Pilgrimage (Part I) (Commencing)

Disclaimer: This is a derivative work using characters and intellectual property belonging to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, Eidos, J.K. Rowling and probably others. I don't own the characters or their universes.
When/Spoilers: Post BtVS Season 7 / Tomb Raider (post AofD (game) and Cradle of Life (movie))
Rating: See Prologue - Part I
Revisions: [30-Jul-2004] Fixed a couple things. Tweaked others. No real plot changes.
A/N[1]: The next part of the Red Raider story in 6 parts.
A/N[2]: See the Red Raider Series index for a basic timeline.
A/N[3]: Feedback appreciated as always.


--- --- ---
The Pilgrimage
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Leaning against the headboard, hugging one of the huge fluffy pillows that Willow and Kennedy seemed to prefer, from her perch on their bed Buffy watched Willow packing the single bag she'd decided to take. The redhead puttered around, going through closets and drawers, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything important. Occasionally, she would throw a comment in the direction of the blonde slayer, attempting to cheer her up.

"Buffy, you didn't really want to deal with two temperamental red headed witches at the same time did you?"

"It wouldn't be two if you were staying here." Buffy grumbled before defending Ginny. "And besides, she isn't really temperamental. She just knows how to stand up for herself."

"No, she's not. But it took me years to become confident like that and she started out that way. Or maybe it has to do with having six older brothers?" she mused.

"I've only met the one and he seemed nice." Buffy commented. "In a 'hangs around
in ancient monuments' kind of way."

"Too bad the unattached ones are all older. Dawn could use a boyfriend."

"Willow! No setting my younger sister up with older men!"

"I was just kidding." she said in that way Buffy knew meant she was half serious. "Ginny is just what you need around here."

"I know. But I'll still miss you." she pouted.

"But whose vision caused this trip?" Willow asked.

"Mine." she answered sadly. "That doesn't mean I really want to see you go."

"We're still friends."

"Yes, but we only just started being good friends again last year." Buffy reminded her. "I don't want this trip to ruin that."

"It won't." Willow said confidently. "This is something we need to do. And it wasn't just your vision. Dawn found that prophecy. I agreed to go. Something big is happening next year and we need to be ready for it. I really want to get there before someone else does."

"Yes, I realize that. But we expected to send a slayer with you. It looked sort of like Kennedy in my vision." she huffed.

"Well, it obviously wasn't. Too many things have happened to prevent her or any of the other slayers from going. And you know what the Wiccan Rede would do if she tried to go with me. They would cancel the whole thing. They specifically said no slayers. It interferes with their plans for my pilgrimage. I have to start out on my own." Willow stood for a minute, contemplating her carryon. "You said whomever you saw with me in your vision looked very familiar, but you didn't see her face. How many people do you know who look like this person from behind?"

"It was more of an attitude than anything else. But if it can't be a slayer, finding them could be hard." Buffy replied. "Dawn could pull it off on one of her angry at the world days but she's definitely not going."

"Okay." Willow shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens. Maybe it'll be someone new. And I'm quite capable of taking care of myself."

"I know." Buffy said. "But I'm still not happy about it."

"Got it. Unhappiness noted. But it's too late to make other plans."

--- --- ---

"Buffy?"

"Yes?"

"I know you're still nervous about magical backup for the Council while I'm gone." Willow said, bringing up something she knew had been bothering Buffy for weeks.

"Well... you can't expect me to feel otherwise. Can you?" Buffy hugged the pillow tighter. "I like Ginny, a lot, but I haven't seen her do any heavy duty magic. I don't really know what she's like in an emergency."

"You're going to have to talk with her about that." Willow shrugged. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. She's actually much more powerful than she appears."

"But there's the whole Wiccan anti-violence thing. How is she going to be able to deal with demons?"

"You know the Coven wouldn't have sent her to us if she couldn't handle that kind of thing."

"Still..." Buffy said doubtfully.

"She'll be fine. She isn't exactly a traditional wiccan anyway." Willow said casually. "She won't have any problems."

Buffy looked at her curiously. "What do you mean not a traditional wiccan?

"Just what I said." She noticed the skeptical look on Buffy's face. "I can't really tell you."

"Willow, that really isn't enough!"

"Okay. You do remember our rule about personal boundaries? Right?" Buffy nodded in annoyance. "Well this is one of those. She learned a lot of magic long before she became wiccan. So she doesn't have all the Coven's hang-ups about necessary violence. But I really can't tell you the how or why. If she wants to she'll tell you eventually. Not knowing where she learned the things she knows isn't going to hurt any of us."

"Okay." Buffy sighed. "But I reserve the right to say something snarky if bad things happen."

"Don't you always?" Willow grinned at her. "You also have to tell her why we need her here."

"Why me?" Buffy grumbled.

"Because I promised her an explanation of the whole thing. She noticed how the Council's and Coven's reasons for this pilgrimage don't match."

"How did that happen?" Buffy asked.

"It's very simple. She's the only person who has spent any time with them and us." Willow answered. "And she actually listens to what people say. She's very smart."

"Does she know we don't want anyone else to know about this?"

"Yes. And she knows that Dawn, you, and myself are the only ones she can talk to about this."

"So, why me?" Buffy asked again.

"It was your dream that started the whole thing." Willow smiled at her. "And for some reason she really likes you and will take it better hearing it from you."

"Willow!" an embarrassed Buffy cried.

"What? I'm right." She grinned at the blushing Buffy before going back to digging through her closet. She didn't have room for that much in her bag. It was really just a chance for her to spend some uninterrupted time with Buffy before she left.

--- --- ---

"Ready for the final check list?" Willow asked several hours later, handing Buffy a small pad of paper.

"Okay..." After glancing through it Buffy gave her a look of amazement. "What kind of list is this?"

"Just do the best friend thing and read it!"

"Angry girlfriend?" Buffy intoned.

"Because she couldn't go along. Check!"

"Red headed witch?" Buffy read aloud in an exaggeratedly solemn tone

"To replace me while I'm gone. Check!"

"Hey! Care to explain this one?" Buffy read the next item from the list - "Someone to keep best friend out of romantic trouble while I'm gone."

"Nope." Willow stuck her tongue out at her. "And with the added bonus of broodiness prevention. Check!"

Buffy raised an eyebrow at that before continuing. "Someone to keep Giles from getting too stuffy. Huh? Isn't that my job?"

"No. Xander agreed to do that one. You've gotten better but you still get too broody when Giles gets in one of his hyper-stuffy moods. Check!"

"Someone to make sure Faith doesn't forget how to have non-violent fun." Buffy looked up from the list. "Don't we already have someone doing that?"

"No, just a 'Don't forget Faith is one of us' committee and that's already Xander and Dawn. Dawn wanted this one while I was gone. Check!"

"Dawn? Do I have any say in this?" Buffy asked.

"Nope." Willow grinned at her. "My list. Next."

"Someone to keep an eye on the computers while I'm gone." Buffy frowned in thought for a moment. "I hadn't really thought about that one. Who do we have who can do that? Andrew?"

"Not quite the kind of thing I trust him with. A couple of the new watchers transferring from the Los Angeles office this month can handle the day-to-day computer stuff. We do need to start thinking about hiring people to do that full time."

"Okay, Andrew and computers - a big 'No'. Those are the watchers for the newbies too young for field work?"

"Correct. But that's not what that item really means."

"Ooh... so this is the 'office hacker replacement'?" Buffy asked quietly. "Am I going to like your choice?"

"Yes. Maybe. It'll keep her in the office and give us another reason to keep her out of the field." Willow said hopefully. "And she'll have help."

"What kind of help?" Buffy asked worriedly. "Am I going to need to have Council lawyers hanging around to keep my sister out of jail if something goes wrong?"

"It's covered. Sam Finn promised to get us help if you need something Dawn can't do yet. And I'm leaving Ginny all of my notes on magic and computers."

"Okay... but we'll need to have a long talk when you get back about teaching my sister those kinds of anti-social skills."

"Talk about your sister and her Scooby skills when I get back. Check!"

"Resident couple to make the older tweeds nervous with blatant displays of affection?" Buffy squeaked out. "Can you explain this one?"

"No. It's a special long term project Dawn and Kennedy are working on for me. And no, they won't explain it either. Check!"

"That's it? Why don't you have anything for me on that list?" Buffy pouted as only one of the most powerful women in Cleveland could.

"Look at it again." Willow prodded. "What do you notice?"

"Well, they are all about things you do for other people."

"Correct. And most of them are things I do for other people that ultimately benefit my best friend, even if you don't seem to notice."

"Oh..." Buffy mumbled, embarrassed.

--- --- ---

Willow arrived at Heathrow with little fanfare. She wasn't expected in the Council offices for another week and hoped to visit the Coven in Westbury for several days and then slip into the Council office, grab the few things she needed, have a quick chat with Giles, and slip back out. Hopefully without anyone else noticing.

She'd only brought the barest essentials in her carryon. The less she carried, the less there would be for the coven Elders to argue about. She knew they might have problems with some of the things she planned on taking if they knew about them, especially the mystical talismans from the Council's collection that had been mentioned in the prophecy Dawn had uncovered. She wouldn't pick them up until after her meetings with the Elders but she had no wish to tempt fate.

Before leaving Cleveland Willow had double checked the coven's ancient pilgrimage rules she'd originally been given. They were fairly simple and were designed to guide the pilgrim to her goal. She had to start out on her own. She couldn't take anyone with her, and friends and family were not allowed to join her anywhere along the way. Additionally, the coven had insisted that none of the Council's slayers or watchers travel with her.

But there was no rule against someone she didn't know joining her before she reached the shrine. Buffy's original vision had led Willow to believe that someone would eventually be joining her along the way. She didn't know who it would be but there was some comfort in knowing she wouldn't be completely alone for the entire journey.

She was expected to keep a journal of her journey but how it was kept was up to her. This had been the loophole she'd searched for to justify her need to bring her laptop and cell phone. She had no plans to go on this pilgrimage without the modern communication tools she was used to. Promising to keep in touch by phone and e-mail had been the only way Buffy would agree to not sending someone with her or not coming herself, no matter what the Coven had said. She expected to receive further instructions detailing the Coven's expectations for her journey when she was in Westbury.

--- --- ---

She was met at the station in Westbury by Ariel, one of the junior Coven members. Smiling nervously at Willow as she stepped out onto the platform she mumbled a quiet greeting and gestured at her car. Willow hadn't told them when she was coming but like every previous visit she'd made to Westbury they'd known anyway.

Lunch with the present Coven members had been a quiet affair. Not a word was said about her purpose for being there, just casual conversation. Willow managed to keep her nervousness at bay and participate in the conversations going on around her. They seemed to be the same conversations they'd been having the last time she'd been there.

The afternoon continued in a similar vein. Wandering around the Coven's Westbury estate, absorbing the peaceful atmosphere. Talking with acquaintances. Feeling connected once more with the Coven's purposes.

She'd been quietly chatting with her Coven Guide in the late afternoon sun when they were summoned to a meeting with the Coven's elders. Standing before them, Willow did her best to remain calm. Almost six months of preparation had led up to this moment and she couldn't afford for anything to go wrong.

"Willow." acknowledged the Coven's Eldest.

"Yes, ma'am." Willow answered politely.

"Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes."

"You do realize that once you leave the grounds here that you are committed to this journey?" the Eldest asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"You should know that we weren't really fooled by your request. Unlike the Watchers Council we are well aware of the real reason for your pilgrimage."

"You are?" Willow said faintly.

"Yes." She looked at Willow kindly. "But we still give you our blessing for this journey."

"You do?" Willow asked in some surprise.

"Yes." She smiled at her. "We won't deny you that right. You are still one of us. And we understand the importance of this journey."

"Thank you." Willow mumbled.

"But Willow?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"While your purpose comes from somewhere else, we still expect you to follow our guidelines while you are on this journey." She examined Willow closely as if looking for something. "There are reasons why we have them. And we feel that they will prepare you for when you reach the shrine and your quest really begins."

"Eldest?" Willow asked when the silence following this pronouncement had stretched on for five minutes.

"Yes?"

"How did you know?" she asked pensively.

"Slayers aren't the only ones to get visions. Just be glad you'll have our support also." she answered firmly.

"Oh... Thanks."

Willow stood there for several more minutes while the elders talked quietly to each other.

"Willow, we won't keep you with us for very long. There will be a ceremony tonight to celebrate your journey. Please be there."

"Yes ma'am."

"Until then," she gestured over Willow's Guide, "We expect you to spend some time with Agatha going over the things you must do."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And Willow..."

"Yes?"

"This won't be an easy journey. We believe you can succeed but even as powerful as you have become you haven't set yourself an easy task." She smiled sadly at her. "It is going to be much harder than anything we would have wished for you to do."

"Oh..." Willow mumbled.

"One last thing."

"Yes, Eldest?"

"When your quest is complete we expect you to return here, to us. And please do not come alone." She said firmly.

"What do you mean?"

"If you find what you are looking for, you must bring it, your travelling companion, the Slayer, her witch, and the Key here to us."

"Travelling companion? I'm going alone at your insistence." asked a confused Willow. "And why the others?"

"Read the prophecy again." the Eldest gently prodded. "It'll all be clearer."

"Yes, ma'am."

--- --- ---

The celebration lasted for several hours, ending well before midnight. With nothing to keep her there, Willow caught a ride to the station and took the last train of the evening back to London.

The taxi from the station dropped her off at one of the side entrances to the Council's London complex. Sneaking into the office in the early morning hours without attracting attention was more tedious than exciting since she'd helped design the security system.

To ensure that no one would miss the things she was planning to take, Willow had arranged for several extra equipment shipments to the London office over the previous few months. But that wasn't the main reason why she'd headed back to London so soon and had gone to the office when no one would be there.

Some of the other items she needed for the end of her journey would attract a lot more attention than she and Buffy wanted. Certain members of the Council would be overly curious if they saw her removing them from the office. It would be much harder to pretend she was going on a simple pilgrimage to a Wiccan holy shrine if people noticed the other things she would be carrying.

Willow was able to remove several of the special travel hardened laptops she's managed to borrow from Riley Finn's group from storage with little problem. It took her longer to gather together the other things she needed from several different labs in the complex. Stuffing the collection of miscellaneous items, electronic and magical, into several boxes she managed to carry them up to Giles' office with only a small amount of difficulty.

While waiting for Giles to make his usual early morning appearance, Willow began sorting and organizing the equipment and magical supplies into two separate packages. One would go with her, the other would be ready to be shipped to her if she needed to replace anything during her trip. She was particularly proud of the simple improvements she'd made to the laptops to better fit the conditions she expected to run into. With any luck they would survive the entire trip intact.

After packing one laptop into a special travel bag that matched her carryon and the other in a shipping box, Willow found she still had several hours before Giles would be in. Lying back on the couch in Giles' office, she settled down for a brief nap.

--- --- ---

"Willow?" A calm male voice intruded on her dreams.

"Good morning Giles." she said, pushing herself into a sitting position on his couch and yawning. "Excuse me." she said sheepishly.

"What brings you here so early? And aren't you supposed to be here next week?" he asked, obviously puzzled.

"I wanted to talk with you before I leave. If I'd come in at a more normal hour I would have been stuck doing other things for the day." She grimaced. "Everyone who thinks they'll need me for something while I'm gone is starting to panic."

"It can't be that bad." Giles said to her.

"Yes it is. I changed my plans so I could avoid the fuss. Cleveland was getting a bit too stressful. Any longer and they would have started having going away parties." She shrugged, knowing he would understand. "Didn't really want the extra attention."

"Do you need me to call a few people and calm them down?" Giles offered.

"Who?" she asked.

"Buffy?"

"No, she was okay with it. Both she and Dawn were all for moving up my departure."

"What did you want to talk about then?"

"Just a couple things. I know a few people feel I'm leaving them in the lurch with this trip. There are a number of important projects I've started in the past year that aren't even close to completion." Willow looked at him pointedly. "But you need to trust us and you need to convince people that this is actually a good thing.

I've spread out my projects among a number of good people in the Council. And Buffy has someone in Cleveland who in some ways is actually very powerful for magical backup." Willow smiled at him. "And in the long run it'll be better for the council to not be dependent on one person for all of the things I do like you are now."

"You make an interesting point. But who is the 'us' you want me to trust?"

"Buffy, myself, and Dawn. They know what I'm trying to accomplish with this pilgrimage and the rearranging of my Council responsibilities and they are completely behind it."

"I'm not sure I see any real benefits at this point." Giles said quietly. "Things are working quite well the way they are currently organized.

"You'll see. Talk with Buffy about it." She shrugged. "You won't change our minds but your support would be welcome."

"I'll have to think about it." he said. He seemed to lapse into deep thought.

"Giles," she said hesitantly after a few minutes of silence, "That's not all actually."

"What else?" he asked, removing his glasses and cleaning them.

"Well, I sort of need a few things out of your safe."

"What things?" he gave her an impenetrable look and she shifted nervously on his couch.

"Just the Staff of Euripides and Bronwyn's knife." she told him with only a slight hesitation.

"You do know how valuable those are don't you?" Giles asked with a frown.

"Yes I do. But I really do need them." Willow said.

"Why?"

"I can't really explain why in any detail, but the pilgrimage includes a few challenges and they will be impossible to accomplish without them." It wasn't the best excuse she could come up with but saying one had been seen in a vision and the other in a prophecy wouldn't have helped her cause. He would have spent the next week grilling her about the vision and prophecy before even contemplating letting her have them.

"Will we get them back in one piece?"

"Yes, I promise!" She replied firmly.

--- --- ---

Watching the countryside whisk by on her way to Paris, the next leg of her journey, Willow thought about the last few weeks. She'd managed to avoid any going-away parties. She'd eventually convinced Buffy and Dawn that they didn't really need the attention and that they could celebrate when she returned. Instead, she'd spent the weeks before her departure catching up with friends and others.

Saying goodbye to Xander had turned out to be the hardest thing she'd had to do. He was the one person who had always been there for her, no matter what. And even though they'd talked for a long time during his last visit to Cleveland, the two hours she'd spent on the phone with him had seen her alternating between crying and long babbling monologues.

Faith had been the easiest to say goodbye to. She'd given her a long hug and had extracted a promise from her to look after the others while she was gone, one day when Faith was passing through Cleveland on her way to somewhere else. Faith had become one of Willow's main regrets since the formation of the new Council. She'd gotten over her fear and jealousy of the troubled slayer after the defeat of the First and now she was left with a feeling of intense sadness whenever she saw the lonely woman.

Dawn had refused to say goodbye. One of the few people who knew the real purpose behind the pilgrimage, she had insisted that Willow wasn't really leaving. Buffy had been really bothered by her attitude so Willow had spent a long time discussing it with both of them.

After having to deal with her reaction to not being able to go with her on the pilgrimage, Kennedy had behaved just as Willow had expected she would. The normally confident younger slayer had needed a constant barrage of hugs for weeks. And when she wasn't being hugged her behavior had alternated between following Willow around like a lost puppy and throwing a daily tantrum. More than once she'd had to rescue Kennedy from Buffy when things had gotten out of hand. While she knew it was a sign of how much Kennedy needed her, she was looking forward to getting away from the constant stress of dealing with her upset girlfriend.

Buffy and goodbyes had always been best dealt with by involving her in the process of leaving. This time had been no different she thought as she shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. But there would be plenty of time to contemplate the quirks of her best friend during her travels. She still had a long way to go before she reached her final destination for the day in south-western France.

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Continued in "The Pilgrimage - Part II (Part the Horses Mane)"
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