FIC: Warrior... Slayer (4/?)

["Shadow" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx>]

This is just further proof on why I should not be allowed to write while
watching the show... strange things turn up in the fic, honest. :)

Title: Warrior... Slayer (4/?)
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with
Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Xena: Warrior Princess, they belong to
others and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is
intended.
Pairing: Faith/Gabrielle; Xena/Gabrielle
Rating: NC-17
Archive: The usual places all others please ask first, I have yet to
turn anyone down.
Notes: Nothing major... Gabrielle has just been made an Amazon
Princess, Phantes is still alive and Melosa is still Queen. As for the
Buffy universe, Faith has not lost her mind, she is just a streetwise
pain in the neck... sort of. :) Eveything else is set in its own
little universe; it's for the best that way trust me.

WARRIOR... SLAYER (4/?)

Sunnydale -

Willow appeared in a flash of light in her bedroom, "I'm beginning to
hate that," she grumbled with a shake of her head, noting that it had
started to rain again. Turning toward her bed, she found a small pile
of clothing and other accessories, as well as what looked to be a pair
of sturdy boots on the floor, waiting for her. 'Leather,' she thought,
fingering one of the articles of clothing noting that it looked like it
was meant to offer as much protection as possible and still remain
comfortable. 'Might as well get this over with,' she decided beginning
to remove her clothing, her mind already working on the puzzle Eon had
set before, choosing to ignore the whole goddess thing for the moment.
'Time enough to worry about that later.'

Minutes later, the young redhead stood before her full length mirror,
admiring the way the silver/gray sleeveless linen shirt fit over the
dark leather pants that were tucked into her above-the-knee boots. 'When
did I get a full length mirror?' She questioned suddenly, noting another
figure standing behind her. "Er, hi dad?" She said in a small sheepish
voice, recognizing Hephaestus after a moment of sheer panic.

"I didn't mean to startle you, just wanted you to get a good look at
your new clothes... they are all right aren't they? I can change the
colour or style if you like," he offered, raising one hand to do just
that.

"No, no they are fine... never owned anything made of leather before,
unless you count a pair of dress shoes," Willow replied, with a lopsided
grin, taking the time to take a good look at the being that was her
father. Recalling everything she had ever read about the Greek gods,
she took a step closer to him cocking her head to one side to get a
better look at the side of his face that he tended to keep out turned
away from others. Tentatively raising one hand to touch his scarred
cheek, turning it so she could get a better look at him, she immediately
noticed the one things she most definitely got from him... the green of
her eyes. "So that is where I got them," she said in wonder, staring
into the eyes before her filled with wisdom and power she ever thought
existed. Rising up on her tiptoes she plants a quick kiss on his cheek,
"so... do I pass inspection?"

"Hmmm, yes... although if your mother had her way," he said a playful
grin, taking a step back to give her new clothes one final once over,
like the proud father he was. "You would be dressed entirely in silk
and have about twelve servants around you at all times," he finished
seriously. "However, your Aunt Athena was able to reason with her, so
no silk... yet. You will find these cloths to be a bit more functional,
especially if you will be traveling with Xena... she tends to attract
trouble." He said ruefully. "Oh and you will need these," he added
after a moment, holding out his hand palm up as two forearm bracers
appeared in them. "They will help you channel your magical talent and
offer a bit of protection... you will note that your Uncle Hercules has
a larger similar pair, his work a bit differently but in the end they
both serve the same function. Oh and don't forget these..." he added,
as a small sword and a knife appeared in his hand after Willow removed
the bracers, "the knife is your ceremonial knife for spell casting and
such... the sword is for protection, don't worry about knowing how to
use it... you will find you have a natural aptitude for it. A little
gift from Athena to help you on your way a bit. And lastly... a satchel
for carrying your magic books and other magical items... it's enchanted,
so you will be able to carry a lot in it, but not the laptop...
electricity has not been invented yet," he finished in a smile.

"I knew that there was a downside to all of this," Willow said somewhat
absently, as she put on the forearm bracers, her mind whirling with the
thought of actually having an Aunt Athena and Uncle Hercules. Then
something occurred to her, "isn't that cheating a bit? Giving me the
knowledge of how to use this thing?" she questioned taking the sword out
of his hand.

"Not really... it's not uncommon for one of us to bless mortals or
demi-gods... and you already have the knowledge, Athena blessed you with
it when you were an infant... she has hopes of you becoming a great
warrior." Hephaestus replied, "the knowledge would still be there when
you return to your right time... I'm just making sure you have the
proper sword is all."

"You made this?" Willow asked, admiring the craftsmanship of the sword,
something telling her that the sword had been made especially for her,
being weighted for her small stature. "It sort of looks Asian," she
noted absently, the design reminding her of a katana she once saw in
Giles' weapons closet, only this one was double-sided and had a
different style hilt.

"It's actually more of an Amazon design... with a few of my own ideas
added, but it is one of the strongest blades ever made," he replied,
watching with pride, as his daughter turned the sword a few times in her
hand as if trying to get a feel for it. "You'll find the sheath and
satchel over on the bed... I will see you in a bit? Or in few thousand
years in the past... depending on your point of view." He said with a
lopsided grin, before disappearing taking his full-length mirror with
him, as a pounding began on Willow's front door announcing that she now
had visitors.

"Wills! Wills you in there? We got big problems!" A voice shouted over
the pounding.

************************
Ancient Greece -

Xena chuckled evilly as she sent another opponent flying across the
practice field in what Gabrielle had begun calling "Xena's torture
session with the Amazon." Although the Warrior Princess herself called
it "blowing off a little steam with some of Eponin's finest," either way
it resulted in a lot of bruised Amazons and one rather smug Xena in the
end.

Gabrielle watched Solari land with a thud, wincing in sympathy as she
watched the dark-haired Amazon climb determinedly to her feet for
another shot at the laughing warrior. "I take it back... she is just
stubborn as Xena," Eponin noted dryly from beside her, where it was
safe. The Amazon weapon master may be a bit stubborn herself at times
but she wasn't stupid... taking on the Warrior Princess with only twenty
other warriors as backup was just plain silly. No, no she planned to
have at least fifty warriors behind her and maybe Hercules to help even
things out a bit before she mounted her attempt to wipe that smug little
grin off of Xena's face.

A bright light interrupted the late morning activities, as several
figures appeared on the practice field not all of them female or even
humans for that matter. The effect was immediate on the gathered
Amazons, all sense of good-natured sparring thrust aside as time
hardened instinct took over, as they focused in on the possible threat
that now faced them.

Faith was momentarily blinded by the sudden flash of light losing hold
on her battle-axe she was backhanded by the demon she had been fighting
with. Catching herself before she hit the ground too hard, she rolled
coming up ready for another round. "You have GOT to be kidding me? That
is the best you can do?" She taunted the demon barely registering the
change in scenery, her attention focused on the Pacer demon she had been
trying to slay and his ugly little offspring that used to be the night
watchman at the local Denny's.

"Slayer... you're blood will seal the fate of your unworthy race!" the
demon hissed through a face full of fangs, eager to tear the irritating
human's heart out and feed it to his new child.

"What? Do all of you refugees from the freak show use the same
threats?" Faith demanded, "you too late ugly, that one was used already
by a fledgling that staked himself." She growled delivering a kick to
the demon's groin... at least Faith thought it was his groin; it was
kind of hard to tell with all the slime and muck dripping off the thing.

"Faith quit messing around and kill the thing already!" Willow yelled
diving away from the demon that used to be the night watchman at
Denny's, only to come to a rest at Xena's booted feet. "Oh hi Xena...
we'll be right with you in a minute," she said looking up at the Warrior
Princess. "Or two... if Faith DOESN'T get the axe to slay these clowns
with already!" She added tossing the dark-haired slayer a dirty look.
'Just my luck to get stuck looking for these two with Faith.'

"Anytime you want to take over Red, just say the word," Faith snarled
giving the demon before her a roundhouse kick, trying to work her way
over to where her axe had landed.

"The axe... its important?" Xena asked drawing her chakram and sending
it flying at the demon closest to her that Willow had been rolling away
from.

"Yeah 'specially blessed to kill Pacer and other demons," Willow replied
scrambling to her feet, "although that seems to work too." She added as
the chakram decapitated the former night watchman with ease.

Catching her chakram on its return trip, Xena immediately turned her
attention to the other much larger demon and the young girl who was
fighting it. With a battle cry, that was known to strike terror into
the hearts of man and demons alike, the Warrior Princess entered the
battle leaping the distance in a single bound.

"The blood of a Slayer... long have I dreamt of tasting it," the demon
taunted unaware that a very un-amused Warrior Princess who was ticked
off over having her morning workout interrupted had joined the battle.

"Oh come on! You guys really need to get new lines... that one went out
with the master," Faith growled.

'Slayer? Master?' Xena filed the names away for later, she was sure she
could get some answers out of Willow, who, she noted, was already
heading for the axe the dark-haired girl had lost as was Solari. "Excuse
me... mind if I cut in?" she asked with a wicked grin, using her chakram
to slice into the demon, taking a moment to savor the scream of agony
the creature made as she did. Back flipping out of the way of the
demon's wild swing, Xena comes up ready to strike again, looking for the
first opening.

Beating the small redhead to the axe, Solari scooped it up and changed
course for the demon, "Go for its head... you got to decapitate it
completely or it'll just grow another one." Willow's voice caused her
to pause for a moment, wondering what kind of bizarre creature the two
girls were fighting. Shaking her head to clear it she came up behind
the creature and swung hard, taking the head clean off only to have it
hit Eponin square in the chest, who had been leading the charge of
reinforcements. Jumping back the Amazon did what came natural... she
drew her sword and began to beat the hell out of the head for several
moments before Gabrielle stepped in.

"Eponin!" Gabrielle said firmly getting the weapons master's attention,
"its dead, you can quit killing it now."

Slowly stepping back from the decapitated head, "it moved," she defended
weakly.

"Right... I know I saw it too," Gabrielle agreed giving the head one
last wack with her staff in support of the weapons master.

"Well... just so we know its dead," Eponin replied, trying to get some
control of her shattered nerves.

"We're going to have to burn both bodies... heads too," Willow commented
coming over to the three gathered around the body of the larger demon.

"Why? Will it grow some more parts?" Solari asked with an arched
eyebrow.

"Actually... yes if we don't destroy the body before nightfall," Willow
replied, looking the Amazon straight in the eye.

"I'll go prepare the bonfire... preferably down wind from the village,"
Solari said, handing the battle-axe to Xena and disappearing in the
opposite direction.

"So Red... friend of yours?" Faith asked noting the way the redhead
seemed so relaxed with the tall dark-haired warrior who had help her a
bit. "See you two got similar taste in cloths now."

End Part 4.

Shadow -
Dir. of Pub. Safety of the SECLGA and Chief Dungeon Keeper.
Vampire Teddy Bear and Flying Fox {Fruit Bat} of the Woods Outback.
The Big Bad and Little Comma.