Author's Note: Any characters introduced in this chapter bares absolutely no resemblance to people living or dead (regardless of what my cousin says).

Day 832

Alexa barely resisted the urge to stomp as she made her way into the structure she called home. The damn deer had tried to drown her! ...Okay to be fair to it, she had been clinging to it's neck it was perfectly possible it had just tossed her in the pond. But…

"Ugh!" Alexa punched the table and sat on her bedroll. Over two years here and she had nothing to show for it! Nothing! And it looked like she was going to be spending Christmas in the mountains again!

Luna poked her snout past the door flap, blinking at her. She tilted her head slightly to one side. She let out a whine that sounded more like the whir of a power tool.

"I'm fine." Alexa huffed. "Just frustrated."

Luna padded into the tent, flopped down and rested her boxy head in Alexa's lap. Alexa absentmindedly patted Luna as anger gave way to worry. What if she never got to go home?

Day 900

Alexa squatted, high up in a tree, her hips and waist burning from the strain. Her new shoes, a pair of enchanted sneakers she had spent weeks working on, held up to the strain beautifully, if only her own body could take it.

One foot in front of the other, she made her way up the trunk of the tree, the clinging shoes making a sound like scotch tape being peeled away with every footstep. Eventually she made her way to a thick branch and inverted herself, hanging from it like a bat, her net held tight in her hands. Luna would chase the hind this way any second, and then she'd catch it! She had a great feeling about this one!

She ended up under estimating the hind and over estimating her own reaction time. She threw the net a split second after the flash of silver passed under her tree. The net bounced against the deer's flanks but didn't even slow it in the slightest. Another blink later and it was gone. Luna slowed to a stop and looked up at Alexa, head tilted.

"Yeah...I don't know how this was supposed to work either."

Day 924

There was a change in the Hind's behavior, one that came every spring and summer. The Hind was joined by several other deer. Most were whitetails, smaller than the Hind herself, brown in color, the does lacking antler. A few of the younger fawns were pale gray and pranced around in a more dignified way. Each sported the beginning stumps of antlers and already stood nearly as tall as the other whitetail deer. The smallest fawn charged through the crowd and nuzzled up to the Hind.

Alexa couldn't help but wonder at what she was seeing through binoculars. Oh most of it was obvious, but Alexa couldn't help but wonder whether she had some part in this. She had seen the smallest fawn before, it was at least two now. Was her presence here preventing the Hind from having more or was she just being choosy? Were these gray deer the deer equivalent to her and other demigods? Were they...happy? Could she have been happy if she had stayed with the ones she loved back at Camp, or if she had gone home with Jazz?

She sighed, already feeling the depression setting in. She opted to give the Hind a day or two with her family before continuing the hunt.

Day 971

Something was wrong...she hadn't seen the Hind in days.

Day 972

There was smoke on one of the mountains, but it got too dark by the time she had spotted it to investigate.

Day 973

Alexa couldn't believe what she was seeing. Down there, on the game trail, was a food stand. Frowning, Alexa zoomed in with her binoculars.

"Stupid dyslexia!" She cursed, taking several seconds to make sense of the swirling letters on the sign in front of the stand.

"Twin pines' one of a kind food services: Venison, deer sausage, deer burger. Ring the bell for service."

Gritting her teeth Alexa zoomed out a bit and found the top part of some sort of domed cage set behind the stand.

"I don't like this…" she said quietly.

"Woof" Luna agreed.

"Wait here...I'm going to check this out, if I look like I'm in trouble, come help." Without waiting for confirmation Alexa slid off the canine's back and down to the trail.

As she got closer to the stand she could just make out the sounds of deer in distress and someone grunting with exertion. She walked up to the little stand and rang the bell. The grunting stopped and out from behind the stand stepped a giant of a man. He was nearly seven feet tall, burly, with a thick black beard, clothed in flannel.

"Well ain't you just the earliest of early birds!" The man said with a beam. His accent was thick, Southern, Kentucky maybe. "I only set up the stand last night!"

"Uh...yeah. Hi. I was sort of wondering-" she began

"Wondering what all we got going on here? Shoot if it ain't the most delectable culinary experience you've ever had! It's just a stand now, mind, but I got my eye on expansion! Once you get a taste you won't know how you've done without! Now, what can I do ya for? Venison? Maybe a nice burger? 'Fraid we only have deer right now but they're just the finest cuts of meat you ever did see!" The man didn't so much talk with Alexa as at her. Thick, unyielding, boxing gloves of sentences that left no openings for Alexa to get a word in.

"You see I'm looking-" she tried again.

"Ah! Say no more! You're one of them con-o-sours ain't ya? You want to pick the best one of the bunch, like a lobster in a tank! Well who am I to say no? Come on round back and we'll get y'all set up!" He motioned for her to follow and he led her around the side of his stand to the other side.

"Now take your pick!" He laughed, slapping her on the back. Behind the stand, Alexa realized, there were two domed cages, not one. One was larger, with the Hind's entire herd, even the three gray deer. Alexa breathed a sigh of relief, one that was cut short by the sound of fear and outrage from the smaller cage.

Trapped inside was the silver Hind, but not in any way Alexa had seen her before. She was wild eyed, her hooves stamping, her antlers slamming into the bars of her cage. Alexa stared at her, her own eyes growing wide.

"Oh ho! You got good taste! That there is my pride and joy! One of a kind!" Chuckled her host.

"How...how'd you catch her?" Alexa asked.

"Couldn't've been easier! Started catching the little ones and she just came running in! Got her snagged and bagged in minutes!" He gave her another soft chuckle "But, sorry to say, she's already been sold! Got a buyer from down in Texas that wants her for breeding! The little one's make good eatin' though!"

Alexa continued to stare at the Hind. How in the nine hells had this man managed to catch the beast she had been struggling to pin down for three years? And for what? Breeding? He was going to have her bred like livestock? The thought angered and sickened her.

"Ya know, it's pretty easy to get something you have your eye on. Don't matter if it's hunting or not. You just got to have something someone else wants...then all ya gotta do is wait."

Alarm bells started going off in Alexa's head. She turned and tried to dodge the giant, but his hand snagged her right arm. With a rough grab with the other he relieved her of her sword. He held the bracelet up to his eyes and whistled.

"Demigod! Knew it! No one looks at that deer like that without havin' a bitta the gods in 'em!" He chuckled darkly. He took a moment to feel through her pockets and plucked out a small change purse full of gold drachma. He grinned at the coins and began to drag her between the two pens.

"Ya aught to've taken my offer. Pine tossed venison is good eatin' perfectly tender and moist. You're going to be madder than a mule with a toothache when ya get down there to the Styx on an empty stomach!" He chuckled.

"Pine tossed…?" Alexa began to wonder...but stopped when she saw the trees. Both were pines, fully grown, pulled down to the ground by a set of ropes along their top most bow, making them resemble a pair of wooden arches straining to return to their natural shape.

"Pityocamptes" Alexa gasped. The man laughed. It sounded painful.

"Don't that bring back memories? Not a lotta people know my nickname these days! You have no idea how many people ask about a bald kid or a metal man when you tell 'em you're "The Pine-bender"! The name's Sinis if'n it makes you feel better about what's about to happen!" Alexa tried to remember all she could about Sinis. She knew Theseus fought him, but she was pretty sure he defeated him with the help of dryads in the trees. The only problem was the dryads here had been stonily silent towards her, even before she had accidentally knocked down that tree. What she did have was Luna, who was hopefully stalking towards the giant, and the clothes on her back. Normally she'd have said that wouldn't be enough, but she was still wearing her magic sneakers, if she could think of a way those could help her...

"Tell ya what, why don't you pick?" Sinis said, stopping in front of the two bowed trees. "Y'all wanna be dropped, or pulled apart?"

Alexa gulped and looked between the trees for a moment, off to her left she saw a slight shimmer of bronze.

"Thrown!" She said, immediately pointing to her right. Sinis chuckled and marched her to the right hand pine. He looped a rope around Alexa's wrists, then attached the end to a hook atop the pine. It was a simple thing...the moment the tree snapped up the force would launch her bindings off the hook. Sinis took a few steps back, nearly stepping on top of the other tree while setting up Alexa's flight. Silently Alexa clicked her heels together and planted her feet. This was going to hurt...a lot.

Sinis gave the release cord a tug and Alexa's arms shot up over her head. The girl screamed bloody murder as her whole body was pulled taut like a bow string. Seconds stretched and time slowed to a crawl as every joint between her ankles and her wrists began to separate. One tendon, one torn muscle at a time, her shoulders slowly pulled free of their sockets, her spine stretched and the vertebra crackled.

Alexa had her eyes screwed shut, so she didn't see what happened then, but she got the report from Luna after the fact. What Luna did could very well be called cruel and unusual in some circles.

Sinis had taken an involuntary step back, watching the little girl keep her footing despite the monumental pull of the tree.

"That ain't right!" He muttered. He was the only one with that gift to his knowledge. "What the Sam hill-!"

The snap was the only warning he got. Luna's sharp metal teeth made short work of the rope binding the other tree. It sprang upwards, the top most portion of the trunk flying like a baseball bat and hitting its target, right between Sinis' legs.

Somehow Sinis' legs stayed planted firmly on the ground which only made things worse for him, all the energy of the tree trunk dead ending in his groin. The sound that Sinis made was high pitched, somewhere in the range only exceptionally perceptive canines, bats, and juvenile dragons could pick up. But Luna didn't revel in it, her number one priority was her creator.

She clamped her jaws down on the charm bracelet Sinis had dropped and ran over to Alexa's side. Dropping the bracelet between her feet, the metallic pitbull made quick work on the knot around Alexa's wrists. Both trees swayed upwards, their occupants falling to the ground in near perfect unison.

Alexa was shaky, but she recovered first. She plucked the charm off her bracelet, hefted her sword, took a few quick steps and did the humane thing; she loped Sinis' red faced head from his shoulders. As the giant's body collapsed in on itself, Alexa fell to the ground, utterly spent.

Luna began nosing at her, her long silver tongue running over Alexa's head.

"Good…" Alexa coughed, even talking hurt. "Good girl." She said, giving Luna a scratch behind the ears and slowly making her way to her feet. She stumbled back in front of the Hind's cage, and stared in at it. This was a capture...she could claim this as a win. She should. She had been out here too long, she should claim the victory. The deer inside the cage, therefore, was a bit surprised when Alexa neatly sliced the lock in half and pulled the door open for her.

"I don't want to catch you like that, you don't deserve it and neither do I. If I'm going to win, I'm going to earn it, not steal someone else's capture." She explained. The deer tilted her head to one side, but Alexa ignored her, taking the lock off the other cage with a similar slash. All the other deer streamed out, leaving her, Luna and the hind as the only ones in the clearing. After a moment or two, the hind stepped towards Alexa, ignoring the sword in her hands and very gently bumped her forehead with her moist snout. Then she stepped away again, out of arm's reach in a second.

Alexa gave the silver doe a single nod, and, still wincing and grunting, climbed onto Luna's back and headed for her tent.

Day 1026

Something was wrong, the Hind was certain of that. She had not seen hide nor hair of her Chase-friend in many a day. Usually her Chase-friends would chase her once a day at least; Lion-skin-bull-strength was never far behind her in his day, and Night-fur-moose-rider had certainly kept her alert and watchful day or night. Clever-fingers-dark-eyes and her flying mount hadn't been nearly as skilled in their traditional approaches, but they had made up for it with wit and persistence. But the Hind hadn't seen the telltale sparkle of Metal-skin-bird-beast or her rider, not since the incident with the fawn killer.

At first she had assumed that the absence of her latest Chase-friend was simply her recovering from the episode, maybe even attempting to allow her to enjoy herding season. But herding season ended days ago...so where was she?

Worried about her Chase-friend, the hind cautiously approached cloth-wood-smoke-cave, the dwelling that Clever-fingers-dark-eyes had fashioned for herself.

A pungent odor was in the air here, over the stink of metal work and food cooking. It was a smell like bad blueberries or perhaps grapes, and it seemed to be wafting out of several bottles scattered around her Chase-friend's den. Curiously, she sniffed one and immediately snorted and stepped back. Dumb-stumble-juice! She had seen many of the two-legs imbibe the stuff in all it's varieties over the years, but in more recent years it had only been the older of them who lost their senses on the stuff! How did her Chase-friend get some? She was barely more than a yearling! This was bad…

Before she could even begin to approach the den she heard the sounds of crunching and the telling whirring noise that accompanied Metal-skin-bird-beast's feeding. That was good, at least one companion was safe enough to eat.

The Hind nosed her way into the enclosure, finding a mess of bottles topping nearly every flat surface. In the middle of the small space were the two she was looking for. Metal-skin-bird-beast sat on a cushion, a piece of tree bark in it's mouth, Clever-fingers-dark-eyes, by contrast laid half slumped on her own cushion, a half full bottle clutched in her left hand, reeking of the sharp, pungent juice the bottle once held. Between them was a board of sixty four squares, half black half brown, with several small carved figures on it.

The metal creature was the first to notice her. It turned it's luminous eyes towards her, still clutching the bark in it's jaws. It gave a shrug of it's massive shoulders and looked down at it's companion. It's ears folded back slightly, troubled by the turn of events. The Hind crept closer and gave the sleeping form a nudge with her hoof. Clever-fingers-dark-eyes stirred, grunted and sat upright.

"Ish it your turn?" She slurred as if her tongue had grown fat in her mouth. Metal-skin-bird-beast rolled it's head in the Hind's direction. Only then did the smaller creature notice her and even then it appeared to take her a minute to focus on her.

"Oh...sh'all right...I just...I just thought...use a break…" she muttered dismissively. The Hind didn't move right away, but after a moment her concerns for her Chase-friend got the better of her caution. She moved forward and nudged one of the bottles, snorting lightly and tossing her head.

"Ack! Ya sound like the bucket of boltsh!" She grunted, reaching forward and moving one of the pieces on the board. "I can quit whenever I wanna! I just don't wanna!"

To punctuate her statement, she took a swig, coughed, and sighed. There was silence for a bit, only lessened slightly by the scrape of Metal-skin-bird-beast moving her own red wooded piece across the board and snagging one of the darker wooded ones from it's space. The moment it was off the board it disappeared down the metal dog's throat. The sound of the creature eating roused it's master.

"Ya don't gotta eat them…" she huffs before taking another swig, grimacing at the taste. She looked down at the bottle with disdain.

"I shouldn't be drinking this...momma was an al….alcho….alma…momma drank too much too." Her Chase-friend was getting sadder. Her lip quivered, her eyes began to fill with tears."Maybe she was right. I can't do anything right...maybe...maybe I am a mistake."

The Hind took another step closer to her and gently nuzzled the human yearling. She simply couldn't help it. Chase-friends were supposed to be bold, to take risks. Yes a few, like Bird-wing-sharp-tongue, died in the course of the hunt and she mourned their passing, but this was not what she wanted to see from her Chase-friends.

The yearling chuckled sadly, and gave the Hind a pat between the ears. She was silent for a few moments, the only sounds a faint rustling of leaves outside as the wind picked up.

"Ya know...there's...there's something I always wanted to say to you." Said Clever-fingers-dark-eyes. The Hind was suddenly alert, after an initial slight slur, the unsteadiness had disappeared from the Chase-friend's voice. The wind picked up suddenly and, just as she turned, The Hind could see that she, along with the entire structure, had been enclosed by a great metal cage. Clever-fingers-dark-eyes placed a hand on her forehoof and slipped the first restraint around her.

"Caught you!"

Alexa was on cloud nine. She couldn't believe the trap had worked! She had come up with the idea of spider automatons during the day she had spent in bed following the Sinis incident, and their best application came to her when Luna had reported seeing the Hind nuzzling one of the younger deer for a full fifteen minutes after it had taken a tumble. Still, she was more than a little surprised it had worked.

After getting the first rope tied around the Hind's front hooves she allowed Alexa to completely bind her. After that a flurry of activity occurred around the camp. Her spiders made short work of the empty wine and beer bottles Alexa had scavenged for her trick, she by contrast poured the sparkling grape juice out of her own bottle and added it to the growing pile. They'd drop that off in a dumpster along the way. Luna was busy calibrating her flight path now that they had a fully grown, hog-tied reindeer included in their cargo, and Alexa herself was busy putting away the tent that had served as her home for nearly three years. She had just gotten the thing put away when a silver arrow suddenly sprouted between her feet. Immediately Alexa raised her hands above her head.

"I was hoping to avoid this." She grumbled.

"Permission to fire, M'lady?" A female voice said from somewhere behind her.

"Not yet." Said another, this one far younger sounding. "Let's hear what she has to say first. Turn around, girl, and explain yourself."

Alexa turned slowly and found about a dozen girls between the ages of six and sixteen. Most were glaring at her, and a good half had arrows trained on her, while the other half held the necks of hunting dogs. There were two near the middle, one with a black braid and what looked to be a tiara of sorts keeping her bangs out of her eyes, the other was younger with auburn hair and eyes of a silvery color. The black haired one was one of the more... venomous of the glarers, her fingers nearly white on her clenched bow. Alexa glanced around at the assembly.

"Am I allowed to put my hands down while we talk?" She asked gently.

"You may." Said the auburn haired girl. Alexa gratefully put her arms down. That at least told her who was in charge, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

"So, going out on a limb here but...are you Artemis?" She asked. The girl with the auburn hair's expression softened ever so slightly at the sound of the name.

"You must be one of Chiron's. Well you're well informed at the very least. Yes, I am Artemis, these are my hunters, my lieutenant Zoë Nightshade, and that would be my deer you're poaching." Artemis pointed at the bound deer stuck on the back of the metal dog. Alexa winced slightly and nodded.

"Yeah...in all honesty, ma'am, I was hoping I could bring her back before you noticed she was gone. Kinda...dumb of me, huh?"

"Thou hast a particular talent for understatement, girl." Zoë commented dryly.

"I already admitted it was dumb, no need to be mean" Alexa shrugged.

"Indeed." Artemis agreed, gently waving to her hunters who began to lower their bows. "So I take it to mean you meant the Hind no harm?"

"No physical harm." Alexa agreed earnestly "She may get a bit of light teasing on the trip but that's as far as I'd go."

Artemis nodded her head but Zoë remained unconvinced.

"And we are but to accept thou hast no ill will in thine heart? Thou simply captured thy noble beast for sport? Bah! Folly I say!" She turned to Artemis. "M'lady, tis still a possibility that yonder maiden has dealings with the Bender of Pines or The Three Hearted Herdsman."

"Okay, first off, dial it back a few notches Shakespeare in the park!" Alexa huffed. This earned her a soft giggle from one of the huntresses so she continued. "I'm the one who killed Sinis, and I never even met any farmer let alone a herdsman. Even if I had, what Sinis did was horrible, tricking a mother into a trap by holding her children hostage! And for what?"

She turned slightly to point at the Hind, currently watching the argument with interest.

"That deer is the most frustrating thing I've ever met! She's intelligent, playful, fast, and completely infuriating! I've been chasing her for three years, I've been thrown into trees, chased by bears, nearly drowned, and stuck in positions you wouldn't believe. But at the same time…I love her for it! Putting her in a cage for breeding is a crime against nature! She deserves to be free to do it all again to the next girl!" It was only after her minirant that Alexa realized the bows were gone, Artemis was staring up at her with fondness and a stiff look of satisfaction was on Zoë's face.

"What is your name?" Artemis asked

"Alexa. Alexa Barber, daughter of Hephaestus." She answered.

"Well, I can safely say none of my huntresses have done what you have single handed, and you clearly have a love for the wild. I'd like to offer you a place with us." Alexa was floored. A place in the hunt…? They wanted to make her a Hunter of Artemis?

"I….I'll admit the idea is tempting...but I can't." She holds up her hands as Zoë puffed up like an angry bullfrog. "Seriously! Not won't, but can't! I just...I have my reasons for catching the Hind and they don't just stop now that I've caught her. I have other responsibilities. If I joined the hunt, I'd be abandoning my quest and that's something I can't do. I'm sorry, but the answer's no."

Artemis stared at her for what felt like hours, searching her face.

"You're the one, aren't you? The one Hebe was chattering about, the latest on the Path of Purification." Artemis asked. For some reason Alexa saw Zoë recoil, her fist tightening.

"Yes ma'am... capturing the Hind was my first Labor." Alexa confirmed. Artemis nodded.

"I see." She gave Alexa a small nod. "Then go, Miss Barber, and so long as you keep your word you'll have my blessings."

Alexa relaxed. Artemis and her hunters turned and began to retreat into the woods.

"Lady Artemis?" Alexa called on a whim. Artemis turned. "If I make it out of this alive...I wouldn't say no to joining the hunt, if only for a bit. Can you keep a spot open for me?"

Artemis gave her a small, sad smile and nodded again.

"As you wish. Be well Miss Barber. I wish you the best of luck."