Hey everyone! I'm actually going to switch between my two stories every other chapter. I'm going to try to keep up a 2,000- 4,000 word count in every chapter for this one, so I might take a while with this story. But it'll be worth it, right? I mean, who doesn't love long chapters?
But this story is REALLY hard for me to write, and I'm sorry if I take to long.
Enjoy.
Artemis sighed as she watched Sophie charge up waves of electricity. To be so young and to have a burden so great. It wasn't fair to the poor child.
Birds sang and wolves prowled around the Hunters' camp site. Green light filtered dimly through the lush tree cover, creating an eerie effect. Tire marks could be seen at one end of the clearing, stopping at where two cars were parked.
Artemis sighed again. She was against the idea of cars and how they hurt the environment, but her second in command, Thalia, had insisted that just a few of them wouldn't cause much difference at all. Reluctantly, she had allowed two cars in their camp, if only to avoid an argument with Thalia. Artemis still regretted that decision. Every few days Thalia would turn up the radios and produce alcohol for everyone to drink, with the exception of Sophie; She was still underage.
Ever since Thalia's twenty-first birthday, (Well, technically, she was still fifteen years old, and always would be, but she'd been alive for twenty-one years) she'd gone a little overboard with drinking. Artemis had seen this with some of her more recent hunters, and she wasn't worried too much. It would pass soon, and her blessing kept her Hunters from being seriously harmed by alcohol, but they still could get a little crazy if they drank too much. Usually, Thalia was the only one who drank enough to actually get drunk, but sometimes others did, too.
Artemis noticed Sophie walking towards her and dismissed the matter of Thalia out of hand. It was just a phase, and it would pass. Dwelling on it wouldn't change anything. She focused her attention on Sophie instead. Her black hair grew just past her shoulders and was streaming behind her, as the wind was strong. Her eyes were shocking sky-blue and confident. Sophie strode forward with her back straight and head up. She looked much older than she actually was, which is usually hard to say about a Hunter, but Sophie had only been part of the Hunt for a year.
When she reached Artemis, Sophie bowed and said, "Lady Artemis. You wished to see me?"
"Yes. As you know, the winter solstice is in a matter of days. You'll be seeing your father," Artemis replied. Sophie nodded. "And it wouldn't do if the first time you met Zeus was on a formal occasion, would it?" Sophie's eyes lit up and she smiled, understanding what the goddess would say next.
"I suppose not, my lady," she replied.
"I didn't think so. This is why you shall be traveling to Olympus, starting today." Artemis told her. She saw Sophie's smile waver.
"But... my lady... you said 'you' as if I'd be going alone." she stated nervously. Her expression had change from happy to worried in a matter of seconds.
"Yes," Artemis told her. "you will be."
"But... why?" Sophie asked, sounding hurt.
"Because," Artemis started."This provides me an opportunity to test you. You will be our forward scout."
"But what if I mess up?" Sophie protested. "What good will that have done us?"
Artemis looked her in the eyes. "Sophie, I trust you. You won't mess up."
Sophie was taken aback. To have that kind of praise given out from a goddess was an honor. She swallowed down her fear. "A-alright. When will I leave?"
"As soon as you pack your things."
"Thank you, my lady," Sophie said respectfully. She then ran off to the tent she shared with Thalia. Artemis watched her go. She had so much energy to use. If only she could... Artemis couldn't bring herself to even think about Sophie's fate. It brought too much pain to mind. Instead she focused on the other Hunters.
As Artemis swept her gaze across the camp, Sophie reached her tent. She burst through the tent flaps and came face to face with a very surprised Thalia.
"Sheesh, Soph," Thalia said, amused. "What's the rush?"
"Gotta pack my stuff," Sophie stated simply. "Artemis told me to scout forward to Olympus."
Thalia let out a low whistle. "How did you get that kind of position?" It was clear she was impressed; Hunters as young as Sophie would almost never be trusted with that kind of honor.
"Artemis said I should be able to meet my father before the winter solstice," Sophie explained. She was hurriedly packing her possessions into a small silver bag. They didn't consist of much, just a few pictures and food and clothes to change into. She'd strapped two knives to either side of her waist, in case she needed to fight at close ranges. Her bow was... well, she wasn't sure where it was, she just knew it would show up when she needed it.
"Well good luck, then. Be careful," Thalia told her. She had a small radio perched on a desk and some rock music was playing from it. She was quietly singing along while she read an ancient Greek book about different kinds of weapons. Sophie saw that it was opened to a page with pictures of bows and arrows.
When she finished packing, Sophie said goodbye to Thalia and started off towards Artemis's tent. She shivered because of the wind, and pulled her silver winter cloak tighter around herself. Usually, she was comfortable around all kinds of air-related weather, but she was especially prone to getting cold when winds and rain were extreme. Artemis said it was because she was born during a rainstorm.
Sophie reached the young-looking auburn-haired goddess and politely bowed. "I'm ready to leave, my lady."
Artemis responded, "Good. You know the route?"
Sophie nodded. "Of course." She'd never been to Olympus before, but she had memorized where it was.
"Then you may go. Remember, if you see anything suspicious, report back to me immediately. Don't try to be a hero and confront anything too strong for you." Artemis told her.
"Thank you, and goodbye, lady Artemis." Sophie told her, while walking off into the forest.
"Good luck," Artemis called after her.
The moment Sophie stepped out of the clearing, then eerie green light faded, and was replaced by shadows, with the occasional light beam streaming through the trees. A trickle of water ran next to the small game trail Sophie was walking on. She shivered, this time not because of the intense cold.
Sophie felt her bow appear slung across her back. She reached for it, comforted by the familiar weapon in her hands. Somehow, being armed with a weapon she was familiar with made her feel safe in such a dark, uninviting forest.
Sophie was glad for the noise of the water next to her, as it made her feel slightly less lonely. The company of something else seemingly friendly, even if not human, helped her clear her mind. Dead silence was not something Sophie would want in such a situation, as it would feed the tension in the air, making her jump at every crackle of leaves, every broken twig.
After a few hours of walking, Sophie found a tree with low branches. She decided to climb it and jump onto the tree next to it, so she could get a good view of where she was going.
Sophie had always had a good head for heights, and found it particularly easy to make her way up the trunk and leap to a branch from the neighboring oak. She made her way up above the treeline, and gasped at what she saw.
Green leaves stretched for miles and miles in every direction, broken only by plumes of smoke and the tops of skyscrapers in the Northeast. Sophie knew instinctively that the sight she was seeing was New York. Excitement fluttered inside of her at the thought that her destination was only about a day's walk away.
Sophie marveled the sight before her for a few more brief moments, then began to climb down the oak. When she reached the forest floor, she set off towards Olympus again. She was so engrossed in he thoughts that she almost missed the cow that had emerged from the trees.
Sophie drew her bow up and nocked an arrow, but some invisible force stopped her. "I wouldn't do that, honey," a strong, commanding female voice said.
When Sophie felt she could move again, she kept an arrow nocked, and turned towards the voice. Standing where her bow was pointed, stood a tall, slim female figure with black hair and a golden circlet resting on her head. She was smiling, but the smile looked menacing. "Who're you?" Sophie asked, drawing her arrow slightly.
"Oh, I'd put that away if I were you," The woman said, still smiling. "Godly powers would beat simple bows and arrows any day." She waved her hand dismissively.
Something about the woman made Sophie suspicious. She knew she couldn't be anyone normal, because nobody could have shown up in the middle of a forest without alerting Sophie of their presence. Something the woman had said... godly. Sophie understood then. The strange woman was a goddess.
As if reading her thoughts, the goddess said, "Oh yes, I am a goddess. Hera, to be precise."
Sophie frowned. "What do you want with me?" She didn't lower her bow, only drew the arrow further.
"I would like no more to do with you, than you with me. That is, of course, why I'm here." Hera said sweetly.
"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, drawing the arrow as far as it could go.
"I mean, I'm here to dispose of you. You have displeased me, and you shall pay," Hera said, all traces of niceness gone from her voice. In it's place was hatred.
Sophie let her arrow fly. Hera disappeared, and rematerialized behind Sophie. She laughed. "I'm going to enjoy this, very, very, much." she drew a small dagger from the folds of her cloak, and advanced on Sophie.
Sophie paled. A goddess was going to kill her in cold blood. The only thing she could hope to do was stall. "Why would you want to kill me?" She asked.
Hera glared at her. "You are a daughter of Zeus, and his wretched lover Maria," she spat on the ground. "You're a mistake, and I'm going to rid the world of you. It's for everyone's good, even yours."
Sophie was hurt by those words. She was not a mistake, and would not tolerate being called one by such a lowlife as Hera. She was determined to hurt her in some way, when an eagle swooped down from the sky, clawing Hera as it flew.
Sophie watched in amazement as the bird clawed at the swearing goddess. Hera eventually rushed away, and disappeared. The eagle flew to Sophie's shoulder and stroked it's feathers with it's beak.
Sophie stroked the eagle's head. She took her pack off and gave it some food. She then hoisted her pack back onto her shoulder.
"Well," Sophie told the eagle cheerfully. "It looks like it's just you and me and a long walk to Olympus."
Well, I hope you liked it! A bit short by my new 2,000- 4,000 standard, but It'll do.
R&R please.