The _what_ is Mightier than the Sword? – 3 of 4
Xena leaned her head against Argos. "What's going on Argos?" she asked him. "Gabrielle is right, I am behaving oddly. It is just..." she couldn't put her finger on it. She reached under her battle skirt to feel the hard stiffness she had strapped there. It just should seem wrong, but instead felt oddly right.
She snatched her hand away and put both of them under her arms. "I know I've upset her." She treasured Gabrielle dearly. There were times she felt herself slipping back to her old ways, when war was for conquest and battle just sport. She tried normally to suppress that dark side of her. Gabrielle represented all that was light to her.
But this was very different. These odd feelings she got around Gabrielle now were like her dark side, surging and rising within her. Like, well, she tried to smooth her skirt and not think about it. "I've dealt with sieges. I've dealt with death. I can deal with this." she said to herself. But she only felt that she had a tenuous control over herself and her actions. That it would only take one push to send her over the edge. She'd been there many times in the past, and each time Gabrielle was there to draw her back. She needed her now. "I must apologize to her."
She strode from Argos across the clearing to where she heard Gabrielle muttering and sloshing in the water. When she came upon her, she was bent over a log, leaning out into the stream with her skirt hiked up her thighs nearly to, well, Xena didn't want to think about it. But she couldn't not think about it.
________________________________________
Gabrielle had stormed off from Xena. Some "present". There were times when she felt like her "big sister" only kept her around for doing the menial chores. She was like a galley slave. With irritation she collected up the dishes and proceeded to the brook. There was a convenient log she could rest her weight on and not get wet as the vigorously scrubbed the pots.
"I don't know why I bother sometimes", she muttered to herself. "This subservient role is so degrading and humiliating." But as she lay stretched out over the log, she couldn't help this feeling inside her somewhere saying she really liked it. She tried to scrub such thoughts from her mind as she scrubbed the dishes, but it still rose, unbidden.
A cup dropped by accident, and she swore and reached in further to retrieve it. As she did so her legs parted for balance, and she felt a slight breeze high up her inner thighs telling her that her skirt had hiked up. But the chill was more than met by this unexpected warmness within her, like a sunbeam in an unexpected place. Even after she retrieved the cup, she sat for a moment basking in the warmth.
Then she gasped with utter surprise as a sudden force took her from behind and she felt Xena up against her. Aside from the sheer anatomical impossibility, it was all wrong. She'd been with men before and it was just all in the wrong place. But somehow it felt right. It felt good. She opened her mouth to cry out, but her exclamation was replaced with a lower, more a****l like groan.
________________________________________
The sun continued to beam down the track to Corinth. Gabrielle walked in front and Xena rode behind on Argos, each a bit distant and apart from the other. "Look", started Xena.
"No." said Gabrielle shortly. "Just don't say anything."
"I don't know what..." she tried starting again after a while. Gabrielle just held up a finger and Xena fell quiet.
Sometime later she tried again. "Hey, do you want to ride for a while?"
"No!" Gabrielle exclaimed, trying harder to not walk bowlegged, "I absolutely do not want to ride."
________________________________________
Just before sunset they sighted the smoke from a campfire. Xena got off Argos and bid him to stay. "I'd say they're camped right around that bend."
"Yes, there's probably a lookout in those bushes up there."
"And another further along where the road crosses the stream." They looked at each other, surprised at their normal business-like nature after the awkwardness of the day. 'Maybe everything will be all right' thought Xena. Funny, but with a fight imminent all those unnatural lusts left her, and she felt just the typical warrior.
Gabrielle looked Xena in the eyes and saw her old battle sister. Today had been really bad since 'the incident' as she called it herself. She didn't know what to make of what Xena had done, or how she felt about it. Some old part of her screamed she should get up and get the Tarterus out of there. But she felt somehow drawn to it and secretly wanted it to happen again. She couldn’t believe that she enjoyed it, but that's almost how it felt.
But right now, everything felt perfectly normal. They were good guys. Over there were the bad guys. "Let’s go get them", she said and didn't flinch at all when Xena grasped her shoulder for good luck.
________________________________________
Timeaus hated being first on watch. You missed all the hot food, and the bugs were most active at sunset. But he could almost forget all that as he watched this gorgeous blonde walk down the road. It was very remiss of her to be out this late. Maybe he could teach her a lesson.
He muttered a quick prayer to the lustful aspect of Cupid and silently praised him when she stopped right in front of him and bent way down to tie her sandals. He raised slightly from his spot to get a better view when there was a great crashing from behind and all sense left him.
________________________________________
With a great battle cry Xena leapt from her perch in the trees into the slaver encampment. She attracted the attention of the three who were standing by the spit over the fire by using their helmets as steppingstones on the way down from the trees. She back flipped from the last and came face to face with their leader, who had just risen from where he sat eating.
He took a mighty swing at her with the only thing he had ready, a ham hock. Xena dodged first one way, then the next as she drew her weapon, narrowly avoiding getting pig grease on her cheeks. With a twirl as she disengaged, she attacked his weapon leaving him a spiral cut ham. With a grunt he threw it at her and, while she juggled it, drew his own weapon.
Gabrielle entered the fray just as the three by the spit were recovering from their staircase impression. With a cry she clobbered the nearest with her staff and sent him reeling. The other two were nearly upon her, though, but by the time she gave them the same treatment, the first had recovered. "This is going nowhere fast" she muttered to herself.
Xena fenced with the leader. He was stronger but she the better blade. Sparks flew from their swords as she forced him back. Realizing this was not a winning fight he grabbed the tankard left from his dinner and flung the contents into Xena's face. She was only distracted for a moment but by the time she recovered he had snatched up a young boy, presumably Rosebud, and started using him as a shield.
Unable to strike at him for fear of harming the boy he now had the advantage. With hefty blows from his other hand, he drove her back, toward the fire. She smelt the burning bacon and heard the cries of the outnumbered Gabrielle. With a cry she leapt up, kicking the slaver in the face and somersaulted over the spitted pig next to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle and Xena stood back-to-back while the stunned flunkies watched. "Now!" shouted Xena. They twined their arms around each other, and Gabrielle bent over, lifting Xena up allowing her to kick her slaver in the face. Then Xena bent over, lifting Gabrielle to return the favor to the other one.
"He's getting away!" Gabrielle pointed out to Xena as the leader saw how the odds had changed and backed away, trying to exit using Rosebud for cover.
"I'll get him, you deal with the last one here." Gabrielle fell to, and Xena leapt into the air, once more, and landed on the spitted pig. She tried to line up a shot with the chakram but the spit beneath her turned, threatening to topple her into the fire. Xena stepped first one way, then the other, in an attempt to keep her footing on the slick carcass as it rolled beneath her. Eventually she ended up almost running in place as the pig spun, sending grease everywhere. With another shout she hacked at the pig's snout releasing the apple stuck in its mouth. It went flying across the clearing and smacked the chief slaver in the middle of the forehead.
He gasped and dropped Rosebud, clutching his head. Half blinded he turned to run and fell, headlong, over a fallen tree. Xena was right upon him and, without thinking, thrust her long-bladed sword deep into his backside.
She paused in shock for a moment as Gabrielle bounced up. "Everything here OK?" she asked. Seeing the situation with the bent over corpse and the protruding blade she swallowed heavily. They both kind of laughed nervously and bit their lips looking worriedly at each other. Then, simultaneously, and beyond any control, they leapt upon each other.
Rosebud sighed and went to see if anything was salvageable from the pig.
She snatched her hand away and put both of them under her arms. "I know I've upset her." She treasured Gabrielle dearly. There were times she felt herself slipping back to her old ways, when war was for conquest and battle just sport. She tried normally to suppress that dark side of her. Gabrielle represented all that was light to her.
But this was very different. These odd feelings she got around Gabrielle now were like her dark side, surging and rising within her. Like, well, she tried to smooth her skirt and not think about it. "I've dealt with sieges. I've dealt with death. I can deal with this." she said to herself. But she only felt that she had a tenuous control over herself and her actions. That it would only take one push to send her over the edge. She'd been there many times in the past, and each time Gabrielle was there to draw her back. She needed her now. "I must apologize to her."
She strode from Argos across the clearing to where she heard Gabrielle muttering and sloshing in the water. When she came upon her, she was bent over a log, leaning out into the stream with her skirt hiked up her thighs nearly to, well, Xena didn't want to think about it. But she couldn't not think about it.
________________________________________
Gabrielle had stormed off from Xena. Some "present". There were times when she felt like her "big sister" only kept her around for doing the menial chores. She was like a galley slave. With irritation she collected up the dishes and proceeded to the brook. There was a convenient log she could rest her weight on and not get wet as the vigorously scrubbed the pots.
"I don't know why I bother sometimes", she muttered to herself. "This subservient role is so degrading and humiliating." But as she lay stretched out over the log, she couldn't help this feeling inside her somewhere saying she really liked it. She tried to scrub such thoughts from her mind as she scrubbed the dishes, but it still rose, unbidden.
A cup dropped by accident, and she swore and reached in further to retrieve it. As she did so her legs parted for balance, and she felt a slight breeze high up her inner thighs telling her that her skirt had hiked up. But the chill was more than met by this unexpected warmness within her, like a sunbeam in an unexpected place. Even after she retrieved the cup, she sat for a moment basking in the warmth.
Then she gasped with utter surprise as a sudden force took her from behind and she felt Xena up against her. Aside from the sheer anatomical impossibility, it was all wrong. She'd been with men before and it was just all in the wrong place. But somehow it felt right. It felt good. She opened her mouth to cry out, but her exclamation was replaced with a lower, more a****l like groan.
________________________________________
The sun continued to beam down the track to Corinth. Gabrielle walked in front and Xena rode behind on Argos, each a bit distant and apart from the other. "Look", started Xena.
"No." said Gabrielle shortly. "Just don't say anything."
"I don't know what..." she tried starting again after a while. Gabrielle just held up a finger and Xena fell quiet.
Sometime later she tried again. "Hey, do you want to ride for a while?"
"No!" Gabrielle exclaimed, trying harder to not walk bowlegged, "I absolutely do not want to ride."
________________________________________
Just before sunset they sighted the smoke from a campfire. Xena got off Argos and bid him to stay. "I'd say they're camped right around that bend."
"Yes, there's probably a lookout in those bushes up there."
"And another further along where the road crosses the stream." They looked at each other, surprised at their normal business-like nature after the awkwardness of the day. 'Maybe everything will be all right' thought Xena. Funny, but with a fight imminent all those unnatural lusts left her, and she felt just the typical warrior.
Gabrielle looked Xena in the eyes and saw her old battle sister. Today had been really bad since 'the incident' as she called it herself. She didn't know what to make of what Xena had done, or how she felt about it. Some old part of her screamed she should get up and get the Tarterus out of there. But she felt somehow drawn to it and secretly wanted it to happen again. She couldn’t believe that she enjoyed it, but that's almost how it felt.
But right now, everything felt perfectly normal. They were good guys. Over there were the bad guys. "Let’s go get them", she said and didn't flinch at all when Xena grasped her shoulder for good luck.
________________________________________
Timeaus hated being first on watch. You missed all the hot food, and the bugs were most active at sunset. But he could almost forget all that as he watched this gorgeous blonde walk down the road. It was very remiss of her to be out this late. Maybe he could teach her a lesson.
He muttered a quick prayer to the lustful aspect of Cupid and silently praised him when she stopped right in front of him and bent way down to tie her sandals. He raised slightly from his spot to get a better view when there was a great crashing from behind and all sense left him.
________________________________________
With a great battle cry Xena leapt from her perch in the trees into the slaver encampment. She attracted the attention of the three who were standing by the spit over the fire by using their helmets as steppingstones on the way down from the trees. She back flipped from the last and came face to face with their leader, who had just risen from where he sat eating.
He took a mighty swing at her with the only thing he had ready, a ham hock. Xena dodged first one way, then the next as she drew her weapon, narrowly avoiding getting pig grease on her cheeks. With a twirl as she disengaged, she attacked his weapon leaving him a spiral cut ham. With a grunt he threw it at her and, while she juggled it, drew his own weapon.
Gabrielle entered the fray just as the three by the spit were recovering from their staircase impression. With a cry she clobbered the nearest with her staff and sent him reeling. The other two were nearly upon her, though, but by the time she gave them the same treatment, the first had recovered. "This is going nowhere fast" she muttered to herself.
Xena fenced with the leader. He was stronger but she the better blade. Sparks flew from their swords as she forced him back. Realizing this was not a winning fight he grabbed the tankard left from his dinner and flung the contents into Xena's face. She was only distracted for a moment but by the time she recovered he had snatched up a young boy, presumably Rosebud, and started using him as a shield.
Unable to strike at him for fear of harming the boy he now had the advantage. With hefty blows from his other hand, he drove her back, toward the fire. She smelt the burning bacon and heard the cries of the outnumbered Gabrielle. With a cry she leapt up, kicking the slaver in the face and somersaulted over the spitted pig next to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle and Xena stood back-to-back while the stunned flunkies watched. "Now!" shouted Xena. They twined their arms around each other, and Gabrielle bent over, lifting Xena up allowing her to kick her slaver in the face. Then Xena bent over, lifting Gabrielle to return the favor to the other one.
"He's getting away!" Gabrielle pointed out to Xena as the leader saw how the odds had changed and backed away, trying to exit using Rosebud for cover.
"I'll get him, you deal with the last one here." Gabrielle fell to, and Xena leapt into the air, once more, and landed on the spitted pig. She tried to line up a shot with the chakram but the spit beneath her turned, threatening to topple her into the fire. Xena stepped first one way, then the other, in an attempt to keep her footing on the slick carcass as it rolled beneath her. Eventually she ended up almost running in place as the pig spun, sending grease everywhere. With another shout she hacked at the pig's snout releasing the apple stuck in its mouth. It went flying across the clearing and smacked the chief slaver in the middle of the forehead.
He gasped and dropped Rosebud, clutching his head. Half blinded he turned to run and fell, headlong, over a fallen tree. Xena was right upon him and, without thinking, thrust her long-bladed sword deep into his backside.
She paused in shock for a moment as Gabrielle bounced up. "Everything here OK?" she asked. Seeing the situation with the bent over corpse and the protruding blade she swallowed heavily. They both kind of laughed nervously and bit their lips looking worriedly at each other. Then, simultaneously, and beyond any control, they leapt upon each other.
Rosebud sighed and went to see if anything was salvageable from the pig.
1 year ago