FIC: Terra Australis Incognito 17/?

[CDRERamius@xxxxxxx]

TITLE: Terra Australis Incognito 17/?
AUTHOR: Tony McD
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss Whendon, Mutant Enemy, WB and 
others. This is for fun, not profit.
SUMMARY: A stranger with many connections to the Scooby Gang arrives and 
changes their lives forever.
SPOILERS: General Season 4. Follows it for a bit then it's an AU.
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere is fine, just email me first.
RATING: M15+ (Australia) language.
AUTHORS NOTES: Xander faces the Dreamtime spirits


Xander and David left just after 11 that night. David had cooked up a 
Thai Curry Chicken which the gang had wolfed down. Giles had convinced 
everyone that it would be best if everyone stayed at David's tonight. 
Whatever was after them saw that together the Scooby Gang was a danger so it 
would be safest if they stayed together as much as possible. He also 
suggested that Buffy and Willow get some sleep because when David and Xander 
returned there would be an all night research session. Buffy didn't object. 
She was asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.
David drove into the hills behind Sunnydale and turned up a dirt 
track. Xander dozed as David followed the track as it led through a 
plantation of tall trees. The jeep hit a bump in the road, waking Xander. He 
looked around as they drove past the ghostly white trees.
"Where are we?" asked Xander.
"In a eucalypt plantation about 10 miles out of town." informed David.
"A what?"
"A eucalypt tree plantation. Eucalypt trees are native to Australia. 
Apparently the hills around here were prone to erosion since the soil was so 
poor here and pretty much nothing would grow here. However eucalypt trees 
thrive in poor soil. The down side is that they liked it too much and became 
a bit of a pest. Then they discovered that the eucalypt has medicinal oil in 
its leaves and the wood very strong and hard so now they are cutting them for 
wood and the oil." David told Xander. He stopped the car.
"We walk from here."
They got out and started to walk through the trees. Clearing the trees 
Xander saw that they were headed for a hill which had been cleared except for 
a cluster of trees at its summit. David held a bag that contained the 
necessary things for the ritual. As they neared the summit Xander's curiosity 
got the better of him.
"OK, what am I supposed to do that Buffy or Willow couldn't?"
"It's not a matter of couldn't, it's a matter of wouldn't. You find 
out." David grinned as the reached a small clearing in the trees at the top 
of the hill. He put the bag down and started to clear a patch of earth.
"We need some wood for a fire, after we get it lit then I'll explain 
what is going on." said David. The pair gathered wood and David arranged it 
in the clear patch of earth.
"You going to light it using fire sticks?" Xander asked, remembering a 
thing he learnt in his brief stint as a Boy Scout. David just looked at him 
like Xander had said 'this cheese will not protect you'.
"No. This is the 21st Century. I use my lighter." David said as he 
pulled out a battered Zippo lighter and started the fire. The light it 
produced made their shadows dance and the smell of the burning wood was sweet 
and calming.
"So what do you want me to do?" Xander asked.
"I need you to use these clacking sticks." David said as he pulled two 
wooden sticks that were covered in white paint dots.
"All you need to do is tap them together in a rhythm like this." David 
demonstrated for Xander.
"Then as you do that I'll perform the ritual and call upon the 
Dreamtime Spirits to embrace us."
"What will happen then?" Xander asked.
"We will travel to the Dreamtime. Remember that the spirits will 
appear in a form that you are best able to understand and accept. For 
example, they appeared as figures from Ancient Greek mythology to the ancient 
Greeks and as angels to Christians. It's just a matter of what you are 
comfortable with and can relate to." David told Xander.
"OK, now strip." David said. Xander looked at him in panic.
"What?" Xander said, not quite believing what David said.
"Take your clothes off."
"No way!"
"You have to."
"Why?"
"You must enter the Dreamtime in the same state as you entered this 
world. Which means you have to be naked. So now you know why Buffy or Willow 
wouldn't do it. Don't be such a baby." David said.
"But..."
"Oh bloody hell! I'm into women, OK? Trust me you have nothing that I 
haven't seen else where. Just hurry up and stop fucking around!" David 
groused.
The two stripped and placed their clothes at opposite ends of the 
clearing. David turned around and saw Xander.
"Holy Shit!" David cried out and pointed.
"WHAT?" Xander yelled.
"Get a load at it! It looks like a baby's arm holding an apple!" 
Xander tried to cover himself.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Xander screamed.
"Sorry mate. I just got to ask something. You had sex with Anyanka?"
"Yes!" Xander said, not happy at all.
"I think you got her back for a thousand years of making men suffer." 
David said with grin.
"Can we just get on with this and stop talking about Little Xander?" 
asked Xander. David gave him the sticks and they commenced the ritual.
David threw a handful of dirt into the fire then drew pictures in the 
ground, all the while chanting. He then placed a heap of eucalypt leaves on 
the fire, creating a huge amount of sweet smelling smoke.
"Lawurl bohrre-na nardal labld-ndi jut-di dongo-yan dei marluga 
walbararri. Dongo-yan dalmerilal giyakgiyak gugiwu gawor-ubawo gitjjiya 
gapbut langitj-gun wordow-ma."
(Spirit of the Dreaming, we ask for your wisdom, old man of the Milky 
Way. Knowing of yesterday, today and tomorrow the truth, man who goes by 
night bring about the Dreaming.) At that moment there was a flash of white 
light.

Xander found himself standing next to David. The first thing Xander 
noticed was that they weren't naked any more. The next was their location.
They were standing in a lightly wooded area. Small bushes grew in the 
red earth and silence gripped the night.
"Where are we?" Xander asked.
"The Dreamtime." David said. He pointed up into the sky. "Look." David 
told Xander. Xander looked up and gasped.
The sky was awash with stars. Thousands, tens of thousands of stars 
twinkled above them. Xander remembered the happy times that he and Willow 
spent out in the backyard. They used to lay on their backs and look at the 
stars. Willow would tell him the names of the constellations and some of the 
stories behind them. They would often imagine that they were floating in a 
sea of stars. They were happy times. Before Buffy. Before vampires. Before 
the realisation.
But something about it was wrong. It was hard to pick out the 
constellations from all the stars. Then it struck him.
"My God! The stars are upside down!" Xander exclaimed in awe.
"No. They are as how they appeared in Australia tens of thousands of 
years ago. Come. We are expected." David said and headed towards a camp fire 
in the distance.
They arrived at the fire and there was an old Aboriginal waiting for 
them. David spoke to him in his native tongue. David nodded and turned to 
Xander.
"He tells me that they are waiting for you through those wattle 
bushes." David said, pointing to a stand of bushes, 9 feet high and with 
beautiful yellow flowers.
"Who's waiting for me?" Xander asked his friend.
"Go and receive your guidance. I will be here finding what is hidden. 
Go and find your purpose. Go." Xander left David and the old man and started 
to make his way through the wattle bushes. He emerged into bright sunlight.
He found himself at a waterhole which was ringed by trees and had a 
waterfall descending from the rockface above the clear water. It was warm and 
very peaceful and Xander felt more at home than he had ever felt. He looked 
at the waters edge on the far side and saw them. Three of them. They walked 
towards him and as they got closer Xander recognised them.
Jenny Calendar walked hand in hand with two young girls. One was 
blonde and the other had red hair. Both looked about 7 or 8 years old. The 
blonde looked kind of like Buffy, but there was no doubt who the red head 
was. Willow. Jenny let the girls go and they ran to Xander, nearly knocking 
him over and hugging him fiercely.
"Xander!" The two little girls cried out. Dumbfounded Xander looked at 
them and then hugged them back. Tears poured from his eyes, the happiness of 
the moment too much. Jenny came up to him.
"Hello Xander." She said. Xander looked at her.
"How...?" he started but words failed him. Jenny bent down and spoke 
to the girls.
"Buffy, Willow. I need to talk to Xander for a little while. Why don't 
you two go and play? Maybe you can find Xander a present." With a giggle the 
two girls ran off to some rocks by the water.
"Miss Calendar, what... I mean how... ur... why?" Xander babbled.
"You want to know of your purpose? What your reason is in life?" she 
asked him.
"Yes." whispered Xander.
"They are the reason, they are your purpose." Jenny said pointing to 
Willow and Buffy. Buffy started to chase Willow and Willow started screaming.
"Buffy! Stop chasing Willow around with that frog." Jenny called out 
to the girls. Buffy put the frog in the water.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Look at the girls. What do you feel?" she asked him. He looked at 
them.
"I love them. I feel like I'm their big brother. They mean everything 
to me." The two girls came up to Xander.
"We've got something for you." Buffy said. She held up a three leaf 
clover. She smiled as he accepted it from her.
"That is what we are, Xander." Buffy told him. Willow held up her hand.
In it was an opal. Black with a rainbow of colours exploding from it 
as the sun shone on it. Xander accepted it from Willow.
"Keep it always. You will need it one day." she told him.
"Thank you. These are the best presents." He told the girls. They 
giggled and ran off to a log at the other side of the clearing. Jenny took 
Xander by the arm and led him to a large rock. They sat together.
"You want to know what you are? You are saviour, protector, and 
father. When the time comes, do not doubt yourself. Reach within and bring 
forth that for which you are.
"Buffy and Willow have given two gifts. I also will give you two 
gifts. The first is magic to show the others what is to come." Jenny touched 
Xander's hand. A white glow moved from her hand to his.
"The second is memory. For a 100 thousand years the Aboriginal people 
passed down there magic and lore by word of mouth. They never developed 
writing but needed to preserve their collected knowledge. So they had magic 
which enabled some of them to remember everything. The perfect memory. The 
Yhi-ja. This gift was handed down from generation to generation. Like Albert 
gave this to David, I give this to you." she touched his head.

David opened his eyes. He shook his head to clear the disorientation. 
He was back at the hill top. He knew who was behind the spell. He knew what 
his actions must be. But there was still so much left unanswered. He wandered 
to his clothes and got dressed. When he turned around he saw Xander lying on 
the ground. David raced over and checked him.
Xander's eyes were open. And they glowed sky blue.
"The Yhi-ja!" David exclaimed to himself. He gathered up his things 
and Xander's clothes, then picked up Xander and took him to the jeep.

"Dad! Dad!" David yelled as he entered his house. David took Xander up 
to Xander's room and put him in the bed. Just as David covered Xander Giles 
came running in.
"What is it?" he said.
"I need you to look after Xander of a while." David told his Dad.
"What happened?" Giles asked as he saw Xander's eyes. At that moment 
Buffy and Willow raced into the room.
"What the hell have you done to him?" Buffy demanded to know.
"I didn't do anything! The spirits must have given him the Yhi-ja. 
It's the ability to remember everything. He'll be out of it for a couple of 
days." David told them.
"What's wrong with his eyes?" Willow cried out.
"Nothing! Don't worry! I went through it when I was 7. He'll be fine. 
I just need you to look after him while I'm gone."
"Where are you going?" Buffy demanded again.
"I've got to find a book and arrange a few things." he said to the 
angry Slayer.
"What about whoever or whatever cast the spell and sent the Jachyra?" 
Giles asked. David grabbed his father but the arms.
"The demon's name is Murg Dor." David said before leaving.