Lina rubbed her hands together eagerly as she watched Gourry place some traps. If the enemy wasn't going to come to them, surely they'd come to the tasty tidbits Gourry was setting out? Lina eyed the food hungrily herself. "Hurry up, Gourry."

Gourry grunted as he set the trigger in place. "Easy for you to say, Lina. If you want this to work right, it has to be done right."

"Relax, Gourry. I understand. What say we go get something to eat while we wait, eh?" Lina nodded excitedly.

Gourry grinned and stood up. "Okay!"

The two hurriedly headed back to town, ready to eat whatever they could find.

They came back a few hours later. Lina dashed about, eager to see if they'd caught anything while they had been away. Her smile quickly turned to a frown. Not a single trap had even been touched.

"What is wrong with those monsters! Don't they know good food when they see it?" Lina crossed her arms and scowled. "It wasn't cheap, either."

"Maybe they don't like people food?" Gourry shrugged. He poked at a trap, just to be sure it was actually set up right. He easily got out of the way when he sprung it. "At least we know the traps work."

Lina grunted. "Doesn't do us much good if they don't fall for them. Time to figure out another plan..."

"What about exploiting a weakness?" Gourry shrugged.

Lina glanced over at Gourry. "What do you mean?"

Gourry touched his forefinger to his chin in thought. "Well, when we attacked them before, they worked together to get away. They also worked together to incapacitate me." Gourry shuddered. "They work well together."

Lina pondered this. "The one did take me out when I was focused on the other...so either we find a way to separate them, or take advantage of them working together." Lina grinned. "I think that'll work! Nice one, Gourry."

Gourry smiled happily.

Lina tapped her chin quietly, before a grin spread across her face. "Come on. They're not coming to us, so it's time to hunt them down."

"Oh!" Gourry suddenly halted in his tracks. "I saw a cave up north."

"Excellent!" Lina clapped her hands together happily. "Lead the way, Gourry!"

(If they only knew, if they only had a clue...)

"Do you see them?" Amelia whispered from her perch in a tree to a large bush down below.

"No," the bush replied. "I think they left." Zelgadis poked his head out of the bush and looked around. "I doubt they'll be gone long, knowing those two."

Amelia slowly climbed down from her perch. "We can't just hide. If anything, that will make Miss Lina more frustrated." Amelia sighed tiredly. Sometimes it was worse knowing your enemies so well.

Zelgadis also came out from his hiding place and sat down on the ground. "What do you suggest we do? We can't just go parading by."

Amelia cringed. "No, definitely not that. But were we going to stay out all night? It's getting cold..."

Zelgadis nodded in agreement. "I don't think we should go back to the cave, if that's what you're implying. Just imagine if Lina were to come along while we were inside."

Amelia shuddered. "It would become a tomb... Still, we should find some place to settle down for the night."

Zelgadis again nodded, and unfurled his wings. Amelia did the same, and the two took to the air. As they flew over the forest, they spied a light within the trees.

"It looks like Miss Lina and Mister Gourry are spending the night outside." Amelia gazed down at the small fire below. She flew closer.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis hissed quietly, but he did not follow.

"I won't let them see me. I just want to make sure they're safe there." Amelia flew in lower and landed a ways from the campsite.

Zelgadis grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "To see if they're safe." He silently followed after Amelia, and landed just as she was about to set out on foot. They just gave each other a look, then both proceeded through the trees until they were close enough to hear Lina and Gourry talking.

"I thought you said there was a cave up here." A rather put out Lina sighed.

"There is." Gourry replied. "It's hard to find in the dark though. I'll be able to find it when it's light out again."

Lina yawned. "Well, that's hours from now. You can take first watch. 'Night, Gourry."

"Good night, Lina."

When it grew quiet, Amelia and Zelgadis tried to slink away as silently as possible, before they alerted Gourry.

"They know about the cave!" Zelgadis tried to hide the panic he was feeling.

Amelia gave him a confused look. "If we're not in there, what's the problem?"

"Think, Amelia." Zelgadis tapped his forehead. "What did we leave behind?"

"Well..." Amelia thought a moment. "Aside from some scraps left over from our food, that quilt..." she silently pondered.

"Some of our clothing is in there." Zelgadis sighed.

"Oh yeah!" Amelia beamed, but then she frowned. "Oh no..."

Zelgadis nodded. "If you came across a cave with tattered remains of clothing, what would you think?"

"I'd think that..." Amelia gulped, "...that whoever they belonged to had been killed. What can we do?" Amelia whimpered, obviously scared.

"Even if we were to find some place to hide any evidence, they'd no doubt find it. Why did it have to be Lina and Gourry after us!" Zelgadis paced about in agitation.

Amelia watched him worriedly, her own thoughts turned to all the possible outcomes that could happen in a few hours.

"They can't find the cave."

"What?" Amelia was shaken from her thoughts.

Zelgadis stared back at her. "They can't find the cave. We'll lead them away from it."

"Oh, but..." Amelia fidgeted nervously.

"If they find that cave, we're as good as dead. Do you understand me, Amelia?" Zelgadis' eyes had suddenly turned cold.

Amelia shivered, but nodded. She continued to have uneasy thoughts even after they had settled down for the night.

To Be Continued...

Author's notes: It's a good thing Lina has Gourry around, else she'd probably resort to more chaotic methods of tracking down their prey. (Say, burn down the forest! Nah, she'd only do that on accident...)

Anyway, one of my associates pointed out how Lina is a smokescreen to Gourry (in that she often masks his own methods and ways of thinking so he's often overlooked), and the concept has really stuck with me. How often have we read stories where Lina pulled all the weight, and Gourry was just there for the ride? (Slayers TRY aside...)

The idea always bugged me, since Lina would not put up with someone who couldn't do their share of work. She only barely tolerated Naga, and even then Naga often ended up being blown away to far off destinations while Lina tried to make some distance to get away. She definitely doesn't do that with Gourry. (Yes, he gets caught in explosions, but Lina always sticks around to pick him up and continue on their way.)

I guess Gourry fans can rejoice, since I'll be using him as he ought to be, as Lina's confidante and traveling companion. Sometimes his ability to point out the obvious does come in handy, as we've already seen. Don't count on that being the last of Gourry's contribution to this story.

Next time: Lina scowled as the rain started to penetrate her clothing. "Go get it, Gourry."