RATING: PG (there's a few fights)
SPOILERS: Um, 5th Season in general
TIME: Somewhere in 5th Season, obviously
SUMMARY: When baby Eve is kidnapped, Xena, Gabby, and Joxer have to get her back.
FEEDBACK: I'd love it!
NOTE: All these wonderful characters (Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Eve, and even Artemis) belong to MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. However, the story itself belongs to me, so don't take it.
They ran silently through the brush, being masters of stealth and speed. There was no moon that night; darkness was their best friend, enabling them to travel unseen across the Greek countryside. Their objective was simple, yet fear still rose in their hearts. The Warrior Princess was a tough adversary, but if things went as planned, she wouldn't even have an opportunity to draw her sword.
The elite group of four surrounded the campsite and peered in through the enclosing foliage, spotting the object they sought. Xena, with what seemed to be extra sensory perception, heard something just beyond the light of the fire. She glanced around quickly, before poking the person laying asleep next to her. "Gabrielle...." The bard barely had time to open her eyes, when a baby was jammed into her arms. "Take Eve. There's something out there," Xena warned, while rising from her bedroll.
Gabrielle stood, too, which woke up Joxer. He asked, "What's going on?
Neither of the women answered; they were too busy searching for whatever Xena heard. Crouching in the shadows, a man lifted a small, sturdy branch from off the ground and held it horizontally. He crept behind Gabrielle and with a sudden burst of energy forced the stick to her ankles, making her fall backwards and flinging Eve into the air. He caught the child, and then with as much swiftness and covertness as before, he and the other three men ran from the campsite, riding away on previously hidden horses.
Xena pivoted to Gabrielle and helped her back on her feet. "Where's Eve?"
Gabrielle, still in shock, turned her head towards Xena. "They took her."
In a temple, decorated with the heads of captured and killed animals, a woman stood atop a flight of stairs. Four men burst into the building carrying Eve and knelt before the woman, faces to the floor. She asked, "This is the child?"
The warriors' eyes never left the floor to meet hers, and their voices were filled with reverence. "Yes, our Queen."
The red-haired woman, dressed in the finest leather and helmet with a V-shaped metal figure extending over her forehead, took Eve and slowly stepped to the altar, placing her onto the cold stone structure. The woman's voice boomed through the temple and she drew the attention of all who were there. "I, Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, will do what no other has been able: stop the Twilight of the Gods." She unsheathed a knife from her belt and raised it high over her head, while rage and fury rose up inside her. "With this child's death, the Olympians shall reign forever!"
Artemis took hold of Eve's neck with one hand and swooped her knife down upon it in one smooth outward motion, seeming to pierce the infant's skin, but the blade passed worthlessly through her neck, not drawing a single speck of blood. The goddess was amazed, even more so, when young Eve started to laugh. "What?" she muttered, completely awe-stricken by the surprising turn of events. She was still trying to comprehend the situation, when she handed the dagger to the nearest warrior. "You... you try."
He stepped up to the altar and attempted to slit Eve's throat like Artemis, but with the same result. His eyes bulged larger than previously thought possible, and he started to back away from the altar. "She seems to be..... immune from physical harm."
Artemis scoffed his idea at first. "Impossible....... unless there is a higher power, protecting her from death." She looked down at Eve, watching the now highly-suspicious baby with full attention. "If that is so, there is still a way we can stop the Twilight, without harming a single hair on her head." The goddess grinned evilly, while an insidious plan formed in her head.
Before she was able to indulge any more on her wicked plot, one of her followers stepped into the temple. "Goddess, your spies have spotted Xena about a day's ride from here."
"All right. Archers, mount your horses and do anything to slow Xena and her friends. The rest of you, come with
me. There is work to be done."
"I'll take Argo and follow their trail. You two need to just follow me to whoever took Eve. When I meet them, I'll appreciate whatever support I can get." Xena mounted Argo and tried to stabilize mentally. Having Eve being stolen out of her life had damaged her considerably, and the god who took her child was going to have quite a cost to pay.
"Xena," Gabrielle called before the warrior departed. "If I had only been more aware last night, Eve would still be with us right now."
"But we're going to get her back."
"Be careful, Xena."
"Yeah," Joxer chimed in, felling sort of left out of the entire conversation.
"You too, the both of you." Xena turned Argo around and yelled for her to gallop. Argo knew exactly what to do, even before the vocal command and took off like there was no tomorrow.
Gabrielle sighed, looking after Xena, until she was hidden from sight. She turned to Joxer, who was attentively
staring at her. "Well, you heard her, let's go."
Artemis stood in the hot midday sun, gazing into the cave before her. There wasn't anything different about the appearance of the cave, except the opening was pitch black and seemed that it would swallow and destroy anything that passed the boundary of sunlight and complete darkness. The cave seemed to be a portal to Tartarus itself, to the place of eternal human suffering. "The Helion Catacombs...." Whether she was just talking to herself or to the warriors that surrounded her was uncertain. "A deep, mysterious labyrinth, full of dangerous traps and guarded by The Keeper. But most importantly, these catacombs are said to contain the Ruby of Helion, the one thing other than The Fates themselves that can change one's destiny."
If the warriors weren't listening to her ramblings before, they definitely were then. "Eve shall hold this ruby close to her heart, and with that, the Twilight of the Gods won't even have a chance to become a reality."
She began to laugh cruelly, while walking into the cave, and her men followed, who were starting to become
concerned for their own safety.
Gabrielle and Joxer walked through a patch of forest, following the trail of Argo's firmly embedded hoof prints in the dirt. They had been traveling practically nonstop so far that day, stopping only for a quick snack.... what they would do to have horses to ride! Joxer, after their last conversation ended a few minutes earlier, tried starting up another one. "Who would've kidnapped Xena's baby?"
"Some Olympian, trying to end the Twilight," was her vague answer. She didn't really feel like talking at that moment. Eve was taken because of her, and she had a hard time accepting that.
He ignored her apparent will of silence and asked, "Could it be Athena?"
"No, it's not her style."
"How 'bout Ares?"
"No....."
"Then who took her?"
"Whoever did, they're going to wish they hadn't." Gabrielle stopped walking abruptly, because she heard the sound of horses rapidly approaching. "Horses!"
"What? How could horses steal Eve"? He quickly realized what she was actually talking about, when two mounted crossbow-men emerged from the trees, followed by three more mounted warriors. The war party screamed mangled cries, readying their weapons for combat. Gabrielle pulled her sais from her boots and was confidently prepared for almost whatever these guys could hurl at them. Joxer drew his sword, also, but everyone, including himself, knew that he couldn't do much damage with it. Gabrielle's eyes eventually set onto one of the crossbow-men, who was aiming his deadly weapon straight at Joxer!
She ran to her friend and tackled him to the ground, while the man fired the crossbow, and she took the arrow meant for Joxer in her right calf. While she rose onto her knees, he whispered her name concertedly, but nothing would delay her from her current task of decommissioning the band of warriors. Gabrielle threw one sai into her shooter's chest, and Joxer saw the other man with a crossbow aiming at her, so he quickly pulled him off his horse as best he could. Once the warrior was on the ground, Joxer kicked him in the stomach and bashed his head with his fist, making him unconscious temporarily.
Gabrielle broke off part of the arrow sticking out of her leg and grabbed a sword from the ground, as a mounted warrior galloped toward her. She deflected his sword thrust and then whacked him in the stomach with her sai handle, sending him sprawling off the horse. She climbed onto the animal and kicked the man when he rose onto his feet, before galloping to another warrior. The stunned guy was overtaken by the blonde, launched off his horse, and before he knew it, being given a solid punch in the face, but he kicked her away. They both stood, and after he drew his weapon, there was heated swordplay, mastered by instinct alone. One firm hit did him in, however, and she took hold of his arm and flipped him onto his back.
Gabrielle started to catch her breath, when Joxer worriedly yelled, "Look out!" and behind her a warrior was speedily drawing near on his steed, murder in his eyes, but Joxer was ready for once. The warrior-wannabe held his sword awkwardly in front of himself, and the rider ran right into it, bursting off his saddle into a heap on the ground. All of the horses and still-conscious warriors ran away, and Joxer laughed victoriously, before remembering Gabby's wound. "Oh, Gabrielle!" He ran over to the kneeling bard and stooped in front of her. "Are you okay?"
She winced in pain and spoke through clenched teeth, "I'm fine. You're acting like I've never been shot before."
Those last few words sparked something in Joxer's memory, and his eyes bulged with terror. "The arrow wasn't poisoned, was it?"
"Not that I can tell." Gabrielle closed her eyes and pulled out the arrow with a shriek. One of Joxer's hands automatically came onto her back, hoping to comfort her in whatever way he could. "I'm fine, Joxer," she repeated.
He looked at her for a few moments, just to make sure everything was truly alright, when he finally noticed what she was getting at: his hand was still on her back. He lifted it off very quickly, looking more than a little embarrassed and eventually stuttered, "Sorry."
Gabrielle continued on. "Xena taught me how to deal with arrow wounds, but we'll have to gather some plants
and roots first." She started to rise from her seated position slowly and painfully, getting all of the support she
needed from Joxer's shoulder, and they both headed into the woods in search of the healing plants.
Artemis and her men entered the cave and soon came across a man wearing the shiniest plate armor and a blood red cape. A helmet with a skull emblem concealed his entire face, and a shield rested at his feet. Immediately when he saw them, he drew his sword, before speaking. "I am The Keeper." His powerful voice boomed and echoed through the large passageways. "Who dare trespass into the Helion Catacombs?"
Not in the mood to talk, Artemis pointed her finger at him and released a deadly burst of energy towards him. The Keeper reacted quickly, grabbing his shield and deflecting the bolt to hit one of the goddess' own warriors.
Artemis watched in disgust as the scorched body collapsed and remained smoldering on the floor. "You are the tricky one," she said, now looking at The Keeper. "I guess I'll have to get rid of you the old fashioned way." Artemis ripped her sword out of her back scabbard and brought it onto his ready blade. She swung her sword from the right, trying to get him on the side, but he blocked it, barely. The goddess searched for his weakness, and seeing that he was covered in armor from head to toe complicated things, but that very armor seriously impeded his speed and agility, and that gave her something to work with.
He thrust his weapon at her, missing by a long shot, and at that precise moment, Artemis kicked a foot underneath
him and sent him onto his back. His armor was too heavy for him to get up, and despite his yelling and threats,
Artemis laughed over his defeat. "That was far too easy. I really was expecting more from 'The Keeper'." She
turned to her men and flicked her wrist nonchalantly, while beginning the walk down the long corridor into the
cave. "Kill him."
Sitting on the ground, Gabrielle wound a cloth around her injured leg and tied it securely, hoping to stop any bleeding. "I just had to get shot," she mumbled under her breath.
She was beginning to wonder where Joxer was, since he had been gone for quite some time, supposedly getting extra healing plants for the road (which she honestly didn't need).
"Gabby," Joxer announced himself entering the clearing, although she heard his creaking armor long before he said anything. He stood a few foot in front of her and held something behind his back. "I thought this might make walking a little easier for ya." He held out a stick, roughly the same diameter and size as the staff she never parted with all those years ago. He plopped down beside her and handed her it to examine. "Of course this'll only help, 'till we run into a town and get some horses to ride."
But Gabrielle hadn't heard a thing of what he just said. She was amazed at how smooth and strong the staff was-- and how long Joxer must have searched for it in the woods. This wasn't a stick that you would just happen to come across while walking through the forest; you would actually have to be looking very hard for it and probably smooth it out yourself once you found it.
She turned it over several times in her hands, getting the feel of her new walking stick, before talking to him again. "Thank you, Joxer."
Such a short phrase, but to Joxer it meant everything in the world. He did something right for once. He looked sheepishly to the ground, surprised at the positive attention she was giving him, when he felt Gabrielle give him a light kiss on the cheek.
"It's really sweet," she said, smiling.
Joxer didn't say anything. How could he? The woman he loved complimented him by saying what he did was sweet, and all he did was give her something practical. He didn't get why she was so impressed, but hey, he definitely wasn't complaining.
Gabrielle wasn't sure if kissing him was the right thing to do. After all, he would probably take it the wrong way and become overly cocky like he always did when she did something nice to him. But somehow, kissing him just seemed like the right thing to do, and he had earned it, anyway, by getting the staff.
"We better get going," Gabrielle said, attempting to stand. "We're already way behind Xena."
"Yeah, let's go." Joxer, along with Gabby's new trusty staff, helped her to her feet, and they continued on their
merry way, Gabrielle wondering why Joxer suddenly seemed so nice, and Joxer thanking his lucky stars, since
things were finally starting to shift a little to his favor with Gabby.
Artemis led her followers through the endless passageways, guided only by the flames of their torches. Her first- in-command asked, "Should we split up, to better search for the ruby?"
Artemis answered, already annoyed that they hadn't found their prize yet. "No, we'll come across it soon enough, and besides--"
Her official unknowingly stepped on a small device on the floor, which sent half a dozen spikes, each large and long enough to inflict serious damage, flying out of the wall. In a split second, he was impaled on the opposite wall, dead.
"Oh, I almost forgot, "Artemis said, as she turned toward her obviously shaken men. "Watch out for booby traps. Some one could get hurt."
That last encouraging concept made one of her supposed warriors run out towards the cave's entrance. Lucky for him, he didn't cause any traps to spring into action while being in his state of panic, and he dashed all the way back to Artemis' temple. Once inside, he fell onto his knees and tried to catch his breath, almost weeping about what he thought was his close encounter with death.
Just as he was doing so, Xena and Argo finished following the trail of Eve's kidnappers and spotted the temple, which she immediately recognized to be Artemis'. Xena dismounted and stormed up the temple steps, before blasting the doors open with a powerful kick.
The goddess' inexperienced warrior froze, aware that Xena was there, but so overcome by fear, that he could only watch her loom nearer. Xena angrily put the pinch on him, not caring who he was, just as long as he had information. "Where is she? Where is Artemis?" she bellowed.
With the blood flow to his brain stopped, he struggled to give a short response. "In the caves."
"Which caves?" Xena shouted even louder than before.
"The Helion Catacombs."
"Home of the Helion Ruby......" Xena took the pinch off the warrior and dashed to Argo outside, no longer
worrying just for the fate of her child, but the fate of the entire world, for who knew what might happen, if
dangerous gods like Artemis were to keep their Olympian thrones.
Gabrielle and Joxer walked tediously on the road, but their pace quickened, when they saw a quaint little village just ahead. They spotted a horse seller, walked over to the man, and Gabby told him, "We need two horses -- fast."
"How many dinars do you have?" the peddler asked in a thick accent, brushing the mane of an especially beautiful stallion.
"100," Joxer answered, as he untied his sack of money from his belt.
"100? That won't do..... that won't do at all. The minimum price for two horses is at least 250 dinars."
Gabrielle was becoming frustrated and was clearly showing it. "If you can't make a reasonable offer, we'll just go elsewhere."
She turned to leave, but the peddler grabbed her arm. "I'm afraid that's not possible. I'm the only person that sells horses in this town, you can ask anybody. So if you want a horse, you'll have to get it from me." He laughed a little, realizing he had them right where he wanted them.
Joxer spoke up again. "Can we get one horse for 100 dinars?"
"It's all we have," Gabrielle added, trying to persuade the man peacefully, but if he refused this offer, he was going to have a sai pointed at his throat.
"Well...." the peddler said, contemplating the situation, "all right. Just know that you're robbing me of my hard- earned finances."
Joxer handed over the dinars, and the businessman unhitched a chocolate-brown mare, ideal for speed, from a post, and then wandered off to go squander his money. After being given the reigns, Gabrielle said, "Are you getting on her or what, Joxer?"
"Well, actually," he paused, "since you can ride a horse a lot better than I can, even with her leg and all, you should probably get up there first, don't ya think?"
She stood there, almost dazed. Modesty? From Joxer? Did he hit his head or something in the fight? "Yeah, I guess so," was all she could say.
Joxer crouched on the ground, while Gabby painfully used his back like a stepping stool and her staff as extra support to get onto the horse. Joxer struggled to mount the horse, and after several attempts, he came to a shocking conclusion: he couldn't do it. Gabrielle offered a helping hand, and he gladly took it, able to get on. With Gabrielle in the front, he gingerly placed his hands on her waist to keep from tottering off.
"Joxer," she said, "if you don't hold on, you're going to fall." She looked behind at Joxer. "It's okay - really."
With that, Joxer put his arms snugly around her stomach and held on tightly. Gabrielle placed her hand on his,
and with the other hand held the reigns and ordered the mare to start.
Xena left Argo outside and ran into the Helion Catacombs, wondering how something so powerful could be found in such an ordinary-looking cave. She soon discovered that the cave was anything but ordinary, since it had hundreds of twisting passageways and a stone floor, so no one could be followed into it.
When she came to the first crossroads, being able to see thanks to a small torch she brought along, she didn't have a clue which way Artemis went, until hearing something echo through the darkness up ahead. Xena soon recognized it to be little Eve crying and whispered, "Good girl," as she sprinted toward the sound.
She rounded several corners, and just when she thought she must be going the wrong direction, Xena spotted a dozen torches down a long stretch, and in the light provided she saw Artemis stepping up to a treasure chest, which undoubtedly held the Ruby.
Xena shot silently towards the group and, once she got close, flipped into the air with her famous war cry and landed right behind the goddess. Artemis turned around to face her, and Xena side-swiped her face powerfully with a closed fist. The goddess yelled, "Get her!" to her men, and while Xena was being swarmed by the warriors, Artemis, with both Eve and the Ruby, ran down the passage.
The men practically tackled Xena, but she threw them off, drew her sword, and sliced through five of their
stomachs with one swing. She flipped up and over them, and raced in hot pursuit of the goddess.
Gabrielle and Joxer rode their cantering horse to the temple and noticed on the ground the prints of Eve's kidnappers were joined not only by Argo's tracks, but also by the tracks of what appeared to be a small army. They soon reached the Catacombs and hid their horse, along with Argo, in some bushes nearby, just in case something happened. Without torches, they stumbled blindly into the black void, unsure of what dangers lay before them.
"Do ya hear that?" Joxer said, hearing something grow louder and louder with each passing moment.
Suddenly, Artemis came running full speed -- right into Joxer. They were both sent onto their backs by the collision, but she didn't drop either Eve or the Ruby. Xena, followed by six men, dashed towards them, and yelled, "GET HER!!!"
Gabrielle made an attempt to grab the Ruby, but Artemis threw her aside into the wall. She started running towards the entrance of the cave, but Xena drew her whip, sent it to Artemis' ankles, and tripped her easily, sending Eve flying out of her hands. Somehow one of the goddess' men was there to catch the baby, and Artemis ordered, "Get out of here with the child!"
Gabrielle flipped a warrior over her shoulder and kicked another in the chest, and after seeing the man running off with Eve, said to Joxer, " I can't run, so you need to get Eve." He started to protest, but decided it was best not to mess with her during a fight, so he went as fast as possible after the warrior.
Both Xena and Artemis unsheathed their swords, staring each other down with their cold death glares. Xena made the first move, crashing her sword upon Artemis', and after that, a heated melee combat erupted, each anticipating the other's moves, blocking their blows, and neither letting up, but Artemis eventually got the upper hand and was able to kick Xena bluntly, and she fell to the ground. She immediately kicked a leg underneath the goddess, but Artemis easily jumped over it, and with gravity pulling her back down again, Xena sent an upward punch into Artemis' chin. She sprang backwards into the wall, and the jewel flew out of her hand. Xena caught it, and somehow pinned Artemis against the wall, bringing the Ruby up to her opponent's heart, which would bring about the Helion Ruby's horrendous effects. Xena struggled to keep Artemis from fighting loose, using every bit of strength she had, and from some miracle, mortal was able to subdue goddess.
From the ruby came strange green swirls of light and a low whine, and Xena instinctively backed off. The dull whine soon turned into a deafening roar, and joined by Artemis' scream, the green light enveloped her entire body, making her vanish from the earth's surface.
"That changed her destiny, alright," Xena remarked.
Joxer came into the cave with Eve in his arms, and he gave her to the battle-worn Xena. Gabby asked him, "The warrior had such a big lead on you.... how'd you get her back?"
He explained slowly, "I got on our horse we hid in the bushes and rode after the guy. And did you know that there's an olive tree along the road that has the best olives....."
He talked on about the mystical fruit, while Gabby just smiled and put her arm around his shoulders for support and hobbled over to her staff, which fell on the floor during the fight.
Xena was finally able to take a breather, when she noticed Gabrielle's hurt leg. "What happened?" she wondered aloud, concerned for her friend's well-being.
With her arm still on Joxer's shoulder, Gabrielle answered, "I was just being a hero and saved Joxer's butt again."
"Hey!" he objected jokingly.
"Seems like you two have quite the story to tell," Xena said, cradling Eve in her arms like the precious gift she was. "But I'm just glad we all survived."
"Xena," Gabrielle said, with a sense of urgency, "what are we going to do with the Ruby?"
Xena picked up the jewel and threw it deep into the catacombs, hoping that it would never fall into human - or for that matter - immortal hands again. "With that crisis averted, I think it's time to get outa here."
With Gabby's and Joxer's more than enthusiastic agreements, the group of friends walked out of the cavern
together, enjoying each other's company and knowing that their's was a friendship that could never be broken.
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