Virtual Survivor: A Game
began 6/11/01 and ended 7/29/01

Here are the rules for virtual survivor:

All Virtual Survivor posts will have "VS" in the subject line.

1. Everyone must post an installment to the ongoing story of life on the
island at least once a week to stay on the island. Youmay post as many
times as you like but If you don't make at least one story post a week,
you're outta there. These don't have to be elaborate or long, just tell
something about what your net persona did this week on the island.
(exceptions made for extenuating circumstances, see a game moderator with
your circumstances and we'll be as fair as we can.)

2. We're not voting each other off the island, (that pits one survivor
against another creating disharmony instead of teamwork and we're not
going there <G>) The game moderators will select a secret word each week
and everyone who uses that word in their virtual story post for that
week, is off the island and out of the game. We will not pick obvious
things like "Iolaus or Iolausian or Hercules". Tribal Counsel (to reveal
what the secret word was and who said it) will be held on Sunday
afternoons. Posts made on Sunday (midnight sat to midnight sun CST) will 
have immunity from the secret word. Which means that any posts made on
Sundays do not count toward your weekly post.

3. Moderators will occasionally post descriptions of current events to
keep life on the island from getting boring. These will be our version of
reward challenges and may involve the survivors getting food or rewards
for overcoming an obstical. You may not write your way off the island.
The moderators reserve the right to redirect the story as necessary to
keep the events on track. Your story lines will have to reflect events
the moderators introduce into the story. This will be sort of like a
Dungeons and Dragons game. The moderators will respond to events in the
continuing story to guide the story along. 

4. Each week an immunity challenge will be issued. Winners of the
immunity challenge can not be taken from the island for the next week for
using the secret word. However, players will be taken from the island for
not posting. Participating in the challenge is mandatory. Immunity
challenges will be things like, "write a description of Iolaus, the
description with the most adjectives wins immunity." It will be something
that everyone can do. Talent will not be judged. If  you wish to share
your challenge response only with the moderators, you may send it
privately to one of the moderators who have taken an oath to keep their
hysterical laughter at your attempt in the strictest confidence. Immunity
challenge answers will be exempt from the secret word and they will be
something that anyone can write, they will not be an intimidating task
for the new or non writers wishing to play along. They will be short and
should not take up huge amounts of your time. Immunity challenges will be
issued on Sunday during the Tribal Council and responses are due by
midnight the following Friday CST. You may post your challenge response
anytime during the week either to the entire list or to the moderators
privately. the moderators reserve the right to select more than one
immunity winner or  none at all. 

5. Of course, Iolaus and Hercules and some of the gang will be marooned
on the island with you and may be used in the virtual story. However, the
moderators retain the right to use those characters in the story setups
and those characters may be removed from the island at the whim of the
moderators. These characters may not be used to help you escape the
island. You may not introduce new characters to the island. You will be
told who is with you.

6. Game is over when there is one (or a few) survivor(s) left to be
determined by the moderators.

Your game moderators will be 
Ceryndip 
Bwell 

If you decide later on that you want to play along in the middle of the
game. You may write yourself in by shipwrecking yourself or having one of
the gods "pop" you there that's fine, you're welcome to come play in the
story part of the game but you may not bring anything with you and you
will not be eligible for the grand prize even if you participate in the
challenges and the story itself. 

Good Luck!

The Game Goddesses
Ceryndip and Bwell
------------------------------------
....and so it begins

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip,
It started from this Grecian port aboard this sailing ship

The mate was a mighty demigod, the captain brave and sure
many listsibs set sail that day on a three hour tour, a three hour tour

The weather started getting rough, the sailing ship was tossed
If not for the courage of the fearless crew the Argo would be lost, the
Argo would be lost

The ship's aground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
the drenched and stranded castaways survived their first trial, survived
their first trial

Lush vegetation and palm trees grew all around
Bananas, coconuts and figs, Falafel figured could be found, could easily
be found

Wreckage from the ship continued to wash ashore
Along with a few supplies and tools and more, supplies and tools and more

Each survivor found two personal items and a blanket or a tarp
Iolaus has  his fishing gear, we'll hope he can catch more than carp,
catch more than carp

After gathering all the things they could, Jason led them all inland,
Hercules, Iolaus and Autolycus were happy to lend a helping hand, to lend
a helping hand.

the survivors will have to make the best of things, they are sure to be
here awhile
Many stranded castaways here on a deserted isle.

Survivors, your first priorities are shelter and food, take stock of your
supplies and begin exploring the island. Remember a campsite on high
ground with some natural protection is preferred. Once the storm ended,
it became a beautiful, sunny, warm tropical day. You must first survive
Falafel's cooking......

A map of the island can be found at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoldApple/ 
it's under the files section or email Ceryndip or Bwell and they can
email it to you.

Characters on the island
Iolaus
Hercules
Jason
Autolycus
Falafel
Owlharp, Arianna, Pythia, Kat, Allie, Caro, Bev, MaryE, Athena, Skylark,
Quietwolf, Llyra, Drakkar, Elaine, Kleandra, Margui, CJ, (Ahary and Sovka
playing as one), Ziggy

Things scavenged from ship:
10 ft. pole
50 ft rope
bag of marbles
canvas from the sails
1 barrel of dry, uncooked rice
Jason: Sword
Iolaus: sword, fishing line and hook, bow with a few arrows
Falafel: cooking pot
Autolycus: lockpick with extension, rope with grappling hook
Hercules: himself
Each survivor may choose two personal items

The Game Goddesses
-----------------------------------------------------------
Margui was one of the first to swim to shore.  She walked onto the sandy
beach with the help of Autolycus and Iolaus.  Each supporting her by an
arm and sputtering and spitting the salty sea from their mouth as the
three collapsed on the crystalline sand.

"So much for smooth sailing ahead.  Where did Jason get his sailing
licence anyway?  Charon's (I'll meet you in Tartarus) Academy."

Autolycus coughed up more water.  Margui hit him on the back. "Well, I'm
going to demand a refund."

"Ah come one Autolcyus. It wasn't Jason's fault.  That storm caught us by
surprise.  At least you're alive.  We need to go back and help the
others."

"Yeah, yeah sure."  he intoned.

"Margui, are you going to be all right?"  Iolaus said as he looked at the
water soaked waif.   She nodded her head in affirmation.

"Come on Autolycus."

Margui watched them go back into the sea to rescue others that were
shipwrecked on the island with her.  Cargo from the ship had already
lapped onto the shore and Margui began rifling through it trying to find
her things.  "Ah darn!" she exclaimed, "what happened to my harmonica!" 
All she could find was her umbrella and cat o nine tails whip.

"Dang I'm hungry,"  she said to herself, "and the only cook we have on
the island is Falafel...er I mean Falawful"  she looked around the sand. 
"Oohh, dried seaweed."  Margui grabbed some of the salty sun dried snack
and began chopping on it, thankful she developed a taste for the delicacy
when she had traveled to the east.

"I guess it's too much to hope for a Holidaius Inn on the other side of
this island..." she mused, knowing that she was much more at home at an
in than on a camping trip.

To Be Continued.....I hope <G>

Margui
---------------------------------
"Hey!  What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?" Autolycus demanded.  "I'm getting some 
firewood."  The king of thieves raised the stick high and prepared to 
break it in half over his knee.

"Not with my snake hook you're not," Quiet Wolf told him, yanking the 
object from his hands.

"Your what?"

"My snake hook," she explained.  "For manipulating snakes."  

"Whatever," Autolycus muttered with a roll of the eyes.

"It has many uses," Quiet Wolf protested.  "It doubles as my walking 
stick and...  Oh, never mind.  Just don't  come crying to me when 
some big, venomous serpent comes cuddling up to the fire with you 
tonight."  

She turned and surveyed her fellow castaways, busy trying to salvage 
what supplies they could as the waves carried the Argo's remains to 
shore.  Everyone was wet, tired, less than thrilled to be stranded, 
but at least no one had been hurt.

"Quiet Wolf, is this yours?"

"Yes.  Thanks, Iolaus," she replied, taking the small cloth bag with 
the image of a howling wolf from him.  "I was actually just wishing I 
had this."

"What is it?"

"Something that Jester Iolaus made."  Quiet Wolf pulled a small 
object from the bag.  It was a cylindrical piece of carved wood, 
fitted with glass at both ends.  "See, you look through it and it 
makes things that are far away seem close up."

"Cool," the hunter enthused, trying it out.  "I can look right up 
Herc's nose."

"Yeah, well give it back to me and I'll go do some scouting and see 
if I can't find us a good place to set up camp."

"You can't go alone," Iolaus protested.

"We're on a deserted island," Quiet Wolf reminded him.  "What could 
happen?"

"I'm coming with you," he insisted.

"All right," she agreed.  "We might as well get a couple more people 
and make it a regular party."

So who's coming with us on the scouting party?

Quiet Wolf
---------------------------------
'Well,' I thought, relieved after counting noses, 'looks like everyone
made it to shore...Jason worked miracles holding that ship together and
getting us past the reefs, so that we wouldn't all be mushed against the
rocks.'   From where I was standing on the beach, helping several others
scavenge what we could from the flotsom washing in with the tide, I
could see we looked a bedraggled, soppy wet, sorry lot...but, that would
change once the sun dried us out.  No one had more than minor cuts and
bruises...and that was all to the good.  Falafel had rescued some of his
stuff (which, frankly, I'm not sure is a good thing...having survived
the wreck of the Argo, we're likely to die of something mundane like his
clam soup!  Sigh.)

Suddenly, my eye was caught by something I recognised...the linen I had
just bought...a whole bolt of it, to make up new shifts for everyone at
home!  And, bobbing right next to it, was the wineskin of good Nemean
wine I had bought for my brother...well, at least I could salvage
something of my own, along with the rope, cauldron and grappling hook
and other treasures we had garnered from the sea.

Turning, I saw Quiet Wolf and Iolaus waving folks over.

"We're going to do a bit of scouting," Quiet Wolf invited, "Anyone want
to come along?"

Looking around the beach, I thought, let's see...Choices. Choices.  Stay
here and help Falafal prepare something for our meal...or get out and
see more of the world...scavenge for root vegetables, gather fruit,
listen to Falafal...or have a bit of an adventure, get our
bearings...with Iolaus.  Decisions.  Decisions.  What's a girl to do???
Not cooking, that's for sure!

"Hey, Quiet Wolf, I'd like to come along!"  I volunteered...hey,
exploring can be dirty work, but someone's got to do it!

Arianna
-----------------------------

"Iolaus..get the others to safety..I.."

"Hercules look..it's Skylark..I don't think she can swim.."

"Alright..I'll go get Skylark..meet you with the others on the 
beach.."

"Skylark..hold on..don't sink..that's it..now swim towards me..don't 
be afraid.."

"I can't swim.."

Hercules sees the panic stricken look in Skylark's eyes. "Trust 
me..you can do this..believe in yourself..just doggy paddle..that's 
it..you can do this.."

Skylark doggy paddles towards Hercules. He holds her in his strong 
arms as he swims Skylark to shore.

"Oh Hercules..I am so scared..I've never swum in deep water before..I 
don't know the first thing about camping.."

"Don't worry SKylark..you stick by Iolaus and I and you'll be 
safe..we'll take care of you..I promise.."

SKylark and Hercules swim to the beach. Hercules lays Skylark down on 
the beach. "Can you walk?"

"Yes, I'm just fine." Skylark wipes the sea water out of her eyes.

"Come on...let's see if we can salvage anything from the ship.." 
Hercules and Skylark watch as the floating debris from the shipwreck 
float to shore.

"..Ah..my medical pouch..I'm glad that's safe..I'm always getting 
sick..so I always bring herbs and medicines with me wherever I go.." 
Skylark explains as she grabs the floating medical pouch from the 
water and wipes the salty ocean water off the pouch...and my 
glasses..I guess I can use these glasses to light fire..."

"We can use your glasses or we can use my gauntlets..either 
way..we'll have fire.." Hercules covers his eyes from the sun as he 
spots Iolaus in the distance gathering the others together.

"It seems Iolaus is gathering a scouting party..I can see 
Quietwolf..and many others..let's go join the scouting party"

"Scouting party?" Skylark asks, her eyebrows arched in bewilderment.

"You don't know what a scouting party is?" Hercules asks in 
disbelief..his eyebrows arched even further than Skylark's.

"No..I guess I have a lot to learn about island survival huh?" 
Skylark exclaims as she follows Hercules to join the others in the 
scouting party.

"Oh yeah..Skylark..you have ALOT to learn.." Hercules gives Iolaus a 
firm warrior handshake as the scouting party continues on its way.

Skylark
--------------------------
She'd been below decks when it happened.  Nervous about her first trip out
to sea, Drakkar had busied herself with rearranging the supply crates and
doing her best to stay out of the way.

She'd spent at least an hour in the stern hold alone, shoving crates back
and forth, sweeping and organizing.  Not that anything would stay where she
put it anyway, with that band of marauding men above.  Far easier to teach a
goat to yodel than to keep the hold tidy once one of the guys decided they
needed something.  It made her feel she was contributing, however, and
helped to ease her jitters.

She'd just finished stacking some of the smaller crates when she'd heard a
loud cracking sound, and had thought perhaps on the rear stacks had toppled;
upon inspection, however, she'd been greeted with a massive rush of
seawater.  One moment she was toiling within the bowels of the ship, the
next, struggling against the sucking pull of sinking debris.  Somehow, she'd
managed to break the surface, and was at a total loss as to how she'd made
it shore.

Exhausted from the swim, she lay sprawled on the wet sand, mentally taking
inventory of herself.  Although sore and somewhat stiff, nothing burned with
the sharp, biting pain that would indicate a break...

*...or an amputation...* she thought with a shudder.

She pushed against the ground and rolled onto her back, spitting sand and
trying to gain her bearings.  She might not know where she *was*, but she
sure as Tartarus knew where she *wasn't*...she wasn't on the ship anymore.

As she lay there, she listened to the sounds around her, still trying to
comprehend what had happened.  She could hear the sound of the waves
breaking on the sand, birds squawking in the distance, the incessant buzzing
of that damnable fly that insisted on seating itself square in the middle of
her forehead...what she didn't hear were the sounds of any other survivors.
Despite her stiffening muscles, this realization sent her scurrying to her
knees in near-panic.

*By the Gods,* she thought, *don't let me be here all alone!*

She staggered to her feet, and scoped out the landscape, searching for the
others in her party, only to see nothing more than trees, sand, and water.
For a moment, she allowed desperation and panic to get the better of her,
and she dropped once more to her knees, shaking and sobbing.

It only took a moment or two for her rational mind to regain control,
however, and she silently berated herself for the breakdown.  If she'd
survived, then it's possible that others had as well, and she'd have no way
of knowing if she didn't get up off her sorry behind and at least look. At
any rate, there certainly wasn't any benefit to be had by staying *here* and
feeling sorry for herself.

She hauled herself to her feet once more, and started walking down the
beach, her legs feeling as if they'd been encased in lead.  Until she'd
walked this whole damn island, she wouldn't allow herself to believe she was
the only one who'd survived.  And she wouldn't give up hope that she'd get
home again, where she knew her little boys were waiting for her.

~Drakkar
------------------------------
Pythia's journal: Day one.

Note to self.  The galley is not a good place to be when a ship runs 
aground.  Falafel and I were trapped when the door jammed and were nearly 
cooked when the oil leaking from broken amphoras ran into the embers of 
the fire.  Fortunately, someone had had the foresight to leave a workman's 
hatchet by the wood pile (presumably to make chopping the wood easier) and 
we were able to hack our way to safety.  Water poured in as we scrambled 
out, which extinguished the oil blaze; Falafel grabbed the nearest cooking 
pot and I snatched up the kitchen shears (they were the closest tool to 
hand).  Some grain of common sense must have lingered under my panic; I 
hung onto the hatchet, which I suspect will come in useful now we're 
stranded.

Once we'd made it to the deck we were able to tip a couple of barrels into 
the sea and jump after them.  I'm a hopeless swimmer, but I made it to 
shore clinging to my barrel and Jason pulled me out of the surf.  He'd 
been last off the ship, of course, like any good captain should.

We made a sorry looking lot as we straggled up the beach.  Everybody was 
soaked, and in various states of shock.  Quietwolf and Iolaus immediately 
organised a scouting party, which Hercules and a few others joined.  
Autolycus started collecting firewood and Jason started checking through 
the flotsam for anything useful that might have come ashore.  I left 
Falafel scouring his salt stained pan with a handful of sand and went to 
help our Captain.  He'd found one of the broken masts, still complete with 
sail, so we untangled it and Margui I spread the canvas out on the sand to 
dry while Jason coiled up the rope.  There must have been fifty feet or 
more of it; enough to make a good sized net, or tie up a dozen or so 
warlords.  Hopefully there aren't any of *them* on this island ...

Pythia
-----------------------------------------------
   Owlharp was just grateful that nobody had drowned. Where had that
storm come from, anyway? Who pissed off Poseidon? 
   She shrugged at her own question and hauled herself to her feet. She
was glad to see that everyone seemed to be in good spirits, already
making plans to deal with the realities that they all faced, stranded on
what looked to be a deserted island. 
   Brushing the sand from her already-drying shorts, she was relieved to
feel that her Swiss Army knife was still secure in her zippered pocket.
"Oh good" she thought, "Scissors, awl, tweezers, and a couple different
knife blades - that'll come in handy!" 
   A wave broke over her feet and something brushed her ankles. She
jumped back, and then realized that it was one of the ship's large
leather waterskins. 
   Water. 
   Her eyes widened in consternation, and she swiftly grabbed the skin
before the sea could take it back. It was empty, but as far as she could
tell, it was whole.
   They were going to need to find a source of fresh water. If they
didn't, then everything else meant nothing - they'd all be dead in a week
or so. She shivered as she remembered Hercules telling about being
stranded with a captured mercenary on an island where all the water was
salt, and she breathed a brief prayer to all the gods that this wasn't
such an island.  
    Water was their number one priority.
   Dragging the waterbag behind her, Owlharp headed down the beach to
where Quiet Wolf was organizing a scouting party. "Count me in", she
said.

TBC.   

Owlharp
------------------------------------------------------
Llyra struggled to shore, soaking wet, bruised, battered and intensely 
grateful to be alive.  She had never been a strong swimmer, and had 
thought herself lost until she had caught hold of a broken piece of 
hull floating by.  That had given her enough encouragement to start 
kicking her feet to propell her impromptu boat towards the island.  
There wasn't much room on her few planks, so she held onto it with one 
arm and cut slowly through the water with the other.  It was slow, but 
she had made steady progress and had kept at it with a determination 
that surprised her.

Having gained a measure of safety, Llyra sat herself down in the sand 
to assess her own situation before joining some of the others as they 
gathered together.  She wasn't hurt, at least not seriously, she was 
fully clothed, although she would have to wash the salt water out of 
everthing and soon, and she had managed to come through with a few 
treasures.

With some difficulty because both her shirt and the pouch were wet, 
she pulled out her sewing kit.  A brief inspection told her that her 
little scissors, the needle packet and the spools of linen thread had 
come through the ordeal safe and dry in their water proof pouch.

"One for the good guys," she breathed and got up to join the others.

So far, it looked like everyone had survived the wreck.  Quiet Wolf, 
always the most adventurous of the crowd, was organizing a search 
party while others were searching the surf for whatever useful flotsam 
came ashore.  Llyra joined them and had to smile when Margui 
triumphantly held up a bag of marbles.

"At least we won't be bored," Llyra thought.  She looked down as 
something bumped gently against her legs in the water.

It was another water proof pouch, much bigger than her sewing pouch, 
but one that she recognized and pounced on with a gleeful cry.

"Yes!" she shouted and began to open the pouch.  Sure enough, it was 
the baking soda she had gone to great lengths to secure in the hold.  
"Score one more for the good guys!"

But the thought of the hold made her think of Drakkar, and she 
immediately looked around for her friend.  With a rising sense of 
panic, Llyra failed to locate Drakkar and hurried over to where the 
search party was almost ready to go.

"Quiet Wolf!" she shouted, "is Drakkar with you guys?  Have you seen 
her?"

Quiet Wolf and the others looked around them, but no one had seen 
Drakkar.  Everyone looked a little striken at the thought that anyone 
might not have survived the wreck.

"Wait a second," Iolaus said before anyone could start to panic.  "Was 
she even on board?  I didn't see her."

"Yes she was," said Llyra.  "but she was nervous about sailing and 
spent almost the entire trip in the hold arranging the packing crates. 
 It's no wonder that you didn't see her."

"Look, don't panic," Iolaus soothed her as best he could while hiding 
his own fear that the young bard may not have made it.  "We'll keep an 
eye out for her while we search.  The island probably isn't that big, 
so she won't be far.  Why don't you come with us?  It'll give you 
something to do."

Llyra was tempted, but too many people in a search party could be more 
problem than a help, and there were too many people still to be 
accounted for and helped and organized.  She bit her lip as she 
weighed the pros and cons of searching for her friend or staying and 
helping everyone else to get their acts together and stay alive.  When 
all was said and done, there was really only one decision.

"I'd -- I'd better stay here," she said reluctantly.  "There are more 
people than Drakkar who need help, and I know that you guys will find 
her if she is to be found.  Just find her, okay?"

Iolaus hugged her tight for a few moments.

"You know we will, Llyra," he told her.  "Don't worry."  He smiled at 
her as he released her and turned to the rest of the search party.  
"Right.  Let's go."  With that, the search party moved out.

Llyra
---------------------------------------------------------
I felt sick when I thought about what Llyra had told us...Drakkar was
missing!  I hadn't even realized she'd been on the boat!  Oh gods...she
had to be alright!  All of a sudden, it really hit me.  This wasn't just
an afternoon excursion, wasn't just another 'adventure'... wasn't
necessarily just a temporary diversion in life....when, I'd thought
everyone was okay, I'd just figured the worst was that we would all lose
some stuff...and stuff is just stuff...and that we'd soon be rescued, so
why worry....but, now, I knew...our situation was dangerous...people
could be really hurt....and, no one knew when we'd get rescued.  Who
knew how far off the original route that storm had blown us....no one
would even know where to start looking.  'Drakkar...' I thought, 'Oh!
You just have to be alright!'

Now, I was really glad I'd joined the scouting party....and not just for
the silly reason of being with Iolaus rather than Falafel....we had to
find Drakkar...we just had to!  Seeing how many had volunteered for the
scouting mission, Herc and Iolaus decided to split the group...one
heading along the shore to follow the perimetre of the island, the other
heading inland.  I decided to go with the shore group....Drakkar was
most likely not far off, somewhere along this shore.....

Arianna
---------------------------------------------------
Blow, wave overflows through the deck, I catch hold on the rope, wet from head 
to toe. The ship stubbornly tries to lie down one board on the water. Bunch of 
well-organized crapes is sliding fast on the wet deck in my direction, some 
packages are flying at me, and _oh, yes_ Iolaus together with that. But the rope 
can`t bear it anymore and with loud splash and scrap of rope in the hand I`m 
overboard. _Hope the surface is where it seems to be._ I remember something 
about the necessity to go from sinking ship as far as possible and do my best. I 
can see only the junk hopping on the waves around and hear someone`s hoarse 
voice ( Jason`s? ): "There! The shore is there!" _Okay, it`s there_. Calming 
down a little and remembering that there is no threat for me to be drowned ( 
_just hope, nobody will pull me under the water by my feet_ ), I swim in the 
indicated direction. After a few meters I start feeling the difference between 
swimming and shaking in the furious sea. _Essential difference, I could say_. 
Fortunately, the shore is not far away.
Some time lately on the sand beach the work is in full swing. The reminds of the 
Argo`s luggage ( and of Argo itself ) are fished out and I see a spade lying on 
the bottom not far from me. _I`ll not ask how it made to the shore; it`s a plot 
for the show "Obvious and Inconceivable"_. The water is up the knee only, I take 
the spade ( _something pulls my shirt down_ ) and hurry to the group gathering 
around Quiet Wolf and Iolaus ( _something definetily pulls my shirt down_ ). 
When my mind at last registers this information, I grope for source. This is a 
small bottle with superglue which Salmoneus sold me last time we`ve met. 
According to him, it glues everything and forever. I was going to try it on the 
breaking jug right before the wreck and apparently I falled on it during the 
first blows. Tore the thing off me _sometimes Salmoneus can be believable_, I 
catch up with scouting party.   
         
Note: by "I" is meant the simbios of Ahary and Sovka. It have to be some strange 
being, double-headed and with defects of speech. <g>
 
Ahary
-------------------------------------------
Drakkar stopped and took a deep breath.  She felt as though she'd been
walking for hours, though in reality, it was probably little more than about
twenty minutes.  Of course, she hadn't really been walking the entire time
either.  She'd discovered that she'd apparently bruised her knee during the
adventure, and although it wasn't bad enough to prevent her from walking, or
even really cause her to limp, it did make walking a bit uncomfortable and
she found herself needing frequent rest periods.

Plopping down to sit on the sand, she took in her surroundings.  Had it not
been for the circumstances that brought her to this place, she might have
thought it a beautiful vacation spot.  Of course, if it was a vaction, she
most certainly would not have chosen it to be solitary.  Still, if she had
made it, someone else *had* to have survived as well.  The Gods couldn't be
*that* cruel, could they?

*Okay, you're doing it again,* she scolded herself.  *Until you KNOW no one
else survived, stop freaking yourself out.*

With a sigh of determination, she stood once more and headed down the beach,
figuring she'd continue this route for awhile longer, then head inland to
look for food.  She was only mildly hungry, but she would need to find
something eventually.  Better to search for food now than to be hunting for
it while ravenous.

Her forehead itched, and she reached up to scratch it.  Suddenly, the fly's
intense interest in this part of her anatomy became apparent.  She'd cut it
in the wreck, or in the struglle for survival immediately following, and now
sported a crusty, swollen gash right along the hairline.

*How nice.  That will certainly improve on my looks.*

She rubbed her fingers lightly over it, noting that it still felt numb, and
surmised that it was probably the reason she was feeling slightly
light-headed.  It had stopped bleeding, the sand assisting to form a scab
along its borders.  While certainly not the most sanitary, it did make an
effective tamponade, but she would have to wash the wound out thoroughly
later to prevent an infection.  At any rate, it wasn't what she felt was the
most important thing right now; she needed to find her friends.

The breeze carried with it the faint scent of flowers from further inland, a
good sign.  Flowering plant usually meant some sort of fruit.  At least she
wouldn't starve.  She made a mental note to investigate the source of the
fragrance later.

*Of course,* she thought, halting her pace, *if others had survived, they
too may be heading inland to look ofr food.*  Maybe she should try walking
that way.

*No, no....I'd just get lost in there, and if there ARE other survivors, I
could walk right past them and not even see them.*  No, she decided it would
be better to keep to the shore for now.  At least then, even if the others
HAD headed inland, she could still see their prints in the sand.

~Drakkar
--------------------------------------------
Caro coughed again, sea water and her lungs did not get along - not at
all. Not being able to swim she had managed to swallow half the ocean
before Hercules and Jason had found her clinging to some driftwood. Now
she was mercifully back on solid ground and casting her eye across the
flotsam that was strewn over the beach.

Absently she rubbed the back of her neck, cursing as she realised that
the reason it itched was the salt encrusted there and rubbing had just
made the skin even more sore. Fresh water would have to be a priority
and not just for drinking, although that was the imperative, she was
going to go mad if she didn't get her skin and her clothes free of this
salt. That's were having sensitive skin got you she moaned, feeling the
beginnings of a feel sorry for herself bout. 

Trying to stem the feeling before it caught hold she watched Falafel as
he scoured his pans with sand. Some of the survivors had banded together
and were organising scouting parties, Caro didn't feel up to going with
them just yet, her legs still felt like rubber. Instead she decided to
stick with Falafel, it would be all very well finding water and some
high ground where they could create a shelter but if they had to eat
Falafel's food there might not be any point. 

As she crossed the sand to the industrious cook Caro spotted a familair
shape in the sand, she pounced. It was the glass she had bought before
the trip, and amazingly enough it was still intact. It was a fair sized
vase with a narrow neck and if she could find something to stopper it
with it could hold water. Carefully wiping it free of sand she attatched
the blue glass to her belt. The belt was a wonderful thing, she was glad
she'd been wearing it when the ship had gone down, it wound round her
waist several times, was made of strong leather and had little loops and
hooks to which she could attatch various things. Silently she hoped
someone had managed to rescue a knife or two. 

Reaching Falafel Caro offered to help him rescue and clean as many
cooking utensils as possible, they both hoped that there would soon be
some food for them to cook.

Caro
-------------------------------------------------
"Oh, drat."  Every time Allie tried to stand up the surf knocked her
down again.  She surfaced sputtering, clutching the big wooden bucket
she had found floating in the water.  Her little hatchet was tucked
securely in the waistband of her shorts.

She felt herself being scooped up in two strong arms.  "Need some help?"

She looked up into two handsome azure eyes. "Er...yeah, sure."

Hercules waded ashore with a blushing Allie in his arms and set her down
on the sand.

Still pink to the roots of her hair, Allie thanked him prettily and
turned to survey the scene.  Most of the Iolausians were on the beach
already salvaging the flotsam from the Argo that kept washing up on the
shore.  Falaful was sorting through the stuff looking for cooking
utensils and some the gang was hauling up a huge tarp.

There was a group gathered around Quiet Wolf. Allie hurried over to see
what was up, and was told they were organizing scouting parties.
"Drakkar and some of the others haven't shown up yet, so be on the
lookout,." she was told.

Allie decided to join them.  Her bucket would come in handy if they
found anything edible; food was a big priority for her.

tbc, Allie hopes.

Allie
----------------------------------------------------
Bev slowly squinted her eyes open to the bright sunlight that shown in
them.  Her head ached and her limbs felt like lead weights.  And her
realization was that something just didn't seem right.  She suddenly
became very aware that she wasn't lying on her bed but rather on a wet
sandy beach with waves lapping at her feet and legs.  
Now it all came back to her.  She had been on the deck of the Argo busy
hand washing some delicates out with the bar of soap she'd brought along
and enjoying the beautiful  day. There were busy activities going on all
about the ship.  The sun glowed brightly in the cloudless sky and
suddenly the bow of the Argo fiercely pitched upwards.  Without warning
they were all suddenly in the fight of their lives.  Argo must have
struck some large rock formation under water because she began to crack
and moan.  She broke apart in seconds.  Melee quickly broke out as
everyone struggled to stay afloat and swim toward something, anything
that would save their life.  Screams and confusion was everywhere.  The
last thing she remembered was managing to grab hold of a piece of debris
floating passed her.  Bev was a lousy swimmer and until that debris came
within fingers reach her state of panic told her this was how she was
going to die.  And that was it!
Now she was here on this island shore.  
Every muscle in her body screamed in agony as she sat up to assess any
damages and was relieved to find that her only injuries were a small cut
on her upper arm that had already clotted and a bump on her head which
accounted for the headache she had.  Well, she didn't feel all too
steady in the stomach either but that must be from her salt water
intake.
She stood up on unsteady legs continuing her assessment.  She found she
had actually maintained that second bar of soap she'd brought along in
her vest pocket and her small survival knife on her belt was still
attached.  At least she had means of defense if needed and it would come
in handy for a number of other things as well.  Especially food
preparation if necessary.  
Obruptly she was pulled up straight by strong arms.  
"Bev, are you alright?  Are you hurt?"

"Huh?  Oh yes, I seem to be".

She'd been so muddled in her thoughts over what had taken place that she
hadn't even heard the other voices of her friends further up the beach
or Jason's approach.
Now she took in the surroundings and the true meaning of their
predicament.
She assured Jason she was ok and asked about everyone else. 

"So far, only minor injuries like that", he said nodding at her arm,
"but Drakkar is missing.  Iolaus and some of the others have formed a
search party for her and food while the rest of us are going through
what's washing up on shore.  We need to get some kind of shelter up
before nightfall."  He smiled at her, "Feel up to helping?  It'll help
to keep your mind busy".
Bev was still  taking in the scene around her but managed a nod of
agreement with Jason's assuring grin and squeeze of her shoulder.
They slowly walked along the beach picking up small items that might
come in handy for anything at all.  They were fortunate in finding
another sail that had a large tear in it.  Jason was elated.  He
explained he's nearly thrown  it away when it tore in some huge storm
but was glad now that he hadn't.  It would come in real handy for
shelter.  But the best find of all was the barrel of rice that had
somehow miraculously gotten only partially wet.  That which was still
dry could be salvaged.  At least they werent' going to starve.  At least
not right away.  It appeared to be a lush island so Bev figured there
had to be fruit trees inland.  And there had  to be good fishing in
these parts.  One thing remained though that they would all need  if
they were to survive....water.  Fresh water for drinking.  Jason saw her
look of worry and assured her they would figure that one out too.
Together they drug the sail up next to the previous one so it could also
dry and carted the rice barrel over to where Falafel and Caro were

ssessing and getting together a manageable cooksite.
Caro and Bev exchanged hugs of relief for one another and even managed a
giggle when Bev was able to joke that, "at least I know now that fat
people *don't* sink like rocks" as her brother has always teased her. 
They all looked in the direction the search group had taken and wondered
if they had found any sign of Drakkar.....

tbc

Bev
-------------------------------------------------
Iolaus quickly offered to lead the search party for Drakkar.  As he 
was unarguably the best hunter and tracker in the group, everyone 
agreed he was the perfect choice to head the mission.  After a quick 
conference, the hunter began leading his group along the shore in a 
desperate search to find their lost companion.  The scouting group 
watched them go, silently praying that they would be able to find 
Drakkar, safe and sound.

"Ok," Hercules announced.  "We need to find a place to set up a camp."

"Preferably somewhere near a good water source, and we need to keep a 
lookout for anything edible along the way," Quiet Wolf chimed in.

"Looks like Quiet Wolf's in charge," the demigod teased.

"Was there ever a doubt?" the bard replied with a grin.  "Let's go."

They began moving inland, and despite the gravity of their situation, 
everyone seemed in relatively good spirits.  There was much talking 
and laughing and joking, until suddenly Hercules stopped walking and 
held up his hand.  The group instantly fell silent.

"Do you hear that?" the demigod whispered.

Quiet Wolf
----------------------------------------
It had all happened so fast.  One moment Kat had been up on deck
watching the horizon and thinking about how sorry she was that Young
Iolaus had missed the boat and the next she had found herself in the
middle of the ocean with all the others.  Once she had oriented herself,
Kat had begun the long swim to shore.  She stumbled onto the beach,
winded from the long swim.  Her sword was amazingly still in it's
scabbard on her back, she almost forgot it was there since it was just
another piece of her Amazon outfit.  She walked over to where Margui and
a few others were standing.  Her sister was holding a bag.

"Looks like someone lost their marbles," Kat said.

The others all groaned and gave her a dirty look.

"Oh come on, I know all of you were thinking it.  Hey Margui, nice whip,
can I borrow it sometime?" The young Amazon asked.

The green eyed brunette spotted a mass of green lying beneath the sail
canvas.  She tugged on it and unearthed a familiar emerald green bag.
"Oh boy, my hoolie kit.  I hope everything is still intact," Kat said
with a wicked grin.

She looked at the group and said to no one in particular, "So what
should we do next?"

<<<  Ok I have a question.  Since I said that Kat's sword is part of her
normal dress does that mean I still have one other object to find?  If
not, oh well, it's a good thing my hoolie kit is full of many different
things... >>>

Kat
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Come on, wake up." said the voice. 

"Open your eyes Athena, I know your there." said another voice.

" 'Cough, cough', um where am I." Athena said as she blinked her eyes.  The 
salt water making them irritated.

"Take it easy, you took in a lot of water."

Athena finally opened her eyes and looked at the 2 people speaking to her.  
"Iolaus, Jason, what happened. Last thing I remember was that I was trying to 
tie things down."

"Last thing we saw of you was falling over board." Iolaus said.  "You scared 
us all to death."

"Sorry" Athena said weakly.  "Is everyone else ok?"  

"We are still taking head count, but I think everyone made it safely. We 
better get you back to camp and around the fire to warm up with everyone 
else." Jason said as he helped Athena stand and get her land legs again.

"You know next time someone recommends a 3 hour tour of some islands remind 
me to say no."  Athena states.

"No problem" Iolaus says with a giggle. "All that matters right now is that 
you and everyone else are safe."

With Iolaus on one side and Jason on the other they help Athena to the camp.  
"You know if I wasn't so scared this place would really be nice.  Its 
beautiful."  Athena says.

"Ya it is, but don't be scared we will look out for you."  Iolaus says.

"Um, I have a confession guys.  I am not much of a wilderness person.  I 
don't think I know how to survive out here."  Athena tells them.

"Don't worry you will be fine."  Jason says.

"Hey wait a minute."  Athena says as she looks down.  "Hey that's my back 
pack, I hope my things are still in it."  

Athena picks it up and opens it and all that's in it is a large roll of 
dental floss. "Great" she says, "I don't believe this, at least I'll be able 
to floss." 

"Lets get going" Jason says as he shakes his head and laughs.

TBC.....

Athena
---------------------------------------------
Iolaus took charge of our little party, leading us off along the
shore...I think he picked the direction by watching the direction of the
wind and waves, figuring where it was most likely that Drakkar would be
washed ashore after the wreck...I guess, but I'm not sure.  I didn't
really notice who else was with us at first, and who had gone with
Quietwolf and Hercules to find water and food.  I was too concerned
about Drakkar...what if, what if she had never gotten out of the hold of
the ship?  What if the current had torn her further to sea?  What
if....  Iolaus must have noticed my abstraction.  'You're really
worried, Arianna, aren't you? " he asked... and I nodded, not really
looking at him as I explained, "I don't know Drakkar all that well, but
we had begun to be friends..or at least, I had hoped we had."  I was
caught between present and past tenses...and I wanted to bite my
tongue.  She was fine...I knew she was fine!

Not one to borrow trouble, Iolaus looked for some kind of distraction to
take my mind off my worries.  His eyes lighted on the wineskin I had
absently tossed over my shoulder and still carried.  "Are you always
prepared for a party...or are shipwrecks a special occasion?" he teased.

I looked at him confused for a moment, until, with a tilt of his head
and a meaningful look, I realized he was talking about the wineskin.
"Oh, this...I bought it for my brother.  It's not as useful as some of
the flotsom, but, I thought...maybe, the wine might be useful for
medicinal purposes...and," I hesitated...I didn't want to really think
about being here too long, but...might as well face the situation,
"well, it will make another waterskin...and we might need it."

"Might be needed to toast our recovery of Drakkar, too... finding the
lost is always worth a celebration," he said with a smile.

I smiled back, nodding, grateful for his gentle teasing...his effort to
focus my emotions on hope rather than dread.  He was a good man...we
were lucky Iolaus, Jason and Hercules were with us...they'd make all the
difference in our survival, I was sure of it!  We weren't all capable
like Quietwolf and Owlharp...sometimes, it was scary to think of how
incapable most of us really were.  Ah well, I sighed, one challenge at a
time.  Focusing on the shoreline, looking ahead to where it curved from
sight, I concentrated on hoping we'd find Drakkar ahead....safe and
sound.

Arianna
----------------------------------------
>>> They began moving inland, and despite the gravity of their situation,
> everyone seemed in relatively good spirits.  There was much talking
> and laughing and joking, until suddenly Hercules stopped walking and
> held up his hand.  The group instantly fell silent.
>
> "Do you hear that?" the demigod whispered.<<<

Drakkar hesitated a moment, not sure whether the voices she'd thought she
heard were wishful thinking or reality.  She tilted her head slightly,
straining to hear, but heard nothing more.  Perhaps she'd only imagined it.

She sighed heavily and looked up at the sky.  The light was beginning to
fade, the shadows created by the afternoon sun steadily lengthening.  It
would be dark in a few hours, and she certainly didn't relish the thought of
spending the night hours alone.  Though she'd never admit it to anyone, the
truth was, she was scared to be alone in the dark.  Not afraid of the dark
itself, just of being alone. She hated being alone.

She turned a circle, looking around her, then flopped down on the sand.  She
was so tired, and her muscles were literally quivering with fatigue.  A
little nap on the sand couldn't hurt anything, could it?  It wasn't like she
was going to be late for anything...

Sprawled out on her back, she yawned and closed her eyes, stretching her
arms out on either side of herself.  The sand was so warm and soft, and the
sound of the ocean waves so peaceful...she tried to focus on the serenity of
her surroundings instead of the situation she was in, and imagined that she
had *chosen* to land here, that her friends were surrounding her, all safe
and accounted for.  For a moment, the illusion seemed to be working,  but
the fear and despair refused to retreat for long.

~Drakkar
------------------------------------------------
Cold water, why is there cold water dripping on my head? Awareness returns
slowly and I remember the vicious winds, pounding rain and Autolycus flying
pass me on a large wave of sea water.  Sitting up I look around.  There's
only me, the sounds of pounding surf, strange bird cries and miles and miles
of forest.

I stand moving my hand over stiff and bruised body parts, delighted that all
of them seem to be working properly.  Underneath a sky of brilliant blue I
move further up on the beach into the shade.  Thoughts of searching for the
others come and go.  My home training comes to mind, my gram use to say, 'if
you're ever lost, stay put and let them find you.  If you go wandering off,
something will have you for dinner."  So I sat there in the heating sand.

The sounds of the tide and heat of the morning sun and hunger make it
difficult for me to keep my eyes open as sleep beacons.  Finding a place
relatively clear of crawling things I lay down.

I don't know how long I slept but upon waking I looked out at the sea, at
clouds of pink-violet laying heavily over the sea holding for a brief time
the setting sun.  I stand dusting sand from my face, hair and clothing.  I
shake my head, angry with myself for sleeping so long.  "It's going to be
dark soon and if you don't find the others you're going to be that animal
fodder gram talked about."  I say out loud.  Talking to myself is a long
time habit.  It was the answering back that had me sometimes wondering about
my sanity.  But so far I'm holding it together.

I walk down the beach and inland as far as I could before darkness make
traveling unsafe.  Too scared to sleep on the ground in the dark, I found a
tree I could climb.  After a lot of huffing and puffing and scuffed knees, I
reached a branch I felt would hold my weight.  Sitting there I watch every
trembling leaf, jump at every strange birdcall.  The joke I heard Iolaus
telling a group of the sailors the night before come to mind.  Something
about....

An old healer went wayyyyyyy out in the country to deliver a baby.  When the
doctor arrived, no one was home except for the mother and her 5 year old
child.  The doctor told the child to hold the lantern so he could see.  Told
the mother to push and after a while the healer lifted the newborn by the
feet and spanked him on the bottom to get thim to take his first breath.
The healer asked the 5 year old what he thought of the baby.  "Hit him
again," the child said.  "He shouldn't have crawled up there in the first
place!"

Sitting there cold and hungry, I empathized with the 5 year old...I had no
business being here in the first place.

Elaine
------------------------------------------------
CJ had been fishing off the port stern when the ship wrecked.  She was flung 
overboard into the roiling sea and grabbed the nearest floating piece of wood to 
hang on to.  The blonde saw her pole floating next to her and managed to snag it 
before she got caught in a cross current carrying her away from the island.  "Oh 
crap, this isn't good" she muttered and used the wood for a kickboard.  The 
riptide was too strong and the more she attempted to swim against it, the 
further away she got.  "Ok, don't panic" she told herself and turned to swim 
parallel to the island.  

She managed to stay abreast, not getting any closer, but at least not getting 
further away but knew her strength wouldn't last if she kept up her current 
pace.  She drifted for awhile, letting the waves carry her where they would.  
Finally, she felt herself going in a different direction and heaved a sigh of 
relief when she found herself in another current, this time taking her closer.  
She had no idea which part of the island she was heading for, but it wasn't 
anywhere close to where the ship went down.  She kicked with the last of her 
remaining strength and felt her feet hit a sandbar.  

CJ let her piece of wood go and staggered through the crashing waves until she 
reached the dry sand and collapsed.  Her first thought was she needed to try and 
find the others, knowing that Kat and Margui would be getting worried soon.  The 
blonde flipped over onto her back, then winced when she realized her sword was 
still strapped there and was digging into her spine.  The fingers of her left 
hand were cramped and she looked over in surprise to find the fishing pole was 
still gripped in her hand.  She forced her fingers to relax, allowing the pole 
to settle in the sand next to her.  The sun was mercilessly beating down on her 
face and body, giving the exhausted amazon some impetus to at least move into 
the shade that was nearby.  

She tried to stand, but her legs were like jelly so she wrapped the fishing line 
around her wrist, taking care not to hook herself and crawled for the treeline, 
dragging the pole behind her. "Ok, just a few minutes and I'll go find everyone 
else" she whispered.  Her eyes closed and she dozed off, giving her body the 
much needed rest before she continued the unplanned adventure. 

CJ
----------------------------------------------
Coughing, eyes burning with salt, Kleandra sat up. It took her a while to
regain her senses but soon enough realized just where Poseidon in his
obvious though unexplainable rage has put her.

"Great! Just great! And here I was, sinking...no...thinking that this tour
would be a good idea to finally get some well-deserved fun. This should have
been easy - why is it never easy?"

Knowing that this train of thought would lead her to nowhere she picked
herself up from the ground, tried to brush the sand off her clothes and to
come up with a solution of what to do next.
First she had to find the others, they had to be somewhere. She just hoped
that everyone would be okay. Then they had to figure out how to get off of
this Gods-forsaken place. Not that she wouldnīt enjoy a long stay on a
deserted island, she just  preferred to be able to leave whenever she felt
like it.
On turning around she noticed a small object reflecting the sun light.

"Fantastic! My luckīs changing for the better already!", she thought with a
smile. "My knife. And my Bolo! I donīt believe it! How did they get here?
Doesnīt matter."

She put the knife into its sheath and fixed the Bolo at her belt before she
took off to search for the others. It didnīt take her long  to stumble right
into Autolycus....literally!

Kleandra
-----------------------------------
Before the storm slammed into us full force, I had been up on deck 
with Jason.  He had been  showing me some of the new equipment he had 
the Argo fitted with just prior to our voyage.   The wicked weather 
hit us so fast there was no time to prepare for it or batten anything 
down . 

I stayed with Jason and followed his orders as best I could...but when 
the Argo began to break apart...the saddest order I had to follow was 
to abandon ship.  My last vision of the majestic ship was of a very 
heroic Jason still manning the wheel...keeping it as steady as he could 
until he saw us all get off the vessel safely.

Whipping the wet tendrils of hair out of my face and dusting the sand 
off of as much of my body as possible (oh, gods...how I hate sand)...I 
could finally take stock of my surroundings.  My right knee was 
throbbing but I realized it was nothing too serious as I moved it 
back and forth.  Jason and Hercules were helping pull a couple of my 
friends from the surf.  Iolaus was further up on the beach with 
Quietwolf.  They were looking inland, no doubt discussing the need to 
find a safe campground for us.  I saw Auto and Falafal, and made a 
quick head-count for my own peace of mind.  Only a couple of friends 
seemed to be missing but I was still a bit dizzy from the whole 
experience and didn't trust that I had counted correctly.

I stood in the wet sand, swayed slightly and felt a steadying hand on 
my shoulder.  "You've made it in one piece, my friend?" Jason asked 
with a quick smile.

I assured him that I was okay and asked if there were anything I 
could do to help.  Jason looked about to make certain that Hercules 
and Iolaus had enough help, then he asked me to stay with him and 
salvage as much of the wreckage as we could before the tides changed.  
We grabbed a barrel that was floating near the shore and rolled it up 
to the beach.  The markings showed that it was rice from the Argo's 
galley.  I worked side-by-side with Jason, rescuing things from the 
surf and watched as the two scouting parties departed on their 
separate missions.  I watched as Caro made her way over to Falafal 
and offered a silent prayer of thanks.  There would be someone 
watching our backs in the food department.  There's nothing quite 
like having your dinner come and bite you back several hours 
later...and Falafal's meals were notorious for doing just that!

I felt something soft wash against my ankles with the next wave and 
was happy to see it was one of the fishnet hammocks that had been 
strung up on the deck.  Several of us had been lounging in them when 
we first embarked on the cruise, gently rocking back and forth, 
listening to the lulling sound of waves slapping against the hull, 
mixed with the true, soft notes of music from a  harmonica.  So 
peaceful...the calm before the story.  

I pulled the  hammock out of the water, slung it over my right 
shoulder and tied it at my left hip.  It was bound to come in handy 
for something.  

Jason and I pulled a few more items onto the beach but there didn't 
seem to be much more we could salvage.  On our last trip back into 
the water, I came across something shining amid the waves.  Swimming 
just a little bit away from Jason I reached for the glittering square 
and pulled up the small, framed mirror that had been hanging over the 
wash barrel on the Argo's deck.  I tossed it up into the pile on the 
beach and went to help Jason sort through the items we had managed to 
save from his beautiful ship.

When we got to the last of the salvage, my eye caught again on the 
shining mirror.   It was a pretty thing, not practical and I was 
getting ready to toss it aside when something inside told me to hold 
on to it...call it a hunch....

TBC (MaryE.)
----------------------------------------------
Pythia's journal: 

A few more people had stumbled ashore by the time the search party took 
off into the interior; those of us left could only hope that they would be 
successful in finding both the missing members of our group and the much 
needed water supply before night fell.  Jason organised the rest of us, 
packing the salvaged supplies into the sails so that they would be 
protected from the elements and easy to carry once we'd identified a safe 
camping place.

Autolycus - being Autolycus - vanished as soon as hard work loomed in his 
direction.  I watched him sneak away down the beach and nearly ratted on 
him - then I thought better of it and held my tongue.  We were going to 
need his skills in the days ahead and I knew it wouldn't do to upset him 
this early in the adventure.

Adventure?  Hah!  Survival is demanding work and we found that out the 
hard way.  By the time we'd sorted through all the flotsam, rolled up the 
sails, lashed the barrel of rice and assorted packages to the sturdy pole 
Jason found in the surf and gathered as much driftwood and broken planks 
as we could find there were aching backs, blistered hands and groaning 
workers littered all over the beach.  Falafel came to our rescue; he'd 
borrowed my hatchet, climbed a nearby palm tree and hacked down a half 
dozen green coconuts.  Jason's sword made short work of the husks and we 
were soon sharing out the sweetest nectar any of us could imagine; coconut 
milk straight from the shell!

I packed the discarded husks into one of the bundles; the fibres were 
tough and would undoubtedly come in useful later.  I'd just finished that 
and happily accepted another swig from the nut that Llyra handed me when 
we saw Autolycus coming along the beach towards us.

Much to our amusement - and relief - Kleandra was dragging him back, her 
fingers firmly clenched on one ear...

Pythia
-------------------------------------------------------
Kat looked around.  Everyone seemed to be busy doing something---
searching through the wreckage for what they could salvage, searching
the island, or looking for a good campsite.  The Amazon felt useless and
in the way.  She walked over to her sister Margui.

"Hey Margui.  It looks like everything is under control.  I'm going to
walk along the beach, maybe see if anything or anyone else has washed
ashore," Kat said as she pushed her short hair off of her face.

"Want company?" Margui asked.  She could see that Jason and the others
had the task under control.

"Sure," the younger woman said with a smile.

The siblings walked along the shore.  They found various bits of the
ship on the sand, but nothing big enough to be useful.  After a while
Kat spotted something in the distance.

"Hey Margui, do you see that?"

"Yeah.  What do you think it is?"

"Not sure, but we should investigate."  Kat's hand rested on the handle
of the sword strapped to her back.  She didn't expect trouble, but had
been taught to expect the unexpected.

As the Amazon drew closer, they could tell that what had once been an
unrecognizable shape was a body.  They approached quickly now, hoping
that the person didn't need more help than they could give.

"That's CJ," Margui said as the blond came into view.

The sisters rushed to their sibling's side.

"Is she?"

"She's just sleeping."

"Hey sis wake up.  Herc's not with us, so they'll be no mouth to mouth,
and I do know how much you'd enjoy that."

TAG?

Kat
--------------------------------------------------
*****Where forlorn sunsets flare and fade on desolate sea and lonely 
sand.  It calls you night and day beyond the dark into the dream, 
over the hills and far away - W.E. Henley*****


Yes, they were shipwrecked.  Yes, they were largely without 
supplies.  Yes, the situation was grave.  But Quiet Wolf was in her 
element.  She practically grew up outside in the woods, and her 
father had endowed her with her own collection of "Old Fisherman's 
Tricks".  The bard was completely at home immersed in nature, and in 
fact, she often preferred it that way.  And she always did love a 
good adventure.  Quiet Wolf's mind and heart went out to Drakkar, but 
she had complete confidence in Iolaus' abilities to find their 
missing friend.  Always the optimist, Quiet Wolf was not even worried 
when Hercules tensed, hearing something that had apparently disturbed 
him.

"I don't hear anything," she whispered to the demigod, after several 
moments of ear straining.  The rest of the group concurred with the 
bard.

"I have a feeling..." Hercules said slowly.

Everyone exchanged a glance.  When the son of Zeus had a feeling, it 
usually spelled trouble.  Quiet Wolf pulled out the spyglass that 
Iolaus2 had given her and scanned the horizon, not seeing anything 
out of the ordinary.  

"Well," she said practically.  "We can't stand around here all day.  
It's going to start getting dark soon, and the others are counting on 
us to find water and food and somewhere to camp."

"Everybody stay behind me," the demigod commanded slowly.  "And be 
careful."

Quiet Wolf
---------------------------------------
The shore party moved along the beach, on the look-out for the missing
members of the group.  Not far ahead Allie saw a pile of seaweed-covered
boulders.

'All right. Crabs.' she thought and broke away from the party to forage.
She was busily moving aside clumps of seaweed and seizing the crabs as
they scuttled away when a familiar voice said in her ear.  "Need some
help?"

Allie looked up into Iolaus' blue eyes. "Uh, yeah, sure,"  she gulped.

Iolaus gave her his most dazzling smile and between the two of them they
soon had the bucket full.

"I'll just take these back to Falafel and then catch up to the scouting
part."  Allie told him.

"Okay."  Iolaus trotted back to the group and Allie ran back to the
beach where Falalfel and Caro were gathering cooking equipment and food.
She held the bucket up under the chef's nose.

"Um," he said, peering in, "crabcakes."

They emptied the bucket into a cooking pot and Allie set off in pursuit
of the scouting party.

She skipped happily down the beach, swinging the bucket at her side.  It
had been a memorial day.  She had survived a shipwreck, been carried
ashore by a demigod and gone crabbing with Iolaus.  And someone else was
cooking dinner. (She trusted Caro would make sure Falalfel didn't ruin
the crabcakes.)  Uh-huh, life didn't get any better than this.

She spotted the scouting party ahead and broke into a run to catch up.

Allie
--------------------------------------------------
"I'm glad I have this bag" Athena said to herself as she strolled the coconut 
and banana trees collecting coconuts and bananas.  

"I hope the others having good luck."

"You know talking to yorself is the first sign of heat stroke or your just 
cracking up." said a familar voice with a giggle

Athena jumped, dropped the bag and screamed all at the same time. 
"Iolaus...." trying to catch her breath, " don't do that.  I'm scared enough 
on this island.""

"Hey, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to scare you.  I saw you way over here and 
wanted to tell you we were heading back." Iolaus said as he put a comforting 
arm on Athena's shoulder.

"We...We are going to be ok aren't we." Athena asked

"Sure we will, lets head back.  Let me see your bag I'll carry it for you.  
Pretty good stuff here, with the crabs Allie caught, your coconut juice and 
bananas and the other things we have we wont starve."  Iolaus said with a 
smile.

As they walked back to camp they noticed others already there.  

Athena
--------------------------------------
"Do you need some help to get down from there?" The question was followed by the 
crunching sound of dry leaves being walked on and the rustling of bushes. I 
opened my eyes hoping that I was back home on my usual bed of dry hay. No such 
luck. I sat up and looked down to find a crowd looking up.

"Morning."

"Morning." Chorused the group. 

"I'm coming up." Iolaus said to the group, his hand already searching for a 
steady grip on the branch. 

"No. No. Don't do that." I said hurriedly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I must have looked pretty anxious for the two men and the woman with them 
backed away.

"We're going further up the beach, there are still a couple of people to gather 
before heading back to where we have set up camp. We expect you to catch up in a 
few minutes." Hercules commanded.

"Thanks." I said watching them move away.  The help offered would have been nice 
but, as I climbed the tree last night, I had torn my undergarment and with my 
luck I'd somehow end up suspended above the ground with my hinny hanging out for 
everyone to see. So until I found the pack with my extra, I'd just as soon get 
down on my own.   Safely back on the ground and clothing rearranged in a more 
dignified manner I was ready to join the group. 

Elaine
-----------------------------------------
"ow.. ow.. OWW!"  Bev shook her hand vigorously in a frantic effort to
be rid of the horrid little creature that had attached itself to her
left forefinger. With one more strong shake and grace from above it
finally fell away.  Bev was left holding her finger and doing a jig none
of the others watching had ever seen performed anywhere.  A number of
snickers followed by some "are you ok's" and a well deserving look from
Falafel that said. 'well, you should have known better'.  But he offered
to check for the seriousness of her injury and when once it had been
determined that there was no real damage they were able to get back to
the task at hand.
Allie and Iolaus had collected a good number of crabs while on their way
back from the search and so dinner for their first day lost at sea was
to be a good one.  That along with the amount of fruit that had been
collected meant that it was quite apparent that nobody was going to go
hungry.
While the search group had been away Falafel, Caro, Athena, Pythia, Mary
and Bev had put together a very believable and workable campfire. With
larger stones collected from the shore's edge they had formed a good
sized perimeter and used driftwood that made for a very fine cook fire. 
Now however, Bev was at a loss for how they were to cook the little
devils Allie and Iolaus had brought back to camp.  Since they couldn't
drink the salt water they couldn't cook in it either.  Right?  She
thought not!
Then she remember back to when she was a small girl and hearing her
father talk of the survival skills he had learned while serving in the
military.  Fresh water could often be found in the most unlikely places.
Yes, it was coming back to her now.
They were all going to have to watch for things like bees, and ants and
certain kinds of birds.  Bees were never found far from water.  But they
could collect rain water, if they got rain again and could find
something to collect it in.
And they could absolutely use the salt water for collecting fresh water.
But they would have to boil the salt water with rocks and collect the
condensation in some rags and clean cloths. And that would take time.
But at least these were doable ideas they could put to work right away..
A more immediate way to finding water was however right under their
feet.
Bev started to giggle and shouted, "anyone up to digging?", and
excitedly took off for the beach.  Caro, Mary and Pythia followed Bev
and asked if maybe she'd been in the sun too long already. 
She laughed and explained, "no, really I haven't.  I'm ok.  But there
may be water in the sand.  They're called sand wells and if we can find
some the water should be drinkable.  At least what's on the surface
should be."
Then, just when everyone watching thought it impossible, Bev became even
more excited.  Even Jason was watching now with peaked interest.  She
reached into her vest pocket and pulled out the bar of soap.  Caro and
Pythia backed away shaking their heads in denial and Kleandra said, "no
way am I drinking soap bubbles".
"Nooo, this silly!"  Bev removed the plastic from around the bar of soap
she'd wrapped it in.
"If we can get real lucky now and find some more of this", shaking the
plastic to make her point, "we can build a workable condensation
collector."  Bev stared from one shipped wrecked friend to the next
waiting for some understanding.  And one by one recognition appeared on
their faces.  
All smiles now----"Let's get to work guys".

tbc
Bev
-------------------------------------------------
Pythia's journal:

End of Day one.

Our first night under the stars. In most adventure tales this is a 
breathtakingly romantic experience - to lie under the infinite expanse of 
the sky, gazing up at the sprinkling of diamonds that pattern it's velvet 
depths, to hear the soft sound of the surf breaking on the beach and 
feel the leaping warmth of the firelight as it plays across your skin ...

Well, I guess there's a little of that.  Or maybe a *lot* of that - 
providing you add the restless muttering of shipwrecked souls, working on 
ways to survive the days ahead, the hissing crackle of yet another crab, 
baking in the hot embers at the edge of the fire, the comforting laughter 
of true heroes as they organise the watches for the night (Autolycus 
insisted they draw straws for the midnight shift) - along with the dry, 
rough feel of salt stained cloth as you wrap it around yourself and settle 
down in the sand to sleep.

I will dream of sand tonight.  Sand under my feet, in my clothes, in my 
hair, sand in every mouthful of hot steaming crabmeat, even sand in the 
bananas because, by the time we came to eat them, I was too tired to 
bother brushing the stains of the beach from my hands.  But we are fed, 
and watered for tonight at least - and tomorrow we will head inland, 
looking for a better campsite; one close to fresh water and with a flat 
sheltered prospect where we can build sturdier shelter.  Jason didn't 
think that it would rain tonight, but rain it will, sooner or later.  I 
want to be under a thick roof of canvas and woven palm leaves by then - or 
 be able to crawl into a tepee at least!
 
It had been too late to move inland by the time the scouting parties had 
returned - although Hercules and his party had brought back news of 
sighting a river mouth further long the bay.  That means there'll plenty 
of water on the island, and we won't need to rely on Bev's ingenious 
condenser - although it's more than proved it's worth tonight!

Not all is rosy - there are still some people unaccounted for, and we 
can't live on crabs and bananas for the rest of our lives.  But Iolaus has 
promised he'll do a little fishing tomorrow, and Hercules and I have 
discussed ways of making nets and fish traps using plaits of coconut 
fibres and the tough sea grass that grows along the shore.  Several people 
have volunteered to help with that and I know the Amazons among us are 
eager to  go hunting in the interior.  I'm sure we won't starve.
 
At least we've survived the first day.

And tomorrow?  Who knows what adventure awaits us ...
Pythia
------------------------------------------------
By the time we stumbled into camp, it was dark...the flickering of the
fire was the only thing which had continued to draw us on.  Not wanting
to disturb anyone, we crept to the end of the group, too tired for
explanations anyway, and dropped to the sand.  As I stared up at the
stars, I thought about all that had happened...the terrifying shipwreck,
the hauling in of debris...Quietwolf's idea of
heading out to scout the island...the realization that Drakkar was
missing.

Iolaus and I, along with a couple of others, had split off from the main

scouting group to head along the beach, in the direction of the
prevailing currents, to try to find Drakkar.  We had walked for about an
hour, when it became evident that those who had come with us were
flagging...the peculiar 'high' which seems to come with unexpected and
terrifying danger, the energy which allows people to fight desperately,
persevere against incredible odds, or flee with unbelievable speed from
an enemy too terrible to face, had worn off.  Iolaus watched them with
increasing concern as their paces slowed and they began to stumble.
Speaking quietly to me, he observed, "We can't go much farther
today...we'll have to turn back."

Torn, I looked ahead, where the island's shore curved away, hiding what
lay beyond.  Drakkar was somewhere up ahead, I just knew it...she had to

be.  I couldn't just turn around.  I could see Iolaus was torn...he had
to be concerned with the greater good.  Nodding, I whispered back, "I'll
just go a little further...then I'll turn around, I promise...I'll be
right behind you."

I knew he wanted to object, but he knew how stubborn I could be, and
arguing would only waste time.  So, he finally nodded, turned to the
others, and began to support them back to the place where we'd come
ashore.  By the time they got back, the others would have cobbled
together a meal.

I watched them head back around the headland, then continued on along
the
shore.  A little further became a little more...then just a little
more.  It was dusk by the time I spotted a dark bundle on the sand about
a hundred feet ahead.

It was Drakkar!  And, thank the gods, she was alive!  Poor thing, she'd
taken quite a blow to the head, causing a nasty gash.  It had made her
drowsy and confused...she'd laid down to rest for just a few minutes and

had fallen asleep.  I roused her, made sure there were no other
injuries.  Tearing a strip from my skirt, I drenched it with the good
Nemean wine, and cleaned out the gash, all the while listening to her
terrifying experience of having been sucked out of the belly of the
ship, cast adrift far from where Jason had managed to steer it, closer
into the island.  The incoming tide had helped him bring the ship
in...and had brought Drakkar to land.

There was no way we wanted to stay in the isolated area of the beach
where we were then, so we turned and headed back to the others.  As we
stumbled through the sand, both of us exhausted, we were glad of the
moonlight on the water...the reflective light was enough for us to find
our way.  Still, we were wondering if we would make it...when the
flicker of
light ahead drew us like a beacon....funny, the things that can seem
like home.  That flicker of light meant warmth, and friendship and
safety.  It was all we needed to galvanize our last bit of energy.

Letting my muscles relax, I was about to doze off, when a shadow
appeared beside me.  "You made it back," Iolaus murmured... "I was
beginning to get worried about you!"

I suppressed a grateful, slightly hysterical giggle, "Well," I whispered

back, "it wasn't that hard to follow the beach back to all of you...not
like we could have gotten lost or anything!"

I could see the hint of a smile reflected in the moonlight.  He touched
my shoulder once, then moved quietly away.  Sighing, I rolled onto my
side to sleep.  What would tomorrow bring?

Arianna
-------------------------------------------------------
Despite the exhaustion that the day's activities had caused (gods, 
had it only been a day since the Argo had gone down?) Quiet Wolf was 
having trouble sleeping.  With a sigh, she sat up and poked at the 
fire, stirring up the embers and adding another piece of wood.  There 
was a peace to the balmy night, as the moon shone down over the 
glistening sand and the waves slid easily along the shore.  Drakkar 
had been found by the intrepid Arianna, and she thankfully had not 
been seriously hurt.  With everyone accounted for, the group was 
breathing a little easier.  Bev had ingeniously secured them water, 
and all had gotten their fill of crabcakes supplied by Allie and 
Iolaus, which were masterfully saved from Falafel's clutches by 
Caro.  All in all, the situation could be a lot worse, and Quiet Wolf 
was very glad that, if she had to be shipwrecked, it was with such a 
clever and capable group of people.

She was just about to lay back down and try to sleep when she spied 
two shadowy figures huddled together on the beach.  Rising and 
stretching, Quiet Wolf identified the silhouettes as Hercules and 
Iolaus.  Padding quietly over the soft sand, she approached behind 
them.

"What are you guys doing?"

Both heroes whirled around in alarm, but relaxed as they saw who it 
was sneaking up on them.

"What are you doing up?" Iolaus asked, taking his hand away from his 
sword hilt.

"I couldn't sleep," the bard confessed, looking at the two warriors 
that were suddenly very silent.  "What's going on?  Hercules, are you 
still worried about whatever you heard this afternoon?"

"I can't explain it," the demigod said hesitantly.  He was reluctant 
to discuss it, not wanting to upset the group unnecessarily, but he 
knew that Quiet Wolf didn't scare easily.  "It's just a feeling I 
have.  We're not alone on this island.  Someone, or something, is 
here with us.  And it was watching us today."

Despite the fact that she didn't scare easily, a chill ran up Quiet 
Wolf's spine at the ominous words of the demigod.  It didn't go 
unnoticed by Iolaus, who put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said lightly.  "You know Herc and I aren't going to 
let anything happen to you, or anyone else in the group."

"I'm not afraid," she protested quickly.  But all the same, she 
decided to keep her snake hook close at hand for the remainder of 
their stay.  

"Why don't you go back up to the fire and get some sleep?" Hercules 
suggested.  

Quiet Wolf nodded.  They had a lot of work ahead of them tomorrow.  
Setting up a camp in the area they had scouted along the river mouth, 
rigging up a shelter, moving the supplies they had scavenged, and 
gathering in more food.  They would have to begin at dawn, and as 
much as Quiet Wolf loved an adventure, she never claimed to be a 
morning person.  Leaving the warriors and returning to where the rest 
of the group was slumbering peacefully, she lay down in her spot in 
the sand.  Although the potential danger that Hercules sensed on the 
island worried her a bit, it didn't keep her awake.  Quiet Wolf knew 
she and the rest of the group were safe under the watch of Greece's 
two finest heroes.  

------------------------------------------------
Caro turned over and started scratching her head. "Stop it!" she
exclaimed quietly so as not to wake any of the others. Her head itched,
her neck itched, her whole body itched. It was the salt water, it had
always had that affect on her especially when combined with sand. Sand
and salt an eczema sufferers nightmare. She sighed, what she wouldn't
give for a nice long shower and a really strong emollient cream. 

Sitting up Caro looked around her, if you were going to be shipwrecked
then you couldn't ask to be with a better bunch of people. You had to
feel confident with the presence of Hercules, Iolaus and Jason, but
there were also some pretty capeable people here too. Look at the way
Allie had found those crabs, and Bev and her water trap that had been
brilliant and a possible life saver. She smiled as she noticed the
sleeping Drakkar, what a relief that Arianna had been so determined and
had found their missing companion. 

Falafel was muttering to himself in his sleep and jealously guarding his
cooking pot, hugging it tight to his stomach. How she could keep
everyone safe from his cooking she didn't know. They all seeemed to
think she had been responsible for making the crabs palatable, but it
had been more to do with Bev and good fortune. Caro was no cook, but she
liked her food and she supposed that and a bit of common sense was
enough to keep their resident cook on the straight and narrow. At least
he didn't seem to mind 'showing her the ropes' as he had put it.

A little distance from the group Caro spied the large form of Hercules,
he was sitting with two others, and watching for a moment she decided
that they were Iolaus and Quiet Wolf. Wondering if there was something
wrong, the itchy survivor almost went to join them but decided that if
Hercules thought that she needed to know something he would tell her.
'Ignorance is bliss' she sighed to herself as she lay back down and
tried to get some sleep. 

Dawn wasn't far off now and it would be nice to get through the next day
without turning into a zombie. Dreaming of a nice gentle river running
with pure mountain water Caro finally drifted off to sleep.

Caro
--------------------------------
It had been an eventful day.  Llyra had put aside her concerns for 
Drakkar in order to help organize the rest of the survivors to take 
care of their immediate needs.  For the most part, the list sisters 
had joined in with a will, putting everything together with amazing 
speed and enthusiasm.  However, some of the younger sisters were 
having real trouble adjusting to their current state of affairs.

Early in the afternoon, before the search parties had returned, Llyra 
was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her mind on her tasks.  
She was worried about Drakkar, and the others who had yet to show up 
(where was Ziggy, anyway?  Had she made it ashore?  Was Chaos with 
her?) and thinking more and more that she should have joined the 
others to search the island.  She found herself watching the horizon, 
hoping to catch a glimpse of the search parties, the missing sisters 
or both.  All in all, Llyra could no longer hide her anxiety.

It was Jason who found the perfect solution for both those who were 
not adjusting and she who was slowly going mad with worry.  He 
approached the older bard and asked for her help.

"Llyra, could you go and talk to Skylark?" he asked.

"Skylark?  Why, is she ill?"  Llyra was immediately concerned. Skylark 
reminded her sharply of her own girl, Astride, and they were about the 
same age.  It was all the older woman could do to keep from racing to 
the youngster's side and mothering her.

"No, no, she's fine physically," Jason assured her.  `It's just that 
she's having a little trouble dealing with this whole situation."

"She ain't the only one," Llyra said ruefully.  "This was definitely 
not on my `Life- Experiences- that- I- Had- to- Achieve- to- be- 
Happy' list.  Okay, okay, I'll talk to her.  Where is she?"

It didn't take long to find Skylark - she was sitting on a big rock, 
her arms wrapped around her knees, staring out at the sea. Llyra 
climbed up beside her and sat down.

They sat together in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own 
thoughts.  Finally Llyra broke the silence.

"The sea looks really calm now, doesn't it?" she said casually.  
Skylark shrugged her shoulders, but did not answer.  Llyra laid a 
gentle hand on the girl's back and began to massage between her 
shoulder blades.  After a few moments, she leaned into the caress and 
began to relax.  It was a short step from there to letting the older 
woman slide a comforting arm around her and pull her into a hug.

"I'm just so - so - " Skylark began, but could not voice her true 
feelings.

"Scared?" Llyra supplied helpfully.  "I only know how you feel because 
I feel the same way.  Scared."

Skylark looked up.  "You do?"

"Sure I do.  I think most of us feel the same way, just some of us are 
better at hiding it than others.  Then again, some of us are braver 
than others."

"Like Hercules and Iolaus?  And Jason?"

"Sorta, but also like Quiet Wolf and Kleandra.  Herc and Iolaus and 
Jason are old hands at being brave because they're heroes.  But it's 
like they say: being brave is just a matter of doing what you have to 
do when you have to do it.  Anybody can do that, even me.  Certainly 
you can."

"Everybody must think I'm such a wimpy little kid," Skylark said 
miserably.

"No, Honey, we don't," Llyra assured her with a squeeze of her 
shoulders.  "We think you're part of the team, and we think we need 
you, especially if you know something about that medkit you're carting 
around."

"Oh, yeah!" Skylark was finally more animated.  "I studied healing 
herbs and medicines because I'm always getting sick."

"That's good because if it was left up to me, I'd probably prescribe 
rubbing poison ivy on sun burn."

"Not good," Skylark grinned.  "But at least you'd forget about the sun 
burn."

"You got that right," Llyra agreed.  "Speaking of sunburn, you think 
you could devise some kind of sun screen for those of us not sporting 
a deep tan?  The last thing we need is everybody coming down with a 
severe burn from all this lovely sunshine."

Skylark considered for a moment, going over everything she knew about 
skin care.  "Maybe I could mix up something with coconut oil, if we 
can find a way of extracting the oil in the first place."

"We'll put our heads together on that one.  We'll all smell like pina 
coladas, but at least we won't turn into crispy critters. I saw 
Arianna walking around with a bolt of cloth, so maybe we could devise 
some kind of head covering.  Sun stroke isn't any fun, either."

With her mind focussed on something concrete to do to help everyone 
else, the young girl forgot her earlier melancholy and started to plan 
her next task.  Llyra had forgotten, for a little while, her worries 
over Drakkar and the others.  When she thought about the whole thing 
later, she thought, "One smart cookie, that Jason."

As the two continued down the beach back to the others, they saw Kat 
and Margui race toward a still figure, fallen on the sand.  

"It's CJ," Skylark cried in alarm.  She and Llyra ran to join their 
friends to help the fallen Amazon.  They heard Margui inform the 
sleeping CJ that Herc was not with them, so there would be no mouth to 
mouth.  

Llyra, always willing to be helpful, smiled wickedly and said, "Don't 
worry, Margui.  Falafel is in camp.  I'm sure he'd be more than 
willing to -"

But nobody ever found out what Falafel would be willing to do, because 
CJ had already leapt to her feet and was running away screaming about 
how healthy she was.

Llyra
-----------------------------------
Ziggy dragged herself to shore. It was already getting dark and she could
see fires along the shore as most of the others were settling down for the
night. "Whew!" she said as she pulled herself away from the flowing tide. "I
didn't think that piece of timber would ever come to shore!"

Quickly, she got to her feet and looked out at the splashing waves. She was
sad. She had been unable to locate Chaos before the Argo had gone down
completely. She feared her little companion was lost to Posidein's raging
temper. Unable to think of anything else to do, she started towards the
campfires set up.

"Ziggy!" called a voice and soon she was surrounded by many of her ListSibs.
A blanket was tossed over her shoulder as she was led to one of the blazing
fires. Iolaus, Hercules and Jason all welcomed her. A waterskin was thrust
into her hands and she drank deeply, her throat still parched from the sun
and salt water she had battled the past few hours.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her Swiss army knife. With its
sharp blades, she would be able to skin rabbits (if there were any on this
island), gut fish and sharpen sticks to catch said game. The other tools
would come in handy, too. But all the help she could provide paled when she
thought of her lost companion.

"I lost Chaos," she sniffed.

"As chaotic as the situation seems," came Autolycus' voice, "there is only
one creature that can still be with us!"

Ziggy looked up at the King of Thieves. "What?"

"It takes a thief to find a thief," Auto stated. He held out the furry
little critter.

"Chaos!" Ziggy grabbed the ferret and hugged him. Chaos, however, didn't
appreciate the gesture and quickly squirmed out of her grasp. He started
dancing across the cooling sands, ellicting chuckles from her fellow
outcasts. Ziggy jumped to her feet and gave Auto a hug. "Where did you find
him?!"

"He just washed up on shore, shook himself off and, well, here we are," he
told her. "I think he'll come in handy with the hunting. I don't trust Curly
to find enough for all of us, you know."

"I heard that!" came Iolaus' indignant voice from over the beach.

"No need for you to find food for all of us, Iolaus," Ziggy soothed, "we've
got a great bunch of hunter/gatherers with us. Chaos can flush the game,
though."

Suddenly realizing she was very tired, Ziggy found a fire with some of her
ListSibs and laid down. They'd have to search for decent shelter tomorrow,
though she heard some of the others talking about a search party already
checking out the island. 'Hmmmm,' she thought, 'Chaos is pretty good at
searching, too.'

NOTE: To the Game Goddesses: Any problem with Chaos being one of my
possessions? If so, let me know and I'll send the Little Guy off on his own.
Ziggy
-------------------------------------------
Hey all!

Excellent job to all the Survivors! Well done on the first week.

Just to bring everyone up to date on what supplies you now have:

10 ft. pole
50 ft rope
bag of marbles
canvas from the sails
1 barrel of dry, uncooked rice
Jason: Sword
Iolaus: sword, fishing line and hook, bow with a few arrows
Falafel: cooking pot
Autolycus: lockpick with extension, rope with grappling hook
Hercules: himself
Owlharp: Swiss Army knife and waterskin
Arianna: Bolt of Linen (very good!), skin of Nemean wine
Pythia: Kitchen shears and hatchet
Kat: Sword and Hoolie kit (I'm thinking Kat's in charge of comic relief,
huh?)
Allie: Big water bucket and hatchet
Caro: Large blue glass and belt with many loops
Bev: Soap and small knife
MaryE: Fishnet hammock and small mirror
Athena: backpack and dental floss
Skylark: Medicine pouch and glasses
Quietwolf: snake stick and Iolaus2's telescope
Llyra: sewing kit (that'll be handy) and pouch of baking soda
Drakkar: unknown
Elaine: unknown
Kleandra: knife and bolo
Margui: umbrella and cat of nine tails
CJ: fishing pole and sword
Ahary: Spade and Superglue (excellent)

If I missed anything please email me and let me know.

The secret word was "Corinth" and no one, not one of you,  mentioned
wanting to get back there, so there will be no one removed from the
island for using the secret word this week. 

As for who won the immunity challenge, sorry you didn't need it.
Congradulations go to Elaine for going above and beyond and incorporating
her challenge into the story and to Llyra for the truely awful pun.
Nobody comes up with worse puns than Spider....<G>

OK, that unplesant duty handled we're on to more plesant tasks. 

This weeks Immunity challenge will be again due on the list by midnight
Friday:

Iolaus is trapped in a 15 foot deep, dirt pit and the sides are too
crumbly to climb out, he has no rope. How could he get out without anyone
else's help?

judging will be handled same as last week. The judge will select the 5
most inventive methods of escape and we will draw at random from those 5
names. 

Good luck

Love
The Game Goddesses
---------------------------------------
The dawn came to find all the survivors weary after a night on the beach
and a rough day behind them. Seeing the state of the castaways over
breakfast of bananas and coconuts Hercules determined to make today a
better experience. Hercules ordered everyone to gather up their things
and whatever they could carry and they'd go set up a permanent camp.

Hercules hefted the large barrel of rice onto his shoulder and led the
way down the beach. Iolaus and Autolycus shared the burden of carrying
the 10 foot pole fussing at each other all the way. It took most of the
morning to follow the small stream up to the top of the tree covered
plateau to it's source, cascading from a small rock outcropping at the
edge of the plateau.

Hercules sat the rice down next to a large tree and declared it a good
spot. 

"This is the center of the island, it's high ground, lots of shade."

Iolaus agreed, "We can tie the canvas between the trees for a roof and
tie   palm fronds for walls."

Autolycus kicked around the grass, "I suppose it's soft enough to sleep
on. At least there's water over there, that fresh spring will do nicely."

Jason had wandered to the edge of the small forest, "Hey, check out the
view off this ridge, very nice. We can see passing ships from here and
maybe try to hail them if we can build a big enough fire. We should
gather wood for that once we get ourselves settled."

Everyone pitched in and a makeshift shelter was soon erected. Wood was
gathered and a fire built in a pit to provide warmth. Supplies were
stowed and a makeshift kitchen assembled. Falafel set to work on some
coconut cream pies.

A bath in the spring was the perfect ending for the day, rid of the salt
and sand, they bedded down for a good night's rest. 

Hercules remained on watch at the edge of camp and the edge of the woods.
After the last two days, even a demigod was exceedingly wearily and his
eyes drooped. 

The snapping of a twig brought him suddenly back to wakefulness but all
was silent. Quietly, Hercules got up to investigate. Taking a torch, he
made his way to the edge of Ruffle's ridge. He peered over the side as he
felt a hand shoving him forward. He desperately tried to regain his
balance catching only a glimpse of black leather and hearing the low
chuckle of amusement before he slipped over the edge. 

The survivors in the camp were oblivious. Hercules was on guard they had
no need to worry, they could sleep in peace and they did. Only Iolaus
rolled restlessly, his sleep disturbed by something but his exhaustion
preventing him from being woken.

Hercules came to in darkness. The ground beneath him was unbelievably
hard. He shifted to try and get more comfortable only to feel agonizing
pains shooting up his leg from his ankle. Groaning, he sat up discovering
many more bruises, scrapes and cuts in the process and felt his foot. 

"Broken, damn."

With a sigh, he laid back down on the hard rock ledge. He felt better
laying down, probably had a concussion as well. the demigod took stock of
his predicament. He couldn't get himself down. He was too far from camp
to be heard by yelling, he'd have to wait until the camp woke up at dawn
and came looking for him. He felt sure Iolaus could track his movements
in the night and find where he went over the cliff. 

He rolled to his side to look at the cliff face in the moonlight. No
handholds he could reach but just down the ledge appeared to be a small
cave. Hercules pulled himself to the opening and peered in. What he saw
brought a smile to his face. There were baskets of fruit inside and a
container of flour. Just what they needed. Then, he frowned, someone had
to have put this stuff in here.....they were not alone.....That had to
have been Ares at the top of the cliff, so they had at least one god to
deal with and who else? Hercules decided not to look a gift horse in the
mouth and keep his concerns to himself for awhile. 

(note, more on the island's inhabitants with our next post....for the
moment they do not appear to be in the vicinity. <G>)

Your game goddesses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
  Owlharp rolled over for what seemed  like the 85th time in the last
half hour and finally admitted to herself that there was no point in
trying to get back to sleep. Those $%^&! birds in the trees above had
started to make a racket, which meant that dawn was not far away. Plus,
she could hear Jason snoring all the way across the camp. 
   She sat up, wiped her sand-encrusted eyes and pushed her
sand-encrusted hair back out of her face. The eastern sky was just
beginning to lighten. Quietly she got to her feet and looked around.
Everyone else seemed to still be asleep. 
She headed off to the spring to wash her face and get a drink. The water,
gushing up from a hole in the rock, was cold and sweet. Finding it had
been a major relief , at least in her own private opinion - at least they
knew where the water was coming from, and that there was nothing to
pollute it. She had carefully washed the salt from the waterskin and
filled it - it now sat under the tree that they had dubbed "the Kitchen",
next to the rice barrel and Falafel's precious pot. 
   The sky was getting pinker and she wandered over to the edge of the
ridge. The view was breathtaking - she could see the beach far below,
with the foam of the breaking waves now rose-colored in the dawn. The
faint noise of the sea was just audible, way up here. The cool morning
breeze ruffled her hair. 
   If it wasn't for the fact that they were shipwrecked, she would have
been completely blissful. And even with that still in mind, for the
moment she felt happy. They had water, food and fire, and they'd be okay
until they figured out some way of getting back home. 
   With a quick look back at camp to make sure she was far enough away
not to awaken anyone, Owlharp stood on the edge of the cliff and started
to sing. 

"i thank you god
for most this amazing day
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and the blue true dream of sky
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite which is yes - "

   She broke off suddenly. Was there a noise coming from below her? She
held her breath and listened. For a few heartbeats there was only the
noise of the sea and then she heard

"Hey!"

Owlharp recognized the voice. "Hercules?" she shouted, kneeling carefully
as close to the edge of the cliff as she dared and peering over.
"Hercules, is that you down there?" 

"No, it's Widow Twanky! "

"Very funny. What are you doing down there?"

 "I need some help. Get Iolaus and Jason and bring a rope!" 
 
 Okay, there was no time to waste. Owlharp bellowed "On my way!" and
scurried back to the campsite.  Looked like it was going to be an
interesting morning!  
     
Owlharp
--------------------------------
Caro woke to the urgent whisper of Owlie. It wasn't aimed at her but it
woke her anyway. Turning over she blearily opened her eyes, "What's up?"

Quietly so as not to wake anyone else Owlharp explained Hercules'
predicament. "He thinks his foot is broken so we need to get him back to
camp as soon as possible."

Caro was instantly wide awake and standing beside Iolaus and Owlharp,
"What can I do?"

Iolaus smiled at her eagerness and with a grin replied, "Stay with the
camp. If you can get a fire started and some water on the boil, then
Herc will have something good to welcome him back." Iolaus' tone was
light but he couldn't hide his concern for Hercules from his companions.

Caro smiled back at the hunter, "Sure. I'll take care of it. I expect
the others will be awake and wanting breakfast soon anyway."

She watched with concern as Iolaus, Jason and Owlharp quickly made their
way from the encampment. 

'I do hope he's all right.'

Caro
---------------------------------------
Dawn had barely begun to paint the eastern sky when Iolaus stirred
restlessly, decided he was awake and sat up to greet the new day.  Well,
at least they had a permanent camp, well situated and reasonably
secure.  Stretching, he stood to leave the shelter quietly, so as not to
disturb the others who were still fast asleep.  No wonder...the last two
days had been both physically and mentally exhausting!  And, though no
one had mentioned it yet, continuing anxiety about the wellbeing of
Ziggy was playing on everyone's minds...and hope that she would be found
was beginning to dwindle.  Standing outside of their canvas and palm
frond shelter, Iolaus looked out through the trees, far to the horizon
across the sea.  There were plenty of other small islands out
there...maybe she'd landed somewhere else.  Ziggy was resilient...she'd
survive.  He wouldn't count her dead until there was no other hope.

Letting his eyes scan the camp, he realized he didn't see Hercules
anywhere.  Frowning, he moved around the back of the shelter...maybe
Herc was just out of immediate sight...he wouldn't have just gone off
when he was standing watch.  Iolaus circled the camp, found traces of
Herc's footprints...but, it took time to sort them all out...the camp
was full of everyone's footprints...they'd left countless signs of their
efforts yesterday on the ground, plain for anyone to see.

Not a little anxious, Iolaus bent to the task at hand, moving further
from the area around the camp, to its perimetre...where Herc would have
been walking while keeping watch during the night.  Finally, he found
the tracks he was sure were those he sought...recent, no other tracks
crossing them.  He found the spot where Herc had sat...and from the
scuffed sign, Iolaus wondered if Herc might have dozed off a bit.  Then,
the tracks led off, toward the ridge...and ended there.

Iolaus just stared at the trail's end, not wanting to comprehend.  He
looked around to see where Herc had walked away from the edge.
Nothing.  Oh gods...what had happened!  A sick feeling in the pit of his
stomach, Iolaus stepped to the edge, grabbed hold of the trunk of a tree
for support and looked down.

"By the gods!  HERC!" he shouted when he spotted his friend lying some
distance below on a shelf which jutted out over the rocks and sea
below.  Profound relief washed over him when Hercules waved from below
to signal he was alive and alert.

"My ankle...broken," Iolaus heard Herc shout at him from far
below....his voice sounding weak, painfilled.

"Hold on, Herc!  I'll be right there!"  Iolaus called.  'A broken
ankle...' he sighed, as he examined the side of the ridge between him
and his friend, and the area to either side and below.  It wouldn't be
easy getting Hercules back up the cliff face...and there was no other
visible route that would be less daunting.

Iolaus turned and raced back to camp.  He'd need supplies...and help.

When he arrived back, many of the others had begun to stir.  Quietwolf,
Wildkat, Pythia and Arianna were all up, beginning to scavenge for
breakfast.  They looked up at his arrival, alarm crossing their faces
when they took in his face.

"What's happened?" Quietwolf asked, Arianna demanding simultaneously,
"What's wrong?"

"It's Herc...he's been hurt...his ankle's broken and he's trapped on a
ledge about forty feet below the ridge,"  Iolaus pointed back the way he
had come.  "I need to get down to help him...I need supplies and a way
to get him back up."

The women looked at each other for a moment.  "Rope!" Quietwolf said, as
she turned to find their 50 foot length of rope.  Pythia pulled out her
hatchet, "This will help cut splints."  Iolaus nodded gratefully.

"We need a hoist...."  Arianna frowned thoughtfully, then rummaged for
the bolt of linen she'd rescued from the sea.  "We can fashion a kind of
seat for him...pull him up the side of the ridge...."

"Great idea!"  exclaimed Iolaus with a smile...this would make it a lot
easier!  "We'll need something to cut it with..." pulling out his knife,
"I guess this would do..."

Pythia interrupted as she pulled out her kitchen shears, "I think these
might work better."

By now, Skylark had emerged from the shelter, wondering what was going
on.  Quickly taking in the urgency, realizing Hercules must be in pain,
she held out her medicine pouch, "I have herbs here, for pain....."
Young, she was a bit hesitant, but was reassured when Iolaus threw her a
grateful smile.

Wildkat had run ahead and was waiting for them at the cliff's edge when
they arrived with the supplies.  Iolaus quickly cut the splints he would
need with the hatchet, while Pythia and Arianna cut a good length from
the bolt of cloth.  Quietwolf rapped the cloth around her, as Wildcat
tied off the rope.  Skylark entrusted her with the medicine pouch.
Quietwolf and Wildkat would climb down with Iolaus to help him treat
Herc's injury and manoevre him into the linen hoist.  They would also
climb back up alongside Herc, to help keep him from banging into the
cliff walls, while Iolaus would climb ahead to work with Pythia, Skylark
and Arianna in hauling Herc back to the top of the cliff.

They were ready and, one after another, the three headed down.  Iolaus
was the first to reach his friend.  Kneeling, he checked Herc out, as he
said, "So, sleepwalking again, were we?" trying to lighten the
situation.  He couldn't figure out how Herc had managed to fall over the
edge.

Herc, responding to the unspoken question, murmured quickly, before the
others could hear and be alarmed, "Ares dropped in...gave me a shove."
He winced as Iolaus gripped his ankle a little hard at this news.
Shooting Herc a look of surprise and alarm, Iolaus mouthed, "Ares?"
Herc nodded then greeted the other two castaways who had just arrived.

"Quietwolf, Kat...thanks for helping," he said, gracious even in pain.
Iolaus had started to bind his ankle, Quietwolf helping to straighten
the limb.  Herc hissed a bit in pain but made no other sound.  Kat
reached into the bag Skylark had entrusted to her, pulled out some
feverfew and stooped by Herc's head.  "Sorry, I don't have any water for
an infusion...but, if you chew on this, it should help a bit with the
pain."  Herc smiled weakly in gratitude as he took the herbs from her
hand.   "Thanks."  Nodding toward the cavern in the cliff wall, he
continued, "Kat, you might want to check that out before we leave...."
Curious, Kat followed his glance, saw the cavern, and stood to
investigate.

Arianna
-----------------------------------------------
(Aside to all readers and fellow castaways...seems a few of us were
writing simultaneously...as a means to pull us back together at the
cliff...could we just imagine that Owlie and Caro are with the others at
the top of the ridge, and that Jason has remained there as well, to help
haul Herc to the top?)  
Arianna

-----------------------------------
Pythia's Journal: Day Three.

There is no worse patient in the world than an injured demi-god!  I know 
he keeps claiming that Iolaus is far harder to deal with when he's hurt, 
but I seriously doubt it ...

Once we'd managed to get Hercules back to the top of the cliff, Iolaus and 
Jason carried him back to camp between them, leaving the rest of us to 
bring the barrels of fruit and sacks of flour that had been hidden in the 
tiny cave.  Falafel's eyes went wide when Arianna and I staggered into the 
clearing at either end of a barrel of dried apricots - and even wider 
still as Quietwolf and Kat followed us with a sack of flour over each 
shoulder.  Some of the others hastened off to relieve Skylark from her 
anxious vigil over the rest of the supplies, while we dumped our burdens 
at the cook's feet and went to make sure Hercules was okay.

Jason had slung MaryE's hammock between two trees and the son of Zeus had 
been settled into it like some cannibal king, his leg strapped up with 
green wood splints and a few more strips of Arianna's linen.  Iolaus was 
holding him down - literally - since he kept insisting he was okay, and 
could walk, and he had to find out what Ares was up to.  It took 
practically the entire camp to convince him otherwise (along with a few 
furious frowns from his partner and threats from Jason to knock him out 
with a coconut if he didn't see sense) and he finally agreed to stay put 
for a day or two.  Just while his bones knitted and providing nothing dire 
occurred in the meantime.

Iolaus asked Arianna and me to keep an eye on him and make sure he did 
what he'd promised.  He was worried as Hercules about the accident and 
wanted to go back to take another look at the cliff.  Quietwolf and Kat 
were organising hunting and gathering parties; Autolycus 'volunteered' to 
go back to the beach and build a signal fire so that we could signal to 
any passing ships, and Jason wanted a few folk to help him walk the beach 
in case any more salvage had washed ashore from the Argo.

Which is why I'm currently sat under a palm tree, cutting palm leaves into 
strips, weaving twenty plus sunhats and a sunshade for an anxious 
demi-god.  Iolaus has been gone for over three hours now; Jason and his 
crew have just got back from the beach with a cargo of broken planks, 
another sail and several armfuls of edible seaweed, and the only sign 
we've had of the hunting party has been a flash from MaryE's mirror down 
in the interior of the island.  At least, we hope that's what it was.

Falafel's soaking apricots and baking biscuits.  Hercules is busy using my 
hatchet to whittle a crutch - and me?  Once I've finished this sunhat, I'm 
going to start on plaiting grass and coconut fibre.  Lots of it.  I've an 
idea as to how I can fashion a bolas or two using some of the marbles for 
weights.  If Ares is lurking on this island, we're likely to need a few 
more weapons to hand ...

Pythia
--------------------------------
Now that Herc was safely installed back in the hammock in camp, with
Jason to keep watch there, Iolaus decided he needed to do some hunting,
after he had taken another look at the cliff.  Coconuts and bananas were
fine, and they had lots of other stuff now, dried apricots and flour,
for example, but he liked something more substantial...something called
meat!  Hoisting his ever present sack over his shoulder, he gathered his
bow and arrows, stopping only long enough to let Herc and Jason know he
was on his way.

"Sure you don't want me to come along?"  Jason enquired.

Iolaus shook his head, "No, I think it's best if you stay closer to the
camp...I don't plan to be gone for long!"  Iolaus gave them a cheeky
grin, to underscore his confidence in himself.

Herc grinned back, then sobered, "Just be careful, Iolaus...we're not as
alone as we thought on this island...and Ares is around here somewhere."

Iolaus nodded.  He knew Herc hated to see him go off alone, but there
was no way, right now, that Herc could come along.  "Right, I promise
Mom, I'll be careful!"

Herc and Jason snorted at his irreverence, and waved as he headed off.

Heading down island, into an area they had not yet explored, Iolaus had
travelled for a couple of miles, and over the course of two hours had
caught two pheasant and a peacock, three grouse and four rabbits.  Not a
bad haul.  Satisfied, he had tied vines around the feet of the birds and
rabbits, stringing them together to carry over his shoulder.  He'd just
turned to head back, when he heard a low chuckle behind him.  Dropping
the game on the ground, Iolaus whirled and took two steps away, pulling
out his sword as he turned.

Ares was standing not ten feet away, arms crossed, a smirk on his face.
"Ah, the Mighty Hunter....looks like you did good, Curly."

Iolaus stayed in his ready stance, knees bent, sword held by both hands
in front of his body, pointed at Ares.  "What do you want, Ares?"

Ares shrugged, "Oh, nothing too serious...just thought I see if I could
find a little amusement to pass the time."  Frowning a little, Ares
cocked an eye at the sword in Iolaus' hands.  Shaking his head, he
muttered, "Iolaus, just exactly what do you think you're going to do
with that toothpick?  You know you can't hurt me."

Iolaus looked at the sword, then back at Ares, "Yeah, well, it's kinda a
reflex."  Shrugging, Iolaus decided Ares was right...if the god had
wanted to hurt him, Ares would have done so by now.  Iolaus put up the
sword, put in back into the scabbard on his belt.  Standing with his
hands on hips, he confronted the god, "So, what now, Ares?  Did you want
to help me hunt, play some cards, wrestle?"

Ares chuckled again, a speculative look in his eyes.  "As much fun as
all that sounds, I had something else in mind."

"Yeah, and what would that be?" Iolaus countered, trying for a bored,
'I'm busy' tone.

"This," smirked Ares as he snapped his fingers.  Suddenly, the ground
simply disappeared from below Iolaus' feet and he dropped straight down
into the space below.

"Oommmphhhh!" grunted Iolaus as he hit bottom, fifteen feet below.
Looking up, he saw Ares standing on the lip of the hole above him,
grinning with supreme satisfaction.

"Alright, oh Mighty Hunter...let's see you get out of this!"  Ares
laughed richly, then disappeared in his usual puff of smoke.

Iolaus stood, and, unconsciously brushing the dirt off his clothes, he
examined his predicament.  "You coulda left a rope!" he shouted after
the departed god.

"Great, just great," Iolaus muttered as he began to try to climb out of
the narrow but deep pit he found himself in...narrow, but too wide to
brace shoulders on one side and feet on the other to 'walk' himself
out.  Digging into the dirt, he tried to get a secure handhold, to climb
his way back to the top.  But, the earth just crumbled in his hands.  A
mixture of very dry earth and broken shale, it gave no grip, provided no
resistance.  He moved around the hole, testing it all before he gave up
the idea of climbing to freedom.

Sighing, he stood back and looked again up at the light above him.  Too
high to jump.  "Damn," he muttered under his breath, "how am I supposed
to get out of here!"

Reaching over to scratch one shoulder while he thought, he touched the
string of his bow, realized he still carried it over his shoulder.  One
eyebrow raised in thoughtful consideration, he pulled it from his
shoulder, along with the pack he had slung over the same shoulder.
Whistling off key, he rummaged through his sack to see if there was
anything there he could use.  He threw a banana over his shoulder,
thought better of that, picked it up, peeled it, and holding it in one
hand, he continued to rummage with the other.  Some medicinal herbs,
rags, spare arrow heads, fish hooks and line, more rags...not much
else.  He'd left the blanket he usually carried back at the main camp.
Frowning, his mouth twisted, he examined the few supplies he had.

Nodding once to himself, he muttered, "It's worth a try...don't seem to
have any other options...."

Iolaus pulled a thirty foot length of fishing line from the roll he
carried.  First, he tied one end to a hook, then scrunched the hook into
a rough circle.  Reaching for an arrow in the quiver on his belt, he
slipped the rounded hook over the tip of the arrow, then wound fishing
line around it to hold the hook securely in place.  Bending to pick up
his bow, Iolaus notched the arrow, and sighted up along the wall of his
earthen prison to the trunk of a large, sturdy tree.  Iolaus pulled the
arrow back as far as the tension in the bowstring would allow.  He
needed to make sure the arrow hit the tree with as much force as
possible, burying the arrowhead, along with the hook and fishing line,
securely into its' trunk.  Breathing out, he let the arrow fly...and
smiled when he heard the solid 'thunk' as it hit it's target.

The line now stretched from the arrowhead to Iolaus' feet.  He wrapped
one hand around it and pulled, to test how firmly it was anchored.  Felt
solid enough.  "Okay," he muttered, "that was step one of The Great
Escape."  Climbing the line would pose it's own risks...such a thin,
strong line would cut his hands, and he'd have to loop it over his hands
and wrists as he climbed, so that if his grip slipped, he wouldn't slide
all the way back down.

Iolaus bent to pick up a rag, wrapped it around one hand and
wrist...wrapped two more, then started on the other hand.  Cursing he
fumbled with the material...it was much harder with one hand wrapped in
a linen mitt.  Finally, he had used all the rags...it was the best he
could do.  He slung the bag and the bow back over his shoulder, grapped
the line looping it loosely around both hands and wrists, then started
to haul himself up, one hand over the other, feet scrabbling for some
hold on the walls of the pit.  The earth didn't give much support, but
it helped him balance as he climbed.

The fishing line bit into the cloth with each grip.  He was about three
quarters of the way up, when one grip slipped a little, causing the line
to bite through the cloth and score both his palm and the wrist the line
was looped around.  "Damn," he hissed, as he regained a solid grip.
That had stung badly...and blood smearing the line would only make it
harder to grip.  "Better hurry, Iolaus," he encouraged himself as he
reached up for the next hand hold.

By the time he had managed to scramble over the top, the thin line had
cut through the rags on both hands, slicing both palms badly.  He laid
there for a moment, catching his breath, then rolled away from the edge,
up onto his knees, to examine the damage.  Ackwardly readjusting the
rags on his hands, he thought they at least made reasonable bandages
until he could get back to camp.

Fortunately, the game he had caught had not fallen into the pit with
him, nor had some scavenger come to claim it.  Gingerly, Iolaus picked
up the stringed line of game, slipped it over his shoulder, and looped
the end of the vine through his belt so he wouldn't have to hold it all
the way back to camp.

Straightening, Iolaus started back up the forested hill toward the
camp...hoping as he climbed the steep slopes, that Ares had had enough
amusement for the day and would leave him alone.


Arianna
----------------------------------
Allie woke groggily from her first good night's sleep on the island to
find dawn breaking and the camp astir.
She had slept fitfully on the beach the night before.  Each time she had
drifted into wakefulness, somebody was up and around.  Hercules and
Iolaus had spent the night on watch and Allie had the uneasy sense that
they were worried.  And yesterday had been a very busy one setting up
their permanent shelter.  Last night Allie had curled up under her
blanket gratefully and fell immendiately to sleep.

Wide awake now, she realized that this was not just the hustle-bustle of
a camp waking up. Something was wrong.

"What's going on?" she asked Owlie who was running by with a rope in her
hand.

"Hercules is at the bottom of the ridge and he's hurt!"

"Oh gods."  Allie scrambled out of her blankets and followed Owlie to
the ridge where several of their party and a grim-faced Iolaus were
waiting for the rope. Hercules was brought up on the rope with little
trouble, but his foot was definitely broken.  'It's a good thing he's a
demigod and heals quickly'.Allie thought to herself.

Back at the camp with the food Hercules had found and the demigod's foot
splinted and bound and he under strict orders from Iolaus to stay put,
the castaways began their second morning on the island.  Falalfel was
cooking breakfast, so Allie used her hatchet to chop up some more
firewood for him and went to the spring to fill her bucket with fresh
water

After breakfast, Allie looked for a useful way to spend the day.
Quietwolf and Kat were organizing a hunting party, but Allie was no
hunter, beachcombing with Jason was more her style.  Maybe she could
find some more crabs.  If Ahary would loan her the spade she could dig
some clams.  And then, of course, there were all the exciting things
that could be found along a beach after a storm.

Allie
--------------------------------
While Pythia weaved, I found myself the designated handmaiden to a very
grumpy demigod....Pythia's right...I can't imagine Iolaus being worse to
deal with than this.  I guess Hercules just isn't all that used to being
out of action...and the ankle has got to hurt!

So, first, I grabbed the bucket Allie had rescued, got water from the
stream and tore off yet another strip of linen.  Marching over to the
demigod, I put the bucket on the ground, dipped the linen into it,
grabbed an arm, and started to wash that gorgeous body!

Astounded, Herc pulled his arm away.  "What do you think you're doing?"
he snapped.

"You're filthy and covered with scratches and bruises...if we don't get
you cleaned up, then some of them will fester.  So...do I wash you or do
you want to wash yourself?"

He glared at me for a moment, frustrated with his semihelpless
situation, then a blush crept over his face.  I hid my smirk behind a
very stern face.  'Poor guy...he's embarrassed at the idea of me washing
him!' I thought to myself.

Relenting, I held out the wet rag, and Hercules finally grinned good
naturedly as he took it from me.  "Alright, you win," he allowed, as he
began to wipe down his arms and chest...I stood by to rinse the rag from
time to time.  He held the cloth out, thinking he was finished, but I
shook my head, "Your face," I reminded him.  Chuckling, he scrubbed his
face with the newly moistened rag, then handed it back to me.  "Good
enough now...mother?" he smirked.

Smiling back at him, I nodded...at least he was in a little better
humour.  Between us, we checked out the scratches and cuts, deciding
they were alright to be left to the open air to heal.  Then, I brought
water in a mug formed of coconut halves, to quench his thirst...the
shock of the injury and lying out there on the ledge had left him
dehydrated...and then I made a herbal tea from water boiling in the
cauldron over the fire and some of Skylark's herbs.  Sweetening it with
coconut milk, I carried this back to our hero.  "Here, drink this
Hercules...I know you don't want to admit it, being all strong and semi
divine and all...but the mortal part of that ankle must be aching pretty
bad."

Snorting, he took the improvised mug, sniffed it, took a sip, made a
face, then seeing that this was not going to satisfy me, he drank it.
Smiling, he handed it back, "Not bad...and thanks."

"No problem...now, just try to relax, would ya?  Everything is under
control."

Sighing, he put his hands behind his head, resigned to the fact that he
wasn't going anywhere for the next few minutes at least.

Having him settled, at least momentarily, I gratefully collected my new
sunhat from Pythia, brought Herc his and then installed the sunshade
Pythia had woven over the hammock.  Climbing up one of the trees, I
wedged it into the boughs above Hercules...and used a few loops of the
dental floss Athena had brought to secure it to the branches, so that it
didn't slip or blow away.

Of course, the supervision and oh so helpful, and very detailed,
suggestions Hercules kept giving me throughout this operation helped
pass the time too...and kept him marginally distracted.  Teasing, I
threatened to fall out of the tree on top of him if he didn't shut up.
Laughing, he subsided.

Once I had climbed down from the tree, he was already restless again,
fuming at his immobility.  "Look," I suggested, "it's going to be awhile
before you can put all your weight on that ankle...you're going to need
a crutch."

Hercules looked at me with faint but clear disgust...this having been a
fairly obvious observation.  Undaunted, I continued, "So, I think you
should make one."

So saying, I went to pick up a long, likely piece of wood I had spotted
from my perch up in the tree, borrowed Pythia's hatchet, and returned to
hand both objects to him.  Lifting one eyebrow, and quirking his lip,
Hercules muttered, "You're just trying to keep me busy."

"Yup!"  I agreed, "So, get whittling!"

I was headed back toward the fire to scrounge a couple of fresh baked
biscuits for my charge, when Jason and his party returned with more
bounty scavenged from the sea's reach.  Jason scanned the camp as he
entered, then sauntered over to me.  "Iolaus and the others not back
yet?"

"Not yet," I responded, casting a glance up at the sky.  "But, it's
early yet...they'll all hunt as long as they can before coming back."

Jason nodded, but frowned a bit.  He knew they each needed to take on
different tasks, but he was uncomfortable when anyone was out of sight
for too long.   He was ambling over to Pythia, to claim one of the
sunhats, when his eye was caught by a flash from down in the thickly
treed interior of the island.  'What was that?' he wondered, his level
of anxiety cranking up one more notch.

Arianna
----------------------------------
I'm so glad that I got to help Hercules out and that I'm doing all 
this organizing - lol!  However, I'm not posting any VS today because 
that darned Ares bit my hand (the boa, not the god - it was a tough 
day at the zoo)  For some odd reason, he mistook my hand for a rat - 
do we see parallels of intelligence level between god and snake?  
Anyway, since I'm "injured" I'm restricting my typing for the 
evening, but I am enjoying reading!  And just for future reference, 
I'm more of a fisherwoman than a huntress, so if we bag any birds, 
save me some feathers and I'll tie some flies... :)
Cheers,
QW
----------------------------------------------
Gee guys I guess ya were excited to move things along a bit... sorry to
back track...

"Quietwolf, Kat...thanks for helping," he said, gracious even in pain.
Iolaus had started to bind his ankle, Quietwolf helping to straighten
the limb.  Herc hissed a bit in pain but made no other sound.  Kat
reached into the bag Skylark had entrusted to her, pulled out some
feverfew and stooped by Herc's head.  "Sorry, I don't have any water for

an infusion...but, if you chew on this, it should help a bit with the
pain."  Herc smiled weakly in gratitude as he took the herbs from her
hand.   "Thanks."  Nodding toward the cavern in the cliff wall, he
continued, "Kat, you might want to check that out before we leave...."
Curious, Kat followed his glance, saw the cavern, and stood to
investigate.

Kat being as curious as her name suggested, approached the opening in
the rocks.  She was extremely careful about her footing, knowing that
the group did not need another injuried party, especially part of the
rescue squad.  She blinked and rubbed her eyes as she walked inside the
cavern and found the baskets of fruit and the sacks of flour.

"Alright," she whooped.

Iolaus and Quiet Wolf looked over to see if something was wrong.  The
hunter could tell from the smile on Kat's face and the twinkle in her
green eyes that things were ok.

"Catch," the Amazon said as she tossed Iolaus and Quiet Wolf a peach
from one of the baskets.  She bit into one herself as she made her way
back to the injured demigod.  "Here's one for you as well.  Eat it, you
need to keep your strength up."

Hercules was going to argue with the Amazon, but one look into Kat's
eyes told the demigod that it was a battle he wouldn't win.

"There's several baskets of fruit and some flour sacks as well," Kat
informed the others.  "Once we get Herc up the cliff to Owlie, Jason,
and the others, we can come back down for the supplies."

The threesome worked together to get Hercules up the mountainside.  It
was tough work, but they were refreshed by the fact that they had found
some supplies that would help the castaways survive for a while longer.
Bringing the supplies up the cliff was much easier and faster than the
injuried demigod, so the rescue crew made quick work of it.  Once all
the supplies were at the top of the mountain, the castaways began to
take them back to camp, knowing that the others would smile when they
saw what had been found.

Kat
--------------------------------
(((Sorry, my fingers stared typing and just didn't want to stop.  This
turned out to be less of a post, and more of a short story.  Hope you all
enjoy it.I had to re-write it from scratch FOUR times because my POS
computer kept locking up!)))


A good night's sleep had done her a world of good, and despite a killer
headache, Drakkar felt much better than she had when Arianna had found her.
The wound on her scalp had begun to itch slightly, and she tapped at it with
her finger in an attempt to relieve this sensation without re-injuring the
flesh.

She walked through the camp, feeling less useful with each step.  Everyone
else seemed to have some skill or knowledge that was useful to the group,
but she felt like dead wood, no pun intended.   Other than her advanced
horsemanship skills, for which there was no call in this situation, she felt
as if she had nothing to offer.  With a sigh, she started to walk away from
the camp.

She was having a "down" day, and she knew from previous experience that if
she didn't find something else to focus her thoughts on, she'd likely be in
tears by lunchtime.  Her feelings of inadequacy were certainly the last
thing anyone else needed to deal with right now.  Maybe a walk, some
exploring, would give her a reprieve from her depression.

About five minutes from camp, Drakkar stumbled across a rather large patch
of wild asparagus.

*Now, that would certainly make a nice addition to our menu,* she thought,
then set herself to the task of locating something sharp to cut the stalks
with.  After only a few moments, she located a nice, flat stone, and with a
few well-placed smacks from another rock, she was able to sharpen one edge
of the stone into an effective cutting utensil.

She grasped a handful of the stalks, and whacked the base with the stone,
cutting through them easily.  When she felt she had cut enough of the
asparagus to feed their group, she swept the stalks into a neat pile.

*Athens, we have a problem," she thought, remembering she hadn't brought
anything with that she could carry the greens home in.  *Well, we're all
adults.  I don't think anyone will faint from shock if I remove my overfold
and use that.  I'm still wearing my chiton, anyway.*

She slipped off her overfold and wrapped it around the pile of asparagus
stalks, tying a snug knot in the fabric.  Another knot  fashioned the wrap
into a makeshift carry bag, and Drakkar hung it over her shoulder, wearing
it like a backpack.

She started for the camp, but stopped, closing her eyes as a warm, gentle
breeze caressed her face and tousled her already unkempt hair.  The scent of
the freshly cut asparagus was mingled with the sweet scent of distant
flowers and somewhere, not too far away, a bird called.  For a moment, she
felt as if she were the only person on earth, and she reveled in this
interlude with nature's majestic beauty.  Odd as it might seem, a part of
her almost wished she could stay here on the island.

Her moment of tranquillity was short-lived, however, and she sensed, rather
than heard, the person approach her from behind.  A soft shuffling sound
reached her, then a faint cracking, like the flexing of a joint.  She opened
her eyes, but didn't turn around.  Instead, she transferred her weight to
her left foot slightly, preparing to sidestep.

*Three.two.one.*

Drakkar spun to the left, just as a blonde blur landed in a heap in the very
spot she'd been standing only seconds before.

"Smooth, Iolaus," she teased.  "Very impressive."

"You weren't supposed to have moved," he replied, picking himself and
dusting himself off.  "I almost had you that time."

"Uh-huh."

"How'd you know it was me, anyway?"

"A little knee told me."

"You heard that?" he asked, flexing his knee.

"I'm a mom, Iolaus, I hear everything," she answered with a smile.

Raising his arms slightly, palms up, Iolaus rolled his eyes.
"Mother-hearing."

"You like asparagus?" Drakkar asked, changing the subject.

"Is it food?" he countered.

"Oh, right.  I forgot."

"How's the head?"

"It's fine."

Here," he said, reaching for her, "let me see."

"No.no, it's okay.  I'm fine."

"Just let me take a.would you just..now, come on."

"Ow!  Iolaus.!"

"Would.now just.oh, for Hades' sake, you're worse than Hercules," the hunter
scolded.

"See?  It's fine," she protested, backing a step away from him.  "What were
you trying to do, anyway?"

"I just wanted to see how bad it was, make sure Arianna had gotten it
cleaned up okay."  He paused, then placed his hands on his hips and regarded
the blonde woman with a suspicious glare.  "Why?  What did you think I was
going to do?"

"With you, Blondie, one can never be sure," she teased.  In reality, it wasn
't his wanting to see her injury that had unnerved her; she had this "thing"
about a person standing too close to her, and when that person happened to
be a man she found attractive, that sense of unease was amplified. "Really,
it's not that bad," she continued in a gentle voice, "I do appreciate your
concern, Iolaus, but I'm fine."

He nodded quietly, then squinted skyward.  "We should probably be getting
back to camp."

"Yeah, the midday sun can be pretty evil."

"Well," he replied with a wink and a sly grin, "that's when you go
swimming."

"Oh.ho-ho-ho.no you won't!" she exclaimed, wagging a finger at him and
backing another step away.

"Won't what?" he asked innocently.

"Dunk me like you did last time, you rotten little fiend," she teased.

"Rot-what?  Rotten.?  Was that an insult?  Did you just.?  Ooh, I think
someone needs a good dunking," he remarked, moving towards her, an impish
smile playing over his features.

"No!" she protested, backing up and laughing.  "Don't you dare!"

"How fast can you run?" he took another step toward her, reaching for her in
a mock-threatening manner.   In a sing-song voice, he chanted "Someone's
gettin' we-et, someone's gettin' we-et!"

She squealed and turned from him, bolting through the brush toward the camp.
After a brief chase, however, the hunter caught up with her.

"Tag, you're it."

"Meanie."

"Keep that up, you'll go under twice," he teased back as they walked toward
camp.

"Iolaus?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"Thanks for what?" he asked.

"For cheering me up."

"That's what friends are for," he replied quietly, reaching over and
squeezing her shoulder lightly.  "Come on, I'm in the mood for some of that
asparagus."

~Drakkar
---------------------------------
Post #2
Jason could see that Llyra was sick with worry about the fate of
Drakkar..to keep her mind occupied he decided to give her a task. "Llyra..go 
check on
the younger survivors and see how they are doing..Llyra could you talk to 
Skylark?"

"Skylark..Why is she ill?" 

"No, no, she's fine physically." Jason assured her. "It's just she's
having a little trouble dealing with this whole situation."

"Okay..okay I'll talk with her. Where is she?" It didn't take long for
Llyra to find Skylark sitting alone on a rock with her arms wrapped around her 
knees staring out at the sea.

Skylark starts the conversation with "I'm just so so"

"Scared" Llyra supplied helfully. "I only know I feel the same
way..scared."

Skylark looked up "You do?"

"We all do. Even Iolaus and Hercules are scared."

"Listen as long as we all stick together..there's nothing to worry
about." Llyra soothes the young healer.

Llyra eyes the medicinal pouch around Skylark's waist. "Do you know
healing?"

"Yes, I am a healer." Skylark replies "When my grandma died, I became the

village healer."

"You know..could you devise a sun screen..out of coconut oil?" Llyra
asks.

"Sure..all I have to do is figure out how to extract the coconut oil.." 
Skylark asks.

"If we all put our heads together..I'm sure we'll figure something out." 
Llyra reassures the frightened healer.

Llyra and Skylark become surprised as they see Iolaus carrying a still
body over his shoulder.

Iolaus puts the prone body on the sand. "Arianna and I have found
Drakkar!"

Skylark feels for a pulse. "Thank the Gods..she's alive.." Skylark
continues to examine Drakkar.

"She's got a bad gash to the side of her face..." Skylark gently takes
out one of her healing salves from her pouch and quietly treats, cleans and 
disinfects Drakkar's wounds.

Drakkar opens her eyes and focuses and notices the worried looks on all
the survivor's faces "Ah guys..I'm alright..boy I'm thirsty..any water?"

Iolaus gently hands her some water from his water pouch "Whoa
there..drink slowly.."

Owlharp, Bev and all the others exclaim "We're so glad you're alright 
Drakkar..we were all so worried about you.."

Drakkar exclaims "I'm just glad that everyone survived the
shipwreck..when I washed up alone..I thought I was the only survivor on this god 
forsaken 
island..I'm sure glad to be here..with all you guys.."

Hercules gestures for everyone to be silent. "Shh..I think I hear
something.."

Iolaus exclaims "I don't think this island is so deserted anymore.."

Two days later

A twig snaps. Hercules and Iolaus set out to investigate. Hercules walks
over to the edge of the cliff when he feels someone shove him over the cliff. 
Hercules tries to maintain balance but he fails. As he falls over the 
cliff,he sees black leather before falling into a cavern hole and landing

badly on his ankle.

"Ouch..damn..my ankle is broken..I'll have to wait until Iolaus and the 
others rescues me.." Hercules turns and notices a fruit basket in the
cavern. I guess we're not the only ones on this island. why does this worry me..

"Broken ankle..Ares..what else can go wrong!" Hercules settles down to
wait for Iolaus to rescue him.

Post #3"Ares..what else can go wrong! Hercules sits in the empty cave
when he spots a fruit basket..he looks around for the owners of the fruit basket
and furrows his brow as he exclaims..I guess Ares isn't the only other people
I have to worry about.."

The next morning Iolaus awakens "Herc..he's in trouble..I can feel it.."
At first light, the scouting party searches for a missing Hercules. Iolaus 
tracks Hercules' footprint and it ends at the end of a cliff. A sick
feeling overcomes Iolaus as he looks down the cliff..and yells "Herc!"

Profound relief washes over him as he spots Hercules alive and alert
although his pain-filled blue eyes indicates injury.

"Iolaus..I have a broken ankle.." Hercules yells in a weak voice.

"Hold on Herc..I'll be right there!" Iolaus gathers the other survivors
to help him hoist Hercules out of his hole.

Skylark had emerged from the shelter wondering what all the commotion is 
about. "It's Hercules..he's been injured..broken ankle" Wildkat shouts.

"Don't worry I'll help MaryE set up her fishnet hammock and we can throw 
Arianna's bolt of linet over the hammock..I hope this works..come on..we
will need something for Hercules to lie down on..I will need some cloth and
Llyra sewing kit for stitches.. SKylark continues to bark orders to get camp
ready for Hercules.

With Iolaus and Jason..the castaways hawl Hercules out of his hole while 
Hercules moans and groans.

"Aw Herc..don't be such a baby..it's only a broken ankle!" Iolaus jests 
trying to lighten the mood.

"Easy for you to say..you're not the one who's injured" whines Hercules.

Iolaus quips "Man..the bigger they are.."

Jason adds "Come on..Iolaus..help us carry him to the camp..Hercules what

have you been eating..you weigh a ton!"

Several days later...

Hercules sees the healing tea and grimaces "No, Skylark not another cup
of tea..that stuff really tastes awful!"

Iolaus laughs at Hercules' predicament "Now if you don't obey the 
healer..she'll have you stay in that hammock another day!" Iolaus winks
at Skylark for agreement and the young healer understandint the game Iolaus
is playing says to Hercules

"Without this tea..it'll take your body longer to heal..now do as the
healer says and maybe I'll think about letting you off early!" Hercules 
pouts.."Alright..!"

Jason whispers to Iolaus "I'm really worried..Hercules found a fruit
basket in that empty cave he fell in..Ares is not the only problem we have to
worry about.."

Iolaus scans the campsite "I guess the natives are getting
restless..let's just hope Herc heals before Ares or anybody else stirs up any 
trouble..speaking of trouble..has anyone seen Autolycus

Skylark
------------------------------------
VS:  On the Hunt

We followed Iolaus down the ridge, and found ourselves in a small 
clearing in the thickest part of the forest.  We were being as silent 
as possible so as not to scare the game.  With as little verbiage as 
possible, Iolaus indicated that he would head off by himself a bit to 
explore the woods in one direction  and that the rest of us should 
stick together as much as possible and follow some tracks we'd found.  
We were convinced that the tracks were similar to those of mountain 
goats and, if we could capture one or two, we could have milk, for the 
short haul and cheese, if we were forced to be here for a while. 

We agreed to meet the Hunter back in the clearing in an hour's time.  
Iolaus left us the rope so we could lasso any goats we ran into and 
lead them back to the clearing then he grabbed his bow and arrows and 
disappeared into the woods.  That left Bev and Kleandra, Margui, CJ 
and myself to plot our plan of attack on some very unsuspecting 
critters.

I must admit I had an ulterior motive for finding the goats fast.  The 
time spent on the beach with Jason that first day was enough to fry 
the skin on my face and arms, and turn it a bright, painful and 
unattractive lobster red.  This discomfort, combined with the 
perpetual itch of stiff, salt-soaked clothes and sand in everything, 
was rubbing raw patches on my neck and every other place where 
sunburned skin met the edges of my stiffened clothing.  A little milk 
would be a soothing balm for these miseries.

I offered a silent prayer that we would all be successful in our hunt 
today...successful enough that we wouldn't have to do it again tomorrow 
and we could spend the time finding a place where we could all take a 
bath and wash our clothes. 

I'm sure we were all grateful that there was no one there to record 
how ridiculous the five of us looked rustling the three mountain goats 
when we finally found them.  Two females and one rather large ram. 

We were all the worse for wear but finally made it back to the 
clearing, fully expecting to see Iolaus sitting there with a pile of 
game and a big grin on his handsome face.  The clearing was empty, 
there was nothing to do but wait.  

We tied the goats to a tree and allowed them to graze then, staying as 
quiet as we could in case Iolaus was stalking prey nearby, we made 
ourselves comfortable and waited for the hunter's return.

Earlier in the day, I bumped into Autolycus on his way down to the 
beach where he would begin building the signal fire.  I know Auto has 
deep and hidden pockets making it easy for him to carry things, so I 
asked if he would do me a favor on his way back and bring me about a 
dozen sea shells from the beach. Clam, mussel, anything small and 
sturdy would do.  I wanted to make some cutting utensils.  Shells work 
wonderfully to scrape clean the inside of pelts before drying them and 
the sharpened shells can even be used to shave a man's beard.  I hope 
he didn't forget.  Auto's been acting kind of strange since the ship 
went down...he goes off by himself a lot.  When we get back to camp I 
would ask Hercules about it.  I'm sure he would know if there were 
anything wrong with the King of Thieves.

After almost an hour passed, the five of us began to worry about 
Iolaus.  It was not like him to miss a rendevous.  We knew something 
was terribly wrong.  Just as we divided ourselves up into search 
parties
 and  were ready to leave the clearing, we saw the hunter come 
crashing through the trees at the edge of the clearing.  

"You ladies haven't run into Ares out here, have you?" inquired a 
slightly out of breath Iolaus.  

"No, why?" inquired CJ.  

"Your hands!" exclaimed Bev.  "Let me see those."

Kleandra and Margui took the game birds and rabbits that the hunter 
had slung across his back and they brought them to the other side of 
the clearing.  Iolaus held out his hands  and I moved a bit closer to 
Bev to get a better look at the damage under the makeshift bandages.  


ince none of us had water or anything we could use to replace those 
bandages, it was decided to leave everything in place until we 
returned to camp.

"Then let's hurry, the others will be worried about us if we don't 
return soon," urged Iolaus.

"What's the hurry, Curley?  Are you getting tired of playing with me?" 
came a very masculine voice out of the thin air.  Then a dark shimmer 
manifested itself  in the center of the clearing just seconds before 
the god of war appeared. 

Iolaus was hurting and tired and we could tell he was not in the mood 
for this confrontation.  "Why are you bothering us Ares...oh, wait...I've 
got it...after Strife died someone had to take his job...is that it 
Ares...have you been demoted to the new god of strife.  Is that why 
you're messing with us...got nothing better to do than cause a little 
trouble? 

I cringed as I heard the hunter egg on the war god and I could see 
Ares face as he registered the insult Iolaus had just thrown his way.

"You're big at throwing insults around, huh little man?  Well I'm good 
at throwing things around too..." and with that Ares let loose a 
concentrated fireball directly at Iolaus.

Bev and I reacted at the same second, each grabbing an edge of the 
mirror hanging off of my belt, we held it up in front of the hunter 
and reflected the fireball directly back at the god of war.  An impact 
that almost sent the both of us reeling, a whoosh as the fireball flew 
back in the direction it came from and a large THUD followed by the 
distinct smell of burning hair followed immediately.

Iolaus reacted instantaneously.  He snapped us all out of our shock 
with a "Hurry, get out of here NOW!"  With total obedience Kleandra 
and Margui  and Bev grabbed game birds and rabbits, CJ and I grabbed 
the rope with the goats and we ran as if Hades were chasing after us 
in his chariot.

When we neared the camp and realized we were not being followed we 
allowed ourselves to slow up a bit and catch our breaths.  I bent to 
tie the laces on my boots a little tighter when I heard Ares' 
whispered voice so close to my ear it sent shivers down my spine.  
"Quick reflexes, little Amazon...but will they be quick enough the next 
time?"  I stood bolt upright and searched the area.  No Ares...but what 
I saw was a shaken Bev looking back at me.  She must have received the 
same message I did...she mouthed the words 'next time?'


MaryE.
-------------------------------
'Great!  As if being marooned even in this beautiful place wasn't bad
enough.  Now we have to be worried about Ares getting in our faces too',
Bev thought.

She was re-living the afternoon's events when she and several of her
island sibs along with Iolaus had gone in search of food sources.
Sitting alone now with her thoughts and unwinding after her's and Mary's
threat from the God of War she wondered how serious he really was.  Did
he actually expect them to just stand there doing nothing while he took
pot shots at them with fireballs.  He had scared the be-geebers out of
everyone and remembering his 'next time' message only Mary and she had
been privy to sent chills up her spine.  Were they to be looking over
their shouders at every turn???  'No', she told herself.  'I'm not doing
this'.  And she turned her thoughts to other things.

So far they'd all been very fortunate.  Food sources were abundant and
they hadn't had to depend on her water condensation idea but for a very
short time.  Working together a decent shelter had been constructed to
protect them from the elements.  Large palm fronds laid out over well
placed brances was proving very efficient. They had all worked their
butts off on that shelter. Of course, they hadn't had any storms hit
either, Bev thought sardonically. 

Poor Herc was the only one on the injury list thus far.  Who would have
thought it would be him to get hurt first.  Poor guy!  It had to be hell
for such a strong , virile man use to always being the strong one in
charge to now have to sit back and do nothing but take orders from and
be waited on by a bunch of women.  'Yeah, tough job, huh Herc', Bev
laughed.

Everyone elses complaints were about too much sand, sun and bug bites.
Bev slapped at a nagging fly.  And everyone was suffering from one or
more of these.  Course, now there was the discomfor of having gone too
long without bathing.  And with that last thought Bev made a decision.
She took out the over sized bar of soap she'd brought along.  Then she
took out her survival knife.   She removed the soap's wrappings, laid it
on a flat stone and began slicing it into equal sized portions.  One for
each of her island stranded friends.  They would undoubtedly have to use
them very sparingly.  They had no idea how long they would be here. But
it was better than going dirty and Bev didn't mind sharing.

As she got up and turned to return to camp she tripped and fell over a
large plant she didn't recall seeing before.  Right away she looked
around for Ares.  'Don't go getting paranoid ole girl', she told
herself.  As she got up she looked more closely at what she'd fallen
over.  It's lance shaped leaves looked awfully familiar.  Only this was
so big.  It had to be two feet high.
Could this be?  No!  No way!  Did Aloe grow in tropical areas like this?
Yes!  Eureka!  It was an Aloe Vera plant.  This was going to be a gods
send to those suffering from sunburn and bug bites.  Bev once again took
out her knife and cut off several of the spears careful to avoid the
little spikes along the edges.  She wrapped them in her vest and headed
back to camp anxious to share her find with the rest fo the troupe.

tbc
Bev
------------------------
Bev followed the sound of running water and splashing. She could hear
giggling too and recognised Caro's voice as she squealed. Bev smiled,
she didn't often hear her friend sqeal, it was a very happy sound, one
that she needed to hear right now. 

After carefully gathering some of the Aloe and disributing her precious
soap amongst her friends she'd been told that some of the others were
already trying to rinse the salt out of their clothes.

Calling out so as not to startle the others too much Bev laughed when
she saw what they were up to. Caro, Iolaus, and Owlharp were all
standing - or sitting in the water, fully clothed and drenched. Iolaus
had a wriggling fish held carefully in his damaged hand and was
attempting to put it down Caro's neck, hence the squeals. 

Caro was the first to notice Bev and she waved happily and waded out of
the water, wringing water out of her long brown hair as she finally
climbed out. 

"Whew, I needed that! What have you got there Bev?"

Bev told of how she'd come across the Aloe and Caro whooped in delight.

"This day just gets better and better! First I finally manage to get
most of the salt off of me, then we manage to get a really good range of
food to keep us going and Falafel doesn't poison us, Pythia's made us
some cool sun-hats, and now Aloe. Woohoo, this is just what I need for
my ezcema, it's been driving me crazy."

Underlining just how crazy Caro pushed up her sleeve and scratched at a
particularly nasty looking patch of reddened and rough skin. She dropped
her voice to a conspirational tone and winked, "Of course it was a bit
of a chore having to help Iolaus bathe, what with his wounded hands and
everything!"

Bev laughed, at least one of them was having fun and looking at the
expression on Owlie's face, it had been the same degree of hardship for
her.

Owlharp and Iolaus came up to the friends just then and he slung an arm
around each of their shoulders. "Don't believe a word she says Bev. It
was totally innocent!" His expression turned serious, "Are you all
right. That was quite a run in with Ares."

Bev smiled and nodded. She was fine. "Just let him try anything else!"

Caro nodded, "Yeah, I'm just itching for a fight!"

After everyone had finished groaning, she asked something that had been
on her mind for a while, "What is it with Auto? I offered to help him
with the signal fire but he made some excuse. Is there buried treasure
on this island or something?"

Nobody had an answer.

Caro
--------------------------
Allie ran lightly across the sand, skipping a little to keep up with
Jason.  No one else had elected to come beachcombing so she had borrowed
Ahary's spade and the two of them had set off in high spirits
backtracking to the spot where they had been stranded.

"Let's not go too far." Jason said as they chose a likely looking
direction and followed the tideline hunting through the wrack for any
treasures that might have washed up on the beach.

"Why not?" Allie looked at him curiously.

Quickly, Jason filled her in on what the demigod had told him. How the
accident to Hercules was no accident; Ares was on the prowl and up to no
good.

Allie shivered.  She had been having a rather good time despite having
been shipwrecked and the God of War's presence was bad news.  It was
obvious he was not here to help them escape.

They didn't have much luck beachcombing; everything having been picked
over pretty thoroughly the day before.  They found a few pieces of cloth
that might be useful when washed, two unbroken bottles and a battered
metal cup.

"Come on," Jason said. "The tide's out. Let's dig clams."

Forgetting her worries about Ares, Allie agreed and the pair spent a
companionable hour searching out the mud flats where the clams lived and
digging them up quickly before they could escape. When the bucket was
full, Allie covered the clams with seaweed.

"Time to go back," Jason grinned down at the blonde.  "You're looking a
bit sunburned.

And so she was, her fair skin was already quite pink.  She was feeling
groggy from the overexposure to the sun and hot and sticky from the
combination of sand and salt water.  Suddenly, the idea of getting back
to camp, with maybe a little water to clean up, something good to eat,
and then a long afternoon nap under a shady tree, sounded really good.

The first person she saw as the entered the camp was Arianna pulling
biscuits from the makeshift stove.

"Any luck?" Arianna smiled as she tossed Allie a biscuit. Allie shoved
the biscuit into her mouth hungrily and showed Arianna the bucket full
of clams she and Jason had dug.

"Iolaus and the others not back yet?" Jason asked.

"Not yet." Arianna told him. She told them that Pythia had spent the day
weaving sunhats for everyone. Allie and Jason went to the palm tree
where Pythia sat busy at work to claim one for each of them.

"Fits perfectly, thanks Pythia.  I sure wish I'd had this on the beach
today."

Not long after, Iolaus and the hunting party returned laden with game
birds, rabbits and 'Bless be' Allie said to herself, 'goats!  Milk!' So
excited was she at this stroke of good fortune that it took a minute for
her to realize Iolaus' hands were bandaged.  The party recounted their
run-in with Ares and how the Amazons had cleverly turned Ares' fireball
right back at him. Unfortunately, they now had a very angry Ares on
their hands.

Sometime later Allie felt a nudge at her shoulder.  She turned.  Bev was
smiling at her and dropped a chunk of smooth, hard stuff into her hand.

"Soap!"  Allie exclaimed.

"It's all there is, so use it sparingly." Bev told her.  "I also have
some aloe for that sunburn of yours."

"Thanks, Bev."  This stranded on a deserted island  thing was just
getting better and better. Allie looked down at the soap in her hand.
"Now where..?"

"Bathhouse, that way." Bev pointed her in the right direction.  With a
whoop of pure joy, Allie took off running.

Allie
-----------------------------------------
OK, I'm going to backtrack to the first evening for a post here. Since the
Game Goddesses were gracious enough to allow me to join in the fun after I
screwed up (I thought the deadline was Sunday night, not Saturday night...
yeah, when all else fails, read the directions!) I apologize for messing up.
Hope people aren't too angry with me. Thanks for understanding. My next post
will be up to date with the rest of the goings-on. BTW, if anybody DOES
object to my second chance, please say so and I will graciously bow out.
Ziggy


Ziggy lay down, exhausted from the long day at sea. A crunch of boot on sand
alerted her to a visitor. Cracking open an eye, she spotted Iolaus kneeling
next to her.

"So, what kept ya?" he asked.

"Long story, or maybe it was a dream, I'm not sure."

The hunter settled himself next to Ziggy. "It's not like we're going
anywhere."

"Concede the point," Ziggy agreed. She pushed herself into a sitting
position. For a couple of minutes, she warmed herself by the fire. "When the
Argo started going down, I raced below deck for Chaos. I couldn't find him!
I didn't know where he was! I couldn't just write the Little Guy off, ya
know?"

Iolaus nodded. He knew how much the fuzzy little thief meant to the Ferret
Wrangler.

"I guess I spent too much time looking. Next thing I know, Jason's throwing
me overboard. I was too close to the Argo, I was sucked under when she
sank." Ziggy shivered as she thought of those horrific moments. Iolaus put a
comforting arm around her shoulders. Though spooked by the memories she was
relating, she wasn't too far gone not to take advantage of the opportunity
and leaned into the hunter. "I don't remember much on how I got back to the
surface, all I know is I found myself hanging on to this piece of timber. I
was dazed and not in much condition to do much of anything but hang on."

"Yeah, that's understandable."

"How long I floated there, I don't know. I remember a boat coming along me.
It was really creepy, a rickety-looking thing with human skulls on it and
the guy who was guiding it, aw, geez, all black hood and pasty-faced! He
kept muttering something about doing Hades' dirty work, that it wasn't HIS
job to pull the half-dead out of the water."

"Charon," Iolaus confirmed.

"What an attitude, I'll tell you! I half-heard him say something about
Attica, but I'm not sure. Anyway, about that time, I was feeling something
kind of slimy on the bottom of the boat. I've faced monsters before, Iolaus,
but whatever this thing was..." Ziggy shuddered again.

"Thing?"

"Thing! It moved! I must have jumped a couple of meters into the air! Next
thing I hear is Charon yelling at me. 'You ain't even half-dead! Get off my
boat!' Then he smacked me with his punting rod! I fell right into the water.
I swam, boy did I swim! A sea monster couldn't have caught me, I'll tell
you!"

"You've had quite a day."

"Yeah and it didn't end there. It didn't take long for me to tire.
Fortunately, I found another piece of flotsam, or is that jetsam?, and hung
on for dear life. The tide definately wasn't working with me by that point.
I was tired and thirsty and hungry and sad because I didn't know who might
have made it through the sinking alive and I figured Chaos was lost to me. I
spotted the island, and started towards it, but it took me forever it seems!
Anyway, here I am. What's the plan?"

"Well, we've got a search party out and we'll be looking for a more
permanent base camp tomorrow, then we'll--" Iolaus trailed off when he
realized Ziggy was snoring softly in his arms. He smiled. Gently, he laid
her onto the sand by the fire and covered her with the blanket. "Chaos, I
leave her to your gentle paws," he told the ferret, who scrambled over to
the wrangler and scrambled under the blanket.

Ziggy
------------------------------
Quiet Wolf heaved a contented sigh.  Despite the threat of Ares 
hanging over their heads and the discomforts of sand and sun, an easy 
peace had descended over the camp.  While their meal hadn't been a 
gourmet feast, it was satisfying and there was plenty for everyone, 
courtesy of many combined efforts.  Thanks to Bev's distributions of 
soap and aloe, everyone was feeling more comfortable, and Skylark had 
been well prepared to tend to the injuries of Hercules and Iolaus.  
All things considered, it hadn't been a bad day.

"Where are you going?"

Quiet Wolf blushed guiltily at having been caught sneaking away from 
the fire by Arianna.

"Just thought I'd take a walk on the beach," she replied.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Arianna demanded.

"What can I say?  I love the nightlife," Quiet Wolf grinned.  "Want 
to come along?"

"Sure, why not?"  Arianna agreed.  

The two friends began strolling along the shore, walking in the damp 
sand where the waves were gently washing in.  A warm breeze tossed 
their hair back as the bright moonlight lit their way.

"If I didn't know better," Arianna teased.  "I'd say you were 
enjoying yourself."

"I love it here," Quiet Wolf declared.  "This is my kind of place.  I 
don't care if I never get rescued."

Arianna was about to respond, but both bards jumped as a hand came 
down on each of their shoulders.

"By the gods, Iolaus," Arianna yelped.  "Don't ever do that again!"

"Yeah," Quiet Wolf agreed.  "What were you thinking, sneaking up on 
us like that?  You don't know how close you came to getting this 
between the eyes!"  She brandished her snake hook threateningly.

"And what were you two thinking?" the hunter retorted.  "Taking off 
alone when you know Ares is out here somewhere.  Quiet Wolf, you know 
he hasn`t forgotten about what you and Bev did to him at the 
Halloween Party last year."

"What did you do?" Arianna asked eagerly.

"It's a long story," the bard answered, a small smile playing about 
her lips as she remembered the sight of the god of war drenched in 
honey.  "I'll tell you later."

Iolaus finally gave up trying to talk them into returning to the 
campsite, so he decided to walk along with them.  The threesome 
continued down the beach, finally arriving at a sheltered cove.

"Look," Arianna exclaimed, pointing to the moonlit shore where a 
giant sea turtle was laying eggs in a nest she had dug in the sand.

"Too bad no one knows I'm here," Quiet Wolf jokingly complained.  "I 
could get some major dinars in research funding for observing this."

The trio fell silent, watching as the turtle scraped a layer of sand 
over her eggs before making her way back into the sea.

"Wow," Quiet Wolf sighed.  "If we haven't been rescued by the time 
they're ready to hatch, we'll have to come back to see the little 
ones."  The thought was exciting to her, but she could tell that 
Arianna was not thrilled at the prospect of being stranded for so 
long.

"Do you two see what I see?"  Iolaus whispered suddenly, staring off 
into the interior of the cove.

Quiet Wolf and Arianna followed the hunter's gaze, immediately 
catching sight of a shadowy figure creeping stealthily through the 
night.

"Autolycus," the two bards said simultaneously.

"What is he doing out here alone?" Arianna wondered.

"I don't know," Iolaus muttered.  "But it sure doesn't look like he's 
working on a signal fire."

Quiet Wolf
--------------------------
Skylark sits in the crook of a tree after doing her errands in 
treating the injured. She takes out her journal and relaxes in the 
soothing shade of the palm tree.

Day 1
I can't believe that I was rescued by Hercules. I was terrified when 
the ship flipped over and tossed me into the ocean..Hercules caught 
me in his strong muscular arms..I felt safe in those strong arms..as 
he swam us to shore. I just know we will all be alright as long as 
Hercules and Iolaus take care of us. Thank the gods I found my herbal 
pouch..I don't leave home without it!

Iolaus has done a head count..seems like two are missing Drakkar and 
Ziggy..Arianna is tearing her hair out wearing about her friends and 
so am !

Ziggy has been found..other than for a few bruises..I'd say she came 
through without injury which is a miracle considering she escaped 
from the jaws of Charon himself. Seems the Goddess Ceryndip helped 
Ziggy escape! I hope the Goddess Ceryndip allows me to survive too!

Day 2
There's plenty of food and water on the island. All the survivors are 
so friendly. When I got depressed, Llyra came over and made me feel 
better and gave me something to do. I am really appreciative of her 
because she made me feel like part of the group..usually I am too shy 
to just mingle..but everyone has really made an effort to make me 
feel at home. It seems of all the heroes..Iolaus gets the most cuts 
and bruises..I am forever stitching him up..boy does he have a myriad 
of scars..everywhere..yes..there are some advantages to being a 
healer..!

Day 3
Drakkar has been found. She has a nasty gash on the side of her head. 
I took out some of my healing salves and her gash will heal in a few 
days. I recommended rest for Drakkar but just like Iolaus..she is a 
hard one to get to sit down..

Day 4
Bathing and hygiene have become quite an issue..Some of us have been 
wearing the same clothes for several days now..some have broken out 
in rashes..luckily I bought along salves for everything..Hercules 
bathes consistently..he is such a modest man..he always bathes in the 
early morning hours before we are awake..Iolaus on the other hand 
likes to bathe in full view..he loves to jump from the nearest cliff 
and yell Geronimo! Now Iolaus..sigh! That's a sight to behold!

Day 5
Bad news..it seems that Hercules has a broken ankle and that's not 
the worse of it..Ares is on the island..it seems that it was Aries 
that shoved Hercules into a ravine and caused Hercules' injury..we 
are all on guard..noone goes into the forest alone anymore..I must 
always have a guard with me always when gathering my herbs in the 
forest.

It has been hard to get Hercules to rest. Iolaus has taken to hiding 
Hercules' clothes to force Hercules to stay in bed. Several times I 
have had to..help him bathe..Hercules gets so embarassed..which I 
find so endearing in a Greek hero..sigh..what a man..

Day 6
Bev, Iolaus,Margui, Kleandra, scared Ares off with a mirror. Had 
Ares' own thunder bolts reflect off the mirror..right into Ares..but 
Iolaus has a burnt hand so now I have two patients in my 
infirmary..Hercules and Iolaus..they bicker constantly like a married 
couple..I think this whole Ares thing is setting everyone on 
edge..plus that fruit basket Hercules found when he fell into that 
ravine..Who else is on this island? 

Skylark is about to finish her last entry when she is startled by a 
blue flash of light..lo and behold..she sees Ares standing in front 
of her!

TBC

Skylark
------------------------------
Drakkar sat down with a heavy sigh.  She felt very drained, emotionally and
physically, as she watched everyone interact with one another.  Why was it
she always ended up alone?

She slouched there for a few minutes, absently digging at the sand with a
broken piece of shell, her emotions warring with her common sense.  She knew
that all she needed to do was just go up to someone and start talking, and
she'd most likely be welcomed and included, but she was afraid to.

As a child, she'd been shunned by even family members, and it had set up a
pattern of behavior for her that she was finding impossible to break.  If
she couldn't trust those that were supposed to love her not to reject her,
how could she be sure these people wouldn't as well?  No, as depressing as
it was to sit here alone, it was still preferable to the pain of being
ignored or sent away.

The sting of unshed tears burned her eyes, and she blinked hard a few times.
Why in Tartarus was she crying?  Because she *imagined* these people might
not like her?  What a waste of energy.  What made it harder, though, was
that she *knew* she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't stop herself.

She stood up, brushed the sand from her backside, and walked a little ways
from the campsite.  Damn, she needed to snap herself out of this or the
others truly *would* decide they didn't want to be around her.  Mentally,
she apologized to them for being such a downer, and headed through the brush
to the stream.

The moonlight lit her way nicely, and as she began to disrobe on the bank of
the stream, intending to treat herself to a moonlit swim alone, she became
aware of someone standing nearby.

"Oh, yeah," encouraged a husky voice.

She spun around to see Ares leaning casually against a tree, his arms folded
across his chest and a feral grin spreading over his face.

"Wh-who...?" she stammered.

"Oh, now I'm insulted," he retorted.  "You don't recognize me?"

"I....uh..."

"No?"  He stepped away from the tree, moving slowly towards her.  "You truly
don't know who I am?"

She shook her head, her initial shock at learning she wasn't here alone
beginning to subside.  "Don't know, don't really care," she replied, turning
her back on him and taking a step into the stream.  A clothed swim would be
almost as enjoyable as skinny-dipping.

A shimmering light appeared in front of her, then faded abruptly, leaving
her face to face with the man.  "You don't ca-...you," he said with a
chuckle, "Okay, I must have heard you wrong.  I thought you said you didn't
care that you were standing in the prescence of the one, the only...God of
War."  He punctuated the words "God of War" by posturing, flexing his
muscles, which she had to admit were...attractive.

"Oh," she answered, hiding her interest.  "You're Ares?  Well, I'm very glad
for you, nice to meet you.  Now, will you excuse me?"

The poor god looked pretty deflated, but regained his composure quickly.
"Lady, you're either really stupid or really brave, which, in my book,
equates to about the same thing."

"Whatever."  She shrugged and walked into the water, stepping around him.

"Do you have any idea what I could do to you?" he asked, clearly perturbed.

"No."

"Trust me, Blondie.  You don't *want* to know."

"Okay."

She caught his reaction from the corner of her eye, and was forced to stifle
a laugh.

"All right, all right," he growled, sploshing though the water after her.
"I could kill you.  Obliterate you.  Fry you into a pile of ashes with the
merest flick of my...hey, could you...would you at least look at me when I'm
talking?"

"You know," she countered standing up from the water and placing her hands
on her hips, "I am so not in the mood for this."

"What is it with...are all women programmed with these phrases?"  He
clenched his fists as he spoke, raising his arms slightly and throwing back
his head in frustration.  Maybe she'd better not push him...

"Fine.  Ares, look, I don't know, okay?  But if you're looking to find
someone who'll flee in terror from you, I'm sorry...I'm not her."  She
turned away again and scrunched back down, sinking to her shoulders in the
cool water.

"No...running, screaming....?"

"Nope."

"I'll bet I could make you scream," he called to her as she dove under the
water.  When she resurfaced, the God of War was gone, but so was her
melancholy mood.  True, he could have snuffed her out right there and then,
but he hadn't, and knocking Ares down a peg had been good medicine for her.

~Drakkar
---------------------------
VS: On the Alert

I graciously accepted the small chunk of soap and piece of aloe from 
Bev and ran off in the direction  of the squealing, the delighted 
laughter and the splashing.  Bursting through the thicket,  I was 
greeted by the sight of a vest-less Iolaus emerging from the pool.   
Silvery rivulets of water were running down his muscular chest as he 
tossed his long hair back out of his face.  I was ever so grateful 
that my bright red, sunburned face covered up for the deep blush I 
felt all the way up to the roots of  my  hair when his bright blue 
eyes made contact with mine and he caught me staring.   He smiled 
graciously and began to thank me for the trick with the mirror and 
Ares fireball, but I stopped him before he could get more than two 
words out of his mouth.

"Please, you would have done the same for any one of us...it's not 
necessary to say it.  Besides, I'm just happy to see you like 
this...um...I don't mean dripping wet coming out of the pool...um...I mean...you 
know...unsigned...not fried..."

"I understand...was there something else you wanted to stammer?" asked 
the hunter with a big grin.

"Well, actually...there is something I need to tell you about.  You see, 
after we ran away from Ares...when we were all catching our breath 
outside the camp...well Ares whispered something in my ear.  He said 
about seeing if I were fast enough ror the next time...and I know Bev 
heard it whispered in her ear too.  I just thought someone should know 
about the threat and I didn't want to tell Hercules and get him all 
upset about it because he'll try to get out of that hammock too early 
and he might wind up hurting his foot again.  Maybe you can let Jason 
and Autolycus know about it though."

"I will...and thanks," Iolaus said with a wink before he dove under the 
water again and swam away towards the others.

Happy and clean, I made my way back to camp by following the 
mouth-watering smells wafting through the forest.  The feast being 
prepared by our chefs and culinary supervisors was sure to be a 
wonderful occasion.  I picked up my sun bonnet from Pythia.  She had 
done a beautiful job of weaving these hats for us.  It feels so 
comforting to be surrounded by this much talent.

Hercules called out a greeting and motioned for me to join him.  
"Autolycus dropped these off for you while you were out hunting," said 
the demigod as he dangled a makeshift pouch in front of me.  The pouch 
had been woven out of palm fronds and it contained a bunch of sea 
shells in various shapes and sizes.

"What's up with him, Hercules?  It's almost like he's not here with 
us...I was lucky to catch him in the camp this morning," I just had to 
ask.

"Auto?  He's used to being on his own a lot.  I think he feels the 
same kind of uneasiness that I felt that first day here and he's 
dealing with it in his own way.  For Autolycus, out-of-sight is 
out-of-mind.  He can keep an eye on things without anyone, or 
anything, being able to keep an eye on him.  His scarceness, and 
scouting could work for our benefit.  So we just let him go.  If it's 
important...he'll be here with us," the demigod replied with certainty.

I sat close beside Hercules, regaling him with all the embarrassing  
details of today's hunt for the mountain goats as I sharpened the 
edges of a couple of clam and mussel shells against a rock.   Iolaus 
came over to check on his partner and dropped a bunch of rabbit skins 
next to me.  So, while my tummy grumbled waiting for dinner...I had 
something to keep me busy and distracted.

I quickly cleaned two, good-sized skins first and hung them in the sun 
to dry while I took my time cleaning the rest.   By the time I had 
finished my chore, the first two skins were in good enough shape to 
work with.

I took them to Llyra, who had the brilliant foresight to rescue a 
sewing kit, and asked her if she could fashion the skins into 
fingerless gloves for Iolaus.  The gloves would afford some protection 
for his hands which would take a while to heal.

After a fantastic meal, we all worked to clean up the area and prepare 
the bedding.  Jason asked for volunteers to join him on the beach to 
keep the signal fire going overnight.  I was still a bit unnerved by 
the Ares incident earlier in the day and knew I was going to have 
difficulty sleeping so I raised my hand and joined Jason and some of 
the others on the overnight watch.  

This shipwreck experience wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going 
to be the first day out.  This was a great bunch to be marooned with.   
We worked together like a well-oiled machine for the most part.  It 
was a wonder to behold and filled my heart with peace.  If I could 
hear the god of war's whisper in my ear...perhaps he could hear mine 
too... 'Ares...you'd do well to keep your distance.  Whatever your little 
plan is...it won't defeat our strong little troup.!'

MaryE
--------------------
I got up later then others this morning and was surprised to see Hercules with 
bandaged ankle. When I heard the details I was alarmed. All we need now is Ares 
sneaking around. We have to make night watches and don`t wander through the 
island alone. Though, on the other hand, what can I do to the god? The only hope 
is to contuse him by yell. Besides, our most effective weapon against him - 
Hercules - was resting in the hammock. I felt sorry for the poor guy. As I can 
imagine the fracture it has to be painful, and it was also a pity to be out of 
count in the very beginning of the adventure. Interpreting my simpathy in the 
wrong way, Hercules made an attempt to escape the hammock with help of his new 
crutch but was settled back quickly. As I can tell from the listlessness of this 
attempt it wasn`t the first one.
Feeling guilty for sleeping so long I`ve decided to do something helpful. I`ve 
missed the hunting party but there wouldn`t be a lot of use of me there anyway. 
And CJ or Iolaus who could loan me the fishing gear were nowhere in sight. So I 
went to the shore to help Jason to fish remains of the ship. But I was late; 
Jason and Allie already have finished this work and even had time to collect the 
full basket of claim. I wandered on the beach for a little, observing their 
catch, basically the fragments of boards and scarps of rigging. The most 
valuable thing was the salt-barrel on the bottom of which saved the sticking, 
hard as a rock peace of salt. Undoubtedly, the salt-free diet is a great thing, 
but the taste of it leaves much to be desired. 
Back in the camp I heard how somebody told about strange Autolycus` behavior, so 
it seemed to be a good idea to go and check what he was doing. On the place 
where he was supposed to fold a wood for a signal fire was a small pile of 
branches. Well, you`ll be able to notice this fire only if you stand in the 
middle of it. Tracking his prints on the sand I`ve reached the first trees and 
went deeper to the forest in that direction. Soon I was at the large clearing 
with old tree in the middle. Long time ago lightening had hit it and its trunk 
was splintered in two. Now the trunk was covered by dark patterns, which 
somewhere turns out to be almost right geometric lines. It was hard to tell if 
this was human`s work or the consequence of the fire. 
However it wasn`t tree what drew my attention but the items lying out accurately 
under it. Owlharp`s knife, Caro`s glass, Arianna`s skin of vine, priceless 
telescope of Quietwolf, my superglue and even the little piece of soap which Bev 
so kindly shared with us this morning! While I was staring at these items there 
was the rustle from the bushes at the edge of clearing. Turning around I`ve 
noticed the flash of green tunic. It was definitely Autolycus. Anyway pursuit 
would be unsuccessful so instead of that I begun to gather our things trying to 
figure out what is supposed to be. Tree and the items around it have the strong 
association with the pictures from book, where travelers were trying to set 
interrelations with aborigines this way. But as far as Autolycus concern, he 
could hardly be interested in diplomatic. More likely he did his own conclusions 
when he`s seen the baskets of food in the morning. Darned Velasces and Cortes in 
one person. But why he`s sought that the local inhabitants ( if there are any ) 
are rich? And now in addition to Ares we have to keep an eye on our homebred 
kleptomaniac. 
Pondering over this I reached the camp and gave out the things to their 
surprised owners. I was pointed to our new "bathhouse" and hurried there, 
looking forward for a bath in the fresh water ( with soap! ). However, while I 
bathed I was trying to keep one eye on my clothes. I wasn`t sure if Autolycus 
considers them worthy for change with aborigines...  
  
Ahary
-----------------------------------------------



"Hey Hercules, how are you feeling?"  Athena said as she walked up to 
Hercules as he rested in the hammock.

"OK, I see you did pretty well at the beach.  How did you catch all 
those fish" Herc asked

"Well, all you need is a worms, ick I really hate touching them, a 
strong stick and my trusty dental floss." Athena said

"Excuse me, dental floss!"  Herc said with a confused look.

"Yeah, dental floss is not just for teeth you know its strong string 
and it made a good line.  You can use it to tie just about anything 
and I found a small sharp shell and broke it down to use as a hook."  
said Athena

"Well, that's using your head. How about some help cleaning those 
fish," Hercules asked.

"Uhm, actually I have never cleaned fish before and I don't know what 
to do."  Athena said guilty

"Tell you what you caught it I'll clean it.  Deal."  Hercules said

"Hey sounds good to me.  I'll tell Falafal what I caught for 
dinner."  Athena said as she got up to walk over to Falafal and the 
others. 

"Dental Floss," Hercules said as he shook his head and 
laughter, "wait until Iolaus hears this one."

Athena
-----------------------------------
Ziggy propped up some wood for the signal fire. After several hours of
fishing, she needed a break away from the water. Gathering wood for the
fires seemed like a good idea at the time. With Hercules injured... geez,
who'd've thought the demigod would get injured?!... Ares on the prowl and
Autolycus sneaking around like the thief he was, it wasn't turning out to be
such an excellent adventure. At least they were all working together to
survive and, so far, no personality clashes.

Ziggy laid some wet seaweed to the side. It would be used on the fire, once
it got going, to produce a thick smoke that would, hopefully, be seen by a
passing ship. She slapped at a biting sand chigger. *Darn bugs!* Glancing
up, she saw Chaos digging furiously in the sand by a large boulder near the
tideline. She smiled. The little guy had dug up various clams and mussels
for them with his constant digging. As she watched, the ferret began tugging
something out of the hole he'd created.

"What cha got, Little One?" she asked, moving to the boulder. It looked like
Chaos had a piece of cloth firmly gripped in his teeth.

Ziggy carefully pushed wet sand away from the material. It was a sack of
some sort. Chaos insisted on his continual tugging. Afterall, it was *his*
prize! He tugged mightily once more, pulling the bag from Ziggy's grasp. The
bag fell to the sand and its contents spilled out.

Ziggy could only gape when she realized she was staring at various gems of
all shapes and sizes. One word popped unbidden into the wrangler's mind:
Autolycus!

Ziggy
-------------------------------
With Hercules hurt, an unknown entity on the island and the threat of Ares still 
hovering over them, CJ, Kat and Margui were discussing what they could do to 
minimize their risk.  "We need an early warning system in case someone tries to 
sneak into camp during the night" Kat frowned.

"True, during the day everyone who is in the camp can spot a stranger, but at 
night...." CJ trailed off.

Margui was sitting on a rock with a couple of empty coconut shells in her hands.  
She knocked them together and the three sisters all jumped at the sound.  Margui 
looked up and grinned, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"I'll cut some vines and we need to cut holes in the husks" CJ nodded.  "We 
can't use all the coconuts though, we're using some for bowls."

"I picked up some seashells on the beach when we were looking for you" Margui 
offered.  The sisters got busy cutting vines, stringing coconuts, seashells and 
hollow sticks together, checking the sounds they would make.  They decided that 
during the day it would be easier to leave the vines loosely on the ground with 
the alarms carefully concealed behind bushes, then pull them taut to be used as 
tripwires after dark.  They encircled the camp with the makeshift traps, tying 
off only one end of each piece of vine to make it easier when it was time to set 
the traps later.

Kat carried another set around a thick clump of trees and disappeared from 
sight.  CJ and Margui finished theirs and waited for their little sister to come 
back.  "Hey Kat, did you decide to take a nap over there or what?" CJ called 
out.

Kat jumped out from behind a tree, her supersoaker from her hoolie bag at the 
ready and filled with water from the river.  She pulled the trigger and CJ 
ducked just in time to avoid getting hit with a stream of water.  "Uh oh" Kat 
mumbled.

CJ heard Kat's utterance at the same time that she heard a menacing growl behind 
her.  The blonde sprang to her feet, her sword drawn and ready to see what who 
was threatening them.  Ares stood just a few feet from her, his dark locks and 
face dripping water.  CJ swallowed hard.  Margui and CJ both pointed at Kat.  
"SHE did it!" they exclaimed.

"Well CJ ducked!" Kat protested.

"Yeah but..." CJ stopped and looked back at the war god.  "Hey, you know....a 
wet Ares is just almost as sexy as a wet Hercules" she smiled.

"What?" Kat snorted.  "You're crazy.  Everyone knows that a wet Iolaus beats a 
wet Herc any day."

"Hah!  You're insane" CJ decried.

"ENOUGH!" Ares roared, glaring at the three sisters.  His brown eyes looked over 
Margui, then moved to Kat before finally resting on CJ, immobilizing them all.  
"So that WAS you earlier with the goats" he snickered.

"We're stranded on an island, we do what we have to do to survive" CJ mumbled.

"It's a good thing Jamie isn't here, she'd be jealous" Margui quipped.  She 
moved closer to her sisters when the god's eyes narrowed on her once more.  
"Sorry, inside joke" she laughed weakly.

"What do you want, Ares?" Kat asked.

CJ
-----------------------------------
What do you want, Ares?" Kat asked.

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to a God?" Ares asked.  He had
already snapped his fingers to dry himself and his clothing.

"Why did you push Herc off the cliff this morning?" CJ asked accusingly.

"Because he was there," smirked the God of War.  "He was too tempting a
target to pass up."

"Well thanks to you his ankle is broken," the blond declared.

"You mean demigods don't bounce?  Who woulda thunk it?" Ares said with a
straight face, though the corners of his mouth kept twitching.  "So now
my baby brother is an invalid.  This must be killing him... the mighty
Hercules unable to pitch in and help."  The Olympian began to sputter as
he was hit with another stream of water.

"I think you need to cool off," Kat said as she hefted her Hoolie Super
Soaker.  It was the latest model, called 'The Monster'.  She dowsed the
God of War, covering him from head to toe with water.

Water dripped down the handsome face, dripping down the muscular chest
and arms.

"Hey sisters, close your mouths or are ya trying to catch flies?" Margui
chided Kat and CJ who were staring at the glistening deity.

"Need some help getting out of those wet things?" CJ asked as she batted
her blue eyes at Ares.

Ares stared at the Amazons in shock.  He couldn't believe that Kat had
soaked him with her weapon for a second time, and this time on purpose!
And then the way the Amazons were eyeing him.  Add to that CJ's little
proposition.  The Big Bad God of War was stupefied.  He wasn't sure what
his next move should be.

The Amazons began to get antsy.  It wasn't like Ares to make them wait
for retaliation.

"If we don't survive, I just want to remind you, Kat, that this is all
your fault," Margui whispered.

"Why do I always get blamed?  I'm sweet and innocent," Kat declared.

"Yeah right," CJ snorted.

"Sure, and I have some ocean front property in Arizona that I want to
sell you," Margui replied.

A big grin crossed Ares' face, once he realized the proper plan of
action.  He removed his sopping wet vest and threw it at CJ.  Margui
burst out giggling nervously, wondering what was next.  She soon found
out when he removed his gauntlets and tossed them, one each, to her and
Kat.

Rivulets of water sparkled in the sunlight as Ares stood there, half
naked.  He rested his hands on his waist as he watched his audience's
reaction.  He slowly began to unfasten his pants.  "Is this what you
want ladies?" Purred the God of War.

Kat
--------------------------------------
Once Kleandra had caught up with Bev and Mary E. she could easily tell by
her friendsī facial expression that something was terribly wrong. With the
rabbits thrown over her shoulder she stepped up to Mary E. watching her
intensily.
"Whatīs wrong?"
"Didnīt you hear it?", Mary E. replied, her eyes still reflecting the uneasy
feeling that had just gripped her.
"No....what?" Kleandra asked shifting the rabbits to the other shoulder.
Bev sighed and shook her head before she answered the question.
"Well, letīs just say, we donīt think that this was the last we heard of
Ares."
Kleandra glanced at her for a moment before she nodded in agreement.
"Itīs not as if this would come as a surprise. I didnīt really expect he
would just vanish to his own personal nirvana and settle himself to an
Athenstock-like life of peace and harmony. Heīll come back for sure. But
hey, weīve beaten him once - we can do it again. Right? Uh....Iolaus, Margui
and CJ took the other path back to the camp. We should get going, see if we
can beat them to it. What do you think?"
They smiled at each other and as one turned around and fell into a quick
trott to get back *home* as fast as possible...which was a rather difficult
matter given the fact that the goat had no desire whatsoever to run.
On their return Skylark was already taking care of Iolausī hands. When he
became aware of the missing part of his little hunting group a relieved
smile spread across his face.
"There you are! You almost had me worried here for a minute. Where have you
been?"
Kleandra collapsed next to him on the ground, trying to catch her breath.
"Sorry for that, Iolaus. We didnīt mean to, but the goat gave us a really
good fight. You have no idea just how stubborn they can be. So, how are your
hands?"
Skylark pulled a face at the blonde woman.
"They certainly would be better if heīd just stop *talking* with them. As if
his mouth wouldnīt be enough. Hold still already, Iolaus, will you? Let me
at least  get finished with these bandages!"
Iolaus presented her with the most glorious of his amazing collection of
little-innocent-boy smiles before turning back to Kleandra.
"There! See? She really loves torturing me."
Kleandra laughed out loud and gave him a playful hit on the shoulder.
"Iīd be careful if I were you, Iolaus. She might very well give you a lot
more than that."
She stood up from the ground and straightened her aching back. Gods, she was
tired. A bath would be just about perfect right now. Margui and CJ had taken
care of the goats, so Kleandra took the rabbits sheīd carried and went over
to Falafelīs little realm. She handed them over to him, along with the
urgent request not to spoil the food. She wasnīt exactly a seafood person,
so these rabbits would be a nice change - she just didnīt have any interest
in another of the so-called cookīs rather extravagant creations.
Now, back at camp, the adrenaline soon wore off and the impact of what could
have happened hit full force.
Slowly, she strolled down to the pool  wondering what Ares would be up to
next.
"Note to self: Bring a mirror next time you got stranded somewhere - you
never know what itīll be good for.", she thought.
When she arrived at the pool quite a number of the others were already there
and she just stood there for a moment to watch them before she took off her
clothes and jumped right into the water.
Drifting on her back, she let her thoughts wander.
*Amazing! So many different people, yet this is the best team Iīve ever had
the pleasure to be with. Shipwrecked as we are I wouldnīt want to have any
other people with me.*
The water helped her relax and she gave in to the soothing feeling that
started to spread through her body. This was it. Sheīs been living with
nature for all her life, working on the fields, wandering through forests,
climbing mountains. The longer she stayed here, the more she felt in sync
with her surroundings and she welcomed the comforting sounds of the birds
circling above her.
"Well, I guess, I should get out before I start to shrink and make myself
useful back at the camp."
With a sigh she got out of the water, took on her clothes and went back to
start creating a place for cooling off their provisions. No need to risk a
food poisoning due to the high temperatures. She took a piece of wood from
the pile next to their fire place and started to dig a hole in the shade of
a tree about two feet deep and and two in square.
Once done with that she covered the walls with palm leaves as close as
possible and filled it with water from the pool. There! Now she only had to
think about a way to wrap their food so it wonīt get in touch with the
water.
"Man, I shoulda done that before taking a bath!"
Short time later dinner was ready and she joined with her friends to enjoy a
delicious meal before settling in for the night and giving in to some much
needed rest.
She slept fitfully - up to the moment when she felt something moving under
her blanket. Slowly, she opened her eyes, careful not to make any hectic
movements. Kleandra couldnīt tell how late it was but the camp was quiet
except Jasonīs soft snoring. She threw a glance at Iolausī place right
across her but he wasnīt there so she presumed it was his turn to take
watch. Holding her breath she lifted her blanket to see just what had
disturbed her peaceful slumber but as soon as the light from the nearby fire
hit the long and slender *something* it reacted.
"Ouch!" Kleandra quickly grabbed for the creature and shot up from her
makeshift bed of palm leaves as did Hercules - as much as he could anyways
with his broken ankle- and her comrades on her left.
"What happened?" the demigod asked, a concerned look on his face.
Kleandra just looked at the moving thing she tried to hold in her hands,
examining it closely before she turned to the people next to her.
"Well, I think, goats and rabbits are not the only inhabitants of this
island. I strongly recommend to check all of our blankets and stuff for
unwanted, let alone poisonous visitors.", she said while stretching out both
her hands to present the snake sheīs just caught.
"Poisonous? How do you know? Iīve never seen a snake like that one!",
Arianna asked.
"Because it just bit me and believe me when I tell you that it doesnīt
exactly feel right."
With that Kleandra sat back down on her blanket...

Kleandra
-------------------------------
It was turning into a day to be remembered in infamy.

First, Hercules had been injured in a fall caused by none other than 
the God of War.  His rescue had been accomplished with speed and 
teamwork and everyone was relieved when the rescue party returned to 
base camp carrying the injured demigod.  Not only that, they had 
returned with baskets and baskets of fruit, both fresh and dried and a 
few sacks of flour to supplement their diet for a few days.  This 
development had lifted everyone's spirits until they all realized that 
fruit gathered in baskets meant other people of unknown intent 
inhabiting their island.  Just before he went off on another salvage 
operation, Jason passed the word that he was planning to double the 
guard at night.

Llyra was as glad as anyone else at the addition of fresh fruit, if 
only because a sojourn on a desert island was putting a serious cramp 
in her sweet tooth.  Although the figs she ate were nice, they were a 
poor substitute for chocolate.

"Ahh!" Falafel cried as he set some dried apricots to soak in fresh 
water, "I know just what to do with this bounty!  I shall make my 
special fruit compote!  A mixture of fresh peaches and pears, 
pineapple, coconut and an overly sweetened cherry.  This will surely 
hasten Hercules' recovery as well!" 

"Yeah," Llyra thought and watched as her list sibs turn a little green 
at his description.  "And our demise."  Out loud she said, "Falafel 
that sounds -- uuuhhh -- interesting.  But, you know what?  How about 
you start planning dinner and let me handle the fruit compote thing.  
After all, the head chef should take charge of the most important meal 
of the day, don't you think?"

"Yes, well, I -" Falafel stammered.

"I know you're expert at using spices and herbs and such, so why don't 
you take a party out to find some while I take care of the minor 
stuff.  You've done such a wonderful job making these biscuits (we 
needed some extra weapons with Ares around ) why not do something that 
really shows up your cooking skills (like making a toxic waste dump)?"

Falafel was as vulnerable to flattery as anyone, and eagerly agreed.  
He asked several of the list sibs to accompany him.  They read the 
silent plea in Llyra's eyes, not to mention the unspoken promise of 
something highly edible for dinner, and readily agreed.  Shouldering 
an empty basket and chattering happily, the group headed off into the 
brush.

Llyra turned to the sound of a deep chuckle behind her.

"What are you going to do when he wants to actually cook dinner?" 
Hercules asked her.

"Dunno," she admitted with a shrug.  "I'm making this up as I go 
along.  Hopefully I'll think of something by then.  For the time 
being, I'm gonna bury these concrete shot puts somewhere far from camp 
and then make something edible.  I love Falafel dearly but the man 
does not belong in a kitchen any more that I belong on a dance floor!"

"Why not?" Hercules asked innocently.  "You do great on the dance 
floor.  After Althea, you're my favourite partner."

Llyra giggled and blushed, although she was secretly pleased.  She 
knew that she had two left feet, while Herc had been trained by the 
famous Widow Twanky.  Although, she mused, dancing with Hercules was 
one of her favourite pastime, even if she was considered dangerous 
while hoofing.  As long as she didn't actually break the bones in his 
feet, she supposed that they'd both enjoy themselves.

As soon as Falafel and his group had disappeared, Llyra set to work.  
Despite the limited resources, she managed to make a sort of 
muffing/biscuit thing that did not resemble something to be shot out 
of a cannon.  Indeed, they didn't last long among those still in camp. 
 The apricots that Falafel had started soaking were beginning to plump 
out.  They would be very tasty in about an hour and the water they 
were soaking in would make a sweet, refreshing drink when the 
different search parties returned.  

The fresh fruits would have to be used up quickly because they would 
spoil in the intense, humid heat of the island.  Llyra planned to 
leave enough fresh for everyone to enjoy some throughout the day, but 
dry the rest to make it last longer.

"I need an extra pair of hands for this," she muttered.  "Not to 
mention a full kitchen, a way of keeping things sanitary and more 
cooking pots.  Oh, well, I'll do the best I can with what I have."

She figured that Pythia could teach her how to weave mats for the 
fruit drying process similar to the sunbonnets she was making, but she 
needed help with her plans.  There was a lot of fruit and the sooner 
this was started, the better.

"And the winner is -" she thought and looked around.  "Funny, I don't 
see Drakkar anywhere.  I know she slept late, but she wouldn't just 
disappear."  However, when she questioned those still in camp, no one 
knew where she was.

"I saw her go off a little while ago," said Arianna when asked.  "I 
think she's a little bummed by this whole shipwrecked/desert island/no 
modern conveniences thing."

"Nah, that's me," Llyra corrected her friend with a smile.  "I'd make 
a lousy pioneer."

"You're doing all right here," Arianna assured her.

"Maybe, but I've got plenty of help here.  I'm gonna find Drakkar."

"Don't wander too far.  Hercules is hard enough to keep still without 
him worrying about AWOL list sibs running into Ares."

Promising to be careful, Llyra picked up a sunbonnet from Pythia then 
headed off in the same direction as Drakkar.

Llyra had been almost faint with relief when Arianna had stumbled into 
camp with a wounded but very alive Drakkar that first night.  All the 
next day, Llyra couldn't help making visual checks on her friend to 
make sure she was all right.

"Is this sorta the way Herc feels about Iolaus?" she mused to herself. 
 "I mean, I know I haven't known Drakkar for long, but I like her very 
much and we have a lot in common.  I don't like to think of her hurt 
or scared or - or -"

"Or what?" Drakkar asked as she emerged from the bush.  "Llyra, are 
you OK?  You look so worried."

"Drakkar!  Where have you been?" Llyra demanded, startled by the 
sudden appearance.  "You shouldn't be out here by yourself with Ares 
popping in and out.  It's too dangerous."

"Who's Ares?" Drakkar was mystified at the older bard's attitude.  She 
felt much better after her encounter with Iolaus (let's face it, sibs, 
who wouldn't?).

"Who's Ares?"  Llyra could not believe her ears.  "Ares is the God -" 
then she remembered who she was talking to.  "Never mind.  Just take 
it as a given that he's bad news, and Hercules will start to worry if 
anybody strays out of camp for too long."

"Oh," Drakkar replied.  She cared little to nothing about Gods, 
although she didn't want to worry Hercules or her list friends. She 
would be careful for their sakes.  On the bright side she did have 
something useful to contribute.  "I found asparagus."  She held up her 
bundle to show her friend.

"Oooo, you are so forgiven!" Llyra enthused.  "They'll taste great 
steamed with a little salt.  Too bad we don't have any butter or 
anything resembling a Hollandaise sauce to go with them.  Ah, well.  
We don't have any champagne or chocolate, either.  This roughing it is 
gonna be the death of me yet.  Let's get them, and us back to camp 
before Herc tries to hobble out after us."

Drakkar agreed and they reversed course, talking amiably.

"Why'd you leave in the first place?" Llyra asked her.  "Are you 
feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I was just a little depressed about, you know, not seeing my 
boys until we get back."

Llyra put a comforting arm around the blond woman's shoulder.  "Yeah, 
I know.  I miss my kids, too.  But don't worry, we'll get back to 
them, one way or another, we'll get back to them."

It was a hopeful thought, and at that moment, both women believed it. 
 

tbc
Llyra
------------------------------
In camp I sat watching the others. Some work at various chores, others sat 
chatting about their plans for the remainder of our stay and I feel left out. 
I'm a not tight friend with any one of them. Many of the group was on board for 
a specific reason; vacation, a new job or a visit to family. I on the other hand 
had bribed my way on board because I was running away from a master who was 
starting to demand more of me than I was willing to give. Everyone seems so 
self-assured. Don't get me wrong, everyone is kind and friendly, that's not the 
problem. I just don't seem to fit. 

They all seem to have found their niches. I'd offer to do something at least I 
think I would, but someone else is there before I can get my words out. I'm 
stuck here in my own outer limits.

"Elaine. Your name is Elaine, right?" I jump at the sound of the voice.

"Yes."

"I'm Owlharp." We clasp arms. "We need someone to help gather firewood to 
maintain the fires. Do you mind helping?"

"No. I'd be glad to."

Owlharp hands me a cloth bag. "Several of the others are searching south and 
east of camp. Why don't you try north, but don't wander more than a mile from 
camp. We don't have enough people to spare for a search party should you get 
lost."

"Okay." My melancholy lifts at her concern and now I have something to occupy my 
time.

I head inland, a very large stick in hand. Just as I start to enter the forest a 
hand grips my arm. I try not to jump, but I do. I'm just happy that I didn't 
scream. The hand belongs to Iolaus.

"Keep a watchful eye. We've had a visit from Ares. He's unpredictable at the 
best of times."

"Thanks for the heads up." I say walking into the trees.

Underneath towering limbs I stand spellbound. I think some of these beauties 
have been here since the beginning of the world. Some of their lowest branches 
are twice Hercules height from the ground. My head leans back until my neck 
starts to ache as I stare up to where the branches have intermingle so much that 
only streams of sunlight reach through to the floor below. Kindling here is 
scarce, so I move on. The sounds of laughter and splashing water reach me. I 
feel comfortable knowing that the others are within shouting distance.

At the base of a gentle incline the tress are shorter and further apart. Here 
the kindling is more abundant. With my sack almost full I happen upon a tree 
that has a large amount of its roots exposed, probably happened during a flash 
food. Either way I can't wait to get back to camp and suggest that we use the 
tree as a boat, just in case a ship doesn't come by. I head back to camp feeling 
better.

Elaine
-----------------------------
Pythia's Journal: Day three - evening

Well, I finally managed to find something Falafal can cook as long as he 
wants and yet never spoil the taste!  Something that will come in pretty 
handy too, providing the heat of the fire doesn't hurt our careful work 
and make us have to start all over again.

It was pure chance really.  I'd plaited and knotted three bolases and 
handed them over to Jason - who'd immediately wanted to try one and had 
vanished in search of a goat to rope - and after all that work my fingers 
and hands were feeling achy and sore.  That was when I remember the piece 
of soap that Caro had handed me earlier in the day.  So I headed down to 
the pool intending to get cleaned up a little.  The place where everybody 
else had been splashing about earlier was pretty muddy by then, so I 
tracked the water a little further in its course, finding the spot where a 
tiny waterfall cascaded down a moss covered rock ledge.  There was another 
pool at the bottom of it, its banks lined with reeds and the whole thing 
overlooked by an elegant tree which was busy dipping its branches into the 
water.

'Willow!' I realised with delight, tugging the hatchet from my belt and 
wading out into the water, all thought of a bath forgotten.  Palms fronds 
are fine for making sun hats and mats, but for baskets you need something 
stronger.  Willow canes are supple when green, and weave well.  They also 
don't become too brittle when they dry out.  It didn't take me long to 
collect an armful of canes, pulling them down so that I could cut them as 
long as possible.  I was standing there, knee deep in water, a pile of 
green branches building up on the bank beside me when Arianna arrived, 
with Owlharp and Skylark in tow, all three of them looking decidedly 
anxious.

Turns out that Hercules has suggested that now we know Ares is lurking in 
the vicinity, no-one should leave camp on their own.  I'd missed that 
announcement so hadn't bothered to tell anyone where I was going - but it 
was nice to know my friends had noticed I was missing!  Of course, now I 
had help, I started loading them down with materials.  I stripped some 
willow bark for Skylark since it's a natural pain killer and would 
undoubtedly come in useful, loaded Arianna up with half my harvest of 
canes and pointed out the patch of papyrus reeds I'd spotted to Owlharp.  
She immediately started cutting a choice selection - all long thick reeds 
suitable for pounding into paper.  I gathered up the rest of my canes and 
waded back across the pool - only to trip on some underwater obstacle and 
fall flat on my face in the mud.

Skylark swears she heard someone snicker just before I hit the ground; I 
guess Ares isn't above a few practical jokes if the opportunity arrives.  
I didn't care - well, I *might* have cared that I was soaked to the skin, 
spattered with muck, and watching half my hard work float away downstream 
- if it wasn't for the fact that the 'muckk' was actually a thick slab of 
high grade clay.

Which is why we returned to camp in triumph - and it was triumph, even if 
Iolaus burst out laughing at the sight of me, gooey with terracotta and my 
skirts bundled up around a wet lumpy mess.  I tipped it out onto a nice 
flat slab of rock and explained my find.  Within moments I had a set of 
willing volunteers rolling fat sausages of clay and winding them up to 
make crude pots and plates.  Falafel and Jason laid out a firepit to put 
them in and then we piled hot embers and kindling over the lot; they'll 
bake all night and - with luck - we'll have dishes in the morning.

Iolaus walked me and my volunteers back to the pool and stood watch while 
everybody sluiced off the sticky clay and I finally got my bath.  It was 
worth the wait, believe me.

The clay fire has died to a dull glow now.  People are settling down to 
sleep, some collapsing onto the heaps of dried grass in the shelter, 
others just curling into blankets between the two fires. Jason and a few 
of the others have gone down to the beach to watch over the signal fire, 
which is probably just as well. I can hear the goats bleating quietly; 
their complaints would have been drowned out by Jason's snores, which  
elicited snickers all round last night.  Who knew the Captain of the Argo 
sounds just like a rusty saw when he was asleep?

Actually I guess Hercules and Iolaus knew already - but since they've 
taken up watch at either end of the camp, an equally watchful Amazon 
beside each of them, they're not on hand to ask.  Kat has her soaker close 
at hand, so I pity anyone who tries to sneak up on her tonight.  With 
luck, that might be Autolycus.  He flitted into camp when the delicious 
smell of roasting rabbit drifted out across the evening - and then 
promptly vanished again without a word.  Who knows what he's up to?  I 
just hope he doesn't run into trouble out there ...

Pythia
------------------------
Rivulets of water sparlked in the sunlight as Ares stood there half
naked.  He rested his hands on his waist as he watched his audience's
reaction.  He slowly began to unfasten his pants.  "Is this what you want
ladies?" purred the God of War.

"I don't know.  Ladies?"  Is that what we want to see?"  Margui asked her
two sisters.

CJ and Kat panted "Oh, yeah,"  as Margui eyed them in amazement.  Wilder
in her youth than she was now, Margui had seen many a striptease and had
even danced on a table with a half naked man named Apollo, so she wasn't
exceptionally thrilled about Ares' impromptu striptease.

"I wonder if he'll measure up?"  CJ mused.

"I don't know, look at his feet," Kat answered.  The three women's eyes
gradually sank past Ares' bare chest, past his codpiece and toward his
feet.

Even Ares found his eyes converging down before he regained his
composure.

"I assure you women that I am quite fully endowed," Ares postured.

"I don't know,"  Margui shook her head, "I hear that the stronger the god
the weaker the..."

"Hey!"  CJ interrupted, "what about Herc?"  

"Herc's a demigod. That doesn't count,"  Kat answered.

"Sheesh!"  CJ wiped her brow in fake relief, "That's good to hear."

Margui had hoped that all this talk would take the attention off Ares. 
She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he was slowly beginning
to seeth.  Margu was ready to take action.

"Okay Ares, I'll bite,"  she said and gave him a wicked grin.  "Take it
off.  Take it all off."

"You know,"  he said pointing to the trio, speaking smugly, "I'm just not
in the mood anymore."

"Big teaser,"  CJ pouted.

"Big Stripteaser,"  Kat corrected her.

"You know, I think there's an uprising in Helotes I need to see about," 
Ares offered.  "And my work here for the most part is done."

"Hey! No fair,"  Margui exclaimed, "you promised us a striptease and you
know if you come back, we'll be expecting it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ares said.  "We'll see about that.  As for your early
warning system ladies, and I use that term lightly, it can't stop the Big
Bad God of War."  He disappeared in a flash of red flame.

"Well, that's one way to get rid of him,"  CJ quipped.

"Yep, it is, "  Margui answered.

Margui
---------------------------
[Poor Kleandra's been sitting all day with a snakebite! I think she needs
some help! ]

Love to ya!
Owlharp


>"Because it just bit me and believe me when I tell you that it doesnīt
>exactly feel right."
>With that Kleandra sat back down on her blanket...

Owlharp had awakened with the others when Kleandra had cried out. She
came over, took the snake from Kleandra - grabbing it firmly behind its
head - and looked closely at it. "I don't recognize the the type", she
said. "Does it look familiar to anyone else?" She held it up. 
    Most of the Iolausians backed away, but Iolaus came up and inspected
it carefully. "Nope", he said finally. "Nothing familiar about it, other
than a faint resemblance to Ares!" 
     "Kleandra, how are you feeling?" asked Hercules anxiously. 
     "Just .. not right .... it's kinda burning, right around the bite"
Kleandra stretched her leg out and showed the two little punctures, right
above her ankle. 
      Iolaus lost his grin. "OK, Kleandra, I want you to lie back down
and put your foot up above the level of your heart."
He piled up some of the palm fronds to hold her ankle up, then turned to
the others.    
     "Owlie, get rid of that snake - let him go, out at the edge of camp
- and in the meantime, give me your knife"". 
      Owlharp held onto the snake with her right hand and dug out her
Swiss Army knife with her left. "Use the bigger blade",  she suggested.
"I just sharpened it before we left on the cruise. You're gonna want to
run it through the fire - "
      "I know, I know!" interrupted Iolaus, deftly opening the knife
despite his bandaged hands. He turned back to Kleandra and said gently,
"I'm going to have to make two cuts and then suck out the venom". 
    Kleandra looked a little pale but nodded stoically.  Caro knelt down
next to her and took her hand. "You just hold onto me", she said
comfortingly. "It's gonna be all right". 
      Pythia held up a handful of the willow bark she had collected.
"We'll need to boil this and make a poultice - it'll draw out whatever
poison is left." 
      "Good." 
      Hercules moved as if to get up, and then settled back with a grunt
of frustration. "Iolaus, with those bandages and all ... are you OK for
handling that knife?" 
     Iolaus waved the blade through the flame of the campfire. "No
problems, Herc". He ran the blade through the flame again, waved it in
the air to cool it,  and came back over to where Kleandra lay. He knelt
down beside her. "OK - this is gonna hurt a little...". 
     
    In the meantime, Owlharp had gone out into the darkness beyond the
camp, carefully stepping over the ingenious arrangment of trip-wires - or
rather, trip-vines - and coconut shells that Margui, CJ and Kat had set
up earlier that afternoon. 
     Her first inclination had been to bash the snake against the nearest
large rock, but immediately she rejected that idea. She held it up and
looked at it. It was really kind of pretty, all sleek black scales with
an irregular silvery pattern down its back.  "You know, that wasn't nice
of you to bite poor Kleandra! No, it wasn't. But it's not really your
fault, is it? You're just being a snake, and doing what snakes do." It
had coiled itself around her arm and made no attempt to get away. "Not
surprising," she thought."It's night-time, he's cold and I'm warm". She
was sure that this was why the creature had crawled under Kleandra's
blanket. 
    A hundred yards or so outside of the encampment she stopped and
looked back. She could still see the campfire among the trees, but it
seemed very far away. She held the snake up and addressed it. "OK, chum.
Let's make a deal here. I won't bash your head in, and you will promise
me that you'll crawl away from here and never come back, OK? And tell the
rest of your family to stay away, too!" 
   Gently she uncurled the reptile from around her arm and set it down on
the ground, watching as it slithered away under the nearest bush. She had
just turned back towards the camp, when suddenly a voice came from behind
her, causing Owlharp to jump a foot in the air. 
   "Thanks for the lift!"
   Owlharp whirled. There before her stood Ares, grinning hugely. 
    With a yelp of pure terror, Owlharp beat a hasty and ignominious
retreat back to the campsite. 

Owlharp
---------------------------------
Quiet Wolf strolled leisurely back toward the campsite.  She had 
remained alone in the cove for a time, enjoying the peaceful night.  
The bard had always loved walking in the moonlight, especially along 
a tropical beach.  It was very soothing to the soul.  But, she'd 
promised Iolaus she wouldn't linger for long, as the threat of Ares 
was still looming over the island.

Suddenly, Quiet Wolf found herself eating sand as she slammed to the 
ground amidst a loud clattering.

"What in Hades?" she sputtered, trying to untangle herself from the 
vines that had ensnared her.

"Whoops," Kat grinned, rushing to see who had fallen victim to the 
security system.  "I thought we warned everyone about these.  Guess 
we forgot to tell you."

"Yeah, I guess so," Quiet Wolf griped, accepting the Amazon's help 
up.  "They are a good idea though."  She began brushing herself off, 
but paused as she took in the flurry of activity in the 
campsite.  "What's going on?"

"Kleandra was bitten by a snake."

"What?"  Quiet Wolf looked guiltily down at the snake hook in her 
hands.  Of all the times to be off looking at turtles.  Snake 
wrangling was the one skill she had to contribute to the group, and 
she was too late.  "How bad is it?  Is she all right?"

"Iolaus and the others are treating the bite.  Owlharp took the snake 
away from the campsite to let it go," Kat explained.

"I'd better go see if she needs help," Quiet Wolf decided, after 
realizing that the crowd around Kleandra probably had things under 
control.  The bard turned and started to head off in the direction 
that Kat indicated and immediately fell back over the trip 
wire.  "Not a word," she said fiercely as the Amazon tried to hide 
her amusement.

Quiet Wolf attempted to find Owlharp, but she didn't have to look 
very far.  Owlie came flying towards the campsite, as if Ares himself 
was chasing her.

"What happened?"  the bard asked.  "Where's the snake?"

"It was safe and happy in the bushes back there, up until the point 
where it changed into Ares," Owlharp panted.

"Ares!  Well, that explains the marathon dash."  Quiet Wolf began to 
grow angry as she thought of all the trouble the god of war was 
causing.  Injuring Hercules had been bad enough, but tormenting poor 
Kleandra like that...

"We have to warn the others," Owlharp was saying, waving at the 
silhouettes around the campfire.

"I can't believe Ares," Quiet Wolf muttered.  "Doesn't he have 
anything better to do?  I have half a mind to go back there and..."

"And what?" came the sinister voice in her ear.  The girls both 
jumped as the god materialized next to them.  "Just what would you do 
to me?  Hit me with your little stick?"

Quiet Wolf was preparing an angry diatribe, but Owlharp, who was more 
experienced with the wrath of the god of war, grabbed the bard by the 
arm and pulled her along as they began running toward the campfire.  
As they neared, listening to Ares' mocking laughter behind them, 
Quiet Wolf crashed to the ground amid a loud jangling of coconuts and 
seashells.  

"I'm going to get those Amazons," she muttered

Quiet Wolf
--------------------------
Hey all!

We've again had several new folks join the list, Welcome, let me explain
that we're playing a game of virtual survivor in which several Hercules
characters and several list members have been marooned on an island. You
can find the rules and earlier game posts in the list archive over at our
Yahoo page if you're interested. Yes new folks may write themselves onto
survivor island if they wish to play along but they will not be eligible
for the prize at the end of the game. The game will last into July
sometime and then we'll go back to the usual list antics which may
continue in the meantime. As I will be playing in the Middle Ages next
weekend and away from my computer, I will post the July story challenge a
little early and do that before I leave. 

For those wondering, no the Iolausian Library has not been updated this
month, I have a ton of stuff to link to and post and will hopefully get
to that one day this week. I have been keeping my 10 year old neice and
my 2 year old nephew this month while my sister re-tiles the first floor
in her house. With the 24 hour a day dute with the 2 year old, I haven't
had a chance to sit down at the computer long enough to get the update
done. However, he's going home today and it'll just be me and the neice,
so I plan on getting the update completed and posted this week. 

On to the tribal council:

Well once again, no one needs immunity as no one used the secret word,
that won't hold, the words beginning next week will become more
common.....

Just for kicks this weeks word was "descent" and  someone was supposed to
use it in reference to climbing down and getting Herc off the ledge. <G>

At any rate even though she doesn't need it, Drakkar was this weeks 
winner of immunty.

Now on to next week:

Immunity challenge #3: 
Write a one sentence description of Iolaus, sentence with the most
adjectives wins.

Good luck!
Your game goddesses
Ceryndip and  Bwell
-----------------------------------------
end of day 3:

Jason held a large palm frond out of the way so Iolaus could get past it.
"Well, what do you make of it?"

Iolaus shook  his head and frowned, "We knew we weren't alone when Herc
found that stash of food stored in the cave, but this...." Iolaus
gestured to the skull Jason had found on the beach. "This was not left by
someone washing up on the shore, it's got...." he couldn't say it,
"whoever we're sharing this island with, they're cannibals." The hunter
shuddered at the very thought.

"Yeah, so what do we do about it without starting a panic?"

"We don't tell Herc, whatever we do. I know he heals faster than everyone
else but a breaks a break and we gotta keep him off that ankle for at
least another couple of weeks, it won't hold his weight."

"Agreed, we tell him about this and he'll be up on that crutch before we
can stop him."

"We haven't seen any of our neighbors in the three days we've been here
maybe they're on the other side of the island. We'll just have to keep
watch and see how it goes. We need to make sure we know where everyone is
at all time and not let anyone go anywhere alone."

The former king nodded, "Keeping Autolycus in view is going to be fun."

Iolaus snorted, "He can take care of himself, he's one I'm not worried
about."

"What about Ares?"

This time Iolaus smiled, "I think Kat and Margui embarassed him into
disappearing for awhile, he was just being a nuisance anyway." The hunter
set down the skull in the niche between two rocks, "Rest well, friend.
We'd better get back and do a head count."

Jason nodded and they turned toward their makeshift home. 

Unseen eyes followed them through the undergrowth

***

Not too far from camp, Iolaus paused, "You go ahead Jason. I need to
borrow a tree."

The former king nodded and moved down the path. The hunter stepped behind
a large palm to answer nature's call. He heard a tell-tale rustling in
the bushes a moment too late to prevent the darkness from descending.

***
Day 4:

Iolaus came to in darkness. The dizziness nearly overwhelmed him. He hand
came away sticky from the back of his head, no wonder it hurt, he had a
harpy's egg back there. 

"Man, what did they hit me with?"

"A big stick, you'll live, I checked it out."

"Autolycus?" the hunter tried to peer through the darkness without much
success.

"Yeah, we've been here a few hours, it'll be dawn soon."

"Where's here?" Iolaus tried to sit up and after discovering the roof was
only about 3 feet above the floor, lay back down.

"A cave, beyond that I have no idea, I wasn't awake when they brought me
in either."

"Have you seen our hosts?"

"Not really, big guys, grass skirts, tall grass hats, lots of bone
jewelry. They must have some big game on this island, you won't believe
the size of the cooking spit they have. And I don't think they like
girls, they keep pinching me."

"Uh, that's not why they're doing that. They're checking to see how much
meat you have on your bones....."

questions for our survivors to ponder:

Iolaus didn't come home last night, what happened to him?

Has anyone seen Autolycus lately?

What about that strange smell coming from the other side of the island?

Just who did leave that food in storage in the cave on the cliff?

The head hunters (think Gilligan's Island) won't be giving up their
prizes without a fight.....Kat you did bring  your hoolie kit right?
Maybe the cannibals are allergic to grape juice? 

Ceryndip
------------------------------
Author's note: Please for my timing was way off in post #4 where I 
wrote a journal of Skylark's stay on the island..it's only been three 
days..so for anyone just reading my 4th post..sorry abou that..

Post #5 End of 3rd day..

It had been a hot, stressful day. For some strange reason, Skylark 
had felt tired all day. A sense of dread and forboding hung in the 
air. Skylark tried to shake this feeling off as she reasons 'Come on 
Skylark..it's a bright, sunny day..the Amazons have defeated 
Ares..Hercules' ankle is on the mend..food and water 
everywhere..still can't shake this feeling of dread..' 

Skylark decides to lie down and take a nap. It's got to be this 
heat..this oppressive humid heat..I'm starting to get island 
fever..yeah that's it..nothing a little nap can't cure. Skylark curls 
up under the palm tree and lets her mind drift to sleep.

Skylark dreams...
Skylark crinkles her nose as the stench of rotten fish fills the air. 
She walks in the forest and trips over an unseen object. Skylark 
bends down and picks up the offending object and sees a human skull. 
Paralyzed with fear, Skylark stands rooted to the spot. Quickly she 
hears a twig snap. She hides in the bushes. Skylark overhears a 
conversation "We've just captured a live one. He'll make an 
interesting meal tonight..he's a lot fatter than the other one we 
captured a day or so ago.."

Against her better judgement, Skylark follows the two smelly savages 
further into the forest. To her disgust, she trips over more human 
remains..Skylark sees a group of very hygenically challenged men 
standing around a huge cooking pot. She sees someone being thrown 
into the cooking pot..Skylark can't believe her eyes whom they have 
thrown into the cooking pot to be eaten alive..a man..but not just 
any man..it's..it's.."

Skylark wakes up screaming. 

Arianna and the others run to Skylark and ask "Skylark..what's going 
on?..What happened?"

Skylark blushes as she responds "Nothing..just a bad dream..."

Arianna gently comforts the trembling young healer "It wasn't just 
any dream was it? Don't worry you can tell us..you are safe here.."

Kleandra, Margui, Mary E, and the other Amazons nod their heads. 
Skylark hesitantly explains "Promise you won't think I'm crazy?"

Arianna, Pythia and the others look at Skylark "No, dear..you are not 
crazy..you are the most talented healer we've ever had..we've seen 
you handle Hercules..and Iolaus.." At the mention of Iolaus' name, 
Skylark blanches.

"You saw something happen to Iolaus in your dream didn't you?" 
Arianna asks noticing the extreme palor of Skylark's skin..

"I don't know..it's just..my grandmother had the gift..my mother had 
the gift..now I guess i have the gift.." SKylark babbles.

"What gift?" ARianna asks.

"The gift of second sight. The future unless we fix it..I saw Iolaus 
being cooked alive..these awfully smelly creatures..about to eat.." 
Skylark breaks down at this point..

Arianna follows with horror "You mean CANNIBALS?"

Arianna looks at the other Amazons and asks "Have any of you seen 
Iolaus lately?"

All shake their heads. As if on cue, Jason arrives in camp with 
supplies and he walks towards the Amazons and aks "Has anyone seen 
Iolaus?"

As Arianna explains SKylark's vision to Jason, Jason mutters "We'd 
better not tell Hercules yet..he needs to rest that ankle." Jason 
pulld his hair in frustration as he mutters "What else can go 
wrong..first Ares..Hercules' broken ankle..cannibals..now Iolaus 
captured by cannibals..what next?"

Skylark tilts her head towards Jason and meets his eyes as she 
answers Jason's query in a quivering voice "According to the nighmare 
I just had..Jason..I'm afraid..it's only going to get worse.."

<Collective shudder throughout the camp at Skylark's dark premonition>

TBC

Skylark
------------------------------------
Caro sat with her belt in her lap, running the thin leather through her
hands as she listened to Jason speak. He was arranging for some of the
better trackers to go back to where he'd last seen Iolaus, it was a good
plan but Caro felt restless and she didn't know why. She was no hunter,
she'd be of no use to Jason, so she stayed in the camp to try and offer
Hercules what comfort she could, and to keep him off that ankle of his
for as long as possible. He'd be no good to them if he made his injury
worse. 

"Phew what's that smell?" Skylark had recovered somewhat from her
disturbing vision and had joined Caro and the demigod. 

Caro sat up and stared at her new friend, suddenly realising what had
been bothering her. "Um, I've just remembered, um I've got to ... you
keep Hercules company OK?"

A bemused Skylark nodded and shrugged as Hercules raised a questioning
eyebrow at her.

Caro quickly found Owlharp, Pythia and Bev attempting to talk Falafel
into letting them near the clay oven and do a little cooking of their
own. "Guys! We need to talk."

Gesturing wildly the bard managed to get the three women away from
Falafel and talking quietly explained what she had only just realised.

"Take a deep breath, can you smell it?"

Wrinkling their noses all three nodded.

"I think, well, look ... the wind changed sometime in the night and it's
bringing us the stench ... and I think .."

Pythia nodded, "You're right. It's burning flesh, it must be coming from
the cannibals encampment."

Owlharp continued the thought, "Which means that we have a direction to
follow, all we need to do to find Iolaus is follow our noses!"

Caro nodded excitedly, and then frowned, "Do we have time to go find
Jason? What if they ... you know, Skylark's vision." She couldn't bring
herself to say the dread words.

Bev had been silent but now she spoke, "Skylark mentioned that there
were two captives. We haven't seen Autolycus for a long time. You don't
think ...?"

They did think and this thought only adding to their worries the women
stared at each other, what should they do?

Caro held up the leather belt, "I know it's not much but I've been
practicing with this, using it as a kind of bolas, I'm also kinda good
fitting stones into one of the loops and flicking it just so ..." Caro
demonstrated, the stone imbedding itself into a nearby tree.

"Woohoo, they'd better watch out with you and Kat about girl!" Bev
grinned.

"Well, maybe, but I'd sure feel safer if it was Iolaus doing the
rescuing. Do we go see if we can find the camp? Or do we see if we can
track Jason and let him decide what to do? Owlie? You always manage to
make great suggestions, what do you think?"

(Yeah, Owlie, Pythia, Bev? I'm not the heroic type but for Iolaus I'd
walk through fire, what'd you say?)

Caro
----------------------

> (Yeah, Owlie, Pythia, Bev? I'm not the heroic type but for Iolaus 
> I'd
> walk through fire, what'd you say?)

Gee, I had thought that smell was just what Falafel was cooking for
lunch! <G>

Count me in, Caro! We gotta go get our Golden Hunter back. No one is
allowed to nibble on him except US!! <G>

Owlharp
--------------------------------
Kat awoke as the sun began to rise.  She had heard Skylark's comments
about her vision and with Iolaus' sudden disappearance the island
paradise was beginning to get a more and more sinister feel.  Once
everyone had been accounted for and a camp was made, Kat had begun to
enjoy herself.  The baskets of fruit and bags of flour, as well as their
ability to both fish and hunt, had guaranteed that they wouldn't
starve.  Even Hercules' injury hadn't dampened her excitement about the
adventure much.  They were on an island, with warm sunny weather, plenty
of food for the time being, friends and family-- it had been like a
vacation.

The only dark point Kat could think of was the fact that YI wasn't
there, marooned on the island with them.  For some reason the young
cadet had missed the boat, and probably by this point he had started
some type of rescue party for them.

Kat walked over to her sister, Margui, who was also awake.  "Hey sis,
have you seen 'Toly around lately?"

"Nope," Margui said with a frown.  "He's made himself scarce since the
shipwreck."

"Just wondering.  It isn't like him to disappear like that, you know how
much he loves an audience.  I mean sure, he'll disappear when there is
work to be done, or he'll find a way to con his way out of it, but this
isn't like him, is it?"  Kat asked her dark-haired sibling who was
probably closer to the King of Thieves than anyone.  "I'm going to go
and check on our tripwires and some of the snares, be back in a little
while."

Kat walked quietly out of camp.  The Amazon had the ability to move
stealthily.  She slipped into the woods, away from the others.  She
walked deeper into the forest before she came to a quiet clearing.
"Ares," she called loudly.  "I know you're around here somewhere.  Show
yourself!"

"Didn't get enough yesterday, did you?" The God of War asked as he
appeared in a puff of black smoke.

The Amazon grinned wickedly.  "Can we ever get enough?"

Ares roared with laughter.  "I knew I liked you for some reason.  But
why did you call me?  I'm a busy God, I have wars to start and oversee.
A God's work is never done."

"Blah, blah, blah," Kat retorted.  "Ya gotta come up with some better
dialogue.  This is so cheesy a B-movie wouldn't even use it."

"What do you want?"

"Did you capture Iolaus or Autolycus?"

"Wouldn't you want to know," the dark haired deity teased.

Kat quickly drew her sword and held it at the Olympian's throat.  "I'm
serious, Ares.  Do you have them?"

"Do you really think you could hurt me with that toy?" the God of War
said as he brushed the sword away like a fly.  "And if I did have them,
why should I tell you?"

"That's all I needed to know," the brunette said as she sheathed her
sword.  "I was hoping that Skylark's dram was just a dream, and that you
were just trying to mess with us as always, but it looks like we're in
more trouble than we thought.  Darn there goes the vacation in paradise,
and I was just starting to enjoy myself."

Kat
--------------------------
Pythia's Journal: Day Four

This was not the morning I'd hoped for.  Skylark's vision had unsettled us 
all and it was a sombre group that gathered to decide what to do.  There 
was no hope of us keeping the news from Hercules of course - but after 
he'd demanded the truth from us we got to see just why Jason had been 
Captain on the Argo and such a good King in the years that followed.  He 
didn't shout, or even say anything that sounded like orders, but at the 
end of the discussion Hercules was nodding a weary agreement and Jason was 
able to stride away and begin organising his search parties.

I wanted to help - but wasn't sure how I could.  After all, I'm not an 
experienced hunter or tracker, and my skills are with words and weaving - 
which didn't seem to be much use for this emergency.  Feeling a little 
helpless I went to check on our makeshift kiln, mostly to give myself 
something to do.  The excitement I might have felt on finding that we had 
a dozen good plates and several whole clay jars was utterly extinguished 
by my sense of anxiety.  What use would dishes be if we were attacked by a 
cannibal raiding party?  And the special plate at the bottom of the stack 
- the really big one I'd made to give us aa sensible sized serving dish - 
how could I use to charm a smile from our golden hunter (Hey, Iolaus - 
made you a dish to match your appetite!) if he wasn't there to appreciate 
the joke ...

I picked up one of the broken pots (not everything had survived the 
firing) and was about to fling it away in sheer frustration, when a 
thought struck me.  The edges of the cracked pieces were sharp and jagged; 
broken just a little smaller they'd made suitable makeshift shuriken - 
maybe not dangerous enough to do serious damage, but surely good enough to 
 persuade a cannibal to keep his distance.  I immediately set to breaking 
up the rest of the cracked vessels until I had a good supply of potential 
missiles.

Feeling a little more able to contribute I packed my new ammunition into a 
makeshift canvas bag and tied it to my belt before taking those dishes 
that had survived across to Falafel.  Owlharp and Bev were there, trying 
to persuade our cook to let them help with breakfast - and it was there 
that Caro caught up with us.

I'd been wondering why I could smell roasting pork - we'd seen no sign of 
pig on the island and Falafel hadn't finished working on his spit, so he 
wasn't likely to be roasting us anything just yet.  Of course, as soon as 
Caro pointed it out, I knew - and so did the other two.  Bev went a little 
white and I don't blame her.

It was too late to stop the search party, who'd already left camp.  
Hercules was in no condition to help us, and Falafel was hardly the hero 
type.  That left it to us to take action - and urgently, going by the 
sweet scent of meat on the wind.

I proposed that we follow the smell and find the cannibal camp - at least 
that way we'd know if the worst had happened.  We could mark a trail using 
my hatchet, so that Jason and the others had a route to follow (and make 
sure we knew the way back too!) while we sent Falafel to catch up with the 
hunting party and tell them where we were going.  Skylark would be safer 
in the camp with Hercules - and both of them were better off not knowing 
what Caro had figured out.

Quickly - and discreetly, so as not to make the demi-god suspicious - we 
gathered up what few weapons we had and rendezvoused at the edge of camp. 
 I grabbed my bag of shards, my hatchet, and two of the bolases I'd made 
the day before - along with the grass rope net that I'd started work on 
and had intended to finish today.  It wasn't big enough to make a sensible 
fishing net yet, but with a few clay shards tied along the edges it would 
make a pretty decent retarius type net, suitable to entangle a cannibal in 
- if it came to that.

Caro had her belt ready of course.  Owlharp had her knife and took one of 
the bolases from me - and I suggested that we load a few smouldering wood 
embers into one of the whole pots so that we had a source of fire if we 
needed one.

Thus armed, we set off into the interior, praying that Falafel would find 
Jason soon, and that we *wouldn't* find what we feared the most.  My 
patrons, the Muses, would not be much help to me for this adventure, so I 
sent a silent prayer to Athena, goddess of warriors and weavers, in the 
hope that she might be listening.  If nothing else, she might bless my 
work and see that the net held and the rope didn't snap!

Pythia

(Caro - what have you got me into!  <g>)

-------------------------
Pythia, Owlharp, Caro and Bev set out on their mission.  Bev felt sick!
Being scared always had the effect on her.  If she didn't surely rid
herself of the meal she'd taken earlier that day it would be only by the
grace of the gods.
The four women had armed themselves with what they had.  Bev had tied
her survival knife to the end of a strong branch about four feet in
length.  The rope she'd learned to weave with Pythia's help had turned
out to be strong and useful sooner than she had figured.  The day before
she had honed the knife blade on a rock and she hoped she wouldn't have
to use this weapon on anyone or thing.  Gods, how she was hoping!

Bev queried, "Caro, guys?  Are we doing the right thing here?  I mean, I
know we have to do something but maybe it should have been to go after
Jason and the others first." 

Owlie spoke up first, "No, I'm not certain either but if that smell is
what we all are fearing then time is of the utmost importance.  I'm
scared too but hey, that can work for us, and not against.  It'll keep
us on our toes!"

"Yeah, that' if we get to keep our toes", muttered Caro.

Pythia sighed a ragged sigh and they all exchanged nods that said a
reluctant, 'well, let's do it!"

Keeping low they calculatingly made their way along.  Owlie took point
and Pythia paid close atention to marking branches with her hatchet so
Jason and the others would be able to follow.  And 'Boy Howdy' did Bev
hope they followed.  Bev brought up the rear keeping an eye on just
that.  They passed over a small stream and headed up a ridge.  Climbing
and hiking was  not the forte of any of the four women and it wasn't
long before they'd all acquired scraped knees and elbows.  
It was growing hot and they were trying to be careful with the little
drinking water Bev had brought along.  But there wasn't much of it left
now.   
The ridge became high and treacherous.  Maybe not so treacherous for an
experienced climber but to these four inept gals it was tough going.
Gradually they made their way over rocks, around trees standing and/or
fallen, and through underbrush.  Always mindful to keep an eye out all
around for anything or anyone unexpected.  They all had an itchy feeling
that they were being watched and it was difficult resisting the urge to
turn tail and run back to the small safe haven they'd all made for
themselves.  But the knowledge that Iolaus would do the same for any one
of them without a single thought for his own safety was the catalyst
that kept them going.
The air was thick now with that sickening burning smell and they all
were gagging on the stench.  They would have known they were getting
close now even if not for the presence of the smokey fog hanging in the
air.  For suddendly they could hear the sound of drum beats.
Methodically they played over and over progressively getting louder and
louder.
The girls were crouching just below what appeared to be the entrance to
a cave.  One by one they crawled up and over the top and hid behind a
large boulder.  Bev's throat was so dry with fear she could barely
swallow.

Caro whispered, "My heart's going to outdo those drums, I think."

They exchanged knowing looks

"Well, now what?" Pythia asked.

And now they exchanged unknowing looks.

The drums echoed out of the cave opening.

Pythia asked again, "So who wants to go exploring?  Or do we take the
plunge together?"

Caro eagerly replied, "Together!  I say, together!"

Bev was too darned scared to say anything.  She was certain her feet had
become glued to the ground she stood on.
Owlie peered into the cave and then back at her comrades.  "Let's go
girls!  Iolaus needs our help!"
The four crept into the mouth of the cave but in actuality it felt more
like the mouth of the greatest of all hydras.  The drums were deafening
and now the chants of what they feared were the cannibals could clearly
be heard.  They came to a turn in the cave wall and peeked around the
corner.  What they saw made them slack jawwed to say the least.  There
sat Iolaus in a huge tribal like chair befitting one of royalty.  Young
bare breasted women were fanning him with huge palm fronds and others
were hand feeding him from large trays of fruit and figs that sat at his
feet.  Keeping with the dress code, men were dancing about and around a
large fire in the center of the scene.  It was a frenzied dance and
their chanting and screaming seemed to be some sort of shouts of glee.
The four musketeers couldn't believe their eyes and traded bewildered
looks  of disbelief.

tbc
Bev
---------------------------
"The smell's stronger, coming from there!"   Pythia pointed towards the
interior of the island where a pass led between two low hills. 
 Owlharp nodded grimly. "The breeze is coming from that direction," she
said. "It's the first time since we've been on the island that there
hasn't been a wind off the sea. That's probably why we haven't smelled
anything before. Look - I know like zip about tracking and stuff, but  if
we climb one of those hills, we might be able to get a better look at
that side of the island, maybe even see where the cannibals are...". She
looked around expectantly but nobody argued against the idea. 
 "Which hill?" asked Caro, twirling her belt.
  "Pick one!" 
  "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo! That one!" she said, pointing to the hill on
the left. 
   Most of the hill in question was thickly forested, but there was
little underbrush, so they were able to move quickly and relatively
quietly. At Pythia's suggestion, Caro went first, Owlharp followed and
scanned from side to side, while Pythia brought up the rear, watching
their backs and notching trail marks on the trees. 
   The trees thinned out  as they neared the top. 
   "Guys, I think we need to do the rest of the way up on our tummies"
said Owlharp softly. "There's no cover at the very top, and we don't want
to be silhouetted against the skyline, just in case someone's looking
this way. I remember that from "Lord of the Rings", when Aragorn and the
hobbits were climbing Weathertop". 
    All three of them dropped to the ground and did the last part of the
hillside crawling on their hands and knees. The summit was completely
bare and they dropped flat and cautiously peered over the top of the
hill. 
   "Oh CRIPES!" muttered someone. 
    They'd found the cannibals all right - not a hundred feet below them.
The hill immediately below the summit dropped away steeply into a bare, 
rock-strewn slope, and at the bottom of that slope was a clearing with a
small half-circle of ramshackle grass huts. A huge fire burned in a pit
at the center of the clearing, and several large men in grass skirts were
industriously adding logs to it. An immense pot stood to the one side of
the pit, with steam pouring from it.  
   The breeze increased, sweeping up the hillside towards the three
watchers, and the smell of burning - something - was just about
overpowering. 

[OK, what happens now? Do we run back and find Jason and the trackers?
That would be the sensible thing to do. Or do we rush in where angels
fear to tread ? Maybe we could get Hercules to come over and talk the
cannibals into going vegetarian?]

Owlharp 
------------------------
VS: On The Trail Of...

Jason was a man on a mission!  I hadn't seen him move this fast in 
years and we were hard pressed to keep up with him.  

I was a bit worried about Kleandra keeping pace with us.  Her foot was 
still swollen a bit where the snake had bitten her the other night but 
the venom seemed to have a numbing effect and she assured us all that 
there was no pain.

I nervously fingered the sea shells that Autolycus brought me.  They 
rode on my hip in the palm-frond pouch the master thief crafted for 
me, and they had all been sharpened to maximum cutting efficiency.  
The shells would shave a man's beard and...if necessary to save 
Iolaus...they could be used to kill in hand to hand combat.  Before we 
left the camp, Jason asked to borrow the mirror and I immediately 
turned it over to him.  I think the former king may have prearranged 
some kind of signal with Hercules before we left him and Skylark back 
at the camp. 

Several of the 'amazon trackers' had run to the spot where Jason last 
saw Iolaus.  It appeared that Ahary and Arrianna were trying to 
protect Drakkar from viewing the skull that was sitting between the 
rocks of this macabre, makeshift shrine.  A funny thing happened 
though as we stood about viewing this remnant of a human life...we all 
seemed to draw some deep resolve, some inner strength from it...a unity 
of spirit.  A shout went up from our little group, "For Iolaus!!!"

Jason led us along the still fresh tracks.   Several of the amazons 
took to the trees.  Some followed Jason and his small group of 
trackers in parallel paths, off to the side of the trail.  Still 
others watched our backs.  We were in a hurry and didn't bother to 
cover our own tracks.

Those of us in the trees began to pick up a disturbing aroma.  We 
could see smoke rising above the area but we were still a ways off.

We climbed down from the trees and alerted Jason to our discoveries.  
He took just a few seconds to digest the information then, turning to 
us as a general would to troops, the captain of the Argo barked his 
first order.  "On the double, people!  We must hurry..."

Mary E.
------------------------------------
With Hercules injured, Iolaus and Autolycus missing, maybe held by
cannibals, our forces divided into two groups searching deep in the forest
for the missing and those left behind to guard camp, I felt it was time to
start preparing some defense of our own.

It took several bruised toes from ticking sand before I could decided on
where to start.  I remembered my mistress's favorite saying 'ask for what
you want.'  Walking to the end of the water, I knelt in the wet sand and
called to the god of my ancestors.  Asking that he protect the missing ones,
give swiftness and courage to the ones searching and patience and purpose to
the ones left behind.  With my words taken to him by the winds I got up and
went to work.

The first task was to stack as much wood and semi-dry seaweed as I could
find in a circle around the camp on the seaward site.  In my thinking the
fire would be some deterrent while the smoke from the seaweed would make it
hard for the enemy to see.  Unasked I borrowed Pythia's hatchet and hacked
the tips off the pile of poles Iolaus had gathered for fishing, they would
make semi-decent spears.

With Skylarks help we moved a protesting Hercules behind a grouping of rocks
so that he would have a little more protection.  Visiting the refuse pile I
dug up as many crab shells and various seashells as I could.  The shells had
dried becoming hard and sharp, some were brittle but most would hold up for
my purpose.  Putting them in a cloth I banged them against a rock.  On the
landward side of camp I spread the pieces at the edge of the sand hoping
that the shards would pierce hardened feet, slowing down the cannibals long
enough for us to meet their charge.

My last weapon was not fully complete, so as we waited for the others to
return I worked to finish as much as I could.

Elaine
-----------------------
Pythia's Journal - Day Four (continued)

It was a scene straight out of 'King Kong'.  The wild dancers, draped with 
 strings of shells and clay beads, the frantic drummers, beating out their 
desperate rhythm, the smoke filled cave, the carved idols, the bare 
breasted women ...

'No wonder Iolaus hasn't tried to escape,' I quipped, whispering in 
Owlharp's ear.  She smothered a snort of laughter and threw me a 'be 
serious here' look.  To be honest, the joke had been born out of 
nervousness, not bravado; the situation terrified me, knowing how easily 
this kind of crowd could get out of hand.  It didn't look as if Iolaus was 
in immediate danger, but looks can be deceptive.  The natives were 
treating like some sort of god and - given how strange they'd probably 
find his golden hair and his blue eyes - this was highly understandable.  
It also worried me immensely.  Tribal cultures like this often had a 
strong grasp of the concepts of sympathetic magic, highly impractical 
theories as to how their world worked and brutal customs to back up both 
beliefs.

They were more than likely pampering their 'god' prior to sacrificing him 
and eating him in order to absorb his power.  Which would be an experience 
Ares might find vaguely amusing were he the intended victim, but hardly 
one that Iolaus was likely to survive. 

'Look', Caro hissed, pointing across the shadowed cave.  There was what 
looked like a sunken fire pit on the far side of the huge space; a dim red 
glow of heat pulsed out of it, rimming the dancers with lurid light.  Bev 
gulped back a gasp of horror and my heart sank.  Maybe they weren't 
preparing to sacrifice their new gods just yet - but they were certainly 
preparing to sacrifice *to* him.

Hanging above the pit, wrapped up in a tight coil of grass rope and 
suspended by his ankles at the end of a taut line - one thrown over a huge 
bone carved hook so that its burden could be easily lowered into the 
waiting fire - was Autolycus ...

Pythia
--------------------
"Here you go Hercules, do you think it will be
enough?"  Athena said as she emptied her bag of
coconuts onto the sand.  

"Between what you and the other have gathered we
should be ok to if trouble shows up here."  Hercules
said holding one of the coconuts.  "This will be great
to throw."

"I, I could go gather more if you want."  Athena said
as her voice cracked.  

Hercules looked up into her eyes "Come here" he said
as he gave her a comforting hug. "Everything is going
to be ok, I promise."  

"Are you sure?  I am really worried about Iolaus,
Jason and the others.  They have been gone for so
long."  Athena said as the sounds of drums  beat
louder.

"They will be fine. Why don't you go over and help the
others and keep busy." Herc said with an encouraging
smile.  "Theres nothing to worry about.  Jason and the
others have everything well in hand."

"Thanks Hercules, yell if you need anything."  Athena
said as she got up to walk toward the group.  

"I wish those drums would stop banging they are
driving me nuts."  she mumbled making her way to the
fire.  All of a sudden she heard a noise and turned.

A rustle of branches caught her attention and she
turned and screamed ......

Athena
-----------------------
>>>> A rustle of branches caught her attention and she [Athena]
> turned and screamed ......<<<<

"Gods!  Chill!" Drakkar yelped.  She hadn't even realized that anyone was
standing there when she bolted from the bushes, but these damned gnats were
making her crazy!

"Look, I'm sorry," she continued, seeing the expression on Athena's face, "I
really didn't mean to scare you like that.  I didn't even know you were
there, honest."  She stopped, a grin spreading over her face as she tried in
vain to stifle a giggle. "Your face, though...." she snickered.

~Drakkar
------------------
Quiet Wolf was ticked off.  It was bad enough that Ares had been 
tormenting them and had put Hercules out of action, but now Iolaus 
had been captured by cannibals.  As if they didn't have enough 
problems.  Well, no one was about to sit around and let their golden 
hunter become the Saturday night special.  Everybody had dissolved in 
a flurry of activity, eager to rescue Iolaus.  Quiet Wolf had gone 
with Jason's group, and she was very glad she had.  The Argonaut had 
immediately taken charge, organizing them and leading the group with 
all the efficiency and skill of a former king.  Before long, they 
were concealed in the bushes, watching the natives performing their 
wild dance.  It was almost hypnotic and completely mesmerizing, but 
swift action was called for, as Autolycus was about two minutes away 
from getting barbequed.

"What do we do?" Quiet Wolf whispered to Jason.

"We can't just charge in there," the Argonaut replied.  "There are 
too many of them, and Autolycus could get hurt.  Usually in these 
situations, we take out a few of them, disguise ourselves in their 
clothing, and infiltrate the crowd, allowing us to get close enough 
to rescue the captives."

Quiet Wolf shot a quick glance at the half naked woman undulating 
around the fire and subconsciously drew her shirt a little tighter 
around her chest.

"Ok, right.  And what would be Plan B?"

"You mean you don't want to flash everyone, not even for Iolaus?" 
Mary E joked.

"Hey," Quiet Wolf retorted.  "I don't see you stripping."

"What we really need," Jason interjected.  "Is someone that can go in 
there and fool these savages into thinking that she's a goddess.  
Someone that can dazzle them with some kind of trick, so they think 
she has powerful magic.  It might give the rest of us the distraction 
we need to get in place and get Autolycus free.  Anyone want to 
volunteer?"

Quiet Wolf
--------------------------
Gods, the drums are enough to drive us all crazy...what was happening to
Iolaus...would we get there in time?  On the way, Mary E showed me her
shells, and I thought it might be a good idea to try to fashion weapons
which would not require us to actually be 'in the face' of the
cannibals...personally, I have no desire to get that close to their
teeth!  We picked up sticks along the way, and dragged vines from the
trees.  When Jason finally called a short halt for us to get our breath
and bearings, we all grabbed a stick, a shell and a length of vine,
forging makeshift spears and long knives.  Others had gathered coconuts
to throw...more than one of us has a good arm!!!!  During the rest
break, we picked up the scent of roasting pork on the wind.  As the
realization of what the smell meant sank in, more than one face
blanched...and I felt distinctly ill.  Please, please, don't let us be
too late!

Jason led us off again, no longer bothering to follow the tracks, but
heading directly toward the scent of the camp.  We went quieter now, not
wanting to draw attention until we had scoped out the camp...but kept
moving fast.  No one noticed the cuts and scratches from the sharp
leaves that we brushed through, the aching muscles from the mad climb
across the island...no one cared about such insignificant irritations.

Suddenly, just before the camp, we came upon Owlie, Pythia and
Caro...and saw the same chilling scene.  Autolycus was definitely in
trouble...and Iolaus couldn't take all the savages himself...even though
it was clear that his eyes were moving, weighing the odds, even as he
smiled and pretended to be enjoying the King for a Day treatment.

Jason whistled, like a nightingale...pretty, and reasonably innocuous,
hardly attracting the attention of the cannibals who had worked
themselves into quite a frenzy...but, Iolaus heard.  He smiled for
real...and then laughed!  He'd been dying (almost too literally) to take
these guys on, but he couldn't afford to make a hopeless gesture....now,
he knew he wasn't alone.

Jason hurriedly deployed us, sending some around to the far side of the
camp.  Before we took off, he instructed, "Alright, this is it...and
make no mistake, this is dangerous...some of us might get hurt.  When
you hear me whistle again, scream like banshees, scream as if all the
tortured souls of Tartarus was here with us, throw the coconuts, and
keep screaming while you charge into the camp....you haven't killed
people before...but, if you have to, do it.  Aim for the body with your
spears and knives...and hold onto them until you can pick up something
better.Iolaus and I will make for Autolycus, and we'll hold off the
cannibals for as long as we can, but head to us and help cut Autolycus
down while we fight.  Once we have him, stay together and head back this
way...we leave no wounded...everyone goes in....and everyone comes out.
Understood?"

Pale, shaking, terrified, we nodded.  Pythia, Owlharp, Quietwolf and I
headed to the far side of the camp.  As we moved quietly, the sounds of
our passage covered by the frenzied chanting and drums, I wondered what
had happened to our idyllic little castaway life on the deserted
isle...not so deserted and definitely not safe!

In position, we listened...having to remind ourselves to breathe.  And,
then, we heard it....the enchanting song of the nightingale....and we
started to SCREAM!

Arianna
---------------------------------------------
Kat and CJ had canvassed the area around the cannibals and heard Jason's last 
words.  "There were a few perimeter guards, they're taken care of" Kat reported.

The former king nodded and looked around at his group.  "Jason, do you have that 
mirror?" CJ asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, CJ. Right here" he took it out of his pouch and held it out.

"Well, it's not very big but maybe..."

"Atlantis?" Kat asked, catching onto her sister's idea.

"Yea" CJ grinned.

"Ah, you mean when Hercules went to Atlantis and the king there used mirrors to 
fake walking through fire?" Owlharp asked as most of them had heard the story.

"Right" CJ nodded.  "It won't be a big fire, but it will have to do."

They worked together on determining the angle as CJ and Kat worked their way to 
the end nearest Autolycus.  CJ pulled out her sword and at the signal from 
Jason, stood up from behind the bushes.  The cannibals stopped their chanting 
and dancing at seeing the blonde at the edge of their camp and raised their 
spears to attack.  The ones nearest jumped back as flames seemingly shot up from 
the ground,  surrounding the woman.

CJ held her sword at her side and calmly stood in the flames, letting them 
appear to caress her skin before calmly stepping forward.  She raised her hands, 
pointing her sword at Autolycus and looking over the barbarians with anger on 
her face.  "These men belong to me!  Release them" she ordered.  The others from 
the shipwreck, echoed her order in whispering voices, making it sound like her 
voice was all around the camp.

The women cannibals quickly moved to comply with the powerful strangers request 
before their men realized.  They swung Auto over the pit and released the rope, 
causing him to land hard on his side.  Iolaus kept silent, fearing that if he 
spoke, he'd give CJ away.  He spotted Kat moving around the camp since 
everyone's attention was on the shorter blonde.  "Geez, could you be a little 
rougher?" Auto groused as he attempted to sit up. He was still bound with ropes 
and fell over on his other side, just inches from the pit where he was almost 
barbequed.

Kat snuck up behind Iolaus and used her own sword to cut his bindings.  Auto's 
voice seemed to break the spell the natives were under and several very ugly, 
rough looking men once again raised their spears.  CJ glared at them and moved 
next to Auto, cutting him loose.  "Get ready to run" she whispered.

Auto stood up and brushed the dust from his tunic, keeping a close eye on their 
captors.  Iolaus and Kat eased away silently, getting ever closer to the far 
edge of the camp.  They were near some of the others' position when one of the 
women cannibals saw them and shrieked.  "RUN!" Iolaus shouted, drawing more of 
the natives towards them and away from CJ and Auto.

The thief grabbed CJ's hand and they sprinted in the opposite direction as fast 
as they could.  The cannibals were split as to who they should follow until 
thier leader ordered half of his men to go one way and he led the other half 
after Iolaus and Kat.  Would they all make it?  Only time < and the next 
authors> would tell.

CJ
-------------------------
Allie paced around the campsite until she could stand it no more.

"The hell with it," she decided, " I may be no warrior, but I'm not
going to stand around while Iolaus is in trouble."

Hunting around through the brush, she found a stout stick, whacking it
against a rock a few times to make sure it wouldn't break in case she
might have to hit someone with it. Sticking her hatchest into the
waistband of her shorts, she set out after Jason and his group.

She caught up to them in the just as the cry of smoke arose from the
rescuers.  Alarmed they all hurried forward, afraid of what they mught
find at the end of the trail.

What they did find in a clearing was some sort of primitive, barbaric
ritual with dancing girls, (normally, Iolaus would have loved that sort
of thing, but somehow, right now, Allie didn't think he was appreciating
it too much) and the guest of honor was - Autolycus!. He was hanging
from a vine over an enormous firepit and it looked like he was the only
thing on the menu.

"Uh, oh." We all looked at Jason and when he made his proposal for a
distraction we all looked at each other.  It was not a particularly
brilliant plan, but we didn't have much time. Just who among us would be
able to pull off a goddess act?

Allie
-----------------------------
Margui went for a walk.  Yeah, she had heard how everyone was supposed to
stay together, but after spending a good portion of her life living
alone, all of this togetherness was beginning to perturb her.  So she
settled on a path that took her away from the encampment and toward the
shore.

She walked on the beach until twilight and then satisfied with her
"alone" time, she headed back.

When she reached the encampment, she found it almost deserted.  Where had
everyone gone?  Margui crawled into her makeshift "home away from home",
and found a large leg bone laying next to her coconut hair bedding.

At first, she thought it was some cruel joke perpetrated by her sisters,
Kat and CJ.  Then she began thinking, "Oh my gods, they've killed
Hercules."  She spoke mainly to herself since no one was around.

Without picking it up, she tried to determine if the bones were human or
demigod or just what.  "I knew I should have paid more attention to the
endoskelatal class and less time to the anatomy of the male body," Margui
mused.

She kicked the bone across the quasi room, and set heavily on her
makeshift bed.

By now, it was getting dark and the sound of the nocturnal animals took
the place of the normal cacophony of Iolausian voices.  With it, her
imagination began to run wild.

She imagined a very skilled cannibal tribe coming stealthfully into the
camp and then systematically taking off all of her friends and family.

As if that wasn't morbid enough, her twisted mind went one step farther. 
She imagined the cannibals devouring the Iolausians, cleaning and
stripping their bones of all flesh and washing them in the river.  Then
the crafty little carnavours would replace each bone, one by one, in some
sort of bizarre jigsaw puzzle.

She was frightened. More frightened than she had ever been before.  She
laid in bed in hopes that her trembling would be less noticable in the
supine position, then she turned her back away from the bone.

She decided that if she remained perfectly still, the cannibals would
think she was already dead and pass her by.  Besides, she mused, "there's
not enough meat on me to make a good sized snack."

It wasn't long before she could hear someone creeping into her
encampment.  She closed her eyes and held her breath.  When she felt a
hand on her shoulder, she screamed, and she  screamed, as her mother
would say, blurdy murder.

Margui
--------------------------
Oops!  Overlapping postings....I like the goddess idea...less
dangerous!  I could hold off on the other side of the camp, ready to
scream and charge if necessary, until someone pulls off the goddess
routine...we can always run in screaming later to cover the retreat once
Autolycus and Iolaus are outta there!  On with the masquerade!!!
Arianna
--------------------------------------------
(Okay, work with me while I backtrack from my earlier entry, everyone is
still standing around Jason as he suggests what they really need is
someone to be a 'goddess'....let's just assume that once the 'goddess'
went into her act, Jason cautioned the others to be ready to fight and
deployed Arianna, Owlharp, Pythia and Kat to the farside of the
cannibals camp, where they watched in awed amazement as their sister
castaway stalwartly entered into the midst of the enemy...)

Goddess?  We looked around at one another, took in the scruffy, dusty,
grass-stained, unkempt appearances, hair dishevelled, some of us with
leaves stuck in our unruly manes, scratched skin, broken
nails...goddesses...right.  One by one, we each turned to look at
Quietwolf...hmmm...tall, strong, warriorlike, well, the look worked.
Quietwolf gazed back at the others, gradually realizing she was
elected.  Eyes wide, she turned to Jason, "You're not kidding, are you?"

"No...do you think you can do it?"

Straightening her back, clutching her snake hook in one strong, tanned
hand, Quietwolf nodded, swept back her hair and took a deep breath.  As
she brushed past the others, just breaking the edge of the forest, she
heard a low giggle in her ear.  'My goodness, girl!  Even on her worst
day, Artemis never looked so...um...well, let's just say the castaway
look is a bit tired.  Work with me....'

Quietwolf took a quick look back, realizing no one else had heard the
whisper...and the source of the mysterious voice was certainly not
visible!  Grinning with a lot more confidence, she turned back, put a
determined, 'goddesslike' look on her face, and strode into the midst of
the dancing, chanting cannibals...every step of her feet raising a cloud
of smoke which swirled around her like a gossamer cape...(and tried not
to jump when her snake hook was suddenly crowned with a hissing, very
perturbed cobra) until she stood before the largest, meanest guy there
presuming him to be the chief.  Again came the whisper, 'Alright,
sweetie, just snap your fingers at the fire burning under poor old
Autolycus!'

Quietwolf snapped her fingers and the fire below the slightly singed
thief turned to cold ash.  'Now, wave your hand at him!'

Quietwolf, cast her arm in a sweeping arc, and hid a grin as Autolycus'
bindings were released and he was wafted gently to the ground at her
feet.

The savages had been awestruck at her silent, dramatic arrival, but
began grumbling and shuffling toward her threateningly...they didn't
like the looks of this...whoever this interloper was, she wasn't going
to get away with their dinner!

'Throw a bolt of energy at them!' came the giggle and, as Quietwolf
threw out an arm, pointing a hand, fingers moving from a fist to point
at the crowd of restless natives, fire seemed to serge from her
fingertips, a blast of energy so powerful that it knocked ten of the
savages back into their comrades knocking them flying, yelling in
surprise and fear.

Suddenly, they were all bowing down toward her.  'Okay, now yell at
them!'

Quietwolf stared grimly around at the cringing natives at her feet.
"How dare you!" she bellowed, "How dare you touch one of mine!  These
men...and their comrades...are under my protection...You will not touch
them again or you will taste my fury!"

Getting into the role, thinking this goddess gig was fun, Quietwolf
waved toward an amazed Iolaus, "Come...pick up your friend...we are
leaving this place."

Iolaus cast a regretful look at the buxom beauties who had been fawning
over him, shrugged and ambled over to pull a semismoked Autolycus over
his shoulder.  Turning he bowed his head to his 'goddess', "Oh Great
Quietwolf, Goddess of the Isle, we are your humble servants, here only
to do your bidding."

Quietwolf threw Iolaus a sideways, 'let's not push it' look, "Then, do
my bidding, mortal...and go!"

Iolaus turned and carried Autolycus out of the circle of would be
cannibals, looking neither right nor left, and disappeared into the
trees.

In the forest, those who had deployed quietly around the encampment,
preparing to do battle if necessary, pulled back, circling around to
rejoin the group of castaways.

Quietwolf again heard the amused whisper in her ear, 'See that tent over
there...there's no one in it.  Tell them this is what will happen to
them all if they ever touch one of you again and then point at the
tent!'

Quietwolf stared sternly at the cowed natives who cast wary glances up
at her from their prone positions on the ground.  "Be warned....should
you so much as even look at another of my people, this is what will
happen to you all!"  She majestically raised her arm and pointed toward
the tent and saw a bolt of fire leave her fingers to explode into the
tent made of animal skins, consuming it and reducing it to a flaming
pyre.  "I shall not warn you again!" she intoned somberly, as she turned
and walked calmly into the forest...again wrapped in a billowing cloud
of ephemeral smoke...the cobra disappearing as she entered the shadows.

When she caught up with the others, Quietwolf swallowed her laughter at
the stunned looks on all of their faces.  "What?" she asked, all
innocence, "You wanted a goddess, didn't you?"

Moving past them to lead the way back through the forest to their own
camp on the top of the crest, she grinned to herself.  'Well done,
Quietwolf!  Keep them guessing!' the voice burbled in her ear, obviously
overcome with mirth.

"Thanks 'Dite!" Quietwolf murmured to the air....grateful and pleased
that Ares wasn't the only Olympian who had decided to check in on the
castaways!

********
Arianna
--------------------------------------
Pythia's Journal: Day Four - Later that day.

I don't think I have ever run so far and fast in all my life.  One minute 
there we were, poised at the edge of the cannibal's camp, ready to race in 
to the rescue - and the next thing we know, Iolaus is leaping past our 
hiding place, Kat at his side and half the horde at his heels.

Bedlam broke loose.  Owlharp and I were standing ready with my weighted 
net, so we threw it, tangling up the leading pursuers long enough for 
Arianna and Quietwolf to pelt them down with coconuts.  Several of the 
natives who'd been close on their leader's heels stumbled over the result, 
giving us time to take to our heels in turn.  I paused only long enough to 
 toss down a couple of handfuls of broken pot shards thinking that their 
sharp edges might dissuade a few bare feet from following too fast - and 
then raced after my friends.  

Iolaus must have spotted us as he hurtled past; he and Kat were waiting 
for us to catch up with them.  'That way,' he ordered, pointing into the 
jungle and we ran where he told us to, too scared to stop and question the 
direction.  We were, unbeknown to us, headed straight away from our camp 
rather than towards it.  The hunter had realised - as we did shortly 
afterwards - that we had no choice.  Our tricks and traps had only slowed 
the pursuit for a short while and the angry natives were hot on the trail.

We raced down hill, heading for the glint of water that lay in the valley 
below.  My heart was pounding and my lungs were on fire.  I didn't dare 
look back.  They were too close.  Coming too fast.  We were all going to 
get caught for sure ...
  
I saw Kat reach the river ahead of me - and my heart leapt with sudden 
hope.  There were canoes, lying beached along the river bank!  Kat was 
already dragging one into the water when the rest of us reached her.  
Within minutes we were all pushing and shoving to get the vessel afloat.  
All bar Iolaus, that is - he'd grabbed the hatchet out my belt and was 
racing among the other canoes, holing them below the waterline with quick 
savage blows.

We were in the water, Arianna, Owlharp and I already aboard with Kat and 
Quietwolf steadying the boat when he reached the last one.  He hacked a 
hole, vaulted the carved prow - and fell, hitting the beach hard.  A 
native spear had sprouted from his leg, bold bright feathers dancing 
against the shine of his leathers.

'Go! he yelled at us, but he might as well have ordered the tide to turn. 
 We weren't going to leave him - not wounded and alone like that.  Owlharp 
leapt back out and stopped the boat from drifting away.  Kat and Quietwolf 
had already run to offer help and Arianna and I started to pelt the tree 
line with the rest of my pot shards hoping to keep the natives back long 
enough for us to make our escape.  There were one or two cries of pain 
from the bushes - and then we were helping to lift the wounded hunter into 
the boat  and pushing off into the river current, uncaring of where it 
might take us - except that it was away.

Iolaus lay down in the prow, glaring at the five of us with a mixture of 
gratitude and irritation.  'You,' he announced with a grimace of pain, 
'are totally crazy.  You know that?'

He was probably right.  But what else did he expect? He'd have done as 
much for any of us, and he knew it.

Kat, Quietwolf and I grabbed a paddle apiece and started to steer us down 
the river while Owlharp pulled out the spear and Arianna staunched the 
wound it left behind.  Owlharp laid the weapon down in the bottom of the 
boat.  'Just in case,' she said, and I had to agree with her.  We were 
headed down river into unknown territory, away from our camp and our 
friends, and with half an angry tribe baying for our blood between them 
and us.  Iolaus was hurt and Ares was out there somewhere, playing his 
little games.

'Could be worse,'I decided and Kat glared at me.

'Like how?' she demanded and Iolaus grinned at us both over Arianna's 
shoulder.

'She's right,' he said philosophically.  'It could be raining ...'

Pythia
-------------------------------------------------------
I'm completely confused by all the seperate threads for this rescue
attempt so I'll just do what I can. 

Caro found herself on the retreat with Bev and Autolycus. Auto was
looking slightly the worse for wear after his ordeal, but he didn't seem
to be injured and he was able to crack some really dreadful jokes so we
decided that he was okay. 

Exactly what had happened and where the others had got to was beyond the
ken of any of the three companions. Autolycus said that a beautiful
woman had come for him and gently unbound his torso, he would not accept
that it had been Quietwolf. Bev and Caro both had differing stories and
none of them were really sure what was going on, and more to the point
after some time had passed, where they were.

Caro was the first to broach the subject, she still held her makeshift
weapon in her hands thankful that as yet she hadn't had to test her
skills. "Guys? Do you know where we are?"

Bev looked startled for a moment and then carefully looked around her,
Auto shook his head. "Nope, no idea, you?"

Both women shook their heads from side to side, no. Just at that moment
they heard something coming up the path behind them. Fearful but with
nothing to do but stand and see who or what it was they stood side by
side, well, Autolycus managed to slide his way behind the women.

Just as Caro felt like screaming to let out all the pent up fear
Kleandra plodded into sight. "Hi, am I glad to see you!"

It was good to have another member of their party, and one less survivor
to worry about, but Kleandra had no idea where they were either, and it
wouldn't be all that long before it got dark. 

Bev muttered quietly to Caro and Kleandra, "If we have to get seperated
from the others why couldn't it have been with Iolaus? He'd have known
where to go."

Caro grinned, "But we wouldn't have held it against him would we girls.
I mean I'd rather be lost with Iolaus that found with him!"

The tension broken somewhat the four companions decided to continue in
the same direction, the trees seemed sparser ahead and they may be able
to get their bearings.

Caro
---------------------------------------
(Well, Iīve completely lost it here <g> and this weekīs schedule didnīt
grant much time to figure it all out anyways, so I go with Caro on this
<bg>)

After theyīd been walking for a while, Kleandra shook her head and stopped
right in the middle of the path.

"I donīt get it. When we fled from the cannibals all the others were around.
How come I sooo completely lost them out of sight, let alone hearing?"

Caro watched her thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I donīt know. Just a feeling. I mean....have you ever had this deja-vu-like
feeling that youīre in two places at the same time? That youīre here
although youīre supposed to be somewhere else? Running throught the bushes
was like....walking in a real big fog. One second youīre together with
Jason, Iolaus and all the others, next...bang...theyīre gone. Weird,
really."

Bev threw a glance at Autolycus who kept an watchful eye on their
surrounding.

"Do you hear this?"

Caro and Kleandra listened intensely before shaking their heads in negative.

"No, what?"
"Exactly, itīs absolutely silent. Shouldnīt there be birds singing or
something? "
"Youīre right. Folks, this is scary. If anyone starts to hum the Twilight
theme Iīll be outta here!" .Kleandra shuddered slightly.

Caro coughed audibly, determined to not let herself get wrapped up in
terrifying images.
"Well, I think weīll best  try to find either the others or our camp. Any
suggestions?".....

Kleandra
--------------------------------
'Could be worse,' Pythia muttered and Kat glared at her.

'Like how?' she demanded and Iolaus grinned at them both over my
shoulder.

'She's right,' he said philosophically.  'It could be raining ...'

If I hadn't been so busy trying to make sure he didn't bleed to death, I
think I would have collapsed in hysterical giggles.  Gods, how could the
man still joke!  I'd torn off a long strip of my ever shorter shift to
stuff into the jagged hole in Iolaus' leg left by the spear.  I don't
know how he had refrained from screaming when Owlharp pulled the thing
out...it's tip was an ugly, jagged piece of crudely hammered metal, and
it had done more damage coming out than going in.  The linen I was
pressing hard against Iolaus' leg was soon soaked red...this was bad,
very bad.

"Give me your belt," I ordered him.

"Now, now, Arianna, this is hardly the time or the place...." Iolaus
teased, his eyes becoming ever so slightly unfocused.

Impatient, I reached with my free hand to loosen the buckle, and pulled
with all my strength to wrench it from around his body.  And, what did
he do?  He convulsed with giggles...at least he did until I wrapped the
belt around his upper thigh, pulling it as tight as I could.  The
adrenaline and shock of the wound abruptly wore off, and he hissed,
biting his lip against the pain that had to be burning through his leg.
I tore yet another strip of linen from the hem of my gown, wadding it
and pushing it tight against the wound.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I could see that Kat, Pythia and
Quietwolf had managed to steer us well away from the bank, into the fast
moving centre of the river.  In the distance, I could see the cannibals
still screaming, racing behind us...but we were drawing swiftly away.
We were safe, if you could call it that, at least for a time.

"What the Tarturus happened back there?" I muttered.  "First, Quietwolf
subdues them with her goddess routine, everything looks fine...and then
they're chasing us like banshees through the forest!"

Owlharp snorted, "I guess they're just not all that impressed with
goddesses who throw bolts of energy and fire...speaking of which...how
exactly did you pull that off, Quietwolf?  You're good...but you're no
goddess!  When did you learn magic?"

Quietwolf cut a quick glance over her shoulder at us from her position
in the bow of the boat, turned back to concentrate on her vigorous
paddling.  "Didn't.  Had help," she called back.

Pythia caught my eye, then looked forward at Quietwolf's back.  "Help?
What kind of help?  Who helped?"

"'Dite...she seemed to think it was hysterically funny!" Quietwolf
called back to us, having to shout a bit over the roar of the
increasingly raging river around us.

Kat muttered sarcastically, "Funny, yeah...I thought the whole thing was
hysterical myself!"

Pythia had been sparing me the odd glance, had noted the improvised
tourniquet.  "How is he?" she asked.

"He's fine," Iolaus replied, "Just fine...don't worry."

But, Pythia caught my eye and I shook my head.  I was worried...he was
losing too much blood, too fast.  We had to get to shore, take proper
care of the wound.  I hated to think of it, but I knew it needed to be
cauterized, as soon as possible.

Suddenly, the boat lurched roughly to the side.  Grabbing the side with
one hand to support myself, using my other hand to keep the wadded linen
tight against Iolaus' leg, I looked up and ahead.  'Rapids,' I breathed,
seeing the rough water and boulders around us as the river rushed down
toward the sea.

I looked down at Iolaus' white, drawn face...and knew he could see the
fear in my eyes.  He reached over and covered the hand I held braced
against his leg with his own.  "We'll be alright...the others know what
they're doing...we'll get through this."

I looked away quickly to hide the telltale burning in my eyes...he was
trying to comfort me!  Looking down at the blood staining our hands,
mingling with the filthy water in the bottom of the boat, I thought, 'we
might make it...but, will you?'

*******
Arianna
-----------------------------------
"Rapids! Oh crap!" yelled Owlharp, clinging to the side of the canoe as
the six of them were jolted and shaken by the action of the roiling
water. She grabbed Iolaus by the upper arm and helped Arianna keep him
from flying out as the boat bucked beneath them. 
   Kat, Pythia and Quietwolf were paddling in a frenzy. "Go between those
rocks!" bellowed Pythia. "We're gonna have to take it down the chute - "
she coughed as a gout of water caught her in the face, but Kat and
Quietwolf heard and dug their paddles deeper into the wild green and
white water. The three Amazons struggled to keep the canoe heading
straight between the two massive boulders that were partially blocking
the river. A yard to either side and their craft would be smashed against
the rock by the force of the river. Everyone knew that, so no one
mentioned it.  
   The roar of the river grew deafening as they approached the rocks. The
crazed river tossed them in all directions at once, but the paddlers
grimly dug in and kept the canoe heading straight. 
    Arianna was doing some digging in of her own, pressing hard on the
wound in Iolaus' leg to keep the bleeding from getting any worse. Owlharp
had one arm around his chest now,  holding him tightly down in the bottom
of the canoe. All the Amazons crouched as low as possible to keep the
boat stable. 
    "Here we GO!" screamed Kat as the black boulders loomed up on either
side, and the canoe shot through the chute like an arrow. For a heartbeat
they were airborne as it crested the great bow wave created by the water
going through the narrow space. Everyone shrieked. 
    With a tremendous splash the canoe made a flat-bottomed landing in
the frothing waters below the rocks. They hurtled forward with great
speed for a moment and then began to slow a bit, as the waters beneath
them spread back out and calmed down. 
    "Nice paddling, ladies!" came a choked whisper from the bottom of the
boat. Owlharp and Arianna looked down worriedly. Iolaus had gone grey in
the face and there were purple shadows under his eyes.  The linen under
Arianna's fingers was now completely bright red.    
     "Everyone OK back there?" shouted Quietwolf. 
     "No," replied Owlharp. "We've got to get Iolaus to shore and get
that bleeding stopped. Now."
     Each of the paddlers took one look at their injured passenger and
plunged their paddles in with new vigor. The river was wide, and looking
ahead, they could where the river mouth widened out into a delta and met
the sea. 
    "Steer to the right!" urged Pythia. "There's a beach where we can
pull the canoe up!"
    In a few moments they had brought the canoe into shallow water. All
but Arianna and Iolaus jumped out into the water and tugged the craft up
onto the golden sands. Gently they lifted Iolaus from the bottom of the
boat and carried him over beneath the shade of some palm trees. Arianna
kept the pressure on the wound, but it was looking more and more like a
losing battle. 
   "You know what we're going to have to do for Iolaus?" Pythia said
somberly. 
   Arianna nodded. "Those dry leaves will make good tinder", she said,
"One of you start trying to make a fire. The rest of you collect
firewood." 
    Owlharp slapped her buttoned pocket and breathed a sigh of relief.
Her champion-model Swiss Army knife, with all the additional goodies, was
still safely there. She snatched it out and held up the tiny magnifying
glass that it contained. "This isn't as good as Hercules' gauntlets, but
it should work!" 
   While the others went to pick up deadfall, Owlharp shredded the driest
palm frond she could find and focused a beam of sunlight through the
glass onto the fluffy palm fibers. It took only a moment - the fibers
began to blacken, a tiny curl of smoke arose and suddenly an even tinier
flame leapt up. Delicately she fed it with dry fronds and tiny sticks,
until  it built itself up to the point where they could lay increasingly
larger pieces of wood on it. 
    In the meantime, Pythia went back to the canoe,  took out the spear,
and placed the metal head of it in the fire, looking worriedly over at
Iolaus as she did so. Owlharp caught the glance and nodded. "I know" she
said softly. "But we gotta do it. He's gonna bleed to death otherwise". 
    With the good dry wood that Quietwolf, Kat and Pythia brought, the
fire was soon burning bright and hot, and the very tip of the spear began
to glow red. 
   The Amazons looked nervously at each other, until finally Kat voiced
the question that all of them had been thinking.
"OK", she said, her voice quivering just the tiniest bit. "Which one of
us is going to do this?" 
   Arianna spoke up. "I will. I've had the closest look at the wound and
I know just where the - the iron has got to go."
   "The rest of us will have to hold him", said Quietwolf calmly. "He's
pretty out of it right now, but he's still going to react when -" her
voice faltered just a little - " and we don't want him hurting himself
further. " She took a deep breath. "Kat and Pythia, take his arms and pin
him down as gently as you can. I'll hold down his uninjured leg. Owlharp,
you bring the spear over and then hold his other leg, while Arianna - "
   "Let's get this over with!" said Pythia sharply. 
   They took their assigned positions. Iolaus lay limp and apparently
unconscious underneath them. 
    Owlharp pulled the spear out of the fire. Its tip was bright red -
there wasn't a germ alive that would stand up to that heat. Swiftly she
brought the glowing weapon over to Arianna. 
    Arianna, pale as a ghost but with her mouth set in a firm line,
stripped the blood-soaked linen patch away from the oozing gash in
Iolaus' leg, just above his knee. She took the spear from Owlharp. 
   "OK, hold him" she said softly. 
    Owlharp laid herself over the lower part of his injured leg, pressing
it down with all her weight, into the soft sand beneath. She closed her
eyes and breathed a short prayer to any god that might happen to be
listening. "Please let his work". 
    Three things happened at once. There was a sharp hiss, the
now-familiar smell of burning flesh, and an unearthly scream from the man
pinned beneath them. Iolaus' body arched like a bow, then suddenly went
limp again. 
    For a heartbeat his scream echoed in the distance. 
    Arianna's voice sounded loud as she whispered, "I think the
bleeding's stopped". 

[Next? ] 
     
Owlharp
--------------------------------
[A gentle reminder, with all the excitment going on around
here! -- I was on the beach alone and Chaos dug up a bag of
jewels]

Ziggy gathered up the gemstones then tucked the bag onto her
belt. Scooping up Chaos, she ran to find Jason. Unfortunately,
the camp was desserted. "Where *is* everybody?" she asked aloud,
a sudden chill coursing through her body as she heard drums in
the distance. "What is going on around here?"

Chaos wiggled to be let down, so Ziggy oblidged. The ferret raced
over to one of the makeshift tents and slipped under the fabric.
Ziggy could see a shadow on the fabric. Pulling out her pocketknife
and flicking up the blade, she crept forward slowly. 'Okay, so this
blade certainly isn't anything *close* to Iolaus'! But I can do
somebody some serious damage if I have to!' she thought.

Carefully, Ziggy crouched and pushed aside the tent flap. She could
see somebody standing there, it looked like one of her Amazon
sisters. 'It's Margui! She was off by herself, too.'

Ziggy stood her full height then. She put away her Swiss Army knife,
stepped up to Margui and put a hand on her shoulder. Margui swung
around, screaming bloody murder.

"Margui! It's me! Ziggy!" she assured, hoping her fellow shipwreck
wouldn't lash out and take her down.

"Oh! Ziggy! It's only you!" Margui let out a relieved sigh.

"Me and Wonder Weasel." Ziggy gestured to Chaos, who was sniffing
the human leg bone. "What's going on? What's with the drums?"

"I don't know. I've been worried to find out."

"Well, I don't think standing here will accomplish much," Ziggy
rationalized. "Let's stick together and find out, shall we?" she
asked, a gleam in her eye. She'd been wanting to kick somebody's
butt since getting here.

Margui nodded bravely. "Okay, let's do it!"

Ziggy and Margui, the group's two loners, set out in the direction
of the drums. They could hear warcries in the distance. They knew
their sisters were up to something. Ziggy was disappointed she was
missing out.

Chaos, who had been jumping from Ziggy's shoulder to Margui's,
suddenly perked up. The ferret's nose twitched, his ears shot up,
his whole body tensed, his tail bottle-brushing in excitment or
fear. Ziggy wasn't always sure which it was. With a quick chatter,
the weasel-like critter clamored down Ziggy's arm and leaped to
the ground. Quickly, he shot off into the brush.

"Aw, geez, now what?!" Ziggy said. She glanced at Margui. "Let's
go, he's on to something!"

The two tired Amazons were hard-pressed to keep up with the fast
ferret. Suddenly, the brush ended and a golden-sanded beach was
spread out before them.

"What's that?" Margui pointed to a knot of people further up the
beach. Chaos was skirting the sands towards the group.

"Friendlies, I think," Ziggy said. "Chaos wouldn't be heading towards
them if they were otherwise."

Then came the scream: a high-pitched scream of pain.

"That sounded like Iolaus!" Ziggy shouted, a big rush of adrenaline
making her feet fly across the beach as she and Margui rapidly
approached the small group of fellow Amazons.  

Ziggy
----------------------------

> "I really didn't mean to scare you like that.  I
didn't even know you were there, honest."  She
stopped, a grin spreading over her face as she tried
in vain to stifle a giggle. "Your face, though...."
she snickered.> 

"Drakkar you scared the day lights out of me."  Athena
said trying to catch her breath, looking at Drakkar
laughing at her

"I'm sorry but" giggling, "I, you just" laughing
again.

"Alright" she said grin. "I thought I lost my heart
for a second." 

"I was on my way over to the fire to help the others
when I heard you in the bushes." Athena said "wanna
come"

"sure" Drakkar said still laughing

Athena
----------------------------
Bev was confused as well. Just as she, Caro, Owlharp and Pythia are
trying to decide what move to make next Jason and the others arrived on
the scene. 'Relieved' didn't quite cover how they four women felt
knowing they were no longer alone in the quest that lay before them.
With hand signals they'd all passed along they prepared to take action.
With fascination they had watched Quietwolf work her magic with dance
and suddenly all hell broke loose. They heard a whistle and Bev, Caro,
Pythia and Owlharp went into action with what they saw everyone else
doing. Screaming as loud as they could they came out taking the
cannibals completely by surprise. Bev used her new staff to knock the
feet out from under one cannibal and body slammed another. (Boy, that
was going to hurt tomorrow) The women continued to scream (which was
actually very medicinal in relieving the stress of the moment) and take
out cannibals clearing the way for Auto, Iolaus and Quietwolf to run for
safety. 
In the melee as they all ran for thier lives they'd become separated.
She now found herself standing in a small forest clearing with her
comrades, Caro, Kleandra and Autolycus. Somehow he had managed to link
up with them and Bev wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or bad.
They were still catching their breath when Kleandra came bolting out of
the shrubbery just as confused as they were. Not one of them was certain
about what had just happened and even moreso they had no idea of where
everyone else was. Did they get away? Or?......Well, none of them wanted
to think about the *or*. 
It was decided that the safest and wisest ploy at the moment was to make
their way back t their own camp. Hopefully, they would meet up with
Jason and the others there or along the way. At least thankfully they
had gotten away and weren't being followed. At least for the moment they
were safe. 
On their trek down the ridge they came to an overlook. Down, far below,
they could see a small canoe racing toward some rapids. They could just
make out the occupants of the little boat and they could see that Iolaus
had been hurt. He was lying in the bottom of the boat and was being
administered to by Arianna. Quietwolf was steering the canoe with
Owlharp's and Kat's help but it was clearly becoming difficult. The
attention of all on the tiny boat was on the fast approaching rapids.
Caro and Bev started yelling anyway. 

Autolycus said, "they can't hear you. We're too far off and the roar of
the water...." 

Bev and Caro stopped yelling but the frustration shown on their faces. 

Kleandra became frantic, "Well, we can't just stand here. We have to do
something." 

With exasperaion Autolycus admits, "Mother of pearl!! I don't know what
that would be but let's try to get down there." And muttering under his
breath, "what happened to all that solitude?" 

The four quickly made their way further down the ridge worried
desparately about what or if there was any way they could help Iolaus
and their friends or if they would even get there in time.......... 

And the little boat made it's way closer and closer toward the rapids. 

(well, out of the frying pan and into the fire as the saying goes) 

tbc
Bev
----------------------------
Kat breathed a sigh of relief.  The last several hours had been hair
raising to say the least.  The trek through the woods, taking out the
perimeter guards, CJ's Goddess act while she had rescued Iolaus, CJ's
rescue of the King of Thieves, being chased by blood thirsty natives,
Iolaus' injury, shooting the rapids, and cauterizing the hunter's
wound.  All in all a very full day.

"Do you think CJ and 'Toly made it?" Kat voiced her concern aloud.

"CJ?" Pythia asked.

"Yeah you know, my blond sister.  She re-enacted part of that story Herc
had told us about Atlantis, using the mirror to make herself appear to
have magical powers while I snuck in to rescue Iolaus.  She cut
Autolycus free and then the natives caught sight of us," Kat reminded.
"CJ and Auto ran one way while Iolaus and I went the other."

"I'm sure she's ok," Owlharp stated.

"Well I have to make sure," the brunette said.  Her green eyes glittered
dangerously.  "If anything's happened to her..."  Kat pulled her sword
out of it's scabbard.  The young Amazon started to walk off in search of
her wayward sister.

Kat
----------------------------
I threw aside the hated spear and bent to gently examine the wound more
closely.  Swallowing the bile in my throat at the sight of the burned
skin, I nodded, confirmed again, "Yeah, it's definitely stopped
bleeding."  Tearing a last strip of linen from my shift, I thought, not
a little hysterically, that if I took any more off, I'd be more than
half naked.

With trembling hands, I wrapped the linen around Iolaus' leg to protect
the wound from the sand.  Then, I loosened his belt, releasing the
improvised tourniquet.  The others had remained silent, watching me, all
of us sickened by stench of burned flesh...all of us remembering the
scream of pain as Iolaus had arched against the agony.  I felt as if I
was in a dream, a nightmare...none of it seemed real...all of it seemed
too real.

Finished, I stood, turned, walked away several steps, then bent over,
heaving, gagging, sickened by what I had had to do.  Tears blurred my
eyes as I gasped for air.  Suddenly, I felt strong arms around me,
supporting me.

"Easy," murmured Pythia, "you did what you had to do...he would have
died."

Straightening, I shuddered once, then nodded.  "Thanks," I whispered as
I brushed the tears from my face.  "We'd better get moving, get into
cover...we need to get him back to the camp."

Quietwolf had also come to stand beside us.  "I'll get some long
branches, and vines...we can make a litter...carry him."

Owlharp and Kat, hearing her words, moved toward the forest, determined
to help as well.  The sooner they finished this task, the sooner they
could get Iolaus, and themselves, to safety.

I couldn't seem to stop shaking.  Turning, I went back to kneel by
Iolaus, raising his head onto my knees, stroking the hair back from his
face.  Gods, this being shipwrecked was a nightmare.

Pythia had stayed with me... "He'll be alright...he's strong...and he's
been hurt worse than this before."

"I know," I whispered.  Looking up, I saw figures come toward us across
the beach.   Ziggy and Margui had found them.  Good.  We'd need all the
help we could get to carry Iolaus through the forest, and up the steep
hills to their camp.

*******

Arianna
--------------------------
Kat had been just about ready to leave the group on her search when she
spied Margui and Ziggy walking towards them.  She quickly walked over to
them.

"Have you seen CJ or Autolycus?" Asked the brunette.

"No, what's wrong?" Ziggy asked.

"We rescued Auto and Iolaus from the natives and had to split up," the
green-eyed woman replied.  "Ok, I'm going after them."

"Kat, you can't just take off and go searching for them," Quiet Wolf
stated.  "The cannibals are still out there."

"I can't sit here and do nothing.  I just have a feeling like CJ
disappeared off the face of the earth after she freed Auto," the Amazon
responded.  "She's my sister, and I have to look for her."

"I'm coming with you," Margui added.  "She's my sister, too.  'Sides I
want to give Auto a piece of my mind."

"Don't you think you should hold onto them, you don't have too many
left," the brunette said with a smile.

Margui cuffed her sister on the shoulder.  "Brat."

"Am not!  Come on, let's go find that Wayward sister of ours," Kat
said.  Her green eyes sparkled with mischief and determination which
allowed the others to see why Kat had the nickname of 'Wildkat'.

Kat
----------------------------
Llyra picked up another staff and started to strip away the bark.  It 
was simple enough work and it kept her mind off the fact that Iolaus 
had not come home, Autolycus was missing and most of her friends had 
taken off on a rescue mission.  She was worried and scared and needed 
to keep busy.  Making more weapons to supplement their meagre arsenal 
was the best and most practical occupation she could think of.  

Considering her own total lack of fighting skills, Llyra was glad that 
she had stayed behind.  She was better at planning the next meal or 
sewing a straight seam than busting heads or fighting off bad guys.  
She loved Iolaus and Autolycus as much as her sisters but she knew 
that she would only be in the way in the event of a real battle.  

She looked over to where Hercules busied himself by sharpening the 
shells Athena had brought him.  Even injured and (frustratingly for 
him) immobilized his presence was comforting.  Something about that 
man just made a body feel safe.  Llyra watched him concentrate on his 
task and realized that he was doing exactly what she was doing - 
keeping busy to keep from worrying.  Llyra gathered up her staffs, 
finished and unfinished and went over to sit beside the demigod.

Hercules looked up from the shell he was working on when Llyra came 
over, greeted her with a distracted smile, then went back to work.  
Llyra had set down her staffs then plunked herself down with them. 
They sat in companionable silence for a while until a wrong move with 
his rock smashed a semi-divine thumb.  The bard was quick to come to 
his aid.

"Gee, I thought I was the only one who knew all those words," she 
quipped as she examined the injured hand.  It wasn't serious, just 
painful. 

"And I always thought you were such a lady," Hercules said with a 
smile.

"Yeah, I fool a lot of people that way," Llyra admitted.  "There.  
It'll sting for a while, but I think you'll live.  Want me to kiss it 
better?" she half teased, half pleaded.

"A time honoured remedy, to be sure," Hercules gently reclaimed his 
hand(Rats! Llyra thought), "but I think, as you say, I'll live.  I've 
been hurt worse."

"We could break into a full Monty Python routine at this point, but - 
let's not and say we did," she added at the pained look on Hercules' 
face.  After a pause, Llyra said, "They're going to be all right, 
aren't they?"

Hercules took her hands back in his.  (He has got such nice, big, 
powerful hands, too!) "Sure they will be," he assured her.  "Iolaus is 
tough, and Autolycus can look after himself.  They'll be back with 
some wild story about half naked natives and being rescued by the gods 
any time now and we'll all have a good laugh."

Llyra tried to laugh, but it didn't fool the big man for long.  He was 
used to adventure, had based his reason for living on it.  It was not 
unusual for him and Iolaus to go for weeks on an adrenaline high while 
they fought warlords or monsters or evil forces or all three.  But for 
a stay- at- home Mom type like Llyra, living as a castaway was 
tantamount to landing in the middle of Tartarus.  She was used to 
having the people she loved around her most of the time and having the 
full support of family and friends whenever needed.  It was obvious 
that she was nearing the end of her rope emotionally.  He pulled her 
into his arms, much as he had done for Athena not long before.  Being 
a comforting presence has its perks, he mused as he hugged yet another 
willing, unprotesting woman.  

Actually, he thought that all of the list sisters were doing a 
tremendous job at surviving this shipwreck and were showing 
themselves, with no exceptions to be strong physically and 
emotionally, resourceful, brave and loyal to each other.  He was very 
proud of all of them, and told Llyra so, hoping that she would believe 
him.  He gave her another squeeze and released her.

"Feeling a little better?" he asked as he brushed her hair out of her 
face with one hand.

Llyra nodded through her rapidly drying tears.

"I hate it when I turn wimp," she said.  "But I'll try to stay brave 
for a little while longer.  Hopefully just long enough to wave goodbye 
to this place along with everyone else."

"You will," Hercules said with an encouraging smile.  "I have faith in 
-"

But whatever the demigod was about to say was interrupted by a cry of 
alarm.  Elaine and Skylark rounded a corner just ahead of an angry, 
vicious looking mob of natives, all swinging clubs and screaming like 
banshees.

Llyra sprang to her feet, her own fears forgotten momentarily as her 
two sisters joined them.

"They got through everything!" Elaine cried.  "I tried to start a 
perimeter fire but somehow the wood was wet through!  They didn't even 
feel the shells I stuck in the sand.  We'll have to stand and fight!"

Skylark grabbed up one of Llyra's staffs and Elaine turned to make 
ready to do battle.  Hercules had already hefted the biggest coconut 
and was preparing to throw.  

Llyra gulped and picked up a staff of her own.  Her heart was pounding 
in her ears as she took up what she hoped was a battle stance.  As the 
first of the natives approached she held up her weapon, closed her 
eyes and swung it as hard as she could.

Llyra
---------------------------------
Pythia's Journal: End of Day Four.

We might get back to camp tonight - but it won't be the triumphant return 
we might have planned.  We had only evaded the cannibals by the skin of 
our teeth and Iolaus had paid a woeful price for his part in our escape.  
Arianna was white as a sheet after her skillful piece of first-aid and I 
didn't blame her. The sound of Iolaus' scream would echo in my heart for a 
long time to come.

Once the immediate emergency was over our biggest problem lay in working 
out what to do next.  Kat was too worried about CJ to be thinking 
rationally and was all for running off back into the jungle to find her.  
Quietwolf and Owlharp were busy looking for vines and branches to make a 
litter, although I had no confidence that the five of us, already 
exhausted from the battle in the river, would have the strength to carry 
the semi-conscious hunter all the way back to camp.

Fortunately Fortune - or some other of the gods - was busy smiling at us. 
 First up was the appearance of Margui and Ziggy - heralded by Chaos, who 
skittered up my skirts and dived headfirst into the pouch which still hung 
at my belt in search of titbits.  'Nothing in there but broken pottery,' I 
told him, hauling him out and handing him back to Ziggy with a patient 
sigh.  And then, Kat and Margui's determined expedition into the interior 
turned into the shortest in history - while Arianna and I were explaining 
to Ziggy what had happened, the two of them reappeared from the treeline 
with a whole gaggle of people in tow.  Turns out that Autolycus and his 
group had had far more success in escaping their pursuers than we had - 
and, having seen our struggle with the canoe, had decided to come to our 
rescue.

I hugged Bev.  Arianna hugged Caro. Owlharp and Kat both hugged CJ and 
Margui hugged Kleandra  Then we all hugged Autolycus (who didn't look too 
unhappy at this sudden display of affection).  In fact, we might have gone 
on hugging each other for a long time, were it not for a timely groan from 
Iolaus, who immediately had our full attention.

'We're working on a litter,' Owlharp explained.  Autolycus frowned at her. 

'That might work,' he agreed.  'But wouldn't it be easier to just put him 
back in the boat and carry that?'

We all looked at each other.  It wouldn't have been a workable solution 
with just the five of us, but now we had the extra help ... within moments 
we were busy plaiting vines into sturdy ropes which could be slipped under 
the hull of the canoe.  Arianna and Bev padded the interior of the boat 
with layers of palm fronds and then Auto carefully picked up the 
semi-conscious hunter and laid him gently into the nest they had prepared. 
 Iolaus moaned softly as he was put down, a sound which gave Arianna cause 
to clench her hand anxiously around my wrist.  I reached down and squeezed 
back reassuringly.  She'd done what she had too - and we were going to 
take good care of our hero, no fear of that.

Kat and Quietwolf raced off to look for a nearby stream, coming back with 
as much water as they could carry in the skin bucket we'd found tucked 
into the canoe.  Nobody had dared ask what sort of skin it might be.  I 
rather hoped it was goat.  Owlharp marched Arianna off down the beach to 
help wash the blood off her hands while Caro, Bev and I persuaded Iolaus 
to take as deep a drink as he could manage.  He was drifting in and out of 
consciousness, but he managed a grateful smile and half a coconut shell of 
water before lapsing back into the dark.
   
The ropes were ready by then; we each took up a place on either side of 
the canoe, passed our vines under its width and - on Auto's command, 
lifted with determination.  Within moments, our little band was trudging 
along the beach, our precious burden swaying between us.  Autolycus had 
thought to prepare a torch or two, lighting them in the hasty fire we had 
built for our emergency triage.  He, in the lead on the right side of the 
boat, carried one.  Ziggy had snagged a second before taking up a place at 
the back of our parade.  Dusk was falling fast; it would be dark soon, and 
 without that meagre light we would have little chance of finding our way. 
 
Arianna and I were sharing a rope under the belly of the canoe, close 
where she could keep an eye on our patient.  Her face was anxious and I 
found her an encouraging grin.  'It'll be okay,' I told her, raising my 
voice so that everyone would hear.  'Jason'll be back by now.  He'll get 
the signal fire going.  We'll see it for miles.'

'Yeah,' I heard Auto mutter, barely under his breath.  'Us *and* the 
cannibals ...'

Pythia
------------------------
>>>>> Skylark grabbed up one of Lyra's staffs and
Elaine turned to make ready to do battle.  Hercules
had already hefted the biggest coconut and was
preparing to throw.  
 
Lyra gulped and picked up a staff of her own.  Her
heart was pounding in her ears as she took up what she
hoped was a battle stance.  As the first of the
natives approached she held up her weapon, closed her 
eyes and swung it as hard as she could.>>>>>

As they all started to fight the natives as best they
could they noticed a lot of them tripping and falling.
 As they fell Athena Whacked them over the head with a
staff.  

"Hey, whats happening," someone yelled."why are they
tripping over their own feet."

"Their not tripping over their feet," Athena yelled
over the fighting "dental floss makes a good tripping
wire since you can't see it.  I put a bunch all over
the camp perimeter and a bunch around here.  So be
careful."

"Well you could of told us"  someone yelled as they
tripped over one. 

"Sorry, I forgot." Athena said as she whacked another
cannibal. 

"Mess with us, huh," Athena yelled at a native, 
"NEVER...MESS...WITH...A...TIRED...SCARED...WOMAN...youwont
survive."  as she knocked off a few more. 

Between the girls fighting and Hercules throwing his
well aimed coconuts to the head of the natives they
were holding their own waiting for the re-enforcements
to arrive.

Athena
-----------------------------------------------
>>>> Between the girls fighting and Hercules throwing his
> well aimed coconuts to the head of the natives they
> were holding their own waiting for the re-enforcements
> to arrive.<<<<

Drakkar crouched in the bushes as she sized up the situation.  While she was
by no means an expert in the martial arts, she had learned enough to cause a
little bit of damage.

She kept low, waiting for her chance.  She knew that she'd likely fight like
a shooting star...a quick, fiery blaze that didn't last long, so she wanted
to make sure she got enough of the bastards to make it beneficial.  And
then, of course, there was the floss.  You couldn't see it, she had learned,
until you were tangled in the damn stuff.  She needed to try and scope out
her battleground.

She'd found a long, solid stick earlier, and had spent much of the afternoon
rubbing it down with sand to smooth it, and had blunted the ends.  All in
all, it had become a fairly nice staff.  Now, she'd see how nice it really
was.

With a primal scream, Drakkar bolted from the bushes, tripped slightly on
some floss but managed not to fall, and lunged at one of the cannibals.
Taken by surprise, the woman turned and was immediately rendered unconscious
by a sold crack to the side of the head of Drakkar's staff.

"One down, twelve hundred or so to go," the blonde muttered, raking her hair
off her forehead with her fingers.  "All right, ladies and gentlemen," she
shouted, "I've got PMS, and I'm NOT afraid to use it!  Who wants some, eh?"

~Drakkar
-----------------------------------
(OOG:  Okay, be it too little sleep, or too much caffeine, my muses are
thinking up some odd things...))

After having disabled a couple more of the tribal women, Drakkar was about
to take a swing with her staff at another when the battle suddenly froze.
The only person moving was Drakkar herself.

"All right, Fuzzy," she barked, turning a circle, "what now?"

"I know you," Ares remarked as he shimmered into view.  "Now I remember..."

"Really?" Drakkar answered.  "I hope you didn't hurt yourself in the
process."

"Xena told me about you," he continued, unfazed by her attitude. He slowly
circled her, rubbing his chin lightly and chuckling.  "I can't believe I
didn't see this before."

"See....what?"

"You!  A fallen Valkyrie...here, of all places," he continued, obviously
very excited over having figured out this little bit of information.

"Poor choice of words," she replied, jabbing the end of her staff out in
front of him to halt him.  "I never fell."  With a quick movement, she swung
the staff forcibly, ending the arc a mere few inches from Ares' face.
"Not....once," she finished.

"So I was told," he answered.  "But it still begs the question: why are you
HERE, and not at Valhalla...it is Valhalla, right?"

"That's not of your concern," Drakkar answered, "don't bother asking again."

"Ooh, my my my...that nerve's still a little raw, is it?"

"Not as raw as something else will be in a few minutes..."

He laughed then, and walked a few steps closer to her.  "Xena trained you
well!  So, is that a promise," he purred, "or a threat?  Either way, it
sounds like fun."

Whether he'd been testing her or just wasn't paying attention, she didn't
know for certain, but he'd placed himself in a perfect position for...

"Call it what you want," she hissed, flipping the staff in her hands and
bringing it upward abruptly where it smacked Ares solidly in the crotch.  He
grunted and forced a smile, obviously catching the fact that, although she'd
done it hard enough to be very uncomfortable, it could have been far worse.

"Yes, well," he said after a moment, his voice pinched, "it seems I've
caught you at a bad time.  I'll come back later."  He snapped his fingers,
and the action around them sprang into life once more.

Catching a sudden movement from the corner of her eye, Drakkar ducked just
in time to avoid a small flying spear; when she turned back to Ares, he was
gone.

"I'll be waiting," she muttered.

~Drakkar
--------------------------------------------------
"Skylark..will you stop fussing over me? My ankle has already 
healed..it's been 2 days already?" Hercules takes a look at the 
deserted camp and asks Skylark with a furrowed eyebrow.

"Where is everybody?" Hercules frowns as he looks about the deserted 
camp finding nobody about. 

Skylark tries to skirt the issue as she was told by her Amazon 
sisters not to tell Hercules the Iolaus' dire predicament.

"Well..ah..they went hunting.." Skylark evades. Skylark thinks well 
that is the truth..ah..they just went hunting for Iolaus.

"Look you can stop playing the healer..my ankle's healed..I can stand 
on it without the crutch..now tell me what's going on" Hercules 
thundered.

"You're not going to like it! " Skylark countered. SKylark gives 
Hercules a long explanation beginning with the nightmare the day of 
Iolaus' capture to her most recent dream.

"After Iolaus was captured by the cannibals..the Amazons were able to 
rescue him..but he's injured and now they're.." Hercules interrupts 
Skylark in mid-sentence.

"Iolaus HURT! Let's go!" Hercules walks furiously away from the camp.

"Well..Hercules..ah..the Amazons and the injured IOlaus is in THIS 
direction..according to my dream.." Skylark remarked with slight 
amusement at watching Hercules heading down the wrong direction.

"Let's go! I..we..have to do something..I can't lose Iolaus again..!" 
Hercules remarks.

Skylark closes her eyes to center herself. In her vision, she sees 
the brave Amazons cauterizing Iolaus' wound. "Come..we must 
hurry..Iolaus is bleeding to death..he's going to need a 
healer..SOON..Ah oh.."

Ah oh what? Hercules takes a defensive stance as he looks around the 
forest for either Ares or cannibals. "The cannibals are not far 
behind them..We MUST hurry!"

"Skylark..go ahead of me so I can keep an eye on you..lead the 
way!"Hercules barks.
 
A twig snaps. Both Skylark and Hercules look to see who it is and to 
their surprise they see..



TBC
Skylark
------------------------------------

Now, on to the tribal council. I have good news and bad news:

But first, I have to say how much I've enjoyed this weeks survivor story.
When I left for camping poor Auto was hanging over the pit and I have
nearly giggled myself silly reading all about how you got the boys out of
it. Good job! Now if the Great Quietwolf, Goddess of the Isle will
permit, I will continue with the news <LOL>

Bad news: some of you have used the secret word and will be shortly
escorted off the island. We made Friday midnight (cst) the cut off for
the secret word posts. 8 of you have used the word "quickly" between
tribal council on Sunday and midnight friday. Those taken from the island
may make one last post as you leave for shore.....

Good news: Since so many of you have used the word this week, we will
have 4 winners of the immunity challenge. 

Bad News: Ahary has to pull out of the game so she will be included in
the group leaving the island.

Good news: We have decided that the immunity challenges will not be
mandatory. If you do not complete the challenge you simply won't have a
chance at getting immunity. You do still have to post at least once a
week unless you have a note from  your mommy (or your kids depending on
your situation) excusing you for the week <G>

Those who used the secret word are:

Ziggy
Kat
Owl
Pythia
Arianna
Skylark
Caro
CJ

Those receiving immunity along with their adjective count are:
Skylark 448
quietwolf 182
Arianna 131
Caro 119

Final results: the following folks will be leaving the island. You've all
done very well but that's the way it goes. Somebody has to go sooner or
later (Remember you may make moe more post to tie up any loose ends you
may have and you may continue to post immunity challenges if you want,
they just won't count toward immunity since you're out):
Ziggy
Kat
Owl
Pythia
CJ

Everybody else is still on the island and still playing.

Now on to next week
Immunity challenge #4:
Write a limerick about Iolaus or one that Iolaus might say.
Limericks are little 5 line rhymes where the first, second and 5th line
rhyme and the third and fourth lines rhyme. they don't have to be good,
they just have to rhyme.

for example I found this relic over in the Iolausian Limerick archive (go
to Iolausian Library and click on Iolausian Limericks Anonymous on the
authors page:

Iolaus does tend to babble 
Till his brains Herc would like to scrabble 
Upon them, the bandits descended 
Quickly, the baddies were aprehended. 
For in fighting Iolaus likes to dabble. 

Good luck!

Love
Ceryndip and Bwell
Game goddesses
--------------------------------------------------
Drakkar swung her club and connected with a very solid head that gave
with the impact. As the large cannibal fell at her feet everything
stopped around her. A nearby cannibal warrior gave a loud whoop and
suddenly the others all turned and beat a hasty retreat into the primeval
forest around them. They were all gone in a moment. 

"What just happened?" Drakkar asked.

Favoring his injured ankle heavily, Hercules kneeled beside the body at
her feet, "I think this must be their leader. In a lot of primative
tribes if you take out the leader the rest will stop and run."

The remaining surivvors join them on the ground, "Will they come back?"
Elaine asked.

"I think we're safe for the time being. We need to post constant watches
and try to avoid their side of the island but as long as we don't make
contact with them, we're probably ok. I doubt they'll bother us unless we
go looking for them. Good hit, Drakkar. I think we'll let Jason take care
of this guy when he gets back." Hercules sighed and scanned the woods for
their fellow survivors. 

"If the cannibals attacked us here, that probably means the others were
successful, right?" Skylark pointed out.

Hercules nodded, "We'll hope so. Now, I think I need some help getting
back to camp. I don't think I can get back up off the ground on my own."

"I thought we told you to stay in camp?" Drakkar asked.

"You did but if you think I'm sitting there while you're out here risking
your lives on my behalf, you're crazy."

No one argued with him. "Thank  you for the asist," Elaine held out her
hand to pull him up.

***

No one slept, they were too worried about their friends. Instead they
busied themselves putting the camp back in order and reinforcing their
defenses just in case. 

It was nearly dawn when Skylark sang out from her position on watch.
"They're coming."

At some point in the night all of the parties had met up and took turns
carrying the canoe with the injured Iolaus. Autolycus was singed around
the edges and exhausted. Margui tended his burns and put him to bed 
while the others got Iolaus settled and reassured Hercules that the
hunter was only just sleeping. Hercules wasn't satisfied until he'd
examined the wounds himself. Then, finally, he allowed them to put him
back to bed. 

Jason quietly took care of the chief's body and stood watch while the
camp got some well deserved sleep.

***
The morning was thankfully quiet. Iolaus lay on a hastily erected hammock
next to Hercules. They knew they had to put Iolaus next to his friend or
they'd never keep Hercules off that ankle. 

"Feeling better?" Hercules asked as Iolaus woke from a long nap.

"Yeah, hurts though, but don't say anything for awhile, ok? That stuff
they're giving me for the pain makes me sleepy." The hunter smiled,
"Always dreamed about being marooned on an Island with a bunch of
beautiful women,  guess that dream wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

The demigod chuckled and shifted in his hammock. "Oh I don't know. We're
being waited on hand and foot. We don't have to hunt or cook. I don't
have to worry about you getting in trouble for awhile. It's not so bad."

"Hey, someone's coming up the river!" Owlharp cried. She had gone to wash
the blood out of Iolaus' pants before she tried to mend the hole. 

A thin, dark boat was gently pushed to the edge of the small cove near
the camp. 

Jason recognized it's occupant immediately, "Charon! A little far from
your usual haunts isn't it?

He snorted, "A little, let me tell you, this is exhausting trying to find
you. You wouldn't believe what all this deep water punting has done to my
bercitus and let me show you the-"

Jason backed up a step and held up his hands, "Uh no, that's ok, we don't
have to see."

"It's no trouble, I can-"

"No, really, it's fine. What brings you here?"

"Oh, see Hades owes Poseidon so since I work for Hades even though I
don't owe Poseidon, I had to paddle all the way out here and rescue you. 

"And take us where?"

"To the mainland, what you think I'm taking you all the way down the
Stix? What do I look like a passenger service?"

Owlharp quickly assessed the situation, "We won't all fit. How many can
you carry?"

"I can take six of you, if you're skinny but you'll have to help paddle
and we've got to go now. I wanna beat the tide."

"Ok," Jason replied. "give us a minute."

The group convened back at camp.

"So how do we choose?" Caro asked.

"I think Hercules and Iolaus should go. They are wounded," Jason
suggested.

"No," Hercules said, "Iolaus can't travel yet and I won't leave him here.

I think you need to draw straws. That's the only fair way."

It was agreed and straws were quickly arranged using bamboo shoots. After
everyone had drawn they compared sticks. Owlharp, Pythia, Kat, CJ, Ahary
and Ziggy all held short pieces of bamboo. 

Goodbyes were hastily made and it was agreed they'd all meet on the
mainland. It would take Charon several trips to get them all ferried
ashore. Owlharp handed Iolaus' pants over to Elaine for mending and they
all headed for the boat.

***

Iolaus woke to find a few people missing. Hercules quietly explained as
Jason returned to camp with news.

"I think we may have a problem," He said as he called them all together.
"We're sheltered a bit here by these trees but if you go over to the
ridge, you'll see a line of storm clouds in the distance. The wind's
already picking up. I think we'd better tie down everything and see what
we can do about reinforcing our shelter. At the very least we're in for a
rainstorm.

Ceryndip
-----------------------------------
Iolaus gives Skylark and the other inexperienced campers who had to 
stay back at the camp and put up with Hercules' tantrums a big warm 
hug. "I just want to thank you for.."

Hercules interrupts antcipating Iolaus' sentence as he adds his two 
cents "for saving Iolaus' life..he means the world to me.."

Iolaus gives Hercules a somewhat annoyed look as he responds "..for 
putting up with Hercules all this time..and putting up with his 
demigod tantrums..I think he gets it from Zeus.." Iolaus giggles as 
Hercules shoots Iolaus a look of daggers..

Llyra expresses the sentiment of all who stayed behind to look after 
Hercules "On behalf of all of us..we're just glad that you are 
healing and that Iolaus and Auto came out of this safe and sound..we 
were really worried about you.." Llyra hands Iolaus his pants..

"Okay..I've repaired the hole in your pants..I'm just glad to be 
returning to my sewing..You know Iolaus..you have as many holes in 
your pants as my kids" Llyra remarks sadly.

Elaine gives the older woman a hug. Elaine and Skylark and the other 
younger survivor appreciate the maternal influence Llyra had given 
them whenever they felt down or homesick..it was now time to return 
the favor. "We are all homesick..but we'll get out of this Llyra and 
you'll return to see your kids soon! To quote someone famous..'as 
long as we all stick together, we will get through this.."

Llyra gives a snort of a laugh as she replies "I hate it when you 
throw my own words back at me!"

Skylark hands Llyra a cup of steaming tea and tells the older 
woman "Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better" Llyra drinks the 
tea and immediately feels sleepy.

Llyra wags an accusing finger at the young healer "What did you put 
in my tea?"

At about the same time other victims of Skylark's tea become 
similarly afflicted as eyes droop all around camp. Hercules has his 
head on Iolaus' chest as he softly snores. Jason snores the loudest 
as his snore sounds like a rusted chainsaw. 

Even in sleep, Hercules protects Iolaus by wrapping his large arms 
around Iolaus and putting his head on his chest as if warding away 
Ares himself. Elaine watches this friendship in awe "You know 
Hercules and Iolaus share such a remarkable friendship..do you 
think..I mean..I just wish I could have such a friendship.."

Skylark puts her arm around the younger survivor as she 
consoles "Elaine, allof us count you as our friend..you are a vital 
part of this group.."

"Talking about group..I'm going to miss the others that Charon 
rescued from this island..I mean I'm happy that they're safe and 
sound in Greece..still..their company.." Elaine continues in a 
mournful tone.

At this point, Arianna wanders over to this group "You know Skylark I 
am glad I avoided drinking that 'relaxing' tea..and you Elaine, you 
are like a daughter to me..as a matter of fact..both of you are like 
daughters to me..that's what friends are for.." Arianna gives Elaine 
a much needed hug.

"To tell you the truth I will miss Kat..for her expertise in the 
woods..Pythia for her funny Iolaus stories..Ziggy..for her courage 
and wit..Owlharp..for her wisdom..CJ for her sense of humor..but 
Skylark is right..they are safe..away from Ares..away from the 
cannibals.." Arianna concludes.

"Alright..both of you..drink your teas..it's my turn to take watch.." 
Arianna hands to Skylark and Elaine a green cup of tea. "Come 
on..drink this..it'll make you feel better"

Skylark grimaces "I hate it when you throw my words back at me" 
Skylark makes an attempt to smile as both she and Elaine take a few 
gulps of Arianna's scalding hot tea and only a few moments later both 
young survivors are out for the count.

Arianna makes herself comfortable as she scans the sleeping bodies 
and at the same time keeping her eye out for either Ares or extra 
cannibals. Arianna can't help smiling as she watches the protective 
fashion Hercules holds Iolaus in his sleep with his head squarely on 
Iolaus' blonde chest. Arianna wryly smiles to herself as she 
exclaims "I hope Iolaus doesn't mind having Hercules'drool on his 
vest when he wakes in the morning!"

Arianna fights to keep the sleep from getting to her when an awful 
waft of very unhygienic smell breezes in from the woods followed by a 
very angry looking man in leather. Arianna tries to yell when she is 
yanked from behind as a very unclean savage puts his hand on her 
mouth...and the last thing Arianna is conscious of is Ares' laughing..

TBC

Skylark
---------------------------------
"Arianna fights to keep the sleep from getting to her when an awful
waft of very unhygienic smell breezes in from the woods followed by a
very angry looking man in leather. Arianna tries to yell when she is
yanked from behind as a very unclean savage puts his hand on her
mouth...and the last thing Arianna is conscious of is Ares' laughing.."

With a smug, nasty little grin, Ares surveyed the castaways'
campsite...and all the sleeping, semidrugged little castaways...ripe for
the pickings..(if you'll pardon the terrible pun)!  The cannibals had
taken out the one lookout, that pesky Arianna, who had done far too much
to save the life of Herc's irritating little buddy, Curly...Ares had
thought he was a goner for sure, between the spear in the leg and the
wicked rapids on the river...but, these women were altogether just a
little too capable for his liking.  Anyway, without Arianna around,
there was no one to give a warning!

Stupid of them, having only one lookout, with angry cannibals, not to
mention a God of War, around.  Ares chuckled.  He did like it when a
plan came together.  It was just too bad the cannibals liked to cook
their victims fresh...they liked to take captives, not drag off dead
bodies.  It would have been so much more efficient to kill first, kinda
like taking in a harvest, and then eat later.  Ah well, no accounting
for taste.

Ares crossed his arms, leaning against a handy tree, as he watched the
savages creep into the camp, clubs in their hands.  Regrettably, from
Ares' perspective, the God of War had not noticed the storm that had
built suddenly on the horizon, moving with the speed of a hurricane
across the open sea...and, now, it was about to hit the island.

The dark of the night was suddenly noontime bright, as lightning
flashed, sheets of it, jagged lines reaching from the heavens to the
earth, striking trees with explosive effect, until fires raged in the
forests.  Thunder built, as if from a distance, then crashed with an
unholy racket, as if Atlas had dropped the earth, and the pillar
supporting Olympus had crashed, smashing into a thousand different
pieces.  Behind the thunder came the driving rain...slicing sideways in
the violent winds, heavy, cutting, as it lashed into faces and bodies,
pelting the forests, drowning the fires, tearing limbs from trees in its
fury, blowing one edge of the canvas providing shelter to the castaways
loose, leaving them vulnerable to the elements.

The relaxing tea had been enough to put everyone to sleep, but it wasn't
enough to keep them asleep, as the night lit with the constant flashes
of light from the skies, as the thunder rumbled and crashed overhead,
and, most especially, as the rain pounded so hard, everyone was drenched
in minutes...soaked to the skin.

Hercules pushed himself to his feet, intending to take Iolaus into a
sheltered area under the trees...when he saw the savages invading the
camp...and a wet, bedraggled Ares looking disgusted before he flashed
from sight.  Hercules roared out a warning to the others, galvanizing
everyone, then started pitching savages into the trees, until they
learned to give him a wide berth...

The castaways had thought it was just a storm to be endured, and had
been grumbling about being half drowned when the canvas blew loose, but
now they all grabbed whatever weapons came to hand...Falafel swung the
huge cooking pot, bowling over savages, two and three at a time, Skylark
and Athena chose coconuts as their weapons of choice, Drakkar found the
long poles which had provided support to their tent made excellent
staffs, Bev threw rocks, Jason and Iolaus swung swords to good effect,
Autolycus, having grabbed Margui's umbrella to keep himself marginally
dry, now found it made an excellent club, Allie waved her hatchet with
determination, Bev and Kleandra slashed out with their knives, Llyra
pulled the scissors from her sewing kit, Elaine twirled Kleandra's bolo,
Margui whipped the savages who came near her with her cat o' nine tails,
and the goddess Quietwolf lashed out with her snake stick, as MaryE
found the hatchet Pythia had left behind, figuring they might need it,
and took off after one huge savage, screaming like a banshee, while Caro
kissed the Swiss Army Knife Owlharp had left, saying she knew she'd get
it back when the rest got back to the mainland, and then jumped into the
fray....

The savages might have thought they had the drop on these offislanders,
but, they had messed once too often with these people.  The castaways
fought like Furies, shrieking out their outrage, fiercely taking on one
savage after another...until the cannibals gave up, overwhelmed by  the
dual onslaught of the forces of nature and the forces of castaways who
had had ENOUGH, and retreated, like spectres, into the night.

Realizing they had driven their attackers away, at least for a while,
the castaways set about reanchoring their canvas shelter...they were
soaking wet, sure, but that was no reason to stay out in the cutting
rain...and the wind was cold against their skin.  Autolycus and Jason
helped Hercules get Iolaus inside, out of the wind and sheltered from
the rain.  Iolaus cursed his wounded state, frustrated to have to rely
on the help of others.  Since he had to sit still, unable to join in the
hasty repairs, he spent his time watching one castaway after another,
making sure in his own mind that they were all right...that they hadn't
been injured in the attack.  It took him a while, but gradually he
realized someone was missing...no one else had noticed in the confusion.

"Herc, Jason," he called out, waving his comrades over.  They'd caught
the urgency in his tone and gesture, "What is it, Iolaus?  What's
wrong?" asked Herc, keeping his voice low, not wanting to worry the
others.

"Arianna!" hissed Iolaus, his eyes wide with concern, "where's Arianna?"

Jason and Hercules looked around the crowded tent...clearly, she wasn't
there.

Skylark had overheard them, being the one who had been closest to Iolaus
when he called them over.  She'd been keeping an eye on him, making sure
his exertions had not done further damage to his leg.  Alarmed, she
touched Herc's arm, drawing his attention.  "Arianna," she stammered,
"Arianna had lookout duty tonight...."

"The storm woke us," Jason muttered; "She didn't sound the alarm,"
continued Herc;  "Damn their sorry souls...if they've hurt her....."
grated Iolaus....but, Skylark interrupted again.  "What are we going to
do?  We have to find her!"

********
Arianna
------------------------------
Pythia's Journal: Day Five

It felt like a long way back to Greece.

Charon's not bad company once you get past his gruff exterior (and the 
skin problem) but none of us were up to much conversation as we poled our 
way out of the sheltered cove and into the vastness of Poseidon's domain. 
 We watched the island as it slowly vanished into the mists that were 
swirling across the surface of the sea, our thoughts focused - not on the 
reality of our rescue - but on the people we had left behind.

'They'll be okay,' Owlharp announced, breaking the silence and making 
Charon start with surprise.  I guess he's not used to having passengers 
that start conversations.

'I hope so,' I sighed, leaning on my pole and trying to catch one last 
glimpse of the island before it disappeared completely.  

'Sure they will,' Ziggy said firmly, grabbing for Chaos just before he 
vanished beneath Charon's robe.  'They've got Hercules, and Iolaus, and 
Jason and - whatssiname? - Autolycus to keep an eye on everything.'

'Everything Auto keeps an eye on vanishes into his pocket,' I pointed out 
and then grinned.  'Wonder what he stole from the cannibals?'

'These probably,' Ziggy offered, returning the grin and holding up a pouch 
of jewels.  'Shame he left them lying around for a curious ferret to find 
...'

We all laughed at that; there was decided comfort in picturing Autolycus 
desperately searching for the treasure he'd thought so safely stashed.  
Charon chuckled too, a sound which chills the heart the first time you 
hear it.  We're mostly used to it now, but I saw Ahary shiver.  Or maybe 
that was just her thinking about what we'd left behind.

Kat, like me, was still staring at the place where the island had been.  
'I just don't trust Ares,' she said, glancing across at CJ, who agreed 
with an anxious shake of her head.  'You never know what he's planning 
...'

'Not our problem now,' I pointed out.  'Not much we can do but pray.'

'Who too?' Owlharp wondered.  'Zeus isn't likely to help out.  Poseidon's 
and Hades are already doing the best they can.  And Ares is hardly going 
to listen to *us*, is he.'

'True,' I answered.  'But Dite leant us a hand back at the cannibal camp. 
 and I guess Artemis isn't going to be happy if something bad happens to 
her favourite hunter.  There are those on Olympus who'll work in our 
favour.  I suggest we pray to those who *will* help; to the Muses, so that 
our fellow bards stay inspired and creative in the face of danger - and to 
the Game Goddesses of course.  To keep everyone safe, no matter what.'

'Sound's good to me,' Ziggy decided and everyone else agreed.  Charon 
chuckled again, a rasping, raw sound.

'I start now if I were you,' he suggested gruffly, grinning an evil grin.

'Why?' CJ demanded.  'You know something we don't?'

'I know a lot of things you don't,' he retorted.  'And if you wanna reach 
Greece warm and dry you'd better start putting your backs into that 
poling.  It's gonna rain.'

We turned as one, hearing a sudden and ominous whisper of thunder roll 
across the horizon.  There were storm clouds gathering there, dark and 
menacing.

Right above the island - and the friends we had left behind ....


(Okay guys - my last post!  It's been great fun and I'm sorry to be 
leaving. But it's all up to you now.  I'll watch your adventures with 
bated breath!  Pythia.)

Pythia
-------------------------------
Kat walked over to Charon.

"Whadda ya want?" The ferryman growled.

"Let's make a deal," Kat said as she flashed her winningest smile.

"No... No...NO...No...  Hades is still burned up 'bout the last time you
and me made a deal," Charon grumbled.

"But this one won't get you into any trouble, I promise," the brunette
vowed.

"Promises, promises."

"Come on Charon, have I ever let you down before?" Queried the green
eyed Amazon.  "Besides you wouldn't want me to let it slip to Hades
about..."

"You wouldn't.."

"Would I?"

"Ok, whadda ya want?" Charon said defeatedly.

Kat leaned in close to the ferryman and whispered in his ear.

"Well," he wavered.

"You won't get into trouble.  Come on I've always wanted a tropical
vacation, and if we work it right, you can hang out while waiting for
your next assignment."

"Well.."

"And I'll see about getting some of that special foot creme."

"Awright."

"Thanks Charon," Kat said as she hugged the wizened creature.  She gave
CJ a thumbs up signal as she walked over to hug her sister Margui
goodbye.

"I wish I was coming with you," Margui said.

"I know.  Me too sis.  Look when it's time for you to go, just tell
Charon that you're with me, he'll know what that means.  Do you still
have the recipe for that special creme?" Kat asked.  She hugged her
slender sister tightly.

"Yeah, why?" Margui asked.

"Let's just say it was the deal closer," the young woman said with a
smile.

Kat and CJ waited for the last Charon shuttle, letting the others go
first, and wanting to spend as much time as possible with their sister
before they left.

CJ looked at her younger sister.  She saw those green eyes sparkling
with mischief and the smile on her face.  "What's up?"

"Oh you'll find out soon enough," the young woman replied cryptically.

All too soon Charon was back to pick up Kat and CJ.  They said their
final goodbye and gave everyone hugs before they stepped into the ferry.

The group headed off down the river.  When they met the ocean, Charon
veered off to the left.

"Hey where are you going?  The mainland is the other direction," CJ
stated.

"It's ok sis," Kat said.  "We wanted a tropical vacation, and now we are
going to get one."

The boat soon landed on another nearby island.  Staff was at their side
as soon as their feet hit the sand to lead them to the resort and to
take their baggage--if they had any and to take drink and dinner orders.

"Now this is a vacation," Kat declared.

"But how?" CJ queried.

"Blackmail," Kat replied.  "Charon doesn't want Hades to know about how
he won that poker game."

CJ giggled.  "You are evil."

"Nope, not me, I'm sweet and innocent," Kat stated.  "Now we have our
own island paradise.  This will just be one big party with our every
desire fulfilled with just a word."

"Kewl."

"Just the way a vacation should be.  Now we can relax and party.
Hopefully YI will be here soon, and I suppose we could invite others who
just want to relax and have fun."

"I wish Margui was with us," CJ remarked with a touch of sadness.

"Me too," Kat admitted.  "But Charon has orders to bring her here when
it's time."  The brunette smiled at her sister.  "What should we ask the
staff for first?"

Kat
-------------------------------------

Iolaus' observation that Arianna was missing sent chills through all 
of us.  The idyllic first days on the island were quickly being 
replaced by a nightmare of Olympic proportions.  It seemed that we 
would have to mount another campaign to seize our sister from the 
clutches of that horrible band of cannibals.  This time, however 
Hercules was in a better position to help us thanks to the 
quick-healing properties of his demigod blood.

Autolycus and Iolaus debriefed us on conditions in the cannibal camp.   
They had picked up a few phrases of the cannibal's language like 'give 
me food'...  'give me drink'...  'woman' ... and ... 'canoe'.   They were a 
deeply ritualistic and superstitious lot.  It seemed that there were 
approximately 50 of them, men and women only...no children.  Jason took 
a head count and we, each in turn shared with the group, to the best 
of our knowledge, how many cannibals we took out with our makeshift 
weapons.  The grim statistics pointed to the fact that we killed 4 of 
them outright, captured 8  and badly injured at least 10 more to the 
point where they would be useless in another confrontation.  (Bev 
broke our nervousness a bit by  injecting here that with Arianna's 
scrappiness and determination, the number of injured cannibals would 
most likely increase before they got her back to their camp.

 So, twelve amazons, one demigod, one injured but head-strong hero,  
one master-thief, one master-strategist former king and one deadly 
chef.  A big grin lit up the Golden Hunter's face...the odds were good 
and totally in our favor...according to the mathematics of heroes.  Now, 
all we would have to do is keep Ares from making any trouble.

Jason and Hercules didn't want us to take the responsibility of 
keeping guard over the 8 captured cannibals so it was decided to give 
them some supplies and water and lower them to the cave on the ledge 
where Ares had pushed Hercules that first night.  The cave would be 
just big enough for them and would keep them somewhat protected from 
the storm but they could neither climb up nor down.

The blond hunter was already making a rather large protest at being 
the one left behind this time...but he knew, as well as the rest of us 
that he would be almost useless in this endeavor.

Thanks to the wonderful work our sisters did with the palm-fronds 
covering our shelter and the salvaged tarps we were all beginning to 
get dry and warm in spite of the rain storm that was raging outside.  
We sat about the campfire in a tribal conference and a plan of action 
was quickly hashed out.  

We would need Auto's grappling hook, Margui's umbrella,  the bag of 
flour, and the clothes, ceremonial dress and headgear from the dead 
cannibal chief  that Jason had disposed of earlier this evening.   

Someone would have to dress up like the dead cannibal chief , be 
dusted with flour from head to toe to give them the appearance of a 
ghost.  They would carry the umbrella to keep the rain off of them and 
be lowered over the camp by Auto's grappling hook to make it look like 
they were suspended in mid air.  While we got their attention, 
Hercules and Autolycus could spirit Arianna away from the cannibal's 
clutches.

Those going on the mission were Hercules, Autolycus and four amazons, 
who were picked by the same straw-drawing method that was used to 
select those who would accompany Charon.    

Jason advised that if we weren't back with Arianna by dawn, then he 
and four other amazons would follow after the first group.  We all 
fervently wished that it wouldn't come to that. 

Skylark was exempted from the drawing because, as chief healer she was 
needed at Iolaus' side.  Drakkar was also exempted because it was the 
consensus of those remaining that by staying in the camp, she would 
offer the best distraction to Ares as he tried to penetrate the 
mysteries of her Valkiere past.

And so, we begin the next part of this grand adventure...

MaryE
-----------------------------------------------
"So," Hercules asked with a small grin of amusement.  "Who's going to 
be our cannibal chief?"

The four Amazons who had drawn the straws for the mission all looked 
at each other, until finally the collective gaze fell upon Quiet Wolf.

"Ohhhhhh no," she protested.  "I've done the goddess bit.  Someone 
else can take over the thespian routine now.  In fact, I nominate 
Margui.  She's never at a loss for words.  I'm sure she can improvise 
cannibal-talk long enough to provide the distraction."

Mary E and Caro quickly backed Quiet Wolf up, as neither of them had 
the desire to become chief for the day.  Before she even had time to 
comment, Margui found herself in the hands of Llyra and Bev, who 
skillfully adorned her in the costume of the native chief.  Allie 
brought forth the flour, and liberally coated the sputtering Amazon 
with the white powder.

"How's that?" Llyra inquired, admiring their handiwork.

"I think its as good as we're going to get," Autolycus 
muttered.  "Here, your highness."  The thief handed the umbrella to 
the newly appointed chief.  "Let's get this disaster over with."

The small rescue party said their quick goodbyes to the rest of their 
friends, assuring all the worried faces that they would bring back 
Arianna safe and sound.  Iolaus was extremely disappointed that he 
couldn't help, but he had faith in them and wished them all luck.  
Setting out for the native camp, they found that the raging storm had 
died down considerably.

"Finally, something in our favor," Quiet Wolf griped.

"Maybe, but I don't think it will last," Hercules told them.  "This 
looks like just a lull.  And the second wave of the storm is bound to 
be worse than the first.  I only hope we can get Arianna out of there 
and get back to shelter before it breaks."

With the pressure of the looming storm and fear for what was being 
done to poor Arianna driving them on, the group found themselves back 
at the native camp in no time, in spite of the limp that still 
impeded the demigod.  The camp was much less subdued, with none of 
the wild dancing and primitive ceremony of their last visit.  In 
fact, it was almost eerily quiet.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Margui whispered to her friends.

"You're just saying that because you're the bait," Caro told her.

"No, I'm talking about an Ares kind of bad feeling," the decorated 
chief insisted.

"This would be just like him," Mary E agreed.  "To let us think we've 
almost won, and then swoop in for the kill."

"Well, we can't do anything about that now," Quiet Wolf sighed.  "I 
think we should just go on as planned, and deal with Ares if and when 
he appears."

"Do you think we've given Hercules and Autolycus enough time to get 
into position?" Caro asked.

Everyone came to the consensus that enough time has gone by to enable 
Hercules and Autolycus to maneuver their way to the cage where 
Arianna was being held.  A cage that Auto was more than familiar with.

"Ok," Margui commanded, long since resigned to her fate and actually 
starting to enjoy her crucial part in the rescue.  "Let's do it.  
Lower me down."

Quiet Wolf
---------------------------------------
"Do you think we've given Hercules and Autolycus enough time to get
into position?" Caro asked.

Everyone came to the consensus that enough time has gone by to enable
Hercules and Autolycus to maneuver their way to the cage where
Arianna was being held.  A cage that Auto was more than familiar with.

"Ok," Margui commanded, long since resigned to her fate and actually
starting to enjoy her crucial part in the rescue.  "Let's do it.
Lower me down."

The others were just about to follow the 'deceased chieftain's' commands
when Hercules limped into view below, followed by Autolycus...and they
didn't look happy.  Hercules stopped and looked around, hands on his
hips, while Autolycus continued to poke into a few more tents.  They saw
him turn and shrug his shoulders, then walk back to stand with Hercules.

Herc looked up at us, raised his voice a little so that we could hear
him... "It was a great plan...and Margui, from down here you look very
convincing...but, there's no one here...the camp is deserted...it almost
looks like they've moved out.  Auto and I will meet you back on the path
back to our camp."

Autolycus had been watching the skies...and noted new thunderheads
blowing in quickly, "And, hurry," he urged, pointing out the blackness
beginning to move in over head.  They could hear the rumble of not so
distant thunder.

They beat the storm back to their own camp, but not by much...the
lightning had seemed to dance upon their heels, the wind's voice
changing from a gentle whisper to a howl, driving them before it.  They
had just arrived when the terrific crash of thunder above them was
followed by torrents of rain. Dashing into the shelter, they looked up
and saw the hopeful looks turn to dismay as the others realized they had
not brought Arianna back.

"The cannibal village was deserted," Mary E explained... "There was no
one there..."

Hercules had crossed over to stand beside Iolaus and both were clearly
mulling over the possibilities of what might have happened to their
comrade, both rubbing the lower half of their faces with a hand, as they
frowned over the mystery.

Hercules looked up at Iolaus, "You know, we just assumed the...

"cannibals took her," Iolaus finished the thought, "But no one actually
saw that happen.  And, because we made that assumption...."

"we never checked the perimetre of this camp...."

Iolaus nodded, his eyes clouded as he looked out at the tumultuous
weather beyond their shelter entrance.  "Gods, Herc...if she's out
there, nearby, she must be hurt...."

Hercules cautioned, "Easy...let's not make any more assumptions.  I'll
go do a circuit of the camp...if they just knocked her out, or tied her
up, she may not be far away."

The others had been following this conversation.  Margui, Caro, MaryE
and Quietwolf stepped forward.  "We want to help...if we all look, it
will go faster...."  Caro shoved Autolycus, pushing him forward as
well...he made a face, but no protest.  He never liked to seem too eager
to help anyone else...it just didn't fit the image of callous loner he
tried so hard to play.

Hercules took in their determined faces and decided not to waste time
arguing.  Nodding, he led them out of the shelter, into the howling wind
and slanting rain.

They each moved to a different point around the campsite, moved into the
darkened forest to search that area.  In minutes, Caro had run back to
the perimeter.  "I've found her!" she called to the others... "but, I
need help..."

In seconds, they had run to follow Caro into her sector of the
forest...not twenty feet in, just out of sight of the camp, they saw
Caro on her knees, on the other side of large tree limb which had been
blown down during the earlier part of the storm.  As the lightning
flashed, illuminating the area, they could see one leg showing through
the branches.

'Oh Gods,' thought Quietwolf, wondering what they were going to find.
Racing around the fallen limb, they found Caro brushing Arianna's hair
back from her very pale face...

Arianna looked up at the others, saw their deep concern, tried to smile,
"I'm...I'm alright...I just cccouldn't gggget out from under this
thing...it mmmmust weigh a tttton...and I'm kinda ccccaught, tangled by
the bbbbranches."  She was stammering from the cold, shivering...and
they could see she was lying in a mixture of water and mud.

Hercules studied the broken limb, walking around the group and choosing
a spot on the far side, where it looked like he could get more
leverage.  "Alright," he said, "when I lift it, the rest of you pull her
out...but, take it easy in case something's broken."

He hadn't liked the sound of Arianna's voice, or the bluish tinge to her
face.  She'd been lying in that pool of cold muddy water for
hours...and, he'd seen a nasty bruise around a contusion on the side of
her face.

As he lifted, Caro and MaryE caught Arianna under each shoulder and
pulled, drawing her from underneath.  "She's clear," called Quietwolf,
and Herc let the limb fall back to the sodden earth.

Arianna was soaking wet, what was left of her shift was caked with
mud...and there were innumerable scratches on her arms and legs,
scratches she had won trying to wiggle out from under the branch on her
own.  Margui was studying the bruise on her face, and found a
corresponding lump under the skin.

Arianna winced as Margui touched it lightly.  "Somebody who smelled like
they hadn't bathed since they were born, grabbed me and hit me with a
club...just after I saw Ares stride into the camp...I tried to cry
out...but they were too fast...I just woke up a little while ago...and
found myself trapped under that branch...I've been so worried...was
anyone hurt in the attack?"

She was talking a mile a minute in nervous shock, shivering
uncontrollably, insisting upon standing and walking on her own...that
she was fine, just fine...only to take two steps and keel over.
Fortunately, Herc had been expecting it and caught her before she hit
the ground.  He picked her up, concerned about how cold she felt in his
arms.  "Just a little dizzy..." she mumbled, "...can walk..."

Herc just snorted as he turned to lead them back to the shelter...it
wasn't far.  'What was it,' he thought, 'about independent people...they
showed good sense most of the time, but never seemed able to admit when
they needed help!'  He found it slightly exasperating...until he felt a
twinge in his ankle and realized he was probably just as bad.

The others were relieved, that they had found Arianna, and concerned,
that she needed to be carried, as they watched the search party dash
back through the heavy, biting rain.

"She's freezing," Herc said as he entered.  "Skylark...we'll need some
tea...but not too much of the sedative kind until we see if there is any
concussion...and, can someone find the roll of linen...she needs
something warmer and dry."

Kleandra knew just where the linen was and turned to pull the bolt of
cloth out of the corner.  Quietwolf and MaryE took charge of Arianna as
soon as Herc had laid her down, chasing him away.  The others turned
away, giving her a modicum of privacy, as MaryE and Quietwolf pulled off
her sodden, filthy shift and, using the shears Pythia had left along
with her hatchet, cut a length of linen to wrap around her like a sari.
By then, Skylark had the tea ready and carried it over in one of the few
pottery mugs which had survived the various battles with the cannibals.

"Thankkks," murmured Arianna, her teeth still chattering, as she
accepted the mug and sipped the tea.  "I'm just so cooolldddd."  Looking
up at her rescuers, she continued, "Thanks for cccommming to lloookkk
for meeee...." visibly shuddering with chills.

********
Arianna
--------------------------------------------------------
Quietwolf held the cup to Arianna's mouth.  The tea was doing next to 
nothing towards warming the shivering amazon.

Hercules looked on, concerned that Arianna was suffering from exposure 
as well as a possible concussion. 

The demigod turned away from the scene next to the campfire where Caro 
and MaryE were trying to get their sister into a more comfortable 
position for the night, and he ambled over to where his injured 
partner lay.

Checking out the hunter's leg, Hercules was visibly relieved that the 
skin surrounding the wound was cool to the touch and no sign of 
infection could be seen.

"Come on, buddy.  You've been lazing around all day and we need your 
help now," exclaimed the demigod as he bent down to help his friend up 
to a sitting position.

"Yeah, Herc," Iolaus brightened as he settled himself next to his best 
friend.  "That's great!  I can't wait to get up and do something 
productive.  What is it?"

"It's something right up your alley, pal.  It's heroic and noble," 
said the demigod with a half-smile.

"That's me in a nutshell.  Heroic...noble...  What do I get to do...rough up 
some cannibals...some monsters?" the smiling hunter shot back.

"No.  It's something more subtle...you get to share body heat with 
Arianna and keep her awake until we can make sure she doesn't have a 
concussion.  Think you're up to the task, Iolaus?"

"Awwwww, Herc...I thought it would be something exciting...like an island 
monster or something big," whined the blond.  He let his eyes sweep 
over the camp and they came to rest on Arianna as she lay shivering 
uncontrollably in spite of the fire.  His heart immediately softened 
as he gazed upon the woman who had so compassionately and ably saved 
his life the day before.

"Come on, Herc.  She needs me.  Give me a hand up will ya, pal?"

"Sure buddy," the demigod said.  Quickly adding, "Besides, there's an 
element of danger involved here too."

"What?" inquired the blond hunter... "a warm campfire, the soft sound of 
rain hitting the trees and the tarp, an amazon trembling in my 
arms...yeah...I can see the dangers in that."

"No, Iolaus...the element of danger is Ares.  He's up to something.  I'm 
sure that he took Arianna out the last time and we have to make sure 
he doesn't come back and try again.  Do what you have to do to keep 
her awake for the next 8 hours...except for singing...no singing," the 
demigod added with a big grin.  "Jason and I will take watch.  Yell if 
there's trouble..." 

TBC...
MaryE.
----------------------------
> "Do what you have to do to keep 
>her awake for the next 8 hours...except for singing...no singing," the 
>demigod added with a big grin.  "Jason and I will take watch.  Yell if 
>there's trouble..."

   For the next several hours Iolaus held Arianna in his arms and talked
non-stop, telling her funny stories about his and Hercules' adventures
and  making her laugh. Now and then she would start to doze off and he'd
gently tap her on the nose. "Stay awake, love" he whispered. "We need to
keep you awake for a while longer, just to make sure that that bump
doesn't give you any trouble...Listen,  I've been telling all the jokes.
Now YOU tell one! Or would you rather that I sang?" The threat worked -
once again Arianna laughed and stayed awake.  
  
    All the while Iolaus' eyes had never been still, making a sweep of
the camp, watching for trouble - especially godly trouble clad in
silver-studded black leather.  Iolaus knew it was too much to hope that
the Olympian had lost interest, but so far, Ares had not shown up again.
    From under the edge of the tarp, he peered out at the sky. The rain
had pretty much slacked off by now, and far in the east, over the sea, a
patch of clear night sky was visible, with a few stars twinkling and -
what the HELL?!!!
    Something huge and white swooped down out of the sky. 
   "HERC! JASON!" bellowed Iolaus. Arianna's eyes, which had once again
grown heavy, snapped wide open. The pounding of running feet heralded
Jason's arrival, while Hercules limped a little slower behind him. 
   "There!" said Iolaus sharply, pointing.
    Once again something white flashed as it swooped low over the
campfire and headed straight for the demigod. Hercules threw up one arm
in self defense, then stopped and stared in amazement. 
    A huge snowy owl settled itself on his arm, talons digging firmly
into the leather of his gauntlet, the wind from its massive wings sending
sparks from the fire up into the air. 
   For a moment everyone just stood amazed. The white owl hooted loudly
and folded its wings. 
    "There's something tied to its leg," commented Hercules. With gentle
fingers he undid the leather jess that held a small silken bag. He handed
the bag to Jason, who opened it. Out fell a folded piece of parchment and
a small white bottle. Jason unfolded the parchment and scanned it. 
   "It's from Owlharp!" he commented in astonishment, and began to read:

  'Dear friends ... I'm sending this by a relative of mine. We all got to
the mainland safely, though Chaos nearly went overboard when the storm
hit. We're all concerned about you and we won't be happy til you all are
back here with us. 
Hugs to you all! [Signed] Owlie. P.S. I'm sending something along that I
think will be very helpful. P.P.S. Please keep Falafel from serving
blowfish sushi!'

   "What's in the bottle?" asked Iolaus. 
   Jason held it up to the firelight and read the writing on the front.
"Hmm ... I'm not familiar with this. It must be some sort of magic potion
or something. It says 'Extra Strength Tylenol - Large Economy Size!"

[Well, that's all from me. It was a wonderful experience and I can think
of no people with whom I would rather be shipwrecked on a island! I look
forward to reading your further adventures!]

Love to ya!
Owlharp
-----------------------------
"May the gods bless Owlharp!" Quiet Wolf cheered, and the rest of the 
camp echoed her with resounding enthusiasm.  The bottle of Tylenol 
made it's rounds, and the magical elixir contained within the tiny 
tablets quickly began relieving collective headaches, muscle pulls, 
and sunburns.  Calmed and pain free, the camp settled in for the 
night as Hercules gently released the snowy owl, watching as it flew 
off into the darkness.

Quiet Wolf made sure to bring a dose of the medicine to both of the 
convalescents.  Iolaus eyed the pills suspiciously, but Arianna 
encouraged him to try them.  The hunter submitted to her coaxing and 
swallowed the tablets, declaring that he much preferred them over the 
horrible teas that Hercules was always forcing down his throat.

"Are you feeling better now?" Quiet Wolf asked her stricken friend.

"Yes," Arianna confessed.  She had begun to warm up the minute Iolaus 
had wrapped his strong arms around her shaking frame, but she was 
loathe to admit it, finding the current arrangements much to her 
liking and not wishing for the hunter to cease in his ministrations.  
But she needn't have worried.  Iolaus had no intentions of leaving 
her.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered in her ear, brushing back the 
hair from her face, taking care not to touch the bruise on her temple.

"I was worried that you'd hate me after I...  After what I did to 
you," the Amazon confessed.  A chill, brought on by memories, not 
exposure, ran through her.  Iolaus pulled the girl even closer to him.

"Arianna, how can you even think that?" he asked her.  "You did what 
needed to be done, and that took a lot of courage.  I surely would 
have bled to death if you hadn't cauterized the wound.  You saved my 
life.  Thank you."

Exhausted and lost for words, Arianna just rested her head against 
the hunter's shoulder.  Iolaus gently kissed her forehead and urged 
her to rest, promising her that he would take care of her.  And so, 
warm, safe, and finally at peace, Arianna drifted to sleep in the 
arms of their golden hunter.

Quiet Wolf covered both of them with a blanket and crept quietly out 
of the tent, after Skylark assured her that she would keep an eye on 
them.  The wind was still blowing strongly, but the storms seemed to 
have abated for the time being.  

"Need a relief?" Quiet Wolf asked as she sat beside the demigod.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've been out of action for too long now," 
Hercules told her.  "My relief is just to be doing something to 
help.  But, if you're not tired, you can keep me company."

Quiet Wolf picked up her snake hook and used it to draw a tic tac toe 
grid in the sand.  Drawing a big "O" in the center space, she passed 
the stick to Hercules.  Eventually, they were joined by a few other 
restless members of the group.  They all tried to keep the 
conversation light, but invariably talk turned to the recent events 
that had befallen them.

"What do you think happened to the cannibals?" Athena asked.

"It looked like they just packed up camp and moved on," Hercules told 
her.

"But where?"  Mary E mused.  "The island isn't THAT big.  They have 
to be here somewhere."

"Well, hopefully we've given them enough of a fight that they won't 
think it's worth messing with us anymore," the demigod said.

"Yeah," Quiet Wolf enthused.  "And if they dare come back, we'll kick 
their native butts across this island a second time!"  Her gesturing 
became a bit frenzied, and she nearly missed whacking Hercules in the 
head with her snake hook.  The demigod quickly disarmed her and set 
the weapon down on the ground.

"What about Ares?"  Athena asked.

"He is definitely at the top of my list," Hercules growled, thinking 
about all of the trouble that his half brother had caused him.  
People that he cared about were getting hurt, and the demigod took 
that extremely personally.

"We'll deal with him, too," Quiet Wolf stated.

"Definitely," Mary E agreed.  "But it would just be nice if he'd let 
us have one night's peace.  What do you suppose the chances of that 
happening are?"

tbc

Quiet Wolf
-------------------------
When Arianna awoke, she found her head on a well muscled chest, and two
strong arms were holding her securely, as their owner slept soundly.
The campsite was quiet...early, it was just before dawn, and the rain
had finally stopped, at least for now.  The wind had stopped it's
fearful howl, soughing now gently through the trees it had been
brutalizing for the past two days.  No one else was awake in their
shelter.

Arianna gently extricated herself from Iolaus' embrace, albeit
reluctantly.  She took a moment to check his leg, and was well satisfied
with the healing there...the wound had closed, the skin was a healthy
bronze.  He would be fine.  Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly on
the corner of his mouth...something she's never dare do, if he was
awake.  He'd warmed her clear through...his body heat driving away the
chills, his kindness warming her heart...and his friendship warmed her
soul.

Quietly, she stood, wrapping the linen more securely around her...a
little disconcerted to realize it was all she wore.  Her shift had been
utterly ruined.  After a bath, she'd have to set about making a new
one.  Finding a piece of the precious soap, she crept from the shelter,
heading toward the river.  She didn't know Iolaus had cocked one eye
open, and smiled softly as her as she slipped from the shelter.  She was
resilient...she'd be just fine.

She saw Hercules and Jason on the way...their intrepid lookouts.  They
greeted her warmly, glad to see her up and about, no worse for wear
after having been knocked out and pinned beneath a heavy branch.  The
scratches, bruises and black eye would heal.  Arianna thanked Hercules
for having carried her to the camp the day before.

Finding a secluded spot, she dropped the linen and sank gratefully into
the satin water.  Wrinkling her nose as she washed the mud from her hair
and body, she thought again how kind Iolaus had been...she hadn't been
exactly the most clean or attractive person to have had to wrap his arms
around for so long.

Coming out of the water, she dried herself lightly with the linen, then
wrapped it again around herself, grimacing a bit at her stiffness and
the slight twinge from her ribs where the heavy branch had lain for
hours.  Pulling her heavy hair back, she headed back to the camp,
thinking they needed to have a party.  All they seemed to have done for
the past two weeks was survive...and some of it had been downright
harrowing.  Besides, it was her birthday on Saturday and she wanted to
celebrate with her friends.  They had flour and fruit...there were some
vanilla beans in a tree not far from camp, for flavour...she wondered
what they could substitute for baking powder to make a cake...she wasn't
much of a cook, but didn't really care if the final concoction was as
flat as a brick.  She had most of the wine left in her wineskin...enough
for everyone to have at least one glass.

When she arrived back at the campsite, she found Elaine and Llyra
waiting for her...they had used more of the linen from the bolt to
fashion her a new shift, having made it while she shivered and drifted
in a sort of haze all day yesterday.

"Hope you like it...it's not fancy...." Elaine said hesitantly.

"Like it?  It's wonderful!!!" Arianna laughed with delight...it was
perfect.  Then, she sobered a bit, as she looked at the two women and
she expressed what she felt for everyone there...even if words were
inadequate to express her the depth of her feeling for everything
everyone had done for her.  "Everyone has been so kind...I'm very
grateful...more than I can say."  Elaine blushed a bit at the praise as
Arianna headed back into the shelter of the trees to change.

She heard a distant rumble of thunder...and, coming out of the trees,
she thought she heard a low chuckle on the wind, which raised the
hackles on her neck and made her blood run cold.  Ares was still
around....and that couldn't be good.

Arianna
-----------------------------------
Caro yawned, even though she'd slept relatively well she was missing her
nice comfy bed and it was beginning to make her feel irritable. She took
a sneaky glance at Iolaus and sighed. If he could stay cheerful then she
should be able to as well. 'Make an effort!' she scolded herself as she
got up to try and find something useful to do with herself. 

Arianna was nearby, showing off her new shift to Elaine and Llyra, she
looked much better than the day before and Caro said as much. Arianna
was quick to share her idea for a party and Caro was thrilled, something
to get her mind off of her feelings of self-pity. It was also Caro's
father's birthday on Saturday, his 70th and she felt a pang that she
wouldn't be there to share it with him. But never mind, she could share
it with her friends here, at least he now knew that she was safe. With
the others having arrived safely back home.

The first thing to do was to check on their food stocks, without
alerting Falafel to the plan. They also decided to tell Iolaus about the
party, he'd love the idea and planning for it would give him something
to do. 

Caro grinned and offered to give Iolaus the good news, "You can't have
him all to yourself Arianna, you have to share!"

Caro found Skylark with Iolaus, she was persuading him to take another
of Owlie's miraculous tablets. He was looking a little bit drawn this
morning, but Skylark reassured Caro and a hovering Hercules that his leg
was just a bit stiff. Hercules left the three alone, knowing that Iolaus
was enjoying all the attention and wanting to check the perimeter once
more.

Iolaus loved the idea of a party and was full of ideas. Skylark looked a
little worried though,

"What if Ares turns up?"

Caro laughed, "Why of course he'll turn up! It's a party. I think we
should invite him!"

She'd only been joking but Iolaus didn't laugh, instead he put an arm
around her shoulder and smiled, "That is a very good idea Caro. We
should invite him. Herc! Hercules! Where is he? There's never a demigod
about when you need one. Herc!"

Hercules was amazed at Iolaus' idea, but he soon began to see his
friend's reasoning and he walked some distance from the camp before he
bellowed, "ARES!"

Caro
------------------------------
Bev awoke the next morning to damp bedding, damp hair, damp
drawers.....EVERYTHING DAMP!   In spite of it tho she could only think
of how good it was going to feel getting wet all over again but with a
bath this time.   She grimaced.  And a good soak might help with the
aches and pains for the unwanted activities of the day before.
She saw that Elaine and Llyra were already awake making ready to bestow
on Arianna the new shift they had made for her.  Remembering Arianna she
looked in the direction of the sleeping couple only to find Iolaus lying
there alone.  
She hurried over to where Elaine and Llyra stood and nonchalantly said,
"hey guys, you feel as water logged as I do?"  And followed it with a
concerned, "Where's Arianna?"
Her friends heard the concern in her voice evenso and assured her that
Arianna was awake and well and had gone to bath down in the river. 
"ah, a girl after my own heart," Bev said laughing.
Now Bev took a good look around.  The camp was in a shambles.  There
were branches and debris laying about everywhere and the shelter they
had all worked so hard to build was in need of repair as well.  The
strong winds from the storm the night before had blown away many of the
palm fronds that were the roof and Bev knew now why she was so damp when
she woke up.  Most of the damage was on the side she had slept on.  Boy,
was Caro in for a rude awakening too.  
The cook site was a mess too but Falafel was already on the move in dire
search for his cook pot.  Bev had to laugh to herself for as much as
that man had a way of growing on a person she still had to wonder about
him sometimes.  She would have to give him a hand with putting things
right again.  They group had their work cut out for them this day after
if they were to return the camp to it's comfy temp home they had all
worked so hard to make it.
But for the moment her thoughts returned her to the night before.  After
they had made certain that Iolaus and Arianna were safe and tucked in
they had all gathered around the campfire with Hercules.  Even after
such a tiring and horrific day they all seemed to be having trouble
sleeping.  They'd all derived a hushed laugh from Bev's, 'Rescues,
cannibals and storms, oh my!' but Hercules knew that the women were all
worried about the cannibals return and he made a vaiiant effort to allay
their fears. 
But Bev, always being the skeptic asked, "Hercules, do you think we
should move camp? I mean, they know where we are and as much as I love
hanging on your every word, what if you're wrong about the cannibals
moving on?"  
Hercules grinned at Bev's firtatious comment and after hearing the
chorus of agreements, he
assured the group that after giving Iolaus and Arianna a day or two of
rest they would make a final decision then about whether or not to move
their camp.  In the meantime, they would all keep an extra keen look
out.
Now Arianna's return to camp brought Bev out of her reverie and she was
now relieved to see with her won eyes that her friend was going to be
just fine. Bev admired Arianna for her strength. 
Just then Hercules and Jason returned from their watch and search of the
area.  They wanted to make certain no unwanted visitors were hiding out
in the bushes.  And they came bearing gifts.
"MANGOS." Bev crooned.  "I love Mangos.  Where did you find these?" 
Hercules and Jason exchanged looks and laughed at how Bev was fondling
the newly acquired food and explained that they had found them further
down the beach.
"The storm must have blown them out the trees last night", said Jason.
"Ya know, it's funny," Herc said scratching his head, "I don't remember
those Mango trees being there before."
"Me neither", agreed Bev, "but who cares?  We have another delicious
fruit to eat."
But Hercules stood looking off in the direction of those trees with a
puzzled look on his face and Jason took notice.  He too wonder why
nobody had seen those trees before now but he gave Hercules a friendly
pat on the back and said, "why look a gift horse in the mouth?  We were
just busy finding other stuff."  
Herc replied, "all of us?"
"Oh, give me the rest of those", Bev demanded. She called to the camp
cook, "Falafel, let's get busy.  The others are stirring now and I'm
starving."
She left the men to ponder all they wanted over the fruit bearing trees
seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

tbc
Bev
---------------------------------
"Hey that sounds like a great idea," Athena said after
Caro, Skylark and Iolaus told her about the party.

"I'm not a cook but i can make decorations.  Lets see
I can use the dental floss and thread different
colored flowers together and make Hawaiian Lays for
everyone.  I can search the beach for sea shells and
thread them together and make long garlands to hang
up.  How about wreaths of flowers for all the woman
heads and butiners(sp?)for the guys.  Between the
empty coconuts, tall flowers, conch shells and
driftwood I could make a center piece." Athena said in
one long endless sentence before she looked up and
realized she was being laughed at.

"What, what did I say, whats wrong" she asked

"Nothing," Iolaus said with a giggle.  "but I never
knew you had that much energy.  You didn't even
breath. And this is the most you have actually spoken
to me in one time.  And you actually smiled, a real
smile."

"Oh," Athena says as she ducks her head so no one sees
her blushing.  

"Hey its OK,"  Iolaus says.  "I like to see all my
girls smile and laugh.  Don't get shy on me again."

"Sorry, its just that I like making things, especially
crafts and for once I feel like I can be useful around
here."  Athena said

"Well, we think its a great idea,"Caro and Skylark
said.  

"Well, I'll go start collecting things and making
everything but, umm can someone tell me why we are
inviting Ares."

Athena
--------------------------------
Any other day, Margui would have welcomed the rain and the thunderstorms.
 But the day had been like no other day.  As she tried to settle down to
bed, she coudn't sleep.  She was exhausted, but the drip, drip, drip of
the rain next to her face kept her awake.  Finally, the exhaustion gave
way to sleep.

"Wake up sleepyhead,"  Autolycus said as he gently shook Margui.  Still
close to Morpheus' realm, Margui opened her eyes. Still bleary eyed, she
could only see a dark face hovered above her.  The talk about Ares had
naturally gotten Margui spooked, especially after she took such pleasure
in embarrassing the Big Bad God of War.

Springing to her defenses, she grabbed the male by his tunic and rolled
him on his back, so that now she was on the offensive.

"If you wanted a roll in the coconut hay,"  Autolycus smiled as the small
woman lay on top of him,  "all you had to do was ask."

Margui hit him in the chest and got up. "You scared me half to Hades..." 
then she added, "and on this island that's not exactly hard to do."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"  he said, "now lets talk about my problem.  "Skylark,
Caro  and Arianna are looking for some help in organizing a party.  I got
to get out of here before they recruit me to help."

"You know it won't hurt you to do a little menial work around here." 
Margui said looking at him critically.

"Uh huh?" Auto said as he eyed her back, "and if they find out you were
once a hostess, who do you think they're going to get to help."

"Oh, you're right.  I hated that job.  Why if I saw another hotel room."

"Hohoho,"  Autolycus laughed, "any other day I'd love to hear your sordid
little stories.  Let's say we get out of here for a while.

Autolycus grabbed her hand.

"What about Ares.  Besides, won't the others worry about us when we come
up missing."

"Naw, I told Jerkules that we were going to take the day watch.  Oh, by
the way, you better bring your umbrella just in case it storms again. 
Handy little devise there."

"Uh, huh," Margui answered as he grabbed the small woman and almost drug
her out.

As the proceeded into the woods they settled into quiet conversation
about the things that really frightened them.  "I hate spiders," 
Autloycus said, almost afraid to admit he had any fear other than getting
his handsome face marred by a fist fight.  

Margui nodded, understanding the fear factor very well.  "you know, small
spiders don't bother me, but you get those big ones, you know like
tarantula size,  and well I go nuts."

"Go nuts, eh?"  Ares said as he listened to Margui and the thief.  "This
ought to be entertaining," he thought as he remembered Autolycus playing
chicken to Discord's hen's pecking.  "Hen's pecking, henpecking..." Ares
laughed wickedly.  "I've got to find a way to pay that
little....AMAZON....back.  Oh, I have an idea, and it's a monumental idea
if I do say so myself."  His laugh would have echoed through the forest
if he didn't disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Do you hear that?"  Auto asked as he stopped Margui's forward moment.

She listened for a moment.  "A wild boar, maybe?"  she asked not sure. 
It appeared to be coming toward them based on the direction of the sound.
 The sound was beginning to become thunderous.  And then it came from
behind an escarpment.  

"What the..."  Autolycus exclaimed and then yelled, "Run, Margui.  Run
for your life!"

She turned around and started running for the encampment.  Autolycus was
fast on her heals as they tried to outrun the monster that had 2 times
the legs the two of them had, put together.

~~Margui~~
----------------------------------------------------------
 "What the..."  Autolycus exclaimed and then yelled,
> "Run, Margui.  Run for your life!"
> 
> She turned around and started running for the
> encampment.  Autolycus was fast on her heals as they
> tried to outrun the monster that had 2 times
> the legs the two of them had, put together.
 

"I need way more shells and flowers.  I'll leave this
load here and go out and get more."  Athena said to
her self as she emptied her bag.

"What is that noise." she said as she looked around

"OOO, Ummm, Hercules... HERcules...HERCULES..." Athena
screamed as she ran backwards pointing off into the
distance.

"Whats the matter Thena" Jason, Hercules and Iolaus
said at the same time.

"Breathe" Jason said 

"Look" and she pointed

TBC
Athena
------------------------------
Kat stretched lazily.  It felt so wonderful to be sleeping in a bed with
no worries or responsibilities.  After lying there drowsily for several
minutes the Amazon got out of bed and headed for the shower.  She stood
underneath the steaming water for a long time, enjoying the warmth and
feeling clean for the first time in days.  She got dressed in the outfit
that the resort had provided.  The brunette headed towards her sister's
room wondering if the blond was up yet.

CJ looked up from her FVC when she heard the tentative knock on her
door.  "Come in," she called.

"Hey sis," Kat said with a smile on her face. She walked over and
grabbed a handful of grapes off of the fruit platter sitting on the
table.

"What's up?" The blond asked.

"Not much.  I was on my way down to the massage room, and wondered if
you wanted to join me?" the green eyed Amazon replied.

"Sounds good to me," the blue eyed woman replied.

"Afterwards we can soak in the hottub or go and play on the beach," Kat
said with a smile.



"This is the life," the blond sighed as the half-dressed, tanned
muscular stud rubbed her tired and sore muscles.

"Oh yeah," the brunette agreed.  "Carlos could you rub my shoulders?  I
think they are still a little stiff."

"Yes ma'am.  Your wish is my command," the masseur answered.

"Don't give her any ideas," a familiar voice growled.

Both Kat and CJ looked up and saw the God of War standing there.  Since
neither of the masseurs seemed shocked or frightened, the Amazons knew
that he was only visible to them.

"So this is where you ran off to," Ares said with a smirk.  "Gotta admit
this place could grow on me."

"Whadda ya want?" Kat mumbled.

"Yeah, what she said," CJ whispered.

"Is it a crime to come and visit my favorite two Amazons?"

Neither woman answered though their scowls were answer enough.  The
masseurs took the expressions of disgust to mean that they had found a
particularly sore spot and continued to knead and massage the women.

"Don't you have other people to torment?" Kat grumbled.

"Well I could go back to the island, but the people there are much to
easy.  I enjoy a challenge."  Ares arched his brows at the Amazons as he
said that.  "Though I have to admit your sister and Autolycus were quite
fun to play with."

"If you hurt them..."

"Now, now, would I do any such thing? "

"In a heartbeat."

"What is their safety worth to you?"  The God of War said with a leer.

"Ares," both woman growled threateningly.

"You don't know what you're turning down.  We could have oh so much fun,
after all I'm tall, dark handsome.  I have a great job and I can STAY UP
all night."

Blue and green orbs rolled.

There was a knock on the door.  Once the message was delivered, Kat got
up from the table.

"A beach volleyball game is starting.  I'm going to see if I can join
in, if not at least I can watch those half-naked guys running around.
Catch you later sis," the brunette said.

Ares turned to watch the Amazon as she walked out the door, enjoying the
view immensely.  "So now it's just you and me," he remarked with a grin
to CJ.

Unfortunately for the God of War's ego, the blond had become so relaxed
from the massage that she had fallen asleep, murmuring, "Oh that feels
nice.  Over to the left, Juan."

Kat
-----------------------------------------
>>> "Look" and she pointed<<<

"Oh, for crying out loud," Drakkar muttered, then stooped to pick up an
egg-sized rock.  Throwing it as hard as she could, she smiled widely when
the rock connected solidly with the beast's head.

"OW!" it snarled, turning to face her.  "Can't a God have *any* fun
anymore?"  Abruptly, the beast reared up on its hind legs, and morphed into
human form.  Rubbing his head, the blond man glared at Drakkar.

"Loki, don't you have better things to do?" she asked, placing her hands on
her hips.  She returned the glare, then shook her head.  "This is a little
out of your way, isn't it?"

"More to the point, it's out of Thor's way," he countered.

"Think again.  He's already been here."

"He...what?"  Loki growled and threw his hands into the air.  "Everywhere I
go..."

"Yeah, we live to torment you."

"It would certainly seem so."  He rubbed his head once more, then shook a
finger at Drakkar.  "I thought I felt something familiar when I stumbled
across this island.  I have to say, I'm certainly surprised to see you
here."

"Likewise."

He watched her for a moment, then crossed his arms over his chest.  "Well?"

She looked up from the rock she'd been trying to kick loose.  "Well what?"

"Care to explain?"

"No."

"Argh!" he snarled.  "*Why* must you always be so infuriating?"

"I'm good at it.  Any other stupid questions, Maestro?"  She went back to
kicking at the rock.

"Oh, you are *so* lucky I..." he trailed off, clenching his hands into
fists.

"So lucky you're....what?" she asked sweetly, sashaying up to him and
arching an eyebrow.  "Hmm?"

"I warn you, don't make me angry," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Oh, now I'm scared," she replied, rolling her eyes.  She sighed heavily,
then narrowed her eyes at him.  "I am so tired of worrying about whether
someone's angry, or if I've done something wrong.  I don't care anymore,
Loki.  Your threats don't work anymore," she finished with a shrug.  "Go
find someone else to annoy, we're busy."

He glared at her once more, shook his finger at her in an unspoken threat,
then disappeared in a puff of pale blue smoke.

"Nevermind him," Drakkar told the others, "Loki's a weird one, that's for
sure, but he can't hurt you unless you give that to him.  He gets his power
from your fear.  Don't let him scare you, just tell him to take a hike.  He
goes away eventually."

~Drakkar
---------------------------------------
Falafel sighs with relief as he finds out that Arianna has not been 
injured by Ares. I just wish I could contribute something useful to 
the group.."Falafel sits on a rock facing the ocean absolutely 
miserable.

Skylark walks by with a hot brew of tea in her hand and notices the 
miserable look on Falafel's face. She hands the miserable man the tea 
and sits next to him. " Here Falafel drink this..it'll make you feel 
better.."

Falafel backs away from Skylark and looks in horror at the innocent 
looking cup of tea Skylark has just handed him "Oh no..I've heard 
about your teas..how you put people to sleep..oh no you don't.."

Skylark chuckles at Falafel's fear "don't worry..this brew is 
harmless..honest.." Seeing disbelief in Falafel's eyes, Skylark 
proceeds to take a sip from the tea.."See it's harmless.it's just 
gingko tea..it's supposed to rejuvenate you and make you feel 
energetic.."

Falafel sips the tea and is surprised by its tangy taste. "Skylark..I 
just want so much to thank the others for making my stay on this 
island bearable..I try hard to help out..but I feel so left out..in 
Greece..I am a cook..people buy my food..but ever since we've been 
marooned I haven't cooked one meal..I get the feeling people don't 
like my food..if only I had the dinars I would go back to cooking 
school.."

Skylark leans forward and confides in Falafel "You know Falafel, when 
Hercules was injured..we spent a lot of time talking..Hercules told 
me about Iolaus2.."

"Oh you mean that other Iolaus that Hercules saved from that 
alternate world with that mean Hercules?" Falafel babbles.

Skylark frowns as she tries to understand Falafel's 
babbles "Ah..yes..I think so..Iolaus2 is an amazing cook..this guy 
can really cook some waffles that really kill..but now Iolaus2 is a 
merman and the only way to contact him is through Aphrodite.."

As if on cue, Aphrodite appears in a sparkle of pink "Oh hey dudes 
and dudettes..I couldn't help overhearing your conversation..I can 
get Swirlycurly for you..no problemo..his cooking is just 
heavenly..tastes like ambrosia..just meet us at Mermaid's cove.."

Skylark protests Aphrodite's generosity "But wait this island is not 
safe..cannibals..Ares.."

Unfortunately, Aphrodite vanishes instantly. Both Skylark and Falafel 
are both left to stare at the spot Aphrodite was standing in a minute 
ago.

Falafel shakes his head sadly "It's too late..She's vanished!"

A second later, both Skylark and Falafel find themselves transported 
to Mermaid's cove on the far side of the island thankfully away from 
the cannibals..Dizzy and disoriented, both are surprised to see a 
blonde haired man with sparkling cobalt-blue eyes and a dazzling 
smile as Iolaus2 extends his hand to introduce himself "Hello, i'm 
Iolaus2..Dite told me about your need for a cooking teacher and I 
have to say I'm flattered! In my world, Falafel, it was you Falafel 
that taught me how to cook! Oh dear did that make sense?"

Falafel timidly asks Iolaus2 "Can you teach me how to make those 
wonderful waffles that Hercules loves to eat? I want to make a meal 
to celebrate Arianna's safe return from Ares and Iolaus' rescue from 
the cannibals.."

Jester pales as he hears the words 'cannibals' and 'Ares' in the same 
sentence. Jester looks frightened as he looks around to see if the 
cannibals or Ares were going to appear any second. Falafel notices 
Jester's fear "Don't worry Jester, Hercules and Iolaus are on 
guard..we will all be safe..so show me how to make the waffles!"

Skylark shakes her head in wonder as she notices the difference 
between the two Iolauses. Iolaus, Hercules' best friend is a seasoned 
warrior and fighter and had been known to foolishly stand up to Ares 
and the other gods while this Iolaus, sweet as he is, looks as if he 
wants to hide under a rock. 

Iolaus2 swallows his trepidation and fear for he doesn't want them to 
think of him as a coward so he bravely clears his throat avoiding the 
ruge to hide "Sure, Falafel, I'll stay and teach you how to make 
waffles so that everyone will like you.."

Skylark then noticed the basic similarity between the two 
Iolauses..the ability to put his safety at risk to help 
others..Iolaus2 knows that cannibals and Ares are about and yet he 
risks his safety to help Falafel..yes definitely both Iolauses share 
the same generous heart. In Skylark's book, both Iolauses are heroes.

"Okay Falafel, bring me your cooking pot..I'll show you.." Iolaus2 
follows Falafel back to camp to where the makeshift kitchen is set up.

Several hours later at Athena's party...

Iolaus asks for seconds "Falafel, these waffles are great..what's 
your recipe?"

Hercules stuffs his mouth with more waffles and for once outeats 
Iolaus "I swear these waffles taste like those Iolaus2 used to make" 
Hercules smacks his lips together at that delicious memory.."That 
Iolaus2 is a great cook..and inventor!"

Arianna, the guest of honor, gets served the largest waffle of all. 
Skylark, Llyra, Elaine, Caro, Bev and the others gather around 
Arianna as she blows the candle off the waffle cake. Elaine 
encourages "Oh come on Arianna..blow out the candles and make a 
wish!" Arianna looks across the cake to the other guest of honor, 
Iolaus who still has his arm in a splint and both Arianna and Iolaus 
blow out the candles at the same time. Arianna's blows out the candle 
and her eyes water with tears as she realizes how quickly these 
survivors have become like family to her..

Dite appears to Skylark and tells her "Jester's home safe and 
sound...so how's Falafel doing?"

"Dite..thanks for everything..Falafel is really feeling good about 
himself.." Skylark gives the surprised flighty goddess a warm 
grateful hug.

"Thanks little healer..hey but what's a goddess of love to do but to 
spread a little love.." Aphrodite winks and then waves and disappears 
in a sparkle of pink.

The other Amazons egg Falafel on all begging for his secret 
recipe..for the time being..all the survivors forget about the 
dangers of the island..and enjoys Falafel's cooking for once.

Ares looks down at this 'touching' scene with disgust. I hate it when 
my sister interferes with my plan..or when Hercules wins..well maybe 
this time baby brother..but I'm immortal and I've got all the time in 
the world to play!"

--Skylark---

Do you think anyone was able to worm the secret recipe out of Falafel?

TBC

Skylark
----------------------------
After the excitement that Loki's sudden appearence had caused died down,
the whole camp set to tidying up and getting ready for the party. There
had been quite a lot of damage to their shelter and branches torn from
the trees in the storm were strewn everywhere.

Taking a break from helping to rebuild the shelter Caro joined Iolaus as
he watched the work. He sighed as she eased her sore body onto the
ground beside him.

"It's driving me crazy, just sitting here." 

"Maybe, but we're all happier knowing that you're safe and sound and not
hurting yourself - anyhow, it's good incentive to work knowing that we
can keep you company for a bit on our breaks!"

Iolaus giggled and winked. "So many beautiful women, so little of me to
go around. How are you doing now? You looked a bit down this morning."

Caro was surprised that Iolaus had noticed and touched at his concern. 

"Putting on the brave face, you know. I'm not really much of an
outdoorsy type, it's a bit late to be starting now. I'm fine, I was just
feeling a bit sorry for myself. Stupid huh?"

Iolaus shook his head, "No, of course not. It's been a difficult few
days for all of us, that's gonna catch up with a person. I'm so proud of
all of you, you've been fantastic. Come here."

Caro willingly entered into the hug Iolaus offered her, he really was
something else. Sniffling a little she finally allowed him to push her
away and remembered the question she'd been meaning to ask.

"Iolaus, why did you say it was a good idea to invite Ares?"

"You know how he is with Herc. All that sibling rivalry. Well, what were
you like when you were a kid and your brother was having a party or
doing something really cool and he didn't invite you?"

Caro smiled ruefully, "I was a brat. And Ares ... you think he'd make
trouble because he wasn't invited?"

"Yeah. I also thought that he might accept and at least for a while he'd
be where Herc could keep him reigned in." Iolaus sighed, "It was worth a
try. Now I suppose he's off sulking somewhere and planning to create
havoc tomorrow."

"I hope not, it would be awful for Arianna."

"We won't let him ruin the party - now has anyone thought about a
present for the birthday girl?"

"Zeus! No! What'll we do? We've got to do something!"

Iolaus smiled, he was very very good at thinking up birthday surprises,
he'd come up with something.

Caro
-----------------------------
I'm supposed to be on watch, and I will be in just a few moments.  It's just
that I can't stop watching the evening light show.  Long jagged lines of
lightening flash in the western sky, highlighting layers of fire red and
deep orange covered by patches of blue so dark in some places the color is
almost black.  The tropical storm has moved on leaving behind a slightly
brisk wind and a lot of rearranging going on in camp.

"Okay woman, you're procrastinated enough, get a move on."  The words said
aloud give me the push I need.  As I past camp heading further up the beach,
I hear a few "be careful," and "goodnight," and I return the sentiments
satisfied that I have earned the givers confidence in my abilities.  If
there is one thing you can say about our stay here, it's that it hasn't been
boring and that a group of relative strangers have become a cohesive and
effective group of friends. Still I have a hard time believing that we've
survived several visits from Ares, two kidnappings, the safe arrive of the
rescue parties, one attack on camp and the untimely, but safe departure of
five from our band.

Looking back at the shadows moving around in camp, I remember that there
have been gratifying moments as well.   The free giving of one to another,
growth through shared experiences and the soothing touch of a gentle hand.
I now know that no matter where we all end up after this is over, there will
be faces with delightful smiles to remember.

Elaine
----------------------------

Kleandra strolled slowly along the shore on her way back to the camp. Sheīd
spent half the day at the beach, scouting and wandering, trying to come to
terms with what had happened lately.
She knew that was selfish in a way - there was still a lot of work to be
done back at the camp to restore what the storm had destroyed last night,
but after all these days on this island she just needed some time alone,
some peace and quiet.
She missed her friends though she had to admit that the thought of them
being back home and in safety had a comforting touch to it. They made it and
at least her friends and family would know now that she was still alive and
kicking even if stuck on an island and out of the game for the moment. The
blonde woman let her thoughts drift to the past couple of days. Gods, she
had felt so relieved when they had found Arianna alive and in one
piece...well, more or less. Even the thought that things could have been
worse still made her shiver.
She stopped for a moment watching the sunlight that seemed to dance across
the now calm sea and a little smile appeared on her face. Amazing, just how
much the beauty of nature can sooth oneīs spirit.
Abruptly, she turned around and jogged back to the camp only to be greated
by a hustle and bustle that made her feel dizzy almost instantly. Confused,
she watched Athena, Skylark, Mary E and Bev working on what looked
like....decorations? Let alone Caro and Arianna who wore a smile that
everything else paled into insignificance beside it.
Kleandra hesitatingly took a step forward, disbelieve and confusion still
present on her features.

"Hi there! Where have ya been?"

Kleandra turned around and eased herself to the ground next to Iolaus.

"Obviously away for too long. Did I miss something? Whatīs going on?"
"Ohhhh.....only a little party tonight to celebrate the birthday of Caroīs
father and Ariannaīs safe return."
All excited, she jumped to her feet.
"Thatīs fan-tas-tic! After all that happened lately a party surely will lift
everybodyīs spirit!
Iolaus nodded in agreement.
"Yep, thereīs only one catch to it....weīve invited Ares, too."
As fast as anticipation had shown on her faced it vanished and she sank back
to the ground.
"You....what?", she groaned. "Why would anyone have the God of War as a
special guest at a party? This screams for trouble."
"Naw, we donīt think so.", and he explained to her why they did what they
did.
Kleandra had to admit that it made sense in a way. She just hoped that it
wouldnīt come all backwards on them.
"Ohhh, what the heck....a party is a party. Letīs see if I can help."
With that she stood up from the ground and headed for Caro, Bev, Ariana and
some of the otherīs to help prepare a hopefully peaceful feast.

Kleandra
----------------------------
Llyra swung through the brush and whistled happily.  The whole idea of 
a party had lifted everyone's spirits and she was no exception.  There 
would be no music for the party, as no one had rescued any musical 
instruments and most of the siblings could barely carry a tune in a 
bucket.  But there would be cake of sorts, and Llyra had discovered 
that some of the fruit kept in makeshift crocks to keep the bugs out 
had actually fermented.  Along with Athena's decorations, this was 
going to be some party. 

Llyra had volunteered to help the younger bard to find some pretty 
shells and flowers for the decorations.  It had only taken a moment 
for them to decide to split up, while remaining in shouting distance, 
and find more and varied elements for the decor.  Athena was excited 
about just how she would pull together the beautiful tropical flowers, 
sea shells and driftwood to make something aesthetically pleasing.  
Llyra, while eager to be part of the design process, was also 
determined to accomplish another, more urgent task.

As soon as she felt that Athena could no longer hear her speak, Llyra 
called out softly.

"Ares?  Where are you?  Come out!"

"Whadaya want?" came the gruff reply, followed by the customary flash 
of fire that heralded the war god's arrival.

"I want to know what the heck you think you're doing," Llyra demanded, 
fists on her hips.

"Just answering your call, Sweetie," he replied innocently.  "Just 
like I promised."

"Don't give me that crap, Ares, you know what I mean.  I mean 
Arianna."

"Oh.  That."

"Yeah, that.  You could have killed her with that tree!"

"Hey, you know me better than that," Ares said indignantly.  "I only 
bruised her a little, she'll live.  Besides, is it my fault you all 
thought she'd been kidnaped?  If you'd found her right away, nobody 
would have got hurt.  So don't give me any grief over that one."

"You can't be serious!" Llyra gasped incredulously.  "Like it's our 
fault that you dropped the tree on Arianna!"

"Of course not!" he snorted.  How could the woman be so dense?  "But 
if it hadn't been for me, the real baddy would have had her in the 
cook pot by now and then where would she be?  I scared him away with 
my little act, him and his whole crew and his little dog."

Llyra sighed in frustration.  In the war god's mind, that made 
everything all right, and nothing she said would ever change his mind. 
 However, she needed him to see that he had really gone over the line 
this time.

"How could you do that to Arianna?" she demanded.  "She's never done 
anything to you."

"Hey, I'm the bad guy, remember?" he said with a shrug.  "It's what I 
do."

"Okay, conceded, you're the Bad Guy," she said.  "You're evil, nasty, 
and cruel, not to mention bad to the bone.  But you've never been 
petty and mean, Ares.  That's what's wrong with what you did.  You 
were just plain mean!"

"What? You wanted me to really hurt her bad?" he shouted, growing 
angry in his turn.  "I can do that, too!  Be thankful it was only a 
few bruises!"

Llyra had heard enough.  Without thinking, she balled up one fist, 
pulled her arm back and hit Ares square in the chin with all the force 
she could muster.  

The big man staggered back a few feet, rubbing his jaw.  When he 
regained his balance, he looked at the woman with a glint in his eye 
that could have boded ill, but really meant that he was impressed by 
her spunk and temerity.

"Nice hit," he told her.  "I wouldn't try that again, though.  I might 
take it the wrong way."

"I DON'T CARE!" she screamed at him.  "Take it any way you want!  
You're nothing but a petty, mean minded coward!"

Ares almost laughed, but not quite.  He actually liked Llyra and 
didn't want to alienate her.  They had always got on fairly well, so 
he swallowed his laugh and tried to make peace.

"Take it easy, Sweetie," he began.  Llyra took a more aggressive 
stance, ready to deck him again.  "Ooookaay.  Bad move on my part.  
All right, I was a bad boy.  I'm sorry that Arianna got hurt.  I 
really didn't mean for her to be under that tree for more than an hour 
or so.  Truly, Llyra, I'm sorry.  Now, how can I make it up to her?"

Llyra eyed the god sceptically.  He was the most unpredictable 
character she'd ever met; unbelievably cruel one minute, then 
unexpectedly kind the next.  She knew that Ares secretly protected a 
Fur-B in his main temple, and that made him a basically okay person.  
But he did have a tendency to mess people up, both physically and 
mentally, when he was bored.  On the other hand, he had offered to 
train her eldest daughter as a fighter, and ensure her safety until 
she came of age.  This could be one of the times when he sincerely 
wanted to make amends.

"You really want to make it up to Arianna?" she asked.

"Sure, what do you want me to do?"

"Weeeell, it's her birthday and we're having a party," Llyra started, 
then stopped as she noticed the scowl on Ares' face.  "What?  You were 
invited, you know."

"Yeah," he snorted.  "Like you people want me there."

"Yes we do!" Llyra assured him.  "Come on, Ares.  Why not partake of 
the partay?  It's gonna be a blast, even if we don't have any music."

"I could always supply that," he mused.  "How about some Garth Brooks? 
 Or, maybe some Reba MacIntyre?"

"Oh, very funny," Llyra replied dryly, remembering her own birthday 
torture only too well.  "We'll do fine without the music, thankyou 
very much, but you're still invited.  What do you say?"

Ares mulled the idea over for a moment.  He wanted to get back at 
Margui, certainly, for the way she had tricked and humiliated him, but 
he doubted that he'd get a chance at a party with all those people, 
especially Hercules and Llyra watching him like hawks.  Besides, even 
though he liked a good party, he could not see himself actually 
hobnobbing and making nice with both his half brother and that 
annoying little runt he hung around with.

Using Loki had turned out to be a bust.  That guy could learn a thing 
or two about subtlety and style.  Next time, Ares would get in touch 
with Discord and see what sort of mischief she could come up with.  
Meanwhile, he wanted to get back in Llyra's good graces.  There was no 
way she would allow Astride to apprentice to him if he could not prove 
himself trustworthy at least to her.

"I don't think I'll come to the party," he said carefully.  "But 
thanks for asking.  I may show up later with a little gifty for the 
birthday girl, but nothing much more."

Llyra shrugged.  "Well, just so that you know you're invited.  And 
leave us alone for a while, huh?  We just want to get home in one 
piece and you're not making it any easier."

"Don't sweat the small stuff," Ares said with a chuckle.  "You guys 
beat those cannibals so bad that they've taken off to the sea to get 
away from you all.  You won't have to worry about them any more."

"Imagine my relief!" Llyra laughed.  "Mind if I stay sceptical of any 
report from you?"

"Have it your way," Ares shrugged again.  "I'll show up later with a 
surprise.  A nice one!  I promise!  Cross my heart and hope to - well, 
hope to get upset.  How's that?"

"Hmmm.  You don't have a heart and you never keep your promises.  But 
I'll trust you on this one, if only because you want Streedy to train 
with you."

"Whatever.  I'm outa here."  The war god made to leave.

"Ares!  Wait!" Llyra called him back.

"What now?" he demanded, exasperated.  

"Where did those mangoes come from?" she asked.  "Did you put that 
tree there?"

"What mangoes?  What are you talking about?" Ares asked pettishly.  
"Have you been out in the sun too long?  You want to know about fruit, 
ask Demeter.  You want to throw fruit, then you're talking my 
language.  Either way, I've got stuff to do before this party thing.  
Later."  With that, he disappeared in a fire ball.

Llyra watched the place where he had stood for a moment or two before 
she shook herself and went back to searching for party decorations.  
At least they would remain unmolested by Ares until after the party, 
and he would bring something special along with him.

"I hope it's not party snacks,"she thought.  "All he ever brings is 
pretzels and dip.  Boring."

Llyra. 
--------------------------
This story is a continuation of Falafel the forgotten hero..

"You know Skylark..I am now the life of the party..everyone loves my 
waffles!" Falafel remarked.

"Last night's celebration was to celebrate Arianna's and Iolaus' safe 
return..this time we are going to have a birthday party for them." 
Skylark whispered. "And oh yeah..Ares is invited to this shindig..he 
promises to behave."

"Hercules says he saw Ares poking around the waffles..Hercules says 
that Ares showed up invisibly and ate some of my waffles and was very 
pleased..can you imagine that Skylark..I can cook well enough to 
please the Gods.."

"Well I hope Athena doesn't mind but I've invited Jester and 
Nautica..after all if it hadn't been for Jester..we wouldn't be 
eating these delicious waffles!"

"Everyone has been begging me for the recipe..I promised Jester I 
wouldn't tell..he says it's a family recipe..if Jester is coming to 
the party tonight well..he can tell everyone the recipe himself.."

Arianna waltzes by "I think all these parties are good for the morale 
of the group after all we've been 
through..storms..cannibals..shipwreck..Ares injuring Hercules"

"Don't worry Arianna..Ares will behave..we've invited him to the 
party..and he loves Falafel's waffles to boot!"

Arianna chuckles at that "I guess Ares and Hercules have something in 
common besides a father.."

"And what's that?" Skylark asks.

"They both love Falafel's waffles!" Arianna laughs at her own joke.

Falafel pipes in "Not only will I be making my world-famous 
waffles..but Jester was the one who taught me how to make these 
delicious waffles and HE will be here tonight!"

Skylark exclaims "I can't wait to see Jester again..he's such a 
delightful man..maybe he can cook his other concoctions too!"

In a blue flash of light, Ares arrives early for the party and he 
bellows "Okay..where's Falafel's waffles..I'm HUNGRY..FEED ME NOW!"

Skylark
------------------------
Amazing decorations hung from the trees...seashells strung onto vines
crisscrossed the campsite above everyone's heads, creating a sweet
scented canopy.  Flower leis strung with dental floss draped over shrubs
and hung around everyone's neck.  Athena, Bev and Caro had worked
miracles in transforming what had been a rain and windswept muddy
disaster zone, into a festive environment.   Athena had also made a
truly amazing centre piece out of driftwood, an almost ethereal creation
strung with the brilliant scarlet hibiscus blooms, dusted with tiny
white baby's breath, and glittering with the opalescent sea shells
glittering in the fire light.

The castaways had lit a tremendous bonfire (with the help of Hercules'
gauntlets), which scattered the shadows and gave a festive warm glow to
the campsite.  Everyone had worked all day to clean up after the storm,
moving fallen limbs to form benches...even stacking some to make a table
of sorts.  The blown down leaves and palms had been woven into their
shelter, to make it even more secure than it had been before.

The party had begun with an amazing meal of boiled crab (courtesy of
Jason), roasted pheasant and grouse (courtesy of Quietwolf's hunting
skills), grilled tubers, fruit of every conceivable kind, including the
mysterious mangoes, bananas, apples, pineapples, oranges and coconuts.

The biggest hit though, were the waffles, prepared again by
Falafal...Hercules and Ares vied for the last of them...neither brother
seemed able to get enough of the delicious concoctions!

Nautica arrived with her Iolaus, courtesy of Skylark's invitation...and
to everyone's delight, Aphrodite showed up with them!

'Dite sauntered over to Quietwolf, "Hey, Sis, how's the Great Quietwolf,
Goddess of the Isle?  Scared any poor cannibals lately?"

Quietwolf snickered, before responding, "That was great...I really
enjoyed being Goddess for a Day...maybe we could do it again sometime!"
Quietwolf cast a surrepticious glance at Iolaus, thinking the best part
had been having him bow to her!

'Dite caught the look, and giggled, vastly amused, "Yeah...it's nice to
have Sweetcheeks enthralled...he doesn't bow to many, believe me!"

Arianna had poured out the good Nemean wine to everyone during
dinner...pottery mugs and half shell coconuts might not have the finesse
of fine crystal, but no one minded.  After dinner, Skylark poured some
of the fermented spirits she and a couple of others had mixed with fruit
juices to make a delectable beverage.  Spirits were high, and laughter
echoed through the night.  It felt good to party, felt good to not be
afraid...good to be with friends, celebrating.

Jason had fashioned some improvised drums out of logs, and now he
started an atavistic beat.  Aphrodite, deciding something was missing,
waved a casual hand, and suddenly the sound of the wind in the trees
became a rythmic, hypnotic melody, which seemed to increase in tempo as
Jason beat more enthusiastically on the drums.

Amazons, catching the rhythm of the music, danced like nymphs around the
fire.  Ares smiled...for once with genuine enjoyment, rather than with
casual contempt...and then he moved to cut Llyra from the group, to
dance with her, showing a sinuous grace as he twirled and dipped her,
pulling her tightly against him, as they moved to the music.

MaryE joined Jason on the drums, adding her own mysterious rhythms,
while Nautica and her Iolaus joined the dancers...Skylark had pulled
Falafal into the dance, to his evident thrilled amazement and
enjoyment.  Autolycus, who had arrived back with Margui just before
dinner, twirled her into the dance, while Hercules swept a surprised
Allie off her feet, and whirled her, moving with the beat and the
flicker of the flames.  Caro took Jason's drumsticks from him and drew
him into the dance, while Elaine, Athena and Kleandra added to the
swirling bodies and beat with stamping feet and clapping hands, the
firelight streaming around them.  Drakkar joined MaryE on the drums,
while Aphrodite and Quietwolf continued to exchange goddess secrets,
wide smiles on their faces.  'Dite had Quietwolf wave her hands high
into the air, causing shooting lights to flame into the sky, dancing
with the rhythms, sparkling in the night like shooting stars.

Arianna wandered over to sit down beside Iolaus, who was considerably
frustrated at not being able to join the dance.  He clapped and
whistled, his toes tapping in sync with the music.  Unfortunately, while
his leg was healing well, it still wasn't up to the demands of spirited
dance.

Arianna smiled widely as she gazed at him...it seemed the man was
incapable of stillness, unless he was hunting...or fishing...or
sleeping.  He caught her smile, and grinned back.  "How's the birthday
girl?" he asked.

"Having the time of her life!" Arianna responded with a grin, her eyes
sparkling in the light of the fire.

Iolaus couldn't help noticing the bruise and black eye, but he also
noticed that she seemed uncaring of the blemishes...and he thought her
beautiful.  He reached over to lightly touch the bruise on her temple.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked softly.

Arianna shook her head, "It's fine...I'm fine...thanks to you,
especially.  You were very kind to keep me warm and awake...and then to
let me feel safe enough to sleep.  I'm grateful."  Then she laughed,
lightening the mood, "And, when I got to the river this morning, I
discovered that it must have been like holding a mudlark!"

Iolaus chuckled as he shook his head, catching her eyes with his own.
"No...I'd never mistake you for a mudlark, trust me!"

Arianna broke her gaze from his eyes, unsettled by the look she saw
there.  Gazing back at the dancers, her face alight with joy, she
murmured, "This is the most memorable birthday I will ever have!  We've
survived shipwreck, cannibals and a hurricane, kidnappings, attacks and
injuries...this is the most amazing group of people...able to more than
survive, able to conquer what comes...able to celebrate the joy of
living!  I'm glad I've been part of it all....I'll never, ever forget
any of this...or any of the people who shared it all."

Iolaus smiled with her as he watched the twirling dancers.
"Yeah...everyone's been more than amazing...and tomorrow, Charon will be
back, and more of you will be able to go home...."

"More of 'us'?" Arianna responded, "What about you...you should head
back to the mainland to make sure your leg is alright."

"Aw, it's fine...Herc, Jason and I will stay until everyone can get
home...and we'll keep Autolycus and Falafal with us, just in case any of
the cannibals decide to come back...or if the others decide to show
themselves...."

"Others?"

"Yeah...the ones who put the supplies in the cave, and have been
providing fully laden, mature fruit trees within reach...there's someone
else on this island, we just don't know who yet.  So far, they seem
friendly enough...but, it never hurts to be careful."

"Hmmm," mused Arianna, then threw a teasing grin at him, "you've never
seemed the careful sort, Iolaus...."

He just snorted at that, then turned back to her, "So, are you anxious
to get off the island...will you leave with Charon tomorrow?"

Arianna shrugged as she turned back to the dancers.  "I guess it will
all depend on who chooses the short sticks.  It's strange," she said
softly, casting a sideways glance at him, "I'm not in all that big a
rush to go back...I guess whatever happens is in the hands of the
Fates."

Iolaus smiled softly, and taking her hand, he murmured, "Happy Birthday,
Arianna."

She flashed him a quick smile, then turned back to watch the
others...but, she didn't pull her hand away.  "Thanks, Iolaus," she
murmured back, "for everything."

*********

Arianna
------------------------

Although Loki was nowhere to be seen, Drakkar knew from experience he wasn't
actually gone.  It usually took a few more rocks to accomplish *that*. She
slid the palm of one hand over her long, ash blond curls to smooth them back
from her face, and continued walking.

She really didn't think he was any threat to anyone, it just wasn't his
style.  No, he got his kicks from scaring people, not hurting them.  Still,
why had he shown up *here*?  He'd been surprised to find her here, so he
obviously hadn't come looking for her.  Something...or some*one* had sent him
here.

Glancing up at the sun, Drakkar estimated she'd been out walking now for the
better part of an hour.  Her excuse had been that she wanted to scout the
area for any sign of trouble, since she wasn't so handy at party
decorations, but the truth of it was, she felt a little like an extra foot.
Like she was just in the way.  With a heavy sigh, she crawled atop a large,
flat rock and lay down on her back, crossing her legs at the ankles.

Using her clasped hands as a pillow, she gazed up at the lazy clouds
drifting by, lulled by the songs of the insects and native birds of the
island.  It was truly peaceful out here, and now alone, she didn't have to
pretend, didn't have to compete, didn't have to worry...she could just be.

She closed her eyes, and sighed again.  Nearby, there was a slight rustling
in the underbrush, as something moved toward her.  She held her breath,
trying to discern the distance, and judge what or who was making the noise.
Her guess was a deer, or other such sized animal, because of the ka-swish
ka-swish of the footfalls, a sound that indicated the creature was traveling
on four legs instead of two.

Lying perfectly still, she listened as it drew closer, until the animal was
right next to the rock on which she was lying.  She heard a soft snuffling
sound, then the scratching of nails against the stone, followed by a light
rush of air as the creature leapt up onto the rock and over her.  Opening
her eyes with a start, she found herself staring into the pale yellow eyes
of a large black wolf who greeted her with a soft "wuff."

*Loki* she thought with relief.  Regardless of her treatment of him earlier,
a part of her had still been glad to see him again, as she was now.

"Hey," she said softly, then reached over and ruffled the fur of the side of
Loki's neck.  When she moved her hand away, he shifted back into human form,
and lay down next to her, mimicking her position.

"Lost?" he asked with a grin.

"In a manner of speaking," she replied, staring up at the clouds.  "What's
your excuse, Furball?"

"Uh, business."

"Ares?"

He turned his head and looked over at her, squinting in the bright sunlight.
"Figures you'd know who *he* was."

"Am I to assume that's a 'yes', then?"

"Would you believe me if I denied it?"

Drakkar chuckled lightly.  "No."

"I won't bother then."  He straightened his neck once more, staring up into
the sky.  "So, what are we looking for so intently up there?"

"Meaning of life."

Now it was Loki's turn to chuckle.  "Easy one, you're all here simply for
entertainment value."

"What?"

"Yeah, you're toys for the Gods," he replied, then looked over at her again.
"Don't tell me you haven't figured that out yet."

"You're such a jerk, Loki."  Despite her words, her tone held no malice, and
she looked over at him with a light smile.

"At least you're smiling when you say that."  Rolling onto his side to face
her, he propped himself up on his elbow and plucked a dried leaf from her
hair.  "Subject change...what are you doing here?"

"Lost."

He nodded and plucked another leaf from her hair.  "I meant seriously."

"Seriously.  We're shipwrecked here."

"Okay, that answers to the immediate circumstances," he said, "but what
about...?"

"You know why," she interrupted.

"No, I *think* I know why," he corrected.  "Never assume, isn't that what
you're always telling me?"

"It just makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'," she finished in reply.

"That's right," he agreed, "now, why *did* you leave?"

"The camp?" she asked evasively.  "I just needed some 'alone' time."

"Okay, fine, I get the hint," he said with a sigh of resignation, then sat
up.  "Drex? You okay?  I mean...you know..."

"Yeah, I'm fine.  You should know better than anyone that I get this way
sometimes."

Loki watched her for a moment, his brow furrowed, then asked cautiously,
"Why?"

Drakkar simply shrugged, then began picking at her ring.  "I...I don't know,"
she answered finally, "I guess I just never feel like I fit in....anywhere."

"Did they say something to you?  Do something...?" he asked, a hint of anger
creeping into his voice as he gestured with a jerk of his head towards the
campsite.

"Oh, no...no, they've all been very nice," she answered quickly, sitting up.
"It's not them at all, Loki."

"Well, then...why wouldn't you fit in?"

"I guess I never really have."

"You did in Valhalla," he objected, "you were the only one who didn't think
so.  Believe me."

"Believe 'Loki the Trickster?" she teased.

"You know, I just don't get it, Drex, why would you want to leave that all
behind?"

She shrugged again and looked away from him.  "Grass is always greener, I
guess."

"You could come back," he said gently.

"Why?" she asked with a soft laugh, "so I can put up with you?"

Loki ignored her teasing, and leaned forward, forcing her gaze back to his
face.  "Yeah," he answered.

Despite trying not to cry, Drakkar felt her eyes sting, and her vision
blurred as the tears welled up.  "Why would you or Odin, or any of the rest
of them want me back?"

Loki looked honestly confused by her question.  "Why are you so down on
yourself?" he asked softly.  "Why do you shut everyone out?"

She'd often wondered that same thing herself, wondered why she found it so
hard to reach out to people, or reach back when they extended a hand in
friendship.

"Talk to me, Drex," he prodded.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Well..."

"You're not supposed to be the nice one," she continued, realizing she was
using the old 'change the subject' tack to avoid his question, but finding
the habit hard to break.  "Besides, I hit you with a rock."

"I deserved it," he admitted.  "But *your* trick didn't work, I didn't
forget what I'd asked you.  Tell me, why are you so afraid to trust people?"

"I'm so tired of being alone, Loki," she said, feeling on the verge of
tears.  It had taken her nearly thirty years to realize why, to discover
what was behind her depression, her loneliness.  "If this is what my life is
supposed to be like, I don't want it.  This isn't what I ordered," she
quipped dryly.

"Come here," he whispered, pulling her into his arms.  "I think you *need*
to talk, you need to hear yourself say these things more than I need to hear
you say them."

Drakkar finally gave into her tears and let them flow.  For several moments,
she just stayed there, leaning into Loki's embrace and sobbing as he gently
stroked her hair.  Eventually, she felt less of the need to cry, and more of
the need to talk.  "I want so badly to be a part of a group, part of their
world..."

"Why won't you let yourself?" he asked softly.

It took her a few minutes to find the strength to admit it aloud, but
finally she answered, "I'm afraid they'll hurt me."

"How?"

"They'll reject me.  I'll do or say something stupid, and they'll laugh at
me, and ..."

He allowed her a moment, then gently pushed her to continue.  "And what?"

"And they won't want to be my friends anymore...then I'll just be alone again
anyway," she finished, wiping her eye with the side of her hand, struggling
to regain her composure.  "I know, it's stupid..."

"It isn't stupid if it hurts you this much," he assured her.

"Oh, I do it to myself," she admitted.  "I take the most mundane thing or
comment and warp it in my own mind to mean that someone doesn't like me, or
that someone is angry with me...I'm sure people get mad just putting up with
this garbage."

"If they really are your friends, Drex, they won't get mad at you," he said,
then hooked her chin with his finger and turned her face to him, "or reject
you.  You're a good person, I wish you could see that in yourself."

She looked at him for a moment, then sighed raggedly.  "Yeah, I wish I could
too."

"Try," he urged, then grinned broadly.  In a high-pitched voice, talking
from the back of his throat he added, "No.  No try.  DO.  Then, happy, shall
you be"

She smiled at him, shaking her head slightly.  "I should get back to camp,
they're having a birthday party for Arianna."

"I think she'd be very disappointed if you weren't there," he agreed, then
slid off the rock.  "Just reach out to them, Drex, they won't bite you."
With a wink he added, "that's *my* job, remember?"

"Loki?"

"Hmm?"

"Wanna come with me?"

"To the party?"  He screwed up his face, as if the thought were an utterly
distasteful one.

"Sure."

He shook his head slightly.  "After this morning?  They wouldn't want me
there."

"They invited Ares, why not you?"

"Ares?  You're kidding."

Drakkar slid off the rock as well, and brushed the dust from her backside.
"Kidding's your job, remember?"

"Wow."

"What?"

"They invited Ares," he repeated.

"Will you come with me?" she asked again.

He shook his head.  "I have a better idea," he replied.  "How about *you*
come with *me*?"

He walked up to her and grabbed her roughly in a bear hug.  She blinked, and
before she could ask what in Hades he was up to, found herself in the
campsite, with Loki's arms still wrapped around her.  "This is our stop," he
remarked.

~Drakkar
----------------------------
Bev had gone into the shelter for more of the fermented fruit juice, and
was topping up mugs and coconut halfshells...and then she couldn't
resist the music any longer, swaying and stamping with the joyous beat,
she moved into the group dancing around the fire.

Loki, having come to party, rather than stand and watch Drakkar drum,
emulated Caro, taking the sticks from her hands, leading her into the
dance.  As he pulled her close, he murmured into her ear, "By the way,
has anyone told you this life must agree with you?  I've never seen you
looking lovelier...."

Drakkar blushed, pleased with the compliment.  Laughing, she joined into
the spirit of the dance.

Allie relieved MaryE on the drums, allowing her to be swept into the
circle of dance in Hercules' arms.  Autolycus danced with Kleandra,
while Iolaus2 reached for Bev.

The island echoed with music and laughter, everyone captured by the
happiness of the moment, the fun of the party...the exhilaration of
celebration.

Arianna
------------------------------
Well guys since the game goddesses have not yet voted on who to carry 
back on that Charon boat I figure I'm still alive for the next few 
hours anyway so here's my next post. I just continued my last post of 
Falafel's waffles.

Ares rubs his stomach now full of waffles. Ares looks at Falafel and 
Jester and comments "Excellent waffles guys! Promise I'll be out of 
your hair for a while..but then when I get bored..you never know!" 
And with a mischevious evil laughter Ares disappears in a flash of 
blue.

"Wow..two parties in a row for me..first for my rescue and now for my 
birthday..a girl can get real spoiled with all this attention!" 
Arianna laughs.

"Well I'll say..they're celebrating my birthday too! It's usually 
Hercules who gets all the parties..but here on the island I guess I'm 
the king!" Iolaus adds.

Hercules looks fondly at his best friend and says "Of all the people 
I know, Iolaus..and you Arianna..you both deserve the honor..and 
Happy birthday to you both!" Hercules gives them both a toast.

Already a bit tipsy from two days of partying..Skylark and the other 
lift their glasses to their two heroes "To Arianna..for bravely 
enduring Ares' wrath..and To Iolaus..for well just being a great all-
round hero!"

Skylark adds "I think it was a wonderful idea to invite Ares to the 
party and now he's in such a good mood maybe he'll stay away for 
good!"

Hercules shakes his head "I doubt it!.."

Iolaus lifts his glass "To Falafel..to the best waffles in the world!"

"Here..here" as everyone else raises a toast to a blushing Falafel.

Falafel in turn raises his glass to Jester. "To Iolaus2..if it 
weren't for him..I would never have learned the art of cooking these 
heavenly waffles.."

Iolaus2 lifts his glass in turn "To the Falafel of my world..without 
him I in turn would never have learned to cook..not only waffles but 
everything else I know.."

"Here..Here.." repeats Hercules "To the Falafels of both worlds.."

Meanwhile Ares pops in one last time and grabs the waffle right from 
Hercules' hand just as he was about to bite into the last one. Ares 
disappears shrieking childishly to Hercules "Ha Ha Ha..I got the last 
waffle!"

Hercules stares at his empty hand with a dark frown and all the party 
revelers drunk with happiness laugh at Hercules' missing waffle.

One by one..the revelers settle down for a good night's sleep with no 
idea what lies in store for them..for only Ceryndip..the game goddess 
can decide who will still be on the island when they all awaken....

Hopefully to be continued next week---

Skylark
------------------------------
Hey all!

Here we go again. 

first off, to answer a question that I got privately and haven't had time
to privately answer, not everyone will be leaving the island with Charon,
there are other ways of getting you off so you might not have to take
that boat ride with him. Just depends on what we come up with that week
and how many folks are going.

Ok, all the Limericks were wonderful! I  loved them. We put the names of
all the participants that answered the immunity challenge into a pot and
drew out 3 names. The winners of immunity this week are:
Quietwolf
Drakkar
Margui

Now the bad news:  this week's word was "suddenly" and Arianna used said
word not once but twice! (that second time was just in case we missed it
the first time around, right? <G>) So  Arianna is definitely on the to go
list. 

Allie has too much going on in her life at the moment and the game must
be one of the things to go so she'll be out this week as well. 

So we've lost two this week. Post to remove them from the island coming
up. You both will be allowed a final story post and that's that. 

And then there were 11......

On to next week:
5th Immunity challenge:
Make up an anagram for "Iolaus". We will pick a name out of a hat for the
 winner(s). An anagram is when you make up words that begin with the
letters of another word. For Example:

Independent
Original
Loving
Affectionate
Unselfish
Spirited

That's it for this week. 

Love
Ceryndip and Bwell
The Game Goddesses
------------------------------
The party was in full swing as a familiar face swam up to the edge of the
river and called to the partiers. 

"Hey! Can anyone join in the fun?"

The group turned to see a curly blond head sticking up from the water.

"Iolaus!" they cried out in unison. 

The group made their way down to the shore to greet their merman friend. 

"How did you all manage to end up here?" He asked?

"It's a long story, can you help us out?" Jason asked.

"Sure but I can only ferry two at a time to the mainland."

The group looked at eachother, "The sticks again."

This time Arianna and Allie came up with the short sticks. They said
their goodbyes quickly and waded out into the water where Iolaus2 was
waiting. Each taking an arm they began their journey back to
civilization.

****

The next morning found a new challenge for our, now hungover, group. A
dense fog had set in. They could barely see their hands in front of their
faces. Pea soup might be thinner. It weaved around their shelters and
hung in the air making everything feel damp with it's moisture. It looked
like it was here to stay awhile......

Love
the game goddesses
----------------------------
Arianna waded out into the water with Allie, leaving the others gathered
on the shore.  She could see her friend was eager to return home...Allie
always had so much going on in her life.  As she came up beside Iolaus
the Merman, she turned back once more, blinking back unwanted, if not
unexpected, tears...they had all thought her so brave, so resolute.
Biting her lip, she forced herself to smile as she waved back at them
all, as if glad to be on her way home.  But, she wasn't glad...she'd
miss them, miss them terribly, and worry about them until they were all
safe back on the mainland.  Her eyes caught and lingered a moment more
on Iolaus' ... and then, remembering it all, she was able to flash him a
real smile, full of laughter.  She'd been there when he'd needed her,
lain in his arms for a day and a night...something which had only ever
happened before in her dreams.  And, it had been the most memorable
birthday she'd ever have!  She loved them all, and would never forget
this sojourn on the deserted tropical isle...the time, too short, gone
too quickly, she had spent as a castaway.

Turning back toward the far shore, Arianna looped an arm around Iolaus's
back, and kicking along with Allie, they moved with him, out into the
sea, into the bright light of a new day...heading back home.

*******

I'll miss you  guys...have fun and be safe!  (I knew I shouldn't have
nagged for the Council to begin! LOL...with lots of love!)

Arianna
----------------------
It was foggy when the ferryman arrived at Survivor Island.  He grumbled
to himself about people using him as a messenger boy, but in reality he
had enjoyed the past week.  True to her word, Kat had allowed him to
stay on Paradise Island.  The resort was wonderful; any request was
immediately granted.  Charon had to admit he enjoyed the massages and
hottubs most of all; he even had his own private one.  He hadn't felt
this good in years, in fact that was why he had honored the Amazon's
request.

Margui had ventured out into the early morning fog.  The dark haired
woman had always enjoyed her own company, and while she didn't mind the
others, the forced proximity took it's toll.  She knew that the others
would worry, if they even realized that she was gone.  She had told
Autolycus that she was going for a walk, but the thief had still been
half asleep at the time.  She continued to walk along the beach---
hoping that her sisters were doing ok.

Charon squinted through the fog, trying to find the one he was to
deliver the message to.  Finally he spied her alone on the beach.  He
hurried towards her.

"Yous Margui right," he croaked once he stood next to her.

The Amazon was startled.  She had been so lost in her thoughts that she
hadn't noticed Charon's approach.  "Is it time?"  She asked.

" 'fraid not," the ferryman of the dead stated.

"Are Kat and CJ ok?" Margui asked realizing that the last time she had
seen her sisters they had been with this creature.

"Dem girls are doing fine.  Dey sent me wif a message for ya.  Here," he
said as he placed a cocktail with a umbrella in it in her hand.  "Oh
yeah, ders a note too."

        "Hey sis.  Me and CJ are doing fine.  Enjoy the drink, and know
that
        we have a hottub and massage table reserved in your name.  Hope
to see to
        see you soon.

                                            Luv ya,
                                            Kat"

"Gots any messages for me to take back wif me?" Charon asked.

Kat
--------------------------
Llyra stumbled out of the main tent, only registering that she was 
immediately surrounded by fog when she tripped over a stick which had 
escaped last night's bonfire.  She picked herself up painfully from 
the ground.  Now she had bruised knees to go along with her headache. 
 Perfect, she thought miserably.  If she squinted she could make out 
the faint outlines of the tent entrance. This had to be the mother of 
all fogs.

"The wise person at this point would not go wandering about in the 
fog, as it is as thick as the proverbial pea soup," she said to 
herself.  "Yes, indeedy, the wise person would wait for the sun to 
boil off all this stuff and then find the can.  However, the wise 
person would not have imbibed so much wine and fermented juice last 
night and have such a full bladder this morning.  Therefore, the wise 
person has no choice unless she wishes to pee her pants."  She picked 
her way back to the tent and quietly retrieved her bag of baking soda.

The stuff had proved extremely useful for the past four days.  It had 
been used to scrub Falafel's cooking pot, to polish the different 
knives among the Amazons, brush teeth and combined with a bit of soap, 
to effectively wash the island dirt out of everyone's hair.  Now, the 
dwindling supply would act as a trail guide to and from the latrine.

"How useful can you get?" Llyra smiled to herself.  Before she left, 
she popped a couple of Owlharp's extra strength Tylenols to calm the 
thumping in her head.  Silently blessing her list sister's gift, she 
again left the tent and made her way, slowly and carefully, to the 
facilities.

It did not take long before the tent was completely obscured by the 
thick cloud layer.  Literally, the bard could not see her hand in 
front of her face if she held it out at arm's length.  She looked down 
at her feet and could faintly see the thin trail of white left behind 
by the baking soda.  

"At least I won't get lost going back," she assured herself.  The 
latrine itself was outside the camp boundaries, but at this point she 
could locate it by scent alone.  Soon she felt much better and turned 
to head back to camp and plan how she would spend her day.

"Mother!"

Llyra froze, every sense on high alert.  She strained her ears to the 
limit, but heard only a faint wind through the unseen trees.  

"It was just the wind," she told herself firmly.  "She's not really 
here, she can't be.  It's just my mind playing tricks on me.  That's 
it!  No more fermented pineapple for me!  I'm taking the -"

"Mother!  Where are you?"

That was no wind!  Llyra could not be mistaken this time!  That voice 
had been her daughter, Astride!  But how?

"Mother!  I can't find you!  Please!  Where are you?" the voice 
sounded more and more desperate.

"Streedy?" Llyra called into the fog.  "Is that you?"

"Yes!  Yes!" cried the voice, relief in its tone.  "I'm over here, 
Mother!  I can't get to you!"

"Don't worry, Sweetheart!" Llyra called and turned in the direction of 
the voice.  "I'm coming!  I'll find you!  Keep talking and I'll find 
you."

It never occurred to the worried mother to question her daughter's 
presence on a desert island.  All she could think of was that her 
child was hurt or frightened or alone, and needed her right away.  
Without thought to what she was doing or the consequences she might 
suffer, Llyra set out through the brush toward Astride.

For too many long minutes, the bard found nothing but more trees and 
brush.  Astride kept shouting to her, to give her some bearings, but 
it seemed that the bard kept having to make more and more turns in the 
fog until she was completely lost.  Frantic with worry, she plunged 
headlong into the jungle, not really noticing that she had dropped her 
bag of baking soda along the way.

"Astride!" Llyra shouted, growing more and more afraid with each step. 
 "Where are you?"

"It's not far now, Mother," came the reply from somewhere off to her 
left.  "Just keep coming to me and then everything will be all right."

Llyra ran toward her daughter's voice, feeling that the girl was not 
far away.  Once they found each other, they would wait until the fog 
lifted before even attempting to return to camp.  The others would be 
worried, but at least they wouldn't find the bard and her daughter at 
the bottom of a cliff somewhere.  

It was not long before Llyra found herself in a patch of clear forest. 
 There was neither sun nor fog; the air was damp and the sky was gray, 
but she could see several feet in front of her.  At the edge of the 
clearing, she saw a figure huddled on the ground, small and dejected 
looking.

"Oh, Astride!" she breathed relieved to find her child at last.  
"Thank God you're all right!"  With that she hurriedly approached the 
figure and bent to take it into her arms.

"Gotcha!" cried a triumphant voice, and cackled maniacally.

Llyra sprang back away from the face in front of her, but tripped on a 
root and landed ungracefully on her back.  With unseemly haste she 
tried to crab walk away from the apparition.

"You!"she croaked, barely able to speak.  "What are you doing here?"

The figure only laughed louder and harder, then reached for the 
helpless bard.

Llyra's scream was cut off short as a cold hand closed over her mouth 
and nose.

**********************************************************************
*****

"Hercules!  Wake up!" the demigod was tossed out of bed.  

"Wa ...?  Ares?"  Hercules, just barely awake and non too coherent 
after a night of revelry, stared stupidly up at his half brother.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," the tall war god prodded Hercules to stand up. 
 "I hate you, you hate me, we're a dysfunctional family.  So much for 
the formalities.  Up and at `em, little brother,"he ordered briskly.  
"Get moving.  There's no time to lose."  With that Ares started to 
push his brother out of the tent.

"Hey, what's going on?" Iolaus, roused from his own sleep by Ares' 
commotion, sat up, bleary eyed, on his pallet.

"You too, Curly," Ares ordered.  "Let's go!"

Hercules finally snapped out of his own fog and dug in his heels, 
bringing Ares to a halt.

"Not until you tell us why," he said, crossing his arms and scowling 
at his brother.

"We don't have time for this!" Ares snarled, and nearly stamped his 
foot in frustration.  "Now pull your act together and come with me!"

By this time, the other survivors had appeared out of the fog, 
following the angry voices to see both god and half god glaring at 
each other.  Iolaus had limped painfully out of their tent and was 
trying, not completely successfully, to stand at his partner's side, 
ready to fight.

"Any ideas why?" Drakkar asked Quiet Wolf.

"Not a clue," her sister replied.  "Ares seems to have just shown up 
and started ordering people around."

Ares let out a long, exasperated breath.  Time was wasting and every 
second was precious, but he needed these people cooperative.  That 
meant explaining; something he hated having to do.

"All right, listen up," he began.  "You've got trouble.  Big trouble, 
and Llyra's fallen into the thick of it.  Now, will you go out and 
effect the big rescue, or are you going to let her suffer whatever 
fate awaits her?"

Hercules squeezed his eyes shut against the headache that threatened 
to erupt out of his eyeballs.  "You're not making any sense, Ares," he 
said.  "If Llyra's in trouble, of course we'll go.  But what -"

"What kind doesn't matter!" Ares was resisting the urge to pluck at 
Hercules' arm to get him to hurry and it did not improve his mood.  
"Can't you just get moving?  Now it absolutely kills me to do this, 
but you'll have to be in full Hero Mode, so ..."  Ares directed a wave 
of light towards his brother's leg which was immediately surrounded by 
a soft, warm glow.

Hercules felt the warmth for several seconds, and then his leg was 
completely healed with no stiffness or lingering soreness.  It was as 
if the break had never happened.

"You too, Shorty," Ares directed the same light at the hunter's thigh, 
which was also engulfed in a glow, this time for longer.  Iolaus 
stared open-mouthed at the dark man as he felt the muscle and tendons 
of his leg pull back together as if the spear had never pierced it.  
Experimentally, he stamped his foot and twisted his leg around.  The 
wound was completely healed.

"Don't take it personal," Ares informed them.  "If there were any 
other way I'd leave you both to your fates.  But I need you both whole 
and able to fight, and the rest of you lot.  It's about to hit the fan 
around here and anyone in less than perfect condition is apt to get 
hurt.  Get your weapons and follow me."

"Gee Ares, were you always such a sweet talker?" Iolaus quipped.  "Not 
that I'm not grateful both for the healing and the warning about 
Llyra, but why didn't you do something about this yourself if you're 
so concerned?  After all, you help her and you're more likely to get 
Astride as your apprentice."

"Because," Ares said through gritted teeth, "I * CAN'T * DO * 
ANYTHING!  I tried!  There's another god at work here and I can't 
interfere with whatever they're doing.  Now will you all just HURRY 
UP?"

"Another God?" Drakkar repeated, aghast at the implication.  "But Loki 
-"

"Has nothing to do with this," Ares interrupted impatiently.  "He's 
just hanging back for the moment, or at least so he tells me."

"And you believe that trickster?" Drakkar asked incredulously.  
"Anyway, what do you care what the other gods do?"

"Because nobody plays with my toys but me!" he declared.  "And whoever 
is horning in on my turf is not playing by the rules.  They seem to 
think it would be fun to break all the toys and end the game now.  I 
can do so much to stop them, but to do the whole job will take mortal 
effort, not godly.  Now, MOVE!"

Llyra

PS: heeeeeelp!
----------------------------------------------
The revelers woke up drunk. Some woke up with hangover headaches 
others could not wake up and were still snoring in the late morning 
sunshine. Skylark was busy administering coffee to all drunks who did 
awaken.

Iolaus rubs his eyes "Aw my head feels like a tree fell on it!"

Hercules chuckles "You shouldn't have imbibed so much last night!"

"Aw spoilsport..after all I was the guest of honor and it was my 
birthday!" Iolaus crows.

"Actually it was Arianna's birthday..your real birthday is still a 
coupld of months away!" Hercules comments.

"Herc..who asked you anyway..oh do you mind not talking so loud..!" 
Iolaus holds his head in his hands as Skylark hands him a cup of 
coffee.

"Here..Iolaus drink this..you'll feel more awake after the caffeine 
starts working on your system.." Skylark moves to give the other 
revelers a Starbuck special.

"You know..Iolaus..we are all going to miss Arianna and Allie!" 
Elaine remarks as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"Ah Arianna..the life of the party!" exclaims Bev. "I'm definitely 
going to miss her..who else is going to make us our sunhats!"

Caro joins in "Well at least Arianna left us her bolt of linen!"

Skylark returns to give more hot brews to the remaining Amazons "Well 
at least Arianna gets to swim back to the mainland in the delicious 
arms of that merman, Iolaus2 and oh boy what waffles that man knows 
how to make!"

Jason returns from his nightly scout duties and he pulls Hercules and 
Iolaus to the side and whispers "You're not going to like this..I 
scouted that cave where Hercules fell in..you know the one where the 
fruit baskets have been lain..well I know who has been leaving the 
fruit baskets.."

Hercules responds "I can feel the hairs on my neck prickle..I get the 
feeling I'm not going to like the news Jason.."

"It's difficult to be certain..what with this fog as thick as pea 
soup..but I think we're dealing with slavers.." Jason remarks..

Iolaus shudders "Slavers..ye gods..we need to move camp 
immediately..we are too much in the open..I think we should tell the 
others immediately.."

"We can't jump to conclusions..after all with all this fog..we can't 
be sure if Jason saw what he saw.." Hercules speculates.

Iolaus remarks sarcastically "Since when does the hair on the back of 
your neck prickle for no reason? Let's move the camp and ask 
questions later..Herc..you know what Slavers are like.."

Jason and Hercules both nod their heads in agreement "Okay..we tell 
them about the slavers and we move camp..."

TBC

Skylark
------------------------------------------------
The fog was very thick and no one could see beyond the tips of their 
nose. A shriek of help tore through the chilled morning air as Llyra 
cried out for help. "HELP! HEELP!"

Bev awoke with a start "Oh my God..it's Llyra something's wrong!"

Ares healed both Hercules and Iolaus and pulled them along into the 
act "Hurry up..Llyra's hurt..I need you two to rescue her!"

Hercules glared at Ares and replied "Since when do you care about 
mortals?"

Ares responded "Since another god started playing with my toy and no 
one plays with my toys!"

Iolaus muses "Why don't you rescue her with your powers?"

"If I could do you think I'd ask you clowns..now hurry!" Ares 
protested.

Jason murmured into the half-god's ear "Ares' right..we'd better find 
Llyra before the slavers do.."

Skylark asks in a horrified voice "Do you think this God could be 
working in cahoots with the slavers?"

Jason answers "I don't know..in any case..we have to find 
Llyra..before she gets hurt by whomever..or whatever..damn this fog!"

The slaver wrestles the older woman to the ground and he thanks Hera 
for her help "Hercules will be here soon..Hera..this woman's cry for 
help will bring him here..when Hercules comes I will kill him and 
make slaves out of the rest of that camp..that blonde runt will fetch 
a good price on the market.."

Somewhere peacock eyes peered over the fog and let loose a malevolent 
laugh.....

Skylark
--------------------------
If this was the act of slavers, like Jason said, Hercules was certain 
that they wouldn't stop at Llyra now that they realized there were 
more of us on the island.  Llyra was probably the central victim for 
the god who arranged this kidnapping, but the rest of us would more 
than pay for their troubles.  Slavers were notoriously greedy and they 
wouldn't leave the island without making a profit.

We would have to go on the rescue and we'd have to leave fast to catch 
their trail.  Fast wasn't a problem with Ares breathing down our 
backs.  We would also have to realize that there was a good chance 
that we would be walking into a trap and Llyra was the cheese.

No one would be left at the camp this time just in case some slavers 
were left behind to pick us off if we separated.  They couldn't be 
given the chance to divide and conquer.

After passing around the rest of the Tylenol and sending silent thanks 
to Owlharp for her kind foresight, we gathered every weapon in the 
camp and filled every water container to the brim.  Hercules took a 
headcount making sure we were all accounted for, offering each one of 
us a small word of encouragement as he passed.  With Iolaus as the 
lead tracker, Hercules and Autolycus tied the end of the 50 ft. rope 
to his belt.  We each grabbed  hold of the rope, one behind the other, 
as Iolaus guided us through the fog.

"Now, where would a hungover amazon head off to?" mused the demigod.  

"Latrine!" came the quick unanimous response.

After several minutes we came to the clearing where there was evidence 
of a great scuffle.  Iolaus was greatly relieved to note that there 
was no blood so chances were that Llyra was still in one piece.

We munched on fruit as we walked behind Iolaus, gathering our strength 
for the confrontation we new lay ahead of us. 

Autolycus mentioned that he recognized some things along this part of 
the trail and he knew we were headed in the direction of Mermaid's 
Cove.  Jason and Falafal complained that there was nothing worse than 
having to fight in the sand and the rest of us heartily agreed. 

The fog and dampness were beginning to get on our collective nerves.  
Things were indeed looking grim.

TBC...

MaryE
------------------------------------------------------
'GODS!!  Here we go again,'  Bev thought. It had been such a roller
coaster ride of emotions since they'd become stranded on this island.
And it didn't seem as if there was going to be an end to it.
First, there was the shipwreck itself and the self satisfaction they had
all felt realizing what they could do setting up a camp, followed by
Herc's injury.  Then there were those awful cannibals and  Arianna's
capture and rescue.  Followed then by the thrill of whoopin cannibal
butt tempered by Iolaus injury and the high of the wonderful celebration
party after...and...since then they'd had to say good-bye to two more
island sisters.  Arianna and Allie were no doubt back home safe and
sound by now.  Bev smiled remembering their goodbyes on the beach.
She'd go for a swim with Iolaus2 anytime on any day too.  But the bustle
of the camp and the new threat facing the troop brought her back to the
present.  

Jason had discovered what he was certain evidence of slavers on the
island.  He was sure that the bounty they had found hidden away in the
cave when Hercules had fallen belonged to those slavers.  And now Llyra
was missing too and it was Ares of all people who had brought this new
bad news.  At least now Bev knew that the scream she'd heard upon
awakening had not been a dream.

But was Ares up to something new?  Was he telling the truth that he'd
had nothing to do with Llyra's being missing and did he really only want
thier help?  Was he in cahoots with the slavers Jason feared  being on
the island too?

Oh,it was too much to think about.  Bev really just wanted to scream as
loud as she could but knew this wasn't the time or place to vent such
frustration.  This island was such a beautiful place but it was cursed
or something.  They'd hardly had a moment since being stranded to just
*be*.

Caro and Kleandra had joined Bev in the hurried efforts to gather thier
belongings for the camp move.  Jason, Herc, and Iolaus had decided it
was in everybody's best interest.

"How is this possible?" Bev asked.  "It was just yesterday that we had
that terrific party and went to sleep feeling more confident wasn't it?"

Kleandra responded, "Yeah I was hoping that the worst was behind us
now."  Caro added, "I think we all thought that but now this."

The three exchanged looks of grave concern but Caro was the first to
openly admit, "I'm scared!"  The looks they shared again confirmed they
were all afraid.  

"Oh let's just keep busy. It will help take our minds off our fear" Bev
said not entirely convinced it was so. 

She bent down to roll up another sleep mat they had learned to make with
Pythia's help and then another thought struck her.  She stood bolt
upright with the realization of the horrors they were all facing if
Jason was right about the slavers.
First, they'd find all their supplies missing from the cave .  That
alone would surely piss them off royally.  Then, they'd find no natives
for capture and selling.  Then, they *would* find a bunch of
women......."OH My God!!"  She nearly screamed the words but realizing
she'd only start one Hades of a panic she lowered her voice, grabbed the
arms of Kleandra and Caro and whispered haltingly, "you--don't--think-
--they're interested--in us--do--you?"

At first she'd been naive enough to believe they were just moving camp
because they didn't want to be around when and if the slavers found
their stuff gone from the cave.  But now the real possibilities hit
home.  
Iolaus had overheard the Bev's fear filled question.  Before either of
her friends could make up something he came over to offer some comfort.
He place an arm about the near frantic Bev and gave her a squeeze.

"Hey this doesn't sound like the brave women I've come to admire.
You've come this far, right?  Look at all you've endured til now.  You
kicked cannibal butt, right?  What's a handful of slavers?  I mean, if
there are any slavers,...I mean, there probably aren't any... but if
there was... and we aren't sure of that, you know...but if there
was"........Iolaus paused and took a big breath,...."and I'm babbling
aren't I?"

"Uh-Huh", the three women laughed.

"Look", Iolaus assured, "we haven't let anything happen to each other
yet and we aren't going to start now, right?"

Bev leaned a bit into the man standing next to her who still had his arm
about her and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Thanks, Iolaus!
You're the best!"  After another laugh over his embarrassed reaction the
group joined back in the rush to break camp.

Now, only a short time later, their camp dismantled, they were all
directing their efforts toward finding Llyra.  Nobody had been left
behind.  Again, for everyone's safety's sake, it was decided that they
all stay together---not one person from the group be separated.
Their progress was being hampered by the thick fog that didn't seem to
be in a hurry of lifting and every sound took on a new meaning.  Then
without warning, Athena called out, "Latrine!"  Followed by a chorus of
'Latrines' by Caro, Skylark, Elaine and Bev.  The line stopped it's slow
progression forward and men came to see what new obstacle had arisen. 

Autolycus, irritated, said, "uh yeah, we already established that."

And Bev spoke up and said, "uh, no... duh... we have to......."

Enlightenment flooded the faces of the embarrassed men.  Seemingly more
to Hercules than the others but relief would have to wait...... for
suddenly to their horror blood curdling screams boke the murky
silence....

tbc  
Bev
-----------------------
> Enlightenment flooded the faces of the embarrassed
> men.  Seemingly more to Hercules than the others but
>relief would have to wait...... for suddenly to their
>horror blood curdling screams boke the murky
> silence....
> 
"Who screamed" Iolaus called.

"MMee" Athena said.

"Whats the matter are you ok?" 

"Umm, there is someing on the ground touching me and
it moved." Athena said 

"OK, just don't move.  Herc some help please." Iolaus
called

"Alright Iolaus you be prepared to grab Athena and
pull her away while I check it out." Hercules told
Iolaus.

As Hercules bent slowly in the fog to see what it was,
everyone waited holding their breaths.....

Athena
-----------------------
Hercules reached his hand out into the whiteness with trepidation. After
everything that had happened to the intrepid survivors there could be
anything lurking in the fog.

He let out a huge sigh of relief as he felt what had caused Athena to
scream, "It's okay everyone, it's just a mouse." The mouse ran over the
demigod's hand as it made its escape from the giant thing that was
standing over it.

Athena let out a relieved giggle, "But it felt so big." she said
apologetically. Iolaus gave her a hug to comfort his still shaking
companion. 

"It's all right Athena, in this fog everything seems bigger and scarier
than it really is. Is everyone ready to move on, or do we need a longer
break?"

There were a couple of calls of "Give me a minute, please." So Hercules
anounced a ten minute break. 

After the ten minutes was up he called out so that the sound-dampening
fog wouldn't stop everyone from hearing him, "Can everyone holler their
name so we know we're all ready."

Everyone did, except Caro. There was no sound from her at all. Hercules
started calling for her, but there was still no reply. 

A nervous Bev bumped into Jason, "Who's that? Jason? What's happened?
Where is she? I can't believe this is happening. It's too much!" 

Jason slung an arm around the worried woman's shoulder and tried to
reassure her, but he was beginning to think that this was all a bit too
much too. What had happened to Caro? Would they ever find Llyra in this
fog? Could they trust Ares? And would they be able to avoid the slavers?
There were getting to be way too many questions and not enough answers.

Caro
------------------------
"What are you idiots doing?" Ares demanded.  "I sent you off to 
rescue Llyra, and now you've gone and let Caro get captured as well!  
I'd be better off entrusting this mission to Strife and Discord!"

"Maybe it would help if you'd tell us what in Tartarus is going on," 
Iolaus growled at the god of war.

"To put it simply, there's a whole band of slavers on this island, 
and my dear mother is helping them out.  I can't do anything, because 
it's forbidden to interfere with another god.  They've got Llyra and 
Caro, and they aren't going to give up until Hercules is dead and 
they've captured the rest of you for slaves."

"Oh gods," Bev whispered, realizing that her fears were coming true.

"Don't worry, Bev," Hercules consoled her.  "We aren't going to let 
that happen."

"There's a stand of trees about 300 yards to the east," Ares told 
them.  "That's where a group of them took Caro.  The rest of the 
slavers are all over the island.  Now, go do the hero bit, and don't 
screw it up!"  The angry god of war vanished.

"Can we trust him?" Iolaus asked his partner.  

"I don't  think we have a choice," Hercules replied. 

"All right," Jason said in a commanding voice.  "These slavers are 
trying to split us up, so that they can pick us off one by one.  So, 
everyone grab a partner, and don't let them out of your sight.  Stay 
as close to the group as you can.  I know the fog is a problem, but 
if we can't see them, they can't see us either."

"Here's what we'll do," Hercules instructed.  "We need a volunteer to 
act as bait."

"I nominate our goddess of the isle," Iolaus grinned. 

"Well, if I could pull off a goddess, I certainly can do the victim 
routine," Quiet Wolf said with a shrug.

Hercules quickly mapped out the plan for the group.  They would split 
up into two teams.  Quiet Wolf would approach the stand of trees that 
Ares had pointed out, pretending to be separated from the group.  
When the slavers attacked her, team one would come to her rescue 
while team two went after Caro.  Then they would all regroup and 
resume the search for Llyra.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Hercules told Quiet 
Wolf.

"Its ok," she replied.  "I know you guys won't let anything happen to 
me."

As the two teams silently melted off into the fog, Quiet Wolf began 
moving forward, using her snake hook to guide her over the uneven 
ground.  She began calling out for her friends, letting a pitiful sob 
creep into her voice.  A twig snapped behind her, and even though she 
was expecting it, Quiet Wolf's heart leapt into her throat as a hand 
clamped over her mouth.  Flashbacks to her childhood and all her 
scuffles with her brothers began resurfacing.  Quiet Wolf rammed an 
elbow backwards into the stomach of the cretin holding her, and she 
was rewarded when the man grunted and released her.  Stumbling away 
as more shadowy figures closed in on her, Quiet Wolf began screaming 
in earnest for the help of her friends.

Quiet Wolf
----------------------
POW ... CRASH ... CRUNCH ... WHAM   !!!

Those were the next sounds that Quietwolf heard.  Bodies were falling 
at her feet then a strong arm grabbed her by the waist.  "Hush, it's 
only me," Hercules whispered into the Island Goddess' ear.  And she 
relaxed at once.  Fear for herself melted away to be immediately 
replaced by concern for Caro.

"Did you get her, Hercules?" quiered Jason.

"I've got her!  Now let's head back to the clearing.  If Iolaus and 
Auto don't show up with Caro right away, I'll have to go in and help," 
he responded.

Those of us who were with Hercules doubled back to the clearing and we 
were met by the group who went with Iolaus and Auto.  They were 
carrying Caro who was still all trussed up in chains.  Apparently they 
didn't have time to release her before they had to high-tail it out of 
the area.

"Behind us, Herc!" shouted the hunter as he came speeding by.

The demigod moved into action and knocked out the two slavers,  who 
were chasing the rescue crew with swords drawn.

Autolycus  moved over next to the demigod and peered down at the two 
fallen men, with an eye to purloin anything of value they carried.  
The rest of us gathered around hoping to find some answers ... any 
answer as to why we were being targeted by these creeps.  Some of the 
younger ones among us would bring a good price at the auctions but ... 
quite frankly ... some of us have seen better days and would not be 
worth the trouble of the capture.  This was so puzzling.

"Look at these two scurvy pirates, would ya?" sneered the king of 
thieves as he bent over to pick their pockets.

"Hmmmmm," pondered Iolaus, "You know, pirates can happen to anyone 
<BG>  ... but I'm convinced that there's much more to this than Ares is 
telling us.  I can understand about Hera wanting Herc dead ... it's what 
she does.  But what possible interest could she have in enslaving 
these women?  I mean ... it doesn't make any sense.  And before more of 
this group gets hurt, or scared to death, I think we ought to get a 
complete explanation.  What do you say, Herc?"

"He's right, Hercules," echoed Jason.  "Let's get Ares here to 
explain."

Hercules called Ares at the top of his lungs and the war god appeared 
immediately.

"Keep it down, Bro.  There's another group of slavers not to far from 
here and I'd rather Hera not find out I'm helping you in any way," 
said the god of war as he made a flashy appearance.

"Okay, Ares ... enough fooling around.  Exactly why does Hera want this 
particular group of  women enslaved?  We're not going any further 
without an explanation," demanded the demigod.

"But, Llyra ..." began Ares.

"As long as both you and Hera have a vested interest in Llyra, I'm 
sure nothing will be happening to her.  We have some time .. so 
explain." Hercules again demanded.

"Okay, well it's like this.  These women are all bards ... and they 
write all these great stories about you, and Curley and the whole 
crew.   Well, Hera is tired of all the bad press she's been getting 
because of the tales these ladies tell.  She's tired of always being 
portrayed as the bad guy  soooooo ... she arranged for the shipwreck and 
for this group of slavers to capture all of the bards.  She wants to 
take all of the writers to an island where they'll be forced to write 
epics about the glory of Hera so all posterity will sing her praises.

"Now, Poiseiden let some of you escape with Charon's help because he 
was really pissed off about the storm and the shipwreck.  But Hera is 
going to do her best to make sure she doesn't lose any more of you 
bards, even if she has to do total and permanent damage to Herc and 
Blondie here."

"And what's in this for you, Ares.  Why are you getting yourself 
involved and why should we trust you," asked the hunter.

"Under normal circumstances you wouldn't be able to trust me.  But 
where these women are concerned... well, lets just say some of them have 
been extremely kind to me ... some of them understand me and I'm happy 
with the way they chronicle my life and times ... I don't want Hera to 
rock my boat ... Now ... I'm outta here ... GO GET LLYRA!!" and with that 
the god of war vanished into the fog.

The demigod took a deep breath and looked around at all the bards who 
were standing there shaking their heads.  "Like Ares said ... let's do a 
head count, make sure we're all here, and go get Llyra ...

TBC
MaryE.
------------------------
"This has gone on too long and why in the hellfire..."

Hercules turned in the direction of the voice mumbling somewhere around his
kneecaps.  He reached out a hand down into the swirling whiteness until it
settled in a bunch of unruly curls.

"Who are you?"

"Elaine."

"What did you just say?"

"I said.  I'm tired of not being able to see where the heck I'm going.  I
know it may attract the slavers, but I vote to light a torch."

"I agree," said Bev.  "We're going to have to fight them anyway."

"Anyone else agree."

There were enough yeas, to let him know that idea was a go.  "Okay, ladies.
Your wish is my desire."

The snap of wood could be heard.  "Here Hercules, take this," Iolaus handed
him half a staff.

"I have a handle, anyone willing to donate some cloth to get this going?"

There were several groans, for the length of every woman's smock had
steadily shorten the longer they remained on the island.

"I'm sure our unworthy opponents wouldn't mind helping our cause." Autolycus
grabbed a fist full of clothing and began to rip."

"When you finish there Autolycus use what's left to tie and gag them."
Hercules said as he wrapped the cloth around the staff.  "What we need now
is some oil.

"Here Herc," Falafel handed him a small vial.

Hercules opened the vial and everyone close almost gagged.

"Smells like the stuff my mother use to gag me with when I was sick with
the, summer vapors as she used to called a cold."  Elaine said as she moved
slightly away from where she had squatted.

"We won't have much time after I light this, so everyone get ready."

The group could hear Hercules strike his gauntlets together.   There was a
flash of light then the smell of burning oil and cloth.  The fog gave up its
grip on the space grudgingly.  Finally a small space around Hercules began
to clear.

Several, "yes!"  Could be heard from among the group.  Everyone crowded into
the clearing happy to able to see each other's faces.

"Hercules, looked down by his side, where Elaine stilled kneeled, fingers
dug deep into the black soil."

"You had another comment earlier, please finish it."

Elaine looked up at the others.  "I never took Hera for stupid until now.
Why in the hellfire would she think any of us would write anything nice
about her?  That's not her rep and she knows that."

"Maybe she wants to make nicey."  Falafel said as he pushed a piece of dried
salted fish into whatever body part he happen to touch.  He had untied
himself to move along the line handing out a quick snack now that the groups
were back together and taking a brief but welcome respite.

"She'll have a hard time making up for murder.  If it hadn't been for her
priests needing an easy sacrifice I would not be parentless and a runaway
slave."

"Elaine's right, Hercules," Bev said, "Hera has underestimated us once
again."

"Maybe if we stomp a large hole in the remainder of Hera's helpers, the sun
will shine.  I'm tired of this blasted fog."  Caro said, rubbing her bruised
body parts.  Now that she was free, she wanted a little payback.

Jason moved to the front of the group.   "Come on ladies, let's go.  It's
time to divide and conquer."  He turned to Hercules.  "This time your group
to play goat."

"Be careful."  Hercules said to the group.

"Y'all too."  Elaine said grabbing the rope handed to her.

Elaine
-----------------------------
Bev and Kleandra helped a still shaking Caro out of her bonds while Herc
and Iolaus took care of the two slavers tht had managed to follow the
small rescue group.
Now they were listening to Ares explanation as to why Hera was in such
dire need of having the bard castaways taken prisoner.
As Bev listened with growing irritation she was assuring her friend Caro
that she was alright now. 

"Caro, have a drink of water.  You'll feel better."
Bev offered the drink to Caro and she gratefully accepted it with
tremulous hands.  

"Thanks Bev.  Gods, I was so scared and I can't seem to stop shaking."

"Well, you're safe now and if I get the chance I'm gonna give those
jerks a couple of good swift kicks myself," said Kleandra as she gave
the evil eye to the now prostrate figures Auto was still going with a
fine tooth comb.

"Yeah, I'd like to give those SOB's something to remember me by too.
But I guess I'll have to settle for this for now."

With questioning looks Caro and Kleadra watched their comrade as she
moved easily into position behind Ares.  Kleandra realized too late that
*he* was Bev's target and just missed grabbing her back by the
shirttial.  She was afraid  Bev was messing with the wrong person now.

Ares was saying, "I don't want Hera to rock my boat" when Bev reached up
and with thumb and middle finger she gave Ares a strong flick on the
back of his ear.

"OW!  Who?  OW!"  Ares bellowed as he turned with stormy eyes and glared
down at the short woman.  Through clenched teeth he demanded, "What did
you do that for?"

Bev stood to her full 5ft. 3in. height and defyingly said, "Just for the
Hades of it!  Personally, I think you could be doing alot more to stop
Hera from playing this sick game of her's."

Iolaus and Hercules watched this exchange with amusement.  Iolaus had to
cover his mouth to stifle the giggles but was really enjoying seeing Bev
stand up to Ares.

She continued, "and furthermore, you could do more to help Llyra and
then just leave the island.  Ya know, for all your big badness self, you
sure are proving to be a wimp when it comes to ma-ma."

Ares was fuming!  Inwardly Bev wondered if she had gone to far but she
stood her ground.

"I'm outta here."  Ares turned to Herc, .... then back to Bev, .... like
he wasn't sure what to do but said, "Go Get Llyra".  And then in a spray
of bright flashes he was gone.

"humph, guess I told him", Bev said as she walked off looking back over
her shoulder.  

tbc
Bev
--------------------
Margui had ventured out into the early morning fog.  The dark haired
woman had always enjoyed her own company, and while she didn't mind the
others, the forced proximity took it's toll.  She knew that the others
would worry, if they even realized that she was gone.  She had told
Autolycus that she was going for a walk, but the thief had still been
half asleep at the time.  She continued to walk along the beach---
hoping that her sisters were doing ok.

Charon squinted through the fog, trying to find the one he was to
deliver the message to.  Finally he spied her alone on the beach.  He
hurried towards her.

"Yous Margui right," he croaked once he stood next to her.

The Amazon was startled.  She had been so lost in her thoughts that she
hadn't noticed Charon's approach.  "Is it time?"  She asked.

" 'fraid not," the ferryman of the dead stated.

"Are Kat and CJ ok?" Margui asked realizing that the last time she had
seen her sisters they had been with this creature.

"Dem girls are doing fine.  Dey sent me wif a message for ya.  Here," he
said as he placed a cocktail with a umbrella in it in her hand.  "Oh
yeah, ders a note too."

        "Hey sis.  Me and CJ are doing fine.  Enjoy the drink, and know
that
        we have a hot tub and massage table reserved in your name.  Hope
to see to
        see you soon.

                                            Luv ya,
                                            Kat"

"Gots any messages for me to take back wif me?" Charon asked.

"She'll see me soon?"  Margui said panic rising in her voice.  "I'm going
to die!"

She ran from Charon, fearing what the Boatman had to say, and not wanting
to know.

"Twisted sister, those two got there,"  Charon said as he shook his head.

Margui ran through the thick fog.  Visibility was nil.  She couldn't see
her hands in front of her, and she wasn't even sure she was heading
toward the encampment.  She just kept running, her arms in front of her
warding off any hazards that might have been in her way.

Even with her hands out in front of her, she missed the tall but thin
coconut tree as her forehead crashed into the trunk of the tree.  She
fell back unconscious.

When she woke up, all she could remember was the birthday party from the
night before.  The pounding of her head made her conclude that she had
passed out on the beach from the liquor.  The fog had dissipated
somewhat, and she could see the area around her.  She was not far from
the beach.

As she looked toward the tree trunk directly in front of her, she saw a
large crab sitting precariously on her chest.  It was lumbering toward
her face, it's pincers within inches of her mouth. 

She got up and screamed, but it didn't dislodge the crab.  It hung on for
dear life , swinging wildly on her blouse as Margui ran toward the
encampment.

She entered the encampment and saw Falafel at his pot, cooking something.
 As she ran up, she grabbed the crab and yanked it off her blouse, 
chucking it into the cooking pot.

"Hey!"  Falafel said with riotous indignation.  "I was boiling water."

"Well, now you're boiling crab,"  Margui answered as she smoothed her
blouse and tried to act nonchalant.

Margui
-----------------------
HOpe you all enjoy this..

"Oh..I'm bored..have my slavers captured any good prey that will 
amuse me?" yawns a bored Empress..

"No, your highness..and we have no more mortals for you to 'play' and 
execute..since you have rendered them all mad" replies Xena. "But I 
know my plan will work..I've got Hera working for me!"

"Hera?" the Empress asks in a disinterested voice.

Xena insists "Yes, Hera..she's keeping the portal open to the other 
world so that the slavers can capture fresh prey for you to enslave 
and execute..these slaves are special your highness..very special"

"Special? How?" 

"Hercules travels with these mortals. It seems that Hera arranged the 
whole shipwreck and stranded Hercules and a bunch of bardic Amazons 
on an island..the good part is we've been able to capture one of the 
Amazons..Llyra.."

"So?"

"You can get your revenge.."

"Yes, I can get Hercules back for putting me in prison after he 
rescued his gods and took that annoying little Jester back with 
him..yes, this is just delicious.."

"What does Hera get out of this?"

"We intend to use these special chains to capture Hercules..these 
chains are made of a special alloy that will sap Hercules' strength 
allowing us to enslave him and bring him back to you for your 
enjoyment..your majesty..Hera gets Hercules out of her hair..and we 
get a set of bardic Amazons who will amuse you..imagine a whole set 
of Jesters to entertain you your majesty.."

"Yes, I can't wait to get my hands on Hercules and of course a court 
of bards to boot..good job Xena.." purrs a vindictive Empress.

Back in Llyra's cell...

The stench of the cell is enough to turn the Amazon's stomach. Llyra 
tries in vain to break free of her chains. She pulls weakly on her 
chains but to no avail. Llyra hears her stomach growl loudly and 
wonders when the last time she had eaten. She smacks her dry lips 
together as her whole body cries for water. She hopes Hercules and 
the others come for her soon before she is nothing but a corpse.

Footsteps can be heard and the voices of the guards are getting 
closer. Llyra strains her ears to listen.."We've captured this 
Amazon..we just have to wait for Hercules to try and come to rescue 
her..the Empress will get her revenge...."

Llyra's blood freezes as she hears the name "Empress"..isn't that 
that crazy queen from the other world..that same other world that 
Hercules rescued the Jester..Llyra continues to listen to the 
guards  "The plan is going well..we capture Hercules..we please 
Hera..and the Empress gets these bardic Amazons to entertain her 
endlessly.."

Llyra curses herself for her own carelessness in allowing herself to 
be captured. She allowed her homesickness and worry for Astride 
overcome her basic common sense. If only I had not been captured, I 
would not be putting the others in such danger..all this is my 
fault..if anyone gets hurt..
"Yes, after we capture Hercules and that annoying little runt he 
travels with..we'll be able to capture more slaves from this 
world..since practically all the mortals in our world are either too 
sick or too mad to be useful slaves..it's just too bad that the 
Empress renders her slaves insane..with all that torture..we need 
fresh meat..more mortals to please the Empress' undending 
apetite..this world has plenty of that!"

Llyra sits up at this situation and tells herself that she must do 
something to warn the others..Llyra closes her eyes and uses her 
telepathic powers to reach out to her Amazon sisters. She reaches 
Skylark and the others..

Skylark is in deep meditation after having spent the day treating 
Caro for her wounds. As Skylark sits down by her favorite tree to 
relax and meditate she hears Llyra's telepathic plea for help..

Skylark bolts awake as she hears Llyra's full message..and she runs 
to warn Hercules..Bev..and the others..she runs at full 
speed..tripping on branches and bushes not caring about the bruises 
she got along the way.

Hercules sees a trembling Skylark running towards 
him "Whoa..Skylark..take a deep breath..now tell me..what's wrong?"

Skylark looks into Hercules' kind azure eyes "It's about Llyra.."

At the mention of Llyra's name, the other Amazons listen closely...

TBC

Skylark
--------------------------
"If what you say is true..then Llyra doesn't have much time..we must 
find her and fast..Listen Skylark..I'm heading out ahead to scout the 
area.."

"Oh no you don't Herc..I'm coming with you..we can't afford to split 
up now!" cries Iolaus..

"Listen..if SKylark's information is right..this whole shipwreck is 
MY fault.."

"No, Hercules..it's the Empress' fault..she's the one who needs 
slaves..she's the one who made that deal with Hera to open a portal 
to the other world..you can't shield us or protect us by going out 
there alone..we are all in this together.."

Bev, Caro,Elaine,  Athena, Drakkar, Margui and the others nod their 
heads in agreement with Iolaus. Drakkar continues "Llyra is our 
friend too..and the Empress is after our necks too.."

"Skylark..you stay in camp and treat the sick Caro..we will mount a 
rescue mission to.." Drakkar starts.

"No, not this time..I am coming with you. Llyra was always there for 
me whenever I felt sad or lonely..I am not going to allowing that 
sadistic witch to enslave Llyra..besides you will need me in case she 
is injured..you will need someone to heal her..I will not take NO for 
an answer!"

Bev shakes her head in wonder that the normally timid Skylark would 
take such an agressive tone with Hercules. Iolaus chuckles as 
Skylark's voice reminds him of Alchemene and only Alchemene dare talk 
to Hercules in that tone of voice.

Caro leads the group in the rescue "Come on..we are ALL going...I 
know where the slaver's camp is..it's right by pirate's cove.. the 
last time I was enslaved there.."

Skylark closes her eyes and warns "We must be careful..the vortex to 
the other world is nearby..we must be careful not to be drawn in.."

Iolaus turns to Hercules and asks "So, Herc..what's the plan?"

TBC

Skylark
-----------------------
Llyra landed hard, and painfully on her knees when the slavers threw 
her into the cage.  Never a very effective fighter, the bard had been 
easily overcome.  Immediately the heavy door was slammed shut and the 
key turned in the lock.  Llyra glared at her captors through her tears 
of frustration. .

"You guys have so joined the wrong team," she told them shakily.  
"Hercules and Iolaus and Jason are gonna stomp you!"

The slavers laughed harshly.

"Hercules?" the biggest one mocked her.  "Hercules you say?  Coming to 
stomp me?  Why, sweet lady!  I'm counting on it!"  The man laughed 
cruelly at the helpless bard's predicament.  

Llyra swallowed hard.  This did not bode well.  If these guys wanted 
Herc to show up ...

"Why?" she almost whispered.  "What are you going to do?"

The leader wagged his finger at her.  "That would be telling," he 
admonished, as his men continued to laugh.

The bard started to feel uneasy.  If these clowns were completely 
unconcerned that an enraged demigod and his crew were on their way to 
effect a rescue, they were either very stupid (a distinct possibility) 
or they had something up their sleeves that neutralized the threat 
(with Hera on their side, also a distinct possibility).  There was no 
way of knowing what had caused the queen of the gods to revert to her 
earlier enmity towards Hercules when they had known a truce for over a 
year, but it had to be something, or someone pretty powerful.  This 
was all looking worse by the minute.

"You guys really don't know what you're getting into," she began, 
hoping that she could reason with them.  "You can't trust the gods 
completely.  You really haven't thought this through."

The leader's face suddenly fell into a dark scowl.  "Don't patronize 
us, Bard," he snarled.  "We know what we're doing.  Worry about 
yourself!  Or better still, worry about your new room mate!"

With that, the slavers all turned and drifted off to other duties, 
leaving Llyra alone with her thoughts.  

She began to look around her cage; maybe there was some way to escape. 
 It was then that she noticed the little figure huddled in the corner.

The child could not have been more than five years old.  It sat with 
its knees pulled up tightly to its chest, arms wrapped in a death grip 
around its legs and face pushed down against its knees.  The figure 
rocked slightly back and forth, whimpering quietly. All Llyra could 
make out about the figure was that the hair was a stark white, like 
sea foam, and the skin was a pale, robin's egg blue. The nails on the 
tiny, slender hands and feet were the pale, pearlescent white of a sea 
shell.  She could not make out whether the child was male or female, 
but she could read its fear, and her mother instinct kicked in with 
full force.

"Don't be afraid, Sweetheart," she crooned softly.  "I won't hurt you 
and I won't let those cretins hurt you either," she held out a hand 
and gently stroked the soft, seafoam hair.  The child neither pulled 
away from her nor stopped its whimpering, but did stop rocking.  

Llyra grew bolder and allowed her hand to caress the smooth, blue 
skinned back, all the while murmuring gentle words to sooth the 
child's fear.  Gradually, the arms loosened their grip, the head came 
up slightly and the little body crawled onto the bard's lap and into 
her arms.  

"Poor little mite," Llyra whispered as she rocked the trembling little 
one in her arms.  "You're freezing.  They could at least have given 
you a sheet or blanket or something.  Here, let's see what I can do to 
help."  Hoping that her tunic would be long enough to satisfy her 
modesty, she reached behind her and unfastened the tie that held her 
skirt in place.  It took a little manoeuvring but she finally managed 
to wrap the skirt around the child. 

"There you go, Honey," Llyra said as she tucked the worn fabric around 
her new charge.  "Not exactly what I'd call a positive fashion 
statement but it'll do in a pinch.  Does that feel better?"

The little one raised its head and looked trustingly into the bard's 
eyes.  Llyra's own eyes widened in surprise to see irises the colour 
of abalone shells staring back at her.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed.  "When these pirates do something dumb, they 
don't do it by halves!"  Llyra could not imagine anyone being so 
unutterably stupid as to risk the wrath of Poseidon, no matter what 
other deity was protecting them, by kidnapping a mer-child then hiding 
out on an island.  The minute they tried to set sail, they were toast.

As the woman thought about the absurdity of it all, the child stared 
unblinkingly at her face.  It reached up one tentative hand and 
touched the older woman's cheek, stroking back to her temple.  
Instantly, Llyra felt a surge of understanding, and a whole, sad story 
of a lost little girl began to play itself out in her head.

A little mer-child swimming away from her mother, following a sun beam 
that played across the water surface; swimming too far and becaming 
lost; blundering into a fishing net as she searched for the way home. 
 The net closing on her before she could swim to safety or call out to 
her mother.  Rough hands untangling her, then a blast of energy from 
giving her the unfamiliar legs and feet.  Her pitiful weeping and 
fighting, all to no avail.  Llyra's voice and concern, the first 
kindness she had experienced in several days.  Always behind the 
story; fear and confusion and noise and air and cold.  

Llyra closed her arms more tightly around the little girl.  "Don't 
worry, Baby," she whispered.  "No one will hurt you ever again.  At 
least, not while I'm around."

They sat together for what seemed a long time.  The slavers threw them 
a few hunks of stale bread and pushed a water skin into the cage, but 
otherwise left them alone for most of the day.  It was during this 
time that she overheard their full plan:  to send the bards, Hercules 
and Iolaus through the vortex to the Empress.  There, they would all 
eventually die in various and decidedly nasty ways, both for her 
amusement and to exact her revenge.

Llyra's heart sank at the news.  If the vortex was nearby, she could 
not hope to get away in the fog without the danger of blundering right 
into that phenomenon.  And what about the mer-girl?  How would she 
ever warn her friends of the impending danger and save her new little 
friend?

Getting a firm grip on her fears, she let her mind drift until she 
could feel Skylark's touching her's.  It was a long shot at best to 
try and reach the healer telepathically, but it was the best she could 
do on short notice.

A party of scouts returned toward what Llyra assumed was noon (hard to 
tell - not all of the fog had lifted and she could only just barely 
make out the edge of the slavers' campsite).  When she took a closer 
look, she could see that some of them were sporting livid bruises, 
obviously courtesy of her favourite demigod.  Nobody could throw a 
grown man into a tree like Hercules could!  It gave her a warm, fuzzy 
feeling to think of the look on Herc's face as he launched some baddy 
into the air to connect with something solid on the way down.

However, it soon became obvious that the leader of their captors was 
not similarly impressed with Hercules' prowess at disposing of his 
enemies.  Angrily the leader stalked to the cage and wrenched the door 
open.  He reached inside and grabbed Llyra by the arm with a grip 
meant to hurt.  

"Get up, wench," he ordered, pulling her to her feet and dragging her 
out the door.  "Make yourself useful.  You're going to be the perfect 
bait for us to trap Hercules and the others in the vortex.  Move!  
Leave the brat here and move!"  With that, the slaver forced the 
mer-girl out of Llyra's arms and dropped her to the floor of the cage, 
heedless whether he hurt her or not.  

But Llyra paid heed, and her mother instinct jumped into high gear. 

"You pig!" she shrieked and jabbed her fist as hard as she could into 
the man's startled face.  She connected with his nose which promptly 
blossomed into a splat of red.  The slaver roared with pain and let go 
of the woman, who turned to scoop up the terrified child and make 
their escape.

That one delay, born of her concern and compassion, was a mistake.  At 
their leader's cry of pain, the other slavers had surrounded the woman 
and child, menacing them with their weapons.  Llyra hugged the girl 
closer to her and backed up against the cage, her own heart pounding 
and her breath coming in gasps.

"Anybody touches this kid and they get double what he got!" she 
snarled her warning.  She doubted they'd  buy her `tough Amazon psycho 
killer mommy' act, but she had nothing else.  

`We are sooo dead,' she thought desperately as the men started to 
close on her position.  `Now would be a really great time for the 
cavalry to arrive!'

tbc

Llyra

PS: Oh, man am I in trouble!  Guys?  Girls?  You out there?  

Llyra
---------------------------
hey all!

Ok several things to cover this morning:

First a gentle reminder about one of the rules:

5. Of course, Iolaus and Hercules and some of the gang will be marooned
on the island with you and may be used in the virtual story. However, the
moderators retain the right to use those characters in the story setups
and those characters may be removed from the island at the whim of the
moderators. These characters may not be used to help you escape the
island. <<<You may not introduce new characters to the island.>>> You
will be
told who is with you.

We've been pretty lax about enforcing this one. We didn't mind ya'll 
continuing to play with Ares or Charon after we introduced them. We're
willing to let the whole empress thing play out but you've been warned no
introducing new characters to the island on your own.....

Since ya'll are in the middle of a storyline, we won't make a "game
goddess" post to the story at this time but we might later on in the
week.

Bwell will be in charge of the game most of this coming week. I will be
away from the web while at a Conference and won't be back until Friday
evening. I will probably handle next week's tribal council but Bwell will
be in charge of the game in the interim.

Llyra is the recipient of this weeks Immunity. Congrats!

This week's secret word was "giggle" Caro and Bev both used that word so
they will be leaving us as will Kleandra who sacrificed herself for the
cause by not posting to the story this week. You three may post your
goodbyes at any time.

Next week's immunity challenge for week 6 (Note: this is not a story
element, don't use it ok?):
Autolycus gets ahold of the Chronos Stone. List 5 things in history that
he might like to steal. Again, we'll just be drawing a winner from those
that respond.

*****

On his way back to his boat after delivering his note to Margui, Charon
picked up the three survivors with the short sticks. Bev, Caro and
Kleandra said their goodbyes and headed for shore. Since his back was
bothering him from all the rowing it was decided that only 3 survivors
would travel with Charon back to the mainland this week. The others were
needed to effect a rescue.

good luck this week!

Love
Ceryndip and Bwell
Game Goddesses
------------------------------------------------
"You know Herc..is it my imagination..but the fog has gotten even 
thicker..I can't see beyond the tip of my nose.." Iolaus gripes.

"You're right Iolaus..the fog has gotten thicker..the gods must be at 
work..we have to keep going..to rescue Llyra.." Hercules says in a 
determined voice. Hercules squints his eyes to see further through 
the thick pea soup fog.

Margui and Athena runs towards Hercules and Iolaus and because of the 
thick fog they practically run into the massive form of Hercules. 
Athena catches her breath first as she announces to Hercules "We saw 
Charon..he's taken Caro, Bev and Kleandra..they're safe and sound 
back in Greece!"

Margui squints hard to try to see the reaction on the other's faces 
at this news. Jason adds "It's good to know that somebody is 
safe...luckily Caro drew us a map before she left so that we can find 
Llyra and rescue her before it's too late."

Jason unwraps the scroll Caro left behind. "Caro scribbled this 
scroll right before Charon took her home. X marks the spot..here's 
where the slavers camp is located."

Athena tries to peer through the thick fog to the trees beyond but 
sees nothing but fog. "I just hope we don't run smack into the 
camp..what with this fog and all.."

Iolaus closes his eyes and focuses inward. "I'll lead the way..I 
think I can use some of the meditation techniques I learned back East 
to see through the fog.."

Skylark adds anxiously "We must hurry..I can feel it..Llyra is 
feeling very very scared and she's surrounded by slavers and she's 
trying to fend off all those slavers at the same time..oh if only 
Caro and Bev were here..they are such fierce Amazons!"

Iolaus says in an authoritative yet comforting voice "Come on..the 
camp is this way..I can see it through the fog.."

Hercules adds "I trust Iolaus with my life..if he says the camp is 
this way..then it is.."

Ares pops in anxiously "Hurry..please..Llyra is sorely 
outnumbered..she can't take them all on..she needs your help 
now..what's taking you people so long anyway?" Ares pops out.

Hercules shakes his head "Gods!" he mutters under his breath. The 
remaining Amazons trudge on through the ever thickening fog on their 
way to rescue Llyra.

TBC

Skylark
------------------------
"Anybody touches this kid and they get double what he got!" she 
snarled.  She doubted they'd  buy her `tough Amazon psycho killer 
mommy' act, but she had nothing else.  

"Ow!" Autolycus screamed, holding both hands to his bleeding nose.  
"Big time ow!  Man, that bard packs a punch!"  He backed away quickly 
from Llyra, who was still holding a defensive pose.  Skylark tried to 
pry the thief's hands away from his face long enough to assess the 
damage.

"Stay back, you swine!" Llyra panted.  The Amazons looked at each 
other in confusion.  Llyra was free of the cage, the slavers had been 
routed and she no longer had to worry about whatever nefarious plan 
they had for her, yet she was taking her current situation as if she 
were still being threatened.  Not only that, she was holding her left 
arm as if she were cradling someone very small against her shoulder.  
"Don't worry, Sweetheart," the woman spoke desperately to the 
invisible someone, "I won't let them hurt you!"

"Everybody stay back," Hercules ordered.  "I think we have more of a 
problem here than we thought.  She doesn't seem to see us."

"She saw Autolycus clear enough," Iolaus grinned, glancing over to 
where Skylark was helping the injured thief.

"She sees something, just not us," Hercules explained.  "Whatever it 
is, she perceives it as a threat.  I only hope we can get through to 
her before the slavers regroup."  Very carefully, he began to approach 
the frightened bard.

"Llyra," Hercules held up his hands and spoke very softly. "It's all 
right, Llyra.  It's us.  We've come to rescue you."

"Keep away from me!" Llyra jumped away from the demigod's outstretched 
hand.  "You won't take us again!  I won't help you trap my friends in 
that vortex!"

Quiet Wolf, fearing that Llyra may try to do something foolish, 
approached her friend from a different angle.  

"Please, Llyra, it's all over!" she pleaded.  "The slavers are gone 
and there is no vortex.  We looked everywhere!"

"No!" Llyra shouted, her eyes wild and wide.  "You're lying!  You're 
trying to trick me!  You won't catch us again!" she seemed to tighten 
her hold on the invisible someone in her arms.

"Who's `us', Llyra?" Hercules asked.  "Who are you protecting?  Tell 
us and we'll protect them, too, you know we will."

There was a collective murmur of consent.  If it would convince the 
confused woman to relax, they'd all agree that Iolaus was ugly (no 
matter how difficult that concept might be!)

"No!" Llyra was not buying this.  These slimy, no good, filthy slavers 
were trying to convince her that they were her friends, but she could 
see right through them!  She crouched down, holding the mer-child 
tightly, and prepared to make a break for it.

"Everybody, close in!" Iolaus shouted.  "We can't let her take off 
like this!"

Instantly, the Amazons closed ranks to surround their friend and 
prevent her from dashing off into the forest.  Llyra reacted with a 
strangled cry of frustration as she turned and barrelled straight 
toward Jason in an effort to escape.

The former king caught her in his arms and held on, despite her 
kicking and screaming.  Hercules and Iolaus quickly moved to help 
restrain the distraught bard, but it was not easy.  For a normally 
peaceful, gentle soul, Llyra was surprisingly strong and determined to 
escape.  She didn't seem to hear her friends as her friends and she 
fought to break their hold on her.

Unseen my anyone, Ares materialized to a scene of chaos.  Hercules, 
Jason and Iolaus were struggling to restrain Llyra while some of the 
others stood guard.  Quiet Wolf and Drakkar were trying unsuccessfully 
to sooth their friend even as she struck and kicked the men holding 
her.  Ares shook his head.  He didn't like the way things were playing 
out here at all, and certainly had not meant for things to come to 
this pass.  The slavers had been dealt with for the moment, but 
someone had done dirt to one of his people, and he was limited as to 
what he could do to help.  He waved himself into visibility.

"Need a hand, brother?" he asked casually.

"Not now, Ares," Hercules growled as he caught Llyra's flailing arms 
by the wrists.  She howled in anguish and tried to bite him.

"Yeah, well, this has gone on long enough, as far as I can see," Ares 
said.

"Tell us something we don't know!" Iolaus shouted, exasperated.  Ares 
forgave him his attitude because Llyra's foot had just caught him in a 
reeeeally sensitive spot.  That had to hurt.

The dark god stepped forward and held out his hand.  A look of almost 
compassion crossed his face as he laid his palm on the demented 
woman's brow.  Her eyes locked with his, but began to lose their 
wildness.  Gradually, she began to calm until her eyes could close, 
her muscles relax and her body went limp.

Hercules lifted the fallen bard into his arms.  "Let's move everyone. 
 Those slavers won't be gone forever."

With one final look around to make sure that there was neither vortex 
nor any other captive, everyone moved.

**********************************************************************
********

"The baby!" Llyra cried as she shot up from her pallet.  "Where's the 
baby?"  A strong, firm but gentle hand pushed her back.

"Ssssh, you're all right now," Iolaus soothed her as she grabbed his 
arm.  "You're safe.  Calm down."

"But the baby!" she insisted.  "We have to find her!  She's all alone 
and Poseidon's gonna be royally pissed if anything happens to her!"

"Llyra, it's okay!  Trust me!" Iolaus said and folded her into his 
arms.  "There was no baby!  It was all an illusion."

Llyra focussed on her friend's face, trying to determine if he were 
sincere or not.

"No baby?" 

"Nope.  No vortex, either, although there were a lot of slavers.  
They're gone now `cause we stomped `em."

Llyra grinned.  "I told them you would.  But ... there was a baby!  A 
little mer-girl and she was so frightened and she told me this whole 
story about being captured by the slavers and she was so scared and -"

"Llyra, I tell you again there was no baby, and certainly no 
mer-child.  Even slavers aren't that stupid.  Kidnap one of Poseidon's 
people and then hide out on an island?  Stupid doesn't even begin to 
cover it!"

Llyra relaxed against the hunter's shoulder.  The child had been so 
real!  But where had she come from and how had this all happened?  She 
asked Iolaus as much.  

In answer he showed her the nearly empty bottle of Tylenol.  

"Did you take one of these?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I took two because that party did my head completely in.  
What's that got to do with - Oh no!  You mean I was -"

"Drugged," Iolaus nodded.  "It looks like the bottle was tampered with 
before Owlie sent it. I doubt she was aware of anything amiss. 
Someone, probably another god, stuck a few hallucinogens in amongst 
the good stuff.  It was random chance that you got a couple of them 
and nobody else did."

"Dear gods above!" Llyra breathed.  This was serious, but it explained 
everything; from hearing Astride in the woods to the mer-girl's 
appearance to the threat of the vortex.  "That must have been some 
powerful stuff!"