After breakfast we wash up and get ready to leave. Artemis always has us prepare the night before so we can leave nice and early. She sure doesn’t like to waste time. We return to our tents and get our weapons, and some sacks to haul back the kill. I take my bow, as always, plus a hunting knife for more close range targets. Artemis’s voice broke my train of thought as she called out for us to come to the centre. We all walked in and stood around the distinguished fireplace.
“Allright, listen up girls.” Barked Artemis. “Heres the plan”. She picked up a stick and traced in the snow. She drew the entrance to the forest and the three different paths to get to the heart.
“These are the paths we’ll take today. I want you to go down separate ones so you don’t accidentally shoot each other. You don’t have to stick to the paths, as you already know, but don’t get lost and use your string. I want you to all be in the centre of the forest by midday and we’ll switch partners and move back towards camp.”
We had heard all this before. We usually have the same routine, work to the middle, then come back out. That’s how Artemis liked it. She always gave us the same safety brief too. I often wonder if she was afraid to not tell us one time, because Murphy’s Law would take over. She knows were perfectly capable of following instructions, but I reckon she feels that if she doesn’t tell us that one time, something bad would happen.
“Okay, Flio and Aubergine, you take the first trail” she said pointing towards the farthest entrance. They smiled and walked off together, laughing about something. Artemis shook her head. “Celcy and Sarone, like usual, you take the next one.” They nudged eachother and walked off. “Wait.” Artemis paused. “Cam, you go with them.” This raised a few eyebrows. Camione hardly ever went into the woods. Usually she preferred to stay behind and prepare for cooking. She looked up at Artemis.
“What…..really? Why?” This was brave of her. People don’t usually question Artemis. Artemis smiled.
“It’ll be good for you. You haven’t been out in awhile. You don’t have to shoot anything but we’ve got to toughen you up a bit.” Cam almost looked hurt. But then her expression changed to a look of determination. “Wait up guys!” she called and ran after Celcy and Sarone. Artemis continued. “Navia and Felishe take the third trail and Pharaoh and Tassie can follow you in after.” We all nod and the two girls run off before us, to make it a good way before we follow them in. Artemis throws a bag over her shoulder and smiles at us. Then she nods and walks off towards the outer rim off the woods. As far as I remember, Artemis had always preferred hunting alone. Every second day she takes us out to train, firing at targets, flinging knives, stuff like that. But when it comes to hunting day, she likes to go solo. Tassie and I walk slowly, taking our time to get to the entrance. Navia and Felishe are already out of sight, but we want to give them time to get ahead. It wouldn’t be good to accidentally shoot at one of them, there’s a pretty high chance that we wouldn’t miss. Now I’m not a bragger, but us girls, we have shooting down. Most of us can hit a target in the centre from fifty metres away. We train all the time and we have the best teacher we could ask for.
“So what do you think we’ll bag today? I’ve got a good feeling.” Tassie grins at me and I must admit it’s a little infectious. We do make a good team. Sometimes us girls have competitions to see who can bag the most game. Artemis says a little competition is good for everyone and it gets us motivated. Although we never win anything but bragging rights. I smile back at Tassie.
“Yeah me too. But I’ve got no idea. It’s always changing out here, you just have to be in the right place at the right time.” She nodded in agreement and looked off towards the forest. I remember when Tassie first joined the hunt. It was in mid September and Artemis brought her home laughing. And I mean that Artemis was laughing. Tassie is the funny one, no doubt about that, but it doesn’t mean everyone likes her. I liked her right away, most of us did, but Flio took a dislike to her. To this day none of us really know why. But everyone can tell when Flio doesn’t like someone. She’s not exactly subtle. She would drop snide comments or just ignore Tassie altogether. But she’s warmed up to her. They still aren’t close, but they get along. And that’s the great thing about being apart of a sisterhood, everyone usually get’s along. If ever anyone fights, it’s always resolved quickly and no one takes sides. But anyway, Tassie is cool. The kind of girl who’s chill and know’s how to take and make a joke. We reach the entrance to the forest and she cups her hands around her mouth. She makes a shrill whistling sound and flaps her hand, making the sound waver and wobble. It’s our call. If we hear it back from Navia and Felishe, then we know they aren’t ahead of us enough. But as I expect, we hear nothing. Those two are quick. We enter the forest.
YOU ARE READING
The Hunted
Teen FictionPharaoh has always found her life to be a huge mystery. She knows that she is a part of the pack, Artemis's pack, but she doesn't know how she got there. All the other girls have a story to tell, but Pharaoh has to unravel the secrets herself. Throu...
