Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the characters or places associated with the Xena world.

The story starts out in season one. I've used a lot of original storylines from Xena (with minor editing), so a lot of this will be familiar.Also, it is extremely hard for me to write Xena's character like this so she might be a bit off.

I'm always trying to improve my writing so I'd love any feedback you could give :)

Chapter One - Xena

"They're late."

Deimos looked next to him at the dark haired beauty. The warm noon-time sun was reflecting off her armour of black leather and a golden bronze breastplate with matching bands on her arms.

She continued to stare intently at the plane with sapphire eyes, ignoring her comrade's watch. His gaze shifted to the sword resting on her back, then the circular weapon on her hip. The chakram.

"They're moving slaves, Xena, it's not always easiest task." her fists tightened by her sides. "And Talus doesn't have much of a... iron fist." He ran a hand through short auburn hair.

Xena scowled. Talus wasn't one of her best, he was extremely expendable. She was giving him a chance to prove he could handle things, and she was regretting it.

Deimos was still watching her. "Want me to send someone out?" slowly she drew her eyes to him.

"No."

Xena turned her back to him and descended down the steep stone stairs to her right. The bottom opened out into a large base, protected by four large wall, trapping in the smell of sweat and blood, on that unusually hot day it was a very strong odor.

There was an area for practice sparring, complete with real weapons. Deimos had once tried to convince Xena to switch to wooden ones, knowing how into a battle her men got, it seemed best to avoid an unnecessary serious injury. At the back was a building where there were bunks for the soldiers, Xena's room, and Deimos's room (being Xena's second in command came with the benefit of not having to share bunks with the other men), a 'mess hall', and a cell for prisoners (more commonly hostages).

There was a medical wing by the wall to the far right. And to the far left was stables for the horses and a storage area for weapons and armor.

Deimos quickly followed after her as she watched men practicing. "Did we receive word from the centaurs?" she asked her back to Deimos.

"No, not yet."

Xena took in a heavy breath, looking at the sky then back at the men on the sparring sands. "When did we send them word?"

Deimos slowly answered back. "Ah... ten days ago, I believe."

It was moments like those he wished he could read her face. She was obviously annoyed a reply hadn't been sent, after all the centaurs were only a two day walk away, and that time could be cut short on horseback. But there were more layers of emotion hidden underneath that he couldn't figure out, and maybe it was best he didn't. Xena was temper mental; she'd not be pleased that Deimos was trying to 'understand' her.

She whipped around and walked off to her room.

Xena slammed open and closed the door to her room. There was a small neglected area for sitting, up a step was her bed, and behind a flimsy curtain was her bath. A smell of incense floated about the room, giving it a peaceful feel she didn't want.

Stiffly Xena sat down in a red velvet chair. Across from her was a window that gave her a clear view of the land she expected to see her men travelling on any minute. She stared for a long five minutes, and still saw no warriors with slaves terrified of their fate.

Xena got to her feet and unsheathed her sword, skillfully swinging it around her body.

For a woman who wasn't an Amazon, Xena was incredibly skilled with weapons and warfare. She'd been through so much war in her life, fought so many battles, suffered so much pain, it seemed even she was immune to redemption.

It had been easy to be a good person, a 'hero', but when she had decided to head the path on her own it all fell apart. Without Hercules to keep her grounded with her goals she easily slipped back into the darkness, a place of evil. A closed fist and bloody sword. It wasn't as hard for her to gather new warriors as it should have been, people were familiar with her deeds, they could easily overlook that she'd tried to change sides (some people didn't even believe it, which is the way she wanted it), and just like that she was the old Xena.

She mainly used others as pawns in her endless game of chess. But whenever Xena did something cruel there was that little ping of regret, a feeling leftover from her long conversations with Hercules. It was something Xena was still trying to extinguish.

Someone rapping on the door interrupted Xena's thoughts, she put her sword back in it's spot and pulled it open. "What?" she snapped, Deimos stood in the doorway.

"They're here."

Xena quickly pushed him aside and flew down the stairs and to the warm outside where the gates were opened and two cartfuls of people were being pulled in.