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Disclaimers: All characters here are owned by Joss Whedon and Co. They are in no way mine, and there is going to be no profit made from this story, except for my personal enjoyment.
Distribution: Anywhere, just tell me where it's going, and give me credit (The-Aussie-Witch)
Spoilers: Season 6, and some Season 7 rumoured spoilers (I'm not looking at all the spoilers for Season 7)
Rating: PG-13 because of violence and language, and because there is no M-15+ on Fanfiction.net (An Australian Rating standing for Mature Audiences, fifteen and older).
Summary: starts straight from the minute Grave left off! I am not a Spike and Buffy 'shipper' and I'm not sure if things will be right between those two as of yet (Maybe, maybe not). Some 'people' from Spike's past as a human might be involved as well.
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Chapter 7
Spike made his way out of the cave. He felt a lot different, like he could do anything. He was lost in his thoughts as he made it to the entrance. He walked towards it, where the sunlight was streaming through, but he didn't notice. It was only when he stepped out into it that he noticed the sunlight was there.
"Crap!" he screamed, but the sunlight didn't burn him. "What the bleedin 'ell?" he muttered to himself as he was bathed in sunlight. He looked down on his body and noticed that his skin was intact. He stood there for a few more moments, basking in the warmth of the sunlight. Then, it began to burn him and he ducked back into the darkness of the cave. "What the 'ell is 'appenin' to me," he said through his clenched teeth, fury evident in his voice. He put his hand out into the sunlight, and it tingled for a while before it started to burn his skin. He kept his hand there, trying to see what would happen. His teeth were clenched because of the pain. He wasn't surprised when his hand started to smoke, signalling that it would soon burst into fire. He pulled his hand back and held it against his shirt. He knew that usually when a vampire was exposed to the sunlight for only a few seconds they would burst into flames, but he seemed able to last a in the sunlight for a couple of minutes. "Just what I need."
After a lot of coaxing from Buffy, Xander and Dawn, Anya had agreed to go back to the Magic Box and assess the damages. They all accompanied her to the shop that had slowly became their home away from home over the last two years. Xander was pleased that Anya was starting to at least talk to him in an orderly fashion again. He was hoping that things might return to the way they were before they tried to get married, but deep in the back of his mind, Xander knew that Anya was a demon now. The thought of going out with a demon still gave him the creeps. He had put it down to the whole incident when he had a crush on the teacher and she turned out to be a giant grasshopper.
They just arrived at the shop, and even from the outside you could see the damages. Xander slowly opened the door and went inside, followed by Buffy, and then Anya. Dawn insisted that she wouldn't go inside unless Anya went first, so that way, they would get Anya into the shop.
"Oh my god," Buffy said. "What happened here after I left?"
"Willow and Giles fought," Anya replied while looking around in horror at her shop. "Look at this place. I'll never afford to get it fixed." Xander knew that this was coming. He put his hand on Anya's shoulder.
"I can get the construction crew in here, and we can do it for a reduced cost," he said to her softly.
"Really?" Anya asked, hope in her voice.
"Yeah. I'll do as much of the work as I can by myself, and I'll get the boys to help out now and then," Xander replied.
"Ohh," Anya said while rushing forward and hugging him. Xander didn't know what to do, he didn't expect this reaction from Anya. He hugged her back, and looked at Buffy and Dawn who were smiling at them. Anya broke away from the hug and looked at Xander. "This isn't going to make up for what you've done Xander," she said to him. Xander tried to hide it, but he knew that there was disappointment and hurt riddled throughout his eyes. He kept looking at Anya. "But it's a start," she added in. Xander couldn't believe what he had just heard. Anya had been nice to him and had started to forgive him for what he had done.
"Thankyou," he whispered to her. Then, louder, he said, "We'll start in the morning." Anya smiled at him before turning around and looking around the store once again.
"Find what isn't damaged and put it over there," Anya said while pointing towards the door. No one moved. "Come on! Move it. The more things we can salvage, the less money I have to spend."
"Sheesh, it's not like we work for you or anything," Dawn said.
"You do little missy," Anya said while pointing her finger at Dawn. Xander knew that Dawn still hadn't worked off her debt to Anya for stealing things from the Magic Box, and he also knew that she would never work off her debt until Anya was finished with her. He started searching through the wreckage, looking for anything that was intact or that looked like it could be fixed easily, but his thoughts were thousands of kilometres away. He was thinking about the small chance that he and Anya would get back together again.
He saw two figures walking down along the path, down the hill. He had been told to wait here until their guests arrived, and he was guessing that these two people coming now were them. Michael had been told of what happened in America, and he didn't believe it. He recognised the first figure now as Rupert Giles. Behind him, he saw a rather petite girl walking with her arms crossed over her chest while looking down at the ground. He seriously doubted that this girl was the one that they had told him about. Michael thought that she might be the girl's friend, who had come in her place to say why the witch wasn't coming. He remembered that the girl had a strange name, the name of a tree, but he couldn't remember which.
"Rupert Giles?" he said to him while he was approaching. He knew that it was him, but he needed confirmation.
"Yes," Giles replied.
"Who is this you have with you here?" Michael asked.
"This is Willow Rosenberg. I was meant to bring her here," Giles replied. Michael was clearly shocked, and for a second thought that Giles was kidding. This small girl in front of her couldn't possibly have so much power inside of her. He saw her look up, and when he gazed into her eyes, he could see the pain and despair inside of them, and he knew that this was the girl he was told about.
"This way please. The High Priest and Priestess are waiting to see you both," Michael said while leading the way.
Willow looked at the man that was guiding them towards the small village that belonged to the coven. Apparently, according to Giles, there were others that lived in the small village other than coven members. Upon hearing about the coven, they had flocked towards them, and the coven had set up a village for them to live in. The other people were mostly solitary witches that were interested in observing the coven and how it worked. Apparently, every now and then, the whole village would partake in rituals. Willow noticed the surprise on the man's face when Giles had said that she was Willow. Obviously, he had been told what had happened and expected more. The scenery was still breathtaking, but now they were in the middle of the forest, untouched by the modern world. Willow saw that there were a couple of log buildings up ahead and guessed that it was the Coven's village. She liked the look of the place, and wondered how much time she would get to herself here. Willow was unbelievably cold as she walked through the forest.
They made their way through the village, and Willow saw everyone look at her as she walked. It was obvious that they all knew who she was. She hugged herself tighter and looked down at the ground. She finally knew how Tara felt when they had first met each other in college, and now Willow understood why Tara often crossed her arms around herself. It made her feel secure. Willow could feel everyone's gazes ripping her apart with their looks and judgements, and she didn't like it one bit. This was the treatment that she was afraid she'd receive.
She sat in one of the chairs at the end of the cabin, which was just one big room that took up the whole inside of the cabin. The room had been previously arranged for the rituals that needed to be held here. There were chairs lining the walls, and two chairs in front of her, reserved for their guests. She could feel them outside now. The power coming off of the girl was extraordinary. Even though she had stopped using it, the power was deep down inside her, ready to come out. That was their main goal, to get their own power back that they had given to the Watcher to stop the girl, and to help the girl recover from her loss and to try and control the power she herself had inside her. With her permission, the coven was going to try and tap into her power and determine its origin. They couldn't tell if the girl's soul was mainly good, or bad, and since this girl's power came from mostly inside of her, they needed to determine her intents. Samantha knew that the girl had fought by the side of the Slayer for six years, but that didn't determine who she was. Deep down inside her, there was either a certain desire to do help, or to destroy. It was buried so deep within a person, that most of the time, it would not show itself in a lifetime, and the person was free to do what they wanted.
Samantha could feel her just outside the door now. She could tell that the girl was extremely uncomfortable here, and that she didn't like everyone around her judging her. The door opened, and Michael walked in, followed by Giles, and then followed by Willow. Beside Samantha sat Montague, the high priest to the coven. She could tell that he also sensed the girl's power.
Willow looked at the two people sitting in the chairs at the end of the cabin. At first, they both seemed quite young for High Priests, but as she got closer, she could see that they were in their mid sixties. She liked the High Priestess straight away as she was greeted with a warm smile from her. The High Priest on the other hand kept his expression blank as she and Giles moved towards the two. By now, Willow was almost shivering uncontrollably.
"What's wrong young one?" The High Priestess asked Willow.
"I'm cold," she felt herself weakly reply.
"Of course, you come from a warm part of the world," the High Priestess said. It was as cold inside the cabin as it was outside. Even though Willow was wearing her grey jumper and jeans, she was still cold.
"Come, we'll move over to the fire place," the High Priest said while pointing his hand behind Willow and Giles. She didn't even know that there was a fire place until he had pointed to it. Willow quickly walked next to it and put her hands out to it, the warmth bathing over her and warming her up. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the High Priest and the High Priestess talking to Giles. She didn't know where the man that had led them here had gone.
Michael walked away from the cabin to where his two friends were standing. He looked to James and then to Clifford as they waited for him. Clifford was tall, with short black hair and blue eyes. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't skinny either. James was the shortest of the trio, with light green eyes and flowing blonde hair.
"Was that her? The redhead?" James asked.
"Yes, it was," Michael replied.
"She's cute," Clifford said.
"Yeah, but remember, she's gay," James said.
"Ohh, all the good ones have to be gay or married," Clifford said, forced disappointment in his voice.
"Anyway, if she wasn't gay, I don't think she'd be interested. She looks so sad," Michael said.
"You've got to feel sorry for the poor girl though," James said.
"Yeah, you do," Clifford agreed.
"She's come here to recover. I don't think she'll be showing her face around for a while," Michael said. "She'll be spending a lot of time with the High Priest and Priestess.
"I wonder if they coven'll be able to get her recuperated. By the looks of things, it'll be hard work," James said.
"They'll get it done. They get everything done," Clifford said, utter loyalty to the coven.
As Giles and the High Priestess talked, Montague, the High Priest looked at the young girl before them. He couldn't believe that this was actually the girl that Moragan, the seer of the coven, had seen in her vision. His eyes lost focus and his pupils expanded as he looked at the girl. He could see the girl's usually white Aura dulled to a grey, with black streaks through it, signifying her pain. Montague snapped back into focus as they started to move towards the girl.
Willow sat down in the nearest chair to the fire. Giles sat next to her, while the High Priestess and the High Priest sat opposite them. Willow was glad that they were near the fire. She wouldn't have to concentrate on being cold, but she could concentrate on some other things. Willow looked around the room. It was huge, about ten metres wide and twenty metres in length. There were a couple of large windows on each wall, and Willow noticed that they were all open. There was a large oval shaped Persian rug on the floor in the middle of the room, and chairs lined the two longest walls. The walls, ceiling and roof were all made of pine logs that Willow could only guess were cut down at this very place. She turned to the High Priest and Priestess as one of them spoke to her.
"Penny for your thoughts?" the High Priest asked.
"I was just thinking of how big this room is," Willow replied weakly, never looking in his eyes.
"It is quite impressive isn't it?" the High Priestess said. Willow only nodded her head. There was an awkward silence between everyone. "Willow. I like that name. It's soft and gentle," the High Priestess said.
"Thanks…" Willow replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Samantha, and this is Montague," the High Priestess said. Willow only nodded her head as another awkward silence passed between them. The silence was going to kill her if nothing else did.
"Tell me Willow. Why are you here?" Montague asked her gently.
"Because Giles brought me here," Willow replied.
"That's not the reason. You want to be here don't you? If you didn't, you wouldn't have come with Giles," Montague said to her.
"I guess," Willow said. She had no idea why she was here, other than Giles said that he was bringing her here because they could help her.
"You need to want to be here before we can help you Willow," Samantha said. Willow closed her eyes and looked deep down inside her. She realised that she didn't want to abuse her magicks again, so then she couldn't hurt anyone like she hurt Tara. She realised how much it hurt Tara to leave her because she was abusing magick. She knew that whatever they did, they would not be able to get her natural talents out of her, because that was a part of her. She opened her eyes and was instantly afraid of what she was about to say. She only opened up to people that she knew well, such as Xander, Giles, Buffy and Tara. She realised that these people were here to help her, and that they wouldn't turn on her.
"I'm here because I don't want to hurt anyone any more, and I guess, to be able to control myself," Willow said. She watched as Montague and Samantha slightly nodded at her response.
"That's good," Samantha said to her, trying to encourage her. Willow just weakly smiled at her after her heart was recovering from the shock of opening up to a complete stranger. However, Willow was growing to like the High Priestess as her presence was soothing and comforting. Willow thought that the High Priest was a bit 'down-to-business' and a bit cold, but she liked him as well.
"That was a good start, but I'm afraid that we both need rest from the jet lag," Giles said.
"Yes, of course, you both must be exhausted," Montague said.
"Not really," Willow replied. She didn't know why she wasn't tired. She hadn't felt too tired in the last couple of days, but had been forcing herself to sleep to escape from the world. Even in Giles's car she had forced herself to sleep because she couldn't stand the wait to get to the Coven. She wanted it to be over and done with. Also, Willow welcomed the dream world, which was mostly good at the moment.
"I'll have Michael, the man who brought you here, show you your quarters, and then, take you on a tour of the village if you would like?" Samantha said to Willow. Willow nodded in response.
"I have one question though," Willow said.
"And what may that be?" Montague inquired.
"Will Giles be staying here?" Willow asked.
"Rupert is a grown man. He is welcome if he wishes to stay, and if you wish him to stay," Samantha said. Willow nodded her head again. "Will you be staying with us Rupert?"
"I'd love to," Giles replied. It was obvious to everyone that he wanted to see more of the coven.
Samantha and Montague stood up and showed their guests to the door. Once Willow got to the door, she saw Michael come over from a group of people.
"Michael, could you please show Rupert and Willow to their quarters. They'll be in the cabin on the edge of the settlement. Afterward could you please show Willow around our settlement, and maybe, make a few introductions," Montague told him.
"Sure, I'd be happy to," Michael replied. "If you'll follow me please," Michael said while starting to walk away. Giles followed after Michael, and Willow followed after Giles. She hugged herself again once she came outside into the cold. As they walked through the settlement, Willow only saw five or six cabins, but quite a few tents around the place. She saw a cabin at the edge of the clearing and Willow guessed that it was the cabin that they would be staying in, although Willow didn't quite like the idea of sharing a place with Giles the whole time.
"Mr. Giles, you'll be staying up that end, and Willow will be staying here," Michael explained while firstly pointing to his right, and then to his left. Willow frowned and looked to Michael.
"Isn't it just one big cabin?" she asked him. Michael laughed as he replied.
"Yeah, it is one big cabin. But there's two sections to it. They're practically identical." Giles moved off towards his end of the cabin, and Willow moved towards the door to her cabin. She opened the door and immediately noticed how cosy her room was. It was also nice and warm. The door was on the far left side of the room, and the room stretched out forwards and to her right. She walked further into the room and looked around. There was a nice big bed, which she could see was wooden and made by hand. It was along the front wall of the room, right under the window. It had occult symbols engraved into the head and foot of the bed. Further along, she saw a wooden hand made chair that also had the same occult symbols engraved into it, and it was beside a simple wooden desk. In the back left corner of the room there was a nice open space, with a wardrobe that was in the wall the only thing in the way. Willow saw an opening on the right hand wall and walked towards it. There was a small room with an ice box, and a couple of other boxes, obviously for storing things in them. She turned and walked back out of her room only to find Michael still waiting there.
"Huh?" she asked. Michael got a confused look across his face. "Oh, right, the grand tour," Willow added, obviously not remembering about it. She saw Giles come out of his room and walk towards them.
"While you're getting shown around, I'll go to the car and get our things," Giles said. Willow just looked at him, and then back at Michael. She saw for the first time that he had straight dark hair that ran loosely down to his ears, and that he was taller than her. He was wearing a loose fitting brown shirt with long khaki pants. Willow hugged herself again as she felt the cold. It felt good to be held by something, even if it was her own arms. Michael started to walk, and Willow walked beside him.
"Over there's the centre of the settlement. Usually at night time, there's a fire there and everyone gathers around. Sort of like the big social thing around here," Michael said while pointing ahead. Willow guessed that he was the same age as her. Willow was now walking a bit behind him. "Over there's the communal toilets and showers. On the left is the female, and on the right the male," Michael explained while pointing to a cabin that looked the same as the rest of them. "The building you met the Montague and Samantha in is the main building. All our rituals are held there if it's too cold outside. It's also the main gathering point." Willow looked over to it, and then back at Michael, who had stopped and who was looking at her. "You cold?" Willow just looked at him, and slowly nodded her head. "Right. I'll try to make this as quick as I can then… do you want to get introduced to anyone?"
"No… not yet," Willow replied.
"Okay. Well, I've basically shown you all you need to know," Michael said. "Any questions?" Willow thought a minute and then, she came up with the perfect question.
"Do you know who I am? Why I'm here?" she asked. The question seemed to take Michael by surprise, but he didn't show it too much.
"Umm, yes. Everyone knows who you are, and what you've done," Michael replied. Willow just closed her eyes and nodded her head.
"Okay," she weakly replied. She looked around at the settlement again, and she realised how much Tara would have loved this place. Willow heard Michael saying something, and some other people replying to him, but it didn't register in her mind that people were still with her. She wondered what it would be like if Tara was with her now, at the coven. She would be in heaven. This place was designed for people like her. Tears came to her eyes as Willow realised that Tara would never get to see this place, ever. Before she knew it, her thoughts were out of control, and Willow was trying desperately to hold back the tears. That was the last thing she needed; to break down in front of the whole settlement. She missed Tara so much, and she would never get to see her again. Desperately, she tried to stop her mind from wondering all over the place, and she remembered the cow that she had seen earlier. She concentrated as hard as she could on what the cow looked like, and slowly, her other thoughts began to drift away.
Michael watched as the girl in front of him literally broke down in front of him. His first reaction was that it was something that he said, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He knew his friends had come up to him just before Willow broke down, but right now he didn't care. He was glad when Willow looked up again and the tears had stopped. Her eyes were red though, and he could see that she was struggling not to cry.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "Was it something that I said to upset you?" He watched Willow as she gulped and then looked at him.
"No, no. I-it's just that… Tara would have loved this place," Willow managed to get out. Michael was confused at first, but then he guessed that Tara must have been Willow's girlfriend.
"Why don't you go back to your room. And go to sleep or something," Michael suggested. He had no idea what to do, but he knew that he would go and see the High Priest and Priestess after this. He saw Willow nod her head repeatedly and turn and walk back to her cabin.
After they had all seen her go inside, Clifford and James turned to Michael, confused expressions on their faces.
"What did you do to her?" James asked.
"I-I didn't do anything. I was just showing her around, like I was asked to, and she just burst out crying," Michael defended himself. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked both of them.
"I had was meditating, and I felt something wrong. It's like there's a disturbance or something. It's hard to explain. It's like everything's different around this part of the forest. Something dark's here, but it isn't dark as in evil-dark, but dark as in sad-depressed-night time dark," James said. We were just on the way to tell the High Priestess, but then we saw you and Willow, and thought we'd come over and introduce ourselves.
"You felt it too? I thought it was just me being paranoid, like usual," Michael said.
"We'd better go and tell the High Priest and Priestess," Clifford said.
"Don't you think that they'd already know?" Michael asked them both.
"They're too wrapped up in this new girl to notice anything other than her. They might have overlooked it, or they might not have even noticed it at all. The whole coven has been preparing for Willow's arrival for days. I don't think they would have the time to meditate and sense these things," James explained. "Come on, let's go."
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So, what do you think?
I also need someone who's reading this, and who isn't afraid of the plot being totally spoiled to e-mail me. I have a couple of ideas of where the story could go, and where it could end, and I need someone's opinion of the ideas I have. I want to know what the best idea is, and the worst idea, and I need to know which idea is the most emotional, and which is absolute crap. If you don't mind the plot being spoiled, and think that you'd be able to give advice (almost anyone could give advice), just e-mail me at theaussiewitch@hotmail.com . And, I need someone to do this, because I can't write the story unless I know what I'm working towards. I may be able to write one more chapter, maybe two, but after that, I need a place to go to. Right now, I've just got so many ways this could end it's not funny, so I need the help!
Also, soon, this story may move away from Willow. But I know at the end, the focus will come back down onto Willow. This story is not just going to be what happens Between season 6 and season 7, it is going to be my version of Season 7 (as the last Buffy season ever! No continuation of the story afterwards… there's a hint for ya). I'm using some season 7 spoilers, but not a lot.