RE: FIC : Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior)

["Clarke, Carol A - Hazelwood" <CAClarke2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wow this is good, must have more story. I may become very cranky with the
rest of this great story.

-----Original Message-----
From: kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2000 11:04 AM
To: buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [buffywantswillow] FIC : Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a
warrior)


From: kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior) K. Beckett (c) 2000 

Disclaimers:
Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show
belong
to Joss Whedon, WB and Mutant Enemy etal. Everyone and everything else is 
mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living, dead or
un-
dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.

Rating: 
PG-13ish (to start I guess)

Other: 
The Latin and Gaelic are mine; I take the responsibility for any
translations 
of them. In addition, the descriptions of the rituals, spells and other
craft
work come from my traditions, so please don't take offence if something 
described here does not match your traditions or what you think it should.

Archiving etc.: 
Ask and I'll say yes. Don't ask and I'll get mad.

Spoilers:
Everything up to the middle of season four - I diverge then.

This is a first for me, be kind please. However, any and all meaningful 
criticism, support and suggestions are welcome. 
And, I'll be honest, I saw the idea in an earlier post, and something in me 
screamed WRITE, WRITE NOW STUPID, so I wrote. 
mailto:kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----------------------------------------------

Part I 
Dum vivimus vivamus (Let's live while we're alive)

Darkness, with a cold North breeze coming down from the Artic chilling the 
February air, was not a pleasant, or particularly safe, time to be out in
the 
town of Sunnydale California. The glow from the street lamps lining the 
pathways through the UC Sunnydale campus did not penetrate very far since
the 
night sky was a light absorbing black due to the low heavy overcast. 

"Damn," thought the redheaded girl walking quickly across campus to her dorm
room. 
"Its four hours to midnight and with this sky, and with the moon being
nearly 
new, I'll have to trust my instincts and the clock for the timing of the
second 
part of tonight's ritual."

Watching from the near-by shrubbery was shadowy, indistinct figure,
definitely 
human in appearance, but moving far more silently through the woods than a 
human could. With a primal roar it leaped from the bushes towards Willow.

"Ah, damn!" she exclaimed turning towards the fully morphed vampire. 
"Fifteen minutes from the dorm and now I'm going to waste precious time
dealing with you!"
This definitely was not the reaction that the newly risen, and hungry,
vampire 
was expecting, and he figured out pretty quick that his initial plan of
attack, 
eat and leave quietly wasn't going to work any more. So with typical
single 
mindedness he decided to change his plan to attack, eat and just leave.

"Little girl, you are lunch!" He screamed jumping towards Willow.
"That's what you think, fangy," Willow quipped as she sidestepped the
vampire's 
initial attack and quickly brought her hands up into a warding gesture.
"Soilshey ny greiney!" Willow shouted and drew her hands apart.
There was a sudden explosion of light between her hands, which quickly
formed 
into a ball that she then cast towards the startled vampire.
"Eat sunshine ass-hole!" She yelled as the ball of light enveloped the
vampire 
and he began to scream from the flames that were merrily burning his flesh.
A few moments later, there was nothing left of the former bloodsucker but a 
small pile of smoking ash, and a dancing ball of sun light.
Willow stared, stunned, at the results of her work while quickly whispering 
"ec kione" to collapse her spell back into the elemental realm she drew it 
from, before it began to draw attention to her and her activities.
"Damn," she exclaimed, exhausted from the energy required for the spell. 
"I love it when something works right the first time." 

"Well, it looks like you don't really need me anymore" a muscular blond
figure 
said; quietly leaving the woods where she had been watching the preceding 
events and joining Willow on the path.
"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, "Need, I do, definitely, need, but you not here, 
vampire here, spell new..." 
"Willow, I was just joking" she said, drawing the other girl into a close 
embrace and whispering into her ear, "I know that you will always need me."

With her fingers softly caressing the cheek of her closest friend and lover
she 
added, "and I trust, always want me."
"Of course, I need, and want you," the redhead whispered back turning her
lips 
towards the other's soft lips for a passionate kiss.
"Ah, that was just the energy restorer I was looking for." Willow exclaimed
as 
she broke away from the kiss after a couple of heart stopping minutes.
"How did your patrol go?" She asked as the two of them began to walk hand
in 
hand to their room. 
"Not bad, one old-time demon and two other newby vamps aside from the one
you 
disposed of." Buffy replied, mentally re-hashing the evening so far. 
"A pretty typical evening then in the demon disposal business then." Willow

replied keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the object of her love.
"Yep, same old same old." Buffy answered, sensing Willow's gage on her and 
avoiding the temptation to return it by keeping a sharp lookout for other 
potential, lethal, night time distractions. 
"Speaking of vamp removal, that's a pretty powerful new spell you have there
at 
your disposal witch-girl."
Willow stopped walking and sat down on a near-by bench.
"You're right, Buffy. I've been working on this type of spell for a while
now, 
but I didn't expect it to work as well as it did."
"What did you expect would happen?" Buffy asked as she sat down beside her
friend.
"Well, I was hoping that the spell would go off, and distract the vamp long 
enough so that I could run to safety."
"Good plan Willow, but?"
"But, as I cast the spell, I felt an enormous collection of energy being
drawn 
towards me, and somehow I suddenly knew that the spell would be far more 
powerful than I thought." Willow paused and though for a moment. 
"Its been happening a lot recently." She added softly.
"What's that?"
"Its just that my spells have been getting a lot stronger lately, ever
since..."
"Ever since what?"
"Well, you know, since..." she whispered.
"Give it up witch, since when?" Buffy prodded, having already figured out
the 
reason for herself, but wanting to hear it from her soul mate.
"You know, since Christmas."
"Ah," the blond exclaimed. "Since you and I took our relationship to the
next 
level, so to speak."
"Yeah, since then, so to speak, in addition I guess to my becoming a 3rd
degree 
witch at the Solstice."
"Speaking of witch business, what were you doing out on campus? Weren't
you 
supposed at your parents getting ready for the big event later?"
"Oh my Goddess!" Willow said bolting from the bench and grabbing Buffy by
the 
hand, "time, no-time talk, herbs and stuff, dorm, robes, stuff, got to get
going..."
"Slow down Will," Buffy said smiling at her friend as she was being
willingly 
dragged down the path, "we still have a few hours to go yet." 
--------------------------------

About a half-hour later, one very flustered witch and one very amused slayer

looked around their dorm room. It had the appearance of having survived, 
barely, a close encounter with a hurricane, the hurricane in this case being
a frantic Willow.
"Ok, double check time, you have my list Buffy?" Willow said in a panic
while 
looking though a massive tote bag.
"Right here lover."
"Ok, read off the items to me."
"Okey, dokey, smooches toy, - item the first - robes."
"Check. And stop being so, so flippant, even though I love the sentiment
attached to it"
"Ok, holding onto the flippancy, - item two - purification herbs and oils."
"Check," holding out several bags of herb like substances and small bottles
of essential oils.
"You mean we have to bathe in those? Icky," the slayer said screwing up her

face into weird contortions.
"Yep, you'll love it, very good for the skin, on with the list."
"If you insist, item three - wand."
"Check."
"Item four - candles."
"Check," holding out eight pure beeswax candles.
"Item five - sword."
"Check - I know its at home, I brought it over earlier tonight."
"Items six and seven - purified water and salt."
"Check - also at home."
"Ok then, that only leaves the last item - chalk."
"Right here," she said holding out a bag full of multi-coloured chalk. 
"Lets go! Everything else I need, that's not on the list, is at home."
Willow 
quickly repacked all of the items in her tote bag and slinging it over her 
shoulder headed out the door.
"Hurry up Buffy, and don't forget to lock the door."
"I'm coming, hold on to your horses, Willow."
"You aren't even breathing hard." Willow quipped back as she headed down
the 
hall to the stairs.
"What was that you said about flippancy?" Buffy exclaimed as she hurried
after her.
-------------------------------

Later that evening, they arrived in front of Willow's parent's home. It was
a 
bright beacon of light in the gloomy night since there was a lit candle in
all 
of the windows in addition to all of the lights in the house being on.
"This is ok with your parents?" Buffy asked as they went in the house.
"Yep, they're cool. They know what I am, what we mean to each other and
what 
we are going to do tonight." Willow replied as she walked into the living
room 
and saw that the other members of her coven were already there.
"Hi all!" She addressed the assembled witches in the room, receiving
answering 
nods and hellos in return.
"Hi Mom! Sorry we're running so late." She said to her mother who was just

bringing in more snacks to replenish the empty platters on the coffee table.

"In fact," she continued over her shoulder to Buffy who was still in the 
foyer, "my dad helped with my work-room in the basement. He levelled the
floor 
and installed all of the slate and the wood floor and wall panels."
"Cool." The slayer replied. "Nice to have understanding parents."
"Yep, its great to have a pair of nice Jewish Pagans in the family." Willow

replied, as she dropped her tote bag on the floor and began to take items
out of it.
"Mom even lit all of the candles in the windows for me tonight at dusk."
She 
said, smiling at her mom who was heading back to the kitchen.
"That was really nice of her." Buffy replied, also smiling and waving hello
to 
Willow's mother, as she joined the group in the living room, settling down
on 
the floor since there were no chairs left.
"Yeah. Will, what's the deal with the burning wax anyway?" Asked one of
the 
assembled witches sprawling over a good portion of the sofa snack crumbs 
liberally covering his t-shirt.
"Well Xander," the redheaded witch replied, without looking up or stopping
what 
she was doing, "if you had done any of your studying, you would have
remembered 
that since tonight is the festival of light returning, and since the Goddess
in 
her incarnation as the young maiden Goddess presides over the day and the 
festival, and since in that incarnation she is the Goddess of light,
healing, 
poetry and smith craft we burn the candles in her honour and to bring
forward 
the hope for Spring in the darkness of Winter."
"Oh." The dark-haired apprentice witch replied crestfallen and returned to
his 
previous occupation of trying to eat all of the snacks Willow's mom had put
out 
on the coffee table without anyone else noticing.
"I told you to do the work, dummy." His girlfriend Anya stage-whispered to
him, 
while surreptitiously feeding him more cheese and crackers.

Swiftly standing up Willow looked over her assembled friends, some of whom
like 
Xander, Anya and Giles she had known since High School and others she had
only 
met since starting university. She was very nervous, since this would be
the 
first time she had led so many in a ritual as the High Priestess.

"Ok folks," she said, addressing her coven.
"Lets get to work. There is a lot to do before we start, and only a little 
time left to do it in."
"Right boss," a petite brunet replied standing up with the rest, "what do we
do 
first?"
"Well Carol," Willow replied, "first we all need to take the ritual baths
with 
the herbs and oils I've brought."
"Then, we all need to robe and make our way down to the work area." She 
continued as she handed packages of herbs, bottles of oil and robes to
several 
members of the group.
"Lets go everyone," the former watcher stated as he received his package
from 
Willow, "I'm assuming boys in one room, girls in another?"
"Yep, I hate to spoil everyone's fun, but with time pressing we will have to

wait till later for jollies and smooches." Willow replied slightly
red-faced.
"Don't forget to say your blessings as you bathe and dress." Willow called
out 
as the group began to head out of the living room.
"We won't mother!" called out several of the witches as the group separated 
with Giles, Xander and the other five men heading to the upstairs bath and 
Anya, Carol and the other four women heading to the other bathroom leaving 
Willow and Buffy alone for the moment in the living room. As soon as the 
others had left the room Willow collapsed to the floor shaking
un-controllably.
"Willow! What's wrong?" Buffy asked rushing to her and wrapping her strong 
arms around the trembling redhead.
"It's, It's just that..." 
"What lover?
"It's just that this is the first time I'll lead alone, and the first time 
since Brightstar left go back to Chicago, and I want everything to be
perfect 
and special and..." Willow continued breathlessly.
"Will, it's going to be ok, honest," Buffy reassured her. "You've done 
everything you can, we all are going to help, and we all trust and love
you."
Buffy began to softly massage the other's tense shoulder and back muscles as

she gently kissed the neck of her friend.
"Lie down for a second, and let me work out the kinks in your back." She 
whispered as she gently, but firmly pushed Willow to the carpet.
"But, we have no time, we have to get ready Buffy." Willow weekly protested.
"Chill, dear. The others will be bathing and dressing for at least the next

twenty minutes." As she continued to work on the muscles in Willow's back.
"More than enough time to work some of the tenseness out of you. After all,
if 
you are tense you might make a boo-boo or two."
"Boo-boo's are definitely a no-no." The other replied as she admitted
defeat 
to the other's firm fingers closing her eyes and starting to relax her tense
body. 

For the next few minutes neither woman said anything as Buffy continued her 
soft massage, slowly working her way down Willow's back. Finally, after 
hearing the noise of the others working their way down to the basement, she 
stopped her ministrations and drew the other up from the floor into a gentle
hug.
"Its, time sweetie." She said as she gently kissed the other.
"I know," she replied, "lets grab our stuff and go get naked and wet."
"Willow!" Buffy exclaimed in mock shock, "I thought that we were going to do
that later." 
"Stop it," Willow said smiling, as she gave the slayer a mock punch on the
arm.
"You know what I meant."
"I know, but it's nice to see you smiling."

With that the two friends headed to the bath to start their preparations for

the nights work.
---------------------------------

A short while later the two lovers assembled with the rest of the group in
the 
basement of Willow's parent's house. A portion of it had been recently 
transformed by her efforts, with the able assistance of her father and her 
former teacher Brightstar, into an area suitable for her to do her rituals
and 
other work. A large area of about 30 square meters had been sectioned off
from 
the rest of the basement and walls had been raised creating an octagonal 
workroom. The concrete floor had been taken up in the area to reveal the
earth 
underneath and then slate and wood pieces had been laid on the earth in a 
complex interwoven parquet pattern. In addition, the eight walls had slate
and 
wood panels hung on them. The area was brightly lit with four-armed 
candelabras on four of the walls; there was no unnatural lighting used at
all.

The group was waiting for Willow dressed in the ritual working robes that
they 
had made from hand-woven cotton. Each robe had been embroidered in
traditional 
Celtic patterns by its wearer, and reflected the personality of each member.

The robes were tied in front of the members with a long white cord, some 
wrapped once around their body, others two or three times. The assembled
coven 
wore no clothing, other than the robes, and none of them were wearing any 
jewellery. Buffy felt practically naked, the robe was very comfortable, but

the lack of anything else other that the once wrapped rope holding the robe 
closed made her a little self-conscious. She had spent several nights
since 
the Solstice embroidering her robe, using Willow as an aid for ideas and 
inspiration, she felt that she had done a fairly good job, certainly better 
than Xander's effort.

Willow moved into the room and with gestures and eye contact began to
assemble 
the coven at one end of the room.
"Ok all, its about an hour to midnight, lets get started." She said as she
sat 
down in an old oak chair that was in front of an old desk and bookshelves 
placed at the South end of the room near the entrance. The other members
took 
up places on the floor in front of their leader and waited expectantly. At 
this point a large, grey and white, self-possessed feline wandered into the 
room, looked around and proceeded to jump up on Willow's lap, as if it was
her 
rightful place. With a contented purr, it tucked its head down and
proceeded 
to go to sleep.
"Shadow-Cat, about time you showed up!" Willow said stroking the cat and 
scratching it behind the ears.

Willow then turned to the group and began the nights work with the 
traditional "Blessed be" opening.
"Blessed be" replied all of the assembled witches.
"Even though most of you have done your reading," Willow continued with a
mock 
glare at Xander, "it is traditional in our path to spend some time
discussing 
the work to be done, why we are doing it and what we are hoping to
accomplish."
"Tonight is the festival of Imbolg which we also call Candlemas, Lady Day
and 
Bridemas." Willow continued, launching into lecture mode.
"It is one of the four lunar festivals in our calendar, which are dedicated
to 
the Goddess, in one of her incarnations." Willow looked up at Giles, "sorry

Giles, you and Dagda are in the background tonight since the God is in his 
young boy aspect."
"That's ok Willow," the former watcher replied. "I'm happy to let you do
all 
of the heavy early work. My part will come latter." He and Willow had 
discussed the nights schedule earlier in the day. Willow had been looking
for 
reassurance that she hadn't forgotten anything, and Giles looking for 
reassurance that Willow was up to the challenge.

"The Mother Goddess has recovered from the Solstice birth of the Sun, and is

being transformed into the maiden of spring." Willow continued with her
lesson.
"As I told Giles the God is in his aspect as the young boy so most of his
power 
is currently dormant. This is the traditional time of year for initiations
and 
the renewal of vows, and we will be doing some of those later. It is the
time 
to honour the Goddess for her gifts of healing, smithcraft, and poetry,
these 
gifts represent the mysteries of renewal, transformation, and inspiration."

Willow finished her mini-recap of the importance of the nights work.
"Ok, now for the work." She said, placing Shadow-Cat on the floor and
standing 
up with the rest of the coven.
"First we get out the brooms, and perform the ritual cleansing of our work 
area, we will then prepare the circle and this room for tonight's work.
Then, 
starting at mid-night we will do the Imbolg ritual, with a slight 
modification. After that has been completed I plan on conducting a number
of 
initiations. Later we will have a second special ritual." Willow continued,

feeling much stronger and focused now that she had started.
"What will the second ritual be for?" Asked a tall, blond witch.
"Well, it's for Buffy and me, Sam." Willow answered.
"How's that?"
"You all know that Buffy and I have committed ourselves to each other."
Willow 
said, taking Buffy by the hand.
"Well, this ritual is to commit our vows to each other and to set the stage
for 
our hand-fasting at Beltane."

"Sounds good to me," replied another of the witches.
"Me too," said another.
"About time," Xander and Anya said simultaneously.

"What is the modification to the Imbolg ritual?" Asked a woman who was 
slightly older than the majority of the group. Like Willow, Giles and three

others she had her cord wrapped three times around her body, signifying a
3rd 
degree witch.
"Well, Susan," Willow answered. "Because of the second ritual, I'm going to

have Buffy in the centre with Giles and me, even though as you all know, she

isn't a witch."
"Hey, I'm an almost witch," Buffy retorted, "after all, you will be
initiating 
me before our ritual tonight."
"Hey, its cool with me," Susan replied, "in fact, having Buffy in the
centre, 
with her innate power, will probably help in raising the sphere."


With that the witches got to work some collecting the ritual brooms for the 
cleansing of the work area, others to collect the candle stands for the 
quarters and others to ensure that all of the required tools were in place
on the Alter.

"Ow!" Xander exclaimed, as he was wielding a broom over the work area, these

floors are cold on bare feet.
"Stop complaining and get working," Anya answered, while working her own 
broom. "You'll warm up once you get busy."

As soon as the floor had been swept Willow and Giles went quickly to work
using 
the chalk Willow had brought to inscribe glyphs and other symbols on the
walls 
and on the floor.

Soon it was time for the real work of the night to begin. Willow called
them 
to the circle, and forming them into the traditional male/female pairings at

the cardinal points with the remaining four taking up their places between
the 
compass points. She also took pains to balance the circle with experienced
and 
less-experienced witches in each of the four quarters. Everyone took great 
care to insure that they did not erase any of the chalk markings on the
floor. 
Giles lit the candles on the four candle stands, as Buffy extinguished the 
candles on the walls. Willow lit the candles that were on the Alter and
made 
one final check to insure that all of the working tools she would need were 
present. Giles, Buffy and Willow then took up their places in the centre of
the circle.

Willow then started the coven in the ritual chants and breathing exercises, 
which were used to focus and ground them for the night's magic. In the
effort 
to concentrate on what she was doing, Willow failed to notice a grey and
white 
figure quietly enter the circle and take up residence under the Alter. When

she sensed that the group was ready, she and Giles took the Sword, Salt and 
Water and cast the circle. When they had finished, she returned to the
centre, 
and holding firmly onto Buffy's hand began to draw in the energy from
herself, 
Buffy and her coven, to create the shields that would protect them, and the 
mundane world, from the power she was going to bring into the circle as part
of 
the night's work. As had happened earlier in the evening, Willow noticed
that 
she was drawing up a tremendous amount of energy.
"Oh boy," she thought to herself, "with this amount of energy to work with, 
I'll be able to handle anything that comes up tonight."
------------------------------------------

Interlude,
Another time, another place.

In a brightly lit room, several people, both male and female were sitting 
around an old oak table waiting for one of their members to return. The
room 
was lit with candles and lanterns, and a merry fire was burning in a large 
fireplace that had been set into one of the stone-walls of the room. There 
were several tapestries hung on the walls and the stone floor was covered
with 
rushes. Despite the fire, all of the room's occupants were clothed in heavy

wool garments, several layers of them, and they all had heavy fur lined
boots 
on. They were passing the time by reading from large tomes, eating and 
conversing quietly amongst themselves in small groups.

Suddenly the door swung open and a man, dressed liked the others, rushed in.

"Its time." He exclaimed. "I have felt the raising of power by the Chosen
one." 
"Can it be true, Grael?" asked one of the women in the room as she and all
the 
others rose from the table and made ready to leave.
"Yes, Amana, for the first time I think we have a chance to bring over the
one 
person who will be able to help us in our desperate struggle." Grael said
as 
he gathered up some items from the table and headed back out the door.
"But we must hurry, if she manages to finish the Invocations we won't have 
another chance for a long time, maybe forever!"
At that he and all of the others left the room and headed down a long 
corridor. The entered another, larger, room which was very similar to the 
workroom in far off Sunnydale. 
"Quickly, to your places," Grael said, "I've left a gate in the circle so
that 
time is saved, once we are in, I'll re-seal it."
The group quickly arranged themselves into a working circle. Once all of
them 
had taken their places Grael took a long-sword from the alter and moved to
the 
gate. As he said the ritual words "co-healal dorrys" to re-seal the circle 
blue flames chased up the blade of the sword.
"Now, to work" he said as he took his place along side Amana in the centre
of 
the circle. "This woman is the most powerful person I've sensed in a long 
time, even if she has been poorly trained."
With that the group began a complex, multi-part chant that soon had visible 
effects on the air in front of the Alter. A visible thickening of the air
was 
happening as the group worked together to form a portal. Only this was
going 
to be no ordinary portal, for their aim was to bridge the fast distances of 
space-time and dimensions to reach what they prayed would be their saviour.
Suddenly Grael let out a shout "dorrys brishey magh!" And with those words
a 
gaping hole appeared in the air before the Alter. The hole was rimed with
blue 
fire and appeared to be without depth.
"Now to cast out our plea for help." Grael said to the group.
As one, they shouted out, both mentally and orally their plea for 
assistance. "Chosen one, help us! Save us from the demons that are killing

our people!"
"Now we wait and prey she will answer us," Amana said quietly.
------------------------------------

Back in Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy were still holding hands as Willow was 
beginning the process of calling out the Invocations to the Guardians, when
she 
felt a mental pressure on her mind. "Chosen one, help us...." Willow tried
to 
brush off the thoughts, thinking that she was just tired, when the pressure 
returned, " Chosen one, help us! Save us from the demons that are killing
our people!"
Willow stopped what she was doing stunned. She had heard and read about 
telepathy, but she had never expected to experience it first-hand.
Tentatively
she replied mentally "who are you? And why do you need my help?"

"She replies" Amana shouted out, "we are plagued by all types of demons, and

nothing we can do helps." She quickly sent back mentally.

Willow thought for only a second about what she should do. She was
consecrated 
to help others, and duty and honour bound to respond to those who asked.
She 
swiftly came to a decision.
Tuning to the coven she said, "Giles, Susan, take over here, I've been
called."
As soon as Susan entered the centre of the circle Willow passed over to her
the 
web of power she had raised saying to her, "Quickly Susan, as soon as I'm
gone 
finish the ritual for tonight." Responding to Susan's questioning stare she

said, "no time for questions and answers, we'll be back as soon as we can."

Mentally she then cried out "We come." For she understood that if those who 
were calling her for help had demon problems, there was no one better than
the 
slayer to help them.

"We?" asked a bemused Grael.
"Don't ask questions!" Amana replied, "quickly all of us, the transfer
spell."
With that the group began another complex chant, which had its immediate 
results in Sunnydale.
"Quickly woman, you must activate the portal from your end" Grael sent
mentally to Willow.

Willow knew, somehow, to call out the spell "dorrys brishey magh" and
suddenly 
in the middle of her workroom the gate appeared. Like its twin it was
rimmed 
with blue fire.

"It's ok Buffy," Willow said to a stunned slayer. "Our help is needed 
elsewhere on demon disposal. Trust me." With those words Willow took Buffy
by 
the hand and walked into the portal.
As soon as they entered, the portal collapsed and disappeared.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting start to the evening," deadpanned
Giles.
------------------------------------

Nothingness, pure-black without the hint of light, the two women travel
though 
the dark without sensing their movement. Since without reference points,
how 
can you measure speed and distance. Suddenly the black is pierced with a
blue 
flame in the far distance, and the two women can now tell that they are
moving 
swiftly towards it.

Quickly they are through the portal and tumbling to the floor, surrounded by

chanting people in heavy robes. The temperature is bone-numbing cold, 
especially for someone wearing nothing but a cotton robe.

Buffy, innately able to quickly recover from just about anything took a
quick 
look around the very unfamiliar room and turned to her lover and friend and 
said quietly, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
"Meow!!" Agreed a very confused Shadow-Cat.

Finis Part I

To be continued...


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