Arimneste's Bestiary: Volume I

Her long, elegant fingers masterfully worked the charcoal as her younger, "stupid" brother played in the corner with blocks and sticks. Arimeste glanced around the room. Her teacher, Plato, was quietly pondering over some ancient clay tablet.

"Done." she said, in a slightly arrogant tone. The old man looked up, incredulously studying her expression. Arimneste suppressed a grin of satisfaction as she heard her male classmates one by one groaned in disbelief.

"Done? Impossible!" Plato retorted. He stood, arthritis crippling his right leg as he moved forward. "Done...sure." he said. The young Greek woman leaned back, her full, perky breasts straining against the thin, silk fabric she wore. Plato grimaced as he beheld her work. Arimneste smirked, knowing what was to come.

"A woman." He said. Plato stood erect. "A woman solved this; a problem the greatest young sophists and mathematicians of our age could not." Unbelievable!" Arimneste gleamed up at him as he patted her shoulder. "Excellent! Most Excellent!" he said.

Plato turned, and bellowed. "You! The greatest of Greece, have been bested by a WOMAN!" he roared. Charcoal sticks slammed against tablets, and hateful gazes fell her way. Arimneste held her head high as her teacher spoke. She looked into his loving eyes as he turned to her as Plato said:

"You, Arimneste...Aria...are the one. The Myth Killer. You are of age now. You must venture forth to all of the so called "sacred lands" and disprove the existence of the Old Gods, of the myths and children's tales! Men cannot do this, since very few myths are centered around men being accosted by such creatures." He said.

Arimneste glanced up, confident. "Master, where should I go first?"; the girl's curling blonde locks cascaded down her onto her smooth shoulders as her blue-gray eyes beamed with excitement. Her teacher looked left and right.

"Superstition plagues every corner of this land. Centaurs in the hills. Satyrs in the goat fields...and people still BELIEVE this!" The one man grunted in disbelief. "No. With your gifts of logic and reason, you must travel and one by one disprove these things; and upon returning to me once and for all squash these folk tales."

The young woman, barely passed her 18th year, stood and smiled. She wanted nothing more than to please her teacher; and to travel all of Greece to do it; to visit strange corners and root out superstition...it was more than she could have dreamed of. Something creeped into the edge of her thoughts. Her smile sank, slightly.

"Um, Wise Teacher; what if I find out one of them is real?" she asked. Plato looked at her, contemplating how a man's brain found its way into a woman's body. Perhaps such anomalies could occur elsewhere in Nature. He looked over her lovely inquisitive face, down her slender neck, and over her gorgeously voluptuous form. "Yes", he thought. "If anything could draw a Satyr out of hiding it would be this one."

"If you find it it must be of the Natural world, so document it in a Bestiary as creature of flesh and blood; not of smoke and superstition." She smiled again, bursting with enthusiasm as she crushed her young and heavy breasts against his grizzled chest hair in an embrace. Plato patted her on the shoulder, blushing badly as her flesh met his.

"Thank you, my wise teacher! I shall leave tonight!" she said, bounding away from the steps. The old man watched her go with a smile on his face. He walked over to young Aristotle, and covered his ears as Arimneste practically ran into the city street toward her family's villa. When she was well away, Plato turned to the students.

"Now that the dumb bitch is gone, we can get back to REAL philosophy." He took his hands away from his star pupil's ears as the men laughed. "Aristotle, take your sister's chair and forget that nonsense she wrote on her tablet."

...........................

Arimneste packed her things in a large sack. Her parents feigned smiles as they heard the news; but dared not to contradict the Philosopher. They gave her 100 gold coins, the use of the family Thanos as a charioteer, wine and bread, and smoked goat; and watched as she pulled the chariot out on the open road. It was long enough for her to sleep in so that she be moderately comfortable.

Arimneste was overcome with emotion as they pulled away from the villa, and away from Athens. Her blonde hair floated lazily in the summer breeze as the Sun beamed down upon her smooth, young body. Thanos glanced over at her, shaking his head.

"A crossroads is coming up, my Lady. Which corner of this land shall we explore first." He studied her delicate mouth as it twisted, her mind working over her options.