They had been walking all day and had finally found an inn. The town was called 'Ketch' and the inn's name was 'The wild donkey', written in bright orange letters.
"FOOD!!!" said Shayla for the 59th time in that hour and entered.
Zel and Kara made a face, swaetdroped and followed her inside the inn.
She was sitting on a table in the back and had already ordered. Zelgadis was relieved by her choice of table in the back that way he wouldn't attract much attention because of his skin.
Zel ordered a coffee and Kara ordered a chicken-sandwich with a glass of wine, when the waitress returned with Shaylas' order.....enough food to feed a small army or a couple of Linas.
"FINALLY!!! FOOD!!!" Shayla said with a bright smile on her face before starting to eat like there was no tomorrow. Zelgadis wondered why he always ended up travelling with compulsive eaters. Kara was eating his sandwich and sipping on her wine. Well at least he's normal... Zel thought.
After they had finished they decided to go to sleep because of the next day, they were to continue traveling towards Zareth. They each went to his or her respective rooms, since Kara seemed to be an inextinguishable source of money....
Zel was getting ready to sleep when a great ideas crossed his mind. He went to Kara's room and opened the door.
"Kara, I just got an .....i...de....a...."
Zelgadis mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide at sight.
Kara was changing from his dirty travel-cloth into a clean outfit, his jacked was on the bed and he was removing his shirt, when Zelgadis entered the room.
And Zel could dearly see that 'he' was a 'she'.
Kara is a girl???
Kara is a girl???
Kara is a girl???
Faint.
"Zel? Zel are you OK?"
Zelgadis heard someone calling him....
"What did you do to knock him out like this?" he heard Shayla's voice....
"I didn't do anything! He just walked in and said that he had an idea or so and then....well you see!" said Kara's voice....
Zelgadis opened his eyes and saw the two of them now looking at him. Kara had now a red tanktop on.
"You okay?" she asked.
"You....you ....you ARE a GIRL!?!" Zel finally managed to say.
"HA! See?! I told you not to cut your hair, but when do you ever listen to what I say?" Said Shayla pointing with a finger at Kara.
"Shayla!!.... Shut up!" said Kara.
Fantastic! How could have I missed THAT??? I must have been spending too much time with Gourry... thought Zelgadis. Suddenly he remembered exactly what he had seen to get to the conclusion that Kara was a girl and blushed furiously.
"I...I'm sorry. I entered without knocking and saw...." Although he had thought it impossible, he blushed even more furiously. Kara put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay! I understand, you thought I was a man."
Now that was a surprise, after having been around Lina and Filia, who usually reacted, quite violently when you slightly brushed them and that would have beaten him to death if something like this had happened. Kara's peaceful forgiveness and understanding left him speechless.
Kara help him on his feet and sat him in a chair while she and Shayla sat on the bed.
"Now what is it you wanted to tell me?" Kara asked and Zel realized that her voice, although a little deep, could certainly be a girl's. He mentally kicked himself again for his mistake before answering.
"I...." he cleared his throat. "I thought that instead of following the road north towards Zareth, we could turn to east and go to Sailoon. The princess is a friend of Lina and maybe she has a clue to her whereabouts..."
He didn't want to meet Amelia, but she might know where Lina was and it was worth a try, and he owned Kara a favor because of his uncavalierous behavior.
"Sailoon?" asked Shayla and looked at Kara.
"I think that's a good idea and the possibilities to find her with that princess help are better than to travel around with no clue where Lina might be, ne?" said Kara.
"Sailoon.....Sailoon.... Where have I heard that name?..." wondered Shayla.
Suddenly she jumped on the floor and said with a victorious voice, "Now I remember!!"
Kara and Zel looked at her surprised...
"What do you remember?" Zel asked before Kara could say anything.
Shayla took a book out of nowhere, opened a page and showed it to Zel and Kara pointing with a finger at it. They could see a picture of a restaurant and under that was a large list of restaurants in Sailoon. Zel recognized most of the names....Lina had always insisted that they go eat with her..... not to mention that most of the time she let the others pay for her food.
"Sailoon.....city with GREAT FOOD!!" Shayla said smiling at them.
Zel and Kara sweatdroped....
"We have an assignment to fulfil, Shayla!"
"That doesn't mean we can't eat at good places! This guide is really cool" she said waving the little book in front of them. Zel could now read the title.... 'The best places where to find food'. He sweatdropped again. She and Lina really have a lot in common...If she puts that book in front of Lina, she is going to follow her everywhere..... They certainly would make great partners.... Than again there is no one with enough money to pay all the food for them.... thought Zelgadis.
"And besides, I can't travel without food!" Shayla contered then looked at Zel, "Don't you think so too?"
"Well..... Ah....I think I go to bed now..." he stood up. He really didn't want to get involved in a discussion between them.
"Good night you two!" he said and left them to go to his room.
The next day, they started their journey after breakfast. Zel was realy glad he didn't had to pay...Shayla would probably ruin him with all the stuff she ate.