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Chapter 6

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Buffy found herself strolling back into the library after her hasty retreat from dinner. It had been a delicious smelling roast, but her stomach was queasy to the point of not allowing her any room for tasty dinner. She had nibbled delicately on a bread roll for a quarter of an hour before growing tired of trying to force her stomach to listen to her. She had excused herself and made her way towards the library, where she would meet Giles for her first training session.

She pushed the door open, and similar to that morning, found herself facing the three men. Where were all the strong women types in this school? She'd met a male principle, male Watcher, male demon hunters, and male teachers. Except for Fred, she was beginning to think that she was the only strong female figure here.

"Ah, Buffy, you're here." Giles said, glancing up from his books. Wesley and Gunn turned in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Ready to train?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Good, good. This way if you will." He gestured to the other side of the library, where shelves of books lined the walls.

"I thought I was training, not studying."

"You are."

"Then why are we...?" she trailed off when she saw Giles' hand scale the wall and pull a red book from the shelf. There was a slight 'click' and the book fell back into place.

Suddenly, a small section of the shelves shuddered and she jumped back in surprise when it began to swing backward, revealing a dark, dank passage. Giles stepped into the gloom and she hesitantly followed him, Gunn and Wesley bringing up the rear. The wall reinserted itself and darkness swept through the tunnel.

Her Slayer enhanced vision quickly allowed her to make out the forms of the three men and saw Giles fumbling on the wall, searching for something. She quickly grabbed the lighter from him and lit the torch hanging from the wall.

"Uh...thank you."

"No problem, Giles." She glanced at her surroundings and noticed that the tunnel was made of a dark stone, and inscribed in the stone was ancient writings and symbols. She fingered one lightly - a small, black crow, proudly spreading its wings- and wondered at its origin.

"This tunnel was discovered by Angel when we first moved in." Gunn explained as they continued walking down the dark tunnel, "Before this place was a school, it was a run-down hotel. We cleaned it up a bit, renovated it- man, was that a hard few months- and used it as AI's home base."

"AI?"

"Angel's Investigations." he clarified, "We used to be a detective agencies, helping out with peoples problems. Then we found that a lot of kids were showing supernatural powers or abilities, and we converted the place into a school. Angel found this place when we were renovating. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Very," she said with a nod.

The tunnel curved sharply and Buffy only just managed to stop herself from barreling into her Watcher's back. They had come to a thick, steel door and Giles twiddled with the lock until it clicked open similarly to the first door.

Giles led her down a long, steep flight of steps and she fought back feelings of claustrophobia. They came to yet another locked door, and this one swung open to reveal a large cavern. Weapons of various shapes and sizes lined the walls, a boxing bag hung from the roof and a net dangled from the rocky ceiling. It was the perfect place to train.

"Let's begin. Now, a Slayer must always be on her guard..."

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Three hours later Buffy, sticky from sweat and weary to the bone, trudged into her room and flopped exhaustedly onto her bed. She had never done that much exertion before. She didn't even know that she could. Her idea of exercise was dancing all night at the Bronze with her friends, and here she was doing pushups, runs, and sparring for three hours straight. And with fully-grown men, no less. She knew that she would have a hard time moving tomorrow; her limbs were already protesting against the hard bed.

"Buffy?"

She rolled her head to the side and saw Cordelia and Willow standing nervously by her bed.

"Hey guys," she rasped, still trying to control her breathing.

"Um, are you all right?"

"No."

"What happened?" Willow asked anxiously.

"Slave drivers kidnapped me."

"What?" they gasped in unison.

"Kidding guys," she said quickly, waving her arm, then winced at the sudden movement. "I had Slayer training with Giles. I think I've used muscles I didn't even know I had."

Willow giggled when she groaned, but Cordelia just rolled her eyes and resumed brushing her hair. Buffy noticed the makeup scattered across the desk, and the magazines crammed beside the desk and the bed.

"Can you believe how cute Paul Walker is?" Cordelia cooed as she flipped through the magazine currently open in front of her. "I mean, totally gorgeous doesn't even begin to cover it."

Willow moaned and sat down beside Buffy. She gave the redhead a curious look.

"She's been doing this all afternoon. I now know the best looking one hundred actors, who's hot, who's last year and who is dating who. I was about to go insane when you came and saved me."

"Save you?" she grinned wickedly, "Sorry, but a girl's got to shower!"

"Buffy! Don't you dare!" Willow squealed as Buffy grabbed her clothes and ran into the adjoining bathroom, locking the door behind her.

She hopped into the shower and sighed blissfully as the hot water soothed her aches and pains. Wiping away the grime covering her body, her thought wandered back to the last few hours.

At first Giles had asked her to do a 'quick' run to warm up. His idea of quick had been a thirty-minute sprint around the cavern. Then she had done three hundred sit-ups with Gunn holding her legs. Her stomach had burned during the whole time, but something had stopped her from giving up.

After the warm up, Wesley had taught her the basics of fighting.

"Stay on your toes and slow down for nothing. Be prepared for everything. The most important principle of the Slayer is to be prepared, to be ready for anything. You can't be surprised by anything."

As he said the last sentence he had swung a sword in her direction. She had instantly ducked, escaping the sharp edge by mere millimeters, and received an approving nod.

Giles had then handed her a long, wooden staff. After a hasty beating, Giles had shakily taken it from her and handed her a sword. Wesley had then commenced to attack her, and she was amazed at her own ability. Slicing and blocking, ducking and dodging; it was all executed with surprising speed. She had caught Gunn and Giles exchanging a look of shock. She supposed she had been doing well.

Then Gunn had jumped up eagerly. She had been expected to spar with him and use her incentive and imagination, barring nothing. He had grinned and thrown a punch. Dodging his fist, she had thrown her own then stood stunned as he flew backwards. Giles had praised her strength before Gunn jumped back in. They exchanged blows, becoming gradually more confident in her abilities with every strike.

Soaking her hair with shampoo, Buffy smiled as she remembered their surprise when she had dropped to the floor and swept his feet out from beneath him. He was immediately on his feet again and came at her with a series of powerful punches. He began to drive her back, his grin growing more cocksure with every step.

Finally they reached the punching bag, and he had thrown a blow straight at her head. With incredible speed, she had ducked beneath it and pushed it forward. The bag hit Gunn with full force and he flew backwards, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud.

He had been all right, and had had to stop her fussing over him. Wesley and Giles had been full of praise for her understanding of her surroundings and she had basked in it. It was not often that Buffy was acclaimed for something she had done, and it felt good to be doing something right.

She turned the tap off and stepped from the shower. Five minutes later she was dressed and ready to fall gratefully into her bed. A minute after her head hit the pillow, her breathing deepened and she was lost in sleep.

* * * *

Buffy opened her eyes and found herself surrounded in total darkness. She jumped when a loud voice pierced the air.

"Where is she?"

"They have her."

"What! How did this happen?"

"The vampire."

"The vampire? One vampire against thirty vampires? Tell me where the logic is in that."

"My humblest apologies."

"Get out of my sight."

"Yes, master."

"No...Wait. Where did this vampire take her?"

"To his residence."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, master. The sorcerers have seen her."

"They have? Why wasn't I informed?"

"It...it just happened."

"It did, did it? Leave me now."

Buffy felt the darkness shift and she found herself in a red mist.

" She will be your undoing."

"What are you saying?"

"You will not succeed."

"Of course I will! Nothing can stop me!"

"She will. Your influenced has not yet reached her, and she will be the source of your downfall."

"You are wrong. I no longer need your advice and I dispense of your guidance."

"I will obey."

"No. You will die."

Buffy clasped her hands to her ears to block the sound of the agonized screaming. The mist suddenly disappeared and she found herself encircled by a deep, blackness that was speckled with white spots. She blinked and then realized that the white spots were actually stars. Twirling around, she and saw the Earth below her feet. She screamed but no sound escaped her lips.

When she realized that she was not going to fall, she glanced up and saw the sun in front of her. It was more glorious than viewed from the earth. Golden flames licked the edges, yellow and orange swirls danced over its surface and the heat beat down on her.

She startled when a piercing squawk echoed through her head, and she gazed in wonder as a black crow soared past the sun, its body silhouetted by the gold background.

A sickening wrenching pull on her stomach and she began to fall towards the Earth. She glanced up one more time and saw the crow suspended in the air, gazing down on her. She hit the ground with a thud.

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Buffy jerked out of her bed, and glanced wildly around. Cordelia lay snoring in her bed, and Willow was sleeping soundly with a small smile on her face. Her ragged breathing slowed as she took note of her surroundings. The bed sheet was intertwined between her legs and she disentangled herself, then lay quietly back on the hard mattress.

She had been dreaming. But for some reason, she couldn't remember a thing. There was a gap where the dream should have filled, but she found nothing, and eventually fell into a disturbed sleep.