One Wild Ride
Part 12
Xena moved cautiously up onto a log, balancing as she madeher way across a boggy sunken area. Her makeshift boots were already damp, and she could feel her toessquishing upleasantly inside of them. “Careful.”
“Mmhm.” Gabrielle had hopped up behind her and was makingher way along, her eyes fixed firmly on the bark under her feet.
The sudden descent into bad memories disturbed her,though. Was it really the baby?Gabrielle glanced down at hermidriff in reflex, though it naturally displayed it’s normal muscular flatnesswithout any hint of impending motherhood.
It could be, she supposed. Or maybe just a reaction to beingstuck in the darn valley, and allthe problems they’d had so far.
Or maybe she missed Dori.
“How are you doing back there?” Xena asked.
Gabrielle glanced affectionately at the back of herpartner’s head. “I’m about to drop.”
Xena whirled with graceful rapidity. “What?”
“Just kidding.” The bard’s eyes twinkled.
Xena pointed a finger at her, shaking it a little. “You’re alittle troublemaker sometimes, you know that?” She paused, rocking a little onthe log and studying their surroundings. “Not sure where this is getting us.”
“Someplace wet.”
“Yeah.” Xena observed the soggy ground. “I’m hoping as weget closer to the cliff wall, it’ll start going up.” She turned and began walkingalong the log again. “At least with all this water, we’ll probably lose thosedamn .. things.”
Gabrielle followed, silently envying the warrior’s easy balance. She’d gotten better over the years, but she had to work atit and even now she needed to concentrate and hold her hands out a little fromher body to keep upright and not fall off.
Xena never had to do that. She just strolled along as if shewas on a footpath outside her mother’s inn, only taking care to make sure herbow cleared the trees on either side of them. As she got to the end of the trunk she stepped gracefullyoff, her head turning back and forth as she searched out the best way for themto go.
Gabrielle could now hear running water, and a waterfall too, she thought. “Xena?”
“Mm?”
“I could go for a drink.”
“Really, or are you just kidding again?” The warrior asked.
“Really.” Gabrielle came up behind her. “I hear some falls.”
“Me too.” Xena angled a slightly different path to throughthe bog. “Least we wont’ be leaving footprints.”
“No.” Gabrielle pulled her boots out of the muck with asucking bloop. “Ah, I remember thelast time I had to do this.” Shemused. “Outside Athens.”
“Ahhhh. Yeah.” Xena winced, reaching down in reflex to rubher knee. “I remember that too. Stupid horse.” She grumbled. “I’ll feel thatevery damn cold morning.”
The bard patted her on the back. “You were amazingly braveabout that.”
Xena eyed her. “What?”
“You just were. “ Gabrielle said. “Your face, when youstraightened up and realized how badly you were hurt.. you were white as asheet, but you just kept on.”
Xena walked on a few steps. “Don’t I always?”
“Mmhm.” The bard nodded. “It just struck me right then,because… I guess because… “ She fell briefly silent. “Well, darn.. I don’t knowwhy it struck me, but it did. I remember thinking how incredibly brave youwere.”
“Hm. And there I was, thinking how incredibly stupid I was.”Xena remarked, with an easy smile.
Gabrielle pulled her boots free of the mud again.
“Sometimes I am.” The warrior disagreed. “Sometimes I don’t think first. I justdo. That’s stupid.”
The sound of the waterfall was getting louder, and Gabriellecould smell water on the breeze. “That keeps us alive a lot of times. It’s notstupid.”
“Eh.” Xena plucked a few leaves from a tree they werepassing and examined them, bringing them to her nose to sniff curiously. “Theolder I get, the more I question that whole end justifies the means thing.” Sheadmitted. “There are so many things I wish I could go back and do over.”
Gabrielle was faintly surprised to hear that. Xena wasusually someone who believed in leaving the past in the past and moving on, andit was the first time she’d heard her talk like this in a while. “Anything inparticular?”
Xena quietly shredded the leaf in her fingers as shethought. “Things with us.” She said at last. “You know.”
“Mm.” Gabrielle did know. “Yeah.” She caught up to thewarrior and walked alongside her. “But you know, we’ve talked about all thisbefore, Xe. We both went through a lot, but I mean, here we are.”
“Here we are.” Xena glanced around them, giving her youngerpartner a wry look.
“Hm.”
“No, I knowwhat you mean.” The warrior put her arm around Gabrielle.
“Uh huh.”
“I wouldn’t have changed that.”
“Me either.” Gabrielle agreed. “You know, I was thinkingabout that the other day. That day we met.” She fell behind Xena a step as they went between two hugetrunks. “I think when you were in just your wraps, and muddy.”
“Huh?’
“It reminded me of the first time I saw you.” Gabriellehopped up onto a rock and shaded her eyes. She could now see the falls throughthe branches, and she licked her lips in anticipation.
“Ah.” Xenafound a rocky path down to the water, above the mud and gratefully took it. “Some mud covered gorgon, yeah. Iremember that. Surprised you all didn’t run screaming.” She paused, scratchingher jaw. “Some of you did, matter of fact.”
Gabrielle chuckled, as she balanced on the rocks after herpartner.
Xena went to the water’s edge and knelt, looking aroundbefore she dipped her hands in the water. The lake they’d come upon ended in a half circle cliff, with a smallwaterfall dropping down it’s length into the depths.
It was a moderately pretty spot, with the sun coming downthrough the trees, and glinting off the lake surface. The lake wound off intothe boggy marsh they’d just come through, and filled the low area, which hadflocks of water birds feeding around it.
“Oo.” Gabrielle pointed. “Look at that one, Xe. It’s sopretty.”
Xena glanced at the wading bird, it’s long legs rippling thewater as it stalked about pecking for minnows. The bird was white, with adelicately pink blush of color across it’s back. “Nice.”
The bard knelt beside her. “This looks like a deadend.” She cupped some water intoher hands and drank from it, feeling the cold water travel down her throat andinto her mostly empty stomach.
Xena sighed. “Sure does.” She drank her fill, and then stoodup. “I’m gonna go check out that wall near the edge of the falls anyway. Maybewe’ll get lucky.”
Gabrielle regarded the warm sun. “I’ll go with you.” Shedecided. “We can dry off pretty fast afterward.” She got up and tightened the pack on her back, followingXena as she waded into the lake.
The falls weren’t that extensive, and there was really noappreciable current. Gabrielle concentrated on following in Xena’s footsteps,drawing in her breath a little as the cold water touched her bare midriff.
The lake wasn’t really that deep. It took them about a quartercandlemark to move close to the falls, and as they got closer they could seesome interesting things.
One, the rock seemed to have multiple flecks of color insideit, and it glittered in the sunlight. Gabrielle thought it was quite beautiful,and she edged over past the falling water to see if she could find a loosepiece of it. “Dori’d love this.”
Xena glanced over her shoulder. “Damn right.” She agreed.“Get her a nice chunk. We’re gonna owe her some good presents, long as we’vebeen gone.”
Gabrielle chuckled, finding a good size piece and heftingit. She spotted something pale colored in the water nearby, and she movedcloser, shifting the rock to her other hand and bending over to probe the dimlyseen bottom.
Her fingers closed on something surprisingly smooth, and shepulled it back up into the sunlight, blinking at it for a long moment beforeher mind identified it. “Xe!” She called out urgently, taking a step back.“Over here!”
The sound of splashing behind her heralded her partner’sapproach, and in a moment, the warrior was at her shoulder, peering over it.“What?”
“Here. Look.” Gabrielle handed her the tannin stainedobject. “It’s a bone. I found it there… it looks..” She hesitated.
“Human.” Xena examined the bone intently. It was just thelength of her hand, and finely shaped. “Arm, I think.”
“That small?” Gabrielle asked, in surprise. “I thought itwas part of a hand, or something.”
Xena eased past her and crouched down, feeling around in thenow silt stirred water. She froze in place, then she looked back over hershoulder at Gabrielle, her eyes widening a little. “Um.. “
“What?” Gabrielle put her hand on Xena’s shoulder. “What isit?”
The warrior seemed caught in indecision. Her eyes searchedGabrielle’s face intently, then she lifted her hand from the water and openedher fingers.
Resting on her palm was a small, perfect skull.
Gabrielle stared at it in startled horror, before shereached out and touched it with a fingertip. “Oh no.” She whispered. “Xena,that’s just a baby!”
The warrior nodded somberly. The tiny, fragile thing was notonly to her eyes a baby, but a very tiny infant. A newborn, come somehow tothis lost, wild place. “Itis. Yeah.”
Gingerly, Gabrielle took the skull, putting it onto her openpalm and looking at it’s cracked, sunken features. Her mind went immediately into wondering how it had comethere, what it’s story was. Had it’s mother been killed?
“Gabrielle.”
The bard’s attention snapped immediately to her partner,hearing a tone in her voice she hadn’t heard in a very long time.
Xena was up to her neck in the water, both hands under it.Her eyes were filled with a stark knowledge. “There’s more here.”
“M..”
They looked into each other’s eyes, exchanging anunderstanding that went beyond speech. Gabrielle waded over to Xena’s side andknelt down, until they were almost nose to nose. Then she reached her own handdown, feeling along the warrior’s arm until she could feel what Xena wasfeeling.
It was horrific. Gabrielle started breathing faster, as herfingers traveled over piles of thin, slightly slimy bones, laying haphazardlyin a jumble of lost possibilities. “Oh, gods.” She whispered, eyes wide. “Xena, what is this?”
With a profound look of distaste, the warrior brought up ahandful of the bones and sorted through them. Her face was twitching slightly,and Gabrielle edged over to huddle against her, feeling sick to her stomach.
All those babies. A vivid picture of Dori as an infantflashed into her mind, and she closed her eyes, remembering the solid, livingweight of her and those incredibly bright eyes. “Gods.”
She could hear the soft clacking as Xena looked at thebones, and pressed against the warrior’s tall frame, she could hear theincrease in her heartbeat.
Xena cleared her throat softly. “They’re all… they’re allgirls.” She murmured. “All little girls.” She stared down into the water, asGabrielle turned her head to look as well. They both paused, then tipped theirheads back and looked up, at the cliff edge where the waterfall came over.There was a jutting escarpment to one side, and if they squinted, they couldjust make out a winding path leading up to it.
“Bastards.” Xena spoke in a rough, clipped tone. “Lousybastards.”
“You think they… “Gabrielle stared at the ledge, then backdown at the water, almost a direct line to where the pile of bones lay.
Xena looked at the tiny pelvis in her hand. At one time inher life she’d have laughed at it. At another time, she’d have broken down intears.
Now, she felt a deep, ferocious anger ignite inside herguts, as the fates of the tiny children made themselves felt in the eddies ofthe water around her and the slow, inch by inch reconstruction of her soul madeher want nothing less than justice for these little ones.
Gabrielle took the bone from her, and they both startedwading towards the far shore, in silent accord.
**
Xena stood quietly by a tall tree, one hand resting on the bark,the other lying on her thigh, fingers tapping. She could hear the rustle, faroff, of something approaching, and her nose already detected the strong smellof burning wood.
A deer bolted past her, panting. It stared at her, wildeyed, then ran past, it’s legsplunging through the swamp and kept going.
It would be back, Xena knew. There was no exit from this lowpocket they’d found themselves in. The only way out was the way they’d come,and that way was already blocked by hooters hunting them.
Xena turned and leaned her back against the tree, removing ablock of glassy, smoke colored stone and a piece of antler from herpocket. She tapped the stonegently, removing a flake of it and producing a sharp edge along one side.
“Xe?” Gabrielle sloshed up next to her. “I found this. Is itwhat you wanted?”
Xena examined the plant in the bard’s hand, and nodded.“Nice. Good job.”
Gabrielle put the plant back in her carrysack. “How’s thatcoming?”
“Pretty good.” The warrior displayed her efforts. The stonehad started out in a very rough leaf shape, and now she’d chipped off an edgealong three sides, making a broad point about the size of her hand. “I’ll needsome gut to tie it off, though.”
“Yeah.” Gabrielle swung her pack down and opened it. Shepulled out a large, dead rabbit and held it up. “I thought you might.” Shesaid. “So I grabbed this when I could.”
Xena grimaced slightly. “Thanks.” She dropped the stone intoher pouch. “I know you hate doing that.”
“Yeah.” Gabrielle admitted. “I do, but I can if I have to,and it’s not fair to make you do everything, y’know?” She looked around. “There’s rocks over there. How about Iskin it for you?”
Xena knew if there was one thing Gabrielle hated more thanhunting, it was skinning. “I’ll do it.” She held her hand out for the knife.
The bard shook her head. “You’re doing something.” Sheindicated the pouch. “I’ll take care of this, and then maybe I’ll find some drywood.”
“Ah.”
Gabrielle walked along the bog until she got to theboulders, climbing up on top of one of them to get her feet out of the wet. Shesat down with her legs hanging off the edge of the stone and put the deadrabbit between her knees, moving it around as she decided where to startcutting.
She could hear the motion heading towards them as well, andsmell the smoke, but somehow all the nervousness she’d felt before was gone,replaced by a kind of stolid anticipation. She knew they were trapped in the marsh, and she also knewthe hooters were probably now really angry, but that was all right because sheand Xena were also really angry at them.
Who would win the confrontation she knew was coming? Well,Gabrielle was egotistical enough to think there wasn’t much on earth big enoughor tough enough to take her and her partner down, so she spared the hooters amoment of cold sympathy.
Only a very brief moment. The piles of infant bones had donesomething to her psyche, and all the maternal instincts inside her werechurning, images flickering erratically through her minds eye of all those tinylittle babies, bewildered, unknowingly being tossed to their deaths.
She had to stop what she was doing, and just breathe.
Gods.
She remembered, suddenly, the uncomprehending trust inHope’s eyes, as she put her in the basket, and let her go, down an unknownriver, towards unknown dangers but away from the one, great known one loomingover them.
“Gabrielle?”
Gabrielle opened her eyes, to find Xena standing next toher, one hand resting on her thigh and a look of concern in her baby blues.“Sorry.” The bard exhaled. “Need to give my imagination a rest, I think.” Shewent back to cutting open the rabbit, stopping again when she saw the bloodcovering her fingers.
“Gimme.” Xena gently took the knife from her hand. Sheleaned on the rock and started neatly butchering the carcass.
“All right.” Gabrielle rested her hands on the warm stone,rubbing the dried blood off her skin. Ghostly images faded now, banished perhaps by Xena’s close, vibrantpresence and she was able to move her thoughts away from death, and babies, andlost opportunities and on to firewood.
Or something else useful. “Xe, I can do that.” Gabrielletried to take back her task. “And anyway, you’re making my leg go to sleep.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.” Gabrielle patted her partner’s arm. “C’mon.. how muchtime do we have, anyway?”
Xena lifted her elbow up off the bard’s thigh and glancedover her shoulder. “Not much.” She admitted, handing the knife over. “Tell youwhat..”
“I’ll finish this, you go lay some traps.”
“Something like that. Yeah.” The warrior rested her cuppedhand on Gabrielle’s knee. “Are you all right?” She asked again. “The truth,Gabrielle.”
Gabrielle looked up and into her eyes, knowing the soul thatlooked back at her from them was as split between light and darkness as her ownwaking nightmares just had been. All the good things in her life, and all the bad, sprang from this samesource, and knowing that let her regain her balance once again as she gentlyshoved aside the memories for another time. “Yeah.” She reached over and movedsome of Xena’s hair from her eyes. “I just feel for those poor kids.”
“Me, too.” Xena leaned over and gave her a kiss on the leg.“Get your fire going. We’re gonna need all the energy we can come up with todeal with those bastards.”
Gabrielle complied, swinging her legs over the rock andhopping off into the marsh again. She sloshed through the calf deep water towhere a tree had fallen, the surrounding ones too thick to let it down into themud. She started breaking off dead branches, tucking them under her arm as shemoved down the trunk.
Collecting a stack of branches, she then sought outsomeplace to set them, and spotted a flat rock not that far off.
She saw some dried moss, and started towards it, but stoppeddead in her tracks when a warning hiss sounded very close by. Her eyes flickedaround the surrounding water, searching for the source.
Move? Gabrielle decided not to. She remained dead still, hereyes fixed on the snake. It was large, as big around as her arm and it wasdefinitely threatening. “Xena.” She called out, projecting her voice. “Got aproblem.”
She heard the warrior leave her rock and start to come over,and she could imagine the wry expression on her face. Some things about them, after all, never had changed. Thenshe heard the splashing stop, and she reasoned that Xena had seen what herproblem was.
“Okay.” The warrior said. “Don’t move.”
“Not moving.” Gabrielle agreed.
Far off, she could hear branches breaking. She risked aglance to her left, and saw Xena approaching in utter silence, her focusentirely on the snake. “Should I back up?”
“No.” The warrior said immediately. “Just be still.”
Gabrielle could feel her boots sinking into the mud, but shedid as she was told and remained still. The snake rose up another few inchesand wavered back and forth, it’s tongue flicking out as it eyed her kneecap.“Don’t do it.” She implored the animal. “Please? I’m not here to hurt you, andif you bite me…”
The snake whipped it’s head forward and aimed for her leg.Gabrielle’s reactions were fast enough to recognize it, but she was unable tomove from the muck and steeled herself for the strike.
Xena lunged forward as she saw the same thing, reaching outher hand towards the snake as it opened it’s jaws wide. “No ya don’t!” She gother hand on the neck as it flew past her and ended up plowing headfirst intothe water, smacking the snake against the rock as she narrowly avoided bangingher head.
Gabrielle tried to get her boots loose and go to herpartner’s aid, but the muck defeated her and she stumbled forward, throwing herhands up in time to break her fall and ending up nearly cracking her brainsopen against Xena’s knees. “Whoa!”
She rolled over quickly, thumping her back against thewarrior’s thighs and spluttered as a mouthful of half stagnant water found it’sway into her mouth. “Bah.” She looked around. “Did you get it?”
“Got it.” Xena surfaced, sitting up in the shallow water andholding up her hand. In her fist, the snake was clenched, it’s body curlingaround her arm in futile coils. “Good job.” She complimented the bard. “Justwhat I needed.”
“A snake?” Gabrielle edged around to get a better look atthe animal.
“Poison.” Xena shook, dripping swamp water everywhere. “Formy arrow tips.” She glancedat her partner. “Next time, just point, huh?”
Gabrielle made a face, lifting both hands out of the water andshaking them. She looked around, then exchanged looks with Xena, who wasremoving bits of decaying wood from her cheek. “You know something, Xena?”
“What?”
“If anyone who listens to my stories about how cool andtogether we are were here and saw us right now, we’d have to move to a desertedisland and change our names to Puck and Scooter.”
Xena leaned back against the rock and chuckled, scratchingher jaw with her free hand. “Yeah.” She admitted. “Glad you always leave theseparts out.”
“Mm.”
Xena shoved herself to her feet and kept the snake away fromher body as she headed back towards the rabbit. “Hurry up if you don’t wantthis raw. We’ve got about acandlemark before those damn things are on top of us.”
“Like Hades.” Gabrielle pulled herself to her feet and wentafter her moss, flicking dead leaves off her arms as she walked. “Hey Xena?”
“Yeah?”
“Why should we wait for them?” Gabrielle asked, as shegathered the moss. “We’ve been doing that the last couple days, letting themcome to us. Why don’t we just go to them?” She looked up after a period ofsilence, to find Xena looking back at her. “Bad question?”
“Get the fire started, and we’ll talk about it.” Xenareplied quietly, turning back to her task, the snake now hanging from a nearbybranch.
Gabrielle stared at her back for a brief moment. “Gotcha.”She went back to the rock and got out her flint, wondering what had prodded herto ask that.
Conscience? Or the echoes of those infants screams?
Whatever.
**
The river took them rapidly forward, and Granella spent mostof her time fending them off from rocks half buried in the white foam.
“Squirrels can kiss my feathers.” Pony said. “Let’s get theHades out of here.”
“We’re getting.” Granella peered down the rapidly flowingstream. She couldn’t see past acurve at the far end, but the roar of the foamy water around her was gettinglouder than she thought it should be. “Eponin, do you hear something?”
Pony removed her paddle from the water, where she’d beentrying somewhat fruitlessly to guide the craft. “What?” She asked. “I hear amillion things. Birds. River. Squeaking canoe, more river.. “
Granella concentrated, lowering her head a little towardsthe surface. It wasn’t quite a rumble, more of a.. “Let’s steer for the farshore there, at the curve.” She pointed with her paddle.
“Sure. Easy for you to say.” Pony grumbled. “This thingaint’ going nowhere I want it to.”
Granella dug her paddle in and did her best to guide thecanoe forward. The racing currents made it tough, though, and the light craftwas bouncing over the top of them, skittering around and being shoved towardsthe center of the river.
They were nearing the curve. “Paddle harder, Pon!” Granellacalled out. “If we can get to that point there, maybe we can get out.”
Pony looked ahead to where she was indicating and grunted.“Yeah, well.. I dunno. Even if we get out, where’re we gonna go? Maybe weshould just take the ride wherever it’s taking us.”
Granella leaned forward, as the swept toward the curve, hereyes focusing past it downstream. “Uh.. Pon..”
Eponin craned her neck and spotted the waterfall thunderingdown ahead of them, a sheer dropoff filled with blue sky and spray. “Gotcha.Paddling my ass off.” She dug her paddle in and used all her strength to haulagainst the current. “Crap.”
“Double crap.” Granella confirmed, paddling just as hard. “Igot a feeling I know where that goes and we don’t wanna go there.”
“Don’t’ care where it does, don’t wanna go there.” Ponyswitched sides, driving the canoe towards the far shore by sheer strength. “Notunless it drops my ass right into my bed.”
Granella spotted a boulder in the stream and got the frontof the canoe past it, shoving off with one hand and pushing them closer totheir goal. She could see the far shore much closer now, but it was passing bywith frightening rapidity, as the coursing waters picked them up and pulledthem forward towards the falls.
On the shore, she could see sunken trees protruding, and shewas praying to Artemis that they could get close enough to latch onto one andprevent them going over. Though, she suddenly realized, Eponin had made a goodpoint.. then what?
Well, first this. Then what. Granella felt the ache in hershoulders and arms as she dug as hard as she could into the water. She couldsee a jutting bit of rock wall, with a shimmering swirl of water around it, andshe aimed for it, spotting a good half sunken trunk they could grab onto.
Pony dropped her paddle and reached out as Granella dug hersdeep into the water, swinging the canoe around against the current just longenough for Pony to grab the last bit of the trunk.
“Got it!” Pony felt the current nearly rip her arms fromtheir sockets. “Son of a bacchae!” She yelped. “Get a rope round this damnthing!’
Balancing carefully, Granella crawled back and looped one oftheir ropes onto the tree, tying a slip knot and pulling it taut. She lookedaround the canoe. “Don’t think those spars’ll hold.”
“Yeah.” Pony agreed.
“Um..” Granellatightened her grip on the rope, holding them in place.
“Hey.” Eponin said. “Slide that rope up under the front ofthis thing, and tie it across the middle.” She took a better hold on the branch. “G’wan, I can hangon.”
Granella turned forward and looped the rope over the frontof the canoe, pulling it back between her and Pony. She wrapped the free endaround and tied it snugly. “You sure? I think..”
“Sure.” Pony released her hold, with a wary expression,ready to grab on again. The canoe remained steady, however. “See?”
“Yeah.” Gran sat back and looked around. “So now what?”
“Beats me.” Pony also examined their surroundings. “I thinkwe’re screwed.”
Granella nodded briefly. The walls rose over their heads toa forbidding degree, and going back the way they came wasn’t an option. “Ithink you’re right.” She sighed. “Shoulda stayed in Amphipolis.”
For once, Pony was right with that sentiment. “Happens everytime. It’s that Gabrielle thing.”
With shocking suddenness, the branch they’d tied off tobroke, and the canoe lurched into motion. “I was wrong.” Pony yelped,scrabbling to get a hold on something. “Now we’re totally screwed.”
Granella got her fingertips on the rock promontory andclutched it, making the canoe swing wildly behind her as it swung around the rock and sent Pony’s end downstream.She could feel a completely different stress abruptly take hold and her gripwas ripped from the rock as she felt the canoe drop out from under her.“Ahhh!!!”
“Craaaapp!!!!”
**
“So where are they?” Gabrielle whispered.
Xena pressed her cheek against the bark and exhaled.
They could still smell smoke, but it wasn’t getting anycloser and there were no longer sounds of anything coming towards them, noteven frightened animals.
So, what the Hades? “Let’s go find them.” Xena decided. “I’mover this.” She dropped lightly out of the tree, then dropped her bow andturned, lifting her arms up. “Jump.”
Caught in the midst of climbing off the branch, Gabriellejust looked at her. “Sweetheart, I’m not Dori.” She lowered herself to hangfrom her arms, and then released her grip, landing not far from Xena.
“Hah.” Xena picked her bow back up. “You’re justchicken.” She started back up theway they’d come, a quiver of arrows now hanging over her shoulder.
She was glad enough to get out of the swamp. The constantdampness around her legs had become extremely annoying, and as they climbed upthe sloping ground she was relieved to feel firmer earth under her.
Behind her, she could hear Gabrielle’s stolid followingbootsteps rustling the drying leaf litter, and she turned her head to glance atthe bard. “Hey.”
“Mm?” Gabrielle looked up from a rock she’d been ponderingin her hand. She put the rock inher bag and caught up to the warrior. “Do we have a plan?”
Xena shrugged. “I figured we’d start making our way out.We’ve gotta go back that direction anyway.” She fell silent, shifting her gripon her bow. “See what happens.”
Gabrielle wiggled her toes inside her wet boots and sighed.She didn’t like that kind of plan, because usually whenever they left it to‘see what happens’ – something usually did happen neither of them liked. But,since she didn’t have any better plan to suggest, she kept quiet.
They walked through the trees, and around a set of mosscovered boulders, and stopped, as a large deerlike creature in the nextclearing spotted them and snorted. “Uh oh.” Gabrielle muttered. “Do we needmore boots?”
Xena removed an arrow from her quiver and fitted it to herbow, watching the huge animal carefully. “No.” She said. “But if it comes afterus I’m nailing it.” She glancedbriefly at Gabrielle. “I don’t care if it has a half dozen babies.”
The megadeer snorted again, and pawed the ground. It wavedit’s head, crowned by an even more impressive set of antlers than the last onehad at them.
“Stay back.” Xena warned.
“Right behind you, Xe.” Gabrielle tucked herself between therock and her partner, peering around her elbow and watching the beast. “It’snot attacking us.” She observed.
“Yet.”
They could see the head and shoulders of the animal throughthe bushes, and it stared back at them, tossing its head in agitation.
Xena took a step forward, and waved her arms, one with thebow in it . “Yeah!” She let out a yell.
The megadeer started backwards, but didn’t go further,braying louder as it’s eyes rolled in panic. “Stay here.”Xena ordered, the paused. “Please.”
Gabrielle gave her a pat on the butt. “G’wan.”
Xena slowly moved out from behind the rock and approachedthe clearing, her bow held at the ready in case the animal’s anger overcame itsapparent fear. She chose her stepscarefully, her eyes fixed on the deer’s movements.
Something struck her as odd about them.
A lifetime of battle and the soul of a warrior read thesigns before her mind could logically interpret them. Fire erupted inside herand she was already surging backwards, dropping her bow and grabbing her ax,voice raised in warning as the first flicker of motion disrupted the underbrusharound the deer.
A lifetime of living with Xena already had Gabrielle inmotion herself, fixed on her partner as the warrior had been fixed on the deer,reading Xena’s body language and bolting forward, her staff already swinging asthe first of the hooters leaped on them.
She got the edge of her staff between his legs and trippedhim up, only to find two more on top of her, hands reaching to strike and hurtrather than grab and take. She rolled out from under them in a desperate move,coming up onto her knees and whirling her staff in a circle, it’s other endtucked under her arm and pressed against her side.
A crack, and blood flew, bits of bone striking her in theface as she ducked under a pair of long, hairy arms that went akimbo inmidmotion. She blinked a splash ofblood from her vision and whirled, senses searching for Xena’s presence.
Dark energy swirled around her, and she was pressing herback against her partner’s, feeling that visceral thrill that came fromfighting at Xena’s side, utterly trusted. She got her staff around and popped a hooter in the face, smashing theend of the stick between his eyes and jerking his head back. He reeled, and sheslid her hand down and whipped the staff up and across her body, whacking himas hard as she could.
Xena gripped her ax with both hands and beat off the twohooters nearest to her, using the weighted stick almost as she would have hersword. She and Gabrielle were against a tree, and half protected by a second,but a quick look around told her the hooters had gained reinforcements.
The woods were dark with them. It was taking every bit of her skill to keep them fromtaking both of them down, and the only thing saving them was the damn trees.“Gab!”
“Too many!” The bard yelled back. “Xena I can’t keep… damnit!”
Xena spared a glance over her shoulder, to see two hootersland on Gabrielle, ripping her away from the safety of the trees.
She didn’t even have to hear the yelling of her name.
Some things, Xena acknowledged, never really didchange. She back kicked the hootertrying to bite her leg and slipped between the trunks, raising her ax andbringing it down on the skull of the closer creature on top of her partner.
He snarled and grabbed for her leg but she whacked at himagain and again until he scrambled away, howling at the top of his lungs. Thenshe tossed the ax aside and grabbed the second hooter, lifting him up bodilyusing strength from the gods only knew where and tossing him off Gabrielle.
The bard rolled to her feet immediately, bringing up herstaff and whipping it right past Xena to smack into the creature she
“Same as.” Xena grabbed the ax, then crouched and explodedupward, back flipping and landing behind the six hooters that had taken up theattack. She shoved one into a second, and then tripped a third into Gabrielle’ssolid swing, but knew they both couldn’t keep it up. “Gab!”
“Moving!”
Xena grabbed a hooter by the arm and dug her feet in,turning powerfully and swinging him around and off his feet, into the othersclustering around them. Then she released him and bolted, grabbing Gabrielle bythe arm and heading down the slope.
With a huge yell, the hooters followed, their footstepsthundering over the ground.
Xena circled around at the bottom of the ridge and leaped uponto the rocks, running along them and heading right back up towards the path.Gabrielle stuck to her like honey on a child’s face rocks and all, and theyboth powered side by side up the grassy sward with the entire horde of hooterschasing after them.
Neither wasted time speaking. Xena picked the best path shecould and concentrated on moving on it as fast as she could, and she knew Gabriellewould do her best to be right there with her.
They raced up through the forest, dodging trees and bushes,and leaping rocks. Here, Gabrielle had the advantage, since her strides wereshorter, and easier to change up as they hurtled up the uneven ground.
Xena reached the rocky part of the path and swept it withher eyes, spotting a boulder about the right size and letting out a whistle asshe swerved over to it, slowing up and grabbing hold of the sun warmed surface.
Gabrielle got in next to her, and they dug their feet intothe sliding gravel, thighs tensed, and cords standing out on either side oftheir necks as they shoved the boulder along and down into the path of theoncoming hooters.
With a groaning protest, the rock moved, first sliding, andthen tumbling over as it hit the slope.
They didn’t stop to see how effective it would be. Xenaturned and started running again, her eyes already scanning the path ahead forher next offensive. She felt herboots slip and cursed, throwing a hand out to break the fall she felt coming.
Gabrielle grabbed her arm and pulled her along, giving hersupport enough for her to regain her balance and get a better grip on theground, and a step later she was back in business. “Thanks.”
“I hate putting stitches in your knees.” Gabrielle grunted.
“About as much as I hate it.” The warrior agreed. “Overthere.” She pointed at a higher grade and they shifted direction, towards astand of densely packed trees that offered some hope of protection.
They pressed their bodies against each other and took amoment to collect themselves.
“Okay.” Gabrielle rested her head against Xena’s shoulderand caught her breath. “That really sucked, Xena.”
“I know.” The warrior agreed. “Let’s just keep going. Maybewe can lose them on the way back to where we came in.”
The bard nodded, putting her hand on Xena’s back. “Youokay?”
Xena was staring back along the path. “Bastards.”
“That was sneaky.” Gabrielle said. “They were trying to trapus.”
The warrior exhaled heavily. “Almost did.” She admitted.“Damn they learn fast.” She tightened down her belt, looking over her shoulderat the arrows. “All the good they did.”
“You can make another bow.”
Xena tucked the ax into her belt. “Nah. I’ll just stab themwith the damn things if they catch up with us. C’mon.” She started through thetrees moving at a fast walk as they dodged between the thickly overgrowntrunks.
Behind them, they heard the hooters start yelling. “Foundus.” Gabrielle sighed, as she broke into a run, following as much in Xena’sfootsteps as she could manage, trusting the warrior not to run them both into atree.
It always was about trust, after all, wasn’t it? All theyhad out here was each other, and the trust had to be reciprocal and complete ortheir chances were…
Well, even worse than they were at the moment.
They continued to climb up the wooded slope, leaping up ontofallen trunks and running along their length to get above the clingingundergrowth slowing their pursuers. The bard was careful to keep her staff close to her body, not wanting tocatch its end on a limb and be pulled over backwards or knocked silly.
Been there, done that way more than once, and right now theyhad all the trouble they really could handle.
**
Ephiny strode across the town square, dodging variousvillage residents as she headed for the inn. She mounted the steps and stiff-armed the door, surprisingseveral people on the other side of it. “Excuse me.” She muttered, pushing pastthem and heading for the front of the room.
“I don’t care what you told him.” Cyrene was saying, in aloud voice. “You’ll not get a halfdinar from me.” She said. “As if I had a stock of them… you think running aninn is cheap? My profits go back into what I sell. Do I look like I wear silkclothing?”
The town reeve was standing opposite her, his hands on hiships. “Look, Cyrene, like it or not, we’re all in this together. I gave my wordto those men, and that’s that! The town owes them!”
“No.” the innkeeper stated, folding her arms. “You’ll getnothing from me, and that’s that! Not from me, and not from my family. Weweren’t a part of your shady deals.”
“But you gained by them, did you not?” The reeve countered. “Your inn prospered.”
“My inn would have anyway.” Cyrene lifted her head proudly.“I needed none of your cheap scuttles for that.”
“Absolutely.” Ephiny chose that moment to chime in. Shewalked over and stood by Cyrene. “This always was the best in the region.”
Cyrene gave her a sideways look. Ephiny returned it.
“Who asked you?” The reeve shot back at her. “Get out ofhere, Amazon. You have no say in this.”
Ephiny walked over and smacked him in the face, startlingeveryone. “Talk to me again like that, you townie pissant, and I’ll eunuchyou.” She stared him right in the eye. “As Gabrielle’s regent, and the guardianof her heir, I’ve got every right to be here and to speak for her. And forXena.”
The reeve glowered at her, one hand covering his cheek.“They never were a part of this town.” He said. “Else you’d do what we asked,Cyrene… if you’ve not got the dinars, sell those arms – they’d get a goodprice.”
Ephiny gave him a disbelieving look. “What henbane did youget into? They both nearly died for this town.” She shot back. “More thanonce.. or did you conveniently forget that?” She asked. “They’re more a part ofthis place than you are.”
Cyrene slapped her hand on the table. “Damn right.
“Reeve, you’re wasting your time. They’re not going to helpus. We need to just go do what I said in the first place.” The man standingnext to the reeve said. “Find someone who can get us what we need.”
The two men left, pushing their way through the crowd in theinn and slamming the door behind them. Cyrene made a face, then lifted her hands and let them fall. “What inHades has gotten into these people?”
“Sell Xena’s weapons?” Ephiny clapped her hand over hereyes. “I’d cut my arm off before I’d see that happen.” She said. “Have thoseguys lost their minds?”
Johan emerged from the kitchen. “More’s the pity, no.” Heglanced at the still muttering crowd. “Problem is, we made him the reeve.” Hesaid. “We don’t follow through on his promises, town gets a bad name.”
“Yeah.” One of the men closest agreed, glumly. “That’s whathe’s counting on us knowing.”
They turned and looked at Cyrene.
“Don’t’ be looking at me.” Cyrene warned. “I didn’t agree toputting him in charge and you all know that. “ She pointed at the man next toJohan. “And got accused of putting my family ahead of the town, if I recall, asthough Gabrielle really wanted to be leading you lot.”
Ephiny suddenly felt better about her queen’s family. Notthat she’d really suspected Cyrene had joined in the campaign to oust her, butit was nice to see the dour, abashed looks on the faces around them as theinnkeeper made her point. “I’d say you got what you deserved, but I like someof you.”
Cyrene chuckled under her breath.
“Ay, but fact is, we need to fix up the problem.” Johansaid. “Like or no, truth is, if we don’t make good on his promise we’ll alllose for it.” He sat down on one of the chairs. “So what’s to do?”
Ephiny wandered over to the window, looking out it. “Well,y’know… if it were me…”
The room turned to look at her back, and waited in silence.
Ephiny turned. “I’d ask Gabrielle.” A hint of maliciousmischief appeared in her hazel eyes. “However, since she’s not here, and I’mnot sure she’d answer you if she was…”
“She would.” Cyrene snorted. “So, what are we going to do about it? I wasn’t kidding. Wedon’t have a stock of dinars here to give.” She said. “And neither do my kids,unless I’m very much mistaken.”
Ephiny pursed her lips, now finding herself in something ofa quandary. She didn’t think Xenaand Gabrielle had a hoard of dinars themselves. Neither ever seemed to want formuch, but after all, most of what they needed they were able to find or makethemselves, and Gabrielle had told her once she did have a few dinars put byfrom her traveling bard days.
Certainly, Xena always had coin for the market, or a toy forDori, or something practical for Gabrielle. Ephiny had found herself smiling atthe warrior’s pretend casual shopping trips, and the now impossible for her tohide adoration for her family.
So much had changed. Ephiny sighed. But so much had not.“So, we have to figure out what to do about the jackass, huh?” She said. “Well,we sure don’t have extra dinars lying around.” Her eyes went to Cyrene’s face, thoughtfully. “But maybe wecan dig.. something up.”
The innkeeper’s expression remained dourly pessimistic. “Isay let him come up with an idea first.” She objected. “Damned if I want topull his stinky hind end out of the wringer.”
The crowd began to disperse, some shaking their heads,others shrugging. They filed out,leaving Cyrene alone with Johan and Ephiny. Johan extended his booted legs and studied them, frowning.
Cyrene sighed and sat down. “Isn’t this a festering pile ofcow droppings.” She said. “Blithering idiot.”
Ephiny sat down as well, resting her elbows on her knees. Itwas a tough question, and frankly, a problem outside her willingness to dealwith. In the Amazons, she, or Gabrielle made decisions. However, theyunderstood they lived as part of a large sisterhood, and those decisions couldbe debated, and if enough Amazons objected, overturned.
The debate was an important part of that – because itallowed her, and Gabrielle too, to see viewpoints they needed to in order toeffectively govern their tribe. Italso, on the other hand, allowed them to present arguments to the tribe thatthey might not have considered, and especially when it was Gabrielle arguing,they had a chance to sway opinion that way.
Everyone hated to argue with Gabrielle, though. They’drather argue with Ephiny. Gabrielle had that gentle presence about her thatmade you feel bad when you disagreed with her, and the arguments she came upwith to counter objections were usually feather curling.
And of course, there was always Xena lurking in thebackground, usually sprawled somewhere nearby, pretending to watch birds, orwork on a bit of her armor, but providing a silent reminder of Gabrielle’sultimate backing.
They pretended, sometimes, that it didn’t matter. But Ephinyknew the truth, and so did most of the others, and no one really wanted to tryrunning roughshod over their queen no matter how passionate the argument andrisk getting one’s butt thoroughly kicked.
If Gabrielle didn’t do it first, she wryly acknowledged.“So.” She said. “How much did he promise them, anyway?”
“Five hundred dinars.” Johan said, grimacing at the look onEphiny’s face. “Yeah, it’s a lot.Not sure where he got that figure from.”
“Fool.” Cyrene shook her head. “Truth is, we shouldn’t givethem a damn groat. No oneguaranteed they’d be successful here. Trading’s a gamble – we all knowit.” She got up. “Now… mind you,folks lost everything down there. No one’s said a word about helping them! Just his buddies!”
Johan scratched his jaw. “True.”
Ephiny twiddled her thumbs. “I think we should help the guysdown there that need it.” She said slowly. “We can bring down grain, some stocks.”
Cyrene nodded. “I’ll send food.” She said. “And we can send people to help build upshelters.” She added. “But nothingfor that bastard’s freeloaders!”
Ephiny got up. “Right. Well, I’ll go round up some bodies.”She said. “Ah.. “She hesitated. “We might have a few pieces of stone.. somepretty stuff we picked up we could donate to the cause.”
Johan held up a hand. “Tis like ransom, if you do that.” Hewarned. “Soon as it comes out we’ve got anything like that around, it’ll bebad. Grain and staples, that’s onething, but gems? Nah. ”
“He’s right.” Cyrene nodded. “But thanks for the offer,Ephiny.”
Hm. “Anytime.” The Amazon waved, and headed for the door.“Anyway, I’m sure Xena and Gabrielle’ll be back in a day or so, with our guys,and then we can figure out a real solution.”
Cyrene watched the door close, and let her hands rest on thetable. “I wish I believed that.” She remarked quietly. “But as the days go on,Johan, I feel more and more that I was right to start with, and they’re introuble.”
Johan patted her hand. “The other gals’ll find em.” He toldher. “They’ll be all right, Cy.”
Cyrene snorted, and headed for the kitchen, shaking herhead.
**
The waterfall thundered down, two figures lost in it’s sprayas they hurtled towards the pool the fall ended in, the roar stealing the yellsof alarm and sending them off into the ether.
“Son of a bacchae!” Pony held on to the canoe with all herremaining strength, as they hit the water on the bottom. She felt herselfripped loose from the craft, and plunged under the surface, hitting the bottomwith shocking force.
She could feel the thunder of the waterfall over her, and inpanic, she shoved away from the bottom of the lake and groped for the surface. Stupid..stupid.. jerk.. stupid.. gods be damned…
Underwater, she flailed with her arms and legs, unable tofree herself from the downward flow. With a surge of panicked strength, shemanaged to sweep her arms and felt herself move out of the current and towardsthe sunlight again.
Damn it! Eponin struggled to the surface again. She managedto get a few feet downstream, and out of the water flowing from above with afierce effort, churning with all her might. She blinked her eyes to clear themand looked around. “Granella!”
The canoe was floating away a couple of body lengths beyondher, but there was no sign of her companion. Pony immediately turned in the water a full circle, treadingunsteadily. She could see sticks and other debris, but nothing else. “Gran!!!”
A low cough made her swing around again, and she spotted thedark haired woman crawling out of the water on the far edge to collapse on themuddy earth. “Damn it.” Pony headed in that direction best she could, one eyeon the drifting canoe. “You okay?”
Granella waved a hand weakly at her.
“Crap.” Pony started gamely after the canoe, paddlingthrough the water as she cursed under her breath. As she got closer, the craftdrifted further away, as though taunting her. “Stupid piece of crap!” Shegrowled. “Stop! Stop boat!”
The canoe hung up on a half submerged log obediently, andwaited for her to catch up to it. Pony got a hand on the side and then hungthere, her teeth chattering a little in the cold water.
“Pon?” Granella croaked. “You got it?”
“Tell ya what I’ve got.” Pony yelled back. “I’ve got my assin a wringer, and no damn way to get out of it. I wanna go home!”
Granella sat down on the bank, her booted feet still in theriver, providing a disturbance for the water to ripple over.
One waterfall in a day had sucked. Two?
Gods.
Where in the Hades were they now? Granella looked around inbedraggled bewilderment. “How could this place exist, and us not know aboutit?” She shook a clod of mud off her hand, then wiped the back of it across hereyes. “Damn it.”
She’d wanted an adventure. What was it Gabrielle had oncesaid to her about always wanting what you couldn’t have?
“Gran?”
Granella looked up again, then slowly hoisted herself to herfeet, waiting for her knees to stop shaking before she started down the banktowards where Eponin was. “Hang on.”
“Hanging.” Pony got a better grip on the canoe, and edgedaround to the side closest to the shore. She examined the rope that had beentying the craft and wrinkled her nose at the frayed edge.
Well, at least they still had the damn thing.
Pony sighed. Maybe Artemis was taking pity on them. Sheturned her head to see Granella picking her way carefully down the rocky bank,covered in muck and scratches, looking about as different from a townie as everwas possible.
Not caring, just like a true Amazon wouldn’t, what shelooked like, just working to get the job done.
It made her smile, just a little. “Once an Amazon…” Shemuttered under her breath, as she rooted in the packs for another rope. “Alwaysan Amazon.” She pulled out a waterskin, then tossed it from her indisgust. “Lucky for me.”
She was glad, now, that it was Granella she was out with andnot one of the others. Even Eph, since half drowning in front of her loverwasn’t something Eponin wanted to have to hear about the rest of her life. WithGranella, since she wasn’t part of the tribe anymore, the pressure was off onhaving to live up to her position all the damn day long.
And, as she though that, Pony suddenly, incongruously,gained an understanding of what Xena had once told her, about how she felt shealways had to be proving herself, with the Amazons. Something Pony had neverreally comprehended, until she felt it in herself, right then.
She blinked. “Huh.”
“Pon?”
“Yeah?” She shook her head and pulled a snarled rope fromthe bottom of one pack. “Sorry. Thinkin.”
“Aint we both.” Granella yelled back.
Pony cursed at the rope and shook it, saving the rest of herthoughts for later.
**
The wind howled, as clouds raced once again across the sky,bringing the smell of rain across the hills. High up on an escarpment thattowered over the trees two figures clung, fighting against the draft as theymoved higher up into the rocks.
They stopped before a crack in the rocks, a bodylength inwidth, and the first of the two figures leaped over it lightly, turning to lookback as she did.
Xena extended her arm across the rocky gap back towards herpartner. “C’mere.”
Gabrielle didn’t even consider protesting. She took hold ofthe powerful hand and readied herself, then leaped across the chasm to landsafely at Xena’s side, refusing to look down at the roaring water below.“Thanks.”
“Anytime.” The warrior gave her a pat on the back. “We’realmost to the top. Hang in there.”
“Hanging.” Gabrielle had strapped her staff to her back, tofree both hands for climbing, and now she dusted off small bits of graniteembedded in her skin. “Long as you don’t ask me to look down for those creeps.”
Climbing up the steep, rocky wall had been risky, but Xenahad calculated it would slow down their pursuers and so far that seemed to haveworked. She looked behind them, and saw nothing but bare rock down to thetreeline.
“Ah.”
Xena’s grunt made the bard turn around again, and she lether eyes follow the warrior’s pointing finger. It led to a shadowy crack in therock, and she was glad enough to follow Xena along the granite ridge as thewind pushed them both against the stone.
The crack turned out to be a good size cleft, and theyducked inside it quickly, pressing their backs against the wall and listeningabove the wind’s howl.
“Anything?” Gabrielle deferred to Xena’s superior senseswithout regret.
Xena remained silent for a moment, her eyes half closed, andher nostrils flared as she concentrated.
Gabrielle watched the tension in her body relax though, andso she relaxed too, glad to be out of the wind and out of the view of thecreatures. Now that they werestanding still, she let the fact that they’d been running for candlemarks catchup with her and make her aware of how tired she was.
“Okay.” Xena put a hand on her shoulder, the touchcomfortingly warm. “Sit down. Let’s take a break.”
Stone or nostone, the bard was glad to slide down the wall and stretch her legs out,leaning back and kneading the tops of her thighs with both hands. “Works forme.”
Xena sat down next to her, exhaling heavily. “This stinks.”
Gabrielle leaned against the warrior and put her head downon Xena’s shoulder. “I hate to pull the old silver lining speech out, Xe, butwe’re both here, both alive, neither of us is hurt, and it sure has stunk worsein the past, y’know?”
Xena rested her head against Gabrielle’s. “I know.” Shesaid, then fell silent, her eyes going distant.
Gabrielle waited a bit, before she shifted a little andlooked up at Xena’s profile. Her face was still, only the pale blue eyes movedacross the interior of their little cave with blunted intensity.
After a moment, the blue eyes fluttered closed, then turnedto meet Gabrielle’s. “Know what just occurred to me?” Xena asked, in a mildtone.
“What?” Gabrielle felt herself getting lost in that gentleregard.
Xena lifted their joined hands up and planted a kiss on theback of Gabrielle’s knuckles. “This has been the silver lining of my life.” Shereplied, and then after a minute, a half grin appeared. “This..” She held uptheir hands. “Not this.” She indicated their situation with a jerk of her head.
“I knew what you meant.” Gabrielle answered, her voice husky.“I’m just pissed I didn’t say it first. I’m supposed to be the bard in thefamily, darn it.”
“Sorry.” Xena exhaled, a gentle warmth that stirred the hairon the top of her partner’s head. “Gabrielle, Gabrielle, Gabrielle.”
“Mm.” The bard snuggled closer. “How long do we have here?”She asked, after a brief pause.
Xena eyed her profile. “Tired?”
Gabrielle nodded.
“Long as we need to have.”
“Donkey poo answer, Xe.”
The warrior chuckled. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue. Thoseguys have been beating my odds all day long.” She patted her leg. “So g’wan andtake a nap while you can.”
Gabrielle shifted over and laid down, with her head inXena’s lap. “What about you?”
“I’m all right.” The warrior said.
Green eyes studied her face intently. “Because of thoseherbs I found?” Gabrielle asked. “That’s what it was for, wasn’t it?”
Xena nodded.
“Want to give me some?”
The warrior shook her head firmly no.
Gabrielle continued to watch her. “How long can you keepthat up?”
“Long as I have to.”
“Donkey poo answer, Boo.”
Xena only smiled in response.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes in mock despair and then closedthem, allowing her body to relax as much as she could on the hard stone.
Xena let her head rest against the rock wall, her eyes stillfastened on her now dozing partner. Asleep, her face relaxed
She remembered so clearly the kid Gabrielle had been whenthey’d first met and if she allowed herself to think about it, she could stepthrough those times when she’d seen that kid grow visibly into the woman herpartner was now.
Ah well. Xena set her arrows down by her right hand, alongwith her ax, and judged the opening to the cleft. If need be, she could, shereasoned, defend it reasonably as it was narrow enough to force them to come ather one at a time.
Xena thought about that for a bit, and pondered the idea offorcing them to do just that. Thenshe half shook her head. “Nah.” She murmured. “They’d figure it out too fastand take off.”
But what, really, were her options? They could keep running,and end up back at the waterfall, maybe. The second one they’d hid behind, butthat led nowhere, and the one cleft with the skeletons…
Here, with no one to see her, Xena allowed herself a shiver.That had creeped even her out, and she didn’t want to think about trying tofind a way out that route. Besides, the cave seemed to be going down into theearth, rather than up.
So. Xena turned her eyes back to Gabrielle. The stress oftheir misadventure was showing on her –bone and muscle was clearly visibleunder her skin, no shred of reserves were left to gentle the powerful form andleft no doubt of the Amazon part of her dual nature.
Scars and sinew. If you didn’t know her, or see the brightsmile, and hear the storyteller’s talent, you would never guess now a poetlived in there too. Xena sighed,knowing her own ambivalance about that, but acknowledging Gabrielle’s obviouspride in her hard won skills.
Life’s choices, they were funny and unexpected sometimes,weren’t they? Xena studied herright hand, turning it over and flexing it’s fingers, the palm thick withmuscle and callus from her swordhandling. With a shake of her head, shereturned it to rest on her knee. However unexpected, they did tend to mark you,for good or evil, as she knew only too well.
Ah well.
Their one other option, she hadn’t talked to Gabrielle aboutyet. If they could find no groundlevel retreat, the only other choice might be for them to climb out, to scalethe towering cliffs that held them captive. Xena’s brow furrowed, as she thought that through.
Gabrielle.
Terrified of heights, the bard was.
Made all the more difficult because Xena knew she’d donejust that – she’d forced herself through the unreasoning terror, not even for alife threatening reason even. Just for their joining. Gabrielle knew that, and no matter what Xena said, sheknew the bard would feel she had to step up and do the same, if it meant themgetting out of here and going home.
Could she? Xena gazed at the familiar planes of hersoulmate’s face. She knew thecourage was there, no question about that. But it took more than couragesometimes, it took cussedness, and that, thankfully, Gabrielle had less of thanshe did.
In her sleep, Gabrielle lifted her hand and covered the oneXena had lying over her stomach, folding her fingers over the warrior’s hand asa faint smile appeared on her face.
“Yeah.” Xena whispered, a mirroring smile on her lips. “Feelthat? Feel all that love in there, Gabrielle?” She let the fingers of her free hand run through the bard’sfair hair. “Never in a million years thought I had that in me, and you camealong and pulled it all out.”
Life was a funny thing sometimes, Xena mused. You just neverknew where your choices were going to take you, even if you were convinced theywere bad choices. She’d beenconvinced leaving her army was the worst mistake she’d ever made, after all.
Going home.
Going down that long, dusty river road.
Burying her weapons, ready to give up her life.
Gaining instead her future, in the unlikeliest of places.
Finding, after all her hoary and jaded experience, the onegreat love of her life in the open innocent eyes of a village girl barely morethan a child.
You just never knew. So maybe, even though they were in avery tough spot, and had some very tough choices ahead of them, it would allwork out.
The sun poured into the cleft, breaking through the cloudsand drenching them in a bright warmth. It glistened in Gabrielle’s pale hair asit burnished their tan skins to a rich gold. Xena turned her face into it, reveling in the touch of thelight as it spilled over them both.
Far off, in the distance, she could hear the faint rattle ofrocks, and she knew their time here was limited, but she determined they’d useevery moment of it, taking the small peace for all it was worth to them.
**
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