Leandra whistled and called for Pyre.The hawk swooped down and landed upon her outstretched arm.She removed a bit of salted meat from her pack and gave it to him.He gobbled it down in seconds.

"Pyre, I need you to scout ahead.", The young amazon explained,"If you see anyone you must report back to me immediatly.Now go." The Hawk glanced cock-eyed at her.She sighed in frustration,"Fine, Please scout ahead and try to make it back in time to let me know of any trouble ahead."Pyre took flight."That bird", Leandra grumbled,"Has a mind of its own."

She hummed softly as she walked along the path.If she kept a steady speed she should reach Corinth by nightfall.

*Ah, Corinth.With it's strong walls and mighty towers.It's about time I got out of that village for a little vacation.*, she thought to herself.*The gods know I deserve it.All I do is work.Watching Warriorbard, going to school, helping the Weapons Master, gaurding the queen...It never ends!Sometimes I wish I could just go live somewhere else for a couple seasons.Somewhere that I could still work on my drills and worship Artemis, but not have to worry about a little sister or a grumpy old Weapons Master.That would be great.But, that's wishfull thinking, I geuss.*Leandra's thoughts were interrupted by the shrill call of a hawk.

"I know that sound....", She whispered to herself,"Pyre!" Leandra tore through the woods and up the path. "I'm coming Pyre!", she called out every time she heard the hawks cry for help.Pyres calls continued and Leandra gave up trying to stop them but instead followed their sound.

"Keep talkin to me buddy.", she muttered softly, "I'm coming."

The sound drew nearer and nearer.She gained speed and flew out into a small clearing.She looked about.To her horror she saw Pyre caught in a net hanging from a tree.

"Pyre!"She ran to the hawk.She immediately reached for the net to try to free her companion, but a large, rough hand gripped her arm and threw her to the ground.She watched as the figure emerged from the shadows.

"This is the kings property.", he said gruffly,"I'll thank you for keeping your baby-snatching hands off of it!"

Leandra rose and glared at the man."Baby-snatcher?!How dare you address an amazon that way!And that is not your bird, or the kings bird, for that matter!That is my dear friend Pyre!So I'll thank you for keeping your sweat filled, cold-blooded hands off him!"She snatched the net that contained Pyre from the tree and was just about to walk away with it when the man tackled her unexpectadly.He held her arms fast behind her back.

"I shall address one of you man-hating savages anyway I please!", He whispered in her ear as he fastened ropes around her wrists.He pulled them tight.Leandra cringed in pain as the ropes burned against her skin.

The man rose and picked up the bird in one hand and dragged Leandra along behind him with the other.

"Where are you taking me?!", she demanded.

"To King Jason.", The man said flatly,"We'll see what he thinks of a bird-snatching, man-hater."

The young amazon struggled for what seemed like miles, but to no avail.The ropes were tied securely, she was not going to escape.She sighed softly as everything went black.

"Untie her, Angus.I'll announce her arrival to the king."

Leandra felt the ropes slip off of her wrists.She rubbed them as her eyes came into focus. "Where am I?", she asked softly.

"You are in the palace of Corinth.", the man who had captured her answered."So show some respect.On your feet, girl!"

Leandra rose warily to her feet and snatched Pyre up from beside her.She freed the bird and stroked his head softly. *This is not what I had in mind when I set out for a trip to Corinth.*

The great doors that she stood in front of opened and a small man stepped out.He took Leandra by the arm and led her inside, Pyre perched on her arm. *This must be the throan room.*, she decided.

"Who have you brought before me today?", A loud voice boomed.

The small man turned to her and beckoned her, "Speak, girl.What is your name?"

Leandra stepped forward and addressed the voice, "I tend not to give out my name to strangers."

The hilt of a sword fell heavily upon her back.She fell to her knees. "Foolish girl!Do you not realize that it is the king you speak to?", The cruel man who trapped Pyre exclaimed.

"Silence Angus!", The king ordered."I am King Jason of Corinth."He outstretched his arm to offer a friendly greeting.

"I am Leandra of the Amazons.", She spoke flatly , ignoring Jasons offer of friendship.,"And your abusive sentry brought me here."

Angus shot the amazon a glance of hatred and unsheathed his sword, aiming to strike her again.

"That's enough Angus!", Jason ordered angrily, rising from his throan."You know the penalty for striking a woman!Amazon or not."

"Yes your majesty.", he grumbled and dropped his sword to the ground.

"Why have you brought this woman before me?", Jason demanded.

"Your highness, she tried to steal royal property!"

"What property would that be?", the young king asked eyeing Leandra suspiciously.

"That hawk!I caught it and she charged into the clearing and tried to take it!Of course, She was no match for me.", he gloated.Pyre screeched and lunged at Angus.Leandra whistled and called him back to her quickly.He obeyed and perched on her arm.

"This hawk is amazon property!", Leandra exclaimed, "And as for you, Angus.The only reason you captured me is because you attacked me when my back was turned! That is not what we amazons call a fair fight.You sir, are what we call a Velion."

"A Velion?", Jason asked curiously.

"Yes.A Velion.In our culture that means, a back-stabbing, liar with no sense of honour.", Leandra grinned mischeviously.

"You little!", Angus lunged at her but was caught by the royal gaurds.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!!!!!", Jason yelled angrily. The gaurds struggled but eventually succeeded in removing Angus from the Throan room.

"Hmmm...some sentry you have there.", Leandra said flatly, but her eyes danced with laughter.

Jason noticed this."Leandra, this may all seem very humourous to you, But while in Corinth you will obey the laws.One of them being showing respect for palace staff."

"Showing respect?For that son of a bachae?!Never."

"Watch your language, Amazon!I will remind you that I have the power to determine your fate right now!"

Leandra's back straightened slightly, frightened by the outburst."My appologies.....your majesty.It just, this all seems so absurd!I was on my way to Corinth for a vacation from my village because things didn't seem fair there.And then, someone captures my only companion on my journey, and claims it as their own! Then to top it off, I'm sent here for you to pass judgement because I tried to reclaim my own property! Surely you can see why I'm upset! Gods, I wish I could just get away from all of this."

"I'm sorry, Leandra. I did not fully understand the situation. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Take the bird. It's obviously yours otherwise it never would have perched on your arm when you told it to. I'm terribly embarrassed about all of this. I feel it's only fair that I should offer you the palace's hospitality during your stay."

"Thank you for the offer, king."

"Call me Jason."

"Okay.....Jason. But right now I really don't want to be anywhere near this city. I came here for peace and found trouble. I must move on.", Leandra explained.

"I am sorry that you feel that way, Leandra."

"Call me amazon," she answered coldly and exited the palace.

Jason stood silent. He turned to his oracle, "Can she do that," he asked, amazed and somewhat angered at the girls sudden exit.

"Would it matter if she couldn't, sir," was the only reply. Jason slumped angrily in his throne. *How dare she turn down a kings hospitality? And then to turn down an offer of friendship?* He did not wish to think of it any longer. It angered him too much. "Oracle, who's next," he called grumpily.

Leandra sighed softly as she glanced back at Corinth. "I guess Corinth isn't the perfect vacation spot that I thought it was.", she said to Pyre. "Well, where do we go from here?"

She stared at the bird, waiting for an answer. Finding none, she looked ahead and said, "Well...I guess we go where ever the winds blow us."

She walked for many nights and many days. Stopping to build camp only twice when she could not move for the exhaustion. Her hair became wild and stringy, her clothes became the mirror of her journey, full of dust and sand. Her skin glowed with a golden tan. Only her deep green eyes remained the same, never changing their view on things. Ever searching for a place she could settle in for a time. She looked the part of a wild Amazon Princess.

She didn't realize all this though until the day she came to a charming inn.

"Kora's.", she read the name aloud. "Well, I suppouse we might as well stop here for a good night's sleep.eh, Pyre?" The hawk chirped in agreement. Leandra smiled at his reaction.

She let the hawk loose outside and stepped through the doors. She observed the inn. It was well kept and quite busy. She silently made her way to a stool at the counter. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. Whispers filled the room, 'Who's that?' and 'She looks like trouble.' and 'Is that an amazon?'. Leandra pretended not to hear as she ordered herself some ale and lark's tongue.

Eventually a girl who appeared to be her age came and sat at the stool beside her. Leandra pretended not to see her.

"You're an amazon aren't you," the girl asked.

Leandra raised her head to face her. "I am. Is that a crime around here," she asked indicating the whispering people around her.

The girl laughed. "Hardly. We're just curious. You see, everyone knows that the amazons are great warriors. A lot of us come from Cheiron's Acadamy."

"Well, the amazons may be great warriors but they can also be a bore," Leandra said flatly, trying to hint for the girl to leave her alone.

She wouldn't. "A bore?How could that be?" Getting no reply she added, "Oh, stupid me! Of course you won't tell all this to a stranger! I'm Lilith."

"Leandra," she said without emotion.

"Leandra. Cool name! So Leandra, are you from around here? I know of only one amazon tribe in these parts."

"No, I am not from around here. I am from the Xenite Amazon Nation," Leandra said with some pride.

Lilith was encouraged by this sudden appearence of pride in the amazon. She quickly took hold of it. "So what are you doing here?"

"Well...I've decided to take a little vacation from the village. I was going to stay in Corinth for a season or two but...that got complicated. So for the last little while I've been woundering the countryside," Leandra smiled slightly at Lilith's persistance.

"So are you going to stay here?", Lilith asked, getting excited.

"Probably not. Unless you can provide me with regular drill practice, freedom of worship, and some sparring partners," Leandra laughed.

Lilith's smile widened. "Leandra, can I call you that?"

"Sure."

"Leandra, the Acadamy is exactly that! It's a warrior's acadamy! Plenty of sparring partners, not only are you aloud regular drill practice, it's required, and freedom of worship!"

Leandra raised her eyebrows slightly. *Could this be it? My perfect 'somewhere'?* "Lilith, are there age requirements at your acadamy?"

"Yes, you must be between fourteen and nineteen summers old. You could join!"

"That's true. I could. I'm only sixteen summers old. But...."

"But what? Oh please come," Lilith begged and pulled the young amazon off of her chair. "Come on! At least come and check it out!"

Leandra laughed. "Okay, okay! Gods!" She left seven dinars on the counter and followed Lilith outside.

Leandra whistled twice. Pyre swooped down as always and landed on her arm.

"How'd you do that," Lilith demanded.

"He's trained to my voice. He obeys and understands what I say, and I understand what he says." Pyre looked cock-eyed at Leandra as always. "Okay, he understands what I say and obeys if I ask nicely. Stupid bird."

The two girls laughed.

"Does he have a name?"

"Yep. His name's Pyre," Leandra answered and stroked the bird's feathers as they walked up to the acadamy gates.

Lilith told the gaurds to open them. They did.

"Well, here it is! Cheiron's Acadamy," Lilith exclaimed.

Leandra turned in a circle examining the buildings and drill areas. She felt faint. This place was like a dream come true!

"What do you think?"

"It's...well it's breath-taking," Leandra answered slowly. "I must see inside!"

Lilith happily showed Leandra around the whole acadamy. Finally she took the amazon to meet Ciron himself.

"Greetings, Amazon," Cheiron called out to her as they entered the library.

"Greetings, Cheiron."

"Cheiron, this is Leandra. She would like to enroll in our acadamy!"

"Whoa, hold on there Lilith. I never said anything about joining yet," Leandra explained and then turned to Cheiron. "I would like to try your acadamy out, for a day. If you'll have me."

"Certaintly! Lilith, take her to a bunk. And perhaps introduce her to some of the cadets."

"Thank you Cheiron," Leandra thanked the kindly centaur.

"It's not every day an amazon princess asks to join your acadamy, Leandra," he said softly so that Lilith would not hear.

Leandra smiled at this, thankful that he would recognize that she did not want her royal presence known.

She spent the rest of the evening getting settled and getting to know the acadamy and Lilith.

The morning bell sounded as the sun dawned and a new day began.

"Oh...you've got to be kidding me," Leandra groaned and rolled out of bed. She reached for her pack and fished it out from under her bunk. She rummaged through it and removed a brush, some sinew, and her breast dagger. She slowly pulled on her armour. *This can't be my somewhere. If it were, I'd still be sleeping.* She smiled at her thought. She felt a pair of eyes on her back, she didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Morning Lilith," she greeted her new friend.

Lilith smiled at being recognized. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Who else would come to make sure the new cadet made it to morning drills?" Leandra grinned slightly. She pulled the brush through her hair and quickly braided a few strands of it, fastening the ends with sinew.

Lilith pulled the amazon to her feet. "Well, come on then.We haven't got all day!"

Lilith rushed into the drill room, dragging Leandra behind her. "We do morning excercises first," Lilith explained.

*Oh...gods. Have mercy* Leandra prayed silently and began stretching. "Do you cadets always get up this early?"

"Yep. Well, at least on school days," Lilith answered briskly and then pulled Leandra over to the ropes. "Wanna try these?"

"Uh....I guess...", came the young amazon's cautious reply. "What do I do?"

"Well, we both climb up these ropes and when we reach the ceiling we start trying to knock each other off. First one to touch the ground loses," the cadet explained.

"Alright," Leandra mumbled and hoisted herself onto the ropes. "But I still think it's way too early for any of this." Lilith laughed at this and she too got onto the ropes.

Leandra closed her eyes and summoned her strength before tearing up the ropes with incredible speed. Her hand touched the ceiling and she stayed there waiting for Lilith to come, wanting the cadet to have a fair chance.

Lilith eventualy clambered her way up and managed to touch the ceiling. She wasted no time but sent her foot flying into Leandra's stomach. The Amazon anticipated the girl's move though, and flipped through the air onto a set of rings. She turned around and threw herself at Lilith. The cadet slipped considerably. She now hung halfway down the rope, glaring up at Leandra. The Amazon laughed and flipped to the rope ladder.

"Come on, Lilith! Can't you do any better than that?"

Lilith growled and flung herself onto the other side of the ladder. She climbed until she stood across from the young amazon. Lilith threw a punch but Leandra caught her fist and held it tight. The cadet growled and threw another punch but missed. Leandra took advantage of this and pulled the girl to her side of the ladder. She flipped her over and held her by the feet.

"Do you give, Lilith?" A menacing laugh escaped Leandra.

"Never," came the reply and Leandra got a kick in the face that sent her flying backwards.

The amazon smiled. "I always did love a challenge," she muttered from the rope she had grabbed. She flew through the air and kicked Lilith full force in the stomach. The cadet lost her grip and fell downwards. She was about to hit bottom when Leandra caught her by the hand and hoisted her up onto the ropes.

"Do we call that a tie," Leandra asked innocently.

Lilith laughed and jumped down from the ropes. "Sure, but I would have won."

Uh-huh. Sure you would have. That's why you were the one who almost broke their tailbone, right?"

"Hey!I just let you win that."

"So you admit that I won."

"No, I didn't say that," Lilith laughed.

"I so beat you Lilith!", Leandra exclaimed and then bumped into someone. She spun around to appologize but then saw something that made her stomach sick. It was Jason of Corinth!

They exchanged looks and both yelled, "You!"

"What's this amazon doing here," Jason demanded of Lilith.

"I'm here to study with Cheiron, thank you very much. What are you doing here," came Leandra's brisk reply.

"I study here. How'd you get here?"

"I found her in Kora's, she was looking for a place to stay and do drills. I brought her here," Lilith explained.

"Figures," Jason mumbled. "You probably followed me here so that you could torture me."

"Me follow you," Leandra exclaimed angrily. "Hardly! Why would I follow a king who suppourts abusive, amazon-hating sentries?!"

"Hey! You guys mind explaining what this is all about," Lilith broke in.

"Certaintly, Lilith. This amazon-" Jason started.

"Leandra. I have a name, you know."

"Well I seem to recall someone telling me not to use it," Jason said coldly.

"Only after your gaurd dragged me twenty miles by the hair and beat me with his sword while my arms were bound," Leandra yelled back.

"Fine. One of the royal sentries captured Leandra's hawk. She tried to take it back but he attacked her and brought her to the palace where she denied me her friendship and refused my hospitality," Jason tried to explain to Lilith but Leandra broke in.

"Denied you my friendship? Forgive me, but, I didn't think that a king would want an amazon for a friend. Most people don't!" Leandra was angry that Jason would make such a comment.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your friend? You seem like a nice person," Jason yelled.

"Well so do you," Leandra yelled at him.

"Well then we should be friends," he shot back.

"Fine then! Friends?" Leandra ruffly held out her arm.

"Friends," he growled and shook her arm.

Lilith couldn't contain herself. Her entire body trembled with laughter. "You two..." she tried but couldn't stop laughing. "You two are the wierdest people I know!" She walked away laughing and left Leandra and Jason together.

"Lilith," Leandra called after her but Lilith had left to try and regain her composure. Both Jason and Leandra frowned angrily. They looked at each other unhappily. Then suddenly, they both started laughing. How stupid were they? Yelling at each other that they should be friends.

"Shall we try this again," Leandra asked smiling. "Hello, my name's Leandra."

"Jason. Nice to meet you." The young king smiled. "So Leandra. Are you going to be staying at the acadamy for long?"

"Probabably."

"Well, then. I should introduce you to some of my friends," Jason said and pulled her over to the sparring posts.

*What is with these cadets and pulling me around? My arm's going to pop out of it's socket soon!*

Jason pointed to the two young men on the posts. "Those are my friends. The short one's Iolaus and the other one's Hercules," he explained.

Leandra nodded ,her eyes grazing the curly haired cadet, and asked, "Jason, where are all the female cadets?"

Jason looked at her puzzled. "Well, you and Lilith are it. Didn't anyone tell you that?"

Leandra's eyes grew wide. "No I'm afraid no one told me that."

"You're still staying though, right," Jason inquired.

"Yeah, I guess....," She answered slowly watching Hercules and Iolaus dismount the posts and walk towards them.

Iolaus was the first to speak. "Hey! Do we have another girl cadet?"

"Yep. Iolaus, Hercules, this is Leandra. She's an amazon," Jason introduced her.

"An amazon! What are you doing here," Hercules asked and shook her arm.

"Well...home got a little boring. So I decided to look for somewhere else to stay for a few seasons. Then Lilith found me and well....here I am," was Leandra's reply.

"Yeah, there you are," Iolaus said and looked her up and down. The three boys stared at her.

Leandra rolled her eyes slightly and said, "So do we get breaks or anything?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We break for breakfast soon," Jason answered, breaking out of his trance.

"I see you boys have met Leandra," Cheiron's voice addressed the small group.

"Oh, uh...yeah," Iolaus said and spun his sword a few times, trying to look like he had been doing drills. The others did the same, discluding Leandra who restrung her bow intsead.

Cheiron smiled, amused at the cadets. "So I take it you will be staying with us Leandra."

"Yes, I'm staying. I've already payed my tuition," Leandra explained.

"Good, glad to hear it! I trust Lilith has already showed you around the acadamy and that your hawk will be left outside," Cheiron said.

"Of course, sir. Pyre doesn't like it inside anyway," Leandra nodded.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Jason mumbled.

"What was that," Leandra turned and asked.

"Oh nothing," came an easy reply.

Leandra shrugged and slung her bow over her shoulder. The bell sounded.

"Breakfast. Come on Leandra!" Iolaus grabbed her arm and led her through the archway into the Mess hall. *Well, at least this one doesn't pull me.* she sighed.