Rostris: The Hunting Demigod

Crius

     Let's get this show over with, "Crius. Here's what's going to happen; you give me a reason why I shouldn't hand you over to my Mother; Artemis, Olympic Goddess of The Hunt, The Moon, and Chastity, who will then hand you over to Zeus; the king of Greek Gods and god of the sky and thunder. Who, I'm sure would just feed you to the hellhounds when nobody's watching. Or, you give me a reason why I shouldn't. I mean, you didn't kill that Olympian, but the Olympian law states that if you're not an Olympian and you attack one, then death must be brought on you. But, lucky for you, I don't believe in that stupid law, but you are still a fugitive. That's why I'm allowing you a choice." I watch him intently, trying to understand his facial features, looking for one falter to know what he's thinking. His eye twitches but that's only because an ash flew from the fire and landed in his eye. A minute has passed and now I'm getting impatient. I start to open my mouth but then...
     "Ok."
     "Ok, what?"
     "I'll give you a reason to not hand me over."
     "It can't just be any random reason. I need to believe it and it has to be good, like say, why you beat up that random Olympian on your way out?"
     "Ok, here's my reason; that wasn't just some random Olympian. That Olympian was bribed to discreetly release a fly that was carrying sprinkles of a potion that would make me weak in my fight. When I noticed the fly, it was too late. It had dropped the potion on me and my strength was weakened. That's the only reason why the Olympian didn't die. If I had my full strength, that Olympian would be dead."
     He was staring straight into my eyes the whole time he testified and he didn't show any signs of lying. Still, how could I trust a guy that has greater strength than me? Wait, he may have greater strength, but he doesn't have years of practicing strategy. Alright. I've made my decision,
     "Ok. I believe you. But, here's the catch. Even though you still had great reason to kill the guy, it was still wrong. You didn't think. But here's me thinking. You help me on my mission, I'll convince my mother to speak to Zeus and release your burden. Deal?" He looks at me thoughtfully, probably thinking if he should trust me also.
     "Deal."
     "But if I detect any straying of the deal from you, I swear, I will hand you over without question."
     "Fine. But in fact I detect any straying of you, I will snap your neck in a second."
     Hmm. I like this guy's thinking. He's kind of like me. Stubborn, resistant, arrogant, guarded, and I guess I was wrong about the strategy. What the Hades (our way of saying hell)? These thoughts need to stray if I want to focus on the mission. Maybe it's because I haven't been in contact with a "person" in so long. It's just been me, my mom, and occasionally Amposa, the woman centaur that helped raise me.
     "Alright, that's fair. But don't underestimate me."
     "Don't underestimate me, either"
      Why do I like his forcefulness? I must be crazy. Yet, the more he shows me this side of him, I can't help but bring that side of me out also. I walk over to him to untie the crazy knots I had made and notice that he hasn't tried to break free from them. It better not be because he thinks that he's so much better than me, because I will hand him over even if it's just because of egotism. Or, it could just be because it's impossible to break from them. He stands up and wipes off his hands from the dirt. He really needs a clean shower and clothes, and with me having no border with what I think I tell him, "You know you really stink. How long have you been on the run for?"
      "Um. Hm. I don't know. Maybe a few weeks. I'd greatly appreciate it if tomorrow we could find a waterfall where I could get cleaned up and on the way find some clean clothes."
     "Well, there's a town a few miles up that we could check out in the morning and I'm sure there's an inn we could look at that has a room and shower."
     "Great. So do you have any extra covers that I could sleep on?"
     "Sorry, we agreed that you would join with my mission, but there was nowhere in the deal where I give you my stuff. Just, make a pile of leaves and dirt. I mean, you're already dirty."
     He chuckles and shakes his head down. Hey, I don't have to be nice to him. At least, not yet. I still need to get to know him before I can trust him. He goes off to find some leaves and comes back fifteen minutes later with a big pile of leaves and a squirrel. Guess he also knew I wasn't sharing any food and he was right. After we heat our squirrels over the fire, I give one of my two to Laelap and I help myself to my own. After we've all eaten, I throw a little sand that I carry in my bag for purposes like this over the fire to dim it a little.
     "Alright, we're gonna rest and then get up an hour after sunrise."
     I make sure Laelap is in between us so that Crius doesn't get any ideas because he knows that Laelap is dangerous. And with that, we fall asleep.
         Sunrise
     Even though I wake up right at sunrise and Crius is still sleeping, I want to hunt but I'm afraid to leave him alone and I don't trust him to be alone with Laelap, even though she can take care of herself. "Laelap," I whisper to her to wake her up, "Honey, wake up." She stirs and sits up. She tilts her head to the side, waiting for me to continue, "Can you go hunt us two rabbits please, I would, but I don't want to leave Crius by himself. I don't trust him. You understand?" When she heard the word "hunt" and rabbit", she perked up and ran off. I grab my bag and take out my brush. I pull out my ponytail from my hair and pull my hair to the side. I grab my auburn, shiny hair in my hand and start to brush. The rising sun starts to hit my face so I close my eyes while I brush. I get the feeling that I'm being watched so I abruptly open my eyes to find Crius, watching me while he's still laying down.
     "What are you looking at! Like what you see or something?" Like I said before, I'm very guarded.
     "Actually, as a matter of fact, yes. I do."
     Ugh. I fake gag and roll my eyes at him and finish up quickly with my hair, putting it in a ponytail.
     "Well, stop. Get up. All we're waiting for is Laelap. She should be back any minute with our rabbits."
     "'Our rabbits?'"
     "Don't get any ideas. It's me and her's. I've told you this already. Oh. Here she is now."
     I turn, seeing Laelap trot up towards me from the west side of the woods; two rabbits hanging from the tail down, swaying side by side. I know eating like this may seem horrific, but I'm into the survival lifestyle. I don't even own a tv. "Good girl Laelap," I praise her for her short time in finding our rabbits for later. Crius gathers up; well nothing. Except for his bag which I had checked inside while he was tied up last night. We start our way of the few miles to get to the town up ahead. I mean we could use our speed but I want to get to know him better without it seeming obvious, "So, do you have any family?" I figure if I start a conversation, the tenseness between us will ease a little.
     "Nope, it's just me. Always has been."
     "Is that why you put yourself in fights. You use all your built up anger and hate into it?"
     "Yea. But how did you know?"
     "Because I do that too. Not in fighting, but in hunting. My anger is towards my mother because she wasn't around that much when I was growing up. But, I don't let her know that."
     "My mother had passed away when I was four and my father left me when I was ten because he lost all of our money from drunken bets. The six years growing up with him was torture. I basically had to fend for myself then, especially when he left. I would climb into shops and restaurants when they would be closed and I would have to find scraps. It was a hard life growing up, I'm not gonna lie, but it helped me get closer with the real struggles in the world. I honestly don't know why I'm telling you all of this."
     "Maybe it's because you finally feel like you can open up to somebody since I'm a stranger who you won't be seeing after we finish."
     "Maybe. Or maybe it's because you and I are alike. I mean think about it; we both have snarky comments, we've been abandoned by parents, and we both live a survivalist lifestyle."
     I just shrug him off and focus on getting to the town. We finally reach it in fifteen minutes, since we kind of sped up a little since we stopped talking. The town has a half broken sign, swinging from a post and it says "Welcome To Oak Wood Town!" I don't really see much people around and there's only a barbershop, a grocery store, a restaurant, and a resource center for supplies, and a motel. The houses must be a little further up. The only people I see seem to be workers and a few walker bys. The resource center seems to look like they have clothes so I tell Crius to check that out. I hand him $70 which should be enough for about four outfits. The store looks pretty cheap. I head over to the motel to see if we could book a room for an hour so that Crius can get cleaned up. As I walk the two blocks to get there, I get this funny look from a woman holding hands with a child. She's wearing a brown cardigan and a dusty yellow dress and her hair is tied up in a bun. She's probably wondering why there are strangers suddenly bursting into the town. She's giving me vibes of an authoritarian and judgemental parent. I shrug her off and just as I did, I open the motel's door.
     "Hello?" I call out since I don't see anybody. The motel seriously looks dead. The brown wallpaper is peeling and there are only like two chairs that look crazy uncomfortable. I don't hear anybody but I see a little counter bell on a desk with some pencils in a jar and a few papers. The desk is a greyish color with brown stains all over, so I'm starting to guess this town either doesn't clean up after themselves or they don't have a janitor. I press on the bell and a little ding comes out of it. Out of nowhere, this forty-year-old guy pops up from behind the counter, as if he was there the whole time, just waiting for someone to press the bell. It's like he was hiding behind it the whole time. He actually looks really nervous and he's very sweaty. His black hair is soaked with sweat and his tan suit is sweaty all under the armpits.
     "Hi! Welcome to Motel 7! What can I do for you?"
He rushes his sentence and he looks at me all bug-eyed. Why does this town have to be my first contact with humans?
     "Hi. Yes. I'm looking for one room for me and my friend. He'll be here shortly. We'll just be needing it for about an hour. Are you ok?"
     Now, he's pulling on his shirt to loosen it and is fanning himself. It's only 54℉ and there's a ceiling fan on.
     "I'll give you free of charge if you don't ask any more questions and I don't answer your first one?"
Ok. Now, this is really weird. First, that woman was looking at me weird and now this guy is acting all paranoid. But what the heck. I take the key and find Crius about to walk in. His bag looks stuffed so it could either be clothes or something else. You never know if he stored a weapon or something so I'm going to check it again when he's in the shower. "Let's go," I motion him to come with me to our room. The key says Room 5/15. Dang. This motel is tiny. I unlock the door and Laelap rushes in. I had her stay hidden before until I had a room because I didn't know what people would think if they saw her. With her speed, the only thing a human would see is well, nothing. Maybe feel a breeze but that's it. Crius puts his bag on the one bed in the room and takes out a few clothes and heads into the bathroom. When I hear the water turn on for the shower, I quickly open the bag so fast, that no sound comes from doing it. I pull out everything. All there is, is a pair of good hiking sneakers, a few pairs of jeans, a few t-shirts, some water bottles, a few bags of party-sized chips and... huh. Why would he need cologne? I keep that out as I put everything else back in the bag. I know asking him of the cologne will let him know that I went through his bag, but I think he already knows that that was a hinted requirement when I said that I didn't trust him.
     He comes out twenty minutes later and he must've bought a razor and scissors because his scruffy beard is gone and his hair actually looks normal. It's still kind of wet but you can tell that it's good. He sees me holding the cologne in my hand, a question on my face. "What is this for? You spent some of my money on something that is not needed for survival." He just chuckles and puts his hand out, as in for me to hand it to him, "No. Why did you buy it? Was it to impress me or something?"
     "As a matter of fact yes, it was. Now can I have it back now?"
     "We don't even trust each other yet, and you think smelly cologne will bring you up 100 points?"
     "Well if I knew you didn't like cologne I wouldn't have bought it. Truth is, I thought maybe if I smelled and looked good, you wouldn't see me as some scumbag who almost killed a guy and is wanted all over Olympus and on earth."
     Truth is, he's right. This look is way better than what he had before. I guess seeing him all dirty kind of clouded my judgment. He actually looks pretty decent and I can actually see his eyes better now. "Alright, we'll make a new deal to help with our trust issues. I won't be so stuck up on hating you and I'll learn to trust you and you do the same. The other deal is still on though, of you helping me and me not sending you over to my mother."
     "Deal." He smiled after that and I don't know, he has a nice smile. Like, when it's actually genuine.
     "Deal. Have you noticed that everyone has been acting weird around here? Well, the few people here?"
     "Yea. I asked the guy at the resource center what was going on but he just crouched back down after taking the money and continued to sweat and pant behind the counter."
     "The same thing happened here. Actually, the hotel guy gave us this room free of charge if I didn't ask any more questions. Maybe we should walk another mile and see if the same thing is happening up there."
     We gather up our stuff and put Laelap in my bag. She's able to hold her breath for as long as she wants, but I keep the zipper opened just a little so she can see and have fresh air. I don't want her hiding around anymore with the town acting so uncomfortable with something. I put my bow back on my shoulder and strap on my arrows. We leave the room and I lock it back up. We head over to the desk and don't see the guy behind the counter so I just leave the key there. On our way up through the town, I see a few kids running into their homes and their parents locking it. Wait, what if this has to do with the Adlet that I had come into contact with. Now that I think about it, what happened if it had passed through the town to get to me? Unless... what if there's something even bigger or powerful that scared the Adlet and is now scaring the people. Because Adlets don't go around in public killing people. They do it quietly and usually in the dark. I decided that if I'm going to have to trust Crius, I should loop him in on what I was thinking while we walk. We can't run or else it will bring up attention and that's the last thing we'd want.
     After I tell him everything, he doesn't look surprised.
     "I've come in contact with an Adlet too when I was on the run. It actually might have been the same one you found because I didn't kill it. Well, I didn't have the chance to. After it clawed me once, it ran. Like it was wanting something but still wanted me to know that they're dangerous." He lifted his shirt and showed a big claw scar on his back. The Adlet must have been in a hurry because the scar doesn't look like the wound was deep. They usually make sure that they are.
     "What if it was hunting me. Because it definitely tried to kill me but first stared at me with such hatred that it caused me to be in a trance-like state. I didn't realize what was happening until it had clawed my left arm and my stomach. It didn't get to make them deeper because I had shot it with my silver tipped arrow and killed it."
     "Didn't you say earlier that Zeus' wife Hera, might try to get in your way? What if she found out beforehand that Zeus was coming to you and sent that Adlet to hunt you? That would make sense why it was so far from its homeland."
     "That makes sense. Turns out though that she didn't know that I'm god-like with my skills."
We finally make it up to the end point of the town that has a few housings. I see in the distance something. We walk a few more feet and as I'm a little closer now, I can tell that what I'm seeing is not human. Not a god or demigod. It may look like an ordinary person, but I can see the tiny golden tattoo on the face that's a tree branch and can't believe my eyes. The being has long brown hair and brown eyes and is wearing a green leather jacket and brown tights. Why does this have to happen so soon? Who I'm looking at is Lynx, daughter of the dryad Ekho.