So when I went into Hot Topic yesterday, I was very, very pleased to find a shirt with Pocahontas on it! Do you know how hard it is to find merchandise with her on it in the first place, let alone merchandise aimed at adults?! Needless to say, Hot Topic got my money.

Anyway, an update! I apologize for it's lateness. Several circumstances have culminated to deter my speedy and prompt updates, including two jobs, college, and my grandmother suffering a stroke. I apologize! Despite it's smallish size, I hope this chapter makes up for it!

Thank you all for your wonderful support and reviews! (Kudos to Tessa once again for helping me overcome my writer's block!)

CHAPTER SONG: "Wake Me Up" by Avicii

Disclaimer: I own nothing. However, I still have my (miraculously) functioning VHS tape, DVD, two stuffed Meekos, a cat named Meeko, and a t-shirt.

Shadows Cast

A Pocahontas fanfiction

By doodlegirll

.:Dedicated to Kayla:.

...oOo...

"Thomas!"

Within moments, Pocahontas was out of her seat, her arms encircling the confused young man before them. After a few seconds, he graciously returned the embrace before the two of them stepped apart.

"Hello, Pocahontas." Thomas said, smiling warmly at her. Pocahontas smiled for what felt like the first time all evening, her heart allowing hope to permeate the dark cloud that had been hanging above her from the moment she had laid eyes on John Smith in the ballroom. She was grateful for the familiarity, the friendliness that Thomas represented in the sea of chaos in which she currently found herself adrift. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut short by Rolfe stepping between her and Thomas, protectively.

"Excuse me," he interjected, his voice thick with suspicion. "But might I inquire as to just who you think you are?"

"John Rolfe, it's alright." Pocahontas said, reaching out and placing her hand on Rolfe's shoulder. She stepped out from behind him and gestured to the red haired boy still standing in the doorway. "This is Thomas. He's one of John Smith's friends from Jamestown, and a friend of mine as well."

Thomas extended his hand, and Rolfe shook it, hesitantly.

"Thomas Brown," he nodded at Rolfe, giving him a cordial smile. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Pleasure." Rolfe replied, giving Thomas a nod in return. "Please, come in."

Thomas thanked him, and stepped further into the house. He replaced the battered cap to his head, and untied the strings of his cloak. Rolfe led the three of them into the seating room, where Mrs. Jenkins had, as if by magic, already prepared another pot of warm tea for the new guest.

"Please, have a seat." Rolfe said. Thomas gratefully accepted his offer and sat down on the ottoman, Pocahontas beside him, whilst Rolfe took the large chair directly across from the two.

"Thomas, what's going on?" Pocahontas could no longer wait for the answers to the questions that plagued her, that surged through her veins like spines. "What has happened?"

"I fear John is in danger." Thomas answered. "I was with him at the palace, behind the wall outside of the gardens. I saw the men take him away in the prison carriage. John was supposed to send a signal to me that he had made in into the palace successfully, and when the signal never came…" Thomas trailed off, allowing Pocahontas to fill in for herself the rest of the story. She nodded knowingly.

"He was captured." She said, softly. She looked at Thomas intently. "But why was he there in the first place?"

"Isn't it obvious, Pocahontas?" Thomas smiled at her. "He was there for you."

Pocahontas sighed. "I feared as much." She whispered, mostly to herself as she shook her head. "All this time...he's been alive. Why didn't he ever write to me?"

"He wanted to, Pocahontas, he really did." Thomas assured her, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "He must have started hundreds of letters. But he knew that in writing to you, he could be putting you in danger, and he couldn't bear to see any harm come to you. That's part of the reason he was there tonight, because he worried for your safety and the safety of your people. Ratcliffe had convinced King James that John was the traitor, and after being declared dead, he knew he had to stay hidden."

Pocahontas nodded. She understood John's reasons, but she could not stop the smallest flutter of betrayal and anger in the depths of her racing heart.

Thomas must of sensed this, as he shook his head.

"Even I didn't know he was alive until I returned to London." He assured her. "I would have told you, had I known anything, even if he had asked me not to. Do you remember the letter I received from my father nearly a year ago?"

Pocahontas remembered. "Your mother was sick. Is she alright?"

Thomas nodded.

"She was never ill in the first place." He said. "Unbeknownst to me, John had been in correspondence with my family upon his return two years ago after he had been released from the hospital. After he had been declared legally dead, he contacted my father and asked if he would help him to get in touch with me so that I could help him expose the lies Ratcliffe had been telling the king. I boarded the ship to England believing my mother was near death only to find John waiting for me when I arrived, my mother in perfect health."

He shook his head, smirking as he did so. "I'll have you know, when I found him alive, I punched him square in the jaw, for not telling you the truth."

Pocahontas was unable to hold back a smile. Thomas had become a good friend to her, and to her people, since John's departure from Jamestown, and had been a crucial player in making sure that no conflicts arose between her people and the settlers. Her smile faltered, however, as the situation once again dawned on her.

"Thomas, we have to save him!" She insisted. "I can't lose him again! Not when he only put himself in danger for me!"

"That's why I'm here." Thomas looked at John Rolfe. "I came to ask for your help. They've taken him to the Tower, and we all know the fate that befalls those accused of treason in the Tower."

Rolfe swallowed, and nodded, slowly. "Yes." He agreed. "He'll be dead before sunrise."

As he said this, the clock in the foyer chimed loudly, indicating that it was approaching three in the morning. Pocahontas could feel her eyelids growing more and more heavy with exhaustion, despite the fear that ignited every breath she took with life giving fire. She could feel the confines of her dress much more clearly than ever before, the tight corset pinching bruises into her ribcage, the sleeves itchy. She had discarded her shoes long before Thomas had shown up, and now they lay next to the door, where Mrs. Jenkins had placed them.

The three of them remained silent for a few moments more before Rolfe finally stood to his feet and looked at Thomas.

"Well then," he said. "What are we waiting for?"

"So you'll help me?" Thomas asked, his face lighting up. Pocahontas herself could not help but feel more and more hopeful. Was there possibly a way to pull this off, to save John Smith from a fate he did not deserve, to bring him back to her?

Rolfe nodded. "Yes." He said.

Thomas smiled. "Thank you."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of." Thomas admitted. "My cousin Adam was a guard for the Tower once, before he joined on as a merchant's apprentice. He once tried to explain the layout of the Tower to me, but I was really young, so I'm not certain how much of the information I retained."

Rolfe gave a small 'hmm' as he contemplated his next statement.

"I myself have a little knowledge of the Tower." He said finally. "The best way for us to gain access would be through the water gate. If we can find a rowboat on a dock near the Tower, we can borrow it and use it to pass through the gate. This late at night, it's doubtful the drawbridge would be down."

"And how will we explain ourselves upon arrival?" Thomas inquired.

"Simple. You act as a prisoner, and I say that I have brought you here believing you to be an accomplice of John Smith's. Once the guards grant us access, we knock two of them unconscious and steal their uniforms. From there, we should be able to walk about unnoticed, or at least unrecognized."

Thomas nodded his approval. "Solid enough." He concurred.

"Wonderful." Rolfe said. "Now, if you wouldn't mind giving Pocahontas and myself a moment alone, I'd be very grateful."

"Of course." Thomas stood to his feet, and Pocahontas followed closely behind. She reached out a hand and grasped Thomas's arm, squeezing it gently.

"Thank you, Thomas." She said softly. "For everything you've done for John."

Thomas smiled at her and placed his hand over hers. "John is my best friend, my ally, and would do the same for me, and you would do no less. It's the least I can do for the two of you."

Pocahontas smiled at him, and enveloped her friend in another quick hug before he turned and exited the room to wait for Rolfe by the front door.

Pocahontas turned to look at John Rolfe, his back to her and was shaking his head, his left hand rubbing his temples.

"John Rolfe…" She said, walking over to him and touching his shoulder. "Thank you."

He turned and faced her, sighing as he did so. He smiled and placed a hand lovingly alongside her face.

"I'm doing this for you." He said. "I want you to know that."

"I know." She whispered. "And you'll never understand how much this means to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"I believe, my dear Pocahontas," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled her mother's necklace from it, placing it around her neck. "That I do understand."

Pocahontas gently fingered the smooth white shell that hung from the blue beads, and tears welled up in her eyes. She knew he understood, and she knew that he did not hold it against her, or John Smith, that she did not love him as she knew he had grown to love her.

"We'll be back as soon as we can." Rolfe told her as he pulled a long, velvet cloak from a hook on the wall, placing it around his shoulders. He looked at her seriously, casting a glance over his shoulder at Thomas as he did so. "I warn you: we may be too late. We may not be able to reach him in time, but I make my promise to you that we will try. And even if we are able to locate him in time, he may be severely injured, and unable to withstand the journey back here. We may get caught. Several variables must be taken into account. There is much as stake here."

Pocahontas bit her bottom lip, struggling against the onslaught of newfound anxiety and nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. She swallowed, and nodded.

"I understand." She said. "But please, try. Try and bring him back to me."

"We will, Pocahontas." Thomas assured her from his place across the room as he brought his hood up to cover his face. "John will hold on, for you, if nothing else. He won't give up on you."

Tears silently made their way down her face as Rolfe turned away from her, and the two men exited the house. She watched from the window as they walked down the pathway into the drive, where they took off running.

"Come, my dear." She heard Mrs. Jenkins whisper softly to her as she took her hand. "Let's get you something to eat and out of that awful dress, shall we?"

The next chapter will focus on John's rescue! -trumpets blast-