FF: Trials of the Moon: Chapter One

[aerisjade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: Trials of the Moon

Rating: PG-13 

Chapter: One 

Pairing: Willow/Buffy 

Fandom: BtVS/Werewolf the Apocalypse 

Timeline: A year and a half after the season finale 
of this season. 

Spoilers: Oh yeah, anything and everything is up 
for grabs. 

Beta Reader: Dark Gremlin 


Summary: Willow starts the process of getting her 
life back on track over a year after that Tara died. 
Only, when she arrives back in Sunnydale, will the 
gang be willing to help her or will her mistakes 
create a rift between them. 

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, 
Mutant Enemy, and Paramount pictures. Werewolf the 
Apocalypse belongs to white wolf productions and 
minds eye theatre. 


<----------> 
PROLOGUE 
<----------> 


The boulder's surface, stained with blood and 
spittle, darkened as the red haired female hoarsely 
screamed incoherently. Skin ravaged by hunger, 
deep bites, and claw wounds, half healed and scabbed, 
broke open from her thrashing against the heavy 
chains that kept her trapped on the slab. Her short 
red hair was sweat soaked and becoming increasingly 
blood splattered, sticking to her hollowed, pale 
skin. What had once been faded cargo pants were torn 
and shredded, soiled material. 

Her screams cut off in a bout of coughing and 
exhaustion. The tension unwound leaving her hanging 
by the chains. Each gasp and sob was deafening 
amidst the forest clearing, bringing tears to 
the small groups eyes. 

The oldest of the nine nodded to the dark haired 
teenager. The raven haired male pushed up on his 
glasses then wearily approached the boulder slab 
that stood in the middle of the tiny clearing. 
With shaking hands, Jeffrey unlocked the manacles 
and lowered the unconscious red head to the ground. 

The groups Elder kneeled beside the red head, her 
greying brown hair glinting from the moonlight. Her 
piercing hazel eyes glowed as they shifted over the 
younger females body before stopping on the matching 
long thick scars that ran across the inside of her 
wrists. The Elder's hand danced over the imperfect 
blemishes, checking for the fetish. The almost non- 
existent tingle was all that was necessary to 
confirm the scar fetish had been performed and 
successful. 

" What does it do? " Jeffery asked. 

" It makes her immune to Wyrm eminations. " 
Kathy sadly brushed the sweat and blood 
matted red hair from the younger woman's 
face. " I just wish it hadn't been to late 
to stop the initial taint. " 

" What do we do now? " 

Kathy patted the newest tribal member's 
hand, letting him know that she didn't mind 
his constant curiosity. " Now we begin the 
Rite of Cleansing. " The leader glanced over 
the seven remaining members. " Margaret, I 
need you to prepare a tattoo fetish for 
healing. " 

" Yes, Elder. " Margaret replied, 
disappearing into the trees. 

" But that'll heal her! " 

Kathy barely paid the outraged teen any 
attention as she began to use a sponge to 
wipe away the blood. " That's the general 
idea. " 

Jeffery gaped at his tribes Elder hoping 
that he'd somehow missed something. " B-but 
...... Look the bitch betrayed everything Gaia 
teaches us. She's nothing but a traitor, 
murderer, addict, and worst of all she's a 
black spiral dancer. You can't...!!!! " 

" Silence, Kitten!!! " The Elder yelled, 
raising to her feet with a deadly grace that 
left Jeff backing away in fear. " Willow is a 
valued member of this tribe, and she is not 
a dancer. " 

" You said she..." 

Kathy growled, taking a swift step closer 
to the teen. " I said that she'd been tainted. 
That does not mean that she walked the Spiral. " 

Jeff bowed his head to the Elder in a show 
of submission. " Forgive me Elder. I guess I 
don't understand. " 

" When we are touched or infected by the 
Wyrm, there are still ways to cleanse our 
bodies and soul. It's only when we've walked 
the Black Spiral Circle that we are permanently 
lost to Gaia. " 

" I still don't understand how you can heal 
her. Doesn't our traditions forbid healing anyone 
that is punished by their tribe? " 

" And normally I would abide by those traditions, 
but this isn't a normal situation. Our kind are 
almost completely gone, and we need each and 
everyone of our kind if we are going to fight 
the Wyrm. Willow especially, is needed in the 
fight. She is a strong shaman, with unusually 
powerful abilities. " 

" But... " 

" When she came to us, she was already 
considerably weakened, and with her current 
wounds, I doubt she could survive losing the 
energy needed to heal those kinds of injuries. " 

" Elder, the circle has been prepared. " 
Jennifer softly interrupted. 

Kathy stood back letting David carry Willow's 
fragile, prone body to the nearby field. It was 
usually a simple process, but tonight, under 
the Ahroun moon the Rite of Cleansing was going 
to be extremely difficult. 

The physical taint alone would take hours 
to purge. The emotional, mental, and astral 
scars were a hundred times worse. Even after 
the Rite was through, the young Shaman would 
have a long journey ahead to refind Gaia's 
way and Gaia's children's respect. 


<-----------> 
CHAPTER ONE 
<-----------> 


Buffy found herself glancing over what was 
left of the scooby gang. Dawn, Xander, and Anya. 
Tara had been dead for a little over a year and 
a half, and Willow.... Willow had been missing 
since the night that she came out of her magical 
rampage. Ever since then they'd been searching 
for their lost team mate with little to no 
success. 

They'd all resorted to great length's in 
hope of finding her. Going as far as calling 
every person they could think of, everyone they knew, and 
their families knew. Including her own father, and 
various students that she'd known from 
Hemery. All to no unveil. 

Then there were the other inherent problems 
from that week. Dawn, for example, was quieter 
than ever, almost like she lost her parents all 
over again. The grief the teen had shown at 
first had been heartbreaking, shattering her 
carefully masked calm. 

Then there were the nightmares. Every night 
Dawn woke up screaming out for Willow and 
Tara before simply curling into a ball as the 
sobs rocked her back into a restless sleep. 

The family counselor had already recommended 
reintroducing Willow into the family. He kept 
saying that Willow's involvement in Dawn's life 
would help to lessen the nightmare's and night 
fears. 

" Thinking about Will again? " Xander asked 
quietly from his seat across from Buffy. 

She sighed at the long winded book that she 
was currently combing through in search of the 
newest evil. " When am I not? " 

" She'll be back. " 

" How can you be so sure? " 

Xander grinned at the question. " Simple. I 
know her better than anyone, and I know that 
right now she's trying to deal with what she 
did, and once she's dealt, she'll come 
straight back here. " 

" Or she's laying in some back alley dead, 
with no way to Id her. " Anya muttered despite 
the dark glares and grimaces of the others. 

" Maybe it's just me but I like Xander's 
version better. " A severely hoarse voice 
cut in. 

Buffy cautiously looked into Xander's eyes, 
afraid that if she moved, or breathed, or blinked 
that the voice she'd ached to hear for so long 
would be gone. 

" You know, it's not safe leaving the back 
door unlocked. Anyone could just wonder in 
off the street. " 

Buffy slowly looked over at the woman standing 
in the training room doorway. The once long, 
thick, wavy, dark red hair was now limp and cut 
short in a layered pixie cut, that looked like 
it was out of necessity rather than for 
how it looked. 

The once slightly tanned healthy skin was now pale, 
hollow, bruised, and clammy. Her clothes had also 
been replaced with a pair of thin baggy, almost 
see through, white cotton yoga pants. An 
unbuttoned over sized thin long sleeved 
button up shirt was over a slightly large 
white tank top. A pair of dark brown leather 
hiking sandals covered her bare feet. 

The only jewelry the red head had on was 
a pair of plain dark brown leather wrist 
guards that completely covered half of 
her forearms. Around her neck was a worn 
hand made leather stringed choker, with 
hand painted beads with various symbols that 
she didn't recognize. Similar bracelets were 
wrapped around her right ankle. 

In other words Willow had never looked 
more beautiful in her life. 

" Will? " Xander asked cautiously. 

The red head gave them a weak, tired 
smile, and waggled her fingers in a semi 
wave. " Hi guys. " 

" Hi guys? She said hi guys!! " Xander 
whooped happily, launching himself across 
the room and lifted the thin red head into 
the air, causing her to drop the small 
black east pack book bag. " God Will, you 
had us so worried. We didn't think you'd 
ever come back. " 

Buffy quickly dived at the two friends, 
getting in on the hugs. " You shouldn't 
have left, we would've helped you. " 

" I was in a bad place and I had to 
work things out. " 

" Never by yourself. " Buffy whispered 
fiercely, pulling the red head from Xander 
and into her arms. " Never alone. " 

Willow nodded into Buffy's neck, trying 
to stay on her feet. " Together then. " 

" Together. " Xander said. 

" Together. " 

They looked over at Anya who gave a 
slight nod. " Together. " 

" Bull shit!!! " 

Willow stepped away from the others, 
on unsteady legs, to get her first look 
at Dawn. The teen was standing at the 
research table with her arms crossed. 
The young woman was radiating anger, 
blame, and hatred. 

" Dawnie... " 

" Don't call me that!!! You left me 
so you don't get to call me that!! You 
killed Tara and then you abandoned me!! 
Why?!! Why did you leave me!!? How could 
you do that to me?! To Tara?!! Why do you 
hate me so much?!! Why did you have to 
leave me?!!!!! I hate you!!!! DO YOU HEAR 
ME???!!!! I!!! HATE!!!! YOU!!!! " 

Willow limped over to the raging teen 
and forcefully pulled the teen into her 
arms. The teen punched at her chest, 
slapped, pushed her, and then the sobs 
came. Shaking both women from the force 
of them. 

" I hate you. " Dawn whispered again, 
wrapping her arms tightly around the 
red head. " Why? " 

" Oh Dawnie. I couldn't stay while I 
was a danger to you. I love you too 
much to do that. " 

" No!! You would never do anything 
to hurt me. " Dawn protested. 

" I already did. " Willow sighed 
tiredly. " I... I had to hit rock 
bottom to get back up again. " 

The red head started to pull away 
from Dawn, only to find the teen 
had her pinned in place. " No. Don't. 
Please don't leave. I didn't mean 
it. Just..please don't leave. " 

" You never have to apologize for 
speaking your mind. Never. " 

" So...so you won't leave? " 

" No, Dawnie, I won't leave. 
However, I do need to talk to you guys. " 

" Oh boy, this can't be good. " Xander 
commented. 

Willow laughed softly. " You have 
no idea. " 


<--------->


Aeris Jade Orion

Grey Fox, and cause of Discord.

Gabrielle: "Do you deny spying on these women?"
Joxer: "I resent that."
Gabrielle: "Do you deny it?"
Joxer: "No, I just _resent_ it."

Joxer: Hello--heh-heh-- name's Joxer-- spelled, uh [Clears throat]--
J-o-x-e-rrrrrrrr. 

Rh: "Would you wanna make a baby with me?"
Jox: "What?!"
Rh: "Will you help?"
Jox: "Wait a minute! You want me to-- to-- to-- make a-- "
Rh: "Right-- will you?"
Jox: "Of course not! Hey, listen! We're not just machines, you
know, you can use to-- . Besides-- you know, uh-- we can't just
do it on command. We need stuff like, uh-- cheap motel rooms and
dirty pictures and lingerie-- stuff like that! We're _not_
animals! But I can get those things!"