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Medea
Medea literally ran into camp, much to the annoyance of
many of her Amazon sisters.
They were tired, injured, and people were dead...how
could she be running with such a light step?
They whispered among themselves, shooting glares in her
direction.
The Amazon hardly seemed to notice as she stood in the
middle of the encampment and raised her fist to the sky.
"OH YEAH! AMAZON POWER BABY! AIYIYIYIYIYIYIYYYI!"
A hostile silence answered her.
She raised an eyebrow and dropped her arm slowly.
"Okay...guess you aren't the enthusiastic
type," she paused for a moment, trying to comprehend
the obvious irritation surrounding her. Suddenly, she
brightened, "Oh! I get it! You guys are just
mellowing out until later. I betcha Celosia's got a big
victory party planned, huh? That's great! This is gonna
rock-I'm gonna go get a keg! WOOHOO! AMAZONS UNITE!"
This time she was not only met with a silence, another
sister brushed past her, throwing her off-balance and into
the dirt. "Hey! Watch where you're treading
chicky-"
"No! You watch where you're treading
Medea!" The cloaked figure retorted angrily, making
no move to help the regent to her feet.
The blond stared uncomprehendingly upward. What in Gaia
was she talking about? They'd just won a war, what was
everyone's problem? And who was this girl to think she
could talk to the regent this way? "Hades, what's
stuck up your . . ."
"You just don't get it do you?" the woman cut
her off. "People are dead. Amazons are
dead!"
"They died true Amazon warriors defending their
tribe. That's how I'll die and you probably will
too...what's your problem anyway? We won, didn't we? It's
not like they died for nothing!" The Regent got to
her feet, some of her panther spirit shining through as
she let her aggressive side take over.
"They died for two men!" the unknown
Amazon protested shrilly.
"They died protecting a new homeland," Medea
growled her answer. This chick was seriously
getting on her nerves. She knew an enemy when she saw one.
This was one Hades of an enemy.
"They died for people they didn't even know,"
the girl's voice was threatening to crack. Not now! She
wouldn't cry in front of this fiery, hotheaded youth.
"And a homeland they would have called
theirs!" This was ridiculous. It wasn't the end of
the world! "You're over-reacting. Who are you anyway?
Y'know if Celosia heard half of the things you're saying
right now-"
The Amazon's eyes blazed beneath her hood. Enough was
enough; this was a serious matter. And this girl needed a
serious kick in the pants. "I wouldn't say that if I
were you. When you let out your little victory cry I could
of sworn I saw her run into her tent. You've made a fool
of yourself. A little zest after a battle's one thing.
Disregarding the death of your sisters is quite
another!"
"All right, now I'm mad! Let's see if you're such a
big talker once I see your face!" The furious blond
insisted diving at her nemesis and ripping at the hood
that hid her face. In the end she managed to pin her down
just long enough to push back the hood. Her eyes narrowed
into hostile slits when she realized just who her enemy
was.
Léda
Glaring up at Medea, Léda was really starting to get
annoyed with this particular Amazon. In one flowing
movement Léda was on her feet and the hood was drawn over
her head again. Nobody had seen who she was except Medea.
But there were now a number of sad looking observers, but
Léda wasn’t finished dealing with this young warrior.
She motioned for Medea to follow her and walked off
towards an unoccupied tent.
Stunned by the fact that it was the head warrior, Medea
stood still for a minute. Here was the Amazon in charge of
the battle, one that had probably killed much that day.
Finally her mind kicked in, and she followed the cloaked
figure in to the tent.
Medea
Medea said, "Damn...Celosia must have been low on
Amazons when she chose you for Weapon's
Master!"
Léda had been expecting a lot of things to come from
the youth's mouth, 'I'm sorry' being one of her favorites.
This exclamation caught her off-guard. So off-guard that
she didn't think before she shot back with "And your
Mother must have turned in her grave when you were
made Regent."
The Weapon's Master immediately regretted her words.
That was Medea's sore spot and everybody knew it.
Medea's mother, the former Queen, had died only 2 months
earlier. Her dying words had been spoken to Celosia...and
Celosia alone. The Queen and her youngest daughter had
never been close, but they had been family. Though the
young warrior would deny it, it hurt her that Celosia had
been called into the royal tent that day and not her.
Her mother had turned the nation over to Celosia,
telling her to build her royal court as she wished. And
that was all. Everybody knew there was no mention of
Medea's position in the court, though Celosia claimed
there was, for her sister's sake. Medea went missing for a
few weeks after that incident. When she returned she wore
the mark of Velasca on her shoulder, a crescent moon
surrounded by the winding body of a crimson dragon.
Her eyes had been cold and unfeeling.
They looked like that now. "Medea...I'm sorry...I
never should have" Léda tried to apologize.
"Never should have what? I don't care what you
think of me, and I certainty don't care what my mother's
rotting ashes think of me," her voice was flat and
her face expressionless.
Her Mother. Why did it always have to come back to her
mother? She hated that bitch! Why couldn't they see that?
So what if she had never been there for her? Medea had
made out fine on her own!
"You can't lie to yourself forever y'know. One day
you're going to have to face the fact that you needed
her." Léda chose her words carefully. She still
despised the warrior before her, but she was the
Regent. And that last remark had been harsh.
"I DID NOT!" Medea snarled angrily. "When
are you people going to see that I didn't need her then
and I don't need her now?"
Silence.
The Weapon's Master looked thoughtful, than a look of
annoyance passed over her features and she opened her
mouth to speak. "You-"
"I believe you have corpses to tend to, do you
not?" the blond cut her off, leaving the tent. She
paused at the doorway and said in a barely audible voice,
"I suggest you watch where you tread Weapon's Master.
It's shaky ground we're walking on. All of us."
And she was gone, leaving a fuming Weapon's Master
behind.
Thalia
Léda turned to see Thalia standing in the doorway.
"What... what happened?" The Amazon's brown
eyes were full of concern. "I saw Medea storm out.
What's wrong?"
Léda sighed, unsure of what to say. Thalia sat next to
her, wincing as pain shot through her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" Léda asked.
Thalia resisted the impulse to shrug, knowing it would
do more damage than good. "I... I'll live." She
changed the subject. "What happened here? Is there
anything wrong?"
Léda leaned her head in her hands.
Léda
Staring at the door where the Regent had just walked
out, Léda couldn't believe what just happened. She hadn't
meant to bring that up, but when people you love are dead,
you tend to do strange things.
At least that's what she told herself over and over in
her mind. Léda left the tent to help prepare the funeral
pyre. But when she walked by Medea's tent, she could hear
muffled sobs coming from inside and once again regretted
her words.
Composing herself, she walked over to where there was
already a lot of construction on the wooden stand that the
bodies of each dead Amazon would be placed, then burned.
As she helped move logs, and bodies, Léda continued to
think about what had happened. Her mind then began to
wander back to her own past.
~ Several years ago Léda had just completed most of her
secondary training as an Amazon warrior, when she decided
to prove how good a fighter she was. So one night she took
off into the woods when she heard there was a dangerous
animal on the loose, apparently sent by the gods to
destroy as many people as possible.
She tracked the animal for two days, when she finally
found it, it was munching on its newest victim. The thing
was huge, with large horns and claws. It seemed to have a
thick leathery skin, with a thin layer of fur over it.
It's tail had a sharp, and painful looking blade at the
tip. Its eyes glowed, a dark evil red.
Quietly going from tree to tree, Léda positioned
herself over the beast. She jumped down on its back and
plunged her sword into it up to the hilt. It didn't do
much because its hide was so thick.
Jumping off its back as it reared, Léda moved a bit to
the side, trying to find a place where the skin looked
thinner. Deciding that like most creatures, its neck would
be most vulnerable, she drove her sword in deep. This time
the creature didn't look too happy.
Pulling her sword out, she jumped up into a tree again,
to see what happened next. After about 10 minutes of
moaning and staggering around, the creature fell. Léda
cheered for herself, and jumped to the ground again. She
walked over, and sawed off one of the horns for a trophy.
But as soon as she had finished securing it to her belt,
something strange started to happen.
At first, she thought it was just shadows playing tricks
on her eyes, but she soon realized that the creature
really was turning to dust. Its eyes fell to the ground,
now in the form of two rubies. After all that was left was
the eyes, and the horn, which she had already cut off, she
bent to pick those brilliant red jewels up. As she touched
them, a light flashed all around her, momentarily blinding
her. Then a voice spoke.
"You have proven yourself a true warrior, Léda.
But you have a destroyed a creature that was protected by
the gods. For this you will be given something which you
can not change, and which can be considered a gift, as
well as a curse. Be careful, and maybe one day this will
be lifted." Léda stood there stunned for a moment
after the light went away. She shook it off, thinking it
was only her mind playing tricks on her. Picking up her
stuff, she began the journey back to her tribe.
When she got back, she showed off her trophies with
great pride, and then retired to her hut. Later as she sat
fingering the fiery stones, she got an idea. First she
took her staff, and carved a notch at one end, and placed
one ruby in it after filling it with a sticky substance
that had recently been invented. She then carved an
intricate design around the jewel. When she finished, she
was very please with her work, but still didn't know what
to do with the other ruby. Finally, she thought of just
the right thing when her hand touched the leather band
around her head, which held her hair away from her face.
She too it off, and attached the jewel to it in the center
of where it would rest on her forehead. It was a good
thing these rubies were lightweight. She replaced her
headband and picked up her staff, and looked at herself in
a polished brass plate. Smiling to herself, she finally
went to sleep.
The next morning Léda felt odd, but could find nothing
wrong with herself. Shrugging she went to her days duties,
now proudly displaying her trophies. In her mind, she
planned to carve the horn into a dagger handle latter on.
But at one point, a young Amazon dropped a heavy
crossbow on Léda's foot. Anger mounted from no where and
Léda accusingly pointed a finger at the girl. What
happened next would haunt Léda for the rest of her life.
The energy moved so fast, and before anyone could blink,
that poor young girl was dead. Léda had stood there
unblinking for a moment, not believing what had just
happened. But when the realization came through, she knew
the words that had been spoken to her when she first
picked up the rubies were real after all.
Léda left the tribe and lived alone for a number of
years, until she learned how to control the power she now
possessed. During that time she also learned that she had
been blessed/cursed with immortality. Finally, when she
was sure she could never hurt anyone like that again,
unless she truly willed it to happen, she looked for and
found a new tribe. The one she was now in. ~
So far no one had discovered her secret and she intended
to keep it that way. She would not hurt anyone like that
again. She would have to learn to control her anger
better, or else she might. She decided to go apologize to
Medea, and headed off to find her.
Tern
Having witnessed the exchange, Tern quickly went after
her cousin and mentor.
"I couldn't help but hear," the oldest cousin
joined her.
"Lucky you," Medea muttered, kicking a tree.
"Look out, those trees are dangerous," Tern
winked at her in the darkness.
" Léda didn't have to go there."
"I know. And you know she didn't really mean it. In
the heat of the moment people say things, especially us
warriors," Terny leaned against a tree, observing her
mentor. Sometimes she wondered if she had made ANY
progress with the younger witch.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"Medea, you have to realize that, yes, we kicked
the asses of those men. But we lost a lot of sisters doing
it."
"I DO realize that. I'm not completely
insensitive," Medea was hurt.
"I know that. But some of the others don't. You're
one of the youngest warriors we have. You haven't seen the
battles and bloodshed that we have," Tern said
gently.
Medea flopped on the ground where Tern joined her.
"I just . . .I don't know . . .get this huge
rush."
"We were born on the full moon of Artemis. We feel
the rush higher than most. But you have to learn to
control it."
"Isn't that what you're for?" Medea teased.
Tern chuckled.
"I guess so. But I also have to show you how to
come to grips with your mother's death."
"I came to grips with it when she shut me
out," Medea snapped, the sudden turn of mood normal
for the witch.
"No you didn't. You buried your hurt. And we're
going to have to work through that if you are to gain the
respect of the others," Tern reminded her.
"I don't need their respect," Medea huffed.
"Then are why are you still here?" The older
witch asked. Medea glared at her.
"Come on junior. The funeral will start soon. We
need to honor our sisters." Tern rose and held out
her hand to the younger Amazon and they headed back
towards the camp.
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