Title: Syrinx Author: Phoenixflame Rating: PG-13 Timeline: Set about three years after The Gift. Alternate universe, and already Jossed. Warning: Contains very pagan themes and imagery. Deal with it. Summary: After the Gift has been given, Dawn must struggle to understand what she is becoming... and what she is. Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Dawn. This fic is written as an exploration into the concept of the Key, Glory, and Buffy. Music Themes: Rosewynde's arrangements of Syrinx, and Mist Covered Mountains. Nocturne Melvin Lauf, Jr. None of these themes belong to me, but they fit very well into the mood of the story. syrinx n 1: a primitive wind instrument consisting of several parallel pipes bound together [syn: panpipe, pandean pipe] 2: the vocal organ of a bird. -From dictionary.com The birds against the April wind Flew northward, singing as they flew; They sang, "The land we leave behind Has swords for corn-blades, blood for dew." "O wild-birds, flying from the South, What saw and heard ye, gazing down?" "We saw the mortar's upturned mouth, The sickened camp, the blazing town! "Beneath the bivouac's starry lamps, We saw your march-worn children die; In shrouds of moss, in cypress swamps, We saw your dead uncoffined lie." -What the Birds Said, by John Greanleaaf Whittier The new Sunnydale Highschool shone with light, and laughter echoed through the halls. Decorations hung from the walls, musical notes shaped in cardboard and wrapped in silver and gold covered foil. People milled about, dressed in formal dresses and suits. Teachers wandered amidst the growing crowd, talking, gossiping, and telling lies to parents about how wonderful their children were, how talented, how clever. Willow and Tara stood side by side. Willow was dressed in a long velvet dress, moss-green. Her red hair was caught back in an elegant style. A silver and emerald pendant hung from her neck. Her lover wore a velvet dress with a pattern of a patchwork quilt worked in russet and a yellow the shade of dried corn-shucks. It had an empire waist and long sleeves. The parents and teachers were trying to avoid both. Sunnydale High liked to think of itself as very open, but the fact that the two were openly lesbian combined with the strange aura of power tended to make the parents extremely uncomfortable. "I wish Giles had been able to come." Tara murmured to Willow. "It's too bad he's got business with the Council. I know he'd love to hear Dawn." "I miss him too." Willow sighed, her face falling briefly. In truth, she was thinking about Xander and Anya, who had left Sunnydale a month after the tragedy. It had been Xander's ides. The good fight had taken too much from him, and when Anya had nearly been killed by a vampire, that had been the last straw. In an explosive confrontation, he had declared his intention to live a 'normal' life. The next morning, he was gone, and his apartment was on the market. "At least Spike's here somewhere." she replied, smiling at the thought. The bleach-blonde vampire had done a lot to make Dawn popular. He was overprotective, which meant he went wherever Dawn went at night, and kept her out of trouble. Willow had been to his crypt the night before. Spike had been grousing about the need to wear a tuxedo to attend the concert, but he had given in, as Willow knew he would. "He's probably in the wings, frightening the life out of the stage crew." Tara said, smiling mischeviously. "You're right." Willow shifted the expensive-looking purse she carried around a bit, and said "We'd better go in, and get a seat." "Okay." Tara and Willow walked into the auditorium, arm in arm. *** Dawn sat in front of the mirror, fiddling with her hair. "I can do this." she said to her reflection, hand dropping to trace the neckline of her dress. "I can do this. I've done this before." "'Course you can, pet." She shrieked, and whirled around, grabbing the perfume bottle on the small vanity. When she saw Spike, leaning against the door, she relaxed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, Spike!" She turned back around, pouting. "Big deal." Spike waved a hand. "You knew I was around." "You could have walked in on me naked!" Dawn glared at the mirror. Spike was leaning against the door, and it didn't show. She glared at the place he was supposed to be anyway, pouting slightly. "Waited until the sounds of dressing and underdressing stopped." Spike replied, lighting up a cigarrette. "Ewww! Put the cigarette out, Spike. I'm not going onto the stage smelling like cheap tobacco." Dawn groused. There was a knock on the door. "Dawn, are you okay?" called Claire, a fellow flute player. "I heard you scream." "I'm fine, Spike just scared the life out of me!" Dawn turned around and glared at Spike. He glared right back, mock-pouting at her. "Oooohh. Don't start anything, it's only ten minutes until the curtains go up." Claire called back. "Claire!" Dawn protested, voice rising. "Oops, your voice is aquiring an unpleasant whining tone. Seeya on stage!" Dawn heard receding footsteps. "Stop frowning, pet, your face will freeze like that." Spike advised her, waving the cigarette in the air. "Shut up, Spike." Dawn growled. "Get outta my way, I gotta get to the stage." She stomped past him, and out the door. Smirking, the blonde vampire followed her. *** On stage, the orchestra was playing a lovely version of the Nutcracker Main Theme. Tara and Willow sat in the audience, watching and listening. "Why are they playing that for their spring concert?" Tara murmured in Willow's ear. "Because it sounds nice." Willow whispered back. "And it's ending." As the Main Suite crashed to its end, the crowd clapped politely. Willow flipped open her program guide. "Okay, Dawnie's up next. She was really excited about this one." "And now," the band director said over the microphone, "We have a special treat. Our singer and floutist, Dawn Summers, will be playing Debussy's Syrinx." Dawn stepped forwards to the chair set in front of the microphone, and sat down. Raising her flute to her lips, she drew in breath, then began to play. The flute music didn't pipe like most of it did. Instead, it flowed through the vast auditorium, silken notes wrapping themselves around the audience. Tara held her breath, and Willow's head tilted back in appreciation, her eyes half closed. In the middle of a high D, Dawn's flute squeaked, and the screams started. Vampires threw open the doors. Willow surged to her feet, watching as vampires burst onto stage from the wings. Willow and Tara scrambled to her feet, and Willow opened her bag. She passed a stake to Tara, and grabbed a water pistol for herself. Aiming it at a vampire that held a woman behind her, she fired. A stream of holy water hit the vampire, who shrieked and let go of the woman long enough to claw at its eyes. Tara stabbed it with the stake. The two moved out into the aisle, making themselves targets. Willow grasped the pendant around her neck. "Brigid bright, lady of light, we summon thee to aid our fight!" Willow cried out. "I call thy fire to my hands, thy shield to my aid!" Her hands glowed a fiery red. "Tara, help Dawn!" she cried out, and dove towards another vampire, hands outstretched. Tara lifted her hands, and chanted "Eire, lady of the isles, I call to thee. Lend me thy power." She paused, then said "I stand within the wards, and nothing may pass!" She drew a pentagram in front of herself, and bands of rainbow energy crackled around her briefly. Swallowing down fear, the blonde ran towards the stage. Onstage, Dawn had jumped out of her seat, and ran for the small bag next to her chair in the flute section. Grabbing the 'perfume' out of it, she sprayed a vampire that held a clarinetist. The vampire screamed, and grabbed at the wound. Pulling a wooden cleaning rod with a sharpened end off, Dawn thrust it into his heart with all her might. He exploded into dust, releasing the clarinetist. With a roar, Spike grabbed a vampire who was sneaking up behind Dawn, and the two flew backwards off of the stage. Spike came back up a few seconds later, covered in dust. He jumped towards a vampire who was menacing a saxophone player. Tara ran up the steps near the side of the stage, and over to Dawn. "Are you okay, Dawnie?" she asked, her voice worried. "I'm fine." Dawn replied, her voice flat. "Good." Tara dug in her handbag, and came up with a vial of sand. Ignoring the fight with a vampire that Spike was having behind her, Tara sprinkled a ring of silvery powder around Dawn, murmuring words as she did.