Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Buffy stared at the outline of the town before her, unable -- or maybe unwilling -- to believe her eyes. After all, she had been walking through the valley of the shadow of death for days now with an almost non-existent supply of water. This wasn’t the first time she had ‘seen’ something on her journey, and she doubted it would be the last.

With a bitter sigh, she drew her gaze away from the tempting mirage and forged on. Even though she knew she was heading in the same direction as the ‘town’, she refused to look at it again, knowing that it would eventually disappear, just like all the others had.

Except it didn’t. It only grew bigger and bigger in both size and detail until she couldn’t ignore it any longer. Now when she looked at it, she could see that it was situated at the base of a hill with a large wall encircling it; the wall itself was surrounded by trees, which extended up the hillside. Still, Buffy chalked it all up to delirium, giving major props to herself for being so detail-oriented in her delusions. When the smells and sounds from the town began filtering to her nose and ears, however, when she could actually taste the change in the air, her mind finally accepted what her recently enhanced senses were trying to tell her.

It was real. She had found a place that had food and water and shelter.

Buffy should’ve been jumping for joy. The truth of the matter was the exact opposite, however. Beyond jaded from her time in the Pit of Despair, she just couldn’t bring herself to go inside. She could barely bring herself to stand in front of the large wall that surrounded the town. Instead she ducked into the trees lining the edges of town and moved around the outside perimeter of the wall, opting to find the water source that fed the town.

Though she had been managing her thirst well up until that point -- mostly by ignoring it -- the thought of finally finding some relief made her throat constrict painfully in anticipation, as if she had suddenly tried to swallow the Sahara in one gulp. The feeling only intensified when she realized there was no water to be found. The town had built its walls around the open water. It was sound city planning, she supposed, but it left her beyond demoralized.

Sitting down on the ground, Buffy buried her head in her hands and screamed, as all the pain and anguish and frustration she had carefully bottled up suddenly came rushing to the surface. It was all strictly metaphorical, at least it was supposed to be; as Buffy felt all her emotions bubble up inside her, however, something else bubbled up from the ground beneath her.

With a yelp, Buffy leapt to her feet and looked down, only to discover that she was standing in a puddle of water. It was too good to be true -- which meant it probably was. And yet, at the sight of the water at her feet, Buffy fell to her knees and began scooping up handfuls of it to her mouth without a second thought. She didn’t care how it got there or if it was tainted, magically or otherwise. All she thought about was the way the cool liquid soothed her burning throat. When she had enough to take the edge off her thirst but not so much that she would be sick, she laid back on the nearest patch of dry ground and sighed.

With a clearer mind and emotions firmly under control once again, she thought over her current situation. The way she saw it, she had two choices. She could avoid the town altogether or she could go inside. The safer choice was to continue on her own. She wasn’t sure how long she could last that way, though. While she had found water here, she had no idea how; there was no guarantee she would find more, either. Food was completely out of the question. Not only were her foraging skills were non-existent, but she wouldn’t even begin to presume to know what was poisonous and what was edible in this world.

No, the truth of the matter was that she couldn’t avoid civilization forever; she wouldn’t survive. She could dictate the terms, though.

Gathering her remaining strength, Buffy scaled a tree close to the wall. She made sure she climbed just high enough so that she could pick up the sounds from within a little more clearly but not so high that she could see over it -- and conversely so that people could see her. Once she found a decent perch, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

There were so many people inside. The town was filled to the brim. She could hear children laughing, adults commenting on the weather, wagons wheeling through the streets. She even caught a stray argument here and there. What she didn’t hear was anything sounding remotely suspicious. Despite her rocky start in this world, it seemed like she had stumbled upon a town filled with normal, non-evil sounding people.

That was the only reason Buffy found herself standing at the gates the next morning, despite her misgivings.

She didn’t enter the town wholly unprepared, though. In her hand, she had discreetly hidden a knife, and as she walked, she kept a constant watch over her shoulder, still not convinced that Ultear wasn’t going to step out of the shadows and reveal this was all just another twisted game of hers.

Thankfully, nothing like that happened. The town was completely normal -- by Earth’s standards.

Buffy knew some similarities existed. She had seen them with her own eyes in the Pit; she had heard them, too, when she had eavesdropped on this community. It was shocking, however, to realize just how many there were.

The town looked like it was straight out of a brochure for Europe; the streets were made of cobblestone, there were plazas and public fountains everywhere, and the buildings were cute stone and wooden structures with thatched roofs, containing a mix of apartment complexes, stores and restaurants.

The people were completely ordinary, too; working and playing, bustling about as they did every day chores like grocery shopping and taking out the trash. Even their clothes were familiar; styles ranged from mish-mash of modern American to throwbacks from around the world. The biggest difference was their hair. While Buffy saw blondes, brunettes, and redheads walking about, she also saw people with blue hair, green hair, purple hair, and every other color of the rainbow hair. If anything, she was boring here.

That wasn’t to say that people didn’t notice her, though. As she walked through the streets, she was highly aware of the looks she was receiving. Some looked at her curiously, others a bit more warily. A few even gave her a friendly nod. It wasn’t until she reached the center of town that someone actually tried to talk to her, though.

“Are you alright, dear? You look a bit... lost.”

Buffy whirled around at the sound of the voice. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise when she saw who was talking to her. It was a sweet-looking old woman, a street vendor selling various items of clothing, and she was beckoning to Buffy to come over.

Buffy stayed rooted to her spot, automatically scanning the area for potential threats. When she found none, she took a hard look at the woman; she, however, didn’t raise any alarms, either. If anything, she looked at Buffy pityingly, particularly as she took in her appearance.

Well aware of how she looked, Buffy smoothed down her hair a little self-consciously and cautiously approached the woman.

“Actually, I am,” she admitted. “I was lost out in the desert over there, and I’m a little turned around.”

The woman gasped. “You’re from Bosco then. You poor thing!” she exclaimed, the look of pity intensifying. “Do you know where your family is?”

Buffy felt a lump in her throat, but she ignored it, along with the woman’s question. “If you don’t mind me asking, where am I?”

The woman smiled gently in response, as if she were afraid any sudden movements would scare Buffy away. “You’re in Shima, dear, the last town in Fiore before you reach the deserts of Bosco,” she replied. As she spoke, she picked one of the shift dresses off her display and held it out to Buffy, along with what looked like some money. “You must be tired from your... ordeal. Here, take these. There’s a public bath down that street there and around the corner on your right. This isn’t much, but there are enough jewel there to cover the entrance fee. Once you get cleaned up a bit, there’s a place just to the left of the bath that provides food and shelter to… to travellers from Bosco.”

Buffy stared at the clothing and money before looking up at the woman. “I can’t accept these--”

“Of course you can,” the woman said briskly. “I pride myself on giving a helping hand when I can. I’m known for it. You’re not going to ruin the reputation of old Granny Marie, are you?”

Buffy couldn’t help but smile, which elicited a warm smile from Marie. “I guess when you put it that way,” she said as she took the gifts, albeit reluctantly. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it, dear. It’s the least I can do,” Marie replied.

With one more nod of thanks, Buffy turned and walked away. She had just reached the corner of the street when she heard Marie mutter something under her breath.

“That poor girl. Someone needs to put a stop to those wretched slave traders.”

Buffy inhaled sharply, though she kept walking as if nothing were wrong.

Marie thought she was an escaped slave. It must’ve been a common occurrence here, one that Marie was sympathetic to; most likely others, too, if there was a place set up to take them in, which she now realized was what Marie had been delicately alluding to.

Buffy pursed her lips thoughtfully. Though she fairly certain Ultear wasn’t a slave trader -- just an evil sadistic bitch -- it could be a useful cover story, explaining away any lack of history or knowledge, though it came with its own dangers. She had no idea what the population as a whole thought about escaped slaves, or what this place’s policies were regarding refugees; she doubted everyone was as welcoming. She also wouldn’t be surprised if the slave traders themselves kept an eye on this town, abducting their lost ‘property’ whenever they got the chance. Still, it gave her something to think about.

Following the directions she had been given, Buffy easily found the public bath. After handing over the money Marie had given her, she stepped inside. She was instantly hit with a wall of steam, and it felt amazing. As quickly as she could, she made her way to the women’s section, stripped down, and turned on the hot spray of water.

Ordinarily, she would’ve been a little weirded out bathing in front of other women, but she had gone so long without a shower, she didn’t care. Feeling the grime and blood and sweat wash away was one of the most blissful experiences she’d had in a long time. When she stepped into the hot bath a few minutes later, she thought she’d actually died and gone to Heaven.

She had a similar experience when she got out of the bath and put her new dress on. The plain cotton shift Marie had given her wasn’t anything fancy by any means, but to Buffy it was like something straight out of Fashion Week. She felt like a new person walking out of the bath, with all vestiges of her time in the Pit finally gone.

Well, almost, Buffy thought as she fingered her shiny new scar just below her collarbone.

Pushing away those dark thoughts, Buffy took a look around. Within moments, she located the safe haven for refugees, but she didn’t go in. She wanted to fly under the radar, and she just didn’t know what would be expected of her if she walked inside. Instead, she walked in the opposite direction. As she made her way down the street, she perused the various stalls, trying to get a feel for the new world she was in. She stopped in her tracks, however, when she came across a news stand.

According to date printed in the corner of one of the publications, it was April 27th, x784; again, an interesting mix of the familiar and unfamiliar.

Buffy reached for the newspaper, curious to see what was inside. Just as her fingertips touched the edge of the paper, however, her stomach let out an obnoxiously loud gurgle, one that got the attention of all the people around her.

Buffy flushed with mortification. She should’ve expected something like that would happen. She was pretty sure her stomach was digesting itself by this point from the lack of food. Still, it was embarrassing, and after a sheepish smile, she quickly left, putting as much distance between her and the news stand as she could.

In her mind, she had no specific destination or even direction. She had simply wanted to get away from the scrutiny she had been receiving. Apparently, her stomach had a different idea, though; the next thing Buffy knew, she was standing in front of a restaurant.

The aromas emanating from within made Buffy’s mouth water. She was so hungry, she was almost tempted to try a dine and dash. The only thing that stopped her was the negative attention it would bring.

With a groan, Buffy pulled herself away, thinking that maybe she needed to go to the shelter after all, pride and caution be damned. As she turned to leave, however, a sign in the window of the restaurant caught her eye. It read: Help Wanted. Inquire Within.

A/N: So… any thoughts/comments/objections to the type of dragon slayer Buffy is?