Chapter 4
[Earlier that day]
At 3:00 pm, Dawn packed up some of her things in a big travel bag and ambled down the stairs, dragging the bag behind her, bumping it down each step. As she got downstairs, she gathered up her house key which rattled loudly in her hands and approached the TV to turn it off when she found a news report interrupting the daily dosage of cartoons,
"This is from Sunnydale..." Dawn was horrified. It showed part of Sunnydale with a deep chasm right down the middle of the road causing a huge car crash as it was on a busy main road. The cars were piling up behind because they couldn't see what was happening in front. There was a big lorry at the front which hadn't seen the chasm and had tipped over. "I better tell Giles!" She switched off the television, opened the door, zoomed out, locked it, and ran all the way to Giles' house.
**********
[Next day]
Buffy sat up in her bed as she heard a knock on the door.She picked up one of the two snow-white pillows left on her bed by the nurses and placed it on the headboard so that she could lean back in comfort.
"Come in." Buffy said, laying on her bed staring at the door. She knew who it was, it was Giles, he obviously had some more information about what was going on. He was always the bearer of news, well, that was what Watchers were employed for, finding out what was going on and informing the Slayer so she could go and slay it in the way the Watcher tells her, Buffy didn't do that, she did her own thing, and she was very good at her own thing...until her own thing nearly got her killed, well, it got her a fractured leg which wasn't so good.
"Buffy." Giles had a look on his face that explained everything...well, it didn't explain the situation but it explained what kind of news it was. He had apocalypse style news. "Xander and Amy found out something last night, they wouldn't make up their minds on who found it, they bickered like little school-children, but they found out almost the same as Hope, only it gives us a little bit more information." Giles sat down on the chair beside Buffy's bed.
"What, no candy?" Buffy teased to try and lighten the moment a little. Xander tended to be the one who kept making a joke of everything though, Buffy must have known Xander too long, although, Buffy's humor was quite different to Xander's.
"Buffy, this is serious!" Giles raised his voice a little as Buffy was being quite childish in her own way in Giles' opinion, "it said that this year, something big will try to open the Hellmouth, if you, and only you, do not manage to close it once it is opened, then not only will it be unbearable for any living mortal, it will end the world as we know it!" Buffy's jaw almost fell out of place at the amount it dropped. She knew hardly anything about the situation, she was in hospital with a fractured leg, all of the prophecies they had heard of so far indicated that only one Slayer would be able to stop this, which one did the prophecies mean? Everybody was jumping to conclusions about this and saying that Buffy would have to stop it, but maybe it meant Faith, God help us, if the world depoended on Faith to save it, it would be over as soon as it started! Faith had gone insane in prison from everything, and Buffy hadn't been coping well at all lately with everything going on in her life, which is why the Watcher's Council had called Hope, she was young, fresh and vibrant, she had a lot in her and had a lot going for her. Maybe the prophecies meant Hope?
"Who is it that will have to stop this? Is it me? was that vampire sent to stop me from being able to stop me? Is it Faith? I don't know why Faith would be needed to save the world, but maybe it meant Faith. I don't know it could even mean Hope, she has the most kick-ass energy in her then me and Faith put together. Who Giles, tell me." Buffy had to know, if she didn't, it would be eating at her all the time, though it might do anyway.
"Buffy, I don't know. We'll have to prepare both you and Hope for anything that may come along and find as much as we possibly can any any strange situations and the main thing which will open the Hellmouth so that we can - you can both stop this." Giles was obviously not sure what to reply but he was right. The fact that there was going to be more than one Slayer was certainly not prophecised, otherwise the Watcher's Council's reaction would he been so different. "Dawn found something out, too." Buffy immediatly paid more attention at this.
"Dawn? What did Dawn find?" Buffy had always been protective of Dawn ever since she found Dawn was the key and she had to protect her with her life, and she had, Buffy had memorably died for Dawn to save the world and Dawn, but her friends brought her back. She continued to be protective of her as her mother had died so Buffy had to look after Dawn, and she had a lot of sisterly love for her.
"It was on the news, there is a deep crack in the ground on the main road leading through Sunnydale, a lorry has tipped over because it didn't see the chasm, and now the cars are piling up. The worst thing is, witnesses say that it just appeared, there was not earthquake or anything, the ground just...split." This kind of thing wasn't unusual in apocalyptic occasions like this.
"Giles. Get Willow."
[Earlier that day]
At 3:00 pm, Dawn packed up some of her things in a big travel bag and ambled down the stairs, dragging the bag behind her, bumping it down each step. As she got downstairs, she gathered up her house key which rattled loudly in her hands and approached the TV to turn it off when she found a news report interrupting the daily dosage of cartoons,
"This is from Sunnydale..." Dawn was horrified. It showed part of Sunnydale with a deep chasm right down the middle of the road causing a huge car crash as it was on a busy main road. The cars were piling up behind because they couldn't see what was happening in front. There was a big lorry at the front which hadn't seen the chasm and had tipped over. "I better tell Giles!" She switched off the television, opened the door, zoomed out, locked it, and ran all the way to Giles' house.
**********
[Next day]
Buffy sat up in her bed as she heard a knock on the door.She picked up one of the two snow-white pillows left on her bed by the nurses and placed it on the headboard so that she could lean back in comfort.
"Come in." Buffy said, laying on her bed staring at the door. She knew who it was, it was Giles, he obviously had some more information about what was going on. He was always the bearer of news, well, that was what Watchers were employed for, finding out what was going on and informing the Slayer so she could go and slay it in the way the Watcher tells her, Buffy didn't do that, she did her own thing, and she was very good at her own thing...until her own thing nearly got her killed, well, it got her a fractured leg which wasn't so good.
"Buffy." Giles had a look on his face that explained everything...well, it didn't explain the situation but it explained what kind of news it was. He had apocalypse style news. "Xander and Amy found out something last night, they wouldn't make up their minds on who found it, they bickered like little school-children, but they found out almost the same as Hope, only it gives us a little bit more information." Giles sat down on the chair beside Buffy's bed.
"What, no candy?" Buffy teased to try and lighten the moment a little. Xander tended to be the one who kept making a joke of everything though, Buffy must have known Xander too long, although, Buffy's humor was quite different to Xander's.
"Buffy, this is serious!" Giles raised his voice a little as Buffy was being quite childish in her own way in Giles' opinion, "it said that this year, something big will try to open the Hellmouth, if you, and only you, do not manage to close it once it is opened, then not only will it be unbearable for any living mortal, it will end the world as we know it!" Buffy's jaw almost fell out of place at the amount it dropped. She knew hardly anything about the situation, she was in hospital with a fractured leg, all of the prophecies they had heard of so far indicated that only one Slayer would be able to stop this, which one did the prophecies mean? Everybody was jumping to conclusions about this and saying that Buffy would have to stop it, but maybe it meant Faith, God help us, if the world depoended on Faith to save it, it would be over as soon as it started! Faith had gone insane in prison from everything, and Buffy hadn't been coping well at all lately with everything going on in her life, which is why the Watcher's Council had called Hope, she was young, fresh and vibrant, she had a lot in her and had a lot going for her. Maybe the prophecies meant Hope?
"Who is it that will have to stop this? Is it me? was that vampire sent to stop me from being able to stop me? Is it Faith? I don't know why Faith would be needed to save the world, but maybe it meant Faith. I don't know it could even mean Hope, she has the most kick-ass energy in her then me and Faith put together. Who Giles, tell me." Buffy had to know, if she didn't, it would be eating at her all the time, though it might do anyway.
"Buffy, I don't know. We'll have to prepare both you and Hope for anything that may come along and find as much as we possibly can any any strange situations and the main thing which will open the Hellmouth so that we can - you can both stop this." Giles was obviously not sure what to reply but he was right. The fact that there was going to be more than one Slayer was certainly not prophecised, otherwise the Watcher's Council's reaction would he been so different. "Dawn found something out, too." Buffy immediatly paid more attention at this.
"Dawn? What did Dawn find?" Buffy had always been protective of Dawn ever since she found Dawn was the key and she had to protect her with her life, and she had, Buffy had memorably died for Dawn to save the world and Dawn, but her friends brought her back. She continued to be protective of her as her mother had died so Buffy had to look after Dawn, and she had a lot of sisterly love for her.
"It was on the news, there is a deep crack in the ground on the main road leading through Sunnydale, a lorry has tipped over because it didn't see the chasm, and now the cars are piling up. The worst thing is, witnesses say that it just appeared, there was not earthquake or anything, the ground just...split." This kind of thing wasn't unusual in apocalyptic occasions like this.
"Giles. Get Willow."
