CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE THUNDER PLAINS
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Author: Stormforce When the group came to the end of the path they saw huge towers by different parts of the path. Lightning would hit the towers or the ground every few seconds making the plains light up. Buffy was behind the group holding her hands up to her chest, and every time lightning would strike she would flinch. "Oh, no...we're here,” Buffy said in a scared voice. When the lightning struck five foot in front of them Buffy screamed. "Whoa!" Willow said jumping back "Now, how are we suppose to cross that?" "See the towers?" Anya asked pointing to the towers in the distance "Those are called lightning towers. And the lightning is drawn to them...well hopefully drawn to them." "When head north along the path, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?" Xander said "That means we should avoid wide, open areas." Faith told Willow Lightning struck again causing Buffy to shriek again. "You know what? I left something in Guadosalam!" "It's been nice know you." Giles said turning to Buffy. Buffy straightened up "Okay, okay! I'll go! But if I get fried it's your fault!" The group ran to the first tower avoiding a strike of lightning two foot from them, as they started for the second tower fiends attacked. A floating man-like fiend with orange hair, a green fiend with one large red eye, was flying toward them, and a small dragon like fiend with a reddish brown body, with a purple chest, and fire could be seen coming from its mouth. [Flash] Name: Aerouge Name: Buer Name: Kusariqqui Xander threw his ball at the Buer fiend knocking it from the sky for Faith to stab with her spear. Anya cast a Watera spell on the Aerouge, as Willow and Giles took on the Kusariqqui fiend. The fiend swung its tail hitting Giles on his side and knocking him five foot away. Willow brought her sword down cutting into its long scaly neck and jumped back. The Aerouge cast a Thunder spell on Faith knocking her to the ground, Anya cast another Watera spell killing the fiend, and ran over to Faith. Willow had just dodged a ball of fire the Kusariqqui shot out of its mouth she struck its neck again, making small souls float out. Buffy was trying to fight off a blue and purple fiend with a triangular shape body that had floated up behind her. Tara was healing Faith and Giles when Willow finally severed the Kusariqqui's head from its body. Buffy screamed when the fiend she was fighting cast a Thunder spell on her. A bright green light surrounded her body and she glared at the fiend. She mixed two scales together and tossed it at the fiend, "Take that!" she shouted, when the scales hit, a flood of water rushed over the fiend killing it. "Are you okay, Buffy?" Tara asked watching at smoke rose from Buffy's hair. "I really hate this place." Buffy said then screamed again when lightning struck one of the towers. "We best be moving along. Otherwise we'll all be smoking like Buffy." Faith grinned and winked at Buffy. The group moved from the second tower and on to the third. Running up a small incline they saw a small lodge just as lightning struck a foot in front of them. "Whoa! That was a close one! Ya?" Xander said laughing. "Will you stop kidding around!" Anya said giving Xander a glare. "Yes, ma'am!" Xander saluted causing Anya to roll her eyes. "Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." Everyone turned around and saw Buffy holding her hands up to her chest looking around wildly. "Yo, Buffy. What's wrong?" Xander asked worriedly "Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." "Heh heh heh... Dammit! Buffy you're givin' me the creeps!" Willow said and lightning struck making Buffy to hit the ground and crawl forward. The group takes a step back and look at her strangely as she crawls over to Willow and grabs on to her leg. "I wanna go home! I hate lightning! I hate thunder!" Buffy says gripping Willow's leg like a life raft "Let's go rest over there! Please?" she said pointing to the lodge. "Buffy" Giles said stepping forward "this storm never stops. It's better to cross quickly." "I know...but it'll only be for a little while. Please?" "Now what?" Willow asks trying to pull Buffy off her leg. "We move on." Giles says turning and walking away. The group passes by the lodge and Buffy looks at it pleadingly. "Pretty please? I swear just a few minutes." Buffy asks only to be ignored. "I'm scared of lightning! Please, let's rest for a while, okay?" The group is still ignoring her. "I'm too young to die!" Buffy whines stilling being ignored. "You people are mean...you're cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you! Are you having fun doing this to me?" Giles stops and turns "Fine, we rest. By Ifrit's Hellfire! She's worse than the storm." The group steps inside the lodge and sees a small table and four chairs to the right beside a bookshelf. To the right are items and weapons for sale. And in front of them is the lodge clerk. "You know, I am a little tire." Tara says and walks over to the clerk "Excuse me do you have an available room?" "Yes, Lady Summoner. Please follow me." The clerk says and leads Tara to her room. "What's up with Tara?" Xander asks Anya "I don't know this isn't like her." Willow watches Buffy flinch when a loud boom echoed throughout the lodge "Buffy, are you really that scared?" "When I was little, a fiend attacked me while I was swimming at the beach. My younger sister tried to beat it back with a spell. And she was just learning how to use magic." Buffy said and screamed when lightning hit outside the lodge door. "But she missed the fiend and hit me instead! It was a Thunder spell...Bzzzzzzt!" Buffy said pretending she'd been struck by lightning. "Ouch!" Willow said "And I've been scared of thunder and lightning ever since." "Yes, but Thunder magic is very effective against marine fiends." Anya said sitting in one of the chairs. "That's what my little sister said too." "You know...you should learn some spell, too. It would be very useful." Anya said, and Buffy squeaked again. "I think she should learn them later...a lot later." Faith grinned "Or she might freak out and hit one of us." Jenny walk in the door and smiled when she saw Willow "Hello it's very nice to see you again. "Welcome to Jenny's Travel Agency." She said and looked at Buffy "Oh?" Buffy waved her hands in front of her "Shhh!" "Ah." Jenny said and walked behind the counter. Willow walks down the hallway looking around when she hears a sound coming from Tara's room. "Huh?" She quietly walks up to the door and listens, hearing someone talking she puts her ear next to the door. Pushing forward a little more the door opened and she stumbled into Tara's room. "Whoa!" Willow says as Tara turns the image of the talking Guado off. "Y-yes?" Willow rubs the side of her head, and looks around nervously "I... well that is...umm...nothing really. I just...uh... I'm sorry, Tara. I shouldn't have come in. Hey! Wasn't that...umm...Jyscal Guado guy?" She asks looking to the movie sphere Tara had turned off. "Yes, the sphere is his will... It says, to take care of his daughter." "His daughter? Glory? Well, I know one way to take care of her." Willow said with a frown "I-I'm sorry." Tara said and ran out of the room. Willow watched her go and sighed, she cocked her head and looked at the movie sphere. She didn't see Xander sneaking up behind her until he had her in a headlock. "And just what do you think you're up to?" "Tara! Tara was acting...f-funny, so I-I thought." "Yeah, yeah! Don't worry she'll tell up when she's ready...so hold your chocobos tell then, ya?" "All right! Xander, all right! Let me go." Xander laughed and released Willow "Now, go to bed we gotta leave early in the morning." He said and dragged Willow over to a room and gently pushed her in. Later that night Willow was still wide-awake and staring into the darkness when her door opened. She looked over to see Tara stepping in she watched Tara close the door, and slowly make her way over to the bed. "Willow are you awake?" Tara whispered in the darkness. "Yeah" Willow raised up in the bed. "What's wrong?" "I-I can't...umm... sleep. Could I s-stay with y-you?" Tara asked as a flash of lightning lit up the room enough to where Willow could see that Tara was blushing. "Climb in." Willow said raising the covers. Tara slipped in and smiled in the darkness, as Willow wrapped her arms around her waist. “Good night, Willow.” “Night, Tara.” The next morning Faith opened Willow's door and looked in to find Tara wrapped in Willow's arms. "Anya, don't worry I've found her." Faith whispered to Anya who was running around worriedly. "What?" Anya asked and looked into the room, she shook her head with a sigh "What are we going to do Faith?" "Just let them be for now. If it gets to out of hand we'll put a stop to it." Faith said watching Tara snuggle closer to Willow in her sleep. "I'd better wake them, Sir Giles is waiting on us." "Yeah right! You just want to get close to Buffy!" Anya teased. Faith looked over her shoulder with a grin "Hey, I can't help it if I think Buffy is a hottie!" she quietly walked over to the bed, and gently shook Willow awake. "Hey, Will. Wake up; it's time to go. Oh, and if you don't mind...wake Tara up also." "Okay." Willow said still half asleep as Faith walked out the door. "Tara? Wake up." Willow smiled when she saw Tara's blue eyes half open. "What is it Willow?" Tara asked yawning. "Time to go." "Oh" Tara said sadly and got out of bed. "I have to go get dressed, I'll meet you and the other's out front,” she said walking out the bedroom door. When Willow emerged from the hallway she found Buffy staring at the door like it was going to attack her at any moment. "What's up?" Buffy jumped and looked over to Willow "It's not going to stop, is it?" "Don't tell me you were hoping it would." Giles said and walked over to the door as Buffy squeaked when the thunder boomed overhead. "Fine. Have it your way, stay here." he said and walked out the door. Geez! You didn't have to say it like that, you know! Couldn't you be more comforting or something! You know, try to cheer me up? But nooo you just tell me to stay here! Hey, are you even listening to me?" Buffy shouted at Giles' back and again squeaked when lightning flashed. "I'm not scared! You hear me!" "Well that's good to know." Faith said walking up from behind "Are we going to be able to make it across the rest of the plains?" she asked grinning and then winked at Buffy. "Come on, we won't let you get hurt." Willow watched Faith lead Buffy out the door, while she waited on Tara and Anya. When the two finally made up front Willow followed them out the door. A man running by snapped the groups picture and ran off. The group made it down the slope before being attacked by four fiends, a small green cactus with three large thorns on its head, a huge twenty foot tall armor fiend with a ten foot long sword, a small dark green lizard with orange spikes, and a black and purple ape like fiend with spikes all over its body. [Flash] Name: Qactuar Name: Iron Giant Name: Melusine Name: Killer Spike The Qactuar bent forward and moved its small arms rapidly throwing shape needles at the group. "I hate needles!" Buffy said jumping back and dodging to the left. Willow jumped forward over the path of the needles and brought her sword down on the Qactuar cutting it in half. Faith and Giles ran at the Iron Giant, as Buffy punched the Killer Spike. Anya cast a Blizzara spell on the Melusine, and Tara hit it in the head with her rod. Xander helped Buffy by throwing his ball at the spiked fiend, causing it to turn toward him. Faith flipped over the giant's sword as the huge fiend swung at her, when she landed her brought her spear down, severing the hand at the wrist. Giles swung his sword at the fiends’ knee severing it, the Iron Giant fell to the ground and burst into souls and disappeared. The spiked fiend jumped into the air and balled it's body up, it flew threw the air at Xander who dodged to the right. Willow seeing this ran over as the fiend turned in mid-air and flew at them again. Willow grabbed the tip of her sword and held it up in front of her, as the fiend hit it was knocked to the ground, Willow thrust her sword into its chest holding it down as Giles severed the head. Anya finished off the Melusine with another Blizzara spell, and sighed when she saw no more fiends. The group started to move on but stopped when Tara spoke. "Please wait." "What is it Tara?" Xander asked watching her closely. "I-I have s-something to tell y-you." "Here?" Anya questioned raising her eyebrows "Tara, please can't this wait... We're almost out of here!" Buffy said wanting to leave the Thunder Plains for good. "I'm sorry, but I have to say it now." "Over there." Giles said pointing to one of the towers with a small roof. Willow walked beside Tara watching her out of the corner of her eye <Please, don't let this be bad news.> Somehow, my bad feeling always come true. Tara kept her eyes on the ground not looking up "I've...decided to marry." "I thought so." Anya said covering her eyes with her hand. "Tara?" Xander asked wanting her to look up "Why...why did you change your mind?" "For Spira's future...and Yevon's unity. I-I thought it would be the best thing to do." "That is not good enough, Tara" Giles said shouldering his sword. "Is it because...of Lord Jyscal?" Anya asked "Hey! That sphere you were watching!" Willow shouted remembering seeing the sphere of Jyscal "Show me." Giles said stepping forward. "I can't" Tara said with her head down "I must speak to Lady Glory first. I truly am sorry, but this is...a personal matter." Xander crossed his arms "You're kidding, ya?" "As you wish." "I'm sorry, Sir Giles." "Just one thing." "I won't quit the pilgrimage. I've made my mind up on that." "Then it is...fine." Giles sighed <What!> Willow thought, "Now just you wait a minute, Giles! You don't care? <Because I do!> You're not going to stop her? <I want to stop her, but I don't think she'll listen to me> "No, I'm not" Giles said facing Willow "As long as she is willing to face Sin...all else is her concern. That is her privilege. As long as she journeys." "But that's just..." Willow threw her arms up in the air <Dammit! Giles why don't you stop her?> Xander was pacing under the small roof before stopping and turning to face Tara. "I have just one question. Can't you just talk to Lady Glory? You've got to marry her?" "I don't know...but I do think it's the right thing to do." "Okay, I guess." Xander hung his head feeling defeated. "Tara..." Buffy said as the lightning struck "Quite!" she shouted to the sky "I wish we could help somehow, or some way!" "Don't worry, Buffy...I'll be fine." She says, "I'm sorry," He says, "It's fine." She's "willing" to face Sin. She's "privileged." I didn't understand. But somehow, I felt I didn't belong. But if I didn't belong with them, I'd be stuck in Spira, alone. And being alone in that place, well, I didn't want to think about it. "Next, we're gong to Macalania Temple. Tara can talk with Glory there. And we guardians will wait until they're done, and plan our next move. Understood?" Giles said and received nods from the group, as they moved out of the Thunder Plains and into Macalania Woods. |
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