WARNINGS AND DISCLAMERS

The village was in utter chaos when Xena and Gabrielle got there. The villagers were running around screaming looking for loved one's that they had been separated from and trying to put out fires. Some were trying to help the dead and the dying lying everywhere.

Xena and Gabrielle had been on the trail of raiders for the last few days. They always seem to get to a village too late to stop the raiders; they could only help the survivors of the latest raid.

This morning was no exception. They did the best they could to help those still alive. They both sewed and bandaged all kinds of wounds, set bones, put out fires and helped build funeral pyres for the dead.

When they had done what they could to help the villagers they again left the village following the trail left by the raiders.

Xena's mood had grown darker by the candlemark. The warrior was getting angry that she hadn't been able to stop the raiders yet or find their camp.

Xena mounted Argo and reached down to lift Gabrielle up behind her. "Gabrielle I need you to ride with me so we can try and catch up with these raiders before they do any more damage."

Gabrielle hesitated. "Xena why don't you go on and do your scouting and I'll follow you as quickly as I can."

"Gabrielle why do you start this every time I want you to ride with me so that we can try to gain some distance on these raider?" the warrior said hotly.

"Xena you know I don't like to ride, but I don't want to slow you down. Just go on and I'll catch up." Gabrielle replied.

"Gabrielle I'm not leaving you behind here where it's not safe. Now give me your hand and get up here." Xena was getting angrier.

Gabrielle although still reluctant to ride, extended her arm and allowed the warrior to pull her up behind her.

Later that evening on the trail the same argument started again.

"Gabrielle I really wish you would have stayed with the Amazon's until I came back for you." Xena was still agitated.

"I didn't want to stay with the Amazon's." Gabrielle replied.

"Bard it's hard to catch up with the raider's when we have to argue before you'll get on the horse every time."

"I've asked you to go on without me and I'd catch up." The bard said growing angry.

"I'm not leaving you behind anywhere, unless you want to go back to the Amazon's... it's just not safe." The warrior said hotly.

"Why do you keep treating me like a child? You know I can take care of myself!" Gabrielle replied getting hotter.

"Gabrielle I'm not treating you like a child. Your back is still healing from the whipping." Xena argued.

"Xena my back hardly bothers me anymore, you're just using that as an excuse to send me back. Besides I'm here, I'm coming with you and that's all there is to it... now drop it." Gabrielle's said raising her voice.

"Bard I don't want you hurt again, once a moon is plenty. Besides I can take care of this myself. You should have stayed with the Amazons." Xena said angrily.

Gabrielle glared at Xena and fell silent.

"Not talking to me any more bard?" Xena asked.

Still Gabrielle remained silent acting as though she'd just gone deaf. This was nearly the same running argument they'd had every day since leaving the Amazon Nation and the bard had had enough. She wasn't going to let Xena continue to treat her as a child if she could help it.

Xena was also tired of the argument and decided to just let the bard pout for a while.

That was two days ago and the bard still wasn't talking to the warrior. The bard was more determined than ever to prove to the warrior she was quite grown and could take care of herself. Each night Gabrielle had moved her bedroll to the other side of the campfire and the nightmares were again getting worse, but she wouldn't let the warrior hold her or move her to the other side of the fire.

Xena had started keeping a close eye on the Gabrielle because of the bard's unusual silence that was really starting to worry her. It was so unlike Gabrielle to be this quiet, even if she was angry. Xena had tried several times to start a conversation with the bard. Gabrielle would only answer in as few a words as was possible and again fall silent.

Xena was thinking about Gabrielle's nightmares and realized they'd gotten worse every time the bard was upset with the warrior. One of the first was after the bounty hunters had attacked them and she'd been wounded, then there was the 'battlelust' and Melena. Xena knew that their arguing seemed to have set off the latest round of nightmares. But since Gabrielle wasn't talking to Xena now it was hard to know what was going on with the bard. All Gabrielle would do lately is write in her scrolls and Xena was starting to wonder if Gabrielle had decided that she'd finally had enough of the warrior and their adventures.

Gabrielle had decided to start a personal journal about her feelings, maybe that would some how help her sort out her feelings and put them in perspective. Her and the warrior might not be getting along, but Gabrielle's body still reacted every time it came too close to the warrior's. Actual contact with the warrior started a needful burning so bad the bard couldn't think straight. Gabrielle wasn't at all sure how to cope with these feelings and didn't want to embarrass herself or Xena; it had just been easier to refuse to ride with the warrior and keep as much distance between them as possible.

Now the bard spent most of her time trying to stay away from the warrior and writing in her scrolls trying to figure things out. Besides staying away from the warrior was causing its own kind of pain and if she concentrated on writing sometimes that would help... a little.

The pair had continued to follow the raiders until it was almost dark and then Xena pulled off the trail and stopped. She looked over her shoulder at the bard seated behind her. "Gabrielle there's a small lake over there about a half-candlemark. If you're tired we'll stay there tonight." The warrior said.

"Fine." Gabrielle replied and fell silent again.

Over the last candlemark the bard had been shifting constantly in the saddle. This happened daily now and Xena knew exactly what was causing the bard's discomfort. The heady musky odor of the woman's arousal that she loved was acting like an aphrodisiac and driving the warrior crazy with desire and then with the bard moving against her back like that was totally driving the warrior to distraction.

Xena just shook her head at the bard's reply and headed the warhorse off in the direction of the lake. The warrior pulled Argo to a halt in a small clearing with a grove of trees on one side and the lake on the other. She helped Gabrielle down and then dismounted and started to unpack the things they would need that night.

Gabrielle never spoke, but pushed past the warrior and started unloading the mare herself. "I can get this, you can find dinner." Gabrielle said as she continued to concentrate on unloading their things from the tall warhorse.

Xena looked at the bard with an arched eyebrow and the tiniest grin playing on her lips, "Is rabbit alright for dinner?" the warrior questioned.

"Sounds fine." The bard replied and continued her task of unpacking.

Xena sighed at the bard's refusal to even try to carry on a conversation, lowered her head and started off to catch something for dinner while Gabrielle finished setting up the camp.

Gods I thought she'd never leave. Gabrielle dug in a saddlebag and got out a clean cloth and a mixture that the warrior used for cleaning leather and started to clean the saddle that had caught her overflow from being too close to the warrior yet again. Gabrielle was sure that this saddle had become the cleanest in all of Greece over the last few days. And if Xena continued to insist that she ride with her... it was going to get a lot cleaner.

Ó Copyrighted December 1997 by DelShannon