Little Bard: Chapter 3

Another chapter for your enjoyment!

See Chapter One here

See Chapter Two Here

___

It was an hour or so after sunrise when Xena was awoken by the snap of a twig.  She took a moment focusing on her surroundings and realized that they were being surrounded.  She counted five, no six armed men within a few feet of her.  She also realized that she didn’t feel Gabrielle’s head on her chest. She hoped that the child had just moved over and was still close.

Xena subtly gripped the handle of her sword, and then suddenly brought it up to deflect a blow that was aimed at her head.  In an instant, she was on her feet.  She disarmed the first man, before knocking him out with a single shot to the head. She then kicked two others out of the way and was circling with a fourth when she took a second to check on Gabrielle. She felt a panic rise when she realized that the blankets were empty, and Gabrielle was nowhere to be seen.

She parried a blow as she scanned the clearing, looking for the little girl. The man found a sudden advantage in her distraction and managed to get a slice across her left shoulder.  Xena hissed in pain, bringing her attention back to the man in front of her. She quickly disarmed him, and soon he was sleeping just as peacefully as his comrade.

Turning she faced the remaining four men.  They looked at each other nervously, each taking a step back, as Xena laughed and twirled her sword in a flourish.  One man finally broke from the pack and took a step closer. She grabbed him, and with three quick pokes, he was rendered useless as he knelt on the ground in agony.

Xena looked back up at the other three. “Boo!” she taunted them and then smirked as all three turned tail and ran.  Bringing her attention back to the man under her pinch, she gave him the low down. “I just cut off the flow of blood to your brain.  You have about thirty seconds before you die a very painful death.”

The man sputtered as Xena circled him once, before stopping in front of him again. “Where is the little girl that was with me?”

“We didn’t see any girl,” he answered, struggling as the pressure from the pinch caused a trickle of blood to flow from his nose.

Xena studied him for a moment before warning, “Ten seconds.”

“Please,” the man returned, “I swear, you were alone.”

Xena turned her back on the man, visually doing a more careful sweep of the clearing. Still seeing no trace, she scanned the area around the bedroll and discovered a small footprint.

“I don’t want to die,” the man begged.

Xena turned back toward the man and released the pinch.  The man doubled over, gasping for breath.  “Don’t be here when I get back,” she warned.  “And make sure you take your friends with you.”

Xena checked on the footprint studying more closely.  It looked clean and didn’t seem to be distressed by being hurried or marred as if the child had been forced away.  She soon discovered several more prints, which gave her a direction.  She started off after the bard, only pausing for a moment to grab Gabrielle’s boots, which the child had neglected to put on before she left.

It only took a few minutes for Xena to follow the girl’s trail.  She was about a quarter mile away from camp when she saw a bush rattle and Gabrielle emerge from it.  Xena sighed in relief seeing the little girl unharmed, but then felt a well of anger rise at the worry she’d put her through.

“Gabrielle!”

“Xena!” Gabrielle echoed, seemly obvious to the warrior’s worry as she waved and then scrambled not to drop the handful of berries that she had collected.

“What are you doing?” Xena pressed, putting her hands on her hips for emphasis.

Gabrielle froze, her eyes going wide and her lips –which were freshly stained with red berry juice –turned into a frown.  “Oh, Xena! You’re hurt.” Gabrielle crossed to over to where the warrior was standing.  Pulling on Xena’s arm, she forced Xena to bend so that she was eye level to the cut.

“What? Aw…” Xena returned, as Gabrielle pulled down on her arm. She’d been so focused on finding Gabrielle she’d forgotten about the injury.

“Ohhh, does it hurt? What happened?”

“A little.  It’s just a scratch.  And don’t change the subject,” Xena scolded.

“What subject?” Gabrielle asked. “Did you scrape your arm on a bush? See that dark green bush over there with the yellow flowers?  It has these thorns on it.  It poked me on my hand. See?” Gabrielle held her palm so that the warrior could inspect it.  “It hurt, but I didn’t cry…”

“Gabrielle,” Xena tried to interrupt.

Gabrielle looked down at her injured palm, waiting a beat before continuing. “…I was brave.” She smiled. “It bleeded, but I sucked on it until it stopped.  Yours is bigger. You should clean it, ‘fore it gets inf…”

“Gabrielle!” Xena snapped, suddenly stunning the girl into silence. “Enough.  My arm is fine, and the subject is you! What are you doing out here, all by yourself?  I was worried about you. I didn’t know where you were.”

“I’m sorry, Xena,” Gabrielle frowned.  “I didn’t want to wake you. I just wanted to help by finding some breakfast.  I was hungry…” she explained looking down at the fruit cupped in her other hand, before adding mournfully, “I just couldn’t eat any more fish.”

Xena suddenly averted her eyes and bit her lip, trying very hard no to laugh at the forlorn look on the little girl’s face. “You know something, Gabrielle? I don’t think I could stand to eat any more fish either.”

Gabrielle looked back up and smiled.  “Good, cuz these berries are delicious.”

“Un-huh, and just how did you know they were safe to eat?” Xena asked.  She picked up one of the berries, easily identifying it as a wild cherry.  “You could have gotten sick.”

Gabrielle pulled away, rolling her eyes. “I know better than to eat poisonous fruit, I remember at least that much.” Getting a disproving look, Gabrielle elaborated, “I saw some birds eating them. They wouldn’t if they were bad to eat.”

Xena raised an eyebrow at the description, her heart fluttering at the possibility. “Do you remember? What do you remember, Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle wrinkled her brow. She hadn’t really thought about it when she said it, but now that she focused on her words a hazy memory suddenly surfaced. “I… I… remember you telling me that.  Right after we met. We’d only been traveling for a few days… and I found this bush with these dark purple berries.  I ate a handful of them, and then spent the next two days running from bush to bush.”

Xena smiled, both at her own memory and at the fact that Gabrielle actually remembered something.  It was a start, and proof that the little girl before her wasn’t just a younger version of her best friend.  Her Gabrielle was still in there somewhere.

“Anyways,” Gabrielle continued, wondering what the odd look the warrior was giving her was about. “I was bringing these back to you,” she continued as she offered the handful up to Xena.

Xena smiled once again and sampled one of the cherries. “You’re right, they are good.” She then squatted down, so she was at eye level with the little bard, letting her voice drop into a more serious tone. “Gabrielle, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you remembered about the berries, but you know what? That doesn’t change the fact that you left camp. I was worried about you, and when I don’t know where you are, I can’t keep you safe. This can’t happen again.  You understand that right?”

Gabrielle slowly nodded, suddenly having a hard time making eye contact.  “Am I in trouble?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Xena sighed, realizing that Gabrielle’s sudden status as a child had changed the dynamic of their relationship. “You really scared me, Gabrielle. You know, I have half a mind to give you a good swat,” she threatened.”

Gabrielle responded with a sniffle, trying to hold back tears.  “I’m sorry, Xena.”

Xena shook her head. She could no longer consider Gabrielle an equal, but at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to treat the bard as anything but.    She reached out, raising the bard’s chin with two fingers, and forcing her to meet her eyes once again. “Hey now, you’ve always been very good at learning from your mistakes, and not repeating them.  Think you can remember that?  Not to wander off again?”

Gabrielle nodded.

“Good,” Xena agreed.  She then guided Gabrielle over to a large boulder, where she sat the child down and began to help her put on her boots. “You know, I know you don’t remember, so today, you and I are going to have a long talk. I think it’s important to remind you about our rules, and how we keep each other safe.”

“I keep you safe?”

“When we work as a team, we help keep each other safe.  Part of that is I need to know where you are, so I’m not distracted looking for you, or worrying about you like I was today.”

Gabrielle bit her lip as her eye’s traced over the cut on Xena’s arm. “It’s my fault you got hurt, isn’t it?”

Xena opened her mouth to argue but then realized that the bard was right. It wasn’t exactly the girl’s fault, as she hadn’t been holding the sword that cut her, but if Xena hadn’t been looking for her, it might not have happened. “It’s just a scratch.  We both made a mistake.  You shouldn’t have left, and I should have reminded you about our rules earlier.”

Gabrielle frowned, seemly unconvinced by Xena’s words.

Xena finished tying off the laces on the second boot before taking a seat next to her bard. She then echoed Gabrielle’s frown, realizing that the bard might need a little encouragement to accept the point she was trying to make. “You know, if you insist, I suppose I could punish you.” The warrior paused, allowing her words to sink in and watching Gabrielle shift uneasily. “But since we were both at fault, I guess it’s only fair that we should both be punished.”

Gabrielle wrinkled her brow, and looked up at Xena, faintly recognizing a sparkle of mischief in the warrior’s eyes.

“I was planning on making it to an inn tonight, getting a good dinner.  But we could just stick around here. I could cook us fish again…”

“No… no,” Gabrielle quickly jumped up.  “As long as you’ve learned your lesson, I think I’ve learned mine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Oh yeah,” Gabrielle agreed, nodding her head in earnest. “Actually, I have a great idea.  Think if we rode Argo, we could get there by lunch?”

“I think that is a wonderful idea,” Xena agreed, smiling as she suddenly recognizing that the bard had just solved another problem for her. She was eager to put as much distance between them, and the men who had attacked her as possible. She offered a hand to the little bard. “Let’s go then, you can help me pack up camp.”

“Okay,” Gabrielle agreed, happily accepting Xena’s hand.

Continue to Chapter 4 here