Author's Note: hmm well this chapter took very... very... very long... only because the god damn description I mean seriously... that's all this chapter is... description... I personally think its nice description (you better think so too!!) and I sorta had to leave off at a cliffy or it would have been very... very long no like at size verdana 8 it would have taken over 3 pages and I really try not to do that long so I split the chaps... so this chap is the introduction to the chapter I had planned and chapter 8 will be the actual chapter I had planned lol... ok now there are two umm weird things with this chapter lol here they are:
- There is a new moon five days after a full moon... for those of you who don't know astronomy this is not supposed to happen but I don't care cause I need it that way... the lunar calendar of Oz can be strange... they never really mention it so I AM making it strange
- I sorta gave the Vinkus a very... very low population of 11000 – 12000 people... and you know what! It's the Vinkus and not a lot of people live there so its right!
Yes these are the weird things ok so now on to the fic:
Lol on to the fic in a sec... I am going to thank both of them in all chapters now... thank you Amy for editing and thank you michelle for betaing... is that a word... no cause word says its not and for editing a biiit (sry amy you weren't on to get a full go at it.. i had changed a bit hehe)... lol anyway finally here is the fic:
Chapter 7
The sunset, glowing purple and red upon the sapphire sky; an endless blue plain interrupted only by a few wispy clouds, came to its end the ominous towers fell into a sleep. The green sparkling glow of the emerald towers died with the sunset. As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon the moon rose; a moon the eyes of the Emerald City were blind to see. The moon rose dark and invisible against the endless black of the night sky. Not a single star's light shed through to the Emerald City during the dark of the night.
It was a night of silence and blindness that had come had settled upon the city of emeralds. It was a night of which no humans could remain awake in. A night on which no animals would remain awake. A night with only the movement of white, glowing fur dodging through the canopy of the jungle of emerald towers. The white fur was defying the darkness that had conquered the entire city. White fur with a pair of ruby, red eyes glowing in the night.
The darkness touched far past the Emerald City, ending only after the Kellswater. Even if the night was illuminated and the light reached down to the Kellswater, not a single sparkle of the light would be reflected in the gray water. A leaf from a nearby, dying tree fell into the black water. It didn't send out any ripples, it didn't move the water at all, the leaf simply sunk on contact. It fell down to the bottom of the lake as fast as you would expect a large rock to in normal water, but this water wasn't normal. It was dead.
In the distance the stars began to come out few by few, each floating high above the land of Oz. The Great Kells, growing tall in the distance. Snow capped mountains reaching massive heights, each reaching up into the night sky, longing to touch the stars. The sky lightened to a dark blue as the towering brown mountains continued to grow out of the ground, seeming to go on forever. The chain finally broke in the south, it broke into a pass of towering pines, and it broke into Kumbricia's Pass.
Small, white flakes of frozen water fell slowly to the ground of the pass. Each flake was different then the one that fell before it, each one unique. The snow began to settle in the tops of the pine trees first, next the lower branches of the trees, and lastly the ground. The layer of snow grew to ankle level while the first rays of a new dawn reached the pass. As the morning light hit the land it began to sparkle in its covering of the first snow. The trees and ground sparkled in the silence of the land. It was a silence born from the natural sleep of the world. The snow dissipated and was left untouched by humans and animals alike. As the trees began to dwindle and the height of the snow lowered the pass opened up more and more. The trees started to give way and soon disappeared completely as the pass ended and the Thousand Year Grasslands began.
A plain of tall, emerald green grass the stretched as far as the eye could see made up the Thousand Year Grasslands. As the sun began to rise fully above the horizon Kumbricia's Pass freshly snowed, sparkling in the distance. The Great Kells could be seen to the east, the mountains acquired a violet shade while in shadow. The majesty and size of the mountains decreased as distance away from them increased, but their ever- looming figures were still perceivable. The Lesser Kells could be made out faintly to the south. The rounded tops of the giant hills were just visible below the thin layer of cloud cover.
The grasslands were just that, grass. The green stalks grew from the ground to reach heights of over four feet. The morning dew still clung to the overgrown grass, sparkling in the sunlight like small diamonds. The jade grass grew seemingly endlessly in all directions, almost completely undisturbed. The usual tribal fires of the Winkie tribal fires were gone. In their place was a massive pillar of heavy, dark gray smoke. The smoke could be seen when entering the grasslands. It only grew larger and larger. It was a smoke created by the combination of numerous fires lit in a colossal gathering of the Winkie Tribes.
With one look at the camp it would be perceived as that of the Scrow. The encampment was on Scrow land and the tents were aligned in the circular pattern found in any Scrow camp. But after taking a closer look one would notice that it was a camp of all the three Winkie Tribes. It was a congregation of enormous numbers. The light brown cotton tents of the Arjiki made up the first few of the large circles that held all of the other hundreds... thousands of tents. The warriors' tents took up the first circle and the seniors, women, and children took up the tents behind those of the Arjiki warriors. In total there were about one thousand Arjiki people. Each person was dark of skin and most wearing clothes of common brown cotton. Few of the Arjiki wore silks and only three were tattooed.
Behind the tents of the Arjiki tribe were the tents of the Yunamata tribe. The Yunamata tents were a light yellow, made out of dried stalks of grass. Each piece of grass used to make the tents must have been ten feet and over to have created such tents. The Yunamata had five times the amount of tents as the Arjiki. The tents were set up differently then the Arjiki. Their people lived in each row, but every other tent was that of a warrior. In all there were over five thousand Yunamata people, each somewhat resembling the people of Quadling Country, all except skin color. The Yunamata people had the skin color of a dark tan, not nearly as dark as the Arjiki.
After the tents of the Yunamata came the tents of the sand colored tents of the Scrow. The amount of Scrow tents and people was equal to that of the Yunamata. The tents of the Scrow were set up like the Arjiki. The only difference was the best and most trusted fighters inhabited the ring of tents closest to the center. Though the numbers of the Scrow and Yunamata were equal, the appearance of the two was distinctly different. The Scrow were people with large noses and large waists with the skin color of a slight pink, though not as rosy as the skin of Quadlings.
At the center of all the tents were two tents, each just outside the center of all the tent-circles. The largest tent was made of white silk. Though the tent was too large to be called a tent, a mansion of fabric. It was a mansion where the leader of the Scrow lived, Princess Nastoya.
The next largest tent was made of dark brown, almost red, cotton and was the size of a rather large house. This tent was home to the leader of the Yunamata people and his family, his son. The leader went by the name of Jahyahl. He was an old man, one that had grown to the age of seventy- three. The last time he left his home was to lead his people to this spot, the place where the tribes were meeting. Ever since the trip he never left his tent and had to be attended by servants constantly. His son was at the age of twenty, his name was known to be Temai. He went everywhere, did everything the ruler of the Yunamata tribe was expected to. He ruled while his father was in the horrible condition he was in. He did not wish for the death of his father so that power would move down to him, he was scared of ruling. He had only a taste of what it was like to rule his people while his father couldn't and to be honest, he wasn't sure he could handle it all.
The final and smallest tent was made of cotton as well and was died a deep blue. The tent belonged to the Arjiki people, it was a tent for the ruler of the tribe. The tent was unpopulated and empty. There was no ruler of the Arjiki tribe.
Past the encampment of the three tribes, a camp larger then the size of a town and holding over eleven thousand people, there was a path. It was a path that wound through the tall grass of the Thousand Year Grasslands. The path takes an hour ride by camel to reach the end.
Where the path disappeared a ring of trees began. Past the first ring of trees there were other rings, rings of tees and other shrubbery. Many rings of greenery made up the Scrow shrine. The greenery followed the same pattern as the tents did, each ring lined with posts holding unlit torches. At the center of the rings was an enclosed shrine made completely of greenery. It was a large shrine, the same size of the Yunamata's leader's tent. The shrine was completely enclosed, or so it appeared. Even with careful study and observation the shrine still looked completely closed off from the outside world. But it wasn't. If someone didn't know where the wooden door was, you could never find it. It was camouflaged to look just like the rest of the trees, to look like just part of the shrine. The door didn't even have metal hinges, they were hinges of strong, durable vine. Only two people knew where the door was located and those two people were inside.
A ball of magicked fire came flying at Elphaba's face. She dropped immediately to the hard dirt ground of the shrine. The magicked fire dissipated before it hit the wall of trees that made up the Scrow shrine. She rolled over to her right to avoid more magicked fire heading towards her. The fire slammed into the dirt floor and disappeared. She felt her side hit a wall of trees behind her. Scrambling to her knees she grabbed a branch and jumped up into the air while pulling herself over the branch. Her feet swung forward bringing her entire bdoy over the branch. During midswing when her body was in a position she was straight upside-down with her legs straight over her head. She brought her knees in and her feet both landed on the branch, one in front of the other. She flung her hands out to keep her balance as she landed. She brought her face up and looked straight out and saw that three magicked fireballs were soaring through the air towards her.
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