Title: We all have our battles
Part Twenty: Unearthly
Author: Kayson
Disclaimer: Look at the first nineteen chapters and draw your own conclusions about what this should say.
Spoilers: None in this chapter. Some in previous sections.
Summary: Okay, we've met the mystery man. Don't really like his name but I couldn't come up with any thing else. Book talks Tara down from her 'mood'.
A/N: Here ya go folks. If I can get the internet to work for five minutes at a time you'll get this sometime this week (4-9-03). Okay I know some of you didn't like... or was that another story? Oh well. I hope that those of you who may or may not have liked the last chapter like this one better. So, the idea isn't very original, I think it is, but the story's almost done. And this isn't half as bad as my other Firefly fic. Please don't flame me. Or if you flame me please flame constructively and leave your e- mail so I can discuss with you what you did or didn't like. Thanks so much and on with the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yelling, half-snarling actually, Tara flung her arms together, causing the guards holding her to run into each other. The other guards, 'buzz-sticks', as the crew would come to know them, at the ready and advancing slowly on the snarling girl.
Clucking his tongue, he stepped into the ring of guards and moved towards the crouching figure. " Tara. Is this really necessary?"
" You made me this." A voice heavy with an accent came out between the sharpened fangs, and jaws that refused to close completely, never hiding the gruesome teeth.
" I simply released your true nature. It is not my fault what you are." He was smiling, acting as if he was staring at some airhead beauty who didn't realize what a snake she was sitting across from.
" What is she?" Kaylee was scared, inching away from the thing she had once called a friend.
" A vampire," River's soft voice echoed in the now silent hold.
" What the hell did you do to her!" Jayne shouted, pulling out one of his numerous guns and leveling it at the back of Geoffrey's head.
" I didn't do anything. She is this way naturally. A bloodthirsty monster. I wonder what you would be, as her brother." Geoffrey turned toward the mercenary with renewed interest, a sick light shining brightly in his eyes.
Shots rang without warning through the hold. Shot after shot was fired as everyone ducked and tried to cover and not get shot.
" God forgive me." Book's voice rang through the ensuing silence, broken only by moans.
" Book?" The accent was still there, along with all the other attributes.
" Tara. Look at me," He grabbed her shoulders and forcibly made her look away from the guards moaning on the floor. " Rise above this. Breathe in, and out. Think. You are better than this. Rise above. Breathe." Book continued the litany as Tara slowly but surely changed back into her original form. Promptly collapsing when she was there.
" Simon, I think these men require your assistance. Or you can shove them out an airlock for all I care." Book paused at the door. " Don't let the ship go until Tara's looked through it." Book carried the unconscious girl out the door and down the hall to her room.
" Shepherd. Wait up!" Jayne called, hurrying after the old man and his sister, River's hand clasped tightly in his.
" So. What do we do with the bodies?" Mal asked after a few moments of contemplation.
~~~~~
" Why didn't ya tell me?" Jayne hissed at the priest-who-wasn't.
" She asked me not too. Tara thought she had more time to find a cure before Geoffrey came to get her. She didn't realize it was too late."
" Ya still shoulda told me. She's my sister, ya know."
" Yes and like you she is very stubborn." Book looked past the thresh-hold to where River sat, holding Tara's hand, eyes closed.
" How long?" Jayne was watching the same scene but from too-close a perspective, emotionally.
" Since you left. Geoffrey took her one night from her father for a month and ran tests on her. This was the result. She's gotten better at controlling it."
" What does she become?" Jayne was scared at what the older man was going to say. /This is my sister. This can't be happening!/
" A vampire, like River said. Except she's not undead. She's changed, like a when a werewolf is subjected to the light of a full moon."
" How do you know so much about-" Jayne stopped at a look from the aged man across from him. " Oh. Right." A longer pause. " Will she get better?"
" We're working on it. Hopefully Geoffrey will have some sort of either temporary or permanent cure on store. Hopefully if he doesn't, we have the ability to make it."
The two men watched in silence as River continued to hold Tara's hand.
/Why didn't you tell Jayne?/
/You knew? I didn't want anyone to find out/ Tara's spirit hung her head. /It's embarrassing./
/I'm a freak. A reader. What's the difference?/ River was trying to get Tara to come back up.
/You don't kill people, knowing full well what you're doing. You don't crave the feel of someone's neck snapping under your hands... You don't understand. You couldn't./
/Give us a chance./
/Leave me alone./ Tara drifted away from River, and farther down a dark plane of existence.
/Don't lose sight of me!/ River cried out, scared at Tara's dimness.
/I won't./ Tara's faint voice promised.
River stayed anchored in place, ignoring the pull of the voices, the wind, and that something else, that something that seemed to promise whatever you wanted. River knew that that something wasn't a pleasant thing and was to be avoided at all costs.
/Tara, come back. I can't see you!/
/I'm busy./ River almost missed the slight breeze that carried Tara's words to her ears. /Leave me alone./
/Don't go any farther. I can't come and help you./
/I don't need your help. I'm/
River never found out what Tara was as she moved farther down that dark and twisted plane where the dead traveled.
/I got it!/
Part Twenty: Unearthly
Author: Kayson
Disclaimer: Look at the first nineteen chapters and draw your own conclusions about what this should say.
Spoilers: None in this chapter. Some in previous sections.
Summary: Okay, we've met the mystery man. Don't really like his name but I couldn't come up with any thing else. Book talks Tara down from her 'mood'.
A/N: Here ya go folks. If I can get the internet to work for five minutes at a time you'll get this sometime this week (4-9-03). Okay I know some of you didn't like... or was that another story? Oh well. I hope that those of you who may or may not have liked the last chapter like this one better. So, the idea isn't very original, I think it is, but the story's almost done. And this isn't half as bad as my other Firefly fic. Please don't flame me. Or if you flame me please flame constructively and leave your e- mail so I can discuss with you what you did or didn't like. Thanks so much and on with the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yelling, half-snarling actually, Tara flung her arms together, causing the guards holding her to run into each other. The other guards, 'buzz-sticks', as the crew would come to know them, at the ready and advancing slowly on the snarling girl.
Clucking his tongue, he stepped into the ring of guards and moved towards the crouching figure. " Tara. Is this really necessary?"
" You made me this." A voice heavy with an accent came out between the sharpened fangs, and jaws that refused to close completely, never hiding the gruesome teeth.
" I simply released your true nature. It is not my fault what you are." He was smiling, acting as if he was staring at some airhead beauty who didn't realize what a snake she was sitting across from.
" What is she?" Kaylee was scared, inching away from the thing she had once called a friend.
" A vampire," River's soft voice echoed in the now silent hold.
" What the hell did you do to her!" Jayne shouted, pulling out one of his numerous guns and leveling it at the back of Geoffrey's head.
" I didn't do anything. She is this way naturally. A bloodthirsty monster. I wonder what you would be, as her brother." Geoffrey turned toward the mercenary with renewed interest, a sick light shining brightly in his eyes.
Shots rang without warning through the hold. Shot after shot was fired as everyone ducked and tried to cover and not get shot.
" God forgive me." Book's voice rang through the ensuing silence, broken only by moans.
" Book?" The accent was still there, along with all the other attributes.
" Tara. Look at me," He grabbed her shoulders and forcibly made her look away from the guards moaning on the floor. " Rise above this. Breathe in, and out. Think. You are better than this. Rise above. Breathe." Book continued the litany as Tara slowly but surely changed back into her original form. Promptly collapsing when she was there.
" Simon, I think these men require your assistance. Or you can shove them out an airlock for all I care." Book paused at the door. " Don't let the ship go until Tara's looked through it." Book carried the unconscious girl out the door and down the hall to her room.
" Shepherd. Wait up!" Jayne called, hurrying after the old man and his sister, River's hand clasped tightly in his.
" So. What do we do with the bodies?" Mal asked after a few moments of contemplation.
~~~~~
" Why didn't ya tell me?" Jayne hissed at the priest-who-wasn't.
" She asked me not too. Tara thought she had more time to find a cure before Geoffrey came to get her. She didn't realize it was too late."
" Ya still shoulda told me. She's my sister, ya know."
" Yes and like you she is very stubborn." Book looked past the thresh-hold to where River sat, holding Tara's hand, eyes closed.
" How long?" Jayne was watching the same scene but from too-close a perspective, emotionally.
" Since you left. Geoffrey took her one night from her father for a month and ran tests on her. This was the result. She's gotten better at controlling it."
" What does she become?" Jayne was scared at what the older man was going to say. /This is my sister. This can't be happening!/
" A vampire, like River said. Except she's not undead. She's changed, like a when a werewolf is subjected to the light of a full moon."
" How do you know so much about-" Jayne stopped at a look from the aged man across from him. " Oh. Right." A longer pause. " Will she get better?"
" We're working on it. Hopefully Geoffrey will have some sort of either temporary or permanent cure on store. Hopefully if he doesn't, we have the ability to make it."
The two men watched in silence as River continued to hold Tara's hand.
/Why didn't you tell Jayne?/
/You knew? I didn't want anyone to find out/ Tara's spirit hung her head. /It's embarrassing./
/I'm a freak. A reader. What's the difference?/ River was trying to get Tara to come back up.
/You don't kill people, knowing full well what you're doing. You don't crave the feel of someone's neck snapping under your hands... You don't understand. You couldn't./
/Give us a chance./
/Leave me alone./ Tara drifted away from River, and farther down a dark plane of existence.
/Don't lose sight of me!/ River cried out, scared at Tara's dimness.
/I won't./ Tara's faint voice promised.
River stayed anchored in place, ignoring the pull of the voices, the wind, and that something else, that something that seemed to promise whatever you wanted. River knew that that something wasn't a pleasant thing and was to be avoided at all costs.
/Tara, come back. I can't see you!/
/I'm busy./ River almost missed the slight breeze that carried Tara's words to her ears. /Leave me alone./
/Don't go any farther. I can't come and help you./
/I don't need your help. I'm/
River never found out what Tara was as she moved farther down that dark and twisted plane where the dead traveled.
/I got it!/