Fairly lost, yes.  Perhaps even very lost.  Surely not extremely lost?

Does this extremely spooky alley look familiar?  Maybe it was less spooky during the day.

Spooky alleys, great.

She'll squint at it. Did she go down that earlier...?

Perhaps she did.

- Perhaps someone is getting attacked down it.  Perhaps that's a reason to find a different way home.

Or it's a reason to charge into a spooky dark alley, shouting, "Hey! You!" and fumbling for her flashlight.

"Two for one!" the attacker laughs, with a vicious joviality that puts the lie to the furious snarl contorting his face.  He drags the woman along by her throat as he stalks toward Nausicaa.

Hello asshole prepare to be punched in the face.

"People aren't your amusements!"

He looks shocked that Nausicaa actually managed to hit him.  At least, that's probably what that expression is supposed to be.  He's still snarling.  (Did his face actually get stuck like that?)

He tosses the woman aside and - growls, and swipes at Nausicaa's face, like a wild predator wearing the shape of a human.

She'll dodge, punch him in the stomach. "Mugging people or whatever you're doing is not! How! To! Do! Things!" as she continues punching him. She doesn't have formal training but she is very used to fighting people bigger than her.

He tries to counter, but he moves like he's expecting her to be weaker.  (Come to think of it, she is managing to hit him awfully hard.  She's strong, but does she remember being this strong?)

But after a moment - it's like he's caught on to something, somehow, he's faster and more vicious and that much more strategic.

He gets out of melee and backs away.  (Does she remember being this scary?)

She's definitely terrified muggers before. She's figuring he just wasn't expecting anyone to fight back.

"Come after people again, and I will find you," she snarls, even though she totally can't, and advances menacingly on him. "Why do you think some bullshit like this is a good idea?"

He looks as blank as a person can look with their teeth bared like that (maybe something's actually wrong with his face).

" - You're letting me go?"

He doesn't even seem cowed, or apologetic, just genuinely baffled.

"If you want I can do a citizen's arrest," she says, a bit lightly. "Don't much like cops, though. Why?"

Apparently whatever's confusing him so much isn't interesting enough to entice him to stick around: he bolts.

Ugh.

She goes to find and check on the woman he'd had. Is she still around?

She's curled up on the ground, trembling violently.  (Perhaps "girl" is more appropriate; up close, she barely looks older than Nausicaa.)

"Hey," Nausicaa says, gently. "I drove him off. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Crap where was the nearest phone, what if she has to call 911 she hates involving authorities...

"He's gone?  I - I don't think - "

Breathe.

"I think I'm okay."

"Do you have somewhere to go?"

She nods.  "I just need to get home - I shouldn't have tried to walk home - "

"I'll walk you there. Safety in numbers, and all that." And maybe they'll have a phone she can call her foster parents from...

"Would you?  Thanks."

"Of course. Assholes like that... Sticking together's good. They're too cowardly to go after groups." Mostly.

She nods, stands.

"...You don't know where I live," she says after a moment, laughing feebly.  "It's..." she gestures the way, but hesitates to start walking until Nausicaa does.

"I'll walk beside you, how about?" She'll take Kaylee's hand if the indicators are good, and give her a little comforting squeeze. "Come on, let's get you home."

And walk?

She startles, but smiles.  "...I'm Kaylee."

"I'm Nausicaa Uzun. Just moved here today, actually... But it's really nice to meet you, Kaylee."

"Nausicaa, that's pretty.  Nice to meet you too."

"Thanks!" She hums, searching for a topic to distract Kaylee with. "Oh, hey, do you go to Sunnydale High? I'm starting there tomorrow."

"I do," she says distantly.  (She's not shaking any more, but she's still very - subdued.)

Companionable shoulder-bump. "We can head home together after school for a bit, if you'd like? I always get the jitters when shit goes down myself..."

"That'd... be really nice.  Thanks."

"No problem. Maybe you can show me around a bit, help me keep from getting lost..."

"Sure thing.  Least I could do."

"I mean, you don't have to?" Nausicaa says, shrugging. "Still, wouldn't mind getting to know someone..." She laughs a bit awkwardly.

"No, I'd be happy to.  You seem really nice."

"Thanks."

She'll let the conversation lapse a bit while she casts about for a new topic. She's - not sure, Kaylee seems to be doing good with avoiding it, but maybe she wants to talk about it, but Nausicaa's a total stranger...?

Kaylee's quiet, for a few moments.

"He tried to bite me."

...What the hell, maybe she should've punched him in the balls and - okay involving cops in that's bad, maybe kicked him a bunch of times. Unclear from context if this's a 'sex pervert' thing or like that 'monsters in the night' thing she's heard rumors of in homeless communities though...

Still, kicking probably wouldn't have been uncalled for.

She makes a face. "I'm punching him a lot harder if I see him again, that's for sure."

"I haven't lived in Sunnydale long but - you hear about, in this town - I don't even know what - "

" - I think he might have killed me."

"I won't let anyone hurt you."

She'll have to research crimes in this town. Doesn't hurt to know what's going on.

She looks a bit shocked.  " - We just met, you don't have to..."

"I don't have to. I will, though. People should be protected."

"Wow, you're - really really great, Nausicaa."

"Thanks. More people should - you know. Help people. Though." She laughs a bit awkwardly.

"Well.  You do, and that's pretty great.  Maybe if you keep it up you'll set a better example."

"I'd hope so."

Grin.

She'll keep up some light, distracting chatter as they walk back to Kaylee's house.

When they get there, she'll see Kaylee to the door, then hover awkwardly, unsure about what's polite here.

There's a few moments of explanations and embraces where Nausicaa seems forgotten.  But while Kaylee's hugging her dad, her mother addresses Nausicaa warmly:

"Well, thank you very much for rescuing our daughter.  I assume you'll need a ride home?"

"Yeah. Or a chance to call my foster parents... Should probably let them know I'm safe, either way?"

"I'd be happy to convey you," Kaylee's mom says, "but if you'd rather call them, that's fine, you can use our phone."

"I guess that's between you guys? But yeah, thanks!" And she'll come in and head for the phone?

Phone is easy to find.

She calls home - talks to her foster dad for a bit - he's concerned and a bit exasperated, he'll come over and pick her up, but it might be fifteen minutes.

When Nausicaa gets off the phone, Kaylee and her family are having a discussion about filing a police report.

She'll leave them to it, hovering near-ish the door.

Kaylee seems reluctant, or perhaps just worn out.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," her mother says eventually.  Then, to Nausicaa: "Why don't you sit down, until your foster parents get here?"

"Alright. Thanks. He'll be here in about ten, fifteenish minutes? I guess depending on stoplights." 

"This sounds like a night for some hot cocoa," Kaylee's mom says gently.

"I'll get some started," her dad says.  "Nausicaa, do you want any?  There's plenty."

"If it's no trouble, yeah!"

"No trouble at all."  Cocoa: is prepared.

She'll check on how Kaylee's holding up, then.

Quiet.  Subdued.  But not looking liable to go completely to pieces any time soon.

She musters a smile at Nausicaa when she notices her checking in.

"So, uh, school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you then."

Shoulder bump okay?

"Thanks for letting me use your phone. And the hot chocolate," she directs, kind of to the room in general.

Shoulder bump good, looks like.

"It was no trouble," her dad says.

"Still." She smiles. "It was a big help."

"Glad we could help," her mom says warmly.  "Our doors are always open to a friend of the family."

"Aw, thanks."

She'll keep up light chatter until her foster dad gets there. He thanks the family profusely, and when they're in the car sighs, says Nausicaa shouldn't have stayed out so late or gotten in a fight but rescuing that girl was a good thing... Still, don't do it again.

Nausicaa, of course, mostly ignores him.

She's bright eyed when she gets to school the next day, practically bouncing with excitement. She's already kind of made a new friend! Before her first day! The rest of this should go great!

She waves when she spots her.  (She looks like a good night's sleep has done her some good.)

Nausicaa will deftly work her way over through the student crowd!

"Hey Kaylee!" she says, brightly.

"Hey Nausicaa.  Good to see you!"

"Hey! I gotta swing by the principle's office to get my schedule, but wanted to say hi!"

"Hi!" she says.  "Still need someone to show you around after you pick up your schedule?"

"Wouldn't hurt. Most schools are pretty bad at the whole orientation thing."

"I can show you to the principal's office too if you want, it's just this way - "

"Thanks!" And she'll follow.

Principal Flutie gives Nausicaa her schedule, assures her that Sunnydale High is an enriching and positive environment for students of all backgrounds no matter how checkered their past, not that being a foster child necessarily means she has a checkered past, just that it's important for children to have a space where they feel safe and welcomed, so please feel safe and welcomed here at Sunnydale High.

Oh, great, one of those. Still, better than unfriendly.

Fortunately for Nausicaa and her checkered past, she already feels very welcome. She's sure she'll make a lot of friends!

"Well, off to class!"

"He, uh, means well," Kaylee says as they depart.  "Kind of, I think."

"I figured. And I've gotten unfriendlier welcome wagons."

"Lots of the kids are less, uh, tactless than he is, at least.  What's your first subject?"

Schedules can be compared! Nausicaa's only advanced class is Spanish, and her electives are art and drama.

Kaylee's on the AP track, so they don't have a lot of classes together, but she goes over the map of Sunnydale High with Nausicaa and shows her to her first class.

They meet again in the lunch line.

"Hey! How's the day been going?" Nausicaa asks, bouncing a bit. She's hungry!

"Pretty good!  What about you?  Meet anyone cool?"

The food is - well, high school cafeteria food, but it's not the worst thing ever!

"Haven't had much chance to talk in class yet. I'm holding out my hopes for the afternoon, though!"

It's not a health code violation so, hey, she'll take what she can get. 

"I can introduce you to Tag, he's the Sunnydale High resident lovable grump."  This way!

"Sounds great!" She'll follow along.

Tag turns out to be a few years ahead of them, with fluffy hair and an amount of beard that's probably a bit of a talking point if you're still in high school.  "Hey."

"Hi! I'm Nausicaa Uzun! I'm new here! It's nice to meet you!"

"You too," he says.  "Have you gotten the 'this is a weird-ass town, don't go out after dark' talk yet?"

" - oh, shit, what did I say?"

"Punched some asshole yesterday who was harassing Kaylee. 's how we met."

"Ah shit.  Sorry, Kay.  Are you all right?"

She nods.  "Yeah.  Just - I knew it was stupid to walk home alone."

"I'm just mad at myself I didn't hit the guy harder... Anyways, stuff like that common 'round here?"

"More than you'd think for a town this small.  Gangs, creeps.  Barbecue forks, for some fuckin' reason."

"Pretty used to gangs and creeps. Barbecue forks? Uh, knew a guy who got dead that way back in New York, guess it might be a gang sign thing?"

He shrugs.  "Could be.  I try to stay away from shit like that honestly."

"Lots of gangs aren't very good at leaving people out of it."

"Well.  Fair."

"Is recruitment a problem?"

"I'm not sure I'd've heard about it honestly.  - There was a weird story a couple years ago.  Good kid did a total 180, spent a few months as a douchebag, then dropped off the map at the same time another kid died.  These guys were seniors when I was a freshman, I didn't know them, but everyone was talking about it.  The obvious rumors.  Sunnydale."

"That does sound weird. Though - I don't know. Gangs that're in high schools tend to recruit pretty openly..."

"What're the obvious rumors?"

"Just that the previously good kid killed the other kid.  I think some people were talking about gang recruitment there.  This is, uh, really fuckin' morbid by the way."

"Sorry. So... Other topics? Sunnydale have any neat attractions I should see?"

"We got a zoo, a museum, we're pretty near the beach.  Some forest trails, my mom likes to go hiking sometimes.  What do you like?"

"Hiking sounds fun! And I love zoos, and the beach."

"Oh, the Sunnydale zoo's great, you should definitely see it some time."

"Maybe you can take me?"

"Okay!  That sounds fun."

"It's a date."

Is that a blush?  It's blush-adjacent.  "Looking forward to it."

Heeeeee blushing cute girls are the best.

"Any arcades or anything 'round here?" she'll ask.

"I thiiink so?  I've never been to an arcade before."

"I like them! Classic date location for a reason."

"Maybe I'll check one out sometime?"

"Hopefully they'll have some good games... I like the classics just fine, but new stuff's good, too. Assuming there's even any..."

"We could look into it, after we go to the zoo?"

"I'd like that!"

Grin!

Lunch wraps up soon after.

And Nausicaa's off to classes!

After school, she's somewhat torn between leaving with Kaylee - she did promise to help keep an eye on her - and going by the library to pick up a copy of the textbook. Friends, or studying...

She catches her hesitating.  "Did you forget something?"

"I need to get my copy of the textbook. Which means library. Buuuuut I kind of don't want to."

" - I mean, if you're still worried about me, I'll be okay.  It's still daylight.  Or I could come with you?"

"Up to you? Don't want to delay you from anything, but I'd like the company."

"It's no trouble, I stay after a lot anyway.  I'm in a lot of clubs.  Do you know where the library is?"

"Still, thanks."

"And nope! I figured it's not that big a school though, and it's probably on the map..."

"Prrrobably.  I could just show you though.  It's this way."

"Thanks!" And she'll follow Kaylee.

The next Slayer is supposed to come to Sunnydale.  Come to Sunnydale, around the time she's called - it won't be someone who's lived here her whole life.  This is around the time when the prophecies, at least the ones the Council has access to, start becoming truly strange, but that much seems clear.

And lo, there's a new student.

Still, coincidences like this have ever happened before.  It wouldn't do to reveal all the secrets just yet.

There's a knock, and the door creaks open.  "Mister Giles?  We need to pick up a textbook."

"Ah, yes, come in, Kaylee."

Blink.

"And you must be Nausicaa."  That was easy.

"Yeah! Nausicaa Uzun. Guess you don't get too many new students here? Principle told me I could get my textbooks from you..."

"Yes, right this way."  He leads her into the stacks, such as they are in a high school library.

"So, how are you finding Sunnydale, Miss Uzun?"

"People are friendly unless they're di- uh, jerks? Apparently gangs here are kind of weird?"

"One does hear strange rumors," he agrees.  "I find it best to stay indoors after sunset whenever possible.  I hope you've been safe?"

"Punched a mugger last night? So, safe enough."

"We may have somewhat different definitions - ah, a mugger, you say?"

"Yeah. Got lost taking a walk, ran into some guy attacking Kaylee, punched him until he ran off."

"Good lord.  Is she all right?"

"Uh. I think so?"

"I would just hate to think that something happened to her.  Bright girl, you know, studious, popular... I hope you were able to identify this person to the police?"  By his prominent canines and deformed brow ridge, perhaps, if the fates would like to make this very easy for him...

"Uh, Kaylee's family were talking about maybe making a report, but no one's talked to me yet."

He nods.  "Do you often - I'm sorry, am I being terribly intrusive?"

"Not really?"

He smiles briefly.  "Do you often find yourself, ah, winning fights with adults?"

"I'm kind of scrappy, so, yeah pretty much? Knew how to throw a punch even as a kid."

"Not a new talent, then?" he says, a little somber.  "I'm sorry to hear it's one you've needed."

"Eh, life." She shrugs. "Know anything about what's up with the gangs here? I keep hearing about barbecue forks, and that asshole'd tried to bite Kaylee."

" - tried to bite her?"

"Yeah. No idea what was up with that."

"It sounds, ah, quite unsettling.  And you say you frightened this person off?"

"Punched him a couple times, yeah."

"...Was his... face... at all unusual?"

(This is what subtlety looks like, right?)

"...I mean he looked like the sort of person old ladies point to and say 'if you keep frowning your face will get stuck like that'?"

 - he suppresses a snort.

"I, ah, apologize.  - Would you like to come by after school again tomorrow?  I can help you get caught up, perhaps recommend some self-defense programs you could take advantage of."

(Lord, that really is exactly what vampires look like, isn't it.)

"Sure? New school's always confusing, and I've never actually managed a formal self defense thing, might be fun."

"Very good.  Well, this, I believe, is the last of your textbooks.  I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"See you!" 

And off to find Kaylee?

She's easily findable, skimming a dusty anatomy textbook waiting for Nausicaa.  "Hey!  Get everything you need?"

"Yeah! And he offered to meet with me after school tomorrow, help me get caught up, and point me at some out of school stuff."

"He's a nice guy.  Bye Mr. Giles!" she calls as they depart.

(He permits himself a very English chuckle after the library empties.)

And Nausicaa will head home, and this time keep herself to a fairly short walk unlikely to get her lost, right in the area around her house.

She dreams, that night:

She is sitting at a table, across from a dining partner.  She cannot see their face.  It is not, exactly, in shadow - rather, in the manner of dreams, her field of vision does not seem to extend to that location in the way that it should.  She can see the table, though, candle-lit, and the checkerboard tablecloth, and the empty plate, and the glass of red wine in front of her.

"Take a drink," her dining partner says.  But she does not want to drink.  The wine is delicious, she is assured, rich and heady, but she does not want to drink.  She is thirsty, and what did she come to dinner for if she was not going to partake - but she does not want to drink.

Her companion will become stern - not angry, but merely rather impatient with her recalcitrance.  They have offered her this gift out of the goodness of their heart, to quench her thirst.  She is being so very stubborn.  But she does not want to drink -

"Don't even like wine," she's muttering as she wakes.

Ugh. Social pressure dreams. No fun.

She puts it out of her mind, and heads to school.

Kaylee is chipper as ever.  At the end of the day:

"You were going to see Giles after school today, right?"

"Yeah, that was the plan."

"I've got Creative Writing Club today, but I can join you afterward if you want, if you're still here."

"That'd be great, thanks!"

"No problem!  See ya!"

"See you!"

And she's off to the library.

"Nausicaa," Giles says when she arrives.  "Come in, sit down."

"Hey! Uh, what should I call you by the way? Mr G, G-man..."

"Giles will do fine, Miss Uzun."

"Sure thing G-man," she says, voice teasing.

He rubs his forehead, a bit theatrically.  "I think this is the beginning of a very tiresome friendship."

"Acknowledging we're friends already puts you a few steps ahead of some people I've befriended, honestly."

He smiles, briefly.

Only briefly, though.  "Miss Uzun, I'm afraid I have some rather - unjust news for you."

"Huh? What's up?"

"It is a matter of some discretion.  Can you be discreet?"

"...Yeah?"

He emerges from behind the library counter, holding a very large, very visibly old book - the sort of book to which "book" does not do justice.  It is a tome, a grimoire, printed, she can see, with the word VAMPYR in ornate bas-relief script.  He flips through it expertly; he's clearly read and referenced it many times before.

"The man who attacked your friend Kaylee," he says quietly, placing the book on the table, facing toward Nausicaa, "looked like this, didn't he?"

The page shows a sketch of a distorted human face.  It is not the same face as the man who attacked Kaylee, but it is, quite obviously, the same distortion.  The wrinkled, rough, contorted brow, the lips bared and pulled back, the teeth sharp and the canines overgrown; a caricature of a predatory snarl.

"...You really want me to believe vampires exist?"

"I'm sorry to say I want you to believe a good deal more than that.  You said you've been strong enough to win fights with adults all your life, but I think you're shortly going to find yourself stronger.  Faster, more athletic, more durable, more graceful.  You may develop a supernatural intuition for who is and is not a vampire - they don't always look," he taps the page, "like this.  You - have probably already had a great deal more nightmares than usual, and will continue to do so.  If I'm right about you, Miss Uzun, you're something called the Vampire Slayer."

"You're screwing with me."

"You've already heard that the gangs in Sunnydale are enamored of barbecue forks?"  He taps two fingers against his jugular vein, about an inch apart.  "Fangs.  I can secure access to several coroners' reports that will show people with parallel puncture wounds in their necks and drained of blood."

"Yeah. You know what, that'd probably be best." She shakes her head. "Look, I'll hear you out okay? It's not like I haven't heard weird shit before."

"It may take several days to obtain the autopsy reports.  I'll proceed with the essentials today as though I have already produced it, and we can talk again once I have photographs, if that is agreeable."

"Fine." She crosses her arms a bit defensively.

"First of all," he says, "the reason it's a matter of discretion, and part of the reason it is unjust, is that people who attempt to go public with this information have a way of winding up dead."

"Oh." She pauses, clearly a bit thrown off. "Any - specific reasons?"

"It is, very often, apparently vampire assassination.  They don't coordinate very much, but they and other supernatural beings are oddly skilled at coordinating about that."

"What do vampires - do?"

"Stalk the night, kill people for their blood, occasionally sire new vampires.  ...I don't know that they have hobbies."

"Are they intelligent? The one I - apparently - fought was talking..."

"You might say they assume the intelligence of the human whose body they inhabit.  And their memories, and some aspects of their personality.  Not any of the, ah, redeeming aspects.  None of them have any qualms about killing and maiming and - tormenting."

"But they can be talked to?"

"If you mean, are they capable of speech - yes.  If you mean, can they be reasoned with..."

"Has anyone tried?"

"I imagine many of their victims have."

"Yeah. 'Course, lots of people won't reason with someone weaker than them."

"...I can't advise that you - proselytize to vampires.  I don't believe they will be at all receptive."

"I won't let them hurt people. But I think I should try."

"Effort spent attempting to reason with vampires is effort not spent exterminating them," Giles says, rather severely.  "Vampires are not capable of reason or empathy.  But they are extraordinarily capable of appearing reasonable, or empathetic, or put-upon by an uncaring world.  It is one of their primary strategies, and attempts to reason with them play into it."

"And I have no one's word for that but yours."

"I have a great deal of literature on the behavior of vampires that you are welcome to peruse," Giles says.  "But at this stage in your education you should be learning how to defend yourself against them."

"Don't object to self defense. But there's some stuff I'll wanna learn for myself. I'm not just gonna be a good little girl and do everything you tell me."

"I can see that.  But you are welcome to verify the things I have told you."

"Anything else?"

"Yes.  You should know the strengths and weaknesses of vampires, and your own abilities as a Slayer.  I've mentioned some things - you will be stronger, faster, more athletic and acrobatic.  Some of your dreams will probably be prophetic, although these can be difficult to identify and interpret.  Some Slayers develop a sense of who is and is not a vampire, but it can be difficult to distinguish this from ordinary fallible human intuition, and you should not attack someone based on it until you are already very sure of it."

"Any other benefits? How much stronger?"

"In addition to being harder to injure, you will heal more quickly and cleanly than an ordinary human.  Broken bones will cooperate with being set and knit completely within days; bruises will fade in hours; shallow cuts may heal in minutes or even seconds.  Measuring a Slayer's strength is tricky; Slayers have been known to break down wooden doors with relative ease and throw people across rooms, but not, for example, lift cars above their heads."

"So I'm unlikely to have any Superman world of tissue paper problems."

"Well, you will want to be extremely cautious if you find yourself in a schoolyard scuffle, but I would advise against that sort of thing in any case."

"I'll try. Most people are pretty friendly once they talk to me."

"I wish you all the luck in the world," he says sincerely.

"Thanks. So. Information?"

"Yes.  Vampires.  There are other sorts of supernatural creature but you are far more likely to wind up in a fight with a vampire over the next few days than anything else.  The weakest vampire is, I think, stronger than the strongest human, and if not it's a close thing - but so are you.  Vampires heal more slowly than you but are less inhibited by injuries they do sustain, with a few exceptions.  They don't age, and outside of a few particular methods it is impossible to kill them outright.  However: they burn to death much more quickly than humans.  They tend to catch fire in the sunlight, although in all likelihood you will almost never be able to take advantage of this fact.  Holy water and crosses both burn their flesh painfully but do not set them outright aflame.  They do not have reflections in mirrors and so cannot be seen through some old-fashioned cameras, but will appear in photographs.  They cannot enter inhabited houses without an invitation from one of the house's inhabitants.  Beheading a vampire will cause it to die if you can manage it, but the surest method is to drive a wooden stake or spike through its heart.  You will know that a vampire is well and truly dead when it shrieks hollowly and explodes into gray-black ash."

"Typical tactics? Am I likely to run into a bunch of vampire snipers?"

"I can't say there has never been a vampire who knew how to use a sniper rifle, but it's not a common skill.  They usually prefer relying on their own strength and speed rather than using modern weaponry, particularly if you encounter them on the hunt - they can weather a bullet from a handgun and so have no reason to be able to shoot first.  An unarmed vampire is primarily dangerous in melee range; the prudent Slayer will become skilled with a crossbow, although I don't suggest trying to carry one on campus.  Which reminds me..."

He returns to the library desk and rummages in one of the drawers, retrieving a long, thick wooden needle attached to a perpendicular handle.  "This is a weapon designed by the Watcher's council, the organization I work for that trains and supervises Slayers.  It's based on the Robbins-Dudley punch knife, and is ideal for killing vampires.  I have a number of them, should this one become damaged.  It would not be - wholly imprudent to keep it on your person at all times, but bear in mind that it is illegal to have such a weapon on a high school campus, and I will not be able to protect you if you're caught with it."

She'll take it, but - "I'm not killing anyone. At least not unless I've confirmed they're a threat."

"Any vampire you're likely to encounter in the next several days will likely confirm itself a threat very swiftly," he says a bit sharply.

He sighs.

"I apologize, Miss Uzun.  I do understand your perspective.  But vampires are frequently much better liars than - than the humans they usurp," he says, "and I worry they will use your skepticism against you.  If you want to do independent research, to confirm what I've told you - I will help you to whatever extent I can.  But it is likely to be very difficult."

"I get that. But humans are plenty good liars as it is."

"Most humans have less reason to lie - but I do take your point."

"People lie to themselves, too - but yeah." She shakes her head. "Anything other than vampires out there? And who're these guys you're working with?"

"After vampires, you are most likely to encounter werewolves or ghosts.  Werewolves are more or less what they sound like.  They transform into lupine monsters during the night of the full moon each month, in which form they have no control over their actions and regard ordinary humans as prey.  Werewolves in human form are no more evil than ordinary humans.  It is possible but inadvisable for werewolves to learn to call on the strengths of their wolf form outside of the full moon - doing so will warp their personality to be more amoral and predatory.  Some - subcultures - of werewolves exist that encourage this behavior.  But you cannot infer someone's membership in such a society merely by observing they have the condition."

"Ghosts are - approximately - disembodied human souls.  They vary more in their abilities and nature than either vampires or werewolves, but typically they are tied to the location of their death, and sometimes its circumstance.  They often have... what might charitably be termed as supernatural anger management issues which drive them to hurt or kill the people they come into contact with.  Some ghosts can be freed by resolving some, as the saying goes, unfinished business, but this is not always possible.  The other option is exorcism, a complex magical ritual that is typically unpleasant for all parties."

"Beyond this, there are demons, who come in too many species to list, but are not found on Earth anywhere near as frequently."

He pauses for questions.

"Are demons supposed to all be evil, too?"

"Some species are more reliably malicious than humans; some subset of those are comparable to vampires.  My understanding is that the ones who aren't typically spend even less time in this dimension than the already-rare malicious demons."

"Does anyone know why some're malicious like that?"

"If they do, they have not informed the Watcher's Council."

"How much do you guys actually do - I don't know, diplomacy? Demonic sociology?"

"Traditionally, the Vampire Slayer specializes in - well, vampires.  The primary purpose of the Watcher's Council is to find and train Slayers and potential Slayers, and accumulate information about entities which are hostile to or otherwise pose a threat to humanity, particularly those best solved by the application of a teenage girl with supernatural strength.  Which is to say, very little."

"Pretty sure 'talking to people' is usually ranked up there on strategies for getting them to not do stuff." She shakes her head. " - Look, if you guys have been - doing whatever - and the world's still trying to end... It sounds like you guys aren't big on the diplomacy thing. Throwing super punches at things can only do so much, you know? Maybe my thing will be getting, I don't know, supernatural embassies established. Get some of the threats helping resolve themselves more."

"...I won't say that the Watcher's Council has done everything right," he says.  "We have made a great many mistakes.  And I won't say that reaching out to nonhostile demon species, or even some hostile ones, is necessarily a bad idea.  But I'm not sure either of us are the best people to do so.  Often the intervention of the Slayer and the Watcher's Council is the reason that the world is merely trying to end instead of already ended.  Being the Slayer... it isn't a position I would put someone in if I had any choice.  But it is extraordinarily important work."

"How does a superpowered teenager in a single part of the world - change anything?"

"You'd be surprised.  The presence of a Slayer anywhere in the world, taking actions visible to the supernatural community, has a quelling effect on the activity of vampires worldwide.  And Sunnydale isn't just any town.  We live on something called a Hellmouth - a confluence of mystical energies which attracts a great deal more supernatural activity than anywhere else in the world."

"I will admit that it is - something of a point of contention among the Watcher's Council - whether it is worth the expense to convey the Slayer to multiple such parts of the world," he says a bit wryly.  "But even if we did, it would likely be for more of the same kind of work - finding and defeating vampires and other evildoers."

"So the Hellmouth means - apocalypses are more likely here?"

"There are many problems it will be important for you to solve that aren't apocalypses, but yes, all of them will be more common on a Hellmouth."

"So embassies and apocalypse solving."

"I continue to insist that our comparative advantage may not be in extending olive branches, but we may be getting ahead of ourselves."

"Maybe. But my comparative advantage might be in wanting to extend olive branches, and being strong enough they'll listen."

"I will keep an eye out for opportunities," he says.  "But - I will be keeping an eye out for many things."

"Lots of eyes to keep open."

"Indeed," Giles says.  "Well, I think we've covered most of the basics.  I should say that I elided over a number of, let us say, miscellanea, in my list of the most likely supernatural threats, but we'll be able to go into more detail in future meetings, after I've produced some corroboration."

"Alright. Any other tools I can use, other than just pointy sticks and my charming personality? Is magic a thing?"

"I will be able to provide you with a crossbow as well, but there are limits to what I can countenance bringing onto school grounds.  Magic is real and usable by humans, but - this is very rarely advisable.  Any but the most cautious and conservative use tends to have physical and psychological repercussions."

"Like what? - And I know not to carry knives around at school, you guys don't have scanners but I'm not dumb."

"I apologize."

"The use and study of magic is a complex field, but in short - even the most benign varieties have a tendency to cause addiction and chronic illness if used frequently."

"So not something to mess with, then."

"Indeed."

"Any other dire warnings for the day?"

"Not today, no."

"Do you want to actually help me get caught up with school work?"

" - ah, yes, that is probably wise."

"Thanks. So, school!"

School!  Giles puts VAMPYR away and sets to work catching Nausicaa up.

She's not a very attentive or clever student but she does try.

Which is ultimately all one can ask.

Kaylee's outside the library just as Nausicaa's finishing up.  "Hey!  How'd it go?"

"Good! I got caught up a good bit." Right here's probably not the best place to tell Kaylee about vampires. Maybe at one of their houses?

"Cool!  You ready to head home?"

"Yeah! Okay if I stay at your place a bit? Not expected back at my place until dinner."

"Sure!  My folks really meant the doors-always-open thing.  And I'd love to have you!"

"Thanks!"

Onwards to Kaylee's?

Onward!

Kaylee's parents are delighted to see Nausicaa again.

Nausicaa's happy to see them, though she seems vaguely worried about something.

"You okay?" Kaylee asks quietly.

"Yeah," Nausicaa says. "Got some stuff to work out - might wanna talk about some of it? I'm fine spending a bit goofing off right now though."

"We can talk, if you want.  - or not."

"I do want to talk? I'm just - not in a rush and don't want to be a mood dampener? Though I don't know, maybe getting it out of the way's good..."

"It's your thing, it's your call."

"Uh. Wouldn't mind going ahead and talking..."

"Head to my room?"

"That works, yeah. Thanks."

She leads Nausicaa up to her room.  It’s robin’s-egg blue, with a cello in one corner and a bean bag draped in blankets nestled up beside the bookshelf.

”Make yourself at home,” she smiles, sitting down on her bed.

Bean bag! Nausicaa will flop. "You play the violin?" Nausicaa asks, who has never bothered looking up the differences between instruments.

(Who's stalling? Not her! Okay maybe her.)

“Cello,” she says. “Violins are the little ones, cellos are the big ones, the really big one is a bass. And then violas are like violins but different.”

"All Greek to me," she says, laughing a bit.

She giggles.  "I spent a looooong time getting violins and violas mixed up.  So, what's up?"

"Uh. So. You know that dude who attacked you like two days ago? Giles claims he was a vampire, and that there's proof - the barbecue fork death thing is more vampires. He's going to get me coroner's reports or whatever."

" - a vampire?  Mr. Giles the librarian?  Told you that vampires are - secretly real?"

"Yeah. He seemed pretty convinced. And it wasn't just - oh hey vampires - there was this whole thing around it."

"A whole thing like...?"

"Demons, and a Watcher's Council, and explanations for why no one's told, and a book, and a - thing for why he was talking to me, he claimed I was some kind of mystically empowered person? Who needs to fight vampires."

"Thats - incredibly weird - "

She rubs her forehead.  "I don't even know what to - are you mystically empowered?  Like, have you noticed?"

"...I think I'm hitting a bit harder? I haven't actually tested... Dreams have been funky..."

"What else did he say you'd be able to do?"

"Uh, sense vampires, more athletic, kind of all around mild physical superhero package - like not superman, maybe more spiderman strength? It didn't sound like I have a lot of cool powers but also he insisted I'd be important to stopping apocalypses."

"Any - I'm sorry, I shouldn't be quizzing you - are you okay?  Do you want me to - come with you, when he shows you the corroboration he said he had, or - just stay away from him, or - ?"

"It's cool! And thanks for the offer. Up to you? He miiiiiight get annoyed I told you, he was all 'this is a spooky serious masquerade'..."

She rubs her forehead again.  "I feel like... I don't even know if I believe it.  I think, if you're gonna go - charging into this - I want to see his stuff too.  And I think I'd like it if someone else were there, like, another teacher - or Tag, maybe.  Just because - it's so out there, and maybe it's true, but if it's not then I don't know what he's... up to."

"So you, me - I don't know any of the teachers, but Tag seems pretty steady?"

"Yeah, let's go with Tag.  Another teacher might..."

She sighs.  "I don't even know what another teacher would do.  - I'm sorry, I feel like I'm panicking more than you, and you're the person this - happened to."

"It's okay. I also learned about this earlier than you? And it's not the first time I've heard about - weird stuff happening."

"It isn't?"

"Nothing on like the scale of Sunnydale but I've heard people claim to have been attacked by someone trying to bite them, or someone whose arm turned a weird color, or someone got dead via suspicious circumstances - and a lot of that I chalked up to 'person who saw the thing was on drugs' but it lines up, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I see what you mean.  That makes me feel a bit better.  I still think I want Tag there though."

"Yeah, I agree."

"Did he say when he'd have the autopsy reports he said he'd get?"

"Uh, I think next time we meet, which I'm not sure we specified?"

She nods.  "We'll wait for him to get in touch.  - What were the explanations for why no one's told?"

"People who try to go public seem to get assassinated by vampires a lot."

"Okay I think I'm panicking again."

"Uh do you want a hug - also I'll protect you Kaylee, I swear that - "

"Um, I'm also kind of worried about the amount of responsibility you're taking on, and saying things like that makes me worry about you more, but - a hug would be nice - "

Hug!

"I don't think it's too much for me," she says, "But - thanks for worrying?"

Hughughug.  " - I mean, it does feel nice to have someone - swear to protect me like that, but - it also feels kind of unfair to you.  Like I shouldn't be letting you put yourself in that much danger on my behalf.  I don't know."

"I get that. We can pester Giles about stuff you can do? I know vampires can't enter homes uninvited - he didn't super clarify what counts as a 'house,' and they catch on fire easy and holy water - or actually what counts as holy water, I bet there's a pagan sect willing to bless random weather events and maybe make one of us a priest - and crosses hurt them, though he didn't say why just crosses. He also thought they couldn't be negotiated with but I'm really not sure of that?"

She nods.  "I think I want to tell my parents.  But only after I've figured out if it's real or not - I don't know what they'd do, I don't know if they'd bother - checking."

"Waiting for - evidence - is good, yeah. I'm... Not sure where to start on my own, honestly, other than like hanging around dark alleys looking for vampires?"

"Taking it as read that he's not lying - Mr. Giles can probably help you with that?"

"I mean, I need to check he's telling the truth, you know? And he's - wanting me to just kill vampires, no effort to talk made."

"Right, of course - I guess I've been dividing it into Mr. Giles is correct and truthful about everything he said and it's all a big - I don't know, cult or scam or something.  And there's probably more possibilities in the middle.  But.  Yeah, if you're going to pursue it... I don't know where you'd start either."

"Honestly hanging around dark alleys might not be bad. If vampires are real - decent chance I'm the Slayer. If they aren't - I'm pretty good at handling myself. Would give me someone on the 'other side' so to speak to talk to."

"Yeah."  She nods.  "Okay, yes, the hypothesis space is expanding, in my head."  She giggles, weakly.

Tighter hug. "We'll figure this out."

Gosh they've been hugging a while.  But it's nice.  "Yeah."

"Do you need anything?  I think I am enough not-having-a-panic-attack now that if you need to talk any of this out with somebody I can try being a sounding board."

She shifts the hug into a sort of sideways lean.

"Dunno. I think - biggest thing bothering me is he insisted vampires and a lot of demons are always hostile? And I'd like - to try and change that, even if it's true now."

"Always hostile?  Like - orcs?"

"Sounded like it. Like... Stereotypical media sociopath kind of - good liars, charming, inherently evil, will play at good and then turn on you but most don't bother playing..."

"Yeah, that sounds... if he were talking about any subset of ordinary humans, I wouldn't even consider it, honestly.  But, if we're already granting that vampires are real, I don't..."

"Yeah, we don't know if - they have free will, or they're really clever, like, monster robots. But... The one I punched seemed to have - emotional reactions to being punched that were human-typical?"

She nods.  "I think - I was too freaked out to remember stuff like that.  ...I think it's worth distinguishing between, are they ordinary people Mr. Giles is prejudiced against, or are they monster-robots, or are they... non-robot people, who are still inevitably evil for some reason.  If I were going to - solve the problem of vampires, whatever the exact details of it are - I think I'd do slightly different things in each case."

"Definitely." Lean. "Glad to have you. Probably would've gone raring off fists raised for a fight-talk by now if left to my own devices."

"I'm still a bit worried about you, but.  You are kind of a - a bad-ass."

"Aw, thanks. I think I'm more scrappy than a badass, honestly..."

"Well, it looks pretty similar from over here."

"I think the difference is whether you get knocked down first. You haven't seen me kissing the pavement yet."

Kaylee rubs her shoulder.  "You seem like you've had - a really rough time of it," she says.

"I mean I guess? Plenty of people've had worse."

"Maybe.  Just - I really can't overstate how serious my parents are about the doors-always-open thing, if you ever need - anything."

"Thanks, Kaylee. It means a lot."

"If I can't pledge to protect you from vampires, I can at least do this for you."

"Bet you'd be the healer in an rpg type thing."

"I do want to be a doctor!"

"I don't know I entirely believe him about magic, either - did I mention that? He said it was addictive and stuff. Maybe you could look into that?"

"I don't think you mentioned that.  I'd have to figure out where to get stuff not filtered by him, but if I can figure that out - I'm good at research.  Honestly, though, my thing with vampires being evil... it sounds so much like something people would be wrong about, you know what I mean?  Given that we believe him about magic existing, I'm more prepared to believe him that it's dangerous."

"Yeah. Magic's dangerous feels more - like obviously?"

She nods.  "Exactly.  But if he's got stuff to study I can definitely study it."

"Thanks. That'll be a huge help - I'm not really book smart at all."

"To complementary skillsets!" she says, raising an imaginary toast.

"To a well-rounded team!" She raises the toast back.

"Clink!"

She makes a rather impressive imitation of a clinking sound! It's still clearly made by human vocal cords, but just barely.

She giggles.  "You're good at that."

"Thanks!" she says in an exact imitation of Kaylee's voice (as she would've heard on a recording).

"Oh wow, that's really cool!"

"Took a while to get good at it, but I'm good at - the class of skills involved in acting?" she says in her own voice. "I can do characters, too."

"Maybe you should enter the talent show."

"Sounds fun!"

She'll let the conversation meander to lighter topics after that - talents and games and what to do for fun - until it's time to go home.

And she goes on another walk, slipping out after dark to lurk around alleyways, listening intently for trouble. 

The streets of Sunnydale are quiet, incandescent yellow-orange under the streetlamps, and the alleys are dark.

She keeps looking - ends up wandering into a park - and hears a scream.

Sounds like a time for her to test her Slayer speed!

...Is there an activation phrase for her superpowers or does she just start running - 

'Just start running' seems to work.

Wow she's fast.

She'll very quickly then come on a sight of a man being tormented by waves of dirt and sand rising from the park's ground. It smells like blood, but there's no injuries on the man - 

Yet.

There is a woman, however, maybe late teens or early twenties, standing at the apex of the sand.

Time to test SUPER FLYING KICK!

"Pick on someone your own size, asshole!" Nausicaa shouts as she launches herself at the sand woman (who looks very demonic and is almost certainly the one controlling the sand, Nausicaa really hopes she didn't get that wrong...).