Title: Blood on the Moon

Author: Joyful

AuntMelba1@aol.com

Feedback: Yes please.

Fandom: buffy/Charmed/Lords Of The Ring

Summary: A bit battle is taking place, one that requires the Charmed ones to work with the seasoned Hellmouth crew. Until an unexpected portal provides them all with a new destiny.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, none at all. Aaron Spelling owns Charmed, Joss owns BtVS, and Tolkien owns the rest. I just like to play.

Timeline: Cole is dead, but Wyatt isn't even conceived yet. The Hellmouth has been closed, and all the Potentials are Slayers, but only Faith and Buffy stuck together, the others are scattered all around. Dawn is still the Key, Willow and Kennedy are taking a break, Tara, Prue, & Anya are all dead, and Xander's eye's been healed by Leo, and Phoebe is an empath. Sound good?


Blood on the Moon
By Joyful
~~~

"Buffy, duck!" Paige cried out. Buffy ducked and Piper blew up the dinosaur flying at them. A dark sorcerer was attacking with fireballs, in an effort to protect the portals he was opening left and right. Piper finally got a clean shot, with Willow's help, and sent him into oblivion.

"Everyone okay?" Faith cried out, but a bit too soon. Almost immediately, they were all thrown into a swirling darkness, only to find themselves in strange surroundings.

~~

King Theoden was sitting in the Great Hall, watching his niece give soup to the poor children, and insisting to avoid open war, when there was suddenly a flash of light, and several strange people appeared in front of him. Instantly, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and several soldiers surrounded the group, their weapons drawn. The group looked about confused.

"How did we get here?" Dawn asked weakly.

"And more importantly, why are there many sharp and pointy things in our faces?" Willow added.

"They are spies of Sauron!" Gimli cried out.

"Huh?" Buffy asked. The soldiers tried to grab the people, only to find that they themselves were all skilled in fighting.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Leo said, holding both hands up. "Let's not attack, people!" He looked at the men. "We are unsure of where we are and how we got here, but if you would allow it, we would like to sit and peacefully try to figure it all out." King Theoden acquiesced, and they all proceeded to sit around a long table, though the warriors did not put away their swords.

"Firstly, would you mind telling us who you are?" Gandalf said, gently. They all looked around and elected Leo to speak on their behalf.

"I am Leo Wyatt. We are from a different world, I believe. I think we fell through a portal, into this." Leo decided to speak candidly, after recognizing Legolas as an elf, and Gandalf as a wizard.

"These two," he gestured to Buffy and Faith, "Are Vampire Slayers. Young girls chosen by the Higher Powers to fight evil and kill demons. They are warriors of light." Buffy blushed, while Faith nodded with a content look on her
face.

"These four," he said, pointing to Piper, Paige, Phoebe and Willow, "Are very powerful good witches. They also fight on the side of light, against demons, warlocks, and evil conjurers."

"Witches!" Gimli protested. "I will not be in the company of dirty, evil little witches!"

"Hey!" the four girls cried out at once. "Who you calling little, shrimp?" Phoebe said, glaring at him.

"Gimli, Gimli, please calm down. I can sense no malevolent presence here, I believe these people to be on our side in this cause." Gandalf said, staying Gimli with his hand.

"The younger girl is Dawn," Leo began, after a glare from Buffy, he decided to not tell them anything more about her, especially not about her being the Key. They might decide she was a weapon to be used in their favour.

"The dark man is Xander. He is a strong warrior, and a purely good soul." Xander blushed, and looked down at his feet.

"The lighter man is Spike, also known as William the Bloody. He is a vampire-- a sort of demon, who was given a soul, causing him to fight on the side of good, and to feel conscience and remorse. He has proven himself a good man."

"And I am Leo, as I said before. I am a white lighter, a guardian angel for good witches. Piper over here is my wife, and those two are her sisters." They went around once and said their names. Gandalf was very quiet, before he spoke up.

"They are being honest, Theoden-king. They are warriors of light, and I believe their coming is not an accident. They have been sent by Iluvatar to bring balance to the coming war." Piper took a deep breath.

"Okay, so you now know all about us, do you think we may at least know a little something about you? And where we are? And you're a wizard, right?" Gandalf nodded.

"Crap. We've dealt with wizards before, they're not all good, sometimes they can be evil. Phoebe, what can you sense?" Phoebe stood up and walked around the table slowly, before coming back to the croup.

"The short one and the tall blonde are all clear, but the dark one has a lot of pain to work through, but he's good in his heart, if only he'd trust himself. The King is a good king, and the wizard is so not evil. The girl's pretty sweet, too," Phoebe said, winking at Willow, who promptly started to blush. She did not want to admit that she had been checking out Eowyn.

"I think they're on our side," Phoebe said, "Anybody else getting bad vibes?" Everybody looked around and shook their heads.

"I feel a sudden urge to play D&D," Xander said, causing the girls to laugh. "But has anybody seen Andrew? Or Giles?" Xander seemed panicked. His close friends all knew that there was something going on between the two geeks, something more than friendship. Leo closed his eyes and tried to sense them.

"I think they're still in Cali, Xander," he said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder in a way to reassure him. "I don't think they came through the portal." Xander's eyes widened. What if they never got back? What if he never saw Andy again? Phoebe ran over to him.

"Whoa Xander, it's okay, you'll see him again. We WILL get back, don't worry. I mean, we're always getting into scrapes, but we always get back, don't we?"

"Yeah." The group suddenly seemed to remember that they were not alone.

"Okay," Phoebe said. "We've come to the conclusion that you're not evil, so we'd like to listen to you now." Gandalf smiled.

"You all speak in riddles," he began, "But I think I understand you. First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Gandalf the White, formerly known as Gandalf the Grey, also known as Mithrandir. This is Theoden, son of Thengel, King of Rohan and Lord of the Riddermark." The Californians all nodded their respect to the king, although Dawn's mouth dropped open at the idea of being around royalty.

"This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, of the Dunedain, and last living heir of Isildur. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, a Dwarf, and Legolas Greenleaf, son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood, a prince among elves. " Legolas bowed to the girls, who were instantly taken by his beauty.

"And this is Eowyn, niece of Theoden, the White Lady of Rohan and shieldmaiden of the Riddermark. Suddenly Dawn yawned, and Buffy spoke up.

"I hate to interrupt, but perhaps we can talk later? We're all fighting on the same side, but my sister needs to rest. We all need a break." Piper seconded Buffy's opinion.

"Yes, I have to agree. If it's not too much to ask, we need to get cleaned up, get something to eat, and rest." She turned to her husband. "Leo, why don't you at least try to check with the elders? It will probably provide to be futile, but it might be nice just to know for sure." Leo agreed, and kissed his wife, before orbing to the heavens. The people in the Great Hall were very shocked to see a man disappear in a flurry of white lights.

"Why, yes," Theoden choked out after Gandalf gave him a strong look. "Where are my manners? Eowyn, why don't you take the women to where they can get cleaned up, and rest, and if they wish to eat, I will have food sent up to them." Eowyn nodded, and the women reluctantly followed them, Buffy picking up her very sleepy little sister, and carrying her.

"Now that it is just us males, I wish to speak openly," Aragorn said. Spike and Xander agreed.

"Who are these strange women you travel with? Why are they dressed so immodestly, and why do they take charge, when there are men around?" Spike and Xander looked at each other and burst out laughing. Spike spoke up.

"We come from a very different world, and a very different time. In our home, women are equal to men, and can often be their superiors. Also, these are no ordinary women, they are all gifted, in different ways, with strong powers."

"Well, except Dawn," Xander said, "But that doesn't stop her from being an extraordinary young woman."

"You spoke of powers," Gandalf interrupted, "Would you be willing to tell us more about these women and yourselves? Unless of course, you would like to wash up, eat and sleep yourselves."

"Nah, I'm good," Xander said, "Though I am hungry. Spike?"

"It's dark out, so I'm rather awake. And I fed before we left." Theoden sent for some food for Xander, and the men started to talk about the girls.

"The blonde is Buffy Summers," Xander began. "She may be the smallest one, but she is the most powerful. She and Faith, the one with the wavy brown hair, are Vampire Slayers; demon hunters. They both have the strength of more than 10 strong men, as well as a natural affinity for weapons. They have strong eyesight and hearing, as well as the ability to sense evil. They heal almost overnight."

"Really?" Legolas asked, curiously. Not even elves healed overnight.

"Let me give you a couple examples," Xander said. "The darker one, Faith. She was stabbed in the gut and dropped off a high building. It should have killed her. She should not have awoken at all, but a few months later, she was fine again. Buffy’s wrist was broken, and three days later she was as good as new." The other men almost couldn't believe it.

"And. . . the witches?" Gimli asked.

"The one with the long red hair, who seems younger than the rest is Willow Rosenberg. She and I have been closest friends since we were babies. It wasn't until only a few years ago, when we were in high school that she got into magick. She was tempted for a while, by dark magicks, and she gave in for a while, but with help and support, she has found a balance within her, between herself and the magicks." Xander smiled, he was so glad that his best friend was getting back to her old self again.

"The other three," Spike interjected, "are the Charmed Ones. The most powerful good witches in our world, save from Willow. There was another, but she was killed in battle. The oldest now it Piper, who is married to the man who just left, Leo. She has the power to freeze time, and to blow things up with her hands. Phoebe is the middle one, she can levitate, she gets premonitions, and she's empathic. Paige is the youngest of the three. She's the one with the shorter reddish hair. She can orb, which is what Leo did before. Turn into white light and appear somewhere else. She can also orb things to her, and move them around by calling for them. She has a different father from her sisters, and she is half witch, half white lighter, like Leo." Gimli seemed afraid of the very idea of witches, when suddenly something occurred to him.

"May I inquire about your ages?"

"Sure. Buffy, Willow and I are 22, and Faith is 21. Dawn is the youngest, at only 16, and the Charmed ones are in their mid to late 20s. Spike is about 150, and Leo, I'm not certain, because he's an angel, so age is irrelevant."

"They are mere children!" Legolas gasped, and he glared at Spike. "And you allow these children to endanger themselves in battle against dark forces?" Spike shrugged.

"I'd like to see you try and stop them," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, if I tried to stop them from fighting evil, they'd just assume that I was evil again, and then they'd kill me, and that would not be good at all." A large plate of roast meat and some vegetables was placed in front of Xander, and he dug in happily.

"And we are not children," Xander said. "Our people reach the age of majority at 18, and are considered complete adults by 21. I'm not a child, I'm a carpenter."

"A carpenter," Aragorn said, surprised. "The other man, Leo, indicated that you are all warriors."

"Yes. We fight at night, during the day I'm a carpenter, Willow is a student, and Buffy is, well, unemployed, officially. Dawn is still in high school she's still a student. Piper owns a dance club and bar. A tavern," Xander explained at their confusion, but they all seemed to know what a tavern was. "Phoebe gives advice to people who are at a crossroads in their lives, she helps them take the right path. And Paige is a social worker. She protects children from parents who would beat them." Xander's job descriptions seemed good enough to appease the curious group.

"But please, can you tell us more about yourselves? I am surprised to see elves and dwarves. To our experience, elves are only about this high, with pointy ears, and are rather chubby. And in our world a dwarf is a normal person, with a normal body in head, but much shorter legs and arms." Both Gimli and Legolas seemed shocked and offended at Xander's description of dwarves and elves. They quickly explained the truth of the matter.

"And where the ruddy hell are we, anyway?" Spike interjected. He saw Aragorn smoking his pipe, so he reached into the pocket of his duster and grabbed his Marlboros and his Zippo. He lit a cigarette, while Xander crinkled his nose, and the both sat back to listen.

"You are in the Great Hall of the castle at Edoras, the capital city of the kingdom of Rohan, on Middle Earth," Aragorn answered. Gandalf and Theoden had gone off to talk. The three warriors sat and told the two men about what had been happening recently in Middle Earth. Gimli decide to inquire later of the magic with which Spike lit a fire in his hand.

~~~~

Eowyn had her handmaidens draw baths for the seven women, and the girls were happy to relax for a while. The weapons they had been carrying when they fell through the portal were stacked high on a small end table.

"You fight?" Eowyn asked.

"Yes, we fight evil. Do women here not fight?" Faith asked.

"The women of this land learned long ago that those without swords can still die on them. I fear neither pain nor death."

"Then you are a warrior," Phoebe told the shieldmaiden. "Please, I'm sensing a lot of fear and apprehension here. Will you tell me what is going on?"

"The Dark Lord is attempting to take control of Middle Earth. He sends Orks, Uruks, and goblins to raid our villages, and kill all encountered. Tomorrow we flee for the refuge of Helm's Deep. If you are still here, you must come with us. We can not leave you here alone."

"We will come with you, if your king allows it." After eating and washing up, all of the Californians went to bed, and everyone else followed suit, after Gandalf assured Theoden that these people were here only as warriors of light.

~*~*~*~

The next morning, everyone rose quickly. Leo orbed into the Great Hall at breakfast. He smiled as he saw all of the girls dressed in period clothing.

"Don't laugh," Piper warned, but he, Spike, and Xander couldn't stop themselves.

"What is so funny?" Legolas asked.

"The girls, they look so. . . girly!" Xander sad with a smirk, dummying up when Willow and Buffy glared at him.

"Do women not dress so where you come from?" the elf asked curiously.

"We usually wear pants, and tops that are form-fitting but comfortable. We dress to move freely, and to fight. No wonder the women seem helpless here," Piper grumbled.

"I think it's pretty," Dawn said, twirling around with her arms over her head. "Makes me wanna dance!"

"Dawn, eat your breakfast," Buffy directed.

"Buffy, stop trying to be mom. Piper's better at it than you."

"Hey!" Everyone laughed. The people of Middle-Earth laughed perplexed by the behavior of these strange Californians.

"Leo, you seemed to have a purpose for orbing in. What took you so long?" Piper asked, kissing her husband.

"Yeah. I couldn't find the Elders, but I expected as much. I orbed to the heavens, into the presence of One called Iluvatar. He said that our falling into this world was not a mistake, but of great importance. You all have a new destiny. We are no longer needed in our world, for the time being at least. He showed me a view of it. Amy has taken to the path of light, becoming quite a powerful good witch. Andrew is taking on Xander's role, and Kennedy and the other Slayers are filling in perfectly. We are needed here." The girls erupted in shock and anger. Leo and Spike let them freak out for a while, before jumping in and calming them down. Xander sat down hard. He was just sitting quietly in a corner, very tense, but not allowing his pain to show. Phoebe could feel it.

"Oh, Xander," she said, wrapping her arms around him. Willow ran to his side, and the two best friends went outside, to grieve over Andrew and Kennedy together.

"Will he be okay?" Gimli asked. "I have rarely seen a grown man so close to weeping."

"He's just been separated from his lover. They both have. Every time he's been in love, or found someone to be close with, it fails. So it goes for most of us." Aragorn sighed knowingly, and Phoebe was at his side.

"You've been there as well, haven't you? You've fallen in love with someone, only to realize that it can never work out." Aragorn smiled grimly.

"You're very intuitive for a maiden so young." Phoebe looked at Leo, and he nodded.

"I'm an empath. I have the gift of empathy. I feel others' emotions as if they were my own. I'm also learning to project emotions onto others. It's taken me a while, but I'm learning to control my powers, to stay out of other people's heads." Phoebe looked contrite. "I didn't mean to go snooping."

"It's all right, my dear. Most here know already. Yes, I love a woman. But I am mortal, and she is elf-kind. She is preparing to sail into the Undying Lands with what is rest of her kin." Buffy nodded.

"Been there, done that."

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, the whole falling-in-love-with-an-immortal thing. I have this wonderfully tragic love affair with a vampire, Angel. And t hen I had one with Spike," she pointed to the blonde vamp. "it's never worked out for me, but maybe it will for you."

"Okay," Dawn interjected. "All this love talk is dragging me down. I'm bored."

"I'm with ye, Lassie," Gimli said, his eyes twinkling. After breakfast, everybody finished packing up and headed out. The girls strapped their weapons on their backs, which was the best way to do it with their dresses. As they got outside, Dawn gasped.

"Look Buffy, horses!" She looked over to Aragorn and Legolas, where they had been speaking to each other. "Could I, maybe, touch one?" she asked.

"Forgive my sister," Buffy said, "It's just that she's never seen a real horse up close before. Only pictures. If you could take her close to one, that would be great." Legolas gasped.

"How could there be one who's never seen a horse before?" Spike, from beneath his hooded black cloak, tried to explain cars and motorcycles to the elf, but it didn't seem to make sense to him.

"Come, Dawn, we will introduce you to a horse." Dawn was wide-eyed as Legolas led her to the horse, let her pet him, and then actually helped her to mount the horse behind Gimli. Dawn looked at Legolas with stars in her eyes. Eowyn held the horse's reins as they walked, laughing as she listened to Gimli and Dawn. Buffy walked up beside Legolas.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said with a smile. "It seems my little sister is quite taken with you now." Legolas looked over his shoulder to find Dawn staring at him, again.

"She is a little girl. I am centuries her senior. She will get over it, though I am quite flattered." Buffy laughed, then looked at him sternly.

"Just be careful, all right? She's very naive in matters of the heart. And if she falls, she'll fall hard. She's just like me as a teenager. Don't break her heart."

"I'll try not to. I have had many lovers," he said, honestly. "As any elf my age has. Both male and female, though the race of men see it as wrong, elves are different." Buffy pondered this.

"Maybe you could talk to Xander. The lover his left behind, was a boy named Andrew, though he would never admit out loud that he loved another man. Even though this is the second man he's been involved with, he'll never say it aloud. Just speaking with you could calm any person's nerves," Buffy admitted.

Legolas smiled. "I'll think about that, thank you. Now, I must ride ahead." He quickly galloped ahead of the group to act as a scout. That night, at camp, Dawn and Paige were making everybody laugh with their wonderful presentation of the Macarena, while spike slunk away, looking for small animals to feed from. Out of breath, Dawn plopped down in Xander's lap, wrinkling her nose at the men who were all smoking their pipes.

"Great, second-hand stinkiness. Didn't anybody ever tell you that smoking will kill you? The smoke turns your lungs black, and makes them shrivel up and get all cancerous. Plus it kills your taste buds, destroys your throat, and makes your voice all raspy. Also, it smells yucky. I would NEVER kiss a guy who smoked." Everyone laughed as Gimli quickly tossed his pipe aside. The soldiers mostly told her to shut up.

"Know your place, little girl," Hama said, stalking off.

"This world sucks," Dawn declared. "No MTV, no American Idol, and no Survivor!"

"Dawnie, just think of this as being our own survivor. Only instead of a beautiful tropical beach, we get medieval Europe, with mythical creatures." Dawn laughed.

"I'm sleepy. I'll see y'all later," Dawn said, curling up in her blankets. The others soon followed.

~*~*~*~

The third day would prove to be long and arduous. They hoped to make it to Helm's Deep before nightfall, but many of the children and the elderly were getting too tired to go on. The soldiers seemed shocked when Buffy and Paige suggested that they let the weaker people ride the horses while the men walked.

Of course, they were ignored because they were only foolish women.

At about midday, Faith and Buffy looked at each other.

"Do you feel that?" Buffy asked. "My Slayer sense is tingling."

"Ditto. Something evil's nearby." They went to warn Theoden, when Legolas returned shouting something about orcs and wargs. Buffy sent Dawn to go with Eowyn, to lead the women and children to Helm's Deep. The rest of them stayed to fight, much to the protests of the soldiers.

"Piper, can you get a clean shot?" Phoebe asked as the wargs drew closer.

"Wait. . . Got one." The wargs and riders got close enough for Piper to start blowing them up, one by one. Phoebe levitated and kicked an orc right off his warg, just beating him mercilessly. At that moment, Phoebe was very grateful for all her kickboxing and self-defense classes. Paige was busy orbing away weapons from any orc that drew close.

"Paige! Kill him!" Phoebe screeched as she fought with another orc. Paige concentrated, and orbed the orc's heart right out of his chest.

Faith and Buffy were having their own Slayer fun. Buffy took her axe and just started beheading, left and right, while Faith was truly enjoying her crossbow, her daggers sheathed at her hips.

The fight was nearly over. With a roundhouse kick, and the plunge of her axe, Buffy withdrew to a parry, looking about, and not seeing any remaining threat.

"Where's Aragorn?" Everybody was looking for him, save Spike, who had attempted to fight, only to find that his cloak kept slipping, so he followed the women and children to Helm's Deep. Legolas said an Elvish prayer for his departed friend, while Gimli tried in vain to keep a brave face.

~*~*~*~

"Make way for Theoden king!" One of the soldiers cried. Dawn and Eowyn ran as fast as they could to their kin. Dawn threw her arms around her sister.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, butthead." Dawn said, kicking Buffy in the shin. Legolas looked shocked at Dawn's language.

"Butt. . . head?" he muttered to himself.

"I'll explain it to you later," Phoebe promised. Leo orbed in, healing the wounded as fast as he could. Everything was complete and utter chaos. Buffy and Faith jumped up on a ledge and demanded that everyone give them their attention.

"Please," Buffy began. "We do not want a mob or a stampede. Leo is a healer. If all of the wounded would please gather over there," Faith pointed.

"Leo will do his best to heal you." Everyone was sad and tired when Leo finished healing everyone, and the Californians settled down. Dawn was spending an awfully large amount of time with Gimli, for the two were excellent at making each other laugh. Buffy looked over to Eowyn.

"Should I be worried."

"No. Gimli may be a Dwarf, and not known as the world's most couth man, but he is a gentleman, and he will look after her." Buffy nodded.

"He has a sense of honor then?"

"A great sense of honor. He will in no way attempt to take advantage of your sister." Buffy seemed appeased. She was then quite happy to see that Xander and Legolas seemed to be hitting it off well in the corner.

"The matchmaker strikes again," Buffy said under her breath.

~*~*~*~

Legolas walked up to Xander smiling wanly.

"Pardon me, but would you mind if I joined you?"

"Oh, go ahead," Xander said. "Brooding alone is bad for you." Legolas looked confused.

"What does that word mean? 'Brooding'?"

"It means wallowing, feeling sorry for yourself," Xander said with a raw chuckle.

"I can tell you're in pain," Legolas admitted. "Elvish intuition is much like that of Mistress Phoebe." Xander hung his head.

"I miss him."

"I know. I have had many lovers over a thousand years. Both men and elves, male and female. Each holds a place in my heart, but I can not dwell on lost love. If I do, it will eat me away inside." Xander didn't know what it was, but he suddenly felt the need to open up to Legolas. It felt like the safe, right thing to do.

"I am the king of lost love. Buffy was my first crush. I cared for her so much, but she was in love with Angel. Then I fell in love with Ampata, and she loved me back, but she wasn't supposed to be alive. She was cheating death, and in the end, she turned to dust in my hands." Xander felt his shoulders shake, and Legolas set his hand on Xander's back, rubbing in a soothing manner, as Xander let it all slip out.

"And then there was the beautiful Cordelia. We weren't supposed to be together, she's high class, and I'm white trash. But still, we fell in love, until I cheated on her and she was impaled. Thank God she survived. And then Willow and I felt our friendship strain, because we had kissed when we were dating other people. She and Oz got back together for a while, but Cordelia would have nothing else to do with me. So that's when I found Larry.

"It had to be secret. We could never admit to being together, 'cause he was out, and I wasn't. But it was a deep and loving relationship-- until he died." It was almost an instant reaction. Legolas threw his arms around Xander and let Xander cry. He cried over losing Ampata, Cordelia, Larry and Anya. He cried over the total loss of his innocence. He was only 22, but sometimes he felt forty.

~*~*~*~

Nobody expected Aragorn to survive his fall, and yet he did. Legolas ran to his friend, reprimanding him in Elvish, before handing him the Evenstar. Eowyn looked heartbroken, and Willow placed her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"I know how you feel, Eowyn, unrequited love hurts like a razor cut." Eowyn nodded, blinking back tears.

Aragorn met with the king, to tell him of the great host of Uruk-hai that would be there by nightfall. Every able-bodied man and strong boy were sent to the armory. When the Slayers and witches tried to prepare for battle, they were quickly sent away. Furious, they sent Leo, Spike and Xander to talk to the leaders.

"King Theoden," Leo began, bowing. "As I told you before, these women are great warriors. They wish to fight, and to be taken seriously." Theoden raised an eyebrow.

"This is a time of war, not a time to support childish wants."

"I beg your pardon, Your Highness," Xander interjected. "But didn't you see them tackle those orc things, and those whatchamacallits?"

"Wargs," Leo supplied.

"Yeah, wargs. I know that Buffy has been fighting beasts like that almost every night for over seven years, and Faith for over five. Even little Dawn is quite skilled with her short saber, though none of us will allow her to fight in a war. And Willow, I've known her my entire life, and she has grown into a powerful sorceress. She can take care of herself. They all can."

"Piper and Phoebe have been fighting evil for almost six years, and Paige for over two. And I'm talking about nearly daily battles against demons and warlocks. They can handle themselves perfectly fine in a battle."

"The Nibblet will stay behind," Spike said, "but even the whelp and I plan to fight." Xander glared at Spike. "But any of these girls could beat your finest warrior in a heartbeat," Spike boasted.

"Fighting evil is what we do," Xander said. "It's almost all we do." After a few moments, Theoden acquiesced.

"All right. But there are conditions. First, the child MUST accompany Eowyn into the caves with the women and children. Next, they MUST be outfitted for battle. They cannot battle orcs dressed at maidens. Including armor." The three agreed, and went to tell the girls.

Dawn threw a bit of a hissy fit when she was informed she wouldn't be allowed to help, but they needed to keep her, as both Dawn and the Key, safe. The other six women had since cleaned the clothing the had arrived in, and were all changing back into them. Faith grinned as she slipped on her black leather pants and her purple halter top. Willow pulled on her tan cords with a peasant blouse, and the rest had blue jeans with some sort of fitted top. The men looked shocked as they arrived at the armory. Spike suddenly realized that everyone was using wooden arrows, so he put on some chain mail.

All that happened next was waiting. And more waiting, until the Uruk-hai appeared. And appear they did. Over 10,000 Uruks stood outside the Deeping Wall, waiting for the first shot to be fired. And it flew straight, and the first uruk fell. When the shots began to fly, Piper leaned up over the wall, and started blowing up the uruk-hai one by one, until a large chunk of Uruks were just chunks.

Willow was having fun. She stood up high on the wall, protected by a force field, her hair flowing white, as she just fired pure energy into the uruks, stunning and even killing them.

Buffy and Faith leapt from the wall, face to face with thousands or Uruk-hai. Faith relished her broadsword; beheading and stabbing as fast as she could. Buffy was using the Slayer scythe. The weapon of pure good hummed in the hands of a Slayer-- slicing and dicing and making julienne orc. Every now and then, Buffy and Faith would swap weapons through the air. The energy from the scythe would rejuvenate them in turn.

Phoebe was having her own fun with the uruks who came up on ladders. With the sword-fighting she learned from Cole, added to her own martial arts training and her levitation, she was kicking major ass. Paige too, was enjoying herself. Using her orbing. She was calling and repelling the uruk-hai weapons, stabbing them with their own blades. Leo tried to stop worrying about Piper by busying himself with healing the wounded.

//Everybody MOVE!// Willow commanded telepathically, as Legolas failed to take down the runner. With an explosion, the wall was breached. Despite Aragorn and Gimli fighting to give the Rohirrim time to brace the gate, it was eventually breached, and Theoden called for a retreat to the Keep. Everybody kept fighting, but they were tired, and losing hope.

//Buffy,// Willow called to her. //I have an idea, but I need more power!// Buffy flipped backwards and tossed the scythe to Willow, who ran up to where the horn was. She sat on the floor, concentrating. Willow focused. Theoden was about ready to give up. The doors to the Keep were about to be breached, and Helm’s Deep taken by the enemy. But Aragorn was challenging Theoden to ride out with him, to meet the enemy, for Rohan. Suddenly, Willow glowed, and a sheer force of strength filled Theoden. The Rohirrim felt their strength renewed, as thought they had just woken from a good dream. Gimli ran up to sound the horn of Helm Hammerhand, as Aragorn, Legolas and Theoden rode out to meet the enemy. Suddenly, they remembered Gandalf’s words. They looked to the east and saw Eomer, leading the loyal Rohirrim, as the sun behind them blinded the Uruk-hai.

Spike quickly ran for cover, as Xander ran for Willow. The white hair faded to red, and she collapsed in a fit of tired giggles. Xander scooped her up, and made to take her to the Keep, pausing only to toss the scythe back to Faith. The fight raged on, the uruks beginning to lose, while the two native Sunnydalites joined Spike inside.

"We're winning," Willow announced. Before long, the uruks began to flee into Fangorn forest, where they were quickly stamped out.

~*~*~*~

The aftermath was a beautifully terrible thing. Leo healed all that he could, as everyone retreated into the Keep, tired, but happy. When nobody was paying much attention, Buffy and Faith caused a minor distraction, to allow Spike to feed from some of the human corpses. Dawn and Eowyn led the women and children back into the Keep up from the Glittering Caves. Dawn was ecstatic to see that nobody she cared about was badly wounded. Eowyn gleefully embraced her brother.

"Eomer! You've returned!"

"Eomer?" Dawn asked. "What's with everybody having matching names to their parents? I keep noticing it."

"You mean your names are not derivative of your fathers'?" Eomer asked.

"No way. I'm Dawn, my sister's Buffy, and my parents are Joyce and Hank."

"Odd," Eomer said.

"Oh, my brother, I almost forgot. This is Dawn Summers. She came from another world with many great warriors. And they are almost all women."

"You mean those barely-clothed maidens who are off there chattering like birds?" Dawn giggled and nodded.

"So now what happens?"

"Well," Eomer replied. "Everyone is free to return to their homes now. "Some of us, however, are riding on to Isengard. I do not know which road you will take."

"Groovy," Dawn replied. "I doubt we'll be returning home, since, well, we can't. I guess we'll be going somewhere, then." Dawn spoke with the sibling a bit more, before returning to Buffy and her friends.

~*~*~*~

All of the Californians, including Dawn, followed the soldiers along with Theoden, Gondola, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli to Isengard. With the girls wearing Eowyn's hand-me-downs yet again, everyone got up on horses to head to Isengard.

"Hey, Legolas, I have a question," Dawn said, as Gandalf scooped her up in front of him.

"Yes?" The tall elf asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Okay, so, I always thought that elves were, like, really little people, smaller than dwarves of midgets. And that they lived in trees and made stuff, like toys, and cookies,"

"Yeah," Paige said, "All the elves we've ever met were about this big," she said, holding her hand about two feet off the ground. "And they're supposed to be exceptionally good at providing child care."

"I beg your pardon!" Legolas said, highly offended, while Gimli laughed so hard, he nearly fell off the horse. Everybody else laughed as well. Buffy wrapped her arms around Spike, since he knew how to ride very well. Leo also knew how to ride a horse, so Piper rode with her husband. Xander actually had some experience with horses, so Paige hung on very tightly, and Willow rode behind Eowyn, which made her very happy as well. Phoebe hung on to Eomer as if her life depended on it, and Faith had a great time making fun of Aragorn. As they all got settled into riding for awhile, Gandalf spoke to Dawn quietly.

"You are hiding something from me, Miss Dawn."

Dawn's eyes widened. "N-n-no, I'm not, I'm really not."

"Master Leo wants us to believe that you are just an ordinary girl, but you are not. There is a great power in you." Dawn was frightened, but she felt Gandalf's strong arms around her, and she relaxed a little.

"I--I'm not supposed to tell. Nobody's supposed to know."

"Know what?" Gandalf pressed, gently.

"I can't tell you. People are always taking me, trying to use me for evil," Dawn whispered. Gandalf didn't want to press to hard, the girl was obviously frightened of people knowing what she was. Moments later, they arrived at Isengard. They were all introduced to Merry and Pippin, and Dawn immediately launched into a big anti-smoking lecture. She and Pippin wandered away, arguing.

"Do you even know what that stuff does to you? Kills your brain cells, makes it shrink, turns your lungs into little burnt up chunks of black ash."

"I'm a hobbit. This is what hobbits do, we spoke pipe-weed, and we eat," Pippin informed her.

"Well, that's not much of a purpose. Don't you want to do anything with your life?" Pippin looked at her inquisitively.

"Like what?" Dawn couldn't believe it. This guy had no determination! They were still talking, when Dawn and Pippin spotted something shiny in the water. Dawn reached down and picked up the Palantir, and Pippin, placed a hand on it as well. It was a while before anybody noticed them, but Buffy sensed something wrong, as did Faith, Phoebe and Willow. Gandalf reached between the two and plucked the Palantir away from them, hiding it in his robes.

"Fool of a Took!" The voice, that had been speaking to them separately at once, faded from their minds. Dawn collapsed in a fit of tears in the water. Buffy ran and fell to her knees, throwing her arms around her. In that moment, when she saw her sister in pain, Buffy's fear of water faded away. Buffy scooped her sister up, as Aragorn lifted up Pippin, who was catatonic and shaking. The group went into Orthanac, and laid Dawn and Pippin out on some tables.

"Dawnie, sweetie, tell me, what's wrong," Buffy said, rocking her younger sister. Meanwhile, Gandalf tried to get Pippin to talk.

"What did you see?"

"I saw. . . A tree. A white tree. The city was burning. It was dead!" Pippin gasped out.

"NO!" Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs, making everyone look at her. "NOT AGAIN!" Phoebe backed away until she was in a corner, huddled around herself, trying to avoid their emotions.

"Dawn, tell us what you say," Xander said gently.

"There was an eye, and a voice, and it was like I'd never be happy again. He. . . He said 'there's a Key to go with my Ring, and then I saw myself, back up on the tower, only not in Sunnydale. And he bled me. He said Middle-Earth isn't enough. He wants to rule all the worlds! He's going to put the ring on me," she said, sobbing. "And then he's going to kill me." Gandalf had a look on his face that nobody had ever seen on him before. Total and complete fear.

~*~*~*~

Buffy was furious when she was told to stay with the warriors. They all were. Leo was constantly orbing back and forth between the groups of friends. Buffy bitched about being separated from her sister all the way back to Edoras.

"So this stupid freaking Dark Lord thinks that Pippin has this evil ring, and he wants to kill him, and my sister, so that he can be the ruler of every dimension that exists, and this stupid freaking wizard is taking my sister right to where his evil armies are going. And to top is all off, some evil unkillable witch-king is hunting them down?!"

"That about sums it up," Spike said, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry, Pet, if it's evil, we'll beat it." Buffy climbed into Spike's lap and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I love you."

"You don't, really," Spike said with a chuckle, "But thanks anyway." It had become their common exchange ever since Spike had been recorporealized, and had found her again.

Many people were rejoicing, but Legolas was outside, watching the stars. He and Aragorn had been talking, but when Aragorn went back inside, Xander slipped out onto the terrace with Legolas.

"Hello," Xander said.

"Good evening," Legolas replied, with a smile.

"So, whatcha doing?"

"I was reading the stars, but they are veiled tonight. Whatever is to happen, I do not know."

"Nobody ever really knows. I mean, Cordy gets visions, and Phoebe gets premonitions, and sometimes Buffy and Faith have prophetic dreams. . . But I've learned that whenever we're told of what the future is to hold, it is usually to change it. The future isn't set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." Xander hoped he sounded insightful, since he was pretty sure that the elf had never seen any James Cameron movies.

"You have much wisdom for one so young," Legolas said. "Your eyes have much age behind them."

"This one's pretty new," Xander joked. Legolas looked confused. "Um, I had a run-in with an super-strong evil preacher, who put out my right eye. I was Mr. Cyclops for a while, until Leo was able to heal me."

"He restored your eye, after it was gone?" Legolas asked shocked. "I knew he could heal, but that is amazing. Not even Lord Elrond has that much healing magic, and he is our most skilled healer."

"Yeah, magic. I can take it or leave it. I've seen some pretty horrible things happen from magic, but also some amazing things, as well. But not everything can be fixed by magic," Xander said, soberly, remembering the pain of losing both Joyce and Tara.

"You've lost loved ones," Legolas noted.

"Yeah, that's pretty much a given when you grow up on a Hellmouth."

"A Hellmouth?"

"A mystical convergence. My high school-- the place where we had our studies as teenager-- was right on top of the entrance to Hell. Where all the demons live." Legolas' eyebrows raised.

"So you have lived your whole life in an area surrounded by dark energy and evil forces, without dying, or falling to evil?" he asked surprised. Sunnydale sounded a lot like Mordor.

"I guess. For seven years I watched evil take my family and friends away from me, one by one. We all have. We don't stand for it anymore. If this Sauron dude wants Dawn, he's going to have to go through us, and he will soon regret it," Xander said fiercely.

"Either that, or I'll be turned into a smushed Twinkie." Legolas didn't know what that was, but it didn't sound good. Xander took a good look at Legolas. He was both beautiful and handsome, one of those rare men that are both androgynous and masculine at the same time. He was obviously a warrior, but also managed to look frail and innocent. Without really knowing what he was doing, Xander closed the few inches between them, and caught Legolas' lips with his own.

~*~*~*~

Gandalf had a headache. For some godforsaken reason, Dawn had thought it wise to teach Pippin "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall," and the two had been singing the song the entire trip to Minas Tirith. Pippin was also not too happy when Dawn snapped his pipe in half and threw it in a puddle.

"No more second-hand stinkiness!" she demanded. "You might want to die young, but I'm only 16, and I kinda want to live a little longer."

"Of course, if you two don't be QUIET, every orc in Mordor will here us, and come and drag you two away to Sauron," Gandalf said, rubbing his temples. They were taking a short break, before getting back on Shadowfax. Dawn was griping about not being able to have some crazy things called pizza and MTV. Gandalf glared at them, and Pippin soon shut up.

"I think you'd better be quiet, Dawn. Gandalf doesn't seem too pleased, and he's a wizard, he might turn us into a toad or something."

"Oh please," Dawn said, waving her hand. "Amy taught me how to turn people into rats, though I'm not supposed to know that spell," Dawn whispered. "Besides, my sister and all her friends are mega-powerful, so he wouldn't dare."

Gandalf cracked a small smile, before picking them both up and putting them on the horse.

"Excuse me," Dawn said in her best 'I'm THE bitch, so don't mess with me' voice that she learned from Cordelia. "I am NOT a sack of potatoes." Gandalf ignored her.

"And people say I'm strange and talk too much," Pippin said under his breath. Dawn pinched him.



END PART 4