Chapter Text
Chapter 2.
Training in Rivellon was not at all like his Halloween memories told him Boot Camp was like. First of all, the chain of command was a lot murkier here. Gawain was in charge and he had his lieutenants but it was unclear which of them outranked the others. The physical training was also a lot more intense. Xander had never run so much in his life but he really liked the weapons. He seemed to take naturally to swords, spears, and the bow.
Magic was another story. That had been a challenge from the get-go, but as of now, he could at least perform a basic fireball, the rush attack, and a basic healing spell without anyone getting hurt or, in the case of the healing spell, sprouting new growths or limbs from the wounds he healed and neither he nor his teachers were interested in going any further if they could help it.
Xander also had proper armor and weapons now too and he got to use them against demons. They called them goblins and imps here, but they really just looked like different species of demons to him. The demons lived in caves with the biggest and strongest demons living at the bottom of the network and the weaker ones living towards the top, near the surface. Xander tended to have to travel deep into those caves to find what the soldiers called ’high level’ goblins to find any sort of a challenge. Even then, with his new armor and weapons, he never felt like he was in any real danger, despite the rush that facing things faster and stronger than him always brought.
Still, not all his training had been physical exercise and fighting. There were three villages that Deodatus Castle protected and Xander was assigned to get to know a villager in each. He was also to visit each of them once a week. Not something Xander was terribly interested in when there were so many demons around—even more than Sunnydale and here they were running around openly—but Gawain insisted. “A commander should know what he’s protecting,” he said.
So Xander had a plan to do the bare minimum to satisfy the captain. In one village, he found the first person he came across, it happened to be a dirty beggar. He gave the man a few coins he’d picked up from goblin caves and corpses then spent the rest of the day fighting imps in a nearby cave. The next day, in the second village, Xander’s plan to avoid entanglement failed.
She was beautiful. She was hanging some laundry up to dry outside her house on the edge of the village and trying her best to dissuade a dirty, bearded man from his amorous advances.
“Bart, I think I’ve made it very clear I’ve no interest in you,” she said, keeping a bedsheet and a clothesline between them.
“You’ll learn to have an interest in me,” Bart insisted, pulling the sheet aside and dirtying it with his filthy hands.
“Leave the lady alone,” Xander interrupted. “Haven’t you ever heard that ’no means no’?”
“Shove off, mate,” Bart snarled.
“Make me,” Xander stepped up. He was armed and armored for the fighting he was still planing on doing against demons later, but the equipment would work equally well against a human if he chose. Xander observed that this Bart was probably armed with some concealed weapons, and had at least a good, hardened-leather vest.
“Sir, don’t. Don’t you know who this is? This is Black Bart, the highwayman,” the girl tried to play peacekeeper, not wanting the kind stranger to get killed for no reason.
Xander’s brow went up at that. Not at the name, but highwayman meant he was probably wanted. “Really? Does that mean there’s a reward for his capture?”
Black Bart sneered, “Think you can take me, boy?”
“Yes.”
Bart was a little nonplussed by the simplicity of the statement but soon regained his composure. He let out a chilling laugh. “So be it. Meet me at the temple ruins in two hours.” He walked away.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that. He’ll bring his gang and kill you for sure,” the girl moaned.
“Meh,” Xander shrugged as it it were nothing. “Let’s start over. My name is Xander. What’s yours?”
“Audrey. But-”
“Audrey. I kinda hoped he’d go and get his little gang. I’m counting on it, in fact. Get’s them all in one place for me. Otherwise, it kinda makes the whole ’letting him go’ thing a big waste of time because I really don’t feel like chasing that guy down.” The armor he was wearing was heavy and he didn’t feel like running if he didn’t have to.
Audrey looked at him wide eyed, with her mouth hanging open.
“Listen, this might be a little forward of me, but would you like to eat lunch together after I’ve dealt with these guys?” Xander requested.
“But- but-”
“What? You’re going to let me go off to my almost certain death without even the promise of buying a pretty lady lunch?” Xander affected theatrically.
That seemed to shock Audrey out of her stupor. “Fine!” she yelled. “Just go and get yourself killed already. At least it will put Bart in a good mood for a couple days!” she stomped off, leaving most of her laundry still unhung.
“So... was that a yes or a no to lunch?” Xander called after her.
THREE MONTHS LATER
“You ready?” Gawain asked from the doorway.
“Would you think less of me if I said ’no’? Not even counting how much I’m going to miss Audrey,” Xander replied. He had decided long ago that this really wasn’t a dream. He didn’t know where Rivellon was or why he’d been brought here but decided not to worry about it. He couldn’t do anything about getting back without the wizard anyway.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be leaving soon too. Along with half the men,” Gawain added. At a look from Xander he explained. “I don’t know if you realize it or not, but in the few months you’ve been here, you’ve really pacified this valley. You killed so many monsters and outlaws that we just don’t need as many soldiers here to protect everyone. Hansel is being given command of the garrison and the rest of us are being rotated somewhere we can do more good.
“I don’t know what Zandelor’s plans are for you. Even if he just takes you from fort to fort, you’d do a lot of good for the people of Rivellon, but somehow I think he’s aiming even higher. Whatever it is, all the men chipped in to get you this.” Gawain reached outside the door and came back with a shiny, steel cuirass. “We know you’re fast enough to avoid most blows, but sooner or later... Well, we hope someday this saves your life.”
“Thank you, Gawain,” Xander said as he took the gift, truly touched. Solid steel like this was pretty dang expensive. The value of the cuirass was about the value of a brand new car.
“No. Thank you.”
Xander was in full kit, including his new cuirass when Zandelor arrived.
The wizard didn’t waste words. “Are you ready?”
Xander nodded.
Zandelor took off at an easy lope and Xander followed, not slowed at all by the weight of the weapons and armor he was wearing. Endurance training had really paid off.
“Library... ooh!” Willow cooed as they checked out the library of the college they were now attending. “Library. C’mon.”
“It’s too bad Giles can’t be the librarian here. Be convenient,” Buffy said as she followed her friend.
Willow smiled. “Well, he says that he’s enjoying being a gentleman of leisure.”
“Gentleman of leisure? Isn’t that just British for unemployed?” Buffy mentally translated.
“Uh-huh, he’s a slacker now,” Willow smiled at the thought of Giles doing anything but work.
“Speaking of slack, have you heard anything from Xander?” Buffy asked as they reached the next landing.
Willow sighed. “Not for awhile, he’s still on his cross-country-see-America thing. He said he wasn’t coming back until he had driven to all fifty states.”
“Did you explain about Hawaii?” Buffy queried.
“Oh, he seemed so determined,” Willow hadn’t wanted to break his heart.
“I hope he gets back soon. It’d be fun to have the whole gang back together. You know?”
“What is it you want from me and can and will you send me back when you’re done?” Xander asked as they walked, taking a break from their jog.
“I cannot, though I would,” Zandelor answered the 2nd question first. “The... person we are going to see is the one who brought you here. I’m fairly certain he can send you back once you’ve completed his task.”
“You hesitated to call him a person,” Xander observed. Some of the demons here had pretty powerful shamans. He wondered if the last few months of killing them was about to bite him in the butt.
“Forgive me. You are not from here, I forgot you don’t have the prejudices of the general populace. The one we are going to see is a dragon. One of the Ancient Race. He is very old and very powerful.”
“And dragons are good or bad?” Xander asked.
“Good! Very good. The Ancient Race gave our kind many wonderful gifts, but long ago, a man named Damien poisoned the minds of people against the dragons and the dragon knights,” Zandelor said.
“Dragon knights?”
“Forgive me. Again, I forget. Dragon knights were humans blessed by dragons to take the form of a dragon when they liked. While they ruled, peace reigned in Rivellon. Since their fall, Rivellon has known only war after war. First against Damien, then between bickering lands.”
“And what do you expect from me?”
“I believe the Patriarch wishes to make you a dragon knight. It is a great honor.”
“But I don’t want to rule Rivellon for you,” Xander complained. “I have friends and a life back home.”
“That may be part of the reason you were chosen. The rule of the Dragon Knights was not always completely benevolent. Peaceful does not mean perfect. Perhaps that means that the Patriarch will return you to your world once you’ve completed his mission,” Zandelor said. “And no. I don’t know for certain what that mission is. I wasn’t told and am merely guessing, but I have become very good at guessing over the years. I was only told that you would be coming and to take you to Deodatus Castle for training.”
THREE MONTHS AGO
Xander didn’t hang around Audrey’s house long. Instead, he immediately headed for the temple ruins that Bart had mentioned. He wanted to take in the lay of the land and he also wanted to figure out where the ambush would come from.
Xander started by making a circle around the temple, looking for likely ambush spots. Xander happened upon the first ambusher by accident. The guy was as surprised as Xander was. Our hero was only saved by his armor and experience wrestling with demons much stronger than he was. When it was over, Xander was sitting in a small pit with a dead body and covered in blood. Xander had discovered long ago that his own fights were much different from Buffy’s. His were much shorter and there was a lot more blood but this was the first time he had taken a human life. He thought it was supposed to feel different from killing demons but this guy had been just as intent on killing him as any demon. More, perhaps as many demons barely noticed him until he stabbed them in the back.
He was actually disturbed that he didn’t feel more disturbed at killing a human being.
After sitting for a while contemplating that fact, he decided to see if there was anyone else waiting to kill him. Judging by the bow by the side of the corpse, the man had been an archer. Xander looked around and, now that he knew what he was looking for, he found the other hidey-holes easily. There were six in total, including the one he’d already killed—which he thought was overkill for just one guy. Xander crept out of his bloody hole and struck out to commit his first purposeful human kill.
Black Bart arrived about a half hour before the appointed time and waved in the general direction of where the backup had been. Xander stood up and waved back. He hadn’t been hiding per se, but Bart had clearly not been looking for him there.
“I’m afraid it’s just you and me,” Xander said as he drew his sword.
Bart was too shocked to do anything for a moment. Xander had killed his men, his friends, and was covered in their congealed blood. He let out a roar of fury then drew two smaller blades he’d been concealing and charged.
Xander blocked one blade with his sword and Bart sneered as he stabbed forward with his other blade. Xander twisted though and the blow skittered off Xander’s armor harmlessly while Bart found a knife in his heart. Where had that knife come from? he thought as he coughed blood on Xander’s face.
Xander stepped back to wipe the blood off as Bart fell to his knees. “What? You think you’re the only one who can fight dirty?” he asked the dying man.
Xander only relaxed when Bart had been dead for a full minute and his eyes started to glaze over. An imp had taught him that lesson, luckily his armor had saved him. That fight, like this one, had been very different from any fight he’d watched Buffy execute. This was over quickly, and there was always a lot more blood than you’d expect. He retrieved his stiletto knife, cleaned it, and returned it to its hidden sheath. He then searched Bart’s body for more weapons and added a few more knives to the collection he’d found on the gang. It was a bit morbid, but selling the weapons and other possessions of his conquests was turning out to be a very lucrative line of business for him. Which was exactly how he was going to afford taking Audrey to lunch today.
A FEW DAYS AFTER XANDER AND AUDREY’S FIRST MEETING
“Xander! Get over here!” bellowed Gawain.
“Yes, sir,” Xander presented himself. Most of the men and women didn’t call Gawain ’sir’ but it felt weird for the Earthling not to.
“It’s come to my attention that you’ve been avoiding fighting the women of this outpost. Why is that? Are you afraid of being hit by women?”
“No, sir,” Xander said somewhat abashedly. He’d hoped he would have gotten away from this without having to hit women. “But where I’m from, a man isn’t supposed to hit a woman. There are exceptions for when the woman in question happens to be stronger than a goblin chieftain, like a couple of my female friends are. They’d flatten me if we ever fought, but the opposite is true of the other women in my life. Fighting men would end up with them flattened.”
“The women of your world are so weak that they can’t defend themselves from human men?” Yvonne asked. She was the lieutenant in charge of training all the women. Women and men served together in integrated units, but their training was split, individual training apart, group training together. Yvonne was the one in charge of the women’s single-sex training.
“Yes. I mean, no. I mean-”
“Enough,” Gawain mercifully cut him off. “In punishment for avoiding fighting the women here, who are quite insulted that you think they can’t take care of themselves, you are going to fight each and every one of them one-at-a-time until you defeat each of them. Any that you do not defeat today, you will have to fight the next day and so on. Now, I suggest you get a drink of water. You have a long day ahead of you, Xander,” Gawain smiled. It was not a nice smile.
The first woman that faced him was Paula. They took their stances and Xander looked at her fists. She was holding them wrong. He knew. Not only had he punched a lot of people/demons but he’d been trained how to punch properly twice now. He was about to mention that fact to her when Yvonne gave the call to ’fight’.
Paula charged and flicked a kick at his face. Xander avoided the kick and lashed out with a punch of his own. He didn’t exactly put all his force into it, though. She didn’t even act like she felt it. Her own punch to his solar plexus he definitely felt. He doubled over, unable to breathe.
Once he was able to breathe again, he found himself looking up at a scowling Yvonne. “You call that a punch?” she asked. “I’ve seen children hit harder than that. Again!”
The next woman stepped forward. Xander didn’t even know her name. Xander put a bit more force into his punches but found them returned with interest. He didn’t know that normal woman could be so strong. She was stronger than some of the guys he’d faced. Not as strong as the strongest guy, but deceptively strong none the less. He was given a couple minutes to recover after she beat him.
Yvonne again stood over him. “I don’t know what kind of sick world you live in where women aren’t supposed to be hit but aren’t allowed to hit back, because I gotta tell you, I prefer being able to hit back. Either way, I assure you, my girls have gone toe to toe with all the men here and won their fair share. So stop holding back, because my women are fully capable of killing you if you hold back, goblin fighter though you may be.”
“Why do they make that weird fist?” Xander asked. He was somewhat curious, but mostly he was just stalling for more time to recover.
Yvonne held out her hand then slowly curled it into a fist. “This? This is just what a woman’s fist looks like. It’s different from a man’s fist. The physical differences between men and women are the reason we train apart. I suppose if women in your world aren’t supposed to fight, you wouldn’t know that. Anyway, stop stalling and get to your feet.”
Xander frowned and did as he was ordered.
The next girl up was smaller and blonde. That really helped. He imagined what he would do if he ever had to face the Slayer for real and he finally gave better than he got.
He was able to beat the next five women as well but he was sore all over and felt like he could barely stand. He’d never gotten this beat up fighting men or demons before.
“Better,” Yvonne said from her perch overlooking the fights. “That’s enough for today, Xander. Get some rest because it’s going to get harder tomorrow.”
The next day Xander faced off against Garnet, rumored to be the best fighter of the women. He now knew better than to hold back against her so he charged forward. The move was so fast that he didn’t even realize he was on his back until the wind had been driven from him.
As he slowly caught his breath, he went over the move in his mind. The move was impossible.
Yvonne and Garnet were both standing over him, smirking. Yvonne spoke first. “Thought so. I figured if you were from a world without female fighters, you wouldn’t know our style of fighting. Or the counters to it.” A truly wicked grin spread over her face. “Now you get to figure out the counters to these moves all on your own.”
Xander groaned.
TODAY – SEVERAL WEEKS OF WALKING AFTER WE LAST LEFT XANDER AND ZANDELOR
“Here we are. The Patriarch’s cave,” Zandelor waved his arm at a waterfall.
“You’re not coming in?” Xander clarified as he stepped forward and the wizard did not.
“What is there is not for me. Only for you. I will wait here for you,” Zandelor confirmed.
“Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards,” Xander mumbled under his breath. “for they become soggy and hard to light.” He then waded into the water and under the waterfall.