A few days had gone by and Gabrielle was beginning to lose her resolve. She had disappeared from Xena's sight and hadn't seen her since their argument. And even though she still wasn't satisfied in proving her point, the strawberry-blonde didn't care much for being away from her companion over an extended period of time. She wondered where the warrior princess had been all this time and tried to figure out how they hadn't bumped into each other by now in such a small place but, then again, Gabrielle had been doing her best to avoid the raven-haired woman, and her mental inquiry was suddenly meaningless to her.
The day was quickly giving way over to night, the sun setting beyond the tree-dusted hills in the distance, and Gabrielle began to give in to her desire to seek out her friend. Surely she had made her point by now, right? The bard made her way back to the tavern she had eaten at a few nights back.
"Have you seen Xena?" she asked. "Six feet tall, piercing blue eyes? …Leather everything?" Azhara laughed, seemingly amused by Gabrielle's description.
"I know who Xena is, love. And yes, I've seen her; just today, actually. She stopped by earlier and told me to give you a message if I saw you." Azhara paused in delivering the message, Gabrielle easily becoming antsy. The blonde's eyes shifted impatiently around and the tavern owner grinned, laughing. "Oh, you are too good," she said. "Alright, I'm sorry. I'll tell you. Xena said that she wanted you to find her at the rock. I don't have the slightest idea what that means, and she told me I wouldn't, but that you would and that you should go there before nightfall." Azhara looked out of one of the tavern windows. "I guess you'd better run then, huh?" Azhara said with a genuine smile. Gabrielle reciprocated the expression.
"Thank you," she said, and with that, she left with haste.
Not remembering immediately where the rock where she and Xena had had their argument was, Gabrielle ended up crossing the town twice before reaching her destination. But she did manage to meet her deadline, finding Xena quietly brushing Argo, a camp fire already started. Without turning around the woman spoke.
"I knew you'd find me tonight," she said. Gabrielle couldn't see the woman's face but she knew what it looked like by the tone of her voice; it was neither good nor bad, maybe a little less bad if you were really looking for a positive. "It's odd sleeping by myself," Xena said. "And more than that it's odd how foreign sleeping has become to me." The warrior quit brushing Argo and turned to face her companion. Her eyes struck Gabrielle fiercely, the fire in their ice-blue depths almost hypnotizing. The blonde came and sat down on the rock, noticing just barely that her bed roll had been laid out for her next to Xena's already. She broke from the brunette's gaze, throwing her own into the fire, and remained silent. She had nothing to say, not because she was angry, but because she just didn't have the words. "I figured if I didn't see you tonight I'd try reaching you through Azhara one more time before coming to find you myself." Xena removed her copper armor and her armbands, placing them together on the ground, and moved toward the pack on Argo's removed saddle. "Have you eaten?" she asked. Gabrielle shook her head and stood, walking over to the fire. Xena threw her some food with a small smile, pulling something similar from the pack for herself after. They ate in a silence that would have been awkward for most people, but for them it was nothing. It went by smoothly, easily, and before they knew it the night was settled in and dinner was gone. The two of them moved to their bed rolls, lying down and gazing up into the sky. Gabrielle thought for a long while, the silence between she and Xena persisting. She had things she knew she wanted to say, needed to say, but even after all this time they were still a jumbled mess in her head. But she figured that the least she could do was open her mouth and try not to trip too badly over her words, and just as she went to do so, Xena spoke instead. "Gabrielle, I want to talk with you about this battle. I know you don't like it and I know the thought of getting another army together drives you crazy, but… I guess I just need to-"
"Wait," Gabrielle interrupted. She propped herself up on her forearm, laying on her side facing Xena and the fire. The warrior woman turned her face to look at her friend. "I've thought about this for days now and I think I finally understand what you were saying. This fight wouldn't be for you or for me, but for Greece and everyone within. This battle isn't about you getting a super army… Sometimes I have to remind myself that you're past that… But this is about the Greater Good. I get that now, Xena. I understand that. And with that in mind I will follow you and any army into battle, and I will put my heart and my soul and everything else that I have into it." Gabrielle paused for a short time, regrouping her thoughts. "I'm sorry about the way I spoke to you those few days ago. I guess I wasn't exactly myself-"
"It's alright," Xena said, and she grabbed a hold of her companion's hand, interlocking their fingers. "Thanks. Your support means a lot to me."
"I know," Gabrielle said gently.
"You know, Gabrielle, I don't know for sure whether this army is coming to Greece or not. I mean you may have been right, it may just be a rumor to scare people."
"Well, even still I meant what I said," Gabrielle promised. "Although, it would be nice if I am right."
"Well maybe we can find out more tomorrow when we reach the city of Cyro."
"Yeah…" Gabrielle yawned, although she didn't want to go to sleep just yet. She unlocked her fingers from Xena's but kept a hold of the brunette's hand, examining it in the firelight. The skin was relatively rough, hardened from friction against the handle of her sword, but it was even, and despite the way it reflected its hardships there was still a gentleness that made Gabrielle smile. She traced her companion's fingers, slightly larger than her own, and tried to feel the strength and skill in them, tried to know what they knew and see what they'd seen. It occurred to Gabrielle then that her own hands weren't dainty and perfectly smooth anymore either. It was daunting really, how much she used them on a daily basis- It told of how much time she had spent with the warrior princess and how drastically her life had changed since the time spent had started.
"Is there something especially interesting about that?" Xena asked suddenly. Gabrielle let out a breath, a weak laugh, and smiled, still not quite letting go of her friend's hand.
"No, I'm just looking," she said.
"Tell ya what; I'll let you keep it if you tell me a good story." Gabrielle looked over at Xena.
"That's hardly a fair trade," she said. Xena rolled her eyes.
"Fine. I'll let you keep my hand and I'll sing you someth-"
"I sing of Xena, Warrior Princess, Survivor of Madness and Persecution…"
Their day had started late but the two made up good time, Xena absolutely insisting that Gabrielle ride with her. By a little after mid-day they had made it into the city. Gabrielle accompanied Xena in finding a decent place to stay for a few nights, not needing to made a simultaneous errand run to replenish goods since they had done it in the last little town. They ended up renting out a stable, nothing too out of the norm, and got a good deal on holding space for Argo.
"Xena, we couldn't go find somewhere to eat, could we?" Xena raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"But we ate just two hours ago. How in the name of Zeus can you be hungry already?" Gabrielle shrugged, not sure herself.
"I don't know, I just-" The blonde was interrupted by her stomach growling, and growling loudly. Both she and Xena looked down at it.
"Alright, alright. Let's go." The walked down a main road in search of food. "Have you ever thought of eating for a living? You could really get somewhere with that."
The two had found a decent place to eat, Gabrielle not quite filling the table the way she had in the tavern, and it didn't take long for Xena to grow quiet. Gabrielle watched the woman, knowing she was listening in on a conversation by the way she held her face, and wondered if there was about to be trouble. But then the blue-eyed warrior whipped her head around, her vision darting a few paces over, and she stood slowly.
"Be right back. Gabrielle. You keep eating." She walked over to a table surrounded by men, roughly eight of them, and they all looked like no good. Luckily for Gabrielle they weren't too far away, and so she could hear most of what was being said. "Sorry to interrupt, boys, but I couldn't help but overhear… The rumors about Greece and that army are true?" Once of the beefier guys, and the best-looking as far as Gabrielle was concerned, smiled over-confidently and grunted.
"Who's asking?" he asked.
"Oh, no one important. Just a girl curious about her nation's fate is all."
"Well, that's too bad. Look's like she's gonna stay curious a while longer." The man smirked at Xena, winning a few chuckles from his little entourage. Xena, of course, smirked back.
"Oh, come on, tell me what you know. I'd like to keep this simple-"
"Simple? If that's what you want then why don't you go back and sit down?" The man was laughing now, his buddies a mirror-image, but Xena was not. She moved behind him swiftly, stabbing her fingers into the base of his throat. He gagged and his laughter ceased instantly, and a few of his men stood and drew their swords.
"Oh, put those away. You kill me, he dies thirty seconds later." The men lowered their weapons but never let go of them. Gabrielle had her hand on her fighting staff and was ready for a fight if Xena needed her help, but until then she remained still at the table, ignoring what was left of her food. "If you didn't understand me, I've cut off the flow of blood to your brain and you're going to die in less than thirty seconds unless you start talking about that army. And don't you lie because I know the difference." Gabrielle watched the man struggle against Xena, blood beginning to drip from his nose; He didn't want to talk, she could tell. He gasped and clawed at Xena's leather-guarded forearm, but she refused to let go of him. "Come on, talk. I won't release it until you do."
"Just talk to her, Cassius! Just tell her!"
"Yeah, Cassius, you're makin' your boys nervous. Just tell me." Cassius took in a breath, squeezing his eyes shut.
"The army- without a name… It's coming to take Greece- in her- entirety… It could be a few months- nothing more. I don't know any…" Cassius started to go limp in Xena's hold and she released the pinch before she could blink twice. Cassius slumped in his chair, falling over into a heap on the floor.
"He's not dead, quit looking at me like that. He'll come to in a couple of hours; make sure he gets plenty of water when he does." When Gabrielle made eye contact with Xena, their expressions were the same: There was going to be a battle.