"Forgiveness" Pt. 1 (repost)

I wouldn't normally do this since I've already posted this story before, but there's an obvious need to cleanse this place a bit. So here's my attempt at helping the situation. Hopefully you'll enjoy the story as well.

Aslan

FORGIVENESS Part 1

Her footsteps kicked up the dust as they wearily trudged up the broad inclining road. A few paces
behind, her companion was silently amusing herself by playfully
kicking at each loose rock she came upon.

"Gabrielle" Xena said rhetorically, in a low, gruff voice. That
was the last rock that she wanted to see launched past her.

"Oh, huh uh, sorry" Gabrielle laughingly replied. Then she
quickly adjusted her stride so that she was now side by side
with her warrior friend.

Together, they marched in and out of lock step with each other as they pushed on to the village
that was just over the next hill. Xena had promised Gabrielle that they would find a bed for the
night. The last few days had been rough.

Xena and Gabrielle had been the recipients of quite a few random attacks lately. The attacks were
centered on Xena, but Gabrielle was brought into the fray simply by virtue of being around the
warrior princess. Although, in each case, the attackers had been dispatched rather easily, the
physical toll was starting to wear on the two.

As Xena inconspicuously eyed her friend, she could see the fatigue that was evident in the bard's
face and demeanor. She silently promised herself that they would stop for the night at the next
village. There was still plenty of daylight to get to the next village after this one, but she would be
pushing Gabrielle unnecessarily. That was not acceptable to her. Gabrielle's safety and well being
were always a priority with her.

"There's a tavern just over the hill with an inn that's known for its cleanliness and hospitality. We'll
have an early dinner then get a room for the night. Is that ok with you?" Xena asked politely.

"Sounds great Xena. I can't wait to take off these boots. I think I've managed to get a couple of
rocks in them. In fact, I can't wait to......."

Gabrielle's voice trailed off in Xena's mind. Her renewed vigor at the mere mention of food and
sleep made Xena chuckle inside. However, she was still disturbed by the attacks. Why had they
been happening? It was obvious that the attacks were personally geared towards her. But who?
And why? Xena couldn't begin to assess the amounts of people that she had hurt in her warlord
past. Any number of them would have plenty of reason to go after her. The wheels in Xena's mind
kept turning as she tried to piece together the events of the last few days to see if she had missed
something, a clue, anything.

The attackers weren't trained especially well. In each case Xena and Gabrielle had managed to
defend themselves rather easily. But one thing kept bothering Xena. The men had seemed to only
want to injure her, not kill her. That was peculiar, but Xena knew that it was intentional, not just
the bad training that many of the men had exuded. As Xena replayed the events in her mind over
and over again, she became more determined than ever to figure out who was behind the attacks
and why.

"They're on their way. They should be here any time now. You know what to do right?"

The bartender nodded at the man in front of him. He was a small man. Unassuming and looked
less than threatening. In fact, there was a bit of a slimy nature about him. His smile revealed some
badly kept teeth. Those that were left, and his thin structure made his cheeks look hollow and his
face gaunt. However, the man positioned behind the bar, acting as the barback was a definite
threat A small dagger, hidden in the sleeve of the faux barback was incentive enough to follow
through with the plan.

Xena and Gabrielle entered the tavern and sat at one of the few clear tables left. The town seemed
unusually busy and Xena was now concerned about finding a vacancy at the inn.

No one seemed to be in any hurry to take their order, so Xena got up and went to the bar.

"I'll have a port, and a Ginger Beer for my friend" Xena said

The bartender hesitated slightly, but was snapped out of his stupor by the barbacks throat clearing
tactic. He shakily placed the drinks in the appropriate goblet and mug, handed them to Xena and
took payment.

Xena noticed the hesitation by the bartender and eyed him curiously. Narrowing her eyes, she let
her stare linger for just a second too long in order to drive her point home that she was wary of
him. Then she took the drinks to the table and sat down with Gabrielle.

"Something doesn't feel right about this place Gabrielle"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you feel it? It's like they know us. Like they were expecting us. I don't know, but I don't
like it." Xena said as she sipped her wine.

Gabrielle looked around. She did sense a heaviness in the air, but she was alerted to it by Xena's
magical sixth sense, otherwise she might have subconsciously ignored her own intuition. She
surveyed the room and caught a glimpse of the scrawny man near the door, suspiciously eyeing the
two of them. Suddenly, the door to the tavern swung open and two women entered. One instantly
reminded her of Xena. Smaller, but still carrying herself with an extreme air of confidence. The
weapons in her possession indicated that she too was of the warrior personality type. Her dark
hair framed her face in such a complimentary manner that Gabrielle found herself staring intently
until she realized the rudeness of her actions. The other woman, slightly taller, with blonde hair and
brown eyes donned a bow and arrows. Her features were much softer, but she looked like she
could hold her own in a fight if she had to.

As the two entered the tavern the warrior stopped and stared at the man standing at the door. He
caught her stare and made a hasty retreat from the bar.

"Hey, HEY!" The warrior pronounced as she ran out the tavern after him. The other woman was
just about to go out the door after them when she spied Gabrielle and Xena. She stopped only
momentarily then headed out the door.

"Arianna, Arianna STOP!" she yelled.

Arianna stopped chasing the man, turned to look at her friend and in frustration yelled "That was
one of Telenares' men D'Lara why did you want me to stop?"

D'Lara motioned her to the tavern, "You have to see who's inside, you're not gonna believe it."

The two headed back to the tavern and Arianna stopped in her tracks when she saw Xena at the
table across the bar. Her eyes narrowed as if burning a hole in the woman's skin across the bar.
At a quick pace, with sword in hand, Arianna approached the table.

"Xena! Warrior Princess! Imagine that." Arianna said in a low, deliberate voice.

Xena seemed unimpressed and started to reach for the rest of her port when a sword came
crashing down on the goblet. Instinctually Xena pushed her chair back, stood up and with the
graceful and fluid motion she was known for, she pulled her sword out of its scabbard and whirled
around to face her opponent. Gabrielle was also standing at the ready with her staff in hand, but
was quickly coherced into letting it down when she saw D'Lara's arrow pointed right at her.

"This is their fight, let them settle this" D'Lara said

Gabrielle stared at her in confusion, but decided it would be wise to do as she said. Xena and
Arianna matched each other blow for blow. Neither giving or taking an advantage over the other.
The tavern was filled with the sound of metal against metal. Xena jumped on top of the table and
blocked a thrust from Arianna. Arianna swept her sword at Xena's legs, but Xena leaped,
avoiding the blow. Then, with her trademark war cry she somersaulted over Arianna's head
landing behind her. As Arianna turned to face her enemy she was greeted by a boot to the jaw.
Xena's spin kick had a lot of power behind it and Arianna could taste the blood in her mouth.
Xena sensed the advantage and started towards Arianna. She raised her sword, but stopped short
as her eyes went in and out of focus. At the same time she started becoming dizzy.

Arianna had placed her arm up to her mouth to wipe away the blood. She saw Xena stall and
whirled around with a swift kick of her own to the midsection. Xena bent over as she absorbed
the blow, but then, as her eyes started to focus again, she saw the back of Arianna's hand as it
returned the favor to her jaw. That blow along with the accompanying vertigo were enough to
cause Xena to drop her sword.

Gabrielle just watched, helplessly, as her friend started to lose her composure.

'What's wrong with her' she thought to herself. Everything in her wanted to come to her friend's
aid, but D' Lara still had her arrow trained on her. Gabrielle wouldn't be able to take two steps
before she would be felled. Instead, she watched as Xena started to falter and give way to an
invisible enemy.

'What's wrong with her?' Arianna thought to herself. 'It's not supposed to happen like this.' She
continued her assault on an obviously ailing Xena. Xena blocked the blows as best as she could
with her remaining strength, but it was just too much for her. Then, she could only watch as
Arianna's hand came down upon her jaw one more time in what seemed like the slowest of slow
motions. Xena fell backwards and spun around onto the table top. Her cheek embracing the
smooth wood that felt cool on her face. She felt a tight grip on her shoulder as Arianna swung her
around on her back and raised her sword over her head with both hands.

"NO!" Gabrielle yelled. She started to run towards Xena, no longer caring about the woman with
the arrows. Her friend was about to die. She couldn't just stand by and let that happen. D'Lara
just watched. Her eyes widened at the sight of her friend standing over Xena, ready to strike a
fatal blow. She'd never seen Arianna so filled with rage and it scared her.

Xena couldn't move. Her limbs felt like iron, her head was spinning and she hurt. Oh how she hurt.
But she was determined that if she was going to die, she wouldn't crawl. She would accept her
fate with the dignity of a warrior. She saw the silver of the blade above her reflecting from the sun
beaming through the windows of the tavern. And slowly, very slowly, she watched as the blade
descended upon her.