A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. Between the internet going off, college work and packing, I haven't had much time for anything fun. But, I left you guys hanging off a cliff. I don't mean to tease so here you go, the next chapter :) Happy Reading!
Gabrielle sighed as she broke through the bushes, smacking away the branches that hung low enough to hit her in the face. Her eyes quickly rested upon the ground where she and Lila had been barely an hour before. The grass was flat; the blackened and withered logs still lay there in the circle of rocks, wisps of smoke floating into the air, but the embers non-existent.
Moving to where the trunk had been, Gabrielle knelt down and started looking through the grass for the scroll. She brushed, combing through the long grass with her fingers, but she couldn't feel it anywhere. She'd almost completely lost hope, thinking that maybe she was crazy and that she'd had all her scrolls. That was until she saw the small piece of paper nearby, moving gently by the breeze that rustled it.
"On no!" she said as she plucked it from the ground and held it. After closer inspection she saw the bite mark along the edge where it had torn. She frowned, glancing around to see if she could find what had vandalized her scroll. "Damn animals," she mumbled.
Gabrielle stood and moved slowly around the clearing, keeping her eyes peeled to look for the rest of the scroll. It couldn't be too far away. If there was a small torn piece, maybe the rest was around somewhere?
After almost five minutes Gabrielle resigned herself to the fact that she might not find it. The threat of oncoming teas stung her eyes but she sniffed, stubbornly wiping her eyes to fight them back. She'd done enough crying lately. She was supposed to be having fun, exploring the forest – a new, free world away from Hadrian and the other playwrights; away from their jeers and the reminder of her failure as a writer.
Gabrielle moved toward the tree where she'd found the torn piece of scroll and pressed her back against it, slumping down to sit against the trunk. God's she felt so tired, but she wanted to look at what had been saved first before resting. Unravelling the torn piece she began to read the scrawling on it. Maybe she could re-write it if she recovered it?
Human! There was a human right below her!
Xena stared wide-eyed at the human as she sat there, unmoving as she held the piece of torn material and looked at it intently. Kaia had told her much of humans in her stories of them as she'd grown up. About how evil and aggressive they could be, how they hunted the wolves until eventually they'd had to move further into the forest. But now, looking at the golden haired human sat at the base of the tree, Xena couldn't sense any evil and had only seen her aggressive when she had looked in the grass and found nothing.
Feeling the object in her hand, Xena looked down at it. The shiny object seemed to burn in her grasp. Guilt? Was she feeling guilty for taking it? The human had expressed sadness when she'd found the small torn piece Xena had spat out. It was what she was looking for, she knew it was. The human was holding the small torn piece in her hand as though it held everything.
Seeing that the human wasn't going to leave Xena held her breath, pressing her body closer to the tree, holding onto its limbs as though she might become part of it so that she wouldn't hear her.
There was a way to move undetected. Not too far away there was a tree adjacent that offered her branches to travel across to it. She could lure the human away without needing to reveal herself, keeping them both safe. But as the human started to make noises, Xena glanced back down at her, straining her ears to listen.
She frowned as she absorbed the noise, but that was all it was – noise. She couldn't understand it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt something click and thoughts flew around her mind: You know this. Remember, Xena!
Gritting her teeth, Xena sat back and grabbed the sides of her head as she listened to the human talk. She tried – tried to concentrate, tried to decipher the noise until she understood it, but as it continued, nothing worked.
Despite the fact that she couldn't understand her, Xena didn't find the human's voice unpleasant. It reminded her of the early morning birdsong; sweet and cheerful as it fell upon her ears. It made her heart race. Being so close to another human, hearing her speak in another tongue – one that she should remember but couldn't, yet still created resounding echoes in her memory.
Hearing her sigh, Xena looked down and froze. The human was sat back her head back and face pointing up toward the sky, but her eyes were closed. If she were to open them Xena was positive that she'd be spotted.
Holding her breath, forcing her lungs to hold the air, Xena carefully moved back, slinking from the branch and moving slowly down the tree. Every now and then, her foot would move too fast, touching frail branches and made them snap and fall or the leaves rustle. But the human didn't open her eyes. In fact she seemed not to notice at all.
Xena frowned as she quietly dropped from her branch and padded over, tilting her head curiously as she eyed the golden haired human and listened. Her breathing was slow and even, quiet as she exhaled. She was asleep.
I can leave! Xena thought. But as she stared at the young human, she felt something in her stomach tug at the thought of leaving. When was she ever going to see another human in her whole life? Get to know more about her and the species she belonged to in body but not in heart?
Xena's lungs burned, her heart pounding away in her chest as she quietly approached the sleeping human, making sure to keep her footsteps light and on her toes so she could run if needs be. She stepped closer, very aware of the human and her breathing. She watched for signs that would indicate danger but the golden girl looked as though she was far away in dream. Xena crouched beside her form, watching the expressions she would make in her sleep. She thought she might be having a pleasant dream, but when she started mumbling noises again and frowning, Xena thought differently. Noticing a small crystalline droplet leak from her eye, Xena hesitantly lifted her hand, moving her finger to drift over and gently wipe it from her cheek.
Looking at the liquid on her fingertip, Xena realized she'd seen it before. From herself when she was sad. Her eyebrows knitted together in concern as she glanced up at the human. Was she in pain? Why was she crying the same tears she did when she was in pain? Kaia always comforted her whenever she did, but Xena couldn't do the same now. It was too risky.
Xena moved her face closer, looking for signs of injury. But as she looked over the human's face she couldn't see any. Suddenly, she froze but her heart seemed to pulse double time as she realized how close she was. She was close enough that she could feel the human's sweet hot breath on her face and hear the soft mumbling from her. Close enough so that she could see the human's eyebrow twitch in her sleep and her eyes fluttering beneath her lids as she dreamt.
The morning light poured through the trees, bathing the clearing in an almost golden light that highlighted everything and giving it more colour. Shafts of sunlight poured through the leaves in streams, making pollen motes and dust show up as they floated in the air around them. The light added beauty to the forest, but as Xena cast her eyes once more on the golden girl; she thought it only served to emphasize her own natural beauty.
The girl's hair fell in shimmering tresses over her shoulders, her pale skin looked to almost glow a golden colour in the brightness of the sun, and her mouth... Xena crouched before her so that they were face to face and stared, reaching out. She heard her heartbeat in her ears as she moved slowly – her fingers inches away from the girl's full lips-
"GABRIELLE!"
Xena jumped, all her nerve endings jolting at the sudden noise, and her stomach turning cold. She turned sharply, hopping away into the nearest bush, and spun on her knee to watch with narrowed eyes as the golden girl's eyes flashed open, her head flicking from side to side.
Gabrielle's felt as though her heart was beating a mile a minute. She'd been having a strange dream of being back in Athens, under Hadrian's thumb and his conniving behind the scenes antics. But then it had changed almost instantly into something more soothing and liberating. Someone in her dream had saved her from him, resting their hand on her cheek before…
She reached up unconsciously, feeling her skin hot beneath her palm. She frowned in confusion, not sure whether it was from the sun or her realistic dream.
"GABRIELLE WHERE ARE YOU!" Lila's frantic voice spilt the quiet forest morning.
Gabrielle rose awkwardly to her feet, rolling her eyes. "Over here!" she shouted back, though not as loudly. Something dry crinkled in her hand and when she looked down, she saw the piece of parchment. She tucked it into her pocket seconds before Lila came bursting through the trees, her expression dark.
"Where in Hades have you been? I thought you said you weren't going to be long?" Lila demanded marching up to stand before Gabrielle, her eyes burning.
Gabrielle had to keep from shrinking back. "I'm sorry, Lila. I started looking for it but I was so tired, I hardly got any sleep last night. I sat down for a second to catch my breath but I must have fallen asleep. I didn't mean to worry you."
Lila scowled, looking as though steam might pour out of her ears at any moment. But then her eyes softened and her resolve crumbled. She sighed and pulled Gabrielle into a tight hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again. I thought something in the forest might have eaten you and you'd left me here all by myself. I couldn't survive here, Gabrielle!"
Gabrielle released a sigh of relief at not ruining her relationship with her sister then chuckled, stepping back. "Lila, there's nothing else in the forest but you and me and maybe a few birds and monkeys, I don't know. Nothing dangerous though. I'm fine…see?" she said, twirling on the spot with her arms raised from her sides.
Lila crossed her own. "Maybe so, but what if you got lost?"
Gabrielle smirked. "You followed the X's. They obviously work, hence, I won't get lost."
Lila looked as though she was trying to fight the smile but failed miserably and smirked too, pushing Gabrielle's shoulder playfully. "Alright…you were right about the X's. But that doesn't mean you can go venture out into the forest on your own all the time. What if we get lost from one another next time?"
Gabrielle stretched. "Don't worry; you know how to fish now. You won't starve."
"Not funny, Gabrielle." She sighed heavily and looked over her shoulder. "Come on, can we get back now? I left everything back by the river."
"Alright, I don't think my scroll is around here any longer anyway."
Lila smiled, proceeding her sister through the trees, but Gabrielle hung back. She frowned slightly, narrowing her eyes as she looked around at the trees surrounding the clearing. It was too quiet. A prickling sensation on the back of her neck made her feel as though she was being watched. It felt ominous and unsettling, but it didn't upset her, just made her feel curious. There was something nearby but what was strange was that, no matter how much Gabrielle tried to shake it off, she couldn't help but compare it to what she'd felt in her dream.
"Gabrielle?" came Lila's voice.
Gabrielle took one last sweeping look of the clearing and smiled slightly. "Yeah...I'm coming."
Thank you for reading! Any comment/reviews and feedback you may have is welcome and appreciated. If there are any issues regarding spelling or grammar, as usual just inform me through a PM and I'll make the changes :) Hope you enjoyed reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter!