Author's Note: Ok this chapter is really long because I was really procrastinating to write it and when I did it just opened the floodgates. I could make this chapter two but I want it to be a big fat one cause it finally gets out of the flashback whew I know it took long enough didn't it! Lol ok and thanx to amy for editing and thanx to michelle for betaing... cause, you know, you guys actually did stuff this chapter lol.

Plushie Orders: yes the plushies came inn lol come here to pick emm uppp come one come allll!!! Order #1: 1 Nightmare Idina Plushie for my eeeeditor. Order #2: 1 Nightmare Idina Plushie for animeluvr1. Order #3 Ordinary Idina Plushie for lira. Order #4: 1 Nightmare Idina Plushie for mo. Order #5: 1 Nightmare Idina Plushie for Nessa. Sry michelle you didn't get one cause you dissed the Nightmare Idina Plushies and they didn't want one to go to you ;p deal with it

And now without further a do the fiiiiiic:

Chapter 10

It had been two hours after dark when Elphaba finally finished the book on the Mountain people. It had been a simple book that just went into their history and the way they lived. She had read many books set up the same way during her Shiz days, a time when she had nothing else to do. She had found the book interesting; learning about new things always interested her even if the book was extremely dull. The book seemed to cover everything about the aspects of their culture; she really didn't have any questions on the subject. Except, the only thing that she now really wanted to know about them was; what did they call themselves? Surely they didn't use the term "Mountain people". But throughout the entire book that was it they were addressed as. She would have to ask the Princess the next time she saw her...

"Come, follow me, now is the time for your questions to be answered." Elphaba nearly fell off of her bed. It was the second time today that Nastoya had caught her off guard; she would have to work on that. Nastoya had told her she would come when she was done with the book and put on the clothes, both of which she had done...but how could she know that?

"How-"

"You are an impatient woman. Questions in a few minutes, now follow me." The woman was beginning to become insufferable. Elphaba got up and walked to the flap that was used as a door to her room. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Elphaba stopped right in front of the flap; she had forgotten something. She was supposed to be wearing the garb of a Mountain princess. The strange clothes she had been given consisted of tight, form fitting, comfortable black pants that seemed made for her. The pants were a big change from the skirts and dresses she had worn all her life. At first when she put them on they had seemed too strange to wear. But after a few minutes she became used to them and didn't think she would ever go back to wearing anything but. The pants gave her freedom of movement, which made her feel...prepared in them, like a cat ready to pounce.

For a piece of clothing like a shirt she was given a black shirt with no sleeves. It fit exactly like the pants, perfect. But over it all she was given a poncho to wear. It was black as well but it had an extremely small and extensive design over the entire surface in gray thread. It wasn't a single pattern that was repeated over and over, it just kept going, never the same, always different; it was beautiful. But she had forgotten to wear her headdress. Apparently what went on the head of a Princess wasn't a simple piece of cloth draped over the face like Elphaba had done at Kiamo Ko. On her head she was forced to wear a humungous mound of black cloth that looked like a beehive. Attached to the "hive" a sort of veil came down and would drape over her face. It was very long. It went down to her chest, and the fabric was harder to see through than an ordinary veil. The veil also extended to the back of her head, so that if people just took a quick look at her they might not know which side her face was on.

She took the headdress off of her bed and put it on. She felt like a fool wearing the thing but she didn't have a choice. Nastoya finally seemed pleased with her outfit complete and lead she lead Elphaba out of the tent. After heading out of Nastoya's room there was a long hallway with rooms lining both sides. Elphaba guessed they were the servant's quarters and that they were placed so close to Nastoya's room so that she could call upon at any time. The end of the hallway emerged into a foyer upon which there were flaps that lead to the other major rooms of the tent such as a dining room and kitchen.

Directly across from the end of the hallway there was a large flap that was opened to reveal an outside world, black in night. Nastoya led her out of the tent and outside. The surrounding tents were lit faintly from random fires. Elphaba turned around and she could see small, ordinary tents behind Nastoya's. She spun around, her eyes following the row of tents and she realized that it was a ring of tents that surrounded three larger tents, Nastoya's being one of them.

Elphaba continued to walk but stopped again to stare at what she thought was blue tent. She couldn't make it out that well; there were no fires in it or around it. She moved her veil aside for a second to get a better look. It was smaller than Nastoya's, much smaller. It was just a little larger then the ordinary ones. She only had a second to wonder whom it belonged to when she realized Nastoya was leading her into a different tent and she let her veil back down and hurried to catch up to her.

They entered the third tent. This tent was smaller than Nastoya's but still gigantic. It was made out of a sort of dark reddish brown cotton. Elphaba noticed right away the small differences between this one and Nastoya's. They were just small differences, how the rooms were set up, how the furniture was arranged, what was in the tent and so on.

This tent seemed to be more geared towards war. There were weapons hanging on the sides the thick, simple furniture. But there wasn't much furniture at all, unlike Nastoya's tent, in each room there might be one piece that furnished the room. Obviously the tent was designed to be picked up and moved on the spur of the moment, but the apparent permanent-feel to wherever she was had begun to affect this tent, hence the small amount of furniture. The set up of the rooms was more unorganized than Nastoya's as well. There was a foyer, like Nastoya's, but there was no central hallway off of it. Instead there were three hallways and she was lead through the center one. The hallway ended in an inner-foyer where Nastoya led her through a trail of rooms.

Eventually Nastoya stopped her in a hallway that had branched off of a room. "You must wait here." She instructed before going through a flap. Elphaba heard inaudible mumbles from within and Nastoya soon emerged with two other people following behind her, one of which she had hoped she wouldn't have to see again.

Temeai gave her a small smile in response to her glare. Behind him there was an old man with gray hair and a short, neatly cut, gray beard. His face was wrinkled and there were huge bags under his eyes. He also had a cane to support him. Elphaba guessed this was Jhayahl, ruler of the Yunamata. Temeai stayed next to his father, Elphaba guessed to be close to him in case Jhayahl needed any aid. Nastoya moved past her without a word, Temeai and his father following her. Elphaba decided to follow her as well. She hated being lead to places but she couldn't refuse; she didn't even know where she was going. And whenever she was in the presence of Nastoya, she didn't think she would ever be the one to lead.

They came out of the tent into the night and were being lead to the empty blue tent that Elphaba had looked at before. When she entered there were no lights lit and she couldn't see. Eventually she heard the others move forward so she did as well and came out in another room, Elphaba guessed. Someone then lit a candle in the middle of the room and Elphaba could see.

The entire room was empty except for a large, simple, square, wooden table in the center. In the middle of the table was a large candle that was sitting in a pile of melted wax. There were also four chairs, one on each side of the table. Nastoya, Temeai, and Jhayahl sat down and Elphaba followed suit. She took off her headdress, unable to stand wearing it any more. It earned her a disapproving stare from Nastoya but the Princess let it go.

Nastoya stood up and spoke first, "I, Zatray Nastoya, Princess of the Scrow tribe, Daughter of the Elephant Gods, Sister to the Scrow, come. Do you accept me?" Elphaba guessed that this was some sort of ritual that the Princess had engaged. Was this meeting something more than what she thought it would be?

"I accept you." Jhayahl said, who was sitting to the right of Nastoya.

"I accept you." Temeai said in turn, who was sitting on the other side of his father.

Elphaba assumed that she was supposed to follow suit. "I accept you." She said after pausing for a second, still not sure what was really happening.

"Accepted, I now sit." And Nastoya sat down.

Jhayahl stood up this time, needing help from his cane. He let out a cough and began to speak in a raspy voice, Elphaba wondered if he was sick. "I, Jhayahl Shraktle, Leader of the Yunamata tribe, Son of the Golden Grass, Brother to the Yunamata, come. Do you accept me?" He finished with a cough. They then repeated the acceptation and it was Temeai's turn.

"I, Temeai Shraktle, son of Jhayahl, come. Do you accept me?" Elphaba was surprised at how different his was. She was very confused at what she would say but still, they answered.

Elphaba hoped she had figured it out correctly. "I, Elphaba Thropp," she began. Next she guessed she would have to use a title. Temeai had no title, so he didn't say any. She had only one to her name and she thought it would be rude to not say it, "Wicked Witch of the West," flinching only slightly after having said it. The next part she was a little tentative about, she wasn't exactly sure what it was. The Princess and Jhayahl had used something of a title, she thought. But Temeai had used his actual father. She would go the safe route and do as Temeai did, "daughter of Brother Frexspar," next... was she Sister to anything? She was, "Sister to Saint Aelphaba, come. Do you accept me?" She finished, holding back a sigh of relief, and they accepted her.

"The accepted may now speak." Nastoya said, Elphaba assumed, ending the ceremony... or whatever it was.

Next Nastoya told them all why they were here, which was Elphaba. Apparently they had wanted Elphaba to lead and rule the three tribes to push back the Gale Forcers. But now with her "death" the plans have now changed. She would instead help rule secretly as to not call all the attention of Oz upon the Vinkus and the congregation of the three tribes, which turned out to be where Elphaba was. Her identity would be kept secret from everyone except the people in the room at the moment; the very existence of Elphaba would be kept secret. She would have to be disguised fully as a Mountain princess for her entire time ruling, only ever breaking her cover in the presence of nobody or only one or all of the people in the room.

The point of the meeting had simply turned out to inform Elphaba of everything they had planned and to see if Elphaba accepted. Having nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do, Elphaba accepted. The meeting came to a close with a simple "May the accepted be unseated," from the Princess and they all went back to their respected tents to sleep.

Elphaba went in a crouching position with only her toes touching the ground. Her fingertips were spread out wide on the grass. She knew she looked like a frog but she had found this position allowed her the most movement and control of her body to avoid flying objects. With her close pants and shirt she was able to flex around on the ground, free to move any way she wished.

She began to move, in the same crouched position. She knew that from the way she was walking she must look like some freak creature out of a story. From behind her Elphaba heard a crunch and whipped her body around only to have to fling herself to the side to avoid more flying fire. She shot up to her feet and began to run towards another tree when fire engulfed her vision. She tried to jump away from it but she was too tired. Her feet tripped over each other and the fire hit her... kind of. The fire would have hit her but it disappeared first thanks to the spell Nastoya had put on the shrine that stopped the magic from actually killing or destroying anything.

Elphaba relaxed her entire body and spread her arms and legs out to lie on the ground. Princess Nastoya's figure appeared shimmering out of the trees in front of her, exactly where Elphaba knew she would come out. It always happened that way; wherever she lost Nastoya would just appear out of thin air. Nastoya was frowning at her, "You never use magic. If you used magic you might have a chance."

"If I use magic I will only hurt myself." Elphaba responded flatly.

"How will you know if you don't try?" Nastoya said, pretending to forget what had happened only a few weeks ago during one of her training sessions. Since the day after she arrived at the encampment Nastoya had forced her to train physically and magically. The only safe place for her to train was the shrine so it became the designated place for all of her activities. She had to train with an array of weapons, learning how to use each. Further more she had to fight against Temeai. She had only beaten him a rare few times and hated having to go through loss against him.

When it came to the subject of her training magically she had to go against Nastoya, who she found out was an extremely powerful Sorceress. She had never won once and had actually stopped using the little magic against her and using her to train physically so that she might beat Temeai. Nastoya, though, had soon discovered this out and had begun to give her magic lessons instead of simply training with her. Though Elphaba had learned how to use an array of spells successfully from the Princess she never actually used any in their training.

Elphaba pushed herself up on her elbows. She raised an eyebrow at her "And where exactly do you think this came from?" She said, shifting her position to wave her left scared left forearm in front of her face. The one time Nastoya had forced her to use magic again she had accidentally magicked a tree branch into movement. She hadn't known what she did until the branch had grabbed her. She had to have Nastoya un-magick it so that it would let go. After the incident Nastoya remagicked the shrine to include no damaging or killing humans; originally the spell just stopped damage to the shrine.

Nastoya sighed, "Very well."

Elphaba brought her body back down and stared up at the golden leaves of the trees that made up the shrine. It was nearly Autumn but the leaves were always gold. She looked sideway at the trunks of the trees that were also a golden shade of brown. She couldn't see it from where she was laying but she knew that in the bark of the trees the Scrow circle design was carved. It wasn't the same design, but it was similar. This design contained more circles than the original design. These circles continuously branched off of each other, creating the sense that it went on forever. She had wondered how the design had been carved into the bark. She eventually guessed that they had been magicked there. Magic was the only answer, with the design there cutting into the bark, how could the trees get water and nutrients?

Elphaba sat up and walked to a tree branch. She began to trace the design with her fingers, feeling the small design; it was so smooth. Nothing but magic could have done it. She leaned against the trunk of the tree and stared at the small canopy of the shrine. The few rays of sunlight that could pass through the thick covering of golden leaves bathed the shrine in a golden glow. The rays came down just as golden as the leaves around them. The light created small pools of golden light on the grass floor. With the golden light shining on the golden trees it just made the shrine seem more sacred. She couldn't place the feeling but some how it made her feel like she was walking in a place out of the legends.

A cool breeze came through and she lifted her head into it. Her braids whipped around slightly in the wind. Along with the clothes, minus the headdress, she had enjoyed having her hair braided. Nastoya had braided it for her into the most braids possible out of her hair. Apparently the Mountain Princesses had braided hair similar to the way Nastoya had done hers. The braids reached down to just above the middle of her back; she hadn't realized how long her hair was before letting it down for Nastoya to braid.

"We must leave now so that we can prepare for tonight." Nastoya said after a few minutes, allowing Elphaba to rest and enjoy a little peace.

"Prepare…? Prepare for what?" Elphaba inquired, turning around to face her.

"Tonight another Sunikaw will take place."

"A... Sunikaw?" Elphaba asked, having never heard the name before in her life.

"A Sunikaw is a meeting such as the one you attended on your first night here." Informed Nastoya. Elphaba frowned, another one... why? "New matters have come to hand and must be discussed," Nastoya said, answering the questions going through her head.

Elphaba just pushed aside her questioning thoughts towards how Nastoya knew what was going through her head "Who will be going?" Elphaba asked, though, knowing who would probably be going.

"Well that will have to be seen tonight will it not?" Nastoya said smiling, "After all that is the point of the opening ceremony, to see who exactly is attending."

Elphaba hadn't expected that answer, "You mean that ritual?"

Nastoya nodded her head, "Yes. In times of war not everybody knew the people attending, new leaders could be assigned daily. To allow everyone to know whom they were talking with they developed the opening ceremony." It made sense.

"Last time, did I do the ceremony correctly?" Elphaba asked, "I mean, you looked at me… funny."

Nastoya went to answer but paused. She sighed, "What you did last time was fine." Elphaba raised an eyebrow at he, but she let it go. "Get ready, you must have time to become prepared mentally."

Elphaba stopped herself before she could groan. She knew that "to become prepared mentally", meant she would have to meditate; something she hated doing. For some reason the silence always made her more stressed and less calm.

After putting on her poncho and headdress she made her way to where Nastoya was waiting for her by the camels. She wondered what the Sunikaw would be about. It had to be something important. She thought about all possible topics during their ride back to the encampment. She had come up with many but the only way of actually going was to wait until later. When that thought crossed through her mind Nastoya turned around and gave her a small, quick smile.

okkk now review or ill send the Nightmare Morrible Plushie after you and shes not friendly... just ask nessa she knows through personal experiences... shakes head she never saw it coming...