Author: Lucinda
Rating: pg13?
Main character: Catherine Madison
Disclaimer: anyone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series belongs to Joss Whedon and his writing staff and the actors who play them.
Distribution: Jinni, Paula, Cat - anyone else ask first.
Note: Poetry Quote #13,
"I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky:
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die."
-- 'The Cloud' by Percy B. Shelley
-----------------------------------------
There had been a flash of fire/heat/pain/magical shattering, and Catherine was free. She didn't know what had happened, but that wasn't a surprise. It had been so hard to keep up with current events as a trophy… But the spell was unraveled, and she was free, was human once more…
But there was only a few heartbeats to notice that, and she was only aware that's he was falling, that there was dirt and dust and the stench of blood all around her, and everything was falling with her. The ground under her feet was collapsing, giving way and falling below, away, towards a knot of the purest, most vicious evil that's he had ever encountered, and all she wanted to do was to get away. She tried to scrabble out of the collapsing hall, out of the building, and tripped over a demon, passed the body of a dead woman, made her way to the parking lot of the school.
But it still wasn't enough. A roar that wasn't quite like the ocean announced that things were still collapsing, and there was another sound, like a bus moving away rapidly. She coughed and gasped for air, and started to run along a road, going straight from the school, following a different road from the sounds of the bus.
Almost. She'd almost reached safety, almost reached the shelter of a copse of trees when the ground beneath her gave way. Catherine shrieked, the sound high an fearful as she tried to scrabble upwards, tried to fight gravity as the sand and earth and dry grass and twigs poured down over her, the dust blocking out the sun and the roaring of the collapse nearly deafening her to everything but her screams. There was nothing but the roaring collapse and her screams, and then the earth poured over her and everything went black.
Awareness returned slowly. The first thing that she was could sense was the dull throb of evil in the background, and of disruption, similar to the feeling of disturbance that filled the magical flow after an earthquake. The second was pain. Aches from hundreds of bruises over her body, hissing burning from dozens of tiny scrapes and cuts, stickiness from her blood, the feeling of grit all over her and in the scrapes and aggravating the bruises, and the stabbing sharp feeling on her left side every time that she breathed in or out. Everything was still black, and the only sound was her rapid heartbeat, her labored breathing.
Catherine realized that she'd been buried alive.
The pain was unimportant as she struggled to claw her way out of the earth. It was motion caused by panic and the will to live, not the result of any coherent plan. Her muscles ached, and her side hurt, but she managed to claw her way out, looking around to discover that's he was now panting on the side of a huge crater, the moon large and cold overhead. Her nails were broken, and every inch of her body was covered in dust and blood, much of it her own.
Looking upwards, Catharine laughed, not noticing the shrillness of the sound. "I'm alive! I'm still alive! Do you hear me? I'm not that easy to get rid of!"
Something moved, causing the debris to slither downwards towards the bottom of the crater. Catherine couldn't see the bottom, but there had to be one, even in Sunnydale, a hole couldn't go forever. But it was night, and the moon cast stark shadows over things.
Turning, she saw the yellow eyes of a vampire. The vampire moved closer, limping slightly, each step sending more debris downwards. He growled at her, his teeth bared as he stalked towards her.
"I am Catherine, of the line of Beatrice, of the Witches of the Diego Circle. I fear no walking corpse, for I am borne of sky and earth and all creation." The words slipped from her mouth, a boast of her ability and a warning to the vampire. She reached out, pulling the chaotic power of this place into herself, reveling in the cool/warm/shadow/velvet feeling of it as it filled her, strengthened her.
"I'm not scared of any dark eyed witch. Especially since you look like you just got buried alive." The vampire snarled, moving closer.
Catherine remained where she was, one hand outstretched and held in a fist. Her body was too sore to make the first move. Predictably, the vampire lunged towards her. With a smile, Catherine opened her hand, releasing the fire that she had called, allowing it to engulf the vampire, making him one with the ashes that surrounded her.
"Time to leave this place." Catherine shook her head, and started to stagger upwards, moving away from the crater, away from the blasted place that had once been Sunnydale. "I can take a hint when I get buried in one."
Catherine Madison staggered away into the night, finally free from her assorted prisons. Now, she could take revenge on those who had done her wrong, on her daughter for abandoning her, on her ex-husband for divorcing her, on that blonde who had caused her to be a trophy for years. Considering what she'd just survived, nothing would be able to stand in her way now…
End Daughter of Earth.
Rating: pg13?
Main character: Catherine Madison
Disclaimer: anyone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series belongs to Joss Whedon and his writing staff and the actors who play them.
Distribution: Jinni, Paula, Cat - anyone else ask first.
Note: Poetry Quote #13,
"I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky:
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die."
-- 'The Cloud' by Percy B. Shelley
-----------------------------------------
There had been a flash of fire/heat/pain/magical shattering, and Catherine was free. She didn't know what had happened, but that wasn't a surprise. It had been so hard to keep up with current events as a trophy… But the spell was unraveled, and she was free, was human once more…
But there was only a few heartbeats to notice that, and she was only aware that's he was falling, that there was dirt and dust and the stench of blood all around her, and everything was falling with her. The ground under her feet was collapsing, giving way and falling below, away, towards a knot of the purest, most vicious evil that's he had ever encountered, and all she wanted to do was to get away. She tried to scrabble out of the collapsing hall, out of the building, and tripped over a demon, passed the body of a dead woman, made her way to the parking lot of the school.
But it still wasn't enough. A roar that wasn't quite like the ocean announced that things were still collapsing, and there was another sound, like a bus moving away rapidly. She coughed and gasped for air, and started to run along a road, going straight from the school, following a different road from the sounds of the bus.
Almost. She'd almost reached safety, almost reached the shelter of a copse of trees when the ground beneath her gave way. Catherine shrieked, the sound high an fearful as she tried to scrabble upwards, tried to fight gravity as the sand and earth and dry grass and twigs poured down over her, the dust blocking out the sun and the roaring of the collapse nearly deafening her to everything but her screams. There was nothing but the roaring collapse and her screams, and then the earth poured over her and everything went black.
Awareness returned slowly. The first thing that she was could sense was the dull throb of evil in the background, and of disruption, similar to the feeling of disturbance that filled the magical flow after an earthquake. The second was pain. Aches from hundreds of bruises over her body, hissing burning from dozens of tiny scrapes and cuts, stickiness from her blood, the feeling of grit all over her and in the scrapes and aggravating the bruises, and the stabbing sharp feeling on her left side every time that she breathed in or out. Everything was still black, and the only sound was her rapid heartbeat, her labored breathing.
Catherine realized that she'd been buried alive.
The pain was unimportant as she struggled to claw her way out of the earth. It was motion caused by panic and the will to live, not the result of any coherent plan. Her muscles ached, and her side hurt, but she managed to claw her way out, looking around to discover that's he was now panting on the side of a huge crater, the moon large and cold overhead. Her nails were broken, and every inch of her body was covered in dust and blood, much of it her own.
Looking upwards, Catharine laughed, not noticing the shrillness of the sound. "I'm alive! I'm still alive! Do you hear me? I'm not that easy to get rid of!"
Something moved, causing the debris to slither downwards towards the bottom of the crater. Catherine couldn't see the bottom, but there had to be one, even in Sunnydale, a hole couldn't go forever. But it was night, and the moon cast stark shadows over things.
Turning, she saw the yellow eyes of a vampire. The vampire moved closer, limping slightly, each step sending more debris downwards. He growled at her, his teeth bared as he stalked towards her.
"I am Catherine, of the line of Beatrice, of the Witches of the Diego Circle. I fear no walking corpse, for I am borne of sky and earth and all creation." The words slipped from her mouth, a boast of her ability and a warning to the vampire. She reached out, pulling the chaotic power of this place into herself, reveling in the cool/warm/shadow/velvet feeling of it as it filled her, strengthened her.
"I'm not scared of any dark eyed witch. Especially since you look like you just got buried alive." The vampire snarled, moving closer.
Catherine remained where she was, one hand outstretched and held in a fist. Her body was too sore to make the first move. Predictably, the vampire lunged towards her. With a smile, Catherine opened her hand, releasing the fire that she had called, allowing it to engulf the vampire, making him one with the ashes that surrounded her.
"Time to leave this place." Catherine shook her head, and started to stagger upwards, moving away from the crater, away from the blasted place that had once been Sunnydale. "I can take a hint when I get buried in one."
Catherine Madison staggered away into the night, finally free from her assorted prisons. Now, she could take revenge on those who had done her wrong, on her daughter for abandoning her, on her ex-husband for divorcing her, on that blonde who had caused her to be a trophy for years. Considering what she'd just survived, nothing would be able to stand in her way now…
End Daughter of Earth.