'I really hate this,' Xander thought too himself as he walked down the street while kicking a small pebble.
'They have no right to keep me out of the slaying,' he thought as he looked back on a conversation he heard between Buffy and Willow earlier that day.
Xander was walking around the UC Sunnydale campus looking for his friends too see if there was anything new in the slaying department when he saw them sitting at a picnic table a few yards away with their backs to him.
"Alright so we're all agreed on this?" Buffy asked the group at the table, which consisted of herself, Willow, Tara, and Riley.
"Yup, we keep Xander out of the slaying at all costs," Willow responded.
"Are you sure that's necessary?" Tara asked.
"Yeah, Harris seems too be a pretty good fighter," Riley said agreeing with Tara.
"Yes we're sure we can't afford to let him get hurt," Buffy said to her boyfriend.
"Alright but I still think it should be his choice," Riley responded with defeat in his voice.
"Well we don't, besides it's for his own good," Willow responded.
Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing, his two best friends were pushing him aside again. Xander thought for a moment to confront his friends but knew it wouldn't do any good so he turned around and walked away before anyone could see him.
"This just sucks," Xander mumbled as he kicked the pebble again and sent it flying down an alley.
Xander wandered around town more before he decided too head home to his basement and get some sleep before heading to the Bronze later and confronting his friends over what they said.
Xander was woken from his sleep by the sound of yelling and a bottle breaking in the room above him.
"Great, dad's home," Xander mumbled as he got up, grabbed his wallet, a cross, and stake then walked out the door.
The Bronze was packed as Xander made his way through the crowd looking for his friends. He was able to spot them at a table in the back and he quickly made his way over to them.
"Hey guys," Xander said as he sat down at the table.
"Xander, great we need to talk too you," Buffy said to her friend.
"Your right, we do," Xander responded.
"What does that mean?" Willow asked her best friend.
"It means you two have no right trying to keep me out of the slaying," Xander said, anger evident in his tone.
"How do you know about that, were you spaying on us?" Buffy asked in shock.
"Not spying, eavesdropping," Xander replied with a humor in his voice.
"I don't care what it's called you had no right to listen in on us!" Buffy shouted at her friend.
"Just like you have no right too keep me out of the slaying!" Xander shot back in an equal tone.
"I'm the slayer I have all the right," Buffy said after getting her temper back under control.
"Being the slayer doesn't give you the right to decide things for me," Xander responded in a level tone.
"Xander, we're only doing this for your own good," Willow said, trying to make her friend see reason.
"And how do you know what's good for me?" Xander asked turning to his the red haired hacker.
"Xander face facts, you don't have any powers so the only thing your any good at is researching and your not even very good at that," Buffy said to the angry young man.
Xander was fed up with what they were saying so he stood up, flipped the two girls in front of him the bird, and walked off.
For the second time that day Xander was wandering down one of Sunnydale's many streets while kicking a small pebble.
"I can't believe she said that," Xander said angrily as he walked into one of the few small parks in Sunnydale.
Xander wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and soon his foot snagged on a root sticking out of the ground and he fell headfirst into a small stream. Angry, cold, and wet, Xander climbed out of the stream when he noticed a small stone in the stream that looked like it was glowing softly.
"What the hell," Xander muttered as he kneeled down to inspect the stone closer and noticed that it was indeed glowing a soft silver color.
Xander reached down to grab the stone and as soon as his finger brushed against it the glowing got even brighter and the stone then floated into the air. When the stone was eye level with Xander the glowing began to dim and the stone then floated down into Xander's open hand.
"What the hell was that?" The young man asked the air as he inspected the small stone that was giving off a faint silver glow.
"Time to go talk to watcher man," Xander said as he tucked the stone into his pocket and took off at a run towards Giles house.
Giles was just sitting down with a cup of tea and a copy of J.R.R Tolkiens 'The Return of the King' as Xander walked in through the front door.
"Giles I need to talk to you," Xander said as he sat down on the ex watcher's couch.
"Xander haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Giles asked the youth in annoyance.
"Heard of it, don't use," Xander replied with a grin that was able to bring a small smile to the English man's face.
"What is it you need to talk about?" Giles asked.
"This," Xander responded as he pulled the glowing stone out of his pocket and showed it too the older man.
"Xander where did you find that," Giles asked in a very serious tone as he eyed the stone.
"It was lying in a stream in a park," Xander said as he launched into a quick explanation of what happened when he found the stone.
"Xander do you have any idea about what you have found?" Giles asked as he stood up and retrieved a book from a shelf.
"No, if I did I wouldn't have come here," Xander responded as Giles sat back down and opened the book he had grabbed from the shelf.
"Xander, if I am not mistaken, that is the White Silver Dragoon Spirit," Giles said as he flipped to a page in the book and then handed the open book to Xander.
"The what?" Xander asked as he accepted the book from Giles.
"Read," Giles simply responded.
So Xander read. The page in the book described seven warriors that used Dragoon spirits too call upon the power of dragons and used that power to drive the demons out of the realm of Earth.
The book also explained the elemental alignment of each dragoon stone. The Red Eye Dragoon whose alignment was fire, The Dark Dragoon whose alignment was darkness, The Jade Dragoon whose alignment was wind, The White Silver Dragoon whose alignment was light, The Thunder Dragoon whose alignment was thunder, The Golden Dragoon whose alignment was earth, The Blue Sea Dragoon whose alignment was water and The Divine Dragoon who had no elemental alignment but drew his power from The Divine Dragon.
"Wow," Xander said in shock as he handed the book back to Giles.
"Yes, indeed," Giles said as he closed the book and got up to put it away.
"So what does this mean?" Xander asked as he looked down at the glowing stone in his hand.
"I honestly don't know," Giles responded as he sat back down.
"I'm sensing some major research coming up," Xander said as he put the stone back in his pocket.
"Yes, but we will start tomorrow." Giles said as he stood up and ushered Xander out the door.
"Why not tonight?" Xander asked as he stepped outside.
"Because I want to sleep," Giles responded as he closed the door.
Xander grumbled to himself as he turned and began walking home thinking about all that had happened and wondering what tomorrow would bring.
Xander was deep in thought as he walked home from Giles as all that the ex watcher told him was beginning to sink in. A dragoon spirit chose him; he was more than just the 'useless one' as Buffy and Willow had referred to him. Xander was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the group of vampires surround him until it was too late.
"Well well, what do we have here?" The lead vampire asked in a sneering tone.
"Oh shit," Xander mumbled as he back away but was grabbed from behind by another vampire.
"Your not leaving already, we'd love to have you for dinner," The vampire that grabbed him said in a mock sweet voice.
"That is such a lame line," Xander said to the vampire before springing into action.
The young man brought his foot down on the vampire's toe causing it to let go of him, he then turned around and kneed it in the groin causing it to double over in pain. Xander took this chance to run but before he got more than five feet an arm shot out of the shadows and knocked him flat on his back.
"That had to hurt," The head vampire said as the group of bloodsuckers surrounded Xander.
"Not as much as this will," a voice called from the darkness and before any of the vampires could react a dark form fell from the sky and lashed out with a sword, neatly decapitating the vampire.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the vampires asked turning to the figure.
"Nobody of importance," the figure responded and rushed at the group of vampires.
As the figure entered the circle of light provided by a nearby streetlight Xander saw that his savoir was a woman dressed in dark purple armor with large wings coming out of her back and a long sword in her hand.
The woman killed two more of the vampires and quickly flew backwards to avoid the attacks of the last three. The woman landed a few yards away and raised her sword.
"Time to finish this," The woman said as she rose into the air. As the woman rose higher a large dark cloud was forming behind her that was blocking out the light of the stars; the woman then spread her arms and legs apart.
"Demons Gate!" The woman called out and a large, thin, vertical slash of red light split the black mass down the middle and began to grow wider. When the slash of light was close to seven feet wide a powerful suction began to pull the vampires into the red light.
When the all the vampires had been pulled in the red light grew thinner and thinner until it disappeared followed by the black mass behind the woman.
"Wow," Xander said in awe of the woman floating a few feet in the air.
Before Xander had a chance to say anything else the woman quickly began to flap her wings and then took off and disappeared into the night. Xander stared after the woman for a few seconds before he got up and continued on his way home thinking about this recent development.
"So after this woman sucked all the vampires into a red light she flew off?" Giles asked Xander as they sat in his living room after Xander told him about what had happened last night.
"That's right," Xander responded as he paged through one of Giles books, trying to find some more information on dragoons.
"Do you have any idea who she is?" Giles asked as he sat down across from Xander.
"This may sound crazy, but I think she was a dragoon," Xander said as he closed the book, put it aside, and grabbed another.
"What makes you think that?" Giles asked.
"I don't know, it was this weird feeling I got when I saw her," Xander said as he began paging through the book until something caught his eye.
"And she had armor exactly like this," Xander said as he held up the book for Giles too see and pointed at a picture of a woman in a suit of dark armor with large wings coming out of her back.
"This is the woman you saw last night?" Giles asked as he took the book and examined the picture more closely.
"Not the same woman but the same armor, look at the title on the page," Xander said as he pointed to the top of the page.
"The Dragoons," Giles read aloud.
"That's why I think she is a dragoon," Xander said as he took the book back and examined the other six pictures of men and women in armor with wings.
"But it doesn't mean we can trust her," Giles responded.
"Yes it does," a new voice said and both Xander and Giles spun around and saw a woman leaning casually in his doorframe.
The woman was close to six feet in height and looked to be Asian. She had black hair that fell just below her shoulders, deep green eyes, and was by far one of the most beautiful women either of the men had ever seen.
"Who are you?" Giles asked warily as he eyed the unknown woman in his house.
"My name is Alena Kawamura," The woman responded as she moved away from the doorway and farther into the house.
"What are you doing here?" Giles asked as she sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the room.
"Looking for him," Alena responded, pointing at Xander.
"What do you want with me?" Xander asked.
"I want to train you," She responded.
"But how do we know we can trust you?" Xander shot back.
"I saved your life didn't I, if I wanted you dead I could have pulled you into the Demon Gate along with those vampires," she replied.
"How do we know you're really a dragoon?" Giles asked.
"This is how," she responded and pulled a small stone out of her jacket that was glowing with a soft purple light.
After seeing the stone Xander pulled out his Dragoon Spirit and both stones began to glow brighter.
"I guess she is a dragoon," Xander said as they both put their stones away.
"Indeed," Giles agreed.
"As you can see I mean you no harm," Alena said as she stood up and moved closer to the two men.
"What do you mean you want to train me?" Xander asked still not fully trusting the woman.
"You have just recently attained your spirit, you will need to learn how to use it if you want to survive," she responded.
Xander looked over to Giles hoping to get some silent advice from the older man but Giles remained silent, leaving the decision up to Xander. The young man thought for a moment, he did need too learn how to use his newfound power and this woman knew how too.
"When do we start?" Xander asked the Asian woman.
"Right now," She replied with a grin.
Xander and Alena stood in a small clearing of trees in a deeper part of the park, a place where they would not be bothered.
"First you need to learn how to transform," Alena said to the young man in front of her as she pulled out her spirit stone and motioned for Xander to do the same.
"Alright how do I transform?" Xander asked as he pulled the small stone out of his pocket.
"Concentrate on your Dragoon Spirit, look inside of it for the power stored there, when you find it you will be able to call upon it," Alena explained.
Xander held his stone in front of him and concentrated on it. A few seconds later Xander felt a warmth come from the stone and spread throughout his whole body, Xander then concentrated harder and soon he felt a strange sensation as everything around him disappeared in a white light.
Xander began to float in the air as a silver pillar of light surrounded him. Xander then felt the change began. The light condensed around his body and turned into gleaming silver armor as large silver wings burst from his back.
When the light died down Xander was floating a few feet off the ground, his wings gently flapping in order to keep him in the air. His clothes had disappeared and in their place was gleaming silver armor. In his hand he held a long halberd that was close to six feet in length.
"Wow," Xander said as he looked at himself and at the long halberd in his hand.
"Good, now on to the next lesson," Alena said as a globe of darkness surrounded her, when the darkness cleared she too was floating several feet off the ground, wearing the same armor she had the night before with the same sword in her hand.
"So what's the next lesson?" Xander asked the woman floating in the air a few feet away from him.
"This," She responded and quickly flew at Xander and brought her sword down on the young dragoon.
Xander barley had time react and quickly brought up his halberd to block the blow. As the sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air Alena moved back a few feet and quickly attacked Xander again. Xander anticipating the attack moved to the side and brought hie halberd up in a defensive position.
"What the hell are you doing?" Xander cried out in shock as Alena moved to attack him again. Xander again brought up his halberd and warded off the blow but instead of moving away he sprang forward and used the shaft of his weapon to attack the woman in front of him.
Alena quickly flew higher into the air and dodged Xander's attack, Xander in response moved quickly up to the same height as the other dragoon and once again attacked and was able to plant the shaft of his weapon in the woman's stomach causing her to double over in pain.
Using his advantage raised his halberd and brought the flat side of the blade down on the woman's head causing her to fall to the ground. Xander landed a few feet away from her and moved the blade of his halberd up to the woman's neck.
"You learn fast," Alena said as she stood up, Xander's blade never leaving her neck.
"Why the hell did you attack me?" Xander asked, anger evident in his voice.
"You had to learn to use your weapon, which you did remarkably fast," Alena responded with a small smile on her face.
"So you decided to teach me by trying to kill me?" Xander asked.
"I had no intention of killing you, its just that in my experience students learn faster under pressure," She said back with a grin as Xander lowered his weapon.
Alena then bent over and picked up her sword. After retrieving her sword she took up a defensive position and looked Xander in the eye.
"Again," Was all she said and soon the two dragoons were once again engaged in combat.
Xander and Alena were walking through the park just as the sun was beginning to set while Xander asked his companion various questions about dragoons.
"How did I know how to use that halberd so well if I've never picked one up before?" Xander asked.
"That is your weapon in your dragoon form so you will instantly have mastered it the first time you transform," The Asian woman explained.
"Ah, that explains it," Xander responded as the two reached the edge of the park and began walking down the street.
"So now that I'm a dragoon can I expect any demons to come hunting for me?" Xander asked.
"Yes, but you don't have to worry, I don't intend to leave until your fully trained and can look after yourself," Alena responded with a grin.
"Thanks," Xander said back. "So what know?" the young man asked.
"Well I thought that since I am taking time out of my busy life to train you, you could repay me by buying me dinner then taking me dancing," Alena responded.
"Why Alena, if I didn't know better I would say that your asking me out," Xander said with a grin.
"Maybe I am, or maybe I like to dance and using you too get a free dinner," She shot back with a smile.
"Well I guess the only way too find out is to cave to your demands," Xander said as the two then made their way towards the Bronze.
Xander and Alena made their way through the crowded club over to one of the few empty tables near the back.
"Thanks for dinner," Alena said as she and Xander sat down.
"Well I didn't have much of a choice," Xander said back with a grin.
"Your right you didn't, now lets dance," Alena laughed back as she stood up and grabbed Xander's hand.
"Alright, but just too warn you, I dance badly," Xander responded as he allowed the Asian woman to drag him out onto the dance floor just as a slow song was starting.
Alena then wrapped her arms around Xander's neck as Xander put his hands on her hips as they gently swayed to the music.
"Your not so bad," Alena said with a smile as the pair continued to dance.
As the two dragoons danced to the soft music Xander was unaware of Buffy and Willow entering the club with Tara and Riley.
"Buffy, is that Xander?" Willow asked as she pointed to the couple on the dance floor.
"Yeah it is, but who's he dancing with?" Buffy asked as the group of four sat down at a table.
"What does it matter, he looks happy," Tara said looking at the couple.
"It matter because he is dancing with a girl we don't know," Willow responded.
"So, he's dancing with a girl you don't know, what's the big deal?" Riley asked confused.
"Because she could be a demon," Buffy responded while looking at the couple.
"What are the chances she's a demon?" Riley asked.
"With Xander, very high," Willow responded.
Meanwhile Xander and Alena were still dancing when he noticed that Buffy and Willow were looking at him.
"Ah crap," Xander said.
"What, I didn't think dancing with me was that bad," Alena said with a smile.
"It's not that, over there," Xander said, nodding in the direction of Buffy and Willow.
"So, two girls are staring at us, what's the big deal?" Alena asked.
"Those are two former friends of mine," Xander replied.
"Former?" Alena asked.
"Yeah, long story don't ask," Xander said.
"Well, you wanna leave?" Alena asked.
"Well chances are they may think your a demon so that would probably be a good idea," Xander said, they then left the dance floor and made their way towards the exit.
Buffy and Willow seeing this became quickly pissed off.
"Why is leaving?" Willow asked.
"What's so bad about him leaving?" Tara asked.
"Because he didn't come over too talk to us," Buffy said.
"Well they may have something too do with the fact that your trying to exclude him," Riley said to the slayer.
"I bet she's a vamp," Buffy said as she grabbed her coat and went after Xander with Willow right behind her.
Riley in turn looked at Tara. "This won't end well," The solider said and the two quickly followed.
Outside of the club Xander and Alena were heading for home when they were surrounded by a group of vampires.
"Well boys looks like we got lucky," The head vamp said as he and the rest of the vampires eyed Alena.
"This is bad," Xander said, counting the vampires and saw that there were ten.
"Why?" Alena asked with a annoyed expression on her face.
"Well, there are ten of them and only two of us," Xander said getting worried.
"Xander have you forgotten what you are?" Alena said, a globe of darkness then surrounded the woman and when it disappeared she was in her dragoon form.
"Oh yeah," Xander said as he concentrated on the power of the stone that was in his pocket and soon he was surrounded by light, soon the light died away and Xander was in his dragoon form as well, his long halberd held ready.
The vampires after seeing their prey change began to get worried and before they could react the two dragoons flew forward and made short work of the ten undead.
"Well that was easy," Xander said as he landed on the ground, followed by Alena.
Before Alena could responded a shout caused both of them to turn and see Buffy and Willow staring in shock at the two dragoons with Riley and Tara coming around the corner.
"Xander what the hell happened to you?" Buffy yelled, quickly getting over her shock.