A wild boar, ill-tempered and hungry, made his way through a patch of dense underbrush at the base of a hillside. The animal felt threatened, although he could not see any danger nearby. His nervousness was justified. A large, long-furred wildcat was stalking the boar and waited for him at the edge of the underbrush. As soon as the hairy snout of the boar poked out from the thickest of the bushes, the great cat sprinted directly at it. At first the boar turned and attempted to retreat back into the heavy cover, uphill, but the cat was fast enough to sink his claws into one of the boar's haunches.

When he felt the sharp pain in his backside, the boar whirled, and suddenly it was the cat's turn to retreat. The carnivore just barely avoided being gashed by a sharp tusk. Instead of using the opportunity to retreat, the boar, angry and aggressive, came after the wildcat again. Normally a wildcat in such a situation would break off the attack, run, and return to stalking other prey. This predator stood his ground, baring his teeth and snarling to keep the boar at bay.

A blur suddenly flashed down from the trees, surprising the boar but not the cat. The Destroyer, snarling flashing more fiercely than either her partner or her prey, landed squarely on the boar's back, letting its spine take the full force of her weight. In an instant her blade was deep in the animal's side and her teeth were sunk deep into the back of its neck. Overwhelmed by the viciousness of the attack, the boar struggled only briefly before its death. The Destroyer made sure the boar was completely still before withdrawing her face and knife from her prey.

"You would have to pick a boar," Mendi grumbled. "That tusk almost took a piece out of me! Why couldn't we just grab about ten rabbits?"

"You're no fun, brother," the Destroyer teased as she motioned her best friend towards her. She scratched under his chin and stroked his head with her left hand as she wiped off her blade with the right. "It all worked out in the end. You were perfect."

"I didn't even mean for it to come after me!"

"We got the meat, you're not hurt, sounds good to me." Mendi stared up at her as she rested her head between his ears, flicking his tail impatiently. "What? Aren't you going to eat?"

Mendi immediately tore into the boar's flank as soon as the words were out of the Destroyer's mouth. After a few moments of stuffing his mouth, the cat regarded his mistress once again. "I thought maybe you didn't want me to eat it. You said it's for the human male, right?"

"His name is Sedgik," the Destroyer laughed. "It's for him, but that doesn't mean you can't have some, or that I can't either." As she said this, she cut lengthwise under the boar's ribcage, reaching up into the carcass to retrieve what she wanted. She soon pulled out the animal's heart. "I wanted to get a boar because he's probably used to deer and rabbit and things like that. Try not to eat too many of the tender parts. We have to go back soon because it's already getting dark."

"Why are you bringing Sedgik food anyway? Is this part of what humans do when they mate?"

The Destroyer took a large bite out of the boar's heart and emitted a satisfied sigh. She never did understand why she felt compelled to eat the heart of her prey. It wasn't particularly tasty, but she couldn't stop herself. She had instantly gone straight for the heart the first time she had hunted her own animal, and the habit stuck. "I already told you, bro. I'm not mating with Sedgik. I'm not even sure if I like him. He's just interesting, that's all. I want to show him that I'm interesting too, and that I can do good things. I guess I want him to be, what would be the best word for it…impressed with me."

"But you don't care about what the humans think," Mendi noted. "Why is he different?"

"I usually don't care. I can't explain why it feels good to show off for him a little. I mean, there is the mating thing, like you said. I don't plan on doing that with him, but my body still wants to. Really, really badly. He looks good. He even smells good. Maybe that's why I'm more interested in what he thinks. I mean, he seems like a good human. He helps people when they're hurt or sick. The only problem is – well, you might not understand."

Mendi was able to tear himself from the carcass with some effort, realizing he was still supposed to leave some behind. "Tell me anyway."

"He's – he's a good guy, but he's still like all the rest of them. He sees what's in front of him. He doesn't see more."

The cat was about to reply that he didn't know what she was talking about, but he paused, forcing himself to think harder. As his companion had gotten older he noticed that she talked to him about more complicated things. He often struggled to keep up, but he desperately wanted to be able to talk to his mistress on her own level. "It's about why, isn't it."

The Destroyer cocked her head towards her friend curiously. "How so?"

"I know you don't ask me the question often, but you always think about why. Everything you do, you want to know why it happens that way and not another way. Cats don't think about why like that. It sounds like humans don't either. But you have why in your eyes, all the time."

Feeling a great rush of affection for her companion, the Destroyer held him to her chest, burying her head in the soft fur of his flank. In doing so she accidentally smeared boar's blood over his shiny coat. "You do get it. You're the smartest cat around, Mendi. I guarantee it."

Mendi purred loudly, proud of himself. The main reason he worked so hard to talk to his friend even when it was difficult was because he saw how happy it made her and how she showered him with attention when he succeeded. He knew he had his limits, but practice had made the conversations come easier. Perhaps because he had spent so much time thinking beyond what a cat would normally have to consider, he suddenly realized something very important about the Destroyer. "You're different."

Surprised by Mendi's spontaneous observation she pulled back from him and looked into his shining feline eyes. "What?"

"You're not a human, but even if you were, even if you were just like them, you'd still be different from all of them. Wouldn't you?"

A small smile crept across the Destroyer's face. "Yeah, I would be. The things that matter to them and the things that matter to me are so different. It's taken me all these years just to figure out that for most humans, how things look is more important than how they really are."

"There's a difference?"

"Well yeah, a huge difference. See what I mean? You don't even think about, and neither does a typical human. That's why staying here with these Amazons has made everything so complicated." The young woman grabbed the large sack she had brought with her and began maneuvering the remains of the boar inside of it.

"It's complicated? I thought it was mostly about the human male. You mean the Amazons are complicated too? You're just here to kill for them, right?"

The Destroyer sighed as she started walking back towards the village. "It was supposed to be like that, but it's not. Since I've been here I've had to learn so much, so fast. Artemis warned me that Velasca wasn't the only danger to the Amazon nation, and now I know what she meant. They're set against each other, Mendi. They don't all follow Ephiny like they're supposed to, and it has to do with what I was talking about before, with appearances being more important. Ephiny has to do a lot of work to look strong. I've been watching her. All the Amazons have to do it. If you don't keep everyone thinking you're strong by showing it a lot, they might not see your strength even when it's really there. But try to show it too often, and they think you might be fake. These humans spend so much effort on LOOKING right to everyone else instead of really being right. I thought it was just a flaw. For the first time now, I'm starting to understand why they have to do it even when they don't want to. It didn't make a lot of sense until I met that crazy Red girl."

"Red girl?" Mendi asked, following close behind.

"You may not have seen her. She's a young Amazon who's always trying to make me angry. I mean, she does make me angry, really angry. I want to cave her head in. It would be easy. She has no idea how much tougher than her I am."

"Why don't you?"

"Appearances again. They won't believe that I'm really on their side if I go attacking their warriors. Besides, her mother is treating me well. She said it was all right for me to hurt her daughter, but I don't believe her. She really cares about her daughter, the way a mother is supposed to." Bitterness was evident in the Destroyer's tone. She decided to change the subject before she made herself too angry. Spending time alone with Mendi had been an enjoyable and needed distraction, and she did not intend to ruin it now. "Appearances are so important to humans that they have these things called ceremonies that are completely devoted to showing people something."

"Ceremonies?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to be in one tomorrow night. Ephiny told me about it earlier when I asked her if we could hunt by ourselves in the Amazon woods. They're going to do a whole ceremony just so all the Amazons can look at me and see who I am." She stopped and stared back meaningfully at her cat. "She's going to tell everyone I'm the Destroyer."

Mendi's fur stood on edge and his eyes went wide. "That's not smart. They'll hate you. Maybe they'll attack you, attack both of us."

The young woman sighed and resumed walking. "Ephiny said she wouldn't let that happen. They have to know who I am. They have to know that I can kill Velasca. Otherwise there's no point in my being here. We walked into a real mess here with these Amazons, bro. A lot of them are against each other. Ephiny is trying to keep everyone together. I don't know if she can, or even if she should. I mean, it seems easier to me if the ones that don't agree just leave. I don't understand this 'tribe' thing. But I do know that Ephiny needs to look strong and that I need to help her. I see now that I have to be more than just one free-roaming freak, for a little while. I can't just say I'm their champion. I have to show them in a way they can understand, so they really believe it."

"How can you be more than what you are? It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't, but to them it's really important. It's like Xena and Gabrielle. When Gabrielle tells stories about Xena, and people repeat those stories, Xena becomes more than what she is, just because of what people say about her. When she shows up somewhere people will respect her and follow her even if they've never met her before. It's called being a 'legend'. I have to try to be a 'legend' for the Amazons now."

"Do you know what you're going to do?"

The Destroyer stared far ahead into the trees and chuckled. "No, I don't."

Sedgik tapped his feet against the side of the bed nervously. It had been dark for quite some time, and he had waited for the Destroyer in her quarters as she had told him to do, but there was no sign of her. He was weary, and it was nearly time for him to retire for the night. He did not want to disappoint the young woman, who he was beginning to feel a fondness for, but he couldn't help wondering if perhaps she had forgotten about him and run off with her wildcat somewhere. Sedgik found the girl puzzling, to say the least, but it made him want to get to know her better. He had also begun to notice, somewhat to his embarrassment, that his eyes lingered on her powerful frame longer than he intended. Sedgik was usually too wrapped up in his work to take much notice in women, but the Destroyer's clumsy admission of interest at the beginning of their acquaintance paradoxically put him at ease. He knew that if he did ever express the willingness to make their relationship physical, she would not react badly.

"What, you didn't light the candles?" The Destroyer announced her presence by throwing her door open violently and shouting into the darkness, startling Sedgik out of his reverie. "Doncha know it's dark?"

"It wasn't when I got here," Sedgik chuckled, only able to make out the Destroyer's silhouette, as well as Mendi's close at her heels. "I was about to go back to my own hut!"

"Aw damn, I didn't realize it was late. Sorry, I stay up all night sometimes. I forget that you people are on a schedule. I'll be right back." The Destroyer grabbed a nearby torch from its pole on the pathway to her hut. When she returned and was finally visible to Sedgik in the torchlight, it was all he could do to stifle a frightened shout. The young woman was covered in mud and blood. Her cat was by far cleaner in comparison. Behind her she dragged a large sack, also dripping with blood. Seeing the expression on his face, it occurred to her how she must look to him, or to anyone for that matter. I was so eager to get back that I forgot to clean up in the stream. Dammit. I messed it all up again. I seem to be good at that. "Er, sorry. I guess I'm still – "

"Covered in blood?" Sedgik finished helpfully, although his voice came out mostly as a squeak. He cleared his throat and forced himself to calm down. "You've been hunting, I see. Do you hunt, uh…do you hunt like your cat hunts, instead of with a bow or a spear?"

"Well yeah." The Destroyer found herself in an awkward position yet again. "I guess I should have mentioned that. So your dinner, it's really – fresh. As in not cooked. I really didn't put as much thought into this issue of time as I should have." She looked at Sedgik's pale face in the torchlight and found herself unable to restrain deadpan honesty. "I feel incredibly stupid right now."

"No, no – don't. Look, things may not have worked out the way you intended, but I can see you put a lot of effort into this. I mean, I can literally see it – it's all over you!" The two shared a laugh at Sedgik's observation, setting the Destroyer at ease. "Why don't you give me what's in the sack and I'll take care of the preparation tomorrow? I can make us breakfast." Sedgik's eyes flicked to the bloody bag. "I'm almost afraid to ask what's in there."

"It's a boar. Mendi and I took it down together. Couldn't have done it without him."

"A BOAR? Those can mutilate you!" Sedgik replied in astonishment. He smiled at the Destroyer after a moment, a strange look in his eye. "You really are more than human, aren't you, Tira Darkheart?"

More and less, at the same time. "Something like that. Listen, Sedgik, about tomorrow. There's this ceremony, and it'll be busy, and all these Amazons are going to go crazy all day and they're going to present me to the tribe…"

"Oh, I've been warned. I'm not allowed anywhere near their ceremonies. But I have until the sun is high in the sky before I'm restricted to the infirmary for a day."

"They'll make you sleep there and everything?"

"Yes. I might be needed, and I can't go outside and accidentally see something or they'll kill me."

Kill him for looking at something? Crazy Amazons. "Well, here's your dinner, or breakfast, or whatever." She nudged the sack with her bare foot.

"Our breakfast, you mean."