Author Notes - Like I've said prior, I think the Tin Woodman is my favourite character in the original book. He's just so sweet and kind and sensitive that I can't help but adore him. I also consider him the most tragic of the characters, when you delve into his backstory...

'Fun' Fact about the Tin Man: In the original books, he's made of tin because he was cursed by the Witches to hack off each of his bits (including his head) with an axe, and was forced to replace it all with tin, leaving him a literal empty shell of his former self. Hence why he wants a heart. Remember that next time you listen to his song and hear the lines 'Just because I'm presumin'/that I could be kinda human/if I only had a heart'.

CHAPTER FOUR - A HEART OF TIN

Deema the scarecrow had stuck to her promise, and hadn't continued singing that song since she said she wouldn't. After swimming around for what must've been another hour, she had relied less and less on Molly as a crutch and could now stand up by herself. Albeit, she still wobbled all over the place and needed Bubble Puppy to lift her up every now and then, but progress was progress.

They had left those unguarded cornfields long ago, and had entered a nice little forest. Some of the trees had already been cut down, leaving nice comfy stumps, but most of them grew tall and proud. Through it all, the yellow brick road remained, and the two girls and their puppy continued to follow it.

'Oh my gosh, there's a forest here?!' Deema cried. 'I never knew that! Oh, I should've left my post years ago.'

'Years?' Molly repeated. 'Wait, you've been on that post for years?'

'Yeah, it does sound weird when I say it out loud. But it was the only life I ever knew for the longest time. I guess that's just the life of a scarecrow.'

'Not a very fun one…'

Soon after entering the forest, Molly noticed a patch of apple trees behind a fence. Seeing those shiny red fruits hanging on those branches compelled her to lick her lips, and suddenly her stomach growled.

'What was that?!' Deema asked, looking around.

Molly blushed slightly. 'Oh, don't worry. That was just my stomach. It just means I'm hungry.'

'Ah, of course! You humans need to eat things sometimes.' Her eyes caught those apples. 'Yeah, I don't think anyone's guarding these trees. How about you just grab an apple right there?'

'Well, I never liked looting from other people's gardens… but I'm sure whoever owns this garden won't mind too much!'

She didn't have to actually enter the garden, as one of the branches hung out just above the fence. The apples on it looked so fresh, and they smelled so delicious. She reached out for the nearest one…

'HEY!'

'OH MY COD!' Molly yelled as she jumped back.

Turns out that the trees were sentient and had faces. And all those faces looked right at her in complete and utter anger. A couple of them even moved their branches into a position highly resembling a 'hands on hips' pose.

'What do you think you're doing?!' The closest tree yelled. 'Hands off the merchandise!'

Molly held her arms up. 'I-I-I am so sorry! I didn't realise you guys were alive. Well, t-trees are alive, b-but I mean alive like a-'

'GET OUTTA HERE!'

Bubble Puppy growled at the rude tree, but it paid him no attention. Molly's stomach growled again, and she salivated at the sight of such a yummy-looking apple. Deema noticed this and, despite not understanding what hunger felt like, decided to do something about it. She crossed her arms and gave those sentient trees a smirk.

'Well, she doesn't want your apples anyway.' She said.

Molly flashed her a look of shock and confusion, while the trees went with one more incredulous.

'I mean, look at those apples!' Deema continued. 'They're all old, and rotten, and probably full of worms.'

The trees all gasped at once. Molly could only give them a nervous smile as they regained their glares that were even more angry than the ones before.

'Uh, Deema, why did you do that?'

Deema leaned in and whispered, 'Get ready to catch.'

'Get ready to what?'

One of the other trees clenched a fist out of its branches. 'Are you just gonna sit there and let that scarecrow bad talk your apples?'

'Yeah!' Another jeered. 'Teach her a lesson!'

That tree whose branches hung above the fence grinned, showing off all its splintery teeth like a crocodile made of wood. It reached one of its arm-like branches up towards its own apples, yanked them off the stem, and chucked them right at Deema. They hit her face, her tail, her stomach… but she barely felt it at all. They just fell to the nice clean ground, or – better yet – into Molly's hand. Once that tree ran out of apples to throw, Deema scooped up a whole bunch of them and tucked them into her 'hair' for storage.

'Thanks for the apples, guys!' She said as she took Molly's hand.

The trees' jaws fell as the little girl and the scarecrow swam away, with a good collection of apples under their belts (or in their hair). Molly gladly bit into her apple, and gave the sentient orchid a smirk as she swam away. All the other trees turned to face the one who had thrown all their apples, all with their 'arms' on their 'hips'.

'Hey, don't get mad at me!' It cried. 'You're the ones who told me to teach that scarecrow a lesson!'

Bubble Puppy wandered off the path, following a stray apple that seemed a little shinier than the others. While his human (well, humanoid) companions passed by a lovely wooden cabin not unlike the one Molly took shelter in, he scampered after the apple like it was a ball. He ran up a small hill, past a particularly dense collection of tree stumps.

He saw something unusual lying in the grass.

'YIP YIP YIP!'

Molly was in the middle of admiring the quaint little cabin when she heard the little dog barking. She swallowed the last bit of her apple, tossed the biodegradable core aside, and ran up to where the barking sound was coming from. The sudden change of direction made Deema wobble about, and she just barely picked herself up enough to follow her.

'Wait for me!' She cried.

The moment Molly arrived on scene, she saw exactly what Bubble Puppy had found.

'Oh my gosh!'

It was a statue, made entirely of rusty tin. Yes, I know tin doesn't normally rust, but scarecrows don't normally talk either. It highly resembled a Guppy, just like Molly and her friends, but with a few differences. It was like a suit of armour, with rusted over joints and pivots, and it had a funnel-like hat on top. It had something on its face that reminded Molly of Nonny's goggles, and held an axe in its right hand. Thanks to a lack of any visible supports, it had fallen over onto its side.

Deema grinned. 'That's a nice-looking statue! Shame it's fallen over.'

'I wonder who built it?' Molly wondered out loud.

Then came something that neither Guppy, nor the puppy, expected.

'Mmm-mm!'

Molly gasped. That stifled moaning sound didn't come from her, Bubble Puppy, or Deema. She was certain she saw the statue's mouth moving just slightly when that sound came about.

'Wait a moment…' She murmured.

'MMM-MM!'

Molly emitted a sound best described as a squeak combined with a gasp. Bubble Puppy heard the sounds too, and hid behind a nearby tree stump.

'What's wrong?' Deema asked.

'I don't think that's just a statue.' Molly said. 'I think it's trying to talk.'

The scarecrow cocked an eyebrow. 'A talking statue? That's weird.'

Molly rolled her eyes. 'You're a scarecrow.' She said in the most deadpanned voice she could manage.

'Yeah, your point being?'

The tin statue tied to talk again, but all it could manage was muffled groans. It did a dang good job at sounding distressed though. Each time it made that sound, it sounded more and more desperate, despite how muffled its voice was.

'Oh cods…' Molly muttered. 'What is it trying to tell us?'

Deema put her hand to her chin. 'Hm… kinda sounds like he's trying to say oil.'

Molly gasped. 'Of course… oil! His mouth is so rusted over that he can't even talk! We'll need to oil his mouth up. But where can we find oil?'

'ARF ARF!'

Bubble Puppy had sniffed out greasy oil without an issue, and found a can full of the stuff on the very stump he had hid behind. Molly grabbed it without delay, gave the doggy a pat on the head to thank him for his help, and rushed back over to the statue. She could only pray that it would work as she sprinkled it liberally over the joints making up his mouth.

'Please work…' She muttered. 'Please please please work…'

The Guppy made of tin moved his jaw around, trying his best to spread it over his joints as much as possible. Slowly but surely, he moved it up and down until he could finally open his mouth again.

'Did that work?' He asked in a familiar monotone voice, before he gasped. 'I can talk?' He smiled. 'I can talk again!'

Molly put the can of oil aside and lifted him up. Though his tin was much heavier than Deema's straw, he felt completely hollow, and she could still lift him just fine, albeit with difficulties. No other part but his mouth could move at all, so she leaned him up against a still-standing tree. Now, his little smile, goggle-like feature, and monotone voice helped Molly realise who he reminded her of.

'Thank you so much, kind stranger.' He said. 'May you oil my other joints as well, such as my arms and tail?'

'Of course I will!' Molly replied. 'I can't imagine what it'd be like to be all rusted over like this.'

As he requested, she applied the oil just about everywhere she could see a joint. His arms, his tail, his neck, the hand that didn't hold the axe – she was a little worried to get close to that sharp weapon – until she had lubricated every part of his poor rusty body.

He pressed his arm against the tree trunk and leaned on it as he regained the use of his tail. Unlike Deema, who never got to use her tail to begin with, he could still remember how to stay afloat. He lifted his arm away, and stood a couple of inches above the ground as a Guppy should do.

'Wowzers!' Deema exclaimed. 'You're not a statue at all! You're like… a Tin Guppy!'

The Tin Guppy nodded. 'Yes. I am Nonny the Tin Guppy.'

Molly groaned. Of course your name is 'Nonny'. Who's next? Gil?

Bubble Puppy yipped and wagged his tail as he approached the friendly Tin Guppy. Nonny reached down as best as he could and gave him a pat on the head. Although the hand was made of old metal, Bubble Puppy found it surprisingly gentle. To repay the Tin Guppy, Bubble Puppy went to give him a slobbery kiss on the cheek, but was stopped when Nonny flinched away. The sight of the tongue dripping with saliva made his joints shudder and clank.

'Please don't lick me, puppy.' He requested. 'My tin body does not deal with water very well. See, water makes me rust.'

'Oh, I see!' Deema said. 'That's how you ended up all rusted over to begin with, huh?'

Nonny nodded. 'Yes. I'm a woodsman, you see. I went to chop down another tree years and years ago, when it suddenly began to rain. I rusted over in the middle of a chop, and I've been still on the ground ever since. Before you came along, no one had ever bothered to help me. They just thought I was a statue.'

'Oof… that's rough. I mean, I've been tied to a post for years, but at least I could move my arms and talk.'

Molly did a double-take. 'Wait a minute, wait a minute! We are in water right now! If water makes you rust, then how come you're not completely rusted over by now?'

This legitimately good question only got her strange looks from both her new companions, as if she had just asked the silliest question in the word. Molly opened her mouth to retort, but rightfully decided that it wasn't worth arguing over.

'Thank you, Molly.' Nonny said. 'You must have a big heart to save me from this fate.'

He sighed, and that small smile turned into a small frown, his own words having reminded him of something.

'Aw, what's wrong?' Deema said. 'What are ya frownin' like that?'

'Molly,' He said. 'May you bang your fist against my chest?'

Molly found the request a little odd, but she fulfilled it with little more than a shrug. Once she did as he said, and banged her fist against his tough metal chest, she could hear the sound reverbing within his chest cavity like a shout in a canyon.

'Ooh!' Deema said, clapping her hands together. 'Nice and echo-y!'

'Exactly; my chest is empty.' Nonny explained. 'I don't have a heart.'

She gasped, rather dramatically. 'You don't have a heart? Oh, you poor thing!'

The Tin Guppy nodded. 'Oh, how I wish I had a heart. I was just presuming that I could be kind of human if I had one. I'd be friends with the sparrows and the boy who shoots the arrows…'

Just as he was saying this, a lobster kid with a quiver full of arrows arrived on the scene. He did so just to shoot an arrow into the distance, after which he ran away to find another spot to shoot arrows. The one he shot had struck Deema in the forehead. Of course, she didn't feel it, but it still kinda annoyed her. She yanked it out of her head and tossed it aside.

'I'd be tender, and gentle, and kinda sentimental regarding love and arts. I could register emotions like jealousy or devotion…' He continued, before sighing. 'If only I had a heart…'

As he finished explaining his dream, Molly could've sworn she saw a single tear fall from his eyes. As it travelled down his cheek, it rusted his metal skin just slightly. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and gave him a sweet smile. She was about to suggest something for him, but Deema beat her to it.

'Wait, I got it!' She yelled. 'I know exactly how you could get a heart!'

Nonny perked up. 'You do?'

'Yeah! Molly and I were off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Bubbledom!' She explained in song, much to Molly's annoyance. 'He's gonna give me a brain, and Molly here a way home. I bet that guy could give you a heart too!'

A small smile appeared on his metallic face. 'You really think he could?'

Molly nodded. 'He just might! Do you wanna come along? I'll bring the oil with me in case you find yourself rusting over again.'

Nonny had to think about it really hard. Alas, unlike humans he couldn't 'follow his heart' thanks to lacking one, so the decision was extra hard. But then he saw the smiles on the girls' faces, and it helped him make up his mind.

'Okay.' He said. 'I'll come with you. Maybe then I'll get a heart.'

Deema fist-pumped in the air. 'WOO-HOO! Now our duo is a powerful trio! A quartet if you count the puppy. If we keep going like this, we'll be in the Emerald Sydney in no time!'

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. It was quite the bizarre sight indeed, to see Deema as a scarecrow and Nonny as a boy made entirely of tin, and even more bizarre to see them together. In what other world would a scarecrow and a tin man get along anyway?

'I just have one thing to ask.' Molly said. 'Do you have to carry that axe around everywhere?'

Nonny glanced at the axe in his hand. 'Yes. I actually do, for my hand is rusted over and can't move.'

'Oh. Want me to oil that hand up too?'

He shook his head. 'I don't want to lose it. I am a woodsman, and a woodsman is nothing without their axe. I must hold onto it.'

'Uh, ooo-kay then. Just be careful with it, okay?'

The trio – quartet if you counted Bubble Puppy – left the field of tree stumps behind and returned to the yellow brick road. Nonny swam as rigidly as you'd expect a Guppy made entirely of tin to move, but Deema was the complete opposite, flailing about and nearly falling over about five times before they even made it back to the road.

'To the Wizard?' Molly asked her companions.

'TO THE WIZARD!'

'To the Wizard.'

'Arf arf ARF!'

And then they went, further down the yellow brick road towards the elusive and amazing Emerald Sydney! Or, at least, they wanted to. They had made just a single step of progress before KABOOM! Something exploded on the rooftop of Nonny's cabin!

'OH MY!'

'Oh no.'

'WOWZERS!'

The explosion left behind a cloud of green and black dust, from where a cackling sound could be heard. Once the smoke faded away, it revealed none other than the Mean Witch of the West herself! Her entrances were always quite explosive, you see.

Molly gasped. 'Oh no!'

That mean witch cackled. 'DID YA MISS ME?'

Author Notes - The other version used Goby as the Tin Woodman, and... yeah, I'm sorry. No one else can play the Tin Woodman but Nonny, and Nonny can play no one else but the Tin Woodman. The Tin Man in both the movie and the book is a gentle, soft-spoken compassionate man, which suits Nonny to a T. Also, Nonny doesn't express his emotions but he certainly feels them, perfect for a character who thinks he needs a heart when he's actually the most sweet and sensitive of them all.