Tauriel waited for Buffy just beyond the treeline, the knife she had pulled on the orc flipping easily through her fingers. She was dressed for quick travel in deep greens and rich browns, the dark colors designed to blend into the trees, allowing the already stealthy elves to easily slip through the shadowy forest. A bow and a full quiver was slung over her shoulder and two long knives were strapped to her hip. Buffy knew that there were at least a dozen additional throwing knives hidden along the elleth's body.
"The poison. How did you survive?" Buffy sighed, turning to watch Legolas and his father argue just inside the city gates while the rest of Tauriel's guard poured from the walls, falling into flawless formation. Buffy knew that would change soon enough. They weren't going to be fighting in formation anytime soon. Not at Amon Lanc. That would be a recipe for their own slaughter. If they wanted even a fraction of a chance at survival they would have to stop thinking like soldiers, and start working like warriors.
By the time Buffy was through with them, these elves would be fighting like slayers.
"Do you know what they call me?" Buffy asked the elleth, finally turning towards the other woman. Red hair gleamed in the light as Tauriel shook her head. Buffy leaned back against the tree behind her, crossing her arms loosely over her chest.
"They call me Dagnir."
"Slayer." Buffy nodded, a small smile flickering across her face even though Buffy's thoughts are anything but happy. A short montage of her own best of moments flashed through her head; graveyard patrols, Scooby meetings, various apocalypses. Angel, Dawn, Giles… Willow, Xander and Spike. Anya and Andrew.
Faith.
The smokey laugh that had grated on her nerves so much, then later became so treasured, floated in the wind. Buffy turned her head, half expecting to see her sister slayer perched in the trees. As if Faith hadn't died in an apocalypse forty years post Sunnydale. Neither of them had aged since the day they destroyed the hellmouth, and they thought that they'd be immortal hot chicks with superpowers forever; which was the only thing that had made the idea of forever bearable back then.
That apocalypse was the day they'd figured out they could still get killed. Faith had been torn apart by demons, her screams echoing in the night. They'd won the day, saved the world. But Buffy had lost a sister. And her only hope that she wouldn't be alone for the rest of her endless days.
Buffy forced herself to turn back to Tauriel.
"Slayer. They call me slayer. Where I come from, the Slayer is a girl, always a girl. She is imbued with strength and skill so that she could battle the forces of darkness and stop their spread." Buffy quoted, the speech well worn and familiar even after two thousand years. "It gives me the strength to heal from injuries that would kill anyone else."
"So another…" Buffy wrapped her hand around Tauriel's shoulder squeezing gently. She leaned in close to the elleth, and whispered softly enough that none of the other elves around them would hear.
"Kili was not hit. I caught the arrow and as far as I know, he has remained uninjured." Buffy straightened, smiling at the relief on the elleth's face. She wasn't prepared for the hug that quickly followed. Buffy awkwardly patted her on the back and gently extricated herself from the hug. Tauriel smiled at Buffy and the two of them turned to face the thirty elves who were to go with them to Amon Lanc to guard against its evil.
Legolas stormed through the ranks, joining her and Tauriel in front of the guard, leaving Thranduil standing in the doorway of his kingdom looking just a little bit lost. It was clear who had won the argument between father and son. Buffy glanced at her friend, and at her look he straightened, spine going stiff and his face closed, growing impassive.
He was every inch the feared king of Mirkwood. He gave her a single regal nod and vanished into his halls, the stone doors grinding shut, sealing behind him.
The prince of Mirkwood stood behind Buffy at her left shoulder and Tauriel stood at her right. Buffy took a step forward and surveyed the neat rows of elvish soldiers in front of her. Buffy took a deep breath. It's been a long time since she's led anyone, a long time since Buffy has done anything except fight alone. But nothing can stay the same forever.
"Eryn Galen has been plagued by darkness for too long. Dol Guldur has stood in the southern edge of Mirkwood spewing out hatred and evil and shadows while we stood back and watched, tried to protect only what we had because we were afraid. Because we were not ready. That is what the shadow believes. That we're weak. That we're powerless against them. That the elves of Mirkwood can be forced inside their halls in terror, while waiting for the end to come." Buffy took a deep breath. She's never been particularly good at speeches, never really liked giving them either.
But they needed to hear this.
"But they're wrong. They are not ready for us. I'm done watching. I'm done waiting. It's time for the elves of Greenwood to reclaim what is theirs, because I am done allowing the shadow to walk all over us. We are the guardians of Amon Lanc, and no shadow will cross our borders; not while I can still carry a sword or draw my bow. There is only one thing in Arda more powerful than evil, and that's us. We march now; kill any dark creature that dares to cross our path." Without waiting to see if they followed her command, Buffy whirled around and started to move, easily melting into the trees as she headed south. The whispering song of the elves followed behind her, and a smile curled across Buffy's face as she felt Tauriel come up next to her. It's been a long time since she's had a sister warrior to fight beside.
"Those were fighting words my lady." The elleth murmured to her. Buffy noted Legolas's shadow following close behind them. She elected to ignore him as she drew her bow and aimed it into the trees. She heard a skittering sound that signaled one of the giant spiders that lurked high in the trees. They were like vampires on a hellmouth; impossible to get rid of.
"They are. I'm not going to kid any of you, we might be border guards, but there will be fighting. It will be hard, and it will be everyday. But we can do it. We have too." Buffy loosed the arrow.
There was a heavy thud, and a sickening crunch, as the body of the spider fell to the floor. It was still twitching feebly. Buffy drew her sword and decapitated it before moving on. Behind her, she could hear similar sounds of quiet death, elves destroying spiders and their nests as they silently spread out through the woods.
Mirkwood was filled with beasties and monsters for Buffy to kill, and it would be a good training ground for the elves she was taking with her to Dol Guldur. It wouldn't be like fighting the odd orc pack, or clearing giant spider nests. Guarding a fortress of evil requires a measure of give and take; kill a few silently and let the rest reach the tower; destroy the leader but allow the pack to survive. Containing evil, especially when the evil is so much more powerful, is harder.
The shadow at Amon Lanc cannot know that there are more guardians than just Buffy now. Secrecy would be of the utmost importance.
Buffy just counted herself lucky that elves were already naturally quiet. But they would have to learn to become silent if they were going to survive the borders Buffy was going to make them protect. She quickly scaled a tree, watching Tauriel's confused expression as Buffy vanished into what seemed like thin air.
Training starts now.
oOo
Tauriel never thought she'd be glad to see the black fortress of Dol Guldur, but crossing over from Mirkwood forest proper into the diseased southern woods meant a reprieve from Buffy's "training."
Even though the dagnir had told her she was powerful, the elleth hadn't quite believed that meant she would be stronger, faster and more silent than the entire elite guard of the Woodland Realm. The blonde human was just so small.
She couldn't have been more wrong. In the week long march to Dol Guldur, Buffy had managed to exhaust every single member of the thirty elves who had set out with her, while cheerfully insulting them and killing spiders and orcs with terrifying efficiency.
It was simply unfair how quiet the adaneth is, her feet silent as she stalked the high boughs of the twisted trees. Even across the thickly carpeted forest floor, she was silent as she walked across dry leaves, and small sticks - disturbing nothing in her path. She came out of nowhere, jumping out from the shadows and descending from the trees like a ghost, surprising them, ambushing them, and often soundly beating them. She used everything around her to her advantage.
Tauriel has no doubt that Buffy could have killed them all if she'd wished.
Their march was long and hard. The slayer taught them tactics they've never used before, never needed before. She taught them how to fight alone and without formation, to improvise, to ignore rules of combat. There would be none where they went, and so they must learn to be as silent as the slayer and twice as devious if they were to survive the massive orc army that she warned them they might find.
Not even their nights were safe, although mealtimes were sacred, and very little could dissuade her from insisting every member of their party sit together while they ate. Not even to set a guard. Tauriel privately believes that Buffy must have been very lonely for a very long time. But dinner was always fun, and the only time they were safe from the terrorization that she liked to call training.
"Pair off. Trust each other. Don't be seen. And remember, the first rule of slayage is don't die." Buffy warned them, appearing from a tree above them, leaning casually against the wide trunk. Nobody jumped, used to her sudden entrances by now, just nodding and finding their patrol partners. Tauriel had been forced to wade into that debate in the beginning, glaring and ordering elves around, but after three days of Buffy's enforced "buddy system" everything seemed to have settled down. That was another new thing.
Within the kingdom of Mirkwood, their patrols rarely exceeded ten guards, but never had less than five. There was safety in numbers, but Buffy held an ambitious position around Dol Guldur. The border she insisted they hold would take less than half a day to run the full perimeter. It was a small, tight circle around the black fortress, and every inch of it was filled with evil.
In pairs they would silently patrol, killing off any evil creature that attempted to leave Dol Guldur into Mirkwood proper, as well as picking off as many orc packs, coming both in and out, as possible. While not being seen. Or heard.
She and Legolas stood together waiting for Buffy to descend from the trees, the blonde slayer moving so silently, if Tauriel wasn't watching her move, if she wasn't feeling her warmth when she brushed shoulders with her, she might have believed her to be nothing more than an apparition. A spirit of the woods themselves.
"Tauriel, you and Legolas come with me." She murmured quietly as she walked past them towards the thirty other guards, sending each pair off in a different direction with strict directions.
Tauriel exchanged glances with Legolas, dread building in her stomach. She was glad to have Buffy be with them, as she liked the slayer. But if Buffy's training continued… the elleth isn't sure if her protesting muscles can take anymore abuse.
She'd rather fight an entire pack of Gundabad orcs. Alone.