Hola! I updated much sooner than I thought possible, but I had a surprising lack of activities today, and I'm getting done with a school project tomorrow, one of the last ones for the year. So I'll be alot less busy! YAY! This chapter is kinda longish *well for me anyway* but it makes me happy! I hope you like it!

~ArtemisFrimm

I woke up to find Artemis shaking me awake. I yawned and moved to rub the sleep from my eyes when I realized that I couldn't feel my face, much less my arms. Needless to say, I began to panic.

"Oh, my gods! Oh my gods, why can't I feel my arm?" I asked my voice shaking.

Artemis, who was trying to keep the fire going, glanced over at me. She looked worried, "You can't feel your arm?" she asked, obviously trying to keep cool for my sake.

I shook my head, not trusting my own voice.

Artemis cursed silently under her breath. It was so much colder than last night that I could see her breath as she cursed.

Artemis pulled off the sweatshirt I had given her the night before and tossed it to me. "Can you put it on?" she asked.

I shrugged, and tried to pick it up realizing that I couldn't.

Artemis scowled and pulled out her dagger, and made a slit down the center of the sweatshirt so it looked more like a jacket. She pulled it around me, and the extra warmth felt good. She then held my frozen hands in hers and she began to blow on them. Her warm breath and hands felt so nice.

I began to feel a tingling feeling in my hands as I began to get some feeling back into my hands. I moved my fingers carefully. They burned badly but at least I could feel them.

Artemis pulled her hands away, "Keep blowing on your hands and keep them close to your body and out of the wind." She instructed, as she began looking through her bag for something.

I began to blow on my hands again, feeling the familiar tingling sensation. "I take it you've dealt with frostbite before?" I asked.

Artemis nodded and began to warm up some nectar over the fire, "Being an immortal hunter who is constantly in harsh weather, and having the medicine god as your brother has its advantages." she said.

Once the nectar was heated up, she handed it to me. "Drink this. It'll help." She said.

I agreed and began sipping the warm beverage. I had never tried warm nectar before, but let me tell you, it's wonderful. The familiar taste of warm blue chocolate-chip cookies smothered my taste buds. The warm drink warmed me up considerably and suddenly my hands didn't feel as if they were burning.

Artemis had been watching me, "How do you feel?" she asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Awesome." I said.

Artemis gave a half-smile, "Good, because we have to get to the nearest train station and catch the next ride to Colorado." She looked at me, "Can you walk?" she asked.

"I think so." I said. I tried to stand up and felt a little wobbly, but managed to catch myself before I could fall to the ground and humiliate myself.

Artemis still looked worried, "On most occasions I would have waited another night for someone with frostbite to recover, but seeing as we're running out of time-"

"Seriously I'm fine." I said putting on my brave face, "I'll be fine."

Artemis still looked concerned but didn't argue. It took us a little over three hours to reach the train station.

My feet had begun to feel cold and uncomfortable, but I tried not to show it. I could tell Artemis was watching closely to make sure I didn't strain myself.

The warmth of the train station was such a relief. The walls provided a nice shelter from the wind and we were no longer walking through wet puddles and snow.

We walked up to the ticket counter to buy our tickets, and were almost scared out of our skin by the woman behind the counter. This lady looked like she could be older than dinosaurs, or at least related to one. She had a few small wisps of blue hair on her head and only about three teeth in her mouth. Her skin sagged off her face, and she had two large grisly looking warts on her face. She wore huge glasses that made her eyes look like big ugly saucers and her left eye looked clouded. She was holding a cigarette in her left hand and in her right was a vintage car magazine.

"What the hell do you want?" the lady wheezed.

Artemis just stood there staring, momentarily stunned by the woman's grotesque appearance.

Finally she snapped out of her daze, "Um, we need two tickets to Colorado." She said, still looking stunned.

The woman glared at us with her huge saucers. "Meh!" she laughed a startling laugh, "Why the hell would I sell you two little unfortunate brats train tickets to half way across the country?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes, obviously losing her patience, "Because we need the tickets and we have money." She answered coldly.

The old lady glowered at her, "Lemme guess, you ran away from home, robbed a bank, and are trying to head out west to make money by gambling." She said rudely.

Artemis looked mildly surprised by the old woman's response before answering, "Yea, that's what we're doing." she said sarcastically.

The woman smiled a hideous, nearly toothless, satisfied smile at us, "Hah! I knew it." She said smugly. "Now, why the hell would I sell you tickets you nasty little thieves?" she asked.

Artemis seemed extremely irritated, "Maybe because we, 'nasty thieves," she glanced at me, with a mixture of annoyance and indulge before continuing, "have lots of money to offer you if you give us the tickets." She said.

Huh, somehow it never occurred to me that gods used bribes. I guess you learn something new every day.

The old woman considered this for a moment before replying, "What if I don't except bribes from nasty little children?"

Artemis scowled and pulled her dagger out from under her jacket, "Do you except a threat?" she asked menacingly, twirling the dagger in her hand.

The old woman didn't look phased, but reconsidered, "Fine, gimme the money and you can have your damn tickets." She said, not looking a bit happy about it.

Artemis grinned and almost evil smile, "That's what I thought you'd say." She said, handing the woman the money.

We got our tickets and made our way towards the train, but I could have sworn I heard the old lady saying something about 'burning in hell.' I guess she knew her fate.

Looking back one more time at the old woman, I grinned evilly and then jogged to catch up to Artemis.

"I didn't know you used bribery." I said curiously.

Artemis shrugged looking slightly embarrassed, "I usually don't like to but sometimes growing up with Apollo and Hermes has its advantages." She said grinning slightly.

I nodded, "And the blackmail?" I asked, curious about that as well.

Artemis grinned mischievously, "That was a last resort. I absolutely hate how Ares throws around threats like they're nothing, but that lady was insane." She said.

I nodded. I felt as if I was beginning to understand Artemis a little better. For the first time in days, I didn't feel totally stressed out. Maybe things were looking up. Of course though, I was wrong, things were going to get worse. Much, much worse.

Hola! *IDK Y but I love that word...hola!* anyhoo, I hope you liked the chapter. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do for this chapter and kinda just sat at my computer and stared at a blank screen for about half and hour before I jumped up and said, "EGAD! I KNOW WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT!" hahaha just kidding, I wouldn't say egad. but yea... sorry for rambeling , oh and repeat after me, I, ARTEMIS FRIMM, DO NOT, OWN PJO! HAHAH yea I'm in a good mood. GOOD NIGHT EVERY BODY! ARTEMIS FRIMM HAS LEFT THE BUILDING (not really I just really wanted to say that)

=D

~Artemis FRimm