FIC: Dawning Light 5: Screams in the Night (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Anita Blake)

[mhalachaiswords]

Dawning Light
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Anita Blake crossover
Chapter Five: Screams in the Night
by mhalachaiswords

Summary: Dawn fell from Glory's tower and into the portal. Now she's all alone and scared... but sometimes family comes from the strangest places.
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Anita Blake belongs to

Comments

[laney_1974]

I love you! This is turning into my favourite story of yours... however S's parents are here and I don't want to read it unless I am able to focus on it completely.

I'll just wait six hours... *sobs*

[mhalachaiswords]

You know, when I saw someone reply to this post *already*, I was like, "Who can read that fast??"

But yeah, have fun with the folks :D This chapter is full of stuff (11,000+ words of stuff) so you'll need longer than you have.

See you in a bit :)

[laney_1974]

All I can say is wow. This was a really brilliant chapter. I loved it. Poor Dawn. It must be so incredibly difficult for her. The angst in this... It's just perfect!!!

[mhalachaiswords]

I'm glad you liked it :) While I was writing this chapter, I found the "B" Story, which has a lot to do with why Dawn was so freaked by Merle and later by Richard's looming. I'll be dealing with Dawn's trauma, as being seen by a five-year-old. I'm in the mood to deal with aftermathn and long-term stuff in this story, don't know why. Maybe the story was a little too cute.

I'm not sure what I'm going to write Dawn's development... this whole thing's developing bit by bit in my head. It's still a nice break from the other fics :)

Yes, I'm rambling now.

[goldenrat84]

Yet another mystery...is Richard causing Dawn's hand to hurt?
They survived the dreaded social worker. Having Nathaniel make the suggestion of emergency foster parents, drawing on his familiarity with the foster care system was a nice touch.

[mhalachaiswords]

As for the hand thing, Dawn was picking up on Anita's reaction to Richard. Following the event in Danse Macabre, when Richard gave Anita that cross and it burned into her hand -- I decided that Anita needed to have a negative reaction to being burned so badly (literally and figeratively) by Richard.

I'm not sure what real social workers do, but it makes sense for there to be some kind of emergency placement system. It must be odd, for Nathaniel, to be on the opposite side of the foster care system.

[fufumira]

This story has really grabbed my attention. How many words per minute do you type? Just kidding. I really like the different people and their reactions to her. And the whole Dawn as kid thing is one of the better ways I've seen 'kidfic' done. Especially where her mental capacity is the same.

[mhalachaiswords]

I'm glad you're enjoying it :) I can type pretty fast, but mostly it was that I had a day off on Friday and got the chance to work on the chapter for a few days.

I'm having fun writing people's reaction to Dawn, and Anita's reaction to how others react to Dawn. I think it's obvious that Anita has no clue what she's doing, and this isn't like her other cases (solvable with guns and violence). All in all, fun times :)

I'm not a fan of kidfic myself, but since I never really read much, I'm not sure if I'm in the genre the right way. Oh well. I'm never one to write to type.

[anonymous]

Good chapter - not that that comes as a surprise to anyone. I admit I had a real "Squee!" moment when I saw there was more Dawning Light.

Too bad I don't know enough about the books after 4 (Where apparently Richard stops being a nice guy and turns into a jackass with severe issues) to know why he'd take an unprovoked shot at Nathaniel like that.

-- Guile

[not_croaker]

Too bad I don't know enough about the books after 4 (Where apparently Richard stops being a nice guy and turns into a jackass with severe issues) to know why he'd take an unprovoked shot at Nathaniel like that.

He does it because he's a jackass with severe issues, and it's a cheap way to simultaneously insult Anita (by insulting her taste in men) and assert his own dominance over her.

Richard's devolution into asshole-ness is one of the things I really hate about the way the books have gone. And neither he nor Anita has matured one jot since it started. *sigh*

[mhalachaiswords]

Glad you liked the chapter :)

In the past few books, since Nathaniel moved in with Anita (even before they started sleeping together), Richard's been really pissy and jealous about Nathaniel, his role in Anita's life. It's getting worse, as Nathaniel is basically with Anita all the time, and Richard can't seem to realize that the reason she's not with him is because of him, not Nathaniel.

[practical_puss]

So much goodness. I loved Dawn hiding behind the bed when she freaked out. It was such a totally 5y.o. thing to do. Nathaniel is doing really well. Anita is doing well too, but in a different way. She's like the super-cool/annoying aunt that sometimes treats you 10 years older than you really are, sometimes 5 years younger. I'm not sure how she will be at 'normal' everyday parenting. Miss Wendell... hm. She could be good or bad. Or both. Richard... how pissy is he going to be when he realizes that Dawn likes Nathaniel better? I have a feeling it will be much-ly. Dawn's hand aching is cool and I love it.

[mhalachaiswords]

Even 15yo Dawn would have hidden behind her bed (or on her bed or in her room or something). Her reactions aren't that different than before.

Give Anita a bit of time, and she'll get a better idea of how to treat Dawn. Dawn's not really helping things - if she acted like a proper traumatized 5yo, Anita would have an easier time in picking it up. However, Dawn's maturity, mixing in with her own way of dealing with trauma, is complicating matters.

We'll see a lot more of Richard later on... he's part of Anita's life and he won't be absent from this story.

[practical_puss]

Even 15yo Dawn would have hidden behind her bed (or on her bed or in her room or something). Her reactions aren't that different than before.

Yeah, but 5 year olds are worse than cats.

[mhalachaiswords]

but 5 year olds are worse than cats.

In that "I don't know who broke the vase" way, or the "You exist to serve me, now fetch me chocolate!" way? I agree.