The late-5th century BC. An era of warriors and gods. A young redheaded huntress is crouching and stops to hide behind a bush. Taking a moment to rest, she scans the area for trouble. Despite her eagle-like eyesight, as her sisters put it, the forest's lush trees make it hard for her to properly discern her surroundings. Especially on such a cloudy day.
Hearing a sound, the huntress takes out her daggers, preparing herself for battle. Looking straight ahead, she notices one of the bushes moving. No, not just moving; rattling. Seeing something coming out of the bush, she jumps out from her hiding spot, ready to strike; "Ahhh!".
Exiting the bushes, "Oh crap!", the huntress realizes her error. The figure in front of her was a doe. Landing to the ground, she draws back her daggers. In a soft voice, the huntress talks to the doe, "Hey there, little one. Where are your parents?"
The doe doesn't speak back, though it does approach the young redhead, appearing at ease with her. For a second, she pets the animal, feeling its warm breath on her hand.
Then she feels an arrow fly right by her ear.
Seeing the arrow stuck on the tree right in front of her, the huntress realizes it was shot by someone behind her. Glancing over her shoulders and not seeing anyone, the huntress starts running further into the forest. Cutting through the branches with her weapons, she stops to look and listen to her surroundings.
She hears someone running but can't make out from what direction they are coming from. Suddenly, there is silence. Looking around, the huntress can't see anything out of the ordinary.
The first thing she notices is a dagger coming right at her face. She swiftly dodges it and take a few steps back, allowing her to get a full view of her opponent; a fellow warrior, around her age, with rosy lips and long brunette hair.
Her opponent's stance shows that she is ready to strike. And she does just that. Seeing the attack coming, the huntress blocks the incoming blows and hits back. Seeing an opening, she kicks her opponent in the stomach, causing the warrior to stumble back.
When the huntress goes in to attack, her opponent uses the bow she had on her back to hit her in the arm, causing her to drop one of her daggers. She suddenly feels a pain in her stomach; that punch hurt badly.
Realizing she needs space, the redheaded huntress steps back, expecting her opponent's next blow. She couldn't have expected that.
While running towards her, the huntress aims and throws her remaining dagger at her opponent's leg, hoping to incapacitate her, only for the brunette to use her bow as a staff, burying one of its edges in the ground and evading the attack. Amazed by this feat, the huntress has no time to react when her attacker, still in the air and with her left hand grasping the bow's other end, twirls around and kicks her in the head.
Falling to the ground, the huntress takes a moment to rub the swollen area. "Aww, fuck. That hurt…".
However, before she can continue her train of thought, the redheaded huntress is pinned by her opponent, who holds one of her own fallen daggers to her throat.
Ready for what comes next, the huntress has only one thing to say.
"So, how did I do?"
Her opponent moves closer, their faces only inches away from each other. They can practically feel the heat coming from each other's breath. Suddenly, she smiles. "Much better than last time."
"Heh, you really think so?"
"Well, you definitely lasted longer than last time."
"That arrow shot… I assume you missed intentionally."
The brunette moves a little further away, her attitude becoming more coy. "What can I say, little hart? I wanted to give you a fighting chance." She raises one eyebrow. "And if I hadn't missed your head, I wouldn't be giving you much of a chance now, would I?"
"I suppose so."
The brunette offers a helping hand to the fallen huntress and caresses her cheek. "You should be proud of yourself Stheno. You've come a long way since we first started training."
"I hope so."
"Trust me, as the Goddess of the Hunt, I would know." Saying this, Artemis moves her hand from Stheno's cheek to the side of her head. "Sorry about that."
"Oh, no. It's okay. I barely feel it now."
"Still, you should go home and rest. You've fought well for today." Artemis turns around, ready to go into the forest, only to circle back, "and when you get home, tell my idiot brother I said hi."
Stheno smiles. As she watches her patron Goddess disappear, she touches the cheek where only a couple moments earlier, Artemis' hand lay. Feeling her heart skip a beat, she thanks the Gods her sisters aren't here to see her.