhat quietly and track while training his stamina and speed. All good things he would need when he grew up. He soon found his way up to the top, his legs swinging over the lip of the cave as he wrapped himself in one of his pelts. It was a chilly night, nearing the end of September, the warmth of summer was starting to give way to the cold embrace of autumn.
As he gazed up at the moon, he felt a certain level of comfort as he always did. He knew his mother was Artemis, the goddess of the moon, but he had never actually met her. From what he read, the most common theme among the demigods was that very few had many interactions with their godly parent. That made Narete a little sad, but he could understand it. Kinda. Not like he knew anything else. Artemis was probably busy, killing monsters and all that godly job stuff she had to do. They had to have lots of responsibilities, right? 'Not like you could tell with how much free time they had, showing up whenever humans said dumb things to them.'
He just started to read about prominent groups and the Amazons were first, and he knew it was because of the alphabet. 'I guess studying is useful…' he gave a shudder when he said that out loud, 'Better not let the Ceryneian Hind know I said that…' But there was another group mentioned that caught his eye, 'The Hunters of Artemis' he murmured to himself. There was a brief mention of them, how they followed his mom on her adventures. But at the same time a place called Camp Half Blood also sounded like a good place for demigods. He could make friends with all the people there and they might have people around his age. They were taught by Chiron himself, the one who trained all heroes ever! When he asked the Ceryneian Hind about it all, she just said that Artemis would tell him herself when she came to visit him on his upcoming birthday. And he couldn't wait.
Meanwhile, at the exact same time. Lake Michigan
Much like her brother Apollo, every night Artemis would have a fragment of herself drive her moon chariot across the sky, as was her duty as the goddess of the moon. Sometimes if she was too preoccupied with her own obligations, she would ask the retired moon titan Selene to do so. Whilst it may have made her weaker than if she was whole, the majority of her essence was currently on a hunt with her hunters, chasing a couple dragons that had been terrorising the local nature spirits. Nothing that could truly threaten her on her own and certainly not while she was with her handmaidens.
To describe the feeling of being in two places at once to someone who wasn't a god or goddess who could do that same was difficult. Seeing out of two separate sets of eyes and living two different experiences often miles and miles apart was something they just got used to over time. Ever since she took over as goddess of the moon, she became very familiar with the sensation.
As she ran alongside her trusted lieutenant of several millennia, Zoë Nightshade, she felt a sense of fulfilment as the rest of the hunt closed in on their prey. The dragons having fled upon hearing the horns of the hunt, the final sound many wild beasts heard before their demise.
The smaller part of herself that was driving the moon chariot high up was the one who saw her son sat up on top of the cave. Just in time to see her sacred animal finish doing a quick border check before returning and chastising her son before they both made their way back inside. As they ran, she smiled to herself, chuckling slightly. Whilst it wasn't uncommon for the goddess to outwardly display such happiness, it was normally after a successful hunt or when welcoming new members. Zoë was an attentive individual and as such, noticed the good mood her patron was in, 'M'lady, is something on thy mind?'.
The innocuous questions seemed to snap the goddess out of her thoughts, and she tilted her head to the side, neither slowing their pace as they could hear the heavy footsteps of the dragon up ahead followed by a loud booming sound. 'Nothing to be concerned about Zoë, prepare yourself, Phoebe has already fired the first shot.'
As soon as she finished speaking, they stopped and quickly had to dodge to either side as the dragon crashed into the ground, having fallen after one of its wings were shredded by a gunpowder arrow laced with celestial bronze. Zoë was curious about the obvious deflection shown by her goddess, but she pushed that aside. For now, the most pressing concern she had was the rather angry looking 20-meter long dragon that was right in front of her. Completely unfazed by the gaze which petrified lesser people, an arrow soon found itself buried within the angry red eye causing the dragon to shriek in pain before lashing out randomly now that it couldn't see. Earth and foliage kicked up as it continued thrashing, even as more arrows rained down from around it.
Things were going well, until things didn't go so well. The second dragon that had been silent until now burst into the clearing with a vengeance. Knocking a couple trees down, causing some hunters to fall from their perch and others to be thrown from the flailing limbs. Zoë grimaced as their roars tore through the air.
Utah Lake, 10th October
Narete was going to have a super day. Today was his 5th birthday, so as a treat, he was allowed to basically do whatever he wanted. There were some rules still but that was fine. In the afternoon he would go further from the cave than he was previously allowed to. Perks of growing up.
Before when he had asked why he couldn't go further he was told since he was a demigod, monsters like those in the Theogony would be attracted to him and try to kill him. At his shocked face his guardian had reassured him the barrier around the forest kept them all out, but it never hurt to be extra cautious. He totally never ever tried to go beyond where he was meant to go. Never. Perish the thought. Ok so maybe he did try a couple of times to go where he wasn't meant to be, but before he got too far the Ceryneian Hind would always catch up to him and he'd get into a load of trouble. But now he had whole new areas to explore. Fingers crossed he would be able to find something cooler than that plunge pool he found last week or that rapid that had frozen over last year. Sliding across that had been very fun, minus all the times his face met the ice, but no one was watching so they didn't count.
As soon as he finished his lunch, he bolted, keeping an orange on him as a snack in case he got hungry. Running through the nearby forest was boring, it was very beautiful, but having spent so long exploring and running around it already he knew all the interesting parts. What he was after was the unexplored, there was this canyon that he saw from a tall tree he climbed the day before. It had this cool river that snaked across the bottom, he was sure he would be able to find something neat in there.
He absentmindedly combed his hand through this shoulder length auburn hair, his eyes scanned the undergrowth around him as he kept his eyes peeled. He had run, eager to explore the unknown but soon got side-tracked when he stumbled across the tracks left by what looked like a family of wild boars. At least, that's what he thought he was looking at, he was pretty sure those tracks had been made at around the same time judging from the smell. As he followed the tracks, he heard the gentle gurgling of a small stream.
As he neared the stream and the vegetation started to thin, he got a better look. There, drinking in the stream was a huge moose. It's massive antlers that looked like cupped hands on either side pointed at him like a shield as it drank the fresh flowing water. The rest of its herd was around it, some drinking, some feeding while others kept a look out for any predators. On his side of the bank he could indeed see the little family of wild boards, 'Hopefully I can track that cheating doe in catch next time' he grumbled to himself. It was so not fair to use his mom's blessing to run in their games. It didn't even leave anything to track in the first place! He stayed low, careful not to make a sound and hiding himself from their sight behind a bush.
He had plenty of time, the sun was high with a few puffy white clouds in sky. The darker rainclouds all having already let down their load as it rained an awful lot the past couple weeks. It gave everything a fresh clean look and he could smell the rich earthy smell that normally followed. He was tempted to climb a tree and simply watch the clouds, but he felt like he had too much energy to be able to sit still not matter how comfortable it might have been. Not really his style. Once he had seen enough, he backed away quietly, not wanting to startle them, before he ran off to find something else.
Utah Lake, Later That Day
It was a very content Narete who ambled back home as the sun started make its way further west. He had found a couple cool things, a large dam built by some beavers with their young nestled safe inside, he even found a group of squirrel monkeys as they swung up around the high tops of the trees. He had to be careful to make sure their droppings didn't land anywhere near or on him. He learned that lesson a long time ago and now he always looked up when taking in his surroundings. Once was one time too many in his opinion, it took ages to wash off the smell and a certain someone just wouldn't shut up about it for weeks.
The highlight of his day had been seeing a massive grizzly bear. As it padded along, followed by her cubs, rummaging around for berries and going about its business. She had noticed Narete standing there watching her, but had ignored him. Instead going on about her business unperturbed. It's not like he was a threat, he was only just bigger than her cubs. And on his explorations went, through just about every nook and cranny that he came across he found all sorts of new things. But as it got later and he travelled further, he got tired. Having seen enough for the day he took a different route on his way back.
When he got to the clearing, he noticed someone sitting on the log just outside the entrance, the Ceryneian Hind resting its head on her lap as she stroked it. Their long auburn hair and pale skin was eerily similar to his own, when she looked up and made eye contact with him, he felt a little jolt inside as he instinctively knew exactly who was in front of him. He wasn't sure how long he stood there frozen for, like a surprised deer, his nerves took a hold of him and he froze. She must have sensed his shock, or maybe he was just that obvious, but she smiled gently and patted the seat next to her. That broke him out of his revere as he remembered to breath and came closer. He was so nervous he didn't even realise he was already sat down and started fidgeting with the edge of his tunic, unsure of what to say.
Artemis meanwhile was looking at Narete with a little uncertainty, honestly, she was a little uneasy about seeing her son after so many years. It was easy to drop by when he was younger and still a baby, but now that he was a child, she was less certain. But seeing just how nervous he was, she decided it was her responsibility to take the first step. 'Gods don't normally see their demigod children a lot due to the Ancient Laws enforced by my father Zeus.' She started.
That seemed to break him out of whatever thoughts he was having as he looked up at her, not sure how to respond. 'But I've never been much of a typical goddess, spending most of my time out in the mortal world hunting monsters. Being a maiden goddess, that rule never meant much to me. I had my personal group of hunters who would follow me on my various hunts and adventures, whom I treat like my daughters. Whilst I may have adopted them into my family none were ever my own children.'
Narete continued to just look at her, not knowing where this was going. 'But you are my first and only child. I think that deserves an exemption don't you think? Let's not advertise it though, call me m'lady or Lady Artemis like my hunters do.' The gentle curve of her lips into a smile and kind eyes that were the exact same as his own dispelled the nervousness that plagued Narete earlier as the silence between them was broken. Conversation flowed from then on, as he told her everything and anything.
They talked for hours, she told him about her various hunts and adventures, stories spanning back millennia, and he listened with rapt attention, soaking in every single word. When she told him of her Hunters and how they accompanied her he had immediately asked if he could join the Hunters.
'My Hunters have traditionally been an all-female group…' She had started, Narete was crestfallen at that but Artemis's next words instantly brought him back up, 'But, there have been a handful of males who have joined my Hunt before.' She held out her right hand and in a flash of light, she was holding a bow and a quiver full of arrows. It looked to be made of silver, its elegant curves near the centre protruded outwards and ended in an elongated straightened end more parallel to the string. 'This is my present to you,' she said as she handed it to him, 'it is a reflex bow like my own, powerful, but a very difficult bow to master. This size will be a good start for now, but as you grow older, the bow you use gets larger.' She said before giving it to Narete.
'My Hunters normally use a recurve bow with most starting with straight bows. I'll teach you everything I can in the time we have. I hear you like a challenge?' The Ceryneian Hind snorted, clearly amused at the understatement and Narete shot her a dirty look. Turning back to Artemis, he nodded eagerly, tightly clutched his new gifts.
'We shall see if you can hit a target 5 meters out before the night is over.' Some might say she was being too ambitious; most would need days to be able to even learn how to properly maintain a bow like his let alone start to shoot it. But he was her son, and she as the greatest archer in the entire world, no one could match her prowess. She was definitely better than Apollo no matter what he said, older siblings were always right.
Narete must have hit his second wind because he immediately sprung up from his seat, massive smile radiating eagerness, eyes practically glowing with glee. Artemis laughed gently, her hand coming to a rest upon his head to stop his bouncing, but she could still feel him vibrating with energy. 'Hhhmmm. Longer hair would make it easier for him to blend in with the Hunters.' 'You should keep your hair long. It looks good on you.'
'Oh, umm, ok, thanks mo- Lady Artemis.' He mumbled, as he blushed, unconsciously brushing a few strands behind his ear.
'Good. Now let us start with the beginning. First thing, the string of your bow…'
Utah Lake
Artemis was over the moon. Pun intended. She couldn't believe how naturally her son managed to learn everything she set out for him, excelling in some more than others but never failing to learn anything set out by her. She had expected some difficulties since her sacred animal had talked about his trouble with sitting still and studying. Seems he much preferred to learn by doing, as evident by right now. His handling of the stringing was perfect, she only had to do it in front of him once and he was able to replicate her exactly although bending the bow itself had proven more of a challenge given his age but that was understandable if somewhat entertaining. Watching as he wrestled with it like a wild animal. Once they had covered maintenance, something he did with such fluidity that it was hard for her to remember this was his first time learning how to do so, they had started drawing straight after. There were things to fix with it, but as a first attempt it was admirable and given the short time they had, she would leave it to one of her hunters to teach him properly. Despite his imperfect stance, his shooting was superb, managing to hit the target on the first try and subsequent shots only getting closer and closer to the bullseye, hitting it on the 9th shot.
'As expected of my son, the bow is your natural weapon. It seems our time is up though. I have to depart to re-join my hunters.' The moon was high in the sky, her hunters would undoubtedly be curious as to where she had gone. Narete, who was glowing from the praise, looked downtrodden at the news, clearly enjoying their time together. 'Do you know where you would like to go?' she asked him.
This is where the situation was entirely out of her hands. Despite him asking about if he could join the hunt, he had also asked her about Camp Half Blood. She had told him everything he would need to know about both places. Enough to decide on where he wanted to go next year, for he had to leave soon. His knowledge of what he was meant more monsters were being attracted and her sacred animal suspected the frequency of near misses and attacks was only going to increase as time carried on. She could only hope she had advertised her Hunters enough but tried not to be biased, giving the benefits and detriments fairly. If he chose to go to Camp Half Blood instead, then she would accept it, unwilling to force him to join despite her many many grievances with the idea.
Narete was rather torn. On one hand, after being told in more detail about Camp Half Blood, it seemed like the natural place to go. After all, it was filled with other demigods like him, with games of Capture the Flag and chariot races, loads of boy and girls, tonnes of activities, the list went on. But with the Hunters, there were the hunts and adventures, the travelling, and of course accompanying Artemis herself, his own mother. Sure, he might not have spent loads of time with her, but he felt this natural connection, unsurprising given their relation. Artemis said her Hunters were like her daughters, and since he was her son that meant they would be like his sisters, they were kind of like one big family. That last point was the deciding factor though.
If he went to Camp Half Blood, sure, he might have made lots of friends, but as the only child of Artemis, he would sit and eat on his own table, do all the activities on his own, live in Cabin 8 on his own. He wouldn't have a family. And for some reason, an ache started in his chest, a completely novel sensation… so why did it feel so familiar? Maybe it was expected of a child to want to be with their parent, but that wasn't the only reason for Narete. It was the sense of home, the sense of belonging he felt when he was with Artemis, she was family. Nothing else mattered as much as that, he knew what his priorities were, family. His precious people would always come first, nothing would ever change that. With that in mind, it was an easy decision where before he was unsure. 'I would like to join your hunt m'lady.'
Artemis was ecstatic, everything went exactly like she wanted! 'I shall come again in around a year's time from now with my hunters, for now practice, train, and you shall become the greatest hunter the world has ever known.' She stood up, Narete following suit when a whooshing sound made him look up and gawk. A silver chariot swung down from the sky, twisting and arching through the air, driven by golden reindeers the size of bears and antlers of silver. The chariot looked like a work of art, a heavy S-shaped curved forward and back, front emblazoned with a symbol of the bow before transitioning smoothly to the sides. The whole chassis sat on long rails sitting underneath that curved at the ends like a snail's shell with wheels on the sides sitting on the same plane. It reminded him of something he read in his studies… 'What was it again? Something to do with an old guy called Nicholas…'
He snapped out of his thoughts when Artemis patted his shoulder, 'If you ever need to contact me, pray to me. I may not be able to respond most of the time due to my duties but know that I will have heard you.' And with those parting words she was off.
Utah Lake, a year later
Narete was tired, he spent most of his days super busy ever since his mother, Artemis, had visited him on his 5th birthday. That felt like ages ago, combing a hand through his hair to get it out of his face, now reaching noticeably past his shoulders. He was tired, it had been a hard day today, the wind blowing through the trees was something he wasn't used to thinking about. 'I need to be able to concep… consen… What was it again… compensate! That's it. I need to compensate for the wind blowing.' At first it didn't make that much of a difference, but when he started shooting from further out, wind had a bigger effect on the 'flight path' of the arrow. The books he read about archery were very detailed, they talked a lot about the maths which he didn't understand but the words and things like 'wind resistance' and 'drag' and some other terms made sense. Mostly. Sometimes. Okay, so maybe he was more looking at the pictures but it's not his fault he couldn't understand the words!
He couldn't even ask the Ceryneian Hind for help nowadays! Most of the time she was out and whenever she came back, she would be really tired and just lay down before falling asleep. Narete didn't have the heart to disturb her when she was obviously so worn out, instead letting her rest.
'Stupid person who wrote the stupid book with stupid hard to read words. Why write something if no one can understand it, it makes no sense!' Those and similar grumbles continued as he walked into the clearing, wanting nothing more than to freshen up and lay down with the sleeping doe so he could snack after a long and hard training session, and immediately froze. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt something different. It wasn't like he could sense other people's presence, no, but the ground of the clearing, it looked… off. There wasn't a way to describe it really, maybe it was his numerous games of catch with the Ceryneian Hind that that she didn't have the time or energy for or maybe it was his own practise from when he was out exploring and following animals as they went about their lives. But now, as he stood in the clearing and carefully looked around, he could tell there had been a large group of people here not too long ago. 'This… this is not normal…'
He cautiously approached his cave, bow drawn, and arrow notched as he silently sidestepped closer. He didn't know who might have come here but he wasn't taking any chances, maybe it was some monster that had human feet, there were definitely some stranger monsters he read about. Glad for once there weren't that many pictures in the 'Theogony'.
Using the arrow to push past the lichen he found the cave completely empty, that was a good thing since that meant no monsters. It was also a VERY BAD thing because the Ceryneian Hind was asleep when he left and normally stayed asleep till night fell and she would head out. The fact she wasn't here was very strange. 'Did the people who came here took her? Is she ok?' He walked out the cave looked down, noticing something he'd missed earlier. The footsteps showed the people had stopped in the clearing, but there were also noticed some weird tracks which he now saw as them leaving in the same direction they came from.
Putting away his stuff he look up to check the time using his hands to shield his eyes form the sun's glare. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, probably a couple of hours before it set and started to get darker. Normally as much as he wanted to stay out late into the night running through the forest and practising his shooting, the great doe was very insistent about staying away from the boundary because of the monsters that became more active at night. Seeing her as tired as she was, he reluctantly obeyed, not wanting to make her life harder, but now that there was the chance that she was in danger he was going to have to break that rule. He was even prepared to leave the boundary, something he had promised never to do unless the situation was dire.
Just as he was about to head out, in the direction the footsteps took away from the clearing, people suddenly melted out from the forest. Their silver clothes somehow perfectly camouflaged them in the green foliage, not entirely sure how that worked with the clashing colours but whatever. All of them looked older than him, around the age of 10 - 16 and if they were hostile, looked very dangerous judging from the bows they all held. Leading them was one of the older looking ones, a tall girl with long dark hair adorned with a silver circlet. Her coppery skin making her look like a Persian princess as her angular face held a regal and noble quality. By her side was someone who could terrify the minotaur. Ginger hair shaved at the sides but long on top gave her a dangerous look, grey eyes resembling an angry storm about to let loose. She was tall, a couple inches taller than the one with the silver circlet, and the sleeveless shirt she wore showed off her toned arms. The most intimidating part though, all their eyes were fixed on him, and they seemed a bit irritated.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that, this ended up being longer than anticipated. Again, not sure how frequently new chapters will be coming out, depends on inspiration and time. I feel like this will be a monthly sort of release, I'll try and keep it consistent. Till next time.