"Xena...I'm really, really tired," Gabrielle complained. She leaned on her staff and stared at her friend with pleading eyes.
"All right, we can rest, but only for a little while, we've got a long way to go," she told Gabrielle. The bard nodded and flopped down on the ground. "Gabrielle...what are you doing?" Xena asked.
"Xena! You said we could rest! Now what--," Gabrielle started, but Xena cut her off.
"Yeah, over there." She grinned and pointed to a lake ahead of them.
"Oh," Gabrielle mumbled, and Xena laughed. "It's not funny, Xena." The Warrior Princess stopped and tried to hold back her laughter as her friend got up tiredly and walked over to the lake, practically dragging herself. Xena followed and smiled when Gabrielle sat down once again, and dropped her staff down beside her. She then pulled out a scroll and began writing on it.
"What are you writing?" Xena asked with curiosity. "Another one of our 'adventures'?"
"No, I was thinking of just, oh I don't know, maybe writing about someone I know," she stated.
"Really? Like who?" Xena asked.
"I was thinking maybe Ephiny, or Aphrodite...you know, someone I know pretty well," she answered. Xena flashed her a 'haha, that's very funny' look. This time, Gabrielle laughed. Then she put away her scroll and relaxed on the grass. Suddenly, Xena jumped up. Gabrielle looked slightly startled as she watched her friend. "What is it?" she asked. Xena looked back at Gabrielle, a concerned look on her face.
"Get your staff ready, Gabrielle...," she instructed. Gabrielle grabbed the stick and hopped up on her feet. Then, a handful of thugs jumped out of the bushes and ran at the two women, swords drawn. "Oh, is it playtime already?" Xena smirked, drew her sword, and twirled it around in her hand before attacking. Gabrielle swung her staff at two of the men, hitting them in the head, in the stomach, and finally a crack at the shins, sending them to the ground. Xena smiled at her companion, and continued to beat the other four senseless, knocking three on the ground and one unconscious. The men all got up on their feet and ran away, yelling comments like 'she's dangerous,' and 'let's get out of here!' Gabrielle scoffed and lowered her staff, as Xena re-sheathed her sword.
"Who were they?" she asked Xena.
"Just your every day warriors, hoping to kill me and gain a profit, etc...you know the gist." Gabrielle nodded.
Gabrielle picked up a few branches off the ground
and brought them back to the campsite. She set them down in front of Xena,
and the warrior princess started a fire for them to cook their supper over,
as well as keep warm.
"I'm going to go for a swim," Gabrielle told her
friend. Xena nodded, not taking her eyes off the firewood. Gabrielle unlaced
her top and leaped into the water, making a splash. She went under the
water, her eyes open, when a small piece of parchment caught her eye. Gabrielle
swam over to it and snatched it up in her hand. She quickly swam back up
in need of air. "Ack!" she gasped, when she reached the surface. Then she
held up the parchment in front of her, squinting her eyes. She could barely
make out the writing. Hmmm...it looks like some sort of incantation, she
thought, staring at the ink. The bard then began to read it softly to herself.
"Huh," she muttered, when she had finished reciting, "nothing. So much
for that!" Gabrielle tossed the parchment behind her and swam over to the
grass. "Xena?" she said, looking around for her friend. But Xena was nowhere
in sight. "Xena!" she finally yelled, climbing out of the water and onto
the grass. She was about to go looking for her when Xena suddenly appeared,
holding up a rabbit in her fist.
"Looky what I found," she told Gabrielle, grinning.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes, and laughed softly. She laced her top back up
and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders. Xena put the rabbit
over the fire, and began to cook it.
"I wish that was already cooked," Gabrielle mumbled.
Suddenly, the rabbit glowed and a few seconds later, it was cooked.
Xena looked at Gabrielle as if to ask 'what did you do?', and Gabrielle
shrugged, still gawking at the cooked rabbit...
"Gabrielle?! What happened?" Xena asked, looking
confused.
"I don't know! All I did is wish for it to be cooked,
and..." she paused for a minute. "Wait a minute...maybe..." she trailed
off, and then blurted out, "I wish I was dry," and in a few seconds time,
she pulled the blanket off, and sure enough, she wasn't wet anymore. Gabrielle
smiled at this, and turned to Xena.
"So...what? You can wish for anything and it comes
true?" Xena asked her. Gabrielle nodded and shrugged again.
"Wait, Xena! It must have been that piece of parchment
I found in the water! It was strange wording, but I did read it out loud
to myself...maybe it contained the power of making wishes come true!" she
exclaimed. Xena looked at her like she was crazy, but at the same time,
she almost believed the bard.
Xena finished her plate of cooked rabbit, and set
it down beside the frying pan. She looked at Gabrielle, who had already
finished, and was lying on her back, staring up at the night sky.
"Xena, just think...I can wish for anything I want,
and it comes true...just like that. Amazing."
"Gabrielle, we don't know what kind of power has
allowed you to do this, and it may be good, but we're not for sure, and
until we are, I suggest you try not to make too many wishes, just to be
safe," she told her friend. Gabrielle sat up and looked at Xena.
"Yeah, okay, but I do want to make some wishes.
You know, for good things," she said. Xena smiled, and spread out her bedroll
next to Gabrielle. Then the bard turned to her friend.
"Xena, what could I wish for? I mean, okay, so things
aren't that bad, but maybe I could use my wishing to help out a few people
in need. I could end hunger, I could end disease..." she trailed off staring
at the sky, thinking of the time when Aphrodite enchanted her scroll, as
Xena slowly drifted to sleep, grinning. Gabrielle looked at Xena. "Hey!
Xena!" she exclaimed, and the warrior princess's eyes popped open.
"What? Oh, yeah, wishing for food is good, Gabrielle..."
she told her, half asleep, half awake.
"I'm glad you were listening," Gabrielle mumbled
sarcastically, as Xena fell back asleep. The blonde turned over on her
side and drifted off to sleep, thinking about all the great things she
could do with her 'power.'
"Ack!" Gabrielle spat water out of her mouth. "Xena!"
Xena smiled, tossed the waterskin at Gabrielle, and the bard caught it
in both hands, glaring at her friend. The blonde got up, squinted at the
sun as it was rising, and snatched her bedroll, rolling it up. She strapped
it to Argo, then went back to sit on the grass, by the fire that Xena was
cooking breakfast over, which was a couple of fish. Gabrielle opened her
mouth to say something, but Xena put her finger to her friend's lips.
"Gabrielle, no wishing. I want to cook this, you
know, do it the regular way," she told her.
"Fine," Gabrielle pouted, and Xena grinned.
A few minutes later, the two women had finished
their breakfast, and were cleaning up the breakfast dishes, such as the
plates, and the frying pan. Gabrielle took a drink of water out of the
waterskin, and handed it to Xena. The warrior princess repeated what Gabrielle
had done, and then strapped it to Argo. She hopped up on the golden horse,
and threw out a hand to offer Gabrielle a ride up with her. The bard took
Xena's hand, and Xena pulled her up.
"Yah!" Xena clicked her tongue, and Argo took off
riding. They rode for miles, when the two reached a small village, clearly
being raided by an army. Xena and Gabrielle both hopped off the horse,
and jumped right into the fight. Xena drew her sword as Gabrielle got her
staff ready. The bard attacked two warriors from behind, who were tugging
on a defenseless young woman, only a bit younger than Gabrielle, who knocked
them both on their behinds.
"Go! Run!" she urged the girl, who did as she was
told. The men got back up, but that didn't last long, seeing as how Gabrielle
took a crack at their heads, knocking them both unconscious. She threw
her staff behind her, still holding onto it, as it hit another man on the
head, causing him to stagger backwards. Gabrielle hit him across the shins,
and he fell to the dirt.
Xena took another swing at the warrior, blocking
his sword once again. They fought for another few minutes, when Xena
caught him off guard and slashed her sword across his arm, leaving a deep
flesh wound. He glared at her, and attempted to plunge his sword into Xena's
heart. The warrior princess, always thinking three steps ahead, caught
his sword in her hand and hit him over the head with the handle, knocking
him out. She tossed his sword to the side, and headed over towards a man
who was carrying a small child who was screaming, over his shoulder. Xena
cleared her throat, and in response the man turned around and looked at
Xena.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked him,
and then knocked his feet out from under him, causing the child to fall,
and Xena caught her just in time. She couldn't have been more than four
years of age. The dark haired warrior handed the girl to an older woman
who was sitting against one of the burning homes, who appeared to be the
kid's mother. "Here. Take her into the woods, you'll be safe there,
my horse will look after you," she told the woman, who nodded and ran with
her daughter to where Argo was. Xena whistled at her horse, commanding
Argo to lead the woman and the girl into the woods, and to look after them
there. Argo did as she was told, and Xena turned back around, facing the
battle before her.