Chapter Thirteen: Crafty Caradhras
The next three days were grueling. The eastern side of Caradhras was steep and unforgiving, and the trail rose to the same height in three days that it did in six when approached from the western side. It became progressively colder the higher they got, and by the time they reached the eastern side of the Redhorn Gate, they were trudging through a foot of snow. By the end of the second night of climbing, they were completely exhausted.
"We are lucky that Caradhras is letting us pass," Arwen commented as she helped Willow dig out a place to light a fire in. Buffy was pitching their tiny tent nearby.
"Why'd you have to go and say that?" Buffy scowled. "Now Caddyshack will be forced to smack us down."
Willow nodded. "That's how it works." Arwen smirked at them as Willow threw some powder on the ground and instructed it to light.
"How much fairy dust have you got, Wil?" Buffy asked.
"Enough to get us to Imladris."
"Cool." Buffy passed out food from their stores and they ate quietly.
"You know," Willow began once they were done, "I've been thinking of the stories I've heard about cruel Caradhras. Maybe we should formally request passage."
"I agree," said Arwen. "If it is true that the mountain is sentient, he already knows that we are here."
"Righto, let's make with the flattery," Buffy said. They quickly cast a circle around the fire, and used four travel-sized candles that Willow had brought to call down the Elements.
"Mighty Caradhras," Willow murmured. "We announce our presence and humbly beg for passage. Witness the power of the Sorceress, the Slayer, and the Eldar. We are at your service." They let their united energies bend and flow around them, and then blew out the candles and closed the circle. Buffy remained by the fire on watch while Arwen and Willow entered the tent to sleep.
They passed through the Redhorn Gate on the third day at dusk and began their descent. It appeared that Caradhras was going to let them pass. It was their fifth day on the mountain, and the sixth day of their journey, when disaster struck. The sun was shining bright and clear that day, and to their relief, there was no wind. As they picked their way carefully down the tricky slopes, the snow began to melt. Great rivulets of water ran down the mountain below them.
Arwen, with the light-footedness of the elves, was the furthest down, and Willow was several yards above and to the left of her. Buffy was above Willow, and waiting for her to pick up her pack and start moving again. "Get your ass moving, Wil," she called teasingly to the witch. Willow, a devilish grin on her face, placed her middle finger between her lips and then slowly pulled it out to flip Buffy off. Buffy felt heat slam into her body and settle in her lower abdomen. Willow saw the slayer's eyes turn a dark shade of green, and she gasped softly. Standing up too quickly, she began to lose her balance and she pin-wheeled her arms helplessly. The redhead let out a screech as she fell to the ground and began to slide. She struggled vainly to dig her feet and hands into the slope to stop herself. Arwen quickly dashed over to help, but Willow's momentum carried the elf with her, and they tumbled down the mountainside.
"Wil! Arwen!" Buffy shouted as she scrambled after them. She skidded to a stop where they'd started to slide, and grabbed the pack that had been left behind. Then, she continued down the slope, praying to every deity she could think of that they were OK. About a hundred feet further down, the ground leveled slightly, and then dropped off completely. She watched in horror as they slid over the edge. "NO!" she screamed, and had to forcefully stop herself from running full-tilt after them. Halfway there, she found Arwen's bow lying in the snow, and grabbed it.
What felt like years later, she reached the edge and dropped the bow and the bags to the ground. Cautiously, she approached the drop-off and peered over it. The sheer rock face continued down for about thirty feet before hitting level ground again. There were tall, narrow pine-like trees scattered around, and at first she could see no sign of her friends.
"Wil? Arwen?" she called fearfully.
She heard a groan, surprisingly close, and a voice said weakly, "Over here."
She turned to her left and could see two shapes near the top of one of the trees. Tears sprang into her eyes. "Are you guys OK?" Two heads popped up from among the branches in unison, and the sight was so ridiculous that Buffy started to laugh, tears streaming down her face.
"Aarion Telumehtar," Willow scolded. "You are not allowed to stand there and laugh while I have a branch stuck up my ass."
Buffy pulled herself together and dug a length of Lórien rope out of her pack. There was nothing nearby to attach it to, so she tied it around her waist. Dropping the other end down to them she said, "Can either one of you climb up?" Arwen assured her that she could. "Right, wait 'til I say so, then go for it. We can pull Wil up together."
"Are you calling me fat?" Willow grumbled as Buffy stepped away from the edge and dropped to the ground, bracing herself. Arwen was quickly next to her, laying down the pack that had miraculously stayed on her shoulders. They retied the rope around both of their waists, told Willow to do the same, and then pulled her up. After untying herself, Buffy began to look them over.
"What's the damage?" she asked, worriedly. Arwen seemed basically unharmed, but Willow had scrapes on her hands and face, and her right knee was rapidly turning black and blue. She said her shoulder hurt, and Buffy examined it, relieved that it wasn't dislocated. She brought out her water bottle and cleaned the wounds as best as she could. Then she tore off the bottom foot of her tunic and used it to wrap Willow's knee securely. She helped her friend put her cloak back on, and looked her in the eyes. "Are you OK to walk a little if we help you? We need to find somewhere safe to stop for the night, and then we can do a better job of patching you up."
Willow couldn't help but smile at her friend's earnest concern. "Buff, I'm fine." Then she scowled a little. "Crap. My backpack is way up there." She pointed up the slope.
"Nope, it's right here," Buffy grinned as she pulled it out from behind her. "And this is for you, Wen." She handed Arwen her bow.
"Well aren't you sneaky," Willow complimented.
"I decided on my way down that no way was I climbing back up. We'll just follow this ridge around until we find our path again." The slayer and the elf got on either side of the witch and helped her stand. She took a few experimental steps.
"Good to go," she pronounced. Buffy carried Willow's pack on top of her own as they moved forward slowly. Half an hour later, they found their trail, and began looking for a good place to stop for the night. Buffy had been watching Willow closely, and could tell that her knee was getting more painful with each step.
"Alright, we're stopping here." she said, leading them to a shallow cave. Arwen arranged a ring of stones, and Willow started a fire within them. Buffy spread out their sleeping bags and Arwen's blanket roll near the back of the cave, and helped the injured witch get comfy. After they'd eaten, she said. "OK girl, strip."
"Why Ri, in front of Arwen? I didn't know you were an exhibitionist," Willow replied, causing Buffy to blush profusely.
"That's NOT what I meant. I need to look at your wounds."
Willow dutifully removed her cloak and the heavy, long-sleeved jacket underneath. Buffy scooted closer to her, and removed her own cloak so she could use her hands more freely. She gently rolled up Willow's pant leg and then unwrapped the tunic bandage from the injured knee. There was a lot of bruising and swelling, and a large gash just above the kneecap.
"This is worse than I thought. Is there a lot of pain?" Buffy asked, concerned. Arwen came to look over Buffy's shoulder, grimaced in sympathy, and then moved to root through her pack.
"I brought Athelas, Aarien. It's dried, but I have a small pot that I can boil water in." She set about reconstituting the plant.
Buffy tentatively prodded Willow's knee until she felt certain that nothing was broken or torn. She cleaned it again, and then Arwen gently placed Athelas in the open wound before Buffy redressed it. They all felt revitalized as they breathed in the steam from the boiling pot. Buffy turned her attention to Willow's shoulder. It looked bruised and slightly inflamed, but she could still tell that it wasn't dislocated. As her fingers softly rubbed at the strained muscles around the area, she had an idea.
"Hey, remember when the Gnarl ate some of your skin?"
"Every nightmare that doesn't involve Black-Mojo Willow is about being trapped all alone in that cave. Although I do occasionally still dream about public nudity and the beast that lived in the Hellmouth."
"Hey don't feel bad. I still have nightmares about the Master. But anyway, remember how I helped you heal yourself after?"
"Oh yeah!" Willow's face brightened, and then fell. "I can't ask you to do that, Buffy." She knew that her friend, despite the super slayer strength, had been drained and weak for a few days after that. When she'd linked them, she'd had to coach Buffy telepathically to open herself up. The barriers that she kept permanently in place weren't allowing her essence to cross over to Willow. It was a painful and revealing process for Buffy, and Willow had never really stopped feeling guilty about it.
"You're not asking me, I'm telling you. We're gonna do this," Buffy said firmly. She turned to Arwen and explained what they were talking about.
"Can I aid you, somehow?" Arwen asked.
Buffy looked to Willow for an answer, so she said, "I think the best thing would be for you to ground us."
Buffy got out the candles and lit them, calling to the Elements as she did so. The slayer and the witch sat cross-legged, facing each other. Arwen sat next to them and placed a hand on each girl's knee. Willow called out for aid and observance of their transfer of power. She and Buffy linked hands and focused on each other, first establishing their telepathic link.
"Buffy?"
"I'm here, Wil."
"You sure you wanna do this?"
"Positive."
"OK, well it's pretty much like last time. You just need to open yourself up and think about what you're trying to do and why. Visualize the transfer of energy from you to me."
They turned their focus inward, each trying to deepen their connection, and suddenly there was a flash of bright light all around them. Opening their eyes cautiously, they found themselves on another plane. They stood staring at each other, amazed.
"Is this Guardian mojo?" Buffy asked.
"I think so."
They were in an endless, formless world, full of brilliant light. The only solidity was beneath their feet. They sat and took each other's hands again. Buffy looked into Willow's green eyes and allowed the depths of her feelings for her friend to coalesce. She sifted through all the images of their lives together and landed on two. The first was of the two of them by the tree, and Willow telling Buffy that she was staying in Sunnydale to fight the good fight. The second was of two older, wearier versions of them on a stone bench, and Willow telling Buffy that she was going with her to Middle Earth. She forced all her guilt and anger and love to take shimmering form around her body and pass on to her friend. Willow jolted in surprise as the force of Buffy's energy hit her. She channeled it into her wounds, imagining them healing. As they dropped back down into their bodies, Willow could already feel the pain beginning to fade.
"Elbereth!" Arwen exclaimed, visibly shaken. "Your feä had left your bodies. I thought you were not coming back!"
"I'm sorry, Wen," Buffy apologized. "I had no idea that would happen."
"I have never known such a thing to be possible. How are you able to come and go at will?"
"We never used to be able to," Willow spoke up. "I think we're able to travel this way because our life force – did you call it feä? – has been altered. Buffy's by slayerness and mine by witchiness. We've been pulled onto other planes by higher beings before, but this is the first time we did it to ourselves."
"I think it's a Guardian thing," Buffy added.
"That is incredible," Arwen said. "So Taserë, how are you feeling?"
"Much much better," she replied. "I think I can do the rest of the healing myself." She turned to Buffy, who had collapsed exhaustedly onto her sleeping bag. "Are you OK?"
"Mmm hmm," she said tiredly, burrowing into the bedding. "Me need sleep now."
Willow smiled and gently brushed a few errant hairs out of Buffy's face. "Thank you," she said softly, letting her hand rest on the other girl's cheek for a moment.
"Welcome," Buffy said faintly as she drifted to sleep, smiling as she felt Willow lay down next to her.
"I will take the first watch," Arwen said unnecessarily, covering the two and settling herself in.