Artemis woke to a cold morning with frost coating the branches of the huge hollow oak tree she'd taken shelter in. She couldn't exactly say what had woken her but she knew something had dragged her from the dream of Greece and warm sandy beaches. She felt the power she'd discovered curling in her chest and took a deep breath to keep from loosing a concussive blast at whatever had disturbed her and sat up peering out of the hole she'd crawled in through. She smelled sweet smoke and saw a hunched figure wearing gray robes and a tall pointed gray hat. He turned slightly and smiled in at her. "Ah… you've woken…"
She pulled herself out of the tree and dragged her cloak out behind her swinging it around her shoulders and fishing the gloves out of a pocket she'd sewn into the lining. "I have indeed and to find a guest on my doorstep."
He chuckled and poked the tiny fire he'd started while she retrieved the satchels and dug around inside for her pot, tripod and some dried oats she'd bartered her sewing skills for. She started a pot of oatmeal crouching across from him and tried not to grin like an idiot. She'd always like the character of Gandalf and now here he was in front of her smoking a pipe. "So why were you sitting at my stoop?" She asked while she stirred the oatmeal.
"Why dear girl I was hoping to meet you." He replied and produced a packet of dark sugar crystals which he added to the pot with a heavy hand.
She tried not to give away her surprise as she sat back on her heels holding the spoon lightly in her hand. "Oh? And what would you want with a Gondor lass too far from home? Father didn't send one such as you hunting me."
He snorted and pointed the stem of his pipe at her. "Its as well you kept up that fiction but don't try it on me. You're not of Gondor or even Middle Earth though I'm not sure where you are from. And I found you by the trail of Magic you've been leaking like a rusty pot."
Artemis raised an eyebrow, she'd discovered that she could now cast spells and weave energy into all sorts of forms. It came to her as easily as breathing, sometimes too easily, like it was desperate to be used and if she went too long without using it it came out in unexpected ways. "Well if I am leaking magic it is only because this is magic at a strength I've never had before. It just keeps bursting out at the worst moments no matter how I try to reign it in."
He nodded and ran a hand over his beard. "You're touching a power that women have not been able to use since the end of the First Age. In this time only elves and Wizards wield Magic. Now there was a time long and long ago that women walked beside the Wizard of old and cast spells to equal theirs but they were hunted to extinction."
"Sounds about right." Artemis sniffed and stirred the oatmeal.
"Well you can hardly blame men when those women turned their power to terrible purpose. Mountains were dragged down to dust and kingdoms fell into ruin. Streams boiled and the first monsters were loosed upon an unsuspecting world." Gandalf replied with a shrug. "But that long ago time does not concern me. For the moment you do."
Artemis covered the pot and swung it carefully away from the fire. "I was sent here by a being who seems to think I and my friend, who is missing by the way, can fix some problem in whatever world we're sent to. Right some wrong. And along the way we're given powers and knowledge to help us blend in and survive. I know who you are Gandalf the Gray. You can call me Artemis."
He nodded. "I figured you might. I believe our paths were meant to cross, I can teach you to reign in that power and along the road we might find your friend and the reason you were sent."
Artemis pulled out her bowl and Gandalf produced one of his own and a spoon from his voluminous sleeve. She filled both and they settled down to eat. "My friend Tracey would be trying to get to Rivendell if I still know anything about her." She finally said.
"Well then, I think it is wise to continue the path though you are still many leagues from that beautiful valley." Gandalf hummed under his breath. "I might be able to procure a horse though this late into the year they'l not be able to scrounge up much fodder."
"So I've been told. And they don't much like me since I seem to be leaking magic." Artemis replied dryly.
He chuckled and tapped the ashes from his pipe bowl. "Never fear. We'll get to Rivendell, one way or another."
Artemis started rinsing out her bowl and the little pot in a nearby stream that was so cold her fingers simply gave up and went completely numb, she had to grin, she was on an epic quest with a wizard. 'Cool.' She thought to herself.