By Mike Ciani
Xena, Gabrielle, and the Amazons had made it back to the main village after a small trek through the forest. Gabrielle all the while giving glances at the Warrior Princess.
"Ephiny, how many Amazons are missing exactly?", inquired Xena.
"A couple of dozen from our count. Mostly younger girls. But one girl in particular has had it real hard since...", Ephiny trailed off at the memory of what happened a year ago.
A puzzled look crossed Xena's face as Ephiny continued on. "A young girl, Olya, is one of the girls who are missing. But Xena, when you came to the village last year after the death of your son...your attack on us cost one person their life. Olya's mother died because of..."
A painful look came over Xena's face as she said, "By the gods, I didn't even realize...I didn't stop to think about..."
Gabrielle came up to Xena and said, "Then we have to find Olya. I think we should form some search parties and go and look for the missing girls at the crack of dawn tomorrow."
Ephiny said, "All right then, tomorrow we can go out in groups and try to find them. Tracking them is going to be a very difficult task though."
Xena said, "Well, let's get settled in to the village, so we can get going at first light tomorrow."
Meanwhile out in the forest, a man walks, wandering aimlessly, humming a simple tune while the clanking of cheap armor was heard all around.
"Joxer the Mighty.
Roams through the countryside.
Never needs a place to hide,
with Gabby as his sidekick,
fighting with her little stick.
Righting wrongs and singing songs,
Being mighty all day long.
I'm Joxer, Joxer the...yaaaahhhhh!!!"
"Hey, hey, heeeyyy. Of all the stupid places to put a snare trap. Is there anyone around that can get me down? I'm Joxer the Mighty and I'm going to..." he yelled to no one in particular. "I'm going to tell my brother.", Joxer whispered nervously.
Joxer started singing his tune again and was still singing it when he heard some rustling in the brush. "Great, finally someone can get me down out of this stupid tree."
As a woman emerged from the brush, Joxer trailed on, "Short blond hair. Amazon outfit. Hey Gabby, it's me. Come get me out of this trap will ya? yaaayaaayaaaaaaaaahhh. YOU!"
"Well, well, well. Look at the big stupid animal that got caught in the trap. Heheehee.", the woman said.
"Callisto. I...I saw Xena kill you. What are you doing here? And what's the deal with your hair?", Joxer squealed.
"Joxer.", Callisto huffed. "So nice to see you again too. You're coming with me now and, oh yes, I like my hair the way it is now too!"
With that, Callisto took out her dagger and cut the rope of the snare trap, and with a crashing thud, Joxer landed hard on the ground.
"Owww, sheesh. You have the same touch Xena has when it comes to getting me down.", Joxer complained.
"Let's go, before I let my dagger here slip out of my hand and into your chest.", she said with a glare, "Now move!"