Fic: Lost Tribe 3/13
Part 3 of the Lost Tibe
previous parts here
Never let it be said that their new and improved Council couldn’t take a hint. When nearly a dozen Slayers all have the same dream there are definite hints to be had. Hence the research. Giles and his minions had hit the books, and now, two days later, the dreamers and the Council higher-ups were all assembled for some quality non-Freudian dream analysis.
Giles called the meeting to some sort of order. “As you all know,” he began, “we’ve been trying to track down our dream vampires. I am happy to say that we’ve managed to find a few leads.”
“You know where they are?” Vi asked excitedly. For such a mousy Potential, she sure was hard core into the slaying.
“Well, no, but we did find the symbol you all described,” Giles explained. “It seems to be the mark of the demon-god Belus. Now, Belus is traditionally associated with Babylon, but some of the sources indicate that he was originally from” -he paused as if considering words- “well, elsewhere. According to the writings of the vampire prophet Aurelius he took a number of vampires to this, er, elsewhere. There is a prophecy about this lost tribe, as it were.”
There was a collective groan from everyone in the room. “When isn’t there,” Buffy groused. This job was all about the prophecies and crazy demon rituals. It got a little old.
“Yes, well, be that as it may,” Giles plowed determinedly on, “according to the Book of Aurelius” -he hefted the book to quote directly- “In the time of the ninth great darkness the travelers shall come and lead them home. The portal will stand open, its guardians will fail in their watch, and they shall pass to earth.”
“So, where’s the portal?” Robin got right to the point. He was focused like that.
“No idea actually,” Giles admitted.
“Can we say ‘disaster waiting to happen?’” snarked Xander. “Hey, wouldn’t it be really embarrassing if it turns out we’re the guardians?”
“I rather think we’d know if we had a mystical portal,” Giles pointed out.
“Work of Valios anyone?” teased Buffy. The baby Slayers all looked lost at the reference, but Giles’ blush and flustering brought her satisfaction enough.
“Whatever. Are we here to cover our asses or stop the vamps?” Rona sure had a knack for cutting through the bull. It had bugged the crap out of Buffy back in Sunnydale, and it was only marginally less annoying now that she wasn’t trying to lead an army of reluctant Potentials.
Buffy brought them back on topic. “So, do we have any leads on this portal thing-y?”
Giles sighed. “Not really, no.”
“What about the twelfth Slayer?” asked Niyati, one of the new girls. “Everyone is here from my dream but her.” There was someone missing? This was the first Buffy had heard about it.
Apparently Giles hadn’t heard about it either. “There was another? But no one else reported dreaming.”
“Maybe she’s new.” Willow was always excited when they found new Slayers. “What’s she look like?”
“She was white,” answered Lollise from Botswana, “and she was older.”
“Older?”
“Yeah,” agreed Koria the Maori Slayer in her accent from down under. “I’d say she was early to mid twenties.”
“Mid-twenties?” asked Kennedy. She hadn’t had the dream either, but as the new Slayer with the most training and Willow’s girlfriend she always had a seat at the war table. “I thought I was the oldest.”
“Guess not,” said Buffy. “Do we have anything else to go on? ‘Cause white women in their twenties, not really narrowing things down.”
“She had on some sort of uniform,” Caridad elaborated. “And she had a big gun. I think she was in the army, but I don’t know who’s.”
“That’s all very well and good,” Giles said a bit impatiently, “but it doesn’t get us any closer to the portal.”
“What if it does?” Faith asked suddenly. “Right now our mystery gal is all we’ve got to go on. She’s as good a lead as any and I say we follow it.” Faith had a point. She’d been doing that a lot lately and it sort of wierded Buffy out. Since when had Faith gotten all insightful and plan-having?
“I’ve got to go with Faith on this one,” Buffy said. “This girl’s military, and it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve played with stuff best left to us experts.”
“So then we start hacking into military databases all over the world.” Willow sounded excited at the prospect. “We look at medical records and service reports and stuff.”
“Or we could hold off on the law breaking and try checking with the Slayer we already know is in the military,” Xander pointed out reasonably.
“Wait. We know a Slayer in the army?” Clearly Buffy was out of the loop on this. She needed to be more loop included.
“U.S. Air Force actually. And yeah, we do.”
2 << (3) >> 4
previous parts here
Never let it be said that their new and improved Council couldn’t take a hint. When nearly a dozen Slayers all have the same dream there are definite hints to be had. Hence the research. Giles and his minions had hit the books, and now, two days later, the dreamers and the Council higher-ups were all assembled for some quality non-Freudian dream analysis.
Giles called the meeting to some sort of order. “As you all know,” he began, “we’ve been trying to track down our dream vampires. I am happy to say that we’ve managed to find a few leads.”
“You know where they are?” Vi asked excitedly. For such a mousy Potential, she sure was hard core into the slaying.
“Well, no, but we did find the symbol you all described,” Giles explained. “It seems to be the mark of the demon-god Belus. Now, Belus is traditionally associated with Babylon, but some of the sources indicate that he was originally from” -he paused as if considering words- “well, elsewhere. According to the writings of the vampire prophet Aurelius he took a number of vampires to this, er, elsewhere. There is a prophecy about this lost tribe, as it were.”
There was a collective groan from everyone in the room. “When isn’t there,” Buffy groused. This job was all about the prophecies and crazy demon rituals. It got a little old.
“Yes, well, be that as it may,” Giles plowed determinedly on, “according to the Book of Aurelius” -he hefted the book to quote directly- “In the time of the ninth great darkness the travelers shall come and lead them home. The portal will stand open, its guardians will fail in their watch, and they shall pass to earth.”
“So, where’s the portal?” Robin got right to the point. He was focused like that.
“No idea actually,” Giles admitted.
“Can we say ‘disaster waiting to happen?’” snarked Xander. “Hey, wouldn’t it be really embarrassing if it turns out we’re the guardians?”
“I rather think we’d know if we had a mystical portal,” Giles pointed out.
“Work of Valios anyone?” teased Buffy. The baby Slayers all looked lost at the reference, but Giles’ blush and flustering brought her satisfaction enough.
“Whatever. Are we here to cover our asses or stop the vamps?” Rona sure had a knack for cutting through the bull. It had bugged the crap out of Buffy back in Sunnydale, and it was only marginally less annoying now that she wasn’t trying to lead an army of reluctant Potentials.
Buffy brought them back on topic. “So, do we have any leads on this portal thing-y?”
Giles sighed. “Not really, no.”
“What about the twelfth Slayer?” asked Niyati, one of the new girls. “Everyone is here from my dream but her.” There was someone missing? This was the first Buffy had heard about it.
Apparently Giles hadn’t heard about it either. “There was another? But no one else reported dreaming.”
“Maybe she’s new.” Willow was always excited when they found new Slayers. “What’s she look like?”
“She was white,” answered Lollise from Botswana, “and she was older.”
“Older?”
“Yeah,” agreed Koria the Maori Slayer in her accent from down under. “I’d say she was early to mid twenties.”
“Mid-twenties?” asked Kennedy. She hadn’t had the dream either, but as the new Slayer with the most training and Willow’s girlfriend she always had a seat at the war table. “I thought I was the oldest.”
“Guess not,” said Buffy. “Do we have anything else to go on? ‘Cause white women in their twenties, not really narrowing things down.”
“She had on some sort of uniform,” Caridad elaborated. “And she had a big gun. I think she was in the army, but I don’t know who’s.”
“That’s all very well and good,” Giles said a bit impatiently, “but it doesn’t get us any closer to the portal.”
“What if it does?” Faith asked suddenly. “Right now our mystery gal is all we’ve got to go on. She’s as good a lead as any and I say we follow it.” Faith had a point. She’d been doing that a lot lately and it sort of wierded Buffy out. Since when had Faith gotten all insightful and plan-having?
“I’ve got to go with Faith on this one,” Buffy said. “This girl’s military, and it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve played with stuff best left to us experts.”
“So then we start hacking into military databases all over the world.” Willow sounded excited at the prospect. “We look at medical records and service reports and stuff.”
“Or we could hold off on the law breaking and try checking with the Slayer we already know is in the military,” Xander pointed out reasonably.
“Wait. We know a Slayer in the army?” Clearly Buffy was out of the loop on this. She needed to be more loop included.
“U.S. Air Force actually. And yeah, we do.”
2 << (3) >> 4