The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
Xex Alert: Oh Boy Is There. .This is a Prurient Piece with a Bit of Kink (If you hear the crack of the whip then you'll be in the neighborhood) Proceed at your own risk. :)
When Doba asked Gabrielle for help, the Queen of the Amazons was
surprised. The lieutenant expected the queen to have the expertise that Xena had, because she believed that the slave had been with her Mistress for at least a couple of years and had seen it all. Gabrielle spent a full set of heartbeat's thinking before grinning widely and answering in the affirmative. The bard figured she would do the best she could, and what she couldn't do, she would fake.
So, as was typical of her nature, she jumped right into the whole process and the camp got moving along to its new destination. Gabrielle learned a few things. First, what was a two day march for two people could be a much longer one for a camp of over five hundred persons and two, unexpected things should always be expected. The good news was that they only lost five tents to the fire. Nobody was hurt.
All in all, it was a success as far as moving people went. Everyone made it alive, though there were some individuals who were injured. That tended to happen even in the tightest of camps. Someone was always falling down, getting gouged or simply falling ill. The supplies made it (mostly whole) and there were no stragglers. They were even on schedule.
Gavin, however, was not. A few days after they settled in, a messenger arrived from Gavin's camp, looking worse for wear and practically falling off of the horse. It was not Itylus, which Gabrielle knew was a sure sign of trouble.
The warlord was on his way to meet with Xena's forces, when his army was met by another warlord's. Gavin invited the man to join forces, but he was already on his way to Hercules' camp (the reasoning: Who could beat a half god? Best to be on the winning side.) Gavin remained confident in Xena, but it led to a battle, which was currently at a stand off. The other warlord's forces were being held back, but Gavin wasn't sure how long he could keep them from moving north. Xena's ally required help. The main problem was the Warrior Princess took most of the seasoned personnel with her.
Experienced military people will tell you that an army can not be run as a democracy. Somebody has to make the final decision and give the order. But that doesn't mean they can't get advice when they need it. Once again, Doba turned to Gabrielle for council. Though the lieutenant was experienced at commanding, they had too many new people for Doba to feel comfortable with just issuing the order. There was too much inexperience in the camp and that meant more than a good chance for their deaths to be on her hands. Once again, Gabrielle faked it. From somewhere within her came, "Ask for volunteers." At least it gave them the choice.
There were more than they expected. Doba had to turn away the majority. The dark woman used experience as the criteria and took two hundred of their most trained people. She felt that it was terribly inadequate, but it was all she could do.
Though she was a slave, Doba left command of the camp in Gabrielle's hands. The warrior needed to take as many skilled persons along as she could, which meant that Gabrielle was the most competent at handling the camp. Besides, the slave was the Queen of the Amazons and the favorite of Xena's. How hard could it be? This was not something the bard expected, but she was learning to deal with it.
Gabrielle wasn't ruthless, but she was disciplined. And so was the camp. Of course, it helped that her Amazons treated her like royalty. Their respect was definitely influential in how other people responded to her. Then again, her personality was a winning one and with the aid of her training, she really did have the mannerism to pull off being "in Charge." She called on her resources. Colchak was pulled into the command tent and put to work (with the aid of his son. They were gradually working out their problems, though the sparks did fly sometimes) much earlier than she'd intended. Amazingly, despite everything, she and the warlord got along very well. Colchak made an inner commitment to go through Gabrielle if he had to deal with Xena. He thought it might be safer. Besides, she was his friend and he really did like her. He kept forgetting she was supposed to be a slave.
Of the two hundred individuals who left, one hundred and thirteen returned, many of them greatly wounded. They'd had to engage in several harsh skirmishes, but in the end they succeeded. Doba cut the offending warlord's head off and that pretty much stopped the battle. The dead warlord's troops were turned over to Gavin and the warrior took her people back to camp.
Doba was alive and basically well, but felt the loss of those brave people, who fought for her, very deeply. It was one thing to fight with mercenaries and quite another to fight with persons who believed in a cause and didn't have the training to see it through. It made her heart ache and she vowed that it wouldn't happen again. The training schedules were changed radically.
Gabrielle set about writing new missives on behalf of Xena and messengers were sent to the locals and a couple of warlords in the area. Gavin's troops eventually joined the camp. Itylus was dead. It struck Gabrielle hard for some reason. She'd seen death before, had seen Xena kill, but Itylus' death pulled at something within her. She thought of who would be missing him, who wouldn¹t be seeing him again. She remembered why she hated war.
She wanted Xena home, safe. She wanted Xena in her arms, now. It was the waiting that was hard and even knowing that her warrior could take care of herself, didn't assuage the ache that started in Gabrielle's heart. The bard stood outside, looking at the stars, remembering a better time and whispered, "Come back to me."
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