Disclaimer: The characters of Xena and Gabrielle belong to Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringements intended.
Disclaimer: Some subtext, some drastic violence.
I am asking for reviews - good, bad, however - this is a multichapter piece and I am still not able to see where this is leading me to.
Well, looks like I have not been able to wrap this up in two chapters - as originally planned. The villain has become more dark with the way this piece was going - some people appeared and disappeared - I have'nt even thought of while writing the first chapter.
I hope you stay with me through this - Enjoy.
The First Time - a dark tale
Chapter 1
Xena pulled the heavy saddle bag off Argos back and dropped it to the ground. With a quick flick of her hand she untied the beautiful mare and let her run free.
The spot was perfect for a campsite. They had just emerged from the shadows of a densely foliaged forest and before them – down a gentle slope – stretched grassland as far as Xena could see. Far off her sharp eyes descried the outlines of a village. A few mud brown houses ducked beneath thatched roofs and an array of colourful fields – straight and tiny, like towels. The evening sun painted bold orange strokes onto the clear blue sky that mirrored in the gurgling stream nearby.
But the day that lay behind the two travellers had been anything but perfect. Even the beauty of the peaceful Greek landscape failed to soothe Xena's pain. She had been clumsy, weak and slow and people had been hurt. Silently swearing she cleared a patch on the ground hacking away at the fresh green grass, while Gabrielle picked up some dry wood from the forest. They prepared a fire and their supper together, but each of them was absorbed in her own fury and grief – neither of them able or willing to share her emotions. The catastrophe had been building a long time, but they had hoped against better judgement that it would all work out fine.
Almost two weeks ago, they had come to a little village where there had been a horrible crime. Two children had been abducted while herding the goats over the quiet hours of mid day. Xena remembered Gabrielle's shocked face, as they talked to the traumatized parents who mourned the loss of a ten year old girl and her four year old baby brother. The warrior princess did not need to listen to the pleading voices of the parents as she rushed right behind the kidnappers, an angry crowd of villagers in her wake.
But very soon it became apparent that tracking down those guys was difficult even for an experienced warrior like Xena. The slavetraders were not only ruthless but also very clever and fast. Wherever Xena and her followers came in the next days the villains had been there before and people were besides themselves with worry and rage. And virtually nobody had actually seen those guys or discovered any traces of their whereabouts.
"We need to be faster," Xena stated the obvious one night when they had finally settled around a campfire, a little away from the crowd that was now following them in the waning hope to retrieve their children safe and sound.
"We don't even know where they are headed." Gabrielle replied. She looked exhausted, but she knew they could not give up yet.
"We have to split from the villagers," Xena stood up and pacing around the fire, went on: "They are slowing us down. Our advance can be spotted from leagues away. I bet they are just yet lying in the bushes and snickering over our headless actions."
Gabrielle watched the silhouette of her dark friend. Xena's anger and frustration was almost palpable. It was what the blond woman needed to calm down herself and finally come up with a suggestion, she had been mulling over the whole day: "We could split in more than two groups, each group moving in a different direction…"
"…than we could at least close in on them and get an idea about where to move," Xena easily picked up on Gabrielle's plan, shooting a small grin towards her friend "with messengers travelling from group to group we should be upon them in a matter of days. But…" she hesitated, "if they find out that someone is behind them, what if they just kill the children?"
The prospect sent an icy shiver down Gabrielle's spine. She considered this for a while, holding her hands closer to the fire. "In the worst case, Xena, they will kill the children anyway," she said finally.
Xena watched the villagers, who – not used to the strenuous travelling and paralyzed by fear and hope at the same time – huddled around some small campfires and tried to get some rest. Xena had fought many a battle but she found nothing that could prepare her now. She was afraid, that Gabrielle had it all right. She was aware that her fear was having an effect on her actions. And while Gabrielle finally succumbed to the needs of her body Xena was not able to find sleep.
