I'm back! This is the most enjoyment I've gotten out of writing since the third ERtH chapter. I love intimate moments so much, the little talks and gestures, and I'm absolutely desperate to move Sea Girl on so something can start happening between Wisty and Artemis...

Anyways, this is Wild Dreams, chapter six, finally updated after almost two whole years...

Happy reading!

Prompt from Shrrgnien's 'Uniform Upgrade': "...The perfect midsummer moon and black hair unbound, the scent of clover and pine all mixed up with sugar and cherries and the smell of clean night air, the slight chill of a mountain-fed pool, murmured promises and the taste of honey and Olympian wine on both their tongues, and for the first time since the fall of Rome she'd remembered what it was to be a goddess…"

Midsummer, Medieval Europe

Apollo was unbearably obnoxious.

Artemis glared up at the sun chariot and imagined Apollo's cheeky grin as he urged his horses to fly even lower. What began as a simple hunting trip with Zoë has turned into an exhausting, vexing, maddening trek through the plains of Europe. Despite it being past noon, the hottest part of the day was just starting, and she was sure that Apollo wasn't making it any easier for them.

This was the start of a long term plan to eliminate Lycaon's werewolves one by one. Loathe as she was to admit it, the mutts had strength in numbers, and her small band of a dozen girls would lose in a direct confrontation. So, after studying their movement pattern, Phoebe had noticed that the pack regularly sent outriders to scout/harass mortal civilization and find potential lairs, and so came along this hastily drawn up plan to send them back to Tartarus before any further damage was caused.

Or, it was meant to be the start of a plan. Unfortunately, they haven't gotten to the starting bit yet. They haven't even caught sight of any werewolf tracks since early morning.

Even more unfortunate, they were heading west, which meant the sun shone directly into their eyes. Artemis countered this by fantasizing about how she should castrate Apollo after they were finished.

She glanced towards her side. Zoë, as always, had her head held high and her expression stoic as she marched on. The only indication of any effect from the burning sunlight was the light sheen of sweat glistening on her olive skin. She always seemed to handle heat even better than Artemis. Sometimes, Artemis forgot who was goddess and who was lieutenant.

Zoë gave her a funny look. 'My lady?'

Artemis jumped. 'Yes?'

'You were staring.' Zoë resumed her previous posture. 'I thought perhaps you wanted something.'

Artemis battled back a wry smile. Her ever-observant lieutenant had caught her staring plenty of times before but always pretended not to know why. 'I see.' She took a swig out of her water skin - not necessary but certainly welcome, as the enchanted leather receptacle kept the water ice-cold at all times. Staring at the endless plains before them, she let out a long-suffering sigh. 'How long until we encounter signs of civilization?'

'I thought you were the goddess.'

'But you did the tracking,' Artemis pointed out. 'This was supposed to take only a few hours in the morning.'

Zoë flushed, cutely. 'Yes, well, either we were too slow or the beast evaded us.'

Artemis raised an eyebrow. They had set out an hour early and, well, it was insulting to even think that a stray werewolf managed to evade the Huntress and her second in command. 'Is it perhaps possible that you miscalculated?'

She heard a brisk, annoyed 'no' as a reply. She resolved to avoid the topic for the time being.

It was, in fact, entirely possible that Zoë made a calculation error. She was neither the best tracker nor a goddess, and therefore prone to such mistakes from time to time. But Artemis decided to keep her mouth shut.

'Perhaps we should call it a day,' she suggested. 'The beast is bound to head back to its pack. We are blindly stumbling west with no clear objective.'

Zoë huffed. Artemis knew she despised having to concede, but despite the unperturbed front she put up, the goddess could tell that the heat and the blinding sunlight wasn't doing her any favors. 'I say we push on. There is a chance-'

'We are Hunters, Zoë, not gamblers,' Artemis reminded her, gently. 'We take calculated risks. Somewhere along the way our calculations were faulty.'

She immediately kicked herself for bringing it up again. Zoë glared at her. Artemis nearly winced from the intensity of it. The day has not been kind to them, and nerves have long since started fraying with irritation. 'What do we do, then?'

Besides, the past few months have been...a difficult period for them. Their relationship has always been slightly on-and-off, which was inevitable considering its millennia-long history but regardless a subject of great sensitivity. They recently had a good run spanning nearly three decades, but the death of Diana and the consequent departure of Pandora, two of the Hunt's most senior members and without a doubt its most consistent romance, reopened old wounds and forever insecurities as both of them became, once again, uncomfortably aware of Zoë's own mortality.

Artemis didn't want to think about Zoë's mortality. She wanted Zoë back in her arms, but the lieutenant has been acting like she was walking on broken glass, like she was too afraid to get too attached because her death would certainly plunge Artemis into grief for an immeasurable amount of time.

Psh. As if it wasn't too late for both of them. Artemis would rather enjoy the time they have left, whether it be a day or another thousand years. But Zoë was stubborn, and in her almighty stubbornness has managed to avoid talking about it for months. It has resulted in a constantly nagging Artemis and an easily piqued Zoë, which hasn't been nice for the rest of the Hunt and certainly not for them.

That was why, when Phoebe pronounced her plan for a two-person effort, Artemis had leaped at the opportunity and dragged Zoë along. She wanted to fix things.

The goddess tried for a smile, but it probably came out more like a grimace. Still, she reached out to grasp Zoë's arm, which was stiff with resentment. 'I'm sorry, dearest. That was insensitive of me. How about a day out?'

'What did you have in mind?'

'Hmm…' Artemis sidled up to her. 'I'm thinking about a hunting trip through a mountain.'

Zoë eyed her with that endearing little bit of suspicion which indicated that she knew what Artemis was doing but didn't really want to resist. 'Go on.'

'A hunting trip through a mountain, where the pine trees protect the forest floor from the sun and four-leaved clovers mingle freely with pale trilliums and tinkling bluebells.' An arm crept almost involuntarily to encircle the lieutenant's hip. 'Dancing through the cool shade as the critters scuttle and dryads sway, sometimes hunting but always moving...'

She felt Zoë shiver as the arm slid up, ever so slowly, first to her waist, then to the side of her chest. '...then, as Apollo finally rests and the first constellations begin to twinkle in the twilight; as the perfect midsummer moon climbs the unblemished night sky; as the silver sheen over the earth bestows upon us immortal vitality, so begins our night...'

Two hands gripped her jaw, and suddenly Zoë's lips were on hers, rough and wild and with unfettered abandon. Artemis's arms were now on Zoë's neck, pulling them ever closer to each other, and as the kiss deepened into a fierce clash of tongue and teeth she couldn't help but close her eyes, a brilliant, white fire burning behind her eyelids as she pressed herself against Zoë with reckless desperation—

They broke apart, both gasping for breath. Artemis didn't really need to breathe, but the explosion was so liberating that she couldn't help but do so, if only to immerse herself fully in this fleeting moment of perpetual passion. 'Am I forgiven?'

Zoë blinked at her with hooded eyelids. 'For what?'

Artemis laughed, then turns serious. 'Don't do that ever again.'

Zoë became serious too. 'I am sorry. You know it will happen again.'

'It doesn't have to.' Artemis murmured, resting her head on Zoë's shoulder. 'We have talked about this before. I will be fine.'

Zoë shook her head. 'Whatever will you do without me?' And it was a joke but also not, because Artemis didn't know what she would do without Zoë.

'I would place you in the stars,' she responded, after a pause. 'Amongst Callisto and Orion...the brightest of them all; a fitting tribute to you, so you can watch over me as I traverse the lands, knowing that even if you are not by me, you are with me.'

Her lieutenant smiled. 'You are so awfully elaborate, and sappy.' She sounded amused, but her voice was laced with a melancholy Artemis couldn't quite figure out, which was rare and so very unsettling, because Artemis should always be able to figure Zoë out. 'But I suppose…'

'There is something bothering you,' Artemis decided.

'Truly? I have been so discreet!' Zoë gasped dramatically. Artemis's light fingers, which had been gliding along her lieutenant's arm, paused, if only for a fraction of a second, because this burst of performance was so theatrical and very not Zoë. 'Oh, how you see through me, goddess!'

'Zoë…'

The girl sighed. 'I'm sorry, my lady. I need...let's go on that hike.'

Artemis swallowed back the acerbic retort she had on the tip of her tongue. Now was not the time for more conflict. She drew Zoë close. 'Fine, but you won't hide this from me for very long.' The Huntress always tracks down her prey.

Zoë gave a short laugh. 'If there are drinks tonight, my lady, you will not have to.'

Artemis recoiled, momentarily surprised at how Zoë had seemingly read her mind. But she recovered in an instant, because she knew Zoë was willing to share and she just needed some courage and that was rare and very good news.

'Oh, there will be.'

Artemis is so very lyrical. And elaborate. And playful and optimistic even in the bleakest of circumstances - tension with a lover and a friend. I think this is a side of her which is rarely explored in the fandom - the idea that maybe the wild, young goddess might not be a hardass. It's always either that or some mushy soft sex-crazed maniac...

Make her character interesting. Relationships need two people, not one guy or girl and his/her pet girl/boyfriend...

Relatively sure that Shrrgnien is no longer active on FanFiction, but if any of you can contact him, let him know that someone responded to his prompt! (This is part one, the best bit is not finished yet)

On another note, I'm still active. None of my stories are abandoned - I got a review yesterday on Sea Girl saying it was. I've been busy with exams! However, summer is upon us in Australia now, so I hope I can churn out some writing during the holidays.

Wild Dreams hasn't been updated since...forever, and I'd forgotten how nice it felt to write something not closely interwoven with fifteen other chapters. Sometimes, keeping the stories tightly knit can be a pain, because there are so many ideas floating around.

Anyways, look forward to whatever I update next. Probably ERtH. Ciao!