ACT TWO

FADE IN

The man turns to look at the fox, and we see an old battle scar over his right eye. He regards the fox and the fox seems to regard him.

MAN:
     If you're here to tell your friend Ibu that he's being followed, my pet, I already know. I can smell the warrior and her steed on the wind.

Ibu inhales deeply again.

IBU:
     Mmmm.... This one is strong, isn't she?

The fox nuzzles Ibu's hand and he strokes the fox in return.

IBU:
     You say she's determined to see me dead, my pet? I like her more already.

The fox suddenly sits up straight and Ibu raises an eyebrow.

IBU:
     Hm, yes, that is an interesting piece of information indeed. Thank you, my pet. It'll only make the game more interesting. I have one more favor to ask of you, my pet.

CUT TO

Gabrielle and Eve are slowly taking the bodies and placing them in high stacks, ready for a funeral burial. The heat is intense this day and ever so often each of them has to stop and wipe the sweat that drips from their brows.

EVE:
     Gabrielle, it's things like these that make my job so hard for me.

GABRIELLE (stops what she is doing, glances at Eve):
     What do you mean?

EVE:
     I am the messenger of peace and it breaks my heart to see all the suffering and evil in this world. Will Eli's message ever be heard and...actually understood by people? When I was traveling in Indus, I would preach to everyone I came across. Some of them followed me for months, wanting to hear more and more about what Eli could be for them. But there was this one time... (she trails off for a moment, closes her eyes for a brief moment and then looks at Gabrielle) There was this one time that I had preached to a large group in a tavern near the town of Sythess. And I was nearly driven out by them. They threw food and cursed at me but I continued to preach despite their harsh words. And then a man came up to me carrying his dead daughter in his hands. He was crying like I had never seen anyone cry before. And he told me that he had been a follower of Eli's for a few months but when his daughter died, his faith died along with her. He asked me that if there was this all-powerful god, then why did he let his daughter just die. (a tear falls from Eve's eye) I couldn't answer him and he said that if Eli's god were for real, then his daughter would have never died. He hated me and the god I served because of what had happened. (Eve wipes her eye and looks at Gabrielle) Why can't people understand that Eli's love is pure and that although it may not seem like he is watching over us, he is; always?

Gabrielle's eyes look at the ground and she lets out a heavy sigh. She walks up to Eve.

GABRIELLE:
     I don't know. Xena and I have been fighting evil for...for as long as I care to remember. But I think that no matter how hard we try, there will always be evil and people who don't understand what you teach. It's just the way it is. I've come to accept that and I just try to go through day by day doing everything I can even though I know that I can't change the world.

Eve smiles slightly and nods her head, then continues back to the job at hand. Then, they hear a faint sound from afar, a soft crying of a child. Gabrielle and Eve look around curiously, trying to identify where the sound is coming from.

Behind a fallen beam near the edge of one of the destroyed houses, lies what appears to be a small child. Eve and Gabrielle rush over to it and find that it is a tiny baby wrapped up in a cloth, almost completely covered with black soot. The baby's forehead has a stream of blood running down it and there is a small red spot on its side.

A hand comes to Eve's mouth in shock as Gabrielle picks up the child gently. Gabrielle's eyes are glazed with tears but she tries to hold them back as much as possible.

EVE (voice breaks):
     I can't believe this thing would do this and to an infant, no less.

Gabrielle holds the baby against her body. Eve looks around and then, next to the beam where they had just picked up the baby, she sees a young woman lying on the ground. Eve goes over to her and kneels down. The woman is still alive, her breaths very ragged, a large wound in her chest.

EVE:
     Gabrielle, she's still alive.

Gabrielle looks back and kneels down next to the woman. Eve takes her hand and runs it over the woman's forehead. The woman barley opens her eyes.

WOMAN (stutters):
     M-My...baby. Where's my...ba-baby...?"

GABRIELLE (holds out her arms):
     Right here.

The woman forces her eyes to open and tries hard to extend her hands to her child but fails.

WOMAN (incoherent):
     My baby...

Eve looks at Gabrielle and then back at the woman. She takes the woman's hand, it already becoming cold. Gabrielle extends her hand out to Eve and rests it on Eve's hand.

GABRIELLE:
     There's nothing we can do, Eve. Look.

Eve looks at the woman, her eyes now staring blankly ahead. She is dead.

Eve lowers her head, tears falling from her eyes. She looks at Gabrielle. Gabrielle tries to hold back her own tears and looks down at the child in her arms. She finds that the child is no longer with her. The little body is limp in her arms. The baby's wounds were too severe, especially for a child to handle.

Gabrielle lets out a long breath and then sets the motionless child on top of the woman. Eve takes the woman's hand that she is still holding and lays it across the child, making it look as if they had died together, mother holding the child in her arms.

Eve bends over, puts her hands together and says a silent prayer for the two deaths that they had just experienced. Gabrielle sniffs. When Eve finishes, she stands up and looks at Gabrielle.

EVE:
     No one deserves this kind of death, especially at this young of an age. This demon will pay.

Gabrielle nods and puts a hand on her shoulder.

GABRIELLE:
     That's Xena's job. Come on. We have some more bodies to prepare for the burial.

Gabrielle puts her arm around Eve and hugs her briefly before beginning their task of taking the bodies to the burial mound as we:

FADE OUT

END OF ACT TWO