Dream Warrior
by Azurenon and Savanna Mac
Disclaimer:
Xena Warrior Princess and all the characters contained herein are the sole property of MCA/Universal Studios/Renaissance Pictures. No infringement upon these rites is intended. We’ve merely borrowed these characters, as well as, some scenes and lines, for the sole purpose of entertainment and storyline continuity. The story idea itself, however, belongs to Azurenon and Savanna Mac.
Warning:
Sexual content:
This story contains rather graphic details of two consenting, adult females involved in sexually explicit situations with one another. If this is not something you’d like to read about, please do not read our story. I’m sure there are even better ones, more to your liking.
Be it known, that this story is number 2 in a series we have written; a "between the eps (episodes)" if you will, which make reference to the aired episodes below. And, if you haven’t read "Dream Of Choice" by Azurenon and Savanna Mac, you may be a bit lost when reading this one.
This story takes place following our daring duos adventures in the MCA/Universal Studios/Renaissance Pictures copywritten material entitled: "The Quest" and "A Necessary Evil". If you haven't seen these episodes, I would strongly suggest you do so before reading this.
Thanks go to all our friends! No need to mention each of you by name, you know who you are.
This is for all the subtextors out there. We hope we have spun an enjoyable tale.
If not, then please accept our humble apology.
Xena was watching her friend, as the bard cleaned their plates, scraping the remains of their meal into the fire, to prevent attracting any undesirable animals into their camp. It had been several long and grueling days for them. Especially so for Gabrielle, who had fought to get Xena the Ambrosia (food of the gods) she needed to come back to the land of living. This same Ambrosia had been the source of the problem they had faced with Velesca. The latter of whom had subsequently eaten a small bit of the potent substance and become a god. Not satisfied with that state of affairs alone, Velesca had returned for revenge against Gabrielle, because she felt the bard had taken what should have been her rightful place as Queen of the Amazons.
It was the first time Gabrielle had ever been the target of anyone's wrath, much less a God's. And Xena was well aware that her friend had been terrified. Even she herself had been afraid. Afraid for Gabrielle. Afraid for herself, as well, that she would lose her best friend.
"I wasn't... much help to you out there," Gabrielle commented, as she scraped food from the frying pan.
"You did fine," Xena countered.
"Hmph. I was scared... out of my wits."
"Everyone gets scared, Gabrielle. Fear isn't always a bad thing. It can save your life if...."
"You saved my life," the bard interjected. "Like you always have to. I wouldn't be here now, if... it weren't for you."
"I can't argue with that," Xena commented. "Because you wouldn't have been in that kind of danger, if not for me."
"Hmph. I chose to follow you, remember? I don't know why you blame yourself every time I get into trouble. I mean, you never wanted me along to begin with."
"That's not true," the warrior corrected. "I didn't want you to be in such dangerous situations. I never said I didn't want you along."
Gabrielle merely grunted, as she began wiping the cooking utensils and putting them away, until the next day when they ran across a stream, where she would wash them.
Xena got up and retrieved her bedroll. She wanted to sleep beside her friend tonight, but was unsure how Gabrielle would feel about that. She'd slept beside her the night before and the bard hadn't seemed to mind. Maybe if she acted casual about it, Gabrielle wouldn't even make mention of it.
Xena walked over beside her friend and laid her bedroll out on the ground. While smoothing it out, she could feel her friend's eyes on her. She finally looked up.
"Mind if I sleep here beside you tonight?" the warrior inquired.
"Uh... no, I... don't mind," Gabrielle responded. "Do you... think I'm still in danger? I mean, I thought you said that lava pit should hold both..."
"No, I.. I don't believe you're in any danger from Velesca or Callisto," Xena interrupted, trying to sound reassuring and at the same time not reveal exactly why she did want to be by her friend's side.
"You don't sound so sure about that," the bard noted.
"Oh, I'm sure, Gabrielle. I... I just thought that maybe... well, it's been a hard day and... I thought you might... want some company. But, of course if you'd rather I didn't..."
"No," Gabrielle interrupted, "I, uh... well, truth be told, you're actually saving me the embarrassment of having to ask you."
"You don't ever have to be embarrassed to ask me anything, Gabrielle. I hope you know that," Xena said, as the bard turned away to put their packs aside.
"Yeah, I know, Xena. I just..." the bard sighed heavily. "I just feel so... weak and scared and... helpless. I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life. Well, at least not about losing my own life."
"Everyone gets scared, Gabrielle."
"Not you," the bard countered.
"Ha! Yes I do."
"You don't show it."
"Well, I'm older, I've had more practice at covering it up," Xena answered, tugging on her nose.
Gabrielle grunted. "You're a much stronger person than I am, Xena."
"You did good, Gabrielle. Even I had to ask for help on this one, remember?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to ask for help all the time. You have to... take care of me, all the time. I'm just a useless, worthless... tag along. I don't have any right to be here with..."
"Hey, watch it!" Xena warned. "That's my best friend you're beating up on."
Gabrielle glanced over at her, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
"You're a strong person, Gabrielle, whether you realize it or not," Xena continued. "Few young girls would have even had the courage to follow me, much less... stay with me all this time. And through so many dangerous situations."
Gabrielle merely grunted.
"I count on you, Gabrielle. Don't you know that?"
"Count on me for what? To get us into another jam?"
"No, to help me get out of... whatever jam we end up in."
"Yeah, like I'm a lot of help in that department."
"Gabrielle, look at me," Xena said, reaching over, placing her index finger beneath the bard's chin and turning her face towards her. "You are one of the bravest people I know," the warrior added softly, staring into the bard's beautiful sea-green eyes. "You were willing to sacrifice your life today, in order to rid the world of those two.... bitches. And that, my friend, takes courage."
"It wasn't... courage, Xena, it was... I just felt so... helpless and... useless," the bard countered, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Cum’mere," Xena suggested, opening her arms to her friend. "You're not useless, Gabrielle," she continued, hugging the bard close. "Going up against a god... anyone would feel helpless. I know I did, or else I'd never have freed Callisto. What's important is that you didn't just run and hide. You stayed and fought, the best you could," Xena added, placing a light kiss on the top of the bard's head. "And it was very smart of you to grab that bag of Ambrosia and lead them both out on that bridge."
"I didn't... lead them..." Gabrielle countered through her tears, "Velesca knocked me... out there."
"But... you hung on," Xena noted, the memory of Gabrielle hanging onto the bottom rope of that bridge, and by only one hand on several occassions, playing out in her mind in vivid detail. "You don't know how scared I was that... I was going to lose you," she confessed into the bard's hair.
Gabrielle's grip tightened around the warrior's waist. Xena could feel the bard's tears trickling down her left shoulder and longed to comfort her young friend, in ways she knew she could not. The warrior was almost sure Gabrielle was unaware of the feelings she harbored for the lovely little strawberry blonde bard.
"Would you... really miss me, if... I wasn't here?" Gabrielle queried.
"Of course I would," Xena answered, easing back, so that she could look down at her friend. "Don't you know that by now?" she questioned softly, her eyes falling from the bard's sea-green eyes to her delicate bow shaped lips. A vivid memory of lightly kissing those soft supple protrusions, when Gabrielle married Perdecus, floated through her mind. She felt almost irresistably drawn to them and found herself moving closer. At the last minute, it took everything she had to change her course and place a light kiss on the bard's cheek. "You're my... best friend, Gabrielle," she added, her voice barely above a whisper now.
All her energy was expended on keeping herself on the straight and narrow path, the one she'd always strayed from in the past with other young women. Xena never wanted to hear Gabrielle accuse her of corrupting her soul. She just couldn't handle that. She loved Gabrielle far too much to ever intentionally hurt her.
"You're my... best friend... too," the bard uttered, as she nuzzled her cheek against the side of Xena's.
The warrior grunted and cleared her throat, while easing back. "It's been a... long day... maybe we should try and get some sleep, hmm?"
Gabrielle nodded. "Yes,.. I suppose... we should."
The two friends removed boots and other assorted paraphernalia in silence. It wasn't until after they had laid down, side by side, that Gabrielle broke the silence.
"Xena... don't you think I should... learn more fighting skills?"
"No!" Xena stated emphatically. "That would only make you a target and... I don't want that to happen."
"I was a target for Velesca and... I never even raised a hand against her," the bard noted.
"Yeah, well, that was... different. She was just... warped to begin with," Xena stated, as she rolled over on her side, putting her back to her friend.
"I wonder what causes people to be like that," the bard mused.
Xena offered no response; for, she didn't have an answer. Even though she herself had been warped for at least ten years, she still didn't understand why she had been that way. Looking back, it seemed like she was trapped in some kind of vicious cycle of hate and revenge. She had trusted no one. And had caused the deaths of many who had put their trust in her.
What did cause this indeed? she wondered. And how had she turned it all around? She couldn't, in all honesty, say that Hercules had been the one and only factor to bring about such a change. No, there'd been more to it than that. She'd been near the edge of calling it quits when she'd set out to kill him. And at one point, she had wanted, even begged him to end the torment for her. But, he'd chose not to. He had set her free to... find her true self. What had he known or seen that she couldn't? And what had Gabrielle seen in her, that would make a young woman leave everything behind to follow her into such dangerous situations?
What shaped people's destinies? Was it the god's doing or the conditions in which one found themselves and the choices they made about those situations? Choices that often had a tendency to become a snowball effect; one choice mounted upon the other, upon the other, until... one day you looked up to find you've lost yourself beneath this enormous mound of bad choices, pain and vengence.
To break all that loose, takes something drastic, she thought. She supposed contemplating her own death had been that drastic step for her. She understood what it was like to desire to be free of the pain. She could emphathize with Callisto somewhat, in that regard. But not in her desire to hurt others, especially Gabrielle, just to reek vengenance on Xena herself.
She shook her head, trying to clear it of these thoughts about the past. Yet, what began flashing through her mind now was memories of Gabrielle. How the bard had wanted Xena to teach her how to kill Callisto, after the latter had murdered Perdecus. It was evident Gabrielle had loved him. And in her heart, Xena felt jealousy rear it's ugly green head.
The images then changed to Gabrielle suggesting she sacrifice herself to get rid of Velesca. And then the scene abruptly jumped to when they'd first met: Gabrielle standing up to one of Draco's men, saying, "Take me and let the others go." Even then she had been a little fighter, especially when it came to protecting others.
Xena couldn't help but smile at the memory. The little strawberry blonde bard in her long multicolored dress, lashing out at a man who could easily have sliced her into little pieces. Her small fists balled up by her side, her face firmly set, displaying the courageous spirit that dwelled beneath such a fragile looking exterior.
"Do you remember when we first met?" Xena queried, rolling over to face her friend, only to find that the latter was already fast asleep.
The bard was on her back, her breathing even and steady, chest rising slightly with each inhalation.
"You're so courageous, Gabrielle," Xena murmured, as she reached down and pulled the blanket up around her friend. "You just don't know it. You can't... see yourself as I do," she continued, her gaze roaming over the smooth looking skin of the bard's chest, a light scattering of freckles where it was exposed to the sun, catching her attention for a moment. Then her gaze moved on, rising slowly up Gabrielle's neck to her tear stained face. "You just don't know how beautiful you are to me," the warrior rambled on, her hand now slowly moving towards the bard's face, where her eyes were drinking in every minute detail: The soft blonde fuzz on the side of the bard's cheeks; long light brown lashes, slightly curved on the ends; bow shaped lips, so red, so enticingly smooth and supple in appearance.
A different set of images now flashed through her mind's eye: "Take me with you," the courageous young woman had requested, when they’d first met. "Did you see the guy they want me to marry?"; "I won't stay home, Xena. I'm not the little girl my parents wanted me to be." "By the Gods, you are.. beautiful." the bard had exclaimed, though she was drugged with henbane at the time, during one of their many adventures."Xena, why did you leave me?" Gabrielle had asked, standing in front of the warrior in spiritual state, dressed in her Amazon attire, tears streaming down her lovely face. "Gabrielle, I'll always be right here," Xena had answered, leaning over and kissing her friend.
The warrior brought herself up short, just before her hand touched the bard's face. A groan rumbled deep in her throat, as she swallowed hard. She wanted so much for Gabrielle to be her lover, and yet... she couldn't allow herself to be so selfish. No! No matter how much she wanted it, she would not lead this young woman somewhere she didn't need or perhaps even want to go.
"Oh, but she does want to go there," a voice inside her head argued with her, and not for the first time, either. She'd had many conversations with this voice that loved to tempt and tease her. "Are you forgetting how she curled up in your arms not so long ago?" the voice continued.
She was merely dreaming, Xena retorted silently.
Was she now? And what about those words she mumbled, hmm? "You smell so-o go-od" and then she kissed you on the neck, didn't she?
She... she was dreaming about... Perdecus more than likely, not me.
You really believe that, do you?
Yes, I... I have to.
She wants you and you know it, the voice continued. And you want her so badly you can almost... taste her.
No, Xena shot back. I won't do it again. I won't be responsible for that. Especially not with Gabrielle. If it ever happens...
And you know it will, the voice chided. It’s only a matter of time.
Then it will be because she wants it. It will have to be her choice. Her decision to make the first move.
Remember her asking you about that kiss? the voice prodded. You know she was thinking about it. Why didn't you answer her question honestly, hmm?
Xena shook her head. It was wrong of me to kiss her. It's better that... she doesn't know I remember.
And why's that, dear?
Because... she may feel... pressured. And besides... it wasn't really my lips she was kissing, it was Autolycus’.
Oh, but it was you she was seeing in her mind, wasn't it?
Xena offered no response.
And you felt it, didn't you?
"Yes," the warrior answered aloud, her eyes on the bard's lips again.
And it felt go-od, didn't it?
Yes, it... I mean, no... Oh, SHUT UP! Xena demanded, as she rolled over on her back.
She promised herself then and there that she would fight this for as long as she could. And when she couldn't stand it any longer...? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, she thought, as she rolled on over to her side, putting her back to Gabrielle. It was safer for both of them if she slept this way, because she no longer trusted herself. Especially not after the conversation she'd just had with her inner voice. A voice which had sounded unnervingly like Callisto's.
The warrior sighed heavily and pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. She willed herself to think about something else. Fighting. Yes, fighting. She needed to divert all this energy to new fighting techniques. What new move could she come up with and practice for the next deserving warmonger?
****
Xena awoke to someone screaming, "NO-O-O!"
She instinctively reached for her chakram, as she sat up. Turning around quickly, she found Gabrielle sitting up beside her, her hands over her face, mumbling, "No, oh no."
"Gabrielle," the warrior said softly, realizing her friend must have been having another nightmare. "Perdecus again?" she inquired, as she laid the chakram down beside her and leaned towards her friend.
"Oh, Xe-na," Gabrielle whimpered, as she lunged for the warrior, wrapping her arms around her neck. "It was... so awful. So... very awful," the bard added.
"I'm sorry, Gabrielle," Xena offered, for the lack of anything better to say.
"It... wasn't... your fault," the bard mumbled against her cheek. "It was... mine for... marrying him."
"No, Gabrielle, Callisto would never have went after the two of you if... it hadn't been for me."
"Xena, I... I caused it... I brought him... into it."
"Gabrielle, listen to me," the warrior said, pulling back in order to make eye contact with her friend. "It was my fault. I... should have... followed the two of you. Should have... made sure you were safe. I'm responsible for... it all." Xena shook her head sadly and turned away in shame. "If it weren't for me, you'd be... happily married right now to... the man of your dreams."
"Uh... no... Xena," the bard responded, wiping her tears. "not to... the man of my dreams," she added softly. "I might be still married, I... don't know about that, but... he's not the one I dream about."
The warrior wanted to look over at her friend, but because she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and so wanted Gabrielle to say that she was the one she dreamed about, Xena was afraid the disappointment would show on her face, when Gabrielle mentioned someone else, so she kept her gaze lowered.
"It wasn't your fault, Xena, believe me. I... I married Perdecus for... all the wrong reasons. I can... admit that now."
"Gabrielle, you don't mean that," Xena countered.
"Yes, I do. It's taken me... quite awhile to come to terms with this, but... Xena, look at me," the bard demanded, softly. When the warrior obligued, she continued, "I... I know now that I married Perdicus because... I was running away from... something else."
"Gabrielle, you don't have to say anymore," Xena interjected, turning her gaze to the fire. "I've always known that fighting was not for you. I guess I... I shouldn't have taken you with me. I should have sent you home the very next day."
"I wouldn't have stayed," the bard countered.
"But I should have sent you anyway. I should not have let..."
"Xena, please!" Gabrielle interrupted, her voice containing a slight edge. She reached over and took the warrior's face in her hands, turning it towards her. "I wasn't talking about fighting. No, I married Perdecus because... I was afraid of... the feelings I have... for you."
Xena stared at her friend, hardly able to believe what she was hearing, even though it was everything she'd wanted and desired to hear for such a long time. The look in the bard's sea-green eyes was softening by degrees, like that of a lover. This is too good to be true, she thought.
"Gabrielle, I... I don't..." Xena paused, unsure what she had started to say.
"Don't feel the same way about me?" the bard finished for her, resignation in her voice; her hands sliding from the warrior's face; her eyes losing their illumination.
"No, no, Gabrielle, that's not what I meant," Xena assured, catching hold of the bard's left hand in midair and bringing it to her lips, before she even thought about what she was doing. She kissed the back of Gabrielle's knuckles. "I... I meant I.... Umph," she groaned, her eyes meeting the bard's; their gazes locking. "I most certainly do feel... the same way," she stumbled on. "I just... I... well,... talk about being scared..."
"Scared? You... scared of me?" Gabrielle queried. "Why?"
"Scared of... hurting you... of losing you..."
"Oh, Xena," the bard murmured, tears welling up in her eyes, as she once again raised one hand to the warrior's face. "My beautiful warrior princess," she added, her face moving closer to Xena's with each uttered word.
When the bard was close enough that the warrior could feel her breath on her upper lip, Xena could stand the suspense no longer. Her lips reached out hungrily for Gabrielle's. The bard moaned and Xena groaned in total agreement; their lips slipping and sliding across one another's; their tongues seeking out each other to perform a dance they seemed to instinctively know the movements to.
"Xe-na," Gabrielle mumbled against the warrior lips. "This is... what I've wanted. for so-o l-long."
The warrior's worst fears were laid to rest once she digested these words. She lay back, pulling the bard down on top of her; their lips parting for only a brief interval, before coming back together more hungrily than before.
Xena tentatively ran her hands over the bard's back, her fingertips grazing bare skin, adding fuel to her desire. As Gabrielle broke contact and eased slightly over to one side, the warrior's hand slid around to the front of the bard's torso. Her fingers itched to explore new territory, but Xena resisted the urge. She did not want to move too fast.
Their gazes locked and held once again. Then Gabrielle moved her hand slowly to Xena's shoulder, her fingers tracing the path of the leather shoulder strap, her eyes dropping to the warrior's chest.
"You are so-o beautiful," the bard commented. "And I... I can't believe this is... finally happening."
"Neither can I," Xena murmured, reaching over and brushing Gabrielle's hair back from her face. "Umm," she added, running her fingers through the fine, soft blonde locks. "This always looks so soft and I've always wondered... how it would feel in my hands."
"And?" the bard prodded, her hand moving up Xena's neck to her chin.
"And it's even soften than I imagined."
"Like your lips," Gabrielle murmured, running her finger over the warrior's lower lip. "You don't know how long I've wanted to... kiss these," she added, moving closer and eventually doing just that.
The bard attacked Xena's mouth, as if she meant to devour it. Nearly inaudible moans surfaced from her throat, as she moved her head ever so slightly, massaging the warrior's swelling lips with her own. Xena's hands came alive now and with a mind of their own, set off exploring the bard's back and then on down to her buttocks.
"Oh, Xe-na," the bard sighed, as the warrior's hand caressed her exposed thigh. "Will you... make love to me?" she murmured against Xena's lips.
The warrior moaned audibly, the bard having stoked the fire inside of her to near fever pitch. Wasting no time, she rolled Gabrielle over on her back and eased down on top of her, her lips going to the side of the bard's neck.
"Y-yes," she whispered near Gabrielle's ear. "Most definitely, yes."
"Then please take this off," the bard said, her hands pulling on the straps of Xena's leather outfit.
Xena raised up on her knees and eagerly began removing her clothes, while the bard watched and lent a helping hand now and then. When she reached her underwear, however, she hesitated.
"Those too," the bard confirmed. "I'm not innocent anymore, remember?"
Xena grunted, as she cocked one dark eyebrow and gazed down at Gabrielle's clothes.
"Oh... you're wondering... well, I want the pleasure of watching you remove them for me."
"I see," Xena said, as she worked her way out of her underwear.
"You are... mag-nificent," the bard commented, her eyes raking over the warrior's exposed flesh, as the latter lay down beside her.
"Hmph," Xena grunted. "And where do you want me to start first, hmm? Top or.... bottom?"
"Top, I think," Gabrielle replied, sounding a bit shier now than she had been a few moments before.
"Hmm," Xena commented, as her eyes went to the bard's halter, her free hand following close behind.
"Now these are... what I call magnificent," the warrior complimented, her eyes drinking in the small round mounds of flesh with their taunt, erect nipples. The latter being a tantalizing site to her hands, as well as, her mouth. She licked her lips lightly.
"Why don't you put those to good use," the bard suggested, pulling Xena down to meet her own lips, while she grabbed the warrior's hand and guided it to the clasp of her skirt.
The sides of the skirt fell back, as Xena's hand separated them.
"Yes!" Gabrielle hissed, against Xena's lips, as the warrior's hand wasted no time exploring this newly exposed area.
Xena felt the flames of desire rising up from inside her. Feeling the soft down on the inside of the bard's thighs and then the slight dampness of the longer curls at the apex of those thighs, her ears began to burn. Her heart was pounding in her chest; her fingers inching their way towards the source of the enticing dampness.
Both women groaned simultaneously, as Xena found what she sought. The warrior turned away slightly, unable to maintain lip contact at this point. Instead she opted to bury her face in the bard's neck.
"Oh yes, Xena," Gabrielle whispered. "Oh yes... you're so good. Ah, I knew you would be... my be-loved, Xena," she continued, her hands roaming through the warrior's hair. "How does it feel Xena...?" the bard paused.
"To be f__kin' your little friend!" Callisto's voice taunted.
Xena abruptly raised up. She was totally in shock to find her arch enemy Callisto stretched out beneath her.
"Oh, you're really ve-ry go-od, Xena," Callisto admitted. "Shame we had to be enemies, we might've had a lot of fun, hmm?"
Xena felt like she was going to be violently ill. "It can't be you... there's no way, you're..."
"Whatsamatta Xena, did I mess up a good dream? A good... wet dream, hmm? Oh well, so why don't you just kill me, hmm? Or better yet, I'll kill you!"
Xena jerked back, as Callisto produced a knife and before she could react, drove it into her left side.
The warrior groaned, closed her eyes tightly in pain and grabbed her side.... only to find a hand already there. How could that be? Callisto had withdrawn the knife, hadn’t she?
She quickly opened her eyes and blinked several times, trying to focus in the darkness. Something wasn't right. She was lying on her right side, when only a moment ago, she'd been propped up on her left arm. She glanced down, aware of her leather outfit now. And then she noticed her own hand, atop someone else's, at her waist. She quickly turned and glanced over her shoulder. Gabrielle was curled up behind her, sleeping soundly. It suddenly hit her that this hand belonged to her friend and not to Callisto.
The warrior breathed a heavy sigh of relief and relaxed back against her bedroll. It was just a dream. It had all been just another one of her dreams. Except this time, Callisto had shown up and ruined it. Turning it into a... heartpounding nightmare!
No more sleeping next to each other, Xena vowed then and there. And yet, as the friend behind her snuggled up closer to her back - the bard's breath tickling the fine hairs on the warrior's shoulder, and raising gooseflesh down her body - Xena knew this was one vow she would not be able to keep.
The End
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