Part 12
A rather grumpy Hercules woke with a start when a cascade of icy water collided with his body. He sat up sputtering, "wha--what did you do that for?!"
"It's time to get up," Kora said. She already had everything packed and ready to go except for the blanket Hercules had slept on. As soon as he stood up, she snatched it from beneath him.
"I can see that, but whatever happened to trying to wake someone up the normal way first?" Hercules snapped back.
I knew this way would definitely get you up, and fast," Kora answered as she threw two apples--breakfast--at the demigod. "You can eat as we go. I already ate, so don't bother asking."
"Can I ask where we're going?"
"Artemis's Sacred Island."
"I know that, but the port village, Gallietha, is that way," Hercules pointed off into the distance. "At the speed we're going, we can make it there by lunchtime." Kora whirled around on Hercules.
"I know what I am doing! The spirit of the Huntress is guiding me, you're only along for the ride. So let's lay some ground rules: no questioning what I'm doing. Keep the talking to a minimum unless I say otherwise. Once we meet up with your little friends, you can go back to being your perky, annoying self. Until then, keep quiet!" Kora drew back and continued on her way.
Hercules munched on his apple as he sulked and followed her. He was disliking this Huntress thing more and more every minute. Right about now, he felt more like he was hanging around with Ares than with Kora. More than ever, Hercules wished that they could get to the Isle, get to the bottom of whatever was going on and take it out so that the hinds would be safe and they could get Kora back to normal. She had seemed a bit edgy that afternoon they had spent running around trying to get Artemis's bow back from Strife, Rightus, and their groupies, but it was nothing compared to this.
By the time the sun has reached its zenith, Hercules had polished off his apples and also managed to snag a couple handfuls of berries. Two apples did not provide enough energy to walk the whole morning on. Suddenly, Hercules's nose picked up a familiar scent. The tall youth inhaled deeper, seeking to identify the smell. There, he had it, salt! They must be close to the ocean now. In fact, when he squinted, Hercules could make out the sea at the edge of the horizon. A couple more hours of going straight, and they'd be there. But what were they going to do once they reached the sea? They could technically swim, but that would take even longer than a boat.
All of a sudden, Kora veered sharply and headed off to the left. Hercules was about to protest when he remembered the mood Kora was in, so he held his tongue. She led them into a forest, well, it didn't have quite enough trees to be a forest, but it was as close as you were going to get to a forest so near to the ocean in Greece. After awhile, Hercules noticed that the ground beneath them was getting very moist. He bent down, pressed two fingers to the earth, and took a whiff of the water on his fingers as he straightened up. Definitely salt. 'But what--' the demigod's wondering was cut off when Kora halted. Hercules looked up and saw that they were standing at the mouth of a cave. He was about to venture a question, he at least had the right to know why they had stopped, when Kora spoke.
"What most people don't know is that Artemis's Sacred Island is full of a network of underground passages that lead into many different caves, also hidden trails in the forest and such. Thanks to the spirit of the Huntress," Kora lightly tapped her skull, "I have a perfect knowledge of all these passages and trails. The cave that we are about to go in will lead us under the sea and onto the Isle. The hinds have retreated to a multi-cavern cave, the largest on the Island. I will lead us into that cave, but make sure you stick close and keep up. This cave is full of many dead ends and passages that will lead you the wrong way. Some will dump you out on the wrong side of the Island, but many will lead you right back here. I don't have time to tramp around searching for you, so make sure you stay close."
With that, Kora plunged into the darkness of the cave, taking only enough time to light a torch. Hercules, knowing she wasn't lying about him getting lost, hurried after her.
Okay, I know that this whole plot line, the snappy Kora/Huntress being short with Hercules as he follows her around Greece thing is getting redundant, and I promise that this is the last chapter that will contain explicitly/only this plot line. I'm sorry if this chapter was kind of boring, I thought it was boring myself, but I needed a way to get Hercules and Kora onto the Island fast. I know that it also may seem like I don't like Kora--I'm making her really mean to Herc and all, but I really do like her. I just thought that it seemed like on the show whenever she was the Huntress, she was bossy and more short with Hercules than she ever was with Iolaus. Once again, I really hope that the next few chapters won't seem as redundant and dull as this one.