Chapter 3

A Rude Awakening

Weightless. Like one was floating, in a dark abyss- had been swallowed by a black hole and was now lost in between two realities. It was black, and she could see nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing. She could feel absolutely nothing. For a moment she thought that this time death had truly claimed her being and now she was floating somewhere along the river of Styx, only to be gawked at by the occasional warrior hero that made his way across the river to the Elysian Fields to spend eternity.

But this thought soon began to dissipate as she realized one sense was still functional. She heard pelts. Small but fierce pelts of what sounded like water. Her other senses began to return, she noticed, when she could smell the humidity, feel the humidity in the air. And the next few smells of sweaty men in all of their manliness accompanied by the terrible throbs of pain in her body (mainly her back and arm) made her wish that she was in the death like phase known as what she found was sleep again.

Tessa rose, albeit carefully and slowly, up to a sitting position. She was on rock hard ground, but had no kinks in her body. Sleeping on the ground was something that her body had grown accustomed to after sleeping outside so many times with Jessica and their four-legged friends. Dark eyes pierced through the nearly black surroundings. Light from either side of the cave, which was longer than a football field in length, was dim light. It was early morning, long before dawn so there was barely any light at all save for the occasional lightning strike. From more observation Tessa found that the small army was mostly sleeping save for the few nocturnal soldiers playing silent dice to pass the time. This was only about 15-20 out of the 300 scattered about the huge mountain pass, though.

Jessica was laying beside her, sleeping. Hers was the only familiar face so far and from how easily she slept Tessa assumed it was okay for them to rest here, so long as they gave more help than trouble. That thought in mind she rose to her feet silently and gracefully gliding across the ground towards the entrance of the cave (it wasn't that far away, only about 25 feet sense Astinos had set her down the first place he saw fit).

Toe, heel, toe, heel- as silent as a hunting wolf.

Stepping over and around the occasional soldier, she finally made it to the huge stone arch, arms folded casually across her chest. Now she let her dark eyes feast on the storm above. Though it had died down from before she had passed out, it was still raging strong. The joys of living near the ocean. Eventually she let her body lean against the soft rock of the gate, the wind slightly flicking her black locks backwards when it blew ever so softly. The rain was merely misting her, not enough for her to move away.

"It's a relief to see you up and about." came a voice from behind. It was a deep voice; deep and rough like the thundering of the sea but caring like the small waves that fell on the beach at the same time. Tessa turned to look over her shoulder, her dark eyes coming to meet a set of dark eyes like her own. The dark eyes of whom she assumed to be the Spartan king.

"It's a relief to be up and about." she said, offering a small but polite smile of her lips. Taking notice of the slumbering men again she continued the conversation in an attempt to avoid an awkward silence and also to estimate how long she was out, "You arrived only a few hours ago?" she inquired.

A nod of the king's head assured her of this as he came to stand beside her, watching the storm as she was, "My men," he began, leaving out names for the sake of formality and fondness, "..told me of your wounds; how close to death you were." As he spoke, Tessa blinked once and looked up towards the man beside her, to be met eventually by his own eyes observing the medical work. "A fine job, your friend has done, in wrapping them." he said with a certain respectful admiration. Admiration at how much clean, neat, and effective work Jessica had done with the so very little she had, compared to the messy and unreliable work of men who felt they were to tough to care (which the attitude would only work in some cases).

"Thank you." Tessa said, a bit cautious at first, "We both passed medical courses with flying colors, but her score was always a tad higher than my own in things such as first aid." she admitted, a smile making it's way onto her lips as she recalled the times. She'd said such a thing, though, without thinking. In this age, women probably weren't allowed to perform such tasks. The King didn't press the matter.

"It shows wonderfully." He said, paying another kingly compliment. "When your friend awakes, I want to speak with the both of you. I cannot force you past your will, but I recommend you rest as best you can while you have the chance." and he turned to walk away.

Tessa analyzed his voice, his tone, what he said and how he said it. He wanted to ask something of her and Jessica.. and he probably had a child of his own. The man who was surely a king was only a few steps away before Tessa turned abruptly to call back for him. The name 'sire' nearly slipping out from her lips to call him, but it was quickly changed it to a "Sir." She said it silently, (there was not too much to worry, the men were laying towards the belly of the cave, but it still was a cave) but loud and firm enough so he could hear her and would turn to face to listen to what she wanted to say or ask.

He did.

"Forgive me. What is your name?" was all she said at first, then she offered something else not a second after, and smoothly at that, as a bargaining chip,"I'm sure you already know of mine and my friend's." Her eyes seemed almost desperate, grasping for some form of truth in this world that she couldn't seem to find. He stared a moment, before he responded with a simple, "Leonidas." and turned to go about his business.

Leonidas was his name. King Leonidas. The King Leonidas of Sparta who led the brave 300 to battle against 2 million Persians(as legend goes) for Greece. His voice was fierce, but tame to his will unless he wanted to make himself fearsome; and his eyes, caring. Of more than just himself, but he cared for his men as a friend would a friend or a father would a son. It hit Tessa. This cave, this mountain pass, was filled with more than just Spartan soldiers. It was filled with friends, fathers and sons- brothers, fighting for the sake of free men.

Tessa turned to lean once again against the rock, gazing up at the lightning and letting the thunder sooth her now flustered mind. Dwelling to deep in this was not something that she wanted to do unless Jessica was discussing it with her. Her stomach churned in fear at first about how many more dangers lurked in this life than at home, and then the fear turned into excitement. Now she would wait until Jessica had awoken, and maybe try and get some sleep herself.



Sleep came reluctantly and slow the second time she tried to sleep. It seemed as if she could never get a good rest unless she was physically exhausted and even then she only managed less than 7 hours. Hence the reason she often worked out for 2 or more hours a day(depending on what else she had going on). Training, but also for purposes of sleep. Taking medication was just as easy if not easier, but she'd never been one for medications unless Jessica had shoved them down her throat. Being in such a foreign place with people she didn't necessarily trust to be around Jessica didn't help much either.

Tessa found herself only in a faint sleep for what she predicted to drag out for only an hour or two. In that time, she laid on the cool rock beside where she and Jessica slept (the cold of it soothing to her inflamed back), flipping a rock in the air and catching it like one would toss a coin. Eventually Jessica, with the other men, began to stir. Some had already begun to cook meals.

"How'd you sleep?" Tessa asked Jessica in English. She spoke in a calm, hushed tone- her voice resembling something much like rain itself. Strong but fluid. Jessica found her hands over her eyes a moment as she laid, knees bent upwards before folding her hands behind her head,"I should be askin' you that." she said, turning her head to look at Tessa on the rock.

"He said he wanted to speak with us when we were both awake." Tessa said again, waiting patiently on the outside but excitement and anticipation for the look on Jessica's face was eating her up on the inside. Waiting for that important question Jessica would inquire. "Who?"

Tessa would pause for a moment and only a moment before she said steadily: "The King." and then bent her head a bit backwards to look at Jessica, "King Leonidas." A smile slowly slithered onto her face at the widening eyes of Jessica, for she too had that look at the sound of his name. Of course Jessica knew what she was talking about, she was standing there with Tessa when they were being questioned by the leader who had been called sire. They knew the facts- the hardest part was grasping them.

After Jessica regained her composure, which didn't take long,"Did he tell you what for?" she asked. She couldn't think of much reason that a king, a King of Sparta no less, would want to speak with them other than how the hell they got here and why, of all places, they came from the sea. Their strange clothing and looks compared to other Greeks (she stuck out more than Tessa did) might have been a topic of interest, but what else? Truly she was surprised they cared enough to let them stay here.

"Nah." Tessa said, swinging her legs over the rock and onto the ground. She gave her back a few seconds to adjust before standing and lending her unhurt arm, or at least the one without the gash in it, to Jessica.

"Do you have any ideas on where he is?" Jessica asked as they began to walk forth deeper into the belly of the pass. Tessa took a moment to look around until she spotted what she was looking for. "Excuse me." she said, kneeling down to one of the sitting warriors sharpening his spear. This man, like most was fairly young, as far as men went. He only looked to be in his early or mid-30's. He looked up, and like most of the soldiers here, seemed to be well mannered, at least out of battle. "Yes, m'lady?"

Tessa had to pause to get a grip on herself, never being accustomed to the old speak of ancient days. "Could you point in the direction of.." a pause. She had no idea how to refer to King Leonidas. What would be too proper, or what would be too casual and therefore offensive. Quickly she covered it up, "...the..leader?" Dark eyes followed the path of his finger to an area near the far side of the cave. A nod of her head and a quick but equally polite thank you before she rose to Jessica. "That way." She said.

"Unbelievable.." Jessica sighed, following after Tessa only to be responded to with a fake smugness that said, "I tend to have that effect." by Tessa.

This small stroll to the other end of the cave was taking longer than one may have suspected it could. However this was not something that was alien to them- trotting up and down a field about this size, though a bit smaller, they had grown accustomed to. The conditions here and the climate was also one they had favored over others. Barefoot on the mountain stone, thin clothing so as to feel the humidity that the storm had left, and be in open air near an ocean where many storms had the potential to brew. The only thing surely both of the girls would agree on would be to rid themselves of the moldy scent of sweaty men- but even this they became accustomed to in such a short time and soon it was apart of every other scent they knew in minutes.

"Up there." Jessica announced softly, pointing with her head towards two men standing outside of the cave overlooking the land on a rock platform. Her voice, unlike Tessa's, was not fierce like the storm. Albeit both had their boldness and grace, hers flowed like a river, and was even comparable to the sun's golden rays.

Tessa followed her gaze, spotting the two familiar leaders. One, the great King. The other she wasn't sure of his name, but knew he was a friend and trusted advisor of Leonidas. As they narrowed the last few feet in approaching she scrambled through her mind at what to address him. Sire seemed too familiar for he was not the king of Jessica nor Tessa. King Leonidas seemed either too formal or too personal and 'your majesty' was simply out of the question. But as she emerged through to the outdoors, sprinkled by a small sheet of drizzle and pushed forth by soft rolling thunder, she felt no more fluster.

"You asked to speak with us?" Tessa said, announcing their presence a few feet behind them. Her accent was getting better, she picked up foreign accents quickly.

"I did." he confirmed before waving his massive arm to the man standing beside him, just as he was the night before. "The captain and my comrade, Artemis." he said. As he was introducing his friend, the captain's features were noted of. A beard that was beginning to grey, his hair a dark brown and slightly matted but groomed as best it could be. Nearly to his shoulders but had thinned from old age. He seemed familiar. "You've already met his son, Astinos- and his friend Stelios." Ah- so that's why.

As Captain Artemis was introduced he politely bowed his head towards the young girls. They returned the polite gesture of acknowledgment, Jessica smoothly leading in with the announcement of their own names. Surely Astinos and Stelios had already reported back to their sire, but for the sake of manners and safety, "My name is Tzesika, and my friend Tesa." Jessica said, remembering easier this time to pronounce the names in Greek tongue. Her name was harder to remember than Tessa's for Tessa's name only lacked the extra 'S' in Greek. It was difficult, or rather, different, pronouncing 'Jessica' entirely without the 'J'.

Tessa bowed her head accordingly as she was announced, she saw it fit to do no more than that where as Jessica probably would have kicked her for being so blunt. Leonidas nor Artemis seemed to notice, nor did they seem to care how they were addressed. Leonidas gave a nod of his head before turning his gaze to stare back out over the rocks down the mountain. He was evaluating something, but what it was they would have to find out.

"You arrived here, coming from the sea, and you do not know of how you came to be here." he stated, and then turned his gaze on Tessa and Jessica. "You do know that we are fighting in a war?" he said again. Though it had a hint of a question in it, it was more of a statement. This Tessa caught and wouldn't let go in her mind. He knew something that they didn't. But slowly, she and Jessica nodded as if to answer his already answered question.

"A man cannot walk away from a war without a scar or two to tell the tale." A smirk came about his face,"I know it's difficult to believe, but even Spartans are mortal men." There was a moment of silence, but Jessica and Tessa both took this as Leonidas taking his time speaking rather than he actually waiting for an answer. They said nothing- save for the small smirks at his comment.

"I've only seen so much of your work but it's already clear that you know more than a few simple men about medicine..," and he turned to face Tessa and Jessica, sitting back on the rock behind him,"..once the fighting starts, there will be injuries. Could I count on you to mend them?" he said, motioning towards his men in the cave.

Jessica began to analyze the situation. They had no where else to be, no way to get back to their own time as of yet, and even if this were only a dream they were two girls who were alone in an otherwise unknown world. What other option did they have? Tessa, while Jessica doing the analyzing, was thinking to herself. Her brow furrowed in slight suspicion and somewhat disbelief. "You're not making us?"

A soft chuckle emerged from Leonidas, Artemis joining him with his own rough chuckle. "We are fighting for free men, not slavery." was all he had to say. Yes, that's right. These Spartans are fighting for freedom against the Persian empire. Fighting as free men, here of their own will for their king and their families.

Tessa glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Jessica before turning back to Leonidas. "You fight for the sake of free men- then it would be our pleasure to help in any way we can."

"You do understand what you are getting yourselves in to?" spoke the Captain this time. They were both fathers, this instinct to protect these daughter-like figures was in both of their heads.

"Of course we do." Said Jessica, and a smirk that would resemble much like the ones of these warriors appeared on their faces,"Why do you think we agreed?" continued Tessa. At that moment, one could swear that these two women were Spartans by blood (if not only by heart) like the rest of them.

Leonidas, as well as Artemis, clearly amused and respectful of such spirit, smiled and nodded in answer. "Very well, then." said Leonidas. "Tomorrow," he continued, "The Persian troops will probably reach us some time in the morning. Once the battle is over you're free to come and scavenge the bodies for anything you may need before we dispose of them ourselves."

He stood to his feet, then, acting as if he forgot to add something,"Oh," he said, waving his hand slightly in the air,"And should any bodies of our own men fall, clear them out of our way and tend to them." A smirk. She knew why he left that part for the end with such a nonchalant attitude, and returned it with a smile of her own and a small chuckle.

"Sire." came a voice. A small voice, less fierce than most of the men here, but just as strong. It came from behind him, and as Jessica and Tessa turned around to meet the man they bowed their head in a polite manner and he returned the favor.

"Yes, Dilios?"

"The Arcadian's are in position as you requested and ready for battle, and Daxos wishes to speak with you." said the soldier. In response Leonidas nodded his head and began to follow into the pass to leave for the camp. "You're free to scout the land for anything, as well. But be careful." he called back to the girls before leaving entirely.

Captain Artemis stayed back with the two women. "If you do wander off, I'd prefer you to take Stelios or Astinos with you, granted their free of other tasks." he said.

Jessica nodded her head in understanding with a 'yes, sir', before the captain wandered himself back into the caves.

Now that they were alone Tessa spoke in English to Jessica, but her eyes were on the Spartan warriors,"What the hell could we find out here in the cliffs.."

"Maybe a shrub or two that happens to be an herb?" Jessica proposed, trying her best to make the situation be hopeful. Unlikely, but they would try it. After all, they had nearly a whole day to prepare as best they could for a sure battle tomorrow.



Light had begun to get plentiful in the land of Greece, especially by the sea-side cliffs of Sparta. Apollo had already ridden so far in his fiery chariot and the clouds had been kind enough to depart for the time being for the rest of the land. So that plants such as crops and herbs could feed themselves to grow. Unfortunately, none grew in such an arid place as the cliffs; or at least none that they could actually use as far as they knew.

"Why do you think he asked us to stay." Tessa spoke up. Ever since they morning they hadn't spoken unless it was necessary to speak; such as asking for Astinos and Stelios to come with them (to Tessa's dismay and hurt pride). She stood up straight from her kneeling position in the dry grasses growing on the top of a flat cliff. "He is a man in ancient Greece. A king- and a Spartan King no less. What use could he have for two girls no older than 16? Then again, this is Spartan society. But we're foreigners, obviously. For all they know we could be Persian spies." Her voice was becoming more hostile and riddled with frustration,"These are only bandages- surely it isn't enough for him to put his trust in us for his entire army."

"You're asking me these things like I know the answers to them." Jessica commented, breaking off the stem of some small weed-like plant to observe it more closely. "Why are you getting so angry? You should be thankful that he has even allowed us to tag along. Giving us something to do wasn't necessary."

There was silence as Tessa let out a deep and slow breath to try and calm herself, facing her eyes to look out over the distance into the ocean horizon. A small breeze blew, flicking back dark locks of her wavy hair as she stood. Jessica could tell by the silence her answer hadn't made matters worse. "Do you want to know how I see it?" Jessica offered, standing to her full height and turning slightly to face Tessa. "Leonidas wouldn't have asked so much of us if he didn't think it was in the best interest of his men. It's not they're intention is to harm us either. King Leonidas has a method to his madness- I trust that. I trust him, and his men." But upon further inspection she saw the look on Tessa's face as she lowered her head in what seemed like shame. "But that's not the reason for the temper tantrum is it?"

Tessa let a small chuckle emerge from her lungs, still keeping her head bowed shamefully towards the horizon, only allowing the sight of dead-looking grasses to her eyes. "I just.." she began. It was obvious she was fighting back tears- and with ease,"This is all my fault. For bringing us here, and of all times. We might as well be dead and in our graves..!-" But as she looked up for face Jessica, what met her eyes was her fist growing ever so large in front of her eyes. The next thing she knew there was a smash into her face. It felt as if her skin had gone numb at the moment of contact- a crack in her nose? The feeling of the warm ground beneath her bare feet had also vanished, and an instant later Tessa knew she had been sent through the air. It was when her vision returned to her, looking up at the sky, that she realized Jessica had hit her hard enough to knock out her vision. Her peripheral vision told her the ground was close, so gaining her senses the best she could she stuck her hands out in front of her and stopped herself on the ground, flipping up into the air to land on her feet in a crouching position.

There Jessica stood, half bent over with her left leg leading in a powerful lunge. Such force from a punch could only come from Jessica. For a moment she was dumbfounded; her mind blank, her face numb, and her nose broken, everything seemed to freeze in time. Astinos and Stelios had turned at the sound of rising voices in the unknown language, only to find the fist of Tzesika in the face of Tesa sending the dark haired woman flying back. To their surprise she had good enough reflexes to change her direction in a well balanced flip to the balls of her feet. Even more to their surprise, the one of them had so much power as to send a human body in the air. They stood tense, wondering if these two girls were really allies and if they would have to break up a female brawl.

Tessa, now gaining her senses, slowly rose up to her full height. She now realized she might have a broken nose, for she couldn't feel it, and also that blood from her nose and upper lip was trickling down her face. Tessa also came to realize that Jessica had just done her a big favor, and at this she slowly began to laugh. Jessica would join in not so far behind, setting both hands on her dangerous hips and smiling brightly. Tessa, in the meantime, stopped her laughter long enough to speak. "My nose isn't broken is it?" she inquired.

Upon further examination which required Jessica to come closer: "Nah. Almost, though." It seemed now that they couldn't stop giggling.

"What in Hades' name was that about?" Stelios asked, raising his chin towards the bloody face of Tessa. He would not let himself be ignored.

"Tzesika keeping me sane." Tessa replied, switching her tongue back over to Greek now that the two Spartans were in the conversation. After she said this the bottom of her tank top was lifted from her abdomen to whip her face clean (an act that of course wouldn't go unnoticed.) and only replaced once she was satisfied all of the blood was removed. A yawn erupted from her mouth, quickly covered by her hand. It was when she could smell again that she noticed a scent, over Jessica's conversation with the spartans, mainly Astinos. Before her mind could protest her feet had already begun the journey to the source of this sweet and slightly minty smell.

Tessa was so concentrated on following the scent she hadn't payed too much mind to the wonderful sensation of warm, dry grasses on her bare feet- or to the sound of the flutter of Stelios's red cape fluttering behind him as he followed. Astinos stayed near Jessica as she searched among the grasses for other herbs. "What have you found?" came a deep voice from behind her. It was then that she was brought back into reality, free from the spell of the sweet scent. Instinctively she turned her dark eyes up to Stelios before glancing back down a smooth hill in the shade of a cliff. It could be passed off as a meadow if it weren't for the rocky and sandy terrain, where most things that were growing already looked dead. "Do you smell that?" was how Tessa responded, looking back up towards the herculean Spartan.

It was at that moment that she actually, for the first time, took notice of his features that seemed to be common among this small Spartan force. Though she made sure to keep her eyes on his face (now realizing his hair was more of a dirty blonde than brown and his eyes more of a blue than light brown- stormy weather could make features seem a lot different than they were), for the most part as he looked out into the 'meadow'. A chiseled body- abs, arms, back, and chest- all of it was just muscle. This was plausible, though, considering that Spartans trained physically practically as soon as the child could walk. Technically, they were perfect. All physical imperfections were bred out by the death of those who were unlucky enough to lose a fight or to be born unhealthy. It made a thankful feeling wash over her that she was born in a less fierce time in a pretty lenient society. Should she had been born in Ancient Sparta, she could have been discarded for at birth her respiratory system, for lack of better words, sucked. Of course, she grew out of it now and was one of the stronger females.

"It smells like a flower." He said, clearly unamused and not interested in something that could be as peaceful as a flower. Men. Tessa responded with an equally curt, if not more,"Exactly." Turning her fierce gaze back on the rocky meadow below her she surveyed the surroundings. Well she could jump down the jagged hill, that was easy, and it wasn't so steep that it would be trouble to climb up. With all now figured out, she surveyed the hill one last time. Then with her right foot, she stepped foreword on a smooth rock that protruded slightly from the rest of the rocky hill. Pushing off with the muscles in her right leg she sent herself soaring into the air. A small grin swam smoothly onto her lips as she felt herself soaring through the air. Jumping from high places was one of her favorite things to do, and she'd become good at landing because of it. The sensation of falling, of weightlessness, and the adrenaline rush she got from it was all too great. The wavy, espresso colored locks of her hair she felt begin to rise as she fell towards the sandy floor. Get ready. Whoosh! A silent landing with the air from it making a small dust circle around her. Right on her feet without a wobble. Terrific!

Now she examined the bush that was growing slightly in the shade of the rocky and sandy terrain. Satisfied that it was the ancient form of the Hyssop, the Hyssopos, she began harvesting all parts of the plant from every root to every flower petal, a calm smile resting on her face at this unlikely discovery and still giddy from jumping off of the hill. Stelios preferred the top of the hill at the moment, thinking from a battle point of view. It would be easier to jump down and simply smash the enemy with his bare weight than to take the trouble and mess to slice him up with his sword. It was also better to look over the area, and stay guard at the top in case of an above attack. But in the midst of the guard duty that he gave himself, there was a distraction that before he hadn't given enough credit to sway his mind. That figure below in the odd clothing; clad in black pants that hung loose but the band still seemed to be tight around her waist, and without any type of strap to hold it up. She still wore the navy blue top that had been torn in the back and front from the rocks just yesterday, with thin straps to keep it up around her shoulders. Though in other parts of Greece such revealing clothing for women would be unheard of it was not so uncommon for a woman in Sparta. Still, it was rather curious clothing. Of course, he would never admit to himself (at least not yet), that it was the woman in the clothing, rather than the clothing itself, he was interested in.

Carefully but quickly Tessa dug back the rough soil and sand a bit to loosen the root before plucking it out. Her mind had turned to other matters in this now routine job, she didn't worry about it. Her peripheral vision told her Stelios was less than 15 feet away on the hill, and that no other human souls were too close to her. None that she could feel or see at the moment anyway. Astinos had popped into her head, and the fact that he chose to hang behind with Jessica. Sure it could have been the opposite way around, but he had chosen to stay with Jessica (she preferred not to fluster her mind with the other end of that theory..). It made her relaxed smile grow into a grin and made a young giddiness arise within her, so fierce that she had to concentrate on containing her giggles. To an onlooker it may seem odd, but Jessica was her best friend. They were like sisters and had served on the same teams for many years. Comrades and sisters- so it was easy to get excited about Jessica having a possible man that she fancied. Or at least who fancied Jessica. He wouldn't be the first, but he seemed genuine rather than the shallow scum that normally hit on them, and occasionally they fell for. But those memories were blocked from her mind for now.

Tessa had harvested all of the Hyssopos there was to harvest, which wasn't much considering they had 300 men to care for; but then again considering what these men could do, what she had was more than enough. Letting out a sigh she sat back on her ankles, resting on her shins. The dry rock and dirt was brushed off of her hands and she used her long nails to scrape the dirt out from under them and clean them again. Once this task was done she allowed her neck to relax, raising her head and turning it in the direct path of the soft breeze which carried the scent of the ocean.

A figure stood watching her on a far away cliff. Impossible. Tessa blinked a time or two to make sure she wasn't somehow hallucinating. The man still stood, and even more strange he wore the Spartan trademarks. A red cape that was flickering in the breeze, a spear, and a shield with the emblem of Sparta on it. No doubt the crest on his cape bore the same emblem like all Spartans. He seemed to be...crouched. But this man was too far away for her to tell whether he was just crouching over or if this was a disformation of his body. She blinked again, and turned her head to look back up at Stelios. He was still there, looking down upon her, but when she turned back to gaze upon the other Spartan-clad man, he was no longer there.

Shaking the phantasmal meeting from her mind she gathered the Hyssopos in her arms and began the short walk up the hill back to Stelios's side. If she didn't have the rough callus on her feet from walking barefoot all of the time it would have been a painful trip, but it was in fact quite enjoyable for how warm and soft everything felt. "Stelios." she recited his name to get his attention, waiting for a 'hmm?' and the slight raise of his brow before continuing. "You and Astinos were the only ones who came this far out with Tzesika and I, weren't you?" She inquired. Stelios came to an easy pause in the shade of another small cliff that hid the rocky meadow. At his stop, she too paused her walk and turned to look up at him.

"You've seen someone else?" he asked. Tessa had to pause for a moment to analyze the sentence (most of the men they spoke to learned to wait patiently as they analyzed what was being said and how to respond). In the time they'd spent here, they had been speaking it quite fluently, but they still lacked the proper Greek accent and knowledge of the ancient slang. She caught the main parts of the sentence, and something she supposed had the pronoun 'you' in it. Yes- he'd just combined 'you' and 'have'. Something new she learns every hour here.

"There was a man on a far away cliff watching me. I only noticed him when I looked up, and when I looked back he was gone. I don't know how long he was there." she paused, "He was dressed as a Spartan warrior."

The heavy brows of Stelios furrowed, he took what she said seriously but would make Tessa check her own mind before he trusted it. "You're sure of this?"

Tessa thumbed through her mind one last time before nodding slightly,"Yes. My eyes have never deceived me before. I admit he stood in the shade of a cliff, but even over a distance it isn't hard to pick out a red cape and a Spartan shield."

"And you're sure he was looking at you?"

"We may have been close to each other in distance, but you were higher in elevation than I was. The Spartan's head was angled down to where I sat and once I spotted him he vanished. It would be more likely that, if he wasn't concentrating on me or I didn't spot him, he would have stayed in position."

"Were you able to see what this man looked like?"

Tessa paused again, thinking back to the image of the man, hunched over but still seemed to have an aura of pride about him, even over a distance. She recalled the glint from the sun on a metal on his head. He wore a Spartan battle helmet, but it looked as if it didn't fit physically correct on his head. One side was farther up than the other and it seemed as if the hole for the head was simply too small for the way the man's head seemed to be shaped. The way he was crouched over and stood, she was sure he was disformed like a hunch-back for he didn't stand as tall as the Spartans she was around and his back seemed abnormally large. "The distance might have been too great for that kind of detail..," and she paused, taking another mental glance at the image to be sure,"..but he looked disformed. Like a hunch-back."

"No one else?"

"No."

Stelios, as he led Tesa back towards Astinos and Tzesika, couldn't help but let this thought bother his mind. If this man that Tesa claimed was watching her truly was a hunch-back there was no possible way he could have been a part of their Spartan army, or even part of the Spartan nation. All of the children who were disformed were tossed over a cliff and into a valley, and if he had any other physical imperfection he would have been killed in his adolescent years. What seemed more likely in his mind was that this man was a spy for the Persians and Tesa had simply misjudged how he looked with her eyes. What's even more puzzling is why he would have been watching these girls, of all people, rather than getting the coordinates of the main pack of the army.

"Did you find anything?" Jessica asked in Greek, standing up from the grasses to look at Tessa. Obviously she did, her arms full of the long stems of some plant. It was so large she had to spread her arms out to simply walk with it. The lavender buds and petals of the flowers, though, made Tessa seem more like a goddess statue with her designated plant rather than some girl picking herbs.

"Hyssopos." Tessa said, a broad smile coming on her face as if she was holding gold. Jessica only returned this with a confused look. "Hyssopos?" and then she smiled, a revelation in her mind,"Oh right.." Jessica had forgotten that Hyssopos was the ancient ancestor of the current day herb known as the Hyssop. The herb hadn't evolved much since the ancient times, so there was nothing to worry about as far as what it could do.

"I have to get this stuff dried out and sorted; are you going to look for more?" Tessa asked, continuing her casual walk towards the path leading down to the main level of these cliffs which led back towards the pass.

"Yes." Jessica replied, but turned towards Astinos in a polite, somewhat timid, but nothing short of casual matter,"If you don't mind?" Once receiving a short nod from Astinos (was that puzzlement Jessica spotted on his face?) she turned back towards Jessica. "I'm going to try for some Greek valerian; see if any grows in this place. The Greek valerian and Hyssopos will probably be our main herbs unless we find some on one of the soldiers."

Tessa, more occupied with the fact she turned more to Astinos than with Stelios, held down her smile as she nodded in agreement. "We'll meet you back then?" After Jessica's nod of approval Tessa started back down the small path back to level ground where they had first ground. She, unlike Jessica, didn't care much for the opinion of her 'body guard' or whether he chose to tag along or not- at least that's what appeared to be her attitude on the matter. Eventually Stelios trotted after his charge until his long-legged stride was enough alone to catch up to her. He had gathered by now, as well as Astinos, their differences in appearance as well as personality. Tessa seemed to be the fiercer one of the two, less concerned about making everyone happy and more concerned with keeping reality and truth the main priority while Jessica seemed to be just the opposite. However, you should never judge a book by its cover.