TITLE : THE KINDRED PART 4AUTHOR : NIKA
RAITING : NC-17 PAIRING : W/T
DISCLAIMERS : FOR DISCLAIMERS AND AUTHOR’S NOTES SEE PART 1
THE KINDRED PART 4
PRESENT STRANGERS
As Hunter drove through Sunnydale her mind drifted unevenly between the present and the past. This was going to be a difficult task in more ways than one. Just the night before she had come to realize that if she had been called to protect The Kindred it meant that Tara had indeed found the Other Half. A part of her was truly happy for her friend, the other part mourned a past, lost love all over again.
“Come on get a grip, this is not the time or place for emotions. Too much to do, not enough time. Act now, feel later.” Hunter thought to herself.
The sun was high in the sky and the streets were busy with activity, people walking , laughing, getting coffee, buying gum, walking their dogs…Hunter observed them and couldn’t help but start thinking again.
“It’s a good thing most people don’t know the dangers that threaten the world so often, they couldn’t go on day to day just like they do today. Who could enjoy a good cappuccino, knowing the exact date of the end of the world ?”
“ Mmmhhh, lucky me to be in the inner circle of those who know.” She thought with amusement. The end of days gets old after awhile.
“ I wonder how Tara and her friend are going take the news that they’re about to be let in to that particular circle of people, It’s not the easiest thing to hear, some don’t take it well. Specially when the High Powers decide they shouldn’t know until it’s the right time, what ever that time is, it usually disrupts everything and makes many, no matter how noble they may be wary of their duties.” Just as she was finishing this thought the sign for the Magic Shop came into view. “ Well I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Here we go.” She parked the jeep, adjusted her red lens sun glasses, took a couple of deep breaths and walked towards the entrance of the shop.
Anya was happily adding up receipts by the cash register, Buffy was trying to compose a poem for a writing assignment, the table was cluttered with crumpled paper and several broken pencils. Hey it was tough to compose about springtime, when your job involved getting green monster muck stains off your shirt almost every night. That made thinking beautiful things a hard job. Giles as per usual had his nose stuck in some old Demonology tome.
Hunter entered the store silently and looked around, she was impressed, it was very well stocked. Most stores only carried things useful for very basic spells.
This meant that Tara had truly been keeping up with her studies, this made her feel proud of the young woman. She knew what a hard time her family had given her about magic and sadly just about everything else. Anya looked up from her receipts and noticed the potential customer, this meant more money. So she smiled brightly.
“ Hello, may I help you purchase something please ?”
“ Actually I’m looking for someone…”
“ Oh.” Anya sort of muttered disappointed, no sale.
Giles thought he recognized that voice and looked at the new comer as she continued
“ Maybe you can help me I’m looking for…”
“ Good Lord, Hunter ?” Giles interrupted
“ Giles ? What are you doing here ?” Well this is a surprise thought Hunter.
“ I own this shop actually.”
“ But the last I heard you were appointed by …you know those guys to be The…. To The… you know…”
The words council, watcher and slayer couldn’t be said in public.
By now this little exchange had caught both Anya’s and Buffy’s attention and they looked on, it was rare to meet someone who knew Giles from outside of Sunnydale.
Anya got a good look at the woman and started thinking she looked kind of familiar.
“ Well yes that’s right as a matter of fact…” He turned to look at Buffy with a proud father expression on his face.
“ Buffy this is Hunter, Hunter – Buffy.” Buffy got up and shook the hand offered to her, it was a good firm shake she liked those. She hated it when people shook hands like they were holding a fish.
“ Buffy It’s an honor to meet you, I’ve heard some very good things.” Hunter’s mind was reeling, The Watcher and The Slayer, maybe the Overseers were evening up the odds, this could be a good thing a very good thing. Or a very bad thing depending how you looked at it.
“ Oh, thanks.” Buffy answered with a smile and a slight blush, she wasn’t really used to people knowing what she did, hence she didn’t get complimented often for it.
“ So what brings you to this part of the world ?” Giles asked now a little concerned, he hoped it wasn’t official business, but of course something told him that it was.
“ Like I was saying before I’m looking for someone, since this is your store you must know….” Again she was interrupted, this time by two girls that burst in laughing, holding hands.
Hunter turned and let the name finish slipping from her lips…. “ Tara”
Tara stopped in mid step and dropped the book she was carrying, she went a little pale not really believing her eyes. “ H-H-HUNTER ?”
At the mention of this name Willow also went a little pale and let go of Tara’s hand.
“ Yeah, It’s me…I…ah…I know this is kind of sudden, but I really need to talk to you.”
Tara was frozen in place from shock, she wasn’t quite sure what it was she was supposed to say or do she looked towards Willow who looked both puzzled and upset. The rest of the gang was watching the scene with much interest, the tension in the air was so thick it could probably be cut with a knife. Thankfully Giles decided to break the silence.
“ So you know Tara, my that’s very interesting…”
“ Interesting is right since you also know Giles.” Buffy offered.
“ Well she doesn’t know me.” Willow whispered under her breath, still it was loud enough for it to be heard by Tara. Who finally snapped out of her reverie.
“ OH, uhhhmmm, sorry , Hunter this is Willow and I see you’ve met M.r Giles and Buffy.” The blonde managed to get out in a quick sentence.
Hunter smiled and offered her hand to Willow who took it with some apprehension.
“ Willow It’s good to meet you.” Hunter said with all sincerity.
“ OH MY GOD !” Anya suddenly yelped out “ I know that face, you’re THAT Hunter, THE Hunter…Listen I don’t …I’m not anymore, I have a job see ? I’m a productive member of society , I’m a good girlfriend just ask Xander, WHERE IS XANDER ? he could tell you…”
All of them looked at Anya like she had lost her mind, no one understood what she was going on about, not even Hunter who seemed to be the target of her ramblings.
“ What ? Who are you, what are you talking about ?” Hunter asked truly confused.
“ D’Hoffryn he showed us your picture once and told us if we ever saw you to run the other way, I know you came for me…but I’m not anymore, I want Xander he’ll protect me…”
Understanding finally came over Hunter, D’hoffryn, the lunatic was some sort of an ex-demon. She knew she shouldn’t laugh but it was hard to hold it in, this situation was beyond bizarre, this was not what she expected. She started to chuckle in spite of herself as she covered her mouth with one hand.
Giles also understood and when he looked at Hunter’s face he couldn’t help but break down, as soon as they made eye contact they started roaring with laughter.
Everyone else just looked very-very-very confused.
“ What’s so funny about her coming to kill me ?” Anya demanded to know, stomping her foot on the ground.
“ WHAT ?” Asked Tara, Willow and Buffy at the same time.
Hunter sobered up quickly and answered “ Please calm down, I mean you no harm really, I’m here to speak with Tara and Willow.” She looked at the two Wiccans who seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
“ You need to speak to me w-why ?” Willow asked with concern in her voice and Tara seemed to be asking the same question with her eyes.
“ It’s a complicated matter, everyone seems kind of unsettled right now I think it would be best if we sat down and talked tonight.”
“ Hunter is this official business then, not just a friendly visit ?” asked Giles
“ That’s right Giles, as a matter of fact I think it would be wise if you and Buffy could attend this meeting.”
Tara couldn’t take this anymore it was too confusing, she wanted some answers.
“ Meeting, Hunter what are you doing here ? How do you know M.r Giles ? W-w-what’s going on ? Why does Anya think you want to hurt her ? W-w-what’s going on ?” She was so upset she was shaking. Willow just didn’t know what to do.
“ I know this is strange and that you have a lot of questions, there’s a lot I have to explain and I promise you, You’ll understand everything soon. I have to take care of something first. Tonight, I promise Tara, everything will be answered tonight, trust me please.”
“ That’s a tall order” answered Tara in a hurt tone.
“ I deserved that, still there’s not much of a choice, we must talk.”
“ Alright then let’s meet at my house at 8 o’clock, this must be quite serious if they sent you .” Giles said looking straight at Hunter as he handed her a card.
Everyone nodded their silent consent and looked at each other with much discomfort.
“ Fine I’ll go for now.” She cast a sideways glance towards Willow and Tara and left the store. Once out side she exhaled heavily and muttered to herself “ Well that went much better than expected and tonight is going to be even more fun, oh joy!”
Inside the shop everyone was silent not quite knowing what to say. Tara and Willow sat side by side at the table, they were both pretty much speechless. It was Anya who spoke up first.
“ Giles are you sure she’s not here to vanquish me ?”
“ SIGH, Yes Anya I’m sure…you have nothing to worry about, It’s the rest of us I’m not quite so sure about. Tara how is it that you know Hunter ?”
Tara looked positively flustered and to add to her nervousness Willow was staring intently at her. She swallowed hard and tried to speak with a calm voice, failing miserably.
“ She’s…she w-w-was my girlfriend once, before I came to S-sunnydale”
Everyone got that “OH” that’s a surprise look on their faces and they stared at Tara like she had grown horns and a tail. Tara turned about ten shades of red and lowered her head.
“ That’s strange…I mean…I erm wasn’t aware that she had lived here in America.” Giles commented.
Willow’s curiosity got peaked and she decided she’d like some answers too
“ Giles how do you know her ?” This question was on every ones mind.
“ Yes, well I suppose It’s alright if I tell you, I suspect she’s going to tell you anyways tonight. She’s a child of Diana, better known as Artemis, she’s one of the “chosen” a Huntress for the powers of light.”
“ Chosen ? like the Slayer ?” Inquired Buffy. Tara’s mouth was hanging open in surprise and Willow looked even more distressed than before.
“ Not exactly, She’s chosen by other types of powers and her mission is somewhat different from the slayers, still it’s similar because she fights the forces of evil. I know her from some years back, we met at a training camp set up by the council of watchers, she was very young but quite extraordinary. The council has called upon her to help more than once. Her missions are usually very important, that’s what has me worried, her presence here might mean tremendous danger for us all.”
Willow looked towards Tara and gently asked her “ Why didn’t you ever tell me about this before ?” Tara looked up to meet Willow’s eyes and answered in a trembling voice “ I-I n-never knew, she never told me…I never knew…” Willow saw her girlfriends sad confused eyes and she knew Tara was telling the truth, she also felt her pain she knew what it felt like to find out that you’ve been lied to. She forgot her own distress for a moment and gave her girl a reassuring hug. They held on tightly while everyone else continued feeling uncomfortable and unnerved by the flood of unanswered questions in their minds.
The gang’s somber mood hung in the air for most of the afternoon. Still everyone went about their business as usual, they were used to tense situations, life went on.
Just as they were closing the shop for the day the phone rang.
“Tara it’s for you.” Giles said somewhat uneasily
Willow tried to mask her discomfort without much success as the blonde got up to take the phone.
“ H-hello, yes, I know, it was, I don’t know, maybe…n-n-no, you’re right, o.k 20 minutes, bye.” She went to face Willow nervousness showing on all her features. “ That was Hunter she wants to talk to me alone before the meeting. I-I think I should go…but if you’re not o.k with it…”
“ NO, I understand there are things you have to work out without an audience, so go.”
Willow tried to sound reassuring. “ Please don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.”
“ O.k I think I should get going, I’ll see you later…” She leaned down and gave Willow a small kiss on the cheek before heading out the door.
Willow looked sad and more than a little worried, Buffy took one look at her best friends face and got up to give her a much needed hug.
LATER AT THE EXPRESSO PUMP
Hunter sat at a corner booth with her back to the wall, from here she could see almost everyone who entered or exited the place, it didn’t hurt to be careful.
She couldn’t believe how nervous she was, she could face the ugliest of demons or the most wicked of warlocks without breaking a sweat, but the thought of facing one sweet girl made her stomach twist in knots. She thought back to the past, it had always been like that, the one person in the world that could ever make her lose her cool was Tara.
A seemingly simple, shy, country girl, five years younger than herself had in the past conquered her heart and in the present had the fate of the world in her hands. The world was a crazy place and fact could be stranger than fiction.
Hunter spotted Tara coming in and waved to her, the blonde sat a bit uncertainly and forced herself to look straight ahead and not avert her gaze.
“ Thank you for coming, would you like something to drink ? The Irish coffee isn’t too bad.” Hunter asked trying to break the ice.
“ Water would be fine, thanks.” Tara answered dryly.
“ Are you sure, because…”
“ I’m sure I would like some answers, I didn’t come here for the coffee.”
“ Fair enough, I’ve thought about this moment hundreds of times and I still don’t know where to start.”
“ How about you take it from where you left me two years ago and end by explaining what you’re doing here and how come you seem to know most of my friends.”
Tara was really angry now, Hunter could tell not only by the tone of the clipped phrases, but because the blonde hadn’t stuttered once. This made her smile to herself and she tried collecting her ideas before speaking.
“ Tara I know this is strange and awkward, you have questions and I’m not sure I’ll have all the answers but I’ll try my best. There’s a lot you don’t know and …”
“ OH, yeah like why you left and why you never told me about your other day job, oh huntress of Diana.”
“ I guess Giles told you, I know you’re hurt but if we’re going to get through this you have to be willing to let me explain, please just let me talk and you can judge later, please?”
Tara nodded her consent and gestured for Hunter to continue.
“ (sigh!) First of all I never meant to keep things from you but it was necessary, when we were together that last year I wanted to share everything with you, but I couldn’t.
Before I tell you the whole story I want you to know that I did love you Tara with all of my heart and letting you go was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
As Giles told you I’m a Hunter I fight demons and dark lighters, I was chosen by the Overseers to fight against evil. The circle of seers used to choose my missions, they’re like oracles that communicate with the Overseers and the High powers.
They sent me to your town to observe and protect you and your mother. They weren’t very specific, they just told me I needed to be there. They didn’t predict or maybe they did I don’t know…that I would fall in love with you, in any case when I did…the Overseers themselves sent me a message through dreams ; I had to leave you, you had a Destiny of your own, you were a Chosen one and I wasn’t a part of that future plan. If I remained your destiny would not be fulfilled and the world would suffer for it.”
Tara was amazed by what she heard but couldn’t stay silent any longer
“ I was a mission, an assignment? that’s all I meant to you ?”
“ No, you’re not listening, I did fall in love with you and because I loved you I let you go. Tell me something now, in all honesty are you happy ?”
“ Yes I am.”
“ Can you tell me why I mean the biggest reason why.”
“ Her name is Willow.”
“ That’s why I left and why I’m here today, your destiny is Willow. You’re two halves of one whole you’re The Kindred of Light.”
“ W-W-We’re the w-what?” Tara had gone from angry, to amazed, to confused to plain worried in the course of 2.6 seconds.
“ I’ll explain that at the meeting, it’s a long story and I don’t want to repeat it more than once. What I want to make clear to you is that everything we had was real it had nothing to do with missions or any other ulterior motives. I didn’t explain this to you when I left because I knew you had to find your own way to your other half, telling you at that moment could have done more harm than good. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry. There wasn’t much of a choice.”
(and you’ll never know how much it truly hurt me too…)she thought to herself.
“ I don’t know if I can believe it was real Hunter, I don’t even know who you are, I guess I never knew.” Tara said with a touch of sadness in her voice.
“ You have every right to believe what you want I just wanted to at least try to clear the air between us.” Hunter’s tone was calm and even but her eyes reflected the pain she was feeling.
“ I don’t know about high powers and destinies I do know that you’re right about one thing, I’m happy because I met Willow and it feels like it was meant to be. But I’m worried Giles said your missions are usually important and dangerous, is Willow in danger ?”
“ I won’t lie to you, according to the prophecies the whole damn world is in danger.”
Tara sighed loudly “ What again?”
Hunter chuckled a little at this response “ Yeah again, I guess having the slayer for a friend has opened your eyes to the never ending threat of Armageddon, huh ?”
Tara chuckled too “ Yeah, Apocalyptic jokes are big with the Scooby gang.”
Both women shared a light laugh and relaxed some for the first time since they had seen each other again.
“ I’m glad you’re taking this relatively well and Tara… I need you to know…in spite of these circumstances I really am glad to see you again.”
Tara smiled for the first time in what seemed ages and took one of Hunter’s hands in her own.
“ I’m glad also, too many things were left unsaid between us and there are still many things to be cleared, mission or not you owe me more than one explanation. So besides demons, how’s your life?”
Hunter also smiled and squeezed Tara’s hand, it felt good to finally be speaking with an old friend instead of a new stranger.
THE INNER CIRCLE
Willow stared at the clock for the hundredth time that night as she paced back and forth through Gile’s floor. (what in hell, can they be talking about all this time ?)She wondered and let her imagination run wild.
“ Willow please, stop pacing you’re making me dizzy, it’s almost 8 I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” Buffy said in an exasperated tone.
“ Yeah Wills, chill before you wear out the floor boards, that pine material is expensive.” Xander added.
“ What ? I’m just worried it’s night, you know, ooooh blood suckers…Buffy maybe we should go look for them…”
“ I wouldn’t worry about that, Hunter is a great warrior…and…ummm.” Giles was saying as he noticed Buffy giving him a no-no look. “ What I mean is…would you like some tea ?”
Willow stopped pacing and plopped herself down on the couch, with her arms folded across her chest and a pout that could win a contest. She decided she needed some air and went to open the living room window, when she spotted Tara and Hunter walking towards the house, they were talking and laughing a little. Willow saw red ( well, don’t they look chummy?) she thought. She went back to the couch and her former position.
Tara knocked on the door and Giles answered it immediately, every one of the Scoobies was anxious about the meeting, except for Anya who decided not to show just in case.
“ Giles.” Hunter said while shaking the watchers hand
“ Hello M.r Giles.” Tara said while making her way towards the couch and Willow.
Everyone sat down and looked expectantly towards Hunter.
“ Alright, I suppose the ball is in my court. O.k Giles has told you about my night job, so we won’t go over that too much. What you need to know is what I’m doing here right now and to make that clear I’m going to have to give you a sort of long history lesson. I want to bring you up to speed with what I’ve researched for the past two years, please bear with me if you get bored.”
“ Will we be tested, cause I’m bad with pop quizzes.” Joked Xander, Buffy punched him in the arm and told him to hush.
Hunter gave a half smile and continued.
“ In the beginning humans, beasts, angels and even gods lived in harmony with one another. This was before the gods began to compete with another for power and before some of the angels became jealous of humans and fell from grace. When the battles began, the world was divided into domains, these domains have had many names, in our times we know them more commonly as Heaven and Hell. These domains have many different levels and for each level there is a master and different kinds of servers. Like for every different faith in the world there is a representation of a God and a Devil. These powers are served by angels, demons and human worshippers. When these battles were at their worst, the beasts were crossbred with humans, thus the birth of the demons that walk between the worlds. The powers of light and Dark have continued these battles through out time, each side creating champions for their cause. That’s how Slayers and Hunters and other types of White lighters came to be.
In the times before ancient Greece a powerful race of Magus followed their own creed. They were the predecessors of modern witchcraft.
They were the Celtic Druids and Wiccans, they adored the power of the elements and lived in harmony with nature, they also respected the power of women in the cycle of life.
When the Romans began their search for world conquest they shunned these beliefs and persecuted all that differed from their point of view. They slaughtered many Celtic tribes and enslaved the Women who adored The Triple Moon Goddess. At the same time they waged war for territory all over the land, this war affected another community of great women, The Amazon Nation. The Amazons adored Artemis Goddess of the hunt, protector of the forest. It was during this time that a new threat surfaced for the world. The Roman army sieged one of the few remaining Celtic tribes of the west, but one woman managed to escape. She was a High Priestess, incredibly powerful she sought refuge in an Amazon village, one of the few that remained strong in the far northern lands.
There she met an equally powerful Shaman and they bonded instantly, not in love but in hate and not only for the Roman empire. They loathed all mankind. They began to shun Artemis and the Triple Moon Goddess, in their minds they had been forsaken and abandoned to their fate by the Goddesses they adored. So now they would take revenge by cursing the names they had once worshipped. They would join their powers and create a reverse ritual that would bind the earth to a cycle of death. They were an incredible force, they were soul mates, they called themselves The Kindred of Dark whose bond was being harvested in the purity of hate.
They further joined and strengthened their souls in a blood sacrifice ritual. Their ceremony was a perfect combination of Shamanic spirit work and Druid spell casting, they also appointed one of the tribes fiercest warriors as their protector. Their goal was to represent all the faces or cycles of The Triple Moon Goddess inversely : There are 3 cycles The Maiden, The Mother and The Crone. By representing The Mother they were also attacking Artemis. For the Mother is the Huntress, the Protector. The purity of the Maiden, birth and love was misrepresented by their twisted bonding of souls and the last of the cycle is The Crone that holds the key to the circle of life and death, first comes death and from it new life is always born, the Crone’s best known name is Hecate. Their last ritual on the final day of the waning moon, when the planets were aligned in the house of Mars was meant to worship the dark side of Hecate and bind the Earth to eternal darkness, no new life would be born from that night forward. Of course Artemis couldn’t just stand by and let this happen, she personally blessed two souls that were already destined to meet, One from a the family line of Bodaciea the warrior and the Other from the line of the Wiccan Magus, they were to be The Kindred of Light. She also appointed one of her best hunters as their protector, together they would fight the final battle for the cycle of life. This battle has been fought in different ages, at different places, every time The Kindreds meet and the waining moon is in the house of Mars the world is danger of ending. As you can probably guess, that’s happening soon, to be exact November first the day of the Shamain when the veil between the world of the dead and the world of the living is lifted. All the elements are scheduled to meet here in Sunnydale.”
Hunter finally paused in her long tale to have a big drink of much needed water. Buffy took this as her cue to speak up.
“ O.k so the world is in danger of ending…again…that’s nothing new in this little Hellmouth of a town…but…my question is what’s this got to do with Tara and my best bud Will ?”
Since Hunter was still drinking water Giles took the liberty of answering
“ Well it seems to me the answer is rather obvious Tara and Willow are The Kindred of Light representing The Maiden, Hunter is…well the Hunter representing The Mother and The Crone is…umm is?”
“ The Crone or at least her Dark side is what the two head sorcerers of the coven of Hecate will be summoning on the night of the Shamain, they want to stop the cycle from completing if they succeed the eternal return of life will be no more. Just imagine the world turning into a perpetual showing of night of the living dead.” Hunter completed.
Everyone went to bad visual place for a moment and cringed in unison.
“ O.K so we know the who, the what and even the when, why don’t we just bust some heads before this Shuman night and get it over with ?”
Xander said in an enthusiastic tone
“ It’s Shamain and I don’t know where they are I only know where they’ll be about a month from now. It’s my job to prepare everyone involved in this for battle, Giles I know the Slayer has other duties but the fact we’re all gathered here doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me, still if you or Buffy don’t…”
“Hey if my friends are involved I’m involved that’s not even an issue.” Buffy promptly stated.
Willow stood from her place on the couch and addressed Hunter in a visibly hostile tone.
“ Just a minute I mean look you come riding into town with the end of days tale, I’m guessing Tara and I are in danger and you ask my friends to get involved in some battle…out of the blue…who sent you ? How do you know any of this is true ? Forgive me but this is too freaky for me to just take your word for it.”
Tara blinked a couple of times surprised by Willows sudden outburst, the red head was hardly ever this upset, wich of course in turn upset the blonde.
Hunter had expected some adverse reactions so she remained calm and tried to be as clear as she could with her answer.
“ I know how you feel, this is very sudden and disturbing. No matter how many times you may be faced with the possibility of the end, it’s natural to feel unsettled, worried and to not know who to trust. I have no proof of what I’m saying I know it’s happening because the High powers, the Overseers have chosen to let me know and I’ve researched enough scriptures to know they’re not just void visions. This battle that’s about to go down has been fought before and thankfully some aspects have been documented. And if you don’t want to believe me then…this is going to sound kind of stupid and corny…damn I hate clichés…just listen to your heart, there I said it. Really it’s all in there something telling you that something important is about to happen and that you’re absolutely smack in the middle of it all.”
The brunette hoped this would be enough to convince the Wiccan, she had already talked more in a few hours than she had in two whole years, all this explaining was giving her a headache.
Willow had to reluctantly agree, she had felt something tugging at her even before the dreams incident. Still she didn’t feel much like voicing that agreement. She settled for answering as non committal as possible.
“ I- I still don’t know…”
“ W-willow I spoke to Hunter and I trust her, I think we should be prepared for what’s coming.” Tara said in a worried tone, she didn’t want it to seem like she was siding with Hunter against Willow.
But in her current emotional state that’s exactly what Willow thought and she eyed Tara with an icy stare.
Giles decided it was time he put his two cents worth this was after all an important situation.
“Listen I’ll personally vouch for Hunter, we’ve worked together before, this is quite serious, what I want to know is how can we get ready for this battle ? The more we train the better our chances for success, right?”
Willow opted for silence, since she thought that everyone was going to side against her.
“That’s what I think, they have a head start on us, we’ll have to train hard to be even remotely ready, we’ll probably be out numbered too…”
“Aren’t we always.” Said Buffy
“Yeah, it’s always one slayer and us scoobies against all the armies of hell, It’s like Rambo with a knife against 20 guys with guns, but hey bring them on.” Xander gushed making machine gun gestures with his hands.
( This is what I have to work with? I think this time the end of the world could be real.) Thought Hunter while looking at Xanders antics.
“ uuummh, sure whatever…what we really need to do is start with Willow and Tara. You’ll both need to strengthen your powers your fight will be on the magical plane, the rest will train with old weapons all we can do is fight to protect you two while you battle with the Kindred of Dark.”
So after answering another round of twenty questions and discussing options they settled on a training schedule and worked out other details of their latest plan to save the world. Willow and Tara the two main characters of the plan were the most quiet and somber, the discomfort level hung heavy in the air and around midnight the meeting finally ended. Everyone went home feeling tired and moody for one reason or another.
Hunter decided to take a stroll through the cemetery, she was tense and wired with any luck she would run into a demon or a vampire looking for trouble. She could do with a good brawl to take the edge off. Training would start in the morning and by the icy glares she was receiving from Willow she could predict it was going to be a fun filled month…not!
