Early morning the next day, pounding came from the hallway, irritating the sleepy and dazed girls.
"Come on, come on," Faith yelled, attempting to rouse the girls. "We have another long day ahead of us. The first ten girls up go to town today."
Solaris, her eyes blinded by the sudden sunlight, rolled over, untangling herself from the cool sheets. As she stumbled to her feet, she yawned, stretching her arms almost to the ceiling. She wobbled tiredly on her legs, making her way to the small bathroom that connected to the hotel room. First, she attempted the faucet, only able to get a small flow of water to come out. Using her hands to splash the cold water on her face, she drew in a deep breath, little streams of water sliding down her lips and into her mouth. Solaris rustled her hair with her hand, pushing the messy strip of length to one side. After quickly pulling on a pair of loose-fitting, dark jeans that had two baseball-sized holes worn out at the knees, a long, tight a-shirt, and a pair of black and white sneakers, Solaris jogged downstairs to wait for the other girls.
Thirty minutes later, all of the girls had made their way to the lobby, yawning and sleepy eyed. Only Solaris and a few other Slayers seemed accustomed to such an early schedule.
"Girls, here's what we do everyday," Giles began. "Running in the morning, work on stamina. After that, you train as a group, honing your fighting skills. Then anyone still in school will be home-schooled by Willow and Andrew, unfortunately. During that time, the girls not in school go to town to work or find work. Afterwards is a two-hour period of personal time. Then training again and finally two more hours of personal time, then off to bed."
"This will be your life from now on until we have decided you are ready to leave," Faith added, glancing around the girls.
"Ready?" Buffy asked, not really caring if they were. "Good. Let's go."
It was difficult for Solaris to pretend she wasn't built for the long, intense running, having to keep at the low pace of the new Slayers. She sighed, considering just running at her full speed and strength. Her body could have allowed her to run like this for days. Most of the other Slayers were either slowing to a jog or coming to a complete halt, bending over breathing heavily.
Solaris glanced back in front of her, her eyes landing on the Slayer. Buffy. The Slayer had her golden tresses pulled tight into a ponytail, her body clothed in body-hugging sweats, and her neck dangled a glittering chain with a cross. As she watched the Slayer run with relative ease, a memory drifted into her mind, an image of a past she wasn't always convinced had ever existed. For an instance, she saw Buffy in a haze, a defiant look in her eyes, then suddenly, as Solaris was sure she'd be able to see more, the memory slipped away. Solaris tried to grasp a hold of the vision, but it escaped into the void of her mind like a child unable to catch a balloon that has ventured to far into the sky.
Next to Buffy ran the other Slayer. Not that Faith was any less formidable than Buffy, but Buffy had been the first of the whole lot of Slayers now running through an overgrown field. Faith had once been a killer, Solaris knew, but had finally found atonement. This interested Solaris very much, but she would wait until she had been here awhile longer before she began venturing into the Slayers' personal lives.
The two Slayers together would make an almost impossible battle, both of them with undeniable strength and power. Soon, Solaris thought, I will see that power in action.
About two or so hours later, the girls found themselves in a makeshift training area set up by Xander in the back area of the dejected hotel. Placed all around the area were pathetically sewn together dummies and wooden staves stacked against the back of the hotel.
"Pick up your weapon and then form rows of five," Kennedy directed. She seemed to be one of the few Buffy and Faith allowed to lead the others. Smiling, Solaris wrenched a stick from the pile leaned against the wall, then found her place in the front where she felt most comfortable. Kennedy began the exercises with basic punches and kicks, then led them into more difficult exercises.
As usual, Solaris performed with relative ease, acclimated to a life of fending off evil and just trying to survive the day. At some point, Kennedy noticed that Solaris seemed to have already learned the moves perfectly, and pulled her from the ranks.
"What's your name, maggot?" Kennedy asked, using her usual name for the Slayers beneath her.
"Solaris," she replied through a sly grin.
Solaris bent low, close to Kennedy's ear. Speaking so only Kennedy would hear, she added, "And if you call me maggot again, I'll surely rip your heart out in your sleep."
Kennedy's usual look of smugness vanished, replaced by a horrified frown.
"Now what did you need?" Solaris asked, directing the conversation back to less gruesome topics.
Kennedy swallowed hard, a knot rising in her throat. Of all the vampires and Turok-Han she had faced, none of them had driven such a deep fear in her heart like Solaris just had. If anyone else had spoken those same words to Kennedy, she would have laughed in their face or punched them, knowing the words to be idle threats. But the way Solaris had spoken those words with a gleam in her eye and teeth bared, Kennedy felt she must have meant it.
"I see you've mastered the training pretty well already. I need you to come with me."
Solaris nodded her reply then followed the blunt slayer into the building. Inside, they made their way to the lobby, where Giles, Dawn, and Andrew were flipping through pages of books and taking small notes in leather journals.
"Giles, sir?"
"Yes, Kennedy?" Giles responded, not removing his eyes from the pages of the thick volume he was currently perusing.
"This one, Solaris. I think she should have private training or none at all. She seems to already be well trained in fighting and she probably doesn't need anymore."
"We'll see about that. Thank you, Kennedy. You can resume with the other girls," Giles replied, dismissing her with a nod towards the backyard.
"How long have you been fighting," Giles questioned.
"All my life, sir," Solaris answered shortly, not revealing anymore than necessary.
"Well, then," sighed Giles. "We have work to do. Come with me."
Giles led Solaris down two flights of stairs into the dank basement. Nestled in a large portion of the basement was a decent training room, furnished with two couches, plenty of punching bags, short and long beams, tall and little beams, various-sized blocks, crystals, three dummies, multiple sets of pads, large floor mats and a enormous collection of weapons. Solaris smiled at the training space, pleased with all the equipment available for her use. It wasn't exactly like home, but it was very similar.
Giles removed two staves from the weapons closet and tossed one to Solaris. Using a worn pair of pads, Giles slid them on over his chest, forearms, and head.
"You might need more than that, Giles, sir." Solaris laughed at how ridiculous he looked, like an oversized dummy.
"Not likely," Giles remarked, smiling.
Patiently, Giles waited for her to begin an attack. Slowly, Solaris circled him, her eyes locked onto her target. For a moment, she seemed about to swing at Giles from above, carefully swinging towards his head, but as Giles moved to block her, she swiftly altered the path of her staff towards his gut and thrust forcefully into him. The old Watcher bent, supporting himself on his knees, and wheezed. For a few minutes, Giles remained hunched over attempting to regain the breath that had been knocked from his lungs.
"Very…good," he wheezed. "Tomorrow, I think…it would be better…that you train with Buffy…or Faith."
Soon, the pair was walking steadily up the stairs, anxious to find some other task to distract themselves with.
"Thank you, Giles." Solaris nodded towards the battered Watcher, a half-hearted smile appearing on her face. "Perfect lesson, sir."
Giles returned to his books as Solaris returned to the group of Slayers. Yet again, Kennedy was giving direction, but this time with Faith and Buffy standing watch. The group was directed to find any work once they made it into town and most of the money received from the work would be contributed to a fix-the-hotel fund they had. Out of the forty or so girls, Dawn chose ten girls to come forward.
"The ten of you don't have to work today since you were the first ones ready. Just stay at the lead and follow Buffy and Faith once we get into town. Then you can go anywhere you want."
The group of ten included Kennedy, Rona, Molly, Caridad, Chao-Ahn, Vi, Shannon, Helena, Dominique, and Solaris. Everyone jogged behind the two major Slayers, frowns on the faces of the girls who had to work that day. Soon, they had traveled into a large city full of sidewalks, busy people, and the scents of roasting meat. Solaris' stomach grumbled at the smell of food, having avoided breakfast that morning. Buffy and Faith dismissed the other Slayers to go their own way then turned to the ten left standing by them.
"Today you get a break. Go anywhere you want and we'll meet up here in exactly two hours. Go have fun." Faith waved her hand around the area.
Nine of the girls were already friends and they all headed off in the same direction. Solaris was left to make her way around the city by herself. Though she knew this city well, she preferred not to wander aimlessly around. None of it interested her. She found an American vendor selling hamburgers and funnel cakes and decided she'd buy both. She could have devoured all of the food in Italy at this point, but settled for what she had bought from the vendor. After filling her stomach, Solaris began gazing into various store windows.
Buffy and Faith had entered a clothing and shoe store two blocks down from where they had separated. Faith was busy trying on clothes for her own entertainment while Buffy looked around for a new pair of heeled boots. She had really been wanting another pair lately, not that she would be able to afford them now. Buffy sighed and glanced up at a stylish square clock hung high on a store wall. Ten minutes had already passed. It wasn't as much fun shopping unless you had your best friend with you.
Still glancing in store windows, Solaris happened upon the shop that Buffy and Faith had entered. For a moment, she stood there watching Faith continuously leave and reenter the dressing room while Buffy walked somewhere in the back. Slipping inside with barely any notice, Solaris made her way to the back, careful not to run directly into Buffy. Solaris found Buffy hidden at the end where two aisles met, looking longingly at a pair of shoes.
She quietly slipped up behind Buffy then spoke in a strange accent that Buffy had never heard in her whole life. "Those are nice. I think they would be quite flattering on you. I think you should buy them."
Somehow, the accent didn't seem quite real as the words mixed in the air causing her skin to tingle, glowing and seeming to stir up some long lost memory that her mind wouldn't let her grasp hold of. Solaris' voice altogether seemed to overwhelm her heart with unnerving dread, yet also comforting tranquility.
Before Buffy could reply that she could not afford the shoes, Solaris slipped a small wad of bills into her hand and wrapped Buffy's fist tight around it.
"This money is yours. Those shoes are made for you. See you at home," Solaris whispered then politely kissed her hand before sauntering off.
Buffy stood in slight confusion, not completely sure what had just happened. Before she could follow the strange girl, Faith appeared from one of the aisles, her pants looking slightly lumpier than normal. Same, confusing Faith.
"Time to go, B."
Buffy had told Faith she wanted to look around awhile longer. After Faith had finally left the store, Buffy picked up the shoes and hesitantly paid for them at the front counter. She had hoped to avoid any questions from Faith.
Outside, the sun lay on Buffy like a blanket of light, warming her cool flesh. She glanced skyward, enjoying the fresh air and the cool, crisp blue of the sky. Down the street, a commotion disrupted Buffy from her reverie. About a block away, two people were surrounded by a small group of spectators, transfixed on the commotion between the two. At a second glance, Buffy could see it was Kennedy at the center of attention, attempting to ram the girl who had given Buffy the money to buy the shoes. Who is she? Buffy thought as she ran down the street to end the conflict.
When she stopped just inside the ring of spectators, she saw that Rona and Vi were already struggling to hold back an outraged Kennedy from the blue-eyed stranger who stood calm and emotionless. Suddenly, Kennedy broke from Rona's grasped and knocked Vi out of her way. Kennedy ran furiously at Solaris, attempting to kick and punch her, but doing so unsuccessfully. Solaris, finally tired of the childish display, gripped Kennedy's wrist and flipped her hard onto the concrete, digging Kennedy's awkwardly bent arm into her own back until a loud crack was heard and Kennedy screamed.
Buffy ran in between the two, pushing Solaris away from a badly beaten Kennedy who was being helped to her feet by a forlorn Vi and Rona. Faith had finally noticed that something was going on down the street and had just shown up. Noticing Vi and Rona first, Faith walked over to them to check Kennedy over.
Buffy was still pushing Solaris further from the scene, furiously shoving her in the collar bone. When they were far enough away to avoid prying ears, Buffy unloosed her fury.
"What the hell was that!" Buffy yelled, not bothering to keep her voice down.
"I was keeping her from finding more trouble than she wants. Though I do suppose, I am responsible for the conflict in the first place. I do apologize." The whole time Buffy was yelling furiously, Solaris was able to retain her calm composure which seemed to infuriate Buffy even more.
"Go home, now," Buffy growled through gritted teeth.
Buffy watched until Solaris had disappeared from view, headed the way they had come from. Returning to the street, Buffy helped Rona and Vi walk Kennedy home while Faith stayed in the city to wait around for the other girls.