Story: 25 Days of Femslash (chapter 22)

Authors: Blood_Covered_Pheonix

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Chapter 22

Title: Winter Travel

Gabrielle’s thighs ached, her back had been cramping since noon and she was miserably cold. She tightened the blankets around her and gripped the horn of Argo’s saddle to warm her hands. Argo shambled forward under her with Xena carefully leading the way over the ice covered mountain pass. The warrior princess was humming softly to both her and Argo, looking utterly unperturbed by the cold with only a cloak around her shoulders. The blonde shivered, drawing Xena’s attention.

“You’re still cold? You want my cloak?” She asked with a worried frown. Gabrielle shook her head.

“I’m fine.” She insisted, keeping her response short so that her teeth wouldn’t chatter. She clamped her jaws as she turned back to the road.

“I can find a place for you to camp out. The snow isn’t too deep, we can clear a place and you can keep a fire going. There’s enough food to last you for a week. It shouldn’t take me more than a few days to deal with this mountain man and get back those kidnapped women.”

“What’ll you eat?”

“I can hunt. Leading Argo over stuff like this is a pain, so I’d be faster on my own.”

“What about getting the women back?”

“They’re all young; they should be able to walk. If not I’ll think of something. The logistics doesn’t matter, you’re miserable and I can fix that. We’ll pick a spot, spend an hour setting up camp and then I’ll head out.” Xena had stopped and was fully turned around now. Argo whickered around her bit with displeasure. Xena nuzzled the horse and murmured into her neck. “Argo isn’t happy on the road either.”

Gabrielle frowned. Xena was trying to get rid of her, she’d tried leaving her back in town but Gabrielle had insisted on coming with. She’d tried leaving her at the foot of the mountain, and now she was trying to get rid of her here. She couldn’t dispute her this time. She was miserable, Argo was having trouble on the icy paths, camping out for a few days would be preferable to spending that time on horseback. “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

Xena frowned back at her. “I’m not trying to get rid of you. I knew you wouldn’t be happy here.”

“You drag me places I won’t be happy all the time. This isn’t different, there’s a reason you don’t want me to go up there with you. I can fight, so you aren’t trying to protect me. What is it?” Xena sighed.

“I am trying to protect you.” She admitted. “I don’t mean it to be insulting; I know you can hold your own in anything we do. I don’t want you to see some of the things that I’ve seen; I can’t let you see what’s at the top of this mountain.”

“What’s up there? How do you know that it’s any different than what I’ve seen before?” Gabrielle shot back; she swung out of the saddle and landed in front of Xena.

“I made this man. I told him to pillage and rape and build a harem from a countryside when he was in my army. It was another life, and that seemed acceptable. I know what I’m going to find because I’ve seen his den before. It’ll be vile, he’ll be vile and I don’t want you to see that. I don’t want you to see just how horrible I was. I let this happen.”

“So I’m supposed to stay here so that you can save face?” Gabrielle asked, indignant. “I won’t do it. I’ve already seen parts of that other life you’ve left and it’s just a contrast between what I live with. I won’t think any less of you.”
          “I know you won’t think anything less of me, Gabrielle. I’m worried about myself. I can’t stand the thought of someone else knowing what I’ve been. I know you’ve seen parts, but that’s not the same as knowing the whole picture. You are my light, I can’t let you get sullied by the things I’ve done. I can’t let you become cold and calloused to these horrible things that I’ve done. I let you see the little ones and I’m distressed not by the things I’ve done, but by how you react to them. Every time I see horror on your face, I remember it. I can’t ever do anything that would make you look at me like that again. I can’t let you see what’s up here. I can’t let you be sullied by it. Please, stay here camp out. Don’t come with.”

Gabrielle pouted at her but took a step closer. Xena wrapped her arms around the girl and buried her face in her hair. She felt the bard hug her back. “I’m not happy about it. You know that I hate being left behind. I’ll stay here with Argo. Let’s make that camp site. It’s nearly dark. Stay with me for the night at least.”

Xena lead Argo off the path and into the woods a good bit and posted her on a tree. She and Gabrielle swept most of the snow out of a fair sized clearing. They set up a bedroll with a waterproof skin beneath it and then built a fire out of scraps of cloth and used the weak fire to dry some wood to build it up.

By the time they had the fire hot enough to heat the stew that they’d packed in a large water skin, it was dark. They ate and then cozied up on the bedroll. Xena hummed to Gabrielle as they snuggled so the blonde quickly dropped off to sleep.

Gabrielle woke up at first light the next morning and rolled over to find that Xena’s side of the bed had gone cold and the fire had burned to embers. She rose and donned her boots. She rekindled the fire and went to find more wood for the day.

 

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