"Are we there yet?" Solan groaned for the fifteenth time that day as he walked behind Xena and Amarice. And although it was getting on her nerves, Xena couldn't blame the boy for the way he was acting. The sun hanging overhead was hot; they had been traveling for days; there was really nothing to do; and Solan's attention span of a typical teenager had worn thin the day before. After all, he was used to playing in forests and always having a tree to climb. It was nothing like the grassy plains that they were traveling on now. Xena was surprised that he had lasted this long without getting bored. Or, at least, without acting on that boredom. So, every time he asked the question, the warrior calmly replied with the same answer. Amarice, however, was not as patient as the older warrior was.
"Xena, I swear if that little tag-a-long of yours doesn't shut up, I'm going to have to kill him." the annoyed teenager threatened in a whisper, although she made it just loud enough for Solan to hear.
"Hey! I'm not a tag-a-long!" Solan objected as he hurried to catch up, trying to prove his point.
"You look like one to me, kid." Amarice told him, punching him in the arm.
"Amarice, he's only a few years younger than you are, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you." Xena told her, earning a glare from the young woman. Knowing that she had made her point, Xena looked ahead towards the horizon again, hoping that they wouldn't start arguing again. A warrior princess' patience could only last so long, after all.
"So, when are we going to get there?" Solan asked, ruining any hopes that Xena held for a quiet afternoon.
"Look, we'll get there when we get there!" Amarice practically barked at him. Then, she looked over at Xena with a curious expression on her face. "When are we going to get there? We've been at this for days, and there haven't even been any fights to liven things up a little." she asked, adding in a few punches to the air for emphasis.
"Amarice, if you would listen to yourself when you talk, you'd know your answer." Xena growled, doing her best not to hit the young woman beside her in the back of the head. The truth was, Xena was as bored and tired of the journey as she was. Then again, it was her fault it was taking so long. As much as she wanted to arrive in Amphipolis, she was afraid that if they moved too fast they'd go running headfirst into trouble. That was something she wasn't willing to risk with Solan there.
"I'd be surprised if anybody listened when she talked." Solan remarked with a smirk. He knew it probably wasn't something he should be doing, but Amarice was fun to mess with. Besides, it wasn't like he meant any of it.
"Look here, you little twerp! The only reason why I don't pummel you right here and now is because it's way too hot to kick your butt!" she told him, although it was becoming very tempting to reach over and strangle the kid.
"Will you two cut it out before I kick both your asses?!" Xena shouted, successfully halting the argument. "Thank you." she said gratefully. She loved Solan, no doubt about it, and she respected Amarice to the point where they were finally good friends; but if they hadn't shut up when she asked them too, she would have had to show them what an angry Warrior Princess looked like.
A few hours in relative silence had gone by, when Xena stopped and held her hand up, signaling for the other two to do the same. Something didn't feel right and it was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end; and it wasn't the feeling that she got when a God was around, either.
"What is it?" Amarice asked, while Solan silently observed. He didn't want to be a distraction for the two warriors that he was traveling with.
"There's something ahead. I don't think it's dangerous, but whatever it is, something isn't right." Xena said. Just as these words escaped her lips, a faint cry for help could be heard calling from the direction that Xena had looked in.
"I wasn't the only one that heard that, right?" Amarice asked, looking at Xena and Solan.
"No, I heard it, too." Xena assured the young woman as she went through an internal struggle. Although she wanted to help the person that had cried out, she also didn't to go running into a situation that could harm her son. The decision was made for her when Amarice mounted Ice and took off, not waiting for Xena to make up her mind. Mentally sighing, Xena mounted Argo as well before giving Solan a hand up. "Solan, whatever happens, don't let go of me unless I say so." she ordered the boy.
"Whatever you say, Xena." he told her as she spurred Argo into following Amarice and Ice.
"Amarice, what do you think you're doing?" Xena yelled as she caught up with the Amazon warrior.
"What do you mean 'What am I doing'? Someone's in trouble, Xena." the young woman replied, as if that would explain everything. And to Xena, it did. She had taught the girl to help where ever it was needed, even if it was an inconvenience to her.
'I guess it's time to practice what I preach then.' Xena thought as she pushed Argo to go faster. If they did run into a fight, she'd just have to work harder to protect Solan. However, it soon became apparent that the fight had been long over with as they came upon the area that the cry for help had come from.
Blood was everywhere, seemingly coming from the corpse of a dead horse. Flies had begun to swarm around the carcass of the animal and Xena figured that it wouldn't be long before the scavengers of the wild decided to join in on the feast.
"Do you think maybe they got away?" Amarice asked as she scanned the area. She couldn't see anybody that could have called for help, so the only logical answer that she could think of was that they were able to escape whatever it was that had killed the horse.
"I don't know. Maybe-" Xena cut herself off when she heard something move, followed by a whimper. Without another word, she dismounted Argo and cautiously walked over to the fallen animal. She never expected to find a woman lying next to the horse. "Amarice, get over here!" Xena called for the Amazon as she squatted down to get a closer look. Amarice quickly dismounted Ice and did as she was told.
"Oh, by the Gods!" Amarice exclaimed when she saw what Xena had found. Kneeling beside the warrior, she too began to examine the woman lying beside the chestnut colored horse. The woman had shoulder length brown hair that fell in waves; but the right half of it was stained with blood coming from a head wound that looked as if it had stopped bleeding not too long before they had arrived. One delicate looking hand was pressed to her side, no doubt an attempt to stop the blood flowing from the wound that Xena could see from between her fingers. "What happened?"
"Slavers..." a hoarse voice answered before Xena could get the chance to. Both Xena and Amarice looked down in surprise to see a pair of pleading grey eyes staring up at them. Or more appropriately, staring up at Xena. Amarice was about to tell her to stop talking and save her strength while they took a look at her when the woman shook her head, already knowing what she was going to say.
"Save it." the woman ordered her with as much strength as she could muster. Amarice looked at Xena with a questioning expression and the other warrior shook her head, knowing there was nothing they could do for the woman now. "They took... a little girl..." The two warriors turned their attention back to the woman when they heard this. The pale woman took a painful breath before continuing. "You have to save her... please..." she requested in a whisper, weakly removing her hand from the wound in her side and placing it on Xena's knee. "Please save her." she pleaded again before her eyes clouded over and the clammy hand fell to the ground with a soft thud.
"Xena..." Amarice said softly, looking over at her traveling companion. Xena simply shook her head again, letting Amarice know that the woman was gone. The young Amazon's shoulders slumped slightly before she stood up, Xena getting up soon after.
"Amarice, stay here with Solan." she told the younger woman before walking over to Argo.
"Xena, you can't possibly be thinking of trying to get that little girl back by yourself." Amarice said, her hands resting on her hips.
"And why can't I?" Xena asked as she motioned for Solan to get down. Not one to disappoint, the blonde boy did as he was told, although he did have to add to the argument.
"You don't know what the little girl looks like." he pointed out, stepping back to stand with Amarice.
"I don't have to." she said as she pulled herself up onto Argo. "All I have to do is free everyone in the camp."
"Xena, that's crazy! You can't do that by yourself!" Amarice objected. "At least let me help you." she said, making a move to mount her own horse.
"No!" Xena ordered her, making Amarice freeze where she was. "Someone needs to stay here and make sure marauders don't try to desecrate her body. When I come back, we'll give her a proper funeral pyre. If I don't come back before nightfall, do it yourselves and set up camp."
"If you come back at all." the youngest of the trio muttered, crossing his arms.
"I will come back, Solan." she promised him. "All I have to do is deal with the leader." Before anymore objections could be made, Xena was gone, leaving Amarice and Solan in each others company.
"Does she always act like that?" Solan asked, looking up at his now unofficial babysitter.
"It depends." Amarice replied with a shrug.
"On what?"
"Kid, you ask too many questions." she told him with a sigh. The blonde boy just gave her a half-hearted smile, as if saying that he couldn't help it. "It depends on how she's feeling." Amarice finally answered him, although the answer didn't tell him much.
"You're not very good at conversation." Solan pointed out.
"What do you expect? I travel with Xena." she said gruffly. This earned a small laugh from the younger teenager, despite the grim atmosphere that hung around them.
----------
Meanwhile, from the safe walls of his favorite temple, a frustrated God of War watched on as his plans were once again ruined before his eyes by the irritating blonde that used to be Xena's sidekick. Not once had Ares thought that Gabrielle would kill her husband. In fact, he never thought that the blonde would kill anybody.
"Well that certainly puts a kink into your little plan, doesn't it, Uncle?" an annoyingly familiar voice chuckled.
"Is there a problem, Discord?" Ares growled before turning around and facing the eternal teenager.
"I don't think my problems are quite as big as yours are at the moment, Ares." she pointed out with an amused smirk. "Pretty soon, all of your 'hard work' will come tumbling down. We both know that judge is going to believe that little blonde woman that you're so obsessed with hurting." she told him as she boredly stared at her fingernails.
"That is none of your business." Ares growled before throwing a thunderbolt her way. Discord dove to the side, the bolt just barely missing her. Instead, it traveled on to strike one of the statues of Ares.
"Temper temper, Uncle." the teenager tsk'd as she stood up. "I think that's what's getting in the way of you seeing the perfect opportunity to continue tormenting that little bard." she told him while dusting herself off.
"What does it matter to you?" the God of War asked, thoroughly annoyed by the younger immortal.
"Oh, nothing that important... Just something that I could hang over Strife's head." she said as she ran a finger down one of the statues of him that he hadn't destroyed yet, a slight pout on her lips. "Say the favor of my favorite God of War?" she suggested, looking over at said God. "Just say the word, Ares, and I'll tell you what you can do to save your vengeful little plan, since it doesn't seem your emotions are letting you see the obvious answer."
"Fine." Ares grunted, crossing his arms in annoyance. "What is it that I am supposed to do, oh wise one?" he asked sarcastically. Discord chuckled and shook her head.
"Nothing too hard. Just a little divine intervention." she told him as she came closer. Once she was close enough, she began to whisper in his ear. A smirk appeared on the God of War's face as the simple plan was revealed to him.
'Perhaps I can have my fun after all.' he thought as he pulled away from Discord. "Leave. You have my favor... for now." he ordered his niece. Discord pumped her arm in victory before wiggling her body and disappearing, the sound of 'shoving it in Strife's face' echoing slightly in the temple after she left. Ares then turned to the shimmering surface on the far wall of his temple. The distorted image of a sobbing Gabrielle showed on it as she awaited the judgement that would decide her fate. "Oh yeah... I will definitely be able to get a kick out of this." he said to himself with a smirk. "But, I think a new form of entertainment is needed right now." With that, he thought of Xena and the shimmering image on the wall changed scenes.
--------
The Warrior Princess had followed the trail of the slave traders into the forest that was located near where they had found the wounded woman. The forested area was painfully familiar to Xena, as she remembered that this was the forest that she had buried her weapons in. They had been closer to Amphipolis than she originally thought. Pushing the bittersweet memory away, Xena concentrated on the task at hand, which would be tracking down the slavers that had killed the woman on the road and taken the girl that Xena guessed was her daughter. It didn't take her long to find them.
She was surprised that nobody else had found them sooner because of the tremendous amount of noise they were making. She had actually heard them before she spotted them; not much of a feat considering that they were yelling with excitement. Xena wouldn't be surprised if some of the victorious screams were induced by alcohol.
'And I thought the Amazons partied too hard.' she thought with a smirk as she finally got a visual of the camp. Her prediction about the alcohol had been proven correct when she observed men toasting each other and noticed the many wineskins that littered the ground. Her plan was becoming easier every second that she observed the interactions between the drunk men in the camp.
Trying not to press her good luck, however, she snuck into the camp as stealthily as she could. Once she reached the leader's tent, she jumped up and landed on top of the temporary quarters. After gently sliding the breast dagger from its secure spot, she began to cut into the fabric of the tent. It wasn't long before she was slipping into the tent unnoticed by the rest of the camp, along with their leader. By the time he turned around, it was too late. Her sword was already pointed at his thick neck.
"Xena. What a surprise." he said, trying hard not to gulp. He feared that if he did, he'd feel the prick of the Warrior Princess' blade.
"I'm sure you're very happy to see me, Elroth." she told him sarcastically. “I mean, we never got to finish where we left off from last time, after all.”
“Now Xena... don’t be rash. I mean, every member of your army participated in the gauntlet. Not just me.” he reasoned with her, putting his hands up as if he was trying to ward her off.
“I guess you’re right when you put it that way.” Xena said before moving the sword until the blade pricked her former soldier’s skin. “Unfortunately for you, that’s not why I’m here.” she informed him, causing him to swallow with fear against his will.
“T-then why are you here?” he asked, trying hard not to touch the blade with his throat again.
“Simple. I don’t think people should be robbed of their freedom.” she said as she removed her blade from his throat. Still too frozen with shock over finding his ex-commander in his tent, Elroth was unable to move as Xena made her way behind him and began whispering in his ear. “I also don’t like it when people are killed because they won’t give up their freedom.” As soon as these words left her lips, the leader of the slave ring could feel the sharp metal that was pressed against his back. “Go let them free, or I gut you here and now.” she hissed, pressing the weapon into his back slightly to get her point across.
“Yes Ma’am!” he said obediently before heading towards the entrance of the tent, Xena’s weapon still pressing into the lower part of his back as a reminder.
“Attention... Attention!” he called out once he exited his tent, Xena following right behind him. When he finally got the attention of his drunken subordinates, he continued. “There has been a change in plans. It seems we will not be able to sell these slaves as we planned.” he announced. Xena smirked as she listened to the groans of the slavers. Apparently, Elroth had just become a buzz-killer. Despite this, he still had his signature self-assured grin on his face, and was keeping a jovial tone in his voice. “Now now... Don’t feel so down. I’m sure we’ll be able to make up what we lost, eventually.”
It was then that Xena realized why he sounded so cheerful, despite the fact that he had been confronted and forced to release his slaves. The sound of two bow-strings being drawn from a distance, and from different directions, captured the warrior’s attention. Seconds later, she was catching one arrow with her free hand, and slicing through another with the dagger that she held at Elroth’s back.
“You never could fight a battle by yourself, could you, Elroth?” Xena asked before shoving the arrow in her hand through the left side of his back, right beside his shoulder blade. The former soldier howled in pain before stumbling forward and onto his knees.
“What are you waiting for? Get her!” he ordered just as she was drawing her sword once more. The men were doing his bidding in no time, although being drunk did prove to be a disadvantage for them.
As Xena parried and dodged attacks from the her opponents in the camp, she was careful to keep an ear out for the archers. Once she heard the pull of a bowstring, she flung her chakram in the direction the noise had come from while holding off a swing from one of the slavers. Just as the trusty weapon was returning to her, she heard the pull of another bowstring. She smiled at the large man she was fighting before forcing him to switch spots with her. As soon as the arrow hit her human shield, Xena let her chakram fly once more and moved on to another soldier.
Xena laughed in amusement as the soldier she took on aimed a swing at her with his club while another tried to sneak up on her. Flipping backwards, she allowed the man behind her to take the hit from the slaver that had swung the club just before shoving her sword through the man that had tried sneaking up on her. Once that was finished, she threw a punch at ’club-man’s’ face. Just when he brought his club up to defend, she stopped the attack and kicked at his knee instead, sending a reverberating crack through the air. She then swung the hilt of her sword into the back of the man’s head as he bent down in pain.
“Well Elroth... it seems you have no one left to protect you.” a sweaty and tired warrior princess said fifteen minutes later as she stalked towards the leader of the slave ring. “I guess it’s prison for you.” she growled at him as she grabbed the collar of his tunic. “Oh, and by the way; they don’t like slavers there. Slavers tend to remind them of their lost freedom.” she told him as she led him over to a pair of shackles that she had placed on Argo after fighting through Elroth’s men.
“You bitch! I should kill you!” the blonde haired man spat at her as she cuffed his wrists.
“I bet you wish you could.” she teased him before fishing the keys off of his belt. “Don’t worry. There’s a town nearby that will have a prison to... accommodate your every need.” she told him before heading off to unshackle the now free slaves.
--------
“Aw yeah! Xena does it again!” Ares yelled triumphantly after watching his fiery princess take down the slavery ring. While it was true that she didn’t fight for him yet, watching her fight still turned him on. Especially when she won. “Although, there could have been a bit more bloodshed.” he admitted as he thought back on the number of unconscious bodies that she had left tied to various trees, including the leader's. No doubt she would send the guards of some city to pick them up once she was able to.
“Like, don’t you have anything better to do than watch the Warrior Babe perform more total acts of grodiness?” a familiar voice asked. Ares growled to himself. He seemed to be getting a lot of annoying visitors.
“What do you want, Aphrodite?” he asked in an annoyed tone. He hated being around his sister with a passion.
“What do you think I want?” the curly haired blonde Goddess asked, slinking over to him with her hands on her hips. “I want you to stop messing with Gabrielle‘s life!” she told him, poking him in the chest repeatedly.
“Oh? And why should I do that?” he asked, crossing his arms in a defiant manner. He couldn’t wait to hear is sister’s genius explanation.
“Because you’re like, making it hard for me to do the Goddess of Love gig justice. Duh.” she explained, standing up on her tippy toes and sticking her face in his.
“Back off, Sis. I haven’t even been meddling in the little bard’s life.” he told her honestly.
“Yeah right! How else could that big brute find out that she planned on leaving?” Aphrodite asked, poking him in the chest once more. “Do you have any idea how bummed out I was about that?”
“Cut it out, ’Dite!” he snapped at her, grabbing her by the wrist to stop the poking. She just continued with the other hand.
“Not until you promise to like, stop messing with the bard!” she ordered in a serious voice that Ares had never heard her use before. Of course, all that mattered to him at that moment was the annoying poking that was going on in his chest area. Ignoring her threat, he reached up and grabbed her by the other wrist with his free hand.
“Or what? You’ll hit me with a love bolt?” he asked with a cocky smirk. The sickeningly sweet smile that appeared on his sister’s face made him re-think what he just said.
“Oh no, Ares. I would never, never, ever use a love bolt on you.” she told him. He visibly let out a breath of relief. “Just on anything that’s below four feet tall and has a tail.” she concluded.
“Fine! I won’t interfere with the bard!” he promised her in a low growl. Aphrodite smirked before clapping with happiness.
“Thanks bro!” she said before disappearing in a shower of gold sparkles. Ares then proceeded to grin like a little boy that just stole the desserts from the table while no one was looking.
‘I never promised that Discord or Strife wouldn’t meddle in the bardly affairs, however.’ he thought to himself triumphantly before going back to watching whatever it was Xena was up to. When it became apparent that there would be no more fighting, however, Ares grew bored. There was no point in watching his princess if she wasn’t slicing a guy in two. So, he decided to check up on how his buddy Caesar was doing, the scene on the wall shifting just as Xena came across a blue eyed little blonde girl.
--------
“You’re Xena.” the little girl simply stated when the dark haired warrior came to her. The warrior princess, taken off-guard, blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected a child so young to know about her.
“And how do you know that?” Xena asked as she undid the shackles that were weighing down the girl’s arms.
“My mama.” the little blonde answered with a shrug. “She talked ‘bout you lots.” Xena frowned at the statement. Apparently, the child knew that her mother was dead, or at least not coming back. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it would save a lot of time on explaining what had happened. On the other hand, no one should have to grow up without their mother.
“Well, since you know my name, what’s your name?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Nexa.” the girl replied. “My mama wanted me to go with you.” she said before looking up at Xena with sparkling blue eyes. “I want to be good for my Mama. Let me go with you?” she pleaded. Again, Xena blinked. This was definitely not going how she had planned.
“What about your father? Does he want you to go with me too?” the warrior asked, trying to be as patient as she could with the little girl. It wasn’t like she could really take the kid with her. She was Xena: Warrior Princess, not Xena: Adoptive Mother of Cute Little Blonde Children.
“Daddy... Daddy’s gone.” Nexa answered, not knowing the word for what happened to her Daddy.
“I’m sorry.”
“S’okay. Daddy wasn’t very nice. He gave Mama lots of booboos.” Nexa told her, shaking her head. When she heard this, Xena: Adoptive Mother of Cute Little Blonde Children was suddenly beginning to sound very nice to the Warrior Princess.
“Nexa, did your daddy... did he ever give you... booboos?” she asked, sounding silly for using the word ‘booboos’. The blonde girl shook her head vehemently.
“No. Mama ‘tected me.” she said. Xena sighed in relief. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if Nexa had been hurt by her father.
“Nexa, do you have anywhere else to go?” she finally asked, dreading the answer. She had a feeling that she knew what it would be.
“Only with you. Mama wanted me to go with you. Please help me be a good girl for my Mama.” Nexa said, tears welling up in her eyes when it became clear that there was a chance that Xena wouldn’t help her be a good girl by doing what her Mama said.
‘Not fair.’ Xena thought as she saw the tears pooling in the crystal blue eyes. How dare the little blonde use the crying tactic to get her to comply with her wishes! Another look at those eyes so close to tears quickly found Xena shaking her head while standing up. “Come on. I’ll help you... be a good girl.” she managed to get out as she took the little blonde’s hand. “What are you looking at?!” she barked at the tied up slavers and some of the freed slaves that were staring at her. They all turned away, going back to what they were doing.
--------
“Xena! You came back!” an excited Solan shouted as the familiar golden mare came trotting up the hill they had decided to make camp on once it became apparent she wouldn‘t be back before nightfall. The smile on the boy’s face, however, quickly turned to a look of utter confusion when he heard a squeal of laughter and someone yelling ‘Faster! Faster!’ from behind the warrior woman.
“Xena, you weren’t supposed to come back with another kid.” Amarice said as the Warrior Princess slowed Argo down, making it clear who had made the excited shrieks. Xena gave Amarice a look as she dismounted that said they would talk about it later. The young Amazon raised her eyebrows, before nodding in acceptance. As long as Xena was willing to talk about it with her later on, she had no problem with the kid being there... yet.
“Nexa, this is Amarice and Solan.” Xena introduced the blonde girl to her traveling companions after finally getting her off of Argo. The girl immediately wriggled out of Xena’s grip, though, and ran over to the other two.
“I’m Nexa!” she introduced herself with a grin. Amarice and Solan looked at each other before bending down to reach eye level with the girl.
“Really? It’s nice to meet you, Nexa.” Solan said with a small smile before reaching out and gently shaking her small hand.
“She’s too young for you, Solan.” Amarice teased the boy, who shot her a dirty look that she chose to ignore. “How old are you anyway, kid?” she asked.
“Three.” Nexa said, holding three fingers up. Amarice growled quietly at the answer, which in turn made Nexa giggle. “You’re funny.”
“Xena! You and I need to have a talk right now!” the young woman demanded as she stood up. Almost immediately the smirk that had been on Xena’s face disappeared and was replaced by one of innocence. “Don’t you try to pull that one on me, Warrior Princess. You and I have a lot to talk about!” Amarice told her as she approached her dark haired companion. Before she could protest, a certain Warrior Princess was being dragged off rather unceremoniously.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone cause a mood swing in her so fast since I’ve known her.” Solan mused. “Did you do something to her on the ride here?” he asked suspiciously, although he still had a smile on his face.
“Mood swings?” Nexa asked, thoroughly confused. Solan chuckled before ruffling her hair.
“Never mind. You’ll understand when you’re older.” he assured her.
-------
Strife observed the scene from afar, choosing to stay invisible rather than pose as some old man making his way down the road. The overall happiness of the events that played out before him made him feel sick. He would much rather see them at each other’s throats. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to mess with Xena.
‘I probably shouldn’t even be here.’ he thought with a chuckle. He just had to see the object of his Uncle’s obsession, though. Strife needed to see just who it was that the God of War desperately wanted in his possession. He also needed to know why Ares had just sent him to make the life of one little bard a Tartarus on Earth. After watching the scene with the little girl, though, he wasn’t very impressed. Now that he had seen what he wanted to see, the lesser God winked and disappeared into the air. It was time to tell Ares that all had gone well.