Chapter Eight -- Food Poisoning

Book Of Nod, The Chronicle Of Caine: The Temptation Of Caine

Xena stepped quietly to the door, her pistol drawn, hoping it was Ares, come to collect Discord as she licked her wounds. Putting a bullet in their heads would be worth the Blood Hunt that would be invariably called in her for slaying one of the Primogen. She peered into the fish-lens peephole. Ethan, her faithful servant, stood outside the door. He held a mop and a bucket full of cleaning supplies in one hand, in the other was a small can of black paint and a brush. Not a normal sight for three in the morning, but a welcome one.

“No, nor is he going to hear it from me,” Xena’s tone ended the conversation. Ethan walked into the kitchen and filled the bucket up with warm water. He poured in an amber liquid, soaking the cotton mophead and went to work. With a practiced ease, he swabbed the trail of red away.

“’Drink from my wrist and be the greatest of the Children of Seth...’ she says. Yeah, be the greatest janitor of the Children of Seth,” he muttered to himself, “Bad enough I do this during the day, but at night?” he made a privately wry face as he rung out the mop. He slopped it down again and made another pass, then leaned on his handle, “I hope the little singer is worth all of this.”

Dabbing the paint over the window, Xena paid particular attention to detail, making sure every bit of glass was sufficiently covered. The shower curtain was dark, but it would get even darker before the night was over. Just like her life. No sun, no warmth, no other company save ours, she thought to herself as she pasted the paint to the wall, but I had to do it or watch her die. Xena finished the last bit of glass, then checked it carefully again. Not a speck of night showed itself to her superior sight. She took a small step over and unclipped the curtain. Gabrielle lay still in the bathtub. If one could disregard the hole in her stomach, she looked as she had gotten ready for a bath, but had fallen asleep before she had turned on the water. Xena stooped down and brushed her hand against the pale cheek. Her skin was waxy, but still warm to the touch. Carefully, Xena moved away a thread of spun copper from her lover’s mouth. She traced a line from her hairline down to her neck.

“Gabrielle,” she smiled with a tiny measure of shame, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I just had to say this. I love you. I haven’t felt like this for anyone since I was mortal. I hope you don’t blame me for what I did, because I can’t imagine a night without you. Whatever happens between us, know I will always be by your side.” Xena leaned close and placed her lips on Gabrielle’s forehead, “Please, please come back tomorrow night,” she kissed her again, this time on the lips, then she gathered up the shower curtain.

“Go back to my haven when all of this is over. Go down to the crypt and look behind the painting of me. It’s on a hinge, so open it. You’ll find my safe, the combination is 19,3, 14. There are four two liter jugs of blood and a stack of cash. It’s yours to do with as you see fit. The money will last you a good long time if you’re careful. The blood can keep you well until you find another domitor. I’m sorry to have to do this, but if they find out that you were with me on this--”

Xena smiled. Good servants were had to come by these days, “Check the USA Today, the third Wednesday of every month in the want ads. Check Xenia Holcroft’s Psychic Services,” she leaned forward and gave Ethan a tight embrace, “You be careful.”

To her credit, Discord was a good shot. No bullets had to be dug out of the walls. The blood and the body were the only pieces of evidence that had to be dealt with. She paced, trying to think ahead to what Ares’ next gambit was going to be. He had already played his trump card -- Discord. He forced her to make a dangerous choice: let Gabrielle die and have Ares call her a failure, or Embrace her and if things went wrong, he could go to the Prince and let him decide their fates. The Prince was known for bringing a new meaning to the word draconian. He would have her staked and set out to the sun without so much as a second thought. Which meant Gabrielle would become a Caitiff -- officially clanless -- and would be up for grabs by anyone in the city. Ares would make a strong case, being Xena’s sire and all. The Prince, provided he didn’t take the Tradition of Accountability to the level of the Ventrue and have Ares staked for being the sire of a criminal, would more than likely agree. Ares gets what he wants, Gabrielle, and the Prince can still look good enough to avoid the gaze of any of the Justicars.

She didn’t wait to hear his grunt of acknowledgement. Once out the door, she walked calmly to her car. She reached in and plucked out the bottle of orange juice and candy bar she had gotten for Gabrielle. Hate stamped and stumbled about in her mind. She squeezed the bottle until she thought she could see mirror-like crack appear. “Save it for the club,” she told herself as she flung both things into the night. The door closed with a hollow boom. A second later, the engine howled as she headed for downtown, for the Bad Blood Club.

Striding into the club, ignoring the assault on her senses that the music and sweat were waging. The Beast muttered to her, but she promised that she would honor it if it would be tame for a couple more minutes. People packed in so deep that a dancer could let all their muscles go limp, but they would never fall. Music so loud and thudding, a scream would be lost like Hansel and Gretel in the woods. This was a prime feeding ground and Kindred would give Ares little tributes just for the chance to take blood from the crowd.

“I am your worst nightmare. Your tricks, your games, the powerplays -- I know every single one them and I'll tell the Prince and Aphrodite and Artemis all of it. By the time I’m done, you’re going to be nothing more than a pile of stinking ashes on the outskirts of town. Don’t fuck with me, Ares.”

X&G

Gabrielle awoke to find her bathroom completely black and her back stiff. She looked down as she pushed back the curtain. She was naked, in her bathtub, with her shower curtain blackened out. Slowly, she stood up and stepped out of the bathtub. Feeling her way across the tiny room, she turned on the light switch.

Her window was painted over as well. She turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her hair looked a little redder than before, but it always had the habit of darkening a little in the winter. When the summer came around, she would be more blonde than anything else. Her skin was pale -- again, the combination of her new work schedule and the short winter months were to blame. She shrugged and opened the door.

Xena was sitting on her bed, looking for all the world like an expectant father at a delivery room. She stood up and hugged Gabrielle fiercely. Gabrielle could smell the scent of leather and blood on her lover. Her stomach churned and told her to feed.

“Hi. . . mmmm. . . I missed you, too,” she said, working her way out of the tall woman’s embrace, “Wait, what time is it?”

Xena looked down at her watch, “Fifteen until five.”

“SHIT! I’m going to be late! Help me dress!” Gabrielle ran for her drawers, plucking out a pair of panties and slipping them on quickly.

“Gabrielle, don’t worry. I covered for you. Aphrodite said it was all right if you missed today. She has a new act she wanted to try, but she told me to tell you that you had a couple days off coming to you. She expects you back Monday.”

“Oh. She won’t mind if I stop by, then?”

Xena bit her lip and sat down on the bed. “About that. There is something I need to tell you. Please, sit down. What I have to say isn’t easy.”

“Later, Xena. I am starving. I gotta eat something or I’m going to faint.”

Xena shot up and strode to the kitchen behind the young woman, “You can’t do that.”

“Sure I can. Even as your ghoul, I still have to eat. Of course, I have to eat more healthily, but I still can eat," she paused as Xena stepped in fron to her with unearthly grace. Gabrielle forced a merry grin, "Xena, step away from the refrigerator before you get hurt.”

Xena shrugged her shoulders, “All right, but if you eat, you are going to become violently ill.”

“Xena, it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You can’t screw up one of the simplest sandwich recipe on Earth, not even if you tried,” Gabrielle smeared on the condiments with a relish, then slapped the bread together, “Want one?”

Xena’s face grew into a mask of stung irritation, “That is not funny.”

Gabrielle shrugged as she poured a glass of milk. She took her food into the living room and curled up on the couch. Xena walked into the living room, crossing her arms and standing in front of Gabrielle.

“You are going to be sick. You can’t eat food anymore. You can only drink blood.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, “Not now, Xena. I am not into the mood, tonight. OK? I just want to eat a sandwich, have a glass of milk and maybe cruise by the Cyprus. If you don’t like those plans, well -- tough.”

“Fine. Learn the hard way,” Xena sat down next to her. Gabrielle took a large bite and chewed it with over-acted enthusiasm. She picked up the glass and drained it in three gulps. Xena leaned back on the couch, picking away at her nails distractedly.

Gabrielle opened her mouth for another bite, then shuddered once. Another shudder racked her as she tried to bring her sandwich to her mouth. She gritted her teeth as she dropped the food. The third shudder sent her propelling to the bathroom. Her stomach bucked and rejected everything she had given it with a violence that was almost lethal. She collapsed on her knees, letting the porcelain hold up her head.

“I told you, Gabby. You can’t eat anything. You can only drink blood.”

“You did something to my sandwich. I thought we had a thing going, y’know -- you don’t interfere with my food and I don’t drag your body into the sunlight.”

Xena knelt down, scratching a red line into her wrist, “Drink this, Gabby. You will feel better enough to hu--”

Gabrielle jumped onto Xena with a ferocity that she didn’t have before tonight. Gabrielle’s lips latched onto Xena’s wrist, then sucked ravenously at the blood. There was something else in the blood, not a new taste, but a new texture to it. It brought a darker feeling to Gabrielle, a new desire came out to talk to her. It wanted more blood, but it wanted it laced with the spices of violence and savagery. She opened her mouth to bite down, her tongue rolling over needle sharp fangs--

She broke away and scampered back to a wall. With a shaking hand, she gently touched her canines.

They were longer than normal. Long enough to be fangs.

Gabrielle shot up to look at herself again in the mirror. She opened her mouth wide, exposing her new found fangs to investigation. She touched them again, as if they were stubborn illusions only to be banished by both sight and feel. Xena’s reflection drifted behind her. Gabrielle turned on her heels.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice a shaking whisper.

“You were dying and I had--”

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?” she shrieked, sweeping her hand across the dresser top. Knickknacks scattered across the floor. Xena stood still. Making the leap from mortal to Kindred was rarely a calm one.

“I Embraced you. You’re one of the Kindred,” she said calmly as she took a step forward. Gabrielle stumbled back, snatching a shirt from an open drawer. She shrugged it on, then found a pair of pants she slipped into quickly. She never looked up at Xena as she closed the snaps.

“Don’t touch me!” she yelled as Xena tried to reach for her. Moving around, Gabrielle slunk out of her bedroom, making sure that her back was never to the dark haired woman.

“Gabrielle, I need to tell you about us -- our Traditions and rules.”

Gabrielle reached the closest sharp object, a large kitchen knife, she held it menacingly. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to see you ever again! GET OUT!” she said.

Xena opened her mouth, then closed it. Without a word, she opened the door and closed it softly. Gabrielle tossed the knife in the sink, then looked around. She wanted to scream and chase her down, carve her with the blade and make her pay for what she did to her. She wasn’t human anymore.

She is the monster and she wanted company, Gabrielle thought to herself, I’ve gotta get out and think.

She put on her shoes and ran outside.

Then the night struck her with newer layers of beauty. She looked up at the sky. Every star -- every single star ever created -- came out to shine like colored stones against the black velvet night. The Milky Way was a pure white ribbon splitting the sky in half. She heard a rippling whisper pass by her ear. She jerked her head back, expecting to see a bat or a small bird. Instead, a moth jittered away.

New scents assaulted her as well. She could smell the tang of gasoline and exhaust in the air. A shift of the wind brought sweat, perfume and musk from the club across the street. Gabrielle staggered out to the sidewalk dizzily. A new sensation assaulted her -- a need for something. A need so strong, it overrode any other thought or feeling.

“No, I won’t do that,” she said to herself. She started walking in a random direction. A gaggle of clubbers walked around her. She thought she would gag from the cloud of cheap aromas and covered musk, then she realized that she was no longer breathing. Her limbs began to shake violently. She was no longer breathing, she couldn't feel her own heart beating in her chest. The only thing that she felt was the driving impulse for something

“Ow, shit. I cut myself,” one of the girls said, giggling.

That need buckled Gabrielle's knees. She stumbled away from the crowds to across the street. Pains in her stomach etched its way into her limbs. She saw people only as abstract things, not things with feelings or concerns of their own. She could recognize the feeling now. It was the same craving that would strike her if Xena failed to give her blood, but this was worse on a scale that was in comprehensible. Squeezing her eyes shut, she dashed blindly down an alley and through a gate. Only when it was too late, did she see the name: Mosley Park

Where the freaks hung out -- looking for a score or victim.

X&G

Xena followed behind, making herself unseen to her lover. It wasn’t hard -- Gabrielle hadn’t developed the healthy paranoia that she would need to survive the centuries. For a few minutes, Xena watched her become enraptured by the night sky.

I remember the first time I looked up -- the skies were clearer then than they are now. I had wept at the beauty I saw above me, because I knew that it would be the only sky I would ever see, she remembered that night -- her first night in a new life. She could only hope that Gabrielle would share, and be around to share, those feelings with her one night.

Gabrielle fell into a crowd. Xena’s heart would have thudded out of control had it still moved. If Gabrielle lost control and succumbed to the Beast, Xena would have to move quickly to carry her away to safety. In a frenzy, the tiny blonde could kill several people before she came to her senses. Xena’s hand crept carefully to the knife she carried in her pocket. She hoped not to use it.

Xena chased after her when she raced across the street. There were only two places where she could be heading. One was The Pit -- Bacchus’ club. Xena winced at the idea of Gabrielle being sucked into the decadent Setite’s clutches. She was the prey that Bacchus prayed to the Egyptian god of evil for on a nightly basis -- unknowing, new and lost in this strange new world. If Gabrielle was going in there, Xena was going to have to make sure that Bacchus was alerted to the fact that she would be very upset, and not to mention trigger-happy, over the prospect of Gabrielle giving herself over to the whims of Set.

The only other place that was in that direction was Mosely Park -- Gangrel territory. Xena began to run.

The Gangrel would rip Gabrielle apart only because she had been seen with Xena.

X&G

The grass moved in the night wind. Gabrielle wanted to remember it as summer green. She fought down the desire long enough to conjure an image of emerald strands waving at her to run and jump. The image wavered in her mind for a minute, then darkened to the perpetual night she had been consigned to. Tears dripped from her eyes. Gabrielle reached up habitually to wipe them away. Something dark caught the blurry corner of her vision. Her hand was streaked with red where it should have been clear. She felt around her eye for an injury she might have sustained in her mad flight from her apartment. No pain made itself known. Her eyes and face were whole and unmarked. She rubbed at the sockets again, bringing up more blood. The scent was forced into her nose by a stray breeze. Whatever was in her stomach roared for more of that smell. Gabrielle ran a rough tongue over the stain. Something warm came over her when she drew her tongue back into her mouth. It was the almost giddy warmth of first love and that first rush of a snuck beer.

She ran from just inside the gate for the Hillocks. At this time of night, the normally crowded lovers' section of the park should be deserted. Maybe I can stay here until this. . . this. . . craving subsides, she prayed to whatever or whoever was listening above her to guide her to safety. Gaining control of her emotions, she stumbled over the first hill blindly. She stumbled to the ground, landing on her knees on the soft earth. She clutched her belly as the desire turned into an almost blinding pain. Her fangs poked through the thin skin on her lips. Her muscles quaked in sympathy as she curled into a tight ball. The wind shifted again, carrying with her the scent of sex. She shivered again as her heightened hearing caught the sighs and moans of ecstacy. Gabrielle thought about standing, but she knew her legs would carry her to the coupling against her dearest wishes. She felt her fingernails digging into the meat of her arms. There had to be something she could do to abate this fiendish need.

"Are you sure?" A feminine whisper cut barely below the threshold of the blonde's hearing.

"Yeah, this'll hurt for a minute, then it's all roses." The masculine voice was husky with barely with held desire.

"Well, OK. You have a rubber?"

"Yeah." The voice sounded both disappoined and indignant.

Gabrielle heard the rustle of cloth as it was removed and set aside. She tried to think about something else -- the time she was dared into kissing a girl at a party, the first time she met Perry, anything to take her mind off of her circumstances. She buried her face in the ground, trying to cover the smells with the aroma of grass and earth. There was a rustling far to her left, between her and the couple. Another scent tapped into her memory. A zoo? I know there is a small zoo here, but that's clear on the other side of the park. My sense of smell can't be that good, another scent came up. This one she could identify on an instinctive level. The ammonia tang of fear was strong in the air.

There was a grunt and the hiss of sucked in breath. The need made Gabrielle rise on all fours. She could feel the rational part of her brain beginning to fall into the abyss of animal urge. The male voice cursed and made a comment about biting. Gabrielle rocked to her heels, sitting as still as she could. Blood came back, singing to her stronger than before. She raised her head to catch the scent. The last resistance her morals had put up were subdued by the frenzy for relief from the pangs. She loped to her feet, following the invisible trail to its source. She burst through a wall of bushes snarling and hands twisted into claws. Through a filter of red want, she watched two teens scramble to reclaim their modesty. The scent swirled around as they gathered their clothes, the male bellowing something that Gabrielle didn't pay any mind about. She only saw the thin, dark line of blood that had dripped over his shoulder and into the hollow where the collarbone was. Gabrielle's feet stumbled towards the boy. The girl screamed something, but all Gabrielle could focus on was blood. His blood. Running red and rich down her throat.

Something raced away from her leaving a wake of panic behind it. With a supreme effort of will, Gabrielle twisted the attention of the newly created beastial nature within her to the fleeing rabbit, GO GET IT! She shoved the boy out of the way, sending him airborne for a second. The rabbit's legs started to slow from a blur to a rippling, lazy wave. The zig-zag pattern designed by nature to evade the fastest of predators became an almost drunken weaving. Gabrielle watched as the rabbit slowly turned to the left, the front part of the body pivoting while the rear still pushing the animal forward.

Like a ball player leaning down to scoop up a rolling baseball, Gabrielle reached out and grabbed the rabbit. The world went from slow motion to real time in the snap of an eye. The hunger in her body cried in glee as she raised the still squirming rabbit to her mouth. Her fangs sliced past the fur and skin to knick the vessels. Something warm and salty copper gushed into her mouth. Gabrielle slurped and guzzled it greedily. The rabbit's twitches grew less and less with each gulp. The hunger weakened as well, growing quiet under the deluge of rich blood. When the rabbit was still, Gabrielle dropped the carcass to the ground and looked dreamily behind her. The two were gone and probably for the best. She was slightly satisfied, but in her heart she knew there was one thing better to consume than a rabbit. She stood

up, wiping away the last parts of her meal on her shirt. There were others in the park, she caught their melody of aromas all around her. The sweet tang of sweat, the crispness of a cigarette and the bitter strofoam punch of illegal substances. Her hunger no longer screamed for attention, it merely whispered to her. It reminded her of how savory the rabbit was, and if the rabbit was good, how much better could a person taste?

She started walking deeper into the park.

X & G

Xena darted inside the walls with her hand stealing inside of her jacket for her pistol. She was now officially tresspassing on Amazon soil and no one from her own clan would come and save her if she was caught. The Amazons would more than likely try to take her as unharmed as possible only to complain to Ares and the Prince of Port Michael about violating the Traditions. There would be calls for her to be executed -- nothing she wasn't used to in her centuries of existence. Only this time, Ares would be more than happy to throw her to the wolves.

"OK, I'm here ladies and I am in no mood to dance." She whispered to herself. She knew that there were Amazons watching her, either hidden in the trees, or using the Discipline of Obfuscate to sneak behind her. She turned around slowly, keeping all of her senses on high. Gabrielle should be making more noise in the park than a blindered bull in a china shop, but everything was far too quiet. Her mind began to calculate the outcomes in rapid fire shots.

She could be taken by the Amazons and held for questioning. She might have actually made it through the middle of the park and is wandering around the other side. She could have gone out one of the other gates and is heading for The Pit or The Bad Blood Club, or she could be dead at the hands of the Amazons and I'm going to burn this entire park to the ground and pick off the Amazon whores one at a time as they run screaming out the gates. Xena tried to clear her head of every worse case scenario that prsented itself.

Cunning told her to spin around. She brought her gun out of its holster and jammed it in line with the face of another woman. This one was petite and bookish, dressed in a plain black t-shirt, dark denim jacket and blue jeans. Straight black hair and hazel eyes with soft features -- not the usual Amazon type. The braid woven into a lock of hair dangling to the left of her eye told her that she was an accepted member of the small but clannish tribe. Xena eased the hammer back with no emotion playing across her face. The woman on the other end held up her pistol with both hands shaking; compared to Xena's single handed steady grasp.

"You look new to this, so I'm going to cut you a break. Put the gun away, turn around and walk westwards for five hundred paces." She kept her voice even. The Amazon never moved, as if she was rooted to the spot. Xena didn't move. She didn't want to give the woman a reason to pull the trigger, then again, she didn't want to play stand-off until the sun rose. "Move."

The steel against her neck was cool. Xena never flinched as the sharp edge of the blade settled where her neck met her head. The woman lowered her pistol gratefully, holstering it in her denim jacket. She approached the Brujah, plucking the pistol from Xena's hands. The woman looked over her shoulder, "You could have shown up sooner, you know."

"Quiet. Xena, you are tresspassing on Amazon soil," the voice was cool, business-like and European sounding, "come with us to be addressed by the Elder Artemis. After that, you'll be staked out and left for the sun. No need to trouble the Prince with this right now, correct Brujah?"

"I'm here for someone. Look -- she's lost her will and the Beast is in control. Let me get her and I will be on my way with no one the wiser. Artemis won't have to know that I got in this far into the park." Xena tried to keep the note of desperation out of her voice. Gabrielle was going who-knew-what, which could be anything from draining the bears to ravaging a pair of innocent lovers who chose the wrong place to spend the evening.

"The only one you're seeing is Artemis. Walk." Xena was shoved forward by the Amazon. She stumbled along, keeping her eyes forward, but sweeping back and forth for signs of Gabrielle. Damn it! Where is she?, she cursed her own luck. ""If you see someone with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, a little shorter than me, you have to help her. Don't kill her, this is her first night."

"Then you Brujah should take better care in choosing someone for the Embrace. When we fi--" the blonde Amazon stopped talking at the shrill ringing coming from her pocket. "Yes? Very well." There was a click and Xena felt the metal leaving her neck. "Go to the western gate and wait outside. You will be escorted by us. Make no sudden moves and stay to the path. Do so otherwise and you will be destroyed. Go."

Xena turned right to the gate in the distance. She knew that something was up. She could only hope that it meant that Gabrielle was safe.

X&G

Gabrielle collapsed on a hill, trying to force her limbs to obey her commands. All they wanted to do was tear into soft flesh and drink. She sobbed as she tried to squelch the hunger. Her keen ears picked up mutterings of people far away, commenting on junkies in the park, blaming it on everything from bad parenting to the mayor's failed crime initiatives. Go away, Gabrielle thought desperately, Go away because I can't control myself. Please, I don't want to hurt anyone. She heard someone drawing close to her, trying to be silent. Grass whispered against the fabric of someone's pants. A night wind forced the scents of horses, blood and gunpowder into Gabrielle's nose. The scream of the Hunger rang in her ears for relief. Obsessive thoughts of red liquid sating her desires over-rode all other emotions.

“I won’t do it. I won’t, I won’t, I WON’T!”, she feebly pounded the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a booted foot press down.

“Aren’t you looking a little lost?” a voice asked. Rough hands jerked her to her feet, “We don’t like junkies here.”

The group of women looked tribal. Their hair had a single strand of thickly braided hair with feathers and beads woven into on the left side of their foreheads. They were dressed somewhat alike -- jeans and thick buttoned shirts with boots made for heavy labor.

One of them peered into Gabrielle’s eyes, “I recognize this one. She’s Xena’s little blood doll.”

“So? Let her go and we can get back to the patrols,” another one, this one with curled brown hair, spoke up, “Antagonizing the Brujah won’t make matters easier, Velasca.”

The speaker, Velasca, warped her lips in a snarl, “I’m the one who makes the decisions here. Not you, Ephiny.” The mood shifted in the group.

“Just let me go, please. I don’t want to hurt, I just want to--”

“Feed? Aww. . . did you and Xena have a little spat? Here, let me make you feel better,” Velasca cut her wrist and pressed it to Gabrielle’s mouth, “Drink and be happier.”

Grinning ferally, Gabrielle bit into the flesh with her fangs. Blood, more delicious than anything Xena ever gave her, filled her mouth with a rare sweetness. She sucked harder, trying to get to something grand and undefined from Velasca. In the background roar, she could hear Velasca screaming murder and the one called Ephiny ordering them to pull Gabrielle away. Feeling stronger, she was able to fight them off until something blunt struck her in the small of her back. Gabrielle sagged to her knees, then was lifted back up by strong arms. She watched as Velasca paced back and forth, holding her arm close to her.

“Get Artemis! Tell her what happened! Damn Xena’s worthless hide! She Embraced her, then let her be dropped into my park!” Velasca howled. One woman took off running for the center of the park. Velasca drew her pistol and aimed it at Gabrielle’s head, “You are going to be an object lesson.”

Ephiny stepped in front and knocked the pistol out of the way, “Wait for Artemis! We can’t afford another war with either Xena or the rest of the Brujah.”

Velasca snarled and shoved Ephiny out of the way, “Let the Brujah come here and they will learn the real meaning of the word war.”

Gabrielle looked down the barrel of the gun, wide enough to swallow her whole. At least I never hurt anyone while I was a vampire, was the first thought she had. Her last one took her by surprise.

The finger tensed slowly.

Gabrielle flinched when she heard a gunshot. Her brain let out a shudder, expecting for the lights to dim. When seconds ticked by and nothing happened, she realized that the shot was meant for someone else. Velasca roared and clutched her hand to herself as she took a couple of steps back. The pistol tumbled away gracefully into the grass.

Gabrielle looked over at the woman holding up what appeared to be the largest pistol ever devised by man. The woman was tall and regal. Her hair was black and wavy. Her skin still held some of the Mediterranean caste that marked her as being a native of Greece. Her eyes were brown and flashed with power. Gabrielle locked her stare into the stranger’s and almost immediately dropped her gaze out of deference. This was a woman who brooked no defiance to her authority. A woman who didn’t rule by force of arms, but by force of will.

“What is the Sixth Tradition, Velasca?” the woman opened the pistol, plucking out the shell and sliding in one marked with a red band. Velasca looked away, muttering something under her breath. She cradled her hand to her chest as the mangled flesh slowly tried to re-form itself.

“I didn’t hear you. Say it loud enough for everyone to hear”, the woman closed the breech of her pistol and worked the hammer back.

“ ‘Thou art forbidden to destroy another of thy kind. The right of destruction belongeth only to thine elder. Only the eldest among thee shall call the blood hunt’, Artemis”, Velasca recited like a school child with a boring lesson.

“And who is your elder?”

“You are, Artemis.” Velasca said.

“Say it again.”

“You are, Artemis!” Her tone jumped up in volume.

“WHO IS?”

“YOU ARE!” both of them were yelling and coming nose to nose.

“Then don’t forget it, unless you think you’re fit enough to square off with me.” Artemis’ stare never wavered once. Velasca let her eyes drop as she took a step back. Artemis turned and focused her stare at Gabrielle, “So, you’re Xena’s new attraction? Nice of her to drop her here and have us dispose of the remains.”

“No, I came here on my own. I didn’t ask to have this happen to me,” Gabrielle’s courage came back to her in drips, “I just came here to clear my head.”

Artemis studied the young girl carefully, “Did Xena ever tell you about us, as Kindred?”

“No.”

“Well, Ephiny will give you the basics as they walk you to the gate. Never enter the park like this again. If you wish to enter, come to the gate and await one of us to escort you,” Artemis waved her away, then paced towards Velasca, “You and I must talk.”

Gabrielle walked quickly with the pair of women. The aroma of the woods and blood wafted from them. Her head tilted crazily for a minute. Strong hands caught her, then propped her up.

“Easy, you need to feed. Once you get out the gate, go find someone to feed. The alleys close to town have bums you can get blood from, but make sure that you don’t get drunk.”, Ephiny was the more gentle of the pair, holding Gabrielle up by her elbow. Ephiny looked around once, then began to speak carefully.

"I can't--" Gabrielle started.

“Don't interrupt. Here are the rules in a nut shell. There are six Traditions, rules that we follow. The first one is the Masquerade. You will not reveal your nature to mortals, if you do, then the Prince of the city will destroy you. No ifs, ands, or buts. The mortals have tried to destroy us once -- The Inquisition was almost successful -- but we learned to hide among them. You will learn, too. Or else.

“The second Tradition is the Domain. Your domain, where you live and hunt is your concern only. When others are in it, they are to pay you the proper respect and your word is law. It would be best if you did the same. This domain belongs to Artemis, so you got off lucky. Normally, she kills anyone who screws around in her parks.

The third Tradition is Progeny -- one that Xena probably forgot. You can only Embrace someone with the permission of the Prince or an Elder. If the Prince finds out, then both you and Xena will be destroyed. If Xena can claim that Ares gave her permission, then you’ll get by with banishment.”, Ephiny said quickly.

“Good luck, Ares won’t admit to anything unless you put him to the torch,” Epony spoke with relish at the thought.

“Back to the Traditions. The fifth one deals with hospitality. If someone is in your domain, then you treat them as you would a good guest. If you go to a new city, you ask for permission from the Prince to reside and feed there. If he says no, then you officially don’t exist and anyone can do anything to you that they want. I think the official wording is: ‘Without the word of acceptance, thou art nothing’. Pretty simple, huh?

“The sixth one -- the one that Velasca reviewed -- is about destruction. In case you were too nervous to pay attention, only the elders have the privilege to destroy us. Only the eldest among us, usually the Prince of the city, can call a blood hunt.”

“What’s a blood hunt?” Gabrielle asked.

“When the Prince decides that someone should be destroyed, sometimes he allows every Kindred in the city to hunt them and drink their blood. Normally, that sort of thing is a capital crime, unless the Prince sanctions it. Welcome to the World Of Darkness, kiddo. Epony, go check things ahead. We’ll be there in a minute.”

Epony nodded, then ran off into the night. Ephiny turned to Gabrielle and smiled coltishly.

“Thanks for everything, Ephiny. I’m sure Xena will fill in any gaps.”

“If she does anything. . . wrong. . . come here. I can speak on your behalf, and Artemis makes it a point to help out women who are abused. Even if they’re Kindred,” Ephiny looked across the street, “There’s Xena. Go to her, and please be careful.”

Gabrielle smiled and squeezed her hand, “Thank you for everything.”

Ephiny returned the smile as the young blonde tottered from the gate towards Xena. The pair exchanged delicate words under the street light, Xena standing away from the circle of illumination. The small woman stepped out of the light and into Xena's arms. The pair embraced each other tightly, then exchanged tenative kisses.

“Come on, before I get all misty eyed”, Ephiny turned around and walked slowly back into the dark tree line.

X&G

Interlude