Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky
Author: Aerohead
Email: in my profile
Website: In my profile
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.
Author's Notes: This is the sequel to "Entertaining Destiny", and as such, will not have a prominent appearance by Elphaba or Fiyero, where the former did. Also, this is based off of an RPG, and so more characters may be added, but as of now, the core characters are listed above. If you are part of the RPG, you will notice this is different, that is because it's in Fabala's perspective most of the time. Also, although you do not have to read Entertaining Destiny to read this, there's back-information that might be useful.
Chapter One: Roommates
Miss Greyling looked nervous. Fabala wasn't sure why the frail woman looked so nervous, but she realized that it was probably because of the gross amount of Upperclassmen girls who were being separated from the rooms they had been in the years previous.
It was all Dorothy Gale's fault, really. She had decided that since Glinda the Good had reported "strange occurrences" in the Ugabu region, the students at Shiz should all be sanctioned off into groups of three. One dark hand on her chin, she studied the other girls idly.
They were from all walks of life – she was of a slightly higher breed then most, even she admitted it, but there were many working-class girls there, too – and it enthralled her to no end to see how the other half lived.
"Girls," said Miss Greyling, calling the girls to some semblance of order, "because of the...terror that is facing Oz, we must all work together to help Oz, and because of this Miss Dorothy came up with the idea to help us all become closer; instead of either having double rooms or the dormitories of fifteen, you will all be sectioned off into three-person groups and not everyone in your dorm will be your religion or ethnicity or social rank, so this will be a learning experience inside a learning institution!"
Fabala's mood darkened considerably at the thought of having to be roomed with someone she didn't know, but she ignored the feeling; instead, she fingered the delicate necklace Aran had given her.
"Miss Upland, Miss Malkin, and Miss...Thropp?" sung Miss Greyling. Fabala felt herself go hot. She was stuck in a dorm with Nissa Upland for the duration of her school-life at Shiz?
But the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Not that Thropp family, Miss Greyling." Which of course was a lie, but Fabala wasn't going to let the rest of Oz in on that secret as too many people knew already.
Miss Greyling blinked at her, only just noticing the dark girl with the blue tattoos lining her body. "Right, right...anyway, of you go, girls." She shooed the girls out of the room, and with a sigh Fabala picked hers up.
"Fabala, wait!" She cringed at the voice. She hated that voice possibly more than she hated the person it belonged to.
She turned ever-so-slightly, only to see a familiar blonde head in the sea of women. "Fabala, oh thank Oz I caught up to you!" Nissa said, flinging herself on the very rigid Winkie. "I have too many bags, and seeing as you only have one, I thought you could help me carry them!"
"Not for all the emeralds in the Glikkus." Came the indignant reply. A pair of sapphire eyes looked up at the darker girl, confused. Fabala let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't think you remember the last time we spoke, Miss Nissa, but I believe the last thing I told you is that I loathe you, and that assessment as yet to be lifted." Fabala's voice was deceptively calm and collected, and she looked down at Nissa coldly.
"But Fabala, I don't know anyone else here!"
"Destin." Said Fabala curtly.
Nissa laughed charmingly. "Oh, yes, but he's in Briscoe Hall, not Crage, and besides, he has is own things to deal with."
"Oh, fine!" Fabala groused, throwing her hands in the air. Nissa hugged her.
"Thank you! Here, now, take these bags and I'll take these!" The blonde said, bouncing as she picked up her four bags. Fabala shouldered her own bag and picked up Nissa's, before watching the blonde.
Nissa motioned Fabala to follow her, and the two walked out of the small meeting room and up a few flights of stairs, until they reached a small room that had a plaque with their names on it.
Nissa opened the door, and Fabala followed her inside blandly. The room was small and was lightly decorated in a pale peach wall color. On one wall was the door to the hallway along with three shelving units, while crammed together on the other wall were three beds, two of which were situated between a small, rickety looking window.
Fabala dumped Nissa's bags on the bed closest to the door before moving to the bed farthest away from the window and putting her bag down on it. She curled up on it like a cat and watched Nissa for her reaction.
"Shouldn't we wait for our roomie to get here before we go picking beds?" Nissa said.
Fabala glared, but not at Nissa. Her glare was aimed at the shotty workmanship that was prominently displayed as their storm window. "I am not sleeping near that." She said.
Nissa smirked demurely. "What? Scared that one of the boys could sneak into it and ravage us?" she asked, flopping down on her bed.
Fabala grimaced. "Not what I had in mind, but also a rather disturbing thought."
Nissa pouted. "I'd rather be near the wall than the door."
"Well, it's one or the other." Fabala said simply.
The two just sat there, glaring at each other, for a moment, when there was a knock on the door. Nissa instantly perked up, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "Let's hope that's our other roomie!"
"Oh, joy." Fabala said, dully picking at a stitch on the blanket.
Nissa flung the door opened, but then pouted. "Oh, it's just the Quadling boy." Fabala's eyes lit up, and she jumped off the bed and over to the door, pushing Nissa out of the way.
"ARAN!" she cried, hugging him. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Help me; I have the roomie from hell."
"Tell me about it." He sighed. She pulled away, blinking. "Destin's one of my roommates."
"Destin?" both girls asked. Two pairs of identical eyes fell on each other.
"How do you know Destin." Asked Nissa shortly.
"His father and he stayed with my family." Fabala said, shrugging. She grabbed Aran's arm and pulled him out of the room. "I'll be back soon. Let's just hope it doesn't rain." Fabala said to Aran as they left the building and started out onto Shiz's lawn.
"So, what's your Head like?" Aran said, derailing the attack on Nissa he knew was to eventually come from Fabala. Like mother like daughter.
"She's...different. Skittish, and rather scared." She shrugged. "And yours?"
Aran mimicked her shrug. "He's a Gazelle, so he's different, but in different ways, you know? And he's rather strict." Fabala smiled, before pulling something out of her skirt's small pocket.
"What's your other roommate like, not Destin, but the other one?" Fabala asked.
Aran shrugged. "I'm not sure; all he really wanted to do when he got into our dorm was sleep. His name's...Noelani, I think. Yes, Noelani Lais; a Munchkin, from...Pine Barrens, I think he said."
"I see..." said Fabala. She played with the piece of paper in her hands, before realizing that she had it. She handed it to Aran. "Oh, what classes do you have?" she asked. "Together, I mean." He took the paper, and fished his own times table out, looking at them. They walked in silence for a few moments, before Aran looked at Fabala. He knew her all too well; she was ready to say something to him, she just had to be provoked. With a groan, he looked up at her, rubbing the scar on his cheek absently. "What is it?"
She was wound up, all right. "It's these city dwellers! The moment Miss Greyling called my name in roll she gave me an accusatory look, as if it's my fault I'm my mother's daughter! Nissa's just dying to use it against me, I know, and I'm sick of always being a scapegoat for that petulant girl. And why, why do we have to stay in rooms with three people to a room? What is so terrible; how can something bad be happening in Oz? Why can't we be told, instead of walking blindly and be allowed to believe half-truths, terribly spun lies and deceptions, and still believe in the Age of Wonder?"
Aran had been backing steadily away from the girl as she ranted, and she turned to him, anger still giving her brown skin a red tinge to it. "Are you done?"
Fabala sucked in a breath, before nodding. "Good. Now, stay there." He said. He looked around, making sure nothing had combusted, and let out the breath he had been holding. "Thank you for not setting anything on fire."
"I've never set anything on fire." Fabala said indignantly.
"Well, I don't want you to kill Nissa, annoying or not. Remember, last time you showed a great amount of emotion, you did that invisible-umbrella trick."
"Oh...right." Fabala coughed, mollified. She turned her attention to the long-forgotten times tables. "Well, do we...?"
"Fae, all freshmen have the same classes, in Briscoe Hall and otherwise." He smiled at her.
"I'm going to see if my other roomie's shown up yet." She pushed him gently. "Go make friends."
He laughed. "I should be saying the same to you." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he shook his head at the childish gesture. "I'll round up some of the guys on the same floor as me, and then I'll bring them to the small diner we went by early this morning, if you can get away?"
Fabala smiled. "I'd love that, Aran. I'll see if Miss Malkin and Miss Upland want to go too. That means that if I'm bringing my nemesis, you have to bring yours; don't forget to ask Destin, too."
Aran made a face. "Fine, but I'm not going to be polite about it."
Fabala hugged him. "I wouldn't have it any other way." They parted and Fabala watched the darkening sky warily as she made her way up to Crage Hall. She slipped inside quickly, just as a thunderclap made the hall shake. With a small sound, Fabala ran up the stairs to her dormitory and pulled the door open.
Inside Nissa was putting her frilly, gaudy outfits away. On the center bed was a plump Munchkin holding a stuffed cat. Fabala smiled at her, curtseying respectfully. "You must be Miss Malkin?" She asked, moving to her side of the room. She started unpacking, also, with little more than a glare to Nissa. "I'm Fabala Thropp, of Red Windmill."
"A Winkie." Muttered Nissa.
"An Arjiki." Corrected Fabala.
The Munchkin smiled in Fabala's direction. "I'm Riley Malkin, as I'm guessing you've guessed. It's nice to meet you both." She looked between Fabala and Nissa. "I'm sorry you don't get along!" She said cheerily, her words mixed with light sarcasm. "Childhood rivals? Conflicting families? Anything I can do to help? We should probably be on speaking terms if we're going to be stuck together...although my opinion doesn't count for much." She shrugged and smiled again.
Fabala looked at the Munchkin, not sure what to do. She looked to Nissa, who was doing her best to ignore her. "We've met before."
"We're sisters." Nissa said stiffly.
"Half-sisters." Said Fabala, with a pointed look at Nissa as she put the little green bottle Glinda had given her onto a shelf. "Same father, different mothers. As you can see, Nissa's Glinda the Good's daughter, while I am not." She pointed from Nissa's blonde, wavy hair to her own dark brown, tight braid with a tattooed hand.
Nissa smiled blithely. "Yes, and just who is your mother, Faeba?" She asked, using one of Fabala's childhood nicknames that made the girl cringe.
"You know perfectly well who my mother is." Fabala huffed, before turning back to Riley. "We just learned of each other three years ago." She said, not pushing the matter further.
Aran sighed as he watched the sky and trudged slowly back toward Briscoe Hall. He wasn't watching where he was going, and walked into something rather...fluffy. He fell backward and was almost immediately assaulted by a soft hand pulling him up, and a concerned male voice. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
A red paw pulled him up and brushed him off. "Yes, yes, I'm...fine..." Aran blinked, taking in the Red Panda that was helping him up. "Thanks." He finished, backing away to get a better look at the tall Animal.
The Animal smiled, nodding. "Not a problem. The name's Ohanko, Kade Ohanko." Said the Animal, sticking out a paw.
"Aran Naeva." Said Aran, tentatively putting out a hand to shake with Kade. "It's a...pleasure meeting you."
Kade smiled as he withdrew his paw to fix his glasses. "No, no; pleasure's all mine, Aran. Are you in the new freshman class, too?"
"Uh...yeah." Said Aran, nodding.
"Great! So's my roommate, Sheika...though, that guy doesn't talk much, the quiet type, you know?"
"Sheika...that name sound's familiar..." Aran said to himself.
Kade shrugged. "The kid's Scrow, so that makes him from the Vinkus, right?"
Aran smiled. "Yeah, that'd be it; I've spent seven years in the Vinkus, and a friend of mine, Pfen, he's Scrow." Kade nodded.
"I'm from Munchkinland myself; raised, not born, there." He smiled. The two started walking toward Briscoe Hall in a comfortable silence, when Aran looked up at Kade nervously. "What's up? Besides me?" asked the Red Panda.
"I was just wondering if you'd like to supper at a diner with a friend of mine."
Kade shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. Want me to see if Sheika'll come too?"
"That'd be great."
"So, what time?"
"Seven?"
"Seven, then. I'll see you later tonight, Aran." Kade waved as they reached the stairwell of Briscoe Hall and they split. Aran smiled as he made his way up the stairs.
"Taken my advice, yet, Aran?" Asked Destin as the boy reached the top of the stairs.
Aran scowled, his good mood ruined by the Gillikin. "No, and now I know that the next time you give me advice, I'll be sure not to take it."
"He's got you there, Dest." Noelani laughed, coming out into the hallway. Noelani and Destin were in the junior class of Shiz, and had known each other from previous encounters in class, though they had never been on the same social platform and had therefore never roomed together before. Aran liked the fact that the Munchkin's over exuberance and slight womanizing scared the very uptight Gillikin boy. It made him feel vindicated.
"Hey, Noelani, I'm going to go out to eat tonight, do you want to come?" asked Aran. Noelani lit up.
"That girl you told me about going to be there?" he asked. When Aran nodded, his smirk became Cheshire-like. "You know I'll be there, then."
Destin scowled. "Well?"
Aran's smile faded as he looked at Destin. "Fae asked you to come, not me. But you're invited."
Destin nodded, not showing any outward emotion. "Then I'll come." He said plainly, going back into the dormitory to put away his things. Aran and Noelani shared a grimace before following suit.