1Chapter 1: Crossing Borders to Find New Life

Long before the singing and dancing had ended, and even before all of Oz knew the truth about the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, she was already crossing Oz on her way to a new life. She was being pushed away from the country she had once loved, but it had been corrupted, and so she journeyed far way from all of the corruption and the greed that had over come the people of Oz.

Glinda had made, and was keeping, a promise not to try and clear the witch's name. Glinda had known Elphaba for most of her school years but they had fallen apart once they had left. Glinda knew deep in her heart that Elphaba wasn't the witch people said she was, but there had been things that she could do that people didn't understand. Glinda had been present and had witnessed the demise of her friend, and although she herself was mourning the death that everyone was celebrating, she put on a happy face, and led the people of Oz into a happy time, but Glinda never forgot her dear friend. The People of Oz were now free from the grasp of the Wizard and yet Glinda could not free everyone from their bonds. Too many people had become accustom to the ways they were living, and found it hard to accept the Animals as part of their society.

The Animals had also gained a new hope to find a place they could flee to, and live their rightful lives away from captivity. As the Wizard left Oz, the Animals breathed a sigh of relief, and even though they had known a different side of the Witch and some even followed her, they were happy to know that the villains in their story were gone. It is surprising how much easier life can be with just a little hope and the absence of fear. Sadly, fear was still with them as time didn't change and the discrimination against them was still very clear in the addresses of many and the segregation that the Animals felt and so they continued to loose their voices and were silenced by the evil doings of people who were ignorant.

Much had changed in Elphaba's life since she faked her death in front of Glinda in the castle at Kiamo Ko. Everything had happened so fast and she found herself, led only by her love for Fiyero, onward into nothingness. For no one knew what was waiting for them on the other side of the edge of the world. They had decided early on, as they escaped the castle and the celebrations, that they would travel where no one had gone before. They looked to the north, to the east, to the west and finally decided that the southern mountains, far across Quadling country, were their only hope.

Their journey wasn't easy in any sense of the word; they could only travel by night, avoiding all life as the celebrations of the death of the Witch were still ongoing, and would make it easier for them to go unnoticed. They avoided any towns or settlements as they travelled south toward Quadling country, staying away from the yellow brick road at all costs and eating only what they could find in the forests. All that Elphaba was able to take with her was a hooded cape and her broom, and she didn't dare use the broom while she was still in Oz. Fiyero had brought less than Elphaba and carried with him only a warn out map of Oz and his knowledge of the land.

Fiyero, led by his love for Elphaba and enraged by the accusations put before her, was leaving more behind then he really realised. He was to be a reigning monarch and with the departure of the Wizard and growing animosities between the peoples of oz a rebellion was brewing. If Fiyero were to stay he would likely be called upon but the Winkies to whom he belonged to lead their people. He had changed a lot in the time between his education and his employment with the Emerald City. At one time he would have preferred the quiet, carefree life he had planned for himself as a rich prince, but as he grew older and saw the corruption that Elphaba had led him to see, he became more angry and determined that Oz was not his home, nor would he ever be proud to say he had once been from this land. He left everything behind, never turning back, and gave up his royal name. He would be, from now on, simply the Scarecrow.

"Where will we go once we have reached the end of Quadling country?" Elphie asked one night as they were huddled in the base of a hollow tree, and listened to the sounds of peacefulness that masked the dark underbelly of the country they were fleeing.

"Further south." he had answered, as he pointed to the edge of the map. "This can't be the end of the world. I have heard stories of lands away from Oz, and we'll have to find them if we ever want to live a safe life. It cannot be that Oz is the only country in this world. If it is, that is a very sad outcome indeed."

"What if it is the end of the world?" Elphie wondered out loud.

"It can't be." Fiyero said almost desperately, "The Wizard came from another land, and that little girl, as well, and that creature she called a dog had to have been born in a terrible country. You see, there is hope, although terrible lands may be ahead of us."

"Are we to wander into that terrible country and never look back?" She asked, "Do you think that they could be worse than Oz?"

"If that is what we come to, we will keep on going until we find somewhere peaceful." He said with a smile.

"What if we come to the ocean, what are we to do then?" Elphie asked.

"Barter passage on a ship or travel along the coast lines. Oceans cannot go on forever, even though we have never seen one, it cannot mark the end of the world." Fiyero said as he took her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Once we are out at sea we could use your broom, and fly away from the boat, and no one would ever know."

"But if the magic doesn't work outside of Oz, what are we to do then?" She asked fearfully.

"Elphaba, we can't worry like this. I know you are scared and so am I, but we have to keep hope." Fiyero said sadly, "If we don't what was the point in trying to live in the first place?"

"You're right." Elphie sighed, "I just hope there is a place better than Oz. I remember a time when I could never dream of anything else. My idea of Oz was perfect until I really saw what it was. Before I knew of the corruption, and the pain and suffering that people went through, I believed Oz a perfect place."

"So did I. I would have been happy to Dance through life, but I should have known better. Unfortunately, I believe we'll find corruption and fear anywhere. Things are never exactly as they seem, but maybe, if we are really lucky, we can find a nice quiet place, and we could live quietly as peasants, or farmers." he said and shuddered at the thought.

"Would you even know how to farm?" Elphaba laughed.

"I'm a Scarecrow I should, shouldn't I?" He said laughing himself.

"We could learn." Elphie smiled and pulled her cloak closer around her.

"I'm sure we could, but we'll worry about that when we get there. For now, try and get some sleep." he said as they watched the sun rising through the open top of the hollowed out tree.

The marshlands of Quadling country were difficult to cross without rafts or proper clothing. Elphaba found it especially hard, even without the water being a fatal obstacle; one that had been made up by the people to make her seem more frightening, it was muddy, wet, and growing colder each day as they travelled southwards. She had to keep her face covered from view of anyone and the long cloak weighed her down with wetness. Fiyero had the same problems. The straw of his arms and legs held the water for long periods of time. He could never feel dry when they rested and was always soaked through when they travelled.

Finally, after nights of cold travel, they came to the great river that passed through the lower end of Quadling country. They found themselves moving quickly against the rush of the water and away from the settlements of the local people. Finally, at the darkest and coldest part of the night, Elphaba and Fiyero mounted her broom and made a desperate attempt to cross the rushing water of the river. On the other side they were met again with the wet marshlands, but in the distance, ahead of them, they could see the landscape rise before them, and the borders of the world were in front of them.

It was no wonder that they hadn't known the lands beyond the southern edge of Oz. Before them now was one of the highest mountain ranges they could have imagined. There were no other mountains like these in Oz, and at the edge of the mountain range the yellow brick road just stopped, unwilling to proceed into the dark, cold, distance. The tops of the mountains were peeked with snow and darkness. Clouds hovered around the tops of the highest ones, and made it hard to know where the mountains stopped and the sky began. No one in Oz had ever tried to cross the great frozen southern mountain. A feeling of hopelessness set in as Elphie looked on at the mountain range.

"We'll surely meet our end if we try to cross the mountain. We haven't got anything with us that could help us survive that." Elphie said as she looked desperately at Fiyero.

"We won't cross them on foot, and though this could probably be some of the coldest weather we will face, Elphaba, we have to do it. Beyond the mountains there had to be a better land." Fiyero said.

"Legends say that giants and dragon, and all of the most horrible things live across the borders." She said in a small, almost childish, voice.

"Those are just old peasant tales, told to scare little children." Fiyero said trying to calm her down, "No one has ever crossed the mountains to see what is beyond them, so how would they know that dragons and giants, and everything bad was beyond them?"

"But you don't know that it's not true." She whispered as they walked on

"That's the adventure of it all." Fiyero said as he kept up his pace, "Besides your broom will fly higher than the giants and I bet faster than a dragon."

"It could probably get across the mountain range pretty quickly as well." Elphie said with a little more enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit." Fiyero smiled as he took her hand and they walked on.

The trees and undergrowth grew thicker and thicker as they edged away from the marshland and further up into the highlands. The sun began to rise before Elphaba and Fiyero looked back toward Oz. They had come farther than they had first thought. Looking out, from their vantage point, the Quadling's marshland looked small behind them, and the mountains looked immense before them. The sun rose slowly to wake the sleepy Quadling's.

"Do you think we should carry on?" Elphie asked at last.

"I don't think we'll run into any more people." he answered, "I think we could probably travel by daylight now. It would probably be beneficial now that we don't know the terrain. My map will be of no use to us after this point. I would think it best to move on in daylight, unless you think we should stop." He said as he watched her turn back to the mountains.

"I'm too excited now to see what is beyond the mountains, even if it is dragons and giant." She said at last, the sun was shining down on her emerald green face and her expression was one of excitement.

"You're right, Elphie." he said and pulled his hat down tight around his head, "It'll be cooler at night I should think, but at least we wont be soaking wet anymore."

"And it will be even colder when we are travelling fast by broom but it should dry out the remainder of the wetness that is with us now." She said and they mounted the broom at once and set off.

Once in the air they could see so much more of the land that they had crossed. The higher up they went the colder the wind was but the more beautiful everything looked. Far off to the north they could see only the emerald glow of the Emerald City and to the south the mountain range reached farther than they could see. Vast whiteness, clear and crisp and clean, reached out to the south. It was a pure wild land.

"Say goodbye to Oz, Elphie." Fiyero said over her shoulder into her ear, "I don't think we'll ever see it again."

"Goodbye Oz!" Elphie shouted happily, "Hello freedom!"

The broom flew, quickly, across the sky, between some of the mountains, covering more ground than they could have by foot in a day. Soon Oz had disappeared behind them, completely, and nothing but white lay before them. The sun continued right across the sky as they went further south. Their faces had become cold and numb from the wind, and the chill of the air cut through their light cloths, but nothing could break their spirits. It wasn't hunger or exhaustion that forced them out of the sky at last; it was the setting of the sun, and the looming darkness that was coming to them. They couldn't see any longer what was ahead of them, and the mountains seemed closer together.

Elphie brought the broom down at the base of two of the great mountains. It was here that a valley could be seen far below them, and it invited them into it with the coming of night. An ice cold mountain stream ran through the valley, and was a clear as glass. The wind off the mountains was cool, but it was noticeably warmer down in the valley than it had been in the sky. Elphie quickly gathered scraps of wood and dry grass, and started a fired. The warmth was very welcoming, but Fiyero stayed out of the reach of the flame. It had become one of the most dangerous things for him now, in his state, but he had begun to accept it, and was learning the things he needed to live by it. He ventured away from the fire, and began to collect berries that grew in the healthy wilderness of the sheltering mountains. They had both taken time to sip at the cool water of the stream, and then settled in together at the base of a big old tree, one of the only trees that stood in the valley. They looked up, as the moon rose in the dark sky, and the stars began to change. They didn't look anything like any of the stars that they had seen in Oz. These were different, they seemed more alive than the ones they had seen all their lives. In fact, everything in the valley seemed more alive than they had ever known. The air was cleaner and crisp as they inhaled it, and even just sitting there, they felt rejuvenated. The tree behind them felt warm to the touch, and the sounds that this valley produced sounded alive. It is hard to explain the sounds that they heard because there were no birds or animals in the valley, and yet there was a sound like whispering that passed through the tree's branches. Quickly the song of the wild land put them to sleep and they slept till morning.