Walk with the Dead (OPEN)

[Buffy Anne Summers]

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She did feel a spark of guilt when she heard what Anora had been through however at the same time she knew she couldn’t dwell on it. It wasn’t that she was cold or unfeeling as she had once been afraid she was turning. No, it wasn’t that at all. She did feel for the young girl as well as all the others out there, however they hadn’t known that was what was going to happen when they had activated the slayers. It had been an idea that had saved the world in all respects so she couldn’t deny that she was glad she did it, however she did wish she could have found another way.

If she could have beaten the first with the handful of fighters they had at their disposal without the help of the potential slayers she would have done it in a second. Unfortunately they didn’t have near enough fire power at the time to even begin to fight. If they would have stood up to the first with the fighters they had it would have been short. Buffy, Faith, Spike, and Angel were honestly the only ones who had a chance against any of the Turok-Han’s and to be honest even then they weren’t the easiest thing to fight. She hadn’t wanted to risk Angel’s life back in Sunnydale when he had come to her aid but if it had been just them she knew she would have had no choice. Willow could have used magic to fight them but unfortunately even then she had been having problems with it and had only done the spell to activate the slayers because they hadn’t had any other options. Xander could fight but couldn’t really go against that many Turok-Han’s though he had held his own in the end.

Either way they hadn’t had a choice but to activate the slayer line and as much as she hated it, she couldn’t regret it because the world would literally be dust. "I'm sorry that happened and I'm not sure honestly how to respond to that, however that doesn't change the fact that we had no other choice but to do what we did. If not we would have all been killed. " She explained, hating that she was feeling guilty over something that really she had no other choice but to do.

She groaned, clearly nothing she said at this rate was going to make this girl any happier. "No, that's not what I'm saying. The memory of the meeting where we tell them about slayers is erased, that is all. Half an hour of conversation is erased. We've also found a way to deactivate the slayers who do not want to learn that way they do not have the strength any longer." She tried to tell her, though she doubted it would do any good. "As for being lost in the school, that's hardly the case. The school is basically a boarding school for all ages where they get actual schooling as well as slayer training. However they can also be trained in their town at home by a watcher and another slayer. We give them choices Anora, which is more than anyone else before us have gotten. Slayers have lived and died alone for thousands of years...and now we've changed that. We aren't forcing people to help like everyone else before that, we are giving the option. There is a large difference."

When she heard the girl's statement about dreaming of being a slayer it hardened her resolve. She would not let this girl turn out like Faith. Maybe she should introduce the two, let Faith deal with her? Faith had changed a lot over the years but when she had started she had loved it, and that concerned her more than she would like to admit. "I understand you're upset...and that's fine. I'm sorry that you were alone, we hadn't anticipated how large the slayer line really was when we activated it. That's our fault but you have to realize something. Hundreds of girls were killed by the bringers who worked for the First Evil before the watcher's council realized that war had been declared. We had no idea how many were left. Sure Giles had a bit of information but Quentin didn't like him very much since his slayer (me) didn't follow the rules like he wanted so a lot of information was held back. We did what we had to do to survive. If by jumping in the Hellmouth and getting myself killed again would have stopped the war, I would have done it. That's not how it worked. So I apologize but what else would you have liked me to do?"

Word Count:: 843
Tag:: Anora James
Outfit:: Click for Buffy’s outfit
Note:: I’m thinking Buffy is going to make Faith her mentor of sorts. Lol. Even if she doesn’t tell Anora that And yes I know Anora doesn’t technically need a mentor but Buffy doesn’t want to see another rogue slayer. Lol

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[nora]

"Look, I get that you were stuck between a rock and a hard place, okay? I'm not that much of a bitch, okay well I am, but still..." Guilt, she wasn't sure she'd been expecting guilt, but that was one of the only reasons that this hadn't come straight down to blows yet. "The only thing that I'm trying to get you to understand is that, yes you might have made the best choice and the hard call, but that doesn't mean people are going to be completely thrilled with the backlash."

Her voice came down a little more, less yelling now and a slightly more conversational tone, but still clearly upset. It was obvious that, while still angry, she realized that yelling wasn't going to get her point across. "I'm going to let you in on two words that I think you need to look back on a little harder; Collateral Damage. That's all I am. You did what you had to do, and there are going to be innocent or innocent-ish people who get swept up in the bullshit. It's how you get a lot of super villans" Nora now seemed like she was using her lollipop as a sort of cork to make sure that Buffy could say what she needed to without interrupting.

"It's nice that you think that, about the school, but it's the nature of things like that. I know. You aren't supposed to get lost in Council records or in the damned foster system either, but low and behold. You just have to be really careful." She sort of flapped her arms a little to fully indicate herself, "Look. You're trying, you're trying really hard with all that you've got at your disposal. I get that. It is a shit ton better then many of the alternatives. In fact, thank you for stopping the end of the world." She felt like she had to get that part across, very few people ever really heard it for just normal jobs: cops, firemen, etc. But the Slayer did all of her work in the shadows that monsters dwelled in, it was rare to hear a thank you.

"I may have even done the same thing in your situation, honestly, but I'm nineteen years old, I've been on the run now for over a year. I had a hair trigger for being a bitch before this. I don't like how this turned out any more then you do." Nora sucked on the lollipop for a minute while she thought. "I don't know what you're going to do, Buffy; but I can tell you what I'm planning on doing. Surviving, just like I always have."



::stop:: I love the idea of throwing her at Faith!!
::look:: Outfit
::listen:: Classical
::you're it:: Buffy
::the credit:: Jess

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[Buffy Anne Summers]

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She could tell that her guilt had surprised the young woman but she refused to give her the satisfaction of how much guilt she actually did carry. She hated the fact that she had turned people's lives upside down in order to do what the rules said was her job. With that said however she stood by her decision because she would have had to watch the world go up in flames if she hadn't done what needed to be done in order to save it. She hated it, but that was all there was to do. They had run out of time, resources and people to help.

She nodded a small nod when Anora thanked her for stopping the end of the world. She knew it didn't mean that she wasn't mad and to be honest the blonde didn't blame her. However she felt as if they were at an impasse and nothing that either one of them were going to say was going to make the other one feel better. Her thought of having her talk to Faith seemed better and better and as she thought it she pulled out a card from her back pocket. She had taken to carrying a card around with her at all times. It looked like a business card and she guessed that's what it was but at the same time it wasn't. All it had was her name, number, and address on the front. No explanation, no cute design, nothing. Just black letters on a white card.

“Listen.” She started, looking at the girl who was so unlike her it was almost freaky. She hadn’t realized two people could be so different. “I have to get going. As much as I would like to sit around and talk about this I have to continue to do my part in order to keep the world turning. Just because there are several other slayers out there that doesn’t mean that my job has stopped. I still take the big things, I still patrol nightly, nothing in my life has changed other than maybe adding a bit more stress to it.” She told her, handing the girl her card. “This is my number and my address. The address is actually the Boarding House where several of us live. If you want to come by and talk to either myself or Faith who is the other slayer that was activated after I died…” she explained, omitting that technically Kendra had been activated after she died and then when Kendra died Faith had been activated, she’d explain that another time. Right now she had wasted too much time and needed to get onto patrolling.

“There are also several other potentials in the house as well as a watcher and a witch. Probably a few others around there as well. Come and talk to us whenever you feel you are ready to deal with everything and we’ll help you as much as possible.” She told her before turning her back to head off. She stopped for a moment and turned around, her hair glowing in the streetlamp overhead. “And Anora? Be careful.” She told her before heading off, needing to let off steam and knowing that the potential slayer wouldn’t want to see it when she did.

Word Count:: 606
Tag:: Anora James
Outfit:: Click for Buffy’s outfit
Note:: Sorry I ended this abruptly. I just felt like they were going around in circles and that maybe a day or two to cool off before meeting again at the boarding house where Faith and the others are around to explain things might help?

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[ADMIN BRITT]