Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG-13
Summary: He may be only a cat, but he will still save his world!
Challenge: XDisneyDreamers LJ comm's weekly challenge
Warnings: Het, AU, Crossover, Drug Use
Word Count: 2,088
Timeline: This story happens after the start of the series.
Date Written: 12 July, 2010
Disclaimer: Salem Saberhagen, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Black Pearl, and Pirates of the Caribbean are & TM Disney, not the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Lorne, Lex Luthor, Faith, Dawson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, Dawson's Creek, and all other recognizable characters and fandoms are & TM their respective owners, not the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Crystal Frost and her animals are & TM Pirate Turner and may not be used in any way, shape, or form without express, written permission. The Love on the High Seas series is & TM Pirates Sparrow, also known as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Turner and may not be used without permission. Everything else are & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Salem sighed and hung his head. Sometimes, the expectations the world placed upon his small, furry shoulders were just too much. He had never asked to be the savior of his people, and although he loved them, there were times, like now, when he just wanted to escape from them and hide away from all the prying eyes who expected him to save them.
He had never knowingly asked to have such responsibilities, but he had seen the pains and trials his people were put through and had risen to the task of trying to form a better world for them all. He had risen, because he was tired of the brutality, heartache, and innocent deaths. He had felt the sting of prejudice and hatred himself. He knew what it was like to be blamed for a crime of which you were innocent and to be feared for simply being different.
He had felt those pains almost his entire life growing up and had grown exhausted centuries ago of watching his people be tortured, hanged, drowned, and even ripped apart and slaughtered like wild beasts by the lowly mortals with which they were forced to share their world. They had had their own world once, but too many mortals had discovered their secrets until their world, too, was opened to them and riddled with pain.
It was the humans who forced the unicorns and dragons to pretend to be extinct, who shunned away the Little People and killed the Vampires and Weres until they all sought to simply hide away and spread the lies that they were only make believe. It was their own people even more so than the humans, Salem reflected, who spread the legends of truth as though they were mere stories out of the belief that the humans would not fear what they thought not to exist. Once, only a few decades ago, it had been common knowledge that they all existed, from the most powerful Sorcerer down to the tiniest talking mouse, and yet now, more and more of the mortals stopped believing every day.
Salem's tail swished. He didn't want to be forgotten about. He had not known the trials, heavy tribulations, and heartaches for which he had been asking when he had first raised up against the mortals and rescued his first clan of Witches, but he wouldn't turn back now for anything. His people needed him. All their lives had been falling apart at the shreds until he had come into their worlds, and he had helped each and every one of them to sew those threads back together and believe in a better world for them all. For some, he had already managed to make the world much brighter, but he had lost others along the way whom he could never get back. He remembered each of their faces as he kneaded the sheets beneath his black paws, and each of their deaths. He had done everything he could to save them but, in the end, had failed time and again.
But he would not fail them all. Even now, his people were growing amongst them again. He had reunited Sean and Emma, saving them both from their own personal Hells; had saved Faith when she hadn't even realized she'd needed saving and was, in fact, a mere mortal herself; had rescued many others; and given back the hope that had been stolen away to countless more souls. His people needed him, and though it was a lot for a little cat like himself to accept and with which to contend, Salem, now that he was freed from the Spellman curse, would never cease being there for his people.
He would be there for them, he vowed his long tail swishing mightily, throughout it all. He would see them through to the day he had promised them. He might not be anywhere near as strong and powerful as he had been once. He might only be a little cat now, but he would still save his people. He just wouldn't do it alone.
He was limited now, as much as he hated to admit it. He no longer had his magick or the strength of his human body, but he still had his heart. That heart had always been the biggest thing about him, even if he'd never admit the truth aloud, and it was big enough to hold his whole world within it. He would save his people! Being transformed into a cat had just set him back, but it would still happen. They would still win. He would still procure their freedom for them.
There was just some days, he admitted, curling into the sheets and beginning to milk, that he really needed to take off and hide from all of the expectations that his people placed upon them. He understood they needed him, recognized and accepted the reasons why, but he was still just a cat and needed to . . . To breathe, he thought when the word would not come. He needed to breathe in open spaces, close his eyes, and relax. He needed to forget about their expectations and just let himself be a cat. He needed some time just to breathe and be calm and one with his nature and current identity.
That was why he had hidden down here when the fighting had started above deck. It was just another conquest of a whaling ship, and he had very little need to be involved in this particular battle. His people were upon the heartless humans who had been murdering innocent animals and making a profit off of it. It was an open and shut case. He knew they'd win and, being a cat, he could do little to help the fight other than just get in the way. His furry lips twitched up into a grin. Of course, if he'd been riding Faith's shoulders as he normally did, he would not have been in the way or have become a risk, but he just needed some down time to hide away and recuperate from the stressful toll being his people's leader sometimes took upon his small and furry body.
His eyes turned backwards and then forwards again as he realized that the sounds of the battle had hushed. The smell of blood was still heavy in the air, but it had been since they had come into these waters from all the whales that had been slaughtered for a mere dubloon. Now, at least, the scents of mortal death mixed in with the animals' blood. They had won, Salem thought approvingly as his tail continued to swish through the air, just as he'd known they would and knew they would against the human population at large.
They would rise up. He would collect together all of their innocent people, and together, they would form a world far larger than the magickal world. If only the humans had left them alone, they might have been content to stay in their own realm, but with the humans continuously slipping into their world and catching their people in the world in which they had originally been born and torturing, maiming, and killing them, there was no other choice left to them. To live the lives they deserved, to ever truly be free and safe in either world, Salem was going to have to take control of both of their worlds.
And he would, he thought with a loud purr. He would take them all down, and his people would rise above them all. Being made into a cat was only a temporary setback, and when the time came, he would come to the front again and rule with a peaceful and loving paw above all.
In the mean time, it had never hurt a guy to get some rest. His green eyes started to drift close but then snapped back open when the door to the bedchamber he shared with Dawson and Faith was slapped open. He shut one eye and raised his other to look at the excited girl. She was covered with blood, dirt, and sweat, and his nose crinkled as he thought he spied a piece of entrails on her upper arm. He still had a lot of work to do with this one, but she'd certainly come a long way since he had first met her. It was because of him, he knew, though neither of them would ever admit it, that she'd finally opened herself up to love and their family and friends.
"We did it!" Faith announced victoriously, tossing a bag of gold pieces down onto their bed. Then she cocked her head to one side in a habit she'd inherited from him and peered more closely at him. "What's wrong?"
His ebony shoulders rippled in his feline version of a shrug. His tail cut through the air. "Nothing," he lied, knowing she'd know better and understand all that he did not say. "Why?" He arched the ridge over his open eye. "Can't a guy take a catnap?" He yawned.
"Sure," she said, still grinning and bounced into the bed with him, "but a nap's always better taken with two. You taught me that." She fondly scratched his furry head and then pulled another pouch out of her vest. She opened the pouch, and they both sighed in delight as the scent of its containments spread across the room. "Just like you showed me what this is good for," she added, taking some of the leaves out and sprinkling them across them both.
He rolled across the leaves, inhaling the catnip and sighing as his mood improved. She took him into her arms and petted him as he slowly dozed off.
Hours later, Dawson opened their door to find them both asleep. He smiled wearily. He would have been back with his family sooner but had gotten called away on kitchen duty helping Piper, Lorne, Crystal, and Chong. He enjoyed helping his newfound family and tasting all the delights of their creative cooking, but when Faith had not shown up for supper, he'd known something was wrong. He had met the looks from her brothers, Captain Jack, Hansel, and Lex; gulped down his food; and carried a plate of food that had been fixed especially for Faith and Salem to the two missing parts of their family.
Now he set that plate down on their dresser, slipped out of his boots, and blew out their lantern. He need not wake either to know what had brought them to sleep. He'd heard the whispers that it was the anniversary of the trial that had ended with Salem being cursed as a cat and knew, from the catnip scattered on their bed, that Faith and Salem had found an understanding to ease his pain. His beloved Faith was always beautiful, and yet she looked so peaceful with Salem, nestled cozily and peacefully smiling, in her arms that Dawson found her even more beautiful than ever before.
His heartbeat quickened at the sight, but he would not wake her. Instead he crawled into bed behind her and took them both into his loving arms. His head nuzzled into her shoulder, and she woke just long enough to kiss him gently before falling back to sleep. Salem's ears twitched as Dawson's soft snores soon joined Faith's. His green eyes opened, and he peered out at the darkness. His world had once been every bit as dark as their cabin now was, but then he had awakened to the realization of his people's pains and the fact that somebody had to do something to save them lest all they all perish at the blind prejudice, harsh and foolish fear, and heartless anger of the humans.
Rather cat or Wizard, he thought, he was still the man for the job. His world had been dark once, but now it was lit again with the golden love of his people, of his family and friends. He would save them all! When the time came right, he would rule and give them all the safe and happy world, free of prejudice, heartache, and pain, that they deserved, but for now . . . For now, he thought, his tail swishing joyously, he was just a cat happy with his family. He closed his eyes and purred until he fell asleep, and long into the night and the coming day, the trio held each other as they slept.
The End