AN:

Here you go guys! Longest chapter in a while, I think? I hope it's not too boring in between…

But a word of warning: The end of this chap is a bit… dunno… I expect reactions raging from "Weird!" to "Eww!" to "FTW?!" lol it really depends on the individual reader, I guess, hahaha! But this has been part of the story since like the very beginning of my planning, so I really wanted to keep it and you guys will have to deal with it :p

… or maybe I'm overreacting and everyone is totally cool with this stuff… who knows xD

The companion chapter in the Fifi -version is: "Conspirators"

Happy reading!

xoxo MLE

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Moment Too Soon

Riding on an Elephant, the journey was not all too difficult for Elphaba, especially since she was able to enjoy the great luxury of being able to sleep at almost any time she felt the need to. They were supposed to be bound for the north-east of the Vinkus, where the ancient tunnel of the Nome King was hopefully going to grant them save passage underneath the sands of the Deadly Desert, but first they were travelling in the exact opposite direction, to the Gillikin border. This seemingly rather bold move unfortunately was unavoidable according to the Vinkuns, for to be able to make this long journey, they needed to trade with Gillikinese merchants for provisions and gear that were difficult to obtain in their homelands. Their first stop was going to be a rich mountery, where the resident women were known to be more than generous to travellers and even more so towards trading partners.

"You still haven't told me why you are suddenly so keen on leaving Oz," Elphaba asked Rastor who was sitting opposite her on the head of the Elephant, picking it clean of parasites. "Don't you think, that you could accomplish more if you remain in the service of the princess?"

"That was why I remained in Oz for so long," he agreed. "But now I'm growing old and tired. So when this group of Animals told me of their plan to migrate to Ev, it was like a sign from the Kumbric Witch, particularly as this is where I hope to find my family."

One of Elphaba's eyebrows rose in mild surprise, as she took another bite of her apple. Apples were the one food item they had brought plenty of. They weren't native to the Vinkun grasslands, but Nastoya had seemed overly fond of them and had therefore made sure to provide her new protégée with as many of the delicious, green fruits as the Elephants could carry in their woven palm-leaf baskets.

"You have family?"

"Yes. We used to live in the Emerald City, you know. My wife and our three children left when the Animal bans first came into effect, while I remained, hoping to keep our business running until things had settled – which they never did, unforunately. I used to send them money via an acquainted trader, but to say the truth, I never really knew whether they made it all the way to Ev, let alone where they settled down."

Elphaba nodded sympathetically.

"Well, that all was decades ago, of course, and now I am going to try my best and find them."

"All the best of luck," the witch replied, finding it difficult to speak with enough confidence to be truly encouraging.

The Crow chuckled quietly and sort of shrugged his shoulders. He was a realist and appeared to know fairly well how minute his chances were. Obviously, this did not prevent him from trying.

Talking to Rastor and watching the slowly changing scenery, Elphaba was a little surprised when the entire caravan suddenly came to a halt. The Vinkun man who was the only other human accompanying the travelling Animals called out to a few of them. They quickly trotted his way and then towards the mountery. The elderly Elephant lady carrying the green woman and the Crow got comfortable on her four legs and closed her eyes for a few moments while she waited for the others to do their business with the maunts.

"This is the Cloister of Saint Glinda," the bird informed Elphaba and as soon as she heard this familiar name, a pang of hurt ripped through her chest.

Taking in a sharp breath of air, she averted her gaze. But soon, curiosity got the better of her and she hesitantly decided to risk a look or two. After all, she was acting very silly and immature; the cloister wasn't even named after her lost friend, but after a saint who had lived many hundred years ago. That the bubbly blonde was named after this historical figure was nothing but pure chance.

She watched the Vinkun talking to a small group of women, pulling out various items from this or the other bag. He must be able to speak common Ozian, she mused, which seemed rather essential for a trader, yet he had not exchanged a single word with her since they had left the Scrow camp about four days ago.

Eventually, he returned, not looking entirely pleased but also not too disappointed. She wondered what the mounts had to offer that was so essential for their journey, but the only part of the new goods that was evident, was a family of three donkeys (or, perhaps, Donkeys?): a jennet a jack and a foal that could barely be older than a week.

Rastor picked the leathery, grey skin of the Elephant a little harder, waking up the ancient lady.

"He is disgruntled because he had to trade valuable Vinkun silk for a set of what -he would call - useless animals," he explained once the caravan was back in motion and they could be sure to be far enough away from the merchant to not be overheard. "It's all part of the plan. A diversion. The Princess Nastoya suggested he acquire as many packing animals on the way as necessary and gave him plenty of goods to pay for them. Hut he is a very experienced and proud trader and this goes against all his instincts, so it's still difficult for him to make such dilettantish deals."

He crowed, which seemed to constitute some sort of laughter and amusedly shook his head at the human's – in his opinion - puerile behaviour.

They stopped another few times that same day and also the day that followed. By the time that all of the real trades had finally been completed and all they had left were the goods they had brought to disguise their trip to freedom as a purely commercial expedition, they had taken on two more horses, a camel and a llama, as well as three oxen. Begrudgingly, the Vinkun had also allowed a Sheep and a Goat to join their train.

By night, they sat by the campfire. 'They' included Elphaba, Rastor and the Vinkun; most of the Animals had gone off to graze or sleep in the near proximity. The Vinkun merchant had bough and slaughtered a mutton and was now quietly chewing on one of its legs, while Elphaba tried to content herself with yet another apple. Grumpily, he had offered her a piece of his meat, but she had declined. Although he had not been too keen on sharing with her anyway, being rejected had done fairly little to improve his mood, to say the very least.

Having finished her fourth apple and, unsurprisingly, still feeling rather unsatisfied, Elphaba decided that she should just go to bed. If she could manage to fall asleep quickly, her stomach would not bother her too much. She prepared her bedroll and slipped under the blanket. She used to sleep on her back or her front, but now, with her little bump, she could only get comfortable in the fetal position.

Closing her eyes, she could feel how sleep quickly overcame her and she was already halfway in dreamland, when she was rudely pulled back to reality by a thunder of thuds and thumps. As soon as she lifted her head off the ground, the sound lessened considerably, but looking east, she could see the faint light of torches approaching.

The Vinkun rose from his seat on a large log and mumbled some curses in his mother tongue, then left to gather the Animals and animals. Elphaba remained sitting on her travel bed, but refastened the veil covering most of her face.

Eventually, a group of five riders approached their campsite. They wore green uniforms with yellow embellishments; on their backs they carried rifles. Elphaba couldn't help but think how fortunate she was to encounter the Gale Force by night, rather than in bright daylight, yet was still nervously hoping that things would not turn ugly.

For a moment, she almost thought that they might pass them without as much as saying a word, but there was no such luck, and when all five of the men dismounted their horses, it was clear that they would not be let off the hook so easily.

"Looks like you're a merchant from the Vinkus," the highest ranking officer observed and the Vinkun nodded. Furrowing his brow, the man surveyed the caravan. "You have a lot of beasts and goods here. Are you looking after them all by yourself and where in Oz are you going with all this stuff?"

"I am on my way to the Emerald City," the merchant lied. Those were the first words Elphaba had ever heard him speak. "On behest of my Princess Nastoya of the Scrow," he then added. "And I'm not alone, you see?

"There," he said and pointed at the verdant woman.

For a moment she was shocked to be pointed out like this. She had not exactly tried to hide herself, but had hoped to go unnoticed in the darkness of the night and was certainly not appreciating being pushed into the spotlight.

"My wife is helping me herding the animals. Together we have lead hundreds of caravans all across the Vinkus. This is nothing unusual."

Elphaba breathed a small sigh of relief. She had almost trusted the Vinkun who seemed to dislike her so much to betray her, but instead he was even pretending to be her spouse. Curious, however, the Gale Forcer stepped closer, causing Elphaba's heart to beat a little faster. She looked to the ground as his eyes hungrily devoured her. In the darkness, all he could see was a young, slender woman of slightly darker complexion, with long, gorgeous, shimmering, raven hair; the hint of green that was still uncovered, remained unnoticed by the soldier.

While he was still studying Elphaba, his colleagues were busy surveying the Animals, animals and goods, under the constant complaining and bickering of the merchant.

"Well, everything seems all right here," the officer declared once his men had reported back to him. "We'll only take a small toll for guaranteeing you safe passage."

The Vinkun ground his teeth furiously, but stood by as one of the soldiers re-examined his cargo and wordlessly accepted the voucher another handed him so he would not be taxed twice.

"We'll take these," the first soldier then informed him, pointing at a few bolts of Vinkun silk, undoubtedly far too valuable to be confiscated as road fee. "And this elephant. Our horses aren't equipped to carry such a load."

The witch quickly reeled around and followed the Gale Forcer's finger point with her eyes. It was out of question that she would let them take any of the Animals. She pulled herself together and, slightly staggering, got to her feet.

"Don't! Please don't take our animals," she begged the officer without regard for the possibility that he might recognise her.

Grunting, the man pushed her away.

"Sorry, Miss. Can't help it."

"You there," he ordered, carelessly pointing his rifle at the Vinkun, "Tie those bolts to the beast and be quick about it. We don't want to stay here all night."

Seeing no other option, the merchant begrudgingly, yet uncomplainingly did as he was told.

"No! Leave her alone!"

Elphaba rushed towards the Elephant and swiftly untied the strings the Vinkun had just tied, causing the rolls fabrics to fall to the ground and unravel. Before she could also undo the buckles of the carry rack, a soldier hurried to grab her.

"Let go of me!" she snarled as the man tightly wrapped his arms around her from behind. When he wouldn't release her, she could no longer suppress the magick raging inside her.

"Ouch!" the man cried out when the witch's skin, suddenly burning hot as fire, seared his flesh.

He stumbled and fell to the ground while the others, alarmed by his pitiful scream, took a step backwards, appraising the situation in terror and confusion.

Elphaba knew that it was pointless now to try and keep up the charade. In one dramatic motion, she tore off her coat and her veil, offering enough green skin to be recognised even in the weak moonlight. If she already could not conceal her powers, she might as well use her unexpected appearance to her advantage.

And surely enough, the utterly surprising resurrection of the Wicked Witch from the dead did not fail to have the desired effect: The men shrunk back, clutching their guns and, with shaking hands, pointing them at the green monstrosity. But what damage could guns possibly do to an angry, no, furious witch?

One of the rifles fired – rather by accident, caused by an unsteady hand, than by choice. Elphaba evaded the bullet with ease as time either seemingly, or somehow by the means of magick, slowed down. She turned to look at the involuntary shooter and glared at him. He gulped, readying himself for whatever she had in store for him. However, instead of taking vengeance on the accidental shooter, she walked up to the group's leader and fixed him with her now perfectly black eyes.

"I'd recommend you run," she said quietly. There was a slight growl, a hint of threat, but otherwise her voice was deep and even. "Run before I lose my temper."

The man raised his eyebrows, then laughed wholeheartedly and cocked his head smugly.

"Seems like the water trick didn't work after all. But I'm sure you're still not bulletproof. Witch."

Something poked her belly and she did not need to look down to guess what it was. She briefly closed her eyes, setting her jaw. When she opened them again, she took the barrel of the small pistol in her hand. Warm energy swept through her entire system and her hand began to tingle. The officer pulled his lips into a cold smirk and pulled his trigger.

The shot rang loud through the quiet night and all eyes, whether Animal or human, were directed at the pair.

After a few, unbearable clock-ticks, the Gale Forcer choked, spitting out blood. Elphaba took a shaky breath and turned away. The other men exchanged terrified glances before scurrying away, grasping their horses' reins and ran.

The Vinkun, the witch and the Animals stood silently for a time, then Elphaba faltered and sunk to her knees.

He said something in Vinkun and the Animals lined up to continue their journey. When the emerald woman didn't move, the Elephant she had saved, slowly walked over to her and used her trunk to place her on her back. Rastor came fluttering and resumed his place on the Elephant's head, opposite of Elphaba.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, to which she replied with a small nod.

They travelled through the rest of the night and did not stop until late afternoon the next day. Soon after they had left the camp, Elphaba had fallen asleep. The Vinkun seemed to care little and never inquired about her condition, but the Crow, and increasingly the lady Elephant who was carrying her, were concerned.

"Are you sure you are fine?" he asked her for the umpteenth time and she once more simply nodded. "Well, you don't look it," he repeated just like every single time before.

The truth was that she was feeling faint and every now and then she could feel her midsection cramping. Yes, she was slightly worried herself, but what could any of them do in this situation anyway?

It was almost evening again when they reached a remote grove with a small creek. Everyone was hungry and tired, and above all, thirsty, so they stopped for a brief rest.

The Elephant carefully helped the raven-haired witch down to the ground. With her trunk wrapped around Elphaba, she could feel her hardened belly.

"How long has this been going on, child?" she whispered in her ear.

"How long has what been going on?" Elphaba replied absolutely oblivious, massaging her back.

"Your contractions."

"No, you must be wrong, that can't be it. I don't know for sure how far along I am, but I'm quite sure this is a bit early."

The Elephant shook her head at the human's stubbornness.

"Do they hurt?"

"A little," Elphaba admitted, then gasped. "Well, sometimes a bit more, I guess."

"And your back?"

"I've been sitting too much," the green woman argued. "It's getting uncomfortable."

"I'm sure it is, girl, especially since you're in labour."

"No, I can't be!"

Sighing, the Elephant reached for Elphaba's bedroll and produced a thin blanket that she tenderly draped over her shoulders.

"Darling, just trust me on this one. I myself have birthed and raised three calves; I know what I'm talking about.

Still insisting that the Animal had to be wrong, Elphaba still accepted the blanket and an apple, even if it was merely to appease the growing number of curious and concerned onlookers.

After not even an hour of rest, the Vinkun demanded they moved on. The old Elephant tried to argue – Elphaba didn't understand her exact words since the conversation was held in Vinkun - but ultimately she was left with only two choices: follow suit or be left behind.

"What a boorish, fellow," she huffed, then offered her trunk for the witch to climb up again.

The next three days proceeded much in the same way, only that Elphaba's contractions became increasingly intense and her backache almost unbearable. She managed, however; and even without letting on in how much pain she really was.

At night she laid down to sleep, yet couldn't find the inner piece to shut down completely. Whenever she was about to drift off, the pain of a new contraction rudely brought her back. So it was that she overheard Rastor and the Elephant talking.

"I'm not an expert by any means, when it comes to the way you mammals do things, but this is not sitting right with me," the Crow whispered and the Elephant agreed.

"A day or two is quite normal and three are not impossible, but I too, begin to feel a bit anxious about this. And the constant travelling can't be good either," she added thoughtfully. "That stubborn man simply doesn't give a twig."

Biting her lip, Elphaba's hand found her small bump. She began stroking it gently, telling her child to hold out. Yes, she was worried – no – terrified by now. But she reminded herself time and time again, that there was nothing that could be done.

At some point, she must have fallen asleep after all, for she had no recollection of what had happened since she had spotted the first hesitant haze of pink at the horizon, which had now turned into bright daylight.

"Glad you had some rest, darling," the Elephant said to the still dazed woman in a slightly forced sounding, overly cheerful tone, tenderly teasing her with her agile trunk. "Now up, up you go, we have a long-"

She fell silent then and wrapped her trunk around bony shoulders sympathetically. She called for Rastor and quietly consulted with him, absentmindedly stroking Elphaba's raven curls while they spoke.

The two Animals came to an agreement and the Crow took off.

"Rastor is going to talk to the Vinkun, my child," the Elephant cooed soothingly, while she rolled up and stowed away the bloodied blanket the witch had slept on. "We'll stay here with you and look after you."

Elphaba had been too exhausted and distracted to fully appreciate most of the things going on around her, but these few words she had understood with a surprising clarity.

"No," she protested, trying to pull herself up. "You can't do that. We all have to stay together. If someone finds you all by yourself…"

It took the lady Elephant but a tiny nudge with trunk to get the weak human to lie down again.

"Hush now darling, and no talking back. You are in no shape to negotiate. Besides, if it wasn't for you, I would have been in the Gale Force's clutches days ago."

Eventually, the caravan began to move; except for Elphaba and her two care attendants. The Sheep they had picked up in Gillikin noticed this and, stunned, asked what was happening. This drew the attention of even more Animals and soon the entire train came to a complete standstill. Rastor informed them about Elphaba's condition and explained why they had to stay behind, but most of the others were quite appalled by the idea.

"We can't just leave her behind in the middle of nowhere!" a towering tusker declared sternly. "Someone has to bring her back to the humans. She urgently needs medical care."

It was quite obvious who this 'someone' would have to be and all Animals turned their heads to stare at the irritated Vinkun man who was leaning against a tree stem.

"What do you expect me to do? I cannot run off with the girl and leave you all behind. Such madness could risk the lives of every single one of you!"

He spoke in common Ozian for once, making sure that all Animals, and especially Elphaba, would understand the ludicrousness of this notion.

"It's not like I would not do it for her," he defended himself when some of the travellers still cast him angry glares, "but the cost for everyone else involved is too high."

The Animals exchanged looks, then retreated to discuss the matter. Once they had come to a conclusion, the bull Elephant from earlier turned to the Vinkun and advised him of their decision.

"The Princess Nastoya is set on protecting the witch and the little princess growing inside of her. We all agree that you shall take her back to the cloister and see to it that the mounts are taking care of her. Until you return, we shall wait here, unless we are forced to move on or hide. That is out final word."

Still sceptical, but not about to object, the merchant saddled one of the horses and relieved another of its heavy load. He mounted his horse and the lady Elephant gently placed Elphaba in his arms.

A few clicks of his tongue spurred on the horses and off they went.

It had been a couple of days since they had moved on from the Cloister of Saint Glinda, but how fast could a caravan of a dozen Elephants, several Camels, horses, donkeys and other beasts possibly travel? On horseback and exchanging two tired mounts for one fresh on one the way, the Vinkun covered the entire way within less than two days. Arriving at the cloister at dusk of the second night, he carefully laid the green woman right in front of the mauntery's doorstep and briefly laid a hand on her belly.

"Good luck, little princess," he mumbled, before ringing the bell and disappearing into the falling darkness.

The youngest maunt was obliged to answer the convent door if the bell sounded during mealtime. In fact, she was clearing away the remains of pumpkin soup and rye brisks, the other maunts already wafting toward their cloister chapel upstairs. She hesitated before deciding to answer the bell - in another three minutes, she too would have been losing herself in devotions, and the bell would have gone unheeded.

Then she remembered how just a few days ago, a man from the Vinkus had rang the bell. Most of the ordinary Vinkuns were savages, of course – everyone knew that - but unusually well built savages and their slightly tanned skin sparkled in the sunlight. It was fair to say that the young man had been quite pleasing to look at and if it was him, or another of his kind, the still young and sometimes unwittingly coy maunt did not want to miss her chance to savour such sight.

So she opened the door and was immediately disappointed. There was no handsome hunk meeting her with sky blue eyes; instead, a black figure, dressed in soiled rags, was crouching on the floor. With a sigh and upmost reluctance, she reached for where she suspected the filthy beggar's arm. As she pushed away some of the fabric and revealed a green hand, she shrunk back squealing.

Alarmed by their sister's shrill scream, the other maunts interrupted their prayers and came rushing to her aid. A lot of scandalised gasps could be heard and a lot of nervous murmur. They quickly decided unanimously that the pitiful creature at their threshold could be no other than the Wicked Witch; the fact that they could not quite agree on whether this spawn of the underworld had risen from the dead or had never died in the first place, was only of minor importance.

However, despite their fear and open disgust, they were women of the Unnamed God and wicked or not, the witch at their doorstep was in a terrible shape to say the least. Praying to her god and asking for strength, the Superior Maunt then ordered the youngest maunt and her mentor to help the green abomination inside.

Wrinkling their noses, the young women did as they were told and pulled on the witch's arms to drag her to her feet. Once she stood before them, hunched over and wobbly on her weak legs, the remaining maunts' eyes widened. Seeing their sisters' reaction, the other two turned to see for themselves what had horrified them so much.

There was blood, and not little of it; some of it was on the floor, but most notably the woman's naked feet were dyed purple-black by it. Both women struggled not to let go of the witch and only barely managed to keep her upright. Holding a tissue under her nose for comfort, soaked with calming lavender essence, the Superior Maunt urged the girls to hurry up and lead her to the infirmary wing.

An elderly woman greeted them at the door to the sickroom and seemed hardly fazed by the patient being presented to her. She had seen far worse in her long life. Only the green skin had her slightly disconcerted.

Most of the maunts left at this point, eager to return to their holy duties, but a few more daring ladies remained under the pretence to help. When they anxiously asked the healer what could have happened to the witch, the old woman, with as few words as possible, pointed out the only slightly, yet still obviously rounded belly. Once the initial shock over the realisation that even wicked witches could fall pregnant had passed, the flood of speculations simply wouldn't end.

One supposed that the witch must have birthed the child in the woods and abandoned it, others argued that it was more likely that her tainted womb would not carry a babe to full term and had rejected the child, so full of innocence, like toxic matter.

Anything but squeamish, the nurse maunt unceremoniously hiked up Elphaba's skirt once she had been lifted onto the bed and began to examine her.

"The child is still within her womb," she finally declared, effectively ending all the wild theories.

The now silent sisters watched her wordlessly as she retrieved a small, shiny hook and turned back towards her patient. The old nurse wasn't a woman of many words and did not care to explain what she was about to do and so caught the nosy onlookers by surprise when suddenly a waterfall of clear liquid and blood gushed to the floor.

"Oh, goodness," one of the women exclaimed, before sinking to the ground. Two friends of hers used this as an acceptable reason to excuse themselves and left to bring her back to her cell.

Ignoring all that, the nurse once more examined the verdant woman, then walked over to where her head was, lightly slapping her cheek.

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty!" she croaked, "Are you still with me?"

Elphaba's lids slowly fluttered open. She briefly looked around with unseeing eyes, but then slipped back into her semi-unconscious state.

Just past midnight, only one of the sisters was left to keep the healer company and the older woman was glad to be rid of the chattering bunch. For several long hours, she had waited, more bored than impatiently, for the arrival of the newborn and there was still no reliable sign of any progress. Although the mother to be was not particularly responsive, there still were some sort of contractions, only they seemed too weak to push the baby along the birth canal. Both maunts were close to writing the witch and her child off.

Then, quite unexpectedly, Elphaba began to moan and whimper. Her hands first twitched, then slowly moved to clasp her abdomen. Rolling her head from one side to the other, she opened her eyes and for the first time made eye contact with the younger maunt.

She could not for the life of her explain why, but as she looked into the strange woman's surprisingly soft, brown eyes, the maunt suddenly felt profound empathy and subconsciously began to rack her brain, searching for a solution, anything that could help the feeble, suffering creature on the bed.

"Sister Marthee," she then whispered breathlessly, "I have heard about an ancient crone who came to the nearby village just about a month ago. There are rumours that she could be a witch, but she is also said to be an exceptional healer."

"One witch in these sacred halls is enough," the nurse answered sullenly and the younger woman dejectedly looked to the floor. "But perhaps this is worth a try," she then conceded and immediately sent her younger sister to fetch that mysterious hag.

AN:

There is one paragraph (almost 4,000 words into the chapter) that is 99.99% identical to a paragraph in the book. It's when the youngest maunt goes to answer the door. The circumstances are rather different, but still SOMEWHAT similar to the book, so I kinda wanted to draw a parallel there ;)