Fic: Souls, Slayers... and a Scythe???
Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: Set two weeks after the events in Explaining Africa 3
Authors Notes: I have no clue about Africa. Which is probably always a good place to start writing a story. So if details I've used for place names, and tribal names and whatever are wrong then just (correctly) assume I have no idea what I'm doing.
Rating: 15 by English standards (mainly for language)
========================
Chapter 3b:
Roger watched as Xander continued to pace in front of the entrance to the tent. "I don't fucking believe this!! Spike??? Spike??? Fucking Spike???"
Roger carefully eyed the guards surrounding them. There were more of them now. When Roger had first exited the tent there had only been one. But Xander's state had caused him to signal for some others. They now had six extremely scary looking warriors all focusing on Xander.
Shote had quickly gone to the first guard and tried to explain the situation.
'They probably think he wants access to the demon.' Unfortunately before he could stop himself, he found himself glancing over towards the cave entrance to the demon. Immediately a large man was standing practically on his toes. "Jesus." Roger said, 'Where the hell did he come from?'
He looked over at where Amy was trying to interrupt Roger. "Tell him we don't want to see the demon."
"I have."
"So what's the problem?"
"They don't believe me."
'And that,' Roger thought to himself, 'is quite a major problem.'
Amy left Roger's side and moved closer to Xander. Holding her hands up, she approached him slowly. "Xander. You need to calm down. They're getting restless." She quickly glanced over at Roger, seeing his 'bodyguard' she added. "And I'm not even sure what you managed to do, but stop it."
Xander finally looked up. Roger watched as Xander took in Amy's pose. Suddenly he looked really guilty. "Aim... Aim... It's okay... I'm calm." Turning to face the others, he held his hands up. "I'm calm." Seeing no recognition on their faces and no movement to stand down, he added "Shote, tell them I'm calm."
Shote turned to xander, "They would be grateful if we could get dressed and leave now."
Xander sighed, Roger thought looked defeated. "Sure."
They made the way to the changing tent as Roger had come to think of it. Amy went in first, once she was done all three of the men went in together. 'No ceremonial order now we're being kicked off their beach, I see.'
=====
As they weren't sure how long they'd have been staying for, Shote had booked them all rooms above a local pub. Amy was very glad he had, 'There's no way I could have coped with travelling back today.' she reasoned.
Shote parked the jeep in the street outside. As they all entered, they each went their seperate ways; Xander went towards the restroom, Shote and Roger headed for the bar, and Amy began to climb the stairs with her back pack.
Finding her room, she quickly washed herself in the basin and got changed. She had rested on the bed for barely five minutes when there was a knock on the door.
Without any intention of getting up, she lifted the pillow of her face and responded. "Yes?"
"Aim... it's me. Can I come in?"
'Xander.' "Sure."
Amy watched as Xander entered the room looking a little sheepish. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to check you're alright."
'Now I'm confused.' "Me? I'm fine... why wouldn't I be?"
He sat down in a chair next to her bed. "It's just... I didn't... I'm sorry about earlier."
"Earlier."
"Short tempers come in the Harris family gene pool. I shouldn't have let it get to me."
"Xander..." she paused, "It's fine."
At this look, she realised he might need something more. Sitting up she took his hand in both of hers. "I wasn't worried about you." Maintaining eye contact she continued, "I never for one moment thought you were going to hurt me."
He still looked doubtful. "Honestly I didn't..." adopting a slight teasing tone, "I thought you could have timed it better so that it didn't happen in front of twenty people willing to kill us but..." she grinned at him.
He smiled back. Matching his tone to hers, "There were never twenty of them... ten tops... we could have taken them if we wanted to."
She laughed genuinely for the first time that day. "Sure we could."
He changed tone again. More pleading this time. "So we're good?"
"Depends..."
Now he looked scared, but forced himself to ask, "On what?"
She grinned at him, "On whether or not you gave the others the same apology." At his look, "Chivalry's all well and good Mr Harris, but I'll take no sexist behaviour on this excursion." Seeing he had relaxed now, "I'd have to inform Mr Giles, if I thought that was going on."
"I think I'm free and clear..."
"You apologised to them?"
"Kinda."
"Kinda?"
Amy watched as he grinned that lopsided smirk of his, refusing to be baited she continued to stare at him, forcing him to answer the question.
"I asked them if they thought you were upset."
"That is so far away from an apology..."
"It's a man's apology..." at her look, "no really, it is. If I gave an apology to a man, one that I'd neither physically injured or stolen the girlfriend from, then it's against the rules."
Amy tried to keep a straight face but failed. At the first sign that she was close to cracking Xander continued in his rant.
"Don't laugh... I said don't laugh... It's against the man code." The first giggle escaped her lips, "That's a serious crime. Break the man code too many times and they kick you out..." He paused for dramatic affect. "They do!!! They refuse to let you be called a man any more. Never again can you drink out of the can. Belching in public is then considered wrong. You have to sit down to use the toilet even if you don't need to."
Amy found herself giggling uncontrollably now. "Sounds like an improvement."
"See... See... That's what all women say... But then they all think you're less than a man. You're not a woman, but you're also not a man. It's a massive de-initiation ceremony."
"They give you a pint of beer and you wear the ceremonial animal fur hat... like made from skin of a deer or a racoon or something."
"Very manly..."
"But then they water the beer down with lemonade, and pour it into a little half-pint glass. The glass isn't even pint shaped. They trade the manly animal fur hat for a little nuns hat with frilly bits and make you sip... Sip the shandy drink."
Amy couldn't cope with the outraged look of offense that Xander was giving.
"And women only treat you as a friend or one of the girls from that point on. Cos you're just not manly enough for them. You see, women say they want this and that... but what they really want is a big, strong, extremely masculine, animal-killing, beer-drinking, smelling of man-sweat, erm man."
"Keep telling yourself that." She managed to get out between giggles, as Xander continued his rant.
=====
Downstairs, at the bar.
"Xander was very worried about Amy." Shote commented.
"They'll be okay. I think she has a little crush on him." Roger confided to him.
"On Xander?"
"Yeah."
"You sure? It didn't look like either of them were interested in each other." 'I definitely haven't seen any signs of it.'
"Xander's still grieving for his almost-wife."
Shote was shocked, "Xander was almost married?"
"Yeah, doesn't talk about it much though."
"Damn, how did she die?"
"Died in the battle which closed the hellmouth according to Amy."
Shote almost choked on his drink. "They closed a hellmouth?"
"Yep."
"How?"
"Not sure, Amy hasn't gotten me those chronicles yet."
"I didn't know you could close a hellmouth."
"Well... somehow they managed it."
"Them and all the other slayers."
'Maybe I misheard him', "All the other slayers?"
"Yeah, there are loads of them now."
"There can be only one slayer. It's a law as old as mankind."
Shote saw Roger's look of astonishment. "You know the origins of the slayer?"
Shote was quick to clarify, "I don't think anyone knows the origins of the slayer. It's said that they were around before written history."
"Well, we've been given the assignment of finding out about them."
"You're trying to find out about the first slayer?"
"Yeah."
"And that's what all this running around Africa is about?"
"Some of it."
"Does this vampire know about the origins or something then? That'd make him extremely old... I wasn't sure they lived... erm... un-lived that long. He'd be an important person to find then."
"Oh no, that's something completely different. We know where he is..."
"So why are we chasing around Africa after him if you know where he is?"
"It's not where he is that's important; it's where he was."
Shote looked confused. "Then why not just ask him? You've got several vampire slayers available to you, surely you could force him to talk."
"We don't trust him."
"Understandable... Then why not just stake him?"
"I think that they don't think it's right. He's got a soul."
"I don't buy that for a second. The man died when he was attacked by a vampire. A harsh, but accurate, truth they need to accept. A demon lived on in his place. Even if they managed to return his soul; he died. He's not their friend any more, he doesn't get to grow old with them. He doesn't get to grow old. He doesn't get to live. He's still not human."
Roger looked thoughtful for a second, "You don't think he has his soul?"
"It doesn't matter if he has his soul or not. The man's life ended. He became another vampire statistic; drained or turned, he died."
"It's complicated."
"It always is..." Shote was about to continue with the discussion when Xander and Amy appeared.
"Hey guys, not drinking too much are you?"
Roger pretended to be offended, "Us?"
Shote smiled. "Just had the one while we waited for you two." Remembering the previous discussion he examined Xander and Amy carefully. 'He's definitely oblivious to anything. She's... harder to work out. She's definitely observant of him, but it's not lust, wonder what it is?'
This one from Amy, "So... where we gonna eat?"
Roger was first to respond, "We checked the menu while we were at the bar, Shote thinks it looks okay. It's got this great little local dish called..."
=====
End chapter 3b:
========================
Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: Set two weeks after the events in Explaining Africa 3
Authors Notes: I have no clue about Africa. Which is probably always a good place to start writing a story. So if details I've used for place names, and tribal names and whatever are wrong then just (correctly) assume I have no idea what I'm doing.
Rating: 15 by English standards (mainly for language)
========================
Chapter 3b:
Roger watched as Xander continued to pace in front of the entrance to the tent. "I don't fucking believe this!! Spike??? Spike??? Fucking Spike???"
Roger carefully eyed the guards surrounding them. There were more of them now. When Roger had first exited the tent there had only been one. But Xander's state had caused him to signal for some others. They now had six extremely scary looking warriors all focusing on Xander.
Shote had quickly gone to the first guard and tried to explain the situation.
'They probably think he wants access to the demon.' Unfortunately before he could stop himself, he found himself glancing over towards the cave entrance to the demon. Immediately a large man was standing practically on his toes. "Jesus." Roger said, 'Where the hell did he come from?'
He looked over at where Amy was trying to interrupt Roger. "Tell him we don't want to see the demon."
"I have."
"So what's the problem?"
"They don't believe me."
'And that,' Roger thought to himself, 'is quite a major problem.'
Amy left Roger's side and moved closer to Xander. Holding her hands up, she approached him slowly. "Xander. You need to calm down. They're getting restless." She quickly glanced over at Roger, seeing his 'bodyguard' she added. "And I'm not even sure what you managed to do, but stop it."
Xander finally looked up. Roger watched as Xander took in Amy's pose. Suddenly he looked really guilty. "Aim... Aim... It's okay... I'm calm." Turning to face the others, he held his hands up. "I'm calm." Seeing no recognition on their faces and no movement to stand down, he added "Shote, tell them I'm calm."
Shote turned to xander, "They would be grateful if we could get dressed and leave now."
Xander sighed, Roger thought looked defeated. "Sure."
They made the way to the changing tent as Roger had come to think of it. Amy went in first, once she was done all three of the men went in together. 'No ceremonial order now we're being kicked off their beach, I see.'
=====
As they weren't sure how long they'd have been staying for, Shote had booked them all rooms above a local pub. Amy was very glad he had, 'There's no way I could have coped with travelling back today.' she reasoned.
Shote parked the jeep in the street outside. As they all entered, they each went their seperate ways; Xander went towards the restroom, Shote and Roger headed for the bar, and Amy began to climb the stairs with her back pack.
Finding her room, she quickly washed herself in the basin and got changed. She had rested on the bed for barely five minutes when there was a knock on the door.
Without any intention of getting up, she lifted the pillow of her face and responded. "Yes?"
"Aim... it's me. Can I come in?"
'Xander.' "Sure."
Amy watched as Xander entered the room looking a little sheepish. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to check you're alright."
'Now I'm confused.' "Me? I'm fine... why wouldn't I be?"
He sat down in a chair next to her bed. "It's just... I didn't... I'm sorry about earlier."
"Earlier."
"Short tempers come in the Harris family gene pool. I shouldn't have let it get to me."
"Xander..." she paused, "It's fine."
At this look, she realised he might need something more. Sitting up she took his hand in both of hers. "I wasn't worried about you." Maintaining eye contact she continued, "I never for one moment thought you were going to hurt me."
He still looked doubtful. "Honestly I didn't..." adopting a slight teasing tone, "I thought you could have timed it better so that it didn't happen in front of twenty people willing to kill us but..." she grinned at him.
He smiled back. Matching his tone to hers, "There were never twenty of them... ten tops... we could have taken them if we wanted to."
She laughed genuinely for the first time that day. "Sure we could."
He changed tone again. More pleading this time. "So we're good?"
"Depends..."
Now he looked scared, but forced himself to ask, "On what?"
She grinned at him, "On whether or not you gave the others the same apology." At his look, "Chivalry's all well and good Mr Harris, but I'll take no sexist behaviour on this excursion." Seeing he had relaxed now, "I'd have to inform Mr Giles, if I thought that was going on."
"I think I'm free and clear..."
"You apologised to them?"
"Kinda."
"Kinda?"
Amy watched as he grinned that lopsided smirk of his, refusing to be baited she continued to stare at him, forcing him to answer the question.
"I asked them if they thought you were upset."
"That is so far away from an apology..."
"It's a man's apology..." at her look, "no really, it is. If I gave an apology to a man, one that I'd neither physically injured or stolen the girlfriend from, then it's against the rules."
Amy tried to keep a straight face but failed. At the first sign that she was close to cracking Xander continued in his rant.
"Don't laugh... I said don't laugh... It's against the man code." The first giggle escaped her lips, "That's a serious crime. Break the man code too many times and they kick you out..." He paused for dramatic affect. "They do!!! They refuse to let you be called a man any more. Never again can you drink out of the can. Belching in public is then considered wrong. You have to sit down to use the toilet even if you don't need to."
Amy found herself giggling uncontrollably now. "Sounds like an improvement."
"See... See... That's what all women say... But then they all think you're less than a man. You're not a woman, but you're also not a man. It's a massive de-initiation ceremony."
"They give you a pint of beer and you wear the ceremonial animal fur hat... like made from skin of a deer or a racoon or something."
"Very manly..."
"But then they water the beer down with lemonade, and pour it into a little half-pint glass. The glass isn't even pint shaped. They trade the manly animal fur hat for a little nuns hat with frilly bits and make you sip... Sip the shandy drink."
Amy couldn't cope with the outraged look of offense that Xander was giving.
"And women only treat you as a friend or one of the girls from that point on. Cos you're just not manly enough for them. You see, women say they want this and that... but what they really want is a big, strong, extremely masculine, animal-killing, beer-drinking, smelling of man-sweat, erm man."
"Keep telling yourself that." She managed to get out between giggles, as Xander continued his rant.
=====
Downstairs, at the bar.
"Xander was very worried about Amy." Shote commented.
"They'll be okay. I think she has a little crush on him." Roger confided to him.
"On Xander?"
"Yeah."
"You sure? It didn't look like either of them were interested in each other." 'I definitely haven't seen any signs of it.'
"Xander's still grieving for his almost-wife."
Shote was shocked, "Xander was almost married?"
"Yeah, doesn't talk about it much though."
"Damn, how did she die?"
"Died in the battle which closed the hellmouth according to Amy."
Shote almost choked on his drink. "They closed a hellmouth?"
"Yep."
"How?"
"Not sure, Amy hasn't gotten me those chronicles yet."
"I didn't know you could close a hellmouth."
"Well... somehow they managed it."
"Them and all the other slayers."
'Maybe I misheard him', "All the other slayers?"
"Yeah, there are loads of them now."
"There can be only one slayer. It's a law as old as mankind."
Shote saw Roger's look of astonishment. "You know the origins of the slayer?"
Shote was quick to clarify, "I don't think anyone knows the origins of the slayer. It's said that they were around before written history."
"Well, we've been given the assignment of finding out about them."
"You're trying to find out about the first slayer?"
"Yeah."
"And that's what all this running around Africa is about?"
"Some of it."
"Does this vampire know about the origins or something then? That'd make him extremely old... I wasn't sure they lived... erm... un-lived that long. He'd be an important person to find then."
"Oh no, that's something completely different. We know where he is..."
"So why are we chasing around Africa after him if you know where he is?"
"It's not where he is that's important; it's where he was."
Shote looked confused. "Then why not just ask him? You've got several vampire slayers available to you, surely you could force him to talk."
"We don't trust him."
"Understandable... Then why not just stake him?"
"I think that they don't think it's right. He's got a soul."
"I don't buy that for a second. The man died when he was attacked by a vampire. A harsh, but accurate, truth they need to accept. A demon lived on in his place. Even if they managed to return his soul; he died. He's not their friend any more, he doesn't get to grow old with them. He doesn't get to grow old. He doesn't get to live. He's still not human."
Roger looked thoughtful for a second, "You don't think he has his soul?"
"It doesn't matter if he has his soul or not. The man's life ended. He became another vampire statistic; drained or turned, he died."
"It's complicated."
"It always is..." Shote was about to continue with the discussion when Xander and Amy appeared.
"Hey guys, not drinking too much are you?"
Roger pretended to be offended, "Us?"
Shote smiled. "Just had the one while we waited for you two." Remembering the previous discussion he examined Xander and Amy carefully. 'He's definitely oblivious to anything. She's... harder to work out. She's definitely observant of him, but it's not lust, wonder what it is?'
This one from Amy, "So... where we gonna eat?"
Roger was first to respond, "We checked the menu while we were at the bar, Shote thinks it looks okay. It's got this great little local dish called..."
=====
End chapter 3b:
========================