Daughter of Artemis: Fire and Ice

Daughter of Artemis 10*

Media: Hades
<>Chapter 10<>

I woke up with an incredibly sore back. Apparently, sleeping on the ground isn't all that comfortable. Who would've thought? I sat up and my back cracked, which felt rather good. I cracked everything else, and then slouched in my sleeping bag groggily. More walking today. Yay!!

Note the sarcasm.

I saw that Connor was awake. "Hey," I greeted, smiling sleepily.

"Hey, sunshine," he replied.

"Well, actually, I'm fitted for moonshine. Except that's an alcohol so I don't know if that's what I prefer. . . You know what, sunshine works," I joke. He shook his head, laughing. His brown floppy hair bounced all over the place as his head bobbed, giving him a cute, boyish look. "You're up early."

"Yeah," he said, "I am. Don't know why, but I just can't sleep."

I furrowed my brows. First his sickly appearance, and now he can't sleep? I wondered what was wrong. As I stared at him in further inspection, I noticed how baggy his eyes looked. I also noticed that he's been really quiet throughout the trip, too. "Do you feel alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. But right after he said it, he heaved a sigh as if he was having trouble breathing. His hand involuntarily flew to his chest as he winced in pain. He sent me a look, and waved it away. "Just the cold."

<>Connor's P.O.V<>

She narrowed her eyes from disbelief. For good reason, though. In all honesty, I wasn't fine. Not even close. And for a stupid reason, too. Those spiders we encountered a couple days ago were full of Dreamshade; a deadly poison that could kill anyone in a matter of weeks. Well, with just my luck, I was bitten. The consequence was, if I'm not healed within two weeks maximum, it's a high possibility I'll end up dying.

It's been extremely difficult keeping this a secret. The only person who actually knows is Travis, and I'm not sure if he's taking it so well.

"Are you sure?" Sylvia asked. I looked at her in the eyes. I can't lie to her. . . Can I? I didn't want her to worry, especially with the weight of freeing Artemis already on her shoulders. Not to mention, but she's pretty much the leader of the group here, too. With so much stress already pressuring her, I couldn't tell her. But it was so hard lying to her, especially when she looked at me with those blue eyes. . .

Luckily Tyson snored loudly, ceasing the conversation and making us chuckle softly. It also caused Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to wake up. How in the world are Clarisse and Travis still sleeping?

"Oh, Tyson," Annabeth groaned rubbing her hands down her face. "Why? Just, why?"

"Well let's wake everyone else up and eat," I suggested. Sylvia shrugged, even though worry was clear on her face, as did the others, and replied, "Sure."

I snickered quietly as I tiptoed over to Travis. I grabbed my water bottle and unscrewed the lid. Slowly, I poured some of the water on his face. First it trickled down his cheek at which he slapped, then full-on drowsed him. He shot up screaming, "It wasn't me! I promise!"

I fell down laughing, ending up in getting kicked on the shoulder and tackled.

"Don't ever do that again!" Travis yelled, but was laughing too.

"Okay okay, come on you dorks. Eat up," Sylvia instructed. We all ate and we took turns going behind a big tree to change into fresher clothes. Finally we cleaned ourselves up as best we could, did all the other things to get ready, and we were unfortunately walking on foot again. Sooner or later, I was planning on pitching the idea of just paying a couple of cabs. For now, I wondered what kind of problem will come up next.

<>Sylvia's P.O.V<>

As we were leaving Colorado, I was wondering how long it'd be until we met a terrible fate. I mentally smiled to myself for using that Zelda reference.

But there was another thing on my mind. Connor and Travis have been really quiet lately which, if you know Connor and Travis, isn't exactly them. They're loud, noisy, and obnoxious most of the time. I was told that during the war with Kronos they seemed to have become a bit more serious about things but they seem too serious now. I was especially worried about Connor. I'm not picking favorites or anything, it's just that Travis seems fine except for the part where he's being suspicious. Connor however looks like he hasn't slept in days and is suffering a serious illness. To be exact, since the spider and fury attack. I wonder if maybe he just got a cold from the cool air at night. Still, it seemed too coincidental. I'd have to pry it out of him if he's lying about his health. But that would happen later.

We reached an empty road that delivered a kind of disturbing atmosphere. Dark trees lined either side on a never-ending street, with only a gray sky to compliment. We kept walking along the side of the road when I heard some rustling in a nearby bush. Everyone halted, hearing it too. The bush beside Clarisse rustled again. I had my hand reaching behind me, ready to grab my bow if needed. I saw Percy reach for his sword, Annabeth for her knife, Clarisse grabbing her spear, Connor and Travis taking out some confetti bombs, Grover get his flute, and Tyson clench his fists.

The bush was rattling hysterically now, and out jumped a. . .

Bunny.

It's just a bunny. I looked at everyone with wide eyes. We all laughed at our paranoia and relaxed but only for a second. A second rustling came from the trees now, much louder and perturbing. Birds flew overhead, as if they were fleeing. A low grunt sounded from within the tree line as the ground began to shake beneath our feet.

As quick as lightning, we all had our weapons out. Whatever this was, it's getting nobody.

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Cliffhanger! ^.^ This will probably be a long one too. You know, cuz my laptop is broken and whatever. Now that my readers, was a terrible fate.

Okay and sorry for the long wait >.< I'll try to update more often. Alright, well good morning, good afternoon, or goodnight where ever you are. Till next time lovelies :)