CHAPTER FIVE: BROWN

It was strange, she decided about three hours into the lonely walk.  She had seen absolutely nothing in this barren wasteland except for dust and the occasional tree stump.  There didn't seem to be any monsters, demons or vampires, which, considering she was in a hell dimension, seemed to be rather unsettling.

The sun here seemed to be hotter, her leather jacket long since discarded, her shirt sticking to the back of her neck with sweat.  Her feet ached with calluses and blisters, her feet stained brown from the dust, tinged with red from blood.

Small rocks pierced the bottom of her feet, making them bleed uncomfortably, but she continued to walk.  It was nearly five hours before she saw anything even remotely dangerous.

The sight of a small pond of blue water swam into her vision, but the Slayer dismissed it immediately.  For one thing, the water shouldn't have been blue, seeing as it should have been reflecting the blood red sky.  For another thing, she knew without a doubt that she was hallucinating.  Probably the heat of the sun had gotten to her to make her see things that she wanted to see.  Of course, if that was actually the case, she probably would be seeing a blue sky and her home town of Sunnydale.

The more she kept walking, the closer it got, and when she was within arms length of it, she looked down to see the ripples.  It seemed to be real enough.

She bent down to touch it, the feel of water on her skin after so many years seemed unfamiliar, and yet so very welcome.  She swept her hand through the water and felt comforted by the coolness of the liquid.

She ran her wet hand over her face, brushing her hair out of her eyes and slicking it back.  After faltering for only a moment, she stripped off her shirt and soaked it in the water, replacing it on her back, sending cool shivers down her spin.  She cupped her hands together and drank deeply, her throat dry and sore from the wind and lack of refreshments.

In her cave she hadn't craved for food or water, but now that water was directly in front of her, she couldn't seem to stay away from it.  Like a moth to a flame.

She stopped immediately when she heard a sound from behind her.  She stayed crouched low to the ground, lowing furtively around her, grabbing the crossbow and making sure it was loaded properly.

She couldn't see anything around her, though the sun was beginning to set and visibility was becoming poor.  She strained her eyes and looked out into the fading light, listening carefully.  When she got home, she would definitely thank Giles for his careful training in all of her senses.

For five minutes she crouched by the water, her crossbow ready.  She hadn't heard another sound, but she knew she hadn't just been hearing things.  Another five minutes passed and she put the crossbow down beside her within reach.

As soon as she turned back to the pool, she felt the air shift around her, felt another presence in her midst.  Without thinking she grabbed the crossbow and turned in one swift move, firing a single bolt and automatically reloading the weapon.  She didn't need to reload it though.

Her stalker was dead on the ground, the crossbow bolt directly in its heart.  It spluttered momentarily before its body relaxed and breathed it's last breathe.  She approached carefully, having been trained well enough to know that not all demons died so easily.  On closer examination, she could tell that the demon was dead.  She yanked the bolt out of the demons chest and cleaned it with water from the pond, adding it to the spare chambers of the bow.

With a relieved sigh, she listened to the now dark air around her but heard nothing.  Alert and on guard, she sat beside the water and lay down with her crossbow in her hands.  Closing her eyes, she managed to sleep.

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For years on end, this routine continued.  She would walk, she would sleep, she would fight.  Often, she would pass out due to blood loss, but she found that not only did she never age, but she never died.  She had yet to decide if it was a blessing or a curse.

Her scars healed after several years, her memories became vague, though certain faces stayed in her memory.  Dawn, Giles, Willow and Xander.  Spike, Tara and Anya were there on the periphery, but the core Scooby Gang and her sister stayed bright in her memory.

It was over four centuries later that Buffy noticed the massive shift in the air.  She was now used to the small movements of the demons around her.  She was used to the daily schedules of most of the demons.  She had no real concept of time, no real concept of what anything was any more.  All she knew was that if she didn't fight, she would be injured.  And seeing as she couldn't die, it was better to kill them off before they could hurt her too badly.

She couldn't tell what the shift was, couldn't distinguish it at all.  All she knew was that something felt different.  Something that wasn't a demon had joined them on this plane of reality.  But for now, all she could do was continue to fight.