Mist of Shadows
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Dawn and Reincarnation Part 22
🕑 Added 2019-06-15 05:13:31 +0000 UTCXander pulled his attention off the group of fifty glowing women and girls checking over their packs and supplies when he heard someone walking toward him. He blinked as he saw a tall glowing red haired girl with Dawn’s face walking toward him dressed like an extra from a medieval movie. “Dawn?”
“Hey Xander,” Dawn replied absently as she walked up to Drusilla and Xander. She blinked as she tried to figure out why she knew a contractor from Sunnydale and where Sunnydale was or why she was suddenly glad her sister wasn’t there, never mind that she didn’t have a sister.
”What’s going on?” Xander asked, more than a little curious why Dawn was taller than she should be or why Drusilla could walk around in the sun.
“I found the Kitten,” Drusilla sang playfully.
“You’re the kitten?” Dawn asked as she studied her friend, he was shorter than she remembered or maybe she’d just gotten taller since the last time she’d seen him.
“Apparently,” Xander replied as he glanced between Drusilla and Dawn.
“It’s good to see you,” Dawn said as she stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.
Xander gave her a hug, happy that someone else had made it out of Sunnydale. “Have you seen anyone else?”
Dawn frowned slightly as she got a flash of the inside of a bus of unfamiliar girls and an older man she didn’t recognize. “Sorry, who are you looking for?”
“Buffy, Willow, Giles, Faith, Robin… Kennedy?” Xander asked warily.
“I have a dog named Giles and a daughter from an alternate world named Willow, probably no relation,” Dawn replied as she let go of Xander and took a step back.
“What do you remember?” Xander asked nervously.
“You mean beyond the time we spent together in Sunnydale and that you’re a construction worker, not much. I can’t even remember where Sunnydale is.”
“California, U.S.A,” Xander offered. “Any of this ringing any bells?”
Dawn shook her head. “Sorry, no clue.”
Xander looked at Drusilla. “More information, please?”
“You died and came back, we reincarnated,” Drusilla replied with a shrug. “I see bits and pieces of my past life, most people don’t recall their past lives.”
“That would explain some things,” Dawn admitted as she studied her friend, a little annoyed that she couldn’t remember more. “In that case, welcome to crazy town, population lots.”
‘Great, I’m stuck in another world and no one but me remembers Earth.’ Xander sighed. “Where are we?”
“Taren Ferry, in The Two Rivers, just outside of Andor,” Dawn said helpfully as she turned her attention toward the nine glowing women that Drusilla had tied up with threads of air. ‘We’re going to have to figure out what to do with the prisoners.’
“And that tells me exactly zip,” Xander grumbled.
“The Two Rivers probably counts as a county while Andor counts as a small country,” Drusilla offered, knowing they’d have to show him a map before he really understood where he was.
Dawn frowned when Xander’s stomach rumbled. “Did you miss lunch?”
“And breakfast,” Xander agreed.
“In that case, let’s get the girls and the prisoners settled on the island and get something to eat.”
“I wouldn’t object to food, unless it’s bugs, it’s not bugs is it?” Xander asked, hoping the food choices were at least halfway reasonable.
“Not that I know of, last I checked we were having boar or fish,” Dawn assured him as she turned to look at Drusilla. “How many of the channelers are we taking with us?”
“All of them,” Drusilla replied smugly. “Forty two young men and fifty females not counting the nine Seanchan Xander and I caught.”
Xander raised an eyebrow as he studied Drusilla, now that he was actually looking, she was younger than he remembered. “You’re not actually insane are you?”
“The visions aren’t always clear but that’s hardly my fault,” Drusilla replied as she glanced toward the group of glowing men walking over. “Did you manage to get the access keys?”
Dawn shook her head. “Not yet, this world’s version of Amys was waiting for me in the dream world just outside the city.”
“Dream world?” Xander asked, not sure what Dawn was talking about.
“It’s basically a reflection of the world that certain people can access while they’re dreaming or via magic.”
“What did she want?” Drusilla asked, curious why the Wise One had been waiting for Dawn.
Dawn glanced at the bound glowing women that Drusilla had captured. “The Seanchan are trying to turn the clans against each other so they can weaken the Aiel enough to destroy them. She’s looking for a way to save what she can.”
Xander gestured toward the bound Seanchan. “Why do they want to destroy the clans?”
Drusilla snorted as she thought about some of the idiotic highborn she’d ran into. “Because they want to rule the world and the Aiel are one of the only groups that might be able to stop them.”
“How are we going to stop them?” Xander asked, thinking about what the crazy woman had said about turning him over to the Empress to experiment with.
“The Seanchan have four major things going for them when it comes to combat, excellent commanders, combat witches, strange combat beasts and flying scouts.” Drusilla gestured at the captured witches. “The witches are easy enough to deal with if you know what you’re doing and have a ter’angreal that makes you immune to magic.”
“A ter’what?” Xander asked.
“Magic item,” Dawn replied with amusement. “Are the monsters immune to magic?”
Drusilla shook her head. “No, which means we can destroy most of them when we hit the kennels.”
“You’re attacking dogs?” Xander asked warily.
“No, they call the complexes the damane are stored in kennels because they think of damane as animals,” Drusilla explained.
“Fun,” Xander muttered sarcastically, fairly sure that Willow would have some choice words about an empire that enslaved witches, as soon as he found her at least.
“Pretty much,” Dawn agreed as she used an illusion to write Watch Hill, Emond’s Field, Devon Ride in large glowing letters twelve feet in the air facing the group of glowing people. She tied the weave off then opened an inverted gate to just outside the inn in Watch Hill under the sign for Watch Hill. “Can you get open gates to Emond’s Field and Devon Ride?”
“Sure,” Drusilla replied as she opened a gate to the side of the Wine Spring Inn then to the Goose and Pipe in Devon Ride. “Done.”
Dawn turned to look at the groups of glowing young men and women and raised her voice, “We’ve opened gates back to the villages, you have an hour to grab any possessions you want to take with you then we’ll be heading to the island for training. Let’s get moving people.”
Xander raised an eyebrow as people started heading toward the gateways. “Where can we pick up some lunch?”
“If you don’t want to wait, the Wine Spring has the best food from what I remember or at least it used to. That should give us a chance to trade stories while we wait for everyone to grab their stuff.”
“Sounds good,” Xander agreed, looking forward to getting some details and food.
0o0o0
“How dangerous is the ring?” Moiraine asked as she glared at the Red sister they were planning on sending through first.
“Don’t worry…” Willow trailed off as the Red sister grabbed Egwene and tried to push her through the giant ring only to end up falling through as well when Egwene grabbed her arm. “Oops?”
“I’ll be right back,” Lan stepped through the ring then glanced around the moonlit village green, the first thing he noticed as the five naked young women putting on a dazzling display of acrobatics and swirling lights as they danced around the Bel Tine pole much to the crowd’s enjoyment. “Not what I was expecting.”
“That’s my sister!” Egwene complained as her sister finished a series of perfect cartwheels then dropped to her knees, raised her hands and created dozens of brightly colored balls of light that shot into the sky and exploded in a way that made fireworks look like tiny little embers.
Moiraine followed Willow through the portal and glanced around, rather impressed with the channeling display.
Lan glanced at Moiraine, keeping half of his attention on the crowd. “You should have waited.”
“Why are they naked?” the Red sister demanded as she glared at the dancing girls.
“No idea,” Egwene replied as she recognized Perrin’s sister Adora as one of the naked girls tossing around magic. “That has to be a dozen different weaves, how are they doing that?”
“Practice,” Moiraine said as she watched Perrin’s alternate walk out of the darkness with a naked girl standing on his shoulders. “Interesting,” she whispered as the girl on Perrin’s shoulder created a twisted pole of hardened air that she could slide down.
Willow stared in shock as she saw the glow around Perrin, surprised that this version could channel. “What the fuck?” she sputtered as she glanced around the crowd, noting that at least a fifth of them could channel and quite strongly judging by how brightly they were glowing.
“Frivolous waste of Power,” the Red sister complained as the girl slid down the pole then started dancing as the kneeling girl sprung to her feet and headed toward them.
Loise giggled as she ran over, pulled Egwene into a hug and playfully licked her face. “What did you think of my acrobatics?”
Egwene blinked as she took a step back in surprise. “Impressive…” she trailed off, not sure what else to say as her sister looked ecstatic about dancing in front of the entire village stark naked, something she could barely imagine doing.
“Fantastic!” Loise giggled as she turned to look at Willow. “You should help me convince Egwene to do her dance number, Lord Kash would love it.”
Egwene shook her head, wanting nothing to do with anything that required her to be naked in front of a bunch of people.
“Lord?” Willow asked warily, knowing the Two Rivers had no lords.
“He’s been the mayor going on fifteen years, he’s the one that convinced the Wisdom Circle that we could dress how we wanted,” Loise explained.
‘Sounds unlikely,’ Moiraine thought as she kept part of her attention on the incredible display and part of it on the crowd, wanting to make sure no one snuck up on them.
“Sounds like compulsion,” the Red sister suggested, fairly sure this was a chance to haul a channeler to the Tower and make a good impression.
“It’s certainly something to check into,” Willow agreed as she spotted a blond haired man with an ugly mustache standing next to an attractive young lady with blue hair and a silk dress which certainly didn’t match the locals. “Let me guess, he has an ugly mustache and is wearing an embroidered vest and long black gloves?”
Loise giggled. “He refuses to shave it, he thinks it makes him look distinguished, he’s mistaken but we don’t have the heart to tell him.”
The Red sister snorted. “We need to ‘talk’ to this ‘Lord’ Kash.”
“Sure, I’ll introduce you,” Loise said cheerfully as she grabbed Egwene’s hand and headed toward Lord Kash.
The Red sister looked at Moiraine. “How do you want to capture him?”
Moiraine glanced at Willow. “Let’s make sure he can actually channel before we insult him, he seems well liked.”
Lan followed Egwene toward the man he could see at the other end of the green, wanting to take a look at the so called lord before Moiraine got close enough for the man to realize she was an Aes Sedai.
“I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Willow whispered as they followed Lan.
“Same,” Moiraine agreed as she realized that several girls in the crowd had almost as much potential as Nynaeve. “How many of the girls can channel?” she whispered under her breath, surprised at the sheer amount of potential considering there weren’t nearly this many people that could channel in the real Emond’s Field or at least she hadn’t seen them.
‘Way too many, even for the Two Rivers,’ Willow thought as she stepped close enough to ‘see’ the glow around the man with the ugly mustache and the blue haired woman standing next to him. ‘Shit, she’s as strong as William. At least the guy isn’t nearly as strong.’ She turned to look at the performers as she saw her aunts’ alternates out of the corner of her eye as they cartwheel onto the green. She smirked as her aunts started juggling glowing balls of light between them, putting on a show that would make most gleemen jealous. ‘Yeah, that’s probably Egwene’s fault, worrying about keeping up.’
Lord Kosh frowned as he noticed Moiraine and the Red sister. “What brings Aes Sedai to Emond’s Field?”
Willow scowled as she watched a thread of spirit snake out from the man and evaporate as it touched Moiraine. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice which meant that he might not be channeling intentionally. ‘Great, the bitch was right, compulsion.’
“How did you become Lord of a region without lords?” the Red sister demanded.
Willow scowled slightly as she saw the same thread of spirit extend toward the Red sister. ‘I’d cut it but I’d have to channel.’
“I won the election for Mayor after the old mayor died, eventually they decided to make me Lord of the Two Rivers because I was good at getting the Women’s council to see sense,” Lord Kosh explained.
The Red sister relaxed as she realized she’d been worried about the man for nothing. “That makes sense.”
Egwene glared at the so called Lord, fairly sure that something weird was going on. She twitched slightly as her fox ring grew cold. “You’re channeling.”
“You think he can channel?” the blue haired girl asked in concern as she looked at her friend.
“What are you talking about Egwene?” Lord Kosh asked warily as he glanced between Moiraine and the Red sister. “You shouldn’t accuse men of being able to channel.”
Lan shifted his weight, ready to drop the man if he tried to attack them.
Egwene winced as her ring dropped in temperature even further, feeling like ice water on her hand. “Stop that!”
Moiraine reached out with a weave of spirit and shielded the man. “That’s enough of that.”
The blue haired girl raised her dark blue eyebrows. “Shielding someone isn’t going to do anything if they can’t channel.”
“You’re correct but it should keep him from being quite as persuasive,” Moiraine stated then sighed as Lord Kosh turned and ran.
Lan moved to catch the so called Lord then stopped as a version of Mat stepped out of the shadows and clotheslined the fleeing man. “That works.”
“Mat!” Loise complained as she put her hands on her hips and looked at him sternly.
Mat looked down at the man with a slight smirk on his face. “Oops, didn’t see you there Kash.”
Willow stared at her father’s alternate who was also glowing. ‘What the hell is wrong with this world?’
“Kash?” the girl with the blue hair asked warily, not sure why her friend would run unless he could actually channel which made a certain amount of sense given how lucky and persuasive he was. “He can channel, can’t he?”
“It certainly looks like it,” Willow agreed, knowing that the man could channel. “I doubt he even realized it, at least not consciously.”
“That’s no excuse,” the Red sister snapped.
“You’re right, it’s not,” Moiraine agreed as she studied Mat’s alternate. “Why don’t you like him?”
“Good taste,” Mat replied a touch sarcastically. “He looked at the girls like they were possessions when he thought no one was paying attention, not like someone that wanted a tumble.”
“I’m fairly sure that’s how you look at most of us,” Adora pointed out as she walked over with Perrin and Nynaeve.
Mat glanced at Perrin then back at Adora. “Stop trying to get me killed Adora.”
The Red sister stared at Perrin’s golden eyes. “What happened to your eyes?”
The blue haired girl turned to look at the Red sister. “They turned golden last winter when he had a fever. Thankfully no one else caught it.”
‘Fever my ass,’ Willow thought, knowing that his eyes turned gold because he could talk to wolves.
“You get used to it eventually,” Perrin lied, he still wasn’t quite used to having heightened senses.
Nynaeve glanced between Moiraine and the Red sister. “You should probably sneak him out of town before the village council notices.”
“It shouldn’t be that hard, just tell them that you’re taking him to the Tower to heal his arms,” Perrin suggested.
“What’s wrong with his arms?” Moiraine asked as she glanced at the long gloves he was wearing.
“His flesh is rotting,” the blue haired woman said. “It’s not contagious but it’s not pretty either. I’ve tried to heal it but that only slows the growth.”
Moiraine delved the man and scowled when she realized he’d probably be dead within the year even if they brought him to the Tower. “The taint causes men to rot once the taint builds up enough.”
“Can you cure it?” Nynaeve asked, hoping she could figure out what she’d been doing wrong.
Moiraine shook her head. “Not with what I have.”
“His best chance is the Tower, I’ll take him,” the Red sister offered, knowing that showing up at the Tower with a prisoner would be better than showing up empty handed as it would prove that she had the skills to be an Aes Sedai.
“In that case, take him,” the blue haired woman said.
“Are you sure Fred?” Loise asked, surprised that Lord Kash was sick.
“It’s for the best,” Fred replied, fairly sure he’d been using compulsion on everyone without realizing it considering some of the crazy things he’d managed to get people to agree to. He hadn’t been nearly as crazy when he’d saved her and her mother from a group of bandits fifteen years ago but he’d been getting more unstable the last couple months now that she was thinking about it which was more than a little disconcerting considering the amount of stuff she hadn’t been worried about. “Now that you’re here, are you going to help us improve?”
“Of course, we have some exceptionally skilled trainers that would love to have you,” Willow cut in before the Red sister could try to talk anyone into coming with them to the Tower as she was reasonably sure leaving the area would result in getting lost in a mirror world at best.
“I’m looking forward to learning more weaves, do you have a place for a blacksmith?” Adora asked hopefully as she gestured toward her brother.
“We happen to have a shortage of blacksmiths,” Willow assured her then turned to look at Mat. “Do you have any trade skills?”
“I’m good at working with horses, does that count?” Mat asked, hoping that would be enough to get him a job so he could look after his sisters.
“We could use someone with your talents,” Willow assured him, knowing her father would freak if he woke up with the ability to channel.
Moiraine glanced between Willow and Egwene. “Take Egwene and gather up everyone that we can train and take them back through the portal.”
“I’ll help,” Fred offered, eager to learn what the Aes Sedai could teach them.
“I’ll help,” Adora offered as she followed Egwene, Fred and the attractive redhead.
Lan waited until the girls left then stepped on Kash’s chest. “I know you’re awake. I have a few questions for you, if you answer them honestly, you might live through the night.”
Kash gulped.
0o0o0
Xander blinked as he followed Dawn through the strange portal and saw a line of naked people walking out of a giant ring. “Dawn, you have some explaining to do.”
“Oh, right, forgot about that. The ring only transports people, we’ve been recruiting magic users,” Dawn explained as she moved away from the portal so the rest of the recruits could come through.
“And the rest of the naked girls?” Xander asked as he glanced around, fairly sure that Willow would have loved the island as long as her sunscreen supply lasted.
“It’s a tropical island, what do you expect?” Dawn asked with amusement.
“A bit more…” Xander trailed off, previous topic completely forgotten as he saw a red haired version of Tara walking toward them. “Tara?” he blurted his mouth moving before his brain could stop it.
“Xander,” Tara replied happily as she walked over. “Looks like Willow managed to recruit a bunch of people.”
Dawn glanced between Xander and Tara. “Have you met?”
“He…” Tara trailed off, not sure where she remembered Xander from other than the various times they’d shared a meal together or looked through books together or any one of a dozen half remembered scenes that didn’t quite fit together as it felt like there was someone else present that she couldn’t remember. “I’ve seen him around…” she trailed off as Xander pulled her into a hug and spun her around.
“You’re back!” Xander exclaimed as he hugged her tightly as he spun her around again then set her down.
Tara patted Xander on the back. “Don’t worry we all get lost now and then, let me guess, Dawn found you?”
“Drusilla actually,” Xander admitted as he let reluctantly her go, half afraid that she’d vanish on him.
“Makes sense. How many people did you manage to recruit?” Tara asked as she watched the people walk through the door in the wall carrying baskets, packs and bags.
“Not as many as whoever used the ring,” Dawn said as she watched Lan walk out of the ring followed by Moiraine, Egwene and a naked blue haired glowing woman with dragons on her arms and yin yang symbol on her shoulder.
“Willow mentioned something about looking for recruits, I wasn’t expecting her to be this successful,” Tara said as she waved Egwene over.
“How many people did you manage to recruit?” Dawn asked as she watched the people continue coming out of the ring.
Egwene glanced at Xander then focused on Dawn. “One hundred and thirty one females if you count my family, one hundred children too young to channel and seventy seven men that can channel provided that Willow is correct with her numbers. How many did you get?”
“Forty two young men of decent strength, fifty females ranging from a bit stronger than Moiraine to a bit weaker than you. The nine Seanchan are about average for Aes Sedai from what I can figure out,” Dawn explained, fairly sure they’d manage to pick up another couple hundred captured novices and accepted when they raided the Seanchan complexes. “Sadly, they barely have any training other than the Seanchan damane.”
Xander pulled his attention off the attractive naked girls walking out of the giant ring and focused on Dawn. “Speaking of training, I should probably talk to whoever you have working on the plans for the city.” He really wanted to get a decent sewer system in place before people started getting sick if Dawn was going to keep recruiting people.
“Right, I’ll introduce you then we can talk to the new recruits and find out what they know,” Dawn said as she grabbed Egwene and Xander’s hands. “I don’t have enough hands.”
Xander grinned as he grabbed Tara’s hand with his free hand. “I’ve got you covered.”
“Good,” Dawn said as they started walking toward the tent the construction team was using.
