Silver Hearts

-Chapter 4-

"Camp and Training"

Somewhere in the Wilderness

Artemis POV

A pained yelp left my mouth as my back slammed into the ground.

"Set your stance!" My love interest exclaimed from above me.

I growled and got back onto my feet, my knives flashing into my hands. I got into my melee stance and Strider held up a hand.

"No." He said calmly, walking over slowly.

My hunters were watching our spar with unwavering attention, several had small smiles on their faces as they observed their mistress being taught by a male. Thalia and Phoebe smirked when Strider had been evading my every strike with unparalleled ease.

It would almost be humiliating if he wasn't so damn attra-

Whoa. I thought to myself. Keep it together Artemis. Your hunters are watching.

It had been almost two months since Strider had appeared before the council and they have been the best two months in my immortal life. Every wink he throws at me, my brain quits working for a while. Every smile he gives me, my face heats up. Every time he gets closer… my body loses control and I sink into him. He is a calming presence to my usually raging, man-hating emotions, and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Strider walked over to me and then went behind me. He gently, yet firmly, grasped my wrists and my face heated up. I could feel myself blushing furiously as his body pressed against mine while he set me into a lower crouching stance. He guided my right arm inward toward my body and my left was set lower toward my left knee. I shivered at his every touch, his scent relaxing my muscles and I actually found myself leaning back into his chest.

"Hey now," Strider teased while wrapping his arms around my waist. "Let's not get too lovey dovey in front of your hunters. They don't need to see that side of me."

I froze and my gaze snapped to the hunters gathered around the clearing to see them smirking and chuckling. I even saw the flash of golden drachmas being transferred from hand to hand as people lost bets to others. One thought entered my mind as I realized what I was doing.

I need to protect him from the other goddesses.

Several hours later…

"You're kidding, right?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose while sighing in exasperation. Zeus wanted me to bring the hunt to Camp Half-Blood for a while on the grounds of… honestly I don't even know. It was a bunch of gibberish in my mind, but father's orders are father's orders and what can I do?

Not a damn thing, that's what.

Strider was looking annoyed while the rest of my hunters were downright furious. The Ardonian was stroking his chin, deep in thought, while Thalia and Phoebe were yelling with Atalanta and several other huntresses. I kept my eyes fixed on our male companion, literally watching as he worked on some way to keep my hunters and I happy during this time. I could almost see the gears whirring and thoughts racing through his head as he thought of compromises to better our situation. Suddenly, he shot to his feet, a smirk set on his face. He looked at me and I simply raised an eyebrow.

"Hey! Ladies!" Strider yelled, but nobody took notice. Rolling his eyes, his staff materialized in his hand and he slammed the butt of it into the ground, setting off a red shockwave of discharged energy.

"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!" He thundered, silencing everyone immediately. "IF you don't mind, I have thought of a solution to our… predicament."

Everyone looked at him expectantly before an evil smirk stretched across his face.

"How about some ass kicking in capture the flag?"

"But we already do that." Thalia grumbled, several huntresses joining in.

"Not against me you haven't." He responded with a grin while we all stared at him in horror.

"You… you would go against… us. Would you..?" One of my younger huntresses squeaked.

Strider shook his head, the grin never leaving. "Not just you. The campers, Artemis, Dionysus, and Chiron will all be pitted against me. Let's see if you can all unite and take me down, eh?"

Silence. Until-

"I think I speak for the rest of us when I say that you are not only overconfident, but arrogant." Phoebe said, stepping forward.

The Ardonian just shrugged casually and spun on his heel, walking away.

"Think what you want, hunters," He called from over his shoulder. "I look forward to facing you all in combat."

Silence enveloped Artemis and her huntresses once more before Thalia cursed loudly.

"Guys, we are so royally fucked it isn't even funny."

I tilted my head, curious of what she meant by her statement. "What do you mean by that, Lieutenant?"

The daughter of Zeus glanced at me and I could immediately see she had things to say, but those things were better left unsaid in present company. I nodded my head and mouthed 'later'. Thalia visibly paled and walked back to her tent, the rest of my hunters staring after her.

"What's her deal?" Atalanta inquired after watching her sister disappear within her tent.

"Yeah," A younger huntress agreed, nodding. "It looked like she was watching as Hades ripped her soul from her body to bring her to Tartarus."

I cleared my throat, drawing all attention to me. "I have only heard bits and pieces of her story–" I raised my hand as my hunters opened their mouths before closing them. "It is not my story and not even I know close to a fraction of it. Whatever Thalia has to say, I will listen. None of you will pester her or pry for information regarding our male companion." I glared at my hunters, who looked at the ground quickly to avoid eye contact. "Now, let's pack up and head to Camp Half-Blood."

With grumbles of acceptance, my hunters dispersed and began breaking camp.

Thalia POV

I messed up. Big time. Strider will never forgive me if I tell Artemis the type of power he wields. I mean, Athena knows about it, but everyone else's minds were wiped and the magic used never had the chance to clear my memory as I was turned into a tree.

Fucking thanks a lot dad.

Asshole.

The flap to my tent flipped up but I didn't even bother looking toward it. A weight settled next to me on my bed and I inhaled the scent of hickory smoke, causing me to instantly relax. Strider cleared his throat and I casually looked over at him, seeing him with an eyebrow raised and a small smirk.

"So, are you just going to sulk and wallow in your self pity?" He teased, making me narrow my eyes. "Or are you going to explain our past to Arty?"

"You're impossible to deal with sometimes, you know that?" I grumbled, yet stood up and walked out of my tent. The Ardonian followed behind me, and I could almost feel him laughing behind my back. "Lady Artemis." I called, causing the auburn haired goddess to turn my direction.

"Yes, Thalia?" She inquired, tilting her head slightly.

I took a shuddering breath, before exhaling and relaxing slightly as Strider placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked at Artemis in her silver eyes and began explaining.

"Strider has been here before. Many times, in fact. I met him on Half Blood Hill where I was turned into a tree by my father to keep me from dying from my injuries." The hand on my shoulder gave a gentle squeeze, reassuring and grounding me to reality as the memories flashed back into my mind. But I kept going. I had to. "As I was laying there, bleeding out, the form of Strider appeared in front of me, sword in hand. The look on his face was nothing short of terrifying. It promised excruciating pain before death finally took those before us. He does not just have power, milady. Strider wields pure, unrestrained and unrestricted power. Power enough to crush a mortal's mind in seconds. I… I saw him use it several times, but before Zeus turned me into the tree, I promised myself I would never tell anyone of what I saw that night. The power he wields is in the form of what he calls songs. They each have different abilities and one of his people can normally only activate or use one at a time. He can use two although it exhausts him rather quickly. As for how they work, that is for him to tell you on his own time."

I kept my gaze locked onto the ground under my feet, fearful of what Artemis was going to say. Strider merely chuckled and lightly patted my shoulder.

"You did good, kid." He stated simply before walking away and helping the rest of the hunters break camp.

Artemis was still silent for a minute before she spoke. "Thalia, I do not hold it against you for keeping this information from me. You essentially swore yourself to secrecy and even though it wasn't any normal oath, I respect that you placed your morals over orders. I am not particularly pleased, but that feeling is overrun with profound respect that you kept silent for this long."

With that, she gave me a genuine smile and started walking into the forest in the direction of the camp.

Strider's voice from my left made me nearly have a heart attack as I jumped a foot into the air.

"Thank you for keeping quiet. I really appreciate it. If you need anything, sister, just let me know and I will do my best to ensure it happens. Just so long as it is within my power to do so."

And then he was gone, walking next to the Moon goddess who struck up a conversation with him immediately.

Well well well. I'm not dead yet, so yeah. Just been busy. As my mother would say...

"Deal with it."

Leave reviews as next upload will be the masses versus the Ardonian. Who will win? What will happen? Leave your predictions in the comments.