Xander yawned as he flicked through the costumes. Yet another ghost costume, yet another rubber mask... hold on.
He pulled out a costume that stood out from the rest on the rack. It was made of large pieces of dark, slick leather, crudely sewn together with cord. A quiver was slung across the back, and a hood covered the head. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get the leather to squeak, for some reason.
"You have good taste," an English voice said.
"Always knew you'd come around, Giles," Xander said absently, too busy looking at the highly unusual costume to bother getting a rise out of the Watcher.
"Giles?," the voice asked. "Terribly sorry. Ethan Rayne, at your service."
"Oh, sorry about that," Xander apologised. "What is this? An assassin?"
"You have a good eye," the thin Brit said, running a hand along a sleeve. "It is indeed. Pardon me for being perhaps intrusive, but might I ask as to who you know who is British and called 'Giles'?"
"School librarian," Xander said, checking his wallet. "Rupert Giles, I think. Yeah. I mostly just annoy him by calling him 'G-man'. Man, he hates that."
Ethan grinned. Oh, how this had so much possibility for chaos!
"I'll tell you what, I can see that you don't have enough for the full price," Ethan said, seeing that Xander was short. The teenager defensively snapped his wallet shut. "But, you see, I don't really want my old friend Ripper to know that I'm in town until I've sorted out a surprise for him --you strike me as someone who appreciates the value of a good joke. So perhaps we could work out some sort of discount in exchange for helping me surprise him?"
Xander paused long enough for a worried look to appear on the thin Englishman's face, before grinning. "Sure! Any chances that I could help you with your surprise, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone?"
"I'm afraid that it's something of a private matter," Ethan said self-depreciatingly. "Also, I feel it necessary to inform you that this costume was originally intended for a female, according to my supplier."
Xander held up the hanger, letting it hang in mid air to get a better look at it. "Nah, if it was then it'd be in skintight vinyl. This just looks like it's made for a slim person, you know? Maybe your supplier got this confused with another costume."
Ethan nodded. "Yes, perhaps you're right. Now, I believe that the cash register is this way..."
"C'mon, G-man," Xander whined. "I just need to borrow them for the night! I need them to finish my costume!"
"No, Xander," Giles said firmly. "I will not loan you a crossbow, bolts, and a long dagger so your... Halloween costume is more authentic."
"What if I promise to help you right after we bring the kids back, you know, with patrol?," Xander tried. "You know, a little Librarian-student bonding?"
Giles sighed, hiding his mouth with his left hand. "I can't believe I'm agreeing... but alright, if you solemnly promise to patrol with me after, you may. I still can't believe that Buffy is refusing to patrol at all that night -- I mean, just because vampires have historically not been--"
"Thanks!," Xander said, dashing out the door, weapons in his schoolbag.
"Oh yes, quite welcome," Giles said nastily.
"Hey, who are you?," Larry asked, rolling down the corridor in his pirate costume.
Xander pushed the hood of his costume back. "An evil assassin, come to murder you in your sleep."
"Yeah, right," Larry laughed. "You couldn't hurt a fly!"
The unloaded crossbow was levelled in the jock's general direction over Xander's shoulder. The aim was scarily accurate, considering that Xander was facing away. "Oh?"
He started whistling, continuing on to Snyder.
"Harris! Stop that racket!," Snyder reprimanded him. "Bring them back in one piece!"
"Sure thing," Xander said, pulling his hood back over his head. Darkness covered the maw, and the only part of his flesh visible was his hands. "We'll discuss my contract later."
He turned to the kids, who obediently quietened down. "Okay, on scoring extra candy, tears are key. Tears will normally make you a killing in Hersheys and Mars bars. You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood?"
The kids chorused a 'yes'.
A grin somehow managed to emerge from the shadowy hood. "Okay, let's go knock 'em dead."
The assassin looked around. Where was she? She had been in the middle of the Divided City on a mission for Mordessa, when the crumbling buildings had dissolved into this view of... some rich peoples' houses.
Dammit. The last thing she needed was rumours spreading that she was unreliable. Especially with Vatar as her boss. The unwholesome demon might take a... different kind of interest in her, then.
She checked her crossbow. Oh, this night just got better. What was it doing unloaded? She drew a bolt from the quiver slung on her back, then stood stock still. The muffling rag she customarily put in the quiver to silence rattling bolts and arrows was gone. The wide band of cloth she used as breast bindings was gone.
The assassin quickly loaded the crossbow with a skill borne of long practice.
Time to discover who was jerking her around.
She whirled as a small demon approached. While her senses screamed at her to dispose of it, she couldn't. If it was one of Vatar's horde... she settled for levelling the crossbow at it. It slowed to a halt, then ran, message received.
This woman was not for dragging back to the hearth to raise children.
"Xander!," a girl panted. The assassin's lip curled under the covering darkness of the hood. A common whore, dressed like that, a camp follower.
"Where am I?," the assassin demanded.
"Sunnydale!," the girl said in a desperate tone of voice. "It's me, Willow!"
The whore paused, peering at the assassin in an appraising way.
"Since when were you a girl?," Willow asked.
"Since birth," the assassin said roughly. "Where are the Dreg'Atar? Quickly, girl!"
"There... is no such thing as the Dreg'Atar," the girl said slowly. "You seem to have turned into your costume. Uh, come with me, Giles will know what's going on."
The assassin would pace, if she were the type to give into impulse.
She settled for standing.
This world was crazy. Vampires seemed as common as mayflies, and she had been stuck with bodyguard duty for some moronic high-born lady. Vatar and Mordessa were not going to be happy with her.
Walking into the small kitchen, she found the back door open.
"I didn't leave that open," the vampire behind her said quietly.
The implications leapt at her, right as an unfriendly vampire leapt upon the lady. She swapped the crossbow to her left hand, drawing the long knife in her right. Moving quickly, she stabbed the vampire in an attempt to draw it's attention away from the easier meal.
"Close the door," she snapped at the vampire called 'Angel'. Stupid leech.
"Stake it!," Angel yelled.
"Kill it!," the high-born lady screeched.
The assassin was a hairs breadth from killing the lady, reputation and money be damned.
"What kills them?," the assassin asked, circling the thing.
"Sunlight, beheading, stake through the heart, fire..."
She immediately dismissed sunlight, and shot the wooden bolt through the heart of the vampire. It stopped moving immediately.
"That's strange," the vampire Angel said.
"Oh?," the assassin said, inviting further comment.
"Normally vampires turn into dust when they get staked," Angel continued.
The rest of the night was fairly boring for the assassin, mainly consisting of making sure that demons did not enter the large house.
Xander took a breath as he regained control, then paused.
Something had definitely felt constricting in that breath.
A horrible suspicion crept over him as the events of that night and... the assassin's actions were revealed to him. His hand moved down, shifting a couple layers of leather in an exploratory grope.
He was missing equipment. More specifically, he was now a she.
"You said that Ethan Rayne was behind this?," she said calmly.
"Yeah...," Angel said carefully, waiting to see where Xander was going with this.
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY! I'M GOING TO USE HIM FOR TARGET PRACTICE!"
Angel winced, thinking of what it would be like if he were to suddenly become Angela.
Okay. A bit of explanation.
All the fast moving characters in Enclave (the player chars) are female --the sorceress, the assassin, the druid (who is a scantily clad nymph or something), I could go on. Not male or female, just female.