Title: The Inside Story
Rating: K+
Pairings: FiyeroxElphaba
Summary: What were Fiyero's thoughts as he traveled the yellow brick road with Dorothy? The journey in the Wizard of Oz from Fiyero's point of view.
Hey all, Sparkling Patronus here. I've been working on rewriting this story all week, as the grammar, sentence structure, and pretty much everything else about it was pretty bad. I was having trouble getting through it, and I'm the one who wrote it, even if that was two years ago. So anyway, I finally finished, and I added so much that there are actually two more chapters now.
The basic storyline is the same, but I took out some parts that made no sense and replaced them with situations that are hopefully a bit more believable. I also tried not to take as many lines directly from the movie, as that can be incredibly boring since I'm sure we all know the Wizard of Oz movie quite well. Hopefully these changes have improved the story's readability at least a bit. Enjoy.
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Fiyero tried to lift his head, but it was useless. He'd been hanging up on this pole for about two hours, and never in his life had he felt so weak and helpless. He saw no way out of this situation. The guards that had strung him up here had no intention of letting him down unless he told them where Elphaba was hiding, and he was most certainly not going to let that particular information get out. He had no qualms about putting his own life in danger for Elphaba, but that did not mean that he was any less afraid.
When they'd first tied him up, the guards had taken one of their clubs and hit him in the side rather hard, calling him a traitor and warning that if he did not give Elphaba up he would be killed. He knew that these Gale Forcers meant business, and he also knew that there was no hope for him once they came back. If he hadn't already died of weakness and fatigue, the guards would have no qualms about beating him to death.
Closing his eyes once more, he tried not to think about this and to ignore the awful pain in his muscles. He had been tied up only by his wrists, and by now it felt as though his muscles were on fire. His arms were bent at a strange angle, and he wondered how much longer it would be possible for him to stay like this. He tried to pull himself up a bit with his arms, only to cry out in pain as his sore muscles screamed in protest. He hung his head; this situation seemed hopeless.
Then, all at once, the pain unexpectedly began to ebb away. Shocked, Fiyero pulled his head up. All of his energy suddenly seemed to have been restored, as thought he had not been hanging from a pole by his wrists for hours. However, he was distracted from this by a sudden tickling sensation in his lower leg. At first he thought it simply to be an itch, but it began to spread steadily up his body until he felt as though he were immersed in a pile of feathers. Then, just as Fiyero was beginning to worry, the feeling ceased, gone as quickly as it had come.
Shocked, Fiyero realized that with the tingling sensation had gone all of the pain he had been feeling previously. Not only that, his sense of feeling seemed to have disappeared altogether. He tried moving his arm again, and this time felt no pain. But something was wrong here. Something about his arm felt different, more flexible somehow. He glanced up at his hand, and gasped at what he saw.
The hand above his head was not his own, but rather just a burlap glove stuffed with golden straw. He tried to wiggle his fingers, and found that the fingers of the glove moved in response. Shocked, he tore his gaze away from the strange hand and glanced down at his chest. Another pang of shock went through him when he found that the rest of his body had changed as well. He was now dressed in a red plaid shirt he'd never seen before, straw sticking out of his body from underneath. He kicked his feet, and he did not recognize them either.
Panic began to set in as he surveyed his new features. How on earth had this happened? Last he'd heard people did not just spontaneously become scarecrows, not even in a place like Oz. His frantic mind could not seem to come up with any sort of explanation for this, so he tried to calm himself down a bit so he could think more clearly.
That was when it hit him. How did anything strange or unexplained happen to him? It had to be Elphaba; it was always Elphaba. She must have cast a spell from that strange spellbook of hers. He couldn't remember its name, but she'd showed it to him when they'd been together in the forest only this morning. It had seemed like meaningless scrawl to him, but she'd explained that it was a lost language of spells. He knew that she could read it, and also that she most certainly had enough power to accomplish something like this. That settled it, this had been Elphaba's doing.
Fiyero knew that he should be nothing but grateful for this change. After all, now that he was a scarecrow he had no muscles to strain, and his body was feather light. He could hang up on this pole for years and he would never tire. He also realized that he now had no reason to fear the Gale Forcers' return. After all, there was nothing to batter or break in his straw body. Their beating would have no effect on him whatsoever.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder why Elphaba had chosen to turn him into a scarecrow of all things. Certainly there had been other spells that she could have chosen from that could have saved him without such strange…side effects. He felt guilty for the thoughts, and hated himself for being so ungrateful, but they were there nonetheless.
However, they were pushed from his mind as he heard the Gale Forcers returning, their heavy boots making a great deal of noise in the previously very quiet corn field. He stayed stock still as they approached, hoping to whatever higher powers were at work that they would not realize that the scarecrow on the pole was the same man they had tied up some hours ago.
The three officers came to a halt right in front of him, looks of utter confusion written on their faces. They looked around the field wildly for a moment, as if expecting Fiyero to jump from behind a corn stalk and yell "Surprise!" When nothing happened, one of the offers finally spoke.
"He's not here," he said. The other Gale Forcers had long ago nicknamed this particular man 'Captain Obvious'.
"How is that possible? We tied him up here hours ago and there's no way he could have gotten himself off of that pole," said another, the leader of their party.
"Well all that's here now is this scarecrow," stated Captain Obvious.
"He must have tied it up in his place so his escape would go unnoticed unless we got this close up," one of the guards reasoned.
"Well there's no way he could have gotten down on his own, he must have an accomplice," stated the leader, "We must find him and whoever is helping him! Let's move,"
With that, the guards headed down the path quickly, not sparing another glance to Fiyero. Relief swept over him as he realized that he was in the clear for now. The guards would not come back to this place as long as they thought he had escaped. However, this relief was short lived as Fiyero realized he still had no way to get down from this pole. Hanging his head in defeat, he realized that the only thing he could do was wait here until someone else came down the road.
Unfortunately, it seemed as though this path was not one of the most traveled in Oz. After several hours the sky began to grow dark, and still no one had come to Fiyero's aid. He wondered if Elphaba was looking for him now. He had begun to worry about her. After all, shouldn't she have come searching for him by now? She had cast the spell to save him several hours ago, and there was still no sign of her. He hoped against hope that she had not been captured.
Fiyero watched the road for another hour, but still no one came to assist him. Fiyero began to grow discouraged, and wondered if he still had the ability to sleep so he could escape this situation for a while. He didn't feel like he needed to sleep, but it would be nice to all the same. He closed his eyelids and tried to even his breathing. Before he knew it he had fallen asleep on the pole, the still empty road the last thing he saw before his eyelids closed.
When Fiyero awoke it was to find that it was morning. He glanced around in confusion, his mind taking a couple of moments to register where he was. That was when the severity of his situation hit him once more, and he glanced down the road once more with little hope.
However, this time he was not met with the sight of an empty path, but rather the sight of someone coming toward. It was a young girl, who did not appear over ten years old, and a small dog, who was pattering along at her heels. Fiyero gauged from her strange attire and the way she was looking around confusedly that she was not from around here. He froze as she approached, not sure if her intentions would be hostile or not.
He watched as she came to a halt in front of a fork in the path that began at his field. She looked down both paths before turning to her companion, "Oh Toto, which way do we go?" she asked nervously.
For a moment Fiyero thought that the creature might be a Dog, but it did not answer her and so he knew he was mistaken. He decided that this girl was not a threat, and that it would be to his benefit if he got her to help him down. However he had to take it slow, lest he frighten her away.
"Well, some people go that way," he began, pointing to the right. The girl looked around confusedly for the speaker, but she had not yet noticed Fiyero. He tried again, "Then again some people go that way," he said, this time pointing to the left. He grew frustrated as the girl still seemed completely oblivious to his presence, "Then again some people try both ways," he said, crossing his arms.
Finally the girl seemed to catch on, "Oh, so you're the one who's talking! Can't you make up your mind?"
Fiyero laughed bitterly, "It's hard to make up your mind when you're completely brainless." He hadn't meant this literally of course. He was pretty sure he still had a brain in his head, or the living scarecrow equivalent of a brain at least. He was referring to the fact that he was hanging from a pole chatting with a ten year old while his lover was out on her own, possibly in grave danger. He'd never felt more brainless in his life.
However, the girl seemed to take his statement literally and her eyes widened, "How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?" she asked innocently.
Fiyero was about to object, but decided it might be better to play along with this. The girl seemed to be beginning to trust him. Instead he simply stated, "I don't know, but some people without brains do an awful lot of talking."
"I suppose your right," she said, completely buying his act, "So why are you hanging up on that pole?"
"Oh um…" Fiyero stuttered, trying to come up with some plausible reason, "I've been hanging up here for as long as I can remember," he finished lamely.
"Would you like some help getting down?" she offered.
Fiyero smiled inwardly; his plan was working, "Sure," he said, "I think if you pull out the nail in the back I might just slide off,"
Dorothy obeyed and went around to the back of the pole. She pulled out the nail that connected the two pieces of wood, and the part Fiyero's arms were tied to fell to the ground. He was finally able to slip his arms out, and it took a lot of effort to resist whooping for joy.
"Thanks a lot…" he trailed off, realized he'd never learned the girl's name.
"Dorothy, my name's Dorothy," she said, smiling.
"Nice to meet you Dorothy. You're not from around here are you?" he asked.
At this her smile dropped, "No, I came by accident. I'm from a place called Kansas. I'm going to see the Wizard of Oz to ask if he'll help me get home," she explained. Suddenly she appeared to have an idea, "You know, I bet if you came to see the Wizard with me he could get you some brains." she said.
Fiyero felt bad to leave the girl when she seemed so desperate for some company, but he really needed to find Elphaba. However, he had just opened his mouth to object when Dorothy said, "Of course it would be dangerous, I have a witch after me."
Fiyero's eyes widened at this. The only two witchs in Oz were Glinda and Elphaba, and he was pretty sure it was not Glinda this girl was speaking of. But why in Oz would Elphaba be after a little foreign girl? It didn't make any sense.
"Why exactly is the witch after you Dorothy," Fiyero asked, trying not to sound too interested.
"Well, you see, I dropped my house on her sister. It was an accident, but she was really mad. Then Miss Glinda told me to take these shoes and-"
Fiyero cut her off, "Glinda sent you here?" he asked, rather surprised. He'd known Glinda was mad at Elphaba, but he hadn't known she'd sink so low as to fill this little girl's head with all of the lies about 'The Wicked Witch of the West'.
The rest of what Dorothy said sunk in, and Fiyero's eyes widened. He remembered the last time he'd seen Elphaba. She had been Nessa was in danger and claimed to have seen a house flying through the air. If this girl had dropped her house on Nessa, then that meant Elphaba had been right, and she was probably less than happy with this litte girl. Glancing at Dorothy's feet, he recognized her shoes as the jeweled shoes Nessarose had worn at Shiz. There was no mistaking them, even though their color had been changed to a deep red. Suddenly everything made sense. Elphaba was after this girl because she wanted those shoes. They were the only thing she had left of her little sister after all.
That was when Fiyero decided that it might be better to tag along with this girl after all. If Elphaba was after this girl then they'd probably run into each other at one point, and Fiyero was sure that Elphaba was looking for him too. For a moment Fiyero considered explaining the truth about Elphaba to this girl, but almost immediately decided against it. She already believed the Wizard's lies, and there was no way she'd listen to him right now. Besides, Fiyero needed to earn her trust. Once they met up with Elphaba he could explain that everything had been a huge misunderstanding, request that Dorothy return the shoes to Elphaba, and everything would be fine. He smiled at the thought.
"Well, I'd be delighted to go with you to see the Wizard," he said finally, and the girl's eyes lit up.
"OK, if you're sure you want to," she said, rather unconvincingly. He knew she was probably terrified at the thought of traveling through a strange land on her own.
"Of course, I'm not afraid of the Witch," he stated truthfully. Afraid of her? Only when he was trying to argue with her maybe, but there was no reason for him to fear Elphaba. With that last thought, the two of them set off down the road once more.
And that's the first chapter. I tried to put as many of Fiyero's thoughts and as few direct lines from the movie as possible. I hope the explanations were believable, and I hope you liked the chapter.
Thanks for reading.
S.P.