FIC: Enlightenment 1/1 FR13
Okay I am really proud of this fic for two reasons. The first being that it's over 1000 words and it's probably the first fic that long that I've written in just under two years. And two because it's not my typical Faith fic/drabble.
And it's also the last fic that I post for the night. I will be resuming posting more fic tomorrow, but I am a lot closer to be caught up. I think I probably only have a few more days of this insane amount of posting.
Title: Enlightenment
Author: Sweetness
Pairing: none
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: The BuffyverseT belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: Written for fanfic100 for prompt #77 (what?) and for joss100 for prompt #28 (shadow.) Set post-Chosen.
It had been Buffy’s bright idea to have Faith do the ritual trance that would allow her to meet the First Slayer. Something about Faith not being able to guide new Slayers if she didn’t fully understand who and what she was. It all sounded like a bunch of new age hocus pocus to Faith. Yet she found herself in the middle of a desert with Giles as he started to perform the ritual that was supposed to set her on the path of complete enlightenment. Faith yawned as she gazed into the fire he had directed her to do, but she didn’t see anything other than the flames as they consumed the logs. Faith wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen and she couldn’t help but feel silly as she stared in to the fire expectantly. She didn’t need some shadow of a long dead Slayer telling her that her death was her gift; she wasn’t Buffy who seemed to have needed that nudge to set her priorities. When she had known it when she had first arrived in Sunnydale and when Buffy had recounted her story in front of the Potentials. As she looked away from the flames to tell Giles that this was all a waste of time, Faith’s mouth dropped open in shock as she realized that the First Slayer was sitting across from her. A tremor of fear climbed up along her spine as the other woman stared at her. This was no shadow; instead it was a woman of flesh and bone who was as deadly as Faith was.
“Who are you?” Faith asked to break the tense silence between them.
”You know who I am.”
”Then what are you?” Faith asked, surprised that she sounded so articulate.
“I am the first of our kind,” the First Slayer mockingly responded to Faith’s pointless questioning.
“You’re not what Buffy said you would be.”
”Buffy and her witch gave me a true voice to use.”
”How?”
”That is unimportant, Faith.”
“Then what is important?” Faith asked, slightly annoyed that the First Slayer was treating her like a small child.
”What you came here for was knowledge about yourself. Not for knowledge about myself or even Buffy.”
”Who am I?” Faith hesitantly asked, unsure of what she was supposed to do.
“You know who you are,’ the First Slayer responded in her sing-song voice.
”What is the whole point of all this if I know all the answers or if they are so unimportant?”
”Such a temper.”
”This is stupid!”
”You have yet to ask me the right question.”
”Look I don’t have time to play twenty questions, I don’t suppose you could tell me the right questions?” Faith asked with a frustrated sigh.
“I could but then there would be no point in you having made this journey.”
”We just took a plane from Cleveland to get here, it wasn’t that difficult,” Faith responded, only understanding the literal meaning of the First Slayer’s words.
“A vision quest is not an easy journey for anyone to make, it is not about literal distance but about mental distance.”
”What?” Faith asked perplexed by what she heard.
“A vision quest, we are in a place beyond time with no real place.”
”This sounds like the Twilight Zone, if you ask me.”
”Faith you must ask me your questions, we do not have the time for me to explain to you what you do not understand. You must ask me the questions you were sent to ask and then you can ask your Watcher to explain the rest.”
”But I don’t know what to ask,” Faith replied in frustration.
”Your questions lie within,” the First Slayer said as she touched her own chest above her heart.
As Faith desperately tried to come up with the questions that she was supposed to ask, that neither Buffy nor Giles had prepared her for, the First Slayer distracted her. For all her articulateness, the Slayer moved as if she was performing some ancient dance. It seemed as if the young woman was moving around her in a circle, yet it always seemed as if they were positioned across from one another. She couldn’t help but wonder how Buffy and Willow had given the First Slayer a voice, especially since the blonde Slayer seemed unawares of having done so. As the fire flared up, the shadows surrounding the two Slayers flickered and danced.
“Time grows short and your Watcher impatient. You must ask your questions, Faith,” the First Slayer ritualistically intoned.
”He’s not my Watcher, he’s on loan from Buffy,” Faith distractedly replied.
”He is the Watcher of all Slayers now. He is the last of his kind, but we are here to discuss you and not the Watcher.”
”What are you?” Faith asked as she tried to track the First Slayer’s movements around her and the fire. “How do I know that you aren’t the First Evil trying to trick me?”
”You must have faith that I am the First of our kind. You must have faith and believe that which you can not understand,” the First Slayer cryptically responded to Faith’s question.
”What am I?” Faith asked as the question came to her.
”You are closer to the correct question.”
”But what am I?” Faith insisted, stalling for time since it seemed that the First Slayer moved less when she spoke.
”You know that you are a Slayer like Kendra was before, like Buffy was before, like so many other girls that came before.”
“And what is my gift? Is it death like Buffy’s gift?”
”No, Faith, death is not your gift. Although you have brought your fair share of death into this world. Your gifts are twofold; you have the gift of knowledge and the gift of Faith. Your role is to guide and teach. It is the only way that you can release yourself from Buffy’s shadow.”
”I am a Slayer, I am supposed to slay things that go bump in the night,” Faith said, feeling slightly disappointed with her gifts.
”No!” The First Slayer growled at her aggressively, “No your gifts are knowledge and faith. You are not meant to possess the same gift as Buffy.”
Faith blinked in surprise as the First Slayer stood aggressively over her and in that split second the First Slayer was gone and in her place was Giles standing in front of her. He looked as if he had aged ten years and the brunette felt a shiver along her spine. She was scared that what she had seen hadn’t been the First Slayer, and instead had been the First Evil. But now was not the time to discuss her fears, things felt wrong to her and she wanted to leave this desert for somewhere else. Somewhere that she could mull over the answers that she had been given.
”Let’s get outta here Giles, this place gives me the creeps,” Faith said as she stood.
“Alright, let me put this fire out.”
Faith nodded her ascent and assisted Giles in his task. Anything to ensure that they left this haunted place quickly.
**END**
And it's also the last fic that I post for the night. I will be resuming posting more fic tomorrow, but I am a lot closer to be caught up. I think I probably only have a few more days of this insane amount of posting.
Title: Enlightenment
Author: Sweetness
Pairing: none
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: The BuffyverseT belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: Written for fanfic100 for prompt #77 (what?) and for joss100 for prompt #28 (shadow.) Set post-Chosen.
It had been Buffy’s bright idea to have Faith do the ritual trance that would allow her to meet the First Slayer. Something about Faith not being able to guide new Slayers if she didn’t fully understand who and what she was. It all sounded like a bunch of new age hocus pocus to Faith. Yet she found herself in the middle of a desert with Giles as he started to perform the ritual that was supposed to set her on the path of complete enlightenment. Faith yawned as she gazed into the fire he had directed her to do, but she didn’t see anything other than the flames as they consumed the logs. Faith wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen and she couldn’t help but feel silly as she stared in to the fire expectantly. She didn’t need some shadow of a long dead Slayer telling her that her death was her gift; she wasn’t Buffy who seemed to have needed that nudge to set her priorities. When she had known it when she had first arrived in Sunnydale and when Buffy had recounted her story in front of the Potentials. As she looked away from the flames to tell Giles that this was all a waste of time, Faith’s mouth dropped open in shock as she realized that the First Slayer was sitting across from her. A tremor of fear climbed up along her spine as the other woman stared at her. This was no shadow; instead it was a woman of flesh and bone who was as deadly as Faith was.
“Who are you?” Faith asked to break the tense silence between them.
”You know who I am.”
”Then what are you?” Faith asked, surprised that she sounded so articulate.
“I am the first of our kind,” the First Slayer mockingly responded to Faith’s pointless questioning.
“You’re not what Buffy said you would be.”
”Buffy and her witch gave me a true voice to use.”
”How?”
”That is unimportant, Faith.”
“Then what is important?” Faith asked, slightly annoyed that the First Slayer was treating her like a small child.
”What you came here for was knowledge about yourself. Not for knowledge about myself or even Buffy.”
”Who am I?” Faith hesitantly asked, unsure of what she was supposed to do.
“You know who you are,’ the First Slayer responded in her sing-song voice.
”What is the whole point of all this if I know all the answers or if they are so unimportant?”
”Such a temper.”
”This is stupid!”
”You have yet to ask me the right question.”
”Look I don’t have time to play twenty questions, I don’t suppose you could tell me the right questions?” Faith asked with a frustrated sigh.
“I could but then there would be no point in you having made this journey.”
”We just took a plane from Cleveland to get here, it wasn’t that difficult,” Faith responded, only understanding the literal meaning of the First Slayer’s words.
“A vision quest is not an easy journey for anyone to make, it is not about literal distance but about mental distance.”
”What?” Faith asked perplexed by what she heard.
“A vision quest, we are in a place beyond time with no real place.”
”This sounds like the Twilight Zone, if you ask me.”
”Faith you must ask me your questions, we do not have the time for me to explain to you what you do not understand. You must ask me the questions you were sent to ask and then you can ask your Watcher to explain the rest.”
”But I don’t know what to ask,” Faith replied in frustration.
”Your questions lie within,” the First Slayer said as she touched her own chest above her heart.
As Faith desperately tried to come up with the questions that she was supposed to ask, that neither Buffy nor Giles had prepared her for, the First Slayer distracted her. For all her articulateness, the Slayer moved as if she was performing some ancient dance. It seemed as if the young woman was moving around her in a circle, yet it always seemed as if they were positioned across from one another. She couldn’t help but wonder how Buffy and Willow had given the First Slayer a voice, especially since the blonde Slayer seemed unawares of having done so. As the fire flared up, the shadows surrounding the two Slayers flickered and danced.
“Time grows short and your Watcher impatient. You must ask your questions, Faith,” the First Slayer ritualistically intoned.
”He’s not my Watcher, he’s on loan from Buffy,” Faith distractedly replied.
”He is the Watcher of all Slayers now. He is the last of his kind, but we are here to discuss you and not the Watcher.”
”What are you?” Faith asked as she tried to track the First Slayer’s movements around her and the fire. “How do I know that you aren’t the First Evil trying to trick me?”
”You must have faith that I am the First of our kind. You must have faith and believe that which you can not understand,” the First Slayer cryptically responded to Faith’s question.
”What am I?” Faith asked as the question came to her.
”You are closer to the correct question.”
”But what am I?” Faith insisted, stalling for time since it seemed that the First Slayer moved less when she spoke.
”You know that you are a Slayer like Kendra was before, like Buffy was before, like so many other girls that came before.”
“And what is my gift? Is it death like Buffy’s gift?”
”No, Faith, death is not your gift. Although you have brought your fair share of death into this world. Your gifts are twofold; you have the gift of knowledge and the gift of Faith. Your role is to guide and teach. It is the only way that you can release yourself from Buffy’s shadow.”
”I am a Slayer, I am supposed to slay things that go bump in the night,” Faith said, feeling slightly disappointed with her gifts.
”No!” The First Slayer growled at her aggressively, “No your gifts are knowledge and faith. You are not meant to possess the same gift as Buffy.”
Faith blinked in surprise as the First Slayer stood aggressively over her and in that split second the First Slayer was gone and in her place was Giles standing in front of her. He looked as if he had aged ten years and the brunette felt a shiver along her spine. She was scared that what she had seen hadn’t been the First Slayer, and instead had been the First Evil. But now was not the time to discuss her fears, things felt wrong to her and she wanted to leave this desert for somewhere else. Somewhere that she could mull over the answers that she had been given.
”Let’s get outta here Giles, this place gives me the creeps,” Faith said as she stood.
“Alright, let me put this fire out.”
Faith nodded her ascent and assisted Giles in his task. Anything to ensure that they left this haunted place quickly.
**END**