Glithe

Sixteen-year-old Rachel is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her two father's rock band until an ominous attack forces Rachel back to Lima, Ohio. From there, all goes to hell.

Pairings mentioned/used include but not limited to Finchel, Quinn/Finn, Klaine, Kurtofsky, Brittana, Pezberry, Samcedes, Wemma, and Carole/Burt.

+G+L+E+E+

Rachel tapped her foot as she watched herself stand out like a bright pink panther in a cage with white tigers. Everyone around her was drunk, but she'd kept herself to a wine cooler and whatever was at the bottom of her father's glass.

They were up on stage still, her two fathers. She referred to them as Dad, and Father. Her "Dad" was cheerful and energetic, while her "Father" was more responsible. Either way, both of them loved her and that was what mattered.

It had been a bad set and watching them break down the equipment, she could see that they knew it. It didn't really matter, but Rachel wanted to be a big Broadway star and so seeing the two of them, obviously talented, obviously the stars, using such bad equipment and such a crummy stage, it broke her heart a little.

Her Dad sat down next to her. "Having fun, honey?" He said, his voice hoarse from singing. He looked tired, and Rachel knew the effects of performing on stage and what they could do to even the best entertainer.

"I'll go help load the car." Rachel said, rubbing her Dad's head, her pale hand looking odd over the dark skin of his scalp.

Before she could get very far, one of their band members, the female pianist, Sarah, stopped her. She had an odd look in her eyes. They were glazed from the alcohol, but there was a glare to it as well. Rachel made sure to only pick up what belonged to her Dads.

Sarah grunted. "Hey kid, got any money on you?"

Rachel knew that drunks could be jerks and she didn't want to mess up anything with her dads, so she pulled out a ten dollar bill. She had more, and she probably knew it- she'd come straight from Chow Fat's. She didn't like it but delivering Chinese food paid more than being in a band. It's not like she could attend school with her dad's moving everywhere. At least they'd stayed in the same state for the last seven years.

She took the money and ambled off to the bar. Rachel turned around and ignored her, picking up the rest of her dad's equipment and dragging it off to the van the entire band used to move their stuff from club to club. The cool autumn air outside the bar was a welcome relief.

It only took her a few minutes to get the van loaded up. She went back inside, intent on getting her mother in the van before all their valuables got stolen. You couldn't leave anything in a car in Philly. The last time they had gotten robbed, the culprits took a secondhand coat and a bag of towels.

Sarah was talking to a man with a stocky build and short brown hair. His face was chubby but his eyes glowed an unnatural yellow. Rachel shuddered. But then, Rachel saw some odd things. She had learned to ignore them.

Sarah walked back over to where her dads were sitting. Rachel started walking over when Sarah blatantly slipped her hand down her Dad's loose blue jeans. He froze up while her Father shoved her away violently. Sarah's eyes flashed yellow and Rachel started running towards them. How dare she make moves when she knew that her fathers were so obviously in love?

"UNLIKE TWO FUCKING FAGS LIKE YOU!" Sarah screamed, pulling out her pocket knife. Rachel froze up, watching te knife plunge down towards her father.

The bartender grabbed her wrist and the waitress grabbed the pocketknife, but Rachel couldn't help it. She was so shocked. How could Sarah do this? She felt her knees weaken, and before she could steady herself, she passed out.

+G+L+E+E+

Rachel woke up in their car, sprawled out in the backseat with the seatbelt loose around her waist. She unbuckled it and sat down correctly in the seat on the left. Her father smiled back at her from the front seat.

"Honey, we're going to Grandma's."

"Did you call her?" Rachel asked. They hadn't so much as visited once in the six years that they'd been gone from Ohio. Her father barely even spoke to his mother on the holidays before giving the phone to Rachel.

"Yeah." Her dad answered instead. "It'll just be a little while. You can visit that friend of yours."

"You mean Mercedes?" Rachel was hoping that they didn't bring up her "imaginary" friends, Quinn, Tina, and Mike. Quinn was a fairy with dainty features, who was rude and impolite to her all the time. Tina was a sweet river nymph, who stuttered when she talked. Mike was a kobold who loved to dance. They were a strange group of friends but they were all Rachel had known before she met Mercedes.

"Yeah, Mercedes. The one you text from my phone at night." Her Father took a left onto the axis road. They were almost to Rachel's Grandmother's house.

+G+L+E+E+

It had been forever since Rachel had sat down in the Lima Bean like this. Forever since she enjoyed a nice steaming cup of black coffee. Mercedes was sitting down across from her, waiting for her to say something. Or maybe not to say anything and rather make to listen.

"So, does Rachel Berry like her coffee like her men?"

Rachel blushed because it was such a blatant and cheesy line. Mercedes was never one to make fun of her, but Rachel knew that here this was the case.

"Just one fling! You won't let the Jesse st. James thing go, will you?" Rachel answered, adjusting her pencil skirt so that it lay flat against her bony knees. "I dumped him forever ago!"

Mercedes laughed. Her laugh was a throaty soft sound and it made Rachel giggle a little too. It'd been forever since they'd seen each other. "You should come with me to BreadstiX later and meet all my friends. They probably don't remember you. It's been over 6 years since you were in our class."

"Seven." Rachel corrected before she could stop herself. She hated mistakes, especially since other people needed to know little things like that. But her head soon turned to the prospect itself.

Rachel wasn't good with people, so she was hesitant. What if they didn't like her? What if Mercedes ditched her and they all ganged up on her and told her she was some annoying brat? People usually avoided her, that or they slushied her.

"It's okay, they'll love you." Mercedes promised, holding out her pinky.

Rachel gave in to her honest smile. Mercedes was too nice to be friends with a bunch of assholes. She hooked her pinky around Mercedes's round ebony one. They shared a look.

"I'll go, but the second they start calling me insane I'm slushying them." Mercedes laughed again.

An hour later, in the popular restaurant known as BreadstiX, Rachel was starting to get cold feet. People really didn't like her. She was a rising star and the amount of jealousy that ran through people's veins made her a likely target for the many haters that she had acquired.

Not only that, but she just didn't know how to talk to them.

"Rachel, you silly girl, they're all just like me and you!" Mercedes confirmed, meaning they were all show choir geeks and outcasts. She was watching the door intently, and as a boy with a medium build and the tightest pants that Rachel'd ever seen on a man walked in, Mercedes waved estacticly.

Rachel recognized him. He was practically Mercedes's brother. Kurt Hummel was what all the teachers called him, and all Rachel knew was that he was a giant diva and a cold hearted and unsympathetic jerk at times. Mercedes loved him in an entirely platonic way, as both of them suspected Kurt was in fact gay with a capital G.

"Mercedes." He said with an airy, cheery tone that was a few decibels higher than any man's voice should be. He turned to her with an amused expression. "Rachel Berry, I remember you. We competed for parts in every single elementary school musical I can remember."

Oh yes, how they had. Rachel had always won, so she didn't doubt that he was sour about it. Her rising talent couldn't be ignored. And secondly, they had always shut him down on the accusation that he was male and shouldn't want to play Cinderella anyways.

"I still think you would've made a great Velma." Rachel replied, unsure of what she should reply and deciding just to continue on the school play idea.

Kurt smiled. This must have been the right answer because he sat down next to Mercedes and ordered himself a salad with a lemonade before turning back to her. "I did have the hair for it. And you were a wonderful Daphne. Unfortunately I was too busy being tied up by Puck to apperciate your acting prowess."

Ah, yes. If Rachel remembered correctly, he'd been cast as the ghost and Puck was their Shaggy.

"The good ol' days!" Mercedes chuckled. "I remember absolutely hating being tree number five. All I did was stand around and wave my arms."

Mercedes had an amazing voice, but because of her dark skin, she'd been cast as a tree so that they could save money on makeup. She would've made a wonderful addition to the main cast.

Kurt laughed and they linked their hands. Rachel had to admit she was almost jealous of Kurt. He wasn't a looker by any standards and certainly his cheeks were round and childish in an endearing way, but it doesn't explain how his stony personality that he only dropped around his closest friends attracted people to him. Rachel wasn't that much of a downer, was she?

"Well, look who's here!" A Latino girl with a blonde strung by her side, their pinkies attached, slide into their booth. Kurt looked uncomfortable as the Hispanic pressed her (obviously fake) breasts up against his arm. She pursed her lips, looking straight at Rachel. "And who's this?"

"I'm Rachel Berry. I recently moved back here from Philadelphia." Rachel said, holding out her hand. This was the wrong thing to do, as the Latino scoffed and the blonde poked her fingers with her free hand.

"I'm Santana, and this here's Brittany. She's my bestie." The look that Santana shot her made one message clear. Don't mess with Brittany.

Rachel smiled a little. "Sure, no problem." She said.

Mercedes and Kurt gave her a weird look. Did she say something out of line again? Rachel couldn't think of what she did…

"So are you a fish?" Brittany asked. No one questioned her except Rachel, who was lost. A fish? Of course she wasn't a fish! This had to be code language… Santana kicked her underneath the table. Message delivered.

"I'm not a fish." Rachel answered, unsure.

"Well Kurt's a dolphin. Are you a dolphin or a fish?"

…what?

Mercedes whispered in her ear. "She's asking if you're a tranny or a girl."

"No, I'm a fish!" Rachel squealed. A tranny? How dare she? She wasn't a tranny! Sure she had rather large hands, but that wasn't a big deal!

"Sorry, I just had to ask because of your man-hands." Brittany giggled. She didn't seem to find anything offensive or mean with that statement. She was the epitome of the word dumb blonde. Rachel tried not to wince.

"Okay girls, I believe I'm going to go back home. Sorry, 'Cedes, deal with Satan on your own." Kurt stood up and left the table, his small salad finished and the plastic cup with the lemonade contained only ice. Rachel hadn't even begun eating. She hadn't seen Kurt eat either.

Odd…

Rachel took a bite of a breadstick. Mercedes blew Kurt a kiss before turning back to Brittany and Santana. "You girls should learn a few manners. He's not even out yet." She chided.

"Whatever." Santana grabbed a breadstick from the bowl. She looked up and met Rachel's eye. What was with her? And that look… Rachel looked away under those intense brown eyes. What just was that? Santana was a girl, there was no way she'd be checking out Rachel of all people! What just happened?

She wanted to be liked by the popular girls and all, but that was just too weird. That wasn't the kind of like she'd been thinking of.

Rachel stood up and shimmied past Mercedes. "Sorry to leave so soon, but Grandma has strict rules. Curfew and everything!"

Mercedes nodded. Santana made a move to stand up, but she looked away and back over to Brittany, opting to stay where she was. For this, Rachel was grateful. Checking her out, with those bedroom eyes, was one thing. Following her outside and trying to do something over it? Not happening.

+G+L+E+E+

Rachel had walked about halfway home, angry with the turnout of the night. She hadn't even gotten to see everyone! Ugh, why was she always such a downer? Why did Kurt leave so suddenly? And what was with Santana? Checking her out?

Rachel heard a noise in the woods. She looked around. A wild animal? They didn't have many of those around here, at least not ones that make a sound like that. She wandered off the path, looking into the trees and underbrush.

She was just about to head back when she saw him. Now, not to sound like some line from a cheesy romance novel that her Father bought at garage sales for $2.97, but she had never seen anyone more handsome. He had a young face, but it was a young handsome face. It wasn't like Kurt's adorably chubby cheeks, or a feminine beauty, but it was a young face.

His hair was short, spiked up in the front, and a oaken shade. He was wearing some sort of armor that looked like it was made of red maple leaves. His skin was luxuriously tanned, and his ears had a graceful tilt. When Rachel got closer, she noticed there was a lot of blood all over him. She would've passed out at the sight, but instead she inched nearer.

"I'm a friend, I'll help you out." She said, clearing her throat a little and offering her hand. He managed a small glance up in her direction.

"A great beauty saves me from certain death. How ironic. I hate romance novels." He coughed, his hand moving to cover his chest. There. Rachel spotted the arrow, and as much as she wanted to pass out screaming from the blood pouring out of the wound, she gritted her teeth.

"You're a fairy, aren't you?"

"Don't waste your questions. I'm bleeding to death, and all you ask is if I'm a bloody faerie!" He seemed irritated, and as he tried to take a step, he fell to his knees. He grunted from the pain.

Rachel hated the fact she knew it wasn't time for her to be squeamish. Squeamish could mean that he'd die. And as weird as the pointy-eared, beautiful boy was, she found her eyes unable to stop staring at him. She wanted to know more about him, and she was a firm believer that no one deserved to die.

"You can't do it, can you? Pull out the arrow? But I can." She declared. She wasn't a scared little girl anymore. She could prove herself. She took two steps and kneeled down next to him.

He gave her a dirty look but he didn't say much more than. "I can't draw it out myself. They're waiting for me to bleed more so they can take me down without a fight, because otherwise they'd find themselves dead instead of victorious."

Rachel didn't want to know who they were. She abhorred violence in all types. She didn't think this idiot was her type of person either. But what she did know was that if she didn't help him, he would die. She didn't know if that could be on her conscious. Even if he was a brute. A killer.

She reached forward, and feeling the slick blood on her fingers, she flinched away from the wound. Her lungs turned to ice as she looked at the grisly wound. "I-I can't d-do it."

His voice turned soft at her terrified expression. "Your name?"

Rachel felt tears run over her cheeks. There was silence for a moment as she watched the cold cloud of her breath rise up with the word. "R-Rachel."

"Call me Finn." It was a nickname or something of the sort. Faeries didn't give out their real names easily, even parts of their names. Rachel knew that much. It was a show of trust. "Give me your hand."

She let him take her hand in his and guide it to the branch. His hand closed over hers, both of them chilled and wet, his fingers inhumanly long and rough with calluses. "Let me pull." He said. "You don't have to look. As long as I don't touch the branch, I might be able to remove it."

Rachel's breath caught in her throat. Didn't he say she wanted to help him? Pull out the arrow herself? So what was she doing! This was embarrassing. She was the head Diva, the best singer she'd ever heard including her two fathers, and here she was letting some half dead faerie save himself! She was no princess.

"No, I'll-" She took a deep steadying breath. "I can pull."

Finn didn't let go of her hand, but she felt it give hers a comforting squeeze. Rachel gave the arrow a sharp tug, trying not to watch as his face constricted in pain. The arrow had barely moved. If there were faeries waiting to take him down, then now would be the perfect time.

"Again!" He panted, the pain visible.

Rachel pulled her thoughts back to what she should've been thinking. To helping out Finn. She took note of his armor this time, changing her position so that the arrow wouldn't be restricted by the maple leaf plates. She raised her arm, braced herself, and pulled backwards as hard as she could.

Finn gave a harsh cry as the arrow slipped free, covered in blood. It looked even more terrifying when you could see the bits of flesh dripping off the arrow, Rachel holding it like some murderer. She had never dropped anything quicker.

"That was… brave. Thanks." He said, holding his hand over his wound. He attemped a grin. Rachel found that she loved how handsome he was with that silly smile on his face. She felt the tears start to fall again.

"We have to stop the bleeding. I don't know anything about first aid but what I learned in girl scouts and that doesn't go past putting bandaids on people's knees. I think I might have something…? No, I left with nothing! I'm so sorry-"

Finn growled. "Shut up!"

Rachel realized she'd started ranting. She looked down at herself. Well, there was only one way to bind the wound. "How does your armor come off?"

His hand motioned to his back, exhausted. Straps. Of course. She pushed him a little away from the tree and she grabbed at the straps. If there were faeries waiting to finish him off, they didn't have to wait much longer. She hurried herself up.

The breastplate fell off easily. Underneath, his bare skin was covered in blood. Rachel knew her impeccable fashion was never appreciated anyways. She peeled off her paw print sweater and hung it on the tree. The shirt underneath would be much easier to tear. Trying not to feel too awkward or embarrassed, she peeled off that layer as well.

Finn watched her out of the corner of his eye. Still wary. But understandably. Rachel ripped the shirt, which had been a light pink button down, into strips. Find helped her tie them around his chest, binding the wound, for now.

"I didn't even hear you rip the cloth." He mumbled.

"Try and stay awake, then!" Rachel protested. "Is there anywhere you can go?"

"I can… find my mom… Call the Kelpie." He pointed towards the stream running nearby. Rachel hadn't even noticed it in her frantic discovery of Finn and his dilemma. Finn took a leaf and rubbed it on his chest plate. He handed it to her. "Drop it in the stream and say 'Finn of the Unseelie Court calls for your aid.' I don't know if I can control her in this weather, but it's better than nothing."

She nodded mutely, and dropped the disgusting leaf into the water. "Finn of the Unseelie Court calls for your aid." She didn't see anything happen, so she turned back to him.

"I am in your debt. I hate thinking of how you'll make me repay it." He said, coughing.

"I have questions…" Rachel started, but she was interrupted by the flaring of nostrils and a powerful black horse creature plummeting onto the bank from the stream. Finn merely grabbed the mane of the beast and swung himself onto it's back.

"I'll answer three the best I can. But not now." He said, as the beast turned away and galloped into the stream. Once the splash had cleared, both of them were gone.

Rachel grabbed her sweater, pulling it over her bra. Good thing she still had it. There was a little blood on it, but she'd deal. It's not like anyone would be awake at her grandma's house.

Looking back, the woods suddenly seemed menacing and she walked quickly as she could back to the road. If she started running, she didn't think she'd be able to stop. Rachel hated to admit it, but she was terrified.

+G+L+E+E+

A/N: Okay, so this is a fic based off of (and uses some lines of) Holly Black's Tithe. I own nothing, this is fanfiction after all. And credit to Holly Black for all the quotes in here. They are only in the first few chapters though.

In case some of you are curious, it only starts off like Tithe. Then it takes a turn of it's own and goes on it's own business. It's only set in that universe and starts off the same. I'm not rewriting the book. After this part, I branch off into a brand new adventure that involves the Glee characters and some of their plot.

If you must know, then I'm guessing the character conversions go something like this. All other characters shall have parts, but these characters are the ones who are playing literally the same parts as the actual characters. Or do some of the similar things. Some characters shall be split into two or more characters from Glee.

Rachel: Kaye
Finn: Roibon
Kurt: Corny
Blaine: Luis
Karofsky: Nephamael
Sue: Silarial
Emma: Nicnevin
Hiram and Leroy Berry: Ellen
Quinn: Lutie-Loo
Mike: Gristle
Wes: Ellebere
David: Dulcamara

Everyone else is also being portrayed, but instead their parts won't be exactly the same. Like Santana is currently playing Kenny but then she goes off and does her own thing. Mercedes and Brittany share bits and pieces of Janet's part. Spike is replaced with Tina, but Tina doesn't act like Spike. Mr. Schue and Burt will also have parts in the fic that don't exist in the book.

And yes, I'm a Gleek. This summer has converted me!