AN-This is a follow up to 'The Continuing Adventures of Xena and Gabrielle'. While not essential you read it would help a little to know background. Hope you enjoy this. Feedback as always welcome. The story is mine, the characters are not.
The moon was barely up in the sky but it shone bright and true on a traveling threesome. The two in the lead were leaning against one another, walking in perfect step. The taller dark haired woman was leaning her head on the short blonde woman. They each had their arm wrapped around one another, just enjoying the feeling of the other's touch. In the past, they would not travel in such close contact but the past few months had been difficult, to say the least.
The taller dark haired woman had paid the ultimate sacrifice in her continuing search for redemption of many heinous deeds. It had all been a trick by someone that she never would have expected. Luckily for her, the petite blonde had never given up on them being reunited in this lifetime. It had been a long road to reclaiming what was hers.
Then there had been a complication. That complication was lagging behind, leading two horses with him. He was just a touch taller than the dark haired woman and appeared to be twice her age. That was due to something mystical that had happened to the pair walking before him. It was something he still was attempting to understand. The taller woman was his sister, but looked more like his daughter. It was part of what was unnerving him.
The true complication with the young man was the fact that he had chosen not to believe that his sister had changed. He let himself fall into the wrong crowds and even attempted to take the life of a queen. His sister had stopped him and her little friend had talked to him about just how wrong his perception of his younger sister was. It had been a painful lesson as the young blonde might be petite, but she was powerful with both words and her body.
If it weren't for his sister, the man might still be in the dungeon at the castle or worse. But the queen had had the help of his sister twice before this and had granted his release into her custody. It seemed that he was indebted to her and in more ways than he could count. He was also indebted to her blonde partner. It was a relationship he was having trouble accepting, but watching them now for almost two weeks, it was impossible to deny just how much they were in love.
The trio was on their way to Amphipolis, the brother and sister's home village. It had once been a thriving village. But something dark and evil had taken place there that had driven their mother insane and had killed the town and their mother just as effectively. More evil had occurred in the village, but it was now just a dormant village that held some good but also very bad memories for the dark haired woman.
It had been where she was raised. Her mother had been loving and caring and she had wanted for nothing. She had an older brother, Toris, the one that was now hanging far behind. A warlord had attacked and her younger brother Lyceus had been killed. It was the major turning point and a dark road was taken. For ten years, she was nothing but a butcher. She had terrorized all of Greece and many distance lands. Then she had made a mistake that had turned into a blessing. She had set her sights on Hercules.
While most with any common sense would stay away from a demigod, but not this brazen warlord. Perhaps it was Ares that had pushed her to do it. Perhaps it was that she thought herself better than anyone alive at the time. Hercules had shown her the way. He had shown her a great deal and it had caused that need for blood and for power to dissipate. But what was she to do with herself? Everyone in Greece hated her.
She had found that included her own mother. The exwarlord had made her way to her home village in an attempt to find peace. But there was another warlord that was using her old banners and that had caused her mother to turn her back on her. Luckily the night prior, she had come across this group of young people, the petite blonde included. Though she had just buried her weapons and given up on herself, something she saw in those emerald eyes forced her to act.
Though she saved the young blonde and the rest of the group, her heart still ached for forgiveness of another kind. So she had set out for her home village. The girl had begged her to take her with her, but she had refused. And then she had found herself in front of people she had grown up knowing. And they were throwing stones at her. Suddenly this petite young blonde was standing in front of her, arguing on her behalf. One act of kindness had led to this journey she had been on the past several years, one that was finally taking her home.
"It's going to be past midnight when we get to Potidaea." Gabrielle, the petite blonde, finally said cutting through the silence of the night. "We might as well stop and camp." She glanced over her shoulder where it appeared that Xena's, the tall dark haired woman; brother Toris was falling further and further behind. "Besides, I don't think your brother is used to keeping up the warrior princess pace."
Xena glanced over her shoulder and saw her brother stumble and there was nothing in the path to make him do so. "I'm guessing you're right." She allowed her senses take over for a moment as they continued to walk. "There's water just up to the right. I'll check it out and be right back. Why don't you see if Toris needs any help." A quick kiss and the dark haired woman was off in a shot.
Gabrielle stopped and stared after her, watching her move with grace and strength. It was several moments before Toris caught up with her. "She's finding us a campsite. We'll be in Potidaea in the morning." Finally she turned to look at the older man. He was slightly out of breath and wavering a bit. "Why don't you get up on the horse and I'll get up on Argo. We can get there faster that way. I don't know about you, but I've had enough traveling for one day."
In truth, the bard, as she was also known, could have walked all night long. Ever since she had been gifted with her soulmate back in her life, she found she had an almost never ending energy. It reminded her of the energy she used to be amazed at Xena being gifted with. Something more than Xena just being brought back to me. There was now a connection and perhaps even more. I've felt so different since that day…
Toris never spoke a word, simply handed her Argo's reins and got on his horse. They rode in silence just at a slow pace, waiting for a sign from Xena. It wasn't long before the warrior princess had slid between the horses unseen by her brother, but her lover reached out her hand and placed it on her shoulder. They went along for several more paces before Xena's voice startled her brother enough where she had to take a hold of him so that he didn't fall to the ground.
"Sorry big brother." Xena made sure he was settled back in the saddle. "I've gotta watch sneaking up on you I guess." He simply glared at her in response. He hasn't spoken only a few words in the past two weeks. I hope we are doing the right thing. Although I remember just how quiet and unfriendly I was to this poor kid from Potidaea. And she stayed with me through so many things. I gotta do the same for him. "I've already gathered firewood and started a fire. We can have trail rations tonight. I'll hunt in the morning."
Toris only shrugged his shoulders and allowed her to lead the horse to the well hid campsite. Xena and Toris saw to their horses while Gabrielle finished setting up the camp. Though Toris was not accepting of their relationship, the bard had every night still put their bedrolls next to one another. She put the older man's on the other side of the fire. Funny. That's how we started out. Not sure how fast it happened that we ended up sleeping next to one another. But I loved it when we did.
It was a quiet camp as the two lovers simply snuggled up next to one another. The bard fell asleep in the protective arms of her lover, feeling as safe and content as always. Xena however kept her eyes on her brother. He seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. I wonder if they are the nightmares that still sometimes plague me. There are things I've done and seen that will never go away.
Finally, he seemed less restless and that led to Xena finally being able to relax. Not all the way of course because there were too many predators out there. Some were of the fury variety and some of the human variety. Even though she and Gabrielle had lost so many years being frozen in that cave, there were still new and old enemies that would pay dearly to be the one to take out the warrior princess.
()()()()()()()()()()()
The only somewhat familiar out linings of Gabrielle's home village were coming into view. She was sitting in front of Xena on Argo, feeling the warm of the warrior through both of their leathers. In the past, she would be riding behind her lover but times were changing. It was as if Xena wanted her arms around her all the time, which suited the bard just fine.
They had agreed that they wanted family in Amphipolis. Besides Xena's brother Toris, there were only two other souls left. That was the price that they paid having been frozen for so long and Xena's daughter had met an untimely and rather gruesome death in Japan. Last time through the little village had sent them on another one of their adventures as Lila, Gabrielle's younger sister, now had a daughter. It had been heart wrenching hearing how everyone else had been killed trying to get her back.
Get her back they had. It had been an interesting adventure that had ended in them getting her niece back home. But they had not seen or heard from them in the year or so since. Gabrielle took a deep breath not knowing what to expect. The fields were coming into view and soon the stone wall that surrounded it would be in view as well. There was some activity in the fields as it was now nearing noon. A few heads looked up, but only stared as the riders went by.
Finally they made it to the main area of the little village. There was only a little bit of bustling in the village which was unusual for the hour. Slowly they rode until they found the house that had the last time they had been there belonged to her sister. Xena carefully lowered her soulmate to the ground before she followed her. She held the reins tightly in her hand. Something was not right in this little village, but the warrior could not place what it was.
Toris stopped directly behind them and swung his long leg over the saddle and slid to the ground with a thump. When Xena attempted to make eye contact, he looked everywhere but at his younger sister. He watched as her girlfriend made her way up the stairs and knocked on the door. The stare of his sister kept him shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
The door opened and a young blonde girl with a sad look on her face was revealed. Her eyes immediately brightened as she took in who was standing there. "Aunt Gabrielle!" Immediately she engulfed the woman that appeared to be the same age as her. "I can't believe you're here." She glanced over her shoulder. "And you've brought your friend." The smile grew even bigger at the sight of the warrior princess. Just when we needed help. "You're timing is perfect."
Xena nodded at the young girl knowing immediately that her first instincts were right. There was something occurring in the little village and that meant that their plans were probably going to be put on hold for a few days. Gabrielle's playful voice etched into her mind. 'Never easy.' It brought a wry smile to her lips. "Why don't you two go inside while we get the horses settled at the stable? Be back quickly."
Gabrielle watched Xena until she had disappeared around the corner. Her niece stepped back and after the bard had entered led her to a room in the back. The young woman paused for a moment with her hand on the door. "I should warn you she's not doing very well." The bard watched as her niece swallowed hard. "The local healer says there isn't much hope, though he's not sure what is wrong with her. You two need time alone."
The door was opened for her and Gabrielle slowly made her way in. Lila, her younger sister, appeared to be asleep on the bed. The bard was shocked at just how old she looked. Her hair was even grayer than the last time they had met. There were dark circles under her eyes and her breath was ragged. If I didn't know any better, I swear she was either being poisoned or was having the life sucked out of her.
The bard quietly made her way to where a stool was already sitting next to the bed. She carefully took one of her sister's hands in her own. The movement caused a stirring in her sister's body. Slowly eyes flittered open and fought to focus. When she finally realized who was holding her hand, she smiled a weak smile. "Gabrielle…" Her voice was just barely a whisper.
"Oh Lila!" Gabrielle kept her tone soft as to not startle her very sick sister. "I'm not going to ask a lot of questions of you. Just want you to know that both Xena and I are here for you." At the mention of her soulmate, she could see a little twinkle of hope in her sister's eyes. "She's a healer of sorts. She'll take good care of you. We can talk later about why we were passing through here. Just need to take care of you right now."
"Feel better already." Lila's eyes quickly shut once again as it seemed all this was too much for her. Her breathing became a little more steady and it was obvious that she had drifted back to sleep. Gabrielle gently released the hand that she was holding and slowly made her way out of the room, shutting the door with as much ease as she could. When she turned around, Xena and Toris were just making their way through the door.
Gabrielle could not help herself as she flung herself into Xena's somewhat startled arms. The warrior just held her girl for as long as she wanted as two other sets of eyes found other interesting things to look at. Finally the bard pulled back out of the comforting grip. "It's Lila. She's real bad. It looks like she's been poisoned or something. I was hoping you'd…"
Without another word, Xena squeezed the bard's hand and made her way to the room that she had seen her lover exit. Gabrielle watched her go before turning to her niece. "First off, introductions are in order. Sarah, this is Xena's older brother Toris. Toris this is my niece Sarah." They barely even nodded at one another. "Is there someplace we can sit and talk? It's not just Lila that's being affected by this." It was a statement rather than a question.
Sarah led them to the little sitting area that had just four chairs in it. She went over to the fireplace and fussed with a pot warming there. Quickly she poured four cups of tea and brought them to the center of the room and placed them on the small table between the four chairs. "I'm sorry it's not very strong. Our supplies have been dwindling the past few months. It seems someone is after the supply trains that go through here. No one has been able to figure out who is behind it or why so many people are becoming sick like Lila. Five people have already died."
Gabrielle swallowed hard at the thought of her sister struggling through some unknown illness. The supply trains would be easier to figure out if only taking a little time. Even before Xena had entered the room, she had sensed her and looked up to meet the solemn stare on her soulmate's face. "I assumed you heard." Xena nodded. "And what about Lila?"
Xena slowly made her way over to her lover and kneeled down in front of her. "We might just be in time." She looked over to Sarah who seemed to relax if only a bit. "You were right, by the way. She is being poisoned. It's not a strong poison, but effective long term." Now her gaze met her brother who would not look her in the eyes. "It's the same poison they were using on Lias."
"What?" Gabrielle was shocked to hear that. "Do you mean that the same thing that was happening to the prince is now happening here?" Her emerald eyes showed a fire in them. No one messes with my family and gets away with it. Damn it! I just wanted to start over with Xena. But no, the fates must be having fun with us right now.
"It is." Xena now stood up and came to stand in front of her brother. They stood there for several moments, waiting for him to look her in the eye, which never happened. "You knew about this. You were a part of this." They were not questions but statements. "You are going to tell me right now what you were into or I'll forget that you are my only living blood relative."
Toris finally looked up into icy cobalt eyes. "This is residue from what happened with the queen and all. Selcior had more men than you thought he did." His blue eyes were almost as icy as his sister's. "I've been trying to find a way to tell you because of what it means I'm responsible for. More death than I realized. There are probably a hundred men out there still. Knowing them, they won't stop even after hearing their boss has been taken care of."
Xena leaned her head back. Am I ever going to get to Amphipolis and be able to live a normal life? Am I ever going to be able to just relax and not have all these problems to solve? She felt a pair of familiar arms surround her. Of course as long as she's with me, I'm home. So I guess all I can say is here we go again….