Chapter 10
Dreaming
Disclaimer:I own nothing. All Buffy-related material belongs to Joss Whedon and all Naruto-related material is owned by Kishimoto.
Warning: Mentions of near Super!Buffyness. Slice of life and all the inane things we face in life. Stories are based on Canon, but are changed to better integrate Buffy. Slightly skewed timeline in Naruto-verse - if events and people don't match up, make a note and comment. All questions, comments and concerns can be addressed in the review section.
"Move ladies, move! They've found us," Buffy exclaimed, keeping her senses on high alert for signs of the incoming wave of demons. She could feel them as clear as day - bathed in the blood of their enemies, Slayer Blood, and they were back for more. No matter where they ran, where they hid, Evil would find them - seek them out. It always did.
They had at most half an hour before the outside perimeter was breached. She shivered. "Forget your bags ladies, there isn't enough time - they won't do you any good if you're dead. Wills, any minute now with that teleportation spell would be nice."
Head Slayer and White Witch stood in a sea of chaos. A stampede of newly called slayers ran to and fro, arming themselves for the oncoming battle that was sure to come. It always did.
"There just isn't enough time, if rushed, a spell of this magnitude could send us to Goddess knows where. W-w-e just can't risk it! The Coven Witches are still recovering from the last bout, they're just not strong enough. Not to mention the Magicks of the Earth have waned since the Rising. We can't risk it. We have to find another wa-"
"There isn't another way," Buffy interrupted. "Either we leave, or we die. You got ten minutes, make it happen."
"Way to put pressure on a girl - really channeling your inner general. O-o-f course, that's not to say you haven't been a general all this time, because you have. You've been a great general. You-" Buffy covered the Witch's mouth with the palm of her hand, successfully cutting short the nervous babble that was to come.
"Teleportation spell now, babble later when we don't have a horde of demons breathing down our necks." Buffy smiled - they had faced so much together, all the pain, the bloodshed, it still couldn't keep them down. Willow's babble-fest was living testament to that. "I trust you. We all do. Let's do this."
At her own words, Buffy made a cursory glance around at her slayers. They were children, all of them. Some were even younger than she was when she had been first called. They had barely gotten the chance to live their lives - to experience what life had to even offer them - but here they were, fighting to keep it.
It had all been her fault. She bit back the tears. There was no use crying - generals didn't cry. They led their troops into battle knowing some wouldn't survive and they lived with that guilt for the rest of their lives. She was responsible for them now - no matter how short a time it may be, she was responsible. She couldn't cry.
"Common Wills, I know you can get us out."
Eyes narrowed, lips pursed and nostrils flaring, Willow gave her friend a determined nod before racing towards her Sister Witches. It was time to get the hell out of dodge. Linking hands, the Witches began to chant, beseeching Mother Earth to give what she could spare.
She answered.
Light danced around the witches as they were filled with Magick, Willow's hair burning white as she was filled with the Earth's life force - speaking of her mastery over the Art. The spell circle glowed with power.
Buffy watched it all, taking it as a good sign but she was needed elsewhere.
"Faith! You're with me - we got an invasion to head off," Buffy barked, her words echoing out into the campsite. "Everyone else, form a perimeter around the Witches, they die, we all die."
"Sure ain't sugarcoating it huh, B?" Faith's husky voice was unmistakable, and by her tone, Buffy could tell she was amused. "No more pep talks?" Even without facing her Sister Slayer, Buffy could practically hearthe smirk.
"I haven't felt peppy in while, ya know? But when I do, you'll be like, the first to hear it, like, totally!" Her voice was bright and joyful. The words were wrong coming from her lips - they belonged to a girl who knew no pain, no suffering, no burdens. It was the voice of a girl that had long since died.
"Damn B, gimme a second, I think my ears are bleeding," Faith teased back, her face scrunched up as she made a spectacle of it, going as far as rubbing her ears to emphasize her point. It was moments of levity like these that kept Buffy's mind from going to that bad place. Kept it from dwelling on all her failures, kept her spirit strong, kept her willing to fight. She was sure insanity would have set in a long time ago without them.
Words eventually died out and all that was left was silence. It wasn't stifling or awkward, it was silence born of trust and friendship. Born from battles fought and won side by side. They were comfortable with each other.
"B," Faith whispered, her right hand tightening around the hilt of her sword. Her stance all but screamed predator.
"They're here," Buffy replied. No sooner had she spoken, she was forced to dodge as the initial wave of Turok-Han arrived, making a swipe for her vulnerable belly with their crudely made scimitars.
The Wards had been shattered.
"Don't break formation! Keep the Witches safe! Let them work their mojo!" Buffy screamed as she beheaded the aged vampire before her, dust flying every which way.
They were everywhere. It was the closing of the Hellmouth all over again but this time, there was no magical amulet to save them. Glancing towards the younger slayers, she found them holding their own against the uber vamps, leaving her back unprotected for but a second.
Seeing The Slayer vulnerable, the Turok-Han rushed forward. Their fangs bared and swords drawn high, they were practically salivating at the sight of their next meal only to be met with magically enhanced blade that cut through their protective armor like butter.
They were instantly dusted, scattered by the howling winds. Turning around, Buffy was met with a smirking Faith, a sheen of sweat covered her youthful appearance but looking no less worse for wear.
"Keep your head in the game B, I can't always be there saving your ass!" Faith yelled before breaking out into laughter as she jumped back into battle, slicing and dicing her way through enemy ranks with an ever permanent smirk painted on her lips.
Buffy swore the girl was mental - too many blows to the head no doubt. They were fighting for their lives and there she was getting an adrenaline high but that was what made Faith, Faith. There was no changing it. She wouldn't have anyone else covering her back.
Buffy definitely pitied Robin at that moment though - Faith would no doubt wear the guy out after the heat of battle had ended. Putting thoughts of Faith during one of her double H moods aside, Buffy joined the mayhem.
Scythe singing with the song of battle, she sliced clean through the nearest Turok-Han - it reminded her of Caleb and how he did the splits. It was one of her better memories.
Buffy danced a dance of Death. Her body exuding boneless grace as she weaved in and out of range of crudely forged scimitars and fangs that wished for nothing more than a chance of spilling Slayer Blood, leaving a trail of fine dust in her wake. This was what slayers were made to do - seek and destroy traces of Evil, wherever it was felt and they were damn good at it too.
Seeing their brethren so easily defeated at the hands of the diminutive blonde, the Turok-Han stopped advancing, circling her instead, hissing their battle song into the night air. They were waiting for a chance to strike. For a weakness.
It was during that short respite that Buffy felt it, the waning life force of her Sister Slayer - Faith was in trouble - but the uber vamps felt it too, they could smell it in the air currents. Blood was spilled.
The age old vampires converged, their scimitars glinting wickedly under the full moon as they were brought down on top of The Slayer's head, only to be stopped in their tracks by the Scythe's bladed edge. They were strong, Buffy could give them that.
She was being pushed to the ground, her legs straining under the force of their combined strength as their blades closed in on her sweat slicked neck. They were getting smarter, but they were still stupid.
That was all she needed. The Slayer gave way in their impromptu battle of strength, using it against them.
Buffy went boneless, dropping onto the ground in a heap. With no resistance challenging them, the Turok-Han's momentum sent them sailing forward, their shocked cries ringing into the night - their balance was lost. Gathering strength into her legs, the Buffy kicked up, pushing with all her mystically endowed might, sending the ancestral vampires sailing through the air.
With that obstacle cleared, Head Slayer ran as fast as her lithe form would allow towards her fallen Sister, her muscles straining against the action, only to freeze at the scene unfolding.
There, on the ground, clutching her side as life blood seeped all around her was Faith - strong willed Faith that never gave in to anyone. Faith that kicked ass and never bothered asking for names. Even when Buffy had stabbed her all those years ago, her Sister Slayer still had the strength to escape.
Looking at her now, Buffy couldn't contain the sob that was wrenched from her - Faith was broken. Her cries alerted the Turok-Han to her presence and finally noticing her, they gave a feral grin and raised their blades.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Her muscles burned as she pushed off from the cold hard ground - her whole body in motion, her hair a living halo of gold. The Turok-Han in her way were instantly decapitated, they never stood a chance.
The blade inched closer.
But try as she might, they kept coming. They were like ants - kill one, a hundred followed. They knew her aim, her target and they stood before her like a roadblock. But she could no longer think rationally, she was on pure instinct.
She could sense their intent, their foul stench before they even crossed her path and she met them all - a shower of dust rained, glittering like diamonds in the night sky. She was so close, so close but the blade grew ever closer to the dark slayer's still beating heart.
The Scythe flew, it all but sang its dominion over all things dark and dangerous to the existence of man but even for all its powers, it could not bring back the dead. Could not resurrect the Fallen.
Faith eyes stared unseeing into the night sky - a lone Turok-Han's blade embedded into her heart. Buffy collapsed over the rapidly cooling body of her Sister Slayer as the Slayer Essence returned from whence it came. She would never forget the Invasion of Body and Soul, no matter how many times it happened. The ancestral vampires stood at a distance, not daring to take a single step forward.
Hands reached for the Head Slayer's shoulders, giving her a phantom embrace. "Ya failed, Buffy, I'm dead," the voice practically cooed. Buffy immediately jumped back, retrieving the Scythe from the tree trunk as she stood guard over Faith's body.
"You're not her," The Slayer hissed.
"But I am, B. Her hopes. Her dreams - everything that shaped her, made her who she was. I know it all," the figure smirked. "Did ya know I always looked to you as a sister? My own family was in shambles, but the last couple years, ya really made me feel like family." It wore her sister's face, had claim over memories that were not its own but it wasn't her. It wasn't Faith. Buffy knew - it was the First Evil. It had returned for another round.
Buffy stayed silent in the face of her sister's murderer. She had to buy time, there was no other option. Faith's death would not be in vain. She just needed more time.
"No snappy comeback B? Cat finally got yer tongue? Where's all that wit and charm?" The First asked, cocking her hips in Faith-like fashion, her hair falling into her pitch black eyes. The Turok-Han were getting impatient, their hissing grew louder with every second that passed.
"Quiet boys, can'tcha see us girls talking?" The tone was playful, but the Turok-Han immediately stilled - in their haste for Slayer Blood, they had forgotten their Master. The First was not one to forgive and forget. They knew their place. "Now that's better. It's hard to find good help these days, right B?"
"Considering your help consists of barely functioning corpses, yeah, I can see the frustration," Buffy replied, rolling her eyes. The more she talked, the more time the others had. "I would volunteer, but seeing as I'm The Slayer, don't think that's in my job description. You know, suppose to be kicking demon ass and all that, not helping with the killing and the maiming. Doesn't look good on the resume."
The First's eyes shined with mirth - it was amused. Walking towards the Slayer, it leaned down, whispering into her ear, "Funny B, funny. Don't think I don't know what'cha doing. I'm Faith, 'member? And I got news for ya, it wasn't ever about your friends. No, it was you. It was always you. Get her boys!"
The Turok-Han were on her in an instant, their sheer number overwhelming. No matter how many she cut down, how many she slew, more appeared. She didn't know how long she fought them off, didn't know how long she had withstood the blows that rained on her petite frame but before she knew it, pain blossomed in her chest. Reaching up, she felt the slick feel of blood running through her fingers. Taking a step back, she slipped in a pool of her own blood.
Knowing the inevitable would come, she waited with open eyes and wasn't disappointed. The vampires latched onto her, lapping at her cuts, before creating fresh ones. They traced their fangs all along her exposed body, taking what they wanted.
Laying on the ground, Buffy could feel the vibrations - could feel them before they even came. She knew it had not ended, it never truly would. They were as feared as they were worshipped for their power over the natural world. They were Gods of the Old Age. They had once ruled the Earth, but were sealed away by the hands of the Original but things had changed.
The Old Ones returned.
Buffy stared into the stolen eyes of her Sister Slayer as the First stretched Faith's lips into a mockery of a smile. "Told ya' B, it was always about you. Always. You."
All around her, her remaining allies screamed her name.
"Buffy! Get up! Buffy! Hurry!"
They screamed for the impossible.
"Buffy! Buffy! Buffy!"
They screamed for her to act, for her to rise up and fight against the Darkness once more. They chanted her name like a mantra.
"Obasan! Wake up! Please."
"Buffy-obasan!"
She woke.
To Be Continued
A/N: School has officially been kicking my rear end for the past few months, I'm not even sure why I chose to double major anymore. I have about two chapters that I've written left to release. Once the semester ends, I should hopefully be back into writing mode.
