Disclaimer: I own no rights whatsoever to any characters from Xena:Warrior Princess, I am
only borrowing them for the length of this story. This story is for the amusement and entertainment of my friends in the Ares and Xena Shippers club. I promise to return the characters intact when I am finished with them. I am making no money from this story.
More trouble. Cyrene was about to tear her hair out in frustration. Those two little terrors had opened the gate in a neighbor's fence, and given chase to her flock of hens. The hens had scattered all over town, and it had taken hours to get them penned back together. Of course both Xena and Gabrielle weren't available at the time to straighten out the mess. They had gone hunting. Gabrielle wanted some fresh mushrooms, and Xena had had a craving for turkey. There was a good sized flock not too far from the village. They were cagy birds, and it took a really good hunter to get close enough to bag one. Mushrooms grew in abundance in a pine woods on a nearby hillside. The two friends had left together this morning, after Cyrene had agreed to watch the two small fry. They usually weren't much trouble, well.... not very much trouble, so she had readily agreed.
They had started their day by spilling food all over the floor. After she cleaned up that mess, they went out into the back yard to play. That had gone quite well until they discovered a small spring way back by the woods. The spring only appeared after a rainstorm had soaked the ground, and usually disappeared within a week or two. It had rained rather hard about six days ago. The surrounding area was dry, but that low spot was wet and muddy . Leave it to those two to find something new to play with. Eve and Jeb had gotten themselves covered from head to toe with mud. They were happily playing there until Cyrene spotted them and called them to come in. Then they both got guilty looks on their faces, and reluctantly came back into the house to get cleaned up. Things had been quiet for two or three candlemarks, then they had slipped back out the door and discovered the chickens. The latch on the door was too high for Jeb to open, but apparently Eve could just reach it if she stretched and stood on tiptoe. You already know the results of that happenstance.
Xena arrived back with two large tom turkeys, and Gabrielle had a large basket of mushrooms. They were soon filled in on the little escapade. By the time Xena and Gabrielle had gotten back, the tale was the subject of practically every conversation in the village. Most thought the incident to be hilarious, but of course there are always a few spoilsports. All agreed, however, that those two were certainly a pair to remember. A few people remembered another pair of children many years in the past. Xena and her brother Lyceus. They had often been in trouble also, until the boy had died in defence of the town. That death had almost destroyed Xena. She had gone to the temple of Ares to learn warfare, so that she could seek retribution, and had wound up as a warlord herself. She had been known as Xena, Destroyer of Nations, and become Chosen of Ares himself.
Cyrene had taken it hard. At first she felt that she had lost two children in that raid. She had hated Ares with a passion, had considered that he had stolen her daughter. It wasn't until years later that she began to understand. Finally Xena had sat down with her and explained all (well...almost all) that had happened.
Then she had met another man, the half brother of the God. This man was all good, and had rescued Xena from the life she was living. She had completely turned herself around, and begun helping people. At first the people of the village were afraid of her reputation, but slowly things changed. After she had again saved the village, people welcomed her with open arms. Now she was considered to be a heroine, rather than a destroyer.
Of course those two children were well on their way to being *destroyers* also, but of a very minor sort. Destroyers of the peace maybe. There was a general chuckle when that subject was brought up. They weren't really bad, they were just busy... terribly busy! It was a full time job looking after them, and Cyrene was not envied at all. Usually there were three of them on the job, and all three had their hands full. Cyrene, having had the most experience, was usually in charge. Xena and Gabrielle just tried to keep up with the two. One or another had to keep them in sight at all times. It took only seconds for them to find trouble. There was one thing in their favor. They both had a healthy fear of the fireplace and oven. Eve had carefully explained the matter of hot to Jeb. He took her word for it , after all, she was a big girl.
She took her job as big sister very seriously, and the adults were often amused to overhear her cautions and instructions. "We're s'posed to eat all our dinner." she explained. "It'll make us grow up big and strong." "Mama doesn't want us to wet our clothes any more, she wants us to tell someone when we need to go." Of course she was still wetting hers, but at least she was thinking about the subject. It didn't take too much longer, though, for her to stop. Then she continued to urge him to be a big kid too. "I don't wet my clothes any more, 'cause I'm a big kid now." In a surprisingly short time, he was a *big kid* too. Things were a little easier after that. The amount of laundry had shrunken considerably. They still got dirty, and had their clothes changed often, but it was only common dirt (most of the time), and came out fairly easily.
The children had been playing in the yard for hours. They hadn't moved from the same small area. Little by little the adults relaxed. Once in a while one or another would look out the back door and check on them. The three women got busy baking, There was to be a group sing in the tavern that night, and they would need plenty of food and drink. Drink they had in plenty. They had spent hours cooking up a huge pot of stew. They had brought up several rounds of cheese, baskets of fruit, a barrel of pickles, fresh vegetables etc. Now all they needed was a good quantity of bread. Xena took a quick look outside, and didn't see the children. She stepped outside and looked around. Still no children. Beginning to panic, she called them. By this time Cyrene and Gabrielle had rushed out the door. They began calling too. They spread out and went through the town, calling the names of the two children. Others came to help. They searched every nook and cranny of the village. No children. People began to search the edge of the woods, finally working their way deeper. By this time Xena was in a full blown panic attack. Her breath was coming fast, her palms were sweaty, her heart was pounding erratically, and she had begun to cry.
There was a sudden flash of light, and Ares was there. "Xena, hold on, what's happening?" she didn't really want to take time to tell him, but maybe he could help. "The children, they're missing, we've searched the town, now we're looking through the woods. Where could they have gone?" "Wait..." he slowly turned his head, seeking. "She's over that way." he told her. "What? How can you tell?" she asked. "You forget, I've known her since the day she was born. I've been watching over her since that day. I could find you anyplace, any time. I can do the same with Eve." He reached out and took her hand. "Come, let's go get them." She took his hand reluctantly, but she did take it. He quickly led her up the hill in back of the town. They soon neared the farm of one of the oldest men in the village, a pig farmer. He had been raising his granddaughter, who was about ten, since her parents died. Her name was Talitha, and she was a bit of a loner. She had no friends her age, and spent most of her time right there on the farm.
As they approached the farm, they heard the sound of familiar laughter, then a squeal, and a few giggles. They found the missing children playing with a pair of tiny piglets. They were covered in mud, laying on the ground, and letting the baby pigs walk all over them. Talitha was sitting there with a wide grin on her face. The little ones were in their glory. The piglets kept nuzzling the children's bellies, which tickled. When that didn't bring anything to eat, they would squeal and root some more. They were determined that there was a teat there somewhere. Ares burst out laughing. Xena tried to keep quiet, but was unsuccessful. There was a muffled "Mmmph!" then a peal of laughter. The children, startled out of their fun, suddenly realized that they weren't supposed to be here. Chagrined expressions appeared on both little faces. "I'm sorry mama." Eve began with, then "I won't do it again." Jeb started to cry, and rub his eyes. "Me sorry too." he mumbled . She tried to keep a stern face, but it was really difficult. They gathered the two strays, and walked back to town. As they went, they called out to the other searchers to let them know that the lost were found.
The children had their own room now. Two beds on opposite walls, where they could look over and see each other. Their door was left ajar, so that the light of a lamp in the hall kept the darkness at bay. Xena had overseen their bedtime rituals, and finally gotten them to sleep. As soon as they had arrived home, they had to tell everyone about the wonderful little pigs. Cyrene had sighed and related a similar story about Xena and Lyceus. When she finished, she said "Well, I guess children will be children." After she had thought about it, Xena remembered the escapade in question. Nothing had come of it, but they had frightened their mother half to death.
As Xena got into bed, she was still smiling about the incident. She whispered a "Thank you Ares." pulled the covers up and prepared for sleep. "You're welcome." she heard. She sat up, but there was no one there. "Ares?" she asked. That familiar tingle spread over the back of her neck. He appeared at the side of her bed, and sat down. "I told you I could find her." he stated. "Yes, you did tell me, and now I believe it." she replied. He reached out and stroked her hair. As he did, she remembered vividly the canopied bed in the woods. He looked over at her and grinned suddenly, and asked "That was rather unusual, wasn't it?" She realized that he was reading her mind, but decided to play along. She asked.in return "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about our tryst in the glade. Have you ever slept in a canopied bed in a wooded glade before? I never have. I've taken other people to my bed, Xena, but I've never taken my bed to anyone else." he murmured with a wistful smile. She had to admit that it was truly a unique experience.
"The thing that gets me, is how you returned me to my bedroll without waking me." "It's a god thing." he grinned. "I'll god thing you." she teased. He bent over and kissed her. She reached her arms up around him, and suddenly flipped him over to the back side of the bed. Then she pinned him there. He was startled for a moment, then he grinned to himself. "Let's start with this." she said. She kissed him fiercely, and he was slightly taken aback, but he just lay there. He thought to himself 'Hey, this is good! If I do anything she's likely to draw back. Let's see just how far she will take this.' It didn't take him long to figure out that she was going to take it much further than he had expected. He still tried to keep himself under control, but it was growing more and more difficult. She nibbled, she kissed, she did other things that were driving him wild. At last he could stand it no longer. With a wave of his hand their clothing was gone, and it didn't take much longer before she was moaning softly. He quickly transferred them to his own quarters, where they could have some privacy. Much, much later, they lay in each other's arms and discussed their day.
TBC