Army War

after leaving the elf kingdom, Artemis's familia headed east as they were told about an army about to invade some small town's before attacking the growing Rebel slaves setting free fellow enslaved people, and Artemis is helping them in a small way. while her Familia only had about 75 member's, not including the children, they were going to be stealthy in their approach, instead of a head on fight, they were going to use traps, their bow and poison-tipped arrows, and night raid's to pick at their number's as they cross.

Atalan:" goddess, you said we can win like this, but isn't this kinda unfair"

Artemis:" you'd prefer we go on even term's to have equal chances of losing"

Atalan:" no, I-"

Artemis then grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder as she put her spear at his throat, and stepped on his chest with her foot as Atalan was completely defeated.

Artemis:" was that fair"

Atalan:" (struggling) no"

Artemis:" and did I win"

Atalan:"... I see what you mean"

Artemis:" there is need for a code of honor you must follow as to not become a terrible person who takes advantage of other's, however, when your life is on the line, so long as you don't needlessly endanger anyone else, any and all measures to ensure victory are allowed, no matter how dishonorable or cowardly they may seem"

Atalan:"... alright, though how can I help"

Artemis:" you can help with cooking our meals, they really like your food"

Atalan:" I also learned new dished in Lothlódolin from some of the kings top chefs, they are stern and have the shortest fuses when it comes to cooking, but the result was worth it"

Artemis one time made Atalan cook, and he was gifted, now the Familia waits for his cooking as for some reason, it's the best food prepared by any of them, so whenever Atalan cook's, their is never any leftover's as they almost kill themselves eating everything he prepares, though Atalan enjoyed cooking as it made everyone smile, he wasn't happy about it this time.

Atalan:" you want me to wait for everyone to fight as I stay behind"

Artemis:" oh Atalan... you're 6, I will not have a 6-year-old fight in what could end up as a full-scale war at our footsteps no matter what"

Atalan:" but everyone else if fighting and risking their lives, I don't want to do nothing"

Artemis:" Atalan, you are still a child, this isn't just another hunt, this is a battle, and you're far to young to fighting, just stay here and don't cause to much trouble"

as Artemis left Atalan was cooking a fast meal as he then got his weapons and left to scout out an area, he found an enemy army campsite full of men setting camp, he knew for sure he wasn't going to win under any normal circumstance, however, that's when he saw a crater lake, and the magma chamber underneath it seeps carbon dioxide into the water at the bottom until it became saturated, he sought to make use of this, first, he made a median to make him temporarily immune to poisonous gas for about 3 hours as he then used a rune spell to give added protection to himself, he couldn't use magic, but he could use Rune magic as Rune magic is different from spell casting magic which is only in a selective group of people, as he then used another rune spell to cause a rockslide and make a deadly cloud of poisonous gas in the middle of the night, from their, the army of nearly a few thousand soldiers setting camp turned to a meat dozen as Atalan took this chance and slid the throat's of the one's still alive while unconscious, taking what goddess Artemis said to heart, though, he felt sick as he didn't like this method of fighting, but beared with it as he was finished wiping them out, though this was only one of the 10 bases, this would still help as the rebel's were moving in this position as he placed many runes to stop and dispell the poisoned air as the rebels were close, he than left as some of the rebels saw him but moved forward, and what they found was dead soldier's with their armor, weapon's, supplies, and material's all in tact, making the rebel's have many new weapon's and armor to fight with, and after they marched, they set off for some of the other bases as well.

Atalan's thought's:" I hope they aren't to mad when I get back"

even though the Familia were fighting for 3 days with their trap's and sneak attacks, they still noticed when he left and Artemis was as mad as she would when giving someone divine punishment.

Artemis:" YOU INSOLENT, MUSCLE HEADED, RECKLESS, IMPULSIVE BRAT, DID YOU LISTEN TO A WORD I SAID BEFORE WE LEFT OR DID YOU JUST THINK YOU COULD DO WHATEVER YOU PLEASED AS LONG AS YOU WERE SNEAKY"

Atalan was sitting as he was getting a divine scolding from an angry Artemis, while he did promise the kids were asleep when he did this, the rebel's Artemis meet up with later on who seemed to have not lost a single man and got lot's of armor, weapon's, and equipment told them about some kid with white hair running out from the base and that was Artemis's only clue to piece together what Atalan did behind her back, and she was mad the entire time, the other member's looked away as they knew just how angry their goddess can get, and Atalan pushed his luck WAY past the point of breaking.

Artemis:" not only did you not do as I told you to do, but you also endangered yourself in a BIG way, nearly a few thousand grown men trained to kill in HUNDREDS of ways, fully armed and armored, and you are nearly a child with only a bow and arrow and a pair of hunting swords, what did you plan when your plan failed, hum, tell me"

Atalan:"... (softly) ru-..."

Artemis:" now don't shy out now, tell me, did you plan to outrun these men, did you plan to fight these men, did you think they will forgive you, tell me, WHAT. did. you. have. planned"

Atalan was silent with tears running down his eyes as he knew he was in deep trouble.

Artemis:" anything to say, say it now"

Atalan:"... (Cryingfully) I'm... sorry for... everything"

Artemis:" sorry, sorry isn't getting you out of this, for 5 month's, you are on dish duty, laundry duty, cooking duty, you will have more intense training, you will only eat the testicles of the animals we catch raw, and you will also carry the supplies, and I mean ALL, the supplies, for all of us, does that sound fair to you"

Atalan:"... (weakly from still crying) no, it's... very generous... and lenient... considering... what I did"

Artemis:" no, it's very very very VERY generous considering what you did, now wash off your tear's from your face and get to work"

before Atalan did go to wash up, Artemis hugged him and told him she was worried sick when she heard, and that she didn't want him to be careless like that again since next time, it may not end up as well, so after doing 2 hour's of work without help, he was exhausted as he then went to his training, and in part of his training, he had to dodge arrow's shot from Artemis, only this time, the arrow's had arrow tip's on them, that day. he would dodge the arrow's as if his life depended on it, since it about did, and after his training was done, he was going to bed, but Artemis picked him up and laid her near her to sleep as she hugged and petted his head and was calm now from her burning anger to tell Atalan something important.

Artemis:" Atalan, you know I care deeply for all my member's, you included right, so when I heard what you did, I wasn't so mad at the fact you went behind my back, that's about a day or 2 of grounding at most at times, no, I'm mad at the fact you tried to face nearly a few thousand men on your own, you're not like my other member's, you don't have a Dunamis, you're just an ordinary child with Ki at most, listen and listen well, in life, theirs a fine line between bravery and stupidity and that line is what gets people killed in the end, and I don't want you added to that list if I can help it, I would be in tear's otherwise, please don't do this again"

Atalan:" yes goddess... I won't do that again"

Artemis:"... but beside's the fact you disobeyed me and risked your life to such an extent, I'm glad you helped us out and played it smart by using a natural poison to kill almost all the men before killing them easily by their unconscious bodies, a cheap, cowardly, and underhanded move, but one that worked wonders, and the rebels were happy to, they secured some good victories because of what you did"

Atalan was about to smile when he saw Artemis give a "Don't be proud of this" look and he turned his head, but he had it stroked with Artemis tells him good night as he then slept like a log, the next day, he was busy, first, he had to wake up before everyone else to cook breakfast, eating only the deer, bull, and boar testicles raw for his breakfast, then, he had to do all the laundry, then he had to clean the dishes after the laundry, next was studying and training that was much harder as well a the arrow dodging again, as well as new teaching's that were more on the line of torture if anything, then cooking lunch for everyone as he eats the hunts testicles again, and after such, he goes back to training and has to make dinner much later as he then sleeps the near-instant he laid down, after the 5 months of his punishment were over and not a single complaint or quality of his work and cooking, he was let off, he then collapses as his body has been pushed so far for the past 5 month's, and he was overjoyed to be able to eat something other than raw testicals for a change.

Atalan:" (with food in his mouth) I'll never misbehave again"

Britomartis:" good to see you in high spirits again, though I won't say you didn't deserve it"

as they head elsewhere, they find themselves in the Oni kingdom of Hanagura, This kingdom is known as a serious mystery, even to the Oni as some time ago, the Oni King and Queen, who's names are now and forever forgotten, executed everyone in their kingdom, destroying all their kingdoms libraries, literature, scholar's, citizen's, soldier's, even the royal family themselves, though, before all this was started, the infant's of the kingdom were all spared as to continue their bloodline were everyone else died by either a soldier executing them, or by being poisoned by the oni royal family before killing themselves with the largest dose of poison their was, no one knows why they destroyed Oni history, but thank's to the support of the Hobbit and Catfolk kingdom's, they were able to re-establish their kingdom and thrive, with a neutral pact with the Hobbit and Catfolk, who helped them despite their position's in the past and help in raising the next generation of Oni, it was also the only kingdom with a ban on slavery as the Oni were against such, so when they came, Atalan was in town to help Artemis when a few Oni surround them, and an Oni knight asks for Atalan to head to the king and queen's castle to meet them, Artemis though he should go on the condition she come with him, and meeting the king, king Kuma Shuten-dōji and the queen, queen Raiko Shuten-dōji, they seemed pleased to meet him.

Atalan:"... did I do something wrong"

Kuma:" oh heavens no child, we wanted to see the one who helped with the rebellion in the west from here, if our sources are correct, you helped secure a victory for the rebel slaves by taking down that one camp by poisoning every soldier with the volcanic gasses from the lake and dispersing it once the rebels were close, are we correct"

Artemis:" he went against my instructions to do that, and was duly punished, but yes, that his him"

Artemis pulling on Atalan's ear as she was still mad about that.

Raiko:" now now, it was thank's to that the rebel's not only got grounding, supplies, and proper weapons and armor, they also freed almost a million slaves as well as lessen slavery throughout a large portion of some lands, and as a kingdom who support such action's, we couldn't help but meet this kid and give him our thank's for such an act"

Artemis:" what he did was stupid and dangerous beyond anything, he's a child and should not fight in war just yet"

Kuma:" maybe, but the payoff was nice, and the slaves were freed, so I ask you don't give him to hard of a time if you can, but please, make use of anything in our kingdom while you're here, and... Atalan is it"

Atalan:" yes sir"

Kuma:" if you are in need of help in the future, ask and we'll deeply consider helping you"

as they left, they were treated really well, though, they had to move on, they did have a much easier time there than last time, Atalan was already making a name for himself, so eyes were on him, something Artemis was afraid of.