The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: Developing: Guardian
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:53 pm 
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1. Blessed Wannabe
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Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 8:48 pm
Posts: 14
Hi. I'm new. I've been lurking a bit, but.....definitely new. This is my first story, fic or otherwise, that is not autobiographical/poetry, so......I have no idea if some of this is any good, and I know that a good portion of it is most emphatically not, so......meh. help me. please.

Ok, so, I have a rough draft started. I'm fourteen chapters in (~17,000) words. I have a (kind of) idea of where it's going, but honestly, it's more dependent on what I happen to daydream than anything else, so feel free to suggest. Um, this is going to be for the most part pg (only the sporadic smoochie). If it's higher than that for violence or something, tell me, but I dun think it is........

It's got POV switches (will become more apparent in chapter 2 and onward), which I announce. Willow and Tara are NOT POV characters (I have trouble writing from different perspectives, and I didn't want to fail with them). This fic, other than being random thoughts in writing, is mostly a lesson for me (again, trouble with perspectives not my own due to my tendency to write so many autobiographical pieces) so helping me with smoothing out my characters would be absolutely awesome. Also, I will never say no to grammar/spelling help :P Absolutely anything you think might help, in fact......I'll take it all :pray

Um.....yeah......it's after season seven, the whole slayers in a castle idea, Tara came back from Buffy's wish, but from there, it's kinda AU. Invented character and all.

Other than that.......the plot is basically a girl, emily, has to protect w/t from her twin sister destroying their souls.......once you get past chapter one I'm pretty sure it's w/t centric enough to satisfy the pens reqs, but if not......telling me that would be a good idea too ........

Author: rawrmeister
Rating: PG?
Feedback: well dur
Notes: again, feel free to bash if it's awful, as long as it's constructive bashing
Other notes: There's little more than a kiss here or there. No sex, no nudity, a bloodless fight scene here and there, that's it. Nothing a ten year old couldn't read, probably.
Spoilers: As I said, past season seven into castle in Scotland.
Disclaimer: I would attribute it to the genius that is Joss Whedon, but he killed Tara off, so less with the genius, more with the disclaimer. There is also Mutant Enemy. New character belongs to me, though.
Other other notes: Willow and Tara don't really pop up til chapter two...sorrys. Practicalities of talking from a new character's perspective includes telling you where one earth they came from......and this totally seemed more of an awkward Buffy and Giles moment........

So.....intro and chapter one, coming right up

Intro. August 6, 1987 (Narrator)

Adeline Parker had no idea how she’d managed to get pregnant. Her husband had automatically assumed the babe was his, but she knew better. You didn’t get pregnant at thirty five after having used a condom and birth control effectively together for the past two decades. Her luck was bad, but not that bad. Plus, she just knew. This baby, this child, was not hers. She might be in the process of birthing the wretched thing, she might have carried it in her womb for nine months, but it was not hers.

She screamed again, her body rippling. One of the nurses fainted. Adeline wasn’t particularly concerned however; contractions kind of pull a woman’s focus away that way.

Most of the staff left with the nurse after seeing the beginnings of the babe. The gray-haired doctor was green at this point, watching the child emerge; first the head, then one pitch black feathered wing, then the next, followed by a perfectly human torso. Only forty years in his field kept him calm enough to perform his job. He did for this…girl…what he did for any other newborn, ending with an old-fashioned tap to the bottom to get the child breathing. He stood in shock as the baby turned her head to glare condescendingly at him, eyes completely in focus, and mouth silent. He shook his head. He scrunched up his already wrinkled forehead, squeezing his eyes tight shut, and stayed still for a moment.

When he looked again, the wings were starting to disappear. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the babe’s eyes lost focus, glazing over before the eyelids fell and a soft wail started to emerge from her lips. Relying on his old age to convince himself he needed new glasses, he walked around the bed. He toweled off the child, unconsciously spending more time at the shoulder blades to confirm they were without the dark as night feathers. Finished, he turned to face the new mother, Mrs. Parker. They locked eyes for a moment. She shook her head slowly before falling asleep, exhausted. He understood. He took the nameless, wingless child to a fresh nurse for removal to the newborns’ room, and hoped never to confront the babe again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 1: Moving Day, August 6, 2003

I weakly reached out one hand, groping for the alarm clock. I hit the snooze button and turned back over, pulling the covers with me snuggly. After a minute, I realized the ringing hadn’t stopped. Sitting up and fully opening my eyes, I listened carefully. A fire alarm? Wait, no. Door. I stood and started stumbling to the front door, rubbing at my eyes and attempting futilely to stretch the bottom of my shirt down to the top of my boxers. Reaching the entrance, I shook my head to clear it, flattened my knotted hair a tad, and cautiously opened the door. Outside, there stood a short, bouncy blonde and a man that could only be British with his tweed suit and stiff demeanor.

“Sorry, did we……wake you?” The blonde looked confused, glancing at her watch to confirm that it was indeed 7:30 pm on a Friday and not some ungodly hour of the night.

“Yeah, it’s fine, though. It’s not as though I have anything better to do……” I trailed off, looking at them questioningly.

The man jerked a bit. “Oh, yes. Of course. You’re probably wondering who we are. I’m Rupert Giles and this is Buffy Summers. Our sincerest apologies for the hour, but it was of upmost importance that we speak with you as soon as possible, Miss…”

Now I was confused. Of utmost importance that they speak with me, but they didn’t know who I was nor I them? “Emily. Emily Parker. What exactly is the problem, Mr. Giles?”

He started to speak, but Buffy broke in. “Can I……spar with you? I know it’s a really weird question, but it might make more sense if I do…” Mr. Giles, surprisingly enough, rolled his eyes at the blonde’s suggestion.

“More sense? If I fight with you…? I…guess…? What better to do on your sixteenth birthday than a little excitement, I suppose…” I realized I was mentally wandering off and refocused. “Sorry. Still a little foggy. I’ll…spar… I’m going to warn you though, I haven’t thrown a punch in seven years, and I’m not exactly jumping to do it now. I’m not big on hitting things anymore…” She chuckled softly.

“That may come to change,” she whispered, four feet in front of me. Odd, though, that I could hear her as though she had spoken in my ear. “Wait, did you say birthday? Sixteenth!? What are you doing home alone, sleeping this early, on your sweet sixteen?” The girl started to sound a little too peppy for my taste.

“I……don’t really like……people…” Awkward silence. How fun. More comfortable in uncomfortable silence than in the midst of conversation, however, I did nothing to break it, simply turning back inside the house to pick up my sneakers from the mat. I closed the door behind me as I came back out fully onto the porch. “There’s more room in the backyard if you like.” The two exchanged looks of confirmation and I just began walking around back.

Without looking to see if they had followed, I started to stretch. Arms, shoulders, back, thighs, calves, crack the toes, crack the fingers, roll the neck, repeat, and relax. I closed my eyes, cleared my head, brought out my focus, and sighed. Turning to face the blonde, I relaxed into the familiar defensive stance I hadn’t held in years, and opened my eyes. She looked contemplatively at me for a minute, before shaking her head slightly and mirroring my position.

Mr. Giles counted to three, and she leapt lightly. I sidestepped briefly; spinning to face her as she quickly stood and swept a leg beneath me. I jumped, blocking the fist that had followed directly. I swung right, left. She blocked and threw to my stomach. I leaned back, bringing my foot towards her right side. She blocked and stepped back softly. We circled slowly, crouched a little but relaxed regardless. The fight was light and simple. Comfortable, almost.

She huddled down slightly more, so I took it as my cue to initiate. I judged her placement, quickly reviewed the past thirty seconds, and made my move. I leapt for her waist. She bent down a little, keeping her arms in front of her and free, clearly expecting to ‘help’ me fly over her. Instead, I quickly grabbed her wrists, bringing them with me behind her and pushing down, twisting around in the process. By the time I landed, she was lying on her front, her arms held tightly behind her with my knee pressing firmly in the square of her back. I quickly stood up, pulling her with me in the process, confident in my success. She turned around, staring at me wide-eyed. I looked at her quizzically; “What?”

“You beat me?” she practically squeaked.

“Looks that way……” I confirmed without care. I was more interested in her reaction than the win itself. Normally I would have thought such a question came from a freshly injured pride, but she looked genuinely shocked. Glancing over at Mr. Giles, I was confronted with a more refined version of the blonde’s facial expression. “What?”

“Do you, perchance, understand the extent and import of your own strength, Miss Parker?”

“Emily is fine. And I don’t really see why it matters…I mean, it’s always been like that. It’s kind of why I stopped hitting people when I was little……” Seeing that he seemed to think I had misunderstood, I clarified. “I’m aware of my strength, Mr. Giles. Fully aware. I just don’t see why it matters…”

“Wait, you mean you’ve always been this strong?” Buffy cut in. “But, wait…” She turned to Mr. Giles. “This doesn’t make sense. The activation was only in May…”

Mr. Giles broke in; “Buffy, I am just as perturbed by this as you, but the locator spell clearly indicated that she might be a slayer, and I believe we would both agree that she ought not to be left here. We should still return to Scotland and the school with her.” I was starting to feel quite forgotten as the conversation continued.

“Well, of course I knew that, but shouldn’t we call Wills or something and get the research started? I mean, this is…”

I cut her off. “Um, excuse me. Mind explaining a bit more explicitly just what we’re talking about here? I mean, you’re kind of…” I couldn’t find an appropriate adjective, but Mr. Giles seemed to understand.

“Oh, of course. I am so sorry, my dear.” Mr. Giles smiled awkwardly. “Where shall I begin…? Ah, yes. Into each generation, a slay-”

“Ok, demons are real, vampires are real, sorcerers, witches, and wizards are real, fairy tales are real, and slayers, people like you and me, are charged by a bunch of lazy bums called the ‘Powers that Be’ to kill them all. Originally there was only one of us at a time, but my friend Willster kind of activated all of us. Oh, and we have things called watchers, like Giles here, that watch us and go tut-tut if we aren’t proper. Did I miss anything, Giles?” Buffy looked innocently at the poor, irritated man behind her as my forehead scrunched up; first to process whether or not she was serious, and then to sort out what she had just told me.

I struggled to form the words, still immensely befuddled; “And you want to take me to a…school…in Scotland…in order to……?” I could feel a headache coming on.

“To train you. We wish to provide you with a more complete education so as to better prepare you for what is to come, whatever that may be.” Mr. Giles tried to look comfortingly at me while periodically shooting off an almost parental glare at Buffy. “You wouldn’t have to pay tuition or some such and we would deal with any objections from your parents.”

I snorted. “Adeline and John probably wouldn’t care. They never really wanted me around in the first place. And it’s not as though I have anything keeping me here……” In all honesty, I hated it here. I had been planning on going off to college early just to get out of the house and I had the credits to graduate, but I didn’t have enough funds. Adeline certainly wouldn’t provide me with any help, either. She hated me, almost. Hated being my mother.

My brain finished processing, and I reconsidered what they had said. The supernatural things seemed perfectly plausible given my own state of being, and a purpose in life would be a nice thing to have. Plus, there was something about the offer that was tugging at my subconscious. I wanted to go. I firmed up my decision, and straightened up remotely. “When are we leaving?”

A look of surprise passed over Mr. Giles face for but a moment before he answered “As soon as humanly possible, I’m sorry to inform you. Tonight, if at all manageable.”

“I’m not. It should only take me about half an hour and I’ll be packed. I travel light.” I presented a slight shadow of a grin. “Here, come inside. Would you like some tea or water while you wait?” Buffy nodded for a water as she walked through the screen door.

“What kinds of tea do you have?” was the inevitable response from Mr. Giles. He sat tiredly at the kitchen table.

“I don’t really have options, I’m afraid. Just some organic peppermint if you’d like…?” He nodded his head gratefully as I took out a mug and teabag and put the water on the stove.

“I’ll be quite capable from here, thank you. Would you like some assistance packing or shall we simply wait?” I shook my head with a small smile and slipped out of the kitchen to my room. After changing into the more suitable jeans and a t-shirt, I took out my old, brown duffle bag, cleared out my dresser, and picked up a few favorites off of my bookshelf to keep, snagging my passport in the process. One hurried last look over my shoulder confirmed satisfactorily that I felt no sadness at leaving this room behind. I ducked into the bathroom and swept my few things into the last spaces of the duffle, zipped it up, and walked back to the kitchen.

“Ready so soon?” Buffy asked with wonderment.

“Nope.” I strode over to the freezer and pulled out a king size
bag of Reese’s miniatures. “Ok. Now I am. You guys all set?” Mr. Giles took one last swig of his tea and nodded.

“Do you have anyone you wish to say farewell to before we depart?” Mr. Giles started, but he trailed off as I immediately started shaking my head no.

“I have no one here. For all intents and purposes, Scotland is my new home.” Mr. Giles smiled sadly.

“Well then, let’s get going then. We’ve got a bit of a flight.” Buffy started making her way to the front door and I followed. When we reached the white rental car, I swung open the back passenger side door, threw in my duffle, and folded myself in. With the slightest excitement, I sat back in the seat, wondering what I was about to get myself into.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, so, that's the end of chapter one.......

-goes to nervously await feedback-


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 Post subject: Re: Developing: Guardian
PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:01 pm 
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1. Blessed Wannabe

Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:12 pm
Posts: 1
Hi.

I am not sure how much help my comments will be but I am interested in following the story. Despite an awkward turn of phrase here or there and certain actions, especially from Emily, that do not seem to fit with what is known of the character's past, I believe the story has promise and I'd like to see more. I hope this was of some use to you. Feel free to pm me if you wish. Thanks for a pleasant read.

Aquamarine Shadow


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 Post subject: Re: Developing: Guardian
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:06 pm 
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3. Flaming O
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Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:27 pm
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so far i like what you have. going to hazard a guess and say maybe a sort of arch/guardian angel theme? you don't seem to have any problems with POV, and you handled buffy and giles quite nicely. i hope you will continue to update it, it's hard to offer constructive, useful comments on just one chapter. i'm very interested in reading it, if you're willing to keep going.

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if it's not real, you can't hold it your hands; you can't feel it with your heart, then i won't believe it. but if it's true you can see it with your eyes, even in the dark; and that's where i want to be. 'brick by boring brick' -paramore


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 Post subject: Re: Developing: Guardian
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:40 pm 
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4. Extra Flamey
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Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:01 pm
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Love it! Writing's great, I think if I had any complaints they'd go along the lines of Shadow's - that an occasional adjective is awkward, but I do that all the time too. I would be delighted to read more. Please either post it here, on Pens, or send me an email with it!!!

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 Post subject: Re: Developing: Guardian
PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:54 am 
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4. Extra Flamey

Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:53 pm
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It will be interesting to read WT from "the outside." if you post it, I'll read it :)

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My heart and I have wandered aimlessly beneath the Weeping Willows, searching for the sun. - Hayley Westenra, "My heart and I"


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