Chapter 5

It was getting late in the night as Xena continued to walk. She wasn't sure how much further she had to go before she reached the camp. The two girls back at the tavern earlier today had said something about three miles or so, but to all appearances they must have been wrong. She felt like she had been walking forever. Plus, the night was growing colder and if she didn't find it soon she would be force to make camp there and miss her chance.

That was definitely something she didn't want to do, so she decided to keep heading in the direction she was going. She thought about what the girls had said earlier about them moving to one of Athena's training grounds and it hit her. If they were going to be moving there in the morning, then they must be camped close by it. She changed her direction a little to the north.

She knew she wasn't far from that training ground and if her instincts were right then she should be there within an hour. After heading on her new route for a short while she began to hear voices up ahead. Finally, after wandering in the dark for hours, she made it to the camp. Xena looked around and took everything in. There were quite a few tents set up around the clearing- obviously meant to house the new recruits. Some of Athena's warriors were going through drills with each other a few yards away from her and she couldn't help the excitement she felt as she watched them.

They seemed to parry and block the others' attacks effortlessly. Xena knew she could handle her own but watching them in action only made her want to become even better with a sword. This was it, she could feel it. A smile pulled at her lips….she knew she had made the right choice…. She was so engulfed in watching the warriors practice that she didn't realize that she was no longer alone.

"Hello there! You must be here to try out." came a soft voice from behind her. Xena turned around to see who it was and came to face one of Athena's warriors. She took in the appearance of the dark haired warrior. Her armor was made out of a grey leather warrior dress that fell just above her knees. She had matching arm bands and gauntlets. She carried a bow and a set of arrows on her back and a sword rested on her left hip.

"Yes, my name is Xena." she reached out her hand and they clasped arms. The warrior began to lead Xena away from the others that were already training and led her to the tents.

"Alright Xena, we are camping here for the night and as soon as the sun rises we plan to move to Athena's training grounds to better assess all the new comers."

She quietly led her into one of the tents. "This is where you will be staying for the night. You will have to share the tent with a few others but that shouldn't be a problem. Make yourself comfortable."

She gave her a small smile and left the tent.

Xena stared around the tent and saw that some of the beds were already occupied by a few others. She made her way around to one of the empty cots and got herself set up for the night. She began to hear voices enter the tent and looked up to see two women walk in and head in her direction to the two empty cots near her.

"Hello there. When did you get here? I don't remember seeing you earlier." the girl with the light brown hair asked her.

"I've just arrived." Xena answered her. She looked at them both and saw that the one who asked her the question seemed friendly but her friend was staring at her with utter disinterest.

"Just arrived? Cutting it kind of close there, aren't we." the dark haired girl spat at her. Xena could tell that she might be a problem.

" Come on Astra, there is no need to be rude. We are all here for the same reason." her friend said, turning back to Xena and giving her a soft, reassuring smile. "Don't mind her she just takes everything too seriously."

"Well excuse me for taking this seriously. I actually want to make it." she huffed at her friend and walked over to her own cot.

She just shook her head and turned back to Xena. "My name is Flora, what's yours?"

"Xena." she said as she watched Astra walk back over to them.

"Well Xena, welcome. Do you have any experience or are you just going to wing it tomorrow? " She liked this new girl and she hoped that maybe they could become friends if they both made it.

"Yes I do have some experience with swords." Xena replied, instantly noticing Astra's inquiring gaze and looked to where she was staring. She saw that she was eyeing her father's sword.

"Is that your sword?" Astra asked her. She couldn't take this girl serious with a sword like that. It looked like it was scrap metal.

Xena didn't like the way she was looking at her father's sword. She picked it up and held it in her lap. "Yes this was my father's sword, he died in battle. He fought many battles with it. It saved his life many times." Xena smiled fondly at the sword.

"Not enough apparently. Just look at it. It's old and ragged. He couldn't have been that great a warrior." Astra bit back, and despite her best efforts, Xena was starting to get angry with her.

"Astra!" Flora glared at her friend not believing that she had just said that. She turned to Xena with an apologetic look.

"My father was a great and loyal warrior. He served many years for Ares, God of War. He lead and fought in his army." Xena told her annoyed. She didn't like the way she was talking about her father.

"Ares, God of War… Wow, I'm impressed. So he wasn't just running around murdering people."

She could see that she was agitating the girl and she liked it.

Xena quickly got off of her cot but Flora stepped in her way to stop her from doing anything. She fought against her for a moment then stopped and just glared at Astra.

"Oh I see the girl has some fire. We'll see how far that temper of yours takes you tomorrow." Astra said, giving her a devilish grin and walking back to her cot to get some sleep.

Xena was furious at her. Who did she think she was to come and judge her family like that? If it wasn't for Flora holding her back she would have certainly given into her anger.

"Xena I'm so sorry about Astra. She really is a nice person. You just have to let her grow on you." she gave her a soft smile hoping she would let it go.

Xena looked at Flora and could see that she meant well but she knew that her and Astra would be anything but friends after today's encounter. She returned her smile and gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. "Thanks. How about we call it a night? "

Flora beamed at her and made her way over to her own cot. Xena climbed into hers and settled down. She thought about the day's events, not quite believing that she was really there. She guessed she should be a little grateful towards Astra since if she didn't over hear her talking she would not know about this. She quickly shook that thought from her head. She didn't deserve her gratitude after what she had said about her father.

Xena turned on her side and shut her eyes. She wanted to be well rested for whatever they had in store for them tomorrow. She wanted to be at her best and since she spent most of the night wandering around in the forest she was going to replenish her energy in a good night's rest. She was one step closer to reaching her goal. A smile appeared on her face as Morpheus soon consumed her.