Katabatic Shift
Title: Katabatic Shift
Author: Ramenth
Rating: FR18
Crossover: Weather Warden
Disclaimer: Weather Warden belongs to Rachel Caine, Buffy Belongs to Joss Whedon.
Date: August 23nd
Word Count: 670
In the past six months my life has been beyond hectic. I’ve been forcibly infected with a demon, killed my mentor, become a djinn, been turned back into a human, saved the world multiple times, lost my memory had a demon clone me and try to kill me, and finally gotten a vacation. So imagine my surprise when I went from standing in the middle of my kitchen to sundown in the middle of a panicked suburbia. So much for a vacation.
David? I sent through the link to my sometimes-lover sometimes more Djinn while I scrambled for cover. Whatever was going on here was a level above the chaos that had become my life if the street was anything to go by. I blinked as I watched bite-sized monsters swarm around, fighting each other over what looked to be bags of candy. There was no way this was real. Clearly my downtime was getting to me; I’d snapped from the combined embarrassment of my job on the local news and the complete lack of every thing else. Just great.
I prodded the link again and frowned. Even when David was busy, he’d at least let me know something, even if he doesn’t show up. But now there was nothing, as though the link didn’t even exist. Damn. Maybe this was a dream? After all, if I hadn’t completely lost my mind that was the only other option. “David!” I yelled. Sometimes Djinn seem to show up when you call for them, but with the link missing I wasn’t really holding out much hope. Damn.
“Snow White? That you?” I spun at the familiar voice.
“Rahel?” I blinked, “trying a new look?”
“What?” The Djinn looked truly stunned as she glanced down at herself, “Yeah, well, you’re blond.”
Now, I’ve been called blonde before. Generally as an insult. I even tried dying my hair once in high school. But last time I checked I was not blond. Which, apparently, was no longer true.
“Fuck. Any idea what’s going on, other than…” I waved my hand at the chaos unfolding on the street. There really weren’t words for it.
“Not a clue. Last I remembered I was… well…”
“I get the picture. Any idea… where we are?”
“No idea. But the Aetheric… It’s pretty screwed up.”
“What do you mean?” Rahel was freaked, I could tell that much. Which meant whatever was going on was… bad. To put it lightly.
“Lets just say it makes what’s going on out there,” The Djinn gestured towards the somewhat calmer streets, “look like a summer breeze.”
“Great. Just what we need.” I let my body slip away as I rose into the opalescent hues of the aetheric and blanched. Rahel hadn’t been kidding, whatever was going on had left it a mess. There was a sort of darkness seeping up from the ground, leaving inky black marks on what should’ve been a normal looking city. The rest of the Aethric looked almost normal. Almost. Because everything in the town was just a little off. Not enough to be readily noticeable, but enough that it was there. It was almost like someone had taken a brush and lightly painted over everything, leaving it just a little away from where it should be. It seemed to be concentrated on the things in the street and countless other people across the town. Whatever it was, I’d never seen anything like it.
From above it looked like we were somewhere in California. Given that I’d been in Florida before, I was more convinced than ever that this had to be a bizarre dream. As I headed back towards my body and Rahel, the Aetheric began to shudder and glow. I sped up my freefall, but before I could reach my body the aether pulsed a brilliant blue before fading back to more familiar colors. The black tendrils were still there, but the faint colors that had outlined most of the people below were gone. This couldn’t be good.
Author: Ramenth
Rating: FR18
Crossover: Weather Warden
Disclaimer: Weather Warden belongs to Rachel Caine, Buffy Belongs to Joss Whedon.
Date: August 23nd
Word Count: 670
In the past six months my life has been beyond hectic. I’ve been forcibly infected with a demon, killed my mentor, become a djinn, been turned back into a human, saved the world multiple times, lost my memory had a demon clone me and try to kill me, and finally gotten a vacation. So imagine my surprise when I went from standing in the middle of my kitchen to sundown in the middle of a panicked suburbia. So much for a vacation.
David? I sent through the link to my sometimes-lover sometimes more Djinn while I scrambled for cover. Whatever was going on here was a level above the chaos that had become my life if the street was anything to go by. I blinked as I watched bite-sized monsters swarm around, fighting each other over what looked to be bags of candy. There was no way this was real. Clearly my downtime was getting to me; I’d snapped from the combined embarrassment of my job on the local news and the complete lack of every thing else. Just great.
I prodded the link again and frowned. Even when David was busy, he’d at least let me know something, even if he doesn’t show up. But now there was nothing, as though the link didn’t even exist. Damn. Maybe this was a dream? After all, if I hadn’t completely lost my mind that was the only other option. “David!” I yelled. Sometimes Djinn seem to show up when you call for them, but with the link missing I wasn’t really holding out much hope. Damn.
“Snow White? That you?” I spun at the familiar voice.
“Rahel?” I blinked, “trying a new look?”
“What?” The Djinn looked truly stunned as she glanced down at herself, “Yeah, well, you’re blond.”
Now, I’ve been called blonde before. Generally as an insult. I even tried dying my hair once in high school. But last time I checked I was not blond. Which, apparently, was no longer true.
“Fuck. Any idea what’s going on, other than…” I waved my hand at the chaos unfolding on the street. There really weren’t words for it.
“Not a clue. Last I remembered I was… well…”
“I get the picture. Any idea… where we are?”
“No idea. But the Aetheric… It’s pretty screwed up.”
“What do you mean?” Rahel was freaked, I could tell that much. Which meant whatever was going on was… bad. To put it lightly.
“Lets just say it makes what’s going on out there,” The Djinn gestured towards the somewhat calmer streets, “look like a summer breeze.”
“Great. Just what we need.” I let my body slip away as I rose into the opalescent hues of the aetheric and blanched. Rahel hadn’t been kidding, whatever was going on had left it a mess. There was a sort of darkness seeping up from the ground, leaving inky black marks on what should’ve been a normal looking city. The rest of the Aethric looked almost normal. Almost. Because everything in the town was just a little off. Not enough to be readily noticeable, but enough that it was there. It was almost like someone had taken a brush and lightly painted over everything, leaving it just a little away from where it should be. It seemed to be concentrated on the things in the street and countless other people across the town. Whatever it was, I’d never seen anything like it.
From above it looked like we were somewhere in California. Given that I’d been in Florida before, I was more convinced than ever that this had to be a bizarre dream. As I headed back towards my body and Rahel, the Aetheric began to shudder and glow. I sped up my freefall, but before I could reach my body the aether pulsed a brilliant blue before fading back to more familiar colors. The black tendrils were still there, but the faint colors that had outlined most of the people below were gone. This couldn’t be good.