Disclaimer and copyright: Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy
Inc., and Warner Bros.
Logan/Wolverine belongs to Marvel.
Kai belongs to Kaylee, and you don't mess with her.
No one is making any money, so don't sue, please.

Ok, that's out of the way.  This is my first and was written for fun,
not accuracy, so please be kind.  This would not be possible without the
collaborative efforts of Kaylee and Shera.
Much credit goes to them.

If you happen to like it, let me know.  Please do not archive without my
permission, though.
If you don't happen to like it, have a nice day and read something
else.  :-)

_________________________________

X-Slayer
Chapter 5

Although the sun was coming up and brightening the day, and although the
usual pictures of mountains showed the trees thinning as one rose into
the rarer air, today this was not happening.  As the trio moved their
way higher up the mountain, they began to feel they had regressed in
time and were in an ancient forest.  The feel to the air was one of
magic, of a time lost.  They moved silently through brightly-lit glades
to only disappear into the dark shadows beyond of ancient moss-infested
trees.  Each found themselves looking over their shoulders and around
them warily, but even though the possibility of danger was on their
minds it somehow seemed removed from here.  When looking around they all
as one as much expected to see Merlin step out from behind a tree as
they did a fawn.  And when a fawn did appear, they were all looking for
that single long horn on the forehead.  It never appeared, but that
didn't keep them from looking.

They traveled around giant trees and over old, gnarled dead falls.  The
speed was slow traversing the thick vegetation and obstacles, but they
didn't mind.  In their minds they felt transported to another era, one
in which the hustle and bustle of today's world did not yet exist.  The
pace was slow enough for each to have the time to dwell on the pain in
each of their lives, but these thoughts were far from their minds.  They
instead sucked in the ambiance of the forest, and let it fill their
lungs, minds, and bodies.  It was just air, but it seemed to strengthen
them as they worked through the woods.  Not allowing them to even feel
the strain of their journey, nor the exertions from the night before, it
instead healed their tired bodies and spirits.

Spotting the glimmer of a pool of water in a tight grove on the left,
they dropped their packs to take a look.  Logan neared the tightly
packed trees that seemed to form an impenetrable tangle around the
pool.  The pool - it seemed to glow.  Knowing that couldn't be
happening, he shook his head and peered through the branches in front of
him.  No, it did seem to glow.  The grove was too tightly packed around
and from above to allow much light in.  In this dark area the pool
seemed to emanate an ethereal life.  He did not fear this thought, but
continued to look for an opening.

Kai and Buffy watched in fascination as Logan walked around the ring of
trees.  They saw his frustration in not being able to get in, and were
silently amused that he seemed so bent on now getting in and so unable
to do so.  He finished walked and trying the ring of trees, stomped back
to the ladies, put his pack on and started back out without a word.  As
the ladies hurriedly put their packs on and started to follow, they each
could have sworn they heard him softly whistling.  But each just knew
that had to have been the wind.

Moving along behind Logan, the ladies began to notice a change.  It was
intangible at first, but soon they noticed the vegetation didn't seem as
healthy, and the tone of the forest seemed to darken.  They didn't want
to label their feeling, but it seemed one of evil.

Catching up to Logan, Kai and Buffy inquired as to whether or not he
could sense anything different.

"Darlin's, its light out.  The bogey men are still asleep."

"Well," Buffy said, "in my experience, there are a few other variety of
bogey men out there."

"He is just being macho," Kai said, glaring at Logan.  "I can sense
somethin’, but can't tell what it is.  Can you, with all your wonderful
skill, tell us anything useful?"  This last statement was said quite
sarcastically.

Logan halted, dropping his pack.  "Now that you mention it, those
walkin’ dogs over there might be what you are talkin’ about."

The ladies followed his pointing finger to see five tall creatures,
covered in fur, loping towards them on their hind legs.  They weren't
dogs, and weren't wolves, but they had the largest fangs Kai had ever
seen.

"Any ideas, Buffy?" she said.

"Werewolves.  I think.  They aren't supposed to be out in the daylight,
either.  I don't remember a full moon last night, so I am not sure how,
but that is certainly what they look like.

As the creatures got closer the three could clearly see the large fangs
that protruded from their wolfish muzzles.  The teeth were so large that
they pushed their lips into a grotesque semblance of a smile.  Not a
reassuring one, the ladies noted.  They also noted the pace was
quickening as the creatures neared the trio.

"They’re movin’ too quickly for us to outrun them.  If you ladies feel
up to it, it looks like its time to kick a little wolf tail," Logan said
with a smile at his own humor.

Grimacing, Buffy said, "I didn't bring any silver bullets, so let’s hope
they aren't your traditional everyday, run-of-the-mill werewolves."

While Buffy and Kai were setting down their packs, Logan advanced out to
meet the oncoming wolf-like creatures.  He appeared to be walking out in
peace as both arms were spread in an open, non-threatening gesture.  The
first wolf in front of the pack never even slowed as his mouth opened
wider, saliva dripping from his fangs, and charged right at Logan.  With
his arms still open, Logan's own claws came out, a definite match for
the oncoming creature.  Still not pausing, the creature ran to his death
as Logan, slightly bending his knees, brought his outstretched arms in
with a hugging motion.  This graceful motion disemboweled his attacker
without a show of effort on Logan's part.

Logan cautiously backed away as the creature danced in his own guts,
trying to hold in his glistening life.  They saw the fire die in his
eyes as he failed, and for a moment the very human emotion of regret
raced across his eyes as his furry body crumpled to the ground.

Not having time to observe the creature any further, Kai and Buffy faced
the other four who had just raced past Logan.  The first two were moving
too fast to attack, so they went for the steamroller offense and tried
to mow down the ladies.  Instead, each found himself tripped as they
grabbed air where the ladies had been, and sprawled heads-first into a
tangle of brush.  While they were extricating themselves, the second
pair attacked.

Kai took hers down with a right elbow to the throat and a right knee the
groin area.  Not knowing whether or not it would work, she lucked out.
The creature went down not knowing what area to hold as it tried to
breathe and writhed in pain.

Buffy wasn't faring quite as well.  She placed a front kick to the groin
of her attacker to no effect.  Instead she caught a paw across her face,
claws digging into her cheek and drawing blood.  She whirled out of the
creature’s way and used the spin to launch a crescent kick again the
slavering face.  Her left boot heel caught it in the mouth and dislodged
a few teeth in a spray of blood and ivory.  In a cry of pain, the
creature backed up, crouched to spring, and growled at her menacingly
with the look of death in its eyes.  Buffy never gave the creature a
chance to strike as she was using the pain in her face to prompt the
next response.  Taking two quick steps toward her foe, she shot a right
foot into its chest from a sidekick, throwing it back onto a low, broken
branch on a pine tree.  The branch speared the creature and the tip
protruded out the front of the chest.  Bubbling red froth out through
its broken teeth, the creature died with a gargling scream that slowly
died away.

Buffy backed away from the dead creature to see Kai crush the larynx of
her creature with a stomp of her boot.  While Buffy was watching Kai,
she was attacked from her left side by one of the two remaining beasts.
She was knocked down, and as she screamed in agony the beast's fangs
ripped into her shoulder, fighting through it for her throat.  About to
pass out from pain, the heavy weight was knocked from her as Logan
hurled it off her back, stabbing his claws into its chest for some
internal organ rearrangement.

Without a moment’s delay, Kai was at Buffy's side trying to stem the
bleeding while Logan began to work over the last creature.  He didn't
last long as Logan had reached his patience level and was no longer in a
mood for playing.  Not while the young lady he had just met and began to
grudgingly respect lay in a bloody heap.

Barely pausing to wipe his claws on the dead beast's fur, he raced back
to Kai and Buffy.  Buffy was unconscious, and one glance from Kai told
him it was bad.  The blood was pouring out of Buffy, and Kai could do
little to slow it down.  He knew that without any special healing
abilities this young lady would die soon.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he reached over for Buffy,
picked her up, and began trotting back toward the ring of trees they had
recently abandoned.

Kai followed him, not knowing what else to do, and watched as he
approached the ring of trees he had so recently tried to gain access
to.  She expected him to stop, but he walked right up to the thick ring,
and then walked right through branches that seemed to open for him.  She
blinked her eyes and tried to follow, but was stopped by the trees that
had closed again before her.  She peered through the tangle and watched
as Logan carefully laid Buffy into the glowing pool.  She quickly began
to notice a swirling and seeming movement in the water as Logan held her
head above water.

The light brightened in the grove as the water eddied around Buffy and
Logan, and Buffy began to glow.  The pain in her features was erased as
the glow moved up her body.  Her eyes fluttered open as they began to
glow, and questions raced across her face.  She put her feet down and
found she could stand.  Putting her arms out to steady herself, she
noticed that her left shoulder didn't have any pain.  In fact, she
couldn't remember feeling this good ever before.  Logan didn't appear to
notice that this healing was unusual, but Kai sure had questions.
Buffy looked at her as though she could see clearly through the trees
and smiled.  Kai noticed the gouges on her cheek were gone, and the
shoulder looked perfectly healthy.

Logan helped her out of the pool and escorted her back to the wooden
ring, which again began to open for them.  Logan stepped out as Buffy
held back.  She turned to the pool and said, quietly, "Thank you."

Smiling, she turned around and walked out of the grove.  Kai saw it
close up tightly behind her, and then saw Buffy walk over to Logan and
give him a big hug.  She saw Buffy again mouth the words "Thank you" to
Logan, and watched him blush.  Now that was a site you didn't see very
often.  But its rarity was lost on her, as she was totally confused.

"Wait a minute," she said.  "What just happened here?"

The two conspirators looked at each other and each began to talk, but
then stopped and gave a look that was one of those "how do I explain it"
looks.

"None of that," Kai said.  "Start talking, you two."  She crossed her
arms, shifted her hips to put her weight on one foot, and proceeded to
stamp the other foot.

Logan started to laugh at this evident lack of patience and tack.  "Not
sure you are goin’ to believe this, but I just did what a little voice
told me to."

After a quick snort, Kai responded.  "Yea, right.  Since when did you
pick up that habit."

"He is telling the truth," Buffy replied.  "I am not sure how, but that
pool seems to be alive.  I -- felt -- it while I was in it.  It was
telling me not to worry, that it was fixing everything."  Flexing her
arm she said, "And judging from the way I feel, it did just that."

"Well, I certainly feel better knowing exactly what happened."  The
sarcasm dripped from Kai's voice, showing her lack of belief this was
happening before her eyes.  She had seen the trees, and the glow, and
the healing, but the pool being alive?  "Didn't see any glowing swords
in there, did you?"

Buffy appeared thoughtful.  "I didn't think to look."

This said she started back towards the trees.  "I was just kidding," Kai
said, rushing up behind her.

Without slowing, Buffy again walked through the trees that swayed out of
her way and came back quickly to block Kai.  She walked slowly out into
the pool to waist level, and watched as a sword rose from the water in
front of her.  It seemed almost to rise in slow motion, golden water
dripping soundlessly from it.  Buffy saw its long, mirror-like blade
rise before her face and the pommel stopped, not quite all the way out
of the water.

Watching this weird show, Kai saw Buffy bend at the waist as the sword
tilted, and with the flat of the blade touched her on both shoulders and
then the top of her head.   Buffy slowly straightened after the last
touch and reached out to take the sword.  Without a word she turned and
walked out of the pool.  Pausing on her way out of the trees, she seemed
to reach into one and pull out a scabbard.  Strapping it across her
back, she quietly slid the blade home.

Kai's jaw stood open as she surveyed the scene.  Logan saw her and said,
"Don't go asking if she saw any glowing elephants in there.  You might
get what you wished for. "  Laughing he started back up the trail to get
their packs.  Kai watched Logan and Buffy start to leave her before she
shook her head and joined them.

Thoughts of the Lady of the Lake, shimmering swords, and ancient tales
raced through her head.  'I've lost my marbles,' she thought.  'Gone
loony, I have.'

"No, you haven't," Buffy said out loud, and laughed as she picked up her
smashed pack and shouldered it.

Buffy just winked at her as she stared out again behind Logan.  Without
turning around Logan said, "Don't close yer mouth yer gonna catch a fly
in it."

Kai snapped her mouth shut.  She just knew this wasn't going to be a
good day, definitely not a good day at all.  Logan was having _way_ too
much fun.