DISCLAIMER 1: The character of Zilandra is the property of Heartstarter. The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Argo, Hercules and Iolaus remain the property of MCA/Renaissance Pictures and Studios USA. No copyright infringement is intended and this is a non-profit story.
DISCLAIMER 2: This story is based on one of the 12 Labours that Hercules had to do. Although, the circumstances are different to that of mythology (e.g.; Xena wasn’t with Hercules). What Hercules and Xena do here is pretty much what happened. And the Amazon Village mentioned here at Tomis I think is actually the modern day equivalent of Constanta, east of Bucharest on the Black Sea. The village of Kremus is just somewhere I made up back in the first story - Hard To Say Goodbye.
PLEASE NOTE: This story is the 3rd in a series of 5… the stories before are called Hard To Say Goodbye and The Weekend Visitor and the stories which follow are: Wasted Moments and The Fallout.
WARNING: This story does depict friendship on two levels - that of actual friends and that of two women who are in love. If you don’t want to read about this sort of relationship, or for some silly reason it’s illegal where you live, then you should boycott this story. For everyone else: enjoy! All comments and suggestions are welcome and I promise I’ll write back! Write to Heartstarter at: ripley@corplink.com.au
CHAPTER 1:
I change into my pajamas and slide into bed. What a great weekend... and lucky for Xena she showed up or I’d... I’d... well I don’t know what I would’ve done, but she would’ve wished she’d been here! Now where did I put... ah! There it is. I pick up the mysterious scroll Xena gave me from the bedside table and unroll it. There is a small piece of parchment wrapped inside the scroll, which looks like a note of some sort. I look down at the neat handwriting of my lover and begin to read...
Hi G,
I’m so sorry you didn’t get the messenger boy I sent, I don’t
know what happened to him. I hope you will forgive me! I am truly sorry and
I hope I have made up for it this weekend! It’s the early hours of Sunday
morning and you are asleep beside me. A sight I have missed very much these
past two weeks. Oh well, I know you’ll be dying to find out what kept me
away from you and when I left I found that I got lonely, so a way to feel close
to you was to keep this scroll... and so you know what I did. I promise to be
back in only one week this time, no matter what! Hope you enjoy it! See you
soon,
Love X.
Day 2
Dear Gabrielle,
Well, this is the end of the second day since I left you in Athens, and I miss
you like crazy! It’s lonely without you. I caught up with Hercules, Iolaus
and Zilandra - she’s the girl Hercules wanted me to help out - early this
morning and we continued on through Thebes until we got to Kremus, which is
where I was originally going to meet them. Nothing much happened on the way
(well we didn’t have to fight any warlords anyway), but Zilandra kept asking
me questions about the adventures we’d had and how wonderful it must be
to just wander around the countryside helping people… much like someone
else I know… then she started asking me some really personal questions
- about us and about my family and what was it like growing up with two brothers
and I don’t know what happened, but I just lost it. I told her how it was
crap when I was younger because Lyceus had died and then I told her about all
the bad stuff I did after that. Hercules apparently hadn’t told her about
that and she got really upset and yelled at Hercules that he was leaving her
with a barbarian! I tried to settle her down, but it only made it worse. Iolaus
came to the rescue and took her to walk with him. I apologised to Hercules,
who said it didn’t matter, but wanted to know what we were going to do
about her. I wasn’t sure, but I knew that she couldn’t stay with me
and she probably wouldn’t want to either. So we journeyed on in silence,
finally coming to Kremus - which is where we are now.
We tried to get accommodation first, but everywhere was full - they were having some festival or something. So we decided to look for somewhere close by to camp out. Zilandra was kind of speaking to me by then, Iolaus must have said something to her - which I am very grateful for. Anyway, she told me that she’d never slept outside under the stars before. Apparently since she’s been with Hercules, which has only been a week, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that they stay in a tavern or at someone’s house. I decided to see if she would talk to me again, this time asking her questions about her family and finding out how she came to be with Hercules. At first she didn’t tell me much, although she did say that her parents were killed by the warlord Cortese - the same guy who attacked Amphipolis. So I tried to get her talking by telling her about Lyceus and what happened with Cortese and she said I was heroic! Which I scoffed at, but she insisted that I was. Then I skipped over what I did when I was killing everyone and told her about when I met Hercules. I also told her about some of our adventures. She said she wants to meet you - especially when I mentioned that you are an Amazon Princess! Then she started to open up to me and tell me about her family. She was only young when they were killed and since then she’s been living with her elderly aunt and uncle. But a couple of weeks ago they both died after a long battle with some kind of fever or something.
So… we found a small clearing
and sat around for a while just chatting and I told her about you and some other
adventures we’ve had and she said that she’s quite self sufficient,
she can cook and sew and all the usually things like that, but she doesn’t
want to be a housewife. I asked her if she knew how to hunt or fight. She said
no. And suddenly I had a brainwave… which I’ll get to in a minute!…
It was starting to get dark so I sent Zilandra off with Iolaus to hunt for some
food - she was so excited about that - while Hercules and I set up the beds
and the fire. I said to Hercules (this is where my brainwave came in!) that
I thought Zilandra was a good kid and she needed some sort of stable home life
or she won’t survive. So I suggested that we go to the Amazon village and
talk to Ephiny - you know, see if she has any room. I thought that because Zilandra
is still fairly young, that Ephiny could teach her the ways of an Amazon. Hercules
agreed that it was a good idea so when Iolaus and Zilandra came back I asked
her if she’d be interested in going to live with them. Well! Her eyes nearly
sprang out of her head she was so excited. She said she’d love to, although
she would be sad that she couldn’t stay with me. I told her that it would
be just as exciting there and she would be taught the ways of an Amazon. So,
that was settled, we had some food, and now everyone else is asleep, while I
sit here and write this by the light of the fire. I miss you, I’ll write
again soon.
Love Xena
CHAPTER 2:
Day 3
Dear G,
Well here I am again dearest, it’s been a long day today, so this will
be short. We travelled from Kremus through Leuctra, Delphi, Anthela and Larissa
and now we’ve stopped here in Thessaly, we’re staying at an inn. Hercules
and Iolaus are in the room next door to Zilandra and I. She is already asleep,
she spent almost the whole afternoon riding Argo because her feet were so sore.
Poor kid. We made good time today and if we keep going at the same pace we should
be to Ephiny in about 3 days. Well, that’s all I’ve got to say, nothing
of interest happened today, it was just a boring walk through some uninteresting
countryside. I’ll write again tomorrow. I love you.
Love X.
Day 4
Hi G,
Today Hercules and I had to break some skulls - Zilandra’s words, not mine!
We came across some highway thugs who thought Zilandra would fetch a nice price
for some slavers. But Hercules and I (of course) had other ideas. It was 6 against
2, but we got rid of them easily… oh wait I know you’ll want something
a little more poetic than that so… um… they were no match for us and
we sent them on their way with sore heads and bruised prides! Zilandra was quite
excited about it and nearly got herself captured a couple of times - she wouldn’t
stay out of sight with Iolaus like we wanted her to, but I guess it gave us
something to talk about the rest of the way... and talk about it she did...
just like you would have!
Now, these are the places we travelled
through and the rivers we crossed today, see if you can find them on your maps:
Pharsalus was the first place we went through. There’s not much there only
a store and a few houses. Then we crossed over the river Peneus (And yes, you
do pronounce it just like a certain part of the male anatomy! It was hard to
keep a straight face when Zilandra asked me what the name of it was!). Then
we went through Pythion - a large town with quite a few stalls and markets -
I imagine it would’ve been hard to tear you away from the place had you
been with us. Mount Olympus (not hard to find, although a bit of a trek around
it!). Pella - a farming village, lots of farmers out in their fields, not much
else though. The River Strymon - we are camping on its’ banks tonight.
I hope it’s not too much further to Tomis, I miss you and I’m afraid
I won’t get back by the weekend. But, if I’m going to be a day late,
I’ll send word. Promise. Well I suppose I’d better get some sleep
- I don’t want to be the one dragging behind tomorrow! Oh yeah, Iolaus
says hi and hopes you’re working hard! Miss you. Love you.
Love X.
CHAPTER 3:
Day 5
Hi G,
Well, last night I think I slept on a rock! I am so glad that tonight I can
sleep in a bed... my bed no less! We have stopped in Amphipolis and each have
our own rooms, which is nice because I don’t have to worry about being
quiet or how late I leave the candle burning. We were hoping to get further
today, but our progress was slowed down because Zilandra twisted her ankle,
not badly, but enough that we couldn’t go all that far. She was being stubborn
and wouldn’t ride Argo, so we decided to stop here with Mother. It’s
great seeing her again, and the home cooked meal is nice too! She sends her
love, and hopes she sees you soon, as I do!
Today we crossed the river Strymon, where we stayed last night, this is where Zilandra twisted her ankle - we had to cross on the horses because the water was quite deep, but she was determined to wade across and bathe at the same time. This embarrassed Iolaus no end! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blush quite that shade of red before! Anyway, I agreed to let her wade across and followed closely behind on Argo. I turned around to talk to Hercules and the next thing I know, Zilandra is being pulled downstream in the current. I was about to do a flip from Argo and swing from the tree vines (okay, well not really, but I know that’s what you wanted to hear!) when Iolaus jumped from the back of Hercules’ horse and swam off after her. Zilandra tried to stop herself from falling down the waterfall by entwining her foot in a tree root, she was starting to slip (and twisted her ankle at this point) when Iolaus reached her and pulled her back from the edge. They got to the safety of a rock near the bank and when Hercules and I got the horses across we went and rescued them. It was actually quite funny! Iolaus didn’t know where to look - or put his hands when he got to Zilandra and she played it for everything it was worth! The rest of the trip was uneventful and when we got to Philippi we picked up some food supplies and a bandage for Zilandra’s foot.
Anyway, my darling I guess I’d
better go, we want to travel all the way to the Amazon Village in Tomis tomorrow,
which is a huge way, I think we’ll all be riding to make it faster, and
no matter how much Zilandra protests, that’s where she’ll be travelling
- even if I have to tie her to Argo myself! Write again tomorrow,
Love X.
Day 6
Hi G,
Well, how things change in the course of 1 day! We left at first light this
morning and were making good time when we passed through Neapolis. It’s
a really pretty place with a large town square where they have plays and poetry
readings and all sorts of things... maybe we’ll be able to come back one
day and you can tell some of your stories. It would be nice. We then travelled
until we got to the river Hebrus and thankfully Zilandra decided she would stay
aboard Argo for the trip! We were about to cross when a young messenger boy
stopped us - well stopped Hercules is more to the point. He had a message from
King Augeas of Elis (which is on the far west side of the country almost to
the Ionian Sea), asking Hercules to come and help him clean out his stables.
Now I don’t know why he can’t get all his servants to do that, but
anyway, Hercules said he would go, apparently he has known King Augeas for ages.
So, we had to decide what to do because the King is having a huge banquet on the 15th and wants it done by then . I told Hercules I’d go with him, it’ll get done faster if we both go and he agreed. It’s going to take us about 5 or 6 days to get there by ourselves, with Zilandra and Iolaus it would take even longer. So I sent the messenger to you, telling you when I’d be there - the thought "She’s going to kill me" sprang to mind when I thought about you, but at least I sent word! And we sent Iolaus and Zilandra onto the Amazon Village. I sent a scroll with them explaining who they were to Ephiny and that I wanted Ephiny to take Zilandra in as one of her own and teach her the Amazon ways. I hope they get there alright.
So, Hercules and I turned back and
we travelled back through Amphipolis (not stopping this time) and we’re
staying in Philippi tonight. I will write again tomorrow, although I don’t
know how much I’ll be able to write, we’ve got a long way to go, if
we even stop at all, but I promise I’ll write at least a little something.
Love X.
Day 7
Hi G,
Well hi there my darling, we have covered a lot of ground today and my butt
is so sore from being in the saddle. Poor Argo is stuffed as well, and not very
happy with me, although I keep telling her that she should be glad she’s
not carrying two passengers! Although, she doesn’t see the upside of that!
Anyway, today we crossed back over the River Strymon, went through Pella, around
Mount Olympus, through Pythion, over the river Peneus, through Pharsalus and
Thessaly and we’re staying in Larissa. I’m supposed to be going to
sleep straight away tonight because Hercules wants to leave as soon as he wakes
up, which means before sunrise, but I wanted to tell you some things first.
I know you love to learn about places and things, so I quizzed Hercules on King
Augeas and his stables and stuff, so here goes:
King Augeas owns heaps of cattle -
more than 3,000 oxen. Which is more than anyone in Greece. Some say he’s
a son of one of the great gods, and others that he is a son of a mortal. Whichever
he is, he is very rich and has many herds of cows, bulls, goats, sheep and horses.
His stables are in really bad condition, but I didn’t know this until I
had this conversation with Hercules:
I said: "Well, cleaning out the stables shouldn’t take long - only
half a day, right?"
"Ah... not exactly." He replied
"Why?"
"You mean to tell me that you’ve never heard of the Aegean Stables?!"
Hercules asked, surprised
"No. Should I have?"
"I guess not, but I thought it was common knowledge," I just shrugged
as he continued
"The stables haven’t been cleaned for 30 years." He said
"Thirty years!? Gods, they must be disgusting!"
"Tell me about it."
"Well at least we’ll have a few days to clean them out before his
party."
"Yeah, lucky. Apparently because of the amount of manure, a thick aroma
hangs over the entire Peloponnesus region!" (Which is home to: Elis, Olympia,
Pylos and places like that)
"That’s gross, are we going to be able to breath?"
"Oh yeah, once you’ve been there a few hours you don’t notice
it any more."
"Great... But what about when we leave? Will we stink of manure?"
"Um... yeah. We’ll have to bath for a while to fully rid ourselves
of it."
"How long is ‘a while’?" I ask
"About half a day!" Hercules replied
I don’t think I have anything
else to say, my arm is starting to cramp up and my eyes are slowly closing.
I’ll write tomorrow.
Love X.
CHAPTER 4:
Day 8
Hi G,
Hey lover, well today was pretty uneventful, just lots of riding, fields, a
little conversation - nothing interesting trust me - I didn’t know Hercules
could be such a boring companion on a journey! I’d travel with you any
day… but then again that’s a given! We travelled through Anthela,
Delphi and Leuctra and we’re staying at Plataea tonight. I think I’m
just going to turn in… sorry this isn’t a very interesting entry,
but nothing has happened so until tomorrow when I hope to all the Gods who might
listen that something interesting happens! Bye. I love you.
Love X.
Day 9
Hi G,
I swear I’m gonna kill Hercules… he is sooooo boring!!!! I can’t
believe I’ve still got at least a day or two to travel with him… he
won’t even play the ‘Who Am I?’ game with me. You would, even
when you’re angry at me you still can’t resist a game of who am I?
A little geography for you now: we went through Megara today and lots of fields
and we’re staying at Corinth... Corinth is where I fought the Centaurs
as you know, unfortunately (and it’s not often I say this) we didn’t
run into anyone… not one person… it was almost as though everyone
was purposely avoiding us which is so frustrating, I think I might even have
struck up a conversation with a highway thug who was trying to kill us I was
that bored! Anyway, I’m going to bed now, we’ve got a long way to
go tomorrow. I hope you got my message. I miss you.
Love X.
Day 10
Hi G,
Well today was just as exciting as yesterday and the day before… I think
I’m going to kill him…. no really I think I am… you know for
the strongest guy in the world who has travelled to more places than even I
have he sure doesn’t have many stories… maybe his best friend is the
one who tells all the stories, just like mine does. I miss you so much sweetie…
oh man, I just wrote sweetie… tell anyone and you’ll be sorry! I think
it’s because I haven’t been able to have a real conversation with
big words and meaningful feelings expressed in about oh… eleven days. This
is so boring and the fact that Hercules told me today that he’s never been
further than Corinth - as I haven’t - doesn’t really fill me with
hope because I think we’re going the wrong way, but Hercules insists that
he’s been given exact instructions… oh well I guess I’ll just
have to trust him. Okay, the geography for today then I’m out of here,
love you.
Geography: Nemea, Mycenae, across the river Inachus, through Argos and to Sparta
- where we’re staying.
Now this is me going to dream about you! Bye.
Love X.
Day 11
Hi G,
I cannot believe this day! Remember yesterday when I said that I thought we
were going the wrong way - well it turns out that I was right! Sparta is at
the bottom of the Peloponnesus ruling and Elis is at the top! So we had to travel
even further than we originally thought! I tell you, when I leave Hercules I
don’t think I’ll go travelling with him again for a very long time!
Anyway, we made it here to Elis just before dinner and I was so hungry - luckily
King Augeas was so glad we had arrived that he had a huge spread ready for us!
Tomorrow night is the party and I can’t see how we’re going to get
the stables clean, they are disgusting! I guess now that we’re finally
here we can at least try our best and clean some of them. We got a tour of the
stables - not sure if I was glad I’d already eaten or not. Apparently King
Augeas has asked everyone to clean out his stables, but no-one will go near
them… now I know why! And the smell… man I hope I’m clean before
I see you again or you may not want to kiss me and that would be a very big
shame!
Anyway, when we arrived there was a messenger from Ephiny saying that Iolaus and Zilandra arrived safely, she said she’s happy to have an extra pair of hands. She also says she owes me, I decided to call in the favour and I don’t mind telling you what I’m going to do because by the time you read this I’ll already have done it! I sent the messenger back and asked Ephiny to have an Amazon hut set up in the forest for us - complete with a name plaque and I told her I wanted it there by the weekend. We’ll see how she goes!
Oh yeah, I forgot to say… every time the King sees either Hercules or me he keeps saying how grateful he is… and how he has total faith in us being able to complete the task by tomorrow night… he says it as if we’ve forgotten that we’ve only got until tomorrow night to do it too! Glad I’m already in bed and I won’t see him again until late tomorrow! Well I guess I’d better go, I have to meet Hercules at first light - as always and we’ll decide how we’re gonna do this stable thing. Okay, I’ll be seeing you in a couple of days, I can’t wait.
Geography lesson for today: we went through Mantinea, followed the river Alpheus and went through Olympia.
Until tomorrow,
Love X.
CHAPTER 5:
Day 12
Hi G,
Well what a day! We managed to do it! I don’t know how exactly, but we
did. And, even better than that I didn’t get covered in manure! A big plus
I can tell you! So, this is what happened:
We were up before first light and sometime during the night Hercules had this brainwave about two rivers someone told him about that he thought were near here. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he said we didn’t have time for explanations and that I should just do what he says. I said okay and we got to work.
Instead of using a shovel and a basket like I thought we’d have to, Hercules and I made a hole in the wall of the cattle-yard where the stables are with some axes. Then we made another opening in the wall on the opposite side of the yard. Next, we dug two wide trenches to the two rivers which flow nearby. Then, I’m not exactly sure what happened, but Hercules told me to stay near the stables and made sure it all worked - he changed the course of the rivers into the trenches in the yard. He wouldn’t tell me what he did, but I’m sure it was a god-thing! So, the water rushed from the rivers through the trenches and flushed out the stables, sending the manure through the hole in the wall and out the other side of the yard.
So, that’s how it all happened
and I am pleased to report that I can leave this stinky place tomorrow morning,
have a long bathe and then hopefully see you the next day, ready for our weekend
rendezvous! YAY! I can’t wait. I’ll speak to you very, very soon.
I love you.
Love X.
Days 13 and 14
Hi G,
Okay, well I’m about to come in and pick you up, but I thought I should
just finish this off and tell you what I’ve done the last two days…
let’s see, well… I left King Augeas’ palace early and spent the
morning soaking in the River Alpheus to get the smell off myself. I hope it’s
all gone! Then I rode non-stop for the next day and a half back to you. I know,
I know, I should have stopped, but I thought that if I didn’t get back
to you very soon I’d go crazy! I rode through Nemea, Corinth, Megara, Eleusis
and finally got to Athens. I rode past the hut and it looks great, I’ll
have to thank Ephiny in a big way! Okay, well I’ll see you very soon. I
love you.
Love X.
"Oh Xena… you
have the best adventures! And I missed you too.. I can’t believe you wrote
this whole scroll for me… you surprise me!" I fold the scroll up
and put it into the drawer beside my bed.
"I’ll find a messenger tomorrow to bring her back here straight away.
I know just what I’ll do to say thank-you!…"
THE END
Please stay tuned for the next exciting instalment in this Xena and Gabrielle series... called Wasted Moments... Proudly brought to you by Heartstarter and Ripley. Enjoy!