taxonomites | Entries tagged with { willow rosenberg

Take my hand.

Despite all she had been through, something in those words broke through the mental cage the witch had Azkadellia trapped with. All that she had witnessed second hand and through a fog and yet now she could see something more. More importantly, she could feel more. The sensation of emotion flood through her and for a moment the annuals seemed to have melted into nothing. Suddenly it was Azkadellia herself standing there in the light, the emerald ablaze about her neck and Ambrose's brilliant device twisted and on the verge of bringing darkness forever to the O.Z. Grown and hated by so many and yet the young girl that had lost herself to the witch's power that fateful day in the woods.

Reaching out, she could feel the witch fighting her, the rage buffeting her like a wild storm, tossing her about even as hands that were her own and yet unknown to her brushed against DG's. Clasping tight, holding onto that lifeline as she felt it. That sudden snap as the witch lost her hold, driven out by their magic joined. Stumbling from the dais, staring into DG's so pale eyes and then there was another wrenching, the world shifting as if the entirety of the Outer Zone was turned on its head. Then blackness.

Azkadellia came to in a small room that looked nothing like any place she knew in the Tower. Metal above, everything so different from her chambers, from that balcony where she stood during the eclipse, the darkness bathing over her

as the witch changed her world. Now her world had changed again.

"Don't let go!"

The words came from her lips before she could stop herself, scrambling to her feet. Heavy boots thudded on the floor as she looked around, gilded bodice gleaming as she turned quickly, looking for answers, looking for an exit, looking for one thing.

"Deeg?! Where are you?" Voice rising as she checked the walls, seeking a door though she found nothing but a table with a small device. The screen lit up, a small dot on a map blinking at her. Hand trembling, Azkadellia snatched it from the table, spinning on heel as the door slid open behind her.

"Hello?" She paused, peering at the door before taking a quick step toward it. Another careful step, eyes narrowing slightly. "Is anyone out there," she called, ignoring the tablet in her hands though viewing screens of a magical nature weren't entirely new to her. "Deeg? Anyone? Can you hear me?"

Another step toward the door, fingers clutching the tablet. Her lower lip quivered as she stepped out of the room and hurried along the hall, whispering under her breath.

"I swear, I didn't let go."

((ooc: For those that did the arrival on the voice test, feel free to handwave to outside the building, ie DG obvs.))

tothelightshown

Last time, it had happened in an instant. The witch had closed her eyes and, a moment later, DG had opened her own.

This time, however, everything was different. The witch had realised too late that she'd been a fool to send her trusted mobats out after the escaped Glitch. He couldn't do her any harm in his damaged state and the pain that his half existence caused to whatever remained of DG was palpable. Still, what was done was done. Every death weakened her, but the witch held on and her army increased in size by the hour. The formerly palatial palace of the Northern Island had been turned into a fortress.

( When the tablet switched on, it showed the witch turning her back as a dead long coat fell to the floor next to three other expired soldiers. )

geniusforgotten

If the sudden shift in scenery had not been enough to irritate the, admittedly easily ruffled, vampire, the strange bracelet on his wrist certainly was. Wrapping his fingers around his wrist, he instinctively tried to remove the device, having little success. With a distinctive low growl, he stalked toward the pedestal and the (phone?) laying atop it. He wanted answers. Snatching the tablet from its resting place, he glared at the screen.

"This is not acceptable!"

The blinking message indicator caught his attention, and for a moment, his anger was diverted, his frown deepening as he read. Finally, he closed the document, leaning his elbow on the pedestal casually as he studied the device. Yes, he had discovered it was recording him. He was still glaring, but his anger was slightly less alarming.

"Couldn't we have managed without the jewelry? It doesn't match my suit." He looked back toward the platform he had arrived on, then back at the tablet in his hand. "But never mind that, I'll think of something."

And then he was grinning again. "But since we're all here, allow me to introduce myself. Nikola Tesla. Genius, inventor," and here there was a pause, mostly for effect, "vampire."

With that, he turned his attention to the strange blinking indicator directing him to another location in the city. "I wonder where you're taking me."

loves_bitch

Buffy invited Spike to live in the castle.

So, here he is, at the castle door. Maybe he should have checked the tablet thingy to see if Buffy was here before he showed up but he didn't exactly have a lot of things to pack. In fact, he has a suitcase that seems to have had a hard time recently and nothing else.

So, does anyone hear it if you knock on a castle door? He hasn't been in a castle in a significant number of years and doesn't recall having knocked when he was in on last. He needs a cigarette in the worst way.

tothelightshown

A long time ago - so long ago, in fact, the history had long since turned into myth - the Wicked Witch of the West, as she was known to her enemies, had been the most powerful being in Oz. (The wizard had been all show and Glinda had been all light. Without help, they would never have been able to defeat her.) She had been content with her domains in the west, ruling the Winkies with an iron fist and conducting occasional magical experiments with her sister. It was the arrival of that damned girl, Dorothy Gale, that changed everything.

The girl killed - murdered - her beloved sister before setting off along the yellow brick road with three Ozian companions. The witch could have killed her immediately, of course. Would have killed her immediately, if it hadn't been for the shoes. Her sister's shoes. Powerfully magical shoes that couldn't be removed by force. She captured the child easily enough. From that point on, it should only have been a matter of time. The child was lucky, however, and her friends were indomitable. Although the water that Dorothy had thrown wasn't enough to kill her, it was enough to destroy her body. The witch - or what remained of her, at least - sank into the rocks beneath her palace.

( For several long and agonising centuries, she waited. )

Later, DG - or someone who looked very like DG, except for the tattoos on her chest and the dangerous gleam in her bright blue eyes, appeared on the tablet. She was sitting in what was unmistakably a throne, flanked by armed soldiers dressed in black and smiling as she addressed her fellow prisoners.

There was no need for secrecy now. Glitch had been cleverer and quicker than she'd expected. He'd managed to get a warning out before she'd taken him to heel. No matter. The people in the city had one obvious and potentially fatal weakness. A great many of them loved DG. They knew that they wouldn't be able to harm the witch without harming her.

"Hello, Taxon. It's been a long time since my last visit, but the city is just as I remember it. A city of wasted opportunities."

Her smile widened.

"I'm looking forward to meeting you all. You may call me DG. For now."

imperial_long

"Good morning, Taxon," sighs a voice familiar to some, not so much to others. The voice is deep, resonant and has a marked British accent, pronunciation straight out of Oxford. It's perhaps at slight odds with the face of the middle-aged man on the screen, which is dark-skinned but very Asian in appearance. If hard to identify exactly which part of Asia.

Mayland Long looks a bit tired. The signs are subtle, but there for those who care to see-- a certain strained quality about the eyes, around the corners of his mouth. His usually immaculate dress shirt is a touch wrinkled.

"I apologise for my absence the last few weeks, especially in the midst of the rather horrific goings-on we were having early at the time. I found myself in need of a bit of space to think." What with having come back from the dead and all.

"To those of you who have arrived while I was off 'finding myself', my sincere apologies for not assisting you in orienting yourselves to the city. My name is Mayland Long. I have compiled a sort of guide which I try to offer to new arrivals, in the hopes it will be useful. If any of you would like this file, please do not hesitate to ask, and I shall send it forthwith.

"Unrelatedly, it appears I am looking for another place to live. The aliens, while kind enough to bring me back following the accident, seem to have seen fit to have taken away the things I brought with me. I am mourning the loss of several thousand books, as well as the lesser grievance of my wardrobe, a very nice teapot, and a truly comfortable bed. Drinks in commiseration would not be refused. Suggestions of interesting buildings will be happily accepted. Thank you."

Long hesitates, then. His long, spidery fingers hover over the tablet. It will not be much work, to open a communique to Gwen. Not much work at all. And they should talk. Really.

He stares down at the tablet's sleek screen for several seconds, then shakes his head and terminates the transmission.

There is always tomorrow. Taxon gives its prisoners more time than they wish, in his opinion.

build

She sure didn't expect this to happen after she took that leap off the building. She had actually hoped (or more expected) she would have woken up in another layer (which one, she honestly didn't care). So when she woke here (in some place she clearly hadn't designed) her eyes went wide, as all the air suddenly left her chest. Which in turn, left her with a fear like no other.

This can't be limbo, can it?

"Hello." She called out almost hesitantly. Her voice clearly tinged with a panic that something such as this would allow. "Cobb?" He had to be here – he would know what is going on – he would help get her out of this. But a moment later and there was no sign of anyone - not Arthur, not Eames, not even Mal.

It only takes a moment of quickly deliberation on her part and she was jumping off the platform, letting her eyes quickly scan over the entire area as she slowly started circling it.

Yeah, this wasn't something she would have designed – it was almost sci-fi.

"Okay." She says sounding slightly, as she is then taking notice of the pedestal and what appears to be an item placed on it. What the heck kind of dream is this?

Her curiosity clearly gets the better of her then, as she is quickly moving towards it. Only to let her hands lightly brush over the device, almost as if she is waiting for something to happen to it as she does. A moment later (after nothing appears to happen) she is picking up the device, fumbling with the buttons as she does.

"Directions. That would be nice." She mumbles clearly frustrated over it all, as her thumbs continue fumbling with it all the while. Not even remotely aware she may be being watched by all those currently on the network.

"Hello?" She finally says, letting a ting of hope show in her tone as she does. She knew she was taking a shot in the dark by asking for help here. But it’s clear, she has no idea just who or what was behind this and she could really use some guidance right about now.

"Can someone help me here?"

And wake me up.

aintnoconvict

Right, this needed doing. Glitch ran his fingers over his zipper, made sure his collar was smooth, then turned on his tablet.

"Good morning, fellow citizens of Taxon," he began. "I know most of you but for the few I don't: I'm called Glitch, I've been here two and a half annuals - years - and...that means I've been here longest. There were others before but they've all been sent home so now there's just me." Pause. "And DG and Drusilla, we all came around the same time. But the point is--"

Oh this was awkward. He walked toward his workbench. "I'm a scientist - chemistry and physics, mostly, but I dabble - a mechanic, and an inventor. In my homeland I was the queen's head adviser and...and I want to help here. I've been here a long time and and I know a lot of stuff and I know we don't really have leaders here but...I think I'm qualified."

That seemed like a good moment to sit down, which he did after setting the tablet on the table. Predictably the action was accompanied by a distinctly flatulent sound. Glitch's eye went wide, his pale cheeks turned rosy, and he leaped up again to inspect the chair. With a sigh he snatched up a deflated whoopee cushion and glanced upward.

"Funny." He sat down again, carefully, and cleared his throat. "Not that I'm declaring myself king of town here or anything, I just feel responsible. For stuff. So if there's anything you want to know about what happens or has happened in Taxon, ask me. Or DG. You can try Dru but it'll probably be stuff about star pixies or whatever. If you'd rather do so in person, I'm in the shop all day-- oh! Scott, there was the thing about the crystal, right? Now's a good time for that. And, um, one more thing, on a kinda selfish note."

He held up the whoopee cushion. "Can we...maybe not call the weird stuff that happens glitches anymore? It predates me being here but I can't tell you what it's like having your name associated with stupid pranks or your friends turning evil and hurting people."

tothelightshown

DG was dreaming.

It wasn't the first time that she'd journeyed to the O.Z while she slept, but this particular dream was unusually vivid. She wasn't a child running through the forest with her sister. She wasn't practicing magic under Tutor's watchful eye or listening to her mother singing a lullaby. The familiar and somewhat hazy mixture of memory and imagination had been replaced by stark images of a grey and barren world bathed in permanent darkness.

The same thing had happened for three nights in a row and, each time she fell asleep, the voice in her head grew a little louder.

You broke your promise. You let go. After everything that you said and everything that you've done, you abandoned your sister again.

"No! It wasn't like that!"

It had been the city. Taxon had taken her away from the O.Z. She'd never stop fighting to get back home. Back to Azkadellia.

It doesn't matter. Soon, there will be nothing left for you to hold on to.

I'll get you, my pretty. You and all your little friends.

She woke with a start. For a long moment, she lay perfectly still, staring up at the ceiling with wide blue eyes and her heart hammering in her chest. Eventually, she sat up and sighed, pressing the heal of her hand to her eyes.

"This is starting to get weird."

In Taxon, that was never a good sign.

skysung

Kitten was roaming the city, looking for people. She had been going a little stir crazy lately. The dragon missed her family and her partner in crime. Long's death helped things not at all. Kitten had liked the man immediately, and his presence was a staple of her time in Taxon.

She had no destination in mind, so she decided to make a full round of the area. Kitten was curious how large their prison actually was. Knowing that it didn't make sense to do a circuit of the city on foot, she warily climbed into one of the trains. If her captors wanted further control of the prisoners, they had plenty of opportunity. Stepping into the vehicle would make things neither better nor worse.

When it started to move, Kitten forgot her apprehension, rapt gaze locked on the city passing outside the windows. She spared a moment's attention to probe the vehicle for magic, whistling and waiting for spelled areas to light up. Kitten was all the more intrigued when none did. It was entirely mechanical, then? The tram was so far ahead of transportation methods in her own home that the dragon had no idea how it might work. Kitten would never forget that she was a prisoner here, but there was so much to learn that she was as content as she could be while trapped. Dragons didn't take well to locks or barriers, but she devoured knowledge with endless curiosity.

Every so often, the dragon exited the train at a stop, investigating the nearby area. She visited the outskirts of every district for at least a little while, planning to spend the entire day on explorations. She stayed longer in an area if she met anyone interesting while she stopped there.

When Kitten finally reached her starting point again, she got on a tram headed back toward the center of Taxon. Kit brought her tablet back to its regular size, separating it from the bracelet on her wrist. She opened the map, now that she had a better idea of its scale, and noticed arrows leading her somewhere. She snatched the tablet from the seat next to her and left the tram at her next opportunity, following the indicators on her map. They led her to the gates of a castle, and Kitten looked up at the structure, bewildered. Why had she been led here?

Kitten knew castles well enough to know that unless someone were near the door, knocking would be useless. She tried it anyway, waiting a moment for answer before whistling the door open with a spell. She must have been directed here for a reason, and the dragon wanted to know what it was.

thornandmoss

Briar buried each of his hands in a jar of the temple's medicine supply, green energy flowing from his fingers into the dried plants. The medicines were due for a renewal, and this would double their strength. They would be needed.

The Yanxing emperor had decided his empire was not vast enough, and his troops were coming. A temple might be a terrible thing to target, but it was a strategically sound one. Living Circle temples were centers for mages and healers, and they would be as vital to the defense of Gyongxe as civilian militia. Briar's first priority was always Rosethorn and Evvy, but doing everything he could to help temple mages and healers survive the onslaught came in a close second. Time was limited, and he set aside his current jars to move on to the next pair.

Bells rang, a warning rather than a call to service. Briar's head snapped up. Extending his magic through the network of plants in and around the temple, Briar withdrew as several of them died. The temple was burning. Where were Rosethorn and Evvy?

Briar ran toward the fires rather than away, keeping an eye out for Rosethorn's familiar green magic as he went. She would always be where she could do the most good, unless she were looking out for someone. He stopped very briefly to pull a jar of burn salve and three cloth-wrapped balls of thorn seeds from the kit slung over his back, then broke into a sprint. He had to find them.

slayersidekick

It had been almost a month since Willow had woken up, bleeding and in pain, with memories she hadn't had the night before. She'd recovered quite a bit since then, due to the help of so many people. She knew she needed to thank them, let the important people know that she was all right. So she turned on the tablet, setting it to voice only, and got to work.

"Just wanted to let everyone know I'm okay now. No more blood and ickiness. I-I've kinda been... MIA for a month. The whole healing thing. Takes a while."

She paused for a moment.

"But uh... thanks, everyone, for supporting me. Waking up remembering new things is weird. Um... who else has had that before? A-and has it happened more than once?"

A few moments later, she set up a private filter to DG.

"Hey, DG? A-are you... up for that talk now?"

electro_girl

At first, blue light fills the tablet screen, flickering in and out and making little buzz buzz noises. When it zooms out, two pale hands are visible, and the electricity bounces in the air between Gwen Raiden's palms. Now the tablet focuses in on Gwen, whose way of battling stir-craziness is to make pretty blue light shows with her hands. She's reclined on her couch, sinking into the cushion with her feet relaxed in front of her. The palms of her hands are facing each other, and jagged streams of blue light fizz in and out in the gap between them. She looks concentrated, her eyes not wavering from where the bits of electricity are generated, but she's not focused. She's somewhere far, far away. After a while, the light show tends to lose its shine. After a few decades, it's pretty much like throwing a ball up and down, up and down.

And then it seems to be over. There's one last, dying flicker of blue lightning, and then nothing but air. Gwen's hands still hover, but the electricity's gone.

Now her eyes focus, and Gwen returns. She leans up from her reclining position, her legs swinging up over the table and down to the floor. She wiggles her fingers, moves her hands apart and close together. "Okay," she murmurs, her brow furrowed in confusion and suspicion and a little bit of worry. "What's the game?"

As if struck by some idea, she stands up, walks to the other end of the room, and puts her bare hand to a light switch.

Nothing happens, and this might seem ordinary to most Taxon residents, but Gwen looks like she woke up with purple skin. She moves to another part of the room and touches something, and then another, and then another, and when the tablet finally catches her eye again, her brow has softened, her eyes are bright and wide, and her lips are pressed into the most ecstatic smile Taxon's ever seen.

"I can't believe it," she says, aloud, incredulous. She lets out a short laugh. "It's gone."

[OOC: Beginning of Gwen's glitch! No more electricity what could go wronnnngg?]

buffy_slayer

Buffy can't help but muse upon the unfairness of the universe in general, sitting on the curb across from the very familiar house.

There'd been those blinking arrows on her tablet since she'd arrived, and so one afternoon she decides to find out where it led. Taking the Orbis line, she keeps her focus mostly on the tablet, with the occasional glance around to make sure she wasn't going to run into something, or someone.

And then she was there, and everything shifts, like the world has shaken itself free and then settled back.

And so she sits rather ungracefully on that cold concrete, barely feeling it. The universe, she's decided, has a wicked sense of humor that is rarely funny to anything other than itself. No more evident than when she's sitting in front of what appears to be her mother's house, seemingly destroyed when Sunnydale fell into a gaping cavern.

Whole, complete, and Buffy just can't make herself walk up those front stairs, cross that porch, and find out what might be inside.

hawksandbullets

Lt. Riza Hawkeye was out on patrol again tonight. She wasn't expecting to find anything, though looking around really couldn't hurt. There was still a chance her captors have missed something, or that there was a weak point in their defenses that could lead to gaining valuable information somehow. You had to start somewhere, right?

The time Riza has been here has been spent on finding a place to stay and obtaining a job. She happened to find some cheap apartments strangely similar to her own back in Central. For now, she's also taken a job at a local coffee shop. Certainly not in her normal line of work, but it would do. She would get paid enough to take care of herself and Black Hayate, and she had plenty of free time to do her own investigative work, at least until she was able to find a way to start working for the furry little abominations directly. That was the plan for now, anyway.

On this particular evening, Riza found herself in the southern district of Osten. The first landmark she saw was a large castle about two miles from the perimeter of the city. She decided to start there and work her way back north. Black HAyate, of course, followed right at her heels.

Current Mood: busy

skysung

A small sky blue dragon whirls on the spot, eyes flicking to and fro as she comes to a stop none the wiser. She whistles a long accusation, punctuating it with a hiss. Kitten's meaning is pretty clear, even to those who aren't fortunate enough to understand the series of whistles, chirps, and croaks used by dragons before they develop mindspeech. Who brought me here? Where am I? Send me home!

Kitten sits back on her hind legs, clearly thinking. Is she in the Divine Realms somewhere? She closes her eyes in concentration as the tiniest wisps of smoke escape her nostrils. Failing to find herself back home, she admits it will not be so simple as a shift between the realms. The dragon's scales begin to redden as she whistles several times, each a different pitch, pausing between to wait for results. If she is locked in, that should be enough to handle any lock.

Results are not forthcoming, and Kitten croaks in frustration, approaching a wall and releasing a wave of magic at it in a long low hiss. Her scales are bright scarlet now, and when the hiss is as futile as anything else, Kitten backs up three steps and breathes out a stream of flame. The wall proves impervious to that too.

Unused to feeling so powerless, not in recent memory at least, Kitten begins to pace back and forth. Her body fades back to a rosy pink. Kitten chirps uncertainly as she comes to a halt, head turning on a long slender neck as she takes a less hurried second look at her surroundings. She hunkers down close to the floor, bracing herself for whatever comes next. No one captures a even a young dragon and holds her, not without using a drugged sleep or a frightening amount of power. It does not bode well that someone succeeded.

hisbeth

[Beth is in a sharp, gray tailored suit jacket and her hair is down and curled, framing her face. She looks directly into the camera with an obvious no nonsense air about her. She speaks at a slower than average pace with a calm and clear voice. In short, she has her game face on. She's being the reporter, but there's an underlying tone. Almost anxious. Worried. She doesn't just want to receive this information, she needs to.]

Hi, I'm Beth Turner. Many of you I have already met in person or through Taxon's network, but some of you are still new to me. So I just wanted to introduce myself. I also wanted to ask all of you for a favor. I've done my best to keep track of everyone who has shown up in Taxon since my own arrival, but I'm sure some people have fallen through the cracks.

That being said, I was wondering if any of you have met or conversed with a particular new arrival. She would've arrived around Christmas, and...

[Beth hesitates before forcing herself to continue on.]

She'll answer to the name Coraline.

And she's dangerous.

killtheparty

When Party flicks on the visual he's somewhere--it looks like a cafe of some kind--and he's glancing suspiciously at everyone, looking more than a little jumpy.

"They're actually hamsters," He points out, before deflating altogether--his already slouched posture sags, his sigh comes across more tired than defeated, and he pauses. But just like that he's composed himself again, scratching his hair. The barista Extra hands him something--it looks like an all-too sugary coffee drink--and Party waves her off. He's been drinking and eating a lot more thanks to a certain curly haired thief and a cowboy cop, after all.

"They pop up often, fellow prisoners?"

[PRIVATE-TEXT-GWEN RAIDEN]
Did you listen to it?

slayersidekick

Willow awoke with a start. She could feel the tears on her cheeks - whether they were tears of pain or relief, she wasn't sure - and she had already wiped at her eyes before she noticed that she'd forgotten to turn the lights off when she fell asleep. Oh well, too late now. What she had yet to take note of was the flashing light that meant her tablet had turned itself off.

She was also bypassing the big, bloody patch on her stomach where she was missing skin.

Or at least, she noticed it when she tried to move from the bed - being on top of the covers had its advantages sometimes. The amount of pain she was suffering caused her to wince and glance down at her stomach.

"Oh... that..."

Wait a minute. This wasn't her room at Buffy's. Her new one or the old one. It wasn't her house or the dorms, either. That could only mean one thing: it was the castle at Taxon. And she was in the room she'd been sharing with Tara. Or had at one point.

Tears flooded her eyes, spilling forth at the memories, as everything she'd done, both in Taxon and in Sunnydale, came soaring back to her. Trying to hold in her sobs just made her injury hurt worse, so after a while it was hard to tell what she was crying about: the emotional trauma or the physical pain. Eventually, she did try to stand up and so the tablet got a full view of the nice bloody patch, a perfect rectangle across her stomach. She held an arm to it, finally noticing the tablet. Well... it would be easier to call for Buffy this way. And maybe a doctor, much as she doesn't want to do it.

"Buffy? I-I think I need a doctor..."

longaevus

Will?

[ She pushed herself up, or at least tried to; she was moving quicker than her body wanted to allow. She hissed as the pain pushed up through her, trying to think as she pushed herself up slower this time.

Will. SCUI.

Cave in. Except where she was certainly didn't feel like a cave floor. She hadn't been unconscious so there was no chance that she could have been brought back to the Sanctuary without knowing. That only left one option ]

Taxon? Bloody hell. [ Whatever had happened to her, the pain that she was holding back was evident in her voice.

She flicked her bedside light on, hand pressed to her right ribs as she slowly stood up to look outside, to make certain. Martha had mentioned that she'd gone home once but no time had passed here. The last thing she remembered from Taxon was the New Year's Eve Celebrations. She'd check the date later but... it had been over a century. Reaching the window Helen used her free hand to push the curtain aside. It was Taxon, and it hadn't changed ]

Oh... damn.

[ ooc; canon bump a goooo | until she turns the light on you can't see a thing ]