ARIEL Awesome on your getting dibs. Yep, creepy guy is still there, still watching and definitely has plans for Tara.
Kat has a confidence and charisma that helps her attract followers, remember how easily she pulled Dawn into her scheme.
Tara trusts Willow above all others on the ship because she helped Tara escape her life of drudgery, so is automatically the first one she turns to. Willow sees Tara as the end to her loneliness. Willow’s been a one-night-stand gal, loving and leaving in every port. With Tara, she believes she can be a one woman girl again.
Kat growing a conscience
I think it’s really just the fact that Tara is such a good hearted person, who harbours no ill will to anyone, not even Dawn, that Kat can sense and which feels weird to her.
LAURA Hey there, it’s always good to hear from fans of my fic and I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it so far.
The crew are going to find out very soon about Tara’s powers.
Dawn is actually a good kid at heart, but is tired of being treated like a child. Dawn doesn’t especially hate or dislike Tara it’s the job. Tara is the ships cook and Dawn, being naïve, doesn’t see that as important. What she doesn’t realise is that no one else on the ship can cook; certainly not Willow or Buffy, but things will ease between these two in the next couple of chapters.
Yup, Willow has her work cut out for her in this adventure. What makes it more dangerous is that both parties are hidden, one of them right under Willow’s own nose. There will be asses kicked over this.
I will always ensure that Tara is ok, she’s just too cute and lovable for me to want to inflict serious harm on her, and rest assured Laura, snuggles are on their way.
Finey McFine AKA Shelby Don’t worry Shel, there’s going to be some W/T
soon. As to Dawn she made a promise to Willow and so far is keeping that promise, but I’m gonna be putting Dawn through some serious shit soon. As for her reactions to Tara, see the reply I gave to Laura.
All feedback is read over and again and very much appreciated so please send in all you can.
THE ADVENTURES OF CAP’N RED ROSENBERBERG DEAD MAN’S ISLAND
Author; Willowtaralover
Disclaimer; All Buffy characters are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox. I own all original characters, concepts, and anything else they didn’t use.
Rating; PG13-R for sex, violence and naughty swearing.
Story; Rough, tough pirate Captain Willow ‘Red’ Rosenberg is on the hunt for treasure but gets more than she bargained for including romance with a blonde beauty, betrayal from a crew member, and danger from a necromancer, and his undead army, who is intent on resurrecting an evil goddess.
All thoughts are in italicsThe Ghost Ship b)
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No one recognized the type of ship. It was incredibly old in design; the writing on the side was ancient and unknowable. Tara, however, was able to decipher the name as Angelus. As soon as she heard the name in her mind, Tara felt an echo of an ancient evil that frightened her.
She hesitated for a moment, feeling her gut tighten itself into a knot, then she stepped down onto the mouldy, decaying deck and felt an ice-cold shock against her bare feet. She looked sharply to see Simone and Dawn just ahead of her. A sigh of relief froze in her lungs as she saw the sun shining on the Slayer while the Angelus was dark. It was as if it were winter aboard the ghost ship. What added to eeriness was the fact that while the distance between the ships was a mere two feet and high in the sky the sun still beat down mercilessly yet it felt incredibly gloomy and overcast, as if it were about to rain, even though the skies were bright blue.
Dawn and Simone didn’t notice the variation in temperature as much, though goose pimples were raised on their arms due to the extreme change in conditions. For Tara, cold was nothing new to her, after years of sleeping in the sewers below her father’s inn she had grown used to it. However, this extreme chilliness was different. She couldn’t say why, but she knew deep down that this cold was unnatural.
It gave her an uneasy feeling.
The three observed the deck of the merchant ship, all the time heading towards the steps that would lead down below decks. They passed other girls who, under Willow and Buffy’s careful watchfulness, were busy getting coils of rope, spare planks and any other items they thought might be useful aboard the Slayer.
The trio looked about themselves constantly as the eerie creaking of the ship, sinister shadows that appeared and the creepy flapping of the tattered and torn sails added power to the imaginations of the girls, making them even more afraid though Dawn and Simone tried not to show their fear.
There was a sense of rottenness about the whole ship. It was in a complete state of disrepair, the ropes were badly frayed at the ends while the sails were ragged with huge gaping holes in them, yet despite this handicap, the sails were still full, as if a wind were blowing.
As they came to the steps that led to the darkened area below decks, Tara thought she heard something. It wasn’t much, just the faintest of faint noises, but it was enough to make her stop and look deep into the forbidding gloomy darkness of the ships lower area. It was as if she could penetrate the inky black depths with just her eyes and mere willpower alone.
Dawn glanced over at her charge with a contemptuous look on her face.
This is bollocks, having to look after blondie, I’m worth more than this. Why can’t Willow see what Kat sees? However, Dawn wisely kept her feelings of disdain to herself.
“What is it?” Simone asked noticing the way Tara was just standing and looking down into the mire of blackness that represented the below decks area of the Angelus. In reply, the blonde merely put a finger to her lips and made no noise, no other movement than that.
Dawn beckoned her lover over and Simone skirted round the back of Tara to be with her.
“We’ll have to get some torches to light our way,” the brunette said to Simone.
“What is it you think she can see? Do you think there’s something waiting for us down there?” Simone asked, with great apprehension. Like most of the crew aboard the Slayer, she was very superstitious. She glanced at her arms, covered in tattooed prayers to Torata, the god of the oceans, and felt only slightly reassured.
“I dunno Simone but the quicker we get down there and find any food the quicker we can be alone together.” She slid her hand softly across the sandy haired girl’s arm, delighting in its smoothness and the tingles that went through her upon this simple interaction.
“And I have something really important that I want to tell you,” Dawn said excitedly to her friend.
“Can’t you tell me now?” Simone was now equally excited and didn’t like the idea of having to wait for this news.
“No, blon…Tara might go runnin’ an’ tell the Cap’n if she hears us.” Dawn quickly amended her words when Simone raised an eyebrow at her intended insult for Tara. “Later, when we have a chance to be alone I’ll tell you,” and she placed a short sweet kiss on her lover’s lips before looking for some torches to light their way.
************************************************
Somewhere deep below the decks of the Angelus something awoke.
Something dark.
Something dangerous.
Something hungry.
******************************************
Back on the Slayer, Xander was finally getting a report on what was wrong.
“Aye, it looks as if the spike’s gone got itself trapped under the for’ard section of tha’ ship,” a now dressed Kat reported.
Xander frowned at this. Even though the spike which protruded just below the water level from the for’ard was usually used to attack and sink other vessels, being attached to a ghost ship was not a good idea. When the Angelus decided to slip back into the ether it could well take the Slayer and its crew along with it. If that happened there would be no way back for any of them. It would be a fate worse than death.
“There be no way we can get free by pulling back?”
“Nope, only way is ta cut away with axes or saws.”
“Why are these things ever easy,” Xander sighed, “A’right Kat get the best divers t’gether and have em cut us out. The Cap’n aint gonna like it if we’re still here any longer.”
“Right y’are Mister Xander.” Kat went to organise a few girls leaving Xander to gaze at the strange ship that had appeared out of the ether. He looked at it a long time before giving an involuntary shiver and turning away to any tasks that needed doing aboard Slayer.
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Below decks, the Angelus was vastly different to the Slayer. The corridors weren’t as wide or as well lit and they were a lot smaller than the seemingly endless corridors of the Slayer.
The two young Slayerettes each held a torch as they went in search of the galley, Dawn in the lead and Simone at the end with Tara between the two.
There was an eerie atmosphere to the ship, the darkness and silence adding to the sinister atmosphere. Tara was constantly looking about her, she felt as if eyes were watching her but she couldn’t define from exactly where. It was almost as if the ship itself were watching her.
All around was the pungent odour of death and decay, while here and there were the dark brown smears of what could have only been blood painted upon the wood. To a magic sensitive like Tara, the creepiness of the ship’s interior was all the more pervasive. A shiver ran up her back and she wrapped her arms tight around herself, as if to ward off the chilly cold that seemed to pollute the Angelus. Even the wooden decks felt like ice despite the humid sun beating down.
Shadows, as insubstantial as smoke, appeared to move all around the three young explorers, making all three nervous. As they proceeded, both the junior Slayerettes had their swords drawn, ready for the first sign of danger. A smell of burning meat coming from a little way down the corridor overpowered the stuffy, nauseating odour and the trio headed towards it, discovering the smell emanated from the galley.
The door was open wide and Dawn thrust her torch deep into it galley. Despite the brightness of the torch, it barely seemed to make an impression to the omnipresent gloom within. The corners seemed to remain in darkness, as if the room itself were determined that no amount of torchlight would alleviate the gloom therein and reveal its secrets. Whilst inwardly Dawn shuddered, outwardly she acted as if all were perfectly fine. An act of bravado she did not really feel.
Not seeing anything Dawn took a tentative step into the room waving the torch around to illuminate all areas of the galley.
As she turned to beckon Simone and Tara in she missed the hand formed entirely of shadow reaching out for her only for it to retract as soon as she turned back into the galley.
The galley was slightly larger than that aboard the Slayer, though still laid out the same. A door to the side of the entrance gave access to a well-stocked storeroom. This would have made it easier for the cook of the Angelus to get whatever foodstuffs they needed for the meals they were going to prepare.
The galley itself was completely deserted but not spotless. Whoever had been in there last had been in the middle of preparing an applesauce and in a large pan atop a cooking surface were a set of pork steaks now burned so badly that at the slightest, gentlest touch they would fall apart in a flurry of ashes.
Tara unfastened a window that opened out on the far side of the ship, giving a view of nothing but the ocean with its currents and eddies. She then went to retrieve the pan to throw it out only for the bottom and contents of the pan to fall on to the cooking surface creating a small dust cloud in their wake and leaving a jagged edged hole in the bottom of the pan.
Well, that was unexpected, she considered wryly. Then she straightened her shoulders, determined to play past her fear.
“Alright Dawn, Simone, lets see what we can find that we can take back to the Slayer with us. The quicker we get that done, the sooner we can return and have a really good nosy in the other cabins,” she said with a quick smile.
It didn’t take long before they started to salvage fruit stored in wooden tubs from the storeroom. At least a half tub of oranges and another half tub with apples. Several braces of hares and pheasants hung from hooks set in the ceiling.
Dawn and Simone set to carrying the two tubs of fruit between them, getting them up to the upper deck and leaving them there for their shipmates to take across to the Slayer. When they returned, they discovered that Tara had gotten down the meat by standing on a chair. They lay there, six lots of hares and six of pheasants on the table, the meat looking incredibly fresh in the dim light from the torches.
“C…come on, if we get this meat back to the Slayer we can explore a little.” To Dawn’s ears the excitement in Tara’s voice sounded a little strained, still the chance to investigate this strange ship which turned up out of nowhere seemed a hell a lot more interesting to the girl than making sure she was peeling the potatoes properly. And if they were really lucky perhaps she and Simone could get a little alone time together.
The three young women each took four of the lots of meat and proceeded to carry the meat to the upper decks where they crossed back to Willow’s ship.
After securing the meat and fruit safely in the stores, they then returned to the Angelus and checked out the galley more thoroughly this time.
Opening a cupboard, Simone saw several tins. Reaching one down labelled biscuits, she unfastened it and gave a sharp gasp. Tara and Dawn came over to their friend and were shocked to see that it was full of maggots. Both Tara and Simone felt their stomachs tying themselves up in tight knots as Dawn plunged her torch into the squelching morass of small, white squirming insects as the writhed around each other before melting under the hot blaze from Dawn’s torch.
The three took several steps back from the burning tin, each of them trying not to vomit over the others.
Finally the fire burnt itself out, Simone was about to go and look at the remains when Dawn raised her arm, effectively blocking her path. Simone looked up at Dawn in surprise but the other girl just shook her head very slightly.
“Umm yes well thank you for that Dawn,” Tara said, her face whiter than snow. Then she looked at the two younger girls whose eyes had met longingly. Tara felt warmed by their happiness and offered a small smile. “D… do you two want to take a look at o…one of the other rooms now?”
“What about you. Cap’n said we have to stay wi’ you at all times,” Dawn said matter-of-factly.
“W…well, let’s l…look at the c…cabins, that way I can be in one and you can be in a…another across the way. I’m sure you don’t want to s…spend all your time with me.”
The two Slayerettes looked at each other as if in telepathic communication before nodding their heads in unison.
“A’right, but at the first sign of trouble you call for us ok?”
“Y…yes Dawn, I’ll scream if I need you,” Tara replied with a wry smile.
They swiftly found some cabins to explore and, after handing one of the torches to Tara, she took one while Dawn and Simone took the other.
**************************************************
Dawn shone the torch into the cabin but saw nothing unusual there. As the Angelus didn’t have the benefits of supernaturally expanded corridors like the Slayer, the cabin was a little more cramped with a small bed covered in a fleece coverlet, a chest under it for personal goods, a cupboard for clothes and a small writing desk.
Dawn sat on the bed and indicated for Simone to sit beside her. She did so and waited expectantly for her friend to say what was on her mind.
Dawn took Simone’s hands in her own, loving the warmth she felt there. She began to stroke the other girl’s fingers with her thumb, feeling a little thrill when she saw a slight crimson flush start to cover Simone’s cheeks.
“You said you had something to tell me.” Simone looked expectantly at her friend waiting for her reply.
Dawn hesitated a moment before starting
“Simone, I’ve been offered a position on another ship at the end of this voyage.”
“A position?” Simone queried, her face wrinkled with confusion.
“Aye, one of the girls has decided to get her own ship and she has asked me to join her. She’s said I’m going to be first mate”
“Oh, I’m er…I’m very happy for you.” Despite what she had said, Simone didn’t sound happy at all, and the flush faded from her cheeks. Dawn, however, didn’t appear to have noticed the hesitation in her friend’s voice as she continued.
“So anyway, I asked the captain, not Willow, the other captain, if I could take a friend along as well and she said yes, and I want you to come.” Joy danced across the girl’s features as she revealed her plans to Simone.
“So who is it then that’s offered you this position?”
“It’s Katarina. She says it’s time for her to follow her dream and become her own captain, with her own ship and crew.”
“Oh.” This time the sadness in that single solitary word was not lost on Dawn and concern overcame her feeling of happiness. She could see that something troubled Simone deeply. Her priority now was to soothe away that fear and worry. Everything else was of secondary importance
“Simone, honey what is it, what’s wrong?”
Simone looked at her lover and hesitated over what to say. She knew where she wanted to be certainly but would it be right, to let down one person in favour of another? She saw Dawn looking at her with concern in her eyes and just didn’t know what to say. Or rather, she did know what to say, she just didn’t know how to say it.
“Dawn, I…I can’t go with you.”
To say Dawn was shocked would be to underestimate how she felt. Her jaw dropped faster than a loose anchor, her ears felt strange, as if she hadn’t heard Simone’s words right.
“But why not, we could be together for always?” Dawn eventually asked, after intelligence had reasserted itself into her brain.
“I owe so much to Captain Willow. She’s the one who saw me that night in the whorehouse with my father and saw that I was being abused and the scars on my back. Willow rescued me by giving him gold and she took me in two years ago. She’s been so good to me making sure I was well cared for and fed by Giles and the others. I can’t go and leave her like that, it would be a betrayal and I always promised myself that I would never do that, not to the Captain.”
Though she thought it would be hard to get out, Simone was surprised by how easy it was to tell Dawn.
For her part, Dawn was slightly startled by Simone’s confession and found herself staring at the dust-covered planking that formed the floor of the cabin.
Eventually Dawn raised her head and looked hard at Simone who was beginning to fear the worst.
“Well, If you can’t come with me then I guess I’m just going to have to stay on the Slayer with you,” Dawn said with a small grin. “I’ll tell Kat later that I won’t be going with her.”
Simone immediately brightened at this, the smile making her face glow as if it were a miniature sun, and she wrapped her arms round Dawn in a crushing hug.
“Gods, I love you so much Dawn,” Simone squealed with joy.
“I love you as well,” Dawn gasped out, “but could you let me go, I think you’re breaking my ribs.”
“Oh, sorry,” Simone gave a sheepish grin in reply as she released her grip on the other girl.
The two just sat there on the bed gazing at each other with stupid smiles on their faces.
“Simone, get yer backside up top. We need a hand gettin’ stuff over ta Slayer,” Willow’s roaring voice echoed down into the bowels of the mysterious ship with a noise that could waken the dead from their eternal sleep.
“Dawn,” the pirate continued in that same resounding, bellow. “Ya stay wi’ Tara and don’t leave her fer nuffin’ ya hear me.”
“Aye Cap’n,” the lovers said at the same time. They stopped and looked at each other before giggling.
“Simone, I is waitin’,” Willow called again and the girl in question rolled her eyes.
“Later hon,” she said to Dawn before kissing her deeply.
“Later beautiful,” came the reply along with a wink and Simone set off in search of Willow.
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In the cabin next door Tara was busy scavenging the closets looking for some new dresses as she wasn’t sure how much longer her own would last before it was little more than a strip of ribbon. Especially at the rate it was being used for makeshift bandages. Tara was pretty sure though, that a lot of the crewmembers wouldn’t mind that at all considering the salacious looks she got from them.
This gave her two very different feelings. Both very distinct but so very different. One was a feeling of beauty, something that was all but alien to the blonde after being told so much of her life how ugly she was. Now to find some crewmembers looking at her the same way she had spent so many times looking at other girls she had found pleasing to her eye, that someone else may consider her attractive. To Tara this was a great revelation.
The other feeling was one of fear, fear of the unknown. Tara was afraid that one night someone might sneak into the galley where she slept in a hammock and attempt to take advantage of her. Whilst it was true that she longed to feel the touch of other women, or at least of one woman in particular, she wanted it to be on her terms. Tara didn’t want to be forced into a situation where someone would force her to do something she didn’t want.
She was musing on these two feelings when she felt it. It was something just at the edge of her senses. It wasn’t a ‘something’ she could put a name to, but she could sense that it was wrong. That it was evil.
Hurriedly picking out two cotton dresses, Tara left the cabin and went to the one opposite.
“D…D…Dawn, we need to go now.” There was an urgency in her voice that quickly bought the younger girl to the cabin door.
“Tara, what is it?” Dawn could tell there was something wrong with the galley cook from the amount of time they had spent together. She understood that there seemed to be little that could seriously unnerve the blonde.
“T…there’s something wr…wrong. We have to go, now, where’s Simone?”
“She’s already left, Willow called for her a while back to help out. What is it that’s wrong?”
Tara held Dawn’s gaze with her own
“There is something aboard this ship, it is evil, it is dangerous and it will kill us. We have to leave now!”
The seriousness in Tara’s voice and eyes brooked no argument and Dawn quickly drew her sword and grabbed her torch from within the sconce in the cabin. Then the two of them set off down the passage, hoping to escape the ghost ship.
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The dark thing was stalking the ship, stalking the people who had dared invade its sanctuary, preparing to devour their minds then leave them mindless idiots, rotting in the bowels of this ghost ship. After it vanished once more into the ether, it would then dispose of the crew by consuming their bodies at its leisure. Just as it had with crews throughout innumerable centuries, just as it had the original crew 1000 years previously. There was one, however, that it sensed had power, great power. The roiling mist and darkness flowed in search of its prey, taking great delight at the thought of consuming this one and absorbing its power.
*****************************************************
Dawn and Tara quickly made their way down the corridor constantly looking behind them for some sign of pursuit. By what they knew not, only that it could destroy them.
The two girls neared the end of the corridor, grateful as the light of the day came into view from the hatchway. A strange mist suddenly formed before them. It was the same shade of putrescent green as had almost enveloped the Slayer earlier that day.
“Dawnie, I need you to stay behind me.” Tara wasn’t sure what it was but she could sense it was dangerous and the last thing she wanted was for her bodyguard to get hurt.
“I got the sword, you get behind me,” the other girl retorted as she brandished the weapon in question.
“No Dawn, whatever that…mist is, it can’t be harmed by your sword.”
Dawn rolled her eyes, in the belief that the blonde was exaggerating the threat posed by the eerie, eldritch vapour.
“Tara, it’s just a mist, it can’t cause anymore harm to us than a drop of water.”
With those words, Dawn swung her sword through the mist. Immediately the sharp tang of acid melting through metal hung in the air. Bubbles of liquid steel formed up around the girl’s blade, melting through the steel as an oar would cut through water until the end dropped off with a metallic thud to the floor. Dawn’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed a small ‘O’ shape.
She turned to Tara, shock equally clear on the blonde girl’s face.
“I…I think we need a plan B Dawn.”
“So what d’ya suggest.”
“I need you to get behind me Dawn.”
“Willow told me to…”
“I kn…know what the Captain said Dawn, but I n…need you to get behind me.”
“Fine, but if ya get into any trouble I’m pulling you behind me.”
Dawn stepped behind Tara and waited for the blonde to make her move. Tara looked carefully at the mist before taking a step forward, then another before attempting to pass through the green cloud barring hers and Dawn’s path.
As soon as Tara stepped into the mist she felt as if her entire body was standing in a huge bush of nettles. The sting was excruciating and instantly bought tears to her eyes. The pain was such that Tara couldn’t move out of the green haze.
Dawn too could see this and realised there was only one course of action she could take. She swiftly took a step toward the mist and reached a hand into the green vapour toward Tara. Her hand stung to all the hells but Dawn didn’t pull back. Still she reached until her own hand was touching Tara’s then she got a firm hold of the blonde’s arm and pulled.
A few seconds later Tara found herself safely by the younger girl’s side. Her face, hands, arms and calves were a nasty shade of red and inflamed by a burning sting.
“Tara…Tara are you alright?” The question genuinely surprised Dawn as she hadn’t thought highly of the ship’s cook before, but now she was really worried for her.
Tara couldn’t reply, the agony was such it took all her energy to breathe. It came out in shuddering gasps as she tried to recover from the throbbing hurt caused by the mist.
“Dawn, I need you to find a back way out of here. There must be another exit. I need you to go there and find the Captain. She’ll be able to help.”
“But the Cap’n said not to leave you.”
“I know but it’s going to be alright, just as long as you go and bring her here.”
Dawn stood there, torn in her desire to follow both Willow’s orders and those that Tara gave her. Finally realising that she wouldn’t be any use to Tara standing there, Dawn set off back down the corridor, back where the galley was, in the hope she could find a way out, get back on deck, and find help.
Once Tara was sure that Dawn was far enough away, she turned to face the green mist.
“It’s just you and me now,” her voice was calm and controlled. The stinging had reduced to a mild throb, the redness having now faded. “And if you think I'll let you harm either me or my friends, you really do not know me at all.” With that she raised her hands, one in front of the other, palms outwards and a pale blue/white light started to glow around them.
****************************************************
Dawn made it to the far end of the corridor, looking back once to see a strange light emanating from where she had left Tara.
The end of the corridor itself was a wall of solid wooden planking and a quick inspection revealed there was no exit from there. Dawn quickly tried the cabins but they were all built solidly, made to last over long sea voyages over many years.
The galley however was different. The ceiling was blackened and scorched and appeared to be damaged enough that a good hammering would bring it down and provide access to the upper deck.
Dawn looked around and quickly found a heavy meat cleaver. Dragging a stool into place Dawn clambered onto it and started to hack at the burnt wood. It wasn’t long before she started to see daylight glimmering down from above and redoubled her efforts. Soon she had a made a large enough hole to climb out of the galley.
Dropping the cleaver, the young girl stretched and, taking a hold of the hacked away area hauled herself out of the galley and up on the deck. She quickly reacquainted herself with the brilliant warmth of the sunshine. it was as if the former darkness had fled somewhere where only shadows dwelt. After adjusting her eyes to the bright light, Dawn set off in search of her Captain.
*********************************************************
Below decks, a battle was taking place between Tara and the weird mist. It was firing out a blast of eerie, mystical green energy toward the girl, which she deflected harmlessly away from her by creating a shield of pure white light. Tara then responded by wielding her blue/white light as if it were a blade, slashing through the eldritch haze. The mist then quickly reformed but an unearthly, guttural wailing and moaning was heard from the thing.
Suddenly it lashed out with a black tendril of writhing mist and Tara felt an icy numbness throughout her body. She stood for an instant, locked in its paralyzing power. She was in rapport with the thing and saw it devouring her friends Dawn, Simone and Willow. She jerked backwards finding a strength she didn’t know she had.
The battle was fairly simple, the magic unsophisticated but it called for strength. Tara fought on, her forehead and arms were damp with perspiration, her face was grim and resolute. She would not let this creature win and harm her friends and she knew that killing her would delay it long enough for her friends to escape. Life had recently become very sweet to her but she gritted her teeth and knew that she could sacrifice her own life if it meant saving her friends.
*********************************************************
“Willow, Willow,” the Captain looked up as Dawn came running up to her.
“It’s ‘Captain’! And what the hell are ya doin’ here? I told ya ta stay wi’ Tara din’t I?”
“I know Willow but she sent me to get you. I think she’s in danger.”
For the barest instant Willow looked Dawn straight in the eye and saw nothing but fear and concern there. Then the pirate Captain snapped into action
“Buffy, Simone, yer both wi’ me, an’ Dawn lead the way”
Dawn just nodded, then spun around and raced back to the hole she had hacked through the deck with the others right behind her.
******************************************************
The four went to the hole Dawn had hacked away to get on deck. It was a squeeze for Buffy getting through the hole, but with Willow, Dawn and Simone tugging on her legs she fell with a crash to the galley floor, getting amused looks from the others.
Dawn led them cautiously from the galley, the other three had their swords drawn and, as they entered the corridor, all the girls could see the bright light emanating from Tara down at the entrance. Determined to give whatever support their friend needed they ran to where the battle was raging.
By now, Tara was just projecting the light toward the green mist. The bright light glowing from the blonde’s hands had grown to a near blinding brilliance forcing the others to shield their eyes. Whatever it was Tara was doing with the light, however, it appeared to be working as the mysterious fog was dissipating and fading away. It was clear to anyone who could see through the light that what Tara was doing was also causing a great strain on her. Her face, neck and arms were drenched in sweat. She seemed to be having difficulty breathing as if she were swallowing in as much air as she could to fill her lungs. Then she wobbled a little, not much but enough for Simone to put her arm out to help steady her, though she couldn’t say if Tara had noticed or not.
Finally the mist was gone and as the last remnants of it faded to nothingness so did the light from Tara’s hands start to dim in its brightness. Slowly the shaft of light shrank in both size and luminescence so that Dawn, Simone, Buffy and Willow could finally see though if they blinked they had visions of yellow spots before their eyes. The blonde’s breathing seemed to be getting better too as she was needing to take in less breaths to breathe normally. Then the light was gone and Tara turned to the other four a weary smile on her face only for her eyes to roll back in her head a moment later and she collapsed heavily to the floor.
“Tara,” cried Dawn…
TO BE CONTINUED