Disclaimers: The following story is classified as Fan Fiction. The characters of Xena, Gabrielle and others who have appeared in the series, Xena: Warrior Princess, are the property of MCA/Universal Television and Renaissance Pictures. I only borrowed them. The story itself is mine and cannot be redistributed in any form without my consent.
Timeline: In the series, consider this a standalone story near the end of season 2. It's my version of how and why Gabrielle lost her blood innocence. No Dahok, no Hope, etc.
History Cast in Amber
by LZClotho
(c) July 1997
CHAPTER TWO - MISSION DEFINED
Gabrielle stepped into her skirt and tied on her top before grabbing her staff and following the warrior. The bard cocked her head and listened, wondering which way was best to approach the situation. Xena always took the direct approach, but she had a sword. With a staff, the bard needed surprise to help in her battles. She heard scuffling and finally Xena's high-pitched battle cry directly ahead. Then, her sensitive ears detected noises to her right. So, Gabrielle decided to circle ahead of the commotion, maybe surprise someone headed for the water. She pushed through the line of foliage, waist high bushes and thick tree trunks.
Suddenly, Gabrielle was face to face with a young woman not much older than herself. In the next instant the woman collapsed to the ground. Gabrielle checked the inert woman and found her still breathing. She had bruises on her temples, and her arms were one big mess of red and purple. No doubt, her back was the same. Slavers! Gabrielle thought in the next instant, as she assumed a stand over the woman's body, ready to meet any and all comers. The Amazon-trained bard spun her staff into a defense position, looking around for an opponent. She calmed her own breathing and focus her anger about the woman's condition into battle readiness, as Xena had taught her.
All at once, a burly man in rough clothing crashed through the foliage yelling. Xena had probably just thrown him aside, but Gabrielle had to disable if his victim was to escape from her kidnappers. Gabrielle had no idea how many others Xena was keeping busy. From the nearby sounds, Gabrielle knew quite a fight was going on. So she focused on doing her part of the job - protecting the downed woman.
The man stood, shaking the uncertainty out of his head. Looking up, he grinned lopsidedly at the fierce stance of a slip of a girl wielding a staff. Beside her was the escaped slave, unconscious. He charged, and Gabrielle shifted her grip on her staff, swiped once at his chest and caused him to take a step back in mid-stride. He was knocked onto his backside by her counter-swing to the backs of his knees.
"Take that!" Gabrielle shouted, poking the man hard in the chest with the end of her staff. "You men taking defenseless women! Ugh!" She spun her staff quickly again and knocked him out with a stinging blow to the head. Then she straightened up and stepped back to check on the unconscious woman.
She was resting her hand against the woman's temple when more crashing sounds in the next clearing caught her attention. Patting the woman's cheeks, she roused her enough to convey that they had to move to deeper cover. With Gabrielle's help, the woman came to her feet, and the two moved into the foliage.
Gabrielle pushed the woman down behind the branches of a thick bush. "Stay here. I've got to go check on my friend,"
"The warrior woman is your friend?" These were the first words the woman had spoken, and Gabrielle almost laughed. Xena was a shock to most people. To a woman half-out of her mind with fear, Xena dropping out of the air to land in the clearing must have appeared like the arrival of a dark angel.
Gabrielle nodded. "Shh. I'll be back." The woman shrank back into the bush as Gabrielle moved off.
The bard broke into the clearing to find the battle all but over. Xena stood over a man cowering on the ground, her sword tip at his thick throat. "Tell me where your leader is!"
"I ain't talkin'!" The man, bleeding from a long cut on his sword arm and a deep gash in his left leg, was panting, but still defiant in the face of Xena's glare.
On her way to Xena's side, Gabrielle saw seven men dressed in iron-studded leather armor. None were moving. She arrived just as Xena, quick as lightning, changed position and struck the remaining soldier's neck, interrupting the flow of blood to his brain. She informed him as much while he writhed on the ground. "Now, I want to know who your leader is."
Barely able to respond, he croaked out the answer, "Fracchus."
Xena released the pressure and stepped back. "Tell him that Xena is in the neighborhood, and I'll be looking him up. Now, go!" The man crawled a few paces, then struggled to his feet and bolted away.
Xena turned from watching his departure and asked, "Did you get the girl?"
Gabrielle nodded, "All safe and sound. Come on, I'll take you to her."
The two women left the clearing. Gabrielle led the way to the bush where the young woman sat. "Here's my friend, Xena. What's your name?" the bard asked, helping the woman to her feet.
The woman looked from the little bard to the dominating presence of the warrior woman. She looked back at the easier countenance of the bard. "Arianna."
Gabrielle grasped the woman's hand and smiled reassuringly. "I'm Gabrielle."
"Where are you from, Arianna?" asked Xena, shifting her blood-
covered sword behind her back. But the girl saw it anyway and shivered.
"Are they dead?" Again, Arianna looked at Gabrielle instead of Xena.
"Xena made sure they won't come after you again. And if we can get to their camp, we can make sure their friends won't be kidnapping anyone else either."
Arianna shivered again. "Thank you. I'm from the village of Amber. I was in the fields yesterday morning when several men charged down the mountains and snatched my friends and me from our work."
Gabrielle studied Xena for a moment before speaking again. The warrior betrayed nothing. "Do you think you could show us the location of the slavers' camp?"
"I don't know. When I ran though, I didn't really pay attention to how I got out. I just did it."
Xena finally spoke, keeping her voice soft. It was obvious Arianna was uneasy around her, and she didn't want to scare her entirely. "You two stay here. I'll fetch Argo and clear up our things at the riverbank." She saw the girl start. "You'll be safe. Those men won't be going anywhere. And their only survivor hotfooted it back to camp."
Gabrielle watched Arianna shiver. She shook her head at Xena, who shrugged. They'd had weapons, her demeanor said. I had to kill them. Xena ducked through the trees.
When they were alone, Gabrielle sat down to wait. Arianna asked the question that had been on her mind since first seeing Xena charge into the clearing. "Does she always fight in a shift?"
Gabrielle laughed. "No, of course not. We were bathing in the river when we heard your shout and the noises. She just doesn't believe in wasting time."
Arianna settled back and waited with Gabrielle. Both women jumped to their feet when a voice called out behind them. "Arianna, do you want to ride?"
Gabrielle and Arianna turned and watched the Warrior Princess stride up leading the palomino mare. The bard neatly caught the large shoulder bag flung toward her. She was adjusting it over her shoulder when Xena pressed the other two bags into her hands. Gabrielle looked at Argo's back and saw that all their other gear was already secured. Impressive speed, warrior woman, Gabrielle thought.
Gabrielle turned to walk toward Xena and stopped, amused as she watched her friend approach Arianna. The young woman was fighting her instinct to step back as Xena came up. Dressed in her leathers and armor, Xena looked even more massive. Gabrielle cleared her throat, reminding Xena to soften her expression. Arianna visibly relaxed.
Xena said to Arianna, "Want to ride? You've had a hard couple of days." The young woman nodded. "Well, here. Let me help you up." The warrior cupped her hands so Arianna could step up and hefted her to Argo's saddle.
Gabrielle watched as Arianna's eyes went wide with amazement. Gabrielle had no doubt the young woman was shocked at the strength and ease with which she'd just been deposited in the saddle. Xena's contrasting warrior behavior and stunning femininity confused many. It never ceased to amaze Gabrielle either, who knew, even after two years, that Xena didn't do anything more than practice with her weapons every day yet remained stronger than several men put together.
Xena came up behind the bard and talked in a low voice as they started walking toward the road again. "Let's get going. Arianna should be back home by nightfall and then, Gabrielle, you stay there while I go after Fracchus."
Gabrielle shook her head. "I'm going with you. How can you even think of marching into a warlord's camp and taking on the head man himself?"
Xena shook her head. "I know Fracchus."
Gabrielle wryly smiled, "I guess that shouldn't surprise me. So, what's the plan?"
"If the man I let go delivers my message, well, then he'll know why I'm here."
"Great." She paused and thought a moment before adding, "I'm still coming with you." Before Xena could protest, Gabrielle moved around to the other side of Argo and started conversing with Arianna, getting a view of village life in Amber from the young woman.
"We've lived quite peacefully for several years. My father and I arrived in Amber about 6 years ago," Arianna told Gabrielle. "He liked the idea of leaving Athens for such a small town."
"You lived in Athens? What would possess him to move so far out here?" Gabrielle asked.
"He heard about this City of Gold and had to see for himself. He...he likes unusual stories."
Gabrielle smiled. "Well then I can relate to that. What is the City of Gold?"
"Actually, it's amber at noonday," Arianna replied, "and just beautiful! The name comes from the mud they use to make the bricks. The clay bakes up into a beautiful golden brown... smooth and shiny, like Amber - or, for the less well traveled - gold.
"Really? I didn't know that," Gabrielle.
"Oh, yes, it's as pretty a gold color as her horse here," Arianna said, touching the mare's neck reverently. "Really nice horse you have," she called over to Xena.
"Thanks," Xena smiled and let out Argo's lead so she could walk a little further ahead of the mare, Arianna and Gabrielle. The ground became steeper and rockier. Gabrielle continued her conversation with Arianna, but looked out over the valley as the mountainous pass they strode afforded the opportunity. "What a beautiful place," Gabrielle sighed. Too bad slavers have to come in and muck things up. Glancing over at Xena, she watched the memories play across her face. Sometimes even Xena was easy to read. That made Gabrielle feel better about her earlier impression that the warrior read minds.
Xena began to think about her upcoming confrontation with Fracchus. She suspected that his army camped somewhere near here. Perhaps the tavern keeper would be able to give her good directions. If so, she could be out of here quickly.
Her mind slipped back over the years. She recalled a battle for a small Corinthian village. Fracchus had been a lieutenant of hers by then. When Borias died, Fracchus moved up in the ranks to take his place.
He'd been young then. They all were. But Fracchus had a mean streak in him. Interrogations under him more often resulted in the captive's death than useful information. But she hadn't taken much notice of that then. He fought with the skill of an Ares-
blessed warrior, and she'd needed every man willing to fight, regardless of scruples. Those times were her earliest and most paranoid ones as a warlord. She was still raiding and subjugating surrounding villages, expanding the buffer she believed she needed to keep Amphipolis safe.
The town's name was Amber, at least that was what the spies had called it. The men there were assembling and arming for her arrival. She'd had some scruples even back then. She never surprised villages. She didn't have to. Word traveled like wildfire whenever the Warrior Princess' army was on the move. And that was partly due to Fracchus.
He appointed himself sort of a public relations representative. He made sure that survivors of a town knew who had attacked them and where Xena's army was due to strike next. She recalled, to her surprise, that she had not yet been working with Ares then. She could scarcely remember when she had not known the God of War.
Often, survivors ran to the next village - the target toward which her army would move slowly. As the escapees spread their account of terror and woe, Fracchus knew panic would set in.
Most warriors had an aspect of battle they thrived on. Xena liked seeing fear in her opponents' eyes. Fracchus thrived on watching panic, disorganized chaos, as he descended against a village.
Xena remembered approaching Amber, as she rode at the head of her army. Her men whispered back and forth about a golden city. Seeing the reflection of the midday sun off its buildings and wall, she had agreed with their description.
The city shimmered with such a blinding brilliance that Xena had decided attacking then would put her army at a disadvantage. She rescheduled the raid for that night. Among the loot were grains and other food stores for her army. She killed and captured men who came out of their homes to challenge her. Her men rounded up the women, for a slave auction in Thrace. And she left the village after setting fire to the food storage buildings.