A/N: YAY! I'm done with the third chapter. This is from Elphaba's POV, sorry it took so long! School, dance, dance team, Girl Scouts, procrastination, writer's block, co-ed camp, and just plain laziness caught up with me.

Wicked Meets Warriors—Chapter Three

"'No, I haven't seen her…'"

In fact, Elphaba was still in Firestar's den. She'd been asking him questions about his rites, and why he lived in the forest. Firestar, of course, didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about. Aspirated, Elphaba just gave up and asked him about life in the forest. It was then that she'd learned about the four clans, the warrior code, and that there was a Gathering in two nights' time—and about the destruction of the forest.

"Firestar," Elphaba started, "if you don't mind me asking, why don't you have a deputy?"

Firestar flinched visibly, and seemed to shrink in size, head drooping until his nose was inches from the sandy floor.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to bring it up. I was just… just curious, that's all," she stammered, bewildered by his reaction.

"No, it's not your fault," he said, "you couldn't know."

Their conversation was cut short then by Dustpelt coming in to—probably—tell Firestar that Elphaba was missing. He stared at Elphaba for a moment before mewling, "Glinda wants you. Follow me."

Wordlessly, Elphaba trotted out of the den, without so much as a second glance to the grieving Firestar.

They passed what appeared to be a bunch of branches covering a slight hole, Elphaba understood this to be the nursery. They walked into the medicine cats' clearing.

"Elphie, there you are," Glinda merowed. "I was wondering where you went."

"Glinda, we're definitely not in Oz," Elphaba muttered into her friend's ear. "Firestar doesn't even know what an Animal is. I think we may be in Kansas!"

"Wasn't that Dorothy and her dog, Dodo's, land? Along with—" She was going to say "Along with the Wizard," but somehow she didn't think Elphaba would want to hear that.

"Yes. And I know who you were going to say," she spat.

Their conversation was cut short by an impatient-looking tortoiseshell. "I really think we should be going if we want to get back by sundown," she said, and hurried off.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Elphie, we have to help them find, oh, what was it! June? No, Junny? No, that's not it either!" Glinda cried out in frustration.

"I think you mean juniper," a gray she-cat said before she hobbled after the other cat.

"Right! That's it. C'mon, we'd better catch up!" Bewildered, Elphaba chased after the retreating cats.

(PAGEBREAK, and Glinda's POV)

Glinda collapsed into a bed of moss in the warriors' den. She was so tired, she didn't even care that specks of moss were sticking to her glossy pelt. Moments later, Elphaba dropped next to her. Irritated cats grumbled at this and shuffled farther away. Elphaba said nothing, she just curled up into a tight ball—her fur just barley brushing Glinda's—and appeared to go to sleep.

"'Night, Elphie," murmured a half-asleep Glinda, before she, too, drifted off to dreamland.

Swirling mist…darkness…green…and… What? Is that a city? Thoughts became part of the mist, written in a language of its own… Noise…metals clashing…rifles booming…men swearing…women screaming… children crying… Is this real? is written again in the mist. There is no answer… A figure advances. Who are you? Was that out loud? or was it a thought? There still is no reply… Suddenly a loud, high-pitched wail breaks away from the dull roar of a fight… Glinda whirled to face the sound… She is human again, but her dress is ragged and black… She does a complete circle to find that the noise… the noise is coming from her… The figure… no figures… are closer. They carry lighted torches… a chant rises above the scream, Kill her! Kill the witch!… The screaming gets louder, and a dull beat engulfs all sound. Thump, thump… thump, thump… thump, thump… With growing horror, Glinda realizes the sound… it is her own heart… she spins and tries to run, only to fall flat on her face. Her feet are tied together… She pulls up, and lets out a yelp. When did my hair get so long… and black… Realization hits… two luminescent emerald green hands obscure all view… shaking, trembling, sobbing… and then…

Silence.

(PAGEBREAK!)

Elphaba gently prodded her friend awake. Glinda let out a quiet gasp and shriek before remembering. She was in the warriors' den, was a cat, and definitely wasn't about to be killed.

"Elphie, you scared me," she breathed.

"It's okay, Glinda," Elphaba soothed. "You're… well, not fine, just, unharmed."

Glinda let out a quiet chuckle. "Thanks for waking me up. I was having this dream…" Only, Glinda found that she couldn't remember the dream at all. And, the more she tried to remember, the more she forgot. "What time is it?"

Elphaba glanced out of the den. "About… a few clock-ticks before sunrise."

"Oh, I guess we could get up, then." Glinda heaved herself onto her paws and emerged into the misty clearing.

Glinda let out an almost inaudible gasp as part of the dream came back to her.

"Glinda, is something wrong?" Elphaba asked.

"N-No," she answered. "N-Nothing's wrong." But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. Something was coming… something big.

"Oh, look," Elphaba mewed. "That must be the dawn patrol leaving." She pointed with her tail at a group of four cats leaving the camp.

"How do you know that?" Glinda's own ignorance was beginning to catch up with her.

"Firestar told me… When I asked him about his rites as an Animal. And he had absolutely no idea what in Oz's name I was talking about."

"Oh."

The patrol was made up of Cloudtail, Dustpelt (who stared considerably at Glinda, Elphaba noted), Sandstorm and Spiderleg.

Cloudtail, Glinda assumed by his gleaming white pelt, dropped a rabbit on a pile of assorted dead rodents.

"Elphie, why are they collecting rodents?" Glinda whispered.

"That's the fresh-kill pile," Elphaba whispered back. "A cat (or Cat) has to eat, don't they?"

Suddenly Glinda wasn't as hungry as she thought, the last time she'd eaten having been hours before she went to plead with Elphaba. And even then, it wasn't much; her throat had felt clogged with worry for her friend.

Sighing, Glinda followed Elphaba to the pile and grabbed what she thought was a shrew. She didn't see what Elphaba selected, because, at that moment, Dustpelt asked her if she wanted to eat with him.

"Oh, um…sure, okay. Why not?" she answered and followed him to a tree stump and dropped her fresh-kill.

They ate in silence, with Glinda, at first, trying not to retch over tearing apart the shrew—with her own teeth. She thought wistfully about her maids, who never even let her tear off another piece of a cooked chicken, and now look at her. The forest was going to change her… for the better?

A/N: Okay, it took forever, but I'm doing my best. If anyone with a AIM screenname would like to beta and help with my writer's block, just review and tell me it, or personal message me. Help is much appreciated!