Life's Lessons
by Mystik
~ August 1st, 2001 ~
Lesson 3: Errors and Mistakes
Okey dokey, kids, class in session! The last lesson we had was a bit short so I'm just going to tell you this one now...so sit back, grab some port (or whatever drinks you have in your modern-day storage closet), and try not to squirt it from your nose.
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Cyrene sighed as she pulled water from the well. Six months of chores... I don't think this is going to be very much fun, she thought miserably. The girl almost lost hold of the rope as it got tangled in the levy, leaving the bucket of water ten feet down inside the well. Aw... crap. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking and then leaned over the side of the well to untangle the rope. Her little body hung halfway over the well, the dark bottom a good fifty feet down.
Suddenly, her foot slipped and she fell onto the rope, grasping it for dear life. "Not again!" she moaned, have a serious case of déjà vu. She looked around once again to see if anyone was watching, and then began to swing toward the edge. The levy creaked and groaned under the pressure of her weight, but she was able to grab hold of the wall. Just as she was about to pull herself out, the rope broke and she screamed.
"I got ya!" shouted and accented voice, grabbing Cyrene's wrist before she plummeted to the bottom of the well. "Ya know, you really need to learn how to keep yourself ou' of these messes."
Cyrene looked up into the dirt-covered face of Donny as he began to pull her from the well. "Thanks!" she said.
Donny dropped her on the ground and dusted his hands off. "I have the right o' mind to tell your mother abou' this."
"But you're not going to... right?"
"Of course not."
Cyrene sighed in relief.
"I'm going to tell your sister, who will then tell your mom."
"No! I'm already grounded for half a year and if you tell them I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!" cried Cyrene, jumping in his path. "I won't let you!"
A sly grin worked its way onto Donny's face. "You think you can beat me?"
Cyrene clenched her jaw and nodded.
"Okay. Just try it." He darted to the left, causing Cyrene to jerk in that direction then quickly bounced back and ran by her other side.
"Come back here!" shouted the girl, chasing after him. She began to giggle as he weaved around the area, never more than four steps ahead but never less than that, either. After awhile, she caught on that he was teasing her. Ducking her head, she ran as fast as she could and hit him headlong, knocking them both to the ground. "Bad idea," moaned the girl, putting hand to her head.
"You're fine. No blood and just a smidge of a bruise." Donny stood up and dusted himself off again. "Well, since you caught me, it gives me no right to tell on you."
Cyrene rose and smirked. "Good." She paused long enough to smile. "That was fun! You wanna play some more?"
Donny looked confused. "'Fun'? Are you insane?"
The girl, also confused, let her smile drop. "Why would I be insane?"
"My Da says that fun is for the weak-minded and primitive. He would get me good if he ever caught me having fun," said Donny, saying the word `fun' as if it were the worst of curse words.
Cyrene shook her head. "Your Da is the one who's insane! Fun is... well, fun! Come on, I'll show you and if you get in trouble my mother'll talk to him!" She grabbed Donny by the wrist and dragged him off before he could protest.
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"...let me go! This is like takin' me hostage, ya know!" shouted Donny as he tried to squirm from Cyrene's vice-grip. "You're cuttin' off the circulation to my hand!"
"Oh, stop your whining! I'm going to show you a good time whether you like it or not!" said Cyrene impatiently. She grinned and turned to the boy, who stopped struggling with a defeated sigh. "Okay, take a deep breath and hold it."
"Why?"
SPLASH! Cyrene giggled as Donny went flying into the water. He came up coughing and sputtering.
"Help! Help, I can't swim! Help me!" he shouted, thrashing around.
Cyrene only crossed her arms and watched.
"Help! I'm gonna drown! Help... wait." The boy grinned sheepishly as he stood up, finding the water only went to his waist. "I knew that."
"Like, duh!" called Cyrene. She abandoned her over tunic on the shore and dove into the water next to him. As the girl came up, Donny quickly turned around, but Cyrene caught the redness creeping up his neck. "What?"
"You... you don't have your shirt on," said a small voice.
Cyrene rolled her blue eyes impatiently. This is going to be harder than I thought... The girl paused long enough to come up with an idea, and then pounced on Donny. After a brief struggle, the boy found himself shirtless and neck-deep in the middle of the river.
"Hey!" he protested.
The girl moved out of the way before he could hit her. "I have an under tunic on! Chill out! Besides, you need a good tan," she said in a matter-of-factly tone.
Donny looked at his pale hand. "True... but you could've asked first!"
"Okay, okay... I'm sorry," said Cyrene irritably. "Now, I'm gonna show you how to swim and by this afternoon, we're moving to the deep part of the creek!"
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So I spent the day teaching Mr. Accent the basics of how to swim. At first he was a little wary and afraid of the water, but after awhile he got comfortable and figured out that one can actually float on the water instead of always thrashing about and trying to head for shore. And, when we moved to the deep end, the sun was already beginning to go down.
How much I wish we had known better than swim half-exhausted.
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Cyrene's eyes closed sleepily as she floated on her back across the surface of the calm river. The evening was just the right temperature, also making the water just right for swimming. She reveled in the cool water, relaxing her sore muscles from teaching Donny how to swim the entire day...
"RAAAH!" Donny burst out of the water and pushed her under.
Cyrene screamed, the water filling her mouth, and came up gasping for breath. She turned to Donny and glared at him. "You idiot! What do you think you're doing?"
Donny shrugged. "Havin' fun."
The girl wiped some water from her eyes. "Well... don't do that. What if I wasn't ready and inhaled the water when I went down, huh?"
"Sorry," said the boy quietly. He looked up at her with his honey-colored doe eyes and sniffled sadly.
Cyrene threw her hands up into the air in defeat. "I give up! I'll never understand you boys!" she said with a grin.
Donny perked up. "Hey... I have an idea! What if we have a race downstream? First one to stop wins!"
"I dunno..."
"Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! You chicken?" He began to cluck, flapping his arms in the water mockingly.
"There's rapids down the river, and who knows how if we'll get washed away?!" protested the girl. Something in her gut was yelling `No! No! This is a disaster waiting to happen!' But Donny's taunting was much louder than that.
"Baargh! Baaargh!" squawked Donny. He began to peck at the water. "Chicken!"
Cyrene angrily hit him upside the head. "Okay, I'll do it! But if we get in trouble, this wasn't my idea!"
"Good! On three. One... two..." Donny took off down the river. "Three!"
"Hey!" called Cyrene, paddling after him.
The two kids swam furiously, laughing and yelling at each other the whole way. Soon they were farther down the river than Cyrene had ever been, but she didn't stop.
"I'm gonna catch you!" she yelled. Speeding up her pace, the girl heard that voice saying `No! Turn back! You're gonna get hurt!' She assumed it was her instincts inherited from her mom: just being worried about everything. So the girl shrugged it off.
Suddenly Donny stopped swimming. "Hey... I can't move!" he screamed, feeling his body cramp up.
Cyrene's stomach tied into a knot. "Donny! What's wrong?"
The boy's head disappeared under the water.
"Oh gods... I'm gonna be so dead for this," she said to herself before diving under.
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Opening her eyes, Cyrene looked around the murky water. She could just make out bubbles rising from a spot not two feet away from her. Blowing out some air, the girl swam over and wrapped her arm around Donny's waist. He screamed, letting the air from his lungs.
Cyrene quickly surfaced, letting Donny take a good breath.
Then, disaster struck.
A strong under current caught their legs and they were dragged under. Donny, his stomach cramped into a knot so tight it hurt to move, doubled up and screamed again as they were swept farther downstream.
Cyrene battled the water the best she could, but her eight-year-old body was no match for the strong current. The under current thrashed at her little body, smashing it against jagged rocks and stray tree roots. Blood followed her trail as she was swept through the violent water. Her feet kicked wildly, letting her rise to the surface just enough... She managed to get one quick puff of air, but then she was thrown down to the bottom of the river.
The air left her lungs; the world was quickly fading. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Donny being pulled from the water by a strong arm...
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Cyrene coughed up some water and groaned. Mommy... was the first thing that went through her head. She slowly opened her blue eyes and saw a blazing, crackling fire only a foot away from her face. The girl quickly moved back from the heat and looked up at the sky, which was dotted with but a thousand stars.
Orion... Pisces...She absently named them before sweeping her surroundings with her eyes.
Lying beside her was Donny, his breaths coming out evenly and signaling that he was still fast asleep. His eye was black, his face cut here and there. Otherwise, the older boy looked just fine.
"You're awake already, lass? Strong one aren't ya?" said a deep voice.
The girl rolled over and saw a man dressed in scraggily clothes. His long hair grew into his even longer beard and dust coated his skin. But, despite his dirty looks, there was a twinkling in his eye that Cyrene found comfort in.
"Do you speak Greek, child?"
She nodded.
"I caught you and your friend there being thrown down the Great River. Ain't the best place to have playtime, is it?" he mused, poking at the fire.
Cyrene shook her head.
"Well, you're tired, little one. Get some more rest and we'll see what we can do tomorrow, eh?"
The girl was asleep again before her head hit the pillow.
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Cyrene jerked awake at the smell of cooking meat. Her stomach rumbled audibly and she sat up. Cooking on the fire was fresh venison; sizzling and creating the most wonderful aroma the girl had ever heard. She wiped some drool from her mouth.
"You ain't gettin' none o' that until you get some firewood," interrupted Donny as he came into camp. The boy dumped some wood into a pile and brushed his shirt off.
The girl yawned and flopped back down on her bedroll, deciding to go hungry after all.
"She doesn't need to get anything, Boy. Why don't you have some breakfast?" said the man who had saved their lives.
Donny plopped down on a log and sighed. "How come she doesn't have to do any work?"
"She's a woman. Leave `er alone," said the man, spooning some venison onto Donny's plate. "You two had a rough day yesterday."
"She's a girl," corrected Donny under his breath.
Cyrene, hearing that she didn't have to do any work, abruptly sat up. "He was the one who wanted to race down the river," she said, shaking a finger at Donny.
"Yeah... well... you agreed to it!" he snapped back.
"Kids, kids, don't fight. Yer mothers wouldn't like you squabbling like this, now would they Cyrene?"
The girl froze. "You--you know my name?" she squeaked, looking up at the bearded man fearfully.
A hearty chuckle left the man's lips. "Me and your moms go way, back, Little One. I was there at your Mom's baby shower! Now, I know your Mom told ya the story about your Mother dying... I think the first time, of course."
"Uh huh..."
"Remember the King of Thieves?"
Cyrene's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. You are Autolycus, the greatest thief there ever was? And the one who cheated Stone on that amulet he bought from you?"
Autolycus scanned his brain. "Stone... Stone... the centaur from eleven years ago? I never forget a name. Faces, well... they leave me."
"Yup, the centaur."
The old man smacked himself on the forehead and sighed. "It was a habit, girlie! Almost twelve years ago, it was! You can't hold me for that!"
Cyrene giggled. "I won't... but Stone might be a bit angry if he sees you."
Donny, totally confused, jumped between them. "Wait, wait, wait. Time out for a second here!" He looked at them both. "You know her mothers?"
Autolycus nodded.
"And he was the king of thieves?"
Cyrene nodded.
Donny stepped back and scratched his chin. "I'm still confused!"
Autlycus and Cyrene laughed. "I'll explain it to you later, Sonny. Right now, I gotta get you back home before Xena goes and destroys the rest of the Olympian gods."
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Oh man, did Autolycus and I have fun explaining to Donny how he knew my mothers and the adventures they shared! Donny, wide-eyed just listened the entire time. He asked a few harmless questions, but never made a peep during the story telling. I guess his father never let him listen to seemingly untrue stories such as these. I dunno... but I sure had a helluva lotta fun watching his face while I told of my mom giving Mother ambrosia to bring her back to life...
Yet, all our fun ended the moment we got home.
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"Cyrene Terreis Ephiny Amphipolis! You get your little behind in the house right this instant! Will it never end with you?!" shouted Gabrielle, a vein in her forehead suddenly becoming amazingly visible. "You're going to be the death of me, I swear it!"
Cyrene waved `bye' to Autolycus and Donny and ventured inside to await her doom.
"Dominic, you get home right now before your dad kills another cow!" ordered the bard, pointing towards Donny's house, which was a quarter of a mile away.
"Yes, ma'am," he said meekly, shuffling away.
"And you!" She turned to Autolycus. "Thank you so much for bringing my little girl back to me!" The bard embraced her long-time friend and placed a kiss on his dirty cheek.
Autolycus blushed down to his toes and kicked up some dust. "Aw... I was just in the right place at the right time..."
"Come inside and have some tea. Xena's going to have a veeeery long talk with our daughter and I need some company." She put an arm around Auto's shoulders and led him inside.
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"Why do you do this to me? Every single time I let you have some freedom, you go and mess it up! How can I trust you by yourself anymore?! And you're not even the one who gets the worst of it! Your mother is gonna pull out all her hair at this rate and I'm going to go gray by the time you're eleven!" chastised Xena.
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I know I said that when Mother gets mad, her voice is all quiet and her eyes steely mad... but when Mother's absolutely furious, she screams and stomps and occasionally gives you the underside of her hand on your behind to think about.
Oh, my poor bottom was going to suffer...
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Cyrene sniffled, wiping away stray tears from her eyes. "We... we were just trying to have some fun, Mommy."
"You do not have that kind of fun!" snapped Xena. "Swimming in the spot I designated for you is just fine; I have no problem with it. But swimming downstream into the rapids is another! You could've said `no' to Donny and kept you both out of danger!"
"But Mommy... he called me chicken."
"And what does that matter?"
Cyrene looked down at her toes. "I... didn't want to be a scaredy cat... I want so much to be like you."
An image flashed through Xena's head. `I want so much to be like you,' Gabrielle had said all those years ago. Those exact words.
Xena sighed and pulled her daughter into her lap. "And I want to be like you," she said, her bottom lip quivering.
Cyrene sniffed and turned her blue eyes up at the warrior. "You do?"
"Sweetie... when I was a little girl, my mother ran a tavern. I had two brothers and no father in sight. I spent my days waiting tables for helpless drunks and stinky travelers with nothing better to do than taunt a thirteen-year-old girl until she cried. So, scared for my life and my dignity, I took up the sword and became what I am today. After all I've been through... all I've put your mom through, I see that, in reality, I wouldn't take anything back. All the choices I made as a youth led me to meet your mom... but I wish I hadn't taken the route I did to meet your mom. I crushed so many lives.
"But you have a fresh start. You can make mistakes and correct them because you have your whole family around... and I want to make sure that I'm always there for you. But I can't be there all the time and I hope to teach you enough so that, one-day, you can make your own choices. Good, innocent fun is fine. But don't go past that, do you understand me?" A tear fell down her cheek.
"Yes, ma'am." Cyrene wiped the droplet from her mother's face and smiled.
"That's my girl." The aged warrior kissed her daughter on the head. "Now, I hope you've had enough of my lectures to last you a lifetime."
Cyrene nodded.
"Good. Now go out and milk the cow."
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One and a half years of extra chores! I thought I was going to die from all the work I had to do! But I knew my mother would never push me past the limit.
So another life lesson was down. I'm beginning to see a pattern:
I get in a life-threatening situation. Mom worries her tail off, cools Mother down a bit, and then Mother gives me the lecture on life. Maybe I was meant to learn all my lessons from my mother... maybe not.
But, in the end, I think Mother was trying to tell me something with her harsh words and punishments. She had a horrible past, with mistakes she'd give her life to correct, such as giving away Solan and betraying Lao Ma's trust to go on a bloody rampage with Borias, and she wants me to see how you should correct errors before they become mistakes. Just like my error of giving in to Donny's taunting and making the mistake of swimming down the river at night.
She made the error of forsaking all the love in her heart for a self-destroying cause:
Revenge.
And I hope, with all my heart, that I learn all my life lessons well enough so that revenge doesn't become part of my daily life.
by Mystik
~ August 1st, 2001 ~
Lesson 3: Errors and Mistakes
Okey dokey, kids, class in session! The last lesson we had was a bit short so I'm just going to tell you this one now...so sit back, grab some port (or whatever drinks you have in your modern-day storage closet), and try not to squirt it from your nose.
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Cyrene sighed as she pulled water from the well. Six months of chores... I don't think this is going to be very much fun, she thought miserably. The girl almost lost hold of the rope as it got tangled in the levy, leaving the bucket of water ten feet down inside the well. Aw... crap. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking and then leaned over the side of the well to untangle the rope. Her little body hung halfway over the well, the dark bottom a good fifty feet down.
Suddenly, her foot slipped and she fell onto the rope, grasping it for dear life. "Not again!" she moaned, have a serious case of déjà vu. She looked around once again to see if anyone was watching, and then began to swing toward the edge. The levy creaked and groaned under the pressure of her weight, but she was able to grab hold of the wall. Just as she was about to pull herself out, the rope broke and she screamed.
"I got ya!" shouted and accented voice, grabbing Cyrene's wrist before she plummeted to the bottom of the well. "Ya know, you really need to learn how to keep yourself ou' of these messes."
Cyrene looked up into the dirt-covered face of Donny as he began to pull her from the well. "Thanks!" she said.
Donny dropped her on the ground and dusted his hands off. "I have the right o' mind to tell your mother abou' this."
"But you're not going to... right?"
"Of course not."
Cyrene sighed in relief.
"I'm going to tell your sister, who will then tell your mom."
"No! I'm already grounded for half a year and if you tell them I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!" cried Cyrene, jumping in his path. "I won't let you!"
A sly grin worked its way onto Donny's face. "You think you can beat me?"
Cyrene clenched her jaw and nodded.
"Okay. Just try it." He darted to the left, causing Cyrene to jerk in that direction then quickly bounced back and ran by her other side.
"Come back here!" shouted the girl, chasing after him. She began to giggle as he weaved around the area, never more than four steps ahead but never less than that, either. After awhile, she caught on that he was teasing her. Ducking her head, she ran as fast as she could and hit him headlong, knocking them both to the ground. "Bad idea," moaned the girl, putting hand to her head.
"You're fine. No blood and just a smidge of a bruise." Donny stood up and dusted himself off again. "Well, since you caught me, it gives me no right to tell on you."
Cyrene rose and smirked. "Good." She paused long enough to smile. "That was fun! You wanna play some more?"
Donny looked confused. "'Fun'? Are you insane?"
The girl, also confused, let her smile drop. "Why would I be insane?"
"My Da says that fun is for the weak-minded and primitive. He would get me good if he ever caught me having fun," said Donny, saying the word `fun' as if it were the worst of curse words.
Cyrene shook her head. "Your Da is the one who's insane! Fun is... well, fun! Come on, I'll show you and if you get in trouble my mother'll talk to him!" She grabbed Donny by the wrist and dragged him off before he could protest.
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"...let me go! This is like takin' me hostage, ya know!" shouted Donny as he tried to squirm from Cyrene's vice-grip. "You're cuttin' off the circulation to my hand!"
"Oh, stop your whining! I'm going to show you a good time whether you like it or not!" said Cyrene impatiently. She grinned and turned to the boy, who stopped struggling with a defeated sigh. "Okay, take a deep breath and hold it."
"Why?"
SPLASH! Cyrene giggled as Donny went flying into the water. He came up coughing and sputtering.
"Help! Help, I can't swim! Help me!" he shouted, thrashing around.
Cyrene only crossed her arms and watched.
"Help! I'm gonna drown! Help... wait." The boy grinned sheepishly as he stood up, finding the water only went to his waist. "I knew that."
"Like, duh!" called Cyrene. She abandoned her over tunic on the shore and dove into the water next to him. As the girl came up, Donny quickly turned around, but Cyrene caught the redness creeping up his neck. "What?"
"You... you don't have your shirt on," said a small voice.
Cyrene rolled her blue eyes impatiently. This is going to be harder than I thought... The girl paused long enough to come up with an idea, and then pounced on Donny. After a brief struggle, the boy found himself shirtless and neck-deep in the middle of the river.
"Hey!" he protested.
The girl moved out of the way before he could hit her. "I have an under tunic on! Chill out! Besides, you need a good tan," she said in a matter-of-factly tone.
Donny looked at his pale hand. "True... but you could've asked first!"
"Okay, okay... I'm sorry," said Cyrene irritably. "Now, I'm gonna show you how to swim and by this afternoon, we're moving to the deep part of the creek!"
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So I spent the day teaching Mr. Accent the basics of how to swim. At first he was a little wary and afraid of the water, but after awhile he got comfortable and figured out that one can actually float on the water instead of always thrashing about and trying to head for shore. And, when we moved to the deep end, the sun was already beginning to go down.
How much I wish we had known better than swim half-exhausted.
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Cyrene's eyes closed sleepily as she floated on her back across the surface of the calm river. The evening was just the right temperature, also making the water just right for swimming. She reveled in the cool water, relaxing her sore muscles from teaching Donny how to swim the entire day...
"RAAAH!" Donny burst out of the water and pushed her under.
Cyrene screamed, the water filling her mouth, and came up gasping for breath. She turned to Donny and glared at him. "You idiot! What do you think you're doing?"
Donny shrugged. "Havin' fun."
The girl wiped some water from her eyes. "Well... don't do that. What if I wasn't ready and inhaled the water when I went down, huh?"
"Sorry," said the boy quietly. He looked up at her with his honey-colored doe eyes and sniffled sadly.
Cyrene threw her hands up into the air in defeat. "I give up! I'll never understand you boys!" she said with a grin.
Donny perked up. "Hey... I have an idea! What if we have a race downstream? First one to stop wins!"
"I dunno..."
"Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! You chicken?" He began to cluck, flapping his arms in the water mockingly.
"There's rapids down the river, and who knows how if we'll get washed away?!" protested the girl. Something in her gut was yelling `No! No! This is a disaster waiting to happen!' But Donny's taunting was much louder than that.
"Baargh! Baaargh!" squawked Donny. He began to peck at the water. "Chicken!"
Cyrene angrily hit him upside the head. "Okay, I'll do it! But if we get in trouble, this wasn't my idea!"
"Good! On three. One... two..." Donny took off down the river. "Three!"
"Hey!" called Cyrene, paddling after him.
The two kids swam furiously, laughing and yelling at each other the whole way. Soon they were farther down the river than Cyrene had ever been, but she didn't stop.
"I'm gonna catch you!" she yelled. Speeding up her pace, the girl heard that voice saying `No! Turn back! You're gonna get hurt!' She assumed it was her instincts inherited from her mom: just being worried about everything. So the girl shrugged it off.
Suddenly Donny stopped swimming. "Hey... I can't move!" he screamed, feeling his body cramp up.
Cyrene's stomach tied into a knot. "Donny! What's wrong?"
The boy's head disappeared under the water.
"Oh gods... I'm gonna be so dead for this," she said to herself before diving under.
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Opening her eyes, Cyrene looked around the murky water. She could just make out bubbles rising from a spot not two feet away from her. Blowing out some air, the girl swam over and wrapped her arm around Donny's waist. He screamed, letting the air from his lungs.
Cyrene quickly surfaced, letting Donny take a good breath.
Then, disaster struck.
A strong under current caught their legs and they were dragged under. Donny, his stomach cramped into a knot so tight it hurt to move, doubled up and screamed again as they were swept farther downstream.
Cyrene battled the water the best she could, but her eight-year-old body was no match for the strong current. The under current thrashed at her little body, smashing it against jagged rocks and stray tree roots. Blood followed her trail as she was swept through the violent water. Her feet kicked wildly, letting her rise to the surface just enough... She managed to get one quick puff of air, but then she was thrown down to the bottom of the river.
The air left her lungs; the world was quickly fading. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Donny being pulled from the water by a strong arm...
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Cyrene coughed up some water and groaned. Mommy... was the first thing that went through her head. She slowly opened her blue eyes and saw a blazing, crackling fire only a foot away from her face. The girl quickly moved back from the heat and looked up at the sky, which was dotted with but a thousand stars.
Orion... Pisces...She absently named them before sweeping her surroundings with her eyes.
Lying beside her was Donny, his breaths coming out evenly and signaling that he was still fast asleep. His eye was black, his face cut here and there. Otherwise, the older boy looked just fine.
"You're awake already, lass? Strong one aren't ya?" said a deep voice.
The girl rolled over and saw a man dressed in scraggily clothes. His long hair grew into his even longer beard and dust coated his skin. But, despite his dirty looks, there was a twinkling in his eye that Cyrene found comfort in.
"Do you speak Greek, child?"
She nodded.
"I caught you and your friend there being thrown down the Great River. Ain't the best place to have playtime, is it?" he mused, poking at the fire.
Cyrene shook her head.
"Well, you're tired, little one. Get some more rest and we'll see what we can do tomorrow, eh?"
The girl was asleep again before her head hit the pillow.
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Cyrene jerked awake at the smell of cooking meat. Her stomach rumbled audibly and she sat up. Cooking on the fire was fresh venison; sizzling and creating the most wonderful aroma the girl had ever heard. She wiped some drool from her mouth.
"You ain't gettin' none o' that until you get some firewood," interrupted Donny as he came into camp. The boy dumped some wood into a pile and brushed his shirt off.
The girl yawned and flopped back down on her bedroll, deciding to go hungry after all.
"She doesn't need to get anything, Boy. Why don't you have some breakfast?" said the man who had saved their lives.
Donny plopped down on a log and sighed. "How come she doesn't have to do any work?"
"She's a woman. Leave `er alone," said the man, spooning some venison onto Donny's plate. "You two had a rough day yesterday."
"She's a girl," corrected Donny under his breath.
Cyrene, hearing that she didn't have to do any work, abruptly sat up. "He was the one who wanted to race down the river," she said, shaking a finger at Donny.
"Yeah... well... you agreed to it!" he snapped back.
"Kids, kids, don't fight. Yer mothers wouldn't like you squabbling like this, now would they Cyrene?"
The girl froze. "You--you know my name?" she squeaked, looking up at the bearded man fearfully.
A hearty chuckle left the man's lips. "Me and your moms go way, back, Little One. I was there at your Mom's baby shower! Now, I know your Mom told ya the story about your Mother dying... I think the first time, of course."
"Uh huh..."
"Remember the King of Thieves?"
Cyrene's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. You are Autolycus, the greatest thief there ever was? And the one who cheated Stone on that amulet he bought from you?"
Autolycus scanned his brain. "Stone... Stone... the centaur from eleven years ago? I never forget a name. Faces, well... they leave me."
"Yup, the centaur."
The old man smacked himself on the forehead and sighed. "It was a habit, girlie! Almost twelve years ago, it was! You can't hold me for that!"
Cyrene giggled. "I won't... but Stone might be a bit angry if he sees you."
Donny, totally confused, jumped between them. "Wait, wait, wait. Time out for a second here!" He looked at them both. "You know her mothers?"
Autolycus nodded.
"And he was the king of thieves?"
Cyrene nodded.
Donny stepped back and scratched his chin. "I'm still confused!"
Autlycus and Cyrene laughed. "I'll explain it to you later, Sonny. Right now, I gotta get you back home before Xena goes and destroys the rest of the Olympian gods."
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Oh man, did Autolycus and I have fun explaining to Donny how he knew my mothers and the adventures they shared! Donny, wide-eyed just listened the entire time. He asked a few harmless questions, but never made a peep during the story telling. I guess his father never let him listen to seemingly untrue stories such as these. I dunno... but I sure had a helluva lotta fun watching his face while I told of my mom giving Mother ambrosia to bring her back to life...
Yet, all our fun ended the moment we got home.
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"Cyrene Terreis Ephiny Amphipolis! You get your little behind in the house right this instant! Will it never end with you?!" shouted Gabrielle, a vein in her forehead suddenly becoming amazingly visible. "You're going to be the death of me, I swear it!"
Cyrene waved `bye' to Autolycus and Donny and ventured inside to await her doom.
"Dominic, you get home right now before your dad kills another cow!" ordered the bard, pointing towards Donny's house, which was a quarter of a mile away.
"Yes, ma'am," he said meekly, shuffling away.
"And you!" She turned to Autolycus. "Thank you so much for bringing my little girl back to me!" The bard embraced her long-time friend and placed a kiss on his dirty cheek.
Autolycus blushed down to his toes and kicked up some dust. "Aw... I was just in the right place at the right time..."
"Come inside and have some tea. Xena's going to have a veeeery long talk with our daughter and I need some company." She put an arm around Auto's shoulders and led him inside.
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"Why do you do this to me? Every single time I let you have some freedom, you go and mess it up! How can I trust you by yourself anymore?! And you're not even the one who gets the worst of it! Your mother is gonna pull out all her hair at this rate and I'm going to go gray by the time you're eleven!" chastised Xena.
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I know I said that when Mother gets mad, her voice is all quiet and her eyes steely mad... but when Mother's absolutely furious, she screams and stomps and occasionally gives you the underside of her hand on your behind to think about.
Oh, my poor bottom was going to suffer...
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Cyrene sniffled, wiping away stray tears from her eyes. "We... we were just trying to have some fun, Mommy."
"You do not have that kind of fun!" snapped Xena. "Swimming in the spot I designated for you is just fine; I have no problem with it. But swimming downstream into the rapids is another! You could've said `no' to Donny and kept you both out of danger!"
"But Mommy... he called me chicken."
"And what does that matter?"
Cyrene looked down at her toes. "I... didn't want to be a scaredy cat... I want so much to be like you."
An image flashed through Xena's head. `I want so much to be like you,' Gabrielle had said all those years ago. Those exact words.
Xena sighed and pulled her daughter into her lap. "And I want to be like you," she said, her bottom lip quivering.
Cyrene sniffed and turned her blue eyes up at the warrior. "You do?"
"Sweetie... when I was a little girl, my mother ran a tavern. I had two brothers and no father in sight. I spent my days waiting tables for helpless drunks and stinky travelers with nothing better to do than taunt a thirteen-year-old girl until she cried. So, scared for my life and my dignity, I took up the sword and became what I am today. After all I've been through... all I've put your mom through, I see that, in reality, I wouldn't take anything back. All the choices I made as a youth led me to meet your mom... but I wish I hadn't taken the route I did to meet your mom. I crushed so many lives.
"But you have a fresh start. You can make mistakes and correct them because you have your whole family around... and I want to make sure that I'm always there for you. But I can't be there all the time and I hope to teach you enough so that, one-day, you can make your own choices. Good, innocent fun is fine. But don't go past that, do you understand me?" A tear fell down her cheek.
"Yes, ma'am." Cyrene wiped the droplet from her mother's face and smiled.
"That's my girl." The aged warrior kissed her daughter on the head. "Now, I hope you've had enough of my lectures to last you a lifetime."
Cyrene nodded.
"Good. Now go out and milk the cow."
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One and a half years of extra chores! I thought I was going to die from all the work I had to do! But I knew my mother would never push me past the limit.
So another life lesson was down. I'm beginning to see a pattern:
I get in a life-threatening situation. Mom worries her tail off, cools Mother down a bit, and then Mother gives me the lecture on life. Maybe I was meant to learn all my lessons from my mother... maybe not.
But, in the end, I think Mother was trying to tell me something with her harsh words and punishments. She had a horrible past, with mistakes she'd give her life to correct, such as giving away Solan and betraying Lao Ma's trust to go on a bloody rampage with Borias, and she wants me to see how you should correct errors before they become mistakes. Just like my error of giving in to Donny's taunting and making the mistake of swimming down the river at night.
She made the error of forsaking all the love in her heart for a self-destroying cause:
Revenge.
And I hope, with all my heart, that I learn all my life lessons well enough so that revenge doesn't become part of my daily life.