I remember that day well, that day when I first met her… I had woken up poorly, but it was a start at least, and was on the move immediately after I had gotten some food in my stomach. I traveled with Argo at a fair pace, but we still passed by alone for most of the day. I remember that day being cool and without much of a breeze and trying to use that as an excuse to smile, but… I wasn't in much of a smiling mood.
We went on for hours, passing rivers, foot hills and forests in a quietness I didn't pay much attention to, and then eventually, finally, I allowed my mind to wander, tuning out some of the world around me. I didn't know how to feel about where I was headed, about going home back to Amphipolis. There was a part of me that felt nothing, just a cold blankness of indifference even at the mere thought, but then there was another part of me that felt a warmth, a happiness to go home. I had been gone for so long that I missed things about it… I missed Mother. I missed my family, my brothers, my friends, the townspeople and the culture of the place… I hated to say it but I missed it all…
Argo's footing change brought me out of my trance and I was suddenly back in reality. I slower her down, looking around us and began to recognize where I was. Memories, images… sounds flooded mind. I looked at a blackened home and suddenly it was on fire, burning to the ground. There were people running, screaming, and there was smoke everywhere. The night was lit by flames as the village was consumed. In the distance, beyond wood crackling, I began to hear my name. I heard it being chanted; weak at first, but it grew strength until it was almost a war cry. I saw myself standing in the middle of all of the chaos… I was smiling, my eyes ablaze. But the memory faded and was gone when I heard movement very near to me. I turned to face the sound and saw a boy moving towards me out of a home touched by disaster, by me. He was a simple boy, and a little dirty, and he looked up at me with an expression I couldn't read.
"Do you have any food to spare me? He asked me. I adjusted myself in the saddle, looking down at him.
"Food is scarce everywhere, no one has anything to spare." I watched him for a moment. "Where are your parents?" The boy looked down.
"The other side," he said. "They were killed by Xena, the Warrior Princess. She came down from the sky in a chariot, throwing thunderbolts and breathing fire." I studied that boy for a while then, his words hitting me very hard. I hated more than anything to hear them, just as I hated the fact that they were true. I rode off in a silence.
I don't recall how long it took but eventually I found the road to Amphipolis again. It snaked into a wooded area, which was perfect, and I took the opportunity once around a corner to dismount Argo. I sent her off. On my knees on the ground I reached up and unlatched my shoulder guards from by back and breast plates. I was going to bury the armor, all of it, including my sword and my chakram. I never wanted to see it again, especially after going through that village and seeing that boy. I untied the cross strings at the back of my corseted dress and let it drop to the ground. I pushed it into the dirt, my copper armor, my armbands and wrist cuffs going in after. It felt good to bury it, for it represented a part of me I was beyond ready to leave behind. But just as I saw the last glint of copper disappear beneath the soil, I heard a commotion from around the corner and was up on my feet. I withdrew into a bush, keeping an eye on things while keeping out of sight.
Women cried out as they were herded past me like sheep by men who weren't worthy of the air they sucked inside their pathetic lungs. I could identify right off which man was the leader. He spoke first.
"Alright, we can do this the easy way or the hard way; you can either give us the girls now, or we can hack you into tiny little pieces and take the girls anyway!" The man laughed, his band equally amused, apparently. I tried to remain quiet in the bush, not wanting to get involved. I couldn't say I wasn't irritated by the whole thing, though. I was already having a shit day and this bastard's attitude only made it worse. I watched carefully, thinking, when suddenly there was movement.
"Gabrielle!" A small blonde woman pushed past what I assumed to be her friends, stepping forward with a straight back and a brave face. When she spoke, her voice was strong.
"No, take me instead and let the others go," she said. Immediately, though I'll never admit it, I was mystified. I had never seen such bravery in a person like this one, this Gabrielle. In my men, sure, and in those I had fought against… maybe. But never from someone like her. I could sense her fear but I looked deep into her eyes, blue like mine, and there was a strength that I could not ignore. It called to me, she called to me, for one reason or another, and I felt my body begin to take some control of itself. I was going to have to act, to do something to put a stop to this madness at least before I went back home... I didn't know it then, but those next few moments would be the ones that would change my life… Forever.
This was written from memory and not meant to be spot on from the first episode, so anything that is not completely accurate can be taken as artistic license. Thanks for reading!