Thank you to everyone who has continued to read this story and those of you who are just now joining. I know some people really don't like it when authors ask for reviews but I didn't get very many for my last chapter and I just want to make sure I'm not losing your interest so please let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: If I owned Glee or any of the characters, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction…
"The warriors are here"
The entire tribe is gathering at the edge of the river as the eight canoes full of warriors pull up onto the riverbank. The chief of this neighboring tribe steps out of his canoe and shakes hands with Chief Powhatan.
Santana, out of breath from running, emerges from the corn field and is met with the sight of her father shaking hands with a warrior chief. Her brown eyes widen with the realization that these warriors are here to kill the White Men and her thoughts immediately shift to Brittany. Slowly she makes her way to the back of the crowd and finds herself standing directly beside Rachel.
Noticing someone has appeared beside her; Rachel turns her head and finds Santana right next to her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. "Santana!" Rachel quietly chastises. "Are you crazy? What were you doing with that—"
Before Rachel has a chance to finish scolding Santana for her foolishness, Puck appears seemingly out of nowhere. "There you are!" he cries as he finally finds Santana.
Completely lost in her thoughts about keeping Brittany safe, Santana doesn't realize anyone is talking to her until she hears his voice. "Puck!" she exclaims, surprise evident in her shaky voice.
With a wry smile, Puck turns his attention from Santana to the warriors. "Look at them. Now we have enough warriors to destroy those white demons!" Puck has put an arm around Santana's shoulders and pulls her flush to his side as he says this. Santana has to keep herself from pulling away from his unwelcome hold.
Chief Powhatan and the chief of the warrior tribe are almost to the door of Powhatan's hut when he turns to face his eager-faced tribe. "Now that we are joined by our brothers, we will defeat this enemy," he says, a slight smile gracing his sun-kissed face.
Feeling Puck's grasp loosen slightly, Santana takes this opportunity to break away from him and runs up to meet her father. Placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, she says "Father, I need to speak with you."
Choosing to ignore the desperation that can be both heard in her voice and seen in her eyes, Powhatan removes her hand from his shoulder. "Not now, my daughter. The council is gathering."
Santana quickly moves so she is standing in front of him and grabs his hands. "We don't have to fight them!" she begs him to understand. "There must be a better way," she tries.
Powhatan lets out a sigh and lovingly cups one of her cheeks in his hand. "Sometimes our paths are chosen for us," he explains.
"But maybe we should try talking to them," Santana says.
"They do not want to talk!" Powhatan slightly raises his voice to his daughter.
Deciding to try one last tactic, Santana stands up straight and looks her father square in the eye. "But if one of them did want to talk, you would listen, wouldn't you?" she asks with set determination.
Not wanting to argue with her, Powhatan once again sighs and shakes his head. "Santana—"
"Wouldn't you?" She cries.
Recognizing the stubbornness of his daughter, something she definitely got from her mother, Powhatan tries to reason with her. "Of course I would. But it is not that simple. Nothing is simple anymore." With that, he steps around her and goes inside his hut.
Santana turns and watches her father disappear into the safety of his hut, head hanging in disappointment.
Brittany took her time walking back to Jamestown. As much as she hated leaving Santana, she couldn't stop the ear-to-ear grin from forming when she thought about getting to Santana later that evening.
Even though he was trying to be stealthy, Brittany knew Meeko was following her back to the fort. 'Probably looking to get ahold of more food' she thought and chuckled to herself. Brittany was a little startled when Meeko jumped onto her shoulder.
"Well how did you get up here?" she asked the raccoon curiously. Meeko merely tilted his head to the side and bopped her on the nose with his paw. "Hey!" she exclaimed but smiled at him anyways.
She stopped dead in her tracks though when she thought she heard a dog barking somewhere behind. She turned in a full circle but didn't see anything. 'Strange.' She thought. 'The barking almost sounded like Percy…' scrunching her brow in confusion, she turned to look at Meeko who was still perched atop her shoulder. "Did you hear that?" she asked him. He just blinked at her and finally Brittany continued walking back to the fort.
Brittany is almost to the fence when she sees Sam guarding a large section of the large, wooden gate. She turns and starts heading towards him when she steps on twig, causing it snap under her boot. Sam whips around, gun aimed at Brittany's head.
"Whoa there Sam, it's only me," Brittany has her hands raised in surrender and looks a little frightened.
Eyes widening with realization, Sam quickly lowers his gun and walks towards Brittany. "Brittany! I could've killed you!" he says, worry etched into his features.
Finally gaining her composure after having looked down the barrel of Sam's rifle, Brittany just shakes her head and laughs lightly. "Not aiming like that, you couldn't. Keep both eyes open when you shoot. You'll see twice as well." She takes the gun from Sam's grasp and demonstrates what she's saying
From behind her, Brittany can hear Finn call out to her. "Pierce! There ya are!"
"We were looking all over for you," she hears Quinn say from the where she is standing guard on a small raised platform with Finn.
Brittany hands the gun back to Sam. "Now you try," she calls over her shoulder as she retreats inside the fence to see Quinn.
"Pierce! Where have you been?" Governor Schuester yells when he sees Brittany walking through the fence.
Coming to a halt, Brittany turns to look at Schuester and clears her throat. "I was…out scouting the terrain, sir," she replies and lets out a small sigh of relief when Schuester seems to be pleased with this answer.
"Excellent," Schuester replies, smiling at her. "Then you must know the Indians' whereabouts. We'll need that information for the battle.
Brittany feels a lump form in her throat and clears her throat before responding. "What battle?" she asks in a shaky voice.
With a coy smirk, Schuester puts an arm around her shoulder. "We will eliminate these savages once and for all."
Feeling a wave of nausea wash over her, Brittany wrenches herself away from Schuester. "No! You can't do that!" Panic setting in because all she can think about is finding a way to protect Santana.
Completely insulted by Brittany's reaction, he looks at her with disdain. "Oh? Can't I?" he challenges; one eyebrow risen.
Not wanting to upset him anymore than she already has, Brittany looks at the governor pleadingly. "Look, we don't have to fight them," she tries to reason with him.
"Brittany, what's gotten into you?" she hears Sam ask. Finally she looks away from Schuester only to realize all of her friends are standing there looking at her with confusion and disbelief.
Deciding maybe the truth is the best way to get through to them; Brittany stands up straight and says, "I met one of them."
"You what!" Quinn shrieks.
"A savage?" Sam questions.
Now offended by the term 'savage', thanks to Santana, Brittany shakes her head furiously. "They're not savages, they can help us. They know the land and they know how to navigate it." Looking at each of her friends pointedly, hoping to get through to them, Brittany reaches into her satchel and pulls out an ear of corn Santana gave her. "And look! It's food!" she says as she holds it out for each of them to see.
Mike moves to stand next directly next to Brittany and takes the corn from her outstretched hand. "What is it?"
Brittany shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not sure but I do know that it is better than gruel."
Schuester has grown tired of Brittany's outburst and raises his voice to get the small group's attention. "They don't want to feed us, you ninnies! They want to kill us! All of us! They've got our gold, and they'll do anything to keep it!"
Sensing her friends are about to side with Schuester's side of the argument, Brittany jumps in. "But there is no gold!" she exclaims.
"No…gold?" Finn asks a little dumbfounded. Brittany has to keep herself from laughing at the wide-eyed, open-mouthed reaction she is getting from all four of her friends.
Schuester's face is starting to turn a strange shade of red when he grabs Brittany by the shoulders. "And I suppose your little Indian friend told you this."
Pulling herself out of his grasp for the second time today, Brittany looks at him and nods her head. "Yes."
Schuester gets right up in Brittany's face and begins screaming at her. "Lies! Lies, all of it! Murderous thieves, there's no room for their kind in civilized society."
Waking away from Schuester, Brittany decides to direct her attention back to her friends. "But this is their land," she says as she looks each of them in the eye.
From behind her, Brittany can practically hear the steam coming out of Schuester's ears. "This is my land! I make the laws here. And I say anyone so much as looks at an Indian without killing him on sight, will be tried for treason and hanged." There is a simultaneous 'gulp' amongst the group, which consists of Brittany, Mike, Quinn, Sam, Finn and few others who came over to see what all the yelling was about.
Brittany's eyes are narrowed and all she can is red, but she dares not try her luck with Schuester anymore than she already has. Instead, she'll just have to find some way to sneak off and meet up with Santana.
Santana is quietly running towards the corn field when she hears Rachel's voice. "Santana!" Rachel cries out to her.
Stopping in her tracks, Santana turns around and finds herself face to face with Rachel. "Rachel!" she responds.
Rachel looks at Santana pleadingly. "Don't go out there. I've already lied for you once," Rachel shakes her head and drops her gaze to the ground. "Please don't ask me to do it again," she says in almost a whisper.
Santana gently places a hand on Rachel's shoulder and bends down to meet her gaze. "I have to do this, "she says, pleading with her eyes for Rachel to understand.
Rachel pulls away from Santana and shakes her furiously. "He's one of them!" her voice starting to rise with her anger.
"You don't know him," Santana tries to reason with Rachel.
Standing firm, Rachel sets her jaw and looks at Santana with a cold glare. "You go out there, you'll be turning your back on your own people," she says, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
Santana shakes her head and fights back the tears at seeing her friend so angry with her. "I'm trying to help my people."
Rachel knows Santana well enough to know she truly does mean well. Calming herself down, Rachel unfolds her arms and takes ahold of one of Santana's wrists. "Santana please…You're my best friend. I don't want you to get hurt," Rachel says in all honesty.
Santana turns and has almost disappeared into the large field of corn, when she turns back around and looks at Rachel. "I won't. I know what I'm doing." And with that, Santana disappears into the night.
Brittany puts out the candle, the only source of light, in her tent and quietly tiptoes out if the small tent and towards the back of the settlement. As she's walking, she overhears her friends sitting around a small campfire…
"…Schuester wouldn't take us halfway around the world for nothing," Finn argues.
"But what if Pierce is right? What if there is no gold?" Quinn retorts.
"If you ask me, Schuester's been lying to us since we left London," Mike chimes in.
Sam turns his head just in time to catch the shadow of someone moving quickly through the settlement. He quietly excuses himself from the campfire and follows the shadow.
"Listen to you, you bunch of idiots. Those savages didn't attack us for nothing, they're hiding something," Finn continues arguing.
Finally shrugging his shoulders, Mike just says, "If they do have the gold, I reckon we'll have to fight them." Quinn just nods in agreement.
Sam follows the retreating figure to the edge of the settlement when he sees the shadow slip through a small gap in the fence. Sam has to stifle his gasp when he realizes it is Brittany that has escaped into the night. Sam turns around, unsure of what to do, when he finds himself face to face with a very annoyed looking Will Schuester.
"Follow her," Shcuester says.
Sam swallows down the lump in his throat and nods his head. "Yes, sir." Sam turns away from Schuester and slips through the same gap Brittany went through, when he hears will call after him.
"I want to know where he's sneaking off to," Will says and Sam nods his head in understanding. "And if you happen to see any Indians, shoot them. Oh, and Sam? You've been a slipshod sailor and a poor excuse for a soldier. Don't disappoint me again." With that, Will turns and heads back to his tent.
Sam clutches his rifle closer to his chest and begins to stealthily hunt Brittany.
Puck is sitting by a small fire he has made directly outside his deerskin hut and sharpening the arrowhead of a spear with a piece of flint.
"Puck?" he immediately turns when he hears a shaky-voiced Rachel call his name. The girl is visibly upset and looks as though she is even shaking.
"What is it?" he questions, his voice laced with worry.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel closes her eyes. "It's Santana," she finally admits.
Puck jumps to his feet spear in hand and quickly asks, "What's wrong? Is she all right?"
Rachel looks up to meet Puck's concerned eyes and begins to shake her head. "I think she's in trouble," she responds, her voice grower a little firmer.
This chapter was a little shorter than the others but I wanted to have sometihng posted tonight. Don't worry, the next one should be a pretty good legth. If you a minute, please let me know what you think