Author's Note: Okay, so I realize I've been neglecting this fic lately. I've been really preoccupied with stuff from my writing class. In a good way. And school starts again in two weeks, so who knows what that'll do to my ability to update. Still, I'm going to spend the next two weeks trying to get as close to the end of this fic as possible. Not that it'll be finished anytime in the near future, but at least I'll have it written. It's a little more than halfway right now, and it's about to pick up a lot. Severe angst warning coming in the next few chapters through the end. You guys are all gonna hate me…I'm gonna wake up one morning with a mob of angry fanfic readers on my doorstep…I can feel it coming.
=P Michelle
Chapter 26
They spent the next few hours rummaging through the wreckage of the camp, looking for any supplies that might be of use for the journey. They were still a long way away from Kumbricia's Pass, and it was already late summer. They would have to travel quickly or they would risk getting cut off from the outside world by early fall storms in the Great Kells.
Several times during the process, the Tin Woodman started to cry over his lost city, coming dangerously close to rusting himself irreparably.
"Stop it you soft-hearted tin can," snapped Elphaba as the Tin Woodman began to whimper over a collapsed tent once again. "There's no oil out here and if you rust, we won't have you to help get us back to the Emerald City. And we need you to help us get back."
The Tin Woodman looked at her smugly.
"Oh, now the Witch needs something from me. This changes things, now doesn't it, Witch?" He dried his eyes, all traces of sadness replaced by contempt. "I'm willing to bet you could magick me some oil if I really needed it."
"Then you'd lose that bet," muttered Elphaba, pulling a few packs of the Scrow wheat crackers and some skins of water from the wreckage. "Do you think I'd be digging through this garbage looking for supplies if I could just magick whatever I needed?"
The Tin Woodman scrambled for an answer, but Elphaba stalked off before he could say anything further. She went over to where Fiyero was standing, sorting through what appeared to be clothing, and stood silently, looking over his shoulder. He continued sorting for a moment, oblivious to her presence, then stopped almost as though he could sense her standing there. Fiyero looked up at Elphaba and jumped a little.
"Have you practiced sneaking up on people like that?" he asked, laughing off his embarrassment.
Elphaba rolled her eyes at him.
"No, it's my natural born talent. You know, some children are beautiful, others are smart; I'm scary. It's my calling in life."
"Elphaba…"
"What? It's true. I've learned to use it to my advantage."
"Because people are naturally afraid of you, or because you feel it necessary to scare them off?"
"I don't follow."
"Are they really all afraid of you, or do you intentionally scare them off before they can get close to you? Before they can have a chance to hurt you?"
Elphaba leaned over and gently brushed her lips against his.
"Have I ever told you how irritating you are when you get philosophical?"
"A few times, I believe. Unfortunately my natural born talent happens to be forgetfulness. Especially when it comes to your lectures."
Elphaba glared at him for a moment, then shook her head and walked over to where Glinda was standing talking to the Tin Woodman.
"Are we ready?" she asked impatiently.
Glinda looked up and sighed.
"Don't you start that again."
"I'm not starting anything! I simply think we need to stop looking through this useless wreckage and get moving. We're not going to find much else of value, and food will be no good to us if we freeze to death. We've already seriously lost track of time. We haven't a minute to waste."
The Tin Woodman looked at her grudgingly.
"Unfortunately, in this case, she happens to be right," he muttered conspiratorially to Glinda, as though Elphaba couldn't hear him if he lowered his voice.
"This would be a lot easier if we still had those donkeys," said Boq, who was sitting on a fallen log nearby.
"I thought you didn't like them," said Elphaba, sitting down beside him and watching Igitur, who was picking flowers a few feet away. Chistery fluttered over and landed on her shoulder, proudly showing off a handful of clay beads he'd found.
"I liked them," said Boq. "They just didn't like me."
"Oh. I see." Elphaba took the beads from Chistery and examined them. "They're beautiful, Chistery. Thank you."
"Beauty beaty batty," said Chistery, very pleased with himself.
"Conceited, it is," said Igitur, pointing at Chistery as though examining some very disgusting thing he'd just found on the bottom of his shoe.
"Leave him alone," snapped Elphaba. "Between you and that huge piece of scrap metal, I'll be lucky to keep my sanity by the time we get back to the Emerald City."
"If we get back," muttered Boq.
"When we get," corrected Elphaba.
"When we get back, we'll still have to get past the tiktoks. The world is ending, Elphaba, don't you realize that? There's nowhere for us to go."
"Don't talk like that," said Elphaba sharply. "That won't get us anywhere." She stood up and brushed off her skirts. "Come on. Let's go. We have a long journey ahead of us."
The journey out of the Vinkus was long and tedious, as they were traveling on foot, but blessedly uneventful. On several occasions they spotted parties of Gale Forcers and tiktoks heading for the Vinkus, but the rocky landscape provided ample shelter, and they managed not to be spotted.
Several weeks into their journey the rain storms began to become fewer and fewer, and the drought returned, much to Elphaba's relief. Having to stop and take shelter for the greater part of the afternoon and evening was greatly increasing their traveling time. And the storms had a nasty way of sneaking up on them when they were out in the open. Boq took to saying that the sky was only blue because it was so full of water just waiting to cascade down on their heads.
Soon the rain was replaced by cold winds, and Glinda magicked fires by night in a feeble attempt to keep the group warm. The Tin Woodman, of course, didn't have to worry about things such as temperature, except when the air became so damp it made his joints rust and stick. Glinda seemed to adapt more to the conditions they were traveling in than before, her spirits remaining high, and the frequency of her complaints decreasing. Igitur, on the other hand, had taken Glinda's place as the group's biggest whiner. The only times he wasn't complaining about his aching joints or his pounding head were when he was either asleep, or in one of his periods of long meditation. Fiyero made a game out of it, challenging the others to come up with subjects to ask Igitur to meditate on.
Chistery was the only one who seemed wholly unaffected by the weather and the landscape; he flitted around during the day, sometimes soaring as high as six feet over Elphaba's head. He seemed to love the sense of freedom traveling gave him, exploring new things and learning new words at an astonishing rate. Elphaba was overjoyed at his progress, constantly wishing she had a notebook, or some means of recording his progress.
At last one morning, they stumbled across a damaged and overgrown portion of the Yellow Brick Road in the underbrush.
"That's a good sign," said Glinda. "That means we have to be close to the city."
"Closer to death now, we are," muttered Igitur.
"Oh, stop being so depressing," chided Glinda.
"Coming from the former whining queen," said Boq.
"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Quiet!" snapped Elphaba. "If we're close to the city, there are probably spies around here somewhere. The last thing we need is to get captured because you three are too busy yammering to look around."
Fiyero nodded, but said nothing. Elphaba turned to the Tin Woodman.
"So. We're here. Take us to the Resistance."
The Tin Woodman shook his head.
"No can do, Witch. How do I know you're not going to mutilate them like you did those monkeys of yours?"
"I give you my word that she will cause them no harm," said Glinda solemnly.
The Tin Woodman looked at her doubtfully, but then nodded. He led them around the back of the walled city, to an area that looked vaguely familiar.
"How are we going to get in?" asked Fiyero. "The walls go all the way around."
"I expected better of you, Winkie," said the Tin Woodman. "The walls went all the way around when there were people to maintain them. Repairing city facilities is not exactly paramount on the tiktok agenda."
"What are you saying?" asked Elphaba.
But the Tin Woodman only held up a hand for silence and led them toward the wall. He reached out and did the impossible. He peeled back an entire section of the wall. Elphaba gasped as she realized what she was seeing.
There was a gaping hole in the wall, big enough for a fully grown man to pass through without stooping, covered over only in thick canvas which had been painted to camouflage with the green bricks.
"It's brilliant," she murmured.
They entered through the hole in the wall, looking around fearfully for any amount of tiktok activity. The city was deathly still. They were in an area that had once been a city slum; it was now simply a ghost town. Elphaba looked around, expecting to see street dealers offering illegal wares, or hungry children standing on corners begging for food. There was nothing. The city appeared to be completely devoid of life. Not even the air was moving. Elphaba looked at the Tin Woodman; she didn't dare speak. It felt as though breaking the silence would be somehow taboo.
The Tin Woodman took the lead, creeping silently through the street, keeping close to the deserted buildings. The houses were oddly dusty, and the whole city had a grayish cast over it, muting the usual vibrant green. It looked like it was slowly decaying, thought Elphaba. She was relatively certain this part of town was where she had once lived. She shivered despite herself.
The Tin Woodman came to an abrupt halt in front of one of the buildings; the rest of the group nearly collided with him. It was a small, crumbling building that looked as though it might once have been a flower shop. There was a withering bird's nest in the eaves; the straw was falling down like hair off an old man's head. The green paint was peeling, and the door had fallen off, leaving the building open to the elements. They went inside, breathing in the pungent smell of mold and decay. There were some organic looking masses on the floor that might once have been flowers; they were covered in hairy looking gray mold. It was hard to believe that this shop had contained life only weeks before.
The Tin Woodman stopped in front of a wall and knocked on it. Elphaba was surprised when it didn't fall in. After a few moments, an entire portion of the wall swung back, revealing a hidden door. A young man, probably no older than sixteen or seventeen, stood in the doorway. He was slightly overweight, and looked at them uncertainly, shyly. Elphaba stepped forward and he gasped.
She stood looking at him for a moment, as though trying to decide whether she had at last lost all sanity. Then finally she took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
"Liir…"
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