Bryson, Dorothy, Finley, and Tin Man kept on trudging along the Yellow Brick Road. Bryson looked over and noticed the Dark Forest beside them.
It was odd, if they had managed to go through there, they would have already been at the Emerald City and his journey would have been a lot shorter. But he was glad. He actually wanted this adventure to last. Despite all the danger and evil that threatened him, he really was enjoying himself so far. Though, the thought of hurting the Kalidah moments ago seemed to be overtaking his thoughts for the past few minutes, and Dorothy seemed to notice.
"Bryson.. are you alright?" she asked, looking at him with a slightly worried look.
He shrugged. "I dunno... I just... I'll just tell you later..."
Dorothy frowned and nodded. "Alright.." she replied softly.
As they walked along farther, the Emerald City finally came in to sight, causing everyone to light up with a smile.
"Oh, finally! No more running from ferocious, savage, animal hybrids that want to violently consume us!" Finley exclaimed.
Dorothy grinned while she looked at it. "I haven't been to the Emerald City in a while, I almost forgot how beautiful it is!"
"Me too..." Tin Man replied. He turned to Bryson. "Well, it's Bryson's first time seeing it, what do you think?"
First time seeing it in person at least... Bryson thought to himself.
But even so, Bryson grinned at the sight. It looked so beautiful. He noticed there was now a bridge over the poppie fields, he assumed it was so people could cross it without, well, drifting off to a deep, dark, slumber for eternity.
"It's..." He shook his head, he couldn't even muster up his thoughts. "Amazing.."
Tin Man chuckled. "I love seeing people's reactions to it when they see it for the first time. It's always nice to watch and see what they think of it." He paused for a minute, then continued. "Well... let's not waste any time. Let's get moving!" Tin Man exclaimed.
They cheerfully walked across the bridge, smiling as they all admired the beauty of Oz. They made there way up to the front door. Tin Man knocked and suddenly a small slip from the door opened and out popped a doorman.
"WHO GOES THE-"
The whole group gasped and stumbled back in surprise, but quickly readjusted themselves.
"Oh.. uh... sorry I've been a bent on edge lately.."The doorman laughed nervously. "Oh.. it's just.. you, Tin Man, and Dorothy, and Finley... and..." his eyes darted to Bryson.
"Who is this?"
"Oh, he's Bryson.." Tin Man explained.
"Oh, yes, yes.. I've heard about him. I'm sure everyone will be glad to meet him. Well, come in!" He invited, fully opening the door, signaling them to walk in.
Tin Man smiled. "Thank you."
They all walked in and Bryson's jaw almost dropped to the floor. Inside, all of the buildings were constructed out of hundreds of skyscraper cylinder domes of what appeared to be of green marble and green glass. These odd looking towers and buildings were all crowded together. All of the streets were polished and of dark green marble, some area's had velvet carpets. The green cylinder dome buildings had small windows and doors, and there were colorful gardens green watered ponds and beauty shops. The whole placed just looked marvelous, and seeing it person.. it was a lot more beautiful than Bryson could have ever imagined, much like the rest of the land in general, really.
He looked around and noticed all the citizens dressed in green. He had a big grin on his face.
"I know, it's breathtaking isn't it?" Dorothy asked.
Bryson simply nodded in response, a big smile still on his face.
Almost everyone in the room started to walk up to the group, and started telling Tin Man, Dorothy, and Finley how much they missed them. Bryson was essentially ignored, however, until Tin Man kindly spoke up. "Thank you for all the 'welcome backs' and all, but I believe there's someone you need to meet." He pointed to Bryson, who waved awkwardly "Uh.. hi.." he greeted bashfully.
They all said their "hi's" and many of them shook his hand, giving different greetings with warm smiles.
"Where have you guys been?" one citizen asked.
"Well..."
Tin Man stopped, not sure what to say. He knew some of the 'higher ups' of Oz, so to say, knew about Rabadan, and that a few higher up Munchkins knew, but he didn't know if the citizens should know yet, he didn't want to alarm them. He had been hiding out in that cabin in the first place because of the events of Rabadan.
"I've just.. been doing some... work in the forest again, just for the sake of boredom.. you could say.." he fibbed.
"And I've had to... go do some things in Kansas..." Dorothy fibbed.
"And I've been bravely facing dastardly foes in other worlds..." Finley lied, jokingly of course, causing his friends to smirk. "I'm kind of a big deal now..."
The citizen simply nodded, but didn't seem to believe Finley, obviously.
Suddenly, the doorman walked towards them.
"Hey, Tin Man, you haven't been in here ages, I forgot, I need to inform you that tonight, the Emerald City is kind of.. hosting a sort of festivity.. honoring King Scarecrow's day of birth and all..."
Tin Man squinted. "Since when does anybody know Scarecrow's day of birth? He himself doesn't even know."
The doorman got closer to Tin Man and whispered. "Look.. we're trying to distract the citizens... if they go outside and see Rabadan, which they very well could, they're gonna start to panic. And we don't need that. So we're doing this to make them feel as if everything is normal and to distract them. Plus, they're ignorant to the fact Scarecrow doesn't know his birthday, so it won't matter."
Tin Man pursed his lips, not sure of what to think. "I guess you're right... but I don't like lying to them. They have a right to know. They deserve to.. but at the same time.. I suppose I see where you're coming from... whose idea was this, anyways?"
"It was Scarecrow himself. He's pretty brilliant with these ideas, hard to believe he used to think he didn't have a brain, eh?"
Tin Man nodded and smiled, but was surprised. "Really? I'd think Scarecrow would have wanted them to know... but then again, I guess it's better than having everyone worrying. So I guess he did the right thing. I'd say he knows best, anyways."
The doorman nodded. "Of course, he is the king after all.. but I digress..." he paused and then continued. "Speaking of which, I'd recommend you go see him now, he's been asking us everyday about your whereabouts and I keep saying I don't know. Glinda was keeping an eye on you all earlier, but I haven't even heard of her lately.. which brings me to another question. Where is Glinda?"
Tin Man sighed, shaking his head.
"What?" the doorman asked anxiously.
Tin Man turned around and looked to the floor.
"What? What?" the doorman demanded, rushing up to him.
"Glinda... well... it was Rabadan..."
"Oh my.. what did he do to her?!" the doorman asked.
Tin Man shook his head again. "He.. that... that... he has this scepter contraption, he... he.. he pointed it at her and she vanished. We have no idea where she is... if she's gone, if he captured her.. or what.." Tin Man explained, almost choking up.
The doorman shook his head, huffing and puffing. "Oh no.. oh no... oh no, oh no, oh no... we're practically hopeless now! Who's gonna defend us?!" he asked, but quiet enough for the citizens to not notice.
"I don't know... I hope she's alright... but in the meantime, you just throw this little festivity. Don't say anything in front of anyone who doesn't know. Okay?" Tin Man explained.
The doorman nodded and walked back to the door.
Tin Man sighed and turned back to his friends, and told them everything the doorman had told them, and they all nodded.
"Well... I guess we need to go see Scarecrow, now." Tin Man explained.
"Oh, you'll love Scarecrow.. I know I absolutely adore him! I'm glad we can see him, I've really missed him." She explained.
Bryson nodded with a grin. He had always liked Scarecrow the best. When he was little he used to dress up as him all the time, he was basically his childhood hero, so to say he was anxious and excited to meet him was an understatement.
They reached large green doors. The doorman at that door didn't even have to say anything, Tin Man was basically Scarecrow's right hand man, so he needed no questioning.
The doorman let the doors open and they all walked in. The hall was so large, and was yet another room that was even more amazing in real life.
They slowly walked in and Bryson's heart pounded when he could make out the Scarecrow sitting on his throne, his hand on his cheek. From this perspective he seemed to be bored, but he could have just been thinking, or both, perhaps, Bryson thought.
They finally reached the Scarecrow and were just a few feet away from him. The Scarecrow still hadn't even noticed their presence. His facial expression was basically blank. He appeared to be in deep thought. He had on his trademark black hat, but it had a golden strap around it. His attire seemed to be his trademark clothing, but now the patch of his stomach that usually had straw coming out of it seemed to be all sewed up, presumably to Bryson to keep straw from falling out constantly, and he had it a golden belt around his waist now.
"Well, happy birthday to you, your highness.." Tin Man teased.
Scarecrow's face instantly lifted up and he turned to them, his eyes widened and a grin spread across his face. "Tin Man!" he exclaimed.
It was odd for Bryson to see him in person, seeing him talk, his face literally looked like a burlap sack talking.
Scarecrow almost leaped from his chair and started to run down, but clumsily fell down, tumbling down the stairs.
Dorothy screamed, Finley and Tin Man gasped. Bryson was still in too much shock that he was in front of the Scarecrow to even react at first. He shook his head and rushed over, as did his friends before him.
They all helped him up and everyone patted him and wiped some dust off his body.
"Are you okay?" Dorothy, Finley, and Tin Man almost asked at the same time. Bryson was too shy to even speak up and was silently fanboying in his own mind.
"I'm fine, really I am... what I've been worried sick about is you guys! Glinda never came by last night to tell me what happened and I was getting pretty nervous! I'm so glad you're all okay! Do you guys know why Glinda never contacted me? Has something happened to her?"
Tin Man sighed and Dorothy explained to Scarecrow what had happened.
"Oh, Scarecrow.. it was just awful! That horrible Rabadan man attacked us and he.. he used his scepter and... he pointed it at her and she just vanished in thin air!" she explained worriedly.
"Oh my... that's just terrible!" Scarecrow exclaimed. His face went from happiness to utter sorrow and grief in just a few seconds. He started to pace around the room, panicking. "Oh no.. oh no.. we have to find her! If she can.. be found.. that is..." he said. "Oh, no, what if she's dead?! I swear, if I get my hands on that Rabadan I'll sure teach him a lesson!" He explained, shaking his fist to further emote himself. He huffed and puffed for a few minutes and darted his eyes around, until his eyes came across Bryson. "Oh.. pardon me! I'm sorry, I've been so stressed and worried I forgot to even say hello to you, young man." He said, looking at Bryson.
"Oh, it's fine, it's fine, believe me. I'd imagine leading an entire land would be pretty stressful... especially at a time like this!" Bryson replied.
Scarecrow smiled slightly and nodded. "Well thank you for understanding, otherwise I'd feel pretty guilty."
"Don't worry about it." Bryson assured him.
Scarecrow smiled again. "Well, I'm sorry to all of you, but I can't talk any longer. I have to prepare this festivity and all.. but I'll catch up with all of you later! Nice meeting you... I'm sorry.. Glinda told me but I forgot.. what's your name again?"
"Bryson.."
"Bryson! Ah... I've never heard that name. I like it."
"Oh, well, thank you..."
"You know, Glinda's told me great things about you."
"Oh... really?"
Scarecrow nodded and gave a warm smile. "Bryson, we're not going to be able to get you home without Glinda, as she's now the only person who can do it at this point, unless we used these slippers we have that can send you back, but only Glinda had access to them. "
"It's okay... to be honest.. I love this place... I mean, I need to get home to see my mother and everyone else back there, but I understand.." Bryson told him.
Scarecrow nodded. "Well, we'll work on it. But Goodbye to you all for now. I'll see you at the festivity, and I'll get someone to prepare you all your own bedrooms for later tonight. We need to all stay here until we can find a way to defeat Rabadan. It's not safe outside of Oz. Here and Munckinland are really the only safe places in Oz because of Rabadan. But, enough of that... I'll see you all later."
"Goodbye." They all replied, all except for Tin Man.
"I'm gonna stay here and talk with Scarecrow." Tin Man told his friends. They all nodded at him.
Finley turned around to Scarecrow. "Hey, Scarecrow, while you're at it, could you ask someone to get me a new cap? I kinda lost my other one on the over here..."
Scarecrow silently chuckled, knowing Finely was fond of his cap. "Of course, Finley."
And with that, his smile quickly faded and Scarecrow started to pace around some more, looking at Tin Man.
As they walked out of the room, Bryson had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact he just communicated with his childhood hero.
As they walked out of the room and back into the main room of the Emerald City, Dorothy spoke up.
"I hate seeing Scarecrow so stressed.. he's stressed as it is."
"Yeah, he really doesn't need more on his plate." Finley added.
A few moments later, a group of men and women dressed in all green walked up to them, waving.
"Hello there. King Scarecrow ordered us to get you all ready for tonight's celebration." One woman told them. "Is that alright with all of you?"
They all nodded.
"Great."
Then, the group started to separate into 3 smaller groups, one group grabbed Finley and picked him up. "Whoah!" He exclaimed in response as they carried him away to another room.
Next, a group took Dorothy by the hand and they led her to a different room from Finley, and the same stood for Bryson.
Bryson was curious as to how they were going get him ready. They then started to sing as they sat him down on a chair in a not so shockingly green room, taking his backpack that was still on him and putting it on the floor.
Ha ha ha
Ho ho ho
And a couple of tra la las
That's how we laugh the day away
In the merry old land of Oz!
Since he had been running and battling Kalidah's, Wheelers, and rock monsters, oh my! He didn't exactly look his best. So they took out a green comb and began to fix his hair. They then combed it over, which Bryson didn't particularly like, he preferred it to stay its regular shaggy self and he didn't exactly want the acne on his forehead to be exposed, but he oh well, he'd fix it later.
Bzz, bzz, bzz
Chirp, chirp, chirp
And a couple of La di das
That's how the crickets crick all day
In the merry old land of Oz!
After fixing his hair they got out a white button-up flannel shirt, they took off the grey jacket he had on and replaced it with the flannel shirt, then began to button it up for him. Next, they got out a bow tie and tied it around him.
Ha ha ha
Ho ho ho
Ho ho ho ho ho
That's how we laugh the day away
In the merry old land of Oz!
Finally, they got out a pair of black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a very dark green jacket to go along with his suit, and one of them walked up to him.
"I suppose you can put the rest on yourself, eh?"
Bryson smirked and grabbed the pants.
The same man then told him where his bedroom was and he smiled and thanked them all.
He made his way over to his room, and one of them followed him, smiling and whipping out a golden key, unlocking the door to his room. Another man came by with Bryson's backpack, handing it to him. "Almost forgot this." He said.
"Thank you, thank you very much." Bryson said.
The two men him gave a nod and walked away, letting Bryson to himself. Bryson slowly walked in the room and admired it, it was fairly big. There was a large mirror and different carpets, and he looked over to see that he had a king sized beg.
"Gee, guys, is that all I get?" he said to himself sarcastically.
He took off his jeans and put on his new dress pants and shoes. After so many days of running around in the same clothing, it was nice to have new clothes on for a change. He walked to the mirror and messed up his hair a bit, making it shaggy again, but not messing it up too much. He then topped it off by putting on the dark green jacket to the suit. He checked himself out in the mirror to make sure he looked alright. He dusted himself off a bit. He couldn't believe he was basically being treated like royalty in Oz. Back home, he was just a nerdy southern kid, and now he was being practically being treated like a king. If it wasn't for his finding Lucky and for his mom and sister, he'd stay here forever. He finished looking at himself and sighed, getting ready. He slowly opened the door and looked outside. Now, it seemed a lot of the people were dressed pretty spiffy and fancy, while some still weren't ready. There were already banners being put up for the celebration of Scarecrow's "birthday."
Bryson waited outside for his other two friends and walked around, every now and then a random citizen would walk up to him and make small talk, mostly about if he was enjoying Oz and if he had seen Glinda, to which he had answered yes and no to in that order.
After a bit, Finley finally came out. He was basically in the same bell hop outfit, only now it was green and had golden around it, and his cap was back, but also green. "How do I look? I better look good, because those people basically groomed me! It was awful! And they kept singing! At first it was alright but then they just wouldn't SHUT UP! My Oz, I'm glad to be away from all of that..." Finley explained.
Bryson laughed at his animated friend.
"Well, now I guess we should just stand around and wait for Dorothy, then wait for the celebration to actually kick off... speaking of which, do you get the feeling something bad is gonna happen tonight?" Bryson questioned.
Finley looked up at his friend. "Why do you say that?"
"Well... Rabadan can't stay quiet for too long. Now that Glinda is.. gone... no where is really safe. This is the perfect time for him to attack..." Bryson explained.
Finley frowned and looked down. "Welp. On that note.. I'm going to bed and skipping this party, as I'm not really in the mood to be harassed by people who think I'm cute because I'm a monkey, or to be attacked by a mad man. I might change my mind, but for now, nope, I'm gone. I'm gonna go ask Scarecrow for some bannana's or something..." Finley rambled, walking away.
Bryson smirked at his humorous friend and did his best to shake off the bad feeling he had.