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!"