|
Celosia
"Look out!"
Celosia ducked as her sister's staff went
flying over where Celosia's head had been. Kneeling, she
watched the offending staff twirl out of control until
landing with a thud on the ground. She looked over her
shoulder at Medea.
"Sorry sis," Medea said. "I
was trying this new move and-" Medea was cut off by
a curt wave of Celosia's hand.
"Don't worry about that. Look at this
place," Celosia said. Her gaze returned to the
green fields stretching out before her. Never in her
young life had Celosia seen such beautiful nature.
Groves of trees lined the western border of the fields,
and a hidden stream snaked along the eastern border,
feeding into the small lake to the northeast.
"Eh, it's all right," Medea
said, shrugging. "When are we gonna fight
something?"
Celosia rolled her eyes and turned away
from her sister, back to the other Amazons of the tribe.
"Well, Amazons. What do you think? Could this be
our new home?"
Aurora
"I think we should put it to a vote.
All in favor?" Aurora looked around at the others
in her tribe, and each held her hand far above her head.
"Then it is unanimous." Celosia
stated. "We'll put up a temporary camp for tonight
and then begin building tomorrow."
The various Amazons spread out and
prepared for the night while a small group went to
gather food and fire wood before nightfall. Soon enough,
a bright crescent moon rose over the camp, and a bright
red flame lit the surrounding area.
"In honor of our new homeland, we
will have a celebratory dance." Celosia said as the
others whooped and hollered in joy. The sound of drums
and chanting echoed through the night.
Nearby, a tall thin blonde warrior
squatted behind a bush with his friend watching the
display. The shorter, curly-haired one sat with his
mouth open and his happy eyes wide, only able to mutter
incomprehensible grunts of joy.
Medea
Medea danced joyously around the campfire
laughing and not really watching where she was going.
"Oh yeah! AMAZONS UNITE!" she
yelled at the top of her lungs, daring any nearby
dwellers to challenge their presence.
Celosia smiled and rolled her eyes.
Somehow she didn't think Medea was going to have a
problem getting used to their new home.
The young blonde unsheathed her sword and
started incorporating it into her dance, letting out
battle cries as she went. She was so absorbed that she
didn't even notice when she fell backwards into a bush
on the perimeter of camp...and onto two soft
something-or-others.
Probably mushrooms, she decided.
"Hey-what in the-Herc?"
something beneath her inquired, sounding a little
disoriented.
"Hey, that's no mushroom...that was a
. . ." she stopped short, jumping to her feet.
"Uh oh," the taller mushroom
mumbled. "This can't be good."
Medea pointed her sword at his throat and
screamed at the top of her lungs, "MEN!" Then,
thinking it over, she lowered her sword and added,
"CAN WE KEEP 'EM?!?!?"
Danae
Danae rushed over to see the excitement.
There, flat on their backs at the feet of the feisty
Amazon, were two men! Medea looked at the Queen
with that happy anxious look on her face awaiting the
answer to her question.
"Uh, can you put that thing
away?" the taller man asked.
"What do you think my Queen? Should
we let them up?"
After careful consideration Queen Celosia responded, "Yes let them up, but keep a very close
eye on them."
"Gee thanks your Highness! So come
here often?" The little curly one said. The Amazons
glared at him. "What? What? What did I say?"
The taller of the two smacked the little one in the
shoulder and gave him an obvious 'shut up' look.
Belen
The two intruders had cut the celebration
short. Every Amazon had their weapons drawn. They were
ready to fight. Questions raced through the Amazon’s
minds, they were all anxious to know who these strangers
were and why they were there.
"Queen Celosia what are we to do with
them?" asked Belen.
The Amazons hadn't been in their new home
long enough to build a prison. So, Queen Celosia had the
men tied up in a tent for the time being. Two Amazons were
put on guard.
The celebration went on, but more questions
plagued the Amazon’s minds. They worried there might be
more men in the area and would they also have claims to
the land the Amazons called home?
Alcina
Once the dancing was done Queen Celosia had
decided to send three search parties to search their new
homeland for other intruders. Alcina was in one of the
three parties.
The teams spread out through the woods.
Alcina griped her sword tightly as she walked. She heard
some bushes move in front of her. She wasn't the only one.
The Amazons turned and walked slowly up to a
bunch of tall bushes. Alcina’s heart was pounding. She
gripped her sword and glanced down quickly to double check
her dagger was still in her boot. It was, of course, as
always, there and she put her attention back on the bush
suddenly they peeked over the bush there they saw…
Thalia
As the scout, Thalia had gone off apart from
the search parties to check for more intruders. Morphing
in a falcon for disguise, she coasted around Themiscrya.
Finding no one, she decided to head back.
Hearing voices, she slowed down and landed
on a low branch in one of the trees, morphing back into a
human. Scanning the ground she spotted Alcina and the
search party below her. They were staring at something off
to the right. Thalia looked over and gasped...
Xanthea
Meanwhile, back at the camp . . .
Xanthea paced around the grounds. How
could men find us in our new home? she asked herself.
She sighed, playing with her ponytail. She looked around
and noticed that the others who had remained behind where
as anxious to hear from the scouting parties as she was.
Xanthea walked over to the tent where their prisoners
were being held. She nodded to the guards on duty and
entered the tent. Looking them over, she decided they
weren't all that dangerous looking. Of course, they're
always the ones who are the most dangerous, she told
herself.
"So," Xan said, clearing her
throat. "Who are you and how did you get here?"
The tall blond looked Xanthea over.
"I'm Hercules and this is my friend, Iolaus," he
began.
"Hi," Iolaus sing-songly added.
Xanthea rolled her eyes. "I'm Xanthea,
our tribal healer."
Hercules nodded. "We were just out for
a walk and well, we sort of stumbled on the place."
"Why did Medea find you both in
the bushes?"
"Well, you see . . ." Hercules
nervously looked around the tent.
"We were spying on you," said
Iolaus.
Xanthea shook her head. "Did anyone
else follow you?" she asked, looking directly into
Hercules' eyes.
"Can't say anyone was," Iolaus
replied.
"We're not sure," Hercules said.
"We weren't exactly expecting to come upon an Amazon
tribe, so we weren't worried about it."
Xanthea sighed. "I'll see what our
Queen has to say about this," she announced, leaving
the tent. She then began her search for Celosia.
|
