In a typically calm and serene spot, a ruckus broke out as a group of hooligans ran amuck in a temple dedicated to one of the Greek people's many gods. They hooted and hollered as they jumped all over, and trashed the place before finally running outside laughing, and as they scurried away, one of the vandals left behind a scribbled message in paint on the temple wall, before following his companions. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as the god to who the temple was dedicated to appeared and walked up to the messages left on the walls.
GRAFFITI
Xena rocks! Aphrodite blows! ELECT XENA GOD. XENA RULES!
XENA'S da BOMB.
The goddess scowled as she looked at the rest of her trashed temple.
APHRODITE
Delinquent losers! I've got half a mind to hit you with-
?
A love bolt?
The goddess turned around as another flash of light filled the room before fading to reveal another god.
?
(Joking tone) Well, they certainly made a mess in here, didn't they?
APHRODITE
(Irritated tone) Not now Ares, I'm so not in the mood.
The god of war smirked.
ARES
(Lighthearted tone) Hey, don't get mad at me.
You know what your problem is.
APHRODITE
Duh! Your little Xena!
Ares made a buzzer noise.
ARES
Nope. The answer you're looking for here, is actually her little bard friend, Gabrielle.
Aphrodite scowled as she motioned to the warrior's name that still adorned her walls.
APHRODITE
(Irritated tone) Well in case you forgot how to read, it's Xena's name that's plastered all over my temple, not her little blonde friend.
ARES
True. But you see, while I made Xena the warrior she is today, she made the legend. Clearly, you haven't read those so-called stories she writes about the woman. "A warrior who fights for the common person." The things in those stories, you'd think she was a goddess. And soon enough, when people think of love, it's not gonna be Aphrodite they think of. It'll be Xena.
APHRODITE
(Angry tone) Xena?!
ARES
Don't blame her. It's Gabrielle and her busy little quill that's your problem.
Ares smirked.
ARES
So, what are you gonna do about it?
Aphrodite didn't say another word, as she saw red and disappeared in a huff, leaving the god of war to let out a satisfied chuckle to himself, before he too vanished from the temple in a flash of light.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Near a small wooded area, far off of any marked trails, Gabrielle sat on a rock as she watched Xena do some routine maintenance on her armor and weapons. They had been traveling for quite some time since the warrior had solved the mystery of the town that was stuck reliving the same day again and again, and have had many exciting adventures since. The blonde rummaged through her satchel that held her writing supplies as she felt it might be a good time to document some of Xena's latest heroic exploits.
GABRIELLE
Ah, I love starting a new scroll. The feel of it in your hands.
They look, so clean. So perfectly empty. The way it crinkles the first time you open it. And that smell. It's just a special, untouched scent.
Gabrielle sniffed the blank paper before holding it out toward Xena.
GABRIELLE
Here, try.
Xena sniffed at the paper, as a light that went unnoticed by both women flashed behind the bard as Aphrodite appeared, but chose to remain unseen to mortal eyes.
XENA
It smells like musty old leather to me.
GABRIELLE
Maybe to the non-creative person.
The blonde brought the scroll back to her lap to begin writing.
GABRIELLE
Now, where to start with our last adventure?
XENA
Don't you ever get tired of just writing down what I do all the time?
Gabrielle shrugged.
GABRIELLE
Not really. Why?
XENA
No reason. Just thought it might be more fun for you to come up with some of your own characters or adventures.
GABRIELLE
You mean fiction? Well, I thought about trying that, but I'm not really sure if I could do it.
XENA
Sure you could.
The bard smiled.
GABRIELLE
You think so?
XENA
Won't know 'til you try. Give it a shot.
Xena laid down on one of the blankets they had spread out.
XENA
And make someone else the hero for a change. Now keep it down, I'm taking a nap.
Gabrielle smiled to herself as the dark-haired woman rolled over and pulled a blanket over her to go to sleep.
GABRIELLE
Sleep well, Xena.
The bard then stood up and moved a bit further from the warrior to make sure she wouldn't disturb her, before finding a comfy patch of grass to sit in and laid her scroll over her lap to begin writing. Aphrodite followed, watching the young woman as she dipped her quill into the ink and began to write a new exciting adventure that had begun to take shape in her mind.
GABRIELLE
Xena had gone fishing. The lone warrior, Gabrielle, awoke with a jerk, as five barbarians rode out of the woods. Twirling her trusty staff, she delivered kicks of fury.
Gabrielle paused for a moment, as she found a whole new way of making her writing more exciting.
GABRIELLE
Hey, this fiction stuff is pretty fun.
Meanwhile, a smirk appeared on Aphrodite's face as the goddess got an idea, and with just a wiggle of her finger infused the bard's scroll with some magic.
APHRODITE
Oh, yeah, a lot of fun.
And with that the goddess disappeared, leaving Gabrielle to write a tale that the young woman would never forget.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
The next morning, Gabrielle was sound asleep until she was jarred awake by the sound of yelling. Her eyes opened and she saw a group of barbarians had found their camp. Quickly, the bard grabbed her staff as she stood and called out for Xena.
GABRIELLE
Xena! We've got company!
The bard easily blocked, and dodged the oncoming attacks for several moments before realizing that Xena still hadn't joined in the fight.
GABRIELLE
A little help here, Xena! Hey, wake up! Xena!
Still not getting any response from Xena, the bard continued to fend off her attackers before finally growing tired of waiting for the warrior's help and knocked one of the barbarians away and planted her feet firmly on the ground with a scowl.
GABRIELLE
(Slightly Irritated tone) That's it, you asked for it!
Then using her staff for leverage, and with shockingly little effort, the bard leapt up and began rapidly kicking her assailants that had surrounded her again and again. After knocking the men down, Gabrielle landed back on the ground where she then began twirling her staff in her hands at a virtually inhuman speed, before raising it above her head while still spinning and jumping straight up. There the rotating staff acted as a propeller and carried the bard through the air as she unleashed a series of kicks to drop any unfortunate barbarian that came across her path. Gabrielle had just knocked out another one of their attackers when she noticed their leader standing over Xena's bundle of blankets. He raised his blade to impale the warrior, and the bard knew she needed to act fast to save the woman. So without even thinking about it, Gabrielle proceeded to perform a series of multiple back-flips toward the man before landing right next to the blankets and bent over backwards just as the barbarian leader brought his sword down. But incredibly, instead of running the bard through, the blade simply just bounced off of her toned stomach as though she were wearing thick, plated armor. Just for a moment, the barbarian looked on in shock as he regained his slight loss of balance from the unexpected resistance. Suddenly amidst the commotion, Xena's blanket finally began to move. The covers slid down and the bard was met with a very unexpected sight as she saw Joxer lying there instead of the warrior woman, who screamed as he saw the barbarian standing over him with weapons in hand. The Barbarian still being thrown off, Gabrielle took the opening and sprung upright once again to land a hard head butt right between the barbarian leader's eyes, knocking him out as he fell flat on his back.
GABRIELLE
Ow!
The bard rubbed her now sore forehead, having not thought the move through, before looking down at her midsection that had gone completely unscathed despite being struck with a sword. Not finding any logic in that, Gabrielle's thoughts shifted to other things she noticed that didn't make sense as she heard Joxer shout after the fleeing men.
JOXER
And don't come back!
GABRIELLE
Joxer? What are you doing here?
The man looked at her and shrugged.
JOXER
Don't look at me. I was staying at an inn last night. No clue how I woke up here.
The bard ignored Joxer's answer as her thoughts had moved on to the other unexplainable events that had just taken place.
GABRIELLE
Did you see that?! Back flips! I don't do back flips. And my stomach…
Joxer poked at the bard's mid-section, having witnessed the young woman go unaffected by the sword attack against her bare flesh.
JOXER
Do you have armour on, under there?
Again The blonde didn't hear her friend as she finally realized that something, or rather someone was missing.
GABRIELLE
Hold on. Where's Xena?
TO BE CONTINUED…