scandalized when they heard of the sleeping arrangements of the Slayerettes. They hadArmageddon SagaThe Gypsy drivers switched drivers around 8pm at the crossroads. The driver from the
Chapter Fifteen: Gyspy Camp
By the Lady Sirona ladysirona@LadySirona.com
Note: < > denotes language spoken is Hungarian. * * Denotes thought
main compound took over and Tirla's driver stepped into the car that had followed them
and returned to Tirla's castle. It was convenient to the Slayerettes that Tirla provided
drivers for them. Angel was glad they weren’t required to drive themselves and try to
find the locations. The rest just watched the scenery, read or slept.The Slayerettes were bored watching the scenery and were dozing in the night. It had
been a long boring drive for all of them. Angel was bored and anxious most of all. He
rode the first part of the trip initially wrapped in a rug, and was irritable and cramped
when finally released after sunset. He was dreading returning to the main camp and he
didn't want the others to see the 'scene of his crimes'.Angel looked down at Buffy sleeping on his chest, her hair draping over him. She was so
beautiful. He had been so certain she would reject him when she found out he had been
the master's Slayer Killer, and as usual she surprised him with acceptance and the depth
of her love. He couldn't believe he was so lucky to have her in his life. She was all he
had ever wanted, and more than he ever hoped for or felt he deserved.The van drove into the countryside and Angel started to get more restless. He knew
they were getting closer; the basic out lay of the country was unchanged. He tried to
control his rising fear, but Buffy roused in response to his distress. She looked deep in
his eyes "I love you Angel, I won't let them hurt you." He smiled down at her. She was
so cute, The Slayer protecting a vampire from gypsies.The van finally pulled into a courtyard of a small cluster of houses. Angel looked out, it
seemed unchanged from the compound in his memory. Laundry lines hung on the poles
he had been fastened to. The basic outlays of the buildings were unchanged. It could
have been yesterday when he was cursed here. The door opened at the main house and a
short stocky dark hair man stood in the doorway. Angel looked at him, and noticed he
looked a lot like his ancestors that Angel had known.Giles unkinked himself as he stood after exiting the van. He watched as Willow and
Xander unloaded themselves. They were unusually quiet on the trip and wondered for a
moment what occurred in England that changed them so much. He would have to ask,
and wasn't really sure he wanted to know....Angel and Buffy climbed out. Buffy noticed Angel looked as if he was trying to
disappear into the shadows. The Gypsies seemed nervous, and Giles wrote it off to it
being night and them being host to the Slayer. It was unusual to the Watcher to have
everyone know who Buffy was. He found he strongly disliked it.As they were all lead up to the main door, Giles noticed the men of the camp unloading
the luggage. It was going to be very odd to have so many people being so helpful. They
took the luggage into the main house through another entrance. He turned back to the
main door."Enter if you are able" was the invitation offered by the man. It was an invitation of
sorts, but useless if you were a vampire. "I am Karl Kalendash. Headman of the camp.
Welcome to our camp and our homes."Giles as well as all the others noted the unusual wording. If they were vampires it would
have not been the invitation the undead required. Giles wondered momentarily how they
would get Angel invited into the main house without them realizing he was a vampire.Angel looked the man in the eyes and nodded and then walked through the threshold
uninvited. Giles was surprised, until he remembered, Angelus had hunted here. He
obviously been invited years ago. Once they had all walked through the threshold, the
man smiled a big smile and opened his arms wide."Greetings and welcome to the home of the Kalderash people." Karl spread his arms
wide in welcome. "I am the leader of the Kalderash people. We serve the Lady Tirla,
and therefore we are here to serve you in all that you need. We welcome you Vampire
Slayer and your companions. Your wish is our command, and all we have is yours.""Thank you for your, ah, kind hospitality" Giles addressed the entire group. There was a
collection of men women and children, all who clustered about, wanting to see the
legendary Vampire Slayer. "We, we have ah, have had a long tiring trip, and would, ah,
like to rest a bit, before we ah, get to business. We will need Rest and a place to meet
and plan. That is all that would be in order." Their audience stepped back as the
Slayerettes walked into the main room.The room was quite large, a large table was to one side and there were couches and
chairs over by a fireplace. The table and wooden chairs were stable heavy pieces. A fire
burned in the fireplace setting a warm homey feeling to the room. Stairs went up into the
darkness on the far corner, covered with bodies of the gypsies anxious to see the legend."Show them to the rooms" The headman stepped back and waived to two young women
on the stairs. They were both dark haired beauties, and they walked with hesitancy in
front of the legendary Slayer. Buffy and Angel followed right behind them, followed by
Willow and Xander with Giles bringing up the rear.The first room that was shown the Slayer was a single bed, a desk and a window open to
what Angel knew would be an eastern exposure. He shook his head at Buffy. "This will
be perfect for Giles." She nodded and smiled at the girl who looked on, and who seemed
so much she wanted to please. "My Watcher will take this room." The girl nodded. Giles
smiled as he walked into the room to settle in.They walked on and the next room which was across the hall. It had two separate twin
beds, with another room seen beyond it with one double bed. The anteroom had a
window with western exposure, and two chairs. A bureau covered on wall. Angel noticed
the inner room seemed not to have a window. Angel nodded toward the second room and
Buffy nodded. "We'll take that one, come on Angel." She walked toward the room with
Angel behind her. She walked in the room and sat on the bed. The girls stood in shock at
the arrangements.Xander and Willow looked at the twin beds and then each other... "I guess we are
roommates,” Willow laughed as she sat on a bed. She looked slightly uncomfortable but
they both seemed to like the idea. Xander crossed over to the other bed as the young
men brought in their luggage, and they started to unpack.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
<The dark haired man and the blonde woman took the back room! > The women were
gathered in the kitchen together gossiping about the Slayer and her assistants. They
planned for the Watcher to take the back room, the girls to take the twin beds and the
spare boy the single room. That would have been the "proper" way for them to be. That
the Slayer and the dark haired man took the double bed set the tongues to wagging.They knew it was the Slayer and her assistants... they just couldn’t believe what showed
up: a middle aged Englishman and two teenagers and a very handsome young man! These
were the Slayer and her assistants who were going to kill the catacomb vampires?<The red headed girl is shy. > The older woman commented to the collected women and
older girls. <It is inappropriate to have them have to room together. But, we will allow
them to tell us what they need. ><The redhead is proper. The Blonde is brazen; did you see the way she dresses? >
Another woman commented on Buffy's attire, not realizing it was very sedate for the
Slayer's usual dress.<The blonde is the Chosen One> The Old woman finally spoke. <She is the Slayer. She is
a breed apart from us. What she wants, she gets. > She looked at the women one at a
time, and smiled a knowing smile. < I knew a Slayer when I was young. They are a breed,
apart like I said. Be thankful she brought her man with her, and is not interested in
yours!> The old woman laughed as the reality set in on the women. They returned to
their tasks with great focus.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was nearly midnight when Karl was doing final rounds before going to bed, he found his
guests sitting around the dining room table. They were drinking tea, eating bread and
cheese and looking at maps. *What are they doing? * He asked himself as he came up on
them."Need to pick them off, one by one, until we can get their numbers down low enough to
go into the catacombs." Angel was addressing the rest. They turned to Karl as he came
up
to the table."Master, Mistress, what do you need us to do?" Karl was terrified they had not met their
guests’ needs. He looked at Buffy who was looking at Giles confused."Why, nothing." Buffy addressed the man. She could tell he wasn't used to a woman, no
a girl, being in command. "We are just crossing notes before we go out hunting." A feral
gleam came into her eyes and her lips lifted in a predatory smile. His blood ran cold
looking at her anticipation of the hunt."Hunting?" Karl asked. *What kind of hunting does this girl do? * He looked at the frail
woman."Hunting. Vampires hunting, what else?" She rolled her eyes at Giles. Her face was
flushed and she smiled. She was obviously anxious to be on her way to doing it too. Karl
swallowed. No Romani Gypsy would be so anxious to step outside into the dark,
especially to encounter vampires as this girl was."We need to, ah, know the packs, ah total number." Giles returned to Buffy and Angel.
"I agree with you, it would be, ah, better to, ah pick them off, ah then go in,” Giles
pointed
to the map. "Where are they, ah, most likely to, ah, be?"Angel glanced at the map and pointed to an expanse of woods running along farmland
between two small towns. "The woods the locals call 'Vampire Wood', and avoid like the
plague. Here is the best place to catch them in transit between hunting and the
catacombs.” Karl stared at Angel. *How does he know? *Buffy bounced to her feet and grabbed Angel by the hand "OK let's go!" And Angel
followed her toward the door."NO! Wait!" Karl was frantic. "You cannot go out into the DARK!" He looked at Giles
hoping the Watcher could speak sense to this foolish girl. "You cannot go into the wood!"Buffy turned to Karl and looked at him with disdain. "How the hell do you think I kill
vampires? Do you think I do it during the damn day?" She shook her head at the
thought."Yes, Yes. In their lair in the day." He stammered to her. Buffy's jaw dropped.
"Well if that is how you do it, no wonder you all fail! News flash Van Helsing - they can
move during the day, and they tend to set traps." She flipped her hair and then grabbed
Angel and dragged him toward the door. "See ya, Giles before Dawn." In a moment they
were gone.Karl turned to Giles, "Is she always this way?" Giles nodded. He glanced at the tired
young man on the stairs who just watched the show with little enthusiasm. These people
were not used to the late hours the Slayer's life demanded.Giles sat down with a long tired sigh and picked up his tea. "Now comes the hardest part
for me." He glanced at Karl's questioning eye. "The waiting." Giles took a long drink
from
his tea. "Go to bed. They'll return before the dawn, and if we are asleep, will update us
when they rise tomorrow. To hunt vampires, one must, ah, keep their hours." Karl
looked at the Watcher, and then he and the young man on the stairs took his advice.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angel and Buffy walked through the forest arm in arm. Angel was more quiet than usual,
memories flooding him. This was his last 'hunting grounds' during the hunting years. It
hadn't changed much."Angel?" Buffy stopped and pulled on his arm turning him toward her. She looked into
his eyes and into the torment of his soul. "I love you." was all she said as she pulled him
into her embrace and her willing kiss.Angel melted into the kiss, holding onto the only sanity his life had. Her love, his hope, his
life, his salvation. It was all in her, and she was in his arms. The world could wait.