Disclaimer. The Xena Warrior Princess series and its characters are all copyrighted property of MCA/Universal.

Disclaimer.This story is set after the Contest of Pantheons comics, which is like early season four only with the Yin and Yang Chakram.

Disclaimer. This story contains violence, as well as love between two adult women.

UPON THE REACHES OF THE DARKEST MOONLIGHT

Night can be so beautiful, even more so when the smell of blossom is in the air. You can smell it as it drifts through the air and past you in the dim starlight. It fills you with all sorts of feelings and thoughts. Images of times long gone and times you want to revisit and remember in greater detail. It can also fill you with peaceful thoughts and feelings that you don’t want to let go of.

Xena moved her gaze up to the sky for a moment; breaking out of her thoughts she stretched slightly, feeling the dull ache in her shoulder, which still hadn’t gone away after the fight she’d had the other day. Her gaze moved to the fire whose embers were starting to finally die. The cooking items were lying next to it along with the crockery.

She turned, feeling Gabrielle shuffle slightly in her sleep. The younger woman was lying on top of her, her head propped under her neck. Her lover had been sleeping peacefully for some time now. She slowly moved her hand, running it through the younger woman’s long blonde hair. She moved it between her fingers, feeling its silky softness.

She slowly moved her hand down Gabrielle’s neck, across her green halter top with its lighter green shoulder areas which went down to her upper chest where a piece of brown leather string was used to tie the halter top together. She moved her other hand pulling up the fur bedroll, which had slipped down past her lover’s leather belt and brown skirt.

She smiled slightly, moving her hand up and lightly stroking Gabrielle’s face. She watched as the younger woman’s forest green eyes slowly opened, their colour catching the light, which caused them to almost glisten. Xena smiled slightly. “Hello sleepy head.” Gabrielle groaned aloud, feeling herself yawn. She moved up her hand, slowly rubbing her eyes.

She breathed in deeply. “How long have I been asleep?” Xena lowered her gaze. “A few hours…” Gabrielle stretched slightly. “You should’ve woken me up.” Xena’s felt her grin widened. “I was enjoying watching you sleep.” Gabrielle eyed her for a moment. “You always enjoy watching me sleep.” Xena leaned forward slightly so she was close to her ear. “That’s because you’re beautiful when you sleep.” Gabrielle smiled, she moved to get up, only to feel Xena take her arm and pull her back gently. Xena raised an eyebrow slightly. “You’re forgetting something.” Gabrielle looked down slightly she slowly moved her hand through Xena’s hair. She moved forward meeting her lips, feeling herself breathe in deeply.

Xena slowly closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the kiss move through her veins. She felt anger suddenly sweep through her system as the sound of cracking wood hit her ears, she found herself going stiff. Gabrielle felt their lips part, she breathed in trying to gain some control, she could see Xena’s light blue eyes narrowing.

Her lover’s body was tensing up under her, she turned her gaze seeing that Argo was still chewing grass near by. She moved her hand gently down the leather of Xena’s bodice. “What is it?” Xena narrowed her gaze, watching as Gabrielle’s hand moved towards her staff. She slowly took hold of her sword, which had been close to their bedroll. “Trouble…”

Gabrielle felt Xena move, which caused her to jump up instantly. The next moments caught her by surprise as an armoured man crashed through the trees in front of her. He didn’t even look in her direction as he ran forward, his bloody sword in his hand. He seemed to lose his footing in an instant which caused him to hit the ground in front of them hard.

Xena watched him turn, his face was covered in bloody scratches and the look of fear was very noticeable. She looked at his armour for a moment, seeing that it had the Corinth symbol on the helmet. She could see blood pouring from a wound on his side. He looked up again, the fear suddenly hitting him. “Run! You have to run!” He turned, looking at the trees. “It’s coming!” Xena eyed him for a moment. “Who’s coming?” The man pulled himself up, almost falling again as he struggled to get back on his feet. “It’ll kill you and rip you to pieces!” Gabrielle turned slightly hearing the leaves move somewhere in the distance. “Xena… what’s he talking about?”

Xena moved her head sharply, noticing that Argo was starting to get restless, her hooves were scraping the ground in short motions. She twirled her weapon. “It’s over there…” She felt her grip on the weapon tighten as the sound of deep growls hit the air. She watched as the soldier began to shake he turned sharply. “You can’t take it on in battle! You have to run!”

Xena pulled back slightly, listening as the sound of heavy feet hit the ground, what ever it was, it was big. She took a slow step forward, trying to get a look through the trees. She narrowed her gaze as a pair of red eyes suddenly came in to view, and the black pupils moved sharply, meeting her own. The creature suddenly sprang forward.

The brushes were smashed apart as it crashed through them, Xena groaned in pain as the huge black furred creature slammed its shoulder in to hers she felt the hard ground as she hit it full force. Her sword hit the dirt in what felt like slow motion. She watched as the huge beast turned as it landed on all fours, in between her and the other man who started to cry out in panic.

Gabrielle watched as the huge animal turned, it was covered in black fur, seven feet in height with a long wolf like nose, which sniffed the air. She could see long teeth coming out of both the top and bottom of its jaws. Its huge black furry maned head had long ears, which had numerous rips in them, both were pulled back.

Its huge body slowly stood upright as its long black tail swung. Muscled arms and legs tensed as its huge feet clawed feet dug in to the ground. She could see numerous scars on its body and face. Some looked like claw marks from previous battles while others looked like they came from swords. She could also see some kind of ripped material hanging down between its huge furry legs.

The beast turned sharply, catching sight of what it had been after, its long clawed hand slowly moved towards the wounded man. Xena turned, grabbing her sword in a swift motion, she moved forward her body going to overdrive. She watched as the sword made contact with the furry back, causing red blood to fly.

The next moments caused her to cry out in pain as the wolf-like creature turned, slamming its arm around. She felt her feet leave the floor only to feel the pain as she hit the nearest tree back first. She groaned, pulling herself up watching as it slowly moved towards her, both its red eyes burning into hers with hatred.

She felt the long clawed hand grab her around the throat and in the next instant she felt her feet move through air as they left the ground. The huge animal’s mouth opened as it roared at her. She swung her weapon, only to have her hand stopped as the huge animal grabbed hold of it, its gaze narrowed slowly. She hadn’t been ready for this fight from the word go and this was proof of it.

She eyed it, feeling its clawed hand around her throat start to slowly squeeze, she had to get herself out of this mess and fast. Her gaze turned sharply as she heard the sound of wood cracking against flesh only to be followed by a howl of pain. She felt the ground as she hit it hard on her knees, she growled aloud, watching as the animal turned away.

Gabrielle swung her staff again, watching as it cracked against the beast’s nose causing red blood to spray from it. She watched as it grunted in pain before moving forward in one swift motion. All at once the world seemed to move in slow motion, as it slowly lowered itself on to all fours, its back legs tensing.

Its black form left the ground, in an instant she felt the weight as it slammed into her, the feeling of dull pain moved through her body as she hit the ground full force. She felt the clawed hand slam her down into the dirt, stopping her from moving her staff. She didn’t get a chance to move or think as the jaws came down, biting into her shoulder.

Her scream hit the air, all at once she could feel every tooth as they began to dig in to her flesh. Her blood began to flow downwards, soaking the shoulder of her green halter top. She found herself crying out even more as the animal let go as it howled in pain. She could hear Xena screaming something but she was in too much pain to hear it.

The creature’s red eyes moved as it turned to see Xena who was standing directly behind it. Xena raised her sword slowly. “I said get off her!” She slammed the sword forward, watching as it struck the creature for the second time. Her sword was dripping with red blood she raised it, watching it drip from the blade.

She pulled back as the creature roared in anger. She growled slowly, easing the Chakram free from its leather latch on her waist. The creature eyed her, grunting aloud, its mouth slowly forming a long bloody grin, which was almost like a taunt. Its red eyes showed amusement before narrowing slowly as they looked into her own.

Xena felt the anger as it pulsed through every fibre of her being. She didn’t care what it was or where it had come from. It was going to suffer for harming her lover and then daring to mock her. She threw the weapon, watching as it slammed into a tree before hitting the animal directly in the face. It rose up on its hind legs, howling in even more pain.

The huge animal’s whole right eye socket was soaked in blood it didn’t look back as it turned around, running in the opposite direction. It crashed through the forest disappearing from view altogether. Xena turned as she caught the Chakram, her gaze drifted to the solider who was lying on the floor. He was still trembling, with his sword in his hand. She eyed him for a moment.

Her gaze moved all at once to Gabrielle who was still lying on the floor, she moved quickly, kneeling beside her. Gabrielle turned seeing Xena, the pain was moving through her shoulder like hot knives. Xena leaned over, seeing the red blood which was pouring down, soaking the younger woman’s green halter top. She could see the deep puncture wounds where the teeth had gone in.

She leaned over gently, putting her hands on Gabrielle’s face. “It’s okay Gabrielle, I’m here.” Gabrielle turned slightly. “It hurts…” Xena turned around, grabbing the nearest cloth pushing it against the bleeding wound. She watched as the terrified man slowly came to his senses. He looked around with the sudden realization of what had just happened.

He got up looking at her then at Gabrielle. “You… you hurt it…” Xena turned slightly, half ignoring him, as she pressed harder against Gabrielle’s bleeding wound. “Yes, I did…” She leaned down slowly pulling, Gabrielle on to her knees, trying her best to ignore her lover’s painful moans. She moved faster, grabbing at the one of the bags near the campfire.

She opened, it tugging out a number of bandages along with a number of cloths and some herbs. She grabbed the leather water skin from its position close to the tree and emptied the contents on to the cloths soaking them, then began the slow process of cleaning Gabrielle’s wounds. She watched as the shaking solider turned sharply. “We can’t stay here! It’ll be back and there’ll be more of them!”

She looked up, watching as the soldier slowly sat himself down next to her, taking one of the wet cloths from the soaked pile and began to clean his wound. “We’re doomed they’re going to kill us all!” Xena eyed him as she picked up some herb paste, which she pushed gently in to the deep bite wounds.

Her gaze moved back as she pulled the white bandage, gently wrapping it around Gabrielle’s wound. She watched as the soldier did the same, his terror wasn’t helping her situation. She eyed him for a moment. “Where were you headed?” The soldier pointed to her right. “I was heading for the city of Messene, it’s two hours walk from here.”

He put his sword to his chest. “Me and my party… we were meant to be the reinforcements.” Xena turned to Gabrielle who was starting to look ill. She grabbed the second bag, pulling out a long brown cloak from it, which she slowly put around Gabrielle to keep her warm. She eyed the soldier again, seeing his anguished face. “Can you walk?”

The soldier looked up, slightly tightening his bandage. “Yes.” Xena slowly moved her arms under Gabrielle and gently picking her up. “Good, then you can lead us to the city?” The soldier pulled back slightly. “It’s dangerous, there might be more of them!” Xena turned sharply, noticing that Gabrielle looked like she was on the brink of passing out.

She turned, feeling her anger churn in the pit of her stomach. “Can you lead us there or not?” The soldier nodded. Xena looked at him for a moment before taking hold of Argo’s reins. She eased the mare closer then slowly and gently eased Gabrielle into the saddle, making sure she was propped up. She watched as the younger woman weakly grabbed the saddlehorn.

She found herself grabbing hold of as many things from the destroyed camp as she could and pushing them into the saddlebags. If she was going to get out of this mess it would have to be on foot, so as not to draw attention to themselves until they got to the road. She pushed the rest of the items into the saddles bags then began to move Argo forward.

She eased her hand up, gently taking Gabrielle’s, the younger woman didn’t look good at all. She squeezed her hand gently, she just needed her to hold up until they got the main road. Gabrielle felt Xena’s hand on hers, she felt awful, the whole of her upper shoulder was burning with pain. She could feel the bandage that had been wrapped tightly around her shoulder.

She could feel the horse as it moved and she could make out the passing of the trees. Deep down she knew they weren’t safe, and it was the reason Xena hadn’t stitched her wounds and had instead put on a temporary bandage and herb paste. She gripped the horn of the saddle tighter, trying to stay focused.

She could feel her lover’s hand squeezing her own, a part of her wanted to speak but it hurt too much. She’d been hurt many times in battle and the only thing that had hurt as much as this was when she’d been hit by a poisoned arrow. The pain she’d been in had been unbearable, it had felt like her chest was turning to rock.

This was just as painful but in a very different way, it felt like hot daggers being pushed in and out of her shoulder. She breathed in deeply, trying to slow her breathing. She could see Xena watching her although she was starting to have trouble focusing on her face. Her mind kept on wandering and going to other places.

8

Xena stopped Argo sharply as the long road came in to sight, her gaze shifted as the solider stopped. He leaned against the tree, breathing out painfully. She narrowed her gaze, he was getting worse and she couldn’t really work out why. She’d seen soldiers with far worse wounds than him get up march twenty miles just to clean their wounds in fresh water.

The even more troubling thing was he looked like a battle-hardened veteran, who shouldn’t be acting in this fashion. She looked up slowly, eyeing him. “What’s your name?” The soldier looked up slowly. “Bastiaan.” He coughed painfully. “What’s yours?” He watched as the tall dark haired warrior woman turned slowly to face him. “Xena.”

She looked up at the saddle at Gabrielle who was still gripping the saddle. “Her name is Gabrielle.” Bastiaan looked up slowly. “I’m a fool, I didn’t mean to draw you in to this mess.” He looked down, feeling his own guilt take hold. “If I’d known that your camp was there I would have run away from it.” Xena shook head. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s not your fault.”

Bastiaan looked up sharply, holding back another painful cough. “But your friend… she’s hurt worse than I am.” Xena turned slightly, looking at Gabrielle who had her eyes half open in a glazed expression. “Gabrielle is strong, she can get through this, believe me.” She eased her hand up, putting it under Gabrielle’s chin.

Her gaze narrowed, noticing that her lover wasn’t even focusing on her. She moved her hand away, looking at the road, which didn’t look very beaten down. “It’s another hour up this road I assume?” Bastiaan nodded. “They say the city doesn’t look much like a city anymore, but a fort. I’ve never seen it but that was the rumour.”

Xena eyed him as she got on to Argo, easing herself into the saddle. She slowly eased her hands around Gabrielle’s waist, supporting her gently. Her gaze turned to Bastiaan. “Get on my horse, behind me on the saddle.” She watched as the worn torn soldier pulled himself on to Argo’s back behind the saddle, he grabbed one of the saddlebags, clinging on for dear life.

Xena turned sharply as she heard a number of wolf howls hit the air in the distance. Bastiaan looked up sharply. “They’re coming!” Xena grabbed the reins with her free hand. “Hang on tight.” She felt the horse bolt, its hooves slamming in to the ground causing dust to fly. She growled aloud, watching as the trees flew by her.

End of Part 1

Silvermoonlight.

The original version of this story was written in 1999 under the title of Not Human Anymore, this is complete rewritten with major plot changes