AN: I actually got this chapter done ahead of time, so I had time to think of a decent rhyme!
"What's she tracking this time?" It was dark, but I could hear a low, male voice.
"I don't know. Some hideous pig thing. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that at precisely 8:56 P.M. Artemis will fall into our trap. It will serve her right to bear a little punishment for her constant defiance. Apollo will blame Athena, Athena will get mad, and then a huge lovely war will start. Isn't that exciting?" a soft, female voice asked.
"Oh yeah!" the guy responded. "But what if Apollo sees her? He'll kill us!"
"That's the beauty of our timing, my dear. Apollo will have just passed over her in his sun chariot. No one will know for hours. By which time we will have hidden her away."
"That's why I love you, baby."
"SHE'S IN DANGER!" I woke up, yelling that over and over again.
"Emily? What's wrong?" Phoebe stuck her head inside my tent.
"Artemis! Someone's going to try to trap her!" I yelled, crawling through my tent in a rush. It must have been pretty late, because I could see the sun just setting and the first stars appearing. I would have gotten further if Phoebe hadn't grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Why didn't she get it?
"You have to calm down! It was just a dream!" she said.
More and more people were sticking their heads out of their tents, wondering what all the noise was about.
"I'm telling you, someone's trying to hurt- Oh thank the gods! Thalia!" (Note: I never expected to say those words in that order) "We need to go! Artemis is in danger!"
"What? Explain!" she ordered, obviously not in a joking mood.
I quickly told her my dream, watching her face grow paler with every word I spoke. After I was done with my narrative, she didn't speak. She just reached into her tent and pulled out a backpack.
"Where are you going?" I asked. "This is hardly the time for a hike through the woods!"
She turned to look at me, her eyes flashing.
"Shut up. I'm going to go try to save her. It's already 7:30. I don't have much time. Phoebe, you're in charge. Make sure she doesn't escape." At that, she took off sprinting into the forest, leaving me behind with a very confused Phoebe.
"She'll never be able to find her in time." Phoebe muttered, looking off into the distance. Suddenly, she jumped and tugged at my shirt. "Come on! I have the perfect plan!" she started running off into the distance. Then she looked back and realized I wasn't following.
"Come on! What are you waiting for? Do you want her to be captured?" she yelled.
"What has she ever done for me? Hurt me? Yes! Insult me? Yes! So, why should I help her?" I yelled back, sitting down on the same log from last night.
"Because," Phoebe said, her voice lowering dangerously. "if you don't, I'll have Thalia electrocute you until you die. Plus, she's your mom!"
It was more the threat than the guilt that made me get up. I got up and walked over to her. Then, we took off like a herd of gazelles.
After a little while, I finally asked what was bothering me.
"So, what's your plan anyway? How am I gonna summon Artemis?" I asked, not even panting. Man, I love moonlight! It's like bathing in a Red Bull!
"Well, as soon as we get to camp, you are going to make your mom mad. I'm sure you have many ways to do that." she said smirking.
"Oh yes." I said, liking this plan more and more as time goes on. I get to antagonize Artemis, and she can't even torture me for it! And I had the perfect way of making her mad. How mad will she get when she senses me hugging Ward?
We ran for an hour minutes before we saw the familiar hills of Camp Half-Blood. Thankfully, there weren't any invisiwall, so we could run right in. Well, I could. Phoebe was stopped. I stopped too, wondering what was wrong.
"I can't get in! You have to hurry!" she checked her watch. "It's already 8:45!"
Without further ado, I ran around, looking for Ward? Where was that adorable scumbag?
After several minutes of frantic searching, until finally, I saw him, lying by the lake.
I knew the pain would slow me down, so I didn't yell his name. However, since I wasn't really planning on laying next to him on the ground, I howled like a Wolf (because I am one, ha ha ha).
"Emily?" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Perfect.
I crashed into him, and surprisingly, he was strong enough not to fall down. And then..
"Owwww!" I howled as Artemis's wrath hit me full force. The pain was even more intense than it had been earlier. Even Thalia's shock would be preferable to this!
"Emily? What's going on?" Ward yelled, probably freaked out. I mean, if someone almost passed out every time they came near me, I would be alarmed too.
"Nothing. Just hug me!" I said, thinking how much that could be taken out of context. He was obviously confused, but he hugged me back. The pain was steadily increasing, until I was leaning on Ward for support. Finally, just before I was going to push him away, I heard a crack.
"EMILY MARIE WOLF! What the Hades do you think you're doing?" I heard my mom's angry voice yell. I jumped away from Ward and the pain stopped.
"Mom-" I tried to explain, but she cut me off. She grabbed my arm and dragged me all the way to the cabin, practically breaking my arm in the process. Ward was left behind again, poor guy.
Finally, we reached the cabin. Artemis clapped and all the beds were thrown to the side, leaving a large space clear in the middle. She threw me down and towered over me, her silver aura emitting angry sparks.
My mind blanked, and all I could remember is my crippling fear of all things rabbit. Arm aching, I sat up, only to cower in fear at her furious form.
"Do you remember what I said I would do if you disrupted my hunt?" she asked, taking a threatening step towards me.
"Mom, I-" I started again.
"Do not call me mom! You will address me as 'Lady Artemis' or I'll cut out your tongue." she said, gesturing to her hunting knife. Oh my satyr.
"Lady Artemis-" I began yet again, scooting away from her. She shot an arrow that caught my shorts, making me unable to move. Another arrow caught my sleeve, slamming me down on my back. I craned my neck, trying to keep her in view. A third arrow caught the collar of my shirt, less than a centimeter from my neck. Now I couldn't move my neck at all. I was successfully trapped like a mouse in a trap.
"Now, about your wish..." she trailed off.
"What wish?" I asked, glad to finally be able to finish a thought.
"I promised that I'd make you wish you had never been born. I'm just following through on that," Artemis said with a grin. She flicked her fingers, and again, pain ripped through my body.
"Trap!" I managed to shout, breaking my flow of profanity.
Her torture stopped.
"What?"
"I just saved you from a trap! That's why I had to get your attention!" I yelled, still feeling the pain from her "wish fulfillment."
Artemis snapped, and I flinched, expecting more pain. However, she had just made the arrows disappear. She helped me to my feet and conjured a chair, a nice, red, squishy one.
I sat in it, wincing.
"Umm… this may hurt." she said as she laid her hand on my forehead. I tried to struggle out of her grip (remembering when Thalia had done the same thing), but, well, she is a goddess after all. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her weird aura contract and then flow through her arm into my-
I was a little girl, watching under the door as my father argued with someone in a bright silver light.
I was 8, and I noticed that there were a lot of deer in my yard. I walked out, only to find that I could hear low voices murmuring.
I was 10 and I saw a light gray owl fly over my yard.
I was 11 and a silver wolf was following me home.
I heard those voices from my dream again, this time louder and more clearly.
"Di Immortales!" I heard Artemis exclaim as I rubbed my head.
I took a deep breath and looked at her. "Yeah. So you understand why I had to get your attention. It was either that or I kiss him," her eyes flashed and I quickly backtracked "kidding. So, how the flip did you access my memories?"
"Hello? I'm a goddess. We can do stuff like that," she said, smirking and straightening her shirt in an boastful manner. "Anyway, sorry for, you know-"
"Torturing me?"
"Yeah."
For a couple seconds, we just sat there awkwardly. Then, she pulled me up.
"What? I didn't do anything-" I began, panicking.
"Silence!" she barked as she pulled me into what was unmistakably, a hug. She released me extremely quickly and took a step back. "I don't know why you mortals bother with that. I much prefer transformations as a greeting." She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, checking to see if I had gotten the joke.
I was still standing there, shocked. Artemis had just hugged me!
"In any case, I need to speak to my Hunters. Come along," she said, walking towards the door.
"Well, I was thinking that I could just stay here and-"
"I do believe that that wasn't a suggestion." Artemis said icily, all trace of motherly affection gone.
I sighed and walked over to the door. She grabbed my arm, not nearly as hard, and we walked out the door. My first casual conversation with my mom went as such:
"So, what animal are you hunting?"
"It does not have a name."
"Have you been hunting it long?"
"No."
"Do you like hunting?"
"Obviously."
"When did you first form the Hunters?"
"Many years ago."
"Do you see them often?"
"Do I have to curse you to get you to stop asking questions?"
As you can imagine, that ended our conversation pretty quickly.
We reached the edge of camp, only to see Phoebe pacing furiously back and forth. When she saw Artemis approach, she kneeled.
"You should do that," Artemis whispered to me. I wasn't sure if she was joking or not, so I settled for a half-smile. "No, I'm not kidding."
I turned to look at her, unsure if she had read my thoughts or not. She smirked and said, "Your face is very easy to read."
"Lady Artemis!" Phoebe exclaimed as soon as we were in earshot.
"Hello Phoebe. How has your Hunt been?" Artemis asked cordially.
"Much less bright without you, My Lady," Phoebe responded earnestly. I snorted, and Artemis glared at me and snapped her fingers quietly. Expecting pain, I tried to apologize.
It was then that I realized that I couldn't speak. I could breathe normally, but I couldn't talk or even snort. Phoebe looked at me strangely, and then returned her attention to Artemis.
I walked a couple of feet away, and tried to yell. I could feel the oxygen leaving my lungs, but not a sound came out. Then, I tried breathing loudly, but that didn't work either.
"Come along Emily. I need to speak with my Hunters and I want you to come." Artemis ordered.
I tried to protest, but it wasn't as easy doing it silently. Phoebe and Artemis took off running, way faster than Phoebe and I had gone earlier. I figured that Phoebe was trying to impress Artemis, or maybe Artemis just inspired her. Oh well.
I took off, feeling kind of jealous that Phoebe and Artemis could talk like friends, while I was panting in the back of our group. Finally, just when I was ready to pass out, we reached the camp.
The rest of the Hunters were still there, milling around.
"Hello Hunters," Artemis said, making her voice really loud. I had already pretty much blacked out from the run, so I was gasping over near a tree while Artemis spoke to them.
Finally, once I regained my breath, just as I heard Artemis say, "Where is my lieutenant? Where is Thalia?"
For a moment, nobody answered. Then, someone from the back spoke up.
"She's out trying to find you. The prisoner told her you were in trouble, so she left. I guess she was given some false information."
Artemis turned to look at me and I tried to protest. Unfortunately, I was still silenced.
"Well, then I guess it will be up to the prisoner to find her then." Artemis said, shrugging.
WHAT!
"I obviously can't go, not with those trappers nearby. So, the logical choice is for you to go. I don't want any of my Hunters to get hurt."
But it's okay if I get hurt?
"My Lady, do we really want to trust this important of a mission to a newcomer? And an inexperienced one at that! Maybe one of the Hunters should go." someone in the back said. I was beginning to really dislike the back.
"Are you questioning my orders, Dressa? Perhaps you think that nymphs don't have to follow the rules? Is that true?" Artemis asked, getting mad.
As Dressa quickly apologized and declared her loyalty to Artemis, I thought about the mission.
"So it is decreed. Emily Wolf will travel South and find Thalia. If she doesn't," Artemis continued, noticing my defiant look. "she will be tortured into insanity. You have one week."
Is that the summer solstice or something?
Artemis gave me a weird look. "No." she snapped her fingers and my outfit was changed into what the Hunters wore, complete with backpack.
"If you need me, you can IM me. The instructions are in the bag. Farewell."
With that, I was pushed out into the forest, stuck in an insane quest but my crazy mother. Oh pronk!
AN2: I know I've already said it, but I am amazed by your reviewing skills! Thank you and keep it up! Shall we say 68 reviews until update? Thanks again and have a good… oh well. No one reads these messages any way. P.S. This is my longest chapter so far.
