Disclaimer: the only thing I own in this story is the characters I made up. The rest belongs to its rightful owner

The blessing of the moon

Chapter 12

Keriss' eyes widened in amazement, and a small flutter of excitement burst to life inside of her.

"When?" she demanded, taking an involuntary step towards Chiron then standing, hopeful, fists clenched by her sides. Rolling her eyes, Cynder shook her head lightly, her dark hair falling into her face.

"Today." The blunt response instantly caused the excitement to revert into panic, and Keriss whirled around, took a step towards the door, blinked indecisively, then whisked back, eyes wide. Suddenly there was a shout from outside, and Cynder, reflexes unnaturally quick, leapt over to the window, pulling back the curtains hesitantly. The daughter of Hades swiftly turned back around, a smirk slammed into place upon her mouth as she grinned.

"They're already here." Standing frozen to the spot, Keriss felt her breathing begin to hasten as negative thoughts began to whirl through her mind, gripping on with claw-like hands and not letting go.

What if they hate you? What if they don't believe that Artemis created you? What if Artemis denies me to talk to them? The thoughts began to collide smashing into a huge, swirling mass of panic, and Keriss lowered her head, staring at the ground, the knot of worry twisting tighter and tighter inside of her.

"Go and talk to them." Jerking her head upwards, the long-haired girl saw Chiron, a look of quiet reassurance in his gaze, motioning towards the door. Taking in a long, sighing breath, Keriss spun around, fists clenched until her knuckles faded into a blood-exhausted shade of white, her nails digging into the palms of her hands, and stepped shakily out of the doorway, trying to force down the fear inside of her.

The first thing that greeted her was a wolf. Snowy white with delicate paws, it sat, inquisitive curiosity etched upon its features, head tilted at a slight angle that portrayed an almost human-like intelligence.

'You gonna thank me for getting the flag?' Keriss almost fell back in surprise as a voice spoke inside of her head, feminine and child-like. The wolf made a sighing noise, and stood up, walking forwards in an impatient sidestep, taking in the girl's shock with an air of amusement.

'Yeah, yeah, I can talk. Get over it.' Standing still, frozen in shock, Keriss stared down at the wolf, which rolled its eyes and twitched its tail impatiently, looking almost human in its expression.

'Okay, question time. Yes, I'm the wolf from the woods. Yes, I can talk. Yes, I'm friendly, and no, you are not turning schizophrenic.' The snowy white creature's blunt response took Keriss by surprise, and she managed to stagger backwards, silver-grey eyes still widened.

"Y-You're talking. How in freaking Zeus' name are you talking." Amusement increasing, the wolf snorted, and bounded forwards, white fur a flash against the dull-in-comparison daylight.

'Are you coming or not?' Stumbling forwards absentmindedly, Keriss followed the creature, still in a daze, trailing it towards the central area between the cabins, where a group of silver-clad girls, bows slung over their shoulders, horses and wolves at their heels, an almost divine glow to them, a low murmur of conversation jumping between them.

"Crystal! Get back here!" A sudden voice rose out of the crowd, and a girl with reddish-brown hair sprinted forwards, grey eyes flashing with annoyance. She bent down and hissed some illegible words to the white wolf, before looking up apologetically at Keriss.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, giving a slight laugh as she scrambled back to her feet. "She's always been a troublemaker. You can go back to your cabin if you want; it was silly of her to drag you out like that!" Slightly startled by the easy-going attitude of the hunter, Keriss blinked heavily, then shook her head.

"I-I actually wanted to see you." She gestured towards the hunters, and the hunter of Artemis looked confused, grey eyes inquisitive.

"Do you have a sibling in the hunters? I don't see anyone that looks like you…" sweeping her gaze over the hunters, she shrugged, rocking back on her heels, thoughts obviously rushing through her mind.

"I'm surprised you don't recognise her, Danielle." The girl, Danielle, looked upwards sharply to see another hunter, her sleek brown hair adorned with a silver circlet, gold-rimmed eyes holding a wisdom that reflected far beyond her age, step forwards and smile warmly to Keriss. "After all, it was you that spotted her drowning." Recognition lit in Danielle's eyes, and she let out a gasp.

"Keriss?" she questioned, and a sense of unease settled in Keriss' stomach as the look of seeing an old friend sparked to life in the reddish-haired hunter's gaze. Nodding slightly, she felt her entire body stiffen as Danielle rushed forwards and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, much to the amusement of the other hunters.

"That's enough, Danielle. You'll strangle her." Coughing awkwardly, the girl stepped away to reveal the hunter in the silver circlet, welcoming smile still upon her face. "Keriss, when you fell into the ice lake, we were all there. I was the person who jumped in after you." In an instant, Keriss was transported back to the cold of the lake, frozen hands tearing at her flesh, ripping through her clothes, then the person plunging forwards, dragging her upwards, golden eyes staring back down at her.

"A-all of you? Y-you know me?" a girl with dark-rimmed glasses stepped forwards and nodded, a grin upon her face.

"I helped Katherine pull you out!" she piped up, followed by a girl with chestnut brown hair, who waved her hand in the air.

"I got you to Artemis!"

"I cast a spell to keep you warm!"

"I suggested the blessing!"

"Be quiet, all of you!" a girl with pale blue eyes stepped forwards, wavy brown hair curling upon her shoulders, stepped forwards, shooting a glare at the rest of the hunters. "You're scaring her." Walking over to Keriss, she smiled sweetly, then flicked out a knife.

"Call for Asimi if they get too oppressive. I'll gut them for you." Winking towards the long-haired girl, she walked back towards the crowd, and motioned towards Katherine, who was attempting not to laugh, viewing the situation light-heartedly. Motioning for Keriss to come closer, she put her arm around her shoulder, and whispered to her softly.

"Don't worry; the novelty will wear off soon, then you'll be just a regular recruit to the hunters of Artemis!" Anxiety fluttered within Keriss, and she shot a nervous glance up to Katherine.

"Recruit?" Katherine laughed, and fixed her with her gold-edged eyes.

"Well, that was what we came for! Artemis' own orders: recruit you, at all costs."

A/N: Erm… yeah… I kind of didn't update in three months, then present you with this awful excuse for a chapter… don't kill me please…