Disclaimers on part 1.
New Territory
by LZClotho
originally written September 1997
CHAPTER THREE
Riding that day had never seemed so interminably long to Xena. Gabrielle was up behind her on Argo's back. The bard had her arms wrapped tightly around Xena's waist, and her thighs pressed against the warrior's. The contact was electric, playing havoc with her concentration. She wondered if Gabrielle felt the same unusual sensations.
Gabrielle grinned, pressing her face into Xena's back and hiding a smile at the warrior's sharp intake of breath. Xena had been squirming all day. Now, as it neared evening, Gabrielle was beginning to have hope. She took a deep breath inhaling the warrior's scent, a combination of oiled leather and musk.
"I think we should stop and make camp," Xena finally said. "Unless you want to ride all night."
Gabrielle nodded. Xena turned Argo down a deer path off the mountain road. The two women found a clearing. The mountain river tumbled down a short incline making a waterfall about twice as tall Xena.
Gabrielle wasn't all that uncomfortable from her ride aboard Argo, but it was apparent Xena had been. The warrior practically jumped off the mare's back and was pulling off the saddle before Gabrielle had completely dismounted. Xena dropped the saddle and strode around the clearing collecting sticks.
Gabrielle removed Argo's bridle and patted the mare, releasing her toward the river's edge. She turned to watch Xena assembling their firepit. Intent on her task only, the warrior quickly struck flint and fanned the new fire.
As the flames grew quickly, Gabrielle knew it wouldn't take long for the fire to burn down low enough for cooking. She suggested Xena go for a swim while she tended the fire.
"Are you sure?" asked Xena, wondering why when she desperately needed space, she was even arguing.
"Positive. It'll be a while before the fire's ready. You might have time to practice your forms before washing up under the falls. You won't have to wake up early tomorrow just to practice."
Xena looked at the waterfall and spotted the outcropping of rock just above the whitewater. She said, "I'm going to the top of the falls. Yell if you need anything."
Don't worry, Gabrielle thought, I will. She turned back to the fire as Xena walked off. She unpacked their saddlebags and laid out the blankets on one side of the fire. On the other side, she rolled a small log close as a seat.
When she straightened, she looked up to the top of the falls to watch the rest of Xena's practice. The warrior fought an imaginary enemy as she stood with her back to the river below. Xena stepped back and Gabrielle thought she might step off the rock ledge.
Suddenly the battle cry of the Warrior Princess pierced the stillness of the evening's silence. It made Gabrielle jump to her feet. Xena leapt straight up, executed a tuck and twist and landed facing her point of take off. The sword followed and Xena ended the pattern with her arms fully extended, sword blade level at shoulder height. Gabrielle shivered; Xena had just sliced through the throat of her "opponent."
Gabrielle sat down, keeping one eye on the fire as she broke apart raw vegetables for a pot of soup. She kept the other eye on Xena, as always entranced by the woman's supple movements as she made putting her body and weapons through their paces seem effortless. The sunset burnished the warrior's glistening skin in hues of gold and orange. The bard quaffed some of the soup to wet her throat, which was suddenly dry.
Gabrielle put the pot to the side of the fire, to let it simmer. Then she got to her feet and walked to the river's edge. Wetting her hands, she wiped her face and throat. She filled the water skins and then looked back up at Xena. The warrior must have decided she was through exercising. Xena leapt straight into the air again, this time over the falls. She rolled head over heels once and landed feet first in the thigh deep water just beyond the falls' foaming rush. She walked to within a length of Gabrielle.
Up close, Gabrielle could see the pulse pounding against Xena's throat, could see the droplets of perspiration in relief against her brow. "Dinner's almost ready, "Gabrielle said.
"I'll wash up," replied Xena.
Gabrielle returned to their fire while Xena tossed her weapons, armor and leathers to the shore. Nude, she walked into the pounding waterfall.
Xena shivered at the chill of the water and rubbed at her face with both hands. What is wrong with me, Xena asked herself. She rubbed her arms and legs briskly, letting the water pound against her back and stomach. The sensation didn't alter the pounding of her heart or the pulsing of her stomach muscles. It was as if she was expecting sex tonight. But there wasn't any relief within days in any direction.
Xena stepped completely behind the waterfall, letting the sound of the crashing water fill her ears as she settled on a narrow ledge. She closed her eyes. Trying to meditate was not helping. Snapping open her eyes, she decided she needed relief. Now.
She listened for the sound of Gabrielle's voice on the other side of the waterfall. The bard was apparently practicing one of her stories. Xena began to rub her hands over her body down across taut muscles and soft breasts to the center of her aching need. Xena closed her eyes again.
In her mind, her hands became Marcus' hands, bringing relief as they plunged repeatedly to her depths. His voice urged her to her release. As the waves washed over her, weakening her knees, a new face surfaced in Xena's mind, new hands touched her. She imagined a new voice whispering...Gabrielle?
Xena's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, slipping off the ledge and falling into the water. She looked around and sighed with relief. She stepped through the veil of the waterfall and walked toward Gabrielle seated at their fire, spooning soup into a bowl.
"I was just about to call you," commented Gabrielle as she put down the bowl and tossed Xena a towel. "Soup's ready."
Xena wrapped the towel about herself and sat down on her blankets. As she tucked the last corner, she noticed the red flush covering her shoulders and the swell of her breasts. Heat suffused her face, no doubt coloring her cheeks with the memory. It was too much to hope, Xena knew, as she looked up to take the bowl of soup, that Gabrielle wouldn't notice.
"Never knew a waterfall to be hot," the bard said, as she pressed the bowl into Xena's hands.
"Hmm," responded the warrior as she quickly swallowed some soup. The flush didn't dissipate as Xena felt Gabrielle's eyes remain on her.
Then Gabrielle touched her shoulder experimentally. Xena's muscles went rigid, preventing a jump that would have embarrassed both her and Gabrielle. She looked up to find Gabrielle looking down, her green eyes filled with concern. "Maybe you ought to wear a tunic under your armor for a few days. Looks like a touch of sunburn."
Xena set aside her bowl and grabbed Gabrielle's hands. "Thanks, but I'm fine, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle nodded, pulling her hands from Xena's and settled back down on the log again. She watched the warrior pick up her soup and resume eating.
The bard couldn't help the smile that welled up from somewhere in her middle to cover her whole face. She was now glad she had put their blankets side by side. Maybe tonight she could snuggle up to the warrior. Her strategy on Argo's back had obviously put Xena in a mood. A little more enticement might tip the scales.
Gabrielle knew, from Eponin, that some women liked the company of other women sexually. Gabrielle herself hadn't really thought about the issue until she had acknowledged a feeling of jealousy when watching Xena and Ulysses. She realized then, reinforced by the memory of loss when Xena died, that she didn't ever want to be separated from the warrior.
She hadn't considered a sexual aspect to her love for Xena until the warrior's hugs aboard Cecrops' cursed ship. The revelation of needing to touch and be touched by Xena had been unsettling. But since seeing Xena with Draco, Gabrielle was determined to try and find out if Xena could feel the same for her.
If the flush, which was now beginning to fade on Xena's skin, was any indication, Xena had been under that waterfall thinking some very hot thoughts about someone. Gabrielle wondered if any of those thoughts had involved her.
Xena finished her soup and passed the bowl back to Gabrielle. "Thanks."
"Here's a shift." Gabrielle fished one out of her bag. "It'll be softer against any sunburn than your leathers," explained Gabrielle, almost daring Xena to argue. She tossed the thin woolen sleeveless top at the warrior. Xena held it up to her body. The bard silently noted it would barely cover Xena's thighs.
Xena nodded and went down to the river to fetch her leathers and armor. In the privacy she put on the shift and got herself under control. Gabrielle is just being nice, she scolded inwardly. I've just been without for a quite a while, Xena, she thought. And knew she was attempting to lie to herself.
It wasn't that Xena hadn't been sexually gratified for a while. Xena had become attracted to Gabrielle. The younger woman's softness and innocence were like a fountain of youth. She was strong in a way Xena didn't believe she herself ever would be, because Gabrielle had a peace of the spirit.
Xena wanted the secret to that peace. Xena snorted, smoothing the shift over her hips. Who was she kidding? She wanted Gabrielle.
Then as she sat at the water's edge, reluctant to return to the blankets at the fire, she thought about Gabrielle. Would Gabrielle even want this? She's been kind to me in ways no one else ever has. But was that just Gabrielle's way? Or was it more?
Her head spinning, Xena rose and returned to the the fire, finding Gabrielle already laid out on her blankets. The bard's arm pillowed her head as she studied the stars. She wore a shift as well. She stood for a moment, just looking at her friend's lithe body. Her legs to mid-thigh were bare, and the muscles shaping them were lean and firm. Xena shook her head and laid down next to Gabrielle and turned onto her back to gaze up at the same sky.
"Want another story tonight, Xena?" asked Gabrielle keeping her eyes on the sky.
"No, I don't want to dream about any gods tonight," Xena replied. That, it would turn out, was a mistake.
As she slept, Xena was treated to a mental parade of the various loves of her own life: Borias, Petracles, Caesar, each bringing her to ecstasy then abandoning her at the pinnacle of their relationship. She dreamt of Hercules. The passion had been real, but the feelings didn't run to love. She dreamt of Ulysses. His was almost a puppy love, so sweet and tame, filled with soft looks and gentle caresses.
Marcus lived again in her dreams. He gave her passion and compassion. He spoke to her of love, loyalty and shared loss. He took her to passion's heights and clung to her as they both toppled the precipice. His hands gentled the pounding pulses of her body, and stroked her face, her hair, her breasts.
Marcus' hands became softer, more tentative, stroking her brow, her cheek. His voice became a throaty whisper, breathing words of love in her ear. His breath blew across her neck and a hand stroked her belly.
It wasn't Marcus' hands. Xena's eyes snapped open and she found herself wrapped in Gabrielle's sleeping embrace. The bard's hands rested on Xena's stomach, her even breathing tickled the warrior's neck and her body pressed to Xena's back. It was like the ride aboard Argo only they were lying down.
Xena rolled onto her back and lifted the bard's arm so she could slide free. The movement awakened Gabrielle. "Sh, go back to sleep," the bard murmured, and inexplicably to Xena, grasped the warrior more tightly around the middle and closed her eyes returning to sleep.
Now afraid of offending her friend, Xena did not continue her attempts to move from Gabrielle's grasp. The warrior stifled a groan and closed her own eyes, attempting to return to sleep.
Gabrielle awakened a little before dawn. The warrior had finally succumbed to sleep and Gabrielle accounted herself a victory as she removed herself from Xena.
She had to hold the warrior's head carefully as she slid her arm free. Xena had curled in ever so slightly and her ebony head had found its way to the crook of Gabrielle's shoulder. Xena would definitely not appreciate waking up and discovering in her sleep she'd succumbed to such a soft moment.
As she sat up looking down at the warrior's sleeping face, Gabrielle realized how much of her energy she spent protecting Xena from her own soft side. At first it seemed best to do it - Xena became vulnerable when her softer emotions surfaced at the wrong time. Gabrielle had, without even thinking about it, taken on the task of showing those emotions for the both of them. She would cradle an injured child when she saw from the warrior's clenching and unclenching fists that Xena wanted to - desperately.
But as evidenced by their pillow talk the other night, maybe this 'surrogacy' of emotions could be dropped. Xena was beginning to handle expressing herself with more equanimity.
"Are you going to keep staring at me?"
Gabrielle laughed and buffeted the warrior's shoulder. "How do you do that? Eyes closed even," she remarked as Xena opened her sky blue eyes with a slow smile.
Xena sat up. The two women rose to their feet in tandem. Gabrielle shook out their blankets, doused the fire and brought the rolled blankets and saddlebags to Xena, who was securing Argo's tack. The warrior took the supplies and lashed them to the back of the saddle. The two women dressed separately and returned to Argo.
"You never answered my question," Gabrielle said as she straightened her skirt.
"What question was that, Gabrielle?" Xena swung onto Argo's back and reached down to help Gabrielle up behind her.
Once she was settled, Gabrielle reminded the warrior. "I asked, 'How do you do that?' I mean of course your ability to see me do something or someone else do something without actually seeing them."
Xena laughed. Her voice was light when she answered, "I can't let you in on all my secrets." Gabrielle poked at the warrior's ribs. It didn't hurt but Xena grunted obligingly. "It's something I picked up. It's like melting into your surroundings, letting the air or sounds flow around you as if you were a leafy tree. Any changes are instantly picked up."
"But I was just looking at you."
"Your breathing hitched and from the angle I knew you were sitting above me. I guessed that you were watching me."
"You do this all the time?"
"Well there are times when I don't focus enough, or I'm not calm enough. Then the skill just vanishes."
"Is that why you sometimes just tell me to stay out of a situation? So you can concentrate?" Gabrielle squeezed Xena's waist. "I'm getting pretty good at defending myself. You don't need to break your concentration for me."
Xena shook her head. "It stopped being a simple matter of looking out for you, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle put a hand up on Xena's arm, below the armor. "What is it now?"
Xena turned her head and laid a quick kiss on the back of Gabrielle's hand. "Just your presence breaks my concentration."
As if to prove her mistress' words, Argo stepped in a rough section of road without warning and both women almost lost their balance.
Xena regained it first and with a quick hand kept Gabrielle pinned to the saddle as well. Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand reflexively taking a deep breath. "I see what you mean." Xena smiled over her shoulder. Gabrielle pushed at Xena's cheek forcing the warrior to look ahead. "Eyes forward, please."
Both women laughed.
The trip went easy as the path crested in the mountains and the two women began their descent into eastern Greece just after midday. Xena saw signs that a band of raiders had recently been through. Even Gabrielle noticed the most obvious. Both women dismounted as they approached a burned out grain store. No random brush fire would be preceded by a long trail of boot prints scuffling in the dirt. A battle had gone on here very recently.
"What should we do, Xena?" asked Gabrielle.
"Let's find the villagers first. Make sure everyone's all right." Xena mounted up.
"Then you'll track the raiders."
Xena smiled, the calculating battle grin. "You read my mind, Gabrielle."
"Better wipe that grin off your face before we meet any villagers," commented the bard.
"Scary?" Xena wiped the grin off her face and replaced it with a bland expression that coaxed a laugh from the bard.
"A normal smile will do, Miss Warrior Princess. You look like you swallowed a frog." She reached up for a hand into the saddle.
As Xena pulled her up, Gabrielle was treated to a flashing of the warrior's 'normal' smile. The sight took the bard's breath away. Amused by the reaction, Xena said, "Satisfied?"
Gabrielle swallowed. "Very," she finally managed.
The two trotted off on Argo down a widened path that Xena figured led to the village.