See first chapter for disclaimers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

PREVIOUSLY: Wolfblood

Someone Gets a Day Off

There was an alarm blaring when Xander and Faith stepped out of the portal and onto the latest world in their unwanted tour of the multiverse. They looked around for the source of the problem but saw nothing obvious.

They were on a city street and the people they could see were moving quickly but in an orderly manner toward the entrance to what appeared to be some kind of underground shelter. The announcement they could hear made no sense to them, but it didn't sound like an air raid was imminent. The way the people were reacting indicated that this was a serious but routine problem, as no one seemed to be panicking.

"What's a spatial quake?" Faith wondered as the shelters sealed behind the fleeing people, locking them outside. Xander shrugged, looking only mildly concerned. "Let's try to get out of the area before we find out the hard way," Faith suggested.

Xander nodded and the two started off down the street. Judging by the signs on the shops, the two reasoned that they were somewhere in that world's version of Japan. "Somewhere in Japan. Maybe we should be looking out fo-." Faith clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't you dare! Don't jinx us. I am not fighting a giant fire-breathing reptile 'cause you couldn't keep your mouth shut."

Xander licked her hand and she snatched it away with a glare. "Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

"You tell me," she shot back, wiping her hand on his shirt. "You know how or luck runs."

"Yeah," he agreed after a moment's thought. "You're right. Sorry." The two continued down the deserted street in silence for a while. "I still don't see any reason for an alarm."

"Me neither. Why does that worry me more than bein' attacked right off?" Xander shrugged. "We never seem to catch a break," she noted. "So somethin'll happen."

"Now who's jinxing us?" her partner complained. Any response Faith might have made was cut off by the sound of footsteps. The two turned to see a teenage boy coming their way. He looked harmless enough, but both readied themselves discretely in case he turned out to be trouble.

"Hi," the teen greeted them in a friendly manner. "I'm Shido, and I'm guessing you're new in town."

"Just got in," Xander answered truthfully.

"Yeah," the boy rubbed the back of his head and looked a bit embarrassed. "I actually saw that. You set off the alarm but didn't cause a spatial quake. We appreciate that."

The two demon hunters shared a confused look. "Spatial quake? How would we cause one of those? Whatever they are?"

"You don't know?" The boy tilted his head slightly as if listening and Faith noticed a small device tucked into his ear. "Huh. You two aren't spirits, are you?"

"Er…no?" Xander offered. "Spirits? Do we look like ghosts?"

"No," Shido shook his head. "Spirits are…hard to explain. I know you came here in some strange way and set off the alarm. So what are you?"

Xander shrugged. "Human. We're just traveling in a weird way, trying to get home."

"Can't really explain the mechanics of it," Faith offered, "but we jump from place to place and we're stuck at each one for a bit 'fore we can move on."

"Weird," Shido opined. "But I guess you're okay if you're not planning to start any trouble."

"No plans at all, actually," Xander replied.

"Good then." Shido turned away. "Enjoy your stay." He put a hand to his ear. "You got all that, sis?...Good. Readings confirm? They're not spirits of any kind...Good, then I'm taking the day off. I really wasn't looking forward to trying to seal that guy."