strangelyliteral

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[Waking up unceremoniously in Luceti with no idea of where she is and what she is doing there is of course a disorienting experience. Anya finds herself out on the beach, lying prone on the sand. It could be Sunnydale, except the area she's been deposited in doesn't have much surrounding it besides sand and blue skies.

Her back hurts, and by the time she sits herself up and reaches back there...] Wings? Is this a joke?

[Some more time passes with her half-ranting to herself, trying to get oriented and squinting at the placement of the sun. She almost misses the fact that the journal is there completely, save when she finally starts to walk and nearly trips over the thing, half buried in the sand.]

[Accidental voice]

- Ow! I have sand in places that I don't want to think about, there's no sign of anyone - what is this, a book? I don't even get a pair of shoes, or even suntan lotion, I just get a lousy book? [She turns the journal over in her hands, pages rustling, her image still not visible, though there's the sound of the ocean's waves in the background.] ... my name is on this book. This just entered a new level of creepy.

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... I haven't read it yet. But now I will.

[With the guide being Buffy-approved she could feel more comfortable with perusing it. Now she was just feeling antsy to get moving.] Let's go to the village now.

Hmm? [ she glances back, as if caught in a mini-daydream. it takes a moment to process anya's request. ] Oh, sure. If you're up to it. You might even find a few of your things. But don't hold your breath on that one. Some of us don't see a lick of home for months.

[ she pushes off the wall and leaves the glasses in the sink, collecting anya's without thinking. ]

Don't have much anyway.

[And she doesn't like the idea of looking for it in free shops, either. It feels like shoplifting, even if it... isn't.]

Not really up to it. I just want to feel like I'm doing something instead of waiting around to be shoved back into that battle.

...Let's hope that doesn't happen too soon, considering--

[ HUFF. buffy kept her arms crossed as she heads for the door. ] Well -- we'd better get going.

What? The sooner we leave the better, right?

[That was an awkwardly cut off sentence, but, whatever. She shrugs and follows Buffy's lead, lifting up the pack and -]

Ow. Ow, ow. Can you take this? Just for a little bit?

[ it's not as simple as... ]

O-of course. For as long as you need. The wings are still bugging out, huh?

[ buffy holds out a hand -- eager to reclaim the burden. ]

A - a little. [More than that. But she wanted to be tough in front of Buffy. As much as possible, anyway.] Just another thing to adapt to, right? I'll deal.

They will stop hurting. Y'know, so long as you don't go and bust them up.

[ and they can be downright pleasurable in other ways, though she's not prepared to share that knowledge with anya. not yet. perhaps not ever. ]

Because they're vital to my survival. Heard that one a lot.

[ she grabs onto the front door and shoulders it open. ]

They repeat it because it's true. I've seen some nasty wing injuries in my day. Luckily, I've avoided too many to my own.

[And she follows her back through the doors. Distraction might help, maybe.]

Any cool stories?

About the wings? Or -- y'know -- just in general? 'Cause I might have a lot of both.

Both might do. It'll take a while to get back over to the village, right?

Not as long as you'd think. But -- okay. Wing stories. You already know the part about how you die if you lose them, so that's covered. But...oh!

Not everyone has tiny little useless feathers like you and me. Some people have big ones. Serious angel wings. Those people were born here, in this world.

So if you're born here, you get to fly, and if you're not, you're stuck with these? So lame.

I dunno. [ she watches the shoreline as they walk -- a thoughtful eye on the jj. ] The trade-off seems to be that the big-wingers have an easier time of, y'know, going mad and trying to kill us all.

[She thinks about that for a moment, scavenging for some of the hastily given info that she found hard to digest to begin with.]

... Those outside-guys then, that you mentioned before. The cultists?

...Got it in one. I guess they're, like, 85% native to this soil or something. It's kind of a thing. [ and since this is anya. and since the joanna joyce reminds her... ] Be careful who you mention it to. Some people are a little...on edge about that fact.

... Why? Were there baby cultists born in here?

...Probably not? [ oh how uncertain! ] I mean -- there've been a few babies. But they're just that. Babies. But there were people here before us and maybe even other people before those people and...

Well. We're not lousy with answers.

Just enough for people to get touchy about it. Fun.

...People get touchy about a lot, here. A gal can't even get in a decent slay without the vamps-rights activists getting all antsy. You'd think they'd respect the judgement call of a veteran but -- nope. Oh, look, there's Buffy Summers. She defeated the General. And yet we can't trust her with a few measly little vampire problems. It's...

[ holy crap summers shut up. ] It's a strange land, Anya. With strange ways. You'll fit in fine.

[Yeah she was a little lost at 'vamps-rights activists'. But it helps to hear Buffy chattering away. Less thinking.]

Right...

The General. [ because she figures she ought to explain that much, at least. ] He -- he leads the Cultists. Maybe even poaches the babies once they're...not-babies. He wasn't too clear on that part.

You defeated their leader, but you're still talking about him in the present tense. He's still out there?

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