But it was Dorothy's voice, as powerful as ever, that he heard next.
"Shame on you!" she cried.
Fiyero opened his eyes and beheld his friend, her hand red from the slap she had just laid on the muzzle of the Lion in front of them. The way the great beast cowered in front of Dorothy was laughable, but the sadness in the creature's eyes as the girl reprimanded him made him forget all possible taunting. Despite the fact that this Lion could have killed his friend, Fiyero felt pity for the Animal as he explained his reasons.
"I have always been laughed at for being such a coward," the Lion said sadly. "I am without courage."
Boq looked at the shivering creature sharply, no forgiveness in his eyes. His anger was made quite apparent when he said,
"You tried to hurt poor Dorothy and little Toto. She's suffered enough already!"
Boq raised his ax ever so slightly, but Dorothy threw herself in front of the Lion before the Tin Man moved another inch.
"Stop this now!" she said. "I have forgiven this poor creature for his slight against Toto and I. Will you not do the same?"
Boq's features softened as much as his tin face would allow. After looking back and forth from Dorothy to the Lion a few times and heaving a heavy sigh, Boq replied,
"Of course, Dorothy."
Boq outstretched his hand toward the Lion.
"Any friend of Dorothy's is a friend of mine."
The Lion placed his heavy paw in Boq's hand, doing a handshake of sorts.
Fiyero looked at Dorothy deeply. She had a broad smile on her face, obviously pleased that she had done away with the ill feelings between the Tin Man and the Lion. She certainly had a gift with people. Fiyero realized then and there that, under the control of the Wizard, Dorothy could be turned into a very dangerous weapon. Dorothy had influence, he knew it the moment he met her. She had captured him instantly with her smile. She was an irresistible spirit.
Fiyero felt the breeze move differently. He knew his lover was near.
"I think we should stop here for the night," he announced. "For it will certainly become darker before it becomes lighter, and should we try to travel with any less light than we have now, Dorothy may injure herself."
"The road is certainly becoming rougher," Boq agreed.
"And the animals will become wilder yet," the Lion added with a shake in his voice.
Fiyero felt Dorothy's grip on his arm tighten. It made him smile.
They began to set up camp for the night. Fiyero and Dorothy gathered sticks and leaves with which the Tin Man could build a fire.
They decided that the Tin Man and the straw-man Fiyero would keep watch for danger since they had no need for sleep. Throughout the night, the tin Boq stalked through the woods, ax at the ready, assuring the safety of his friends. Fiyero, being clumsy and fairly useless in his state, was told to stay with Dorothy.
As he watched her sleep, he saw the flames begin to flicker in a strange pattern. Suddenly, out of the flames, stepped Elphaba. Completely unharmed, she quietly approached him. Her powers were growing stronger, and she looked simply radiant, her green skin softly glowing in the firelight. She walked to where he was sitting, her finger pressed over her lips to keep him silent as to not wake the sleeping girl.
She sank into his lap with a fiery elegance as he placed soft kisses all over her. And then they embraced, for the longest time, Elphaba and her straw-man creation just held each other. It was the most passionate moment that either of them had ever experienced. Elphaba's kisses became increasingly urgent, and before things got out of hand, Fiyero led her away from the camp site.
Safe in a nearby thicket, Fiyero looked deeply into Elphaba's eyes.
"Did you miss me?" she cooed as she went for another kiss. Fiyero, however, stopped her.
"Why were you so harsh the last time you appeared?" he asked.
Elphaba's face contorted with confusion.
"I was just playing, Fiyero. Didn't you see that the fire could not burn you?"
"No, not that." he replied. "I know you'd never harm me, Elphaba. Why did you keep talking about killing Dorothy? You scared her and the Tin Man to death!"
"I was just showing your friends what they expect to see. I don't want Boq to linger around any longer than he needs to. He'll get in our way."
"So you know who he is."
Elphaba turned her eyes away from Fiyero's.
"Yes, I do."
"What happened?"
Tears welled in her eyes, but Elphaba explained.
"I put a spell on Nessa just before she died. It gave her the ability to walk. I thought I was doing something good. But when Boq walked in the room and saw, he took this as his opportunity to escape her, and told Nessa that he was going to try and win Glinda's heart. When Nessa heard this, she was insanely jealous and..."
The tears rolled softly down Elphaba's cheeks. Fiyero wiped them away with his padded fingers.
"What did she do, Elphaba?"
"She stole the Grimmerie from me and began rambling off a love spell, only she said the words all wrong! The distortion of the spell caused Boq's heart to shrink. I knew that he would die if I didn't do something and there is no way to reverse a spell once it's been cast, so..."
"So you turned him into tin to save him."
She nodded sadly. Fiyero took her in his arms as she cried.
"It's all right, Elphaba." he said. "You did the right thing! I'm so proud of you."
After a few moments more, the green girl calmed down and regained her composure.
"But," he continued. "That doesn't explain why you were so cruel the other day."
Elphaba sighed.
"They need to have a healthy fear of me, Fiyero. If I don't appear frightening to them then things won't make sense, and if Dorothy begins to see the corruption, the Wizard will never let her go free."
"That all may be true Elphaba, but please go easy on her. Dorothy hasn't had an easy time of it. You should see the way she shakes in her sleep and..."
Fiyero stopped when he saw Elphaba's eyes darken.
"You're becoming quite attached to the girl, aren't you?"
"Of course, we're all traveling together. I want to protect her."
"Do you think she's in danger?"
"You know she is!"
"Do you think she's in danger from me?"
"Of course not!"
They were fighting for the first time. Fiyero took Elphaba's hands in his own.
"I love you more than anyone or anything. But you and I both know that the Wizard is a threat to her, and I have to protect her."
Suddenly they both fell silent. There was a rustling in the trees. Dorothy appeared behind Elphaba holding a large branch.
"Don't you hurt Scarecrow!" she said, the fear in her voice coming through clearly.
Elphaba used her powers to nonchalantly send the branch flying out of Dorothy's hands and swiftly approached the shivering girl.
"I will leave the Scarecrow alone," she said smoothly, a smile on her face. "If you give me the silver shoes."
"They will not come off!" Dorothy protested.
And, much to the surprise of both Elphaba and Fiyero, Dorothy fell to her knees.
"Please, I beg of you, do not harm my friend. He is innocent in all of this. I'm the one who killed your sister. Please, take me instead!"
Elphaba's eyes widened.
"Dorothy," Fiyero said in shock. "No! Just go back to the fire I will return to you in time."
"No!" she cried, tears spilling over at last. "I will not! How can you expect me to just walk away knowing you're in danger? I'll never abandon you Scarecrow, and I won't let any harm come to you!"
Fiyero was speechless. Of course he knew that Elphaba was not dangerous, but Dorothy did not. She was willing to sacrifice herself for him...a lowly scarecrow...
Elphaba turned slowly from the girl and shot behind her a blast of power that sent Dorothy flying into the air, landing unconscious on the cold ground.
"Elphaba, have you lost your mind?" Fiyero cried as he ran to Dorothy's side.
"Don't worry, Fiyero. The girl is unharmed."
"But, why?"
"Now you can take her back to your friends and say that I attacked you. The more fearful they are of me, the less they'll dare mention me to others. This will ensure our path is kept clear for a time."
"You don't have to do this you know. We could forget the Wizard, leave Oz, and live happily, just the two of us!"
Elphaba was silent for a moment.
"Leave Oz?"
In the distance, Fiyero could hear the Lion's and Boq's voices calling out for he and Dorothy, wondering where they were.
Fiyero kissed his green beauty deeply.
"We'll discuss this another time. I must go."
"I love you, Fiyero!"
"I love you, too."
With another quick kiss, Fiyero left her.
He carried Dorothy in his flimsy, cloth arms, worried he would drop her. He cursed, wishing that his body were more sturdy. Luckily, Boq and the Lion heard him coming and called out,
"Who's there?"
"It's me, Scarecrow. Please help me! Dorothy is hurt!"
Before Fiyero could say Sweet Oz, the Lion and Boq were coming through the thicket of trees.
"Dorothy!" the Lion exclaimed at the sight of their injured friend.
"What happened to her?" the tin Boq asked, an expression of panic etched into his stiff features.
"Let us get her to the warmth of the fire and I'll explain everything." Fiyero replied, buying himself some time to consider a good tall tale to tell.
W00T! XD That's the next chapter. Sorry it's been a while, but you know...college life...it's crazy. I made this a long one to make up for it though. Hope you enjoyed. Review please! More coming soon.