Thank you for moving beyond the summary and actually clicking on the story. Before we begin, I'd like to say that this is NOT a shipping fic. I don't see the relationship between Artemis and Orion as romantic in nature, so I'm afraid I would be unable to do it justice in a story of my creation. Instead, I want to explore the friendship that might have been, before all of it ended.
Edit: Also, I originally intended this to be an emotional fanfic exploring the mutual admiration, pain, loss, tragedy, of those two characters in a drama of epic proportions, until I actually started writing it and realized within the first two sentences that I didn't actually want it to be all dramatic and angsty. Dramatic, yes, angsty, no. In wake of such a realization, I promptly 180'ed mid-sentence and ended up with...this...comedic...thing. The characters are sarcastic, anachronisms are everywhere, and above all, an unhealthy amount of monologuing!
So basically...Percy Jackson's Greek Gods.
Warnings for this chapter: irreverent humor, Sarcastic!Artemis.
Curiosity.
That's what brought her to him, or at least restrained her from shooting him immediately upon finding him on her island, hunting, of all things. Clearly he had neglected to read the guide book on Delos. No one was allowed to die there, and that implies that no one was allowed to kill on the island, either. Even a testosterone laden idiot like Heracles would have put the pieces together.
Because it was his eyes, or his lack thereof, as he strode along with a confidence no blind man should possess (this is an oxymoron at best, a blatant violation of the laws of Things That Should Be, at worst). To add insult to injury, he was completely unaided. No talking birds, no anachronistic seeing aids, not even a walking stick. Part of her was tempted to put a tree directly in his path, just to see how he'd react. That'll teach him to disregard cosmic order!
So that's exactly what she did.
To her mild frustration, the moron did not slam face first into the tree trunk. Instead, he stopped, felt the bark, and took two steps to the left, before striding on more leisurely than ever.
Intriguing.
After five more attempts with ever larger trees, she decided that it was time to show herself. Anyone with such tree avoiding skills would be a fine addition to her hunt. Though she still had to do something about the whole hunting on her island thing.
She decided to appear as a fifteen year old. Fifteen seemed like a nice, respectable age to avoid sounding like a bratty half-pint. Because she's not, gods damn it. No matter what Hera said.
"Having fun?" she asked in her most authoritative voice.
The Moron started, fumbling for his bow, "What-who?"
"Sorry to interrupt, actually, not sorry. As I'm sure you're aware, you're not allowed to hunt on sacred ground. Delos is sacred ground. Therefore, you're not allowed to hunt on Delos. Please leave. Have a nice day."
"...I'm on Delos?" he asked after a pause.
Oh dear, this might take a while.
"Are you not aware of this?" She scanned the man's memories, just to be sure.
"I've just been...drifting. Who is this?"
"People refer to me as Artemis." The Moron's face went slack.
"My name is O-orion. P-please don't kill me!"
Orion.
The giant.
Supposedly the one born to annihilate her and her brother Apollo.
Oh snap.