Terra Australis 1-2/?

[CDRERamius@xxxxxxx]

Enjoy.

Terra Australis 1-2/?
	
DISCLAMER: I own nothing except David and Albert. Writing this for love not money. All hail Joss.
SUMMARY: A stranger enters the lives of Buffy and her friends who will change the course of their lives and will reveal hidden destinies. An ally or something else?


	It was just before noon when Buffy and Willow got to Giles? place. Buffy knocked on the door. "Come in Buffy, I?m in the kitchen." Giles called from inside. Buffy and Willow entered.
	Xander was laying on the couch, an ice pack on his head, and a look of decided illness on his face. Willow knelt down beside him and stroked his face"Xander what happened? Did you get attacked? Please be OK!" Willow looked so concerned, thought Buffy. No matter what happened between Willow and her, Willow would always have a special love for Xander. Buffy put the thought out of her mind.
	"Nothing attacked him" said Giles as he emerged from the kitchen with Spike in tow. "Good morning Buffy, Willow" he said.
	"Young Xander here made a big mistake last night and tried to out drink an Aussie at the bar. Came around here at 2 in the morning, singing some songabout kangaroos and passed out in the bath." Spike informed them. "Not a very pretty picture today are we?" he asked Xander. 
	Xander sat up "My head is the Hellmouth and all the demons are having a big apocalypse party in it. Please slay me Buffy." Xander implored to his friend.
	Buffy knew what kind of hell he was going through. After the Bad Beer incident Buffy had a hangover that was measured on the Richter scale. She smiled at him "You?ll live Xander, although I?m not too sure you will want to." Buffy turned to Giles. "You would think he would learn the evils of drinking by now, wouldn?t you agree?"
	"Yes quite" Giles said "I?m sorry but what brings you here? Something you encountered last night?" Buffy told Giles what happened last night; except for the bit with Willow of course.
	"Fascinating, you can?t remember more about this mysterious Jumper can you? Maybe something unusual?" Giles inquired. Something about the ceremony was familiar but he could not quite figure what it was.
	"Um, no. Ah wait there was. He spoke with a strange accent. British or something." Buffy told the Watcher.
	"Hey," a voice said behind them. They all spun round to see a man standing in the door way. "Never call an Aussie a Pom. It is very insulting." It was the Jumper, Buffy recognized. In the light of day and close up he had short sandy blonde hair. He was tanned, tall, muscular, and had the palest blue eyes Buffy had ever seen. She leapt up ready to attack.
	"Who are you?" Buffy demanded "What are you doing here?"
	The man ignored her "Rupert Giles? I?m David McWray, Albert Namirea sent me."
	Giles was stunned. His mind was spinning back to his days at the Ripper. 
	Albert Namirea was an Australian Aborigine who had just been admitted to the Council after many years of trying. He was regarded as somewhat of a mystery by the Council, and the fact that he was a tribal elder with powerful magic that no European had knowledge of further gave him an air of ancient mystery. To Giles, however, Albert was a close friend, mentor, and supporter during his troubled time as the Ripper. It was under the friendship and support of Albert that Giles came to deal with his fate to become a Watcher. And deal with what he had done in the process of avoiding his fate.
	Giles was interrupted by Buffy?s commanding voice. "Tell us what you are doing here or..."
	"Chill out Slayer Barbie, everything will be explained in good time." David told her in a calm even tone. He looked at Giles." He also said to show you this." David removed a small, beaded metal chain from around his neck. He handed it to Giles.
	Giles looked at the chain. On it was a set of dog tags and something Giles could never forget. A black snake coiled to form a ring. He looked up at the young man. "Where did you get this?" Giles asked in a whisper. 
	Buffy was very agitated; "Giles tell me what this is all about!" Giles held up a hand to silence Buffy. "Where did you get this?" Giles asked the young man again so that he could hear him.
	"It was my mothers." David replied, a quiet somber tone to his voice.
	Giles stood for a moment lost in thought, then shook his head as if to clear it. "You said that Albert sent you?" Giles asked. 
	"Yes, he is my mentor. My father really, since I don?t know who my father was."
	"Hey, you?re that Aussie from the pub last night." Xander said, sittingup and taking an interest in the proceedings.
	"I hate to interrupt this little chat but can any one tell me what in God?s name is going on?" Buffy demanded.
	"Oh, ..yes... please sit, David. Do you want a cup of tea?" Giles asked remembering his manners. "Yes, thanks" David said taking a seat beside Xander. Giles went into the kitchen. 
	"OK, yesterday I saw you playing some kind of game with Riely, being all buddy-buddy with him. Then this morning I saw both of you in the war cemetery doing some kind of ritual. And now I find out that not only did you get Xander very drunk you were sent here by someone in Giles? past. You have a lot to explain." Buffy said her agitation gone, replaced with curiosity.
	"OK. That game you saw us playing is called Aussie Rules and" 
	" Didn?t look like there was any rules out there" Willow remarked, cutting off David mid sentence. He went on.
	"I was playing with Riely and some of his friends and some backpackers from Melbourne that are here. 
	"That so called ritual, today is the 25th of April which in Australia is ANZAC Day. We remember those that have fallen in war and those that have returned. It was a dawn service which..."
	"So explain that incantation you were saying" Buffy demanded.
	"What incantation?" asked David clearly puzzled.
	"You know what I?m talking about, not growing old, condemning, going down of the sun?"
	David looked at Buffy with an expression that almost resembled the one that Giles gave her when her antics began to wear thin on him. 
	"They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them," at this point Xander joined in with David. "nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them." There was a somber pause. "Least we forget."
	"Xander how do you.." Willow asked
	"I remembered it from when I was army guy, Will." Something clicked in Xanders throbbing head. "That chain that you gave Giles. There was a set of dogtags, are you in the army?"
	"What?s this?" asked Giles coming in with the tea.
	"Thanks mate." David said as he took a cup and poured the tea. "I supposeI had better start from the very beginning.
	"Albert is a member of the Council and an old friend of Giles during his young, wild days in London. He is also an Aboriginal tribal elder and practitioner of powerful ancient Aboriginal magic. He looked after me since I was a baby. Taught me the ways of the ancestors and the Watchers. Of course there never having being an Australian slayer he couldn?t teach me everything."
	"Never an Aussie slayer?" asked Spike
	"No need. Until recently there was no vampires in Australia." David said matter of factly.
	"No vampires?" asked Buffy skeptically.
	"What are we waiting for? Let?s move there! Paradise here we come!" Xander chirped only to be cut down by his blinding hangover.
	"You?re telling me that until just recently there were no vampires in Australia?" asked Spike, not quite believing what he heard.
	David sighed "For thousands of years Australia was a vampire free continent. The reasons behind it are a bit complicated. But here goes.
	"For over 100 000 years the Aboriginees wandered Australia in small nomadic tribes. They were isolated from the rest of the world, they never built permanent houses or buildings, never developed metal technology, lived in thedriest and sunniest place on earth, had an intimate knowledge of the land, and had powerful connections to the Spirit World. Vampires never stood a chance."
	David could see that none of them got what he was trying to say.
	"Look, imagine that you are a vampire 500 years ago. Even if you knew that Australia existed, which almost everyone didn?t, how are you going to get there? Jumbo jet? No European ships went any where near there. Even if they did, the journey would have taken over 2 years and a vampire would have eaten the whole crew long before then.
	"Say you got there? The sun is a huge problem. Australia is the sunniest place on earth. Hell, the sun kills thousands of normal people each year with skin cancer. Where are you going to stay? Book in a motel? Jump down a sewer? There was nothing there..."
	"What about caves?" asked Spike, his pride as a vampire kicking in, not quite believing that there was such a dangerous place for him to be in.
	"Australia is the flattest place on earth which means not too many caves.Those caves that were around had underground rivers in them and were prettywet." Dave replied.
	"So, I don?t mind getting a little wet to avoid the sun" Spike shot back smugly. <I?ll show you, you smart arse Aussie>
	Dave smiled at Spike. "You know how I said that Australia is the driest place on earth? Well because water was so scarce it was regarded by the Aboriginees are the blood of the Great Creation Spirit, The Rainbow Serpent. It was regarded as holy. Any water you came across was holy water. Now do you mind getting wet?" Dave asked the vampire. Spike shut up.
	"Even if you found somewhere dry and out of the sun, you still had big problems to overcome. The very nature of your food source was a problem. Therewere only about 400 000 people in Australia, living in small nomadic tribes. Your food source was very hard to come by. Plus even if you found some they were far from helpless.
	"The Aboriginees never developed metal technology, so that meant that if they were going to attack you it would not be with guns and swords. They used wooden spears and speared you through the heart with them. Aboriginees hadintimate knowledge of the land, they could track you and hunt you down veryeasily. Aboriginees had powerful magic to do all sorts of things."
	"Sounds like heaven." Buffy remarked. <a place with no vampires, wow> shethought.
	"Not quite, no metal technology meant that there was no silver, so were-creatures had pretty much a free reign." Dave informed the Slayer.
	"So they had were-wolves?" asked Willow.
	"No wolves in Australia, mostly were-dingoes." David chuckled "Dingoes ate my baby!" he said thinking of the infamous Lindy Chamberlin case. He looked up and saw a look of discomfort on everyone?s faces. Willow looked so sad. <why are they so upset? Why does Willow look like she is about to cry? There is a story here and I want to know it. A change of subject might be a good idea about now>
	"Thanks for the history lesson" Spike said "but why are there vampires there now?"
	"British settlement in 1788. They built towns and cities, sewers and tunnels, and the advent of Jumbo jets meant that the trip only took 20 hours or so, depending where you left from. The British nearly wiped out the Aborigines with disease and slaughtered them like animals. Water lost its holy status. The British had silver bullets to deal with the were-creatures. Australiais now like any other place." Dave said. 
	There was sadness in his eyes, Buffy noticed. <his eyes, I can almost seehis soul. He has such..> Buffy snapped out of it <damn it girl, get a grip on your hormones> "So what does this have to do with you and us?" Buffy demanded
	David told them how his mother died giving birth to him and about not knowing who his father was. He told them about Albert caring for him and teaching him about the Watchers and Aboriginees and magic. He told them about growing up in outback Queensland and made them laugh with the antics he got up to. He told them how he joined the army and made it into the SAS, and some ofthe horrors he had seen, especially in East Timor.
	"This brings to about 6 months ago. I got a call from my CO telling me that I had to see some bloke in Canberra. It turned out that vampires were becoming a problem, so they wanted me to come here and study how the Americans were handling the situation, specifically to study the Initiative. As a cover I was to resign from the army and come to UC Sunnydale to study Archeology. When I told Albert this he told me to come and see you Rupert and to trainwith the Slayer. So here I am."
	"Extraordinary" Giles muttered. His stomach growled, reminding him that lunch time had come and gone. "Would anyone care for some sandwiches?" he asked. There was a chorus of yes from the group who realised that they too werehungry.
	When Giles returned with a tray piled with sandwiches, Dave turned to Buffy. "So you?ve all heard my story. What is the story with you mob? I bet it?s interesting to say the least."
	"My friend you have no idea just how interesting" Xander responded for the gang. 

	Over the next three hours David learnt the story of how the Scooby Gang came to be and their adventures over the years.
	"What can I say? That is the most amazing thing I?ve ever heard." Dave smiled "Only in America? huh?"
	"Only in Sunnydale" Xander corrected. They all laughed. Giles got up and stretched, and noticed the sun low on the horizon. 
	"Buffy, it?s nearly sunset. I think you and Willow should go back to the dorm and get ready for tonight?s patrol." Giles told his Slayer. Buffy got up.
	"Come on Will, evil waits for no Slayer." Buffy said to her friend. As the two girls went to leave David asked "Can I tag along? You know, get a bit of experience."
	"I don?t want you to go out there until you?ve had the proper training." Giles said "It?s very dangerous."
	"My whole life is dangerous. Besides, I think I am quite able to look after myself." David remarked thinking not only of his military training but his other skills as well.
	"Look, I cannot spend my time trying to protect you out there. You have no experience in fighting vampires. Giles is right, you need to be trained first." Buffy told David. David turned to Giles.
	"Well then I think that Buffy and I should have a little training sessionat my place tomorrow. I think that will change your mind. Who about it Slayer Barbie? You game?" David challenged Buffy.
	"Just tell me when and where so I can kick your Aussie ass." Buffy replied, her eyes narrowing at the challenge.
	"How about 10 o?clock, 1615 Elmwood Avenue. Giles can come to referee."he turned to address the group "Hey everyone, come to my place and see TheChosen One verses The Thunder from DownUnder. Free admission for pensionersand children under five."
	Inspite of himself, Xander couldn't help but give a little chuckle.
	Giles stepped between them "Listen you two I..."
	"No Giles I think Crocodile Dundee here is right. Lets see how good this so called Thunder from DownUnder really is." Buffy stared into David?s? eyes, a hard determined look on her face. Giles looked at Buffy. He could see the determination on her face and knew that it would be hopeless to try tostop her.
	"Alright, alright you pair, save it for tomorrow." Giles turned to David "You don?t know what you?re in for do you? Fine, but remember I warned you not to do this."
	"Tomorrow then," Buffy said "10 o?clock, your place." She turned and with Willow in tow left for the dorms. There was an awarkard silence when Buffy left. It was Xander that spoke. 
	"Well, I better get going. I start work in an hour." He got up and headedto the door. "Where do you work, mate?" David asked Xander. 
	"At that bar that we were at last night." Xander replied.
	"You?re a barman?"
	"Yeah"
	"Mate!, friend!, pal!, buddy!" David said Xander "why didn?t you say soin the first place?" he turned to Giles "see you tomorrow Giles, thanks foryour hospitality, but I?ve developed a sudden thirst that can only be quenched by copious amounts of cold beer." With that David left with his new best friend.
	Spike raised an eyebrow at the departing figure. "I like that lad. He?sgot spunk. I like that." he turned to the Watcher "tomorrow will be very interesting, don?t you agree?" 
	Giles said nothing.

	"OK listen up" David said, reaching into a box and taking out two stakes."the idea of this is for Buffy here to try to stake me and for me to try tostake her." Willows eyes widened in fear.
	"Don?t worry Willow they?re made of rubber. See?" David reassured Willow as he demonstrated them to everyone. He threw one to Buffy who caught itand looked at David with a steely look in her eyes. David just shrugged it off and picked up the box to move it out of the way.
	They were at an old mansion, with a large room, almost like a ballroom. Off to one side was Willow, Giles, Xander and Spike. In the middle of the room stood Buffy. Her blonde hair tied into a simple braid, to keep it out of her face. David returned.
	"Twenty bucks says the Aussie wins." Spike said.
	"I?ll see your action" Xander replied, producing a note from his pocket.
	In the center Buffy and David faced off. With a cheeky grim on his face David said to Buffy "Ready when you are" and bowed to her. Instantly Buffy snapped off a blisteringly fast kick aimed at David?s? bowed head. Her foot connected with nothing but air. David had spun in side her kick and liftedher leg higher and swept her other leg away with his right foot.
	Buffy crashed to the floor on her back. Immediately she rolled to her right just avoiding David?s rubber stake as it came for her heart. She flipped on to her feet facing him. She threw a vicious right hook at his head but again she hit nothing but air. David spun inside her punch, grabbed her arm and flipped her over his shoulder.
	On the floor once again, Buffy flicked her feet up and caught David between then. With a grunt she flung him over her and sent him smashing into the far wall. Quickly they both got to their feet. They advanced to each other. David swung a right hook which Buffy ducked under and gave him a vicious elbow to the ribs. A left backhand sent Buffy staggering back.
	David tried to stake her but a quick blow sent the stake flying. Smiling,Buffy went in for the kill only see David deliver a karate chop to her wrist and she dropped the stake. David threw a left which Buffy caught and she threw a similar punch which David also caught. Locked together David fell back and putting his feet on Buffy?s stomach flipped her over him and into the far wall.
	Uneasily Buffy got up. "CATCH!" David yelled as he threw Buffy?s stake at her. She caught it an inch from her heart. "Nice try." Buffy said and launched herself back into the fight.
	
	Standing to the side, everyone was struck dumb. Everyone had seen Buffy fight before, but none had seen her fight so hard or as viciously. Not even when she fought Angelus, or the Master, or the First Evil had she fought likethis. Normally they would be worried that David would be killed but not now. Everything Buffy did David took and gave his own back. 
	They fought with a passion as they punched, kicked, blocked, and threw each other around the room. They had been fighting for nearly half an hour, their bodies drenched in sweat, their breathing ragged. But neither gave any sign of giving up. Neither could get the upper hand long enough to deliver the rubber stake to the heart to end it.
	They faced each other, slowly circling. Buffy was determined to win but they were so evenly matched. She had tried everything to beat him and now decided to wait until he made a mistake she could capitalize on.
	As David circled he was surprised at how well Buffy fought. He could see the passion to win in her eyes. <She is so evenly matched with me in hand tohand. I have to force a mistake that I can use>. A plan entered his head.
	Buffy saw David crouch down as if he intended to jump <remember> she thought <he can jump very well>. He launched himself into the air and over Buffy?s head. She stepped forward to give herself some room and turned around to face him as he landed. 
	THUMP! David landed in front of her. 
	THUMP! another David landed to her right.
	THUMP! another David landed to her left.
	THUMP! behind her, yet another David landed. Buffy was surprised. "What the f..." she started to say when the David to her left threw a right hook. She launched a savage roundhouse kick aimed at his head. She watched in amazement as her foot passed through his head. Her Slayer senses screamed to her to turn around as the real David came in for the kill. 
	David was surprised as Buffy turned and caught his stake hand. He grabbedhers and the two struggled to break free. They collapsed on the floor, Buffy landing on top of David. "Do you think that magic will win you this" Buffyhissed, anger in her voice.
	"No, just this." and with that David kissed her. 
	The kiss was electric. Her anger was drowned in an ocean of emotions. Warmth spread through her body, and she melted into David. A passion, an intensity she had never felt even with Angel coursed through her. Their tongues danced wildly in each others mouth. She felt her body responding to his.
	David let go of her hand and ran his fingers through her long blonde hair. He inhaled her sweet scent and felt her responding to his kiss. He was overwhelmed by the depth of emotions that threatened to drown him in. 
	They broke the kiss. The need to breathe over came their passion. David looked lovingly into the Slayer?s eyes. He reached out and took her hand with the stake in it. He gently placed the tip of her stake over his own heart. "I win" he said.