With Vision Cleared

by

modernbard

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"Where are we headed anyway?” Gabrielle glanced up at
Xena sitting astride Argo as they continued to walk east.

Xena glanced down at the young woman walking alongside her, a
strange expression on her face. Her eyes were drawn to the Amazon
battle staff that was then being used as a simple walking stick by
her blonde companion. For some reason, it brought to mind the
events that had recently transpired in the forest of Bacchus.

It had been a little over two weeks since she had battled the
wine god; two weeks since Gabrielle had been turned into a Bacchae;
two weeks since she herself had been bitten by Gabrielle; two weeks
that had seen something begin to change between them. And while
those two weeks had been relatively quiet for them on the road,
they had been anything but peaceful or quiet for Xena’s frame
of mind.

Xena had been riding Argo in silence for most of the morning,
her mind wandering more and more as the day passed. Returning again
and again to that moment when Gabrielle’s fangs had pierced
her flesh. No matter how much she had tried to stay focused on her
surroundings and the words of her companion, her attention had kept
drifting. And she had lost track of their destination some time
ago.

She shrugged slightly at the question hoping that Gabrielle
would drop the subject for a bit longer and give her some time to
figure out what in the name of Hades was bothering her. She jumped
slightly when Gabrielle’s hand touched her leg and realized
that she was going to have to do something about her strange
thoughts, and soon. She couldn’t afford the weakness or
inattention; someone was going to end up hurt.

“Xena, is something wrong?”

Xena shook herself from her thoughts as she looked down at
Gabrielle giving her a small smile. “No, what make’s
you say that?”

Gabrielle shrugged, letting her hand fall back down.
“Well, I’ve been talking most of the morning and you
haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

Xena focused on their surroundings, extending her senses to
their utmost. Searching for anything out of place as she recalled
what the young girl had been prattling on about earlier that
morning. All the while thanking whatever god had decided to gift
her with the skill of almost perfect recall; even when she
wasn’t paying close attention. “Something about Orpheus
right?”