ACT TWO

FADE IN:

EXT. POTADEIA - VILLAGE - DAY

Gabrielle and Lila sit by the well.  Xena leans on a nearby wagon. Xena is visibly keeping an eye on everything.

LILA

Do you remember how we used to

fight over getting water?  I swear you

had more excuses not to come out

here than we had chickens on the farm.

Gabrielle smiles in memory.

GABRIELLE

That hasn’t changed. I still make

Xena get the water for camp.

Lila looks quickly at Xena, then she laughs a bit. Xena pretends not to hear.

LILA

Really? I figured you ended

up doing all that stuff.

Gabrielle is about to answer when an alarm is raised. A man rushes into the village square, bleeding and exhausted.

REFUGEE

Help me! Help me! My wagons were

attacked by bandits, down the road!

They’re burning, and my family’s in them!!

Sarah and her husband appear from somewhere. Lila joins them. They all seem a bit nervous.

LILA

We’ll help you. We’ll go right out there.

Right? You’ll help them won’t you, Xena?

GABRIELLE

Of course we will.

LILA

Then let’s go right away.

Xena examines the refugee.

XENA

Nothing serious. The healer’s that way.

 Lila, you don’t have to go. Gabrielle

and I will take care of this.

LILA

(firmly)

Those people are friends of ours.

I’m going to help them. Come on,

Sarah. Let’s get bandages.

They leave.  Xena pulls Gabrielle to one side.

GABRIELLE

You think it’s the same

bandits who attacked us?

XENA

I don’t know, but something doesn’t

smell right, and I don’t think it’s

those sheep herds over there.

GABRIELLE

It could just be raiders.

Wouldn’t be the first time.

XENA

I know. I’ve just a got a

bad feeling about it.

Xena examines the courtyard, sees Lila and Sarah watching them.

GABRIELLE

You think someone’s after

you.  Is this a trap?

XENA

We’ll find out. C’mon.

CUT TO:

INT. WARLORD’S CAVE/HQ - DAY

The posse stands in a circle, around Janos’ table. He has a square board set up with markers.

JANOS

Xena is cautious. She won’t just

ride into our trap.  She always has

a backup plan. In this case....

Janos puts a few rocks where the road is.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

One of them will ride with the rescue

party, and one will circle around

to the rear, just in case.

Janos puts a stone in the forest, all by itself.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

This will be Xena’s friend here, because

Gabrielle’s family is there and they

have to be protected.  So we divide....

Janos plucks the rock all alone and puts it in his pocket.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

And conquer. When Xena rides to

her friend’s rescue, we’ll be waiting.

The men get up and mill around, obviously excited.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE POTADEIA - DAY

Xena and Gabrielle walk together.  It’s a beautiful day, birds are singing, etc, etc.  Xena watches everything with a concerned eye.

GABRIELLE

You think we’re just being paranoid?

XENA

Someone attacked us and took my

chakram. No sense in taking any chances.

GABRIELLE

All right. I’ll make my way up through

the woods and circle around.

I’ll signal you if I see anything.

XENA

If it is a trap, you could

spring it. Be careful.

GABRIELLE

YOU be careful. I wish Lila and

Sarah hadn’t insisted on going.

This could get dangerous.

Please watch out for them, Xena.

Xena looks enigmatic.

XENA

Remember to keep your eyes open.

If someone does attack you....

GABRIELLE

Xena, I know the drill.

(amused)

I’ve been Xenabait for years, remember?

Gabrielle separates from them and walks down the other path.

LILA

Where’s she going?

XENA

She’s taking a different route. She’ll

meet us on the other side of the forest.

LILA

Is that safe? How could you let

her go off alone like that?

Xena just keeps walking.

SARAH

I guess Gabrielle’s learned to

take care of herself pretty good.

LILA

She’d need to.

Xena’s eyes narrow.

CUT TO:

EXT. WOODS - INTERIOR - DAY

Gabrielle slips through the woods, searching for any signs of a trap.  She doesn’t find anything at first.

GABRIELLE

Maybe we have been out here too long.

Then she stops, her senses picking something up. Shadows start to move around her. Gabrielle puts her back against a tree and draws her sais. A boy steps out from behind the trees, the one who drew the short straw.

BOY

Wait!  We’re not here to hurt you.

Gabrielle sheathes her sais. The boys all gather around her then start pulling at her.

GABRIELLE

Hey! What are you doing?

BOY

We have to take you with us.

We have to stop you from helping Xena.

Gabrielle starts to struggle, shoving them away and punching and kicking. They are unarmed. She does not draw her weapons. There are a lot of them, though, and they start overpowering her.

GABRIELLE

Please!  Just leave me alone!

Don’t make me hurt you!

They don’t listen. Gabrielle starts to strike out in earnest.  Some of the boys start going down. One leaps at Gabrielle just as she does a spinning kick - she catches him in the throat and crushes his windpipe.  He falls to the ground gurgling blood. The boys freeze, then run away. Gabrielle is left with the choking kid alone.  We see it’s the kid who drew the short straw.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE POTADEIA - DAY

Xena senses something.  She looks around, but it’s quiet.

LILA

Something wrong?

XENA

Thought I heard something.

Lila and Sarah exchange looks.

SARAH

You’re really jumpy, Xena. Sure you

don’t want a drink or something?

Maybe the weather’s getting to you.

LILA

Heat does that, as you get older.

Xena smiles grimly.

XENA

You’d know, I’d guess.

SARAH

Look!

They see smoke rise over the horizon.

CUT TO:

EXT. WOODS - INTERIOR - DAY

Gabrielle drops to her knees beside the kid and pulls his shirt open. He’s gagging.  He can’t breathe through his crushed throat. He looks at her in terror.

GABRIELLE

Come on!  Come on, Gabrielle.

You’ve seen Xena fix this.

What did she... oh. I remember.

Gabrielle pulls a quill from her bag and breaks the tip off, looking through it to make sure it is hollow. She draws her knife, and the boy desperately tries to crawl away from her. Gabrielle has to straddle him to keep him still. She cuts a hole in his throat below the injury and sticks the quill into it as the boy tries to throw her off.

GABRIELLE

(Cont’d)

No! Hold still! I’m just trying to help you!!!!

Suddenly, the boy realizes he can breathe through the tube. He stops flopping around like a fish and calms down.  Gabrielle smiles at him.

GABRIELLE

(Cont’d)

That’s it. Just take it easy.

You’re going to be okay.

The boy watches her face, then gurgles something. Gabrielle leans closer to him to listen.

GABRIELLE

(Cont’d)

What? Don’t try to talk, okay?

He motions Gab closer. She complies. The boy reaches up suddenly and squirts something into Gab’s eyes.  Gabrielle grabs at her face and lets out a yell.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE POTADEIA - DAY

Xena hears the faint yell, and stiffens.

LILA

Did you hear something?

I thought I heard something.

XENA

No.  I didn’t.

SARAH

I thought I did too. Are you sure?

It sounded like a yell for help.

Maybe you should check it out.

Xena is wondering that very same thing.

XENA

Let’s keep moving.

Sarah and Lila stare at Xena in puzzlement.

CUT TO:

EXT. WOODS - INTERIOR - DAY

Gab wipes at her face, but it’s no good. She’s blind. She draws her sais and the boy on the ground whimpers in fear, sure she’s going to kill him.  Instead, Gabrielle scrambles to her feet and stumbles in a circle, hitting a tree by sheer luck. She throws herself against the tree with her back to it, and holds her sais out in desperate defense.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE