Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 47th cycle. Now cycle 48!
Cycle 48/Day 1000 special: So, yes, in this cycle, a milestone I had to do something special for.
In this cycle I'm passing my 1000th consecutive day of gleekathon! So for this, the cycle will feature:
* 21-day/chapter story for the Sunshine Girls series (This Little Light of Mine)
* 14-day/chapter story special for day 1000 (Let Me Tell You A Story)
* One-shot installments from 12 series + 2 non-series
* And for this cycle and this cycle alone (I swear), 7 'triple shift' days, with 3 chapters/stories going up in the day!
This is a triple shift day. There will be two more uploads today: This Little Light of Mine, chapter 1 and Sugar So Sweet.
"Let Me Tell You A Story"
New Directions
1. To Grandmother's House
(A/N: Please read the info above the line! Thanks!)
They were stuck. There had been an issue with their bus coming home, and so they had to wait. Rachel had been the one to take the initiative in looking for some way to kill time. And then it had hit her. She had gone around and gathered the rest of the club and she had gotten them to sit, in a misshapen circle.
"What are you going to do, tell us a story?" Santana had joked, and Rachel paused.
"Actually, yes," she admitted, and there was a handful of groans. "Wait, hold on, I'm not going to be the only one telling a story, we all will." Now they just stared at her. "We'll each go around and tell a story, try and mix it up, you know?"
"We're not exactly the Grimm brothers," Kurt told her, and there was a brief glimmer in her eye.
"Just use the people you know, all of us here… Make it up as you go." She looked at hesitant faces. "you have a better idea?" she dared.
"So you're going first?" Puck guessed with a sigh and she sat up.
"I am," she confirmed. "And my story is going to be something like a fairy tale, you know… Once upon a time, there were two sisters, walking through the woods. Rachel," she pointed to herself before searching, deciding, "And… Santana."
"Oh, hell…"
X
Rachel's story
Two sisters were walking through the woods, having lost the path to take them home. Frightened as they were, the girls went on walking, holding their sister's hand. The first was Santana and, though she was the eldest, she continually grasped on to fear, sometimes leading her into more trouble. The second sister's name was Rachel, and while she was also afraid, her sister's company gave her confidence that they would soon find the way home.
Suddenly, they heard a sound, and they stopped, coming nearer now to one another. "What was that?" Santana asked.
"I don't know," Rachel replied. "Hello? Is someone there?"
"Don't be afraid, girls," the deep voice startled them, and they turned as one, freezing when they saw the figure in the shadows.
"Who are you?" Santana asked, and the figure stepped in the light. "I know who you are. You're the beast everyone talks about."
"Such strong words," Beiste shook her head. "I came here because I saw you appeared to be lost. It so happens I have something here that might help you on your journey."
"What is it?" Santana asked. Beiste reached in the sleeve of her cloak and pulled out two thin chains. From each of them dangled a blue stone set in gold.
"It will render you impervious to harm. I can prove it." She placed one of the chains around her neck and it immediately gave off a glow. "Go on, throw something at me. Go on, go on," she insisted. After a moment, Santana crouched to pick up a rock and threw it. The thing bounced away, never disrupting Beiste. "See?" she told them. Santana was amazed, but Rachel still hesitated.
"If it's so powerful, why don't you wear it?"
"I am bigger than you are, more powerful. Such innocent young girls like you should not be travelling without protection."
"How much does it cost?" Santana asked.
"Cost? No, no, dear, this is a gift, from me to you two girls," she removed the chain from her neck and once again presented it with its twin.
"No, thank you," Rachel declared, much to her sister's surprise.
"What are you doing? We need protection, we're lost…" she shook her head. "I'll take it," she stepped up, and Beiste offered her one of the chains, which she put around her neck. Again it gave a glow, and as she wore it, Santana felt filled with such power. "Rachel, you have to take it."
"No, I won't. And you shouldn't either."
"Well what do you know? I'll tell you what. You go this way, and I'll go that way, and we'll see who gets home first," the girl stalked off into the woods.
"Santana, wait!" Rachel called after her. "What have you…" she turned back to yell at the woman, but she was gone. With nothing to do, Rachel took her path, continuing her search for home on her own.
It was after night fall that she saw light through the branches and arrived before their small home. Only when she went inside, their worried mother was alone, wondering why her eldest daughter was not with Rachel. Santana had yet to find her way home. Rachel knew the path was difficult, and she had walked it with much caution.
Accompanied by men from their village, she had returned through the woods, looking for her sister. She knew her sister, and with that stone around her neck, Rachel knew Santana would have felt powerful, invincible, and she might have made decisions too hastily, without really considering her choices.
By daybreak, they returned home empty handed. Santana was never seen or heard from again. Though sometimes as she would walk through the woods over the years, Rachel would swear she could see a flash of blue as deep as that stone laid in gold and dangling from a chain.
X
Rachel folded her hands in her lap, her story done. There was a brief silence. "So what are you saying?" Santana frowned.
"I wasn't saying anything," Rachel rolled her eyes. "I told you, I was just using you as like a template, you know?"
"Yeah, sure," Santana sat back.
"Okay," Rachel smiled. "Who would like to go next?" she asked.
"Me! Me, can I go next?" Sugar's hand shot in the air. "I have a story," she declared. "It's a tragic story of forbidden love…" she breathed.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)
