Fics for 2015: #078 ~ Saved by the Jinn of their Teeth (BtVS AU; written for kazzy_cee)
TITLE: Saved by the Jinn of their Teeth
AUTHOR:
kerkevik_2014
FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (AU)
CHARACTERS: Ocs; and (unnamed, and in order of appearance) Spike; Angel; Buffy; Vi; Rona, and Willow.
PAIRING: Implied Buffy/Spike/Angel,
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 820
PROMPT: Inspired by the current prompt at
writers_choice and written as a birthday gift for
kazzy_cee , whose birthday it was today,when this written; yesterday since it was posted after midnight.
Haafiz held on tight to Sargon; too small to swim, as Haalima, his beloved Sabeen's only girl, and a dreamer of magical tales; learned beyond his fathoming of so many things, swam; one arm held tight to the prow of the sinking lifeboat, straining as she drank in the salt waters of the Aegean, trying with superhuman strength for a fifteen year old girl to save what was left of her family.
Sabeen and the other boys might still be alive.
Might.
That was all the hope he had left; try as he might, he could not let go of that hope. The last sight he had had of his beloved and his other sons was of them running for shelter after, mercifully he supposed, narrowly avoiding being aboard the last boat trying to reach the ship they had safely reached.
Now he watched helplessly as Haalima tired, even as the island shore came into sight.
“Baba!”
Haafiz opened his eyes, closed only to pray for salvation for the three of them, and their missing family.
He cried out to the Prophet himself as he saw nothing of Haalima; she was gone beneath the water. Then, even as he prepared to sacrifice himself and Sargon in the hope that his wife and other sons would be saved, a ragged short-haired head surfaced; holding beyond all miracles a spluttering Haalima.
The creature, some kind of man, though so pale that he was almost the pallor of a ghost, swore in the tongue of the americans; though of a different accent. With a huge effort, he thrust Haalima into the lifeboat; into her father's arms, even as a dark-haired; as pale, man-thing, with the help of a woman, began to lift the prow of the lifeboat free of the water.
“Bloody Heck! Didn't think I was going to reach her in time!” The woman retched as she expelled briny water from her lungs, leaving most of the swimming to her dark-haired companion, as she sought to bail water from the lifeboat.
“You pouffes okay here? Spotted another boat in trouble; think I can get it ashore on my own, but they're going to start sinking soon I reckon.”
The woman waved him away; unable to form true words as she fought the waters inside the lifeboat. Haafiz saw the lighter-haired one seem to blow the dark-haired one a kiss; say something in a foreign tongue Haafiz did not recognise; though the other two did.
The woman swore at him; making Haafiz redden at the thought of Haalima hearing the foul language from a woman. Then the man-thing who had saved Haalima swam away, mostly underwater; away from the direction of the shore they were now surely being pulled; somehow joined by two other woman, one pale and as red-haired as his beloved Sabeen; another darker skinned; almost as dark as the Abyssinian Priest who had attended the wedding of Sabeen's sister five years since; both now dead in the bombing of their home that had driven them to run for the sea.
Minutes later the woman was assisting Haafiz in reviving Haalima, and calming Sargon, after she had kissed the dark-haired one, before sending him off into the water again.
“Make sure that fucking idiot doesn't kill himself playing the hero, yeah?”
The dark-haired man thing laughed and, signalling to the other two to join him in rescuing their companion; if indeed he needed it.
Ten minutes passed before, with the three of them now safe in the hands of girls, who seemed as strong as they were; indeed as his Haalima had proved to be, the woman dived into the water, seeking to aid other survivors from the ship that had now disappeared beneath the Aegean.
Then his head turned as he heard badly garbled foulness in the arabic tongue aimed at a young girl Haafiz thought to be an Arab, who rose above two other who seemed Greek and seemed about to strike him with her fist.
“Fuck me,” he cried; holding up hands in the manner of surrender, “didn't say I wasn't going back out; just need a bre - break is all.”
The girl swore at him in a mixture of Kurdish and Assyrian, before rushing off to aid another young woman as two young men were pulled ashore.
Moments later; complaining with every step, though racing back to the rescuers and the rescued, the lighter-haired one was gone again.
Finally Haafiz feinted to the sand; feeling safe to do so as he saw Haalima; holding her crying younger brother in her arms; hugging him tight as she shed tears of relief herself.
He never saw their three saviours again; though the dark-skinned one came to talk to his daughter; together with another red-haired woman who had the sense of a magician about her. Haafiz sensed he was going to lose Haalima; in a manner, but she and they had reached safety.
He turned his mind to how he was going to reunite the rest of his family again.
Goddess watch over us all,
Kerk TehKek