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The Switch	By : GingerQ Category: S through Z > Xena Views: 2075 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Xena, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-The Switch
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 1
- 2
- 3
THE SWITCH 2

PART TWO

Iolaus, Tori, and some of the other men headed out to look for Parsons, Cal, Snake, and Sly. They moved slowly and silently, as not to attract the attentions of Ares' army. A few men were whispering amongst each other about the attack, sparking Tori's curiosity.

"What does Ares want with your village? Is there gold nearby? Cattle, maybe?"

They all shook their heads. No one had an answer.

"Perhaps your soil is rich and right for growing . . ."

Iolaus cut her off. "Ares is not interested in growing any crops, nor does he want cattle or gold."

"Well, since you seem to know so much about him, Iolaus, why don't you fill us all in?" she probed, wanting to learn as much as possible about the god, since this was the one she had to kill in order to get home.

Things are much different here than on the other side, she thought to herself. Practically opposite.

A vision of Victoria passed through her mind. She thought about how pretty and feminine her twin was, especially in her wedding attire. Not at all like Tori, who had never owned a dress in her life. Back home, her three best friends raised her from a child.
They were a team, a family, and she was like one of the guys. She learned all her thieving skills from them, learned to fight like the boys, her skill eventually surpassing all of them, and she even dressed like them, too. The only thing Tori thought feminine about herself was that she had two large mounds of flesh on her chest. Most of the time they just got in the way, however, they could be quite useful as a weapon of "distraction." Men couldn't help but notice them.

"Well, I don't know what he wants!" Iolaus said defensively. "But I do know he's not the kind of god who is interested in land or cattle or gold." He thought intensively for a moment and then continued. "You people haven't
found have any green crystals in or around your village, have you?"

One man answered, "Iolaus, we're a poor but humble folk and our community is small. If anyone found something as precious as crystal, we would all know about it. There are no crystals around here."

"Well, that's a relief," Iolaus mumbled to himself. "At least he's not after another piece of the Cronos stone."

Tori's attention was drawn away from the conversation when she heard a group of soldiers somewhere close by.

"Sshhh! There's someone up ahead," she whispered.

Everyone quickly ducked out of sight and kept quiet until the danger passed. Upon re-emerging, Iolaus remarked that they were heading in the direction where the rest of the village had taken refuge. He wanted to go back and make sure the others were still safe. A few of the men in the group went with him. Tori and the others continued on to look for Cal and the rest of the missing villagers.
~*~*~*~*~

The small ch pch party reached the outskirts of the village and the first body they came upon was one without a head attached. One of the men recognized scars on his hands that could only be those of a blacksmith. His bloody �dress� cloths only confirmed
their worst fears. This had to be Parsons, Victoria's new husband.

One of the men found something to cover the body and they continued further into the village. The village was small, maybe a quarter mile in length from one end to the other. There was a square in the center that had posts to tie one's horse. Everything was dark and extremely
quiet.

Obvious evidence of the soldiers� invasion was everywhere -- broken in doors, upturned shelves and tables; all of the stores along the main walk were in disarray. But, thankfully, no solders!

Tori thought back to what Iolaus had said about the god not being interested in gold or land and came to the conclusion that he was probably right. If land or riches were what the god wanted, then surely someone would have been left behind to keep watch over their new acquisition. No, these solders were after something else - or someone else.

A few moments later she heard the unnerving sound of someone vomiting. She walked over to where the others had gathered, each one looking quite disturbed.

"What is it?" she asked. "What did you find?"

"Not what - who," one answered. "We've found the rest - or, what's left of them."

As Tori got closer, her breath caught in her throat and she suddenly started feeling lightheaded. There, lying in a puddle of blood was the head of Parsons, and the dead remains of Sly, Snake and Cal. Tears welted up in her eyes as she fought the urge to cleave to the dead men, reminding herself that they were not her friends. Her friends were safely locked away in Cupid's temple back home. Still, the sight was almost more than she could take.

After pushing past the initial shock of it, her rage started to emerge. The others were looking around for things to cover up the dead and not doing a very good job of it. They were still in a daze and not thinking very clearly.

Tori took charge, keeping tight reign on her hidden emotions. "Leave them," she snapped. "You can't do anything for them now. We should get back to the others before the same thing happens to them."

"Who are you to tell us how to care for our . . ." one man started to retort.

Tori rushed up to the man and grabbed him by the gruff of the neck. "Listen, I don't know any of you. But I do know about war. Do you see any solders here?" She loosened her grip around the man's collar and continued, not giving him a
chance to respond. "No, you don't! That shouell ell you that they are after something or someone else. Don't you think you'd be more help to the people who are still alive?" she said, almost yelling at the grieving man.

"She's right, Damien. The others could be in trouble. We can deal with this later, when we can give them a proper burial."

They hurried out of the village and back the way they came, convinced that the others could use their help, now more than ever.

~*~*~*~*~

Iolaus was fighting three of the soldiers, trying to keep them from getting to Victoria, when Tori and the others arrived. Luckily, Iolaus wasn't the only one who stayed behind that knew how to fight. Most of the earlier drunken young men had now sobered up and battled Ares' men with a vengeance. The solders had boldly announced that were after the women - the virgins, in particular.
They weren�t going to get them, though -- not without a fight.

Until Tori and the others showed up, the fight had been pretty even. Now with the addition of the rest of the village men and Tori, with her expert fighting skills, Ares' men soon retreated in shame, vowing that it wasn't over yet.

After the commotion settled, the women tended to the wounded. A group of men that the villagers considered the elders or leaders
formed a circle around a small fire to discuss how to handle this situation with Ares' army. Iolaus pulled Tori off to the side to ask about Parsons and the others.

"I take it you didn�t have any luck finding the boys," he assumed, since they had returned without them.

"Huh? Didn't someone tell you?" She let out a big sigh. "Well, I guess you were a little busy when we got back," she half-joked, trying to lighten the mood some. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, but . . ." She never got to finish her sentence, interrupted by a horrific scream.

They both whirled around to see Damien holding Victoria by her shoulders. Her face was buried in her hands and now she was crying.

"No! It's not true! It can't be. Not my Parsons. Not the boys. No. NO!" She collapsed.

Iolaus rushed over to Victoria and tried to revive her. Someone brought him some water and torn shirt and he placed the cool,
wet cloth on her forehead. After a moment, she came to, and had clung on to Iolaus, burying her head in his arms, sobbing. He gently stroked her hair and slightly rocked her, doing his best to comfort her.

Tori stood watching and tears started to form in her eyes, as well. It was almost like she could feel Victoria's pain, understand her
feelings -- despair, shock, sorrow, loss. These feelings were all too familiar to the young fighter.

She watched as old man Barbbaras pushed his way through the crowd to his daughter and took Iolaus' place consoling Victoria. At least she didn't feel abandonment. She still had her father, unlike Tori, whose father walked out on her a year after her mother
had died.

She was only seven at the time. He had said he couldn't handle "raising a child." He didn't want any children to begin with, but Tori had "accidentally" happened anyway. But with her mother gone, the man just didn't have a reason to stay any longer and left town with everything he owned, except Tori. Thank goodness for Cal and his two friends. They took
Tori under their wing and taught her how to survive. Well, they taught her how to steal and fight, anyway.

Cal had spotted her first, sleeping under a wagon outside of the town square. She was thin and weak, due to not having anything to eat. She had been too young to work for a meal and didn't have any experience, anyway. She would have died sooner or
later. But Cal had a brainstorm going and saw Tori as an opportunity to advance his "business," so to speak. So he and his two shadows, Snake and Sly, brought Tori into their little criminal gang and put her to good use. They would feed her, clothe her, and all she would have to do is cause a diversion when they told her. She agreed, grateful to have a full stomach
again.

But Tori was smart, and, as they would eventually find out, naturally skilled in fighting, and the three men soon grew attached to the young girl, eventually making her a permanent part of their group. Tori added a sweet sparkle to the otherwise dull group, constantly making them laugh at her attempts to be just like them, like one of the boys. She gave the men a reason to keep from getting caught by the authorities. Someone for them to take care of, to love. They were a family and Tori was at the center of it.

Tori felt a warm hand on her shoulder and was slowly drawn away from her deep thoughts.

"Are you all right? Tori? Tori?" It was Iolaus.

"Huh?" she said, her mind not fully back in reality.

"Are you okay? You looked sort of dazed. You wanna sit down?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I'm all right. I was just thinking about poor Victoria. What she must be going through right now."

"And you, too," he said.

Tori looked at him curiously. "Me? Why would I care? I don't even know these people."

Iolaus gave her a caring smile. "You don't have to play dumb with me, Tori. I know where you're from and . . ."

"What are you talking about, Iolaus?" she said as her natural defenses went up. "I'm just in the wrong place at the right time, lucky for all of you." She started to walk off away from the crowd. Iolaus followed her.

"Tori, Tori, wait, please," he called after her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Really, I'm thankful you
happened along when you did. Otherwise . . . well I don't even want to think what Ares' men would have done to us all."

She stopped, turned around, and looked at him. Smiling slightly, she said, "No, Iolaus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been a really long day and I'm very tired."

Iolaus smiled back and extended his hand. "Friends?"

She looked at his outstretched arm and took grasp of it, placing her other hand atop his. "Friends!" she agreed.

~*~*~*~*~

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The Switch