Chapter 3

Gabrielle watched afar at Xena and Argo searching the woods together. After last night she didn't want to be anywhere that woman. There was something about her that she did not like and Gabrielle couldn't figure out what it was.

Why is she so irritating? Why is she even here? Who is she really? Is this a trick? All of these questions swarmed in the bard's head. As she was normally the one to be by Xena's side during times like this, she stood back, observing the two working very well together. The strange thing of it all was that Xena was very welcoming to this woman naturally and Gabrielle hated to admit that she was a bit envious.

Picking at her fingernails, she muttered to herself as her eyes darted back and forth between the warrior and the tall blonde conversing in hushed tones.

Circe appeared from behind a tree and wrapped her arm over her thin waist, eyeing Gabrielle seething with envy. She raised her eyebrow and looked over the meadow at Xena and her horse turned human, Argo. Her plan was not going as expected but she had to admit that it was far funnier to see this reaction instead.

The witch made herself scarce and closed her eyes, whispering a small incantation and spread her arms outward. She then transformed her entire being into the God of War. With a flicker her of her eyes they changed from bright red to the solemn deep brown to resemble that of Ares. She walked towards the bard and cleared her throat loudly.

Gabrielle whipped her body around and frowned at the sight of the façade before her. She clutched her staff; ready to attack if need be even though she knew she could do no real damage to the war god anyhow.

"What are you doing here?" she asks with locked teeth.

"Watching you suffer," Circe answers and smiles.

Gabrielle backed away as Ares walked closer to her. Her eyes glanced over at Xena and Argo, wondering if she should call for help or not. She wanted to play it cool for now just in case. Ares wasn't stupid enough to strike her without Xena present, was he?

"Do you have anything to do with this?"

Circe looked around, playing along and stared at Xena smiling at the human Argo. "Whatever do you mean, Gabrielle?"

"You know what I mean, Ares," the bard hissed. "This village. These missing men. Are you behind this or not?"

"Are you accusing me?" Circe gave a charming smile to go along with the infamous war god's smooth voice. "What if I was involved? What are you planning to do about it?"

Gabrielle looked at Ares questionably and eyed Xena again.

The witch folded her arms and kept grinning at the confused blonde. "Waiting for your savior to come to your aid?" she implied to the bard's wandering eyes towards Xena scavenging the woods with Argo, taking their sweet time.

Gabrielle swung her staff and within a mere second, the war god disappeared. She breathed heavily and circled around very cautiously. It was rather rare for Ares to show his face only to give vague information which was unlike him, she thought. Ares was always known to boast over his chaotic plans but this time he was rather reserved.

"Xena!" she yelled and ran towards the forest.

Argo spun around and frowned at the petite bard sprinting across the field. "Has she finally decided to stop sulking about?" she mutters and Xena nudged her arm.

"What is it Gabrielle?"

She halted and put a hand over her beating chest. Taking a moment to catch her breath she didn't even acknowledge Argo's presence. "Ares was here. I –I was just talking to him."

Xena knitted her brows and walked out of the forest, searching the area and looked to the sky. "What did he say to you?"

"I asked him if he had anything to do with the missing men but he…was being strange. He didn't give me any information."

"That is not surprising for the God of War," said Argo. She received a glare from the short blonde and Argo smiled back at her.

"What do you know? You can't even remember to wear clothes let alone where you come from!"
Gabrielle spat.

Argo threw down the rocks that she picked up during the scavenger hunt with Xena and walked towards the bard. Xena was too busy looking for the supposed war god to notice the tiff behind her. Argo's big brown eyes glanced over at her master then she pushed Gabrielle onto the ground.

Xena turned and saw Gabrielle on the ground. She frowned and sheathed the blade. "What is going on back there?" she asked.

Gabrielle sprung up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. "That's it, I'm so done with this." She marched over to Argo and if she had sleeves she'd roll them up, ready to fight. Argo smiled and placed her hands on her hips, confident that she could take the small blonde.

Xena ran in between them and placed her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "There isn't going to be any fighting," she calmly said. "Gabrielle!"

"She pushed me! Aren't you going to do something about that? She's been out to get me since day one, Xena! Why can't you see that?"

"I'm not out to get you, Gabby."

The bard snarled. "My name isn't Gabby! It's Gabrielle!"

Xena pushed her friend backward to a secluded corner and briefly smiled at Argo. "Excuse us…" she pinned the bard to a tree and stared into her angry emerald eyes. "Gabrielle, we aren't here to fight. We're supposed to find out what happened to these men and your anger is getting to you."

"No, it isn't! She's been cracking jokes about my height and the way I look and she's all over you, Xena. And she pushed me."

"You already said that."

Gabrielle huffed and wiggled out of the hold and slightly pushed her warrior friend away then stormed off.

"Where're you going?!" Xena shouted. "Gabrielle!"

She sighed watching the bard march away back to the village area. She entered the woods and there Argo was searching for more animal tracks, completely ignoring what had happened. She folded her arms and stared at the lanky blonde.

"Ambrosia," she announces and Argo turned around.

"I found more tracks. We could follow them deeper into the woods. I think we're getting close."

"You shouldn't have pushed Gabrielle. Why did you do that? Now she's upset at me."

Argo shrugged her shoulder. "She's just jealous that I am 'tagging along' so she says, with you two. She's always been the jealous type." She bent down and picked up the soil and sniffed it.

Xena titled her head and caught what Argo had just said about Gabrielle being jealous all the time which struck her odd. "What do you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"You said Gabrielle has always been the jealous type. What did you mean by that?"

Argo's cheeks flushed and she didn't make eye contact. "I meant that…she has that aura about her. I can read people very well. Are we going to continue to track? We are losing daylight quickly." She dropped the soil and walked further into the woods, tracing the animal prints.

The warrior narrowed her eyes skeptically.

Gabrielle drummed her fingers on the counter at the bar. The innkeeper came by and smiled at her curiously and gave her another cup of port. She drank half the cup and he blinked rapidly at her quick consumption of alcohol.

"Where's your warrior friend? Aren't you two suppose't be looking for those missing guys?"

She scowled and slammed her fist on the counter. "I don't want to talk about Xena."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was just wondering. You should probably stop drinking those." He attempted to pull the cup away and she snagged it with a firm grip. Backing away slowly he made his way to the opposite side of the bar to attend to his other guests.

Joxer stumbled into the inn, bumping into a few tables on his way in. Gabrielle turned at the commotion and banged her forehead on the counter, cursing her life at this very moment. Nothing was turning out how it was supposed to be right now.

"Why me?" she lifted her head and raised her palms to the ceiling. "Why?"

"Oh! Gabby!" he smiled and ran over with his clumsy armor hanging off his chest and leaned on the counter, smiling happily at her.

She sipped the wine and stared at the full bottles of port on the other side of the counter. She was definitely thinking of stealing a couple of those to save for later.

"What do you want, Joxer?"

"I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by."

"Sure you were," she mumbles. "I'm a little busy."

He eyed her chugging the wine and she pushed the empty cup towards the edge of the counter and waved her hand to the innkeeper to refill her cup which he was reluctant to do. Joxer pouted his lips and watched as the cup was refilled and Gabrielle drinking it rapidly. Some of the wine dripped down her neck.

"Um…Gabby...should you be drinking that? I mean, we all know how you are with wine. Like that one time –"

She reached over and gripped his throat and he croaked. "Shut up, Joxer. I'm not in the mood for one of your dumb stories!" she shoved him into a large man beside him.

Joxer fumbled and apologized to the man twice his size and backed away, hiding behind Gabrielle for protection. "Ah…Gabrielle…a little help?"

She turned in the bar stool and grabbed her staff. "Must I do everything around here?" she griped and whacked the brute in the jaw with her staff and he stumbled backward into a group of travelers who didn't look very pleased at all. The men all stared at her and Joxer.

Her eyes widened and she grabbed Joxer's hand and the two ran out of the inn fast as lightning.

Coming to a stop outside of the village Gabrielle slapped Joxer's chest and he fell into a pile of hay. "What is the big idea, Joxer? You always get in the way at the wrong time!"

"Jeez, Gabrielle. What's eating you? I just came here to tell you that I know 'bout those men."

She raised her eyebrow. "Really?" she seemed skeptical.

"Yeah, you see, I was looking for you guys. Well, actually I knew where you were of course. I was just tryna catch up with you and Xena. I stumbled upon this cave," he explained his journey using huge gestures with his hands and she sighed irritatingly. "And then I walked in. There was this big cat! A panther!"

She interrupted, "did you say panther?"

"Yeah, anyway," he brushed that part off, "I got there and I totally wasn't scared of it 'cause you know, I can take a cat, right? Who couldn't?"

"Show me the cave."

His mouth parted. "Shouldn't we get Xena too? She should know about this, right? Where's she anyway?" he searched around and he was pulled out of the hay by the bard. "Gabrielle! What about Xena?"

"We don't need her. We can solve this problem without her. Anything she can do, I can do too. Come on!" she growled and yanked him forward.

Argo and Xena followed the tracks together and the animal prints suddenly stopped as if the animals floated the rest of the way or something may have happened to them. Even though Xena was focused on finding out what happened to these men she couldn't get her mind off of Gabrielle's angry departure earlier.

"What happened here?" Argo asked. "This is odd. What do we do now?"

Xena looked to her tall companion. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you know everything! You always have a plan."

"It's hard to have a plan when I have nothing to go off of. These animal tracks mean nothing to us now that they've abruptly stopped just outside the woods. Maybe we should go back to the village."

Argo half smiled. "You just want to go back because you're worried about Gabrielle. I recognize that look."

Another strange statement from her, Xena realized. "Uh huh. That's it."

"She'll forgive you eventually! She always does." She blurted out and then caught herself. This was the third time she spoke out of turn. "I mean, you are close friends, right? I can sense it."

"Are you some sort of oracle?"

Argo laughed. "I don't even know what that is but it must be good since you thought of it." She came close to the warrior and Xena raised her eyebrow, sizing up the tall bronzed blonde. "If you want to go back to the village, we can. It won't bother me."

"And you will apologize to Gabrielle."

Apologizing was something Argo did not like to do. "Well, I suppose I could do that since Gabrielle is so important to you."

"She is –very important. She's my friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's always been there for me and I don't want her to be upset with me because of something you did." Xena backtracked through the forest heading towards the village.

Human Argo frowned sadly and sighed, hanging her head then followed the warrior a few feet behind, keeping silent for once.

Circe heard the bumbling oaf of a man and the bard traveling closer to her inside the cave. She looked around at all the animals she had in cages and others lounging on the cold ground. The black panther that Joxer encountered yesterday looked up to the witch, waiting her command.

"Jafas, go hide somewhere and don't come out till I tell you," she whispered. The large cat lazily rose from the ground and sauntered off, swinging his tail back and forth, purring loudly as he descended into darkness.

Gabrielle cautiously walked further into the dark cave with Joxer mumbling beneath his breath. "Are you sure this is the way?" she asks. "Joxer stop breathing down my neck!"

They came into the center of the cave and Gabrielle's jaw dropped at the mass amount of animals in cages hanging from the cave ceiling. There were pumas, birds, goats, lions; all in cages. There were dozens of torches lit around the cave.

She gripped her staff firmly and heard clapping from a distance and held up her weapon. Circe appeared before the bard in her disguise as the God of War once more to trick her. Gabrielle half rolled her eyes and lowered the useless staff.

"You again," she says. "I knew you were up to something. What's with the cave, Ares? And do you have a fetish with animals?" she looked around at the caged creatures and they did not look happy.

Circe frowned. "Do not be bothered with things do not concern you, Gabrielle."

"Why are you talking like that?" she felt the need to laugh.

Joxer was expecting the same gorgeous dark haired woman to appear in the cave. He searched around and Circe's eyes followed his curiosity.

"I asked you to bring Xena to me and you failed," she says to Joxer and he froze in place, timid of the façade of the war god.

Gabrielle scoffed. "Of course!" she threw her hands in the air. "You always want Xena. I am not surprised. If you wanted her why don't you just go to her like you always do? You know what, Ares, you're acting very strange."

"Silence!" the witch yelled.

The bard flinched.

Ares appeared in the cave and Gabrielle's eyes widened at the sight of two God of Wars in the same area. She kept her guard up and backed away slowly, holding the staff in front of her body. Ares looked over and saw a mirror image of himself staring right back at him.

"What in the name…" he muttered. "Circe!" his voice boomed throughout the cave and Joxer covered his helm with his hands.

The witch transformed back into her normal form and now Gabrielle was very confused.

Joxer lifts his head slowly and smiled, pointing at Circe. "That's who I was looking for!"

"Shut up, Joxer…" Gabrielle hissed.

Circe snarled. "You are getting on my nerves," she pointed her finger at Joxer and he turned into a ferret. Gabrielle gasped and looked down at her feet at the ferret clinging to her boots.

She turned to attention to the fuming war god. "What are you doing here? I put you in charge of Damian."

He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. "Just who gave you the right to pose as me? Nobody!"

Circe emits a seductive smile. "Ares, please. You're so angry all the time. I can fix that for you."

Gabrielle grabbed Joxer and shook her head, staring into the big brown ferret eyes. "Gods…Joxer." He wrapped his tail around her neck and while the two gods were arguing she decided to make a run for it.

Circe frowned deeply and pushed Ares out of the way and waved her hand, sealing the cave's exit. Gabrielle skid to a stop, nearly running into the wall. She banged on the magic wall with her fists and cried out for help. As she was screaming for aid she felt something wrap around her ankles and looked down but there was nothing.

Circe wagged her fingers and pulled Gabrielle backwards across the ground with a great invisible force. Gabrielle reached out to grab onto the wall as her legs were uncontrollably being pulled backwards. Ares rolled his eyes, standing by watching the blonde suffer and struggle.

She yanked her fist towards her chest and Gabrielle flew onto her back. She blew against her fingernails and sighed deeply then levitated the bard off the ground. Joxer in ferret form held onto her dear life, too afraid to let go. His tail covered her eyes.

"Joxer!" she yelled and pried his tail off her eyes.

The moment her vision was clear she saw a wall in front of her and shut her eyes, afraid she was to be smashed into it. Circe smiled and walked around to stare at the blonde. "You should've brought Xena with you. Your friend failed to do as I asked."

Ares stepped in. "What if I get Xena for you? Will you then turn Athena's warriors back into humans?"

Gabrielle struggled but she couldn't move a muscle in her body. "What?! Ares, no!"

"Oh?" the sorceress eyed the war god. "You'd do that for me? I'll consider turning them back."

"Circe!"

She sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll do it but you bring your warrior to me. I'll change all of your sister's warriors back into humans. I'm sure they're still clucking around in Marathon as we speak!" she laughed.

He vanished out of the cave and Gabrielle tried to turn her head. "Ares!" she growled and looked at the witch. "Why are you doing this? And change Joxer back!"

"You are so irritating. Perhaps I will turn you into something Xena hates. What animals does she detest? Beetles? Worms? Oh wait, no, I have it! A rat."