I wake up to the sound of tweeting birds, rays of the dawn sun peeking through my drapes. I snuggle a little deeper in my bedding and blanket, feeling quite cozy to leave it too early. I hum with closed eyes, going in and out of comatose as I rest a little more on my comfortable bed.
I blink and squint my eyes open as I hear the same bird tweeting just outside of my window, prompting me to wake like my father once did. With great reluctance and some groaning on my end, I sit up cross-legged on my bed, stretch out my arms in the cool air and arching my back, I let out a great yawn from my well resting slumber. I lick my parched lips, brush aside my raven black hair and begin to rub away the sand from my eyes, while inching closer to the edge. I lightly place my bare feet on the cool, wooden floor and hiss a little before standing up to stretch my whole body with another yawn.
With my ‘just-got-up’ stretches done, I begin on my real stretching workout. After half an hour of starting on my legs, waist, chest, back, arms and finally my neck, I quickly get down on my hands and toes to start on my light exercises for roughly forty minutes. Now working up a bit of sweat, I turn and look at my last obstacle before a cooling shower; a two-foot long metal pipe I bolted on just at the top of my doorframe. I walk over and with a little hop, I grip the bar and begin doing pull-ups for as many as I can.
After ten long minutes I drop down with limp arms, I pant as I slowly move across the short hall to my bathroom to take a shower and clean-up. I close the door, toss my t-shirt and panties to a corner before I twist on the nobs to start adjusting the temperature. As the shower starts, I look at my reflection and smile at myself. My father always said that I looked like my mother with my freckles, deep, sapphire blue eyes and light skin, though the few scars I have didn’t look all that bad on my body as well. I wish I actually knew or met her during my younger years, but my dad always said that she was more engrossed about her work as a model then to stay with us. Though I can’t really complain by this point, I’m content with my life. Can’t hurt to know I have a banging figure though.
After a good half an hour I finally get out of the slightly steamy room nude and walk across to my room to wear my usual hunting clothes.
It’s time to stock up on groceries again.
I slip on some simple grey panties and socks, a yellow, supportive tank-top to keep my babies comfortable, a pair of camouflage, cargo pants, and a form-fitting, green shirt with sage green highlights.
I go out into the short hall to my living and kitchen room and turn left my kitchen. I cook up a quick breakfast of sausages, eggs and homemade bannock with cheese. Well, I say quick, but in all honesty the concept of ‘quick’ is relative around here. I chug down my orange juice and place the empty cup in my sink before turning towards the garage door placed on the wall between the living and kitchen rooms.
I get down on one knee to put on and tie my light brown climbing boots, swipe my keys with a small black remote from the hanger beside the doorframe right before going in my garage and locking the door to my home right before I turn to my workshop.
My motorcycle rests right in the center with all the parts relatively clean of dried dirt and mud but a hundred percent functional with my helmet hanging on its’ right bar-handle. The garage door is to my left and closed - as it should be - my workbench covering nearly the whole wall to my right along with my full backpack leaning against its’ left leg, and a plethora of tools and parts covering the remaining wall.
I move over to my bench and switch on my lamp-light, bathing both of my prized possessions in soft light; my compound bow and the rather large magnum revolver that should be really be renamed the ‘hand cannon’.
I have saved every cent I had to buy the beauty of a bow about five years ago and it has been nothing but useful and reliable when it came to hunting. It can quietly collapse in on itself and fold back with a press of a button and a flick of my wrist for easy travel, the adjustable draw-weight can go from its’ standard eighty to a hundred and fifty pounds, and the sight is very accurate. I have used it to hunt birds, dear, even fish, and have also used it to stave off testy predators.
The gun resting beside it, is oddly enough, more important to me than the bow I spent nearly my whole life savings on. I have polished both the steel and the mahogany handle to a shine, taking special care of the engraving especially; Pater. Given to my father as a surprise when my mother became pregnant with me, what a gift it was with how powerful it is with the type of bullets it uses, then given it to me on his deathbed. I always have it with me whenever I go out just so I can reassure myself that I’m safe. I used it once when I was young; my whole arm became sore and my hand was aching in pain for the rest of the day right after. Poor dad was so apologetic he got me a puppy as a peace offering for insisting on having me fire his gun.
On a large tray to the side are a dozen standard, broad head arrows that came with the bow, five arrows I use to fish along with a line and a reel, eight bullet heads for practice and training, and five bodkin head arrows I bought along with the rest, just because I could and because they looked useful with their penetrating potential at the time. I tested one on a tree once and the metal head just barely embedded all the way in. That is when I decided to never use them on animals because it may just go right through them, causing little to no damage to their internals. I’m sure I can find a use for them someday.
On a smaller tray beside the other is a pile of large bullets, roughly two dozen or so and so far I've only used five of them, two for target practice before my hand became sore, two to scare away a small pack of wolves, and one to take down a charging bear. When I skinned it, half the poor things’ cranium was just paste, part of its’ neck was shredded and one of its’ lungs collapsed, though its’ fur was very soft and warm and I gave the rest of the body to my fathers’ friend, whom was a butcher, I was already good on food then. Besides, I wanted to visit the bombastic, religious, jolly old man and thank him for looking after me on certain days when I was younger.
I smile at the memory of Uncle Barn, I should go and visit him some time this week. I think to myself.
I grab and slip on the holster for the gun, little, leather loops running along from where the holder starts and ends at the buckle. It took a while for my dad to figure-out that they were for storing extra bullets just in case he ran out during a hunt. I grab a handful of the bullets on the tray, and one by one I slip one through a loop before adding another right beside it until I placed the max amount; twelve. I grab the gun, checking the safety, flipping open the empty revolver and the inner barrel while keeping my finger well away from the trigger. Nodding with satisfaction, I flip open the revolver and load in six bullets before closing it and holstering it, securing it in place with a little strapped clip.
I turn towards my dark grey jacket hanging on a racket and slip it on, the inner layer being a thick and warm winter fleece, then gingerly wrap a scarf around my neck, put on my dark green baseball cap and a black toock over it to cover my ears to keep them warm. I reach up to grab my gloves and slip them on while turning back to my bench.
I sling on my prepared backpack with a full quiver attached to it on it’s right, I reach over to grab my pocket knife to store away in my right, jacket pocket, and finally grasp the handle of my bow and folded the bow with a press of a button. I reach over to grab the placeholder for it and strap it onto my left thigh, place my bow inside and clipping it shut.
I finally reach over to my little remote and point it towards the garage door, pressing the little red button to open it. I walk over, brushing my fingertips along my bike, duck down to go out and point my remote at it once more to close it. I pocket the tiny device away in my left pocket before turning towards the vast forest.
I smirk, Time to go hunting, I think to myself before I start walking, going towards one of the areas where dear usually grazed about.
Oo~~O~~oO
After tracking till the sun was nearing its’ highest rise, I steady my aim, staying as quiet and still as I possibly can, taking in long, slow breathes so I won’t make any puffs of smoke in the cool autumn air and to calm my nerves just a little more. My prey is fifty yards away - give or take a foot - and grazing on what’s left of the green grass.
Jack, the ever-illusive stag with a scarred ear, the one dear I could never capture finally came out into the open, and after ten years of playing cat and mouse there’s no way in hell he’s getting away again. As I watch him through the small opening through the yellowing leaves of the bushes, I hesitate to release my grip but then I remember the conversation I had with my father.
Why did you kill her? Do you hate her now? I asked as my father chuckles in a bittersweet tone and lightly shakes his head, kneeling beside his motionless, albino dear.
No, of course not, my little pup. He replies and carefully takes out the arrow, a line of blood staining the pure white coat.
Than why did you kill her? I ask again in a confused and a tad-bit sad tone, while I held onto Nix, my all black, somewhat heavy and curious German Shepherd against my chest.
He turns his head to look at me, a small smile on his lips, Because, little pup. No animal was created and sent here just to be observed and do nothing of it. She - he gently lays his hand on the stag, was a great beauty to behold, she was strong even with her great disadvantage, she evaded many hunters like a ghost, and she became a legend of her own in these parts. She will be remembered for quite a long time, but even with all that she was not immortal.
What does that mean?
It means living forever. She was born to live like us, but like us still, she will die one day, as nature intends. It’s only a matter of time before every living being gets their farewell and finally rest, no matter how strong they are. If anything lived for too long, they will start to stagnate.
What does that word mean? I ask curiously, adjusting my hold on Nix and pass him his sheathed skinning knife.
He smiles thankfully at me, In a simplest way? They stop living, my little pup. He answers and begins his work.
I never really knew what he meant by that for the longest time, but I eventually figured it out after meeting my rival, Jack. I smile thankfully at the dear for pushing my limits whenever we encountered one another, to see which one of us is more persistent and stubborn. Sure, a dear may be fast, but unlike many other animals on this world, humans can keep running for as long as we can, as long as our determination is there with us.
I grin a little, as Jack lifts his head to look around while chewing, “Thanks for the run, buddy. It’s been a blast.” I whisper and release my grip on the nock, letting the arrow fly through the air, the string making a soft and barely audible *thum*. Just as Jack turns to face me, the arrow hits home right into his barrel.
He lets out a struggled, surprised sound, stumbles in place for a few moments as blood starts leaking out of its’ mouth, and finally he collapses on his side as struggled breathing echoes out. I quickly stand up and run out towards him while keeping a light grip on my gun, taking a quick look around to make sure there were no predators to steal from me. I slow down to calmly walk over to Jack and kneel beside the big guy while taking off my backpack, and the moment he sees me he tries to get up only to fail, so I begin to try and calm him by gently stroking his coat from his cheek to his withers while making light shushes.
“Shhh… it’s okay, big guy.” I try to reassure him, and after he finally stops struggling, he takes in one last deep breath before going still. I slowly stroke his neck one last time and let out a quiet sigh. I admire him from head to tail; his coat is soft, his physique is strong, and the tips of his antlers has a slight gold sheen to them. Overall, he looks very majestic and beautiful, almost like a creature of legend. With one last sigh I carefully takeout the arrow from his body, grab my skinning knife, and just before I settle the blades’ edge on Jack, I hear something speak in my head and around me.
“You will do very nicely.” it says with a feminine, satisfactory tone.
“Who’s there!?” I quickly get up with my hand on the gun handle. Before long, my mind quickly changes from alert to confusion as I begin to lose feeling on my hands and feet alarmingly quickly. I look at my free hand and scream as it is being eaten away by golden light.
I trip onto my butt and notice that my feet are entirely gone by this point by the consuming light. I flip myself around to start crawling back into the forest, but before I even reach halfway my elbows and knees are gone. With nothing else to do with only stumps for limbs, I forcefully flip myself on my back, panting in panic as I feel my legs and arms disappear. I close my eyes to try and think of a way to get help then my satellite phone comes to mind. I look at my backpack, wiggling what’s left of my body and began rolling to my bag. I stop just before hitting the bag, shimmy a little closer and once I get a good grip of it with my teeth, I topple it over to get the closed flap closer. I wiggle a little more urgently as I lose feeling on my pelvis and my shoulder. I grab one of the zippers and clench down on it with my teeth before slowly opening it as I pant through my nose and teeth. As I notice some of my stuff spill out, I stop to take a quick look and grin as I see my bulky phone.
I press my cheek down on the face of the device and do my damn’dest to get the antenna to flip in place. After what feels like too long a time pass I manage to get the antenna in place and begin to type my uncles’ number with my tongue as I lose feeling on my stomach and my breasts. I rest my head beside the ringing phone, panting in exhaustion but I perk up as I hear my uncle.
“Goo’ day, my friend! I’m not here at the moment but by all means, leave a message!” then I hear a beep right after, my heart breaking a little when I hear it, but I start to speak anyway as I lose feeling of half my torso.
“Hey, uncle Barn. It’s me, Arty. I’m at a clearing on top of a hill, near a small stream, north from my home, east from the mountain, not far from the west hunting trail. I finally got Jack, but I… think I’m dying? I don’t know, I just heard a voice and this golden light just appeared and started eating away my body. I’m just a head by this point, I don’t know how I’m still breathing or talking for that matter. Anyways, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be gone after this so here are my parting words; thank you very much for looking after me when I was younger and for being a great uncle and a god-father. You can have Jack if you want, I don’t think I need him after this. Oh, and this is very unlikely, but if my mother decides to finally visit and ask you where I am, just tell her I had a fulfilling life and that I love her and forgive her for not being there. Maybe you can give her dads’ dear trophy and Jacks’ as well. I… don’t see my bow from here or my dads’ gun, but if they are there when you get here you can give them to her as well. Oh shoot, I can feel my head disappearing. As for the house, you can have it if you want, and the motorcycle as well. You can do whatever with the rest of the stuff. Um… I think I’m just a pair of lips now, I can’t see anything. Anyways, I love you very much and I hope you have a great life ahead after this.” I finish just as I feel my lips disappear.
Oo~~O~~oO
Everything in the clearing is calm and quiet once more. The dead dear still lay where it collapsed, the blood starting to dry out in the air, and the contents of the backpack splayed about on the dying grass. The small screen of the emergency satellite phone still lit in a dim green glow.
After a moment, a voice speaks up.
“Hm… she may need some of these things. Oh, and don’t worry, Barnabas. My little namesake will do great things for great many people. Oh, and say ‘hi’ to Artys’ mother for me, will you?” it says before the backpack and its’ spilled contents disappear as well, except for the phone, its’ little screen now darkening as it powers down.
Oo~~O~~oO
I wake up with a gasp and lean up against my elbows to look around in a bit of a panic, but I quickly notice my backpack, bow and gun resting neatly near my feat so I scramble over and hug them against me, my gun in hand. I start looking around a little more calmly now that I had something to defend myself with while slowly putting on my backpack cautiously.
Well… I can’t say I know where I am but it is a very beautiful place. A lively forest surrounds the platform I’m on, the platform itself is circular and made of white marble with a gold ring boarding the edge, a pile of comfortable, large red pillows that has a light fuzz to them right under me. I look behind me and see a large, somewhat pale tree with little green fruits hanging on its’ branches. I have a nagging feeling I should know what this tree is supposed to be but for the life of me I can’t remember anything.
“Have a nice rest?” I spin my head back forward as well as point my gun towards the general direction of the voice.
The woman in front looks… a bit like me; lean yet strong looking body, a few scars here and there, and her stare has the familiar calm intensity that my father always describes about me having, though that’s as far as it went with similarities with me. Unlike me, her hair was brown like milk chocolate, her skin a couple shades lighter than mine, her eyes were emerald green, and atop her head rests a small crown made of white and gold tinted antlers. Though I start to blush a little with what she is wearing, which is a thin white fabric that left nothing to the imagination. I can practically see all her bits! She certainly knows how to take care of herself.
“If you stare any longer, I might turn you into a dear.” She says with a mischievous smile as I blush in embarrassment while switching the guns’ safety on and pressing it against me.
I don’t know how I got here or what she can and can’t do, but there’s no way in hell am I chancing of being turned into a dear. I’m a hunter not a prey.
“Hm…” she starts to circle me while curiously searching my form, “Good musculature, a sharp mind with keen senses, and morality is pretty consistent.” she says with satisfactory while stopping in front of me, “You will do very nicely.” She finishes with a proud smile.
“F-for what?” I stutter with nearly all of my muscles tense, ready to bounce.
“I have a friend whom asked that she needed a bit of help with a problem of hers. I answered that I had just the thing she needed, and that, my little Daughter, is you.” She answers while pointing a finger at me.
“Daughter?” I ask in confusion.
“A title I bestow to any woman whom hunts the wilds with honor and virtue. And you,” somehow she gets in close to me in a blink of an eye and lightly pokes my nose, startling me while she giggles, “are one of them, as did your mother once upon a time but she eventually decided to get friendly with your handsome father to finally lose her v-card.” She giggles with a wide smile, partly covering it with her fingers, “She was an amateur but my goodness was she relentless with him.” She continues giggling while I lean back in disturbance.
“I didn’t need to know that.” I say as she calms down.
“Oh hush now, that was your mothers’ way of saying how much she loved him. Though I’m pretty positive Aphrodite gave a bit of a helping hand to her on that day. She always loves it when one of my Daughters decides to start a family.” She finishes with a thoughtful look.
“So…” she looks at me, “what do I need to do?” I ask hesitantly.
“Oh!” she brightens up, “I’m sending you to her world so you can help with her monster problem. They just started popping into existence out of nowhere and she needs someone to help protect her charges and find the problem.” she says right before she points at me and flicks up her wrist. I scream in fright as I’m suddenly levitated up in the air, a few feet off the ground, making me accidentally let go of my weapons. “But sending you there as you are is like tossing a piece of meat into the meat grinder and hoping it comes out okay, so I’m giving you a few upgrades so you can actually do your job.”
“Wait-wait!” I shout while waving around my arms, “How long am I going to be there?” I ask a little urgently.
“Depends on how long it’ll be for you to do your job and if you want to stay there or not.” She answers while she holds up a hand, a golden orb floating right above her palm.
“And… how long do you think that’ll be?” I ask yet again.
“Anywhere between five to thirty years.” She answers mater-in-factly, making my heart sink a little.
“And I have no say in this?” I ask sadly.
“No, of course you do, but you are the best candidate I have in my list for Fausts’ requirements. The others either don’t have one of those requirements, or they don’t have the mental fortitude required to be there. You have everything checked off and than some, you are the best candidate we have. Besides, I’m positive you will love it there.”
I knew she was tempting me, “…What do they have?” but my curiosity is too strong for my will.
She smiles and summons a large circular mirror in front of me, then my reflection morphs into an image of a little town that kind of looks like it was stuck in the medieval age, but all the buildings looks adorable and cute with bright colors. What caught my attention almost immediately are the colorful creatures trotting on the streets and passing stalls.
I… want to hug them… I want to hug and snuggle them.
I continue watching them for a moment before the woman speaks up.
“So… what do you think?” she asks.
I stay quiet for a long moment before I ask, “How long will the upgrades finish?”
The mirror disappears as she claps her hands, “Just a moment, and stay calm, it’ll feel like pure caffeine being injected into you.” She summons back the orb, it quickly breaks apart into glowing ribbons and they start wrapping themselves onto my body. It took a bit of my will not to start screaming and laughing randomly with how energized I feel, but than the feeling immediately changes into sense of pure euphoria as my mind rockets up to cloud nine for a good long… heavenly moment before I begin to feel my partly numb body again while panting.
“Oh my…” I hear a faint voice as I rest, still floating in the air. “Damn it, Aphrodite, what did you do this time?” she asks, her tone a little peeved.
“Um… not much?” a new person speaks up, her own voice sounding a bit nervous.
“What did you do?”
“I gave her a taste of what real love feels like, Arty!” the new voice bursts with gusto like a proud, inspired leader, “She ain’t getting back for a long time to get down and dirty with a hot, hunky man! So yes! I gave her a damn good orgasm she will never forget! A parting gift, really.” She finishes as I finally start to get my mind back into a somewhat cohesive order.
“Who… who’s there?” I ask as I rub my face with both hands, feeling really tired and feeling a bit different for some reason. Almost like my nerves were a bit charged.
“You are impossible to deal with sometimes.”
“Ah-hah! I knew you loved me! You only said sometimes!” the new voice explains excitedly.
“Ugh, bye!”
“Wai-” the unknown person is suddenly cut off just as I begin to see strait again, but I squint from the brighter light.
“W-what just happened?” I ask as I start looking around to find the new mystery person, only to find no sign of her.
The woman lets out a tired sigh, slumping her shoulders for a brief moment, “That was Aphrodite and she’s the reason why you nearly passed out from an explosive orgasm.”
I cover my eyes and lean back to rest a little and collect my mind a little more, and after a few minutes I feel something moist covering nearly all of my crotch area. I’m confused for just a moment before it suddenly clicks in my mind so I quickly cover up my wet crotch in alarm.
“What the hell kind of orgasm was that!?” I shout, my cheeks burning in embarrassment, my bits feeling a bit tender.
“The kind that Aphrodite really loves watching people go through.” she sighs yet again, partially covering her eyes in embarrassment, “Look, I’m really sorry for what she did to you just now, she recently been meddling a lot more lately but she does have the best intentions in her heart so please don’t be that upset with her.” she answers, her own cheeks coloring a little.
I debate for a little bit in my own mind before I slowly start nodding hesitantly, “Okay, sure. I can let it go, but if she does that again and I end up in a mental ward because of it, I’m blaming you.” I answer, still very much blushing from my still very much wet clothes, my body curled up in a ball.
“Thank you. Now, let me clean you up-” she flips me around, making me squeak as my butt faces her, but in an instant my moist clothes and skin dries, “and get your gear upgraded as well.”
The moment I see my quiver, bow and gun get levitated from the floor I quickly reach out to grab them, but they disappear in a flash of light before I could. “No!” I yell desperately and look back at her angrily before point accusingly her, “Give them back, now!” I shout.
“They’ll break if I let you use them how they are now.” She crosses her arms, frowning just a little at me, “Both your weapons are sturdy by human standard, but they’ll deform, crack and snap by accident with your new strength alone. Besides, you won’t do much damage to the monsters with how they are now… well except for the gun, but you’ll need much more firepower for the bigger ones.” She says, making me quietly growl in defeat at her logical reasoning.
After moment I raise a brow at what she said, “Wait, bigger ones? How big are we talking here?” I ask.
“Well…” she averts her eyes from me to ponder, “There will be creatures there that will look like the animals in your world, but there will also be creatures from your species’ various mythologies there as well, and creatures you won’t find in any story’s humanity have conjured up. The world will be a very diverse place so you’ll have to keep on your toes. The biggest thing that I know of that you’ll have to keep an eye on will be the dragons.”
“What!? Seriously!?” I’m having second thoughts about this. Potential cuddles with fluffy ponies be damned, I can go and adopt a new puppy to cuddle with instead.
“Don’t worry too much, I’m positive you can reason with them, but with what Faust told me they can be a bit hot-headed so be wary of them.”
“No. Really?” I snark, gaining a disapproving look from her.
She crosses her arms under her breasts and raises a brow at me, “How do you feel right now?” she asks.
“Um… physically or emotionally?” I ask back uncertainly.
“Physically.”
I look at my hands, still feeling that strange feeling of awareness, “A little strange, kind of like I have another body inside my body.” I answer and begin moving around my arms this way and that at random, and it feels… like my movements are smoother and streamlined with minimal effort, and that I’m well aware of how much strength I’m using to move my body.
“That’s there so you may not accidentally break or crush anything in the other world… or accidentally kill anything that you want to cuddle.”
“It’s so trippy.” I stare at my right hand; I can see my finger prints a lot more clearly, and so I begin clenching and unclenching it, and not a moment passes before my hand is moving as fast as a revving piston of an engine, then I stop moving it entirely with my palm open. During that whole time, I could follow my fingers move with my own eyes and knew how fast it was going with just how it felt, but strangely enough, the muscles in my arm felt pretty warm from the excursion. “It feels like I’m in a new body entirely.” I say as I start massaging my slightly warm forearm.
“Don’t let it get to your head, okay?” she says with authority, I look up at her stern expression and nod dumbly, so she smiles, “Good. A heads up, and keep this in mind.” she pokes my forehead lightly, “Your bones can handle more stress now, as well as your body as a whole, but that doesn’t make you indestructible. Your new body can still get cut and punctured, not as easily as before, but you can still bleed-out from a particularly nasty injury if you don’t do anything about it. With how strong your bones now are, along with your new strength, you can punch through a mahogany door with minimal effort, though your knuckles will get bruised and possibly get cut up from the splinters so be smart with your new strength and durability. You can see more details when you focus on it, but because you can see more things in detail doesn’t mean your eyes are miniaturized telescopes. Now lastly your immune system; you are now a walking hospital. When your body encounters a new disease, a foreign body or are injured in any way, it will do it’s best to get everything back to proper working order. New bugs will be wiped out within a day at it’s latest, minor cuts and bruise will heal completely within the day as well, and make sure to stitch large cuts and gashes, and set any broken bones back in place as well and make sure to rest so your body can properly heal.” she informs and urges me like a doctor worried for their patients’ well being, so I quickly nod a few times, making her smile. “Good. Now…” holds out both her hands, palms facing up, then two glowing orbs appear just an inch above her open hands, “I believe your things are done upgrading.” She says just as both orbs bursts into a blinding flash.
I rub my eyes for a few moments to get the spots cleared, and as they finally disappear I look up at the hands of the woman and quietly gasp at my weapons’ new looks.
My bow is in its’ compact form, but I can already see certain differences in its’ design; the camouflage painted, plastic shells were now polished, silvery pieces of metal with gold highlights and molded into a more elegant shape with intricate engravings. The frame itself, as well as it’s hinging joints, kind of look like metal as well in a dark grey shade, but it didn’t really shine like its’ shell coverings but it did reflect a bit of the light. The grip looks the same with its’ hard rubber grip but had a few pieces of silver and gold put in place artistically. Lastly, both cams were black with silver highlights, but the bow string itself is darker than the cams it is strung on, though I do notice thin strings of gold and silver spiraling along its’ length. All this I notice with the bow still in its’ compact form. I can’t wait to see it in its’ full glory later.
But of course, my bow can’t compare to my fathers’ masterpiece of a gun. The guns’ base metal is slightly darker then before, it looks more robust but elegant as well with gold highlights, and the revolving loading chamber looks a little more blocky but robust. The grip is now covered in maroon red leather strap weaved into a great looking criss-cross pattern, and the Pater engraving is now made of shining gold, with the font being wavy but has that powerful look to it as well with its bold and thin parts. Over all, it is a weapon that needs to be handled with respect.
“Your bow can still fit into it’s little holster, as well as your fathers’ gun into its’ own.” She moves a little closer, presenting me my weapons.
I slowly reach up to my bow first and gingerly grab the grip, then I suddenly feel its’ ghostly power fusing into my arm, connecting to my being like an old friend giving a hardy and joyous hug after not seeing one another for a very long time. Then I begin to feel aware of my bow, as it were an extension of my arm and have full control in how it should perform. So just as I finish a thought to command it to unfold, it suddenly morphs faster then it has before into an actual bow, and what a beauty she is. Then I notice a circular dial just above the grip with little glowing symbols of different types of arrowheads.
I mentally command it to compact itself and store it away into its’ holster and turn my head to look at the next weapon. I reach over but hesitate for a moment, feeling its’ newfound power just radiating off of it like pre-heated oven set to max temperature.
“It’s okay…” I look up at the woman, her lips set into a small smile, “Think of it like your father; very powerful and protective.” she says warmly, so I nod and gently set my hand onto the weapons’ own grip. The feeling is… intense. The bow only had the feeling of hugging just my arm, but the gun encompassed my entire body like a protective shroud. I couldn’t just guess anymore, I know this gun will obliterate anything I point it at and pull the trigger. I’ll need to think long and hard when I should need to use this on anything.
With that little mental reminder, I holster the gun to my right before the woman speaks up.
“You’re almost ready to go, but you only need a couple more things.” She says as she raises both her hands up into the air like she was waiting for something to be given.
What else do I need? I think to myself impatiently but jump a little in surprise as the woman suddenly chuckles in amusement.
“What you need is protection and a melee weapon for the close fights.” She says before two glowing orbs appear above her and slowly lower down to her palms. She lowers her arms and curls her fingers onto the left orb, popping it into a small, sparkling shower of lights, revealing a gauntlet-like brace. There were two, red leather-like straps around the wrist area and the other is a bit further down the metal contraption. The metal itself is both dark grey with shinning silver highlights, it didn’t encompass the whole arm, just the “top”. A circular mechanism is placed in the middle with two, layered, flattened rods sticking out to both back to the elbow and forward to the wrist.
“This is your shield, The Lesser Unfolding Shield. It’s not as good as the original, which can take a direct hit from the Titan God Kronos, but this one can still take a direct hit from your worlds’ experimental Rail Gun, so it should keep you plenty safe in the other world. Just don’t try to pick fights from their own gods, okay?” she says while gesturing for me to take the gift, and I nod dumbly yet again and carefully take the gauntlet from her and look at it a little more closely at it’s beautiful craftsmanship and its’ intricate designs.
The woman than clenches on the last orb, popping it and in its’ place is a large, silver dagger with maroon red leather-like wrapping the grip. Other than some beautiful designs etched into it, the red, smooth and polish jewel embedded in its’ hilt, and it being look like the whole thing is made of solid metal, it looks pretty simple in design.
She gestures it to me, “This is Three Arms, a recent creation to be gifted to you.” She says.
“Three arms?” I look at the weapons’ design on her hand, trying to figure out what she means by ‘three arms’.
“Yes.” Her smile widens as she grips the dagger and swipes it to the side. My eyes widen in wonder as the blade of the dagger suddenly extends into a sword, a the cross-guard grows a little as well, along with the hilt, turning it into a two-handed weapon. She then raises it to have the tip pointing up and jerks it down, making the hilt suddenly shoot out and down to the floor with a tri edged spike at the end, as well as extending upward, with the blade shrinking down into a dagger like spearhead. She lifts the weapon to her front with her palm upwards, making the spear shrink down back into its’ dagger form. “Three Arms.” She says with a smile.
I, yet again, carefully grab the dagger from her on one hand, connecting it’s aura to mine, and the other still holding onto the gauntlet.
“There, that should be all the things you need for your trip. Are you ready to go?” she says while resting her hands on her hips. I quickly place the daggers’ hilt into my mouth to hold it there while I strap the gauntlet onto my left arm in a hurry, and once I finish that I grab the dagger and begin to try and find a place to put it on my person, but to my dismay I have no sheath for it.
“Here,” I look at the woman and she is showing me a regular, leather sheath, “You may need this.” I nod in thanks and take it.
I try to place it here and there, but I eventually choose to place it at the back of my belt, and it’s low enough so it shouldn’t get in the way when I put on my backpack, so I test that out by putting it on and thankfully my assumption is correct.
“I’m ready to go on a cuddle spree!” I say excitedly.
“Good, and don’t forget to hunt down any troublesome monsters once in a while as well.” She says than snaps her fingers, opening a whirling vortex to my left, and she gestures to it. “Just step right in, and prepare to land wherever Faust wants to place you in her world.” She says and I nod.
I walk in front of the swirling tunnel, but before I step in I stop myself and turn to the woman in confusion and slight guilt.
“I’m sorry for not asking this a lot earlier, but may I get your name?” I ask with a nervous smile, but she smiles herself as well.
“Well…” she saunters overs to me and lightly places a hand on my chest, making me blush a little with her superior feminine charisma, “My name, my dear Artemis, is Artemis as well.” My eyes widen in shock, but before I could fan-girl, her smile widen mischievously and pushes me into the vortex and the threshold closes.
Author's Note
I didn't realize the first chapter would be this long.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first step to this new adventure for our new champion of Equis.
Until next time, have a nice day and night, and good reading, everyone.
(Edited! Please point-out any errors you find.)
