Here's Chapter 3! Finally.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Elphaba was stunned; she had been randomly accused twice within a twenty four hour period. First there was the girl, Dorothy, accusing her of attempted murder, and now a Lion was saying that she had "cubnapped" him, which she definitely did not remember doing. "I haven't the faintest recollection of that," she told him. "I could never do that to an Animal; you must be mistaken."

"Don't put that act on me!" the Lion almost shrieked at her. "The other Animals all fall for your 'aren't-I-righteous' routine, but I know who you really are! You captured me when I was just a Cub, and then you started yelling at me to scare me. I remember!"

"Well, I don't!"

The Lion took up a fighting stance. "C'mon, put 'em up, put 'em up! Come on and fight me, ya wicked witch!"

"Hey!" Fiyero cut in, finally recovered from his fall. "You leave her alone!"

"Why don't you make me, you lopsided bag of hay?!"

"Now, that's getting a little personal, Lion," Boq said. "In fact, you're being kind of petty. She has no idea what you're talking about, none of us do, and he just became a scarecrow, so it's a rather sensitive subject for him."

"Hey, why don't you stay fresh in that can?" The Lion laughed at his own joke. Elphaba was about to give him a piece of her mind, but then he noticed Dorothy and Toto hiding in the trees. "I'll get you anyway, you little-…"

It all happened so fast. The Lion lunged for Toto, Dorothy ran out into the road, turned around, and hit the Lion right on the nose. "Shame on you!" she admonished him. "It's bad enough picking on a straw man and accusing a random girl of things she doesn't remember doing, but you go around picking on poor little dogs!"

Shocking everyone, the Lion started crying. "What'd you do that for?" he sobbed. "I didn't bite him!"

"Oh, but you tried to! You're nothing but a great big coward, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am a coward; I don't have any courage at all." He pointed a paw in Elphaba's direction. "And it's all her fault!"

"Again, what did I do?!" Elphaba demanded, almost whining. She absolutely detested feeling ignorant and powerless like this.

"As if you didn't know! You do nothing except wreak havoc on this whole country like you own it!"

"What?! I would never-…"

"And you traumatized me! You're the reason I don't have any courage, and … and … and even though I'm terrified of you, I will not let you go down this road any further!" He gulped, waiting nervously for her reaction.

"Well, I'm sorry, but all four of us need to see the Wizard," Elphaba told him calmly. "I don't want to do this, but if you don't let us through, I'm afraid I'll have to use force."

All she had to do was glare at him, and he bolted for the trees. "Well!" Fiyero started. "That was rather … interesting!"

"He called me a wicked witch," Elphaba said in a monotone, sitting down on the side of the road. "Why would he say something like that?" Dorothy bit her lip, forcing herself not to reveal anything.

"I don't know," Fiyero answered, plopping down next to her. "Some people can say some pretty brainless things. Believe me, I know."

"He said I wreak havoc. But I don't …" She sighed and started undoing her hair. It had been up for the whole journey so far, and it was getting uncomfortable. But she gasped when it only fell to her mid back. "My hair! Oh my Oz …"

Fiyero almost laughed. "What, are you going all Galinda on us now?"

"No! Look! It's shorter! Someone cut it! Whoever put us out here and transformed you and Boq also cut my hair!" Fiyero had to keep himself from falling over when Elphaba launched herself into his lap.

"Why are you, of all people, being so dramatic about this?" Boq asked. "It's hair. It'll grow back. And it's still pretty long. It's not like you have a buzz cut or something."

"That's not the point! The point is that someone cut my hair, changed two of the few friends I have into … things, and put us out here in No Man's Land where I keep getting accused for things I didn't do. That's my problem right now."

Boq put a tin hand on her shoulder. She recoiled at first, surprised by how hard and cold it was, but then she relaxed, appreciating the gesture. "Don't worry, El. I'm sure that when we see the Wizard, he'll be able to explain everything. He'll get me and Fiyero looking more normal again, and hey, he may even regrow your hair for you, if that's what you want."

She shook her head and sat up, much to Fiyero's relief. "No, you're right, it'll grow back. But I want to know how this happened, who did this to us."

You should tell her, a nagging voice in Dorothy's head said. She'll only be even more furious if she finds out from somebody else. But she said instead, "Yeah, I'm sure the Wizard will have all the answers. And, in the meantime, your hair is very pretty, even if it's shorter than it once was." You're just as cowardly as that lion, Dorothy Gale.

"Thank you," Elphaba said quietly. She stood up. "Well, I think we should probably get back on the road. We have a Wonderful Wizard to see, don't we?"

Boq grinned. "That's right, we do! To Oz?"

She smiled and took his hand. "To Oz." And so, the four travelers set off again: the boys thinking about how they missed food, Dorothy still fighting with herself, and Elphaba still getting used to the absence of almost five inches of hair behind her back.

Okay, about Elphaba's hair: my headcannon is that it was waist length at Shiz, but she cut it once she became a fugitive for practical reasons. So, since Shiz-era Elphaba still doesn't know about her fugitive status, she would be somewhat distressed to suddenly discover five inches of her hair gone, especially on top of the Lion's accusations.

Thanks for reading!
Cheers,

Elle Dottore