They walked, headed vaguely west, their movements slow as they both listened carefully for any sign of... well, anything unusual. Willow's suspicion was that Spike was hoping for some demon to try to attack. He'd become well aware that the chip wouldn't let him hurt humans, which to his dismay included Buffy and Xander, but he'd been delighted to discover that he could hurt demons. So, Spike was most eager to patrol, to fight and kill the only things still possible for him, demons and vampires. Willow sighed, wanting to believe that he would reform, that he would become their friend instead of here with them to get blood and to avoid the people who had done this to him. Realistically, she didn't think it would work.
Spike was delighted when a pair of minions tried to attack Willow, and showed that delight by beating them into a collapse before actually staking them. There was a fierce and predatory smile on his face the whole time. Willow was certain that this was his way of reminding himself that he was still 'the big bad'. It also made her pray that the chip would last for a very, very long time.
"Spike? How sure are you that you can't do magic anymore?" Willow had to ask the question that had been nagging at her.
He gave a small huff of breath, and looked at her with his feral vampire eyes. "Persistent thing, aren't you, Red?"
She looked at him, meeting his eyes unhesitatingly. "Spike, there is a dragon in the area. It's huge and dangerous and breaths fire. I don't think Buffy can just waltz up and kill it. I'd prefer to stay out of reach of that fire, which sounds like magic. And I don't think I can count on being powerful enough to take that thing down. So, I'm looking for every sliver of help I can get. How certain are you that you can't do magic anymore?"
"Put it like that, and it takes away the fun of teasing you." He looked a bit dismayed as he considered her words. "I tried a few small spells after. They didn't go off, or they went wrong. Sort of like trying to use the wrong wand'll do for someone."
The way he'd asswered that sounded a bit funny. "Wand? Wizards use wands? And what happens if you use the wrong one? How do you know it's wrong?"
"Of course real wizards use wands! Helps focus and control the magic, makes it do what you want it to instead of just whatever. Maybe you should look into getting one. But trying the wrong one causes problems... fire, gusts of wind, baby lightning bolts... gives a feeling of go back now." Spike looked almost amused.
Willow nibbled at her lip as she considered Spike's words. "But... wouldn't having no magic at all make the wand have the same result as just waving a random stick? Doesn't magic going flooey still count as magic? Where do you find wands anyhow?"
Spike shrugged, the particular sort of shrug that Willow had learned meant he didn't want to pursue a topic any farther. "Wands come from wand makers, in the wizard shopping districts. You don't have any around here, and vampires normally can't get in. So, weren't we looking for arrival number two?"
Their meandering took them to the edge of town, near one of Sunnydale's actual parks, instead of simply another well maintained graveyard. There were voices... one man's voice and one woman's, both somewhat accented.
"Where are we? I thought that you said we would end up near where maleficent arrived?"
"Close is relative! This should be the same town... and considering how far that spell took us, that is close! Did you really want to land right beside her?" The woman sounded defensive and there was something almost familiar about her voice.
"Well, when you put it that way, no! But we have to find her! It's important."
Willow peeked towards the voices, trying to figure out who or what was talking, and to be able to guess if they were friendly. She could see them, a man in some sort of leather with bright red hair, and a woman in a long flowing dress. She shifted her position slightly, attempting to get a better look and froze, her jaw dropping in astonishment.
"Spike? Does Dru have any living relatives? Like that woman over there in the long green dress?" Her voice was filled with surprise, worry and curiosity.
Spike looked at the pair, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the woman. "The resemblance is uncanny. I think Dru had a little sister... she might be related. The guy though...I'm betting he's a Weasley. Old wizard family... not to rich, lots of them, but fairly good people. At least, they were a couple centuries back. What are they doing together? Are they involved? and why are they here?"
He looked back at Willow. "We may have just found you a few slivers of help. Let's go say hello, shall we?"
Willow tried to scrape together her courage, and they stepped out of the shrubbery to walk closer to the pair. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
Both of the strangers spun to face them, producing short, slender lengths of wood from somewhere, holding them defensively as they tried to evaluate Willow and Spike. The bits of wood looked much too slender to be stakes, so WIllow assumed that they must be wands, which would make the people wizards.
"Bloody hell... could you point those things somewhere else?" Spike's grumble seemed to lessen the tension just a little, but the wizards didn't exactly relax. Probably wise, considering that they were in Sunnydale.
end part 5.
Charlie was trying to figure out exactly where Suzie's apparation spell had brought them. It looked like a nice enough park, but there was no sign of a dragon, or that a dragon had been anywhere near here. Something was wrong with the air as well, not so much the air really, but the magic. It felt... darker here.
Suzie was being a bit defensive, and he did have to agree that crossing an ocean did make the same town 'close' and no, he didn't want to land right beside Maleficent. But he had no idea where to start looking for her. How many places could a dragon hide, anyhow?
"Are you looking for something in particular?" An unfamiliar woman's voice with an American accent spoke, letting him know that they weren't as alone as he'd thought.
He turned to look, and reached immediately for his wand. The woman had vibrant red hair that wouldn't have looked out of place among his family, but she didn't look anything like a Weasley. She had pale skin and deep green eyes, and she had the most delicately appealing set of curves... She wasn't dressed like a witch, but she had a feeling of magic about her. The problem was the man beside her, who was currently staring in amazement at Suzie, who was blushing at him, watching through her eyelashes. The man was too pale, paler than any living person should be. And there was a chance that he wasn't a living person, but a vampire, one of the most dangerous and tricky topics form Defense Against Dark Arts, and something he'd hoped he'd never run into.
The pale man glared at the wands, and a grumble of "Bloody Hell... could you point those things somewhere else?" made Charlie relax just a little. If he were a dangerous vampire, wouldn't he be attacking now?
"Actually, we're sort of looking for something. A somewhat large, endangered creature that was taken from a habitat preserve... We need to get her back where she belongs." He wasn't certain if he wanted to trust these people or not.
The blond man looked at the redhead, and Charlie found himself wondering if they were involved, or if he might have a chance to ask the lovely girl out. And then he told himself that he was being ridiculous, he didn't have time for dates with tantalizing red haired witches. "You didn't by chance come looking for a dragon, did you? Sounds like a Ridgeback or maybe a horntail... Not the sort of thing we need around here."
Suzie moved closer to the man, reaching out to trail her fingers down his chest just a little. "We did come here after the dragon... but maybe there will be other good things that come from visiting his place? I'm Suzie, and that's Charlie..."
Charlie wasn't certain if he was more worried about Suzie driving this guy crazy or delighted that she'd finally stopped flirting with him. He gave a small shrug, and looked back at the lovely redhead. "I'm Charlie Weasley, that's Suzie Sutcliffe. Who are you two? And if you can help us find Maleficent... ah, the dragon, it would be very much appreciated."
Green eyes widened and twinkled with a hint of amusement. "The dragon's really named Maleficent? Wow... umm, I'm Willow Rosenberg, and this is Spi..."
Her voice was cut off by the blond man putting his hand over her mouth, and completing his introduction, looking right at Suzie as she spoke. "William, William Longbottom. And I'm delighted to meet such a lovely lady."
Charlie heard the man's name, and winced, immediately thinking of his younger brother's letters from school. There was a Longbottom in Ron's class, a boy named Neville that always had problems getting things to work right. He hoped that this guy wasn't much like Neville.
"Is something wrong?" Willow's voice was a delight to the ear.
He shook his head slightly, trying to remind himself to stay focused on finding Maleficent. "I hope you aren't the jealous sort... your William seems rather taken by Suzie."
She giggled, a sound that reminded him of a small waterfall. "My... oh, he isn't my William. We're just... sort of friends, not dating. I don't think I'm his type. Do you have a plan for what to do when we get to where the dragon is? I mean, Giles said that dragons were sort of hard to use magic on..."
Charlie felt something bubble up inside of him at her words, and tried to convince himself that it was just the idea of having help finding Maleficent. "We did arrive in the right area, didn't we? And I was thinking maybe we can stun her long enough... long enough to try to get her back to the preserve."
"Big black dragon, breaths fire, eyes fifty feet in the air along with lots of very sharp teeth... I think you're in the right city. Let's go then before she eats someone." Willow had a slightly worried expression, as if she had suddenly worried that there might be two dragons running about.
"That's Maleficent. And we'd best hurry, she probably would try to eat people. But how do you plan to find her?" She had the most beautiful eyes...
Willow gave a small smile. "It shouldn't be that hard. Just a little seeking spell... lead us to the big scary dragon. No problem. The problem will be what to do when we get to the big scary Maleficent dragon... any connection to the Disney film?"
Charlie shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I do know that Disney was one of the better known American wizards. And the dragon's been there and named Maleficent since long before I went to the Preserve."
"Walt Disney was a wizard? Cool..." Willow looked impressed. She then closed her eyes and whispered a few word over her cupped hands, where a small pale green light formed. The light then lifted itself up, and began to go off to the north. "Follow the dot, and we'll end up at the dragon. eep."
Charlie felt like he was staring. She hadn't used a wand! All wizards used wands, or potions... except that she hadn't. How was that even possible? And he really needed to follow the dot to find the dragon.
Shaking his head, he fell in beside her, following the light. William and Suzie were a bit ahead, their voices just soft enough that he couldn't decipher the murmured words of their conversation. William seemed to like Suzie, maybe things would go well with the pair of them... as long as William could deal with a girlfriend that was a bit off center.
"I'm just going to hope we end up with a plan that works. You might not get a second chance working with dragons..." Charlie couldn't quite keep the note of pessimism from creeping into his voice.
"Don't worry about it that much, Weasley. Red's the brains of things around here, and she's good at it. She'll come up with something, and the bloody stupid town will be saved, just like always." William's voice was filled with confidence.
Charlie just wished he could share it.
end part 6.
Spike was delighted when a pair of minions tried to attack Willow, and showed that delight by beating them into a collapse before actually staking them. There was a fierce and predatory smile on his face the whole time. Willow was certain that this was his way of reminding himself that he was still 'the big bad'. It also made her pray that the chip would last for a very, very long time.
"Spike? How sure are you that you can't do magic anymore?" Willow had to ask the question that had been nagging at her.
He gave a small huff of breath, and looked at her with his feral vampire eyes. "Persistent thing, aren't you, Red?"
She looked at him, meeting his eyes unhesitatingly. "Spike, there is a dragon in the area. It's huge and dangerous and breaths fire. I don't think Buffy can just waltz up and kill it. I'd prefer to stay out of reach of that fire, which sounds like magic. And I don't think I can count on being powerful enough to take that thing down. So, I'm looking for every sliver of help I can get. How certain are you that you can't do magic anymore?"
"Put it like that, and it takes away the fun of teasing you." He looked a bit dismayed as he considered her words. "I tried a few small spells after. They didn't go off, or they went wrong. Sort of like trying to use the wrong wand'll do for someone."
The way he'd asswered that sounded a bit funny. "Wand? Wizards use wands? And what happens if you use the wrong one? How do you know it's wrong?"
"Of course real wizards use wands! Helps focus and control the magic, makes it do what you want it to instead of just whatever. Maybe you should look into getting one. But trying the wrong one causes problems... fire, gusts of wind, baby lightning bolts... gives a feeling of go back now." Spike looked almost amused.
Willow nibbled at her lip as she considered Spike's words. "But... wouldn't having no magic at all make the wand have the same result as just waving a random stick? Doesn't magic going flooey still count as magic? Where do you find wands anyhow?"
Spike shrugged, the particular sort of shrug that Willow had learned meant he didn't want to pursue a topic any farther. "Wands come from wand makers, in the wizard shopping districts. You don't have any around here, and vampires normally can't get in. So, weren't we looking for arrival number two?"
Their meandering took them to the edge of town, near one of Sunnydale's actual parks, instead of simply another well maintained graveyard. There were voices... one man's voice and one woman's, both somewhat accented.
"Where are we? I thought that you said we would end up near where maleficent arrived?"
"Close is relative! This should be the same town... and considering how far that spell took us, that is close! Did you really want to land right beside her?" The woman sounded defensive and there was something almost familiar about her voice.
"Well, when you put it that way, no! But we have to find her! It's important."
Willow peeked towards the voices, trying to figure out who or what was talking, and to be able to guess if they were friendly. She could see them, a man in some sort of leather with bright red hair, and a woman in a long flowing dress. She shifted her position slightly, attempting to get a better look and froze, her jaw dropping in astonishment.
"Spike? Does Dru have any living relatives? Like that woman over there in the long green dress?" Her voice was filled with surprise, worry and curiosity.
Spike looked at the pair, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the woman. "The resemblance is uncanny. I think Dru had a little sister... she might be related. The guy though...I'm betting he's a Weasley. Old wizard family... not to rich, lots of them, but fairly good people. At least, they were a couple centuries back. What are they doing together? Are they involved? and why are they here?"
He looked back at Willow. "We may have just found you a few slivers of help. Let's go say hello, shall we?"
Willow tried to scrape together her courage, and they stepped out of the shrubbery to walk closer to the pair. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
Both of the strangers spun to face them, producing short, slender lengths of wood from somewhere, holding them defensively as they tried to evaluate Willow and Spike. The bits of wood looked much too slender to be stakes, so WIllow assumed that they must be wands, which would make the people wizards.
"Bloody hell... could you point those things somewhere else?" Spike's grumble seemed to lessen the tension just a little, but the wizards didn't exactly relax. Probably wise, considering that they were in Sunnydale.
end part 5.
Charlie was trying to figure out exactly where Suzie's apparation spell had brought them. It looked like a nice enough park, but there was no sign of a dragon, or that a dragon had been anywhere near here. Something was wrong with the air as well, not so much the air really, but the magic. It felt... darker here.
Suzie was being a bit defensive, and he did have to agree that crossing an ocean did make the same town 'close' and no, he didn't want to land right beside Maleficent. But he had no idea where to start looking for her. How many places could a dragon hide, anyhow?
"Are you looking for something in particular?" An unfamiliar woman's voice with an American accent spoke, letting him know that they weren't as alone as he'd thought.
He turned to look, and reached immediately for his wand. The woman had vibrant red hair that wouldn't have looked out of place among his family, but she didn't look anything like a Weasley. She had pale skin and deep green eyes, and she had the most delicately appealing set of curves... She wasn't dressed like a witch, but she had a feeling of magic about her. The problem was the man beside her, who was currently staring in amazement at Suzie, who was blushing at him, watching through her eyelashes. The man was too pale, paler than any living person should be. And there was a chance that he wasn't a living person, but a vampire, one of the most dangerous and tricky topics form Defense Against Dark Arts, and something he'd hoped he'd never run into.
The pale man glared at the wands, and a grumble of "Bloody Hell... could you point those things somewhere else?" made Charlie relax just a little. If he were a dangerous vampire, wouldn't he be attacking now?
"Actually, we're sort of looking for something. A somewhat large, endangered creature that was taken from a habitat preserve... We need to get her back where she belongs." He wasn't certain if he wanted to trust these people or not.
The blond man looked at the redhead, and Charlie found himself wondering if they were involved, or if he might have a chance to ask the lovely girl out. And then he told himself that he was being ridiculous, he didn't have time for dates with tantalizing red haired witches. "You didn't by chance come looking for a dragon, did you? Sounds like a Ridgeback or maybe a horntail... Not the sort of thing we need around here."
Suzie moved closer to the man, reaching out to trail her fingers down his chest just a little. "We did come here after the dragon... but maybe there will be other good things that come from visiting his place? I'm Suzie, and that's Charlie..."
Charlie wasn't certain if he was more worried about Suzie driving this guy crazy or delighted that she'd finally stopped flirting with him. He gave a small shrug, and looked back at the lovely redhead. "I'm Charlie Weasley, that's Suzie Sutcliffe. Who are you two? And if you can help us find Maleficent... ah, the dragon, it would be very much appreciated."
Green eyes widened and twinkled with a hint of amusement. "The dragon's really named Maleficent? Wow... umm, I'm Willow Rosenberg, and this is Spi..."
Her voice was cut off by the blond man putting his hand over her mouth, and completing his introduction, looking right at Suzie as she spoke. "William, William Longbottom. And I'm delighted to meet such a lovely lady."
Charlie heard the man's name, and winced, immediately thinking of his younger brother's letters from school. There was a Longbottom in Ron's class, a boy named Neville that always had problems getting things to work right. He hoped that this guy wasn't much like Neville.
"Is something wrong?" Willow's voice was a delight to the ear.
He shook his head slightly, trying to remind himself to stay focused on finding Maleficent. "I hope you aren't the jealous sort... your William seems rather taken by Suzie."
She giggled, a sound that reminded him of a small waterfall. "My... oh, he isn't my William. We're just... sort of friends, not dating. I don't think I'm his type. Do you have a plan for what to do when we get to where the dragon is? I mean, Giles said that dragons were sort of hard to use magic on..."
Charlie felt something bubble up inside of him at her words, and tried to convince himself that it was just the idea of having help finding Maleficent. "We did arrive in the right area, didn't we? And I was thinking maybe we can stun her long enough... long enough to try to get her back to the preserve."
"Big black dragon, breaths fire, eyes fifty feet in the air along with lots of very sharp teeth... I think you're in the right city. Let's go then before she eats someone." Willow had a slightly worried expression, as if she had suddenly worried that there might be two dragons running about.
"That's Maleficent. And we'd best hurry, she probably would try to eat people. But how do you plan to find her?" She had the most beautiful eyes...
Willow gave a small smile. "It shouldn't be that hard. Just a little seeking spell... lead us to the big scary dragon. No problem. The problem will be what to do when we get to the big scary Maleficent dragon... any connection to the Disney film?"
Charlie shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I do know that Disney was one of the better known American wizards. And the dragon's been there and named Maleficent since long before I went to the Preserve."
"Walt Disney was a wizard? Cool..." Willow looked impressed. She then closed her eyes and whispered a few word over her cupped hands, where a small pale green light formed. The light then lifted itself up, and began to go off to the north. "Follow the dot, and we'll end up at the dragon. eep."
Charlie felt like he was staring. She hadn't used a wand! All wizards used wands, or potions... except that she hadn't. How was that even possible? And he really needed to follow the dot to find the dragon.
Shaking his head, he fell in beside her, following the light. William and Suzie were a bit ahead, their voices just soft enough that he couldn't decipher the murmured words of their conversation. William seemed to like Suzie, maybe things would go well with the pair of them... as long as William could deal with a girlfriend that was a bit off center.
"I'm just going to hope we end up with a plan that works. You might not get a second chance working with dragons..." Charlie couldn't quite keep the note of pessimism from creeping into his voice.
"Don't worry about it that much, Weasley. Red's the brains of things around here, and she's good at it. She'll come up with something, and the bloody stupid town will be saved, just like always." William's voice was filled with confidence.
Charlie just wished he could share it.
end part 6.
