Title: Legends
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com
Archive: Anywhere and everywhere. Just tell me if you do.
Spoilers: Anything goes
Summary: How did the Watchers begin? Several people want
to know. Set some time during the first three seasons.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective
owners. I'm too lazy to look them up.
"Giles?"
"Yes, Willow?"
It had been quiet lately. Aside from the usual number of
vamps staked each night, there had been no new demons or
apocalypses sighted. So Willow was in the library this
night going through some of Giles' books, looking for
interesting tidbits of information.
"How did...
***
"...the Watchers begin?"
"That's an interesting question, Mac. What brought it up?"
"Methos has been telling tall stories, Joe. And he got my
curiosity up, so I thought I come talk to you. Methos can
exagerate sometimes."
"I'm flattered." The bar was closed. Joe and Duncan were
alone, and he had time. Why the hell not? "Well, I can't
say for sure it's true. More of a legend really..."
***
"...but I'll tell you what I know." Giles paused to wipe
his glasses. "We began before civilization arose, passing
oral stories to one another around campfires. Writing had
not been invented then. We told each other of the spirits
and demons and things that passed in the night. We told
each other of true Immortals..."
"A true Immortal, like what's described in this book?"
Willow held up the book she had been reading. It had just
arrived in the mail from England. On its cover was a
single symbol, a double circle that contained a stylized
bird or "M".
***
"Demons and spirits?"
"That's how the legends go," Joe said defensively. "And
after your encounter with the real thing..."
"Alright, I get your point."
"Anyway, civilization arose, writing was invented, and we
started putting the legends we had learned down on clay
tablets and convenient walls. We started calling ourselves
Watchers."
***
"We gathered in the first cities. In fact, we always
headquartered ourselves in the hub of trade routes. It
simply made it easier for Watchers to report in. But I'm
getting ahead of myself.
"In the first cities, we gathered all we had learned. The
council was formed. Initially, the Council was supposed to
safeguard the accumalated lore. There central location
made it convenient for the most respected Watchers to
gather there, those Watchers became leaders, who joined
the Council...well, you get the idea."
Willow just nodded, fascinated.
"But then, there came the Schism."
***
"The Schism?"
"Yeah. Seems some of the early Watchers had taken to
hunting down some of those spirits and demons I mentioned
earlier."
"Hunters," Mac said with distaste.
"Uh-huh. Legend has it that they didn't actually do the
hunting themselves. They trained special young girls to
do the actual hunting. Called them Vampire Slayers. Though
they'd 'slay' anything else given the chance."
"Young girls against demons? Against *us*?" Mac was
shocked.
"Well, these so-called Slayers had notoriously short
lifetimes."
***
"It shocked the other Watchers. Watchers, you see, are
supposed to Watch in their view. We're not supposed to
interfere, they said. Watchers are supposed to record, to
be passive. Our side argued that we should be using our
accumalated knowledge to defend humanity against the
forces of darkness."
"So both sides couldn't agree and split up," Willow
guessed. At Giles' nod, she asked. "What happened to the
other guys?"
"Well, we assumed that the other group..."
***
"...just up and died out."
"You assume?"
"Well, there have been rumors that they still exist. That
some Watchers are in contact with them, but nobody can say
for sure. In fact, nobody wants to admit it, probably
afraid they'll be blacklisted like Horton."
"Not that it stopped him."
***
"So how come this is the only reference to true Immortals
we have?" Willow asked. "The book makes them sound pretty
nasty."
"Well, after the Schism, we concentrated on the threats
to humanity and such. I suppose True Immortals weren't
counted as such."
"That's not what it says here," Willow said indicating her
book. "The guy who wrote it, Horton, says something about
a Prize..."
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com
Archive: Anywhere and everywhere. Just tell me if you do.
Spoilers: Anything goes
Summary: How did the Watchers begin? Several people want
to know. Set some time during the first three seasons.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective
owners. I'm too lazy to look them up.
"Giles?"
"Yes, Willow?"
It had been quiet lately. Aside from the usual number of
vamps staked each night, there had been no new demons or
apocalypses sighted. So Willow was in the library this
night going through some of Giles' books, looking for
interesting tidbits of information.
"How did...
***
"...the Watchers begin?"
"That's an interesting question, Mac. What brought it up?"
"Methos has been telling tall stories, Joe. And he got my
curiosity up, so I thought I come talk to you. Methos can
exagerate sometimes."
"I'm flattered." The bar was closed. Joe and Duncan were
alone, and he had time. Why the hell not? "Well, I can't
say for sure it's true. More of a legend really..."
***
"...but I'll tell you what I know." Giles paused to wipe
his glasses. "We began before civilization arose, passing
oral stories to one another around campfires. Writing had
not been invented then. We told each other of the spirits
and demons and things that passed in the night. We told
each other of true Immortals..."
"A true Immortal, like what's described in this book?"
Willow held up the book she had been reading. It had just
arrived in the mail from England. On its cover was a
single symbol, a double circle that contained a stylized
bird or "M".
***
"Demons and spirits?"
"That's how the legends go," Joe said defensively. "And
after your encounter with the real thing..."
"Alright, I get your point."
"Anyway, civilization arose, writing was invented, and we
started putting the legends we had learned down on clay
tablets and convenient walls. We started calling ourselves
Watchers."
***
"We gathered in the first cities. In fact, we always
headquartered ourselves in the hub of trade routes. It
simply made it easier for Watchers to report in. But I'm
getting ahead of myself.
"In the first cities, we gathered all we had learned. The
council was formed. Initially, the Council was supposed to
safeguard the accumalated lore. There central location
made it convenient for the most respected Watchers to
gather there, those Watchers became leaders, who joined
the Council...well, you get the idea."
Willow just nodded, fascinated.
"But then, there came the Schism."
***
"The Schism?"
"Yeah. Seems some of the early Watchers had taken to
hunting down some of those spirits and demons I mentioned
earlier."
"Hunters," Mac said with distaste.
"Uh-huh. Legend has it that they didn't actually do the
hunting themselves. They trained special young girls to
do the actual hunting. Called them Vampire Slayers. Though
they'd 'slay' anything else given the chance."
"Young girls against demons? Against *us*?" Mac was
shocked.
"Well, these so-called Slayers had notoriously short
lifetimes."
***
"It shocked the other Watchers. Watchers, you see, are
supposed to Watch in their view. We're not supposed to
interfere, they said. Watchers are supposed to record, to
be passive. Our side argued that we should be using our
accumalated knowledge to defend humanity against the
forces of darkness."
"So both sides couldn't agree and split up," Willow
guessed. At Giles' nod, she asked. "What happened to the
other guys?"
"Well, we assumed that the other group..."
***
"...just up and died out."
"You assume?"
"Well, there have been rumors that they still exist. That
some Watchers are in contact with them, but nobody can say
for sure. In fact, nobody wants to admit it, probably
afraid they'll be blacklisted like Horton."
"Not that it stopped him."
***
"So how come this is the only reference to true Immortals
we have?" Willow asked. "The book makes them sound pretty
nasty."
"Well, after the Schism, we concentrated on the threats
to humanity and such. I suppose True Immortals weren't
counted as such."
"That's not what it says here," Willow said indicating her
book. "The guy who wrote it, Horton, says something about
a Prize..."