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| by Mazzy |
| DISCLAIMER: The characters are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television and Kuzui Enterprises. While this is an original storyline, it is borne from the events and storyline/episodes owned by the aforementioned parties. (SEASON 6 �: The following takes place after the events of Season 6 �Grave� and prior to the upcoming season 7 episodes) INT. SUMMER�S HOUSE, WILLOW�S ROOM--NIGHT Willow is in her room packing up some stuff in a heavy green duffle. Xander is on the bed, poking at her bag and inspecting all the niceties she�s throwing in there. XANDER Shoe polish? You�re taking Shoe polish on a camping trip? Willow grabs it from his hand. WILLOW It�s part of the travel pack. It came with a brush and also toothpaste and floss, and oh yeah, a toothbrush. You know the Boy Scout motto �Be prepared.� XANDER You were never a boy scout Will. WILLOW Yeah but I wanted to be. XANDER So you think this is a good thing? These peeps that are running the show at this� (He picks up the flyer on the bed to read it) �soul immersion sleep-away camp. They�re good people? WILLOW Well I only met with the director, my yoga lady. She gave me the flyer. And she was way cool under pressure when the demon disrupted class, so she must be really good at the inner calm thing. But it just seems like something else I can try to help me sort things out. You know I�ve got a lot to sort out still, right? XANDER (He puts his hand gently on hers.) Yeah, I know, but you�ve already come pretty far. WILLOW After what with Tara, and what I did... I thought I�d crumble. And I really did. But you were there to sweep up my pieces and put me back together. If it hadn�t been for you and Buffy, I wouldn�t have gotten through the funeral. (she gets choked up) And all these weeks. I wouldn�t have gotten this far. You guys� XANDER You�d do the same. Even if you don�t believe it yourself, you would. WILLOW Thanks, but I�m not complete. I know I got a ways to go. Maybe Sunnydale�s just given me a little cabin fever? I need to be away from here for awhile. Away from all the reminders. She moves to the dresser and picks up a music box. She winds it. It plays Edelweiss. Willow touches the box lovingly as the music continues before slowly winding down. WILLOW This was hers. It�s kinda corny and I used to tease her about it, but she loved it. She got it from her Mom when she was a little girl. Xander moves up behind her and puts his arms around her comfortingly. He turns her to him. XANDER It�ll be okay. Some things are nice to remember. They hold each other for a moment and Willow breaks away WILLOW Ok, you�re bringing me down Xan-man. To moving on, right? Forgetting the past and surging ahead to brighter frontiers. Speaking of, well actually no, �cause this has nothing to do with that, but do you think you guys will be okay dealing with this changeling demon. XANDER It should be okay, you�re only gonna be gone for a few days. What could happen in a few days? (He thinks for a minute) Forget I said that. Nah, don�t worry. Buffy can handle it. She�s good with the coping these days, back to handling pretty much anything. INT. SUMMERS HOME, ENTRYWAY Buffy enters the Summers house and quietly tiptoes up the steps to her room. She spies the light on down the hall, but dashes in her room, trying not to be heard. She locks the door behind her and keeps the light off. She slowly opens her closet door and reaches into the way back to pull out an object. It�s Spike�s leather coat. She pulls it out and holds it up to smell it. Half crying, half exhilarated. She inhales. She puts it on, and moves to the bed and lies down. She lies there, her hands running through her hair, arms spread out on her comforter, remembering something. She inhales deeply. Then lifts herself up suddenly from the bed and moves off it quickly. BUFFY Oh Buffy, this is no good. Gotta stop with the fantasizing over your former ex-demon, bad-boy lover. It�s been 2 months 1 week and 5 days. Time to move on. (She closes her eyes and calms herself) He too shall pass. He too shall pass. She quickly takes off the coat and moves to the closet to put it back. She stumbles over a messy pile of clothes, and causes a bit of a ruckus knocking some things. INT. WILLOW�S ROOM Willow and Xander hear a noise, disrupting their conversation. WILLOW What was that? XANDER It sounded like it came from� WILLOW Buffy�s room! Alarmed, the two dash out into the hallway and to Buffy�s room. WILLOW Buffy? They try the door. The lights are still out. WILLOW It�s locked. XANDER Stand back He steps back a bit and moves to dash into the door and break it down. As he makes contact, the door swings open and Xander falls down on the ground whilst knocking the door off a hinge. Willow sees Buffy standing in the room. The coat is nowhere in sight. WILLOW Buffy, what are you doing? In the dark? When did you get back? BUFFY Oh, just now�from my one-vamp-stake patrol. I um, actually thought you were sleeping, so I uh, tried to be quiet and do with the tip toe. Don�t you have to be up early tomorrow for your Woodstock retreat? WILLOW I�m just finishing packing. XANDER Hello people! Floor here; me on it. Wanna throw me an arm? BUFFY Oh, sorry. The girls get him to his feet. XANDER Yowza. That door broke me. Look at this scrape. (shows them his bleeding arm.) See, look! They nod in acknowledgment. BUFFY Unfortunately, the door can�t fix itself. So when you�re done with your own patchwork, wanna grab a hammer? XANDER That�s sympathy? He sulks down the hall, holding his arm gingerly. And I'd use a Phillips screwdriver anyway! BUFFY (to Willow) So, are you excited for this rendezvous? WILLOW It�s supposed to be cool. They chant and make the soul feel all-goody and well, I could use a lot of that. I mean, baking you guys dozens of cookies isn�t gonna make things right again. Not for what I did. BUFFY Will, you know I support you in whatever you need. You�re my best friend. (she puts her hand on her shoulder) You got lost. And yeah, it was really scary, but I know you�ll find your way back. The girls hug. BUFFY So get some sleep, and go on this retreat. I�ll see you in a few days. WILLOW Thanks. Willow begins to walk down the hall. Buffy calls after her. BUFFY And Willow, get better �cause I kinda need you. INT MAGIC SHOP--DAY Dawn and Anya stand by a bookshelf. Books are in piles all around. They look through them trying to get more info on the demon. DAWN So this creature, this changey-demon, it�s here for a specific reason? ANYA What I found out was that changeling demons can only come to this dimension if they�re summoned. The question is, who summoned it, and what do they want? DAWN (defensive) It wasn�t me! ANYA Oh, I know sweetie. No, from what Buffy told me, it came directly to her. It must want her. Maybe some crazy vamp brought it here to take care of the Slayer. Buffy said the demon was rambling about taking responsibility or something, like something Buffy did. Maybe when she died? The second time, I mean. DAWN Well whatever it wants, we�re not gonna figure it out from looking through these books. Dawn dumps one unceremoniously to the ground. ANYA Hey! You break; you buy! DAWN Sorry. Dawn picks it up, dusts it off and places it gently on the shelf. DAWN Buffy saw no sight of it on her patrol last night. I guess if it wants her, it�s gonna have to come and find her. ANYA Oh, it will. These things are on a mission, and it won�t stop �til it finds what it came after. DAWN Hmm, it must be weird. ANYA (looks up quickly from her book) What�s that? DAWN You know, being a demon again, but not all demon-y ANYA (defensive) What do you mean by that? Dawn flustered, closes her book and steps away protectively. DAWN Well, I just mean that. Oh, you know. All that time you were a human and you didn�t really like it all that much, and now you�re back to what you were, but you�re not, ya know? ANYA (reflective) Huh, I never quite thought about it like that before. Are you saying I should be doing more vengeance? A few spells, give someone some lesions? DAWN No. NO! But it�s like you have all this power inside you and you�re barely using it. ANYA (looks at Dawn knowingly) Kind of like you, right? EXT. WOODED HILL-- DAY It is the same spot where the previous group was chanting around the campfire. Willow has her camping gear and approaches the hill smiling at the crowd. It is the same crowd that was chanting before, the crowd that was seemingly attacked. A pleasant looking woman approaches her. It is the Meditation Instructor/GROUP LEADER. GROUP LEADER Willow Rosenberg? She sees Willow in the crowd. Willow smiles back at her. The Group Leader looks down at her clapboard and makes a mark on it. GROUP LEADER So glad you can join us today. We�ve been waiting for you and we have lots of very exciting soul searching activities lined up for the weekend. Let�s not waste any time. Come and meet our group. The woman leads her over to the circle of members who each get up and shake her hand in turn. EXT. NEARBY WOODS�DAY A distance away. Something or someone is watching the group. We do not see who it is, but we hear its breathing. INT. MAGIC SHOP--LATE DAY Xander and Buffy have joined Dawn and Anya. They�re not nose deep in books anymore, but Dawn skims through one. Xander is eating a chocolate chip cookie and the rest of the Scoobs sit around comfortably. Anya paces. It�s clear they�ve been brainstorming over a puzzle. ANYA Ok, so it said �No deed will go unpunished?� What exactly does that mean? BUFFY Darned if I know. Buffy approaches Xander and breaks off a huge piece of the enormous cookie he�s snacking on. XANDER Hey! BUFFY Sharing is caring. DAWN Oooh, then can I have a piece too? Buffy breaks her piece in half and gives it to Dawn. ANYA C�mon you guys, we�re getting close I can feel it. XANDER Hon�Anya, with all due respect, we�ve been trying to figure this out for hours and until Mr. Bat guy or whatever he decides to be today shows up, we�re living in the land of no clues. ANYA So what do you suggest we do, dangle Buffy outside the shop like a piece of meat? BUFFY Hey! XANDER No, that would be too easy. How about making a sign that says �Slayer in here�. Then we can just ask the demons to get in line �til we get to the bottom of this. BUFFY Hey!! DAWN Listen you guys. Anya was onto something. She said before that the demon has to be summoned. Buffy and Xander look directly at Dawn. DAWN No, I didn�t do anything! I swear. Here look! Check out this book. It says here changeling demons are summoned by those who seek revenge against their persecutors to wreak havoc in the dimension where they were wronged. XANDER Huh? DAWN Don�t you get it? BUFFY (raises her hand) Yes, I do! They�re summoned to the dimension where the persecutors were wronged. That doesn�t necessarily mean they were summoned by someone from this dimension! DAWN Right! BUFFY Oh, so then do I get another cookie? XANDER Wait a minute. You�re saying that this changeling guy was sent here by someone from another dimension? ANYA Oh yeah! Now I remember. The three look directly at Anya now with a bit of disdain. XANDER What? You suddenly remember something important? ANYA Yeah, well the few, uh, instances, I had with changeling demons were when we were hanging out and they were in their un-summoned states. I remember this one demon, Cosmo, he was in between gigs, but he was telling me that he was once summoned here by a tortured soul to go after his murderer. BUFFY So, you�re saying it�s possible that this demon was summoned by a dead person? ANYA That�s it! BUFFY But who did I kill? There�s a rustle at the door and a figure bursts in, almost on fire. It is a man in black and he is misty, smoky. It is a familiar site, almost too familiar, even though there is something �off� about it. BUFFY (almost breathless) Spike? But the figure stands erect and immediately begins to transform into a huge wolf-like creature. A pointed snout, close-set blackened eyes and pointed ears make up its head. It stands up on its hind legs; long muscled front legs lead to sharp sturdy claws. Instead of flapping wings, an extensive furred tail sweeps from behind knocking into the stacks and creating chaos. Anya yelps at the mess being created. The wolf-like demon howls, its sounds echo through the expansive room. XANDER And there we have it. No sign required. The Scoobs scatter to take cover and look for weapons. Buffy is at the ready to fight. DEMON We sense a presence here. She is responsible and she will pay for her sins. Buffy grabs a sword from a nearby case and lashes at the creature, but it is too quick, too spry. It howls at her, but does not attack. A fight ensues, with Buffy heading off the main and Dawn attacking the rear attempting to damage its tail by hurling heavy objects at it. It is a dangerous battle as the wolf demon leaps from the ground to the counter, knocking Dawn off her feet and into a bookcase which crashes down on her. XANDER (runs to Dawn) Dawn! Anya has armed herself with a spell book and begins to speak words. ANYA As the moon comes from the sun, And the day becomes night. You will soon be gone, Creature be cast from our sight. DEMON We will find her. She will pay. The creature lets out one last howl before it *poofs* away and the Scoobs collect themselves. XANDER You guys wanna give me a hand here? He moves the books off of Dawn. BUFFY Dawn! Is she ok? XANDER Maybe a broken arm. I can take her to the hospital. DAWN It�s ok. I�ll be ok. XANDER We should probably get her checked out. ANYA Buffy, you caught that right? BUFFY (distracted) What do you mean? ANYA That demon, that changeling, was full of vengeance. And it�s not after you. BUFFY Huh? ANYA It�s come for Willow. COMMERCIAL BREAK |
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| Part 2 |