Title: Full Circle of Life
Chapter: The War/Prelude To The Fall
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: First Four Series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy the show but I am broke.
Summary: Buffy's death results in a paradox. Years later Buffy and Xander are uniquely cursed by a demon; can they survive to fulfil a destiny that had already come to pass? (Not a post Gift Fic.)
AN: No Glory, no Dawn, and no Dracula. Riley died in the big battle *_* means Spell, '_' means thought "_" means speech.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King watched Buffy and Xander walked out of the War Room, full of concern.
"Leave me." He ordered and everyone left.
The King was deeply concerned, his family knew Buffy and Xander for over four hundred years, since before his ancestors, Catherine and Gabriel came to live in the city. His family had ruled The City for the last three hundred years, since one of his ancestors, a teenage girl, saved the King, who had no heir, and she was named his heir.
For generations, Buffy and Xander had helped to raise the King's family's children, the King himself had been named after on of Buffy and Xander's friends from the stories that the told. King Daniel (as in Daniel Osborne AKA Oz) himself had also served under Buffy and Xander in the military before taking the throne, like most of his family. As it was his daughter and heir, Princess Tara, was currently a squad leader in the Rangers and his younger son, Liam, had just joined the Cavalry.
King Daniel always remembered the advice that his mother, Queen Jennifer, had given him as a child. 'Be fair in your decisions, be just in judgement and listen to Uncle Xander and Aunt Buffy when it comes to military matters.' The King stood and walked to the door where his advisers were waiting.
"Call up the reserves. Gather the troops. We need to prepare for war." He commanded as he walked to his chambers.
If there was going to be a war, the troops would just have to fight beside their King.
********
Buffy and Xander walked into their chambers, still chuckling over Xander's last comment. They had separate beds, but Xander had a feeling that was about to change, however he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. They each walked to a series of display cases that held mementos of their past.
The two sets of cases were the same, the first case held a chain mail tunic, a light helmet, a longsword and a round shield; the second case held a longbow, a quiver full of arrows, leather armour with bracers, a green cloak with a hood and a pair of daggers; while the last case held a breastplate, plate mail leggings, a Calvary helmet, a lance, a large kite shield and a Calvary sabre.
As much as they hated to admit it, after four hundred years plus of fighting, they felt slightly uncomfortable when not in some for of armour, they still carried the knives they brought from Sunnydale everywhere they went. Knowing what could be coming; they stripped out of their court clothing and began donning armour. Firstly they donned the leather armour, except the bracers. Over that they placed the chain mail tunic then strapped the bracers over their wrists. They then donned their breastplates and plate mail leggings.
Next came their weaponry. The Calvary sabre was belted to their left hip while the quiver full of arrows was belted to their right. Next they placed a harness over their shoulders, and placed the two daggers into the sheaths between their shoulder blades. They the placed the bow case, with longbow inside and sheathed longsword into spaces provided by the harness. The small infantry round shield was placed over the back, secured by a strap and in effect, protecting the bow and longsword.
Next the Sunnydale knives were placed in sheaths in their lower back. The green forest cloak was donned and the Calvary helmet completed the outfit, leaving only the plumed officer's light infantry helmet in the display cases and the Lances and Kite shields by the door. Pulling the cloaks closed and raising the hoods, they looked at each other and smiled.
They looked like ordinary Rangers, but they were the deadliest fighters in The City. The Ranger cloaks had slits in the top, allowing access to the bow cases, knives and sword underneath, but also able to shield them from the weather by closing the slits over the weaponry. Lowering the hoods and throwing back the cloaks, Buffy and Xander left their chambers and proceeded to the War Room to look over the maps and plan possible campaigns and defensive measures for The City.
********
Buffy and Xander walked into their chambers, exhausted. They had spent the last three weeks getting reports and organising tactical details. Scouts had reported where the rasing ceremony was going to occur, and had indicated that it would be impossible to stop the ceremony due to mystical barriers and the large number of demons present.
They had ordered a perimeter set up around the area that would report and if overrun would retreat to a nearby stronghold. It was now a waiting game. Xander collapsed on his bed with a sigh.
"If someone could wake me up when it's time to fight, that would be great." He said with a sight grin.
"Hey. That's my line." Buffy said as she collapsed on her own bed.
After a few minutes Xander groaned and stood up again.
"Ouch. My dagger was digging into my back. I'm going to go for a shower. Want to join me?" Xander said with mischief in his voice.
"I don't know." Buffy said playfully.
"Come on. We've known each other for five hundred years and save each other's lives thousands of times." Xander semi-pleaded.
"You're point being?" Buffy replied, trying and failing to keep a strait face.
"Trust me. Der!" Xander replied.
Xander started to strip off his armour as he walked into the bathroom, not noticing Buffy doing the same.
"I bet you that we'll se the first Hell Hound within two years of the rasing and face the face an army of them within five." Xander called to Buffy thinking she was in the main chamber.
"I'll take that bet." Buffy whispered into his ear, making Xander jump.
Xander turned and carefully looked Buffy in the eyes before speaking.
"What are the terms?" he said.
"I win, you have to be my slave for a hundred years." Buffy said with a glint in her eyes.
"Ok. I win and you have to spend a night dancing with me." Xander said and he chuckled at her shocked expression.
"You would wager a night of dancing against a hundred years of slavery?" Buffy said, very surprised.
"Only for a night of dancing with you. We have a bet?" Xander said, dead serious.
"Um, sure." Buffy responded.
Xander turned and walked under the shower with a slight grin. He had read the accounts of the Mahkesh Wars and by all accounts the Hell Hounds appeared very early on, so he was fairly sure he would win the bet, plus he would not mind being Buffy's slave for a hundred years, he had worshiped her silently for five times that long.
********
"Hell Hounds!" the cry came over the din of battle.
Buffy and Xander looked up and saw a horde of the doglike demons rushing towards the left flank.
"Reserves, with me." Xander called before rushing towards the onrushing demons.
The Archers released a volley of arrows into the pack of Hell Hounds, taking out a large number. Xander's long legs and Buffy's Slayer speed quickly took the in front of the reserve Infantry and the Cavalry, which was getting clogged in the alleys in the defensive anti-Cavalry stakes planted in the ground.
Letting off several arrows as they ran, Buffy and Xander took out a few of the forerunners, before casing their longbows, drawing their longswords and putting their Kite shields in defensive positions.
"Hey, Buffy. Eighteen months and two and a half years. You owe me a night of dancing." Xander called as the rushed onwards.
"Ok. You win." Buffy said, just before they crashed into the mass of Hell Hounds, swords swinging and shields either deflecting blows or bashing the dog-demons.
By the time the reserves had arrived, Buffy and Xander had taken out a fair portion of the Hell Hounds, however they were not unscathed. Buffy had several cuts on her arms, most of the blows taken by the armour, and what felt like a cracked rib, she had also lost her Kite Shield and Longsword, not laying into the Hell Hounds with her Cavalry Sabre and her Infantry Round shield.
Xander was less lucky. He had lost his helmet, with blood running down his face and a large gash down the back of his right leg. He was lashing out with his Longsword and Cavalry Sabre. Xander and Buffy were fighting back to back in the midst of the Hell Hound horde as the Cavalry slammed into the mass, fighting their way to the well respected leaders while the Infantry began mercilessly cutting down the Hell Hounds, closing ranks as soldiers fell and persistently moving forward.
Just as the Cavalry hit the Hell Hounds, Xander lost his Cavalry Sabre, so he instantly drew one of his Ranger daggers and began using it as a parrying dagger. When the Cavalry reached Buffy and Xander they formed a ring around the leaders. As Buffy and Xander were injured and not really fit for hand to hand, the sheathed their weapons and pulled out their longbows, shooting at every opportunity from behind the Cavalry, laying down covering fire when a soldier fell until the gap could be closed. When they ran out of arrows, they would dart in and assist any solider in trouble. With the methodical attack of the Infantry and the desperate defence of the Cavalry, the Hell Hounds broke, running off the way they came.
"Hold!" Buffy yelled as some of the Cavalry started to give chase.
Buffy and Xander looked around at the butcher's yard that was the battlefield. The imitate area was littered with the corpses of Hell Hounds and humans, too many humans for comfort.
'Even one is too many.' Xander thought bitterly, not for the first time.
The rest of the battle was finishing up, the majority of the demons dead, the rest dieing or fleeing. Today was a victory, but a rare one. For the first six months The City's soldiers had managed to hold Mahkesh's minions at bay, but for the last two years they had been slowly falling back. That did not mean they were going to give up, not by a long shot, but Xander had a feeling that The City would soon fall.
********
". That is our recommendation, Your Majesty." Xander finished.
"You wish us to abandon The City?" Queen Tara asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Buffy responded.
"Ok. Enough with the Majesty stuff. For the moment, we are just a woman and her two, very old family friends." Tara said.
"Alright Tara. It is the only way. Despite all we can do, we are loosing." Xander said.
Tara dropped from a confident and capable Queen who had seen all forty years of the war, starting as a soldier in the Ranger's and then as a Queen to a scared and concerned woman who needed friends.
"Tara." Buffy said, trying to comfort the concerned woman. "She will not fall undefended. We would never let that happen."
"Tara, I want you to leave with the evacuation." Xander said. "Help keep the memory of The City alive. Don't let them forget."
"No. I'm staying." Tara responded.
"You're going and that's final. We made a promise to Catherine and Gabriel to keep their family safe. You are more important to us than anything short of the survival of the human race." Buffy commanded, speaking as an authoritative Aunt.
The orders were given and preparations were made for The City, the safe haven and bastion of humanity, to be evacuated.
********
Buffy and Xander stood in front of forty teenage girls. Behind the two leaders stood a collection of warriors, scholars, Mages and Clerics.
"Are you sure about this. I keep thinking Faith." Buffy whispered to Xander.
"I know. But this time we can choose her." Xander whispered back.
Xander stepped forward and announced why they wanted the girls assembled. Then Buffy and Xander asked them a series of questions, the girls stepping forward if the answer was yes or the condition had occurred and moving off to the side if not. Finally there were two girls standing before Buffy and Xander.
"Deborah." The first girl answered in response to being asked her name.
"Why do you want this?" Xander asked.
"Because they killed my family." Deborah responded.
"What would you do if you were given this?" Buffy asked.
"Get revenge." Deborah said with rage in her eyes.
Buffy and Xander moved to the other girl and asked her the same questions.
"Samantha. My family was also killed. To prevent others from suffering like I have." Samantha responded in turn.
"Samantha will be the Slayer." Buffy announced.
"No. You can't do this to me. I must kill them all!" Deborah screamed.
"That attitude will, if you're lucky, get you killed. If you're not, it will get others killed as well. This is not a personal revenge trip. This is to save the future of Humanity. If that is not you ultimate aim, it will drive you insane. I've seen it before." Buffy growled at Deborah before escorting Samantha away.
A few hours later Samantha and the group who had accompanied Buffy and Xander to the selection rode out of one of the gates and off into the distance. They had just called the original Slayer and formed the group that would one day be known as The Watcher's Council. Knowing what they had doomed the future Slayers to, Buffy and Xander turned from the riding collum and back to the problem at hand, saving humanity, again.
TBC.
Chapter: The War/Prelude To The Fall
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: First Four Series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy the show but I am broke.
Summary: Buffy's death results in a paradox. Years later Buffy and Xander are uniquely cursed by a demon; can they survive to fulfil a destiny that had already come to pass? (Not a post Gift Fic.)
AN: No Glory, no Dawn, and no Dracula. Riley died in the big battle *_* means Spell, '_' means thought "_" means speech.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King watched Buffy and Xander walked out of the War Room, full of concern.
"Leave me." He ordered and everyone left.
The King was deeply concerned, his family knew Buffy and Xander for over four hundred years, since before his ancestors, Catherine and Gabriel came to live in the city. His family had ruled The City for the last three hundred years, since one of his ancestors, a teenage girl, saved the King, who had no heir, and she was named his heir.
For generations, Buffy and Xander had helped to raise the King's family's children, the King himself had been named after on of Buffy and Xander's friends from the stories that the told. King Daniel (as in Daniel Osborne AKA Oz) himself had also served under Buffy and Xander in the military before taking the throne, like most of his family. As it was his daughter and heir, Princess Tara, was currently a squad leader in the Rangers and his younger son, Liam, had just joined the Cavalry.
King Daniel always remembered the advice that his mother, Queen Jennifer, had given him as a child. 'Be fair in your decisions, be just in judgement and listen to Uncle Xander and Aunt Buffy when it comes to military matters.' The King stood and walked to the door where his advisers were waiting.
"Call up the reserves. Gather the troops. We need to prepare for war." He commanded as he walked to his chambers.
If there was going to be a war, the troops would just have to fight beside their King.
********
Buffy and Xander walked into their chambers, still chuckling over Xander's last comment. They had separate beds, but Xander had a feeling that was about to change, however he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. They each walked to a series of display cases that held mementos of their past.
The two sets of cases were the same, the first case held a chain mail tunic, a light helmet, a longsword and a round shield; the second case held a longbow, a quiver full of arrows, leather armour with bracers, a green cloak with a hood and a pair of daggers; while the last case held a breastplate, plate mail leggings, a Calvary helmet, a lance, a large kite shield and a Calvary sabre.
As much as they hated to admit it, after four hundred years plus of fighting, they felt slightly uncomfortable when not in some for of armour, they still carried the knives they brought from Sunnydale everywhere they went. Knowing what could be coming; they stripped out of their court clothing and began donning armour. Firstly they donned the leather armour, except the bracers. Over that they placed the chain mail tunic then strapped the bracers over their wrists. They then donned their breastplates and plate mail leggings.
Next came their weaponry. The Calvary sabre was belted to their left hip while the quiver full of arrows was belted to their right. Next they placed a harness over their shoulders, and placed the two daggers into the sheaths between their shoulder blades. They the placed the bow case, with longbow inside and sheathed longsword into spaces provided by the harness. The small infantry round shield was placed over the back, secured by a strap and in effect, protecting the bow and longsword.
Next the Sunnydale knives were placed in sheaths in their lower back. The green forest cloak was donned and the Calvary helmet completed the outfit, leaving only the plumed officer's light infantry helmet in the display cases and the Lances and Kite shields by the door. Pulling the cloaks closed and raising the hoods, they looked at each other and smiled.
They looked like ordinary Rangers, but they were the deadliest fighters in The City. The Ranger cloaks had slits in the top, allowing access to the bow cases, knives and sword underneath, but also able to shield them from the weather by closing the slits over the weaponry. Lowering the hoods and throwing back the cloaks, Buffy and Xander left their chambers and proceeded to the War Room to look over the maps and plan possible campaigns and defensive measures for The City.
********
Buffy and Xander walked into their chambers, exhausted. They had spent the last three weeks getting reports and organising tactical details. Scouts had reported where the rasing ceremony was going to occur, and had indicated that it would be impossible to stop the ceremony due to mystical barriers and the large number of demons present.
They had ordered a perimeter set up around the area that would report and if overrun would retreat to a nearby stronghold. It was now a waiting game. Xander collapsed on his bed with a sigh.
"If someone could wake me up when it's time to fight, that would be great." He said with a sight grin.
"Hey. That's my line." Buffy said as she collapsed on her own bed.
After a few minutes Xander groaned and stood up again.
"Ouch. My dagger was digging into my back. I'm going to go for a shower. Want to join me?" Xander said with mischief in his voice.
"I don't know." Buffy said playfully.
"Come on. We've known each other for five hundred years and save each other's lives thousands of times." Xander semi-pleaded.
"You're point being?" Buffy replied, trying and failing to keep a strait face.
"Trust me. Der!" Xander replied.
Xander started to strip off his armour as he walked into the bathroom, not noticing Buffy doing the same.
"I bet you that we'll se the first Hell Hound within two years of the rasing and face the face an army of them within five." Xander called to Buffy thinking she was in the main chamber.
"I'll take that bet." Buffy whispered into his ear, making Xander jump.
Xander turned and carefully looked Buffy in the eyes before speaking.
"What are the terms?" he said.
"I win, you have to be my slave for a hundred years." Buffy said with a glint in her eyes.
"Ok. I win and you have to spend a night dancing with me." Xander said and he chuckled at her shocked expression.
"You would wager a night of dancing against a hundred years of slavery?" Buffy said, very surprised.
"Only for a night of dancing with you. We have a bet?" Xander said, dead serious.
"Um, sure." Buffy responded.
Xander turned and walked under the shower with a slight grin. He had read the accounts of the Mahkesh Wars and by all accounts the Hell Hounds appeared very early on, so he was fairly sure he would win the bet, plus he would not mind being Buffy's slave for a hundred years, he had worshiped her silently for five times that long.
********
"Hell Hounds!" the cry came over the din of battle.
Buffy and Xander looked up and saw a horde of the doglike demons rushing towards the left flank.
"Reserves, with me." Xander called before rushing towards the onrushing demons.
The Archers released a volley of arrows into the pack of Hell Hounds, taking out a large number. Xander's long legs and Buffy's Slayer speed quickly took the in front of the reserve Infantry and the Cavalry, which was getting clogged in the alleys in the defensive anti-Cavalry stakes planted in the ground.
Letting off several arrows as they ran, Buffy and Xander took out a few of the forerunners, before casing their longbows, drawing their longswords and putting their Kite shields in defensive positions.
"Hey, Buffy. Eighteen months and two and a half years. You owe me a night of dancing." Xander called as the rushed onwards.
"Ok. You win." Buffy said, just before they crashed into the mass of Hell Hounds, swords swinging and shields either deflecting blows or bashing the dog-demons.
By the time the reserves had arrived, Buffy and Xander had taken out a fair portion of the Hell Hounds, however they were not unscathed. Buffy had several cuts on her arms, most of the blows taken by the armour, and what felt like a cracked rib, she had also lost her Kite Shield and Longsword, not laying into the Hell Hounds with her Cavalry Sabre and her Infantry Round shield.
Xander was less lucky. He had lost his helmet, with blood running down his face and a large gash down the back of his right leg. He was lashing out with his Longsword and Cavalry Sabre. Xander and Buffy were fighting back to back in the midst of the Hell Hound horde as the Cavalry slammed into the mass, fighting their way to the well respected leaders while the Infantry began mercilessly cutting down the Hell Hounds, closing ranks as soldiers fell and persistently moving forward.
Just as the Cavalry hit the Hell Hounds, Xander lost his Cavalry Sabre, so he instantly drew one of his Ranger daggers and began using it as a parrying dagger. When the Cavalry reached Buffy and Xander they formed a ring around the leaders. As Buffy and Xander were injured and not really fit for hand to hand, the sheathed their weapons and pulled out their longbows, shooting at every opportunity from behind the Cavalry, laying down covering fire when a soldier fell until the gap could be closed. When they ran out of arrows, they would dart in and assist any solider in trouble. With the methodical attack of the Infantry and the desperate defence of the Cavalry, the Hell Hounds broke, running off the way they came.
"Hold!" Buffy yelled as some of the Cavalry started to give chase.
Buffy and Xander looked around at the butcher's yard that was the battlefield. The imitate area was littered with the corpses of Hell Hounds and humans, too many humans for comfort.
'Even one is too many.' Xander thought bitterly, not for the first time.
The rest of the battle was finishing up, the majority of the demons dead, the rest dieing or fleeing. Today was a victory, but a rare one. For the first six months The City's soldiers had managed to hold Mahkesh's minions at bay, but for the last two years they had been slowly falling back. That did not mean they were going to give up, not by a long shot, but Xander had a feeling that The City would soon fall.
********
". That is our recommendation, Your Majesty." Xander finished.
"You wish us to abandon The City?" Queen Tara asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Buffy responded.
"Ok. Enough with the Majesty stuff. For the moment, we are just a woman and her two, very old family friends." Tara said.
"Alright Tara. It is the only way. Despite all we can do, we are loosing." Xander said.
Tara dropped from a confident and capable Queen who had seen all forty years of the war, starting as a soldier in the Ranger's and then as a Queen to a scared and concerned woman who needed friends.
"Tara." Buffy said, trying to comfort the concerned woman. "She will not fall undefended. We would never let that happen."
"Tara, I want you to leave with the evacuation." Xander said. "Help keep the memory of The City alive. Don't let them forget."
"No. I'm staying." Tara responded.
"You're going and that's final. We made a promise to Catherine and Gabriel to keep their family safe. You are more important to us than anything short of the survival of the human race." Buffy commanded, speaking as an authoritative Aunt.
The orders were given and preparations were made for The City, the safe haven and bastion of humanity, to be evacuated.
********
Buffy and Xander stood in front of forty teenage girls. Behind the two leaders stood a collection of warriors, scholars, Mages and Clerics.
"Are you sure about this. I keep thinking Faith." Buffy whispered to Xander.
"I know. But this time we can choose her." Xander whispered back.
Xander stepped forward and announced why they wanted the girls assembled. Then Buffy and Xander asked them a series of questions, the girls stepping forward if the answer was yes or the condition had occurred and moving off to the side if not. Finally there were two girls standing before Buffy and Xander.
"Deborah." The first girl answered in response to being asked her name.
"Why do you want this?" Xander asked.
"Because they killed my family." Deborah responded.
"What would you do if you were given this?" Buffy asked.
"Get revenge." Deborah said with rage in her eyes.
Buffy and Xander moved to the other girl and asked her the same questions.
"Samantha. My family was also killed. To prevent others from suffering like I have." Samantha responded in turn.
"Samantha will be the Slayer." Buffy announced.
"No. You can't do this to me. I must kill them all!" Deborah screamed.
"That attitude will, if you're lucky, get you killed. If you're not, it will get others killed as well. This is not a personal revenge trip. This is to save the future of Humanity. If that is not you ultimate aim, it will drive you insane. I've seen it before." Buffy growled at Deborah before escorting Samantha away.
A few hours later Samantha and the group who had accompanied Buffy and Xander to the selection rode out of one of the gates and off into the distance. They had just called the original Slayer and formed the group that would one day be known as The Watcher's Council. Knowing what they had doomed the future Slayers to, Buffy and Xander turned from the riding collum and back to the problem at hand, saving humanity, again.
TBC.