Chapter Cuatro: Kiera Knightley Does Jane Austen
The world had suddenly darkened. Willow realized that she was conscious, because she could hear the harsh sound of her breathing echoing off of something, but she was completely blind. She rapidly blinked but there remained no change in the utter blackness surrounding her. Her breathing quickened, and her wildly beating heart started a faster tempo as she felt the beginnings of a panic attack.
She nearly lots her wits when she felt hands touch her shoulders from behind her. "Shh, it's me."
Willow tensed until her teeth nearly cracked before realizing that it was Tara's voice. She found her own voice. "What's going on?"
She simply heard another hushing sound before the fingers left her shoulder, traveled down her arm, and then squeezed her hand before disappearing. Willow held her hands around her body and gripped the material of her shirt, feeling disoriented and dizzy when she couldn't see or feel anything around her.
Ahead of her, a pinpoint of light appeared. Tara's face was lit as it seemed as if she magically created a hole in whatever wall was in front of them, peeking out with one eye. She turned back to look at Willow, the tiny bit of light glinting off of her glasses. Willow wasn't sure, but it seemed as if Tara had a sad expression on her face.
The wall around them suddenly collapsed, and daylight made Willow's eyes dazzle. Her eyes were drawn, however, not to the wreck of the coffee shop around her, or the blown in windows, but the paper that had formed their cocoon moving as if by magic, some of it shooting up into the sleeves of Tara's knee-length coat. Despite their quick movement, Willow could detect the Coffee Bean logo and what she now surmised were napkins.
Tara definitely looked sad. Her glasses and blonde hair covered her face well, and Willow wanted to know what had just happened. She had no idea how to ask, however, with the millions of questions in her mind, so she remained paralyzed, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound issued forth.
Tara looked at her, one long, lingering gaze that asked its own questions. When Willow still couldn't speak, Tara looked stricken, and then ran right out of the door—actually, through a blown-out window—and took off.
Willow looked around. All of the windows were gone, and the glass shards all over the floor, save for a circle around her. She lifted her chair that had been toppled and righted it. Then she sat on it. Being nearer to the level of the table, she noticed that Tara's two books were still lying there. Her mind caught up to the simple necessity and, taking one last look around the now empty and trashed coffee shop, she swept up the books and headed out of the door. Well, however much of the door there was, since the actual door had been blown into the front counter and muffin display.
Tara jogged awkwardly down the street, following the scorch marks on the ground in the shape of a big cat's paw. Seeing Willow all shocked, with that questioning look in her eye made it easy for Tara to bolt. 'Less than one date and my freakish powers are already ruining my best chances for a girlfriend in…' Tara mentally calculated. '… Ever!'
But Tara knew she had to follow the burning lion/tiger/liger. She had the power, and with that power comes the responsibility to use it wisely and correctly. Plus, the Library was sure to page her at any moment about the incident anyway.
She found herself at the Sunnydale town square, which was little more than a brick courtyard, surrounded by antique stores and boutiques. In the center of the courtyard there was also a fountain, with lighter colored bricks laid out like the rays of the sun. She ran to the fountain, wondering why the tracks ended, and where the people who normally haunted the area were.
A roar made the water of the fountain shiver and Tara turned to see the flaming tiger blocking the only exit. It roared again and leaped, coming at Tara surprisingly fast. She managed to dodge only barely, and she could feel the real heat of the beast as it grazed by her, and only by instinct did she pull out a shield of paper in time to stop its tail from whipping her.
The tiger quickly regrouped and turned to face her, the flames dancing from his jaws making his snarl even more menacing. Plus, since he was on fire, Tara knew her abilities could only go so far before he burned all of her paper ammunition.
The tiger charged again, and this time it came closer before leaping, and Tara couldn't dodge. She threw a shield of paper up from the reserves under her jacket, forcibly stopping the beast but burning the edges of her shield into black crisps. She formed a cage around it, but with one bite it had burned through one bar and escaped. Tara threw cutting bolts of paper at it, but it seemed unfazed by the physical attack, merely absorbing the razor-sharp pieces of paper. She formed a tough sphere of paper around it, hoping to snuff out the flame from lack of oxygen, but its heat burned the paper before the sphere could be fully formed around him.
Calling back the sheets of paper from the useless cage, Tara formed a shield in front of herself, putting her back to the fountain. When the tiger leaped again, she was able to make the shield dense enough to repel it forcibly, seeming to daze the animal for a moment.
"You!" A man's voice called from somewhere in the courtyard, and Tara whirled around, looking for the source. A man appeared out of the shadows of the porch of Natalie French's Antique Store, a pad of paper in his hands and a pen in the other. He was nondescript in just about every way. "Where is the book?" he asked, his voice clear and cutting.
Tara frowned. "What are you talking about?"
The man started getting angry. "You know what book! Where is it?" His angry stance relaxed, however, and he stared just beyond Tara's head. Tara whirled around to see Willow, standing timidly at the entrance of the courtyard, Tara's two books clutched to her chest and looking like the high schooler she was.
"What's going on?" she asked, her green eyes wide as saucers. The tiger stood up from its daze and as Tara watched in horror, leaped toward the redhead, jaws wide open.
Author's Note: To sound like a broken record, sorry for the delay. I'm finally graduated (Yessss, going back to live with Mom!) and have mostly settled down. Settled meaning I'm interning (getting paid nothing for slavish labor) and then making pizza for living money. Welcome to the real world!
I promise a longer update next time.