She saw a figure huddled against a sheltering rock and recognized Artemis's form in the dark. She was a little hazy on the details of what she'd seen and done in the temple but she felt a faint sense of suspicion towards the other woman. Shivering a little and pulling her cloak closer to her body, Tracey slowly made her way to the campfire and yawned from the chilly night air, something she did normally when she was cold. She gently placed a hand on Artemis's shoulder and gave her a small squeeze before sitting down next to her and leaning in a bit.
"I have something I need to ask you my dear." She whispered after smiling at everyone in their company. "There are a few things I need to know... about what you learned from the Voice when you spoke to it in London."
Artemis gave a long slow blink then turned to face her a little better. "What exactly do you want to know? I gave you the rundown on the way back to Baker Street. The Voice is battling an Enemy that wants to destroy reality. It's doing it by altering the Fantasies that humanity writes to express the higher ideals, truth, justice, love, acceptance, all that stuff. If the Enemy can destroy those it can destroy Reality."
"Yes I remember you telling me all that but I want to know is..." Tracey stopped and looked directly into Artemis's brown eyes before starting in a low voice. "What will happen if we don't succeed? What if either of us don't come back to our own reality? What will happen then?"
"I don't know for sure. I know there were others who got tapped before us, I get the impression that failure in this case means we just die." Artemis pulled her blanket up higher around her shoulders.
Tracey nodded her head slowly, but still needed to know more and started to disregard the cold despite the fact that she was shivering still.
"Did the Voice always chose people in pairs? Or was just one suppose to be selected?"
Artemis pursed her lips. "No. They chose individuals with certain… gifts. We're the first pair, originally it was just supposed to be me. Even Zeus said so back when all this started."
"So he didn't say why I was dragged in with you at all?" Tracey asked hopefully, wishing to know more. "You're the one with the gifts... so will happen to me if you end up dying while we're trying to put reality back on course?"
It would be a hard truth for Tracey to hear and accept if she and Artemis were to be separated forever, but she felt that she should know before they went on. She had already figured out that they could be hurt and to a great extent so death was possible too and since that was the case, they would have to be ever more diligent in their attempts to stay alive.
Artemis hesitated and started picking at the hem of the blanket. "I made a deal…." She said slowly. "If anything happens to me you'll go back to Middle Earth. I probably should have demanded they send you back right then but this was before you go hurt so badly. I was considering trying to contact the Voice again and ask them to send you back now."
There was a resounding smack that echoed over the rocks and down the mountain side. Everyone looked up from their business and chatter to see the aftermath of what had just transpired. The growing red mark on Artemis's cheek started to become more evident when she turned back to face Tracey.
"Don't you even think about doing that again Artemis! I'm not going anywhere without you and you'll have the devil's own task to send me away before I see OUR task finished! Together." Tracey hissed angrily, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself a little. "I appreciate that you're looking out for me, but the final decision where I am concerned will rest with me. Anything else that happens should be considered by both of us... alright?"
Tracey hadn't wanted to slap Artemis and she was greatly surprised by her own aggression toward her, but some emotion triggered her reaction before she could stop it and she lashed out. It was the first time since they met and became best friends that she had ever done such a thing and she hoped that she wouldn't have to again.
The blanket slipped down off Artemis's shoulders and Tracey could see herself reflected in Artemis's wide eyes then Artemis let out a surprised bark of a laugh. She raised a hand to touch the bright red mark and kept laughing. "Oh the Voice was wrong about you. So was the Enemy for that matter."
"What are you talking about Artemis?" Tracey asked, shaking her head in confusion and lowering her hand into her lap again. "What did they say about me?"
Artemis pulled the blanket up on her shoulders again. "It was more the implication that you're more a hinderance than a help. And they are so fucking wrong."
"You got that right."
Cracking a smirk, Tracey let out a low laugh before shifting her form to her Siberian tiger form, a fast becoming favorite of hers. The instant she did this, she no longer was effected by the cold night air that rippled through her fur. She huffed a breath of air into Artemis's face before looking at the others and settling down for the evening. Mulling over everything Artemis had told her and then what she learned from her trial in the temple, even the parts she didn't like.
Autolycus leaned in closer to the rest of the group. "And just what was that all about?" He asked quietly.
Amphiaraus smirked at him. "And here I thought you'd stopped asking such questions about the affairs of women."
Everyone around the fire chuckled as sparks soared into the frigid night.
