Caya awoke at the sound of a commotion. She jerked out of bed and bounded to the cool marble floor before her head could make sense of what was going on. The room was empty, but some sort of banging was coming from the suite beside hers. Careful not to wake Brrr or the Cubs with her movements Caya crept into the hallway. Woody, slamming noises were emanating from behind Selky's closed door. No one had gone in that room since the teenager's death, yet someone was undoubtedly inside. Warily the Tiger pushed the door open and peered inside. The noises stopped and there was a sweep of unnatural wind as someone dashed onto the balcony.
Throwing the door open Caya saw that someone had ransacked through Selky's desk, opening the drawers and pulling out papers haphazardly. The teenager's sword case lay open and empty on the floor. "Bloody thieves," the Tiger cursed, moving closer to examine the mess. A neat pile of parchment lay alone on the desktop. Caya read over the first few lines and recognized the terse, abbreviated language of strategic notes and battle plans. Flipping through the stack she found a map with arrows drawn all over, indicating troop movement. Nessarose's flamboyant signature embellished each and every page. But who in Oz would have sent them the witch of the east's battle plans? The answer glinted up at Caya in the form of a polished coin made from shiny black metal. It bore the sign of a raven contained within the almond shaped oval of a cat's eye. Or perhaps in this case a Cat's eye.
***
"These look totally authentic," Elphaba exclaimed as she pored over the papers. "But why would the Raven leave them in Selky's room?" Her voice curled painfully around her daughter's name.
"I don't know," Caya shrugged. "But whatever the case we seem to have acquired another ally."
"Apparently," the green girl mused as she examined the battle map. "These show that Nessa is planning on capturing Quadling Country next, just as I expected." She closed her eyes in calculating thought. "We'll have to begin mobilizing the army soon," Elphaba sighed. "It will leave us vulnerable but it's imperative that we stop Nessa before the Sand People reach the Vinkus."
"You aren't as suspicious as you'd usually be," the Tiger observed. "Should you trust this information? It's coming from an untested source."
"It's the only source we have," the witch pointed out. "And we can't afford to be questioning our friends at this point. It's better to be swift and lethal than stand here deliberating on what to do."
"I hope you're right."
***
Curyn couldn't sleep. It wasn't the nightmares that kept her awake, though that was certainly part of it. Ever since her roommate's death dreams of death and gore had haunted the strawberry blonde. Tonight, however, there was something different. Somehow Curyn felt as though she wasn't alone. Subconsciously her eyes traveled to the empty bed beside hers. It was neat and pressed, something it had never been when Selky used it. Tears filled the girl's sleepy eyes. A breeze brushed her face and she jerked upright. Where did that come from? The windows were closed. This is crazy, she told herself sternly. You're giving yourself the heebie jeebies. Now just close your eyes and go to sleep. Trying her hardest to ignore the sense of unease growing in her stomach Curyn scrunched her eyes shut and cuddled into her blankets. For a few minutes she was able to relax, before a cool hand brushed her face and the smell of pine assaulted her senses.
The blonde's eyes flashed open. Nothing. She turned over in bed and saw something long and metallic glinting on Selky's bed. Hadn't it been empty before? Curyn padded across the room and realized that the object was her roommate's sword, still encased in its elegant silver sheath. Selky brought the weapon to Shiz once, against school policy, in order to proudly display it, but Curyn knew that her friend usually left the sword in her room at the palace. How did it get here?
The blonde moved a trembling hand down the length of the sheath. Was she going insane? Or…was Selky still alive? Her first instinct was to go to the Emerald Palace and tell Lady Elphaba what had happened. After all the green witch was her mother. Then again, if she was wrong, sharing her suspicions would only cause Elphaba more pain. Curyn scooped up the weapon and examined it for any clues, ghostly or otherwise. She even sniffed delicately at the hard steel and was surprised to get another whiff of pine. It was a familiar odor, the blonde grew up in a town just outside the Great Gillikin Forest, and she knew such a smell wouldn't linger on metal for very long. This sword had been around the piney quoxwoods of Oz's largest woodland recently.
Acting on a crazy whim and not allowing herself to think Curyn got out of bed and began to pack some essentials into a worn cloth bag. This was crazy. If she disappeared for too long her scholarship would be revoked and she would be sent back to a life of misery; a life from which no decent future would ever come forth. It was also crazy that she was going, of her own free will, back to the very place she'd escaped from. But if there was even a chance that Selky was alive she knew that there really was no choice.
***
The Raven watched as Curyn departed from Crage Hall with Selky's sword and a travel bag in hand. Shiz was located at the junction of Oz's two best means of transportation; the yellow brick road and the railroads. The cloaked figure followed Selky's blonde roommate as she made her way towards Shiz's downtown. It was the middle of the night but some businesses were still open. The Raven expected Curyn to hire a coach to take her to the Emerald City so she could ask Elphaba about the sword's appearance, thus setting the process of hope in motion. Instead the blonde bought a train ticket and boarded one of the large steam engines on its way to Traum, a small town just outside the Great Gillikin Forest.
***
Elphaba was sitting across from her father at a small breakfast table. They hadn't spoken much; the green woman had only graced him with her presence twice since that first time. Now, however, she was ready to finally sit down and have the essential talk. Trepidation lay heavy in the air while both parties waited for the other to speak first. Oscar's eyes examined his toast as he worked up the courage to say the words he knew he had to. "I'm sorry." Those three syllables summed up everything he'd been thinking for the past months, yet the Wizard still felt he needed to go into more detail. "I'm sorry for offering your mother the drink that turned you green. I'm sorry for selfishly turning the people of Oz against the Animals. I'm sorry I declared you a villain. I'm sorry I had Doctor Dillamond taken away. I'm sorry I ever trusted Madame Morrible enough to make her my press secretary. I'm sorry that I let her kill your sister. I'm sorry that I sent the witch hunters to kill you. I'm sorry that I failed to leave Oz." He paused to draw breath but Elphaba stopped him.
"The past is the past," she said softly. His eyes widened. How could she forgive him so easily? "You've done terrible things and we both know it. However I've had a lot of time to think about what it must have been like; suddenly being dumped into a position of power in a world you knew nothing about. You had no political experience and wanted, as anyone would, to keep your authority." She sighed. "That doesn't excuse the things you did, but it does make you a little more forgivable." The green girl inhaled deeply, preparing to articulate something she had never before put to words.
"When I first met you, in the throne room, you didn't treat me like a freak. You came right out and shook my hand and were nothing but pleasantries. That was the first time anyone ever did that and, regardless of the other things you've done, it still means a lot to me now." Elphaba was trying very hard not to let any tears slip out, but a few did manage to escape. In her angry musings about her father this one detail had shocked her. Though they eventually changed Fiyero and Glinda's reactions to her skin had been quite negative at the time of their first meeting. Even Nessarose had treated the green girl like something not quite human at times. But the Wizard…he never batted an eyelash at it.
"Will you forgive me?" Oscar questioned, trying to courteously ignore his daughter's tears. Elphaba nodded and a bright smile lit the old man's face.
Yeah I know it was cheesy but you guys can handle it…