Chapter 5: The Strange Dream
Night time approached as our traveling group made its way towards a forest.
"You okay Scarecrow? You look like something is bothering you." Dempsey asked of the Scarecrow.
"The Yellow Brick Road reaches all the way to the Emerald City, right?" Scarecrow replied.
"Right." Dorothy said. "So we shouldn't be dallying here, we need to get a move on!"
"Hold on, there is forest up ahead. Maybe the other side of this thick forest contains Emerald City, thus putting us closer to home da?" Nikolai asked of the group.
"I suppose if we work our way through these woods, we would be able to see if the trees are covering the city on the other side," Richtofen stated. "Although I do admit that the city being in the forest seems impossible. For it would glow rather faintly ja?"
"Let's go!" Dorothy exclaimed running into the woods. Everyone else followed her deep within the forest.
"It's gotten pretty dark," said Scarecrow.
"I wonder if any of those drinks would have given us night vision, for it is very hard to see," Takeo wondered.
"I can see clearly," Scarecrow replied.
"Wow, really? How convenient!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"Just follow after me everyone!" Scarecrow shouted before taking off. "Not everything is easy for people with brains huh?"
"Sight is a strange gift," Takeo replied before Scarecrow tripped over a branch, somehow hopping three times before coming to a standstill, then falling down.
"This is because I don't have any brains, I bet," Scarecrow remarked.
Dorothy gave a quick chuckle before saying "Gee Scarecrow! You always say funny things! Let's get you up."
Dorothy made her way over to Scarecrow, using all of her strength to lift the straw man. Since straw is naturally light, the amount of effort taken was almost none.
'Arf Arf'
"We gotta get moving after Toto. He always seems to be running off doing whatever," Dempsey stated.
The road continued to move through the forest, the air making the place seem haunted.
"Why do I get this uneasy feeling that a forest is going to become very significant to our future endeavors?" Richtofen wondered out loud.
"We should find place of rest for the night. So that we may be better prepared to take on what occurs tomorrow," Nikolai said.
"I'm already so tired. And we're walking in darkness," Dorothy stated.
Just then, Scarecrow turned to his left and said to the group "Oh... I see something." The entire group ran forward to find a simple house with a dirt road separating it from the Yellow Brick Road. The roof of the house started diagonally, but then gradually became rounded. On the right side of the roof was a object similar to a steam whistle which everyone surmised to be connected to a fireplace.
"A house manifests itself from the forest. I would argue about reason, but I am too tired to argue," Takeo stated before the group headed towards the house.
"There aren't any lights on... it must be abandoned," Dorothy guessed.
"Maybe the owner is asleep. People usually don't have lights on when sleeping," Dempsey said.
"I'll check it out," Scarecrow began walking towards the house before opening the door, a creak heard by the group. "It is empty." The group then entered the house.
"There's a lone bed in the corner. I think Dorothy oughta sleep in it. A girl like her deserves a bed. The rest of us should secure the softest spots on the floor and try to bear it," Dempsey told the group.
"I don't need to sleep you know," Scarecrow stated. "You all have brains, but for some reason you need sleep."
"Let's talk about brains tomorrow. Good night," Dorothy said before falling asleep.
Interestingly, Dorothy had another strange dream that told more of the mysterious dream from last night. After the siren blared, a mysterious mechanization appeared from the air. Dorothy, not knowing what it was, ran. The four soldiers seemed prepared and they fired their staves at the creature before it fell. Just then, time itself seemed to stop. A new voice spoke out to Dorothy, this one female.
"I don't know how, but you found my saviors. Please protect them, so that they can aid me in escaping Agartha."
Just then, the morning sun blared across the forest. Toto was barking which woke Dorothy from her strange dream. She noticed the men were not present. Scarecrow was awake near the window.
"Good Morning Scarecrow!"
"Good Morning," Scarecrow replied back.
"You were standing there all night and didn't sleep?" Dorothy asked the Scarecrow.
"Yep" Scarecrow said while adjusting his neck. Unknown to the pair, the four men had returned to the house. Each of them had agreed to try and find something to eat that wasn't poisonous. Unfortunately, early into the hunt, Richtofen found a fruit that was colored differently than anything they have seen. Since their years of training could not identify said fruit as edible or not, they were forced to abandon the hunt. However, Nikolai did find a lake for the group and returned to tell the others about it
"I have to go find water first," Dorothy told the Scarecrow, the shoes magically floating into her feet.
"No need, we have found a lake," Nikolai told Dorothy. "If you follow us, we will lead you to the lake," The group then headed outside, this time the four soldiers in the lead.
"It must be inconvenient to be human," Scarecrow started. "You have to sleep, drink, and eat! However, you have brains, and it's worth all that to be able to think properly."
At that, Dorothy became slightly angry at Scarecrow treating the brain as a god. She turned to face Scarecrow, put her hands to her hips and said "You sure talk a lot for having no brains though."
"I suppose your right. Words and Brains are two different things."
"We have arrived at the lake we mentioned," Takeo told the group.
Almost as soon as the group arrived at the lake, Dorothy ran over and started to wash her face. Toto ran beside her, drinking the water. A fair distance away, the four men were refilling their canteens, for they somehow used up all of their water from before.
"So cold and refreshing! Help yourself, Scarecrow!" Dorothy said.
"Y-you shouldn't joke like that!" replied Scarecrow. "If I drank water, my face will wash off!"
Suddenly all four men whipped out their staves, apparently alert for no apparent reason.
"We seem to be near someone, for I heard a groan," Richtofen explained to the confused Dorothy and Scarecrow. "Stick behind us for now, even we don't know if what lies ahead could be our salvation, or our greatest fear."
The group traveled forward towards the noise, for the groaning became louder with each step they took. Eventually, they came across an unusual sight. A man made of tin was hunched over a small oil can, almost as if he rusted a second before reaching the can. All around the area were footsteps in the grass, seemingly confirming this theory. Additionally, the forest started to grow around him for a small weed was on his left leg.
"Another mechanical person, although I don't think it is armor this time," Nikolai told the awe-struck Dorothy.
"Maybe if we get closer, we can deduce if it's one of those armored freaks from France," Dempsey said. "I sure hope it isn't. I was kinda getting used to not fighting."
"It doesn't look like there's anything else that could be making that noise," Scarecrow suddenly said. As it turns out, he and Dorothy heard the same noise when they were by the lake.
"Oh... ee... roo..."
"See? He's talking," Scarecrow stated.
Takeo was in deep thought upon hearing the phrase up close. "Something tells me, that this machine does not operate on that element, but rather on a fluid that sounds similar to the noise that we are hearing." Suddenly, he turned his head back towards the tree they came from. "Dorothy, why do you cower behind that tree?"
"That thing reminds me of the machined thing I saw you four face in my dream!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"I suppose you should tell us about this dream another time, for it worries me that you are thinking of monsters that we fought in France," Richtofen said. "Also, I believe that we need to get an oil can to this machine."
Scarecrow found the oil can sitting right next to his foot. He picked it up then poured oil down the left mouth line. Suddenly, the machine wished to have more oil, this time spoken with consistency. So Dorothy grabbed the can and poured more oil down the right side of the mouth.
"Thank you." said the still frozen Tin Man.
"It spoke, that means it's jaw is operational," Nikolai said. "Perhaps if we use oil on rest of body, we can get you to move again?"
As Scarecrow was trying to figure out what all of this meant, Dorothy used the oil can on the remainder of the Tin Man. Although oil was successfully poured, the man seemed to have froze over, almost like the oil was not enough to stop the rust.
Suddenly, the various joints of the Tin Man started to slowly move. After being rusted for so long, it is natural that the body would need to adjust to having oil. Dorothy and Scarecrow were visibly amazed at this, while the soldiers we're secretly relieved that they managed to help a unknown in distress However, the group refused to leave until his body was completely fluid in motion.