"To Find the Light"

by

Debir

Chapter Nine: "Yeti or Not"

Deerdra is still distracted by Gabrielle's threat and doesn't see the huge ax bearing down on her head. Gabrielle does. She yells, "Watch out!" Deerdra rolls out of the way just as the ax slams into the frozen tundra.

Crouching, Deerdra glares at him. She snarls, "Time to dance."

Gabrielle's shouting gets the attention of Mr. Mace. He winds up and takes a swing at her. She leaps back and bumps into a boulder. She presses hard against it. The mace, dulled by overuse makes a swooshing sound as it whiffs past her head. The miss throws him off balance. Gabrielle seizes the opening and quickly strikes. She jabs her sai into his wounded thigh then rolls away from the boulder and out into the clearing. Mr. Mace yells and falls to his knees. She twirls the sai around so they are hilt up. Before she can deliver the knockout blow to the back of his head, a snowy gust blows her backward. She raises her arms to shield her eyes and glances over at Deerdra. She's doing just fine against the other giant.

The wind calms a bit and she returns her attention to Mr. Mace. Too late, he's recovered.

Gabrielle has assumed that because he's a giant, he must also be slow. Giant mistake. Faster than you can say "by the gods", he snatches her by the throat, lifts her up and pins her to the same boulder she was mashed up against earlier and proceeds to squeeze her neck. She's moments away from having the life choked out of her. Desperate for air, she musters up all of her strength and plunges a sai into his arm. He yells, again, and then drops her. She lands on all fours and gasps for air. In her mind, she hears Xena's warning, "If you hesitate, you could get hurt." Gabrielle wheezes, "No joke."

Enraged, the giant winds up and uses his mace like a golf club, with Gabrielle as the ball. He swings with all his might and Gabrielle goes flying, sailing across the clearing and slamming back first into a large pine tree. She bounces off and lands face first into the snow, blood spewing from her mouth and nose. The tree shimmers, showering her in a sparkling snowy mist. She lay there gasping for air like a fish desperate for water. She does manage to get to her knees, but her injuries are too severe for her to go any further. She wheezes and coughs up a chunk of blood. The pain is too great and she ends up on all fours again. Her strength gone, she slowly slides back down into the snow. Through bleary eyes, she spots Deerdra in the distance. She reaches out and whispers, "Deerdra," then everything fades to black.

At the same time Gabrielle is Tango-ing with Mr. Mace, Deerdra has her hands full fighting Mr. Ax.

He's been playing Paul Bunyon to Deerdra's Armadillo. He swings and she tucks and rolls. On her latest roll, she gets a look at how Gabrielle is doing and is impressed. "I must be loosing my touch. Gabrielle has hers down already." The wind whips up the snow, obscuring Deerdra's line of sight. She has no idea Gabrielle is in danger. "Shoot. I hope she doesn't need any help over there."

Mr. Ax readies for another whack. Deerdra waits until he raises the double blade over his head then goes on offense. She dive/rolls between his legs then slashes, opening gashes so deep on both his thighs the bone can be seen. He howls and falls to his knees. Now's her chance, but first a peek at Gabrielle's progress. The wind has died down and now she can see and what she sees drains all of the color out of her face. Gabrielle is on all fours with the giant poised to strike.

Deerdra yells, "Gabrielle! Nooo!" as the giant sends her flying.

Mr. Ax starts the struggle to stand. Deerdra glares at him, "I don't think so," then plunges the giant's knife into his neck, severing an artery and almost his head. She finishes the sever and yells at Mace, "Hey, ugly!" then hurls Ax's head. Mace turns and is hit in his chest with something warm and slimy. He isn't sure what it is at first. He turns it around in his hands then drops it like a gooey hot potato. He looks over at Deerdra. She smiles and raises the bloody knife, taunting him.

Blind with fury, he yells and charges Deerdra. She responds in kind. "Aaahhh!" echoes across the mountain top. It almost has a melodic tone to it. Two singers warming their vocal chords before a performance instead of two trains barreling toward each other at breakneck speed. Their battle cries, bouncing off the walls, shakes loose the snow and rocks. They meet in the middle. Deerdra buries the sword in Mace's stomach and, using her momentum, flips up and over his head, pushing him forward with her feet. She lands, sliding to a stop while he stumbles head first into the trunk of a tree, snapping it in two. The jagged wood scrapes his belly, injecting further damage and pain. He screams and the mountain rumbles.

Deerdra looks up, "Oh, shit!"

She has zero time to run for cover. The mountain side comes loose raining snow, rock, dirt and tree. Everything is pushed over the cliff-including Deerdra and Mr. Mace, but not Gabrielle. Mace's aggressive move had flung her out of the way, not that she would know. She's still face down in the snow unconscious. The avalanche and its unexpected passengers have a long way to go, so long in fact that the debris thins out and cascades like a waterfall. Of course, the end is a bit more jarring. Mr. Mace ends up partially buried under the snow and rocks. Deerdra, beaten black, blue, and bloody ends up bent over backward across a huge boulder, every bone in her back broken.

After all the roaring is over, silence.

The snow storm is over and just a slight breeze blows, ruffling the fur on Gabrielle's coat. The silence is broken by the sound of snow crunching under some rather large feet. Those feet belong to a tall, furry humanesque creature who is now standing over the prone body of Gabrielle. The creature ever so carefully picks her up and carries her into the cave. It lays her on a bed of furs next to the fire-the roasting meat has been discarded- then tucks her in with another fur. It kneels beside her. With pity in its blue eyes, a partially fur covered hand brushes Gabrielle's hair off her face and caresses her cheek.

While one creature tends to Gabrielle, another slightly taller and beefier creature, the male, looks over the broken body of Deerdra. He glances at the mangled remains of the two giants and snorts then picks Deerdra up and tosses her over one shoulder. Why not? She's already bent in two. Creature number two now makes its way back to the cave. Once there, he lays Deerdra face down next to Gabrielle. He notices the fur blanket and makes a soft growl/humming sound. After placing his hand under Gabrielle's nose- her shallow breathing ruffles his fur-he and the other creature, the female, have an animated 'conversation' about all of the other pelts. Their language consists of grunts of differing pitches, low to high and in between.

Their discussion ended, the male snatches the hunk of meat spit and all and walks out into the approaching darkness. The female gathers up the fur pelts and uses them to make their guests comfy. She rolls up two pelts so each can have a pillow then gently rolling Deerdra on her side, she rolls up the remaining pelts and places them along Deerdra's back to act as a support. She's now propped up at an angle facing away from Gabrielle.

The female Yeti, yep they were real, steps back and admires her handy work. Her brow furrows. Something isn't right. Ah, she didn't tuck them in! So, as gentle as an eight foot tall mostly hairy creature can be, she tucks the battered warriors in for the night. Satisfied, she sits next to Gabrielle and makes herself comfortable, absent-mindfully running her fingers through Gabrielle's hair or is she petting the bard? either way the repetitive motion is soothing for her. She purrs as she nods off.

At some point during the night Deerdra comes to. She's still not fully healed, her internal injuries were as extensive as Gabrielle's, but awake enough to see that Gabrielle is laying beside her. Battered, yet alive. How else would they have made it into the cave? She takes hold of Gabrielle's hand and gives it a little squeeze just to let her know they she-and they- were going to be okay. Before nodding off, Deerdra notices that there is a big hairy- something- laying up on the other side of Gabrielle. "Must be another pelt," she thinks to herself. What she doesn't realize is that the male Yeti is behind her curled up and fast asleep.

Dawn breaks and before the suns rays pour through the ice covered mountain peaks, the Yeti quietly prepare to leave. The male heard Deerdra mumbling last night and has decided the humans are well enough to be on their own. The female isn't so sure. She pulls back the coves and does one last check on Gabrielle- Breathing? Yes, but shallow. Heartbeat? Faint. The female would like to stay. She looks at the male. He has on his frowny face. She sighs. There's no arguing with him when he's in a mood. She pulls the fur back over Gabrielle and sees the two women are holding hands. She cocks her head to one side. Where they touching before? No. She smiles. Maybe they'll be okay after all.

The snow glint shines in Deerdra's eyes, waking her up. The pain from her crash landing racks her body. She stifles a scream, "Mffft, gh, ffth." She looks over at Gabrielle. Still asleep and still holding her hand. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I have to get up." As she rises, you can practically hear her bones and joints popping back into place. She does some stretches and proceeds to have a one sided conversation with Gabrielle:

"That's the one thing I hate about being immortal. You may survive a horrific fall, but Man, O, Man are you going to hurt like Hell the next morning." She glances down at Gabrielle, "Still asleep? I'm not surprised. Climbing down to get me then back up again, I'd be exhausted too. Although, I could have sworn that giant sent you flying into the mountain before I..." She drops to all fours and gets a close-up look at Gabrielle. Her breathing is shallow and she is deathly pale. "By the gods." She whips the covers off and places her ear to Gabrielle's chest and waits. "There you are. You're faint, but you're there." She keeps listening, "Hmm, your breathing is raspy."

She gently runs her hands along Gabrielle's rib cage. More than one rib moves in a way it shouldn't. "That's what I was afraid of. Your ribs are broken and are pressing against or even punctured your lungs." She tries not to panic, but her mind is racing. "What to do? What to do?" She stands and paces, "I can't take a chance on cutting you open, you're too weak. But I have to do something, fast."

More pacing then a possible solution comes to her. "It's worth a try. Aphrodite!"

In short order the Goddess of Love appears decked out in pink furs, of course. "How's my favorite niece and her new lady love?"

"One's freaking out and the other one's in trouble." Deerdra pushes the pause button. "You look, different." Deerdra walks around her, "I can see through you."

Aphrodite runs her hands down her sides, "Is it that obvious?"

"Uh, yeah. What's going on?"

"Oh, it's the ol' believe in one God and disregard all the others thing."

Deerdra can't believe it. "You mean you're losing your powers?" That puts a crimp in her plan.

"Bummer, right? People just aren't worshiping like they used to. Eventually, my body will just fade away and I'll become one of the stars."

Now she sounds depressed. Deerdra tries to perk her up, "The brightest and prettiest, I'm sure."

"Aw, you're sweet. Now, what can the Goddess of Love do for you?" She gives Deerdra a nudge, "Need some pointers?"

"Hardly. It's Gabrielle."

Aphrodite saw her laying there, but she assumed the Bard was asleep. "She is looking a little pale. Is she ill?"

Deerdra is blunt,"She's dying."

"Oh! What happened?"

"Hanging out with me, that's what happened."

"Oh, please. She gets hurt with Xena all the time. It's called being human...and mortal."

"I know. Can you heal her? I mean, in your condition..." Deerdra's self confidence is on the way out.

Aphrodite looks at Gabrielle and her little pink heart breaks. "I might be able to help her a little. But I won't be able to heal her all the way."

Deerdra's confidence makes a U-turn. "Anything you can do. Something is better than nothing."

Aphrodite takes a deep breath, "Okay. Here we go."

She kneels beside Gabrielle and since she isn't fully solid and can't actually touch her battered friend, she kind of hovers her hands over either side of Gabrielle's rib cage. A faint glow emanates from her her hands as she runs them up one side then down the other. A moment later and she's done.

She stands up,"There, all healed."

Deerdra perks up, "All healed?"

Aphrodite breaks it to her gently, "Figure of speech, sweetie. I did the best I could, now it's up to you. Any movement, even a sneeze could rupture what I healed. And if that happens..."

"I loose her." Deerdra gazes at the woman she loves, "She wants to get married" She looks at Aphrodite, "Can you imagine?"

"Well why not, pumpkin? If you can make each other happy."

"Because deep down, she still wants Xena."

"She didn't propose to Xena, she proposed to you."

"It wasn't a proposal per se. More like a suggestion."

"She was feeling you out. What did you say?"

"Basically that it wasn't a good idea then she dropped it."

"Oh, sweetie. You burst her bubble. Has she brought it up again?"

"No, but she sure didn't like my answer. Maybe it's more important to her than I thought. But why now?"

"You deserve to be loved, DeeDee. It's certainly been long enough."

"I suppose, but by someone like her?"

"Now who's lost her self confidence?"

"I know, but -"

"No buts. Just marry the girl before she changes her mind."

"And have more days like today? No, I can't do that to her."

"It's her choice, sweetie. I'm pretty sure she knows what she'd be getting into. She's spent enough time with Xena to learn that."

Deerdra still has her doubts, "True. But, what will she be gaining by getting married...to me?"

"She'll be getting someone who'll be true and who won't go running off with a ex every time they come sniffing around."

Deerdra chuckles, "I can't imagine leaving her for someone else, especially an ex. They're called ex's for a reason."

Aphrodite beams, "There you go! You'll bring stability and security to her life."

Deerdra sighs, "That's true." She's had enough of this marriage talk. She waves Aphrodite off, "Let's get her healed up and go from there, okay?"

"Okay, but don't wait too long. I'd like to actually be there in person and not in the sky twinkling down on you."

"Deal."

Aphrodite waves her hand and twinkles away leaving Deerdra with a cart load on her mind. She kneels down to check Gabrielle's breathing and heartbeat. Both are light but constant. She sits beside the warrior bard and strokes her hair, talking to herself out loud.

"Oh, Gabrielle. What have I done? I vow to protect you and what happens? You nearly die. You're lives here are so short. Dare I complicate yours even more? *sigh* Marriage, again. I do love you. My heart soars when we're together and sinks when we're apart. This isn't about me, though. Will it make you happy?" She caresses Gabrielle's cheek. Her color is coming back. Deerdra moves in close and whispers, "Come back to me and the answer will be yes." She gives Gabrielle a kiss on the forehead, "Good night, my love," then stretches out beside her and falls asleep.

Early morning and the sound of crunching snow wakes Deerdra. She inches her hand down to Gabrielle's sai, edges one out of the boot, then springs to her feet coming face to face with a startled Yeti. The male had returned with food for them. Both freeze in their tracks neither daring to make a move. After a few moments of staring at each other, any sense of danger Deerdra felt before leaves. The Yeti also relaxes although he does walk with caution over to the fire. Deerdra watches his every movement and he doesn't take his eyes off of her. Ever so slowly he places the newly killed meat, a mountain goat, next to the flames then just as slow walks, out of the cave.

Deerdra stunned, "Okay, that just happened. They are real and you missed it, sweetheart. At least we'll have fresh meat to eat. All you have to do now is wake up."

Right on cue, Gabrielle takes a deep breath then starts to cough. Deerdra can hardly contain herself, "You're alive! Thank the gods, you're alive!"

Gabrielle's not so sure. "Is that what you call it?"

She tries to raise up on her elbows, but Deerdra stops her. "No, no, no. Don't move. You haven't completely healed yet."

Gabrielle lower back down, "Who wants to move. I feel horrible."

"You should. You nearly died."

"Nearly? I feel like I fell to Hades and back."

Deerdra's heart smiles. Gabrielle's sense of humor is intact. She's going to be just fine. "You should. You did get tosses around pretty good."

"Oh, right. The giants." Gabrielle snaps her eyes wide open,"The giants!"

Deerdra reassures her, "Taken care of."

Gabrielle relaxes, "Good. Are we in the same cave?"

"Yep. We've been here for a while."

"I guess you weren't as hurt as I thought you were. Not if you were able to carry me back in here.

Deerdra grins, "Nope. Tweren't me. Every bone in my body was broken in the avalanche."

Gabrielle is way confused, "Then how did we get in here? Ned didn't, did he?"

Deerdra scoffs, "Hardly. It was the snow creatures."

"The snow creatures? You said they didn't exist." Gabrielle teases. She reaches up and pats Deerdra's head, "Did we hit our head?"

"Yes, I did, several times as a matter of fact. But I did see one. It brought us that meat over there. I"m guessing either it or two its carries us in here out of the cold."

"Wow." Now she's way curious, "What did it look like? Was it covered in fur? Was it tall? Come on, details."

Deerdra chuckles, pleased Gabrielle is getting back to her old, inquisitive self. "Always the bard. It was taller than us, but shorter than the giants. It was covered in a white/gray fur except for its face. It looked human."

Gabrielle wants more, "And? Did it make a noise? Details, girl. Details."

"There's not much more to tell. It didn't make any sounds. We stared at each other, it put the goat by the fire, then it left."

"Wait. It just walked in?"

"It thought we were asleep." Deerdra chuckles, "I startled it when I jumped up from the bed. It wasn't sure what to do."

"I bet you were plenty surprised yourself." Gabrielle starts to laugh, "I can just see your face! Leaping up expecting a bad guy and instead see this big furry thing holding a dead goat standing there. Ha, ha, ha-ow!"

Her cry alarms Deerdra, "No laughing! Aphrodite said no moving around for a while."

"Aphrodite was here? Why didn't you let her heal my wounds?"

Deerdra doesn't like her accusatory tone, "She did what she could. She isn't as strong as she used to be. Heck, it doesn't sound like any of the gods are as strong as they once were."

Gabrielle's turn to be surprised, "What's happened to them?"

"Eve. Her one God message is taking hold and it's making the lesser gods weak. Aphrodite was fading away. I could just about see right through her."

A light bulb goes off in Gabrielle's head, "It's Twilight of the Gods, isn't it? How is Aphrodite taking handling it?"

"Oh, you know her. As long as she looks fabulous she's fine. I'm sure she's worried, as are all of the gods."

Gabrielle bolts upright and immediately regrets it, "Xena! Oh ow!"

"I'm pretty sure she's not a god, Gabrielle."

"No. She's with Ares, remember? If he fades away, will the spirits of Higuchi come after her?"

That never occurred to Deerdra, "I didn't think of that. I don't know. I wouldn't think so. Their deal was with Ares not her. And there is a good possibility they've caught on to his deception and taken him back before he's gone."

"I have to find out. She's already disappeared once without saying goodbye. It's not going to happen again." Her body still aches from her wounds. She gingerly lays back down. "We have to at least warn her."

Deerdra puts her hands on Gabrielle's hip and helps ease her down. "You're not going anywhere until you're completely healed."

"But-"

"No buts. Give yourself one more day of rest then we'll start our way down, maybe."

"What do you mean "maybe?"

Deerdra clarifies, "One more day of rest then we'll see how you feel. I'm not going to let you push yourself and you end up worse off."

Gabrielle sighs, "You're right." She thinks, "Oh, I'll be ready."

Deerdra knows she'll say she's ready even if she still hurts. "Good. You rest. I'll get you what you need."

Gabrielle grins and reaches for Deerdra's hand, "You know what I need."

"Sorry, sweet. You're just going to have to settle for some intense cuddling for the time being."

Gabrielle plays dramatic, "Oh, the horror! Forced to snuggle with the woman I love! Will this nightmare ever end?"

Deerdra shakes her head, "And you call me a nut." She lays next to Gabrielle and gets comfy, gently draping her left arm across Gabrielle's waist. "Good night, nut."

Gabrielle presses her back against Deerdra so she can feel her heartbeat as she falls asleep, "Good night, nuttier."

The two smile as they fall asleep not knowing the next phase of their relationship is about to begin.

CONTINUED