Buffy accepted Spike’s hand for a second and she was pulled to the top of one of the rocks. She was hungry and exhausted and they had only managed to travel part of the way up the cliff. Buffy’s hands were cut and bleeding and her feet were killing her. She had ripped her skirt in two places and her legs had scratches on them. Spike had climbed ahead of her and said there was a cave on this level that they could spend the night in. He hadn’t explored it yet but had said they would as soon as Buffy got up to the level.
She followed behind Spike a little unsure of her footing since she was entering a cave she could not see in. The sun was setting fast and the sky was now a light blue. She fought back a yawn as Spike shushed her. She rolled her eyes, “I yawned. It wasn’t like I yelled on the top of my freaking lungs of anything.”
Spike sighed, “Like you are now, Slayer?”
Just then the duo heard a loud growl and Spike muttered, “Great. Just bloody great. So much for our sneaking up on whatever was in here strategy. Seems like you Slayer are just asking to die.”
He vamped out to see a badger-like creature inside the cave. He frowned as he realized it was not just a badger but a badger with tusks. It was very upset to be woken up and having its space invaded and continued to growl out a warning. Spike growled back causing the badger to jump onto Spike. Spike screamed and tried to punch it and get it off him. Buffy wasn’t much help as she tried to pull the thing off Spike. It was pretty big and had sharp claws as well as fangs. Spike had a horrible time flinging the thing aside but finally managed and Buffy kicked it from behind right back on him. He yelled, “Thanks a lot, Slayer!” He managed to fling the thing off and into a wall, which knocked it out.
Buffy whispered, “Is it dead?”
Spike shook his head but walked over to it breaking its neck. Buffy then noticed Spike’s shirt was ripped up pretty bad and he was seriously bleeding thanks to the tusk holes on his chest as well as the claw marks covering his chest and arms. He winced as he sat down to rest, “Are you hungry? I can cook this thing up if you want. Might see if the blood in this thing is any good to eat.”
Buffy nodded in agreement because she was actually starved. She walked out of the cave to start to collect firewood and other items. She was thankful that this dimension still had wood as she kicked down another small tree growing on the cliff. She came back with a huge handful of sticks. She returned a few times and dropped them pretty far into the cave but still noticed Spike was nowhere in sight. She closed her eyes feeling his familiar tingles meaning he was still nearby and followed her senses, which lead her into the cave where they were a tiny water pool. She gasped as she saw Spike using his ripped up shirt to try to clean his wounds. They looked pretty bad.
She didn’t say anything and instead requested, “Let me see your lighter so I can get the fire started.”
Spike nodded towards his coat. She went through his pockets until she found his lighter and noticed that he must have just restocked on cigarettes as he had about 4 cartoons on him. She shrugged as she went back to the main room. She was stacking up the wood when Spike hollered, “Bring the wood in here pet. It’s safer and will offer more protection.”
Buffy sighed and carried the wood to make a pile in the makeshift home for the night. He was right; it was a tad warmer in here, much cleaner and safer. She built up a fire pile and used his lighter to start the fire. She was amazed at how well it was blazing almost immediately. She sighed as went out to get a few more trips of firewood to make it through the night. She then looked over seeing Spike had pulled his purple shirt closed to replace the now tattered black one and was using his coat as a blanket. She frowned realizing her tiny jean jacket wasn’t going to serve as much of a blanket but laid down next to him. He grinned saying, “Ever had sex at a bonfire?”
She glared at him but answered, “No.”
Spike wagged his eyebrow at her, “Then you are in for a treat.”
Buffy sat up glaring at him, “This is all a game to you, isn’t it? You don’t care that we are stuck in the middle of a cliff where my sister was apparently taken but nowhere in sight. You don’t care that I’m cold and you’re still bleeding and I’m hungry and you’re hungry and we are in a horrible dimension and not home.”
Spike sighed and stood up walking over to her stick pile taking the few vines she had pulled off various trees. He staked it through the creature and put it over the fire to cook. Buffy rested on the ground falling asleep at once as Spike watched over dinner. He was starving and hoped this blood worked better than animal blood at home but at this point, beggars couldn’t be choosers. He hadn’t eaten since the night before so he was going on 24 hours without blood. He knew Buffy had to be hungry as well. He tested it with his hands noticing it looked done. He took it down off the stick and took out his Swiss-army knife and started to cut away the fur from the animal. Buffy woke up and watched in horror as she asked, “You really have to skin the thing?”
Spike rolled his eyes, “Unless you fancy eating fur and skin, then yes. Why don’t you see if you can figure out something to hold this blood in for me.” She frowned noticing the blood was brown and not red but said nothing. She found a rock that happened to have been created as though it were made for a bowl. She noticed there was another to match next to it and grabbed both bringing them over to Spike. He carefully pulled back the skin letting the blood drain into the bowl. He closed his eyes saying a prayer to the powers-that-be that it wasn’t as disgusting tasting as it looked. He then started to cut pieces of the meat placing them on rocks nearby meant for food. He frowned at the amount of blood. There was actually very little blood and it was all that thick murky brown liquid. Buffy looked down at it with a pensive look on her face, “Do you think it was sick or something?”
Spike shook his head, “No, I just think the blue sun doesn’t work the same as our yellow one so therefore their blood is different.”
Buffy frowned and picked up a piece of meat nibbling on it. It wasn’t half bad actually so she picked up another piece. He thought that was a good sign since she was eating it so perhaps the blood wasn’t as bad as it looked. He finished carving up the last of the beast and put the fur and stuff aside not sure if they would find a use for it. He then took a bite of meat deciding it really wasn’t that bad and went to wash it down with blood but after a sip, he barely was able to dash to the entrance of the cave before he puked. He frowned and tried another sip and proceeded to do the same. He threw the bowl of blood to the side and yelled, “Bloody Hell. I’m stuck in a dimension saving your sister’s ass and I can’t even feed. What bleeding luck I have.”
He picked up the second bowl and threw it against the wall watching as the rock crumbled leaving a pile of rock dust and brown murky blood on the ground. Buffy frowned at his actions, “You can’t drink it?”
He shook his head, “I’m going out. I’ll be back later.”
Buffy didn’t want to be left alone so she shouted at him, “This isn’t Sunnydale where you can come and go as you please. We have to stick together!”
Spike rolled his eyes, still greatly upset, “I need to find something I can feed on here. I’ll be back when I find something.”
He grabbed his duster pulling it over him as he stomped out of the cave. Buffy watched as he left finishing her meal and feeling very much alone as she sat by the fire keeping it up and waiting for his return.
Spike was pissed. He had managed to puke two more times before he gave up. This blood was no good and he wasn’t getting anywhere other than more and more pissed. He tried a sheep-like creature only it reminded him of a goat with sheep like qualities with some strange looking eyes. He tried a bird as well but no luck. He was annoyed. He was starved and the blood was all the same, murky, brown and disgusting.
He didn’t like being hungry and as a vampire spoiled by pig blood on demand, he wasn’t used to it. He remembered what it was like when he had just got the chip in his head. As he walked back to the cave he was downright seething. He didn’t want to live with that for another few days until they managed to find the Slayer’s kid sister. Sure he cared about the half pint but he was hungry. He entered the cave quietly to see Buffy rocking back and forth staring at the fire. At his entrance she turned around and asked quietly, “Any luck?”
She saw his facial expression and was afraid of his answer and sure enough he shook his head no. She could only hope they would reach the top of the cliff and catch up with Dawn so we could go back and he could drink all he’d like. She laid down on the cold stone floor shivering. Her jean jacket and the fire were providing heat but not enough to sustain her warmth. Spike saw her shivering and ignored his hunger as he lay down next to her and wrapped both of them in his duster. She didn’t say anything but laid there next to him enjoying the smell of tobacco and leather as well as a tint of whiskey. She felt comfortable with him so close but decided not to say anything. It was rare that they ever lay together for too long. Usually they had sex, and then she took off. She sighed as she snuggled into the coat deeper and closed her eyes. She’d think more on this tomorrow but for now, she just needed sleep.
Spike sighed as his stomach growled but he ignored it enjoying the scent of Buffy. The slightest hint of vanilla and strawberries were still on her skin as well as the scent of Buffy herself. He took in a deep whiff enjoying the fact she was sleeping next to him and not kicking him in the head and running away. He had always wanted to hold her while she was sleeping and he thought this was his chance. She needed him here and he needed her so he could hold her like he’s always wanted to. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and smiled as she snuggled up to his chest whispering, “Thanks” as she dozed back off to sleep. He let the constant sound of her heart beating lure him to sleep.
The fog rolled in shortly after the two fell asleep and with it appeared a lady with white-hair. She looked upon the sleeping couple and nodded before disappearing into the fog again.