Wakandan Slayers - August 6
Title: Wakandan Slayers
Author: LadyWinterlight (songs_of_winter)
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Avengers/MCU/Black Panther
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1893
Notes: Buffy and Dawn visit Wakanda after everyone returned in Endgame has had time to settle. In the same 'verse as the rest of my challenge submissions so far.
I still do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Black Panther or anything to do with the MCU.
“I beg your pardon?” Giles looked at Buffy, shock clearly written on his face. “I must have heard you wrong. You’re going where?”
Buffy ignored his expression and continued to pack. “To Wakanda. Ayanda set it up with Okoye.” Giles blinked at her. “Sorry, Giles, I know you missed a lot of time. A lot happened in the last five years. Short version on this one: with governments the world over missing most or all of their major players, a lot of different people and groups stepped up. Ayanda is originally from Wakanda. We made a deal with the people in charge, absent their King.”
“But Wakanda threw out the Council nearly two hundred years ago,” Giles protested.
“Of course they did,” Buffy agreed. “A Council of old, white men from tweedland wanted to take their girls away, teach them to be tools and weapons, to ignore their culture, their spirituality and their individuality, and send them out to die if they should happen to be Chosen. Tell me seriously, why would anyone aware of the spiritual, the mystic, and their own history not object to their people being treated that way?”
Giles took off his glasses, reaching for a handkerchief to clean them. “Well, I suppose when you put it like that…”
“It startled me, too, but the Wakandans as a people are aware of the supernatural. They have a history of supporting and caring for any Slayers chosen among their people,” Buffy offered. “Their tribes, their people, and their government support them so they can do the job they were called to do. Personally, I can get behind that mentality.”
“So if you’ve already affirmed these arrangements and Wakandan support of the Slayers, what necessitates this trip?”
“Like you, their King has been returned. I want to request his support and agreement, to affirm the arrangements made in his name while he was gone,” Buffy explained.
“I see. Who are you taking with you?”
“Ayanda, obviously. Dawn, since she’s done most of the historical research since we were allowed access to Wakanda. And I think Tian, to prove that we’re making use of and supporting interest in the girls’ multi-cultural backgrounds.”
Giles smiled fondly. “You always were clever, dear girl. I’m proud to see you’ve grown so much.”
“You started the process,” Buffy replied with a serious expression belying her flippant tone. “And I had to step up a lot, in absence of more responsible adult-type people.”
“Good luck, then. And call us if you need anything.”
“You’ve got it. I’ll have my cell, and in an emergency Willow can reach us pretty easily.”
“Do try not to mangle the language too horribly while meeting with a King, hmm?” Giles added, teasing.
“As if!”
It took special permission to fly into Wakanda. Fortunately, they could travel by one of Willow’s portals to the Slayer safe-house in Nairobi, and from there Okoye sent a jet to pick them up and fly them into Birnin Zana. It was a pretty short trip, and made for a much less cranky Buffy.
Buffy walked down the jet’s ramp, flanked by the two younger slayers, with Dawn bringing up the rear. Okoye saluted the trio of Slayers, and they all returned the gesture. Then Buffy smiled and took an additional step forward. “It’s good to see you, Okoye.
“And you, Buffy.” The Dora Milaje’s voice was warm, though her expression remained carefully neutral. “Please, come with me. I do not expect you will be waiting long.”
They weren’t waiting long at all.
The group kept the same formation as they walked into the hall where King T’Challa waited. Buffy sized him up visually as they approached, and assumed he would be doing the same to her. He was really quite gorgeous, with those sharp cheekbones and vibrantly dark eyes. He also moved like someone well used to keeping his strength leashed, a feeling Buffy could relate to 100%.
T’Challa’s face remained carefully neutral as they stopped a few yards away. Buffy crossed her right arm over her left in the traditional Wakandan salute and bowed her head to the King. “Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” Buffy greeted him politely. Ayanda and Tian repeated the gesture, and Dawn followed suit.
Buffy was pleased to note the brief flash of surprise and a hint of a smile before his expression smoothed and he nodded to them. “Welcome to Wakanda,” he replied. “Would you please share your names with me?”
“Of course. I’m Buffy Summers, sometimes called the Slayer-General. These are my sister-Slayers. Ayanda is originally of the River Tribe, and Tian is from Vietnam. With us is our historian and linguist, Dawn Summers.”
T’Challa raised an eyebrow. “You are both named Summers. I presume you are related.”
“We’re sisters, Majesty,” Dawn spoke up. “But given what the Slayers do and what they are, we count that bond as strong as any blood tie. We are all family.”
“I see. This is, of course, a drastic change from past encounters with the Slayer and your… Council.”
Buffy suppressed the urge to snort and roll her eyes. “The old Watchers’ Council was disbanded over a decade ago, King T’Challa. When I was the primary active Slayer, I had what you could call a major difference of opinion with the Council.”
Ayanda gave a bright smile. “She essentially fired them, declining their assistance in following her Calling. We have all heard the tale, and if our ancestors could have seen it I believe they would have been greatly pleased, My King.”
“And you have not been… discouraged… from keeping our traditions and honoring our ancestors?”
“No, not at all,” Ayanda responded, bouncing on her toes for a moment before a look from Buffy reminded her to keep calm. “Apologies, Majesty-”
But T’Challa shook his head, a small smile absolving her of the need to apologize. “We of Wakanda are quite familiar with the energy of a Slayer. You need not apologize for being what you are.”
“Thank you,” Ayanda replied. “To answer your question, I have been allowed and encouraged to study Wakanda’s history and learn from my elders, while also living and training with the other Slayers from around the world. Though many of us lack the patience to be scholars, we have access to language tutors, folklore, mythology, history, and many other areas of study.”
“Since the Watchers’ Council was replaced with the International Council of Watchers and Slayers, we run things very differently than we used to,” Buffy explained. “When we changed the magics and activated all the potential Slayers around the world in order to fight an immensely old and powerful force of evil, it had some unforeseen consequences. We found ourselves responsible for girls as young as four who suddenly had all the power of an active Slayer. The families of those girls needed our help, and our ability to train their daughters’ gifts. But we also needed the parents to still be able to raise those girls.”
Buffy and the others were invited to join King T’Challa for tea while also giving him a brief overview of activating the potentials, locating and needing to train all the new slayers, and the fact that girls now manifested their powers much earlier - some as soon as they could walk and talk, others as they began to grasp the concepts of good and evil. They mostly taught the girls to control their strength, and ways to calm and control the usual childish fits of temper that could cause much more damage from a child with supernatural strength.
Families who were able often relocated to homes in proximity to a Slayer House - a combination safe house and training center staffed with actively patrolling Slayers, Watchers, Witches, and sometimes volunteers from the girls’ families just to keep things running smoothly.
“And what do you need from me?” King T’Challa asked when Dawn finished detailing their regular mode of operation.
“Honestly? Very little. Wakanda has many warriors who understand the supernatural and how to fight it, which does help the young Slayers to adjust. But it also means you don’t need us nearly as much as other places,” Buffy replied honestly.
“But when the world went to pieces five years ago, we stepped up with everybody else who could - providing infrastructure and safety as much as possible. Okoye and several of your people identified us for who and what we are, and they offered us an alliance of sorts - assistance for assistance, access to some of our own history that had been lost or kept from us by greedy old men who just wanted weapons, and the ability for girls like Ayanda to both remain one of your people and to train with other Slayers. We would like for that relationship to continue; I think it’s healthy for the girls to know their homes, their own faiths or religions, and to go home to their parents on a daily basis. But need?” Buffy shrugged.
“Queen Bee is right,” Tian agreed. “I’m legally an adult now, if only just, but it’s still nice to be able to call my mother whenever I want to. We go where we’re needed, and we protect people from the demons and the darkness. But we still have a place and a people to call home.”
“Queen?” T’Challa asked, glancing from Tian to Buffy to Ayanda.
Buffy blushed. “Some of the girls started calling me that years ago. I’m not royalty or anything.”
“No, you’re just the first Slayer in recorded history to be alive for so many years,” Dawn refuted. “You’re role-model to the younger Slayers, Buff, and you know it. You’re mother, commander, counselor and confidante. Honestly, you might as well be the Queen of the Slayers.”
“You do not get to tell Thor and Brunnhilde that. I really don’t need the Asgardians calling me Queen, too,” Buffy scolded, half-teasing and half-serious.
“They are right, though,” T’Challa told Buffy in a voice laden with empathy. “Whether or not you claim the title, you are the leader of the Slayers, their associates and their guardians. Your people have spoken, Buffy, and from everything I have heard… I believe they have chosen well.”
Buffy sat silently for a moment, just absorbing everyone’s words. Then she sighed. “I do my best for you all, if only because I never want you to feel as alone as I once did. You know that.”
“We do, Buffy,” Ayanda answered softly. She was still young enough to get away with tucking herself against Buffy’s side, and she smiled when the older Slayer wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You care about us. And that’s why we all follow you; Faith is great and we love her, too, but she isn’t the leader you are.”
Buffy shook her head, but a smile spread across her face. “I suppose you’re stuck with me, then,” she agreed. She smiled at her companions, then returned her attention to T’Challa. “So, if you approve… does that mean the alliance stands?”
T’Challa smiled. “I would like to discuss some of the finer details of the agreement. But you can count on Wakandan support, yes. I will be most pleased to work with you and your organization.” T’Challa offered his hand and Buffy took it. They shook to the muted cheering of the young Slayers who sat beside them.