AN: I am taking everything from the show and twisting it, molding it, into my own liking. Different but not so different in a way ;) I am also using this time to patch up certain areas that are not shown in the show or simply looked over as well. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 9
Gabrielle walked far enough from Xena a bit irritated at the woman. She had risked her life to save herself and Xena yet she was angry that she saved her. Shaking her head in aggravation she gathered some herbs and large leaves. It was so tempting to leave Xena where she was, but she was young and obviously stupid. Gabrielle was beginning to think that she was the adult and not Xena, though she wasn't evil and didn't enjoy killing innocent people –that was Xena's job –she wanted to help her. If the Romans came back in the morning like Caesar said then they would be done for if they didn't move and get out of this forest. It was only about a few yards from the beach so it wasn't like she drug Xena's body very far. She wasn't strong enough, simply.
She returned with the herbs and saw Xena dragging herself on the cold dirt on her stomach. She saw the amount of pain she was in and her legs were covered in bruises, her head still bleeding and basically immobilized. Immediately Gabrielle thought of karma and how it was so sweet. She secretly enjoyed seeing Xena struggle much like those she injured in those village raids back in Corinth.
Deciding she no longer liked seeing Xena struggle she sighed and walked over, kneeling down in front of the injured warrior. "You aren't going to get very far like that," she admitted and Xena gazed up, growling. Gabrielle smirked and pulled out some herbs and crushed them in her palms. Hacking a large amount of saliva she spit into her palms and Xena made a face of disgust.
She parted Xena's hair on the back of her scalp and rubbed the herbs on her open wound. Xena groaned, annoyed that she was being treated like a child. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because you're hurt," Gabrielle stated as a matter of fact. Xena attempted to roll over on her back once her wound was finished being dressed by her captive. She winced as she tried to move her broken legs. Gabrielle sadly frowned, then began to think of some way to get out of this mess. They wouldn't get far like this and with no help. She suddenly had an idea. "Do you think the Romans have horses back on docks?"
Xena eyed her and breathed out slowly. "Probably, why?" she saw a certain look in the blonde's eyes and she shook her head. "Gabrielle no! just leave me here to die like my fate decided." She winced feeling the pain surge through her entire body.
Gabrielle shook her head, "if you were destined to die, you'd be dead already!" she got up and exited the forest leaving Xena alone by herself on the cold ground.
She ran on the beach back to the port and crept behind a large wall, she saw Caesar talking with a few of his leading men, most likely discussing Xena and her own fate tomorrow morning.
She squinted her eyes, hunkering down she saw a group of horses tied to a post not far from the market place. She crawled on her knees close to the wall making sure she was not seen. Her breathing quickened as she was trying not to panic. If she made a wrong move or was caught she was sure she'd die and then they'd find Xena and she'd die too.
Caesar left his men and Gabrielle gasped and went behind a fruit stand hiding underneath it. She saw the Roman's sandals dig into the sand as he passed by the stand. She sighed relieved that she went unnoticed. That was too close, she reprimanded herself. She wanted to get a horse but it would be a lot harder to get a horse to go unnoticed by the guards. At least six horses stood eating some food and she made a quick decision to run in the middle of the road to the other side of the street and knelt down behind the horses.
Smiling she united each horse from their post except for one. Swiftly she kicked the horse next to her, spooking the other steeds. She then picked up a rock and threw it at another horse's behind and the beast raised on his hind legs and began taking off. All five horses began scattering and ran in different directions alerting the Roman soldiers. She nodded, feeling quite proud of herself at the moment. As the Romans were distracted she quietly untied this calmer horse from the post and ran back to the beach with the horse's reins in her hands.
Catching her breath she laughed deviously as she had stolen a Roman horse devising a small but successful plan. She brought the horse into the forest and saw Xena was trying to crawl on the ground again though she didn't get far. She cleared her throat and Xena turned her head and saw her standing there with a horse in her possession.
"Did you steal that horse?" Xena asked a bit surprised. Gabrielle nodded. Xena smirked widely, "very clever, girl. Clever enough to get us both killed!" she frowned and the pride in Gabrielle's heart weakened as soon as she said that.
"I got this horse so we could leave this place and all you do is throw insults at me!" Gabrielle yelled and Xena blinked then a mischievous smile formed on her dry lips.
The warrior woman hoisted herself up to lean on a large tree. "You really want to save me huh?" she smirked.
"I'm beginning to think I should have left you on the crucifix," she mumbled as she detangled the horse's reins. Xena rubbed her shins gently and cringed at the slightest touch.
"Well maybe you should have. I kidnapped you and yet you are still here! Amazing!" she threw her hands in the air.
Gabrielle ignored that last comment and went to Xena, picking her up from under her arms and tried her best to get her to a standing position. Xena wailed in pain and Gabrielle nearly fell on the ground with Xena's weight pressing onto her small frame. She groaned and pushed Xena to the horse. Xena threw her arms over the saddle and Gabrielle pushed Xena up from her thighs and grabbed her right leg, swinging it to the other side of the horse so she was now straddled. Xena cried in agony and then Gabrielle mounted the horse sitting in front of Xena.
"you never answered my question," Xena whispered and Gabrielle turned her head back at the woman, fearing the question she posed. "You still want to save me, why? After everything I did, everything you saw, why?"
Gabrielle kicked the stallion and they rode off into the forest going to an unknown place, leading to a different place than these lands. "I felt bad for you!" Gabrielle finally said as the wind blew through her long blonde hair. Xena pursed her lips but did not reply.
Caesar arrived on the beach the following morning and saw that Xena's body was removed and the blonde girl had disappeared as well. He saw that both his Roman soldiers were dead and he snarled.
"Look for them! Find them! I want Xena dead," he marched back to his ship and told his men to send out a search party for Xena and her little blonde pet. "They couldn't have gone far," he supposed, clicking his tongue against his cheek.
Xena and Gabrielle traveled through the foreign lands and were galloping through a large stretch of desert. It was very hot and there was no water nearby at all. Gabrielle planned to ride this horse until he gave out, so they continued onward through the desert well into mid morning. They both figured that Caesar had found out that they were missing and Xena knew that he'd send out a search party for them both, especially her since she was the traitor and not Gabrielle, though she had become an accomplice.
No longer in a desert they finally arrived on a border of a separate nation. The horse finally gave out and Xena hoped they were far enough. Gabrielle saw a village not far from them and a lot of buildings as well. Xena wasn't able to walk so this posed a problem for them both especially if the horse was almost on the verge of dying since he raced the entire way from the coast to this foreign land.
Gabrielle hopped off the horse. "I'm going down there to that village to get help," she told Xena and the raven haired woman rolled her eyes as she had to stay with the horse by herself.
She made a long trek to the village and saw that this was a very different place indeed. There were a lot of men walking in the streets and women with veils on their heads, some covering their faces. Gabrielle suddenly felt very naked as she was still dressed in the outfit Xena chose for her. She wrapped her arms around her slim frame and tried to ask someone for help but they simply snubbed her.
Becoming hopeless she thought that they were never going to be able to leave this place especially on their own and Xena's legs still broken. She wandered through the dusty narrow road and saw an old man running an apothecary shop. She thought that he looked pretty nice and approachable. She huffed and made her way over to the man. He had a peppered beard and a black turban wrapped around his head. His eyes lined with kohl and his eyebrows made him look quite regal and distinguished.
Gabrielle noticed his eyes did not wander like the rest of the men in this area. "Do you know how to fix broken limbs?" she jumped out with the question head on. The man simply raised an eyebrow at this young girl and he nodded.
"You don't appear to have any broken bones, young lady," he answered in a very thick accent. Gabrielle smiled feeling a bit embarrassed. She shook her head. "No I don't, my..." she almost said friend. "Someone I am traveling with has two broken legs and she's...she's in a lot of pain right now! We traveled so far to get to a nearby city," she put on her begging act and the elderly man nodded his head. He saw her attire and began putting some vials on some shelves.
"I see you are not from here."
She nervously chuckled, "that obvious huh?" she sarcastically said. "So, can you help her or not?"
The man smiled, "I can. I take it you don't have anything to transport your...traveling partner in?" he gathered. Gabrielle agreed, she had nothing, literally nothing except her clothes and her sandals as well as a warlord in the making back in the wilderness by herself. She hoped that Xena stayed there like she asked her to, but knowing her she probably tried to wander off somewhere. "I have a wagon to transport your 'friend'." He smiled and Gabrielle felt a little bit grateful that someone was willing to help but unfortunately she had nothing to give him for his assistance.
All three of them returned to the man's shop and he put Xena in the back of his shop where he kept bags of powders, jars of mysterious liquids and many kinds of soaps, herbs and other miscellaneous things. Gabrielle stayed off to the side and the man pulled Xena's leg swiftly and she screamed violently. Gabrielle cringed as she heard the crackling sounds of Xena's bones being realigned.
The man shook his head and then grabbed Xena's other leg and twisted it adjusting her leg. Tears escaped Xena's eyes and she moaned in agony. Gabrielle came closer and she saw the fear in Xena's eyes, that was new, she noticed.
"She'll have to stay in splints for awhile until her legs fully heal," the man washed his hands and then grabbed a few small vials, mixing the liquids together into a tall vial. Xena lifted her head and frowned, the pain of readjusting her limbs was far worse than when they were broken. He came to Xena and lifted her head up and put the vial close to her lips.
She pushed the liquid away, "what do you think you're doing?" she spat and he raised an eyebrow.
"To help you ease the pain," after the two shared a mild glare she finally drank the foul liquid and laid her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes, trying not to think about the pain in her legs.
The man attended to his shop once he saw Xena had fallen into a deep sleep. He came back later as the sun was setting. Gabrielle stayed in the back of the shop watching over Xena, waiting to see if she would awake soon. She was beginning to think that with Xena hurt like this that she wouldn't go on any more rampages any time soon, which was good. But with this woman's pride and ego, she'd probably try anyway. Gabrielle wanted to tell Xena that she could be so much better than this. She didn't have to kill innocent people to become powerful, in fact she didn't have to become powerful at all. She had a life back home and a family, yet she chose to follow the path of evil and destruction. Gabrielle couldn't understand why Xena would just throw that all away for the sake of becoming a known figure to rival a powerful Roman or impress the God of War –that she certainly didn't understand.
The elderly man came back to check on the woman he was caring for. He saw that she was still asleep and also saw the small blonde anxiously sitting next to the cot. He pulled out four metal rods and put them on the table at the end of the cot and then grabbed a box. Gabrielle peered at the man and saw he was pulling out nails.
"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.
The man turned with a small grin. "Fixing her legs like you asked me to, young lady." He came to Xena's legs and placed each metal rod on either side of her shin and began gradually hammering the nails into her legs. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she was absolutely horrified at this sort of practice. He caught a glimpse of the scared girl. "She feels nothing, do not worry," he reassured her. He began doing the same thing to Xena's other leg and then frowned. "Her legs...this was not an accident," he wiped his hands off on his apron and set his box on a shelf again.
"Somebody broke her legs," he gathered. Gabrielle stayed silent. She didn't want to reveal who Xena was, in fact she was unheard of in these lands but still, they were sort of on the run from Caesar and his men, so staying quiet seemed like the best option. He became curious and poured himself a glass of hot tea and offered Gabrielle a cup. She thought it'd be rude to refuse and she was rather thirsty, though in this area it was really hot so the scolding tea probably wasn't going to help.
"Her body, her face, her hair, she is not a farmer's girl." He walked over to Xena and lifted her wrist, examining her hands and arm. "Her wrists are strong. She wields a sword." He stared over at the shy blonde and smiled. "Though you are not a warrior, you wear the clothes of one." He sauntered over to a seat to await for Xena to wake up soon. "Why are you with this woman? Her soul speaks danger to me, though yours...is innocent."
This man's words were really cutting deep and Gabrielle realized that this man had probably seen a lot in his day and was used to seeing fallen warriors and injuries such as this since he knew exactly what to do. He was right, she wasn't a warrior, she was a lost girl who happened to be Xena's captive, but she didn't want to come out and say such things to this stranger. He sensed that Gabrielle wasn't going to explain herself to him and he smiled, sipping his tea while she remained silent.
Xena's eyes opened an hour later and she lifted herself up and saw her legs were bound in metal rods and nails. Her eyes widened and Gabrielle set down her third cup of tea and walked over to the cot. "Are you feeling better?" the man asked, examining her vitals and legs.
She sighed heavily. "Not really," her eyes traveled to the nails and she wiggled her toes, feeling the pain was subsiding a bit more now that she rested for awhile, not long, but enough. "Those nails are fascinating."
The man smiled nodding his head and Gabrielle continued staring at her intensely. Xena looked up and scoffed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I was worried..." her words trailed off. She didn't want to appear as if she cared for this woman, but she did care about her well being, not her actions. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay," she sat back down in silence and Xena scooted backward and leaned her back against the wall, careful not to move her healing legs.
The man was cleaning up his workspace and stared back at this raven haired woman. "What is your name?" he asked.
Xena pursed her lips. "Xena," she answered bluntly. The man nodded and smiled. Xena saw the man's lips turn upward and she eyed him carefully.
"In my language, your name means 'to be adored', though I sense you are not adored by many, am I right?" he turned to her and Xena refused to answer. Instead she glared at the elderly man. By her silence he gathered that this woman was in trouble and so was the blonde girl. "No matter, your time will come when the light reveals itself about you, Xena. Your friend has been persistent and has not left your side."
Xena eyed Gabrielle and saw the teen's cheeks blush. She scoffed, chuckling lowly. "She's not my friend."
Suddenly loud crashes were heard in the man's shop out front and Gabrielle stood up, fearing the worst. Did they find us? She felt her heart sink at this notion and then two Roman soldiers burst through the curtain in the backroom and they lay their eyes upon the injured Xena and the blonde.
The man backed away with his hands in the air and grabbed a hot poker from the fire nearby. He burned one of the Roman's faces and another one came at him with a sword. "Xena!" a Roman yelled and Gabrielle stepped in front of the cot fearing that they'd kill her and she didn't want that. He immediately pushed Gabrielle away into the wall and Xena groaned sitting up moving to the edge of the cot she laid upon.
The Roman came at her and she grabbed the sword and head butted the man's helm and she growled, tossing him aside. The Arab man fought off a lot of the Romans pouring into his shop until one finally plunged a sword into his chest. Gabrielle shook her head and came to and saw Xena fighting off a soldier. She frowned and kicked the Roman to the ground. Xena smiled at her and then saw another Roman coming towards her and the man kicked Gabrielle back to the ground. Two other soldiers came in and grabbed Gabrielle forcefully. Xena's eyes widened and she grabbed the Roman in a headlock and twisted his neck, allowing his body to fall to the ground.
Gabrielle kicked and squirmed in the arms of the Romans desperately trying to get free. "Let go of me!" she yelled.
Xena panicked frantically and tried to stand up on her legs but fell back onto the bed in excruciating pain. She watched Gabrielle being taken away by the Roman soldiers and she couldn't help her. She saw the blonde's green eyes stare back at her pleading for help and she wasn't able to. Now that Xena was alone she sighed heavily. She was starting to question if she truly liked Gabrielle or not. She did kidnap her but she felt sorry that because of her, she was probably going to be sold or even killed. This was the first time she felt true guilt. A person was taken while she lived.
Is this what it's like to be a conqueror? She questioned her life in this moment. She heard the horses' hooves galloping far away and left her there, which she thought was strange, but she was sure they'd be back with more men as they thought she wouldn't get far in her condition.
Struggling she grabbed the sword off the floor and hoisted herself up off the bed. She winced as she tried to move her legs, feeling weak she tried to walk putting as much minimal pressure off her legs. She made it out of the shop and it was very dark with many torches lighting the sandy streets. She looked both ways and then collapsed onto her knees, sobbing in pain.
