Chapter 15

Elphaba was exhausted. She sat, her skirts crumpled around her, on the floor of the corn exchange. Her hair was wildly disarrayed, her face smudged with dust. She still had not been able to scrub the old building completely clean. She supposed the remains of the grains had found their way into every crack and crevice, and gave off their own sort of dust. She found it also attracted mice, some of them Mice. They weren't a troublesome bunch, and she couldn't find it in her heart to clean up the mess they considered food.

Elphaba scratched at her head, her hair long overdue for a washing. Her eyes began to cross and lose focus as she stared at the ancient page before her. Sorcery had never been her specialty. True, there was a sort of power that seemed to reside in her. It would rise up and almost overtake her, making her fingers tingle. But how to harness even a measure of that power was proving elusive. She could read the spells, she could decipher far more than she expected, but to weave them together usefully was entirely different. She sighed and leaned back, resting her head against the rough, wooden wall.

Elphaba much preferred the sciences, finding understanding the world and its inhabitants much easier. She was especially transfixed by the ideas she'd found in one cracked and peeling leather book. It delved into the building blocks of the world, what allowed anything to exist at all. She had to reach to the far corners of her intellect to grasp the concepts it proposed, but it seemed to postulate that there could be something beyond. Beyond what, she had yet to discover, but beyond. Or perhaps, very near to the world she knew, but very different. Perhaps a land that was almost Oz, yet not, like looking into to a different pane of a multifaceted mirror. It made her wonder if her green coloring might be a trick of some cosmic light, brought on because she'd bent the very laws of physics and time. Perhaps she'd simply been born in entirely the wrong world.

It made her head hurt, and Elphaba rubbed her temples, hoping to soothe the pounding. She forced her eyes to focus on the faded page once again, and repeated the levitation spell. Then she looked up at the broom.

Nothing.

She slammed the book shut and cursed it.

"Three days worth of levitation spells…..three days…..and nothing!" She mumbled to herself.

She could start a fire, which pleased her. She could create plumes of smoke, and even create some apparitions, if only for a moment. But nothing she tried would make the broom fly. Nothing. It almost made her consider lighting the whole stack of books on fire with her combustion spell.

Yet she didn't. Instead, Elphaba went for a walk. She changed into the unusual dress Nyalana had given her, and left the corn exchange with her other, bulky dress in hand. This was the one shining spot in her world. She had found that deep within the Animal Ward, the creatures were a vast array of colors, from calico, to deep black and amber, to the scaly green. To them, Elphaba was just another Animal. She had carefully learned that she could walk the few streets near her home free from cloaks and heavy skirts. And, as she had slowly realized, the Gale Force wasn't searching for a green girl. The green girl was dead. As a member of the Resistance, she was a heavily cloaked woman who wore a pointy hat. It was a glorious contradiction.

So she made her way a few blocks over to the ramshackle storefront where Sambwa made her home. The Gorilla lived in near poverty, yet she did for Elphaba with great generosity. With her great, soothing hands, she washed the black mane of hair that now fell below Elphaba's waist. She washed her garments and gave her any oils she could find on her trips to the markets in Southcity. It made Elphaba think that perhaps it was Animals who deserved to run the Land of Oz. Mankind had proven very unworthy.

After a thorough washing, and leaving her dress with Sambwa, she was making her way back toward the corn exchange. Her hair tumbled long and full around her when she stopped abruptly in her tracks. Elphaba skittered back into the shadows of a nearby building and watched the scene unfolding before her. The Gale Force had ventured quite far into the Seventh Ward, and their shouting had sent most of the Animals scurrying into their homes and businesses.

The soldiers had a young Quadling man trapped in the midst of them. He clutched a Dog, trying to wrap his body around it protectively. The soldiers whipped him repeatedly, drawing up large welts on his back. They hit him squarely across the back with large sticks and the butts of the guns they carried. One of them made to strike him across the temple, but he dodged them and took the blow to his shoulder. The soldiers yelled obscenities, yet the young man refused to be moved.

Elphaba felt rage build up in her, filling to the point that she thought it might explode. Adrenaline coursed through her, and this time, she tried to control it. Concentrating the power in her hands, she willed it forward.

She was knocked backward off her feet, and she clamored to see what she had managed to do. The Gale Force soldiers lay several yards from the Quadling, and seemed to be unconscious. They looked to all be in one piece, but none were moving. Elphaba darted forward and seized the surprised young man by his arm. She half-drug him and the Dog back to Sambwa's shop, where she promptly collapsed on the floor.

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Elphaba came to with a great sense of something being wrong. Not particularly bad, but wrong. As the world above her came into focus, she realized she was looking into two very confused faces. One of them was ruddy and full, with wild auburn hair and small, brown eyes. The other was canine, with the striking, brown and black markings of a Shepherd. A third face appeared, and she relaxed at the sight of the Gorilla. Sambwa sat her up, making sure Elphaba's world had stopped spinning, and place some fruit juice in her hand.

Then, the Gorilla turned her attention to the Quadling boy. Fussing over him like an overprotective grandparent, she laid him down on the nearest table and began to treat his wounds. The Dog looked on, silently, with his tail curled around his large paws.

"Sweet Lurline…how did you get yourself into this mess?" Sambwa questioned as she removed his tattered shirt and dipped some cloth into an antiseptic solution. "Lucky for you….these wounds are mostly superficial. Tough skin, you Quadlings have."

The young man kept his face on his arms. From experience, Elphaba remembered that Quadlings weren't much for chatting. She turned her attention to the Dog, and a spark of familiarity struck her.

A Shepherd…

Her mind raced backward.

A Shepherd just outside the Seventh Ward…..Nyalana…

The memories came flooding back. Nyalana's wounded body, and her brave struggle to save a Dog. But the coincidence seemed impossible.

"What is your name?" Elphaba addressed the Animal.

He studied her for a moment before answering.

"Besnik."

"Were you attacked…as a puppy? Not long ago…just outside the Animal Ward?" Elphaba's question was direct, because she knew no other way.

The Dog merely nodded, still quite wary of the strange, green woman who questioned him.

"You owe your life to this young man, and he, in turn, owes his to me. Can you do something I ask, on that merit alone?" Elphaba's looked directly into the Shepherd's eyes, a gesture she knew signified respect.

Again, the Dog merely nodded.

"Go to St. Glinda's, on the North side. Wait for a Winkie girl who answers to Nyalana. Bring her here," She ordered calmly, "and do not speak. To anyone."

The Dog understood and nodded before dashing out the door.

Elphaba turned her attention to Sambwa.

"Can he stay here?" She asked, gesturing toward the patient.

The Gorilla considered.

"I suppose," She answered, "briefly. Someone is sure to come hunting him soon enough."

Elphaba nodded and took her leave.

She made her way back to the corn exchange, picking a careful path through the darkest and poorest streets. The Gale Force officers couldn't have seen her, but she was cautious all the same. She climbed the stairs wearily, finding her eyelids were quite heavy as they struggled against three days without sleep. She collapsed onto the bedroll and slept, allowing her subconscious to wonder what role the Quadling would play.

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She returned to Sambwa's daily, finding the young man in much better spirits each time. He was mostly quiet and helped readily with chores, yet his eyes were intelligent. None of them asked his story, until the third day.

On the third morning, Elphaba found Nyalana in the small shop, with the Dog at her side. Her dark eyes were extremely curious as she took in the Quadling, Elphaba, and the Gorilla.

"I have nothing to tell," Elphaba began, "He does. I just asked you to come here to hear it with me," She paused, "I thought the two of them might be….useful."

The Dog seemed slightly afraid at the word 'useful'.

Nyalana turned to the young man, and studied him. "What is your name?"

He set aside the broom he had been using and addressed her.

"Sun."

"Very Quadling…." Nyalana mused.

It was Elphaba's turn to question. "Do you have any family? Friends? Is anyone wondering where you are?"

The young man considered this for a moment, sensing they were not asking out of a desire to help him find anyone.

"No," He conceded, "My family was killed for harboring an Animal. My friends would be Animals, but they don't readily trust a foreigner…"

Elphaba studied him, hard. "You would have died for this Dog. For Besnik." She corrected herself out of respect.

"Animals have been dealt a great injustice," Was all Sun would offer.

Nyalana and Elphaba's eyes met across the room. The thread that connected them was strong, and they could almost hear each other's thoughts.

"Is he strong enough to leave?" Elphaba asked Sambwa.

The Gorilla nodded before adding, "Keep the bandages clean, for a few more days." She pressed the roll of clean cloth into Sun's hands.

Elphaba turned to lead the way outside, and Nyalana took Sambwa's hands. They dwarfed hers.

"Thank you, again," Nyalana smiled.

They made their way onto the street, with Besnik trotting behind. He finally spoke up, when he sensed they planned to go without him.

"My family…..they were exterminated…..I have no other life than to resist what the Wizard has done to them."

Elphaba turned and leveled the Animal with a discerning gaze.

"Besnik?" It was a rhetorical question, "It means Faithful, does it not?"

The Dog nodded. "Yes, it does."

After a moment, Elphaba conceded, "Follow us."

The group made their way carefully back to the corn exchange. Elphaba had convinced Nyalana that her residence was best for this meeting, as it was buried so deeply in the Animal Ward. She could accept the risk of them confessing the location of her home should they be tortured. She was no stranger to risk, and she felt a certain sense of responsibility for this motley group.

They climbed the narrow stairs in single file, and Elphaba heard their sharp intake of breath as they took in the Elephant skull. She arranged some empty crates for them to sit, and opened the only ale she had on hand. They sat silently for a moment.

Elphaba spoke first.

She addressed Sun, "What you did the other day….you know they would have killed you?"

Sun nodded, without fear.

"You would die for an Animal? One you've never met?" Nyalana asked.

Sun considered, "I have no other purpose. I have no other life. My life was taken from me."

Nyalana and Elphaba locked eyes and wordlessly made an assessment.

Elphaba, feeling as though she had come full circle in her mission, asked, "Would be willing to join the Resistance?"

Sun's eyes snapped opened wider, and he looked at each of them. "It exists?" He seemed dumbfounded.

"As surely as we bear the scars," Nyalana answered.

"I would be honored," Sun replied.

"As would I," Besnik interjected.

Elphaba nodded. "Very well then. Tomorrow we go to St. Aelphaba's. We'll see if the master finds you acceptable," She stood to dismiss them, "Until then, you must find a place to live. Someplace safe, that isn't easily found. Separate from one another." She looked from Besnik to Sun. She then addressed Nyalana.

"Send for Zaar. Tell her to meet us here at sundown tomorrow."

Nyalana nodded and turned to leave, but Sun's voice stopped her.

"You saved my life…." He addressed Elphaba, "I owe you a proper thank you."

She nodded, accepting.

Suddenly, Sun strode forward and wrapped her in a hug. In that moment, the she realized how large he was, and how her body was easily wrapped in his hulking frame. It was an altogether Quadling gesture, as they were not a people that masked their feelings or hid them away. Yet panic rose up in her, and Elphaba clawed her way free and stumbled backward against the wall. Her breath came hard, and she closed her eyes to steady herself.

Nyalana took Sun's arm and held his eyes with hers.

"We all have our scars," She offered as explanation, and he seemed to understand that Elphaba's reaction was not directed at him.

Sun nodded and slipped out the door, with Besnik trotting behind.

Nyalana crossed the room slowly as Elphaba slid down to sit against the wall. Her eyes were still closed. The Winkie girl took one slender green hand in her own and held it tightly, without speaking. Elphaba's breathing slowed, her pulse calmed. Yet she did not release Nyalana's hand. She clutched it tightly for quite some time, finding healing in the touch.

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The next morning dawned bleak and foggy. A thick haze hung over the Emerald City, reducing its brilliant color to a murky palette of grays. They could barely distinguish the stones at their feet from the air around them as they made a slow path towards St. Aelphaba's. Had she been religious, Elphaba might have poised that the fog was a work of the Unnamed God, a sort of cloak to conceal the motley group from curious passerby. She knew they were unusual, at least. Sun's towering build and crimson-hued skin ran a sharp contrast to her verdigris. For her part, Elphaba was heavily swathed in scarves, her hat pulled down tightly. Nyalana clunked along in heavy men's work boots and trousers she had rolled up slightly. Besnik had conceded to walking on a leash. It was a sickening decision, to willingly concede to the Wizard's requirements, yet it was the only way to avoid questioning.

The Dog had raised his head proudly as Elphaba slung the rope around his neck.

"For the cause…" He had unwaveringly declared.

When they reached the steps of the church, they caught sight of Zaar. She was merely two deep, emerald eyes, glinting from the shadows of the pillars. Being black as midnight, she somewhat abhorred the daylight.

They all entered the church separately, not acknowledging one another. Each of them entered a prayer room alone, not hinting that they had a common cause. Elphaba made her way down the twisting corridor to the last room, in which she had once left a very large, very curious book. It came to her mind, and she wished she could have perused it. Perhaps it held some sorcery lessons that would serve her better than what she had so far discovered.

As she entered the room, Elphaba felt the cloak of darkness, and perhaps magick, fall over her. She had begun to sense there was something more than the lack of light that kept her from identifying her instructors. Perhaps it was a lack of sense altogether, a muting of the senses. It was a great act of sorcery, and she knew enough now to stand in awe of it.

"You have not come alone," The voice was not unkind.

"You know Nyalana. She brought me here," Was Elphaba's answer.

"And the others?"

"Zaar is already your servant, a cog in our machine."

"I know the Cat."

Elphaba was pleased at that. "The Quadling is Sun. He nearly died for the Dog, who is Besnik. He has no family, neither does. Their families were killed for harboring Animals, or being Animals. This is what they have left. I did not question them further, lest they say too much."

The voice was silent, perhaps considering. The stillness was deafening.

"Besnik…..means faithful, does it not?" The voice questioned.

"Yes."

"Let's hope he is worthy of it."

"I believe he is more than worthy," Elphaba assured.

After a moment, she continued, "We wish to be a cell."

There was a long pause.

"Send them in, the Dog first," The voice requested.

Elphaba slipped out, the dim light blinding her after the grip of the heavy darkness. She slipped down the corridor and nodded Besnik into the tiny room. She knelt as if to pray near Sun, and whispered for him to follow. Then she, Nyalana, and Zaar slipped out the door used by the maunts, and surveyed the alley they found themselves in. Zaar pretended to rummage for trash.

"When they come out," Elphaba instructed the Cat, have them meet at the exchange in three days, if they've been accepted."

Zaar nodded and licked herself most inappropriately.

She knows how to play the game, Elphaba had to admit as she and Nyalana slipped away, she knows how to be a cat…

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In three days time, the five of them sat together again in the corn exchange. Yet this time, they all belonged to the Resistance. They looked at each other, knowing almost nothing of each other, and did not speak. Yet the silence was comforting. They were a cell, soldiers in the same army, each with their own scars and lives they couldn't, or wouldn't, share. They needed only the intensity in each other's eyes and the knowledge of the next mission.

And so they began, fervently attacking every task they were given. Things burned down, things disappeared, yet no one knew for sure who was responsible for what. Things simply happened. They played their parts, and time passed.

For Elphaba, the sense of purpose worked her spirit. Like a muscle being strengthened and showing its definition through the skin, her spirit shone in her eyes. She was at her best when she was working, when she was making things happen, making change. It helped her through the nights, or days, when she was alone. It was only then that she curled up on her bedroll and tried to pray away this need, this aching for something she could not define. And Elphaba Thropp was not a praying woman. It was almost blasphemous, as though her heart longed for something in direct contradiction with all she knew. She couldn't even name it. She just knew she needed.

It was during one of these haunting midnight sessions that Malky appeared, his body forming a silhouette in the skylight above her. Elphaba sat up quickly, thinking her eyes played tricks on her.

Yet he thumped down from the rafters, and he was real before her. His white fur was dingy, and he was nearly panting.

"Is something wrong?" She was suddenly alarmed.

"Yes. No…" Malky contradicted himself.

"Is it Zaar?"

Malky nodded.

Elphaba's heart constricted in her chest.

"She's alive," Malky quickly added, sensing her dread.

"Then…" Elphaba couldn't continue.

"She's in the palace," Malky's breathing was almost normal.

"What?!" Elphaba squeaked.

"One of the Wizard's chief advisors lost his precious cat, Tuffy. Apparently he looks very far down his nose at Animals. Zaar brushed herself up and slipped into the cage of purebreds he was brought from which to choose a replacement. She had been looking for an opportunity to infiltrate, to be behind enemy lines..." Malky took a deep breath, clearly afraid for her.

"And so she lives in the palace, as a common pet?" Elphaba finished the story.

Malky nodded.

"That's ingenious….it's so simple…" Elphaba mused, forgetting Malky for a moment.

The Cat cleared his throat.

"She's stronger than all of us," Elphaba told him, in an attempt to reassure the Animal.

Malky understood her meaning.

"I wondered," He finally spoke, "if I could stay here? Perhaps somewhat on the same terms…as a cat?"

Elphaba jerked her head up to meet his eyes. He knew she hated for him to pretend to be less than he was.

"I've fought my battles," He reiterated, "and I can't live alone without Zaar. Not now. And I've grown accustomed to……you." He threw the last part in haltingly, as though he were unsure of her response.

Elphaba nodded and looked way, shocked that for the first time in longer than she could say, she was fighting tears. Perhaps it was because he wanted to be near her. Perhaps it was because she had missed him, or perhaps it was that for the first time, someone valued her presence. She bit her lip until it bled, yet she did not let the offensive tears fall. The Unnamed God didn't let her cry.