Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short…I had dental surgery yesterday and I'm still not all here so…yeah, I did the best I could. Forgive me, and I hope you enjoy it anyway.
=P Michelle
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Chapter 11
"What are we hunting?" Boq asked uneasily as he watched Fiyero attach a sharpened piece of stone to the end of a long stick.
"Anything we can catch," answered Fiyero. "Probably some small ground rodents are the best we can hope for. We don't have long." He glanced out the window of the tower. "It looks like there's going to be a pretty bad storm later this afternoon." He shot a pointed look at Elphaba.
"I'll be fine," she muttered indignantly, glaring at Fiyero.
He sighed and began sharpening the end of a stick with a pocketknife.
"Are we ready?" asked Gerema, poking her head up through the trapdoor.
Fiyero sighed again, then nodded to Boq and Gerema.
"You two go on ahead; I'll catch up in a minute."
They turned and left. Elphaba started to follow, but Fiyero grabbed her wrist.
"Wait. I want to talk to you for a minute."
Elphaba turned and glared at him.
"Fiyero, I don't know why you don't trust me all of a sudden, but I don't like it."
He took her firmly by the shoulders and turned her toward him, but she still refused to meet his gaze. Her eyes darted around the room feverishly, her stomach turning over at the scorch marks on the floor. It was an odd perspective thinking of Kiamo Ko as it stretched above them from the tunnels, to be sure, but she knew now beyond a doubt. This was where it had happened.
"Elphaba, listen to me." Fiyero took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. "It's not about me not trusting you or thinking you're too weak or…or anything like that. This is about *my* weakness and my lack of trust in myself. Elphaba, please, please understand. If anything were to happen-"
She pulled away from him and bent over, taking a pinch of ash between her fingers and dusting it over the floor thoughtfully. Elphaba sighed, her face softening. She went back over to Fiyero and took his hand, palm up, tracing the lines on his dark skin.
"Fine. If it's what you need me to do."
Fiyero nodded, then pulled her into his arms, practically crushing her against him.
"Thank you."
Elphaba closed her eyes and kissed his neck, willing herself to be calm.
"Promise you'll be careful."
He nodded, his long brown hair tickling her cheek.
"I promise. I'll be back before you know it."
A giggle from somewhere behind Fiyero's shoulder made them both jump. Glinda was standing at the top of the stairs, looking positively ecstatic at the confirmation of her suspicions.
Fiyero cleared his throat loudly, kissed Elphaba one final time, then turned and jogged out the door, leaving her and Glinda to face one another.
"What?" asked Elphaba at last.
Glinda dissolved into another fit of giggles, which only served to make Elphaba angrier.
"What?" she repeated, louder this time.
"Nothing," gasped Glinda, "I just…the two of you…together…it's so…so…" She dissolved into giggles again.
Elphaba sniffed loudly and glared at her.
"Glinda, stop. Just stop."
Elphaba turned abruptly, her long skirt swirling around her, and started down the stairs. Glinda was still standing in the tower above, giggling.
"Come on," Elphaba called, "We've got all this furniture to move and almost no time. And if you don't stop that-"
"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Glinda scurried back down the stairs into the tunnels, still giggling like a giddy teenager.
~~
The rising wind swept over the dry ground and picked up funnels of dust, like miniature cyclones dancing in among the grass. The sky had turned an ominous yellow-green, and the air was filled with the sharp, dangerous smell of a coming storm. The hunting party trudged on, empty handed. Any small animals they might have had a chance at capturing with their minimal hunting gear had already scurried into warm dry hiding places to whether the storm in peace.
Fiyero glanced at the sky, which appeared to be descending on them with each passing moment, and quickened his step. Boq and Gerema followed, a few paces behind. Every now and then, Boq would stumble over a clump of grass or small rock hidden in the dust and go sprawling headlong, dropping all his supplies and considerably slowing the group's progress.
A hand on his shoulder made Fiyero jump and tighten his grip on his makeshift spear. He turned to see Gerema glaring at him.
"What?" asked Fiyero impatiently.
"We are not going to accomplish anything if we continue. We will simply become caught out in the storm."
Fiyero shook his head.
"You know as well as I do that a storm like this could last days. Weeks. And we have no food. We need to return with something or we'll all starve."
"And if we do not return at all?" asked Gerema.
Fiyero sighed and looked at the ground. He knew it was a very real possibility that they would not make it back if they became caught in the storm, but they were already too far out to make it back in time, and if they returned empty handed it was a sure death sentence for them all.
"Then I guess the remaining supplies will last longer," he said finally, and kept walking.
The next thing he knew, Boq was at his side, trying to say something but too panicked to speak clearly. Fiyero stopped, grabbing Boq by the shoulders to keep him still.
"What?"
Boq swallowed hard and took a deep, trembling breath.
"There's-there's something following us. Something big."
"Do not listen to him," Gerema broke in, "He is inexperienced and easily frightened."
"I know what I saw!" Boq insisted hysterically.
"Just keep walking," said Fiyero firmly. "If there is something following us, it will do us no good to stop now."
"Aren't you going to do anything?" asked Boq.
"There is nothing to be done," said Gerema condescendingly, "but get control of yourself."
They continued walking in silence for a few paces, until a noise from behind made them all turn. Out of the high grass walked a creature from out of their nightmares. It was as tall as a fully grown man, and walked on all fours. It had the body of a bear and the head of a tiger, and dark, shining black eyes that glittered with thirst for blood.
"I told you," whispered Boq.
He turned to run, but Fiyero stopped him with a hand on his wrist.
"Don't. Don't run. You can't outrun it, it's suicide if you try."
"What are we going to do then?"
"We'll have to try to find a way to fight it."
~~
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