DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Xena stuff is the legal property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. Okay, this looks a lot like the Xena - Warrior Princess episode Sins of the Past, though the idea for the story didn't come directly from that episode.

Sins
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Callisto watched as her new army plundered the village. She grinned and caressed the chakram at her side. It used to belong to Xena, but Callisto had taken it as a souvenir and as a good weapon after she had killed the Warrior Princess. The army that had once burned down her village was now hers.

The grin slowly faded. Xena was dead and commanding her army meant nothing to Callisto. The men were butchers. She thought about killing them like she had killed Xena, but she quickly realized that it would bring her no satisfaction, just like killing Xena didn't. She felt one big hole within herself, she felt empty and alone. She turned her mare around and rode away, not caring what happened to the village or her army.

She rode aimlessly for a while and then stopped just outside a small village. She didn't feel like being among people. She made herself a camp and prepared what food she had left. After she had eaten the food, she leaned back on a rock and tried to empty her mind and enjoy the peace.

Everything was quiet for a while, but then she heard noises. She snorted, annoyed, and listened. It sounded like someone was attacking the village. She didn't care. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

The screaming soon ended, but the noise came closer. Slavers, Callisto realized. She despised slavers, but she didn't care enough about the villagers to help them. She sighed as she realized that they would be passing by her camp and would surely notice her. She didn't really feel like fighting.

"Look, we found another one!" one of the slavers called.

Callisto gave him an annoyed look and then closed her eyes again.

"She has a horse!"

"Well, get her to the others!" the leader called.

"With pleasure."

The slaver approached her. Callisto opened her eyes and looked at him coldly. She considered talking to him, but then she realized that he was probably too stupid to listen to her and leave her alone. She waited until he got closer. Then she took her knife and gutted him. She got up and looked at the astonished slavers.

"Anyone else?" she asked innocently, blinking her eyes at them.

The slavers just stared at her for a few moments.

"Get her!" their leader finally ordered.

Callisto grinned and grabbed her sword. The slavers were no professional soldiers, merely thugs, and Callisto made short work of them. When the leader saw that his men were dropping like flies, he had enough brain to decide to get the Tartarus out of there. Unfortunately for him, Callisto was too pissed to let him escape. She threw her dagger after her, hitting him straight in the head. She slowly walked to him and pulled her dagger out of his head. She cleaned it and the sword and put them away. Then she went to her horse.

"Hey, what about us!"

Callisto turned and gave the strawberry blond young woman who called a cold look.

"The key," the woman said and pointed at the leader.

Callisto glanced at the leader and then stared at the woman for a few moments.

"Get it yourself," she said, mounted her horse and rode away.

The freed slaves stared after her until she was gone. Then they moved to the leader and freed themselves. The strawberry blonde then ran to the road and stared at after the blond warrior.

"Gabrielle!" The woman turned. "Are you okay?" the young woman who came after her asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, you just ran away."

"Oh. I was just curious."

"About what?"

"That warrior."

The younger woman looked into the distance.

"Who is she?" she asked. "Xena?"

Gabrielle shook her head.

"No, Xena is dead. And she had black hair. I think she's Callisto."

"Oh. Come on, let's go home. Mom and Dad are worried sick."

Gabrielle nodded and followed her sister.

Callisto was staring into the fire, finding the dancing of the flames soothing. She had already eaten her dinner, but she didn't feel like sleeping. Suddenly she heard that someone was approaching her camp. She didn't feel like having a company. She waited a while longer and then her hand shot out, throwing the dagger at the intruder.

"Au!"

Callisto was surprised by the fact that she had apparently missed. She got up and stepped into the bushes. She quickly noticed the intruder, it was the strawberry blonde who had asked her for the key. She was on the ground, trying to disentangle herself from the branches. Callisto stared at her, thinking that the woman was extremely lucky. She considered killing her, but the blood lust was gone. She walked past the woman and fetched her dagger.

"Hey, can you help me here?" Gabrielle asked when Callisto passed her again.

Callisto gave her a cold look. Then she knelt beside her and grabbed her hair.

"Listen, little one, if you hadn't tripped, you'd be dead right now. I suggest that you get out of my sight before I change my mind and kill you. Got that?"

Gabrielle stared at her, scared, and slowly nodded. Callisto let go of her hair and returned to the fire. Gabrielle stared at her for a few minutes and then continued to free herself. When she was done, she sat and considered what to do. It was dark and her village was far away. She decided to take a chance.

She slowly approached the fire. She saw Callisto sitting, staring at the flames. She gulped and continued her approach.

"Ah, excuse me," she said.

Callisto slowly turned her head, giving her a cold look.

"Can I stay here for the night? My village is far away."

Callisto stared at her for a few moments, considering whether she should kill her. She decided not to, because for some reason it felt good having a company. She looked back at the flames.

Gabrielle stared at her for a few moments, but when Callisto didn't say anything, she carefully approached the fire and sat down. She was cold and she got as close to the fire as possible without getting burned. She looked at Callisto, who was still staring at the flames.

"Ah, my name is Gabrielle," she introduced herself.

Callisto ignored her, she didn't feel like having a conversation.

"Are you Callisto?" Gabrielle asked.

Callisto looked at her with a murderous look.

"Yes," she said.

Gabrielle gulped.

"Is it true that you killed Xena?" she tried to make a conversation.

Callisto grinned.

"Yes. And if you don't shut up, I'll kill you too. Got that?"

Gabrielle gulped and nodded. Callisto returned to flame-staring. Gabrielle quietly observed her. She was a bit older than her and Gabrielle wondered how she became a warlord. She realized that although this woman scared the Tartarus out of her, there was something about her that made her feel for her. Gabrielle tried to figure out what it could be, but she wasn't successful.

Callisto finally turned in. Gabrielle followed her example and covered herself with a blanket. She was glad her sister reminded her that she should take one.

Gabrielle was awoken by a horrible scream in the morning and she sat up, shocked. She looked around, wondering what could be the source. She saw that Callisto was also up. She wanted to ask her who had screamed when she noticed Callisto's expression. She screamed, Gabrielle realized. She watched as Callisto buried her face in her hands.

Suddenly she noticed that her blanked would caught fire if she didn't move it. She did and Callisto heard the noise. Gabrielle froze when Callisto looked at her. She saw pain and rage in the brown eyes and suddenly she realized what it was that made her feel for her. She was like a child, hurt and angry. She jerked as Callisto got up and walked away. Gabrielle thought for a moment and then slowly followed her.

Callisto went to the small creek and dipped her head into it, trying to calm down. She was surprised that she didn't kill Gabrielle, the first person to ever witness her scream. Sure, her soldiers had heard it, but no one ever saw her. Gods, she missed her family. Suddenly she heard footsteps. She knew it was Gabrielle and it surprised her that she didn't feel the urge to kill her.

"Callisto," she heard Gabrielle say, but she chose to ignore her. "Are you okay?"

Callisto turned angrily.

"Do I look like I'm okay!"

Gabrielle gulped and took a step back.

"No," she said.

"Then don't ask stupid questions."

"Sorry." She paused. "Can I ask you a question?"

Callisto rolled her eyes, surprised that her patience didn't wear out yet.

"If you must."

Gabrielle gulped.

"Why did you save us?"

Callisto looked at her, surprised, and then laughed.

"That was just an unfortunate side effect. If those idiots had left me alone, I would have also left them alone."

"Why?"

Callisto stopped smiling and gave Gabrielle a cold look.

"Because I don't care. Now why don't you stop pestering me and go home, hm?"

Gabrielle gulped and stepped aside as Callisto headed back to the camp.

"Why did you become a warlord?" she asked.

Callisto turned and slapped her across the face so hard that Gabrielle found herself briefly flying through the air before she crashed to the ground with Callisto right on top of her, pressing the dagger at her throat and staring at her murderously.

"That is none of your business, got that?!"

Gabrielle gulped and nodded, terrified. Callisto let her go and returned to the camp. Gabrielle stared at her for a few moments, still shaken from the experience, and then got up. She staggered for a moment. Her whole head hurt from the hit, not just one side of her face. She wetted her sleeve and tried to cool down the spot where Callisto's hand connected. Then she returned to the camp.

Callisto had already packed her bedroll. When she noticed Gabrielle, she gave her a cold look.

"I'm sorry," Gabrielle said.

Callisto was surprised. This was the first time anyone had apologized to her. She looked into Gabrielle's eyes and saw that she really meant it. It felt strange. Good, she realized.

"I know it's none of my business, I just thought that maybe if you talked about it, it would make you feel better and maybe ease your pain."

Callisto stared at the strange young woman, confused. She saw that she was being earnest, she just didn't understand why. She wanted to help her, knowing full well that it could cost her her life. Callisto was surprised herself that she hadn't killed Gabrielle yet and she wondered why. She wanted to understand her.

"Why?" she asked.

Gabrielle was surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you want to help me?"

Gabrielle was confused.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about that." She paused. "I guess I just felt that you needed help and I wanted to help you."

Callisto wanted to scream at her that she didn't need help when she suddenly realized that she actually did. It surprised her, because she had no idea why. She decided to find out, she was sick of having no purpose in life anymore and she needed one. She decided to give Gabrielle a try. She wasn't ready to tell her about herself yet, but maybe in time, when she got to know her better, she would. She grinned. If she survives until then.

"You want to travel with me?" she asked.

Gabrielle was surprised.

"Yes," she said. "May I?"

"Yes."

"Great!"

Callisto rose her eyebrows.

"So, I assume you can't fight or hunt, right?"

"Yes."

"Thought so."

"What can you do?"

"Sew, cook, tell stories."

"Well, we'll see. I'm going hunting."

Callisto left and Gabrielle stared at her, still confused, but glad that she was still alive and allowed to travel with Callisto. She wondered why Callisto had let her travel with her, but she decided not to push her luck anymore, Callisto might change her mind in a second and kill her. She decided to be patient, truth will come out eventually. If I'm still alive. Gabrielle shook at the thought. She decided to prepare everything for the cooking, but she quickly discovered that Callisto had no pots whatsoever. She shook her head, Callisto definitely needed someone to take care of her.

The End