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dragonyphoenixNote: Written for a prompt at Taming the Muse: andalusite, which is a rock. I used chaistolite which is a form of andalusite.
Note: Yeah, I totally made up a title for a Tommy Taylor book.
Note: I had a bit of fun with Willow’s resolve-face at the end there. ;-)
The prison was on fire. Xander stepped back – so many bodies, none moving – and his foot gave way beneath him. He felt himself falling, floundering until a hand reached out and grabbed him, drawing him back through the portal.
“Never step through a doorway,” Lizzie shouted. “What if it had closed on you?”
Funky beard guy released Xander’s arm, and, whoa, that guy was stronger than he looked. “Lizzie, he didn’t mean it.”
“He said he could take care of himself.”.
“Hey, I can,” Xander said. “It’s just …” He gestured around the prison. “So many bodies.”
“Don’t people die where you come from?” Funky beard guy seemed genuinely curious.
“Sure, but it’s usually only one or two, and a lot of the time we don’t see them until they’ve been cleaned up in the morgue.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Lizzie said. “We have to find Wilson.”
“Hey, I’m good,” Xander said. “Let’s go.”
Lizzy and beard guy stared at Tom. “How would I know? If we knew why my Dad had come back here, maybe we could guess where he’d gone.”
Xander pointed to the wall that had half crumbled down. “Usually I just follow the path of the most damage.”
The other three shrugged. “It’s a plan,” funky beard guy said.
“Doesn’t make it a good plan,” Lizzie replied but she headed in that direction anyway.
They passed a bunch of open cells, but other than the dead bodies they didn’t see anyone. Xander wasn’t sure which was creepier, stepping over dozens of corpses or wondering what had happened to everyone else.
There was a shout ahead. “Hey!”
“Buffy.” Xander started running, glad that Tom and his friends were keeping up. He wasn’t sure how to get home without them. Up ahead, past more rubble, was a large area, open to the sky. It was night here too, although it seemed later here than it had in Sunnydale. Buffy was sitting on her butt as if she’d just fallen backwards. Willow stood with a hand over her mouth. At her feet was that old guy’s head, Wilson’s head, and past that a decapitated body. Remembering that Wilson was Tom’s father, Xander tried to stop him from climbing over the rubble – “You don’t want to see this.” – but Lizzie was the one who fell to her knees.
“Xander.” Buffy scrambled to her feet. She stared at them, obviously unsure what to do with a weeping girl, especially one she didn’t know. Funky beard guy – and he really had to get that guy’s name – dropped down to put an arm around Lizzie’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t us,” Willow blurted out. “Some man showed up out of nowhere, pulled out a wire, and decap …” She looked over at Lizzie who was still crying. “Um, maybe we should move this elsewhere?”
“Yeah,” Xander agreed, “somewhere not here would be of thegood. It was rather emptyish back the way we came.” They led Lizzie back to the other side of the rubble where Wilson couldn’t be seen.
“This man you saw,” Tom said.
“He was strong, unexpectedly strong,” Buffy said, rubbing her butt.
“Shortish, dark hair, sideburns?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Pullman,” Tom said. “He does that,” Tom added, nodding toward the far side of the rubble where Wilson’s body lay.
“Is he still around?” funky beard guy asked. It wasn’t a bad question, not if the guy could get the best of Buffy.
“No,” Buffy said. She looked upset about it.
“He vanished before we had a chance to follow,” Willow added.
“So we’re back to square one,” Tom said. “No leads.”
“Oh,” Willow exclaimed. “Is one of you Tommy?”
Even Lizzie looked up at that. “You don’t recognize him?”
Willow and Buffy glanced at each other. “Um, no.”
“Should we?”
“It’s a thing they have,” Xander said. He wasn’t sure how to say that Tom and his friends thought they were famous without sounding like a jerk so he didn’t add any more.
“You’ve never heard of the Tommy Taylor books?” Lizzie asked.
The three of them shook their heads. “No.”
“That’s a relief,” Tom muttered.
“Why’d you want to know then?” beard guy asked.
“He, um that guy, left a message.”
“Buffy, Willow,” Xander said, pointing to each in turn, “meet Tom Taylor,” – he emphasized Tom since it seemed to be important to the guy – “Lizzy, and um …”
“Savoy,” beard guy said.
Savoy? Okay.
“Message? Tom asked.
“Growlersburg,” Buffy said.
“What?”
“He said tell Tommy: Growlersburg.”
“I’m supposed to know what that is?”
“Oh!” Willow almost bounced with excitement. She’d mellowed since Giles and Ethan had come to Sunnydale but she still loved knowing things. “It’s called Georgetown now. It’s gold country, located in the California Mother Load. Chunks of gold used to ‘growl’ in miner’s pants as they walked and so it was called Growlersburg.”
Lizzy wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. “Wilson wouldn’t have cared about gold.”
“What else is in this town?” Tom asked.
“Well, it’s pretty much just a town now. Nothing special that I know of.”
“Wait,” Lizzie said. “Weren’t other stones mined there, possibly something with a crucifix pattern?” Lizzie’s two friends startled at that.
“Oh sure,” Willow babbled. “Graphite forms a black cross-like image in chiastolite.”
“Tommy Taylor and the Winged Thing,” Savoy said.
“The Andalusian Cross,” Lizzie added.
Tom sighed and covered his face with one hand.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say … huh?” Buffy said.
“You really haven’t read the books.”
“We are so looking up these books when we get home,” Buffy said.
“Don’t bother,” Tom told her. When he got three glares in reply, he added, “I mean that they’re pretty well-known. They probably don’t exist in your world.”
“Was Wilson saying the Andalusian Cross is in Growlersburg?” Savoy asked. “And do we trust him enough to follow his lead?”
Tom shook his head. “He was never that direct. Growlersburg was probably just to lead us to the idea of the Andalusian cross. We still don’t know where it is.”
“Hey,” Xander said. “Before you go running off, looking for something you don’t know how to find, I think you owe us a favor.” Five pairs of eyes turned on Xander. “Look, we’ve got a friend, he’s missing, his life is in peril, and I’m just saying you wouldn’t even know about this cross-thing if it weren’t for us.”
“We don’t have time,” Lizzy said.
Buffy stepped forward and glared at the girl. “Xander’s right. You were chasing this Wilson guy but he wasn’t waiting for you. If it weren’t for us you’d be missing a pretty big clue right about now.”
“You did say you were at square one,” Willow added. “You’d still be there without us.”
“It’s our friend who doesn’t have time,” Buffy said. “Ethan has only hours to live. Hours. Maybe less.”
“We’re sorry about your friend,” Tom said. He looked like he was about to speak again but then he stopped and stared at Willow. “What’s she doing?”
Buffy and Xander spoke as one. “Resolve face.”
“May as well give up now,” Xander continued. “Nothing in the world can stand up to Willow’s resolve face.”
“Even if we did want to help,” Lizzie said. “Do you know how many worlds there are? He could be anywhere.” She paused, staring at Willow. “Anywhere. We’d love to help, really, but we don’t know where to look.”
“Giles has a way to find him,” Willow said. “He has a ring attuned to Ethan’s essence.”
“Where is this Giles?” Savoy asked.
Xander replied. “Back where we came from.”
Tom pulled out the map.
“Don’t you guys have any normal ways of getting around?” Xander asked. “I mean, travel by map isn’t terrible, but it is a bit ouchy when you hit the ground.”
“Hit the ground?” Willow asked.
Note: Yeah, I totally made up a title for a Tommy Taylor book.
Note: I had a bit of fun with Willow’s resolve-face at the end there. ;-)
Tom Taylor verse
The prison was on fire. Xander stepped back – so many bodies, none moving – and his foot gave way beneath him. He felt himself falling, floundering until a hand reached out and grabbed him, drawing him back through the portal.
“Never step through a doorway,” Lizzie shouted. “What if it had closed on you?”
Funky beard guy released Xander’s arm, and, whoa, that guy was stronger than he looked. “Lizzie, he didn’t mean it.”
“He said he could take care of himself.”.
“Hey, I can,” Xander said. “It’s just …” He gestured around the prison. “So many bodies.”
“Don’t people die where you come from?” Funky beard guy seemed genuinely curious.
“Sure, but it’s usually only one or two, and a lot of the time we don’t see them until they’ve been cleaned up in the morgue.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Lizzie said. “We have to find Wilson.”
“Hey, I’m good,” Xander said. “Let’s go.”
Lizzy and beard guy stared at Tom. “How would I know? If we knew why my Dad had come back here, maybe we could guess where he’d gone.”
Xander pointed to the wall that had half crumbled down. “Usually I just follow the path of the most damage.”
The other three shrugged. “It’s a plan,” funky beard guy said.
“Doesn’t make it a good plan,” Lizzie replied but she headed in that direction anyway.
They passed a bunch of open cells, but other than the dead bodies they didn’t see anyone. Xander wasn’t sure which was creepier, stepping over dozens of corpses or wondering what had happened to everyone else.
There was a shout ahead. “Hey!”
“Buffy.” Xander started running, glad that Tom and his friends were keeping up. He wasn’t sure how to get home without them. Up ahead, past more rubble, was a large area, open to the sky. It was night here too, although it seemed later here than it had in Sunnydale. Buffy was sitting on her butt as if she’d just fallen backwards. Willow stood with a hand over her mouth. At her feet was that old guy’s head, Wilson’s head, and past that a decapitated body. Remembering that Wilson was Tom’s father, Xander tried to stop him from climbing over the rubble – “You don’t want to see this.” – but Lizzie was the one who fell to her knees.
“Xander.” Buffy scrambled to her feet. She stared at them, obviously unsure what to do with a weeping girl, especially one she didn’t know. Funky beard guy – and he really had to get that guy’s name – dropped down to put an arm around Lizzie’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t us,” Willow blurted out. “Some man showed up out of nowhere, pulled out a wire, and decap …” She looked over at Lizzie who was still crying. “Um, maybe we should move this elsewhere?”
“Yeah,” Xander agreed, “somewhere not here would be of thegood. It was rather emptyish back the way we came.” They led Lizzie back to the other side of the rubble where Wilson couldn’t be seen.
“This man you saw,” Tom said.
“He was strong, unexpectedly strong,” Buffy said, rubbing her butt.
“Shortish, dark hair, sideburns?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Pullman,” Tom said. “He does that,” Tom added, nodding toward the far side of the rubble where Wilson’s body lay.
“Is he still around?” funky beard guy asked. It wasn’t a bad question, not if the guy could get the best of Buffy.
“No,” Buffy said. She looked upset about it.
“He vanished before we had a chance to follow,” Willow added.
“So we’re back to square one,” Tom said. “No leads.”
“Oh,” Willow exclaimed. “Is one of you Tommy?”
Even Lizzie looked up at that. “You don’t recognize him?”
Willow and Buffy glanced at each other. “Um, no.”
“Should we?”
“It’s a thing they have,” Xander said. He wasn’t sure how to say that Tom and his friends thought they were famous without sounding like a jerk so he didn’t add any more.
“You’ve never heard of the Tommy Taylor books?” Lizzie asked.
The three of them shook their heads. “No.”
“That’s a relief,” Tom muttered.
“Why’d you want to know then?” beard guy asked.
“He, um that guy, left a message.”
“Buffy, Willow,” Xander said, pointing to each in turn, “meet Tom Taylor,” – he emphasized Tom since it seemed to be important to the guy – “Lizzy, and um …”
“Savoy,” beard guy said.
Savoy? Okay.
“Message? Tom asked.
“Growlersburg,” Buffy said.
“What?”
“He said tell Tommy: Growlersburg.”
“I’m supposed to know what that is?”
“Oh!” Willow almost bounced with excitement. She’d mellowed since Giles and Ethan had come to Sunnydale but she still loved knowing things. “It’s called Georgetown now. It’s gold country, located in the California Mother Load. Chunks of gold used to ‘growl’ in miner’s pants as they walked and so it was called Growlersburg.”
Lizzy wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. “Wilson wouldn’t have cared about gold.”
“What else is in this town?” Tom asked.
“Well, it’s pretty much just a town now. Nothing special that I know of.”
“Wait,” Lizzie said. “Weren’t other stones mined there, possibly something with a crucifix pattern?” Lizzie’s two friends startled at that.
“Oh sure,” Willow babbled. “Graphite forms a black cross-like image in chiastolite.”
“Tommy Taylor and the Winged Thing,” Savoy said.
“The Andalusian Cross,” Lizzie added.
Tom sighed and covered his face with one hand.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say … huh?” Buffy said.
“You really haven’t read the books.”
“We are so looking up these books when we get home,” Buffy said.
“Don’t bother,” Tom told her. When he got three glares in reply, he added, “I mean that they’re pretty well-known. They probably don’t exist in your world.”
“Was Wilson saying the Andalusian Cross is in Growlersburg?” Savoy asked. “And do we trust him enough to follow his lead?”
Tom shook his head. “He was never that direct. Growlersburg was probably just to lead us to the idea of the Andalusian cross. We still don’t know where it is.”
“Hey,” Xander said. “Before you go running off, looking for something you don’t know how to find, I think you owe us a favor.” Five pairs of eyes turned on Xander. “Look, we’ve got a friend, he’s missing, his life is in peril, and I’m just saying you wouldn’t even know about this cross-thing if it weren’t for us.”
“We don’t have time,” Lizzy said.
Buffy stepped forward and glared at the girl. “Xander’s right. You were chasing this Wilson guy but he wasn’t waiting for you. If it weren’t for us you’d be missing a pretty big clue right about now.”
“You did say you were at square one,” Willow added. “You’d still be there without us.”
“It’s our friend who doesn’t have time,” Buffy said. “Ethan has only hours to live. Hours. Maybe less.”
“We’re sorry about your friend,” Tom said. He looked like he was about to speak again but then he stopped and stared at Willow. “What’s she doing?”
Buffy and Xander spoke as one. “Resolve face.”
“May as well give up now,” Xander continued. “Nothing in the world can stand up to Willow’s resolve face.”
“Even if we did want to help,” Lizzie said. “Do you know how many worlds there are? He could be anywhere.” She paused, staring at Willow. “Anywhere. We’d love to help, really, but we don’t know where to look.”
“Giles has a way to find him,” Willow said. “He has a ring attuned to Ethan’s essence.”
“Where is this Giles?” Savoy asked.
Xander replied. “Back where we came from.”
Tom pulled out the map.
“Don’t you guys have any normal ways of getting around?” Xander asked. “I mean, travel by map isn’t terrible, but it is a bit ouchy when you hit the ground.”
“Hit the ground?” Willow asked.