(Deadly Poppies and the Mouse Queen)
*June 6th, 1900*
*Oz Prairies*
*Day 2, Evening*
Dorothy and the gang were walking across the beautiful prairies of Oz which truly amazed Dorothy as the scenery reminded her of Kansas.
"Oz is truly a beautiful yet dangerous place, I sure hope we can make it to the Emerald City in one piece" Dorothy had spoken out in awestruck while also keeping her guard up while Cowardly Lion nodded his head in agreement.
"I must agree with you on this matter, Those Kalidah also proved to be quite troublesome but I'm just glad we're safe and sound" Cowardly Lion had spoken back to Dorothy in a tone of relief while Tin Woodman nodded his head in agreement.
"Indeed, those Kalidah were quite vicious but let's not talk about it too much, we must get to the Emerald City as quick as possible" Tin Woodman had advised to his friends as everyone nodded their heads in understandment as the gang continued to walk across the beautiful prairies as the sunset was beaming on everyone's faces.
"It's evening, we should rest somewhere before it gets too dark, I just wish there was a map to the Emerald City so we can know the time and date of our arrival" Dorothy had spoken to her friends as everyone agreed with their friend as she and everyone else decided to find a place to stay for the rest of the evening and night as something caught Scarecrow's attention.
"Say, I think I see a house over there, we just gotta cross these scarlet poppy fields…" Scarecrow had advised his friends as he pointed over at the beautiful scarlet poppy fields.
The poppy flowers were more beautiful than any other poppy ever seen. They are big, bright, lively, luscious, and delicately scented. The meadow that is full of hundreds of thousands of them is vast and stretches out many, many miles in every direction at the borders of Munchkin Country.
"You're right! Let's quickly run across the fields so Dorothy and Lion can get some rest!" Tin Woodman cried out in joy.
He, Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion began to run across the beautiful fields however, unknown to them, the flowers were enchanted to make those who inhale it's fragrance, fall right into a deep slumber as this only affects Dorothy and Cowardly Lion since they were actual living beings.
"Come on guys! The house isn't that far! Let's gooo!" Scarecrow cried out in joy as he continued to run across the fields however he turned back to notice Dorothy and Cowardly Lion slowly finding themselves to be awfully tired as this slowed down their movement.
"Gosh, I'm feeling tired…It could be since I've had a long day as well.." Dorothy had slowly spoken out in a tired tone of voice while yawning in the process as the little girl struggled to make it across the field alongside Cowardly Lion.
"Oooh man! I'm glad I'm not the only one to feel tired.." Cowardly Lion had spoken out while yawning quite loudly as this worried Scarecrow and Tin Woodman.
"Dorothy, Lion! You guys can't fall asleep out in the open! We're almost there!" Scarecrow cried out to his friends as unfortunately, the pair had collapsed on the ground, falling victim to the curse of the poppy flowers as this shocked Scarecrow and Tin Woodman.
"O-Oh no! They've fallen asleep! How could.." Tin Woodman uttered out as he suddenly remembered about the history of the poppy fields which made him feel guilty for not remembering to tell Dorothy and the others this earlier.
"O-Oh no, the flowers we've just crossed were the deadly poppy fields! A beautiful yet terrible area!" Tin Woodman had spoken out in shock as this confused Scarecrow.
"Wait, what do you mean by that? Care to explain it to me?" Scarecrow had questioned Tin Woodman as he waited for his answer.
"You see, these fields used to be a very beautiful place, however the Wicked Witch of the North cursed these fields after losing a bet, that witch's name was Mombi, however, she doesn't show her face around these days.." Tin Woodman had explained to Scarecrow as this revelation made him shiver as he fell into the floor.
"I-I thought all the evil witches were dead since Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the East!" Scarecrow had spoken out in confusion as Tin Woodman had shaken his head.
"Nope but there used to be four Wicked Witches of each area, Mombi, the North, the Evil witch of the east whom was killed unknowingly by Dorothy, The Wicked Witch of the West, and the Evil Witch of the south however, Mombi and the other witch were defeated by a very powerful yet good witch…" Tin Woodman has explained to Scarecrow as this story was truly amazing to him as he got up.
"Well, we're not gonna allow Mombi's spell to deter us from seeing Oz! You take Dorothy and I'll help you carry the Lion over to the house, okay?" Scarecrow had advised his friend as Tin Woodman nodded his head in understandment as he walked over to pick up the sleeping Dorothy as he proceeded to walk across the poppy fields until they reached the house.
"Don't worry, you can rest on this tree right here while me and Scarecrow get Lion" Tin Woodman had spoken out while gently placing Dorothy's body on the front of the tree as the metal man then proceeded to run towards where Scarecrow and the sleeping Lion was at.
"Alright, on the count of three we are gonna carry him, okay?" Scarecrow had spoken out while Tin Woodman nodded his head as the pair attempted to lift Cowardly Lion however the pair struggled to lift the feline creature.
"H-He's heavy! There's no way we can carry him like this!" Tin Woodman had cried out in defeat as the pair was left wondering how they were gonna carry him to safety as a squeaky voice called out to them.
"Yo, you guys need any help? You guys seem lost" The voice had called out to them as it belonged to a mouse who dressed like a royal servant surprised Tin Woodman and Scarecrow as the pair looked down to see three mice and a slightly bigger one as that one appeared to be the Queen given her royalty appearance.
"Good Evening, is it to my knowledge that your furry friend fell victim to the poppy fields?" The Queen Mouse had asked the pair as Tin Woodman nodded his head in confirmation which surprised her as her eyes had widened.
"I see, Lucky for us, me and my fellow subjects were trained to not smell the deadly aromas of the fields at all times so we're not affected by it but we can help carry your friend over to that house over there" Queen Mouse had spoken out in a polite tone of voice as this brought smiles of relief to the faces of Scarecrow and Tin Woodman.
"Really? Thank you so much for the help but how are we gonna carry our friend over to that tree and house" Scarecrow had spoken out in relief as he pointed his hand over at the destination as one of the servant mice smiled.
"No worries! We're aren't any regular mice! We are much stronger due to a good witch giving our ancestor's strength so many years ago so this should be easy!" One of the servant Mouse had spoken out as he motioned his small arms for his other fellow servants to pick up the sleeping lion as Scarecrow and Tin Woodman were shocked at the marvelous strength as the servant mice carried Lion across the poppy field while the Queen Mouse followed them.
"Marvelous! Such wonderful strength that these mice have!" Tin Woodman had spoken out in joy as he and Scarecrow quickly followed the mice to where Dorothy and Toto was sleeping at as the mice gently placed the Lion next to where the pair was sleeping.
"Thank you so much, how could we ever repay you wonderful people? You people have been such a wonderful help" Scarecrow had spoken to the Queen Mouse and the other mice as he and Tin Woodman continued to express their thanks.
"You're welcome and you two don't have to worry about a single thing. We just want to help whoever truly needs it but we should be going and your two friends should wake up either by tonight or tomorrow morning since they've inhaled a pretty good chunk of the deadly poppy but we suggest that you guys take this direction to wherever you guys are going but it's gonna take three to four days" Queen Mouse had advised to the pair as she used her arms to point at where they needed to go.
"I see, that means we gotta go around the fields if we want to visit the Emerald City, right" Tin Woodman had asked once more seeking confirmation as Queen Mouse nodded her head which made Tin Woodman smile.
"Correct, We wish you guys the best of luck during the journey and farewell!" Queen Mouse had spoken yet again as she and her servant mice all turned around to continue with their little adventure.
"Goodbye, thank you for saving us! We deeply appreciate the help!" Scarecrow had spoken out as he and Tin Woodman continued to say their goodbyes as the pair decided to watch Dorothy, Toto, and Lion for the rest of the evening.
*Day 3, Morning*
The next morning had arrived as the gang was ready to resume their adventure as Tin Woodman explained everything regarding yesterday to Dorothy and Cowardly Lion as the pair were surprised.
"Wow, have we been sleeping for that long? Those poppy flowers sure are deadly! That means we must take detur since the Yellow Brick Road beneath the flowers and we don't wanna make the same mistake" Dorothy had spoken out in surprise as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"I'm with Dorothy, I'm also pretty heavy as well so I know it's gonna be awhile to wake me up since nobody can't carry me so It's best to take this deter even though it could be dangerous.." Cowardly Lion had chimed in as he had a look of fear in his face as he was quickly cheered up by Dorothy.
"It's okay, you have us. We'll be there to protect you okay, and you'll be there to protect us like you did from the Kalidah!" Dorothy had spoken to Cowardly Lion in hopes of motivating him as she succeeded in doing so as the beast smiled with confidence.
"Y-You're right! I-I must remain strong despite my cowardliness" Cowardly Lion had spoken back as the gang had officially resumed their journey by taking the detour that was advised by the Queen Mouse.
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion knew that their journey to the Emerald City was tough however, they also knew that they were unstoppable when banded together as nothing could come their way.