Destiny Is a Funny Thing
Author: Adelaide
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you
Hopefully it was for the last time. She had tried twice before, but somehow she always ended up right back where she started.
“Gabrielle are you sure?” The dark prowess stared at her blonde friend with pleading eyes.
“Xena I think it’s finally time. We both knew that one day it would come to this. It’s for the best.” Gabrielle tried hard not to back out of her decision. It was very difficult with Xena’s eyes burning an invisible hole in her forehead.
A single tear escaped Xena’s eye, but as soon as it came, it was wiped away.
“Until we meet again?” Gabrielle offered auspiciously, even though she knew it would only give little if any solace to her lifelong friend.
“Until then.” At that she gave Gabrielle a tight hug and turned with Argo to the west, while Gabrielle took Handsome and slowly headed east.
The duo were officially no more. Gabrielle had called the split and it happened.
Where was she headed? She didn’t know, exactly, but she just knew she couldn’t live in Xena’s shadow anymore. They had traveled together for ten years now, it was just time to go their separate ways.
Weeks went by. Gabrielle traveled around the countryside, alone and bored. Once she had decided she would go home and visit, but then decided against it for she knew her family would just get onto her case about how they were right and she was wrong about going with Xena in the first place. Plus, she didn't know if she went back there if she would ever leave again.
One night she sat underneath a tree fidgeting with her white silk skirt, when it all caught up to her and she just burst into tears.
She was crying for everything. When she first joined Xena she thought that maybe they’d be together forever. Now, however she wished she had given a little more though to what she was going to do once she had left her.
Once Gabrielle finished crying, she immediately wished she had never started for she heard a low snicker of a large group of men.
Quickly getting on her feet, Gabrielle pulled out her staff.
“Who’s there?” She asked weakly.
The snicker turned into a loud laugh, then.
“Show yourselves.” This time her voice sounded with great force. Gabrielle hated being laughed at, that was what triggered her anger, and what triggered her mistake.
“Show yourself now or go away!”
Gabrielle soon regretted saying that when twenty huge burly men with swords slowly walked into the light.
Only one man stood out, though. His sword wasn’t raised it rested weakly at his side. He was very handsome, muscular, and tall. He didn’t seem to be getting a big thrill out of picking a fight with Gabrielle.
Gabrielle noticed this, however, so she decide early on in the fight that running in his direction would be best.
The fighting began.
Gabrielle executed her plan to perfection, except for overlooking one small detail; they had arrows.
She ran past the man who barely gave her a glance, jumped into the trees, silently thanked the Amazons for teaching her how to do that, then ran through the limbs.
She was pretty sure they were gone, that is until she felt a sharp pain by her right shoulder blade, then another one through her abdomen.
She fell ten feet to land face first in the dirt below.
That’s when she first saw the arrows, and first felt the real pain they gave.
The men of course caught up to her and started to drag her bloody body back towards the spot she had originally sat.
They were stopped, however, by a low growl in the dark bushes.
Gabrielle was only conscious enough to see a huge dark form approach the group and hear her attackers scream in fear. Before giving into complete darkness she gathered up enough senses to feel a man lifting her tenderly from the ground. Then, everything was black.
tbc....