Authoress: Stormy Llewellyn

Chapter: Prologue

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and all the other wonderful writers who work on the show. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.

Authoress' Note: This story takes place approximately thirty years after the season finale of Buffy. Please review and tell me what you think and what you would like to see in future chapters. Any characters you'd like to see brought back? A certain two vampires perhaps?

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Leda stood on the cliff and raised her hands over her head, feeling the sun gloriously warm against her skin. The young Slayer-in-training took a deep breath of the salty air and lifted her leg into the air. Lifting the other leg she attempted to jump on the narrow strip of land, extending her toe up into a high kick and missed the strip of land sending her falling down towards the roaring river and sharp protruding rocks far below.

With a resounding thud Leda landed on the mat and was yanked out of the illusion, several of the other girls snickered. With a sheepish smile she dared a look at her professor who seemed none to happy. She dead-panned, "Ladies, the perfect example of poor coordination and disregard for your training."

"Sorry ma'am," She muttered, quickly rushing back to her place in the ranks. The woman simply gave her a stern look and sighed as if teaching her were the single heaviest burden in the world. This made her nervous, she couldn't afford for them to turn her away. What if they discovered it was a mistake and she could never make a good slayer? With determination she decided that next time she went up there she would do her utmost to impress her teacher.

Long ago the slayers had rejected the concept and tyranny of the Watcher's Council and formed their own organizations titled (not to creatively) the Slayers. It was ran by senior slayers who had long since stopped patrolling but had much experience under their belts to pass on the their younger counterparts. They taught individually, for those girls who had been singled out in the school as having particular strength and skill in fighting. Those selected few who got to fight on the front lines as the true chosen ones who probably would have been selected to become slayers even if the legendary red witch had not granted all the girls their rightful power.

Upon discovering this the Council had been outraged and had assassinated the witch with the claim that she was a danger for what slayers and watchers stood for. This created a rift between the head slayer, Buffy, of that time and the Council which had only grown as the years dragged on until a bloody conflict erupted and ended their ties to each other forever. Of course without their slayers to watch the council had flickered out of existence. Hah, I may suck at hands on training but I do pretty well in history, now don't I? Leda thought with a little bitter triumph running through her veins. Of course it was that knowledge that would probably end her up in research or some equally worthless department. At this point the best she was going to do was the Special Operation Department which was only used once in a while for the things too trifle to bother the real slayers with.

"Ms. Fairlorne, I expect you to work on your coordination before next class." Leda muttered her agreement and sighed. Fairlorne, it wasn't even her real last name, she had no clue what her true last name was. Her parents had died when she was very, very young and she had no idea who they were. She'd been a gutter rat until the Slayers had sensed her power and come to collect her. In her first few years her she'd been a favorite of the teachers for her intelligence and willingness to learn. That was when they were only doing fight theory, learning about different weapons and demons. Now they had to fight and even face a real enemy towards the end of the course. Maybe she could teach others about theory when they discovered her utter uselessness.

The next girl up was a young woman with fiery red hair who was at the top of their class. Her every move was that of a warrior: smooth , brave, and deliberate. No doubt she was one of those few chosen ones who Leda would be forced to work for. Not only was she powerful but she genuinely cared about the people she was supposed to protect. Friendly and caring she was a natural leader of men. Leda hated her.

Vlora had been told to work on her efficiency and aim, as she had already perfected the use of her power, and the instructor handed her a bow and arrow and set up a target. The redhead stood firm and pulled the bow back with all her might. Green eyes focused on the target before her, she let it fly and it smoothly lodged itself into the bulls-eye. The girls around her let out exaggerated screams of approval and Vlora bowed her head at them, looking for all the world like a warrior princess.

"Very good," purred the teacher, clearly impressed. "Ms. Fairlorne, perhaps you could learn a thing or two from her."

Scowling, Leda mentally begged Vlora to just leave her alone but had no such luck. Vlora walked over and stood next to her as class was dismissed and the six girls gathered their things to head home. "I'd be willing to help you tap into your power, you know."

Annoyed she snapped, "Gee, really? How generous of you! Are you sure you can do it with all that brown on your nose?"

Vlora stiffened slightly, "I'm not sucking up to anyone, you may not realize this but we have an important job to do. This isn't a competition."

Leda sneered and said, "Easy to say when you're in favor of the judges." With that she strode out of the gym, shoving aside the younger students who were there for the most basic training to get them in shape for the more strenuous activities they'd have to perform when they got older.

Outside of the gym was a room full of computers and cubicles where ex-watchers or slayers who weren't up to par kept records of the things killed or captured in this area of the world. Where ever there was a decent amount of slayers one of these buildings were built to teach them, occasionally families had to be shepherded into the area so their children could be trained. For this reason orphans were often preferred, such as Leda, who were often more accepting of their destinies and easier to move around. Leda had been moved to here and had a modest room upstairs, of course now she lived in constant fear of being sent back. Shaking off such fears she walked outside, ignoring the demons registering with the Slayers and making peace agreements.

She waved to several of the girls who were striding down the well walked road into town where they lived with their families, including Vlora who no doubt was living the charmed life. Leda turned and went down a path that no one ever followed and began to head further into the woods, needing some time alone. Suddenly she spotted a sash on the ground and when she lifted it she recognized it as a sash the deemed someone a full fledged slayer. Who on earth would leave it lying on the ground.

Gingerly setting the sash in her bag she called out, "Hello? Anyone out here?"

There was some rustling in the leafs and she tensed, ready for anything. Well, considering her lack of talent, as ready as she could be. Slowly she entered into the thick bunch of trees and picked up the metallic scent of blood and a lot of it. Cautiously she moved forward and saw the streaks of blood in the grass and then she saw the body that had been reduced to a bloody pulp that could hardly be deemed as human. The next thing she knew she was running towards the school to inform them that for the first time in twenty years a slayer had been killed and the monster had not been captured or killed.

Hope you liked my start! Please review!