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 Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 2:56 pm
Oya Tiyana:
The breeze of ill-fortune, trickery, and potential snaked through the trees on the chill autumn night. Two glows lit the forest, one from the partially full moon above, casting a washed, white light upon the world. The second was a softer, warmer glow, amber and orange and red flickering on the trees from holes in the hide that covered the entrance to a den deep in the darker part of the Oasis. Soft, domestic sounds came from the den; laughter and soft music, the click of cups or bowls together, and the soft crackle of a warm fire.
The time of magic had come to the land, a time for every good spirit-worshiper to make merry and rejoice in the lives of one's ancestors and Oya Tiyana and her companions were no less than good at what they did. The large she-wolf lay next to the fire which burned in a hollow in the ground in the center of the den, a several bowls in front of her, though the powdery contents of the bowls were mostly gone. Nuit, the black snake, lay part curled and part stretched across Oya's back, tail beating a steady beat on a drum as they watched the mini-otter Etienne dance for the spirits, strings of bells around his paws and powdered paint upon his face. Oya accompanied the drum and bells with a soft chant, similar to her howl, but no louder than the instruments.
Artemis:
Artemis was not pleased, she did not want to celebrate, her entire life had been a harsh battle. She was her fathers 'favorite' and with that horrible title had come the agony of keeping her night activities secret. She wasn't the murderer her father believed, infact she didn't even drink blood as he did. Instead she was often forced to smear fish blood across her fur to keep up the charade. Luckily Angelus was too busy being a b*****d to really focus on what his daughter was up to. Every night Artemis hunted evil and in her nightly roamings she had come to hear of magics in the Oasis.
Magic...she had scoffed at first, if there was magic her life wouldn't be like this, it would be normal. The more she thought about it the more it upset her, until she could only think of how magic might fix her troubles. Her mother, her mother was the key to everything. Artemis had never known her mother but for a brief memory of warmth and light, but she had heard Angelus talk. Angelus hated Buffy, her memory was a thorn in his side, and maybe if she had lived Angelus would be the dead one, and her life would have been normal...happy even.
She slunk through the darkness carefully her gleaming eyes narrowed on warm light ahead. A row of small spikes brushed softly against her neck, one little spike carved for every wicked otter she had found and stopped. Oya Tiyana, that was who she sought, the name was whispered in the darkness and tied to strange and powerful magics. Artemis was going to find the wolf and she was going to get her mother back, and nothing was going to stop her. She slipped up beside the den and took a deep steadying breath.
Oya Tiyana:
Oya's chanting howl was the first of the merry-making to cease, then the dancing, then the drumming from the sleepy-eyed python. Three pairs of eyes moved on the entrance, well five eyes to be exact, Nuit only looked through one.
"Coom in child, out o' de cold nigh't'air. Coom inta de warmth an' let Oya sooth yer troubles," the she-wolf all but purred. Etienne moved to his mistress' side while Nuit, the mostly lazy b*****d that he was, just curled his head around and closed his eyes. Oya was definitely strange like that. She always had a keen sense of when someone was nearby, especially when they were troubled. And this young one felt troubled indeed. She would definitely be a sight, though, with her face also marked in paint, a skull-faced mini otter at her side, a large snake dozing on her back, a large predator, and surrounded by skulls and feathers, bones and jars and baskets.
Artemis:
Artemis could have been a classic beauty, her hair was long and wavy blonde, her eyes were a glowing emerald green, and she possessed a lithe frame that moved like water over a stone. Instead however she had slid on black pants, heavy black boots, a quick green top, and her bloody stake necklace. It transformed her from a sensual female into a dangerous looking tomboy. Her white claws flexed a bit aganst the earth as Oya called her in and she felt a shiver run down her spike. The fur on her back stood up a bit and she moved forward into the warmth of the den.
She was a demonic female, used to being feared, if not in her own right then because she was the daughter of a monster. Yet she sensed no fear from Oya, infact she herself felt a little fear as she approached the wolf. The predator was larger then her and seemed to have backup. She felt the small stakes tap against her neck and relaxed a bit.
"You are Oya Tiyana? The magic wolf?"
Oya Tiyana:
Oya's laugh was smooth and low when the female otter came in and asked if she was the "magic wolf." It had been a while since someone had put magic to her name.
"Ah, child, it be good practice ta say yer name first, but yeah, Ah am Oya. What bring yeh out ta my den in de middle o' de night?" she asked, resting her head on her paws, a soft smile on her face. The other female looked tough and wary, nothing for Oya to worry about, but she would be concerned for her little friends.
Etienne made a face at the otter female and moved away from Oya to bustle about the rock shelves. He took down a clean bowl and poured a clear liquid in it, then a small pawful of powder in it. He stirred it with a reed that was stuck in a jar with some sticks and feathers, and poured some of the mixture into a smaller bowl. He took the smaller one and set it by Oya, then walked a few paces away from the demonic female and set down the larger bowl. Task done, he padded back to the smaller bowl and sipped from it.
"It be a sweet drink dat 'ienne makes fer guests. Rest yerself," the wolf added with a slow nod.
Artemis:
Artemis raised a suspicious brow and slowly tipped her head.
"I'm Artemis..." She eyed the brew and decided no matter how hospitable the wolf seemed, she was a creature of magics. For all Artemis knew that drink could be some kind of potion or poison. She slowly gave a little shake of her head and offered a smile that looked more like a grimace. It was the look of one who hadn't ever had something to really smile about.
"No thank you..." She hadn't stayed alive with Dru and Angelus only to be poisoned in the dark of night by a magic wolf.
"I came because I heard rumors...rumors that in a few nights...the magics will be at their strongest. I need someone who can cast a powerful spell for me, to make things right, to make things as they should be."
Oya Tiyana:
Etienne frowned at the affront to his hospitality, baring his teeth slightly before grumbling into his own portion of the drink. Oya turned her head and huffed a bit at him before returning her fire-colored eyes on their visitor. The snake on her back gave a soft, hissing laugh.
"What yeh heard was true, child, but Ah cyan't 'elp wonder what it is yeh be wantin'? I cyan make tings right, wit'in reason," the she-wolf replied and her eyes narrowed slightly. The fire reflecting in them made them dance and shadows moved eerily across the wall.
"But Ah warn yeh, evrating Ah offer coomes at a price..." Five eyes turned on Artemis again, two gray and narrowed in annoyance, two orange and shining with mystery, and one yellow eye barely cracked open and yet glowing with mischief. For a moment, it even looked as if some of the skulls had eye-lights of their own within their sockets, focused on the young demonic otter... But it must have just been a trick of the fire. Right?
Artemis:
It was true then, or so this mysterious wolf claimed, she felt her heart give a little skip and in her eyes there was a sudden spark. It was almost enough to have hope, hope was something she had never quite dared to feel. She tried to force the odd new sensation down not wanting to dare believe just yet. What if this was all a sham? What if there was no magic? What if nothing could fix her life, her family, her past?
"There was a slayer, she was murdered before her time, now a monster runs loose on the Oasis...a destroyer of lives. I want you bring the Slayer back, she can put this monster down." Her tone was firm, she pretended that the request was a usual one, just bring back the dead that was all.
Oya Tiyana:
The mood in the room took a major turn at Artemis' words. Oya's eyes went wide and her smile turned into a severe frown. Etienne's face contorted into a snarl and his ears flicked back, fur standing on end. And Nuit, the big snake brought his head up and opened his mouth to show two rows of long, curve fangs before sliding off Oya's back and slithering with surprising speed into a basket where he disappeared from view and used his tail to shut the lid.
"'ienne, be nice," Oya murmured to her otter friend who in turn calmed himself, at least to the point of closing his mouth and hushing up. The wolf rose into a sit and her otter friend curled up next to her paws. She turned her attention back to Artemis with a frown.
"Yeh 'ave te know, if Ah do dis, dis slayer will'nae be de same. An' de price fer dis is high..." In truth, Oya didn't want to do this, bring back the dead was not something any of her friends wished to do. But this girl was desperate and the she-wolf had a feeling that there was more to this than she was letting on.
Artemis:
Artemis hadn't dare asked for her mother back, she tried to be objective, she didn't want to admit she was still just a scared little girl who had wanted...her mother. Instead she tried to be brave, everyone would benefit if the Slayer came back, it was what the Oasis needed. Artemis knew that she herself was probably the next Slayer, she was a little stronger, a little faster...but it wasn't proof. For all she knew those attributes were only because of her demonic blood. No, they needed THE Slayer, and if her mother hadn't been worried about her and her siblings then maybe Angelus wouldn't have gotten the one up on her.
She swallowed at the reactions and her lips turned down into a frown. She wanted to flash her fangs at the little otter, but refrained. Intimidation was her fathers tool, she would use it if the Wolf refused her, but so far she hadn't been outright denied.
"I'd pay any price." She murmured and felt herself tense a bit, it was true, painful but true. The word ANY was so weighted, she knew it could cost her, her life...or worse, but she was desperate. Magic seemed like the answer to everything, a key that she had no power of her own to turn no matter how desperate she had become. She had to rely on this wolf, on her power.
Oya Tiyana:
Oya's frown deepened and she almost refused Artemis right there. That she would pay any price was not something she wanted to hear. But the girl was desperate, Oya couldn't say no. She looked down to her helper and gave him a small nod. Etienne frowned and shivered once before standing up and heading farther into the den, out of sight behind a curtain.
"Ah'll do dis for yeh, but de price is, dat in de future, Ah'm goin' te ask yeh te do sometin', an' no madder wha't'it is, yeh 'ave te do it. Do yeh understand?" Oya asked, holding out a paw, pads up so that the female could shake on the deal. Oya knew exactly what it was she would ask Artemis, and it would probably be one of the most difficult things the young otter would have to do in her entire life, but it was something Oya knew that only Artemis could do.
Artemis:
Artemis felt that spark again, goodness this wolf was really going to do it, she was really going to bring back her mother. She tried to keep her breathing even but she had to admit she felt as if everything was dreamlike odd and surreal. Then the words pierced her and she took a deep breath. What would this future task be? She stood for a long moment her paw suspended in the air in hesitation. What would Oya ask of her? More importantly when she asked, would Artemis be able to fullfill the demands? If she didn't what would happen? She slowly reached out her paw and placed it in Oya's.
"I'll fulfill any one future request, in exchange for the Slayer, Buffy Summers, to be brought back." The uncertainty was in her voice, but only barely and she had a steely look of resolve on her face.
Oya Tiyana:
Oya watched Artemis through narrowed eyes as the clawed paw hovered about her much larger one. As soon as the pads touched, Oya threw back her head and howled, the eery sound reverberating in the small space. The fire shivered one and melted from orange and red to a neon blue and more howling joined Oya's. Small flames in light purple, green, blue, and white flicked on in the skulls from before and flew out flying around the cave like glowing birds though they took on shapes of birds, furred creatures, and reptiles, cooing and howling.
Oya moved away from Artemis and scooped some flowers out of a bowl and threw them into the fire, sending a cloud of smoke up from the previously smokeless fire, smoke with the firey spirits consumed.
"Buffy Summers," was all the wolf said, dragging the name out and the spirits fled the cave, quieting their din, but not becoming silent, either. Only one spirit hung behind, green and wolf-shaped, hovering around the priestess. Oya glanced at the spirit with a small nod of thanks before it fled the cave with a low howl.
Artemis:
Artemis was shocked by the sudden howl and the flurry of activity, it was all wild and chaotic. She saw the wolf throw flowers into the fire and then her eyes focused on the strange glow before it too was gone. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest and she inhaled raggedly before looking at Oya again uncertainly. Was it done then? Had the magic worked? Where was her mother?
It had never crossed Artemis thoughts that the slayer might rise in the same place she had been buried. It was as if she hoped her mothers beautiful and pristine form would appear from the heavens in a flash of light. Or maybe that time would turn back and she would only remember being pulled lovingly from her shell and nuzzled. Instead she was left standing in confusion with her stomach knotted and the aching memory of blood and suffocation.
Oya Tiyana:
"Coome, child, we'll follow de loa te yeh moddah," Oya said standing and heading out into the cold night air. Her tail swayed behind her as she followed the spirit path, something only she could see now. She walked for a time, ears perked for any sounds of malignant loa. While she put up a spooky front, she really was a cool priestess, working with the lighter spirits. of course, those she gave tribute to had a wonderful habit of enjoying her mischievous requests. Just as long as she didn't overdo it.
She finally came to a stop at a patch of ground with a bunch of flowers piled on it. some of them were fresher than others, it looked like they were deliberately placed there.
Artemis:
"How did you know she was my mother?" Artemis asked softly and moved to follow the wolf still half dazed by the odd experience. She wondered where she was being led and how. Her nose twitched trying to pick up a scent but there was nothing unusual. The moon lit their way ahead but Artemis could see no path, no markers.
She stopped when Oya did and looked at the patch of flowers feeling her chest tighten painfully. It must have been 'Di...someone someone who cared who had buried her mother. She knew it hadn't been Angelus, he didn't respect life or death and he wouldn't waste his time burying her mother.
Oya Tiyana:
Oya sat down beside the grave.
"De spirits told meh, bu' Ah could tell she was more den jus' de Slayer teh yeh," she replied, though she didn't look at the otter near her. She kept her focus on the grave, knowing what was coming, or at least having an idea of what was coming. Artemis didn't fully understand, maybe she should have explained it better. But this was part of the price, if Artemis wanted her mother back that badly, she would get her back... even if Buffy wasn't exactly the same as she had been.
Artemis:
Artemis turned her focus away from Oya feeling unnerved that the spirits spoke to her. What else had they told her, could they tell her if she was a Slayer? She frowned down at the grave and tilted her head eyeing Oya out of the corner of her eye.
"Wh-what are we doing here?" Her voice caught a bit as she looked at the grave and suddenly her eyes went a bit wide. No...no it couldn't be was Oya going to bring her mother back from this exact spot? From where she had been buried for so many seasons?
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:56 pm
Buffy Summers:
The dirt that held the slayer for quite some time, had become her sacred grounds.
She would never see it that way of course.. Not with her soul somewhere beyond the grave.
Whether there was a heaven or not, she was never sure..But when her eyes flew open, her breath stopped in her throat.
She gasped, though the lungs that had been dead for so long filled with dirt and she choked. She was instantly in a world of pain..Torment.Unhappiness.
Where the hell was she? She had been happy. She had been safe, and even if Angelus still lived, she had not worried about a thing.
She briefly remembered speaking to someone that had claimed to be her son. Speaking to him, she had learned a bit. Not that she remembered a damn bit of it now.
Her eyes were wide with fear, and unknowing, as she begin digging at the dirt that entombed her. She was tired, and felt completely..Well she wasnt sure she felt much of anything ]
besides pain. She dug at the earth with a fury, her claws caked with the dirt as she pushed her nose from the hole.
Finally she took a deep breath once the cool night air hit her nose. She inhaled deeply, choking as she sputtered from the dirt that had been inhaled.
Her once lovely eyes, were now sunken, and glossy. But she gazed around her, the focus returning. She was surrounded by two others.
With a growl, her voice was low and angry.
"Where am i?"
Oya Tiyana:
Oya looked from the risen slayer to her daughter.
"Dis is de worl' o' de living, Miss Sommahs. Your daughter as' me teh bring yeh back," the wolf said quietly, a small sigh escaping her maw. She probably should have mentioned that when the spirits brought someone back from the dead, it meant bringing them back, in their old body or in possession of another's. Possession was darker magic than she was comfortable doing and... well, Artemis needed to learn this lesson.
Artemis:
Artemis was horrified, she had never imagined it like this, her mother this way. She had thought that Buffy would somehow be as fresh and pure as her memories, a blinding light of goodness that would just sweep things clean. Instead she stood frozen as the earth shifted under her paws a dark dirt encrusted creature clawed it's way out of the ground. She could feel her heart thudding wildly in her chest and her limbs shook a bit but refused to unlock.
She turned to Oya finally started and looking betrayed, but Oya had never said Buffy would descend from te heavens on a silver cloud. Oya had only agreed to bring buffy back and in exchange Artemis owed her. She looked back at the undead angelic trying not to wrinkle her nose even as the scent of rot reached her.
"Y-your Buffy Summers, Your the Slayer...and...and your...my mother."
Buffy Summers:
She was a mother? Yes.. She briefly remembered that. She had clams, she had never layed eyes on her brood, and Angelus had stolen them from her. It sent an anger through her already angered self, as she thought of the demon that had taken her life, and her future. She looked at the wolf, and her eyes held malice. She was not happy to be back. She was happy where she had been. She had been in a good place, or she thought she had. She wasnt sure where she was, but it was certainly not here.
"What do you mean, Im alive... ?" She asked, and then paused, looking over to the one that claimed to be her daughter.
"I know who I am.. But not why..why im here." She replied, though confusion was ebbing on her features.
Oya Tiyana:
"Dat... is a question bettah ask o' yer daughter," Oya replied and stood, taking a step back away from them. She didn't want to intrude, but she couldn't leave yet. If things went bad, she would have to try to intervene, though she knew she wouldn't hold much against the undead otter. She was bigger, yes, but the undead had a strength that mortals didn't and Oya had no fight in her and this was a Slayer.
So she took some more steps back, fading into the shadows.
Artemis:
Artemis watched Oya go and then turned back to Buffy suddenly feeling uncertain, lost. She looked down a moment and tried to remember that this was all for the best. She took a deep breath and then looked back up at the angelic female.
"The Slayer is needed...Angelus is more dangerous then ever, he's destroyed life after life, corrupting youth, terrorizing the oasis...you were needed, you ARE needed. You weren't supposed to die when you did, it was all wrong, and now your back and we can fix things."
Buffy Summers:
She growled a little at the wolf. How unhelpful. She pulled herself from the grave and sat, folding her wings around her. Wings, that had become decayed and were no longer teh splendor they had once been. Her arm had exposed bone, and she couldntbelieve her eyes. She was dead..and she was battered. She raised her lip, but looked back at the one that was her daughter. Or claimed to be. She wasnt sure. She wasnt sure of anything.
"You said we.. Whats we have to do with it?" She asked, though her mind went to Angelus and she knew why she would be needed. The evil b*****d would kill everyone if it pleased him..Him and his whore.
Artemis:
"I..I want to help you...momma..." Artemis slipped a little closer uncertainly still surprised by her mothers appearance. The blonde hair...that was something she and connor had inherited. She had the most beautiful eyes, Artemis was glad that she didn't have her fathers eyes. Even after death had robbed her of her unique glow Artemis still thought her mother was beautiful...unique. To her Buffy was an answer to every wish every hope every dream.
"Angelus has gotten...stronger...he drinks blood every night, every kind he can find. He's very cocky...and he's planning...he's going to steal more clams, destroy more lives."
Buffy Summers:
She thought about that. She wasnt really up for sharing the title of a**-kicker if she could help it. She had friends before..She wondered if they were still around. But she quickly shook that out of her head. Her friends thought she was dead. Better off that way. She wasnt going to bring hope back to them..Not when she looked how she did. Not when she smelled of death and had lost the angelic glow that she had once owned.
"Then he needs to die.."
Artemis:
The words brought a surge of hope to Artemis and she slowly smiled, her fangs betrayed her paternal genes. Still other then her demonic form there was little she shared in common with her father. She didn't think of him as a father, just as Angelus, the cruel b*****d who had killed her mother, destroyed her childhood, and wanted to destroy everyones happiness on the oasis.
"Do...do you remember us? I...I remember when you held me...before you put me in my clam..." Artemis knew it was a silly thing, but she had spent her whole life longing for her mother. She had so badly wanted the tender love that every other pup seemed to have. Di had always been there for him but Connor had been her main concern, and Darling had been pampered by Dru...and Artemis...Angelus wanted her tough...so he gave her special attention. Artemis felt a dull familiar memory of pain deep in her bones and then focused. That was then, she was grown now, she had her mother now, and they would end Angelus.
Buffy Summers:
The question made her pause and shift her eyes to the blonde. She cocked her head, and looked at her as if seeing her with new eyes. Of course it was her trying to remember. Did she remember? She didnt think she did. She remembered that love. She remembered that time of cuddling..But she didnt remember what teh clams contained. Her memory had gone. Hate for Angelus had washed over her and she had grown to truly see red, and that was it. She had no idea if she would ever regain her memory..How long was she here anyway?
She looked at the hope in the others eyes, and decided to lie. She was still not one to want to cause pain..But she truly didnt know how to respond.
"I remember you..or the thought of you." She replied, but her thoughts were back on Angelus rather quickly. The reunion cut short from memory lane.
"Are you prepared to die? If you fight him? You most likely will..Im not sure if I can.." She mumbled.
Artemis:
The thought...Artemis felt a brief sting before reminding herself that Angelus had killed her mother before she had ever even come out of her clam. Her mothers blood was the first thing she tasted, the first memory was choking on it as she gasped for air in a suddenly startling world. She pushed the memory aside brutally and nodded at Buffy.
"I've lived under Angelus my whole life, if I have to die to take him down...then I'm willing to do that, but I know with you here no one else has to die." She had faith, because she had to, she had to believe that Buffy could make things right, that her pain would be erased.
Buffy Summers:
Buffy saw the light dim in Artemis's eyes, and she took a deep breath. How odd it was to breathe once more. She felt bad that she didnt remember the youngster, not htat she was young anymore.. But she couldnt help it. Her mind seemed to have bits and pieces of life, but she couldnt get a full memory, only of her death. She remembered when Angelus had drained her of life, dumping her lifeless body onto the earth, and spilling the rest upon the floor. He had turned the stone crimson, and she had lost her glow..
"You have suffered then..living under him. Tell me..Did I have more?..More children?" She remembered a blonde male..She remembered speaking to him, guiding him, but she didnt feel like she did now, then. Something was different.
Artemis:
Artemis watched her mother, tried to understand how she had to feel, she knew that what she had done was...unnatural. Still she couldn't admit it was wrong, anything that gave her a chance to be with her mother, a chance to stop angelus, that had to be right. She slowly nodded and brushed a strand of pale blonde hair back.
"Yes my brother Connor and my sister Darling...Connor...looks just like you...Angelus has always hated him for it..." As much as she had suffered Connor had it a hundred times worse. Artemis pretended to be a killer, Angelus left her roughly alone, Darling was...damaged...Dru kept her...occupied...but Connor, he stood up to Angelus, and paid the price often. Now Connor was grown though, Angelus couldn't batter him the way he once had.
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