The friends landed in a heap with a groan. They untangled themselves and
looked around, their mouths open wide in amazement. Wonder sparkling in
their eyes, confusion evident on their faces.
" What the…?" started Lucy.
" How…?" frowned Mark.
" Where the hell are we now?!" Rosie yelled.
* * * * * * * *
The friends stood slowly and looked around them.
" This can't be real…" gasped Lucy as they took in their surroundings. Once again they found themselves surrounded by trees but the plants surrounding them were unlike any others they had ever seen. Their trunks and bark were blue in colour. Some light blue like the colour of the summer sky, others were navy like the midnight blue of nighttime. The leaves that grew from the branches above them were various shades of pinks and purples. They rubbed their eyes, perhaps it was just a trick of the light.
" Is…er…is everyone seeing what I think I'm seeing…?" Mark mumbled, as if he didn't want to state the obvious.
" Uh huh…" nodded Rosie, blinking madly.
" This has got to be a dream…" Jenny stared open mouthed at the unusual foliage around them.
" Well wherever we are…" groaned Guillaume, " I can't see any sign of help anywhere…" He still held Jo tightly in his arms, her face pale and her breathing weak. Guillaume's dark eyes looked at the trees mistrustfully as if he expected something to leap out from behind the blue bark and purple leaves. Simon stood with his eyes wide open like a small child, shaking his head in disbelief.
" I don't believe it…" he muttered, " I never thought it possible…" His blue eyes were bright with excitement. The others glanced over at him and stifled giggles. His well-formed eyebrows frowned. " What? What is it?"
" It's…it's your hair…" giggled Bertrande.
" You look…well…you look a little windswept!" grinned Martin. Simon raised a hand to his head and his once carefully spiked hair was now a mass of fluff. Simon groaned and tried to reshape his blonde hair.
" That's what travelling through a Gyratory'll do to your hair!" laughed Amos as they watched Simon struggling to tease his hair back into the spikes that had been blow out by the winds of Gyratory.
" It's not funny…" pouted Simon, giving up on his hair and sticking out his lower lip slightly.
" Oh I think you'll find it is…" sighed Phillipe, trying to untangle the mass that used to be his own slick ponytail with a determined look in his eyes.
" Any idea where we are now…?" Marius asked, glancing around them for any kind of clue. Rosie shrugged.
" I have no idea!" she shook her head. " Unless this is 'Forbidden Planet' or some other random show that I have yet to see then I haven't got a clue…" Glancing down at her clothes she gasped and looked around at the others. " Hey…hey look at our clothes…" The friends looked at their apparel and sounds of surprise filled the air. Their clothes had changed, not into anything unrecognisable but into their own clothes. Rosie, Mark, Jenny, Lucy and Jo were now dressed in the jeans, t-shirts and tops that they had been wearing before they entered the red Gyratory in the woods that had transported them in the world of Les Misérables. Marius and Phillipe were once more dressed like the nineteenth century men they had once been. Bertrande was once more dressed in a long dress, Guillaume and Martin once more wore the peasant clothes that they had worn when the friends had met them in Artigat.
" Nice trousers…!" grinned Simon, looking at the leather trousers and codpieces sported by Martin and Guillaume.
" Shut it fluffy!" sniped Guillaume, grinning as Simon pulled a face at him. Amos was once more wearing his leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans and Simon was still wearing his blue toned military gear that he had been wearing back in Jerusalem.
" Wh-what can it mean…?" frowned Phillipe, trying to hide the fact that he was happy to no longer be wearing denim.
" Search me…" Rosie frowned and looked around at the trees. " But something tells me…guys…we're not in a musical anymore…"
" Aah…where is Toto when you need him eh?" laughed Lucy.
" Toto?" exclaimed an astonished Marius.
" Who's he…?" frowned Martin.
" I know! I know!" grinned Amos leaping up and down. " That's from 'The Wizard of Oz' – I saw that at the movies once."
" " Aahh, the movies re-enter the conversation once more…" sighed Phillipe.
" Toto is dog belonging to the heroine of the story, a young girl called Dorothy…" explained Lucy.
" She lives in Kansas in America and is transported through a twister into a magical world called Oz…" continued Rosie.
" Twister…?" Bertrande raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
" It's a whirl wind – a big one!" grinned Mark. " They're really called tornadoes…they're natural phenomena where, basically, hot air and cold air meet and cause a tornado…a giant spiralling wind that…well sucks up stuff…I think…" frowned Mark trying to remember vaguely what they were taught in school.
" Thanks for that oh so scientific explanation!" grinned Phillipe.
" Wait a minute, wait a minute…" Simon raised his hands to stop the conversation, " I know I'm new to all this Gyratory stuff but doesn't what he just say sound familiar to anyone here?!" The group was silent as they digested what Simon was suggesting.
" I think he may be right…" Guillaume gently laid Jo on the floor and walked over to join them. " Those tornado things do sound like Gyratories to me…and this Oz place…" Guillaume's dark eyes looked sceptical, " What did it look like…?"
" Oh come on…" Lucy laughed. " You can't be serious…" she finished less then confidently as her eyes met the serious ones of Guillaume.
" Wasn't 'The Wizard of Oz' a musical…?" Amos asked rhetorically as Rosie's eyes grew wide.
" When Dorothy arrived there she was wearing her own clothes…" Rosie swallowed nervously.
" Oh great!" groaned Jenny. " Now we're in Oz!"
" We don't know that…" started Marius only to be cut off.
" Well where else would have blue trees for crying out loud!" snapped Jenny. Martin placed a placating hand on Jenny's shoulder.
" If we're in Oz…we're in Oz, there's nothing we can do about it…" he said gently, looking into Jenny's blue eyes. " Now then…any chance we can find someone to help Jo in this place…?"
" I suppose we could look for Munchkins or something…" Rosie suggested.
" What?!" came the astounded reply.
" Help…" Rosie said firmly. " Let's just leave it at that shall we…!" Her eyes were serious and so the questions stopped.
" Come on then…" Guillaume went back over to Jo and picked her up carefully, resting her head against his shoulder. " Let's get going…I don't know about you but I don't fancy sitting around waiting for these Monchkins or whatever they are to come and find us!"
" They're Munchkins…and no…neither do I!" smiled Jenny, her voice once again calm. Guillaume glanced around and spotted a gap in the trees.
" Let's go this way…" he said wandering into the trees, followed by the others. Simon was the last of the group to leave the glade and as he stepped into the trees he heard a sound come from behind him, the sound of something falling. He glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes searching the glade and the trees.
" Funny…" he frowned. " I'm sure I heard something…" He shook his head and scolded himself for being paranoid and strode into the trees one hand on the gun still attached to his leg. Back in the glade a groan could be heard.
" Good move…" an unimpressed female voice came through the air, coming from the trees. " They could have found us!" Two bright blue eyes looked out from the shadows of the trees and watched as the group headed away. A growling noise answered her and she rolled her eyes. " Well I could have told you that Regits aren't meant to climb trees!" The slim figure slipped out from the trees and crouched low to the ground, her blue eyes following the group as they walked away. She was human in every respect apart from one. She had wings, large silver and blue feathery wings. A large animal followed her out of the undergrowth, its fur coat was orange and striped with black. Its large yellow eyes followed her gaze. " Come on…" she whispered, flicking some of her thick blonde hair out of her face. " We can't lose them…if they're who we think they are…our lives depend on them!" She glanced around once more before jumping into the air, spreading her silver and blue wings and flying up above the trees. The animal looked up at her hovering above the ground and growled in annoyance as it padded into the trees following her and the group of strangers into the trees.
" What the…?" started Lucy.
" How…?" frowned Mark.
" Where the hell are we now?!" Rosie yelled.
* * * * * * * *
The friends stood slowly and looked around them.
" This can't be real…" gasped Lucy as they took in their surroundings. Once again they found themselves surrounded by trees but the plants surrounding them were unlike any others they had ever seen. Their trunks and bark were blue in colour. Some light blue like the colour of the summer sky, others were navy like the midnight blue of nighttime. The leaves that grew from the branches above them were various shades of pinks and purples. They rubbed their eyes, perhaps it was just a trick of the light.
" Is…er…is everyone seeing what I think I'm seeing…?" Mark mumbled, as if he didn't want to state the obvious.
" Uh huh…" nodded Rosie, blinking madly.
" This has got to be a dream…" Jenny stared open mouthed at the unusual foliage around them.
" Well wherever we are…" groaned Guillaume, " I can't see any sign of help anywhere…" He still held Jo tightly in his arms, her face pale and her breathing weak. Guillaume's dark eyes looked at the trees mistrustfully as if he expected something to leap out from behind the blue bark and purple leaves. Simon stood with his eyes wide open like a small child, shaking his head in disbelief.
" I don't believe it…" he muttered, " I never thought it possible…" His blue eyes were bright with excitement. The others glanced over at him and stifled giggles. His well-formed eyebrows frowned. " What? What is it?"
" It's…it's your hair…" giggled Bertrande.
" You look…well…you look a little windswept!" grinned Martin. Simon raised a hand to his head and his once carefully spiked hair was now a mass of fluff. Simon groaned and tried to reshape his blonde hair.
" That's what travelling through a Gyratory'll do to your hair!" laughed Amos as they watched Simon struggling to tease his hair back into the spikes that had been blow out by the winds of Gyratory.
" It's not funny…" pouted Simon, giving up on his hair and sticking out his lower lip slightly.
" Oh I think you'll find it is…" sighed Phillipe, trying to untangle the mass that used to be his own slick ponytail with a determined look in his eyes.
" Any idea where we are now…?" Marius asked, glancing around them for any kind of clue. Rosie shrugged.
" I have no idea!" she shook her head. " Unless this is 'Forbidden Planet' or some other random show that I have yet to see then I haven't got a clue…" Glancing down at her clothes she gasped and looked around at the others. " Hey…hey look at our clothes…" The friends looked at their apparel and sounds of surprise filled the air. Their clothes had changed, not into anything unrecognisable but into their own clothes. Rosie, Mark, Jenny, Lucy and Jo were now dressed in the jeans, t-shirts and tops that they had been wearing before they entered the red Gyratory in the woods that had transported them in the world of Les Misérables. Marius and Phillipe were once more dressed like the nineteenth century men they had once been. Bertrande was once more dressed in a long dress, Guillaume and Martin once more wore the peasant clothes that they had worn when the friends had met them in Artigat.
" Nice trousers…!" grinned Simon, looking at the leather trousers and codpieces sported by Martin and Guillaume.
" Shut it fluffy!" sniped Guillaume, grinning as Simon pulled a face at him. Amos was once more wearing his leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans and Simon was still wearing his blue toned military gear that he had been wearing back in Jerusalem.
" Wh-what can it mean…?" frowned Phillipe, trying to hide the fact that he was happy to no longer be wearing denim.
" Search me…" Rosie frowned and looked around at the trees. " But something tells me…guys…we're not in a musical anymore…"
" Aah…where is Toto when you need him eh?" laughed Lucy.
" Toto?" exclaimed an astonished Marius.
" Who's he…?" frowned Martin.
" I know! I know!" grinned Amos leaping up and down. " That's from 'The Wizard of Oz' – I saw that at the movies once."
" " Aahh, the movies re-enter the conversation once more…" sighed Phillipe.
" Toto is dog belonging to the heroine of the story, a young girl called Dorothy…" explained Lucy.
" She lives in Kansas in America and is transported through a twister into a magical world called Oz…" continued Rosie.
" Twister…?" Bertrande raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
" It's a whirl wind – a big one!" grinned Mark. " They're really called tornadoes…they're natural phenomena where, basically, hot air and cold air meet and cause a tornado…a giant spiralling wind that…well sucks up stuff…I think…" frowned Mark trying to remember vaguely what they were taught in school.
" Thanks for that oh so scientific explanation!" grinned Phillipe.
" Wait a minute, wait a minute…" Simon raised his hands to stop the conversation, " I know I'm new to all this Gyratory stuff but doesn't what he just say sound familiar to anyone here?!" The group was silent as they digested what Simon was suggesting.
" I think he may be right…" Guillaume gently laid Jo on the floor and walked over to join them. " Those tornado things do sound like Gyratories to me…and this Oz place…" Guillaume's dark eyes looked sceptical, " What did it look like…?"
" Oh come on…" Lucy laughed. " You can't be serious…" she finished less then confidently as her eyes met the serious ones of Guillaume.
" Wasn't 'The Wizard of Oz' a musical…?" Amos asked rhetorically as Rosie's eyes grew wide.
" When Dorothy arrived there she was wearing her own clothes…" Rosie swallowed nervously.
" Oh great!" groaned Jenny. " Now we're in Oz!"
" We don't know that…" started Marius only to be cut off.
" Well where else would have blue trees for crying out loud!" snapped Jenny. Martin placed a placating hand on Jenny's shoulder.
" If we're in Oz…we're in Oz, there's nothing we can do about it…" he said gently, looking into Jenny's blue eyes. " Now then…any chance we can find someone to help Jo in this place…?"
" I suppose we could look for Munchkins or something…" Rosie suggested.
" What?!" came the astounded reply.
" Help…" Rosie said firmly. " Let's just leave it at that shall we…!" Her eyes were serious and so the questions stopped.
" Come on then…" Guillaume went back over to Jo and picked her up carefully, resting her head against his shoulder. " Let's get going…I don't know about you but I don't fancy sitting around waiting for these Monchkins or whatever they are to come and find us!"
" They're Munchkins…and no…neither do I!" smiled Jenny, her voice once again calm. Guillaume glanced around and spotted a gap in the trees.
" Let's go this way…" he said wandering into the trees, followed by the others. Simon was the last of the group to leave the glade and as he stepped into the trees he heard a sound come from behind him, the sound of something falling. He glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes searching the glade and the trees.
" Funny…" he frowned. " I'm sure I heard something…" He shook his head and scolded himself for being paranoid and strode into the trees one hand on the gun still attached to his leg. Back in the glade a groan could be heard.
" Good move…" an unimpressed female voice came through the air, coming from the trees. " They could have found us!" Two bright blue eyes looked out from the shadows of the trees and watched as the group headed away. A growling noise answered her and she rolled her eyes. " Well I could have told you that Regits aren't meant to climb trees!" The slim figure slipped out from the trees and crouched low to the ground, her blue eyes following the group as they walked away. She was human in every respect apart from one. She had wings, large silver and blue feathery wings. A large animal followed her out of the undergrowth, its fur coat was orange and striped with black. Its large yellow eyes followed her gaze. " Come on…" she whispered, flicking some of her thick blonde hair out of her face. " We can't lose them…if they're who we think they are…our lives depend on them!" She glanced around once more before jumping into the air, spreading her silver and blue wings and flying up above the trees. The animal looked up at her hovering above the ground and growled in annoyance as it padded into the trees following her and the group of strangers into the trees.