Elphaba Thropp tried to lead a quiet life. Times were not well suited to a woman, especially one with an education and a myriad of reasons to be suspected of the latest crimes. Elphaba, despite her young twenty years, was considered a spinster. She lived alone in a small boarding house, amongst others on small budgets, or those that had been left there by families who could no longer take the burden of their ways.
Her apartment was at the very top of a winding set of rickety stairs, the cheapest of course. It had no running water, not that she needed it, though sometimes she believed it might be nice to make a cup of tea without having to descend the death trap stairs. She'd fallen up them before, and witnessed many people falling down them. No-one seemed to mind too much, the people that lived there were very private. Kept to themselves for the majority of the time. Passing on the staircase would be the only interaction that most would have for the entire day.
She'd had a rather unfortunate life, green skin, an aversion to water, a family that would not dare to give her the time of day. Though, last year, for the first time in her life, Elphaba was blessed with a minuscule nugget of luck. This came in the form of a small child who had found himself rather lost in one of the most dangerous areas of the land. She had been heading towards the market, trying her hardest to keep her hood down, best not to draw attention, when she had felt a tug at her leg.
She had pulled her leg away and continued to walk down the road. The poor often tried to get into her pockets. More often than not, they were sorely disappointed, for she didn't have a penny to her name. She felt the tug again and turned, preparing to lecture the grubby urchin that was attempting to pickpocket her. Upon spinning, she noticed that she was not faced with a grubby child, but a very well dressed one. A very terrified, very well dressed one. Closer inspection revealed that this child was the son of the mayor.
She glanced around a short while. The poor had not yet noticed the child and would be quick to shuffle forwards when they had. She glanced down to the poor boy.
"Are you lost?" The child responded with a nod and moved to bury its face into her skirt clad leg. She grimaced and picked up the silent child.
"Come on then, lets get you home" She said. Truthfully, despite the prickly outer shell, Elphaba had a soft spot for those who were struggling and in need.
They had navigated the cobbled streets with ease, Elphaba knew them like the back of her hand by now. She had to be streetwise since being abandoned by her family. Once they had reached the stairs to the Mayor's grand house, she approached the huge door and gave a tentative knock. After a short pause, there was no response, she tried again, louder this time. Once again, the door did not budge.
The Mayor was well known for doting on his only child. He more than likely had every member of staff crawling the streets trying to hunt down the little boy that she now held in her arms. She sighed and set him on the floor, before moving to sit on the steps. He moved and perched next to her. A silence fell, and the small child picked up her hand, he held it close to his face and inspected the odd skin. She wasn't too certain what was happening, but she was certain that she would quite like her hand back. She wiggled her captured fingers and the boy fell back laughing.
He had begun counting the fingers in front of him. Elphaba noted that she could make a game of this, and began a counting game with the little boy. They advanced to basic sums and Elphaba worked with the small boy, drawing puzzles into the gravel in front of her while they waited.
Some time later, she was growing somewhat bored, but the child had not lost his flare for Elphaba's problems that she drew for him. She hadn't noticed the mayor approaching, shoulders hunched down as he got closer. Upon reaching the gate, he had looked up and noticed the small child rushing towards him, arms thrown out. He was quickly scooped up. Needless to say, the man was extraordinarily relieved, and terribly grateful.
After a quick chat with the Mayor and his son, Elphaba had successfully landed her first job as a mentor. She would go around daily, teaching the small boy what she knew. It seemed a little bit too good to be true, though a job was a job, and money was something that was running very low.
Her stint as a mentor lasted for two years, before the mayor rewarded her efforts with a full time job as a teacher in the village school. Naturally, she was ecstatic at the opportunity. It was a great step for her, she would be the only female teacher in the village. She had a routine now, days would be spent teaching then when night time fell, she would quietly descend the rickety stairs, a black cape thrown over her head and shoulders.
One thing people did not know about Elphaba Thropp was her secondary life as a protester for the rights of women and animals who had been considered familiars and witches. She planned rallies, boosted morale. Times were not safe for women. Just that week, four ladies from the nearby streets had been burned at the stake, accusations of being a witch were running rife. Elphaba's streak of justice and being a bit of a heroine could not allow this to continue without kicking up a fuss.
The rallies were often peaceful ones, evenings spent planning great protests that would attempt to stop the ridiculous behaviour. Elphaba knew personally that the mayor did not condone such barbaric practises, the king however, was a different case all together. Another of those men who seemed to be terrified at the very prospect of a woman in power. Elphaba would not have that. She would go to him herself if she had to.
Elphaba served many roles in society, a teacher, a protester, a revolutionary, but most importantly, she offered a shoulder to cry on for those in need. She'd had no one when she was younger, all those times that she wished to have a shoulder to rest a weary head upon. She'd become rather angry during her teenage years, but maturity had brought with it a calmness.
Granted she was still passionate, and would shout for all she was worth if she believed the cause was necessary. She'd been arrested twice during the time of being eighteen. Hot headed fury and a need to be heard had not sat well with the police force. Needless to say, she was bailed out by the community, managing to scrape money together after a few short days.
That night, after the 'meeting' had finished, she began the walk back home. She was a very secretive creature, and would dare allow another into her business only if the situation was dire. Her pointed nose had protruded from the shawl around her head. The sounds of her feet on the cobbled streets were her only source of company, save for the drunken men that spilled from the doors of pubs, swaying back to worrying wives. The meeting had finished a good hour earlier than usual. Elphaba was grateful to get home and rest her feet.
She had made her way halfway up the stairs to her attic room when she noticed one of the residents of the boarding house peeking out from a crack in the door. She paused and glanced over, panting from the effort of navigating the streets and stairs. Quite rudely, the door was promptly slammed in her face. She huffed and continued the trek up the stairs. The promise of a glass of wine was the one thing that kept her going. She saved herself one treat for each Friday night, a small glass of red wine, which would reward her for staying alive for the entire week.
Pulling off her boots was the second thing she looked forwards to. She gave her toes a wiggle as she collapsed onto the ragged chair in the centre of the room with her glass of wine. She nursed the glass until it was empty, then removed herself, before changing and falling into a deep slumber, the kind that could only be afforded after a strenuous week at work.
She did not dream that night, nor any other. Elphaba believed that dreams were gifted to those who had something to look forward to. Elphaba had the prospect of death at each corner, not something that would be too glamorous in the world of her head. Perhaps if she could dream, her mind would conjure a place of equality and peace, but that was something too far away. She daren't tempt herself with notions of such.
Elphaba rather looked forwards to her lie-in each Saturday. The night passed, and Elphaba cracked an eye open when the sun shone in through the window. Realisation of the day set in, and she quite happily rolled over to continue to sleep. When the tendrils of unconsciousness had begun to tease the corners of her mind, she was dragged quite forcefully to coherency. Someone was banging at the door.
Confusion had set in, and she pulled on a dress whilst the banging continued. She then moved to open the door, after carefully pulling the safety chain across. Identification papers were shoved through the gap along with barked orders of opening the door, to which Elphaba could only comply.
The door was opened and a rather gruff voice belonging to a rather gruff man came forth.
"Have you seen any of these children?-" at his he held out posters of young faces, each more innocent than the first - "They have been missing since last night. Any information would be greatly appreciated."
Elphaba shook her head with a quick apology, she prepared to shut the door when the elderly lady from last night, the one who'd been watching her from the gap in the door reappeared. She pointed a wrinkled finger at Elphaba.
"It's her, I saw her come in, I did. She's a shady witch, that one. Collects children to use in her cauldron" Elphaba found it rather confusing since she had never owned a cauldron, nor had she ever attempted to smuggle a child anywhere. She'd never spoken to the woman before, so you can imagine her bewilderment at the accusation.
Both of the men at her door turned back to her then, clearly believing the old woman over a green skinned young lady. The elderly woman gave a smug grin before disappearing back down the staircase. Elphaba frowned and noticed the two men staring at her skin.
"I apologise, that woman is terribly old. I'm a teacher, you see, I work in the village school, and I certainly do not own a cauldron" she gave a laugh then. An attempt to downplay the situation no doubt. She glanced to the man on the left, so familiar he was. Realisation set in then, that was the man who had arrested her all those years ago. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, as did his at the realisation of who she was.
"Madame, I request that you come with us, please" the please was clearly an afterthought and Elphaba responded by slamming the door shut. She knew exactly what would happen if she stuck around. Her slamming was unsuccessful, as a large shoe had moved into the doorway and Elphaba felt meaty hands grab her shoulders. She twisted and struggled, shouting blue murder, but nothing would deter the two men. A hand clamped over her mouth, which she promptly bit. His arm recoiled as the man inspected the holes Elphaba had left behind.
"Sharp teeth, this one" he lifted up her upper lip to further punctuate his point. Elphaba nashed her teeth again. She couldn't help that they were impressively sharp. A filthy cloth was quickly tied around her mouth, which made her gag. Her hands were then cuffed and she was led out of the boarding house.
She kept her head up, glaring down those who dared to make eye contact. She was an innocent, and had nothing to hide. Keeping a level head became slightly harder when rotting lumps of goodness knows what were thrown at her from out of various bins. She twisted and tried to spit out the gag. In response to her far from compliant behaviour, she was cuffed over the back of the head, and a blindfold was tied onto her. She was pushed onto a horse and led down a dark alley, not that she would know, the whole world was dark with this thing blocking her vision.
She was led into a room, and the blindfold was ripped off. In front of her stood a great throne, a man sitting atop. It took her eyes a short while to adjust to the dim light, but noticed that it was rather sparsely decorated. She noticed a young woman to the right of the throne. She looked uncomfortable, eyes darting left and right. Elphaba presumed she was looking for an escape, it seemed everyone was scared of her now. Little did she know that the young woman wanted nothing more than to escape from the life that the man sitting next to her had set out.
The woman was non other than Glinda Arduenna, beautiful, intelligent and well respected by all of those who were lucky enough to come into contact with her. Her step-father had recently announced that she would be taking the throne and leading the witch hunts in her own time. He would descend from the position before much longer. Elphaba wondered if the guilty conscience was becoming too much of a burden on his shoulders. Perhaps he wanted to free himself from the bitter life he lead.
Glinda was the perfect daughter, doted on by her step-father since her mother had passed. She hadn't much choice when it came to the matter of her fate. She supposed she'd take the honour of the title of the witch finder then get married to another rich idiot. She didn't like to think about it frequently, far too much bother in her opinion. Her eyes scanned the room with disinterest, and slight disgust with the way her father treated the women that passed through here. Most probably would not leave again.
She kept her blasé attitude until her father spoke up.
"And who might this be?" he had asked. The woman in question looked up, the shadow across her face lifted, allowing a full insight into the character.
"Elphaba Thropp, and Sir, I must say that I was not in any way involved with the dissa-" She was cut of by her hair being yanked by the guards behind her. She hissed.
"Silence, witch! Claims she's an innocent. Surprise surprise." Replied one of the guards.
Elphaba's eyes darted around then, looking for a form of escape. Her eyes stopped their frantic searching when they caught sight of the blonde again. This time, she couldn't pull them away. The blonde was also staring back, head cocked to one side. Elphaba had never considered the notion of love at first sight. It didn't seem possible, but something had been set off in her chest, she could feel her heart hammering, she didn't know what it was, but she did know that she had not experienced it before.
Her mouth felt dry, she yearned for nothing more than to touch the woman in front of her.
Little did she know that the blonde was also experiencing something similar. Glinda took a tentative step down from the throne, towards the woman in the middle of the room. Elphaba took a step forwards, light casting across her face. It was that moment that Glinda realised, this woman had green skin.
She faltered slightly, but continued to move forwards, curiosity growing within her breast. She desired to touch the skin, see what it felt like. Before she could reach out a hand to the woman - the one who was staring back, a stoic face that could not hide the childlike hint of vulnerability and fear - the woman was pushed sidewards, and to the floor.
"Don't get too close, Miss. Quite the kicker this one." Elphaba was still laying on the floor. She felt to be in a bit of daze.
"Take it to the dungeon, i'll deal with it later" came the witch finder's voice. Galinda stood where the green girl had been moments before, reaching out. She still didn't know her name.
