The Blacksmith's Apprentice

by backtosmith

Sam Evans is the innkeeper's son. He was left at her doorstep and has no memory of his parents. When the life of one of his friends is threatened by a corrupt monarchy, Sam finds himself on the run, a fugitive. Along the way, he finds that he's not alone, hurt by these people. As his army grows, he finds that everyone has a story to tell and a life to fight for. Together, they can.

10. Chapter 10

Well, here you are! Another chapter! This was going to be in three parts like I usually make them, but these two alone made it over seventeen thousand words so...I'm just gonna make it two parts. Brittney's big flashback takes up most of it.

Homeless

"Because I knew you…" Brittney sang. Quinn and Sam both nodded and finished the song with her. "I have been changed…for good…" They held the last note much longer than it was supposed to be held, all three trying to put off their goodbye, but as it faded, Brittney pulled away from them and turned, leaving them with one final smile.

She frowned as she limped back into town. She wasn't stupid… she was painfully aware of the possibility that she would never see either of them again. She didn't really know what to do with herself now...she didn't have any friends, she didn't have any family...more than ever, she truly felt homeless.

Sighing to herself she decided that she'd better break the news to Quinn's mother.

Brittney shivered in the nippy afternoon air as she knocked on the door to the Fabray residence. She heard shuffling around in the house and Mrs. Fabray appeared at the door with a frazzled look on her face.

"Brittney?" She looked at her, grabbing her hand tightly. "Have you seen Quinn? Is she okay?"

Brittney took a deep breath, swallowing nervously. She took a step forwards and Quinn's mother noticed her limp. Judy grabbed her arm and drew her inside, closing the door behind her.

"What happened to you?" She asked, sitting the pale faced girl down in a chair. "Where is Quinn?"

"She left." Brittney said. "We were all just sitting on Sam's bed after we escaped the soldiers, when they set the inn on fire and attacked us! It was like the story books, only it wasn't a happy ending, because I lost my friends…The Blacksmith got them out, but I rolled my ankle and I couldn't climb the gate with them." She frowned, blinking back tears.

Quinn's mother grabbed some gauze and pulled off her black leather shoe, dropping it to the ground. She was silent as she fixed Brittney up.

"She's a fugitive..." Quinn's mother whimpered.

Brittney nodded, testing her foot. It hurt a little bit, but she could walk on it. She didn't trust it on the gate, but if she gave it a couple days or so, she was certain that it would be good as new. Maybe she could catch up with the others!

"Quinn's brave." Brittney reassured her. "She'll be fine. Sam's with her anyways, and the Blacksmith. They're like, super strong."

"She is strong...but she's never been out of Ostvale before...she's such a sweet girl...how can she survive as a fugitive?" Mrs. Fabray sat back on her heels, tears welling up in her eyes.

"She'll be fine!" Brittney assured her. "She's a hero!"

Brittney stood up, testing her feet and taking a shaky step towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Quinn's mother stood, supporting her and helping him to manoeuver.

"Quinn always went to get air when she was stressed…I think I need some air." Brittney frowned.

She opened the door and gasped as she and Quinn's mother found themselves face to face with Savannah, Coal, and a very burnt and furious Riker.

"We'll be taking her." Coal said simply, reaching out and grabbing Brittney by the collar of her shirt, yanking her out the door.

Brittney grabbed at Coal's hands, trying to free herself, but Riker drew his sword and pressed it against her back. Quinn's mother gasped and raised her hands.

"Let her go! She did nothing wrong!" She said.

"She helped two fugitives to escape Imperial custody. That's punishable by death, I'm sure." Coal said.

"Oh let's hope." Savannah snickered. "Somebody needs to be fed to the dragons!"

Brittney held her chin stubbornly high, no longer fighting, but refusing to show cowardice. If her father had taught her anything, it was not to show weakness.

"You'll never catch them." Brittney said.

"We shall see." Coal yanked her forwards. "We'll be taking you to the King now, for execution. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll see your friends very soon."

They began to march off towards the gates of town, Brittney limping as quickly as she could so as to avoid being gauged by Riker's sword. She looked over her shoulder at where Quinn's mother was standing in the middle of the street, watching them go.

"Don't worry! This story's barely begun!" Brittney yelled.

"Your story's about to end you stupid girl, now shut up and walk faster." Coal said coldly.

"I'm not stupid..." Brittney said sadly. "Good always wins. You picked the wrong side."

"Really? Because we seem to hold all the cards right now, and if you want to keep your innards inside, I suggest you shut up and walk." Coal smiled coolly and marched on ahead. Savannah snickered and followed him and Riker gleefully stabbed Brittney in the back to prod her onwards.

She sighed and dropped her head.

For all her brave talk...she was terrified.

---

Brittney looked dejectedly at the ground, refusing to look up as the bratty teenager stormed past her on a quest for some animal to torture to death.

Ree, was her name, and she was Coal's niece or something. She'd joined them on the second day of their journey, sent from the King so that she could help in the hunt, according to her. Brittney had heard Riker complaining that he'd only sent her because she was annoying as fuck.

"You look sad puppy girl." Savannah said, looking down at her gleefully. "Don't worry, we'll reunite you with your friends soon enough! We'll put all your graves in a row!"

Brittney glared at her.

"Oh, you're right. You won't have graves! You'll still all decompose in the same dragon's stomach though! That's something! Bonding!" She clapped her hands together and skipped away.

Brittney had decided that Savannah was certifiably insane.

She'd been observing the group for a while now. They'd tied her hands together behind her back, and tied her to a tree each time they stopped to rest, so she refused to talk to them or treat them like travelling companions.

Coal was the clear leader. He had a cool, calculated, shallow attitude. He was constantly adjusting his hair and making sure that his face was clean and pristine. He didn't look like he'd been travelling like the rest of them did. Savannah was his younger sister. The only one who wasn't a part of the family was the obvious second-in-command; Riker.

He was an angry, bitter, hateful person. He was constantly glaring at Coal when his back was turned, and Brittney had a hunch that Riker wanted to be the leader of their evil band. Of all of them, Riker paid the most attention to Brittney, kicking her whenever he past and taunting her at every opportunity.

Savannah was crazy and it was clear that that was the main reason that she was included at all. Her insanity made her bloodthirsty. She was creepily happy at all times, especially when talk of murder came up. She was practically the definition of a sociopath.

Then there was Ree who was in a category all her own.

"Uncle!" She screamed, running back into the clearing.

"What?" He looked up, annoyed.

"I heard somebody by the river!"

Brittney felt her heart stop.

"What are we waiting for?" Riker drew his sword and turned towards the forest.

"No. You stay here, watch her." Coal glared at Brittney. "I'll investigate. Lead the way Ree."

The two of them disappeared into the underbrush and Riker stood there, shaking furiously.

"Is he kidding?" Riker asked, turning to face Savannah. "Does he really think he can restrain all three of them by himself?"

"Well...he's got Ree with him." Savannah said nonplussed.

"Really? It's not like she'll be of any help."

Savannah shrugged and began to file her nails with a rock and Riker stormed past Brittney, kicking her roughly in the gut.

Brittney gasped and doubled over as Savannah glanced up with an approving glimmer in her eyes.

"What…" Brittney growled. "…is your problem?"

Savannah gasped, looking at the situation with apparent intrigue. Riker tensed and turned slowly around.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"I asked what your problem was! I didn't do anything to you!"

"You lied to me. Sent me on a wild goose chase!" Riker knelt down and drew his sword.

"Is that your solution to everything?" Brittney asked. "Bring out your sword?"

Riker scowled and narrowed his eyes and his face began to get red. He'd opened his mouth to retort when Coal and Ree stormed back into the clearing empty handed.

"Nothing." Coal said. "False alarm."

"Of, fucking, course." Riker stood and stormed away.

Brittney let out a deep sigh of relief and leaned back against the tree she was tied to. Her friends were still safe, for one more day at least.

---

Two days later Brittney found herself collapsing in a dishevelled heap on the ground. Ree was polishing an Imperial sword nearby and she pointed it at her tauntingly.

"Scared peasant?" She asked.

"I'm tired!" She said.

She scoffed, looking around at the others.

"Watch him." Coal told Riker. "Ree, you're with me, we're scouting the area."

Riker glared at him.

"Seriously?" He asked.

Coal glared back.

"Are you challenging me, Riker?"

"Yeah!" Riker snapped. "We'll cover more ground if we all go! The girl is tied to a tree, she's not going anywhere!"

"I'm in charge, what I say goes!" Coal yelled.

"Well I'm ignoring you." Riker said, grabbing Savannah's arm and pulling her off into the woods.

"Riker!" Coal yelled. "I'll skin you alive you pathetic-"

"He's already gone, calm down; you're like, yelling in my ear." Ree moaned from where she sat beside Brittney.

"I'm not allowing him to overrule me." Coal snarled, storming off the other way. "Watch the girl!"

"Hey!" Ree yelled, standing up. "I'm not staying here with her! She's a peasant! A stupid peasant!" She glared after him.

"You're no better than I am." Brittney scowled.

"Excuse me?" Ree turned, glaring at her. "I'm a thousand times better than you! This Kingdom is my oyster! I can have anything I want. You've got nothing." She snarled. "I've got better things to do than babysit a nobody."

She stood up and ran off after her Uncle, leaving Brittney fuming on the ground.

"I've got nothing..." She sighed. It was true, she didn't have anything to her name... she was alone...

Brittney paused, looking around. She'd been left alone; completely and utterly alone for the first time since they'd forced her from her home.

"I've got nothing..." She repeated suddenly.

The moonlight glinted off the sword beside her and she grinned.

"So I don't have anything to lose!"

Looking around to make sure that nobody was nearby, she scooted herself closer to it and began to rub the rope against the blade.

The going was slow, and she cut herself three times, but eventually she felt the ropes fall away and jumped to her feet, resisting the urge to shout triumphantly. She hastily rubbed at her wrists, which had been rubbed raw, and then leapt away from the campsite.

She paused at the outskirts of the clearing and turned back, looking at the sword.

She darted back towards it and grabbed it, yanking it out of the ground and sprinting away. She'd barely made it ten feet before she heard Riker's outraged yell behind her.

Brittney swore and doubled her pace, ducking and weaving through the trees as quickly as she could. She burst out of the tree line and found herself at the bottom of a large hill with a tree at the top.

She looked behind her in a panic and then turned to look up at the tree. She almost tripped over her own feet in shock as she spotted Sam standing atop the hill looking back at her.

"Sam!" Brittney yelled, but Sam turned away and sprinted off down the other side.

Brittney ran up the slope, breath hot and ragged in her throat, her fight or flight instincts going wild.

Brittney reached the top and looked around, yelling for her friend, but she'd lost him.

Again...

Brittney turned, spotted Savannah and Riker breaking through the tree line and cursed, sprinting down the other side of the hill and through the trees. She felt foliage whipping against her face and cringed with each minor scrape, but she didn't stop running.

She didn't stop running until she could hear water trickling nearby. She crept towards it and came out on the bank, looking from left to right. Upstream, or downstream? She had no idea.

So she took a blind guess, running upstream, but keeping to the tree line as much as she could.

She heard people breaking out behind her and froze, not wanting to bring any attention to her whereabouts.

"Upstream or downstream?" Riker asked gruffly.

"How would I know?" Savannah snapped. "I can't believe she got away."

"It's your brother's fault."

"It's just as much ours for leaving."

"I blame Ree. She left the sword there. Those ropes were cut."

"We're losing time. Come on, this way."

Brittney tensed behind the tree she was partially concealed by, but thankfully, she heard their footfalls fading away into the distance.

She pushed off from the tree and ran the other way. She'd lost precious time waiting for Savannah and Riker to leave, and now Sam could've been anywhere.

She ran until she spotted a bridge in the distance. She grinned in spite of herself and ran towards it. As she rounded a bend she saw Quinn and Sam vanishing with a tall, lanky boy in a yellow jacket.

Brittney slowed to a stop and sighed, falling to her knees.

She'd lost them.

She crawled into the forest and let her head rest against the trees. She was too tired to continue running. If Quinn and Sam had teleported away, than they could be anywhere in the Kingdom. Brittney didn't know how teleportation worked; they could be in another Kingdom entirely for all she knew!

Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep. She was so exhausted from her captivity, and her body so sore, that it was all she could do to curl up into a ball so it would be harder to spot her if her pursuers walked past.

---

Brittney's dream was restless as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Most of it was taken up by memories of her and her friends milling about Ostvale, happy, harmless youths. But she distinctly remembered odd snippets of conversation, Quinn talking, or Sam, or Bruce, and then some less familiar voices. She tiredly identified her captors speaking somewhere, but the only thing that she truly remembered when she awoke the next morning, was the word Violetedge.

She'd read books about their Kingdom, they'd had to in school. They had to color maps once, showing where everything was, and she vaguely understood that Violetedge was in the Northwestern part of the Kingdom, almost directly North from Ostvale and Falcon Bridge. Quinn has helped her pick out her colors.

With the sun shining high in the sky, she stretched and made her way forwards and across the bridge. She didn't know what the future held for her, but she hoped that she had not seen the last of her friends. She could do without seeing Coal, Riker, Savannah or Ree, however, she promptly decided.

As Brittney walked, she gradually began to learn what was and what wasn't edible. She often had little to eat, but apple trees were plentiful in their region, and Brittney knew how to fish, so she wasn't in too dire a circumstance. Nonetheless, she made sure not to overexert herself. Sam had done that once, and spent a week recovering in the inn. Quinn helped Brittney make him some feel-better soup.

On the road, Brittney did, however, gain some competency in swordsmanship. As it was the only amenity she had, Brittney spent a great deal of her time swinging her sword and practicing using it how she'd read they were to be used. It was awkward at first, but eventually she deemed herself a professional. Probably the best in the world.

The worst part of the journey was the solitude. Brittney had nobody to talk to and it was driving her crazy! Sometimes she would sing to herself, if only to put off the silence, but even that did little to slow her boredom.

She wasn't sure how many days had passed until she spotted the gates of Violetedge, but she broke into a sprint when she finally did, bypassing the crystals and crying out excitably at the people milling about the street.

She cheerfully waved and said hello to as many people as she could, ignoring their harsh looks as she sauntered down the street. The sun was just starting to set when she caught sight of the most delicious looking fruit stall.

Brittney approached, practically drooling as she did, reaching out timidly for a peach that rested at the top of the pile. She picked it up and excitably sank her teeth into it.

"Umm...hello!" The cheerful biracial girl behind the counter laughed.

"...Hello..." Brittney said around a mouthful of peach.

"You gonna pay for that?" She asked, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows, clearly amused.

"Umm..." Brittney began rifling through her pockets, but she had nothing. With no job and no home, Quinn's mother had been covering all of Brittney's expenses. "I can pay in love and respect..." That was what Sam always said when he was in trouble with money.

"Here. You look like you haven't had a good meal in weeks, the peach is on me." The girl said. "Does anybody eat well in this Kingdom outside of Violetedge?" She laughed.

"Thanks!" Brittney beamed at her. "But, I can work it off or something. I'm a good dancer! I can sell fruit through interpretive dance in the street." Brittney said seriously, taking another bite of the fruit.

"Its fine, I got a huge tip today! Just sharin' the wealth!" She smiled at her. "But...girl please, you're looking all sorts of dishevelled." She laughed.

Brittney looked down at her torn and fraying clothing. It wasn't meant for adventuring.

"Since nobody seems to dress well outside of Violetedge either; here, you can have the rest of my tip money. I'm supposed to use it for an outing tonight, but I do have my own money, and they don't have to know that."

Brittney shook her head.

"Thanks but I can't just take your money." Brittney frowned.

"Yeah you can." The girl said, slipping it into her pocket. "See! There's a boutique just around the corner, the guy there should help you find something more fitting. Good luck!" She picked up her tray of fruit, closed up shop and walked away.

Brittney frowned, looking after her for a while, but eventually shrugged and decided that if she was willing to hand over money like that, than Brittney might as well do as she said.

She walked into the boutique and, with the help of some nice old guy who ran the shop, he managed to get some awesome gear, consisting of a pair of black tights, dark blue leather shoes, a dark blue tunic under a black leather vest, and a black cape cause Brittney thought it was super heroic. She also purchased a scabbard to sheath her stolen weapon in.

By the time she was finished and paid for, night had fallen on the town.

Because she had no idea what she was looking for, or any real purpose that related to the town of Violetedge, she decided to go and check out the nightlife. Hopefully there was a bar or an inn where she could spend the night.

Brittney wandered for quite some time before she happened upon a large, energetic building filled with people on the north side of the city. She stepped inside, just as the biracial fruit vendor stepped up to sing.

She smiled, leaning against the doorway and nodding to the beat. She was really good, Brittney was impressed! The song was really energetic and she rocked it, but...the more she watched her, the more Brittney felt like this girl had a deeper connection to the song.

Then Sam and Quinn appeared out of, like, nowhere, and Brittney was floored.

She watched the three of them perform in a mind blown state. What were the chances? She must've overheard something while she was asleep, and followed her instincts! Now they were together again.

As happy as she was to see them again, however, she decided to let them have their moment in the spotlight, and then make their day when they were taking their bows.

The performance was crazy good, probably the best in the world, in Brittney's opinion, though she was a little bit biased. When they took their final bow, she couldn't help but shake her head at how talented her friends were, applauding them as loudly as she could.

Brittney froze.

Out the window of the bar, she could see them. The soldiers had reached Violetedge, and they were right outside.

She had to warn her friends!

But they weren't natives here either! They wouldn't know what to do with themselves!

Brittney made a split second decision, diving across the bar, shoving people out of her way in her mad dash to the biracial fruit vendor.

"Hey!" She yelled as she grabbed her, spinning her around.

"Oh, umm, hello!" She smiled warmly at her. "You look great now!" She laughed. "...Nice cape."

"Thanks I know, but you have to get Sam and Quinn out of here!" Brittney insisted.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, why?" She asked.

"Just do it! Hurry!" She shoved her off in the direction of the bar and the girl moved instinctively, screaming just as the doors burst open and Riker stormed in, spearheading at least a dozen soldiers.

"We're looking for fugitives. We know they're here. Where the hell are they?" Riker snarled at a balding middle-aged man. The man looked around frantically.

Brittney flattened herself against the wall and began to creep closer to the door.

"I...I don't know!" The man stammered.

Riker looked away, almost spotting Brittney, who dove to the ground just in time.

When Brittney looked up again, the man had been impaled.

"I won't ask again." Riker snarled, pulling the sword out.

The man fell to the ground with a thump and Brittney felt her stomach churn.

She watched, terrified as Riker approached a large motherly looking woman, who quivered in fear.

Brittney sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She knew she couldn't just sit and watch it happen.

So she stood up.

And then she stood on a chair.

And then she stood on a table.

"Your hair reminds me of chicken pox and ugly rashes…" She smiled down at Riker.

"Get her!" Riker yelled, and the soldiers all rushed forwards at once, almost bottlenecking in the doorway.

Brittney widened her eyes as Riker began to shove people out of the way, but he wasn't stabbing anybody. He had eyes only for Brittney. People were screaming and sprinting out the doors, mass panic was occurring, and Brittney could only hope that the singer had gotten Sam and Quinn out.

Brittney swallowed nervously as a soldier approached her and swung her sword. Brittney jumped and landed on the sword, and then kicked the soldier in the face, sending him staggering backwards into his teammates.

Brittney stepped on the hilt of the abandoned sword and caught it out of the air, reaching down and parrying another blow by a second soldier. Brittney dislodged him and then stabbed at him. The soldier jumped backwards and Brittney spun around and biffed the sword through the air.

Riker managed to duck the sword, but it was a clumsy evasion and he ended up falling on the ground.

Brittney shifted her weight on the table so that it tipped over and she slid down the slope, jumping off of it at the last second and planting one foot on another soldier's shoulder. She pushed off and curled into a ball as she catapulted herself through the window.

Shielding her face and neck from the glass with her arms, Brittney shoulder-rolled back to her feet, and took off down the road in an attempt to escape. She saw a carriage nearby and ran towards it, looking over her shoulder just as Riker exited the bar.

Brittney braced herself and dove at the ground, pencil-rolling under the carriage and disappearing from sight.

"You two!" Riker yelled, pointing at two soldiers. "Circle around the back of the bar! There's a fugitive on the loose here!"

The two soldiers nodded and ran off and Riker looked around furiously.

Brittney watched as Savannah and Coal approached the red-haired villain. He saw them talking and then Savannah walked off to the other side of the bar. Coal, on the other hand, began walking directly towards Brittney.

Brittney swore silently and slowly crept around the carriage, ducking behind the horses as Coal walked right past her hiding place. Brittney kept her eyes trained on Coal as she backed onto the other side.

"Gotcha!" Riker yelled, clamping a hand on her shoulder.

Brittney whipped around and slugged him in the face, sprinting away as quickly as she could. Which was really fast. Probably the fastest in the world.

She ran towards the side of the bar that the two soldiers had vanished around, intent on ducking around the building next to it. She could hear Riker gaining on her, but Brittney managed to cut a sharp right and vanish around the corner just as she heard somebody cry out.

Brittney frowned and looked up at several crates stacked next to the building. She stepped onto them, climbing them like a mountain. When she reached the top she jumped and grabbed the lip of the roof, swinging her legs over and crawling to the edge. She felt like a superhero and decided that the cape was clearly the reason for her superhuman jumping abilities, and was thus, a good investment.

The fruit vendor was being held off the ground by Riker, legs flailing and arms pinned against her own body.

"Well, you're not quite the fugitive I was looking for, but you'll do! Hello again Mercedes. I haven't seen you since you fled Starryville. You know that's a crime right, for a black person to leave Starryville..." He leaned in close to her ear. "Punishable by death, actually."

Brittney blinked, she hadn't known that.

Come to think of it, she'd never actually seen a black person before, but the girl below her, Mercedes she supposed, looked like she was about to cry, and Brittney felt almost totally responsible. If she hadn't led Riker around the corner when she did, Mercedes might've gotten away.

"But I'm not going to kill you..." Riker hissed in her ear. He began to move away and Brittney crept along the roof to eavesdrop on their conversation. "No, I think that Coal himself should have that pleasure."

"I don't want to see him!" Mercedes said desperately as Riker pulled her towards the cage-caravan that Brittney had used as a hiding place.

"I don't care." He laughed. "This cage was for the other fugitives, but you can share." He snapped, shoving her inside. She landed roughly on her knees and turned to glare at him. "Be careful, wouldn't want to rip your pretty little dress." Riker laughed.

Brittney watched as Savannah walked out from behind the bar and approached the other two, bleeding and giggling like a madwoman. Which, Brittney supposed, she was.

"When will you get it Mercedes? You can't get away from us." She laughed. Mercedes grabbed the bars and shook them, looking like she was seconds away from breaking down.

Brittney felt for the girl, honestly. This girl was alone, and since Sam and Quinn weren't in the cage, Brittney could only assume that she'd done what Brittney asked, and now she was paying the price. Mercedes could've escaped if not for Brittney...

"Where are the fugitives?" Savannah asked. "You've got nothing left to live for girl. Why not be a good little prisoner and save us all some time. We'll find them eventually anyways, and when we do, we'll stab them each one extra time for you." She smiled crazily.

Brittney felt her blood boil. She'd never wanted to kill somebody more than she did in that moment in time.

"You're sick Savannah." Mercedes said. "Sick."

Brittney agreed entirely.

"You are." Mercedes continued. "All of you. And you know what, I may not have anything left to live for, but those two do so no, I'm not going to tell you where they're going. You'll never find them anyways, they left town as soon as you walked in." She glared at Riker.

Brittney knew that Mercedes was lying, and she knew that Mercedes was protecting her friends just as surely as she knew that Mercedes wasn't going to die that day, not if Brittney had anything to say about it.

She heard Savannah scream in outrage as she crawled back towards the stack of boxes behind the building she was perched upon.

She lost sight of them as she clambered down to the ground again, and when she turned the corner again, Riker and Savannah were both walking away, leaving the carriage unguarded. She couldn't believe her luck!

Brittney crept towards the carriage and opened the door. She smiled as she found the coach driver napping inside, his head pulled down, keys held loosely in his lap.

Brittney grabbed them and yanked them free, but it woke the old man, who glared at her in tired confusion.

"Sorry!" Brittney whispered innocently, pulling back and punching him in the face.

The man was knocked unconscious almost instantly.

Brittney crept towards the cage part and wrapped her cape around her lower face with one hand, trying to blend in with the night like some sort of girl-bat hybrid. A Bat-Girl of sorts.

She jammed the key in the lock and slowly undid the latch.

"Who are you?" Mercedes asked as she stood in the doorway.

Brittney let the cape fall away and grinned at her.

"Your hero."

---

"We have to get out of the city!" Mercedes said, leading Brittney into the forest behind the bar.

"We have to find Sam and Quinn!" Brittney protested.

"Girl, they went out of the city." She said.

"These woods are like, really big; we'll never find them in here. We should hide in the village."

"They're going to burn down the village." Mercedes said, and that was the end of that conversation.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to talk. The woods were alive with the sounds of soldiers hunting for the fugitives, and all four of them; Sam, Quinn, Brittney and Mercedes were hidden throughout it.

"Hah!" A soldier yelled, jumping out from behind a tree and swinging his sword at Mercedes who screamed and ducked.

Brittney unsheathed her own sword and stepped in front of her as the man came back around, clashing blades with Brittney.

"I knew if I just waited I'd find somebody! Now I'll kill you and get the glory!" He grinned and raised one foot, kicking Brittney in the stomach and knocking the wind out of her.

Brittney gasped as she doubled over and the man kicked her again, sending her sprawling to the soil, her sword clattering away along the ground.

The man grinned evilly as he approached and raised his sword high to plunge it into Brittney's chest.

Brittney watched as a blade pierced the man above him.

As the soldier fell to the forest floor, Mercedes let go of Brittney's sword. Her hands were shaking and she was practically hyperventilating.

"Oh my God, I just killed a man. Oh sweet Jesus. I'm going to jail."

"You were going to jail anyways." Brittney shrugged.

"Girl!" Mercedes cried. "Not helping!"

"Sorry." Brittney said genuinely. She approached her and wrapped an arm around her, leading her away, further into the forest. "You saved my life. He would've killed us both if you hadn't killed him."

Mercedes shrugged.

"I know, but still..."

"Where are we going?" Brittney asked, trying to take her mind off of the attack.

"When I first got to Violetedge, I didn't live in town. I was scared that they'd reject me for bein' black, so I made a fort. Here, in the woods!" Mercedes led her through a small clustered grove of some small tree Brittney didn't recognize, and then pointed up.

Halfway up a large oak tree, partially covered by branches and foliage, was a quaint looking tree-house. Brittney grinned and immediately began to climb, Mercedes clambering up after her.

They'd barely made it inside when they heard soldiers conversing below about how neither had seen any sign of the fugitives. Brittney and Mercedes both breathed a sigh of relief at this, and then collapsed to the ground.

"I am so tired." She sighed.

"Same."

And that was all they had to say to one another before they fell asleep.

---

Mercedes awoke late the next day, the sun already close to setting yet again. She didn't know it, but Quinn and Blaine had already had their first moment in the woods, and Rachel had patched up Sam's foot to perfection.

The night before had been so draining for both Mercedes and Brittney, that neither had been roused when a soldier ran screaming past their tree with a beehive on his head. The safety that the tree house offered was welcome after they'd both almost lost their lives.

"Well..." Mercedes sighed. "I'm a fugitive again."

"There's a lot of that going around." Brittney said. "I think it's the cool new thing."

Mercedes looked up from where she sat on the floor at where Brittney was looking around at the pictures and memories that littered the walls of the fort. Brittney's eyes found a poorly drawn picture of two people holding hands, one dark, one white.

She looked at her curiously.

"Is this Coal?" She asked, pointing at the white hand.

Mercedes gasped.

"How did you know about that?"

"I heard Savannah and Riker..." Brittney said. "Did you two share sweet man-lady kisses?"

Mercedes sighed.

"I'd rather not talk about it..." She said, and she didn't. She'd spent a long time running from that part of her life, trying and failing to let go of her past. Clearly, she'd failed, because by some stroke of misfortune, her past had caught up.

"Yeah, but, I just like, saved your life." Brittney said. "You kind of owe me."

"Why do you wanna know?" Mercedes said uncomfortably, almost pleading.

"Cause I want to know that you're not gonna turn me in to them." She said.

Mercedes looked hurt, so Brittney softened a bit.

"And he obviously hurt you, but you seem like a really nice girl, and you don't deserve that."

Mercedes sighed.

"When I was twelve, six years ago, I was living in Starryville. The King is an asshole, so he rounded up everybody who was suitably 'different'. Blacks, gays, any real strong ethnicities really. He did it a long time ago, and forced us all into this one city. His magic causes it to be night pretty much all the time, because he doesn't think we deserve the sun, or whatever." Mercedes sighed and leaned her head against the wall of the tree house.

"Seriously?" Brittney asked. "That's really mean…"

"Right?" Mercedes exclaimed and then shook her head. "Anyways, he warned us all that we weren't to let any 'good' people into our city, because it would pollute them. He said that anybody caught harboring a 'good' person would be executed."

"Did you listen?"

"No, straight white people came through all the time. We didn't invite them in or anything, but we didn't fight them off if they entered. The King and his soldiers never cared enough to check." Mercedes said. "There was only one white person, however, that actually hung around for any length of time."

"Coal." Brittney guessed.

"Yup." Mercedes sighed. "The King wanted us to be able to fight off the white people if they tried to enter, and even though we all ignored that rule, it still meant that a bunch of us were chosen to undergo basic training."

She stood up and walked over to a small rucksack in the corner of the room.

Slowly she withdrew a small jewel-encrusted dagger.

"Coal was the one in charge of training us. I liked him from the moment I saw him, and even when he was an asshole and my roommate would tell me that I shouldn't go for that, I couldn't help it! Maybe that's what love is..." She sighed.

"Love shouldn't hurt." Brittney said.

"Sometimes it does." Mercedes said. "I loved Coal, and eventually, he must've felt something for me too, because we started to see one another. It was a secret affair, he couldn't risk the Royal Family finding out, and he didn't want me telling anybody either."

She fell silent for a moment.

"Eventually Savannah and Riker found out, but instead of rejecting me, they were weirdly nice. Well, Savannah was. Riker just isn't a nice person." She paused. "I know now that they were actually mocking me, and Coal, but I was too blind to see it."

"What happened?" Brittney asked.

Mercedes sighed again.

"Coal used me when he wanted me, and when he didn't, he was an asshole. He hurt me, and eventually, I realized something...I loved him...but he didn't love me back." She swallowed sadly. "Falling in love is hard." She said eventually. "Walking away from love is even harder."

Brittney looked at her sadly.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I left." She said. "I waited until it was my turn to do guard duty, and I fled the city. I ran until I reached Violetedge. It took almost a month of living off the land, but nobody ever found me. I don't even know if they cared enough to look... Coal gave me this dagger at the beginning of basic training. I always thought it meant so much more than it did..."

Brittney frowned.

"Throw it out." She said.

"What?" Mercedes asked.

"Get rid of it. Throw it out that window, and don't bother looking for it ever again." She said. "He didn't love you, so he doesn't deserve to be a part of you."

"Girl, we're both fugitives now. We will have to fight." She laughed.

"Then we'll find you another weapon. Throw it out." Brittney said.

Mercedes looked down at the dagger and then out the window and nodded slowly.

"Alright."

So she did.

She threw Coal's dagger into the forest, and nobody ever found it again.

She smiled to herself as she turned back to Brittney. She knew she still probably loved Coal. She knew, at the very least, that she felt strongly for him, though whether it was love or hate was anybody's guess. She'd taken the first step when she ran away, now it was looking like she'd have to face her demons, and she was on her way to standing up for herself.

She didn't need Coal in her life anymore.

He was like a bittersweet poison, and she was detoxing. It would be hard, but with a friend like Brittney by her side, maybe she could do it.

"Why would you do that?" Brittney asked dryly. "We're both fugitives now, we'll have to fight, and you just threw away your only weapon."

Mercedes threw her bag at her head and she laughed, ducking under it.

"You're an ass!" Mercedes laughed.

"You wanna fight?" She asked, stepping close to her and attempting to make an intimidating face.

"Girl, I'm black. You don't even wanna go there."

"You're right I'm sorry."

"That's right. Sit down."

---

Mercedes and Brittney did not emerge from her fort until well into the night, when their hunger became too much to bare. They both had experience living off of the land, but Brittney hadn't bothered eating since spotting Violetedge in the distance, and Mercedes's well-fed lifestyle had softened her.

"I don't remember what's edible!" Mercedes frowned that night as they picked through the bushes by moonlight.

"Me neither, all I did was fish and eat apples." Brittney said.

Mercedes scowled and reached forwards, searching through the brush. She parted a large bush and screamed, falling backwards as a deer stared back out at her.

"Holy fuck." She panted, pressing a hand to her heart and staring up at the animal as it stepped gracefully forwards. It was carrying an apple in its mouth and dropped it at Brittney's feet.

She looked at it curiously until the deer bent down and rolled it closer to her.

"Hello deer." She said.

The deer bent down, picked the apple up again, and turned around, pausing just before the large bush. It turned and looked back at them both expectantly.

"Does it want us to follow it?" Mercedes asked, confused.

She stood up and wiped dirt off of her butt.

Brittney shrugged and moved off after the deer, smiling at it. It finally walked off into the bushes once it was sure that they were following behind it.

"I thought deer were supposed to be afraid of people." Mercedes said.

"Maybe he can sense that we're amazing." Brittney shrugged.

They continued onwards for another few minutes until they reached a large apple tree, ripe with fruit. Both Brittney and Mercedes gasped and ran towards it, grabbing two apples each.

"Thanks deer-man!" Brittney grinned, ruffling the tuft of fur on top of the deer's head.

"Uh, she's a girl." Mercedes said.

"How can you tell?" Brittney asked.

"Call it a hunch."

Brittney scowled, but turned as the deer began to chew on her shirt.

"Hey!" Brittney started, but realized that the deer wasn't eating her, she was trying to lead her. Brittney shrugged at Mercedes and followed along until they came to a river. Mercedes popped out of the brush after them, awestruck.

"This is like, the best animal in the world." She said. "Fish and fruit."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you helping us deer-man?" Brittney asked the deer. She, being a deer, did not respond. She simply looked at her with serene, knowing eyes, and walked back off into the forest.

Brittney quickly began to fashion a fishing pole out of one of Mercedes's earrings, a stick, and a lace from her boots and before they knew it, they'd caught three good sized fish and were preparing them around a small private fire.

"That was nice of that deer to help us." Brittney said as she stoked the embers.

"Uh, yeah!" Mercedes agreed. "It was sweet!"

"Why do you think she did it?" Brittney asked.

Mercedes shrugged.

"Maybe she saw something special in us. Animals are smart that way, I've heard."

Brittney nodded, mulling this over.

"Cool." She said.

"Very."

---

Brittney and Mercedes ended up sleeping on the ground next to their fire again, and Mercedes awoke to find the deer had returned, and was chewing on her hair.

"Ah!" She screamed, startling Brittney awake. "Girl! No! This is black hair, you don't even understand!"

She rolled away and Brittney rubbed her eyes, looking at the deer in confusion.

"Hello again." She said. "Do you want some fish?" She pointed to the few remains that they'd left. "Or is that cannibalism. Wait, you're a deer, you don't eat meat...do you?"

Brittney paused and shook her head to clear it.

They'd slept late again, it had to be at least four in the afternoon. For some reason she felt safer with a friend by her side. She was pretty certain that her body was catching up on the hours and hours that she'd lost on her initial journey.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

The deer lowered her nose to the ground and Brittney realized for the first time that all of their stuff was at her hooves.

"Where did you get those?" She asked.

They did not have many things; Mercedes's bag and Brittney's sword and scabbard were it. What confused Brittney was how a deer had climbed a tree, grabbed their gear, and brought it back down.

"How?" Mercedes asked what Brittney was thinking.

The deer looked up at the sky and there appeared to be some sort of answering birdsong.

"Birds?" She raised her eyebrows.

The deer closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, like she was nodding.

"Why?" Mercedes continued.

The deer looked off into the forest and Mercedes and Brittney followed its gaze. It was looking back towards the town.

"Did something happen in Violetedge?" Brittney asked.

"Oh no..." Mercedes whispered. "They burnt it down, I totally forgot!"

The deer nodded sadly.

"Well, what can we do?" Mercedes set her face determinedly.

Brittney was impressed with her. She'd fled her first home, and her second had just been destroyed. Brittney had expected her to crumple, to give in, but now she had a hunch that Mercedes, unlike Brittney herself, knew exactly where her home was.

But she was confused, if it wasn't in Starryville, and it wasn't in Violetedge, where was it?

"Do you want us to go to the town?" Brittney asked.

The deer picked up Mercedes's bag and walked it back through the woods. They followed, Brittney grabbing her sword as they passed, and they found themselves back at the apple tree. The deer reached up, picked a low hanging one, and tried to drop it in her bag.

"You want us to fill a bag with apples?" Mercedes asked, confused.

"Alright." Brittney shrugged and set to work.

It was surprisingly difficult, but after two hours, they'd managed to pluck the tree mostly clean and Mercedes was stuck carrying a very bulky bag. The sun was already setting when they looked up next and Brittney frowned.

"Now what?" He asked, and the deer turned to walk off even further into the forest.

After a relatively lengthy trek, which included following a natural hillside beside a waterfall, they found themselves at another river. The deer turned to look back at them, ears alert, and nudged them both behind several large trees.

"What is-" Mercedes started but the deer nipped at her and she shut up, sharing a startled look with Brittney. They both looked out through the trees as the deer went and began drinking from the river.

Almost as soon as she'd taken her position, a dark haired boy in a feathered cap walked out and knelt down beside her, looking down into the water.

"Hey!" He said, talking to the deer as if it were an old friend. He was silent for a very long time and Brittney and Mercedes both leaned around their trees to watch the curious situation. "I'm going to be leaving for a while..." The boy said.

The deer turned to look at him knowingly. Mercedes realized that she'd known whatever this conversation was had been coming; and she'd brought Brittney and Mercedes there to watch it for a reason.

"I'll come back someday, I promise. Can you tell the three bears that our cave is up for rent? Furniture included!" The boy laughed warmly and the deer turned towards him, nuzzling against his hand as he petted her nose. "I'm gonna miss you."

The deer cuddled against him again and then turned back towards Brittney and Mercedes, who snapped back behind their trees as the boy watched her walk off. When the deer had passed them, it turned to stare at them seriously, like it wanted them to understand the gravity of the situation at hand.

Eventually it bent down and plucked a flower out of the Earth that was almost entirely hidden behind a fallen log and walked back with it towards the boy, dropping the flower in his lap.

"Cupid's Rose? Where did you find this?" The boy asked.

Mercedes frowned; she honestly wished that she'd been the one to find it. She knew the legend of the Cupid's Rose, and she'd gone on many an excursion attempting to hunt one down. Maybe she'd never find true love...love that didn't hurt her, but now it looked like this nameless boy at the river would.

The deer tilted her head towards the forest and the boy laughed. "Well duh..." He fell silent. "I love you too." He said before he nuzzled her and stood up. "I'll see you again someday; I promise...And remember...you don't have to be big, to chase giant dreams. I don't know what you wish for, because you're a deer and I'm not, but fight for it. Alright? Remember that..."

Brittney let that thought sink in. You don't have to be big, to chase giant dreams. That was true...but it made her wonder, what did she dream? What did she wish? She knew what she wished for...Brittney wished for a home. A real home, one that would be hers, where she would feel safe, and warm, and loved.

"Good. I'll remember too. And I'll keep this flower with me at all times, so I don't forget you! I wish you had something to remember me by..." The boy was saying, Brittney peeked back out from behind the tree, watching as the boy plucked the feathered cap from his head. "I know!" He put the hat atop the deer's head and pulled the strap under her chin. The deer nuzzled him happily and he hugged her one last time.

Mercedes thought that their friendship was touching, and even though she didn't know him, she felt sad to watch them part. It reminded her of Kurt, her roommate from Starryville. Kurt had encouraged her to leave town, but at the same time, he'd been one of the only reasons that Mercedes wanted to stay.

"See ya later Flower." The boy kissed the deer's face and walked away.

"Flower..." Brittney whispered. That was the deer's name.

It turned back to them, looking ridiculously adorable in its new feathered cap.

"Why did you bring us here?" Mercedes asked, stepping out from behind the tree. Brittney walked out after her. "With our stuff?"

"That's her friend." Brittney guessed. Flower nodded. "And she wants us to follow him?"

Flower nodded again and Brittney cheered for herself.

"Girl...we're fugitives. We need to stay hidden." Mercedes said. "Why do we need to follow him?"

Flower stepped towards Brittney and nudged her scabbard.

"What about Brittney's sword?" Mercedes asked. Sometimes, she just wished that she could talk to animals. Actually, she wished that pretty much all the time, because it would be so cool, but it would be even more convenient just then.

"It's an Imperial sword." Brittney explained. "The Imperial Army is after him too?" She guessed and then tensed, waiting to see what Flower did.

The deer nodded and Brittney jumped, fist-pumping.

"Girl. Calm down." Mercedes said, turning back to Flower. "Where is he going? To town?"

Flower nodded again.

"You want us to follow and protect your friend." Brittney guessed and was correct again. "We're looking for our own friends though...no offense."

Flower nodded more violently than ever and actually reared up on her hind legs before directly pointing her body at the boy.

"He's with Sam and Quinn." Mercedes realized. "Hah! I got there first!" She taunted Brittney excitedly.

"You know what?" Brittney glared at her. "I'm sick of your attitude." She joked.

"Brittney..." Mercedes looked at her. "That boy, is with Sam and Quinn."

"Oh... Oh wait!" Brittney realized. "After him!"

---

The deer, Flower, led Brittney and Mercedes back out of the woods towards the ruins of Violetedge. She'd known that the damage would be great, but she hadn't expected the barren graveyard that she found.

Brittney held Mercedes's arm to support her as she nearly collapsed to her knees, staring out at the wreckage. There wasn't another citizen in sight, and Brittney honestly had no idea what could possibly have happened to them.

They couldn't all have died...could they have?

Flower stepped out after them and nuzzled Mercedes gently, comfortingly.

Mercedes, in a daze, patted the animal atop the head. Slowly, Flower backed off and tilted her head up, gesturing for Brittney and Mercedes to carry on.

"Come on." Brittney said, wrapping one arm around Mercedes and leading her onwards. "We've got to protect the people we have left."

Mercedes nodded and took a deep breath, trying to clear her head. She turned to look back at Flower, who was watching them from the edge of the forest.

"Thank you." Mercedes said.

Flower nodded and turned, vanishing back into the trees.

"I'm gonna miss her." Mercedes said.

"We'll come back and visit." Brittney encouraged her as they picked their way through the rubble. "But Sam and Quinn are in here somewhere, we have to find them."

Mercedes nodded and they began to pick through the debris, but they couldn't find a thing. At one point, Brittney smashed into a broken pot and the clang echoed across the smoking landscape, but it hadn't alerted any soldiers that might be in the area so they continued to look.

The hit had bruised her leg so she'd decided to take a break while Mercedes kept looking. She wasn't very successful, and was just about to give up when she spotted Quinn Fabray standing at the edge of town.

Mercedes excitedly sprinted back to Brittney, dragging her to the entrance of town, but Quinn was long gone.

---

The unlikely twosome left Violetedge that night after scavenging as much as they could. Thanks to Flower, they had all the apples they could want, and as they traversed the wider expanses of meadow, they rarely went too hungry.

Living off of apples alone was not going to happen, but Brittney's skill with a fishing rod made things easier for them. Eventually they decided to follow the river back to Ostvale, and stick to the trees and forests around them.

Eventually, Brittney and Mercedes escaped the tree line and found themselves following a large river in the back of a large farming property.

"We should ask if they've seen Sam." Brittney said, looking up at the farm. "They had to have passed by, right?"

"Well did you pass by this farm when you went to Violetedge?" Mercedes asked.

"No, but I travelled by night a lot and I could've missed it." Brittney said. "We should still check."

"Sure!" Mercedes nodded and the two of them walked around to the front porch.

"Wait." Brittney said as Mercedes reached out to knock. "What if these people report us, or Sam?"

Mercedes paused, but Brittney continued, answering her own question.

"We'll just have to kill them." Brittney decided.

"Wait, why would they report us?"

"I don't know! They might!"

"Tell him...tell them it's official business." She said. "That way they don't know they're helping fugitives, so they're safe, and we seem official, so we're safe."

"Alright." Brittney nodded and rapped on the door.

They heard a growling, cranky voice booming that he was on his way, and then the door opened to reveal a grizzled looking man with grey hair and a scowling face.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

"We're looking for two people, Quinn Fabray and Sam Evans." Brittney said. "Have you seen them?" She was speaking almost robotically, like she was trying to sound overly official.

The farmer narrowed his eyes at them both.

"What if I have?" He asked. "Why do you need them?"

"It's official business." Brittney said.

"Classified." Mercedes put in. "You shouldn't worry about it."

The farmer huffed and looked from Brittney to Mercedes and then back again.

"You help me out around the farm and I'll tell you what you need to know." He said, and beckoned them inside. "You can make yourselves comfortable up in the loft for the night, but not too comfortable. I've had enough intruders in my home for one decade."

He turned to show them the way, but somebody yelled to him from outside and he grumbled for them to go on ahead.

Brittney and Mercedes camped out in the same room that Sam, Rachel, Quinn and Blaine had camped out in, though neither of them knew it. They waited, bemoaning the fact that they'd have to shovel manure to get the information they so sorely needed.

Eventually, however, they managed to doze off, and they only awoke early the next morning to the sounds of yelling.

---

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The farmer was yelling.

Brittney and Mercedes looked at one another, startled.

"Could you move, please?" An unfamiliar female voice asked. The voice was muffled, but sound in the large house carried well.

"I told you you're not going on some stupid suicide mission." The farmer said.

"And I'm ignoring you. Could you move?"

"Like hell I'm moving!" He snapped.

There was silence for a moment and Brittney crept towards the trap door, grabbing it and slowly opening it.

"Those were a gift to your mother." The farmer snapped.

"Yeah, well, she's not gonna use them anymore." The girl said coldly. "Somebody has to."

"No, somebody doesn't!"

Brittney waved Mercedes over as a girl stepped into the living room below her, practically storming towards the front door.

"Get back here! If you leave this farm I'll, I'll-"

"You'll what?" The girl snapped, turning back around and glaring at the farmer.

"I'll disown you. You walk out that door, and you will never be able to call yourself my daughter again." He snapped, but even Brittney could tell that he was panicking. The girl raised her eyebrows and laughed.

"I haven't called myself your daughter in a long time." She said coldly and turned around. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder and she whipped around, sword outstretched.

Mercedes gasped and moved towards the ladder, starting down it to try and stop a murder.

"Don't touch me." The farmer's daughter snapped.

The farmer glared at her, jaw clenched, veins in his neck bulging.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked coldly.

"Because I can." She said as Brittney started down the ladder after Mercedes. "For the first time in my life, I have the chance to do something right. To help good people survive. My life here is comfortable, yeah, but it's worthless!"

Helping good people survive? If Sam and his group had been here, could that mean that she was trying to help them? Mercedes wondered as she reached the bottom. The immediate threat seemed to be gone however, so she stayed off to the side. Neither party had noticed her or Brittney as she landed next to her.

"You take my horses and I'll have the authorities after you faster than you can say 'giddy up!'" He challenged. The girl leaned in close to him.

"Walking is good exercise." She turned away from him, stepping out the front door. Brittney and Mercedes lost sight of her as the farmer ran past, noticing them for the first time and glaring at them, mumbling to mind their own business.

"You're being an idiot! You won't survive out there and I'm not going to come looking for you!" He yelled out the door. "You're just some farm girl; you've got nothing to offer that world! Get your ass inside."

Mercedes gasped, even she was pissed off. That had been too far.

"That's what I thought." The farmer smirked and leaned against the doorframe expectantly.

"Girl, don't come back here." Mercedes whispered to herself. "You've got plenty to offer the world."

"You don't have to be big..." The girl said. "To chase giant dreams."

Brittney gasped.

The boy from the river had said the same thing to Flower the deer, and now this farm girl was saying it too! That wasn't a coincidence! She was following the boy, and if she was following the boy; and the boy was with Sam, than she was also following Sam! Which meant one thing to Brittney; that they should be following her.

Brittney grabbed Mercedes's hand and pulled her towards the door, past the farmer, who looked stunned, and down the porch.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from here." Brittney said plainly, shrugging.

"You haven't paid your debt yet!"

"You said if we worked, you'd give us information." Brittney said. "We don't need your information anymore." She laughed.

"You slept in my house!"

"That wasn't part of the deal." Mercedes said. "Bye!"

And then they were off, chasing after the farmer's daughter, and their friends in turn. They'd lost sight of the girl when they reached the forest once more, but they had not been disappointed when they found her again, standing on the Ostvale end of Falcon Bridge in a cluster, with Sam, Quinn, the boy from the river, and two other unfamiliar people.

The five of them turned and walked off into the woods and Brittney and Mercedes practically sprinted after them, but they were too far away, and the group ahead of them was moving quickly.

Brittney concluded that they had to be going to Ostvale, so she began leading Mercedes back to her hometown, fingers itching closer and closer to the Imperial sword at her waist, hair standing up on the back of his neck.

She was almost positive that something bad would happen in Ostvale. She had a feeling, and it wasn't a good one.

---

That feeling was what brought she and Mercedes to Sam's house instead of her own when they finally arrived in Ostvale. She had to protect her friends, and she could only guess that that was where they would go first.

She was wrong.

"Brittney!" Sam's mother gasped as she opened the door of the inn, which had a large 'closed for repairs' sign up in the front.

Brittney looked up at the fire damage on the second floor and cringed. She remembered her first attempt at escape from Ostvale all too well. There was even a stack of metal pipe leaning against the wall inside the door.

The woman ushered Brittney and Mercedes inside and shut the door, triple-checking that it was locked.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd been captured?"

"Yeah." Brittney drawled. "I escaped."

"How?" Sam's mother asked incredulously.

"By being awesome." She said. "Is Sam here?"

The woman looked confused.

"Brittney, you were here when Sam left town." She said, as if worried that she'd gone insane.

"Umm...we followed Sam here...he's your son right?" Mercedes stepped forwards.

"Adopted yes." She said. "Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Mercedes Jones. Brittney rescued me from the Imperial soldiers."

"Oh, so you're a fugitive."

"It's cause I'm black!" Mercedes said. "Seriously, that is the actual reason why I am a fugitive. Because I am black."

"That doesn't surprise me. Not with this monarchy." Sam's mother said. She shook her head. "Now, wait, you said you followed Sam here?"

"Yep. He didn't come here?" Brittney asked, looking around.

"I'm afraid not...but Ostvale is crawling with soldiers! It's not safe for him to be here! I can't even leave the house without a soldier following me everywhere I go." She sighed and rested a hand on the table. She paused suddenly and looked up, fear evident in her eyes. "Somebody's watching the door!"

"What?" Mercedes leaned in closer to her, confused.

"There's always a soldier at the door! They know you're here!"

Suddenly the police station bell began to chime.

"Oh no." Mercedes swore.

They all turned as the door was kicked to the ground and several soldiers broke in.

"Where is he?" One of the soldiers screamed.

"Run!" Sam's mother grabbed Mercedes and Brittney and launched them towards the back entrance, but three soldiers entered through that door as well. "Sam's in trouble! You have to help him!"

"We will!" Brittney said, unsheathing her sword. She whipped it through the air at one of the soldiers and nailed him in the chest. Mercedes sprinted forwards, ducking under a sweeping attack by one of the other soldiers and pulled the sword from the first soldier's chest.

She used the momentum to spin herself around, blade first, taking out another soldier in the process. She tossed the sword back to Brittney who caught it as the last soldier lunged at her but she bent into a bridge and then pushed herself up into a handstand, clamping the man's hand between her knees and twisting until he dropped his sword to the ground.

Brittney twisted; hand-springing off to the side as Mercedes tackled the soldier to the ground, grabbed his head, and smacked it against the floor. The soldier fell unconscious and Brittney reached out, pulling Mercedes to her feet.

They both looked back as Sam's mother kicked two soldiers in the chest at the same time.

"Go!" She yelled to them and Brittney nodded, diving past Mercedes and pulling her out the door.

"Where are we going?" Mercedes yelled as they ran through an alley.

"The prison, that's the alarm bell!" Brittney yelled.

A soldier jumped around a corner and lunged at them but Brittney smashed the hilt of her sword down on the man's wrist, causing him to drop his own weapon to the ground.

The man swung his fist at Brittney, but she ducked and Mercedes caught the punch, twisting the man's hand until he hit the ground. She kicked him hard in the temple and knocked him out before she grabbed his sword and they continued on to the jail.

They managed to dispatch a few soldiers on their way, but they both stopped short when the jail came into view.

Brittney watched as Quinn was practically thrown from the jail by the lanky boy who had teleported her friends away the first time. Quinn ran and the boy chased after her, closely followed by the farmer's daughter, and then the boy from the lake.

Seconds after they'd turned the corner, at least forty soldiers congregated on the jail and began to give chase.

"Hey!" Brittney yelled.

"What are you doing?" Mercedes glared at her, backing away as several soldiers turned towards them.

"We're both fugitives too! You might as well make a clean sweep!" She said.

"Brittney!" Mercedes hissed.

"They can't take all of them. I don't know where Sam is, but we can help them by keeping those soldiers away!"

"Split them up." Mercedes realized. "Make their numbers weaker."

"Yeah!" Brittney nodded and Mercedes frowned and sighed.

With a bright smile, she turned to look at the twenty-five odd soldiers who had turned to face them. She waved pleasantly then gave them the finger, turned, grabbed Brittney, and ran for it.

Mercedes and Brittney sprinted through the town as quickly as they could, kicking up rocks behind them. They reached the fountain and stopped short as five soldiers cut in front of them. Brittney cartwheeled and swiped her sword forwards, taking out two of them.

Mercedes parried one soldier's blow and then kicked him backwards. She turned to block the other soldier but cried out as an arrow hit her in the arm. She grabbed it and pulled it out gingerly, turning to look at the archer in shock.

"Mercedes!" Brittney gasped, pivoting and throwing her sword over her head at the archer, taking him out. "What's happening?"

"Shit!" Mercedes gasped, ducking out of the way of an overhead swipe from another soldier and turning to stab him through the middle. "The other soldier classes are coming out!"

They both turned as the other soldiers caught up to them. Mercedes looked around frantically for a weapon as a larger soldier with a helmet and a bo staff lumbered towards her. He grunted stupidly and swung it at her. She cried out and dove backwards out of the way. The bo hit and broke the fountain and water began to gush everywhere.

Brittney gasped as the cold water began to rain down upon her, and took a staggering step backwards, just in time to avoid another archer's weapon. She turned and began to charge at the ranged soldier. A swordsman stepped in her way and Brittney pushed him backwards and planted her foot against the soldiers hip, then continued running up his body onto his shoulder and then leaping through the air, somersaulting past the archer and turning as both soldiers fell dead from where Brittney had stabbed them on her way past.

Mercedes ducked in the water and jumped back as the bo staff came down on her again. She cringed as she landed on her butt, but immediately had to roll out of the way as the staff smacked down towards her again. She gasped and looked up at the soldier through her bangs as he moved to kick her.

She reached up and grabbed his foot, rolling over and using his own momentum to topple him into the dust. She jumped to her feet and lunged for his fallen bo staff, diving and grabbing it, rolling back to her feet and swinging it forwards so hard that she snapped the neck of another soldier that had moved in to attack her.

She turned back to the huge man on the ground and brought the weapon down on his head. Backing away and panting as he fell silent. She screamed as she backed into somebody and she found Brittney there.

"We can't take them all!" Mercedes cried.

"The roof!" Brittney pointed and Mercedes nodded, diving towards the broken fountain and planting a foot on one of the remaining parts. She launched herself at the roof and managed to grab it, narrowly. She swung herself up and over it and beckoned for Brittney to follow.

Brittney jumped after her, but another soldier grabbed her leg and pulled her back towards the ground. She cried out and cut the soldier's arm as she fell, flailing for the edge.

Her hand connected with Mercedes's bo staff and the other girl smiled down at her.

"I got you!" She smiled and hauled her up with her.

"Over the edge!" Brittney pointed to the walls that marked the city limits of Ostvale and the two of them took off towards it, leaping into the air and back into freedom.

---

For Love

"After that it's pretty straight forward." Mercedes said, looking around at the others that surrounded the campfire. "We went through the desert, and I almost died a few times. Brittney saved me. Then we got here and Tina tried to hide you all from us, but then we found you."

"Wow..." Rachel blinked. "You were there the whole time, and we never even knew."

"We're superheroes." Brittney smiled and everybody laughed.

"We should probably get some sleep." Tina said hesitantly, unpacking some blankets that she'd thought to bring and throwing them on the ground. Kitty added a blanket of her own and soon they had a decent sized sleeping area.

Quinn looked at Blaine, biting her lip.

Since bringing her back to life, they hadn't had much time to talk. They'd sat together during Brittney and Mercedes's stories, but he hadn't said anything. It was like he was afraid to believe that she'd actually appeared.

She decided to approach him, but just as she reached him, he collapsed onto the ground.

"Blaine!" She cried out, but Finn rushed over.

"Don't worry!" He said. "He's just sleeping! It took a lot of energy for him to bring you back to life. Talk to him in the morning, kay?" Finn said.

Quinn frowned but agreed and walked away.

Finn looked up to find Kitty watching them and nodded to her before settling in to sleep.

Kitty absently stroked the locket and bit her lip. She was shocked, honestly. These people were so good to each other. They were willing to almost kill themselves for one another. She didn't understand it, she would've done the same for her brother, but they were related. Some of these people had only met recently if their stories were true...

She frowned and went to sleep. Finn, who was watching her, vowed to talk to her about whatever was making her uneasy the next day.

Across the camp, Sam was settling in near Santana. He smiled and looked up at the moon. The same moon that he and Brittney and Quinn had sung to that night so long ago in Ostvale. They'd come so far, and now they were all back together again, the three of them.

"Cool that we keep gaining friends, huh?" He said to Santana.

She didn't answer, but continued to stare at the ground, looking shocked.

"Santana?" He asked.

"Hmm...? Oh. What? Yes!" She blinked and looked at him, shaking her head.

"Are you alright?" He laughed.

Santana nodded and Sam shrugged, turning in. Santana looked over her shoulder and allowed herself one last look at Brittney. She didn't understand. What was this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach? It felt like she was falling, too fast, she didn't understand it. Each time she looked at this girl, her face got hot and her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies.

She shook her head and settled down to sleep. Just before she closed her eyes she spotted a flower growing next to a tree right in front of her. She reached out and plucked it.

"Cupid's Rose." She whispered.

She looked at Brittney one last time and slipped it into her boot before falling to sleep.

---

"Do you ever think about the birds whose children we are essentially crushing?" Santana asked as she cracked an egg over the pan that Blaine and Sam had retrieved from the remains of Violetedge. It hissed as it hit the metal that was set over the fire.

"Santana!" Rachel cringed, dishing out apples and berries into equal piles around her.

"I'm just saying!" She shrugged.

Rachel sat back and considered it for a moment.

"I guess I've never really thought about it. I've lived in the woods for so long that it seems like second nature for me to search for eggs." She shrugged and looked over at Santana, who had glanced off to the side and completely ignored her.

Rachel followed her gaze and spotted Brittney talking casually to Mercedes, leaning against a tree and munching on an apple that she'd picked up from Rachel earlier that morning.

Rachel narrowed her eyes and turned to look back at Santana as Brittney laughed at something Mercedes said. Santana blushed and smiled, eyes still trained on the other girl.

"Ahah!" Rachel stood up suddenly, spilling several berries to the ground.

"What the hell Hobbit!" Santana scowled and bent down to retrieve the berries, rationing them out amongst the portions.

"You like Brittney!" Rachel called her out and all of the color drained from Santana's face.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Santana stood up and began to walk away but Rachel practically leapt after her, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around.

"Oh no! You're not getting away that easily!" Rachel snapped. "You are all over me twenty-four seven about Sam!"

"So you admit you like him!" Santana tried to turn the tables but Rachel turned them right back.

"You said that if you had somebody to love you'd be all over them. Well there you go!"

"What makes you think I like Brittney?" Santana hissed.

"Uh, your face Santana." Rachel said plainly. "It's not like you're hiding it very well."

"Fuck."

"Go talk to her than." Rachel folded her arms and dug her foot into the ground triumphantly. "If it's that easy."

"But…" Santana took a deep breath. "Boys are supposed to be with girls…not-"

"Oh please." Rachel shook her head. "The king may not be okay with it, but everybody crushes on people of the same gender sometimes. It isn't like people are gay or straight, some are just less straight than others. It's a gamble, yeah, but it's not like you don't mind taking risks."

Rachel stared at Santana with Santana's own trade-mark bitch glare, which was not okay, because that was Santana's! But she raised a good point…

Santana looked uncertain and glanced from side to side, searching for some way out of the situation. She looked at Brittney, and then back at Rachel, who was staring at her victoriously. Santana scowled and balled her fists.

"Fine!" She snapped and stormed past Rachel towards her newfound love interest.

"What?" Rachel blinked and turned to watch her, stunned.

She hadn't expected Santana to actually accept her challenge! It wasn't that easy to talk to people you liked like that! You didn't just decide to take that leap!

Rachel paused.

Did you?

She turned to look at Sam who was talking excitedly to Quinn, no doubt filling her in on what had happened since her death.

Why shouldn't she tell him how she felt? She wondered.

So Rachel set her face, and Rachel stormed over to him, and Rachel tapped him on the shoulder, and Rachel looked up at him as he turned around and smiled at her, and Rachel's heart fluttered, and Rachel promptly chickened out again.

"Hi!" Sam smiled at her; Quinn looked on, clearly amused as Rachel's determined look fell.

"...Hello!" Rachel squeaked out.

"What's up?" Sam prompted, clearly confused.

"...Uh...nothing. Never mind. Eggs...need...more. Bye." She turned on her heel and walked off into the forest, barely managing to restrain from hitting herself in the face.

Sam watched Rachel sprint away with a look of utter confusion clearly painted across his face. He felt, rather than saw, Quinn sidle up next to him.

"She is so in love with you." Quinn said simply.

"No way..." He said, but even he didn't sound like he believed himself.

"I think you like her too." Quinn said casually.

Sam said nothing. He only looked away.

Quinn smirked and walked away, having planted her seeds in Sam's mind. Maybe something would finally happen between them, so she wouldn't have to watch the both of them tiptoeing around their blatantly obvious infatuation.

Sam frowned, letting this information sink in. What if Rachel really did like him... did he like her too? He certainly felt for her... when he saw her, he was happy, and he liked spending time with her, and he was really concerned with helping her to become brave, just like he'd helped Santana, and how he still had to help...

"Sam..." A soft voice spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. Sam closed his eyes slowly and turned around.

This was not a conversation he'd been looking forwards to. He'd known that it was coming...but he didn't want to have a 'real talk'! That wasn't what he'd signed up for...

Blaine frowned up at him and took a shuttering breath.

"It's fine." Sam said.

"I'm sorry." Blaine said anyways. "I should've trusted you..."

"It's all good." Sam smiled and turned away.

Blaine looked at Sam's back, hurt. He took a staggering step backwards, as if Sam's immediate dismissal had been a slap to the face. He didn't understand...how could somebody so nice, be so cruel without even realizing it.

Blaine took a few deep breaths and turned around, clenching his fists and storming away.

Sam paused and looked down at the ground. He could hear Blaine retreating. That was what he'd wanted, right? No more heavy talks. He just wanted to have fun, he didn't want to think about everything that had gone wrong...or how dysfunctional things might be.

But Blaine did...

Sam wasn't a sentimental person!

But... Blaine was.

Sam frowned. Had he been looking at the situation the wrong way? Sure he saw things in his own way, but his friends had totally different methods of handling things. Blaine's method involved his friends...Blaine's method needed them.

And I'm shutting him out... Sam realized. He was alienating his own friend, without even realizing it...making the other boy feel alone, and scared and...and unloved. Sam set his face and turned around.

"Blaine!" He called out.

Maybe the other boy was a little dramatic, and maybe he was a little needy, but he genuinely cared...and that was more than most. He was friendship personified, for better or worse, and maybe friendship was sensitive, but it was just as strong when it had to be.

Blaine turned slowly to look at their leader with sad, hooded eyes.

Sam didn't say anything, he didn't have to. He just opened his arms and gave his friend a hug.

"Don't worry about it, we all make mistakes. I know how hard loss is, I should've been more sensitive." Sam said when he pulled away.

Blaine looked up at him, seemingly shocked.

"Don't feel alone." Sam said. Though it didn't seem like it fit in with their conversation, to the silent interchange between them, it was all too relevant. "You are loved."

Blaine smiled softly, genuinely touched. For the first time since Quinn's death, Blaine felt loved.

---

"Do you work out?" Santana gushed. Brittney smiled at her, completely oblivious.

"No." She said simply. "I mean, I fight soldiers and stuff, and I train with my sword I guess."

"Uh...yeah." Santana paused, desperately scrambling for something to say. "Well, it shows?" She looked to Mercedes, who was standing nearby looking amused.

"Thanks! You too!" She said. "I'm hungry." She looked over Santana's head.

"Oh, let me get that for you!" Santana sauntered back to grab an apple, being sure to swivel her hips seductively. She slowly leaned down to grab it, smiling at her over her shoulder before snapping up. She turned and brought it back to her, rubbing it slowly on her shirt and handing it to Brittney, tossing her hair in an attempt to be sexy.

"Thanks!" Brittney smiled and snatched it from her.

Santana deflated.

"With my luck you're allergic to apples." She groaned.

"I am." Brittney said, biting into it.

"Wait, what?" She blinked, looking up at her.

"Brittney, what do you think allergic means?" Mercedes interjected.

"I don't know." Brittney nodded.

"Enough said!" Mercedes smiled, stepping in and pushing Brittney. "Brittney, you should go talk to Sam." She said and Brittney shrugged walking away.

Santana scowled and watched her depart.

"You're going to have to be more obvious than that if you want her to fall for you." Mercedes said. "I'm pretty sure she has difficulty believing somebody would want her, for whatever reason. I mean, girl's cute! She's just a little slow about these things. I also don't know that she'd be able to pick up on the whole lesbian vibe…"

"I tried to be obvious!" Santana groaned, trying not to blush. "I tried to sexily rub an apple all up on me! Do you know how hard that is? Apples are not sexy fruit! There are very few sexy fruit! Apples are not one of them!"

"Maybe try something even more obvious next time. I'm sure she'll come around." Mercedes smiled and patted Santana's back before walking away.

---

Quinn sighed, watching as Blaine nodded to Sam and began walking away, back to the campfire that they'd set up to prepare breakfast.

"Have you seen Kitty?" Finn asked, approaching her.

Quinn shook her head.

"She went off to catch some fish earlier, but I don't think she's returned yet."

"Thanks Quinn." Finn said offhandedly, stepping past her. "By the way, you should go talk to him. I mean, his love brought you back from the death. It's not like he's going to reject you now."

Quinn considered this and turned to look at Blaine who was poking the burning lump of what was once eggs before both Santana and Rachel had abandoned their duties. Quinn shrugged and approached him.

He looked up as she walked over and smiled shyly.

"Hey." She laughed.

"Hey." He smiled.

They stood there for a while in silence, just staring at one another.

"So..." He said.

"I wanted to thank you for...you know...bringing me back to life and whatever." Quinn shrugged.

"And whatever." Blaine teased, laughing.

"You know what I mean!" Quinn scowled.

"I know what you mean." He nodded. "I prefer you alive, I think." He laughed.

"I prefer me alive too." She said.

"So...are we like.." Blaine trailed off, mumbling.

"What?" Quinn leaned forwards.

"Are we...uhh..." He mumbled again.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Are we dating?" He burst out.

Quinn pretended to think about it, breathing in between her teeth and sighing.

"I don't know, I mean, your love brought me back from the dead, but I don't know if that's romantic enough for my tastes." She teased.

"You're a bitch." He laughed, shaking his head.

"You love me anyways. Boyfriend..." She teased, giggling slightly. The word felt funny on her tongue, but not unpleasant.

"You know what, you owe me for that. Girlfriend." Blaine challenged.

"Do I?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I'll let it go for another kiss." He smiled cheesily. She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm, but obliged.

She stepped back and linked arms with her newly official boyfriend. She rested her head against his shoulder and watched as Brittney walked away from Santana and Mercedes. Her soaring heart sank suddenly.

"When are you going to tell her?" Blaine asked.

Quinn sighed and closed her eyes.

"I don't want to." She frowned.

"You have to."

"I know." She sighed.

"I'll help you." He said, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly. "But it has to come from you. You're her friend, you were the one her Dad trusted to relay the message. You can do it."

Quinn sighed again, but nodded and opened her eyes.

"Alright." She nodded.

---

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Rachel had lost the battle within her mind and had succumbed to hitting herself in the face, punctuating each word with a fresh smack.

That had been close. Closer than ever before. She was losing her grip, she was falling for him, and she was losing her hold on the walls around her. Soon she wouldn't have any handholds if she allowed this to progress! Then she'd just freefall, and he wouldn't want to catch her, and her friends would be at the top wondering where she'd gone because she would've just abandoned them in hopes that she could frolic about in a meadow with a pretty man as if she were in some sort of storybook. No, she'd just fall forever, and there wouldn't be any pretty man, or flowers, or frolicking, or-

"You look stressed out." Kitty said.

Rachel screamed and tripped over a log, falling flat on her face in the grass of the riverbank. She groaned and sobbed in frustration, pounding her fists on the ground.

Kitty jumped up from where she'd been sitting with one of their makeshift fishing rods and hurried over to the older girl, helping her to sit up.

"Are you alright?" She asked hesitantly.

Rachel sighed, smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just getting myself all worked up over nothing." She said.

Kitty nodded but didn't press the issue. She turned back to her fish and Rachel watched her curiously for a moment. She was the new girl, the enigma. Rachel didn't know much about her, except that she was currently leading them.

"So where are we going again?"

Kitty glanced over her shoulder and the light glinted off of her locket.

"Starryville, then through the Vertglass Mines. He should be around the Silvershore, just along the Wintersea."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. She didn't, she honestly didn't, but something told her that that was the way the group was to travel. She had a bad feeling about her journey, but she didn't tell Rachel about it.

"What is that?" Rachel asked.

"Hmm?" Kitty looked up and Rachel pointed to the locket.

Kitty blanched. She grabbed it protectively in her hands and swallowed nervously.

"A locket." She said.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"It was my parents." Kitty said quickly.

Rachel smiled softly.

"That's really nice. My parents are the King's right hand man and woman. They never loved me enough to give me something to remember them by." She shrugged. "It sucks what happened to your family, but at least you won't ever have to forget them with that. And soon we'll find Puck too, and you two can be reunited!" She smiled and Kitty smiled back, a smile thick with guilt and hesitance.

---

Finn watched Kitty and Rachel through the trees, eyes narrowed in confusion. It was clear to him that Kitty was lying, and whatever she was lying about was gnawing on her. She was practically radiating guilt, and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why.

He stood up straight and turned around, almost running directly into Tina.

"What are you doing?" She whispered harshly.

"Spying." He said. "What are you doing?"

"Telling everybody that we're just about ready to move on towards Starrybrooke. Mercedes says we should reach it by nightfall!" Tina said. "Why are you spying?"

Finn frowned; it was time to be sincere. He was still unused to it; sincerity, but something about it felt right to him.

"I'm worried about Kitty." He finally admitted. "She's hiding something."

Tina peered past him at Kitty who had turned back to the river. She was disconnecting her line, and had a good sized number of fish beside her. They would definitely last the ten of them until Starryville at least!

"Talk to her once we hit the city. You'll be able to hide from the rest of us more easily." She said. "It might be personal."

Finn nodded.

"Alright, thanks."

"No problem." She said, stepping past him and towards the others. "Guys, we're gonna leave soon, alright? We should all probably head back to camp."

"Okay." Kitty nodded and picked up her fish. She turned to look at Rachel. "Feel better, about whatever it is that was bugging you, I mean."

Rachel frowned.

She'd almost successfully forgotten about Sam.

Almost.

"Are you coming?" Tina asked her.

"I'll be there in a second." Rachel sighed, standing up and walking to the water's edge. She peered down into the river as Tina and Kitty disappeared. She looked into her own sad eyes and shook her head.

How was it possible for somebody she loved so much, to cause her so much stress?

---

"...What?" Brittney whispered, looking at Quinn, stunned. Blaine stood nearby with Mercedes, both watching the scene unfold with sad eyes.

"He said to tell you that he's sorry." Quinn said, reaching out and taking Brittney's hands. "He knows he made a mistake kicking you out, and he's sorry. He wanted you to know that he loved you..." She whispered.

Brittney stared at the ground, eyes unfocused.

How was this possible? Her father was dead...her father! Her mother had left them both, and Brittney's father had worked so tirelessly to provide for the two of them. Yeah, he had a mean streak, and sometimes Brittney complained about him, but that didn't mean that she didn't love him...

Brittney stumbled forwards past Quinn.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she could barely think. She just kept running through memories of her father teaching her how to count, and taking her on sightseeing trips around town on his shoulders.

Brittney wasn't looking where she was going, she was lost in her own head, so she wasn't really surprised when her foot caught on a root and she began to fall. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and somebody grunted as she fell into them, gently lowering her to the ground.

"Just take deep breaths." A girl's voice said.

Brittney looked up and dimly managed to make out Sam's face, peering down at her. Behind him, stood the girl who she'd been talking to earlier. The one who brought her an apple, Santana.

"She's in shock." Santana informed Sam. "Don't go anywhere, alright? Hold her hand; she needs somebody here for her. I'm going to go get some water for her."

Brittney heard her running off into the distance and then felt Sam's hand worm its way into Brittney's grasp. The sudden familiar feeling cut through Brittney and she clung to it, grabbing Sam's hand so hard that Sam almost cried out, but he bit his lip. Brittney needed him...

"Sam?" Brittney whispered.

"Yeah, I'm here." Sam nodded, looking down at his friend sadly. He'd never seen Brittney such a wreck.

"My dad..."

"I know." Sam told her. "We're here for you. Santana's gone to get water, alright, do you want to try and sit up?"

Brittney shakily nodded and Sam helped her into a sitting position. Brittney never let go of Sam's hand, so he just sat cross-legged beside Brittney and wrested their hands on his knee.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked.

Brittney shook her head, looking up at the stars. Was her father up there? Shining down on them like one of the stars?

"Is Dad in heaven?" Brittney asked so quietly that Sam had to lean in to hear her.

"There's not a doubt in my mind." Sam said.

Brittney smiled slightly, a smile that turned gradually into a whimpering pout as she tried not to cry.

"Here." Santana said as she knelt down beside her, a mug of water in her hands. "Drink this." She pressed it into her hands and she shakily obliged.

"Thanks." Brittney whispered to her and she nodded.

"I lost my mother." She said. "She was killed by bandits while on the road. It wasn't her fault; she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like your dad. I understand, and I'm here for you."

Brittney turned to her, giving Santana her undivided attention.

"How did you get through?" She whispered.

Santana smiled softly and rested one of her hands on the top of Brittney's chest.

"You just have to remember, he'll always be with you. Right here. In your heart." She said. "In everything you do, every challenge you have to face, every battle you might not win, he'll be standing at your back encouraging you, every step of the way." She nodded and Brittney smiled at her, blinking back tears.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Santana nodded and pulled her into a hug.

Soon enough, Brittney had fallen asleep in her arms and Santana closed her eyes, resting Brittney's head under her chin. She opened them again and looked at Sam.

"We should post-pone leaving until after she wakes up again. She needs time to process what just happened." She said.

Sam nodded and stood up, looking down at the two of them, he thought they looked like a cute sort of couple.

He stepped back out into the camp and looked around. Mercedes, Blaine and Quinn were standing nearby, looking at him worriedly.

"How is she?" Mercedes asked.

"Fine. Santana's got her covered." Sam said.

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief and Blaine pulled her closer to him. Sam looked at them and frowned. They also looked like a cute couple.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked.

"She's near the river." Finn said, stepping out of the woods with Kitty and Tina behind him. "She said she'd just be a minute."

Sam nodded.

She was stuck on his mind, and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why.

"We're going to spend another night here." He said. "I know we're close to Starryville, but Brittney needs her rest."

Even with Brittney in his situation, for whatever reason, Sam couldn't stop thinking about Rachel.

As he began to assign jobs to some of the others he couldn't help but feel lonesome without Rachel at his side. Maybe it was because they'd been spending so much time together, maybe it was because he was constantly running from death and just wanted something to latch on to, maybe it was just excess love that spilled off of Blaine and Quinn's obvious attraction that managed to hit him, but whatever it was...he felt something for this girl.

He sighed as he leaned against a tree, watching the others set up for another night.

-Musical Cue-

-Colbie Caillait: I Think I'm Fallin' For You

Rachel looked down into the river, letting her dreams run wild. She imagined Sam walking up behind her and looking down into the water with her. A fish broke the surface and his image faded away.

She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back on the ground and wrapping her arms around her knees.

"I don't know but...I think I may be, fallin' for you..." She sighed and leaned her head back against a tree, picturing Sam in her mind, smiling warmly at her. "Dropping so quickly maybe I should, keep this to myself, wait until I, know you better..."

She stood up and spun around the tree, alighting on a large rock. "I am tryin...not to tell you. But I want to!" She frowned and stood up, brushing herself off. "I'm scared of what you'll say, so I'm hiding...what I'm feeling...but I'm tired of, holding this inside my head!"

Sam sighed and leaned his head against the tree.

"I've been spending all my time, just thinking 'bout ya! I don't know what to do...I think I'm fallin' for you." He sang. He stepped away from his spot as the others dispersed and began trekking into the woods. "I've been waiting all my life, and now I found ya! I don't know what to do...I think I'm fallin' for you! I'm fallin' for you."

He sighed, love-struck.

Rachel looked back into the river and imagined Sam walking back up to her.

"As I'm standing here, and you hold my hand, pull me towards you and we start to dance!" She smiled as, in the imagined reflection; she and Sam danced lovingly around the clearing. "All around us, I see nobody."

Her phantom image of Sam dropped her hand and faded away. She blinked to find herself back at the edge of the riverbank, sighing.

"Here in silence...it's just you and me." She frowned, skipping a stone into the water. "I'm trying, not to tell you...but I want to! I'm scared of what you'll say, so I'm hiding what I'm feeling, but I'm tired of...holding this inside my head!"

In another part of the forest, Sam joined her for the chorus, both oblivious to the other.

"I've been spending all my time, just thinkin' bout ya, I don't know what to do! I think I'm fallin' for you! I've been waiting all my life and now I've found ya, I don't know what to do! I think I'm fallin' for you! I'm fallin' for you..." They sang together.

Sam stepped through the trees, catching sight of Rachel standing at the edge of the riverbank.

"Oh I just can't take it! My heart is racing!" He whisper-sang. As Rachel's hair blew softly in the wind. "The emotions keep spinning out!"

Sam turned and leaned against the back of his tree just as Rachel turned, missing him by seconds. She sighed and looked back into the river.

"I've been spending all my..." She sighed. "Time, just thinkin' bout you. I don't know what to do! I think I'm fallin' for you!"

Sam sighed and began to walk back towards the camp, not having the guts to talk to Rachel. "I've been waiting all my, life, and now I found ya! I don't know what to do! I think I'm fallin' for you!"

"I'm fallin for you..." They sang together. "I think I'm fallin' for you!"

"I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it!" Rachel belted, extending her arms to the sky. "I want you all around me! And now I just can't hide it!"

"I think I'm fallin' for you!" Sam ran a hand through his hair as he walked..

"I can't stop thinkin' bout it!" She sang. "I want you all around me! And now I just can't hide it!"

"I think I'm fallin' for you!" He crooned to the trees above him.

"I'm fallin' for you!" Rachel sighed sitting back down and looking into the river.

"Ooohh..." Sam smiled, biting his lip as he re-entered the campsite. "Oh no no..."

"Oh ooh oh oh oh oh..." Rachel rested her head against the tree.

Both of them sighed dreamily.

"Oh I'm fallin' for you..."

---

Sam shivered as he awoke, looking up into the stormy skies of his dream meadow. He sat up in confusion and looked around, hesitant.

"Hi!" A chipper voice sang from behind him. He turned with a start to find Mercedes with her hand extended.

"Mercedes?" He asked, accepting her hand and rising to his feet.

"Mmhmm!" She smiled warmly at him.

"Why am I here again?" He asked.

"You're here because you opened your heart." She said, smiling at him. "You first opened it to help me...you cared about me, even before you knew me. But caring...that was never your problem. Your problem was admitting to yourself, and to everybody else, just how much you cared. If you hadn't done that...Well...here, I'll show you."

She began to lead him towards the doorway and he paused to take a deep breath just outside of it, looking around at the stormy meadow.

Just like before, when the door opened, the wind from behind him pulled him inside and tossed him onto the ground until he'd rolled to a stop in the middle of the castle hallway.

He looked up to find Blaine still sitting in the corner.

Both Sam and Blaine jolted as Blaine's younger self began to cry uncontrollably. They both looked over, and slowly, the older Blaine rose to his feet, pausing and looking off to the side as if realizing something for the first time.

"Hey!" He said.

His younger self paused and sniffled, looking up at him.

Blaine smiled at him and approached.

"Who are you?" The little boy asked.

"I'm you..." Blaine nodded. "From the future."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here...I'm here to tell you that you're loved, and you always will be, alright?" Blaine smiled and took his own hands. "Rachel will always love you, no matter what, that'll never change! You're going to meet so many other people on your journey, and they're all gonna love you too, because you deserve it. Never give up, even when things seem their darkest, because it's love that'll pull you through! Fight for yourself, and fight for your friends. Trust me..." He laughed. "I'm you."

"Don't feed him lies!" A roaring voice spat.

Blaine stood up and glared at his father.

"I'm not." He snapped.

"Nobody loves a pest boy, I told you once already." His father snarled as he stormed back down the corridor.

"Maybe not. But we're not pests." He placed a hand on his young self's shoulders as the little boy stood up. "We're lovers...and we're fighters, and we'll fight for the things that we love."

"A pest is incapable of love."

"You're wrong." Blaine snapped, holding his younger self close to him. Sam gasped as the white light from the first dream jumped out of him and began to form a circle around them all. A purple light from Mercedes joined his, and soon all the rest of the colors had joined in, pink and silver he recognized from Santana and Kurt. Quinn's light blue was mingled in with them as well. "If you have a heart, you can love...maybe that's why you can't."

Blaine smiled determinedly at his father, even as their hair rustled haphazardly in the wind.

"I love!" His father said indignantly, looking around at the lights nervously.

"You love yourself, and little more. You love power, and you love money. That's why you're evil, that's why you'll lose, because love is stronger than all of that! It doesn't matter how little you have if you've got something to fight for...and I do. I've got several things."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not." Blaine snapped. "You can't delude me any longer. I know how valuable love is...how it makes everything better, just by being there. Love is the light in this world, and that's why you're so dark. You are everything that I'll never be. Now show yourself."

His father snarled and then jerked forwards, gasping and shuddering until he'd morphed into a shadowy version of Blaine.

Blaine grabbed his young self's hand and a green light began to glow between them.

"You're not a part of me anymore." They said together, and a blast of green light pushed the shadowy doppelganger back into the clutches of the rest of the light, pulling him out of the ring and destroying him.

Blaine looked down as his younger self dissolved, smiling and waving happily up at him, and when he turned, he found Sam waiting for him, arms wide.

"You did it!" Sam said, grabbing him and lifting him up.

"We did it!" Blaine corrected him, beaming and blinking back tears. "Thank you so much Sam, for everything...you saved me..."

"You deserved to know that people really cared. Don't question that, they do. I do!" He smiled.

Blaine nodded.

"I know that." He grinned as he began to fade away. "Thanks to you."

When Sam looked up he found that the light had faded away, and the corridor was empty.

"He's done with this world now." Mercedes said, coming up behind him. "You saved him." She smiled.

"Only one more to go." Sam smiled, rubbing his hands together.

"Right...and it's going to be harder than either of the others. I had to be strong in the face of love...I had to make the right decision, and not let my feelings cloud my judgements. You're going to have to do the same thing very soon. Rachel is starting to depend on you a lot, and that's awesome...but she still needs to be strong on her own, and you have to show her that. Good luck Sam." Mercedes smiled at him and waved goodbye. "I believe in you."

---

Okay, so now you know the long and sometimes not very interesting story of Brittney and Mercedes. In the next chapter, the Imperial Guard of Starryville stops the travellers, demanding that they move around until a familiar face changes his mind. Sam and Rachel get close at the festival of lights, and Santana finally makes some headway of her own. Tina finds more than she bargains for in the city, and Kitty reveals why she's been so nervous. In the dark of the night, one fugitive finds themselves with a knife to their throat, and can Finn help them before its too late? Finally, after leaving the city behind, the group descend into an old abandoned mine where one fugitive is lost to the murky depths of a crags, the group also startles a hoard of monstrosities and a surprise visitor arrives just in time.

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