Hi kittens! Seems like I've been away forever. I didn't want to be but it's just been well...work, work, work and more work!!! I'm also trying to put myself through school and there's a project that I have to hand in by the end of December but of course that's not going to happen. Somehow I feel extremely calm about it all. I keep wondering WHY AM I NOT PULLING MY HAIR OUT?!! Anywho, enough about my miserable life, and back to the matter at hand.
Hi there WintersDreamer. Questions as usual. I love the fact that you always have a list of them. It keeps me on my toes. About Nalps being vamps. I didn't mean to imply that Nalps turn into vamps at some point. Tara is an unusual case in that she craves Willow's blood, but this does not necessarily mean that she's now a vamp. And as for finding out how Willow will change Tara back to normal? You're just going to have to read on to find out.
I feel I have to say again folks, that this is a dark tale. I can't turn back now and change it because it's all been planned out in my head. If you can't handle it I'll understand. But if you decide to read on just remember there is hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel.
Disclaimer: I invented none of the Buffy characters, bla, bla, bla.
A VISION IN THE NIGHT
Willow and Tara hurried up the dark, crumbling stairs of the Hidden Barracks, and then they entered the familiar room in search of Bargo and Hexall. Three burning candles were flickering serenely in a corner, as if only just lit, but the room was empty.
Tara dropped the thick blanket she was holding near the sleeping bags, and then suddenly she crouched foward and reached once again for her stomach.
A cold shiver of fear enveloped Willow's entire body. She moved swiftly towards Tara, grabbed her by the arm.
"Is it back?"
"I..." Tara stared at her. And then slowly, her face began to pale. "Oh God," she whispered. "What if it's true?"
"Lie down," Willow commanded. She was deeply shaken as well, but fear and panic was not going to get them anywhere. She guided Tara down on the sleeping bag, helped her so that she was lying on her back, and then reached for her shirt.
"Willow," Tara gripped her hand. Already sweat was beginning to show again at her temples. "I don't ever want to hurt you. I'd rather die."
"Don't talk," Willow said. Her entire body was trembling and she hoped that it was unnoticeable as she placed her fingerss on Tara's stomach.
"I-if the s-spell doesn't w-work..."
"Tara, please," Willow did not want to think about that possibility. She needed to focus. "Don't talk, baby, please. Let me do this."
She decided to use a much more powerful spell. The effects of that would cause havoc to her body, but it was either that or watch Tara suffer and so for her, the choice was simple. She took a deep breath and concentrated, and just as she was about to utter the spell, Bargo and Hexall walked through the door.
Willow looked up wildly, thrown off by the distraction, and she felt herself gritting her teeth as she tried to hold back the power coursing through her veins.
The two Nalps remained by the door, not moving. Hexall was watching Willow and Tara with concern, but Bargo's face was cold and rigid.
"There's a shift, isn't there?" he said, cryptically. And then his eyes traveled upward and he looked around the tiny room as though he had the power to see the invisible. "Something has changed. I can sense it."
*******
His words seemed to draw Hexall from her trance. She hurried pass the sleeping bags, picked up one of the burning candles from the ground. Beneath the saucer was a small bag with a mysterious white powder, and she grabbed that and then moved quickly towards Tara.
"What are you doing?" Willow snapped, leaning her body protectively over Tara.
"It will help her," Hexall replied calmly. She knelt down, poured a tiny bit of the white powder in the middle of her palm. Then she reached forward, placed her fingers on Tara's lips and gently prodded her mouth open. Willow watched intensely as the Nalp fed Tara the powder.
Tara's eyes were close and her body was shaking violently. Sweat glistened her face, and she was gripping Willow's hand so tightly that if it had been any other time, Willow would have most certainly groaned loudly in pain.
But then, seconds after receiving Hexall's stange elixir, Tara's body relaxed and her breathing slowed down, became shallow, and then so imperceptible, it was as if she was dead.
"What..." Willow turned to Hexall in alarm. "What did you give her?"
"Dried Linn Root," Hexall stood up, and she looked down at Tara thoughtfully. "It will help the cravings. She will be asleep for many hours. Her suffering as ended. For now."
Willow stared at her. Then she looked across at Tara, watched her features change slowly from agony to peacefulness, and the tears welled up in Willow's eyes. She was unable to control herself.
Hexall patted her comfortingly on the back. Bargo moved from the door. He knelt down and looked at Willow, his eyes deeply sorrowful.
"Your friend is in a lot of trouble," he said quietly. "We have to work hard to help her."
********
Outside, the sun was now beginning to peer warmly through the trees. A cool, tranquil breeze scurried across the weeds and thicket and filled the room with the sweet smell of Lavender.
Bargo was moving about briskly. He firmly shut all windows, and covered each with any appropriate piece of cloth that he could find. Afterwards he sat down, crossed his legs.
"Nalps who crave human blood are very rare, almost unheard of," he said with a frown. "I only know of one case. A woman called Magritte Berry who died in 1876."
Willow looked up at him. She had covered Tara with a blanket, but she had not moved from her side.
"Magritte Berry was ostracized by the Nalps," Bargo went on. "They thought she had evolved into a vampire and so they banished her from the Hidden Barracks. It was later revealed that the only human blood she craved was that of her husband, Carl Berry."
"Strange," Willow muttered, softly to herself. Then her face tightened. "What happened to them?"
"Carl Berry died of old age, but Magritte Berry could not live here anymore so she tried to live among humans. She was killed by a man who had mistaken her for a vampire."
Willow stared at him. Then she glanced at Tara asleep by her side. "And-and that's the only Nalp you know of who craved human blood?"
"There may have been more." Bargo shrugged.
"It was such an anomaly, though," Hexall added, "that Magritte Berry's life was chronicled. We have records of it. That's how we're able to tell you her story."
"It is written," Bargo interjected, "That Nalps can sense immediately when that change has taken place, when a Nalp begins to crave another's blood. I didn't believe it, until now."
"Willow," Hexall reached out and touched her softly. "As soon as Tara awakes, we must continue to give her the dried Linn Root. If not, her cravings will most certainly come back and before you know it, hundreds of Nalps will be at our doors. They will want to know why we're harboring a vampire."
"But Tara is not a vampire," Willow said, frowning deeply.
"Yes, little one," Bargo watched her softly. "I do believe that like Magritte Berry, the only blood Tara craves is for the one she loves the most. That means you, Willow. But they will not know that."
Willow sighed. She looked across at Tara again. She leaned forward and kissed her softly, brought the blanket gently up to Tara's shoulders. Then she stood up abruptly.
"Bargo, can you get me those written documents about Magritte Berry? I want to see if anything in her life matches Tara's."
The Nalp nodded and stood up as well. "It will be hard getting those notes, but I can to it."
"Good," Willow bit her lip, and then she began to pace the floor. "And if you can get me any written documents about the Nalps as well that will be great."
"What do you want me to do?" Hexall asked, as Bargo hurried out of the room.
"I think we need more dried Linn Root. Do we have enough?"
"You're right," Hexall said. Then she tilted her head. "There's a plan brewing in your head, isn't there?"
"Well, I don't know if it's a plan as such," Willow admitted. "But I know I can help Tara. I feel it in my bones."
Hexall smiled. "I feel it too," she said. Not too long afterwards, she left the room.
Willow stood there uncertainly for a moment. Then she glanced around the room, shifted across the floor with purpose. She cleared away her clothes scattered across the wooden table, then reached down and pulled out a drawer. She found nothing there, reached again and pulled out another.
For a moment she just stood there, staring at the open drawer. Then slowly, she leaned forward and picked up the two thick, hard covered magic books.
She moved towards Tara, sat down and placed the books in front of her. She felt the deep, inexplicable pull of magicks, and she was not going to deny it.
* I had to keep editing. I think I was a little tired when I wrote this. Hope I didn't offend anyone
Edited by: bijoux2 at: 11/30/03 1:28 am
by WintersDreamer » Mon Oct 27, 2003 11:11 am 
How could you!! That´s not fair, really so not fair, miss Cliffy 
. See now you have to update real fast cause 
Is it a eventual thing or to certain critria have to be met? 
Except Tara is craving Willow's blood. Why that is, will be revealed at the end.
