By Sword and by Claw
Chapter One

Authors note:-

Well here we go, the long awaited first chapter of my Buffy ThunderCats crossover. Take a deep breath people, this is going to be a big one.

Before we dive in I've spent a long time looking at this and I'm going to have to use the 2011 version of the Cats for this one. I know that a lot of people are not gong to like this but the truth is it's the only version I can get to fit with Buffy without really going crazy.

Long story short the 1980's version is set in a post apocalyptic Earth, after Mumm-Ra conquered and destroyed it. While the 2011 version is a little more forgiving.

Buffy picked up the newspaper from the reception counter and started flicking through it out of shear boredom. She'd brought the, whatever-it-was-with her to school and the two englishmen had almost gotten into a wrestling match over who got to examine it first.

In the end it was Giles who won, leaving Wesley to rummage through the books. 'And you have no idea where it came from?' Giles asked for the gazillionth time.

'I told you, nope.' Buffy rolled her eyes. 'I had a freaky dream, woke up, there it was.'

'And you're absolutely sure it was not a prophetic dream?' Wesley asked carrying two arm loads full of books to the table in the middle of the room.

'Not unless someone's pet cat is going to open the hellmouth.' She sighed and kept on flicking, wondering if Xander had taken the funny pages out already.

'What do you think Mr Giles?'

Buffy looked up to see her Watcher, or ex-Watcher, turning the thing over in his hands. 'Well from the feel I'm guessing the bulk of it is made of gold. The protrusion is silver and the jewel looks to be some sort of ruby. There's a defect in it but other than that quite valuable.'

'Really?' Buffy looked up and they gave her matching disapproving looks. 'Hey, some of us have College to think about. This Slayer gig might have finally paid off.'

Giles didn't flinch, then carefully took off his glasses. 'Buffy; we have no idea where this came from, what it is or just how it came into your possession. We will not be selling the clearly mystical object.'

Wesley coughed officiously. 'That is assuming it is mystical. There are some very convincing fakes at the moment. Until we identify it we can not be certain it isn't just a piece of modern art. Perhaps even from your mother's gallery.'

Buffy blinked, she hadn't even thought about that. 'No. It's not.' she insisted, not sure why. 'I know it's magic. I can feel it.'

The two of them looked at each other. Buffy didn't speak Watcher, or stuffy english person, but she knew what they were saying. 'I can.' She insisted, slapping the news paper on the desk.

'Yes Buffy, I'm sure you can. However perhaps we should wait for someone more mystically attuned to give a second opinion.' Giles suggested.

Wesley agreed. 'The fact is Buffy that, traditionally, when it comes to the mystical side of things Slayers are… well…'

'Blind?' She prompted. 'Useless?'

'Well you have to admit on the rare occasion you have been exposed to magic…'

'Yeah, okay I get it Giles.' Buffy interrupted. 'Willow can do her mojo thing and confirm it, but I'm telling you it's magic.'

'Until then it wouldn't hurt to continue attempting to find out more about this artefact.' Wesley picked up the whatever and turned it over in his hands. 'It would be more helpful if we knew exactly what this object is. Some sort of weapon, or simply a talisman?'

'Or just how much of it is window dressing?' Giles added.

'Window dressing?' Buffy asked.

Giles took it from the other watcher and held it up with the top facing her. 'Camouflage. If, say, the jewel is the important part the rest is either to disguise that or enhance it.'

'That means the rest could have been added later.' Wesley announced, 'And if we're looking for a mystical jewel it could be anything.'

'It would be like looking for a specific needle in a haystack already littered with them. Every wizard, witch, warlock or spell caster out to make a name for themselves forges a gem stone at one point or another.' Giles waved Wesley's expiation off.

'The only way to know for sure is the ritual of Abond-vray-zar-balbuld.' Wesley told her the only way he knew how. Pompously.

Giles sighed and put his glasses back on, 'Yes, but without the four days to build the alter and no chicken to sacrifice I suggest we stick with the original plan to have Willow look at it.'

Buffy blinked, and then stared at the two englishmen. 'Sacrifice a chicken? No chance.'

Wesley looked at both of them, faintly embarrassed. 'Yes, well that is what I was going to suggest myself.'

Buffy tried her best to ignore him and forget the whole discussion. Picking up the paper she leafed through, looking for anything to take her mind off it. After a moment of just looking at the letters, rather than reading them, something began to sink in. 'Hello.' she muttered, quickly reading it properly she got the feeling it was important. 'Urm Giles, listen to this; a visiting professor was murdered yesterday in his apartment.'

'Yes, and?' he asked.

'Hardly an unusual occurrence.' Wesley pointed out.

'Well he was in his rooms at the university and the report says he got knifed.' Buffy said reading on. 'Vamps don't knife people and wouldn't be able to get inside with an invite. Demons would have just ripped him apart. That means someone killed this guy and then someone had the power to bury a murder one page out of the classifieds.'

'You think that the Mayor had something to do with this murder?'

'Know anyone else Faith works for?' she asked.

'Now Buffy we can't be sure…'

The Slayer sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Oh trust me, I recognise the knife happy brush work.'

'You're suggesting that the mayor sent Faith to kill a harmless academic. Why?' Wesley asked

I don't know, but if Mayor Mac-Evil is playing hide I say we go seek.'

Wesley sat up straight 'Ah ha. In trying to hide a vital clue the mayor has lead us right to it.'

'Didn't I just say that?' Buffy asked. looking to Giles who did a bad job of hiding his smile. 'Who knows we might find something out about the ascension.'

As she spoke the library doors opened and Xander came in, holding former demon Anya by the arm. 'Want to something about an ascension? Why not ask someone who's actually been to one.' he announced.

Richard was, as ever, a very busy man. Running even a small town like Sunnydale wasn't just a nine to five job. Throw in the added complications such as the odd demonic tourist and more recently the ever irritating Slayer and it was a good job he didn't need to sleep.

Now all that effort, all the sacrifices and all the prayers were going to pay off. In just a couple more days he would ascend. With both the Hellmouth in his possession and the infinite powers of an Old One at his disposal there was nothing he couldn't do.

California would be his castle, America his kingdom and the rest of the world his fruit basket. A hundred years in the making, ten thousand years of reign. After that he might get bored, try something else.

But that was in the future and he couldn't afford to daydream right now. He might have been on the last hole of the course but there was still an obstacle in the shape of the Slayer Buffy Summers to overcome.

Richard tuned out the Principal, Snide - something or other. The man did a good job, but he'd be nothing but a labially after all was said and done. After a moment, when he was sure the man had stopped yammering, Richard smiled.

The Principal visibly shuddered away. 'You've done a fine job. A fine job under difficult circumstances.' Richard told him. The man obviously didn't know how to react. 'This school, this town, owes you. More than they know and I promise that you will be paid in full.' Giving him another grin Richard walked off. 'Mark my words, paid in full.'

He had something much more important to deal with.

'Let me see if I understand what you're telling us;' Giles outlined. 'Accession means to become a full, true demon. A Daemon, if you will.'

The former Vengeance Demon nodded fitfully.

Wesley stood up, looking every inch the pompous arrogant fool he ever was. 'There are tales, of the time before man. Of ancient creatures that shook the world with their footsteps.'

The girl nodded again. 'That's them. The first ones, the old ones.'

'I'm guessing I don't want to fight them.' Buffy suggested.

Giles closed his eyes, trying to recall what he had heard and read about Old Ones. 'The Old Ones is a name for the oldest of the old Buffy. Those that came before. Put simply Buffy they were giants. From what little is known of them they could swat you like a bug.' Pacing up and down Giles let the full scope of the problem settle. An immortal warlock, with massive political and magical powers was hell bent on becoming a force of pure evil in only a few days. 'There must be a way to stop this, and soon.' he announced

Anya shook her head. 'Not once the final invocations are underway. The only way to stop it is to kill him…'

'And now that he's immortal that's not going to happen.' Buffy finished and the rest of the gang lapsed into silence. Giles was completely lost as to where to go from here. With any luck the clue Buffy had found would be of some help, although right now he couldn't see what.

'Hey, guys?' Xander broke the sudden silence. 'Not to change the subject, but what's this?' he was holding the artefact Buffy had discovered.

'We don't know. Buffy found it last night.' Giles waved it off. There were much more important things to worry about now.

'Even if I don't remember where.' She grumbled.

'We were trying to ascertain it's purpose when you and Anya here came in.' Wesley added. 'I don't suppose you've ever seen anything like it before?'

The former demon shook her head. 'Don't worry, it was a good try.' Giles offered his fellow Watcher. 'But I don't think we need to worry about it at the moment. Right now it's just a distraction.'

As soon as he said it Giles knew it was a mistake. As Xander turned the object around the former Watcher cursed under his breath. Almost in slow motion the sliver rod began to shift.

As it fell Giles realised that it wasn't a rod, but a long handle for a silver dagger, the ruby heart set in the cross-piece between handle and blade. As it tumbled through the air the boy jumped back just in time. It landed, point first, in the ground right where his foot had been.

Giles knew first hand just how hard it was to cut into the concrete flooring, but the dagger's tip had slid in like it was water. Fortunately there wasn't enough force behind it to get much further. Still the dagger had to be incredibly sharp do get that far.

'I thought you guys said that thing was solid?' Buffy asked.

'It was.' Giles told them. When he had pulled on it earlier the dagger had been set solid. 'There must be a clasp or something, Xander could have caught it and not noticed.'

'Don't think I caught anything.' Xander protested before looking down. 'Whoa.'

Buffy looked at the beautiful weapon. She wasn't one to get attached to her tools of the trade. Other than Mr Pointy one stake was pretty much like the next. Short, pointy and wooden.

Swords and axes were the same; shiny, sharp and metal. The way she went through them it was best not to get attached. This thing was something else. The instant Buffy saw it she knew not only was it important, but it was hers.

As she looked at it the Slayer's eye caught the light gleaming along the shining edge of the blade shift. Blinking in shock she watched as it changed, right before her eyes the long handled knife began grow. At first the mounting around the jewel shifted, the sides were further apart, like two claws clasping the blood red ruby. Becoming more like the cross piece of a short sword. 'Are you seeing this?' she asked. As the rest of the gang muttered the Slayer saw the blade had changed too, becoming broader and thicker.

'How…?' Buffy asked. It was getting bigger in stages, not smooth like a tree or something like that but jumping. Now it was a full sword, the long handle was heavy, with a solid pommel at one end. The cross piece was broad and the claws left large gaps around the precious stone.

Even though the blade was thicker it was still perfectly shaped. A deep blood channel, the only marking on its silver surface, flowed down the middle. It grew in two more leaps before finally stopping, Now an exquisite longsword, it's tip still buried in the ground and hilt nearly up to Buffy's chest, even at the angle it had landed in. 'I think we can safely say that it is indeed mystical.' Giles murmured and Buffy could only nod in agreement.

It still wasn't the end, now that it was full size it was like the show had only just started. Miniature arcs of red lighting sparked out from the jewel and scattered all over the sword. Xander practically leapt back even further until he was sitting on the library counter.

Everyone else jumped back too, everyone but Buffy. For some reason she wasn't afraid. A freaky silver knife that had some how appeared in her bedroom. Along with a magic stone and some over sized gold sheath for it. This was a prime recipe for freaking out. Instead she was just standing there.

As fast as it started the lightning finished and was sucked back into the ruby that began to glow. The slit like defect, as Giles had called it, grew with the blade. Buffy was shocked at how much it looked like the eye of a cat. An eye that contracted.

Time stopped. The universe held it's breath and Buffy knew in that terrible second the eye saw her. It saw her like nothing, no one could ever see another. Then it's attention was elsewhere.

The jewel glowed and then, like the beam of a lighthouse it shone on the wall and then through it. Walking down the hall without a care in the world was Mayor Richard Wilkins.

End Chapter One