Chapter Twelve

"But you know what would really kill me?"

"A sharp stick through the heart?"

Buffy and Gabrielle quickly turned around. Xena had come up behind them.

"Xena! You scared me!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"

But Buffy knew. She wasn't paying attention so she wasn't aware of Xena behind them, but she knew why. She was proving to Gabrielle that her stalking skills were just as good as Buffy's

"You were saying?" Xena asked, ignoring Gabrielle.

"I was saying that it would be just my luck that after I've learned and seen so much here, that when I go back home, I'd forget everything."

"Where's Argo?" Gabrielle wasn't going to be ignored.

Xena whistled and her horse came galloping up to them, and they began their trek again.

"You haven't told us very much about you Slayers," Xena commented. "Is there some reason, some deep, dark secret you don't want us to know about?"

"Not much to tell. When one Slayer dies, another is called. And she battles the forces of darkness until she's killed, and then the next one is called. And so on and on."

"How many of you are running around battling all these dark forces?"

"Just one at a time. The official line is, 'In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.' "

"Doesn't make much sense having just one."

"I didn't make the rules."

"Are all Slayers female?" Gabrielle asked.

"Everyone of us. And I don't know why."

"Anything else?"

"No, that's just about everything. But tell me, when did you get your abilities? If they came all at once then it could be you ARE a Slayer."

"They just developed over the years as I was leading my army."

"You had an army?"

"Yes. There was a time when I as cruel and as merciless and any warlord. But thanks to Hercules, I started following a different path."

"Hercules? THE Hercules? The half-god Hercules? With all the muscles?"

"Yes, that Hercules. Why, do you think I'm lying?"

"No, not at all. It's just that – well, I guess all myths have a germ of truth behind them."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like that guy Bacchus. You said he was a god. But I'm sure he was just a very charismatic leader, or maybe a vampire, whose followers thought of him as a god. And I'm sure it was the same thing for your Hercules."

"So you're saying you don't believe in the gods? That they're not real?"

"Of course they're not real. Look, every culture, every group of people has their gods they pray to, but anyone who looks at it logically knows they're not real, not really real."

"Believe me, the gods are real. I've met, and I've fought Ares, the god of war."

"Oh, come on Xena, you can't be serious! That makes no sense on so many levels, I don't even know how to respond."

"It's true," Gabrielle said. "Even I've seen him."

"Not you, too. Gabrielle, I really thought you, of all people, wouldn't be taken in by this god nonsense."

"And just what is THAT supposed to mean? That Gabrielle is so smart and I'm so stupid?"

Buffy realized she was starting to alienate both of them.

"No, I don't mean that at all. Let's just say I'm the kind of gal who has to see things for herself before she believes it."

They walked on for a bit, then Gabrielle said, "So you don't believe in love?"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"I mean, you can't see it, or touch it, smell it. So that must mean you don't believe there is a thing called love."

"Of course I believe in love."

"But how do you know it's real?"

"I can feel it. It's in my heart."

"Then maybe all those people feel their gods in their hearts, too."

Buffy took a breath. She knew Gabrielle had a valid point, but never answered.

As the sun reached its zenith, Xena suggested they stop for a short rest. She wasn't tired, and she knew Gabrielle wasn't, but she was concerned about Buffy walking with bare feet on the forest floor. But when she asked about them, Buffy insisted they were fine, they were toughening up as she walked – more of that accelerated healing.

Xena had taken off her scabbard and had unclipped her Chakram.

"So that's the famous Chakram, huh?" Buffy held out her hand. "Can I see it?"

"No."

"Then will you hold it up so I can look at it?"

Xena hesitated, then held it up, turning it so Buffy could see both sides.

"You know," Buffy said, "there wasn't much of a description of it. About all we knew was that it was some kind of weapon, and that it was a disk. But a ring makes more sense. Probably easier to throw."

"And to catch."

"How would you catch it?"

"Whenever she throws it, it comes back to her," Gabrielle explained. "Unless it gets wedged into a tree or something."

"It comes back to you? Like a boomerang?"

"I have no idea what a boomer-thing is," Xena said.

"It's a curved, flat piece of wood that you throw, and it comes back to you if it doesn't hit anything. It's used mostly for hunting, I think."

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