When Artemis heard that Leo was looking for the moon rose she felt many conflicting feelings. On one hand it meant his relationship with Iris would be easier for her to exploit, on the other it reminded her of her embarrassing past. She wanted to bang her head on the wall when she recalled what making those damned things made people think of her. Even though it was several millennium ago she remembered like it was only a few centuries.
A man who was a follower of hers was a bad womanizer. Though he had these tendencies he had a woman who he loved dearly. Even though she loved him as well she knew of his habits and thought he was lying to her in order to make her one of his 'conquests'. The man refused to give up his love, and swore he would prove his words to be true to her.
He traveled far and wide to find something to prove his love, and Artemis wanting to help such an accomplished follower decided to lend him a hand. On the next full moon she took the moon light and soaked it into an entire rose bush. The man realizing that even the goddess he followed was helping him, plucked as many roses he could and carried them back to his beloved.
What he didn't know was that Venus, the goddess of love was also moved by his feelings. She decided to help the man as well and charmed the roses so that when given to a loved one both could only say the truth about their feelings. When he gave the roses to the woman, instead of refusing like she always did, she could only say her true feelings. When she realized what the roses did, she finally decided that the man was telling the truth when he confessed to her. The couple lived happily ever after, and the legend of the moon roses grew and many people would use them as a form of engagement since they could only tell their loved ones the truth when giving them.
When Artemis recalled it she wanted to vomit. But since it helped her this time she managed to hold it down. She continued watching Leo, waiting for the next two months to pass before he would officially become her champion.
***
Leo unaware of not only the goddess looking down on him, but also the trap that had been set, was Looking for the rose. Since Austin said his senses would help him, he was trying to find a fragrance he thought might be roses to lead him. He was fighting exhaustion the whole time though, so he thought his senses weren't working at full capabilities. The feast was the next day though, so he had to keep looking until he could find one. He moved through the tree tops while keeping his eyes on the forest floor, he looked on the peaks of any nearby mountains, and he looked for any sources of water to see if they were growing at the edge.
With the sun going down though, he was starting to become slightly anxious. Eventually Leo figured that with how exhausted he was, and the fact that the feast wasn't until the next night, he decided to find a place in the trees he could sleep for the night. He knew that the longer he waited after the full moon, the lesser the chances he would find one. But he was also exhausted after the full moon the night before so he decided sleep would be more beneficial than rushing so he was fully alert.
After finally getting a few hours of sleep, Leo was back at maximum attention. He continued his search, and tried to recall if he had seen any rose bushes in the months that he'd been there. After a few more hours of searching, he finally found a rose bush. The weren't any moon roses on it, but it did help Leo identify the scent he needed to keep an eye on. As he kept looking however, it also started snowing again. Though Leo wasn't bothered by the cold, the snow limited his sight even with his enhanced capabilities. As he thought he would have to give up, he suddenly caught the same fragrance he found earlier and hoped there would be a moon rose for his efforts.
***
Iris was helping set up for the fall feast. She was helping pull out the tables since they usually put them away to keep the snow off of them. As she looked around she could see various people helping as well. Preparing the fire for the offerings, preparing the food, the children were even helping weave decorations from branches. It Iris was feeling anxious because Leo wasn't there as well. Her feeling started when he didn't comeback the night before, and while they were setting up he still hadn't shown yet.
She even started thinking Leo was purposely staying away due to what happened the first time he transformed. They hadn't done any big events since then, so she wondered if he made up the story about the silverherbs so that he wouldn't risk hurting someone at another feast. Though she wasn't sure if that would make sense seeing as it wasn't the full moon.
She had also wanted to show off the offering she had for Artemis. She was going to offer the horns of a stag lord she had killed before she ever found him. They were the largest horns she ever got from a kill, so they were put up until the fall feast so he hadn't seen them yet. As they quickly set up for the feast, the sun started going down as well and Leo still wasn't back yet. Iris was starting to get really worried, but the feast was about to start so she couldn't go out to look for him anymore.
As they ate some people asked her where Leo was, but she could only say he was out in the forest somewhere. Shortly before it was time for the offerings, she finally caught sight of him moving towards her. He had a big grin on his face as he walked closer, and she smiled as well since he wasn't apparently purposely staying away. As he walked closer neither one noticed Austin pointing them out and people gradually getting quieter.