Ryker was up far before the sun, quietly exiting the Hunter's Tent and slipping away into the trees. He didn't delve very deep into the forest, the silver of the Hunters' tent was still visible through the branches, but he was just far enough so that no one would bother him. He climbed a tree, barely noticing when his chest gave a twinge of pain in protest of the strain, and took a seat on the first branch he wrapped his hand around. It was there that Ryker sat as the morning slowly grew older, saying nothing and thinking the same. He gazed out to where sunlight slowly began to spread through the trees and breathed in the crisp morning air, savoring the scents that the forest brought to him. He slowly, regretfully, exhaled the breath and began to breathe normally though he continued to watch the sunrise in silence. It was not too long before the birds and other creatures of the forest had accustomed themselves to him and were flitting all around him, paying him no mind. A small squirrel even went so far as to climb over Ryker as it went about its way presumably to find something in the way of food.
When the sun was a few feet above the line of the horizon Ryker began to hear the sounds of Camp Jupiter as the demigods, legacies, and other inhabitants began to go about their various morning rituals. A small bluebird flitted across Ryker's face and came to rest on his leg, hopping several times and looking at the demigod with an odd mixture of confusion and interest. Ryker whistled softly to the bird and extended two fingers, inviting it to take a new perch. The bird happily obliged, flapping once and then resting on his fingers. He smiled slightly at the small thing and stroked the back of its neck gently with his other hand. The bird chirped happily and flitted off into the trees, clearly satisfied with Ryker's treatment of it. "And goodbye to you as well, winged one." Ryker murmured, the farewell finally breaking his silence.
"So this is where you wandered off to." Artemis said, seemingly emerging from a beam of sunlight and balancing easily on the branch where Ryker rested.
Shrugging, Ryker barely even glanced an acknowledgement towards the goddess, staring off at the sunrise once more. Perhaps before his trip to Tartarus he would have grown annoyed at the interruption of his brief moment of solitude, but now he found that he was simply glad of Artemis's company. Did not mean, however, that he had to vocalize as such. He still had to at least attempt to keep up his unapproachable manner. If not he knew it was only a brief amount of time before they would attempt to rope him into something he truly dreaded, like those accursed campfire songs.
"I understand that you may feel some feelings of dread or apprehension," Artemis began warily, hesitantly. Ryker did not have to look, he sensed his eyes upon her. With a sense of resignation he turned to her and met her gaze. "Facing a task such as one that you currently do would give even the greatest heroes some sense of fear."
"'Of these ten that set forth, One shall cease to be henceforth'." Ryker quoted, turning his gaze back to the sunrise. "You know as well as I that the one who will die on this quest will most likely be me."
"You can't possibly-." Artemis began.
Ryker silenced the protest with a single glare. "The others are going in pairs, at least, and they are going to be watching each other's backs like hawks. Do you really think otherwise, or are you just trying to reassure me? Because it's not worth it. As long as I break the chain I am being sent after, I am okay with dying."
"Do not say such things!" Artemis said hotly, her voice furious. "You know nothing!"
"Oh, don't act like it wouldn't be the best course of events." Ryker barked out a laugh. "The other nine are well-known and loved throughout both camps. I am a reformed traitor who managed to somehow save them by leading an army of resurrected demigods back to the surface. They might be thankful to me, but they will never truly forgive me for betraying them in the first place. If I don't come back from this quest at the very least my memory will be a positive one."
Ryker had never been slapped by a goddess before, he had a strange feeling this would happen again, and he found that it hurt just as much as he thought it might. Artemis's hand wrenched his head around and nearly sent him tumbling down from the branch, but she caught his arm before he could fall. She yanked him to his feet and grabbed him by the front of his silver shirt, slamming his back against the tree's trunk. So surprised was he that Ryker did not even bother fighting back, nor could he find the willpower to even want to try. "Ouch." He said, reaching up and gingerly touching where her hand had connected with his face. "What gives, everyone is thinking it! You saw their faces when they heard the last line. Every one of them looked at me, because it makes sense!"
"Are you really still that delusional?!" Artemis snarled, her face mere inches from his own. "That wasn't relief, you stupid fool, that was worry. Concern. They worried about you, as did everyone, because you are being sent alone to one of the only places in the world that you can be given very little help from the gods."
Ryker considered this, thinking back to the expressions that they had assumed. He had no trouble recalling them, and found that Artemis may have been correct. "Regardless, it still would be best if I was the one to fall." He said stubbornly, grabbing her wrist and attempting to force her to release her grip on his shirt. It did not work. "The camps love them, and losing a single one of them would be devastating. Emotionally and tactically."
"And you think your death would be any less painful?" Artemis demanded. "Any less sorrowful?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." Ryker shrugged. "There is really no telling, is there?"
"Go see your sisters of the Hunt." Artemis said tiredly, "They are about to get something to eat and they are wondering where you are."
Ryker hopped down from his branch resting place and landed easily on the ground. His chest protested again, but it was far from a debilitating pain. "See you around, Artemis." Ryker said with a wave over his shoulder as he made his way back to the camp.
True to Artemis's word, the Hunters were strolling around their camp clearly hungry from the looks in their eyes. "You!" One of them said accusingly when Ryker strode into their campsite. She pointed at him and glared while saying, "Where have you been?! We are starving!"
"No one kept you from getting something to eat!" Ryker shot back. "Least of all me!"
"We eat together, Ryker." Another one said, only slightly less accusingly. "Duh."
"Whose fault is that?" He asked, spreading his arms. "I certainly didn't make that a rule."
"No, but you still have to follow it!" The first Hunter said forcefully. "Look, I would love to argue but I am seriously starving. HEY EVERYONE, RYKER IS BACK LET'S EAT!"
"About time too!" Thalia said grumpily, emerging from her tent with a bleary-eyed scowl. She blinked several times in the morning sunlight and then glared even more forcefully at Ryker. "Next time you want to go sulk in the woods tell someone where you are going so we can drag you back. Don't you know not to get between a Hunter and food?"
"Apparently not." Ryker frowned as more and more Hunters emerged from the tents to glare at him. "You are acting like I have been starving you-."
"You have!" One of the Hunters, Ryker thought it might have been Jude actually, shouted. The others gave various sounds of agreement from growls to shouts. "Now come on, let's go before we eat you!"
The Hunters marched over to the mess hall with Ryker sandwiched firmly between them, unable to do so much as move to the outside of the group. They swept into the mess hall and scared off a demigod who was eating by himself at a table, quickly claiming his table. Thankfully Ryker was called before he was forced to sit with the apparently ravenous Hunters. "Hey, Ryker!" Leo shouted from across the room. He waved the son of Cybele over to where the others sat.
Grateful for the excuse to depart, he quickly moved across the floor and took the proffered seat between Calypso and Frank. A plate of eggs, quail by the look of them, appeared from seemingly thin air in front of Ryker and he gratefully began to crack and drink them. The others made various faces of disgust and shook their heads. "Are you okay?" Piper asked Ryker worriedly. "When you walked in here you looked… kind of uncomfortable."
"Oh, I'm fine." Ryker answered, "But I think it might actually be safer in Tartarus than it is between hungry Hunters and food. They threatened to eat me."
"Yeah, Frank gets the same way." Hazel nodded. Frank shrugged indifferently.
"So does Annabeth." Percy said. He opened his mouth to say more but his face turned an inexplicable white and he clamped his jaw shut. Beside him, Annabeth assumed an angelic expression. "Nevermind." He said weakly, his eyes watering.
"So, have you guys decided when you are going to leave?" Ryker asked in a low voice.
"Percy, Jason, and I are going to leave in three days." Leo said quietly. "We want to make sure we have everything we might need. Especially since we have no idea where we are going."
"I'm sure that we will get some sort of clues along the way." Frank sighed.
"That's usually how it goes." Hazel agreed. "Some sort of clue or monster or… something."
"And then there is the matter of this chain too." Jason reminded them. "The one we have to break apparently."
"You know there is going to be some sort of protection around them too." Annabeth nodded. "Tartarus isn't stupid. I just wish we knew what it was he had chained up."
"And then of course there is always the chance that they need to be broken in some specific order." Leo added darkly. The others seemed shocked and he shrugged. "I'm just saying it is a possibility. You have to take things apart in certain ways, maybe this is one of those things."
"What are the chances that Iris messages will work for this quest?" Jason wondered hopefully.
"Next to none." Percy answered with a sympathetic wince.
"Besides, I doubt they would work from Tartarus anyways." Ryker shrugged. "From what I understand there are certain restrictions that are in place there. I might be able to ask Erebus for a favor, but that's a fifty-fifty shot at best."
"Let's just hope that the chains don't need to be broken in a specific order." Hazel said. "If they do, we just have to figure something out."
"What about the rest of you?" Ryker asked. "When are you leaving?"
"The rest of us haven't decided." Annabeth answered. "What about you?"
"As soon as I can fix my chest and find Hecate." Ryker answered, a touch of his old recklessness entering his eyes. "The sooner I find that other Ryker…. The sooner I can make him suffer for what he took from me. For what he did… there aren't any words for what I am going to do to him."
