~ Of Swords and Honor ~
by Julianna

Disclaimers: The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Solan, Kaleipus etc. belong to Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

Feedback is welcome at Julianna.

Chapter 1

Solan awoke on a bed in a darkened room. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in my temple." A voice in the shadows answered.

Solan sat up and looked towards the voice, the person speaking stepped out of

the shadows wearing a black vest, and matching pants.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

Solan shook his head.

"Well, you should," said the man. "I know who you are, and I can tell you

this you look nothing like your father," he added.

"Are you my father?" Solan asked.

"Nope, I'm Ares, but I have seen you father," Ares answered.

"Did you know my mother too?" asked Solan hoping for more information on his

parents.

"Yes,"

"What was she like?" asked Solan.

"Almost the exact opposite of you father, she was so full of..."Ares was cut

off by a girl yelling "Ares! Moira needs you!"

"Girls," he muttered as he walked into the shadows and out of the room.

Upon his leaving, a girl about Solans age with long wavy brown hair and green

eyes walked in.

"Who are you?" She asked surprised.

"Solan, who are you?"

"My name is Sara," she said.

"Are you a servant of Ares?" Solan asked.

"No, I'm his daughter, I know you think it isn't possible for Ares to have a

daughter but guess what, I have a sister who is also his daughter."

"Sorry." Solan said standing up.

"Though I'm almost his servant anyway. It's kind of pathetic when your own

father disowns you because you're a girl," Sara continued oblivious to

Solan's presence.

When she came out of it she asked "What about your family? I suppose you

have a mom and dad, and a sister and brother and a dog."

"No, my father and mother died when I was a baby, the person I used to live

with was a centaur named Kaliapas, so I couldn't have any animals. Therefore

I consider you fortunate," Solan replied flopping down on the bed.

"Well I bet your parents weren't ashamed of you before they died," Sara said

flopping down next to Solan.

"Is your mother ashamed of you too," asked Solan

"You ask a lot of questions and no I don't think so. To be honest I don't

know why she left us here except the matter of revenge, but that is a stupid

reason," answered Sara.

Solan raised an eyebrow.

"You know you remind me of someone," said Sara matter-of-fact.

"Really. Who?"

"Xena, ever since her army sacked my mothers village and killed her family she

has been out for revenge," explained Sara.

"Callisto? Yep Xena told me about her, well not me exactly me but I

overheard the conversation,"

"Well then it's a good thing that Xena isn't your mother because I'm sure we

wouldn't be allowed to be friends."

"Are you sure about that?" Solan asked.

"Yes, if you were Xena's son my mother would kill you too, even if you had a

close connection to Xena she would want to kill you, I bet."

"Wouldn't we want to kill each other if Xena and I were in close relation?"

"No, we aren't responsible for what Xena and my mother do, we're just kids,"

answered Sara.

"Your right."

"Ok, now it's my turn to ask a question. How did you end up here?" Sara

asked.

"I don't know, I was packing and next thing I know Ares stepped out of the

shadows," answered Solan.

After a few moments of letting it sink in Sara said "Come on, I'll introduce

you to Moira, and my sister, Rachel."

With that the two children walked into the shadows and out the door.

"Sara, I have an idea, this is going to sound stupid but we could

leave," said Solan 3 months after he had been kidnapped by Ares.

The two children were sitting outside near the temple entrance talking.

"Yeah right, Ares is a god, he would know if we tried to get away. All that

would happen is he would find us bring us back here and be as mad as ever,"

said Sara.

"You said yourself that you didn't like your dad much and if you could you

would leave? Besides Ares is gone a lot and when he isn't he's either

mourning strife, hating Callisto, ignoring us, bug Xena, you know that kind

of thing.

Sara laughed, "He's still bothering Xena, doesn't he know when to quit? Hold

on a second, how do you know that he's bugging her?"

"I was spying on him. The only person who ever knows when I'm spying is Xena

and he is not Xena," answered Solan.

"I used to do that, then he caught me and got really mad."

"I hate those pathetic good for nothing mortals!" shouted Ares as he

threw power balls at everything in sight.

"Oh Ares, temper-tantrums are so five minutes ago... for Bliss," said a woman

appearing in front of Ares, she had blond hair and wore a pink, well

something that wouldn't qualify for an outfit.

"What do you want Aphrodite?" snarled Ares.

"I could hear you all the way up on Mount Olympus, besides I want to see my

nieces," she said emphasizing the last word.

"I DON'T CARE, JUST GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" shouted Ares, annoyed.

"Bye, sweet-cheeks," Aphrodite said blowing him a kiss before disappearing.

When she appeared in the room that Moira and the kids were in,

Aphrodite said, "Sara, do you stick him in the kennel at night, or let him

run free?"

"Who?"

"Your dear father the grump, of course."

"Well, I would," said Sara, "but I'm afraid that he will bite my hand off."

"Who's the kid?" asked Aphrodite, looking at Solan.

"Oh, this is my friend, Solan," replied Sara, "can we talk to you alone," she

added quietly.

"Sure let's go."

The three of them walked out of the room and Aphrodite asked "So, what is it?"

"First of all," started Sara "Solan is my best friend, not my boyfriend and I

don't plan on having a boyfriend for a long time, Solan doesn't plan on

having a girlfriend for awhile either, okay?" she asked, giving Aphrodite a

look.

"Sure, I understand, my little Cupie's best friend was a girl, and look at

how he turned out," said Aphrodite.

"Good, well anyway, Ares is out of control and he stole Solan. And now for

some reason he is neglecting everything except his army and that girl with

his monster child in which were both killed by Xena not to long ago.

Therefore Rachel, Solan and I are going to go find Xena." Said Sara taking a

breath.

"Why Xena, she killed your mother. Not that I blame her."

"I don't hate her, the fight was between them, not us and I refuse to go to

war with her at any level. How many times do I have to say it!?" exclaimed

Sara trying to control herself. "Besides, Solan was supposed to go with Xena

anyway," added Sara after she had cooled down.

"Oh, I will help you, but only until the next village, then I will have to

keep Ares away. I'll see if Cupid or Hephestas can help after that," said

Aphrodite.

"Thank you," said Solan, finally talking.

"He does talk!" exclaimed Aphrodite smiling, then she turned to Solan and

asked, "So kid, why did Ares bring you here?"

"I don't know, one minute I'm packing, the next I wake up in a bed here,"

explained Solan.

"Hold on, back up. Where are your parents, and why would you travel with

Xena?" asked Aphrodite.

"My parents are dead, they died when I was a baby. I don't know what my

mother's name is, but my father is Borias and my uncle, Kaliapas, a Centaur

said that I would live with Xena if he died, and he did," explained Solan.

Aphrodite almost choked; she had herd about Borias, and she new that he and

Xena had a past, but she didn't dare tell Solan that. Especially because she

wasn't sure if she was right. So instead she said, "Your father is dead."

"My father and mother both died when I was a baby."

"And I though that you and Rachel had it bad, Sara. Back to business, when

the sun sets tonight, meet me at the big rock on the West Side."

Later that night, when the sun had set and Moira thought that they

where asleep Sara and Solan grabbed Rachel and went to meet Aphrodite at the

chosen destination.

"Let's go!" said Aphrodite.

The four of them started out on their journey and when they neared the

village Aphrodite said, "Run, now!"

No one asked questions. They ran until they reached the interior of the

village and found a place for them to stay. Free of charge and a target for

runaways and salesmen. One of the salesmen, Aphrodite recognized right away.

She walked up to him and said, "Hey, Stud Muffin, I need you to do me a

favor."

When the man realized who it was, he could barely speak.

"She called me Mutt Stuffin."

"No, she said Stud Muffin, you need to slow down," said Sara walking up next

to them.

"Whatever, well anyway, is there any way that you could help these kids find

Xena before Ares gets to them?" asked Aphrodite cutting to the chase.

"Anything for you," he said still mystified.

"Thanks, Salmoneous, bye guys!" said Aphrodite as she disappeared. When she

did the spell was broken and Salmoneous turned to them and asked, "Who are

you?"

"I'm Sara, this is Solan and this is Rachel," Sara answered pointing to each

person as she said his or her name.

"Great, who was it that we were looking for again?"

"Xena." Answered Solan.

"Well, lets get some sleep and we'll head out in the morning," said

Salmoneous.

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