Varia sat up straight, and the fur blanket covering her and Eve fell down to her lap, revealing her bare breasts which she quickly grabbed the blanket to cover as she heard another rustling in the bushes.
"Eve," she whispered while nudging the sleeping woman beside her. "Eve did you hear that?"
Eve groaned and slapped Varia's hands off her. "Hear what?" she sighed.
"There's something in the bushes," Varia whispered as the two heard another rustle.
"It's probably just a bunny or something," Eve rolled from her side to her back to look up at Varia. "And it doesn't even sound that close. How'd you even hear it?"
"I'm an Amazon," Varia said as she reached for her top while still holding the blanket tightly on her chest. "If I wasn't a light sleeper, I'd be dead."
"Always ready for a fight," Eve giggled, then quickly pulled down the blanket under Varia's hands to reveal her naked skin underneath. "Do you always do your nighttime battles in the nude?"
"Shut up," Varia hissed and quickly strapped on her leather top, then pulled up her bottoms and attached her belt under the blanket that still covered her bottom half. "You try sleeping in Amazon clothing," she said as she stood up and tied on her deerskin arm wraps.
"Varia, I'm telling you," Eve rolled back onto her side and pulled the blanket snuggly up to her shoulder as Varia grabbed her sword and scabbard. "It's probably just a little critter. You're paranoid."
"Better than dead," Varia said and began walking into the brush, toward the noise as Eve sighed and pushed the covers off of herself.
"Wait up," She moaned while putting on her new shoes. "I'm coming too."
"Why?" Varia said as Eve caught up to join her. "I thought I was just being paranoid."
"You are, and I can't wait to say 'I told you so' the second you realize it,"
"How very enlightened of you," Varia looked behind her to see that the 'Messenger of Eli' herself had a tongue sticking out of her mouth and a scrunched up face like a defiant child. "Now be quite."
Eve made a gesture on her mouth to look as if she were locking her lips in silence. Varia rolled her eyes in response, but not before smiling slightly, which Eve immediately noticed and relished. Another, now much louder, rustle came from ahead, and the women spotted a strange shadowy figure moving behind a large bush in front of them, in the dim moonlight that covered the woods. Eve's eyebrows furrowed as she realized the shadow was too large to belong to a "little critter." When she then heard a male voice say something that sounded like the word Ow, her body tensed at the idea that someone, possibly a dangerous someone, was among them in the dark brush.
Varia gestured to Eve. Eve grabbed and squeezed Varia's hand, then let go as the two split up to walk around opposite ends of the rustling bush; Varia with her sword, and Eve with no protection at all but her hand-to-hand fighting skills that did no good with a newly pacifist lifestyle. Varia walked slightly ahead of Eve, more ready to face the danger in the darkness.
As Varia made her way around the bush, sword in hand, Eve looked to her face to see the Amazon's eyes widen, then become clouded with a confused anger.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Varia said, in her normal and demanding voice that sounded significantly louder, as it broke through the previous, decided quiet of their stalk through the forest.
Eve walked up faster, and more relaxed, as she looked behind the bush and saw Virgil and Lucia sitting on their knees, with Lucia's hand covering Virgil's mouth. Lucia grimaced and slowly lowered her hand, and her head, as Virgil attempted a smile.
"Hey guys," Virgil said with a forced chuckle. "Wow what a coincidence running into you here."
Varia rolled her eyes and put her sword back into its sheath. "Answer the question, Virgil."
"It's my fault," Lucia broke in before Virgil could even open his mouth. "I've always thought that Amazons were so cool, and I know how you trained the other girls at the tavern to fight and trick all those warlords, so I was hoping that if I caught up with you guys, you could teach me some moves and I could maybe talk you into letting me travel with you."
"What exactly was your plan?" Eve asked, crossing her arms.
"I was going to follow you," Lucia said. "Until you were in some kind of jam. I figured I could help and then be your like sidekick or something."
"Like that would ever work," Varia snorted and walked over to stand at Eve's side. "I've already got a sidekick." She put her arm around Eve's shoulder.
"Hey," Eve elbowed Varia in the side. "I am not a sidekick. If anything, you're the sidekick."
"Uh no," Varia grinned, loving to poke at Eve. "The main hero is the one that fights, obviously, Miss Messenger."
"So you're like my bodyguard, and I'm the virtuous hero," Eve poked back.
"Oh virtuous one," Varia smiled and rolled her eyes. "Please, guide me, your humble protector, down your path of love and pretentious righteousness."
"Shut up," Eve giggled.
"So why are you here?" Varia looked back to Virgil.
"I was worried," Virgil said as him and Lucia stood up, no longer favoring the indignity of sitting on their knees while the women above them laughed and outwardly flirted with one another. "Lucia's already been kidnapped once just because you two were in the same tavern as her. I couldn't let her follow you alone."
"Well that's sweet," Varia said as she turned and pulled Eve with her back to their bedspread. "But we travel alone. You two are going back in the morning."
"I won't," Lucia said as her and Virgil followed behind them.
Varia stopped walking and turned to face Lucia.
"Why?" She asked. "You'll get yourself killed travelling with us."
"Look, I'm really smart," Lucia said, while Virgil nodded furiously in agreement beside her. "And I've saved a lot of money working at the inn. I can be a real asset to you guys."
"We don't need your money," Varia said.
"Actually-" Eve began before getting cut off by Varia.
"Look, Eve doesn't fight because of her 'Messenger of Peace' morals, and you don't fight because you've spent your life making money by submitting to men. I can't worry about protecting both of you. I'm sorry."
"I do not submit to men!" Lucia declared. "And I have just as much potential to learn how to be a warrior as any woman. Believe me, I grew up on some tough streets. I've gotten into plenty of fights in my life, and I have a mean right hook."
"Besides," Virgil chimed in. "I've travelled with Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve before. I can handle myself and protect Lucia if I have to."
"He is a good fighter," Eve said with the calmest voice of any of the four. "Varia, I don't see any harm in letting them join us."
Varia scrunched up her face in annoyance, and stood silently for a moment before conceding. "Alright," she said finally. "You can travel with us for a little while."
Lucia squealed happily and grabbed and squeezed Virgil's arm with a grin. "Yes, thank you," she said.
"But just long enough for you to learn a few moves," Varia warned. "Then, you go off on your own."
"Fine," Lucia said, still smiling. "Absolutely fine. You won't regret this I promise."
"Go get your things," Eve said as she walked backward to her bedspread. "I'm going back to sleep."
Lucia and Virgil turned to grab their belongings from behind the bushes, Lucia slightly hopping with each step in excitement.
Varia joined Eve under the covers, this time keeping her clothes on with the knowledge that they would be joined by two others that she didn't want seeing her naked.
"This is insane," She groaned as she laid her head down. "I'm an Amazon, traveling with a pacifist missionary, a prostitute, and a farm-boy."
"He doesn't live on a farm," Eve moaned, already lying on her side, ready to go back to sleep.
"Well he's still a boy, and that's bad enough."
Eve giggled and turned to kiss Varia's cheek. "You'll survive."