Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter thre of "Running Around." This chapter has a little Eric/Snow White. I am really enjoying doing this crossover. There is a strong possibility one of the characters will be severely wounded while going to look for a missing loved one at an injured person's request. Who will it be remains to be seen. I decided to have Eric and Snow White married because they had the potential for a blossoming relationship at the end of the movie. When The Huntsman: Winter's War came out and showed Sara was still alive, any hope of Eric/Snow White was crushed. As a result, I decided to have Sara stay dead because her reappearance did not make sense. Stay tuned for chapter four.
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Chapter 3: Walking Along
Argo, Amber, Kiki, Lina, and Moses whickered as they, Xena, Gabrielle, Eric, Snow White, William, and Solan came to a less dense part of the forest nearly an hour later. A white-tailed eagle flew overhead. It landed on a branch just above the middle of a tree not far from them. It opened its beak in which it emitted a loud screech. It flicked its tongue twice. It closed its beak while watching the group pass underneath it.
Everyone scanned his or her surroundings as he or she listened to distant explosions, bleating, and whinnying. The group observed two red deer running past them with their tails held high. Three European mink followed suit. They swung their tails from side to side. William sighed impatiently as he tightened his grip on Moses's reins.
"I want to get out of this warzone so badly," William grumbled irritatingly.
"We will be out of this forest soon, William," Snow White assured gently.
"That's what you said a while back, Snow White," William retorted and glared at her.
"Don't get mad at my wife over something she can't control, William," Eric warned as he glanced at him. "In fact, none of us can control this."
William held up his hand in surrender while looking away. He knew when he should not argue with Eric. He didn't like doing that, anyway. He had rarely won an argument with him. At least he could take comfort in the fact that he could rely on him to get Snow White and themselves out of jams. Solan rubbed the back of his neck.
"Eric, I was wondering. What was life like with Sara?" Solan asked in much curiosity.
"It was an amazing life. I taught her how to live off the land not long after we married. We traveled a lot. We could never stay in one place for very long. The traveler spirit within us was very strong," Eric explained.
Gabrielle smiled. "Kind of like Xena, Solan, and me."
"What was the longest time you stayed in one place?" Solan commented with raised eyebrows.
"Two weeks," Eric admitted. "It was in a town called Nephus. It is two days north of Mela. It draws the majority of its economy from fishing."
"Almost all villages and towns rely on fishing, farming, and hunting to sustain themselves throughout Europe. Cities rely on mostly trade to survive," Xena commented and cleared her throat.
"Being a traveler made Sara and I feel free. We did not have to worry about the weather not being sufficient enough to grow crops. Hunting and gathering our own food weren't hard at all. Of course, we did end up in a few sticky situations. One was when a pack of wolves tried to hunt us for food. We climbed a tree and stayed there. They wandered around hoping we would fall. We stayed there the whole night. We even fell asleep. By morning, they were long gone. We were able to climb down," Eric added softly and let out a long yawn.
Solan exhaled. "Wow."
The horses snorted as their owners tightened their grips on their reins. Their ears twitched at the sound of two distant explosions. They repeated their actions with yelping wolves and bleating deer. Eric and Snow White glanced at Xena.
"Xena, how long will it be before you give birth?" Snow White wondered and suppressed a yawn.
"Less than three weeks," Xena answered and patted Argo's neck before giving it a gentle rub. She touched her stomach in a light manner. "I am ready to let this baby out."
"Do you know how long your labor might be?" Eric asked and touched his wife's shoulder.
"I have no idea, though I will tell you my labor with Solan was pretty short," Xena admitted. "When Dagnine first told me that he was the one who killed Borias, I wasn't too shocked as he was my enemy at the time. When I look back now, I realized he would have attacked Borias at some point if he had still been on my side. They never got along very well."
"Kyle was planning on traveling with us after our summer in Amphipolis ended, so he could be with Xena and Solan. Xena loved the idea of him becoming Solan's second adoptive father. Unfortunately, a vicious wild boar quashed those plans," Gabrielle said sadly.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think of Kyle. I was not surprised Mom encouraged the relationship. She believed I deserved another chance at love, despite all the terrible things I did. She said Solan deserved another father figure," Xena added.
"However, fate decided to take a different turn. What can we do? We could've just wallowed in self-pity, especially Mom. Instead, we decided to carry on as we had done before. The best thing about this whole thing is I get to be a big brother. I never thought it would happen. I mean, I spent the first nine years of my life without a mother," Solan murmured, a sniffle coming from him. "I resented her so much when I first met her because I thought she killed my father."
"Nobody can blame you. At least your resentment faded after she helped mend your broken arm," Gabrielle pointed out truthfully.
"I was astounded with how gifted at healing Mom was. My arm did not hurt one bit when she put pressure points on me," Solan said and rubbed his nose. He cringed a bit. "Unfortunately, the pain came back worse than before when she removed them."
Xena rubbed her stomach. She smiled when the baby moved against her hand, followed by kicking. She slipped a lock of hair behind her ear before letting out a long yawn.
"Life on the road isn't very easy, but it feels very satisfying," Xena said and ran her tongue all over the inside of her mouth.
"I can see many people saying you are a bad mother because you are not married and maintaining a home while raising your children," Eric grumbled with a roll of his eyes.
Gabrielle scoffed. "Who cares what those people think? Xena is capable of raising two children during life on the road. I am helping her every step of the way."
"Riley and Greta are examples of parents who would rather be on the road than staying in one place. We haven't seen them since their last visit to Tabor when Lucas was a year old. He was just beginning to learn how to walk," Snow White commented in much warmth. "He is probably talking by now."
"Who knows what he could be saying at the moment?" William said, giving a shrug.
Eric smirked. "He is probably speaking gibberish a bit of the time. William did that when he was a toddler."
"It was my father's fault because he continued speaking baby talk to me up to when I was two years old," William grumbled annoyingly. "My mother told him to stop, but he never listened."
"Why wouldn't he? He is as stubborn as you are," Snow White said and giggled to herself.
"That's right—Hey!" William yelled as he looked at her.
Snow White winked at him and let out another giggle. "It's the truth, William. Don't even try to deny it."
William waved Snow White off. They and their friends looked ahead as they picked up their pace.
"It is funny that some people judge Xena for her past when they have done terrible things themselves," Eric muttered while shaking his head in disbelief. "Some did much worse than she did."
"The one thing I never did during my evil days was kill women and children," Xena responded honestly.
"That meant you still had a bit of good left in yourself," William murmured with a soft exhale.
"It was my destiny to become a better person. It was not a matter of if it would happen. It was a matter of when. Giving birth to Solan was a slight turning point. Saving that baby was what really began my journey to turning good," Xena explained.
"Meeting me has kept you on the straight and narrow," Gabrielle said cheerfully.
"Don't you dare forget me. I have been helping!" Solan blurted out in some annoyance.
"Don't worry, Solan," Xena replied, looking at him. "We have not forgotten you."
"You could use a haircut, Solan," Snow White teased with a snicker.
"So could you, Snow White," Solan said, shooting her a mock-glare. "In fact, I should take your sword and give you one right now."
"Oh, that really scares me," Snow White responded sarcastically.
"You should be!" Solan shouted in much playfulness.
"All right, that's enough," Xena said while waving her hand in the air. She and the rest of the group slowed down their pace somewhat.