Summary: Buffy, Dawn and Willow are transported to the world of Faerun via the Key. There they make several discoveries as they try to find away of returning home. Will they manage to return home of will they make a life for themselves on Faerun?
Pairings: Khalid/Jaheira (most of story with Buffy/Jaheira towards the end)
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy. Wizard of the Coast owns Dungeon's and Dragons, Baldur's Gate and the Forgotten Realms setting of Faerun. Bioware developed the original Baldur's Gate PC game which was released by Interplay in 1998.
Author's Note: To some of you who might remember. This story was started a long time ago and then taken down for a rewrite. I am finally able to say I have done the rewrite and am putting it up once again. This story goes through the end of the first game with a sequel planned that takes place in the second Baldur's Gate game.
The Gift of Baldur's Gate: Bhaalspawn? Who me?
Chapter 1: Candlekeep
Buffy looked out from the tower as the sun began to rise over the horizon. Below her and Dawn a portal formed. She turned and looked at her sister, giving Dawn a sad smile.
Dawn realized what Buffy intended to do, to jump so that she wouldn't have to. "Buffy ... no ..."
"Dawnie ... I have to –"
"NO!"
"Listen to me! There's no time, Dawn, please listen." Buffy said as she pulled Dawn close to her so that she could whisper in her sister's ear. "Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I'll always love you. But this is the work I have to do. Tell Giles I ... I figured it out. And I'm okay. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now – you have to take care of each other. You have to be strong, Dawn. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."
Tears began to fall down Dawn's face as she began to accept the inevitable, the loss of her sister. "I will Buffy, and I love you."
Buffy smiled as she pulled Dawn in to an embrace. She then turned to run towards the end of the platform when the tower gave a rumble and the sisters began sliding forward. Buffy grabbed Dawn and held her close as they fell off the tower and down into the portal disappearing in a flash of white light. At that exact same moment a tendril of energy hit Willow and she too vanished.
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Buffy looked up at her surroundings and realized she was in the middle of a library. She looked to the left and right searching for Dawn. "Dawn?" she called out, knowing her sister had fallen into the portal with her.
A robed man approached Buffy with a puzzled look on his face. "How… how did you manage to get a portal to open through the wards?" he asked quite astonished at what he had just witnessed.
Buffy stood as she looked around the interior of the library still searching for her sister. "I don't even know where here is. Do you see a brunette girl, fourteen going on fifteen?"
"I'm sorry," the man said as he looked around at the other robed men and women, who shook their heads. He extended his hand and helped Buffy to her feet. "I am Gorion, and I am afraid the girl you mention, did not travel with you. And about where you are, you are within the walls of Candlekeep."
Time passed and Buffy was put up at Winthrop's inn and her lodging paid for by Gorion himself. Buffy spent most of her time searching the woods just outside Candlekeep searching for Dawn and coming up empty, the rest of her time was spent either in the library or sparring with one of the guards.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Aquarra walked around the village, much as she did every morning, her mind racing through various things. It was on one of her regular walks that she ran into a strange blonde woman. Her foster father had told her about Buffy, how he had found Buffy inside the library. He never told Aquarra how she had wound up there or where she had come from. But Aquarra knew that it would take a great deal of magic to penetrate the wards. So she wondered how Buffy had gotten there.
She came upon Buffy practicing with one of the guards. She watched as Buffy sparred first with simple fists and later with swords. She was amazed at the skill Buffy displayed. She was definitely a capable sword fighter on par at least with the guard.
Suddenly Aquarra felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to face one of the guards of the keep a man she knew to be Hull Williams. "Miss Aquarra, your father wishes to see you. He currently is waiting on the steps of the library."
Aquarra nodded as she glanced back at Buffy. "Thank you, Hull. I will go see him immediately." She then turned and left the sparring match wishing she could ask Buffy some questions. She quickly made her way to the library and found Gorion there just as Hull had said he would be.
"You wish to see me, father?" She knew she was not Gorion's biological daughter, but more of his foster daughter. But Aquarra had long since come to consider him her father, foster or otherwise.
"I have Aquarra. We must leave Candlekeep tomorrow before nightfall." Gorion said
Aquarra looked at Gorion confused. For as long as she could remember, Gorion had never left Candlekeep. "Why, father?"
Gorion looked at his foster daughter for what seemed like forever before he finally answered, "I believe it wise for us to depart."
"But why?" Aquarra asked again. She knew his answer had not answered why.
Gorion smiled and shook his head, "Finish what errands you need to and pack your things. For tomorrow we leave Candlekeep."
Moments later Aquarra entered the inn and walked over to Winthrop, "Good Afternoon, Winthrop."
"Well hello there, young one! Come to visit your old pal Winthrop, have ye? Well, don't forget the 5,000 gold piece book entrance fee, as per Candlekeep custom, doncha know." Winthrop joked.
Aquarra laughed, while she knew the book entrance fee was required of all visitors, since she lived within Candlekeep with Gorion she knew it did not apply to her either. "You always were the big kidder, Winthrop. That gets funnier nearly every time I hear it. Well, perhaps not quite so often."
Winthrop laughed, "Haw! Just having a bit o' fun with ye, my friend. Them monks may be walking about with poles in their nethers, but you know you are always welcome here in my sight. Gorion did well by you, he did. So is there anything I can do for ya. Some drinks, a room to sleep in, or anything to buy."
"Yeah I need to stock up on supplies; Gorion says were to be taking a trip tomorrow." Aquarra said with a twinge of sadness at the thought of leaving. "I am finishing up some errands first though. Fuller wants a quarrel of crossbow bolts."
"I have a quarrel of crossbow bolts right here. Came in just this morning. Just have Fuller come by later with payment." Winthrop said as he handed the quarrel to Aquarra.
Aquarra was about to respond when she saw Buffy walk up to her and Winthrop.
"Did I hear right your leaving here?" Buffy asked as she looked at Aquarra.
Aquarra nodded, "That's correct."
"I was wondering if I could join you," Buffy said. "I don't know if you know how I arrived or not. But my sister came with me and is of course now missing. I would like someone to travel with who knows the things around here while I search for her."
Aquarra smiled as she looked at the three women. "You can come with me to ask Gorion yourself if you like. I do not know if my foster father would object or not."
"Thank you. By the way my name is Buffy." Buffy said." If you would lead the way we will follow."
"You don't mind if I finish a few errands first, do you?" Aquarra said.
Buffy shook her head. "No I don't mind."
Aquarra led the way out of the Inn and south to just across from where she had watched Buffy sparring earlier. She led Buffy inside the guard barracks and to one of the guards.
The man smiled at Aquarra as she handed him a quarrel of crossbow bolts. "Thanks, kid. I hear tell you might be leaving this place soon. Watch your back out there, okay? Here, let me give you this dagger," he said handing her the dagger in question. "My father killed a hobgoblin with it once, many years ago. Stabbed right in the back, he did. It ain't a broadsword, but it'll do in a pinch. Now take care of yourself."
"Thanks Fuller," Aquarra said as she walked across the room to one of the beds and a chest. She pulled out a bottle of liquid and a sword.
As Aquarra passed Fuller he spoke up, "Before I forget Aquarra. I have a note here for you."
"Thank you Fuller." Aquarra said as she quickly read the note he had handed her. "I will proceed there next." She then walked back to Buffy. "Got a few more errands and then we'll go see father."
"Lead the way." Buffy said as they made their way outside and over to the next building.
Aquarra held up the note that Fuller gave her. "Someone wanted to meet me here. It's not signed so I have no idea who wrote it." She led the Buffy inside where they found a man waiting for them.
"Seems my note did the trick was not sure it would. You're Gorion's little whelp, aren't ya? Yeah you match the description. You don't look so dangerous to me." The man said.
Aquarra looked at Buffy and then at the man, "That I am, do I know you?"
"No, I don't believe you do. I'll not be here long, so it doesn't matter. You'll not be here long either, so it matters even less." The man said.
Buffy frowned as she stepped toward the man. "Look here, I don't know who you are…"
The man looked at Buffy as if sizing her up. "This is none of your affair; I suggest you leave."
Buffy smiled as she unsheathed a sword. "Look I gave you fair warning. This young lady is currently under my protection."
The man shook his head and attacked with none other than a dagger as Buffy moved to defend herself. She quickly and easily dispatched him. She looked down at the man's corpse shaking her head, she had never killed a human before, she was supposed to protect them, not kill them.
"I thank you friend," Aquarra said with a smile. "I am in your debt. I am glad that you decided to follow me on my errands. I might not have been able to escape this man if not for you."
"Think nothing of it. I just wish I could have taken him alive." Buffy said.
Aquarra nodded and quietly searched the body before they left the bunkhouse. Outside Aquarra stopped one of the guards that passed them by, "A man just tried to kill me in the bunkhouse. My friend here saved me from a most gruesome fate."
The guard nodded as he looked at Buffy before turning and heading into the bunkhouse.
"Why did you take that guys stuff?" Buffy asked.
Aquarra blinked as she looked at Buffy. "It is the way of the world. If he had killed us he would have taken our possessions as his own."
Buffy sighed. "It just seems wrong to be stealing from the dead like that."
Aquarra nodded. "I understand."
After leaving the building behind they turned north and headed towards the gate where they met Hull. Aquarra handed him the sword she had taken from the barracks.
"Thanks, kiddo. Gorion didn't bring you up half bad, did he … You're lucky to have grown up here in Candlekeep, to be honest. Sometimes I think the world outside these gates has gone mad, what with all this fighting over iron shortages and all. Amn and Baldur's Gate will be at war before the seasons out, mark my words… Anyhow, I'm on duty. Here's 20 gold pieces for saving my skin from the Chief." Hull said as he handed her the gold coins.
"That was a nice gesture from that guard." Buffy said as they walked on north towards a storehouse.
"Yes, that was a nice reward from Hull." Aquarra said as they approached a short man who stood outside the warehouse.
"I thought I asked you to clean the rats out of this building yesterday, already."
"I will get to it now." Aquarra said as she led the way into the storehouse.
Buffy bent down to grab a rat by the tail and was stopped by Aquarra.
"Best to kill them, we don't know what diseases they might be carrying," Aquarra explained.
Buffy nodded as she unsheathed the sword for the second time that day and started hacking at the rats that she found. She saw Aquarra was doing the same thing.
The short man smiled as Aquarra walked up to him outside. "Ah yes, kill them like the rats they are! A glorious battle unlike any this world has ever seen… Here's 5 gold pieces, don't spend it all in one place."
Buffy shook her head as they walked north passing the temple. "That Hull fellow was more generous than that guy was. You got 20 gold pieces for giving the guard the sword. But only 5 gold pieces for killing the rats."
Aquarra shrugged as they walked up to man standing near his cow and Aquarra handed him the bottle she had taken from the barracks.
"Heh, yer a wonder, you are. Stick with me and we'll go far … Well okay, stick with me and we'd prob'ly never leave the walls of Candlekeep, would we … They say the bandits out there aren't after gold and gems anymore but just plain old iron. It's one of them whatchamacallits, paradoxes or whatever: It's dangerous so you want to wear some good solid plate and carry an axe that would make Tempus jealous but , rather than protectin' ya, it just makes everyone want a piece of ya, right? Given my druthers, I guess I'd rather stay right here…" The man told her.
Aquarra nodded as she led them towards another bunkhouse. Just as she was about to enter Buffy put a hand on her arm. "Do you actually have an errand in there?" Buffy asked.
"Not really." Aquarra said with a shake of her head.
"Then based on what happened earlier. May I suggest we not go in there just to be on the safe side?"
"That might be a good idea. Well then that's it. It is time to go see, Gorion." Aquarra said as she led Buffy towards the library where they met a young woman.
"I'm surprised that stuffy ol' Gorion let you away from your studies or chores. That ol' fiddle faddle. I snuck off too. Winthrop was looking for me, but I have all day to do his chores. You have time for a story today? No, I can tell you don't. What have you been up to?" The young woman said.
"I'm afraid I can't chat today, Imoen. My foster father wants me to prepare for a journey tomorrow, but will not say to where. And Buffy here seeks to go with us, if he will permit it." Aquarra said with a smile.
"A journey, eh? I never get to travel. Wish I could go with ya. Yep, I really wish I could. Yessir. Really do." Imoen said.
Aquarra sighed, "All right all right. I get the message. I will ask if you can go with us."
"Oh don't be silly, Gorion would never even let you finish the sentence. Especially after what that letter of his said… er… did I say that? No, of course I didn't. Never saw no letter. Nope, I'll just get back to work now. You better go. Gorion is waiting." Imoen said as she walked off.
"Quite the babbler, might given a run a friend of mine a run for her money," Buffy said as she thought wistfully of Willow.
As they walked up to the front steps of the library they found Gorion waiting for Aquarra.
"Why hello Ms. Summers. Aquarra why are you accompanying her? Did she ask you for help in research?" Gorion said.
Aquarra shook her head and smiled. "Buffy wishes to go with us."
"You wish to travel with us?" Gorion said turning to Buffy and giving her a look.
Buffy nodded. "Yes I was never for research and without Dawn here I don't think I have the ambition to finish looking. I need to find my sister and once that is done …"
Gorion nodded in understanding. He knew from his dealings with Buffy that she would not leave without Dawn. "And you would like to travel with someone who knows the area. A sensible precaution. I'm afraid where were going…"
Aquarra shook her head as she tried to persuade her father to let Buffy come. "Do this for me father. I owe Buffy. If not for her I would be dead now. We were attacked in one of the bunkhouses."
Gorion sighed. "Very well. It might be a good idea to have some more traveling companions, for protection."
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Aquarra and Buffy found Gorion waiting for them on the steps of the library the next morning. "Have you packed your possessions so we can leave Candlekeep immediately?" Gorion asked Aquarra.
"I am ready." Aquarra said.
Gorion turned to face Buffy, "And you?"
"I have what little I've accumulated." Buffy said as they made their way to the gates at just before dusk.
It was a teary farewell for Aquarra as several of the guards, and the gatewarden, bid her goodbye.
Buffy smiled as she watched the exchange. She was happy that Aquarra was getting a chance to say goodbye to her friends. She herself got that chance, though she held out hope that once she found Dawn and returned to Candlekeep they would find a way of returning home.
As they exited the gates Gorion stopped and turned to Aquarra, "Aquarra should we get separated. You are to proceed to the Friendly Arms Inn. I have friends, Jaheira and Khalid, waiting for us there."
"Of course, father. But why would we be separated?" Aquarra said.
Gorion smiled but did not answer Aquarra's question as he turned to look at the Buffy. "I trust you will stay at her side no matter what happens, at least till Aquarra is safe and you have found your sister?"
"Of course." Buffy agreed.
They walked out of Candlekeep together, "It is likely better to stay off the road. Lest we run into bandits."Gorion said as Buffy nodded in agreement. "I know you have many questions, Aquarra. And as soon as we can find shelter I will explain."
They made it well past highsun of the third day out of Candlekeep, following the wide, well-traveled Coast Way road, before finding their way blocked by a band of cutthroats and armored man.
Buffy drew her sword and waited for the armored man to make the first move.
The armored man looked at Gorion, Buffy and Aquarra and smirked. "You know why I am here. Hand over your ward and no one will be hurt. If you resist it will be a waste of your life."
"You're a fool if you think I will trust your benevolence. Step aside and you and your lackeys will be unhurt." Gorion said.
Buffy glared at the man, her slayer senses telling her things were about get bad, "I'd do what he says if I were you."
The armored man looked to Buffy and laughed. "You do not frighten me, girl."
"You're loss, for you don't know who I am and what I can do." Buffy said.
The armored man decided then was the best moment and attacked them. Gorion looks briefly at Buffy, "Run, take Aquarra to safety."
Buffy frowned, she was torn between staying and helping him or protecting Aquarra as she promised. Finally she grabbed Aquarra's arm and pulled the girl away, who struggled against her intending on staying and helping her foster father.
They concealed themselves as well as they could in the bushes and moved away silently. They fled until Buffy was sure they were far enough away that the armored man or the other cutthroats would not find them. Then they stopped as Aquarra, who knew with all certainty that her foster father lay in that clearly dying or dead, she collapsed into Buffy's arms as she sobbed quietly.
Buffy gently lowered Aquarra to the ground as she held the girl until she had cried herself to sleep.