Disclaimer, you know.
Early the next morning, before the sun had started to rise, dorothy and alex found themselves in the throne room, with Ozma. Thinking about the day before.
"you know, perhaps this summer we should go to their little festival that they have each year to celebrate their freedom from the witch" Ozma said sighing.
"Honestly, I was thinking about that last night, I know it's not something I actually like, but I'm glad, that I was able to help people rebuild their lives, I've seen the munchkins, they kept the house that I came to Oz in, I think as a tribute, and partly as a symbol of hope." Dorothy said sighing.
At that moment Finley flew in and perched on Dorothy's shoulder.
"morning." He said
"hey Finley, what you been up to?" Alex asked curiously.
"I've been in the library the past few days, dusting the higher shelves, there's a bowl of fruit in there that I've been eating." Finley said.
"is all you ever do, cleaning?" Ozma asked
"it's really all I know, being a servant, but I'm not ordered around like I was with the jester and even after all this time, I'm still not used to it." Finley said sighing.
"I can see where that could be a problem, but why are you never around to talk to? I'd like the company somedays, you know, Dorothy, Alex, Ace, Betsy and Trot aren't always around, and the girls always have something else they need to do." Ozma said.
"I'm not entirely sure I can be too helpful in that regard, I don't have much to talk about, I fly around, and help out where I can." Finley said.
"you know, I feel like we've had this conversation before, like several times." Alex said thinking about it.
"Hmm, we probably have, is anyone else awake yet?" Finley asked curiously
"Just Brianna, and as far as I'm aware, Glinda and Locasta, who are arguing over some details for the wedding." Dorothy said with a sigh.
"is there a reason they can't just leave it alone and just let Alyssa and Terrance do all the planning?" Finley asked.
"because they asked for their help, at least as far as I understand, and dorothy, are you sure Madeline isn't up?" Ozma asked
"she wakes typically before I do and almost immediately starts working on something, if she's not prepared to appear out of nowhere and scare the living daylights out of me." Dorothy said looking behind her at the door to make sure she wasn't just standing there.
"I don't really like it when she does that, but I feel that her sentiments are around the lines of, what's the point in having magic if you aren't going to use it." Ozma said sighing.
"Well, in fairness, till we came along, we being the jester and I, she never really left the underground from what I understand." Dorothy said shrugging.
Before any of them could say something however a loud howling interrupted them. Going over to the windows, the four of them looked out and saw a large pack of wolves running across the open field behind the palace
"hmm, the wolves seem a bit active today, luckily the giant ones are only native to Winkie country." Finley said perching on the sill.
"how do you know that?" Ozma asked curiously.
"I used to be a slave in Winkie country, I'm sorry I thought you were aware of that?" Finley said starting to become quiet.
"oh, right, sorry I forgot about that." Ozma said, her eyes widening a bit, though no one was sure whether this was from shock or embarrassment
"anyways, I should be getting back to the library, there's still some dusting that needs to be done." Finley said taking wing.
"it was nice talking to you again Finley." Dorothy said as he flew out of the room.
"sometimes if feel like he only leaves when he feels he's overstayed his welcome, I don't know why, but that's just what I feel." Alex said looking at the door.
"no, I think you're right, sometimes I think he's worried that he's not socially graceful, but I also think he fears social interaction, even after all this time he's still afraid of saying something that might offend." Dorothy said sighing.
"why?" Ozma asked worriedly.
"no idea, I think he sort of lacks the confidence, having basically been the punching bag of the other flying monkeys for years, I honestly want to look into that now." Dorothy said tightening her grip on the scepter.
"I always feel sorry for him, every time I see him I think about calling him aside to ask what he's been doing, but he always seems to fly off before I can get a word in edge wise." Alex said with a sigh.
Ozma opened her mouth to say something but at that moment a guard rushed in. once he had caught his breath he marched up to them.
"your majesties, a wolf got into the city, and started causing mischief, we got it into a cage, would you like us to bring it here so you can question him?" The Guard asked.
"if you'd please, I'd like to know how it got through the gates in the first place they're supposed to be guarded at all times." Ozma said.
"right, I'll be right back." The guard said running out of the chambers.
"that's a good question actually, last I checked the only other way into the city I know of is the back way that we use to get in and out of the palace, so it couldn't have gotten through that way without any one of us noticing, and considering I've had to unlock that door a few times on my own, well, it makes you pause for thought." Alex said.
"alex, that door locks on its own, magically, it also unlocks magically if someone is in its vicinity for a few minutes, but only from the inside." Ozma said
"oh, silly me, I should have realized that immediately." Alex said rolling his eyes
Dorothy giggled and took his hand, a moment later the Guard and four others came in carrying the cage with a rather large wolf in it, followed by Tim, the prophet who lived in emerald city.
Just looking at the cage they could tell that the wolf in it was scared, and would most likely attack if provoked the wrong way. However as the guards set the cage down a good distance away from them it was rather hard to tell how frightened the creature in the cage was. alex, however, was the first to slowly approach the cage.
"it's afraid, like very afraid, like a lost dog." He said.
"yes, if you were trapped in a cage you'd probably be as well." The prophet said rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Dorothy sighed and slowly approached the cage, her grasp on the scepter tightened, just as a precaution.
"how'd it get into the city?" Ozma asked curiously.
"we aren't sure, perhaps during the change of guards the door is open for about two minutes, but it seems very unlikely it would have slipped passed unnoticed given its size." Tim said.
"I was already in the city." The wolf said with a low growl.
"How did you get in though?" Ozma asked curiously
"three days ago, I came into the city because someone was foolish enough to leave the door open for more than five minutes, I've found myself trapped, I found a dark alley to hide in, and simply slept during the day, coming out at night to see if any food was foolishly left out, this morning however I had the misfortune of being seen, causing a series of problems." The wolf replied beginning to sound irritated.
"I wouldn't get to close if I were you." Tim Said turning to alex.
"word of warning, you don't want to get bitten by me, and I do bite when I get really irritated." The wolf said turning to alex as well.
"Okay, point taken, do you have a name? and are there others like you that can talk?" alex asked
"many, we prefer not to associate with people because they find us as savages, as your people have shown." The wolf said.
"well, we do have a friend that's a lion if you prefer to talk to him." Alex said
"honestly, I'd prefer any animal." The wolf said getting irritated
"shall we go find Lion?" the guards asked curiously
"No, I'll go get him, you guys wait here." Alex said running out of the chambers.
"how does alex know where Lion's room is?" Dorothy asked looking at Ozma.
"he made him a wooden scratching post once." Ozma said.
"Where was I when this happened?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"California, I believe." Ozma said.
"oh, okay then." Dorothy said turning her attention back to the wolf in front of them.
"okay, what's going on in here?" scarecrow asked coming in causing the wolf to growl loudly.
"This wolf got into the city, apparently he has been in the city for three days, today however he was caught." One of the guards recapped.
"I see, well that explains the cage, it was causing trouble I assume?" he asked.
"upset several carts, but in all fairness, we did kind of spook him" another guard said.
"well, I imagine now he's refusing to talk to anyone that isn't an animal?" Scarecrow asked getting closer to the cage.
"Seems so, maybe I should go get my collar from Maddie, I'm sure she's awake by now." Dorothy said thinking about it for a moment.
"Dorothy, when you're a kitten, you're barely passed my ankles, anyways, where are toto and pockets?" Ozma asked curiously
"still asleep, I don't know what they've been doing out so late." Dorothy said sighing.
"they've just been walking around, chatting with each other." Lion said walking in followed by alex
"How long was that? 7 minutes?" dorothy asked.
"Luckily, I was already up, now what's up with this guy?" Lion asked curiously as he approached the cage.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you of all creatures should know that, and curiosity got the better of me and I came into the city, sleep during the day, wake up in the night, this morning however there was a crowd in the square." The wolf said.
"Yes, that happens on Sundays, it's an early morning meeting." Lion said.
"I never heard of that before." Dorothy said
"me neither." Alex said getting close to the bars.
"I told you to keep away!" the wolf shouted
"Whoa, sorry, I just find wolves interesting, forgive me for taking an interest." Alex said raising his arms defensively.
"alex, stop testing your luck, it's like you've never seen a wolf up close before." Lion said.
"I've never, and I mean never, seen a wolf up close before, we don't have too many in Kansas." Alex said.
"I see, well, I don't plan on sticking around once you let me go, I plan on rejoining my pack." The wolf said decidedly.
"would you like to go now? We can take you outside if you'd like." Lion offered.
"if it's not inconvenient." The wolf said finally starting to calm down.
"Okay them, guards, Tim, take him to the back way and let him out there, I heard the howling of a wolf pack earlier they can't be that far." Lion said.
Without any hesitation they did just that, lion followed them to make sure nothing happened once the wolf was let out of the cage. This left dorothy, Ozma, alex, and scarecrow alone in the chambers again.
"I'm actually quite sure I saw a giant wolf out in Winkie country yesterday." Alex said figuring now would be a good time to bring it up.
"you know the concept of those things frighten me, there's a rumor that they are the second most blood thirsty creatures in Oz, next to Kalidahs." Scarecrow said.
"aren't Kalidahs only native to munchkin country?" Dorothy asked.
"no, that's just where we had a run in with them, they live all throughout Oz." scarecrow said heading back to his workshop
"oh." Dorothy said gulping.
"what's a kalidah?" alex asked curiously
"they're giant creatures." Dorothy said
"With the head of a tiger." Ozma said.
"and the body of a bear, and claws that could shred a person like tissue paper, I've only encountered them once, and I'm glad my friends and I escaped with our lives, and only just." Dorothy said shuddering recounting the encounter.
"which ones?" alex asked.
"scarecrow, tin man, and lion, during my first visit to Oz, I thought the slippers would keep me safe at the time, but in hindsight I doubt that would have rung true." Dorothy said shivering.
"That's not something I really want to think of." Alex said starting to think about it.
"well, I'm going to go check on Maddie, it's been 2 hours that I've been up and she hasn't turned up yet, you two want to come along?" Dorothy said walking towards the door.
Alex shrugged and walked over to her followed by Ozma. When they got out of the chambers and to the door to Madeline's room they found it slightly ajar.
"Can you try the purple again?" they heard jack ask.
"sure, and come in!" Was Madeline's reply
Open the door they found Madeline, standing in front of three full size mirrors her hands glowing gold and her hair changing colors.
"experimenting with hair colors?" Ozma asked.
"Yes, I want to see if I can have hair that matches my hats when I want it, problem is I haven't used a glamour spell before so they don't hold long." Madeline said as her hair turned a deep purple.
"Purple isn't really your color." Morris said looking up from his chess game with Wendell in the corner.
"what's a glamour spell?" dorothy asked curiously.
"it's a spell that allows you to change or hide features of your person, like say you wanted green eyes instead of blue, there's a spell for that, but most glamour spells are temporary, you'd have to be pretty well trained in transformation magic to make a more permanent look." Jack said walking over to them.
"and I'm testing out one on my hair color, mmm, purple really isn't my color." Madeline said.
"Try blonde." Wendell said
Madeline nodded and closed her eyes. Her hands started glowing brighter and her hair started going from deep purple to strawberry-blonde.
"Too red?" Madeline asked looking in the mirrors.
"mads you look find no matter what color you're sporting, you look regardless." Jack said.
"I know, I just want to try something new every now and again" Madeline said as her hair changed to a light blonde.
"try flaming red then." Jack said rolling his eyes.
"is this what you two have been doing all morning?" Dorothy asked
"mostly, I knocked over my pocket compendium this morning and found glamour spells." Madeline said smiling.
"you know, mombie once tried a glamour spell, ended up uglier than she started." Ozma said gigging.
"Oh, there you all are, I finished the oatmeal if you're hungry." Brianna said poking her head in.
"Thank you, Brianna." All of them said turning to face her.
"Nice hair Madeline, blonde suits you." Brianna said smiling.
"thanks, I like it too, but I don't think I'm going to keep it." Madeline said as her hands stopped glowing and her hair returned to its normal brownish color.
"so, I heard from Finley that a wolf was brought in not long ago, what became of that?" brianna asked curiously.
"we let him go, I don't know why he didn't seek help sooner." Ozma said shrugging.
"I think it was neat finally seeing a wolf up close, I'd like to see one outside of a cage though." Alex said smiling.
"be careful what you wish for alex, you may not like the results." Madeline said taking up her hat and putting it on.
"so, breakfast time then?" Jack asked.
"yea, come on, let's go, Morris, Wendell, you coming, or would you rather finish your game?" Madeline asked.
"we'll be finished soon, if it doesn't end in stalemate." Wendell said moving a piece
Madeline shook her head and sighed before starting for the dorothy with the others.
So, one year ago today, I started this story, and though there have been some bumps, it's still going strong, so, I pose a question in a way I haven't in a while, what do you think Glinda was so giddy about in the last chapter? Leave a guess if you'd like in the reviews. And follow if you're enjoying it so far. And for those of you who have been following me since the beginning thank you for your continued support.
