Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.
"Nothing bad's gonna happen to Giles is it?" said Sophie, eyes wide with panic.
"Well.." Tara frowned, suddenly thinking that maybe this hadn't been the best story to tell afterall. Her mother's frown was all the answer Sophie needed.
"You said bad guys never win!" she cried.
"They don't, usually" said Tara. "But sometimes the bad guys have to win a little in the beginning to give the good guys a reason to come back and beat them at the end. And nothing's actually happened yet, so just listen.."
A few days later, Wilkins put his terrible plan into action. He took Willow to a large canyon, sitting her on a rock under a tree.
"Now you wait here, dear" Wilkins smiled. "Your father has a wonderful surprise for you."
"Really?" said Willow excitedly. "What is it, what is it?"
"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Wilkins grinned.
"If you tell me, I promise I'll act surprised" said Willow.
"You are such a naughty girl" Wilkins chuckled.
"Come on, Uncle Wilkins" Willow frowned.
"No Willow, this is just for you and your Daddy, a father-daughter thing. I should go get him.."
"I'll come with you" said Willow, beginning to climb down.
"No!" Wilkins snapped, before quickly calming himself down to avoid giving the game away. "No, you just stay there on that rock. We wouldn't want you getting yourself into another mess like you did with the vampires."
"You know about that?" said Willow, face falling.
"Willow, everybody knows about that" Wilkins smirked.
"Really?" said Willow, embarrassed.
"Yes" said Wilkins, placing a hand on his niece's shoulder. "Lucky Daddy was there to save you huh? And just between you and me, you should work on those little sparks of magic of yours."
"Okay. Hey Uncle Wilkins, am I gonna like this surprise?"
"Willow, it's to die for" Wilkins grinned, before walking away.
Meanwhile, in a grassy field at the top of the gorge, Darla, Spike, and Drusilla hid behind a rock, watching a heard of cattle, horses, and other large four legged animals grazing.
"Man, I'm so bloody hungry!" said Spike, licking his lips. "I just gotta have some blood, even if it's from a cow!"
"Stay put!" Darla hissed at him.
"Can't I just pick off one of the little sick ones?"
"No, we wait for the signal from Wilkins!" a few moments after Darla said these words, Wilkins appeared on a high rock, grinning evilly at them. "There he is, let's go!" she cried, getting in amongst the animals and frightening them into flight.
"Little sparks of magic, ha!" Willow cried. "I'll show them!" she spotted a small lizard sunning itself on the ground nearby, and decided that this was a perfect time to practice. She tried to draw on her magic, but once again only produced sparks. She tried again a few more times with the same result, until finally, a small beam of magic flowed from her hand. It startled the lizard into fleeing, then careered out of control, crashing into the side of the gorge and rattling a few trees. Despite this, Willow was still proud of herself. But then, the Princess heard an enormous rumble, saw some pebbles shake on the ground, and looked up to see a heard of animals stampeding down into the gorge, her eyes widening in horror.
"Look, sire" said Wesley as he and Giles stood atop Sunny Rock, surveying the land. "The herd is on the move."
"Odd.." Giles frowned.
"Stampede, in the gorge!" Wilkins cried, running to them. "Hurry, Willow's down there!"
"Willow?" cried Giles, worried, instantly setting off, along with Wesley, and Wilkins who ran a little way behind, smirking.
Back in the gorge, Willow ran, weaving in and out of the feet of the stampeding animals, and so far managing to avoid injury. She grabbed onto a small, dying tree and pulled herself into one of it's branches, but she knew she couldn't hold on forever..
"Wesley!" she cried, as she spotted the young Watcher standing on the edge of the gorge looking out for her. "Wesley, help me!"
"Hang on, Willow!" Wesley called, running for help. "Your father is on his way!" She ran back to Giles, pointing her out. "There, in that tree! But hurry, she can't hold on much longer!" Giles rushed down the gorge into the mass of stampeding animals, his daughter being his only priority. "Oh Wilkins, what are we going to do?" Wesley wailed to the King's brother. "I'll go get help that's what I'll do.." Unfortunately before Wesley could leave, Wilkins backhanded him into a wall, knocking him out.
After a lot of ducking and weaving, and quite a few bumps and bruises, King Giles reached the tree where Willow was perched.
"Daddy!" she cried.
"It's okay Willow, I've got you" he cried as he pulled her out of the tree. He managed to push through the herd, then climb one-handed to push Willow to safety on a rock, but slipped back into the waves of animals.
"Daddy!" Willow screamed. Fortunately, a few seconds later, he leapt out of the stampeding herd, and, with some difficulty, began to climb the steep rock. "Yay!" Willow cried. The King climbed out of Willow's sight, reaching the ledge on which Wilkin's sat, but lacked the strength to climb up on his own.
"Brother, help me" pleaded Giles. Wilkins just grinned evilly, then dug his nails into Giles hands.
"Long live the King!" he cackled, throwing his brother off the rock.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Giles screamed.
"Daddy!" Willow screamed, seeing her father fall.
"Noooooooooo!" cried Sophie.