Chapter One:
The Struggle
It was right after dawn, and the sky was a pallet of multiple shades of red and pink, with a dramatic splash of yellow appearing in the east. The ocean glistened like a multi-faceted sapphire upon the face of the beach, the brilliant cobalt color contrasting nicely with the pale sand. The sun's rays warmed the ocean, setting the water ablaze with color as the light, in turn, highlighted each and every hue of blue. Each part could stand on its own, radiant and unique, but when the colors were combined together, the result was spectacular.
The gulls were combing the beach for their breakfast, and their cries echoed throughout the silence. The water lapped at the shore in a perpetual rhythm, creating the soothing metronome of nature. The soft ocean breeze, eternally smelling of salt, stirred the beach grass and emanated a soft whistle. The beach was deserted; there were no children running around, no boats bobbing on the distant horizon, and the sand was devoid of human footprints. Everything was peaceful, silent and still, and the only sounds were the ones created by nature.
Gabrielle stood on the sandbar and inhaled deeply, basking in the salty smell of the ocean, the first few rays of sunlight warming her shoulders. She squished her feet in the sand, loving the feeling as each grain sifted through her toes, before she planted her staff firmly into the permeable ground. Her emerald eyes flitted around, unable to take in all the wonders that lay before her. The ocean zephyr ruffled her strawberry-blonde hair so that it flew behind her like a ship proudly displaying its flag.
Gabrielle felt almost guilty for disturbing the tranquility present there, as if she had invaded restricted property or intruded on a private moment. This place was unmarred by human hands, a blank canvas set aside for nature's own private paintbrush. Its beauty and serenity was unrivaled, as far as Gabrielle's limited geographical knowledge could remember, and she found herself wishing Xena was here with her. Xena would benefit greatly from soaking the general tranquility of the ocean into her very pores. And, like much else in her life, Gabrielle ached to share her beautiful find with her best friend. But Xena, much to Gabrielle's dismay and annoyance, had left the young bard to spend the day at the beach by herself. The warrior had decided to join in on the annual hunt here in Delphi. The game caught would be part of the offering to Apollo's oracle, given bit by bit, as a lead in to an elaborate ceremony to take place in seven days time.
Normally, Xena wasn't one to make giant offerings to the Olympian gods, but she and Gabrielle had been walking for a long while without any excitement whatsoever. Minimal battles to fight, and very little game to find. Gabrielle saw Xena's enthusiasm to join in on the hunt, not caring that the outcome and the purpose was to honor Apollo, as a sign of her inner restlessness and the battle she must currently be facing between her needs and Gabrielle's.
After much begging and pleading, Xena had taken Gabrielle to Athens so the younger woman could see the new Sappho play. They had then decided to visit Hercules and Iolaus, who were quieting riots directly outside of Sparta. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Gabrielle wasn't quite sure which, there were very few travelers on this particular road and almost zero unfriendly ones. Gabrielle had watched as Xena grew more impatient, as her practicing drills increased day by day, as she responded angrily to even the slightest shift in the night forest. She ached for Xena to take as much relaxation and rejuvenation out of the cool, eventless summer nights as Gabrielle herself did.
All of her deep seeded wonderings made her head hurt something fierce, and she refused to waste this gorgeous day thinking about aches and ailments. She would do something useful, something Xena would do, and maybe her act would coax Xena back into the calmer warrior Gabrielle knew and loved.
Gabrielle plucked a few pieces of sea grass from the sand, relying on Xena's teachings for the next step in her plan. She wanted to weave a net, like she had seen Xena make time and time again on their travels together, and catch a few saltwater fish. The day had just started, and Gabrielle was sure she could catch and cook a scrumptious dinner before Xena returned from the hunt. Xena would be full of adrenaline and starving, seeing how none of the game she caught would be hers for the taking. A hot, delicious meal on the beach at sunset was exactly what the Warrior Princess needed to make her appreciate the little things in life.
The next few hours were spent fretting over the net. A light rain began to sprinkle over the beach, but Gabrielle was oblivious to her newly soaked state or even to the darkly colored clouds that were warring above her. The bard's entire being, her energy and her will, was set and dedicated toward weaving this impossible net. For Xena.
Finally, finally, Gabrielle had managed to formulate a tightly laced net from the four feet of sea grass. Taking her masterpiece in hand, Gabrielle waded out into the ocean waves, farther and farther, until she could hardly stand and the waves threatened to overwhelm her. She cast the net, again and again, reeling in seaweed and seashells by the basketful, but no fish. Gabrielle felt her dream for Xena's hot and tasty homecoming dinner slipping through her fingers as easily as the illustrious fish she yearned for. Gabrielle, however, refused to accept defeat. She would get her fish, if not to fill Xena's belly, but to fill her own mind with success. Xena still viewed Gabrielle as a little girl, not quite as naïve and helpless as when they had started out their journey together, but hardly to the caliber that Gabrielle saw herself. She wanted Xena to see her as she now was; a young bard who was also a warrior, trained by the Warrior Princess herself, and highly capable of pitching in. She could get food or protect their backsides from overeager robbers, and it was high time Xena noticed this.
"Come on, come on, Gabby, think." She searched the ocean's surface, desperate for a sign of any sort. All she saw within miles and miles was rocks. Tons and tons of jagged rocks, roughly a dozen meters from her current location. Her eyes lit up like dazzling jewels as a new idea coursed through her fried brain.
Eagerly, she placed the net between her teeth and paddled toward the rocks. Gabrielle chose the largest one, about a person's width long and three hands wide, and swam toward it. She lifted herself up onto the slippery rock gingerly, balancing with trepidation among the uneven surface. One she had gained her balance, she proudly swung her net in the air like the famed chakram itself, before casting out to sea.
Tree after tree clouded her vision, blocked her path and kept her from reaching her goal. Angry branches reached out desperately, clawing at her bare arms, but slid uselessly off of her armor. Vines swung down from their canopied beds, tangling in her hair, until she whacked them apart with a glint of steel and a heavy hand. Xena pushed forward mercilessly, even while the very forest seemed to have turned on her.
A hunt gone terribly wrong had sent the famed Warrior Princess into frenzy, to a point where her whole mind and being was focused on one goal, one person. Gabrielle. Xena knew without a shadow of a doubt that something was horribly wrong in Delphi; the air stank of betrayal and death, and the sacrificial hunt had been turned into slaughter and a mockery of the gods. And Gabrielle, her sweet young bard, was lying on a beach without knowledge of the ruthless men about to bear down upon her. She had to save the city, but first and foremost, she had to save her best friend.
The army of Adrastos had already seized the city of Delphi, one of Greece's most prominent and richest centers, and his men were scavenging the area for locals. Adrastos had taken over Delphi right before Xena and Gabrielle had arrived in the town, as Xena had found out when the humble villagers she went to hunt with stripped to armor and began to set fire to the land. She took care of them in her way, like always, but she alone was hardly a match for a cold-hearted man like Adrastos, who had the entire wealth of Delphi at his disposal. No, Xena would admit, this one time, she needed reinforcements. Even she wouldn't face his entire army and the fortress at Delphi at the same time, not when he was gathering the citizens inside like sheep to the slaughter.
Sparta, and its famed warriors, was only a day's ride away, and Xena had recently liberated the Spartan king from a few rebels that had been plaguing his borders. He owed her a debt, and she was going to collect; Delphi was a center of learning and religion, and the oracle within its walls was crucial to Greece itself. No, Xena did not respect gods and she wouldn't trust the oracle's premonitions if paid to do so, but she could hardly let Adrastos use the oracle and the people of Delphi for his own evil wishes.
By now Xena had reached the beach where she had left an aggravated Gabrielle a mere seven hours ago. A full blown storm was at play, and Xena was battling against nature itself to reach her friend before the army did.
The sky, dark as pitch with brooding rain clouds, crackled to life with the eerie, almost iridescent light emanated by the never-ending lightning. Thunder roared over head with a terrifying sonic boom as lightning set the sky ablaze with fiery color. The ocean was awake and wild, the strong gales of wind creating massive waves of unusual size and strength.
Xena eyed the water, noticing the thrashing waves with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. Gabrielle was not on the beach, and Xena feared that if her friend had gone for a swim, she was already lost. Dark blue eyes focused hard on the world before her, innately understanding that a single unnoticed detail could mean the death of a woman that meant the world to her.
Xena's trained eyes zeroed in on a long figure, perched atop a far away and fairly unstable, rock. She recognized her friend immediately, Gabrielle's very being imprinted on her heart and inside of her eyelids. The situation wasn't good, wasn't good at all. The young bard was directly in the middle of the storm's grasp, and too far from shore to make it on her own. Xena was more than willing to sacrifice her life to get her friend to safety, but she didn't know if she could bring Gabrielle back alive either. Gabrielle was between a rock and a hard place; if she stayed, the ocean itself would swallow her whole. If she went toward the shore, she would surely drown in the current's grip.
Gabrielle gave a cry of panic and terror as one mammoth wave loomed overhead. Her innocent fishing voyage had gotten terribly out of hand. She had been so fervent to please Xena; she hadn't noticed the storm until it was too late. The wave hungrily consumed the rock, sending its occupant into the chaotic sea. The waves thrashed her about ruthlessly, and the violent current pulled her towards the rock up ahead with malicious intent. The rock which had once been her salvation would now be her undoing.
Gabrielle struggled to keep her head above the churning water and to swim towards the shore. She felt as if she was fighting an uphill battle; every stroke she made, every yard she gained, the current pulled her back even farther. The water was like an icy fist that squeezed around her heart, sapping her energy and limiting her breathing. She could feel her torso going numb with cold, and her legs were becoming too weak and too chilled to kick anymore. Her energy was fading fast, and with it her will to fight.
Despite her admirable struggle, her fate was inevitable. There were jagged rocks mere feet from her current position. No matter how hard she fought or how frantically she swam, the current had her in its clutches and was not relenting. The ocean was angry, awoken by the lightning pounding against its lustrous surface, and the current was eager to feast on its new prize. One weakened woman, with exhaustion the very marrow in her bones and fear her only motivation, was no match for the indescribably strength that ran rampant in Poseidon's world. The only thing she could control was how long she struggled in the waves grasp.
For a split second, Gabrielle felt as if she was winning. It seemed like she was finally gaining on the shore. She could make out Xena's hazy shape on the coastline, and hope filled her every pore and brought tears to her eyes. Xena was here for her. Xena.
Gabrielle began to swim faster, with a new determination and force, Xena's presence slowly fanning a spark of determination within her. She felt as if she actually had a chance to survive. The situation began to feel less bleak and despondent, and Gabrielle realized that she might just beat the odds; she might just live.
And what a wonderful story this would make for my scrolls.
Unfortunately, the world did not agree with her. Another branch of lightning struck the ocean near her, infusing the sea with liquid energy, and therefore creating a wave of enormous proportions. The wave was dangerously close to her, and as one woman bobbing around in an angry ocean, she was at its mercy. From deep within her soul she let loose a scream, an echoing sound filled with the despair of a woman who knew that she was not going to live past this moment. The scream was a desperate attempt to leave her mark on the world, an almost instinctive reaction to the pure terror coursing through her veins. Her scream was cut short, after a few paltry seconds, by an arm of water forcing her under.
Xena watched helplessly as Gabrielle pitched forward into the ocean. For the first time in her life, her body was frozen with fear. The brave Warrior Princess, the Destroyer of Nations, felt her limbs knot with the chilling realization that Gabrielle might die. She began to run toward the sea as she saw her friend flay about in the waves like a play toy, casting armor aside as she ran. For now at least, Xena could make out Gabrielle's golden head above the darkened water. But she couldn't put her future, Gabrielle's life, on this spark of hope. Xena was willing to sacrifice her own life to save Gabrielle's, and this she knew as well as the path to her mother's tavern, the arch and trajectory it took to release her chakram, the chinks in her sword. Preparing herself for the worst, Xena plunged into the icy water and propelled herself toward her friend, her heart, her life.
Gabrielle's mouth opened instinctively, causing her to inhale large gulps of icy seawater. She choked and gagged at the bitter and surprising taste to no avail. Suspended as if in mid air, her limbs were too weak to fight the current and swim up to the surface. She was stuck, doomed to continuously breathe in sea water instead of air, by a body too drained to struggle against her fate.
Oh, Xena, how I wish I had gotten to say goodbye.
Underneath the ocean, it was peaceful and serene. There was no sign of the frenzied storm taking place above water; the aquatic world under the thrashing waves seemed almost undisturbed. The current was the only thing thrown out of balance by the gigantic waves. Gabrielle found herself in the grip of a formidable underwater current, but she could do nothing to help herself. At this point in time, her body had succumbed to the symptoms of oxygen deprivation. Black spots were dotting her vision and her lungs felt as if they were being burned from the inside out. She glanced around her with failing vision, unwilling to surrender to the will of the ocean without attempting to fight back. Xena would fight back with every ounce of strength she could spare, and Gabrielle was determined to go out of this world in the same way she felt she had truly joined it; emulating her best friend, joining her on life's journey.
She saw the rocks a few milliseconds before she felt them. The back of her head exploded in red-hot agony. The pain was overwhelming, sweeping along her body and settling into her bones like flaming liquid iron. The force of the wave hitting the rock caused an aftershock to ripple through the ocean, which propelled Gabrielle's body towards the sky. Her head crested, and her body tried desperately to breathe in the sweet tempting air. But she couldn't. She was wracked with agony so overpowering even her will to breathe was stunted.
She could feel it the same way that she felt the wind on her face and the water lapping at her shoulders: her life was coming to an end. She had felt like this once before, in Tripolis, and was able to recognize her impending death once again.
Gabrielle, forever the optimist, considered herself lucky. Most people don't know when they are going to die, and when it happens they are struck with a sense of surprise and dread. She, however, had felt this coming. Gabrielle could feel her body being drained of its will to live with every surge of pain that overtook her, and she knew that she would not be able to handle much more. Her time had just run out, and her body was overworked and too burned up to fight. Right now, death would be a welcome release from this anguish. Her only wish, her only reason to hold on, was to see Xena one last time. To reassure her steadfast friend that everything was fine and this is how Gabrielle wanted it to be.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Xena reached Gabrielle's body. She was floating in the water, and at first Xena thought everything was fine. After all, she was above the water, not under it, right? But, as Xena got closer, she could see that the water around her friend was stained with blood.
"Gabrielle? Gabrielle!" Xena's panicked voice was swallowed immediately by the howling wind, but the young bard did stir her head slightly. Her eyes flickered as Xena lifted the younger woman's injured form into her capable hands.
"Xena?" her voice was weak and feeble, and only heard because Xena had her ear pressed against Gabrielle's mouth for signs of breath.
"I have you now, Gabrielle, I have you. We can do this, you and I." Xena's voice had raised an octave with her fear, and she caressed Gabrielle's clammy cheek with her trembling hand. Gathering the prone body to her warmth, she forced herself against the current, her strength held eternal by her love and dedication to her friend. Her legs scissored through the relentless current, her body battered by the waves that continuously attacked her. She never stopped talking; speaking about nothing and everything in soothing tones, hoping Gabrielle would stay alive for curiosity alone.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Xena collapsed on the shore. She spread Gabrielle's motionless body on the sand, the most precious cargo Xena had ever carried.
"Hey, hey, we're safe now. You can wake up now, Gabrielle, come on now." Xena's own pain and lethargy didn't hold a candle to the dilapidating fear that was taking a grip on her heart. Gabrielle was gone.
Just when Xena was about to do something completely wild to get her friend back from the dead, Gabrielle opened her eyes and coughed up a lungful of sea water. Xena's face broke into a brilliant smile as she patted Gabrielle's hair and stroked her face, reassuring herself as much as her friend that everything was going to be fine. Xena felt something wet and sticky coat her hand as she tried to lift Gabrielle up into her arms. Something that felt, to the sadly experienced hands of the ex-Destroyer of Nations, too much like blood. Xena pulled her hand away, and to her shock and dismay, found it coated and dripping with crimson. The worst was far from behind them.
Gabrielle could feel the sand beneath her body, and she knew Xena's presence was around her. She felt it in her bone and in her heart, to the same intensity that she felt the throbbing pain the back of her head. Gabrielle eyed Xena and reached out one limp hand to grab her best friends, knowing that, at least for the time being, reality was more than she could handle. Gabrielle's eyes closed and she readily welcomed the dark, cool blanket of unconsciousness. Her mind didn't want to die and give up, but her body wouldn't let her live through this pain much longer. She would relent to her instincts for now, to hide behind the pain that coursed through her veins like an invincible enemy, but only so she could be strong later. Gabrielle hadn't given up on life yet, not by a long shot.
The last thing she heard before total silence fell upon her tired ears was the sound of a wail, a desperate woman who had cried out in pain and in mourning. Xena.
TBC?