As promised, here is the first instalment of the Wizard of Oz, starring the Rozen Maidens as the characters. Special thanks to Hikari no Destany for giving me the ok to go ahead with this. I will probably do this in a bunch of little chunks in between updates for Märchen. I can't guarantee it'll be any good, but it's just a bit of silly fun. So, umm, enjoy!
The Wizard of Oz
PART 1: Hail Shinku
Some people are light sleepers, and the slightest noise can startle them awake in the dead of night. The creak of a floorboard, the click of a door shutting. Little things. And of course there are heavy sleepers as well; people who could snooze through a thunderstorm or a brass band playing outside their bedroom window.
Or even a tornado demolishing their house.
Shinku was a heavy sleeper. Consequently, it came as quite a surprise when she opened the lid of her case one morning and found that it was sitting on a pile of splintered wood and rubble. She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes for good measure, just to be sure that she was in fact wide-awake and seeing things correctly. There was no doubt about it though - the house was no more. It was as if a giant had come tanking in during the night, raging drunk, and decided that it just hated everything in sight.
"Oh my," she said, as if to vocalise her dull surprise. She reached into her case and lifted up her trusty dog sidekick, allowing him to survey the devastation about them. "Look Kunkun, everything is a complete mess. Something tells me I shall not be having my morning tea in a hurry."
Kunkun said nothing. But then that was to be expected - he was a puppet.
She climbed out of her case and closed it, before assessing the extent of the damage. Yes, her initial suspicions were confirmed. Tea was simply out of the question. That was not all. As she stumbled about the wreckage of the late house, it slowly dawned on her that something was very, very wrong. For one thing, instead of a street with other houses and roads, there was an extremely bright and colourful little village surrounding the ruined building she was standing in. It did not look familiar in the least.
Shinku managed to clamber out onto the cobblestones of said village, Kunkun clutched tightly in her grasp. Her cool blue eyes scanned the rows of cheerful little cottages and gardens, searching for some sign of life. They found none, though she had a sneaking suspicion that she was being watched.
"Kunkun, I've a feeling we're not in Japan anymore ..."
One by one, the inhabitants of the strange little village appeared. They emerged from behind bushes and around corners, peering at Shinku with a mixture of fear and curiosity. She could hear murmurs and hushed whispers from the odd little people. They were little, no bigger than Shinku herself, and dressed in garishly bright clothing. Shinku cleared her throat lightly and took a few cautious steps towards the nearest.
"I say, could you perhaps tell me were I am? I appear to be quite lost."
Instead of answering, the villagers began to gasp and point up into the sky. They seemed to be happy about something. Shinku looked up and around to try and see what it was, and to her astonishment it turned out to be a bright white figure inside a bubble. The bubble floated across the sky with ease and set down in front of Shinku, before bursting amidst a spectacular sparkle of rainbow colours. Shinku could see the figure more clearly now; it was a young girl in an excessively ruffled white dress, with long silky white hair and only one eye. It was yellow, and in place of the other was a white rose of all things.
The newcomer sized Shinku up with a sickly sweet smile on her face. "Well now, let us not beat about the bush; are you a good witch or a bad witch?" she asked pleasantly. Shinku frowned, puzzled by her question.
"I believe the answer is 'neither'. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a witch. What in the world would make you think that I was?"
The bubble girl looked from the villagers to Shinku and shrugged. "How curious. The Munchkins called me up and told me that a witch had arrived in their village and dropped a house on Barasuishou. So along I come and, well, there's the house and here you are, and what is a girl to think?"
Shinku digested this information and a question presented itself rather immediately. "Barasuishou?" The girl nodded and pointed. To Shinku's dismay there was a pair of bright ruby red boots sticking out from under the rubble of her wrecked house. She gasped and hurried over to them, her face etched with concern. "Oh my word! I had no idea. Do you think she is injured?"
The one-eyed girl laughed. "I should say! You need not worry though, for that was Barasuishou; the Wicked Witch of the East. The land shall be much better off without her, I assure you," she gave a twirl and a swish of her hair, as if posing for a photograph, "Besides, she was such a copycat. People kept mistaking her for me and that did no good for my stainless reputation as I'm sure you can imagine."
"I'm sure I can't," said Shinku as she turned away from the disturbing sight of the flattened witch, "Who might you be?"
"Don't you know?" the girl asked, seemingly disappointed that her stainless reputation had, for once, not proceeded her. She nevertheless flashed a vibrant smile and gave another theatrical twirl. "I am Kirakishou, the Good Witch of the North. And just who might you be, you devilishly dashing young lady?"
Devilishly dashing? It must be the red, Shinku thought. Aloud she said, "I am Shinku, and this is my faithful dog Kunkun," she held up the puppet dog to emphasise this. Kirakishou clapped her hands together and hopped on the spot.
"Well! It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Shinku. Do you hear that everyone?" Kirakishou waved to the assembled Munchkins and gave a short laugh, "The Wicked Witch is dead, and we all have Shinku here to thank for it! Hail Shinku!"
"HAIL SHINKU!" the Munchkins hollered in unison. Shinku watched in amazement as the entire village then broke out into song and dance. It was quite a spectacle. She glanced over at Kirakishou, who was bobbing along with the music and giggling occasionally.
"Does this sort of thing normally happen?" Shinku asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. It's quite common for people here in Oz to burst into song at a moments notice. You'll get used to it."
Shinku watched the village musical for several long moments before it occurred to her to ask Kirakishou if she knew of a way to get home. Before she could however, a dark shape crashed into the ground in front of them amidst a shower of black feathers. The singing stopped dead and a hushed silence descended upon the village. The dark shape turned out to be another white-haired girl, this time in a black dress and sporting a pair of ragged black wings. She picked herself up and dusted her dress off after what had to have been a very rough landing. When she noticed Shinku and Kirakishou staring at her, she glowered back at them.
"What?" she snapped irritably, "We can't all travel by bubble you know."
