Dream A Little Dream
Buffy Summers found herself walking in a fog. Her wet prom dress stuck to her legs as she took one step forward, then another. Swish, swish. That was the sound the skirt of her dress made. She made a wrong step and almost slipped. Buffy put out her hand to try to steady herself. Her hand met a cool, wet stone wall. She was in a cave. She had come here to fight the Master. What had happened? Did she win? At least the prophecy didn't come true, she reasoned. Because here she was, still alive, right? Still breathing... for some reason, that thought made her shiver. Buffy shivered. It was cold. She rubbed her goosebump-covered arms, wishing that Angel would show up with one of his leather jackets from his seemingly never-ending supply. Or Xander, with his steady stream of chatter to drown out the rising fear that made her heart pound. Maybe Willow, with her gentle smile and innocent way of thinking that always made Buffy feel like she belonged. Or even Giles, with his fatherly disapproval of the way she operated.
She remembered a room. Or a cavern, actually. Seeing the Master in his tattered finery amid the cobwebbed and broken antique furniture.
And then... nothing. Nothing until she found herself steadily making her way... where? She didn't remember. "Teach me to go battling a master vampire on prom night," Buffy told herself, brightly, pretending not to notice the tremor in her own voice. I got him, didn't I? I would definitely remember *not* getting him, at least, she told herself.
She ignored the thought that came next, the one that asked why wouldn't she *not* remember getting him, and focused on resuming her trek into the unknown. Her eyes caught a flicker of light that appeared ahead of her in the darkness. "Head towards the light, isn't that the deal?" she asked herself, even though that made her stomach churn. She mentally told herself to shut up and focused on the light that steadied and grew brighter ahead of her, as if someone had lit a candle.
Swish. Swish. Her steps drew her closer, even though her Slayer senses were screaming at her that something was amiss. She entered another cavern that was lit up by a row of candles lining the walls. In the middle of the cave sitting on a red velvet lounge chair (though wondering what a lounge chair was doing in the middle of a cave didn't even register in Buffy's mind), was a young woman. Faith smiled at her invitingly. "Hiya, B," she greeted.
Buffy immediately forgot the cold, the Master, even the fact that, and if the timeline was correct, Faith shouldn't even be in Sunnydale yet. She felt herself go into a ready stance. "W-wait. You're..."
"In a coma?" Faith uncrossed her legs and stood. She was wearing a black catsuit that Buffy had never seen her wear before, but it looked like something Faith would wear. It showed off her figure without inhibiting her movement. She resembled a panther.
Faith approached Buffy calmly, with no sign that she felt the other Slayer was a threat. The candlelight cast shadows across her face, sufficiently masking whatever she was feeling. "That's right, B. I'm no longer of the waking world."
Buffy frowned, letting down her guard. "Then... this is just..."
"A dream." Faith finished for her, standing in front of Buffy. "Another special dream. Starring me."
Buffy took an involuntary step back. Faith laughed. A real laugh, of old, not the mocking laugh that she had taken to in the end, after she had thrown in her lot with the mayor. "No, not a prophecy dream, exactly. And this ain't no revenge plot either."
Buffy gave her a distrustful look. "Then what is it?" she asked warily.
"Call it... a test." Faith smiled at her enigmatically. The candles blew out as a strange wind picked up.
********
"Faith?" Buffy called out, reaching to where the other girl had been moments before. Her hand met--- ---a tree branch.
The fog finally cleared. Faith was now standing beside her. They were not in the cave anymore, but now in a clearing located in an unfamiliar forest. Surrounding the clearing here pole torches that blazed light into the area. Faith gave Buffy another grin and fully entered the clearing. After a moment's hesitation, Buffy followed her.
"Buff, lighten up." Then she gave Buffy the once-over. "On second thought, I'd be freaked too. You can't do this in *that*." She snapped her fingers and Buffy found herself dry, now wearing her standard slayage attire, a pair of sweatpants and a sports shirt with a jacket over top, with her hair pulled in a loose ponytail. She was combat ready.
"So, what? Do we fight now or something? Is this one of those 'there can be only one' scenarios?" Buffy crouched into a cat stance, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet as she waited for the battle to begin.
Faith shook her head, clearly amused. "Relax, B. This ain't what you think."
"Why don't you give the Watcher's Council a message for me, then? You know, remind them I'm not their girl anymore. I *quit*." She raised her eyebrow at Faith. "And since when did you become 'gopher girl' for the council? I thought you were done with them, too." Then she mentally twisted the knife. "Then again, since you're pretty good at that changing sides thing, did you decide to rejoin the *human* race?" She prepared herself for the attack that was sure to come.
Instead of getting angry, though, Faith actually looked disappointed in Buffy. "I'm the emissary." she told her.
Buffy was starting to get angry. "Look, I don't care if you *are* the, whatever! I'm not taking another damned test!" Buffy was ticked off enough that she didn't care if Faith was going to fight back or not, Buffy needed to vent, and there was a capable punching bag person in front of her. "I put my life on the line every night, and it's not enough for them! They keep throwing test after test, because, hey, if I failed one they could just try again with the runner up!" Buffy swung her fist at Faith, who blocked. Frustrated, Buffy tried to find an opening in Faith's defenses, wanting just one punch in. But none of her blows connected. Faith just kept blocking in that calm manner she had. "No matter what! The people I love be damned for all they care! Just as long as I'm in peak slaying condition, or dead!" She tried to fake Faith out, but it was as if the other girl was reading her mind.
"The *Council*'," Faith answered, with something like pity, "is all politics. They're too caught up in their rules to get the real deal. They don't know what it's like to be one of us."
"Damn right!" Buffy swept her foot out, trying to trip Faith up. Faith just jumped over it and back-flipped out of the roundhouse kick Buffy threw at her.
"They may try to train us, they may even help us kill the demons and the vamps, but they'll never understand what it is to be the Slayer."
"Then why are you doing this?" Buffy asked, giving up her anger for the time being. She leaned on her knees and tried to slow her adrenaline pumped heart rate as she contemplated the other Slayer, who hadn't even broken a sweat.
So far, this dream really sucks.
"Are you done yet? 'Cuz I really wanna get this done before you wake up." Faith crossed her arms and stared at Buffy with a hint of her old sarcasm. Buffy nodded reluctantly. "Good, because, Slayer..." she indicated the clearing with one hand. "I never said I was sent by the Council. I was sent by *them*." "*Them*?" Buffy asked, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked around and saw that a crowd of young women had surrounded the clearing. "Who..." her face trailed off as she saw a face in the crowd that she recognized.
The girl stepped forward. "That is right, Buffy. We are not of the Council. They may be our teachers, but they are not like us. They don't know the life of the Slayer." Kendra looked the way she had when Buffy had first met her, right down to her favorite shirt, which had been torn in a fight with Spike and Drusilla.
"Pink Ranger," Buffy whispered, her eyes filling. She hadn't really realized how badly the death of Kendra had actually affected her until she saw her, or her ghost. She looked at first Kendra, then Faith, in confusion. "What?"
"Welcome to the Slayer Training Ground, B." Faith told her.
"Slayer Training Ground?"
"The *real* training ground. This is where you learn the good stuff." Faith walked over to a large stone chest that stood in the middle of the clearing. Buffy followed her, sensing Kendra behind her. Faith opened the chest and took out a dagger. It looked familiar, but Buffy couldn't remember where she had seen it before. It looked dark, as if something was on the blade. Buffy dismissed the nagging thought in her mind that the blade was important and looked into the chest. There was a vast array of weapons inside. "All the weapons of the Slayer." Faith told her.
"Why do we need weapons?" Buffy asked.
"Getting there." Faith answered.
"Sorry." Buffy felt chastened.
"You see, Buff, you've survived as the Slayer for a long time. Longer than most, really. You've killed a lot of the undead. Once you've reached a certain point, you get to enjoy the perks. One of which is this." She indicated the clearing again.
"And this is?" Buffy was getting a little tired of the dream version of Faith fast. She sort of even missed the comfortableness of fighting with her.
Faith looked at Kendra to explain. "We train you, Buffy." Kendra told her. "You will be taught the knowledge of the past Slayers."
Buffy tried to digest this information. "I get to train with all the Slayers in my dreams?" That was sort of cool. Giles had gotten a little too easy to beat lately. She needed someone challenging to practice with, even if it was only in her dreams.
"Pretty cool stuff, huh, B.?" Faith asked, getting Buffy's attention. She tossed Buffy the dagger she held in her hand. Buffy reached out to catch it...
To be continued... ********************************************************
Okay, I have to do this in two parts, because my notepad won't hold all of it on one part. Next part... I reveal what I think Faith feels for Buffy, really, and I put the guy every girl has experienced in her life, Parker Abrhams. I myself got Parkered not too long ago (say, three weeks ago), and I thought Buffy might need a little satisfaction of closure there., but anyway, tell me what you think!
