information and disclaimers in part one =20
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Dreams? (2/11) By Neva
January 2000_
This certainly wasn't the first time she had been drawn to a pupil, but =
things were not going as Cassandra had expected them to. She felt =
almost completely drained. <I've got to find this person or I'll pass =
out from exhaustion. > The call of this budding immortal was incredibly =
strong; no effort was required on her part to keep the summons open. =
Instead she was struggling to keep her head from splitting open , and =
she couldn't sleep. Almost a thousand years ago, when drawn to her =
second student, Cassandra had had to constantly work to keep the link =
open for three days while she found the young man. She'd only had the =
initial burst of connection between them to locate him by. He hadn't =
been a very good student. =20
=20
She slid out of bed, rubbing her temples in a futile attempt to make the =
ache go away. <Two weeks and I still don't know where I'm going! I =
don't know anything about who I'm looking for! > The immortal witch =
walked into her bathroom, wincing at the glare of the hotel's cheap =
florescent lights. She looked in the mirror. After three thousand =
years her own powers could still surprise her. When the pull of a =
pre-immortal began two weeks ago she had expected visions to begin, =
filling her in on her new student's life, and she had also expected to =
find her or him within few days. That would have lined up with her two =
previous experiences. Cassandra hated going into this completely blind =
and unprepared. Instead of heading right where she was needed she was =
traveling west at random, hoping to somehow stumble across the right =
person and get rid of this persistent headache. Today's plane ticket =
would take her to New York. Europe hadn't held the person she was =
looking for.
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Not so much as a scrap of information had come through the link between =
them. Something was blocking the draw She corrected herself, <No, it's =
more like interference. If it was a complete block I would still be at =
home and wouldn't be living out of a suitcase. > The strength of the =
pull had not given her much time to pack. She abruptly turned away =
from the mirror and stepped into the shower, mentally preparing herself =
for her fifth plane trip of the past two weeks.=20
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The next evening_
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Cassandra sighed; her New York hotel room was almost an exact replica of =
her London hotel room. The only thing different was the color scheme. =
She was truly getting tired of hotel rooms. In general, she preferred =
to pick a spot where she could settle in for a couple of decades and =
then stay settled. She had managed to stay a lot longer than a decade or =
two in her cottage in Donan Woods. Cassandra had gotten her fill of the =
nomadic life centuries ago. It seemed, however, that the Goddesses had =
other ideas of what she should be doing right now.
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Unfortunately, the three thousand year old witch had known the minute =
she stepped off of the plane that New York wasn't far enough west. =
<Where are they sending me?! Alaska? > She had used the need to do a =
little basic shopping as an excuse to resist the call for a day or too =
and stay somewhere other than the airport hotel. A better hotel wasn't =
helping much; she still was unable to sleep for more then a few minutes =
without waking full of a strong urge to pack and get the next available =
flight to the Pacific coast. <That should be far enough west! > At =
eight in the evening, despite the exhaustion that made her want to do =
nothing but sleep, Cassandra left her hotel room. < I might as well =
walk. If nothing else, exercise tones down this stupid headache. > She =
pulled on clothing at random, grabbed her sword, and stalked out of the =
room, muttering under her breath in a language that very few people =
alive would have recognized.
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An hour later_
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The only thing that kept her from losing the fight in the first two =
minutes was the fact that Cassandra had accumulated so much practice =
with a sword that her motions were almost automatic. Going into a fight =
exhausted was a poor way to come out of it alive. She hadn't even been =
aware that she was being followed until a young Immortal had stepped out =
of the alley behind her hotel and challenged her. Fortunately, the =
shock of that had forced enough adrenaline into her system to be able =
to fight reasonably well. <I can't believe the call completely drowned =
out the sound of the buzz.> She was fighting nowhere near her usual =
standard, sticking to basic defenses and not even trying to get a =
opening on the man in front of her. Therefore, she wasn't winning but =
was uninjured. Her opponent was fast, but he was also young and only =
moderately skilled. In fact his sword-work was downright sloppy, but as =
tired as she was Cassandra could only defend herself. The fight dragged =
on in the snow and garbage filled alley for several minutes without any =
blood drawn.
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Cassandra's failure to fight offensively began to make her young =
opponent overly confident; he increased the ferocity of his attack, =
using fancier moves that he could perform only clumsily. The cold had =
slowed his motions. <There!> Without knowing it he gave Cassandra the =
opening she needed. <Let's see if you've ever seen this move before. > =
He lost his head a moment later. He looked surprised. =20
=20
Cassandra braced herself for the Quickening. Then the unexpected =
happened. As light began to fill the alley she felt her mind being =
pulled deeper into the link that had been drawing her west. She was =
almost unaware of the Quickening as bits of the other half of the link's =
mind flickered through her own. Bits of memory, half seen faces and =
blurry remembrances of events, flew through her mind. She couldn't =
separate what was coming from the Quickening and what coming through =
the link the Goddesses had created. As Cassandra began to pass out she =
caught a single unclouded thread of identity, which couldn't have =
belonged to the man she had just beheaded. The thread was a woman, and =
she was a witch. <Well that explains why they're so determined to have =
me train her,> she thought, and then she blacked out.=20
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Sunnydale_
=20
Angel, Giles, Xander, Buffy, Anya, Cordelia, and Doyle stood in a circle =
around a still sleeping Willow. Giles had firmly insisted they all take =
part in the spell, making it as strong as possible. Pungent smoke =
poured from a small bowl in his hands, filling the room. The group =
chanted softly until a soft green glow came and went. Once the room was =
dark the circle broke apart.
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"Do you think that will be enough?" Buffy asked quietly.
=20
"It should be," Giles replied, "I believe the link was tied to Willow's =
magical abilities. The binding will block her powers and, therefore, =
the link."
=20
Angel thought about this for a moment, considering the strength of =
Willow's powers. Strength that no one in this room knew about besides =
him. <Maybe I should have told them, but it's too late now anyway.> =
"Will it hurt her?"=20
=20
Every eye in the room turned to Giles. He spoke quietly, "No it won't. =
Although it might make her a bit uncomfortable to not use her abilities. =
I am hoping that we will find something in our research to tell us =
where this link is coming from so we can eliminate the link itself."
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"Then let's get to work." Giles flinched back a little from the =
intensity of Angel's dark eyes and the combination of barely withheld =
anger and worry in his voice. The Watcher hadn't realized, even with =
the tense exchange earlier, how close Willow and Angel had become over =
the last year. He only hoped it would not result in an outright battle =
between Buffy, Xander, and Angel. That was the last thing any of them =
needed on the Hellmouth.
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New York, morning_
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Cassandra woke up more refreshed and alert than she had been for days. =
After a couple of moments she also realized that she was still behind a =
dumpster in the alley, freezing cold. <Oh Goddess, the pull is =
completely gone.> In shock and puzzling over the meaning of its sudden =
absence she quickly hid the body of her opponent, still nameless, in the =
dumpster. Sneaking up an old fire escape and breaking a widow lock she =
was able to get back to her room without attracting unwanted attention. =
A hot shower took care of the cold that sleeping in alley in the middle =
of winter had caused. All through this she puzzled over what would =
cause the break in the link.=20
=20
<It might have been the Quickening. Sharing it like that may have been =
enough of a disruption to sever it. She probably was pretty frightened =
by it too. > Cassandra realized she had picked up a bit more =
information during that moment of shared minds besides female and witch. =
The person she'd touched was young, barely more than a girl. Cassandra =
knew somehow that the girl had been aware of her during the Quickening. =
The sharing hadn't been one sided. =20
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Cassandra picked up the phone. She was now going to need outside help, =
and she knew one person who might be willing to give her the information =
she needed. <Finding her is going to be a real trick without the link to =
pull me in the right direction. >=20
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"Hello, Joe's Bar?"
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"Joe, it's Cassandra."
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"Oh, do you want me to give the phone to Duncan?" Music and voices could =
be heard in the background.
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"No, you're the one I need to talk to. I need your help. What do you =
know about any really new Immortals in Northern America, or people who =
are under watch as potentials?"
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"Um, why do you need the information. I'm not really supposed to just =
hand it out." Joe's voice was somewhere between suspicious and =
confused.
=20
"Well, it's is a very long story. . ."
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to be continued . . .
