Nusac

Author's Notes: Beyond this point anything written in Italics will be spoken in the secondary language of the place they are in. For example whenever the characters are in Nusac anything written in Italics is spoken in English

Chapter 19

Faith’s POV

The whirlwind grows in size and force as the rip in the fabric of time begins to expand. I can hear a distant screaming over the roaring wind running past my ear. It’s not like I can get up and go and help. It’s not like I can even get up.

I see something drop out of the portal and it disappears almost instantaneously. Well if that’s how I got here no wonder I was attacked straight away. You could be able to see that thing for miles in the open field. I see a figure stand and have a look around.

Okay decision time. I can attract attention to myself and possibly be helped back home for some much needed tender loving care. The other side of that is that whatever came through that portal is either evil or a hungry flesh-eating monster. So I could just lie here and hope he doesn’t see me.

Problem with the latter is that if he doesn’t notice me then I’m quite likely to die out here. I don’t think I can get very far without my strength failing me at some point. Namine isn’t likely to come out looking for me for at least a few days. It’s not like I haven’t disappeared for days at a time before this.

I’m going to have to bite the bullet and hope this guy isn’t going to kill me and even if he does at least it will be quick.

I try to get my vocal cords to work so I can speak but all I manage is a strangled moan. That noise was so pathetic!

The leaves around me shuffle as he comes to kneel by my side. “Oh my god are you okay?”

Do I look okay? If I do his vision is clearly distorted. “Yeah, just peachy.” On the brighter side I haven’t been eaten yet.

Through my one good eye I see his forehead crease in confusion. ”I’m going to call you an ambulance. Okay, just don’t move.” Yeah like I’m going anywhere. He shakily pulls out a cell phone from his back pocket and slides it open. His hands are shaking so much that he drops the devise onto the floor. He scrambles around and finds it and tries to dial. ”Damn, no signal” He throws me a sympathetic look before looking around.

“You’re surprised? Take a look around you buddy what about this place makes you think they have satellites?” I think I should be less snippy to my almost rescuer but I’m in pain here and it’s very possible that I won’t walk again.

”I’m really sorry miss but I don’t understand you.” Why doesn’t he understand me? I understand him just fine.

“You’re speaking English.” I catch myself speaking Latin again and have to force myself to speak my mother tongue. ”You’re speaking English.”

“Thankfully, so are you now.” Not only is he speaking English but he has an American accent to boot. What are the chances of me meeting a fellow Yank in this place. He looks back down at his phone. “I’m going to get higher up to get some signal.”

Always the way. Get into a tight spot and lose your signal. “You’re not going to get signal anywhere around here.”

”Why not do you think the forest is too dense?” Denial. Boy I wish I had that to fall back on. I don’t think I’ve had a good fit of denial since I saw my first vampire.

I smile as his naivety. ”Do you not remember the portal?” For Christ sake you’re a man you’re supposed to at least pretend that you understand even when you don’t. “The big white thing you were just sucked through. Well see it as… the DeLorean from ‘Back to the Future’ but instead of going back to 1985 you’ve been shot all the way back to the middle ages.”

He gets this confused look “You mean like in the third one?” Yes I have found a fellow geek. How lucky am I? I might be luckier if I could still walk but I’ll take these breadcrumbs.

“Further back than that.”

For a moment he looks like he’s in shock. “Oh.” He looks back down at the phone which is still clutched in his hand and throws it over his shoulder. “Well that won’t be any use. How do we get you to a hospital?”

“Hospitals don’t exist either.” Only just noticing how dangerous it is to live here.

“Doctors?”

“Sort of but not the way you’re thinking of them”

I watch as his face drops as something dawns on him. “You mean there are no nurses?” I have to laugh out loud at his very serious question.

”In theory yes but they don’t have any uniforms.” Aww look at that he’s pouting. I think if I pushed it and said there were no policewomen in uniforms either, he might burst out crying. ”Even without all that I think I still need some medical attention.”

”Well I majored in music” He says that like it’s helpful in a situation like this.

”Don’t suppose you took another subject did ya? Something like, practical science. Hell, wood shop would do.”

”Philosophy.” I’m going to die out here. ”Don’t you know anyone that can help?”

I run my hand through my hair. ”Yeah but your going to have to get me there.” Looking around me there are lots of useful things around that I could use to make a stretcher but would he understand if I tried to explain it? Or I could just get so frustrated that I shout at him and he walks off and leaves me here.

”I could try carrying you, you don’t look too heavy but I don’t know if I would make your injuries worse or anything, people always say don’t move someone when they get hurt you know.” So now he plucks some medical knowledge out of his head, I guess I’ll have to hope there is some more stored away in his brain.

”Well we don’t have much of a choice but for you to move me, something could come and kinda kill us at any point, but don’t panic… “ I pause because as feared a sort of panicked look spread across his face. ”Listen I know you’re freaking out but you need to stick with me, there are things here that aint pretty and I’m the only person here who actually speaks English so if you help me out by building me a stretcher and taking me home then I promise you can come stay with me and I’ll keep you safe okay?”

He laughed at me! Laughed at me! What in hell is so funny? He finally stops laughing and says something to me. ”Sorry about that, I just find it kinda amusing that you think you will look after me… I mean look at you… “

And there goes my eye roll along with a shake of the head, if only he knew what the fuck was going on and how dangerous it was for us to be out here at this time of day. ”You’re going to have to make a stretcher.”

”Right, no problem.” I can see in his eyes that he does have a problem with that. ”How do I do that again?”

Did this guy never see ‘extreme survival’? I manage to push myself onto my back so I don’t have to try so hard to get some oxygen into my lugs. “It’s okay I can talk you through It.” I turn my head to the side so can scan the floor for what I need. Unfortunately, leaves cover anything that’s going to be useful. ”You need to find some branches that have fallen down. They need to be as long as me and quite thick.”

He nods and scrabbles off to do as instructed. It doesn’t take him long to bring one back looking very pleased with himself. I soon wipe that smile off his face when I remind him that we need two to be able to transport me.

The second one takes a little longer and he has to go so far away that I can no longer hear him scrambling around. Without the constant noise I have to fight the natural urge to pass out. He still needs me to tell him how to join them together.

My breathing begins to speed up as I feel myself hyperventilating and going into shock from my injuries.

At the point where my eyelid becomes almost too heavy for me to keep open I hear his frantic steps in the distance. How he hasn’t drawn the attention of any wondering demon is beyond me. ”Okay, what now?” My eyelid slides closed as I run out of energy to be able to keep them open. ”Oh no you don’t.” I feel a hand go under my neck as he pulls me up from my lying position.

My head is to heavy for me to lift and it flops down towards the ground. It does help me get enough strength to prise my eye open.

My head is slowly lowered back to the ground. “You need to stay with me.”

“Okay.” It’s not until after the word has left my mouth that I realise I slip into Latin. ”See those vines on that tree? You need to get them off the tree, as long as you can get them. Use them to join the two branches together.”

My eyelid slides closed to the sound of his fumbling and eventually I surrender to the sweet darkness.

I’m left in my pain free slumber until I feel arms under my armpits lifting me from the floor. I’m lifted and pulled to the side and onto the uncomfortable vines as I’m dragged it pulls my knee and I cry out. Thankfully he doesn’t stop until I’m on the stretcher, no matter how long or loud I scream.

”Comfy?” Oh if looks could kill ”Okay so no. Where to from here?”

I put the ball of my foot attached to my good leg on the bottom vine so I don’t fall off. ”Just head to the end of the trees and head right, you can’t miss it.”

”Why won’t I miss it.” I can see me having to explain everything to this guy.

”’Cause it’s the only house for miles.”

He lifts the makeshift stretcher and begins to drag it along with me towards the edge of the dense forest. ”You’ve got to stay with me miss. I don’t know where I’m going. Tell me something about yourself

I rack my brains, or what little I can access at the moment. ”I don’t know, I like to make stuff?” The statement comes out as a question.

”What do you make then?” I can see his trick, keep me talking and thinking so I don’t pass out and possibly die, well I could have a concussion, if I’m not sure if I’ve got one then how the hell is he supposed to know?

”Weapons mostly… stuff to fight with… to stop all the…” I pause every few seconds when there is a bump in the ‘road’ I have to clench my teeth tight so that I don’t scream out.

”Come on I can see the house, keep talking until we get there, so is that your job? Making weapons?”

Through the haze of semi consciousness I manage to relax slightly so I can free my jaw to speak. ”I’m The Slayer, that’s my job.”

”But wait, if you’re the…” I hear the cogs turning in his head. I stare at him looking confused. ””If you’re The Slayer… what happened to Buffy?”