By Eptalk

ARRrrrgh Crepes! "BuRrrr!" Ep quickly thinks the water is warmer at Iceland~~than tonight. She knew her motivation wasn't swimming but her ever lasting urge to think of reasons to get folks to shed the duds (clothes for those that aren't use to this phenomenon). Eppie has always known she thought a nudist tribe would be exciting but hearing even fig leaves are no longer allowed had her re-think the idea.

Nightsong stood on the bank laughing her arse off and still presenting a lovely shape of patience with the crazy tribe friend.

As luck would have it, a fish just jumped to EpTalk who claimed to have done the fist-a-cuff but that one fish completed the catch. Now if only Nightsong will show the way back to camp, perhaps she could also get Marty off the throne and give him a useful task early in the morning.

Walking back to camp, EpTalk reminded Nightsong of the wonderful feasts that was once shared by the tribe. There would need to be much work to restore the camp, the huts and certainly time given in honor of Queen Gabrielle and her Warrior Princess. Even when they were absent, Eppie missed the ceremonies in their honor (especially the dancing and drums!) and some discussion of X & G from time to time.

Nightsong listened closely and as always was kind and sweet to Eppie and her ranting words. Several times Ep was about to walk in the wrong direction but Nightsong took lead as Eppie followed her friend back toward the Amazon/Amazonie camp.

(Not a bad view to bring up the rear, Eppie thought. Ooh fish ~~~smell she also thought as they walked.)

By Martman

As Nightie and Eppie headed back to camp, Nike and Marty were talking about Marty's soul.

"I need my soul to be complete, Nike. There are so many things that I don't have answers to: why I joined this tribe, why I love the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle so much, and others. All of the answers are kept in my soul, and now I don't have it."

The young amaozonie tried not to make Nike cry, but was unsuccessful, as tears started rolling down her face.

"I'm sorry. I was just having fun. I didn't mean to deprive you of your memories."

Now the amazonie felt guilty. "It's not your fault, Nike. I know you were just having a good time. But I need my soul back."

Nike promised to give the soul back as soon as possible, but right now, was more worried that Marty would be mad at her.

"No Nike. I'm not mad at all. You're still a dear dear friend to me." The amazonie gave Nike a reassuring hug, and promised that he held no grudge. With that reassurance, Nike stopped crying, and began to enjoy herself again.

The two friends decided to sit patiently and wait for Nightie and Eppie to return.

By Ephfan

The four in the village watched Nightsong melt into the woods in search of Eppie. They turned to each other and introductions were made to the newest tribe members.

As Nike and Marty talked about the loss of his soul Ephfan leaned over and whispered into Shsway's ear. "I don't know what this soul business is about but I'll watch your back if you watch mine so no one steal ours." Shsway nodded in agreement and they shook hands to seal the deal.

Ephfan excused herself and headed to her hut. As good as that cold water had felt at the time, wet leathers were a bacchae to deal with when they started drying and shrinking. She changed into a set of casual white leathers and walked back to the doorway. She peeked out and was satisfied that Shsway, Nike, and Marty were deep in conversation. She retrieved the pack she had hidden under her bed. She took it to her desk, pulled out a fresh scroll, and began to chronicle the day's events.

Ephfan hadn't let anyone know that she was a wannabe bard. Even though their lovely queen was a wonderful story teller, Ephfan still wasn't ready to let her fellow villagers in on the secret. It was hard for a warrior to admit she liked something that didn't involve weapons. She finished her story, put everything away, and headed back to her buddies.

She noticed Shsway toying with a staff so she asked her if she would like to do some sparring. She said that sounded great so the two new amazons headed to the practice grounds.
They left Nike to deal with the emotions and mechanics of Marty's soul retrieval.

By Nightsong

Nightsong watched as Eppie and Marty reunited. It looked like all was well again.

Nightsong headed off and watched Ephfan and Shsway practicing with staffs for a time before wandering off to her favorite meditation spot. She tried to clear her mind, but memories would not leave her. She thought of the old tribe, as well as her life before joining it.

What most of the Amazons didn't realize was that Nightsong wasn't born an Amazon. She had come from a place far north of here, from a land of everlasting ice. She guessed by Greek standards, her people were barbarians, but they had been the toughest warriors ever. Nightsong sighed and arose, there would be no meditation tonight. She said a few prayers for her past, and as she had promised her mother, made up a new song on the way back to camp.

By Shsway

To be honest, Shsway was a little nervous about facing Ephfan with a staff. Everybody knew that the weapon was her fellow warrior's specialty skill, and she had never been very good at handling one. She even took a beating from Queen Gabrielle herself once, not long after completing her training with Eponin.

Still, she hoped her apprehension wouldn't show, especially as it seemed Nightsong would stick around for awhile. With a short prayer to Artemis, she headed to the practice field.

As Ephfan stretched her muscles, Shsway twirled the staff a couple of times to get the feel of the wood's weight. Finally, taking a protective stance, she put on her best stoic expression and faced her opponent. Ephfan just grinned in silent understanding. In minutes, the resounding crack of their blows echoed throughout the camp.

Shsway attempted a leg sweep, which her friend easily jumped. It left her open for a few seconds as Ephfan struck out at her ribs, narrowly stopping the blow. Her hands were beginning to sting, her back to sweat. With a stroke of luck, the end of her staff connected with Ephfan's jaw, only to be returned unceremoniously by the other warrior at her thigh. "Uhhhhf" she groaned.

Still, they were both enjoying this release of energy. How long they could keep it up was impossible to tell, but Shsway could feel herself getting numb in her ankles. Thankfully, Nightsong headed for the woods just then, probably to meditate. Her mentor wouldn't see her tiring defeat...

By Ephfan

While Shsway wasn't an expert in staff, Ephfan could see the potential there. The fundamentals were in place and with practice, the soon to be ex-scout would shortly be handling a staff as well as she did her bow. In fact Shsway got a really good shot in at Eph's jaw. A blow Eph may have avoided if Nightsong hadn't shown up wearing that outfit; it was just too distracting. The warrior smiled, waved and headed to the woods for some quiet time. "Glad she's gone" thought Eph, "Shsway's got some power and I don't want to take another hit."

She could see the young woman tiring and remembering the Amazon creed "Never disgrace, always teach" Eph called the session to a halt.

After catching their breaths they headed back to the village with Shsway asking staff technique questions. Since great amazon minds think alike, both were hoping Eppie, Nike, and Marty had done some cooking while they were gone.

Thinking of the other Amazon saying "Never give a youngster a break" Eph got a few steps ahead of Shsway, looked over her shoulder with a grin and yelled "Race ya, last one there cleans the fish!" and took off. Giggling at the curses she heard behind her, Ephfan turned on the speed going full out to the village.

By Nightsong

Nightsong smiled as Ephfan came tearing through the camp. With a mischievous grin, Nightsong stepped into Ephfan's path. The Amazon saw her and tried to dodge, noticed her outfit once again, and stumbled.

Nightsong caught her falling Amazon sister gently and caught her eye and smiled at Ephfan, "You need to watch were you are going, my sister." Shsway raced by, laughing as she went, but Ephfan didn't seem to mind to much. Nightsong smiled warmly at her Amazon sister, "Now what was that remark about my battle leathers?"

By Shsway

Shsway was laughing so hard at her friend's distraction that she almost tripped on her race to the food hut. Her lungs were burning from the days exertion, but she could picture Ephfan gutting fish, so she kept going.

Once inside, she collapsed into an empty seat on one of the longbenches. Everyone was already eating and Eppie was dishing out the portions.

Shsway had barely caught her breath when she gasped: a beautiful, blonde amazon was sitting next to her wearing a paralizingly sexy smile. No doubt amused by her fellow amazon's ragged and sweaty appearance.

Blushing, Shsway said a quick 'hello' before making her way to Eppie for her fish. She would have to thank Nightsong later for playing a part in having gotten a seat next to the gorgeous amazon.

By Ephfan

The race was hers, Ephfan thought as she entered the village. Suddenly

Nightsong was right in front of her. "Easy enough to get around" she said to herself and then she made the mistake of taking her eyes off Nightsong's face and looking at her body. The next thing she knew she was in Nightsong's arms and Shsway blew by them laughing the whole way. When Nightsong made it clear this was payback for her earlier comment, Ephfan thought "If this is the punishment, I'm gonna have to get into trouble more often."

The two warriors headed to the food hut and when they entered saw Shsway breathing heavy and seated next to a beautiful woman. Nightsong looked over and said "So, do you think it was the race or the woman next to her that's got her out of breath?"

"Bet I know which stream she's gonna end up in" muttered Ephfan as they headed over to join the crowd.

Eppie headed over with two plates of food for the warriors.
"Ep, what would we do without you?" asked Ephfan with a warm smile. "Oh, by the way, I'm in charge of cleaning the fish tomorrow, tell me when you need me."
At this, Shsway nearly spewed her drink over her table mates. "Let me tell you friend, you're never gonna get that smell off your hands." In a move that showed she could still be playful, Ephfan launched a carrot across the table at Shsway.

Just as an all-out food fight was set to start, Nike came bursting through the door wild-eyed and blood running from a cut on her upper arm. "They took him, I tried to fight them but there were too many. I can't believe they kidnapped Marty!"

By Nightsong

Nightsong was on her feet in a second, her eyes dark green with her anger. "Who were they and which way did they go?" Nightsong asked in a cold tone.

Nike explained that she and Marty went down to the river, reminiscing about the old days, when they had been ambushed by muraders. The two warriors had fought with all their might, but the enemy managed to knock Nike unconscious. When she awoke, the muraders and Marty were gone.

Eppie quickly took charge to organize the Amazons into search parties to find the muraders. The Amazons quickly ran to the area where Nike and Marty had been attacked.

As the Amazons looked for clues, Nightsong silently fell back. She unsheathed her sword and whispered, "If they have hurt you, my brother, may the Gods help them!" With that, she took to the trees, vengeance shining in her eyes.

By Nike

Nike watched her sister walk to the trees, in what she hoped was an attempt to find their brother. She returned, with no luck finding tracks or clues.

"What exactly did the muraders look like?" asked Ephfan.

"Well, it's all a blur, it was so fast. I do remember all of them having a red symbol on their upper arm, right about where my cut is..."

"...as if they were trying to leave their mark on you." finished Nightsong. Somehow, this all seemed familiar.

"Yeah." said Nike. Her gray eyes met with Nightsong's green, in moment known only as, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Why don't we split up and look for Marty? It's all we can do now, the sun's low. We can set out tomorrow." suggested Shsway.

"Good idea. I'll be right back." Nike ran to the camp to slip into her dark brown hunting leathers, and a pair of gauntlets that had always brought her luck. They were black with a silver metal symbol of a midday sun. The unique symbol was also on her belt. Nobody knew what they meant, and nobody asked, so she wasn't telling.

"OK people, let's go." said Nike as she raced back to the river. Eptalk had found some tracks leading North, and Shsway had found some leading South. Barbarians....they would go separate ways just to piss me off!

Noticing the strange look of complete rage on her new friend's face, Ephfan inched a little further away from Nike.

"OK, me, Ephfan and Eppie will take North. You and Nike take South." Everyone was a bit surprised by the young scout's sudden authority, but all agreed Shsway's plan WAS good, so they went their separate ways and agreed to meet back at the same place by the river a little after nightfall.

By Ephfan

After warnings to be careful the amazons split up. Eppie was shaking from worry and anger. Shsway and Ephfan both assured her that when they caught up to the thugs, and they would, they would pay dearly. Even though the two had just met Marty that day they had quickly been drawn in by his charm. They knew that he had to special to have been awarded such a position in their tribe and they weren't about to stand by and see him hurt.

They spread out in a line being careful to keep one another in sight. Eppie was in the middle since she carried no weapons, Shsway was on her left with the bow her mentor had given her earlier, and Ephfan was on her right. Everyone had been surprised when Eph had strapped her sword on when they left the village. The sword was rarely seen as it had belonged to the lovely healer Ephfan had bonded with, the same one that had died in her arms a few years earlier. When that sword was on her back everyone knew that Eph meant business.

They slowly proceeded so as to not miss any clue that might be vital. Shsway's scouting skills were working overtime and she was pretty sure they had followed the false trail. She was about to voice her thoughts when two rage-filled yells came from the opposite side of the forest. Weapons out and ready, the amazon trio rushed to Nightsong and Nike.

By Martman

The young amazonie woke with a start. He was sprayed with cold water, and slapped in the face by the marauders.

"Wake up!" They barked.

"Uhhhgg.." was all Marty could say as he had been roughed up and knocked unconscious by his attackers.

"Wake up maggot!" The leader repeated. He was tall with a dark complexion, and wore a black outfit with a red tunic over his head to cover his identity. After a kick to the gut, the amazonie was wide awake.

"What do you want with me sleaze?" he barked.

"We want to destroy the amazon tribe once and for all, by kidnapping you, we're gonna draw your amazon sisters into the open and slay them all."

"Like hell you will, scuzbucket!! My sisters are tough ladies, and they wont let me be held hostage without a fight. They're gonna make you pay dearly, so I suggest you let me go and run away as fast as your damn legs can carry you!"

After spitting in the leaders face, the amazonie received some brutal kicks and punches.

"The amazon tribe disbanded of its own accord. It should've stayed that way. But now that they're back together, they pose a threat to our kingdom. We're gonna eliminate you all! HAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Try it. Just try it," the amazonie said. "But you'll never win! Oh and one last thing. If I manage to break free, I'm gonna be sure to kill you all!!!"

"YOU!? KILL US??? ha! Don't make me laugh," barked the leader. you're a little runt and barely worth capturing to begin with!"

Marty looked at them with a sinister smile. "But I don't have a soul. I lost my heart, and my compassion. You all! Even at your despicable worst still have some shred of humanity in you. Without my soul, I have none! So I suggest that you make damn sure that I don't escape!!"

Although the amazonie was quite small in comparison to his captures, the look in his eyes backed up his claim. A shaman of the marauders felt Marty's body and confirmed what was said.

"Impossible! He is without soul! he's not human!!" Panicking, the marauders reinforced the guards surrounding the amazonie, and proceeded to knock him out again to ensure he remain still.

"Lets hope you know what your doing Xanatos," said the leader's second in command.

"Don't worry," Xanatos barked. I have things under control. By this time tomorrow, the Amazon tribe will be DEAD!