ACT TWO

FADE IN:

EXT. DESERT OASIS - DAY - PRESENT X&G TIME

It is early morning, and Xena and Gabrielle are packing up camp.  Gabrielle tosses sand on the remains of their breakfast fire, while Xena is off to the side under a palm tree, using her coconut trick to win over a beautiful white and gray dappled horse.  While feeding the white horse, she's sitting atop a chocolate brown horse with a white star on its forehead.  The brown horse is placidly munching on yet more coconut.

Gabrielle looks over at them and shakes her head, a little smile tugging at her lips.  She shoves some cooking utensils into her pack and walks over to them, stopping a few yards short.

GABRIELLE

We riding the rest of the way?

XENA

Sure beats walking.

GABRIELLE

You're certain this one is going to

be gentle enough for me to ride?

XENA

This white one's a gelding, so I think

he's been domesticated at some point.

He'll be a lot more gentle than a stallion

would be, and no worries about

the moodiness of a mare in season.

GABRIELLE

How on earth did you figure out

he's a gelding and not a stallion?

Xena just looks at her pointedly.

GABRIELLE

(cont’d)

Never mind.

XENA

Both of these are a little older.  Old

enough they won't be feeling their

oats so much, but not so old the

travel would make 'em keel over.

GABRIELLE

How do you know

how old they are?

Xena slides down from the brown horse.

XENA

I checked their teeth.

Gabrielle appears to think about this, and unconsciously opens her own mouth a little bit, and runs her tongue over her teeth as she contemplates it.  Xena chuckles and leans over, planting a firm kiss on her lips.

XENA

(cont’d)

Doesn't work the same on people.

Here, you want a boost?

Gabrielle eyes the gelding warily.

GABRIELLE

What do I do if

he starts bucking?

XENA

You'll be hanging onto fistfuls of mane

anyway.  Hang on tight, or get him past

the grass and fall off.  Sand's deep

and soft.  You'll be fine.  You've won

over a few horses, if I recall.

GABRIELLE

True.  Okay.  Boost me up.

Xena grabs her by the hips and lifts her up.  She lands solidly on the horse's back.  He looks back and flattens his ears, then takes off running.  He kicks up his heels a little, but doesn't buck or rear full-out.

GABRIELLE

(cont’d)

Whoa!  Easy there, boy.

She leans over and hangs on, and talks quietly to the horse whose ears prick up and turn backward so he can hear her talk.  He nickers and slows down some, and finally begins to walk.  Gabrielle continues to whisper to him and the horse stretches out his neck, walking proudly as Gabrielle guides him back to the tree.

XENA

Well done.  What in Hades

did you say to him to get

him to settle down so quickly?

Gabrielle smirks at her.

GABRIELLE

Told him if he didn't calm

down, you were going to

ride him instead of me.

Xena curls up her lip, but her eyes are twinkling.

XENA

Hardee-har-har.  Fine.

Let's get moving, horse-

whisperer.  Daylight's burning.

Gabrielle looks up at the already-blazing sun.

GABRIELLE

Good thing we have these

clothes, or that's not all

that would be burning.

Xena also looks up.

XENA

That reminds me.  I checked the stars

last night, and we need adjust our

direction.  We were walking too far east.

We need to head more to the north.

GABRIELLE

Fine by me.  It got a little tiring facing

the sun all morning yesterday.

Xena hands Gabrielle her bag and shoulders her own, then re-mounts the brown horse.

XENA

Yeah, last time I was here, I was heading

mostly east, just trying to reach civilization,

but honestly, I wasn't quite sure where I

was when they put me off the ship.  The

mornings then were pretty brutal too.

GABRIELLE

Where did you end up?

XENA

I finally ran into the Euphrates River, and

followed it all the way to the Persian Gulf.

Then I traveled the western coastline for

a while, until I reached a village.  But

eventually I ended up in Gaza.

GABRIELLE

Gaza?  Xena, that's in the opposite

direction.  That's a very long way

from the Persian Gulf, isn't it?

Xena stares off into the distance.

XENA

A thousand miles.

GABRIELLE

A... a thousand miles?

A thousand miles!?

How did you get there?

XENA

I rode Argo.

Gabrielle stares at her incredulously.

GABRIELLE

You rode Argo a thousand miles

across the desert?  That must

have been a very long hot ride.

Xena looks over at her for a long moment, her features somewhat stoic.

XENA

Hot.  Oh, yeah.  But it

only took  five days.

GABRIELLE

Five days?  That's…

Xena, that's impossible.

XENA

No it's not.  There

was this race, see....

CUT TO:

EXT. PORT TOWN ON THE PERSIAN GULF - DAY - 36 SUMMERS AGO

It is a bustling little town with a very busy harbor, ships of all sizes coming and going.  Slaves carry heavy bundles of cargo on their backs, and the streets bear steady traffic of man, woman and beast.  Xena is riding Argo, staying to one side of the street close to the buildings.  Her eyes dart everywhere as she takes in the crowd and activity around her.  They are barely moving, the street is so packed.

Without warning, she reaches down and grabs hold of a wrist, its hand halfway into her belt pouch.  She looks down into the face of a very surprised thief, his dark eyes bulging as she squeezes his arm tightly.

XENA

(growling)

See anything you like here?

He shakes his head furiously as she twists his arm slightly.

THIEF

Augggghhhhh.

Xena continues to squeeze until his fist opens, and a large gold coin pops out.  Xena catches it handily and tucks it back into her pouch, and laces it closed again.

XENA

Didn't think so.

She loosens her grip slightly and leans over, getting in his face.

XENA

(cont’d)

I catch your fingers anywhere

near me again and I'll

cut 'em off.  Got me?

The thief backs away and rubs his wrist as she releases him.  He admires Argo and smiles broadly, gesturing.

THIEF

Ocean of fire, no?

Xena looks at him and then down at Argo, and then back.

XENA

No.  Last time I checked,

she was a horse.

She shakes her head and moves on.

XENA

(cont’d)

Takes all kinds, my

mother used to say.

She smiles sadly and urges Argo to walk a little faster, guiding her down a less crowded side street.  She spots a tavern and pulls over, then jumps down to the ground and ties Argo to a hitching post near the door.  As she walks through the entrance, she sees a man approaching Argo from behind.  Xena lets loose a whistle, and Argo kicks backward, knocking the man across the street and into a water trough.

XENA

(cont’d)

Good girl.

Argo looks at her and snorts.

XENA

(cont’d)

Keep watch, will ya?  I'll only

be in here long enough to

grab a bite and a drink.

Argo whinnies and snorts again.

CUT TO:

INT. TAVERN - DAY - 36 SUMMERS AGO

Xena ducks inside and bellies up to the bar.  The tavern keeper spies her and makes his way down to her, swiping the bar surface with a rag as he goes along.

TAVERN KEEPER

What'll you have?

XENA

A strong drink and a plate

of whatever is cooking

over there on the fire.

TAVERN KEEPER

Lunch special, coming up.

He turns and fills a plate and a mug, then plunks both down in front of her.  Xena studies the unidentifiable mixture of grain, vegetables and bits of meat, and then sniffs the drink and blinks as the strong alcohol scent assaults her nose.

XENA

What's that?

TAVERN KEEPER

Liquor of date palm.  It'll

grow hair on your chest.

As he says this, Xena is in mid-sip, and she spews the liquor back into the mug.  She looks down at her chest and back up at the man, who reddens as he realizes what he said.  Xena grins wickedly, and then slugs down the drink in one gulp. She plucks a bit of the meat from the grain mixture and waves it in front of his face.

XENA

What's this?

TAVERN KEEPER

Goat.

XENA

Goat?  You're sure?

Not camel? Or dog?

Or horse?

TAVERN KEEPER

Goat.

Xena's eyes narrow and she sniffs the small bite, before popping it in her mouth and tasting it carefully.

XENA

Goat.  Not bad.

The tavern keeper smiles and nods graciously at the compliment.  He leans over, and rests one arm against the bar top.

TAVERN KEEPER

Nice horse out there.

She's yours, right?

Xena glances behind her, where she can see Argo through the open doorway.

XENA

Yeah.

TAVERN KEEPER

How much?

Argo apparently hears him, and whinnies in protest.

XENA

Heh.  Like owner, like

horse.  Not for sale.

TAVERN KEEPER

Look at those legs.

Bet she can run for days.

Not pure Arabian, is she?

XENA

Caught her in the desert.

I have no idea her parentage.

TAVERN KEEPER

She's too big to be pure

bred.  That's too bad.

XENA

Why?

TAVERN KEEPER

She won't qualify for

the Ocean of Fire.

Xena stops in mid-chew, and swallows.

XENA

Excuse me?

CUT TO:

EXT. DESERT HILLS - DAY - PRESENT X&G TIME

Xena and Gabrielle are riding side by side on the horses.  It is sunny and relatively calm, a welcome respite from the sand-filled wind of the day before.

GABRIELLE

Ocean of fire.

What does that mean?

XENA

That was the race.

The Ocean of Fire.

GABRIELLE

What an odd thing to call it.

XENA

Not really.  That was the thousand miles,

Gabrielle.  It was a race across the

Arabian Desert from the city of Hajar

near the Persian Gulf to Gaza on the

Mediterranean Sea.  Some of the

most scorching and barren territory I

ever hope to see.  The desert, it was....

GABRIELLE

An ocean of fire.

Gabrielle looks across the sand, where she can see the heat rising in shimmering waves.

GABRIELLE

(cont’d)

That must have been pure

torture for poor Argo.  That's

not like you.  Xena, why?

XENA

The purse.

GABRIELLE

But Argo....  Didn't you care

what that might do to her?

XENA

(sadly)

At the time, no.

GABRIELLE

She saved your life

from those bandits.

XENA

(sighing)

I didn't see it that way, not initially.

You forget the ego.  I was convinced I

could've fought my way out of that

canyon if Argo hadn't been there.

Things changed later, but

I'm getting ahead of myself.

GABRIELLE

Must've been a big purse.

XENA

Enough I could've lived comfortably

for the rest of my life.  And mother and

Toris too, if they would've let me....

Gabrielle steers her horse closer and reaches out and briefly touches Xena's arm.

GABRIELLE

So you wanted to win so

you could try to get back

in your family's good favor.

XENA

That was part of it, but not

exactly, no.  You have to

remember who… what… I was.

GABRIELLE

A reformed warlord?

XENA

A warlord who was trying to reform might

be more accurate.  Other than selling my

horse before hiring onto that boat, I hadn't

earned an honest dinar in years.  There

were bounties on my head all over Greece

and beyond.  I had no idea how to go on or...

how to live my life.  All I knew how to be was

a warrior, yet for a while after I met Hercules,

almost every time I drew my sword, I felt

guilty, unsure if it was the right thing to do.

GABRIELLE

Even to defend yourself?

XENA

I didn't feel I deserved defending.  But that

purse, if I had that kind of money, I could have

traveled somewhere far away and started over

and not worried about what I was going to live

on.  It was the easy way out.  You know me;

I almost never take the easy way.  But

I was just so tired… of everything.

Gabrielle reaches over and squeezes her leg.

GABRIELLE

But you couldn't enter the race

because Argo wasn't pure Arabian?

Xena smiles, a wicked little glint in her eyes.

XENA

It was a very elite race, for only the finest

Arabian horses, run by a pair of twin brothers.

One lived in Gaza, and the other in Hajar.

They were Arabian sheiks and wealthy princes

of the highest order.  I joined a caravan to

Hajar and hunted down the brother who

lived there, Galeel.  I learned as much

about him as I could from the caravan, and I

talked up Argo to anyone who would listen.

GABRIELLE

You conned your way

into the race, didn't you?

XENA

Let's just say by the time we reached

Hajar, I think that caravan expected

Argo to sprout wings and fly.

GABRIELLE

But how did you get past

Argo not being purebred?

XENA

I learned Galeel had a weakness.

He was a Tabula champion.

GABRIELLE

Tabula?

XENA

It's a strategic board game.  I've played

a fair share of Tabula.  You toss dice and

move pieces around a series of gridlines.

During the long nights on the caravan, I

watched Tabula games and played until I

was dreaming about those damned grids.

CUT TO:

INT. TAVERN - EVENING - 36 SUMMERS AGO

Xena makes her way through a crowded room.  Every table is full with predominantly male patrons, and the atmosphere is one of a carnival.  The Ocean of Fire is the topic of conversation at each table she passes.  Beautiful girls in harem costumes glide between the tables, serving food and drink.  To one side is a stage of belly dancers, swaying to the beat of hypnotic music.  It is an upscale place, with elaborate tapestries on the walls and plush carpeting on the floor.  The air is thick with cloying opium smoke, and Xena takes a hit off a pipe that is passed to her.

In a back corner, a throng of wealthy-looking men is gathered around a table.  Seated at the table are two more men, decked out in fine clothing.  They are both smoking and drinking and hovered over a game board.  Xena is dressed similarly to the harem girls, and she smoothes her hair back before approaching the table.  One of the seated men looks up and smiles approvingly.

MAN

Ah, just in time.  Girl, bring us

another round of drinks.

XENA

I'm not a servant.

She rests one hand on the table and leans over to give him a better view of her assets, and smiles fetchingly.

XENA

(cont’d)

You Prince Galeel?

The man continues to smile, checking her out as he talks.

MAN

Yes.  And w