Aquila
When it came down to it, it was me against my father. We had defeated everyone in our paths except for each other. Now it was our turn to prove who was better. And finally, the battle ground was mine to choose. I picked a mountainous region with several tall trees bordering a forest area. This was about to be the perfect fight.
Dad wasn't about to make this easy on me, even if I was his kid. My optics met his, and we knew destiny was about to take its course. He lashed out at me, almost striking me with his huge left front paw. Ironically, that was his chainsaw arm. I flew up before he could get me. Best way to get out of sight when you're a bird, fly towards the sun. My plan worked. Dad couldn't look for very long. I waited about a minute or two, and then put the drop on him. I flew down incredibly fast and pecked his head hard on the very top.
"I'm impressed. Only Prowl's been able to get the drop on me in recent years. Very impressive kiddo".
"Want me to do it again?" I asked.
"I don't think so!" Dad attacked again.
He went on to get me down on the ground, but it was okay. He wasn't out to hurt me, thank goodness. He could've easily done so. He didn't go for my throat directly; rather, he toyed with me a bit. Tossing me in the air, then catching me only to throw me up again. Yeah, it gave me a processor ache. When he tossed me again, I flew up again and dive bombed him. Yep, hit him right in the head again. This, to me, was almost like a hilarious game, though I should've taken it a bit more seriously.
Yeah, believe it or not, I wound up losing, which left Dad as leader of the planet. I guess I wasn't the one that Scourge wanted. Maybe it was dad, I didn't know. But I met up with him again the night after the fight to ask him what he'd do now. He didn't wanna give up hunting for this. He couldn't rule a planet met to be free.
"I do however want to lead everyone to a better energon source. The energon signatures here are incredibly low".
"How are you gonna do that?" I asked.
"We have to move everyone here. There's a better source our by the old cottage where my mother taught me her craft. Do you wanna see it?".
"Yeah" I nodded, "definitely".
I followed my father out of the temple to a certain foggy area with, just like he said, an old burned down cottage stood.
"This was her alter. She worshipped Artemis here" he told me.
"Artemis?" I asked.
"Greek goddess of the hunt. Most Half Blood hunters, me and Death Gar including, look to her for a great hunt. She protected us and gave us strength to go on with our functions. I was named for her hunting companion".
"Orion?" .
"Yeah. There are three stories I know as to how he died. Some say he was killed in a hunt. Others say Artemis killed him in self defense. I believe the one with him and Scorpios".
"A scorpion I take it?".
Dad nodded. "Sent by another god, probably her brother, Apollo, to kill him to protect his sister's chastity".
"I thought she resisted most men's advances toward her".
"She did. But Apollo got the wrong idea about her and Orion so he sent Scorpios to kill him".
I sighed. "That's terrible. What'd she do?".
"Put him and his two hounds in the night sky as the constellations Orion, Canis Major, and Canis Minor".
"Why didn't she try to bring him back to life?".
"I'm sure she tried, but once a soul passes to the Underworld, there was no coming back".
"But Orpheus-" I started.
"Orpheus failed to bring his wife back. He was later torn to shreds by crazy, evil nymphs".
I stepped close to the fireplace and wiped some dust off the top of it. There were several images carved into the stone. There was a stag being attacked by hounds, a silver colored bow and arrow, a wolf being hunted by Artemis, and the many nymphs who were her followers.
"The silver bow and arrow was my favorite. It played an important role in Artemis' hunt" dad put a hand on my shoulder.
"How?".
"Apollo had gold for his bow and arrows, but Artemis chose silver. Gold caused pain to those who were shot with them. But silver was gentle in its touch and didn't dare hurt any creature. That's what inspired my no kill policy in my hunting".
"Why?".
"No life loving creature wants to be killed, Aquila. I only kill if the prey is in terrible pain and will die anyway. In a way, you save it that way".
"Death Gar taught you that, didn't he?".
"Yeah".
"So, how are you going to move them all across the desert to this spot? Not everyone's gonna want to do it".
"I know, but they'll have to if they wanna survive. Death Gar also taught me that the fight to survive is always the hardest and bloodiest. But in the end, the survivor gets to tell the story".
"Rules of Survival" I knew that quote from anywhere from that one book about the three abused kids.
"Very good. We gotta go back so we can tell Scourge my plan. Let's go".
I followed dad out, but not before taking one last look at the Silver bow and arrow carving.
A/N: I know I so got off with this, but I thought I'd have Lockdown explain some mythology to Aquila, that and show off my own knowledge of Greek and roman mythology.