living or dead are purely coincidental!
Rated: NC17
Violence: None
Sexual Violence: None
Subtext: Yes
Historical Information:
* Asoka = Prince Asoka was crowned King of Indus in 272 B.C. After a bloody battle in the territory of Kalinga where
thousands of warriors, men and women alike, were killed, and thousands more died because of the war, Asoka had an
epiphany and turned away from violence and embraced the Buddhist philosophy. King Asoka became known as The
Buddhist Emperor of Indus. He reigned as King for 37 years and during his reign, he built irrigation canals, roads, rest homes,
hospitals and public gardens which specialized in medicinal herbs. Additionally, during Asoka's reign, the Indus civilization
experienced an economic prosperity due to the peace and reformations within Indus. Owing to his past reputation in battle
and victories over enemy warriors, the neighboring kings never waged war against Asoka or his people. The land of Indus,
under King Asoka, experienced a renaissance of art, music, philosophy, and the sciences years before the European
renaissance of the 14th century.
* Buddhism = The philosophy of Buddhism originated in 563 B.C., from the it's original founder, Prince Siddhartha Guatama,
who later became known as Buddha. Although from India, Buddha's philosophies, which later became known as Buddhism,
never found a strong following within India during its initial conception, as it did in the nearby Asian countries.
* Calicut = Not to be confused with modern day Calcutta, which is located on the East coast of modern day India, Calicut is
located on the Western coast of Indus (Ancient India). Calicut was once the major port for merchant ships traveling between
Greece and Chin.
* Indus = Archeologist and scholars have determined that India was known as Indus from c2550 B.C.E. to 1550 B.C.E.
* Sarasvati = the Holiday of Sarasvati Puja is celebrated on February 17, and is a Hindu festival honoring the Goddess
Sarasvati. Sarasvati is the Goddess of wisdom, intellect, knowledge as well as inspiration for arts and music.
Chapter 5
As the afternoon sun beat down against the sails, Zara felt the sweat pouring down her back. Being short-handed meant that
everyone who was able and knew how to work on a ship, had to join in to get everything done. Not since she first joined a
ship had she worked so hard. Standing at the top of the main mast, the captain easily tied off the rope to the sail. The captain
took a moment to glance around her. In the distance, she saw the main sail of their Arabian friends. Like her, they were
making do with a skeleton crew. As the waves crashed against the ship, she held tightly to the mast and gazed out at the
ocean waves. She felt the cool breeze blowing past, fanning her hair out behind her and felt a happy peace steal over her.
“You’ve always felt more comfortable at sea?” the voice of the ghost suddenly sounded near her as a cold shiver crossed the
captain’s spine. Since their return to the sea, Zara had become accustomed to the cold sensations as Xena spoke openly to
her. Like an inner voice, the Greek warrior never seemed very far away. As of late, the captain felt almost as if the ghost had
wanted to tell her something, yet each time they had a moment alone, the voice never revealed anything out of the ordinary.
Xena tried to find a way to explain the bond they now shared. Each time she almost revealed the news, she drew away, not
sure of how the captain would take the information. “I know that Zara is grateful for my help, but how would she feel if she
knew that I am able to feel all of her intense emotions and desires at the same time that she does,” Xena silently wondered. “I
feel her pain when she’s hurt and I feel her sadness when she’s unhappy. I felt her pleasure when she…” The warrior gulped,
“…made love to Gabrielle after I sent her to Zara. I definitely didn’t expect those feelings to come to me.” The warrior was
awed. “Gods, it was so intense… so… wonderful, even though it wasn’t really me doing it, I felt like Gabrielle and I were
together again, almost like in life.” Then she thought uncomfortably, “of course, when Zara went with that dancer who looked
like her dead soulmate, I felt it all too.” As she hovered in the air near the captain, she tried to find a way to explain her
discovery. But as she glanced down at the deck below, she decided against it, as she had with all the other opportunities, that
this was not quite the right time to tell the captain that she now experienced every intense emotion that the Moroccan held.
“Yes, it is… peaceful,” the captain’s voice pulled the warrior princess from her silent musings. As the ocean waves crashed
against the Moroccan ship, her grip tightened as the tall woman held the main mast.
“Those with difficult pasts….” Xena said somewhere near her.
“…will often chose difficult tasks,” the seafarer smiled as she finished the statement that she had first heard in their shared
dream. As she thought over the dream, the captain stood in silence. Just when she thought that the ghost had left, she felt an
icy coldness on her shoulder.
“Just don’t hurt yourself, an awful lot of people depend on you,” the ghost warrior said right before her coldness went away.
Glancing down at the deck, Zara saw Nadrah smiling up at her. As the child caught her eye, she waved happily, hopping up
and down with excitement. The captain emitted a tender chuckle at Nadrah’s antics. With a wave back, the tall woman
pulled her attention away from the sea. Deciding that she had rested enough, the captain began her quick descent down the
ratlines to the deck.
It had been nearly two weeks at sea and she was beginning to get used to the rigorous work out. As she jumped down from
the railing to the wooden deck, she glanced upward, admiring her handiwork. When she turned, she felt a slight knot in her
back and then twisted, trying to stretch the muscle out.
“Still have not lost your touch!” Abu stood behind her, his eyes glancing up at the main sail. Sweating, the bigger man smiled
as he panted lightly. Like Zara, Abu was doing additional duties other than his own.
“Thank you, I think I might actually have a career to fall back on should I not want to be a captain,” the tall woman
acknowledged with a grin. Then she grimaced as the pain returned to her back. “But, my friend, I think I am getting too old
for this,” she shook her head, lightly massaging the knot in her back as a hearty laugh escaped her friend.
“As Allah knows, we are both too old for this,” the burly man chuckled wryly as he twisted his head from side to side to
work a crick out of his neck. Then with a smile, he turned and made his way to the starboard side to help the crew pull up
the day’s fishnets. With a shake of her head Zara moved across the deck to continue her part of the days chores.
The dusky captain noticed Gabrielle moving across the deck. With her satchel in hand, the healer went through the day
checking on still injured patients, changing bandages and cleaning wounds. She was also helping Ayyub with daily meals and
spending time teaching Nadrah to scribe in Greek. Lately, the only time Zara had to spend with the Greek woman was late at
night, right before bed when the Moroccan was soaking in the warm tub of water. Because the captain woke before dawn,
they seldom shared the morning together. If this situation had put a strain on their relationship, it did not show. The warmth
and affection from the healer was always present when they lay snuggled together in sleep.
When the captain saw the Arab man at the helm yawn, she bounded up the steps to relieve him. Like her own crew, although
the new Arabian crewmembers did their best to adjust, the long hours were beginning to take their toll on everyone.
Knowing that this man had been pulling almost eighteen candlemarks at the helm, she relieved him of duty and began to steer
her ship through the choppy waves.
As she watched Gabrielle disappearing into the lower decks on her rounds of the wounded, Zara smiled as she held the
steering steady. Although they managed to work through their misunderstanding over the dancing girl, the Moroccan was not
certain if the Amazon was still interested in her. Within a part of her mind, she thought she could sense the blonde’s needs
and almost believed that Gabrielle would welcome another encounter. But before the captain could grasp a hold of this idea,
her insecurities would convince her that it was her imagination.
“How could a woman like her, a healer-bard, a fierce warrior and Amazon Queen even desire someone like me?” The
Moroccan thought as her brows creased into a frown. “What would a wild and beautiful Amazon Queen want with the likes
of you?” Zara thought sadly.
With a shake of her head, the captain pulled her attention back to the task at hand. Knowing that such line of thinking only
lead to melancholy, she pulled her dark thoughts to her duties. Sighing deeply as she stood at the helm, she pulled a tight
control around all of her sad emotions.
~~~~~~
Gabrielle had just finished releasing another crewman to light duties. Pleased at the slow but steady recovery of her patients,
she monitored their daily actions to ascertain whether they were working too hard. Although she knew that their skills were
needed, the healer kept a close eye on wounded and unwounded alike, to be certain that their recent injuries were not made
worse by their work.
