Chapter Four: The Possessed Apple Trees and the Tin Man
Bu-Ling and Cilan resumed their travels, along with Chili, who wished to have a brain, when suddenly, the pet monkey collapsed! The girl, concerned for her pet's wellbeing, tried to deduce what was wrong. "Something's wrong. Cilan's collapsed!" she told Chili worriedly. The scarecrow took one look at him and came up with a theory. "Maybe he's come down with something?" he guessed, but Bu-Ling checked Cilan's forehead, and found no signs of fever. "That's not it... but what?" she pondered. The fiery-haired scarecrow was about to give up when he and the girl heard a loud growl. "Did Cilan just... growl?" asked the Kansas native. "He's mute, remember?" she responded before the growl was heard again. They soon realized what was wrong; Cilan was hungry! This caused the two to animefall.
"Well, I think I see an answer! Look!" Chili told them as he pointed to some apple trees. "Nice! Let's eat!" Bu-Ling exclaimed as she picked an apple off the tree... only for one of the branches to swipe it out of her hand! "Um... I think the trees are possessed..." she told them, but soon, Chili got an idea... and picked up Cilan! "Hey, Taking Trees! If you can hit the monkey with your apples, he's yours!" he told them, to which Cilan glared at him. The trees then began chucking apples at Cilan... but the monkey dodged with ease. This continued until they had plenty of apples. "Bon appetit!" Chili told them, signaling the other two to dig in.
Cilan then followed a trail of apples to a small clearing... and tripped on a tin leg! "Huh?" Cilan thought as he examined the tin leg... which was part of an entire tin man! Cilan had to get the others' attention, but he knew he was mute, so he chucked an apple at Chili to get his attention... and maybe get back at him for using him as bait. "Ow! What was that for?!" Chili asked, after which he noticed the tin man and got Bu-Ling's attention. "A tin man?! What?!" she said in shock before the metal person began to speak. "Excuse me. My name's Ash. Could you please help me? I was on my way to the Wizard of Oz so I could get a heart, when I suddenly stopped moving." Ash asked and explained. Bu-Ling knew what to do, and oiled him with an oil can. Soon, the tin man got on his feet and was able to move again. "Thank you. So, where are you headed?" he asked. "The Wizard of Oz. I wanna get back home, and Chili here wants a brain." Bu-Ling explained. "Mind if I come?" Ash asked, to which the girl agreed.
And so, they went into a creepy-looking forest... what awaits them there? Stay tuned...