Rostris: The Hunting Demigod

Who's To Be Trusted and Who Should I Despise

     So going over what Mother told me: don't trust Crius, watch out for Lynx, Ekho is the enemy, and Zeus is just the worst god ever. So, the last known location of Ekho was Salamis island and is supposedly on her way to the island of Skyros. It's already the afternoon since I left my cabin and the sun is hidden behind all the oak trees. I'm still in Foloi Oak forest and Laelap is just trotting beside me, my trusting companion. I told her and myself that in order to ration water since it's going to take a while to get to Ekho, we should drink only two times a day and hunt at night. The great thing about being a demigod though is that I don't get tired easily. I only sleep if I want to because I love sleeping. It's not for tiredness, only for enjoyment. So we should be out of Foloi Oak forest by the end of the day. Then the sun might have mercy on us tomorrow. But, Laelap still needs rest, so at the end of the day we'll make camp and I'll let her rest while I hunt. I told her that if she wakes up while I'm hunting, she can come find me.
         It's 10:00 at night.
     We finally made it out of Foloi Oak forest and it's dark out so I'm going to gather some wood and I told Laelap to make a pile of dry leaves. I run over with my super speed to some scraps of dry wood from the oak trees at the edge of the huge forest and gather them up. By the time I get back to our campground, Laelap had made a pile and is now curled up on the ground, sleeping. Of course, we chose an area that is surrounded by no grass so that nothing catches on fire and I set up the wood, leaning on each other. I throw some of the dead, dry brown leaves in an opening from the wood and take out my box of matches. Hopefully not only will the fire keep us warm, but will also make my hunt easier, attracting the animals. I know I said I like a good hunt, but time is of the essence. I open the box and pull out a match. I brush it hard and fast enough to get it lit and throw it into the leaves in the wood. I close my eyes for that part and open them to see a burst of flames light up the wood and hear the crackling of the fire. I always love that part. Now that the fire is set up, I whisper to Laelap that I'm leaving for the hunt and that she doesn't have to join me and can rest because I'm just gonna go to the edge of the forest. The fire should attract maybe a deer or rabbit or squirrels.
     I stroll over to the edge, taking my time, scanning the forest with my night vision to see any movement. There. I hear the sound of a branch break at the east side of where I was looking. I take a second to hold my breath so that the animal can't sense me and creep towards the sound while holding my breath. The breaking of the branch sounded a little heavy so it's definitely not a squirrel or rabbit. As I get closer, I can sense that it's something tall, maybe six foot tall. It sounds like the creature stopped moving so, it might have sensed me. I slowly move to an overhanging branch to see what's me and Laelaps dinner. Right when I'm about to finish moving the branch, suddenly, I hear another branch snap. Crap. We have a runner.
     I tune in on my strong hearing ears and focus on the sound of the creature's footsteps. For me, I hear the pounding of the feet on the forest's floor, trying to figure out which direction the creature's about to turn to. There. For a split second, I can hear the heel of the creature's foot about to turn. I run northwest to catch the creature, midway in its turn. What I see is not at all what I expected.
     I'm looking at the face of a man, maybe about twenty-one years old. He looks like he hasn't shaved in weeks, his beard is brown and medium length. You can tell it's not groomed because the ends are all different lengths. He looks dirty and is wearing ripped rags. His shoes are barely there, so he must have been running for a while now. His hair is a light brown, sticking at different ends and his face is covered with rubbed dirt and sweat. The only thing that looks clean to me are his eyes. They're as green as the forest and glisten with curiosity. Obviously, a mortal wouldn't be able to see all this in the dark, but of course, I can. And I think he can too, so he must not be a mortal. He pulls his feet back together to stand properly and I was right. Six foot tall. I put my foot forward and start to slowly walk around him, implying that I'm about to speak and he starts to walk around me as well,
     "Who are you and what are you doing in Foloi Oak forest?" I demand.
     "Who are you?"
     Ahh, so I guess we're doing the back to back question game. Well, I need answers.
     "Answer me, now!"
     With that out of nowhere force, it definitely got his attention.
     "Why does it matter who I am. I'm just passing through."
     Hmm, I don't know about this guy. It seems fishy to me. In the corner of my eye, I see his left hand keep twitching and he seems to be sweating even more.
     "Fine, it didn't have to come to this. But, since you won't answer me for some specific reason and you ruined my hunt, I'm taking you back to my campsite to bind you."
     "What! You're crazy. Just let me go. I don't mean any harm. Can't you see? What harm could I do to you? I'm weak. Tired. And I need to keep moving."
     "Why?"
     "That's none of your business."
     "Fine, but until I have a reason to let you go, you're coming with me. Something's not right about you. You keep looking around and your hand keeps twitching. When you saw me, you started to sweat. You're obviously running from something."
He straightens up and stops looking agitated. He smooths his ripped shirt and pulls his hair back. Ok. Now, this is weird.
     "Ok. I'll tell you who I am since you caught me. I can't waste any more time than I already have. My name is Crius an—"
Before he could finish his sentence, recognition kicked in and I socked him in the face. Now that he's knocked out cold, I drag him back to the campsite. Laelap wakes up, alarmed to see me bringing back a person. Mother warned me about Crius. How he was being hunted for his crimes at Titanomachy. Now, this guy is going to delay me of my trip. Ugh. I take some of the rope that I had brought with me out of my traveling bag and tie him up, tight. He is known to have super strength so I tie the rope with a style that I had invented, in case I ever hunted something with strength like my own. It takes some precision and special knots and many, many ties. I always make sure to carry a special kind of rope. You probably thought that this was just an ordinary rope. No. This one is from Mount Olympus, one of the many gifts from my mother. Anyway, now that he's tied up and unconscious, I tell Laelap to watch him while I quickly hunt for squirrels.
     I return back with only finding two of them, hidden in a few trees from where I had encountered Crius. All I had to do was shoot one arrow that went through both of them, quick and clean. I had also picked up two sticks on the way to place them on over the fire. When I had returned; Laelap, my loyal companion, was still sitting in the spot, her guard still up. Crius, on the other hand, was awake and was watching Laelap intently. But I know what he was really thinking because it's what I would do also. He was really trying to come up with a plan to escape but didn't want Laelap to suspect. So, he may have a calm and cool expression now, but not for long.