Elphaba pulled her scarf up higher to further cover her face.
She was walking beside Nessa, keeping her balanced with one hand gently pressed to her back. They were on their way home from Miss Tryndell's house, where they went to school, as Tryndell was the only woman in town who pitied the misfit girls enough to teach them.
It was nearing Lurlinemas and snow clung to the ground, its icy white grip squeezing the green out of the earth. Its color instead seemed to stick to Elphaba's skin, and she glowed more brightly green than ever against the flurries.
Nessarose looked uncomfortable, as she often did. Elphaba decided to ignore it and tried to brush it off as her sister's dramatic need to be pessimistic and difficult.
Soon enough, however, she gave in to her sisterly devotion and asked what was wrong.
"My feet hurt," Nessa whined, and tears threatened to fall from her wide, almost-too-innocent eyes. "And I'm cold. Can't we please go inside for a moment and warm up?"
"We aren't far from home," Elphaba said quietly.
"But Elphaba, I don't think I could bear walking anymore! Snow has fallen into my shoes and it is freezing my feet. I need to get inside!"
Elphaba looked into the pleading eyes of her younger sister and offered one more protest. "But Nessa-"
"You never listen to me!" Nessa snapped, taking an extra big step to free herself of her sister's grasp. "I want to go inside."
So she awkwardly lurched off, almost falling several times but somehow managing not to slip.
Elphaba felt angry at her sister for a few moments, then it settled into regret, and that gave way to worry.
Nessarose had headed toward the forest. There were animals there that could harm her.
She rushed after Nessa, her heart pounding in fear of the worst.
She found Nessa sitting on a fallen tree just outside of the forest, her dress no doubt soaked through from the snow. She was sobbing, none too quietly.
"Nessa, please, I'm sorry. We can go and sit inside someplace warm," she said, hoping to draw her sister away from whatever creatures lay just behind the nearest curtain of foliage.
Nessarose turned slowly and opened her mouth to speak, or perhaps to hurl another accusation at her sister. At that moment, a lion- or perhaps Lion- made itself seen, poking its great mane out of the trees.
Elphaba quickly shushed Nessa, who turned back to see the great lion/Lion staring hungrily back at her. She yelped and looked distressingly back to Elphaba, brown eyes stretched wider than ever.
Elphie didn't know what to do.
For a few moments, everything was unbearably still and tension-filled. Fate held its breath and the world was both a blur and crystal-clear.
She focused on the beast, counting on Nesszrose to stay still and silent. She had always felt a strong bond with the animal kingdom. She prayed, though she did not know to whom, that she could get through to this creature.
"Are you a Lion?" she asked, cautiously taking a step forward. She heard a low growl. She stopped moving.
If it was I Lion, it wasn't talking.
She tried something else. "Please, sir lion, or Lion, we mean you no harm. Let us leave you in peace."
Again, all was quiet. Nessa inched closer to her sister.
The beast blinked slowly. Elphaba nodded to Nessarose, who got up unsteadily and half-walked, half-fell to Elphie's side.
Elphaba nodded to the lion, and if she wasn't mistaken he inclined his head too.
The sisters walked away carefully, back into town and towards their home. Nessa's feet seemed to have healed, and the cold felt less frigid. Elphaba kept her hand protectively and firmly on Nessa's shoulder.