"Story Time" is copyright © 1997 by Morgan MacLeod, all rights reserved. Do not distribute, archive, or repost without prior permission from the author.

Xena and Gabrielle belong to MCA/Renaissance Pictures. Some characters herein are also based on situations belonging to Paramount. All these characters are used here in a strictly non-profit manner, and their appearance is in no way intended to infringe on the trademarks of MCA, Renaissance Pictures, or Paramount.

Her gnarled, dark-skinned fingers tightened on the smooth round handle of her walking stick as she slowly crossed the portico, and gingerly seated herself on a bench in the sunshine, where the warmth of a summer afternoon could ease the nagging pain in her joints. But her voice was clear and firm and sweetly carrying as she called out to the children.

"Story time... come and quiet down now... it's story time... sit beside me and I'll tell you a story."

Like kittens at the sound of pouring milk in a bowl, they came running, tumbling over one another, bouncing and jostling as each tried to gain one of the coveted spots nestled against the feet of the storyteller. Once all were settled, she shushed them, until their excited babble ceased.

"All right, children. Today is a choosing day. Who's turn is it today to choose the story?"

One little girl jumped up immediately. "It's my turn, it's mine!"

The storyteller smiled, a smile with a little more than her usual indulgence, for the bright-eyed, sharp-faced little girl was her own sister's daughter's child. "I think you're right. If I remember, it is your turn, because last choosing day, it was Tomas, who lives in the house next to you," she responded. "Does anyone disagree?" The children all shook their heads. "Well, then, it must be your turn to choose. What story do you want to hear?"

"You know."

"Oh do I? How can I really know unless you tell me?"

"You know... tell us a story about the Warrior Princess."

The other children chimed in. "Yes, The Warrior Princess" "Xena!" "And Gabrielle!" "Gabrielle and Xena!"

"Calm down, children, calm down. As soon as you are all very, very quiet, I will tell you a tale of Xena, the Warrior Princess, and her soul-mate, the Bard Gabrielle. Is everybody quiet? All right then, I will begin, not at the beginning, for who among us can know the beginnings of things, but at the time when first I met the Warrior Princess and the Bard..."

"Watch your step, Gabrielle... you could end up even wetter." Had the woman's face been less obscured by the elements, one might have seen the shadow of a wry smile curl one side of her mouth. Gabrielle stopped in her tracks. The tall cloaked figure continued on for a few strides, her horse on a loose lead at her side.

"Xena. I'm not going another step without an explanation."

The warrior looked back over her shoulder. "Then you're going to get a lot wetter, aren't you?" She continued her cautious but steady pace forward into the gloom.

Gabrielle looked after her for a moment, then adjusted the pack that hung from her shoulder, and leaned into her staff once more, stepping carefully but quickly to catch up with the other woman. "All right, you win, I'm coming... but can you at least tell me why we're here in the wet and the dark and in the middle of a forest instead of in a nice warm room in that inn back in Tirente. I mean really, Xena, I know you always have a good reason when you do this kind of thing, but why did you have to barge into my room just as I was falling asleep, and tell me to meet you in the stables in fifteen minutes or you'd leave without me? We haven't had a nice night in an inn in weeks..."

"Gabrielle."

"...Huh? What, Xena?"

"How do you expect me to tell you anything if you keep on talking?"

"Well, I'm not talking now... well, actually, I am, but..." She faltered into silence.

"I heard some news down in the common room after you went to bed. If I'm right, there's something very dangerous starting in the mountains near the coast... watch out for that branch." She swept it out of the bard's path, and continued forward.

After waiting for a few moments for Xena to finish her explanation, Gabrielle began again with more than a hint of irritation in her voice. "You can't just tell me that little bit and then clam up again... well, you can, because you did, but..." she began to lose her footing on the muddy leaves beneath her feet, but once more a firm hand caught her and held her up.

"That's why I don't want to tell you all about it now - when you talk, it gets harder to keep your balance in this muck."

"Just give me one good reason for this, and I'll stop bothering you about it... for now, anyway. Just one."

"I think it's something I've seen before, and couldn't stop then, and some good men and women died. If we get there in time, maybe I can stop it this time."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you about it when we do make camp. I want to get into the foothills before then, though... better chance of shelter." Xena stopped, turned and held Gabrielle's gaze with her eyes. The younger woman stopped as well, frozen by the intensity of that look. "This is important, Gabrielle. I wouldn't put you through this for anything less."

"I know."

"Right then, let's get moving." She started forward again, taking the brunt of the splattering rain that fell from above as she pushed through the foliage, Gabrielle trudging closely behind her and Argo following her lead.

For the next hour they forged on in relative silence, punctuated by the occasional curt warning of obstacles ahead from the woman walking point, a few equine snorts of protest, and the somewhat more frequent exclamations of surprise or disgust, and muttered but eloquent curses from the sodden bard trailing in their wake. Slowly the forest began to thin, though the ground, as it went from waterlogged turf and spongy leaves to patches of mud amid loose stones, remained as treacherous. When the angle of the rough and unmarked trail they followed began to rise beneath them, Xena extended her awareness as far as she could, searching for any sign of a place to make camp in relative shelter. Gabrielle was already fatigued, and even she, with her greater strength and endurance, was tiring from the constant need to strain ahead into darkness to avoid losing the path, and to choose her steps carefully to avoid losing her balance. But as the terrain grew increasingly rockier, she had hopes that they could find an overhanging rock, perhaps even an empty cave.

They had been climbing for perhaps half an hour when Xena came to a sudden stop, bringing Gabrielle to an unceremonious halt just behind her.

"Wha-"

Xena pivoted soundlessly, bringing her face close enough that even in the dark, Gabrielle could see that she held her finger to her mouth in warning. Gabrielle closed her mouth, and Xena leaned forward, brushing her lips against Gabrielle's ear. "There's someone ahead of us. Stay here with Argo. I'll be back."

Moving with the greatest care over the uncertain ground, keeping to shadows and the concealment of the scrubby trees that still surrounded them, Xena crept towards the unknown traveller ahead of them. At first, the trace odours of a wetly burning wood fire were all she had to guide her in the right direction, but as she drew closer with ever greater caution, a few tiny flickers of light appeared in the gloom ahead. At last, she was close enough to see, while remaining unseen.

Sitting comfortably in a natural crevice between two large boulders, shielded from the rain by a latticework of branches that roofed the sheltering cleft, a lone woman was tending a fire. More latticework screened most of the fire from view, allowing only the occasional glimpse of the flames, but now Xena was close enough to smell something truly enticing cooking over that fire. In the light from the fire, she could make out the woman's face, dark skinned and angular, as she leaned over the fire, and her hands, feeding the flames, and stirring the cookpot. The rest of the stranger was swathed in a cloak. Behind her, deeper into the crevice, Xena could see what looked like a reasonable amount of gear for one person afoot. She could see no sign of anyone else, and while the camp had clearly been set with some thought to defense, she sensed nothing that felt like a trap.

As quietly as she had come, Xena melted back into the trees, towards the spot where she had left Gabrielle. If her instincts were true, Gabrielle would have a dry camp, and warm food tonight.

When she reached the place where her companion waited, at first Xena could not see the younger woman. Peering into the darkness, she saw a massive, ever so slightly paler shape against the night that must be Argo. She clucked softly, and Argo answered with a faint whinny. Crossing to the horse, she could see that Gabrielle had led her under the tallest tree for some shelter, and now that she was so close, the sound of soft breathing told her that Gabrielle had fallen asleep sitting under that very tree. She was beset for a moment by the familiar twinge of guilt that came to her at times like these. Once more she had taken Gabrielle away from warmth, comfort and safety into dangerous and trying circumstances. At times like this, she could understand why the young woman had been so smitten by the vision of a simple, peaceful life that Perdicas had offered her. If only Gabrielle had never had to learn that visions don't always last in reality.

She bent over and gently shook the sleeping bard.

"Huh.."

"Shhh... you fell asleep."

"Damn. I meant to keep watch, and you were gone so long..."

"I know. But someone's set up a camp ahead, and my gut tells me she's not an enemy. On your feet, you've gotten chilled enough sitting here. Let's go and see if she'll share with us."

"Share...camp..."

Xena hunched down beside Gabrielle, rubbing first her hands, and then her face, to get her awake again, warmed up at least a little, and ready to move. It wasn't cold enough for there to be any real danger, at least not in so brief a time, but the sooner Gabrielle reached someplace warm and dry, the better.

"I hope so. It looks like she found the best spot to camp on this part of the hillside. There's room for three, and maybe even for Argo. Let's hope she's in a generous mood." Xena stood up, pulling Gabrielle to her feet as well. "Come on, shake yourself awake, it's not too far now."

A few minutes later, they were on their way back towards the stranger's campsite, this time moving without any attempt at quiet. Once she felt they were within earshot of the woman at the fire, Xena called out, "Hallo to the fire and its maker. Can two travellers approach?"

A voice, slightly accented in a manner Xena could not recognise, answered out of the dark. "You can come to where I can see you."

Xena led Gabrielle and Argo to the edge of the clearing, then motioned them to stop, while she stepped forward.

"You said two travellers," spoke the other woman from her place by the fire.

"I'm a warrior. My companion is not."

"Ah, I see. Leave your friend hid until you see if I'm inclined to shoot on sight. Well, I'm not. Come over here, the both of you, and if that was a horse I heard, bring it along too. It's too damn wet to stay out there and trade pedigrees."

As the woman spoke, Xena led Gabrielle and Argo across the clearing towards the shelter. She peered intently at the weary young bard, supported almost entirely by Xena's strong right arm. "Let's get your friend under cover first. I think we'll need to do some re-organising if we want room for the horse as well. She looks like she can stand the rain a while longer, your friend I'm not so sure of."

"Thank you", Xena said to the stranger as she helped Gabrielle past the fire and into the dry redoubt. As Xena helped Gabrielle sit down, her back against some soft branches and her feet turned to the fire, the other woman rummaged in her pack, pulling out a blanket.

"Take off that wet cloak and wrap her in this for now. It'll keep her warm while we shift things around." As Xena stripped the waterlogged cloak from Gabrielle's shoulders, the stranger reached over and took it from her hands, offering in its stead the blanket. Hanging the cloak from the underside of the lattice roof, just near enough to the fire to dry without catching flame itself, she turned back to see Xena finish tucking the dry warm blanket around Gabrielle.

Xena stood up and looked, first around her, and then up at the roof of woven boughs. From inside, she could see that they were lined with a strange, light, closely woven cloth. The other woman followed Xena's gaze. "It's a tribal secret of my people. I have more, but the cleft is too wide past this point for the branches to stretch across."

"There's some saplings out there. Cut a few down, use 'em as tent poles."

"Fine. I've a hand axe here..." She stooped to pick it up from where it had lain, half concealed beside the fire.

"Let me. I'm already wet. What about more roofing?"

"We can use the ones I made to hide the entrance - if you don't mind taking a watch in case someone else sees the fire."

"No problem. I've done it before."

The stranger looked slowly and deliberately at Xena, pointedly taking in the armour and weapon under her cloak. "I imagine you have."

Xena half smiled, and taking the axe from her, headed out once more into the darkness. She paused to give Argo a reassuring slap, then went to harvest some saplings.

Two would be more than enough to do the job, she thought, as she measured the height of the first sapling with her arms. High enough to give Argo or herself full headroom, she thought with some satisfaction. Quickly she bent to the task of chopping down the slender tree, hampered slightly by the wind that was rising, whipping the water heavy cloak around her arms each time she swung the small but razor sharp axe. Rather than trim the branches first, she dragged the tree back whole, and went back out into the rain. Within minutes she returned with a second tree, and bent down to trim them.

She gathered the branches and carried them to the stranger where she sat by the fire weaving the strange fabric into the lattices. "Thought we might need to weave some more screening. And if not, these'll be more comfortable than the bare rock for sitting." Tossing down her bundle, she returned to the mouth of the cleft, searching for a spot where she could dig a shallow hole to place the first pole.

"Just two poles?"

"One here", Xena replied, as she found a spot where earth had filled in a small crack in the rock beneath, and hunkered down to dig out a hole with her dagger. "and one over there." she inclined her head to indicate the general direction."

"I see. This one will support two panels, and give us enough room for three, and one more pole forms a sort of lean-to on the leeward side for your horse."

"Right." Standing up, Xena planted the first pole in the ground, while the other woman carried out the first of the lattices, lifting it into place, resting partly on the rough rock wall of the crevice, partly on the other panels, and partly on the pole. The second one followed, and with a few cloth strips to bind them in place, the area under shelter was almost doubled. It was the work of only a few more minutes to set up the sheltered area for the horse, out of the wind and rain.

Once Argo was settled, Xena stripped off her cloak and moved towards the fire. The stranger was stirring the cooking pot again, adding some bits of dried meat and tubers. Gabrielle was leaning forward, watching with anticipation, clearly revived by the warmth and rest. In her hands she cradled a tin mug, filled with something steaming.

"Xena... come sit down... Rillian says she has enough to make rabbit stew for all of us. Doesn't it smell so good?"

Xena tossed a packet down by the fire. "Some nutbread I had in my saddlebag... should go well with rabbit."

The dark stranger looked up and grinned. "So it should. You, I am told by the most reliable of sources, are Xena, called The Warrior Princess. So pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Rillian, as you may have gathered, and your delightful companion has already introduced herself. Please, hang up that dripping cloak over there, then sit by my fire, and be welcome to my food... as soon as it's ready, that is. And in the meantime..." She dipped a ladle into a smaller pot nestled in the coals, one that had not been there earlier, and poured a dark liquid into the mate of the mug that Gabrielle held. "It's from a plant that grows in the mountains of my homeland... it will refresh and warm you. Here... "

"Thanks, Rillian", Xena replied as she settled down onto some soft branches, welcoming the warmth of the fire on her own chilled arms and legs. She leaned forward and took the mug, relishing its warmth against her chilled fingers. She sniffed at the vapour rising from its mouth. It was pleasant, but with a bitter tang.

Rillian held out a small pot. "Some people prefer it sweet. There's some honeycomb, if you like."

The warrior took a cautious sip, and smiled. "I'll drink it like this."

As the stranger quietly prepared a portion for herself, Gabrielle took another sip from her own mug, then raised her head, staring at her friend across the dancing flames. "And now Xena, I want to know why you dragged me out here. No more excuses. From the beginning."