A/N: Wow, you guys, thank you all so much. I have nothing specific to say to anybody (except Gena B; I added in dots to separate the characters, you're right, it's confusing otherwise) but your reviews were really so nice last chapter. Seriously, I can't tell you how exciting it is to read all of the reviews, and they all say such nice things! Probably too nice, but I can settle for that! LOL thanks again you guys! Keep reviewing, you're so awesome! This chapter's sad…but oh well, I kind of like it. I plan on having Elphaba meeting Glinda soon, by the way…hehe. That will be fun. : )

Elphaba was furious. She sat quietly, stewing, still wondering how any of them were alive with the rage she was feeling at that moment. She could still feel the captain's arms surrounding her, and she had half a mind to lean down and bite his arm. She didn't, though…she would escape, she would, but she needed an excuse first. Her wrists, already aggravated from the day before, were sticky with blood, and her ankles were beginning to feel it also. They had to have been riding for four hours at least she knew, and they had been going at a fast pace. They had to stop soon.

She was right. That dreaded whistle was blown right into her ear, making her turn around and have to catch herself before she completely lost her temper. She turned back around, looking down at the ground. Their horse was stopped, and others stopped behind them. Elphaba and the captain stayed on their horse while the others got off. The captain motioned a few over, and two stood in front of the horse, tentative and scared. She felt herself, again, being lifted like she was weightless by the captain and slid down to the two guards. They let her stand up for a moment, holding on tightly to each arm, while considering what to do with her. "Just leave her there," the captain told them, seeing that they couldn't decide. The guards gladly let go, almost running away from her. It left her a bit off-balance, and she almost fell, not being able to put her feet out to stop herself from it, but caught her balance at the last moment. She stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. The captain jumped off his horse and walked away from her, giving her a slight push to make her fall over. It wasn't a hard push…just one to make sure she was sitting. She fell onto her knees, and arranged herself so that she was curled with her feet to the side under the folds of her dress. She put one elbow down so that she was half laying down, but could still watch them all. They were more frightened of her than ever. She could see it. She couldn't blame them…she had forced one of them into more pain than he had ever felt, and if she ever got out of the bondage she was currently in, she would leave without a second thought. Fiyero and Damaran being gone gave her more power than ever, even if she was tied up. As soon as she figured out a way to get the ropes off her, she would escape, and find them. That night, she decided, she would get out.

That didn't happen. As soon as everyone had gone into their tents and it had grown quiet, she experimented with the ropes. No matter how she twisted her wrists, the ropes didn't come off, it only made her wrists hurt all the more. She quickly abandoned that idea. She tried to get her arms under her legs, but that didn't work either. Halfheartedly, she attempted to raise her arms over her head, but she knew it wouldn't work, and it didn't. Again, without much hope at all, she tried to get her arms under her legs. She fell onto her back in despair. The horse next to her nudged her shoulder, almost in sympathy. She swallowed, hard, having to work to keep the tears inside. The horse snorted, and she managed to sit up, letting the horse rub his nose on her face. She brought her knees up to her forehead and let her head rest there. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do," she related to the horse, whispering. "If I don't manage to get out, they'll kill me. But I can't get out. I don't know how!" She squinted her eyes shut tightly and pursed her lips. "And they killed Damaran!" she told the horse angrily. It snorted again. "It's all my fault, too. If Damaran hadn't gotten mixed up with me…" She sighed, deeply sad and angry about the death of Damaran. She brought her forehead from her knees. Her arms ached, but she tried not to think of it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well," she told the horse resignedly. "If my fate is to die at the end of all this, I think I can deal with that. As long as Fiyero doesn't end up the same as me…" she closed her eyes, leaning back. She found it uncomfortable to lay on her arms, so she turned to her side. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep that night, and felt almost as if a huge weight was upon her. She closed her eyes, not tired, just thinking.

She felt the severe burning at her eyes as the tear managed to escape from her closed eye. She sat up wildly, blindly, her hair getting in the way as she attempted to wipe her eye on her shoulder, not succeeding. She raised her knee quickly to her face and pressed her eye into the material of her dress on her knee, still feeling the burning sensation. It gradually subsided, and she breathed deeply, heart still pounding from the pain she had just felt. She smiled wryly at herself, how genuinely pathetic she was at that moment. The unhappy smile left her face quickly, though, and she eventually lay back down to spend the rest of the sleepless night.

…

Boq watched her quietly from his tent, not sleeping. She seemed to be trying to get out of her ropes, but wasn't succeeding. She finally lay down, apparently giving up. He watched in surprise as his own horse went over to her and nuzzled her shoulder. She responded to the gesture gratefully, and sat up. The horse continued rubbing his nose on her face, and she brought her knees up, putting her forehead onto them. She looked…sad wasn't the right word. It was along those lines, though. Like she had given up. He could tell that she was whispering, either to the horse or to herself, but he couldn't begin to make out what she said. He did hear when she said angrily, "And they killed Damaran!" The horse snorted at her. She continued. "It's all my fault, too. If Damaran hadn't gotten mixed up with me…" he saw her sigh, and bring her forehead up. She looked at the horse, and the look on her face looked as if she had given up. "Well, if my fate is to die at the end of all this, I think I can deal with that." Boq looked at her incredulously. That didn't sound like her at all. "As long as Fiyero doesn't end up the same as me."

Boq watched her fall back, then turn to her side. He realized, at that moment, that however small or cold it was, she definitely had a heart, and she did care for at least two people other than herself. He looked down, feeling a little bad at what he was putting her through, and remembered the tin she had put him through. He shook his head, though, knowing he should be able to forgive…but no, he wasn't giving up then, he had a job to do anyway. He continued to watch her, not at all sleepy.

Elphaba sat up with a jolt, and tried desperately to wipe her eyes with her shoulder. When she couldn't manage to get her shoulder to her eye, she brought her knees up and pressed her eyes against them. He watched all that, and it nearly made his heart break. She was crying. He didn't know she could, with her water allergy…and he had never thought of her crying. He turned away from her, not wanting to see any more of her acting human. He lay down, and attempted to forget all about what he had just seen.

…

Elphaba was tired the next morning, tired and fatigued for not eating at all the day before, and eating very little the day before that. Again, she was riding with the captain, limbs still tied together. She wasn't too tired to muster glares at each and every one of them, however. Even if she knew she was going to die eventually, she wasn't going to give up. She would continue until the end to fight them on their rules, their ropes, and their keeping Fiyero away from her. They were moving slower that day, she supposed because they thought Fiyero had given up trying to find them. She had to admit that she was wondering the same. She had a feeble hope that he would come and rescue her, but then she also hoped beyond all hopes that she could rescue herself. She wouldn't put Fiyero in any danger if she could manage that.

She sighed, and strained her feet against the ropes, knowing it wouldn't do anything. She relaxed again, and hissed. Something wet had just dropped onto her cheek. As she managed to wipe it off with her shoulder, she looked at the sky in dread. Clouds. Lots of them, and the sky was dark. She shrank into herself, looking down. She felt the captain become a bit tense as he felt the rain also. The whistle blew behind her, but she was too afraid of a rainstorm to care much. "All right, we need to stop here, set up the tents, quickly!" The captain remained calm, though he seemed a little frightened. He halted the horse, and the two sat for a moment, until the captain realized enough to pull the cape around Elphaba's shoulders more. She didn't appreciate him doing anything for her, and wished he'd leave her alone. She didn't say anything, though, and let him cover her. The soldiers had gotten a few tents up already, and the captain once again handed her down to a soldier. "Untie her feet," the captain ordered. The soldier looked at him quizzically.

"But…captain…she could-"

"I don't care, untie her feet, I told you."

Elphaba felt a new hope rise in her. If her feet were untied, she could easily get away…when it stopped raining. The captain could almost see the plan forming in her head, and he put a hand up. "I'll be guarding you the whole time," he told her firmly, and her hope vanished.

She sat in the tent across from the captain, hands still tied behind her, and he held a rope, just in case he needed to get control of her. She looked away, still angry how poorly she was being treated.

"Don't look so angry."

She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow, still not saying anything.

"You deserve this, you know."

"Nobody I ever knew deserved this." Her first sentence spoken directly to the captain.

"Oh, really? I know you knew at least one that deserved this."

"Care to enlighten me?"

The captain opened his mouth, about to say it, but thought better of it. "Forget it, stop talking."

Elphaba looked at him curiously. "Who?"

He squinted at her. "Your sister, all right? You and your sister."

It was that moment that the light clicked on in Elphaba's head. She gasped. "Boq!" she said, surprised. His eyes darted from side to side.

"No, I don't know who you think I am or you are, calling me that, but-"

"No, you are! Boq, you don't have to do this! I know you were upset that I turned you into tin, but you must understand, that wasn't me, that wasn't my fault!"

He stormed out of the tent, angry, while she watched him, mouth slightly open. "No, that was your fault! You ruined my life! And now I have the chance to ruin yours, and it's not going to easily be passed by!" His face was red, and she could tell he had made him really angry. He threw the rope to a guard in a nearby tent. It was raining hard, and he was getting soaked. "Tie her feet up!" he barked. "And guard her!"

She breathed heavily, angry. The guard looked at her in trepidation, and she focused her gaze on him, who came closer with the rope, and finally into the tent. The rope was wet, then, but it was at the back of her mind. The guard began to tie her ankles, and she showed no sign of a struggle, knowing that it wouldn't do her any good. She hissed through her teeth, shutting her eyes from the pain her ankles were feeling from the wet rope, and knew that the pain wouldn't go away. The guard was quick about it, and stepped outside the tent, clearly preferring to be wet and cold to being in the tent with her. She lay down on the floor of the tent, breathing heavily from the pain she was feeling, and shutting her eyes. If he wanted her to suffer, fine. But she was not going to give up. She would not die at the end of this journey-not because of Boq.