Willow of the Nine Valleys Sept of the Tardaad Aiel blocked the slash from the Illian soldier with her hide buckler and thrust her spear into his guts, leaving him to slowly bleed to death, creating a crimson patch in the pure white crust of snow that barely covered the churned and half melted mixture of slush and blood beneath. She moved through the lightly falling snow as if it were of little concern as she, her spear sisters and the other Aiel fought the combined forces of the Wetlanders between the high, white walls of Tar Valon and the looming bulk of Dragonmount that dwarfed the city.
Only her eyes showed from behind her black veil as she stalked through the battle, fighting any enemy that faced her as she, and the other Aiel, searched for one man. They searched for The Treekiller; The Oathbreaker; King Laman Damodred of Cairhien. The man who had cut down the piece offering, the man they had come to execute. Once the world had been comprised of only Aiel, Jenn and enemies, but they had made an exception for the descendents of the Watersharers, but with this betrayal, it would go back to the old way; Aiel, Jenn and enemies. Joining up with one of her fellow Maidens of the Spear, she fought her way in the join between the Treekillers and the Illians. As the battle raged around them, her spear sister fell to an Illianer, his plumed helmet proclaiming him to be Second Captain of the Illian Companions. The two of them began a cycle of attack and defence and he was an excellent swordsman, his strikes being deflected by her buckler but he was able to get his sword around in time to block her thrusts.
Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, Willow knocked out the Illian Captain's legs and left to join her older brother, Rhuarc and a collection of Stone Dogs, Red Shields, Maidens of the Spear and Knife Hands as they took on the Treekiller. With several Aiel converging on King Laman, he stood no chance and was quickly overpowered and killed. She stood guard with Rhuarc as one of the Red Shields took Laman's Sword, wrapped in a blanket so as not to touch it, as proof of his death. With the Treekiller dead, the Aiel faced the hundreds of leagues back to the Three Fold Land, known to the Wetlanders as the Aiel Waste, their home. Willow lowered her veil and the Shoufa that covered her head, revealing her short red hair, as she and the other Aiel ran away from the now pointless battle.
Rhuarc watched as the Wise Ones talked to his younger sister, his eyes occasionally shifting to Amys, apprentice to Wise One Bair and former Maiden of the Spear with Willow. Everyone knew that this day would come, but he still found it hard to say goodbye. Willow was not really his sister; in fact she was not really an Aiel.
Rhuarc had been out hunting at the age of fifteen, thinking that he was invulnerable because he had just become a Red Shield warrior, when he had stumbled upon a five year old girl, cold and unconscious despite the scorching sun of the Three Fold Land. She had been dressed in a dress of unusual material and her long red hair flowing in the hot winds near Cold Rocks Hold. If she had been an adult he would have wither killed her or sent her off in nothing but her skin, however how a child had come this far into the Three Fold Land without any obvious travel equipment and came to be cold were things he could not explain and they troubled him. He had taken her to the Wise One in Cold Rocks Hold, who had met with the other Wise Ones. They had decided that she was supposed to be with the Aiel, it was the will of the Pattern, but that one day she would be returned to her own people, which was about to happen. After that declaration Rhuarc's parents had adopted the girl, who admitted that her name was Willow.
"You must not kill the first people to attack you." Bair told Willow adamantly.
Willow nodded and shoved her spears between her back and her bow case, and attached her buckler to the bow case. She wrapped her Shoufa around her head and veiled, waiting for the portal to open.
Rhuarc could remember the stories Willow used to tell him of the time before he had found her. He particularly remembered her telling him about her friend, Xander, and he wished her well in finding him again.
The swirling portal opened up in front of Willow, just as the Wise Ones had said it would. Willow took one last look back at her brother, smiling under her veil. She gave him a simple wave before turning back to the portal.
'Shame I won't be there for Rhuarc and Amys' wedding.' She thought just before she jumped through the portal.
Xander sat in his usual chair in the Magic Box, with his feet up on the table, looking around at the other Scoobies. Buffy was pacing, nervous about the fact that Glory might find them, and muttering under her breath about Dawn. Dawn, Buffy's little sister and inter-dimensional key, was sitting next to Xander doing her homework and waiting for her mother, Joyce, to come pick her up. Giles was behind the counter taking care of the books while Jenny, who had married Giles the previous year, was prowling around the computer section, which had all of the general occult web pages bookmarked and more dangerous information locked behind firewalls and in hidden files.
All the customers who used the computers knew the sound of her wheelchair's tires on the wood panel floors and surprisingly it kept them in line more than anything else could. The wheelchair was a constant reminder of the nightmare that Angelus had evoked over three years earlier, which had ended with the vampire as a small pile of ash, a thought that gave Xander happy feelings that were subdued by Jenny being bound to the chair.
Faith had just emerged from the training room out the back and was quickly followed by Riley, her boyfriend who was a former commando from the failed Initiative. Jesse and his fiancé, Cordelia, sat across from Xander looking through the mass of volumes, none of which contained any real information on Glory. Xander's eyes flicked to the two urns on a shelf behind the counter and a smile crossed his face, those urns contained the ashes of Angelus and Spike, two former master vampires who had vied for most the annoying bastard award and had been brought down by sharp points of wood through their unbeating hearts.
The bell over the door jingled announcing the arrival of the final member of the group, Tara Maclay. The shy blond witch waved nervously at Xander before going to assist Jenny, who was helping her with her magic, with the computers. As often happened when he was around his friends, Xander remembered the one friend who was missing, Willow Rosenberg. The redhead he had known since before he could remember who had disappeared at the age of five. At the time they had thought that she had been kidnapped or run away, but with what he knew now, it was more likely that a vampire had gotten her and hidden the body. The Rosenberg's had moved out eight months later, having given up on finding their little girl.
Xander noticed that Tara seemed to be sensing something, looking around the room in a searching manner, and a few seconds later all the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Suddenly a human sized portal appeared in the middle of the room and a figure emerged. Xander barely had time to note that the figure looked dressed like a Ninja, but that the browns and greys resembled desert camouflage and the black veil hid the figures face, before Buffy and Faith rushed the figure. Slayer generally had a beat the crap out of 'em, with 50/50 odds of asking questions later. Xander idly noted that Tara had cast a barrier spell around herself and Jenny.
Willow emerged from the portal and saw what looked like the interior of a large Wetlander shop, only to be attacked a second later by a small blond girl and a taller brunette. Remembering the Wise Ones words not to kill the first to attack her, she took on the two women. The blond came in with a strait punch, which she grabbed as leverage to pull her into a knee to the stomach followed by a palm strike that sent her sprawling. The brunette launched off a crescent kick, followed by a series of punches and elbow blows, all of which Willow blocked or avoided with ease. When the brunette tried a spin kick, Willow grabbed her and used her momentum to throw her into the two men who were closing, one with blondish hair who had been by the brunette and the other had darker hair and had been seated with the other brunette, who was sitting in shock. The fighting brunette and the two men went sprawling, just as the other young man started to round the table and the blond rose to her feet. The blond, with anger in her eyes, charged strait at Willow, who sidestepped and used her momentum to push the blond into the end of a bookcase, knocking her dizzy momentarily. The fighting brunette and the two men were getting to their feet, and the blond was recovering when the third young man cam at Willow. He seemed somehow familiar, so when he through a strait punch she caught it and took a second to look into his eyes.
"Xander?!?" she gasped.
"Xander Harris?!?"
'I know that voice.' Xander thought.
Xander took a quick glance at the figure and came to two conclusions. Firstly that the figure was definitely female, and secondly that he could never forget those eyes.
"Willow?" he said hesitantly.
The figure removed the cloth from its head and the veil from its face to reveal a beautiful and dangerous young woman. She had deep red, almost auburn, coloured hair that was cut short except for a tail at the back. Her face was deeply tanned, which concealed her sparse freckling and had a slight ruggedness that indicated she spent a lot of time outdoors, while her eyes showed a hardness that only occurred in the eyes of soldiers, warriors and Slayers, although hers was harder than the two Slayers. All in all, it was an older, tougher Willow. Xander hugged her with abandon, not caring that the others were there.
"Xander? Who is that and why aren't you kicking her ass?" Buffy asked.
"She's my Best friend since forever. She went missing when she was five. This is Willow Rosenberg." Xander replied.
Willow saw Tara release the barrier spell and escort Jenny down the ramp to the main level.
"I am Willow of the Nine Valleys Sept of the Tardaad Aiel. Will you destroy me now, Aes Sedai?" Willow asked Tara.
"WHAT?!?" Everyone asked, except Tara who was staring at Willow.
"No. I will not destroy you." Tara replied, nervously.
"Very well." Willow said, before turning to Jenny Giles. "I ask leave to defend you hold, Roofmistress."
Willow bowed to Jenny and produced a small bowl that was balanced on the back of a turtle, made entirely out of Gold.
"Um, you have it. I guess." Jenny replied, confused.
"I missed you, Wills." Xander said, following suit as she sat down on the floor near the table.
"I missed you too, Xander Harris." Willow replied, pressing two fingers to his lips.
"What's an Aes Sedai?" Tara whispered to Jenny, who shrugged.
"I wish Rhuarc could see you, Xander Harris." Willow said.
"Wills, just Xander. And who's Rhuarc?"
"My brother." Willow calmly said.