Gabriel leaned against the rail of the ship. It wasn't that unplesent, once she administered the pressure points on herself. The firm wind carried their ship towards their goal. The day was clear, and Gabriel couldn't recall ever seing such a blue sky. Her gaze fell on the smooth water. The boat caused ripples in the otherwise smooth surface. Come to think of it, she had never seen the ocean so calm.
She walked away from the rail, searching for Xena. She was at the wheel, talking to the captain about the course. Gabriel smiled, Xena never could really relax, and she always had to be learning or doing something to pass the time. Gabriel could look into the deeper of meaning of things, and keep her occupied for hours, staring into nothing. Not Xena.
Gabriel joined her companion at the wheel, listening in to the conversation.
"And I'll be telling you, this weather has nothing wrong with it, you shouldn't be cursing such a blessing!" The captain insisted
"Look, never in my many, many, years of sailing have I ever seen weather like this." Xena pressed. "You feel that wind? It's strong. Why aren’t the waves rougher? In fact, why aren’t the waves moving at all?"
"What do you want me to do, run to the nearest port because we are having perfect weather? “The captain grumbled, not taking kindly to Xena's worry.
"I think it might be best. Nothing is ever this perfect. "
Gabriel's brow furrowed, stepping up behind the warrior. "Is there something wrong Xena?"
Xena turned to her companion. She sighed as she realized she was making her worry. "Hopefully it's nothing, but I want to be on land, just in case." she reasurred her partner.
"But it’s so nice out, I don't think anything’s wrong." Gabriel mused.
Xena reached down and took Gabriel’s hand. "Just in case, can you go below? I have a feeling. A bad feeling."
"You and your feelings," Gabriel teased as she nodded her assent.
Gabriel left, leaving Xena alone with the captain. "Head as fast as you can to the nearest port, how far out are we?"
"It'll be hours before we get close enough to anything. Nightfall for sure. If this wind holds, we are going fast."
Xena nodded her understandingly. Though she didn't like it, it was the best she could do. Her senses screamed of danger that much was for sure.
Nightfall
The wind hadn't let up, so they were close to some sort of land at least. The wind had picked up a strange sound for the last hour, sort of a shrill whistle. The men were spooked, and so was she, if she had to admit it to herself. Gabriel had stayed below as Xena had asked. But now, she wished she was with her warrior, instead of cowering in the hull, waiting for something to happen.
Sure enough, the boat started to rock. Rain sloshed down the boat, in a sudden torrent. Gabriel held herself back from going up- Xena didn't need to worry about her in a time like this. The whistling wind turned into a shriek, and Gabriel had to cover her ears as to not to lose her sense of hearing. Huge hits rammed into the side of the boat, jerking its inhabitants to one side of the ship to another. A body slipped down from the opening, falling to the ground before Gabriel.
Gabriel knelt, holding a firm grip on the box beside her. She turned the figure over and gasped, the man had a huge gash in his head. Gabriel let him go, knowing he was dead, and mentally prepared herself to go find Xena. She couldn't leave her out there. They could just as easily ride out the storm together in the hull.
She climbed the ladder to get to the deck, slipping as she fanatically navigated the wet boards. Rain beat down at her from all sides, making it impossible to see. The wind ripped at her, trying to drag her to the depths of the sea.
"Xena!!" Gabriel screamed, the wind whisking away her loud pleas. Her short hair whipped her face; she didn't know where on the ship she was. She slowly edged forward, grabbing on to anything solid as she made her way across. Her feet hit something, and she realized it was the steps to the wheel and rudder. She strained against the pitching ship and the tearing wind, each step a small victory. She made it to the top, sliding to the wheel. No one was there.
She grabbed to the wheel, trying at least to keep the ship in place. It struggled against her. She screamed in desperation as another giant wave crashed into the ship. Gabriel heard the ship creak. To her utter horror, she felt as the shipped ripped, and a loud snap reached her ears. Debris flew past her and she tried to duck. Too late, something very hard hit her in her temple. Gabriel fell, stunned, as the ship raged around her.
"Xena..." she mumbled.
The Island
Gabriel coughed as water entered her lungs. She raised her head, blearily opening her eyes. She saw sand, lots of sand. She coughed again as water rushed in her open mouth and nose. She gagged, eyes watering as she sat up. She immediately felt the headache, and she grazed her head. Her hand came away covered in blood. Gabriel looked around, seeing the beach she was lying on and trees in the distance. Her hand dropped back into the water, gazing out into the sea. Xena...
What had happened? One minute they had beautiful weather and then a terrifying storm. Xena could be dead...
She stopped the thought immediatley. Xena was a warrior, and she never would let a little storm defeat her. No, Gabriel would just keep herself alive until she could figure where she was and find Xena again. They had been separated in the past. She would be fine.
Another ripple of water rushed over her legs. Gabriel slowly got up, taking her time in case her headache got the better of her. She looked around, deciding to head towards the tree to see if there was any sort of civilization around. That’s where Xena would look for her first.
She made her way towards the trees, noticing it didn't take her as long as usual to get there. She passed a tree, more of a sapling really; it wasn't any taller than her calf. She made her way deeper into the forest. But stopped in the middle of it. Even the tallest tree was only a little over her height! And the trees were really odd. They weren’t very thick, but they all looked like they had reached their maximum height.
Gabriel turned as she heard a sound behind her.
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