Chapter 25
When I awoke heaven knows how much later I was in a remarkably low state of pain. ::Strange, I figured by the amount of water dumped on me I'd be a liquefied green puddle in the grass by now.:: I thought dryly. My eyes fluttered open to meet the sight of the dismal gray rock ceiling of the cave I was housed in as well as the still leaden sky continuing to spew steely rain down onto who- or whatever had the misfortune to be in the path of the storm. I would've preferred it to rain hot coals. The warm, heavy air closed in oppressively and the dampness was beginning to take shape into a headache originating behind my eyes.
"Does it ever end?" I groaned, trying to push myself up, my fingers brushing Fiyero's sleeping form lying curved around me as they did so. As I sat up I felt folds of fabric slither down from my body, which had been covered in a thin film of oil everywhere except the parts of me I'd never let him touch. Mortified, I clutched the thin blanket back up to my shoulders, glancing wildly to make sure Fiyero wasn't awake. Thankfully, he was still out; for how long, however, I had no idea. He tossed in his sleep, eyes darting under their lids, and he reached out, his hand groping for mine; I could see his dreams were anything but pleasant by the way his face twisted in pain or fear. Letting out a sigh of relief when I saw he was at least partially dead to the world, I moved to fish my extra dress from the pack but was jerked backward when his hand closed around my wrist.
I couldn't wake him unless I wanted to suffer extreme humiliation aside from that already discoloring my face; my only option was to wait until he loosened his grip and decided to free me, and then would I be able to make myself decent again.
I sighed in frustration, lowering myself down onto my back, making sure the blanket was still safely pinned under my arms. I felt stupid; he'd seen me bare before, so what was to be afraid of now?
::But that was so long ago…:: my mind reasoned. It was times like those when I wished my mind would crawl under a rock somewhere and leave me alone. I didn't need to be reminded of better days, if anything in my life could ever qualify as a 'better day'.
Fiyero cried out once, his eyes pressed tight shut trying in vain to ward away whatever dream he was having. I turned carefully onto my side and cupped his face in my hand, murmuring softly to soothe away his fear. His features were thrown into sharp focus in the flickering light from the little fire blazing a short distance away from us. His face seemed more defined, each of the diamonds adorning it smoldering brightly against his skin, which was tinged coppery in the orange light. I kept whispering to try and put his mind at ease but I bit back my words when his eyelids fluttered and I hoped he would close them again. However, luck kept her face turned away from me, ensuring his wakefulness. Conceding defeat, I brushed his hair back from his face.
"Are you alright? It must've been some killer of a dream to make you so restless." I said.
"The hell with me, that's not important; how do you feel?" he replied anxiously, pushing himself up to sit and face me.
"I'm fine for the most part; there's no permanent damage. A few spots are still smarting some, but I'll live. There may be just a few faint scars to remind me of this at the very worst." I said, my face flaming, "Thank you, for – for everything. "
His cheeks flushed a shade slightly more pink than his normal skin tone and nervously ran a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding my eyes.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright; I was afraid that the storm could've – I was afraid you'd have been - Elphie, if I did anything to make you feel-"
"No, it's okay, really, you've done nothing wrong. To tell the truth I'm grateful that you did such a thing for me. I don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for you." I said hurriedly. It was true, at any rate; all he'd done was try to keep me safe. I just wished the water hadn't affected so much of my skin so strongly he had to undress me to make sure I was alright. I would've been more satisfied with ten times the amount of pain I was in now just to have remained fully clothed.
"You're sure?"
"Of course. I want to thank you, Fiyero. I owe you so much…" My face flamed more hideously than before and I turned away. "Would you mind if I asked you to turn away for a moment?" I said, feeling increasingly more stupid by the minute.
"Not at all." He moved away from me and went to stand at the mouth of the cave, staring out at the driving rain.
Relief flowed in waves through me and I eagerly shed the blanket, dressing as hurriedly as was humanly possible.
"It's safe for you to turn back now." I said a moment or two later, slightly ruffled from rushing so. The unsightly blush, however, still hadn't drained from my face.
"Feel a little more comfortable now?" he asked, a sheepish smile giving a slight curve to his mouth.
"Mmmn hmmmn. How long was I out?" I asked, rubbing my temples and trying to ward off the impending headache I felt coming on; the dull sense of pain there had been when I awoke had advanced in size to a pounding throb.
"About a day, and you're better off for it. It hasn't stopped raining since. I'm hoping it'll let up tonight and give the ground a chance to dry out before we move on. It's not going to take us long to get to Kiamo Ko if we can get out of here tomorrow morning."
I shuddered. "I can't wait for this be-damned storm to run it's course and leave me alone. My head is bothering me to no end from all the wet in the air." He wrapped an arm around my back and rested his head on my shoulder.
"If there was anything I could do for that I would, you know it. You rest a while, see if it gets any better." he said, releasing me and watching to make sure I laid back down. I sighed and tried to relax, but couldn't get comfortable no matter which way I turned. He laid himself at my side and slid his arm underneath my head to serve as a sort of living pillow, which felt somewhat better than the rock floor of the cave.
"Thanks." I murmured, closing my eyes to see if that could bring some relief.
"Gods, I'm tired." he said, yawning, "I was up the better part of the day and all of last night trying to make sure you were alright. I was so afraid... I hope I did my job somewhat well."
"Of course you did well! You kept me alive, Fiyero, and I still haven't gotten the chance to properly thank you." I said, leaning over and kissing him softly. "You were indebted to me for the song, and your taking care of me has paid me back tenfold. I actually owe you quite a lot more than just a kiss now."
"Be quiet and go back to sleep. You, of all people, need it pretty badly. I'll take you up on the question of your debt at a more appropriate time and location."
"Fiyero-"
"Sleep, Elphie; I have spoken." he said, and kissed my forehead. He fell asleep much faster than I did, and I sat up after a while, groaning quietly in frustration at the rain and my pounding head. When I looked back at Fiyero, though, asleep and at peace, my eyes softened. The gray light leaking in from the mouth of the cave coupled with that of the little fire still burning steadily fell across him in such a way that it lent him a soft glow in the dimness. I sighed, tracing one of the diamonds on his face with the tip of a finger. He was beautiful, in so many more ways than one.
"Yero, my hero," I whispered, "It's got to be so hard for you to put up with me."
::I mean, look at me, the slightest bit of water sends me reeling.:: I thought bitterly.
He sighed in his sleep, his breath soft and warm against my hand.
"Sleep tight, sweetheart. At least while you're out you don't have to worry about what new havoc I'll cause just by breathing." I said, making myself somewhat more comfortable and waiting to drift off into some semblance of sleep, but sleep was not forthcoming. The rain, at least, was tapering off from downpour into drizzle, but the pounding in my head was now much worse than it had been when I'd awakened. My hair was still a bit damp, which was not helping the situation. I glanced around, looking for something I could use to possibly towel dry my hair. There was the small fire crackling a little ways away from us and our drying clothing spread out before it, Chistery sleeping curled up like a cat on top of a rock near the fire. I snatched up my skirt for lack of something else to use and bit back a hiss when I tried to touch my scalp. I forced myself not to cry out and eventually managed to get the job done. Since it was impossible to force myself into sleep I faced the mouth of the cave and stared out across the drowned, washed-out landscape, watching the rain diminish and eventually cease.
Having such time to waste before we could leave lent me unwanted time to think about things I'd rather my mind never noticed, however accidentally it may have fallen upon such details. My thoughts drifted back to Fiyero and the nightmare he'd previously been living through before he'd awakened. I wanted to know what had been haunting him. While dwelling on that I realized how hard it must be for him to come back to this place after so long, only this time without his family there to greet him at the door. Intense guilt flooded through me; I was the one who'd done this to him. No matter which way I looked at it, I was always the one who'd ultimately killed his entire family. But then there was Nor...
::By now she's probably dead just like the rest of them.:: I thought, ::I could've saved her. I tried to...:: I clenched my teeth tightly against the hopelessness that wouldn't be turned away. ::What am I doing here? What am I doing to him by dragging him back here?:: Immersed in empathy for him, I stared harder at the few lingering drops of rain falling from the sky, waiting to see what fresh hell I would be dealt in the morning.
The fire burned to naught more than a few smoldering embers, and I was still staring into the sky, my eyes not focusing on anything in particular, my arms hugging my knees to my chest. The gray light entering the cave was stronger now with the dawning sun, but thunder still echoed distantly through the air despite the lack of rain.
"How long have you been up?" Fiyero asked as he walked up beside me, his hand falling heavily onto the top of my head.
"Since before you fell asleep. Do me a favor and get off my head." I answered curtly. He knelt next to me and slid his hand down to my back.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." I forced myself to say. I no longer desired to go back to Kiamo Ko as strongly as I did before, but I had to go through with it now that I dragged myself and Fiyero all the way out here. I figured the faster I got this over with the faster we could leave.
"No you're not."
"Really, I'm alright. When can we get out of here?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Maybe around noon if the weather holds up. And something's wrong. Just tell me and then I can leave you alone."
"I'm fine, Fiyero, stop pressing the subject."
"You only tell me to leave you alone when something's bothering you."
"Right now the only thing bothering me is you."
"Elphaba, please, we've gone for a good while without a real fight. Can we keep it that way for a little longer?"
"Fine, just please leave me alone."
"I refuse."
I glared daggers at him.
"Elphie, just tell me. The faster you give up the stubborn silence the faster I can leave you alone."
"You're not going to leave me alone even if I do tell you what's eating at me. Knowing you you'll only press for more details like some prying psychiatrist."
"This time I will."
"You'll only pick a later time to bother me about it. I know you too well."
"And I know you well enough to know that if I bother you long enough you'll let up and tell me."
"I was only thinking about people I'd rather not have remembered, but going where we're headed the memories are inevitable anyway."
"I know what you mean." he said, and remarkably left it at that. It wasn't like him to just let it drop so easily. I guessed he must have been trying to run from the same types of memories; he was just better at hiding it than I was.
"Help me get our things together and wake up the monkey for me, will you?" he asked, changing the subject.
I followed him to the wall where our things and Chistery were resting. I tickled the monkey between his wings and he picked up his head, scowling at me.
"What was that for? I was sleeping." he said groggily, his eyes still half-shut.
"Don't look at me like that. We're leaving soon." I said.
"I'm hungry." Chistery said, sitting up and folding his arms.
"We'll find you some food in a minute, little friend. Hold on for a minute or two, okay?" Fiyero called over, taking some food out of the bag and shoving our now-dry clothing into it.
"Before you bury it completely in my skirt, pull out the blue bottle please." I told him.
"I really don't think I need this stuff anymore. My arm hadn't hurt since we landed two days ago."
"Until your wound's completely closed up I'm going to make sure this stuff gets used." I said. "Sit."
"Elphaba-"
"Just sit and undo your bandages. I'll finish with this." I ordered, yanking the blue bottle from the pack and stuffing the clothing back in. We hadn't even used a quarter of the stuff in the bottle yet, it worked so well.
"Yes, mother."
"I dare you to call me that again." I said sharply. The word stung now that I was back out in this godsforsaken place, forced to think of the people I'd left once Dorothy saw fit to barge in and screw up what little order was left in my life. The one in particular I couldn't help but think about was Liir. No matter how much I tried to deny myself the truth, I knew he was my son and Fiyero's bastard. He couldn't know. He'd never forgive me for acting as I had toward the boy. I was not a mother and never would be again. He had no idea how his lighthearted jest had cut to the bone.
"Alright, I won't." Fiyero said, treading cautiously with me. "Calm down, I meant nothing by it."
"I know," I said apologetically, "I'm just on edge right now." Being as gentle as I could, hoping my touch would mask the bite there had been in my words, I helped him untie the bandage and poured a small amount of that medicine over the wound. It was almost completely healed, but I wasn't about to take any chances with his health.
"Remind me to thank that Yackle woman if we ever see her again. This stuff has been working miracles." Fiyero said, rubbing his hand over the bandage after I'd tied it up for the umpteenth time.
"That woman is disturbing." I shuddered. "She had a habit of turning up at the strangest times, and you never know what's going to happen while you're in her presence. She's too unpredictable for my liking. If we ever run into her I'm not going to know whether to thank her for helping you or to turn tail an run in the other direction."
"Well, how likely is it that we'll ever se her at all? I'm guessing by the number of people there are in Oz the chances are slim, so you don't have much to worry about."
"I'm still hungry!" Chistery cried, spreading his wings and taking off to land in front of Fiyero. "You said you'd get me some food."
I rolled my eyes and fished some bread from the bag. "I'm starting to regret teaching you how to talk." I said as I handed it to him.
"But you love me." he said, scurrying up to my shoulder and kissing my cheek.
"You little kiss-up!" laughed Fiyero, plucking the creature from his vantage point and setting him on the floor. "Only I'm allowed to do the kissing-up! She's mine, not yours." Fiyero grabbed my arm and hugged it as a child would squeeze a favorite stuffed animal.
"Get offa her!" Chistery screeched, trying with all his might to pry Fiyero off me.
"Boys, please! Behave!" I said, extricating myself from their grips.
"Can I go outside?" asked Chistery through a mouthful of bread.
"Stay close. We don't want some wild animal to get at you." Fiyero said. "Lurline knows what kind of things like lurking around the Kells."
Once Chistery was out of earshot Fiyero spoke again. "I feel like I'm talking to a four-year-old when that little animal speaks. Next thing you know he'll be all smart and grown-up and writing his autobiography."
"That's a little hard to imagine at this point." I said, shaking my head at him. "Don't get my hopes up."
"You're really bent on teaching him these things, aren't you?"
"I've always been fascinated about the connection between animals and Animals ever since Dr. Dillamond at Shiz. You can thank him for my dragging you all the way out here."
"I figure we can probably leave within the hour or so. It'll be fairly dry by then once the sun burns through the clouds."
"The sooner we get out of here the better."
"Do you hear that?" Fiyero asked abruptly.
"Hear what?"
"That growling. That sure as hell isn't Chistery."
There was a faint growling sound coming from within the bowels of the cave, deeper than either of us cared to investigate.
"I vote we get moving." I said quietly, staring deep into the darkness.
"That's unanimous." he replied, grabbing my wrist and turning to go.
Faint footfalls padded closer toward where we were and I stopped; Fiyero tried to tug me farther out but I refused to move.
"Elphaba..." he whispered, "Let's go...", but I didn't acknowledge the fact that he'd spoken. There was something familiar about the hulking shape moving around in the shadows, and I refused to move until I was able to get a better look at it. I may have been having a temporary lapse in sanity at the time but I had to see what it was. Something told me I'd seen whatever it was before. A pair of slitted amber eyes emerged, glowing harshly through the black not too far from where I stood. A large clawed orange paw stepped into the half-light of the cave, and the soft growl escalated from a low rumble to a deafening roar.
When I awoke heaven knows how much later I was in a remarkably low state of pain. ::Strange, I figured by the amount of water dumped on me I'd be a liquefied green puddle in the grass by now.:: I thought dryly. My eyes fluttered open to meet the sight of the dismal gray rock ceiling of the cave I was housed in as well as the still leaden sky continuing to spew steely rain down onto who- or whatever had the misfortune to be in the path of the storm. I would've preferred it to rain hot coals. The warm, heavy air closed in oppressively and the dampness was beginning to take shape into a headache originating behind my eyes.
"Does it ever end?" I groaned, trying to push myself up, my fingers brushing Fiyero's sleeping form lying curved around me as they did so. As I sat up I felt folds of fabric slither down from my body, which had been covered in a thin film of oil everywhere except the parts of me I'd never let him touch. Mortified, I clutched the thin blanket back up to my shoulders, glancing wildly to make sure Fiyero wasn't awake. Thankfully, he was still out; for how long, however, I had no idea. He tossed in his sleep, eyes darting under their lids, and he reached out, his hand groping for mine; I could see his dreams were anything but pleasant by the way his face twisted in pain or fear. Letting out a sigh of relief when I saw he was at least partially dead to the world, I moved to fish my extra dress from the pack but was jerked backward when his hand closed around my wrist.
I couldn't wake him unless I wanted to suffer extreme humiliation aside from that already discoloring my face; my only option was to wait until he loosened his grip and decided to free me, and then would I be able to make myself decent again.
I sighed in frustration, lowering myself down onto my back, making sure the blanket was still safely pinned under my arms. I felt stupid; he'd seen me bare before, so what was to be afraid of now?
::But that was so long ago…:: my mind reasoned. It was times like those when I wished my mind would crawl under a rock somewhere and leave me alone. I didn't need to be reminded of better days, if anything in my life could ever qualify as a 'better day'.
Fiyero cried out once, his eyes pressed tight shut trying in vain to ward away whatever dream he was having. I turned carefully onto my side and cupped his face in my hand, murmuring softly to soothe away his fear. His features were thrown into sharp focus in the flickering light from the little fire blazing a short distance away from us. His face seemed more defined, each of the diamonds adorning it smoldering brightly against his skin, which was tinged coppery in the orange light. I kept whispering to try and put his mind at ease but I bit back my words when his eyelids fluttered and I hoped he would close them again. However, luck kept her face turned away from me, ensuring his wakefulness. Conceding defeat, I brushed his hair back from his face.
"Are you alright? It must've been some killer of a dream to make you so restless." I said.
"The hell with me, that's not important; how do you feel?" he replied anxiously, pushing himself up to sit and face me.
"I'm fine for the most part; there's no permanent damage. A few spots are still smarting some, but I'll live. There may be just a few faint scars to remind me of this at the very worst." I said, my face flaming, "Thank you, for – for everything. "
His cheeks flushed a shade slightly more pink than his normal skin tone and nervously ran a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding my eyes.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright; I was afraid that the storm could've – I was afraid you'd have been - Elphie, if I did anything to make you feel-"
"No, it's okay, really, you've done nothing wrong. To tell the truth I'm grateful that you did such a thing for me. I don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for you." I said hurriedly. It was true, at any rate; all he'd done was try to keep me safe. I just wished the water hadn't affected so much of my skin so strongly he had to undress me to make sure I was alright. I would've been more satisfied with ten times the amount of pain I was in now just to have remained fully clothed.
"You're sure?"
"Of course. I want to thank you, Fiyero. I owe you so much…" My face flamed more hideously than before and I turned away. "Would you mind if I asked you to turn away for a moment?" I said, feeling increasingly more stupid by the minute.
"Not at all." He moved away from me and went to stand at the mouth of the cave, staring out at the driving rain.
Relief flowed in waves through me and I eagerly shed the blanket, dressing as hurriedly as was humanly possible.
"It's safe for you to turn back now." I said a moment or two later, slightly ruffled from rushing so. The unsightly blush, however, still hadn't drained from my face.
"Feel a little more comfortable now?" he asked, a sheepish smile giving a slight curve to his mouth.
"Mmmn hmmmn. How long was I out?" I asked, rubbing my temples and trying to ward off the impending headache I felt coming on; the dull sense of pain there had been when I awoke had advanced in size to a pounding throb.
"About a day, and you're better off for it. It hasn't stopped raining since. I'm hoping it'll let up tonight and give the ground a chance to dry out before we move on. It's not going to take us long to get to Kiamo Ko if we can get out of here tomorrow morning."
I shuddered. "I can't wait for this be-damned storm to run it's course and leave me alone. My head is bothering me to no end from all the wet in the air." He wrapped an arm around my back and rested his head on my shoulder.
"If there was anything I could do for that I would, you know it. You rest a while, see if it gets any better." he said, releasing me and watching to make sure I laid back down. I sighed and tried to relax, but couldn't get comfortable no matter which way I turned. He laid himself at my side and slid his arm underneath my head to serve as a sort of living pillow, which felt somewhat better than the rock floor of the cave.
"Thanks." I murmured, closing my eyes to see if that could bring some relief.
"Gods, I'm tired." he said, yawning, "I was up the better part of the day and all of last night trying to make sure you were alright. I was so afraid... I hope I did my job somewhat well."
"Of course you did well! You kept me alive, Fiyero, and I still haven't gotten the chance to properly thank you." I said, leaning over and kissing him softly. "You were indebted to me for the song, and your taking care of me has paid me back tenfold. I actually owe you quite a lot more than just a kiss now."
"Be quiet and go back to sleep. You, of all people, need it pretty badly. I'll take you up on the question of your debt at a more appropriate time and location."
"Fiyero-"
"Sleep, Elphie; I have spoken." he said, and kissed my forehead. He fell asleep much faster than I did, and I sat up after a while, groaning quietly in frustration at the rain and my pounding head. When I looked back at Fiyero, though, asleep and at peace, my eyes softened. The gray light leaking in from the mouth of the cave coupled with that of the little fire still burning steadily fell across him in such a way that it lent him a soft glow in the dimness. I sighed, tracing one of the diamonds on his face with the tip of a finger. He was beautiful, in so many more ways than one.
"Yero, my hero," I whispered, "It's got to be so hard for you to put up with me."
::I mean, look at me, the slightest bit of water sends me reeling.:: I thought bitterly.
He sighed in his sleep, his breath soft and warm against my hand.
"Sleep tight, sweetheart. At least while you're out you don't have to worry about what new havoc I'll cause just by breathing." I said, making myself somewhat more comfortable and waiting to drift off into some semblance of sleep, but sleep was not forthcoming. The rain, at least, was tapering off from downpour into drizzle, but the pounding in my head was now much worse than it had been when I'd awakened. My hair was still a bit damp, which was not helping the situation. I glanced around, looking for something I could use to possibly towel dry my hair. There was the small fire crackling a little ways away from us and our drying clothing spread out before it, Chistery sleeping curled up like a cat on top of a rock near the fire. I snatched up my skirt for lack of something else to use and bit back a hiss when I tried to touch my scalp. I forced myself not to cry out and eventually managed to get the job done. Since it was impossible to force myself into sleep I faced the mouth of the cave and stared out across the drowned, washed-out landscape, watching the rain diminish and eventually cease.
Having such time to waste before we could leave lent me unwanted time to think about things I'd rather my mind never noticed, however accidentally it may have fallen upon such details. My thoughts drifted back to Fiyero and the nightmare he'd previously been living through before he'd awakened. I wanted to know what had been haunting him. While dwelling on that I realized how hard it must be for him to come back to this place after so long, only this time without his family there to greet him at the door. Intense guilt flooded through me; I was the one who'd done this to him. No matter which way I looked at it, I was always the one who'd ultimately killed his entire family. But then there was Nor...
::By now she's probably dead just like the rest of them.:: I thought, ::I could've saved her. I tried to...:: I clenched my teeth tightly against the hopelessness that wouldn't be turned away. ::What am I doing here? What am I doing to him by dragging him back here?:: Immersed in empathy for him, I stared harder at the few lingering drops of rain falling from the sky, waiting to see what fresh hell I would be dealt in the morning.
The fire burned to naught more than a few smoldering embers, and I was still staring into the sky, my eyes not focusing on anything in particular, my arms hugging my knees to my chest. The gray light entering the cave was stronger now with the dawning sun, but thunder still echoed distantly through the air despite the lack of rain.
"How long have you been up?" Fiyero asked as he walked up beside me, his hand falling heavily onto the top of my head.
"Since before you fell asleep. Do me a favor and get off my head." I answered curtly. He knelt next to me and slid his hand down to my back.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." I forced myself to say. I no longer desired to go back to Kiamo Ko as strongly as I did before, but I had to go through with it now that I dragged myself and Fiyero all the way out here. I figured the faster I got this over with the faster we could leave.
"No you're not."
"Really, I'm alright. When can we get out of here?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Maybe around noon if the weather holds up. And something's wrong. Just tell me and then I can leave you alone."
"I'm fine, Fiyero, stop pressing the subject."
"You only tell me to leave you alone when something's bothering you."
"Right now the only thing bothering me is you."
"Elphaba, please, we've gone for a good while without a real fight. Can we keep it that way for a little longer?"
"Fine, just please leave me alone."
"I refuse."
I glared daggers at him.
"Elphie, just tell me. The faster you give up the stubborn silence the faster I can leave you alone."
"You're not going to leave me alone even if I do tell you what's eating at me. Knowing you you'll only press for more details like some prying psychiatrist."
"This time I will."
"You'll only pick a later time to bother me about it. I know you too well."
"And I know you well enough to know that if I bother you long enough you'll let up and tell me."
"I was only thinking about people I'd rather not have remembered, but going where we're headed the memories are inevitable anyway."
"I know what you mean." he said, and remarkably left it at that. It wasn't like him to just let it drop so easily. I guessed he must have been trying to run from the same types of memories; he was just better at hiding it than I was.
"Help me get our things together and wake up the monkey for me, will you?" he asked, changing the subject.
I followed him to the wall where our things and Chistery were resting. I tickled the monkey between his wings and he picked up his head, scowling at me.
"What was that for? I was sleeping." he said groggily, his eyes still half-shut.
"Don't look at me like that. We're leaving soon." I said.
"I'm hungry." Chistery said, sitting up and folding his arms.
"We'll find you some food in a minute, little friend. Hold on for a minute or two, okay?" Fiyero called over, taking some food out of the bag and shoving our now-dry clothing into it.
"Before you bury it completely in my skirt, pull out the blue bottle please." I told him.
"I really don't think I need this stuff anymore. My arm hadn't hurt since we landed two days ago."
"Until your wound's completely closed up I'm going to make sure this stuff gets used." I said. "Sit."
"Elphaba-"
"Just sit and undo your bandages. I'll finish with this." I ordered, yanking the blue bottle from the pack and stuffing the clothing back in. We hadn't even used a quarter of the stuff in the bottle yet, it worked so well.
"Yes, mother."
"I dare you to call me that again." I said sharply. The word stung now that I was back out in this godsforsaken place, forced to think of the people I'd left once Dorothy saw fit to barge in and screw up what little order was left in my life. The one in particular I couldn't help but think about was Liir. No matter how much I tried to deny myself the truth, I knew he was my son and Fiyero's bastard. He couldn't know. He'd never forgive me for acting as I had toward the boy. I was not a mother and never would be again. He had no idea how his lighthearted jest had cut to the bone.
"Alright, I won't." Fiyero said, treading cautiously with me. "Calm down, I meant nothing by it."
"I know," I said apologetically, "I'm just on edge right now." Being as gentle as I could, hoping my touch would mask the bite there had been in my words, I helped him untie the bandage and poured a small amount of that medicine over the wound. It was almost completely healed, but I wasn't about to take any chances with his health.
"Remind me to thank that Yackle woman if we ever see her again. This stuff has been working miracles." Fiyero said, rubbing his hand over the bandage after I'd tied it up for the umpteenth time.
"That woman is disturbing." I shuddered. "She had a habit of turning up at the strangest times, and you never know what's going to happen while you're in her presence. She's too unpredictable for my liking. If we ever run into her I'm not going to know whether to thank her for helping you or to turn tail an run in the other direction."
"Well, how likely is it that we'll ever se her at all? I'm guessing by the number of people there are in Oz the chances are slim, so you don't have much to worry about."
"I'm still hungry!" Chistery cried, spreading his wings and taking off to land in front of Fiyero. "You said you'd get me some food."
I rolled my eyes and fished some bread from the bag. "I'm starting to regret teaching you how to talk." I said as I handed it to him.
"But you love me." he said, scurrying up to my shoulder and kissing my cheek.
"You little kiss-up!" laughed Fiyero, plucking the creature from his vantage point and setting him on the floor. "Only I'm allowed to do the kissing-up! She's mine, not yours." Fiyero grabbed my arm and hugged it as a child would squeeze a favorite stuffed animal.
"Get offa her!" Chistery screeched, trying with all his might to pry Fiyero off me.
"Boys, please! Behave!" I said, extricating myself from their grips.
"Can I go outside?" asked Chistery through a mouthful of bread.
"Stay close. We don't want some wild animal to get at you." Fiyero said. "Lurline knows what kind of things like lurking around the Kells."
Once Chistery was out of earshot Fiyero spoke again. "I feel like I'm talking to a four-year-old when that little animal speaks. Next thing you know he'll be all smart and grown-up and writing his autobiography."
"That's a little hard to imagine at this point." I said, shaking my head at him. "Don't get my hopes up."
"You're really bent on teaching him these things, aren't you?"
"I've always been fascinated about the connection between animals and Animals ever since Dr. Dillamond at Shiz. You can thank him for my dragging you all the way out here."
"I figure we can probably leave within the hour or so. It'll be fairly dry by then once the sun burns through the clouds."
"The sooner we get out of here the better."
"Do you hear that?" Fiyero asked abruptly.
"Hear what?"
"That growling. That sure as hell isn't Chistery."
There was a faint growling sound coming from within the bowels of the cave, deeper than either of us cared to investigate.
"I vote we get moving." I said quietly, staring deep into the darkness.
"That's unanimous." he replied, grabbing my wrist and turning to go.
Faint footfalls padded closer toward where we were and I stopped; Fiyero tried to tug me farther out but I refused to move.
"Elphaba..." he whispered, "Let's go...", but I didn't acknowledge the fact that he'd spoken. There was something familiar about the hulking shape moving around in the shadows, and I refused to move until I was able to get a better look at it. I may have been having a temporary lapse in sanity at the time but I had to see what it was. Something told me I'd seen whatever it was before. A pair of slitted amber eyes emerged, glowing harshly through the black not too far from where I stood. A large clawed orange paw stepped into the half-light of the cave, and the soft growl escalated from a low rumble to a deafening roar.