Series: Buffy's Guardian - Episode 4
Rating: 12/PG. There is some violence but it doesn't involve people.
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognise belong to Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, Mutant Enemy, WB, Kuzui, Sandollar and anyone else who has rights to BtVS. Anyone you don't recognise is mine, as is this original copyrighted work of fan fiction. All trademarks and copyrights acknowledged. No copyright infringement intended, inferred or implied.
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Dedication: For children of all ages.
Distribution: Ask and ye shall receive.
Author's Note: This is story #4 in the "Buffy's Guardian" series. You must read "Assignment Buffy", "The Chosen One" and "Pink With Attitude" before reading this. If you want them you can go to the onelist URL given above, subscribe and then check the archives. Alternatively, send me an email and I'll get them out to you as soon as possible.
Summary: Buffy and her Guardian go on a picnic.

As the infant Buffy stirred she began to cry ... indicating she wanted to be fed and startling me out of my slumber at the same time. Since the incident with the sorceror, Chaldra Mahda, life had been idyllic. Buffy had spent the last few weeks eating, sleeping and growing. She was a beautiful baby and her parents doted on her. Two new toys had been added to the room since I arrived, but I still held pride of place by Buffy's cot. And whenever she went out, it was always I who accompanied her.

That day Hank and Joyce had decided to take Buffy out on a picnic. It was a beautiful Saturday and the weather forecast assured them it would not get too hot. They would take the car and head over to the park and spend a little time in the late afternoon relaxing in the cordial surroundings and allow little Buffy to see all the wonderful things and get a feel for the grass. A fun day out for everyone. Naturally, I would be going along as would Tinkerbell and Patch, the two new arrivals in the nursery.

Tinkerbell was a five inch fairy. She had a lovely costume and a sweet little foam wand with a little star on the end. Patch was a four inch basset hound. He had a dark patch over one eye and so was called Patch. Quite obvious really. The three of us would be accompanying Hank, Joyce and Buffy on the outing, and all the blankets, wraps, little coats and hats in Christendom were also going along for the ride.

Buffy was at the crawling phase. Well, more like squirming and wriggling punctuated by brief attempts at actual crawling but certainly getting more and more active. After all Buffy was eight months old and the world was full of lots of interesting things which she wanted to discover more about. Though she was incapable of crawling everywhere at the moment, I was sure that particular mania would be inflicted on us all shortly.

So we had all headed off for the park. Buffy slept for most of the journey, which was nice and meant I could direct my attentions outside of the car and observe the local inhabitants. A Guardian must at all times be vigilant. The trip, though, was uneventful and we arrived at the park in good time. Hank parked up and as Joyce took care of Buffy he occupied himself with the contents of a small container ship which had been brought along for the ride.

They found a nice spot and whilst everything was being laid out, Buffy contented herself with Tinkerbell, Patch and myself. With the various people in the park and all the bright colours and noise Buffy was quickly distracted and with the blanket that was laid out she was soon moving around as one new thing after another caught her eye. Hank and Joyce revelled in their daughter and the glorious weather and everyone was certainly having a good time.

Buffy had been fed and was ready for a little nap. Hank, to be honest, had the same idea in mind. Joyce contented herself by reading whilst her husband and her little darling slept. Tinkerbell and Patch were out cold, so I busied myself by returning to a little bit of surveillance.

As the afternoon progressed I began to notice that there was something strange in parkland. Whilst most parts of the park were pleasant and sunny with the birds singing, little creatures amusing themselves and the crickets rubbing their legs together. That's crickets rubbing their own legs and not rubbing their legs against the legs of other crickets. Although having said that it would certainly explain the noise crickets make when they do descend into a rubbing frenzy. Anyway, I digress. No, I had begun to notice that one part of the park was a little darker and colder than the rest. One particular part where the sunlight did not seem to shine so brightly ... or at all.

With Buffy and Hank sleeping and Joyce pre-occupied with some piece of romantic fluff I decided to investigate. But just reconnaissanse. If there was something in the park which would scare away the sunlight it would be wise to know what it was. My investigation began.

Checking around I headed off towards the darkest realm of the trees. The canopy of leaves ensured that what little light there was did not permeate to the ground. As soon as I entered the temperature dropped. The sound of silence was intense. It had not been my imagination, something was going on ... and it was not a good going on.

With all the stealth I could muster I slowly proceeded further into the shadows. Monitoring every sound, what few there were. Flicking my eyes from one place to another, trying to pick up any sign of life. But as I traipsed deeper into the void I began to hear voices. Chattering and sniggering emanated from the left of me. Then from the right of me. Above me, behind me and in front of me. I kept going but prepared myself for conflict.

Continuing forward I saw a chipmunk coming towards me. It was meandering from side to side. Staggering as it progressed, somewhat erratically, in my direction. If I didn't know better I would have said it was drunk. But as anyone will tell you Chipmunk's are pathological in their abstinence of alcohol. Strongly tee-total. Now if it had been a gopher that would have been understandable. Gophers are notorious drinkers. Spirits as a rule. They can drink most parkland creatures under the table.

But as it got closer I realised it was not drunk. It was injured. In fact it was dying. In it's state it did not seem too concerned that I was a six inch high pink foam pig. It just had time to fall at my feet and utter a single solitary word with it's dying breath, "Eeek".

Intrigued and alarmed at what had just happened I continued to venture onward. I could see a clearing beyond the treeline and it was for this I headed. In the small clearing there were a number of creatures gathered. As I stepped closer I could tell that the creatures were in fact squirrels. There were six of them congregated in a circle and they were chanting. One squirrel appeared to be in charge. In the centre of a circle was a mouse. The mouse appeared to be unconscious.

The squirrels seemed to be occupied in performing some sort of ceremony. As I stood hidden in the undergrowth they continued their ritual. The squirrel in charge spoke. "Azeel, Master of The Dark Domain. Heralder of Chaos. Bringer of Destruction. What Wouldst Thou Have Your Loyal Servants Do?"

With that the mouse started to convulse. What had been inanimate began to move violently. Then it spoke, or more precisely sound emanated from it's furry form for it's mouth did not move.

"My Warriors of Fur and Claw. One has ventured into your domain. An infant human which will destroy the Children of Nyx. Take the child and feed. Do this and all powers will be yours", the voice from the comatose mouse announced.

As I listened further I did not hear something approaching me from behind. Engrossed in the developments in the clearing, it was not until the last second that I heard the sound of the approaching footfall. Turning around I met the swipe of a verminous claw as it struck my face. I stumbled backwards and in doing so alerted those in the clearing to my presence.

Their ceremony stopped as they gazed upon me. Then sound rose from the mouse once more.

"A gift my Warriors. The Guardian of the Infant. Kill him and the Child is yours".

With that the head squirrel let out his orders to attack, "Destroy the piggggg!"

As the assorted squirrels started to head for me I got my bearings. My original combatant was ready to attack, but as he came for me I used my hind feet to throw him over my frame, sending him crashing against a nearby tree. I could not hesitate. I was out numbered and out gunned. These creatures were fast, could climb trees and had claws. Those claws could rip into me. I picked myself up and made a dash for it. If this mob caught up with me it would be all over for me ... and Buffy.

The pursuit began. I could see the open green of the park in the distance. Somehow it seemed a lot further away than it should. I moved my podgy feet as fast as I could, keeping my eyes peeled for the sight of a possible weapon. I could hear the screams and shouts of the horde pursuing me. They were gaining.

I needed to slow them down. If they served the Dark Lord, Azeel, chances were that they were not big fans of the sunlight. That would explain the lack of light in this part of park. The trees provided their kingdom of seclusion. So if I could get out into the sunlight, I would have time to come up with a plan to battle them at some later date. The fact is I had learned of their existence ... a major achievement in itself, if somewhat accidental.

Running through the leaf litter I soon realised the only weapons to hand at the moment were the larger twigs. I could use them as a human might use a staff. Checking behind me I could see that most of the squirrels had split away from the main group to pursue me through the trees. They obviously planned to outflank me and trap me before I could make my exit from this realm of shadows.

With only two pursuers on my tail I decided to opt for the twig option and take them on. During my training we had been instructed in the use of all forms of weaponry and I knew they could out run me, so I would have to take them out ... one at a time.

They were only a matter of paces behind me as I saw a suitable twig ahead of me. As I ran to it, I dived, somersaulting over it as I grabbed it. This allowed me to raise myself up facing them as they hurtled towards me. Holding the twig horizontally, I forced it forward with as much power as I could muster and smacked the pair of them in the face. Quickly following through I brought the end of the twig down. Initially in the belly of one of them and then revolving the twig to smack into the centre of the face of the second one. I then turned my body to allow me to force the same end into the face of the first squirrel I had hit. I did not have time to check if I had killed them, but it was a safe bet I had. Two down ... four to go.

That initial round of combat would have given the others time to get well ahead of me. Now I would have to move very carefully. Another assailant could come form anywhere. So I proceeded with caution whilst hanging on to my staff. I did not have to move more than a few feet before I was in the midst of battle again.

Staying to the left of the track which would lead me out of this enshrouded kingdom I remained alert. As I passed another tree ......

"Ummmppphhhh", I was knocked to the ground as another attacker caught me.

This time my attacker had descended from an overhanging branch. He landed on top of me and as I fell to the ground, its claws digging into my shoulders, I dropped my staff. I rolled repeatedly as I attempted to dislodge my assailant from its vice-like grip. As I kept rolling we reached a collection of brambles. Amongst all the greenery I finally managed to free myself. I had no time to worry about my wounds, I was under attack again. But this time I was ready. As it charged at me I was able to perform a perfect roundhouse kick and knock the squirrel flying. It was out cold. I ran back to my staff and grabbed it. My escape was a little bit closer, but I was still far removed from being free.

I opted to stay in the centre of the path this time. The branches there were far too high for a squirrel to drop from, and as I got closer to my egress I knew they would get more desperate to prevent my escape. As I picked up my pace I heard movement to my left. I instinctively reacted and pounced at the origins of the noise. Screaming as I brought my staff down a snout protruded from the leaves. I stopped just in time. It was an innocent hedgehog. It looked at me petrified and then rolled in to a defensive ball.

I was stunned for a second. But I eventually retracted my staff from where the poor little fellow's face had just been and apologised, "Sorry, thought you were someone else". I then turned to continue my journey ... at which point I was confronted by another of Azeel's bushy tailed warriors.

As it swung at me I raised the staff to protect myself. Blocking it's initial assault it proceeded to kick at me, catching me and forcing me down. It swung in again and I lifted my staff up to protect myself once more, but as it's arm came down the force broke my staff in two. But I now had two weapons with which to defend myself.

I let fly. In machine-gun fashion one hit after the other. Blow after blow to the rodent's body. It staggered back. I continued my assault on its chest like I was some manic drummer. I backhanded the baton across his face. Then a kick. Another hit to the face. Another kick. It's legs buckled. I brought both batons down on either side of its neck. And just before it finally succumbed to total collapse I kicked it square in the jaw. Chalk up another one to Gordo ...

"Arrghh", I went flying. Out of nowhere another of the squirrels had come at me. I lost my weapons again and this time was propelled straight into the side of one of the trees which lined the path. My attacker jumped at me, bearing it's teeth and pushing me against the bark of the tree which slowly began to cut into my back. I attempted to protect myself raising my forefeet to fend of its frenzied clawing as it continued to snap at my foam filled face.

As we grappled and it continued to snap at me I snoutbutted him. But it did not dissuade him from his purpose. Again I snoutbutted him followed by a quick raising of my knee as it made violent contact with his crotch. The grimace on its face told me that the squirrel felt that. And, while it was temporarily disabled, I pushed the creature back and made a dash for it. But I did not get far for it pursued me and dived, catching my hind legs and sending me tumbling. As I rolled towards the collection of leaves, it struggled to hold me down. Kicking it off me I raised myself back up on my hindfeet and prepared for more. It charged at me, throwing itself through the air as it endeavoured to take me out. In its airborne state I ducked and allowed it to travel over me. As it landed in the leaves it let out a loud squeal and was then silent. As I looked amongst the leaf litter I saw that it had landed on poor hedgehog, who was still in his defensive ball state. Though hedgehog was unhurt, if somewhat distressed by the incident, Mr. Squirrel was well and truly skewered. I was almost free. I removed the punctured corpse from hedgehog, apologised to him once more, and returned to my journey.

Continuing towards the exit I could see Hank and Joyce in the distance stirring. They looked as if they were beginning to pack-up. My charge was obviously awake. If they were thinking of heading home I did not want to get left behind. I had no choice. I would have to dash for it. One more enemy or not, time was not on my side. I picked up my pace.

But as I finally came close to the border between dark and light, the head Squirrel came swinging in on a vine as if it was Tarzan. As it struck me from the side it knocked me for six. As I lay stunned it threw itself at me squeaking, whilst swiping at me with its claws. As I endeavoured to lift myself up it continued its assault and managed to place a couple of well timed kicks to my head. Finally on my feet we prepared for paw to paw combat.

Punch. Hit. Kick. Miss. Thrust. Dodge. Swipe. Hit. Punch. Miss. Claws. Foam. Snarl. Punch. Block. Kick. Punch. Punch. Hit. Duck. Kick. Jump. Kick. Block. Punch. Miss.

The fight continued as we matched each other's efforts. When my enemy would attack I would defend. When I attempted to strike, it would block. I had to get out of there but Squirrel was blocking my way. I attempted to pass it and escape to the sunny domain of the park proper but it just body blocked me, knocking me on my butt.

I manoeuvred myself around, catching myself on the hanging ivy vine which my enemy had floated in on. Another combination of punches and blocks followed as we each tried to gain some sort of advantage. Then it dawned on me ... the vine. Boy, was I getting slow in my old age. Another attempted punch for Head Squirrel and another block from me . I lured him in closer, and as he swung for me again I grabbed the vine and used my momentum to swing around and catch him off-guard. As soon as he hit the dirt I had the vine around his neck. Wrapping it around as tight as I could I maintained my grip. My enemy struggled violently as he tried to free himself, but behind him as I was he could not prevent me from increasing the pressure. And as the seconds passed he got weaker until ... his body moved no more.

I looked up, Hank and Joyce were all packed. They were about to leave. After all this excitement I still had to do the sprint ... not an event I am exactly built for. Resorting to running on all fours I ran as fast as I could. Joyce was preoccupied with little Buffy and Hank was attempting to manage the innumerable items it was his task to carry.

Running into the sunlight I kept my pace. Dodging the feet of some of the resident wildlife and scaring the living daylights out of some poor creature as I bounded over it in my pursuit of my charge. I was gaining as they began to leave. I kept running and, with their attention elsewhere, I launched myself into the air and managed to grab onto Tinkerbell's wand which was hanging free. Using what strength remained I clambered up and, at last, was able to rest.

Safely back with my fellow toys I looked back and saw that the body of the head squirrel was gone. It was not dead. The battle was not over. Azeel's Warriors of Fur and Claw would be back. I had only delayed their plans. Buffy was safe for now. The next time I returned to the park I would have to be ready. In time his army would grow and they would get stronger. There would have to be another battle soon ... but not too soon I hoped.

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