Title: Protector Of The Weak

Author: Jmaria

Rating: PG-13 to R

Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss owns all things BtVS, and somebody else owns K.A.

Spoilers: Season 7, and the movie King Arthur

Summary: How does her arrival back in time affect the knights?

A/N: For those readers out there who are like me and have wanted to see a King Arthur crossover, there are two other stories I've written. They can be found in my story Winter Tidings (Plight of the Hawk(chapter 24) and Old Souls(chapter 28)). Ages - the knights would be in their mid twenties (they were taken as young boys and served for 15 years) and Dawn is 18/19 (Did Joss ever give us her age? Buffy was about five when she was born, and she was born in '81. That would make Dawn's birth year either '86-'87.), she'd be in her first or second year of college. Also, I'm basing this off of the Director's Cut, because that's the only version I've seen, and I'm practically following the movie. Transcript provided by Fallen Knights Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Your advice and comments are always appreciated.

2. Marching Orders

They had been stationed at the Wall for fifteen years. There had been more before, but the constant fighting between the native people had left their numbers depleted. There where only six left now. Bors, Dagonet, Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan.

They were Sarmatians, descendants of the Sarmatian Cavalry forced by the treaty mad with Rome to serve. They had been the fittest, the fastest, the best of the best. The ones with the most luck. Their freedom was nearly theirs, and rested in the hands of the Roman Bishop Germanius. But there was a catch. They could not be free until after they rescued the family of Marius Honorius.

The Sarmatian knights, while mainly embittered that they had to take this final mission, did it in the end because of their leader Arthur Castus. They had left the Roman fort south of Hadrian's Wall shortly after dawn. They traveled without rest for most of the day, and would continue through the night in order to reach the home of Marius Honorius.

Seven knights, traveling on a suicide mission to save Roman blood from Saxon swords. They travel in near silence, speaking only when necessity called for it. The sky darkened, and the feeling of unease grew heavier around the knights. The forest cast odd shadows. They tread into heavily inhabited Woad territory. Tristan, the scout of the group, let his hawk fly. He lead his horse closer to Arthur and spoke quietly.

"Woads. They're tracking us." He said simply.
"Where?" Arthur asked.
"Everywhere."

Woads surrounded them, arrows at the ready. At a silent command, they fired. Each arrow worked in blocking their prey's path.

"Get back!" Lancelot yelled, his voice joined by Bors' yell.

Thunder boomed around them, as they sought for a different path out of this wretched forest. It was of little use, and they could feel the Woads closing in on them. An arrow whizzed past Dagonet's head as they searched for another means of escape. A

"This way!" Arthur shouted, urging his horse into action.

They raced through the forest, but only to find themselves in another dead end. Movement caught the eyes of the knights, as the Woads tried to spear them. They skirted away from the low attack, but found they could not get very far.

Arthur drew Excalibur from it's sheath, preparing for their attack. The other knights followed in suit, each drawing his own weapon of choice. There was a sound in the distant, like that of a horn summoning or signaling the Woads.

"What are you waiting for!" Gawain yelled.

The Woads retreated as silently as they had come, slipping deep into the forest and away from their targets. There was one noise in the air, nearby yipping sounds.

"Inish! Devil ghosts!" Dagonet yelled, the brush near him moving erratically.
"Why would they not attack?" Galahad demanded.
"Merlin doesn't want us dead." Arthur replied.

Before another word could be spoken, a figure fell heavily out of the brush. Long brown hair and gangly limbs encased in dark material. Dagonet's horse reared at the new arrival, and Tristan and Galahad aimed their bows at it. It screeched and covered it's head with it's arms.

"Don't! Don't! I'm not armed!" It screamed in a very feminine voice.

"What do you call that sword, then?" Bors demanded.

"Ok, so I am! But don't kill me!" It yelled. "I didn't attack you!"

Dagonet quickly dismounted, handing his reins over to Bors. He yanked it to it's feet. The sword hit her legs, and she sucked in a pained breath.

"I'm not with the Blue Man group!" The girl cried. Dagonet winced at the high pitch of her voice. "I swear!"

"Who are you?" Arthur demanded.

"Dawn. Dawn Summers."

Dawn knew covering herself with her arms was one of the weaker defensive moves she could have pulled, but at that point she really didn't have a lot of options. She was decent with a sword, but her gut was telling her that they were all at least ten times better than she was. The blue skinned men had already retreated. They probably thought she was one of them.

There were seven of them in all. Two had shaved heads. The one on the horse nearest to her was taller and a little leaner than the other. He was stockier. One had light brown hair that was nearly as long as hers'. The three had dark brown or black hair that seemed to curl. The seventh man had medium brown hair that seemed to hang over his face. Her next gut reaction was to have verbal diarrhea all over them.

"Don't! Don't! I'm not armed!" She cried, her voice probably higher than it should be.

"What do you call that sword, then?" The stocky bald one demanded.

"Ok, so I am! But don't kill me!" She yelled. "I didn't attack you!"

The tall one grabbed her upraised arm. As she was dragged to her feet, the large awkward sword banged into her knee. She held back the urge to swear and yell out. Knights were crazy. They might take it as a sign that she was possessed and get all kill-y with those swords and bows.

"I'm not with the Blue Man group!" She cried. Besides, Lorne had told her they were demons and they kinda scared her. "I swear!"

"Who are you?" The tallest of the dark curly haired men demanded. He must be the leader.

"Dawn. Dawn Summers." She gulped. "I just fell. I hit one of the blue painted guys -"

"Woads." The one with hair in his face supplied.

" -And then I fell down the hill again. I just want to go home." Her knee felt like it was on fire and her arm ached from the man's firm grasp.

"Where is home for you, girl?" The leader asked again.

It took her a second to think about that. Giles would be near the wall. And the camp was a little ways away.

"Hadrian's wall." She blurted.

"Funny, we are from the fort there. I don't ever recalling seeing a woman bear arms around there." The snarky reply came from the curly haired knight with a goatee looking beard.

"Maybe you just weren't looking hard enough." Dawn couldn't help from snapping. She wasn't usually quick with retorts, but working for the Council for the last three years and hanging around the Scoobies for the last ten years had made her quick at slapping down annoying people.

"Lancelot." The leader warned. "We have neither the time or men to spare in taking you back, lady. You will have to come with us. Can you ride?" He asked her. Dawn was too dumbstruck by his words. He frowned at her. "Dagonet, take her on your horse."

Dawn felt herself being helped onto the horse of the man who held her arm. She straddled it, her knee throbbing. She'd only ridden once or twice before. Her mind, however, was not on her ability to ride a horse. It was on the knight's name.

"What's the year?" She asked the large man seated behind her softly.

"467." He said hesitantly.

"Oh." Dawn felt her bottom lip quiver. She was nearly sixteen hundred years in the past. "Your leader - his name isn't Arthur by any chance, is it?"

"Arthur Castus." Dagonet answered simply.

"Lancelot and Arthur." She muttered under her breath. She closed her eyes and felt them burn with unshed tears.

Arthur felt Lancelot's presence before the other knight even began speaking. Lancelot would have something to say about this, he was certain.

"Arthur, why do we bring her with us? She will slow us down, and she may be a spy."

"For who, Lancelot? The Saxons do not bring their women to war." Arthur replied.

"No, but the Woads do."

"She is not a Woad." Arthur was sure of this. She did not have the build of the natives.

"She was armed." Lancelot retorted. It was a weak argument, and he knew it.

"She is no threat." Arthur cast a glance back to Dagonet and the strange girl who rode with him.

Dagonet looked cautiously down at the girl before him. She was young. Perhaps a few years younger than he, nearer to Galahad's age. Too young to be wielding such a large weapon as the one on her hip.

She slept as they rode, trusting him enough to do so. It spoke in volumes to him. She knew of danger, but could sense the goodness in life. What kind of life could have created someone like that? What woman her age could keep that innocence of childhood?

The remaining knights all quietly observed the girl on Dagonet's horse. Bors was reminded of Vanora, for the girl had a bit of spunk to her just like his Vanora. But he was also wary of her presence. Tristan searched her face for hints as to what sect of people she belonged to. She didn't bear the marks of Woad, nor those of Saxon. She must be a Briton then. Galahad and Gawain noticed her beauty. Jols, the squire seemed cautious of her even as he gave Dagonet another cloak to wrap around her. Horton, Bishop Germanius' secretary, seemed distasteful.

All were wary of the newcomer. Who knew what this unexpected addition

They rode through the night, and Dawn, who was already emotionally exhausted by the whole time-traveling ordeal, found herself drifting off to a light sleep. She dreamt of Knights. Knights who said 'Ni', signing knights, and coconut horses. There was a splash, and Dawn awoke abruptly. She nearly screamed when she saw the ground rushing past her. She hit her elbow into the muscled chest that had acted as her pillow.

"Awake then?" A deep voice rumbled through her human pillow.

"Yeah." She blinked a few times, shivering as the cold wind raced past her. "Stupid Xander and his Monty Python marathon." She muttered.

"I am Dagonet." He said shortly. He pulled the cloak tighter around her.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm Dawn."

"You awake near your namesake, lady."

"Did I drool?" She asked.

"No." A small smile passed over his lips.

They rode in silence for a few minutes. Dawn was trying to think of all the knights names, but there were so many different stories that she wasn't sure of what knights were really here.

"What are the other knights names?" She asked abruptly.

"Bors, Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot and Tristan."

"Who's who?" She questioned.

"Bors." He gestured to the bald man. "Galahad." To the curly haired knight with a full beard and mustache. "Gawain." To the long haired knight. "Lancelot." To the smarmy one from before. "Tristan is not here. He is -"

"The one with hair in his face and the tattoos under his eyes." She supplied.

"Yes."

"Galahad the Chaste, Gawain and the Green Knight, Lancelot du Lac, Tristan and Isolde." Images from all the books and movies she'd seen about the fabled knights raced through her head. "Bors and the killer bunny." That scene had explained Anya's fear of bunnies.

"What?" Dagonet demanded.

"Those are tales they tell of you where I'm from." She wasn't really lying.

"Killer bunnies?"

"It's a thing." Dawn replied, shaking her head. "I've never heard tales about a Dagonet."

"I've never heard any of those tales, lady." He stated.

"I wouldn't expect you to have." She muttered under her breath.

How the hell did she wind up sixteen hundred years in the past? There hadn't been any portals, at least none that she could see. Her cell phone wouldn't work here, and she didn't know how to get home.

She stared ahead at the other knights. Arthur's armor was different than the others. It looked very familiar. It stuck her where she had seen it before.

"Arthur's armor is Roman." She said. Dawn looked down at Dagonet's gauntlet. "Yours isn't."

"It is Sarmatian."

"Sarmatian." She murmured.

"Yes."

Researching had always been kind of fun for her, and she remembered the phase she'd gone through right after they'd moved to Rome. She'd read tons of things on Ancient Roman history, and remembered reading about the battle with the Sarmatians.

"Wow. What are you doing in England then?"

"England?" Dagonet questioned.

"Briton." She corrected herself.

"Serving in the Roman army, as my father did before me."

"For how long?" It was like pulling teeth to get him to answer.

"Fifteen years."

"Do you miss your family?" She asked quietly.

"I do not remember them." Dagonet said simply. He pondered her question.

"What were you doing so far from the wall and your family?"

"My family's not at the Wall." She said, trying to avoid his first question. "I only have a sister and she's in Rome, with her -" How to put it? "Her lover."

Lover was more accurate, because they were at it like bunnies. Which was one of the reasons Dawn had wanted to go to college in England, and didn't like staying with Buffy for long visits. To be honest, she didn't like the Immortal all that much.

"You do not care for him?"

"He's a jackass and a control freak." She blurted.

"Then your husband? Will he not miss you?"

"I don't have one. There's no man in my life." She said bitterly. It seemed like everyone else she knew had someone, and little Dawnie was left by herself again. "And your - lady?" She asked, mainly to take the pressure off herself.

"I have no one, save my brothers in arms." He smiled sadly. "And Bors' brood of bastards."

"Brood? How many does he have?" She asked.

"Eleven."

"Eleven?"

Before she could say another word, Arthur signaled them. Looming before them was a large Roman building. Dawn gasped in awe at it. They rode through the peasant village and to the gates. Dawn wasn't sure what was going on, but she had a bad feeling about it.

A/N2: Okay, I've been working on this since I woke up (which was four this afternoon). Feedback would be greatly appreciated.