Between her appraising gaze and amused looks I couldn't help feeling like the beautiful brunette was sizing me up as if she was some sort of predator. Meanwhile Attis started talking again like he was completely oblivious to the way the other girl was looking at me.

"According to Milon we have you to thank Elpis, for the warning about Timoleon's visit?" he asked her.

The teenage farm-hand finally took her eyes off me and looked back at him again and replied, "I was startled by this little nymph near the animal pens earlier. I had a hunch there might be trouble if our local tyrant discovered her here."

"A hunch? Or a vision?" the priest asked. "Lais tells me you're a disciple of Artemis. Is that true?"

Elpis nodded, "Yes sir. I pledged myself to Lady Artemis the day I arrived."

Attis smiled, "Well then you two will at least have that much in common. This little nymph as you called her has also just pledged herself to the Lady of the Hunt, who appeared to her in a vision not long ago. Apparently the goddess wants you to train her as your apprentice."

The farm girl looked momentarily surprised at that news. Then her expression shifted to a wide smile as she looked at me again, "Then I shall do my best to train her Attis. In the ways of Artemis, as well as all our other duties here."

"Very good," the priest nodded. "Then why don't the two of you get started? Chloe, go with Elpis and do as she says."

I nodded, "Yes sir."

"C'mon cutie," the farm girl gestured for me to follow her. "Let's get back to work."

As I hurried after her I realized one potential problem to becoming someone's apprentice was it meant I probably wouldn't hear much from Melite for a while. Maybe not until night-time, when we had some privacy in that little sleeping alcove.

Unless we could somehow make sure it was safe for my invisible friend to reveal herself to our new mentor. Which I figured might have to happen, since technically Melite was supposed to be getting trained as a disciple as well.

"So tell me little nymph," Elpis asked as the two of us walked downhill towards the farm, "What brings you here to our humble temple? And I do mean humble. Based on the quality of that dress of yours, I think you'll find life here is vastly different from wherever it is you came from."

I was still clutching the bundled-up end of the long dress in one hand, but I self-consciously gripped it a little tighter as I responded. "I had to escape an arranged marriage."

The farm girl scowled briefly at that, before her expression softened again. She whispered what sounded like a quiet prayer, "Thank the goddess you found your way here instead."

"What man was fool enough to think he could have you?" she added with another little glance my way.

"Some Achaemenid general," I replied. My ears folded back as I struggled to remember the name, "Clifford Trees? Christo Bees? Cisco's Knees? Something like that anyways."

Elpis chuckled at my silly attempts to remember the name, and the way her eyes sparkled as she laughed left my heart pounding. Meanwhile the beautiful brunette next to me responded in an amused tone, "I've not heard of any Persians with names like those. I wonder if maybe you're thinking of Kleisthenes?"

"Yeah that sounds like the guy," I replied with a shrug.

"Tartarus take him," the farm girl scowled angrily. Her tone and expression shifted to pure hatred as she spat, "May the entire Achaemenid Empire rot in the deepest depths."

Her sudden mood shift left me a bit on edge so I agreed nervously, "Um, yeah."

"I'm sorry little nymph," Elpis apologized in a soft gentle voice. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Her tone became more playful as she commented, "You know, with a name like Chloe I'd have thought you might have already pledged yourself to the Lady of the Harvest. That is one of her epithets, after all."

I grimaced, "Yeah I've heard. I didn't know it was one of Demeter's nicknames when I picked it though."

"You picked it?" Elpis responded, in a tone that make me think she was only acting surprised. "Not many people get to select their own names. Although perhaps more should? Let people choose their own identity, and their own path in life. That's what I think anyways."

Her teasing tone got me blushing at first, then the rest of her comments left me a little confused. I couldn't help wondering if maybe she was referring to herself, instead of me. Either way I wasn't sure how to respond, so after a brief awkward pause I decided to change the subject slightly.

"So um, talking about names, maybe you could tell me a bit about yours? Does Elpis mean anything special?"

The beautiful brunette stole another glance at me, and flashed me another wry smile. Then she nodded, "You remember the story of Pandora, don't you little one?"

I shrugged, "You mean the myth? Pandora's Box? I think so, yeah."

"It was a jar, not a box," Elpis corrected me. Then she continued, "Due to Pandora's curiosity she opened it, despite being warned not to. Inside were all manner of spirits. Plague, disease, pestilence, death. All rushed out and escaped the instant the jar was opened. Upon realizing what she'd done, Pandora hastily replaced the lid. However all spirits but one had already escaped. And do you recall which was the sole spirit to remain trapped inside the jar?"

Her story left me frowning, "That was hope, right? The last spirit trapped in the box?"

"Correct," she nodded. "And the spirit of hope was named Elpis."

Hearing that I came to a sudden stop, then looked up at her while my head tilted slightly to one side. And with a mix of sadness and worry in my voice I asked, "You're named after a lost or forgotten hope? That's kind of sad, isn't it?"

"It seemed appropriate at the time," Elpis replied with a little shrug.

She started walking again after that, but between her body language and how quiet she'd become I was positive she was eager to let that topic drop. Which seemed like a good opportunity for me to ask the question I'd been wondering about since I first got a proper look at her.

"So um, I hope this isn't offensive or anything," I began awkwardly, "It's just your hair style, and how you're dressed and everything left me curious about something? Is Elpis a boy's name, or a girl's name? And um, are you ok with people calling you a girl? And using she-her pronouns for you?"

My new mentor came to another sudden stop, then turned and gave me a quizzical look. She was quiet for another second or two before commenting, "I've never been asked such a question before."

"I'm sorry," I grimaced. "I really didn't mean to upset you."

Elpis shook her head, "I'm not upset little nymph, don't worry. Just surprised. I'd never even considered such a thing."

I mumbled another apology then added, "It's not that uncommon, where I'm from? Or ok maybe it's a little uncommon, but it's not unheard of. We even have a word for it, being trans? When someone everybody thought was a boy turns out to be happier as a girl. Or vice versa, when someone everyone thought was a girl realizes he's really meant to be a boy."

"Has Methymna changed that much in the last two years?" the farm girl asked as she gave me a slightly incredulous look. "Because I certainly don't remember hearing about anything like that when last I was there."

My eyes widened while my ears folded back and I cringed slightly, "Oh. Um, no you're right. That sort of thing probably isn't so common there. Sorry. Um, maybe we should just forget about it? I probably shouldn't have said anything..."

My voice trailed off when I realized she was staring at me again. After another second or two she finally took her eyes off me and started walking again, so I followed along beside her.

"I am very much a girl," she suddenly stated, answering my earlier question once and for all. "And I would prefer that you refer to me as such. Having said that, I think you'll find that I'm not like other girls you may have known back in Methymna. Or wherever it is you originally come from."

She continued, "For one thing I would much rather chop firewood or tend the livestock, or even participate in hunts, than sit around spinning thread or weaving cloth. And I am much less concerned with things like jewelry and fancy dresses... Although having said that, I do still enjoy such things when they appear on other pretty young women."

That more or less answered all of my questions about how she looked and acted. From the sound of it I figured she was probably a tomboy, although I doubted that term would make much sense to her. The other word that came to mind was 'butch', especially based on the way she was giving me yet another appreciative glance.

"I am a disciple of Artemis after all," she added with a coy smile, "So I like to think I'm as interested in maidens as she is. And when it comes to cute young maidens Chloe, you are very interesting indeed."

As she said those last few words she suddenly reached out and stroked one of my tall fuzzy ears, which caught me completely off-guard.

I let out startled yelp and my cheeks were suddenly on fire again. Not just from the surprise either, or the squeaky noise I'd made. Mostly it was because of the fact that her fingers on my ear felt really good.

With a very smug grin on her face Elpis asked, "Tell me little nymph, how'd you end up with those pretty ears? And I'm guessing you've got a cute little tail hidden under that big fancy dress of yours too?"

"I got cursed," I mumbled, while my ears and shoulders slumped a bit. "Questioned a god's manhood or something. He overheard and got mad, then showed up and turned me into a bunny girl."

The beautiful brunette had a sort of knowing smile on her face as she responded, "Very cute. And it suits you, I think? Being part bunny, I mean."

"Although back on the subject of that fancy dress," she added as the two of us finally came to a halt next to the sheep pen, "I don't imagine it'll last very long with the kind of chores you're going to be doing here. Same with those sandals. I don't suppose you've anything else to wear? Preferably something that actually fits you, so you don't have to worry about stumbling over it?"

I sighed and shook my head, "No. All I have is what I'm wearing right now. I keep forgetting to ask, but I was hoping I could borrow a knife from someone, so I could at least cut the dress shorter?"

Elpis frowned, "There's shears for gathering wool, I think they'd have no trouble butchering your clothing. Except, I know I just said I don't much care for such things but don't you think that would be a terrible waste? Your dress is much too fine and valuable to destroy it like that."

"I guess?" I shrugged. "It's not much good to me though if I have to either hold the end of it all the time, or be constantly tripping over the stupid thing."

The farm girl sighed, "I can't argue with that. Still, if it must be sacrificed then you should leave the thing whole upon one of the altars in the temple. It must be worth at least a stater or two, being so finely made."

"Then what'll I wear?" I asked as I tilted my head to one side again. "The point isn't to ruin the dress, it's to be able to do my job without tripping all day long."

Elpis looked like she was trying not to smirk as she responded with a shrug, "Who says you need to wear anything at all? Nymphs aren't exactly known for their modesty, are they?"

"What?!" I squeaked as my cheeks lit up yet again. "I'm not going around everywhere nude!"

My head was still tilted to the side as another thought struck me and I gave her a worried look. "Wait is that true about nymphs? Are they supposed to go around naked all the time?"

I hadn't forgotten about that mischievous smile Artemis gave us when Melite and I pledged ourselves to her. We'd agreed to be her nymphs as well as her disciples, and now I couldn't help wondering if I'd unknowingly agreed to be some kind of supernatural nudist or something.

Meanwhile Elpis held her smirk for another second or two, before she burst out in laughter. "I've no idea cutie, sorry! It was definitely fun to think about though. I'm quite certain you're as stunning as you are adorable, my little nymph."

I huffed and stomped my foot at her teasing, but my cheeks remained bright red from the compliment. Then I asked, "Is there anything you do know about nymphs? I mean real information, not more of your made-up details."

"Not really," the beautiful brunette shook her head. She leaned back against the simple wooden fence as she said, "I doubt there's been any nymphs around for hundreds of years. Not since the end of the heroic age. Certainly nobody alive today will have ever met one. Not before you showed up anyways."

"Oh," I frowned, while my ears and shoulders slumped again.

Even though I'd only been a bunnygirl for about a day I was already sort of used to it. And I couldn't help feeling a little sad to hear that I was probably the only one of my kind left in the world. Or at least around here.

Elpis obviously saw how my mood dipped. She continued leaning against the outside of the sheep pen as she commented thoughtfully, "Not exactly a nymph, but I have it on good authority that there is a gorgon still alive in the world. She resides far to the south, on an island in the Cyclades."

"I heard the tale third-hand from my father," she continued, "One of his ships returned from a trading voyage with a story of being tormented by a mythical flying beast. She was said to have the body of a pretty girl, but flew with the dark red wings of some great underworld bat."

The story left my ears folded back and my eyes wide. I gulped nervously, "That sounds like a harpy. She didn't try and eat them, did she?"

"Nah," Elpis chuckled. "Harpies have feathers silly, and talons instead of feet. And they're supposed to be ugly. I just said this gorgon was part bat, remember? And supposedly attractive. Anyways she didn't eat anyone, she just flew around and teased them. She messed with their sails and stole one of their oars. According to my father, there was a lot of swearing amongst the sailors, and a lot of giggling from the gorgon. But in the end she returned their oar and left them alone."

"Still, apparently it was enough of a scare that the captain refused to sail anywhere near that island again," she added with another chuckle.

I grimaced slightly at the thought. Before I could comment on her gorgon story though, something in my head suddenly clicked and a bunch of pieces fell into place. My ears perked up as I stared at the beautiful brunette in shock.

"Hold on," I half whispered. "You're about the same age as me, maybe a little younger. Beautiful, with chestnut hair and hazel eyes. You lived in Methymna until about two years ago. And your father was a merchant, wealthy enough to have his own ships?"

My voice dropped to a full whisper as I stared up at her in wonder, "Did you used to be called Daphne?"

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