One Wild Ride
Part 3
Gabrielle whistled softly under her breath as she made herway carefully down the mountain path. She used her staff to good effect,feeling out a way among the slippery rocks and placing her boots in spots onlyafter she tested them with a cautious toe.
It was still raining. The clouds were stubbornly thickoverhead, and the weather hadn’t let up all morning. Eventually, the bard haddecided it wasn’t going to, and so wrapped in her heavy cloak, she’d starteddown towards the town.
Xena had seemed content to stay behind in the cabin, wrappedin a thick flannel shift, with Dori in delighted attendance.
A little unusual. Gabrielle had to admit, but since she’dagreed to the same thing the previous day she couldn’t really say much aboutit. Besides, after spending all day in the rain, maybe Xena wanted to relax bythe fire. Stranger things had happened.
She walked past the fork that led to the Amazons, resolvingto stop there on her way back, and giving the lookout a wave as she went past.She heard a whistle in response, and moved on, crossing the bridge over thegorge and approaching the town in relatively short order.
Her cape was made of leather, with a waxed surface thatrejected the rain, and it was cut so it only came to her lower calves to keepit out of most puddles. It was warm, and she peered out from under the hood,glad she had it’s comforting folds around her.
The thought made her make a mental note to search for Xena’smatching one on her way back. How the warrior had lost it, and the fact thatshe’d returned seemingly oblivious, really surprised Gabrielle. Very strange.
Very absentminded of her. Gabrielle paused, with her hand onthe gates to Amphipolis, her brow creased and a speculative look on herface. Then she continued on, agrin on her face. “Four moredays.” She commented, sidestepping a cart being pulled down the back lane andducking past two men carrying a basket.
“Pardon?” One of the men asked, glancing around at her. “Youtalking to me?”
“Nope.” Gabrielle assured him. “To myself. Sorry..”
“Too bad.” The man chuckled and kept walking, sayingsomething to his companion that made both of them laugh.
“Yeah, yeah.’ The bard kept going, yanking her boots out ofthe sucking mud that now filled the roadway. She headed directly for the inn,pausing only to knock what mud she could off before she opened the door andwalked inside.
It was quiet, only a few people were inside waiting forlunchtime to begin, or perhaps lingering after breakfast.
“Hey, Gabrielle?”
The bard stopped and turned, spotting one of the townweavers, an old resident she’d known since they’d moved back to Amphipolis.“Hi, Saras. What’s up?”
“Got some new fabrics in.” The woman said. “I know you wearyour togs hard.”
Gabrielle walked over and sat down across from her. “I do.”She admitted. “I used to kid Xena for always wearing leather, but you knowwhat?”
“Lasts a sight longer.”
“Sure does.” The bard agreed. “So yeah, how about I stop byafter the rain ends? I can think of a couple things I do need.” Her grinwidened a little. “And some things I might need.”
“And the little one.”
“Always.”
“Good then. Didn’t mean to hold you.” Saras patted her hand.“Glad you’re back, I am. Missed hearing your stories.”
Gabrielle had come to the point where she recognized she hadan ego, and her ego liked hearing things like that. “Thanks, I appreciate that,Saras.” She said. “I was going to kind of debut a new story, maybe tomorrownight or the next… here, I mean.”
“Oh!” Saras smiled. “Wonderful! You have to let us knowwhen.”
“I will.” The bard got up. “Talk to you later.” Shecontinued on to the kitchen and passed through the entry, taking the slightright turn that would bring her into the cooking area she expected to findCyrene in.
Despite having help now, her mother in law stillcommandeered the kitchen, understanding rightly that her inn’s reputation
Sure enough, Cyrene was near the back hearth, inspecting thecontents of a large pot issuing fragrant steam into the room.
For a moment, Gabrielle thought Cyrene was going to turn herback on her. There was that kind of look in her eye, but after a second itfaded and she put her spoon down and walked over instead.
Maybe if it had been Xena, she’d have turned her back.Gabrielle relaxed her posture, and cocked her head a little, aware that shepresented a more sympathetic and less aggressive picture than her partner didand people often responded to her far differently. “Hi.”
“Well.” Cyrene sighed. “Good morning, Gabrielle. What bringsyou out in weather like this?”
She could see Cyrene wanted to be mad, but as her daughteroften found, Gabrielle was a hard person to be mad at if she put her mind toit. “I came to talk to you. Can you take a break and come sit for a minute?”She riffled her damp hair, and held Cyrene’s gaze, waiting for the innkeeper toanswer.
After a half shake of her head, Cyrene gave in. “Sure.” Sheindicated the table in the back of the kitchen, which had a couple of stoolsaround it. “You had breakfast yet?”
Gabrielle waggled her hand.
“Nuts and berries, I’m sure.” Cyrene retrieved a platter andput a bowl on it, adding a few more things before she sat down across fromGabrielle and nudged the plate towards her. “Go on.”
She was hungry, and breakfast had actually been some nutsand fruits, and a shared bowl of porridge they’d eaten just to get Dori to eatsome too. The bread and cheese looked wonderful, and she helped herself to someas she carefully considered how to start this prickly conversation.
“What’s on your mind, Gabrielle?” Cyrene forestalled her,picking up a bit of bread and playing with it.
“What’s on my mind.” The bard nibbled her cheesethoughtfully. “Well, the usual stuff. Xena. Dori. The weather. Wondering how thingsare going on Potadeia, you know.”
“Hm.” Cyrene nodded. “I had a letter from your mother aquarter moon past. Seems things are fine there.” She said. “She asked what wasgoing with you.”
Gabrielle gazed past her mother in law for a brief moment.“She misses my father.”
Cyrene looked down at the table, tracing a bit of the grainof the wood. “I think she does, yes.” She agreed, slowly. “Sometimes I think itwould have been better if she’d stayed here.”
A faint smile crossed the bard’s lips. “You have to go whereyour heart leads you.” She took abite of the bread and cheese and chewed it. “I learned that lesson the hardway.”
“Is that what you did now? Followed your heart and let Xenatalk you into..” Cyrene stopped, as Gabrielle put the bread down andreached over to cover her handwith her own. “Gabrielle.”
“Mom.” The bardleaned forward. “Why?”
“What?”
“Why? Why are you so mad about this?” Gabrielle askedsoftly. “Xe didn’t talk me into anything.. we both want to be here, be a partof this place, a place we’ve both come to consider our only home.”
“And so you should.”
“But we also need to be who we are.”
Now, Cyrene leaned forward. “Who are you, that you need tolive alone up on a mountain?” She asked. “Gabrielle, it’s dangerous up there.You’re all by yourselves. If something happens..”
The bard cocked her head to one side with a puzzledexpression. “Mom..”
“Yes, I know.” Cyrene held up her hand. “I know how selfsufficient and capable you both are. Don’t lecture me about that. My daughter’sbeen taking care of herself since she was fifteen years old.” She lookeddirectly at Gabrielle. “But Dori isn’t fifteen.”
Gabrielle folded her hands. “No, she isn’t.” She agreed.“That was one of the biggest reasons I was glad we were coming home.. because Iknow she needs the rest of her family, much as she loves just being with us.”
“Then she should be here and not up there.” Cyrene slappedthe table. “And so should the two of you.”
Gabrielle had lived long enough with her beloved partner tounderstand in a viscerial level what it felt like to hit your head against aproverbial wall. With Xena, she knew at some point, she just had to walk awayfrom an argument because that stubborn will wouldn’t let the warrior back downon some things.
However, this was not Xena. “Mom, we can’t.” She repliedsimply.
“If Xena wanted to..”
The bard held a hand up. “It’s not just Xena.” She cut hermother in law off. “We make decisions together these days. In order for me todo what I do, I can’t live in the middle of all this.” Her hand opened, palmup, and moved around to indicate their surroundings. “I need to be able to hearmyself think.”
Cyrene got up and went to the iron grate over the stove. Shepoured water from the pot heating over it into a cup, and swirled it’s contents.“Do you?” She turned and regarded the bard seriously. “You never did before.I’ve been listening you tell stories for years now.”
Gabrielle dropped her gaze to her hands, interlacing herfingers. “I did. I just never admitted it to anyone.” That was something shewasn’t very proud of, though she knew it had a lot to do with that periodthey’d gone through after their separation. She wanted to do what she thought Xena did, and Xena wantedto do what she thought Gabrielle wanted to do.
Two direly wounded hearts just looking for a littlepeace. Gabrielle looked up, with abrief smile. Well, they’d healed, and now life was moving forward again, wasn’tit? “What I don’t get is.. before we left for Athens, you were up in arms withthe council over not respecting our need to be alone. What changed?”
Cyrene was caught by surprise, the cup halfway to her lips.She put it back down. “This is different.”
“It’s no different.” Gabrielle shot right back. “Even rightnow, I’m telling you this is something we need, and you’re telling me it’s not.So what’s up?” She heard a firmer edge come into her voice, and winced a littleinside, knowing she probably was going down the wrong track with Cyrene.
Definitely would have been the wrong one with Xena, whoresponded to being challenged like that by either getting mad, or worse,turning her back and leaving. Thebard sighed inwardly, suspecting she was losing her touch in this sort ofstuff.
She was definitely not as patient as she used to be. “Mom,listen..”
“Gabrielle, I understand you feel you need to defend Xena.”Cyrene said. “Gods know, you’ve been doing it since the moment I met you,but..”
“Yeah.” The bard stood. “When this town was about to killher. I remember.” She felt, rather than saw Cyrene flinch. “I give up.
“Gabrielle, wait.” Cyrene followed her. “Please.”
Gabrielle paused and turned, waiting until the innkeeper came up to her. She was abit shorter than her mother in law, but she straightened her spine and met hergaze evenly.
“Something happened.” Cyrene said, suddenly. “I have areason for what I’m asking you to do. Come down from that mountain, Gabrielle.Bring Xena and Dori down here. Please.”
The bard frowned. “What happened?”
“I can’t tell you.”
A yelling off in the distance made them both look throughthe door, before Cyrene could answer further. “Now what?” The innkeeper sighed. “Don’t tell me the damnpigs got loose again.” Shehesitated, then put a hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “It’s.. “
Another yell, this time louder. Now Gabrielle sighed. “Holdthat thought, mom.” She added a wry grin to ease her previous attitude.“Trouble first.” She grabbed herstaff and ducked through the door, running for the front of the inn as thepeople inside were scrambling for the window to see what was going on.
Raiders? Not in this weather. Gabrielle booted the door openand kept going, forgetting to put her hood up as she jumped off the porch intothe rain. The cold water hit her in the face, and she shaded her eyes hastilywith an upflung arm, her head turning from side to side to find the source ofthe turmoil.
Suddenly, three men appeared from the river road, runningtowards the center of town. They were covered in mud, in an obvious panic.“Help! Help!”
“What’s wrong!” Gabrielle let out a yell, trying to see pastthem. “What is it?”
“The river!” The nearest man yelled back. “The river! It’srising!”
“Fast!?”
“Too fast!”
Uh big time oh. Gabrielle broke into a full run, tucking herstaff under her arm and ignoring the rain.
**
Dori put a rock down on the soft surface of the furs, andwaited. After a short while,another rock joined it, this one bigger, and darker in color. “Big.”
“Good girl.” Xena was reclining on her side, her headpropped up on her hand. “Now, how is this one different?” She put another rockdown, about the same size, but a different color.
“Dis rock green.” Dori observed. “Like mama’s story.”
“Mama’s story about the green rock? You remember that?” Xenaasked. “That was a long time ago.”
Dori looked at her like she was a little nutty. “Pipples.”She said. “Big round house.”
“Yup, that’s right. We were with our friends the forestpeople, in a round house.” The warrior agreed. “Did you like Mama’s story?”
“Yes.” Dori studiously removed the rocks, and put a stickdown, then another one across it. “Go find fishes.” She put a small rock downin one of the quarters made by the cross. “Go Boo.”
Well, sort of. “That’s to tell which way we went,right?” Xena said. “If we gothrough where two roads meet, so mama can find us.”
Dori giggled and grabbed the sticks, tossing them
Ah, out of the mouths of tiny children. Xena looked at herdaughter, and shook her head. Did Dori really understand what she was saying?Was she really saying she knew Gabrielle could find her sticks or no sticks?“So mama doesn’t need sticks to find us, right?”
“Yes.” Dori seemed utterly positive. “Mama find Boo, all thetime.” She abandoned her sticks and stone and crawled over to her buddy,climbing over her as though she were merely an inconvenient obstacle andtumbling down onto the furs on the other side of her.
Xena rolled over onto her other side to keep her in view,since that was the side the fire was on. Dori had learned on their travels not to mess with the hot flames butyou never could tell what she’d toss into them. The warrior was glad herdaughter was out of diapers, for instance, and she wouldn’t forget that smellany time soon. “What’cha doing, Dori?”
Dori was standing spraddle legged, an impossibly seriouslook on her face. She leaned down and put her hands on the furs, then tumbledhead over heels, landing right next to Xena. “Go like Boo!” She announced,looking up hopefully.
“Whoa.” Xena laughed. “Is that your somersalt?”
“Go like Boo?”
“You betcha.” The warrior gathered her up and hugged her.“Good job, Dori.”
“Go go go.” Dori burbled happily. “Go fly?”
“It’s a start.” Xena said. “You keep working on it.. you’llbe flying in no time, shortie.” She patted her daughter on the back, stillchuckling.
“Boo boo boo.”
‘That’s me.” Xena rolled over onto her back and stretched,enjoying the warmth of the fire and a chance to just spend some time withDori. Usually, they took her downthe mountain to play with her cousins and friends, but the warrior welcomed thelong morning and the rain that caused it.
She wondered how Gabrielle was getting on, with her mother.Odds were fifty fifty on that, she’d figured, putting Cyrene’s stubbornness onone side, and Gabrielle’s intensity on the other.
Footsteps outside, heard even over the rain, alerted her.“Someone’s coming to visit, Dor.” She bounced the child on her stomach. “Who doyou think it is?”
“Mama?”
“Nope, it’s notmama.” Xena shook her head.
“Gramma?”
“Nope, not gramma either.” The warrior said. “I think it’syour auntie Ephiny.”
“Eff!”
A knock at the door came promptly after the sound of bootsscuffing on the porch. “C’mon in.” Xena called out. She eyed the door, and herlips quirked into a grin as Ephiny’s curly blond head came into view. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Ephiny entered, and closed the door. She was wearinga heavy cloak, but shed it and hung it on one of the hooks inside the doorbefore she came any further. “Hey there, Dori! Didn’t expect to find you here.”
“Eff!” Dori pointed at her. “Wet!”
“Right first time.” The Amazon came over and sat down on thefurs cross legged. “Where’s your mama, huh?”
Dori looked at Xena.
“Down fighting with my mother.” The warrior said, with a wrygrin. “What are you up to? Things still falling down in the village?” Shetickled Dori’s foot and watched the child scowl at her.
“It is, and that’s what I’m here about.” Ephiny said. “Thevillage is holding together for now.. okay, it’s falling down around my ankles,but the real problem is one of my girls came back and she seems to think theriver’s too high.”
Xena cocked her head. “Well, it is a little.” She said. “Isaw it yesterday.”
“Not down there.” Ephiny pointed behind her, and up. “Upnear the frost line. One of the big open meadows around the water hole wepicked out is deeper than I am tall with runoff.”
The warrior sat up, catching Dori as she tumbled and settingher upright without a moment’s hesitation. “That’s bad.”
Ephiny nodded. “My words to the letter.” She said. “I’mwondering if.. “ The Amazon paused when she saw a distant look come into Xena’seyes suddenly. “Xena?”
Shock.
Anxiety.
Fear.
Xena got to her feet rapidly. “Eph, stay here with Dori.”She headed for the door.
“Hey.. wh.” The regent scrambled around, catching Dori asshe started to race after Xena. “Where are you going.. no, scratch that.Where’s Gabrielle?”
“Town.” Xena yanked the door open and bolted through it,clearing the porch and hitting the mud without looking back.
“Boo!” Dori stared wide eyed at the now vanished warrior andopen door. “Eff! Leggo! Go BOO!”
“No, no, honey.” Ephiny made a mental note to send Pony withthe next warning of impending disaster. “You stay here, Boo’s going to getmama.”
“Boo get mama?”
“You know Boo always gets mama.” Ephiny got the door closedand herded Dori back towards the fire. “Boo’s been getting mama for a longtime, longer than you’ve been around, my little chickadee.”
Dori glanced at the door. “Boo and mama come back?”
“Sure.” Ephiny said. “I bet mama did something, and she’llhave a new story to tell when she gets here.” She added. “Cause you know, yourmama never does things halfway.”
“Otay.”
“Did mama ever tell you how she and I met?” Ephiny said.“About how she became the Queen of the Amazons?”
“Keen?”
“No, not overly.” Ephiny sighed, settling back onto thefurs. “I bet mama never told you you’re a princess either, did she?”
Big green eyes blinked at her in befuddlement. “Bck.” Dorifell back on an old favorite. “What’s a prissess?”
No, Gabrielle wouldn’t have. Ephiny admitted silently. Forthe obvious reason, that Dori wouldn’t know what the heck she was talkingabout, and for the less obvious reason that she knew her friend felt a gooddeal of ambiguity about her own position.
Well, she’d learn to get over it. “How about I tell you how your mama became an Amazon. Wouldyou like that?”
Dori seemed inclined to be agreeable to that. “Otay.” Shesaid. “Then we go find Boo and mama.”
Of course. “All right, you got a deal.” Ephiny reasonedgoing down the hill with Dori was probably far less dangerous than trying tokeep her locked up in the cabin. “Once upon a time there was an Amazon Queennamed Melosa.”
“Losa.” Dori agreed. “Gots buppits?”
“Sorta.” Ephiny said. “That’s kinda what startedeverything.”
**
Darn, Darn Darn. Gabrielle dug her staff into the softening mud and braced her legs,trying to get enough leverage to reach out and grab one of the lamb’s legs asit struggled in the water wildly. “C’mere, you..”
“Baaa!!!” The terrified animal squealed.
“Gabrielle! Be careful!” Johan yelled from the bank. “Gotropes coming!”
Yeah, yeah. Gabrielle continued her task, grabbing a woolyleg and bodily hauling the lamb out of the water and onto the rapidlydissolving bank. The river hadrisen alarmingly, covering thebridge already and sweeping anything on it’s banks downstream.
Mostly provisions, but also some animals that had been standing by waiting to be loadedonto barges to go down to market. Gabrielle had picked a spot in a crook of theriver, where she could get in without taking the full force and try to getthings out.
The water sucked at her though, and she could feel the forcegetting stronger behind her, shoving her against her staff and almost knockingher offbalance. She grabbedanother lamb by the scruff of the neck and staggered backwards as the watersurged, sending the animal almost into her arms.
“Baaa!” The lamb nipped at her in fear.
“Stop that you little gnarly..” Gabrielle avoided the teethand shoved the animals head away from her. “Get up there before I make you intoa rug!”
“Gabrielle!” Johan was closer, and now reaching out to her. “Get out of there.. thedamn critters ain’t worth it!” He found himself with a handful of wet lamb.“Ah!”
“Help!”
Gabrielle whirled, spotting two heads in the water. Amerchant had been trying to offload his wagon, it’s wheels stuck in the mud andnow the water had risen to the point it had taken the wagon up and was slammingit against the bridge.
The merchant had tried to hold onto it.
“Gods.” Gabrielle started upstream, battling the ragingriver one short step at a time as she dug her staff into the bottom, makingslow progress. “Someone get him a rope!” She yelled out to the banks, nowfilling with onlookers. “C’mon people! Help him!”
“Look out!” Another yell, this time she recognized as Cyrene. “Good gods! Gabrielle!Gabrielle! The bridge!”
She heard a crack, and looked up to see the bridge breakingfree of it’s mooring posts. “Oh my gods.” The bard barely had time to eventhink, before the wooden mass was heading towards her at a frightening speed,with the wagon thundering behind it.
Her boots were stuck in the mud, along with her staff. Sheknew, in a slow motion kind of way, she wasn’t going to get out of it’s path intime. All she had time to do, in fact, was steady herself and get ready to grabwhatever she could, and just hope the mass didn’t kill her outright. “Mom!” Sheyelled desperately. “I can’t!”
The bridge broke free completely and was on her before shecould think or say another word. It was a roar of splintering wood and roaringwater and screaming. She took a deep breath and did her best to jump.
She fell down onto the wood, bucking crazily under her, andfelt warmth surround her and hold her down, as the world spun into insanity,and the water’s roar filled her senses.
“My gods” Cyrene gasped, her eyes fixed on the two figuresfading into the distance, as the flood overcame them, cresting the banks androaring into the lower town to the company of horrific screams.
The water kept coming, racing up towards the gates as thetownsfolk scrambled to elude it, shaken as everything within the river’s reachwas taken from them and carried far away.
“Be damned.” Johan reached Cyrene’s side. “Didn’t thinkshe’d get there in time.”
Cyrene’s hands clenched on the railing of the inn’s porch asshe stared downstream. “My dream was danger on the mountain.” She whispered.“But I had it all wrong.”
Johan looked at her.
“All wrong.”
**
Xena had little time to do anything but hold on, using herbody strength to try and keep them upright on the piece of wood they’d landedon. “You all right?”
“As I can be.” Gabrielle answered, her fingers clenched intothe wood, and her face turned to one side to keep the water from rushing intoher mouth. Her body was pressed against the bridge piece, half under water asthe surge came over them every other second. “Now what?”
“Hang on.”
Gabrielle closed her eyes as a wave washed over her,remembering to keep her mouth closed so it wouldn’t fill with water. The coldwas shocking, and she knew she’d be shivering already if Xena wasn’t laying ontop of her.
Once the water receded a little, she shook her head to clearthe wet hair from her eyes and blinked, trying to look ahead of them. All shecould see were tall banks, and white, frothing river surface. “How long?”
“No idea.” Xena responded. “Never seen it like this.”
The rain came down harder, but at least it was warmer thanthe river. “Xena?”
“Yeah?”
“Know any deserts?”
“Hang on.” Xena threw her body to one side, causing theirmakeshift raft to lean to one side and avoid a half sunken rock. They cameclose to tipping, then settled back down and went forward again. “Know a few.”
“Let’s go live in one.” Gabrielle felt her heart settle backdown from it’s sudden racing, as she’d seen the rock whir by her nose.
“You hate sand.” The warrior reminded her, gripping the woodmore firmly.
“I hate drowning too.”
Xena shook the wet hair out of her own eyes, and grimly hungon, watching the banks grow taller and narrower, and knowing the river wouldonly get wilder. “Just hang on.”
“You too.”
**
After the third time her head went under water, Gabriellefigured she had to do something. “Hon?”
“Yeah?” Xena lifted her head cautiously, relieved at aslightly easier stretch of water that seemed to be in front of them. The wallswere so high on either side by now though, that trying to get them out of theriver wasn’t even an option.
“Mind if I get up a little?” Gabrielle asked. “I’m gettingsplinters in bad places.”
The warrior eased up and lifted her body off her partner’s,rolling onto her side slowly. “Easy.” She warned. “This thing’s not stable.”
“So I noticed.” Gabrielle gingerly pushed herself up andonto her back, trading the cold river water for the relative warmth of the rainthat now pelted the front of her torso. She blinked some droplets from her eyes and looked over at Xena, herface tensing into a surprised grin as she observed her partner’s dress, or,rather, lack thereof. “Um.”
“Yeah.” Xena glanced down at herself. “Barefoot and in myshift. There’s a joke in there somewhere.” She gripped the side of the wood asit shifted under them, one hand reaching out for Gabrielle from pure instinct.“Hang on.”
“I’m hanging.” The bard carefully eased closer, until theywere both in the center of the small section of bridge they’d landed on. It wasbarely big enough to fit them side by side, and felt very unsteady under herweight. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Plan?”
“Ah. Something else that wasn’t covered under the warlord’sguide to greater Greece, huh?” Gabrielle exhaled. “I guess we have to get outof here… there’s someplace we can do that soon, right?”
Xena reviewed the river, which was becoming gnarled withwhitecaps again. She looked up at the banks, now towering over them andrealized she was in a cut of the river she’d never seen before.
Gabrielle realized the same thing at the same time. “Wherein Hades are we?” She blurted, turning and looking back. “Xena, I’ve been downthe river from Amphipolis.. no way do we send barges this route.. what happened?”
“Good question.” The warrior also looked behind her, staringat the overgrown walls. “Damn it. River must have overflowed it’s banks at thebig curve.. this is a dry bed.”
The bard looked down then up at her. “No it’s not.”
“Usually it is..it’s the gorge, Gabrielle.” Xena said. “Theone we bridged.”
“The g.. you mean our gorge? The one near our cabin?” Now,the foliage and the thick, rich earthen banks made sense. “Wow.” Gabriellesaid, slowly. “So, where does it end up? Maybe we can grab hold of the sidesnear the bridge and climb up? I know it’s pretty deep, but..”
“But I haven’t climbed a cliff barefoot since I was ten.”Xena stated frankly. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I’ve never climbed one, but that’s never stopped usbefore.” Gabrielle found it was easier to keep her balance lying on herstomach, and so she reversed herself again, bracing her weight on her elbowsand gripping the wood with both hands. “Besides, it’s so darn romantic that youran out in your underwear to save me.”
“Oh, you think so, huh?”
Gabrielle kept her eyes fixed forward on the waves, but shesmiled. “Yes, I do.”
“I hear that in a story, you’re toast, bard.” Xena put onearm over Gabrielle’s shoulders and grabbed onto the edge of the wood, lettingher weight rest on her knees and outstretched arms. “Gonna be a long walkhome.”
“I’ll carry you.” The bard answered blithely. “No problem.”
The makeshift raft tilted, and they both rolled with themotion, one of Xena’s long legs sliding off into the water as she fought tokeep them upright. The current seemed to be getting faster also, and thewarrior stared ahead at the rough water with worried eyes. “This isn’t gonna beeasy.”
Gabrielle gripped the edge of the wood more firmly, hearingthe warning tone in her partner’s voice. She peered ahead, but all she couldsee was the walls on either side, and an endless stretch of white ruffledwater.
There was no place, really to even grab onto. She could seebushes on either side, half drowned in the river and thick tree boles stickingup dangerously in the current, but no place they could easily land and escape.To make things more ominous, it felt like they were starting to go faster.“Xe?”
“Yeah?”
“Where do you think this ends up?”
Xena had been wondering exactly that. She knew the slicewent across the mountain, but she’d never followed it, having no interest in anold dry river bed. “I’m… not exactly sure.” She answered slowly. “But it goes towards..”
“The plateau.” Gabrielle whispered. “You don’t think..”
Over the river’s surge, Xena’s sharp ears finally focused ona low roar that had been playing at the peripheral of her senses. Now thatshe’d heard it, she knew without question what it was. “I think.”
Gabrielle’s mouth went dry, despite being surrounded by andcovered in water. “What do we do?”
The warrior started looking around in earnest, now,searching the banks for some place she could steer toward and grab on. The ridehad almost seemed fun for a short while – it was anything but now. “Findsomething to grab.”
“Other than you?” Gabrielle muttered, pushing herself up,and just as quickly lowering herself back down as she nearly rolled off the raft.She felt the wood buck under her, shifting sideways and starting to turn.“Uh..”
Xena wrapped her arms around the edge of the wood and thebard, holding on tight as the raft whirled in a tight circle, caught in an eddythat almost threw them off the surface. Once out of it, they tilted downward,the front edge dipping far under water and taking Gabrielle’s upper body withit.
The warrior hauled back, throwing her weight against thesurge of the water and bringing the spluttering bard to the surface. “Get up onyour knees!”
Gabrielle coughed and blinked the water from her eyes,struggling to comply as she felt Xena’s arm tighten around her to pull herupright. Her balance was chancy,but she managed to drag her knees up and get on all fours, glad she did whenthe front edge went under again and she sunk down to her elbows in the icycold.
For a moment, she thought they were going to plungeheadlong, then the raft twirled sideways again and dropped between two rocks,barely a wide enough opening to let them through. She was thrown against Xena, feeling the shifting power ofthe warrior’s body as she fought to control the raft.
Then something else caught her eye. “Xena!” She yelled,seeing the edge of the waterfall past the curve in the crevasse.
“I see it!” The warrior yelled back. “I’m steering for thebank there!”
Gabrielle looked to the left, where she could see a bit ofthe wall sticking out. It wasn’t much, but there were some visible roots and itoffered a handhold she knew Xena could take advantage of. “What can I do?”
“Lean when I lean!”
Easier said than done. Gabrielle pressed her body againsther partners, trying to anticipate which way she was going to move. She couldsee a roil of water near wherethey were trying to go, and she felt Xena start to pull the right end of theraft up to send them that way. “Whoa boy…”
The water gushed under them, suddenly cooperating and takingthem right towards the wall. “Yow!” Gabrielle let out a yell, as the dirtsurface came at her far too fast.
“Duck!”
No question about listening. The bard dove for the surfaceof the raft, clearing the way for Xena to do whatever it was she needed to doto save them. Her face went under the water but she didn’t care, holding herbreath as she felt the wrenching power of her partner’s legs clamp around heras Xena lunged for the shore.
The shock of contact, and then they were whirling in a tightcircle as the river tried to rip them past Xena’s hold.
“Son of a..” Xena let out a frustrated bellow, as they spuncompletely around and the root she’d been holding pulled loose from the soil.“Oh.. Gab!”
It was hard to tell what was happening, but she could hearthe panic in Xena’s voice and that made her blood run colder than anything elsein her life ever could have. Instinctively, Gabrielle released her hold on theraft and grabbed the shifting, muscular body next to her, holding on tight asthey continued tipping.
Continued tipping.
They were falling.
Gabrielle buried her face into her partner’s chest.
**
The last thing she’d expected on swinging around that pointwas a break in the rocks, and a secondary waterfall that simply ripped the raftout from under them and sent it plummeting down in a wild spray of water.
They were falling themselves down the front of the smallfall, the walls on either side giving her no chance of a handhold, being bluntslate. Xena looked down, and saw apool the water was exploding into, but there was no way for her to tell howdeep it was.
No way to tell once they hit it, if they wouldn’t be brokento bits on it’s rocky bottom.
No time, really to worry about it either. Xena wrapped herarms around Gabrielle a little tighter, and just prepared her body, bending herknees and hoping for the best. Shefelt the bard exhale against her skin and relax, a mix of resignation and acceptancein the motion that made her nape hairs prickle.
The water of the fall wrapped around them suddenly,buffeting them and throwing them to the back of the deluge with a force thatnearly knocked the breath out of her. She felt her shoulders impact the wall,and then they were sliding down it, a faint slope that slowed their descentjust a trifle.
Luck? Xena gingerly leaned back and felt the sting as theirregularities of the rock thudded against her skin, and then the ground wascoming up impossibly fast and she just closed her eyes and held her breath.
The shock of the water hitting her was painful, rivalingwhat it had felt like to slam against a mountainside. She was unable to slowher descent and before it really registered, her feet were hitting the bottomof the pond and driving into it, sending her to her knees with irresistibleforce.
The shock went through her almost knocking her unconscious.Xena managed to let go of Gabrielle and pushed her surfaceward out of simpleinstinct, as she struggled to regain control of her body.
Her legs were stuck in the mud, she realized after trying tolunge after her partner. She blinked her eyes open and saw nothing but a swirlof water. Her arms flailed,searching for something to pull herself up with, but nothing was within hergrasp.
Damn it. The warrior cursed and yanked at her trapped feetagain, the mud sucking at her legs with tenacious strength.
Then a hand reached down and clutched after her, searchingfrantically and she felt a jolt deep in her guts that could only come from onesource. Xena yanked at one leg andgot it free, then she reached up and grabbed Gabrielle’s hand, kicking againsta firmer part of the bottom and pulling her other foot free in a sudden motionthat propelled both of them back up to the surface.
The waterfall thundered over their heads, almost drivingthem back down, but Xena spotted a break in it and she pointed. “There!”
They swam out from under the falls into a pouring rain thatwas almost as bad. The shore of the lake, which was spilling over to become ariver at it’s end wasn’t that far off though, and with a few powerful strokesXena had her hand on a rock outcropping that was firmly embedded.
Her other hand was clamped just as firmly around Gabrielle’sarm as the bard fought the current attempting to separate them. She could seeGabrielle’s head popping clear of the water, and the look of almost panic onher face that dissolved as she looked around and caught her partner’s eyes onher.
The rushing water tried to grab them again, but they bothweren’t having any of that. Xena crawled up onto the gravel bank pullingGabrielle with her until they were clear of the water, well clear of it, theirhands and knees pinched by the sharp gravel.
“Xena, there?” Gabrielle pointed to a fallen tree halfagainst a pile of rocks that promised some meager shelter.
“Better than nothing.” The warrior agreed, and they managedto get over to it just as the rain redoubled it’s efforts to wash them backinto the lake. A wash of water splasheddown the slope over them, covering them with mud and slush and they bothblinked stinging eyes from it.
Xena rolled under the tree and pulled Gabrielle with her,their arms and legs tangling together as they squeezed as much shelter from thefallen trunk as they could.
The rain still bounced around them, but at least, at last,they were both still.
Not to mention together. Gabrielle felt her heartbeat begin to slow finally, thebeats so rapid she could hardly breathe from the force of them. So many thingshad happened in the last little while, she couldn’t’ process them, or flush thefear from her guts quite so quickly.
Xena’s heart was racing also, and she could feel the heaveof the warrior’s breathing under her hands. “You okay?” Gabrielle rasped,clearing her throat from all the water.
“Yeah.” Xena replied briefly. “Just catching my breath.” Shestudied the bark over her head, her lashes fluttering as droplets of rain hither face. “Damn, that was a ride.”
“Pah.” The bard spit a bit of plant out of her mouth. “Hatedit.”
Xena lifted a no longer shaking hand and rubbed Gabrielle’sback with it. “You okay?”
Gabrielle had her eyes firmly closed. “Not really, no.” Sheadmitted. “I really want to throw up.”
The warrior eyed her warily. “Mind moving your head alittle? I don’t want to have to go out in that damn rain again so fast.”
The unexpected humor helped. Gabrielle managed a chuckle outof it. “Oh, Xe, that sucked.” She winced, removing a splinter from her handwith her teeth. “Let’s not do that again, okay?”
“Damn. I was going to ask you if you wanted a repeat for ouranniversary.” Xena sighed. “Guess I’ll have to find something else for us todo.”
Slowly, her world was settling. Gabrielle knew themeaningless chatter was helping them both to come down from the terror, and shestarted reassessing herself with careful motions. Aside from the splinters, herbody seemed to have tolerated the insanity surprisingly well, and she flexedher arms and legs with a sense of relief.
Xena was doing much the same thing, relieved they bothseemed to be in relatively one piece for a change. “Well, coulda been worse.”She turned her head and peered out from under the tree, seeing not much elsebut rain and wet foliage.
“Much.” Gabrielle looked out from the other side, watchingthe water crash down into the lake and rush off down the little slope they wereon. “So.. where are we, exactly?”
The warrior turned her head and peeked past her partner’sshoulders. “Valley.”
“Ah.”
“Pretty narrow one.” Xena edged her head out enough to peerupward. The walls rose on either side to dizzying heights, the only lower spotthe crack they’d come gushing out of. She could see the lower end of the valley in the distance, it’s far wallequally craggy and remote. “Closed.”
“Hm.” Gabrielle put her head back down on Xena’s shoulder.“Well, after the rain stops we can explore it and find a way out. Right now,I’m staying here.”
Xena patted the tree with wry affection. “Got my vote.”
Right now, they were keeping each other warm, and that wasfine by her. After all, the rain had to stop sometime, didn’t it? They couldjust stay right here, nice and cozy….
“Xe?”
“Hm?”
“Slug.”
Xena’s head whipped around swiftly, as she looked around forthe animal. Spotting it near Gabrielle’s head, she quickly grabbed it,grimacing at the slimy texture and whipped it out into the rain with littleregret for it’s insect sensibilities. “Gr.”
“Hope that was the only one.”
Xena’s fingertips drummed on the no longer friendly bark asthe rain continued to fall.
**
“Okay, short stuff.” Ephiny had run out of stories, run outof games, and run out of patience. “Let’s go see where your mama and Boo are,okay?”
“O-tay.” Dori was more than ready. She got up and rambledover to the door, reaching up for the latch that was just a little bit too highfor her to reach. “C’mere.” She hopped, grabbing at it.
“Whooa, whoa.. “ Ephiny scrambled after her. “Wait for yourold auntie Ephiny, okay? Gimme a minut ehere, let me get your coat on.” Shemanaged to get Dori’s tiny cloak onto her before the child could escape, andthen get the door open. “Now, you hold onto me, little miss Amazon princess, sowe don’t both fall down the mountain. Okay?”
For once, Dori listened and took Ephiny’s hand as theystarted down the path. Her little boots pattered over the wet leaves, herbalance sure footed and unconcerned despite the rain. As she walked, Ephiny noticed she looked around ateverything, her eyes taking in all the colors and intricacies of the forest andher ears twitching a little just like Xena’s did as she listened.
Amazing. “What do you hear, Dori?” Ephiny asked her. “Youhear birds?”
“Aminal.” Dori pointed confidently to her right, into thebushes. “Bitty aminal, mama no like.”
Small animal Gabrielle didn’t like. “Is it a rat?” Ephinyguessed, fascinated. “You can tell there’s a rat in there?”
“Yes.” Dori hopped down several step like plateaus. “Gofast.” She urged. “Go get mama and Boo.”
Ephiny hurried to keep up with her. “We’re going, you don’twant to fall down and get hurt, do you?” She scouted the path before them, hermind doubting a little now the place her friends had chosen to call him
Maybe Cyrene did have a little point, after all. The regentpondered, as she tried to find the safest way down she could. For Xena, sure,it was fine, and for Gabrielle now too, probably. But for the kid?
“Go go go.” Dori bounced down the hill like a rabbit. “GoEff!”
Okay. Maybe for old, cranky Amazons, then. Ephiny picked upher pace an shook her head. “All right, all right.. c’mon, kiddo. Let’s go findmama.”
“Mama go trouble.” Dori said. “Get Boo.”
Now what do you suppose that meant? Ephiny felt a pang ofanxiety. Xena had tore out of the cabin like a house on fire, that was forsure, and in her wraps, on top of it. “I’m sure mama’s okay.”
“Otay.” Dori agreed. “Tell story?”
“You want me to tell you a story? I told you all my stories.”Ephiny said. “ You tell me a story.”
“Yes.” Dori said. “Tell you Boo and the buppits. Good!”
Thunder rolled over head, and Ephiny glanced up at the sky,which was thick with gray clouds. “Good. Yeah. I could use a good story.”
“Good!”
The regent only hoped all the stories today turned out to begood ones.
**
Xena gave a last tug on a bit of vine she’d used to tie themdown a canopy, and stood back to review her work. It hadn’t been easy to chopthe thick ropy substance, she’d had nothing but a bit of rock to do it with,but after a couple of smashed thumbs and a lot of green bruising she had enoughmaterial.
Overlapping branches over a pair of small bushes formed areasonable shelter, and was enough to keep the ground dry underneath them.Gabrielle was already seated in the space she’d created, picking the leaves offsome berries she’d found nearby.
If nothing else, their travels had taught them to be selfsufficient, Xnea decided, even though usually she had a lot more tools at handto be self sufficient with. “All right.” She joined Gabrielle in their littlehut, sitting down cross legged next to her and giving her head a shake to clearthe wet hair from her eyes. “That’ll have to do.”
“Here.” Gabrielle offered her a berry.. “No slugs in sight.Much better.” She selected a berry for herself and bit into it cautiously. Itwas small, and round, and somewhat tart, but her partner had proclaimed themedible, so.. “Interesting taste.”
“Hm.” Xena munched on hers. “Different.”
Gabrielle eyed her. “You’ve never had them before?” Sheasked.
The warrior shook her head no. “But the birds were eating them.” She said. “So I figuredthey were all right.”
“Ah.” The bard gazed speculatively at her handful oftentative edibles. “So, if we both start chucking up, who gets to say I toldyou so first?”
Xena chuckled. “Relax.”
“Uh huh.” The bard ate a few more anyway. “No chance of afire, huh?”
Xena just looked at her.
“Hey, I can ask. You’ve pulled more surprises out of thinair than that on me.” Gabrielle sorted the berries and handed Xena half. “Sowhat’s a little rain?”
“Wet wood, and no flint.” Xena said. “Not things I can fixin a heartbeat.” She rubbed herarms, as the wind picked up a little and rattled through the bushes on eitherside. “Wish I could.” She added in a heartfelt murmur.
“Want my shirt?” Gabrielle asked, in a quietly serious tone.
“I want you in your shirt.” The warrior replied. “No sensein both of us being miserable.”
Gabrielle studied her partner. She knew Xena was immune tothe weather far more than most, but she also knew her partner was used to beingcovered by more than tattered rags. The shift was giving her little protection,and she could see the goosebumps rising on the warrior’s tanned skin.
She realized, suddenly, just how empty handed they reallywere. No tools, no weapons.. no armor no nothing. She’d lost her staff on theriver, and without even their basic camping kit, they really had.. well..nothing.
Just themselves. Gabrielle looked at Xena. “We’re in a messhere, aren’t we?”
Solemly, the warrior nodded. She picked up a bit of stone and examined it, turning itover in her hands. “Well, I’m surethere’s fish in that river, and I’ve still got these.” She opened one hand anddisplayed it. “Gods know we’ve eaten raw before.”
Gabrielle closed her hand around Xena’s, tensing her fingersand chafing the warrior’s knuckles with her thumb. “We’ll be fine.” She said.“We’ve got each other.”
Xena smiled, and juggled the rock in her other hand. “We’llbe fine.” She echoed. “It’s just one more little challenge.”
One more. Thebard rested her head against Xena’s shoulder. Just one little one more.
**
“They what?” Ephiny asked for the third time, staring downthe river in complete incomprehension. The town was a wreck, overturned wagonsand shattered crates were flung everywhere, but that was nothing to thedestruction she could see across the flood downslope. None of which mattered to her at the moment. “They went downthat?” She pointed.
“Mama go?” Dori was also looking at the river in real surprise.“She go wif Boo?”
“It happened too fast.” Granella said, wiping a bit of mudoff her face. “Eph, I saw it. I was coming up from the lower town and I’d justcrossed the bridge when the flood came down.”
“Gods.” Ephiny felt deflated. “We’ll have to go after them.”
“Speed they were going, it’ll take us days to catch up onfoot.” Granella said. “Gabrielle was hauling stock out of the river and thebridge let loose. I swear, I thought she was..”
“Mama?” Dori looked up at the two Amazons. “Mama good.”
“I’m sure your mama’s good, Dori.” Ephiny answered, shadingher eyes to view the flood’s destruction. “I’m sure Xena’s taking very good care of her..”
Granella laid a hand on the regent’s shoulder. “I’m sure,too.” She said. “Because let me tell you, Eph.. that woman was moving so fastwhen she grabbed Gabrielle from in front of that bridge, eagles couldn’t havecaught her.”
Ephiny nodded silently. Then she let her hand drop, to reston Dori’s tousled hair. “Don’t you worry, Dori. We’ll go find your mama’s.”
Dori blinked thoughtfully, regarding the river. “Bad.” Sheconcluded.
“She doesn’t seem that upset.” Granella observed. “Does thatmean they’re okay?”
Ephiny knelt and looked at Dori. “You want to go find yourmama, sweetie?” She asked. “Want to go find them?”
Dori blinked again. “Yes. Go find mama.” She nodded. “Gofind mama, go find Boo. Have fun.” She turned and started trotting towards theinn. “Gramma!”
“Bu.. bu.” Ephiny scrambled to her feet and bolted afterher. “Hold on there, kiddo.. hey!”
“Gramma!” Dori yelled again.
“Dori!”
Granella shook her head and followed the two. “Why do I getthe feeling Xena and Gabrielle are safer than we are?”
**
The rain finally tapered off near sunset. Gabrielle peeredout from under their makeshift shelter and blinked at the sky, glad to see theclouds at least grudgingly parting. “Bout time.”
Xena edged up next to her and looked out. The area aroundthem was dour and sodden, and the wind had come up again, chilling them withit’s briskness. “Well.” She resteda hand on her bare knee. “First thing we gotta do is block that damn wind.”
Gabrielle leaned against her. “Yeah.”
“You want to find a better spot?”
Gabrielle peeked to the left, and then to the right. “Youthink there is a better spot?”
Xena considered, resting her elbows on her knees. “They wayour luck’s running today? No.” She replied honestly. “I think we should justget as much cover here as we can. I think we’ll be getting more rain later.”
“Right.” Gabrielle ducked out from under their shelter andstood up to her full height, stretching her back out as she regarded theirsurroundings. Aside from theflooding water nearby, the area was mostly covered in low scrub, with a fewstands of tall trees scattered here and there.
As she looked through the brush, she could see bouldersaround, too, and tipping her head back, she guessed they’d fallen down from theheights above them. “Hm.”
Xena emerged after her, putting her hands on her hips. Hereyes flicked over the trees nearby, noting the tall, bare of branch boles. Witha shake of her head, she circled the bushes and started hunting on the groundnearby, looking for anything that might be useful.
“Should I go see if I can find more berries?” Gabrielleasked. “I’m not really in the moodyet for raw fish. I know you just scarf it, but I’ve got to work myself up tothat, Xe.”
“Sure.” The warrior glanced over her shoulder and gave herpartner a rakish grin. “At least we’ll start with fish.”
“Anaananana.” Gabrielle made an atonal sound. “I’m nothearing anything you’re saying that might have anything to do with eatinginsects, Xena.” She started movingin a rough circle, searching out anything they could nibble on that wasfamiliar to her.
Mushrooms. Given the dampness, that wasn’t unexpected.Gabrielle knelt beside the thick trunk they were growing on and examined themcarefully, plucking them only when she was sure they were edible.
At least, for her. She juggled a few in her hand, then shelooked around for something to carry them in. Finding nothing but pine needles,she sighed and kept on searching,finally stripping some thin branches off a barely reachable limb and sittingdown on a nearby rock to weave them into a basket.
Not having their stuff was sure a pain. Gabrielle carefullythreaded the flexible twigs into an interlocking pattern, gently pushing themclose together with her fingertips.
The sounds of the forest were slowly coming alive aroundher, now that the storm had held off for a while and the creatures who livedthere were creeping out again. Shecould hear the soft chirping of a bird off to her right, and the rattle of acricket to her left.
The sounds reassured her with their essential normality.She’d learned from Xena that danger came in many guises, but what was dangerousfor her, was probably also dangerous to the animals around her and they had farsharper senses than she did.
Listen to the world, was what the warrior said.
Gabrielle finished the bottom of her basket, and curved thesides up, lacing them into place with two longer, flexible twigs into a holderlarge enough to carry both her mushrooms and the berries she hoped to find.“There we go.” She murmured, dumping in the fungai and standing up. “Let’s seewhat else I can find.”
A wan bit of fading sunlight splashed over her as she wentdeeper into the trees, welcome though fleeting. A soft fragrance caught herattention and she stopped, tipping her head back and searching among thebranches of some shorter, scrubbier trees. “Ah!”
Pears. Thingswere looking up, now.
**
Xena stepped carefully through the rocks, wincing a bit asthey dug into her bare soles. They were all on the sharp side, but they weresmall and she was looking for..
Ah. Near the water, several shattered bits of slate werelaying. Xena went over and knelt down, examining them with a knowledgeable eye,and selecting one that was a long and narrow, with a thin edge on one side. Shelifted it and peered at the edge, rubbing her thumb against it thoughtfully.
It was fragile, but it might be useful. The warrior stood upand moved on, pausing to pick up a thicker piece of stone with a cut edge onone side. She went to one of the trees and felt the bark, then with a sigh, shetook a step back and slammed the edge of the rock into the tree, making a gashperhaps the span of her four fingers long in it.
Xena examined the result, and for the nth time that daywished she had any one of her dozens of steel blades with her.
She hoped Gabrielle was having better luck than she was.Usually, she hunted and the bard put her gathering skills to work, and therehad been times the gathering was far more successful than the hunting.
Xena finished one long line vertically, and then she startedin around the tree at her own shoulder height. Of course, there had been timeswhen the hunting had been more successful than the gathering, too – it reallywas sometimes just a matter of luck.
She worked her way around the tree, the twilight beginningto turn the surface from variated brown to shades of black and gray, eerilylooking as though the area she was working on was dying.
Reassured, she started on the bottom cut, thunking her rockinto the tree over and over again, taking a step forward each time.
The squirrel chattered, so far above her it considereditself safe.
Xena lightly juggled the sharp bit of stone in her otherhand, her pale eyes glinting in fading sun. Then she exhaled, and shook herhead. “Gabrielle’d never, everforgive me.” She solidered on,making the last cut just as the light began to fade out among the branches.
She dropped the big rock and put her fingertips into thefirst long cut, prying the bark away from the inside of the tree. It came loosewith a soft, ripping sensation, vibrating lightly through her hands as shecarefully pulled it loose.
When she finished, she had a circle of bark almost as tallas she was. With a satisfied grunt, she circled her arms around it and startedback towards the shelter.
**
Gabrielle knelt by the pool, listening to the thunder of thewaterfall nearby. She had her little basket resting to one side, and both herhands were on her upraised knee. Solemnly, she regarded the large turtle sitting o n a rock to her left,looking back at her with equal seriousness.
Turtle shells were incredibly useful. Gabrielle had comeacross one at market, and purchased it, and she’d used it for everything fromholding soup to protecting her head on their travels. However, that shellhadn’t had a turtle in it, and the problem was..
She really, really liked turtles. They held a special place in her heart and the thought ofkilling this turtle to take it’s shell from it to use was bothering her alot. With a troubled sigh, she got up and walked over to the animal, her boots splashing intothe shallow lip of the pool that separated her from the rock the turtle wassitting on.
It merely watched her, it’s jaws moving as it chewed a bitof algae, unintimidated by her presence.
She leaned over and gave it’s head a scratch. “Hi there.”Gabrielle said, softly. “Someday, you might know how lucky you were today thatit was me catching you sitting here.”
The turtle kept chewing.
With a smile, Gabrielle moved on, exiting the other side ofthe shallows and heading back towards where she’d left her partner. As shepassed a thick bunch of bushes, a soft rustle made her pause and listen.
The wind was blowing towards her, and she knew whatever itwas couldn’t get her scent, so she waited with gentle patience, breathingevenly until the bush parted and a squat, strange looking bird waddled out,pecking the ground with rapid, erratic head bobs.
Gabrielle had never seen a bird like it before, and shebriefly wished she had her staff to knock it over the head with.
If they had a pot.
Or something to make a fire with.
Or something to butcher the bird with.
With another sigh, Gabrielle started to walk off, jumping alittle when the bird reacted to her presence and let out a squawk, racingtowards her with a odd gobbling noise.
“Hey!” The bard scrambled away from it, clutching her basketto her chest. “Get out of here, you creepy thing!”
The bird pecked at her, spreading it’s stubby wings andflapping them angrily.
“Hey!” Gabrielle yelled louder. “Cut it out!” She booted thebird gently, shoving it back away from her, but that only made it more angryand it redoubled it’s efforts. “Xena!” The bard yelled in frustration, fallingback on her oldest standby. “Xena!”
“Yeah?” The warrior bolted from between two trees andskidded to a halt. “What the Hades is that?” She stared at the bird.
“If you don’t know, d’you really think I
Obligingly, Xena swooped down and caught the bird by theneck, yanking it up and away from her beleagured soulmate. She lifted it up,it’s wings flapping furiously and it’s legs raking the air searching for atarget. “Damn.” She held it carefully away from her body. “Could be dinner.”
Gabrielle edged closer. “Not unless you’ve got a firestarted.”
Xena glanced around. “I don’t, but if I let this thing gobet it’ll come after us again.” She exchanged looks with the bard. “And I don’thave boots on.”
It wasridiculous, really. The two of them, probably the best fighters for miles,being held hostage by a bird. “Tell you what.. how about you toss it in thebushes, and we run?” Gabrielle suggested. “By the time it gets it’s witstogether, we’ll be outta here.”
Xena started laughing, apparently appreciating the humor ofit all. “Okay.” She said. “Ready? One.. two..”
Gabrielle turned and bolted, clutching her basket ofgoodies. She heard a crash behind her, and then the soft sounds of footfallscatching up to her and she turned her head as Xena caught up to her and gaveher a slap on the butt. “Punk.”
“Chicken.”
They raced back to the shelter, and Gabrielle pulled up insurprise. “Wow.”
Xena turned, shading her eyes to make sure they weren’tbeing pursued. “Found a few things to make it a bit more comfortable.”
That she had. Gabrielle crawled inside the shelter and satdown on the bark floor, which was dry and relatively soft. She set her basketdown and admired the additional woven branches that now gave the bushes asturdier set of walls. The wind rustled the outer leaves, but inside it waswarm, and after Xena crawled inside with her it got even warmer. “Nice.”
“Eh.” Xena pulled her legs up under her and flicked a bit ofmud off her ankle. “It’s dry. Not sure it’ll stay that way, but it’s betterthan it was. Whatcha got?”
Gabrielle pulled her basket over. “Blackberries, walnuts,pears, and mushrooms.” She announced.
“Pears?”
“Must have budded early.” The bard handed her one. “I saw aturtle.”
“Urm.” Xena had bitten into the pear and was chewing it.
“You’re not going to ask me why I didn’t catch it?”
“No.” The warrior swallowed. “You didn’t catch it becauseyou love turtles, Gabrielle.”
“Are you calling me predictable?”
Xena blew in her ear, and watched her partner’s face creaseinto a grin. “Know what?”
Gabrielle fingered a blackberry for a moment, then sheturned and looked at Xena. “What?”
The warrior leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.“I love you.” She said, pulling back a little to look Gabrielle in the eye.“And that was the damned wildest way of getting you alone I’ve ever come upwith.”
Gabrielle felt a pleasant surge of excitement and confusion.“You can say that again.” She answered, hesitantly. “Did you want to?”
“Get you alone?” Xena took a berry from the basket and bitinto it. “Yeah.”
The bard felt a blush warm her skin. “Good grief, Xe. You’dthink we were newlyweds.” She ran her fingers through her hair selfconsciously. “Instead of two muddy refugees under a bush.”
Xena leaned back against the rock she’d dragged over andshoved under the bush edge. She extended her long legs, her toes almostemerging into the gathering night. “C’mere.” She draped an arm over Gabrielleas the bard scooted over next to her, setting the basket on her thigh. “Look,we’re stuck here tonight, right?”
“Right.”
“Might as well make the best of it, right?”
Gabrielle let her head lean against Xena’s collarbone, asthe light slowly faded, leaving them in dusk. “Xe?” She smiled gently. “You arethe best of it.”
“Ahh.”
“So tomorrow we’ll hike on out of here, but I’m going toappreciate this night here, just to two of us, just because.”
“Attagirl.” Xena gave her a kiss on the top of her head.
“Even with the ugly attack chickens out there.”
Xena chuckled. “I’ll protect you.” She assured the bard.
“I know.” Gabrielle offered her a berry. “Xe?”
The warrior gently took hold of her chin and tipped it up,giving her another kiss on the lips this time. She ran the edge of her thumb over Gabrielle’s cheek,smoothing the soft down that covered it as a glint of silvery light reflectedoff her eyes. “Mm?”
And, suddenly, Gabrielle did appreciate the night, feelingthe sensual wash of emotion trickle over her as she watched Xena’s eyes go halflidded, and her lips ease into faint smile. She hadn’t asked to be washed downthe river, but here they were.
She wanted to live every second of this. “I love you too.”She set the basket down for later and half turned, reaching up to caress Xena’sface, feeling the skin tense as the smile under her fingertips grew wider.“C’mere.”
Willingly, the warrior shifted, one hand dropping lightly toGabrielle’s hip, her fingers curling around the top of her belt and slidingtowards the clasp of it.
The bard chuckled softly, as she brushed aside the tatteredshift. “Too easy.”
They kissed.
Thunder rumbled softly in the distance.
**
It rained most of the night. Gabrielle woke the next morningto the sound of more thunder outside, and the gentle counterpoint of Xena’sheartbeat to match it. She laywhere she was for a few minutes, remembering the day before and wondering whatwas going on back in Amphipolis.
Dori, of course, would be upset that they’d disappeared.Gabrielle knew that, but she knew too that Xena had left the toddler withEphiny, and she knew the regent would take good care of her.
It never failed. Their friends and family always meantnothing but the best, but every time they tried to help, it just all
On the other hand, though… it had been nice to spend thenight alone together, even if it had been under a bush in the rain.
Gabrielle shifted a little, nuzzling her partner’s neck andgiving her ribs a little tickle to wake her up. “Xeeeeeena.”
Half opened blue eyes peeked down at her. “Yeeeesss?”
“We need to get hiking.” The bard said.
“Uh huh.” Xena tilted her head to look outside. “Not likewe’ve gotta break camp.”
No, that was true enough. Gabrielle agreed silently. No fireto bank, no packing of their gear… all they had to do was get up and startwalking. “Okay, how about we goget washed up in that wonderful pond we fell into, grab some more pears, and gothe heck home.”
For an answer, Xena stretched, arching her back and gentlypushing Gabrielle upright. She bumped the bard out from under the shelter, thenfollowed her as they emerged into the gray morning light.
Xena took a moment to shake herself into wakefulness,breathing in a deep lungful of the damp, cool air. Despite the cramped shelter,she’d had a good night sleep. “Ahh.” Crouching slightly, she leaped up andcaught a branch, allowing her back to stretch out and pop into place.
Gabrielle looked over her shoulder, pausing to watch herwith an indulgent smile. ‘What are we going to do for boots for you?”
Xena released the branch and landed, flexing her bare toes.“Good question.” She strolled towards Gabrielle and they walked through the treesheading for the pond. Once they got there, they realized at once that the poolhad gotten deeper and larger, the overflow from the falls now pushing throughthe valley.
For now, it was being channeled in what appeared to be anold stream bed, and Xena wondered if the intermittent fall hadn’t occurredsometime in the past.
She knelt at the edge of it and plunged her hands into it,bringing them up to her lips as she tasted the liquid with her customarycaution. It had an earthy flavor, but given the stirred up ground it hadtraveled over that wasn’t unexpected. “Not bad.”
Gabrielle dropped to her knees and leaned over, drinkingfrom Xena’s hands as she went cheek to cheek with her partner. “Mm.” She lickedher lips. “It always tastes better when you hold it. Why is that?”
Xena patted her cheek with a wet hand. “It’s yourimagination.” She scooped upanother double handful and scrubbed her face with it, the chill water tinglingon her skin. She watched throughdripping bangs as Gabrielle did the same, making bubbling noises under herbreath.
“Buuuh.” The bard ran her wet hands through her hair,arranging the thick, pale locks somewhat. They were longer and shaggier thanthey had been in a while and that leant a touch of wildness to her appearance.
Xena liked it. “Hey.” She bumped shoulders with her. “Let’sfollow the water and see where it goes. Maybe we’ll find an easy way out ofhere.”
Gabrielle looked at the pond. “You think it goes somewhere?”
The warrior stood up and walked along the edge of the burblingrunoff. “See?” She pointed at the rocks. “It’s come this way before.”
The bard got up and followed her, looking curiously aroundher shoulder. “Oh. Really?”
“Really.” Xena continued on, picking her path cautiously tospare her feet. The ground was very damp, and somewhat muddy, so the goingwasn’t that uncomfortable but she knew if they hit a rocky spot she wasn’tgoing to be enjoying it much.
Gabrielle tapped her arm, and Xena looked around, finding ahandful of walnuts being offered to her. She took them with a grateful smile.“Thanks.” She turned back around, then stopped. “Hey, look!”
“What?’ Gabrielle peered past her. “Oh, that’s my turtle!”
Xena cracked a nut in one hand, and popped a nutmeat intoher mouth. “Lucky the turtle.” She eased past a boulder and let her eyes sweepthe ground as the trees slowly gathered from clumps into
The warrior’s ears were cocked, listening to everythingaround her. She could hear the soft scuff of Gabrielle’s boots as the bardfollowed, and the sound of her chewing walnuts as well as the rattle and clinkof the shells she had in her hand.
In the beginning, she’d been so frustrated with how noisyshe thought Gabrielle was. When the girl first joined up with her, Xena hadfelt like she was surrounded by an infernal racket night and day and no matterwhat she said to Gabrielle, it just never penetrated.
Then she got to a place in her life that those sounds becamesomething she not only accepted, but she needed. Campfires without it becamethe loneliest place she’d ever been in.
“Hey, Xena?”
Xena smiled, her eyes catching the tail end of a snakeslithering off. “Yeees?”
“How come we never knew this valley was here?”
An elderberry bush presented itself, and the warrior pausedto raid it, sharing her booty with an instantly attentive bard. “Damn goodquestion.” She answered, as they started off again. “I guess.. at least for me,I never really got..” She stopped speaking, gazing ahead of her thoughtfully.
Gabrielle put a hand on her back.
“I stopped exploring around here when other thingsinterfered.” Xena finally completed her thought. “I knew that ravine was there,but never thought there was much to see down at the bottom.”
“Yeah, good point.” Gabrielle agreed. “Hey, we can’t knoweverything, right?”
A soft patter of hooves caught Xena’s ear. She crouched andpeered through the trees, spotting a small deer darting away. “Lot of animalsdown here.” She murmured.
Gabrielle watched a squirrel run up a tree nearby. “Sureare.”
They walked on a bit further. The wind, which had been attheir backs, now swung around and gusted into their faces, as a rumble ofthunder again was heard.
Xena’s nose twitched, as the moist air brought scents bothfamiliar and not to her. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Blood.”
The bard took a deep breath, but could
Xena shrugged modestly. “Something must have made a kill.”She said, sniffing again. Along with the copper tang of blood, she also caughta soft hint of musk, a strange animal scent she wasn’t familiar with.
It wasn’t wolves. She was intimately familiar with thatsmell by now. They didn’t have any really large predators near Amphipolis.. nobears or wild dogs, but she knew there were hunting cats up in the hills –there was a panther skin up at the inn that attested to that.
But this didn’t smell like a panther.
“Hang on, hon.” Gabrielle veered off and sloshed into thewater, her powerful legs driving against the current easily. “Spotted somethingI think I can use.” She pulled a clump of leaves aside, and tugged onsomething, yanking backwards until the long stick she’d caught sight of cameloose. “Ah.” She held up the stick, and sloshed back over to where Xena wasstanding.
“Hm.” Xena examined the find. It was soaking wet, but it wasa decent height, and as she flexed it between her hands, a decent hardness.“Good job.” She tossed it back to her partner, who caught it easily. “Find me asword next.”
Gabrielle chuckled. “You want to keep this?” She asked.
“Nah.” The warrior turned and started walking again. “You’rethe expert with it.”
Gabrielle found a good handhold on her new staff, andfollowed, accepting that for the honest truth it was now. When they sparred together, on any given day she could win the bouts,and what made her proudest of all about that was how matter of factly Xenaaccepted it.
“Wonder what Dori’s up to?” She said, as they came to aslightly more open area, where the ground sloped up from the water a little.
“Driving Ephiny crazy, I’m sure.” Xena replied absently,still trying to sort out the strange scent that the wind was bringing to her. Agust brought her another, stronger smell and she reacted quickly, grabbingGabrielle and pulling her behind the nearest tree.
“Hey.. wh..”
A deer thundered past them, eyes wild, hooves scatteringleaves and pinecones right and left as it skirted the water and then plungedinto it, snorting with fear.
Xena curled her hand around the piece of rock she’d pickedup the night before and waited, straining her ears. “Something was chasing it.”
Gabrielle nodded.
They stayed still, but after a few minutes the deer’sfootsteps faded off into the forest on the far side of the water, and peacedescended on them again. Xenalistened hard, and cocked her head, closing her eyes to allow her other sensesto sharpen.
Birds started singing again, and the warrior straightenedup, giving a half shake of her head. “Nothing’s around close.”
Gabrielle peered around the tree. “Maybe something justspooked it?” She suggested. “The smell of blood?”
“Could be.” Xena lead her around the tree and they startedoff again. “But one thing I’ve noticed is that the animals around here arescared of us.”
“Of us?” Gabrielle paced alongside her. “You and me? Why? Wehaven’t done anything to any of them yet.”
“Exactly.” Xena mused. “That means something like us ishunting them.” She nibbled some elderberries off the branch she’d stripped fromthe bush. “Must be people here.”
Reasonable, Gabrielle nodded in agreement. “Good. Let’s findthem. Maybe they know a shortcut out.” She caught up and bit an elderberry offthe warrior’s bunch, enjoying the sweet tart taste. “I wonder how long they’ve been down here.. maybe they’vegot some interesting stories about it. You know I hear the coolest things fromthe places that tend to be remote, right?”
“Yeah.” Xena’snose wrinkled. The strange scent was getting a little stronger. “Maybe theyhaven’t learned to tan skins or something.”
“What?”
Xena started looking another jagged rock, a worried creasedimpling her forehead.
**
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