Elphaba shut the door behind her, registering the bell that rang when she did. She eyed the shop suspiciously. It had guns, and arrows, and other forms of weapons that she wasn't entirely comfortable being around. Their was a staircase in the back that the man was already heading up. "Come on, I'm open soon," he told her.

Against her better judgment, she followed him, still holding her broom and book. The staircase was steep, but not very long. They turned a quick corner on the stairs, and he stopped. She stopped a few steps down when he did, and he turned around to look down at her.

"Don't go near the window, don't come downstairs, and don't make any noise. If you hear anyone coming up, I don't know, hide under the bed or something. I'll bring you something to eat, later." He instructed strictly. He didn't seem mean – he just didn't seem to care about her much. "I'm Sillnin, by the way."

"Elphaba," she replied, and he went into the room a little bit more, giving her an opportunity to also come upstairs. It was small, with a low ceiling that ended just a foot above Elphaba's head. There was a small bed set against one wall, a table and two chairs. A bathroom was in the back. The side of the room facing the street had a window overlooking it – there was no curtain on it, and Elphaba noted that she would have to nearly sit under it the entire time to avoid being seen. Everything was slightly messy, and looked like he hadn't cleaned up in a week or so. He nodded to her questioningly. "All right?"

She nodded again. "Yes. Thank you."

He waved away the thanks. "I'll check on you later." With that, he went back downstairs to get ready for the day.

Elphaba waited until she knew he was downstairs, then set her hat, book, and broom on the table delicately. Looking around a second time, she went to the window and peered out. It was already light, and she guessed it to be about five in the morning. She couldn't read the signs across the street on the other shops, but there were many, all right next to each other. Elphaba rubbed her eyes, realizing she was tired. She went back to the bed and lay on top of it, taking her cloak off and spreading it on top of her. She rolled over and fell asleep.

She was jolted awake about an hour or so later, hearing the bell ring. She sat up, pulling her knees in towards her. She quietly listened to Sillnin and his customer downstairs. He was trying to sell them something, but they weren't entirely interested. They left after a few minutes.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and realized that it was much lighter than it was. It was already fairly sunny, though the sunrise wasn't completely gone yet. She let herself think about where she would be if she were back at Shiz. She would have just woken up, and would probably be getting a little bit of studying in before Glinda woke up and ruined her quiet time. Would Glinda still be attending classes? Dr. Dillamond said that she was now a hero. Would she be with the Wizard, then? Was Glinda still as popular as she had been?

And what about her sister? Was she okay? Elphaba had always taken care of her sister, and Nessa had always been quite dependent on her. Elphaba hoped that she was getting along okay. She couldn't imagine how Nessa would react when she read the paper, and heard the rumors. Elphaba closed her eyes. Would she believe them? Elphaba hoped not…but she wasn't sure. Nessa had always treated Elphaba almost like a servant, as that had practically been what she was. They were affectionate most of the time, and Elphaba knew that Nessa liked her, at least, but she had always, somehow, looked down upon her. Did she look down upon her enough to believe everything the Wizard told them? Elphaba opened her eyes again. She didn't know.

At noon, the weather was beautiful outside of the room – inside, it was very hot. She had brought a chair to the far side of the room, where it was mostly shady, but it was very humid. Elphaba wished she could be at Shiz again…her, Glinda, Fiyero, Nessarose, and Boq would all be outside of Shiz, walking around…it was lunchtime there. She wanted to go back…with Glinda's help, she was starting to be less hated. One of Glinda's friends had even talked to her a few days before she had left, and she was being nice about it, too, no rude comments. Her skin color hadn't even been mentioned.

Elphaba heard someone coming upstairs, and, remembering Sillnin's instructions, stood up hurriedly, but then heard him call out, "It's just me, Sillnin."

She stayed standing, and he came back upstairs with a tray of food. "I get it delivered," he explained. As he went to put the food on the table, she quickly cleared off her things and set them on the bed. He set the tray down on the circular table, and, to her surprise, sat down. She wavered for a moment, not sure if he wanted her to join or not, but then pulled the chair in the shade over to the table.

He was already eating, and gestured towards a sandwich. She took one and took a bite. It tasted very good.

He was silent as he ate, and she followed his lead. After a few moments, though, they both heard the bell that meant someone was there. He quickly stood up. "Be quiet," he reminded her, and went back downstairs.

He didn't have very many customers, and this was only his fourth for the day. She half-listened while eating, and heard Sillnin greet the customer. "Good afternoon, officer," she heard him say.

She immediately tensed up, dropping the food she held. She stood up in a rush, and the chair made a noise as it scooted backwards. She grabbed it, her heart beating, her palms sweating. Did they hear that? She wondered, anxious.

If they did, neither one gave any notice. "Good afternoon," the other man said curtly. Elphaba was breathing quickly, and raised a shaking hand to her temple, resting her hand on the side of her head. "Do you have the Wizard's order?"

"Oh yes, just a moment." She heard some rustling downstairs as he pulled out something heavy. "Here you are. Took me awhile to make, he did order a lot."

What are you doing? She thought frantically. Don't make conversation, get him out of here!

"We're getting as many weapons as we can – he's calling in many reinforcements to catch the Witch. Everyone's working off-duty."

Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from gasping loudly.

"Well, these should work well. Some of the finest metal right there."

She heard whatever it was being passed from Sillnin to the officer. "Thank you," the officer told Sillnin. "I'm told that you were already paid?"

"Yes, when they ordered them they paid me."

"All right then, have a nice day."

"And you," she heard Sillnin call out as the bell rang.

Elphaba, realizing she could be seen, ran to the window and stood directly next to it, flattening herself against the wall. Her heart was still pounding as she closed her eyes briefly, trying to regain composure. She opened them as she heard Sillnin mounting the stairs. He reached the landing and stopped in surprise when he saw the look on her face. "What did you expect?" he asked her wryly. "I'm a blacksmith. I make weapons for everyone, especially the Gale Force."

She nodded, her heartbeat not yet back to normal. He attempted to smile at her. "The guns weren't made very well," he whispered confidentially. The joke was lost on Elphaba, knowing that however poorly they were made, they were made to hunt her. He looked out the window. "It's all right," he said. "He's gone."

She stayed still, and he registered it. He moved the table out of view of the window.

…

That night, Elphaba was eager to get out Sillnin's shop. He offered that Elphaba could stay there, but she knew he didn't have the space or patience to keep someone hidden in his shop. She declined as usual. She wasn't comfortable there anyway, when the officer from the Gale Force came it had scared her to death. She couldn't be comfortable around that many people anyway. Elphaba could tell that Sillnin would be relieved to get her out, too – not everyone could be as helpful as Cirnella was.

She put her hat on, and took the Grimmerie. He carried her broom for her down the stairs, and she followed him. Before she left, he peered out the door – it was glass. "There's no one out there right now," he told her, handing her the broom, "but that may change. You need to be careful. Are you sure you don't want to stay a little bit later?"

She cleared her throat. "No, I'm just going to go now – I have to see Dr. Dillamond, don't I?"

He nodded, remembering. As Dr. Dillamond hadn't told her where to go after Sillnin's, she needed some more help from him.

He let her out, and cleared his throat. "Um…good luck, all right?"

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

He nodded, and waved a small goodbye, closing the door to her. She looked out onto the street. It was very quiet, except for the lingering sound of the bell ringing. She contemplated riding her broom, but decided to get a little bit out of town before she did. She started walking the same way she had come, but then realized that she didn't know where she was going. She quickly looked down the other street, but quickly remembered how blurry her vision was. She remembered that the Grimmerie had shown her where Dr. Dillamond lived last time, and, after contemplating for a moment, threw her broom next to her and kneeled down, opening the Grimmerie. She flipped through the pages, looking for the page she had used as a map to Dr. Dillamond's house. She found it and muttered the words on the page, feeling entrancing. She waved her hands over it quickly, and the page turned to a map. She studied it for a minute, and then, with her head snapping up, heard voices. Her pulse quickened, and she slammed the Grimmerie shut with a bang, shoving it under her cape. The voices were louder, and behind her, and she could tell they had turned the corner. She grabbed her broom quickly, knowing they could see her. Should she ride it and try to get away? No, she'd just walk away quickly…

"HEY! Who's that?" She heard a boy ask. He sounded drunk, and probably her age, maybe a little bit older. She didn't turn around, and was incredibly scared. She started to run the way she had been going, knowing that wasn't the right way to Dr. Dillamond's.

They heard them laugh hysterically, and could tell that they were both male. She heard them start to pound after her, and she tried to run faster. She didn't have much of a head start, however, and one grabbed her arm – the one holding the Grimmerie to her chest closely. She was jerked around as she dropped the Grimmerie, and kept her eyes down, heart beating furiously, sweat beading on her forehead. Don't look at me, she thought desperately. She could smell his breath, and it definitely showed that he had, in fact, been drinking. They were both still laughing, as the other caught up with the one who was still holding on to her arm. "Who are you?" the guy holding her arm demanded humorously. She tried to pull away, scanning the ground for the Grimmerie, but he was strong. "Let go," she murmured.

They both laughed. "You're pretty," he told her, getting even closer to her. She backed up a little bit, and bumped into the Grimmerie she hadn't seen because of her bad eyes. She stepped on it, trying to make sure she didn't lose it. It was very dark, and she looked at one of her hands. She didn't look green – well, she didn't look normal, but she wasn't completely green…She hoped, in their intoxicated state, that they wouldn't be able to tell who she was.

"Nice hat," the other one said. They both laughed obnoxiously, very hard. She took the opportunity to twist away from him. He let go, and she quickly bent down to grab the Grimmerie.

One of them moved behind her, blocking her escape. She started to run to the side once she had the Grimmerie, but, again, she was grabbed. The boy behind her put an arm around her waist, hugging her from the back. "Don't go anywhere," he crooned. The other boy laughed meanly. She took an elbow and jabbed it into his side, making him double over and let go. Apparently, the other one got a glimpse of her skin.

"She's green!"

She stopped in her tracks, throwing a glance over her shoulder. Both stared at her in fear, and one shouted, "It's the Wicked Witch! Someone come help, it's the Wicked Witch!" hearing him shout, she ran again, then jumped on top of her broom, going upwards quickly. She felt her hair fly behind her, and she went higher and higher, and then hovered for the briefest moment, looking down at the ground. They were watching her, but seeing her stop, both ran back to where they had came.

…

A/N: Hooray for exciting parts! I need help coming up with names - I pondered over a name for Sillnin (by the way, I absolutely hate that name, he sounds like the devil or something) for about ten minutes. I can't guarantee I'll use them, but if anyone wants to suggest some good names they've made up (you know, in the style of 'Elphaba' 'Fiyero' 'Nessarose') for both males and females – tell me which one it's for – I'd really appreciate it, and possibly will use it in the future. Not just in this chapter, too, if you think up a good name later on feel free to tell me.

Blufair: Yes, that's what I was going for! With the father thing, I mean. Thanks! By the way, getting your review prompted me to write this chapter. : ) I got excited when I saw it!

Valiera: Let me first just say that I got very excited when I got your review in my email and saw how long it was. : ) Thanks for all the compliments, I very much appreciate them! Yes, I think everyone forgets, to some extent, how old they all are...I also try to allude to the fact that she's green, because I always forget on that one…anyway, thanks so much!

Anna Marie Raven: First off, I should tell you that I absolutely adore your name. But anyway, thanks! Lol I do that a lot, too…saying things out loud, I mean. Thank you so much!

Lyndalion16: Thanks! (I say thanks a lot) I'll try to update quick as I can!