For fear of raving ferrets (???) I have made the executive decision to put all other stories on hold and try my hardest to complete this one. Still can't promise timely updates, but hopefully this one will get finished quite soon.

The tunic was light green with embroidered swirls of silver streaking their way across the chest. It was made from soft leather, almost suede-like. It was too big for her; she'd had to roll the sleeves up and Legolas graciously lent her a large belt to cinch in the excess fabric at her waist. Then the belt was too big so she'd had to wrap it around twice. In the end it all worked out with minimal amounts of puzzled staring from the Mirkwood Elves.

Aragorn smiled slightly and nodded at her. "Made for a true warrior."

Buffy cocked her head at him. "I hope that was sincere and not sarcasm."

Aragorn shook his head. "Milady, I don't even know the meaning of the word." Which was, in fact, true.

Buffy stared at him for a second longer to judge whether or not he was about to burst into laughter. But the Ranger seemed true to his word and continued to meet her scrutiny with the calm demeanour she had come to associate him with. Finally, she smiled too and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Okay, you pass."

"Strike the camp!"

Buffy and Aragorn looked to where Eliathas was shouting orders. "Gather all equipment and pile the dead."

"Should we burn them, my liege?" An anonymous voice asked.

Eliathas shook his head. "Nay. That would only attract more unwanted company." Eliathas glanced at Buffy as he said this. Her face began to burn and she unconsciously clenched her hands into fists.

"Do not let it anger you."

Legolas' soft voice startled her. He walked up to her with his horse reined by his side. "That is his way with all who serve beneath him. You are no exception."

Buffy shook her head and grumbled. She threw a quick glare in Eliathas' direction and looked back at Legolas. "How do you deal with that?"

Legolas stroked his horse's mane. "Perhaps the same as all younger siblings do." He patted his horse on the neck and grinned at Buffy. "I'm sure that Dawn could speak the same of you."

Buffy's head dropped. She kicked the ground and jammed her fists on top of her hips. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess she could. But I don't treat her that badly!" She protested. "And if I do, it's only for her safety. I mean, God, you've seen the kid. It's like she's wearing a sign that says 'yes, I am naive, please hurt me!' I only do it because..." she shrugged as she tailed off. "I care."

Legolas' hand rested on her upper arm. "You are a good sister. And a good friend. You are true to those you love most. That is what makes you a powerful warrior and a..." his voice failed as he eyes searched for the words to complete his thought. He looked to the ground as his cheeks began to colour.

"A what?" Buffy asked.

Legolas' mouth opened and closed silently as he stared wide-eyed at her. Eliathas shouted again for camp to be struck. Legolas jumped. "Yes, well. Back to work then."

He rushed off before Buffy could stop him. "Strange Elf," she muttered as she shook her head.

She looked about for work to be done but before she could move, Eliathas blocked her path. "We need help gathering the horses. Some were driven off by the battle. I believe Gandalf, in particular, is without his horse."

He stalked off without waiting for her to respond. She had a strong inclination to give him a mock salute but instead resigned herself to the given task.

***

Aragorn tightened the bridle on his horse while watching Legolas' back. The Elf had been working disjointedly, with no real purpose or organization to his duties. Now his Elven friend was stuffing spare tunics and supplies into his horse's side pack without bothering to sort or separate the items from each other. Aragorn's forehead creased. This was highly unlike Legolas, who was usually the height of cleanliness and order. Then Aragorn looked past Legolas' shoulder and saw the fixture of his companion's attention. Buffy was wandering the woods, whistling for some odd reason.

"She is a remarkable creature," Aragorn said quietly.

Legolas brushed the horse's neck. "She's not so different from the others. But I suppose her instinct is somewhat more attuned. Her sire was bred from the-"

Aragorn clasped Legolas' shoulder tightly to silence his rambling. "I meant the girl."

Legolas' eyebrows knitted together. "Oh." He looked up and stared off into the woods where Buffy was cautiously approaching an oak brown gelding. She was holding both hands out in front of her and wiggling her fingers in a futile attempt to coax the horse in closer. The gelding was eyeing her warily and stomping his front hoof. "Yes," Legolas said quietly. "She is remarkable."

"Quite refreshing too," Aragorn continued, "that she manages your brother with so much ease. There are few who can stand up to the heir of Mirkwood like that."

Legolas turned back to the straps on his horse. "She is not from this realm. Her people were not raised the same as we." He turned to Aragorn and studied his face. "Her expectations are different from ours."

Aragorn frowned. "How so?"

Legolas sighed and shook his head. He glanced again at Buffy who looked like she wanted to hug the horse. "She would not be happy here. She would never be treated the way a warrior woman should be."

Aragorn said nothing as he backed away and concentrated on his own tasks. But in his heart he knew that Legolas was right.

***

Buffy was stalking closer to the dark brown horse that towered above her. He seemed to be standing calmly, but Buffy suspected that he was taunting her. He snorted softly, staring at her with wide eyes and alert ears. He stomped the ground and shook his mane. Buffy held her arms in front of her in a non-threatening "see-I-have-no-gun" stance that seemed appropriate. She began talking in a high pitched voice, softly and melodic. "Come here, I'm not gonna hurt you. See? I'm not an ugly orc. Come on, you don't have to be scared."

The horse dipped his head down to sniff one of her hands. No food. He snorted disgustedly and turned his back on her, walking further into the forest.

Buffy growled. "Come here you stupid horse," she said in her normal tone of voice while traipsing after it. The horse swished its tail at her. Buffy began to jog. The horse began to trot. Buffy went into full out running. The horse, ears twitching with alarm, galloped away from her. Suddenly, the Slayer disappeared.

The horse glanced behind him. He stopped and gave a sharp cry. He glanced in the other direction. Now thoroughly confused, the horse completely turned around, facing the direction he had been running away from. There was nothing there.

There was a savage war howl that startled the horse, but before he could run away Buffy flung herself on top of him. The horse reared and Buffy hung on for dear life. He began to gallop at full steam ahead.

"Ha ha!" Buffy shouted, quite proud that she outsmarted the horse. Then she realized that no matter how hard she tugged back on the reins, the horse was neither stopping nor slowing down. "Oh shit," she whispered. Panicking, she dug her heels into the horse's side and pulled back sharply on the reins. The horse grunted wildly but put the brakes on, albeit too quickly for Buffy to prepare for it.

She found herself on her back in front of the halted horse, still holding onto the reins. "Stupid horse," she groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself up. As she passed his head he tried to fling it in the other direction, but she gave him a curt tug on the reins. "Shut up," she muttered. She was about to mount him again when she saw that one of the side packs had slipped and fallen to the ground.

Still holding the reins, she stooped down to grab it but found the heavy leather pack to be awkward with only one grip. As she was bringing it up, the horse backed up quickly and jostled the pack. Buffy turned to glare at the horse for a moment. She fastened the pack back onto the saddle and then stood frozen, staring at the saddle. She heard a whispering voice.

The horse was trying to get away by chewing on the reins. "Shh," Buffy commanded and, oddly, the horse stopped. She could hear it again, and this time it was louder but she still could not make out the words. She looked around for its location and then recognized that it was coming from behind her. She turned around and scoured the forest with her eyes to find the curious voice. Then she looked down.

It was a black sphere. She squinted as she tried to remember where she had seen one before. As she crouched down to pick it up, she recalled that that was what had been needed to return Legolas and Aragorn to Mirkwood. It was also what was needed to return her to Sunnydale. She hummed thoughtfully as she picked up the heavy ball and cradled it in the crook of her elbow. "Except," she began as she stared at it, "I don't remember you whispering last time we met."

The whispering was growing louder, and she could now tell that it was a male voice. But it didn't sound entirely human. And it wasn't speaking any language she understood. She thought it laughed. She concentrated, gazing into it as she tried to discern its voice.

The world around her grew silent. Dimly, she thought she heard the horse cry. She let go of the reins without comprehending what she had just done. She now grasped the ball with two hands and stared fixedly at it. If she focused hard enough, she thought she could see movement. There was swirling deep inside the ball, as if a fine mist was trapped in it somehow. For some reason, she had a sudden urge to shake it like an Etch-A-Sketch. So she did.

The voice now sounded down right angry. The mist turned into bright streaks of lightning. The voice was positively booming, commanding her, but Buffy still had no clue what it was saying.

"It's times like these you wish you had a language switch," Buffy remarked.

The lightning inside the orb grew until it morphed into flames. The flames took the shape of a circle. Buffy peered into the sphere. The circle stretched until it reached both sides of the sphere. The circle seemed to part in the middle, but Buffy saw that a long black line was forming, not cutting the circle but just filling it. Sort of like a pupil, she realized. It was an eye.

It was pulsing. Suddenly, Buffy felt cold air on her eyes. Her temples began to ache. Gasping, she threw the orb down. She rubbed her eyes and kept her hands over them for a few moments. She reopened her eyes and found herself breathing quickly, almost wheezing for air. She placed a hand on her chest and was surprised to feel her heart beating wildly. The orb was at her feet. She glanced at it for a second and felt the thumping of her temples again. She turned away.

The horse was still there, staring at her. She approached it, and it did not back away from her. She pulled the grey blanket that was tied to the back of the saddle and unrolled it. She walked back over to the orb and threw the blanket over top of it. She was about to pick the whole bundle up when she froze.

She was frightened of it. "This is so lame," she scolded herself. It was a ball. It couldn't even hit her or bite her. But as she started to kneel her legs felt weak. She stared at her hands that trembled visibly. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she crouched quickly and picked the bundle up. Her heart was thumping like a hammer. She fumbled with the side pack until the top opened and stuffed everything in. Taking a shaky breath, she briefly considered riding the horse back to the camp until she glanced at the leather pack. She decided to lead the horse back to camp. And to give the horse a long, long lead.

***

She looked tired, Legolas noted grimly. He could hardly blame her; the fight could be exhausting for mortals, but he had seen her in battle before and it seemed to barely affect her. As she led Gandalf's gelding back into the camp he saw the dark circles rimming her eyes, the way her shoulders were slumped, and even a slight misstep that made her stumble.

He approached her from the side, but she did not notice him until he touched her shoulder softly. "Troubles with Gandalf's horse?"

"Hmm?" Buffy mumbled distractedly. She glanced at Legolas, replaying what he had just said over and over and until it finally sunk in. "Oh. The horse." She gave the horse a stroke on his neck. "Nah. He's not such a bad guy."

Legolas studied her. "And you? How are you, Buffy?"

Buffy shrugged. A hand fluttered to graze her temple softly. "I'm fine." She shivered.

Legolas looked alarmed for a moment before realizing what was wrong. He looked up to the sky where grey clouds were gathering above. "The first snow is on its way."

Buffy closed her eyes tightly as she concentrated on processing the conversation. "Snow?"

Legolas did not notice the way she strained to comprehend what he was saying; he still looked up at the looming clouds with a small smile. "Yes."

"Never seen snow before," Buffy remarked quietly.

Legolas looked at her as if she had four heads. "Never?"

Buffy shook her head and immediately regretted the action. The throbbing in her temple was back. She winced and rubbed both sides of her head.

Legolas did not miss her obvious discomfort. "You are not well," he whispered.

Buffy frowned deeply. "No, I'm okay. Really." She passed the reins of Gandalf's horse to Legolas. "Can you see that your buddy gets his horse? I'm gonna go get some water."

Legolas nodded and watched Buffy as she trudged away. There was something about the situation that wasn't sitting right with him. Something that made his chest tighten slightly. Legolas frowned and stared at the dirt beneath his boots. What were his senses trying to tell him?

Suddenly he felt a breeze by his ear. He whirled around, scanning his surroundings but finding nothing. He shook his head, feeling somewhat foolish that a little wind had made him jump. He moved to take the horse over to Gandalf, but stopped. He turned and stared at the horse's saddle.

Legolas shivered, but did not feel cold.