It's 2016! Happy New Year, dear readers!

Just a note that I've been MULTITASKING with the Talespinner's Oz stories, the other one being a comic book-based story called "The Carnevillans of Oz"! Look for Issue #0 on the FurAffinity and the DeviantArt websites!

Now let's resume our story by revisiting Blinkie's mean ol' witches...


VII: Lost and Found

As the apprentices were being dealt with by the crafty Legion, their one-eyed mistress had begun leading her new pet around her eight-sided home, secure in the notion that the more potent witches of her coven were seeing to their security.

Dorothy no longer seemed to be fighting what she had become, too. Since transforming the Kansas girl, Blinkie had made it essential for her pet to be treated with as much care as she could offer the anthropomorphic dog she had created. The dangerous enemy Dorothy used to be, after all, was practically dead and gone, so there was not much in the way of any lingering worry…at least, from Blinkie's perspective…that her new pet's human identity would re-emerge.

Still…a part of the one-eyed witch did not want to take any chances, no matter how much she loved her new pet.

Using her magic to generate a piece of raw meat in one hand, Blinkie held it above Dorothy's head, and the dog angled her head up so that her moist black nose could sniff upon it. The dog's eyes widened as she raised her front paws yearningly towards it. The amused witch could not help but giggle as she dropped the palm-sized meat down to the ground, allowing Dorothy to grab it with her teeth and begin chewing hungrily upon it as Blinkie lowered to a knee and rubbed a wrinkled hand over the anthropomorphic dog's furry head of hair.

"Goooood girl. Yeeeessss…isn't that delicious?" Blinkie continued rubbing and petting the former Kansas girl's fur with genuine affection. "Just as satisfying as last night's meal, right? That's just a taste of what's to come tonight, Dorothy dear." Blinkie then wrapped her arms around her new pet's furry body, embracing her lovingly.

As the collar's deep mental conditioning acknowledged Blinkie as a friend, this being particularly reinforced by the witch's kindness towards her, Dorothy's furry arms wrapped around Blinkie as well, and she rested her head lovingly against Blinkie's shoulder, the anthro dog's tail wagging happily behind her.

The one-eyed witch was particularly pleased to see that her pet's tail was wagging with approval.

The old crone's lips then came close to one of Dorothy's fluffy canine ears, and she began to whisper unto it. A single word, followed by a set of instructions. One of her hands that had been running over Dorothy's fur was now tracing patterns upon the anthro dog's furry back as she spoke. The tip of Blinkie's index finger was glowing as she traced out this pattern. The former Kansas girl's eyes widened as Blinkie spoke, and as the witch spoke them in a tone that was itself enchanted, the word…and the instructions relating to it…had imprinted very deeply upon the mind of Blinkie's pet.

Dorothy's only response to this was to tilt her head curiously when she looked upon Blinkie's amused face. The witch responded by rubbing the white fur underneath the canine girl's chin affectionately.

Blinkie then brought her lips to her pet's furry forehead and planted a kiss there, smiling sweetly. Her tone was quite sincere as she spoke her next words. "You're going to like being my dog, Dorothy. I promise you."

"MISTREEEEESS!"

Cheralyn's voice. Blinkie shut her eyes and let out a loud, irritated sigh. Her private joy with the dog she had always wanted had been broken. Cheralyn sounded particularly distressed, too.

The one-eyed witch did not want to leave her dog's side. "WHAT?" She hoped it was something minor. Or at least, something Blinkie judged to be minor.

"Our apprentices!" Cheralyn called back. "They're not reporting in!"

A minor thing indeed, Blinkie thought, but a potentially crippling one. She figured Pippa would be particularly upset if anything had happened to Tilda, the apprentice she had a strong attraction towards. It was clear that Tilda was Pippa's Achilles heel. If anything had happened to Tilda, Pippa would be devastated. If Tilda had been taken captive by the lingering visitors from outside Jinxland, she could be used as leverage.

Blinkie opened her mouth to shout out an option, but stopped herself. She did this more than once, making her more irritable every time she stopped. For every option the one-eyed witch thought up, there was a reason why it was a problematic suggestion. As much as she wanted to stay with Dorothy, she didn't want to lose control of Jinxland to these outsiders.

But then another voice evaporated her hesitation.

"BLIN-KIIIIIE! GET OVER HERE! NOW! AND DON'T BRING THAT STUPID DOG WITH YOU!"

Gloria.

Blinkie was now in a particularly bad mood, but she did not vent this to her pet. She just ran her wrinkled hands over Dorothy's soft head of canine fur and kissed her again on the forehead. "I'll be right back, my sweet pet. You stay right here." She softly remarked.

Turning in the direction of the voices as she began her approach towards them, her expression turned particularly sour.

"Your highness…these are my best students. Full witches. Every one of them. Pippa, Sima, Cheralyn, Ness…" Blinkie gestured to them, trying to keep her tone civil as she walked towards the blue-veined princess. "…I can't babysit all of them, you know."

"Oh? Shall I assume you're close to treason, then?" Gloria mused. "The apprentices are gone, and a couple of your so-called 'witches' are a little lost in indecision. I don't want you playing with that silly dog of yours until you deal with those outsiders. Definitively, and personally. If these are your strongest witches, get together and do a…a ritual or something. Anything that can take them all out at once. Find that monkey first. Sima here…" she gestured to the robed woman who found Trot. "…thinks that Trot might have swallowed the Medusa Stone. She has a spell in mind to force it out of that chimp, but we need to capture her to use it. So guess what you and your witches are going to do for me now?"

Blinkie couldn't help but muse to herself. Turn her majesty into a shrew?

"You're going to go out there and get that chimp!" Gloria added, in mock sweetness.

Sighing, Blinkie turned to the other witches, one hand grasping something beneath the robes at her waist. "Let's form a scrying circle. We're going to find out what happened to our apprentices."

Gloria's eyes widened angrily. "What did I just…"

Blinkie's aged hand whipped out furiously from beneath the robes, and a dagger shot towards Gloria's head. Raising her hand up, the blade telekinetically stopped, the point of the blade pressing against the blue-veined young monarch's forehead.

The only good eye of the old witch flashed with fury as it glared upon Gloria, who looked quite shocked by this move. "My coven comes before your chimp, your majesty."

"And my chimp comes before your dog." Gloria shot back, more angry than fearful as Blinkie gathered her witches around in a circle. "Spend too much time with this 'scrying' of yours, and I'll have your new dog eat a knife just like this one." She gestured to the dagger pressing against her forehead.

"Hush!" Blinkie hissed angrily. "We need to concentrate!" She then extended a hand towards the dagger, and it flew back to the old woman's hand. Sheathing the blade beneath the robes at her waist, Blinkie turned her attention back to the scrying ritual, which was more of a series of mental images shared solely by the witches in the circle than anything that could be seen by the naked eye, which meant Gloria would have to wait. Predictably, she crossed her arms quite impatiently as her witches chanted their incantations and pressed thumbnails painfully upon the wrists of the ones in the circle who were next to them.

BLAM! The thunderous noise was at the outer edge of the eight-sided house. The entire place shook violently. Yet another hard blow had windows breaking, and another loud blow.

As they were caught in mid-incantation, the witches…Blinkie included…were quite disoriented by the sudden violence.

"They're here!" Gloria hollered. She then raised a finger in the direction of the noise. "DEAL WITH THEM!"

Blinkie and her five charges endured more violent impacts as the house began to come down around them as they raced towards the source of the ongoing impacts.

A very loud smash of glass preceded the charge of a rhino as the beast intercepted the witches, swinging his large head to and fro, smashing everything in his path. In the darkness of the area, there was a loud roar and a flash of black-striped orange fur as Ness came under attack from the second beast that was apparently on the rhino's back.

"Rouse, NO!" The rhino yelled. "You were supposed to be backup!"

Acting upon what was apparently unexpected, Pippa and Sima combined their magical might to increase the pull of gravity around the rhino, making it impossible for him to move as they held their arms out towards him and chanted the words that held him to the ground beneath him. Groaning under the paralyzing intensity of the gravitational pull, Pippa and Sima continued to maintain their hold upon Biff.

As Blinkie and Cheralyn raised their hands towards the tigress attacking Ness, Marge raced towards the source of the banging. She was able to spot the old man…Pon…laying down another devastatingly hard blast with one of his fists…

"Time ta go, brudda!"

…before a winged baboon suddenly scooped him up and lifted him into the air.

Lightning-like surges of purple energy, issuing forth from the fingers of three powerful witches, had Rouse squinting her eyes shut as the energy danced around her head, fusing not only pain, but suggestions unto the mind of the headstrong tigress. Rouse tried, as hard as she could, to resist what was being forced upon her, but between the pain and the fact that not one, but three witches were concentrating their will upon her, her mind was incapable of withstanding the attack. Eventually, her flailing paws dropped down as her angry face melted to a more blank expression.

It was during all this violence that Gloria decided to act upon a much more cold-blooded urge. Going into the house's kitchen, she pulled a butcher knife. The princess then headed over to where she knew Dorothy was.

The dagger at her forehead was the impetus for this murderous urge. She was sure the tip of that blade had bit deep enough into her cold skin to produce at least a drop of blood. Gloria now wanted Dorothy to suffer similarly.

All she saw, however, when she came upon the area where she knew Blinkie kept the anthropomorphic dog was a leash, and one of those enchanted collars.

But there was no Dorothy.

Gloria's eyes widened as she realized that this was no deliberate attack.

It was a diversion.

The blue-veined princess smiled. Good, she thought. More leverage to earn a bit more loyalty from Blinkie.


"BLIN-KIIIIIE! GET OVER HERE! NOW! AND DON'T BRING THAT STUPID DOG WITH YOU!"

Gloria.

Blinkie was now in a particularly bad mood, but she did not vent this to her pet. She just ran her wrinkled hands over Dorothy's soft head of canine fur and kissed her again on the forehead. "I'll be right back, my sweet pet. You stay right here." She softly remarked.

Dorothy watched the one-eyed witch leave, feeling a little sad that her owner was stepping away, and the anthro dog lowered her head.

In the next moment, however, Dorothy's canine nose picked up an odd scent. Her head rose up curiously.

It was the scent of hay.

The Scarecrow moved slowly, having dropped the illusion provided by the gold pearl which allowed him to assume the appearance of a stone shape. Maneuvering around the anthro dog, he had to act quickly using the green pearl.

As Dorothy…who was now moaning a quiet, wary growl…turned to face the direction of the scent, the Scarecrow held the green pearl in one of his hands, and held out his other hand. "Shrink!" He quietly commanded.

The green pearl emanated a faint glow, and Dorothy's body began to diminish in size. It was the Scarecrow's hope that the collar the anthro dog was wearing would not also shrink along with Dorothy.

Much to the Scarecrow's great relief, it didn't.

The straw-stuffed advisor lowered his arm, hoping it would stop Dorothy from shrinking. With her neck now too small for the collar, she began to blink in confusion, as if coming out of a deep sleep. She then shook her head as memories that had been magically suppressed suddenly began surging to the fore, released from a cruel and oppressive magical grip enforced by the feel of the enchanted collar.

The Scarecrow grabbed Dorothy by a furry wrist and pulled her alongside him. "Follow me, Dorothy!" his voice, now familiar to Dorothy, hissed quietly.

As they moved, loud bangs could be heard back at Blinkie's place as they moved further and further from it. The Scarecrow eventually diverted Dorothy to one of the unoccupied cottages, this one having the benefit of a cellar.

Once they were both safely below the cottage, the Scarecrow turned to his now canine friend and lifted his arm toward her once again. "Grow."

A confused and disoriented Dorothy felt herself restore to her normal size, after which the smiling Scarecrow lowered his arm.

Dorothy now took a closer look at her familiar savior, and the straw-stuffed advisor now saw that this anthropomorphic dog's eyes were changing to the appearance and the colors of the Kansas girl she used to be.

Stepping closer to him on digitigrade legs, Dorothy's head tilted to the side in her curiosity. It now became apparent that this was someone she knew to be a very special friend.

"S…Scare-crowww?" Dorothy quietly asked.

The straw-stuffed man nodded emphatically. "Yes! Yes! Oh, rapture…you do remember me!"

"Sssscarecrow…I…" her padded hands rubbed at her furry face. "...I…I ff-feel so s…ssstrange…"

Upon looking at her paw-like hands, Dorothy let out a horrified shriek, shocked that they were no longer human!

The Scarecrow immediately wrapped his arms, consolingly, around the anthropomorphic dog his friend had become. She shook terribly in his arms, and she whimpered in a very canine manner as he held her. "Shhhhh…not so loud, Dorothy. We don't want to be noticed. Don't worry…those witches have their hands full, and you're safe with me now."

"W…wh…wwwwhat's…ha-happened to me?" Dorothy whispered between her canine whimpers.

"It was those witches, Dorothy." The Scarecrow quietly answered. "They had you under their control. That collar is gone now, though. They must have laid another enchantment on you while you were out. I'm afraid you look a little more like Toto now."

Dorothy broke away from the Scarecrow's embrace to look upon him with wide eyes, which were now thankfully human. "Y…y-you mean I…I-I'm a dog?" She looked down at her furry body, and she angled her head behind her to get a look at her furry tail. Her eyes then looked upon her strangely-shaped legs, which were now no different than Toto's, save for her fur being a brown-blotched white rather than black.

When she lowered herself to the ground, she sat no differently from a common dog, her padded hands between her legs, resting upon the ground as she lowered her head in despair. The Scarecrow noticed that she was panting in short breaths, too, much like Toto always did when he was tired.

She then rose her head up to the Scarecrow. "I…I don't look too bad, do I?"

"Oh, no! Not at all!" The Scarecrow lowered to a knee in front of Dorothy. "Actually, your fur looks real nice and soft! I bet you feel like you're wearing a coat."

The straw-stuffed man finally saw a slight smile on Dorothy's face, which thankfully did not have the muzzled shape Toto's did. "Yeah, it…it does feel like that." The anthro dog then sighed distressfully. "I still feel really weird, though."

"The Lion should be able to help you there, Dorothy." The Scarecrow quietly assured. "He told me to get you right to him. He told me that for as long as you're like this, you're going to be a full member of the Legion of Courage. I'm sure they're gonna teach you all kinds of useful tricks, Dorothy. All we have to do is get you back over to, um, 'headquarters'."

Dorothy nodded in response, and then, upon feeling a tickly feeling at her floppy ear, she brought her right front paw up to scratch at it.

"She must have treated you pretty badly." The straw-stuffed advisor quietly surmised. "Blinkie, that is."

But Dorothy frowned at this, tilting her head to the side. "No. Not at all." She then shook her head rapidly, her floppy ears flapping around as she did. "Actually, I…I dimly remember her being very nice to me. It was…strange. She fed me…she petted me…rubbed me beneath my chin…I remember that all feeling really nice, too."

Although this was a somewhat troubling thing to hear, the Scarecrow nodded. "Just as long as you remember that no matter how nice she may have been, she's the cause of all these problems."

Dorothy lowered her furry head as she nodded. "I know…" Her tone, however, sounded unsure as she spoke. "…I know…"

After a quiet moment, Dorothy suddenly felt playful, and the anthro dog then burst up from the ground somewhat excitedly. Her voice now sounded very eager. "Can we go to see the lion now? Hmmm?" She held her padded hands in front of her, in a disturbingly canine manner.

The Scarecrow shrugged, smiling. "The coast should be clear up top, so…let's move on!"

"Rruff!" Dorothy unexpectedly barked as the two began moving. Such was her sudden eagerness to see the lion again…he and the Scarecrow being acknowledged friends, and thus easy for the dog to react so positively to…that she ignored her own concern over this canine reflex action.

The Scarecrow moved as oddly as he always did as they both hurried along the cottages towards the Headquarters. A part of Dorothy couldn't help but wonder if Blinkie was still all right…

…but this concern was hardly as strong as her feelings were for the lion, and the Scarecrow she was now quite eagerly following.

Not only out of love, but out of instinct as well.


Oscar was enjoying himself far too much as he continued to channel his levitational magic through the crystal ball at Glinda's Palace. He had just finished settling Betsy to the docks once the Coregos warboat settled in and was securely tied by shiphands. They all watched in amazement as the glitter-skinned girl settled to the wooden platform by the ship.

As the Wizard continued to observe Betsy's movements, it occurred to him that he had spent quite a bit of time watching over her. He wanted to get a glimpse at how Jellia and Omby were faring at the royal palace.

Passing his hands over the smooth glass of the crystal ball, the image of Betsy's approach to the city of Coregos blurred out of focus, and then sharpened to show the images of the royal palace…

…which was, thankfully, quite serene. Shifting the image to the interior of the Royal Palace revealed that a certain tin woman had acted on a personal initiative to act as Oscar's representative. Empress Nimmie seemed to be doing quite well, too, with Jellia acting as interim advisor. As usual, Omby was at the do…

*BAM*

With his attention so deeply rooted upon the large crystal ball, it was easy for the palace's rotund intruder to bring a blow powerful enough to knock him out down upon Oscar's head. He crumpled to the floor. The intruder then locked the doors to the room he was using.

The intruder had no magic through which to channel any kind of sabotage, as much as the phanfasm agent wished he did.

He had been given the form of an owl, provided to him by his master, in his attempt to get into the palace. From there, it was through a magic locket he had also been given that he went from the form of an owl to the human guise he had been using.

But the guise he called Hootley was not a very well-known one. At least, not to anyone outside of Jinxland. He needed to adopt a much more effective guise. Placing his chubby hand upon the unconscious Wizard's head, and holding his locket in his other hand, the locket glowed as its magic encased Hootley with a glowing purple mist.

When the mists parted, Oscar Diggs got to work binding and gagging the unconscious form of the true Wizard using whatever he could find in the room. Once he was securely restrained and muffled, the phanfasm found a dark closet large enough to store him away in and locked him into it.

He then settled into the chair in front of the crystal ball to idly observe the images playing within it, boring as they were.

A knock at another door, this one leading into the hallways of the palace, preceded the appearance of one of Glinda's handmaidens. "Oscar? Are you doing okay in here?"

"Hm? Oh yes, thank you, my dear." The locket's magic made it possible for the phanfasm to perfectly mimic Oscar's voice. "I'm just a little tied up with this crystal ball, as you can see."


As much as she thought it would have been more effective for her to continue levitating, Betsy nevertheless held her head high as she was escorted through the city of Coregos by the captains of the docked warboats. Behind them were the sailors and warriors of both Regos and Coregos, the soldiers of Coregos marching with more precision than the more casual approach of the Regos fighters and sailors.

While the city did have merchants and farms, a majority of the buildings were more military in nature as Betsy passed them. Indeed, the city was more of a barracks than a typical metropolis, with rows of soldiers marching about, training, and practicing arts of war than living more civil lives. Guard towers were everywhere, with soldiers manning each and every one of them.

What chilled Betsy even more, however, were the cracks of whips that were laid down upon human servants which were crawling about on the ground, cowering before their masters and mistresses. These servants, much like the images Betsy saw in the Magic Picture, had bright pink skin and lavender-colored hair. Unlike those images, however, she saw that their eyes had glowing pink irises as well, and it seemed that these irises glowed brighter whenever they were particularly frightened.

Betsy heard some of the soldiers behind her make cruel jokes at the expense of these servants, never caring whether or not they were in earshot. As much as she knew that it was necessary to keep up with her act as the 'starchild', Betsy could not help but feel a sense of loathing for these cruel and domineering people. She was certain Oscar felt the same way.

Confident that Oscar was still watching over her, and was ready to provide more assistance, Betsy maintained her stride, feeling more than a little amused over all the attention she was getting as she passed everyone, as they went into the fortress where she was told the King of Regos and the Queen of Coregos were present.

The sailors and soldiers eventually brought Betsy to an area inside the fortress which was quite large, and had two large golden seats with red cushions on each of them. A man and a woman wearing large, matching golden crowns of a most unusual design sat upon these throne seats, and turned to face their guests as they filled the large space in the throne room. As the eyes of the man and the woman…obviously King Gos and Queen Cor…fell upon Betsy, the glitter-skinned girl assumed as bold a pose as she could perform.

The face of the black-bearded, well-built and brutish King Gos went pale upon seeing Betsy, and his angry-looking eyes went wide with great concern. Obviously, he was a believer in these legends the soldiers and the warriors had spoken of, and he reacted accordingly. Betsy felt a bit of relief at this.

But when her eyes went to Queen Cor, she saw that the female monarch's right eyebrow had arched up curiously. She seemed a little more amused than afraid, and it was she who slowly rose up and took a couple of steps toward Betsy, her eyes never leaving the glitter-skinned girl.

"And…what is this you have brought before me?" Queen Cor began. "Buzzub. Speak."

"It is the great and powerful starchild of our legends, my Queen!" Buzzub responded. "The Captain of the Coregos warboat wanted to bring her before you."

"Did you succeed in your mission?" Cor then asked, not looking very interested in what Betsy was identified as. "Has Pingaree fallen? Do we have their people aboard your boats?"

"I…we gave up the Regos slaves at the starchild's command." Buzzub reported. "They are aboard her own boat, which came down on us from the skies."

Cor nodded slowly at this. She seemed to quote, thoughtfully, from a text as she spoke. "'…and she took her fill of servants, and left the Regos to run'. What of our slaves?"

"Still aboard the boat, but…waiting." Buzzub replied. "The starchild means to free them, too."

"And leave us both empty-handed, eh?" Cor mused. She then looked to the Captain of the Coregos boat. "Which did you take, by the way? The King, or the Queen?"

"Um…Buzzub took them both, my Queen." The Captain reported. "He said you could take one of them when we came back, but…but…" He gestured to Betsy.

"I…see." Cor answered, nodding her head slowly as her eyes returned to Betsy.

"Please speak carefully, my wife!" King Gos nervously remarked. "She could burn us all!"

"So the legends say, yes." Cor responded, her eyes still on Betsy. "And she came to us on a flying ship. Most unusual. Yours is a most influential legend, starchild. The societies of Regos and Coregos would not be as they are without your contribution to our aggressive natures. Never again would we show ourselves as weak, and feeble, and easily cowed since last you were among us all those hundreds of years ago. According to the legends, at least."

"Don't make me punish you all for takin' slaves!" Betsy warned. "I'll burn you an' ev'ryone here! I will! Don't force my hand!"

"Indeed. Far be it for us to steal away those the starchild has chosen to serve her rather than the people of those islands she had conquered. Regos and Coregos, that is." Cor then looked past Betsy to the soldiers, sailors, and warriors behind the glitter-skinned visitor. "I want everyone from the expedition to fill this space here. Shut the doors once they are all in. No one gets in or out."

King Gos looked puzzled at this request. "Wife of mine, why are you…"

"Shhh." Queen Cor hissed. "You'll see."

Naturally, a mixture of nervousness and confusion was alternately upon the faces of each and every one of the soldiers, warriors, and sailors that gathered as a muttering sea of mostly male bodies, those outside the building having been brought in to join the others as the guards at the doors sealed the room from outside entry. When Queen Cor raised both of her hands, all voices silenced.

She then turned to Betsy. "Were it not for the starchild, we would never have recognized the necessity for power, conquest, and ruthlessness which has defined our ways since those ancient times. As the people you see before you only offered you fear in response to your appearance, I ask a boon of you. A great demonstration of your cosmic power."

Queen Cor then gestured to the silent mob. "Kill them."

Betsy turned her glittery head to the Queen, frowning in confusion. "Huh?"

"They have failed us. They must be punished." Cor calmly explained. "Kill them all."

King Gos sounded quite pleased with this idea as he spoke. "Indeed! I should like to see your great power myself! Go ahead and punish them, starchild. Leave no survivors."

Betsy now had a more angry expression on her face as she lifted a glitter-skinned finger. "They only do as they're ordered! I should punish th' both o' YOU!"

Cor sighed, lowering her head at this, looking defeated. "Indeed. As always, your legendary wisdom is flawless." She then turned to King Gos. "Husband, follow me, please."

Despite his confusion, Gos rose to his feet. Cor then led her husband, holding his hairy wrist, over to where the mob stood. She then turned to face Betsy.

"We have all failed you. These men, my husband, and I." Cor calmly remarked. "Destroy us all."

The expression on Gos's face now went pale with fright. His eyes boggled in shock as he looked to his wife. "Wha…are you mad, wife of mine?"

"We have failed the mighty starchild." Cor shrugged as she spoke. "She must destroy us. The legends make this very clear."

Scanning around at the faces of the now dreadfully fearful soldiers, warriors, and sailors, Betsy hoped that she would hear the voice of the Wizard. Advise her about what to say. How to react. Something! This was a seriously bad time for him to go silent! She was no longer levitating, either. She was now quite fearful that something had happened to Oscar. Betsy knew he would never betray her on a mere whim.

But there was one thing dreadfully apparent. Even if she were to wield the powers of this legendary entity, there was no way she would enact such a barbaric request. She was an entertainer and an acrobat, not a monster.

Cor quirked an eyebrow, noting Betsy's hesitation. "You can't do it, can you?"

Betsy lowered her head lamentedly. "No."

Cor stepped over to the glitter-skinned girl, the taller woman looking imperiously down upon Betsy, who looked up at her with a more timid expression. "If you really were the starchild, you would never show mercy. In fact, the true starchild was attracted to our genteel nature. She never completely destroyed us because, by her judgment, we were far too weak. It is clear to me now that you are a fraud."

"But…" King Gos now looked very confused. "…her skin sparkles! Clearly, a billion stars resonate within her!"

The ring finger of Cor's right hand had a large gold ring with a round ruby installed upon it. She placed the palm of her right hand upon Betsy's forehead, and the ruby glowed, having detected an enchantment. "Klenz."

The Queen of Diamonds visage now evaporated, dissolving to reveal Betsy Bobbin's natural skin and hair color. Her glittery costume had become Betsy's plain white dress as well.

Cor's hand went from Betsy's forehead to her chin, grasping it angrily as she lifted the Oklahoma girl's head up. "I knew you were lying the moment I saw you. If you had levitated in here like the starchild always did, I probably would have been more receptive to your deception…but then, that would not have mattered, would it?" Her head turned to King Gos. "Husband...hold this deceptive little brat where she stands."

Gos now looked more angry than scared, and the others in the mob also looked considerably annoyed over the deception. The brutish monarch got behind Betsy and grabbed both of her arms with a painfully tight grip. "Don't struggle." Gos growled. "Or I'll crush you with my bare hands!"

Cor lowered to a knee before Betsy, who now looked very nervous. "This must be your first time here, whoever you really are…but I won't ask your name. From now on, it will no longer be important to you. I have to admit, though. I admire your boldness, little girl. For that admiration, I will keep you with me."

"Y-you'd bett'r not do anythin' t' me!" Betsy warned, unable to keep her voice from shaking. "I…I know pow'rful people!"

"Like your name, they will no longer be important to you. The only person who will be important to you…" Cor's hands then lifted the crown up, revealing a gold headpiece with a large, glowing pink jewel which looked very much like an eye. This gem was positioned at her temple, right above the bridge of her nose. "…is me."

As the glow of the gem brightened, Betsy squinted her eyes shut and looked away, snapping her head to the side. Gos, however, grabbed her head and forced it back in front of Cor. He was able to hold Betsy's head in place with one strong hand as the fingers of the other hand went to pry a single eye open. All it took was for one eye, after all, to linger upon the light for mere seconds for the enchantment to take hold, and naturally compel the other eye to open.

Despite her struggling against what she was sure was going to happen to her, one eye lost itself to the strangely sweet glow emanating from Cor's forehead jewel, and the other eye slowly opened as her muscles went slack, and her mouth opened slightly. The eyes gradually went wide as Cor's head moved closer to Betsy's, the intensity of the enchantment filling every inch of the young girl with perpetual timidness and fear.

Gos watched with amusement as the girl's skin went from its natural appearance to a bright and hairless pink, and the roots of every follicle of her head of curly hair sent a familiar lavender color along to the ends, like liquid slowly traveling along a transparent tube.

Any semblance of bravado and willpower evaporated as Betsy began to shake terribly, the irises of her eyes being fused with a perpetual pink glow. When Cor covered the gem on her forehead by placing her crown back on her head, Betsy was left looking no different than the other pink-skinned, lavender-haired servants she had seen outside. She had lowered to her knees, as well, and she could not stop shaking with unavoidable fear as she looked fearfully up to the Queen, who was now smiling with satisfaction.

"Alas, more proof of this one's fraudulence." Cor mused to her smirking husband. "The true starchild is completely immune to magic." She then looked down to the pink-skinned girl quivering where she knelt. "What you have become is called a thrall. You will serve me from now on, doing anything I ask of you. You will please me by doing so. Would you like to please me, thrall?"

"Yyyy…yesss…yesss…I…I would! Yesyesyesyes…" Betsy's extremely nervous voice was now slightly higher in pitch as she spoke. She then bowed her head to the ground. "…a…anything for you! Anything…anything…"

"Stay close to me, thrall. Always. No matter what." She spoke softly unto her new acquisition. She then turned her attention to the mob, calling out to them in a voice which made Betsy cower fearfully below the Queen. "Get back out there and find the Regos slaves! Find this flying ship they are on! And do not return until you have acquired them all! If its crew cannot be enslaved, kill them!"

Buzzub turned to the mob now, his voice filled with rage. "KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"

The mob sounded as one, most of them raising a weapon into the air. "KILL THEM!"

Betsy wrapped her arms around Queen Cor's leg fearfully, easily intimidated by the sound of the mob's harsh voices as they screamed and yelled their way out of the throne room area. Cor felt Betsy's shaking arms wrapped around her leg, and she giggled amusedly.

She then looked to King Gos. "Leave me with my new thrall, husband. Send a tailor over here so we can have this one properly attired. And you…" Cor turned a more severe gaze to Betsy. "…you are going to listen to my rules, and the explanation of your tasks. Every single word of it."

"Yes! Yes!" Betsy nodded rapidly, lowering her head to the ground, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Yesyesyesyesyes…always…a-always…"

Although he was a bit annoyed at not having a thrall of his own, Gos figured he could pick one from among the new influx of slaves for his wife to turn into a thrall. Stepping outside the throne room, he left his wife to re-educate Betsy Bobbin.

Or rather, the quivering thrall that used to be Betsy Bobbin.


Koup settled Pon to the ground carefully near the cottage that was being used as a temporary headquarters for the Legion, knowing that despite his being empowered by the strength-augmenting pearl, Pon was still an old man. The Lion, Bo, and the other members of the Legion of Courage gathered around him.

"Well? How'd it go?" The Lion asked.

"That…that place was more s..sturdy than I thought it would be." Pon admitted. "But I…I think the diversion worked. Have that…that tiger…and the rhino come back yet?"

"Shade's on lookout." Bo answered. "We haven't heard from her."

"Oh dear…" Pon now looked worried. "…that…that could be bad."

"Dey knew da risks, Pon." The Lion noted. "Dey wouldn't be wit da Legion if dey wasn't prepared ta take 'em. All we gotta hope now is dat we got Dorothy away from dose witches."

"Did someone mention Dorothy?" came a familiar voice a few feet behind the Lion.

All eyes and bodies turned to the smiling Scarecrow. "Y'know, a funny thing happened on the way to th…"

"LION!"

Dorothy burst forward, with the speed that comes with canine eagerness, on her digitigrade legs. She went right past the Scarecrow and stopped in front of the startled Lion. She then wrapped her furry arms around the Lion's own furry body. "Ohhh, Lion…it's so wonderful to see you again! Rruff!"

The other members of the Legion were quite stunned as they gazed upon Dorothy's anthropomorphic appearance. The wide-eyed Lion himself was at a loss for words, but he was at least relieved to hear Dorothy's voice.

The Lion managed a smile as he lifted a padded paw and ran it along the fur on Dorothy's back, which seemed to compel a whine of approval from her now canine friend from Kansas. "It's…good ta see ya safe an'…well, sorta sound. Say…can ya steps back for a moment, Dorothy? I need ta get a good look at ya."

The canine girl nodded, and stepped a pace away from the Lion, whose gaze went over the brown-blotched white fur all over Dorothy's body, and the canine features such as the black spots above Dorothy's upper lip, the moist black canine nose, the flopped-over ears, and the wagging tail at the furry girl's posterior.

"Wow." Bo also got a good look at what Dorothy had become. "She really is one of us now."

The Lion nodded, somewhat lamentedly. "Yeah…seems dat way, don't it?"

Dorothy shrugged. "Now I know what it's like to be Toto." She then scratched an itch at her right ear.

"It's all my fault, Dorothy." The Scarecrow remarked, his own head lowered. "I…I should have gone with you, at least."

"Heeeey, don't ya go talkin' like dat, straw-head. You was lookin' out for Dorothy's safety." The Lion noted. "How was you ta know, even wit dem great brains o' yours, dat she'd be ambushed by witches?"

"De beeg boss man be right, me brudda." Koup remarked. "You bein' wit Doro'ty woulda made no deef'rence. Dey coulda burn you, an' take Doro'ty anyway."

"Besides…you brought her back here, right?" Trot added, making his own attempt to console the man made of straw. Her long, furry arms shrugged, smiling, as she spoke. "So you kinda-sorta made up for it."

The Scarecrow smiled, feeling a little better for the consolation as he looked to Koup's simian protégé. "I can't wait to see what you look like when we restore you, Trot."

Dorothy padded over to the young monkey with canine eagerness. "Trot? Is that your name? Hi! I'm Dorothy Gale! Nice to meet you!" Dorothy then frowned. "Wait a minute…'restore'? Oh, no…don't tell me you were human, too!"

Trot now looked sullen as she nodded. "It was those witches. They...they tricked me into…"

"Now, now. That's all in the past." The Scarecrow quickly interjected, realizing that Trot's confession would cause unnecessary confusion. "Now that we've got you back among us, Dorothy, I think we could get a really good plan going to get us all out of this mess!"

"Well…as you can see, I…I'm not really myself." Dorothy looked down at her furry body. "It's not like I was when I was a patchwork girl, or a munchkin. In fact, it seems like what I've become has, well, more of a mind of its own."

The Lion placed a paw on Dorothy's furry shoulder. "You're disoriented. I'm gonna help ya wit dat. I've got a feelin' dat if I train ya up some in a few tricks, dat balance between what ya were…an', well, what ya are now…should do ya some good."

Dorothy looked uncertain with this. "You mean…you're gonna train me to…to be more…like a dog?"

"Not in the way you're thinking, Dorothy." Bo assured. "The most important part of what the Lion mentioned is balance. Balancing out the human you were with the dog you've become."

"They're really good teachers, Dorothy." Trot noted, loping over to the canine girl. "I know just what they're talking about. I learned all kinds of tricks about being a monkey from Koup. It's made me feel, well, a little more natural. Like, I could be a monkey, and be me, too. Know what I mean?"

Dorothy slowly nodded in her comprehension. "I…I think I understand." She then turned to the Lion. "Whenever you want to begin, I'm ready."

"T' be honest, ya might hafta help me out as we go, Dorothy." The Lion admitted. "Seein' as how you've been around Toto more den I have."

"Just keep asking yourself, Dorothy…" The Scarecrow offered, placing a stuffed hand on her furry shoulder. "…'what would Toto do?'"

Dorothy thought on this as Pon stepped over to the Lion, having come from the cellar of the cottage that was ordained their headquarters. "Your Legion musta really gave those girls a…a real wallop. They're still…still out co…" He then noticed Dorothy. "…oh, hello. I…I'm Pon. You must be Dorothy."

The canine girl nodded, smiling. "Dorothy Gale. Nice to meet you, Pon."

"Now dat we've got Dorothy back wit us, you should get down dere an be ready ta question dose apprentices, straw-head." The Lion suggested. "When dey gets ta wakin' up, I need you ta be dere, ready ta makes wit dat interra-gatin'."

"Will do, Chief!" The Scarecrow stopped near Dorothy on his way to the nearby cottage. "Hard to believe he used to be so cowardly, eh?"

"Hard ta believe it took a Th-D for ya ta realize ya already had dat brain ya wanted." The Lion countered, with an accompanying smirk.

The Scarecrow pointed to his leonine friend, smiling. "Touche'!" He then resumed his trip to the headquarters cellar.

The unicorn strategist, Ali, clopped over to the Lion next. "We should relocate. We haven't heard from Rouse or Biff. Our location could have been compromised."

Brocius stepped over, having overheard. "If they've got Biff under their control, that could be very bad for us. Those witches could command him to destroy every cottage in Jinxland to gain leverage on us."

"Maybe if we spread ourselves out among the other cottages?" Bo suggested.

"If Brocius is right, being spread out would not matter." Ali countered.

The Lion nodded. "Not da kinda mess I'd want on my paws."

Bo looked to the canine girl. "Dorothy? What do you think? Any ideas?"

Dorothy thought what she had overheard through for a moment. She then looked to the Lion. "You said we had apprentices? How many?"

"Seven." The Lion answered. "All of 'em loyal ta dose witches. Dey're out cold in da cellar of our HQ."

"The only way we're gonna fight witches is with a witch on our side." Dorothy surmised aloud. "Unless there's a member of the Legion who knows magic."

"Which there isn't, unfortunately." Bo admitted.

"Then we'll need to see if any of those apprentices would be willing to help us." Dorothy remarked. "If what happened to me and Trot is any indication, these are very powerful witches. Without the help of one of them, our chances of getting out of all this is gonna be slim. Maybe there's something they all want?"

"Yeah." Trot's tone sounded regretful. "Me. They think I have that stone."

Dorothy's head tilted to the side. "Stone?"

"I…I was tricked into using it on the girl with the flowers on her head." Trot admitted, her simian head lowered. "The same thing happened to her friends. A tiger, a tin man, and that Glinda woman. Then they turned me into this." She indicated her own monkey form. "All I wanted was to find my friend. Cap'n Bill."

Dorothy sighed upon hearing this. The situation sounded all too familiar. Being blamed for an unintentional wrong. Except in this case, Trot was likely guided by a deception. Perhaps fooled into thinking someone in Ozma's group, if not Ozma herself, was evil.

The canine girl lowered, instinctively, to a dog's sitting position in front of Trot, despite her human urge to simply take a knee in front of her. "Trot…do you honestly have this stone with you?"

"I…I don't know." Trot replied, her voice quietly distressed. "I can't remember. If they were your friends, I…I'm sorry…"

"Shhhh. Calm down. Don't worry. You're among friends." Dorothy quietly assured. "If you say you were tricked by wicked witches, I believe you. But we have to try and remember what it is they want, and what happened to it. Do you remember what you did with it when you had it last?"

"Gloria took it from me." Trot answered. "I don't remember anything after that. It was like I…I blacked out or something. When I woke up, I saw what they turned me into. I…I knew I had to escape that castle. To get away from them."

"And you don't recall how much time had gone by since you blacked out?" Dorothy wondered aloud.

Trot shook her head. "Not a lot of time, though."

Brocius made an inquiry of his own. "Do you remember seeing the faces of any of the apprentices we captured before you blacked out?"

This time, Trot nodded. "Yeah. They were there."

Bo's expression brightened. "One of them might have seen what happened to the stone."

Ali nodded. "Or what Trot might have done with it." He turned his equine gaze to Trot. "Were you wearing any clothes when you blacked out?"

"Yes." Trot replied. "But they were gone when I woke up."

"And if dey steell teenk she 'as it, De stone not be in de clothes." Koup concluded.

Brocius rubbed his simian chin as he looked down at Trot with a thoughtful expression. "So you blacked out. Probably because of a spell, but you weren't asleep. That's something we can confirm with the apprentices." The broad-bodied gorilla then turned to the Lion. "I'm gonna venture a guess that Trot picked it up and swallowed it, commander. She couldn't have been of sound mind to know what it was. For all she knew, it might have been a grape."

"An enchantment that reduces intelligence." Bo surmised. "If we confirm that she was up and about from the apprentices, then I'll buy Trot swallowing it."

The former California girl rubbed at her round belly. "But…if I did swallow it, how come I didn't turn to stone?"

"It's probably something you have to actually hold in your hand and use." Brocius surmised. "Otherwise, it's just a harmless rock."

Shade's voice screamed the warning in that moment. "INCOMIIING!"

A loud THUMP followed, and the group moved towards the source of the sound. As they got closer, they heard a familiar voice groan painfully.

The source was revealed to be Biff.

The Lion, Bo, and Dorothy were the first to get close to him as he panted labored breaths. He looked like he was banged up pretty bad, too, and his flesh seemed to be smouldering. Feeling the heat coming off of him, the group did not get too close to the weary rhino.

"I…I didn't…talk. I wouldn't…" were Biff's first words.

"Slow breaths, brother." Brocius knelt near the rhino's head. "Remember your training."

"Dose witches didn't try ta get inside ya head, did dey?" The Lion asked.

"No…" Biff confirmed. "…but…they have…R-Rouse. She…she's with them…she…leaped in…"

Bo lowered her head regretfully, her eyes closed. The grip on her staff tightened. "Damn you, Rouse. You were supposed to be backup!"

"They…burned me. H…heat spells…" Biff fought through the agony to get the words out. "…I was on another plane, man…they got…nothing…from me…"

Bo looked to the Lion. "He's no good to us like this, commander. He needs to rest."

"Agreed." The Lion nodded. "We're gonna need ta wait 'till he…"

But Biff rose to all four of his legs in the next moment, moving towards the HQ cottage. "I can make it…I…I can make it…courage…always…"

"Slow steps, brother." Ali clopped alongside the brave rhino, who looked to be in excruciating pain as he moved. "Don't rush it."

Dorothy caught herself in a canine whine as she watched Biff move towards the cottage with concern. But she then felt pleasant sensations running through her body as a paw began to scratch comfortably at the side of her furry neck, compelling her to close her eyes and angle her head approvingly and instinctively towards the area where she was being rubbed.

The paw was the Lion's. "Don't worry, Dorothy." The leonine monarch assured. "Biff's da strongest of us next ta Brawn. He'll be fine once he settles in for a nap."

The canine girl felt surprisingly exhausted once the Lion pulled his paw away. "Wow…that…that felt nice…"

The Lion shrugged, smiling. "I guess now ya know why Toto likes when ya do that, eh?"

"I…I guess it's because…I know I'm among friends." Dorothy surmised. She then placed her padded hands against the Lion's furry chest, smiling. "Like you." She then turned to Bo, placing her hands on the panda's chest. "And you."

Dorothy then turned to no one in particular, staring forward with a more serious expression. "But…if it were one of those nasty witches, I…I'd probably wanna…" She felt angry feelings stir within her. "…I…I'd wanna…bite them! Grrr…nnnnasty old witches! Rrruff!"

"Well, I don't see no nasty witches around here right now, kid, so ya can ease down." The Lion advised, placing his paw on Dorothy's furry shoulder. He held his head up proudly, smiling, as he spoke. "Ya got da King a' da Forest lookin' after ya now."

Dorothy nodded, the smile back on her furry face. "That's right. You're the King of the beasts of the Quadling Country." She then bowed, humbly, before her leonine friend. "And since I'm one of those beasts for the time being, I am at your service…my king."

Bo glanced to the Lion. "Catches on fast, doesn't she?"

The blushing Lion, however, sounded bashful as he spoke. "Ohhh, come on now, Dorothy…you an' I are old friends. Ya don't need ta bow ta me."

"No, Dorothy is right, commander." Brocius corrected. "For as long as she's gonna be this way, she's no different from any of the other beasts in the Quadling Country, and since Jinxland is in the Quadling Country…"

"Brocius!" The Lion interjected, in an alarmed tone. "Come on! Let's try an' remember dat dis was da girlie who helped me find my C-hourage!"

"She can be friend and subject, beeg boss." Koup offered. "I teenk dere be no question of 'er loyalty, yes?"

"And as an honorary member, she did take the oath, commander." Bo reminded. "One of those oaths clearly places emphasis on the loyalty of all beasts to the King."

"Even eef dey once be human, boss." Koup added.

The Lion sighed, still troubled. "Yeah, but I never expected…"

"Lion…honestly. I don't mind being one of your subordinates!" Dorothy interjected, padding over to his flustered friend. "You're gonna teach me things anyway, aren't you? And Koup's right. You know I'm gonna be completely loyal to you and the Legion. I don't want any special treatment, either. We're all in this together as a team. You, me, Trot, and all the other beasts under your command. Your Legion of Courage is gonna save Jinxland from those witches, and your Legion of Courage is gonna free everyone from the spell that made them all stone statues. We're all with you, your majesty. Ready, willing, and able!"

"Me too!" Trot nodded emphatically.

"You know me, commander." Brocius remarked. "I'm always ready."

The Lion's eyes were on Koup as the gorilla spoke. He looked to be quite deep in thought. When the winged baboon noticed this, he tilted his head curiously.

Dorothy also noticed this. "What's your thinking, your majesty?"

The leonine commander of the Legion glanced to Dorothy. "I guess ya could say I'm thinkin' outside da box wit dis." His feline eyes then angled upward, towards the barrier preventing any aerial exit from Jinxland. "Koup can't fly up an' out, but…I wonder how long it would take ta get a tunnel made?" He then traced a straight-line pattern in the air with his paw to illustrate his thinking. "A tunnel dat goes from a cottage cellar to da gorge. If we can break through dat, we'll have a passage outta Jinxland."

Bo's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting a retreat, commander?"

"Absolutely not." The Lion emphatically countered. He then turned his gaze to Dorothy. "But we could use a little more air support, if ya know what I mean."

Dorothy frowned in confusion at first, but she then ventured a guess. "So…you want to send Koup out to…to find the Golden Cap?"

"Mmmm. Veeeery crafty teenkeeng, boss." Koup nodded thoughtfully as he spoke. "I like eet."

Bo looked skeptical. "Do you know where the cap is though, Koup?"

"Hopefully, it's not with the monkeys themselves." Brocius warily observed. "The monkeys and the baboons still aren't the best of friends, as I'm sure you know, Koup."

"Mmm. Sadly true. De East Weetch see ta dat loong ago." Koup responded. "But dat weetch be gone, an' I an' I be Legion o' Courage, brudda. An' eef dey know Gleenda be frozen, I teenk dey 'elp us."

Brocius was now thoughtful of this plan as he rubbed his simian chin in contemplation. "We could also get all those statues we collected out of Jinxland, too. Keep the witches from using them as leverage."

Bo nodded. "I suppose you want Brawn on tunnel duty, commander?"

"And Pon, once we can find a spade for 'im." The Lion replied.

"Pon? But…" Bo stopped herself. "…oh yeah, his pearl."

Practically on cue, the Lion heard the old man behind him. "Will…will this do, sir?"

Sure enough, Pon had found a shovel. Bo stepped over and gestured to have the old gardener hand it to her. Examining the shovel's durability, she handed it back to Pon. "Yeah, that should do. Just don't overdo your digging, or the wood's gonna start cracking."

"We'll use HQ's cellar. Dat's why Ali an' I picked it." The Lion remarked. "It's not only da farthest of da cottages, it's also da closest ta dat gorge."

"I'll go get Brawn." Bo began padding over to where she knew the bear had been stationed, having been ordained one of the group's lookouts.

Trot looked to Koup with a sullen expression. "I wish I had wings. I wanna go with you."

"I'd consider that a wise move, considering you have something they want which could petrify us all." Ali thoughtfully observed. "But there's the potential of a tactical advantage in having you here with us, Trot."

"Ali be right, seestah." Koup placed a simian hand on Trot's furry shoulder. "You be careful now. Don't ya be gettin' close ta dem weetches, an' be as fast an' as smart as we always be. Wave dat monkey flag high, Trot, while ya still got eet."

Trot then stepped in closer to Koup and wrapped her long, simian arms around him to hug him tightly. The winged baboon smiled as he returned the affectionate hug. "I be back, seestah. I promise."

Koup then released her and turned away…but he then felt a solid tapping on his shoulder. Turning back around to face Trot, he saw something he did not expect.

He saw Trot's monkey tail swaying slowly in front of him, revealed to have been the source of the tapping.

"You be careful too, Koup." Trot remarked.

"Oooooh! Ya usin' ya tail at long last." Koup smiled proudly. He then placed a hand against Trot's simian cheek. "I an' I be proud a' ya, seestah."

"Follow me, Trot. We need to talk strategy." Ali clopped towards another empty cottage, the former California girl following him over.

Dorothy and the Lion thoughtfully watched Ali and Trot move away for their chat. "Dat's one brave girlie. Kinda reminds me o' you, ya know."

The canine girl nodded in agreement. "I hope we can find her friend."

"Maybe we can get you ta sniff 'im out, eh?" The Lion gave Dorothy a nudge, smiling. "C'mon, doggie. Let's go get ya trained up. Ya betta pay close attention, too. No matta what I ask ya ta do, ya gotta trust me. Okay?"

Dorothy bowed again. "As you wish, my king."


The freed Pingaree prisoners from the Regos warboat…including King Kitticut and Queen Garee…craned their heads over the side of the O.D. Betsy Bobbin to look down as Fyter…who found the spyglass Betsy had used inside her Captain's coat…peered through the open instrument to get a closer look at the Regos warboat and the Coregos warboat sailing around the nonestic waters below. He got the magnification as close to the decks of each ship as he could, scanning for any trace of Betsy.

But there was none. No trace of Betsy at all.

Hank stood beside Fyter as he examined the returning boats. "Anythin'?"

Fyter shook his head, lowering the spyglass. "They know we're up here, though. I saw heads looking up. One of them pointed to us."

"But…isn't your friend this 'starchild' they mentioned?" Kitticut asked.

"That was blind luck, I'm afraid." Hank replied as he clopped around to face the freed Pingaree ruler. "Betsy had a spell cast upon 'er t' make 'er look like she did, an' that was for a circus act. We didn't know a thing 'bout that starchild stuff."

"Does anyone here know a little more about it?" Fyter asked his passengers.

"I do." Queen Garee stepped forward. "I can tell you what I know. The starchild is more or less the reason why the people of Regos and Coregos developed to become the conquest-savvy societies they are today after seven wars they waged between each other. The starchild came from the skies wanting slaves. When they conceded to her demand after a display of her destructive power, she scolded them both…and I should note that back then, they were more primitive tribes…for their cowardice. Their inability to fight back. She took about twenty-five percent of the populace of each, according to the legends, before she left. From then on, Regos and Coregos vowed that they would never again be humiliated as they were when the starchild visited."

"Now wait a minute." Scraps dismounted the pedal area and stepped over to the Queen. "Betsy doesn't take slaves! She isn't even a starchild! She's my friend!"

"What about the rulers of Regos and Coregos?" Fyter asked. "Are they believers in this legend?"

"As Gos is not as smart as his wife, I'm certain he's gullible enough to buy it." King Kitticut replied. "Queen Cor, on the other hand, is far more dangerous."

"If your friend is not the starchild, and she isn't on those boats," One of the other freed Pingaree citizens remarked. "She's probably a thrall by now."

Fyter, Hank, and Scraps spoke as one. "Thrall?"

"That's what Queen Cor does to those she deems the weakest, and the young, that come before her." Garee explained. "She uses a magic gem that sits upon her forehead, attached to a gold diadem beneath her crown. We don't know where or how she found it, but she uses it to turn humans into their pink-skinned servants. They become ultra-submissive, and very, very afraid. All they need to do is crack a whip near them and they do whatever they're commanded to do. It's a particularly horrid life to be bound to."

"Oh no. No no no no no." Scraps shook her head, a troubled expression on her patchwork face. "That's not happening to my Betsy!"

"Scraps, if she isn't on those boats, or at least below decks, which I very much doubt," Fyter reasoned. "then we have to assume the worst."

"NO!" Scraps yelled, looking more serious than she had ever been. She turned to Hank and put her hands to her waist. "You're First Mate! So do some First-Mating and let's go get Betsy back!"

"We can't get next t' those ships, Scraps." Hank reminded. "We've got no weapons t' fight 'em with."

"If we get down low enough, maybe I can leap on board and fight my way below. See if Betsy is there." Fyter suggested. "This ship may not be armed, but I always am."

"There's a lot o' trained fight'rs aboard those ships." Hank noted. "Even if they can't hurt you, they could still ov'rwhelm you. They could trip an' tie you up, too."

"How about just dropping our ship onto them?" Scraps suggested. "Our ship is just as big as their warboats!"

"T' be frank, I don't like that idea at all, Scraps." Hank responded. "Neither would Betsy."

"Well, we can't just stay up here and do nothing!" Scraps sounded quite distraught. "Somebody give me an idea!"

"I would say we're at a stalemate here." Fyter observed. "They won't leave without us surrendering the people from Pingaree, which we'll never do, and they can't fire on us because we're too high up. But, they know we're here, so they won't leave."

Most of the other liberated, yet concerned citizens of Pingaree overheard the conversations going on between the First Mate and his odd-looking crew. Two beautiful young women in particular whispered between themselves once Fyter had acknowledged the stalemate, after which one of them made her way towards the right starboard side of the dirigible. Looking straight down, she saw that directly below the craft was a clear, unobstructed body of the nonestic ocean.

One of the other pearl-fishers noticed the young woman look over the edge of the dirigible. "Chloe?" The man began walking warily towards her. "What are you…HEY!"

Before anyone could say anything, Chloe had vaulted over the edge and was now hurtling down towards the water! The others on the Betsy Bobbin…Fyter, Scraps, and Hank included…hurried over to the right starboard side. They saw that Chloe had straightened her body out as she sped towards the waters far below. She eventually penetrated the ocean surface like a missile going straight down, disappearing beneath it without any manner of loud splash.

"Hmph!" Scraps observed as the confused occupants of the dirigible stepped back from the edge of the vessel. "She picked a heck of a time to go for a swim!"

"I hope she didn't lose faith in us." Hank wondered aloud.

"Chloe? She's not like that at all." The young woman Chloe was in conversation with stepped forward. "She still likes you. And your crew."

"Then why did she just dive over the edge, Madison?" One of the pearl-fishers asked.

Madison shrugged, smiling meekly. "She wanted to go for a swim."


Feeling the fur stream behind her as she padded through the forests and plains of Jinxland as fast as she could was quite satisfying to the anthropomorphic dog Dorothy had become.

The Lion called it the roam. An urge most animals get to race around as fast as they can. Realizing that the witches could manifest at any time, the Lion had Brocius and Bo guarding the wide, rural training area the Lion had chosen. At no point were there any occurrences as Dorothy engaged in her first roam.

Upon picking up evidence of a scent she was unaware of, the Lion had instructed her to stop, and follow the scent to its source. This would effectively train Dorothy's canine instinct. The Lion had learned a bit about canine instinct from observations of his close friend's dog, Toto, during Dorothy's adventures as a munchkin.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! I dint do nuffin'!"

Dorothy had instinctively pounced upon a lemur, whose scent she had picked up on. Giggling, her furry head tilted to the side. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." The anthro dog then lifted the paw holding the lemur fast, allowing the creature to flee. "There you go."

The jittery lemur tilted its head back and forth curiously, looking wary that this strange, furry, human-like creature would make another unexpected move. All she was doing, however, was smiling down at it. Apparently, this one was also nice. Like the panther who had helped it out of its previous predicament.

The lemur shrugged. "Tenk yooooou!" Within seconds, the lemur was gone.

The Lion stepped over next to Dorothy. "Found yerself a lemur, eh? Not bad. Dose jittery lil' critters are quick!"

"It's strange, your majesty." Dorothy thoughtfully observed. "It…just seems to come natural to me. Following a scent, going as fast as I can…it's like I'm not even thinking about it."

"Dat's what instinct is all about, girlie." The Lion replied. "It's like an extra muscle. One dat stays wit ya 'till ya need it. It's…kinda like someone grabbin' ya by da wrist an' pullin' yas down a path, know what I mean?"

Dorothy attentively nodded, eager to learn more. "Yes, my king. I know exactly what you mean. Is it always like that?"

"Well…wit creatures like me an' some a' da Legion, it's a bit more tough ta deal wit." The Lion responded. "I mean…we're a bit more wild compared ta dogs. Where you come from, after all, animals can't always get deir meat from plants. Dey's gotta do it da hard way, an' as I'm sure ya know, it's nevah pleasant."

"You mean…they hunt for their food, right?"

The Lion nodded. "Yup. I had ta get my buddy, da Tiger, off dat habit. Did I evah tell yas why dey call 'im da Hungry Tiger, Dorothy?"

The anthro dog shrugged. "He's always hungry?"

"Right…but for what?" The Lion responded. "Dey told me he's got a cravin' for fat babies."

A look of revulsion was on Dorothy's furry face now. "That's horrible!"

"I felt da same way when dey first told me." The Lion replied. "But da strange ting about it is dat he's heard dat dey're good eatin's, but he's nevah really eaten one. Sometin' inside dat big ol' kitty cat always stops 'im whenever he happens ta see a fat baby."

"Hmmm." A thoughtful expression was on the canine girl's face. "A hunter with a conscience. So he's always hungry? Doesn't he get fed at all? I mean…doesn't he like other kinds of food?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" The Lion confirmed. "On an average day, da Tiger goes ovah ta de Emerald City, an' Jellia Jamb feeds 'im plenty a' raw meats. Big slabs of 'em. Jellia told me Ozma conjures 'em up. More dan enough ta last 'im a full day. Still…I always keep an eye on 'im wheneva we're around kids."

"Well, I certainly won't eat anything living, my king." Dorothy assured. An urge then hit her. "Although…a big slab of meat…" she licked around her furry mouth. "…that sounds…that sounds…"

The Lion arched an eyebrow. "Delicious?" He placed a paw on Dorothy's furry shoulder. "Rrrrippin' raw pieces a' meat off da slab, an' chewin' it up real good…an' swallowin' all dat yummy meat down?"

Dorothy shuddered with anticipation, her eyes wide as she spoke. "Oooooh…I…I wish I had some nice, fresh meat in front of me RrRrRright now! Rrruff!"

The Lion laughed hearing Dorothy's reaction, and he gave her a pleasant scratching at the back of her furry neck with a paw, visibly calming her. "Well, maybe before ya get changed back, we can have Jellia feed ya some. Ya can share it wit Toto, too. Wouldn't dat be nice?"

"Mmmmmh…" The canine girl whined approvingly as she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the pleasant scratching. "…I…I can't imagine how Toto would react if he…he saw me like this…"

"Well, from what I know o' dogs, he could go's barkin' at ya for a while. Cautiously. I mean, let's face it…you're an awfully big dog." The Lion explained, stepping away from Dorothy to act out his descriptions. "Den? He'd sniff ya. All curious-like. An' maybe he'd says to himself…'Hey! Dat girlie smells kinda familiar! Could it be…dat my best friend Dorothy's a dog now? Jus' like me?'"

Dorothy's fluffy tail wagged wildly as she giggled, feeling excited by the thought of being able to play with Toto. "We'd probably be chasing each other all over the place!"

"Yeah, but dat's playin' around." The Lion looked serious again. "An' dose witches ain't playin' around, Dorothy, so let's get back ta yer trainin'. Now…where was we? Oh yeah…"

INSTINCT!

Dis time you'll spend, my furry friend, is about a common thread!
Wit' ev'ry sniff an' ev'ry whiff, it's a message to yer head!
Yer on all fours in da great outdoors, yer fur keepin' ya warm!
I won't discourage, so show some courage while yer wearin' dat playful form!

I'll show ya what it means ta be a beast!
Ta roam through da plains, da forests an' da lanes!
It's kinda liberatin', ta say da least,
but it's awful succinct, when ya use yer instinct!

Now follow my lead, like a wild stampede, as we lapse into a roam!
No traffic laws for our padded paws, and it makes ya feel at home!
But always smell, so's you can tell if somethin's drawin' near,
so you can stop an' get da drop on a rabbit hoppin' here!

They stopped their roam, and Dorothy began sniffing around the area, having picked up on the scent the Lion had identified. When she caught a flash of white fur, the canine girl went into a crouch, instinctively preparing to pounce upon the curious and idle Jinxland rabbit.

Her first pounce failed, as she had made excessive noise, but she followed after the rabbit as quickly as she could. Instinct clearly took over as she chose a route which allowed her to intercept the rabbit with her next pounce.

Dorothy smiled in satisfaction as the rabbit squirmed beneath her, mumbling words the canine girl could not make out. "Gotcha."

"Heeeeey…not bad, girlie, yer a fast learner!" The Lion observed as Dorothy rose to her digitigrade feet, cradling the rabbit in her arms. "Must be all dat time ya spent wit Toto."

The rabbit shook its head as if coming out of a dizzy spell. "Ptooey! All that fur! 'Bout time ya let me breathe!" The rabbit remarked, in a female voice. "Sheesh!"

"I hope I didn't hurt you." Dorothy looked down to the rabbit worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Once you let me go on my way, I will be!" The rabbit responded frumpily. "Don't you go pouncin' on me again! It's rude!"

Blushing, Dorothy released the rabbit, who hopped away quickly.

The smiling Lion put an arm around the canine girl's shoulders. Dorothy also smiled as she looked to her king.

Now ya know what it means ta be a beast?
Ta roam through da plains, da forests an' da lanes?

Dorothy thoughtfully nodded as she replied to the Lion.

It really is liberating, to say the least.
When I used my instinct, that rabbit was distinct!

But don't you think I'm on the brink of losing who I was?
Performing tricks and fetching sticks as a human, just because?

The worried canine girl then lowered her furry posterior onto a fallen log nearby.

Such a nasty pitch. That mean ol' witch…she got me really good!
Somehow, I bet I'm still her pet as I sit here on the wood.
Is it nature's way for me to say that this isn't the toughest slog?
If I learn so quick, then I might stick to being a witch's dog.

A horrid thought, and one the Lion couldn't easily dismiss. Especially if her current state was the result of magic.

The Lion grabbed Dorothy's furry wrist and pulled her into a tight embrace. He then stared right into the canine girl's worried eyes with a look of conviction.

STOP that talk! Let's go for a walk! We don't need all dat fuss!
So show some fight! Let's make tings right an' show yer one of US!
Let's make a stand by da King's command! Da Lion's word is LAW!

Dorothy nodded emphatically, coming out of her uncertainty at the sound of the Lion's voice.

You're right, my King! Let's do this thing, and stop this hem and haw!

The canine girl jumped onto and stood upon the log as she cried out with her own conviction, raising a paw to the skies above in emphasis of her words.

'Cause THAT'S what it means to be a beast!
We need to FIGHT through the plains, the forests, and the lanes!
To save all our friends, to say the least!
Let's make it all distinct…

She leaped down next to the Lion, his voice joining lyrically with hers.

…and-use-our-in-stiiiiiiiinct!

Dorothy then picked up the scent of hay. As the scent was getting stronger, she knew someone quite familiar to her was coming, and she quickly moved in the direction of the scent…

…and pounced upon the approaching Scarecrow, clearly startling him.

Dorothy smiled as she looked down upon her straw-stuffed friend. "Gotcha."

"Huh? OH! Dorothy! It's you!" The Scarecrow looked a little more relaxed now. "Um…how's your training going? Feel a little more comfortable in all that fur?"

"Mm-hmm!" Dorothy nodded as she rose to her digitigrade legs, smiling. "The Lion's a really good teacher."

The Lion himself walked over to the two of them as Dorothy helped the Scarecrow to his feet. "Get anythin' outta dose witch-girlies, straw-head?"

"Well…we have names now, and definite numbers. Looks like we're dealing with a coven thirteen witches strong. Six full witches, seven apprentices." The Scarecrow reported. "I also confirmed that Trot did swallow that stone."

"Hmmm…thirteen witches. Den dere's dat Gloria dame, an' dat guy we clobbered." The Lion observed, thinking on this new information.

Dorothy ventured a thought. "Were you able to figure out how loyal those apprentices are to the other witches?"

"Oh, if dere bein' trained, I'd think dere all loyal enough, Dorothy." The Lion responded. "I wouldn't trust any of 'em who might say uddawise."

"Save one."

The heads of the leonine monarch and the canine girl turned to the Scarecrow upon hearing his words. Curious expressions were on their faces.

The straw-stuffed advisor confidently smiled. "Her name is Tilda."


Aboard the docked warboat, Inga, Rinkitink, and Bilbil…under the guidance of the white pearl's wisdom, which was being mentally fed to Inga…managed to avoid the notice of the Coregos soldiers as they unloaded their Pingaree captives, who had sworn that they would not betray the young prince and his friends. The trio knew where to move, and when, to avoid being noticed. Even Rinkitink's large body was able to find concealment below decks as per Inga's whispered advice.

They needed to wait, however, until the late evening hours, when the presence of the soldiers walking the docks was relatively thin, before the trio finally left the shadows of their hiding spaces within the warboat. Making their way across the docks to the island's partially-blackened countryside…this being the result of various military drills and training exercises…there were occasions where a lingering guard's attention was diverted to unavoidable sounds being made, and the trio needed to hurry to avoid being noticed. Fortunately, with the white pearl's help, they were able to avoid detection.

The countryside. That was where Inga was guiding the round-bodied monarch and his curmudgeonly steed towards. As exercises were never conducted at such a late hour, the area was largely empty of any military presence. With Rinkitink's help, Inga was able to provide a couple of crude, but effective torches from the remnants of several fallen trees in the area. The somewhat crooked and thin branches bundled together for these torches were large enough for their lights…one for Inga, the other for Rinkitink…to last for most of the night.

It was with the aid of these light sources that Inga was able to find a cave mouth along the base of a mountain range. Their steps were slow and cautious as they entered, and the interior was hollow enough to echo their footsteps along with the drips of moisture they occasionally heard within the musty blackness of the cave.

As Inga walked, however, his right foot struck a hard shape, and he stumbled forward, the torch dropping forward a couple of inches. As the ground was damp soil, the impact did not hurt much.

It didn't help that Rinkitink always used such minor misfortunes as grist for his humor mill. "Oops! Did you have a nice 'trip', good Prince? Ho ho ha ha hee hee heeee!"

Inga and Bilbil sighed at this even as Rinkitink offered a hand to pull the young prince back up. Grabbing the fallen torch, he looked over to the solid object his foot had struck, bringing the light over to it…

…and the boy gasped at the sight of a human man with a horrified gaze, his arm raised up to try and shield himself from something which was apparently behind where Inga was standing. His outfit suggested that he was a peasant.

Except it was not so much a human man as it was a hard, gray stone semblance of one, and a very detailed semblance, at that.

Rinkitink stepped backwards as he made his next attempt at humor. "If you ask me, you've found a working stiff."

As he began to giggle, however, he backed into a similar hard obstacle. Startled, the fat monarch spun around with his flaming light…

…and shrieked quite girlishly.

This unfortunate human female…who was also in a peasant's garb…was standing, apparently, when she was hit by the enchantment that apparently transmuted her flesh to gray stone. She, too, had a horrified expression on her face.

The wisdom of the white pearl confirmed Inga's suspicions as they examined the petrified bodies. "These were once people." Inga then frowned in his surprise over the white pearl's provided wisdom. "Royal people?"

"Hey…" It was Bilbil's voice. "…a little light over here would be nice."

Inga and Rinkitink moved toward where the goat was standing in the darkness, further away from where the two apparently royal victims had been petrified.

The flaming light sources revealed what looked to be a most vile-looking and monstrous woman, and such was her extreme ugliness that Inga, Rinkitink, and Bilbil stood petrified with fear, unable to move, upon the mere sight of this creature, who had a snake-scaled head, a long, protruding reptillian tongue, tusks similar to those of a boar, and a head full of angry snakes somehow serving as the humanoid creature's hair.

It was to the benefit of the trio, however, that this horrible creature had also been turned to stone.

It was Rinkitink, however, who noticed one of the distinct oddities of this statue, and he moved in to take a closer look. He saw that one of the creature's eyes had been broken, and only half of it was intact.

The other eye, however, looked to have been cleanly removed, as a spherical impression was where the eye should be.

Even in the face of this horrible appearance, Rinkitink couldn't help himself. "Here's looking at you, my dear. Ho ho hee hee hee heeeee!"

Bilbil, however, looked to the prince. "Inga? What is this…thing?"

"Awfully lethal hairstyle, I must say." Rinkitink quipped yet again, looking over the statue's threatening pose. "Must have had a venomous personality." And again, the King of his namesake province giggled.

"All I'm getting is…'gor-gon'." Inga replied. "S…Sssstheno. I…I think that's its name. Stheno."

Rinkitink gestured to the statue's damaged head. "I'd say she was blind to her…"

"ENOUGH!" Bilbil angrily yelled, his voice echoing throughout the cave, which did not go much deeper than where the gorgon had been petrified.

"Hey! Hey! Try not to make too much noise!" Inga advised, his voice low. He then turned his attention back to the statue, and he was able to spot what Rinkitink was alluding to.

As his mind began to wonder why the eye areas looked as they did, the white pearl once again fed Inga the basics. "One of those eyes was…stolen."

"Heh. Memento." Bilbil guessed.

Rinkitink, however, thought on what Inga had said. "Gorgons. Hmmm…yes, I think the scholars in our capital city of Gilgad spoke of those creatures. According to them, they come from a faraway land called Greece. Horrible beasts whose very gaze could turn people into stone. Such was their curse."

As the influx of wisdom made his head throb a bit, he placed the white pearl into a pocket of his outfit. "But why would someone want to steal one of Stheno's eyes after she was turned to stone?"

"Like I said. Memento." Bilbil responded.

Rinkitink shrugged. "Perhaps the thief thought that even as a stone semblance, the eye had the power to petrify. The scholars spoke of a similar creature called a Medusa, who could also turn people to stone with her gaze. She had been slain by a young hero named Perseus, but her severed head was still capable of petrifying any who looked upon the head's eyes."

"Hmmm." Inga looked to the horrendous creature. "I wonder if the thief thought Stheno was Medusa."

"Hey…you're the one with the white pearl." Bilbil reminded.

But Inga shook his head. "That thing was giving me a headache. I put it away. I can always find out more in the morning, after I've had some sleep. I'm starving, too."

"As am I." Rinkitink looked around the cave with his torch, but not seeing anything remotely resembling food. "Doesn't look like we'll get anything edible in here, though."

"At last." Bilbil quipped to the round-bodied monarch. "An opportunity for you to slim down for once in your life."

Although it was clearly a shot at the rotund king, he nevertheless giggled at the thought. "Quite so!"

"Doesn't the other pearl protect you from harm?" Bilbil surmised aloud. "Maybe it will prevent the pain of starvation."

Inga shrugged, pulling the protective pearl out and grasping it in one hand. "Worth a try, I guess."

Although his fever eased some, he could still feel a bit of discomfort in his gut as he relaxed against a side wall of the cave. Eventually, his eyes fluttered shut, and he lapsed into a deep sleep.

As Inga's body was too relaxed to react, Rinkitink was able to acquire both of Inga's pearls from his sleeping form without the young prince stirring from his rest. The rotund king then stepped over to Bilbil.

"Isn't that called stealing, you big oaf?" Bilbil hissed.

But Rinkitink mounted the grumpy goat. "Inga needs food. Let's see if we can find some from one of those Coregos buildings."

Bilbil was about to protest, but as Rinkitink now had the pearls that had kept them safe from harm, the goat felt a little more confident. He therefore clopped out of the cave, easily handling the larger man's weight despite Bilbil's own need for food.

The outskirts of the city proved quite literally fruitless in the initial hunt for food. Knowing that the white pearl was amazingly capable of keeping them from being discovered by patrols, they hesitantly agreed to go back into the city and find one of the open-air food stands they had seen when they made their way out of the city with Inga's help.

As Rinkitink had the pearls with him, and the guard shifts were light compared to the day, getting around them was fairly easy as they made their way to one such food stand, which was mostly filled with cooked and sliced pieces of delicious-looking meat. Rinkitink carefully acquired a bit of food for himself(which he quickly consumed), and then fed Bilbil before grabbing some meat pieces for Inga. They were a bit raw, but edible to taste.

As Rinkitink worked, Bilbil caught sight of the slumbering, quivering shopkeeper nearby, who was resting on the ground.

The goat noticed that this merchant's skin was not like those of the soldiers. It was a bright pink, and the hair he had on his slightly balding head was a lavender color. His breath was shaky as he continued to sleep.

A look of concern was on Bilbil's face as he looked down at this shopkeeper.

"I hope you won't get in trouble for this." Bilbil quietly observed.

Rinkitink heard this, and moved to look down at the shopkeeper. "Don't worry, old friend. I thought of this. That's why I only took one piece of meat for you and one for me. These three delicious pieces of meat are for Inga. According to the pearl's wisdom, so many soldiers take meat from these food stands that they'd hardly notice if some of it was missing." The rotund king then noticed the nearby guard about to turn towards the food stand area. "Come on…let's go back to Inga."

Once Bilbil and Rinkitink were outside the borders of the city, evading guards as they went, the large man mounted the goat and they quickly and carefully returned to the cave, avoiding detection with the aid of the white pearl's wisdom.

When they entered the cave mouth, however, they were expecting to find Inga still sleeping, and still alone. They at least confirmed that he was still sleeping comfortably.

But he was not alone.

The short-statured, round-bodied, white-haired and stone gray-skinned man stood over the prince's slumbering form without saying a word, practically staring down upon him thoughtfully, or so it seemed.

Rinkitink and Bilbil also noticed that he had a jewel-encrusted gold crown upon his head, and a cummerbund-like belt with an array of small, glowing gems fastened to it in patterns. His ears were pointed, much like that of an elf, and he wore a one-piece red outfit resembling long underwear.

The bearded old man's head slowly turned to Bilbil and Rinkitink, a neutral expression on his face. The smile that formed on his lips looked a bit ominous.

"Good evening." He spoke, in a gruff voice. "I am Roquat."