Title: Fallen Hero's
Rating: PG-13
Chapter: One
Pairing: Willow/Tara
Fandom: BtVS/Werewolf the Apocalypse
Timeline: A year and a half after the season
finale
of this season.
Spoliers: Oh yeah, anything and
everything is up
for grabs.
Beta Reader: Dark Gremlin
Summary: Willow starts the process of getting
her
life back on track over a year after she believed
that Tara
died. Only, when she arrives back in
Sunnydale, she finds that her
dead lover isn't so
dead.
Disclaimer: All characters belong
to Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, and Paramount pictures. Werewolf
the
Apocalypse belongs to white wolf productions and
minds eye
theatre.
----------
PROLOGUE
----------
The
boulder's surface, stained with blood and
spittle, darkened as the
red haired female hoarsely
screamed uncoherently. Skin ravaged by
hunger,
deep bites, and claw wounds, half healed and
scabbed,
broke open from her thrashing against the heavy
chains
that kept her trapped on the slab. Her short
red hair was sweat
soaked and becoming increasingly
blood splattered, sticking to her
hollowed, pale
skin. What had once been faded cargo pants was
torn
and shredded, soiled material.
Her screams cut off in
a bout of coughing and
exhaustion. The tension unwound leaving her
hanging
by the chains. Each gasp and sob was deafening
amidst
the forest clearing, bringing tears to
the small groups eyes.
The
oldest of the nine nodded to the dark haired
teenager. The raven
haired male pushed up on his
glasses then wearily approached the
boulder slab
that stood in the middle of the tiny clearing.
With
shaking hands, Jeffrey unlocked the manacles
and lowered the
unconscious red head onto the ground.
The groups Elder kneeled
beside the red head, her
greying brown hair glinting from the
moonlight. The
piercing hazel eyes glowed as they shifted over
the
younger females body before stopping on the matching
long
thick scars that ran across the inside of her
wrists. The Elder's
hand danced over the imperfect
blemishes, checking for the fetish.
The almost non-
existent tingle was all that was necessary
to
confirm the scar fetish had been performed and
successful.
" What does it do? " Jeffery asked.
" It makes her
immune to Wyrm eminations. "
Kathy sadly brushed the sweat
and blood
matted red hair from the younger woman's
face. "
I just wish it hadn't been to late
to stop the initial taint. "
" What do we do now? "
Kathy patted the newest tribal
member's
hand, letting him know that she didn't mind
his
constant curiosity. " Now we begin the
Rite of Cleansing. "
The leader glanced over
the seven remaining members. "
Margerat, I
need you to prepare a tattoo fetish for
healing.
"
" Yes, Elder. " Margerate
replied,
disappearing into the trees.
" But that'll heal her! "
Kathy barely paid the outraged teen
any
attention as she began to use a sponge to
wipe away the
blood. " That's the general
idea. "
Jeffery gaped
at his tribes Elder hoping
that he'd somehow missed something. "
B-but
... Look the bitch betrayed everything Gaia
teaches us.
She's nothing but a traitor,
murderer, addict, and worst of all
she's a
black spiral dancer. You can't...!!!! "
"
Silence, Kitten!!! " The Elder yelled,
raising to her feet
with a deadly grace that
left Jeff backing away in fear. "
Willow is a
valued member of this tribe, and she is not
a
dancer. "
" You said she..."
Kathy
growled, taking a swift step closer
to the teen. " I said
that she'd been tainted.
That does not mean that she walked the
Spiral. "
Jeff bowed his head to the Elder in a show
of
submission. " Forgive me Elder. I guess I
don't understand.
"
" When we are touched or infected by the
Wyrm,
there are still ways to cleanse our
bodies and soul. It's only
when we've walked
the Black Spiral Circle that we are
permanently
lost to Gaia. "
" I still don't
understand how you can heal
her. Doesn't our traditions forbid
healing anyone
that is punished by their tribe? "
"
And normally I would abide by those traditions,
but this isn't a
normal situation. Our kind are
almost completely gone, and we need
each and
everyone of our kind if we are going to fight
the
Wyrm. Willow especially, is needed in the
fight. She is a strong
shaman, with unusually
powerful abilities. "
" But... "
" When she came to us, she was
already
considerably weakened, and with her current
wounds, I
doubt she could survive losing the
energy needed to heal those
kinds of injuries. "
" Elder, the circle has been
prepared. "
Jennifer softly interrupted.
Kathy stood
back letting David carry Willow's
fragile, prone body to the
nearby field. It was
usually a simple process, but tonight,
under
the Ahroun moon the Rite of Cleansing was going
to be
extremely difficult.
The physical taint alone would take
hours
to purge. The emotional, mental, and astral
scars were a
hundred times worse. Even after
the Rite was through the young
Shaman would
have a long journey ahead to refind Gaia's
way and
Gaia's children's respect.
-----------
CHAPTER
ONE
-----------
Dawn causally glanced up from
her Algebra
homework to check on Tara. She was becoming
more
and more worried about the blonde witch,
and Tara wasn't the only
one she was concerned
for. The entire Scooby gang was under a
blanket
of sadness and worry. At first she'd thought
that
they'd find Willow and help her but as the
days turned into weeks
and months, she realized
that the red haired hacker wasn't coming
back.
Even now, a year and a half after the events
that
sent the red head over the edge, she still
had vivid nightmares
that had her screaming out
for Tara and Willow. Every time she
would climb
into bed with the blonde witch, clinging to
her
surrogate mother while sobbing.
Each dream was the
same. Warren shooting Buffy, and a stray bullet hitting Tara. The
blonde collapsing
into Willow's arm's, dead. The red
head's
berserker grief that drove her into going on a
magical
rampage that killed Warren and Rack.
" What's wrong? " Tara asked.
Dawn turned her gaze to Tara to make sure
that
she was really alive. It still amazed
her how a large bear had
brought the witch
back a few hours after her death. "
Nothing.
Just thinking. "
Tara climbed up onto the
stool by the
display case. Pointedly ignoring Anya's
loud rant
about the sales taxes being lowered.
" About Willow? "
"
I miss her. " Dawn admitted. Tara and
Willow had been the
closest thing she'd had
to parents. It hadn't been forced on
them,
or caused by some spell, it had been the two witches
choice.
" Do...Do you think she'll ever
come back? "
"
I know she will. " Tara stated firmly.
" She just needs
time to work things out for
herself. "
" Oh
please, she's probably over dosed by
now, or become some sort of
whacked out serial
killer. " Anya shot out, despite the
gang's
various winces and glares.
" I'm glad to see
you have so much faith
in me. " A new voice spoke up from the
training
room's doorway. When everyone looked over at
the red
head, Willow grinned evilly. " You know,
it's not safe
leaving the back door unlocked. "
Tara gasped softly at
the sight of her lover.
The gorgeous, wavy dark red hair was now
cut
within a couple of inches of her scalp. It
was a simple
choppy pixie cut that was obviously
done for practical reasons,
rather than for
looks.
The slender, pale skinned woman was
wearing
extremely thin, almost see through white yoga
pants. A
large over sized thin white long
sleeved button up top was over a
white tank
top. The sleeves barely covered the dark brown
leather
wrist guards that took up half of the
red heads fore arms. A pair
of brown leather
out doors sandals completed the outfit.
Tara
stood up slowly, unsure whether to hug
the red head or to be on
guard. Her instincts
told her that the red head was over her
dark
magic addiction, and had mostly recovered from
everything
that had happened. But the Scooby in
her wanted to play it
safe.
Before she could make up her mind, Dawn ran
across
the short distance and threw herself
into Willow's arms, knocking
the weak woman
back into the wall.
" We were so
worried, and we couldn't find
you, and Anya keeps going on about
how you
were dead but you're not and..."
" It's
good to see you to Dawnie. " Willow
said in a raw voice.
"
Are you okay? " Tara finally asked,
approaching her lover.
" I'm better than I was. "
" You don't seem surprised
that Tara's
alive. " Buffy commented.
Willow actually
smiled at the slayer.
" Angel told me about what happened.
"
Tara felt her hands clench and glanced
over at Buffy
to make sure that she wasn't
the only one wanting to kill the
souled
vampire. " When did you see Angel? "
"
Cordy and him came to see me while
I was in jail. " Willow
cocked her
eyebrow at the gang. " I asked them not
to tell
you where I was. "
" Why? " Xander came
forward, his
dark eyes hardening at the idea of
Angel knew
where his best friend was.
" There was a lot I had to
figure
out, and even more that I had to
find peace with.
"
Tara glared Xander quiet. " The only
thing that
matters is that you're home
now. "
" For now. "
Tara closed the distance between her
and her lover.
" Will... "
The red head dropped her gaze, "
We
need to talk. "
---------