BSW Cross
AN – Thank you to those who took the time to review the first chapter! I hope the story lives up to expectations and you enjoy this chapter too.
Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or Star Wars
Chapter Two – The Gungun
Dawn sat up warily, looking around at the forest surrounding her with wide eyes. She tried to remember what had happened, difficult with a pounding headache, and she felt incredibly weak. The leaves in the trees rustled soothingly as she closed her eyes and shook her head to try to clear it, only making the problem worse.
"Buffy?" She called, wondering where her sister had gone.
Then it all came crashing back into her memory. Glory, the tower, the creepy man with the knife, Buffy's message, Buffy's jump.
"Buffy!" Dawn cried, frantically now as she stumbled to her feet. "Buffy!" She spun, trying to get her bearings. Everything was cool and green and damp, like nothing she had ever seen in the Californian desert. "Buffy!"
She stumbled forwards a few steps and then saw, between the trees, a flash of a lighter colour. "Buffy?" She ran forwards, foliage tugging at her legs and dragging on her ornate dress as she pushed through. A branch brushed across her side and she hissed with pain, clutching at the cuts made by the strange demon.
"Buffy!" Dawn slumped next to her sister. Buffy was still, so still. She was spread-eagled, face down against the forest floor. Dawn's heart jumped into her mouth as her fingers traced Buffy's neck, finding a pulse she finally let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Gently, Dawn turned her sister over onto her back. Buffy didn't stir, but now Dawn could see that she was at least breathing. There were no obvious injuries, but the slayer was unconscious and showed no signs that she would be waking up anytime soon.
Dawn stood up, taking in her surroundings. No matter which way she turned, there was nothing but forest. "Help!" She cried, her voice sounding feeble in the hush. "Is there anyone out there? Help!" She started taking stumbling steps through the trees. "Help!" In a moment of panic she thought she had gone too far and lost her sister, but no there was Buffy still lying on the ground. Dawn ran back to her, tears streaking down her face now. "Buffy!" She cried again. "Buffy, you have to wake up. We need to get out of here."
Buffy didn't even twitch, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the only sign that she was still alive.
"Please," Dawn begged. "I don't know what to do. Buffy, we're stuck in some woods and I don't know what to do!"
"Whatsa here den?" The strange, gruff voice startled Dawn and she stood up, spinning around to see a figure standing near her, brandishing some form of spear. But it wasn't the weapon that caused her to gasp and stumble back, it was the appearance of the creature.
"Please, please don't hurt us," Dawn begged, crouching protectively over Buffy's prone figure.
"Whysa I hurt yousa?" The figure tilted its head curiously at Dawn. It was tall, far taller than Dawn herself. It looked like some form of frog demon, its skin was a strange purple colour from the back, silver-white in front. It had two arms and two legs but they weren't in proportion, they looked too long for the rest of its body. Its nose was long, kind of like a horse, and it had huge ears that hung down behind its head. Its eyes, which were orange, were perched on top of stalks above its head. It was wearing some form of tunic and trousers, with wrist guards but no shoes.
"B-because you're a demon," Dawn stammered.
"Mesa demon? Whassa demon? Mesa Gungun. Captain Tarpals is mesa name."
"A G-Gungun?"
"Yes, a Gungun." The creature looked at Dawn with confusion. "Yousa not knowing Gungun? Yousa on Naboo."
"What is Naboo?" Dawn asked cautiously. The creature, the Gungun, hadn't shown any sign of eating her but that didn't mean he wasn't trying to lure her into a false sense of security.
"Naboo is a planet."
"Planet?" Dawn's voice came out weaker than she intended. The way he said planet suggested... "There are more than one?"
The Gungun was obviously now very confused. "Isa many lots. Yousa ok? Hitta yousa head?"
"I…" Dawn stood up, swaying slightly. The events of the day were beginning to be a bit too much for her.
Captain Roos Tarpals looked closely at the strange human, who was getting paler every moment. Eventually he made a decision, it was against all common sense but he could almost feel the Living Force whispering to him, pushing him down this path. "Come with mesa, mesa got food and sleep space." He turned to lead her away, back to the small area he'd set up a temporary camp in.
"Wait!" The young human's call caused him to turn back to her. "Buffy, my sister… I can't leave her."
The captain looked at the other figure. He'd first assumed that she had returned to the Force, but now that the first human had drawn his attention to it he could see she too was alive. He sighed, now he had to look after two?
"Okay, yousa walking then." He strode up to the second human female and effortlessly scooped her up into his arms. She was small and light, shouldn't be too much effort for his kaadu to carry although it would be awkward to strap her into place. The first human was trying to keep up, he could hear her footsteps following close behind. Footsteps that faltered to a halt when they approached the clearing where he'd left the kaadu.
"What… is that?"
Roos turned back to her, to see that she'd stopped at the edge of the clearing, a look of shock on her face. She was swaying slightly and he frowned to himself, thinking that he had better get them back to his camp quickly. Really, they both needed healers but it was more than a day's ride back to Otoh Gunga and he only had one kaadu with him.
"Isa kaadu. Is mesa."
"Kaadu?" She repeated weakly and Roos nodded once before rolling his cargo onto the creature. After thinking for a few moments, he used the leg braces to tie her into position. It didn't look comfortable, but she was unlikely to fall off.
"Come," he told the other one as he began leading the kaadu to his campsite. She followed slowly, Roos making sure he didn't go to fast. He noticed she was clutching her sides underneath the strange clothing she was wearing. It was an elaborate outfit and it looked out of place in the forest. Talking of which…
"What yousa do in da forest?"
"I don't know," was the quiet reply. "We were at home, there was a portal, Buffy jumped to close it and then suddenly we were both here. Wherever here is."
"Here isa Naboo."
"I remember you saying," the girl went quiet for a moment. "We're from Earth."
"Earth?" Roos thought hard. "I no knowsa Earth."
There was a dejected sigh from the girl. "It figures."
"But Gungun no goesa much off Naboo. Maybe ask Naboo?"
"The planet?"
"No, Naboo hoomans, other side of da Naboo planet."
The girl looked confused, but they were nearing the camp now. "Mesa no explains well. Wesa goes to Otoh Gunga, aska dere. Firsts, yousa have da sick. Where da hurts?"
"Oh," Dawn looked down at herself, at the tattered dress she was still wearing. "Um, my stomach was cut." She pulled apart the rips and the strange creature looked closely at them.
"Hm," was his only reply, his whisker things wiggling as he thought. He then started rummaging through a bag that was resting against a rock. "Here. Dis a paste good for hurts." Dawn gingerly took the green concoction he was holding out to her. "Put on da hurts." He instructed, gesturing to her cuts. As she was too tired to argue, Dawn smeared some of the goo on her cut stomach almost groaning in relief at the soothing sensation.
"Isa good, no? Healers make good paste."
"Thank you," Dawn cracked a small smile at the Gungun. He was now going over to the other creature where Buffy was strapped on like a sack of potatoes. The image was comical, if only because Buffy would never allow herself to look so undignified in any normal situation. Dawn eyed up the creature warily but it seemed happy enough just to stand in the small clearing. It looked like some kind of dinosaur crossed with an ostrich, stood upright on two legs with a long neck. Its face looked more like a duck than a dinosaur though, with a long bill and a ridge for a nose above it.
Once she was sure the animal wasn't going anywhere, she looked around the small clearing. In the middle there was something that resembled a fire pit, still smouldering. Then at the far side, strung between two trees that were jutting out of a rocky outcrop was a tent of sorts. Underneath it was a bundle of something soft looking, next to a couple of packs. It was to this pile of blankets that the Gungun – Dawn couldn't remember his name – carried Buffy. He lay her down gently.
"Friend is a mucha hurts," he said to Dawn.
"Buffy is my…is my sister." Dawn explained. "I don't know what's wrong with her. But she jumped into an energy portal thing… I thought she was going to die."
"Needsa healers." The creature commented. "Yousa needsa healers too. We goes backs to Otoh Gunga after sleeps."
"Thank you," Dawn murmured, what else could she say? This creature still half terrified her, but he'd been nothing but kind so far. All of Dawn's instincts were saying she could trust him and she didn't really have much choice anyway. He handed her some form of biscuit that didn't taste anywhere near as bad as it looked and gestured towards where Buffy was lying on the blankets.
"Sleeps. Inna da morning, we ride to da city."
Dawn crawled under the cover next to Buffy, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible on the hard ground. The Gungun handed Dawn another blanket to cover them both up with, as he sat down and coaxed the little fire into life.
Dawn was convinced she would never get comfortable enough to sleep, but after the events of last last day – hell, the last six months – she was out like a light as soon as she closed her eyes.
When Dawn woke up the next day her back was agony and she'd rolled out from underneath the blanket. She scrambled back under the cover as she was being dusted with a light rain, pattering off the foliage around her. She peered out but could see no sign of their host from the night before.
Next she checked Buffy. Her sister was still lying in the same position she had been placed in, if it wasn't for the rise and fall of her chest she could be mistaken for being dead. Dawn spent some time just watching her, counting her rhythmical breathing and checking her heart rate, until she was reassured that Buffy wasn't dead but just unconscious still.
By the time Dawn had finished, the Gungun had returned to the clearing. This time he was leading a second of the weird duck dinosaur creatures that Buffy had been carried on the night before.
"Yousa sister wake?"
"Um, no. Is… do you think she'll be ok?" Dawn hated how small her voice sounded, but she was just so worried. Buffy was a ball of hyper energy – even when she was lounging around in sweatpants watching boxsets she was just thrumming with life. Seeing her so unresponsive was horrible.
"Mesa not knows. Healers know in city." The Gungun gestured to the second creature. "Mesa borrow kaadu from da other camp. Wesa can ride."
"Other camp…there are more of you?" Dawn said weakly. The Gungun looked at her curiously again.
"Yes, Gunguns live all over da Naboo. Mesa Captain, doing patrols. Find yousa, hm?"
"Oh yes," Dawn now remembered that he had said he was a captain… or something along those lines anyway. "Um…my name's Dawn. And this is my sister Buffy. We're humans. Well, kind of. She's the Slayer and I'm a key that was made into a human from her about a year ago and then given memories and… never mind." She hastily concluded when she saw the confusion on the face of the Gungun.
"Okay. Well mesa Captain Tarpals. Roos Tarpals. Mesa doing patrols with da others, borrow kaadu for going to Otoh Gunga."
"Ok, great." Dawn looked between the kaadu and Buffy. "How can I help?"
"Yousa sit dere and eats dis." He gave her something again, the same kind of biscuit she'd eaten the night before. "Isa for da patrols, hm? Isa drink dere too."
Dawn took the water gratefully, refuelling herself while Captain Tarpals strapped Buffy onto one of the kaadu again. He then expertly rolled away all the bedding and padded it around her, cushioning her as much as possible.
"Isa long way," he explained to Dawn, checking one final strap. "Now, yousa rides with mesa, hm?"
"What?" Dawn squeaked, hurriedly standing up. "I can't ride that thing!"
"Sure yousa can." Tarpals led the free kaadu over to her. "Isa seat, see? Mesa sits dere, den yousa sits in front."
"No, I mean…I can't get on that! What if I fall off? Or it doesn't like me? Or-"
"Yousa need healers," Tarpals told her impatiently. "Must goes to city. Ride kaadu dere." Without waiting for any further argument, he picked her up around the waist and sat her on top of the kaadu. With a graceful leap he swept up behind her, passing his arms around her to grab the reins. With a shake, the kaadu started moving and Dawn shrieked loudly.
Tarpals ignored her completely, and after a while she began to get used to the loping gate of the two-legged kaadu. She could see Buffy bouncing a lot on the second creature and winced almost every time her head hit the side of the animal. She really hoped that Buffy would forgive her for this when she woke up.
They rode for most of the day, weaving through the trees in vast forests. It was the thing that, finally, convinced Dawn that they were not on Earth anymore. She just couldn't picture anywhere on Earth that would have such vast unbroken wilderness. There weren't even any truck tracks, just the paths that the kaadu ran down.
Eventually, after several long hours that caused Dawn to ache all over and droop wearily in the saddle, Captain Tarpals began to slow the kaadu down. Buffy was still unconscious, draped across the second of the animals. The Gungun had obviously tied her well as she hadn't moved at all.
"Captain Tarpals," came a new voice, causing Dawn to snap her head back up. Ahead of them on the ground, stood two more of the Gungun things. "Why you brought da Naboo?"
"Dey not Naboo," Dawn's new friend informed them tartly. "Hoomans, not Naboo. Lost and hurts. Wesa going to da healers."
The second of the new arrivals looked thoughtful at the moment. "Dey needin healer beds for go to city. Forgar, gettuns healer beds for two."
"Thanking you," Tarpals said as the first of the Gungun strode off. Dawn watched, amazed, as it did an elaborate flip before diving into a large lake that was ahead of them.
"No bes thanking mesa," the other Gungun was saying. "Yousa have to splains to Big Boss."
Dawn didn't miss Tarpals's wince. He was saved from saying anything else by the emergence of two figures from the lake. One was the lanky Gungun who had gone in a moment before, but the second was a squat creature who regarded them all with a professional eye. Following them were two box-like things with transparent domed lids.
"Whassa yousa gots now, Roos?" The shorter Gungun asked in a decidedly female tone. "Yousa bringin dem hoomans with da hurts here?"
Dawn found herself being lifted down from the kaadu, her legs stumbling on contact with the ground after so long riding. She was grabbed and steadied by the short Gungun, who peered at her carefully.
"Yousa did goods, Tarpals. Dese notta Naboo. Needs help. Come, girl," the last few words were said directly to Dawn in a much softer voice. "Wesa puts yousa in da bed for go to city. Is under water and yousa no can breathe."
"My name is Dawn and this is my sister Buffy."
The Gungun nodded. "Mesa Healer Burban, Dawnee. Mesa boss healer. Wesa fixes yousa, okay?" She guided Dawn over to one of the pod things and persuaded Dawn to lie down in it. To Dawn's amazement she could just move right through the domed lid, inside it was comfortable with none of the dampness that was in the air. She could still just about hear what was happening outside the pod, as Healer Burban was berating Captain Tarpals on how he had transported Buffy.
"Shesa hurts and you string her up like bag of kaadu feeds! No ways to treat a lady."
"We needs to get back quick soon," Captain Tarpals was explaining. "Found dem deep in Junga woods, theysa lost and plenty hurts."
"Pfft," it didn't sound as though Captain Tarpals's argument was holding much sway. "I taking dem to the healer rooms now. Yousa follow."
Dawn felt a lurch as the box she was in began to move, she held onto the sides as it rocked gently to and fro. It wasn't much of a movement, but given everything that had happened she gripped onto it for dear life. Then there was a splash, the next moment she was submerged. Reflexively she let out a scream, only to realise that the domed top of the pod was keeping out all the water around her. The water was dark and she couldn't see through it or hear anything at all, so Dawn shut her eyes tightly to try to ignore what was happening.
Eventually the movement stopped and sound came rushing back. Opening her eyes, Dawn found she was looking up at a ceiling that was lit with a golden glow, it seemed to be the top of a sphere.
"Yousa cans come out now," Healer Burban told her. Dawn gingerly sat up, then gasped at her surroundings. It looked like she was in a bubble, curved walls were interlaced with golden support beams all meeting at the ceiling she had been looking at earlier. The floor was tiled and also light in colour and there were a pair of beds arranged around one wall. There was a second entrance into another bubble that was opaque instead of transparent and Dawn thought she could see washing facilities through the entrance. But what took her breath away was the sight outside the room, of tens or maybe hundreds of similar bubbles all lit from within, glowing inside the dark water of the lake. All the bubbles were connected by passageways and corridors made of smaller bubbles but it didn't look built. It looked organic, like it had grown that way. It was like nothing she had ever seen and it was incredible.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, unable to tear her gaze away.
Someone walked up beside her, then Captain Tarpals spoke to her in his gruff voice. "Welcomes to Otoh Gunga."
