Chapter 12 – Sneaking In

The first one to arrive at the library was She-Ra, thanks to her teleportation spell. Giles was behind the counter, and his hand flew up holding a crossbow. Before he pressed the trigger, recognition set in.

"Giles, quick! He-Man is arriving with Buffy in tow. I, I mean, Willow, arrived here telling that Buffy is in trouble. Pretend that you are collecting some weapons and follow my lead, ok?" She-Ra grabbed her sword, lifting it to the sky. "MAY THE POWER...RETURN."

Five seconds after the lightshow ended, WarWolf was arriving on school grounds. He-Man helped the Slayer down, following her afterwards.

"All right, pal, keep guard around here, ok? No playing with vampires." He-Man grinned, patting the wolf's head. The wolf snorted to the comment. The moment they turned their backs to him, he jumped up to the school's roof, and sat down in a flat surface, eyes, ears and nose focused on the area.

He-Man was following behind Buffy, attention focused on her. His mind reverted a little to Xander-mode, and he couldn't let the feeling pass: Man, what a ride. He killed vamps as if they were nothing but insects, had a giant wolf as partner and he gave a lift to Buffy. Can life get any better?

Buffy opened the door to the library screaming her typical "GILES!"

The Watcher let everything he was collecting fall to the ground. Stakes, a crossbow and two swords fell around him, and he looked at her with a worried face.

"Buffy? Willow told me you were having trouble. I was..."

"Solved. Hi, Willow." Buffy said, noticing that her friend was ok, if not for the worried face.

"Buffy? What happened? I found a woman who said she would... Who is he?" Willow pointed to the 'unknown' guest behind Buffy.

"He? He's He-Man. Guy who saved me." Buffy was so shaken up because of WarWolf's ride she didn't noticed that Willow hadn't entered babble-mode.

"He-Man? But He-Man was a..." Willow commented, approaching them.

"A cartoon? Yes, he was. But I'm not." He-Man spoke.

"Hi, I'm Willow." She said, extending her hand, which was engulfed by his.

"A pleasure. You must be Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher." He-Man said, extending his hand towards the Englishman, who took it.

"Y-yes. But h-how did you save Buffy? And what's this regarding a-a cartoon, is it?" He-Man had to remember to congratulate Giles later on. Damn, the man could act.

"I believe it's time for some explanations..."

While He-Man was weaving his tale, one of the other guests was arriving at school grounds. Faith was walking silently to the main door, stake in hand and all senses focused on the surroundings.

WarWolf, on the roof, had located her a few minutes earlier. She could be silent, but to a mystical wolf with enhanced senses, she was as noisy as an old truck with a faulty suspension. He let her walk to the front door, having an idea. He 'sent' He-Man some input regarding the intruder, the feeling that something was wrong, while he prepared to jump. The moment the door closed behind Faith's back, he jumped to the ground. There wasn't a whisper of sound to be detected.

He walked to the main door, looking through the glass. The moment Faith turned the first corner, he pressed his massive head against the door, opening it. He had to suppress a 'laugh', he was stalking the human's supreme stalker.

He heard her stopping regarding the door's sound, so he stood absolutely still. She began walking again after a few moments, so he passed the door's threshold. He noticed she took some time locating the way to the library, so he kept waiting on her next move. Finally she found the door, and WarWolf noticed she didn't enter. So, she was a shy girl, huh? Let's change that.

WarWolf turned the last corner, finally looking at her. She was so focused on the conversation running inside the library that she didn't notice the blip entering her Slay-dar. The wolf wasn't by any means a mean animal. Sure, he was as intelligent as a human, thanks to the transformation, but he wasn't mean. Only to enemies, which he regarded, the girl wasn't. So, he could have a little fun.

He let his claws 'click' on the ground.

Faith stiffened in a second, turning around. The moment she saw the giant wolf up close and personal, her eyes grew big as saucers. She lifted her stake, pointing it at him, but her mind provided a few amounts of input: big, armored, fast, silent, probably much more stronger than she, this small thing would probably tickle him. So, she decided for a more 'sentimental' approach.

"Nice, niiice wolfie. Good wolfie. Aunt Faithie doesn't wanna hurt nice wolfie. So, let aunt Faithie go, ok, wolfie?" she said in her best sweet voice, almost whispering, keeping the stake low.

WarWolf walked forward, and he had to admit, the girl was brave. She was holding her ground, without shaking.

"Oh, c'mon, wolf. Just wanna hear the talk, 'k?" she continued to whisper, not wanting to announce her presence to the people inside the library.

WarWolf walked until he stood a few centimeters from her. Faith could feel his hot breath hitting her, but she stood without moving, heart beating like a locomotive. When she noticed that the wolf wouldn't do a thing, she relaxed slightly.

"That's it, nice wolfie. Auntie will find you a bull to chew, 'k?" Then WarWolf nudged her forward with his snout.

Being nudged by a mystically powered wolf was similar to being hit in the gut by Mike Tyson. Faith flew backwards, landing on her butt inside the library, skidding at least a couple of feet on the ground. WarWolf followed behind, and a chorus of 'heys' and 'whats' was heard. WarWolf stood above the fallen Slayer, and, as an apology, began licking her.

"Hey, stop that! STOP!" she yelled.

"WarWolf, stop." He-Man asked. The wolf stopped and walked to his side, receiving a pat on his head. "So, you are our intruder. Care for some introductions?"

Faith stood up, trying to remove some of the drool from her coat and hair. "Name's...arrghh... Faith." She said, shaking her hand to clear the goo.

"So, Ms. Faith, why were you spying on us?" Giles asked, still surprised with both 'guests', the girl and the wolf.

"Wasn't spying. Was checking you out. See, I'm the Slayer and..."

"WHAAAAT?"

- To be continued -