Dr. Amelia Chung was excited, after a month of treatment and blood tests, it was time to remove the stitches from the giant's legs. They had become close friends when the giant woman had finally understood that she was only trying to help.
Keeping the giant woman and her two children a secret had lasted perhaps two days. The press had started slipping in the compound and photographed the woman repeatedly. As long as no one came near her children the woman was fairly amicable.
Dr. Chung's mind wandered back to the day the translation amulets had arrived.
"I am Gara of the Graystone Clan," the giant woman had said, pointing to her chest. "My children are Fior and Firoa. I must thank you for healing me."
"My name is Dr. Amelia Chung and I am very sorry for what happened to your family," and she meant it. Gara had proven herself as a noble person the moment Dr. Chung's intent on healing had been understood. The giant woman knew no evil people would have let her keep her children or even fed her. It was a great tragedy that the language barrier had caused such a terrible problem between their two peoples.
Afterwards they had spoken frequently about their two cultures. The stone giants had a strong love of the arts. Gara herself was a painter and after a couple of weeks, Dr. Chung had arranged for paints, a specially made long handle brush, and a roll of paper from a local art supply store. The giant woman was amazing. The art was not primitive as many would have expected, but graceful and bold. She did not worry about realism, but bent the subject to the needs of her painting. With it, she painted the story of her clan.
Long, long ago the Graystone clan had been just one of a scattered bunch of families who were not unified in any way. They had come from the south following the herds of buffalo, Rothe and Mammoths generations and settled in the mountains. There they tamed the beasts and herded them, using them for clothing, food and steeds. Then came the orcs. They attacked the herds, killing and taking what they wanted from the stone giant families. Brothers and sisters died by the orc axes. Together, the clans banded together and fought back the orcs. When the orcs had been pushed far up into the mountains, the families had become a nation. These giants fought the dragons and held the land, but it did not last. The dragons returned and brought with them slaves who could control the most dangerous magics. The Giant Nation could not survive the attack and scattered once more.
The Graystone clan had stayed in the mountains and survived human empires that could live in the sky on flying mountains. They stayed hidden and kept quiet. Later the humans crashed to earth and the orcs returned. The Graystone Clan, much smaller than it once was, could only fend the orcs off and could no longer chase them from the mountains. And that brought them to now.
"Gara, we should tell your family that you have survived," Amelia said as she checked the giant woman's pulse. It was regular for her.
"I do not feel that is a good idea. My clan does not like having its territory invaded. We have enough problems with the orcs and fire-bringers and the elders fear making more enemies," Gara said as she pulled a baby up to her breast to feed.
"What are the fire-bringers?"
"They are fearsome creatures from beneath the earth. No one knows where they have come from, but they have killed many of our kin. They come in many shapes and sizes but their leaders are the worst," Gara explained. "They are nearly as tall as our people and carry swords and whips made of fire. They can call others of their kind and delight in pain and suffering."
"They sound like demons. Perhaps we could help protect your people," Dr. Chung suggested as she jotted something down on her patient's chart. Gara giggled at the thought of the elders accepting help from such little creatures. Little mannerisms like these reminded Amelia of her friend's age. Gara was young by her people's standards, only 157 years old and her children, still infants, were only two years old and almost the size of a small adult human. Amelia had been very surprised to learn giants could frequently live 800 years and 1000 was not unheard of.
"I do not know if they would believe you could help," Gara said with a honest smile.
"But what about Buffy? She is supposed to fight demons after all," Amelia noticed Gara tense up. She smiled and rested her tiny hand on Gara's massive finger. "I know you are still upset, but Buffy had no way to know you only wanted to scare them off."
"She killed two of my family. It is not an easy thing to forget," the giantess said tersely. She switched babies at her breasts.
"It is easy to place blame, but sometimes the hardest thing to do is forgive and never forget," Amelia said. "I have to go back to the hospital, but I wanted to congratulate you on your fast recovery. Your wounds look good. I think we can take the stitches out in a couple of days. We could have you up and hiking home in a month after that."
Gara's smile was honest and hopeful.
Lord Manshoon was not a foolish man. He was the most powerful man in the Zhentarim, the founder of the organization and the one who cemented the ties with the Church of Bane. He was one of the great wizards of the realms. He saw a potential ally in the new political power of Sunnydale. They had no king; no unified religion who could thwart his plans. Even members of the same political faction were at odds with each other. It was a pawn nation.
He had scryed the area ever since word of the devastation had reached Zhentil Keep. His messengers spoke of entire merchant caravans being destroyed in the blink of an eye, with only a few lucky survivors. The mages, save for one, had all been killed instantly. The only message he heard was a garbled spell that mentioned something about a glowing city in a sea of destruction. The mage was promptly killed by some hungry creature cutting off the message. Annoyed by the foolishness, Manshoon had sent commands for another team in a nearby area to investigate. The result had been the discovery of a slice of land perfectly situated in the Nether Mountains.
The city was no doubt extra-planar in origin. No city with that level of technology. Anyone with the capability to make those flying machines would have explored the world by now. They were not magical, though there were some very strong magical auras in that city. Powerful artifacts, he had no doubt, were buried in that town, just waiting for someone to use them. Waiting for him to use them. Smiling under his mask, he summoned a seasoned minion to take care of the problem.
"Send a team to this new town of Sunnydale," Manshoon commanded. "Do not let them become too enticed with Alustriel's cronies. You will need some means of communication with them. Speak to the Black Cloaks and see what can be done. Infiltrate their power structure, find the weak points. You shall use this to our advantage."
"Yes my Lord Manshoon," the minion saluted and turned to walk away.
"Oh, and Peris?"
"Yes, milord?"
"If you find any Harpers, enthrall them first, but if that doesn't work: kill them. Make it messy."
"Leave a message, understood milord."
Manshoon left Peris to his duties. How would Sunnydale be best controlled? Would an open arrangement be best? A clear partnership with Zhentil Keep? With his scrying he knew what they needed. They needed building materials; they needed clothing; they needed food. The question was how to best use this to control the city? Should he have a team poison their crops? This would make their situation much more dear, and they would need additional help. Or should he give them crops with a promise of reciprocation later on? It would take time to decide upon one choice. Better to find as much information as possible before making a decision.
Angel had been avoiding Buffy and her friends since Acathla. His guilt was too strong, too horrific for him to allow himself the pleasure of being in her company. He had kept his promise and watched his child and hers like a hawk the entire time, keeping them from too much trouble. They had not killed anyone (that he knew of), even if they had hypnotized a few nighttime stragglers.
In this time, he had been thinking about everything that had happened. He had been out wandering one night when he had run into Drizzt practicing his sword play even with a broken leg. Angel had stopped to watch the elf practice. Angel was a good swordsman, but Drizzt Do'Urden was more than a master by human terms. This had happened one night, then another and another.
"I have seen you watching me every night for the past few weeks," Angel jumped, hearing the dark elf's voice from behind him.
"Don't sneak up on people like that!" How in hell hadn't heard a guy in crutches come up behind him?
"Forgive me. It was not my intent to alarm you," Drizzt said with an expressionless face. "I wondered why you were here so often. Perhaps it is because of her?" Drizzt pointed over his shoulder to Buffy's room. Angel's shoulders sagged.
"Yes, I came here to speak with her."
"Then why do you always stand around? You never go beyond the yard," Drizzt said, motioning to the edge of the grass. "You hide in the shadows instead of talking to her."
"It's-it's too hard to talk to her."
"I hardly think it is. Usually you just open one's mouth and speak. Even children can do it." Angel, momentarily shaken out of his broody funk, looked at the dark elf with a wry smile.
"That was a joke, wasn't it?"
"I suppose," Drizzt smiled, shrugging his shoulders and carefully keeping the smile from his face.
"I've been watching you practice," Angel said, changing the subject. "You're incredible with a sword."
"It's my father's gift," Drizzt said with a shrug. "He gave me the talent and the skills. A broken leg should not be an excuse to lose them."
"What was it like living in an underground city," Angel asked suddenly. Drizzt was not really surprised by the question.
"What is it like living in a surface city?" Angel laughed at the question, suddenly realizing how foolish he sounded. Drizzt sheathed his wooden practice swords. "I've lived in two underground cities. I assume you mean Menzoberranzan?"
Menzoberranzan fascinated almost every Sunnydaler who heard of it, but it was fascinating in the same way that Nazi Germany or the USSR under Stalin were fascinating. The horror intrigued like few things could. Angel nodded. "Living in the city of the drow was like living on a knife's edge, one slip and you could wind up dead. In some respects it was more dangerous than living in the wilds of the Underdark."
"But what did it look like?"
"Think of spiderwebs everywhere and no lights and a dagger around every corner. That will give you a good idea," Drizzt said as he leaned against the tree to rest his leg. "It is more beautiful than I can describe, but it's a place I barely escaped from."
"Sorry. I just wondered what kind of place would develop a twin sword style like yours," Angel said apologetically.
"Ah, that is House Do'Urden, where I was born and raised," Drizzt said simply. "My style is actually one developed from my father's style which was then based on the style taught in the Academy. Twin sword styles are not uncommon in Menzoberranzan."
"They were very uncommon on Earth," Angel said, taking a seat next to the dark elf. "The more common style was sword and dagger. When I was a child almost everyone of a certain level of society learned sword play and everyone below it was forbidden."
"It is not uncommon for that to happen in Menzoberranzan either," Drizzt agreed. "If you are not one of the Houses, you were a slave and no one wanted a slave uprising. It's one of the many things, I never realized about drow society that I can look back at and see what's the what."
"It sounds like you've been spending too much time around Buffy," Angel said with the same wry smile as before.
"I apologize. I am not used to speaking your language," Drizzt apologized. Angel smiled and put up a hand to stop him.
"No, it's not your fault."
"Actually, I think I rely on the amulet too much," Drizzt said, holding up the item for Angel to see. "I don't learn the language with this. What happens if I loose this? Or if it is destroyed? I am behind in my classes because I use this to talk to people at home. Other people do not have the same kind of choice and so they are much more fluent than I am."
"Then stop using it," Angel said with a shrug.
They continued talking every morning after Drizzt finished his meditations and sword practice. For nearly a month Angel came and spoke to the dark elf on all sorts of topics. One of the topics they returned to was conversations about their homelands. One thing they had in common was the power of religion in their respective cultures. The biggest difference was how that power was used. Angel shuddered to think what it was like living as a non-drow in Menzoberranzan. Such power in the hands of but a few priestesses… The raw power of these clerics had given Angel the idea.
It would be almost a week of deep brooding and consideration before he built up the courage to approach Buffy again, after avoiding her for so long. After some deep thought he knocked on Buffy's door. A very angry Joyce answered the door.
"You are not allowed near my daughter," her voice was flat and simmering with barely contained anger. Buffy had clearly explained the entire situation with her mother.
"After everything that has happened, I actually think that is a very good idea," Angel replied with more than a little regret in his voice. "But I need to speak with her."
"You are not allowed inside."
"I know and she doesn't have to come outside. I just need to tell her something," Angel gave the mother of the woman he loved a pleading look. Joyce Summers gave him a long silent look.
"Ten minutes, any longer and I'll set you on fire," she turned to face the stairs and called for her daughter. Buffy bounced down the stairs until she saw Angel standing in the open doorway. She slowed down, her mixed feelings playing out a roller coaster in her stomach.
"Hi Buffy."
"Hey."
"I wanted-I need to tell you something."
"Okay, shoot."
"I'm leaving." He said it. Buffy's face was stunned for a long moment before shifting to anger.
"What? You're leaving?" Buffy stepped through the door way and punched him across the mouth. "You ignore me for a month after getting your soul back after months of hell on Earth with you torturing everyone you know and now-" Angel opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "No, you don't get to talk. And now, you tell me you are leaving. Do you have any idea of how pissed off I am right now? No, you can't possibly have any idea. You can't possibly know how terrified I have been since that night. The idea that you could kill any of my friends at any time froze me more than once. I'd wake up in a cold sweat when I remembered something or other and realize you could go here, or you could go there. And I couldn't stop you. And now you're leaving?"
"Yes."
"Where the hell are you going?"
"I've been talking with Drizzt."
"You're not taking him."
"No, but he told me about his homeland and the priestesses. About his father." Buffy had heard the story from the elf and knew how his family had killed his father and then brought him back as some dead thing. "I-a priest like that could help me." She looked at her vampire lover like he was crazy.
"You're crazy," she said. "Those priestesses were homicidal psychopaths, they won't help you."
"No, they wouldn't, but if they exist, there must be equally powerful priests and mages. I will find one who will help me," he was almost pleading again.
"What about Spike and Drusilla?"
"They will be coming with me," Angel replied. "It's my fault they're vampires, so they are my responsibility. They deserve to have real lives."
"They're both killers."
"So am I."
She just looked at him for a long moment. And then she slammed the door in his face. As he was turning to walk away the door opened again. Buffy grabbed his head and kissed him hard.
"Now go. I don't want to see you until you are better."
"Buffy I-" The blond girl had already vanished inside and slammed the door in his face once more. Angel stared at the closed door in front of him for a long moment. "I guess I'll go."
Finally it was the end of the school year. There was not the same kind of ending that most years had. The seniors knew they were staying in town so they didn't do the usual "BFF I'm gonna always call" kind of thing. There was quite a bit of grumbling about "I was accepted to MIT/Harvard/Yale/generic-other-fancy-school" or "I was like, totally, going to LA and becoming a movie star you know?" but it was mostly ignored by the greater populace of Sunnydale.
Oz had graduated first of his class as all the teachers had expected. Even Snyder congratulated him a moment before he snarled at someone for shutting their locker too hard. He knew is was going to be a difficult summer, but he had to go away. Ever since they had arrived in Faerun, the wolf had been getting stronger. He was not showing it, but he was more prone to anger and sometimes, when he was fighting down an outburst, he could feel the change almost there. His human sense of smell had increased to the point where he could track scents as well as any bloodhound, and the wolf senses had increased exponentially. He longed for raw meat and even felt the need to scavenge in the hills one full moon when he escaped from the library. There was little that could keep him contained there anyway. It was safer for everyone if he stayed away. If he ever intentionally called the wolf, there would be no going back. He knew it in his bones. Call the wolf and forever, would he be the wolf.
And that scared him more than anything in the world.
He knew everyone by scent now. Few if anyone, could sneak up on him. It gave him greater awareness of his surroundings. He knew who was a vamp and who was alive. He knew who carried guns. He could even smell magic on people. He was beginning to know the difference between casters and the ensorcelled. This was great. It had helped the Scooby Gang so much since they had gone through the Shift.
But now he looked at Willow like she was food.
Oz new he could not stay. He had to leave and find a place where he could control the beast. And if he was going to leave on good terms, he would have to leave soon, before the next full moon.
School was over for the year. That night had been filled with celebration by many of the students, as it always was, but for Buffy, it was the night that Angel left Sunnydale, dragging his two vampire offspring behind him.
She had refused to see him ever since that night. And she discovered it was not nearly as hard as she initially thought. There was a profound sense of relief. It was like she could finally release a breath she had been holding for months. Angel's exit was noticed by the rest of the Scooby Gang, even if Buffy never spoke of it. She was more relaxed, happier, less over protective of friends and family. She was even more attentive in meetings and discussions. Everyone was hoping this summer would be as uneventful as the last so the healing could begin.
It was Tuesday again, and this meant the weekly update from City Hall. The messages had helped coordinate efforts better than running around. The weekly speeches also gave the decisions a greater level of credibility than a simple press release. It allowed people to see the faces of the people who organized everything. Assistant Deputy Finch released information to the press on a regular basis, but he was not as well received as Richard Wilkins III. Here was a friendly face, a person they knew was working towards their best interest.
"Hello, Sunnydale," He said, beginning his speech as he always did.
"Citizens of Sunnydale, as we are at the end of a school year and the start of what would normally be summer vacation I feel that I must deliver some disappointing news to all you school children. Summer vacation is canceled, effective immediately
"After much deliberation, it has been decided that all citizens age of 14 and older will required to work for the good of the whole. This is alarming to many people; some of you will even consider this an infraction on your civil rights. In this dire time we need all workers we can find. We have massive amounts of work to get done.
"We have nearly 4000 refugees who are looking for homes. To accommodate everyone, we have to build or repair almost every building in the city. We need to rebuild many houses which were not designed for cold winters. Those of you without heating will need to have some sort of central heating system installed by winter. Thousands could die if we fail to reach our goals.
"We have nearly 42,000 people in Sunnydale, mouths to feed and little in the way of agricultural land to feed them. We need to develop farming techniques for the mountains and we need people to farm. Once again, if we fail, we could have thousands die.
"When John Smith arrived in Jamestown, he discovered a clear class divide between those who worked and those who lived high on the hog. He used a biblical quote as motivation; and to paraphrase: 'If you don't work, you won't eat.' Now, I do not plan to be so severe, but my sentiment was much the same. If you refuse to help the greater good, if you choose to take advantage of people working towards the greater good, you shall be punished to the full extent to the law. Criminals will be put on work gangs. No one gets a free pass.
"Please remember these are only two examples of the many areas we need workers. Most of these work details will also include on the job training and/or college credit for the future.
"I have several other announcements to make as well. The first is my declaration of Citizenship in Sunnydale to anyone who arrived with us from Earth. They are now guaranteed the same rights as anyone who lived here before, and are required to follow the same laws. I do not care if they were here illegally before, they are legal citizens now, fully protected under the law.
"This does not include anyone who might choose to emigrate to Sunnydale from another part of this new world. They are required to follow the same procedure as would anyone wishing to emigrate to the United States. This is regardless of where they originated, be it one of our allies or one of our enemies, should we make them. I refuse to allow us to be taken over by another power.
"In two weeks the Military Tribunal shall begin against the orcs who attacked our recon teams the day after we arrived. After much deliberation, we have decided it is best to treat them as enemy combatants and give them due process of law. They shall have representation as would anyone else and translators to make the process as clear as possible. This has been reviewed and agreed to by the Sunnydale Civil Liberties Union. No photography will be allowed within the tribunals, however specific press passes will be issued for the proceedings.
"We have finally made an agreement with Citadel Adbar in regards to the Sunnydale Railways, commonly known as the SunnyRail Accords. They will supply the raw materials and half labor while Sunnydale will supply the other half of the labor and add our engineering expertise to the project. The eventual goal of the SunnyRail Accords is to make a unified transportation system across the North for supplies, trade, and travel. The first railway will connect Citadel Adbar and Sunnydale. After this we will share ownership of that railway. Any other routes will be renegotiated at a later date.
"This brings me to another issue. Many of you are concerned that we are relying on others far too much; that we are giving up our independence too easily to other powers. I agree with this to a point. Yes, we have given away some of our isolation and perhaps a slight bit of our independence. Unfortunately we did not have any choice if we are to survive the year. This nearby nations are willing to give their support for rather small returns now.
"These nations have no hold over our government. They have no hold on our economy either, save for the debts we incurred when negotiating for supplies. We have plans in place to alleviate Sunnydale of this debt that will not put us in a place where we need to fight on their behalf.
"In other orders of business: We are working to formulate an emergency plan for the entire town. There will be a round table discussion tomorrow in the Sunnydale High gymnasium to discuss the proper implementation and planning. Anyone interested should arrive there at noon. The meeting will begin at 1:00pm.
"There will be a meeting at noon in the Liberal Arts Hall at the University to discuss the future of the Watchers' Council. Rupert Giles, Sunnydale's only resident Watcher, will be looking for people interested in the organization and will be taking applications for employment. The Watchers' Council is an organization dedicated to the wellbeing of society and protection against supernatural threats. He is looking for researchers, spell casters and other similar skills.
"Here at City Hall at three o'clock, we will be holding a housing discussion. This is intended to be a brainstorming session to plan the future of Sunnydale, including the look and growth of the city. Anyone interested should arrive and sign in with Deputy Mayor Finch who will be leading the discussion.
"There will be a recruitment effort with the Sunnydale Military. Our military, which we have decided to refer to as the Sunnydale Self Defense Force, is looking for people who are willing to dedicate their service to our City. The Sunnydale Base will be conducting their recruitment drive all day tomorrow. This is open to people ages 18 and over. You will be given food and water on a regular basis, as well as special training and educational courses.
"Thursday, at Eight PM, there will be a show highlighting the new world and climate we now live in. Please tune in to discover more about this new continent known as Faerun and what we need to do to live here. It features footage of our local area as well as maps given to us by our neighbors. Scientists and specialists will be discussing where we stand in our new world.
"This is an important time for Sunnydale, a time which could make or break our entire existence. The only way our city will survive is if we all pull together and become something greater than the sum of our parts. This means everyone, regardless of who we once were on Earth.
"Thank you, and good night."
Buffy and company is owned by Joss W. and Mutant Enemy.
The Forgotten Realms and such are created and owned by Ed Greenwood and Wizards of the Coast and the various authors of the fiction.
Ranma 1/2 is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Thanks go to Janessa Ravenwood for editing this massive literary beast.