Hi! So, I really appreciated all of the reviews for the last chapter! It meant a LOT to me, so I hurried to put this chapter together to show that I now have no intention of stopping this story!
This chapter is very different than some of the others, from a dance off, to Finn's flashback, and it's a little song heavy, but hopefully you like it just the same!
I don't own Glee! :) Also, sorry I keep forgetting to put the links to the songs in up here!
watch?v=6K70t4bfxtE
watch?v=gzQOXljCw_Q
watch?v=_wOPMsazt8U
Love Is In the Air
Santana squinted into the distance, peering out from the tree-line. She looked down at the red clay beneath her boots and then back at the jagged mountains rearing up across an extremely dry looking desert pass.
"Shit..." She frowned, raising an eyebrow in disdain.
"What?" Sam asked, coming up behind her.
"Check this out..." She held aside a large branch and gestured past her.
"Oh..." He mumbled. Despite their rather unfortunate incident in the rain, they hadn't had to battle against the elements very often. Their resources had all been plentifully available in the forest somewhere, and with the siblings on their team, they were safe from accidentally ingesting a toxic plant.
That only applied to forests, however; neither sibling had ever even seen a desert, they would be next to useless.
"We have to cross that?" Santana asked.
"Yep..."
"Why?"
"Cause Finn says so and we have nowhere else to go..." Sam frowned.
"Even if we make it across the desert, how will we climb those mountains?"
"...Our hands!" He responded wittily. She glared at him.
"Good one..."
"Thanks."
"Let's go warn the others..."
"Dude, oh my God, why the hell can't I fish? Do you think they know I'm trying to kill them?" Finn screamed in exasperation.
Blaine blinked at him, raising an eyebrow, hands resting lazily on one of the poles that they'd fashioned from wood and string unravelled from one of Santana's shirts. The hooks had been easy enough to come by, simply by cutting small pieces off of Santana's old half-swords from the farm and heating them with the fire.
It was probably useful that they were travelling with a Blacksmith's Apprentice, because their initial attempts looked like lopsided triangles until Sam took pity on them and fashioned the hooks himself.
"Do you even believe in God?" He asked.
"I don't know." Finn shrugged. "I think so...Do you?" He asked.
Blaine shrugged.
"No, I don't. I'd like to, but nothing in my life has given me any reason to believe in something like that." He shrugged again and turned back to the river before them; a small offshoot of the Ostvale River. The two had travelled as far West as they could, but neither of them wanted to risk being spotted on the banks of the river itself for the sake of some mediocre fish.
"Cool!" Finn nodded.
"You're an interesting guy Finn Hudson." Blaine laughed.
As odd as Finn was, there was something lovable about him, and he was a legitimately funny person. Initially it was hard to know how to react to him, but after you got used to it, it was a welcome break from the normally serious environment that they now lived in.
Finn was about to retort when the fishing pole in front of him jerked forwards and flew into the river. Finn yelled and dove after it before Blaine could stop him, and ended up flailing in the water, cursing the fish with fervor.
"Finn!" Blaine yelled as he flailed.
"I'm drowning!" Finn called. "I'm gonna die Blaine! I'm gonna die!" He sobbed comically.
"Finn!" Blaine laughed. "Stand up!"
Finn paused and then righted himself, to find that the water only came up to just above his knees. He coughed uncomfortably.
"I could've drowned in that." He said defensively.
Blaine smiled and nodded in mock agreement.
They both turned as Sam approached. Blaine nodded to him and he returned the greeting before turning to glance peculiarly at Finn.
"How's it goin'?" He asked slowly.
"I caught three fish!" Blaine said, gesturing to the ground beside him. "Then the fish caught Finn."
"So we have to cross a desert?" Quinn frowned, clearly unimpressed.
"I don't want to sound like an idiot, but what's a desert?" Blaine asked.
"Yeah..." Rachel nodded, equally as confused.
"It's like a meadow, but filled with sand and dirt instead of grass, and it's really hot." Sam explained. He paused to devour his fish and a couple of berries.
"What happened to all the grass...?" Rachel asked. "Did it just get buried?"
"No, the plants in a desert are totally different from those in the forest." Finn explained. "It's called the Redrock Desert, and the mountains that we'll have to climb are called Redrock Edge."
The others frowned, that didn't sound particularly enjoyable, especially in boiling hot weather.
"Where are we going again?" Santana asked, sinking her teeth into her portion of the fish that Rachel had prepared. "Is it really worth it?"
"We have to get to Fayhaven." Finn responded.
"Why?"
"Cause I said so!" Finn stood up and stalked off into the forest. "We leave at nightfall!" He yelled back.
The others hastily finished eating their food and packed up their few belongings. The sun was still relatively high in the sky, and with several hours of daylight to burn, they slowly began to drift away from one another again.
Rachel moved to put out the fire, just as Sam did the same. They bumped heads and she tumbled backwards, bracing herself against the ground.
The ground never came, however, as Sam managed to catch her inches above it. He smiled down at her apologetically, arms almost cradling her.
"Sorry!" He remarked.
"Th-that's okay." Rachel swallowed deeply. "We have to stop meeting like that." She joked.
"You're right." Sam nodded. "Next time I'll just let you fall." He snickered and dropped her the short distance remaining to the ground. She laughed and scowled at him, punching at his knees but he danced out of the way.
Nearby, Blaine leaned against a tree, watching the pair with a knowing gaze. He smiled coyly as his sister rose to her feet, blushing and smiling almost giddily. Blaine had practically grown up in the forest, and he'd learned to read animals extremely well, he could tell when they were happy, sad, fearful, or in love...people, as it turned out, were even worse at masking their emotions, and Rachel, being his sister, was no exception.
His sister was in love.
Blaine shrugged; he'd always wanted a brother, and he approved of Sam, he decided to just wait it out and see where it went.
"Sam!" He called out.
"Yeah?" Sam paused and turned around as Rachel excused herself and moved off blindly in another direction.
"Can we train?" Blaine asked, slightly embarrassed as the girls moved off in different directions. Sam smiled and nodded. Blaine grinned in relief and followed him away.
Quinn eyed her new bow appreciatively, plucking the string like an instrument. She held it to her eye, loaded an arrow and let out her breath. She squinted past the bow, eyes on a small red apple that hung low on its branch.
With a sharp twang, the arrow shot through the air, nailing the apple and spearing it against the trunk of the tree.
Quinn smiled to herself and lowered her weapon bouncing up and down at her success. The new weapons had been an adjustment, but they'd all been training, and they were getting the hang of it. The new weapons were far more powerful than their old ones, and they carried with them a certain emotional stigma. The weapons were proof that loss was not uncommon in warfare; on the contrary, it was to be expected. Sometimes people were lost on the journey, what's important was that you kept on fighting.
Bruce was proof of that, as were the citizens of Violetedge and... and Brittney's father.
Quinn let out a sigh.
She stepped forwards over several gnarled roots towards the tree, grabbing her arrow and plucking it from where it was imbedded, watching the discarded apple roll to the foot of the tree and off into the forest.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree as she polished the arrowhead absentmindedly.
Brittney's father had been a strong, stubborn man. He'd made a bad call, sending his daughter away, but that didn't mean that he didn't love her...and now...with Brittney in Imperial hands...Quinn wasn't one to try and trick herself, there was a good chance that Brittney was already dead.
Thinking this thought to herself-even in the solitude of the woods just East of the Ostvale River-brought a pang to her heart so sharp that she gasped and doubled over.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up to find Rachel approaching through the trees, the pierced apple in her hand. Quinn shakily nodded.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, brow furrowed in genuine concern.
"Nothing!" Quinn shook her head. "I'm fine!" She smiled.
Rachel put one hand on her hip and gave her a look that clearly indicated that she wasn't going to believe such a simple lie.
"I was just taking a break!" Quinn tried again.
"Quinn..." Rachel started. "Please tell me?"
Quinn sighed.
"It's this whole business with Brittney!" She threw up her hands and sat down against the trunk of the tree, leaning her head against it. "First Sam's dreams, then her Dad, and now finding out that she's probably dead!"
"You don't know that!" Rachel protested, attempting to calm her.
"But there's a good chance! You would know Rachel, you lived at that castle..." Quinn snapped irritably.
Rachel fell silent.
She knew that Quinn was right, if Brittney was in Imperial hands than she was probably dead, or on her way to being executed. She almost suggested a rescue mission, but they were not ready to invade the castle. The six of them would be cut to pieces under the might of the entire Imperial Army.
"It's just stressful..." Quinn sighed.
"I know..." Rachel sat down next to her and wrapped her up in a hug. Quinn leaned into her and began to cry, unashamedly as Rachel rubbed her back, murmuring soothing words into her ear.
"I-its, just n-n-not f-fair!" Quinn whispered.
"Oh, Quinn!" Rachel cried, holding her tighter. "I know it isn't, I know..."
"I j-just w-w-wanted to s-see who was in the c-carriage!" She sobbed.
"Hey...listen!" Rachel lifted her chin and looked her in the eyes. "Do you believe in fate? Destiny? Any of that?"
Quinn sniffled and wiped at her eyes.
"I guess so...I'll believe anything at this point...Not that prayers have done me much good..."
"Maybe it was fate that made them pick you." Rachel said. Quinn looked to be on the verge of even more tears so Rachel hastily went on. "Because you are way stronger than you look, and maybe fate or God or luck or whatever, knew that you could make it through this!"
Quinn didn't say anything.
"I know it sucks, believe me I know, but we've actually had it pretty good, I mean, how many close encounters have we had?"
"Too many..." Quinn said bitterly.
"Exactly, too many, but we managed to escape all of them." Rachel said. "The King needs to be stopped, and I think we're gonna have to be the ones to do it. For Brittney...and for everybody else in the Kingdom. Alright?"
Quinn nodded.
"Alright."
Rachel rubbed her friend's arms tenderly and then stood, brushing off her pants and turning away.
"I'm going to head back to camp, alright?" She turned smiling. "Don't worry Quinn, we'll get through this..."
Quinn nodded at her and Rachel smiled, turning away and moving back towards their campsite.
She'd made it about half-way before she heard the sounds of battle coming from off to her right. She froze as she heard Sam cry out slightly and then broke into a sprint, diving through trees so quickly that her feet barely touched the ground.
Seconds later, she reached the edge of a small clearing. She was just about to barge in, sword first, when she noticed what was happening.
Blaine and Sam were both panting and smiling on opposite sides of the clearing, weapons drawn. She looked from one side to the next in blatant confusion.
"Do you want to try again?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." Blaine smiled. "Thanks!"
"No problem!"
Blaine set his feet and Sam began to run towards him. As he approached Blaine bent his knees and lowered his shoulder, catching Sam just below his ribcage and sending him awkwardly stumbling off to the side.
"That was closer!" Sam nodded encouragingly, righting himself.
"I don't understand why I can't flip you..." Blaine frowned. "Should I crouch lower?"
"That'd probably be a good idea..." Sam nodded and approached him to show him what to do. "And try to like, throw me with your back too, you know what I mean? Like, push up against me when my center of gravity is over yours."
Rachel smiled as she realized what was happening. Sam was giving her little brother lessons in how to fight. She'd known something was up with him after their father's ambush, but hadn't been able to put her finger on it.
Blaine had failed when close combat was initiated, so obviously he'd sought out Sam to help him improve!
She was touched, and leaned back to watch as Sam selflessly moved in for another blow. The maneuver was even closer this time, with Sam rolling down his back, but the flip was far from being complete.
"You look happy." A voice startled her out of her thoughts and she turned to find Santana looking at her, tongue between her teeth and a cheeky look in her eyes. "You look...in love." She cooed.
"What's going on?" Quinn's voice sounded out as she approached.
"Nothing!" Rachel said hastily.
"Rachel's in love." Santana repeated, teasing her.
"I'm not trying to move in on him, I promise!" Rachel shook her head, eyeing Quinn seriously. Quinn's brow crinkled and she tilted her head to the side.
"Wait what?" She laughed. "Sam's just a friend, believe me!" She laughed again and shook her head. "You can have him if you really love him!"
"I barely know him." Rachel scoffed.
"Love is funny that way." Quinn said.
"I think it's adorkable." Santana teased nonchalantly.
Rachel shook her head and turned away from them, back towards the training session. Neither boy had noticed the intrusion upon their training grounds, and as they worked Rachel couldn't hold back a giggly smile as Sam burst out laughing at an absolutely botched attempt.
Santana squealed conspiratorially and shared a knowing look with Quinn who smiled back. The look did not go unnoticed by Rachel, who turned back to them with a glare.
"I am not in love!" She insisted.
"Mmhmm..." The other girls said disbelievingly.
-Musical Cue-
-Hercules: I Won't Say I'm In Love-
Rachel groaned.
"If there's a price for rotten judgement..." Rachel sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess I've already won that. No man is worth the aggravation."
She snapped her head at Santana and Quinn who drew close together.
"That's ancient history, been there done that!" She turned to walk off into the woods, but Quinn and Santana both moved to intercept her.
"Who'd you think you're kidding? He's the Earth and Heaven to you! Try to keep it hiddin', honey we can see right through you!"
"Oh no!" Rachel shook her head and tried to dodge around them but they cut in front of her again and turned her to face Sam again.
"Girl you can't conceal it, we know how you feel and who you're thinkin' of!"
"Oh..." Rachel sighed, looking at the strange sandy haired boy as Quinn and Santana began to do-op in her ear. "No chance, no way, I won't say it no. No!"
"You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh oh?" The girls sang, switching places and swaying as the oohed.
"It's too cliché! I won't say I'm in love."
Rachel shook her head, but slowly re-approached the clearing, leaning against a tree and pressing a hand against it, looking at the boys' training.
"I thought my heart had learned its lesson...It feels so good when you start out." She frowned. "My head is screaming get a grip girl! Unless you're dying to cry your heart out! Oh!"
"You keep on denying, who you are and how you're feeling!" The girls pointed at her accusingly. "Baby we're not buyin', Hon we saw you hit the ceiling." They shook their heads. "Oh no!"
"Face it like a grown up! When you gonna own up that you-"
"Got-" Quinn nodded.
"Got-" Santana chimed in.
"Got it bad!" They joined one another again.
"No! No chance, no way! I won't say it, no. No!" Rachel shook her head and cut her hands through the air, attempting to turn away again.
"Give up! Give in!" The girls sang, blocking her path.
Santana continued on, poking Rachel's cheeks. "Check the grin, you're in love!"
"This scene won't play! I won't say I'm in love!"
"You're doin' flips, read our lips! You're in love!"
"You're way off base, I won't say it!" She scowled at them and growled through her next phrase. "Get off my case, I won't say it!"
"Girl don't be proud!" They sang, patting her arms. "It's okay you're in love!"
"Ooh..." Rachel sang, turning to look back at Sam over her shoulder. "At least out loud...I won't say I'm in love..."
Quinn and Santana softly ended the song and stepped slowly away from Rachel through the forest, giving her knowing looks and sly smiles as they left. Rachel shook her head and looked back at the training session, where Blaine had finally taken notice of them.
She watched him watch Quinn walk away with the same stupid gaze that she knew had been plastered across her face all afternoon and wondered if maybe...maybe she wasn't the only one confused about her feelings.
As she turned and walked away, she didn't catch Sam's admiring gaze in her own direction.
Enter: The Piper
Sam groaned as he stumbled through the forest behind Finn that night.
"Why aren't we sleeping again?" He asked.
"We're going into a desert!"
"So?"
"It's pretty cool at night." Finn explained. "You'll want to kill yourself in the morning."
"Okay." Sam rolled his eyes disbelievingly. It was just a little sun; they'd been living under the same sky for months now, besides, a little sand wouldn't hurt anybody. He doubted that he'd want to kill himself...
"Oh my God, I'm gonna kill myself!" Sam cried. The desert sun blistered above them, and the air around them seemed to shimmer in the heat.
He slumped to the sand and panted against the ground. He felt a pair of hands on his arm as Blaine attempted to haul him back to his feet.
"C'mon..." Blaine moaned, staggering forwards. The sunlight was making him slur his words, and he didn't trust himself to say much more than that.
Sam reached his other arm out and crawled forwards slightly so that his head rested in the shadow of a large cactus.
"What's that?" Rachel asked, squinting tiredly at the large plant. She reached out and poked one of the needles. It pricked her and she drew back, practically hissing. "It bit me!"
Before she could draw her sword and cut Sam's limited shade to bits, Finn stepped in and raised his hands to silence them.
"Calm the hell down!" He yelled.
"My hair is not built for this..." Quinn frowned. They all turned to look at her. The heat legitimately looked like it might set her head on fire.
"Hey look, a water pump!" Santana cried out. She ran towards another cactus with outstretched arms, as if to hug it.
"No!" Finn yelled, diving after her and grabbing her leg, pulling her to the sand.
"I don' even know wa's goin' on..." Blaine swayed from side to side.
Finn looked at the five of them and realized that he was essentially in charge of keeping them alive in the harsh conditions. Santana had started hallucinating and he had to keep a close eye on her after she confused a large boulder for a rabid bear and ran away in the other direction. It had cost them at least half an hour of travel time tracking her down again. Blaine was incoherent and babbling nonsense half of the time, and Rachel was just as bad, getting angry at the smallest possible thing. She'd already attacked Finn three times. Sam could barely move and kept mumbling something about a condition he had that made him sweat a lot. Of all of them, Quinn was the most coherent. She, at least, only seemed a little bit drugged up, and had most of her wits about her.
"How much longer?" Rachel snapped.
"We're almost to the cliffs." Finn said.
"That's not a measure of time Finn!" Rachel screamed, unsheathing her sword.
"Fuck..."
Finn sprinted away, Rachel right behind him as Blaine tried to carry Sam unsuccessfully. Eventually, he took Sam's legs and Quinn took his arms and the three of them trudged forwards blindly as Finn and Rachel raced in an increasingly wider circle beside them.
This method was slow, but effective, at least until Santana hallucinated again and thought that Sam was a gurney and sat on him, promptly sending all four of them to the ground.
"Don't kill me!" Finn cried sprinting back to the others and hiding behind the cactus.
"Don't hide behind your innocent friend! This isn't his battle!" Rachel snapped.
Finn looked at the cactus and then back at Rachel.
"Rachel that's a cactus."
"Oh, and now cactuses can't have feelings?" Rachel looked like she was about to cry. "Maybe that's what's really wrong with this kingdom! People like you are racist against these poor cactuses! Have you ever thought about how that makes them feel? Maybe all they need is a hug!"
Rachel looked at the cactus with tearful eyes and dropped her weapon, holding out her arms and walking slowly towards it.
Finn decided to let nature take its course and moved to kneel down next to the clump of people beside the cactus. Seconds later he heard Rachel blow up into another fit of rage, screaming at the cactus that she had tried to help it and it had hurt her in return.
"Finn." A voice in his head called out to him.
"Marley?" He asked, standing up and looking around.
"I'm in your head, I am literally always in your head. Why do you always look around?"
"Because I...what do you want?" Finn snapped.
"Finn!" Marley said irritably. "Those five are important to the future of this Kingdom, I'm sure you've sensed that. If you don't do something, the sun will kill them here."
She paused as Rachel began chopping the cactus to bits, against Sam's weak protests. He flailed trying to stop her, but Santana was sitting comfortably on his chest and Blaine and Quinn were both holding him glumly, neither had let go of him when they fell.
"Or they'll kill each other..."
"Well what am I supposed to do?" He asked.
"Use your magic. Duh."
"They'll track my magic if I use it..." Finn said uncertainly. "That's why I don't use more than little bursts of it."
"Well they'll die if you don't, so, you should probably get over it."
"Fine..." Finn frowned.
He turned back to the other five, rolled up the sleeves of his yellow cotton jacket and flexed his fingers, flinging his arms out to the side and focussing on the ground by his feet.
Sam looked up with tired, unfocused eyes as a jet of water exploded from the ground by Finn's feet, showering them all. He gasped and shook free from Blaine and Quinn as they rushed towards the fountain and began to down as much of the water as possible.
Santana dove off of him and began splashing her face with water. She looked up, as if noticing her actual surroundings for the first time. Rachel glanced over at the magical spring and approached it sceptically. Once the water hit her, however, her anger was forgotten.
"How did you do that?" Sam asked, cupping his hands until water filled them.
"I'm a wizard."
"When we were in that prison, you could barely zap the guards." Santana said.
Finn looked uneasy.
"The King's court is full of some of the strongest magical people in the Kingdom. They don't want any threat against them, so they've been assassinating all of the magical people in the Kingdom. The only ones left, that I know of at least, are Marley and I...I don't like to use my magic because it could get me killed."
"So you're saying that the Imperial soldiers could be on their way right now?" Rachel asked.
"No. He's saying that he just risked his life to save ours." Sam realized.
"Well, that, and the soldiers are actually definitely on their way right now." Finn said bluntly.
"Then we have to leave!" Santana yelled, but she didn't move from the water.
"Well, no..." Finn paused. "See, the soldiers don't like the desert. Some actually can't even come here, because they'd melt inside their armour."
"What are you talking about; we haven't met any armoured soldiers." Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"Well you're not a threat to the Empire yet."
"He's right, there are a bunch of different kinds of soldiers. We've only encountered swordsmen so far." Blaine said. "But there are plenty more; archers, magic-wielders, armour-clad, they all serve a purpose; attack, distance, magic, defense and that's not even counting the army leaders."
"Right." Finn agreed. "But there is one other unit of soldier..."
"What?" Rachel paused. "I lived at the castle, I've never heard of a fifth unit."
"Well you wouldn't have...they're...he's...different...he covers the Redrock Area exclusively...and he won't do things the normal way."
"So he's on his way to fight us right now?" Quinn asked.
"Yep." Finn said.
"Then why aren't we running?" Santana asked impatiently.
"Because there is no way to outrun them in their own land."
"Then should we be ready for a fight?" Sam asked.
"No." Finn shook his head. "But you might want to limber up." He looked out into the desert where a wave of black was covering the sand. "They're coming."
Finn stood strong at the forefront, watching as the shadow moved towards them. The water had stopped, having done its duty, and seeped back into the ground. Sam stood behind him and to the left, angled slightly and Rachel knelt between them on one knee, watching the cloud approach. Blaine and Quinn both crouched next to one another on Finn's other side and Santana stood up slowly beside them.
As the darkness approached them, they realized that it was actually several smaller shapes; a swarm of rats.
It took less than a minute for the rats to reach them. They stopped directly in front of them, beady red eyes staring up like predators eyeing prey. They began to pile on top of one another in a pyramid until two people stepped through the middle, one a man with dark bags under his eyes, a crazed smile, a patchwork of dark purple and blue clothing and a flute in his hand, the other a girl with jet black hair who Finn recognized from the very first night that he'd met Sam and Quinn.
"You're the boy from the bridge!" Ree yelled.
"Well screw you Regina!" Finn mocked. She took a step forwards threateningly but the other man stepped in front.
"Hello again Finnocence!" The man cackled.
"Hello Piper."
"You know him?" Ree asked, outraged.
"Quiet Regina, I've got business to tend to. The only reason you're here is because your uncle tired of you." The Piper said offhandedly. Ree gasped and began to squabble quietly with him as Blaine sidled up closer to Sam.
"Piper?" Blaine whispered. "As in the Pied Piper? Like in the fairytale?"
"Fairytale?" The Piper snapped his head to the side, looking crookedly at Blaine with a furious glare. "You think my life is a fairytale? You think its fun to me that I'm a bedtime story?"
He raised his flute to his lips and played a single note, vanishing in a puff of smoke and reappearing right in Blaine's face.
"Let me tell you something boy, I am not a fairytale. I am the thing that nightmares are made of." He whispered hotly against him.
Sam stuck his hand between them and broke them apart, standing protectively in front of his friend.
"Oh..." The Piper smiled deviously. "It seems as if I've discovered your natural leader already."
Sam barely had time to blink before the Piper had him in a headlock, flute pressed against his neck.
"Let him go!" Quinn yelled, darting forwards.
"Leave him alone!" Rachel shouted simultaneously.
Ree stepped in the way and pushed Quinn back. Rachel darted forwards, but Ree swung around, kicking her to the ground. Ree advanced upon Rachel but Santana stepped in her way, swords drawn and a fierce look on her face.
Blaine grabbed the Piper's shoulders and the other man swung the flute around, bashing him in the face and knocking him roughly to the ground before resuming his position and pivoting so that he faced the group as a whole.
Rachel crawled to Blaine and held up his head to investigate the bloody nose that had resulted from the hit.
Sam gasped against the cold steel of the flute and tried in vain to throw the other man off of him.
"What are your terms Piper?" Finn asked.
"Cutting to the chase already? You were so hesitant last time!"
"Well I won your games once, I'm sure I can do it again."
"What are these games he's talking about Piper?" Ree spat.
"Quiet! This is my domain, and we do things a little differently here than in your posh little castle." The Piper snapped before turning back to Finn. "And you didn't win! Nobody wins my games!"
"Games? I'll tell my-" Ree started.
"Oh my God, stop talking!" Santana groaned.
Ree turned and glared at her.
"You're the one in a dangerous situation peasant-bitch. I'd respect your superiors." Ree drew a sword and pointed it Santana who locked eyes with her.
"We'll respect them when we see them. Regina..." Quinn pursed her lips and widened her eyes condescendingly. There was something about this girl that irked Quinn.
Quinn stepped up between Santana and Ree protectively. She didn't know how or why, but something inside of Quinn told her that Ree meant bad news for somebody...somebody very close to her...but she couldn't pinpoint just who.
"Oh you are so-"
The Piper removed his flute, kicked Sam to the ground and played another note, freezing both Quinn and Ree in place as they practically leapt at one another.
"Fffffffuck...yoooou...biiiiitch." Ree fought against the spell in an attempt to speak.
"Yyyyyooou'rrrreee...theeeee...biiiiiiitch." Quinn gasped heavily. "...Biiiitchh."
"What are these terms?" Rachel asked.
"A contest." The Piper slowly broke out into a devious grin. "The gamble's on your lives."
He raised his flute to his lips, pausing with a devilish grin.
"Shall we dance?"
He played a single note, high, sharp and clear.
The Piper lowered his flute as the rats piled on top of one another, literally melting together until they'd taken the shape of shadow-faced men. All four of them held violins and hung their heads, not looking at anything as their music began to play.
"Watch out for his flute! Touch it and it means death!" Finn warned them.
-Musical Cue-
-Vitamin String Quartet: Dance, Dance-
The Piper swiftly lunged to the side, swinging his flute at Blaine who bent backwards to avoid it. The Piper continued on, thrusting it at Sam who pivoted out of the way as the Piper approached Rachel, backing her up with a sort of imposing waltz step.
They travelled backwards until she'd almost bumped into one of the violinists who swung at her with his bow. She ducked it and shoulder-rolled out of the way, past where Santana was standing.
Santana turned to dodge the other way, but the Piper cart wheeled in front of her and sliced his flute through the air. Santana pivoted and ducked at the same time, spinning underneath of it and kicking the Piper backwards.
He caught her foot and tried to flip her but she kept spinning until her feet had hit the ground again and she found herself caught in a waltz step assault. She tried to whip out her swords but he knocked one away with his flute, whipping it through the air towards Finn, who ducked out of the way and rose to find the Piper practically on top of him.
"What's happening?" Quinn yelled, still frozen to the spot.
"It's like a dance off...for our lives?" Rachel tried to explain.
She screamed and rolled out of the way as the Piper turned and tossed his flute at her, it spun like a boomerang and flew right back at him, almost hitting Blaine in the back of the head. The Piper caught it and turned without hesitation to swipe at Sam, who had taken Finn's place and had been attempting to catch him off guard.
Sword met flute and they both pushed off from one another, turning and clashing yet again. The Piper advanced, shoving Sam off balance, but Sam continued rolling backwards and back to his feet, jumping away as Rachel stepped in, locking her own sword with the flute.
Blaine whipped out his own weapon and fired an arrow at the Piper's back. He dislodged Rachel and turned, chopping the arrow out of the air and then baseball throwing his flute so that it spun vertically towards Blaine.
Finn grabbed Blaine by the arm, pulled him out of the way and launched a ball of fire at the flute as it spun back towards the Piper. He reached out and caught it, hissing as it burnt his palm.
"You..." He growled.
"Me." Finn snapped.
The Piper cart wheeled and then launched into a handspring, thrusting his flute at Finn's neck, but Finn ducked it and grabbed the Piper's ankles, flipping him over.
The Piper continued to flip backwards as Finn dove out of the way, and when the Piper attempted to follow him, Santana met him with a punch to the face. He staggered backwards and lunged at her but she dove out of the way and Blaine took her place, bending down and shouldering the Piper just above his waist, successfully flipping him over his back.
Blaine grinned at Sam, who gave him a thumbs up before jumping into the fray and stabbing towards the ground. The Piper rolled out of the way and swung his flute at the sword, sending it skittering along the sand.
Sam lunged for it but the Piper jumped in the way, swinging the flute at him. Sam blocked him by pressing his forearm against the Piper's wrist, causing him to drop the flute. The evil man gasped and dove for it, somersaulting back to his feet directly in front of Santana and Rachel.
The song was nearing the end and the Piper was getting frantic.
He swiped at Santana and but she managed to break away, he pivoted and lunged towards Rachel but she countered the attack and then ran towards him, planting a foot on his chest and sending him tumbling backwards as she back-flipped and skipped out of the way. He pitched his flute back towards her but Finn fired a blast of electricity at it, messing with its trajectory just enough that it missed Rachel's head. The Piper hissed as the flute flew back towards him and the five of them congregated before him.
"I don't lose!" He yelled, lunging towards them. They all broke apart so that he stood in the middle of a pentagon and he circled around slowly.
"You seem to be." Santana said.
She lunged forwards, swinging both of her swords at once and crouching low so that she targeted his knees. He leapt over her swords and turned to block Sam's incoming attack, knocking him backwards and turning just quickly enough to block Blaine's incoming arrow with his flute. He instinctively flipped backwards as Rachel swiped her sword underneath of him and landed on her shoulders. He kicked her to the ground and brought his flute down towards her, but she rolled out of the way. The distraction provided Finn enough time to knock him backwards with a jet of fire.
Sam stepped in behind him and swung his sword at his midsection and the Piper only narrowly dodged the assault by rolling away and back to his feet, instinctively swinging his sword forwards towards Finn who ducked and threw a punch. The Piper grabbed his arm with one hand and spun around, sending him toppling into Rachel who ducked around him and swung her sword at the flute. They clashed and he pivoted away, right into Blaine's fist to his face. He staggered backwards in shock and lunged forwards towards him, but Blaine jumped backwards and Santana stepped in, tripping the Piper and making him front flip back to his feet, spinning around just in time to stop her from cutting him from behind.
He scowled as the five of them congregated in front of him once again.
"You can't touch us!" Sam snapped.
The Piper scowled.
"Maybe you're right. I can't touch you." The Piper smiled coldly as the five of them congregated in front of him. "But there are six of you playing this game."
He whipped around and flipped in between Quinn and Ree. He smiled coldly at her and her eyes widened, she fought the spell as hard as she could, but she could do little more than shake where she stood.
"Nnnnooooo..." She whispered.
"You lose little girl." He laughed and pressed his flute deliberately against her forehead.
The violinists dissolved into a swarm of rats again and began to form a line between Quinn and the others, growing larger and larger until she was out of sight.
"Quinn!" Blaine screamed.
"That's not fair!" Rachel yelled.
"She couldn't move to escape!" Santana cried out.
"That's not my problem." The Piper laughed.
"That's low, even for you, Piper." Finn snapped. "I thought using magic was cheating."
"I make the rules. I can bend them to my will." The Piper snapped. "Now get out of here before I change them again and kill you all."
"Let them say goodbye." Finn snapped, stepping forwards.
He and the Piper stared one another down intensely.
"Fine."
The Piper stood back and the rats parted to reveal Quinn crouched on the ground, clutching at her chest.
"Quinn!" Blaine ran to her, Sam right behind him.
He grabbed her and she went limp, relaxing into his arms.
"What's...happening?" She whispered.
"What's happening?" Sam yelled furiously at the Piper.
"She's dying." He said simply, turning to look away.
"Fix her!" He screamed, stepping forwards and grabbing the Piper's shoulders. "Fix her!" He screeched, tears springing to his eyes.
"Quinn...oh Quinn!" Blaine sobbed, stroking her hair.
"Back off of me boy." The Piper snapped, holding the flute menacingly.
"Sam!" Rachel ran at him, holding him tightly, pressing herself against him. He collapsed in her arms, sobbing into her neck. "I can't lose you..." She whispered.
"I'm dying...?" Quinn asked, looking up at Blaine with stunned eyes.
He collapsed into her, crying into her hands.
She smiled and wiped the tears from his face.
"Hey..." She whispered. "You made me feel beautiful..."
"What?" He whimpered.
"You made me feel beautiful...Before I met you...I wanted to be hot." She laughed bitterly at the shallowness of her wish. "You showed me that it's better to be beautiful inside. Maybe its clichéd, but it's true...when you shine inside...you glow on the outside. Just like you do...All of you."
"You can't die!" Sam yelled, running to kneel on the opposite side of her. "You're my best friend, I need you!"
Quinn smiled and shook her head.
"No...I got to see the world Sam, and I got to see it with you..." She smiled. "You have to rescue Brittney for me, alright? Promise me..."
"Quinn!" He protested.
"Promise." She said.
"I promise..." Sam whispered.
"Good...you're strong Sam...and you're brave..." She wiped tears from his face as well and then patted his shoulder before turning to Blaine. "And you...I think I love you..."
"I think I love you too!" He burst out. "That's why you can't leave me on my own!"
"You're not alone." Quinn smiled, shaking her head. "You don't need me to be loved. Look around you, you've got a sister who loves you more than anything, and friends that will stick by you until the end...just like you stuck by me..."
"Quinn..." He whispered.
"Don't get hung up on this..." She said. "You deserve to be happy...we all knew our time would eventually come to an end...I'm just glad I died fighting for a cause as good as ours. Don't stop now, if anything, you have to work even harder. If you can't save this kingdom...nobody can. I believe in you...I believe in all of you."
She smiled and looked around at the others.
"Santana...remember what I said okay?" She whispered. "Everything I said in the barn. I was the one who convinced you to follow us, right? Well now you need to do more than follow, you need to lead, because without me here, things might seem dark. You need to be a light."
"...You got it..." Santana whispered as tears streamed down her face and into her mouth. "...Q."
"Q." Quinn chuckled. "I like that."
Santana let out a sob and turned away.
"Rachel..." Quinn finally whispered.
The other girl, who was standing further away, shaking her head as tears streaked down her cheeks, buried her face in her hands.
"Come here..." Quinn smiled faintly.
Rachel slowly approached and knelt down next to Sam, who stood up and stalked away, unable to bare the sight of his dying friend.
"Love." She said.
"What?"
"I can't love anymore..." Quinn said. "Not from this world... You can. Sam deserves you...and you deserve him. Here." Quinn reached into her hair and pulled out the Cupid's Rose, reaching out and pressing it into Rachel's hands.
"Quinn..." Rachel whispered.
"Be strong. Love is more powerful than any darkness." Quinn said.
Slowly her eyes closed.
"Quinn!" Sam screamed out at the desert. "Quinn!" He screamed again, sobbing and falling to his knees, burying his face in his hands. Santana approached him and rubbed his back consolingly.
"I'm so sorry..." She whispered, choked up from the tears in her eyes.
Slowly, silently, Rachel rose to her feet and turned away.
Blaine took his Cupid's Rose from his pocket and laid it in Quinn's hand, blinking back tears.
"Enough!" The Piper yelled before turning back to the others. "I'll teleport you to the top of Redrock Edge, but don't think I'm finished. I told you I'm a nightmare, and I will plague you as nightmares do. I won't stop until I've picked you all off, one by-"
"Oh my God! Shut up!" Finn snapped. "Haven't you hurt them enough already?"
The Piper scowled, raised his flute to his lips and played a single note.
Sam didn't even have time to protest before they were out of sight.
The Lone Musketeer
When the five of them reappeared they were atop a large rocky mountain. They could see for miles in every direction. Sam turned to stare off into the desert, Santana's hand still on his back.
"I...I..." He stuttered.
"Shh...I know." Santana said sympathetically, hugging him tightly from behind.
"I was right there...I could've jumped in the way or...or shot him, or...or...something."
"Hey..." Rachel said, turning to look at him. "That's not true. You tried your hardest to take him down, we all did. This isn't anybody's fault but the Pipers. The only thing we can do is keep going...for her sake. She wouldn't want this to hold you back!"
"I told her mother that I'd protect her." Blaine said, still crouched on the ground
"You tried." Rachel said, turning back to him. "She's gone in this world, but that doesn't mean she didn't mean something. She's inspired us, and she's helped us to grow, and now we have to go on without her. And we can...just as long as you keep her in your heart, alright? You have to believe that. Sometimes you just have to say goodbye..."
"No." Blaine whispered.
-Musical Cue-
-Danny Gokey: I Will Not Say Goodbye-
"I won't." He said, looking down at the ground.
Rachel looked at her brother with saddened eyes as he opened his mouth to sing.
"Sometimes the road just ends..." He choked, eyes glistening. "It changes everything you've been..."
Sam looked over at him as he sang, taking in his words.
"And all that's left to be..." He swallowed sadly, not making eye contact with his sister. "Is empty...broken...lonely...hopin'."
Blaine looked up and out towards the desert that had become Quinn's final resting place.
"I'm supposed to be strong..." He blinked back tears and planted one foot in front of him. "I'm supposed to find a way to carry on!"
He stood up and clenched his fists.
"I don't want to feel better!" He sang, turning to look at his sister over his shoulder. "I don't want to not remember!"
Blaine turned and looked at Sam and Santana who stared back at him, watching sadly, listening intently.
"I will always see her face, in the shadows of this haunted place!" He held his arms out. "I will laugh, I will cry, shake my fist at the sky, but I will not say goodbye!" He wailed, clenching his fist and punching the air.
He sighed and swallowed dejectedly, turning back towards the desert.
"They keep saying time will heal..." Sam sang, nodding and trying not to cry. "But the pain just gets more real..."
Finn looked at Santana who nodded, they two of them picked up the song.
"The sun comes up each day...finds me waiting, fading, hating, praying!" They sang.
"If I can keep on holding on!" Blaine wailed, looking up into the sun, Rachel approached him from behind, wrapping her arms around him and joining him in harmony. "Maybe I can keep my heart, from knowing that you're gone!"
Rachel turned her brother to look at her, continuing on with harmony as he sang his heart out, tears streaming down his face as he looked at her.
"I don't want to feel better!" They sang. "I don't want to not remember!"
He looked back out at the desert and Finn joined Sam and Santana, oohing softly.
"I will always see your face, in the shadows of this haunted place!"
He took a deep breath and Rachel stepped up beside him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it supportively.
"I will laugh, I will cry! Shake my fist at the sky! But I will not say goodbye!"
He shook his head as he belted and Rachel took a step back, giving him space Sam and the others stepped up beside her and looked at Blaine, who raised his chin to the sky.
"Oh!" She sang as she stepped back.
"I will curse! I will pray! I will live every day! I will shoulder the blame! I will shout out your name!" He wailed and Rachel rested a hand on her heart, joining him in harmony again. Sam held her close to him. "I will laugh, I will cry, shake my fist at the sky! But I will not say..."
"Will not say!" He clenched his fists and stared out into the desert. "Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" The other four sang in harmony behind him.
"Will not say goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"
"Will not say..." He sighed and lowered his head, softly oohing.
Santana slowly approached Blaine, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Rachel, Sam and Finn were quick to follow.
Though Quinn was gone, her memory lived on, and the lessons that she had taught them all lived on with it. Sam and the others were forced to move on, but they never again forgot how important it was to shine on the inside, how important it was to be truly beautiful, like Quinn had always been.
She would always be with them, in every battle they waged and every friend they met, and thanks to Blaine, they were strong enough to move on. They never forgot her, and whenever they were sad, they would think of her, and she would give them the strength to keep fighting.
"Well, you did manage to kill one at least." Ree snapped as the spell faded and she was released. She stepped back and looked down at Quinn, laying cold and still with her hands loosely holding the Cupid's rose.
The Piper was silent, looking off into the distance.
"They love one another..." He said.
"Love is useless." Ree said coldly. "You can't be so soft."
"Maybe if I'd been loved I'd be a different person."
Ree rolled her eyes and knelt down next to Quinn, reaching out for the flower.
"As dumb as this legend is, Cupid's Rose is actually a pretty flower. It'll look good in my room." She grabbed for it and gasped as Quinn's fist closed tightly around it, shielding it from her. "What the hell Piper! She's dead!"
Ree turned and stood up, rounding on her partner.
"What?" The Piper turned. "Of course she's dead, nothing can break my magic."
"You're wrong." A voice sounded.
Ree and the Piper looked up as a tall dark haired figure stood before them, a shimmering holographic image.
"Who are you?" Ree spat, confused.
"My name is Marley Rose." She said politely. "And you're wrong."
"What do you mean I'm wrong? Nothing is more powerful than death!" The Piper growled.
"You're wrong. There is one thing." She smiled and looked down at Quinn, raising one hand and causing the blonde haired girl to float into the air. "Love has kept her hanging on. She's close to death, that's true, and if they ever lose hope than she'll be lost for good...but she isn't. Not yet. As long as they still love her, and as long as they have something to fight for, she'll cling to life."
"That's ridiculous! Love can't bring somebody back from the dead!" The Pied Piper rolled his eyes.
"She never died. When Blaine gave her his Cupid's Rose he gave her part of his life. The legacy of the Rose says that you're destined to find love if you have it. They never found love in one another, so she can never truly die."
"So what? They find it and then she dies?" Ree snarled.
"Love never dies." Marley smiled and snapped her fingers, and both she, and Quinn's body, vanished into thin air.
"Trees! Glorious trees!" Finn cheered as they approached a large glade at the edge of the top of the mountain. He ran through it, off of the sand and back onto the grass, twirling around giddily before smacking into one and bouncing away, stunned. "There are so many more things to avoid out here."
"Yeah, in the desert you can pretty much go wherever you want and you're safe." Rachel nodded as she stepped into the forest beside him.
"You hugged a cactus..." Finn deadpanned and Rachel smacked him.
"I need a river. So that I can wash." Santana said. "There is so much sand in my hair, I think I gained density."
"There's a river further ahead." Finn explained. "We're out of the sand; we're pretty much out of the whole Redrock area actually."
"So, just trees from now on?" Blaine asked. Finn nodded and he breathed a long sigh of relief.
"I still can't believe we won!" Finn cheered, pumping his fists comically.
"Aww yeah!" Santana high-fived him.
Sam frowned; he didn't know that they had won. They had survived, but losing Quinn counted that battle as a loss in his books. Blaine was right, however, he had to keep going and have hope, because that was what Quinn would've wanted.
This new mindset did not stop Sam from reaching into his pocket and making sure that his parents' note was still there. He ran his fingers along the worn edges and allowed himself to be comforted by it. It had become his safety blanket, and he would be terrified if something were to happen to it. He would no longer have a link to his parents...his warrior father and his still mysterious mother...
He couldn't help but wonder if he should lead the others to the spring that the Blacksmith had talked of... Spirit's Spring.
He shook his head.
There would be time for that when Brittney was safe at his side, for now; there was another mission at hand.
"Let's go over the plan." He said.
The others turned to him, nodding.
"Right, where are we going?" Rachel turned to Finn.
"Fayhaven."
"And why?"
"That's where the guy's sister lives."
"The guy that rejected the army's proposal?" Blaine asked.
"I thought you said you didn't know how to find him." Santana frowned.
"I don't!" Finn said. "But his sister does, and I know where to find her!"
"What's this guy's name even?"
"Puck. Noah Puckerman is his full name." Finn responded. "He's the strongest dude in the kingdom. He used to be the biggest badass in Fayhaven until...well, you know, he became a fugitive."
"How do you know?"
Finn sighed.
"Well..."
"Are you ready for tonight, man?" Finn asked, sitting down on his friend's bed and looking up at him.
The tall, built, mohawked boy in front of him adjusted his blue-flannel t-shirt and tucked his pants into his brown leather boots. He picked up a wide-brimmed cowboy hat and flashed Finn a smile.
"Nope." He laughed. "But the ladies are!"
Finn rolled his eyes.
"We should be heading out!" A girl with light hair poked her head in and blinked at them. "We're supposed to be there, like, now."
"Ah well...we'll be fashionably late." Puck laughed.
Finn re-evaluated; Puck was the best male performer, and his sister, who everybody just called Kitty, was the best female. They never competed, because neither truly cared who was better, they danced because they loved it, not because they wanted to be the best.
Puck and Kitty were a welcome pair in the normally gloomy town of Fayhaven, and as Finn walked with them out the door of their large farmhouse, bidding their parents a cheerful goodbye, he couldn't help but think about how much more depressing life would be without them cheering the town up every weekend.
Kitty was wearing white leather boots, black pants and a cream colored jacket over a red shirt. Finn thought that she was definitely an attractive girl, but he was so close to their family that he wouldn't ever think of pursuing anything romantic.
Puck and Kitty had started their entertainment career when celebrating one of Puck's many victories against another fighter at the only bar in town. Normally, the town was quiet, and the bar was rarely used, but the kindly Asian waitress hadn't minded when they requested a song and began jamming out.
The noise of a good time had attracted citizens, and the waitress had asked them to come back whenever they could. It was good for business, and the town needed to cut loose once in a while. Puck and Kitty had both shrugged and agreed; it wasn't as if they had anything better to do.
Finn had been a family friend for a long time, after having met them at the bar, even joining them in song once in a while. Kitty and Puck often took requests however, and the song that they were about to sing was definitely more suited to Puck than Finn.
Finn wasn't really willing to cut footloose, when his dancing skills were...well, he was sort of an inverted Puck. Where Puck's dancing and energy made up for his less classically trained voice, Finn was usually forced to rely on his singing to take away from his awkward movement.
There was a collective cheer as the siblings walked into the bar that chilly night and they both smiled, grinning and waving at the others.
"Tina!" Puck yelled.
The waitress looked up and beamed at them, waving excitedly. She rushed over to the band that was sitting lazily in the corner and pointed at the siblings. The band eagerly got to work, picking up one of Puck's personal favorites.
-Musical Cue-
-Blake Shelton: Footloose-
Puck grinned as he walked forwards, stepping up onto the bar as Kitty sauntered into the middle of the dance floor.
"Hya!" He called and the guitarists started jamming.
"I've been workin' so hard!" Puck sang and the audience cheered, Kitty led the crowed in clapping to the beat. "I'm punchin' my card! Eight hours for what?" He sang, shrugging.
Kitty shrugged and then stepped forwards, tapping her feet and nodding her head.
"Oh, tell me what I got! I get this feeling...That time's just holdin' me down." He sang, smiling at his sister who spun to the right and then back. "I'll hit the ceiling, or else I'll tear up this town! Tonight I gotta cut-!"
Puck launched into the chorus as his sister broke into dancing. She hip-slid to the side and then kicked her leg out from underneath of her, catching herself and sweeping her foot along the ground before launching back up and pencil-turning to the side, reaching out and grabbing the waitress and pulling her onto the dance floor, and hastily fox-trotting with her. She spun her out and then in, dropping to the ground as Tina kicked over her head and continued to spin past as Kitty shoulder-rolled back to her feet on the opposite side of the dance floor. They both began to step forwards stomping and clapping together until Puck launched into the verse again.
All the while Puck sang on the bar, jamming intensely.
"Loose! Footloose kick off your Sunday shoes! Please, Louise pull me off a my knees
Jack, get back c'mon before we crack Lose your blues everybody cut footloose!" He grinned down as Tina and Kitty swayed to the beat beneath him.
"And you're playin' so cool!" He sang. Tina spun around, rocking her shoulders and laughing at the light-hearted atmosphere. "Obeying every rule!"
"I dig a way down, in your heart!" His sister sang with him, bobbing and grinning.
"You're burning, yearning for some-!" He belted out. "Somebody to tell you! That life ain't passing you by, I'm trying to tell you, it will if you don't even try...You can fly! If you'd only cut-" He belted out as Kitty and Tina turned to face one another across the circle.
They stepped forwards and kicked their feet each time. They repeated this until they'd reached one another, scuffing their shoes across the floor. They pivoted around one another and shimmied forwards and then backwards again. Kitty grabbed Tina's hand and pulled her in, ducking and letting her spin over her back and back to the floor on the other side. They clasped hands again and hopped in towards one another, descending gradually to the floor until they'd touched it. They then snapped back up and spun away from one another back to the outskirts of the dance floor.
"Loose, footloose kick off your Sunday shoes. Oowhee, Marie shake it, shake it for me!"
"Whoa, Milo c'mon, c'mon let's go. Lose your blues everybody cut footloose." Puck wailed.
"Cut footloose." Kitty chanted as Tina covered the whoa's. "Cut footloose. Cut footloose. Cut footloose!"
"We got to turn you around!" Puck leapt off of the bar and landed on the dance floor. "And put your feet on the ground!"
Kitty hopped up beside him and joined him.
"Now take a hold of your soul! Whoa..." They rose.
Kitty grinned at her brother, laughing. He smiled broadly back.
"I'm turning it loose!" Puck belted. "Footloose!"
He and Kitty jumped out and then back in, crossing their ankles and spinning around. "Kick off your Sunday shoes!" They continued on, stepping lightly three times to the right and then to the left with their arms up. "Please, Louise, pull me off a my knees!"
They followed up by lunging at the floor one way, then the other and sweeping their legs across the ground in a clockwise circle. "Jack, get back! C'mon before we crack!"
They planted both hands on the floor and shot their leg out, skidding along the ground and then flipping back to their feet again. "Lose your blues, now everybody cut footloose!"
"Footloose!" The siblings waved, beckoning the audience to join them on the dance floor until it had become a veritable mosh pit.
"Footloose!"
"Footloose!"
"Kick off your Sunday shoes! Please Louise pull me off a my knees. Jack, get back, c'mon before we crack. Lose your blues! Everybody cut, everybody cut! Everybody cut everybody cut!" He clapped, grinning and nodding at the audience. "Everybody cut, everybody cut. Everybody, everybody cut footloose!"
"So they brought happiness to the town?" Rachel asked. "That's really sweet actually." She smiled fondly.
"I agree." Blaine nodded. "But...what does this have to do with us finding him?"
"It was a long night, I thought I'd start off with the good times." Finn frowned. "Later that night I went out behind the bar to get some air and heard Puck talking..."
Finn sighed as he stepped out into the crisp night air of Fayhaven. The mist was dense around him, and he couldn't see much, but the air smelled nice, and it was a welcome break from the heat inside the bar.
"Listen you inconsiderate little brat. I told you-" An unfamiliar voice cut through the mist. Finn turned towards it, confused.
"No! I told you that the answer is no." Puck's voice rang out.
Puck cried out suddenly and he started making gasping noises.
"I don't think you understand." The unfamiliar voice said. "This isn't a question. It's a demand."
Finn crept towards the noise and, as the mist cleared, he found a mean looking red-haired man holding Puck off the ground by his neck.
Puck kicked the man in the chest and he dropped him to the ground.
"I'm not joining the Imperial Army." Puck snapped.
"You don't have a choice. You're the best amateur fighter we've ever seen, if we can't have you, nobody can." The red-haired man said, drawing his sword.
"Finn!" That voice in his head sounded again. He blinked and looked around in confusion. "You don't have time to play dumb, you know I'm in your head. Your friend is in danger! You need to help him!"
"But how...?" Finn whispered.
The voice had been talking to him for a while now, it had just appeared. Her name was Marley, but past that he didn't really know much about her except that she'd been training him...for moments like this?
"Use what I taught you!" The voice hissed urgently.
The man began to approach Puck who raised his hands and began to back away slowly.
"I don't want any trouble." Puck said, he may have been good at fighting, but that was in a controlled arena where the threat of death was only a joke.
"Too bad."
The man struck, lunging forwards and almost throwing the sword at Puck.
"Puck!" Finn yelled, extending his hands and sending a massive jet of fire at the red-haired man, knocking him into the bar so hard that he crumpled to the ground and didn't get back up.
"You have to get him out of town. The soldiers will not stop until he is captured." Marley told him.
"Puck, you've got to get out of town!" Finn regurgitated Marley's words.
"What?" Puck still seemed confused as to where the fire had come from. "What just happened?"
"Magic." Finn said. "The soldiers won't stop until they've killed you! You have to go!"
"But...Kitty!" Puck stammered, stepping back towards the bar.
"You don't have time! They're already on their way, they would have somebody tracking the magic!"
"I'm really confused." Puck deadpanned.
"Just go!" Finn shoved him off in the direction of the forest northeast of Fayhaven; the Whitemist Forest.
Puck looked confused, but as a soldier darted out of the mist, he nodded and ran away. Finn turned back to the soldier and fired a ball of electricity at him, frying him where he stood.
The reinforcements arrived just in time to witness the magical act.
"You have to lead them away. You can't let Puck be taken." Marley said in his head.
Finn looked from side to side as the red-haired man rose to his feet and stared at Finn, almost in shock.
"Riker, what's going on?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Where did he go?" Riker glared at Finn.
He looked from side to side in a panic, trying to formulate a plan.
"Puck! Wait!" He yelled, flailing his arms and running off further into the town, opposite the route Puck had taken. His plan worked. The soldiers followed him.
As he sped past the front of the bar, he saw Kitty exiting it with a bewildered look. She caught his eye and he tried to apologize for everything that she was about to go through in that one look. It didn't last nearly as long as he wanted it to, and soon, she was out of sight.
"What happened to her?" Santana asked.
"I don't know." Finn frowned. "I haven't seen anybody from Fayhaven since that day. Not my parents, not Kitty, not Puck. Nobody."
"How did you get away?" Blaine asked.
"I ran until I reached Redrock, and then it seemed as if the soldiers had given up following me...I went to sleep, and when I woke up, there were rats everywhere. The Piper attacked me, but I managed to avoid him with Marley acting as a voice in my head, guiding me. The Piper called it cheating but let me go. That was three years ago. Marley guided me to the bridge...I've been living there ever since."
They all fell into a silence. Finn rarely said a sentence without being sarcastic or dumb...maybe now they understood. He'd had his friends and family ripped away from him in one night, and had been living in total solitude ever since. It was no wonder his social awareness was a little astray.
"So that's why you're so bitter..." Blaine frowned sympathetically.
Finn shrugged.
"I don't like feelings." He said.
Rachel reached out and wrapped her arms around him.
"We're not going to leave you." She said. "You don't have to push us away."
Finn blinked hard as he felt an unfamiliar wetness in his eyes. Tears? He wondered. He hadn't cried in a really long time.
He felt more pressure and realized that Blaine, Sam and Santana had joined the hug.
If this was what it felt like to be loved...maybe it wouldn't hurt to show a little emotion once in a while.
"Cute!" Marley cooed in his head, and rather than retort sarcastically, Finn smiled.
Okay! So, with Brittney imprisoned and Quinn dead, Sam has lost everything he had connecting himself to his home. Now, how is he going to cope? In his dreams, he learns that he is responsible for much more than he had initially believed, and he finds out that his friends may be suffering far more than he'd anticipated. Finn is heading back to his home town, and may have to face some more demons from his past. The conversation with Kitty doesn't go nearly as well as they had hoped, and they soon find themselves stumbling through a misty forest in an attempt to prove that they truly are heroes. Santana begins to worry that she doesn't belong in their group, and Sam vows to help her, unknowingly helping another citizen of Fayhaven along the way.
Next chapter contains three more characters and another Into The Woods reference. However, there isn't a single song in the next chapter, so hopefully that makes up for me putting three in this one! :)