Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca <mailto:igrewal@sfu.ca> or
eena_angel@hotmail.com <mailto:eena_angel@hotmail.com>
Rating: R for violence.
Category: BTVS/LOTR crossover.
Pairing: Most likely Willow/Legolas.
Distribution: Ask first.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns BTVS. LOTR belongs to Tolkien.
Spoilers: Random ones at best. Definitely Hell's Bells cause I'm
getting rid of Anya. Tara's long gone, as is Giles. Definitely for
LOTR movie and books.
Summary: What if the ones to defeat Sauron aren't from Middle
Earth? And what if he knew?
Buffy Summers was dreaming. And it wasn't pleasant. Being the Slayer made for some serious nightmares, but this was different. Fire and destruction, monsters and slaves, Hell on Earth. She had a feeling it was one of those annoying prophetic dreams she was taken to having. And what was with all the tiny people she kept seeing?
Midgets didn't normally have anything to do with the apocalypse. Unless she needed an army of small people to defeat the baddies. That was probably unlikely.
The nightmare continued. God, the screams were deafening. What in the blue hell was going on? Blue hell? Great, now she was using the Rock's catch phrases. Buffy was going to have to stop watching so much wrestling with Xander.
The Slayer shot up in her bed, body in a cold sweat. Her heart was thumping wildly. What had that been about? She placed a hand to her forehead. Being the Slayer was too complicated at times. Buffy swung her legs off the bed and jumped to the floor.
Making her way to the kitchen, she discovered she wasn't the only one not sleeping. Willow Rosenburg sat dejectedly at the kitchen counter devouring a bucket of cookies and cream ice cream. Buffy gave a tiny smile at the sight. Ice cream felt really good about now.
"Hey Wills," she called out softly. The petite redhead jumped and turned guilty eyes to her best friend.
"Did I wake you?" she asked, shamed. "I'm a bad Willow."
"You're a great Willow," Buffy corrected. "I'm up because of nasty dreams, not you."
Willow frowned.
"Nasty prophecy dreams?" she asked.
Buffy shrugged.
"Who knows? The damn thing was so confusing. I couldn't really pick anything out. Except the midgets."
"Midgets?" Willow repeated, brow raised.
"Yeah, midgets," Buffy gave her a lopsided grin. "Maybe I've been watching too much Passions. Again, who knows? Why are you up? Is it Tara?"
The redhead nodded miserably.
"You tried to help her Willow," Buffy whispered softly to her friend. "We did our best. The decision was hers in the end." Willow nodded. She knew that. But it still hurt.
"I just can't believe she left like that," Willow whispered. "We don't even know where she is."
"She's a strong witch," Buffy replied, hand reaching up to stroke her friend's hair. "Tara can take care of herself. And hell, she survived three years on the Hellmouth as a Scooby. She'll be fine."
Willow nodded again. She gave Buffy a small smile, leaning the ice cream bucket towards her.
"Want?"
Buffy nodded. Willow got out another spoon and the two best friends delved into their snack. About five minutes later, a pattering of steps drew their attention to the doorway. There stood Xander Harris and Dawn Summers. Xander was holding one of Dawn's hands while rubbing his sleepy eyes with his free one. The little blonde was wide-awake, nervously twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
Buffy frowned.
"You guys not sleepy?"
"Dawn isn't," Xander yawned. "She got me out of bed. She says she feels sick."
"No, not sick," Dawn shook her head stubbornly. "I feel weird."
"Weird how?" Willow asked, watching as Buffy felt her younger sister's forehead for a fever.
"Something's making my stomach do rumblings," she shrugged. "But not in a puke kind of way. It's weird. Woke me up." Buffy turned worried eyes on her other friends.
"Do you think it's something supernatural?" the Slayer asked.
"Maybe," Xander shrugged, more awake now. "But what should we do?"
"It's probably nothing," Dawn interrupted. "Just me being stupid."
"Or it could be something," Willow countered. She patted the stool next to her. Dawn complied and sat down. Willow smoothed away the girl's hair from her face. Placing a hand on either side of Dawn's face, Willow peered closely at her.
"I don't see a spell on her," the witch announced finally. "But that doesn't mean it's not supernatural. Just means
it's not directed at Dawnie in particular."
"You mean it could be directed at Buffy?" the younger girl demanded, eyes wide with fear.
"Or just Sunnydale in general," Willow shrugged. "We won't know until we research first."
"We start now?" Xander asked. "Cause, it's kind of late. I mean, really late. The sun is about twenty minutes from rising. Not even the nasties are awake right now."
"Maybe we should hold off until morning," Buffy agreed. Dawn shook her head.
"I can't sleep," she stated plainly. Willow frowned and stroked the girl's hair.
"Want some ice cream?" she asked. Dawn's eyes brightened at that and she dove into the bucket. Xander joined seconds later, shoveling mounds of ice cream into his mouth. Buffy shot Willow an amused look over his shoulder. Willow just smirked and motioned for Buffy to get more ice cream out of the freezer. The Slayer complied, smiling. The four sat contently at the counter, eating ice cream.
Then a loud bang shot out, resounding off the walls of the house. The group ducked their heads at the sound. Willow raised shocked eyes to Buffy.
"What was that?" she asked breathlessly. Buffy shrugged her shoulders. She peered out the window, seeing lights going on in the entire neighbourhood. All had heard the bang. But now the night was eerily quiet and then . . .
"Is that neighing?" Dawn asked, a confused frown on her face.
"What the hell is a horse doing out here?" Xander demanded, rising from his stool. The three girls followed him as he walked into the dark living room. All four paused to pick a weapon before continuing to the door. Before they could reach it, the front door was slammed open. Into the hall strode a black rider mounted on a black horse. The rider wore steel armour over every part they could see. He had a cloak that covered his face. There was a sword at his side. The horse was skittering in the confined space. The four just stared at the intruder in shock.
"There's a horse in our house," Dawn finally broke the silence. The rider said nothing. He extended a hand out to them. There was a slight hiss and then he spoke:
"Slayer," the thing hissed at them. "Sauron demands."
"Right," Buffy nodded sagely. "I'm so interested in what Styrofoam wants."
The Slayer hefted her axe.
"Let's discuss it," she grinned maliciously at the intruder. The others crowded behind her. Best to let the Slayer at the
weirdo. But then the back door could be heard slamming open. Seconds later, two more black riders entered the family room. The four whirled to face them.
"There are three horses in our house!" Dawn shrieked.
Buffy stared at the new arrivals. She felt the one behind her try to snatch at her. Buffy turned around, bringing the axe down in an arc. The axe hit the thing's arm, embedding itself in the armour. The rider gave a slight shriek at the contact. But then he plucked the axe out of his arm and reached out for Buffy once more.
Willow stood still, head down. She was gathering her magic for some sort of protection spell. But the riders seemed to know that. The two riders in the family room charged. Xander knocked Willow to the floor to avoid have his friend beheaded. Willow hit the floor with a hurtful bang, her concentration instantly broken.
Buffy knocked Dawn down next to them when one rider raised his sword towards the little girl. Dawn hit the floor with a shocked squeak.
By the time the three had disentangled themselves, the riders had somehow subdued Buffy. The lead rider had the Slayer slung over his saddle. The horses made their ways out of the house. The three others scrambled to their feet and raced after them.
The whole company littered onto the Summers front lawn. The riders noticed the others following and made some dismissive gestures at them. Xander was offended and gave them his own dismissive gesture. Too bad they didn't seem to understand what it meant.
"Stop!" Dawn screamed in panic. They were taking her sister away. Couldn't anyone stop them?
Willow was working on that. She had gathered enough magic.
"Goddess Hecate, hear my will," the witch started her spell.
The riders sensed it and set to finish their task. The leader made some motions in the air, hissing in some foreign language.
Suddenly, a swirling blue pool emerged at their feet. Willow stopped her spell and stared stunned. Xander and Dawn were dumbfounded. They watched shocked until the riders made their way into the swirling pool.
"Buffy!" Dawn shrieked in panic. The little blonde leapt forward, determined to make it to her sister. She watched with terrified eyes as Buffy disappeared into the blue hole.
"Dawnie!" Willow screamed, hands frantically trying to stop the girl. She served only to latch onto her pyjama top and be pulled along.
"Shit!" Xander cried before following his friends into the vortex. All three persons fell into the hole, immediately disappearing from sight. As soon as they had entered, the vortex quietly closed up and vanished.
***
Dawn hit dirt. She fell onto the ground and a giant whoosh of dirt blew up into her face. It made her cough. She would have been able to catch her breath if Willow hadn't fallen on her two seconds later.
"OOMPH!" came the cry from the little blonde. She wiggled under the new weight.
"Off Willow!" she shrieked. The redhead moaned and moved off the wriggling body underneath her. Willow put a hand to her forehead.
"What happened?" she asked. Dawn opened her mouth to answer when she heard another thud. Groaning to her left informed her that Xander had landed.
"What the fuck?" the young man mumbled, pushing himself upright. Wincing slightly at the soreness in his lower back, Xander opened his eyes slowly. They were in a forest. How the hell did they end up in a forest?
"How the hell did we end up in a forest?" he demanded.
Willow groaned, pushing herself onto her knees. Dawn rolled over and pulled herself into a sitting position. The two girls took in their surroundings carefully. They were in a forest, but it felt so different. This forest was lively, for lack of a better word.
Something deeply frightening had happened to them, but the forest created a sense of calm. It did so to Xander as well. The man was still frowning but playing with some flowers he had pulled out of the ground. Dawn smiled at the sight. What pretty flowers.
"Buffy!" Willow cried suddenly, drawing Dawn out of her reverie. The girl's eyes widened. She had momentarily forgotten about her older sister. Dawn cast a wild glance around her, not seeing any sign of Buffy or the black riders.
The trio climbed to their feet, brushing dirt off their clothes.
"BUFFY!" Xander called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. His cry bounced off the woods and just faded away. There was no response, not even a fluttering of birds. The forest was empty save for the three lost Californians.
"Where did they take her?" Dawn asked Willow, tears welling up in her eyes. Willow bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders. The redhead herself was near tears.
"I don't know where we are," she admitted in a little voice. Xander cast his friends a worried look. Quickly, he gathered them up in his arms and planted kisses on their heads.
"It'll be okay," he assured them. "We've had worse. I can't really think of any right now, but we have had worse. And we survived all of it. We'll find Buffy, we just need to figure out where we are first."
Willow nodded miserably in Xander's arms.
"That would be good," she agreed.
"How do we figure it out?" Dawn asked, glancing about the empty woods.
"Find civilization," Xander asked. "Walk around until we do find something. I think I heard water coming from over there," he gestured to their left. "We should head there. Find a river and hopefully follow it downstream to something."
"Oh, remember the weapons!" Willow reminded them. She bent down and scooped them up. An axe for Dawn and a sword for her and Xander. They hefted the weapons in their hands, feeling slightly safer.
"Okay, let's go," Xander ordered. With Xander in the lead, the three made their way hopefully out of the forest. They walked in silence, Willow holding Dawn's hand. She comfortingly rubbed the girl's knuckles with her thumb. Dawn kept her head up and her tears inside. Crying wouldn't help them find Buffy. Dawn had to be brave for her older sister. Because this time it was the Slayer who needed saving.
The trek was mostly okay. The girls stumbled over some of the roots and fallen limbs, but generally kept up with Xander.
Xander for his part was pulling on all the military training he had retained since that Halloween from hell. Trying to find direction from the position of the sun and the shadows being cast by the trees, Xander figured they were heading east. Mind you, that was just his best guess. He had no real way of knowing.
The sound of running water got closer and closer. Maybe they would have some answers soon.
"Where do you think we are?" Dawn's voice broke the silence. Willow frowned and cast a glance around her.
"Well, we could be anywhere," the witch finally admitted. "That blue vortex thingy could have been for just about everything. We could be in another part of the world if it was a mere transportation hole. We could also be in a parallel dimension, where portals generally lead. Hell, we could even be in Sunnydale, just on a different timeline."
"Timeline?" Dawn repeated. "You mean as in time travel?"
Willow nodded.
"Wherever we are, it ain't Sunnydale," Xander put in from the front. "Sunnydale didn't have a river quite like this one."
The two girls scurried over to his side. Before them stretched out a long river. It didn't look that deep at their point, but Willow could see eddies and other rapids further down the water. On the other side was a huge bank. There were fewer trees than on their side and what looked to be a worn path.
"Look," she nudged Xander. "A road."
"Exactly what I was thinking," he nodded. The young man cast an appraising glance at the water.
"Well, it's decision time ladies," he announced. "Do we cross the river or just follow it somewhere."
"Could we make it across?" Dawn wondered, peering closely at the water.
"Probably," Xander answered. "Doesn't look that deep."
He turned to them. Looking directly at Willow, he asked:
"What's the plan?"
The redhead looked startled.
"Why are you asking me?" she squeaked.
"Because you're the boss," he answered.
"No I'm not!" Willow protested.
"Yes you are," Dawn interjected. "Remember, when Buffy was gone, Xander nominated you to be boss of us. We took a vote, reached a unanimous decision and made you boss. And then Xander and I made you that plaque with sparkles that says: Boss of Us."
Willow rolled her eyes.
"I knew that plaque was going to be trouble," she muttered dejectedly.
"What's the plan?" Xander asked again.
Willow frowned at him.
"I can't believe you're really going to make me decide," the redhead whined.
"You're the boss!" came the collective shout from Xander and Dawn. Willow pouted and folded her arms across her chest. Nibbling on her lower lip, the redhead pondered their situation.
Buffy was gone. Black hissing riders on psychotic black horses abducted her from the house. Everyone jumped into a portal of some sorts. The three of them were currently quite lost and Buffy was elsewhere. And they needed to find Buffy quickly, which meant time management. A path would probably lead to a village for something. Looking down both lengths of the river, Willow couldn't see anything that would mark the existence of civilization. Coming to the conclusion that the path would most likely get them somewhere faster, the redhead chose.
"The path," she told them. "Should get us somewhere faster."
Xander nodded before walking out into the water. He motioned for them to follow him. He walked carefully through the water, testing each step. Willow and Dawn followed his exact footsteps, careful not in step in a deep spot. Eventually, the now wet trio made it to the other without mishap. They gathered on the bank, a slightly better spirit in the air.
"Let's go find something," Willow chirped happily. The redhead turned on her heel to march in the other direction.
And was greeted by an arrow in the face. Startled, Willow raised wide green eyes to stern blue ones. A strange man with long white blonde hair held an arrow on her. And he had several friends.
The groups of archers had the trio surrounded. And was it just her, or were their ears kind of pointed?
Xander yanked her backwards and placed himself in front of the arrow. Willow understood and put Dawn in between them. The redhead turned to face the archers behind her, bringing her sword up. Her feet went into a defensive stance, eyes darting across the group of archers.
One of them stepped forward and spoke in some weird language.
"What's that now?" Xander asked, frowning.
The archers exchanged looks. The one who had spoken originally faced them again.
"You trespass on the lands of Rivendell, Lord Elrond's city," he announced to them. "Drop your weapons and come with us."
"Um, how about you put your weapons away and we'll put ours away," Willow suggested nervously. "That way everyone keeps their weapons but no one's eye will get poked out."
"You will surrender your weapons to us," the, the thing, said. "Or we will shoot you."
"Well, you're going to have to shoot us because we are not going anywhere with you unarmed," Xander shot back. The archers shared a frown and then cocked their bows.
"Did you have to say shoot us?" Dawn squeaked from between them. The little blonde squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her axe in fear. She couldn't believe they were going to die and leave Buffy hanging.
"Don't worry Dawnie," came the whisper from Willow. "I'll just as soon turn all of them into rats before I let them hurt us. We still have to get to Buffy. These guys are not going to stop us."
"I command you to drop your weapons!" the first guy yelled at them. "Or we will shoot."
"I guess we have a stalemate then," Xander announced loudly to the archers. "Because we aren't dropping them. You could try and shoot us, but I have a feeling you wouldn't get the chance. By the way, you guys like cheese?"
The archers looked decisively confused. Willow bent her head and started gathering her magic. She felt her eyes start to turn black. Her mind went back to that day at City Hall three years ago. Amy turned herself into a rat, but Willow would have to adjust the spell because she wanted the archers to be sporting the whiskers.
The witch had been damn near ready to do it when a shout broke her concentration.
"Glorfindel, what have you here?"
Willow watched with wide eyes as two men came into view. They were riding horses, but not of the psycho black variety. One was very old with a great flowing white beard. The other was younger with dark hair and a pensive face. Willow gripped her sword tighter.
It had been the younger man who had spoken. Glorfindel, who turned out to be the first thing to speak, turned to answer in that same weird language he first spoke in. Willow frowned. She didn't like the discussing of things privately.
"What are they saying?" Dawn demanded of Willow. The redhead shrugged.
"Never heard anything like that before," she whispered back.
"Better not be `shoot them where they stand'," Xander muttered. "Because I'm more than ready to go sword crazy on their asses. They are slowing us down. We need to find Buffy."
"Who be you?" the younger man shouted at them.
"We be none of your damn business!" Xander shouted back. "Now put down the arrows and let us on our way. This is a serious violation of our civil rights."
That seemed to perplex them. The younger man shook his head.
"You trespass on the land of Rivendell-"
"City of Lord Enron," Xander finished. "Yeah we heard that part already."
"Lord Elrond!" Glorfindel corrected angrily.
"Whatever Glorfy," Willow rolled her eyes. "We aren't making any head way. We are not going anywhere with psychotic archers who want to shoot us. It's just not done where we come from."
"And where do you come from?" this came from the old man.
"The Western Hemisphere," Willow answered vaguely. This seemed to startle the lot of them.
"You come from over the Sea?" Glorfindel asked, eyes wide.
"No, we came from over the river," Xander answered snidely. "As for our home, let's just say we're trying hard to get back there. Now if you will just let us pass."
"You will not trespass freely in Rivendell's lands," came the reply.
"Some time saver this was," Dawn muttered sourly from behind Xander. The old man looked around the young man to stare at her.
"They have a little one with them!" he exclaimed softly. Dawn frowned at him.
"Who are you calling little?" she demanded stuffily. Willow quelled her with a look.
"Look, we don't have time for this!" she pleaded with them. "We need to find our friend. I don't know what's going on, but I am not leaving her with those psycho black riders-"
The strangers gave a collective gasp at her words.
"The black riders are near?" the younger man demanded.
"Do you see them?" Xander retorted. The young man got an angry look on his face.
"I've had enough!" he announced. "Either let us go or shoot us, because we have things to do!"
"You would follow the black riders?" the old man asked.
"Yeah!"
"To save your friend?"
"Finally, someone is understanding!" Xander looked slightly less ruffled. "Now, can we go?"
"How do you plan on facing the riders?" the old man continued to ask.
Xander rolled his eyes. He lifted his sword up and put an exasperated look on his face.
"I thought I could lick them into submission," he answered sarcastically.
"Those weapons will help you very little," the old man stated. "Especially against all nine."
"Wait!" Willow held her hand up. "Did you say nine?"
"Yes, the nine black riders," the old man nodded.
"Then we kill nine of them," Xander shrugged. "Doesn't make any difference. We're getting our friend back."
"You will do your friend little good when dead," the younger man informed him. "You cannot kill the riders on your own. No one can. Mayhaps with an army, and even then it is unlikely."
"What are you talking about?" Dawn shrieked, pushing her way out from behind her friends. She glared at the man; chin trembling as she tried to control tears.
"The nine are formidable creatures," the old man answered. "You cannot possibly defeat them on your own. Not with those weapons."
"Well, we have other means at our disposal," Willow countered sourly. The old man turned to stare at her. His grey eyes looked deep into her green ones. Willow felt something about him she recognized. Magic, lots of it. This guy was strong.
"I sense power," he stated softly.
Willow nodded.
"Damn straight," she answered evenly, covering up how ruffled she was by his presence. "Now let us pass before I turn the lot of you into rats."
The archers drew back a step while the old man laughed.
"Feisty little witch," he grinned at her. "But that won't help you here. Magics stronger than you permeate from where you are headed."
"What are you-"
Willow lost the last bit of Xander's words. A vision hit her. Black, so much black magic. Greed, a frightening greed backed by an unstoppable will. And an eye. A red eye encased in flames ripping right through her mind. It attacked her senses, sending the witch falling to her knees.
"Willow!" she heard Dawn exclaim. The redhead felt the little girl grab her by the arms and give her a shake. She heard someone settle next to her. Felt Xander's rougher hand across her forehead.
"Wills?" and then more shaking. The vision fled from her and the redhead opened her eyes slowly. She took in a deep shaking breath. She raised shocked eyes to the old man.
"What the fuck was that?" she demanded.
"That was Sauron," he answered simply. "And that is most likely who has your friend."
With that he turned his steed around to face the path.
"Come along then," he tossed over his shoulder.
Xander frowned and made to retort when Willow hushed him.
The redhead got to her feet and sheathed her sword. Xander and Dawn followed suit, putting their weapons away. Giving them a small smile, the witch followed behind the old man. Xander and Dawn trailed after her. The archers and the younger man watched them with appraising eyes before surrounding them and walking onto the path.
Willow reached back with an open hand. Dawn rushed forward and clasped it. The younger girl gave her other hand to Xander. The redhead turned her head up to the old man.
"Who are you?"
He smiled down at her.
"I am Gandalf the Grey of the Wise," he answered. "And who might you be."
"I'm just Willow the red of the Rosenburgs," the girl quipped back lightly. Gandalf gave a laugh at that.
"Well Willow the Red, prepare to enter the Elven city of Rivendell."
The witch stopped dead in her tracks.
"Elves?!"
***
"I still don't think they look like elves," Dawn muttered to her companions. Xander nodded his agreement.
"Aren't elves supposed to be tiny?" he asked. "And where is Santa? Maybe he can sort this whole deal out."
"We're in Rivendell, not the North Pole," Willow rolled her eyes. "And I doubt these are your stereotypical elves. Best not mention the whole concept of Santa and Christmas to them."
"Why not?" Xander grinned at her. "Maybe they'll all leave to go rescue their brethren from Santa's little Sweatshop and we can get the hell out of here."
Dawn giggled.
"I'm for that plan," she agreed.
"Just behave until I can figure out what to do," Willow instructed him. Xander frowned at that.
"Who made you the boss of me?" he demanded. Willow shot him an exasperated look. Xander remembered and gave her a sheepish grin.
"I remember, I did."
"And the plaque was your idea too," Dawn added.
"Finest workmanship to come from these hands," Xander boasted. Willow rolled her eyes and tuned them out. The Elves had led them through the rather large and beautiful city straight to the palace. Upon arrival, they had been stuck in a room. Glorfindel and Aragorn, the younger man, had left two guards at the entrance.
Gandalf had gone off in the search of this Elrond person who was supposedly going to help clear things up. In the meanwhile, they had gotten very little information on this Sauron person who apparently had Buffy. The guards were friendly enough, but when that name was mentioned, they went into a stony silence. And that didn't sit well with the redhead. It meant these people, even that immensely powerful old man, were scared of this guy. And if they were afraid of him, he must be deeply frightening.
Jarred out of her thoughts by a knock on the door, Willow turned to stand beside her friends. The old man, Gandalf entered and gave them all a reassuring smile. After him came an Elf with dark hair and dark eyes. One word came to mind when regarding this creature: power. He had lots of it. Political and magical, all sorts of things were at his fingertips. And he knew it.
"Lord Elrond," Gandalf began, stretching a hand out in their direction. "May I present the Lord Xander and Ladies Dawn and Willow."
"Welcome to Rivendell," the Lord greeted them.
"Hiya," came the weak offering from Xander. Dawn and Willow both failed to speak.
"I have heard that you come here on a mission," Elrond continued. "A missing friend?"
"Yeah, my sister," Dawn spoke up. "Some scary guys on horses came into our house and more or less kidnapped her."
"Are you certain they were the Ringwraiths who in fact took your sister?" Elrond asked.
"We would be if we knew what the Ringwraiths were," Xander answered. "All we know is that these weird black riders rode their horses in our house and took our friend. They made weird hissing noises and mentioned that guy Sauron y'all are so scared of."
Elrond nodded to himself. He turned to Gandalf.
"It would appear that the Nazgul were indeed the perpetrators of this crime," the Elf told his friend. "What need does Sauron have of a normal mortal girl?"
The trio exchanged guilty looks over that one. Gandalf noticed this immediately.
"She is not a normal mortal girl, is she?" he asked them.
The three remained silent.
"Is she a witch like you?" Gandalf asked Willow. The redhead shook her head in denial.
"Then what is she?" Elrond demanded. "We cannot aid you until we can discover what the Dark Lord wants from your friend."
Again looks were exchanged. Finally, Willow made a little step forward.
"Buffy is the Slayer," she said in a little voice. There was a silence.
"What is a Slayer?" Elrond asked curiously.
"You don't know what the Slayer is?" Dawn asked incredulously. "How can you not know what the Slayer is?"
"Explain this to us," Gandalf asked.
"You know, to every generation a girl is chosen," Xander looked at them expectantly. "She alone will stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. She is the Vampire Slayer. And she is Buffy."
"I have never heard of such a thing," Elrond informed them.
"A girl to fight against demons?" Gandalf repeated. "She wouldn't be very effective."
"ERA movement not really big here huh?" Willow raised a brow at them. "Anyway, Buffy can fight the monsters. Slayers are super strong. She has the strength of like ten men."
"Ten men?" Elrond repeated disbelievingly. "Surely you jest."
"Surely we don't," Xander shot back. "Look, you don't have to believe us, but we want to get Buffy back regardless. Are you going to help or are you just wasting our time?"
"If all you say is true, then we must assist you," Gandalf stated slowly. "Such a powerful being must not fall to Sauron. If she were as you say, then she would be a thorn in his side. And now that Saruman has defected, we will need all the help we can gather."
"Right," Willow nodded sagely. "We have no idea what you guys are talking about?"
"How is it you have never heard of the Dark Lord?" Elrond asked, eyes confused. "Where are you from?"
"Well, we are from the West," Willow answered slowly. "That much is true. But we aren't from around here that's for sure. When those guys took Buffy, they jumped into this portal thingy. We jumped in after, not really taking time to think things through."
"You came through a portal?" Gandalf repeated.
"That's what the boss lady said," Xander affirmed.
"But that changes everything!" Elrond declared. "If Sauron would expend such energy to get your friend, then surely she is connected to the fate of all Middle Earth."
"Right," Dawn nodded. "We agree this is serious too. Now, how do we handle this situation?"
The two elders shared a glance.
"I must hold a council for this," Elrond announced. "I need the input of all our people. Perhaps others can shed light on this mystery."
And without another word, the two exited the room. Willow made to follow but was stopped by the guards.
"What about us?" she yelled after them. She got no response. The guards pushed her back into the room and shut the doors. The redhead fumed, stamping her foot in frustration. She turned to her friends and pouted.
"I don't like it here."
***
"What can we do?" Gandalf asked the pacing figure of Elrond.
The Elf lord shook his head.
"I know not," he admitted. "I have never heard of such a creature. This Vampire Slayer is unknown to me."
"Nay have I heard of such things," Gandalf added. "But that redheaded mortal. She has immense power. It boils beneath the surface of her skin."
"I have never felt such power," Elrond agreed. "Not since the early days, when Sauron had yet begun to be the Dark Lord."
"Then perhaps she is the answer to our prayers," Gandalf suggested.
"Maybe," Elrond consented. "But we cannot determine that just yet. We need to call another meeting. The delegates are all still here. Send word to their rooms. We meet at noon."
"The travelers?" Gandalf asked. "Are they to attend as well?"
"Nay, we will discuss them first," Elrond disagreed. "We do not know if they are friend or foe just yet."
"I sense no evil in them," Gandalf offered.
Elrond turned to him with a grim face.
"We used to say the same for Saruman."
***
"What now?" Xander asked Willow. The redhead shrugged her shoulders.
"We wait for them to come back," she answered.
"But what about Buffy?" Dawn demanded. "We can't just leave her."
"We don't have a choice," Willow replied. "We don't know where she is or who has her. And I think that's only the beginning of what's really going on here. Whatever we've stumbled into, it's big. Something is going down and this Sauron guy is the cause of it all. These people, they're scared shitless and suspicious as hell. It may take a while before we get any sort of answers."
"That's not fair!" Dawn protested. "We aren't evil! We just want to get Buffy and get the hell out of here!"
"I'm with Dawnie on this one," Xander piped up. "Forget these guys and let's go get Buffy."
"And what if something goes wrong?" Willow countered. "What if we do something that helps us, but screws everyone here? Do you guys really want these deaths, or any deaths, on your heads?"
The other two quieted.
"This is why you're the boss," Xander told her. "We never do the whole thinking things through thingy well."
"I'm worried about Buffy," Dawn whispered to her friends.
"I know sweetie," Willow pulled her into a hug. "I'm worried too. But we can only do so much. And don't forget, she is the Slayer. She can hold her own."
Dawn nodded, putting her head on the redhead's shoulder.
Buffy would be okay, she always was. Dawn just hoped they found her soon.
***
"Okay, it's been a few hours," Xander declared. "What is going on?"
This demand was directed at Willow. The redhead sat in the corner of the room, biting her lip furiously. When the wizard and the Elf had left without a word, Willow had fumbled for something to do. Willow remembered that she kept quartz on her. It was one of Jenny Calendar's old crystals. Willow had taken all of them when the teacher had died. Never knew when they would come in handy, like now. She had asked the guards for some maps, which they had gotten for her, though a bit confused. Afterwards the witch had sat in the corner, pouring over maps and mumbling to herself.
Xander and Dawn had attempted to entertain themselves with their weapons. The Elves had let them keep them in the end. So the young man was giving the younger Summers sister an impromptu lesson in sword fighting. After about an hour of such activities, Xander had had enough.
"What did you find Wills?" he demanded on his friend. Willow looked up and blinked, as if remembering the others were there.
"Huh?"
"What did you find?" Dawn repeated the question. "And we know you found something. If you were Giles, you would be wiping your glasses and muttering a lot of `dear lords'."
"What's the what?" Xander looked at his friend deeply. "What's wrong?"
"Well, a whole lot is wrong," Willow answered resignedly. "First of all, this place Mordor that they keep talking about, it's not a nice place. Look at the maps. The whole area is shaded in black and there's a line of defences between it and other lands."
"That's where Styrofoam took Buffy!" Dawn shrieked in panic.
"Sauron," Willow corrected mildly while shaking her head. "And Buffy isn't there. I've been scrying for her. She's not in Mordor, she's in this place Isengard."
"Is that any better?" Xander asked.
Willow shook her head.
"Marginally better," she sighed. "It's where that Saruman guy lives, and apparently he's some big betrayer."
"How do you know?"
"Asked the guards," Willow nodded in the direction of the closed doors. "They told me. Anyway, that's not even the biggest problem."
"What is the biggest problem?" Xander asked, apprehension in his eyes.
"I've been looking over these maps and I've noticed some things," the redhead looked a bit out of sorts. "This place Middle Earth, it's not an alternate dimension."
"What do you mean?" Dawn prompted.
"It's England," the witch finally admitted.
"What's England?" Xander asked, not quite understanding.
"This is England," Willow answered.
"This is not England," Dawn protested. "Where's Buckingham Palace, or the mounds of British people?"
"Look at these maps," Willow insisted, pushing the papers at them. "Look at the shape of the island. We're on this island and it is shaped just like England."
"That doesn't prove anything," Xander protested. "Just proves Middle Earth looks like England."
"Xander!" Willow yelled suddenly. "I'm not coming to these conclusions idly. This place, look at the landmarks, look at these structures. That's goddamn Stonehenge! We're in England."
"Time travel?" Dawn said questioningly.
"Looks like," Willow nodded. "But future or past, I have no idea. We're definitely not in the present."
"So we went through some sort of time portal that brought us to England?" Xander asked. Willow nodded. "Why?"
The redhead shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine," she shook her head. "I just don't understand what this Sauron guys wants from Buffy. Different timelines means this has nothing to do with us. There must be a Slayer around here somewhere. Why in the hell did he go to all this trouble to get our Slayer?"
"That's the million dollar question," Xander nodded his agreement. "Problem is, how are we going to find the answer?"
"Don't suppose we could just ask Styrofoam nicely?" Dawn sighed.
"I doubt he's up to talking to us," Willow gave her a little smile. "In fact, no one here is willing to answer our questions!"
This was yelled in the direction of the door. Willow frowned at the closed doors.
"After all, it's not like we're being held against our will!" she continued to yell.
"And not that we have anything important to do!" Dawn added sarcastically.
"And where the hell is Santa?" Xander yelled as well. Willow gave him an exasperated look. Then she frowned. She raised a finger to her lips, giving her friends meaningful looks.
The witch edged for the open window. Was it just her or were the bushes outside laughing?
"Uh, yeah," Dawn continued, a bit loudly. "I am so angry at these Elves. Who are they to keep us locked up in here? I mean, I'm a US citizen. I could start an international incident over this."
"I'm with you Dawnie," Xander nodded, eyes following Willow she edged for the bushes, following closely. "These Elves are incredibly rude. Just leave us in here with no-"
"Aha!" Willow shrieked. Both her and Xander lunged over the window and latched onto collars. Simultaneously, they dragged their captives into the room. And then stopped in their tracks.
"Put us down!" demanded one of them. There were three in total and they were little things. And Willow meant little things.
They couldn't have been more than three feet tall. They had heads of curly hair and large hairy feet.
"Oh, they so cute!" Dawn squealed.
"But what are they?" Xander interjected.
"And why were you eavesdropping?" Willow demanded of the one she held. The creatures stopped their struggles and looked up at their captors guiltily.
"We are hobbits," one of Xander's answered. "My name is Sam Wise Gamgee. This here is Peregin Took. And the one my lady has is Meriadoc Brandybuck. And we are most sorry for listening in, but we were curious. We heard about new arrivals and were wondering why Lord Elrond would call a council over them."
"He called a council over us?" Dawn looked shocked. "Why? I thought the issue was Buffy and Styrofoam."
"There has been much said on the powerful redhead witch," Meriadoc offered. "You make the lords very uneasy."
"But I didn't do anything!" Willow protested. "If they want me to make them uneasy, I can do that! Wait until I turn someone into a rat."
"You can do that?" the one Pippin asked incredulously.
"You bet she can!" Xander nodded emphatically. "And if you don't want that, I suggest you start talking."
The three hobbits exchanged identical looks of fear.
***
"A girl? You called a council for a girl?"
Elrond sighed and closed his eyes.
"Yes I did Gimli son of Gloin," the dark-haired Elf finally replied. "And I did not do so for my own amusement, as I have heard you and your brethren mutter. I have only done so to inform you all that Sauron has gone to great lengths to obtain this girl."
"And if he went to such lengths, then she must be of great importance to us," agreed a man from the corner.
"Boromir speaks the truth," Elrond agreed, nodding his head in the direction of the human. "If Sauron desires this girl so much, there must be a reason. A reason that could be vital to the existence of Middle Earth."
"But what of the witch?" interrupted one of the Mirkwood Elves. "What of her? I have heard she claims the power to curse people to animal forms."
"She may or may not," Elrond shrugged. "I have yet to see her perform such an act. But rest assured, she is very powerful."
"Very powerful indeed," Gandalf agreed from his seat. "Power one does not find in normal witches. And the fact she is of the race of man, I cannot fathom how she reached such power."
"What are we to do?" asked one of the Dwarf delegates. "What should we do?"
"In all certainty, we must seek out this girl," Elrond concluded. "If she is that important to Sauron, we cannot leave her there."
"So, what is it that we must do?" one of the Elves demanded. "The Fellowship travels to Mordor as well," Gandalf reminded them. "So far, we can only venture a tentative plan. Once in Mordor, half the Fellowship continues to Mount Doom and the other half to find this girl."
"That is your solution?" Gimli demanded incredulously. "We are sending a small number to venture into Mordor already. But now you wish that we divide once inside its dark borders? All for a girl?"
"Must you second guess everything?" erupted Legolas of Mirkwood, turning to frown at the dwarf. Gimli simmered for a minute before opening his mouth to start an argument. He was interrupted by the soft voice of Frodo Baggins.
"She is not a mere girl, is she?" the young Hobbit asked hesitantly. "She in something more."
Gandalf nodded, turning to address the entire council. "Her friends call her the Slayer," he relayed. "They claim she has the strength of ten men and is destined to fight evil in all its guises."
There was a brief silence before one of the men began to chuckle softly. The Elves and then the Dwarves picked it up until the whole council was roaring with laughter. Only Elrond, Gandalf, and Frodo were not amused. The Hobbit regarded the rest of the council with something akin to annoyance in his eyes.
Eventually, the council quieted. Boromir wiped the tears from his eyes before turning back to Elrond.
"Surely you jest," he managed to gasp out. The man sobered when he took in the serious expression on the face of the Elf.
"You are serious?" Aragorn interrupted. "But how?"
"They spouted off some prophecy," Gandalf shrugged. "One girl born to fight the vampires and demons of the world. The Vampire Slayer."
"But this is nonsense!" Legolas protested. "I have never heard of such a thing."
"What of her companions?" Boromir asked Elrond. "What of them?"
"They know nothing of what is happening," Elrond replied. "Or at least they act as if they do not. I am not sure. They do not know of the ring or the quest bestowed on the Fellowship. And I believe that we must-"
"We didn't mean to!" came a shriek from the hall. All the council turned to watch as two Elven guards chased the three remaining Hobbits into the middle of the council. Bilbo followed at a much slower pace, chuckling at the sight of the young Hobbits, finally captured by their pursuers.
"What is the meaning of this?" Elrond demanded, glaring at both the Elves and the Hobbits.
"Sorry my lord," both Elves bowed deeply. "But the halflings snuck into the prisoners room. And they revealed all to them!"
"We didn't mean to!" Pippin protested again. "She was going to turn us into rats!"
"She made us tell her!" Merry shouted in agreement. "And then these two burst in and started chasing us. Gave the little blonde lass quite the scare too. Should be ashamed of yourselves."
"Enough!" Elrond held up his hands for silence. He glared at the Hobbits.
"What did you tell them?"
***
"So, the ring is bad and we want to avoid it all together."
Willow nodded, looking over the maps again.
"That Fellowship dealie is headed to Mordor," she mused. "And Buffy is in Isengard. So I think we should be able to pass by without much hubbub."
"In your dreams," Xander muttered. "Because there's a whole mess of them heading this way. And they got the midgets with them. I think someone tattled on us."
Willow frowned and sighed, wrinkling her nose a bit. "I suppose they're going to be mad," she rolled her eyes. "I don't think they wanted us to know about the ring."
"Well, we don't care about the ring," Dawn protested. "It doesn't matter to us. We want Buffy. Buffy is the complete opposite end of the spectrum from that stupid ring."
"Well either way, time to face the reaper," Xander shrugged, skittering over to his friends. As one, the three Sunnydalers sat down and awaited their guests.
***
Legolas followed behind Elrond, much trepidation in his heart. He had seen the looks on the faces of Gandalf and the Lord of Rivendell. This witch must be something to fear indeed.
The hobbits were being pushed in front of the group. The entire council was headed for the prisoners' chambers. Merry and Pippin were protesting deeply, not wanting to venture near the witch again. Sam was just rather embarrassed as to having been being caught by both the prisoners and now Elrond as well. Frodo was in good humour, teasing his friends as they neared the room.
They all came to a halt outside the door. Two Elven guards were stationed on either side, both extremely nervous. Legolas strained his ears, trying to hear inside the room. There was silence. Elrond motioned to the guards, face set in anger. The guards rushed to open the door. The council stepped through the doors, the hobbits still in front.
Three humans waited rather patiently for them. There was one tall dark-haired man who stood in front of his two female companions. He glared at the new arrivals, hand going to his sword defensively. Legolas noted that he kept the girls firmly behind them, even though they seemed to be a bit aggravated by it. There was a redhead, who he knew to be the witch, and a young blonde girl.
The witch hardly seemed that imposing, or frightening for that matter. Legolas couldn't help but agree with the muttering of the dwarves.
What was the big deal?
***
Willow was rather irritated with Xander at the moment. He had gone into his overbearing, overprotective mode again, and this really wasn't the time. No offence to her best friend, but she could intimidate these people a lot better than he could.
Elrond marched at the front, pushing the three hobbits ahead of him. There were two other hobbits present as well. One was young like the others and the other looked damn near ancient. There was a smattering of other individuals behind them. One was the wizard Gandalf, more tiny people, lots more Elves, and some other humans. That guy from the river was there; she thought his name was Aragorn or something. All looked slightly angry, and some looked afraid. She figured someone had been telling stories about her.
"Yes?" she asked, finally breaking the silence. Dawn snickered next to her, hands going to cover her mouth. Leave it to Willow to start off a conversation like that.
"You threatened my guests," Elrond told them tightly. "You used threats to pry information out of them. Information we did not feel to tell you just yet. How are we supposed to have faith in your words now?"
"Okay, first of all, they were eavesdropping," Willow pointed at the little ones. "And that is incredibly rude on their part."
"And how is it fair that you demand answers of us, but won't tell us a thing?" Dawn threw at them. "You can know all you want about us, but we get to know squat about this entire place? How the hell is that fair? How can you trust us? How do we know we can trust you?"
"And finally, we don't really give a flying fuck about what goes on here," Xander continued. "We just want to find Buffy and go home, while possibly getting some licks in at the Nazi-girls."
"Nazgul," Gandalf corrected him immediately.
"Them too," Xander shrugged. "So what's the big deal? Any hoot, we figured out Buffy is in Isengard, you all heading to Mordor, so why don't we just part ways now?"
"How do you know she is in Isengard?" Gandalf asked, hushing the others.
"Willow used magic, found her," Xander shrugged. The wizard paled at that.
"You directed magic to Isengard?" he repeated. "Alas, now Saruman must be well aware of your arrival here."
"Look, I think I can manage to cloak a simple locating spell," Willow rolled her eyes. "I'm not some amateur-"
"You are too far out of your league here," Gandalf interrupted, tone becoming slightly angry. The air seemed to dance around the wizard as his rage increased.
"Foolish little witch!" he declared. "Now you have most likely put your friend's life in more peril! Not to mention alerted our enemies as to your whereabouts. Have you any-"
"Back off wizard!" Willow tossed back, gathering some magic of her own. The redhead was well aware she was a little less than imposing standing there in her Pjs, but that didn't matter. She let her eyes go black, noting in satisfaction the increased fear in the room.
"I'm not an amateur," she repeated, watching as the wizard backed down. "I'm not an idiot. I don't care if Sauron or Saruman know I'm here. We're getting Buffy and then we are leaving. That is the end of it."
"And how would you propose to do that?" Aragorn ventured bravely. "Would you fight your way through Isengard straight to the tower that no doubt holds your friend?"
"Sure," Xander shrugged. "Good plan as any."
"I'm for it," Dawn tossed in lightly.
"Okay, say you do make it through to the tower," Gandalf mused. "Say you do make it through the hordes of Orcs at the base of the tower. Say you do get inside, how do you propose to fight Saruman the White, head of the Wise?"
"What are Orcs?" Dawn asked innocently.
"Monsters, beasts of Sauron's," Elrond answered. "Stronger than the average human. And there is an army at the base of Isengard."
Willow gulped, imagining the sheer number of creatures.
"And after that, there's Saruman," Gandalf continued. "The strongest wizard in the land."
"Stronger than you?" Willow asked, eyes returning to green.
Gandalf nodded. Willow felt herself deflate. She shot Xander a despairing look, one that he returned. They were so out of their league here.
Dawn began sniffling. Willow turned back around, enveloping the girl in her arms.
"I just want my sister back!" Dawn shouted at the assembled. "I don't know why that is so much to ask!"
Willow kissed her forehead, trying to soothe the girl.
Xander stepped in front of them, shielding the image of Dawn crying from the gathered Middle Earthlings. The young man was at a lost for words. He turned to Elrond with desperation in his eyes.
"What can we do?"
The Elf sighed, exchanging a look with Gandalf. Presently, he turned back to Xander.
"There is a way for you to help . . ."
***
They had left them to make their decision. Legolas felt very sorry for the strangers after their confrontation. They seemed very lost and very sad. The little one's crying had nearly broken his heart. He was the youngest of three sons; he well understood the bond between older and younger siblings. He felt for the child Dawn, he did.
But that did not stop him from being wary of her companions. The young man seemed a bit foolish and aloof, but there was an underlying seriousness to him. He had the eyes of someone who was much older than he should have been.
And as for the witch, there was a scary power in her. The way her eyes had gone to black voids, it had been chilling to say the least. The power in her was frightening. He was not sure having her around would be prudent.
But Elrond and Gandalf differed. They wanted the witch around; they wanted her to accompany the Fellowship. She had refused to go anywhere without her friends, so all three would be joining the Fellowship.
And Legolas wasn't sure that was the best idea. In fact, he feared it might turn out to be a disastrous decision for all of Middle Earth.
***
"What are we going to do?"
Willow sighed at the question, turning to face her friends with a pout. The, she didn't even have a word to describe the group of them, had left her and her friends to their decision. Either go face impossible odds to find Buffy in Isengard, and most likely lose their lives, or go with a group of strangers to destroy a ring and most likely lose their lives. What a pair of options.
"I don't have the slightest clue what we're going to do," the redhead revealed, flopping backwards onto the bed provided for them.
Xander sat down next to her, a frown on his face.
"That would be less than helpful Wills," he stated simply. "You don't even have an inkling?"
"We need to save Buffy," Dawn interjected. "Let's just go to Isn't-guard and get her. Maybe they were just exaggerating about the army and stuff."
"Because they have all the reason to?" Willow asked her, eyebrow arched at the younger girl. Dawn scrunched up her nose, looking like she had a horrible taste in her mouth.
"Well, they haven't really been all that forthcoming," the blonde shrugged. "And why should we get all involved in their business? We're here for Buffy. Let's find her and get the hell out of this place."
"But their business kind of is our business," Willow broke to the girl gently. "I told you guys this already. This place, Middle Earth, its just plain regular Earth. If we do something here that drastically alters their world, we might not have a world of our own to return to. Besides, don't know how we got here remember? I don't have a clue as to how we would get back."
Dawn frowned, as she thought about it.
"You know, this is really confusing," the blonde sighed, flopping down next to the redhead. "We're not in our world, but we are. And we're trying to get back to our world, without doing any damage to this world. But to get back to our world, we need to get Buffy first. But that might mean that we ruin this world, therefore our world, and everything goes down the drain. It's making my head hurt."
"Try not to think too hard on it," Xander advised. "Be like me, not really thinking much about anything, don't really do anything. And then you can't possibly make any bad decisions." "That is so backwards Alexander Harris," Willow reprimanded him lightly. "And don't think I don't know where you're going with this. You're not placing this entire decision on me. It has to be a mutual thing, because I refuse to accept that much responsibility for everything."
"But I suck at being responsible," Xander whined. "I can't do this. It'll end badly."
"We all need to be in agreement," Willow told him. "This is some serious crap we've gotten ourselves into. Life threatening crap nonetheless. We have to be making a decision here. Do we want to get involved in all this crap? Or do we want to just sit back and see how it goes?"
"How come Buffy isn't an option in there?" Dawn asked angrily. Willow sighed, rising up and turning to face the little girl.
"We can't go get Buffy, not on our own," Willow told her. "I'm sorry, but I believe that Gandalf guy. There's no way we could make it through all the Ogres or whatever and through that wizard guy before they either moved Buffy or just killed her. I honestly can't say that any of those options is what you want."
"I want Buffy back!" Dawn fumed. "I don't care how. I just want her back. God, we don't even know what's happening to her over there. If this guy Saturn Man is all bad, then we can't leave Buffy with him. We need to get her back."
"Well, I'm going to get her back," Willow promised. "I just don't know how exactly. But I'm going to get her back for you. It's just going to take some time honey."
"I hate waiting," the girl pouted, turning her face away from the redhead.
"And yet again we have family resemblances," Xander quipped, trying to lighten up the mood. "Don't worry about Buffy Dawn. She is the Slayer. Wherever the hell she is, I'm sure she's giving them hell."
***
Buffy was aware that time had passed. Maybe an entire day or two had gone by. Or was that a week? She honestly didn't know. Her watch had stopped working and there was no window in the room she was kept in, so she couldn't really tell when the sun rose or set. But she knew time had passed. Her friends would try and come for her, she knew that. And she also knew that if they came, they would be overwhelmed. Three people stood no chance against the defenses of this place. If they came on their own, they would be massacred.
And she was helpless to stop it.
She was helpless to do anything. Buffy was helpless. She couldn't save her friends, she couldn't save herself, and she couldn't do anything. Buffy was essentially at the mercy of her captors. And it was not something the blonde Slayer liked experiencing.
She had been locked away in some room, not sure where. It wasn't a dungeon per say, but it was no guest room either. It was just a room, devoid of anything except the door leading out and the chair she sat on. It was overly grey and dark, stone walls from what she could tell. Buffy had the feeling she was in some sort of prison thingy. But then again, no chains and no beds for the prisoner. There was in fact nothing at all accommodating for the blonde, except for the chair she sat on.
She couldn't move from that chair. Buffy couldn't move period. And the interesting thing was, there was nothing holding her down. There were no chains, no restraints at all. The chair was just a normal wooden chair, but she could not for the life of her move from it. She had tried numerous times mind you, but nothing. She couldn't even wiggle a finger or arch her eyebrows. Talking was completely out of the question; she couldn't even move her tongue. Magic was her only answer. She had briefly considered that it was some sort of muscle relaxant, that she had been drugged, but that was brushed off. Not when she felt the power coming from the guy in charge. He had been in to visit her many times during her imprisonment, coming with food and drink. He actually had to hand feed her, seeing as she couldn't move. He usually had to remove some of the spell to do so. Buffy had been tempted more than once to just bite the man's fingers off, but he seemed to know that. He gave her just enough food to keep her alive, but nothing more.
He was very strange looking indeed. Tall guy with a long flowing white beard. And he really seemed to be into white, dressing only in white robes whenever she saw him. He had a power in him that made her think. Really think. She hadn't confronted anything with this much magic before in all her life. Maybe Willow, but the redhead was a very big exception. Which led the Slayer to think he wasn't all human. But whatever he was in particular, he wasn't telling.
And he kept talking to her. He would show up, saying the strangest things. He liked to talk about the Styrofoam guy a lot. Buffy had a feeling that Styrofoam was the big cheese in these parts. And it was frightening to think there actually might be someone stronger than the White Guy out there somewhere. But apparently there was. For the most part White Guy and Styrofoam were on the same page regarding a plan for world domination, or at least she thought it was world domination, she couldn't be sure. But as for the evil guys, well, it seemed like White Guy was only going to be loyal to a point. He had plans after the "war was won", whatever that meant. And they weren't very nice plans.
White Guy also liked to talk about something called the Ring of Power. He seemed really into it, going on for hours at a time about how much he wanted to get his hands on it. He wanted it so he could have leverage over Styrofoam. But also, he just wanted it, like it was some sort of drug or something. Almost every other sentence out of his mouth revolved around the ring. It was riding on obsession.
White Guy was also all about control. He wanted to control the whole of Middle Earth, which Buffy was assuming was the place where she was. White Guy had a bad yen for that control. His eyes seemed to darken when getting on that topic. Buffy knew he was willing to give everything he got for just a chance at ruling this place. White Guy had definite plans on taking over this Middle Earth. And for some strange reason, he thought the ring was going to get him that control. As well, he seemed to have some sort of delusion that Buffy was going to get that ring for him.
He said strange things, stuff like how she should be thankful to him for sparing her life. Buffy was inferring from that that Styrofoam had wanted her killed initially. White Guy thought she had some more valuable purposes. He said she was going to help him win over Middle Earth, whether she liked it or not. And Buffy couldn't agree or disagree. The spell on her was strong, not allowing the blonde to move her limbs at all. She was stuck, she was this guy's prisoner until he saw fit to let her go. And that wasn't going to happen any time soon.
The days or hours, or however long she had been in here, passed in torment. She could do nothing; she couldn't even move her head. Her eyes were still able to move, and she could only dart them to and fro. She had no idea where she was, she couldn't move at all, and she was alone. Buffy would cry if she could. But she wasn't even allowed that. Hell, she couldn't even make any grunting noises. White Guy wanted her completely mobile and completely quiet. Her mind wondered to her friends and her sister. Where were they? She had seen them jump into the blue thingy with her. But she hadn't seen if they had fallen in or gotten out in time. A part of her knew that they were in this place Middle Earth with her. She knew that no way would her friends allow her to be taken anywhere against her will. They were no doubt out there looking for her right now, and that's what made Buffy even more afraid.
This place wasn't safe right now. There was a war brewing in this place, and it wasn't going to be pretty. She knew that, right down in the centre of her being. A lot of things would go wrong before they even had the opportunity to get better. She only hoped her friends weren't caught in the middle.
But none her feelings, her instincts, or her perceptions helped Buffy out with the most pressing matter at the moment. Why her? Why had Styrofoam taken time out of his busy war making schedule to send three guys through a portal to bring her here and seemingly to have her killed? Why bother with someone who would have never known any of this even happened? Why bring a Slayer into the equation? It didn't make sense, none of it added up. And nothing was helping Buffy figure it out.
She was stuck there, in that grey room, sitting in that chair. She couldn't do anything. For the first time in a long time,
the Slayer need saving.
But she knew that it wasn't coming any time soon.
***
"Have they made a decision?"
Elrond sighed, turning to face out his window. His eyes took in the beauty of his Rivendell, a deep remorse in his heart. His beautiful city, he had fought long and hard to keep it so peaceful and quiet. But it seemed as if the time of Rivendell had passed. Many Elves were making their way to the Sea, tired of having to deal with the evil that lived around them time and time again. And Elrond knew deep in his heart that he would follow them one day. Soon this would not be the land for Elves any longer, whether they won or lost this battle.
"Lord Elrond?"
He turned, remembering his companion and the question asked of him. He fixed Gandalf with a tired look, moving to take a seat by his desk. His study was a wonderfully expansive room. He had finally gotten it the way he liked it. And soon, he would have to leave it all behind.
"They have," he said loudly, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand. The melancholy in his heart would have to wait for another time. He still lived in Middle Earth now, and he still had things to do here. One of those things was the matter of the strangers.
"They have decided it would be best to accompany the Fellowship on their journey," Elrond revealed. "The witch told me so herself. They will be ready to leave Rivendell with the Fellowship."
"Even the little one?" Gandalf asked, eyebrows knitted together in disapproval.
"They refuse to leave her here in our care," Elrond told him. "All three will make the journey, or none will."
"So it is settled then."
Elrond nodded, eyes going back to his window.
"It is."
***
"I do not trust them."
He received a sharp glance in reply, an almost scolding look coming across the face of Gandalf. Gimli had the sense to look ashamed for blatantly questioning the wizard so, but he held his ground. His eyes went to the figures of the three humans, clustered closely together as they followed behind the rest of the Fellowship.
"They bring a child with them!" the dwarf huffed, not for the first time glaring in the direction of Dawn. "And if that were not bad enough, two of them are women! Gandalf, they could be witches for Sauron. This does not feel right."
"As it should not Gimli, the wizard assured him. "They do not feel right because they do not belong here. I can't say for sure where they belong, but I have a feeling that they themselves have figured it out. However, I see no evil in them Gimli. They seek only to find their friend. And if Sauron goes to such lengths for their friend, then we must assume it is of vast importance to the rest of Middle Earth."
"I have heard these arguments before Gandalf," the dwarf reminded him. "But it does nothing to waver my resolve. I do not trust them. Especially that boy, he is too aloof, treating this whole mission as nothing more than a farce! There is evil in him no doubt."
"You say that because he made fun of your stature," Gandalf chuckled. "Leave it be Gimli. When it comes to that human, I do not think he tends to insult. His mouth just gets far away from his mind, that is his folly."
The dwarf harrumphed, shooting a death look at Xander.
"They will be nothing more than a burden," the dwarf insisted. "When it comes time to fight, they will cower and flee. They will not aid this mission Gandalf. Of this I am certain."
Gandalf wisely kept his tongue, turning instead to the lighting of his pipe. Gimli huffed once more before stomping off to scowl in private. By this time the three humans in question had reached the rest of the group, Aragorn and Boromir bringing up the rear of the party.
Gimli turned his eyes away from them and sulked. They were trouble. He knew this.
They would not be helpful.
***
"What is up his ass?"
"Dawn!"
The reprimand came as quickly as the remark and Dawn had the sense to look slightly ashamed. She raised apologetic eyes to Willow, hoping to be let off the hook for her vulgarity.
"Sorry," she murmured, shooting a look at Gimli. "But he's really starting to bug me. I mean, all he does is glare at us and do this weird huffing thing."
Willow spared a quick glance in the dwarf's direction, catching his rather disdainful look being directed at Xander while the man conversed with Gandalf.
"He's just mad at Xander for the short stuff remark," the redhead brushed off, nudging Dawn with her elbow. "I thought you of all people would understand that. You used to hate it with a passion when Buffy and I used to call you that. You fought with us until we stopped."
"Yeah right," Dawn scoffed. "You only stopped because I got taller than both of you rather tiny girlie girls."
Willow arched an eyebrow at the teenaged girl.
"Okay, me I understand, but did I just hear you call your own sister a girlie girl?" Willow shook her head. "Consider yourself lucky that Buffy's probably locked up far away from here at the moment. She would so kick your ass for that remark."
Dawn opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself when she realized the truth in Willow's words. The redhead only affectionately patted the girl's cheek before letting her gaze travel over the assembled group of people. Well, creatures, because the majority of this Fellowship could not be considered a `person' by any sense of the word.
There was first and foremost, Gandalf, who was a wizard. He looked human enough, but he wasn't one at all. She wasn't quite sure what he was, other than a magical being. She didn't think they had a word for Gandalf in her time, as she held very different connotations for the word `wizard' than these people obviously did. Gandalf looked about damn near ancient, though she thought it was more polite not to bring that to his attention. He carried that nifty staff with him everywhere, and Willow could see from the figures carved on it that the staff held enormous power. But Gandalf himself worked to offset that power by his rather charming manner. Even Xander liked him to a point, and so far, Xander hadn't liked anyone here. Like right now, they were sitting and chatting away, Xander mindful to stay away from the fumes of the wizard's pipe. She wondered what they were discussing, but from the amused look on Xander's face, she was going to assume that it wasn't all that mission related.
Gandalf was also different from the others by the sheer fact that he wanted the three humans from Sunnydale on this little trip. No other member of the Fellowship wanted them along, most of all Gimli. Of course, Willow knew that it was mainly Xander's minor ribbing that bothered the dwarf the most. The redhead had a talk with Xander about it, and though he was trying to consciously limit it, snips kept getting out. And offending the very indignant dwarf.
Legolas, the pretty blonde Elf of this mission, also did not approve of them being along. He wasn't obvious about it, but she could tell that he didn't approve. For example, at this very moment, he was shooting looks at her and Dawn that were filled with doubt and sometimes a bit of frustration. No doubt the Elf would have preferred for them to stay at Rivendell, but as Willow said before, the Scoobies were not going to sit on their hands while some jerk held their leader. They were going to get Buffy back, even if they had to go to war with this Sauron guy. Whatever it took, bring it on. The Scooby Gang did not back down from a fight.
But she didn't think these guys understood that. Take the two humans for example, Aragorn and Boromir. They seemed okay with Xander's presence, though a little mistrusting but willing to take Gandalf's word on the necessity of his presence. It was with the girls that the humans came into conflict with. Willow had been right in her initial thought; the ERA movement was not big around here. In fact, it was pretty much non-existent. The way the two men looked at her and Dawn, it was with frank disbelief in their relevance. And they went out of their way to baby the girls. Special treatment was fun sometimes, but not when it revolved around a frank disbelief of your abilities. These guys thought that the girls would be useful based on solely on the nature of their sex. She was going to have to fix that.
And finally, the last members of this interesting entourage, the hobbits. They didn't mind Xander and Dawn, but it was Willow they were against. The redhead understood that it was partly her own fault, since she had threatened to turn them into rats, and then did her whole `black-eyed scary Willow' act. That probably accounted for much of the hobbits' discomfort in her presence, but then again, they didn't do much about it. Hobbits on general seemed to be very amiable creatures, taking everything in stride. Not once did they question having Willow and the others on this mission. Their whole stance on the subject was that Gandalf approved, therefore it must be okay. The little guys had quite the faith in the old wizard. It was kind of cute.
That was their group, their Fellowship, though the whole spirit of fellowship was kind of lacking in this circle. Willow didn't like it, but she accepted it. Hell, she wasn't sure if she trusted these guys any more than they trusted her. All she knew was they were going to be her way to Buffy, and that was all that mattered. Once they got Buffy, they could be on their merry way.
"Hey there cuties."
Willow came out of her thoughts at Dawn's giggle, noticing that Xander had wandered over to their side. The man had a large goofy grin on his face, one that made her suspect right away.
"What?" she asked cautiously, deciding to ignore the massive cold shoulder that the rest of their group was bestowing on them at this moment.
"Nothing," Xander replied automatically, defensive although his eyes were shining mischievously. "I will have you know that I have not done a wrong thing little missy. In fact, on my best behaviour, even with the midget."
"You should probably call him by his name," Dawn advised, giggling as she looked at Gimli, who had taken Xander's absence from the wizard's side to strike up some sort of argument. "I don't think he likes that nickname."
"He doesn't like anything," Xander frowned. "He's a grump. And that is my official opinion on that."
"Be nice," Willow admonished lightly before smiling. "Now, why were you smiling like a jackal before?"
"A jackal?" Xander repeated, a mock outraged look on his face. "Come on Wills, wrong animal. If I smile like any sort of animal, it's the hyena. You remember the hyenas, right?"
"Unfortunately," the redhead conceded. "But what's up?"
"Up, interesting choice of words," Xander chuckled, tossing a look over his shoulder at Gandalf. "Up, as in the sky, as in the realm so very HIGH above us."
Dawn frowned, looking at Xander strangely.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he assured her. "And so is Gandalf. You girls ever wonder how the wizard can be so quirky and laid-back about all this apocalyptic stuff at times? Well, I think I figured it out."
"Going to tell us?" Willow asked when he fell silent. She only got another wide grin in response before Xander finally spilled.
"Well, let's just say he's got his herbal remedies to keep him like that," Xander laughed. Willow frowned, looking at Gandalf smoking his pipe and realized what her friend meant.
"You mean he's smoking . . ."
"Weed," Xander supplied. "Grass, pot, whatever you wanna call it. He's smoking the happy juice right now."
Dawn was open-mouthed in her wonder, unable to form a sentence. Her eyes settled on the figure of the wizard, her expression one of disbelief. Willow only shook her head before giving a sigh.
"Great. Our leader is getting high. Anyone else thinking we might die before getting to Buffy?"
Very slowly, both Xander and Dawn raised their hands. Willow sighed again and rubbed her temples.
Everything was just so hard.
***
Buffy was barely able to contain her rage.
White Guy was back, and now he was taunting her with information. Her friends and sister were here, and they were unaware that White Guy was watching their every move. In fact, he seemed quite obsessed with the powerful one, but which one he meant he never elaborated.
Instead he was just standing in her cell, telling her random things about the developments going on and how she would soon fall into step with them. She snorted to herself, wishing she had the ability to talk right now. She would so give this guy the reality check he deserved. This Slayer would never willingly help someone so evil. If he wanted a bad Slayer he was going to have to call for Faith.
"I can tell you do not believe my ability to win all this," he was saying, pacing before her with his hands clasped behind his back. White Guy was so smug right now, like everything had already been decided and he had discovered himself the winner of all. She didn't like that kind of confidence. It meant he probably had something up his sleeve.
And he did. Did he ever.
"You will fall into line Slayer," he barked at her. "You will have no choice in the matter. As you can see, I know a great deal about you and your little band of followers. I know your weaknesses and strengths, and I know how to use them to my own advantage."
How the hell did he know that? Her eyes burned with the question and White Guy just grinned that smile again. He extended his arm, pointing to the door behind him.
"As you can see, I had help in this," he continued, watching as the door opened. "In fact, I believe you are well acquainted with my ally. Though I'm told it has been some time since you were able to converse intimately. I would be happy to give you that time right now. And Buffy, do try to listen. As you can see, you really have little choice left in the matter. I will be victorious, and you will be one reason for it."
And with that he was gone, leaving Buffy alone with his ally, and in turn, her betrayer. The blonde felt shock rip through her body as the figure stepped into her line of vision, a taunting smile on her features. The shock was quickly replaced with rage and indignation as the Slayer stewed silently within herself.
The witch named Tara laughed at her, stepping close up to the restrained Slayer.
"Hi Buffy. Did you miss me?"
TBC