Lieutenant

Chapter 1

Artemis was fairly new to Olympus. The place was so large and vast she could hardly comprehend its true size. Of course, Apollo had taken a liking to it right away, having instantly befriended the young wing-shoed boy who had a knack for causing trouble.

Artemis, on the other hand, naturally gravitated to the grey-eyed young woman who seemed to be the only one with any common sense around the place. She was always so regal and intelligent, Artemis found herself often walking in her shadow.

In Artemis' first few days here, she'd been an outcast to nearly all of them except for the one forge-working god who'd shown them around, seeming only semi-interested in her and Apollo.

She'd learned that gods, though they aged faster than humans, and once they reached maturity could fluctuate between age as they saw fit, had to grow and learn as normal mortals did.

Of course, her capacity for knowledge was far greater than the average human, and naturally, she was smart about judging how others reacted to her. It was no different than judging an animal's reaction. Despite her twelve-year-old appearance, she could handle herself.

Artemis, however, missed the woods where she and Apollo had lived for quite some time until they were retrieved and placed in this mount of marble. It was too vast to open, not nearly cozy nor comfortable enough for her liking. To Artemis, freedom did not mean more space, freedom meant going where one wished.

And so Artemis had a tendency to wander and had stumbled upon the grey-eyed goddess and immediately read her as the most intelligent. If anything, she seemed more of the boss than Zeus himself did. Athena, however, paid her little attention at first, often seeming too distracted by whatever was going on in her head to notice Artemis. Still, the young girl followed the eldest one around, observing and learning from her until at last Athena finally spotted her.

Her smile had been genuine and her voice rather kind, despite the manner in which Artemis viewed her. She'd always thought that Athena was far above the others, she'd be regal, lack displaying much emotion, but Artemis was proven wrong.

The two girls took a liking to one another instantly and never seemed to be apart. Athena taught her everything she needed to know and Artemis told Athena what she knew of the outside world. Athena had explained that she was not yet "old enough" to explore the mortal world on her own.

Artemis had scoffed and deemed it ridiculous as Athena was clearly much more trustworthy than that of anyone else on Olympus. It had been nearly two years since Artemis had arrived and she still longed for the outside world. She was a maiden now, still as independent as ever, but she despised being couped up. Athena had earned the right to travel a while ago, meaning Artemis was often left alone and behind to suffer the silence of Olympus by herself.

But Artemis was stubborn, a trait she'd learned early on from Athena, and she wasn't going to suffer any longer. Recently having learned the skill to shift into animals, Artemis transformed into a grey and white hawk and lept from Olympus and, if she had not been an animal, would have smiled at the feeling of wind on her face. Of course, Artemis figured she'd be in trouble for her actions, but she'd learned it was better to ask for forgiveness after the deed was done.

So she flew for as long as she wished, racing over villages where people milled about and glanced up, pointing in surprise, and smiling. Little kids watched her soar overhead while some attempted to run and keep up on the ground. After some time though, she left the towns behind and wandered into the countryside. The place she loved most, the scent of trees strong and pleasing.

What Artemis did not know, however, was that these woods were an avid place for hunting. Hawks were a rare thing to see, and many would be eager to claim one for their own. Thus, she was unaware of the Hunters aiming their bows, arrows glinting in the sun, to knock her out of the sky.