Chapter One
Disclaimer--
I own none of the good parts of this i.e. The Characters and Setting of BtVS and Star Wars. That would be property of Mssrs. Lucas and Whedon. No profit or infringement is intended.
Two figures trudged along the ridge line that loomed above the sandy waste.
“Are we there yet?” the shorter one whined piteously.
“Jeez B. yer almost as bad as yer little sister,” the taller dark haired woman took a final drag off her cigarette before dropping the butt onto the ground, “Least it’s easy t’find an ashtray around here.” All that was visible to the pair was sand, sand, rocky hillocks, and maybe, some more sand.
The shorter blond woman checked her watch, “We’ve been here for two hours already, and Whistler said it was only a short walk to town. Stupid lying balance demons. Remember Fay. Never do the trust-y thing with them.”
Faith grinned, “Got it B. Not gonna get into the ‘trust-y’ thing with balance demons. Going right on my list.” Suddenly the dark haired woman paused, “You hear that?”
“Yup, sounds like violence with a side-order of pain. Let’s go.”, Buffy scooped the femur of some long dead animal off the ground and began quietly and swiftly moving towards the familiar sounds of a fight. Faith drew her knife and followed closely behind.
Rounding the corner of a small stoney canyon, the two slayers saw a tableau of blood. Two humans lay on the ground mostly hacked to pieces, while six robed demons, heads wrapped in strips of cloth, stood around them, shaking their weapons in the air and hooting out a victory cry.
“Your call B.”
“I say let’s just beat their bandagy asses. I’m hot, tired, and grumpy and it doesn’t matter what dimension you’re in, ripping unarmed humans to death is kinda what we’re opposed to. So let’s get with the slayage.”
“Always a good choice for me,” with that the two charged.
When the Chosen Two fought side by side, it was always easy to tell them apart. Buffy fought with an economy of motion and a more acrobatic flair, while Faith’s style was more unfocused and brawler-like; using her supernatural strength to power her way through her opponent’s defenses, more than any finesse. As was typical the fight was nasty and brutal, and ended when the slayers’ opponents were either defeated or turned tail and ran.
Standing above the body of one of the demons, splintered remains of a femur in her hand, Buffy wiped the sweat from her eyes and looked over at Faith, who was checking the vital signs of the two downed humans. Faith glanced up and shook her head, “Sorry B, we got here too late.”
“Well damn!” the blond looked up the sky and the two suns burning overhead, “Whistler you bastard! I hope this wasn’t the mission! Because if it was we’ve already failed!!!”
--Two and a half hours earlier--
Cleveland Ohio is not a particularly attractive town, even discounting the lack-of-attractivity caused by an active Hellmouth. However, Faith Lehane - Second oldest slayer alive and one of the Chosen Two - liked it just fine. It wasn’t the restaurants, clubs, or other typical nightlife that she enjoyed so much; Though those were great too. It was more the fact that every night gave her a chance to truly get her slayer on, and in Faith’s opinion, not much was better than that.
This evening was turning out to be a particular thrill as a some wet-behind-his-ears warlock had decided to contact something particularly squishy and disgusting, and had contracted a couple of Polgaras to watch his back during the ritual.
The Polgaras had been a decent challenge, what with that bone spike of theirs and all, and fighting the warlock from the disadvantage of being on the outside of his protective circle as eldritch energies lashed across the battlefield hadn’t been the easiest, but it was over when the warlock imploded with an awe inspiring and resounding splork. While Faith squatted for a second catching her breath she started hearing the familiar sound of applause and cheering.
Looking up she saw the short blond form of the oldest living slayer, sitting on a fire escape and pumping her fist. “Yay! Go Team Faith!!!”
A smile broke across Faith’s face as Buffy nimbly tumbled down to ground level, “B! When’d y’get back in town? What about Italy and Scotland and sh*t?”
“About an hour ago. I checked in at Slay-Central, found out where you were heading, and decided to join you.”, the older woman sat down, “As for the international slay-fest, I just wanted to see the U.S. again. I haven’t been back for a couple years, and when Giles needed a courier, I volunteered. Dawnie’s great, Xan still wants to maim Andrew, and Will and Ken are still a-smoochin’ away. When are you coming over to visit anyway?”
“I don’t know B. I mean I still don’t do the large groups of happy people very well. The new girls are great and all, but they don’t have a clue about a lack of a support system. Can you believe, they still don’t get why I like to patrol alone?”
“I know what you mean Fay. I really don’t get much of a chance to patrol as I used to. Somebody wearing tweed usually raises a stink about Buffy and patrolling not needing the mixage as much anymore.”
“That’s rough. We both wanted t’not have t’do this anymore and now that we have our wish, it just doesn’t sit right.”
“Maybe I can help..?”
The two slayers rose and spun to see a short man with an ugly hat leaning against the warehouse wall.
“Whistler,” Buffy gaped, “What are you doing here?”
The balance demon sighed, “It’s so wonderful when they remember.”
Buffy’s tone turned threatening, “Whistler...what do you want?”
“Easy there. I just have a little news and a request. The news is the Powers That Be are pretty happy with what you’ve done, even though the way you accomplished it wasn’t strictly to standard. What with the army of slayers gambit and all. However, this influx of help has kind of left you two at loose ends...Am I right?”
The two slayers looked at each other then slowly nodded.
“Great! Well, this is my offer. There’s a...dimension far far away that is going to need some help. They’re running kind of low on the heroes bit right now due to a severe case of dictatorship and governmental inertia, so I thought of you. The drive and sense of duty you two have, along with your abilities are just what the Powers That Be would order, if they did any ordering if you know what I mean. So, are you interested?”
“How long would this take?” Buffy asked, interested in spite of her previous contact with the demon.
“Yeah, and what would we need to do?”, Faith added on.
“The time is all subjective to the dimension, so none would pass for you here, and for the mission, all you have to do is be yourselves and do what you think is right. I...We...have great confidence in the two of you.”
“What do you think Fay?”
“Why not B. Are we not the Chosen Two?”
“Okay Whistler, you got us..but you so owe us one!”
“I understand Buffy,” with a flourish a shimmering hole appeared in the air, “Now just step through and keep walking downhill until you hit a town. In the center is a cantina. Just go in there and wait, it will become blatantly apparent what you need to do.”
Faith shrugged and walked forward into the portal. Buffy followed, but paused right before stepping through, “So Whistler, what’s the name of this town?”
“Someplace you’ve never heard of, Mos Eisley.”
