Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? So just to recap:
Elphaba got a job as an assassin employed by the Elephant Nastoya and officially introduced herself to Fitz while Becky and her crew just met the Lion.
On with the story!
She dressed herself up in a pair of Irji's old camouflage pants and put on one of her black, collard shirts. There was no way she could operate in a skirt.
She was assigned to take out a Lion who had done something 'disrespectful' as Nastoya put it to the daughter of an associate – the leader of the Ivory Tigers. The Lion's name was Brr. The Witch had naturally opposed to taking the job not just because the target was a Lion and was once used as a subject in her Life Sciences class but it was also because he had gone to live in a 7000 square kilometre forest. It was going to be nearly impossible to find a single Lion in a forest – she depended on addresses. But in some ways it was easier than hits in the Emerald City. Lion's usually travel in a group but this one was a loner and also had a unique tuft chin that was only seen in one clan. And then there was the fact that this was taking place in a forest, away from civilization and witnesses. She was also being paid ten thousand dollars for this.
It was purely a coincidence she happened to be at the Yellow Brick Road when Becky and her crew arrived to be confronted by Brr. She crawled, crablike and quiet into a nearby willow tree and watched the exchange. The Witch decided Brr might not be mentally stable, dancing around on one foot, pumping his fists and closing his eyes while stating he wanted to fight for no apparent reason. He had a terrible Hill Billy Munchkin accent as well. Then the girl – Becky ran off and the Lion went after her, running awkwardly on two feet. Why doesn't he just run like a normal Lion? wondered the Witch. They ran almost right under the tree she was at when Becky suddenly whipped around, swinging a fist into the side of the Lion's face, knocking him down. The Witch watched, her brow raised as the adolescent girl proceeded to pummel the full grown Lion who instead of using his massive claws to slash the girl, covered his face.
As the rest of the crew rushed over, the Witch began to set up her position. She silently, moving slowing removed the strap attaching the rifle to her back and positioned it, shifting so her back was against the trunk of the tree, bringing a knee up to support her hand gripping the middle of the rifle and pressing the butt against her shoulder to reduce recoil. She brought her eye to the scope, seeing the blurry, bouncing image of the Lion's head.
The last time she held a rifle was during the attempted assassination of Madame Morrible, she realized. It was the night her life practically went to hell. She pushed the thought away from her mind, focusing on the task at hand but the familiarity of the rifle she was holding brought her back to that night, the sudden colour bombarding her scope, the blurry golds and greens of Lurinmas, the reddish blush of the children's cold faces.
She blinked and focused on the yellowish brown of the Lion's head.
There was suddenly snow blowing in the side of her face and the bark of the trunk suddenly became hard and frigid. She looked behind her, expecting to see bark but instead saw a white, marble pillar. She was hallucinating again. She looked back through the scope and heard voices of high class men and women, cheering, clapping as Morrible appeared on stage. She felt the cold wind whip against areas of exposed skin like needles or perhaps it was just the snow, melting in her skin. She was looking forward to going home, wrapped in Fiyero's warm embrace.
The Witch tried to focus on the present, peering through the scope at the Lion but then heard Morrible's voice, echoing slightly through the microphone. She could feel the cold marble pillars pressed against her back and her ears beginning to sting in the cold. The Witch reached up to cup a freezing ear. She breathed deeply and brought the rifle to her shoulder and again proceeded to focus through the scope at the Lion's yellow fur.
"And that concludes our Great Wizard's Lurinmas greeting the citizens of Oz"
The moment was crucial, it was her last chance. She aimed at the Lion's yellow head and pressed the trigger as the image suddenly turned to bright, blurry golds and greens of children hawking for presents, causing the Witch to jerk, her grip coming loose, the butt leaving her shoulder and her hands leaving the rifle just as it fired. The recoil happened in a flash and all she could comprehend was the wooden butt crashing into her clavicle and the end of the scope striking her eye with such shocking force that she lost her balance and slipped out of the tree, falling then landing hard and striking her head on the Yellow Brick Road.
Her vision became obscured by a mass of black dots.
"Holy crap," she heard the girl say. "Hey you alive?"
And then there was pain. It suddenly occurred to her that her collar bone had been smashed and was now on fire and the there was warm, liquid running down the side of her face. She pressed a hand to her throbbing eye socket and felt the back of her neck was sticky and she could feel droplets of liquid tracing their way down her neck like finger tips. She must be bleeding she realized.
"God, fuck." she groaned, sitting up and causing her head to go floaty. She blinked through the blood running into her eyes and squinted up at the crew. Becky was staring at her with pure surprise, her eyes wide and her brow raised. Dorothy dramatically had a hand over her gaping mouth and was clutching a rat like mutt to her chest, Scarecrow who didn't look anything like a Scarecrow in a blazer and jeans was kneeling close to her and Tinman looked horrified, meeting the Wicked Witch of the West. As for Lion….he was nowhere to be seen.
"Christ," said the girl with more disbelief than fear. "You…were you trying to shoot me or something?"
"I would have done that long ago." she said and moved to stand but felt hands haul her up to her feet. It was the Scarecrow, she realized.
The girl continued, recovering from the shock of the Witch's unexpected appearance. "So then like…..what're you doing here with a gun?"
That was confidential and she had no obligation to answer the girl. She was humiliated, bleeding all over her shirt and being kept upright by the Scarecrow who had a hand on her shoulder.
"Do you mind?" she snapped at him in an attempt to preserve her dignity and he let go.
"Just don't want to have to drive you to a hospital again." said Fiyero in that joking, boyish tone. Why must her life be so plagued? She sighed heavily and reached down to pick up the thankfully undamaged rifle. The crew had no idea what she was doing there and neither did her target for he suddenly came up to her, puffing his chest out and walking on two legs which looked out right ridiculous.
"I'm not afraid of you ya old Witch!"
"Why in hell are you talking like a hill billy?" she muttered half to herself, seeing no reason for discretion and the Lion visibly deflated. This was the Lion who raped the Ivory Tiger Princess? Did she misread the description?
"Hey look out!" exclaimed Becky with sudden urgency. She looked where the girl was pointing and nearly fainted at the sight of a car black automobile rushing towards her once again.
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