Title: A Slayers Holiday: There and Back Again
Author: Wildecate
Email: Wildecate@hotmail.com
Rating: G - for the moment
Notes: Since you were all so nice the first time round, here we go again.
Pairing: None as yet
Credits: Joss Whedon/JRR Tolkein - ya de ya de ya

Buffy landed on the ground with a hard thump. She groaned and lay still for a moment, winded, staring up into a perfect blue sky. Slowly her breathing eased and she trusted her legs to hold her up. Standing and looking around her she found herself in a forest glade, high trees reaching up to the sky all around her.

"Gandalf?" she called "Are you here?" There was no sign of the kindly wizard or of any of her friends. But then, the little voice inside of her said, none of her friends would have been daft enough to stand THAT close to a portal, to allow themselves to get sucked in by magic. Oh no, that was purely Slayer stupidity.

"Gandalf?" she shouted at the top of her voice before her little voice kicked in again. Way to go Summers to bring any monsters in the area straight to you. She shut up and took another closer look around her, searching for signs of life, for enemies or for a possible escape. There was no sign of the portal anywhere and the trees surrounded her on all sides. Buffy sat herself down again to try and think what to do. What would Giles do? Giles wouldn't have stood there in the first place, she reminded herself.

The sound of horses hooves disturbed her agitated thoughts and Buffy searched for somewhere to hide but was unwilling to trust herself to the forest and any dangers it might hold. Instead she lay low in the grass, praying that she would be passed by, until she could see if they were friendly or not. The hooves came closer, with the sound of voices speaking in accented English, and then rapidly in a language she did not understand. She peered through the grass that was covering her position and saw three figures, a tall well built man, a slender blonde haired figure and a stouter figure tramping along behind them. The horses were being led by all three of them. She could not hear their conversation but decided now was as good a time as any to reveal herself and hopefully she would be able to fight them off if things got nasty. The blonde haired figure, now turning out to be a handsome man, was already turning her way as she knelt and then stood.

"Um hi, I don't know if you can help me.." her voice died away as sword, bow and axe were aimed at her. She put her hands up in a helpless gesture, deciding that peace was the best way for the moment.

"I'm unarmed, I'm just lost. I was with someone and I think we got separated." Buffy could not even face trying to explain the portal at this point and just gave her best little girl grin. The sword, held by the tall man, was dropped as was the axe. Her eyes widened a little as the arrow pointing at her was not dropped, this man obviously did not trust her. He turned his head, revealing pointed ears, and whispered urgently to the man in the same language she had heard before.

"Listen, I'm new here, I was with someone, a wizard..." obviously completely the wrong thing to say as the weapons came swiftly back up to her throat. She backed off slightly.

"His name is Gandalf, he was with me. We came here together but I lost him, I think I did." The bow was suddenly dropped and the pointy eared man whispered a name at her which sounded like Mithrandir. Buffy longed for Giles or Willow to be here, to help her through this. First contact wasn't really her thing but it seemed she had no choice.

"Listen, I don't know who you are but I need to find him."

"Gandalf the Grey has been taken from us" said the man "he fell in the mines of Moria."

Aragorn stared down at the girl whose expression seemed to clear from confusion into understanding. She lowered her hands and stepped forward and pointed to each in turn.

"Aragorn? Legolas? Gimli? Oh God, he told me about you."

"How is that possible?" said Legolas now named "Gandalf is dead."

"Oh no, well he wasn't when I saw him" Buffy tried to explain and went for the simplest option "He fell and landed in the place where I live, and he wanted to get back to help you so Giles, who is ... one of of our wizards, sent him back. Except I got sent back as well. Accidentally. And I think perhaps he went to one place in wherever we are and I'm here. So, um, please don't kill me."

Aragorn stared at her for a long moment before sheathing his sword and motioning the others to put their weapons away. He held out his hand to her to help her out of the long grass and back on to the path that they were on. Buffy accepted it gratefully. She was dressed decently enough in jeans and a loose white peasant style blouse and boots. Obviously the three weren't that used to seeing women in trousers but she shrugged that off easily.

"We are travelling on a quest and have little time to spare so now that you know our names, please grace us with yours." Aragorn was courteous but to the point. Buffy gave her name which was unfamiliar to them and they all re-introduced themselves to her. She gave Legolas a longer look hearing that he was a prince but he did not meet her eyes, instead turning to his horse. She frowned slightly but did not dwell on it.

"I know of your quest, Gandalf told me about it." Buffy felt it was best to be as up front as possible. "I think he's trying to find you and I need to find him so the best thing for me to do is to stick with you guys until he finds you and then he can send me home. Hopefully he'll know how to do it having seen Giles do it."

The three were against the idea, wanting to leave her at the first village they came to to keep her safe. Buffy hated this attitude but guessed that women's rights weren't a big thing in Middle Earth.

Legolas had been looking around them as she argued with Aragorn, watching for something. He pulled his bow from his back and called one word which had Gimli and Aragorn reaching for their weapons. "Orcs".

Buffy found herself in the centre of the group, they were protecting her. This had to stop and she pulled a sword from one of the horses and stood alongside Gimli, ready to fight. He gave a grunt of exasperation but said nothing more. There was no more time for the band of orcs were upon them. Buffy took the first one through the throat, the second through the shoulder and, taking a firm grip on the sword which was big enough for her to use two-handed, lopped the head from the third.

"Down Buffy" Legolas called and Buffy did not hesitate but ducked her head allowing two arrows to fly where she had been standing to take out two more orcs which were heading her way. She flung herself into the fight, loving every minute of it, using the sword which was a little heavier than she was used to, as if she had been using it all her life.

Soon the forest glade, once so peaceful, was littered with the black smelly bodies of the orcs and Buffy was splattered in black blood. She grimaced, pushing sweat soaked hair out of her eyes before joining the others who were cleaning themselves up. Aragorn gave Buffy a look of respect before handing her a cloth to wipe the worst of the mess from her.

"I would not have believed that a maiden could handle herself so well in battle but you fought as a man who had been seasoned in war."

"In my world I am a warrior" Buffy explained simply, trying to get the blood from her clothes and succeeding in leaving black marks. Legolas handed her a bundle of cloth which turned out to be a clean shirt, embroidered in delicate flowers and a cloak. They turned their backs and busied themselves with the horses while she changed her top and plaited her hair out of the way.

"Ready" she called.

"You may come with us until Gandalf finds us" Aragorn stated "but you will keep yourself out of trouble. You have proved that you can look after yourself in battle but there is no reason to risk yourself. This is not your fight."

"Until I find Gandalf it is my fight." Buffy answered, swinging the cloak around her shoulders.




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