By Shadow
Pairings – Willow/Faith, Xena/Gabrielle
Feedback – Like I need to ask? Shadowlander1@gmx.net
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Chapter 4
Willow
appeared in a flash of light in her bedroom, “I’m beginning to hate that,” she
grumbled with a shake of her head, noting that it had started to rain
again. Turning toward her bed, she
found a small pile of clothing and other accessories, as well as what looked to
be a pair of sturdy boots on the floor, waiting for her. ‘Leather,’ she
thought, fingering one of the articles of clothing noting that it looked like
it was meant to offer as much protection as possible and still remain
comfortable. ‘Might as well get this over with,’ she decided beginning to
remove her clothing, her mind already working on the puzzle Eon had set before,
choosing to ignore the whole goddess thing for the moment. ‘Time enough to
worry about that later.’
Minutes
later, the young redhead stood before her full length mirror, admiring the way
the silver/gray sleeveless linen shirt fit over the dark leather pants that
were tucked into her above-the-knee boots. ‘When did I get a full length
mirror?’ She questioned suddenly, noting another figure standing behind her.
“Er, hi dad?” She said in a small sheepish voice, recognizing Hephaestus after
a moment of sheer panic.
“I
didn’t mean to startle you, just wanted you to get a good look at your new
clothes... they are all right aren’t they?
I can change the colour or style if you like,” he offered, raising one
hand to do just that.
“No,
no they are fine... never owned anything made of leather before, unless you
count a pair of dress shoes,” Willow replied, with a lopsided grin, taking the
time to take a good look at the being that was her father. Recalling everything she had ever read about
the Greek gods, she took a step closer to him cocking her head to one side to
get a better look at the side of his face that he tended to keep out turned
away from others. Tentatively raising
one hand to touch his scarred cheek, turning it so she could get a better look
at him, she immediately noticed the one things she most definitely got from
him... the green of her eyes. “So that is where I got them,” she said in
wonder, staring into the eyes before her filled with wisdom and power she ever
thought existed. Rising up on her
tiptoes she plants a quick kiss on his cheek, “so... do I pass inspection?”
“Hmmm,
yes... although if your mother had her way,” he said a playful grin, taking a
step back to give her new clothes one final once over, like the proud father he
was. “You would be dressed entirely in silk and have about twelve servants
around you at all times,” he finished seriously. “However, your Aunt Athena was able to reason with her, so no
silk... yet. You will find these
clothes to be a bit more functional, especially if you will be traveling with
Xena... she tends to attract trouble.” He said ruefully. “Oh and you will need
these,” he added after a moment, holding out his hand palm up as two forearm
bracers appeared in them. “They will help you channel your magical talent and
offer a bit of protection... you will note that your Uncle Hercules has a
larger similar pair, his work a bit differently but in the end they both serve
the same function. “Oh and don't forget these...” he added, as a small sword
and a knife appeared in his hand after Willow removed the bracers, “the knife
is your ceremonial knife for spell casting and such... the sword is for
protection, don’t worry about knowing how to use it... you will find you have a
natural aptitude for it. A little gift
from Athena to help you on your way a bit.
And lastly... a satchel for carrying your magic books and other magical
items... it’s enchanted, so you will be able to carry a lot in it, but not the
laptop... electricity has not been invented yet,” he finished in a smile.
“I
knew that there was a downside to all of this,” Willow said somewhat absently,
as she put on the forearm bracers, her mind whirling with the thought of
actually having an Aunt Athena and Uncle Hercules. Then something occurred to her, “isn’t that cheating a bit?
Giving me the knowledge of how to use this thing?” she questioned taking the
sword out of his hand.
“Not
really... it’s not uncommon for one of us to bless mortals or demi-gods... and
you already have the knowledge, Athena blessed you with it when you were an
infant... she has hopes of you becoming a great warrior.” Hephaestus replied,
“The knowledge would still be there when you return to your right time... I’m
just making sure you have the proper sword is all.”
“You
made this?” Willow asked, admiring the craftsmanship of the sword, something
telling her that the sword had been made especially for her, being weighted for
her small stature. “It sort of looks Asian,” she noted absently, the design
reminding her of a katana she once saw in Giles’ weapons closet, only this one
was double-sided and had a different style hilt.
“It’s
actually more of an Amazon design... with a few of my own ideas added, but it
is one of the strongest blades ever made,” he replied, watching with pride, as
his daughter turned the sword a few times in her hand as if trying to get a
feel for it. “You’ll find the sheath and satchel over on the bed... I will see
you in a bit? Or in few thousand years
in the past... depending on your point of view.” He said with a lopsided grin,
before disappearing taking his full-length mirror with him, as a pounding began
on Willow’s front door announcing that she now had visitors.
“Wills!
Wills you in there? We got big problems!” A voice shouted over the pounding.
************************
Xena
chuckled evilly as she sent another opponent flying across the practice field in
what Gabrielle had begun calling “Xena’s torture session with the
Amazons.” Although the Warrior Princess
herself called it “blowing off a little steam with some of Eponin’s finest,”
either way it resulted in a lot of bruised Amazons and one rather smug Xena in
the end.
Gabrielle
watched Solari land with a thud, wincing in sympathy as she watched the
dark-haired Amazon climb determinedly to her feet for another shot at the
laughing warrior. “I take it back...
she is just stubborn as Xena,” Eponin noted dryly from beside her, where it was
safe. The Amazon weapon master may be a
bit stubborn herself at times but she wasn’t stupid... taking on the Warrior
Princess with only twenty other warriors as backup was just plain silly. No, no she planned to have at least fifty
warriors behind her and maybe Hercules to help even things out a bit before she
mounted her attempt to wipe that smug little grin off of Xena’s face.
A
bright light interrupted the late morning activities, as several figures
appeared on the practice field not all of them female or even humans for that
matter. The effect was immediate on the
gathered Amazons, all sense of good-natured sparring thrust aside as time
hardened instinct took over, as they focused in on the possible threat that now
faced them.
Faith
was momentarily blinded by the sudden flash of light losing hold on her
battle-axe she was backhanded by the demon she had been fighting with. Catching herself before she hit the ground
too hard, she rolled coming up ready for another round. “You have GOT to be
kidding me? That is the best you can do?”
She taunted the demon barely registering the change in scenery, her
attention focused on the Pacer demon she had been trying to slay and his ugly
little offspring that used to be the night watchman at the local Denny’s
“Slayer...
your blood will seal the fate of your unworthy race!” the demon hissed through
a face full of fangs, eager to tear the irritating human’s heart out and feed
it to his new child.
“What? Do all of you refugees from the freak show
use the same threats?” Faith demanded, “You’re too late ugly, that one was used
already by a fledgling that staked himself.” She growled delivering a kick to
the demon’s groin... at least Faith thought it was his groin; it was kind of hard
to tell with all the slime and muck dripping off the thing.
“Faith
quit messing around and kill the thing already!” Willow yelled diving away from the demon that used to be the
night watchman at Denny’s, only to come to a rest at Xena’s booted feet. “Oh hi
Xena... we’ll be right with you in a minute,” she said looking up at the
Warrior Princess. “Or two... if Faith DOESN’T get the axe to slay these clowns
with already!” She added tossing the dark-haired slayer a dirty look. ‘Just my
luck to get stuck looking for these two with Faith.’
“Anytime
you want to take over Red, just say the word,” Faith snarled giving the demon
before her a roundhouse kick, trying to work her way over to where her axe had
landed.
“The
axe... its important?” Xena asked drawing
her chakram and sending it flying at the demon closest to her that Willow had
been rolling away from.
“Yeah
‘specially blessed to kill Pacer and other demons,” Willow replied scrambling
to her feet, “although that seems to work too.” She added as the chakram decapitated the former night watchman
with ease.
Catching
her chakram on its return trip, Xena immediately turned her attention to the
other much larger demon and the young girl who was fighting it. With a battle cry, that was known to strike
terror into the hearts of man and demons alike, the Warrior Princess entered
the battle leaping the distance in a single bound.
“The
blood of a Slayer... long have I dreamt of tasting it,” the demon taunted
unaware that a very un-amused Warrior Princess who was ticked off over having
her morning workout interrupted had joined the battle.
“Oh
come on! You guys really need to get
new lines... that one went out with the master,” Faith growled.
‘Slayer?
Master? Xena filed the names away for later, she was sure she could get some
answers out of Willow, who, she noted, was already heading for the axe the
dark-haired girl had lost as was Solari. “Excuse me... mind if I cut in?” she
asked with a wicked grin, using her chakram to slice into the demon, taking a
moment to savor the scream of agony the creature made as she did. Back flipping out of the way of the demon’s
wild swing, Xena comes up ready to strike again, looking for the first opening.
Beating
the small redhead to the axe, Solari scooped it up and changed course for the
demon, “Go for its head... you got to decapitate it completely or it’ll just
grow another one.” Willow’s voice caused her to pause for a moment, wondering
what kind of bizarre creature the two girls were fighting. Shaking her head to clear it she came up
behind the creature and swung hard, taking the head clean off only to have it
hit Eponin square in the chest, who had been leading the charge of
reinforcements. Jumping back the Amazon
did what came natural... she drew her sword and began to beat the hell out of
the head for several moments before Gabrielle stepped in.
“Eponin!”
Gabrielle said firmly getting the weapons master's attention, “its dead, you
can quit killing it now.”
Slowly
stepping back from the decapitated head, “it moved,” she defended weakly.
“Right...
I know I saw it too,” Gabrielle agreed giving the head one last whack with her
staff in support of the weapons master.
“Well...
just so we know its dead,” Eponin replied, trying to get some control of her
shattered nerves.
“We’re
going to have to burn both bodies... heads too,” Willow commented coming over
to the three gathered around the body of the larger demon.
“Why?
Will it grow some more parts?” Solari asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Actually...
yes if we don’t destroy the body before nightfall,” Willow replied, looking the
Amazon straight in the eye.
“I’ll
go prepare the bonfire... preferably down wind from the village,” Solari said,
handing the battle-axe to Xena and disappearing in the opposite direction.
“So
Red... friend of yours?” Faith asked
noting the way the redhead seemed so relaxed with the tall dark-haired warrior
who had help her a bit. “See you two got similar taste in clothes now.”