Alright so, as promised, here's the next chapter. I really appreciate the response to the new chapter 19, it's really nice to know people are still reading this story after all this time. I hope you enjoy where it's going. I'm personally pretty satisfied with the way it's turning out. Also, I've tentatively started working on a sixth new chapter, so we'll see how far this goes.

Also, a note to anyone book saavy: I know there's a lot more info about the Lion in the book and that his name is Brrr and all that, but I read the book so long ago that I don't really trust myself to incorporate it into my stories. This is completely Musicalverse, so I'm just going completely on the info we're given from there.

Anyway, thanks again for your reviews and enthusiasm. Here's chapter 20.

The sun was up again, though the day was cloudier and therefore not as harsh as the one before. Still, Fiyero made sure he and the Lion stayed close to water at all times, to avoid problems like the ones he'd run into previously. According to the Lion they were only about a day's journey from the nearest Animal camp in this direction, at least from what he could remember. This news had lightened Fiyero's spirit. He hoped it meant that he had been travelling in the right direction.

As they traveled, the two made small talk. The Lion was a bit on the twitchy side, but Fiyero decided he was not the worst travel companion one could ask for. After they had been traveling for some time, a thought occurred to Fiyero.

"Hey, I just realized that I never even caught your name," he said.

The Lion seemed taken aback by this comment, "Oh, well…I don't really have a proper one. I suppose you can just call me Lion."

Fiyero was surprised, "That's it? You don't have any other name you go by?"

The Lion looked slightly ashamed, "Not that I know of. I probably had one once, but if I did I forgot it a long time ago."

Fiyero smiled sympathetically, "Okay, Lion it is then. My name's Fiyero though, by the way."

The Lion nodded, it appeared he had not thought to ask for a name either. The two walked on in silence for a bit longer after this, before the Lion spoke again, "So…this friend you're looking for. What happened to him?"

Fiyero smiled, "Her, actually. We were…separated. She's gotten herself into some trouble. I wanted to help her, but we actually aren't on the best terms at the moment and she wouldn't let me go with her."

The Lion looked nervous again, "Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

Fiyero couldn't come up with a plausible lie with which to answer that question, so instead he simply said, "Oh, it's nothing too serious don't worry. But I would really like to find her before it gets any worse."

The Lion didn't seem entirely convinced by this, but he let it drop for the moment and said, "So why are you headed to this camp? Is your friend an Animal?"

"No, but she's been helping them out. I know she spends a lot of time at these camps, and I had a tip that she might have been heading to this one most recently." said Fiyero.

The Lion paused for a moment, before he said, "It's funny. All of the gossip I've heard about these Animals from passersby seems to suggest that they're vicious trouble makers, not the type you'd want to associate yourself with."

Fiyero smiled bitterly and responded, "Well Lion, if I can give you some advice, you might not want to believe any of that gossip you've heard. The types of people spewing it are almost always misinformed. But you don't have to believe me, you'll see for yourself when we get there, after all."

The Lion seemed puzzled, "But why would people be saying it if it wasn't true?"

Fiyero let out a bitter laugh. "Well, I guess you really don't get out much huh?" he said.

The Lion still seemed a bit confused by Fiyero's reaction, but he said," Well in truth, I guess I've always wondered how they could all be so bad. After all, I'm an Animal and I'm not like that. I guess I always wondered why there weren't more like me."

The conversation trailed off from there, and the two went back to discussing more trivial matters. They stopped to rest and eat two times throughout the day, and once to pick more fruit when the opportunity presented itself. When the sun began to go down, the Lion became visibly more uncomfortable, jumping at every little sound. Eventually Fiyero became so frustrated that he suggested they stop for the night and get some rest.

This too, turned out to be a bit of an ordeal, as the Lion refused to sleep out in the open for fear of being ambushed. Fiyero, who had not seen any evidence of man nor beast who would possibly do them any harm, was getting fed up. In the end, they agreed to sleep in shifts. Fiyero could only imagine the number of times the Lion had jumped out of his skin during his watch, but Fiyero was grateful to have been unconscious for that.

The two set off again at first light, neither completely rested but not too much worse for the wear. After only an hour more of walking, they passed out of the forest and began to see the ever-growing shapes of tents in the distance.

Fiyero could feel his heart lift at the sight, grateful to finally be out of the woods. Yet now he had his next problem to face. He knew from experience that these Animals would probably not take too kindly to his presence. He hoped having the Lion with him would help his case a bit, another reason he'd been eager for the large Cat's company.

As they drew closer, Fiyero noticed the Lion's steps growing slower and slower, to the point where Fiyero had to grab the Cat's paw and half drag him along. As they approached the edge of the camp, Fiyero could already begin to feel the distrustful gazes upon him.

It was a Panther who first approached them, one of this camp's leaders, Fiyero assumed. He stood tall as the Panther approached, trying not to seem in any way suspicious. The Lion seemed to be trying to disappear behind Fiyero, no small feat for a Cat his size, and had begun to wring his paws together again.

The Panther stopped in front of Fiyero and looked him up and down. His voice betrayed his distrust as he asked, "What is your business here?"

Fiyero decided to take it slowly and begin with a less suspicious answer, "My friend here has heard of your camp and wanted to see it for himself. We've heard that you provide a place for refugee Animals."

The Lion looked at Fiyero questioningly, no doubt wondering why Fiyero had opened with this explanation instead of mentioning his lost friend. However he said nothing, for which Fiyero was grateful.

The Panther did not seem entirely convinced, and still clearly did not trust Fiyero very much at all, but it seemed as though the Lion's presence had helped in exactly the way that Fiyero had hoped it would.

Turning his attention to the Lion, the Panther said, "Is this true? You wish to join our camp?"

The Lion seemed panic stricken at suddenly having been addressed, but he managed to choke out, "Oh yes sir, I've been wanting to visit this place for a long time, but I've been too afraid to come on my own. My friend Fiyero here offered to come with me."

The Panther's eyes narrowed at this, but if he didn't believe the Lion's explanation, he made no move to show it. Instead he called to a Gazelle who was walking past. She joined them immediately, also eying the strange pair warily.

"This is Shannah, she will show your friend around," the Panther said, gesturing to the Lion. The Gazelle nodded and motioned for him to follow her. The Lion looked from Fiyero to the Gazelle and back again, worry evident on his face, but Fiyero nodded at him and the Lion eventually went away with her.

Fiyero watched the pair retreat. He had a sneaking suspicion that he would not be let off the hook quite so easily. Sure enough, when the other two were out of earshot, the Panther addressed Fiyero and said, "As for you, why don't you come with me? There are a few questions I would like to ask you."

Fiyero nodded, not letting his face betray any of the apprehension he was suddenly feeling. The Panther turned suddenly, his tail whipping behind him, and Fiyero followed silently behind. They passed by a good number of tents of varying sizes, and Fiyero noted that this camp seemed to be slightly larger than the last he'd been to. This thought inevitably brought about thoughts of Elphaba, but Fiyero pushed them down and hardened his resolve.

They stopped in front of a tent that did not seem much different from any of the others. The Panther held the flap open and Fiyero ducked inside. The tent was sparsely furnished with a table and chairs, a small cot and a bookshelf. The Panther motioned for Fiyero to take one of the seats and then sat across from him.

After a moment, the Panther spoke, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Filo."

Fiyero nodded and opened his mouth to speak, "I'm-"

Filo cut him off, "I believe I already know who you are. I heard your friend say that your name was Fiyero. You're here looking for Elphaba, correct?"

Fiyero was completely caught off guard by this, and sat gaping and unsure of how to respond. His silence seemed to confirm the Panther's suspicions, and after a moment Filo spoke again, "I don't know who you are or exactly what relationship you have to Elphaba, but she has done much for us and since she seems to trust you, I will offer you this courtesy as well."

Finally Fiyero seemed to find his voice, "So she has been here then? Is she still here? Please, I really need to find her."

Filo's face betrayed no emotion as he answered, "She was here for only three days, but she took off again last night. We received a bit of news that caused her to leave rather abruptly, but it is news that I now have reason to believe was falsely reported in order to lure her into a trap.

Fiyero could feel fear constricting his chest, "Why do you say that? What was the news?"

The Panther's eyes bore into Fiyero's as he said, "That Fiyero Tiggular had been taken into custody on charges of consorting with the Wicked Witch of the West, and was to be tortured for information and then killed."

So yeah, things should begin to pick up a bit from here. To musicalvampirelove, I'm sorry to say that I genuinely have no clue what my intent was for this story originally. I do still have the old computer with the original story files on it though, and I believe there may have been an extra half a chapter or so that I wrote and never finished, so if I can find that and it sparks my memory I'll let you know. For now though, I hope you enjoy the new direction the story is taking. I do genuinely think it will be better than what I was thinking about before.

Thanks again for reading and I'll see you soon.

S.P.