There was a momentary standoff between Gabrielle and the bandits. She stood across from their leader as both had their weapons drawn and ready to fight. Gabrielle glanced at a couple of other bandits who were standing to the side as the one facing off against her, who Gabrielle assumed was likely the leader of the group spoke up.
BANDIT
Oh, don't worry about them. They won't make it more unless I tell them to. So it's just you and me little lady.
Gabrielle played along as though she believed him. But she was smart enough to know better than to take someone like him at his word. So she would be sure to keep track of the others in the group while she was facing their leader.
GABRIELLE
That's fine with me.
BANDIT
(Condescending tone) Good. Then why don't we get started? I do like to consider myself a gentleman, so I'll let you make the first move being as though your a lady and all.
Gabrielle stared at him intensely.
GABRIELLE
(Sarcasm) And here I thought chivalry was dead.
With that Gabrielle began moving slowly as she assessed her opponent. She watched his movements as he followed hers. Then in an attempt to end the conflict quickly and figuring he wouldn't be expecting it, Gabrielle launched one of her sai's in his direction. The bandit managed to dodge the sudden attack and the weapon Gabrielle threw went flying past him and landed on the ground. The bandit smirked.
BANDIT
(Confident tone) Nice try. Now it's my turn.
The bandit leader rushed for Gabrielle and swung his sword. Gabrielle moved back as she dodged the blade aimed at her midsection. The bandit swung again in a downward arch. And again Gabrielle moved out of the way. Though this time the bandit was expecting her to do so and landed a hard kick into her side. Gabrielle felt the impact as she stumbled back a little. The bandit grinned as he took a moment to admire his handwork.
BANDIT
(Confident tone) That looked like it hurt.
Undeterred Gabrielle came back at him. She ducked when he swiped at her, swiftly turned her hand so her weapon was facing down, and drove the bottom of her sai's handle up into his jaw. The bandit leader staggered back for a moment as he rubbed the area of his face where he was hit and scowled at Gabrielle.
BANDIT
(Angry tone) Okay, that actually hurt. Now you've just gone and pissed me off. So I guess play time's over.
GABRIELLE
Good, because I wasn't playing.
BANDIT
(Angry tone) I hope you're prepared little lady. I don't typically find interest in beating up women because well it doesn't offer much of a challenge. So I was going easy on you before. But you've just made the biggest mistake of your life by stocking your nose in a business that doesn't concern you. So now I'm gonna show you what happens to people who dare to try getting in my way.
The bandit leader made an angry yell as he thrust his sword towards Gabrielle. She attempted to deflect his attack but was only partially successful in redirecting the strike. Instead of the blade piercing her, Gabrielle managed to shift the weapon's trajectory away from her chest and instead felt her upper arm get cut as the blade continued forward. Ignoring the pain she then shoved the bandit back and quickly lunged at him. The bandit blocked the strike with his sword. The two weapons locked up as the two struggled for control for several moments. However as Gabrielle continued in her effort to hold the bandit back, she realized that this exact scenario was something that she couldn't simply will herself into coming out successful in. The simple fact was that the bandit was just simply both bigger and stronger than her. And Gabrielle knew that there really wasn't anything that she could do about that. And the bandit leader seemed to be aware of this fact as well and used it to his advantage. He pressed his superior strength down towards Gabrielle. She tried to hold him off but was unsuccessful as she was forced down to one knee as she struggled to hold him back. She used her free arm to support the one that was locked up with the bandit's sword. Her arms began to tremble under the continuing pressure. Gabrielle knew that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. She needed to do something to create some distance between them. The bandit gave an evil smile as he saw Gabrielle beginning to waver and could already feel his victory at hand. He made a quick move of his sword which forced Gabrielle's remaining weapon from her grip and sent it a couple feet away. Now with Gabrielle unarmed, the bandit leader pressed the tip of his sword to her throat before she had a chance to move. He used the flat side of the blade to tap Gabrielle's chin and get her to look at him before returning the point to her throat.
BANDIT
(Angry/ Condescending tone) Not so big and brave now, are you girl? You know it really is a shame that I have to kill you. Normally I like my women a little on the feisty side, but I can already tell that you'd just end up being more of a hassle than your worth.
The bandit leader gat an evil look in his eyes as he smiled.
BANDIT
Then again you are only one woman. And you seem smart enough to be able to count and see that you're outnumbered here. So maybe I won't kill you just yet and instead, me and my buddies can have a little fun with you instead.
The bandit lightly stroked Gabrielle's cheek. Though it was difficult not to move away or show the level of disgust and fear she was feeling at the moment,
Gabrielle somehow kept her face emotionless as he continued. Even with knowing a fairly well just what exactly he meant by "fun".
BANDIT
After all, it's not every day that we come across such a cute girl like you.
Now Gabrielle was getting very tired of this man's attitude. Normally she wouldn't let someone like him get to her, but with everything that had been weighing on Gabrielle as of late and with what had happened between Xena and herself not long before, Gabrielle had reached her limit for what she was willing to put up with. She glared up at him not showing an ounce of fear in her eyes. He grinned as he crouched down in front of her, keeping his blade in place at her throat.
BANDIT
(Sinister tone) Don't worry we'll be sure to not hurt you too badly if you behave. Well, at least I won't anyway.
The bandit leader laughed, as did the others who began walking closer. Gabrielle knew that she was in a very bad situation that far too many in her position never survived. In that moment Gabrielle regretted every argument, every harsh word, every wall she had been putting up around her to keep Xena out of what she'd been going through. She promised that if she somehow made it out of this situation alive, she'd go find Xena and finaly explain everything.
GABRIELLE
(Thinking to herself) Xena, I'm so sorry about everything. If I'd just been honest with you I wouldn't be here right now. But I am and I don't know what to do. I know I said I didn't need you but I do. And not just because of this, but just in life overall. I need you with me because I love you. Even though I haven't really been acting much lately and I'm sorry for that.
Gabrielle closed her eyes in defeat as she waited for the bandits to do what they had planned. But then she remembered all of the images from her vision of her being a victim in some way and then the vow that she made to herself afterward.
GABRIELLE
(Thinking to herself) No. I promised myself I wouldn't go back to being anyone's victim ever again. I'm not that same defenseless Gabrielle anymore. She's gone and never coming back. So even if these guys kill me, I won't just lay down and let them do whatever they want with me. If I'm gonna die here, I'm gonna die fighting.
In an act of desperation, Gabrielle grabbed a hand full of dirt and threw it into the bandit leader's face. He yelled as he felt his eyes sting as he was forced to drop his guard while he tried to clear his vision. Gabrielle then kicked him away, rolled, and scrambled to her feet. She made a dash for her sai's but another of the bandits lunged at her from behind. She dodged being tackled as he landed face down in the dirt, but Gabrielle was still brought to the ground when he caught her by her ankle, tripping her. She looked back and saw the others coming at her too. Not having a moment to waste, Gabrielle rolled slightly and began using her free foot to repeatedly kick and stomp the bandit holding on to her in his face and head. After a couple of good hits, he let go and Gabrielle hurried to her feet once again and ran. She got close to where one of her sais lay and glanced over her shoulder to see the bandits right behind her. Returning her attention ahead Gabrielle closed in on one of her weapons and dove for it. She grabbed it as she rolled forward and quickly stood and turned just in time to see the bandit leader right up on her. He angrily reached for Gabrielle, never noticing that she had picked up a weapon until he felt it sinking into his chest. Gabrielle pushed hard as she took him down and landed on top of him pushing the blade deeper. The bandit leader gasped, feeling an intense pain for a moment as the weapon punctured his heart. Then he fell completely motionless and Gabrielle felt him ceasing to breathe from beneath her and knew that he was dead. She then glared up at the other bandits who had stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Gabrielle tackle their leader to the ground. Not liking the intensity that they saw burning in her eyes, they held up their hands in a defensive manner and began to back away.
BANDIT 2
You know what you can have the horse. It was his anyway.
He motioned to his dead leader.
BANDIT 2
And he doesn't need it anymore. So we'll just leave the animal with you. After all that was the agreement, you two made.
Gabrielle noticed that the remaining bandits appeared afraid of her now. Apparently without their leader thief rest of this group were nothing but cowards. Not that this surprised Gabrielle too much. She'd seen this sort of thing plenty of times. But despite their apparent surrender, Gabrielle knew that she couldn't drop her guard just yet, in case this was a trick of some kind. Instead, she pulled her sai out of the dead bandit leader's chest and faced the rest of the bandits as she stood up.
GABRIELLE
Then I suggest you get out of here right now. Unless you want to end up like your leader.
(Thinking to herself) I'm not sure if I could take the rest of them all at once right now. Hopefully, I didn't just overplay my win and screw myself here.
But Gabrielle's momentary concern about the remaining bandits calling her bluff was put at ease when they sheathed their weapons and slowly retreated from her. Gabrielle watched until they were out of sight before dropping her confident act as she sat right where she was and breathe a huge sigh of relief.
GABRIELLE
Thank the gods that worked. I thought I was really in over my head for a bit there. I'm really gonna have to get better with those sai's. That was way too close for comfort. If Xena had seen me doing that...
Gabrielle let out another sigh as she thought about Xena.
GABRIELLE
(Thinking to herself) I have to go find Xena and try and fix things.
She wiped the blood from her weapon as she walked over to where her second sai was and returned them both to their places in her boots. Hearing a whinny, Gabrielle then looked over at where the now abandoned bandit's horse was still stuck in the trap. She slowly moved towards the animal who was obviously frightened.
GABRIELLE
(Soft tone) Easy, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you.
The stallion shifted nervously as Gabrielle came close. He tried to back away but was held in place by the trap still on his leg. Gabrielle spoke softly and walked slowly toward the animal so she wouldn't scare him further. She knew that while horses tended to be gentle creatures, they were also very strong and could do some serious damage if they kicked or stomped on someone. Possibly even killing them. And the last thing she wanted after facing down those bandits was to get taken out by the frightened horse that she had fought their leader to save.
GABRIELLE
(Soft tone) Shh, easy boy. Everything's okay now. I'm gonna get you out of that trap and you'll feel much better.
The horse seemed to somewhat understand and allowed Gabrielle to get close to him. Once she reached the stallion she gently touched his snout and patted him. Once she did this for a few moments, the horse appeared to calm down further. Then Gabrielle crouched down to get a better look at the trap that held the horse's back leg. After a moment she found the trap's release mechanism and then prayed it apart. Feeling the pressure on its leg release, the horse quickly pulled it away. Gabrielle swiftly moved in case the horse kicked and watched as the animal trotted a little ways from the trap. Gabrielle smiled as she saw that the stallion didn't seem to have any trouble walking on the leg that had been caught in the trap. She stood up and walked over to the animal and patted him as she crouched again to inspect the wound left by the trap, before smiling and standing back up.
GABRIELLE
Lucky for you it doesn't seem that bad. But I'll have someone look at you when we find someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to this sort of thing better than I do just to be sure. So we'll just take it easy until then okay?
The horse snorted.
GABRIELLE
Good. Well come on boy, for now, it's just you and me.
Gabrielle took hold of the horse's reigns and led the stallion behind her as she continued on to her still-undeterred destination. Unsure of why she still felt the need to continue on instead of heading back toward where she and Xena had parted ways. She wanted to work things out but then there was still this part of her that still felt this sense of anger towards not only Xena but also herself for everything that had been happening between them. Gabrielle knew that she needed to find Xena but first, she had to figure out a way to avoid them having another argument when she did. Because Gabrielle knew that once she went back, Xena wouldn't be happy with her and then they'd likely end up going right back to where they were when Gabrielle left.
GABRIELLE
I'm gonna have to figure out something to tell her before I go back.
The stallion snorted. Gabrielle patted him as they walked off.
GABRIELLE
Yeah, I know. I'll come up with a name for you too while I'm at it boy.
By this time Xena was sufficiently worried about Gabrielle being gone so long enough to forget her anger, frustration, and pride and decided to go find her. She climbed on Argo who had been walking beside her and rode in the direction that Gabrielle had gone.
XENA
(Thinking to herself) Something has to give between us. We can't keep being at one another's throats like this. I know it's not just these tests that caused it. There's something more. Something Gabrielle won't let me know what it is. If I could only get her to tell me then maybe I could...
Xena paused her train of thought as she replayed the multiple times that Gabrielle had insisted that she didn't need Xena to fix whatever was going on. That was when it truly finally sunk in for Xena. When it came to what Gabrielle was going through right now, there wasn't anything that Xena could do. For all of the skills that Xena possessed, this was just a situation that she couldn't solve. And as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't like it. It wasn't that Gabrielle couldn't be independent, but that Xena just felt unneeded and shut out. But she was determined to try and do better in that regard. After all, she wanted Gabrielle to be happy. So if dealing with whatever she was going through on her own was what she needed to be happy, then Xena was willing to try and let Gabrielle sort things out on her own while Xena stood by her side. Though she did still want to talk about Gabrielle putting herself intentionally into a dangerous situation, Xena was going to try to be more understanding of Gabrielle's position. Though she had a thought that this realization might very well be all a moot point. As she hoped that both she and Gabrielle could still fix things between them. And that she hadn't realized this too late.
TO BE CONTINUED...