The afternoon sun falling through the leaves made a dappled pattern of shade and light, warming the green depths of the forest. Close by the pleasant burble of a stream mingled with the squabble of bird song as two red finches had a knock down drag out fight in the undergrowth.

Iolaus stopped to watch them, amused by the sight of one finch attempting to throttle the other with its beak. He had been enjoying himself as he wandered lazily back through the woods from the village, taking the short cut he wasn't supposed to take rather than stick to the road. There had been rumours of slavers moving into the area during the summer break and Cheiron seemed to have developed a paranoid dread that they were after his students.

It made a change to get away from the Academy with all its rules and regulations and Cheiron's new crop of instructors. For once though he had a valid excuse to slip away, having volunteered to go into the village to collect Tydeus' latest herb order from the Theban trade caravan that had been due. Normally, he had to sneak away unobserved and that had been getting harder and harder to do lately what with Cheiron keeping an eagle eye on him and Acrides' efforts to catch him out. Then there were Hercules' disapproving looks, which were proving more effective that any lectures. The young demi-god simply didn't understand that Iolaus had grown up taking care of himself and now relished the times he managed to slip away for a while and polish up his neglected hunting skills in solitude. He certainly didn't understand that Iolaus felt a genuine need to escape Acrides' constant scrutiny. Iolaus was convinced the new instructor had it in for him. He seemed to take great delight in seizing every chance to make Iolaus look bad.

A sudden yell from up ahead and the crash of someone running through the trees made the birds take off with a rattling call of fright. Iolaus stiffened and took several steps back, fading into the dappled shadows out of sight where he stood poised and alert for trouble, fingers curled loosely around the hilt of his belt knife in readiness for a fast draw.

An outbreak of shouting followed then the crash and thud of a rough and tumble. Iolaus frowned, listening hard. If this was the local village louts on one of their drunken sprees, he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Let go of me!" a young male voice shouted.

"Oh no, not after the chase you've led us!" a rougher voice answered and there was the sound of a blow and a yelp of pain.

Iolaus flitted out of the shadows and loped across the bark-softened ground of the wood, closing in rapidly.

"Tie him up!" ordered a new voice, darker and more menacing with its cultured overtones than the first man's rough tones.

"I didn't do anything!" the young man protested. "Why are you doing this?"

"And gag him while you’re at it before he attracts attention."

"Out here? Get real!"

"We're too close to that damn Centaur's school for my liking."

"We should raid the place now if you ask me."

"No one did."

"The place is stuffed full of prime produce, Elides," the first man argued. "We could make a fortune. Women for breeding and boys for fun. That's what they say."

"And this one will make us a tidy few dinars if you tie him up! Now grab him before he gets away again!"

There was the sound of a scuffle and another frightened yelp. By now Iolaus was close enough to see what was going on as he dropped to the ground and wriggled forward on his stomach through the bushes, parting the leaves to peer into a small clearing by the stream.

There were two older men; one bearded with a scar dragged across one eye and dressed in scuffed and worn brown fighting leathers. The second man was taller and wore a fine embroidered tunic of rich red cloth over brown pants. Their captive was a youth of about Iolaus' own age, slender and long legged with a mane of silver blond hair falling over his eyes. He was dressed in a fine white tunic embroidered in silver over white leather pants and had silver bracers around each wrist.

"Quit biting me, you little bastard!" the bearded man roared, rapping the youth he held sharply around the ear and then wrenching his wrists behind him when the young man subsided miserably.

"Don't bruise him too much, Kaltron," Elides said sharply. "You'll ruin his value."

Iolaus nibbled his bottom lip, wondering what to do. Common sense suggested he make a run back to the Academy and fetch help; these two men were obviously slavers to his way of thinking and there might well be more of them close by. On the other hand, a wild thrill of excitement inside him pointed out that there were only two of them and he could surely handle them on his own.

The young man suddenly exploded in an uncoordinated but effective flurry of bites and kicks, stamping on the slaver's feet and sinking his teeth deep into his hand. The slaver let go with a howl of pain, shaking him off. The youth attempted to bolt and was tripped up by Elides, who glared down at him as he uncurled a whip from his belt.

"You need a lesson in manners, boy," he snarled.

Iolaus exploded out of the bushes, decision made. A few hours spent tied up was one thing, a real beating another. Before either slaver knew he was there, the young hunter was behind Elides and leaping, slamming a kick between the slaver's shoulder blades that sent him stumbling. The silver haired youth swiftly stuck out his own feet, grinning in delight when Elides tripped over him and crashed into the on rushing Kaltron.

Skimming forward, Iolaus crouched and sliced through the youth's bonds with his belt knife then sprang upright in time to meet Kaltron's rush. Grabbing his wrist, Iolaus folded backwards, pulling the startled slaver off his feet and sending him flying into a tree. The youthful hunter was halfway back to his feet when he realised there was a sword tip hovering at the side of his neck.

"Get up before I slice you in two," Elides hissed at him. Warily, Iolaus obeyed, kicking himself for underestimating the older man's speed. "Well now…" The slaver looked Iolaus up and down slowly, his hostility lessening a little as he inspected his doeskin clad capture. Iolaus could practically see the dinars adding up in his eyes and winced. He was halfway up and preparing for a desperate lunge when the slavers would be captive leaped at the slaver with a scream, punching him in the jaw then howling in pain. Elides staggered, brought his sword up and got it kicked out of his hand as Iolaus blocked, then side-kicked his feet from under him. Before the slaver could get up, Iolaus flicked out another kick that clipped Elides' jaw and knocked him out cold.

Breathing fast, Iolaus whipped around, falling into a defensive fighting stance as he checked on Kaltron. The bearded slaver was sprawled upside down against the tree he had hit, groaning softly. Iolaus held his breath, straining to hear any sounds of movement in the forest, any sound of slavers rushing towards their position.

All he could hear was the youth, doubled up over his hand as he walked in small circles and whimpered.

"Will you hush!" Iolaus hissed at him and was startled when the youth instantly obeyed, coming to a halt and giving him a wide-eyed look. He stood still, holding his breath while Iolaus listened until he was sure no one was coming and then nodded permission for him to speak.

"I hurt my fetlock," the teenager complained, winced at the bewildered look Iolaus gave him and then held out his hand towards him. "I m'mean this…See?"

Iolaus eyed his swelling thumb and flitted closer. "Thumb," he told him.

"Oh. I think it's broken…"

Catching the youth's wrist, Iolaus absently noted his silver bracer with a stylised wing design and then examined his hand gently. "Nah, it's only bruised. How'd you hit him?"

The young man demonstrated making a fist with his other hand, eyeing Iolaus warily as he did so.

"Ah well, there you go. You should never tuck your thumb inside your hand," Iolaus explained. "You should do it like this." He showed him how he had been taught to punch. "Better yet use your heel…"

The young man looked at his elegantly leather clad feet speculatively, then at Iolaus' worn boots.

"No," Iolaus giggled. "With the heel of your hand, like this…" He demonstrated a heel of the hand blow gently against the young man's chin. "But only with force when you mean it…"

Nodding seriously, the young man mimed a few blows into the air, nodding vigorously as he got the hang of it. "Yes, I see," he said happily, forgetting his bruised thumb. "And how did you do those kicks?"

"Uh, why don't we discuss that somewhere a little safer?" Iolaus suggested, shooting an uneasy glance at the slavers as Kaltron moved feebly. He padded off towards the trees, then glanced back at the youth. "You coming?" With an eager nod, the youth trotted after him and fell into step beside the hunter. "You were lucky I came along. I'm a warrior." Iolaus told him as he led the way. His companion looked at him thoughtfully, his amber eyes astute. "Okay, so I'm a student warrior at Cheiron's Academy, but I still rescued you!" Iolaus admitted reluctantly.

"That's where I'm supposed to go! I have a scroll here somewhere."

Watching him ferret inside his tunic, Iolaus found himself smiling. "My name's Iolaus. What's yours?"

"My what?"

"Name."

"Oh…You won't laugh?"

"Why should I laugh?"

"Some people laugh." The young man complained, pouting. "It's Pegasus."

Iolaus considered this, eyeing him curiously, taking in his fine bone structure, large eyes and generally leggy quality as they walked. "And are you?" he asked slowly.

"Am I what?"

"Pegasus."

"I told you that's my name."

"That isn't what I meant."

Pegasus frowned at him. "Then what is?" he demanded in frustration.

"Are you Pegasus?"

"I told you…"

"As in are you sometimes a flying horse?"

Pegasus paused in mid response and gave him a strange look. "Do you know, you’re the first person to ever actually ask me that? Usually people laugh."

"You’re not going to tell me, are you?" Iolaus sighed.

"I could say yes and be lying. And I could say no and still be lying," Pegasus grinned, his slightly upturned nose wrinkling with mischief. He held up the scroll with a flourish. "Told you I had one!" He shoved it into Iolaus' hands eagerly, trotting beside him as the young hunter read it.

Behind them in the woods there came a loud bellow of rage, followed by a lot of vicious swearing. "How good are you at running?" Iolaus asked quickly.

"Pretty good. Why? Don't you want to kick them again?"

"No, I had the advantage of surprise and stupidity then."

"Stupidity?" Pegasus frowned at him. "I didn't notice they were…"

"I meant me for taking on two armed men on my own. Now they sound mad which'll make them even more dangerous. Come on. I know a short cut…"

"They were slavers?" Pegasus said slowly as he trotted alongside Iolaus through the gates of the Academy. He had finally got around to asking why the men had wanted to kidnap him and was bemused by the answer. "But why would they want to enslave me?"

Iolaus glanced askance at him. "Didn't you hear what they said? Women for breeding, boys for fun?"

"They wanted to play with me?"

"Something like that," Iolaus said dryly.

"But I'm not…Oh…" Pegasus paused and gazed at him thoughtfully, his amber eyes solemn. After a moment, he looked down at his clothes and slim body then cocked his head to one side and turned to Iolaus with a serious expression. "Is it the way I'm dressed? Did they think I'm rich? I'm not. Or is it the way I look? I'm older than I look, you know."

Iolaus sighed. He couldn't quite decide whether Pegasus was dense or naïve or simply making fun of him. He had his suspicions about who and what Pegasus was, so he tended to come down on the side of naivety. "Yes," he said simply.

"Huh?"

"All of those. You’re dressed to show off the way you look and whether you’re rich or not those silver bracers are worth a lot of money."

"I only wanted to make a good impression," Pegasus said forlornly, drooping a little.

"There's nothing wrong with that. But it's who you want to make the impression on that guides how you dress," Iolaus explained. "That outfit will wow the girls, damn it…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Iolaus muttered, making a mental note to be careful where he took Pegasus and surprising himself by realising that he kind of liked the idea of showing him around. "And the boys…" he added cautiously. To his relief, Pegasus gave him a blank look. "But it's no good for fighting in. And if you want to make friends, then it's not a good idea to start by showing off. Cheiron won't care how you dress anyway as long as you wear something suitable for training. On the other hand, there's no harm in looking snazzy when you arrive."

"I see…" Pegasus said slowly, peeking at him from under his fringe. "Thank you."

"For what?" Iolaus gave him a puzzled look as he led the way across the training square to where Cheiron had his office. One or two of the students who were hanging around doing chores watched them, curious about the new arrival. On the whole though, most of the students were taking advantage of their last few hours of freedom before lessons started again the next day.

"For helping me and advising me and explaining things I don't understand. For saving me from the slavers. I was told, I mean taught to be polite and be grateful to anyone who helps me."

"Oh, no problem," Iolaus grinned at him. "It was a fun fight. Right, I'll hand you over to Cheiron." He knocked briskly on the outer office door and waited, frowning when there was no answer. Pegasus fidgeted nervously from foot to foot, not seeming to know what to do with his hands. Puzzled Iolaus looked around the square until he spotted a familiar flash of red hair. "Hey, Ithis! Any idea where Cheiron is?"

The student stopped, sagging under the armful of swords he was taking to Davron the blacksmith. "He's showing some visitor around and we're all supposed to be on our best behaviour," he answered, grinning at Pegasus. "Hi there. New guy?"

Iolaus nodded. "Yeah, Pegasus, this is Ithis. One of the students in my group."

"Hi," Pegasus murmured, suddenly shy.

"Pleased to meet you," Ithis said brightly, hitching at the swords again. "Gotta go. Acrides sent me to take these for sharpening."

"The man's a slave driver. Come on, we'll give you a hand," Iolaus said quickly, grabbing a blade as it slid precariously.

"You have slavers here too?" Pegasus asked, wide eyed.

"Figure of speech. Grab a few, Pegasus."

Pegasus obeyed, letting Iolaus distribute the swords evenly between the three of them for carrying to the forge. Davron wasn't around when they stepped into the warmth of the dark building, but they set the swords down on a shelf near the anvil. Noticing Pegasus hanging back at the door, Iolaus went back for him.

"It's okay to come in," he told him. "Davron won't mind as long as we don't touch anything."

"Blacksmiths make me nervous," Pegasus explained, gratefully letting Iolaus take the weight of the swords. "Too much iron and fire."

"Uh yeah." Glad that Ithis hadn't been listening as he stacked the swords, Iolaus put the rest of the weapons on the shelf and made his excuses to the other student for a quick escape.

"Did I do something wrong?" Pegasus fretted as he trotted along beside Iolaus back across the square a few minutes later.

"No, not really," Iolaus said easily, giving him a thoughtful glance. "How's your fetlock?"

"Sore," Pegasus said promptly, displaying his thumb.

"Figures. Come on, this way. I'll take you to Tydeus. He’ll fix it up for you."

Pegasus hesitated as Iolaus pushed through a door into the main building, scurrying after him when the hunter held it open for him. Fascinated, he gazed around him, taking in the smattering of wall hangings depicting various scenes of battle and heroic rescues. He sniffed hungrily when they passed the dining hall with its kitchens at the far end, scenting the fresh greenery of a salad being prepared.

"Yeah, dinner will be on soon," Iolaus noted with satisfaction as his own stomach rumbled. "Breakfast was hours ago and I missed lunch."

"I…" Pegasus chewed his lower lip for a second, then rushed on. "I don't eat meat, you know," he said warily.

"Oh? Delicate constitution or ethical?"

"Yes…" Pegasus said cautiously.

Iolaus slid another thoughtful look at him. "Well, you can have my broccoli. And you won't be the only vegetarian here anyway."

"Herbivore," Pegasus corrected, then blushed furiously as his eyes widened in dismay.

"No, Pegasus," Iolaus said gently. "You tell everyone you're a vegetarian."

"Sorry."

"Are you bullying this young man, Iolaus?" Tydeus asked dryly, startling them by appearing suddenly around the corner of the corridor. Pegasus leaped back several feet, gazing at the healer in alarm.

"I've been showing him around. He's going to be a new student here if we ever manage to find Cheiron. Have you seen him? Ithis said he had a visitor with him."

"Yes, it was Hyperius. They were headed for the stables the last I saw of them."

"Stables?" Pegasus perked up. "You have horses here?"

"Yeah. Down, boy," Iolaus said dryly. "You'll have to excuse him, Tydeus. He's a foreigner. We were looking for you though. He's hurt his hand. Show him your hand, Pegasus."

The healer considered the bewildered look Pegasus gave the blond student and smiled, wondering what Iolaus was up to this time. Pegasus held out his hand to him, displaying his swollen thumb.

"I hit someone," he explained. "But Iolaus said I did it wrong."

"I can see that. You’re lucky it isn't broken," Tydeus said sharply, examining the wounded digit and ignoring Pegasus' whimper of pained protest. "You weren't brawling, were you?"

"Were we brawling?" Pegasus asked, looking to Iolaus for help.

"No," Iolaus assured him earnestly, all wide-eyed innocence as he gazed at Tydeus. "Pegasus was attacked by slavers. I helped him get away."

"Slavers?!" Tydeus gasped in dismay.

"There were only two of them. That's another reason why I need to talk to Cheiron."

"Two of them? Iolaus, you…" Tydeus gave up with a helpless shrug. "Never mind. You never listen anyway. Did you remember my herbs?"

"Oh yeah," Iolaus dug out the slightly squashed cloth wrapped packet from his belt pouch. "The trader said, he'd only got part of your order and the rest will be on the next caravan. But he's managed to get an extra supply of Boneheal and if you’re interested, you should go and see him."

"With the way you students carry on around here, Boneheal is practically a necessity!" Tydeus exclaimed. "I'll have to go into the village. Come along, Pegasus. We’d better put something on your hand. A cold compress and some witchhazel for a start."

Pegasus hung back as Tydeus bustled off along the corridor, only moving when Iolaus gave him a push. "I'm not a foreigner," he complained plaintively.

"But if you tell people you are, they'll understand if you make mistakes. Like saying you’re a herbivore?"

"Oh," Pegasus thought this over as they followed Tydeus, hurrying to catch up when he bellowed their names. "Where should I say I'm from then?"

Iolaus looked him up and down, taking in his pale hair and leggy appearance. "Etruscan, definitely Etruscan," he told him. "But don't worry about it. You'll settle in fine once you get the hang of things. Yes, Tydeus! We heard you the first time! We're coming!"

"He's angry…" Pegasus said nervously.

"Nah, he only sounds that way. He won't hurt you. Tydeus is cool." Iolaus grinned at him, his blue eyes sparkling. "Relax and go with the flow. You’re going to be fine."

* * *

"Iolaus!"

Hercules' loud hail bellowed across the course, making the young hunter shift his attention away from the archery butts to look for the demi-god. Spotting him bounding towards him, he put up his bow and waited for him. "Hey, Herc! What's up?"

"I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been all afternoon?"

"I went to the village to collect Tydeus' herbs, remember? I did tell you."

"Oh…" Hercules hesitated, then grinned. "So what took you so long?"

Iolaus couldn't help it, he smirked. "Oh this and that. I found a new student lost in the woods and rescued him from slavers."

"Oh, yeah, right," Hercules scoffed.

"I'm hurt that you don't believe me," Iolaus exclaimed, giving him his best wide-eyed and wounded look. "It's true. Why don't you ever believe me?"

"It saves time." Hercules frowned warily, eyeing him with increasing suspicion. "Honest Theban?"

"Honest Theban," Iolaus told him solemnly. "There were two them; Elides and Kaltron. They were after Pegasus. He's the new student."

Hercules stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"About Pegasus? Yeah. I'm not sure if he's the real Pegasus or only named after him. But who'd name their son after a flying horse if….You've got that look again, Herc."

"You saw Elides? Here? Seriously?"

"I told you…"

"Iolaus!" Hercules cut him off impatiently and grabbed his arm. "We have to tell Cheiron about this. Now."

"There were only two of them…" Iolaus protested as his friend dragged him off the course, watched with interest by the other students and relief by one or two since Iolaus usually beat everyone with the bow.

"Elides is the leader of the worst band of slavers ever," Hercules interrupted him again. "He's a killer. If you saw him you were lucky to get away alive."

"How come no one ever told me?"

"How come you never listen?" Hercules shot back. "Cheiron warned us at breakfast."

"You know I'm never awake at breakfast," Iolaus complained. "What's the hurry to tell Cheiron anyway?"

"Because until now it was only a rumour that it was Elides." Hercules' blue eyes lit up with sudden enthusiasm. "Hey, this could be our chance!"

"Chance for what?" Iolaus asked warily, wriggling out of his grip but letting the bigger student herd him into the building.

"To prove ourselves. Cheiron is bound to let the villagers talk him into going after the slavers and he'll need our help!"

Iolaus winced. He wasn't afraid of a fight, but the idea of going up against an armed and vicious bunch of cut-throat slavers did not fill him with the same enthusiasm as it did Hercules. He suspected that it was his friend's bloodlines that urged him into battle. "I don't think Cheiron will agree to it," he cautioned. "We're still students."

"We'll talk him into it," Hercules assured him with born confidence. "Come on, let's find Four Legs…"

* * *

"Well…." Cheiron lifted his head, studying the slender new arrival as Pegasus stood patiently in front of his desk, watching him with large liquid amber eyes. He tapped his scroll on the well-polished wood, considering him. "So, you’re Pegasus. Are you sure you want to keep your identity secret?"

"I'm told it would be best that way."

"You’re likely to get some teasing over your name," Cheiron warned and brandished the scroll. "And this does not fill me with confidence at your fighting skills."

"That's why I'm here," Pegasus answered earnestly. "To learn how to fight and protect myself while I'm m' m….here."

Cheiron sighed, wondering why the youth had been inflicted on him now. Pegasus seemed likeable enough, but with Hyperius' new Academy now established and prospering, he could hardly afford to be seen to have any failures. Then there was the threat of the slavers and problems with the new teachers. He had lost three men to Hyperius and while they hadn't been his best, the replacements could be better. Who was he kidding? For all his reputation as a skilled warrior, Acrides was a pain in the butt with his Spartan training regime.

"You will teach me, won't you?" Pegasus urged anxiously, gazing at him in worry. "They said you would. They said you’re the best. Please, don't send me back. I really will do my very, very best to succeed."

Cheiron looked at him in surprise, realising that the youth was genuinely concerned. "I have no doubt you will," he said calmly. "You only need to learn. I'm only wondering whether the Academy is the best place for you. You have very little experience at being …er, with social skills. You don't really know how to interact with young men of your own age. Have you considered going to somewhere like Athens? Perhaps one of the temple schools. I'm not sure you need to now how to fight, only to interact with people."

Pegasus' bottom lip developed a distinct tremor. "You don't want me?" he asked miserably.

"I never said that!" Cheiron exclaimed, alarmed.

"I don't want to go to a temple school," Pegasus sniffed. "I want to come here. I think I can get on with the other students. Iolaus helped me with the slavers. He didn't make fun of me."

"Iolaus? Slavers?" Cheiron stared at him. Now there was a combination to strike fear into any Centaur. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Pegasus blinked. "I'm hungry?" he offered.

"I meant…" Cheiron broke off as his office door rattled to a barrage of furious knocking. Sighing heavily, he lifted his voice. "Yes, Hercules. Come in…"

The door opened and the young demi-god stuck his head in, glanced at Pegasus and then to the Centaur behind the desk. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked warily.

"Your gentle tap," Cheiron answered dryly. "What is it?"

"It's about the slavers…" Hercules began and then was interrupted as Iolaus squirmed around his friend as he blocked the doorway and gave Pegasus a grin. Pegasus smiled back, both pleased and shy at seeing him again.

"How's your hand?" Iolaus asked.

Pegasus held up his bandaged thumb. "Tydeus fixed it for me," he said proudly. "And I hardly complained at all. You were right. He wasn't angry."

"Told you." Iolaus glanced at Hercules as the demi-god nudged him and gave him a meaningful look. "Oh yeah, Herc, this is Pegasus. Pegasus, my best friend, Hercules," the hunter said brightly. "Pegasus is going to be a student here."

Cheiron sighed and gave in. It was obvious that Iolaus already regarded Pegasus as a fixture. All he could do now was stand back and hope to reduce the chaos that would follow as much as possible. He watched Pegasus meet Hercules, gripping his arm in a firm if slightly awkward warrior's grip. Hercules studied the new student in return, obviously coming to his own rapid conclusions about his identity and smiling at him in welcome. Pegasus slid a hopeful look at the Centaur.

"All right, Pegasus, since Iolaus has obviously adopted you, you can stay. But you had better stay out of trouble. I'll draw up a class schedule for you to give you a basic grounding. Iolaus, he can have the empty room near you and Hercules. And I expect you two to look out for him."

"Sure, no problem," Iolaus said cheerfully, winking at Pegasus. Pegasus attempted to wink back and ended up closing both eyes and looking baffled instead.

"Now, what was this about slavers?" Cheiron turned to more important matters. "Pegasus was telling me that Iolaus rescued him?"

* * *

"You're making it up about the slavers," Aerides scoffed as he waited next in line to Iolaus for the evening meal. He was the son of a General and never let anyone forget it. It rankled him that Hercules preferred to spend his time with Iolaus rather than him.

"No, I'm not," Iolaus insisted. "Pegasus and I both saw them. And fought them. Right Pegasus?"

Aerides leaned forward, his dark hair sweeping around his face as he studied Pegasus. "You fought them?"

"I bit them," Pegasus answered, then turned worried eyes on Iolaus as the student ahead left the counter with his meal. "Iolaus?" he questioned anxiously, eyeing the food on display uneasily.

Iolaus nudged him forward and flashed a grin at Hercules who had the misfortune to be stuck behind the lunch counter. "Load him up, Herc," he urged. "Greenery only. He's a vegetarian."

"Oh, right," Hercules gave Pegasus a reassuring grin and waved his ladle at the salad stuff. "Lettuce, beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots…"

"Carrots aren't green," Pegasus said warily, eyeing the vegetables as Hercules pointed at them.

"For that you can help yourself."

Pegasus looked even more alarmed and turned an appealing look on Iolaus.

"What is he? Thick?" Aerides mocked.

"No, rich," Hercules retorted crisply before Iolaus who had stiffened had a chance to turn and punch him out. "Pegasus is Etruscan. He's used to having people wait on him and hand and hoof. I mean foot."

Pegasus flicked a glance at the demi-god, momentarily taking his eyes off Iolaus as he loaded his tray for him then he looked at Aerides in calculation. "You remind me of one of my slaves," he remarked innocently. "Perhaps the slavers are looking for runaways?"

"Why you-?!" Aerides spluttered in fury.

"Ah ah," Iolaus scolded, wriggling in between Aerides and Pegasus. "Cheiron's watching."

"That's right," Hercules agreed. "Pegasus is one of Cheiron's specials."

Aerides scowled, shot a look over his shoulder and subsided. "You and me later," he hissed at Pegasus.

"You and me later what?" Pegasus wondered in bewilderment, but Iolaus hustled him away from the counter before Aerides could answer. Finding an empty table, Iolaus set his own tray down and indicated that Pegasus should sit across from him. "Was he offering me an assignation?"

"No, a fight. "

"Oh, good. He's not my type. Not enough legs." Pegasus cautiously sampled a mushroom, oblivious to the way Iolaus was gaping at him. The velvety texture and flavour of the butter fried mushroom made his eyes widen. "What are these?"

"Mushrooms," Iolaus answered,

"And Hercules said these are carrots?" Pegasus popped a chunk of raw carrot into his mouth, his eyes going even bigger at the burst of taste. "Oohhh…."

"You don't get out much, do you?" Iolaus observed wryly.

Pegasus made a quick stab at the beans, loading a forkful eagerly into his mouth, then following it with mint flavoured peas and a moan of what sounded suspiciously like ecstasy.

Iolaus shrugged and started his own meal. To keep Pegasus company he had stayed with the salad section, but had added eggs and cheese. Now he hardly noticed what he put in his mouth as he watched Pegasus wriggling in delight at each new explosion of flavour. Freshly buttered bread made him sigh with pleasure, but it was a close run thing whether he preferred peas, carrots or mushrooms. The lettuce vanished practically instantly, the beetroot was mulled over, nibbled and then devoured. Pegasus seemed to like everything and ate like, well; he ate like a horse, but finally he was full and sat back with a happy sigh. "I was worried about your food," he admitted to Iolaus as the hunter polished off the last of his cheese wrapped in a chunk of crusty bread. "But I think I shall do well."

"You’re probably going to look like a Titan if you eat like that all the time," Iolaus said lightly.

"I was hungry," Pegasus pouted.

"I was teasing you. Drink your milk."

"Oh yes." Picking up the beaker, Pegasus sniffed cautiously, then took a mouthful, considered the taste carefully and then swallowed. "This is nice too," he said happily, snorting and giggling as he blew bubbles into the milk.

"Pegasus, don't do that," Iolaus urged, with a half giggle of his own.

"No? Why not?"

"It's not good manners. I don't mind, but people will think you're silly."

"Oh, okay." Pegasus gulped down the rest, draining it thirstily. "I think it's fun though."

"Never said it wasn't," Iolaus admitted, grinning at the white moustache Pegasus was now wearing on his upper lip and gesturing at it. "You’d better wipe that off."

Pegasus frowned, doing his best to reach the last remnants of cream with his tongue, then reluctantly wiping it off with the back of his hand. Shooting a surreptitious look round, he licked it off, gave Iolaus a smug grin and then hiccuped. His eyes grew huge in alarm. "Iolaus?" he yipped.

"Hiccups, you ate too fast," Iolaus advised. "It's okay. They'll stop."

"But it….yikk…" Pressing his hand over his mouth, Pegasus giggled as he looked around him.

"Everyone gets hiccups. No one minds. Sit still and I’ll get you some water."

"Yikk!"

Iolaus laughed as headed for the counter and a water pitcher. Behind the counter, Hercules was looking harassed and gave Iolaus a pitiful look as he came up.

"Help, sa-ve me!" he begged, rolling his eyes at him.

"What? Little me save a rough tough warrior type like you?"

"My hero," Hercules retorted sarcastically, threatening him with the ladle.

"No, no, mercy, Hercules!" Iolaus wailed. "Not the ladle that can kill a god! Anything but that!"

"One of the few things that can kill a god, yes!" Hercules responded in his best booming warrior's voice, striking a heroic pose and then bursting into laughter at the reminder of a recent lesson with the Myths teacher. "As if. You want baklava?"

"Ooh, yeah. And water for Pegasus. You going to be long?"

Hercules shot a quick glance round the nearly empty dining hall as he sliced two chunks of baklava and stuck them on platters. "Nah. Ithis got stuck with clearing away. Wait for me?" he asked as he poured a beaker of water from the pitcher.

"Sure. You want me to take you a tray?"

"No, I ate already. Give me ten minutes?"

"Okay, be right over there with Pegasus."

Hercules nodded and watched his friend trot back to the new student, who had a far away expression on his face as he dealt with the new concept of hiccups. It looked like having Pegasus around was going to be fun.

* * *

Finally rid of his hiccups and alone in his room a couple of hours later, Pegasus sat down on his bed, resisting the urge to sniffle in misery. He had unpacked his bags - delivered by mysterious messenger while he was making his way to the Academy on foot - and for the first time he was now on his own with time to think. His initial visit to a village had been full of nerve-wracking strangers who he hadn't known how to deal with and he had been glad when Hermes had decided to drop him off in the woods the second time they came to earth.

His relief had very quickly turned to alarm as he started to realise that the mortal world was far more dangerous than he had suspected. Out in the woods, he had run into the slavers almost immediately and he had gone from admiring the wild beauty of his surroundings to a panic-stricken run for his life. After that there had been first Iolaus, then Tydeus and Cheiron and lots of new and exciting people and surroundings as he was shown around what was to be his home for a while. There simply hadn't been time to register where he was and how cut off he was from everything he had known.

Sighing sadly and mentally scolding himself with a reminder that his exile it was all his own fault, he turned his bag upside down in the hope there might be something else to keep him occupied. A perforated silver ball hidden at the bottom of the bag fell out, wafting a faint but unmistakable scent to his sensitive nose. He scooped it up, inhaling eagerly. Herb scented hay, sweet with the smell of sunshine and meadow flowers.

Stretching out awkwardly on his back on the bed - something else he wasn't used to - Pegasus hugged the pomander to him, rubbing it against his cheek in pleasure at the reminder of home. At least someone loved him. He could smell the faint scent of Hermes clinging to the silver…

A loud knock on the door made him start nervously, clutching the ball to his chest and preparing to take flight. Instead he hit the floor with a thud.

"Pegasus? You in there?" Hercules' by now familiar voice called.

"Oh, yes. Wait a moment." Flailing his way off the floor, Pegasus trotted over to lift the latch and open the door for him. "Hi…"

Hercules looked him up and down, taking in his ruffled appearance and eyeing the pomander before Pegasus sheepishly tucked it behind his back. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

Hercules pursed his lips dubiously. "First time away from home?"

"Of course not. I'm…I…." Pegasus paused uncertainly.

"Uh huh. You want to come to our room for a while? Iolaus doesn't want to study as usual."

"I would like that, yes." Pegasus hesitated, then turned his back and went to tuck the pomander carefully under his pillow. "It will be safe?" he asked, sliding a look over his shoulder at Hercules.

"Yeah. Cheiron would use anyone who took anything around here as a seat cover." Hercules replied as he waited for him patiently. "You want to tell me anything?" he added casually.

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Who you are?"

"My name…"

"I know that. I mean who you really are."

"I am Pegasus."

"Uh huh. You know who I am?"

"Oh yes." Pegasus nodded eagerly as he trotted out of his room and followed Hercules down the corridor to the room the demi-god shared with Iolaus.

Hercules' shooed him inside and then shut the door. Iolaus was sprawled on his bed, reading a scroll. "Hi Pegasus. Welcome to our hovel."

"Hovel?" Pegasus looked around him in bewilderment. True he was used to richer surroundings and decorations, but the room was clean and warm if not especially neat. But then it was shared by two young men who wouldn't have known neat if it bit them.

"He's teasing. Grab a seat." Hercules flopped onto his own bed, which creaked alarmingly under his weight.

Pegasus looked around and then obediently picked up a chair, then looked at Hercules for a clue as to what he should do with it.

"He meant sit on it, Pegasus," Iolaus said mildly, glancing over at the demi-god. "Told you."

"I know what you’re thinking but I'm not thick," Pegasus protested indignantly, putting the chair down and hastily sitting on it. "You're very unspecific with what you mean."

Iolaus grinned at him. "Never said you were. You’re pedantic. You call a sword a sword."

"What else would you call it?" Pegasus wondered in bewilderment.

Iolaus took a deep breath and looked over at Hercules. "See?"

"Makes sense," Hercules admitted.

"You're making fun of me," Pegasus complained, blushing in chagrin. "That's mean."

"No, we’re not." Iolaus sat up and swung his legs off the bed, gazing at him seriously. "Pegasus, you can trust us. We're not going to give away your secret."

"Secret?" Pegasus said warily.

"It's pretty obvious," Hercules said quietly. "You really are Pegasus."

"The one and only," Iolaus grinned.

"It is my name…"

"You’re not fooling us," Hercules interrupted mildly. "I can sense you’re not fully mortal. And Iolaus, well, I'm not sure how he does it, but he knows too."

"That's because I'm smarter than you."

"Modest as well," Hercules retorted sarcastically.

"That too." Iolaus chirped brightly. "The point is we know you’re Pegasus, normally a flying horse. The question is what are you doing here and what did you do with the wings?"

Hercules sighed. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. But we'd like to help. If you've been cursed…"

"No, not cursed, well, yes, but not exactly," Pegasus exclaimed and then stopped nervously. "You won't tell anyone else? Cheiron knows but…"

"Hey! You told Cheiron but you won't tell the guy who saved your tail today?" Iolaus said indignantly.

"It was in the scroll."

"I read the scroll. It didn’t say anything about you being a horse. Only that your father was sending you here to study…" Iolaus paused, a distant light entering his eyes. "That's weird…"

Pegasus smirked. "You can't remember what it said, can you?"

"No, not exactly. It mentioned your father but I don't remember his name."

"Poseidon," Hercules supplied helpfully. "It was probably a magic scroll. Only Cheiron could read the details." He gave Pegasus a thoughtful look. "Aren't you allowed to tell anyone the truth?"

Pegasus shrugged carefully. "I was told to be careful," he answered. "If people know who I am they might want to use me. Like that's new!" he snorted in disgust. "But hiding it isn't going to be as easy as I thought. I guess since you already know…"

"Telling us the whole story will be easy," Iolaus urged.

Pegasus gazed at him thoughtfully and then gave him a shy smile. "All right," he agreed. "I am the real Pegasus. And I was sired by Poseidon. But I was born if you want to call it that in my equine form and I've always wanted to find my human shape. We've always known I had one, Artemis ascertained that when I was only a foal. But I've never been able to change into it. She said I’d have to wait until I was ready, that it would happen when the time was right. But I got fed up of getting caught and used by mortals. That damn golden bridle is a pain..." He shot a fierce look from Hercules to Iolaus and back again. "It was a punishment you know; them giving Bellerophon the bridle and telling him how to catch me. He was so convinced I was only a horse with wings he couldn't hear me so I couldn't even talk to the moron. It wasn't fair. I mean I only ate a couple of the golden apples and they were windfalls."

"Stood around and flapped till they fell off, did you?" Iolaus asked inquisitively.

Pegasus blushed and shot him an embarrassed grin. "Anyway, I got bored of waiting for the right time and I borrowed Artemis' Stone of Form. I’d barely got it figured out how to use it when Hermes came along looking for it. I was so startled I used the Stone without thinking in mid air and changed into this form. That's the problem when you've only got your mouth to carry things in. You neigh and that's it; gone."

"Hermes tends to startle me too, damn goat fondler," Iolaus observed dryly.

Hercules laughed, earning himself a glare from his diminutive partner. "I take it he caught you before you hit the ground?"

"And took me back," Pegasus sighed. "The trouble is, I can't remember how I did it so I'm sort of stuck like this. Apparently part of the problem is I don’t want to change back yet."

"What about the Stone?" Hercules asked. "Can't Artemis use that?"

"If she could find it. I dropped it."

"Bummer," Iolaus commented.

"That’s what Hermes said, or words to that effect only ruder. He's very inventive."

"Where'd you drop it then?" Hercules pressed.

"Somewhere over Greece," Pegasus answered with a small smile.

"Big area…" Hercules said after as moment of stunned silence.

"I think it was in a quarry. But I'm not sure which one. Most of Greece looks the same to me from the air."

"I'm surprised they didn't make you look for it."

Pegasus smirked again. "Hermes is looking for it. Artemis said it was his fault I dropped it."

"Cool," Iolaus purred.

"Huh?"

"It means he won't be chasing me for a while. I knew there was something I liked about you." Iolaus sprawled back on his bed with a grin, folding his arms behind his head as he relaxed.

"So they sent you here to learn…what exactly?"

"How to protect myself while I'm like this. How to get on with mortals. You know, human stuff." Pegasus paused reflectively. "I could be stuck with this shape for some time. Maybe even permanently. Or if I do change, I could be stuck as a horse. I'm not sure if that would be bad or not."

"Another thing to find out," Hercules suggested.

"Being mortal's okay," Iolaus offered. "I'm mortal and it's never bothered me."

"It bothers me," Hercules muttered under his breath. "Pegasus, remember that Iolaus is mortal, huh?"

Tilting his head to one side, Pegasus frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"He's fragile compared to you and I. So are most people. What you can survive, he won't."

"Oh…" Pegasus gave Iolaus an alarmed look.

Iolaus was glaring at Hercules. "He's exaggerating," he said however. "And we don't know that you’re not mortal."

"Be careful with them, okay? That's all I ask." Hercules insisted, ignoring his partner.

Pegasus nodded solemnly. "I understand," he agreed. "I was warned and I will be careful. Do slavers count?"

"No," Iolaus said firmly.

"If they're mortal…" Hercules began.

"No!" Iolaus repeated, giving him a dark look.

Hercules hesitated, then inclined his head.

"Bad guys don't count," Iolaus clarified.

"Uh, by which he means anyone who's doing their best to kill you," Hercules said hastily, having visions of Aerides being trampled in the dining hall. He had already had to have words with him over challenging Pegasus.

Pegasus frowned, mulling this over furiously. "How do I tell?"

"Go with the flow," Iolaus advised. "If I scream kill them you can be pretty sure I mean it."

Hercules sighed. "In general, don't hurt either the students or the teachers," he elucidated. "Or the villagers and especially not the Watch. If you’re attacked, you can protect yourself but don't do more than you have to."

"Okay, I can do that," Pegasus nodded. "I’d like to see the village. Will you take me there?"

"When we have some free time, yes," Hercules promised. "I kind of got the impression you came in on the caravan though."

"No. Hermes brought me to the woods and then I walked here to make it look good." Pegasus pouted. "Hermes didn't know about the slavers."

Hercules grunted, still a little sore that Cheiron wasn't planning to hunt the slavers down. The Centaur was more interested in tightening security and making it clear no students were to be out after dark. Night time visits to the local taverna had been banned, although Hercules suspected that was one rule that would be ignored.

"First of all you need to learn to fight before you start worrying about getting into any brawls," Iolaus advised however.

"Will you teach me to kick like you?" Pegasus asked hopefully.

"Why don't we let the teachers do that?" Hercules said quickly.

"Hey! I can teach him!" Iolaus protested.

"Yeah. But the teachers will show him how to fight cleanly."

"You saying I fight dirty?"

"Yeah, titch."

Iolaus yelped and threw his pillow at him. Hercules lobbed it back. Iolaus caught it and swung, clouting the demi-god firmly in the face. Hercules grabbed his own pillow, whapping Iolaus over the head with it and then taking a sly swing at Pegasus as he gaped at them. Highly indignant, Pegasus snatched at it and joined in; joining Iolaus in a fit of giggles as they both pounded the demi-god into laughing surrender.

"What is going on in here?" a harsh voice said irritably, interrupting the impromptu pillow fight. The three young men scrambled apart, spitting feathers and shoving their hair out of their eyes. Iolaus winced when he realised it was dark eyed Acrides who had slammed the door open. He knew he was going to get the blame for this. "Are you men or children? Mere boys it would seem to indulge in such childish behaviour!"

"We weren't doing anything wrong," Pegasus protested, baffled by his new found friends' efforts to hush him.

Acrides stared at him in disgust. "You must be Cheiron's new sob story. What am I supposed to do with a skinny thing like you? I've seen fatter spears! Do you even know what a muscle is?"

"It's a type of shellfish," Pegasus answered brightly.

"Thick too," Acrides exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

"I'm not. And I'm not skinny either, I'm svelte," Pegasus muttered sullenly

Acrides snorted. "Don't talk back," he snapped. "Isn't it bad enough I have to put up with half pint sized smart mouthed warrior wannabe's without taking on poor little rich kids too?"

Hercules wasn't sure which of his companions to grab fist. He settled on Iolaus on the grounds that he knew what his partner's temper was like. To his relief however Iolaus simply glared in humiliation while Pegasus gazed at Acrides blankly as his insults went straight over his head; finally taking the hint to keep quiet from Hercules and Iolaus' silence.

For a moment Acrides looked annoyed at not getting rise out of any of them then he pulled himself together. "If you have so much excess energy that you don't know what to do with it, I’ll have to make sure you're tired out at practice tomorrow. For now, I don't want to hear another sound out of you! And tidy up the mess in here!" He stomped out, slamming the door shut behind him.

For a long moment they stayed silent, then Hercules let out a long slow breath and released Iolaus. Bouncing off the demi-god's bed, Iolaus returned to his own, muttering darkly under his breath. Pegasus stayed where he was, kneeling on the end of Hercules' bed. He let the demi-god pluck his pillow from his hand and frowned thoughtfully.

"Who was that?" he asked finally. "He smelled funny."

"Oh, he does that," Iolaus snorted.

"No, I mean he smelt…sharp somehow." Seeing the strange looks they gave him, Pegasus sighed and pressed on, "Oh, it doesn’t matter. Who was he?"

"Our drill instructor, Acrides," Hercules answered. "You don't want to cross him."

"Cross him with what?"

"Annoy him, contradict him, anything like that," Hercules explained.

"I didn't do anything to him and he still treats me like dirt!" Iolaus pointed out ruefully.

"You were born, Iolaus, you were born," Hercules sighed. "As far as we can figure out, he's got it in for Iolaus because of his father. He can't get back at his father, so he's taking it out on Iolaus."

"That doesn't seem very fair," Pegasus said slowly.

"It isn't," Iolaus said bitterly. "It's not like I get on any better with my father than Acrides did. And I never even met Acrides until he came here!"

"Then how do you know…?"

"I looked in Cheiron's scrolls," Iolaus said simply, ignoring the way Hercules rolled his eyes in exasperation. "And I asked around about him. He and my father were both fighting for the same King. Skouros outranked him. Because of Acrides' actions in battle while leading his men - he got a lot of warriors killed in some ambush - Skouros refused to give him a larger command. When the King found out how many men he lost in battle, he banished him."

"He's a good warrior," Hercules offered cautiously. "But he's a lousy leader."

Iolaus looked at him silently, then shook his head and flopped back on his bed, folding his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

Pegasus looked from one to the other of them then gave Hercules a hopeful look. "Do you think I'm skinny?"

Iolaus lifted his head to look at him in astonishment. "What kind of a question is that?"

"I thought this was one of those times when I'm supposed to change the subject?" Pegasus explained. "And Acrides said I was skinny and that I don't have any muscles. Of course, I have muscles. I wouldn't be able to move otherwise, would I?"

"We're going to have to teach you to be less literal," Hercules chuckled, glad to see Iolaus smiling. "But it had better be in the morning. It's getting late and I wouldn't put it past Acrides to come back and check up on us."

"Yeah. He'll probably decide we’re having an orgy next."

"Iolaus!" Hercules yelped, shocked.

Iolaus turned innocent blue eyes on him. "Yes, Herc?"

"You, you…oh never mind! Come on, Pegasus."

Obediently, Pegasus unfolded his long legs and trotted out of the room after the demi-god. "Do you think I'm skinny?" he asked insistently however.

Hercules glanced at him and sighed wistfully. Compared to Iolaus and Pegasus he felt like an overgrown Titan at times. He envied the pair of them for their slight builds and neat proportions when his own limbs felt too long and full of unexpected joins. "No, Pegasus, you’re not skinny. You’re like Iolaus, put together right."

"Oh…" Pegasus considered this thoughtfully as he stepped into his room and then looked over his shoulder at the demi-god. "You and Iolaus are nice people, Hercules," he decided. "I think I'm going to enjoy being here."

Hercules grinned at him. "I'm glad. Good night, Pegasus."

"Good night, Hercules."

Closing the door quietly, Hercules made his way back to his own room. He liked Pegasus' straightforward ways and honest reactions. He only hoped it wouldn't get him hurt.

* * *

"You're not chopping firewood, boy!" Acrides voice rang across the drill hall, targeting Clemis as the student practised his sword parries on the swinging dummy. Armed with an assortment of blunt edged staves, the hay stuffed bag was set swinging by means of a student pulling a rope while the others took turns defending themselves against it. Normally there were two dummies but Hercules had managed to smash three of the staves on the other one in his earlier efforts and it had been taken down for repairs. "That's a sword in your hand! Use it like you mean it!"

Clemis renewed his efforts, swiped savagely at the dummy then got flattened as it oscillated wildly and knocked him swearing off his feet.

"Next time, watch your back!" Acrides bellowed. "Next! Conanius!"

"Guess we’re not children anymore," Iolaus whispered to Hercules. He and the demi-god were standing on the sidelines, watching while they awaited their next assignment. The hunter had already tackled the dummy and had his swordsmanship grudgingly passed.

"Don't be childish," Hercules grinned back at him.

"Yi yi yi yi….!" Conanius tackled the dummy, hurling himself on it with a berserk scream as he flailed at it wildly. It veered away from him, wobbling in little circles but obviously unharmed.

"What are doing?!" Acrides roared at him. "You want to make it laugh itself to death?! What kind of a noise was that?"

"My death scream," Conanius answered, shuffling his feet and dodging the dummy as it swung gently back towards him.

"Do that in a battle and it will be," Acrides barked. "You sound like a girl stuck with a needle! Next!"

Conanius skulked over the sidelines, pouting. He was a broad shouldered, strong young Macedonian with an even temper. Hercules slapped him on the shoulder. "I thought it sounded good," he said consolingly.

"What are you lot doing over there?" Acrides had spotted them and bore down on them rapidly. "You, Hercules, on the ropes. You too, Conanius. Let's see if all that muscle is good for something other than chopping wood. You, Iolaus, up on the balance poles. And…" Acrides shot a quick look round for an opponent. "You, Aerides, get up there with him. Let's see what you’re capable of."

Hercules exchanged a grimace with Iolaus as they both moved to obey. Aerides picked up the padded batons they used for fighting, twirling it absently as he smirked across at Iolaus. Iolaus stuck his tongue out at him then scrambled up the steps to the top.

The balance poles consisted of a square of twenty or more upright beams hammered into the floor of the gymnasium, their tops cut flat and smooth. Standing a man's height and a step apart, they were wide enough to get one foot on at a time and no more. Every now and then Cheiron would have them dug up and their pattern rearranged to make sure no student got to know the pattern too well. The new one had been in place for only a couple of days and no one had been up to use them yet. Sitting on the edge of the platform while he tugged off his boots - preferring to fight on the poles barefoot when it was a new pattern- he studied the pattern carefully and started to mentally rearrange his moves. He was good at balancing and tumbling and was learning to use his innate agility and speed to his advantage, rather than the sheer brute force of the military tactics Skouros had attempted to pound into him as the only real way to fight.

"Ooh, high, isn't it?"

Iolaus jumped, startled to find Pegasus right behind him on the platform. "I wouldn't have thought you’d mind heights."

"I don't," Pegasus said cheerfully. "But it looks higher from this height than it does when I'm up high flying."

Iolaus ferreted through the logic of this and smiled. "You want a go? Aerides takes a while to warm up."

"Can I?" Pegasus asked hopefully. "So far no one's let me do anything. I thought I was going to learn to fight, not count."

"Count?" Iolaus gave him a blank look.

"I had a lesson with Algebraius the maths teacher."

"Figures," Iolaus said dryly then laughed at his own unintentional pun. "Come on, I’ll show you. Step where I step." Skipping to his feet, he stepped out onto the pole tops, moving out a couple of feet before turning back to Pegasus. "C'mon…"

Pegasus rolled his lips together doubtfully, then stepped daintily after him, wobbling uncertainly.

"Here…" Iolaus held out his hands for him, letting Pegasus grasp his fingers so he could steady the student. "There, nothing to it really."

Pegasus tossed his head, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "It's too high," he complained. "I feel like I'm going to slip down the middle!"

"No, you’re not."

Pegasus glared at him and cast a longing look back over his shoulder. "What's this for anyway? It's dangerous."

"It teaches you balance and agility," Iolaus explained. "Here, watch this." Releasing Pegasus' hands despite his yip of protest, Iolaus took a gliding step back then jumped, turning a neatly controlled somersault and landing back on his feet.

"Oh, well done!" Pegasus applauded approvingly. "Will you teach me that?"

"What are you doing up there, skinny!" Acrides barked angrily. "Get down from there before you break something, you moron! Aerides, I told you and Iolaus to practise."

Aerides jumped and hastily started up to the platform with the batons.

"I'm not skinny," Pegasus muttered under his breath as he shot a glare at the instructor then looked nervously back at Iolaus. The young warrior promptly came to help him, guiding him back to the safety of the platform. Aerides jostled Pegasus out of the way and stepped brashly out onto the poles, tossing Iolaus a baton as Pegasus made his way gingerly down the steps to level ground. Steps were tricky things that he still couldn't get used to.

"This time I'm going to beat you," Aerides told the blond hunter arrogantly.

"Last time I tipped you on your butt." Iolaus shot back as he backed away across the poles, drawing the bigger youth out into the middle of the square.

"That was an accident!"

"That's what you think, airhead,"

"Don't call me airhead," Aerides complained, his broad face flushing.

"Airhead…"

"Shut up!"

"Make me, airhead," Iolaus taunted, goading the bigger youth's hot temper.

Aerides scowled and swung, aiming a fast but heavy blow that Iolaus dodged easily. Iolaus stayed out of reach, returning the blows with his own padded baton and feeling out Aerides' skills.

"You've been practising," he noted cheerfully.

"You haven’t," Aerides sneered, managing to get in a blow to Iolaus' ribs that lacked enough force to do any damage.

Iolaus frowned, resolving to be more careful. He was a little rusty and he was loath to ruin his reputation by losing to Aerides. Aerides might have more money than he did, but their backgrounds were equal.

"What are you two doing, you pair of wilting daisies!" Acrides demanded impatiently, tracking them from below. "Let's see some action, some speed! Stop running away from him, Iolaus, and fight, boy!"

Iolaus bit back an angry response, having learned not to give people ammunition against him by reacting to taunts.

Aerides smirked, raining down a barrage of heavy blows that forced Iolaus into dodging. Aware that he was coming close to the edge of the square, Iolaus feinted then ducked in the opposite direction. Aerides was ready for him, knowing the move. He overextended himself as Iolaus swiftly changed direction and scooted around him on his other side.

"Over here!" he called, batting Aerides across the butt.

Aerides yelped and straightened up, nearly falling as wobbled dangerously.

"What are you waiting for?!" Acrides bellowed, outraged when Iolaus didn't follow up the advantage.

Iolaus, however, backed up a step, allowing Aerides the time to turn and face him. Aerides was flushed with annoyance, but he gave Iolaus a curt nod of gratitude for the salve to his pride. They both knew Iolaus could have knocked him off the poles and won with the trick, but deep down they both enjoyed the challenge of the contest and didn't want to end it too soon.

"Again," Aerides ordered.

Iolaus nodded, squaring up to him and then going on the attack so fast that Aerides barely had time to defend himself. A blow in the ribs made him grunt as it landed with force, but he retaliated with a swift hard baton punch to Iolaus' thigh.

Iolaus skipped back out of reach, his leg a trifle numb. Feeling the pole under his foot wobble a fraction, he gasped, took a skipping step and came down with his weight squarely on the next pole over. An explosion of pain shot through his heel and up his leg, making him cry out and instinctively snatch his foot back only to lose his balance completely as Aerides' baton smacked into his side. He caught one glimpse of Aerides startled face receding from him then the ground hit him with bruising force, something cracked across the side of his head and blackness descended with a thud.

Hercules was halfway up a spinning rope when he heard Iolaus cry out. By the time he stopped revolving, Iolaus was down, huddled among the forest of the balance poles. He let go of the rope without thinking and dropped, landing with his knees bent and tumbling into a roll that brought him back to his feet at the run. Pegasus was already squirming his way to Iolaus' side as Aerides slithered down a pole to help. Acrides was bellowing at Clemis to fetch Tydeus as Hercules pushed his way through the crowd of anxious students to his friend.

"I didn't hit him that hard," Aerides was protesting. "I didn't mean to hurt him."

"Stop whining," Acrides said harshly. "When you fight, you expect people to get hurt. You took advantage of your enemy's distraction. Nothing wrong with that. Pegasus, don't move him!"

Hercules flashed the older man a look of loathing as he scrunched his broad shoulders between the poles and knelt awkwardly beside Iolaus. Slighter built, Pegasus was having less trouble but clearly had less idea of what to do as he looked up at Hercules with huge amber eyes. He looked as scared as Hercules felt.

"Tydeus will fix him, won't he?" Pegasus whispered hopefully, petting Iolaus' hair awkwardly.

"I hope so," Hercules muttered, squeezing in as close he could get. As he wrapped his fingers around Iolaus' wrist, he was rewarded with a faint moan and a flicker of dusky gold eyelashes as Iolaus stirred and started to groggily surface again. "He'll be fine," he assured Pegasus, hoping he was right. He ran his eyes anxiously over his friend, noting that there seemed to be no ominous unnatural bends in any of his limbs, although there did seem to be an awful lot of blood on and around his bare feet. More worried about the other end for the moment, Hercules gingerly combed one hand through Iolaus' bright hair, feeling the knot forming over his ear.

"Ow…" Iolaus complained, opening his eyes and blinking up at the demi-god as Hercules snatched his hand away hastily. Lifting one hand, Iolaus vaguely waved Pegasus' petting fingers away from his hair. "Stoppit…"

"You have pretty hair," Pegasus told him. "Like good straw…"

"Gee, thanks…" Iolaus mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"That was meant as a compliment I think, Iolaus," Hercules said gently. "Look at me please…" With a long-suffering sigh, Iolaus opened his eyes again and focused on him. "Are you all right?"

"What kind of a dumb question is that?" Iolaus demanded irritably.

"Okay, okay, let me rephrase it. Are you hurt anywhere other than your head?"

Iolaus thought about it slowly. "I don't think so, only my foot…"

"Come on, shoo, shoo, shoo, out of the way," Tydeus' raised voice parted the students before him as they good-naturedly let the healer through.

"All right, nothing to see now," Acrides ordered, briskly recovering control of the situation. "Back to your exercises."

Tydeus wriggled through the poles, displacing a reluctant Pegasus so he could kneel beside Iolaus. "I might have known it'd be you," the healer teased as he leaned over the young hunter, running an expert eye over him. "What did you do this time?"

"He fell," Hercules offered.

Iolaus glared at him. "I stepped on something sharp, then I fell," he argued.

"After Aerides pushed him," Pegasus added helpfully, giving a hovering Aerides a murderous look.

"None of that now," Acrides warned sharply. "He did nothing wrong. Back to practise, Aerides." The dark haired student slunk off, looking both angry and worried at the same time.

"He hit his head," Hercules continued.

"Did he now. Was he unconscious?"

"No…" Iolaus said firmly.

"Yes," Hercules corrected, then shrugged at the look Iolaus gave him. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, but you were unconscious. Only for a minute though."

"You’re imagining things," Iolaus retorted. "I might have been a bit stunned but I knew what was happening."

"Oh yeah, sure," Hercules snorted.

Tydeus ignored them, running his fingers through Iolaus' hair and finding the swelling bump over his ear. "Quite a crack too," he observed. "Lie still while I have a quick look at your foot."

Iolaus grunted and folded his arms, wincing a little as a new bruise protested at the movement and doing his best not to flinch too obviously as Tydeus examined his foot. "Nothing broken," the healer said consolingly after a few moments. "Looks like you stepped on a nail." He looked over his shoulder at a scowling Acrides. "The equipment should be checked," he told him sharply. "I'm not having students hurt for no reason."

Acrides glared back at him. "I'm training warriors, not wimps," he replied icily.

"Fine warriors they’ll be if they end up crippled after your training," Tydeus shot back sarcastically.

"Crippled?" Iolaus yipped, pushing up on his arms in alarm.

"Not you, you young idiot," Tydeus tsked. "Your foot will be sore for a while is all. Now, let's have a look at the rest of you. Anything feel broken?" He leaned over him again, peering into Iolaus' eyes while the student did his best not to squint at him.

"I feel okay," Iolaus answered.

"Hmmh. Well, you seem all right for the moment, but best to be safe. You’d better lie down for the rest of the afternoon…" Iolaus shot a smug look at Hercules. "In the infirmary," Tydeus finished.

"Aw, no, not the infirmary," Iolaus complained. "It's boring in there!"

"I'm sure I can find you some scrolls to study if you get too bored," Tydeus said mildly. "Do you think you can walk?"

"Yeah, sure," Iolaus muttered sulkily, sitting up somewhat stiffly.

"All right, let's get a dressing on your foot first. No point you getting it any dirtier than it already is."

"Hey, I had a bath last night!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Tydeus said primly, rummaging in his ever present herb bag.

"Hercules, you’d better get back to your exercises," Acrides ordered abruptly. "And don't you have anything to do, Pegasus?"

"He's in beginners classes," Tydeus commented without looking up. "He can stay and help me. Do you know anything about herbs?"

"I know which ones are good to eat," Pegasus offered shyly.

"Somehow that figures," Iolaus said dryly, wincing at the bandages Tydeus wrapped around his foot. He looked at Hercules as his friend shifted. "I'm fine, go," he whispered, not wanting the demi-god to get into trouble with the instructor. Hercules nodded reluctantly, squeezed his shoulder and went, heading back for the ropes.

For the next few minutes Hercules went through the motions of exercising, watched Tydeus tend Iolaus then help him hobble from the gymnasium with Pegasus trotting alongside. Acrides had gone over to the practise mats and was putting a pair of hapless students through their paces. Seeing that he was distracted, Hercules trotted over to the poles and quickly swung himself up onto the ones near where Iolaus had fallen. He was startled to find Ithis up on the end platform, flattened across the steps.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at him, hoping to remain unobserved by Acrides for a while.

"Same thing as you," Ithis answered in a low voice. "Mind where you put your hand, there's a nail to your right."

Hercules looked and nodded, grimacing as the long blood stained nail projecting from the soft wood. Stepping gingerly, he made his way across to Ithis' side, noting the positions of several other nails as he went.

"What do you two think you’re doing up there?" Acrides demanded harshly, angrily striding over to glare at them. "That equipment isn't safe for now."

"And we were looking out for the safety of our fellow students by checking for nails," Hercules answered coolly.

"And did you find any?" Acrides snapped. "Or was it merely Iolaus' over active imagination again?"

"We found several nails," Ithis said quickly, realising Hercules was too angry to speak.

Hercules shot a quick look at the red head, then nodded jerkily.

"Someone obviously made a mistake when they were erecting them. I’ll get Davron to look at them. For now, come down for there and get on with your weapons drill."

As the instructor stalked away, Hercules made a rude gesture at his back. "He must think I'm dumb if he thinks I don't know he's been on Iolaus' tail since he got here," he muttered bitterly.

Ithis looked at him doubtfully as he followed the demi-god down the steps. "You don't think he put those nails there, do you?" he protested.

"Someone did."

"It could be an accident."

"You don't think that any more than I do. Why else did you check? They're glued in place," Hercules explained grimly. "You want to wrestle?"

"Yeah. But you don't really think Acrides would do it to get at Iolaus, do you?" Ithis argued. "You might as well blame Pegasus. Nothing like this happened before he arrived."

"Pegasus wouldn't do something like this." Hercules was pretty sure Pegasus didn't know what being mean meant.

"Well, we don't know that Acrides would either. I mean he sent Aerides up there too."

"Yeah, I know," Hercules frowned at the far wall of the gymnasium as he ambled over to the wrestling mats. "That's what bothers me…"

* * *

It wasn't until weapons training was over for the day that Hercules managed to slip away before his carpentry lesson. He, Iolaus and Ithis were sharing a chariot building project which had suffered a set back in the design for the wheels. Iolaus and Ithis were holding out for the new scythes while Hercules wanted old-fashioned spikes. Their teacher, Maplius, was letting them fight it out between them.

After getting permission from the healer, Hercules made his way down the corridor to the side room where Iolaus was resting. He found his friend propped comfortably on a mound of pillows, with his bandaged foot on a plump cushion. He looked up as Hercules came in and gave him a slightly strained smile.

"Tydeus says you’re okay," Hercules said after they had greeted each other and he had settled into a chair.

"I guess so. You never realise how sore you are until a couple of hours after you fall."

"Stiff?"

"Uh huh," Iolaus nodded ruefully. "I can't believe I was clumsy enough to step on a nail."

"I'm surprised Aerides didn't step on one too," Hercules said darkly. "Ithis and I took a look after you’d gone. They’re glued all over the pole tops."

Iolaus wrinkled his nose. "Don't tell me. One of Acrides' little Spartan training tricks?"

"I don't think so," Hercules said slowly. "Whatever else he is, Acrides isn't stupid. Some of the students are pretty important. If any of them got hurt…."

"Hyperius would think it’s a gift of the gods," Iolaus snorted. "They'd all go over to his Academy…" He paused, surprised at himself. "But the gods favour Cheiron, don't they? Why else would they send Pegasus here? You don't think he's…Herc, he wouldn't!"

"No, I agree, he wouldn't," Hercules said firmly. "But someone would, maybe someone paid by Hyperius. If people start believing Cheiron's lost his touch, they might decide to send their sons to Hyperius instead. He's fashionable and Cheiron, well, Cheiron isn't."

"But he's still the best," Iolaus argued.

"But if people start to think Hyperius is the best? Well, I wouldn't change schools, but some might. I mean Skouros might think…" Hercules paused uncomfortably.

"If Skouros thinks changing schools would be best, he'd do it and never mind what I think," Iolaus admitted gloomily. "But I'm not planning to write and tell him."

"Have you thought of telling him about Acrides?"

"What'd be the point? He'd tell me to deal with it. Come on, Herc, he hasn't been to see me and check up on me since last season. He hasn't even been home to see my mother either. In fact, I'm not even sure she knows where he is! Let alone me!"

Hercules didn't answer. He knew Iolaus thought Skouros had abandoned his family for good and was at a loss how to help his friend deal with something that might well be true.

Iolaus slumped back into the pillows. "At least he doesn't keep interfering any more. And he did pay all my tuition fees up until I graduate."

"He did?" Hercules said in surprise. Alcmene paid his tuition fees a season at a time as an incentive to make sure he did well. But then he wasn't too sure precisely where Alcmene gone the money from, although he suspected.

"I asked when we came back," Iolaus muttered, blushing.

"Is that why you were jumpy?"

Iolaus nodded. "My mother said he had, but…" he broke off with a shrug.

Hercules sighed, knowing Iolaus wouldn't have put it past Skouros to expect him to make his own way at the academy too.

"But if he does hear, he might send me away," Iolaus said slowly. "We've got to help Cheiron somehow."

"I know. I'm thinking about it."

"I wondered what the grinding noise was."

"Ooh, cutting," Hercules teased. "Are you going to be able to come to supper?"

"Unless Tydeus changes his mind, yeah. You going now?"

"Carpentry class," Hercules said simply, rising to his feet. "Wheel spikes."

"Scythes," Iolaus said firmly.

"Spikes," Hercules said firmly. "It's one on one now."

"Hey, no fair! Don't you go bullying Ithis! It was two to one before!"

Hercules smiled smugly. "Would I bully Ithis?" he asked innocently. "Later, Iolaus."

"Scythes!" Iolaus yelled indignantly. "Don't you go wrecking my chariot with your weird ideas!"

Hercules laughed and ducked out, dodging the pillow Iolaus threw after him and glad his friend felt better. He had been worried about him for a while. Humming under his breath, he trotted off to his next class, toying with the idea of putting the spikes on to annoy Iolaus after all. They could always change them later. Surprised by the idea, Hercules suddenly grinned and lengthened his strides as the perfect solution occurred to him. Interchangeable attachments! He was sure Maplius would be able to show him how to make a wheel where they could change scythes for spikes any time they wanted to!

* * *

"Are you sure you don’t want anything else?" Hercules fretted as he took his seat beside his partner in the dining hall several hours later. Since Iolaus was limping badly, supporting his weight on the toes of his wounded foot rather than his damaged heel, Hercules had ordered him to sit down while he fetched their evening meal. Since Pegasus seemed to have gone missing, he had chosen the lamb soup followed by moussaka for both of them, a dish of olives and cheese mint bread to back it up and yoghurt cake for dessert.

"I spent the afternoon lying down, Herc. I'm not that hungry," Iolaus retorted as he sampled the soup. As usual Maeve the cook had spiced it to perfection.

Hercules snorted as he took a sip of milk. "If you’re really not hungry, then I’ll worry," he observed.

Iolaus grinned, reaching for the fresh bread to go with his soup. The combination of cheese and mint as usual boosted his appetite and he tucked in happily. "You seen Pegasus?"

"Not for a while. He was down at the stables wolf whistling the fillies," Hercules admitted, feeling a tiny pang of jealousy that Iolaus and Pegasus seemed to be getting on so well.

"There are girls here and you didn't tell me?" Iolaus exclaimed, shocked.

"Horses," Hercules said flatly.

"Oh…." Iolaus slid a look at him and smiled faintly, making Hercules wonder if he could read his mind. "So how'd carpentry go?" Iolaus asked curiously, changing the subject.

Hercules knew perfectly well what he was interested in and side-stepped the question. "You know those new guys? Fordius, Edsellius, Mercides and Skodius?"

"Are they the brothers from that merchant family?"

"That's them. You should see the plans for the chariot they've come up with. It's got these dinky little fin things on the back and they want to put red lamps on it to frighten anyone out of coming too close. And white lamps on the front so you can see where you’re going at night. There's to be a spare wheel lashed underneath. And they’re arguing over what colour it should be. Fordius insists they can have any colour they like as long as it's black."

"Got scythes on it, has it?" Iolaus asked dryly, reaching for his moussaka.

"No," Hercules admitted. "Apparently it's going to be a family chariot."

"A what?" Iolaus echoed, pausing in mid bite in astonishment.

"A family chariot, with room for at least four including the driver," Hercules told him. "There's going to be a gauntlet box at the front where you can put things. Edsellius wants to put a luggage trunk on the back. Skodius wants safety straps so you can fasten yourself in and they're designing some kind of locking lever to put on the wheels to make sure no one can take it."

"Why would anyone want to?" Iolaus exclaimed.

"Beats me," Hercules shrugged. "Must be something to do with being merchants. They think they'll be able to sell them."

"As what? Firewood? With all that lot on it weighing down they’re going to need someone walking in front with a flag to let them know they’re coming."

"According to Mercides it's luxury not speed that will be the selling point."

"It'd have to be," Iolaus chuckled, then sobered as he inadvertently banged his foot on the floor. Fighting the urge to swear, he bit his lip and hunched his slender shoulders.

Hercules watched him anxiously, not knowing what to say and annoyed that he couldn't help. After a moment, Iolaus took deep breath, looked up at him from under his shaggy fringe and smiled ruefully as he found Hercules watching him.

"Maybe you should have had supper in our room," Hercules worried.

"I'm okay. Gotta remember not to kick anyone is all."

"And not step any nails," Hercules observed grimly. He had volunteered to help remove the nails from the poles, watched over by a silently furious Cheiron. The idea of anyone playing such a cruel trick infuriated the Centaur and when he found out who was behind it, there was bound to be serious trouble. Hercules was equally angry; the nails had been a good finger length in size, practically caltrops, and he knew Iolaus had been very, very lucky not to smash one straight through his heel and cripple himself. He hoped Cheiron kicked the culprit from here to the Hellespont and back.

"You know who did it yet?"

"No," Hercules admitted curtly.

"Not even a clue?"

Hercules gave him a cool look and shook his head. Iolaus gazed back at him thoughtfully, then gave up, knowing Hercules wasn't going to share his suspicions with him. He picked up a piece of the yoghurt cake, popping the sweet sticky cake in his mouth and savouring it happily.

"You haven't finished your moussaka yet," Hercules pointed out.

"All ends up in the same place. Besides, I…" Iolaus broke off with a start as the doors of the dining hall crashed open, flung wide by Pegasus as he made his entrance.

"Tadah!" he cried, tottering forwards and starting to sing, carolling in a fine, sweet if slurred voice, "Oh, there once was a filly from Scilly, who sent me all into a dilly! La dah de de de dah dah di di… I forget the words…"

"Is he drunk?" Iolaus exclaimed in shock.

"With one look of her eyes she could turn a man chilly….er no…" Pegasus giggled. "No, starts with w…."

Hercules lunged to his feet and galloped towards Pegasus, slapping one hand over his mouth. Pegasus gazed at him wide eyed over the top, starting a muffled giggle. Hercules sniffed at him cautiously and to his alarm, Pegasus promptly snuggled up to him, snuffling at him and burrowing into his neck where he started to hiccup and sag at the knees. Wrapping an arm around his waist, Hercules heaved him up against him, cringing as Pegasus twined his arms around his waist started to sing muffledly,

"Hercules, Hercules, running through the glen, Hercules, Hercules, with the strength of ten, wanted by all men, loved by women, Hercules, Hercules, Hercules…."

"Hush, Pegasus," Hercules hissed frantically, dragging him over to the table where Iolaus had pushed up on one foot, obviously wanting to come and help but not quite being able to manage.

"She spied the gorgeous Hercules running naked through the woods and vowed to have him any way she could," Pegasus sang on, oblivious to Hercules' efforts to silence him. "She handled all his parts that were untouched by female hands and still found plenty of time to…"

"Shut up!" Hercules screamed at him and Pegasus closed his mouth, giving him a hurt look as a weighty silence descended over the room.

"Gee, Hercules, you could have let him finish," Aerides said sardonically. "Plenty of time to….what? We haven't heard that one before."

"Get stuffed!" Hercules shot at him, shoving Pegasus into a seat beside Iolaus. Gratefully, Iolaus sat down next to him and sniffed at him cautiously. Pegasus grinned and leaned over, snuffling back at him happily.

"He is drunk," Iolaus said worriedly as Hercules loomed over them. "But where'd he get wine from? I told him not to touch it."

"Nice student gave it to me," Pegasus giggled, then frowned and hiccuped again. "Ow…yick…ow….!"

"Take a deep breath and hold it," Hercules ordered grimly. Pegasus gave him a wary look but obeyed. Ignoring him Hercules turned back to Iolaus. "Can you imagine what Acrides will say if he sees him like this? And Cheiron will have his hide for a rug. You know what he's like about drinking; especially in school!"

"Hey, I didn't give him the wine. I told him not to."

"Well, he didn't listen, did he?"

"That's hardly my fault. I thought you were watching him anyway? I sure couldn't."

"Don't you blame me." Hercules broke off and gave Pegasus an irate look at the student tugged at his tunic. "What?"

"He's turning blue, Herc," Iolaus observed.

"What? Why? Oh for…breathe out, Pegasus, breathe…"

Pegasus gasped for breath gratefully. "Mean…" he managed.

"You’re not supposed to hold your breath until you keel over, idiot," Hercules scolded impatiently. "Only as long as you can."

"Oh…" Pegasus said forlornly. "I feel weird…Why's everything spinning?"

"That'd be the wine," Iolaus told him. "You want to go lie down?"

"Mmmh," Pegasus nodded gently and started to slide off the seat and under the table.

"Oh no, you don't," Hercules said hastily, grabbing his arm before he could vanish. "Come on, I suppose I’d better put you to bed. Iolaus?"

"I'll help…" Iolaus started to his feet then stopped with a pained wince.

Hercules sighed and pulled Pegasus upright, tugging him over one broad shoulder.

"Wooo…." Pegasus giggled, flapping his arms. "Hey, look! I'm flying!"

"Don't hurt him, Herc. It's not his fault," Iolaus begged as he caught a glimpse of his partner's exasperated expression.

Hercules grunted. "I'm not going to hurt him, tempted though I am. Naked through the woods, huh? Hah!"

Iolaus ducked his head to hide his grin until Hercules was out of range, then slowly limped after him, absently memorising what he could remember of Pegasus' song as he followed him.

"You found Pegasus!" Ithis nearly ran Hercules down as the demi-god ambled out into the corridor with his burden.

"I wasn't aware he was missing," Hercules observed darkly, glaring suspiciously at the red haired student. "Is that a wineskin?"

"Huh? Where?" Ithis hastily tucked the wineskin behind his back and looked round innocently.

"Wheee! Flap, flap!" Pegasus chirruped, waving his hands wildly. "Up, up and away!!"

"Shut up, Pegasus," Hercules ordered. "Ithis, did you give him wine?"

"Who? Me?" Ithis exclaimed, wide eyed. Spotting Iolaus as he limped into view, he turned to him eagerly, "Hey, Iolaus! How's the foot?"

"Okay," Iolaus answered, shooting a quick look up at the demi-god. "What's happening?"

"I think Ithis gave Pegasus the wine," Hercules said grimly.

"Would I do that?" Ithis exclaimed.

"As if you wouldn't," Iolaus snorted.

"Yeah, I saw the wineskin," Hercules added.

"Wine?" Pegasus squeaked, pushing up on Hercules' shoulder and peering around him. "Where? More wine! Bring it on!"

"Shut up!" Hercules snapped at him.

"Who put you up to it? Aerides?" Iolaus asked, ignoring Pegasus' pleas.

Ithis looked from one to the other of them and then slumped. "Yeah," he admitted reluctantly. "He gave me the wine. But it was only meant as a joke."

"Some joke. How much did you give him?" Hercules said sternly.

"No more than a cupful," Ithis said gloomily.

"Oh sure," Iolaus said sarcastically.

"No, really. Only a cupful and it was watered. I offered him a sip and the next thing I knew he'd drunk it all. It really hit him hard and he took off before I could grab him. He is really fast."

"Are we going to believe him?" Hercules asked dryly.

Iolaus studied the anxious red head for a long moment and then nodded. "Yeah, I think so. He did come after him."

"We should tell Cheiron."

"Aw, no, Hercules, please?" Ithis begged.

"Herc, you'll get Pegasus into trouble too," Iolaus warned quickly.

Hercules hesitated. Pegasus had gone limp apart from an occasional flap of his arms. He was singing again, his voice muffled by Hercules' shirt. "It's tempting," Hercules grumbled, remembering what Pegasus had been singing about him before.

"He won't tell Cheiron," Iolaus decided, confidently.

"Hey!" Hercules protested.

Iolaus ignored him. "But we’d better get Pegasus out of sight before someone sees him. Herc, you take him back to his room." Muttering under his breath, Hercules stomped off with Pegasus - still flapping - over his shoulder. "And you’d better get rid of that wineskin, Ithis."

"Hey, look at me! Reverse!" Pegasus carolled. "Next a somersault and barrel roll! Whee!"

"Oh yeah, right." Shooting a suspicious look around him, Ithis stuffed it under his tunic.

"Er, that wasn't quite what I had in mind," Iolaus grinned. "Hey, why don’t we hide it in Aerides' room? They do room inspection tomorrow."

* * *

"I always get suspicious when you smirk, Iolaus," Tydeus observed the following morning. Iolaus was perched on his examination table while the healer cleaned and dressed his foot. "Especially when Hercules is grinning too."

"Can't think why," Iolaus said innocently, cocking his head to listen to the bellows echoing in the distance. It sounded as if the wineskin had been found and Cheiron had been told from the way Aerides was protesting wildly. Hercules had argued against it, but he had lost and was doing his best not to grin now.

Pegasus whimpered from where he was propping up the doorway. "Why are you talking so loud?" he complained pathetically.

Tydeus glanced at him and frowned as he unwrapped Iolaus' foot. "What's wrong with you?"

Pegasus squinted back at him, one hand raised to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight pouring into the room. "My teeth itch," he responded. "My mouth feels like something nasty slept in it and I hurt."

"Do you now," Tydeus said dryly. "And why would that be? Was it something you drank perhaps?"

Pegasus frowned. "I don't remember," he admitted and shot a glare at Hercules as the demi-god absently drummed his fingers on the edge of his seat. "Don’t do that," he hissed.

"What you need is some fresh air and exercise," Tydeus told him briskly with a complete lack of sympathy. He did not consider students who drank too much to be his problem. "Now let's see what we have here." He stripped the last padded dressing off Iolaus' foot and clicked his tongue against his teeth in satisfaction. "Ah yes, that's coming along nicely." He tilted his head towards Pegasus as the youth made a gurgling sound. "Not in here if you please, there's a bowl in the next room. And you can clean up after yourself too." Pegasus lunged from the room with a wordless whimper. "You're looking a little green too, Hercules," Tydeus observed wryly.

"So does Iolaus' foot," Hercules answered, swallowing hard. "Why's it gone that colour?"

"That's only the ointment I put on it. It's still perfectly clean and smells sweet enough - in as far as a foot can anyway," Tydeus explained cheerfully. "Want to sniff?"

"I'll pass," Hercules said weakly.

"You are never going to pass your herbal lessons if you don't pay attention," Tydeus scolded. "Now, Iolaus, how does it feel?"

"It's sore when I put any weight on it."

"No throbbing?"

"Only when I catch it," Iolaus replied seriously. "And my ankle aches a lot…"

"You probably twisted it a little. I’ll strap it for you."

"Tydeus?"

The healer glanced up at him, catching the hint of worry in the student's blue eyes. "It's all perfectly normal," he told him. "You're lucky you managed to twist your foot so it gashed your heel rather than punched straight in. If you’d damaged the bone, well, you wouldn't be walking on it for a while. Stay off it as much as you can." Iolaus brightened up. "By which I mean sitting down in class and studying rather then lurking about the woods…"

"Perhaps you could take some extra lessons with Algebraius and keep Pegasus company," Hercules observed with an evil grin.

Iolaus gave him a filthy look. "And maybe you could take extra herb classes?"

Tydeus smiled, enjoying their bickering while he tended Iolaus' foot. He had to admit the gash had been nasty, but he had stitched it neatly and he was fairly sure Iolaus would take care of it properly. Some things the young hunter could be sensible about. He only wished he knew who had been behind the vicious trick.

* * *

Resting his arms on the desk as they waited in class for the instructor, Ithis leaned towards Hercules and spoke in a soft voice. "Aerides has to do twenty laps of the school and be kitchen slave for the rest of the week," he told him. "Cheiron was furious with him. Acrides laughed it off. Said warriors will be warriors."

"And drunks get themselves killed," Hercules snorted.

"He shouldn't have talked you into tricking Pegasus," Iolaus added. "Right, Pegasus?"

Pegasus whimpered. "You poisoned me."

"Who knew you couldn't take your drink?" Ithis sighed. "I am sorry. If I’d known I’d have told Aerides to get stuffed."

"Wine's not like nectar," Pegasus complained. "That doesn't make your teeth itch."

Hercules hid a grin, having a sudden quick image of a winged Pegasus buzzing around the flowers tops even though he knew it wasn't the kind of nectar he meant. "So don't drink any more," he advised.

"But it did taste nice," Pegasus went on thoughtfully. "And it smelled fruity."

"You're still not drinking any more," Hercules told him sternly. "Cheiron told us to look after you. And if you get drunk you'll get us into trouble."

"Oh," Pegasus subsided, contrite. "Okay, no more wine."

"Or beer," Iolaus added firmly.

"What's beer?"

"Something that smells good but it very, very bad for you," Hercules said.

"Why?"

"Because I'll hit you if you touch any."

"Oh…" Pegasus frowned and fell silent, mulling this over, only snapping back to attention when Iolaus nudged him in the ribs. He looked up to find that their instructor had arrived and was studying the students as intently as they were studying him. Of average height and build, he had longish brown hair and dark brown eyes and was dressed in a belted dark blue cloth tunic and black pants. He was also carrying a box. Once he was sure they had all noticed him, he walked over to the desk at the front of the room and placed the box on it carefully.

"Hello, students. As I'm sure you all know, I am your new instructor for natural history. My name is Attenburis." He had a soft, slightly hesitant voice that made him sound as if he knew what he was talking about. "Can anyone tell me what you were leaning about last season?"

Ithis' hand shot straight up. "Sex," he said brightly to a muffled explosion of giggles from the rest of the class.

"Wrong answer," Attenburis retorted, unperturbed. He glanced down at the seating chart on his desk. "I assume you were in class and were merely attempting to be amusing, Ithis?"

Ithis coloured and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I thought so. Anyone else?"

Iolaus put his hand up. "Mythical creatures in general," he said then went on deliberately. "And I asked about Rocs. How do they fly?"

"They flap their wings," Clemis snorted from the back row.

Iolaus shot a glare over his shoulder at him. "That's what our last instructor said. But they’re got to be too heavy to stay in the air, so how do they do it?" He turned back to Attenburis, giving him a penetrating look.

Attenburis nodded, accepting the challenge and intrigued that it was an interesting one for once. "The simple answer is that Rocs are magical birds, rather like a Harpies. Or bees. It is actually impossible for a bee to fly, but they don't know that, so they do it anyway. The same applies to Rocs." There was a ripple of cautious laughter at his answer, but Attenburis noted that Iolaus looked frustrated. Perching one hip on the edge of desk, he went on, "The reason why birds are able to fly is the way they are made. They’re not as heavy as they look. They have extremely light bones for example. The trick to how they stay in the air is in the shape of the wings and the way their feathers capture the air. How many of you can swim?" Most of the class put up their hands, although Pegasus hunched and looked nervous. "Excellent," Attenburis said. "Now, you all know that you’re heavier than water and yet you can float in it. That's basically what a bird does: it swims through the air the way we swim through water."

"But you can feel water," Ithis protested, interested despite himself. Natural history was his worst subject.

"You can feel air," Pegasus argued before the instructor could reply. "That's all the wind is, air. It's like a wave in the sea. It has shape and texture and…." He fell silent, aware that he was being stared at.

"That's very good, Pegasus," Attenburis said mildly. "The air is like a very thin sea and it too has waves and current the same as the sea."

"Well, Pegasus should know," Constantius sneered. "He is named after a flying horse. Like anyone would believe that's possible!"

Pegasus bristled and lunged to his feet. Hercules grabbed his arm and yanked him back into his seat.

"A flying horse is as possible as a Roc," Attenburis said mildly. "Now, do you wish to continue discussing birds? Or shall we move on to something else? I believe your last lesson was about Hydras? Who can tell me how many species there are?"

"One," Hercules said promptly. "But there are seven variants."

"I see you were paying attention," Attenburis congratulated him.

"Would be hero," Constantius muttere