Chapter Five: Learning Our Lessons

A Price to Pay


Chapter Five: Learning Our Lessons


Disclaimer: I don’t own Buffy or Lord of the Rings


Author’s Note:
“English,”
“Sindarian,”
“Westron,”

It took another couple of months for Dawn and Xander to get a really solid grasp of Westron and by that time it was coming back up on September and their one year anniversary on Middle-Earth. After having spent the better part of the year with the Rangers of the North, as they had learned the Creepers were actually called, they were finally beginning to earn the trust of the suspicious group. It was because of all of this that their Chief, Strider, had approached Xander and Dawn, who had just celebrated her 13th birthday, and suggested that they start going out with the Rangers on scouting missions and border patrols.

Dawn and Xander couldn’t have been more thrilled. They were getting exceedingly tired of the monotonous camp chores and their former babysitters were all out in the field now making room for a fresh wave of trainees who didn’t know the routine and got underfoot and still saw more action. They trained hand to hand and with weapons for as long as their chores allowed and continued to build up their stamina and strength by making modifications to said chores. Any body fat they had was long gone and replaced with lean muscle. Something about the environment in Middle-Earth also caused them to grow much taller than they’d been on Earth; this wasn’t really unprecedented seeing as Strider was himself about 6 foot 6, and they had been the smallest people in the camp, but it was still rather unnerving.

Dawn in particular was barely recognizable from the person she’d once been. She shot up another few inches and was now pushing 5 foot 7, her stomach was flat and well muscled and her arms and legs were well-defined, her hair had grown even longer and now extended in a thick brown braid down past her ribs, and, much to her consternation, she had yet to really fill out. Her hips were broad and gave her a woman’s general shape but her breasts remained little more than bee-stings, an unfortunate by-product of her general lack of fat.

Xander on the other hand had greatly benefited from their stay in Middle-Earth. He had, for the moment, stopped growing when he hit six foot three and the sudden stretching of his broad-shouldered barrel-chested body had eaten up all the fat from his teenage Twinkie craze. That had left him with an awkward unfinished body that he quickly turned into a lean long-legged weapon with his training as he gained muscle and spatial awareness. His thick dark hair had grown out to brush his collar bone and the hazards of shaving with a razor sharp knife and blurry reflection in a bowl of still water added to the accumulation of a stubbly beard. In fact if it wasn’t for his signature goofy grin he would be barely distinguishable from the Rangers. As it was Dawn couldn’t help noticing that he had never been so attractive.

In fact Dawn was distracted from her mending as she admired his attractiveness, and that of about thirteen other shirtless young males who were chopping firewood into manageable sizes to be stored for winter.

“Alessandair, Dawne,” called a familiar voice.

Dawn turned to smile at the approaching Chief of the Dunedain.

“Strider, come and join me Xander should be over in a second and then you can talk to us together,” said Dawn waving him to sit beside her on the relatively sunny hillock she’d chosen as a prime spot to mend the rips she’d caused in Xander’s shirt last week in training.

Xander split his last log, grabbed the shirt he’d been wearing before the log splitting had gotten going, and jogged over to them a light sheen of sweat defining the bumps and hollows of his chest and abdomen in a way that made Dawn’s mouth a bit dry. He pulled on his shirt, a motion that Dawn had mixed feelings about, and joined them sitting Indian style and offering Strider a welcoming grin.

“What’s going on?” Xander asked.

“Well you and Dawne, have earned the trust and friendship of the Rangers and have learned to speak our language well, I think it’s time for you to learn the final skill sets you will need to join us in the field,” Strider explained.

“Really?” squealed Dawn excitedly.

“Yes,” Strider said smiling at her enthusiasm.

“That’s great,” said Xander.

“I am warning you now; you will both have to prove yourselves, especially you Dawne. The men will probably accept Alessandair’s presence in our ranks easily enough for we have taken in outsiders before, but Dawne...you will be constantly battling their scorn and doubt,” Strider explained gravely.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, I know what I’m capable of,” said Dawn stubbornly.

Strider nodded seeming pleased.

“What kind of training did you have in mind?” Xander asked curiously.

He and Dawn had both demonstrated their proficiency with swords, knives, staves and fists to the Ranger about a month ago and Strider had seemed pleased with their knowledge. He was also aware, no doubt, of their training regime.

“Archery for the both of you for one thing, no one goes out of camp without having at least a passing ability to shoot, and probably tracking. You’ll also have to be updated on the situation, such as it is, with the Enemy,” Strider explained

“Bring it on, we’re ready,” Xander said nodding his head dark eyes gleaming with excitement.

“I suspected you would say so. I’ve arranged everything so that barring an emergency I have the time to teach you everything you need to know personally, then we three will do a border patrol circuit together as a final test of your skills. When I bring the others in from their routes for the meeting at Winter Solstice I will present you as new Rangers and there will be a general outcry against Dawne...”

“But because you’ve overseen her training yourself they can’t do much about it unless they want to outright challenge your leadership,” Xander finished.

“Precisely,” Strider agreed looking pleased by Xander’s deduction.

“Alright, when did you want to start this training?” asked Dawn.

“Tomorrow at dawn, we’ll drill with the bow every morning before you start your chores and then every afternoon before supper. After you have the hang of it you may feel free to practice at the archery range whenever you have free time, in fact I recommend it. Once that is done we will go on short hunting excursions and you will be taught tracking as well as given the opportunity to use your skills in a practical setting, against a moving target,”

“We’ll see you tomorrow then, bright and early,” said Dawn her face set in clear determination.

The next morning saw Dawn bouncing along to the archery field as Xander stalked grimly after her not doing much more than grunting at the occasional greeting from the camp’s early risers. Just because he agreed to be up at this hour didn’t mean he had to like it.
The archery field was not an actual field, like most of the semi-permanent buildings and structures that made up the base camp it was meant to look like a natural part of its surroundings to an outside observer, and to be easily dismantled in the event that the camp had to pack up and move post haste. The distances were marked out for the archers with little patches of trampled grass and a big stick buried half-in and half-out of the ground. The targets were round wood disks about double the size of a dinner plate carved and painted with white green and red rings and hung at about chest height from tree branches. The field was a good distance away from the main camp as well so that no innocent bystanders would be injured by an arrow gone off course.

Strider was waiting for them with a few pieces of familiar equipment laid out on the ground behind him.

“You are just in time, I’ve retrieved bows and archery equipment from the armorer that you will be able to keep until you can purchase or make your own,” Strider said gesturing to the equipment.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Dawn said making an effort to contain her excited bouncing.

“The first thing to know is your safety equipment,” Strider said dropping into a lecturing voice. “The most important are the leather arm guards, these will protect the inside of your arm from the bow string, the same is true of the leather chest guard I found for Dawne, it will keep your...” here he gestured vaguely to his own chest flushing slightly,

“Boobs, tits, fun-bags, breasts, mammary glands...should I keep going I’ve got more,” Dawn deadpanned.

“I really do not want to hear that, nope,” said Xander shaking his head.

“From being stung,” Strider finished.

“It shouldn’t really matter at this point I’m so flat-chested I might as well cut off all my hair and pretend to be a boy,” Dawn groused as they strapped on the protective gear.

“I’m not listening,”

“Oh grow up Xander,”

“Your bow has two components, the first is the wooden handle and the second is the string. If you’re not anticipating good hunting or danger leave the bow unstrung because if it stays strung too long it will warp the wood of the bow and damage the string rendering the bow useless. Now you string your bows like this...” Strider demonstrated quickly and efficiently, it took him all of half-a-minute.

Then he went over the process slowly for the both of them and then one on one. After which Xander and Dawn got to try...and try...and try. It turns out that stringing a bow is a lot harder than a seasoned ranger makes it look. Strider had them going at it for a half-hour before he was satisfied with their progress.

“Good, take your equipment, practice stringing your bow tonight, if you come to me tomorrow morning with a properly strung bow we may even shoot an arrow,” grinned Strider walking away from the frustrated pair.

“Another one of those learn to appreciate your weapons before you are allowed to use them technicians, I thought we’d escaped them back on Earth,” groaned Dawn.

Xander gave Dawn an unreadable look.

“You brought one with you, I used make my girls forge their own spears, whittle their own stakes, carve their own quarterstaves, and watch the whole process of sword and axe forging before I let them carry the weapon on patrol. I should think you would be grateful, Strider is taking time away from undoubtedly more important things to train you because he believes in you, because you indicated you willingness to do whatever it took no matter how hard it was, or how long you had to spend on it,” he commented neutrally walking away.

“Oh shit...Xander!” Dawn sighed when he disappeared into the crowd with both of their gear in hand, “Me and my big fat, complaining mouth,” she muttered disgustedly.
 
That night Dawn practiced stringing her bow over and over and over again until her eyes blurred in the dark. Xander didn't come back to their tent that night.


AN: Another chapter come and gone and soon we'll get back to the action. Please Review, your comments brighten my day!