Same disclaimer applies; Xena not mine. I borrowed her.
Don't really have much else to say besides the fact that I read your reviews, and have taken the suggestions into account; so thanks :).
Chapter 3: Of coming to terms with a baffling reality.
"Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life." -Tecumseh
"Wha-?" Kate jerked awake, to find Gabrielle kneeling next to her with a finger to her lips.
"Shhh" Gabrielle hissed fiercely before looking around. She lowered her head, whispering "Xena spotted a patrol, probably a new warlord; she didn't recognize their uniforms."
Unfamiliar uniforms? Kate shot up, looking around frantically. "Which way did they go?!" she whispered desperately. Gabrielle pointed to her left and Kate bolted in the direction.
"HEY!" Gabrielle shouted, taking off after Kate. Kate was fast, but Gabrielle was faster and knew the terrain; in a few moments Kate felt her feet swept from under her and she tumbled to the ground. Gabrielle, panting, sat on her back putting her arms in some kind of lock. She put her face close to Kate's ear. "Are you insane?!" she whispered venomously, "Or do you just have a death wish? These men would not be half as easy as the ones this morning, not to mention there were more and they are much better armed. Why the HELL did you bolt like that?"
"They're my buds, I just know it; they have to be." Kate didn't bother whispering, she saw no reason to. Gabrielle winced at her volume.
"If you mean you think they look like you, then you are dead wrong; they carried spears and wore armor, they didn't have this funky getup you're wearing."
If it was possible for Kate's shoulders to slump while she was being pressed into the ground, they did; she didn't know why she thought Xena had seen her unit, but she was so desperate to find them. Gabrielle recognized that Kate was no longer going to try desperately to run away, so she got off of her slowly. Kate eased herself up, shaking out her arms.
"Ok fine, so what are we going to do then?" Kate decided it was best if she whispered too.
Gabrielle continued to sit on the ground, "We wait for Xena, she should be back at any moment."
Almost on cue Xena strode out of the brush towards them. "They're far enough away that we can talk normally. That was just a roving patrol though; I figured that out soon enough."
"What do you mean?" asked Gabrielle, sensing trouble.
"After a few minutes of light jogging I came on their camp; their camp of, oh, at least ten thousand warriors."
Gabrielle massaged her temple, closing her eyes, "So it's a full invasion force, brilliant; no doubt headed straight for Athens. Did you know him?"
Xena grimaced, "No, which bothers me; might not even be a him too, honestly I couldn't get close enough to check it out."
Gabrielle looked up at Xena, "We've been out for 25 years, obviously some new guys were going to pop up; we should focus on warning Athens."
Xena nodded, "You're right, if we travel fast we could probably make it before noon…Wait, where's our stuff?"
Gabrielle looked pointedly at Kate, who had been in a slight state of shock throughout the conversation, "This one thought she knew our little roving patrol, decided to take off into the woods; I had to chase after her. Our stuff is still in the camp."
Xena walked over to Kate and pulled her to her feet, "Well come on then, we need to get moving."
As they walked back to camp only one thought was going through Kate's mind, What the fuck is going on?
An hour later found the trio back on the way to Athens, moving at a rather fast pace. The trip had been relatively silent, with almost all attempts at conversation made by either Xena or Gabrielle shot down by the morose Kate.
Kate had been getting steadily more depressed and confused as she, bit by bit, came to terms with the fact that there was NO WAY she was still in New York. If the dirt road they came upon didn't clue her in, then the carts and small farms along the way left her with no alternative. She toyed with the idea that she had somehow ended up in Pennsylvania, and everyone was Amish; but that still didn't explain the clothing, and Amish people at least knew about normal society. She had gone up to one farmer and demanded to know where the nearest cell-tower was, and he had looked at her like she was crazy until Gabrielle and Xena had dragged her away.
At times it got a bit extreme; about a half-hour out Kate decided that she was, in fact, dreaming. She pinched herself repeatedly, hit her head on a tree, but to no avail; everything hurt, and she did not "wake up". Gabrielle and Xena watched with a growing feeling of unease, beginning to think that they had, in fact, adopted a mental case. After the dream-theory was busted, however, Kate calmed down; she still wouldn't talk, but at least she wasn't assaulting every wanton tree they came upon.
After another half-hour of award silence, Kate suddenly asked, "So this…invasion force, you said it was around ten thousand men?"
Gabrielle looked up at Xena, who had mounted Argo as soon as they had found the dirt road, and the warrior shrugged. Looking at Kate, who was a couple paces in front of them, she nodded, "Yeah I'm pretty good at guessing these things, it was ten thousand give or take a hundred warriors."
Kate whistled, "Were they well equipped? Or did they seem more rag-tag than professional?"
Once more the Warrior and her Bard shared a look, they didn't see where this was coming from or, for that matter, going. Xena answered again, "From what I could tell they were all very well-armed and well-funded. I didn't see any of them fight, so I couldn't comment on their skill, but their camp was well guarded and surprisingly well hidden for an army so large; it says something about the skill of their tacticians, that's for sure."
"And…Athens, is it prepared to defend against an army that large?"
Xena still had no idea why Kate had suddenly decided to talk with them, but the girl was speaking her language, that was for sure. "Athens has defended itself numerous times in the past, it's shining moment was at-"
"-Marathon, yes I know, over 6,400 Persians dead to a little over 100 Athenian deaths; tactically it was an incredible success, but that was Greek Hoplites against Persian light infantry, and the terrain was advantageous to the Athenians. I'm asking if Athens the city is prepared for a siege, or would it be able to assemble a force large enough to face off against this threat and win?"
Xena was stunned into silence for a few moments, she considered asking how this girl knew so much about past battles and tactics, but figured she should just answer. "Honestly I have no idea what state Athens is in right now, it could be able to assemble a force twice as large, especially with help from Sparta, or it could have been hit with famine. It's safe to say that, until we reach Athens, its fighting strength is unknown."
"Hmmm…" was all Kate had to say before she fell silent again.
One of the things that made Kate such a good soldier and leader, something her teachers had noticed throughout her four years at WestPoint, was how adaptable she was. As soon as she came to terms with the reality of a situation, she accepted it and moved on to the next problem she could solve. She had no idea how she had gotten where she was (although she kept getting weird flashbacks of a battlefield), but the one thing she knew, without question, was military strategy; so she applied that knowledge here. As she walked along she wished that she had been able to see the enemy encampment, just to get an idea of vulnerabilities and supply levels. She was itching to get a good look at Athens and see how defendable it was.
Xena and Gabrielle noticed a change in the young woman's demeanor; she went from morose to thoughtful, what they considered to be a positive difference. Gabrielle decided that it was safe to test the waters a bit.
"So how come you know about Marathon? And tactics and such?" she asked tentatively, waiting for the expected shrug and continued silence.
"It's what I've been studying for the past four years, important battles, strategy, advantages and disadvantages; you could say it's my thing."
"Oh", Gabrielle didn't really know how to respond, she knew people like Xena, ones who were battle-hardened and strategy was their bread and water, but she had yet to meet someone who simply studied it; a lot must have changed in 25 years. Gabrielle was about to ask another question when the trio rounded a bend and Xena let out a triumphant yell.
"Told you we'd get there!" she cried, grinning madly from Argo's back.
Kate's head shot up, and her jaw dropped as she beheld a glittering city.
And in the back of her mind, a strange verse rang out.
The edge of the city of the olive tree,
In a temple dedicated solely to me,
The foot will find you an all-knowing guide,
All you must do is follow it inside,
But be warned, there will be woe,
When you must face a friendly foe.
Glossary?: Um...not really anything to add here, next chapter though...
SO I'd be interested to see what you think the riddle means. Also, it's a fluid story, so I do take reader suggestions into consideration.
A continuous thank you for the readers and reviews, literally every time I see a new review in my email I smile and do a little happy dance. So thanks, next chapter will be up soon.
