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katleeptTitle: Cattle
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Character/Pairing: Willow, Cordelia, Buffy (Anne), Xander
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
1_million_words: Word of the Day: Ostentation
Warning(s): AU
Word Count: 877
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, not the author, and are used without permission.
She watches the other girl's jewelry gleam in the sunlight that streams in from the large windows in the long, dark hallways of their school. Her multiple necklaces and bracelets are made of real gold and silver, Willow knows, not like some of the fake jewelry her classmate has worn in this place. These are the real things, and moreover, she knows what that means. A shiver passes through the redhead's small frame at the thought.
Cordelia Chase has always been known for ostentation. She flaunts her family's wealth before the rest of the school body, always wearing the latest fashions from Hollywood and Paris, always wearing the finest of jewelry and clothes, always getting her way, and always passing through the rituals of adolescence long before the rest of them. She was the first to drive. She was the first to kiss a boy and the first to have her virginity taken. She was the first in so many things and in so many ways. Every one, even the "sheep" with which she surrounds herself while allowing them no doubt that they are just that and she is their herder, feels inferior to her.
Still, there's something different in the slightly older girl lately. There's a flash of teeth when she smiles and a quiet ferociousness in her hazel eyes that is stronger, wilder, and crueler than ever before. She's even quicker to make Willow shiver,and the young Witchling understands entirely too well why all these changes have taken place.
Cordelia doesn't bother to try to hide what's happened to her. She's proud of this first as she has been of all the ones before it. She wears her mark for all their world to see in a black leather collar studded with real pieces of gold and tightened around her slender neck. She has been the first of them to be chosen, the first of them to be marked.
Willow shivers every time she looks at that collar, every time she thinks about what's happened to Cordelia. Cordy thinks it's an honor to be the first in this, too,but she knows the girl's mistaken. She may be gaining eternal life and a place in their world from whence she thinks she can never be knocked down,but she's losing her freedom, too.
Still, there's a small bit of Willow who's envious of Cordelia even now. She'll never be marked. She'll never be his.
She thinks she'll never be marked, but it isn't with pride, like her friend, Anne, that she thinks this. It's with dread. She knows what becomes of the humans who don't get marked. They don't become Vampires; they become Vampire food. She swallows hard, eyeing that collar from across the hallway,fearing its implications, and fearing, most of all,that she'll never be as good or pretty as Cordelia Chase and that,in the end, she won't be chosen.
Cordy's herd surrounds her, and Willow turns away, a lone tear streaking down her cheek. She huddles her books closer to her chest and is almost hugging herself, head tucked down, as she rapidly makes her way through the hall. "Hey, Will, what's wrong?"
She looks up into Xander's worried face, and he reads her like she reads her own books. "Not that again," Harris speaks softly so that none will overhear them. He grabs her books, places them in Anne's waiting hands, and wraps Willow into the strong and warm embrace of his arms. The little redhead would like to think it's a safe embrace, but she knows better. There's nowhere safe in this world where Vampires rule.
Xander kisses the top of her head while Anne watches over them and makes certain no one is paying them too much attention. It wouldn't do for the others to realize that they don't like the way things are run, not the Vampires would care. No human can stand up to them, and she knows, as much as she hates it, that Xander is wrong as he whispers to Willow, "We're gonna be okay." None of them are going to be okay. When they graduate,if they aren't chosen as Cordelia has been, they will be killed. She will be the last of her friends to go -- she'll protect them as long as she can --,but go they all will.
Their futures aren't bright, as they were told when they were children. They aren't outside of this world or this little, bitty town. They're all at the factory, where they'll be turned into Vampire food and their last thoughts will be of the final drops of their blood being drained away. Anne turns her green eyes away from the world, looking through a window through the tears clouding her vision.
She wishes things could be different. She wishes they could fight and stand a chance at winning, but she knows it will never be happen. Every one of them, from Cordelia with her ostentatious displays of wealth and chosenry all the way down to little Willow and that shy boy who hides in the corners and watches them sometimes -- Oz, she's heard his name whispered -- every one of them is cattle, cattle to be owned and branded or cattle to be eaten but cattle all the same.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Character/Pairing: Willow, Cordelia, Buffy (Anne), Xander
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt:
1_million_words: Word of the Day: OstentationWarning(s): AU
Word Count: 877
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, not the author, and are used without permission.
She watches the other girl's jewelry gleam in the sunlight that streams in from the large windows in the long, dark hallways of their school. Her multiple necklaces and bracelets are made of real gold and silver, Willow knows, not like some of the fake jewelry her classmate has worn in this place. These are the real things, and moreover, she knows what that means. A shiver passes through the redhead's small frame at the thought.
Cordelia Chase has always been known for ostentation. She flaunts her family's wealth before the rest of the school body, always wearing the latest fashions from Hollywood and Paris, always wearing the finest of jewelry and clothes, always getting her way, and always passing through the rituals of adolescence long before the rest of them. She was the first to drive. She was the first to kiss a boy and the first to have her virginity taken. She was the first in so many things and in so many ways. Every one, even the "sheep" with which she surrounds herself while allowing them no doubt that they are just that and she is their herder, feels inferior to her.
Still, there's something different in the slightly older girl lately. There's a flash of teeth when she smiles and a quiet ferociousness in her hazel eyes that is stronger, wilder, and crueler than ever before. She's even quicker to make Willow shiver,and the young Witchling understands entirely too well why all these changes have taken place.
Cordelia doesn't bother to try to hide what's happened to her. She's proud of this first as she has been of all the ones before it. She wears her mark for all their world to see in a black leather collar studded with real pieces of gold and tightened around her slender neck. She has been the first of them to be chosen, the first of them to be marked.
Willow shivers every time she looks at that collar, every time she thinks about what's happened to Cordelia. Cordy thinks it's an honor to be the first in this, too,but she knows the girl's mistaken. She may be gaining eternal life and a place in their world from whence she thinks she can never be knocked down,but she's losing her freedom, too.
Still, there's a small bit of Willow who's envious of Cordelia even now. She'll never be marked. She'll never be his.
She thinks she'll never be marked, but it isn't with pride, like her friend, Anne, that she thinks this. It's with dread. She knows what becomes of the humans who don't get marked. They don't become Vampires; they become Vampire food. She swallows hard, eyeing that collar from across the hallway,fearing its implications, and fearing, most of all,that she'll never be as good or pretty as Cordelia Chase and that,in the end, she won't be chosen.
Cordy's herd surrounds her, and Willow turns away, a lone tear streaking down her cheek. She huddles her books closer to her chest and is almost hugging herself, head tucked down, as she rapidly makes her way through the hall. "Hey, Will, what's wrong?"
She looks up into Xander's worried face, and he reads her like she reads her own books. "Not that again," Harris speaks softly so that none will overhear them. He grabs her books, places them in Anne's waiting hands, and wraps Willow into the strong and warm embrace of his arms. The little redhead would like to think it's a safe embrace, but she knows better. There's nowhere safe in this world where Vampires rule.
Xander kisses the top of her head while Anne watches over them and makes certain no one is paying them too much attention. It wouldn't do for the others to realize that they don't like the way things are run, not the Vampires would care. No human can stand up to them, and she knows, as much as she hates it, that Xander is wrong as he whispers to Willow, "We're gonna be okay." None of them are going to be okay. When they graduate,if they aren't chosen as Cordelia has been, they will be killed. She will be the last of her friends to go -- she'll protect them as long as she can --,but go they all will.
Their futures aren't bright, as they were told when they were children. They aren't outside of this world or this little, bitty town. They're all at the factory, where they'll be turned into Vampire food and their last thoughts will be of the final drops of their blood being drained away. Anne turns her green eyes away from the world, looking through a window through the tears clouding her vision.
She wishes things could be different. She wishes they could fight and stand a chance at winning, but she knows it will never be happen. Every one of them, from Cordelia with her ostentatious displays of wealth and chosenry all the way down to little Willow and that shy boy who hides in the corners and watches them sometimes -- Oz, she's heard his name whispered -- every one of them is cattle, cattle to be owned and branded or cattle to be eaten but cattle all the same.
The End
