"What are you
talking about?" inquired Callisto as she floated on her back. "These
nightmares are already driving me insane. How could talking to Joxer
change that? Perhaps he'll have a solution for me."
"Child, this is a pointless argument," retorted The Other in a stern
tone. "Do not talk to your friend about your nightmares. This is a
warning that you ignore at your peril."
"Just what are you afraid of?" asked Callisto in a sudden flash of
insight. "You've been with me since my family died. These particular
dreams only started after I returned from the Void that Xee-nah sent me
to with the Hind's-blood dagger. In fact, these nightmares are why I'm
not now pursuing Xee-nah. If I can ease the torment I can continue The
Quest. So what's your problem?"
But there was no answer. Just like her to pout when I win, thought
Callisto. She is me and I am her. She knows what I think but I don't
know what she's planning. Madness. My madness, but I've lived with her
most of my life and will continue to do so until I die, I suspect.
Joxer went about
preparing a marmot that his companion had caught yesterday. He hummed
tunelessly to himself as he cut up the marmot and spiced it to
perfection. Today, the bumbling chef was going to try a slightly
different combination of spices, as he felt that the last marmot that
he had cooked had been just a bit off to his discerning palate.
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Once again,
the well-meaning mercenary went over his recent conversation with his
temperamental ally. The last few days had shown him that she was not
the same person as before. She had been a surprisingly patient mentor
as she had drilled and trained him into a slightly better warrior.
Although he still had a long way to go, the often-inept fighter was
pleased at his progress, and he fancied that his drillmaster was
pleased too.
Joxer had also discovered that Callisto had an inquisitive streak. All
kidding aside, she seemed to be genuinely interested in his stories, at
least when he played down his starring role. She was also quite willing
to share her extensive knowledge of the outdoors with him, although
there was too much information for him to readily absorb.
And Xena! Oh, yes, she could talk about Xena for hours. It seemed that
Callisto knew everything about the Warrior Princess. He'd be surprised
if Gabriel knew more about her companion than Callisto did. There
seemed to be a tinge of madness as his blonde partner discussed her
mortal enemy, and that scared him a bit.
But that was as close as Callisto came to talking about herself. He
knew it had only been a week but she hadn't yet told him her version of
what had happened in Cirra on that fateful night when Xena had visited
with her army. She never talked about her family or her early life
after she had found herself on her own. And the nightmares she had --
those she had never acknowledged to him until this morning.
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