[OTA; multiple threads ok!] Instead of cursin' the darkness, light a candle for where we're goin'...
With a few tears finally spilling over, Tara Maclay moved to step off from the final stair on the Summers' family porch. Her foot hit the ground but there was a crunch of leaves and the lights had all gone dark. Blinking, the young witch blinked but could make out hardly more than the faint outline of a few trees. In the distance there was light and the slight din of minimal activity, but the house she'd been exiting had all but vanished.
"W-Willow?" she finally tried softly.
Nothing.
"Dawn?" Tara wondered a little louder.
Silence.
Whispering to herself, Tara scooped a pillar candle from the box she'd been carrying and, using magic, willed it to light. Though the small flame illuminated but a few feet around her, Tara could easily tell she was no longer in Sunnydale. The air smelled different, clung to her skin that way only still air in an old wood could. It was night, possibly, or at the very least dusk if the lack of sunlight was any clue. Though she was reluctant to move an inch, when the minutes ticked by and no one appeared beside her Tara knew she would have to forge ahead toward the only signs of life she'd seen.
Careful to keep to the shadows, the blonde clutched the candle and held the cardboard box to her chest. She circled what she didn't know to be the Barracks, peeking in for signs of life, friendly or otherwise. She was quiet as a mouse, something Tara had managed to perfect over the years.