Chapter Three
The Warrior Princess turned
around in a three hundred sixty degree motion
scanning the surrounding area for a glimpse of her mortal enemy."Ok,
you've
got me. If she's still here, where is she?"
"There." Namora
pointed at the ground.
Gabrielle looked in the direction of the spot that Namora pointed
towards but
saw nothing. She squatted down in order to take a closer look."There's
nothing
here, Namora. Only some pebbles, a bit of grass, a cockroach.......
Ohhhh no. You
didn't turn Callisto into a......"The bard's voice trailed
off in disgust.
"I'm afraid so. Guess
my magic got messed up again. It just doesn't work right
without my wand."
Xena smiled amusedly and very gently touched the chin of her new
friend with
the tip of her index finger. Namora looked up into eyes of the
Warrior Princess
expecting anger, but instead finding an expression of devilish
mischief.
"You know Namora,
personally, I think Callisto looks pretty darn good as a
cockroach. It fits her despicable personality."
"You mean you're not mad at me?"
"No. Not at all. In fact, I think you just did the world
a pretty big favor."
Horrified, Gabrielle looked at her friend mouth open, eyes flaming.
"You're not going to leave her like this are you?"
"Why not? Being a roach suits her."
"Xena!"
"I'm kidding, Gabrielle. Of course we won't leave her like
this. Don't worry, we'll
figure out a way to get her back to normal. Although gods forbid,
I know we're
gonna live to regret this."
Gabrielle walked over
to Argo and opened the saddle bag. She removed a small
leather pouch and shook it, emptying the contents out onto the
ground.
"Hey! What are you doing? Those were some of my medicine
herbs!"
"Oh now Xena, keep your armor on. We need something to keep
Callisto in until
she, uh, becomes her old self again."
"Yeah, but not my......"
"Xena!"
"Oh gods!"
The Warrior Princess wearily
conceded to her good friend. She knew Gabrielle
was right, but she was a little miffed that this was being done
at her expense. After
all she wasn't responsible for Callisto's plight. Gabrielle then
took a small
cooking knife and poked a few tiny holes into the side of the
pouch.
"Now what are you
doing?"
"She has to be able breathe."
"Aw c'mon Gabrielle, look at what you've done. You've ruined
my good pouch!"
"Now Xena, you can get another one when we get to Argos."
Even though she knew the
roach was really Callisto, Gabrielle just could not
bring herself to pick it up with her bare hands. Just seeing it
crawl around on the
ground gave her goose bumps. Scanning the surface of the ground
quickly, she
found a small piece of bark which had peeled off of one of the
nearby trees. Using
it as a scoop she whisked Callisto the cockroach up and very unceremoniously
dumped her into the pouch. Then, as an afterthought she ground
up a tiny crumb
of dry bread which was left over from the previous night's dinner
and sprinkled
the bread dust into the bag as well. Xena rolled her eyes in mild
disgust.
"Now why did you
do that?"
"Maybe she's hungry."
"Oh yeah, right, don't want her to starve to death now do
we?"
Grinning devilishly, Gabrielle then pulled the strings of the
pouch together
snugly and knotted the ends.
"There, she shouldn't be able to fall out now. Here, tie
the pouch on with your
chakram.
"Gabrielle! I have no wish to have a cockroach tagging along
for a ride on my
person!"
"Well, don't think of it as being a cockroach. Think of her
as being Callisto."
"Great. Like I really would rather carry Callisto around
with me all day. Ugh!
Don't look at me like that, Gabrielle. Gabrielle? Oh....all right,
give it to me then."
Xena tied the pouch onto
the leather strip that held her chakram in place.
"C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we can make Argos by sunset."
"Hurry? Aw gee Xena, do we have to hurry? It's pretty hot
again today."
"Don't be such a weakling, Gabrielle. A little sweat is good
for you. Gets rid of all
the bad stuff in your body."
The Warrior Princess winked
at her companion as she climbed up onto Argo's
back. Then she extended her hand down, grabbing Gabrielle's and
pulled her up
into the saddle behind her. Namora flew up and settled comfortably,
sitting
cross-legged on Xena's shoulder. She grabbed hold of a hank of
the Amazon's
dark hair to help keep herself balanced once the horse began it's
slow trot.
Scowling, Xena turned her head and glared at the little sprite.
"And what's the matter
with your wings, Miss Fairy?"
"Well, I just figured if you could ride, so could I."
"Yeah well, ease up on the hair cause you're tearing it out
at the roots."
The trio began the short
trip to Argos. Riding silently for a while they each
became lost in their own thoughts, Gabrielle thinking about her
next poem, Xena
looking forward to a cold drink in the tavern and Namora dreaming
about her
home. The sun blazed overhead, it's heat causing terrible discomfort
to the three
along the treeless road. Even poor Argo's flanks were slick with
slimy grease.
Finally Xena broke the silence.
"Hey Sprite, ya know
you never told us anything about yourself."
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, I was wondering, since I haven't ever met any fairies
before, where do you
guys come from?"
"*I* come from another land. I don't know about the others."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well you see, I come from someplace, very far away from
here."
"Does this place have a name?"
"Yes, but you couldn't pronounce it."
"No?"
"No."
"Oh. All right. I'll take your word for it. So, how did you
get here?"
"I was traveling on a great ship and went ashore with a few
of my shipmates. It
had been so long since I had seen real trees and flowers and had
been able to eat
fresh fruits and berries that I lost track of time, and when I
went to look for my
friends, they were gone."
"Where do you think they went?"
"I don't know. Back to the ship, I guess."
"Well, couldn't you go back to the ship too?"
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean, not exactly. Had the ship already sailed?"
"Apparently so."
"*Apparently* so? Namora, I don't understand. You're talking
in riddles. Either
it did or it didn't."
"Well, yes, it seems that the ship had already left. That
happened months ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry. And you have been here ever since?"
"Yes, and in all this time I never had anyone to talk to
until I met you and
Gabrielle."
"Why is that?"
"I guess I was too afraid to show myself."
"You? Afraid? Ya could have fooled me!"
"Actually, I'm really kind of shy. But sometimes I lose my
temper a bit, like the
day I met you and Gabrielle. I'm sorry."
"Hey, no need to apologize. I almost squashed you! You had
every right to be a
bit upset. Anyway, even though we got off to a rough start, I
know I can speak for
both of us when I say I'm glad we met you."
Namora smiled happily
but then suddenly fell silent. She began to think about
the friends who were now so far away from her. She missed them
all terribly.
Ever since she had been traveling on the ship, those friends had
become like
family to her.
The heat continued to
rise steadily causing Xena and Namora great discomfort.
Mercifully, Gabrielle had fallen asleep. Her arms were wrapped
tightly around
Xena's waist and her head rested up against her back. Soon, light
snoring could
be heard and both Namora and the Warrior Princess giggled at the
sound of it.
Xena was always amazed at how easily her friend could fall asleep.
In a way she
envied her. Deep sleep would never be her luxury since she always
had to be on
the alert for possible danger. The ride continued in silence.
After a while, the
outskirts of a town could be seen in the distance. Xena looked
up at the sky. They
were right on schedule; the sun had already begun it's nightly
descent. She wiped
the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand.
It would be good
to finally have a cool drink at the tavern.
"Whew! What a scorcher.
Doesn't the heat affect you, Namora?"
"Oh sure it does. It's just hard to see *me* sweat because
I'm so tiny." The fairy's
eyes twinkled with merriment.
"Besides I've been hiding under your hair. It does a real
good job of keeping the
sun off of me. Thanks for the shade!"
"Any time, Sprite. I only wish it did the same for me. My
hair only makes me
hotter. I knew I should have let Gabrielle tie it up again, but
no, I had to protect
my warrior reputation." The Amazon rolled her eyes around
in exasperation.
"Couldn't ride into Argos with a ponytail. Bad for my image!"
"Bad for your vanity, you mean."
"Yep! Oh well, we're almost there. Hey Gabrielle, wake up,
sleepyhead!"
"Uhhh....Ummm....."
The bard shifted her position
slightly and buried her head deeper into Xena's
back. The Warrior Princess began to shake rapidly from side to
side in an
attempt to wake her. Even though Gabrielle was sleeping soundly,
she held on
tightly and wouldn't budge.
"Hey Xena, it looks
like Gabrielle is pretty comfortable there. I don't think you're
gonna be able to wake her up." Namora giggled impishly.
"Well Sprite, why don't *you* give it a try."
Namora fluttered down
and landed on the tip of Gabrielle's nose. She began
poking the eyes of the bard with her tiny hands.
"Mmmmm......"
Although asleep, Gabrielle knew something was annoying her. She
brought her
hand up and swatted the fairy like a gnat, knocking her her down
onto the
ground. Namora saw red! Nobody treated her like a fly! Her explosive
temper
rising rapidly, the tiny ball of fury shot upward. Turning her
little body in
mid-flight she used the momentum of her upward movement to kick
Gabrielle
solidly in her right eye.
"Ugh! What the........"
The bard rubbed the painful orb.
"Welcome back to the real world, Gabrielle."
"Yeah! Welcome back." Namora's voice expressed more
than a bit of sarcasm
and Xena swore she could see smoke coming out of her tiny ears.
"Now Sprite, calm down, Gabrielle didn't mean it, you know."
"Uh huh. Well, I guess you're right. But next time watch
it, lady!"
"Uh...Mmmm....yeah." Gabrielle stretched her arms upward
and yawned,
rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Are we there yet?"
"Open up your eyes sleepyhead, and take a look for yourself!"
Gabrielle did take a look.
Before her was a bustling city, still crowded with people
tending to their business, even in the evening's dusk. Torches
had been lit in the
marketplace so the shopkeepers could continue to sell their wares
and customers
still crowded around the stands making last minute purchases.
With a short tug
on the reins the Warrior Princess directed Argo toward a small
tavern which
stood at the end of a nearby side street. Xena dismounted and
tied Argo's reins to
a hitching post outside of the building.As Namora fluttered in
mid air, Gabrielle
slowly slid down from the saddle, rubbing her backside.
"Ohhh, I knew there
was a reason I hated riding horses. Hey Sprite, wanna go
with me to buy a new pouch for Xena?"
"Yes! That should be fun! I've never been to a market place
before."
"Ok. We'll catch up with ya later, Xena."
Still walking a bit stiffly, she and Namora headed off in the
direction of the shops.
Xena started toward the door of the tavern, intending to indulge
in a cool
beverage. But before she could enter, a body flew out of the door
and slammed
against the hard dirt in front of her with a solid thud. Xena
looked down at the
form at her feet. Her lips slowly turned up into a wry grin of
amusement. She
raised her boot and rested it on the breastplate of the figure
at her feet.
"Uh, hiya Xena!"
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