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buffyfic-digest        Wednesday, July 29 1998        Volume 02 : Number 278



In this issue:

       BUFFYFIC: Kender Chaos (6/?)
       BUFFYFIC: ADMIN:  List rules
       BUFFYFIC: ADMIN:  Free email address Policy (reminder)
       BUFFYFIC:  Kender Chaos (7/?)
       BUFFYFIC: Xander's Incredible Journey (2/?)

See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic
or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 12:07:46 PDT
From: "Black Fire" <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Kender Chaos (6/?)

Title: Kender Chaos
Author: Black Fire
Email: [e-mail]
Feedback: Yes, please.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Buffy: Anything before WML1  Dragonlance: Chronicles and
Legends Trilogies.
Disclaimers:  I own neither sets of characters and I can't afford to
either.
Summary:  Tasslehoff Burrfoot and Fizban the Fabulous have found their
way to Sunnydale.

                        Kender Chaos Chapter 6

    More afraid of what Snyder would do when he found Tas than any
reprimands he might give her, Buffy looked around for a place to hide
the Kender.  Hurriedly, she tried to think of a place to stash him but,
there was no way of knowing if he would stay hidden or what he might get
into.  No.  Hiding him was no good.
    "He's almost here," Xander said, looking out the small windows in the
library doors.
    Buffy quickly studied Tas.  For the most part, he looked like an
ordinary human child.  There was only one problem: his pointy ears.  In
an instant of brilliant thinking, Buffy fished a small hair brush out of
her purse.  Sitting Tas down in a chair, she undid his topknot, which
caused a great amount of protest on his part, and brushed his hair down
and back so that it covered his ears.  Buffy pulled the Kender's hair
into a loose pony tail at the nape of his neck and refastened the
leather strap around it.
    Buffy was promising to put Tas's hair back the way it was as Snyder
pushed through the door.
    "Miss Summers," the principal said in his usual, asinine manner, "I
trust you have a good reason for tearing through the halls, as you did
just now."
    "One of my... ahh aunts dropped my cousin by my house last night,"
Buffy explained.  "My mom's out of town and he can't stay home by
himself, so I decided to take him with me and by the time I got both him
and me ready, we were late.  We ran all the way here and I was just
about to leave him with Mr. Giles when you came in."    "Really," Snyder
said, nodding his head in that manner that usually meant that he didn't
believe a word.  "Well, Miss Summers, high school is no place for
children his age.  I suggest that you take him home."
    This resulted in a disappointed cry from Tas, who had been watching the
proceedings with an unusual amount of patience, for a Kender.  Before
Giles could grab him, Tas leapt out of the chair and ran to Buffy's
side.
    "But I like it here," he whined, "this place is so much fun.  I'm
aahh... Flint Summers, by the way.  Nice to meet you."  Tasslehoff
extended his hand to the now fuming principal.
    "Um... Flint?" Buffy said, squeezing his shoulder, "not now."
    Ignoring Buffy, Tas went on, "You know, you look very familiar.  You
do!   You really do.  But I can't quite place it.  Of course you would
be from where I'm from, I'd know it if you were."  Tas's eyes widened as
the idea finally came to him.  "Oh I know!!  You remind me of Fewmaster
Toede.  Except you're much better looking that he was, but then,
Hobgoblins are usually a lot uglier than humans anyway.  But you act
like Toede.  Are you a....."
    "That's enough, Flint," Buffy said, clamping her hand over his mouth.
"He has a very vivid imagination.  He once thought I looked like a giant
he knew."
    "I see," Snyder retorted, his face slowly losing the redness caused by
his anger.  "When did you say his mother was going to pick him up?"
    "In a day or two," Buffy lied.  "She said she had some meetings to go
to and needed someone to watch Flint for a couple of days."
    "Well, consider yourself suspended until then," the principal hissed.
"Now go home and take him with you.  And the rest of you," turning his
attention to Willow, Xander and Cordelia, "get back to class.  Well?
What are you waiting for, Summers?"
    "I'd like a word with her, if you don't mind," Giles spoke up.
    "Fine," Snyder sighed.  "But she'd better be out of here in ten minutes
or else."
    Snyder turned back to the three standing in the doorway.  After a stern
glare from him, Buffy's friends made a hasty retreat out of the library
and headed for class.  The Principal turned back to Giles, pointed at
his watch and left as well.
    "Now about this dream of yours?" Giles said when Snyder left.
    "It was very weird and too long to tell right now, it seems," Buffy
said.  "I'll come back tonight."
    "No that might not be such a good idea," Giles shook his head.  "I
overheard Principal Snyder say something about working late tonight."
    Buffy sighed, trying to think, "Then I guess we'll have to meet at my
house tonight.  Mom's supposed to be gone for another couple of days."
    "I guess that will work," Giles conceded.  "I'll collect some books
that might be helpful and I'll tell the others."
    "And I'm gonna call Angel," Buffy nodded.  "I have a feeling we might
need him."
    By this time, Tas had wriggled out of Buffy's grasp.  "Hey!  What about
my hair," he sobbed.
    "I'll fix it when we get home," Buffy told him.  Annoyed that he had
caused her to get suspended.  Taking him by the hand, she mumbled a
quiet "let's go," and led him out of the library.

*   *   *   *   *

The Black Fire            | "Don't worry, I'm not here to eat."
[e-mail]   |                -Angel (IG)
         http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/4203
"But if they all forget me I will be here anyway, like an artifact
     of some lost civilization" -Vlad Dracula _The Dracula Tape_
"I'll see you there, Jekyll." -Edward Hyde "Jekyll & Hyde"
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 16:16:45 -0400
From: sah <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: ADMIN:  List rules

Welcome!  This list is for fiction related to "Buffy The Vampire
Slayer," both the TV series and the movie.  To ensure that we all get
to enjoy as much fiction as possible, please adhere to the following
guidelines, and please save them for future reference.

1. Fiction should have Buffy characters in it and clearly be related
to Buffy.  Crossovers are great, and expected, but general
vampire/monster stories that aren't in the Buffy universe and don't
use Buffy characters belong somewhere else.

2. Discussion of posted fiction is permitted onlist.  Please put
"DISCUSS" in your subject line.  Requests for missing story parts
should go directly to the author, and not be posted to the list.

Discussion that is not related directly to the fiction should go over
to the general Buffy list.  Discussion of fiction is expected to
follow common netiquette guidelines and use PG-13 language.

3. No advertising of <any> items or services, Buffy related or not,
and no posting of non-story items such as .gifs, sound files, etc..
No attached files of <any> kind-- if your mailer makes your fiction
into attached files, you need to find another way to get it to the list.

4. If you're writing a story and including advance information on a
new episode, and you're posting your story earlier than the national
viewing time, please:

     **Mark the post as a "spoiler" in the subject header.
     **Leave about twelve lines (blank or with non-spoiler info) at
          the top of the post.

This ensures that anyone who doesn't like knowing about an episode
ahead of time is "protected."  :)   The blank space is for people whose
mailers automatically open up the next piece of mail, without giving
them a chance to see "spoiler" in the header.

Spoiler warnings are not necessary after the start of the episode's
national viewing time, which is currently set at 9 p.m. Mondays,
Eastern Standard Time.  Spoiler warnings are not necessary for reruns.

5.  This list is absolutely NOT for erotic fiction.  <Nothing> stronger
than sexually PG-13 material is to be posted to the list under any
circumstances.  A story may be R rated for violence or language, however.

If you have a question about something's suitability for posting, feel
free to ask one of the listowners.  Sending sexually explicit material
will get you immediately and permanently unsubscribed.  No exceptions.

6.  By subscribing and/or posting to this list, you acknowledge that
Buffy the Vampire slayer and all characters associated with either
the televised series or the motion picture were created by Josh Whedon
and are owned by Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions,
Sandollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox.  All stories posted to
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7.  When posting stories to the list, please follow the following
formatting guidelines
- --No story parts longer than 250 lines
- --No lines longer than 75 characters
- --Turn off your "smart quotes"-- many readers receive these as garbage
or weird symbols
- --Put the title of the story in the subject header, indicate if it's a
multipart story, and if so what part this is.  Example:   Buffy Meets
Godzilla (2/65) indicates that this post is part two of a 65 part story.

8. If a story is rated "R" for language/violence, indicate this in an
introduction.  For example, "There's a really bloody fight scene at
the end of this part" or "if you don't like dismemberment, stop
reading now!"  If there's <any> chance that someone might be disturbed
by something in your story (even if it's not rated R) please include
some kind of warning up front.

9.  And last, but not least, the listowners reserve the right to deny
subscription (new, renewed, or continued) to the list for any
individual(s).

PLEASE NOTE:  not following any or all of these rules will get you
the following:

**First offense:  offender is unsubscribed for one week.
**Second offense:  offender is unsubscribed to the Buffyfic list for a
minimum of three months.
**If the offender returns and does it again, they're offlist
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As noted above, posting sexually explicit material is the exception --
you go straight to permanent unsubbing.

Again, welcome!  If  you have any questions about these rules, please
contact either one of us offlist.  If you have subscription problems or
questions, the fastest way to get help is to e-mail one of us at the
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Jill Kirby ([e-mail])
 &
Sharon Himmanen ([e-mail])
Listowners, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fiction List
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 16:16:51 -0400
From: sah <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: ADMIN:  Free email address Policy (reminder)

Please read this.  It's very important.

Effective immediately, anyone who wishes to s*bscribe to any Buffy list on
a "freemail" account (Geocities, Hotmail, etc.) will be required to
provide us with a "permanent" e-mail address as a backup.

We will <not> under any circumstances reveal this permanent e-mail address
to anyone.  This is for our reference <only.>

This new policy has become necessary because of the problems we've
experienced with freemail accounts.  They're too easy to set up and
cancel, and there is so little recourse if the individual with the
freemail account causes problems, that we have no choice but to enact this
policy.

The s*bscription information pages will be changed to reflect this policy.

IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY S*BSCRIBED UNDER A FREEMAIL ADDRESS:  as long as you
stay s*bscribed, you do not need to provide us with this information.
However, if you uns*b and want to res*b at some point, you will have to
give us this information even if you were previously a s*bscriber through
a freemail account.  If we have to uns*b you for bouncing mail, again,
you'll have to provide the information to res*b.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact us offlist.
Thanks.

sah and Jill
[e-mail] and [e-mail]

- --
sah * [e-mail] * [e-mail]
NatPack * BotCoS * Jungle Patrol * BBPGrrl:TGLIL * Bishop * BTVS Listowner
Nat's B&B:    http://free.prohosting.com/~romana/natpack/html
My homepage:  http://free.prohosting.com/~romana/index.html
"Armageddon might be thirty seconds after some guy puts his hand down my
shirt."                                        --Jill Kirby

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 13:57:52 PDT
From: "Black Fire" <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC:  Kender Chaos (7/?)

Title: Kender Chaos
Author: Black Fire
Email:[e-mail]
Feedback: Yes, please.
Rating: PG
 Spoilers: Buffy: Anything
before WML1  Dragonlance: Chronicles and Legends Trilogies.
Disclaimers:  I own neither sets of characters and I can't afford to
either.
 Summary:  Tasslehoff Burrfoot and Fizban the Fabulous have found their
way to Sunnydale.

                                Kender Chaos Chapter 7

    "I'm sorry I got you into trouble, Buffy," Tas said as they walked
home.  After they left school, Tas had started feeling really bad about
what had happened.
    "It's alright," Buffy sighed.
    "I just seem to have this habit of getting my friends into trouble," he
continued.  "I don't know why.  Usually just *seeing* my friends
traveling with me gets us all into trouble.  But then, Kenders are
always treated badly.  We are!  People think of us as children or...
thieves.  I hate that word, by the way."
    Tas talked on and on, all the way home.  Buffy smiled, only half
listening but, somehow, listening to the Kender's cheerful voice made
her feel better.  With Tas with her, and on his best behavior, the walk
home seemed to take almost no time at all.
    Once there, Buffy, as promised returned Tasslehoff's hair to his
beloved topknot.  But not before taking it upon herself to was and trim
it first.  She later laughed to herself at the very idea that Tas
thought Principal Snyder was comparable to a hobgoblin.  There were
times, in fact, when she could have thought so herself.
    Tas's hair fix once more, Buffy made a quick call to Angel to let him
know about the meeting.  She then resigned herself to waiting for her
friends and nightfall to come.  A task not made easy for her.  For, as
she soon found out, Kenders get bored very quickly.

*   *   *   *   *

    Meanwhile, on the other side of town, others were also eagerly awaiting
sundown.  Most of the vampires in the wherehouse were sleeping.  Others
were doing various meanial tasks, busy work, in order to keep themselves
occupied durring the day.
    Spike had returned to pacing the floor near the newly replaced table.
He was getting very worried about Drusilla.  She was growing weaker
every day.  She had refused to eat a thing the last few days.  And now,
she had found this weird preoccupation with this strange old man who had
wondered in last night.
    Fizban had truely facinated her.  She kept saying that the old man had
a tremendous amount of power in him, but all Spike could see was a
befuddled old man who yelled at inanimate objects, threatened them with
ridiculous threats and couldn't even remember his own name half the
time.
    No.  Unless this was all just an elaborate act, the old geezer could be
of no use to them.  Still, he kept Dru happy and amused.  They might as
well keep him alive and around... for a while anyway.
    Dru's laughter echoed from her room.  Fizban was, currently yelling at
a stool he had tripped over.  He was threatening to turn it into a rat
or something or other.  Now and again, he mumbled something in a
strange, spidery language, saying he was trying to remember the "Rat
Spell."
    Dru watched as Fizban went into deep concentration, trying to remember
the Rat Spell.  Suddenly, his eyes lighted up and he jumped up and down,
saying "I got it now!"  Dru watched in amazement as the old man started
chanting some words and making elaborated jestures with his arms.
    However, the spell Fizban remembered was, as was sometimes the case,
not the one he had wanted.  Dru watched in awe as energy began to gather
around his hand and turned into a decent sized ball of fire.  However,
instead of aiming the spell at the chair, as the old man intended, his
hand found itself pointing a the doorway.
    Spike, who was pacing outside, wasn't paying attention.  He was so lost
in thought that he didn't see weird light building up in the other room.
That is, not until he started smelling smoke.  He looked up just in time
to see the fireball fly out of the room, right at him.  Quickly, he
jumped out of the way and the ball flew past him and hit the table, dead
center causing it to burst into flame and disintigrate.
    "What the bloody hell was that?!?!" Spike yelled, staring at the table
in shock.
    But this time, Dru and Fizban had made their way to the door to see
what had happened.  Dru jumped up and down, clapping like a gleeful
child.  "Do it again!" she begged the old man.
    "Now where did that Fireball Spell come from?" Fizban asked himself as
he reached up to wipe his forehead.
    "Would *somebody* like to tell me what's going on?" Spike asked.
    "I told you, luv," Dru said happily, "This one has great power."
    Fizban smiled at her and reached up to scratch his head.  All of a
sudden he started yelling, "My hat!!  Who took my hat?  Give me back my
hat!  Now what was that Rat Spell again?"
    Dru laughed at him.  Spike and the others just stood there, bewildered
and fearing for their lives.

*   *   *   *   *

In the words of Tasslehoff: "Oops!"


The Black Fire            | "Don't worry, I'm not here to eat."
[e-mail]   |                -Angel (IG)
         http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/4203
"But if they all forget me I will be here anyway, like an artifact
     of some lost civilization" -Vlad Dracula _The Dracula Tape_
"I'll see you there, Jekyll." -Edward Hyde "Jekyll & Hyde"
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:37:32 PDT
From: "Cutter Kinseeker" <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Xander's Incredible Journey (2/?)

TITLE: "Xander's Incredible Journey"
AUTHOR: Cutter Kinseeker
E-MAIL: [e-mail]
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second chapter of my first fanfic. Be gentle!
FEEDBACK: Yes! Yes! Yes! Tell me what you think, but constructive
criticism only please. No "it sucks" type messages.
DISTRIBUTION: Ask me first.
RATING: Mostly PG-13 for language and adult themes. A couple of parts
will be R.
DESCRIPTION: In the aftermath of "Becoming," Xander sets out after Buffy
and winds up "becoming" in his own right. A council of war is held in
the Sunnydale High library; Xander must face his deepest fears; a
surprise guest makes an appearance.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own jack. Correction--jack's probably the only thing
I do own. The rest belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and the Frog
Network.
SPOILERS: Everything up to "Becoming".


S   S
P   P
O   A
I   C
L   E
E
R


Chapter Two
From Humble Beginnings


        Xander's apprehension hung about him as a dark cloud, an almost
physical presence, as he entered the library of Sunnydale High. He
pressed past the swinging doors and tried to make his gait a natural one
as his friends--and Giles--came into view at the large table which
dominated the center of the lower level. Their eyes were upon him as his
mouth curved upward in a smile that didn't touch his eyes.
        "Waiting for me? That's new," he quipped easily enough, being so
used to hiding his feelings that his nervousness just appeared to be his
usual self-consciousness. "So, guys, what's up? Or down, as the case may
be?"
        His dark eyes scanned the table. There, on his left, was Willow,
probably his best friend in the world, her hand tightly gripping that of
her boyfriend, werewolf lead guitarist Oz. On his right, the impeccably
British Rupert Giles, a man whose facial expression and walk made him
seem as though he were continually slightly constipated. The only faces
noticeably absent from the gathering were those of Xander's on-again,
off-again girlfriend Cordelia Chase, and of course Buffy Summers, the
Vampire Slayer.
        Xander's gaze was drawn to Giles as the older man gave a slight
exhalation and rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
        "Xander, as stimulating as your brand of repartee is, I'm afraid
we have more serious things to discuss. I was going to wait until you
and Cordelia arrived before I began so that I wouldn't have to repeat
myself..." He broke off, seeming to notice for the first time that
Xander was alone. "Where is Cordelia, by the way?"
        "Oh, she's got some sort of cheerleading thing going on," Xander
replied. "I'd be there with her--you know, for moral support--" Willow
passed Oz a look that Xander didn't miss but chose not to say anything
about, "--but she gets this whole 'jealous-girlfriend' routine when I
hang around. Either that, or the whole 'embarrassed-girlfriend' routine.
I get them mixed up."
        Giles sighed again. He really didn't need this, not right now,
and Xander's flippancy was just making the situation harder on him.
        "Xander, sit down." The tone of command in Giles' voice brooked
no room for argument, and the look in his eyes silenced the wisecrack in
Xander's throat before it could break free. He placed himself at the
opposite end of the table from Giles and tried to look dejected. Willow
glanced sympathetically at her friend and smiled before she turned to
Giles to ask him the question that had been on her mind for almost
fifteen minutes.
        "Okay, Giles, why are we here?" Now this one Xander couldn't
pass up.
        "Well, Willow," Xander started in, "you see, people have been
asking that question since the beginning of time. Why are we here? What
is our purpose in life? Are there any reasons at all? The simple version
of the answer goes like this: When a boy and a girl like each other a
lot, they want to express that affection..."
        Giles' face was turning a bright and interesting shade of red,
and it looked as though he were about to suffer an attack of something
or other. Willow and Oz were trying to suppress giggles and not doing a
terribly good job at it. Xander's devil-may-care grin grew as he watched
Giles' reaction. Any joke he could use to annoy the G-Man, he knew, was
a truly successful one. His dark mood had started to lift; maybe today
wouldn't be so bad after all.
        Finally, Giles decided that he had had enough. He brought down
his palm on the hardwood table as hard as he could, which was quite hard
considering that he spent most of his time either lifting stacks of
books or sparring with a Slayer. The resultant loud crack made Willow
jump slightly, Oz move instantly to comfort her, and Xander to close his
mouth with an audible click as his teeth met.
        "I have had more than my fill of your foolishness for one day!
Now be quiet and listen! This is serious!" Giles' color had begun to
return to normal but his breathing was harsh and ragged as one who had
been performing a heavy aerobic regimen. Xander was silent now, both
from acute shame and from the knowledge that Giles never lost his cool
like this unless it *was* serious.
        "Sorry, Giles," Xander said, real hurt and surprise in his voice
now. "What's going on?" Xander's face was a mass of contradictions; he
knew precisely what was going on, why they were all here today, but he
kept telling himself that he was being paranoid, kept hoping against
hope that he was wrong.
        Giles cleared his throat and began.
        "Buffy still has not returned to school, nor has she contacted
me--nor, I assume, any of you." He paused to look at the assembled
youths as they gravely shook their heads. "I spoke to Principal Snyder
today, asking when Buffy was expected to return. According to him, she
is not."
        "What?" asked Willow, more than a bit shocked and worried.
        "The principal informed me that he personally expelled Buffy the
night of Angelus's attack. He found her here, in the library, looking
around, called the police, and then simply expelled her." Giles face was
a mask of indifference as he spoke, his crisp British accent striving to
report the facts without emotion and only just succeeding.
        "But that means..." began Willow.
        "That she knew she wouldn't be coming back to school? Yes,
indeed," Giles finished for her. "Why she would keep this vital fact
from us, I don't know, but I have my suspicions. Possibly, she had
already planned leaving Sunnydale after she, um, finished Angelus. More
likely, she did not wish to burden us with her own problems, which I can
suppose were weighing heavily upon her."
        "Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Xander. "Leave Sunnydale? What
are you talking about, G-Man? She's the Slayer, remember? She can't
leave Sunnydale. Can she?"
        "Well, um, the- the force which empowers the Slayers may have
decided that her tenure in Sunnydale was at an end with the
destruction--or reform--of Angelus and permitted her to leave. Or,
possibly, Buffy is no longer the Slayer and she is no longer required to
fight the forces of darkness. There are records of Slayers retiring
after dealing with one last major threat, rather than dying in battle.
With her responsibility over, she could have decided that it was time to
start over someplace else."
        "Aren't we just grasping at straws here?" interrupted Oz's cool,
slow voice. "I mean, how do we even know that she's gone anywhere? She
could still be here in town, recovering from the fight. Isn't that what
you said the other day? That she and Angel are someplace quiet, getting,
uh... reacquainted?"
        Giles nodded. "That was the original theory. Now, however, I
know differently. Since Willow was released from the hospital, I've been
doing some digging, and what I've found does not inspire me to be
hopeful. In addition, my own injuries and general state of confusion
slowed the search and made me leave one important source until last:
Mrs. Summers."
        "Buffy's mom," said Xander by way of stating the obvious. "Cool.
If anyone can clear this up, she can."
        "Actually, no. Mrs. Summers was somewhat less than helpful."
Giles frowned in memory of the confrontation between himself and the
distraught Joyce Summers. "She was, in fact, rather close to hysteria.
Apparently, Buffy revealed her secret identity to her mother, and they
had some sort of argument. The details I managed to glean from her were
sketchy at best, but from what I did get, Joyce... threw Buffy out of
the house."
        "What?" asked Willow and Xander at the same time, startling
Giles out of his "lecture mode." They both began to babble incoherently
at the same time, leaving Oz in confusion and Giles at the focus of the
cacophony. Even through the din, it was obvious that both were
concerned, though Willow's tone was closer to panicky worry and Xander's
was closer to moral outrage.
        The group fell into a shocked silence as the library doors
opened noisily, as though someone who had been listening to them had
decided to make a dramatic entrance.
        "Well, well, well," said the stranger, a small, oily-looking man
dressed all in black as he removed his sunglasses and hat, "the infamous
Slayerettes. So we meet at last. Too bad it's gotta be under these
circumstances. I had hoped to sit down with a cappuccino or a foot-long
and talk to you, but they don't allow them in here." He looked over at
the English librarian and smiled crookedly. "Sorry 'bout the stuff I
snitched from your fridge, Rupe, but a demon's gotta eat."
        At the word "demon" the gathered group reacted. Giles instantly
headed for the weapons case in his office, while both Oz and Xander
moved to place themselves between the man(?) in the rumpled fedora and
their still-injured friend. Xander in particular cut a
less-than-imposing figure with his jittery look and his good arm still
in a cast.
        "Oh, stop it," reprimanded the stranger. "For one, none of you
can do squat against me--I'm kind of immortal--and for another, I'm here
to help you, so just sit down and calm down."
        His words had a reassuring effect on the friends, and Xander and
Oz both visibly lowered their guard, Xander somewhat slower than the
good-natured werewolf. Willow's tremors subsided gradually, and Giles
made his way back to the table, though he kept hold of the bottle of
holy water he had managed to grab.
        "Who the devil are you?" asked Giles cautiously.
        "Nice choice of words, G-Man," interjected Xander nervously.
        The stranger smiled. "That's why I like you, kid, a quip for
every occasion." The man's dark eyes bored into Xander. *He knows*,
Xander thought to himself in a panic, *he knows everything*. If
anything, the stranger's smile became larger, more amused, as though the
world were a joke and he were the only one to understand the punchline.
        "As for who I am... you can call me The Whistler."


END CHAPTER TWO


Cutter Kinseeker
- -Chieftain of the Wolfriders
- -Holder of New Moon, artifact sword
- -Slayer of the dreaded beast Madcoil
- -Keeper of Xander Harris' half-kept promise, "You're gonna die. And I'm
gonna be there."

"AYOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHH!!!!"
          --Cutter Kinseeker

"From famine to feast and back to famine again."
          --Skywise

Visit the Holt of Cutter Kinseeker
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/2234/


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