By Nike

Nike hung around the courthouse after everyone was dismissed and absent-mindedly started to think aloud. "I wonder if they are from Rome..." she said to no one as she picked up the scroll Craig had been carrying and scanned it. "I'd almost like to go back there someday. My grandparents are probably still alive...maybe. Nah, no one would even know me anymore. The tribe's cooler anyway."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Xena as she walked into the hall, destroying Nike's thoughts.

"Just, um....thinking." Nike said with a smile.

"So, you're a Roman. I thought you looked like one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Nike in playful annoyance. Xena just smirked and asked to see the scroll.

"Murder, arson, rape, robbery....they deserve to die." said Xena with a sneer after she had read the scroll. "Maybe your brother's right. If they're Romans all that can mean is trouble..."

"Hey!"

"...They're even trying to expand in the South. Just like them."

Nike got ready to say something she'd probably regret later on in life when Gabrielle strode in. "What are you two doing here? Didn't I say go on break?" She noticed the tense looks on both of their faces. "I heard everything. Xena, stop giving her a hard time. And Nike, don't take it so personal!"

"Ugh! Who died and made you Queen?" asked Nike.

"Terreis."

"Aw, that was uncalled for, Xena!" Xena smirked as Gabrielle mock glowered at her. "I think this break has been long enough. Nike, could you go gather up the sisters for me, please?"

Nike saluted her Queen and ran outside to find her sisters.

By Kiwixenite

"Kill them, Xena?" Craig asked gently. "Surely you know better than that. After all, were you not guilty of murder, robbery and arson in your own right? I'm not saying that I should take you into custody, as you have clearly changed your ways, and are now trying to atone for your wrongs, but these men must be given the same chance as you had. If I take them back to our prisons, we will try to change them. If it cannot be done, so be it, they will die of old age in prison, but at least give them a chance, the same chance that you had not so long ago."

At the end of his impassioned plea, Gabrielle held his scroll out. "But in here it says that they are guilty of many atrocities against your people. How can a man be so forgiving?"

"I believe that everyone should be given a chance, your majesty. If we cannot help them, then we will ensure that they do not cause more suffering, but we will try first," Craig stated.

"Had someone, Hercules for example, caught Xena, she may well have been put to death, and your life would have been quite different. Now, she stands as your champion, and you are Queen of this tribe. Would you still be queen had Xena been executed?"

Xena thought about this for a while, while Gabrielle smiled at Craig. "You are obviously a worthy judge of your people, Craig. It also says in your scroll that you are given full privilege to sign treaties on your country's behalf. Would you be interested in a treaty of friendship between our tribe and yours?"

"I believe that my Queen would find that acceptable," Craig said, smiling. "Now, however, I believe that it is dinner time, as the meal I have prepared should ready."

Upon hearing that, Queen Gabrielle grinned from ear to ear, obviously delighted by this announcement. "Let's eat!" she exclaimed, as the trio left for dinner. "We can finish the trial later."

By Pixie

Yawn, left to watch the camp again.  Boring. Pixie finished the last few stitches on the black silk shirt she was making for her adored. Shaking it out she inspected it for flaws. 
Not a bad trade for a bunch of rodent skins. She still didn't understand the oriental traders fascination with the white weasels that were so abundant back home. 
But oh well, she liked the shirt even if Littlearsonist would probably think it to fancy. Now she was really bored. Mending done, firewood gathered, everything ready for the night.

Strawberries. She had seen some just yesterday, down by that lovely little lake. A bath sounded good to. Quickly rummaging through her pack she found a piece of parchment and wrote her lover a note. She didn't worry about leaving it there, who else in this area could read gaelic. She gathered a few things together, and headed off toward the lake.

Sure enough the strawberries were where she remembered them. She used some vines to make a small basket, quickly filled it with enough for their dinner.

The water was cold but not unpleasantly so. She drifted lazily toward the center of the lake letting her long red hair fan out into the crystal water. She was far enough from shore that any intruder would be noticed well before they reached her. The druids had always said that she was half otter both for her ease in water and her mischief out.

Pixie wondered if her love had caught up to the friend she had come seeking. Worry crossed her thoughts as she remembered the raiders and the carnage they had caused. Still if there were any raiders left uncaptured they would be long gone by now.

Back on shore she watched a young amazon come down to the lake. The young woman seemed lost in thought.  So Pixie just stayed still as a rabbit in the thicket and waited. She would leave soon enough and Pixie didn't want to surprise her.

Spooked amazons just weren't any fun.

By Littlearsonist

Silently Littlearsonist berated herself for not noticing the amazon before she was able to surprise her. She could just hear the teasing comments of her old teacher...not to mention all of those that had the misfortune of first hand knowledge of her wandering thoughts.

LA made sure to keep her hands to her side to show that she had peaceful intentions.

"Are you trying to scare me to death or is that the new way of greeting visitors?" She asked the amazon.
Looking at her fully for the first time, smirking she commented. "Take my word for it with that outfit you don't have to jump out of a tree to stop anyone." She wondered to herself briefly, "Just how does she keep from busting out of t..." She blushed at her own thought.

"Distract and conquer, is that what they are teaching warriors now, or is that just a Viking thing?" LA taunted.

She knew she was pushing her luck, but she had to do something to cover the fact that some one had gotten the drop on her. If she just hadn't been so distracted by the thoughts of her lover and the chance of getting her to that beautiful lake they had passed and... She shook her head noticing that the amazon was speaking to her again.

Remembering the first question. "I am Littlearsonist. I once was friend to, and fought beside, the amazons. Now I am bond mate, and unfortunately guardian, to a Druid healer. My love wanted to see the lands I had traveled as a youth. I thought that the Amazon Nation would be a good place to start, and for her to learn from your healers. But now..." She let her sentence end before she returned to taking shots at the amazon.

"By the way, is the one creeping up on us one of yours?" La asked readying her throwing knives.

By Nightsong

Nightsong was a bit surprised that the Celt had recognized her race. "The Celt catches on fast." Thought Nightsong.
Nightsong smiled inwardly as the Celt used sarcasm and humor to cover her surprise. She could feel Ephfan creeping up on them from behind and was amazed that Littlearsonist had noticed her sister.

"Lower your guard, friend, it is only my amazon sister Ephfan."

Ephfan blushed at being discovered by the Celt and took up her place beside her Amazon sister.

"Ephfan, meet Littlearsonist. She claims to have been part of the Nation at one time. She means no ill will."

Ephfan greeted the visitor and returned to Nightsong's side.

"I cannot speak for my Queen, and we are quite busy with tribe matters, but if you wish, you and your mate can come with us to the village. That is, if the person who has followed my dear sister here is your mate?"

By Eptalk

Eppie rejoined at the tribe just in time to join them all in the wonderful feast Craig prepared and festivities. She noticed Nightsong was absent but knew the Amazon was probably tracking, hunting or involved in some activity requiring her skills.

Martman didn't seem to have much to say in lieu of Eppie's question concerning the possibility he had developed/grown a new soul and needed to nurture it with his open and kind heart.

Last known, Nike had located several souls which she collected and in somewhat of a confused order, it might not be safe to accept any soul from her. Possibly a soul search of trial and error till Martman can say, "Ooooh, this one feels just right."

With the tribe all awaiting more word from Queen Gabrielle and Eppie having seen the great Warrior Princess doing well and looking beautifully kick-ass gorgeous as ever, she decided to take leave before dark. Difficult decisions and emotions would probably follow the Queen's final order on the marauders and the tribe were more than capable of working this all out.

Eppie wished everyone good health and left again to walk by guide of her compass to the south. She had planned some fishing along the way and perhaps to finish some scrolls she had been writing the week before.

By Pixie

Pixie watched the amazon sitting beside the water, "When is she going to leave ?" she thought to her self.
Then from were she was crouched she saw a second larger patch of berries. "What luck they will make a perfect greeting gift for the amazons."

Movement caught her eye, the amazon was leaving. Good there was plenty of time to pick the berries and get back to her camp before LA returned to take her to the amazon village.

Seeing a stain on the loose pants she had on she fussed for a moment, then thought about it for a few minutes. 
The loose under tunic she wore came down to mid thigh decent enough to wear until she got back to camp. After washing them quickly, she hung them on a branch and began picking strawberries.

A scent surprised her.. animal.. wet animal.. stinky wet animal. Nope, that wasn't right.
Silently she crept to a better vantage point. Oh NO! They looked more animal than human, but she knew they were far more dangerous. Raiders, whipped once and out for revenge.

Suddenly she noticed that her pants weren't hanging on the branch any more. 
Two raiders were looking at the tracks left by the amazon, and her senses told her that at least one more was far to close to her.

She needed to find Littlearsonist and warn the amazon whose trail they had started to follow.

Time to make a hasty exit.

By Littlearsonist

Again Littlearsonist found herself lacking in awareness. 'Isn't there a saying about assuming', she thought to herself. Silently cursing, she slowly shook her head to answer Nightsong.

"I can't tell you who followed your sister, I had just assumed that it was another of your amazons. The one in the tree is my mate." LA said quietly as she gestured to the branch over head.

The redheads hands began moving rapidly speaking silently to LA. Nightsong noticed the flush of anger cross LA's face.

She turned to Nightsong, drawing her sword to ready. "Get ready we've got company coming. Three raiders, at least."
She looked back up to Pixie and muttered to herself, "and just where are the rest of her clothes?"

Leaving that to the mysteries that had become part of her life, she took a fighting stance as the noises grew closer.

By Nightsong

Nightsong faded into the trees quickly and silently. She appeared beside the redhead that Littlearsonist had called her mate.

"Hello healer." Nightsong spoke quietly in her ear, making her jump a bit, for she hadn't noticed Nightsong's arrival.

"You should be more careful when you address your love, some of us here know Gaelic and your brand of handspeech. Now healer, if you do not wish to be in this fight, stay here, but what fun is that?"

With that, Nightsong disappeared into the trees once again, hunting for her prey.

By Pixie

Pixie startled at the strangers appearance. How did she keep from busting out of that....

What was the amazon saying? Pixie smiled as she realized the warrior spoke to her in gaelic. Not the best accent but still understandable. Then as quick as she had come she was gone.

Pixie looked down sizing up the situation, LA stood ready to fight, the younger amazon looked torn between following her friend and staying to watch what the celt was planing to do. Pixie knew what LA was going to do, and she didn't like the thick underbrush that surrounded the small clearing. But what to do?

The ideal hit her like a flash of lightning, LA wasn't going to like it one bit. Oh well that was normal. Besides making up was always fun.

Agile as a squirrel she scurried from tree to tree, moving away from the clearing. She hoped that the warrior knew more than few words of gaelic. If not...

Taking a deep breath she deliberately jumped to a branch that was to rotten to hold her weight. CRACK!! The branch sounded like thunder in the still forest.

Letting herself fall with it she screamed in gaelic, "Lake!".

The effect was exactly what she had hoped for, the raiders came running. She half lay on the ground as if stunned, until the first raider caught sight of her.

Looking up with wide gray eyes she screamed again, jumped up and began running toward the lake. She stayed just out of reach. Between her and the oafs chasing after her, they were leaving a trail a blind man could follow. Not to mention the noise was enough to warn anyone within earshot.

Reaching the lake at last she dove in.....

By Ephfan

Ephfan sized up the situation with Nightsong and her new friend on the ground, the appearance of the swimmer in the trees, and the fact that they now had to deal with a bunch of men smelling like Zeus knows what.

Nightsong took to the trees and Ephfan turned to the woman who a second before had been a stranger and was now an ally. "Amazon rule my friend, two are always better than one."

With a smile and a nod she went back-to-back with Ephfan and prepared to face the new threat. Ephfan thought about grabbing a nearby tree branch since she had left her staff in the village. But then, since she had STILL not had anything to eat, decided she was cranky enough for hand-to-hand combat.

Suddenly there was a crash, a scream, and a splash. Male voices were heard heading to the lake.

Littlearsonist gave a yell in a foreign language and Ephfan didn't have to speak it to know it was a curse that would turn Ares' ears red.

As they took off in the direction of the lake she thought "Only one thing puts a look like that on the face of a warrior - her woman."
"By the gods" Ephfan thought "I think I must attract trouble the way honey draws bears!"

They came upon the men at the lake and as she prepared to pound some thugs thought "Oh well, I suppose it keeps things interesting around here."

By Littlearsonist

Confused, Littlearsonist turned in time to see her love fall to the ground.

'Lake??? In all the times I've fallen, "lake" would've been the last word I'd use' she thought.

Something was up, Pixie was a lot of things but the damsel in distress was NOT one of them. So why was she just laying there and what was all that screaming about? All too late Pixie's plan occurred to LA.

"If they don't kill her I will", she growled as she started after them. Leaving the young amazon to wonder about what was going on.

Hearing the splash she stopped at the edge of the woods to survey the situation. Standing at the waters edge two warriors were, it appeared, trying to think of a way to get at Pixie.

LA grinned thinking to herself, "Danu help them if they go into the water after her." LA's thoughts were interrupted by movement at the edge of the woods.

A third warrior appeared holding a bow. As he notched an arrow he told his partners, "I'll take care of the amazon bitch."

LA, knowing she was too far away to stop him in time, stepped out of the woods and yelled a challenge to the raiders hoping to call attention to herself....

By Pixie

Pixie watched the two oafs pussyfoot at the waters edge. "Didn't think they would get into the water." Pixie thought, "They probably don't even understand the concept of bathing much less swimming."

She saw the third man appear and raise a bow. "Oh no this isn't good" she thought to herself. " I have to time this right or LA won't have a chance to kill me." Pixie dove beneath the surface.
The arrow sliced into the water were Pixie had been a second before. Her red hair floated up first followed by her still form face down in the water.

On shore, Littlearsonist gave a yell of pure rage and rushed the startled men...

By Martman

The young amazonie was, meanwhile taking a break from the trial. He thought about Eppie's words - about growing a new soul - and realized its impossible. Everyone has a soul all their own, which cant be duplicated. How could he duplicate his? He knew that his soul was out there, but that he just didn't know where.

Nike probably had it. But as much as he wanted his soul back, he refused to do anything to hurt her to that effect. "She is my sister, after all." he said as he lay in his hut.

Feeling lonely, he decided to catch up with EpTalk to go fishing

By Nightsong

Nightsong smiled in the shadows behind the archer. Now that these fools thought the healer was dead, she would be safe. With the swiftest of movements, the archer fell, his neck broken.

Again Nightsong melted into the trees, something was amiss. While she knew that the Druids could make themselves feel to a trained hunter like a simple woodland creature, their true intentions remained, and while the only human presence she could feel were those at the lakes edge, there was a feeling of malice and rage in the air.

Nightsong closed her eyes and took in all of her surrounding, as she had been taught. Only by giving herself completely to the feelings could she detect the person who was hiding in the woods.

Leaving her amazon sister and their new ally to handle the two remaining men. Nightsong went in search for the hidden enemy, thinking that he or she had come for their new friends.