Kim quickened her pace to match those of the two men a few feet ahead of her. Hercules had such long legs that he strode forward quickly, and even though Iolaus was a short guy, he seemed used to the breakneck pace they were using. "Where are we going?" She panted.
"We need to get away from Ares' temple." Hercules glanced over his shoulder to look at her. "Once we get far enough away, we'll make camp and figure out what to do."
Kim shifted the heavy bag on her shoulders uncomfortably. "If it wouldn't cost me a fortune when I do get home, I would so dump these books." She grumbled to herself. Instead of concentrating on the load on her back, she decided to think about her mysterious rescuers. She blushed slightly thinking of how bitchy she must have sounded to them. The big guy had said that his name was Hercules, and his partner was Iolaus. Was it possible that they were the guys from all the Greek Mythology she'd studied over the years? It was so fanatical. It made sense though, he was strong. He had lifted her up off the ground by her book bag. Not many people could lift her alone…but with the thirty extra pounds of books?! Kim stumbled over an upward facing root, and shuffled forward. Iolaus grabbed her right elbow, while Hercules grabbed her left. They both asked her if she was alright, and she could only mumble something barely discernable. She was just starting to realize…hey they were kind of cute.
It was almost twilight by the time they finally stopped for the night. They had slowed their pace for awhile, by means of a rest, then continued right on again fast walking. When Hercules announced that they'd stop in a grove of trees, Kim sighed in relief and immediately fell to her knees, then sat down, making herself comfortable. Hercules and Iolaus chuckled and shook their heads. It was decided that Iolaus would go find some quail for supper while Hercules would get a nice fire going. By the time the quail was cooked, and the fire was roaring Kim was sleeping peacefully on her stomach, using her right arm as a pillow. She had her bag set close to her. The two men shrugged, and divided up the quail, setting aside a small portion for her if she decided she was hungry later.
"What all do you think she's got in there?" Iolaus asked Hercules, looking over the plump book bag.
Hercules shrugged as he gnawed on a bone. "Something expensive it sounded like." Iolaus started to creep forward to have a look. "Iolaus!" Hercules whispered urgently. But then he decided that he couldn't curb his own curiosity and he moved to join his friend.
"She said something about books earlier…do you think she's a scholar?" Iolaus whispered to Hercules as he quietly grabbed the bag, and brought it to their side of the campfire.
Hercules shrugged. "Could be. We don't know hardly anything about her."
Iolaus paused at unzipping her bag. He looked at his friend seriously for a second. "Do you really think we can send her home?"
Hercules looked over to her peaceful sleeping form, and listened to her breathing for a second. "I don't know, Iolaus. She's obviously not from the world with the Sovereign, and we know how to get there. It might be harder to get her back to wherever she's from."
Iolaus nodded thoughtfully for a second, then grinned and dug into the bag. "Well lets see what we've got here…" He started pulling things out of the compartment. When he had finished he sat amidst a pile of four books (some with numbers and pictures, but all in a strange language they couldn't read); a bottle with a yellow substance in it with writing they didn't understand; there were two small packages with different colors on them and more strange writing. Hercules investigated this and realized there was something in it, and opened the candy bar. He examined the chocolate carefully, then broke a piece off, and reluctantly put it in his mouth. After he chewed it thoughtfully for a few seconds he nodded approvingly at Iolaus who was watching him carefully. "Its good…sweet." He broke a piece of and handed it to Iolaus who shrugged and ate it.
Iolaus grimaced and almost spit out the Butterfinger candy bar. "Yech. Too sweet if you ask me."
Hercules set the candy bar down and started to leaf through one of the books laying on the dirt. He stared at the algebraic symbols confused. "When would someone need to know this?" He tossed the book down onto the ground again, and grabbed another…then he couldn't resist and picked up the candy bar again and took another big bite.
Iolaus started to leaf through some notebooks, and cocked his head to the side trying to understand the strange writing. He glanced up at Hercules as he finished off the Butterfinger candy bar. "Why would she have all of these strange possessions?"
"I'm not sure." Hercules shrugged, and sighed contently. He stretched back out again, his hands weaved behind his head, and he stared up at the stars. After a few seconds he glanced over to see Iolaus staring at a picture he had found. "What's that?"
"It's a small picture with her…and a few other females on it." He raised an eyebrow. "They're wearing some weird clothing."
Hercules glanced over at the picture to see Kim and her friends decked out in their Tae Kwon Do uniforms, posing stupidly for the camera. "Huh." He settled back down again. "Well…how do you feel about paying a visit to Zeus' temple?"
Iolaus started to put all of the belongings back in her bag; he glanced over to his friend. "Zeus' temple? Why?"
"I'm not sure of any other way that we can get her home. She isn't from here…that much is obvious. If anyone can get her back to her own place and time, then it has to be Zeus." He spoke quietly, but Hercules could hear the obvious distaste in his friend's voice to have to ask his father for a favor. Iolaus had 'once upon a time' been impressed when he heard about the happenings of Zeus.
Iolaus nodded and finished placing the things back in Kim's bag; he set it back down where he had gotten it, and moved back to his spot by the fire. He couldn't help but glance once more at her peaceful face while she was sleeping. "Its kind of a shame. She seemed like a sweet kid…well…when she wasn't trying to punch me in the face."
Hercules laughed and shook his head at his friend, before turning onto his side to prepare to fall asleep. The even breathing of the young woman held his attention for a second before he closed his eyes, and pushed aside the worry that Zeus' might not be able to help.
~`~`~
"Wow! This is really good!!" Kim said as she eagerly ate her portion of yesterday's quail. She had never been much of an outdoors type of person...she'd done her share of camping but they'd always brought hot dogs along. This was definitely the salt of the earth type food. Hercules and Iolaus had watched her in amusement for a bit. They'd never shown such enthusiasm over cold quail. "So…what's on the agenda for today, guys?"
Hercules and Iolaus glance at each other. Iolaus spoke up. "What's an agenda?"
Kim chuckled a bit. "Game plan? Schedule? To-Do list?" She shrugged. "Just a few terms we use where I'm from." She licked her fingers off, and then sighed contently. "So…are we gonna try and get me home today?"
"Uh…yeah." Hercules said. "That's the…game plan."
"Cool!" Kim said. "I mean…this place is cool and all…but yeah…I like my bed…my home…my friends."
Hercules nodded. "We were going to head up to Zeus' temple. It's a two day walk from here…but he should be able to get you home."
"Zeus?!" Kim asked, astonished. "As in the king of the gods?" She paused when she saw Hercules disgruntled expression. "Sorry…you must get that a lot."
"No, its alright." Hercules shrugged. "But yeah, hopefully he'll be able to send you back home again."
"Alright." Kim said, and dusted off her hands. "What are we waiting for?"
~`~`~
They had been walking for over an hour by now, Kim decided. The view was breathtakingly beautiful. Whenever she wasn't asking Hercules or Iolaus about their adventures, she'd just stare at the country as they passed it by. They were just entering a damp forest when the peaceful silence that had existed for a few minutes was interrupted by heavy footfalls of someone running toward them from the opposite end of the forest.
Hercules and Iolaus glanced at each other. They stopped walking. They had been walking in a row, with Hercules to the left (carrying Kim's back pack on his shoulders), Kim in the middle and Iolaus to the right. As soon as they saw the hulking man running toward them, Iolaus sprang into action by grabbing Kim around her upper arm, and jerking her backward behind him and Hercules. She had barely gotten a muffled 'hey' out before Iolaus shushed her with a hand to his lips and a slight glare. She got the point and shut up.
"Can I help you?" Hercules asked the man as he came forward. He had a hand out in a gesture meant to either protect Kim or to keep her back. The man stopped five feet away gasping for breath. "Catch your breath, Iolaus give him a drink of water." Iolaus produced a flask of water he had been carrying on his shoulders, and tossed it to the man. He drank readily, and nodded his thanks to Iolaus before tossing the flask back.
"My thanks to you, Iolaus." He turned back to Hercules. "Hercules, I know that you don't recognize me, or have any reason to trust me…but our city needs help."
Hercules nodded for him to continue. "Go ahead."
"We had just gotten a rare statue for our antique museum. It was rumored that the very base of the state was coated in gold. The same night that we had placed the statue in our museum, someone slipped through our security and stole it right out from under our noses!" The man looked from Hercules to Iolaus, then to Kim who was peeking at him from the side of Hercules' right arm. He smiled at her warmly, she smiled back and then he got back to business. "We need your help Hercules. We need to catch the perpetrator before he melts down the statue to sell! It's very important that we get it back! It was rumored that the statue was given to the founder of Thenmra by Zeus himself! Please help us!"
"Calm yourself." Hercules said, and nodded to the man. He glanced at Iolaus, who glanced at him. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Iolaus stared at Hercules for a second…then another second. He glanced back at Kim then to Hercules. "Oh!" He chuckled a bit. "Autolycus!"
Hercules nodded. "Don't worry, we'll help you. Go tell you're people that we will be there by this evening."
"Thank you Hercules. Thank you Iolaus! You really are good people!!" He smiled at Kim again who was still peeking over Hercules' arm, then he turned on his heel and ran back the way he had come, back through the forest.
Hercules paused for a moment then turned to face Kim. He smiled slightly. "Well…uh…Kim. How would you like a detour to Zeus' temple?"
