Title: Dark Becomes Light
Author: White Werewolf
Chapter: 9
Rating: Nothing worse than the tv shows. Think people around the age of 15 are mature enough to read this. Just as the shows which tend to get dark at times,
this might get there too.
Category: Gabrielle/Xander
Spoilers: In Buffy, post: "Living Conditions," In Gargoyles: Post "Journey" If Greg isn't counting season 3 as canon, I'm not either. In Xena, post: "Key to the Kingdom"
Summery: Xander finds a mystical artifact. Demona calls upon it and takes Xander along for the ride. When there, he and a gargoyle meet. Together the two
of them end up in Ancient Greece.
Disclaimer: Buffy: the Vampire Slayer is owned by Whedon, Fox, and UPN. Gargoyles is owned by Bueana Vista and Disney. Xena: the Warrior Princess is owned by Renaissance Pictures, Tapert, and Raimi.
Author Notes: This fic is not BX. I love the ship, but I want to try something different. This is also a ship that isn't soley in the Buffyverse. So, many new things are with this fic.
Crossovers Planned:
Buffy: the Vampire Slayer
Gargoyles
Xena: Warrior Princess
Special Thanks:Nick, William, and Cyclone
Campsite—Early Morning
Brooklyn stared at the scene before him. Behind him, slept Xander, Xena, and Gabrielle. They were all sleeping comfortably. It had been a slow night. Nobody tried to make a move on them, and that was good.
But that wasn't what Brooklyn kept thinking about. This was going to be a first for him. He never thought he'd be able to see the sun before. He was lucky enough to see the early rise of the sun for a brief time. Because as soon as the sun started to rise, he turned to stone.
But now? He was actually going to get the chance to see it. He knew this day was going to lead to many new things, especially for any gargoyle. The gargoyle couldn't wait for the day to unfold.
Glancing at his new friends, he was amazed on how well things were moving. Well, with Xander anyway. He saved his life just as the gargoyle did for him. That only made Brooklyn realize that Xander could be trusted.
Trust was something he decided not to take lightly. Many people still felt that gargoyles were bad. Well, that was in the future anyway. And in Greece, he didn't know. But it somehow effected Xena. Something in this time made her not like them too much.
He wondered what it was, but he didn't know. Brooklyn was certainly surprised by Xena's comment back at Hephaestus' forge. He wasn't going to led that slide, one way or another, he was going to find out what bothered her about gargoyles.
Staring at the scene in front of him again, he knew the sun was about to rise. He couldn't wait for this moment. He remembered Goliath saying that he experienced the sun once. But that was back in South America with the Mayan gargoyles. They used their amulets to protect the jungle. And there were four of them.
But in this time, he was alone with three humans. Three humans that didn't seem to threatened by him. Well, Gabrielle and Xander didn't, that's for sure. Xena was something else though. He already went over this a hundred times. He was going to have to talk to her at some point. The question though was when. He wanted this conversation to go right, and make her finally see that he wasn't a threat to her.
He suddenly heard some rustling by the far bush that he sat a few feet from. Turning to his right, Brooklyn got off the stump and approached the bush. His nostrils picked up a familiar odor. Sighing to himself, it wasn't anything to worry about.
But landing in a strange time only meant for him to be more cautious. Taking another step forward, he asked, "You alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Good. I'm going back to my stump." Then Brooklyn did just that.
Shortly after, he heard rustling again. With his eyes still forward, he heard the voice say, "Easy night?"
He nodded, "No one came, Gabrielle." Brooklyn said with a smile. "Going back to bed?"
She knelt down beside him, as he stared off into the distance, "No. Thought about it, but I thought you might want to share this with someone."
Brooklyn looked at her, and grinned, "Thanks." He glanced at the sky, "Should be happening real soon." He then rubbed his right arm with his left talon.
"Never saw the sun before. See a few moments every day, but never see it fully."
The bard said, "Well, there's a first time for everything."
He chuckled, "That there is, Gabrielle. That there is." He lowered his head so he could look at the amulet that hung there. "Better be careful with this."
"I should hope so. I don't think Hephaestus would be willing to make another." The blond replied.
Letting go of the amulet, he could understand what she was saying. "This baby is going to stay around my neck."
She grinned, "Good."
He turned back to the view in front of him. The dark color of night, the blues and purples were turning into the early colors of yellow and orange.
A sudden brightness hit his eyes as the former night adjustment transformed into day-mode. Closing his eyes tightly—trying to keep the darkness within his view, he couldn't help the colors of days shinning through his eyelids.
Blinking his eyes open, he stared in awe. He couldn't move his face from, the now raising sun. He silently uttered, "I can't believe this."
Gabrielle glanced over to the awe-inspired gargoyle. She watched as he stared at the sky. It was almost like he was in a trance. Glancing back at what was Apollo's daily chore truly made her think about how much se taken for granted life really was.
Allowing the sun to bath over her face and body, she said, "You know, there are so many things that people take for granted."
Brooklyn nodded as he finally turned to her, "It's the same with gargoyles, Gabrielle."
"Well…" The bard started, "even so, I never really watched at something so simple. Then again, back in Potedia, I used to have to get up early to help my parents with the chores."
He grinned, "I forgot you were a farm girl."
Gabrielle looked at him, "You've seen the show too?"
The red gargoyle nodded, "A few episodes. Life in Manhattan keeps me busy."
But looking at the sun again, he brought his eyes to the ground and smiled on how different the world was looking in the warmth of the sunrays. In a small voice, he said, "Humans and gargoyles have a habit to take the world for granted. We really don't know what we have and how lucky we are to have it."
Looking at her sleeping friends, she said, "We really don't, do we?"
"A human by the name of Benjamin Franklin said it best. We don't know the value of water until the well runs dry." He glanced over to her who had a confused look on her face, "He was a person who did great things in American history. Goliath told me. He reads allot."
She questioned, "You never told me anything about your life in Manhattan. What it's like?"
He sighed, "I can't tell you that much, Gabrielle. But, I'm from a clan of gargoyles originally from 994 Scotland. Due to some curse, we've slept for a thousand years and awoke in 1994. So much changed over those centuries, and I'm always eager to try new things. Telling you will what I know will only make things so much more confusing. Especially when I'm still trying to understand them myself."
The blond sighed, "I can understand, I guess anyway."
He grinned, "Good."
Looking back at the sun, the gargoyle said, "But at this moment, this is something that I'll never forget. The sun was never taken away from me, Gabrielle. It simply wasn't available for me to enjoy. But, this is awesome."
She giggled, "I guess I can understand the sun being awesome. Life on this world depends on it so much."
Brooklyn agreed, "So does the moon, Gabrielle. The sun and moon are equally important."
She chuckled, "Without any of them, we wouldn't be able to see our hands in front of our face."
He coughed, "Or talon for that matter."
Gabrielle glanced over to her sleeping best friend. "We also tend to take for granted the friends we have in our life, Brooklyn. Xena and I've been though so much. We're best friends. Without her, I'd probably still be in Potedia with Perdicus."
He showed a confused look, "Perdicus?"
The bard answered, "My husband. Callisto murdered him."
Brooklyn looked at her and said with a slight smile, "Sorry for your loss."
Gabrielle returned, "It's alright, Brooklyn. I've made my peace with it. But it hurts sometimes still."
The gargoyle nodded, "I can understand. I lost my whole clan. Well, my clan from Scotland. Humans destroyed them all during the day. I only survived because I was down in the rookery at the time."
She said with a small smile, "I guess you can understand how I feel."
"We've all experienced loss. I can only imagine how much Xena and Xander experienced. Granted I don't know much about them, but Xander's from a time and place with vampires. I'm sure he lost people too."
Gabrielle looked at Xena, "Xena loss some people too, Brooklyn. But we're there for each other."
He grinned, "That's good, Gabrielle. I guess I am lucky like that with Xander. He saved my life the first night we came here." Brooklyn then told her about what happened those few short hours before they ran into her and Xena. He added, "I haven't met many humans, but I can tell you this. Xander is one person I'm lucky enough to know."
Gabrielle looked at Xander, "Then I guess you're special too." Sending him a smile, she added, "Having too many friends is never a bad thing, Brooklyn."
Extending her hand forward, she asked, "Friend?"
He grinned and grabbed her forearm, "Friend."
Xander stirred slightly as he felt something land on his forehead. Subconsciously, his hand went up and tried to remove the object from his forehead.
Satisfied, his hand went back to his side and went back to sleep. A few moments later, the object landed on his forehead again. Sighing, he awoke to find a fern that was blowing in the wind.
It kept circulating around him, and landed at times on his forehead. "Stupid fern." Pissed that he'd probably never get back to sleep, he pulled himself into a sitting position.
Looking to his right, he still saw Xena sleeping. But Gabrielle was nowhere to be seen. Rolling the animal pelt off him, he stood up and stretched his arms. After a few moments, he yawned taking in fresh oxygen and letting out the carbon dioxide.
Scratching the back of his head, he turned to his left to see Gabrielle and Brooklyn talking.
Placing his belt back on, he walked over to his friends, "Morning."
Brooklyn looked at him, "Morning."
Gabrielle added, "Thought you never say that, huh?"
He chuckled, "Guess not."
Xander looked at the sun, "Right. Today is your first day in the sun. Sorry I missed it. Xena wore me out with training."
The blond giggled, "Sounds like something Xena would do."
He approached them and sat down. "This is a first. We're up and Xena is the one to still be asleep."
Brooklyn added, "So she isn't a late sleeper?"
Gabrielle said, "Xena's usually the one that wakes me up. Either that or Joxer. He always say, 'Rise and shine, everybody. Rise and shine.' And let me tell you, it can be really annoying."
Xander contributed, "It just means he's a morning person." Kneeling down, he questioned, "We have any food left over from dinner for breakfast?"
The gargoyle asked, "What you have last night?"
"Rabbit. Xander caught it."
He chuckled, "In the past few days, it's either been me or Gabrielle to do the catching and cooking."
"Xena doesn't like to cook?"
The bard answered, "She doesn't mind getting the food as long as it's fishing. Other than that, Xander or I have to do the catching and cooking."
The gargoyle asked, "Should I get the food? It'll be another first for me."
Gabrielle questioned, "Do you think you can do it?"
Brooklyn sighed, "I'm a gargoyle. How hard can catching something be? Besides, something fresh will be better than leftover rabbit."
Xander said, "He has a point." Sighing, he thought, (What I wouldn't do for some pancakes?)
Gabrielle suggested, "Brooklyn will get breakfast. Xander can start a fire, and I'll go wake up Xena. This should be fun."
The young man snickered, "That is if you don't mind the wrath of Xena."
She shook her head, "That would happen if it was you, but if it was me…it would be different. You'll see." With that said, the three split up.
Field Surrounding Campsite
Brooklyn walked through the field. Everything was so bright to him, at times it hurt his eyes. But, he knew things like this were going to happen. He's spent his entire life in the dark, this was the first time he actually existed in the day.
He wanted to cherish this. Make this something rememberable. The sun was absolutely beautiful this morning. Wrapping his wings around his chest, he searched the field for any source of food.
The Scotland Native wandered if this is how Xander felt when he had to search for breakfast that one time. If he could do it, Brooklyn was sure he could do it too.
He scanned the field. "Here chicken…chicken."
Chicken was a good food to find. Since he was in a field, he thought wild chickens would be easy to find.
Wanting not to scare any off, he lowered himself until the wild grass covered him. Crawling around, he only lifted his head to see if there were any chicken around.
"Here chicky chicky." Brooklyn unttered as he continued to search.
Suddenly hearing some movement behind him, he very carefully turned around. What he found wasn't a chicken, but a pheasant. Good enough, he thought.
Breathing lightly, he leaped forward trying to land on his prey. His talons were inches away as the pheasant scurried off. "Dammit." He missed the bird and landed on his chest.
Jumping to his feet and spotted the bird trying to fly away. Knowing he couldn't let it go, he used his tail to try and swat it down. To no effect, it dodged Brooklyn's effort.
Leaping to a nearby tree, he started to climb it. Reaching for the first branch, he climbed onto it. Opening his wings, he jumped off trying to glide over to it. "Gotcha now." He landed on the ground, but missed the pheasant again.
"Great." Brooklyn said with sarcasm. Seeing the bird run off, he leapt again. Rage was starting to build as his eyes grew white. "I'm a gargoyle, dammit." The gargoyle said trying to reassure himself. Landing again a few centimeters this time.
"You're going down, pheasant."
Brooklyn raised his talon and tried to hit the bird. He missed it again. So, he tried to hit it with the other talon. Missing it again, he said, "Don't move, dammit."
Allowing his eyes to clear, he raised both talons in fury and clobbered them down in full force.
He heard a sudden scream. Looking down he realized that his left talon was holding onto the pheasant's leg. "Gotcha now."
Raising his free talon, he tried to hit it. But the pheasant escaped again. "Will you just stop moving!"
Getting to his feet, he tried to get a better perspective. Jumping to his feet too fast caused him to lose his balance and he tried opening his wings to gain momentum back, but it failed. He landed hard on his ass.
Hearing another scream, he got up and realized as he turned around…he squashed the pheasant. Brooklyn laughed slightly, "One bird down. Three to go."
Campsite
Xander successfully lit the fire using two sticks he found. He grinned realizing his Boy Scout training was actually coming to use.
Turning around he saw Gabrielle waking Xena up. Together, the two of them approached Xander. "I see you got the fire going." Xena said.
He grinned, "Yeah, I knew what I had to do."
She questioned, "Where's Brooklyn?"
Gabrielle said, "He's getting breakfast."
Xena asked, "Leftover rabbit wasn't good enough for him?"
Xander shrugged, "He wanted something fresh. Can't say I don't blame him."
"I can understand that." Xena said.
"It'll be better than Joxer's stu. That's for sure." Gabrielle reminded them.
Xander asked, "How far is Epirus?"
Xena replied, "A few days walk. After breakfast we should get going."
He sighed, "Great. A day of walking. Wish I had my car with me."
Xena asked, "What's a car?"
He answered, "Think a carriage pulled by horses. But without the horses and much faster."
Gabrielle questioned, "Without horses?"
Xander nodded, "In the future there are things called engines. They allow the car to drive. It doesn't need to be pulled or pushed. It's automatic. All you need is a key. Among other things."
"I got breakfast."
The three of them turned to see Brooklyn standing with two pheasants. "Sorry it took a while."
Xander looked at the flattened one. "What happened to that one?"
He chuckled lightly, "I kinda fell on that one."
Xena asked, "What do you mean you fell on it?"
Brooklyn answered, "Let's just say that finding food isn't as easy as I thought."
TBC
